uidLONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary EnglishEN

Dictionary Encyclopedia
pronunciation table

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Copyright Pearson Education Limited 2003

Longman Encyclopedic Database
Copyright Pearson Education Limited 2004

All rights reserved; Unauthorised reproduction, lending, hiring, transmission or distribution of any data contained in this product is prohibited

Consonants

pen

back

ten

day

key

get

fat

view

thing

then

soon

zero

ship

pleasure

hot

loch

cheer

jump

sum

sun

sung

wet

let

red

yet

Vowels

short

bit

bed

cat

dog (BrE)

cut

put

about

happy

actuality

long

sheep

father

dog (AmE)

four

boot

bird

diphthongs

make

lie

boy

note (BrE)

note (AmE)

now

real

hair (BrE)

sure (BrE)

actual

peculiar

Special signs

separates British and American pronunciations, British on the left, American on the right

shows main stress

shows secondary stress

shows stress shift

means that some speakers use // and some use //

means that some speakers use // and some use //

means that // may or may not be used

a plural A's, a's
1 [C,U] the first letter of the English alphabet
2 [C,U] the sixth note in the musical SCALE of C MAJOR or the musical KEY based on this note
3 [C] the highest mark that a student can get in an examination or for a piece of work:
•I got an A in French.
•Julia got straight As (=all A's) in high school.
4 an A student AmE someone who regularly gets the best marks possible for their work in school or college
5 [U] used to refer in a short way to one of two different things or people. You can call the second one B:
•A demands £500, B offers £100.
plan A at PLAN^1 (5)
6 from A to B from one place to another
get/go from A to B
•Hiring a car was the best way to get from A to B.
7 from A to Z describing, including, or knowing everything about a subject:
•the history of 20th century art from A to Z
8 A34, A40 etc the name of a road in Britain that is smaller than a MOTORWAY, but larger than a B-ROAD
A-ROAD
9 [U] a common type of blood
A LEVEL
the written abbreviation of amp or ampsalso an strong
1 used to show that you are talking about someone or something that has not been mentioned before, or that your listener does not know about:
•We have a problem.
•There was a hole in the fence.
•Suddenly they heard a loud bang.
THE^1
2 used to show that you are referring to a general type of person or thing and not a specific person or thing:
•Would you like a sandwich?
•I want to train to be an engineer.
•He's a really nice man.
•Take a look at this.
•It needs a good clean.
3 used before someone's family name to show that they belong to that family:
•One of his daughters had married a Rothschild.
4 one:
•a thousand pounds
•a dozen eggs
•You'll have to wait an hour or two.
5 used in some phrases that say how much of something there is:
•There were a lot of people at the party.
• A few weeks from now I'll be in Venice.
•You have caused a great deal of trouble.
6 used to mean 'each' when stating prices, rates, or speeds:
•I get paid once a month.
•The eggs cost $2 a dozen.
7 used before singular nouns to mean all things of a particular type:
•A square has four sides (=all squares have four sides).
•A child needs love and affection.
8 used once before two nouns that are mentioned together very often:
•I'll fetch you a cup and saucer.
•Does everyone have a knife and fork?
9 used before the -ing forms of verbs when they are used as nouns referring to an action, event, or sound:
•There was a beating of wings overhead.
•Bernice became aware of a humming that seemed to come from all around her.
10 used before nouns that are usually UNCOUNTABLE when other information about the quality, feeling etc is added by an adjective, phrase, or CLAUSE:
•Candidates must have a good knowledge of chemistry.
11 used before the name of a substance, food etc to refer to a particular type of it:
•Use a good cheese to make the sauce.
•plants that grow well in a rich moist soil
12 used before the name of a drink to refer to a cup or glass of that drink:
•Can I get you a coffee?
•Renwick went to the bar and ordered a beer.
13 used before the name of a famous artist to refer to a painting by that artist:
•an early Rembrandt
14 used before a name to mean someone or something that has the same qualities as that person or thing:
•She was hailed as a new Marilyn Monroe.
15 used before someone's name when you do not know who they are:
•There is a Mr Tom Wilkins on the phone.
16 used before the names of days, months, seasons, and events in the year to refer to a particular one:
•We arrived in England on a cold wet Sunday in 1963.
•I can't remember a Christmas like it.

WORD CHOICE: a, an
Before a word beginning with a vowel sound, use an: an elephant | an umbrella | an obvious mistake

!! Use an before an 'h' that is not pronounced: an hour later | an honest explanation

!! Use a before a 'u' that is pronounced like 'you': a university | a unique opportunity

!! Use an before an abbreviation that is pronounced with a vowel sound at the start: an SOS call | an MP3 file

1 in a particular condition or way:
•aloud
•alive (=living)
•with nerves all a-tingle (=tingling)
2 old use in, to, at, or on something:
•abed (=in bed)
•afar (=far away)
not or without:
•amoral (=not moral)
•atypically (=not typically) [U] BrE
Accident and Emergency the part of a hospital where people who are injured or who need urgent treatment are brought old-fashioned
very good or completely healthy:
•Everything about the resort was A-1. [U]
a standard size of paper, used in Europe and Japan. A3 paper measures 297 x 420 MILLIMETREs ; A4, A5 $ [U]
a standard size of paper, used in Europe and Japan. A4 paper measures 210 x 297 MILLIMETREs ; A3, A5 [U]
a standard size of paper, used in Europe and Japan. A5 paper measures 148 x 210 MILLIMETREs ; A3, A4
1 Alcoholics Anonymous an organization for ALCOHOLICs who want to stop drinking alcohol
2 the AA Automobile Association a British organization which provides services for people who own cars
3 [C] Associate of Arts a two-year college degree in the US $ [C]
a large animal from southern Africa that has a very long nose and eats small insects $
used to show you are disappointed, hurt, or annoyed:
•Aargh, the lid won't close.
[U] a common type of blood
be taken aback (by sth) to be very surprised or shocked by something:
•For a moment, I was completely taken aback by her request. [C]
a frame with small balls that can be slid along on thick wires, used for counting and calculating $ [C,U]
a kind of SHELLFISH which is used as food and whose shell contains MOTHER-OF-PEARL [T]
1 to leave someone, especially someone you are responsible for:
•How could she abandon her own child?
2 to go away from a place, vehicle etc permanently, especially because the situation makes it impossible for you to stay; = leave
•We had to abandon the car and walk the rest of the way.
•Fearing further attacks, most of the population had abandoned the city.
3 to stop doing something because there are too many problems and it is impossible to continue:
•The game had to be abandoned due to bad weather.
•They abandoned their attempt to recapture the castle.
•Because of the fog they abandoned their idea of driving.
4 to stop having a particular idea, belief, or attitude:
•They were accused of abandoning their socialist principles.
•Rescuers had abandoned all hope of finding any more survivors.
5 abandon yourself to sth literary to feel an emotion so strongly that you let it control you completely:
•She abandoned herself to grief.
6 abandon ship to leave a ship because it is sinking
- abandonment noun [U][U]
if someone does something with abandon, they behave in a careless or uncontrolled way, without thinking or caring about what they are doing
with reckless/wild abandon
•They drank and smoked with reckless abandon.
1 an abandoned building, car, boat etc has been left by the people who owned or used it:
•The car was found abandoned in Bristol.
•the demolition of abandoned buildings
2 [only before noun] an abandoned person or animal has been left completely alone by the person that was looking after them
3 literary behaving in a wild and uncontrolled way
abase yourself to behave in a way that shows you accept that someone has complete power over you
- abasement noun [U] [not before noun] written
embarrassed or ashamed because you have done something wrong or stupid:
•She looked rather abashed. [I]
formal to become less strong or decrease:
•We waited for the storm to abate. $ [C] BrE
a place where animals are killed for their meat; = slaughterhouse [C]
a long black piece of clothing worn by Muslim women in some countries, which covers the body and is usually worn with a separate head covering; burqa, chador [C]
a woman who is in charge of a CONVENT (=place where a group of NUNs live) [C]
a large church with buildings next to it where MONKs and NUNs live or used to live [C]
a man who is in charge of a MONASTERY (=a place where a group of MONKs live)also abbrev.
the written abbreviation of abbreviation [T]
to make a word or expression shorter by not including letters or using only the first letter of each word; = shorten
be abbreviated to sth
•'Information technology' is usually abbreviated to 'IT'.
made shorter:
•Orders were passed to the commander at the front in an abbreviated form.
1 [C] a short form of a word or expression
[+of/for]
•'Dr' is the written abbreviation of 'Doctor'.
2 [U] the act of abbreviating something
1 [singular] BrE ABCs [plural] AmE the letters of the English alphabet as taught to children
2 the ABC of sth BrE the ABCs of sth AmE the basic facts about a particular subject:
•the ABCs of your computer
3 American Broadcasting Corporation one of the national television companies in the US [I,T]
1 to give up the position of being king or queen:
•King Alfonso XIII abdicated in favour of his eldest son.
•The king was forced to abdicate the throne.
2 abdicate (your) responsibility formal to refuse to be responsible for something, when you should be or were before:
•The government has largely abdicated its responsibility in dealing with housing needs.
- abdication noun [C,U] $ [C]
1 the part of your body between your chest and legs which contains your stomach, BOWELs etc
2 the end part of an insect's body, joined to the THORAX
- abdominal $ adjective
•acute abdominal pains [T]
to take someone away by force; = kidnap
•She was abducted late last night.
- abductor noun [C]
- abduction noun [C,U]
•child abduction
- abductee noun [C] [not before noun]
in bed formal
not usual or normal; = abnormal
•aberrant behaviour [C] formal
an action or event that is different from what usually happens or what someone usually does:
•a temporary aberration in US foreign policy
•a mental aberration past tense and past participle abetted, present participle abetting [T]
to help someone do something wrong or illegal
aid and abet at AID^2 (3)
in abeyance something such as a custom, rule, or system that is in abeyance is not being used at the present time
fall into abeyance (=no longer be used) $ past tense and past participle abhorred, present participle abhorring [T not in progressive] formal
to hate a kind of behaviour or way of thinking, especially because you think it is morally wrong:
•I abhor discrimination of any kind. $ [U] formal
a deep feeling of hatred towards something $
something that is abhorrent is completely unacceptable because it seems morally wrong; = repugnant
[+to]
•The practice of killing animals for food is utterly abhorrent to me.
1 sb can't abide sb/sth used to say that someone dislikes something or someone very much:
•I can't abide that man - he's so self-satisfied.
2 past tense abode $ [I always + adv/prep] old use to live somewhere

PHRASAL VERBS
abide by sth phr v
to accept and obey a decision, rule, agreement etc, even though you may not agree with it:
•You have to abide by the referee's decision. [only before noun] written
an abiding feeling or belief continues for a long time and is not likely to change; = lasting
•Phil has a deep and abiding love for his family.also -ibility
makes nouns from adjectives ending in -ABLE and -IBLE:
•manageability
•suitability plural abilities
1 [C] the state of being able to do something
ability to do sth
•the ability to walk
•The health center serves all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.
•I don't have the ability to say 'no'.
2 [C,U] someone's level of skill at doing something
athletic/musical/artistic etc ability
•The test measures verbal and mathematical ability.
•leadership ability
•It takes hard work and natural ability to make it as a professional athlete.
•There are musicians of all abilities in the orchestra.
of great/exceptional etc ability
•He's a writer of remarkable ability.
of high/low/average ability
•students of average ability
• mixed ability classes (=classes that include students who are at different levels)
3 to the best of your ability as well as you can:
•He completed the job to the best of his ability.
1 abject poverty/misery/failure etc the state of being extremely poor, unhappy, unsuccessful etc
2 an abject action or expression shows that you feel very ashamed:
•an abject apology
- abjectly adverb $ [T]
formal to state publicly that you will give up a particular belief or way of behaving; = renounce [not before noun] written
1 burning strongly with a lot of flames; blaze
•Within minutes the whole house was ablaze.
•The factory had been set ablaze (=made to burn).
2 very bright or colourful:
•a passing pleasure-boat, with all its lights ablaze
[+with]
•Her yard was ablaze with summer flowers.
3 feeling or showing strong emotion, especially anger
[+with]
•His eyes were ablaze with fury.also -ible [in adjectives]
1 that you can do something to:
•washable (=it can be washed)
•unbreakable (=it cannot be broken)
•loveable (=easy to love)
2 having a particular quality or condition:
•knowledgeable (=knowing a lot)
•comfortable
- -ably -ibly suffix [in adverbs]
•unbelievably
1 be able to do sth
a) to have the skill, strength, knowledge etc needed to do something:
•I've always wanted to be able to speak Japanese.
see box at CAN^1
b) to be in a situation in which it is possible for you to do something:
•I'd like to do more gardening, but I never seem able to find the time.
•I haven't been able to read that report yet.
2 clever or good at doing something:
•one of my more able students
1 physically strong and healthy, especially when compared with someone who is DISABLED:
•Every able-bodied man had to fight for his country.
2 the able-bodied [plural] people who are able-bodied[C]
a low rank in the navy, or someone who has this rank [plural] formal
if you perform your ablutions, you wash yourself - sometimes used humorously
cleverly, skilfully, or well:
•She was ably assisted by her team of researchers. [U] formal
when you do not allow yourself to have or do something that you want $
very different from usual in a way that seems strange, worrying, wrong, or dangerous; normal
•abnormal behaviour
•an abnormal level of cholesterol
•My parents thought it was abnormal for a boy to be interested in ballet.
- abnormally adverb
•an abnormally high pulse rate $ plural abnormalities [C,U]
an abnormal feature, especially something that is wrong with part of someone's body:
•tests that can detect genetic abnormalities in the foetusAbo $ plural abos [C] taboo
a very offensive word for an Australian ABORIGINE. Do not use this word. $
on or onto a ship, plane, or train:
•They finally went aboard the plane.
1 on or onto a ship, plane, or train:
•The plane crashed, killing all 200 people aboard.
•The boat swayed as he stepped aboard.
2 All aboard! spoken used to tell passengers of a ship, bus, or train that they must get on because it will leave soon $ [C]
1 formal someone's home - sometimes used humorously:
•Welcome to my humble abode.
•a homeless person with no fixed abode (=no permanent home)
2 right of abode law the right to live in a country
the past tense of ABIDE $ [T]
to officially end a law, system etc, especially one that has existed for a long time:
•Slavery was abolished in the US in the 19th century. [U]
when a law or a system is officially ended
[+of]
•the abolition of the death penalty [C]
someone who wants to end a system or law $ [C] old-fashioned
an ATOMIC BOMB $
extremely unpleasant or of very bad quality; = terrible
•abominable cruelty
- abominably adverb
•Mavis behaved abominably.[C]
a YETI $ [T not in progressive] formal
to hate something very much $
[C] someone or something that is extremely offensive or unacceptable:
•He preached that slavery was an abomination.
1 also Aboriginal relating to the Australian aborigines
2 formal relating to the people or animals that have existed in a place or country from the earliest times; = indigenousAboriginal [C]
an aborigineAborigine [C]
someone who belongs to the race of people who have lived in Australia from the earliest times $
1 [T] to stop an activity because it would be difficult or dangerous to continue it:
•The rescue mission had to be aborted.
2 [T] to deliberately end a PREGNANCY when the baby is still too young to live
3 [I] if a PREGNANT woman or animal aborts, the baby is born too early and is dead when it is born:
•The disease causes pregnant animals to abort. $
[C,U] a medical operation to end a PREGNANCY so that the baby is not born alive; = termination
•She decided to have an abortion.
•anti-abortion campaigners $ [C]
someone who performs abortions, especially illegally $
an abortive action is not successful:
•an abortive military coup
abortive attempt/effort
•an abortive attempt to reform local government [I]
to exist in very large numbers:
•Rumours abound as to the reasons for his resignation.
•Examples of this abound in her book.

PHRASAL VERBS
abound with/in sth phr v
if a place, situation etc abounds with things of a particular type, it contains a very large number of them:
•The forests abound with deer, birds and squirrels.
1 concerning or relating to a particular subject:
•a book about politics
•She said something about leaving town.
•He lied about his age.
•About that car of yours. How much are you selling it for?
•What's he on about (=talking about)?
• It's about Tommy, doctor. He's been sick again.
•Naturally, my mother wanted to know all about it (=all the details relating to it).
2 used to show why someone is angry, happy, upset etc:
•I'm really worried about Jack.
•She's upset about missing the party.
3 in many different directions within a particular place, or in different parts of a place; = around, round
•We spent the whole afternoon walking about town.
•Books were scattered about the room.
4 in the nature or character of a person or thing:
• There's something really strange about Liza.
• What I like about the job is that it's never boring.
5 what/how about sb/sth spoken
a) used to ask a question that directs attention to another person or thing:
•What about Jack? We can't just leave him here.
•I'm feeling hungry. How about you?
b) used to make a suggestion:
•How about a salad for lunch?
6 do something about sth to do something to solve a problem or stop a bad situation:
•If we don't do something about it, the problem is going to get worse.
•What can be done about the rising levels of pollution?
7 if an organization, a job, an activity etc is about something, that is its basic purpose:
•Leadership is all about getting your team to co-operate.
8 while you're about it spoken used to tell someone to do something while they are doing something else because it would be easier to do both things at the same time:
•Go and see what's the matter, and while you're about it you can fetch me my sweater.
9 what was all that about? spoken used to ask the reason for something that has just happened, especially someone's angry behaviour
10 literary surrounding a person or thing:
•Jo sensed fear and jealousy all about her.
be quick about it at QUICK^1 (5); go about your business at BUSINESS (12)
1 also round about spoken a little more or less than a particular number, amount, or size; = roughly
•I live about 10 miles away.
•a tiny computer about as big as a postcard
•We left the restaurant at round about 10.30.
2 BrE in many different directions within a place or in different parts of a place; = around
•People were rushing about, trying to find the driver.
•Cushions were scattered about on the chairs.
3 near to you or in the same place as you:
•Is Derrick about? There's a phone call for him.
•Quick! Let's go while there's no-one about.
4 BrE spoken existing or available now:
•I hope she hasn't caught flu. There's a lot of it about.
•She might get temporary work, but there's not much about.
5 informal almost or probably:
•I was about ready to leave when somebody rang the doorbell.
•'Have you finished?' ' Just about.'
•It's just about the worst mistake anyone could make.
6 that's about it/all spoken
a) used to tell someone that you have told them everything you know:
•He was a quiet chap, married with kids. That's about it, really.
b) used to say that there is nothing else available:
•There's some cheese in the fridge and that's about it.
7 so as to face in the opposite direction:
•He quickly turned about and walked away.
1 be about to do sth if someone is about to do something, or if something is about to happen, they will do it or it will happen very soon:
•We were just about to leave when Jerry arrived.
•Work was about to start on a new factory building.
2 not be about to do sth informal used to emphasize that you have no intention of doing something:
•I've never smoked in my life and I'm not about to start now.
out and about at OUT^1 (3); be up and about at UP^1 (11)also about-turn BrE [C usually singular]
a complete change in the way someone thinks or behaves:
•The administration seems to have done a complete about-face on gun-control.
1 in a higher position than something else; = over; below
•Our office is above the hairdresser's.
•He had a bruise just above his left eye.
•I heard a strange noise coming from the room above.
•The great bird hovered high above our heads.
2 more than a particular number, amount, or level; below
•50 metres above sea level
above freezing/zero (=higher than the temperature at which water freezes)
•Tonight, temperatures should be just above freezing.
and/or above
•free medical care for pensioners aged 65 and above
•Prize winners must have gained marks of 80% or above.
•The salaries we offer are well above (=much higher than) average.
3 to a greater degree than something else:
•Many employers value personality above experience or qualifications.
above all (else) (=used to say that something is more important than anything else)
•Max is hardworking, cheerful, and above all honest.
•medals awarded for bravery above and beyond the call of duty (=greater than it is your duty to show)
4 louder or clearer than other sounds:
•You can always hear her voice above everybody else's.
5 higher in rank, power, or importance; below
•He never rose above the rank of corporal.
and/or above
•officers of the rank of Major and above
from above (=from people in higher authority)
•We just obey orders from above.
6 formal before, in the same piece of writing; below
•As mentioned above, there is a service charge.
•Write to the address above for further information.
7 not be above (doing) sth to not be too good or honest to do something:
•Eileen's not above flirting with the boss when it suits her.
8 be above suspicion/reproach/criticism etc to be so good that no one can doubt or criticize you:
•Even the king's closest advisers were not above suspicion.
9 get above yourself to think you are better or more important than you really are
over and above at OVER^1 (14)
be above the law at LAW (13)
[only before noun]
a) used in a piece of writing to refer to something mentioned in an earlier part of the same piece of writing:
•For the above reasons, the management has no choice but to close the factory.
b) the above formal something mentioned before in the same piece of writing:
•If none of the above applies to you, then you may be able to reclaim tax. $ [not before noun]
honest and legal:
•His plans for opening a coffee shop are completely above board.[only before noun] formal
mentioned on a previous page or higher up on the same page
a word you say when you do a magic trick, which is supposed to make it successful [I,T] technical
to rub something so hard that the surface becomes damaged
1 [C] an area on the surface of your skin that has been injured by being rubbed against something hard:
•She was treated for cuts and abrasions.
2 [U] the process of rubbing a surface very hard so that it becomes damaged or disappears:
•extra protection against abrasion
1 rude or unkind:
•She was a tough girl with rather an abrasive manner.
2 having a rough surface, especially one that can be used to clean something or make it smooth:
•Smooth down with a fine abrasive paper.
- abrasively adverb[C ]
a rough powder or substance that you use for cleaning something or making it smooth
1 keep/stay abreast of sth to make sure that you know all the most recent facts or information about a particular subject or situation:
•It's important to keep abreast of the latest developments in computers.
2 walk/ride etc abreast to walk, ride etc next to each other, all facing the same way
two/three/four etc abreast (=with two, three, four etc people or vehicles next to each other)
•The planes were flying four abreast.
3 level with someone or something or in line with them:
•As the car drew abreast of him, Jack suddenly recognised the driver. [usually before noun]
an abridged book, play etc has been made shorter but keeps its basic structure and meaning:
•The abridged edition was published in 1988.
- abridge verb [T]
- abridgement also abridgment noun [C,U] $
1 in or to a foreign country:
•I've never lived abroad before.
•She often goes abroad on business.
•We never travelled abroad when we were kids.
•goods imported from abroad
•The books about Harry Potter are very popular now, both at home and abroad.
2 formal if a feeling, piece of news etc is abroad, a lot of people feel it or know about it:
•commercial secrets which we did not want to be spread abroad [T] formal
to officially end a legal agreement, practice etc:
•Both governments voted to abrogate the treaty.
- abrogation noun [C,U]
1 sudden and unexpected:
•an abrupt change of plan
come to an abrupt end/halt etc
•The bus came to an abrupt halt.
2 seeming rude and unfriendly, especially because you do not waste time in friendly conversation:
•Sorry, I didn't mean to be so abrupt.
- abruptly adverb
- abruptness noun [U] [U]
the abbreviation of anti-lock braking system [plural] informal
the muscles on your ABDOMEN (=stomach):
•exercises that improve your butt, legs, and abs [C]
a painful swollen part of your skin or inside your body that has become infected and is full of a yellowish liquid $ [I] formal
1 to escape from a place where you are being kept
[+from]
•The boy absconded from a children's home.
2 to secretly leave somewhere, taking with you something that does not belong to you
[+with]
•He has to convince a judge that he wasn't going to abscond with the money. [I + down] BrE
to go down a cliff or a rock by sliding down a rope and pushing against the rock with your feet; = rappel AmE
1 [C,U] when you are not in the place where people expect you to be, or the time that you are away
in/during sb's absence
•Ms Leighton will be in charge during my absence (=while I am away).
[+from]
•Her work involved repeated absences from home.
2 [singular] the lack of something or the fact that it does not exist; presence
[+of]
•a complete absence of any kind of planning
• In the absence of any evidence, the police had to let Myers go.
3 absence makes the heart grow fonder used to say that being away from someone makes you like them more
leave of absence at LEAVE^2 (3); conspicuous by your absence at CONSPICUOUS (3)
1 not at work, school, a meeting etc, because you are sick or decide not to go; present
[+from]
•students who are regularly absent from school
2 if someone or something is absent, they are missing or not in the place where they are expected to be
absent parent/father
•plans to force absent fathers to pay child maintenance
[+from]
•Local women were conspicuously absent (=obviously not there) from the meeting.
3 [only before noun] a look etc that shows you are not paying attention to or thinking about what is happening; absently
•The dull, absent look on her face implied boredom. $ [T] formal
absent yourself (from sth) to not go to a place or take part in an event where people expect you to be [C]
someone who should be in a place or at an event but is not there[C]
a process by which people in the United States can vote before an election because they will be away during the election [U]
regular absence from work or school without a good reason[C]
someone who lives a long way away from a house or apartment which they rent to other people, and who rarely or never visits it[C] AmE
a vote which you send by post in an election because you cannot be in the place where you usually vote; = postal vote BrE formal
in absentia when you are not at a court or an official meeting where a decision is made about you
in a way that shows that you are not paying attention to or thinking about what is happening:
•Laura gazed absently out of the window.
likely to forget things, especially because you are thinking about something else; = forgetful
•Grandad's been getting rather absent-minded lately.
- absent-mindedly adverb
- absent-mindedness noun [U]absinthe [U]
a bitter green very strong alcoholic drink
1 complete or total:
•I have absolute confidence in her.
•We don't know with absolute certainty that the project will succeed.
2 [only before noun] especially BrE informal used to emphasize your opinion about something or someone:
•Some of the stuff on TV is absolute rubbish.
•How did you do that? You're an absolute genius.
•That meal last night cost an absolute fortune.
3 definite and not likely to change:
•We need absolute proof that he took the money.
4 not restricted or limited:
•an absolute monarch
•Parents used to have absolute power over their children.
5 true, correct, and not changing in any situation:
•You have an absolute right to refuse medical treatment.
6 in absolute terms measured by itself, not in comparison with other things:
•In absolute terms wages have risen, but not in comparison with the cost of living.[C]
something that is considered to be true or right in all situations:
•She believed in the importance of moral absolutes.
1 completely and in every way:
•He made his reasons for resigning absolutely clear.
•Are you absolutely sure?
•This cake is absolutely delicious.
2 used to emphasize something:
•The burglars took absolutely everything.
•Jim knew absolutely nothing about the business when he joined the firm.
•He has absolutely no experience of marketing.
3 absolutely not! spoken used when you strongly disagree with someone or when you do not want someone to do something:
•'Do you let your kids travel alone at night?' 'Absolutely not!'
4 absolutely! spoken used to say that you completely agree with someone[singular]
when a party or person wins more than half of the total votes in an election[U]
the lowest temperature that is believed to be possible [U]
when someone is formally forgiven by the Christian Church or a priest for the things they have done wrong:
•Pope Leo gave him absolution. [U]
a political system in which a ruler has complete power and authority $ [T]
1 to say publicly that someone is not guilty or responsible for something
absolve sb from/of sth
•He cannot be absolved of all responsibility for the accident.
2 [often passive] if someone is absolved by the Christian Church or a priest for something they have done wrong, they are formally forgiven $ [T]
1 LIQUID/GAS to take in liquid, gas, or another substance from the surface or space around something:
•Plants absorb nutrients from the soil.
absorb sth into sth
•Water and salts are absorbed into our blood stream.
2 INFORMATION to read or hear a large amount of new information and understand it:
•Her capacity to absorb information is amazing.
3 INTEREST to interest someone so much that they do not pay attention to other things:
•The movement and noise of the machines absorbed him completely.
be absorbed in sth
•Judith lay on the settee, absorbed in her book.
4 BECOME PART OF STH to become part of something larger:
•California absorbs many of the legal immigrants to the US.
be absorbed into sth
•We were soon absorbed into local village life.
5 LIGHT/HEAT/ENERGY/NOISE if something absorbs light, heat, energy, or noise, it takes it in:
•Darker surfaces absorb heat.
6 DEAL WITH CHANGE/COSTS if something absorbs changes or costs, it accepts them and deals with them successfully:
•The beer industry had absorbed a doubling of federal tax in 1991.
7 MONEY/TIME if something absorbs money, time etc it uses a lot of it:
•Defence spending absorbs almost 20% of the country's wealth.
8 FORCE to reduce the effect of a sudden violent movement:
•A well-designed sports shoe should absorb the impact on your feet. $
material that is absorbent is able to take in liquids easily:
•absorbent kitchen paper $
enjoyable and interesting, and keeping your attention for a long time:
•an absorbing hobby $ [U]
1 a process in which something takes in liquid, gas, or heat
[+of]
•the body's absorption of iron
2 a process in which people or things become part of something larger
[+of]
•the absorption of Soviet immigrants into Israel
3 when you are very interested in something
[+with/in]
•I don't understand James' absorption with military history. [I]
1 to choose not to vote for or against something:
•Six countries voted for the change, five voted against, and two abstained.
2 to not do or have something you enjoy, especially alcohol or sex, usually for reasons of religion or health
[+from]
•Pilots must abstain from alcohol for 24 hours before flying. formal
careful not to have too much food, drink etc
- abstemiousness noun [U]
1 [C,U] an act of not voting for or against something:
•The draft law was passed by 134 votes to 19, with 5 abstentions.
2 [U] formal when you do not do something you enjoy doing
[+from]
•fasting and abstention from intoxicating drinks [U]
the practice of not having something you enjoy, especially alcohol or sex, usually for reasons of religion or health
- abstinent adjective
1 based on general ideas or principles rather than specific examples or real events; = theoretical
abstract idea/concept
•the ability to translate abstract ideas into words
•By the age of seven, children are capable of thinking in abstract terms.
•Human beings are the only creatures capable of abstract thought (=thinking about ideas).
2 existing only as an idea or quality rather than as something real that you can see or touch; concrete
•the abstract nature of beauty
3 abstract paintings, designs etc consist of shapes and patterns that do not look like real people or things
ABSTRACT NOUN[C]
1 a painting, design etc which contains shapes or images that do not look like real things or people
2 a short written statement containing only the most important ideas in a speech, article etc
3 in the abstract considered in a general way rather than being based on specific details and examples:
•Talking about crime in the abstract just isn't enough. [T]
1 to write a document containing the most important ideas or points from a speech, article etc
2 formal to remove something from somewhere
not noticing anything around you because you are thinking carefully about something else
- abstractedly adverb
1 [C] a general idea about a type of situation, thing, or person rather than a specific example from real life:
•He's always talking in abstractions.
2 [U] when you do not notice what is happening around you because you are thinking carefully about something else:
•She rocked the baby gently, gazing in abstraction at the flickering fire.
3 [U] the use of shapes and patterns that do not look like real things[C]
a noun that names a feeling, quality, or state rather than an object, animal, or person. For example, 'hunger' and 'beauty' are abstract nouns. formal
unnecessarily complicated and difficult to understand:
•Maths is a mix of abstruse theory and detailed calculations. $
1 completely stupid or unreasonable; = ridiculous
quite/slightly/completely etc absurd
•It seems quite absurd to expect anyone to drive for 3 hours just for a 20 minute meeting.
•It seems an absurd idea.
2 the absurd something that is completely stupid and unreasonable:
•Some of the stories he tells verge on the absurd.
- absurdity noun [C,U]
•Duncan laughed at the absurdity of the situation. $
surprisingly or unreasonably; = ridiculously
absurdly low/high
•Prices on the island seem absurdly low to Western tourists. [singular, U]
a large quantity of something
[+of]
•an abundance of wavy red hair
in abundance
•One quality the team possessed in abundance was fighting spirit.
something that is abundant exists or is available in large quantities so that there is more than enough; scarce
•an abundant supply of fresh water
•abundant opportunities for well qualified staff
1 abundantly clear very easy to understand:
•She'd made her feelings towards him abundantly clear.
2 in large quantities:
•Melons grow abundantly in this region.
1 [plural, U] cruel or violent treatment of someone:
•several cases of child abuse
physical/sexual/racial abuse
•Many children suffer racial abuse at school.
•An independent committee will look into alleged human rights abuses.
2 [C,U] the use of something in a way that it should not be used; = misuse
[+of]
•government officials' abuse of power
•A self-monitoring tax system is clearly open to abuse (=able to be used wrongly).
alcohol/drug abuse (=the practice of drinking too much or taking illegal drugs)
SOLVENT ABUSE
3 [U] rude or offensive things that someone says when they are angry:
•vandalism and verbal abuse directed at old people
a torrent/stream of abuse (=a series of rude or angry words)
shout/hurl/scream abuse at sb
•The other driver started hurling abuse at me.
a term of abuse at TERM^1 (3) [T]
1 to treat someone in a cruel and violent way, often sexually
sexually/physically abused
•She was sexually abused as a child.
2 to deliberately use something for the wrong purpose or for your own advantage:
•Williams abused his position as Mayor to give jobs to his friends.
•Morris abused the trust the firm had shown in him.
•people who abuse the system
abuse alcohol/drugs
•The proportion of drinkers who abuse alcohol is actually quite small.
3 to say rude or offensive things to someone; = insult
•Many soldiers in Belfast are verbally abused.
•He came to the help of another driver who was being racially abused by three white passengers.
4 to treat something so badly that you start to destroy it:
•James abused his body for years with heroin and cocaine.
- abuser noun [C]
using cruel words or physical violence:
•Smith denies using abusive language to the referee.
•He became abusive and his wife was injured in the struggle.
- abusively adverb
- abusiveness noun [U]also abut on past tense and past participle abutted, present participle abutting [T] formal
if one piece of land or a building abuts another, it is next to it or touches one side of it
very bad or of bad quality; = terrible
•The reunion was an abysmal failure.
- abysmally adverb [C]
1 a very dangerous or frightening situation
[+of]
•The country might plunge into the abyss of economic ruin.
•At that time Bosnia was standing on the edge of an abyss.
2 a deep empty hole in the ground
3 a very big difference that separates two people or groups:
•the gaping abyss between these grand buildings and my own miserable home
1 the abbreviation of alternating current ; DC
2 the written abbreviation of air-conditioning
AC/DC
the written abbreviation of ACCOUNT^1 (2) [C]
a tree with small yellow or white flowers that grows in warm countries [U]
the work that university teachers and students do - often used humorously [U]
the activities and work done at universities and colleges, or the teachers and students involved in it
1 [usually before noun] relating to education, especially at college or university level:
•He possessed no academic qualifications.
•a program designed to raise academic standards
2 [usually before noun] concerned with studying from books, as opposed to practical work:
•the study of art as an academic discipline
3 good at studying:
•He's a popular child, but not very academic.
4 if a discussion about something is academic, it is a waste of time because the speakers cannot change the existing situation:
•The question of where we go on holiday is purely academic since we don't have any money.
- academically adverb[C]
a teacher in a college or university $ [C]
a member of an official organization which encourages the development of literature, art, science etc[C]
the period of the year during which there are school or university classes plural academies [C]
1 an official organization which encourages the development of literature, art, science etc:
•the American Academy of Arts and Letters
2 a college where students are taught a particular subject or skill:
•a military academy
•the Royal Academy of Music
3 a school in Scotland for children between 11 and 16
4 a private school in the US $
sung without any musical instruments

PHRASAL VERBS
accede to sth phr v formal
1 to agree to a demand, proposal etc, especially after first disagreeing with it:
•the doctor's refusal to accede to his patient's request
2 if someone accedes to the THRONE, they become king or queen $
getting gradually faster
1 [I,T] if a process accelerates or if something accelerates it, it happens faster than usual or sooner than you expect:
•measures to accelerate the rate of economic growth
2 [I] if a vehicle or someone who is driving it accelerates, it starts to go faster; decelerate
•The car accelerated smoothly away.
1 [singular, U] a process in which something happens more and more quickly
[+in]
•an acceleration in the rate of inflation
[+of]
•the rapid acceleration of economic progress in South East Asia
2 [U] the rate at which a car or other vehicle can go faster:
•The latest model has excellent acceleration.
3 [U] technical the rate at which the speed of an object increases $ [C]
1 the part of a car or other vehicle that you press with your foot to make it go faster; = gas pedal AmE
2 technical a large machine used to make extremely small pieces of MATTER^1 (3) move at extremely high speeds $ [C]
1 the way someone pronounces the words of a language, showing which country or which part of a country they come from; dialect
•He noticed that I spoke Polish with an accent.
English/American/Indian etc accent
•a slight American accent
a broad/strong/slight/faint etc accent
•a broad Irish accent
2 the accent is on sth if the accent is on a particular quality, feeling etc, special importance is given to it:
•accommodation with the accent on comfort
3 the part of a word that you should emphasize when you say it; = stress
[+on]
•In the word 'dinner' the accent is on the first syllable.
4 a written mark used above or below particular letters in some languages to show how to pronounce that letter $ [T]
1 to make something more noticeable so that people will pay attention to it; = highlight
•Use make-up to accent your cheekbones and eyes.
2 technical to emphasize a part of a word in speech $
1 spoken with a foreign accent:
•He spoke heavily accented English.
2 emphasized or given special importance:
•accented lighting [T]
to make something more noticeable:
•The photograph seemed to accentuate his large nose.
- accentuation noun [C,U]
1 GIFT/OFFER/INVITATION [I,T] to take something that someone offers you, or to agree to do something that someone asks you to do; refuse
•Rick accepted her offer of coffee.
•He accepted the invitation to stay with us.
•His school reports said that he is always ready to accept a challenge (=agree to do something difficult).
•Please accept this small gift.
•They offered me a job and I accepted.
accept sth from sb
•He accepted a glass of water from Helen.
•He readily accepted her invitation (=accepted it quickly).
2 SITUATION/PROBLEM ETC [T] to decide that there is nothing you can do to change a difficult and unpleasant situation or fact and continue with your normal life:
•He's not going to change, and you just have to accept it.
accept that
•We have to accept that this is not an ideal world.
•You need to accept the fact that most of your problems are caused by jealousy.
3 THINK SB/STH IS GOOD ENOUGH [T] to decide that someone has the necessary skill or intelligence for a particular job, course etc or that a piece of work is good enough; reject
•Students accepted by Stanford Law School had very high scores on the LSAT.
accept sb/sth as sth
•They have accepted him as the representative of the company.
accept sb/sth for sth
•Random House accepted the book for publication.
4 BECOME PART OF A GROUP [T] to allow someone to become part of a group, society, or organization, and to treat them in the same way as the other members; reject
accept sb as sth
•The children gradually began to accept her as one of the family.
accept sb into sth
•It often takes years for immigrants to be accepted into the host community.
5 AGREE TO TAKE/DEAL WITH STH [T] to agree to take or deal with something that someone gives you, or to say that it is suitable or good enough:
•The government has accepted the resignation of a senior army commander.
•Please accept my sincere apologies.
•Sorry, we don't accept travellers' cheques.
6 SUGGESTION/ADVICE [T] to decide to do what someone advises or suggests you should do:
•Be prepared to accept the advice of members of staff.
7 BELIEVE AN EXPLANATION/STATEMENT [T] to agree that what someone says is right or true; reject
•She has accepted your explanation as to why you didn't attend the meeting.
8 accept responsibility/blame for sth to admit that you were responsible for something bad that happened:
•The University will not accept responsibility for items lost or stolen.
1 good enough to be used for a particular purpose or to be considered satisfactory
[+to]
•an agreement which is acceptable to all sides
•Students who achieve an acceptable standard will progress to degree studies.
•How do we reach an acceptable level of data security?
2 acceptable behaviour is considered to be morally or socially good enough:
•Alcohol is not an acceptable way out of your problems.
•Here, the students set the standards for acceptable behaviour.
acceptable (for sb) to do sth
•It is not socially acceptable for parents to leave children unattended at that age.
•It is perfectly acceptable to sample the food before you buy.
- acceptably adverb
- acceptability noun [U]
1 [U] when you officially agree to take something that you have been offered
[+of]
•the formal acceptance of an invitation
•He wrote a letter of acceptance (=a letter in which you agree to accept a job, university place etc) to the university.
2 [singular, U] when people agree that an idea, statement, explanation etc is right or true
[+of]
•the acceptance of Einstein's theory
acceptance that
•There is still not widespread acceptance that fathers can care for children as well as mothers do.
gain/find acceptance
•This type of management style gained acceptance in the 1980s.
3 [U] the ability to accept an unpleasant situation which cannot be changed, without getting angry or upset about it
[+of]
•By the end of the trial, Nicolas moved towards acceptance of his fate.
4 [U] the process of allowing someone to become part of a group or a society and of treating them in the same way as the other members:
•Acceptance by their peer group is important to most youngsters.
considered right or suitable by most people:
•Having more than one wife is a normal and accepted practice in some countries.
generally/widely/universally etc accepted
•generally accepted principles of fairness and justice [U]
1 the right to enter a place, use something, see someone etc
[+to]
•Access to the papers is restricted to senior management.
•Cats should always have access to fresh, clean water.
2 how easy or difficult it is for people to enter a public building, to reach a place, or talk to someone
[+for]
•We're trying to improve access for disabled visitors.
[+to]
•a villa with easy access to the sea
3 the way you use to enter a building or reach a place:
•Access is by means of a small door on the right.
[+to]
•Access to the restrooms is through the foyer.
4 have access to a car/a computer etc to have a car, computer etc that you can use
5 BrE the legal right to see and spend time with your children, a prisoner, an official etc:
•My ex-husband has access to the children once a week.
6 gain/get access (to sth) to succeed in entering a place or in seeing someone or something:
•The police managed to gain access through an upstairs window.[T]
to find information, especially on a computer:
•Users can access their voice mail remotely.[C] BrE
an educational course for adults which prepares them for study at a university or college
1 a place, building, or object that is accessible is easy to reach or get into; inaccessible
•The island is only accessible by boat.
•There is a church which is easily accessible from my home.
2 easy to obtain or use
[+to]
•the need for an efficient health service that is accessible to all
easily/readily accessible
•Computers should be made readily accessible to teachers and pupils.
3 someone who is accessible is easy to meet and talk to, even if they are very important or powerful:
•I think that you'll find she's very accessible.
4 a book, poem, painting etc that is accessible is easy to understand and enjoy
[+to]
•He wants his music to be accessible to everyone.
- accessibly adverb
- accessibility noun [U]
1 [U] an official process in which someone becomes king, queen, president etc; succession
[+of]
•the accession of James I
accession to power/to the throne (=the act of becoming king, queen, president etc)
2 [U] formal the act of agreeing to a demand
3 [C] technical an object or work of art that is added to a collection of objects or paintingsalso accessorise BrE [T usually passive]
to add accessories to clothes, a room etc plural accessories [C]
1 [usually plural] something such as a piece of equipment or a decoration that is not necessary, but that makes a machine, car, room etc more useful or more attractive:
•bathroom accessories such as mirrors and towel-rails
2 [usually plural] something such as a bag, belt, or jewellery that you wear or carry because it is attractive:
•fashion accessories
•a set of fully matching clothes and accessories
3 someone who helps a criminal, especially by helping them hide from the police
[+to]
•an accessory to murder
an accessory before/after the fact (=someone who helps a criminal before or after the crime)[C]
a company that provides the technical services that allow people to use the Internet, usually in exchange for a monthly payment; = Internet Service Provider[C]
a road which allows traffic to reach a particular place:
•the access road to the farm[C,U]
technical the time taken by a computer to find and use a piece of information in its memory
1 by accident in a way that is not planned or intended; on purpose, deliberately
•I met her quite by accident. (=completely by accident)
•The discovery was made almost by accident.
•The pilot, whether by accident or design (=whether it was planned or not planned), made the plane do a sharp turn.
2 [C] a crash involving cars, trains, planes etc
road/car/traffic etc accident
•Over 70,000 people are killed or seriously injured every year in road accidents.
fatal/serious/tragic etc accident
•a fatal accident on the freeway
•The accident happened at the junction of Forest Road and Pine Walk.
3 [C] a situation in which someone is injured or something is damaged without anyone intending them to be:
•Ken had an accident at work and had to go to hospital.
•I'm sorry about breaking the vase - it was an accident (=I did not intend to do it).
4 [C,U] something that happens without anyone planning or intending it:
•My third baby was an accident.
• It is no accident that men fill most of the top jobs in nursing, while women remain on the lower grades.
an accident of birth/geography/history etc (=an event or situation caused by chance)
5 accidents (will) happen spoken used to tell someone who has broken something that they should not worry that it has happened
6 an accident waiting to happen used about a situation in which an accident is likely to happen because no one is trying to prevent it:
•The boats are being left to drift; it's an accident waiting to happen.

WORD FOCUS: accident
similar words:
crash
wreck AmE
pile-up
collision
disaster
catastrophe

happening without being planned or intended; deliberate
•an accidental discharge of toxic waste
•Buy an insurance policy that covers accidental damage.
- accidentally adverb
•I accidentally locked myself out of the house.[U] law especially BrE
an expression used by a court when it has decided that someone's death was caused by an accident[C] BrE
the room or department in a hospital where people go if they have an accident or suddenly become ill; = A & E; = emergency room AmE
more likely to have accidents than other people [T]
to praise someone or something publicly:
•His work was acclaimed by art critics.[U]
praise for a person or their achievements:
•The young singer is enjoying massive critical acclaim (=praise by people who are paid to give their opinion on art, music etc).
international/great/popular/public etc acclaim
•Their recordings have won great acclaim.
publicly praised by a lot of people
highly/widely/universally acclaimed
•The book has been widely acclaimed by teachers and pupils.
•His work was critically acclaimed (=praised by people who are paid to give their opinion on art, music etc).
1 [C,U] formal a loud expression of approval or welcome
2 [singular, U] formal the act of electing someone, using a spoken rather than written votealso acclimatise BrE also acclimate AmE [I,T]
to become used to a new place, situation, or type of weather, or to make someone become used to it
[+to]
•Runners had to acclimatize to the humid tropical conditions.
acclimatize yourself (to sth)
•I found it hard to acclimatize myself to working at weekends.
- acclimatization $ noun [U] [C]
praise for someone who is greatly admired, or a prize given to them for their work
ultimate/highest/supreme etc accolade
•She received a Grammy Award, the highest accolade in the music business. $
1 [T] if a room, building etc can accommodate a particular number of people or things, it has enough space for them:
•He bought a huge house to accommodate his library.
•The ballroom can accommodate 400 people.
2 [T] to provide someone with a place to stay, live, or work:
•The island was used to accommodate child refugees.
3 [T] to accept someone's opinions and try to do what they want, especially when their opinions or needs are different from yours:
•We've made every effort to accommodate your point of view.
4 [I] to get used to a new situation or to make yourself do this
[+to ]
•Her eyes took a while to accommodate to the darkness. $
helpful and willing to do what someone else wants:
•an accommodating child $
1 [U] also accommodations AmE a place for someone to stay, live, or work:
•The price for the holiday includes flights and accommodation.
•living accommodations for the crews
•travel and hotel accommodations
• rented accommodation
• secure accommodation for young offenders
•Universities have to provide student accommodation for first-year students.
2 [singular, U] formal an agreement between people or groups who have different views or opinions, that satisfies everyone:
•We reached an accommodation between both parties.
1 [C,U] music that is played in the background at the same time as another instrument or singer that plays or sings the main tune
piano/orchestral/organ/guitar etc accompaniment
•He plays folk music with guitar accompaniment.
to the accompaniment of sth
•An elderly man puffed on a trumpet to the accompaniment of drums and piano.
2 [C] something that is provided or used with something else:
•White wine makes an excellent accompaniment to fish.
3 to the accompaniment of sth while something else is happening or while another sound can be heard:
•They were exercising to the accompaniment of cheerful music.
4 [C] something that happens at the same time as another thing [C]
someone who plays a musical instrument while another person sings or plays the main tune past tense and past participle accompanied, present participle accompanying, third person singular accompanies [T]
1 to go somewhere with someone:
•Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
•Wherever her husband went, she would accompany him.
!! In spoken English, it is more usual to use go/come with He came with me to the airport.
2 to play a musical instrument while someone sings a song or plays the main tune:
•Daniel wanted Liz to accompany him on violin.
3 [usually passive] to happen or exist at the same time as something else:
•The disease is accompanied by sneezing and fever.
4 if a book, document etc accompanies something, it comes with it:
•Please see accompanying booklet for instructions.
•Your passport application form should be accompanied by two recent photographs. $ [C]
a person who helps someone such as a criminal to do something wrong $ [T]
to succeed in doing something, especially after trying very hard; = achieve
•We have accomplished all we set out to do.
• Mission accomplished (=we have done what we intended to do). $
1 an accomplished writer, painter, singer etc is very skilful
highly/very accomplished
•a highly accomplished designer
2 an accomplished fact BrE something that is known to be true and cannot be doubted $
1 [C] something successful or impressive that is achieved after a lot of effort and hard work; = achievement
impressive/significant/great etc accomplishment
•Cutting the budget was an impressive accomplishment.
•It was a major accomplishment for a player who had been injured so recently.
2 [U] the act of finishing or achieving something good
[+of]
•the accomplishment of policy goals
3 [C,U] an ability to do something well, or the skill involved in doing something well:
•Playing the piano is one of her many accomplishments. $
1 of sb's/sth's own accord without being asked or forced to do something:
•He decided to go of his own accord.
•The door seemed to move of its own accord.
2 [U] formal a situation in which two people, ideas, or statements agree with each other
be in accord with sth
•These results are in accord with earlier research.
in perfect/complete accord
•It is important to the success of any firm that its partners should be in complete accord.
3 [C] a formal agreement between countries or groups:
•the Helsinki accord on human rights
4 with one accord formal if two or more people do something with one accord, they do it together or at the same time:
•There was a silence as the women turned with one accord to stare at Doreen.formal
1 [T] to give someone or something special attention or a particular type of treatment:
•You will not be accorded any special treatment.
accord sth to sth/sb
•Every school accords high priority to the quality of teaching.
2 accord with sth to match or agree with something:
•The punishments accorded with the current code of discipline. $
in accordance with sth formal according to a rule, system etc:
•Article 47 may only be used in accordance with international law.
•Use this product only in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. $
1 in a way that is suitable for a particular situation or that is based on what someone has done or said:
•Katherine still considered him a child and treated him accordingly.
2 [sentence adverb] as a result of something; = therefore
•Some of the laws were contradictory. Accordingly, measures were taken to clarify them.
1 as shown by something or stated by someone:
•According to the police, his attackers beat him with a blunt instrument.
•There is now widespread support for these proposals, according to a recent public opinion poll.
!! Do not say 'according to me' or 'according to my opinion/point of view'. Say in my opinion In my opinion his first book is much better.
2 in a way that depends on differences in situations or amounts:
•You will be paid according to the amount of work you do.
3 in a way that agrees with a system or plan, or obeys a set of rules:
•The game will be played according to rules laid down for the 1992 Cup.
•Everything went according to plan, and we arrived on time.also piano accordion BrE $ [C]
a musical instrument like a large box that you hold in both hands. You play it by pressing the sides together and pulling them out again, while you push buttons and KEYs .
- accordionist noun [C] $ [T] written
to go towards someone you do not know and speak to them in an unpleasant or threatening way:
•He was accosted by four youths and forced to give them all his money. [C]
1 DESCRIPTION a written or spoken description that says what happens in an event or process
[+of]
•He was too shocked to give an account of what had happened.
blow-by-blow account (=a description of all the details of an event in the order that they happened)
•a blow-by-blow account of how England lost to Portugal
•Chomsky's account of how children learn their first language
eye-witness/first-hand account (=description of events by someone who saw them)
•Eye-witness accounts told of the unprovoked shooting of civilians.
•This gives a first-hand account of the war.
2 AT A BANK written abbreviation a/c or acct. an arrangement in which a bank keeps your money safe so that you can pay more in or take money out:
•My salary is paid directly into my bank account.
•I've opened an account with Barclay's Bank.
•My husband and I have a joint account (=one that is shared between two people).
BANK ACCOUNT, CHECKING ACCOUNT, CURRENT ACCOUNT, DEPOSIT ACCOUNT, PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT, SAVINGS ACCOUNT
3 take account of sth also take sth into account to consider or include particular facts or details when making a decision or judgment about something:
•These figures do not take account of changes in the rate of inflation.
4 on account of sth because of something else, especially a problem or difficulty:
•She was told to wear flat shoes, on account of her back problem.
5 accounts
a) [plural] an exact record of the money that a company has received and the money it has spent:
•The accounts for last year showed a profit of $2 million.
b) [U] a department in a company that is responsible for keeping records of the amount of money spent and received:
•Eileen works in accounts.
6 on account if you buy goods on account, you take them away with you and pay for them later
7 WITH A SHOP/COMPANY an arrangement that you have with a shop or company, which allows you to buy goods or use a service now and pay for them later; = credit account
•Can you charge this to my account please?
•an unlimited-use Internet account
8 BILL a statement that shows how much money you owe for things you have bought from a shop; = bill
pay/settle your account (=pay what you owe)
•James left the restaurant, settling his account by credit card.
9 ARRANGEMENT TO SELL GOODS an arrangement to sell goods and services to another company over a period of time:
•Our sales manager has secured several big accounts recently.
10 by/from all accounts according to what a lot of people say:
•It has, from all accounts, been a successful marriage.
11 on sb's account if you do something on someone's account, you do it because you think they want you to:
•Please don't change your plans on my account.
12 on your own account by yourself or for yourself:
•Carrie decided to do a little research on her own account.
13 on no account/not on any account used when saying that someone must not, for any reason, do something:
•On no account must you disturb me when I'm working.
14 by sb's own account according to what you have said, especially when you have admitted doing something wrong:
•Bentley was, by his own account, over-sensitive to criticism.
15 on that account/on this account concerning a particular situation:
•There needn't be any more worries on that account.
16 give a good/poor account of yourself to do something or perform very well or very badly:
•Kevin gave a good account of himself in today's game.
17 bring/call sb to account formal to force someone who is responsible for a mistake or a crime to explain publicly why they did it and punish them for it if necessary:
•The people responsible for the accident have never been brought to account.
18 put/turn sth to good account formal to use something for a good purpose:
•Perhaps she could put some of her talents to good account by helping us.
19 of no/little account formal not important:
•As she grew up, her father was of no account to her.

PHRASAL VERBS
account for sth phr v
1 to form a particular amount or part of something:
•Afro-Americans account for 12% of the US population.
2 to be the reason why something happens; = explain
•Recent pressure at work may account for his behavior.
3 to give a satisfactory explanation of why something has happened or why you did something; = explain
•Can you account for your movements on that night?
4 to say where all the members of a group of people or things are, especially because you are worried that some of them may be lost:
•Three days after the earthquake, more than 150 people had still to be accounted for. [not before noun]
responsible for the effects of your actions and willing to explain or be criticized for them
[+to]
•The government should be accountable to all the people of the country.
[+for]
•Managers must be accountable for their decisions.
•The hospital should be held accountable for the quality of care it gives.
- accountability noun [U] [U] BrE
the profession or work of keeping or checking financial accounts, calculating taxes etc [C]
someone whose job is to keep and check financial accounts, calculate taxes etc [U]
accountancyalso accouterments AmE [plural]
formal the equipment needed for a particular activity or way of life:
•the stylish accoutrements of an English country gentleman
1 having official approval to do something, especially because of having reached an acceptable standard:
•an accredited counsellor
•an accredited language school
2 if a government official is accredited to another country, they are sent to that country to officially represent their government there:
•the UK accredited representative
- accredit verb [T]
- accreditation noun [U] [C,U] formal
1 a layer of a substance which slowly forms on something
2 a gradual process by which new things are added and something gradually changes or gets bigger [I,T]
1 if advantages accrue to you, you get those advantages over a period of time
[+to]
•benefits that accrue to students
[+from]
•advantages accruing from the introduction of new technology
2 if money accrues or is accrued, it gradually increases over a period of time:
•Interest will accrue until payment is made.
- accrual noun [C usually singular]
the written abbreviation of account
1 [T] to gradually get more and more money, possessions, knowledge etc over a period of time:
•It is unjust that a privileged few should continue to accumulate wealth.
2 [I] to gradually increase in numbers or amount until there is a large quantity in one place:
•Fat tends to accumulate around the hips and thighs.
- accumulation noun [C,U]
•the accumulation of data $
gradually increasing in amount or degree over a period of time; = cumulative
- accumulatively adverb $ [C]
1 technical a part of a computer that stores numbers
2 especially BrE a kind of BETTING on the results of a series of horse races, by which any money you win from a race is bet on the next race [U]
1 the ability to do something in an exact way without making a mistake:
•He passes the ball with unerring accuracy.
2 the quality of being correct or true; inaccuracy
[+of]
•worries about the accuracy of government statistics
1 INFORMATION correct and true in every detail; inaccurate
•The brochure tries to give a fair and accurate description of each hotel.
fairly/reasonably accurate
•Police believe Derek gave a reasonably accurate account of what happened.
not strictly/entirely/completely accurate
•The evidence she gave to the court was not strictly accurate (=not exactly accurate).
2 MEASUREMENT measured or calculated correctly; inaccurate
•It is difficult to get accurate figures on population numbers.
3 MACHINE a machine that is accurate is able to do something in an exact way without making a mistake:
•The cutter is accurate to within ½ a millimetre.
4 WELL-AIMED an accurate shot, throw etc succeeds in hitting or reaching the thing that it is intended to hit:
•an accurate shot
•accurate bowling
- accurately adverb
•It's impossible to predict the weather accurately. $
1 [only before noun] formal used to show that something makes you very angry
2 old use someone who is accursed has had a CURSE put on them [C]
a statement saying that someone is guilty of a crime or of doing something wrong

make an accusation (against sb)
bring/level an accusation (against sb) (=make an accusation)
face an accusation (=have an accusation made against you)
deny an accusation
serious accusation
false accusation
wild accusations
amid accusations of/that (=when people are making accusations)

[+against]
•A number of serious accusations have been made against her.
•The main accusation levelled against him was that he tried to avoid military service.
[+of]
•His administration now faces accusations of corruption.
accusation that
•The organizers of the march strongly denied government accusations that they intended to cause trouble.
•Burton's enemies had made false accusations against him.
•She's made all sorts of wild accusations against me in the past.
•They fled the country, amid accusations of corruption.

[C]
technical a form of a noun in languages such as Latin or German, which shows that the noun is the DIRECT OBJECT of a verb or a PREPOSITION
- accusative adjective $
an accusatory remark or look from someone shows that they think you have done something wrong [T]
to say that you believe someone is guilty of a crime or of doing something bad
accuse sb of (doing) sth
•He was accused of murder.
•Smith accused her of lying.
•The professor stands accused of (=has been accused of) stealing his student's ideas and publishing them.
- accuser noun [C]
the accused [singular or plural] the person or group of people who have been officially accused of a crime or offence in a court of law
an accusing look from someone shows that they think that you have done something wrong
- accusingly adverb [T]
to make yourself or another person become used to a situation or place
accustom yourself to sth
•It took a while for me to accustom myself to all the new rules and regulations.
1 be accustomed to (doing) sth to be familiar with something and accept it as normal:
•We were accustomed to working together.
become/grow/get accustomed to sth
•Her eyes quickly became accustomed to the dark.
!! In spoken English, it is more usual to say be/get used to (doing) sth You'll soon get used to the hot climate.
2 [only before noun] formal usual:
•The pans were in their accustomed places. informal
sexually attracted to both men and women [C]
1 PLAYING CARD a playing card with a single spot on it, which usually has the highest value in a game:
•the ace of hearts
•I've got a pair of aces.
2 SKILFUL PERSON someone who is extremely skilful at doing something:
•a soccer ace
•cycling ace Chris Boardman
3 TENNIS SHOT a first shot in tennis or VOLLEYBALL which is hit so well that your opponent cannot reach the ball and you win the point:
•She has already hit 13 aces in the match.
4 hold the aces to have the advantages in a situation so that you are sure to win:
•The Americans hold most of the aces in this technology.
5 within an ace of (doing) sth very close to doing or achieving something:
•The team came within an ace of winning the championship.
6 have an ace up your sleeve to have a secret advantage which could help you to win or be successful
7 ace in the hole AmE informal something that you keep secretly to use when you need it:
•That fifty dollars is my ace in the hole.
1 ace pilot/player/skier etc someone who is a very skilful pilot, player etc:
•an ace marksman
2 BrE spoken very good:
•The party was ace.[T]
1 AmE informal to do very well in an examination, a piece of written work etc:
•I think I aced the History test.
2 to hit your first shot in tennis or VOLLEYBALL so well that your opponent cannot reach the ball $
criticizing someone or something in a clever but cruel way:
•acerbic wit
- acerbity noun [U]
1 [U] a chemical made from acetic acid
2 [U] a smooth artificial cloth used to make clothes
3 [C] a transparent sheet that you write or print something on, and that is used with an OVERHEAD PROJECTOR [U]
the acid in VINEGAR $ [U]
a clear liquid with a strong smell, used for cleaning surfaces, making paint more liquid, or for making other chemical substances $ [U]
a gas which burns with a bright flame and is used in equipment for cutting and joining pieces of metal; oxyacetylene [I]
1 if part of your body aches, you feel a continuous, but not very sharp pain there; = hurt
•His feet were aching from standing so long.
2 to want to do or have something very much
[+for]
•I'm aching for sleep.
ache to do sth
•He ached to reach out and hold her close.
3 to have a strong unhappy feeling
[+with]
•Sarah ached with sadness that her brother was so ill.
•Tim's heart was aching for her.[C]
1 a continuous pain that is not sharp or very strong:
•a stomach ache
•A dull ache throbbed at the back of David's head.
aches and pains (=slight feelings of pain that are not considered to be serious)
•Apart from the usual aches and pains, she felt all right.
2 a strong, mostly unhappy, feeling:
•the ache of his loneliness
- achy adjective
•I'm feeling tired and achy.
1 [T] to successfully complete something or get a good result, especially by working hard:
•Frances achieved very good exam results.
•Wilson has achieved considerable success as an artist.
•She eventually achieved her goal of becoming a professor.
2 [I] to be successful in a particular kind of job or activity:
•We want all our students to achieve within their chosen profession.
- achievable adjective
1 [C] something important that you succeed in doing by your own efforts
[+of]
•We try to celebrate the achievements of our students.
•His great achievement is to make all the players into a united team.
sb's achievement in (doing) sth
•The test measures children's achievements in reading, spelling and maths.
2 [U] when you achieve something or when people achieve something:
•Roberts is researching the effect of social class on educational achievement.
•As we climbed the final few metres, we felt a sense of achievement. $ [C]
someone who is successful because they are determined and work hard; underachiever, overachiever [C]
a weak part of someone's character, which could cause them to fail at something:
•I think Frank's vanity is his Achilles' heel. [C]
the part of your body that connects the muscles in the back of your foot with the muscles of your lower leg [C]
used to represent the sound you make when you SNEEZE
1 [C,U] a chemical substance that has a PH of less than 7. Strong acids can burn holes in material or damage your skin:
•sulphuric acid
2 [U] informal the drug LSD
1 having a sharp sour taste; = bitter
•a juicy apple with a slightly acid flavour
2 acid remark/comment/tone etc an acid remark uses humour in an unkind way to criticize someone:
•I was expecting another of his acid remarks, but he remained silent.
3 the acid test a way of finding out whether something is as good as people say it is, whether it works, or whether it is true:
•People ask if the team is good enough. This match will be the acid test.
4 technical an acid soil does not contain much LIME^1 (3):
•Blueberry bushes need a very acid soil.
- acidly adverb
- acidity noun [U][U]
a kind of dance music that is played loudly using electronic instruments
1 very sour:
•Some fruit juices taste a bit acidic.
2 containing acid past tense and past participle acidified, present participle acidifying, third person singular acidifies [I,T]
technical to become an acid or make something become an acid[U]
a type of popular music that combines features of many other kinds of music, especially JAZZ, HIP-HOP, and SOUL
if you say something acidly, you say it in a cruel or unkind way:
•'I'm sure you're right,' he said acidly.[U]
rain that contains harmful acid which can damage the environment and is caused by chemicals in the air, for example from cars or factories $ [T]
1 ADMIT to admit or accept that something is true or that a situation exists:
•The family acknowledge the need for change.
acknowledge that
•He acknowledges that when he's tired he gets bad-tempered.
•Claire acknowledged that she was guilty.
•The government must acknowledge what is happening and do something about it.
•'Maybe you are right,' she acknowledged.
•This is a fact that most smokers readily acknowledge.
2 RECOGNIZE STH'S IMPORTANCE [usually passive] if people acknowledge something, they recognize how good or important it is
acknowledge sth as sth
•The film festival is acknowledged as an event of international importance.
be widely/generally acknowledged to be sth
•The mill produces what is widely acknowledged to be the finest wool in the world.
3 ACCEPT SB'S AUTHORITY to accept that someone or something has authority over people:
•Both defendants refused to acknowledge the authority of the court.
acknowledge sb as sth
•Many of the poor acknowledged him as their spiritual leader.
4 THANK to publicly announce that you are grateful for the help that someone has given you:
•We wish to acknowledge the support of the university.
5 SHOW YOU NOTICE SB to show someone that you have noticed them or heard what they have said:
•Tom acknowledged her presence by a brief glance.
6 SAY YOU HAVE RECEIVED STH to let someone know that you have received something from them:
•I would be grateful if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter.acknowledgment $
1 [C,U] the act of admitting or accepting that something is true
[+of]
•We want an acknowledgement of the existence of the problem.
acknowledgement that
•The reduction in their grant is an acknowledgement that they have been paid too much.
2 [singular] a movement of your body that shows that you have noticed someone or heard what they have said:
•Basil nodded an acknowledgement as he entered the room.
•He gave her a faint smile of acknowledgement.
3 [C,U] the act of publicly thanking someone for something they have done
in acknowledgement of sth
•She received a special award in acknowledgement of all her hard work.
4 [C,U] a letter written to tell someone that you have received their letter, message etc:
•Do you want a written acknowledgement?
5 acknowledgements [plural] a short piece of writing at the beginning or end of a book in which the writer thanks all the people who have helped him or her
the acme of sth formal the best and highest level of something:
•the acme of perfection [U]
a medical problem which causes a lot of red spots on your face and neck and mainly affects young people [C]
1 formal someone who serves a leader or believes in their ideas
2 someone who helps a priest at a religious ceremony $ [C]
the nut of the OAK tree
1 relating to sound and the way people hear things
2 an acoustic GUITAR or other musical instrument does not have its sound made louder electronically; electric
- acoustically adverb [plural]
1 the shape and size of a room, which affect the way sound is heard in it:
•The hall has excellent acoustics.
2 the scientific study of sound [T]
1 acquaint yourself with sth formal to deliberately find out about something:
•I need to acquaint myself with the new regulations.
2 acquaint sb with sth formal to give someone information about something:
•You need to acquaint the police with the facts.
1 SB YOU KNOW [C] someone you know, but who is not a close friend:
•She was a casual acquaintance of my family in Vienna.
•He heard about the job through a mutual acquaintance (=someone you and another person both know).
2 RELATIONSHIP [singular, U] a relationship with someone you know, but who is not a close friend:
•They developed an acquaintance over the Internet.
•You can't judge her on such short acquaintance (=when you have not known her long).
•My uncle did not improve on further acquaintance (=when you knew him better).
3 make sb's acquaintance formal to meet someone for the first time:
•I should be delighted to make Mrs McGough's acquaintance.
•At the hotel, I made the acquaintance of a young American actor.
4 KNOWLEDGE [U] formal knowledge or experience of a particular subject
[+with]
•The practice of a lawyer requires acquaintance with court procedures.
have a passing/nodding acquaintance with sth (=have only slight knowledge or experience of something)
•He has a passing acquaintance with a lot of different subjects.
5 of your acquaintance formal a person of your acquaintance is someone that you know:
•The poems were written by various women of her acquaintance.
6 on first acquaintance formal when you meet someone for the first time:
•Most people are nicer than you think on first acquaintance.[C,U]
a crime in which a person forces someone they know to have sex with them; = date rape [U]
1 your experience or knowledge of a subject
2 a slight friendship with someone:
•Sheridan had struck up an acquaintanceship with Giles (=had met him and became friendly with him). [not before noun]
1 if you are acquainted with someone, you have met them a few times but do not know them very well
[+with]
•Were you acquainted with a friend of mine, Daniel Green?
•We would like to get better acquainted.
2 formal be acquainted with sth to know about something, because you have seen it, read it, used it etc:
•She was well acquainted with classical literature. [I]
formal to do what someone else wants, or allow something to happen, even though you do not really agree with it
[+in/to]
•Oil companies have been accused of acquiescing in the pollution of the ocean.
too ready to agree with someone or do what they want, without complaining or saying what you want to do
- acquiescence noun [U] $ [T]
1 formal to obtain something by buying it or being given it:
•Manning hoped to acquire valuable works of art as cheaply as possible.
•She has acquired an email address and a site on the WorldWide Web.
2 to get or gain something:
•The college acquired a reputation for very high standards.
3 to gain knowledge or learn a skill:
•He spent years acquiring his skills as a surgeon.
•Elsie acquired a good knowledge of Chinese.
4 acquire a taste for sth to begin to like something:
•She had acquired a taste for European beer.
5 an acquired taste something that people only begin to like after they have tried it a few times
1 [U] the process by which you gain knowledge or learn a skill:
•the acquisition of language
2 [U] the act of getting land, power, money etc
[+of]
•the acquisition of new sites for development
3 [C] formal something that you have obtained by buying it or being given it:
•The Art Society is holding an exhibition of recent acquisitions.
wanting to have and keep a lot of possessions
- acquisitiveness noun [U] past tense and past participle acquitted, present participle acquitting
1 [T usually passive] to give a decision in a court of law that someone is not guilty of a crime:
•All the defendants were acquitted.
acquit sb of sth
•The judge directed the jury to acquit Phillips of the murder.
2 acquit yourself well/honourably to do something well, especially something difficult that you do for the first time in front of other people [C,U]
an official statement in a court of law that someone is not guilty $ [C]
1 a unit for measuring area, equal to 4840 square yards or 4047 square metres:
•They own 200 acres of farmland.
•a 200-acre wood
2 acres of space/room BrE informal a large amount of space [U]
the area of a piece of land measured in acres
1 an acrid smell or taste is strong and unpleasant and stings your nose or throat:
•a cloud of acrid smoke
2 formal an acrid remark expresses anger and criticizes someone strongly $
an acrimonious meeting or discussion is one in which people argue a lot and get very angry:
•The meeting ended in an acrimonious dispute.
- acrimoniously adverb
- acrimoniousness noun [U] $ [U]
formal feelings of anger between people who disagree strongly and do not like each other [C]
someone who entertains people by doing difficult physical actions such as walking on their hands or balancing on a high rope, especially at a CIRCUS
acrobatic movements involve moving your body in a very skilful way, for example by jumping through the air or balancing on a rope:
•They performed some amazing acrobatic feats.
- acrobatically adverb [plural]
skilful movements of your body, for example jumping through the air or balancing on a rope [C]
a word made up from the first letters of the name of something such as an organization. For example NATO is an acronym for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. $
1 from one side of something to the other:
•the first flight across the Atlantic
•They ran straight across the road (=without stopping).
•There isn't a bridge. We'll have to swim across.
•We'd got halfway across before Philip realized he'd left his money at home.
•We gazed across the valley.
2 towards someone or something on the other side of an area:
•There's Brendan. Why don't you go across and say hello?
[+to/at]
•The referee looked across at his linesman before awarding the penalty.
•He walked across to where I was sitting.
3 used to say that something exists or reaches from one side of an area to the other:
•a deep crack across the ceiling
•the only bridge across the river
•Do you think this shirt is too tight across the shoulders?
•Someone's parked right across the entrance to the driveway.
4 on the opposite side of something:
•My best friend lives across the road.
•He knew that just across the border lay freedom.
across (sth) from sb/sth
•Across the street from where we're standing, you can see the old churchyard.
•the woman sitting across from me (=opposite me) on the train
5 in every part of a country, organization etc:
•a TV series that became popular across five continents
•Teachers are expected to teach a range of subjects right across the curriculum.
6 used to show how wide something is
10 feet/five metres etc across
•At its widest point the river is 2 km across.also across the board
affecting everyone or everything in a situation or organization:
•an across-the-board pay increase
•In July everything we sell is reduced right across the board. $ [C]
a poem or piece of writing in which the first or last letter of each line spells a word
acrylic paints or cloth are made from chemical substances, not natural substances [plural]
acrylic paints
1 ACTION [C] one thing that you do:
•The new president's first act should be to end the war.
•a thoughtless act
act of (doing) sth
•an act of violence
•Her many acts of kindness have given me great comfort.
•The act of writing a list can help to calm you down.
in the act of doing sth (=at the moment that you are doing something)
•Lindsay paused in the act of putting down the phone.
2 LAW also Act [C] a law that has been officially accepted by Parliament or Congress:
•the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977
•an act of Parliament
3 PRETENDING [singular] insincere behaviour in which you pretend to have a particular kind of feeling or to be a particular kind of person:
•Mike played the loving husband in front of the children but it was all an act.
•Be natural. Don't feel you have to put on an act.
4 get your act together informal to become more organized and behave in a more effective way, especially in order to achieve something:
•You need to get your act together if you're going to find the right house to buy.
5 PLAY [C] one of the main parts into which a stage play, OPERA etc is divided:
•I arrived at the theatre late and missed the first act.
•the beginning of Act 3
6 PERFORMANCE [C] a short performance on stage or television by someone who plays music or tells jokes:
•The argument was just part of their act.
7 PERFORMER [C] a performer or a group of performers who perform together:
•The band is one of many acts that have been booked for the concert.
8 a hard/tough etc act to follow someone who does such an excellent job that it would be difficult for someone doing the same job after them to be as good:
•He has been a very successful captain and will be a hard act to follow.
9 get in on the act informal to take part in an activity that someone else has started, especially in order to get a share of the advantages for yourself
10 act of God an event that is caused by natural forces, such as a storm, flood, or fire, which you cannot prevent or control
11 act of worship an occasion when people pray together and show their respect for God
12 balancing/juggling act a situation in which you are trying to do several different types of work at the same time
catch sb in the act at CATCH^1 (3)
clean up your act at CLEAN UP (3)
1 DO SOMETHING [I] to do something in a particular way or for a particular reason:
•The company acted correctly in sacking him.
•The jury decided that Walker had acted in self-defence.
act to do sth
•The UN must act now to restore democracy.
•Politicians will only act when enough people demand that they do something.
2 BEHAVE [I always + adv/prep] to behave in a particular way:
•They acted unreasonably when they turned down Jill's application.
•He's been acting strangely ever since his Mom died.
[+as if]
•Pip acted as if he was better than everyone else.
[+like]
•Stop acting like a baby.
[+with]
•She acted with dignity.
act your age (=used to tell someone to behave in a more adult way, suitable for someone of their age)
3 PRETEND [I,T] to pretend to have feelings, qualities etc that are different from your true ones:
•When he's angry, he acts the fool.
•That guy is acting crazy.
act a part/role
•Stella felt unnatural in their company, as if she was acting a part.
[+as if/like]
•Why does he act as if he was stupid?
4 PLAY/FILM [I,T] to perform in a play or film:
•I first started acting when I was 12 years old.
act a part/role
•She is acting the role of Lady Macbeth six evenings a week.
•The movie is very well acted.
5 HAVE AN EFFECT [I] to have an effect or use
[+as]
•The padding acts as a cushion if the player falls or is hit by the ball.
[+on]
•Disinfectants act on bacteria in two main ways.
6 act for sb/act on sb's behalf to represent someone, especially in a court of law or by doing business for them:
•Makin, a solicitor, is acting for the young people in their case against the county council.
•I am acting on behalf of the bank.
ACTING^1

PHRASAL VERBS
act as sth phr v
to do a particular job for a short time, for example while the usual person is absent:
•My brother speaks French - he can act as interpreter.

act on/upon sth phr v
to do something because of another person's advice or order, or because you have received information or had an idea:
•She is acting on the advice of her lawyers.
•Police say they acted on information received.

act sth <=> out phr v
1 if a group of people act out an event, they show how it happened by pretending to be the people who were involved in it:
•The children were acting out the story of the birth of Jesus.
2 to express your feelings about something through your behaviour or actions, especially when you have been feeling angry or nervous:
•These teenagers are likely to act out their distress by running away.

act up phr v
1 if children act up, they behave badly:
•He's a tough kid and he acts up a lot.
2 if a machine or part of your body acts up, it does not work properly:
•The computer is acting up again.
acting manager/head teacher/ director etc someone who does an important job while the usual person is not there, or until a new person is chosen for the job[U]
the job or skill of performing in plays and films
1 DOING STH [U] the process of doing something, especially in order to achieve a particular thing

take action (=do something to deal with a problem)
course/plan of action (=something that you plan to do in order to achieve something)
tough/firm/decisive action
drastic action (=action that has a very severe effect)
demand/call for action
put your ideas/plans etc into action (=do what you had planned to do)
spring/swing into action (=start doing something immediately)
military action (=a military attack)
industrial action (=a strike or other protest at work)
no further action is needed/required/called for (=it is not necessary to do anything else)

•The government must take action now to stop the rise in violent crime.
•What do you think is our best course of action?
•They met to discuss a plan of action.
[+on]
•Environmental groups want tougher action on pollution from cars.
• Firm action is needed to keep the situation from getting out of control.
•Business leaders demanded immediate and decisive action to end the dispute.
•The situation called for drastic action.
•She was looking forward to putting her ideas into action.
•Ambulance crews are ready to spring into action if anything goes wrong during the race.
•The United States threatened military action against Iraq.
•Teachers have voted in favour of industrial action.
•The doctor says that if the results are negative, no further action is required.

2 STH DONE [C] something that someone does
quick/swift/prompt action
•Her prompt actions probably saved my life.
•The child could not be held responsible for his actions (=he was too young to be blamed for them).
defend/justify your action(s)
•The chief of police tried to justify his actions.
3 in action someone or something that is in action is doing the job or activity they are trained or designed to do:
•photos of ski jumpers in action
see/watch sth/sb in action
•I'd like see the new computer system in action.
4 out of action
a) broken and not working:
•The photocopier is out of action again.
b) injured and unable to do anything
put/keep sth out of action
•The injury will keep him out of action for a month.
5 FIGHTING [U] fighting during a war:
•There have been reports of widespread enemy action in the area.
killed/wounded in action (=killed or wounded while fighting)
•His father was killed in action in Vietnam.
•530 servicemen were reported missing in action (=they had disappeared).
•The men were sent into action with little or no training.
•He had seen action (=been involved in fighting) in Korea.
6 LEGAL [C,U] a legal or formal process to decide whether someone has done something wrong:
•They are threatening to take legal action against the hospital (=start a court case against them).
•The director faces disciplinary action (=official action to punish him).
•The matter is now the subject of a court action (=a court case).
•The students agreed to drop their action (=decide not to continue with a court case or an official complaint).
•The sisters brought a libel action against the newspaper (=started a court case).
7 EXCITEMENT [U]
a) informal exciting things that are happening:
•There hasn't been much action around here for months.
•New York is where all the action is.
b) an action film has a lot of exciting scenes in it, in which people fight, chase, and kill each other:
•Gibson became famous in action movies, but he has also played some more serious roles.
•a TV action hero
8 THE EVENTS IN A STORY/FILM ETC the action the events in a story, film, play etc:
•Most of the action takes place in San Francisco.
• The action opens (=starts) in a barber shop.
9 MOVEMENT [C,U] the way something moves or works
[+of]
•the action of the heart
•a smooth braking action
10 EFFECT [U] the effect that a substance, especially a chemical, has on something
[+of]
•The drug blocks the action of the cancer gene.
[+on/upon]
•the action of alcohol on the liver
11 action group/committee etc a group formed to change a social or political situation - often used in names:
•the Child Poverty Action Group
12 a piece/slice of the action informal an opportunity to be involved in an event or activity, especially one that will be enjoyable or will make money:
•If you want a slice of the action, tickets may still be available.
13 actions speak louder than words used to say that you are judged by what you do, and not by what you say
14 action! used by film DIRECTORs to give the instruction to begin filming:
•Lights, camera, action!
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION[T] formal
to do a specific thing that needs to be done, especially after discussing it:
•How are we actually going to action these objectives? law
if something you say or do is actionable, it is so bad or damaging that a claim could be made against you in a court of law:
•His remarks are actionable in my view.
an action-packed film, book etc contains a lot of exciting events[C]
something that must be done, as a result of a meeting[C] BrE
1 an important or exciting moment in a sports game that is shown again on television immediately after it happens, sometimes at a slower speed; = instant replay AmE
2 [usually singular] an event in your life that is very similar to one that you have experienced before
[+of]
•an action replay of the week we spent in Jamaica[plural] BrE
the positions that people such as soldiers or the police take when they are getting ready to fight or deal with a difficult situation - often used to tell people to go to these positions:
•Crew, return to action stations! [T] technical
to make an electrical system or chemical process start working; deactivate
•Cooking fumes may activate the alarm.
•The yeast's growth is activated by sugar and warmth.
- activation noun [U]
1 BUSY always busy doing things, especially physical activities; inactive
•games for active youngsters
•She's over 80, but is still very active.
active life/lifestyle
•My father always led a very active life.
active mind/imagination
•a child with a very active imagination
2 INVOLVED involved in an organization or activity and doing lots of practical things to achieve your aims:
•He became politically active at college.
be active in (doing) sth
•The Bureau is active in promoting overseas investment.
take/play an active part/role in sth
•Encourage students to take an active part in discussions.
•She took an active interest in local charities.
active participation/involvement
•the importance of active participation by elderly people in the life of the community
•We're taking active steps (=doing practical things) to deal with the problem.
•We maintain active links with other European universities.
active member/supporter
3 FUNCTIONING operating in a way that is normal or expected; inactive
•The virus is active even at low temperatures.
4 DOING STH doing something regularly:
• sexually active teenagers
5 VOLCANO an active VOLCANO is likely to explode at any time:
•The volcano became active last year with a series of eruptions.
6 GRAMMAR an active verb or sentence has the person or thing doing the action as its SUBJECT. In 'The boy kicked the ball', the verb 'kick' is active
PASSIVE^1 (2)
7 CHEMICAL producing a chemical reaction:
•nicotine, the active ingredient in tobacco
- actively adverb
•Carol was actively involved in the local sports club.
the active the active form of a verb, for example 'destroyed' in the sentence 'Enemy planes destroyed the village.'
PASSIVE^2also active duty [U]
the work that soldiers do in a war:
•Powell was declared unfit for active service.
on active service/duty
•More than 20,000 women are on active duty. [C]
someone who works hard doing practical things to achieve social or political change
political/gay/animal rights etc activist
- activist adjective [only before noun]
•activist groups plural activities
1 [C usually plural] something that you do because you enjoy it
leisure/recreation/outdoor/cultural etc activities
•outdoor activities such as hiking or climbing
2 [C,U] things that people do in order to achieve a particular aim
political/economic/business etc activity
•Everyone is free to engage in peaceful political activity.
criminal/terrorist/illegal etc activity
•fund-raising activities
3 [U] a situation in which a lot of things are happening or a lot of things are being done:
•the noise and activity of the city
•There's an amazing level of activity in the town centre currently.
physical/mental activity
•Regular physical activity helps to control your weight. $ [C]
someone who performs in a play or film
leading/principal actor
•She has starred with many leading actors.
character actor (=an actor who takes unusual or interesting roles) [C]
a woman who performs in a play or film [only before noun]
1 used to emphasize that something is real or exact:
•I'm not joking. Those were his actual words.
•I know Germany won, but I can't tell you the actual score.
•Interest is only charged on the actual amount borrowed.
•In actual fact (=really), there is little evidence to support the allegations.
!! Do not use actual to mean 'at the present time'. Use current or present the current (NOT actual) economic policy.
2 the actual sth used to introduce the most important part of an event or activity:
•The programme starts at 8.00 but the actual film doesn't start until 8.30. plural actualities formal
1 [C usually plural] facts, rather than things that people believe or imagine; = realities
•the grim actualities of prison life
2 [U] the state of being real or really existing:
• In actuality, it's much more complex than that (=used when talking about what a situation is really like).also actualise BrE [T]
to make a plan or wish become true; = realize
•Mistakes are a necessary part of actualizing your vision.
- actualization $ noun [U]
1 [sentence adverb] spoken used to add new information to what you have just said, to give your opinion, or to start a new conversation:
•I've known Barbara for years. Since we were babies, actually.
•Actually, on second thoughts, I don't think I want to go out tonight.
2 used to emphasize the real or exact truth of a situation, rather than what people may think:
•What time are you actually leaving?
•Labor costs have actually fallen.
•Disappointed? No, actually I'm rather glad. [plural]
numbers that relate to something that has actually happened, rather than what was expected to happen:
•Mobile phone operators had expected monthly usage of up to 250 minutes. Actuals are very different, at 100 minutes. $ plural actuaries [C]
someone whose job is to advise insurance companies on how much to charge for insurance, after calculating the risks
- actuarial $ adjective [T] formal
1 be actuated by sth to behave in a particular way because of something:
•He was actuated by violent jealousy.
2 to make a piece of machinery start to operate [U] formal
the ability to think, see, or hear clearly:
•A motorist needs good visual acuity. [U]
the ability to think quickly and make good judgments
business/political/financial etc acumen
•The firm's success is largely due to Brannon's commercial acumen. $ [U]
a treatment for pain and disease that involves pressing your hands on particular parts of the body $ [U]
a treatment for pain and disease that involves pushing special needles into parts of the body:
•the four main acupuncture points
- acupuncturist noun [C]
•a qualified acupuncturist
1 PROBLEM an acute problem is very serious:
•The housing shortage is more acute than first thought.
2 FEELING an acute feeling is very strong:
• acute pain
•acute embarrassment
•acute anxiety
3 ILLNESS technical an acute illness or disease quickly becomes very serious; chronic
•acute arthritis
4 SENSES acute senses such as hearing, taste, touch etc are very good and sensitive:
•Young children have a particularly acute sense of smell.
5 INTELLIGENT quick to notice and understand things; = sharp
•Simon's vague manner concealed an acute mind.
•an acute analysis of Middle Eastern politics
6 MATHEMATICS technical an acute angle is less than 90°; obtuse
7 PUNCTUATION an acute ACCENT (=a mark used to show pronunciation) is a small mark written above a vowel. In 'café', the letter 'e' has an acute accent; grave, circumflex
- acuteness noun [U]
feeling or noticing something very strongly
acutely aware/conscious (of/that)
•Students are becoming acutely aware that they need more than just paper qualifications.
•acutely embarrassedA.D. AmE BrE
Anno Domini used to show that a date is a particular number of years after the birth of Christ; = CE; BC
•the first century AD
•54 AD [C]
informal an advertisement; classified ad [C]
a well-known phrase that says something wise about human experience; = proverb
•the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words $ plural adagios [C] technical
a piece of music that should be played or sung slowly
- adagio adjective, adverb
determined not to change your opinion or a decision that you have made:
•She begged me to change my mind, but I remained adamant.
[+that]
•Michael Jackson is adamant that he will not tour this year.
- adamantly adverb
•Britain is adamantly opposed to the new directive. $ [C]
the lump at the front of your neck that moves when you talk or swallow
1 [I,T] to gradually change your behaviour and attitudes in order to be successful in a new situation
[+to]
•The children are finding it hard to adapt to the new school.
•flowers which are well adapted to harsh winters
•The ability to adapt is a definite asset in this job.
adapt yourself/itself etc (to sth)
•How do these insects adapt themselves to new environments?
2 [T] to change something to make it suitable for a different purpose
adapt sth to do sth
•The car has been adapted to take unleaded gas.
adapt sth for sb
•These teaching materials can be adapted for older children.
3 [T usually passive] if a book or play is adapted for film, television etc, it is changed so that it can be made into a film, television programme etc
be adapted for sth
•Many children buy books after they have been adapted for television.
- adapted adjective
•She lives in a specially adapted flat. [usually after noun]
able to change in order to be successful in new and different situations:
•The American Constitution has proved adaptable in changing political conditions.
[+to]
•The catfish is adaptable to a wide range of water conditions.
- adaptability noun [U]also adaption
1 [C] a film or television programme that is based on a book or play
[+of]
•the BBC adaptation of the bestselling book
television/film/stage etc adaptation
•He's working on a screen adaptation of his latest novel.
2 [U] formal the process of changing something to make it suitable for a new situation
[+to]
•adaptation to the environmentadaptor $ [C]
an object that you use to connect two different pieces of electrical equipment, or to connect two pieces of equipment to the same power supply [U] medical
the abbreviation of attention deficit disorder
1 PUT WITH STH ELSE [T] to put something with something else or with a group of other things:
•If the mixture seems dry, add water.
add sth to sth
•Do you want to add your name to the list?
•Suzuki has added extra doors to its sports off-roader.
•Material about recent research has been added to this new edition.
2 COUNT [I,T] if you add numbers or amounts together, you calculate their total; subtract
add sth and sth (together)
•Add 7 and 5 to make 12.
•For tax purposes, your pension and earnings are added together.
add sth to sth
•Add £2.20 to the cost for postage.
3 INCREASE [I,T] to increase the amount or cost of something
add (sth) to sth
•Spell-checking your document adds time to the process.
•Sales tax adds to the price.
4 SAY MORE [T] to say more about something that has just been said:
•'And I don't care what you think,' she added defiantly.
•That's all I have to say. Is there anything you'd like to add, David?
[+that]
•Everyone will be invited to vote, he said, adding that voting is likely to be via the web.
•I was refused accommodation - not, I hasten to add, on account of my appearance (=used to explain more about what you have just said).
•She was trying to entertain us - unsuccessfully, I might add (=used to comment on what you have just said).
5 GIVE A QUALITY [T] to give a particular quality to something
add sth to sth
•We've added value to the information by organizing it.
add a touch of glamour/class (to sth)
•Champagne always adds a touch of glamour to the occasion.
•Coloured glass can be added for effect.
6 add(ed) to that/this used to introduce another fact that supports your opinion:
•Our hospitals are short of cash. Add to that the long hours doctors work, and you have a recipe for disaster.
7 add weight to sth if something adds weight to an argument, idea etc, it makes it stronger
add weight to the suggestion/idea etc
•Recent research adds weight to the theory that the climate is changing.
8 to add insult to injury to make a bad situation worse for someone who has already been treated badly:
•She not only deceived him but, to add insult to injury, allowed him to pay for her meal.
9 add fuel to the fire/flames to make an argument or disagreement worse:
•Rather than providing a solution, their statements merely added fuel to the fire.

PHRASAL VERBS
add sth <=> in phr v
to include something with something else:
•Don't forget to add in the cost of your time.

add sth <=> on phr v also add sth on sth
to include or put on something extra:
•proposals to add a penny on income tax
[+to]
•The private chapel was added on to the church much later.

add to sth phr v
to make a feeling or quality stronger and more noticeable:
•This show will no doubt add to his growing reputation.

add up phr v
1 to calculate the total of several numbers:
•I can add up in my head quite easily.
add sth <=> up
•Specialized software adds up the statistics.
2 not add up
a) if a set of facts does not add up, it does not provide a reasonable explanation for a situation:
•He was troubled by a feeling that things just didn't add up.
b) if sums, numbers etc do not add up, there is a mistake in them:
•These figures don't add up.
3 it all adds up informal used to say that lots of small amounts gradually make a large total:
•There are five of us using the phone so it all adds up.

add up to sth phr v
to produce a particular total or result:
•Rising prison population and overcrowding add up to a real crisis.
in addition to what is usual or expected; = extra
•cereal with added vitamins
•no added sugar
added advantage/bonus/benefit etc
•The system has the added advantage of recordable DVD drives.
•Include people in your picture for added interest.
added difficulty/problem etc
•Our yard is only small, and has the added disadvantage of facing north.
•It may not be necessary to go to the added expense of updating your virus software. plural addenda or addendums [C]
something you add to the end of a speech or book to change it or give more information
[+to]
•an addendum to section 4 $ [C]
a type of poisonous snake [C]
1 someone who is unable to stop taking drugs
drug/heroin/morphine etc addict
•a recovering heroin addict
2 someone who is very interested in something and spends a lot of time doing it
TV/sports etc addict
•My nephew is a complete video game addict.
1 unable to stop taking a harmful substance, especially a drug
[+to]
•50 million Americans are thought to be addicted to nicotine.
2 liking something so much that you do not want to stop doing it or having it
[+to]
•kids addicted to surfing the Net [C,U]
1 the need to take a harmful drug regularly, without being able to stop
drug/heroin/alcohol etc addiction
[+to]
•addiction to alcohol
2 a strong desire to do or have something regularly
1 if a substance, especially a drug, is addictive, your body starts to need it regularly and you are unable to stop taking it:
•Tobacco is highly addictive.
2 an activity that is addictive is so enjoyable that you do not want to stop:
•It started as a hobby, but it got so addictive I had to keep on doing it.
•addictive arcade games
1 in addition used to add another piece of information to what you have just said:
•The company provides cheap Internet access. In addition, it makes shareware freely available.
in addition to sth
•In addition to his movie work, Redford is known as a champion of environmental causes.
2 [U] the act of adding something to something else
the addition of sth
•The addition of networking facilities will greatly enhance the system.
with the addition of sth
•Turn sparkling wine into Buck's Fizz with the addition of chilled orange juice.
3 [C] something that is added to something else, often in order to improve it
[+to]
•This excellent book will be a welcome addition to the library of any student.
latest/new/recent addition
•the latest addition to our designer range
4 [U] the process of adding numbers or amounts to make a total; subtraction
5 [C] AmE an extra room that is added to a building:
•They built a big addition onto the back of the house.
more than what was agreed or expected; = extra
• Additional information can be obtained from the centre.
additional costs/expenditure etc
•An additional charge is made on baggage exceeding the weight allowance. [sentence adverb]
in addition; = also
•A new contract is in place. Additionally, staff will be offered a bonus scheme. [C usually plural]
a substance that is added to food to improve its taste, appearance etc:
•permitted food additives
•Our products are free from artificial additives. [T] old-fashioned
to confuse someone so they cannot think properly
addle sb's brains/wits
•All that drink has addled his brains![C]
1 something extra that is added to an existing plan, agreement, law etc
[+to]
•We bought legal protection as an add-on to our home insurance policy.
2 a piece of equipment that you connect to a computer to improve its performance:
•an add-on circuit board
3 a product that is designed to be used with another product $
1 [C] the details of the place where someone lives or works, that you use to send them letters, emails etc:
•Please write your name and address on a postcard.
•What's your new address?
•I can give you the address of a good attorney.
home/private/website etc address
•My email address is on my business card.
•Please notify us of any change of address.
•I can't find my address book (=a book or place on a computer where you keep a list of people's addresses).
•a 25-year-old man of no fixed address (=no permanent home)
2 [C] a formal speech that someone makes to a group of people
[+to]
•an address to the European parliament
presidential/inaugural etc address
•The new President delivered his inaugural address in Creole.
3 form/mode/style of address the correct title or name that you should use when speaking or writing to someone [T]
1 if you address an envelope, package etc, you write on it the name and address of the person you are sending it to
address sth to sb
•That letter was addressed to me.
•Send a stamped, self-addressed envelope (=with your address on it so it can be sent back to you).
2 formal if you address a problem, you start trying to solve it
address a problem/question/issue etc
•Our products address the needs of real users.
address yourself to sth
•Marlowe now addressed himself to the task of searching the room.
3 formal to speak to someone directly:
•She turned to address the man on her left.
4 formal if you address remarks, complaints etc to someone, you say or write them directly to that person:
•You will have to address your comments to our Head Office.
5 to make a formal speech to a large group of people
address a meeting/conference etc
•He addressed an audience of 10,000 supporters.
6 to use a particular title or name when speaking or writing to someone
address sb as sth
•The president should be addressed as 'Mr. President'. [C]
the person a letter, package etc is addressed to $ [T]
formal to give facts or reasons in order to prove that something is true
an adenoidal voice is unpleasant and sounds as if it comes mainly through someone's nose; = nasal
•her adenoidal singing voice [plural]
the small soft pieces of flesh at the top of your throat, behind your nose, that sometimes become swollen $
good at something that needs care and skill; = skilful
[+at]
•Melissa quickly became adept at predicting his moods.
[+in]
•Silas proved adept in the art of avoiding potholes in the road.
•I'm afraid she's also an adept liar.
- adept noun [C]
•a form of kung fu practiced by only a handful of adepts
- adeptly adverb
1 enough in quantity or of a good enough quality for a particular purpose; = sufficient; inadequate
•Farmers have been slow to make adequate provision for their retirement.
•Some creams we tested failed to give adequate protection against UV light.
•The standard of his work is barely adequate.
•The company has yet to provide an adequate explanation for its actions.
[+for]
•Are the parking facilities adequate for 50 cars?
adequate to do sth
•The lunchtime menu is more than adequate to satisfy the biggest appetite.
2 fairly good but not excellent:
•Her performance was adequate but lacked originality.
- adequately adverb
•She wasn't adequately insured.
- adequacy noun [U] $ [I] formal
to stick firmly to something
[+to]
•The eggs of these fish adhere to plant leaves.

PHRASAL VERBS
adhere to sth phr v formal
to continue to behave according to a particular rule, agreement, or belief:
•We adhere to the principles of equal rights and freedom of expression for all.
•I have adhered strictly to the rules. $ [U]
when someone behaves according to a particular rule, belief, principle etc
[+to]
• adherence to democratic principles
strict/rigid/slavish adherence
•strict adherence to Judaic law $ [C]
someone who supports a particular belief, plan, political party etc
[+of]
•adherents of the Greek Orthodox church
[+to]
•The anti-globalization movement is attracting new adherents to its principles.
1 [U] when something sticks to something else
2 [C] medical a piece of TISSUE (=skin) that grows around a cut or diseased area [C,U]
a substance such as glue that you use to stick two things together:
•waterproof adhesive
- adhesive adjective
•adhesive tape $ formal
not planned, but arranged or done only when necessary
ad hoc committee/group etc
•decisions made on an ad hoc basis plural adieus or adieux [C, interjection] literary
goodbye:
•He bid her adieu. formal
continuing without ever ending - often used humorously:
•I have to explain A, then B, and C, and so on ad infinitum. $
goodbyealso adj BrE
the written abbreviation of adjective
a room, building, piece of land etc that is adjacent to something is next to it:
•We stayed in adjacent rooms.
[+to]
•the building adjacent to the library [C]
a word that describes a noun or PRONOUN. In the phrase 'black hat', 'black' is an adjective and in the sentence `It makes her happy', 'happy' is an adjective.
- adjectival adjective
•an adjectival phrase [T]
a room, building, or piece of land that adjoins something is next to it and connected to it:
•A vacant plot of land adjoins his house.
- adjoining adjective [usually before noun]
•adjoining rooms $
1 [I,T] if a meeting, parliament, law court etc adjourns, or if the person in charge adjourns it, it stops for a short time:
•It was almost noon when the meeting adjourned.
[+for/until]
•Congress has adjourned for the November elections.
•His trial was adjourned until May.
2 adjourn to sth to finish an activity and go somewhere - often used humorously:
•The rest of us adjourned to a nearby pub for some refreshments.
- adjournment noun [C,U]
•We sought an adjournment of the proceedings. [T usually passive] formal
to make a judgment about something or someone:
•The reforms of 1979 were generally adjudged to have failed.
1 [I,T] to officially decide who is right in a disagreement and decide what should be done:
•The Dean adjudicates any faculty disputes.
[+on/upon/in/between]
•The owner can appeal to the court to adjudicate on the matter.
adjudicate that
•The judge adjudicated that he should be released.
2 [I] to be the judge in a competition:
•He adjudicated at all the regional music competitions.
- adjudicator noun [C]
•an impartial adjudicator
- adjudication noun [U] [C]
1 something that is added or joined to something that is bigger or more important
[+to]
•On-line instruction is a useful adjunct to the real thing.
2 technical an ADVERBIAL word or phrase that adds information to another part of a sentence. In 'They arrived on Sunday', 'on Sunday' is an adjunct. $ [T]
formal to order or try to persuade someone to do something
adjure sb to do sth
•Gwen adjured him to be truthful.
1 [I,T] to gradually become familiar with a new situation; = adapt
•They'll soon settle in - kids are very good at adjusting.
[+to]
•It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness.
adjust to doing sth
•My parents had trouble adjusting to living in an apartment.
adjust yourself to sth
•It took time to adjust myself to motherhood.
2 [T] to change or move something slightly to improve it or make it more suitable for a particular purpose:
•Check and adjust the brakes regularly.
•Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.
•If your employment status changes, your tax code will be adjusted accordingly.
3 [T] if you adjust something you are wearing, you move it slightly so that it is neater, more comfortable etc:
•He paused to adjust his spectacles.
WELL-ADJUSTED
something that is adjustable can be changed or moved slightly to make it suitable for different purposes:
•an adjustable spanner [C,U]
1 a small change made to a machine, system, or calculation
[+for]
•Once we make the adjustments for inflation, the fall in interest rates is quite small.
[+to]
•a slight adjustment to the mechanism
minor/slight adjustment
•It just needs a few minor adjustments.
2 a change in the way that someone behaves or thinks:
•a period of adjustment
[+to]
•her adjustment to her new role [C]
an army officer responsible for office work [U]
the activity or business of advertising, considered as a whole:
•Anything that grabs your attention is good in adland. past tense and past participle ad-libbed, present participle ad-libbing
[I,T] to say things that you have not prepared or planned when you are performing or giving a speech:
•I never use a script; I just ad lib the whole programme.
- ad-lib noun [C] plural admen [C]
informal someone who works in advertising [U] informal
ADMINISTRATION:
•an admin assistant
•She works in admin. $
1 [T usually passive] to manage the work or money of a company or organization:
•The money will be administered by local charities.
•Our office administers the affairs of the Society.
2 [I,T] to provide or organize something officially as part of your job
administer justice/punishment etc
•It is not the job of the police to administer justice; that falls to the courts.
[+to]
•Pillai had responsibility for administering to the needs of half a million people.
administer sth to sb
•The test was administered to all 11-year-olds.
administer an oath (=be the official person who listens to it)
3 [T] formal to give someone a medicine or medical treatment
administer sth to sb
•Painkillers were administered to the boy.
•This unit teaches students how to administer First Aid.
1 [U] the activities that are involved in managing the work of a company or organization:
•We're looking for someone with experience in administration.
•The health service spends too much on administration.
the administration (=the people who do this work)
•the college administration
2 [C] the government of a country at a particular time:
•the Kennedy Administration
•The problem has been ignored by successive administrations.
3 [U] the act of administering something, especially a law, test, or medicine
[+of]
•the administration of justice
•the administration of sedatives $
relating to the work of managing a company or organization:
•The job is mainly administrative.
administrative staff/duties/job etc
•the administrative costs of health care systems
•an administrative assistant
•staff who provide technical and administrative support to the college
- administratively adverb $ [C]
someone whose job involves managing the work of a company or organization formal
having many good qualities that you respect and admire:
•an admirable achievement
- admirably adverb [C]
a high rank in the British or US navy, or someone with this rank
the Admiralty the government department that controls the British navy [U]
a feeling of great respect and liking for something or someone
in admiration
•Daniel gazed at her in admiration.
[+for]
•I'm full of admiration for the crew who handled this crisis.
[+of]
•Her riding soon drew the admiration of the older girls.
grudging/sneaking admiration (=that you do not really want to feel or express)
•Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help feeling a grudging admiration for him. $ [T not in progressive]
1 to respect and like someone because they have done something that you think is good:
•I really admire the way she brings up those kids all on her own.
admire sb for (doing) sth
•Lewis was much admired for his work on medieval literature.
2 to look at something and think how beautiful or impressive it is:
•We stopped halfway to admire the view.
•Sal stood back to admire her work.
3 admire sb from afar literary to be attracted to someone, without letting them know
- admired adjective
•the widely admired boss of Channel 4 $ [C]
1 literary someone who likes a person and thinks that they are attractive:
•a beautiful woman with many admirers
•a secret admirer
2 someone who respects a famous person, especially because they like their work; = fan
•a crowd of fervent admirers
[+of]
•'I'm a great admirer of yours,' she managed to stammer. $ [usually before noun]
showing that you think someone or something is very impressive or attractive:
•admiring glances
- admiringly adverb
admissible reasons, facts etc are acceptable or allowed, especially in a court of law; inadmissible
• admissible evidence
- admissibility noun [U]
1 [C] a statement in which you admit that something is true or that you have done something wrong; = confession
admission that
•The Senator's admission that he had lied to Congress shocked many Americans.
admission of guilt/defeat/failure etc
•Silence is often interpreted as an admission of guilt.
•Reese, by his own admission, lacks the necessary experience.
2 [U] permission given to someone to enter a building or place, or to become a member of a school, club etc:
•No admission after 10 pm.
•The young men tried to enter a nightclub but were refused admission.
•Women gained admission to the club only recently.
[+to]
•those applying for admission to university
3 admissions [plural] the process of allowing people to enter a university, institution etc, or the number of people who can enter
university/college/school admissions
admissions policy/procedures etc
•The college has a very selective admissions policy.
•the admissions officer
4 [C,U] the process of taking someone into a hospital for treatment, tests, or care:
•There are 13,000 hospital admissions annually due to playground accidents.
5 [U] the cost of entrance to a concert, sports event, cinema etc; admittance
•Admission: $10 for adults, $5 for children.
•The cost includes free admission to the casinos.
•The Museum has no admission charge. past tense and past participle admitted, present participle admitting
1 ACCEPT TRUTH [I,T] to agree unwillingly that something is true or that someone else is right:
•'Okay, so maybe I was a little bit scared,' Jenny admitted.
admit (that)
•You may not like her, but you have to admit that she's good at her job.
admit to sb (that)
•Paul admitted to me that he sometimes feels jealous of my friendship with Stanley.
•I must admit, I didn't actually do anything to help her.
• Admit it! I'm right, aren't I?
admit (to) doing sth
•Dana admitted feeling hurt by what I had said.
freely/openly/frankly etc admit (=admit without being ashamed)
•Phillips openly admits to having an alcohol problem.
2 ACCEPT BLAME [I,T] to say that you have done something wrong, especially something criminal; = confess; deny
admit doing sth
•Greene admitted causing death by reckless driving.
admit to (doing) sth
•A quarter of all workers admit to taking time off when they are not ill.
•After questioning, he admitted to the murder.
•No organization has admitted responsibility for the bombing.
3 ALLOW TO ENTER [T] to allow someone to enter a public place to watch a game, performance etc; admittance, admission
admit sb to/into sth
•Only ticket-holders will be admitted into the stadium.
4 ALLOW TO JOIN [T] to allow someone to join an organization, club etc
admit sb to/into sth
•Drake was admitted into the club in 1997.
5 HOSPITAL [T] if people at a hospital admit someone, that person is taken in to be given treatment, tests, or care:
•What time was she admitted?
be admitted to hospital BrE
be admitted to the hospital AmE
6 admit defeat to stop trying to do something because you realize you cannot succeed:
•For Haskill, selling the restaurant would be admitting defeat.
7 admit evidence to allow a particular piece of EVIDENCE to be used in a court of law:
•Courts can refuse to admit evidence obtained illegally by police.

PHRASAL VERBS
admit of sth phr v formal
if a situation admits of a particular explanation, that explanation can be accepted as possible:
•The facts admit of no other explanation. [U]
formal permission to enter a place; admission (5)
• Gaining admittance to the club was no easy matter. [sentence adverb]
used when you are admitting that something is true:
•The technique is painful, admittedly, but it benefits the patient greatly.
•This has led to financial losses, though admittedly on a fairly small scale. $ [C]
technical a substance that is added to another substance in a mixture $ [T]
formal to tell someone severely that they have done something wrong
admonish sb for (doing) sth
•The witness was admonished for failing to answer the question.
- admonishment noun [C] [C,U]
formal a warning or expression of disapproval about someone's behaviour
- admonitory $ adjective
•an admonitory glance $
if you say or do something ad nauseam, you say or do it so often that it becomes annoying for other people:
•Look, we've been over this ad nauseam. I think we should move on to the next item.
without more/further ado without delaying or wasting any time:
•So without further ado, I'll now ask Mr Davis to open the debate. $
[U] earth and STRAW that are made into bricks for building houses [U]
the time, usually between the ages of 12 and 18, when a young person is developing into an adult [C]
a young person, usually between the ages of 12 and 18, who is developing into an adult
- adolescent adjective
•adolescent girls
CHILD $
1 CHILD [I,T] to take someone else's child into your home and legally become its parent; foster (11)
•Sally was adopted when she was four.
•The couple are unable to have children of their own, but hope to adopt.
2 adopt an approach/policy/attitude etc [T] to start to deal with or think about something in a particular way:
•The courts were asked to adopt a more flexible approach to young offenders.
•The store recently adopted a drug testing policy for all new employees.
•California has adopted a tough stance on the issue.
3 STYLE/MANNER [T] to use a particular style of speaking, writing, or behaving, especially one that you do not usually use:
•Kim adopts a southern accent when speaking to family back home.
4 LAW/RULE [T] to formally approve a proposal, AMENDMENT etc, especially by voting:
•Congress finally adopted the law after a two-year debate.
5 NAME/COUNTRY ETC [T] to choose a new name, country, custom etc, especially to replace a previous one:
•Stevens became a Muslim and adopted the name Yusuf Islam.
•Becoming a member of a society means adopting its values.
6 ELECTION BrE [T] to officially choose someone to represent a political party in an election
- adopter noun [C]
- adoptee $ noun [C] $
1 an adopted child has been legally made part of a family that he or she was not born into:
•his adopted son
2 your adopted country is one that you have chosen to live in permanently $
1 [C,U] the act or process of adopting a child:
•She decided to put the baby up for adoption.
2 [U] the act of starting to use a particular plan, method, way of speaking etc
3 [U] BrE the choice of a particular person to represent a political party in an election $ [only before noun]
an adoptive parent is one who has adopted a child
someone or something that is adorable is so attractive that they fill you with feelings of love:
•Oh what an adorable little baby! [U]
1 great love and admiration:
•the look of adoration in his eyes
2 literary the showing of great love and respect for God $ [T not in progressive]
1 to love someone very much and feel very proud of them:
•Betty adores her grandchildren.
2 informal to like something very much:
•I simply adore chocolate. [only before noun]
liking and admiring someone very much:
•his adoring fans
- adoringly adverb $ [T]
formal to decorate something
adorn sth with sth
•church walls adorned with religious paintings $ formal
1 [C] something that you use to decorate something
2 [U] the act of decorating somethingadrenaline [U]
a chemical produced by your body when you are afraid, angry, or excited, which makes your heart beat faster:
•There's nothing like a good horror film to get the adrenalin going (=make you feel nervously excited).
1 a boat that is adrift is not fastened to anything or controlled by anyone:
•Several of the lifeboats were still afloat a month after being cast adrift.
2 someone who is adrift is confused about what to do in their life:
•a young woman adrift in London
3 come adrift BrE if something comes adrift, it is no longer fastened or attached to something:
•Her hair was forever coming adrift from the pins she used to keep it in place.
4 two points/five seconds etc adrift (of sb) two points, five seconds etc behind someone in a competition, race etc
clever and skilful, especially in the way you use words and arguments:
•an adroit negotiator
- adroitly adverb
- adroitness noun [U] [U]
asymmetric digital subscriber line a system that makes it possible for information, such as video images, to be sent to computers through telephone wires at a very high speed [U] formal
praise and admiration for someone that is more than they really deserve
- adulatory $ adjective [C]
1 a fully-grown person, or one who is considered to be legally responsible for their actions:
•Some children find it difficult to talk to adults.
2 a fully-grown animal:
•The adults have white bodies and grey backs.
1 [only before noun] fully grown or developed:
•an adult lion
•the adult population
•He lived most of his adult life in Scotland.
2 typical of an adult's behaviour or of the things adults do:
•dealing with problems in an adult way
•That wasn't very adult of you.
3 [only before noun] adult films, magazines, etc are about sex or related to sex:
•The film is rated R for language and adult themes.[U]
education provided for adults outside schools and universities, usually by means of classes that are held in the evening [T]
to make food or drink less pure by adding another substance of lower quality to it; unadulterated
- adulteration noun [U] $ [C]
someone who is married and has sex with someone who is not their wife or husband [C]
a married woman who has sex with a man who is not her husband [U]
sex between someone who is married and someone who is not their wife or husband:
•She had committed adultery on several occasions.
- adulterous adjective [U]
the time when you are an adult; childhood [T]
formal to suggest or describe something in an incomplete wayalso adv BrE
the written abbreviation of adverb $
1 in advance (of sth) before something happens or is expected to happen:
•I should warn you in advance that I'm not a very good dancer.
•Many thanks, in advance, for your help.
six months/a year etc in advance
•The airline suggests booking tickets 21 days in advance.
•Could you distribute copies well in advance of the meeting?
2 be in advance of sb/sth to be more developed or modern than someone or something else:
•Their aircraft were in advance of those used by the US.
3 DEVELOPMENT/IMPROVEMENT [C] a change, discovery, or INVENTION that brings progress
technological/scientific/medical etc advance
•one of the great technological advances of the 20th century
•a major advance
[+in]
•Recent advances in genetics have raised moral questions.
[+on]
•an advance on previous treatments
•the advances made in the understanding of mental handicap
4 FORWARD MOVEMENT [C] forward movement or progress of a group of people - used especially to talk about soldiers
[+on]
•the enemy's advance on St. Petersburg
5 MONEY [C usually singular] money paid to someone before the usual time, especially someone's salary:
•a $500 advance
[+on]
•Krebs decided to ask for an advance on his salary.
6 advances [plural] formal an attempt to start a sexual relationship with someone:
•She accused her boss of making advances to her.
•The witness said that he 'went berserk' when she rejected his sexual advances.
7 INCREASE [C] an increase in the price or value of something - used especially to talk about the STOCK EXCHANGE
1 MOVE FORWARD [I] to move towards someone or something, especially in a slow and determined way - used especially to talk about soldiers:
•A line of US tanks slowly advanced.
[+on]
•Troops advanced on the rebel stronghold (=moved towards it in order to attack it).
[+across/through/towards]
•The army advanced across the plain.
2 DEVELOP [I,T] if scientific or technical knowledge advances, or if something advances it, it develops and improves:
•Our understanding of human genetics has advanced considerably.
•The group's research has done much to advance our knowledge of the HIV virus.
3 MONEY [T] to give someone money before they have earned it
advance sb sth
•Will they advance you some money until your get your first paycheck?
advance sth to sb
•I advanced $1,500 to Kramer last Thursday.
4 advance your career/a cause/your interests etc to do something that will help you achieve an advantage or success for yourself or someone else:
•Jameson agreed to the deal in an effort to advance his political career.
5 PRICE [I] if the price or value of something advances, it increases - used especially when talking about the STOCK EXCHANGE
6 TIME/DATE [T] formal to change the time or date when an event should happen to an earlier time or date:
•The meeting has been advanced to ten o'clock.
7 MACHINE [I,T] formal if you advance a film, clock, musical recording etc, or if it advances, it goes forward
ADVANCING
1 advance planning/warning/booking etc planning etc that is done before an event:
•We received no advance warning of the storm.
2 advance party/team a group of people who go first to a place where something will happen to prepare for it
3 advance copy a copy of a book, record etc that has not yet been made available to the public $
1 very modern:
•advanced weapon systems
•advanced technology
•high levels of unemployment in the advanced industrial societies
2 studying or dealing with a school subject at a difficult level:
•advanced learners of English
•advanced physics
3 having reached a late point in time or development:
•By this time, the disease was too far advanced to be treated.
4 advanced age/years used to talk about the age of someone who is old:
•Despite his advanced age, he often travelled abroad.[C,U]
A LEVEL $ [C,U]
formal progress or development in your job, level of knowledge etc:
•career advancement
•advancements in science $
advancing years/age the fact of growing older:
•Blake had grown much quieter - another sign of his advancing years. $
1 [C,U] something that helps you to be more successful than others, or the state of having this; disadvantage

have an advantage
give sb an advantage
big/great/major/distinct advantage
unfair advantage
enjoy an advantage (=have an advantage)
be at an advantage (=have an advantage)
be to your advantage/work to your advantage (=something gives you an advantage)

[+over]
•Her experience meant that she had a big advantage over her opponent.
•His height gives him an advantage over the other players.
•Companies that receive government subsidies have an unfair advantage.
•Western countries enjoyed considerable advantages in terms of technology.
•Younger workers tend to be at an advantage when applying for jobs.
•It might be to your advantage to take a computer course of some kind.

2 [C,U] a good or useful quality or condition that something has
[+of]
•One of the many advantages of living in New York is that you can eat out at almost any time of day.
•The hotel is not very modern, but it does have the advantage of being close to the city centre.
[+over]
•The printer has several advantages over conventional printers.
big/great/considerable advantage
•The big advantage of this system is that it is fast.
3 take advantage of sb to treat someone unfairly in order to get what you want, especially someone who is generous or easily persuaded:
•Don't lend them the car - they're taking advantage of you!
4 take advantage of sth (to do sth) to use a particular situation to do or get what you want:
•I took advantage of the good weather to paint the shed.
•You'll want to take full advantage of the beachfront clubs.
5 use/turn sth to your/good advantage to use something that you have or that happens in order to achieve something:
•How could he turn the situation to his advantage?
•Burns used his family connections to good advantage.
6 show sth to (good/great) advantage to make the best features of someone or something very noticeable:
•Her dress showed her tanned skin to great advantage.
7 advantage sb used in tennis to show that the person named has won the next point after the score was 40-40 $ formal
having more money, a higher social position etc than someone else; disadvantaged
•Some of the boys come from less advantaged backgrounds.
socially/geographically/economically etc advantaged
helpful and likely to make you successful; disadvantageous
•He was now in a more advantageous position.
[+to]
•terms advantageous to foreign companies
- advantageously adverb[U]
the period of four weeks before Christmas in the Christian religion written
the advent of sth the time when something first begins to be widely used:
•the advent of the computer[C]
a picture on thick paper which has parts like doors with smaller pictures behind them. You open one door each day in December until Christmas. formal
happening by chance; = unexpected
- adventitiously adjective $ [C,U]
1 an exciting experience in which dangerous or unusual things happen:
•a great adventure
•Ahab's adventures at sea
•an adventure story
2 sense/spirit of adventure willingness to try new things, take risks etc:
•Come on - where's your sense of adventure?[C]
BrE an area of ground for children to play on, with equipment and structures for climbing on $ [C]
1 someone who enjoys adventure:
•an adventurer travelling the world
2 old-fashioned someone who tries to become rich or socially important by using dishonest or immoral methods - used to show disapproval [U]
when someone who is in charge of a government, business, army etc takes dangerous risks
1 not afraid of taking risks or trying new things:
•Andy isn't a very adventurous cook.
2 also adventuresome AmE eager to go to new places and do exciting or dangerous things $ [C]
a word that adds to the meaning of a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a whole sentence, such as 'slowly' in 'He ran slowly', 'very' in 'It's very hot', or 'naturally' in 'Naturally, we want you to come.'
ADJECTIVE $ technical
used as an adverb:
•an adverbial phrase
- adverbial noun [C] $
an adversarial system, especially in politics and the law, is one in which two sides oppose and attack each other:
•the adversarial nature of two-party politics $ plural adversaries [C]
formal a country or person you are fighting or competing against; = opponent
•his old adversary $
1 not good or favourable:
•They fear it could have an adverse effect on global financial markets.
•Miller's campaign has received a good deal of adverse publicity.
2 adverse conditions conditions that make it difficult for something to happen or exist:
•The expedition was abandoned because of adverse weather conditions.
- adversely adverb
•developments which had adversely affected their business $ [U]
a situation in which you have a lot of problems that seem to be caused by bad luck:
•his courage in the face of adversity $ [C]
BrE an advertisement $

PHRASAL VERBS
advert to sth phr v formal
to mention something $ [I,T]
1 to tell the public about a product or service in order to persuade them to buy it:
•They no longer advertise alcohol or cigarettes at sporting events.
advertise (sth) on television/in a newspaper etc
•Many companies will only advertise in the Sunday paper.
be advertised as sth
•The inn is advertised as being from the early 16th century.
•Colleges and universities have found that it pays to advertise (=advertising brings good results).
2 to make an announcement, for example in a newspaper or on a POSTER, that a job is available, an event is going to happen etc:
•a poster advertising the concert
[+for]
•I see they're advertising for a new Sales Director.
3 advertise the fact (that) to let people know something about yourself:
•Don't advertise the fact that you're looking for another job. $ [C]
1 also ad informal advert BrE a picture, set of words, or a short film, which is intended to persuade people to buy a product or use a service, or that gives information about a job that is available, an event that is going to happen etc

put/place an advertisement in a newspaper
take out an advertisement (=ask for an advertisement to be printed or shown)
a newspaper/television/radio advertisement
a full-page/half-page/two-page advertisement
a job advertisement
answer/reply to an advertisement
run a series of advertisements (=print or broadcast a series of them)

[+for]
•The Sunday papers are full of advertisements for cars.
•She saw an advertisement for a ski vacation in Vermont.
•They put an advertisement in The Morning News, offering a high salary for the right person.
•The organizers of the concert had taken out a full page advertisement in The New York Times.
•Only a handful of people answered the advertisement.

2 be an advertisement for sth to be a good example of something or show how effective it can be:
•He's a very good advertisement for the benefits of regular exercise.

WORD FOCUS: advertisement
types of advertisement:
commercial on TV or radio
poster on a wall, often with a picture on it
junk mail unwanted letters in the post, advertising things
flyer a sheet of paper with an advertisement on it, given to you in the street or pushed through your door
the blurb a piece of writing on the back of a book, which talks about the good things in it
the classified adsalso /the small ads BrE short advertisements in a newspaper, in which people offer things for sale
the personal ads /the lonely hearts (ads) newspaper advertisements in which people say they want to meet someone for romance
$ [C]
1 a person or company that advertises something
2 Advertiser used in the names of newspapers:
•the Stockport Advertiser $ [U]
the activity or business of advertising things on television, in newspapers etc:
•advertising aimed at 18-25 year olds
•a career in advertising
television/radio/newspaper advertising
•Both candidates are spending millions on television advertising.
advertising campaign/strategy
•the advertising slogan'Come alive with Pepsi'[C]
a company that designs and makes advertisements for other companies $ [C]
an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine that is made to look like a normal article [U]
an opinion you give someone about what they should do
[+on/about]
•There's lots of advice in the book on baby care.
•Could you give me some advice about buying a home?
legal/medical/financial etc advice
•If I were you, I'd get some legal advice.
professional/expert advice (=advice from someone who knows a lot about a subject)
•I want to ask your advice about where to stay in Taipei.
follow/take sb's advice (=do what they advise you)
•I followed my father's advice and sold the car.
•Take my advice and study something practical.
a piece/word of advice
•Let me give you a piece of advice. Wear a blue or grey suit to the interview.
on sb's advice
•On her doctor's advice (=because her doctor advised her) Smith decided to take early retirement.
!! Do not confuse the noun advice with the verb advise He gave me some useful advice. Can you advise me on college courses?[C]
part of a newspaper or magazine in which someone gives advice to readers who have written to them about their personal problems; = agony column BrE
- advice columnist noun [C] [not before noun] formal
something that is advisable should be done in order to avoid problems or risks; inadvisable
•Regular medical check-ups are advisable.
• It is advisable to write a career objective at the start of your resume.
- advisability noun [U]
1 [I,T] to tell someone what you think they should do, especially when you know more than they do about something:
•She needed someone to advise her.
•'Make sure that you keep the documents in a safe place,' Otley advised him.
advise sb to do sth
•Evans advised him to leave London.
•You are strongly advised to take out medical insurance when visiting China.
advise sb against (doing) sth
•I'd advise you against saying anything to the press.
advise that
•Experts advise that sunscreen be reapplied every one to two hours.
advise caution/patience/restraint etc (=advise people to be careful, patient etc)
•The makers advise extreme caution when handling this material.
2 [I,T] to be employed to give advice on a subject about which you have special knowledge or skill
[+on]
•She's been asked to advise on training the new sales team.
advise sb on sth
•He advises us on tax matters.
3 [T] formal to tell someone about something
advise sb of sth
•We'll advise you of any changes in the delivery dates.
• Keep us advised of (=continue to tell us about) any new developments.
advise sb that
•They advised him that the tour would proceed.
4 you would be well/ill advised to do sth used to tell someone that it is wise or unwise to do something:
•You would be well advised to stay in bed and rest. formal
after careful thought; = deliberately
•He behaved like a dictator, and I use the term advisedly.advisor $ [C]
someone whose job is to give advice because they know a lot about a subject, especially in business, law, or politics:
•a financial adviser
having the purpose of giving advice
advisory committee/body
•the Environmental Protection Advisory Committee
advisory role/capacity
•He was employed in a purely advisory role. [U]
public support for a course of action or way of doing things [T]
to publicly say that something should be done:
•Extremists were openly advocating violence.
[+for] AmE
•Those who advocate doctor-assisted suicide say the terminally ill should not have to suffer. [C]
1 someone who publicly supports someone or something
[+of]
•She's a passionate advocate of natural childbirth.
[+for]
•an advocate for the disabled
2 a lawyer who speaks in a court of law, especially in Scotland
DEVIL'S ADVOCATEadz [C]
a sharp tool with the blade at a right angle to the handle, used to shape wood formal
under the aegis of sb/sth with the protection or support of a person or organization:
•a refugee camp operating under the aegis of the UNeon [C]
an extremely long period of time $ [T] technical
to put a gas or air into a liquid or into soil $ [only before noun]
1 from a plane:
•an aerial attack
•aerial photographs
•an aerial view of the Three Gorges Dam project
2 in or moving through the air[C]
1 a piece of equipment for receiving or sending radio or television signals, usually consisting of a piece of metal or wire; = antenna AmE
2 aerials a sport in which someone goes down a mountain on SKIs and performs complicated jumps and turns in the air $ [C]
someone who goes down a mountain on SKIs and performs complicated jumps and turns in the air $
concerning the air or aircraft:
•aerodynamics (=science of movement through air)
•an aeroengine $ [plural]
tricks done in a plane that involve making difficult or dangerous movements in the air $
1 technical using oxygen; anaerobic
2 aerobic exercise a type of exercise intended to strengthen the heart and lungs:
•running, swimming, and other forms of aerobic exercise $ [U]
a very active type of physical exercise done to music, usually in a class $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
a place that small planes fly from $
1 an aerodynamic car, design etc uses the principles of aerodynamics to achieve high speed or low use of petrol
2 technical related to or involving aerodynamics:
•aerodynamic efficiency
- aerodynamically adverb $ [U]
1 the scientific study of how objects move through the air
2 the qualities needed for something to move smoothly through the airalso aerogram AmE $ [C]
a very light letter you send by AIRMAIL $ [U]
the science of designing and flying planes
- aeronautical adjectiveairplane AmE $ [C] BrE
a flying vehicle with wings and at least one engine; = plane
AIRCRAFT $ [C]
a small metal container with liquid inside. You press a button on the container to make the liquid come out in very small drops.; spray $
involving the designing and building of aircraft and space vehicles:
•the aerospace industry[U]
the industry that designs and builds aircraft and space vehicles
aerospace company/worker etc
•employment in the aerospace industryesthete $ [C] formal
someone who loves and understands beautiful things, such as art and musicesthetic $
connected with beauty and the study of beauty:
•From an esthetic point of view, it's a nice design.
•a work of great aesthetic appeal
- aesthetically adjective
•aesthetically pleasingformal
1 aesthetics [U] the study of beauty, especially beauty in art
2 [C] a set of principles about beauty or art:
•A new aesthetic had been evolved. $ [U]
an old spelling of ETHER (=the air or sky)etiology $ [U] medical
the study of what causes disease $ literary
from afar from a long distance away:
•I saw him from afar.
friendly and easy to talk to; = pleasant
•an affable guy
- affably adverb
- affability noun [U] $ [C]
1 PUBLIC/POLITICAL ACTIVITIES affairs [plural]
a) public or political events and activities:
•world affairs
•They were accused of interfering in China's internal affairs.
•the exclusion of women from public affairs
•a foreign affairs correspondent for CNN
b) things connected with your personal life, your financial situation etc:
•I am not prepared to discuss my financial affairs with the press.
state of affairs at STATE^1 (8)
2 EVENT
a) an event or set of related events, especially one that is impressive or shocking:
•the Watergate affair
•The whole affair was a disaster.
b) used when describing an event:
•The party was a very grand affair.
3 RELATIONSHIP a secret sexual relationship between two people, when at least one of them is married to someone else; = love affair
[+with]
•He had an affair with his boss that lasted six years.
4 OBJECT informal old-fashioned used when describing an object, machine etc:
•The computer was one of those little portable affairs.
5 be sb's affair if something is your affair, it only concerns you and you do not want anyone else to get involved in it:
•What I do in my free time is my affair. [T]
1 to do something that produces an effect or change in something or in someone's situation:
•the areas affected by the hurricane
•a disease that affects the central nervous system
•decisions which affect our lives
•Trading has been adversely affected by the downturn in consumer spending.
2 [usually passive] to make someone feel strong emotions:
•We were all deeply affected by her death.
3 formal to pretend to have a particular feeling, way of speaking etc:
•As usual, Simon affected complete boredom.
•He used to affect a foreign accent. [C,U]
a way of behaving, speaking etc that is not sincere or natural:
•Calling everyone 'darling' is just an affectation.
not sincere or natural:
•an affected laugh formal
producing strong emotions of sadness, pity etc; = upsetting
•a deeply affecting story [singular, U]
1 a feeling of liking or love and caring; = fondness
[+for]
•Bart had a deep affection for the old man.
•She looked back on those days with affection.
•Their father never showed them much affection.
•The church was held in great affection (=loved and cared about a lot) by the local residents.
2 sb's affections the feelings of love and caring that someone has:
•Africa has always had a special place in my affections.
showing in a gentle way that you love someone and care about them; = loving
[+towards]
•Jo is very affectionate towards her.
•an affectionate hug
- affectionately adverb medical technical
relating to or having an effect on the emotions:
•affective disorders old use
ENGAGED (1) [C] law
a written statement that you swear is true, for use as proof in a court of law
1 [I,T usually passive] if a group or organization affiliates to or with another larger one, it forms a close connection with it
[+with]
•The Society is not affiliated with any political party.
[+to]
•the church's right to affiliate to Rome
2 affiliate yourself to/with sb/sth to join or become connected with a larger group or organization:
•She affiliated herself with the Impressionist school of painting. [C]
a company, organization etc that is connected with or controlled by a larger one:
•Volvo's Japanese affiliate, Mitsubishi [only before noun]
an affiliated organization/club/member etc an organization, club etc that is a member of a larger group or organization, or is closely connected with it:
•The Association provides information on affiliated clubs.
1 [C,U] the connection or involvement that someone or something has with a political, religious etc organization
sb's (political/religious etc) affiliation
•the newspaper's political affiliations
2 [U] when a smaller group or organization joins a larger one plural affinities
1 [singular] a strong feeling that you like and understand someone or something
[+with/for/between]
•his remarkable affinity with animals
2 [C,U] a close relationship between two things because of qualities or features that they share
[+with/between]
•the affinity between Christian and Chinese concepts of the spirit[C]
a type of CREDIT CARD, where an amount of money is given by the credit card company to a CHARITY every time the card is used $ [T] formal
1 to state publicly that something is true; = confirm
•The general affirmed rumors of an attack.
affirm that
•A spokesman for the company affirmed that a merger was likely.
2 to strengthen a feeling, belief, or idea:
•He claims that modern physics affirms his Christian beliefs.
- affirmation $ noun [C,U] $ formal
an affirmative answer or action means 'yes' or shows agreement; negative
•an affirmative nod
- affirmatively adverb
answer/reply in the affirmative formal to say 'yes'
answer/reply in the negative at NEGATIVE^2 (2)[U] especially AmE
the practice of choosing people for a job, college etc who are usually treated unfairly because of their race, sex etc; = positive discrimination BrE [T often passive]
formal to fasten or stick something to something else
affix sth to sth
•A label must be affixed to all parcels. [C]
a group of letters added to the beginning or end of a word to change its meaning or use, such as 'un-', 'mis-', '-ness', or '-ly'
PREFIX^1 (1), SUFFIX [T often passive] formal
to affect someone or something in an unpleasant way, and make them suffer
[+with/by]
•a country afflicted by famine [C,U] formal
something that causes pain or suffering, especially a medical condition:
•the afflictions of old age formal
having plenty of money, nice houses, expensive things etc; = wealthy
•affluent families
an affluent society/country/area etc
•the affluent Côte d'Azur
- affluence noun [U]
see box at RICH $ [T]
1 can/could afford [usually negative]
a) to have enough money to buy or pay for something
afford [to do] sth
•We can't afford to go on vacation this year.
•I couldn't afford the rent on my own.
•How can she afford to eat out every night?
b) to have enough time to do something:
•Dad can't afford any more time off work.
c) if you cannot afford to do something, you must not do it because it could cause serious problems for you
afford to do sth
•We can't afford to wait any longer or we'll miss the plane.
!! Afford can be followed by an infinitive with 'to', but not an -ing form: I can't afford to buy (NOT can't afford buying/can't afford buy) a car.
2 formal to provide something or allow something to happen:
•The room affords a beautiful view over the city.
afford (sb) an opportunity/chance
•It afforded her the opportunity to improve her tennis skills.
•The new law will afford protection to employees.
- affordable adjective
•affordable housing $ [U] technical
the act of planting trees in order to make a forest; deforestation [C,U] law
a noisy fight in a public place, or when someone is involved in such a fight [C] technical
a PLOSIVE sound such as /t/ or /d/ that is immediately followed by a FRICATIVE sound made in the same part of the mouth, such as or . The word 'church', for example, contains the affricate . [T usually passive] formal
to offend or insult someone, especially by not showing respect:
•He stepped back, affronted by the question.[C usually singular]
a remark or action that offends or insults someone
[+to]
•The comments were an affront to his pride.
relating to Afghanistan or its people[C]
1 someone from Afghanistan
2 also Afghan hound a tall thin dog with a pointed nose and very long silky hair $ plural aficionados [C]
someone who is very interested in a particular activity or subject and knows a lot about it
[+of]
•an aficionado of fine food
far/further/farthest afield far away, especially from home:
•They were exporting as far afield as Alexandria.
•students who come from further afield. $ [not before noun] literary
burning; = ablaze
•One of the boats had been set afire. [not before noun]
1 burning; = ablaze
•Most of the city was aflame.
2 very bright with colour or light; = ablaze
[+with]
•trees aflame with autumn leaves
3 filled with strong emotions or excitement
- aflame adverb $
the AFL-CIO the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations an organization of American TRADE UNION s $ [not before noun]
1 having enough money to operate or stay out of debt
keep (sb/sth) afloat/stay afloat
•The Treasury borrowed £40 billion, just to stay afloat.
2 floating on water
keep (sb/sth) afloat/stay afloat
•Somehow we kept the ship afloat.
- afloat adverb [not before noun]
being planned or happening
moves/plans/changes afoot
•There were plans afoot for a second attack.
- afoot adverbalso aforesaid $ [only before noun] law
the aforementioned mentioned before in an earlier part of a document, article, book etc:
•The property belongs to the aforementioned Mr Jones.
- aforementioned noun [singular or plural] $
with malice aforethought at MALICE (2)
run afoul of sb/sth formal to do something that is not allowed or legal, or that is against people's beliefs [not before noun]
1 frightened because you think that you may get hurt or that something bad may happen; = scared
•There's no need to be afraid.
afraid of (doing) sth
•kids who are afraid of the dark
•He was afraid of being caught by the police.
afraid to do sth
•Zoe was half afraid (=a little afraid) to go back in the house.
see box at FEAR^1
2 worried about what might happen, or that something bad will happen
afraid (that)
•He was afraid that the other kids would laugh at him.
afraid of (doing) sth
•I didn't tell her because I was afraid of upsetting her.
•The government was afraid of a public outcry.
afraid to do sth
•Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3 afraid for sb/sth worried that something bad may happen to a particular person or thing:
•Her father looked ill and she was suddenly afraid for him.
•Many of us were afraid for our jobs.
4 I'm afraid spoken used to politely tell someone something that may annoy, upset, or disappoint them:
•That's the most we can offer you, I'm afraid.
[+(that)]
•I'm afraid you've come to the wrong address.
•'Is she very ill?' ' I'm afraid so (=yes).'
•'Did you see him?' ' I'm afraid not (=no).'
if you do something afresh, you do it again from the beginning:
•He moved to America to start afresh.
relating to Africa or its people[C]
someone from Africa[C]
an American with dark skin, whose family originally came from the part of Africa south of the Sahara Desert [U]
a language of South Africa that is similar to Dutch $ [C]
a white South African whose first language is Afrikaans and who is usually related to the Dutch people who settled in South Africa in the 1600s; Boer $ [C]
a hair style popular with black people in the 1970s in which the hair is cut into a large round shape $ [in nouns and adjectives]
African and something else:
•an Afro-American
•Afro-Caribbean children $ technical
in or towards the back part of a boat or aircraft; fore (2) $
1 when a particular event or time has happened, or when someone has done something; before
•After the war many soldiers stayed in France.
•I go swimming every day after work.
•Do you believe in life after death?
•The first attack started just after midnight.
•David went to bed straight after (=immediately after) supper.
•After you'd called the police, what did you do?
•Zimmerman changed his name after he left Germany.
•People still remember the 1958 revolution and what came after (=happened after it).
after doing sth
•After leaving school, Mackay worked in a restaurant for a year.
2 days/3 weeks etc after (sth)
•Ten years after he bought the painting, Carswell discovered that it was a fake.
the day/week/year etc after (sth) (=the next day, week etc)
•His car was outside your house the morning after Bob's engagement party.
•I'll see you again tomorrow or the day after.
•She retired from politics the year after she received the Nobel Prize.
soon/not long/shortly after (sth)
•Not long after the wedding, his wife became ill.
•The family moved to Hardingham in June 1983, and Sarah's first child was born soon after.
2 when a particular amount of time has passed; before
•After 10 minutes remove the cake from the oven.
•It's a hard life, but you'll get used to it after a while.
•After months of negotiation, an agreement was finally reached.
3 following someone or something else in a list or a piece or writing, or in order of importance:
•Whose name is after yours on the list?
•The date should be written after the address.
•After football, tennis is my favourite sport.
•The UK is the world's third largest arms producer, after the USA and Russia.
4 AmE used when telling the time to say how many minutes have passed since a particular hour; = past BrE
•The movie starts at a quarter (=fifteen minutes) after seven.
5 day after day/year after year etc continuously for a very long time:
•He's worked in that same office week after week, year after year, since he was 18.
6
a) following someone in order to stop or speak to them:
•Go after him and apologize.
•I heard someone running after me, and a voice called my name.
b) in the direction of someone who has just left:
•'Good luck,' she called after me as I left.
•Harry stood in the doorway gazing after her.
7 when someone has left a place or has finished doing something:
•Remember to close the door after you.
•I spend all day cleaning up after the kids.
8 because of something that happened earlier:
•I'm not surprised he walked out, after the way she treated him.
•After your letter, I didn't think I'd ever see you again.
9 in spite of something that was done in the past:
•How can you treat me like this after all I've done for you?
10 when you have passed a particular place or travelled a certain distance along a road:
•Turn left after the Crown Hotel.
•After half a mile you will come to a crossroads.
11 be after sb/sth
a) to be looking for someone or something:
•That boy's always in trouble - the police are after him again.
•'Were you after anything in particular?' 'No, we're just looking.'
b) informal to want to have something that belongs to someone else:
•I think Chris is after my job.
12 one after another/one after the other if a series of events or actions happen one after another, each one happens soon after the previous one:
•Ever since we moved here it's been one problem after another.
13 after all
a) in spite of what you thought was true or expected to happen:
•He wrote to say they couldn't give me a job after all.
•Union leaders announced that they would, after all, take part in the national conference.
b) used to say that something should be remembered or considered, because it helps to explain what you have just said:
•Prisoners should be treated with respect - they are human beings after all.
•I don't know why you're so concerned - it isn't your problem after all.
14 especially BrE used to say who or what first had the name that someone or something has been given:
•His name is Alessandro, after his grandfather.
•It was named Waterloo Bridge, after the famous battle.
15 formal in the same style as a particular painter, musician etc:
•a painting after Rembrandt
16
a) after you spoken used to say politely that someone else can use or do something before you do:
•'Do you need the copier?' 'After you.'
b) after you with sth used to ask someone if you can have or use something after they have finished:
•After you with that knife, please.
a man/woman after my own heart at HEART (21); take after at TAKE^1

WORD CHOICE: after, in, afterwards
after is usually used as a preposition (followed by a noun): I'll do it after lunch. | Please call after 9.30.
after followed by a time period is more often used to talk about past events: After a few minutes he stopped.
in followed by a time period is more often used to talk about future events: He'll be here in a few minutes.
after can be used as an adverb, but only following another time adverb such as soon, not long, or shortly: Tim came in at midnight, and Lucy not long after.
afterwards can be used instead, and can also be used as an adverb on its own: His parents came shortly afterwards. | You can meet the actors afterwards (NOT after).

[only before noun]
1 in after years literary in the years after the time that has been mentioned
2 technical in the back part of a boat or an aircraft $
coming or happening afterwards:
•an after-dinner speech
•after-school activities $ [U]
the substance that comes out of female humans or animals just after they have had a baby; = placenta $ [U]
BrE care or treatment given to someone after they leave hospital, prison etc:
•the aftercare of ex-offendersaftereffect AmE $ [C usually plural] BrE
a bad effect that continues for a long time after the thing that caused it
the after-effects (of sth)
•the after-effects of his illness $ [C usually singular]
1 a pleasant feeling that remains after a good experience
[+of]
•the afterglow of victory
2 the light that remains in the sky after the sun goes down $ [singular]
the life that some people believe people have after death $ [singular]
the period of time after something such as a war, storm, or accident when people are still dealing with the results
[+of]
•the danger of disease in the aftermath of the earthquake $ [C,U]
1 the part of the day after the morning and before the evening; morning, evening

on Monday/Friday/Saturday etc afternoon
in the afternoon
tomorrow afternoon
yesterday afternoon
this afternoon (=today in the afternoon)
early/late afternoon
afternoon nap/snack/session/meeting etc

•There's a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
•It was very hot in the afternoon.
•See you tomorrow afternoon.
•Are you going into town this afternoon?
•We met in the early afternoon.
•By late afternoon, Micky had changed his mind.
•He was having his afternoon nap.

2 afternoons during the afternoon every day:
•She only works afternoons.BrE informal
used to greet someone when you meet them in the afternoon $ [plural]
BrE informal the part of a meal that comes after the main dish; = dessert $ [C,U]
a liquid with a nice smell that a man puts on his face after he has shaved $ [C]
1 a small EARTHQUAKE that happens after a larger one
2 the effects of a shocking event:
•the war and its aftershocks $ [C usually singular]
a taste that stays in your mouth after you have eaten or drunk something:
•The wine leaves a strong aftertaste. $ [C]
something that you mention or add later because you did not think of it or plan it before:
•He added as an afterthought, 'Bring Melanie too'.also afterward $
after an event or time that has already been mentioned:
•Charles arrived shortly afterwards.
days/weeks etc afterwards
•The experience haunted me for years afterward.
•She died not long afterwards.
•Afterwards, I was asked to write a book.
see box at AFTER^1 $
1 one more time - used when something has happened or been done before:
•Can you say that again? I didn't hear.
•I'll never go there again.
•Mr Khan's busy. Can you try again later?
once again/yet again (=used to emphasize that something has happened several or many times before)
•In 1997, the family moved house yet again.
•Once again, Drew was under arrest.
2 back to the same state or situation that you were in before:
•She stayed and nursed him back to health again.
•It's great to have you home again.
3 all over again if you do something all over again, you repeat it from the beginning:
•I had to write the essay all over again.
4 as much/as many/the same again the same amount or number as you have just had, said etc:
•What a fantastic lunch. I could eat the same again.
•Nearly as many again died from pneumonia.
•The amount of crime is about half as much again (=the same in addition to half that amount) as it was in 1973.
•'Another drink?' 'Yes, same again (=the same drink again), please.'
5 spoken used to give a fact or opinion that explains or adds to something you have just said:
•And again, these workshops will benefit the community widely.
6 then/there again spoken used to introduce an idea or fact that is different from something you have just said, or makes it seem less likely to be true:
•She says she's thirty-five. But then again she might be lying.
7 again and again/time and (time) again/over and over again very often - used in order to show disapproval:
•I've told you again and again, don't do that!
8 spoken used when you want someone to repeat information that they have already given you:
•What did you say your name was again?
now and again at NOW^1 (5) $
1
a) used to say that someone opposes or disagrees with something:
•Every council member voted against the proposal.
•those who are campaigning against the new road
•He advised me against travelling.
•Mr Howard has declared that he is against all forms of racism.
•the fight against terrorism
b) used to say that an action is not wanted or approved of by someone:
•They got married against her parents' wishes (=although they knew her parents did not want them to).
•She has been kept in the house against her will (=she does not want to stay in the house).
•The use of certain drugs is against the law (=illegal).
•It's against my principles to borrow money (=I do not believe it is right).
c) used to say that something is not allowed by a law or rule:
•There ought to be a law against it.
2 used to say who someone is competing with or trying to defeat in a game, battle etc:
•Gambotti was injured in last Saturday's game against the Lions.
•We'll be competing against some of the best companies in Europe.
3 used to say who is harmed, threatened, or given a disadvantage:
•violence against elderly people
•crimes against humanity
•discrimination against women
•There had been death threats against prison staff.
•Your lack of experience could count against you.
•The regulations tend to work against smaller companies.
4 used to say that something touches, hits, or rubs a surface:
•the sound of the rain drumming against my window
•The car skidded and we could hear the crunch of metal against metal.
5 next to and touching an upright surface, especially for support:
•There was a ladder propped up against the wall.
•The younger policeman was leaning against the bureau with his arms folded.
6 in the opposite direction to the movement or flow of something; with
•sailing against the wind
•She dived down and swam out strongly against the current.
7 seen with something else behind or as a background:
•He could see a line of figures silhouetted against the sky.
•It is important to know what colours look good against your skin.
8 used to show that you are considering particular events in relation to other events that are happening at the same time:
•The reforms were introduced against a background of social unrest.
9 used to say what you are comparing something with:
•The pound has fallen 10% against the dollar.
•She checked the contents of the box against the list.
•The cost of the proposed research needs to be balanced against its benefits.
10 used to say who or what you are trying to protect someone or something from:
•insurance against accident and sickness
•a cream to protect against sunburn
•a vaccine which is effective against pneumonia
11 used to say who is said or shown to have done something wrong:
•He has always emphatically denied the allegations against him.
•The evidence against you is overwhelming.
12 be/come up against sb/sth to have to deal with a difficult opponent or problem:
•You see, this is what we're up against - the suppliers just aren't reliable.
13 have sth against sb/sth to dislike or disapprove of someone or something:
•I don't have anything against babies. I just don't feel very comfortable with them. [not before noun]
with your mouth wide open, especially because you are surprised or shocked:
•Vince watched, his mouth agape in horror. [C]
a hard stone with bands of different colours, used in jewellery
1 HOW OLD [C,U] the number of years someone has lived or something has existed:
•Francis is the same age as me.
•Experts disagree over the age of the drawings.
•Dad retired at the age of 56.
at age 5/18 etc
•In Britain, schooling starts at age 5.
4/15 etc years of age (=4, 15 etc years old)
•She was just over 16 years of age.
at my/your etc age (=when you are as old as me etc)
•At my age, it's quite difficult getting up stairs.
at/from an early age (=at or from the time when someone is very young)
•girls who become mothers at an early age
over/under the age of 5/18 etc
•people over the age of 65
of his/her etc own age (=of the same age as him, her etc)
•Kids need friends of their own age to play with.
for his/her etc age (=compared with other people of the same age)
•She's tall for her age, isn't she?
act your age (=behave in a way that is suitable for how old you are)
•It's time you started acting your age, Jeff.
•My mother reached the age of 90 (=lived until she was 90).
•children ranging in age from 6 to 17
2 LEGAL AGE [U] the age when you are legally old enough to do something:
•What's the minimum age for getting a driver's license?
•You're not allowed to buy alcohol. You're under age (=too young by law).
retirement/pension age (=when you are old enough to stop working or receive a pension)
•the normal retirement age of 65
3 PERIOD OF LIFE [C,U] one of the particular periods of someone's life; old age, middle age, teenage
•women of childbearing age
a difficult/awkward age
•The early teens are often a difficult age.
4 BEING OLD [U] the state of being old
with age
•High blood pressure increases with age.
•Some of the furniture was showing signs of age.
5 PERIOD OF HISTORY [C usually singular] a particular period of history:
•We are living in the age of technology.
•Molecular biology is pushing medicine into a new age.
the computer/industrial/nuclear etc age
in this day and age at DAY (6); BRONZE AGE, IRON AGE, MIDDLE AGES, STONE AGE
6 ages [plural] also an age informal especially BrE a long time:
•Simon! I haven't seen you for ages.
•That recipe takes ages.
it's ages since/before/until etc sth
•It's ages since we've played that game.
7 come of age
a) to reach the age when you are legally considered to be a responsible adult
b) if something comes of age, it reaches a stage of development at which people accept it as being important, valuable etc:
•During this period the movies really came of age as an art form.
NEW AGE^1, NEW AGE^2present participle aging or ageing
1 [I,T] to start looking older or to make someone or something look older:
•He was worried to see how much she'd aged.
•The experience had aged him in advance of his years.
2 [I] to become older:
•The buildings are ageing, and some are unsafe.
3 [I,T] to improve and develop in taste over a period of time, or to allow food or alcohol to do this:
•Cheddar cheese ages well.
•The whisky is aged for at least ten years.[C]
the people between two particular ages, considered as a group; = age group
in the ... age bracket
•single people in the 40-50 age bracket
aged 5/25 etc 5 etc years old
[+between]
•Police are looking for a man aged between 30 and 35.
•The course is open to children aged 12 and over.
1 very old:
•my aged parents
2 the aged [plural] old people:
•the care of children and the aged[U]
unfair treatment of people because they are old; = ageism BrE[C]
the people between two particular ages, considered as a group
in the ... age group
•a book for children in the 12-14 age group
a British spelling of AGINGagism [U] BrE
unfair treatment of people because they are old; = age discrimination
- ageist adjective BrE
•negative ageist attitudes
treating older people unfairly because of a belief that they are less important than younger people:
•The article seemed somewhat insensitive and ageist to me.
- ageist noun [C]
1 never looking old or old-fashioned:
•Her face seemed to be ageless.
2 having existed for a very long time and continuing forever:
•the ageless charm of a country kitchen
- agelessness noun [U][C]
the oldest or youngest age at which you are allowed to do something
[+for]
•The upper age limit for entrants was set at 25. plural agencies [C]
1 a business that provides a particular service for people or organizations
an advertising/employment/travel etc agency
•a local housing agency
DATING AGENCY, NEWS AGENCY
2 an organization or department, especially within a government, that does a specific job:
•a UN agency responsible for helping refugees
•the Environmental Protection Agency
3 by/through the agency of sb formal being done as the result of someone's help [C]
1 a list of problems or subjects that a government, organization etc is planning to deal with
be high on the agenda/be top of the agenda (=be one of the most important problems to deal with)
•Measures to combat terrorism will be high on the agenda.
•The government set an agenda for constitutional reform.
political/economic/legislative/domestic etc agenda
•Our Centre has limited its research agenda to four areas.
2 the ideas that a political party thinks are important and the things that party aims to achieve:
•The Republicans have stuck to their conservative agenda.
3 a list of the subjects to be discussed at a meeting:
•the next item (=subject) on the agenda
hidden agenda at HIDDEN^2 (3) [C]
1 a person or company that represents another person or company, especially in business:
•Our agent in Rio deals with all our Brazilian business.
[+for]
•We're acting as agents for Mr Watson.
ESTATE AGENT, REAL ESTATE AGENT, LAND AGENT, TRAVEL AGENT
2 someone who finds work for actors, musicians etc, or who finds someone to PUBLISH a writer's work:
•My agent has a new script for me to look at.
•a literary agent
3 someone who works for a government or police department, especially in order to get secret information about another country or organization:
•an intelligence agent
•an FBI agent
•an undercover (=secret) agent
SECRET AGENT, DOUBLE AGENT
4 technical a chemical or substance that is used for a particular purpose or that has a particular effect:
•Soap is a cleansing agent.
5 someone or something that affects or changes a situation
agent for/of change
•Technological advances are the chief agents of change.
FREE AGENT $ plural agents provocateurs (same pronunciation) [C]
someone who is employed to encourage people who are working against a government to do something illegal so that they are caught
the age of consent the age when someone can legally get married or have a sexual relationship
having existed for a very long time
an age-old tradition/practice/custom etc BrE
•age-old customs
•the age-old problem of sexual discrimination[C]
the people between two particular ages, considered as a group; = age group
in the ... age range
•young people in the 15-18 age range
•This affects people across a wide age range. $ [singular, U] technical
a type of rock formed from pieces of material from a VOLCANO that have melted together $ [C,U]
a large collection of things that do not seem to belong together
[+of]
•buildings in an agglomeration of styles $ [U]
1 the state of being stuck together
2 the process of making new words by combining two or more words, such as combining 'ship' and 'yard' to make 'shipyard'also aggrandisement BrE [U]
when a person or country tries to increase their power or importance - used to show disapproval:
•the misuse of authority for personal aggrandizement [T]
1 to make a bad situation, an illness, or an injury worse; improve
•Their money problems were further aggravated by a rise in interest rates.
•Building the new road will only aggravate the situation.
2 to make someone angry or annoyed; = irritate
•What really aggravates me is the way she won't listen.
- aggravating adjective
- aggravatingly adverb
- aggravation noun [C,U] [only before noun] law
an aggravated offence is one in which a criminal does something that makes their original crime more serious:
•He was charged with aggravated assault. formal
1 [C] the total after a lot of different figures or points have been added together
[+of]
•The smaller minorities got an aggregate of 1,327 votes.
• In the aggregate (=as a group or in total), women outlive men by 7 or more years.
on aggregate BrE (=when the points from two football games are added together)
•Manchester United won 2-1 on aggregate.
2 [singular, U] technical sand or small stones that are used in making CONCRETE[only before noun] technical
being the total amount of something after all the figures or points have been added together:
•an increase in the aggregate production formal
1 [linking verb] to be a particular amount when added together:
•Sheila's earnings from all sources aggregated £100,000.
2 [I,T usually passive] to put different amounts, pieces of information etc together to form a group or a total
[+with]
•A wife's income is no longer aggregated with that of her husband.
- aggregation noun [U] [U]
1 angry or threatening behaviour or feelings that often result in fighting:
•Television violence can encourage aggression in children.
[+towards]
•Our dogs have never shown aggression towards other dogs.
2 the act of attacking a country, especially when that country has not attacked first:
•an unprovoked act of aggression
[+against]
•Athenian aggression against Persia
1 behaving in an angry, threatening way, as if you want to fight or attack someone:
•Jim's voice became aggressive.
•Teachers apparently expect a certain amount of aggressive behaviour from boys.
2 very determined to succeed or get what you want:
•A successful businessman has to be aggressive.
•an aggressive marketing campaign
- aggressively adverb
- aggressiveness noun [U] $ [C]
a person or country that begins a fight or war with another person or country:
•measures taken to deter potential aggressors
1 angry and sad because you think you have been unfairly treated:
•an aggrieved tone of voice
2 law having suffered as a result of the illegal actions of someone else:
•the aggrieved party (=person who has suffered) $ [U] BrE informal
1 angry behaviour or fighting:
•I hope he doesn't cause any aggro.
2 problems or difficulties that annoy you:
•I can't cope with all this aggro. $ [not before noun] written
feeling or looking shocked by something you have seen or just found out
[+at]
•Everyone was aghast at the verdict.
•Hank looked at her aghast. $
1 able to move quickly and easily:
•Dogs are surprisingly agile.
2 someone who has an agile mind is able to think very quickly and intelligently:
•He was physically strong and mentally agile.
- agility noun [U]
•With surprising agility, Karl darted across the road.also ageing BrE [only before noun]
becoming old:
•aging movie stars
•Europe's ageing population (=with more old people than before)also ageing BrE [U]
the process of getting old:
•Memory loss is often a part of ageing.
an American spelling of AGEISM
1 [I] to argue strongly in public for something you want, especially a political or social change
[+for/against]
•unions agitating for higher pay
agitate to do sth
•His family are agitating to get him freed.
2 [T] formal to make someone feel anxious, upset, and nervous:
•I must warn you that any mention of Clare agitates your grandmother.
3 [T] technical to shake or mix a liquid quickly
so nervous or upset that you are unable to keep still or think calmly:
•Amanda was getting visibly agitated.
1 [U] when you are so anxious, nervous, or upset that you cannot think calmly:
•She was in a state of considerable agitation.
2 [C,U] public argument or action for social or political change
[+for/against]
•mass agitation for political reform
3 [U] technical the act of shaking or mixing a liquid $ [C]
someone who encourages people to work towards changing something in society - used to show disapproval:
•a political agitator $ [U]
music, literature, or art that tries to persuade people to follow a particular set of political ideas $ [not before noun] literary
1 having a soft light, or a strong, warm colour:
•The evening sky was still aglow.
2 if someone's face is aglow, they seem happy and excited
[+with]
•Linda's face was aglow with happiness. [C]
BrE annual general meeting a meeting held once a year by a club, business, or organization for the members to discuss the previous year's business, elect officials etc; = annual meeting AmE $ [C]
someone who believes that people cannot know whether God exists or not; atheist
- agnostic adjective
- agnosticism noun [U] $
used to show how far back in the past something happened
5 minutes/an hour/20 years etc ago
•Her husband died 14 years ago.
long ago/a long time ago
•He should have finished at university long ago, but he kept taking extra courses.
a minute/moment ago
•The little girl you saw a moment ago was my niece.
a little/short while ago
•Tom got a letter from him just a little while ago.
•They moved to a new house some time ago (=a fairly long time ago).
•We had our bicentenary celebrations not that long ago.

WORD CHOICE: ago, before, previously
Use ago to say how much time has passed from the time something happened to now, the time of speaking: I saw her a few minutes ago. | We went to Madrid two years ago.
Use before to say how much time passed from the time something happened to a time in the past: We went back to the same hotel where we had stayed two years before.
Previously is used in the same way, but is more formal: The meeting was a follow-up to one that had been held four days previously.
GRAMMAR

!! Do not use a preposition ('at', 'in', 'on' etc) before a phrase with ago: They first met fifteen years ago (NOT at/in fifteen years ago).

!! Do not use 'since' or 'before' with ago: I came to the USA two months ago (NOT since/before two months ago).

!! Use the past tense, not the present perfect, with ago: I started (NOT I've started) a new job a few weeks ago.

$ [not before noun]
very excited about something and wanting to find out more:
•I've been agog all afternoon, waiting for the next part of your story.
•Paul was agog with curiosity.also agonise BrE [I]
to think about a difficult decision very carefully and with a lot of effort
[+over/about]
•All the way home she agonized about what she should do.
- agonizing noun [U]also agonised BrE [only before noun]
expressing very severe pain:
•an agonized scream
•From some place close by she heard agonized sobbing.also agonising BrE
1 extremely painful:
•The pain was agonizing.
2 very unpleasant to experience, especially because of involving a difficult choice or a long wait:
•an agonizing decision
- agonizingly adverb
•at an agonizingly slow pace plural agonies [C,U]
1 very severe pain:
•the agony of arthritis
in agony
•I was in agony.
•He groaned in agony.
2 a very sad, difficult, or unpleasant experience:
•It was agony not knowing if she would live.
[+of]
•He was in agonies of remorse.
pile on the pressure/agony at PILE ON (2); prolong the agony at PROLONG (2)[C]
BrE someone who writes an agony column[C]
BrE a part of a newspaper or magazine in which someone gives advice to readers about their personal problems; = advice column $ [U]
fear of crowds and open spaces; claustrophobia $ [C]
someone who suffers from agoraphobia
- agoraphobic adjective $ [usually before noun]
relating to farming or farmers:
•an agrarian economy (=based on farming)
1 SAME OPINION [I,T not in progressive] to have or express the same opinion about something as someone else; disagree
•Teenagers and their parents rarely agree.
[+with]
•If she felt he was right, she would agree with him.
agree that
•Most people nowadays would agree that a good pub is one of our best traditions.
[+on/about]
•We don't agree on everything, of course.
I quite agree/I couldn't agree more (=I agree completely)
•'We have to talk.' 'Absolutely,' Meredith replied. 'I couldn't agree more.'
2 SAY YES [I,T not in progressive] to say yes to an idea, plan, suggestion etc; refuse
•I suggested we go somewhere for the weekend and she agreed at once.
agree to do sth
•No one really knows why he agreed to do the film.
[+to]
•My sister won't agree to our mother going into a nursing home.
3 DECIDE TOGETHER [I,T not in progressive] to make a decision with someone after a discussion with them
agree to do sth
•We agreed to meet again the following Monday.
[+on]
•They managed to agree on a date for the wedding.
agree that
•It was agreed that elections would be held in May.
agree a price/plan/strategy etc
•We agreed a new four-year contract.
4 BE THE SAME [I not in progressive] if two pieces of information agree with each other, they match or are the same
[+with]
•Your story doesn't agree with what the police have told us.
5 agree to differ/disagree if two people agree to differ, they accept that they have different opinions about something and stop arguing about it

PHRASAL VERBS
agree with sth phr v
1 to believe that a decision, action, or suggestion is correct or right:
•I don't agree with hitting children.
2 not agree with sb if a type of food does not agree with you, it makes you feel ill:
•Green peppers don't agree with me.
3 if an adjective, verb etc agrees with a word, it matches that word by being plural if the word is plural etc
1 written or old-fashioned pleasant; disagreeable
•We spent a most agreeable couple of hours.
•an agreeable young man
2 be agreeable to sth formal to be willing to do something or willing to allow something to be done:
•My parents are quite agreeable to my studying abroad.
3 acceptable
[+to]
•The main objective is to find a solution that is agreeable to the company in terms of cost.
- agreeably adverb
•I think you'll be agreeably surprised by what I'm going to say. [only before noun]
1 an agreed plan, price, arrangement etc is one that people have discussed and accepted:
•The important thing is to have agreed objectives.
2 be agreed if people are agreed, they have discussed something and agree about what to do
[+on]
•All parties are now agreed on the plan.
be agreed that
•We're all agreed that we cannot spend what we have not earned.
3 Agreed used to check if someone agrees, or to show that you agree:
•'Let's just forget it ever happened. Agreed?' 'Agreed.'
1 [C] an arrangement or promise to do something, made by two or more people, companies, organizations etc:
•a trade agreement
[+with]
•Does your employer have an agreement with a union?
[+on]
•an agreement on arms reduction
come to/reach an agreement
•Failure to reach an agreement will result in a strike.
•Haydon came to an agreement with his creditors.
under an agreement
•Under the agreement, most agricultural prices would be frozen or cut.
•They had an agreement that she would give them any leftover food from her shop.
•They claimed the company had broken the terms of the agreement.
2 [U] when people have the same opinion as each other; disagreement
agreement that
•There is general agreement that copyright is a good idea.
[+on]
•There is widespread agreement on the need for prison reform.
be in agreement
•A decision will not be made until everyone is in agreement.
•It is easier for two parties to reach agreement than for three.
3 [U] when someone says yes to an idea, plan, suggestion etc
agreement to do sth
•Would their discussion result in his agreement to visit his stepmother?
[+of]
•Such arrangements cannot be altered without the agreement of the bank.
4 [C] an official document that people sign to show that they have agreed to something:
•Please read the agreement and sign it.
•a hire purchase agreement [C,U]
the production and sale of farm products, or a company involved in this $ [U]
the practice or science of farming:
•More than 75% of the land is used for agriculture.
- agricultural adjective
•agricultural land
•agricultural labourers
- agriculturalist noun [C]
HORTICULTURE $
also agri- relating to farming:
•agrobiology $ [U]
the study of the growing of crops
- agronomist noun [C]
run/go aground if a ship runs aground, it becomes stuck in a place where the water is not deep enough [C,U]
old-fashioned a fever that makes you shake and feel cold
used to show surprise, happiness, agreement etc:
•Ah! There you are!
used to show that you understand or realize something:
•Aha! So you planned all this, did you?
HA
1 IN FRONT a short distance in front of someone or something; behind
•He kept his gaze fixed on the car ahead.
[+of]
•A hill loomed ahead of them.
•We could see the lights of Las Vegas up ahead.
some/a little/a long way ahead
•The clinic was now in sight, some way ahead.
straight/dead ahead (=straight in front)
•The river is eight miles away dead ahead.
•Henry hurried on ahead (=went in front of the others).
2 FORWARD if someone or something looks or moves ahead, they look or move forward:
•He stared straight ahead.
•The ship forged ahead through the thin ice.
3 BEFORE SB ELSE before someone else
[+of]
•There were four people ahead of me at the doctor's.
4 FUTURE in the future
[+of]
•You have a long trip ahead of you.
•Considerable problems may lie ahead.
the years/days/months etc ahead
•We do not foresee any major changes in our way of life in the years ahead.
•Unless we plan ahead (=plan for the future) we are going to be in a mess.
5 BEFORE AN EVENT before an event happens; = in advance
•I cook rice two or three hours ahead.
•Can you tell me ahead of time if you're coming?
[+of]
•He's giving a series of concerts in London ahead of his international tour.
6 ahead of schedule earlier than planned or arranged:
•I arrived at Jack's suite half an hour ahead of schedule.
7 PROGRESS/SUCCESS making progress and being successful in your job, education etc
get/keep/stay ahead
•Getting ahead at work is the most important thing to her at the moment.
8 ADVANCED ideas, achievements etc that are ahead of others have made more progress or are more developed:
•This design is light years ahead (=much more advanced) in performance and comfort.
ahead of your/its time (=very advanced or new, and not understood or accepted)
•Coleridge was in many ways far ahead of his time.
9 WINNING winning in a competition or election:
•Two shots from Gardner put the Giants 80-75 ahead.
•We are 10 points ahead in the polls.
[+of]
•At this stage, Smith appeared to be ahead of his rivals.
10 go ahead
a) spoken used to tell someone they can do something:
•'Can I have the sports section?' 'Yeah, go ahead, I've read it.'
b) to do something that was planned, especially in spite of a problem
[+with]
•Frank'll be late but we'll go ahead with the meeting anyway.
c) to take place:
•Tests of anti-cancer drugs are to go ahead this year.
GO-AHEAD^1
11 ahead of the game/curve AmE informal in a position where you are in control of something, and more successful than your competitors:
•Belmont city leaders have never been ahead of the curve in environmental matters. spelling pronunciation
a sound like a cough that you make to attract someone's attention, or when you are saying something embarrassing $ [in nouns and adjectives]
someone who cannot stop doing something or using something
a workaholic (=someone who never stops working)
a chocaholic (=someone who loves chocolate)
old-fashioned used by sailors to get someone's attention or greet them [U]
the abbreviation of artificial intelligence
1 [U] help, such as money or food, given by an organization or government to a country or to people who are in a difficult situation:
• Foreign aid from many countries poured into the famine area.
•convoys delivering humanitarian aid
•a substantial aid programme
•He has been granted legal aid (=free legal services).
2 [U] help that you need to do a particular thing
with/without the aid of sth
•Father Poole walked painfully, with the aid of a stick.
3 in aid of sth in order to help a CHARITY:
•We're collecting money in aid of cancer research.
4 [U] help or advice that is given to someone who needs it
come/go to sb's aid (=help someone)
•I didn't speak any French, but a nice man came to my aid and told me where to go.
5 [C] something such as a machine or tool that helps someone do something:
•A video is a useful aid in the classroom.
•a hearing aid
6 what's this in aid of? BrE spoken used to ask what something is used for or why someone is doing something:
•What's this meeting tomorrow in aid of, then?
7 an American spelling of aide
FIRST AID[T]
1 to help someone do something:
•an index to aid the reader
aid sb in/with (doing) sth
•Mrs Coxen was aided in looking after the children by her niece.
2 to make something happen more quickly or easily:
•Welfare spending aids economic development in three ways.
3 aid and abet law to help someone do something illegal [C]
someone whose job is to help someone who has an important job, especially a politician:
•a presidential aide plural aides-de-camp (same pronunciation) [C]
a military officer whose job is to help an officer of a higher rankalso Aids BrE [U]
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome a very serious disease that stops your body from defending itself against infections, and usually causes death:
•the AIDS virus
•Aids sufferers
• full-blown AIDS (=AIDS at its most advanced stage)[C]
someone who works for an organization that brings food and other supplies to people in danger from wars, floods etc:
•UN aid workers
1 what ails sth formal the thing or things that are causing difficulties for something:
•This initiative is not the answer to what ails our educational system.
2 [I,T] old-fashioned to be ill, or to make someone feel ill or unhappy [usually before noun]
1 an ailing company, organization, or ECONOMY is having a lot of problems and is not successful:
•the ailing car industry
2 formal ill and not likely to get better [C]
an illness that is not very serious:
• minor ailments
1 [C] something you hope to achieve by doing something
[+of]
•The aim of the research is to find new food sources.
•The main aim of the course is to improve your writing.
with the aim of doing sth
•a campaign with the aim of helping victims of crime
•Teamwork is required in order to achieve these aims.
•a policy which sets out the school's aims and objectives
2 take aim to point a gun or weapon at someone or something you want to shoot
[+at]
•Alan took aim at the target.
3 take aim at sb/sth AmE to criticize someone or something:
•Critics took aim at both the Senator and the President.
4 [U] someone's ability to hit what they are aiming at when they throw or shoot something:
•Val's aim was very good.
1 [I] to try or intend to achieve something
aim to do sth
•We aim to finish by Friday.
(be) aimed at doing sth
•an initiative aimed at reducing road accidents
[+for]
•We're aiming for a big improvement.
2 aim sth at sb to say or do something that is intended for a particular person or group of people:
•a program that's aimed at teenagers
•The criticism wasn't aimed at you.
3 [I,T] to choose the place, person etc that you want to hit or reach and point a weapon or another object towards them:
•Denver aimed his gun but did not shoot.
[+at/for]
•The pilot was aiming for the runway but came down in a nearby field.
not having a clear purpose or reason:
•a young man drifting through life in an aimless way
- aimlessly adverb
- aimlessness noun [U]
a short form of 'am not', 'is not', 'are not', 'has not', or 'have not', that many people think is incorrect $
1 GAS [U] the mixture of gases around the Earth, that we breathe:
•You need to put some air in the tyres.
in the air
•There was a strong smell of burning in the air.
•Let's go outside and get some fresh air.
•public opposition to air pollution
a breath of fresh air at BREATH (2)
2 SPACE ABOVE THE GROUND the air the space above the ground or around things
into the air
•Flames leapt into the air.
through the air
•He fell 2000 metres through the air without a parachute.
3 PLANES
a) by air travelling by, or using a plane:
•I'd prefer to travel by air.
b) relating to or involving planes:
•the victims of Britain's worst air disaster
• Air travel was growing rapidly.
• air traffic congestion
•His brother died in an air crash.
4 be in the air
a) if a feeling is in the air, a lot of people feel it at the same time:
•There was a sense of excitement in the air.
b) to be going to happen very soon:
•Change is in the air.
5 APPEARANCE [singular] if something or someone has an air of confidence, mystery etc, they seem confident, mysterious etc
[+of]
•She had an air of quiet confidence.
•She looked at him with a determined air.
6 be up in the air if something is up in the air, no decision has been made about it yet:
•Our trip is still very much up in the air.
7 be on/off (the) air to be broadcasting on the radio or television at the present moment, or to stop broadcasting:
•We'll be on air in three minutes.
8 MUSIC [C] a simple tune, often used in the title of a piece of CLASSICAL music
9 airs [plural] a way of behaving that shows someone thinks they are more important than they really are
put on airs/give yourself airs
•Trudy is always putting on airs.
•an actor with no airs and graces
10 be walking/floating on air to feel very happy
HOT AIR, ON-AIR; clear the air at CLEAR^2 (15); disappear/vanish into thin air at THIN^1 (15); out of thin air at THIN^1 (16)
1 OPINION [T] to express your opinions publicly
air your views/grievances/complaints etc
•Staff will get a chance to ask questions and air their views.
2 TV/RADIO [I,T] to broadcast a programme on television or radio:
•KPBS airs such popular children's programs as 'Barney' and 'Sesame Street'.
•The program is due to air next month.
3 ROOM [T] especially BrE air sth out AmE to let fresh air into a room, especially one that has been closed for a long time
4 CLOTHES [I,T] especially BrE air (sth) out AmE to put a piece of clothing in a place that is warm or has a lot of air, so that it smells clean:
•I've left my sweater outside to air.
AIRING
air your dirty laundry at DIRTY^1 (7)[C]
a special aircraft used for taking people to hospital $ [C]
a bag in a car that fills with air to protect the driver or passenger in an accident $ [C]
a place where military aircraft begin and end their flights, and where members of an air force live $ [C]
something that you fill with air and use as a bed $
1 a plane that is airborne is in the air
2 airborne soldiers are trained to fight in areas that they get to by jumping out of a plane
3 carried through the air:
•airborne pollutants[plural]
BRAKEs that work using air pressure $ [C]
a piece of equipment that uses air to put paint onto a surface[T]
to use an airbrush to make a picture or photograph look better

PHRASAL VERBS
airbrush sb/sth <=> out phr v
to remove someone or something from a picture or photograph using an airbrush[C]
a high rank in the British air force, or someone who has this rank[C]
a high rank in the British air force, or someone who has this rank[C]
a machine that makes the air in a room or building cooler and drier[U]
a system that makes the air in a room or building cooler and drier
- air-conditioned adjective $ plural aircraft [C]
a plane or other vehicle that can fly
LIGHT AIRCRAFT[C]
a type of ship that planes can fly from and land on $ plural aircraftmen [C]
a low rank in the British air force, or someone who has this rank $ [C]
the pilot and the people who are responsible for flying a plane $ [C]
the action of delivering supplies to people by dropping them from a plane
- airdrop verb [T] $ [C]
the price of a journey by plane $ [C]
a place where planes can fly from, especially one used by military planes $ [U]
the movement of air through or around something[C]
the part of a country's military organization that uses planes to fight; army, navy[C,U]
a substance or object used to make a room smell pleasant $ [C]
a gun that uses air pressure to fire a small round bullet $ [C] informal
someone who behaves in a stupid way[C] BrE old-fashioned
a woman who serves food and drink to passengers on a plane $
in a way that shows you are not worried about something or do not think it is serious:
•'I don't really care,' he replied airily. $
1 [singular] an occasion when an opinion, idea etc is discussed
get/be given an airing
•an issue that wasn't given an airing during the campaign
2 [C] an occasion when a programme is broadcast on television or radio:
•the program's first airing in 2000
3 [C] an occasion when something is shown to people:
•a car which had its first airing at the Paris Motor Show
4 [singular] an occasion when you let fresh air move around something:
•Put your houseplants outside to give them an airing.[C] BrE
a warm cupboard in a house where you keep sheets[C]
a way of greeting someone with a kiss that is near the side of their face, but that does not touch them
- air-kiss verb [I,T] $
airless places or conditions are unpleasant because there is not enough fresh air:
•an airless room $ [C]
an occasion when people or supplies are taken to a place by plane, especially during a war or dangerous situation
- airlift verb [T] $ [C]
a company that takes passengers and goods to different places by plane:
•an airline pilot $ [C]
a large plane for passengers[C]
1 a small room used for moving between two places that do not have the same air pressure, for example in a spacecraft
2 a small amount of air in a pipe that stops liquid flowing through it $ [U]
letters and packages that are sent somewhere using a plane, or the system of doing this:
•Send the letter by airmail. $ plural airmen [C]
someone who is a member of their country's air force $ [C] AmE
a vehicle that flies through the air and has one or more engines; = aeroplane BrE; = plane $ [U]
the number of times that a particular song is played on the radio:
•The new single is already getting airplay.[C]
1 a current of air that makes a plane suddenly move down
2 a small area that becomes filled with air $ [C]
a place where planes take off and land, with buildings for passengers to wait in; airfield
•The plane landed at Heathrow Airport.
•Her family went to see her off at the airport.

WORD FOCUS: airport
what you do at the airport: When you arrive at the airport, you go into the terminal building. You check in for your flight at the
check-in desk. You show your passport at
passport control and then go through
security, where they check that you are not carrying any weapons. If you have time you can wait for your flight in the
departure lounge. When your flight is called, you go through the
departure gate in order to get onto the plane. The plane then takes off from the
runway. After your plane has landed, you go to the
baggage reclaim to collect your bags, then go through
customs and
immigration, where they check your passport and your bags. You then go out into the
arrivals area of the airport.
[U]
books that are not very serious, and that people buy at airports to read when they are on a plane journey[C]
a piece of equipment used to put air into something[C usually plural]
a movement that someone makes in the air with their fingers to show that what they are saying should be in QUOTATION MARKs , and that it should not be taken as their real opinion or their usual way of speaking[U]
violence and angry behaviour by a passenger on a plane towards other passengers or the people who work on it[C]
an attack in which bombs are dropped on a place by planes[C]
a gun that uses air pressure to fire a small bullet $ [C]
a large aircraft with no wings, that has an engine and is filled with gas to make it float $ [C]
an event at which people watch planes fly and do very complicated movements in the sky $
feeling sick because of the movement of a plane
- airsickness noun [U] $ [U]
the sky above a particular country, that is legally controlled by that country:
•Canadian airspace $ [singular, U]
the speed at which a plane travels[C]
an attack in which military aircraft drop bombs $ [C]
a long narrow piece of land that planes can fly from or land on[C]
a large building at an airport where passengers wait to get on planes $
1 not allowing air to get in or out:
•airtight containers
2 planned or done so carefully that there is no chance of any problems or mistakes:
•an airtight alibi $ [U]
1 the amount of time that a radio or television station gives to a particular subject, advertisement etc:
•Advertisers have bought airtime on all the major TV networks.
2 the amount of time that has been paid for when using a MOBILE PHONE[C]
a company that provides the service that allows you to make and receive calls on a MOBILE PHONE
shot from one plane to another while both planes are flying:
•an air-to-air missile[U]
1 the process or job of giving instructions to pilots by radio
2 the people whose job is to do this[C]
someone at an airport whose job is to give instructions to pilots by radio[C]
a high rank in the British air force, or someone who has this rank $
the airwaves informal radio and television broadcasts
on/over the airwaves
•a subject that's been debated on the airwaves $ [C]
1 the passage in your throat that you breathe through
2 an area of the sky that is regularly used by planes $
a plane that is airworthy is safe enough to fly
- airworthiness noun [U] $
1 an airy room or building has plenty of fresh air because it is large or has a lot of windows:
•All the hotel's bedrooms are light and airy.
2 done in a happy and confident way, even when you should be serious or worried:
•He dismissed her concerns with an airy wave of the hand.BrE informal
not sensible or practical:
•airy fairy ideas [C]
1 a long passage between rows of seats in a church, plane, theatre etc, or between rows of shelves in a shop
2 go/walk down the aisle informal to get married
be rolling in the aisles at ROLL^1 (20) plural aitches [C,U]
the letter H when written as a word not a letter
drop your aitches (=not pronounce the letter H at the beginning of words)
•People with Cockney accents tend to drop their aitches. $ [not before noun]
a door that is ajar is slightly openaka
also known as used when giving someone or something's real name together with a different name they are known by:
•John Phillips, aka The Mississippi Mauler $
1 (with) arms akimbo with your hands on your HIPs so that your elbows point away from your body
2 (with) legs akimbo with your legs wide apart formal
akin to sth very similar to something:
•Something akin to panic overwhelmed him.
in the same style as someone or something else:
•detective stories à la Agatha Christie $ [U]
a white stone, used for making STATUEs or other objects for decoration
1 made of alabaster
2 white and smooth $
if food in a restaurant is à la carte, each dish has a separate price [U] formal
quickness and eagerness
with alacrity
•She accepted with alacrity. $
1 old-fashioned fashionable
2 AmE served with ICE CREAM:
•apple pie à la mode $
1 [C] a piece of equipment that makes a loud noise to warn you of danger
a burglar/fire/smoke alarm
•I forgot to set the burglar alarm.
•He set off the alarm (=made it start ringing) by accident.
•The fire alarm's going off (=it is ringing).
•a sophisticated alarm system
2 [U] a feeling of fear or worry because something bad or dangerous might happen
[+at]
•There is growing alarm at the increase in crime.
in alarm
•She looked up in alarm.
•Scientists have said there is no cause for alarm.
3 [C] an alarm clock:
•I've set the alarm for 7 o'clock.
•I was still asleep when the alarm went off.
4 raise/sound the alarm especially BrE to warn people that something bad is happening:
•Neighbours raised the alarm when they smelled smoke.
5 alarm bells ring if alarm bells ring, you feel worried that something bad may be happening:
•Alarm bells started to ring when he failed to return home.
FALSE ALARM[T]
to make someone feel worried or frightened:
•I don't want to alarm you, but I can't find the key.[C]
a clock that makes a noise at a particular time to wake you up $
1 worried or frightened
[+by/at]
•Environmentalists are alarmed by the dramatic increase in pollution.
alarmed to see/hear etc
•He was alarmed to discover that his car was gone.
2 protected by an alarm:
•The whole building is alarmed. $
making you feel worried or frightened:
•an alarming increase in violent crime
•The rainforest is disappearing at an alarming rate.
- alarmingly adverb $
making people feel worried about dangers that do not really exist:
•alarmist reports of health risks [sentence adverb] formal
used when mentioning a fact that you wish was not true:
•Donald, alas, died last year.literary
used to express sadness, shame, or fear $ [C]
1 a very large white sea bird
2 an albatross (around your neck) something that causes problems for you and prevents you from succeeding:
•The issue has become a political albatross for the government. $ formal
used to add information that reduces the force or importance of what you have just said; = although
•He accepted the job, albeit with some hesitation.
•Chris went with her, albeit reluctantly. $ plural albinos [C]
a person or animal with a GENETIC condition that makes their skin and hair very white and their eyes pink [C]
1 a group of songs or pieces of music on a CD, tape etc:
•The band plan to release their new album next week.
2 a book that you put photographs, stamps etc in:
•a photograph album $ [U] technical
the colourless part inside an egg; = white [U]
1 a science studied in the Middle Ages, that involved trying to change ordinary metals into gold
2 literary magic
- alchemist noun [C] $
1 [U] drinks such as beer or wine that contain a substance which can make you drunk:
•I don't drink alcohol anymore.
• alcohol abuse (=when someone drinks too much)
•people with alcohol problems (=people who drink too much)
2 [C,U] the chemical substance in alcoholic drinks that can make you drunk, which is also used in other types of products:
•low alcohol drinks $
1 relating to alcohol or containing alcohol; nonalcoholic
•alcoholic drinks
2 caused by drinking alcohol:
•an alcoholic stupor[C]
someone who regularly drinks too much alcohol and has difficulty stopping $ [U]
the medical condition of being an alcoholic $ [C] BrE
a sweet FIZZY drink that contains alcohol $ [C]
a place in the wall of a room that is built further back than the rest of the wall
food, especially PASTA that is al dente is still pleasantly firm after it has been cooked $ plural aldermen [C]
1 an elected member of a town or city council in the US
2 an important member of a town council in Britain in the past [U]
1 a type of beer made from MALT (1)
2 old-fashioned beer
LIGHT ALE
SMART ALEC [C] old-fashioned
a place where people drank beer in the past $
1 giving all your attention to what is happening, being said etc:
•The animal raised its head, suddenly alert.
•Taking notes is one of the best ways to stay alert in lectures.
2 able to think quickly and clearly:
•Jack was as mentally alert as a man half his age.
3 be alert to sth to know about or understand something, especially a possible danger or problem:
•The authorities should have been alert to the possibility of invasion.
- alertness noun [U][T]
1 to officially warn someone about a problem or danger so that they are ready to deal with it:
•The school immediately alerted the police.
2 to make someone realize something important or dangerous
alert sb to sth
•campaigns to alert the public to the dangers of HIV
1 [C] a warning to be ready for possible danger
a bomb/fire/terrorist etc alert
•a full-scale flood alert
•The bomb alert was raised soon after midnight.
RED ALERT
2 on (the) alert (for sth/sb) ready to notice and deal with a situation or problem:
• Be on the alert for anyone acting suspiciously.
•Troops in the vicinity were put on alert.
on full alert also
on high alert (=completely ready to deal with a dangerous situation)
•All our border points are on full alert. [C,U]
Advanced level an examination that students in England and Wales take, usually when they are 18; A/S level, GCSE, GNVQ, O level
do/take (your) A levels
•She decided to stay on at school and do her A levels.
at A level
•I took maths, physics and chemistry at A level. [U]
a plant grown especially in the US to feed farm animals $
if you eat alfresco, you eat in the open air:
•We dined alfresco, on a balcony overlooking the sea.
alfresco lunch/supper etc [U]
a very simple plant without stems or leaves that grows in or near water [U]
a type of mathematics that uses letters and other signs to represent numbers and values
- algebraic adjective
- algebraically adverb [C]
technical a set of instructions that are followed in a fixed order and used for solving a mathematical problem, making a computer program etc
used when giving someone's real name, especially an actor's or a criminal's name, together with another name they use:
•'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston, alias Rachel Green[C]
a false name, usually used by a criminal:
•a spy operating under the alias Barsad [C]
1 something that proves that someone was not where a crime happened and therefore could not have done it
a perfect/cast-iron/unshakeable etc alibi
•He had a perfect alibi and the police let him go.
2 an excuse for something you have failed to do or have done wrong
1 very different from what you are used to, especially in a way that is difficult to understand or accept; = strange
•the alien environment of the city
be alien to sb
•a way of life that is totally alien to us
2 belonging to another country or race; = foreign
•alien cultures
•an alien multiracial society
3 [only before noun] relating to creatures from another world:
• alien beings from another planet[C]
1 someone who is not a legal citizen of the country they are living or working in:
• illegal aliens entering the country.
2 in stories, a creature from another world [T]
1 to do something that makes someone unfriendly or unwilling to support you:
•The latest tax proposals will alienate many voters.
2 to make it difficult for someone to belong to a particular group or to feel comfortable with a particular person
alienate sb from sth
•He felt that his experiences had alienated him from society.
- alienated adjective
•Gina had become increasingly alienated from her family. [U]
1 the feeling of not being part of society or a group
[+from]
•Unemployment may provoke a sense of alienation from society.
2 when someone becomes less friendly, understanding, or willing to give support as the result of something that happens or is done
[+of]
•the alienation of voters [not before noun]
1 burning:
•The car was set alight and pushed over a hill.
2 literary someone whose face or eyes are alight looks excited, happy, etc
alight with excitement/pleasure/laughter etc
•Jed's face was alight with excitement.
3 literary bright with light or colour[I] formal
1 if a bird or insect alights on something, it stops flying and stands on it; = land
2 to step out of a vehicle after a journey
[+from]
•She alighted from the train at 74th Street.

PHRASAL VERBS
alight on/upon sth phr v formal
to suddenly think of or notice something or someone:
•His mind alighted on several possible answers.
1 [T] to publicly support a political group, country, or person that you agree with
align yourself with sb/sth
•Church leaders have aligned themselves with the opposition.
•a country closely aligned with the West
2 [I,T] to arrange things so that they form a line or are parallel to each other, or to be in a position that forms a line etc:
•The desks were neatly aligned in rows.
•Make sure that all the holes align.
3 [T usually passive] to organize or change something so that it has the right relationship to something else
[+with]
•This policy is closely aligned with the goals of the organization.
1 [U] the state of being arranged in a line with something or parallel to something
[+of]
•the geometrical alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth at the eclipse
out of/into alignment
•The wheels were out of alignment.
2 [C,U] support given by one country or group to another in politics, defence etc
[+with]
•their military alignment with the US [not before noun]
very similar:
•My mother and I are alike in many ways.
1 in a similar way:
•The twins were dressed alike.
great minds think alike at GREAT^1 (15)
2 used to emphasize that you mean both the people, groups, or things that you have just mentioned:
•I learned a lot from teachers and students alike. [C]
the tube in your body that takes food through your body from your mouth to your ANUS $ [U]
money that a court orders someone to pay regularly to their former wife or husband after their marriage has ended; maintenance
the A-list all the most popular or famous film stars, musicians etc; B-list
•the Hollywood A-list
•A-list celebrities
the past tense and past participle of ALIGHT [not before noun]
1 NOT DEAD still living and not dead:
•It was a really bad accident - they're lucky to be alive.
•My grandparents are still alive.
•We stayed alive by eating berries and roots.
•He was kept alive on a life-support machine.
•Apparently he's alive and well and living in Brazil.
2 STILL EXISTING continuing to exist:
•Ancient traditions are very much alive in rural areas.
•Christianity is alive and well in Asia.
•The sport is still very much alive and kicking in this country.
3 CHEERFUL full of energy, happiness, activity etc:
•It was the kind of morning when you wake up and feel really alive.
[+with]
•Her face was alive with excitement.
•The whole house was alive with activity.
4 come alive
a) if a subject or event comes alive, it becomes interesting and seems real:
•Hopefully, we can make history come alive for the children.
b) if someone comes alive, they suddenly become happy and interested in what is happening:
•She only came alive when she sat down at the piano.
c) if a town, city etc comes alive, it becomes busy:
•seaside resorts that come alive in the summer
5 be alive to a fact/possibility/danger etc to know that a particular fact etc exists and that it is important:
•The company is alive to the threat posed by foreign imports.
6 be alive with sth to be full of living things that are moving:
•The pond was alive with fish.
7 bring sth alive to make something interesting and real:
•The way he describes his characters really brings them alive.
skin sb alive at SKIN^2 (3) [C,U]
a substance that forms a chemical salt when combined with an acid
containing an alkali $
1 the whole of an amount, thing, or type of thing:
•Have you done all your homework?
all your life/all day/all year etc (=during the whole of your life, a day, a year etc)
•He had worked all his life in the mine.
•The boys played video games all day.
•They were quarrelling all the time (=very often or continuously).
•Hannah didn't say a single word all the way back home (=during the whole of the journey).
[+of]
•Almost all of the music was from Italian operas.
•I've heard it all before.
•She'd given up all hope of having a child.
2 every one of a number of people or things, or every thing or person of a particular type:
•Someone's taken all my books!
•Will all the girls please stand over here.
•All children should be taught to swim.
•16 per cent of all new cars sold in Western Europe these days are diesel-engined.
•They all speak excellent English.
[+of]
•important changes that will affect all of us
3 the only thing or things:
•All you need is a hammer and some nails.
•All I'm asking for is a little respect.
4 formal everything:
•I'm doing all I can to help her.
•I hope all is well with you.
•All was dark and silent down by the harbour wall.
5 used to emphasize that you mean the greatest possible amount of the quality you are mentioning:
•Can any of us say in all honesty that we did everything we could?
6 at all used in negative statements and questions to emphasize what you are saying:
•They've done nothing at all to try and put the problem right.
•He's not looking at all well.
•'Do you mind if I stay a little longer?' 'No, not at all.'
•Has the situation improved at all?
7 all sorts/kinds/types of sth many different kinds of something:
•Social workers have to deal with all kinds of problems.
8 of all people/things/places etc used to emphasize that your statement is true of one particular person, thing, or place more than any other:
•Of course, you shouldn't have done it. You of all people should know that.
•She did not want to quarrel with Maria today, of all days.
9 all in all used to show that you are considering every part of a situation:
•All in all, it had been one of the most miserable days of Henry's life.
10 for all sth in spite of a particular fact:
•For all his faults, he's a kind-hearted old soul.
•For all my love of landscape, nothing could persuade me to spend another day in the Highlands.
11 in all including every thing or person:
•In all, there were 215 candidates.
•We received £1550 in cash and promises of another £650, making £2200 in all.
12 and all
a) including the thing or things just mentioned:
•They ate the whole fish - head, bones, tail, and all.
b) spoken informal used to emphasize a remark that you have just added:
•And you can take that smelly old coat out of here, and all!
13 all of 50p/20 minutes etc spoken used to emphasize how large or small an amount actually is:
•The game lasted all of 58 seconds.
•The repairs are going to cost all of £15,000.
14 it's all or nothing used to say that unless something is done completely, it is not acceptable:
•Half-heartedness won't do - it's got to be all or nothing.
15 give your all to make the greatest possible effort in order to achieve something:
•The coach expects every player to give their all in every game.
16 it was all I could do to do sth used to say that you only just succeeded in doing something:
•It was all I could do to stop them hitting each other.
17 when all's said and done spoken used to remind someone about an important point that needs to be considered:
•When all's said and done, he's only a kid.
for all sb cares at CARE^2 (8)
for all sb knows at KNOW^1 (33)
all and sundry at SUNDRY (1)
after all at AFTER^1 (13)
1 [always + adj/adv/prep] completely:
•You shouldn't be sitting here by yourself, all alone.
•a strange woman, dressed all in black
•If people want more freedom of choice, then I'm all for it (=I strongly support it).
•'It was a dreadful experience.' 'Never mind, it's all over (=completely finished) now.'
2 all over (sth)
a) everywhere on an object or surface:
•There were bits of paper all over the floor.
•He has cuts all over his legs.
•She ached all over (=her whole body ached).
b) everywhere in a place:
•Antique clocks from all over the world are on display.
•People came from all over the country.
•They're putting up new offices all over the place.
3 all the better/easier/more etc used to emphasize how much better, easier etc something is than it would be in a different situation:
•Clayton's achievement is all the more remarkable when you consider his poor performance last season.
•The job was made all the easier by having the proper tools.
4 all but almost completely:
•Britain's coal industry has all but disappeared.
•His left arm was all but useless.
5 all too used to mean 'very' when talking about a bad situation:
•All too often it's the mother who gets blamed for her children's behaviour.
•In these conditions it was all too easy to make mistakes.
6 all along informal all the time from the beginning while something was happening:
•Chapman had known all along that the plan wouldn't work.
•We had to admit that Dad had been right all along.
7 one all/two all etc used when giving the score of a game in which both players or teams have scored the same number of points:
•The game ended one-all.
8 all told including everything or everyone:
•a project costing £10,000, all told
9 it's all up (with sb) informal BrE used to say that someone's success or happiness has ended:
•If someone tells the police, then it'll be all up with me.
10 be not all there informal someone who is not all there seems stupid or slightly crazy
11 be all smiles/innocence/sweetness etc to be showing a lot of a particular quality or type of behaviour:
•The mayor and mayoress were all smiles and kisses during the grand ceremony.
12 be all over sb informal to be trying to kiss someone and touch them, especially in a sexual way:
•Before I could speak, he was all over me.
13 very:
•You're getting me all confused.
14 that's sb all over used to say that a particular way of behaving is typical of someone:
•He was late of course, but that's Tim all over!
15 be all in BrE to be very tired
16 sb was all ... AmE used to report what someone said or did, when telling a story:
•He drove me home, and he was all, 'I love this car ... it's like a rocket.'
17 not all that not very:
•It doesn't sound all that good, does it?
•I don't think it matters all that much.
18 sb/sth is not all that used to say that someone or something is not very attractive or desirable:
•I don't know why you keep chasing her around. She's not all that. $
1 consisting of or made of only one kind of thing:
•an all-male club
•an all-wool coat
2 all-day/all-night continuing for the whole day or night:
•an all-day seminar
•an all-night café
the Muslim name for God[usually before noun]
1 having qualities that are considered to be typically American and that American people admire, such as being healthy and working hard:
•an all-American family
2 belonging to a group of players who have been chosen as the best in their sport at American universities:
•an all-American football player[only before noun]
AmE good at doing many different things, especially sports; = all-round BrE
•an all-around athlete [T]
allay (sb's) fear/concern/suspicion etc to make someone feel less afraid, worried etc:
•The president made a statement to allay public anxiety.all-clear
the all clear
a) official permission to begin doing something
give (sb)/get the all clear
•We've got the all clear for the new project.
b) a signal such as a loud whistle that tells you that a dangerous situation has endedall-comers [plural]
everyone who wants to take part in something, especially a competition:
•The marathon is open to all comers. [C usually plural]
a statement that someone has done something wrong or illegal, but that has not been proved
allegations of corruption/fraud/misconduct etc
•Mr Singh has strongly denied the allegations of sexual harassment.
allegation that
•an allegation that senior government figures were involved
[+against]
•The teacher made serious allegations against a colleague.
[+of]
•A committee will investigate allegations of racial discrimination. [T often passive] formal
to say that something is true or that someone has done something wrong, although it has not been proved
it is alleged (that)
•It was alleged that the policeman had accepted bribes.
allege that
•The prosecution alleged that the man had been responsible for an act of terrorism.
be alleged to be/do something
•The water is alleged to be polluted with mercury. [only before noun] formal
an alleged crime, fact etc is one that someone says has happened or is true, although it has not been proved
alleged offence/crime/incident etc
•their alleged involvement in international terrorism
•The alleged victim made the complaint at a police station in York. [sentence adverb] formal
used when reporting something that people say is true, although it has not been proved:
•a sports car, allegedly stolen in Manchester [C,U]
loyalty to a leader, country, belief etc
[+to]
•You owe allegiance (=have a duty to give allegiance) to your king.
swear/pledge allegiance
•I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
•an oath of allegiance
switch/transfer allegiance (=start to support a different person, group etc)
•The people here have strong political allegiances. $ plural allegories [C,U]
a story, painting etc in which the events and characters represent ideas or teach a moral lesson
- allegorical $ adjective
- allegorically adverb $ plural allegros [C]
a piece of music played or sung quickly
- allegro adjective, adverb
another spelling of HALLELUJAH
including everyone or everything:
•an all-embracing vision of society [C] BrE
a tool used to turn an Allen screw; = Allen wrench AmE [C]
a type of screw with a hole that has six sides [C] AmE
a tool used to turn an Allen screw; = Allen key BrE $ [C]
a substance that causes an allergy $
1 having an allergy
[+to]
•I'm allergic to penicillin.
2 caused by an allergy:
•an allergic reaction to nuts
•an allergic rash
3 be allergic to sth informal if you are allergic to something, you do not like it and try to avoid it - used humorously:
•Most men are allergic to housework! $ plural allergies [C,U]
a medical condition in which you become ill or in which your skin becomes red and painful because you have eaten or touched a particular substance
[+to]
•I have an allergy to cats.
•a food allergy [T]
to make something less painful or difficult to deal with
alleviate the problem/situation/suffering etc
•a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu
•measures to alleviate poverty
- alleviation noun [U]also alleyway [C]
1 a narrow street between or behind buildings, not usually used by cars:
•The alley led to the railway bridge.
•She found the side alley where the stage door was located.
2 right up/down sb's alley very suitable for someone:
•The job sounds right up your alley.
BLIND ALLEY, BOWLING ALLEY[C]
a cat that lives on the streets and does not belong to anyone [C]
an ALLEYAmE
completely - used when describing a quality that you think is extreme:
•If he weren't so all-fired sure of himself, I'd like him better.
on all fours at FOUR (2)BrE
it's all go spoken used to say that a situation is very busy and full of activity:
•It was all go from 8.00 until we finished at 5.00. [C]
1 an arrangement in which two or more countries, groups etc agree to work together to try to change or achieve something
[+with]
•Britain's military alliance with her NATO partners
[+between]
•the possibility of a political alliance between the two parties
make/enter into/form/forge an alliance (=agree to work together)
•The companies have formed an alliance to market the product.
2 a group of two or more countries, groups etc who work together to achieve something:
•independent organizations and alliances
3 in alliance (with sb/sth) if two groups, countries etc are in alliance, they work together to achieve something or protect each another:
•Relief workers in alliance with local charities are trying to help the famine victims.
4 formal a close relationship, especially a marriage, between people
unholy alliance at UNHOLY (1)
1 usually Allied [only before noun] belonging or relating to the countries that fought with Britain, the US etc in the First or Second World War:
•an Allied bombing raid
•Allied forces
2 (be) allied to/with sth formal to be related to something or to be very similar:
•Anthropology is closely allied to the field of psychology.
3 allied industries/organizations/trades etc connected with each other because of being similar to or dependent on each other:
•agriculture and allied industries
4 joined by the same political, military, or economic aims:
•loosely allied guerilla groups
the Allies [plural] the countries that fought together against Germany during the First and Second World War $
1 [C] a large animal with a long mouth and tail and sharp teeth that lives in the hot wet parts of the US and China
2 [U] the skin of this animal used as leather:
•alligator shoes
extremely important:
•the all-important question in everyone's mindsall-in BrE
used to describe the total cost of something, or the total amount of money charged for something; = inclusive
all-in price/package/deal etc
•all-in deals to Australia and New Zealand
•The hourly rate is £20 all in.
extremely tired:
•You look all-in. Are you OK?
including the cost of everything in the price charged; = all in
an all-inclusive price/package/holiday etc
•an all-inclusive vacation cruise[only before noun] BrE
combining two or more things that are usually separate into one thing:
•an all-in-one TV and video [U]
the use of several words together that begin with the same sound or letter in order to make a special effect, especially in poetry[C] informal
an occasion when you spend the whole night studying or doing written work in university [T]
to use something for a particular purpose, give something to a particular person etc, especially after an official decision has been made
allocate sth to sb/sth
•the importance of allocating resources to local communities
•You should allocate the same amount of time to each question.
allocate sth for sth
•One million dollars was allocated for disaster relief.
allocate sb/sth sth
•Several patients were waiting to be allocated a bed.
1 [C] the amount or share of something that has been allocated for a particular purpose:
•Twelve hours a week seemed a generous allocation of your time.
2 [U] the decision to allocate something, or the act of allocating it
[+of]
•the allocation of funds to universities $ past tense and past participle allotted, present participle allotting [T]
to use a particular amount of time for something, or give a particular share of money, space etc to someone or something
allot sth to sth/sb
•Try and allot 2 or 3 hours a day to revision.
•Each school will be allotted twenty seats.
allot sb sth
•Everyone who works for the company has been allotted 10 shares.
- allotted adjective [only before noun]
•The department has already spent more than its allotted budget. $
1 [C,U] an amount or share of something such as money or time that is given to someone or something, or the process of doing this:
•The budget allotment for each county is below what is needed.
[+of]
•the allotment of shares in the company
2 [C] BrE a small area of land that people can rent for growing vegetables[only before noun]
done in a very determined way, and involving a lot of energy or anger
all-out war/attack/offensive etc
•an all-out effort to win
- all out adverb
•Canada will have to go all out on the ice if they want to win. [T]
1 CAN DO STH to let someone do or have something, or let something happen; = permit
allow sb/sth to do sth
•My parents wouldn't allow me to go to the party.
•Women are not allowed to enter the mosque.
•Don't allow your problems to dominate your life.
allow sb sth
•Passengers are allowed one item of hand luggage each.
•How much time are we allowed?
allow sb in/out/up etc
•I don't allow the cat in the bedroom.
•The audience is not allowed backstage.
sth is (not) allowed (=something is or is not officially permitted)
•Are dictionaries allowed in the exam?
•We don't allow diving in the pool.
2 MAKE STH POSSIBLE to make it possible for something to happen or for someone to do something, especially something helpful or useful; = permit
•This adjustment of the figures allows a fairer comparison.
[+for]
•Our new system will allow for more efficient use of resources.
allow sb to do sth
•A 24-hour ceasefire allowed the two armies to reach an agreement.
allow sb sth
•a seatbelt that allows the driver greater freedom of movement
3 HAVE ENOUGH OF STH to be sure that you have enough time, money, food etc available for a particular purpose
allow sb sth
•Allow yourselves plenty of time to get to the airport.
allow sth for sb/sth
•I've allowed half a bottle of wine for each person.
4 CORRECT/PERMITTED formal to accept that something is correct or true, or that something is acceptable according to the rules or law
allow that
•I allow that there may have been a mistake.
•The judge allowed the evidence.
5 allow me formal used as a polite way of offering to help someone do something:
•'Allow me,' the waiter said, opening the door.

PHRASAL VERBS
allow for sb/sth phr v
to consider the possible facts, problems, costs etc involved in something when making a plan, calculation, or judgment:
•Allowing for inflation, the cost of the project will be $2 million.
•You should always allow for the possibility that it might rain.

allow of sth phr v formal
to make it possible for something to happen or be accepted:
•The facts allow of only one interpretation.
LET^1
FORBID (1)
1 acceptable according to the rules; = permissible
•The maximum allowable dosage is two tablets a day.
2 allowable costs are costs that you do not pay tax on:
•allowable deductions such as alimony and business expenses
1 [C usually singular] an amount of money that you are given regularly or for a special purpose
a monthly/annual etc allowance
•His father gives him a monthly allowance of £200.
[+for]
•Do you get an allowance for clothes?
•Sales staff get a generous mileage allowance or a company car.
•If you are entitled to sickness allowance, you must claim it from your employer.
2 [C usually singular] an amount of something that is acceptable or safe:
•the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C
•Passengers' baggage allowance is 75 pounds per person.
3 [C] BrE an amount of money that you can earn without paying tax on it:
•a new tax allowance from the government
4 [C usually singular] especially AmE a small amount of money that a parent regularly gives to a child; = pocket money BrE
5 [C,U] something that you consider when deciding what is likely to happen, what you should expect etc
[+for]
•There is always an allowance in insurance premiums for whether someone smokes or not.
make (an) allowance/make allowances (for sth)
•The budget makes allowances for extra staff when needed.
6 make allowance/allowances (for sb) to let someone behave in a way you do not normally approve of, because you know there are special reasons for their behaviour:
•Dad's under pressure - you have to make allowances. $ [C,U]
a metal that consists of two or more metals mixed together:
•Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. $ [T + with]
technical to mix one metal with another
having complete power or control:
•an all-powerful dictator[only before noun]
able to be used in any situation:
•an all-purpose cleaner[not before noun]
1 GOOD satisfactory, but not excellent; = okay
•'What's the food like?' 'It's all right, but the place on campus is better.'
•'How's school going, Steve?' 'Oh, all right, I guess.'
2 NO PROBLEMS not ill, hurt, or upset or not having any problems; = okay
•Kate looks really unhappy - I'd better make sure she's all right.
•Are you feeling all right?
•The kids seem to be getting on all right at school.
•Tony was worried about the meeting but it went all right (=happened with no problems).
•Don't worry, it'll turn out all right.
3 do all right (for yourself/herself etc) to be successful in your job, life etc:
•She's doing all right - she's got a job with Microsoft.
4 SUITABLE used to say whether something is suitable or convenient; = okay
[+with/by/for]
•Is Thursday morning all right with you?
•We'll eat at eight. Does that sound all right to you?
5 it's all right used to make someone feel less afraid or worried:
•It's all right, Mommy's here.
6 it's/that's all right used to reply to someone who thanks you or says they are sorry about something:
•'Thanks for all your help!' 'That's quite all right.'
7 PERMISSION used to ask or give permission for something; = okay
•Would it be all right if I left early today?
be all right to do sth
•Is it all right to bring my dog?
8 AGREEMENT used to agree with someone's suggestion, although you may be slightly unwilling; = okay
•'Why not come along?' 'Oh, all right.'
9 UNDERSTANDING [sentence adverb] used to check that someone understands what you have said, or to show that you understand; = okay
•I'll leave a key with the neighbours, all right?
•'The train leaves at 5.30.' 'All right, I'm coming!'
10 THREATEN used when asking in a threatening or angry way what someone's intentions are; = okay
•All right, you two. What are you doing in my room?
11 CHANGE/END SUBJECT used to introduce a new subject or to end a conversation; = okay
•All right, now I'd like to introduce our first speaker.
12 it's all right for sb BrE informal used to say that someone else does not have the problems that you have, or that you are jealous because someone else is luckier than you:
•'I get eight weeks' holiday a year.' 'Well, it's all right for some.'
13 EMPHASIZE informal used to emphasize that you are certain about something:
•'Are you sure it was Bill?' 'Oh, yes, it was him all right.'
14 HAPPY AmE informal used to say you are happy about something you have just been told:
•You passed? All right!
15 LIKE BrE used to describe someone you like or approve of:
•'The new boss isn't too bad, is she?' 'No, she's all right.'
16 GREETING informal especially BrE used as a greeting when you meet someone you know well, or reply to a greeting:
•'How are you, John?' 'Oh, all right - can't complain.'
17 I'm all right Jack BrE informal used to describe someone's attitude when they do not care about other people as long as they themselves are happy, comfortable etc
18 it'll be all right on the night BrE informal used to say that something will be successful, even though there have been lots of problems:
•Workmen have yet to finish the new complex, but the organisers are confident it will be all right on the night.
a bit of all right at BIT^1 (12)all around AmE BrE
used to say that you are describing the total quality or effect of something, rather than the details:
•All round it's not a bad car.
•It was a nasty business all round.all-around AmE [only before noun] BrE
good at doing many different things:
•an all-round athlete[C]
BrE someone with many different skills:
•a good all-rounder
BrE an all-seater football ground, STADIUM etc is one where everyone has a seat[only before noun]
BrE an all-singing, all-dancing machine or system can do many things because it is so technically advanced - used humorously $ [U]
the dried fruit of a tropical American tree, crushed and used in cooking[only before noun]
including many famous actors, sports players etc:
•an all-star cast[only before noun]
all-terrain vehicles are very strong with thick tyres and are suitable for use in many different conditions:
•an all-terrain bike
used when you compare things to say that one of them is the best, worst etc that there has ever been
an all-time high/low
•The price of wheat had reached an all-time low.
•They reached an all-time record score.

PHRASAL VERBS
allude to sb/sth phr v
formal to mention something or someone indirectly:
•Rick didn't want to discuss his past, though he alluded darkly to 'some bad things that happened.' $ [singular, U]
a mysterious, exciting, or desirable quality
[+of]
•the allure of foreign travel
•At 50, she had lost none of her sexual allure.
- allure verb [T]
•harmonies that never fail to allure the listener
- alluring adjective
•the alluring magic of Hong Kong
- allurement noun [C,U] [C,U]
something said or written that mentions a subject, person etc indirectly
[+to]
•The committee made no allusion to the former President in its report.
literary/classical/cultural etc allusions
•Eliot's poetry is full of biblical allusions.
•In his poetry we find many allusions to the human body.
- allusive adjective [only before noun] [usually before noun] technical
made of soil left by rivers, lakes, floods etc:
•alluvial flood plains [U]
soil left by rivers, lakes, floods etc $ plural allies [C]
1 a country that agrees to help or support another country in a war:
•a meeting of the European allies
2 the Allies the group of countries including Britain and the US that fought together in the First and Second World Wars
3 someone who helps and supports you when other people are trying to oppose you:
•Ridley was one of the Queen's closest allies.
•a staunch ally (=very close ally) of President Soares
•a network of political allies
•She knew she had found an ally in Ted.
4 something that helps you succeed in a difficult situation:
•Exercise is an important ally in your campaign to lose weight. $ past tense and past participle allied, present participle allying, third person singular allies
[T always +adv/prep] to help and support other people or countries, especially in a war or disagreement
ally yourself to/with sb
•Some of the northern cities allied themselves with the emperor.
ALLIED $ [singular]
1 sb's alma mater the school, college etc that someone used to attend
2 AmE the song of a particular school, college etcalmanack old-fashioned $ [C]
a book produced each year containing information about a particular subject, especially a sport, or important dates, times etc:
•a football almanac
•a nautical almanac $
1 the Almighty/Almighty God/Almighty Father expressions used to talk about God that emphasize His power
2 God/Christ Almighty an expression used when you are angry or upset. Some people consider this use offensive.
3 almighty din/crash/row BrE old-fashioned informal a very loud noise, argument etc:
•There was an almighty bang and the car came to a halt. $ [C]
a flat pale nut with brown skin that tastes sweet, or the tree that produces these nuts:
•Stir in the ground almonds and egg. $
nearly, but not completely or not quite:
•Have you almost finished?
•Supper's almost ready.
•It was almost midnight.
•Almost nothing was done to improve the situation.
•The story is almost certainly true.
•He's almost as old as I am.
almost all/every/everything
•Marsha visits her son almost every day. $ [plural] literary
money, food etc given to poor people in the past [C]
in Britain in the past, a house where a poor person was allowed to live without paying rent $
[U] a tropical plant with thick leaves that are filled with a liquid which is used to make medicine, COSMETICs etc $ formal
high up in the air
hold/bear sth aloft
•He emerged, triumphantly holding a baby aloft. $ [not before noun]
1 if you are alone in a place, there is no one with you; = by yourself
•She lives alone.
•You shouldn't leave a child alone in the house.
•My wife and I like to spend time alone together away from the kids.
2 without any friends or people you know:
•It was scary being all alone in a strange city.
•She was all alone in the world (=she had no family or friends to help her or look after her).
3 feeling unhappy and lonely:
•I cried like a child because I felt so alone.
4 without any help from other people:
•He was left to raise their two children alone.
5 without including anything else:
•The case will cost thousands of pounds in legal fees alone.
6 you/he etc alone used to emphasize that there is only one person who knows, can do something etc:
•Julie alone knew the truth.
7 go it alone to start working or living on your own, especially after working or living with other people:
•After years of working for a big company I decided to go it alone.
8 leave sb alone let sb alone old-fashioned to stop annoying or interrupting someone:
•'Leave me alone!' she screamed.
9 leave sth alone also let sth alone old-fashioned to stop touching an object or changing something:
•Leave those cakes alone. They're for the guests.
leave well (enough) alone (=not change something that is satisfactory)
•In economic matters, they should leave well alone.
10 be yours/hers/his etc alone used to emphasize that something belongs to someone:
•The responsibility is yours and yours alone.
11 not be alone in (doing) sth to not be the only person to do something:
•You're not alone in feeling upset, believe me.
12 stand alone
a) to be strong and independent:
•the courage to stand alone
b) to be at a distance from other objects or buildings:
•The house stood alone at the end of the road. $
1 going forward:
•I was driving along, thinking about Chris.
•a group of children walking along in a line
2 go/come along to go or come to a place where something is happening:
•You're welcome to come along if you like.
•I think I'll go along and watch the game.
3 take/bring sb/sth along to take someone or something with you to a place:
•Mandy brought some of her friends along.
•Why don't you take your guitar along?
4 be/come along to arrive:
•Another bus should be along in a minute.
•Every so often, a band comes along that changes music history.
5 come/go/get along to improve, develop, or make progress:
•After a five-hour operation, Wendy is coming along just fine.
6 along with sb/sth together with someone or something else:
•Dunne was murdered, along with three guards.
7 all along all the time from the beginning, while something was happening:
•They should have known all along that she was lying.
1 from one place on something such as a line, road, or edge towards the other end of it:
•We were driving along Follyfoot Road.
•She glanced anxiously along the line of faces.
•He slid his hand along her arm.
2 forming a line beside something long:
•The palm trees along the shore swayed in the wind.
•the toolbar along the top of your screen
•There were cheering crowds all along Pennsylvania Avenue.
3 a particular distance away, on or beside something long such as a line, road, edge etc:
•Hugo's house was about two hundred yards away along the main street.
•The bathroom is just along (=a short distance along) the corridor.
4 along the way/line during a process or experience, or during someone's life:
•I've been lucky, but I've had my share of heartbreak along the way. $
1 next to the side of something:
•A car drew up alongside.
•Children's prices are shown alongside adult prices.
2 used to say that people or things do something or exist together at the same time:
•Charles spent a week working alongside the miners.
•Organized crime continued to flourish alongside the mainstream economy.
3 in comparison with something:
•His achievement may seem small alongside the great triumphs of 20th century technology.
•Athletics should rank alongside (=be equal to) soccer and cricket as a major sport.
1 unfriendly and deliberately not talking to other people
remain/stay aloof (from sb)
•They worked hard, but tended to stay aloof from the local inhabitants.
keep/hold yourself aloof (from sb)
•She had always kept herself aloof from the boys in class.
•Beneath that aloof exterior, Gayle is a warm, sympathetic person.
2 deliberately not becoming involved in something
remain/stand aloof (from sth)
•Initially, the President remained aloof from the campaign.
hold/keep (yourself) aloof from sth
•The doctor held himself somewhat aloof from the rest of the ship's crew.
- aloofness noun [U]
if you read, laugh, say something etc aloud, you read etc so that people can hear you; = out loud
read/say sth aloud
•Joanne, would you read the poem aloud?
laugh/groan/cry etc aloud
•The pain made him cry aloud.
•She could have laughed aloud.
think aloud (=say the things you are thinking)
•'What did you say?' ' Sorry, I was just thinking aloud.'
!! Do not use aloud to mean 'in a loud voice'. Use loudly You need to speak quite loudly for the people at the back.
1 [C] an animal from South America with long hair that looks like a LLAMA
2 [U] cloth made from the wool of an alpaca [C usually singular]
1 the first letter of the Greek alphabet
2 the alpha and omega formal the start and finish of something, and therefore the whole of it:
•Collective bargaining was viewed as the alpha and omega of trade unionism. [C]
a set of letters, arranged in a particular order, and used in writing
the Greek/Roman etc alphabet
•the international phonetic alphabetalso alphabetic
relating to the alphabet:
•The files are arranged in alphabetical order.
- alphabetically adverb
•Are the records filed alphabetically?also alphabetise BrE [T]
to arrange things in order according to the letters of the alphabet[C usually singular]
1 the male with the highest rank in a group of animals such as CHIMPANZEEs
2 the man who has the most power and influence and the highest social position in a particular group - used humorouslyalso alphanumerical $
using letters and numbers:
•alphanumeric codes[C]
a test of software to see if it works properly, done by the company that is writing the software; beta test[C]
software that is being tested by the company that is writing it, to see if it works properly; beta version [only before noun]
relating to the Alps (=a mountain range in central Europe) or to mountains in general:
•breathtaking alpine scenery
•alpine flowers
•alpine skiing $
1 before now, or before a particular time:
•The design of the new house is similar to those that have already been built.
•The performance had already started when we arrived.
2 used to say that something has been done before and does not need doing again:
•You already told me that.
•'Fancy a coffee?' 'No thanks, I already have one.'
3 used to say that something has happened too soon or before the expected time:
•Have you eaten all that food already?
•Is it 5 o'clock already?
4 used to say that a situation exists and it might get worse, greater, etc:
•Hurry up, we're already late.
!! already or yet?
see box at YET^1 $
another spelling of ALL RIGHT that some people think is incorrect [C]
BrE a large dog, often used by the police or to guard places; = German Shepherd $
1 in addition to something else that you have mentioned:
•Information is also available on women's health care.
•She sings beautifully and also plays the flute and piano.
•The system was not only complicated but also ineffective.
2 used to say that the same thing is true about another person or thing:
•My girlfriend was also called Helen.

WORD CHOICE: also, too, as well, either
also, too and as well can be used in many of the same contexts: She's a valued colleague, and a great friend too OR and a great friend as well OR and also a great friend.
also is the most formal and the most likely to be used in formal writing such as reports.
as well is the most informal and the most likely to be used in speech.

!! too is never used at the beginning of a clause. Also is not usually used at the end of a clause: Smoking makes you ill. It costs a lot too/as well OR It's also expensive OR Also, it's expensive.
Use either when you are adding another negative fact: Our first attempt didn't work, and our second didn't either (NOT also didn't).

[C]
someone who fails to win a competition, election etc:
•Ten months ago he was just an also-ran for the Democratic nomination. $ [C]
1 a holy table or surface used in religious ceremonies:
•a crucifix above the high altar (=the main altar in a church)
•The victim was tied to a sacrificial altar.
2 the area furthest from the entrance of a church, where the priest or minister stands[C]
a boy who helps a Catholic priest during a church service $ [C]
a painting or SCULPTURE behind an altar $
1 [I,T] to change, or to make someone or something change:
•Her face hadn't altered much over the years.
•The city centre has altered beyond recognition (=changed very much).
•Nothing can alter the fact that the refugees are our responsibility.
2 [T] to make a piece of clothing longer, wider etc so that it fits
have/get sth altered
•She had the dress altered for the wedding. $ [C,U]
a small change that makes someone or something slightly different, or the process of this change
[+to]
•If you make alterations to the Windows setup, save the new settings before closing.
[+in]
•Have you noticed any alteration in the patient's behaviour?
minor/major etc alterations
•The King's Arms pub is to undergo extensive alterations. $ [C]
formal a short noisy argument:
•They became involved in an altercation. $ [C]
1 sb's alter ego an invented person that you use to represent part of your character that is very different from your usual one:
•Gissing used his fictional alter ego to attack Victorian morals.
2 someone you trust and who has similar opinions, attitudes etc:
•Mrs Reagan was widely regarded as the President's alter ego. $ [usually before noun]
1 if something happens on alternate days, weeks etc, it happens on one day etc and not the next, and continues in this pattern
alternate Mondays/weekends etc
•The service runs on alternate days.
2 two alternate things are placed one after the other in a regular pattern:
•alternate blue and red stripes
•Arrange the leeks and noodles in alternate layers.
3 used to replace another thing of the same type; = alternative
•the appointment of an alternate director $ [I,T]
if two things alternate, or if you alternate them, they happen one after the other in a repeated pattern
[+between]
•She alternated between outrage and sympathy.
[+with]
•Periods of depression alternate with excited behavior.
alternate sth and/with sth
•Twist your body, alternating right and left stretches.
- alternation $ noun [C,U][U]
AC a flow of electricity that changes direction regularly and quickly; direct current $
1 [only before noun] an alternative idea, plan etc is different from the one you have and can be used instead
alternative ways/approach/methods etc
•alternative approaches to learning
•Have you any alternative suggestions?
•An alternative route is along the Via Unione.
2 deliberately different from what is usual, expected, or traditional
alternative music/theatre etc
•Tucson's alternative radio station
•sources of alternative energy (=energy produced by the sun, wind etc rather than by gas, coal etc)
•tolerance of alternative lifestyles
alternative medicine/therapies (=medical treatment that is not based on the usual western methods)
•Acupuncture is widely used by practitioners of alternative medicine.
- alternatively adverb
•You can relax on the beach or alternatively try the bustling town centre.[C]
something you can choose to do or use instead of something else
[+to]
•Is there a viable alternative to the present system?
•If payment is not received within five days, legal action will be our only alternative.
•I had no alternative but to report him to the police.
•He quickly assessed what alternatives were open to him.[C]
the way that someone lives their life, when this is not the usual way that other people live:
•Some people say schools need to teach tolerance of alternative lifestyles. $ [C]
an object that produces an ALTERNATING CURRENT, especially in a car $
1 used to introduce a statement that makes your main statement seem surprising or unlikely; = though
•Although in poor health, she continued to carry out her duties.
•We decided to take rooms in Longwood House, although we knew we could not really afford the rent.
•Although I can't help admiring the man's courage, I do not approve of his methods.
2 used to add a statement that balances or reduces the effect of what you have just said; = but
•You can copy down my answers, although I'm not sure they're right.
•No, this is my responsibility, although I appreciate your offer. $ [C]
an instrument in an aircraft that tells you how high you are $
[C] the height of an object or place above the sea
[+of]
•We're flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
high/low altitudes
•At high altitudes it is difficult to get enough oxygen. $
an alto instrument or voice produces notes at the second highest level, below a SOPRANO:
•an alto saxplural altos
1 [C] a singing voice that is lower than a SOPRANO, or a singer with a voice like this
2 [singular] the part of a musical work that is written for an alto voice or instrument
BARITONE^1 (2), BASS^1 (2), SOPRANO^1 (2), TENOR^1 (2) $
1 used to emphasize that something has been done completely or has finished completely:
•an old custom that has vanished altogether
•Congress could ban the procession altogether.
2 [+adj/adv] used to emphasize that the way you describe something is completely true:
•In Canada, the situation is altogether different.
•This latest problem is altogether more serious.
not altogether (=not completely)
•I wasn't altogether happy about Mike staying over.
•The results were not altogether surprising.
3 used to show that you are referring to the total amount:
•There were five people altogether.
•How much do I owe you altogether?
4 used to make a final statement about several things you have just mentioned; = all in all
•Lots of sunshine, wonderful food, and amazing nightlife - altogether a great vacation!
in the altogether not wearing any clothes - used humorously:
•Several of the men were parading around in the altogether. [U]
when you care about or help other people, even though this brings no advantage to yourself:
•Many choose to work in developing countries out of altruism.
- altruist noun [C]
altruistic behaviour shows that you care about and will help other people, even though this brings no advantage for yourself; selfish
•Were his motives entirely altruistic?
- altruistically adverb [C] AmE informal
a former student of a school, college etc:
•a Crawford High alumaluminum AmE [U] BrE
a silver-white metal that is very light and is used to make cans, cooking pans, window frames etc. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Al:
•recycled aluminium cans plural alumnae [C] formal
a woman who is a former student of a school, college, etc [plural]
the former students of a school, college etc:
•the University alumni association plural alumni [C] formal
a former student of a school, college etc $ [C] technical
a CONSONANT sound such as or that you make by putting the end of your tongue behind your upper front teeth $
1 all the time, at all times, or every time:
•Always lock your bicycle to something secure.
•She'd always assumed that Gabriel was a girl's name.
•He hadn't always been a butler.
2 for a very long time:
•I've always wanted to go to Paris.
•John's always been keen on music.
3 for ever:
•I'll always remember that day.
4 if someone or something is always doing something, they do it often, especially in an annoying way:
•That woman next door's always complaining.
5 always assuming/supposing (that) sth BrE used to say that one important fact has to be accepted as true for something else to happen, be true etc:
•We'll leave on Tuesday - always assuming the car's repaired by then.
6 as always as is usual or expected:
•The truth, as always, is more complicated.
•As always, Deborah was the last to arrive.
7 can/could always do sth there's always sth spoken used to make a polite suggestion:
•You could always try ringing again.
•If you can't get it locally, there's always the Internet.
8 sb always was lucky/untidy etc used to say you are not surprised by what someone has done because it is typical of them:
•You always were a stubborn creature.
•He's a troublemaker! Always was and always will be!
see box at STILL^1also Alzheimer's $ [U]
a disease that affects the brain, especially of old people, and that gradually makes it difficult to move, talk, or remember things; = dementia strong
the first person singular of the present tense of the verb BEalso am BrE
ante meridiem used to talk about times that are after MIDNIGHT but before MIDDAY; PM
•Work starts at 9 am.
[C] formal a mixture of different things
[+of]
•an amalgam of different styles formal
1 [I,T] if two organizations amalgamate, or if one amalgamates with another, they join and make one big organization; = merge
amalgamate sth with/into/under sth
•The agency is expected to amalgamate with the National Rivers Authority.
2 [T] to combine two or more things together to make one thing:
•Stir until the ingredients are amalgamated.
amalgamate sth with/into sth
•The editors will amalgamate all the information into one article.
- amalgamation noun [C,U]
•an amalgamation between two companies [C]
formal someone whose job is to write down what someone else says [T]
if you amass money, knowledge, information etc, you gradually collect a large amount of it:
•For 25 years, Darwin amassed evidence to support his theories.
•He amassed a fortune after the war. $ [C]
1 someone who does an activity just for pleasure, not as their job; professional
•a gifted amateur
•Mickelson won his first major golf tournament while still an amateur.
2 informal someone who you think is not very skilled at something:
•You English are a bunch of amateurs when it comes to romance.
- amateur adjective
•an amateur orchestra
• amateur dramatics BrE (=producing or acting in plays as an interest)
- amateurism noun [U]
•well-meaning amateurism $
not skilfully done or made; professional
•His paintings are rather amateurish.
- amateurishly adverb
- amateurishness noun [U] $ formal
expressing sexual or romantic love [T]
to surprise someone very much; = astonish
•Dave amazed his friends by suddenly getting married.
it amazes sb how/what etc
•It still amazes me how much she has improved.
[+that]
•It never ceased to amaze him that women were attracted to Sam.
very surprised; = astonished
amazed (that)/how
•I'm amazed you've never heard of the Rolling Stones.
•You'd be amazed how much money you can save.
[+at/by]
•We were absolutely amazed at his rapid recovery.
amazed to see/find/discover sth
•Visitors are often amazed to discover how little the town has changed. [U]
a feeling of great surprise; = astonishment
do sth in amazement
•Ralph gasped in amazement.
to sb's amazement
•To everyone's amazement, the goal was disallowed.
1 very good, especially in an unexpected way:
•He's an amazing player to watch.
•an amazing bargain
2 so surprising you can hardly believe it:
• It's amazing how often you see drivers using mobile phones.
- amazingly adverb
•These shoes were amazingly cheap. $ [C]
1 an important official who represents his or her government in a foreign country
[+to]
•the US ambassador to Spain
2 someone who represents a particular sport, business etc because they behave in a way that people admire
[+for]
•He has made some good films and he is a good ambassador for the industry.
- ambassadorial adjective
•relations at ambassadorial level $ [U]
1 a yellowish brown colour
2 a hard yellowish brown substance used to make jewellery:
•an amber necklace
- amber adjective [singular]
another spelling of ambience
able to use either hand equally well; left-handed, right-handedambiance [singular]
the qualities and character of a particular place and the way these make you feel; = atmosphere
pleasant/relaxing/friendly etc ambience
•The restaurant's new owners have created a welcoming ambience.
1 ambient temperature/light etc technical the temperature etc of the surrounding area
2 ambient music/sounds a type of modern music or sound that is slow, peaceful, and does not have a formal structure plural ambiguities [C,U]
the state of being unclear, confusing, or not certain, or things that produce this effect
[+in]
•There was an element of ambiguity in the president's reply.
•legal ambiguities
something that is ambiguous is unclear, confusing, or not certain, especially because it can be understood in more than one way; unambiguous
•The language in the Minister's statement is highly ambiguous.
•His role in the affair is ambiguous.
- ambiguously adverb
•The legislation had been ambiguously worded. [singular] formal
the range or limit of someone's authority, influence etc
fall within the ambit of sth
•areas falling within the ambit of our research
1 [C] a strong desire to achieve something
achieve/fulfil/realize an ambition
•She fulfilled her ambition to become the first woman to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes.
lifelong ambition
•He always had this burning ambition (=very strong desire) to start his own business.
•the political ambitions of the working class
an ambition to do sth/of doing sth
•His ambition to become a pilot was thwarted by poor eyesight.
cherish/nurse/harbour an ambition (=have it secretly for a long time)
•He harboured ambitions of becoming leader.
2 [U] determination to be successful, rich, powerful etc:
•a lack of ambition
1 determined to be successful, rich, powerful etc:
•Alfred was intensely ambitious, obsessed with the idea of becoming rich.
[+for]
•mothers who are highly ambitious for their children (=who want their children to be successful)
2 an ambitious plan, idea etc shows a desire to do something good but difficult:
•an ambitious engineering project
•an over-ambitious health reform program
- ambitiously adverb
- ambitiousness noun [U]
not sure whether you want or like something or not
[+about]
•We are both somewhat ambivalent about having a child.
ambivalent attitude/feelings etc
- ambivalence noun [singular, U]
•O'Neill had a genuine ambivalence toward US involvement in the war.
- ambivalently adverb [I always + adv/prep]
to walk slowly in a relaxed way; = saunter
•An old man came out and ambled over for a chat.
- amble noun [singular]
•a pleasant amble by the river $ [U] literary
food or drink that tastes very good [C]
a special vehicle that is used to take people who are ill or injured to hospital:
•the ambulance service
ambulance staff/crew/worker
•The ambulance crew removed him from the wreckage.
•the ambulance service
by ambulance
•Mike had to be taken by ambulance to hospital.
•Do you think we need to call an ambulance (=phone to ask an ambulance to come)?[C]
a lawyer who uses a lot of pressure to persuade someone who has been hurt in an accident to SUE other people or companies in court, so that the lawyer will get part of the money if they win - used to show disapproval [C,U]
a sudden attack on someone by people who have been hiding and waiting for them, or the place where this happens:
•The soldiers were killed in an ambush.
•In winter the danger of ambush is much reduced.
lie/wait in ambush
•Armed police lay in ambush behind the hedge.
- ambush verb [T]
•Everybody thought our train would be ambushed, but we got out safely. [C]
an American spelling of AMOEBA [T]
formal to make a bad situation better or less harmful; = improve
•It is not clear what can be done to ameliorate the situation.
- amelioration noun [U] [C]
1 a word used to end a prayer:
•Blessed be the Lord, Amen!
•McAllister murmured a fervent amen.
2 amen to that informal used to show that you agree with a suggestion or remark:
•'I think we can close the meeting now.' 'Amen to that.' $
1 willing to accept what someone says or does without arguing:
•She was always a very amenable child.
[+to]
•Young people are more amenable than older citizens to the idea of immigration.
2 suitable for a particular type of treatment
[+for/to]
•Such conditions may be amenable to medical intervention. [T] formal
to correct or make small changes to something that is written or spoken:
•The law was amended to include women.
•The defendant later amended his evidence.
•'Steve stole it - or rather borrowed it,' he amended.
- amended adjective
•an amended version
[C,U] a small change, improvement, or addition that is made to a law or document, or the process of doing this:
•constitutional amendments
[+to]
•an amendment to the resolution
make amends (to sb/for sth) to do something to show you are sorry for hurting or upsetting someone, especially something that makes it better for them:
•He seized the chance to make amends for his behavior. $ plural amenities [C usually plural]
something that makes a place comfortable or easy to live in:
•The hotel is in the city centre, close to shops and local amenities.
•houses that lack basic amenities (=basic things that people need, such as heat and running water) [C]
someone who has one American parent and one Asian parent; Asian-American
1 relating to the US or its people:
•Her mother is American.
•a famous American writer
2 sth is as American as apple pie used to say that something is very typically American
LATIN AMERICAN[C]
someone from the US $ [U]
objects that are considered to be typical of the US, especially when they are in a COLLECTION:
•1940s Americana[U] BrE
a game played in the US by two teams of eleven players, who carry, throw, or kick an OVAL ball; = football AmE[C]
another name for a NATIVE AMERICAN (=someone who belongs to one of the races that lived in North America before Europeans arrived) [C]
a word or phrase that is typically used in American Englishalso Americanise BrE [T]
to change a society, language, system etc so that it becomes more American in character
- Americanization $ noun [U]
•the Americanization of youth culture
1 [C] a valuable purple stone used in jewellery
2 [U] a light purple colour
- amethyst adjective
friendly and easy to like:
•The driver was an amiable young man.
•She was in an amiable mood.
- amiably adverb
- amiability noun [U]
an amicable agreement, relationship etc is one in which people feel friendly towards each other and do not want to quarrel:
•Their relationship hasn't always been amicable.
amicable settlement/agreement
•The two parties have reached an amicable settlement.
- amicably adverb
•In the end, the matter was resolved amicably.
1 while noisy, busy, or confused events are happening - used in writing or news reports:
•The dollar has fallen in value amid rumors of weakness in the US economy.
•Demonstrators ripped up the national flag amid shouts of 'Death to the tyrants!'
2 literary among or surrounded by things:
•He sat amid the trees. technical
in the middle part of a ship literary
amid:
•a light that shines amidst the darkness $ [C]
one of the substances that combine to form PROTEINs [not before noun]
if something is amiss, there is a problem; = wrong
•Elsa continued as if nothing was amiss.
[+with/in]
•There's something amiss in their relationship.BrE
1 sth would not come/go amiss informal used to say that something would be suitable or useful in a situation:
•A cup of tea wouldn't go amiss.
2 take sth amiss to feel upset or offended about something that someone has said or done:
•Don't take it amiss - I was just teasing. [U]
formal friendship, especially between countries; hostility
•a spirit of perfect amity $ [C]
a piece of equipment used to measure the strength of an electric current $ [U]
informal ammunition $ [U]
1 a clear liquid with a strong bad smell that is used for cleaning or in cleaning products
2 a poisonous gas with a strong bad smell that is used in making many chemicals, FERTILIZERs etc [U]
1 bullets, shells SHELL^1 (2) etc that are fired from guns
2 information that you can use to criticize someone or win an argument against them
give sb ammunition/provide sb with ammunition
•His mistakes provided political opponents with even more ammunition. $ [U]
the medical condition of not being able to remember anything
- amnesiac $ noun [C] plural amnesties [C]
1 an official order by a government that allows a particular group of prisoners to go free
[+for]
•The government granted an amnesty for all former terrorists.
2 a period of time when you can admit to doing something illegal without being punished
[+on]
•an amnesty on illegal handguns
- amnesty verb [T] $ [U]
a test to see if an unborn baby has a disease or other problem, done by taking liquid from the mother's WOMBalso ameba AmE or [C]
a very small creature that has only one cell
- amoebic adjectivealso amuck $
run amok
a) to suddenly behave in a very violent and uncontrolled way:
•Drunken troops ran amok in the town.
b) to get out of control and cause a lot of problems:
•an age in which global capitalism has run amokalso amongst
1 in or through the middle of a group of people or things:
•The girl quickly disappeared among the crowd.
•I could hear voices coming from somewhere among the bushes.
•We walked among the chestnut woods on the mountain slopes.
•She began rummaging among the books on her desk.
BETWEEN
2 with a particular group of people:
•Jim relaxed, knowing he was among friends.
3 used to say that many people in a group have the same feeling or opinion, or that something affects many people in a group:
•The problem is causing widespread concern among scientists.
•The general opinion among police officers was that the law should be tightened.
•The changes will mean 7,000 job losses among railway workers.
4 used to talk about a particular person, thing, or group as belonging to a larger group:
•She was the eldest among them.
•Innocent civilians were among the casualties.
•My grandfather had among his possessions a portrait by Matisse.
•Representatives were chosen by the students from among themselves.
5 among other things/places/factors etc used to say that you are only mentioning one or two people or things out of a much larger group:
•At the meeting they discussed, among other things, recent events in Japan.
6 if something is divided or shared among a group of people, each person is given a part of it:
•A father's property was divided among his heirs.
7 among yourselves/ourselves/themselves with each other:
•The allies found it hard to agree among themselves. $
having no moral standards at all; moral
•a completely amoral person
- amorality $ noun [U] formal
showing or concerning sexual love:
•She resisted his amorous advances.
•He was always boasting about his amorous adventures.
- amorously adverb $ formal
having no definite shape or features:
•an amorphous mass of twisted metalalso amortise BrE $ [T]
technical to pay a debt by making regular payments
- amortization $ noun [C,U] [C,U]
1 a quantity of something such as time, money, or a substance
[+of]
•They spend equal amounts of time in California and New York.
a considerable/large/enormous etc amount
•a considerable amount of money
a small/tiny etc amount
•a tiny amount of dirt
•Please pay the full amount (=of money) by the end of the month.
2 used to talk about how much there is of a feeling or quality
a large/considerable etc amount of sth
•Her case has attracted an enormous amount of public sympathy.
a certain/fair amount of sth
•Dina encountered a fair amount of envy among her colleagues.
3 no amount of sth can/will etc do sth used to say that something has no effect:
•No amount of persuasion could make her change her mind.
4 any amount of sth used to say that there is plenty of something, and no more is needed:
•The school has any amount of resources and equipment.

PHRASAL VERBS
amount to sth phr v
1 if figures, sums etc amount to a particular total, they equal that total when they are added together:
•Time lost through illness amounted to 1,357 working days.
2 if an attitude, remark, situation etc amounts to something, it has the same effect:
•The court's decision amounts to a not guilty verdict.
•Ultimately, their ideas amount to the same thing.
3 not amount to much/anything/a great deal etc to not be important, valuable, or successful:
•Her academic achievements don't amount to much.
•Jim's never going to amount to much. $ [C]
literary a sexual relationship, especially a secret one [C]
1 also ampere a unit for measuring electric current:
•a 3 amp fuse
2 informal an AMPLIFIER $ [C]
the sign '&' that means 'and':
•Mills & Boon [C,U]
a drug that gives you a feeling of excitement and a lot of energy [C]
animals such as FROGs that can live both on land and in water
1 able to live on both land and water:
•amphibious creatures
2 amphibious vehicle a vehicle that is able to move on both land and water
3 amphibious operation/force/assault an amphibious operation etc involves both sea and land vehiclesamphitheater AmE $ [C] BrE
a large circular building without a roof and with many rows of seats [C]
a tall clay container for oil or wine, used in ancient times
1 more than enough; = sufficient; insufficient
ample time/evidence/opportunity
•You'll have ample time for questions later.
•There is ample evidence that climate patterns are changing.
ample room/space etc
•She found ample room for her things in the wardrobe.
2 literary large in a way that is attractive or pleasant:
•an ample bosom
- amply adverb
•Recent US history has amply demonstrated the risks of foreign intervention. $ [C]
a piece of electrical equipment that makes sound louder; = amp past tense and past participle amplified, present participle amplifying, third person singular amplifies [T]
1 to make sound louder, especially musical sound:
•an amplified guitar
2 formal to increase the effects or strength of something:
•These stories only amplified her fears.
3 formal to explain something that you have said by giving more information about it:
•Would you care to amplify that remark?
- amplification noun [U] $ [U]
technical the distance between the middle and the top or bottom of a WAVE such as a SOUND WAVEampule $ [C]
a small container for medicine that will be put into someone with a special needle [I,T]
to cut off someone's arm, leg, finger etc during a medical operation:
•Two of her toes were amputated because of frostbite.
- amputation noun [C,U] [C]
someone who has had an arm or a leg amputated
AMOK $ [C]
a small piece of jewellery worn to protect against bad luck, disease etc [T]
1 to make someone laugh or smile:
•He made funny faces to amuse the children.
•The question seemed to amuse him in some way.
it amuses sb to do sth
•It amused me to think back to my life in London.
2 to make time pass in an enjoyable way, so that you do not get bored; = entertain
•Doing jigsaws would amuse Amy for hours on end.
•The kids amused themselves playing hide-and-seek.
1 if you are amused by something, you think it is funny and you smile or laugh
[+at/by]
•Ellen seemed amused by the whole situation.
•I could see she was highly amused (=very amused).
•The man looked a little amused.
•He won't be very amused (=he will be annoyed) when he finds out what's happened to his garden.
an amused smile/look/expression etc
2 keep sb amused to entertain or interest someone for a long time so that they do not get bored:
•There were puzzles and games to keep the children amused.
1 [U] the feeling you have when you think something is funny
with/in amusement
•Her eyes sparkled with amusement.
•She looked at him in amusement.
•Steve couldn't hide his amusement.
to sb's amusement (=in a way that makes someone laugh or smile)
•They were dancing and singing in the car, much to the amusement of passers-by.
•The cats are a constant source of amusement to us.
2 amusements [plural]
a) things that entertain you and make time pass in an enjoyable way:
•childhood amusements
b) BrE special machines or games that are intended to entertain people, for example at a FAIR:
•The kids can ride on the amusements.
3 [U] the process of getting or providing pleasure and enjoyment:
•What do you do for amusement in this town?[C]
BrE a place where you play games on machines by putting coins into them; = video arcade AmE[C]
a large park with many special machines that you can ride on, such as ROLLER COASTERs and MERRY-GO-ROUNDs
funny and entertaining:
•I don't find his jokes at all amusing.
•a highly amusing (=very amusing) film
an amusing story/anecdote/incident etc
•The book is full of amusing stories about his childhood.
mildly/vaguely amusing (=a little amusing, but not very)
•a mildly amusing spectacle
- amusingly adverbalso -ean -ian
1 [in adjectives and nouns] someone or something of, from, or connected with a particular thing, place, or person:
•suburban
•Jamesian
2 [in nouns] someone skilled in or studying a particular subject:
•a historian (=someone who studies history) strong
used when the following word begins with a vowel sound; a
•an orange
•an X-ray
see box at A
1 the form used for A before a vowel sound
2 not; = without
•anarchy (=without government)
•anoxia (=condition caused by lack of oxygen) $ [in nouns]
another form of the suffix -IANA:
•Americana $ [C]
a drug that makes muscles grow quickly, sometimes used illegally by people in sport [C]
1 someone or something that seems to belong to the past, not the present:
•The monarchy is something of an anachronism these days.
2 something in a play, film etc that seems wrong because it did not exist in the period of history in which the play etc is set:
•The film is full of anachronisms.
- anachronistic adjective
•His painting style was seen as outdated and anachronistic. $ [C]
a very large South American snakealso anemia AmE [U]
a medical condition in which there are too few red cells in your bloodalso anemic AmE
1 suffering from anaemia:
•his anaemic-looking face
2 written seeming weak and uninteresting:
•an anaemic first novel $
not needing oxygen in order to live; aerobic also anesthesia AmE $ [U]
1 the use of anaesthetics in medicine
2 the state of being unable to feel painalso anesthetic AmE [C,U]
a drug that stops you feeling pain
under anaesthetic
•The operation will have to be done under anaesthetic (=using anaesthetic).
•Eye surgery is often performed using a local anaesthetic (=one that only affects a particular area of your body).
•You will need to have a general anaesthetic (=one that makes you completely unconscious).
- anaesthetic adjective [only before noun]
•anaesthetic drugsalso anesthetist AmE $ [C]
a doctor or nurse who has been specially trained to give people anaestheticsalso anaesthetise BrE anesthetize AmE $ [T]
to give someone an anaesthetic so that they do not feel pain [C]
a word or phrase that is made by changing the order of the letters in another word or phrase:
•'Silent' is an anagram of 'listen'.
1 connected with the ANUS
2 also anal retentive showing too much concern with small details, especially in a way that annoys other people - used to show disapproval:
•Don't be so anal. $ [U]
technical the condition of being unable to feel pain while conscious [C]
technical a drug that reduces pain; = painkiller
•Aspirin is a popular analgesic.
- analgesic adjective [only before noun]
•drugs that have an analgesic effect on ulcers formal
similar to another situation or thing so that a comparison can be made
[+to/with]
•The report's findings are analogous with our own.also analog AmE $
1 analogue clock/watch a clock or watch that uses POINTERs , not changing numbers; digital
2 technical analogue technology uses changing physical quantities such as VOLTAGE to store data; digital
analogue computer/circuit/technology plural analogies [C,U]
something that seems similar between two situations, processes etc
[+with/to/between]
•analogies between human and animal behaviour
draw/make an analogy (=make a comparison)
•She drew an analogy between childbirth and the creative process.
by analogy with
•Dr Wood explained the movement of light by analogy with (=using the analogy of) the movement of water.analyze [T]
1 to examine or think about something carefully, in order to understand it:
•She still needs to analyse the data.
•You need to sit down and analyse why you feel so upset.
•Joe had never tried to analyze their relationship.
2 to examine a substance to see what it is made of:
•The cell samples are analyzed by a lab.
3 to examine someone's mental or emotional problems by using PSYCHOANALYSIS plural analyses
1 [C,U]
a) a careful examination of something in order to understand it better
[+of]
•a detailed analysis of the week's news
•Further analysis of the data is needed.
do/carry out/conduct an analysis
•They were doing some type of statistical analysis.
b) the way in which someone describes a situation or problem, and says what causes it to happen
[+of]
•Do you agree with Marx's analysis of the failure of free-market capitalism?
2 [C,U]
a) a careful examination of a substance to see what it is made of
[+of]
•analysis of genetic material
for analysis
•Blood samples were sent to the laboratory for analysis.
•You'll get the results when the analysis is complete.
3 [U] a process in which a doctor makes someone talk about their past experiences, relationships etc in order to help them with mental or emotional problems; = psychoanalysis; therapy
•She's been in analysis for three years.
4 in the final/last analysis used when giving the most basic or important facts about a situation:
•In the final analysis, profit is the motive. [C]
1 someone whose job is to think about something carefully in order to understand it, and often to advise other people about it:
• Political analysts expect the Conservatives to win.
investment/financial/business analyst
•Cleary has been working as a computer analyst in Winchester.
2 a doctor who helps people who have mental or emotional problems by making them talk about their experiences and relationships
SYSTEMS ANALYSTalso analytic
1 thinking about things in a detailed and intelligent way, so that you can examine and understand things:
•She's got an analytical mind.
analytical method/techniques/approach/skills
•During the course, students will develop their analytical skills.
2 using scientific analysis to examine something:
•analytical chemistry
- analytically adverb [T]
the American spelling of ANALYSE $ [U] medical
a very sudden serious physical reaction that is caused by an ALLERGY to something such as nuts, eggs, or the STING of some insects. The reaction causes shock, breathing difficulties, and sometimes death. $
lacking any rules or order, or not following the moral rules of society:
•a lawless, anarchic city
•an anarchic sense of humour $ [U]
the political belief that there should be no government and ordinary people should work together to improve society $ [C]
someone who believes that governments, laws etc are not necessary
- anarchistic $ adjective $ [U]
a situation in which there is no effective government in a country or no order in an organization or situation:
•The prison is close to anarchy.
•The classroom was in a constant state of anarchy.
slide/fall/descend into anarchy
•The nation is in danger of falling into anarchy. [singular, U] formal
something that is completely the opposite of what you believe in
[+to]
•His political views were anathema to me. $
relating to the structure of human or animal bodies:
•an anatomical examination
- anatomically adverb [C]
a scientist who studies anatomy plural anatomies
1 [U] the scientific study of the structure of human or animal bodies:
•a professor of anatomy
human/animal anatomy
•Knowledge of human anatomy is essential to figure drawing.
2 [C usually singular] the structure of a body, or of a part of a body
[+of]
•the anatomy of the nervous system
3 [C] your body - often used in a humorous way:
•You could see a part of his anatomy that I'd rather not mention.
4 the/an anatomy of sth
a) a study or examination of an organization, process etc in order to understand and explain how it works:
•Elkind's book is an anatomy of one man's discussion with his son about life.
b) the structure of an organization, process etc or the way it works:
•For the first time, we have the chance to examine the anatomy of a secret government operation.-ence [in nouns]
the action, state, or quality of doing something or of being something:
•his sudden appearance (=he appeared suddenly)
•her brilliance (=she is BRILLIANT) $ [C]
1 a member of your family who lived a long time ago; descendant
•My ancestors were French.
2 an animal that lived in the past, that modern animals have developed from:
•Lions and house cats evolved from a common ancestor (=the same ancestor).
3 the form in which a modern machine, vehicle etc first existed
[+of]
•Babbage's invention was the ancestor of the modern computer.
- ancestral adjective
•the family's ancestral home $ plural ancestries [C usually singular, U] formal
the members of your family who lived a long time ago
of ... ancestry
•Her mother is of German ancestry (=has German ancestors).
•Helen's family can trace their ancestry back to the 1700s. $ [C]
1 a piece of heavy metal that is lowered to the bottom of the sea, lake etc to prevent a ship or boat moving
at anchor
•The ship was at anchor.
•We dropped anchor a few yards offshore.
•The next morning, they weighed anchor (=lifted the anchor) and began to move south again.
2 especially AmE someone who reads the news on TV and introduces news reports; = newsreader BrE
•Dan Rather, anchor of the CBC Evening News
3 someone or something that provides a feeling of support and safety:
•Dad was the anchor of the family.
1 [I,T] to lower the anchor on a ship or boat to hold it in one place; = moor
•Three tankers were anchored in the harbor.
2 [T usually passive] to fasten something firmly so that it cannot move:
•The shelves should be securely anchored to the wall.
3 be anchored in sth to be strongly connected with a particular system, way of life etc:
•John's outlook has always been anchored in the political mainstream.
4 [T] to provide a feeling of support, safety or help for someone or an organization:
•Steve anchors the team's defense.
•Her life was anchored by her religion.
5 [T] AmE to be the person who reads the news and introduces reports on television:
•Collins anchors the 6 o'clock news.
1 [C] a place where ships can anchor
2 [C,U] a place where something can be firmly fastenedanchorman anchorwoman $ [C]
someone who reads the news on TV and introduces reports $ plural anchovies [C,U]
a very small fish that tastes strongly of salt
1 belonging to a time long ago in history, especially thousands of years ago; modern
•the ancient civilizations of Asia
•Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan
ancient Greece/Egypt/Rome
•the religion of ancient Egypt
2 having existed for a very long time; new
•an ancient walled city
•an ancient forest
•the ancient art of calligraphy
3 very old - used humorously:
•That photo makes me look ancient!
4 ancient history
a) the history of ancient societies, such as Greece or Rome:
•a professor of ancient history
b) informal if you say that something is ancient history, you mean that it happened a long time ago and is not important now:
•It's all ancient history and I'm not upset any more.
the ancients people who lived long ago, especially the Greeks and Romans:
•The ancients believed that the sun and moon were planets. $
1 ancillary workers/staff etc workers who provide additional help and services for the people who do the main work in hospitals, schools etc
2 formal connected with or supporting something else, but less important than it:
•Agreement was reached on several ancillary matters.-ency [in nouns]
the state or quality of doing something or of being something:
•expectancy (=state of expecting)
•hesitancy
•complacency (=being complacent) strong
1 used to join two words, phrases etc referring to things that are related in some way:
•He's gone to get some fish and chips.
•The film starred Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine.
•We've dealt with items one, two, and eleven.
•He was tall, dark and handsome.
•He plays the guitar and sings folk songs.
•She didn't speak to anyone and nobody spoke to her.
2 used to say that one action or event follows another:
•Sit down and tell me all about it.
•She picked up the kitten and put it in the box.
•He knocked on the door and went in.
•You'll have to wait and see what happens.
3 used to say that something is caused by something else:
•I missed supper and I'm starving!
•She fell downstairs and broke her leg.
4 used when adding numbers:
•Six and four is ten.
5 especially BrE used after verbs such as 'go', 'come', and 'try' to show what your intention is:
•Shall we go and have a cup of coffee?
•I'll see if I can try and persuade her to come.
6 spoken used to introduce a statement, remark, question etc:
•And now I'd like to introduce our next speaker, Mrs Thompson.
•'She's getting married in June.' 'And who's the lucky man?'
7 used between repeated words to emphasize what you are saying:
•More and more people are losing their jobs.
•We waited for hours and hours!
•That was years and years ago.
•We ran and ran.
8
a) used before saying the part of a large number which is less than 100:
•a hundred and four
•five hundred and seventy-six
•by the year two thousand and ten
b) used when saying a number which consists of a whole number followed by a FRACTION:
•three and three-quarters
•in about two and a half hours' time
•five and a quarter per cent
9 used between repeated plural nouns to say that some things of a particular kind are much better than others:
•'They said this guy was an expert.' 'Yes, but there are experts and experts.'
10 and? spoken used when you want someone to add something to what they have just said:
•'I'm sorry.' 'And?' 'And I promise it won't happen again.'[C]
a piece of music played or sung at a speed that is neither very fast or very slow $
played or sung at a speed that is neither very fast or very slow
- andante adverb $
1 having both male and female parts
2 someone who is androgynous looks both female and male:
•Bowie had a kind of androgynous sex appeal. [C]
a ROBOT that looks completely human $
consisting of short stories based on someone's personal experience:
•His findings are based on anecdotal evidence rather than serious research. $ [C]
a short story based on your personal experience:
•The book is full of amusing anecdotes about his life in Japan. [U]
the usual American spelling of ANAEMIA
the usual American spelling of ANAEMIC [C]
a plant with red, white, or blue flowers
SEA ANEMONE $ [U]
the usual American spelling of ANAESTHESIA $ [C] AmE
a doctor who gives ANAESTHETICs to a patient [C,U]
the usual American spelling of ANAESTHETIC $ [C]
the usual American spelling of ANAESTHETIST $ [T]
the usual American spelling of ANAESTHETIZE $ written
1 start/begin anew to begin a different job, start to live in a different place etc, especially after a difficult period in your life:
•I was ready to leave everything behind and start anew in California.
2 if you do something anew, you start doing it again:
•The committee is going to examine the whole situation anew. [C]
1 a SPIRIT who is God's servant in heaven, and who is often shown as a person dressed in white with wings:
•the angel Gabriel
2 someone who is very kind, very good, or very beautiful:
•That little girl of theirs is an angel.
•Sam is no angel (=often behaves badly).
3 old-fashioned spoken used when asking someone to help you or when thanking someone for helping you:
•Thanks for mailing those letters, you're an angel.
• Be an angel and get me my glasses, will you?
GUARDIAN ANGEL
1 looking good, kind, and gentle or behaving in this way:
•She had an angelic smile, but a dreadful temper.
2 connected with angels:
•the angelic hosts
- angelically adverb [U]
a plant that smells sweet and is used in cooking $ [U]
1 a strong feeling of wanting to hurt or criticize someone because they have done something bad to you or been unkind to you:
•Paul's face was filled with anger.
in anger
•'It's a lie!' he shouted in anger.
[+at]
•She struggled to control her anger at her son's disobedience.
•There is growing anger among the people against the government.
2 do/use sth in anger to do or use something for the first time, or in a real situation:
•He joined the club last month, but has yet to kick a ball in anger.[T]
to make someone angry; = annoy
•What angered me most was his total lack of remorse.
be angered by/at sth
•Environmental groups were disappointed and angered by the president's decision. [U]
a medical condition in which you have bad pains in your chest because your heart is weak [C]
1 the space between two straight lines or surfaces that join each other, measured in degrees
an angle of sth
•an angle of 45°
[+of]
•the angles of a triangle
•You didn't measure the angle accurately.
[+between]
•the angle between walls and ceiling
RIGHT ANGLE
2 a way of considering a problem or situation:
•We're approaching the issue from many different angles.
•Look at every angle of the situation.
[+to]
•There's another angle to this question.
3 a position from which you look at something or photograph it
from a ... angle
•This drawing of the monastery was done from an unusual angle.
•Some of the pictures have strange camera angles.
4 at an angle leaning to one side and not straight or upright:
•The portrait was hanging at an angle.
at a slight/steep angle
•The sign leaned over at a slight angle.
5 the shape formed when two lines or surfaces join
[+of]
•My head struck the angle of the shelf.[T]
1 to move or place something so that it is not straight or upright:
•a mirror angled to reflect light from a window
•Philip angled his chair towards the door.
2 to present information from a particular point of view or for a specific group of people:
•The book is angled towards a business audience.

PHRASAL VERBS
angle for sth phr v
to try to get something you want without asking directly for it:
•She was obviously angling for an invitation.
•I didn't want him to think I was just angling for sympathy.[plural] BrE
a pair of BRACKETS ( ) used for enclosing information [C]
BrE trademark a type of lamp that can be moved into different positions $ [C]
someone who catches fish as a sport; fisherman [C]
a Christian who is a member of the Church of England or related churches
- Anglican adjective
•members of the Anglican church
- Anglicanism noun [U]also anglicise BrE [T]
to make something or someone more English:
•Leszek anglicized his name to 'Lester.' [U]
the sport of catching fish with a fishing rod; = fishing $ [in nouns and adjectives]
1 relating to England or Britain:
•an anglophile (=someone who loves Britain)
2 English or British and something else:
•an Anglo-Scottish family
•an improvement in Anglo-American relations[C]
a Christian who is a member of the part of the Church of England that is similar to the Roman Catholic church
- Anglo-Catholic adjective
- #Anglo-Ca=tholicism noun [U][C]
someone whose family is partly British and partly Indian
- Anglo-Indian adjective $ [C]
someone who is not English but likes England and anything English $ [C]
someone who dislikes anything English
- anglophobia $ noun [U] $ [C]
someone who speaks English as their first language
- anglophone adjective
•the US and other anglophone countries
1 [C] someone who belonged to the race of people who lived in England from about 600 AD
2 [U] the language used by the Anglo-Saxons
3 [C] a white person, especially someone whose family originally came from England
- Anglo-Saxon adjective
1 [C] a type of goat, rabbit, or cat with very long soft hair or fur
2 [U] wool or thread made from the fur of an angora goat or rabbit:
•soft pink angora sweaters comparative angrier, superlative angriest
1 feeling strong emotions which make you want to shout at someone or hurt them because they have behaved in an unfair, cruel, offensive etc way, or because you think that a situation is unfair, unacceptable etc; annoyed
•I was angry because he hadn't told me his plans.
•He was beginning to get angry.
•His comments brought an angry response from opposition politicians.
•'Calm down,' she said, looking at his angry face.
[+with/at]
•'Please don't be angry with me,' she said.
•Jesse laughed, which made me even angrier.
[+about/over]
•Kate's still so angry about the whole thing.
angry (that)
•The workers are angry that they haven't been paid for the week.
2 angry with/at yourself feeling strongly that you wish you had done something or had not done something:
•David was angry with himself for letting the others see his true feelings.
3 literary an angry sky or cloud looks dark and stormy
4 literary an angry wound etc is painful and red and looks infected
- angrily adverb
•Joey reacted angrily to the news.

WORD FOCUS: angry
a little angry:
miffed informal
peeved informal
rather angry:
annoyed
irritated
cross
in a bad/foul mood
very angry:
furious
livid
outraged
incensed
incandescent with rage formal
to become angry:
lose your temper
go mad BrE
go berserk informal
go ballistic informal
hit the roof informal
words for describing someone who often gets angry:
bad-tempered
grouchy
cantankerous
crabby
stroppy BrE informal
[U]
strong feelings of anxiety and unhappiness because you are worried about your life, your future, or what you should do in a particular situation:
•love letters full of angst [U] written
mental or physical suffering caused by extreme pain or worry:
•the anguish of not knowing what had happened to her
- anguished adjective
•an anguished cry for help $
1 thin and not having much flesh on your bones:
•a tall, angular young man
2 having sharp and definite corners:
•a cubist painting with angular shapes [C]
1 a living creature such as a dog or cat, that is not an insect, plant, bird, fish, or person:
•furry little animals
wild/domestic/farm animals
•cattle, sheep, and other domestic animals
•The cosmetics have not been tested on animals.
•Beth is an animal lover (=someone who likes animals).
2 any living creature that is not a plant or a person:
•He can't stand cruelty to animals of any sort.
•the animal welfare movement in Britain
•the enormous diversity of the animal kingdom
3 any living creature, including people:
•Man is a highly intelligent animal.
4 informal someone who behaves in a cruel, violent, or very rude way:
•Football hooligans are just animals.
5 a (very/completely/entirely) different animal informal something that is very different from the thing you have mentioned:
•Writing e-mail is a very different animal from all other forms of writing.
6 a political/social animal etc informal someone who is interested in politics, in meeting other people etc:
•He is simply not a social animal.
1 animal urges/instincts etc human feelings, desires etc that are connected with sex, food, and other basic needs
2 animal products/fats/protein etc things that are made or come from animals:
•a diet rich in red meat and animal fats.[U]
farming that involves keeping animals and producing milk, meat etc[U]
the idea that people should treat animals well, and especially not use them in tests to develop medicines or other products
animal rights activists/campaigners/groups etc
•Bill has been involved in the animal rights movement for years. formal
living; inanimate
•animate beings [T]
to give life or energy to something:
•Laughter animated his face for a moment.
1 showing a lot of interest and energy
animated discussion/conversation
•The performance was followed by an animated discussion.
2 animated cartoon/film/feature etc a film or programme that shows pictures, clay models etc that seem to be really moving:
•an animated Disney film
- animatedly adverb
1 [U] the process of making animated films, television programmes, computer games etc:
•They used computer animation in the film.
2 [C] a film, television programme, computer game etc that has pictures, clay models etc that seem to be really moving:
•3-D animations
3 [U] liveliness and excitement
with animation
•They were talking with animation. $ [C]
someone who makes animated films $ [U]
the method or process of making or using moving models that look like real animals or people in films [U]
a religion in which animals and plants are believed to have spirits $ plural animosities [C,U]
strong dislike or hatred; = hostility
[+between]
•There is no personal animosity between the party leaders.
[+towards/against]
•She felt a certain amount of animosity towards him. [singular, U]
formal a feeling of strong dislike or hatred; = animosity, hostility
[+against/towards]
•I have no animus towards Robert. [U]
a plant with seeds that have a strong taste [U]
the seeds of an anise plant, which are used in alcoholic drinks and in sweets [C]
1 the joint between your foot and your leg
break/twist/sprain your ankle
•Janet slipped on the stairs and twisted her ankle.
•slender ankles
2 ankle socks/boots socks or boots that only come up to your ankle [C]
a ring or BRACELET worn around your ankle [plural]
1 in the annals of sth in the whole history of something:
•one of the most unusual cases in the annals of crime
2 used in the titles of official records of events or activities:
•the Annals of the Zoological Society [T] technical
to make metal or glass hard by heating it and then slowly letting it get cold $ [T]
to take control of a country or area next to your own, especially by using force:
•The Baltic republics were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.
- annexation noun [C,U]annex [C]
1 a separate building that has been added to a larger one:
•Some of us will be sleeping in the annexe.
2 formal a part that has been added to the end of a document, report etc [T]
1 to destroy something or someone completely:
•Just one of these bombs could annihilate a city the size of New York.
2 to defeat someone easily and completely in a game or competition:
•Tyson annihilated his opponent in the first round.
- annihilation noun [U] $ plural anniversaries [C]
a date on which something special or important happened in a previous year:
•Jack and Kim celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary in January.
[+of]
•A huge parade was held on the anniversary of the 1959 revolution. $
AD [T usually passive]
to add short notes to a book or piece of writing to explain parts of it:
•an annotated edition of 'Othello'
- annotation noun [C,U] [T]
1 to officially tell people about something, especially about a plan or a decision:
•They announced their engagement in 'The Times'.
announce a decision/intention/plan
•The government has announced plans to create 10,000 new jobs.
announce that
•A government spokesman announced that the hostages had been released.
•At the end of their meeting, it was announced that an agreement had been reached.
announce sth to sb
•Cordon announced his resignation to staff members on Wednesday.
2 to say something, especially something that other people will not like, in a loud and confident way; = state
•'I'm not going to their party,' Maggie announced.
announce (that)
•He stood up and announced that he was ready to go.
3 to give information to people using a LOUDSPEAKER or MICROPHONE, especially at an airport or railway station:
•We arrived just as they were announcing the arrival of Flight 207 from Minneapolis.
4 announce sb/yourself to officially tell people that someone has arrived at a particular place:
•All visitors to the apartment building must be announced.
•After announcing himself at the reception desk, James was led upstairs.
5 to introduce a programme on television or radio
1 [C] an important or official statement:
•Dillon made the announcement at a news conference.
[+about]
•an important announcement about tax increases
announcement that
•We were shocked by the announcement that the mayor was resigning.
•The announcement came as no great surprise.
2 [singular] the act of telling people that something important is going to happen
[+of]
•the announcement of the company's annual results
3 [C] a small advertisement or statement in a newspaper:
•a wedding announcement in the local paper $ [C]
1 someone who reads news or information on the television or radio
2 someone who gives information to people using a LOUDSPEAKER or MICROPHONE, especially at an airport or railway station [T]
to make someone feel slightly angry and unhappy about something; = irritate
•What annoyed him most was that he had received no apology.
•It really annoys me when I see people dropping litter.
•She annoyed him with her stupid questions.
1 [U] a feeling of slight anger; = irritation
•A look of annoyance crossed her face.
to sb's annoyance
•To his annoyance, he discovered they hadn't waited.
in annoyance
•Kelly shook her head in annoyance.
2 [C] something that makes you slightly angry:
•Alan found the constant noise of the traffic an annoyance.
slightly angry; = irritated; angry
•I'll be annoyed if we don't finish by eight.
be annoyed at/with sb
•She was annoyed with Duncan for forgetting to phone.
be annoyed about/by sth
•He was annoyed by her apparent indifference.
annoyed that
•Mr Davies was annoyed that the books were missing.
see box at NERVOUS
making you feel slightly angry; = irritating
•an annoying habit of interrupting
•The annoying thing is he's usually right.
• It's annoying that we didn't know about this before.
- annoyingly adverb
1 happening once a year:
•The school trip has become an annual event.
annual report/meeting/conference
2 based on or calculated over a period of one year
annual budget/income/cost etc
•a household with an annual income of $60,000
- annually adverb
•The jazz festival is held annually in July.[C]
1 a plant that lives for one year or season; biennial (2), perennial
2 a book, especially for children, that is produced once a year with the same title but different stories, pictures etcalso -lised BrE [only before noun] technical
if money or an amount is annualized, it is calculated for one year, based on amounts for shorter periods of time:
•an annualized inflation rate of 15% $ plural annuities [C]
a fixed amount of money that is paid each year to someone, usually until they die past tense and past participle annulled, present participle annulling [T often passive]
to officially state that a marriage or legal agreement no longer exists:
•Their marriage was annulled last year.
- annulment noun [C,U] $ [C]
technical the part of a BATTERY that collects ELECTRONs , often a wire or piece of metal with the sign (+); cathode formal
expressed in a way that is unlikely to offend anyone; = bland
•anodyne topics of conversation[C]
1 technical a medicine that reduces pain; = painkiller
2 formal an activity or thing that comforts people [T]
to put oil or water on someone's head or body, usually as part of a religious ceremony:
•the anointed king
anoint sb with sth
•He was anointed with sacred oil.
- anointment noun [C,U] $ formal
different from what you expected to find:
•a highly anomalous situation
•anomalous results
- anomalously adverb $ plural anomalies [C,U] formal
something that is noticeable because it is different from what is usual:
•In those days, a woman professor was still an anomaly.
[+in]
•various anomalies in the tax system $ literary
soon:
•See you anon.also anon BrE
the written abbreviation of anonymous [U]
when other people do not know who you are or what your name is:
•Every step will be taken to preserve your anonymity.
•One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity (=he would only speak if his name was not told), said the White House took the threat very seriously.
•the anonymity of city streets (=you do not know anyone, and no one knows you) $
1 unknown by name:
•the anonymous author of a collection of poems
anonymous donor/benefactor
•the anonymous donor of a large sum of money
•According to one employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, the company engaged in illegal activities.
2 done, sent, or given by someone who does not want their name to be known:
•an anonymous donation of $5,000
anonymous phone call/letter etc (=one that is often unpleasant or contains threats)
3 written uninteresting in features or qualities - used to show disapproval:
•grey, anonymous housing estates
- anonymously adverb [C]
1 especially BrE a short coat with a HOOD that keeps out the wind and rain
2 BrE informal a boring person who is interested in the unimportant details of a particular subject and does not know how to behave properly in social situations; = nerdalso anorexia nervosa [U]
a mental illness that makes someone stop eating
suffering from or relating to anorexia
- anorexic noun [C] $
1 ADDITIONAL one more person or thing of the same type:
•I'm going to have another cup of coffee.
•There'll be another bus along in a few minutes.
•Buy two CDs and get another completely free.
[+of]
•Is this another of your schemes to make money?
• Not another word was spoken.
•Oh look, there's another one of those birds.
•This misunderstanding is yet another example of bad communication (=there have already been several).
another two/10/100 etc (=an additional amount or number)
•We'll have to wait another three weeks for the results.
•There's still another £100 to pay.
2 A DIFFERENT ONE not the same thing, person etc, but a different one:
•They must have returned by another route.
•We finally moved to another apartment.
•I'm busy right now. Could you come back another time?
•Helen resigned from her last job and has yet to find another.
[+of]
•The gold watch was a present from another of his girlfriends.
from one ... to another
•She spends the day rushing from one meeting to another.
3 one another used to say that two or more people or things do the same thing to each other or share a relationship:
•They seem to love one another very much.
•The streets are all at right angles to one another.
4 one ... or another used to say that there are many different types of something, or many possibilities, rather than being specific:
•All the kids in this class have learning difficulties of one sort or another.
•people who, for one reason or another, can't have children
5 one after another used to talk about a series of similar things or events:
•Small businesses have been collapsing one after another.
6 not another ... ! spoken used when a series of bad or annoying things have happened and something of the same type seems to have just happened again:
•Oh no! Not another accident!
7 be another thing/matter used to suggest that something may not be true, possible, easy etc, after mentioning something that is:
•It is true that his programme is original, though whether it is funny is quite another matter.
•It is one thing to talk about 'involving the students'; it is quite another thing to actually do this.
8 and another thing spoken used to introduce something additional that you want to say to someone about a different subject:
•And another thing. You were late for work again this morning.
9 SIMILAR PERSON/THING used with the name of a well-known person, thing, event etc to mean someone or something else that is similar because they have the same good or bad qualities:
•warnings that not enough has been done to prevent another Chernobyl
•There'll never be another Elvis Presley. $
1 REPLY [C,U] something you say when you reply to a question that someone has asked you; = response

give (sb) an answer
get/receive an answer
wait for an answer
an honest/straight answer
a definite answer (=when you say definitely yes or no)
the short/simple answer is ... spoken
in answer to sb's question
the answer is yes/no spoken

• You don't have to give them an answer now.
•Every time I ask him about it, I get a different answer.
[+to]
•These are important questions, and we want answers to them.
•She's still waiting for an answer from the school.
• The honest answer was that I didn't know.
• He was never able to get a straight answer about why it happened.
•It's impossible for me to give you a definite answer at this time.
• The short answer is that it can't be done.
• In answer to your question, yes, you can go.
•If it's money you want, the answer is no!

2 TEST/COMPETITION ETC [C] something that you write or say in reply to a question in a test or competition
[+to]
•What was the answer to question 4?
the right/wrong/correct/incorrect answer
•Score two points for each correct answer.
3 INVITATION/LETTER ETC [C] a written reply to a letter, invitation, advertisement etc
[+to]
•Did you ever get an answer to your letter?
4 PROBLEM [C] a way of dealing with a problem; = solution
simple/easy/obvious answer
•There is no simple answer.
[+to]
•The police do not have an answer to rising crime.
•Some people think cars should be banned from the city, but I don't think that's the answer.
be the answer to sb's problems/worries etc
•If he could get a job it'd be the answer to all his worries.
5 ON THE PHONE [singular, U usually in negative] if you get an answer when you call someone on the phone, they pick up the phone and talk to you:
•I tried calling him all day but couldn't get an answer.
6 AT THE DOOR [singular, U usually in negative] if you get an answer when you knock on a door, someone opens it and talks to you :
•I tried knocking on her door, but there was no answer.
7 have/know all the answers informal to be very sure that you know everything about a situation, especially when you do not:
•He acts like he has all the answers.
8 sb's answer to sth written someone or something that is considered to be just as good as a more famous person or thing:
•The Space Needle is Seattle's answer to the Eiffel Tower.
1 REPLY [I,T] to say something to someone as a reply when they have asked you a question, made a suggestion etc:
•She thought for a moment before answering.
•He still hadn't answered my question.
•'Why don't you just leave?' 'I'd like to,' she answered, 'but I have nowhere else to go.'
answer (that)
•When questioned, Hughes answered that he knew nothing about the robbery.
•How much was it? Come on, answer me.
2 TEST [I,T] to write or say the answer to a question in a test or competition:
•Answer as many questions as possible in the time provided.
3 answer the phone/a call/the door to pick up the telephone and speak when it rings or open the door when someone knocks or rings the bell
4 LETTER [T] if you answer a letter or advertisement, you write a letter to the person who has written it:
•Simon got the job by answering an advert in the paper.
5 answer criticism/charges/accusations etc to explain why you did something when people are criticizing you - used in news reports:
•How do you answer the criticism that your government has done nothing to help the homeless?
6 REACT TO STH [I,T] to do something as a reaction to criticism or an attack; = respond
•The army answered by firing into the crowd.
7 DEAL WITH A PROBLEM [T] to be a way of dealing with or solving a problem:
•'You can borrow my car if you like.' 'Well, that answers one problem.'
8 answer a need to provide something that is needed:
•Our transportation system is designed to answer the needs of the city's commuters.
9 answer a description if someone answers a description, they match that description:
•A man answering the police's description was seen entering the building.

PHRASAL VERBS
answer back phr v
to reply in a rude way to someone that you are supposed to obey
answer sb back
•Don't answer me back young man!

answer for sb/sth phr v
1 to explain to people in authority why you did something wrong or why something happened, and be punished if necessary:
•Their coach must answer for the team's poor performance.
2 have a lot to answer for informal to be responsible for causing a lot of trouble
3 can't answer for sb spoken used to say that you cannot make a decision for someone who is not there, or give their opinion:
•I'm sure John will help us - I can't really answer for the others.

answer to sb/sth phr v
1 to give an explanation to someone, especially about something that you have done wrong:
•Phipps answers to me and me alone.
2 answer to the name of sth to be called a particular name - used humorously:
•a well-dressed young woman answering to the name of Suzanne $
1 be answerable to sb (for sth) to have to explain your actions to someone in authority:
•The agency is answerable to the governor.
2 a question that is answerable can be answeredalso answerphone BrE [C]
a machine that records your telephone calls when you cannot answer them, -ent [in nouns and adjectives]
someone or something that does something:
•a servant (=someone who serves others)
•disinfectant (=substance for killing germs)
•expectant (=expecting)
•pleasant (=pleasing) [C]
1 a small insect that lives in large groups
2 have ants in your pants spoken to be so excited or full of energy that you are unable to sit or stand still - used humorously [C]
a substance that gets rid of the burning feeling in your stomach when you have eaten too much, drunk too much alcohol etc [U]
1 hatred between people or groups of people; = hostility
[+between]
•the antagonism between the army and other military groups
2 opposition to an idea, plan etc
[+to/towards]
•his obvious antagonism towards the press [C]
your opponent in a competition, battle, quarrel etc
PROTAGONIST
1 unfriendly; wanting to argue or disagree; = hostile
•an antagonistic attitude
2 opposed to an idea or group
[+to/towards]
•antagonistic to new ideas
- antagonistically adverbalso antagonise BrE [T]
to annoy someone very much by doing something that they do not like:
•Do not antagonize your customers. $
the Antarctic the very cold most southern part of the world
up/raise the ante to increase your demands or try to get more things from a situation, even though this involves more risks:
•They've upped the ante by making a $120 million bid to buy the company.
PENNY ANTEpast tense and past participle anted or, anteed, present participle anteing

PHRASAL VERBS
ante up (sth) phr v
to pay an amount of money in order to be able to do or be involved in something:
•Small firms that want to expand must ante up large legal fees.
before; anti-, post-, pre-
•antedate (=earlier than something)
•antenatal (=before birth) $ [C]
an animal that has a very long nose and eats small insects [C]
1 formal an event, organization, or thing that is similar to the one you have mentioned but existed earlier:
•historical antecedents
2 antecedents [plural] formal the people in your family who lived a long time ago; = ancestors
3 technical a word, phrase, or sentence that is represented by another word, for example a PRONOUN
- antecedent adjective $ [C]
ANTEROOM [T]
formal to come from an earlier time in history than something else; = predate
•The economic troubles antedate the current administration. formal
very old-fashioned; = outdated
•antediluvian ideas about women $ [C]
an animal with long horns that can run very fast and is very graceful [only before noun]
BrE relating to the medical care given to women who are going to have a baby; = prenatal; postnatal
•an antenatal clinic
•regular antenatal care
•Many young mothers do not attend antenatal classes. [C]
1 plural antennae one of two long thin parts on an insect's head, that it uses to feel things
2 plural antennas or antennae a wire ROD etc used for receiving radio and television signals; = aerial
•television antennas $ [no comparative]
1 technical at or towards the front; posterior
•anterior vertebrae
2 formal happening or existing before something else [C]
a small room that is connected to a larger room, especially where people wait to go into the larger room; = antechamber [C]
1 a formal or religious song
NATIONAL ANTHEM
2 a song that a particular group of people consider to be very important:
•The Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction' was an anthem for a generation.
having the qualities of an anthem:
•anthemic rock music $ [C]
technical the part of a male flower which contains POLLEN [C]
a place where ANTs live $ plural anthologies [C]
a set of stories, poems, songs etc by different people collected together in one book; = collection
•an anthology of American literature
- anthologist noun [C] [U]
a very hard type of coal that burns slowly and produces a lot of heat [U]
a serious disease affecting cattle and sheep, which can affect humans $
like or concerning HUMAN BEINGs :
•anthropomorphic (=having human form or qualities)
an anthropoid animal, such as an APE, looks like a human
- anthropoid noun [C] $ [U]
the scientific study of people, their societies, CULTUREs etc; ethnology, sociology
- anthropologist noun [U]
- anthropological $ adjective $ [U]
1 the belief that animals or objects have the same feelings and qualities as humans
2 technical the belief that God can appear in a human or animal form
- anthropomorphic adjective $
1 opposed to; pro-
•antinuclear (=opposing the use of NUCLEAR weapons and power)
•anti-American
2 the opposite of something:
•anticlimax (=an unexciting ending instead of the expected exciting ending)
•antimatter (=material completely opposite in kind to the ordinary material in the universe)
3 acting to prevent something:
•antifreeze (=a liquid added to a car's engine to prevent freezing)
•antiseptic (=a liquid that kills harmful bacteria)[only before noun]
anti-aircraft weapons are used against enemy aircraft:
•anti-aircraft missiles $ [C usually plural]
a drug that is used to kill BACTERIA and cure infections $ plural antibodies [C]
a substance produced by your body to fight disease
against women having the right to have an ABORTION; pro-choice [T]
1 to expect that something will happen and be ready for it:
•Sales are better than anticipated.
anticipate changes/developments
•The schedule isn't final, but we don't anticipate many changes.
anticipate problems/difficulties
•We don't anticipate any problems.
•A good speaker is able to anticipate an audience's needs and concerns.
anticipate (that)
•This year, we anticipate that our expenses will be 15% greater.
• It is anticipated that the research will have many different practical applications.
anticipate doing sth
•I didn't anticipate having to do the cooking myself!
2 to think about something that is going to happen, especially something pleasant:
•Daniel was eagerly anticipating her arrival.
3 to do something before someone else:
•Copernicus anticipated in part the discoveries of the 17th and 18th centuries.
- anticipatory $ formal adjective
•the anticipatory atmosphere of a big college football game [U]
1 when you are expecting something to happen:
•She waited in eager anticipation for Robert to arrive.
•Taylor was excited and full of anticipation at the prospect of the trip.
2 do sth in anticipation of sth to do something because you expect something to happen:
•The workers have called off their strike in anticipation of a pay offer.
being opposed to priests having any political power or influence
- anticlericalism noun [U] [C,U]
a situation or event that does not seem exciting because it happens after something that was much better:
•Going back to work after a month travelling in China was bound to be an anticlimax. $ BrE
moving in the opposite direction to the hands of a clock; = counterclockwise AmE; clockwise
•Turn the lid anticlockwise. [plural]
behaviour that seems strange, funny, silly, or annoying:
•We're all growing tired of his childish antics. $ [C]
an area of high air pressure that causes calm weather in the place it is moving over; cyclone [C,U]
a drug used to treat DEPRESSION (=a mental illness that makes people very unhappy) $ [C]
1 a substance that stops the effects of a poison
[+to]
•There is no known antidote to a bite from this snake.
2 something that makes an unpleasant situation better:
•laughter, the antidote to stress [U]
a liquid that is put in the water in car engines to stop it from freezing [C]
technical a substance that makes the body produce ANTIBODIES $ plural antiheroes [C]
a main character in a book, play, or film who is an ordinary or unpleasant person and lacks the qualities that you expect a hero to have [C,U]
a drug that is used to treat an ALLERGY (=an unpleasant reaction to particular foods, substances etc)[U]
ABS a piece of equipment that makes a vehicle easier to control when you have to stop very suddenly $ [U]
a form of MATTER (30) (=substance which the things in the universe are made of) consisting of antiparticles $ [U]
a silver-white metal that breaks easily and is often combined with other metals. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Sb $ [C]
a substance in some foods that cleans the body and protects it from CANCER $ [C]
a very small part of an atom that has the opposite electrical charge to the one usually found in atoms $ [U]
an Italian dish consisting of cold meat or vegetables that you eat before the main part of a meal
formal having a very strong feeling of disliking or opposing someone or something; = hostile
[+to]
•It's human nature to be antipathetic to change. [U]
formal a feeling of strong dislike towards someone or something
[+to/towards]
•a growing antipathy towards the government
[+between]
•There's always been a certain amount of antipathy between the two doctors.[only before noun]
an anti-personnel weapon is designed to hurt people rather than to damage buildings, vehicles etc[U]
a substance that prevents you SWEATing
the Antipodes Australia and New Zealand
- Antipodean adjective
•antipodean culture $ [only before noun]
an antiquarian bookshop sells old books
old-fashioned and not suitable for modern needs or conditions - used to show disapproval; = outdated
•antiquated laws [usually before noun]
antique furniture, jewellery etc is old and often valuable:
•an antique rosewood desk[C]
a piece of furniture, jewellery etc that was made a very long time ago and is therefore valuable:
•The palace is full of priceless antiques.
•They bought the clock at an antique shop in Bath.
•an antique dealer (=someone who buys and sells antiques) plural antiquities
1 [U] ancient times
in antiquity
•The common household fork was nearly unknown in antiquity.
2 [U] the state of being very old:
•a building of great antiquity
3 [C usually plural] a building or object made in ancient times:
•a collection of Roman antiquities $ [C]
someone who hates Jewish people
- anti-Semitic adjective
•He made a few anti-Semitic remarks. [U]
hatred of Jewish people:
•the struggle against fascism and anti-Semitism [C,U]
a medicine that you put onto a wound to stop it from becoming infected:
•He dabbed the cut with antiseptic.
•Mint is a mild antiseptic.
helping to prevent infection:
•an antiseptic cream
•Some herbs have antiseptic qualities.
1 antisocial behaviour is violent or harmful to other people, or shows that you do not care about other people:
•She was finding it hard to cope with her son's increasingly antisocial behaviour.
•Smoking is an antisocial habit.
2 someone who is antisocial does not enjoy meeting or being with other people; sociable
•If I don't go tonight, everyone will accuse me of being antisocial.
3 an activity or job that is antisocial does not give you the chance to meet other people:
•I got fed up with the low pay and antisocial hours.
an anti-tank weapon is designed to destroy enemy TANKs plural antitheses [C]
formal the complete opposite of something
[+of]
•This is not democratic. It is the antithesis of democracy.also antithetic formal
exactly opposite to something
[+to]
•This violence is completely antithetical to the teaching of the church. $ [C]
a medicine or substance produced by your body which stops the effects of a poison[only before noun]
intended to prevent companies from unfairly controlling prices:
•new, tougher anti trust laws
•an anti trust investigationalso anti-virus program [U]
a type of SOFTWARE that looks for and removes VIRUSes in programs and documents on your computer:
•You need to update your anti-virus software regularly. $ [C]
one of the two horns of a male DEER [C]
a word that means the opposite of another word; synonym
•a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms informal
nervous and unable to keep still because you are waiting for something to happen [C]
the hole in your bottom through which solid waste leaves your body [C]
a heavy iron block on which pieces of hot metal are shaped using a hammer plural anxieties
1 [C,U] the feeling of being very worried about something; = concern
[+about/over]
•There is considerable anxiety among staff about job losses.
•There is growing public anxiety over levels of air pollution in our cities.
deep/acute/great anxiety
•The fear of unemployment can be a source of deep anxiety to people.
•his feelings of anxiety
•A high level of anxiety was created by the introduction of cameras into the factory.
•It can help if you discuss your anxieties with someone.
2 [U] a feeling of wanting to do something very much
anxiety to do sth
•I nearly fell in my anxiety to get downstairs quickly.
1 worried about something
[+about]
•He was a bit anxious about the safety of the machinery.
[+for]
•We were anxious for you.
•She gave me an anxious look.
anxious (that)
•She was anxious that it might be cancer.
see box at NERVOUS
2 an anxious time or situation is one in which you feel nervous or worried; = worrying
•We had an anxious couple of weeks waiting for the test results.
•There was an anxious moment when the plane suddenly dropped.
3 feeling strongly that you want to do something or want something to happen; = keen
anxious to do sth
•The company is anxious to improve its image.
•He seemed most anxious to speak to me alone.
•The president is anxious not to have another crisis.
anxious for sb to do sth
•Why was she so anxious for me to stay?
[+for]
•We were all anxious for news.
anxious (that)
•Both sides were anxious that the agreement should be signed as quickly as possible.
- anxiously adverb
•She waited anxiously by the phone
1 [usually in questions and negatives] some or even the smallest amount or number:
•Have you got any money?
•Do you need any further information?
[+of]
•Are any of the paintings for sale?
•They didn't invite any of us.
•Are there any other questions?
•They haven't shown any interest at all in my research.
•The universities have shown few if any signs of a willingness to change.
2 used to refer to a person or thing of a particular type when what you are saying is true of all people or things of that type:
•Any child who breaks the rules will be punished.
•Always check the details carefully before you sign any written agreement.
•I can see you any time on Monday.
•If I can help in any way, let me know.
[+of]
•You can choose any of the books on the list.
•This excuse was as good as any other.
3 as much as possible:
•They're going to need any help they can get.
4 not just any (old) man/woman/job etc used to say that someone or something is special:
•She's not just any actress, she's one of the best.
any old thing at OLD (10)
any old how at OLD (11)
not in any way at WAY^1 (40)[usually in questions and negatives]
1 used before the comparative form of an adjective to mean 'even a small amount':
•I can't run any faster.
•Are you feeling any better?
2 not any more/longer if something does not happen any more or any longer, it used to happen but does not happen now:
•Sarah doesn't live here any more.
•He was told he wasn't wanted any longer.
3 AmE spoken used with a verb to mean 'at all':
•We tried talking to him but that didn't help any. $
ANYONE
1 [sentence adverb] informal ANYWAY:
•The scandal could damage her reputation but the press reported it anyhow.
•I've never been to a circus, not recently anyhow.
2 in a careless or untidy way:
•The cupboard would hardly close, with all the shoes thrown in anyhow. $
not anymore not any longer:
•Nick doesn't live here anymore.
•She told me not to phone her anymore.
1 used to refer to any person, when it is not important to say exactly who:
•Anyone could win tonight.
•They offer help and advice to anyone interested in becoming a teacher.
•If anyone sees Lisa, ask her to call me.
• Anyone else who is interested in going on the trip should see me at the end of this lesson.
2 used in questions to mean 'someone':
•Does anyone want a drink?
•Is there anyone new coming to tonight's meeting?
•Do you know anyone else who wants a ticket?
3 used in negative sentences to mean no person:
•I went to the bar but there wasn't anyone there.
•I haven't spoken to anyone all day. AmE
ANYWHERE:
•I can't imagine living anyplace else now.
1 any thing, event, situation etc, when it is not important to say exactly which:
•You can buy anything you want.
•He was prepared to do anything to make a bit of money.
•Anything would be better than staying at home!
•You can write about swimming, skiing, or anything else you enjoy doing.
2 used in questions to mean 'something':
•Is there anything I can do to help?
•Do you want anything from the shops?
•Would you like anything else to eat?
3 used in negative sentences to mean no thing, event, etc:
•We didn't have anything to eat for three days.
•Don't do anything until we get there.
4 anything but used to emphasize that someone or something does not have a particular quality:
•Maria is anything but stupid!
5 anything like sb/sth similar in any way to something or someone else:
•You don't look anything like your mother.
•If you're anything like me, you'll want to be where the action is.
6 not anything like/near spoken used to emphasize a negative sentence:
•We don't have anything like enough money to buy a new car.
7 as important/clear/big etc as anything informal extremely important/clear etc:
•He was as nice as anything to me.
8 or anything spoken or something that is similar:
•Would you like a drink or anything?
9 anything goes informal used to say that anything someone says or does is acceptable:
•From what other people were wearing, it looked like anything goes.
10 for anything informal if you will not do something for anything, you will definitely not do it:
•I wouldn't go back there for anything.
11 like anything informal if you do something like anything, you do it a lot:
•We all encouraged him like anything.
12 if anything spoken used when you are adding something to emphasize what you have just said:
•Sam didn't seem too disappointed at losing. If anything, he seemed relieved that it was all over.
13 anything you say spoken used to tell someone you agree with what they suggest:
•Yes, of course, anything you say.
at any time:
•Call me anytime. I'm always home.
•They should arrive anytime between noon and 3 p.m.also anyhow [sentence adverb]
1 in spite of the fact that you have just mentioned:
•Catherine wasn't sure the book was the right one, but she bought it anyway.
•This idea probably won't work, but let's try it anyway.
2 used when adding a remark which shows that the fact just mentioned is not important:
•They didn't have any trainers in my size, and anyway I'd already decided I'd rather save the money.
•'I hope you haven't told anyone. ' 'No. Who would believe me anyway?'
3 used when adding something that corrects or slightly changes what you have just said:
•Let's think about it for a while, for a few days anyway.
•There seems to have been a technical problem - anyway, that's what they told me.
4 spoken used when you are ignoring details so that you can talk immediately about the most important thing:
•He got lost and spent hours looking for the station, and anyway it was past midnight by the time he got home.
•Anyway, why didn't you call the police?
5 spoken used when you are changing the subject of a conversation or returning to a previous subject:
•Anyway, let's leave that for the moment and look at this month's profit figures.
•Anyway, how are things with you?
6 spoken used when you want to end a conversation or leave a place:
•Anyway, I must be going now. [sentence adverb]
ANYWAY Many teachers think this is not correct Englishalso anyplace AmE $
1 in or to any place:
•Sit anywhere you like.
•You can buy clothes like these anywhere.
•I don't want to live in London, but I'd be happy living anywhere else.
2 used in questions to mean 'somewhere':
•Do you need anywhere to stay for the night?
•Did you go anywhere exotic on vacation this year?
•Have you been anywhere else in Spain?
3 used in negative sentences to mean no place:
•I can't find my passport anywhere.
4 not anywhere near
a) not at all near:
•I wasn't anywhere near him when he fell.
b) not at all:
•I don't think these figures are anywhere near accurate.
5 anywhere between one and ten/anywhere from one to ten etc used to mean any age, number, amount etc between the ones that you say:
•She could have been anywhere between 45 and 60 years of age.
•We receive anything from 60 to 300 calls a day.
6 not get anywhere informal to not be successful at all:
•You won't get anywhere without qualifications.
7 not get sb anywhere informal if something does not get you anywhere, it does not change a situation or help you to achieve something:
•You can try writing to complain, but I don't think it will get you anywhere.
8 not be going anywhere informal to not be achieving success in your life:
•He's a nice enough lad, but he's not going anywhere. $ BrE
any other business things which are not written on the list of subjects to discuss at a meeting, but which people want to talk about after all the other subjects have been discussed $ AmE spoken informal
in good condition; = satisfactory
•We took the car in for a check, and it was A-OK.
- A-OK adverb
•Everything's been going A-OK since Jack got home. $ [C]
the largest ARTERY that takes blood away from your heart
happening quickly:
•Expansion of the company has continued apace. $
1 NOT CLOSE/TOUCHING if things are apart, they are not close to each other or touching each other
two miles/six feet etc apart
•Place the two posts 6 metres apart.
•They have offices in countries as far apart as India and Peru.
•The police try to keep rival supporters apart at all matches.
•A couple of men started fighting and we had to pull them apart.
•Joel stood apart from the group, frowning.
2 IN DIFFERENT PIECES if something comes apart, or you take it apart, it is separated into different pieces:
•The whole thing comes apart so that you can clean it.
•They took the engine apart to see what was wrong.
3 SEPARATE if you keep things apart, you keep them separate from each other:
•I try to keep my work and private life as far apart as possible.
4 NOT AT SAME TIME if things are a particular time apart, they do not happen at the same time but have that much time between them
two days/three weeks/five years etc apart
•Our birthdays are exactly a month apart.
5 PEOPLE if people are apart, they are not together in the same place, or not having a relationship with each other:
•The children have never been apart before.
•My wife and I are living apart at the moment.
[+from]
•He's never been apart from his mother.
6 fall apart
a) if something falls apart, it breaks into different pieces:
•It just fell apart in my hands!
b) if something is falling apart, it is in very bad condition:
•He drives around in an old car that's falling apart.
c) if something falls apart, it fails completely:
•He lost his job and his marriage fell apart.
•The country's economy is in danger of falling apart.
7 be torn apart if a marriage, family etc is torn apart, it can no longer continue because of serious difficulties:
•The play portrays a good marriage torn apart by external forces.
8 be worlds/poles apart if people, beliefs, or ideas are worlds or poles apart, they are completely different from each other:
•I realized we were still worlds apart.
9 grow/drift apart if people drift or grow apart, their relationship slowly becomes less close:
•Lewis and his father drifted apart after he moved to New York.
10 joking apart used to say that you want to say something seriously:
•Joking apart, they did do quite a good job for us.
11 sb/sth apart except for someone or something:
•The car industry apart, most industries are now seeing an improvement in their economic performance.
12 set sb/sth apart to make someone or something different from other people or things:
•Her unusual lifestyle set her apart as a child.also aside from AmE
1 except for:
•We didn't see anyone all day, apart from a couple of kids on the beach.
•Apart from the ending, it's a really good film.
see box at EXCEPT^1
2 as well as:
•Apart from his earnings as a football coach, he also owns and runs a chain of sports shops.
• Quite apart from the cost, we need to think about how much time the job will take. $ [U]
the former political and social system in South Africa, in which only white people had full political rights and people of other races, especially black people, were forced to go to separate schools, live in separate areas etc $ [C]
1 especially AmE a set of rooms on one floor of a large building, where someone lives; = flat BrE
•She lives in a small apartment.
•a holiday apartment
2 [usually plural] a room or set of rooms used by an important person such as a president:
•I had never been in the prince's private apartments before.
•the presidential apartmentsapartment building, apartment house AmE [C] BrE
a large building containing many apartments
not interested in something, and not willing to make any effort to change or improve things:
•She felt too apathetic even to move.
[+about]
•How can you be so apathetic about the world and its problems?
- apathetically adverb [U]
the feeling of not being interested in something, and not willing to make any effort to change or improve things:
•The campaign failed because of public apathy. [C]
1 an animal that is similar to a monkey but has no tail or only a very short tail
2 go ape informal to suddenly become very angry[T]
1 to copy the way someone speaks or behaves in order to make fun of them; = mimic
•He could ape his teachers perfectly.
2 to copy someone's way of doing something, so that what you do or produce is not good or original; = mimic
•cheap clothes which ape the high fashions of the day [C]
an alcoholic drink that people drink before a meal $ [C]
1 formal a small hole or space in something
2 the small hole at the front of a camera, which can be made larger or smaller to let more or less light in when you take a photograph
go apeshit informal to suddenly become very angry [C]
1 technical the top or highest part of something pointed or curved:
•the apex of the roof
•the apex of a pyramid
2 formal the most important position in an organization or society:
•The king was at the apex of society.
3 formal the most successful part of something:
•He was at the apex of his career. [C]
a type of small insect that feeds on the juices of plants [C] formal
a short phrase that contains a wise idea
- aphoristic adjective [C]
a food, drink, or drug that makes you want to have sex
- aphrodisiac adjective
•a fruit that is believed to have aphrodisiac properties [only after number or noun]
costing or having a particular amount each:
•The pictures are worth about £10,000 apiece.
•The two top teams have ten points apiece. [only after noun] literary
in large amounts, especially more than you need:
•There was food aplenty. $ [U] formal
with aplomb in a confident and skilful way, especially when you have to deal with difficult problems or a difficult situation:
•Ms Sharpe handled their questions with great aplomb. $ [C]
1 the apocalypse the destruction and end of the world:
•anti-nuclear protestors who fear the apocalypse
2 a situation in which a lot of people die or suffer, and a lot of damage is done:
•A lot of investors now fear a stock market apocalypse. $
1 warning people about terrible events that will happen in the future:
•The novel presents us with an apocalyptic vision of the future
2 connected with the final destruction and end of the world, or with any great destruction:
•Before them was an apocalyptic landscape of burnt villages and bomb craters. $
an apocryphal story is well-known but probably not true [C]
formal the most successful part of something; = apex
•His political career reached its apogee in the 1960s.
not interested in politics, or not connected with any political party:
•a group of apolitical young professional people
•an apolitical organization $
showing or saying that you are sorry that something has happened, especially because you feel guilty or embarrassed about it
[+about]
•The manager was very apologetic about everything.
•She gave me an apologetic smile.
look/sound apologetic
•Dan came in looking very apologetic.
- apologetically adverb
•'I know,' she said apologetically. $ [C]
formal a statement in which you defend an idea or organization that you believe in
[+for]
•an apologia for the Christian church $ [C]
someone who tries to explain and defend an idea, person, or political system
[+for]
•an apologist for socialismalso apologise BrE $ [I]
to tell someone that you are sorry that you have done something wrong:
•I'm so sorry, I do apologize.
[+to]
•I think you should apologize to your brother.
apologize for (doing) sth
•He later apologized for his behaviour.
•I apologize for losing my temper. $ plural apologies
1 [C,U] something that you say or write to show that you are sorry for doing something wrong

receive an apology
owe sb an apology
demand an apology
accept an apology
make an apology (for sth)
issue an apology (=make an official apology - used about governments, companies etc)
I make no apology (for sth) (=used when saying you are not sorry about something)
letter of apology
written apology
formal apology
public apology
by way of apology (=in order to show you are sorry)

[+from]
•She finally received an apology from the company.
•I feel I owe you an apology.
•He wrote to the editor of the newspaper demanding an immediate apology.
[+for]
•Please accept my sincere apologies for my behaviour yesterday.
•She had to make a formal public apology for her remarks.
•I make no apology for repeating the question.
•Those affected have been sent letters of apology.
•'He always does this,' said Isabelle, by way of apology.

2 apologies [plural] a message that you send to a meeting to say that you will not be able to come to the meeting:
•Edward can't be here today, but he sends his apologies.
3 make your apologies to say that you are sorry but you have to leave:
•I quickly made my apologies and left.
4 [C] literary a statement in which you defend something you believe in after it has been criticized by other people
[+for]
•an apology for Christianity
5 an apology for sth a very bad example of something:
•They served us up an apology for a meal.
1 informal so angry that your face becomes red:
•The colonel was apoplectic with rage.
2 old-fashioned relating to apoplexy [U] old-fashioned
an illness in your brain which causes you to suddenly lose your ability to move or think; = stroke $ [U]
formal when someone suddenly stops believing in a religion or supporting a political party $ [C]
formal someone who has stopped believing in a religion or supporting a political party $ formal
using facts that you know now to form a judgment about what must have happened before
A PRIORI $ [C]
1 one of the 12 people chosen by Jesus Christ to teach and spread the Christian religion
2 formal someone who believes strongly in an idea and tries to persuade other people
[+of]
•a great apostle of non-violence $ technical
1 connected with the Pope (=leader of the Catholic church)
2 connected with one of Christ's 12 apostles $ [C]

a) the sign (') that is used in writing to show that numbers or letters have been left out, as in 'don't' (=do not) and '86 (=1986)
b) the same sign used before 's' to show that something belongs to someone or something, or is connected with them, as in 'John's book', or 'Charles' mother', or 'Henry's first year as a teacher'
c) the same sign used before 's' to show the plural of letters and numbers as in 'Your r's look like v's.' $ plural apothecaries [C]
someone who mixed and sold medicines in the past $ [singular] formal
1 the best and most perfect example of something
[+of]
•the apotheosis of romantic art
2 the best or highest point in someone's life or job; = apex
[+of]
•the apotheosis of his careerappall AmE $ [T] BrE
to make someone feel very shocked and upset:
•The way we kill animals appals a lot of people.
•The decision to execute the two men has appalled many politicians. $
very shocked and upset by something very bad or unpleasant
[+by]
•I was appalled by what I saw.
[+at]
•He was appalled at how dirty the place was.
•When I heard what had happened I was absolutely appalled. $
1 very unpleasant and shocking; = terrible
•She suffered appalling injuries.
•He was kept in appalling conditions in prison.
•an appalling famine
2 very bad; = atrocious
•The weather was absolutely appalling.
- appallingly adverb
•He behaved appallingly.
•an appallingly difficult job [C]
AmE a type of horse that is pale in colour, with dark spots [C]
an official who works for a government or other organization and who obeys orders without thinking:
•a Communist party apparatchik $
1 [U] the set of tools and machines that you use for a particular scientific, medical, or technical purpose; = equipment
•Astronauts have special breathing apparatus.
2 [C] the way in which a lot of people are organized to work together to do a job or control a company or country; = machinery
•The tax will require a massive administrative apparatus.
•The state apparatus has become corrupt.
•the apparatus of government [U]
formal clothes:
•She looked lovely, despite her strange apparel.
•men wearing protective apparel
•We sell a full range of sports apparel.
1 easy to notice; = obvious
it is apparent (that)
•It soon became apparent that we had a major problem.
it is apparent from sth that
•It is apparent from scientific studies that the drug has some fairly nasty side effects.
it is apparent to sb that
•It was apparent to everyone that he was seriously ill.
•The difference in quality was immediately apparent.
•He left suddenly, for no apparent reason.
2 seeming to have a particular feeling or attitude, although this may not be true:
•He did well in his exams, despite his apparent lack of interest in his work.
1 [sentence adverb] used to say that you have heard that something is true, although you are not completely sure about it:
•Apparently the company is losing a lot of money.
•I wasn't there, but apparently it went well.
2 according to the way someone looks or a situation appears, although you cannot be sure:
•She turned to face him, her anger apparently gone. [C]
something that you imagine you can see, especially the spirit of a dead person:
•He stared at the strange apparition before him.
•a ghostly apparition of a man
1 REQUEST [C] an urgent request for something important
[+for]
•The police have issued a new appeal for information.
[+to]
•All the organizations involved have sent urgent appeals to the government, asking for extra funding.
•The girl's family have made a public appeal for help to try and catch her killer.
appeal to sb to do sth
•an appeal to the army to not use too much force
2 REQUEST FOR MONEY [C] an attempt to persuade people to give money in order to help people who need something:
•The appeal has nearly reached its target of £100,000.
•The hospital has launched an appeal to raise money for new equipment.
3 REQUEST TO CHANGE DECISION [C,U] a formal request to a court or to someone in authority asking for a decision to be changed
[+to]
•an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
on appeal
•The sentence was reduced to three years on appeal.
•All prisoners have a right of appeal.
•He has lodged an appeal against the size of the fine.
4 BEING ATTRACTIVE [U] a quality that makes people like something or someone:
•What is the particular appeal of this island?
•The programme has a very wide appeal.
[+for]
•The film has great appeal for young audiences.
•She's definitely got sex appeal (=she is sexually attractive).
COURT OF APPEAL
1 ASK [I] to make a serious public request for help, money, information etc
[+for]
•Church and community leaders have appealed for calm.
[+to]
•Farmers have appealed to the government for help.
appeal to sb to do sth
•The police have appealed to anyone with information to come forward and talk to them.
2 ASK TO CHANGE DECISION [I,T] to make a formal request to a court or someone in authority asking for a decision to be changed:
•She is not happy with the decision and plans to appeal.
[+against]
•Both men intend to appeal against their convictions.
[+to]
•Appealing to the referee does not often result in a decision being changed.
3 BE ATTRACTIVE [I] if someone or something appeals to you, they seem attractive and interesting
[+to]
•The programme appeals especially to young children.
•The idea of working abroad really appeals to me.
4 appeal to sb's better nature/sense of justice etc to try to persuade someone to do something by reminding them that it is a good or fair thing to do:
•You could always try appealing to his better nature.[singular]
the COURT OF APPEAL
1 attractive or interesting; unappealing
•The city offers an appealing combination of sporting and cultural events.
•It creates an atmosphere which visitors find so appealing.
2 appealing look/expression/voice etc a look etc that shows that someone wants help or sympathy:
•'Are you sure it's okay?' she said with an appealing smile.
- appealingly adverb
•She looked appealingly at Ben.[C]
a court of law in some countries which deals with cases when people are not satisfied with the judgement given by a lower court; = Court of Appeals
•a ruling by a US federal appeals court $
1 SEEM [linking verb, not in progressive] used to say how something seems, especially from what you know about it or from what you can see
appear to be sth
•Police say there appear to be signs of a break-in.
appear to do sth
•The survey appears to contradict motor industry claims.
it appears (that)
•It appears that all the files have been deleted.
•Police have found what appear to be human remains.
•He tried to make it appear that she had committed suicide.
•It may be less useful than it appears at first.
so it would appear (=used to say that something seems likely to be true, although you are not completely sure)
2 GIVE IMPRESSION [linking verb, not in progressive] used to say that someone or something seems to have a particular quality or feeling:
•He tried hard to appear calm.
•I don't want to appear rude.
•The right colours can make a small room appear much bigger.
3 START TO BE SEEN [I always + adv/prep ] to start to be seen, to arrive, or to exist in a place, especially suddenly:
•Two faces appeared at our window.
•A man suddenly appeared from behind a tree.
•Small cracks appeared in the wall.
•It was nearly an hour before Sweeney appeared in the pub.
appear from nowhere/out of nowhere (=appear suddenly and unexpectedly)
•The car seemed to appear from nowhere.
4 FILM/TV PROGRAMME ETC [I always + adv/prep] to take part in a film, play, concert, television programme etc
appear in a film/play
•She has already appeared in a number of films.
appear on television/stage
•He appeared on national television to deny the claims.
appear at a theatre etc
5 BOOK/NEWSPAPER ETC [I always + adv/prep] to be written or shown on a list, in a book or newspaper, in a document etc:
•The story appeared in all the national newspapers.
•Some of the material used has appeared in print before (=has been published).
6 AVAILABLE/KNOWN [I always + adv/prep] to become widely available or known about:
•The new range will be appearing in shops in the autumn.
•New courses are appearing every year.
7 LAW COURT/MEETING [I always + adv/prep] to go to a law court or other official meeting to give information, answer questions etc:
•The three men are due to appear in court tomorrow.
appear before a court/judge/committee etc
•She appeared before Colchester magistrates charged with attempted murder.
appear for sb/on behalf of sb (=to be the legal representative for someone)
•Sir Nicholas Gammon QC appeared on behalf of the defendant.
see box at SEEM $
1 WAY SB/STH LOOKS [C,U] the way someone or something looks to other people

sb's appearance
physical appearance
personal appearance
outward/external appearance
spoil the appearance of sb/sth
improve/enhance the appearance of sb/sth
take pride in your appearance (=think that it is important to look good)
judge by appearances (=make judgements based on the way someone or something looks)
give the appearance of sth/give every appearance of sth (=seem to be something)
have all the appearances of sth (=seem exactly like something)
appearances can be deceptive (=people or things are not always the way they look)
to all appearances (=based on the way someone or something seems to most people)

•He was always criticising his wife's appearance.
[+of]
•They've changed the appearance of the whole building.
•We are often attracted to somebody first by their physical appearance.
•Women, in general, tend to be more concerned than men about their personal appearance.
•She had an outward appearance of calm, but deep down she was really worried.
•The metal posts spoiled the appearance of the garden.
•A garnish helps to enhance the appearance of any dish.
•She's the kind of woman who takes pride in her appearance.
• You shouldn't judge by appearances.
• They work hard at school without giving the appearance of being particularly hard-working.
• The case had all the appearances of a straightforward murder.
• The pupils looked angelic - but appearances can be deceptive.
•He was, to all appearances, a respectable, successful businessman.

2 SB TAKES PART IN A PUBLIC EVENT [C] when a famous person takes part in a film, concert or other public event:
•It was his first public appearance since the election.
•He made his last appearance for the club in the Cup Final.
appearance money/fee (=money paid to a famous person to attend an event)
3 STH NEW STARTS TO EXIST [singular] when something new begins to exist or starts being used
[+of]
•The industry has changed greatly with the appearance of new technologies.
•the appearance of buds on the trees
4 ARRIVAL [C usually singular] the unexpected or sudden arrival of someone or something
[+of]
•Eileen was deep in concentration, and the sudden appearance of her daughter startled her.
5 keep up appearances to dress and behave in the way in which people expect you to, especially to hide your true situation:
•She just wanted to keep up appearances for the kids.
6 for appearances' sake/for the sake of appearances if you do something for appearances' sake, you are trying to behave how people expect you to, especially to hide your true situation or feelings
7 put in an appearance/make an appearance to go to an event for a short time, because you think you should rather than because you want to:
•At least Marc managed to put in an appearance at the party.
8 AT A LAW COURT/MEETING [C] an occasion when someone goes to a court of law or official meeting to give information, answer questions etc:
•He is due to make another court appearance on Monday. [T] formal
to make someone less angry or stop them from attacking you by giving them what they want:
•They attempted to appease international opposition by promising to hold talks.
- appeasement noun [C,U]
•Chamberlain's policy of appeasement towards Hitler in the 30s [C] law
a person who APPEALs against the decision in a court of law $ [C]
a court in which people APPEAL against decisions made in other courts of law [C]
literary a name or title [T]
formal to add something to a piece of writing; appendix
[+to]
•The results of the client survey are appended to this document. [C]
1 something that is connected to a larger or more important thing
2 formal an arm, leg or other body part plural appendectomies [C,U]
a medical operation in which your APPENDIX is removed [U]
an illness in which your APPENDIX swells and causes pain or [C]
1 plural appendixes a small organ near your BOWEL, which has little or no use:
•Christine had to go into hospital to have her appendix out (=have it removed).
2 plural appendices a part at the end of a book containing additional information:
•See Appendix 2.6 $

PHRASAL VERBS
appertain to sth phr v [not in passive] formal
to belong to or concern something:
•A monthly forum was set up to deal with all issues appertaining to Everton Park.
1 [C usually singular, U] a desire for food:
•All that walking has given me an appetite for dinner.
•I seem to have lost my appetite lately.
•Symptoms include headaches, tiredness and loss of appetite
•Let's just say he's got a healthy appetite.
spoil/ruin your appetite
•Don't eat that cake now; you'll spoil your appetite.
2 [C] a desire or liking for a particular activity
[+for]
•She has an amazing appetite for knowledge.
•People seem to have an insatiable appetite (=always wanting more of something) for news of any kind.
•a loss of sexual appetite
whet sb's appetite at WHET (1)also appetiser BrE $ [C]
a small dish that you eat at the beginning of a mealalso appetising BrE
food that is appetizing smells or looks very good, making you want to eat it; unappetizing
•an appetizing aroma
•The food wasn't particularly appetizing. $
1 [I,T] to hit your open hands together to show that you have enjoyed a play, concert, speaker etc; = clap
•The audience applauded loudly.
•A crowd of 300 supporters warmly applauded her speech.
2 [T] formal to express strong approval of an idea, plan etc:
•I applaud the decision to install more security cameras.
applaud sb for sth
•She should be applauded for her honesty. $ [U]
the sound of many people hitting their hands together and shouting, to show that they have enjoyed something:
•She got a round of applause (=a short period of applause) when she finished.
rapturous/enthusiastic applause
•He left the stage to rapturous applause.
loud/thunderous applause
1 [C,U] a hard round fruit that has red, light green, or yellow skin and is white inside:
•apple pie
•an apple tree
•roast pork and apple sauce (=a thick sauce made from cooked apples)
2 be the apple of sb's eye to be loved very much by someone:
•Ben was always the apple of his father's eye.
3 bob/dunk/dip for apples to play a game in which you must use your teeth to pick up apples floating in water
4 be as American as apple pie used to describe something that is typically American
5 the apple doesn't fall far from the tree AmE used to say that children are usually similar to their parents, especially in a bad way
upset the apple cart at UPSET^1 (4); a rotten apple at ROTTEN^1 (7); ADAM'S APPLE, BIG APPLE[C] AmE spoken
someone who tries to gain something, become popular etc by praising or helping someone else without being sincere [C] technical
a computer program that is part of a larger program, and which performs a particular job, such as finding documents on the Internet [C]
a piece of equipment, especially electrical equipment, such as a COOKER or WASHING MACHINE, used in people's homes
domestic/household etc appliance
•There's plenty of space for all the usual kitchen appliances.
electrical/gas appliance
see box at MACHINE^1
if something is applicable to a particular person, group, or situation, it affects them or is related to them
[+to]
•The offer is only applicable to bookings for double rooms.
where/if/as applicable
•Ms/Miss/Mrs/Mr Please delete as applicable.
- applicability noun [U] [C]
someone who has formally asked, usually in writing, for a job, university place etc
[+for]
•He was one of 30 applicants for the manager's job.
successful/unsuccessful applicant (=someone who is accepted or not accepted for a job etc)
•Successful applicants will be expected to travel extensively.
1 WRITTEN REQUEST [C,U] a formal, usually written, request for something such as a job, place at university, or permission to do something

job application
fill in/out an application
application form
make/put in/submit an application
accept sb's application
reject sb's application
process an application (=deal with it)
planning application (=a request for permission to build something)
letter of application

[+for]
•an application for a grant
[+from]
•The university welcomes applications from overseas students.
• We receive hundreds of job applications each year.
•I filled in the application form and sent it off.
•You have to submit your application before the end of the month.
• I've put in an application for a transfer.
•He received a letter saying that his application had been rejected.
•It can take a long time for your visa application to be processed.
•The Council is currently reviewing the way it deals with planning applications.
•Thank you for your letter of application, which we received yesterday.

2 PRACTICAL USE [C,U] practical purpose for which a machine, idea etc can be used, or a situation when this is used
[+of/to/in]
•the applications of genetic engineering in agriculture
•The research has many practical applications.
3 COMPUTERS [C] a piece of computer software which does a particular job:
•We received training on a number of spreadsheet and database applications.
4 PAINT/LIQUID [C,U] when you put something such as paint, liquid, medicine etc onto a surface
[+of]
•The application of fertilizer increased the size of the plants.
5 EFFORT [U] attention or effort over a long period of time:
•Making your new business successful requires luck, patience, and application.[C]
an ASP[U] technical
computer software that is designed for a particular use or user:
•We need to ensure that the application software on both the PC and the Macintosh produces compatible files. $ [C]
a special brush or tool used to spread a cream, liquid, medicine etc onto a surface
applied science/physics/linguistics etc science etc that has a practical use; pure (10), theoretical (1) $ [C,U]
the process of sewing pieces of material onto a piece of clothing for decoration, or the pieces themselves
- appliqué verb [T] past tense and past participle applied, present participle applying, third person singular applies
1 REQUEST [I] to make a formal request, usually written, for something such as a job, a place in a university, or permission to do something
[+for]
•She applied for a job with the local newspaper.
•We need to apply for planning permission to build a garage.
[+to]
•I applied to four universities and was accepted by all of them.
2 AFFECT [I,T not in progressive] to have an effect on or to concern a particular person, group, or situation
[+to]
•Do the same rules apply to part-time workers?
•The offer only applies to flights from London and Manchester.
3 USE [T] to use something such as a method, idea, or law in a particular situation, activity, or process
apply sth to sth
•New technology is being applied to almost every industrial process.
•These ideas are often difficult to apply in practice.
4 apply yourself to work hard at something, especially with a lot of attention for a long time:
•Stephen would do well if only he applied himself.
[+to]
•Over the next months, he applied himself to improving the technique.
5 MAKE STH WORK [T] to make something such as a piece of equipment operate, usually by pushing or pressing something:
•apply the brakes
6 SPREAD PAINT/LIQUID ETC [T] to put or spread something such as paint, liquid, or medicine onto a surface:
•Apply the cream evenly over the skin.
apply make-up/lipstick etc
7 apply force/pressure to push on something
8 USE A WORD [T] to use a particular word or name to describe something or someone:
•The term 'mat' can be applied to any small rug. [T]
1 to choose someone for a position or a job:
•officials appointed by the government
appoint sb to sth
•He's been appointed to the State Supreme Court.
appoint sb to do sth
•A committee was appointed to consider the plans.
appoint (sb) as sth
•O'Connell was appointed as chairman.
2 formal to arrange or decide a time or place for something to happen:
•The committee appointed a day in June for celebrations.
•Everyone assembled in the hall at the appointed time (=at the time that had been arranged).
- appointee noun [C]
•a presidential appointee
SELF-APPOINTED, WELL-APPOINTED
1 [C] an arrangement for a meeting at an agreed time and place, for a particular purpose

have an appointment
make an appointment
an appointment to do sth
book an appointment BrE
schedule an appointment AmE (=make an appointment)
cancel an appointment
miss an appointment
keep an appointment (=go to an appointment you have arranged)
doctor's/dentist's/dental appointment
by appointment (only) (=only if you make an appointment in advance)

[+with]
•She has an appointment with a client at 10.30.
•You should phone his secretary if you want to make an appointment.
•I have an appointment to see the doctor.
•Please give us plenty of notice if you have to cancel an appointment.
•For the third time in a row, she had failed to keep her appointment.
•I was already forty-five minutes late for a dental appointment.
•All consultations are by appointment only.

2 [C,U] when someone is chosen for a position or job
[+of]
•Other changes included the appointment of a new Foreign Minister.
[+as]
•They congratulated him on his appointment as chairman.
3 [C] a job or position, usually involving some responsibility
[+as]
•He has taken up an appointment as Professor of Chemistry.
4 by appointment to the Queen BrE a phrase that can be used by a business that sells goods or services to the Queen[C]
1 AmE a DIARY
2 a large book divided into days and times containing the names of people you have appointments with, for example a doctor or a HAIRDRESSER etc $ [T] formal
to decide how something should be shared between various people:
•It's not easy to apportion blame (=say who deserves to be blamed) when a marriage breaks up.
[+among/between]
•Court costs were equally apportioned between them.
- apportionment noun [C,U] formal
suitable to what is happening or being discussed; = appropriate; inappropriate
[+to]
•His observations are, indeed, apposite to the present discussion.
- appositely adverb
- appositeness noun [U] [U] technical
in grammar, an occasion when a simple sentence contains two or more noun phrases that describe the same thing or person, appearing one after the other without a word such as 'and' or 'or' between them. For example, in the sentence 'The defendant, a woman of thirty, denies kicking the policeman' the two phrases 'the defendant' and 'a woman of thirty' are in apposition.
1 [C,U] a statement or opinion judging the worth, value, or condition of something
[+of]
•It needed a calmer appraisal of her situation.
•a critical appraisal of the existing facilities
2 [C] a meeting between a manager and a worker to discuss the quality of the worker's work and how well they do their job [T]
1 formal to officially judge how successful, effective, or valuable something is; = evaluate
•Greenpeace has been invited to appraise the environmental costs of such an operation.
2 literary to look carefully at someone or something to make an opinion about them:
•His eyes appraised her face.
large enough to be noticed or considered important; = significant
•There's no appreciable change in the patient's condition.
- appreciably adverb
•The two plans are not appreciably different.
1 [T not in progressive] to understand how serious or important a situation or problem is or what someone's feelings are; = realize
appreciate the significance/importance/value of sth
•He did not fully appreciate the significance of signing the contract.
appreciate that
•We appreciate that caring for children is an important job.
appreciate what/how/why
•It is difficult to appreciate how bad the situation had become.
2 [T] used to thank someone in a polite way or to say that you are grateful for something they have done:
•Thanks ever so much for your help, I really appreciate it.
•I appreciate your concern, but honestly, I'm fine.
• I'd appreciate it if you let me get on with my job.
3 [T] to understand how good or useful someone or something is:
•Her abilities are not fully appreciated by her employer.
•I'm not an expert, but I appreciate fine works of art.
4 [I] technical to gradually become more valuable over a period of time; depreciate
•Most investments are expected to appreciate at a steady rate.
1 [U] pleasure you feel when you realize something is good, useful, or well done
[+of]
•It helps children to develop an appreciation of poetry and literature.
2 [U] a feeling of being grateful for something someone has done
show/express your appreciation
•The chairman asked me to express our appreciation of all your hard work.
•He was presented with a watch in appreciation of his long service.
3 [C,U] an understanding of the importance or meaning of something
[+of]
•a realistic appreciation of the situation
4 [singular, U] a rise in value, especially of land or possessions; depreciation
•an appreciation of 50% in property values
1 feeling or showing that you enjoy something or are pleased about it
appreciative audience/crowd
appreciative laughter/applause
2 [not before noun] grateful for something
[+of]
•She was appreciative of Greg's concern for her health.
- appreciatively adverb [T]
1 formal if the police apprehend a criminal, they catch him or her; = arrest
•The police have failed to apprehend the culprits.
2 old-fashioned to understand something:
•They were slow to apprehend the danger.
1 [C,U] anxiety about the future, especially about dealing with something unpleasant or difficult; = anxiety
•a feeling of apprehension
•I woke before the alarm, filled with apprehension.
2 [U] formal the act of apprehending a criminal; = arrest
3 [U] old-fashioned understanding
worried or nervous about something that you are going to do, or about the future
[+about/of]
•We'd been a little apprehensive about their visit.
apprehensive that
•I was apprehensive that something would go wrong.
•Some had apprehensive looks on their faces.
- apprehensively adverb
•'What's wrong?' I asked apprehensively. [C]
someone who works for an employer for a fixed period of time in order to learn a particular skill or job:
•She works in the hairdresser's as an apprentice.
•an apprentice electrician
- apprentice verb [T usually passive]
•He was apprenticed to a local architect. [C,U]
the job of being an apprentice, or the period of time in which you are an apprentice:
•He's serving an apprenticeship as a printer.
•a five-year apprenticeship [T]
formal to tell or give someone information about something
apprise sb of sth
•The district chairman was fully apprised of all the details. $
1 MOVE TOWARDS [I,T] to move towards or nearer to someone or something:
•As I approached the house, I noticed a light on upstairs.
•She heard footsteps approaching.
2 ASK [T] to ask someone for something, or ask them to do something, especially when you are asking them for the first time or when you are not sure if they will do it
approach sb for sth
•Students should be able to approach teachers for advice.
approach sb/sth about (doing) sth
•The charity approached several stores about giving food aid.
•I have already been approached by several other companies (=offered a job, work etc).
APPROACHABLE
3 FUTURE EVENT [I,T] if an event or a particular time approaches, or you approach it, it is coming nearer and will happen soon:
•She was then approaching the end of her career.
•The time is fast approaching when we will have to make a decision.
•With winter approaching, many animals are storing food.
4 DEAL WITH [T] to begin to deal with a situation or problem in a particular way or with a particular attitude
approach a problem/task/matter etc
•It might be possible to approach the problem in a different way.
5 ALMOST [I,T] to be almost equal to something:
•temperatures approaching 35°C
•He's never had anything approaching a normal life.
1 METHOD [C] a method of doing something or dealing with a problem
[+to]
•a new approach to teaching languages
• He decided to adopt a different approach and teach the Bible through story-telling.
• This book takes an unorthodox approach to art criticism.
• organizations which take a positive approach to creative thinking
2 ASK [C] a request from someone, asking you to do something for them:
•They made a direct approach to the minister of education.
3 the approach of sth the approach of a particular time or event is the fact that it is getting closer:
•the approach of autumn
•It's a sign of the approach of middle age.
4 MOVEMENT TOWARDS [U] movement towards or near to something:
•Our approach frightened the birds.
5 PATH/ROAD [C] a road, path etc that leads to a place, and is the main way of reaching it:
•Soldiers were guarding the approaches to the city.
•an approach road
6 AIRCRAFT [C] the final part of a plane's flight, before it lands at an airport:
•It was clear to land so we made our approach. $
friendly and easy to talk to; unapproachable
•The head teacher is very approachable. [U]
formal official praise or approval $
correct or suitable for a particular time, situation, or purpose; inappropriate
[+for]
•clothes appropriate for a job interview
[+to]
•an education system which is more appropriate to the needs of the students
it is appropriate (for sb) to do sth
•It would not be appropriate for me to discuss that now.
it is appropriate (that)
•It seemed somehow appropriate that we should begin our journey here.
appropriate time/place etc
•I didn't feel that this was an appropriate time to mention the subject of money.
highly/entirely/wholly appropriate
•I thought his remark was highly appropriate, given the circumstances.
•The timing of the announcement was particularly appropriate.
• Where appropriate, I delegate as much work as possible.
•Mark box 1 or 2, as appropriate.
• I can assure you that appropriate action will be taken.
- appropriately adverb
•The painters met, appropriately enough, in an art gallery (=used to emphasize that something is very appropriate).
•appropriately dressed
- appropriateness noun [U] $ [T] formal
1 to take something for yourself when you do not have the right to do this; = steal
•He is suspected of appropriating government funds.
2 to take something, especially money, to use for a particular purpose
appropriate sth for sth
•Congress appropriated $5 million for International Woman's Year.; misappropriate $ [C,U] formal
1 the process of saving money for a special purpose, or the money that is saved, especially by a business or government
[+of]
•the appropriation of $2 million for the new hospital
2 the act of taking control of something without asking permission
[+of]
•the appropriation of company property
1 [C,U] when a plan, decision, or person is officially accepted

give/grant your approval
receive/obtain approval
with/without sb's approval
submit/send sth for approval
subject to sb's approval (=if it is accepted by someone)
pending sb's approval (=waiting to be accepted by someone)
sb gives their seal of approval (=an important person, organization etc says officially that they agree with something and will allow it)
formal/official approval
Congressional/parliamentary etc approval

•The president has already given his approval to the plan.
•It is just three months since we received official approval to go ahead with the project.
•A company cannot be sold without the approval of the shareholders.
•The bill will be submitted for approval by Congress.
• The President would appoint the Council of Ministers, subject to the approval of the National Assembly.
•The IMF has given its seal of approval to the government's economic strategy.
• appointments requiring parliamentary approval

2 [U] formal when someone likes something or someone and thinks that they are good; disapproval
•A murmur of approval passed through the crowd.
nod/smile/clap etc in approval
•They clapped their hands in approval.
•His ideas have won widespread public approval (=many people agree with them and think they are good).
•Does the design meet with your approval (=do you like it?)?
•Children are always seeking approval from their parents.
•She looked to Greg for approval.
3 on approval if you buy something on approval, you have the right to return it to the shop if you decide you do not want it
1 [T] to officially accept a plan, proposal etc:
•The conference approved a proposal for a referendum.
2 [I] to think that someone or something is good, right, or suitable; disapprove
[+of]
•Catherine's parents now approve of her marriage.
•I don't approve of cosmetic surgery. [only before noun]
officially recognized as being of a particular level or standard:
•Funding is available for approved courses.[C] BrE
a special school in Britain in the past, where children who had done something illegal were sent if they were under 18
showing support or agreement for something; disapproving
an approving nod/glance/smile etc
- approvingly adverb
•She smiled approvingly at the child.also approx BrE $
the written abbreviation of approximately $
an approximate number, amount, or time is close to the exact number, amount etc, but could be a little bit more or less than it; = rough; exact
•What is the approximate number of students in each class?
•These percentages are only approximate.
- approximately adverb
•The plane will be landing in approximately 20 minutes.
•How much do think it will cost, approximately? $ [I, linking verb] formal
1 to be close to a particular number
[+to]
•This figure approximates to a quarter of the UK's annual consumption.
2 to be similar to but not exactly the same as something
[+to]
•Your story only approximates to the real facts. $ [C,U]
1 a number, amount etc that is not exact, but is almost correct; = estimate
[+of]
•an approximation of the total number
a rough/crude approximation (=one that is not very exact)
•Could you give us a rough approximation of the likely cost?
a good/close/reasonable approximation
2 something that is similar to another thing, but not exactly the same
[+of/to]
•It was the nearest approximation to a crisis she'd ever experienced. $ [C usually plural]
formal a part of something more important $ [C usually singular]
annual percentage rate the rate of INTEREST that you must pay when you borrow moneyalso Apr BrE
the written abbreviation of April $ [U]
activities such as eating and drinking that you do after SKIing
- après-ski adjective $
1 [C] a small round fruit that is orange or yellow and has a single large seed
2 [U] the orange-yellow colour of an apricot
- apricot adjectivewritten abbreviation Apr. [C,U]
the fourth month of the year, between March and May
next/last April
•I'm going to Cuba next April.
in April
•Our new office opened in April 2001.
on April 6th
•The meeting will be on April 6th.
on 6th April BrE
•I arrived on 6th April.
April 6 AmE
•Jim's birthday's April 6.[C]
someone who is tricked on April Fools' Day, or the trick that is played on themalso All Fools' Day
April 1st, a day when people play tricks on each other formal
using previous experiences or facts to decide what the likely result or effect of something will be; a posteriori
•a ruling made on a priori grounds [C]
1 a piece of clothing that covers the front part of your clothes and is tied around your waist, worn to keep your clothes clean, especially while cooking
2 apron strings informal the relationship between a child and its mother, especially if the mother controls an adult son or daughter too much:
•You're 25 years old, and you still haven't cut the apron strings.
•Jeff is still tied to his mother's apron strings.
3 technical the hard surface in an airport on which planes are turned around, loaded, unloaded etc
4 technical also apron stage the part of the stage in a theatre that is in front of the curtain $ formal
apropos of sth used to introduce a new subject that is related to something just mentioned:
•He had nothing to say apropos of the latest developments.
apropos of nothing (=not relating to anything previously mentioned)
•Apropos of nothing, he suddenly asked me if I liked cats! [C] technical
the curved inside end of a building, especially the east end of a church
1 be apt to do sth to have a natural tendency to do something:
•Some of the staff are apt to arrive late on Mondays.
2 exactly right for a particular situation or purpose; = appropriate
•'Love at first sight' is a very apt description of how he felt when he saw her.
[+for]
•The punishment should be apt for the crime.
3 an apt pupil/student formal a student who is quick to learn and understand
- aptness noun [U] $ [C,U]
1 natural ability or skill, especially in learning
[+for]
•He has a natural aptitude for teaching.
2 aptitude test a test that measures your natural skills or abilities
aptly named/described/called etc named, described etc in a way that seems very suitable:
•The aptly named Skyline Restaurant provides spectacular views of the city below. [C] trademark BrE
a piece of equipment that provides a DIVER (=someone who swims underwater) with air, and which they wear on their backs $
1 [C,U] a greenish blue jewel, or the type of stone it comes from
2 [U] a greenish blue colour
- aquamarine adjective [I] BrE
1 if a car aquaplanes, it slides over a wet road in an uncontrolled way; = hydroplane AmE
2 to be pulled over the water on an aquaplane[C] BrE
a thin board that you stand on while you are pulled over the water by a fast boat $ plural aquariums or aquaria [C]
1 a clear glass or plastic container for fish and other water animals
2 a building where people go to look at fish and other water animals $
1 [U] the 11th sign of the ZODIAC, represented by a person pouring water, which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between January 21 and February 19
2 also Aquarian [C] someone who was born between January 21 and February 19
- Aquarian adjective $
1 living or growing in water:
•an aquatic plant
2 involving or happening in water:
•aquatic sports [C,U]
a method of producing a picture using acid on a sheet of metal, or a picture printed using this method [C]
a structure like a bridge, that carries water across a river or valley technical
containing water or similar to water $
aquiline nose a nose with a curved shape like the beak of an EAGLE $
1 [in adjectives] relating to something:
•stellar (=relating to stars)
•polar (=relating to the North or South Pole)
2 [in nouns] someone who does something:
•a liar (=someone who lies) [C]
someone whose language is Arabic and whose family comes from, or originally came from the Middle East or North Africa [C]
1 a position in BALLET, in which you stand on one foot with the other leg stretched out straight behind you
2 a decorative pattern of flowing lines
relating to Arabia or its people [U]
the language or writing of the Arabs, which is the main language of North Africa and the Middle East
- Arabic adjective[C]
the sign 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, or 0, or a combination of these signs, used as a number; Roman numeral
relating to growing crops:
•arable farming
•arable land (=land that is suitable for growing crops) [C]
a small creature such as a SPIDER, that has eight legs and a body with two parts $ [C]
1 someone who influences society's opinions about what is STYLISH, socially acceptable etc:
•The designer has received rave reviews from such arbiters of taste as Elle magazine.
2 someone or something that settles an argument between two opposing sides; = judge
•The European Court of Justice will be the final arbiter (=make the final decision) in the dispute. $ [U] technical
the process of buying something such as raw materials or CURRENCY in one place and selling them immediately in another place in order to make a profit from the difference in prices
- arbitrageur $ also arbitrager BrE noun [C] $
decided or arranged without any reason or plan, often unfairly:
•an arbitrary decision
•the arbitrary arrests of political opponents
- arbitrariness noun [U]
- arbitrarily $ adverb
•an arbitrarily chosen number $ [I,T]
to officially judge how an argument between two opposing sides should be settled
[+between]
•A committee will arbitrate between management and unions.
[+in]
•The tribunal has the power to arbitrate in disputes.
- arbitrator noun [C] $ [U]
the process of judging officially how an argument should be settled:
•The dispute is going to arbitration (=someone is being asked to arbitrate).
•Both sides in the dispute have agreed to binding arbitration. $ technical literary
relating to trees, or living in trees $ plural arboretums or arboreta [C]
a place where trees are grown for scientific studyarbor AmE $ [C] BrE
a shelter in a garden made by making plants grow together on a frame shaped like an ARCH $ [C]
1 a curved shape or line:
•the arc of a rainbow
2 part of a curved line or a circle:
•The sun moves across the sky in an arc.
3 a flash of light formed by the flow of electricity between two points
- arc verb [T] $ [C]
1 a covered passage at the side of a row of buildings with PILLARs and ARCHes supporting it on one side
2 a covered passage between two streets with shops on each side of it
3 BrE also shopping arcade a large building or part of a building where there are many shops
4 an AMUSEMENT ARCADE:
•arcade games[C]
a type of electronic game that was first popular in AMUSEMENT ARCADEs (=a place where you play games by putting coins in machines) in the early 1980s, but is now usually played on a computer $
secret and known or understood by only a few people:
•the arcane language of the law $ [C]
1 a structure with a curved top and straight sides that supports the weight of a bridge or building
2 a curved structure above a door, window etc
3 a curved structure of bones in the middle of your foot
4 something with a curved top and straight sides[I,T]
to form or make something form a curved shape:
•Two rows of trees arched over the driveway.
•The dog arched its back.
amused because you think you understand something better than other people:
•'I think he's in for a surprise,' Ian said, in a somewhat arch tone.
- archly adverb $
belonging to the highest class or rank:
•an archbishop (=an important BISHOP)
•our archenemy (=our worst enemy)
•the company's arch-rivals (=main competitors)also archeology AmE $ [U]
the study of ancient societies by examining what remains of their buildings, GRAVEs , tools etc
- archaeologist noun
- archaeological $ adjective
•an archaeological site
- archaeologically adverb $
1 old and no longer used; = outdated; modern
•archaic words
2 old-fashioned and needing to be replaced:
•Many smaller radio stations broadcast on archaic equipment.
3 from or relating to ancient times:
•archaic civilizations $ [C]
an old word or phrase that is no longer used $ [C]
one of the most important ANGELs in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions $ [C]
a priest of the highest rank, who is in charge of all the churches in a particular area $ [C]
1 the area governed by an archbishop
2 the rank of archbishop $ [C]
a priest of a high rank in the Anglican church who works under a BISHOP $ [C]
the area that is governed by an archbishop $ [C]
a prince who belonged to the royal family of Austria $ plural archenemies [C]
the main enemy $ [U]
an American spelling of ARCHAEOLOGY $ [C]
someone who shoots ARROWs from a BOW $ [U]
the sport of shooting ARROWs from a BOW $ [C usually singular]
a perfect example of something, because it has all the most important qualities of things that belong to that type
[+of]
•France is the archetype of the centralized nation-state.
- archetypal $ adjective
•Byron was the archetypal Romantic hero. $ plural archipelagos [C]
a group of small islands $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to design buildings
2 the architect of sth the person who originally thought of an important and successful idea:
•Tinoco was one of the architects of the government's economic reforms. $
1 [U] the style and design of a building or buildings
[+of]
•the architecture of Venice
modern/classical/medieval etc architecture
2 [U] the art and practice of planning and designing buildings:
•He studied architecture at university.
3 [U] the structure of something:
•the architecture of DNA
4 [C,U] technical the structure of a computer system and the way it works
- architectural $ adjective
•architectural features
- architecturally adverb
•Architecturally, Chengdu is quite different from most of China. $ [C]
1 a place where a large number of historical records are stored, or the records that are stored:
•an archive of the writer's unpublished work
2 technical copies of a computer's FILEs that are stored on a DISK or in the computer's memory in a way that uses less space than usual, so that the computer can keep them for a long time
- archive adjective
•interesting archive material
- archival $ adjective
•archival footage of the President's visit in 1969[T]
1 to put documents, books, information etc in an archive
2 to save a computer FILE in a way that uses less space than usual, because you do not use that file often but may need it in the future
- archiving noun [U]
•electronic archiving systems $ [C]
someone who works in an archive $ [C]
a passage or entrance under an ARCH or arches:
•He was standing in the archway outside the club. $ [in nouns]
used to talk about a particular type of government:
•anarchy (=no government)
•monarchy (=having a king or queen)arctic $ [only before noun]
1 relating to the most northern part of the world; Antarctic
•the Arctic island of Novaya Zemlya
2 extremely cold:
•arctic conditions[U]
a method of joining two pieces of metal together by heating them with a special tool $ [in nouns]
someone who is usually or always in a particular state:
•a drunkard $ [usually before noun]
1 showing strong positive feelings about an activity and determination to succeed at it:
•an ardent supporter of free trade
2 literary showing strong feelings of love:
•an ardent lover
- ardently adverbardor AmE $ [U] BrE
1 very strong admiration or excitement
with ardour
•They sang with real ardour.
2 literary strong feelings of love $
involving a lot of strength and effort
arduous task/work
•the arduous task of loading all the boxes into the van
arduous journey/voyage
•an arduous journey through the mountains
- arduously adverb strong $ strong
the present tense and plural of 'be' $ [C]
1 a particular part of a country, town etc
in an area
•Only cheeses made in this area may be labelled 'Roquefort.'
•There were over 2 inches of rain in coastal areas.
[+of]
•a working-class area of Birmingham
•Many areas of Africa have suffered severe drought this year.
•a rural area (=countryside) of woodlands and fields
•Crime rates are significantly higher in urban areas (=towns, cities etc).
•The police have searched the farm and the surrounding area (=the area around it).
•children from the local area
•a residential area of the town
2 a part of a house, office, garden etc that is used for a particular purpose:
•a no-smoking area
•Their apartment has a large kitchen area.
•Come through into the dining area.
•the reception area of the hotel
•a storage area on the ground floor
3 a particular subject, range of activities, or group of related subjects:
•The course covers three main subject areas.
•This study has clearly identified a major problem area for the National Health Service.
•We're funding research into new areas such as law enforcement technology.
[+of]
•reforms in the key areas of health and education
4 the amount of space that a flat surface or shape covers
[+of]
•an area of 2,000 square miles
•a formula to calculate the area of a circle
grey area at GREY^1 (7)[C]
numbers you use before a phone number when you phone someone in a different area of the country [C]
1 a building with a large flat central area surrounded by seats, where sports or entertainments take place:
•a sports arena
•an indoor arena
2 the political/international/public etc arena all the activities and people connected with politics, public life etc:
•Women are entering the political arena in larger numbers.
•American economic activity in the international arena $

a) the short form of 'are not':
•They aren't here.
b) the short form of 'am not', used in questions:
•I'm in big trouble, aren't I?also Argentine $
relating to Argentina or its peoplealso Argentine [C]
someone from Argentina $ [U]
a colourless gas that is found in very small quantities in the air and is sometimes used in electric light BULBs . It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Ar $ [C,U] written
expressions used by a particular group of people; = jargon
•teenage argot $
1 not certain, or not definitely true or correct, and therefore easy to doubt; = debatable
•Whether or not Webb is the best person for the job is arguable.
2 it is arguable that used in order to give good reasons why something might be true:
•It's arguable that the legislation has had little effect on young people's behaviour. $ [sentence adverb]
used when giving your opinion to say that there are good reasons why something might be true:
•Senna was arguably the greatest racing driver of all time. $
1 [I] to disagree with someone in words, often in an angry way:
•We could hear the neighbours arguing.
[+with]
•Gallacher continued to argue with the referee throughout the game.
[+about]
•They were arguing about how to spend the money.
[+over]
•The children were arguing over which TV programme to watch.
2 [I,T] to state, giving clear reasons, that something is true, should be done etc
argue that
•Croft argued that a date should be set for the withdrawal of troops.
• It could be argued that a dam might actually increase the risk of flooding.
argue for/against (doing) sth
•Baker argued against cutting the military budget.
•She argued the case for changing the law.
•The researchers put forward a well-argued case for banning the drug.
•They argued the point (=discussed it) for hours without reaching a conclusion.
3 argue sb into/out of doing sth BrE to persuade someone to do or not do something:
•Joyce argued me into buying a new jacket.
4 [T] formal to show that something clearly exists or is true:
•The statement argues a change of attitude by the management.
5 argue the toss BrE informal to continue to argue about a decision that has been made and cannot be changed:
•There was no point arguing the toss after the goal had been disallowed.

WORD FOCUS: argue
synonyms:
fight
quarrel
have a row BrE
to argue about unimportant things:
squabble
bicker
quibble
to stop arguing:
bury the hatchet
settle your differences
make your peace with sb
make it upused about friends or lovers
$
1 [C] a situation in which two or more people disagree, often angrily; = disagreement
[+with]
•I broke the vase during an argument with my husband.
[+about/over]
•an argument about who was responsible for the accident
•Henning told the police that she and her husband had an argument before he left.
•I got into an argument with the other driver.
•Shelton and the woman had a heated argument (=very angry one).
•a fierce argument between the two politicians
win/lose an argument
•The party hopes to win the argument about how to reform the health system.
2 [C] a set of reasons that show that something is true or untrue, right or wrong etc:
•We need to provide a convincing argument as to why the system should be changed.
[+for/against]
•a powerful argument against smoking
•A good argument can be made for comparing the IT revolution with the invention of writing itself.
•the arguments in favour of banning tobacco advertising
argument that
•the familiar argument that the costs outweigh the benefits
3 [U] when you disagree with something or question whether it is right
do sth without (further) argument
•Ian accepted the suggestion without argument.
for the sake of argument (=in order to discuss all the possibilities)
•If, for the sake of argument, you aren't offered the job, what will you do? $
someone who is argumentative often argues or likes arguing:
•He quickly becomes argumentative after a few drinks. $ [U] BrE informal
noisy arguments or quarrelling:
•Jones was sent off after a bit of argy-bargy with other players. [C]
a song that is sung by only one person in an OPERA or ORATORIO $
1 [in nouns] someone who believes in or does a particular thing:
•a vegetarian (=someone who does not eat meat)
•a librarian (=someone who works in a library)
2 [in adjectives] for people of this type, or relating to them:
•a vegetarian restaurant
1 arid land or an arid CLIMATE is very dry because it has very little rain:
•Water from the Great Lakes is pumped to arid regions.
2 not having any new, interesting, or exciting features or qualities:
•My mind was arid, all inspiration gone.
- aridity noun [U] $
1 [U] the first sign of the ZODIAC, represented by a RAM (=male sheep), which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between March 21 and April 20
2 [C] someone who was born between March 21 and April 20 BrE old use
1 correctly:
•I was not certain I had heard aright.
2 set things aright to deal with problems or difficulties past tense arose $ , past participle arisen [I]
1 if a problem or difficult situation arises, it begins to happen:
•A crisis has arisen in the Foreign Office.
•More problems like those at the nuclear power plant are certain to arise.
2 if something arises from or out of a situation, event etc, it is caused or started by that situation etc:
•Several important legal questions arose in the contract negotiations.
[+from/out of]
•Can we begin by discussing matters arising from the last meeting?
3 when/if the need arises also should the need arise formal when or if it is necessary:
•Should the need arise for extra staff, we will contact you.
4 literary to get out of bed, or stand up
5 literary if a group of people arise, they fight for or demand something they want
6 literary if something arises when you are moving towards it, you are gradually able to see it as you move closer $ plural aristocracies
[C usually singular] the people in the highest social class, who traditionally have a lot of land, money, and power:
•dukes, earls, and other members of the aristocracy
•the landed aristocracy (=who own a lot of land)
UPPER CLASS $ [C]
someone who belongs to the highest social class $
belonging to or typical of the aristocracy; = noble
aristocratic society
•an aristocratic family [U]
the science of numbers involving adding, multiplying etc; mathematicsalso arithmetical technical
involving or related to arithmetic:
•the arithmetic mean (=average)
- arithmetically adverb[C]
a set of numbers in order of value in which a particular number is added to each to produce the next (as in 2, 4, 6, 8, ...); geometric progression $ [C]
1 a large ship
2 the Ark in the Bible, the large boat built by Noah to save his family and the animals from a flood that covered the earth $ [C]
1 BODY one of the two long parts of your body between your shoulders and your hands:
•Dave has a broken arm.
left/right arm
•He had a tattoo on his left arm.
•Tim's mother put her arms around him.
•Pat was carrying a box under his arm.
•He had a pile of books in his arms.
•They walked along the beach arm in arm (=with their arms bent around each other's).
take sb by the arm (=lead someone somewhere by holding their arm)
•She took him by the arm and pushed him out of the door.
take sb in your arms (=gently hold someone with your arms)
•Gerry took Fiona in his arms and kissed her.
cross/fold your arms (=bend your arms so that they are resting on top of each other against your body)
•He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.
•The old lady rushed to greet him, arms outstretched.
2 WEAPONS arms [plural] weapons used for fighting wars:
•Sales of arms to the Middle East have dramatically increased.
nuclear arms
•the arms trade
•an arms dealer
•The government is cutting arms expenditure.
•The United Nations will lift its arms embargo against the country.
take up arms (against sb) (=get weapons and fight)
•Boys as young as 13 are taking up arms to defend the city.
•He appealed for the rebels to lay down their arms (=stop fighting).
under arms (=with weapons and ready to fight)
•All available forces are under arms.
small arms at SMALL^1 (15)
3 FURNITURE the part of a chair, SOFA etc that you rest your arms on
4 CLOTHING the part of a piece of clothing that covers your arm; = sleeve
5 be up in arms to be very angry and ready to argue or fight:
•Residents are up in arms about plans for a new road along the beach.
6 with open arms if you do something with open arms, you show that you are happy to see someone or eager to accept an idea, plan etc:
•We welcomed Henry's offer with open arms.
•My new in-laws accepted me with open arms.
7 sb would give their right arm to do sth used to say that someone would be willing to do anything to get or do something because they want it very much:
•I'd give my right arm to be 21 again.
8 hold sth at arm's length to hold something away from your body
9 keep/hold sb at arm's length to avoid developing a relationship with someone:
•Petra keeps all men at arm's length to avoid getting hurt.
10 as long as your arm informal a list or written document that is as long as your arm is very long:
•I've got a list of things to do as long as your arm.
11 PART OF GROUP a part of a large group that is responsible for a particular type of activity:
•the political arm of a terrorist organization
•Epson America is the US marketing arm of a Japanese company.
12 OBJECT/MACHINE a long part of an object or piece of equipment:
•the arm of a record player
•There is a 15-foot arm supporting the antenna.
13 on sb's arm old-fashioned if a man has a woman on his arm, she is walking beside him holding his arm
14 DESIGN arms [plural] a set of pictures or patterns, usually painted on a SHIELD, that is used as the special sign of a family, town, university etc; = coat of arms
arms akimbo at AKIMBO (1); babe in arms at BABE (1); brothers in arms at BROTHER^1 (6); cost an arm and a leg at COST^2 (1); fold sb/sth in your arms at FOLD^1 (7); twist sb's arm at TWIST^1 (9)[T]
1 to provide weapons for yourself, an army, a country etc in order to prepare for a fight or a war
arm sb with sth
•The local farmers have armed themselves with rifles and pistols.
•The rebels armed a group of 2000 men to attack the city.
ARMED, UNARMED
2 to provide all the information, skills, or equipment you need to do something; = equip
arm sb with sth
•Arm yourself with all the facts you need to argue your case.
•The guidebook arms the reader with a mass of useful information. $ [C]
a large group of things, especially ships or boats:
•an armada of US naval vessels $ plural armadillos [C]
a small animal that has a shell made of hard material, and lives in parts of North and South America $ [singular, U]
a terrible battle that will destroy the world:
•a nuclear Armageddon $
1 [C usually plural] the weapons and military equipment used by an army:
•nuclear armaments
2 [U] the process of preparing an army or country for war by giving it weapons; disarmament $ [C] technical
1 the part of a GENERATOR, motor etc that turns around to produce electricity, movement etc
2 a frame that you cover with clay or other soft material to make a model $ [C]
1 a band of material that you wear around your arm to show that you have an official position, or as a sign of MOURNING
2 [usually plural] BrE one of two bands of plastic filled with air that you wear around your arms when you are learning to swim $ [C]
a comfortable chair with sides that you can rest your arms on $
armchair traveller/fan etc someone who talks or reads about being a traveller, or watches sport on television but does not have any real experience of doing it:
•Her books about her adventures give enjoyment and inspiration to armchair travellers.
•Armchair fans will have to pay extra to watch the best games live. $
1 carrying weapons, especially a gun; unarmed
armed police
•The Minister was kidnapped by armed men on his way to the airport.
•The prisoners were kept under armed guard.
[+with]
•The suspect is armed with a shotgun.
•She got ten years in prison for armed robbery (=stealing using a gun).
•The President fears that armed conflict (=a war) is possible.
•There is very little support for an armed struggle (=fighting with weapons) against the government.
•a heavily armed battleship
•Many of the gangs are armed to the teeth (=carrying a lot of weapons).
2 having the knowledge, skills, or equipment you need to do something
[+with]
•She came to the meeting armed with all the facts and figures to prove us wrong.
•I went out, armed with my binoculars, to see what I could find in the fields.
the armed forces [plural] a country's military organizations, including the army, navy, and AIR FORCE $ [C]
the amount of something that you can hold in one or both arms
[+of]
•an armful of books $ [C]
a hole in a shirt, dress, jacket etc that you put your arm through $ [C]
an agreement to stop fighting; ceasefire, truce $ [C]
a way in which a WRESTLER holds an opponent's arm so that he or she cannot move $ [C] AmE
a large piece of furniture with doors, and sometimes shelves, that you hang clothes in; = wardrobe BrEarmor AmE $ [U] BrE
1 metal or leather clothing that protects your body, worn by soldiers in battles in past times:
•a knight wearing a suit of armour
2 a strong metal layer that protects military vehicles:
•armour-clad warships
3 a strong layer or shell that protects some plants and animals
a chink in sb's armour at CHINK^1 (3)
a knight in shining armour at KNIGHT^1 (4)armored AmE $ BrE
1 armoured vehicles have an outside layer made of metal to protect them from attack:
•armored personnel carriers
2 an armoured army uses armoured vehicles:
•an armoured divisionarmored car AmE [C] BrE
1 a military vehicle with a strong metal cover and usually a powerful gun
2 a car that has special protection from bullets etc, used especially by important peoplearmorer AmE $ [C] BrE
someone who makes or repairs weapons and ARMOURarmor-plated AmE BrE
something, especially a vehicle, that is armour-plated has an outer metal layer to protect it
- armour plating noun [U]
- armour plate noun [U]armory AmE $ plural armouries [C] BrE
1 a place where weapons are stored
2 all the skills, information etc someone has available to achieve something:
•Interest rates have become powerful weapons in the government's armoury. $ [C]
1 the hollow place under your arm where it joins your body
2 the armpit of sth AmE informal the ugliest or worst place in a particular city or area:
•Dale says Butte is the armpit of Montana.[U]
the attempts by powerful countries to limit the number and types of war weapons that exist[C usually singular]
the competition between different countries to have a larger number of powerful weapons:
•the nuclear arms race $ plural armies
1 the army [also + plural verb BrE ] the part of a country's military force that is trained to fight on land in a war:
•The army are helping to clear up after the floods.
•an army officer
• Army units launched attacks on bases near Jounieh port.
•He joined the army when he was 17.
in the army
•Both my sons are in the army.
2 [C] a large organized group of people trained to fight on land in a war:
•Rebel armies have taken control of the radio station.
raise an army (=collect together and organize an army to fight a battle)
•The Slovenians say they can raise an army of 20,000 men.
3 [C] a large number of people involved in the same activity
[+of]
•The village hall is maintained by an army of volunteers.

WORD FOCUS: army
similar words:
armed forces
the military
the services
people in the army:
soldier
troops
infantry
G.I. AmE old-fashioned
squaddy BrE
to join the army:
join up /enlist
to leave the army:
be discharged
desertwithout permission
go A.W.O.L.without permission
to make people serve in the armed forces:
call up BrE /draft AmE
the system of making people serve in the armed forces:
conscription
military service
the draft AmE
national service BrE
relating to the armed forces:
military
$ [C]
a type of road in Britain that is smaller than a MOTORWAY, but larger than a B-ROAD $ [C]
a strong pleasant smell:
•the aroma of fresh coffee $ [U]
a treatment that uses MASSAGE (=rubbing the body) with pleasant smelling natural oils to reduce pain and make you feel well
- aromatherapist noun [C]
having a strong pleasant smell; = fragrant
•aromatic oils
•aromatic herbs $
the past tense of ARISE
1 surrounding or on all sides of something or someone; = round BrE
•The whole family was sitting around the dinner table.
•The Romans built a defensive wall around the city.
•She wore a beautiful silk shawl around her shoulders.
•People crowded around to see what was happening.
•We would hear the birds singing all around us.
2 moving in a circle; = round BrE
•A helicopter was circling around, looking for somewhere to land.
•They danced around the bonfire.
3 in or to many places or parts of an area; = about BrE
•He wandered around the streets, looking in shop windows.
•There are over 40 radio stations dotted around the country.
•When I finished college, I travelled around for a while before I got my first job.
•Since it's your first day here, would you like me to show you around?
•We started looking around for somewhere to live.
4
a) BrE in an area near a place or person; = round
•Is there a bank around here?
•When you've been around a person long enough, you start to know how they'll react.
•the new housing areas in and around Dublin
•Catherine was the most beautiful girl for miles around.
b) if someone or something is around, they are somewhere in the place where you are:
•Why is there never a policeman around when you need one?
•Jake went down to the bar, but there was no-one around that he knew.
•Is your dad around?
•The list is somewhere around.
5 BrE on the other side of something, or to the other side of it without going through it or over it; = round
•If the gate's locked, you'll have to go around the side of the house.
•There's a door around the back.
•She ran around the corner and straight into the arms of John Delaney.
6 used to say that someone or something turns so that they face in the opposite direction; = round BrE
•Rex spun around and kicked the gun from her hand.
•Slowly he turned the boat around towards the open sea.
7 also around about used when guessing a number, amount, time etc, without being exact:
•There must have been around 40,000 people in the stadium.
•The whole project will probably cost around $3 million.
•Most guests started to make their way home around about ten o'clock.
8 existing; = about BrE
•That joke's been around for years.
•Manson has a reputation as one of the most stylish designers around.
9 if something is organized around a particular person or thing, it is organized according to their needs, wishes, ideas etc:
•Why does everything have to be arranged around what Callum wants to do?
•Their whole society was built around their religious beliefs.
10 used to show that someone spends time in a place without doing anything useful; = about BrE
•I've been waiting around all morning.
•They could be seen hanging around street corners, watching the girls go by.
11 a way around a difficult situation or problem is a way to solve it or avoid it; = round BrE
•We must find a way around these difficulties.
•The company is expected to get around this problem by borrowing from the banks.
12 to other people or positions; = round BrE
•Write your name on this list and pass it around.
•Someone's been moving the furniture around.
13 have been around informal
a) to have had experience of many different situations so that you can deal with new situations confidently:
•You could tell this guy had been around a bit by the knowing way he talked.
b) to have had many sexual experiences - used humorously
14 AmE used to show the length of a line surrounding something:
•Redwood trees can measure 30 or 40 feet around.
ROUND^1; get around (sth) at GET AROUND (1); go around in circles at CIRCLE^1 (5)[only before noun]
ROUND-THE-CLOCK [U]
excitement, especially sexual excitement [T]
1 arouse interest/expectations etc to make you become interested, expect something etc:
•Matt's behavior was arousing the interest of the neighbors.
2 arouse hostility/suspicion/resentment/anger etc to make someone feel very unfriendly and angry, or SUSPICIOUS:
•A great deal of anger was aroused by Campbell's decision.
3 to make someone feel sexually excited; = excite
•She felt aroused by the pressure of his body so close to hers.
4 literary to wake someone
[+from]
•Anne had to be aroused from a deep sleep. $ plural arpeggios [C]
the notes of a musical CHORD played separately but quickly one after the otheralso arr BrE
1 the written abbreviation of arranged by :
•music by Mozart, arr. Britten
2 the written abbreviation of arrives or, arrival [T]
law to make someone come to court to hear what their crime is
arraign sb on sth
•Thompson was arraigned on a charge of murder.
- arraignment noun [C,U]
1 [I,T] to organize or make plans for something such as a meeting, party, or trip:
•Contact your local branch to arrange an appointment.
•I'd like to arrange a business loan.
arrange to do sth
•Have you arranged to meet Mark this weekend?
arrange sth with sb
•Beth arranged a meeting with the marketing director.
arrange when/where/how etc
•We still have to arrange how to get home.
arrange that
•We had arranged that I would go for the weekend.
•Matthew arrived at 2 o'clock as arranged.
2 [I,T] to make it possible for someone to have or do something
arrange for sth
•The company will arrange for a taxi to meet you at the airport.
arrange for sb to do sth
•Dave arranged for someone to drive him home.
3 [T] to put a group of things or people in a particular order or position:
•Ben arranged the flowers in a vase.
•The list is arranged alphabetically.
arrange sth in pairs/groups etc
•The children were arranged in lines according to height.
4 [T] to write or change a piece of music so that it is suitable for a particular instrument
arrange sth for sth
•a symphony arranged for the piano[C,U]
a marriage in which your parents choose a husband or wife for you
1 PLAN [C usually plural] plans and preparations that you must make so that something can happen
[+for]
•I've agreed to help with arrangements for the party.
•The family are making arrangements for his funeral.
• Special arrangements can be made for guests with disabilities.
•The hotel was full so we had to make alternative arrangements.
•travel arrangements
2 AGREEMENT [C,U] something that has been organized or agreed on; = agreement
[+between]
•An arrangement between the two couples ensured there was always someone to look after the children.
[+with]
•The school has an arrangement with local businesses.
an arrangement to do sth
•Maxine cancelled our arrangement to meet.
come to an/some arrangement (with sb) (=make an agreement that is acceptable to everyone)
•It would usually cost $500, but I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement.
•Pets are permitted at the resort by prior arrangement.
3 WAY STH IS ORGANIZED [C usually plural] the way in which something is organized:
•The airport is currently reviewing its security arrangements.
•domestic arrangements
4 POSITION [C,U] a group of things that are put in a particular position, or the process of doing this
[+of]
•the traditional arrangement of desks in rows
•a beautiful flower arrangement
5 MUSIC [C] a piece of music that has been written or changed for a particular instrument:
•a piano arrangement of an old folk song $ [C]
1 someone who changes music that has been written by someone else so that it is suitable for a particular instrument or performance
2 someone who arranges things for other people formal
used to emphasize how bad something is:
•What arrant nonsense! [C]
1 [usually singular] a group of people or things, especially one that is large or impressive
[+of]
•a dazzling array of flowers
•a bewildering array of options
a vast/impressive/wide array
•There was a vast array of colours to choose from.
2 technical a set of numbers or signs, or of computer memory units, arranged in lines across or down[T usually passive]
1 literary to wear particular clothes, especially clothes of good quality
arrayed in sth
•She came in arrayed in all her finery.
2 literary to arrange something in an attractive way
arrayed on sth
•make-up arrayed on the bathroom counter
3 formal to put soldiers in position ready to fight $ [plural]
1 be in arrears if someone is in arrears, or if their payments are in arrears, they are late in paying something that they should pay regularly, such as rent:
•Many people are in arrears with their rent.
be four weeks/three months etc in arrears
•The rent money is two months in arrears.
fall/get into arrears (=become late with payments)
2 money that you owe someone because you have not made regular payments at the correct time:
•We've got 3 months arrears to pay.
rent/mortgage/tax arrears
•He was ordered to pay rent arrears of £550.
3 paid in arrears BrE if your salary is paid in arrears, it is paid at the end of the period you have worked:
•a salary paid monthly in arrears [T]
1 if the police arrest someone, the person is taken to a POLICE STATION because the police think they have done something illegal:
•He was arrested and charged with murder.
arrest sb for sth
•Her father was arrested for fraud.
•I got arrested for careless driving.
arrest sb in connection with sth
•Five youths were arrested in connection with the attack.
arrest sb on charges/suspicion of (doing) sth
•He was arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs.
2 formal to stop something happening or to make it happen more slowly:
•drugs used to arrest the spread of the disease
3 literary if something arrests you or arrests your attention, you notice it because it is interesting or unusual:
•The mountains are the most arresting feature of the glen.[C,U]
when the police take someone away and guard them because they may have done something illegal:
•The police made several arrests.
•A man is under arrest (=the police are guarding him) following the suspicious death of his wife.
place/put sb under arrest (=arrest someone)
•He sued the police for wrongful arrest (=when someone who is not guilty is arrested).
HOUSE ARREST; cardiac arrest at CARDIAC
1 [C,U] when someone or something arrives somewhere; departure
•Only the timely arrival of the police prevented the situation from becoming worse.
•Traffic problems account for one third of late arrivals.
[+at/in]
•Shortly after our arrival in London, Lisa was attacked.
on arrival
•A deposit is payable on arrival (=when you arrive).
2 the arrival of sth
a) the time when a new idea, product etc is first used or discovered:
•The demand for phone numbers has increased since the arrival of mobile phones.
b) the time when an event or period of time starts to happen:
•The arrival of winter can make many people feel depressed.
3 [C] someone who has just arrived in a place:
• New arrivals were greeted with suspicion.
• Late arrivals will not be admitted to the theatre.
4 arrivals the place at an airport where people arrive when they get off a plane:
•the arrivals lounge
5 new arrival a baby who has just been born [I]
1 GET SOMEWHERE to get to the place you are going to:
•Give me a call to let me know you've arrived safely.
[+in/at]
•What time does the plane arrive in New York?
arrive late/early
•He arrived late as usual.
•By the time the police arrived on the scene, the burglars had fled.
2 BE DELIVERED if something arrives, it is brought or delivered to you; = come
•The card arrived on my birthday.
3 HAPPEN if an event or particular period of time arrives, it happens; = come
•When her wedding day arrived, she was really nervous.
4 STH NEW if a new idea, method, product etc arrives, it begins to exist or starts being used:
•Since computers arrived, my job has become much easier.
5 BE BORN to be born:
•Sharon's baby arrived just after midnight.
6 arrive at a decision/solution/compromise etc to reach a decision, solution etc after a lot of effort:
•After much consideration, we have arrived at a decision.
7 SUCCESS sb has arrived used to say that someone has become successful or famous:
•When he saw his name painted on the door he knew he'd arrived! [U]
when someone behaves in a rude way because they think they are very important:
•I couldn't believe the arrogance of the man!
behaving in an unpleasant or rude way because you think you are more important than other people:
•He was unbearably arrogant.
•an arrogant attitude
- arrogantly adverb
see box at PROUD
arrogate (to yourself) sth formal to claim that you have a particular right, position etc, without having the legal right to it $ [C]
1 a weapon usually made from a thin straight piece of wood with a sharp point at one end, that you shoot with a BOW
2 a sign in the shape of an arrow, used to show direction:
•Follow the arrows to the X-ray department.
STRAIGHT ARROW $ [C]
the sharp pointed end of an arrow $ [U]
a type of flour made from the root of a tropical American plant, used in cooking to make sauces thicker $ [C] BrE spoken not polite
1 the part of your body that you sit on; = ass AmE
2 a stupid and annoying person
3 my arse! used to say that you do not believe something
4 get off your arse used to tell someone to stop being lazy and start doing something
5 shift/move your arse or get your arse into gear used to tell someone to hurry up
6 not know your arse from your elbow to be stupid and confused about simple things
ASS; be a pain in the arse at PAIN^1 (3); SMART ARSE; work your arse off at WORK^1 (30)BrE spoken not polite
can't/couldn't be arsed (to do sth) to not do something because you are feeling too lazy

PHRASAL VERBS
arse about/around phr v spoken not polite
to waste time behaving in a silly way instead of doing the things you should do $ [C] BrE spoken not polite
1 a stupid and annoying person. Do not use this word.
2 someone's ANUS[C] BrE spoken not polite
someone who is always very nice to people in authority because he or she wants to be liked by them - used to show disapproval
- arse-licking noun [U] $ [C]
1 a large group of weapons that someone has:
•Britain's nuclear arsenal
[+of]
•an arsenal of guns
2 a building where weapons are stored
3 the equipment, methods etc that someone can use to help them achieve something:
•a software package that's now part of our arsenal
[+of]
•He has a whole arsenal of cameras. $ [U]
a very poisonous chemical substance that is sometimes used to kill rats, insects, and WEEDs . It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol As $ [U]
the crime of deliberately making something burn, especially a building:
•The school was destroyed in an arson attack. $ [C]
someone who commits the crime of arson $
1 [U] the use of painting, drawing, SCULPTURE etc to represent things or express ideas:
•an example of Indian art
contemporary/modern art
•the Museum of Modern Art
ART FORM, FINE ART, PERFORMANCE ART
2 [plural, U] objects that are produced by art, such as paintings, drawings etc:
•an art exhibition
•an art critic
•an arts and crafts fair
•The exhibition features 175 works of art.
3 [U] the skill of drawing or painting:
•He's very good at art.
•an art teacher
4 the arts [plural] art, music, theatre, film, literature etc all considered together:
•Government funding for the arts has been reduced.
5 arts also the arts [plural] subjects you can study that are not scientific, for example history, languages etc; humanities
6 [C,U] the ability or skill involved in doing or making something:
•Television is ruining the art of conversation.
•Writing advertisements is quite an art (=it is difficult to do).
have/get sth down to a fine art (=do something very well)
•I've got the early morning routine down to a fine art.old-fashioned biblical
thou art a phrase meaning 'you are' $ [U]
a style of art and decoration that uses simple shapes and was popular in Europe and America in the 1920s and 1930s[C]
someone whose job is to decide on how pictures, photographs etc will look in a magazine, film, advertisement etcalso artifact especially AmE $ [C] especially BrE
an object such as a tool, weapon etc that was made in the past and is historically important:
•ancient Egyptian artefacts $
1 involving the arteries:
•arterial blood
2 [only before noun] an arterial road is one of the main roads in a city, country etc $ [U]
a disease in which your arteries become hard, which makes it difficult for the blood to flow through $ plural arteries [C]
1 one of the tubes that carries blood from your heart to the rest of your body; vein (1)
2 a main road, railway line, river etc $ [C]
a WELL from which the water is forced up out of the ground by natural pressure[C]
1 a way of expressing ideas, for example in a painting, dance, piece of writing etc:
•Music is quite unlike any other art form.
2 make/turn sth into an art form to do something so often that you become very good at it:
•a company that's in danger of turning mismanagement into an art form $
1 clever at deceiving people; = cunning
•artful tricks
2 designed or done in a clever and attractive way:
•artful photographs
- artfully adjective
•artfully concealed pockets
- artfulness noun [U][C]
a building where paintings are shown to the public[C]
a cinema that shows mainly foreign films, or films made by small film companies:
•art house films $ [U]
a disease that causes the joints of your body to become swollen and very painful
- arthritic adjective
•arthritic fingers $ [C]
1 also globe artichoke a type of round green vegetable, which has BUDs with leaves that you eat, which are like the PETALs of a flower
2 also Jerusalem artichoke a plant that has a root like a potato that you can eat $ [C]
1 NEWSPAPER/MAGAZINE a piece of writing about a particular subject in a newspaper or magazine
[+on/about]
•an article on environmental issues
•The paper's leading article (=the main article) described the government as weak.
•newspaper articles
2 OBJECT formal a thing, especially one of a group of things; = item
•household articles
•She only took a few articles of clothing with her.
3 LAW a part of a law or legal agreement that deals with a particular point:
•Article 1 of the constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
4 GRAMMAR technical a word used before a noun to show whether the noun refers to a particular example of something or to a general example of something. In English, 'the' is called the definite article and 'a' and 'an' are called the indefinite article.
5 articles BrE an agreement by which someone finishes their training, especially as a lawyer, by working for a company
6 an article of faith something that you feel very strongly about so that it affects how you think or behave $ BrE
someone who is articled to a company of lawyers, ACCOUNTANTs etc, is employed by that company while they are training to become a lawyer etc:
•an articled clerk
[+to]
•He was articled to a firm of architects. $
1 [T] formal to express your ideas or feelings in words:
•Many people are unable to articulate the unhappiness they feel.
2 [I,T] to pronounce what you are saying in a clear and careful way:
•He was so drunk that he could barely articulate his words.
3 [I,T] technical if something such as a bone in your body is articulated to another thing, it is joined to it in a way that allows movement
4 articulate sth with sth formal if one idea, system etc articulates with another idea, system etc, the two things are related and exist together:
•a new course that is designed to articulate with the current degree course $
1 able to talk easily and effectively about things, especially difficult subjects; inarticulate
•bright, articulate 17-year-olds
•a highly articulate speaker
2 writing or speech that is articulate is very clear and easy to understand even if the subject is difficult
- articulately adverb $
an articulated vehicle has two parts joined together to make it easier to turn $
1 [U] the act of making a sound or of speaking words
2 [U] the expression of thoughts or feelings in words
[+of]
•the articulation of ideas
3 [C,U] technical a joint that allows movement $ [C] especially AmE
another spelling of ARTEFACT $ formal
1 [U] the use of clever tricks to deceive someone; = cunning
2 [C] a trick used to deceive someone $ [usually before noun]
1 not real or not made of natural things but made to be like something that is real or natural; natural ; = false
•artificial flowers
•artificial light
•artificial fertilizers
2 an artificial situation or quality exists because someone has made it exist, and not because it is really necessary:
•artificial distinctions
•artificial barriers of gender and race
3 artificial behaviour is not sincere - used to show disapproval; genuine
•an artificial smile
- artificially adverb
•Food prices are being kept artificially low.
- artificiality $ noun [U][U]
the medical process of making a woman or female animal PREGNANT by using a piece of equipment, rather than by having sex[U]
AI the study of how to make computers do intelligent things that people can do, such as think and make decisions[U]
a way of making someone breathe again when they have stopped, by blowing air into their mouth $
1 [U] large guns, either on wheels or fixed in one place
2 the artillery the part of the army that uses these weapons $ [C]
someone who does skilled work, making things with their hands; = craftsman $ [C]
1 someone who produces art, especially paintings or drawings:
•an exhibition of paintings by local artists
make-up artist at MAKE-UP (1)
2 a professional performer, especially a singer, dancer, or actor:
•Many of the artists in the show donated their fee to charity.
3 informal someone who is extremely good at something:
•He's an artist in the kitchen.
CON ARTIST $ [C]
a professional singer, dancer, actor etc who performs in a show $
1 relating to art or culture:
•artistic work
•Opinion about the artistic merit of his paintings has been mixed.
2 good at painting, drawing, or producing beautiful things:
•John is very artistic.
3 an artistic arrangement, design etc looks attractive and has been done with skill and imagination:
•food presented in an artistic way
- artistically adverb $ [U]
skill in a particular artistic activity:
•the artistry of dance $
1 literary natural, honest, and sincere:
•artless sincerity
2 formal made or done without any skill:
•an artless copy of European art
- artlessly adjective
- artlessness noun [U] $ [U]
a style of art that used plants and flowers in paintings and in the design of objects and buildings, popular in Europe and America at the end of the 19th century[C]
BrE a cinema that shows mainly foreign films or films made by small film companies $
1 [U] drawings and photographs that are specially prepared to be in a book, magazine, or advertisement
2 [C,U] paintings and other objects produced by artistsartsy AmE $ BrE
1 someone who is arty knows a lot about art, film, theatre etc - often used to show disapproval:
•He was one of those arty types.
2 intended for, or used by people who are interested in art, film, theatre etc:
•an arty film
•Paris's arty Marais districtartsy-fartsy AmE $ BrE informal
trying too hard to show that you are interested in art - used to show disapproval $ [U]
ROCKET^1 (4) $ [C]
someone from Northern Europe, especially someone with BLOND hair and blue eyes
- Aryan adjective strong
1 used when you are comparing two people, things, situations etc
as ... as
•Tom's not as old as you, is he?
•an old woman with hair as white as snow
•Some of the doctors are paid almost twice as much as the nurses.
•We work as hard as any other team in England.
•Please let me know your decision as soon as possible (=as soon as you can).
•His last album sold half a million copies and we hope this one will be just as (=equally) popular.
2 used to say what job, duty, use, or appearance someone or something has:
•As a parent, I feel that more should be done to protect our children.
•A large flat stone was used as a table.
•Dad dressed up as Santa Claus.
3 used to say what someone thinks or says a person or thing is:
•The problem is regarded as serious.
•The result of last week's election will be seen as a victory for the right-wing government.
•He's described as being in his late teens, tall, and of slim build.
4 when someone was in a particular age group:
•As a young man, Eliot had studied art in Paris.
•I'll take you to all the places I loved as a girl.
such as at SUCH (2)
as one at ONE^2 (16)

WORD CHOICE: as, like, as if
Use as in comparisons in the expression as ... as, with an adjective or adverb in between: Basketball is as popular as football here. | He can't read as well as his classmates.
as is also used in the expressions not so .... as and the same (...) as: I wouldn't go so far as that. | He is the same age as me.
Use like in comparisons followed by a noun: A movie is not like a book (NOT not as a book). | Like other people (NOT as other people), he values his privacy.
Use as if followed by a clause to compare a real situation with an imaginary situation: He talked to them as if they were children.

!! Some people use like in this sort of comparison: They act like they own the place. It is better not to do this as many people think it is incorrect.

!! as if cannot be followed directly by a noun: You treat them as if they were your parents (NOT as if your parents).

1 used in comparisons
as ... as
•They want peace as much as we do.
•Helen comes to visit me as often as she can.
•I can't run as fast as I used to.
2 in the way that someone says or that something happens, or in the condition something is in:
•Do as I say!
•We'd better leave things as they are until the police arrive.
•The money was repaid, as promised.
•He did not need to keep moving house, as his father had.
•Roberta was late as usual (=in the way that she usually was).
3 used to say that what you are saying is already known or has been stated before:
•David, as you know, has not been well lately.
•As I explained on the phone, your request will be considered at the next meeting.
•As Napoleon once said, attack is the best method of defence.
4 while or when:
•I saw Peter as I was getting off the bus.
•As time passed, things seemed to get worse.
•Just as the two men were leaving, a message arrived.
5 used to state why a particular situation exists or why someone does something:
•As it was getting late, I turned around to start for home.
•We asked Philip to come with us, as he knew the road.
6 though:
•Unlikely as it might seem, I'm tired too.
•Try as she might, Sue couldn't get the door open.
•As popular as he is, the President hasn't always managed to have his own way.
7 as for sb/sth used when you are starting to talk about someone or something new that is connected with what you were talking about before:
•Kitty's got so thin. And as for Carl, he always seems to be ill.
•You can ask the others, but as for myself, I'll be busy in the office.
8 as yet [used in negatives] until and including the present time - used to say that something has not happened although it may happen in the future:
•We've had no word from Colin as yet.
9 as if.../as though...
a) in a way that makes it seem that something is true or that something is happening:
•It sounds as though she's been really ill.
•Gary was behaving as though nothing had happened.
•Mrs Crump looked as if she was going to explode.
•Beckworth shook his head as if to say 'Don't trust her'.
b) used to emphasize that something is not true or will not happen:
•She said she'd never speak to me again. As if I cared (=I do not care at all).
•'Don't try any funny business, now.' 'As if I would.'
As if! spoken informal
•He asked if I'd go out with him. As if! (=it is extremely unlikely that I would go out with him)
see box at AS^1
10 it's not as if used to say that something cannot be the explanation for a situation or someone's behaviour because it is not true:
•Why do they never go on holiday? I mean it's not as if they're poor is it?
•I don't know why you're so frightened of her, it's not as if she's got any power over you.
11 as it is
a) because of the situation that actually exists - used when that situation is different from what you expected or need:
•They hoped to finish the kitchen by Friday, but as it is they'll probably have to come back next week.
b) already:
•Just keep quiet - you're in enough trouble as it is.
12 as from/of sth starting from a particular time or date and continuing:
•As from today, you are in charge of the office.
•As of now, there will be no more paid overtime.
13 as against sth in comparison with something:
•Profits this year are $2.5 million as against $4 million last year.
14 as to sth
a) concerning:
•Frank was very uncertain as to whether it was the right job for him.
•advice as to which suppliers to approach
•He kept his rivals guessing as to his real intentions.
b) formal used when you are starting to talk about something new that is connected with what you were talking about before:
•As to our future plans, I think I need only say that the company intends to expand at a steady rate.
15 as it were used when describing someone or something in a way that is not quite exact:
•Jim Radcliffe became our idol, as it were, the man we all wanted to be.
16 as is/was/does etc formal used to add that what you have said is also true of someone or something else:
•Eve's very tall, as was her mother.
•I voted Labour, as did my wife.
not as such at SUCH (8); as well at WELL^1 (5); as well as at WELL^1 (6); might (just) as well at MIGHT^1 (9)
so as to do sth at SO^2 (5)ASAP
the abbreviation of as soon as possible [U]
a grey mineral that does not burn easily, that was used in the past as a building material or in protective clothing
1 [I] formal to move up through the air; descend
•The plane ascended rapidly.
2 [T] written to climb something or move to a higher position; descend
•Without a word, he began to ascend the stairs.
3 [I] written to lead up to a higher position; descend
•The road ascends steeply from the harbour.
4 [I,T] formal to move to a more important or powerful job.:
•The number of women decreases as you ascend the professional hierarchy.
5 ascend the throne to become king or queen
6 in ascending order if a group of things are arranged in ascending order, each thing is higher, or greater in amount, than the one before itascendency [U] formal
a position of power, influence, or control; ascendant
•moral ascendancy
[+of]
•the ascendancy of nationalist forces
[+over]
•Butler established ascendancy over his critics.
•He slowly gained ascendancy in the group.
in the ascendency
•a teaching method that is currently in the ascendancyascendent
be in the ascendant formal to be or become powerful or popular:
•a political party that's in the ascendantascendent formal
becoming more powerful or popular:
•a politically ascendant country
1 the Ascension in the Christian religion, when Jesus Christ left the earth and went to heaven
2 [U] formal when someone moves to a more important or higher position or job:
•his ascension to the ranks of senior management
1 [C usually singular] the act of climbing something or moving upwards; descent
•the first ascent of Everest
2 [C usually singular] a path or way up to the top of something, for example a mountain; descent
•a rugged and steep ascent
3 [U] the process of becoming more important, powerful, or successful than before; = rise; fall
[+to]
•the President's ascent to power $ [I,T]
formal to find out something:
•A postmortem was ordered to try to ascertain the cause of death.
ascertain whether/what/how etc
•Tests were conducted to ascertain whether pollution levels have dropped.
ascertain that
•Police had ascertained that the dead man knew his killer.
ascertain sth from sb/sth
•You should ascertain the level of insurance cover from the car rental company.
- ascertainable adverb
living without any physical pleasures or comforts, especially for religious reasons:
•an ascetic life
- ascetic noun [C]
- asceticism noun [U] [U] technical
American Standard Code for Information Interchange a system used for exchanging information between computers by allowing them to recognize letters, numbers etc in the same way $ [C] AmE
a wide piece of material that a man wears loosely folded around his neck and inside his collar; = cravat

PHRASAL VERBS
ascribe sth to sb/sth phr v written
1 to claim that something is caused by a particular person, situation etc:
•The report ascribes the rise in childhood asthma to the increase in pollution.
2 to claim that something has been written, said, made etc by a particular person:
•a quotation that's often been ascribed to Marilyn Monroe
3 to believe that something or someone has a particular quality:
•Local people ascribe healing properties to this fruit.
- ascribable adjective
•Most of the accidents were ascribable to the bad weather. technical
a wound that is aseptic is completely clean without any harmful BACTERIA
1 technical not having sexual organs or not involving sex:
•asexual reproduction
2
a) not having any sexual qualities
b) not interested in sex
- asexually adverb
1 [C,U] the soft grey powder that remains after something has been burned:
•cigarette ash
•The house burnt to ashes.
2 ashes [plural]
a) the ash that remains when a dead person's body is burned:
•His ashes were scattered at sea.
b) a situation in which something is completely destroyed:
•The organization has risen from the ashes to become very successful.
•All her hopes and dreams had turned to ashes.
3 [C,U] a tree that is common in Britain and North America, or the wood from this tree [not before noun]
1 feeling embarrassed and guilty because of something you have done
[+of/at]
•I felt ashamed of the things I'd said to him.
be ashamed to do sth
•I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read any of his books.
ashamed that
•I'm ashamed that I haven't replied to your letter yet.
bitterly/deeply/thoroughly ashamed
•Anna felt thoroughly ashamed when she realized what she'd said.
•Everyone cries sometimes - it's nothing to be ashamed of.
be/feel ashamed of yourself
•You should be ashamed of yourself.
2 feeling uncomfortable because someone does something that embarrasses you
[+of]
•Many children feel ashamed of their parents.
be ashamed to be/do sth
•Their behaviour makes me ashamed to be British. [C] AmE old-fashioned
a GARBAGE CAN
1 looking very pale because you are ill, shocked, or frightened; = white
•His face was ashen.
2 literary pale grey in colour:
•ashen hills $
on or towards the shore of a lake, river, sea etc; = onshore
come/go ashore
•Seals come ashore to breed.
•Several dead birds had been washed ashore. [C]
a place where Hindus live together, away from other people [C]
a small dish where you put used cigarettes[C,U]
the first day of Lent $ [C]
1 BrE someone from Asia, or whose family originally came from Asia, especially India or Pakistan
2 AmE someone from Asia, or whose family originally came from Asia, especially from Japan, China, Korea etc
1 BrE from or relating to Asia, especially India or Pakistan
2 AmE from or relating to Asia, especially Japan, China, Korea etc[C]
an American citizen whose family originally came from Asia
1 kept to be used later:
•I've been setting aside a few pounds each week.
•One of the rooms was set aside for a yoga class.
•Try to set aside a few hours a week for exercise.
•Could you put this cake aside for me?
2 moved to one side or away from you:
•He pushed his half-eaten salad aside and left.
•He stepped aside to let Katherine go in first.
•Mark drew me aside and explained the problem.
•She swept her thick hair aside.
3 left to be considered or dealt with later, or not considered and dealt with at all:
•He brushed aside criticisms of his performance.
• Leaving aside the heat, we really enjoyed our holiday.
•You must put aside your pride and call her.
4 [only after noun] used to show that something you have just said is not as important as what you are going to say next:
•These problems aside, we think the plan should go ahead.
5 aside from sb/sth especially AmE
a) except for:
•Aside from Durang's performance, the actors are ordinary.
b) in addition to:
•In the poetry competition, aside from Hass, are four other entrants.[C]
1 words spoken by an actor to the people watching a play, that the other characters in the play do not hear
2 a remark made in a low voice that you only intend particular people to hear
3 a remark or story that is not part of the main subject of a speech:
•I should add, as an aside, that the younger the child, the faster they learn.
extremely stupid or silly; = ridiculous
•What an asinine remark! $
1 QUESTION [I,T] to speak or write to someone in order to get an answer, information, or a solution:
•'What's your name?' she asked.
•Don't ask him - he won't know anything about it.
•That kid's always asking awkward questions.
ask who/what/where etc
•I just asked him where he lived.
ask sb sth
•We'll have to ask someone the way to the station.
ask sb if/whether
•Go and ask Tom whether he's coming tonight.
ask (sb) about sth
•Visitors usually ask about the history of the castle.
ask around (=ask in a lot of places or ask a lot of people)
•I'll ask around, see if I can find you a place to stay.
2 FOR HELP/ADVICE ETC [I,T] to make a request for help, advice, information etc:
•If you need anything, you only have to ask.
ask sb to do sth
•Ask John to mail those letters tomorrow.
ask to do sth
•Karen asked to see the doctor.
[+for]
•Some people find it difficult to ask for help.
ask sb for sth
•He repeatedly asked Bailey for the report.
ask (sb) if/whether you can do sth
•Ask your mom if you can come with us.
ask that
•Was it too much to ask that he be allowed some privacy?
3 PRICE [T] to want a particular amount of money for something you are selling:
•How much is he asking?
ask $50/$1,000 etc for sth
•He's asking £2,000 for his car.
•They're asking a fortune for that house.
4 INVITE [T usually + adv/prep] to invite someone to your home, to go out with you etc
ask sb to do sth
•Let's ask them to have dinner with us some time.
ask sb out (=ask someone, especially someone of the opposite sex, to go to a film, a restaurant etc with you)
•Jerry's too scared to ask her out.
ask sb in (=invite someone into your house, office etc)
•Don't leave them standing on the doorstep - ask them in!
ask sb over/round (=invite someone to come to your home)
•We must ask our new neighbours over for a drink.
5 DEMAND [T] if you ask something of someone, you want them to do it for you:
•It would be better if he cooperated, but perhaps I'm asking too much.
ask sth of sb
•You have no right to ask anything of me.
•Expecting the children to do an hour's homework after school is asking a lot of them.
6 be asking for trouble to do something that is very likely to have a bad effect or result:
•Saying that to a feminist is just asking for trouble.
7 ask yourself sth to think carefully and honestly about something:
•You have to ask yourself where your responsibilities really lie.
8 if you ask me used to emphasize your own opinion:
•He's just plain crazy, if you ask me.
9 don't ask me used to say you do not know the answer to something:
•'Where's she gone then?' 'Don't ask me!'
10 don't ask used to say that something is too embarrassing or strange to explain:
•'What was that woman selling?' 'Don't ask.'
11 be asking for it used to say that someone deserves something bad that happens to them:
•It's his own fault he got hit - he was asking for it.
12 be sb's for the asking informal if something is yours for the asking, you can have it if you want it:
•The job was hers for the asking.

PHRASAL VERBS
ask after sb phr v BrE
if you ask after someone, you want to know whether they are well, what they are doing etc:
•I spoke to James today. He was asking after you.

ask for sb phr v
if you ask for someone, you want to speak to them:
•There's someone at the door asking for Dad.

WORD FOCUS: words meaning ask
request to officially ask for something
consult to ask someone for advice
demand to ask for something very forcefully
nag /pester to keep asking for something many times, in an annoying way
beg /plead to ask for something in an anxious or urgent way, because you want it very much
question /interrogate to ask someone questions - used especially about the police or the army
grill informal to ask someone a lot of difficult questions
cross-examine to ask someone questions in court - used about lawyers
poll to ask a lot of people for their opinion about something

a big ask a situation in a sports competition when someone needs to get a lot of points or do something very difficult in order to win :
•We need to win the next three games. It's a big ask, but I'm confident we can do it. $
look askance (at sb/sth) if you look askance at something, you do not approve of it or think it is good:
•A waiter looked askance at Ellis's jeans. [not before noun]
not quite straight or in the right position:
•Matilda ran towards us with her hat askew.[usually singular]
the price that someone wants to sell something for; selling price $ [not before noun] formal
not straight up or down, but across at an angle [not before noun]
1 sleeping; awake
•Quiet! The baby's asleep.
fast/sound asleep (=sleeping deeply)
2 fall asleep
a) to begin to sleep:
•Grandad fell asleep watching TV.
•One in seven road accidents is caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel (=fall asleep while driving).
b) literary used to mean that someone dies, when you want to avoid saying this directly
3 half asleep very tired or not completely awake:
•Still half asleep, Jenny began to make the kids' breakfast.
4 an arm or leg that is asleep has been in one position for too long, so you cannot feel it properly
5 asleep at the wheel/switch not paying attention to a situation, so that something bad happens:
•Several publishers were asleep at the switch, and missed the book's potential.
go to sleep at SLEEP^2 (3)
see box at SLEEP^1 [C,U]
Advanced Supplementary level an examination that is taken by students in schools in England and Wales the year after they finish their GCSEs . Students usually continue with three or four of the same subjects after A/S level, in order to complete their A LEVELs
do/take A/S levels
[+in]
•I'm taking A/S levels in French, Spanish, English, and Maths. [C] technical
application service provider a company that supplies organized sets of computer software to other companies so that they can do business on the Internet [C]
a small poisonous snake from North Africa [U]
a long thin green vegetable with a point at one end
1 [C] one part of a situation, idea, plan etc that has many parts
[+of]
•Dealing with people is the most important aspect of my work.
•Alcoholism affects all aspects of family life.
2 [C] the direction in which a window, room, front of a building etc faces:
•a south-facing aspect
3 [singular, U] literary the appearance of someone or something:
•The storm outside gave the room a sinister aspect.
4 [C,U] technical the form of a verb in grammar that shows whether an action is continuing, or happens always, again and again, or once:
•'He sings' differs from 'He is singing' in aspect. [C]
a type of tree from western North America with leaves that shake a lot in the wind [U] formal
if you speak with asperity, you say something in a way that is rough or severe, showing that you are feeling impatient $ [C] formal
an unkind remark or an unfair judgment:
•No one is casting aspersions on you or your men, Major. $ [U]
a black sticky substance that becomes hard when it dries, used for making the surface of roads
- asphalt verb [T] [U] formal
death caused by not being able to breathe; = suffocation [I,T] formal
to prevent someone from breathing normally, usually so that they die; = suffocate
- asphyxiation noun [U] [U]
1 a clear brownish JELLY in which cold meat is sometimes served
2 preserve/set/remain in aspic BrE if something is preserved in aspic, it has not changed for a very long time:
•a part of town preserved in aspic for tourists [C]
an indoor plant with broad green pointed leaves $ [C] formal
someone who hopes to get a position of importance or honour [T] technical
to make the sound of an 'H' when speaking, or to blow out air when pronouncing some CONSONANTs [C] technical
the sound of the letter 'H', or the letter itself
1 [C usually plural, U] a strong desire to have or achieve something; = ambition
•a high level of political aspiration
[+of]
•the aspirations of the working classes
[+for]
•their hopes and aspirations for the future
2 [U] technical the sound of air blowing out that happens when some CONSONANTs are pronounced, such as the /p/ in pin
- aspirational adjective $ [I]
to desire and work towards achieving something important
[+to]
•college graduates aspiring to careers in finance
aspire to do sth
•At that time, all serious artists aspired to go to Rome. plural aspirin or aspirins [C,U]
a medicine that reduces pain, INFLAMMATION, and fever $
[only before noun] hoping to be successful in a particular job, activity, or way of life:
•aspiring young writers
•the aspiring middle classes [C]
1 not polite a stupid, annoying person; = fool
•He's a pompous ass.
make an ass of yourself (=do something stupid or embarrassing)
2 AmE not polite the part of your body that you sit on
3 old use a DONKEY
ARSE^1; get your butt/ass in gear at GEAR^1 (8); haul ass at HAUL^1 (5); kick ass at KICK^1 (8); kick sb's ass at KICK^1 (7); kiss sb's ass at KISS^1 (6); be a pain in the ass at PAIN^1 (3); piece of ass at PIECE^1 (22); SMART ARSE; work your ass off at WORK^1 (30) [T] formal
1 [usually passive] if you are assailed by unpleasant thoughts or feelings, they worry or upset you:
•Carla was suddenly assailed by doubts.
2 if a strong smell or loud sound assails you, you suddenly experience it:
•The smell of rotten meat assailed her nostrils.
3 to attack someone or something violently
4 to criticize someone or something severely
assail sb for sth
•He was assailed for gross misconduct. [C] formal
someone who attacks another person; = attacker [C]
someone who murders an important person:
•Kennedy's assassin is assumed to have been Lee Harvey Oswald. $ [T]
to murder an important person:
•a plot to assassinate the President
see box at KILL^1 $ [C,U]
the act of murdering an important person
[+of]
•the assassination of Anwar Sadat
•He narrowly escaped an assassination attempt (=when someone tries but fails to kill someone else).
character assassination at CHARACTER (6) $
1 [C,U] the crime of physically attacking someone:
•a case of robbery and assault
for assault
•He was jailed for assault.
sexual/indecent assault
•victims of indecent assault
[+on/against]
•sexual assaults on women
•Several soldiers have been charged with assault.
2 [C,U] a military attack to take control of a place controlled by the enemy
[+on]
•an unsuccessful assault on the enemy lines
•The refugee camp came under assault again last night.
•a powerful assault rifle
3 [C,U] a strong spoken or written criticism of someone else's ideas, plans etc; = attack
[+on]
•an assault on the capitalist system
under assault
•Traditional family values are increasingly under assault.
4 [C] an attempt to achieve something difficult, especially using physical force
[+on]
•an assault on Mt Everest (=an attempt to climb it)[T]
1 to attack someone in a violent way:
•Two men assaulted him after he left the bar.
sexually/indecently assault
•He was found guilty of indecently assaulting a student.
2 literary if a feeling, sound, smell etc assaults you, it affects you in a way that makes you uncomfortable or upset:
•The noises and smells of the market assaulted her senses.
3 to strongly criticize someone's ideas, plans etc
4 to try to do something very difficult:
•a task force to assault the problems[U] law
the crime of threatening to attack someone physically and then attacking them[C] BrE
an area of land with special equipment to climb, jump over, run through etc that is used for developing physical strength, especially by soldiers; = obstacle course AmE [T]
to test a substance, especially a metal, to see how pure it is or what it is made of
- assay $ noun [C] formal
1 [C] a group of things collected together
[+of]
•a unique assemblage of wildlife
2 [U+of] when parts are put together in order to make something
1 [I,T] if you assemble a large number of people or things, or if they assemble, they are gathered together in one place, often for a particular purpose:
•A large crowd had assembled outside the American embassy.
•He looked around at the assembled company (=all the people who had come there).
•She had assembled a collection of her favourite songs.
2 [T] to put all the parts of something together:
•The aircraft will continue to be assembled in France. plural assemblies
1 [C] a group of people who are elected to make decisions or laws for a particular country, area, or organization:
•the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
•the speaker of the California state assembly
2 [C,U ] the meeting together of a group of people for a particular purpose
[+of]
•an assembly of reporters
•Police have imposed conditions on public assemblies.
•Restrictions on freedom of assembly have gradually been relaxed.
•an assembly point (=a place where people go in a particular situation)
3 [C,U] a regular meeting of all the teachers and students of a school
4 [U] the process of putting the parts of something together:
•instructions for assembly[C,U] technical
a computer language used in programs that are written to work with a specific kind of PROCESSOR[C]
a system for making things in a factory in which the products move past a line of workers who each make or check one part plural assemblymen [C] AmE
a male member of an assembly plural assemblywomen [C] AmE
a female member of an assembly [U] formal
approval or agreement from someone who has authority:
•a nod of assent
[+of]
•the assent of the Board of Governors
[+to]
•Parliament gave its assent to war.[I] formal
to agree to a suggestion, idea etc after considering it carefully
[+to]
•They assented to his request to work from home. $ [T]
1 to state firmly that something is true:
•French cooking, she asserted, is the best in the world.
assert that
•He asserted that nuclear power was a safe and non-polluting energy source.
2 assert your rights/independence/superiority etc to state very strongly your right to something:
•Native Americans asserting their rights to ancestral land
3 assert yourself to behave in a determined way and say clearly what you think:
•Women began to assert themselves politically.
4 assert itself if an idea or belief asserts itself, it begins to influence something:
•National pride began to assert itself. $ [C]
something that you say or write that you strongly believe
assertion that
•the assertion that house prices are falling
[+of]
•her assertion of independence
[+about]
•her assertions about the murder of her father
•She makes very general assertions about marriage in the poem. $
behaving in a confident way, so that people notice you
- assertively adverb
- assertiveness noun [U]
•assertiveness training [T]
1 to make a judgment about a person or situation after thinking carefully about it; = judge
assess the impact/extent/effectiveness etc of sth
•a report to assess the impact of advertising on children
assess what/how etc
•The technique is being tried in classrooms to assess what effects it may have.
be assessed as sth
•Many of the adults were assessed as having learning difficulties.
2 to calculate the value or cost of something
be assessed at sth
•The value of the business was assessed at £1.25 million. [C,U]
1 a process in which you make a judgment about a person or situation, or the judgment you make
[+of]
•What's Michael's assessment of the situation?
•a reading assessment test
2 a calculation about the cost or value of something:
•a tax assessment
continuous assessment at CONTINUOUS (3) $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to calculate the value of something or the amount of tax someone should pay
2 BrE someone who decides how well someone has done in an examination; = examiner
3 someone who knows a lot about a subject or activity and who advises a judge or an official committee [C]
1 [usually plural] the things that a company owns, that can be sold to pay debts
in assets
•a corporation with $9 billion in assets
•the value of a company's assets
2 [usually singular] something or someone that is useful because they help you succeed or deal with problems; liability
•A sense of humor is a great asset in this business.
be an asset to sb/sth
•I think Rachel would be an asset to the department.
FIXED ASSETS, LIQUID ASSETS[U]
the practice of buying a company cheaply and then selling all the things it owns to make a quick profit - used to show disapproval $ [C] AmE spoken not polite
1 someone who you think is stupid and annoying; = arsehole BrE
2 the ANUS $ formal
very careful to make sure that something is done properly or completely; = meticulous
[+in]
•He was assiduous in his attendance at church.
- assiduously adverb
•Even young children worked assiduously for a reward.
- assiduity $ noun [U] [T]
1 to give someone a particular job or make them responsible for a particular person or thing
assign sb a task/role
•I've been assigned the task of looking after the new students.
assign sb to sth
•Jan's been assigned to the Asian Affairs Bureau.
assign sb to do sth
•Madison was assigned to investigate a balloon accident.
assign sb sth
•Assign each student a partner.
2 to give a particular time, value, place etc to something:
•How much time have you assigned for the meeting?
assign sth to sth
•A code was assigned to each batch of work.
3 to give money, equipment etc to someone to use
assign sth to sb
•A personal bodyguard had been assigned to her.
assign sb sth
•They assigned me a small room. [C] formal
a secret meeting, especially with someone you are having a romantic relationship with - often used humorously
1 [C,U] a piece of work that is given to someone as part of their job
on an assignment
•She's gone to Italy on a special assignment.
on assignment
•He was killed while on assignment abroad.
2 [C] a piece of work that a student is asked to do:
•a history assignment
3 [U] when people are given particular jobs to do
4 [C] something such as a place to sit, piece of equipment etc that you are given to use for a particular purpose:
•an aeroplane seat assignment
1 [T] to completely understand and begin to use new ideas, information etc; = absorb
•It will take time to assimilate all these facts.
2 [I,T] if people assimilate or are assimilated into a country or group, they become part of that group and are accepted by the people in that group
[+into]
•Refugees find it difficult to become assimilated into the community.
1 [U + of] the process of understanding and using new ideas
2 [U + into] the process of becoming an accepted part of a country or group formal
1 [I,T] to help someone to do something
assist (sb) with/in sth
•You will be employed to assist in the development of new equipment.
see box at HELP^1
2 [T] to make it easier for someone to do something:
•They had no maps to assist them.[C]
an action that helps another player on your sports team to make a point [U]
help or support
offer/provide/give assistance (to sb)
•We offer financial assistance to students.
financial/technical/legal/military assistance
•Technical assistance for the product is free of charge.
•Can I be of any assistance (=can I help you)?
with the assistance of sb/sth
•We've only been able to rebuild the theatre with the assistance of the National Lottery.
•One of her fellow passengers came to her assistance (=helped her).
assistant manager/director/cook etc someone whose job is just below the level of manager, etc[C]
1 someone who helps someone else in their work, especially by doing the less important jobs:
•a clerical assistant
2 BrE a SHOP ASSISTANT
PERSONAL ASSISTANT[C]
the lowest rank of PROFESSOR at an American university[U]
medical methods that are used to help a woman have a baby[C,U]
when a doctor or someone else helps a person who is very ill to kill themselves in order to end their suffering; euthanasia [plural]
old use a meeting of a court in which a judge who travelled to different towns in Britain dealt with casesalso assn BrE
a written abbreviation of association also assoc BrE
a written abbreviation of association $
1 [T] to make a connection in your mind between one thing or person and another
associate sb/sth with sth
•I don't associate him with energetic sports.
2 be associated (with sb/sth)
a) to be related to a particular subject, activity etc:
•problems associated with cancer treatment
b) also associate yourself with sb/sth to show that you support someone or something:
•He did not associate himself with the pro-democracy movement.
3 associate with sb to spend time with someone, especially someone that other people disapprove of:
•I don't like these layabouts you're associating with. $ [C]
someone who you work or do business with; = colleague
•one of his business associates
associate member/director/head etc someone who is a member etc of something, but who is at a lower level and has fewer rights[C]
a company of which 20 to 50 per cent of the SHAREs are owned by another companyassociate degree [C] AmE
a degree given after two years of study at a COMMUNITY COLLEGE in the US[C]
a PROFESSOR at an American university whose job is above the level of ASSISTANT PROFESSOR and below the level of PROFESSOR $
1 [C] an organization that consists of a group of people who have the same aims, do the same kind of work etc:
•the Association of Master Builders
HOUSING ASSOCIATION
2 [C,U] a relationship with a particular person, organization, group etc
[+with]
•his close association with the Green Party
3 in association with sb/sth made or done with another person, organization etc:
•concerts sponsored by the Arts Council in association with local businesses
4 [C] a connection or relationship between two events, ideas, situations etc
[+between]
•the strong association between the disease and middle-aged women
5 [C] a feeling or memory that is related to a particular place, event, word etc:
•Scotland has all kinds of happy associations for me.[U] BrE
FOOTBALL $ technical
reminding you of something else:
•the brain's ability to form associative links between different things [U] technical
similarity in the vowel sounds of words that are close together in a poem, for example between 'born' and 'warm' $
of various different types:
•paintbrushes in assorted sizes
•assorted vegetables
ILL-ASSORTED $ [C]
a mixture of different things or of various kinds of the same thing
[+of]
•a wide assortment of friends
•an odd assortment of knives and forksalso asst BrE
the written abbreviation of assistant [T] literary
to make an unpleasant feeling less painful or severe; = relieve
•Nothing could assuage his guilt. $ [T]
1 to think that something is true, although you do not have definite proof; = presume
assume (that)
•I didn't see your car, so I assumed you'd gone out.
it is/seems reasonable to assume (that)
•It seems reasonable to assume that the book was written around 70 AD.
•I think we can safely assume (=it is almost certain) that interest rates will go up again soon.
let us/let's assume (that) (=used when thinking about a possible event or situation and its possible results)
•Let us assume for a moment that we could indeed fire her. Should we?
•When it got to midnight and Paul was still not back, I began to assume the worst (=think that the worst possible thing had happened).
2 assume control/responsibility etc formal to start to have control, responsibility etc or to start in a particular position or job:
•Whoever they appoint will assume responsibility for all financial matters.
•He assumed power in a bloody coup in 1990.
•Jim Paton will assume the role of managing director.
3 assume a manner/air/expression etc formal to behave in a way that does not show how you really feel, especially in order to seem more confident, happy etc than you are; = put on
•Andy assumed an air of indifference whenever her name was mentioned.
4 to start to have a particular quality or appearance; = take on
•These relationships assume great importance in times of crisis.
•The problem is beginning to assume massive proportions.
5 to be based on the idea that something else is correct; = presuppose
assume (that)
•The theory assumes that both labour and capital are mobile.
•Coen's economic forecast assumes a 3.5% growth rate.
ASSUMING[C]
if you do something under an assumed name, you do it using a name that is not your real name; = pseudonym
•He's been living in Peru under an assumed name.also assuming that $
used when talking about an event or situation that might happen, and what you will do if it happens:
•Assuming that you get a place at university, how are you going to finance your studies?
1 [C] something that you think is true although you have no definite proof
assumption that
•A lot of people make the assumption that poverty only exists in the Third World.
•My calculations were based on the assumption that house prices would remain steady.
•We are working on the assumption that the conference will take place as planned.
[+about]
•People make a lot of assumptions about me.
underlying assumption (=a belief that is used as the basis for an idea, but which may not be correct)
2 [U] formal when someone starts to have control or power
[+of]
•the assumption of responsibility $
1 [C] a promise that something will definitely happen or is definitely true, made especially to make someone less worried:
•Despite my repeated assurances, Rob still looked very nervous.
give/seek/receive an assurance (that)
•He gave an assurance that the work would be completed by Wednesday.
2 [U] a feeling of calm confidence about your own abilities, or that you are right about something:
•the calm assurance with which she handled the horse
•'Jack will never agree to that,' he said with assurance.
3 [U] BrE technical insurance, especially to provide money when someone dies; = insurance AmE
LIFE ASSURANCE $ [T]
1 to tell someone that something will definitely happen or is definitely true so that they are less worried; = reassure
assure sb that
•Her doctor has assured us that she'll be fine.
•The document is genuine, I can assure you.
assure sb of sth
•The dealer had assured me of its quality.
rest assured at REST^2 (5)
2 to make something certain to happen or to be achieved; = ensure
•Excellent reviews have assured the film's success.
assure sb (of) sth
•A win on Saturday will assure them of promotion to Division One.
3 assure yourself formal to check that something is correct or true
assure yourself that
•Tim waited a moment to assure himself that he was not being followed.
[+of]
•I took steps to assure myself of her guilt.
4 the sum assured formal the amount of insurance money to be paid out when someone dies $
1 confident about your own abilities; = self-assured
•an assured manner
2 be assured of sth if you are assured of something, you will definitely get it or achieve it:
•His victory means that he is now assured of a place in the final.
3 certain to happen or to be achieved:
•Her political future looks assured.
4 the assured BrE technical someone whose life has been insured $ formal
definitely or certainly:
•I am most assuredly in favour. [C]
a mark like a star (*), used especially to show something interesting or important
- asterisk verb [T] $
in or at the back of a ship [C]
one of the many small PLANETs that move around the sun, especially between Mars and Jupiter $ [U]
a medical condition that causes difficulties in breathing $ [C]
someone who suffers from asthma
- asthmatic adjective
•My son's asthmatic.
•an asthmatic attack [U]
difficulty in seeing clearly that is caused by a change in the inner shape of the eye $ [T]
to surprise someone very much; = amaze
•Her reply astonished me.
• It astonished him that she had changed so little.
• What astonishes me most is his complete lack of fear. $
very surprised about something; = amazed
astonished to see/find/hear/learn etc
•We were astonished to find the temple still in its original condition.
[+by/at]
•I was astonished by the result.
astonished (that)
•I'm astonished that you should even think such a thing! $
so surprising that it is difficult to believe; = amazing
•an astonishing decision
•their astonishing success
- astonishingly adverb
•an astonishingly good voice $ [U]
complete surprise; = amazement
in astonishment
•She stared at him in astonishment.
to sb's astonishment
•To my astonishment, the car was gone. [T]
to make someone very surprised or shocked; = astonish
•The judge's decision astounded everyone.
very surprised or shocked; = astonished
[+by/at]
•She was astounded by his arrogance.
so surprising that it is almost impossible to believe; = astonishing
•The concert was an astounding success.
- astoundingly adverb
•astoundingly beautiful scenery. $ [U]
curly black or grey fur used for making coats and hats
1 relating to ideas and experiences connected with the mind and SPIRIT rather than the body:
•out-of-body experiences and astral travel
2 relating to the stars
1 go astray
a) to be lost or stolen:
•The letter had gone astray in the post.
b) if a plan or action goes astray, it goes wrong:
•The best-laid plans can go astray.
2 lead sb astray
a) to encourage someone to do bad or illegal things that they would not normally do:
•The older boys led him astray.
b) to make someone believe something that is not true:
•It's easy to be led astray by the reports in the papers.
1 with one leg on each side of something:
•a photograph of my mother sitting astride a horse
2 on both sides of a river, road etc:
•The ancient town of Bridgwater, astride the River Parrett, is an ideal touring centre.
1 an astringent liquid is able to make your skin less oily or stop a wound from bleeding
2 criticizing someone very severely:
•astringent remarks
3 having a sharp acid taste
- astringency noun [U][C,U] technical
a liquid used to make your skin less oily or to stop a wound from bleeding $
relating to the stars, the PLANETs , or space:
•an astronaut (=someone who travels in space)
•astronomy (=scientific study of the stars) $ [C]
someone who uses astrology to tell people about their character, life, or future $ [U]
the study of the positions and movements of the stars and how they might influence people and events; astronomy
- astrological $ adjective $ [C]
someone who travels and works in a spacecraft $ [C]
a scientist who studies the stars and PLANETs $
1 informal astronomical prices, costs etc are extremely high
2 [only before noun] relating to the scientific study of the stars
- astronomically adverb
•astronomically high rents $ [U]
the scientific study of the stars and PLANETs ; astrology $ [U]
the scientific study of the chemical structure of the stars and the forces that influence them
- astrophysicist noun [C] $ [U] trademark
an artificial surface like grass that sports are played on $
able to understand situations or behaviour very well and very quickly, especially so that you can get an advantage for yourself; = clever
•an astute politician
•astute investments
- astutely adverb
- astuteness noun [U] $ literary
be torn/split/rent etc asunder to be torn violently apart or destroyed:
•a nation torn asunder by internal conflicts
1 [U] protection given to someone by a government because they have escaped from fighting or political trouble in their own country
apply for/seek/be granted asylum
•He has been granted asylum in France.
POLITICAL ASYLUM
2 [C] old use a MENTAL HOSPITAL[C]
someone who leaves their own country because they are in danger, especially for political reasons, and who asks the government of another country to allow them to live there; refugee
•The government halted its policy of returning Zimbabwean asylum seekers to their homeland.also asymmetric
1 having two sides that are different in shape; symmetrical
•asymmetrical patterns
2 formal not equal; symmetrical
- asymmetrically adverb
- asymmetry noun [U] $ medical
if someone or the illness that they have is asymptomatic, the illness has no physical signs strong
1 used to say exactly where something or someone is, or where something happens:
•They live at 18 Victoria Street.
•Does this train stop at Preston?
•I was waiting at the bus stop.
•Liz and her friend sat down at a corner table.
•Turn left at the church.
•We'll meet at Harry's (=at Harry's house).
•I spent an unpleasant hour at the dentist's.
•Dad's at work (=in the place where he works).
at the top/bottom/end etc (of sth)
•At the top of the stairs, she paused.
2 used to say what event or activity someone is taking part in:
•I met my wife at a disco.
•The matter was discussed at a meeting of the finance committee.
•I'm sorry, Pam's at lunch just now.
3 used to say that someone is studying somewhere regularly:
•Is Jessica still at school?
•Hulme was a student at Oxford in the 1960s.
4 used to say exactly when something happens:
•The film starts at 8 o'clock.
5 during a particular period of time:
•My husband often works at night.
•We go to Midnight Mass at Christmas.
6 used to say which thing or person an action is directed towards or intended for:
•He gazed up at the sky.
•You don't have to shout at me.
•The older girls used to throw stones at me.
•The course is aimed at those aged 16 or over.
7 used to say what or who causes an action or feeling:
•The children all laughed at his jokes.
•I'm surprised at you!
•Dad got really mad at me for scratching the car.
•her distress at having to leave
8 used to say which subject or activity you are talking about when you say whether someone is skilful, successful etc or not:
•Barbara's getting on really well at her new job.
good/bad etc at (doing) sth
•I've always been good at maths.
•Matt's bad at handling people.
•He's an expert at making things out of junk.
9 used to say that someone or something is in a particular state:
•two nations at war
•Many children are still at risk from neglect or abuse.
10 used to show a price, rate, level, age, speed etc:
•old books selling at 10 cents each
•You should have more sense at your age.
•The Renault was travelling at about 50 mph.
•Amanda rode off at a gallop.
11 at your best/worst/most effective etc used to say that, at a particular time, someone or something is as good, bad etc as they can be:
•The garden is at its best in June.
•This was Sampras at his most powerful.
12 used to say what someone tries to touch, or keeps touching:
•I clutched at the rope but missed.
•George was just picking at his food.
•Sarah took another sip at her wine.
13 used to say what someone tries to do:
•the student's first attempt at a piece of research
•They were so beautiful that I decided to have a go at growing them.
14 because of what someone has said:
•Chapman visited Austria at the invitation of his friend, Hugo Meisl.
•At my suggestion, Bernard went to see his former teacher.
15 while I'm/you're etc at it spoken used to suggest that someone should do something while they are doing something else:
•I'm just going for a cup of coffee. Shall I bring you one while I'm at it?
16 be at it again informal if you say that someone is at it again, you mean that they are doing something you disapprove of, which they have done before:
•She's at it again. Interfering in other people's business.
17 at that
a) also or besides:
•It's a new idea, and a good one, at that.
b) after something is said:
•Tess called him a liar and at that he stormed out of the room.
18 be where it's at old-fashioned informal used to say that a place or activity is very popular, exciting, and fashionable
at all at ALL^1 (6)

WORD CHOICEat, in, on
Talking about time
Use at
with clock times at one o'clock | at 6.30
with points of time in the day at midnight | at noon | at dawn | at sunset
with holiday periods, meaning the few days around the holiday at Easter | at Diwali
with weekend, in British English: See you at the weekend! | At weekends we go out.
Use in
with parts of the day in the morning | in the evening | I never watch TV in the daytime.
with months, seasons, years, centuries in May | in summertime | in 2004 | in the 21st century
Use on
with dates and specific days on 29th July | on Tuesday afternoons | on the last day of term
with weekend, in American English: We sometimes go there on weekends.
Talking about position and place
Use at
with particular positions or places at the end of the corridor | at the back of the room | at the corner of the street
to mean 'next to' or 'beside' She sat at her desk. | He stopped me at the door.
with words for buildings, for example airport, university, restaurant, art gallery: at the airport | at the Lyceum theatre
with city or place names, when you are talking about stopping during a journey Does this train stop at Watford?
!! BUT otherwise use in - see below
Use in
with a position or place, when something or someone is inside a larger thing such as a room in the bath | in the kitchen | in the garden | in the doorway
with cities, counties, states, and countries When will you arrive in Tokyo? | He lives in Germany. | She's working in California.
with the names of squares, plazas etc in Times Square
Use on
with a position or place, when one thing is attached to or touching another a spot on the end of her nose | a jacket on the back of a chair
with street names on the High Street | on 42nd Street | on Broadway

formal
atavistic feelings are very basic human feelings that people have felt since humans have existed
1 [in adjectives] full of or showing a particular quality:
•affectionate (=showing love)
2 [in verbs] to make something have a particular quality:
•activate (=make something start working)
•regulate (=control something or make it regular)
3 [in nouns] a group of people with particular duties:
•the electorate (=voters)
4 [in nouns] the job, rank, or degree of a particular type of person:
•She was awarded her doctorate (= PHD).
5 [in nouns] a chemical salt formed from a particular acid:
•phosphate
- -ately [in adverbs]
•fortunately $
the past tense of EAT $ [C]
a room or building where an artist works; = studio [U]
the belief that God does not exist; agnosticism (agnostic)
- atheist noun [C]
- atheistic adjective [C]
1 someone who competes in sports competitions, especially running, jumping, and throwing:
•a professional athlete
2 someone who is good at sports and who often does sports:
•I was a natural athlete as a kid.[U]
a medical condition in which the skin between your toes cracks
1 physically strong and good at sport:
•a tall athletic man
2 [only before noun] relating to athletics:
•athletic ability [U]
the ability to play sports or do physical activities well [U]
1 BrE sports such as running and jumping; = track and field AmE
2 AmE physical activities such as sports and exercise $ [in nouns]
an event in which a particular thing is done for a very long time, especially to collect money:
•a swimathon [in nouns]
the act, state, or result of doing something:
•an examination of the contents (=examining them)
•the combination of several factorsalso achoo BrE
a word used to represent the sound you make when you SNEEZE $ [in adjectives]
liking something or tending to do something or show a particular quality:
•talkative (=liking to talk a lot)
•argumentative (=enjoying arguments)
•imaginative (=showing imagination) [C]
a book containing maps, especially of the whole world
ROAD ATLAS [C]
automated teller machine a machine outside a bank that you use to get money from your account; = cashpoint $
1 [C,U] the feeling that an event or place gives you:
•The hotel had a lovely relaxed atmosphere.
•The atmosphere at home was rather tense.
[+of]
•An atmosphere of optimism dominated the conference.
2 [U] if a place or event has atmosphere, it is interesting:
•The castle was centuries old and full of atmosphere.
•The match was lacking in atmosphere.
3 the atmosphere the mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth
4 [C] the mixture of gases that surround a PLANET
5 [C usually singular] the air inside a room:
•a smoky atmosphere
1 [only before noun] relating to the Earth's atmosphere:
•atmospheric pressure
2 if a place, event, sound etc is atmospheric, it gives you a particular feeling, especially a pleasant or mysterious one:
•the atmospheric decor in the restaurant
•atmospheric music [plural]
1 features or qualities in something, especially a piece of music or a book, that give you a particular feeling
2 continuous cracking noises that sometimes interrupt radio broadcasts $ [C]
a CORAL island in the shape of a ring [C]
1 the smallest part of an ELEMENT that can exist alone or can combine with other substances to form a MOLECULE:
•carbon atoms
[+of]
•two atoms of hydrogen
2 a very small amount of something - used for emphasis
[+of]
•There isn't an atom of truth in it. $
1 relating to the energy produced by splitting atoms or the weapons that use this energy:
•atomic power
•an atomic submarine
2 relating to the atoms in a substance:
•atomic weightalso atom bomb [C]
a NUCLEAR bomb that splits atoms to cause an extremely large explosion[U]
NUCLEAR energyalso atomise BrE [T]
1 to make a substance change into ATOMs
2 especially AmE to divide something so that it is no longer whole or united:
•a society that has become atomized $ [C]
a container from which you can make a liquid such as PERFUME come out in very small drops like mist $
a piece of music that is atonal is not based on a particular KEY^2 (4)
- atonality $ noun [U] $ [I] formal
to do something to show that you are sorry for having done something wrong
[+for]
•Richard was anxious to atone for his thoughtlessness. $ [singular, U] formal
something you do to show that you are sorry for having done something wrong
[+for]
•The priest is a representative of his people, making atonement for their sin. $ literary
on top of something $ [in nouns]
someone or something that does something:
•a narrator (=someone who tells a story)
•a generator (=machine that produces electricity)
at-risk children/patients/groups etc people who need special care because they are likely to be in danger from violent parents, to become ill etc
at-risk register (=an official list of people in this situation) [C]
1 a large high open space in a tall building
2 one of the two spaces in the top of your heart that push blood into the VENTRICLEs $
extremely bad; = awful
•atrocious weather
•Her singing was atrocious.
- atrociously adverb $ plural atrocities [C usually plural, U]
an extremely cruel and violent action, especially during a war past tense and past participle atrophied, present participle atrophying, third person singular atrophies [I,T]
if a part of the body atrophies or is atrophied, it becomes weak because of lack of use or lack of blood:
•therapy to prevent the leg muscles from atrophying
- atrophy noun [U]
1 [T] to fasten or connect one object to another; = fix
attach sth to sth
•Attach a recent photograph to your application form.
•a small battery attached to a little loudspeaker
the attached form/cheque/leaflet etc
•Please fill in and return the attached reply slip.
2 be attached to sb/sth to like someone or something very much, because you have known them or had them for a long time:
•It's easy to become attached to the children you work with.
3 attach importance/significance etc to sth to believe that something is important:
•People attach too much importance to economic forecasts.
4 [I,T] if blame attaches or is attached to someone, they are responsible for something bad that happens:
•No blame can be attached to Roy for the incident.
5 [I,T] if a quality, feeling, idea etc attaches or is attached to a person, thing, or event, it is connected with them
[+to]
•It's easy to let the emotions attached to one situation spill over into others.
6 be attached to sth
a) to work for part of a particular organization, especially for a short period of time:
•He was attached to the foreign affairs department of a Japanese newspaper.
b) to be part of a bigger organization:
•The Food Ministry is attached to the Ministry of Agriculture.
7 [T] to connect a document or FILE to an email so that you can send them together
8 attach yourself to sb to join someone and spend a lot of time with them, often without being invited or welcome:
•A young man from Canada had attached himself to Sam.
9 attach a condition (to sth) to allow something to happen, but only if someone agrees to do a particular thing or accept a particular idea:
•When approving a merger, the commission can attach conditions.
10 attach a label to sb/sth to think of or describe someone or something as being a particular thing, especially in a very general way :
•You can't really attach a label to this type of art. $ [C]
someone who works in an EMBASSY, and deals with a particular subject:
•a cultural attaché $ [C]
a thin case used for carrying business documents
1 [C,U] a feeling that you like or love someone or something and that you would be unhappy without them
[+to/for]
•a child's attachment to its mother
2 [C] a part that you can put onto a machine to make it do a particular job:
•The vacuum cleaner has various attachments.
3 [U] belief in and loyalty towards a particular idea, organization etc
[+to/for]
•old people's attachment to traditional customs
4 [C] a document or FILE that is sent with an email message:
•I'll send the spreadsheet as an attachment.
5 [C,U] when you fasten or connect one thing to another, or the thing that you use to do this:
•Hooks were fixed to the wall for the attachment of the ropes.
•the attachments that secure your boots firmly to the skis
6 on attachment working for a particular organization, especially for a short period of time:
•He was sent on attachment to their offices in Hong Kong.
7 [C,U] law a situation in which part of the money someone earns or money that is owed to them is taken by a court of law and used to pay their debts
8 [C] technical a piece of paper fastened to a document such as an insurance agreement, which shows a special condition of the agreement
1 VIOLENCE AGAINST SB/STH [C] an act of violence that is intended to hurt a person or damage a place
[+on]
•There have been several attacks on foreigners recently.
•a bomb attack
•a knife attack
•an arson attack (=an attempt to destroy a building using fire)
•victims of racial attacks
2 IN A WAR [C,U] the act of using weapons against an enemy in a war:
•The attack began at dawn.
[+on]
•the attack on Pearl Harbor
be/come under attack
•Once again we came under attack from enemy fighter planes.
•Rebel forces launched (=started) an attack late Sunday night.
air/missile/nuclear etc attack
•the threat of nuclear attack
3 CRITICISM [C,U] a strong and direct criticism of someone or something
[+on]
•The magazine recently published a vicious personal attack on the novelist.
be/come under attack (=be strongly criticized)
•The company has come under fierce attack for its decision to close the factory.
go on the attack (=start to criticize someone severely)
4 ILLNESS [C] a sudden short period of suffering from an illness, especially an illness that you have often
[+of]
•I had a bad attack of flu at Christmas.
•He died after suffering a severe asthma attack.
HEART ATTACK
5 EMOTION [C] a short period of time when you suddenly feel extremely frightened or worried and cannot think normally or deal with the situation
panic/anxiety attack
•Her heart began to pound frantically, as if she were having a panic attack.
[+of]
•a sudden attack of nerves
6 ATTEMPT TO STOP STH [C,U] actions that are intended to get rid of or stop something such as a system, a set of laws etc
[+on]
•The new measures were seen by many as an attack on the Scottish way of life.
7 SPORT
a) [C,U] an attempt by a player or group of players to score GOALs or win points
b) BrE [singular] the players in a team that are responsible for trying to score GOALs or win points; = offense AmE; defence
in attack
•Heath will play alongside Smith in attack.
8 DAMAGE [C,U] when something such as a disease, insect, or chemical damages something:
•Unfortunately, the carved ceilings have suffered woodworm attack over the years.
1 USE VIOLENCE [I,T] to deliberately use violence to hurt a person or damage a place:
•She was attacked while walking home late at night.
•His shop was attacked by a gang of youths.
•Snakes will only attack if you disturb them.
attack sb/sth with sth
•He needed 200 stitches after being attacked with a broken bottle.
2 IN A WAR [I,T] to start using guns, bombs etc against an enemy in a war:
•Army tanks attacked a village near the capital on Sunday.
3 CRITICIZE [T] to criticize someone or something very strongly:
•Last year Dr Travis publicly attacked the idea that abortion should be available on demand.
attack sb for (doing) sth
•Newspapers attacked the government for failing to cut taxes.
strongly/bitterly/savagely etc attack sb/sth
4 DAMAGE [T] if something such as a disease, insect, or chemical attacks something, it damages it:
•a cruel disease that attacks the brain and nervous system
5 BEGIN DOING [T] to begin to do something in a determined and eager way:
•She immediately set about attacking the problem.
•Martin attacked his meal (=started eating) with vigour.
6 SPORT [I,T] to move forward and try to score GOALs or win points; defend
•Brazil began to attack more in the second half of the match. $ [C]
1 a person who deliberately uses violence to hurt someone:
•Her attacker then dragged her into bushes.
•a sex attacker
2 a member of a sports team whose job is to move forward and try to score GOALs or win points; defender [T] formal
1 to succeed in achieving something after trying for a long time:
•More women are attaining positions of power in public life.
2 to reach a particular level, age, size etc:
•Share prices attained a high of $3.27.
•After a year she had attained her ideal weight.
- attainable adjective
•This target should be attainable. formal
1 [U] success in achieving something or reaching a particular level; = achievement
•a low level of educational attainment
2 [C] something that you have succeeded in achieving or learning, such as a skill; = achievement
•a society remarkable for its cultural attainments [C]
1 an act of trying to do something, especially something difficult
attempt to do sth
•All attempts to control inflation have failed.
•The protesters made no attempt to resist arrest.
•his first unsuccessful attempt to become an MP
• In an attempt to diffuse the tension I suggested that we break off for lunch.
attempt at (doing) sth
•her feeble attempt at humour
at the first/second etc attempt
•She passed her driving test at the first attempt.
assassination/suicide/murder attempt
2 an attempt on sb's life an act of trying to kill someone, especially someone famous or important[T]
1 to try to do something, especially something difficult
attempt to do sth
•In this chapter I will attempt to explain what led up to the revolution.
•Weather conditions prevented them from attempting the jump.
2 attempted murder/suicide/rape etc an act of trying to kill or harm someone, kill yourself etc:
•He pleaded guilty to attempted murder. formal
1 [I,T] to go to an event such as a meeting or a class:
•Only 12 people attended the meeting.
•Please let us know if you are unable to attend.
2 [I,T] to go regularly to a school, church etc:
•I am the first child in my family to attend college.
3 [T] formal to happen or exist at the same time as something:
•the peculiar atmosphere which attends such an event
4 [T usually passive] to look after someone, especially because they are ill:
•On his deathbed the General was attended by several doctors.

PHRASAL VERBS
attend to sb/sth phr v
1 to deal with business or personal matters:
•I may be late - I have got one or two things to attend to.
2 to help a customer in a shop or a restaurant; = serve
1 [C,U] the number of people who attend a game, concert, meeting etc:
•We have an average attendance of 4000 fans per game.
•Last year's fair saw attendance figures of 32,000.
2 [C,U] when someone goes to a meeting, class etc, or an occasion when they go
[+at]
•Most courses involve an average of eight hours attendance at college each week.
•The doctor will have a record of her attendances.
3 be in attendance (at sth) formal to be at a special or important event:
•Over 2000 people were in attendance at yesterday's demonstration.
4 be in attendance on sb formal to look after someone or serve them
dance attendance on sb at DANCE^2 (5) [C]
1 someone whose job is to look after or help customers in a public place:
•a carpark attendant
2 someone who looks after a very important person, for example a king or queenformal
relating to or caused by something
attendant problems/difficulties/dangers etc
•nuclear power, with all its attendant risks
[+on]
•Drugs are one of the issues attendant on running a school. [C]
someone who is at an event such as a meeting or a course $ [C]
someone who regularly goes to an event such as a meeting or a class:
•Daniel was a regular attender at the Baptist Church.
1 LISTEN/LOOK/THINK CAREFULLY [U] when you carefully listen to, look at, or think about someone or something

sb's attention is on sb/sth
pay attention (to sb/sth)
turn your attention to sb/sth (=start listening to, looking at, or thinking about something)
give (your) attention to sb/sth (=listen to, look at, or think about something, so that you can deal with a problem)
sb's full/complete/undivided attention
keep sb's attention
close/careful attention
attention to detail
sb's attention wanders
may/could I have your attention? (=used when asking a group of people to listen carefully to you)

•My attention wasn't really on the game.
•She tried to pay attention to what he was saying.
•If you paid more attention in class, you might actually learn something!
•Scott sat down at his desk and turned his attention to the file he had in front of him.
• As a society we need to give more attention to the needs of older people.
•Now he's gone, I can give you my undivided attention.
•This game is fun and is sure to keep the attention of any young student.
•They listened to the speech with close attention.
• Attention to detail is essential in this job.
•During the lecture Sarah's attention began to wander.

2 INTEREST [plural,U] the interest that people show in someone or something:
•She was flattered by all the attention he was giving her.
attract/receive/enjoy attention
•a player who quickly attracted the attention of several clubs
•The exhibition received little attention in the press.
public/media/press attention
•Her case attracted a great deal of media attention.
hold/keep sb's attention (=make someone stay interested and keep reading, listening, watching etc)
•The book holds the reader's attention right to the very end.
•Rob loves being the centre of attention (=the person who everyone is interested in, listens to etc).
•She spent a lot of time trying to avoid the attentions (=romantic interest) of her boss.
•The man then turned his attentions to (=became romantically interested in) her sister.
3 NOTICE
a) attract/catch/get sb's attention to make someone notice you, especially because you want to speak to them or you need their help:
•She waved to attract the attention of the waitress.
b) get attention to make someone notice you and be interested in what you are doing:
•Children often misbehave in order to get attention.
c) draw/call attention to sth also focus attention on sth to make people notice and be concerned or think about something:
•The purpose of the article was to draw attention to the problems faced by single parents.
•We wanted to focus public attention on this matter.
•He left quietly to avoid drawing attention to himself.
d) divert/distract/draw attention from sth to make people stop being concerned about something such as a social problem:
•All this talk of war is just an attempt to draw attention away from the serious economic problems that face our country.
e) bring sth to sb's attention to tell someone, especially someone in authority, about something such as a problem:
•The matter was first brought to my attention earlier this year.
f) come to sb's attention if something such as a problem comes to the attention of someone in authority, they find out about it:
•It came to my attention that Jenny was claiming overtime pay for hours she had not worked.
g) escape your attention if something escaped your attention, you did not notice it:
•This fact had not escaped the attention of the authorities.
4 REPAIR/CLEANING [U] something you do to repair or clean something:
•The bike's in fairly good condition, but the gears need a bit of attention.
5 CARE [U] things that you do to help or to take care of someone or something:
•Pets need a lot of care and attention.
•Anyone who comes into contact with these chemicals should seek urgent medical attention.
•Your plants look like they could do with a bit of attention.
6 stand to/at attention if soldiers stand to attention, they stand up straight in neat lines
7 attention!
a) used to ask people to listen to important information that is being announced, especially on a LOUDSPEAKER (=piece of equipment used to make sounds louder):
•Attention, please! Could Passenger Marie Thomas please proceed to Gate 25 immediately.
b) used when ordering a group of soldiers to stand up straight in neat lines
8 for the attention of sb used on the front of an official letter when you want a particular person to read it or deal with it:
•Letters should be marked 'for the attention of Joe Benson'.[U]
ADD a medical condition that especially affects children. It causes them to be too active and to be unable to pay attention or be quiet for very long.[C usually singular]
the period of time during which you continue to be interested in something:
•Children often have a short attention span.
1 listening to or watching someone carefully because you are interested; inattentive
•an attentive audience
2 making sure someone has everything they need
[+to]
•Customers want companies that are attentive to their needs.
- attentively adverb
- attentiveness noun [U] [T]
formal to make something weaker or less:
•an attenuated form of the polio virus formal
1 [I,T] to show or prove that something is true
[+to]
•Luxurious furnishings attested to the wealth of the owner.
2 [T] to officially state that you believe something is true, especially in a court of law [C,U] formal
a legal statement made by someone in which they say that something is definitely true [C]
a space or room just below the roof of a house, often used for storing things:
•a small attic room $ [U] formal
clothes:
•business attire $ [not before noun] formal
dressed in a particular way:
•He arrived suitably attired in a dark dinner suit. $
1 [C,U] the opinions and feelings that you usually have about something
[+to/towards]
•Pete's attitude towards women really scares me.
positive/negative attitude
•people with a positive attitude to life
•the country's attitude of mind (=way of thinking) during the crisis
2 [C,U] the way that you behave towards someone or in a particular situation, especially when this shows how you feel:
•an aggressive attitude
•As soon as they found out I was a doctor their whole attitude changed.
•Ben has a real attitude problem (=is not helpful or pleasant to be with).
3 [U] informal a style of dressing, behaving etc that shows you have the confidence to do unusual and exciting things without caring what other people think
with attitude
•a coat with attitude
- attitudinal $ adjective
attention used to say that a letter or package is for a particular person $ [C] AmE
a lawyer
see box at LAWYER[C]
the lawyer with the highest rank in some countries or in the US government [T]
1 to make someone interested in something, or make them want to take part in something
attract sb to sth
•What attracted me most to the job was the chance to travel.
attract attention/interest etc
•The story has attracted a lot of interest from the media.
2 be attracted to sb to feel that you like someone and want to have a sexual relationship with them:
•I'm not usually attracted to blondes.
3 to make someone like or admire something or feel romantically interested in someone:
•I guess it was his eyes that attracted me first.
4 to make someone or something move towards another thing:
•Leftover food attracts flies.
•low rents designed to attract new businesses to the area
1 [C,U] a feeling of liking someone, especially in a sexual way:
•The attraction between them was almost immediate.
2 [C] something interesting or enjoyable to see or do:
•The beautiful beaches are the island's main attraction (=most popular place, activity etc).
tourist attraction (=a place that many tourists visit)
3 [C,U] a feature or quality that makes something seem interesting or enjoyable
[+of]
•Being your own boss is one of the attractions of owning your own business.
4 [C,U] technical a force which makes things move together or stay together:
•gravitational attraction
1 someone who is attractive is good looking, especially in a way that makes you sexually interested in them:
•an attractive young woman
•Women seem to find him attractive.
see box at BEAUTIFUL
2 pleasant to look at:
•Kitchen utensils should be attractive as well as functional.
3 having qualities that make you want to accept something or be involved in it
[+to]
•a political movement that is attractive to young people
attractive offer/proposition/package etc
•I must say, it's a very attractive offer.
- attractively adverb
- attractiveness noun [U] [not before noun]
likely to have been caused by something
[+to]
•Death was attributable to gunshot wounds. $

PHRASAL VERBS
attribute sth to sb/sth phr v
1 to believe or say that a situation or event is caused by something:
•The fall in the number of deaths from heart disease is generally attributed to improvements in diet.
2 if people in general attribute a particular statement, painting, piece of music etc to someone, they believe that person said it, painted it etc:
•a saying usually attributed to Confucius
3 to believe or say that someone or something has a particular quality:
•One should not attribute human motives to animals.
- attribution noun [U] [C]
a quality or feature, especially one that is considered to be good or useful:
•What attributes should a good manager possess?
describing and coming before a noun. For example, in the phrase 'big city', 'big' is an attributive adjective, and in the phrase 'school bus', 'school' is a noun in an attributive position.; predicative
- attributively adverb [U] formal
1 the process of gradually destroying your enemy or making them weak by attacking them continuously:
•a war of attrition
2 especially AmE when people leave a company or course of study and are not replaced:
•Staff reductions could be achieved through attrition and early retirements. $
be/become attuned to sth to be or become familiar with the way someone thinks or behaves so that you can react to them in a suitable way:
•British companies still aren't really attuned to the needs of the Japanese market.AmE
the written abbreviation of attorney [C]
all terrain vehicle a vehicle which is designed to be ridden on rough ground where there are no roads. ATVs have one seat, no roof, and three or four large wheels.
not typical or usual $ [C,U] BrE
a large dark purple vegetable; = eggplant AmE $
auburn hair is a reddish brown colour
- auburn noun [U] $ [C,U]
a public meeting where land, buildings, paintings etc are sold to the person who offers the most money for them
at auction
•The house was sold at auction.
put sth up for auction (=try to sell something at an auction)
•This week 14 of his paintings were put up for auction.
auction house (=a company that arranges auctions)[T + off]
to sell something at an auction $ [C]
someone who is in charge of selling the things at an auction and who calls out how much money has already been offered for something $
showing great courage or confidence in a way that is impressive or slightly shocking:
•the risks involved in such an audacious operation
- audaciously adverb $ [U]
the quality of having enough courage to take risks or say impolite things
have the audacity to do sth
•I can't believe he had the audacity to ask me for more money! $
a sound that is audible is loud enough for you to hear it; inaudible
•His voice was barely audible (=could only just be heard) above the roar of the crowd.
- audibly adverb
- audibility $ noun [U] $
1 [C also + plural verb] BrE a group of people who come to watch and listen to someone speaking or performing in public:
•The audience began clapping and cheering.
[+of]
•an audience of 250 business people
•One member of the audience described the opera as 'boring'.
2 [C also + plural verb] BrE the people who watch or listen to a particular programme, or who see or hear a particular artist's, writer's etc work:
•The show attracts a regular audience of about 20 million.
target audience (=the type of people that a programme, advertisement etc is supposed to attract)
•Goya was one of the first painters to look for a wider audience for his work.
•The book is not intended for a purely academic audience.
3 [C] a formal meeting with a very important person
[+with]
•He was granted an audience with the Pope. $ [only before noun]
relating to sound that is recorded or broadcast:
•audio and video equipment[U]
the part of a recording that contains sounds and music but not pictures:
•You can save the audio for editing later.[in nouns and adjectives]
relating to hearing or sound:
•an audio-cassette $ [C,U] technical
a long thin band of MAGNETIC material used to record sound $ [C]
BrE someone whose job is to type letters that have been recorded $ [only before noun]
involving the use of recorded pictures and sound:
•the use of audiovisual materials in the classroom $ [C,U]
1 an official examination of a company's financial records in order to check that they are correct:
•the annual audit
internal audit (=an audit carried out by a company's own staff)
2 formal a detailed examination of something in order to check if it is good enough:
•Start with an audit of existing services within the community.[T]
1 to officially examine a company's financial records in order to check that they are correct
2 AmE to attend a course at university without intending to take examinations in it or get a CREDIT for it $ [C]
a short performance by an actor, singer etc that someone watches to judge if they are good enough to act in a play, sing in a concert etc
[+for]
•I've got an audition for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on Friday.
1 [I] to take part in an audition
[+for]
•She's auditioning for Ophelia in 'Hamlet'.
2 [T] to watch and judge someone's performance in an audition:
•We auditioned more than 200 dancers before deciding on Carole Ann. $ [C]
someone whose job is to officially examine a company's financial records $ plural auditoriums or auditoria [C]
1 the part of a theatre where people sit when watching a play, concert etc
2 AmE a large building used for concerts or public meetings $ [only before noun] technical
relating to the ability to hear $
be au fait with sth to be familiar with a system or way of doing something:
•I'm not really au fait with the computer system yet.also Aug BrE
the written abbreviation of August $ [C]
a tool used for making a hole in wood or in the ground $
old use anything $ [T]
formal to increase the value, amount, effectiveness etc of something:
•Any surplus was sold to augment their income.
- augmentation $ noun [C,U] $
augur well/badly/ill formal to be a sign that something will be successful or unsuccessful; = bode
•Today's announcement of 300 redundancies does not augur well for the local economy. $ plural auguries [C] literary
a sign of what will happen in the futurewritten abbreviation Aug. $ [C,U]
the eighth month of the year, between July and September
next/last August
•I was there last August.
in August
•My birthday's in August.
on August 6th
•The new store opened on August 6th.
on 6th August BrE
•He arrived at Berwick on 6th August 1823.
August 6 AmE
•We'll expect you to call August 6. $
impressive and respected:
•an august institution $ [C]
a black and white seabird with short wings $
not wearing any clothes, or not wearing MAKE-UP, hair products etc that change the way you would naturally look $ [C]
the sister of your father or mother, or the wife of your father's or mother's brother:
•Aunt Mary
AGONY AUNTaunty $ [C] informal
1 an aunt:
•Auntie Lou
2 used by children to address a woman who is a friend of their parents $ [C]
a young person, usually a woman, who stays with a family in a foreign country to learn the language, and looks after their children for a small wage [C]
a quality or feeling that seems to surround or come from a person or a place
[+of]
•The building retains an aura of mystery.
relating to the sense of hearing, or someone's ability to understand sounds:
•an aural stimulus
- aurally adjective $ [C]
literary a bright circle of light; = halo $
goodbye $ [singular]
the NORTHERN LIGHTS $
under the auspices of sb/sth formal with the help and support of a particular organization or person:
•negotiations held under the auspices of the United Nations $ formal
showing that something is likely to be successful; inauspicious
auspicious start/beginning
•Saccani's excellent recording is an auspicious start to what promises to be a distinguished musical career.
- auspiciously adverb $ [C]
informal someone from Australia
- Aussie adjective $
1 plain and simple and without any decoration:
•the church's austere simplicity
2 someone who is austere is very strict and serious - used to show disapproval:
•Her father is a very austere man.
3 an austere way of life is very simple and has few things to make it comfortable or enjoyable:
•Cuthbert led an austere life of prayer and solitude.
- austerely adverb $ plural austerities
1 [C usually plural, U] bad economic conditions in which people do not have much money to spend:
•a time of great austerity after the war
•the austerities of post-communist Eastern Europe
2 [U] when a government has a deliberate policy of trying to reduce the amount of money it spends
austerity programme/plan/package
•a tough new austerity programme
•IMF-backed austerity measures (=reductions in government spending)
3 [U] the quality of being austere:
•a life of austerity $
relating to Australasia (=Australia and the islands that are near to it) or its people $
relating to Australia or its people[C]
someone from Australia $
relating to Austria or its people[C]
someone from Austria $ [in nouns and adjectives]
Austrian and something else:
•Austro-Hungarianautarky AmE $ plural autarchies [C,U] especially BrE
formal a policy in which a country or area does not want or need goods, food etc from any other country or area, or a country which has this policy $ [C]
a film DIRECTOR who has a strong influence on the style of the films that he or she makes $
1 done or made in the traditional or original way; = genuine
•authentic French food
2 a painting, document, book etc that is authentic has been proved to be by a particular person; = genuine
•an authentic work by Picasso
3 based on facts:
•an authentic account
4 used to describe a copy that is the same as, or as good as, the original:
•Actors dressed in authentic costumes re-enact the battle.
- authentically adverb $ [T]
to prove that something is true or real:
•The painting has been authenticated by experts.
•passwords which can authenticate electronic documents
- authentication $ noun [U] $ [U]
the quality of being real or true
[+of]
•Archaeological evidence may help to establish the authenticity of the statue. $ [C]
1 someone who has written a book; = writer
•Nothomb is a Belgian author.
[+of]
•He was the author of two books on China.
•It's clear that the author is a woman.
2 formal the person who starts a plan or idea
[+of]
•the author of the state reforms
- authorial $ adjective [only before noun][T]
to be the writer of a book, report etc $ [C] old-fashioned
a woman who writes books; = writer $ [U]
the activity of writing and designing WEBSITEs :
•Here are a few tips on authoring and site design. $
strictly forcing people to obey a set of rules or laws, especially ones that are wrong or unfair:
•an authoritarian government
•Critics claim his management has become too authoritarian.
- authoritarian noun [C]
- authoritarianism noun [U] $
1 an authoritative book, account etc is respected because the person who wrote it knows a lot about the subject:
•the most authoritative work on English surnames
2 behaving or speaking in a confident, determined way that makes people respect and obey you:
•He has a commanding presence and an authoritative voice.
- authoritatively adverb $ plural authorities
1 POWER [U] the power you have because of your official position:
•people in positions of authority
in authority
•Could I speak to someone in authority (=who has a position of power) please?
[+over]
•Several countries claim authority over the islands.
authority to do sth
•The court held that school officials have the authority to dismiss teachers.
2 the authorities the people or organizations that are in charge of a particular country or area:
•an agreement between the US and Columbian authorities
3 ORGANIZATION [C] an official organization or a government department that has the power to make decisions, and has particular responsibilities:
•the local authority
•East Sussex Education Authority
•the San Diego Water Authority
•Welsh health authorities face a £13m deficit this year.
4 EXPERT [C] someone who knows a lot about a subject and whose knowledge and opinions are greatly respected
[+on]
•Mr Li is a leading authority on Chinese food.
5 PERMISSION [C,U] official permission to do something
under the authority of sb
•The attack took place under the authority of the UN security council.
without sb's authority
•No one may enter without my authority.
6 authority figure someone who has a position of power, especially because of their job:
•teenage rebellion against authority figures
7 PERSONAL QUALITY [U] a quality in the way you speak or behave which makes people obey you:
•Jack's air of quiet authority
8 I have it on good authority used to say that you are sure that something is true because you trust the person who told you about it
9 speak with authority to be sure of what you are saying, because of your knowledge or experiencealso authorisation BrE $ [C,U]
official permission to do something, or the document giving this permission; = authority
•You need special authorization to park here.
•Children may not leave the building without the authorization of the principal.also authorise BrE $ [T]
to give official permission for something:
•an authorized biography
authorize sb to do sth
•Napoleon III authorized Haussmann to rebuild Paris. $ [U]
1 the fact that you have written a particular book, document etc:
•There's no evidence to dispute his claim to authorship.
[+of ]
•an investigation into the authorship of the Bible
2 formal the profession of writing books $ [U]
a mental DISORDER (=problem) that makes people unable to communicate properly, or to form relationships
- autistic $ adjective
•an autistic child $ plural autos [C]
a car:
•imported autos
•the auto industry
•auto insurance $
1 of or by yourself:
•an autobiography
2 working by itself:
•a camera with an auto-focus lens $ plural autobiographies
[C,U] a book in which someone writes about their own life, or books of this type; biography
- autobiographical $ adjective
•an autobiographical novel (=one based on the author's own experiences) $ plural autocracies
1 [U] a system of government in which one person or group has unlimited power
2 [C] a country or organization that is completely controlled by one powerful person or group $ [C]
1 someone who makes decisions and gives orders to people without asking them for their opinion
2 a ruler who has complete power over a country
- autocratic $ adjective
•an autocratic leadership style
- autocratically adverb $ [C] trademark
a machine that shows the words that someone must say while they are speaking in public, especially on television $ [C]
a famous person's signature that they give to someone who admires them:
•Can I have your autograph?
•a player who would always sign autographs and chat with fans[T]
if a famous person autographs a book, photograph etc, they sign it:
•a shirt autographed by the whole team[U]
a condition in which substances that normally prevent illness in the body attack and harm parts of it instead $ [C]
AmE a company that makes cars - used especially in newspapers:
•US automakers $ [T]
to start using computers and machines to do a job, rather than people:
•Cash machines automate two basic functions of a bank - deposits and withdrawals. $
using computers and machines to do a job, rather than people:
•a highly automated factory
•The production process is now fully automated. $
1 an automatic machine is designed to work without needing someone to operate it for each part of a process:
•an automatic weapon
•an automatic gearbox
•My camera is fully automatic.
2 something that is automatic always happens as a result of something you have done, especially because of a rule or law:
•Littering results in an automatic fine.
3 done without thinking, especially because you have done the same thing many times before:
•Practise the breathing techniques until they become automatic.[C]
1 a weapon that can fire bullets continuously
2 a car with a system of GEARs that operate themselves without the driver needing to change them $
1 as the result of a situation or action, and without you having to do anything more:
•Join now and you will automatically receive 50% off your first purchase.
2 without thinking about what you are doing:
•Of course I automatically said yes.
3 by the action of a machine, without a person making it work:
•The doors opened automatically as we approached.[C,U]
1 a machine that flies a plane by itself without the need for a pilot
2 be on automatic pilot to do something without thinking about it, especially because you have done it many times before:
•Moving on automatic pilot, she tidied the room.[C,U]
a system that operates the GEARs of a car without the driver needing to change them $ [U]
the use of computers and machines instead of people to do a job; automated $ plural automata or automatons [C]
1 a machine, especially one in the shape of a human, that moves without anyone controlling it; = robot
2 someone who seems unable to feel emotions or to think about what they are doing $ [C]
AmE a car:
•the automobile industry $ [only before noun]
relating to cars:
•automotive technology $
1 an autonomous place or organization is free to govern or control itself; = independent
an autonomous region/state/republic etc
•Galicia is an autonomous region of Spain.
2 formal having the ability to work and make decisions by yourself without any help from anyone else; = independent
- autonomously adverb $ [U]
1 freedom that a place or an organization has to govern or control itself; = independence
•campaigners who want greater autonomy for Corsica
2 the ability or opportunity to make your own decisions without being controlled by anyone else; = independence
•Teachers are given considerable individual autonomy. $ [C,U]
AUTOMATIC PILOT $ plural autopsies [C] especially AmE
an examination of a dead body to discover the cause of death; = post mortem BrE
•an autopsy reportalso fall AmE $ [C,U]
the season between summer and winter, when leaves change colour and the weather becomes cooler:
•autumn mists $
relating to or typical of autumn:
•autumnal coloursaux BrE $
the written abbreviation of auxiliary or, auxiliary verb $
1 auxiliary workers provide additional help for another group of workers:
•an auxiliary nurse
•auxiliary staff
2 an auxiliary motor, piece of equipment etc is kept ready to be used if the main one stops working properly:
•an auxiliary power supply
•auxiliary equipmentplural auxiliaries [C]
1 a worker who provides additional help for another group of workers:
•a nursing auxiliary
2 an auxiliary verb:
•a modal auxiliary[C]
a verb that is used with another verb to show its tense, PERSON, MOOD etc. In English the auxiliary verbs are 'be', 'do', and 'have' (as in 'I am running', 'I didn't go', 'they have gone') and all the MODALs A.V.
the abbreviation of audiovisual
be to/of no avail if something you do is to no avail or of no avail, you do not succeed in getting what you want:
•We searched the whole area but all to no avail. Robbie had disappeared.
avail yourself of sth formal to accept an offer or use an opportunity to do something:
•How many schools avail themselves of this opportunity each year?
1 something that is available is able to be used or can easily be bought or found:
•Tickets are available from the box office.
[+to]
•Not enough data is available to scientists.
available to do sth
•Funds are available to assist teachers who want to attend the conference.
[+for]
•No figures are available for the number of goods sold.
[+in]
•There are plenty of jobs available in the area.
readily/widely available (=very easy to obtain)
•Parking is readily available near the station entrance.
•Meetings were held to update employees as soon as new information became available.
•Further building can continue when money is made available.
• Every available space on the wall was covered in pictures.
2 [not before noun] someone who is available is not busy and has enough time to talk to you:
•Collins was not available for comment on Thursday night.
3 someone who is available does not have a wife, BOYFRIEND etc, and therefore may want to start a new romantic relationship with someone else
- availability noun [U]
•the availability of affordable housing
•Rooms are offered subject to availability. $ [C]
1 a large mass of snow, ice, and rocks that falls down the side of a mountain:
•Two skiers were killed in the avalanche.
2 an avalanche of sth a very large number of things such as letters, messages etc that arrive suddenly at the same time:
•The school received an avalanche of applications. $
1 avant-garde music, literature etc is extremely modern and often seems strange or slightly shocking:
•an avant-garde play
2 the avant-garde the group of artists, writers etc who produce avant-garde books, paintings etc:
•a member of the avant-garde [U]
formal a desire to have a lot of money that is considered to be too strong; = greed
- avaricious adjective
- avariciously adverb $ [C]
1 literary a person or animal who is really a god in human or animal form
2 formal a person who represents an idea or quality
3 a picture of a person or animal that represents you on a computer screen, for example in some CHAT ROOMs or when you are playing games over the Internetalso Ave BrE
the written abbreviation of Avenue , used in addresses:
•36, Rokesly Ave [T]
literary to do something to hurt or punish someone because they have harmed or offended you:
•He wanted to avenge his brother's death.
- avenger noun [C] $ [C]
1 Avenue used in the names of streets in a town or city:
•Fifth Avenue
•Shaftesbury Avenue
2 a possible way of achieving something:
•The president wants to explore every avenue towards peace in the region.
•There are many avenues open to researchers.
3 BrE a road or broad path between two rows of trees, especially one leading to a big house:
•a tree-lined avenue $ past tense and past participle averred, present participle averring [T]
formal to say something firmly and strongly because you are sure that it is true; = declare
1 the average amount is the amount you get when you add together several quantities and divide this by the total number of quantities:
•The age of the candidates ranged from 29 to 49 with an average age of 37.
•The average cost of making a movie has risen by 15%.
•Last winter was colder than average.
•The cars were being sold at an average price of $11000.
2 an average amount or quantity is not unusually big or small:
•They have an average-size front garden and a large rear garden.
of average height/build/intelligence etc
•He was in his late twenties and of average height.
3 having qualities that are typical of most people or things:
•The average American has not even thought about next year's election.
•In an average week I drive about 250 miles.
4 neither very good nor very bad
1 [C] the amount calculated by adding together several quantities, and then dividing this amount by the total number of quantities
[+of]
•The average of 3, 8 and 10 is 7.
•Each person raised an average of £60 to plant an acre of trees.
•The December figures brought the annual average for 2001 up to 10.6 per cent.
2 on average based on a calculation about how many times something usually happens, how much money someone usually gets, how often people usually do something etc:
•On average, men still earn more than women.
•Nearly 80% of Swiss citizens on average turn out to vote.
3 [C,U] the usual level or amount for most people or things:
•Streets in the town centre are wider than the average.
above/below average
•The school's eighth-graders are above average in science.
•The murder rate in the city has risen to four times the national average.
law of averages at LAW (9)[linking verb]
1 to usually do something or usually happen a particular number of times, or to usually be a particular size or amount:
•The water in the lake is not particularly deep, averaging about 12 metres.
•The airport averages about a thousand flights a month.
•Inflation averaged just under 2.8% per year.
2 to calculate the average of figures:
•The rate of growth was averaged over a period of three years.

PHRASAL VERBS
average out phr v
1 if something averages out at a particular figure, it has that figure as an average over a period of time
[+at]
•Training costs for last year averaged out at £5,100 per trainee.
•The government's share of the cost was intended to average out at 25%.
2 average sth <=> out to calculate the average of something:
•I averaged out the total increase at about 10%. $
1 not be averse to sth to quite enjoy something, especially something that is slightly wrong or bad for you:
•I was not averse to fighting with any boy who challenged me.
2 formal unwilling to do something or not liking something
be averse to (doing) sth
•Jim is averse to using chemicals in the garden
•Some banks are risk averse (=do not like taking a risk). $ [singular, U]
a strong dislike of something or someone; = hatred
[+to]
•Despite his aversion to publicity, Arnold was persuaded to talk to the press.
have an aversion to sth
•I have an aversion to housework. $ [T]
1 to prevent something unpleasant from happening:
•The tragedy could have been averted if the crew had followed safety procedures.
2 avert your eyes/gaze etc to look away from something so that you do not see it:
•Henry averted his eyes as she undressed. $ plural aviaries [C]
a large CAGE where birds are kept $ [U]
1 the science or practice of flying in aircraft
2 the industry that makes aircraft $ [C] old-fashioned
a pilot [only before noun]
doing something as much as possible; = keen
•an avid collector of old jazz records
•an avid reader $ [U] technical
the electronic equipment used in aircraft and the science of developing italso avocado pear $ plural avocados [C]
a fruit with a thick green or dark purple skin that is green inside and has a large seed in the middle [T]
1 to prevent something bad from happening:
•Road safety is taught to young children to avoid road accidents.
•It is important to take measures to avoid the risk of fire.
avoid doing sth
•The refugees left to avoid getting bombed.
•Alan narrowly avoided an accident.
2 to stay away from someone or something, or not use something:
•Everyone seemed to be avoiding Nick.
•She carefully avoided his eyes (=did not look directly at his face).
•Pregnant women should avoid certain foods such as raw eggs.
•Why did you speak to him? You usually avoid him like the plague (=try hard to avoid him).
3 to deliberately not do something, especially something wrong, dangerous, or harmful:
•There are ways of legally avoiding taxes.
avoid doing sth
•You should avoid over-spending in the first half of the year.
something bad that is avoidable can be avoided or prevented:
•an almost entirely avoidable cause of death
•Nearly 1,000 children die each year from accidents in the home which are avoidable. [U]
the act of avoiding someone or something
[+of]
•the avoidance of issues such as domestic violence
•a tax avoidance scheme (=legal way of not paying tax) $ [U]
the system of weighing things that uses the standard measures of the OUNCE, POUND, and TON
METRIC SYSTEM [T]
formal to make a public statement about something you believe in:
•He avowed his commitment to Marxist ideals.
- avowal noun [C,U] [only before noun]
admitted or said publicly:
•an avowed atheist $
behaving in a kind and nice way to someone who is younger, rather like an uncle:
•an avuncular pat on the shoulder [T]
1 to wait for something:
•Several men are awaiting trial for robbery.
see box at WAIT^1
2 if a situation, event etc awaits you, it is going to happen in the future:
•A terrible surprise awaited them at Mr Tumnus' house. [not before noun]
1 not sleeping:
•I hope he's awake now.
•She was still only half awake when I brought her a cup of coffee.
•How do you stay awake during boring lectures?
•Emma lay awake half the night, worrying.
•The noise brought him wide awake (=completely awake).
•To keep themselves awake (=stop themselves from going to sleep) they sat on the floor and told each other stories.
2 be awake to sth to understand a situation and its possible effects:
•Too few people are awake to the dangers of noise pollution.past tense awoke $ , past participle awoken $ [I,T]
1 formal to wake up, or to make someone wake up:
•It was midday when she awoke.
•We awoke to a day of brilliant sunshine.
2 literary if something awakes an emotion, or if an emotion awakes, you suddenly begin to feel that emotion:
•The gesture awoke an unexpected flood of tenderness towards her.

PHRASAL VERBS
awake to sth phr v
to begin to realize the possible effects of a situation:
•Artists finally awoke to the aesthetic possibilities of photography. formal
1 [I,T] to wake up or to make someone wake up:
•She was awakened by a noise at two in the morning.
•Bill slept a little until he was awakened to take his turn on guard.
2 [T] if something awakens an emotion, interest, memory etc it makes you suddenly begin to feel that emotion etc:
•Early involvement in music can awaken an interest that will last a lifetime.

PHRASAL VERBS
awaken sb <=> to sth phr v
to make someone understand a situation and its possible effects:
•We must awaken people to the dangers for the environment. [C]
1 an occasion when you suddenly realize that you understand something or feel something:
•It was during the period of 1943-1945 that his political awakening took place.
•Confident that he would win, he had a rude awakening (=very unpleasant surprise) on election day.
2 the act of waking from sleep $ [C]
1 something such as a prize or money given to someone to reward them for something they have done
[+for]
•the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching
win/receive an award
•Rosie was in London to receive her award as Mum of the Year.
•The hotel's award-winning restaurant specializes in traditional food.
•Magnusson presented the £1000 award to the group's chairman.
2 something, especially money, that is officially given to someone as a payment or after a legal decision:
•the teachers' pay award
•an award for unfair dismissal[T]
1 to officially give someone something such as a prize or money to reward them for something they have done:
•Moodie has been awarded a golf scholarship at the University of Hawaii.
award sb sth
•The judge awarded me first prize.
award sth to sb
•A Nobel Prize was awarded to Waksman in 1952.
2 to officially decide that someone should receive a payment or a formal agreement
award sb sth
•The government awarded a German company the contract.
award sth to sb
•£45,000 was awarded to a typist with an injured hand. $ [not before noun]
1 if you are aware that a situation exists, you realize or know that it exists
[+of]
•The children are aware of the danger of taking drugs.
•Mr Braley has been made aware of the need for absolute secrecy.
aware that
•Were you aware that Joe had this problem with his knee?
well/fully/acutely aware
•They were well aware that the company was losing money.
•As you are aware, a fee will be charged annually.
2 if you are aware of something, you notice it, especially because you can see, hear, feel or smell it
[+of]
•She was aware of a tall dark figure watching her.
•He was aware of the wind in his face.
aware that
•Bill became aware that he was still holding his glass.
3 understanding a lot about what is happening around you and paying attention to it, especially because you realize possible dangers and problems
politically/socially/environmentally etc aware
•the socially aware novels of Dickens
•We should promote environmentally aware and responsible science.
4 so/as far as I am aware spoken used when you are saying something that you think is true, although you might be wrong because you do not know all the facts:
•As far as I am aware, they are a happily married couple. $ [U]
1 knowledge or understanding of a particular subject or situation
environmental/political/social awareness
•Health officials have tried to raise awareness (=improve people's knowledge) about AIDS.
2 the ability to notice something using your senses
[+of]
•an artist's awareness of light and color $ [not before noun]
1 covered with water or another liquid
2 containing too many things or people of a particular kind
[+with]
•All the pavements were awash with rubbish.
1 used to say that someone leaves a place or person, or stays some distance from a place or person:
•Go away!
•Dinah was crying as she drove slowly away.
[+from]
•Stay away from the fire.
2 towards a different direction:
•She turned away and stared out of the window.
•Charley blushed and looked away, embarrassed.
3 if someone is away from school, work, or home, they are not there; = absent
•Simon is away with flu.
•Kate is away on holiday.
[+from]
•You must bring a note from your parents if you've been away from school.
4 used to say how far it is to a place or thing
five miles/10 feet etc away
•Geneva is about 20 miles away.
•There's another hotel not far away.
[+from]
•She was sitting ten feet away from the microphone.
five minutes/two hours etc away
•The beach is only five minutes away (=it only takes five minutes to get there).
5 if an event is two days, three weeks etc away, it will happen after that period of time has passed:
•Christmas is only a month away.
6 used to say how close someone is to achieving something or experiencing something
[+from]
•At one stage, they were just two points away from victory.
7 into or in a safe or enclosed place:
•Put your money away, I'm paying.
•Thousands of archaeological treasures are being kept hidden away.
8 used to show that something disappears or is removed:
•The music died away.
•Ruben gave all his money away to charity.
•Support for the Democrats has dropped away.
•Cut away all the dead wood.
9 used to emphasize that an action continues:
•Sue was singing away to herself in the bath.
•They've been hammering away all day.
10 used to say that someone spends the whole of a period of time doing something:
•You can dance the night away in one of Benidorm's many discos.
11 if a team is playing away, it is playing a game at its opponent's field or sports hall; at home
•Liverpool are playing away at Everton on Saturday.
far and away at FAR^1 (12); right away at RIGHT^3 (2); straight away at STRAIGHT^1 (7)[only before noun]
an away game or match is played at your opponent's field or sports hall; home $ [U]
1 a feeling of great respect and liking for someone or something:
•He felt great awe for the landscape.
with/in awe
•Kate gazed at the statue with awe.
2 be/stand in awe of sb also hold sb in awe to admire someone and have great respect for them and sometimes a slight fear of them:
•All of the neighbours were a little in awe of my mother.
•The villagers hold them in awe and think of them as gods.[T usually passive]
formal if you are awed by someone or something, you feel great respect and liking for them, and are often slightly afraid of them:
•The girls were awed by the splendour of the cathedral.
- awed adjective
•an awed silence
extremely impressive in a way that makes you feel great respect:
•a truly awe-inspiring achievement $
1 extremely impressive, serious, or difficult so that you feel great respect, worry, or fear:
•an awesome responsibility
•the awesome sweep of the scenery
2 especially AmE informal very good:
•Their last concert was really awesome.
- awesomely adverb
AWESTRUCK $
feeling great respect for the importance, difficulty, or seriousness of someone or something:
•She gazed awestruck at the jewels. $
1 very bad or unpleasant; = terrible
•The weather was awful.
•He is a pretty awful driver.
•That fridge smells awful.
•The last six months have been awful for her.
•I've stopped believing most of what he says. Isn't that awful?
•I'm sure Suzy is dead but the awful thing is not knowing how it happened.
2 [only before noun] spoken used to emphasize how much or how good, bad etc something is:
• An awful lot of people (=a large number of people) died in the war.
•He made me feel an awful fool.
3 look/feel awful to look or feel ill:
•She's lost a lot of weight and she looks awful.
4 literary making you feel great respect or fear
- awfulness noun [U][+ adj/adv]
AmE spoken very:
•That kid's awful cute, with her red curls. $
very:
•It's awfully cold in here. Is the heater on?
for a short time $
1 making you feel embarrassed so that you are not sure what to do or say; = difficult
•I hoped he would stop asking awkward questions.
•There was an awkward moment when she didn't know whether to shake his hand or kiss his cheek.
•an awkward silence
•A laugh can help people over an awkward situation.
•Philip's remarks put her in an awkward position (=made it difficult for her to know what to do).
2 not relaxed or comfortable:
•She liked to dance but felt awkward if someone was watching her.
•Geoff looked uneasy and awkward.
•Make sure that the baby is not sleeping in an awkward position.
3 difficult to do, use, or deal with:
•It'll be awkward getting cars in and out.
•The new financial arrangements were awkward to manage.
•A good carpenter can make a cupboard to fit the most awkward space.
•She was afraid he was going to ask an awkward question.
4 not convenient:
•I'm sorry to call at such an awkward time but I won't keep you a minute.
5 an awkward person is deliberately unhelpful; = difficult
[+about]
•The staff wanted to go home and they were getting awkward about a meeting starting so late.
•an awkward customer (=person who is difficult and unhelpful)
- awkwardly adverb
•'I'm very sorry about your sister,' he said awkwardly.
•Vera smiled awkwardly.
- awkwardness noun [U]
•He tried to smooth over the awkwardness of the situation. $ [C]
a pointed tool for making holes in leather $ [C]
a sheet of material outside a shop, tent etc to keep off the sun or the rain $
the past tense of AWAKE $
the past participle of AWAKE $
absent without leave absent from somewhere without permission, especially from the army:
•Two soldiers had gone AWOL the night before.
1 go awry if something goes awry, it does not happen in the way that was planned:
•My carefully laid plans had already gone awry.
2 not in the correct position:
•He rushed out, hat awry. $ AmE
used in a joking way to show that you feel embarrassed or sadalso ax AmE [C]
1 a tool with a heavy metal blade on the end of a long handle, used to cut down trees or split pieces of wood
PICKAXE
2 the axe informal if someone gets the axe, they are dismissed from their job:
•100 workers are facing the axe in a cost-cutting exercise.
3 the axe informal if a plan, system, or service gets the axe, someone gets rid of it:
•MPs know there will be cuts in public spending but do not know on which department the axe will fall.
4 have an axe to grind to have a strong personal opinion about something which is the reason why you do something:
•I need objective advice from someone with no axe to grind.also ax AmE [T]
1 to suddenly dismiss someone from their job:
•There are plans to axe 2600 staff.
2 to get rid of a plan, system, or service, especially in order to save money:
•TV's longest running show is to be axed. [C]
formal a rule or principle that is generally considered to be true
something that is axiomatic does not need to be proved because you can easily see that it is true; = self-evident
- axiomatically adverb plural axes [C]
1 the imaginary line around which a large round object, such as the Earth, turns:
•The Earth rotates on an axis between the north and south poles.
2 a line drawn across the middle of a regular shape that divides it into two equal parts
3 either of the two lines of a GRAPH, by which the positions of points are measured [C]
the bar connecting two wheels on a car or other vehicle $ [C]
a religious leader of the Shiite Muslims, especially a very powerful one
1 used to say yes when voting; nay
the ayes have it (=used to say that most people in a meeting have voted in favour of something)
2 a word meaning yes, used especially in Scotland $ [C]
a small bush that has large flowers $ trademark
azidothymidine - a drug used to treat AIDS $
having a bright blue colour like the sky
- azure noun [U]b plural B's, b's
1 [C,U] the second letter of the English alphabet
2 [C,U] the seventh note in the musical SCALE of C MAJOR or the musical KEY based on this note
3 [C] a mark given to a student's work to show that it is good but not excellent:
•I got a B in history.
4 [U] used to refer in a short way to one of two different things or people. You can call the first one A.:
•the advantages and disadvantages of choosing product A or B
plan B at PLAN^1 (6)
5 B4509/B1049 etc the name of a road in Britain that is smaller than an A-ROAD
6 [U] a common type of blood
from A to B at A^1 (6)
B-MOVIE, B-SIDE, B-ROADalso b BrE
the written abbreviation of born :
•Andrew Lanham, b. 1885
business to business used to refer to business activities between companies, especially using the Internet
- []B.A. AmE [C] BrE
Bachelor of Arts a first university DEGREE in a subject such as history, languages, or English literature; BS, BSc, MA
[+in]
•He graduated from Leeds University with a BA in French.
•Susan Potter, BA [I]
to make a sound like a sheep
- baa noun [C]
1 [I,T] to speak quickly in a way that is difficult to understand or sounds silly:
•I have no idea what he was babbling on about.
2 [I] to make a sound like water moving over stones
- babbler noun [C][singular]
1 the confused sound of many people talking at the same time:
•the babble of a crowded party
2 a sound like water moving over stones [C]
1 literary a baby
babe in arms (=one that has to be carried)
2 spoken informal a word for an attractive young woman
3 spoken informal a way of speaking to a young woman, often considered offensive
4 spoken a way of speaking to someone you love, especially your wife or husband
5 babe in the woods AmE someone who can be easily deceived:
•He was like a babe in the woods when he first came to New York. $ [singular, U]
the confusing sound of many voices talking together:
•a babel of French and Italian $ [C]
a large monkey that lives in Africa and South Asia plural babies [C]
1 YOUNG CHILD a very young child who has not yet learned to speak or walk

have a baby (=give birth to a baby)
give birth to a baby (=used when you are talking about the act of childbirth)
be expecting a baby (=be pregnant)
deliver a baby (=help a woman to give birth to a baby)
newborn/new baby
premature baby (=a baby that is born too early)
unborn baby (=a baby still inside its mother)
baby boy/girl
baby son/daughter
baby brother/sister

•The baby is crying.
•Julie's second baby was born when they lived in Washington.
•She gave birth to a baby on Thursday.
•It's hard work moving house when you're expecting a baby.
•Dr Coleman has delivered hundreds of babies.
• How do you recognize pain in a newborn baby?
• premature babies needing special medical care
• Jane had a baby boy this morning.
• What do you think of your new baby sister?
• the effects of alcohol on the unborn baby
TEST-TUBE BABY

2 YOUNG ANIMAL a very young animal:
•baby birds
•a baby elephant
3 VEGETABLE a type of vegetable which is grown to be much smaller than usual or is eaten before it has grown to its normal size:
•baby carrots
•baby sweetcorn
4 YOUNGEST a younger child in a family, often the youngest:
•Clare is the baby of the family.
5 WOMAN spoken
a) used to address someone that you love:
•Relax baby, we're on holiday.
b) not polite used to address a young woman that you do not know
6 SILLY PERSON someone, especially an older child, who is not behaving in a sensible way:
•Don't be such a baby!
7 RESPONSIBILITY something special that someone has developed or is responsible for:
•Don't ask me about the building contract - that's Robert's baby.
8 THING informal something, especially a piece of equipment or a machine, that you care about a lot:
•This baby can reach speeds of 130 miles per hour.
throw the baby out with the bathwater at THROW^1 (37)past tense and past participle babied, present participle babying, third person singular babies [T]
to be too kind to someone and look after them as if they were a baby[plural]
informal an illness in which a woman feels unhappy and tired after her baby is born[C]
an increase in the number of babies born during a particular period, compared to other times - used especially about people born between 1946 and 1964:
•the baby boom generation[C]
someone born during a period when a lot of babies were born, especially between 1946 and 1964[C]
1 BrE BUGGY
2 AmE PRAM[C]
AmE a thing like a small bed with four wheels, used for taking a baby from one place to another; = pram BrE; pushchair
a baby-faced adult has a face like a child $ plural Babygros [C] BrE trademark
a piece of clothing for a baby, that covers their whole body [U]
the period of time when you are a baby
like a baby or suitable for a baby:
•The games were a little babyish for nine-year-olds.[U] BrE
dried milk that is mixed with water and fed to babies instead of breast milk; = formula AmE past tense and past participle babysat , present participle babysitting [I,T]
to take care of children while their parents are away for a short time
- babysitting noun [U]
•a babysitting service
- babysitter noun [C][U]
sounds or words that babies use when they are learning to talkplural baby teeth [C]
a tooth from the first set of teeth that young children have; = milk tooth BrE[C]
a small frame on wheels that a baby uses to support itself while it is learning to walk [C]
1 an examination in a range of subjects that students do in their final school year in France and some other countries, and in some international schools
2 AmE formal a BACHELOR'S DEGREE $ [U]
a card gameBacchanalian literary
a bacchanalian party involves a lot of alcohol, sex, and uncontrolled behaviour:
•a bacchanalian orgy [U] BrE informal
tobacco $ [C]
1 a man who has never been married:
•Gerald was 38, and a confirmed bachelor (=a man who has decided that he will never marry).
•The Crown Prince was Japan's most eligible bachelor (=a rich young man who has not yet married).
2 Bachelor of Arts/Science/Education etc a first university DEGREE in an ARTs subject, a science subject etc; BA, BSc, BEd[C] BrE
an apartment where an unmarried man or woman lives[C] AmE
a party for a man and his male friends before he gets married, especially on the night before his wedding; = stag night BrE[C]
a first university DEGREE, such as a BA, B.S., or BSC plural bacilli [C] technical
a type of BACTERIA. Some types of bacillus cause diseases.
1 RETURN TO PLACE in, into, or to the place or position where someone or something was before:
•I'll be back in a minute.
•Put that book back where you found it!
[+in/to/into etc]
•Rory plugged the cable back into the socket.
•I feel like going back to bed.
go/get/head etc back
•We ought to try and get back before it gets dark.
•He was back home by half-past eleven.
•It's possible to travel there and back in a day.
2 AS BEFORE in or into the condition or situation you were in before:
•Gary woke at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep.
•It took me a long time to get my confidence back.
•If you decide to marry him, there will be no going back (=you will not be able to get back to your previous situation).
go/get back to (doing) sth
•There's no way I'm going back to being poor.
•It'll take a while for things to get back to normal.
3 PREVIOUS PLACE in or to a place where you lived or worked before
[+in/at]
•She was the one who had fired him from his first job back in South Africa.
back home (=in the place that you come from and think of as your home)
•It reminded me of evenings back home.
4 BACKWARDS in the opposite direction from the way you are facing; forwards
•He glanced back at the house.
•Kirov stepped back a pace.
•She tilted her head back to look at him.
5 REPLY/REACTION if you do something back, you do it as a reply or reaction to what someone has said or done:
•Can I call you back later?
•I'll pay you back on Friday.
•'No, thanks!' he shouted back.
•If he hits you, you just hit him back.
6 RETURN STH TO SB if you give something, get something etc back, you return it to the person who first had it or you have it returned to you:
•Can we have our ball back, please?
•I want all my books back as soon as you've finished with them.
•Give me back that letter! It's none of your business!
7 IN THE PAST in or towards a time in the past:
•a pile of newspapers dating back to the 1970s
•A lot of emotional problems can be traced back to childhood.
•Looking back on it, I should have known he was unhappy.
•At times, I think back to my life in Moscow.
[+in]
•The house was built back in 1235.
three years/two months etc back (=three years ago etc)
•His wife died a couple of years back.
•He called me a while back.
8 AGAIN once again:
•Go back over your work to check for any mistakes.
•Liverpool were back level again two minutes later with a superb goal.
9 sit/lie/lean back to sit or lie in a comfortable relaxed way:
•Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
10 AWAY away from a surface, person, or thing:
•She pulled the bandage back very carefully.
•Her hair was brushed back from her face.
•The woman nodded and stood back, allowing Patrick to enter.
11 back and forth going in one direction and then in the opposite direction, and repeating this several times:
•We travel back and forth all the time between Canada and England.
•He was pacing back and forth across the room.
12 TOWARDS BEGINNING towards the beginning of a book, tape, document etc:
•Turn back to the summaries at the end of section 1.5.
•Wind the tape back to the beginning.
•Clicking on the icon will take you back to the previous web page.[C]
1 PART OF YOUR BODY
a) the part of the body between the neck and legs, on the opposite side to the stomach and chest:
•The cat arched its back and hissed.
•My feet were sore and my back was aching.
•Keep your head up and your back straight.
•To avoid back problems, always bend your knees when you lift heavy objects.
•He lay on his back and gazed at the ceiling.
•Johnny was lying flat on his back in the middle of the floor.
•Anna stood with her back to the window.
on sb's back (=carried on someone's back)
•The girl appeared again, now with a little baby on her back.
b) the bones between your neck and the top of your legs; = spine
•He broke his back in a motorbike accident.
2 NOT AT FRONT [usually singular] the part of something that is furthest from the front; front
•a T-shirt with a picture of a snake on the back
[+of]
•He kissed her on the back of her head.
•Her window faced the backs of the houses on the other side of the river.
in the back (of sth) (=used especially about the back of a vehicle)
•Two men were sitting in the back of the car.
at the back (of sth)
•a small shop with an office at the back
in back (of sth) AmE (=in or at the back of something)
•Kids should always wear seatbelts even in back.
out back AmE (=behind a house or other building)
•Tom's working on the car out back.
round/out the back BrE (=behind a house or building)
•Have you had a good look round the back?
3 LESS IMPORTANT SIDE [usually singular] the less important side or surface of something such as a piece of paper or card; front
•Paul scribbled his address on the back of an envelope.
•The credits are listed on the back of the album.
4 PART OF SEAT the part of a seat that you lean against when you are sitting
[+of]
•He rested his arm on the back of the sofa.
5 BOOK/NEWSPAPER [usually singular] the last pages of a book or newspaper; front
at the back (of)
•The sports pages are usually at the back.
in the back (of)
•The answers are in the back of the book.
6 at/in the back of your mind a thought that is at the back of your mind is one you try to ignore because you do not want it to be true:
•At the back of her mind was the thought that he might be with someone else.
put/push sth to the back of your mind
•He tried to push these uncomfortable thoughts to the back of his mind.
7 back to back
a) with the backs towards each other:
•Stand back to back and we'll see who's tallest.
b) happening immediately one after the other:
•a couple of back to back wins for the team
BACK-TO-BACK^1
8 back to front BrE
a) in an incorrect position so that what should be at the back is at the front:
•You've got your sweater on back to front.
b) doing something the wrong way round and starting with the part that should be at the end:
•He got the commands back to front and the program didn't work.
9 behind sb's back if you do something behind someone's back, you do it without them knowing:
•I don't like the idea of the two of them talking about me behind my back.
•I should have realized that he'd go behind my back (=do something without telling me).
10 when/while sb's back is turned if something happens when your back is turned, it happens when you are not able to see or know what someone is doing:
•Do you know what your kids are up to when your back is turned?
11 get/put sb's back up BrE informal to annoy someone:
•Simone was the kind of person who was always putting people's backs up.
12 get (sb) off sb's back spoken to stop annoying someone with a lot of questions, criticisms etc or to make someone stop annoying you in this way:
•Maybe the only way to get him off my back is to tell him the truth.
•Do me a favour and get off my back!
13 be on sb's back spoken to be trying to make someone do something they do not want to do:
•Why are you and Dad always on my back?
14 on the back of sth as a result of something that already exists or something you have already done:
•The company should be able to generate business on the back of existing contracts.
15 on the backs of sb using the work of a particular group to achieve something that they will not get any advantage from:
•Economic prosperity was won on the backs of the urban poor.
16 SPORTS a defending player in a sports team; = defender
17 the back of beyond informal a place that is a long way from other places and is difficult to get to:
•It's a nice little cottage but it really is in the back of beyond.
18 be (flat) on your back
a) to be lying on your back - used to emphasize that someone seems unlikely to get up soon:
•He was drunk and flat on his back on the street.
b) to be so ill that you cannot get out of bed:
•Their best player was flat on his back in hospital.
c) if a business, country, ECONOMY etc is on its back, it is not successful:
•The UK market was flat on its back.
19 put your back into it informal to work extremely hard at something:
•If we really put our backs into it, we could finish today.
20 be glad/delighted/pleased etc to see the back of sb/sth to be happy that someone is leaving or because you no longer have to deal with something:
•No, I'm not too upset that he left - in fact, I was glad to see the back of him.
•I can't wait to see the back of this project, I can tell you (=I will be happy when it ends).
21 have your back to/against the wall informal to be in a difficult situation with no choice about what to do
22 at your back
a) behind you:
•They had the wind at their backs as they set off.
b) supporting you:
•Caesar marched into Rome with an army at his back.
23 on your back informal not polite if someone achieves something on their back, they achieve it by having sex with someone
24 high-backed/straight-backed/low-backed etc with a high, straight, low etc back:
•a high-backed chair
•a tall straight-backed man
know sth like the back of your hand at KNOW^1 (3); turn your back on sb/sth at TURN^1 (7)
1 SUPPORT [T usually passive]
a) to support someone or something, especially by giving them money or using your influence:
•The scheme has been backed by several major companies in the region.
•Some suspected that the rebellion was backed and financed by the US.
•government-backed loans
b) also back up to support an idea by providing facts, proof etc:
•His claims are not backed by any scientific evidence.
2 MOVE BACKWARDS [I always + adv/prep, T] to move backwards, or make someone or something move backwards
[+into/out of/away from etc]
•She backed into a doorway to let the crowds pass by.
back sb into/towards/out of etc sth
•He began to back her towards the open door.
back sth into/towards/out of etc sth
•I backed the car into the garage.
3 PUT STH ON THE BACK [T usually passive] to put a material or substance onto the back of something, in order to protect it or make it stronger:
•Back the photo with strong cardboard.
•a plastic-backed shower curtain
4 BE BEHIND STH [T usually passive] to be at the back of something or behind it:
•The Jandia Peninsula is a stretch of white sands backed by a mountain range.
5 MUSIC [T usually passive] to play or sing the music that supports the main singer or musician:
•They performed all their hits, backed by a 40-piece orchestra.
6 RISK MONEY [T] to risk money on whether a particular horse, dog, team etc wins something
7 back the wrong horse to support someone or something that is not successful

PHRASAL VERBS
back away phr v
1 to move backwards and away from something, especially because you are frightened
[+from]
•She backed away from the menacing look on his face.
2 to stop supporting a plan or idea, or stop being involved in something
[+from]
•The government has backed away from its nuclear weapons strategy.

back down phr v
to admit that you are wrong or that you have lost an argument:
•Both sides have refused to back down.

back off phr v
1 to move backwards, away from someone or something:
•She backed off and then turned and ran.
2 to stop telling someone what to do, or stop criticizing them, especially so that they can deal with something themselves:
•I think you should back off for a while.
•Back off, Marc! Let me run my own life!
3 to stop supporting something, or decide not to do something you were planning to do:
•Jerry backed off when he realized how much work was involved.
[+from]
•The company has backed off from investing new money.

back onto sth phr v
if a building backs onto something, its back faces it:
•The hotel backs onto St Mark's Square.

back out phr v
to decide not to do something that you had promised to do:
•It's too late to back out now.
•After you've signed the contract, it will be impossible to back out.
[+of]
•The government is trying to back out of its commitment to reduce pollution.

back up phr v
1 back sb/sth <=> up to say or show that what someone is saying is true:
•Jane would back me up if she were here.
•There's no evidence to back up his accusations.
•These theories have not been backed up by research.
2 back sb/sth <=> up to provide support or help for someone or something:
•The plan's success depends on how vigorously the UN will back it up with action.
•The police officers are backed up by extra teams of people at the weekend.
BACKUP
3 to make a copy of information stored on a computer:
•Make sure you back up every day.
back sth <=> up
•These devices can back up the whole system.
back sth <=> up onto sth
•Back all your files up onto floppy disks.
BACKUP
4 especially AmE to make a vehicle move backwards:
•The truck stopped and then backed up.
back sth <=> up
•I backed the car up a little.
5 to move backwards:
•Back up a bit so that everyone can see.
BACKUP
6 if traffic backs up, it forms a long line of vehicles that cannot move:
•The traffic was starting to back up in both directions.
7 if a toilet, sink etc backs up, it becomes blocked so that water cannot flow out of it[only before noun]
1 at or in the back of something; front
•You'll be sleeping in the back bedroom.
•Turn to the back page.
•I normally keep my keys in my back pocket.
•There was the sound of giggling from the back row of the hall.
•The rabbit had one of its back legs caught in a trap.
BACK DOOR
2 behind something, especially a building; front
•the back garden
•We left by the back gate.
3 from the back:
•The back view of the hotel was even less appealing than the front.
4 back street/lane/road etc a street etc that is away from the main streets:
•a short cut down a back lane
5 back rent/taxes/pay etc money that someone owes from an earlier date
6 back issue/copy/number a copy of a magazine or newspaper from an earlier date
7 technical a back vowel sound is made by lifting your tongue at the back of your mouth [C,U]
a pain in your back [only before noun] BrE
a backbench Member of Parliament is an ordinary British Member of Parliament who does not have an important official position:
•He has the support of a lot of backbench MPs.
•a backbench revolt $ [C] BrE
an ordinary British Member of Parliament who does not have an important official position
the backbenches [plural] BrE the seats in the British parliament where ordinary Members of Parliament sit [U]
unpleasant or cruel talk about someone who is not present:
•All this backbiting is destroying company morale. $ [C]
the board behind the basket in the game of BASKETBALL $
1 [C] the row of connected bones that go down the middle of your back; = spine
2 the backbone of sth the most important part of an organization or group of people:
•Farmers are the backbone of this community.
3 [U] courage and determination:
•Stuart doesn't have the backbone to be a good manager.
backbreaking work is physically difficult and makes you very tiredbackburner [T] informal
to delay doing something, because it does not need your attention immediately or because it is not as important as other things that you need to do immediately:
•Allison back-burnered her prestigious law career when she had a baby.
•The project has been backburnered due to technical problems.[C]
music that a performer has recorded in the past [U] BrE informal
a rude reply to someone who is telling you what to do; = backtalk AmE
•None of your backchat, do your homework! $ [C] especially BrE
1 a BACKDROP (3)
2 a BACKDROP (2) $ [T] BrE
to comb your hair against the way it grows in order to make it look thicker and shape it into a style; = tease AmE[U]
1 especially AusE a country area where few people live
2 AmE an area, especially in the mountains, away from roads and towns $ [T]
1 to make something have its effect from an earlier date
backdate sth from/to sth
•The pay increase will be backdated to January.
2 AmE to write an earlier date on a document or cheque than when it was actually written[C]
1 a door at the back or side of a building
2 get in through the back door to achieve something by having an unfair secret advantage:
•His father works for the company so he got in through the back door. $ [only before noun]
secret, or not publicly stated as your intention:
•a backdoor tax rise $ [C]
1 literary the SCENERY behind something that you are looking at
[+to]
•The sea made a splendid backdrop to the garden.
2 the conditions or situation in which something happens
against a backdrop of sth
•a love story set against a backdrop of war and despair
3 a painted cloth hung across the back of a stage $ [C]
someone who supports a plan, especially by providing money:
•We're still trying to find backers for the housing development scheme. $ [I]
1 if a plan or action backfires, it has the opposite effect to the one you intended:
•The company's new policy backfired when a number of employees threatened to quit.
2 if a car backfires, it makes a sudden loud noise because the engine is not working correctly[C] technical
a new word formed from an older word, for example 'televise', which is formed from 'television' [U]
a game for two players, using flat round pieces and DICE on a special board
1 [C] someone's family, education, previous work etc

have a background (in sth)
with a background (in sth)
(be/come) from different backgrounds
social background
cultural background
educational background
ethnic background
family background
class background
deprived/disadvantaged background (=not having many advantages)
privileged background (=having many advantages)
working-class/middle-class background

•Steve has a background in computer engineering.
•Students with a background in chemistry will probably find the course easier.
• It's important to understand other people, people from different backgrounds.
•people from different ethnic and social backgrounds
• Cultural background might account for some of the variations noted in the studies.
• the educational background of top executives
• They told me everything there was to know about the child's family background.
• a program that helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds

2 [C,U] the situation or past events that explain why something happens in the way that it does
[+to]
•Without knowing the background to the case, I couldn't possibly comment.
against a background of sth
•The peace talks are being held against a background of increasing violence.
background information/details/data etc
•The author included a new chapter of background material for the second edition of the book.
3 [C usually singular] the area that is behind the main thing that you are looking at, especially in a picture:
•The background looks a little out of focus.
in the background
•In the background you can see a few of my old college friends.
4 [C] the pattern or colour on top of which something has been drawn, printed etc:
•red lettering on a white background
5 in the background someone who keeps or stays in the background tries not to be noticed:
•The President's advisors are content to remain in the background.
6 [C,U] the sounds that you can hear apart from the main thing that you are listening to
in the background
•In the background I could hear the sound of traffic.
•All of the background noise made it difficult to have a phone conversation. [C usually singular]
a way of hitting the ball in tennis and some other games in which the back of your hand is turned in the direction of the ball when you hit it; forehand
- backhand adjective $
1 a backhanded remark or COMPLIMENT seems to express praise or admiration but in fact is insulting
2 a backhanded shot is a backhand shot $ [C]
1 a hit or shot that you do using the back of your hand
2 BrE informal money that you pay illegally and secretly to get something done; = bribe
•Investigators estimate that £35m had been spent on bribes and backhanders. $ [C] AmE
a large digging machine used for making roads etc
1 [U] support or help, especially with money:
•She flew to New York to try to raise some financial backing for the project.
2 [C] material that is used to make the back of an object
3 [C] the music that is played at the same time as a singer's voice
- backing adjective
•backing singers [C]
a strong negative reaction by a number of people against recent events, especially against political or social developments
[+against]
•The 1970s saw the first backlash against the emerging women's movement.
[+from]
•The management fear a backlash from angry fans over the team's recent poor performances.
a backless dress, SWIMSUIT etc does not cover much or any of a woman's back $ [C usually singular]
a large amount of work that you need to complete, especially work that should already have been completed
[+of]
•a backlog of requests
•It's going to take us months to clear the backlog.[C]
the department of a bank or other financial institution that manages or organizes the work of the institution, but that does not deal with customers
- back-office adjective [only before noun]
•back-office operations [C]
a RUCKSACK $ [C]
someone who is travelling for pleasure, usually with not very much money, and who walks or uses public transport and carries a backpack [U]
the activity of travelling for pleasure, usually without very much money, and carrying a backpack $ past tense and past participle backpedalled, present participle backpedalling BrE past tense and past participle backpedaled, present participle backpedaling AmE [I]
1 to change your opinion or not do something that you had promised to do; backtrack
•They are backpedalling on the commitment to cut taxes.
2 to PEDAL backwards on a bicycle
3 to run or walk backwards [C]
the part of a chair or seat that supports your back [C usually plural] BrE informal
someone such as an engineer or scientist whose work is important but who does not get much attention or fame[U]
the act of doing nice things for someone in order to get something in return
1 [C] a seat at the back of a car, behind where the driver sits
2 back seat driver informal
a) a passenger in the back of a car who gives unwanted advice to the driver about how to drive
b) someone in business or politics who tries to control things that they are not really responsible for
3 take a back seat to accept a less important position than someone or something else:
•Finally, Bryant decided to take a back seat and let his son run the company. [C] informal
1 the part of your body that you sit on; = bottom
2 get off your backside to start doing something or taking action, instead of not doing anything
be a pain in the backside at PAIN^1 (3) [U]
behaviour in which people praise each other's achievements more than they deserve [C]
a line ( \) used in writing to separate words, numbers, or letters $ past tense and past participle backslid [I]
to start doing the bad things that you used to do, after having improved your behaviour
- backslider noun [C] [C usually singular]
a button on a computer KEYBOARD or TYPEWRITER that you press to move backwards towards the beginning of the line [U]
a turning movement in a ball that has been hit so that the top of the ball turns backwards as the ball travels forwards; topspin [U]
the act of secretly doing bad things to someone else, especially saying bad things about them, in order to gain an advantage for yourself
- backstabber noun [C]
1 behind the stage in a theatre, especially in the actors' dressing rooms
2 in private, especially within the secret parts of an organization:
•intensive backstage negotiations[C]
the things that happened to a character in a book or film before the beginning of the story being told in the book or film:
•The back story of why she hates her father is a bit too contrived. [only before noun]
backstreet activities are done in a secret or illegal way, and are often done badly:
•a backstreet abortionalso back street [C]
a small quiet street that is away from the main part of a town:
•the back streets of Brighton $ [singular, U]
a way of swimming on your back by moving first one arm then the other backwards while kicking your feet $ [U] AmE informal
a rude reply to someone who is telling you what to do; = backchat BrE[only before noun]
happening one after another:
•They have had five back-to-back wins.[C] BrE
a house in a row or TERRACE built with its back touching the back of the next row of houses [I]
1 to change an opinion or promise that you gave so that it is not as strong as it was earlier; backpedal
[+on]
•The President is backtracking on his promise to increase healthcare spending.
2 to return by the same way that you came:
•We had to backtrack about a mile.
1 [C] something that you can use to replace something that does not work or is lost:
•Always have a backup plan.
•a backup generator
2 [C] a copy of a computer document, program etc, which is made in case the original becomes lost or damaged:
•Make a backup of any work you do on the computer.
3 [U] people or things that can be used to provide support and help if they are needed:
•Army units can only operate if they have sufficient backup.
•a backup team
4 [C] AmE someone who will play in a sports team if one of the other players is injured or ill; = reserve
•a backup goalie $
1 [only before noun] looking or facing in the direction that is behind you; forward
•She went without a backward glance.
2 developing slowly and less successfully than most others:
•It will take decades to bring this backward country into the modern age.
•a backward child
- backwardness noun [U]
using the methods and ideas of the past rather than modern ones - used to show disapproval; forward-looking
•Darwin transformed a backward-looking organisation into a respected art school.also backward AmE $
1 in the direction that is behind you; forwards
•Hannah took a step backward.
•She pushed me and I fell backwards into the chair.
2 towards the beginning or the past; forwards
•Count backwards from 100.
3 with the back part in front:
•Your T-shirt is on backwards.
4 towards a worse state; forwards
•The new measures are seen by some as a major step backwards.
5 backwards and forwards first in one direction and then in the opposite direction, usually many times:
•Kip stumbled backwards and forwards before falling down.
6 bend/lean over backwards (to do sth) to try as hard as possible to help or please someone:
•City officials bent over backwards to help downtown businesses.
7 know sth backwards BrE know sth backwards and forwards AmE to know something very well or perfectly:
•She practiced her part until she knew it backwards and forwards. $ [U]
1 a backward flow of water, caused by an OAR, wave etc
2 the bad situation that remains after something bad has happened:
•the backwash of the company's failure $ [C]
1 a very quiet place not influenced by outside events or new ideas - used to show disapproval:
•a rural backwater
2 a part of a river away from the main part, where the water does not move [plural]
a distant and undeveloped area away from any towns plural backwoodsmen [C]
1 someone who lives in the backwoods
2 BrE a member of a political party or parliament, especially the House of Lords, who is not very active politically and only sometimes votes, attends meetings etcalso back yard $ [C]
1 BrE a small area behind a house, covered with a hard surface
2 AmE an area of land behind a house, often covered with grass:
•The old man grew vegetables in his backyard.
3 in sb's own backyard informal very near where someone lives, works etc:
•Americans would probably react differently to the war if it was in their own back yard.
4 not in my backyard used to say that you do not want something to happen near where you live
- backyard adjective [only before noun]
•a backyard pool [U]
1 salted or smoked meat from the back or sides of a pig, often served in narrow thin pieces:
•bacon and eggs
rasher of bacon BrE (=piece of bacon)
2 bring home the bacon informal to provide enough money to support your family
save sb's bacon at SAVE^1 (11) $ singularbacterium [plural]
very small living things, some of which cause illness or disease; virus
- bacterial adjective
•a bacterial infection $ [U]
the scientific study of bacteria
- bacteriologist noun [C]
- bacteriological $ adjective comparative worse $ , superlative worst $
1 NOT GOOD unpleasant or likely to cause problems; good
•I have some bad news for you.
•I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse.
•The plane was delayed for several hours by bad weather.
•It's difficult to break bad habits.
•a bad smell
2 LOW QUALITY low in quality or below an acceptable standard; good
•The failure of the company was due to bad management.
•Your handwriting is so bad I can hardly read it.
•That was the worst movie I've ever seen.
3 NOT SENSIBLE [usually before noun] not sensible, or not suitable in a particular situation; good
•Cutting spending at this time is a bad idea.
•Making big changes in your diet all at once is a bad thing to do.
4 MORALLY WRONG morally wrong or evil; good
•He's a bad man - keep away from him.
BAD GUY
5 WRONG BEHAVIOUR spoken doing something you should not do, or behaving in a wrong way - used especially about children or pets; = naughty
•Katie was very bad today!
bad girl/dog etc
•Bad cat! Get off the table!
6 SERIOUS serious or severe:
•He is recovering from a bad accident.
•The pain in my side is worse than it was yesterday.
7 a bad time/moment etc a time that is not suitable or causes problems:
•It's a bad time to have to borrow money, with interest rates so high.
•You've come at the worst possible moment. I have a meeting in five minutes.
8 HARMFUL damaging or harmful:
•Pollution is having a bad effect on fish stocks.
[+for]
•Smoking is bad for your health.
•Too much salt can be bad for you.
• It is bad for kids to be on their own so much.
9 FOOD food that is bad is not safe to eat because it has decayed:
•bad fish
•This milk has gone bad.
10 NO SKILL having no skill or ability in a particular activity
bad at (doing) sth
•I'm really bad at chess.
•They have got to be the worst band on the planet.
11 bad heart/leg/back etc a heart, leg etc that is injured or does not work correctly:
•I haven't been able to do much because of my bad back.
•Ouch, that was my bad foot!
12 LANGUAGE bad language is rude or offensive:
•We were shocked to hear the little boy using bad language in front of his mother.
•Jacky said a bad word!
13 be in a bad mood also be in a bad temper BrE to feel annoyed or angry:
•Be careful. The boss is in a bad mood today.
14 feel bad
a) to feel ashamed or sorry about something
feel bad about (doing) sth
•I felt bad about not being able to come last night.
[+for]
•I feel bad for Ann - she studied so hard for that test and she still didn't pass.
b) to feel ill
15 not bad spoken used to say that something is good, or better than you expected:
•'How are you?' 'Oh, not bad.'
•That's not a bad idea.
16 not too/so bad spoken used to say that something is not as bad as expected:
•The exams weren't so bad.
17 too bad spoken
a) used to say that you do not care that something bad happens to someone:
•'I'm going to be late now!' 'Too bad, you should have gotten up earlier.'
b) used to say that you are sorry that something bad has happened to someone:
•It's too bad that you couldn't come to the party last night.
18 go from bad to worse to become even more unpleasant or difficult:
•The schools have gone from bad to worse in this area.
19 be in a bad way informal to be very ill, unhappy, or injured, or not in a good condition:
•She was in a bad way after the funeral.
20 a bad name if something has a bad name, people do not respect or trust it
have/get a bad name
•The bar had a bad name and was avoided by all the locals.
give sb/sth a bad name
•These annoying tourists give all Americans a bad name.
21 bad lot/sort/type BrE old-fashioned someone who is morally bad or cannot be trusted
22 bad penny BrE someone or something that causes trouble and is difficult to avoid:
•Sure enough, Steve turned up like the proverbial bad penny (=suddenly appeared).
23 be taken bad BrE informal to become ill:
•He was taken bad in the middle of the night.
24 in bad faith if someone does something in bad faith, they are behaving dishonestly and have no intention of keeping a promise:
•In order to sue, you have to prove that the company was acting in bad faith.
25 bad news spoken informal someone or something that always causes trouble:
•I'd avoid her if I were you. She's bad news.
26 bad form BrE old-fashioned socially unacceptable behaviour:
•It's bad form to argue with the umpire.
27 bad blood angry or bitter feelings between people
[+between]
•There's too much bad blood between them.
28 not have a bad word to say about/against sb if no one has a bad word to say about a particular person, everyone likes and respects that person
29 it's bad enough..... spoken used to say that you already have one problem, so that you do not want to worry about or deal with another one:
•It's bad enough having to bring up three kids on your own without having to worry about money as well!
30 sth can't be bad spoken used to persuade someone that something is good or worth doing:
•You only pay £10 deposit and no interest: that can't be bad, can it?
31 comparative badder, superlative baddest especially AmE spoken informal
a) used when you think something is very good:
•Now that's a bad car!
b) someone who is bad is very determined and does not always obey rules - used to show approval
- badness noun [U]

WORD FOCUS: bad
very bad:
awful
terrible
horrible
lousy informal
appalling
ghastly
atrocious
horrendous
bad, but not very bad:
not very good
mediocre
second-rate
so-so
lacklustre
of bad quality:
shoddy
inferior
poor quality
cheap
crummy informal
bad at doing something:
be no good at sth
very bad at doing something:
hopeless
terrible
useless
lousy informal
incompetent
morally bad:
evil
wicked
immoral
corrupt
sick
perverted
degenerate

1 to the bad BrE informal if you are a particular amount to the bad, you are that much poorer or you owe that much:
•Thanks to your mistake, I'm £500 to the bad!
2 my bad! AmE spoken informal used to say that you have made a mistake or that something is your fault
3 go to the bad BrE old-fashioned to begin living in a wrong or immoral wayspoken
a word used to mean 'badly' which many people think is incorrect:
•I need that money bad.[only before noun] AmE informal
1 very good or impressive:
•This site is the best online magazine for bad-ass biker gear.
2 a bad-ass person is very determined and does not always obey rules - used to show approval:
•Johnson plays this bad-ass cop named O'Riley.
- bad-ass badass noun [C][C]
a debt that is unlikely to be paidbaddy [C] BrE informal
someone who is bad, especially in a book or film; = bad guy AmE
the past tense and past participle of BID [C]
1 BrE a small piece of metal, cloth, or plastic with a picture or words on it, worn to show rank, membership of a group, support for a political idea etc; = button AmE; = pin AmE
•We were each handed a badge with our name on it.
2 a small piece of metal or plastic that you carry to show people that you work for a particular organization, for example that you are a police officer
3 a badge of honour/courage etc something that shows that you have a particular quality:
•He now sees his wartime injuries as a badge of honor.
4 also merit badge AmE a small piece of cloth with a picture on it, given to SCOUTs , GUIDEs etc to show what skills they have learned:
•Steve won a photography badge in the Boy Scouts.
5 badge of office BrE an object which shows that you have an official position:
•Mayors wear chains around their necks as badges of office. $ [C]
an animal which has black and white fur, lives in holes in the ground, and is active at night[T]
to try to persuade someone by asking them something several times; = pester
•She badgered me for weeks until I finally gave in.
badger sb to do sth
•My friends keep badgering me to get a cell phone.
badger sb into doing sth
•I had to badger the kids into doing their homework.[C] AmE informal
a man in a film, book etc who is evil or dangerous; = baddie BrE
•In the film, he plays a bad guy trying to find his brother's killer.[C] informal
a day when you are unhappy and easily upset, especially because your hair does not look the way you want it to look $ [U] literary
conversation that involves a lot of jokes or humour comparative worse $ , superlative worst $
1 in an unsatisfactory or unsuccessful way; well
•The company has been very badly managed.
•The novel was translated badly into English.
•badly made furniture
•Rob did very badly in the History exam.
2 to a great or serious degree:
•He's been limping badly ever since the skiing accident.
•We badly wanted to help, but there was nothing we could do.
•He was beaten so badly that his brother didn't recognize him.
•The school is badly in need of (=very much needs) some new computers.
•Things started to go badly wrong (=go wrong in a serious way) for Eric after he lost his job.
3 think badly of sb/sth to have a bad opinion of someone or something:
•I'm sure they won't think badly of you if you tell them you need some help.comparative worse-off, superlative worst-off [not before noun] especially BrE
1 also bad-off AmE not having much money; = poor; well-off
2 badly off for sth BrE not having enough of something that you need; well-off
•The school is rather badly off for equipment. [U]
a game that is similar to tennis but played with a SHUTTLECOCK (=small feathered object) instead of a ball[T] informal especially AmE
to criticize someone or something:
•Her former colleagues accused her of bad-mouthing them in public.BrE
someone who is bad-tempered becomes easily annoyed and talks in an angry way to people; = irritable
•Why are you so bad-tempered today? [T]
if something baffles you, you cannot understand or explain it at all:
•The question baffled me completely.
- bafflement noun [U]
- baffling adjective
•a baffling mystery[C] technical
a board, sheet of metal etc that controls the flow of air, water, or sound into or out of something [C]
1 CONTAINER
a) a container made of paper, cloth, or thin plastic which usually opens at the top:
•a paper bag
•a plastic bag
•a carrier bag
•a garbage bag
b) a HANDBAG:
•Don't leave your bag in the office when you go for lunch.
c) a large bag that you use to carry your clothes etc when you are travelling:
•Just throw your bags in the back of the car.
•a garment bag
2 AMOUNT the amount that a bag will hold
[+of]
•a bag of popcorn
3 old/stupid bag spoken an insulting word for an old woman:
•You silly old bag!
4 A LOT OF STH bags of sth spoken especially BrE a lot of something; = plenty
•She's got bags of money.
•No need to rush, we've got bags of time.
5 pack your bags informal to leave a place where you have been living, usually after an argument:
•We told her to pack her bags at once.
6 EYES bags [plural] dark circles or loose skin under your eyes, usually because of old age or being tired
7 a bag of bones informal a person or animal who is too thin
8 in the bag informal certain to be won or achieved:
•The governor's closest advisors quietly believe the election is in the bag.
9 TROUSERS bags [plural] BrE old-fashioned loose-fitting trousers:
•Oxford bags
10 not sb's bag old-fashioned informal something that someone is not very interested in or not very good at:
•Thanks but dancing is not really my bag.
11 bag and baggage BrE with all your possessions:
•They threw her out of the house, bag and baggage.
12 HUNTING [usually singular] BrE the number of birds or animals that someone kills when they go hunting:
•We had a good bag that day.
SLEEPING BAG, AIRBAG, DUFFEL BAG, TOTE BAG, BEANBAG, PUNCHBAG, SANDBAG^1, TEABAG; let the cat out of the bag at CAT (2); be left holding the bag at HOLD^1 (26); a mixed bag at MIXED (6)past tense and past participle bagged, present participle bagging [T]
1 to put things into bags:
•He got a job bagging groceries.
2 informal to manage to get something that a lot of people want:
•Try to bag a couple of seats at the front.
3 BrE informal to score a GOAL or a point in sport:
•Larsson bagged his thirtieth goal of the season in Celtic's win.
4 informal especially BrE to kill or catch an animal or bird:
•We bagged a rabbit.

PHRASAL VERBS
bag sth <=> up phr v especially BrE
to put things into bags:
•We bagged up the money before we closed the shop. [C]
a small ring-shaped type of bread [C]
the amount a bag can hold
1 [U] especially AmE the cases, bags, boxes etc carried by someone who is travelling; = luggage
•Check your baggage in at the desk.
2 [U] informal the beliefs, opinions, and experiences that someone has, which make them think in a particular way, especially in a way that makes it difficult to have good relationships:
•Each employee brings his or her own psychological baggage to the workplace.[C] AmE
the part of a train where boxes, bags etc are carriedalso baggage claim AmE [U] especially BrE
the place at an airport where you collect your cases and bags after a flight[C] AmE
a place, usually in a train station, where you can leave your bags and collect them later
baggy clothes are big and do not fit tightly on your body; tight
•She was wearing jeans and a baggy T-shirt.[C] informal
an impolite word for a homeless woman who lives on the streets and carries all her possessions with her [plural]
a musical instrument played especially in Scotland in which air blown into a bag is forced out through pipes to produce the sound
- bagpipe adjective [C]
a long thin LOAF of bread, made especially in France old-fashioned
used to show disapproval of something:
•Bah! That's stupid.
1 [U] money left with a court of law to make sure that a prisoner will return when their TRIAL starts

(out) on bail
release sb on bail
grant sb bail
refuse sb bail
post bail
hold sb without bail (=make someone stay in prison until their trial)
stand bail/put up bail BrE (=pay someone's bail)
jump bail also
skip bail BrE (=not return to trial as you promised)
set sb's bail at sth (=say how much bail they must pay)
conditional bail BrE (=bail given if someone agrees to do something)
unconditional bail BrE (=bail given without having to agree to do something)

•Carpenter is free on bail while he appeals his conviction.
•She was murdered by a man who was out on bail for rape.
•The three men were released on bail pending an appeal.
•He is not likely to be granted bail.
•Carter has been refused bail and will remain in custody.
•The judge ordered that Jones be held without bail.
•Why can't you ask your father to put up bail for you?
•Two of the defendants jumped bail and fled to New York.
• Bail was set at $30,000.

2 [C usually plural] one of the two small pieces of wood laid on top of the STUMPs in a game of CRICKET
1 also bail out AmE bale out BrE [I] informal to escape from a situation that you do not want to be in any more:
•After ten years in the business, McArthur is baling out.
•I don't know anybody at this party - let's bail.
2 [T usually passive] BrE if someone is bailed, they are let out of prison to wait for their TRIAL after they have left a sum of money with the court:
•Dakers was bailed to appear at Durham Crown Court.

PHRASAL VERBS
bail out phr v
1 bail sb/sth <=> out also bale sb/sth <=> out BrE to do something to help someone out of trouble, especially financial problems:
•Some local businesses have offered to bail out the museum.
•Sutton bailed his team out with a goal in the last minute.
2 bail sb <=> out to leave a large sum of money with a court so that someone can be let out of prison while waiting for their TRIAL:
•Clarke's family paid £500 to bail him out.
3 AmE also bale out to escape from a plane, using a PARACHUTE
4 bail sth <=> out also bale sth <=> out BrE to remove water that has come into a boat [C]
an open area inside the outer wall of a castle [C]
1 BrE someone who looks after a farm or land that belongs to someone else
2 AmE an official of the legal system who watches prisoners and keeps order in a court of law
3 BrE an official of the legal system who can take people's goods or property when they owe money[C]
informal financial help given to a person or a company that is in difficulty [C]
a pan that floats in a larger pan full of water, used for cooking things gently $ [C]
a baby or child - used in Scotland [singular, U]
1 food used to attract fish, animals, or birds so that you can catch them:
•We used worms as bait.
•The fish wouldn't take the bait.
2 something attractive that is offered to someone to make them do something or buy something, especially when this is done in a dishonest way that tricks people:
•Plenty of people took the bait (=accepted what was on offer) and lost their life savings.
3 rise to the bait to become angry when someone is deliberately trying to make you angry:
•Senator O'Brien just smiled, refusing to rise to the bait.[T]
1 to put bait on a hook to catch fish or in a trap to catch animals
2 to deliberately try to make someone angry by criticizing them, using rude names etc
3 bear-baiting/badger-baiting etc the activity of attacking a wild animal with dogs [U]
thick cloth that is usually green, and is used to cover tables on which games such as POOL are played [I,T]
1 to cook something using dry heat, in an OVEN:
•I'm baking some bread.
•baked potatoes
•Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes.
2 to make something become hard by heating it:
•The bricks were baked in the sun.
BAKING^1, HALF-BAKED[plural]
small white beans cooked in a sauce made from tomatoes, usually sold in cans [U]
trademark a hard plastic used especially in the 1930s and 1940s to make things such as telephones and radios $ [C]
1 someone who bakes bread and cakes, especially in order to sell them in a shop
2 baker's BrE a shop that makes and sells bread and cakes; = bakery[singular]
thirteen of somethingalso baker's BrE plural bakeries [C]
a place where bread and cakes are baked, or a shop where they are sold [U]
the activity of making cakes, bread etcspoken
used to say that a person or place is very hot:
•I'm baking!
•a baking hot day[U]
a powder used when baking cakes to make them lighter[C]
a baking tray[U]
a powder used when baking cakes to make them lighter; = bicarbonate of soda[C]
a flat piece of metal that you bake food on [U]
money that people in the Middle East give to poor people, to someone who has helped them, or as a BRIBEalso balaclava helmet [C]
a warm hat made of wool, that covers your head and most of your face [C]
a musical instrument like a GUITAR, with a body shaped like a TRIANGLE and three strings, played especially in Russia
1 STEADY [U] a state in which all your weight is evenly spread so that you do not fall

lose your balance (=become unsteady)
keep your balance (=stay steady)
recover/regain your balance (=become steady again)
be off balance (=unable to stay steady)
knock/pull/throw sb off balance
sense of balance

•I lost my balance and fell on my face.
•We were struggling to keep our balance as the boat rolled.
•I thought she was going to fall, but she recovered her balance and carried on down the stairs.
•a powerful blow that knocked his opponent off balance
•I've got a good sense of balance and learnt to ski quite quickly.

2 EQUAL AMOUNTS [singular, U] a state in which opposite forces or influences exist in equal or the correct amounts, in a way that is good; imbalance
[+between]
•Try to keep a balance between work and play.
[+of]
•Pesticides seriously upset the balance of nature.
•We need to strike a balance (=succeed in finding a balance) between the needs of the community and the rights of the individual.
3 on balance if you think something on balance, you think it after considering all the facts:
•I think on balance I prefer the old system.
4 SURPRISE SB catch/throw sb off balance to surprise someone and make them confused and no longer calm:
•The question caught him off balance, and he didn't know what to say.
5 BANK [C] the amount of money that you have in your bank account:
•My bank balance isn't very healthy.
6 MONEY OWED [C] the balance of a debt is the amount of money that you still owe after you have paid some of it:
•The balance is due at the end of the month.
7 REMAINING the balance the amount of something that remains after some has been used, spent, mentioned etc; = the rest
•The firm owns about 96% of the portfolio, with the balance belonging to our family.
8 be/hang in the balance if the future or success of something hangs in the balance, you cannot yet know whether the result will be bad or good:
•Meanwhile, the fate of the refugees continues to hang in the balance.
9 tip/swing the balance to influence the result of an event:
•The dignity and courage shown by the President may tip the balance in his party's favour.
10 FOR WEIGHING [C] an instrument for weighing things, with two dishes that hang from a bar; = scales
11 MENTAL/EMOTIONAL HEALTH [singular] when someone's mind is healthy and their emotional state is normal:
•The death of her friend had disturbed the balance of her mind.
12 the balance of evidence/probability etc the most likely answer or result produced by opposing information, reasons etc
checks and balances at CHECK^2 (4)
1 [I,T] to be in or get into a steady position, without falling to one side or the other, or to put something into this position
balance sth on sth
•She was balancing a plate of food on her knees.
[+on]
•He turned around, balancing awkwardly on one foot.
2 [I,T] to be equal in importance, amount, value, or effect to something that has the opposite effect:
•Job losses in manufacturing were balanced by job increases in the service sector.
•just enough sugar to balance the acidity of the fruit
3 [T] to consider the importance of one thing in relation to something else when you are making a decision
balance sth against sth
•The courts must balance our liberty against the security of the nation.
4 balance the budget if a government balances the budget, they make the amount of money that they spend equal to the amount of money available
5 balance the books to show that the amount of money a business has received is equal to the amount spent

PHRASAL VERBS
balance out phr v
if two or more things balance out, the final result is that they are equal in amount, importance, or effect:
•Sometimes I look after the kids and sometimes John does - it all balances out.
BALANCING ACT[C]
a long narrow wooden board on which a GYMNAST performs
1 giving equal attention to all sides or opinions; = fair
a balanced view/account
•a balanced account of what happened
• balanced reporting of the election campaign
2 arranged to include things or people of different kinds in the right amounts:
•a balanced programme of events
•the importance of a balanced diet (=one that is healthy because it contains the right foods in the right amounts)
•Nature is perfectly balanced.
finely/delicately balanced (=very carefully balanced)
•soup with a delicately balanced flavor
3 someone who is balanced is calm and sensible, and has good mental health; unbalanced
•The goal of education is to help children become balanced and rounded human beings.
4 balanced budget when a government is not spending more money than it has available[singular]
the difference between what a country spends in order to buy goods and services abroad, and the money it earns selling goods and services abroad[singular]
a situation in which political or military strength is shared evenly:
•The election of so many Republicans to Congress has changed the balance of power in Washington.
•A small centre party holds the balance of power (=is able to make either side more powerful than the other by supporting them) in the Assembly.[singular]
the difference in value between the goods a country buys from abroad and the goods it sells abroad[C]
a statement of how much money a business has earned and how much money it has paid for goods and services:
•a healthy balance sheet[C usually singular]
when you are trying to please two or more people or groups who all want different things, or who have ideas that are completely different from each other:
•Gilmore had to perform the difficult balancing act of attracting moderate voters without losing his conservative base. plural balconies [C]
1 a structure that you can stand on, that is attached to the outside wall of a building, above ground level:
•Has your flat got a balcony?
2 the seats upstairs at a theatre $
1 having little or no hair on your head:
•a bald man
•his shiny bald head
•Dad started going bald when he was in his thirties.
•He combed his hair and tried to hide his bald patch (=part of someone's head where there is no hair).
2 not having enough of what usually covers something:
•The car's tires are completely bald.
•The carpet's so old, it's practically bald.
3 bald statement/facts/truth a statement etc that is correct but gives no additional information to help you understand or accept what is said:
•The bald truth was that Lori didn't love her husband anymore.
- baldness noun [U][C]
a large North American bird with a white head and neck that is the national bird of the US $ [U]
talk or writing that is silly nonsense
making no attempt to hide the fact that you know you are saying or doing something wrong; = barefaced
•a bald-faced lie $
a balding man is losing the hair on his head:
•a balding man in his mid-thirties $
in a way that is true but makes no attempt to be polite:
•'I'm not coming,' Rosa said baldly next morning at breakfast. $ plural baldies [C] informal
someone who is BALD - used humorously [C]
a large quantity of something such as paper or HAY that is tightly tied together especially into a block:
•a bale of straw[T]
to tie something such as paper or HAY into a large block

PHRASAL VERBS
bale out phr v

BAIL^2, BAIL-OUT literary
expressing anger, hatred, or a wish to harm someone:
•a baleful look
- balefully adverbalso baulk BrE $
1 [I] to not want to do or try something, because it seems difficult, unpleasant, or frightening
[+at]
•Many people would balk at setting up a new business during a recession.
•Westerners balk at the prospect of snake on the menu.
2 [I] if a horse balks at a fence, it stops in front of it and refuses to jump over it
3 [I] AmE in baseball, to stop in the middle of the action of throwing the ball to the player who is trying to hit it
4 [T] formal to stop someone or something from getting or achieving what they wantalso -sation BrE $ [U]
the practice of dividing a country into separate independent states - used to show disapproval $ especially AmE informal
someone or something that is balky does not do what they are expected to do:
•a balky air-conditioning system $
1 ROUND OBJECT [C] a round object that is thrown, kicked, or hit in a game or sport
throw/hit/kick/catch etc a ball
•Weiskopf hit the ball 330 yards and a cheer went up.
a tennis/golf/cricket etc ball
2 ROUND SHAPE [C] something formed or rolled into a round shape:
•a ball of string
•Shape the dough into balls.
3 GAME/SPORT [U] any game or sport played with a ball, especially baseball or BASKETBALL:
•D'you want to go out and play ball?
•Dad's downstairs watching some ball.
4 FOOT/HAND the ball of the foot/hand the rounded part of the foot at the base of the toes, or the rounded part of the hand at the base of the thumb
5 on the ball informal able to think or act quickly and intelligently:
•an assistant who's really on the ball
6 set/start/keep the ball rolling to start something happening:
•To start the ball rolling, the government was asked to contribute £1 million.
7 the ball is in sb's court it is their turn to take action or to reply:
•I've emailed him twice - now the ball's in his court.
8 FORMAL OCCASION [C] a large formal occasion at which people dance
9 have a ball informal to have a very good time
10 balls [plural] informal not polite
a) TESTICLEs
b) courage:
•I didn't have the balls to ask.
c) BrE spoken something that is stupid or wrong; = nonsense
•That's a load of balls!
BALLS^1
11 a fast/good/long etc ball a ball that is thrown, hit, or kicked fast etc in a game or sport:
•He hit a long ball to right field.
12 CRICKET no ball a ball that is thrown too high, low etc towards someone trying to hit it, in the games of CRICKET or ROUNDERS
13 BASEBALL [C] a ball that the hitter does not try to hit, because it is not within the correct area
14 the whole ball of wax AmE informal the whole thing; = everything
15 a ball of fire informal someone who has a lot of energy and enthusiasm
16 ball-buster/ball-breaker informal
a) a problem that is very difficult to deal with
b) an offensive word for a woman who uses her authority over men
17 keep several/too many etc balls in the air to struggle to deal with more than one problem or job at the same time:
•The company just won't be able to keep that many balls in the air.
CANNONBALL, CRYSTAL BALL, WRECKING BALL; play ball at PLAY^1 (7)[T]
1 also ball up to make something form a small round shape:
•Ray balled up his fists, ready to fight.
2 AmE informal not polite to have sex with a woman [C]
1 a slow love song
2 a short story in the form of a poem or song[singular]
1 something that limits your freedom and stops you from doing what you want to do:
•The lower-tech side of the business was seen as a ball and chain.
2 a heavy metal ball on a chain, tied to a prisoner's legs, to stop the prisoner from escaping [U]
1 heavy material that is carried by a ship to make it more steady in the water
2 material such as sand that is carried in a BALLOON so that it can be thrown out to make it rise
3 a layer of broken stones that a road or railway line is built on[C]
1 small metal balls that move in a ring, to make a part inside a machine turn more easily
2 one of these metal balls[C]
a boy who picks up the balls for people playing in important tennis matches $ [C]
a hollow floating ball on a stick that opens and closes a hole, to allow water to flow into a container, for example in a toilet [C]
a woman who dances in ballets $
1 [C] a performance in which dancing and music tell a story without any speaking:
•We're going to the ballet tomorrow evening.
•I wanted to be a ballet dancer when I was a child.
2 [U] this type of dancing
3 [C] a group of BALLET dancers who work together:
•the Bolshoi ballet $ [C]
someone who dances in ballets
movements that are balletic are graceful like the movements in ballet:
•a balletic leap[C]
1 AmE a game of baseball, football, or BASKETBALL
2 BrE any game played with a ball
3 a whole new ball game a situation that is very different from the one you are used to:
•I used to be a teacher, so working in an office is a whole new ball game.[C]
a girl who picks up the balls for people playing in important tennis matches $ [C]
a long dress made of expensive material, that a woman wears to formal parties; = evening dress spoken
go ballistic to suddenly become very angry:
•I couldn't believe it! She went ballistic just because there were peas in her pasta.[C]
a powerful weapon that can travel extremely long distances, and that flies very high up into the sky and then back down to earth where it explodes [U]
the scientific study of the movement of objects that are thrown or fired through the air, such as bullets shot from a gun [C]
1 an object made of brightly-coloured thin rubber, that is filled with air and used as a toy or decoration for parties:
•Can you help me blow up these balloons?
•He burst the balloon in my face.
2 also hot air balloon a large bag of strong light cloth filled with gas or heated air so that it can float in the air. It has a basket hanging below it for people to stand in.:
•a balloon flight over the Yorkshire Moors
3 the circle drawn around the words spoken by the characters in a CARTOON; = bubble
4 a balloon payment AmE money borrowed that must be paid back in one large sum after several smaller payments have been made:
•a $10,000 balloon payment due in two years
5 the balloon goes up BrE informal used to refer to the moment when a situation starts to become really bad:
•We'll have to get out of there before the balloon goes up.
go down like a lead balloon at LEAD^3 (3)also balloon out [I]
1 to suddenly become larger in amount; = explode
•The company's debt has ballooned in the past year.
2 if someone balloons, they suddenly become fat:
•Paul ballooned after he got married.
3 to get bigger and rounder:
•The sheet flapped and ballooned in the wind. [U]
the sport of flying in a balloon [C]
someone who flies a balloon
1 [C,U] a system of voting, usually in secret, or an occasion when you vote in this way:
•The party leader is elected by secret ballot.
•Workers at the plant held a ballot and rejected strike action.
2 [C] a piece of paper on which you make a secret vote; = ballot paper
•Only 22% of voters cast their ballots.
3 the ballot the total number of votes in an election:
•He won 54% of the ballot.[I,T]
1 to ask someone to vote for something
[+on/over]
•Train drivers are being balloted on industrial action.
2 to vote for something
[+for]
•Staff balloted for strike action yesterday.
1 [C] a box that ballot papers are put in after voting
2 the ballot box the system or process of voting in an election
through the ballot box
•The people have expressed their views through the ballot box.[C]
a piece of paper on which you record your vote
spoiled ballot papers (=ones that have been marked incorrectly and so cannot be counted)[U]
the practice of cheating in an election by not counting the ballot papers correctly
1 [C] AmE a field for playing baseball with seats for watching the game
2 in the (right) ball park informal close to the amount, price etc that you want or are thinking about:
•Their estimate is in the right ball park.
3 a ball-park figure/estimate/amount a number or amount that is almost but not exactly correct:
•He said $25,000 but it's just a ball-park figure. $ [C]
AmE someone who plays baseballalso ballpoint pen [C]
a pen with a ball at the end that rolls ink onto the paper $ [C]
a very large room used for dancing on formal occasions[U]
a type of dancing that is done with a partner and has different steps for particular types of music, such as the WALTZ $ BrE not polite
used to show strong disapproval or disappointment:
•Balls to that!
balls at BALL^1 (10)

PHRASAL VERBS
balls sth <=> up phr v BrE informal not polite
to do something very badly or unsuccessfully; = mess up
•He totally ballsed up his exams.[singular] BrE informal
something that has been done very badly or not successfully:
•Nigel made a complete balls-up of the arrangements. $ informal
brave and determined, and not afraid of other people's disapproval:
•a very ballsy lady old-fashioned
an expression meaning BLOODY^1 - used to avoid offending people $ [U]
informal when there is a lot of excitement or anger about something - used to show disapproval; = fuss
•After all the ballyhoo, the film was a flop.
- ballyhoo verb [T]
•a much ballyhooed program to recruit more police officers $ [C,U]
1 an oily liquid with a strong pleasant smell that you rub into your skin, often to reduce pain:
•lip balm
2 literary something that gives you comfort
[+for/to]
•A drive through the countryside is balm for a weary soul. $
balmy air, weather etc is warm and pleasant; = mild
•a balmy summer night $ [U]
informal something that is silly or not true; = nonsense
•Don't give me that baloney. $ [C,U]
a tropical American tree or the wood from this tree, which is very light $ [C,U]
BALM, or the tree that produces it $ [U]
a type of dark-coloured VINEGAR that has a strong taste $ [C]
a row of wooden, stone, or metal posts that stop someone falling from a bridge or BALCONY
1 used to show that something happens quickly:
•He made a run for it and, bam, they shot him in the leg.
2 used to show that something has hit something else
3 used to make the sound of a gun [C,U]
a tall tropical plant with hollow stems that is used for making furniture [T]
informal to deceive, trick, or confuse someone [C]
an official order that prevents something from being used or done
[+on]
•a total ban on cigarette advertising
lift/impose a ban
•a call to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military
TEST BANpast tense and past participle banned, present participle banning [T]
to say that something must not be done, seen, used etc; = prohibit; allow
•Smoking is banned in the building.
ban sb from doing sth
•Charlie's been banned from driving for a year.
a banned substance/drug (=a drug that people competing in a sport are not allowed to take because it improves their performance)
- banning noun [U]
•the banning of trade unions
ordinary and not interesting, because of a lack of new or different ideas; = trivial
•conversations about the most banal subjects
- banality noun [C,U] $ [C]
a long curved tropical fruit with a yellow skin[C] AmE
an embarrassing mistake made by someone in a public position, especially a politician or someone in a government; = banana skin BrE
•The President has slipped on yet another banana peel.[C]
an insulting word for a small poor country with weak government that depends on financial help from abroad $ informal
1 go bananas to become very angry or excited:
•Mum went bananas when I said I was going to leave nursing.
2 crazy or silly[C] BrE
an embarrassing mistake made by someone in a public position, especially a politician or someone in a government; = banana peel AmE
•This government has an unhappy knack of slipping on banana skins.[C]
a sweet dish with bananas and ICE CREAM [C]
1 [also + plural verb] BrE a group of musicians, especially a group that plays popular music

play in a band (=be a musician in a band)
the band plays sth (=the musicians play music)
join a band
form a band
rock/pop/jazz etc band
live band (=a band playing live music, not recorded music)
band member
band leader

BIG BAND, BRASS BAND, MARCHING BAND, ONE-MAN BAND
• I grew up playing in rock bands.
•The band was playing old Beatles songs.
•Smith joined the band in 1989.
• They formed a band when they were still at school.
• The entertainment includes a disco and live band.
• interviews with band members

2 a group of people formed because of a common belief or purpose
[+of]
•a small band of volunteers
•bands of soldiers
3 a range of numbers within a system:
•Interest rates stayed within a relatively narrow band.
age/tax/income etc band
•people within the $20,000-$30,000 income band
4 a flat, narrow piece of something with one end joined to the other to form a circle:
•papers held together with a rubber band
•a slim gold band on her finger
5 a narrow area of light, colour, land etc that is different from the areas around it:
•The birds have a distinctive blue band round their eyes.
[+of]
•a thin band of cloud
6 technical a range of radio signals; = waveband[T usually passive]
BrE to put people or things into different groups, usually according to income, value, or price:
•After valuation, properties will be banded in groups of £20,000 or more.

PHRASAL VERBS
band together phr v
if people band together, they unite in order to achieve something:
•Local people have banded together to fight the company's plans. [C]
a narrow piece of cloth that you tie around a wound or around a part of the body that has been injuredalso bandage up [T]
to tie or cover a part of the body with a bandage:
•The nurse bandaged up his sprained ankle.[C]
1 trademark especially AmE a piece of thin material that is stuck to the skin to cover cuts and other small wounds; = plaster BrE
2 a Band-Aid solution to a problem is temporary and will not solve the problem - used to show disapproval:
•This idea is criticized by some as a Band-Aid solution.bandana [C]
a large brightly coloured piece of cloth you wear around your head or neckB & B
the abbreviation of bed and breakfast :
•a small B and B in the Cotswolds
if an object or animal is banded, it has bands of colour or bands of a material around it:
•banded snakes
[+with/in]
•a heavy door banded with steel [C]
someone who robs people, especially one of a group of people who attack travellers:
•They travelled 30 miles through bandit country.
- banditry noun [U]
ONE-ARMED BANDIT $ [C]
someone who CONDUCTs a band, especially a dance or JAZZ band $ [C]
someone who CONDUCTs a military band, BRASS band etc $ [C]
a belt that goes over someone's shoulder and is used to carry bullets plural bandsmen [C]
a musician who plays in a military band, BRASS band etc [C]
a structure in a park that has a roof but no walls and is used by a band playing music [C]
1 an activity that a lot of people are doing:
•The keep-fit bandwagon started rolling in the mid 80s.
2 climb/jump/get on the bandwagon to start doing or saying something that a lot of people are already doing or saying - used to show disapproval:
•I don't want to look as if I'm jumping on a green bandwagon. [U] technical
the amount of information that can be carried through a telephone wire, computer connection etc at one time
bandy legs curve out at the knees
- bandy-legged adjectivepast tense and past participle bandied, present participle bandying, third person singular bandies
bandy words (with sb) old-fashioned to argue

PHRASAL VERBS
bandy sth <=> about/around phr v
to mention an idea, name, remark etc several times, especially in order to seem impressive:
•Many names have been bandied about in the press as the manager's replacement. [singular]
something that causes trouble or makes people unhappy
be the bane of sth/sb
•Drugs are the bane of the inner cities.
•Her brother is the bane of her life.
literary evil or bad
1 [C] a sudden loud noise caused by something such as a gun or an object hitting a hard surface:
•There was a loud bang outside the kitchen door.
2 [C] a painful blow to the body when you hit against something or something hits you; = bump
•a bang on the head
3 bangs [plural] AmE hair cut straight across your forehead; = fringe BrE
4 with a bang in a very successful way:
•Stock markets started the year with a bang.
5 (get) a bigger/better etc bang for your buck informal something that gives you a good effect or a lot of value for the effort or money you spend on it:
•Are taxpayers getting enough bang for their buck?
6 get a bang out of sth AmE spoken to enjoy something very much
BIG BANG THEORY
1 [I,T] to hit something hard, making a loud noise
[+on]
•They were banging on the door with their fists.
bang your fist/hand on sth
•She banged her fist on the table.
•The baby kept banging the table with his spoon.
2 [T] to put something down or against something with a lot of force, making a loud noise
bang sth down
•She banged the phone down hard.
bang sth on/against sth
•He banged a teapot and some cups on the table.
3 [I always + adv/prep, T] to close something violently, making a loud noise, or to be closed in this way; = slam
•I ran out, banging the door behind me.
•The window banged shut.
4 [T] to hit a part of your body or something you are carrying against something, by accident; = bump
bang sth on sth
•I fell and banged my head on the pavement.
5 [I] to make a loud noise or noises:
•The gate keeps banging in the wind.
6 [T] not polite to have sex with someone

PHRASAL VERBS
bang about/around phr v
to move around a place, making a lot of noise:
•We could hear them banging about upstairs.

bang on phr v BrE
informal to talk continuously about something in a boring way; = go on
[+about]
•I wish he wouldn't keep banging on about politics.

bang sth <=> out phr v informal
1 to play a tune or song loudly and badly on a piano
2 to write something in a hurry, especially using a KEYBOARD

bang sb/sth <=> up phr v informal
1 BrE to put someone in prison
2 AmE to seriously damage something:
•a banged-up old Buick
bang the drum for sb/sth at DRUM^1 (4); bang sb's heads together at HEAD^1 (32)
be (like) banging your head against a brick wall at HEAD^1 (31)
1 informal directly or exactly:
•The train arrived bang on time.
•The technology is elaborate, expensive, and bang up to date.
2 bang on BrE spoken exactly correct:
•'Is that right?' 'Bang on!'
3 bang goes sth BrE spoken used to show that you are unhappy because something you had hoped for will not happen:
•Bang goes my brilliant plan.
4 spoken in a sudden violent way:
•I skidded and went bang into the wall.
5 go bang informal to explode or burst with a loud noise
used to make a sound like a gun or bomb:
•Bang bang, you're dead! $ [C] BrE informal
1 a SAUSAGE:
•bangers and mash (=sausages and mashed potato)
2 an old car in bad condition:
•an old banger
3 a type of noisy FIREWORK [C]
a solid band of gold, silver etc that you wear loosely around your wrist as jewellery; = braceletAmE informal
very good:
•He did a bang-up job fixing the plumbing. [T]
1 to not allow someone or something to stay in a particular place
banish sb/sth from/to sth
•I have been banished to a distant corridor.
2 to send someone away permanently from their country or the area where they live, especially as an official punishment; = exile
banish sb from/to
•Thousands were banished to Siberia.
3 literary to try to stop thinking about something or someone
banish the memory/thought/image etc (of sb/sth)
•They tried to banish the memory from their minds.
- banishment noun [U] $ [C]
a row of wooden posts with a bar along the top, that stops you from falling over the edge of stairs $ plural banjos [C]
a musical instrument like a guitar, with a round body and four or more strings, played especially in COUNTRY AND WESTERN music [C]
1 PLACE FOR MONEY
a) a business that keeps and lends money and provides other financial services
in the bank
•We have very little money in the bank.
•Barclays Bank
•a bank loan
b) a local office of a bank:
•I have to go to the bank at lunch time.
CLEARING BANK, MERCHANT BANK
2 RIVER/LAKE land along the side of a river or lake
[+of]
•the banks of the River Dee
•They walked home along the river bank.
3 blood/sperm/organ bank a place where human blood etc is stored until someone needs it
4 CLOUDS/MIST a large mass of clouds, mist etc:
•a fog bank
[+of]
•banks of mist
5 RAISED AREA a large sloping mass of earth, sand, snow etc:
•She was sitting on a grassy bank.
[+of]
•steep banks of snow
•banks of flowers
6 MACHINES a large number of machines, television screens etc arranged close together in a row
[+of]
•banks of TV monitors
7 GAME a supply of money used to GAMBLE, that people can win
break the bank at BREAK^1 (24)
8 be makin' bank AmE spoken informal to earn a lot of money for the work that you do:
•Check out Omar's new car. The brother must be makin' bank.
9 ROAD a slope made at a bend in a road or RACETRACK to make it safer for cars to go around
BOTTLE BANK, FOOD BANK, MEMORY BANK
1 MONEY
a) [T] to put or keep money in a bank:
•Did you bank that check?
b) [I always + adv/prep] to keep your money in a particular bank
[+with]
•Who do you bank with?
[+at]
•I've always banked at First Interstate Bank.
2 PLANE/CAR [I] if a plane, MOTORCYCLE, or car banks, it slopes to one side when turning:
•The plane banked, and circled back toward us.
3 PILE/ROWS also bank up BrE [T] to arrange something into a pile or into rows:
•Snow was banked up on either side of the road.
4 CLOUD/MIST also bank up [I] to form a mass of cloud, mist etc:
•Banked clouds promised rain.
5 FIRE also bank up [T] to cover a fire with wood or coal to keep it going for a long time:
•Josie banked up the fire to last till morning.

PHRASAL VERBS
bank on sb/sth phr v
to depend on something happening or someone doing something; = count on
bank on (sb) doing sth
•I was banking on being able to get some coffee on the train.
likely to be profitable or make a lot of money:
•Hollywood's most bankable stars[C]
an arrangement between a bank and a customer that allows the customer to pay in and take out money:
•I'd like to open a bank account for my son.[singular]
the amount of money someone has in their bank account [C]
AmE a book in which a record is kept of the money you put into and take out of your bank account; = passbook[C]
1 AmE a CREDIT CARD provided by your bank
2 BrE CHEQUE CARDalso banker's draft [C]
a cheque from one bank to another, especially a foreign bank, to pay a certain amount of money to a person or organization $ [C]
1 someone who works in a bank in an important position
2 the player who is in charge of the money in some GAMBLING games[C]
BrE CHEQUE CARD[C]
BANK DRAFT[C]
BrE STANDING ORDER[C]
BrE an official holiday when banks and most businesses are closed; = public holiday AmE
•Next Monday is a bank holiday.
bank holiday weekend (=a weekend on which there is a bank holiday on Friday or Monday) [U]
the business of a bank:
•the international banking system[C]
BrE someone who is in charge of a local bankalso bank note $ [C]
a piece of paper money; = note BrE; = bill AmE[C]
the rate of INTEREST charged by banks lending money, decided by a country's main bank; = interest rate $ [T] informal
to provide the money that someone needs for a business, a plan etc; = finance
•a software company bankrolled by the Samsung Group[C]
a supply of money
1 without enough money to pay what you owe; = insolvent
•The firm went bankrupt before the building work was completed.
•In 1977 he was declared bankrupt (=by a court).
•Mr Trent lost his house when he was made bankrupt.
•Seventeen years of war left the country bankrupt.
•a bankrupt electrical company
2 completely lacking a particular good quality:
•The opposition attacked the government as morally bankrupt.[T]
to make a person, business, or country bankrupt or very poor; = ruin
•Johns had been nearly bankrupted through a failed business venture.[C]
someone who has officially said that they cannot pay their debts
certified/uncertified bankrupt (=one a court does or does not allow to start a business again) BrE plural bankruptcies
1 [C,U] the state of being unable to pay your debts; = insolvency
•In 1999 it was revealed that he was close to bankruptcy.
•When inflation rises, so do bankruptcies.
2 [U] a total lack of a particular good quality:
•the moral bankruptcy of terrorism[C]
a document sent regularly by a bank to a customer that lists the amounts of money taken out of and paid into their BANK ACCOUNT [only before noun]
not officially allowed to meet, exist, or be used:
•Leaders of the banned party were arrested last night.
•He was suspended for using a banned substance (=a drug that people competing in sport are not allowed to take). $ [C]
1 a long piece of cloth on which something is written, often carried between two poles:
•The onlookers were shouting, cheering, and waving banners.
2 a belief or principle
carry/raise/wave etc the banner of sth (=publicly support a particular belief etc)
•She'd never felt the need to carry the banner of feminism.
under the banner of sth
•They marched under the banner of equal educational opportunity.
3 under the banner of sth as part of a particular group or organization:
•The oil-producing countries joined together under the banner of OPEC.
4 a flag[C]
an advertisement that appears across the top of a page on the Internet
- =banner #advertising noun [U][C]
words printed in very large letters across the top of the first page of a newspaper:
•The front-page banner headline read 'Disgraced police chief to stand trial.'[C] AmE
a year which is good because something is successful $ [C]
BANISTER [plural]
a public statement that two people intend to get married, made in a church in Britain [C]
1 a formal dinner for many people on an important occasion:
•a state banquet (=one attended by heads of government and other important people)
2 a large and impressive mealbanquet room [C]
a large room in which banquets take place [C]
a female SPIRIT whose loud cry is believed to be heard when someone is going to die:
•She was screaming like a banshee. [C]
a type of small chicken [C ]
a BOXER who weighs less than 53.52 kilograms, and who is heavier than a FLYWEIGHT but lighter than a FEATHERWEIGHT $ [U]
friendly conversation in which people make a lot of jokes with and amusing remarks about each other
friendly/good-natured/light-hearted banter
[+with/between]
•easy banter between her cousins
- banter verb [I]
•I watched the guys as they bantered with the waitresses.
- bantering adjective [C] BrE
a round soft bread ROLL [C,U]
1 a Christian religious ceremony in which someone is touched or covered with water to welcome them into the Christian faith, and sometimes to officially name them; christening
2 baptism of/by fire a difficult or painful first experience of something:
•For the inexperienced in the team, the campaign has been a baptism of fire.
- baptismal adjective [only before noun]
•a baptismal font (=container for holding the water used at baptism) [C]
a member of a Christian group that believes baptism should only be for people old enough to understand its meaningalso baptise BrE $ [T]
1 to perform the ceremony of baptism on someone; christen
2 to accept someone as a member of a particular Christian church by a ceremony of baptism:
•He was baptized a Roman Catholic.
3 to give a child a name in a baptism ceremony:
•She was baptized Jane. $ [C]
1 PLACE TO DRINK IN
a) a place where alcoholic drinks are served; pub
•The hotel has a licensed bar.
•a cocktail bar
b) BrE one of the rooms inside a pub:
•The public bar was crowded.
2 PLACE TO BUY DRINK a COUNTER where alcoholic drinks are served:
•They stood at the bar.
3 a wine/coffee/snack etc bar a place where a particular kind of food or drink is served
4 a breakfast bar BrE a place in your kitchen at home where you eat breakfast or a quick meal
5 BLOCK SHAPE a small block of solid material that is longer than it is wide:
•a chocolate bar
•a candy bar
[+of]
•a bar of soap
6 PIECE OF METAL/WOOD a length of metal or wood put across a door, window etc to keep it shut or to prevent people going in or out:
•houses with bars across the windows
7 behind bars informal in prison:
•Her killer was finally put behind bars.
8 MUSIC a group of notes and RESTs , separated from other groups by vertical lines, into which a line of written music is divided:
•a few bars of the song
9 bar to (doing) sth written something that prevents you from achieving something that you want:
•I could see no bar to our happiness.
10 the bar
a) BrE the group of people who are BARRISTERs
b) AmE an organization consisting of lawyers
11 be called to the bar
a) BrE to become a BARRISTER
b) AmE to become a lawyer
12 a long narrow shape along the sides or at the top of a computer screen, usually containing signs that you can CLICK on:
•the main menu bar at the top of the screen
•the toolbar
SCROLL BAR
13 the long piece of wood or metal across the top of the goal in sports such as football:
•The ball sailed over the goalkeeper's head, only to hit the bar.
14 PILE OF SAND/STONES a long pile of sand or stones under the water at the entrance to a HARBOUR
15 COLOUR/LIGHT a narrow band of colour or light
16 UNIFORMS a narrow band of metal or cloth worn on a military uniform to show rank
17 HEATER BrE the part of an electric heater that provides heat and has a red lightpast tense and past participle barred, present participle barring [T]
1 to officially prevent someone from entering a place or from doing something
bar sb from (doing) sth
•They seized his passport and barred him from leaving the country.
2 to prevent people from going somewhere by placing something in their way:
•She ran back, but Francis barred her way.
•A locked gate barred my entrance to the wood.
3 also bar up to shut a door or window using a bar or piece of wood so that people cannot get in or out
1 except:
•We had recorded the whole album, bar one track.
2 bar none used to emphasize that someone is the best of a particular group:
•He's the most talented actor in the country, bar none.
BARRING $ [C]
1 the sharp curved point of a hook, ARROW etc that prevents it from being easily pulled out
2 a remark that is clever and amusing, but also cruel
BARBED $ [C]
1 someone from a different tribe or land, who people believe to be wild and not CIVILIZED:
•The Roman Empire came under severe pressure from the barbarians across the Rhine.
2 someone who does not behave properly, and does not show proper respect for education, art etc:
•The youths were described as uncivilised barbarians who savagely attacked innocent victims.
3 someone who behaves in a way that is cruel and UNCIVILIZED $
very cruel and violent; = barbarous
•The way the whales are killed is nothing short of barbaric. $ [U]
1 extremely violent and cruel behaviour
2 when people do not have any education or pleasure in art, literature etc:
•cultural barbarism $ plural barbarities [C,U]
a very cruel act:
•the medieval barbarity of putting people in prison for debt $
1 extremely cruel in a way that is shocking; = barbaric
•The trade in exotic birds is barbarous and inhumane.
2 wild and not CIVILIZED:
•a savage barbarous people
- barbarously adverbalso barbeque AmE $ [C]
1 BBQ a meal or party during which food is cooked on a metal frame over a fire and eaten outdoors:
•We had a barbecue on the beach.
2 a metal frame for cooking food on outdoorsbarbeque [T]
to cook food on a metal frame over a fire outdoors:
•barbecued chicken $
1 a barbed hook or ARROW has one or more sharp curved points on it
2 a barbed remark is unkind:
•a barbed comment on his appearance[U]
wire with short sharp points on it:
•a high barbed wire fence $ [C]
AmE a metal bar with weights at each end, which you lift to make you stronger; = dumbbell BrE $ [C]
1 a man whose job is to cut men's hair and sometimes to SHAVE them
2 barber's BrE a shop where men's hair is cut; = barbershop AmE $
1 [U] a style of singing popular songs with parts for four men, usually without music:
•a barbershop quartet
2 [C] AmE a shop where men's hair is cut; = barber's BrE $ [C]
BrE AusE informal a BARBECUE[U]
a type of BILLIARDS played in PUBs in Britain $ [C,U]
a powerful drug that makes people calm and helps them to sleepalso bar graph [C]
a picture of boxes of different heights, in which each box represents a different amount or quantity[C]
a group of thin and thick lines printed on products you buy in a shop, and which a computer can read. It contains information such as the price. $ [C]
1 literary a poet
2 the Bard William Shakespeare $
1 WITHOUT CLOTHES not covered by clothes; = naked
•a ragged child with bare feet
•She felt the sun warm on her bare arms.
bare-headed/bare-chested/bare-legged etc
2 LAND/TREES not covered by trees or grass, or not having any leaves:
•The trees soon gave way to bare rock.
3 NOT COVERED/EMPTY empty, not covered by anything, or not having any decorations:
•She looked round her tiny bare room.
•a bare wood staircase
4 the bare facts a statement that tells someone only what they need to know, with no additional details:
•The newspaper had simply published the bare facts.
5 SMALLEST AMOUNT NECESSARY [only before noun] the very least amount of something that you need to do something:
•He got 40% - a bare pass.
•The room had the bare minimum (=the smallest amount possible) of furniture.
the bare essentials/necessities
•Her bag was light, packed with only the bare essentials.
•If you ask her about herself, she gives only the barest (=the smallest amount possible) of details.
6 the bare bones the most important parts or facts of something without any detail:
•We have outlined only the bare bones of the method.
7 lay sth bare
a) to uncover something that was previously hidden:
•When the river is low, vast stretches of sand are laid bare.
b) to make known something that was secret:
•historical writing which seeks to lay bare the true nature of an event
8 with your bare hands without using a weapon or a tool:
•He had killed a man with his bare hands.
9 bare infinitive technical the basic form of a verb, for example 'go' or 'eat'
- bareness noun [U][T]
1 to remove something that was covering or hiding something:
•The dog bared its teeth.
•He bared his back to the hot sun.
2 bare your soul to reveal your most secret feelingsbare-arsed BrE $ AmE informal
having no clothes on $
on a horse without a SADDLE:
•He'd been riding bareback all his life.also bare-faced $ [only before noun]
used to describe a remark or action that is clearly untrue or unpleasant, and that shows that you do not care about offending someone; = blatant
•Why are you telling such barefaced lies?also bare-footed $
without shoes on your feet:
•He walked barefoot across the sand. $
without a hat or other covering on your head:
•You can't go out bareheaded in this weather. $
1 only with great difficulty or effort; = only just
•She was very old and barely able to walk.
•Mary had barely enough money to live on.
barely audible/perceptible/visible/discernible etc
•His voice was barely audible.
•She could barely understand English.
2 almost not; = hardly
•She was barely aware of his presence.
•Joe and his brother are barely on speaking terms.
3 used to emphasize that something happens immediately after a previous action; = only just BrE
•Graham had barely finished his coffee when Henry returned.
4 used before amounts or numbers to emphasize that they are surprisingly small; = only
•Nowadays the village has barely 100 inhabitants.
•The party had been in government for barely seven months. $ [I] AmE informal
to VOMIT
- barf noun [U] $ [C] AmE informal
someone who spends a lot of time in bars $ [C]
1 something you buy cheaply or for less than its usual price:
•There are no bargains in the clothes shops at the moment.
•It's an attractive little home, and I think it's a bargain.
•That second-hand table was a real bargain.
•Good knives don't come at bargain prices.
•Thousands of bargain hunters (=people looking for things to buy at low prices) queued up for hours.
2 an agreement, made between two people or groups to do something in return for something else
make/strike a bargain
•Management and unions have struck a bargain over wage increases.
•I've kept my side of the bargain and I expect you to keep yours.
drive a hard bargain at HARD^1 (18)
3 into the bargain also in the bargain AmE in addition to everything else:
•I am now tired, cold, and hungry, with a headache into the bargain.[I]
to discuss the conditions of a sale, agreement etc, for example to try and get a lower price
[+for]
•workers bargaining for better pay
[+over]
•They bargained over the level of wages.
[+with]
•women bargaining with traders

PHRASAL VERBS
bargain for sth phr v also bargain on sth
[usually in negatives] to expect that something will happen and make it part of your plans:
•They hadn't bargained for such a dramatic change in the weather.
bargain on doing sth
•I hadn't bargained on being stuck in traffic on the way home.
•The thief got more than he bargained for, as Mr Cox tripped him up with his walking stick.
- bargainer noun [C]
•He's the hardest bargainer in the business.[C]
a part of a large shop, usually below ground level, where goods are sold at reduced prices $ [U]
1 discussion in order to reach an agreement about a sale, contract etc; = negotiation
wage/pay bargaining
•The government would not intervene in private-sector wage bargaining.
•The 4% pay raise was the result of some hard bargaining.
2 bargaining position/power the amount of influence someone has and their ability to achieve what they want when starting a discussion or making an agreement
•Most new artists and bands aren't in a strong bargaining position.
•This will increase the bargaining power of management in wage negotiations.
COLLECTIVE BARGAININGbargaining counter BrE [C] especially AmE
something that one person or group in a business deal or political agreement has, that can be used to gain an advantage in the deal $
[C] a large low boat with a flat bottom, used for carrying goods on a CANAL or river[I always + adv/prep]
to move somewhere in a rough careless way, often hitting against things; = push
•She ran outside, barging past bushes and shrubs.
barge your way through/to etc sth
•She barged her way through the shopping crowds.

PHRASAL VERBS
barge in phr v also barge into sth
to enter somewhere rudely, or to rudely interrupt someone:
•At that moment, George barged into my office without knocking.
[+on]
•'Sorry to barge in on your cosy evening,' James said.also bargeman $ [C] AmE
someone who drives or works on a barge $ [C]
a long pole used to guide a barge
not touch sb/sth with a bargepole at TOUCH^1 (12)[C]
a BAR CHART $ past tense and past participle barhopped, present participle barhopping [I] AmE informal
to visit and drink at several bars, one after another; = pub crawl BrE [C]
someone whose job is to prepare coffee in a COFFEE BAR $
1 [C] a male singing voice that is lower than a TENOR but higher than a BASS, or a man with a voice like this:
•Frederico Lucetti, the famous baritone
2 [singular] the part of a musical work that is written for a baritone voice or instrument:
•Can you sing the baritone?
ALTO^2 (2), BASS^1 (2), SOPRANO^1 (2), TENOR^1 (2)[only before noun]
a baritone voice or instrument is lower than a TENOR but higher than a BASS $ [U]
1 a soft silver-white metal that is used to make PIGMENTs (=dry coloured powders used to make paints). It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Ba.
2 a barium meal/enema/swallow a substance containing barium that you swallow or that is put in your BOWELs before you have an X-RAY, because it makes the organs in your body easier to see $
1 [I] when a dog barks, it makes a short loud sound or series of sounds; growl
[+at]
•The dog always barks at strangers.
2 also bark out [T] to say something quickly in a loud voice
[+at]
•'Don't just stand there, give me a hand,' she barked at the shop assistant.
3 bark up the wrong tree informal to have a wrong idea, or do something in a way that will not give you the information or result you want:
•The police spent three months barking up the wrong tree on the murder investigation.
4 [T] to rub the skin off your knee, elbow etc by falling or knocking against something; = graze
•I barked my shin against the step.
1 [C] the sharp loud sound made by a dog
2 [U] the outer covering of a tree
3 [C] a loud sound or voice:
•Amy's voice was a hoarse bark.
4 sb's bark is worse than their bite used to say that someone who seems unpleasant or difficult to deal with, is not really too badalso barkeep $ [C] AmE
someone who serves drinks in a bar; = bartender $ [C]
in the past, someone who stood outside a place where there was a CIRCUS or FAIR shouting to people to come inalso barking $ [not before noun] BrE
completely crazy or acting very strangely - used humorously $ [U]
a plant that produces a grain used for making food or alcohol[C,U] BrE
a hard sweet made of boiled sugar[U] BrE
a drink made from barley boiled with water, with the flavour of lemon or orange[U] BrE
a type of very strong beer $ [C]
BrE a woman who serves drinks in a bar; = bartender $ plural barmen [C] especially BrE
a man who serves drinks in a bar; = bartender $ [C]
1 the religious ceremony held when a Jewish boy reaches the age of 13 and is considered an adult in his religion; bat mitzvah
2 a boy for whom this ceremony is held $ BrE informal
slightly crazy:
•That's a barmy idea. $ [C]
1 a large farm building for storing crops, or for keeping animals in
2 informal a large plain building:
•a huge barn of a house $ [C]
a small sea animal with a hard shell that sticks firmly to rocks and the bottom of boats[C] BrE
a social event at which there is COUNTRY DANCING; square dance $ [C] BrE informal old-fashioned
hair or a way of wearing your hair $ [C usually singular] BrE informal
a noisy argument $ [I]
AmE to travel from place to place making short stops to give political speeches, theatre performances, or aircraft flying shows
- barnstormer noun [C] $ [only before noun]
done with a lot of energy and very exciting to watch:
•a barnstorming speech $ [C]
an area on a farm surrounded by farm buildings; = farmyard $ [C]
1 an instrument that measures changes in the air pressure and the weather, or that calculates height above sea level
2 something that shows any changes that are happening in a particular situation:
•The skin is an accurate barometer of emotional and physical health.
- barometric adjective [only before noun]
- barometrically adverb [C]
1 a man who is a member of a low rank of the British NOBILITY or of a rank of European NOBILITY
2 a businessman with a lot of power or influence:
• drug barons
•conservative press barons like Beaverbrook
ROBBER BARON [C]
1 a woman who is a member of a low rank of the British NOBILITY
2 the wife of a baron [C]
a member of the British NOBILITY, lower in rank than a baron, whose title passes to his son when he dies plural baronetcies [C]
the rank of a baronet $
1 very large and richly decorated:
•a splendid baronial house
2 belonging to or involving BARONs plural baronies [C]
the rank of BARON $
relating to the very decorated style of art, music, buildings etc, that was common in Europe in the 17th and early 18th centuries:
•furnished in a baroque style
•elaborate baroque façades
baroque music/architecture/paintings etc
the baroque used to describe baroque art, music, buildings etc $ [C]
a sailing ship with three, four, or five MASTs (=poles that the sails are fixed to) [I,T]
1 BrE to interrupt someone, especially a performer or a player, by shouting criticism at them:
•At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival Bob Dylan was barracked for using electric instruments.
2 AusE to shout to show that you support someone or something [plural]
a building or group of buildings in which soldiers live $ [C]
a large tropical fish that eats flesh $
1 [C usually singular] the continuous firing of guns, dropping of bombs etc, especially to protect soldiers as they move towards an enemy
[+of]
•a barrage of anti-aircraft fire
2 [singular] a lot of criticism, questions, complaints etc that are said at the same time, or very quickly one after another
[+of]
•a barrage of questions $ [C]
a wall of earth, stones etc built across a river to provide water for farming or to prevent flooding $ [C]
a large bag that floats in the air to prevent enemy planes from flying near the ground $
1 a barred window, gate etc has bars across it; bar
2 formal having bands of different colour; bar
•red barred tail feathers [C]
1 a large curved container with a flat top and bottom, made of wood or metal, and used for storing beer, wine etc:
•The wine is aged in oak barrels.
[+of]
•barrels of beer
2 a unit of measurement for oil, equal to 159 litres
[+of]
•two million barrels of oil
3 the part of a gun that the bullets are fired through
4 have sb over a barrel to put someone in a situation in which they are forced to accept or do what you want:
•The manager had us over a barrel - either we work on a Saturday or we lose our jobs.
5 be a barrel of laughs [often in negatives] to be very enjoyable:
• Life is not exactly a barrel of laughs at the moment.
PORK BARREL; scrape (the bottom of) the barrel at SCRAPE^1 (5); lock, stock, and barrel at LOCK^2 (3)[I] AmE informal
to move very fast, especially in an uncontrolled way:
•A vehicle barreled out of a shopping center and crashed into the side of my car.
a man who is barrel-chested has a round chest that sticks out[C]
a musical instrument that you play by turning a handle, often used on the streets in order to get money, especially in the past
1 land or soil that is barren has no plants growing on it
•Thousands of years ago the surface was barren desert.
2 old-fashioned unable to produce children or baby animals - used of a woman or of female animals; = infertile; fertile
3 a tree or plant that is barren does not produce fruit or seeds
4 used to describe something that does not look interesting or attractive:
•The sports hall was a rather barren concrete building.
5 used to describe a period of time during which you do not achieve anything or get any useful results:
•I scored five in the first seven games, but I've had a bit of a barren patch since then. [C]
AmE a small metal or plastic object used to keep a woman's hair in place; = hair-slide BrE [C]
a temporary wall or fence across a road, door etc that prevents people from going through:
•The fans were kept back behind barricades.[T]
to build a barricade to prevent someone or something from getting in:
•During the riots, some of the prisoners barricaded their cells.
barricade sb/yourself in/into sth
•Shopkeepers had to barricade themselves in. $ [C]
1 a rule, problem etc that prevents people from doing something, or limits what they can do:
•the removal of trade barriers (=something such as a tax that makes trade between countries difficult)
[+to]
•Problems with childcare remain the biggest barrier to women succeeding at work.
[+between]
•We want to break down barriers between doctors and patients.
•The language barrier (=the inability to communicate with someone because you speak a different language) makes debate impossible.
2 a type of fence or gate that prevents people from moving in a particular direction:
•Crowds burst through the barriers and ran onto the pitch.
3 a physical object that keeps two areas, people etc apart
[+between]
•The mountains form a natural barrier between the two countries.
4 the 10-second/40% etc barrier a level or amount of 10 seconds, 40% etc, that is seen as a limit which it is difficult to get beyond:
•I'm hoping to crash the 20-second barrier in the final and get a bronze.
SOUND BARRIER, CRASH BARRIER[C]
barrier methods of CONTRACEPTION involve the use of CONDOMs etc, which physically prevent the SPERM from reaching the egg[C]
a line of CORAL (=pink stone-like substance) separated from the shore by water
unless something happens:
•His back is broken and, barring a miracle, he won't walk again. $ plural barrios [C]
AmE a part of an American town or city where many poor Spanish-speaking people live $ [C]
a lawyer in Britain who can argue cases in the higher law courts; solicitor
see box at LAWYERalso bar room [C]
a bar $ [C]
1 a small vehicle like a box on wheels, from which fruits, vegetables etc used to be sold
2 a large pile of earth like a small hill that was put over a GRAVE in ancient times
3 a WHEELBARROW $ [C] BrE
a man or boy who sells fruit, vegetables etc from a barrow $ [C]
AmE someone who makes, pours, and serves drinks in a bar or restaurant; = barman, barmaid BrE $ [I,T]
to exchange goods, work, or services for other goods or services rather than for money
barter (with sb) for sth
•I had to barter with the locals for food.
barter sth for sth
•They bartered their grain for salt.[U]
1 a system of exchanging goods and services for other goods and services rather than using money:
•Trading was carried out under a barter system.
2 goods or services that are exchanged by bartering:
•We used cigarettes for barter. $ [U]
a type of dark green-black rock
[T usually passive] to have your main place of work, business etc in a particular place:
•The paper had intended to base itself in London.
be based in sth
•The new organization will be based in Dallas.
BASED

PHRASAL VERBS
base sth on/upon sth phr v
to use something as the thing from which something else is developed:
•Their relationship was based upon mutual respect.
•an economy based on farming
•On what do you base your theory?
1 LOWEST PART [C usually singular]
a) the lowest part or surface of something; = bottom
[+of]
•There is a door at the base of the tower.
•the base of a triangle
•a frozen dessert with a biscuit base
•a wine glass with a heavy base
•The leather of his left trainer was coming away from its rubber base.
b) the lowest point on a plant or part of your body, where it joins another part; = bottom
[+of]
•a hole in the base of the tree
•He was killed by an axe blow to the base of his skull.
2 KNOWLEDGE/IDEAS [C] the most important part of something, from which new ideas develop; = foundation
•India has a good scientific research base.
[+for]
•They were laying the base for a new economic recovery.
•Changes in working practices will provide a base for improved performance.
3 MILITARY [C] a place where people in a military organization live and work
military/naval/air base
4 COMPANY/ORGANIZATION [C,U] the main place from which a person, company, or organization controls their activities
[+for]
•He used the house as a base for his printing business.
5 PEOPLE/GROUPS [C usually singular] the people, money, groups etc that form the main part of something:
•The company has built up a loyal customer base.
•By broadening the tax base (=all the people who pay taxes), he could raise more revenues.
•an attempt to strengthen the city's economic base (=things that produce jobs and money)
•The country's manufacturing base (=all the factories, companies etc that produce goods in a country) has shrunk by 20%.
POWER BASE
6 SUBSTANCE/MIXTURE [singular, U] the main part of a substance, meal etc to which other things are added:
•paint with an oil base
[+for]
•Jacket potatoes form the base for a healthy meal.
•Vodka is the base for many cocktails.
7 SPORT [C] one of the four places that a player must touch in order to get a point in games such as BASEBALL
8 be off base AmE informal to be completely wrong:
•His estimate for painting the kitchen seems way off base.
9 CHEMICAL [C] technical a chemical substance that combines with an acid to form a SALT
10 NUMBERS [C usually singular] technical the number in relation to which a number system or mathematical table is built up, for example 10 in the DECIMAL system
11 touch base (with sb) to talk to someone to find out what is happening about something
- basal adjective
cover (all) the bases at COVER^1 (12)
not having good moral principles:
•base attitudes and desires
BASE METAL $
1 [U] an outdoor game between two teams of nine players, in which players try to get points by hitting a ball and running around four BASEs
2 [C] the ball used in baseball[C]
a hat that fits closely around your head with a round part that sticks out at the front $ [C]
AmE a narrow board fixed to the bottom of indoor walls where they meet the floor; = skirting board BrE
1 [not before noun] if you are based somewhere, that is the place where you work or where your main business is:
•It is a professional service based at our offices in Oxford.
London-based/New York-based etc
•a London-based firm of accountants
2 oil-based/carbon-based/computer-based etc used to describe the basic feature or part of something:
•computer-based teaching
•community-based services
•carbon-based fuels
3 broadly-based based on many kinds of things or people:
•a broadly-based government of national reconciliationbase jumping [U]
Building, Antenna, Span, Earth a sport in which people jump off tall objects such as buildings, bridges, or cliffs, using a PARACHUTE
not based on facts or good reasons - used to show disapproval; = unfounded
baseless rumours/charges/accusations [C usually singular]
1 technical a standard measurement or fact against which other measurements or facts are compared, especially in medicine or science:
•The company's waste emissions were 14% lower than in 1998, the baseline year.
2 the line at the back of the court in games such as tennis or VOLLEYBALL
3 the area that a player must run within, on a BASEBALL field [C]
a room or area in a building that is under the level of the ground[C,U]
a metal that is not very valuable, such as iron or lead[C] BrE
in Britain, the standard rate of INTEREST^1 (4), set by the Bank of England, on which all British banks base their charges; prime rate
the plural of BASIS
1 [I always + adv/prep, T] to hit someone or something hard, in a way that causes pain or damage:
•Someone bashed him on the back of his head.
•Police bashed down the door to get in.
bash sth on/against sth
•He bashed his head on the back of the seat.
[+into]
•I accidentally bashed into a woman pushing a pram.
2 [T] to criticize someone or something very strongly:
•He was always bashing the trade unions.

PHRASAL VERBS
bash on phr v informal
to continue working in order to finish something:
•Well, I'd better bash on.

bash sth <=> out phr v informal
to produce something quickly or in great quantities but without much care or thought:
•I bashed out replies as fast as I could.

bash sb <=> up phr v
to seriously hurt someone by attacking them violently
- -basher noun [C]
•union-bashers[C]
1 informal a hard strong hit; = bang
[+on]
•a bash on the head
2 informal a party or an event to celebrate something:
•a birthday bash
3 have a bash (at sth) BrE spoken to try to do something, especially when you are not sure that you will succeed:
•Why not have a bash at windsurfing?
easily embarrassed in social situations; = shy
•a bashful grin
•Don't be bashful about telling people how you feel.
- bashfully adverb
- bashfulness noun [U] [singular,U]
1 the action of attacking someone and hitting them:
•Gay-bashing (=attacks on gay people) is on the increase.
give sb a bashing
•They gave him a real bashing.
2 strong and usually unfair public criticism of a particular group or person:
•union-bashing in the right-wing press
1 forming the most important or most necessary part of something; basics
•the basic principles of chemistry
•The basic idea is simple.
• basic research
• basic information
[+to]
•medical techniques basic to the control of infection
2 at the simplest or least developed level; basics
•the basic skills of programming
•Their knowledge is very basic.
•The farm lacks even basic equipment.
3 basic salary/pay/pension etc the amount of money that you are paid before any special payments are added:
•On top of the basic salary there are numerous other benefits.
4 [only before noun] basic rights, needs etc are ones that everyone needs or should have:
•basic human rights
•poor families unable to meet their basic needs
1 [sentence adverb] spoken used to emphasize the most important reason or fact about something, or a simple explanation of something:
•Basically, I'm just lazy.
•Well, basically, it's a matter of filling in a few forms.
•I used to see him every night, basically.
2 in the main or most important ways, without considering additional details or differences; = fundamentally
•All cheeses are made in basically the same way.
•I believe that human beings are basically good.
•Basically, he hadn't changed at all. [plural]
1 the most important and necessary facts about something, from which other possibilities and ideas may develop
[+of]
•the basics of French grammar
•Here are some of the basics you will need to know.
2 things which everyone needs in order to live or to deal with a particular situation:
•basics like food and education
3 back to basics used to describe a return to teaching or doing the most important or simplest things:
•A lot of parents want schools to get back to basics.[U]
the period when a new soldier learns military rules and does a lot of exercise $ [U]
a strong-smelling and strong-tasting HERB used in cooking [C]
a church in the shape of a long room with a round end:
•the basilica of St Peter's in Rome [C]
an imaginary animal like a snake in ancient stories, supposed to be able to kill people by looking at them [C]
1 BrE a round container attached to the wall in a bathroom, where you wash your hands and face; = sink
•The room has a wash basin.
2 a large bowl-shaped container for liquids or food:
•Fill the basin with the cake mixture.
3 also basinful the amount of liquid that a basin can contain:
•a basin of hot water
4 an area of land that is lower at the centre than at the edges, especially one from which water runs down into a river:
•the Amazon basin
5 a place where the Earth's surface is lower than in other areas:
•the Pacific Basin
PUDDING BASIN plural bases [C]
1 the facts, ideas, or things from which something can be developed:
•Their claim had no basis in fact (=it was not true).
[+of]
•Bread forms the basis of their daily diet.
[+for]
•The video will provide a basis for class discussion.
2 on the basis of sth because of a particular fact or situation:
•discrimination on the basis of sex
3 on a regular/daily/weekly etc basis every day, week etc:
•I'm saving money on a regular basis.
4 on a voluntary/part-time/temporary etc basis a system or agreement by which someone or something is VOLUNTARY etc:
•Wherever possible redundancies should be on a voluntary basis.
•Nurses are employed on a full-time basis. $ [I]
1 to enjoy sitting or lying in the heat of the sun or a fire
[+in]
•Lizards were basking in the morning sun.
2 if a place basks in the sun, it is sunny and warm
[+in]
•Tenerife was basking in afternoon sunshine as they arrived.
3 to enjoy the approval or attention that you are getting from other people
[+in]
•She basked in the admiration of the media.
bask/bathe in sb's reflected glory at GLORY^1 (4) $ [C]
1 a container made of thin pieces of plastic, wire, or wood woven together, used to carry things or put things in:
•a shopping basket
•a basket full of vegetables
•a picnic basket
clothes/laundry basket (=for dirty clothes)
2 a net with a hole at the bottom attached to a metal ring, through which the ball is thrown in BASKETBALL
make/shoot a basket (=to throw the ball through the basket)
3 technical the average or total value of a number of different goods or CURRENCIES
put all your eggs in one basket at EGG^1 (6); WASTEPAPER BASKET $
1 [U] a game played indoors between two teams of five players, in which each team tries to win points by throwing a ball through a net
2 [C] the ball used in this game[C]
1 informal someone who you think is crazy; = nut case
2 a country with many severe economic and social problems that are likely to continue for a long timealso basketwork $ [U]
1 baskets or other objects made by weaving together thin dried branches
2 the skill of making baskets [C]
a piece of underwear for a woman that covers her body from under her arms to the top of her legs [C,U] technical
a style of art in which stone or wood is cut so that shapes are raised above the surrounding surface; high relief
1 [C] a very low male singing voice, or a man with a voice like this
2 [singular] the part of a musical work that is written for a singer with a bass voice
ALTO^2 (2), BARITONE^1 (2), SOPRANO^1 (2), TENOR^1 (2)
3 [U] the lower half of the whole range of musical notes; treble
4 [C] a BASS GUITAR:
•The band features Johnson on bass (=playing the bass guitar).
5 [C] a DOUBLE BASS
!! Do not confuse bass and base, although they have the same pronunciation.[only before noun]
a bass instrument or voice produces low notes:
•a bass drum plural bass [C]
a fish that can be eaten and lives in both rivers and the sea [C]
a sign ( ) at the beginning of a line of written music that shows that the top line of the STAVE is the A below MIDDLE Calso basset hound [C]
a dog with short legs and long ears, used for huntingalso bass $ [C]
an electric GUITAR with four strings, that plays low notes
BASSIST [C]
someone who plays a BASS GUITAR or a DOUBLE BASS [C]
a musical instrument like a very long wooden tube, that produces a low sound. You hold it upright and play it by blowing into a thin curved metal pipe.
- bassoonist noun [C] $ [C]
1 taboo a very offensive word for someone, especially a man, who you think is unpleasant. Do not use this word.:
•You lying bastard!
2 spoken informal not polite a man who you think is very lucky or very unlucky - often used humorously:
•He's gone straight to the top, the lucky bastard.
•The poor bastard fell off his horse.
3 BrE spoken informal something that causes difficulties or problems:
•Life's a bastard sometimes.
4 old-fashioned someone who was born to parents who were not marriedalso bastardise BrE $ [T]
to spoil something by changing its good parts:
•a bastardized version of the play [I,T]
1 to pour liquid or melted fat over food that is cooking:
•Baste the potatoes occasionally.
2 to fasten cloth with long loose stitches, in order to hold it together so that you can SEW it properly later; = tack $ [C]
1 something that protects a way of life, principle etc that seems likely to change or end completely
[+of]
•These clubs are the last bastions of male privilege.
2 a place where a country or army has strong military defences:
•Pearl Harbor was the principal American bastion in the Pacific.
3 technical a part of a castle wall that sticks out from the rest [C]
1 a small animal like a mouse with wings that flies around at night
FRUIT BAT
2
a) a long wooden stick with a special shape that is used in some sports and games:
•a baseball bat
•a cricket bat
b) BrE a round flat piece of wood with a handle, used to hit a ball in TABLE TENNIS; = paddle AmE
3 be at bat to be the person who is trying to hit the ball in a game of BASEBALL
4 do sth off your own bat BrE informal to do something without being told to do it:
•She went to see a solicitor off her own bat.
5 do sth right off the bat AmE informal to do something immediately:
•He said yes right off the bat.
6 like a bat out of hell informal very fast:
•I drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital.
7 old bat spoken an unpleasant old woman
as blind as a bat at BLIND^1 (1c)past tense and past participle batted, present participle batting
1 [I,T] to hit the ball with a bat in CRICKET or BASEBALL
2 not bat an eye/eyelid informal to not seem to be shocked, surprised, or embarrassed:
•They started talking about sex, but she didn't bat an eyelid.
3 bat your eyes/eyelashes if a woman bats her eyes, she opens and closes them several times quickly in order to look attractive to men
4 go to bat for sb AmE informal to help and support someone
5 be batting a thousand AmE informal to be very successful:
•She's been batting a thousand ever since she got that new job.

PHRASAL VERBS
bat sth <=> around phr v informal
to discuss various ideas or suggestions [C]
a boy whose job is to look after the equipment of a BASEBALL team [C]
1 a group of people or things that arrive or are dealt with together
[+of]
•Every day another batch of papers reaches the manager demanding his attention.
2 a quantity of food, medicine etc that is produced or prepared at the same time
[+of]
•She was in the kitchen taking a batch of bread out of the oven.
3 a set of jobs that are dealt with together on a computer:
•an overnight batch file
•a batch job[U] technical
a type of computer system in which the computer does several jobs one after the other, without needing instructions between each job
with bated breath feeling very anxious or excited:
•He waited for a reply to his offer with bated breath. $ plural baths $ [C]
1 if you take a bath, you wash your body in a bath:
•After a week of camping, I really needed a bath.
take/have a bath
•I'll have a bath and go to bed.
•How often do you take a bath?
•I'll give the children their bath (=wash them in a bath).
2 BrE a large long container that you fill with water and sit or lie in to wash yourself; = bathtub AmE
3 water that you sit or lie in to wash yourself:
•a hot bath
•She ran a bath (=put water into a bath) for herself.
4 a bathroom, used especially in advertising:
•All our luxury bedrooms have a private bath.
5 a container full of liquid in which something is placed for a particular purpose
[+of]
•Plunge the fabric into a bath of black dye.
6 baths
a) BrE old-fashioned a public building in which there is a swimming pool
b) a public building where people could go in the past to wash themselves:
•the Roman baths at Cirencester
7 take a bath AmE informal to lose money, especially in a business deal:
•We took a bath in the market over that stock.
BIRDBATH, BUBBLE BATH; throw the baby out with the bath water at THROW^1 (37)BrE
1 [T] to wash someone in a bath; = bathe AmE
•I'll bath the children.
2 [I] old-fashioned to wash yourself in a bath; = bathe AmE
!! It is more usual to say have a bath BrE or take a bath AmE.[C] BrE
a special chair with wheels and a cover, used in the past for moving someone old or sick around; wheelchair
1 [I,T] especially AmE to wash yourself or someone else in a bath; = bath BrE
•I bathed, washed my hair, and got dressed.
•He bathed the children and put them to bed.
!! It is more usual to say have a bath BrE or take a bath AmE.
2 [I] BrE old-fashioned to swim in the sea, a river, or a lake:
•They bathed in the lake in the moonlight.
!! It is more usual to say go for/have a swim.
3 [T] to wash or cover part of your body with a liquid, especially as a medical treatment:
•She brought a bowl of water and began to bathe the injured arm.
4 be bathed in light/sunshine etc written an area or building that is bathed in light has light shining onto it in a way that makes it look pleasant or attractive:
•The top of Pea Hill was bathed in brilliant sunshine.
5 be bathed in sweat written to be covered in SWEAT:
•I was tired and bathed in sweat.
a bathe BrE old-fashioned when you swim in the sea, a river, or a lake:
•They went for a bathe before lunch. $
1 [C] BrE someone who is swimming in the sea, a river, or a lake
2 bathers [plural] AusE a SWIMSUIT [U]
BrE the activity of swimming in the sea, a river, or a lake:
•Is the beach safe for bathing? [C] old-fashioned
a special hat that you wear for swimming $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned a SWIMSUIT $ [C] old-fashioned
a SWIMSUIT [C]
BrE old-fashioned a piece of clothing worn by men for swimming; = swimming trunks[C]
1 a piece of thick cloth that you put on the floor next to the bath
2 a piece of rubber that you put in the bath to prevent yourself from slipping $ [U] formal
in writing, a play etc, a sudden change from a subject that is beautiful, moral, or serious to something that is ordinary, silly, or not important $ [C]
a long loose piece of clothing shaped like a coat, that you wear especially before or after having a bath or SHOWER; dressing gown $ [C]
1 a room where there is a bath or SHOWER, a BASIN, and sometimes a toilet
2 AmE a room where there is a toilet:
•Can you tell me where the bathroom is?
•I really need to go to the bathroom (=use a toilet).[C]
a large TOWEL (=piece of material for drying yourself) $ [C]
especially AmE a long large container that you fill with water and sit or lie in to wash yourself; = bath BrE
1 [U] a way of printing coloured patterns on cloth that involves putting WAX over some parts of the cloth
2 [C,U] cloth that has been coloured in this way plural batmen [C]
an officer's personal servant in the British army [C]
1 a religious ceremony held when a Jewish girl reaches the age of 13 and is considered an adult in her religion; bar mitzvah
2 a girl for whom this ceremony is held $ [C]
1 a short thin stick used by a CONDUCTOR (=the leader of a group of musicians) to direct the music
2 a short light stick that is passed from one person to another during a race
3 a short thick stick used as a weapon by a police officer; = truncheon
4 a short stick that is carried as a sign of a special office or rank
5 a light metal stick that is spun and thrown into the air by a MAJORETTE plural batsmen [C]
the person who is trying to hit the ball in CRICKET [C]
1 a large group of soldiers consisting of several companies ( COMPANY)
2 a large group of people who are doing something with a particular purpose
[+of]
•a battalion of supporters
1 batten down the hatches
a) to prepare yourself for a period of difficulty or trouble
b) to firmly fasten the entrances to the lower part of a ship
2 batten on sb BrE formal to live well by using someone else's money, possessions etc - used to show disapproval[C]
a long narrow piece of wood that is attached to other pieces of wood or another building material to strengthen them and keep them in place $ [I always + adv/prep, T]
to hit someone or something again and again, in a way that hurts someone or causes damage:
•He was battered to death.
•As a child she was battered by her father.
[+at/on/against etc]
•People were battering at the door.
batter sb with sth
•He was battered on the head with a cricket bat.
[+away]
•She battered away at his chest with her fists.
batter sth down
•Armed police battered his door down.
- battering noun [C,U]
1 [C,U] a mixture of flour, eggs, milk etc, used in cooking and for making bread, cakes etc:
•Fry the fish in batter.
•pancake batter
2 [C] the person who is trying to hit the ball in BASEBALL $
1 old and in bad condition:
•a battered old suitcase
2 battered woman/wife/husband/baby etc someone who has been violently attacked by their husband, wife, father etc[C]
a long heavy piece of wood used in wars in the past to break through walls or doors plural batteries
1 ELECTRICITY [C] an object that provides a supply of electricity for something such as a radio, car, or toy

change the batteries (in sth) (=put new batteries in something)
charge/recharge a battery (=fill it with electricity again after it has been used)
flat battery BrE
dead battery AmE (=one that has no more electricity in it)
rechargeable battery (=one that can be recharged and used again)
car battery
battery powered/operated
battery compartment (=the place where the batteries go)
battery charger (=a piece of equipment for charging batteries)

•You have to take the top off to change the batteries.
•When the red light comes on, you should recharge the battery so it is ready for the next time.
•The car's got a flat battery.
• a battery-operated hair dryer

2 a battery of sth a group of many things of the same type:
•a battery of medical tests
3 FARM [C] BrE a row of small CAGEs in which chickens are kept, so that the farm can produce large numbers of eggs:
•battery hens
FREE-RANGE
4 GUNS [C] several large guns used together:
•an anti-aircraft battery
5 CRIME [U] law the crime of hitting someone:
•He was charged with assault and battery.
ASSAULT AND BATTERY
6 recharge your batteries informal to rest or relax in order to get back your energy:
•A week in the mountains should recharge my batteries. [C]
1 FIGHT a fight between opposing armies, groups of ships, groups of people etc, especially one that is part of a larger war:
•the Battle of Trafalgar
in battle
•Her son was killed in battle.
into battle
•a knight riding into battle
[+between]
•battles between government forces and the rebels
•a pitched battle (=a long and serious battle) between police and drug gangs
2 COMPETITION/ARGUMENT a situation in which opposing groups or people compete or argue with each other when trying to achieve success or control:
•a long-running legal battle
[+for]
•a battle for custody of their children
[+between]
•a fierce ratings battle between rival TV stations
[+with]
•an on-going battle with my mother about eating properly
3 CHANGE BAD SITUATION an attempt to solve a difficult problem or change an unpleasant situation

fight a battle
win a battle
lose a battle
a losing battle (=something you cannot achieve)
an uphill battle (=something that is very difficult to do)

[+against]
•a battle against the racism of the school system
[+with]
•a long battle with lung cancer
[+for]
•Scientology has fought long battles for acceptance as a religion.
•Learning to read as an adult is tough work, but you can win this battle if you try.
•We've tried to mend the fence several times, but we're fighting a losing battle.
•Keeping the house tidy is an uphill battle when the kids are all at home.

4 be half the battle to be a difficult or important part of what you have to do:
•Just getting an interview is half the battle.
5 a battle of wits a situation in which opposing sides try to win by using their intelligence:
•A good mystery story is a battle of wits between author and reader.
6 battle of wills a situation in which opposing sides refuse to change what they want, in the hope that the other side will decide to change first:
•a battle of wills between teacher and student
7 do battle (with sb) to argue with someone or fight against someone:
•She walked into the room with her eyes blazing, ready to do battle.
8 fight your own battles to argue with someone or compete in a difficult situation without having help from other people - used to show approval:
•It's all right, Mum. I can fight my own battles.
9 the battle of the sexes the relationship between men and women when it is considered as a fight for power
10 the battle of the bulge the act of trying to lose weight - used humorously
1 [I,T] to try very hard to achieve something that is difficult or dangerous:
•Firefighters battled the flames for four hours last night.
[+against/with]
•She had battled bravely against cancer.
[+for]
•a pressure group battling for better schools
battle to do sth
•Doctors battled to save his life.
2 battle it out to keep fighting or opposing each other until one person or team wins:
•32 teams will battle it out in the finals.
3 [I] literary to take part in a fight or waralso battleax AmE [C]
1 informal a very unpleasant woman who tries to control other people
2 a large AXE used as a weapon in the past[C]
a large fast ship used in war[C usually singular]
1 a phrase used to encourage people, especially members of a political organization:
•'Socialism Now!' was their battle cry.
2 a loud shout used in war to encourage your side and frighten the enemyalso battle fatigues [U] [plural] BrE
clothes worn by soldiers when they are fighting[U] old-fashioned
a type of mental illness caused by the frightening experiences of war, in which someone feels very anxious and upsetalso battleground [C]
1 a place where a battle is being fought or has been fought
2 a subject that people disagree or argue a lot about:
•Education has become a political battleground.
3 a place where an argument or disagreement happens, or where people are competing against each other:
•a battleground state during the election
•His battlefield experience in Congress will help him in the election. [plural]
a low wall around the top of a castle, that has spaces to shoot guns or ARROWs through [C]
the largest type of ship used in war, with very big guns and heavy ARMOURbattleship gray AmE [U] BrE
a medium grey colour
- battleship grey adjective
slightly crazy, but not in an unpleasant or frightening way; = nutty $ [C]
1 a cheap piece of jewellery
2 BrE a brightly coloured decoration that looks like a ball and is used to decorate a CHRISTMAS TREE $ [C] technical
a measurement of how fast information is sent to or from a computer, for example through a telephone line $
a British spelling of BALK $ [U]
a soft substance that ALUMINIUM is obtained from $
bawdy songs, jokes, stories etc are about sex and are funny, enjoyable, and often noisy:
•a bawdy new play
- bawdiness noun [U][C] old use
a place where women have sex with men for money $
1 [I,T] also bawl out to shout in a loud voice; = yell
•'Tickets please!' bawled the conductor.
2 [I] to cry loudly; = scream
•They could hear a baby bawling somewhere.

PHRASAL VERBS
bawl sb <=> out phr v
to speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong:
•He was afraid Vic would bawl him out for being late. [C]
1 SEA a part of the sea that is partly enclosed by a curve in the land:
•a house with a view across the bay
•Montego Bay
2 keep/hold sth at bay to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening or from coming too close:
•A thick wall keeps the noise at bay.
3 AREA an area within a large room or just outside a building that is used for a particular purpose:
•a storage bay
•loading bay
4 FOR CARGO the part of a ship or plane where things are stored:
•the cargo bay
5 TREE also bay tree a tree that has leaves which smell sweet and are often used in cooking
6 HORSE a horse that is a reddish brown colour[I]
1 if a dog bays, it makes a long high noise, especially when it is chasing something; = howl
•dogs baying at the moon
2 to make strong demands to get answers to questions or force someone to give you something
[+for]
•Reporters began baying for the president's blood (=demanding that he be punished).
a bay horse is reddish brown in colour[C]
a sweet-smelling leaf from the bay tree, used in cooking [C]
a long knife that is fixed to the end of a RIFLE (=long gun)[T]
to push the point of a bayonet into someone $ [C]
a large area of water in the southeast US that moves very slowly and has many water plants[C]
a window that sticks out from the wall of a house, usually with glass on three sides $ [C]
1 a market or area where there are a lot of small shops, especially in India or the Middle East
2 an occasion when a lot of people sell different things to collect money for a good purpose:
•a church bazaar [C]
a long light gun that rests on your shoulder and is used for shooting at TANKs
British Broadcasting Corporation the British radio and television company that is paid for by the public [C]
AmE a gun that uses air pressure to shoot small round metal balls; = airgun[C]
the abbreviation for barbecue B.C. AmE BrE
before Christ used after a date to show that it was before the birth of Christ; AD
•The Great Pyramid dates from around 2600 BC.
blind carbon copy used in an EMAIL to show that you are sending someone a copy of a message that you have also sent to someone else, and that this person does not know that other people will also receive the messageB.C.E. AmE BrE
before common era used after a date to show that it is before the birth of Christ strong past tense was, were, past participle been, present participle being first person singularam second person singular and pluralare, third person singular is
1 used with a present participle to form the CONTINUOUS (4) tenses of verbs:
•Don't disturb me while I'm working.
•Gemma was reading when her son called.
•They've been asking a lot of questions.
•That guy's always causing trouble.
•We'll be starting in about half an hour.
•He isn't leaving, is he?
2 used with past participles to form the PASSIVE:
•Smoking is not permitted.
•I was told about it yesterday.
•The house is being painted.
•She's been invited to a party.
•The flames could be seen several miles away.
•The police should have been informed about this.
3 be to do sth formal
a) used to talk about arrangements for the future:
•Audrey and Jimmy are to be married in June.
•Two men are to appear in court on charges of armed robbery.
•We were to have gone away last week, but I was ill.
b) used to give an order or to tell someone about a rule:
•You are to wait here in this room until I return.
•All staff are to wear uniforms.
c) used to say or ask what someone should do or what should happen:
•What am I to tell her?
•He is not to be blamed.
d) used to ask how something can be done:
•How are we to get out of the present mess?
4 be to be seen/found/heard etc used to say that something can be seen, found, or heard somewhere:
•A large range of species are to be seen in the aquarium.
•We searched everywhere but the ring was nowhere to be found (=could not be found).
•The only sound to be heard was the twittering of the birds above us.
5 was/were to do sth used when talking about a time in the past to say what happened later:
•This discovery was to have a major effect on the treatment of heart disease.
6
a) used in CONDITIONAL^1 (2) sentences about an imagined situation
were sb to do sth/if sb were to do sth
•Even if England were to win the next two matches, Germany would still be three points ahead.
•Were we to offer you the job, would you take it?
b) used in CONDITIONAL sentences to introduce an aim when you are saying what must be done in order to achieve it
if sb/sth is to do sth
•If we are to succeed in this enterprise, we shall need to plan everything very carefully.
7 old use used instead of 'have' to form the PERFECT^3 tense of some verbs:
•The hour is come.
1 [linking verb] used to say that someone or something is the same as the subject of the sentence:
•My name is Susan.
•These are my favourite pictures.
•He's my brother.
•The problem is finding the time to get things done.
•Our aim was to reduce the number of accidents.
2 [I always + adv/prep] used to say where something or someone is:
•Jane's upstairs.
•Are my keys in the drawer?
•The principal's in his office.
•How long has she been here?
3 [I always + adv/prep] used to say when something happens:
•The concert was last night.
•The party is on Saturday.
4 [linking verb] used to describe someone or something, or say what group or type they belong to:
•The sky was grey.
•Spiders are not really insects.
•Mr Cardew was a tall thin man.
•She wants to be a doctor when she leaves school.
•Her dress was pure silk.
•I'm not ready yet.
5 there is/are used to say that something exists or happens:
•There's a hole in your trousers.
•There was a loud explosion.
•'I thought there was going to be a party.' 'No, there isn't.'
•Is there a problem?
6 [linking verb] to behave in a particular way:
•He was just being rude.
•Don't be silly.
•You'd better be careful.
7 [linking verb] used to say how old someone is:
•His mother died when he was twenty.
•Rachel will be three in November.
8 [linking verb] used to say who something belongs to:
•Whose is this bag? It isn't mine and it isn't Sarah's.
9 [linking verb] used to talk about the price of something:
•'How much are the melons?' 'The big ones are £2 each.'
10 [linking verb] to be equal to a particular number or amount:
•32 divided by 8 is 4.
11 be that as it may formal used to say that even though you accept that something is true, it does not change a situation:
•'He was only joking.' 'Be that as it may, silly remarks like that can do a lot of harm.'
12 [I] formal to exist:
•What was once a great and powerful empire has effectively ceased to be.
13 be yourself to behave in a natural way, rather than trying to pretend to be different:
•Don't try too hard - just be yourself.
14 not be yourself to be behaving in a way that is unusual for you, especially because you are ill or upset:
•Sorry - I'm not myself this morning.
15 the be-all and end-all the most important part of a situation or of someone's life
[+of]
•For Jim, making money was the be-all and end-all of his job.
1 [in verbs] used to mean that someone or something is treated in a particular way:
•Don't belittle him (=say he is unimportant).
•He befriended me (=became my friend)
2 literary [in adjectives] wearing or covered by a particular thing:
•a bespectacled boy (=wearing glasses) [C]
an area of sand or small stones at the edge of the sea or a lake:
•a sandy beach
•tourists walking along the beach[T]
1 to pull a boat onto the shore away from the water
2 if a WHALE beaches itself or is beached, it swims onto the shore and cannot get back in the water[C]
a large coloured plastic ball that you blow air into and use for playing games on the beach[C]
AmE a folding chair with a seat and back made of cloth or plastic, which is used outdoors, especially at the beach; = deckchair BrE $ [C]
someone who searches beaches for interesting or useful things [C]
an area of shore that has been taken from an enemy by force, and from which the army can prepare to attack a country $ [U]
clothes that you wear for swimming, lying on the beach etc [C]
1 a light that is put somewhere to warn or guide people, ships, vehicles, or aircraft
2 a radio or RADAR signal used by aircraft or boats to help them find their position and direction
3 especially literary a person, idea etc that guides or encourages you
[+of]
•The education program offers a beacon of hope to these children.
4 a fire on top of a hill used in the past as a signal
BELISHA BEACON [C]
1 one of a set of small, usually round, pieces of glass, wood, plastic etc, that you can put on a string and wear as jewellery:
•She wore a string of green glass beads around her neck.
2 a small drop of liquid such as water or blood:
•Beads of sweat trickled down his face.
3 draw a bead on sb/sth to aim carefully before shooting a weapon
WORRY BEADS
1 decorated with beads:
•a beaded dress
2 beaded with sweat/perspiration having drops of SWEAT (=liquid produced by your body when you are hot) on your skin [U]
1 long thin pieces of wood or stone that are used as a decoration on the edges of walls, furniture etc
2 a lot of beads sewn close together on clothes, leather etc as decoration [C]
an officer in British churches in the past, who helped the priest in various ways, especially by keeping order
1 beady eyes are small, round, and shiny - used especially about someone who you think looks dishonest or strange
2 have/keep your beady eye(s) on sb/sth especially BrE to watch someone or something very carefully - used humorously [C]
a dog with short legs and smooth fur, sometimes used in hunting [C]
1 the hard pointed mouth of a bird; = bill
2 a large pointed nose - used humorously
3 BrE old-fashioned a judge or a male teacher $ [C]
1 BrE a drinking cup with straight sides and no handle, usually made of plastic
2 a glass cup with straight sides that is used in chemistry for measuring and heating liquids [C]
1
a) a line of light shining from the sun, a lamp etc:
•the beam of a powerful flashlight
b) a line of light, energy etc that you cannot see:
•a laser beam
•a beam of electrons
2 a long heavy piece of wood or metal used in building houses, bridges etc
3 a wide happy smile:
•a wide beam of delight
4 off beam BrE informal incorrect or mistaken:
•Our guesses were way off beam.
5 a BALANCE BEAM
6 technical the widest part of a ship from side to side
broad in the beam at BROAD^1 (1)
1 [I] to smile very happily:
•Sherman looked at his sons and beamed proudly.
[+with]
•Connie beamed with pleasure.
[+at]
•McLeish beamed at her.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to send a radio or television signal through the air, especially to somewhere very distant:
•the first sports broadcast to be beamed across the Atlantic
3 [I,T] to send out a line of light, heat, energy etc:
•The sun beamed through the clouds.
•X-rays are beamed through the patient's body. [C]
1 a seed or a POD (=case containing seeds), that comes from a climbing plant and is cooked as food. There are very many types of beans.:
•baked beans
•Soak the beans overnight.
•kidney beans
•green beans
2 a plant that produces beans
3 a seed used in making some types of food or drinks:
•coffee beans
•cocoa beans
4 be full of beans informal to be very eager and full of energy:
•She's full of beans this morning.
5 not have a bean BrE informal to have no money at all
6 not know/care beans (about sb/sth) AmE informal to not know anything or care at all about someone or something
spill the beans at SPILL^1 (3)
not amount to a hill of beans at HILL (5); JELLY BEAN[T]
informal to hit someone on the head with an object [C]
1 also beanbag chair a very large cloth bag that is filled with small balls of soft plastic and used for sitting on
2 a small cloth bag filled with beans, used for throwing and catching in children's games[C] informal
someone whose job is to examine the cost of doing something, and who is concerned only with making a profit - used to show disapproval:
•Since the bean counters took over the radio station, it's become a boring place to work.[U]
a soft white food made from SOYA BEANs ; = tofu[C]
BrE informal a party or celebration [C]
AmE a small round hat that fits close to your head $ [C]
a very tall thin person - used humorously [C]
the small white stem from a bean seed that is eaten as a vegetable $ past tense bore $ , past participle borne $ [T]
1 DEAL WITH STH to bravely accept or deal with a painful, difficult, or upsetting situation; = stand
•She was afraid she wouldn't be able to bear the pain.
•Overcrowding makes prison life even harder to bear.
•Make the water as hot as you can bear.
•The humiliation was more than he could bear.
•Black people continue to bear the brunt of most racial violence (=have to deal with the most difficult or damaging part).
•Passengers could be insulting, and stewardesses just had to grin and bear it (=accept it without complaining).
•Experts were worried the financial system would not be able to bear the strain.
2 can't bear sth spoken
a) to be so upset about something that you feel unable to accept it or let it happen; = can't stand
•Please don't leave me. I couldn't bear it.
can't bear the thought of (doing) sth
•I just can't bear the thought of having to start all over.
can't bear to do sth
•I can't bear to see her cry.
can't bear doing sth
•I couldn't bear not seeing him again.
b) to dislike something or someone very much, often so that they make you feel annoyed or impatient; = can't stand
•Oh, I really can't bear him.
•He can't bear spinach.
can't bear sb doing sth
•He can't bear people smoking while he's eating.
can't bear doing sth
•I can't bear being cold.
3 bear (sth) in mind to remember a fact or piece of information that is important or could be useful in the future; = keep (sth) in mind
bear in mind (that)
•Bear in mind that some of the children will need extra help.
4 ACCEPT/BE RESPONSIBLE FOR formal to be responsible for or accept something
bear the costs/burden
•Each company will bear half the costs of development.
•Fares have gone up, perhaps to more than the market will bear.
bear the responsibility/blame etc
•Developed countries bear much of the responsibility for environmental problems.
5 SUPPORT to be under something and support it; = hold
•My leg was painful, and I wasn't sure it would bear my weight.
•a tray bearing a bottle and several glasses
•a load-bearing wall
6 SIGN/MARK formal to have or show a sign, mark, or particular appearance, especially when this shows that something has happened or is true; = have
•The letter bore no signature.
•a car bearing diplomatic license plates
•The labels bear a yellow and black symbol.
•The town still bears the scars of the bombings during the war.
•The store bears the hallmarks (=it has the qualities) of a family-owned business.
7 bear a resemblance/relation to sb/sth to be similar to someone or something else:
•The child bore a striking resemblance to his father.
•The things she says bear little relation to what she actually does.
8 BABY formal to give birth to a baby:
•She might never be able to bear children.
bear sb a child/son/daughter
•She bore him three sons.
9 bear fruit
a) if a plan, decision etc bears fruit, it is successful, especially after a long period of time:
•Charles' diplomacy eventually bore fruit.
b) if a tree bears fruit, it produces fruit
10 ABLE TO BE EXAMINED/COMPARED ETC [often in negatives] to be suitable or good enough to be examined, compared, repeated etc without failing or being wrong:
•The production figures did not bear scrutiny.
•We believe our pupils' results will bear comparison with any in Scotland.
•The story is well known, but it certainly bears repeating.
11 sth doesn't bear thinking about used to say that something is so upsetting or shocking that you prefer not to think about it:
•The long-term consequences of a nuclear leak don't bear thinking about.
12 bear interest if a bank account, INVESTMENT etc bears interest, the bank pays you a particular amount of money for keeping your money in the account
13 CARRY literary to carry someone or something, especially something important:
•The wedding guests arrived, bearing gifts.
•The US Constitution states that the people have a right to bear arms.
14 bring pressure/influence to bear (on sb/sth) to use your influence or power to get what you want:
•Organizations such as unions can bring pressure to bear on governments.
15 bear witness/testimony to sth formal to show that something is true or exists:
•The empty workshops bear witness to the industrial past.
16 HAVE FEELINGS formal to have a particular feeling, especially a bad feeling
bear (sb) a grudge (=continue to feel annoyed after a long time)
•It was an accident. I don't bear any grudges.
bear sb no malice/ill will etc (=not feel angry)
•He was just doing his job, and I bore him no malice.
17 bear right/left to turn towards the right or left:
•The road bears round to the right.
•When you reach the fork in the trail, bear left.
18 bear yourself formal to walk, stand etc in a particular way, especially when this shows your character:
•She bore herself with great dignity.
19 WIND/WATER literary if wind, water, or air bears something, it carries it somewhere:
•The sound of music was borne along on the wind.
20 NAME/TITLE formal to have a particular name or title:
•He bore the name 'Magnus'.

PHRASAL VERBS
bear down phr v
1 bear down on sb/sth
a) to move quickly towards a person or place in a threatening way:
•Maggie looked up to see Neville bearing down on her.
•a storm bearing down on the island
b) to behave in a threatening or controlling way towards a person or group:
•Federal regulators have been bearing down on campaign contributors.
2 to use all your strength and effort to push or press down on something

bear on/upon sth phr v formal
to relate to and possibly influence something:
•the national policies which bear on these problems

bear sb/sth<=> out phr v
if facts or information bear out a claim, story, opinion etc, they help to prove that it is true:
•Evidence bears out the idea that students learn best in small groups.

bear up phr v
to show courage or determination during a difficult or unpleasant time:
•How has he been bearing up since the accident?

bear with sb/sth phr v
1 bear with me spoken used to ask someone politely to wait while you find out information, finish what you are doing etc:
•Bear with me a minute, and I'll check if Mr Garrard's in.
2 to be patient or continue to do something difficult or unpleasant:
•It's boring, but please bear with it.[C]
1 a large strong animal with thick fur that eats flesh, fruit, and insects:
•a mother bear and her cubs
GRIZZLY BEAR, POLAR BEAR, TEDDY BEAR
2 AmE informal something that is very difficult to do or to deal with:
•The chemistry test was a bear.
3 be like a bear with a sore head BrE informal to be rude to people because you are feeling bad-tempered
4 technical someone who sells SHAREs or goods when they expect the price to fall; bull $
something that is bearable is difficult or unpleasant, but you can deal with it; unbearable
•His friendship was the one thing that made life bearable.
- bearably adverb[C]
AmE a PASTRY filled with fruit, that has a row of long cuts across the top $ [C]
1 hair that grows around a man's chin and cheeks; moustache
2 something similar to a beard, such as hair growing on an animal's chin
- bearded adjective[T]
beard sb (in their den) to go and see someone who has influence or authority, and tell them what you want, why you disagree with them etc $ [C]
1 formal someone who carries something such as a flag or a STRETCHER (=light bed for a sick person)
2 someone who brings you information, a letter etc:
•I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...
3 formal the bearer of a legal document, for example a PASSPORT, is the person that it officially belongs to
4 someone who knows about traditions and customs, and makes sure that younger people learn about them:
•They see themselves as the bearers of Jewish tradition.[C]
an action in which you put your arms around someone and hold them very tightly because you like them or are pleased to see them $
1 have a/some/no etc bearing on sth to have an effect or influence on something, or not have any effect or influence:
•Exercise has a direct bearing on how healthy you are.
2 lose your bearings
a) to become confused about where you are:
•I completely lost my bearings in the dark.
b) to become confused about what you should do next:
•young men who have lost their bearings in a changing society
3 get/find your bearings
a) to find out exactly where you are:
•He paused to get his bearings.
b) to feel confident that you know what you should do next:
•An introduction session helps new students get their bearings.
4 [singular, U] the way in which you move, stand, or behave, especially when this shows your character
5 [C] technical a direction or angle that is shown by a COMPASS:
•learning to take a compass bearing
6 [C] technical a part of a machine that turns on another part, or in which a turning part is held
BALL BEARING $

a) a bearish market is one where the prices of SHAREs are decreasing; bullish
b) someone who is bearish expects the price of business shares to go down; bullish
- bearishly adverb
- bearishness noun[C]
a situation in which the value of STOCKs is decreasing $
1 [C,U] the skin of a bear
2 [C] a tall hat made of black fur, worn by some British soldiers for special ceremonies [C]
1 written an animal, especially a large or dangerous one
2 old-fashioned someone who is cruel or unpleasant:
•You beast! Let go!
3 something of a particular type or that has a particular quality - usually used humorously; = animal
•A city at night is a very different beast.
4 the beast in sb the part of someone's character that makes them experience hatred, strong sexual feelings, violence etc BrE
very unpleasant; = nasty
•What beastly weather!
- beastly adverb
- beastliness noun [U][C] old use
an animal that does heavy work past tense beat, past participle beaten
1 COMPETITION/ELECTION [T] to get the most points, votes etc in a game, race, or competition; = defeat
•Brazil were beaten, 2-1.
•Labour easily beat the Conservatives in the last election.
beat sb at/in sth
•I beat him more often at pool than he beats me.
beat sb hollow BrE
/beat the pants off sb AmE (=defeat them easily)
2 HIT [T] to hit someone or something many times with your hand, a stick etc:
•photographs of rioters beating a policeman
•He was questioned and beaten.
•The woman had been beaten to death by her husband.
•Two prisoners were beaten unconscious.
beat sb black and blue (=hit someone until it makes marks on their body)
beat the living daylights out of sb (=beat someone very hard)
3 HIT AGAINST [I always + adv/prep] to hit against something many times or continuously
[+on/against/at etc]
•Waves beat against the cliffs.
•rain beating on the windows
•Sid beat on the door with his hand.
4 DO BETTER [T] to do something better, faster etc than what was best before
beat a record/score etc
•The record set by Kierson in '84 has yet to be beaten.
•The company's profits are unlikely to beat last year's £10 million.
•See how many times you can do it in a minute, and then try to beat that amount.
5 BE BETTER [T not in progressive] especially spoken to be much better and more enjoyable than something else:
•Fresh milk beats powdered milk any time.
beat doing sth
•'Well,' said Culley, 'it beats going to the office.'
• You can't beat swimming as a good all-body exercise.
• Nothing beats homemade cake.
you can't beat sth (for sth)
•For excitement, you just can't beat college basketball.
6 FOOD [I,T] to mix things together quickly with a fork or special kitchen machine:
•Beat the eggs, then add the milk.
beat sth in
•Gradually beat in the sugar.
beat sth together
•Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
7 CONTROL/DEAL WITH [T] to successfully deal with a problem that you have been struggling with; = conquer
•advice on how to beat depression
•the government's long fight to beat inflation
8 HEART [I] when your heart beats, it moves in a regular RHYTHM as it pumps your blood:
•The average person's heart beats 70 times a minute.
•Jennifer's heart was beating fast.
9 DRUMS [I,T] if you beat drums, or if drums beat, they make a regular continuous sound
10 WINGS [I,T] if a bird beats its wings, or if its wings beat, they move up and down quickly and regularly; = flap
11 take some beating if something or someone will take some beating, it will be difficult for anyone or anything to be or do better:
•Schumacher has 42 points, which will take some beating.
•For ease of use, this program will take some beating.
•Florida takes some beating as a vacation destination.
12 AVOID [T] to avoid situations in which a lot of people are trying to do something, usually by doing something early:
•We left at four a.m. to beat the traffic.
•Shopping by mail order lets you beat the queues.
•Shop now and beat the Christmas rush!
13 DO BEFORE SB ELSE [T] informal to get or do something before someone else, especially if you are both trying to do it first
beat sb to sth
•John had beaten me to the breakfast table.
•I wanted the last piece of pie, but somebody beat me to it.
•They wanted to make it into a film, but another studio beat them to the punch.
14 beat about/around the bush to avoid or delay talking about something embarrassing or unpleasant:
•Don't beat around the bush. Ask for your account to be paid, and paid quickly.
15 beat the system to find ways of avoiding or breaking the rules of an organization, system etc, in order to achieve what you want:
•Accountants know a few ways to beat the system.
16 beat a path (to sb's door) also beat down sb's door if people beat a path to your door, they are interested in something you are selling, a service you are providing etc:
•The new design was supposed to have consumers beating a path to their door.
17 beat a (hasty) retreat to leave somewhere or stop doing something very quickly, in order to avoid a bad situation:
•Spicer beat a hasty retreat when he spotted me.
18 beat the clock to finish something very quickly, especially before a particular time:
•The company managed to beat the clock on delivering its new system.
19 (it) beats me used to say that you do not know something or cannot understand or explain it:
•Beats me why he wants such a big car.
•'What's he saying?' 'Beats me.'
20 beat it! used to tell someone to leave at once, because they are annoying you or should not be there
21 can you beat that/it? used to show that you are surprised or annoyed by something:
•They've got eight children! Can you beat that?
22 beat your brains out to think about something very hard and for a long time:
•I've been beating my brains out all week trying to finish this essay.
23 if you can't beat 'em, join 'em used when you decide to take part in something even though you disapprove of it, because everyone else is doing it and you cannot stop them
24 beat the rap AmE informal to avoid being punished for something you have done
25 beat time to make regular movements or sounds to show the speed at which music should be played:
•a conductor beating time with his baton
26 beat a path/track to make a path by walking over an area of land
27 to beat the band AmE informal in large amounts or with great force:
•It's raining to beat the band.
28 beat the heat AmE informal to make yourself cooler:
•Fresh lemonade is a great way to beat the heat.
29 METAL also beat out [T] to hit metal with a hammer in order to shape it or make it thinner
30 HUNTING [I,T] to force wild birds and animals out of bushes, long grass etc so that they can be shot for sport
31 beat your breast literary to show clearly that you are very upset or sorry about something

PHRASAL VERBS
beat down phr v
1 if the sun beats down, it shines very brightly and the weather is hot
2 if the rain beats down, it is raining very hard
3 beat the door down to hit a door so hard that it falls down
4 beat sb down BrE to persuade someone to reduce a price
[+to]
•He wanted £4500 for the car but I beat him down to £3850.
5 beat sb<=> down to make someone feel defeated, so they no longer respect themselves:
•The women seemed beaten down.

beat off phr v
1 beat sb/sth<=> off to succeed in defeating someone who is attacking, opposing, or competing with you:
•McConnell beat off a challenge for his Senate seat.
2 AmE informal not polite if a man beats off, he MASTURBATEs

beat sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 if a drum or something else beats out a RHYTHM, or if you beat out a rhythm on a drum, it makes a continuous regular sound
2 especially AmE to defeat someone in a competition:
•Lockheed beat out a rival company to win the contract.
[+for]
•Roberts beat out Tony Gwynn for the Most Valuable Player Award.
3 to put out a fire by hitting it many times with something such as a cloth

beat up phr v
1 beat sb<=> up to hurt someone badly by hitting them:
•Her boyfriend got drunk and beat her up.
2 beat up on sb AmE to hit someone and harm them, especially someone younger or weaker than yourself
3 beat yourself up also beat up on yourself AmE informal to blame yourself too much for something:
•If you do your best and you lose, you can't beat yourself up about it.
BEATEN, BEATING
1 [C] one of a series of regular movements or hitting actions:
•a heart rate of 80 beats a minute
•the steady beat of the drum
2 [singular] a regular repeated noise; = rhythm
[+of]
•the beat of marching feet
3 [C] the main RHYTHM that a piece of music or a poem has:
•a song with a beat you can dance to
•a poem with a very regular beat
4 [singular] a subject or area of a city that someone is responsible for as their job:
•journalists covering the Washington beat
on the beat
•People like to see police officers on the beat.
5 [C] one of the notes in a piece of music that sounds stronger than the other notes[not before noun]
informal very tired; = exhausted
•I'm beat.
•Come and sit down, you must be dead beat. $
1 also beatboxer [C] someone who provides the words or other spoken sounds that go with HIP HOP
2 [U] a computer program that is used to mix the sounds of popular electronic music with a strong beat, or the type of music produced by this
- beatboxing noun [U] [only before noun]
1 off the beaten track/path a place that is off the beaten track is not well known and is far away from the places that people usually visit
2 a beaten path, track etc has been made by many people walking the same way:
•a well-beaten path through the forest
3 a beaten person feels defeated and not respected:
•a beaten man who had lost his job
4 beaten metal has been shaped with a hammer to make it thinner $ [C]
1 an object that is designed to beat something:
•an egg beater
•a carpet beater
2 wife/child beater someone who hits his wife or child, especially someone who does this often
3 someone who forces wild birds or animals out of bushes, long grass etc so that they can be shot for sport
4 AmE informal an old car in bad condition
WORLD-BEATER
a beatific look, smile etc shows great peace and happiness
- beatifically adverb past tense and past participle beatified, present participle beatifying, third person singular beatifies [T]
if the Roman Catholic church beatifies someone who has died, it says officially that they are a holy or special person
- beatification noun [U] [C]
1 an act of hitting someone many times as a punishment or in a fight:
•a brutal beating
2 take a beating to lose very badly in a game or competition:
•The Dodgers took a real beating on Saturday.
take some beating at BEAT^1 (11) [C]
one of a group of young people in the late 1950s and early 1960s, who did not accept the values of society and showed this by their clothes and the way they lived
a beat-up car, bicycle etc is old and in bad condition; = battered
•a beat-up old Ford Escort $ plural beaux $ or beaus [C] old-fashioned
1 a woman's close friend or lover
2 a fashionable well-dressed man [singular]
AmE AusE spoken used to say that something is either very good, attractive, or impressive:
•That last catch was a beaut. literary
beautiful:
•the beauteous Helen of Troy
- beauteously adverb [C]
someone whose job is to give beauty treatments to your skin, hair etc
1 someone or something that is beautiful is extremely attractive to look at:
•She was even more beautiful than I had remembered.
•a beautiful bunch of flowers
2 very good or giving you great pleasure; = lovely
•beautiful music
•What a beautiful shot!
•The weather was beautiful.
- beautifully adverb

WORD CHOICE: beautiful, pretty, handsome, good-looking, attractive, gorgeous, stunning
beautiful is used to describe someone, usually a woman or child, who is attractive in a very special and noticeable way.
pretty is usually used to describe a girl or woman who is good-looking, with regular features. It can also be used to describe a boy or young man who has an attractive but feminine face.
handsome is usually used to describe a man or boy who is good-looking, with strong regular features. It can also be used to describe a woman, usually an older woman, who has attractive but masculine features.
good-looking can be used to describe anyone who you think is nice to look at.
attractive is used to describe someone who looks good in a way that attracts sexual interest: I can see he's handsome, but I don't find him very attractive.
gorgeous and stunning are emphatic ways of saying that someone is very attractive. Gorgeous is used mostly in spoken English.

past tense and past participle beautified, present participle beautifying, third person singular beautifies [T] formal
to make someone or something beautiful:
•plants to beautify the garden plural beauties
1 APPEARANCE [U] a quality that people, places, or things have that makes them very attractive to look at:
•her beauty and grace
•an area of outstanding natural beauty
•Millions of dollars are spent each year on beauty products.
2 WOMAN [C] a woman who is very beautiful:
•She was considered a great beauty in her youth.
3 POEM/MUSIC/EMOTION ETC [U] a quality that something such as a poem, song, emotion etc has, which gives you pleasure or joy
[+of]
•the beauty of Shakespeare's verse
4 ADVANTAGE the beauty of sth a particularly good quality that makes something especially suitable or useful:
•The beauty of e-mail is its speed and ease of use.
5 [C] spoken a very good, large etc example of something:
•You should have seen the boat - a real beauty.
6 beauty is in the eye of the beholder used to say that different people have different opinions about what is beautiful
7 beauty is only skin-deep used to say that how someone looks is not as important as a good character[C]
a competition in which women are judged on how attractive they look[C]
AmE a small dark mark on a woman's face - used when you think it is attractive; = beauty spot BrE[C]
AmE a beauty salon[C]
the winner of a beauty contestalso beauty shop AmE $ [C]
a place where you can receive treatments for your skin, hair, nails etc to make you look more attractive[U]
enough sleep to keep you healthy and looking good - used humorously[C] BrE
1 a place in the countryside which is famous because it is very pretty:
•Guests will be able to visit some of the local beauty spots.
2 a small dark mark on a woman's face - used when you think it is attractive; = beauty mark AmE $ [C]
a North American animal that has thick fur and a wide flat tail, and cuts down trees with its teeth
eager beaver at EAGER (2)

PHRASAL VERBS
beaver away phr v informal
to work very hard, especially at writing or calculating something
[+at]
•He's been beavering away at his homework for hours. $ [U]
a type of JAZZ music $ formal
1 a sailing boat that is becalmed cannot move because there is no wind
2 if something such as a company, the economy, or a discussion about something is becalmed, no progress is being made:
•The Stock Market was becalmed yesterday as dealers waited for company results.
the past tense of BECOME $
1 used when you are giving the reason for something:
•We didn't enjoy the day because the weather was so awful.
•Because he had been in prison, employers were unwilling to offer him a job.
•'Why can't I go?' 'Because you're not old enough.'
•Hubert never experienced any fear, and this was partly because he was not particularly intelligent.
•Many exam candidates lose marks simply because they do not read the questions properly.
•I decided to go with them, mainly because I had nothing better to do.
2 just because ... spoken used to say that although one thing is true, it does not mean that something else is true:
•Just because you're my brother doesn't mean I have to like you!
because of sb/sth used to say who or what causes something to happen or is the reason for something:
•He had to retire because of ill health.
•We spent three hours waiting in the rain because of you!
see box at OWING TO [C]
1 be at sb's beck and call to always be ready to do what someone wants:
•I was tired of being at her beck and call all day long.
2 BrE a small stream
1 [I,T] to make a signal to someone with your hand, to show that you want them to come towards you or to follow you:
•I could see my husband beckoning me.
beckon (to) sb to do sth
•She beckoned to the waitress to bring more wine.
beckon sb forward/over etc
•He beckoned us over and introduced us to his wife.
2 [I,T] if something such as a place or opportunity beckons, it appears so attractive that you want to have it:
•A career in the film industry beckoned.
3 [I] if something beckons for someone, it will probably happen to them
[+for]
•Early retirement beckoned for George. past tense became , past participle become
1 [linking verb] to begin to be something, or to develop in a particular way:
•George became King at the age of 54.
•Pollution from cars has become a major problem.
•The weather became warmer.
•Slowly my eyes became accustomed to the darkness.
•Helen became increasingly anxious about her husband's strange behaviour.
•It soon became clear that Wilson lacked the ability to carry out his duties.
2 [T not in progressive] formal to be suitable for someone or to look attractive on them; = suit
•Blue really becomes her.
•Don't try to be clever - it doesn't become you.
3 what became of ...?/whatever will become of ...? used to ask what has happened to someone or something, especially when you have not seen them for a long time, or what will happen to someone that you are worried about:
•What became of those Chinese vases that Mum used to have?
•Whatever will become of Sam when his wife dies?

WORD CHOICE: become, get, go, turn, grow, come
become can be followed by an adjective or noun, not a verb: Her husband became jealous. | We soon became friends.
The following words are used with an adjective instead of become, in certain cases:
get is very often used instead of become, and is more usual in spoken English: I was getting hungry. | Things got worse and worse.
go is used
to say that something changes colour The sky went pink.
to say that someone feels a change in their body My fingers have gone numb.
with blind and deaf: He went blind.
with mad, insane, crazy etc: The crowd went wild.
turn is used especially to say that something changes colour: The liquid turned green. | His face turned pale.
grow can be used in fairly literary written English
to say that something changes gradually It grew dark as we walked.
with a to-infinitive, to say that someone gradually starts doing something We grew to love each other.
come is used
with adjectives like apart, undone, and unstuck: Your shoelace has come undone. | A few pages came loose.
with true: Her prediction came true.
with a to-infinitive to say that someone starts doing something I eventually came to realize (NOT became to realize) I was wrong.

formal
1 a piece of clothing, a hairstyle, etc that is becoming makes you look attractive:
•Her short hairstyle is very becoming.
2 words or actions that are becoming are suitable for you or for the situation you are in:
•She received the praise with becoming modesty.
- becomingly adverb [C]
a unit for measuring RADIOACTIVITYB.Ed. AmE [C] BrE
Bachelor of Education a first university DEGREE in education
1 SLEEP [C,U] a piece of furniture that you sleep on

in bed
single/double bed (=a bed for one person/two people)
get into bed/get out of bed
go to bed
make your bed (=tidy the covers after you have slept in your bed)
put sb to bed (=put a child in their bed)
get sb out of bed (=make someone get out of bed)
time for bed (=time to go to sleep)
climb/crawl into bed
jump out of bed
before bed (=before going to bed)
take to your bed (=go to bed because you feel ill)
spare bed (=a bed for visitors to your home)

•Simon lay in bed thinking about the meeting next day.
• She got into bed and turned out the light.
• I was too tired to get out of bed.
• You should go to bed early tonight.
• Have you made your bed, Penny?
• I'll just put the children to bed.
• Sorry for calling so early - I hope I didn't get you out of bed.
• Come on kids, it's time for bed.
• Dad always has a whisky before bed.
•He felt so ill that he took to his bed.
•We'd love you to come and stay. The spare bed's available for you.
CAMP BED, DOUBLE BED, FOUR-POSTER BED, SOFA BED, TWIN BED

2 SEX [U] informal used to refer to having sex:
•I came home early and found him in bed with (=having sex with) my best friend.
•He wanted me to go to bed with him.
•He's been trying to get his secretary into bed for ages.
•She told me he was actually very good in bed (=a skilful lover).
3 RIVER/LAKE/SEA [C] the flat ground at the bottom of a river, lake, or sea:
•the sea bed
4 GARDEN [C] an area of a garden, park etc that has been prepared for plants to grow in:
•rose beds
5 ROCK [C] a layer of rock
BEDROCK (2)
6 LOWEST LAYER [singular] a layer of something that forms a base that other things are put on top of
[+of]
•prawns on a bed of lettuce
7 IN RIVER/WATER [C] an area at the edge of a river or in deeper water where things grow:
•an oyster bed
•The birds build their nests in reed beds along the river bank.
8 get out of bed on the wrong side BrE get up on the wrong side of the bed AmE to feel slightly angry or annoyed for no particular reason
9 not a bed of roses not a happy, comfortable, or easy situation:
•Life isn't always a bed of roses, you know.
10 you've made your bed and you must lie on it spoken used to say that you must accept the results of your actions, even if they are badpast tense and past participle bedded, present participle bedding [T]
1 to fix something firmly and deeply into something else
bed sth in sth
•The foundations were bedded in cement.
2 old-fashioned to have sex with someone

PHRASAL VERBS
bed down phr v
1 to sleep somewhere which is not your bed and where you do not usually sleep:
•Can I bed down on your sofa?
2 bed sb/sth <=> down to make a person or animal comfortable in a place where they do not usually sleep

bed sth <=> out phr v
to put plants into the ground so that they can grow[U] BrE
food and a place to sleepB & B
1 [U] the providing of a room for a night and breakfast in the morning, for example in a hotel:
•Is there anyone who does bed and breakfast round here?
•bed and breakfast accommodation
2 [C] a private house or small hotel where you can sleep and have breakfast:
•There's a bed and breakfast in the next village. literary
if you are bedazzled by something, you find it so impressive that it surprises and confuses you; = dazzled[C]
a thorough body wash given to someone who cannot leave their bed[U] BrE
a situation in which someone stays in hospital because there is no other suitable place where they can go to be looked after. This means that other people cannot go into hospital when they need to, because there is no bed for them. [C]
an insect that sucks blood and lives in dirty houses, especially in beds $ [C] old use
a bedroom $ [plural]
the sheets, covers etc that you put on a bed [U]
1 sheets, covers etc that you put on a bed
2 something soft for animals to sleep on, such as dried grass or STRAW
3 garden plants that will look good for one season and then be removed:
•bedding plants [T usually passive] literary
to decorate something such as a building or street by hanging things all over it
be bedecked with sth
•a balcony bedecked with hanging baskets past tense and past participle bedevilled, present participle bedevilling BrE past tense and past participle bedeviled, present participle bedeviling AmE [T usually passive]
to cause a lot of problems and difficulties for someone or something over a period of time; = plague
•a society bedevilled by racial tensions $
strange bedfellows two or more people, ideas etc that are related or working together in an unexpected way:
•Rugby and art seem strange bedfellows. [C] BrE
the part of a bed that is behind your head when you are sleeping [U]
a situation where there is a lot of noise and confusion; = chaos
•When the bomb exploded, there was bedlam.[U]
the sheets and PILLOWCASEs for a bedalso Bedu plural Bedouin or Bedouins [C]
1 someone who belongs to an Arab tribe that traditionally lives in tents in the desert
2 the Bedouin the people who belong to this tribe
- Bedouin adjective [C]
a low wide container used as a toilet by someone who is too ill to get out of bed $ [C]
one of the four main supports at the corners of an old-fashioned bed
looking untidy, wet, and dirty, especially because you have been out in the rain:
•Exhausted soldiers crawled into camp, frozen and bedraggled.
unable to leave your bed, especially because you are old or ill $
1 [singular] the basic ideas, features, or facts on which something is based:
•Marriage and children are the bedrock of family life.
2 [U] solid rock in the ground below soil or sand $ [C]
AmE a number of BLANKETs rolled together and used for sleeping outdoors [C]
1 a room for sleeping in:
•a hotel with 50 bedrooms
three-bedroomed/five-bedroomed etc
•They've just bought a new four-bedroomed house in Edinburgh.
2 bedroom eyes a look in your eyes that shows that you are sexually attracted to someonealso bedroom suburb [C] AmE
a place where people live but that does not have many businesses, so that people have to go to another town or city to work; = dormitory town BrE [C usually singular]
the area beside your bed - used especially when talking about someone who is ill in bed
at sb's bedside
•Relatives have been at his bedside all week.
bedside lamp/table/cabinet etc
•The clock on her bedside table said half past four.[singular]
the way that a doctor talks to the people that he or she is treatingalso bedsitter bedsitting room [C] BrE
a rented room used for both living and sleeping in $ [C]
a sore place on your skin caused by lying in bed for a long time [C]
an attractive cover for a bed that goes on top of all the other covers [C]
the wooden or metal frame of a bed [C,U]
the time when you usually go to bed:
•It's way past your bedtime!
•a bedtime story plural Bedu
another word for a BEDOUIN[U]
the problem that some children have of passing URINE (=liquid from the body) while they are asleep [C]
1 a black and yellow flying insect that makes HONEY and can sting you:
•a swarm of bees
•a bee sting
2 have a bee in your bonnet (about sth) informal to think something is so important, so necessary etc that you keep mentioning it or thinking about it:
•Dad's got a bee in his bonnet about saving electricity.
3 sewing/quilting etc bee AmE informal an occasion when people, usually women, meet in order to do a particular type of work
4 a busy bee spoken someone who enjoys being busy or active
5 be the bee's knees spoken old-fashioned to be very good:
•She thought the party was just the bee's knees.
SPELLING BEE; the birds and the bees at BIRD (3) [C,U]
a large tree with smooth grey BARK (=outer covering), or the wood from this tree
1 [U] the meat from a cow:
•roast beef
•We have both dairy and beef cattle on the farm.
2 [C] informal a complaint:
•OK, so what's the beef this time?
3 where's the beef? AmE spoken used when you think someone's words and promises sound good, but you want to know what they actually plan to do
CORNED BEEF[I]
informal to complain a lot
[+about]
•They're always beefing about something.

PHRASAL VERBS
beef sth <=> up phr v informal
to improve something or make it more interesting, more important etc:
•a beefed-up news story
•We need to beef the campaign up. $ [C] BrE
a HAMBURGER [U] informal
strong attractive men with large muscles $ [C] BrE
a traditional guard at the Tower of London [C,U]
STEAK[U]
a hot drink made from BEEF that used to be given to people when they were ill comparative beefier, superlative beefiest
someone who is beefy is big, strong, and often quite fat [C]
1 a structure where BEEs are kept for producing HONEY
2 a way of arranging a woman's hair in a high pile on the top of her head, which was popular in the 1960s $ [C]
someone who owns or takes care of BEEs
- beekeeping noun [U]
make a beeline for sb/sth informal to go quickly and directly towards someone or something:
•Rob always makes a beeline for beautiful women at parties. $
1 the past participle of BE
2
a) used to say that someone has gone to a place and come back
[+to]
•I've never been to Japan.
have been to do sth
•Have you been to see the Van Gogh exhibition yet?
b) BrE used to say that someone has come to a place and left again:
•The postman hasn't been yet.
3 been there, seen that, done that spoken used to say that you are no longer interested in doing something, because you already have a lot of experience of it

WORD CHOICE: been in, been to, went to
Use been in when you are living or staying in a place: How long have you been in London? | He had been in hospital for several days.
Use been to when you have visited a place and come back again: Have you ever been to Kyoto? | She's been to the hospital for a check-up.
Use went to (the simple past) to talk about a specific trip you made in the past: Last May I went to a conference in Montreal.

1 [I] if a machine beeps, it makes a short high sound; = bleep
•Why does the computer keep beeping?
2 [I,T] if a car horn beeps or if you beep your car horn, it makes a loud noise
- beep noun [C]
•Leave your message after the beep. $ [C]
a small machine that you carry with you which makes short high electronic sounds to tell you that you must telephone someone; = bleeper, pager $
1 [U] an alcoholic drink made from MALT and HOPs :
•a pint of beer
•We sell traditional draught beer (=beer served from a large container, not a bottle).
2 [C] a glass, bottle, or can of beer:
•Do you fancy a beer?
- beery adjective
•his beery breath
GINGER BEER, ROOT BEER; small beer at SMALL^1 (16)also beer gut [C]
an unattractive fat stomach caused by drinking too much beer[C]
BrE a small circle of card that you put under a glass, especially in a bar[U] BrE informal
a little extra money to buy a drink or have fun with:
•The job was never going to make me rich, but it kept me in beer money for a while. [U]
1 a substance produced by BEEs , used especially for making furniture POLISH and CANDLEs
2 none of your beeswax AmE spoken used to tell someone that what they have asked you is private or personal [C,U]
1 also sugar beet a vegetable that sugar is made from
2 AmE a plant with a round dark red root that you cook and eat as a vegetable; = beetroot BrE
3 red as a beet AmE informal having a red face, especially because you are embarrassed [C]
an insect with a round hard back which is usually black[I always + adv/prep] BrE informal
to go somewhere quickly and leaning forward; = scurry
•He went beetling off down the corridor. [C,U]
1 BrE a plant with a round dark red root that you cook and eat as a vegetable; = beet AmE
2 go beetroot BrE informal to become red in the face, especially because you are embarrassed $ past tense befell , past participle befallen $ [T] literary
if something unpleasant or dangerous befalls you, it happens to you:
•We prayed that no harm should befall them. past tense and past participle befitted, present participle befitting [T] formal
to be proper or suitable for someone or something:
• As befits a castle of such national importance, there are many stories connected with its history. $
1 earlier than a particular event or action; after
•Say goodbye before you go.
•I saw her a few days before she died.
see box at AGO
2 so that something does not or cannot happen:
•Put that money somewhere safe before it gets stolen.
•That dog ought to be destroyed before it attacks any more children.
•Before I could say anything more, Holmes had rushed off towards the station.
3 used to say that something happens after a period of time:
•It was several minutes before we realised what was happening.
•It will be a while before we know the results.
4 used to say that something must happen in order for something else to be possible:
•You have to pass a test before you can get a licence.
5 spoken used to warn someone that something bad will happen to them if they do not do something:
•Get out before I call the police!
6 used to emphasize that someone does not want to do something:
•She would die before she would admit she was wrong.
1 earlier than something or someone; after
•The new road should be completed before the end of the year.
•Let's meet at our house before the show.
•Larry arrived home before me.
five minutes/two hours etc before sth
•Hugh arrived just five minutes before the ceremony.
before doing sth
•I usually take a shower before having my breakfast.
•We only got back from Scotland the day before yesterday (=two days ago).
•Other students joined in the protest, and before long (=soon) there was a crowd of 200 or so.
see box at AGO
2 ahead of someone or something else in a list or order; after
•I think you were before me in the queue.
•The files are arranged in alphabetical order, so B1 comes before C1.
3 used to say that something happens where it can be watched by people:
•Italy will face Brazil this afternoon before a crowd of 100,000 spectators.
•an actor who had performed before the Queen
4 used to say that someone or something comes to be judged or considered by a person or group of people:
•The proposal was put before the planning committee.
•The men are due to appear before the court tomorrow.
5 used to say that one thing or person is considered more important than another:
•I put my wife and kids before anyone else.
•In the air transport business, safety must always come before profit.
6 formal in front of something or someone:
•The priest stood before the altar.
•The sea stretched out before them.
7 if one place is before another place on a road or journey, the first place is nearer to you than the second, so you will reach it first; after
•The pub is 100m before the church on the right.
•the last station before the Simplon Tunnel
8 formal if there is a job or situation before you, you will have to do the job or face the situation:
•The task of emptying the house lay before us.
9 formal if a period of time is before you, it is about to start and you can do what you want during it:
•We had a glorious summer afternoon before us to do as we pleased.
•You have your whole life before you.
1 at an earlier time:
•Haven't I met you before somewhere?
•Never before had he seen so many people starving.
•She looked just the same as before.
2 the day/week/month etc before the previous day, week, month etc:
•She was in Paris last week and in Rome the week before.
3 old use ahead of someone or something else:
•The king's herald walked before. $
before something else happens or is done:
•The police need to be briefed beforehand on how to deal with this sort of situation.
•When you give a speech, it's natural to feel nervous beforehand. [T]
to behave in a friendly way towards someone, especially someone who is younger or needs help:
•They befriended me when I first arrived in London as a student.
completely confused:
•Even in my befuddled state I could find my key. past tense and past participle begged, present participle begging
1 ASK [I,T] to ask for something in an anxious or urgent way, because you want it very much:
•She begged and pleaded with them until they finally agreed.
•She fought back the sudden urge to run to him and beg his forgiveness.
beg to do sth
•The children begged to come with us.
beg sb to do sth
•I begged Helen to stay, but she wouldn't listen.
beg (sb) for sth
•She ran to the nearest house and begged for help.
•We could hear the prisoners begging for mercy.
I beg of you formal (=please)
•Listen, I beg of you.
beg leave to do sth formal (=ask permission to do something)
2 MONEY/FOOD [I,T] to ask people to give you food, money etc, usually because you are very poor
beg (sth) from sb
•a ragged child begging from passing shoppers
[+for]
•The old man went from door to door begging for food.
•a begging letter (=a letter asking for money)
3 ANIMAL [I] if a dog begs, it sits up with its front legs off the ground
4 I beg your pardon spoken
a) used to ask someone to repeat what they have just said:
•'The meeting's on Wednesday.' 'I beg your pardon?' 'I said the meeting's on Wednesday.'
b) used to say sorry when you have made a mistake, or said something wrong or embarrassing:
•Oh, I beg your pardon. I thought you said 15 pence, not 50.
see box at EXCUSE^1
c) used to show that you strongly disagree with something that someone has said, or think it is unacceptable:
•'Chicago's an awful place.' 'I beg your pardon, that's where I'm from!'
5 I beg to differ spoken formal used to say firmly that you do not agree with something that has been said:
•I must beg to differ on this point.
6 beg the question
a) to make you want to ask a question that has not yet been answered
[+of]
•This proposal begs the question of who is going to pay for the new building.
b) to treat an idea as though it were true or had been proved, when this may not be the case
7 be going begging BrE spoken if something is going begging, it is available for anyone who wants it:
•There's a beer going begging if anyone's interested.
8 beg, borrow, or steal to do whatever you must in order to get what you want - often used humorously:
•She'd beg, borrow, or steal the money for those shoes.
the past tense of BEGIN past tense begot $ , past participle begotten $ , present participle begetting [T]
1 old use to become the father of a child
2 to cause something or make it happen:
•Hunger begets crime.
- begetter noun [C] $ [C]
1 someone who lives by asking people for food and money:
•the beggars on the streets
2 lucky/lazy/cheeky etc beggar BrE spoken used when speaking to or about someone you like:
•'How's Dave?' 'The lucky beggar's in the south of France!'
3 beggars can't be choosers used to say that when you have no money or no power to choose, you have to accept whatever you are given[T]
1 beggar description/belief if something beggars description or belief, it is impossible to describe or believe it:
•They showed a lack of common sense that beggars belief.
2 literary to make someone very poor:
•Why should he beggar himself for you? $ literary
poor [U] formal
the state of being very poor[C]
1 used to talk about a request for money made by an organization or country:
•Arts and theatre groups are constantly thrusting the begging bowl at the government.
2 a container which a beggar holds out to people for money past tense began , past participle begun , present participle beginning
1 START DOING STH [I,T] to start doing something:
•As everybody's here, let's begin.
•In the third year students begin the study of classical Chinese.
•The President begins talks with the Prime Minister tonight.
begin to do sth
•She began to feel a sense of panic.
•I began to wonder if I'd ever be able to afford my own apartment.
begin doing sth
•I began teaching in 1984.
2 START HAPPENING [I,T] if something begins, or you begin something, it starts to happen or exist from a particular time:
•It was the coldest winter since records began.
•They began a system of blood tests for employees.
[+at]
•The meeting begins at 10.30 am.
3 DO FIRST [I] if you begin with something or begin by doing something, this is the first thing you do
[+with]
•Shall we begin with a prayer?
begin by doing sth
•I'll begin by thanking you all for being here tonight.
4 BOOK/WORD ETC [I] if a book, film, or word begins with something, it starts with a particular event or letter
[+with]
•'Psychosis' begins with a P.
5 SPEECH [I,T] to start speaking:
•'Ladies and gentlemen,' he began. ' I am delighted to be here.'
6 to begin with
a) spoken used to introduce the first and most important point you want to make:
•Well, to begin with, he shouldn't even have been driving my car.
b) used to say that something was already in a particular condition before something else happened:
•I didn't break it! It was like that to begin with.
c) during the first part of a process or activity:
•The kids helped me to begin with, but they soon got bored.
7 can't begin to understand/imagine etc spoken used to emphasize how difficult something is to understand etc:
•I can't begin to imagine how awful it must have been.

PHRASAL VERBS
begin (sth) as sth phr v
to be a particular thing at the start of your existence, working life etc:
•Roger began his career as an office boy. $ [C]
1 someone who has just started to do or learn something:
•an absolute beginner
2 beginner's luck unusual success that you have when you start something new [C usually singular]
1 the start or first part of an event, story, period of time etc

since the beginning (of sth)
at the beginning (of sth)
from the beginning
in the beginning
mark the beginning of sth
herald/signal the beginning of sth (=show that something is starting)
be just/only the beginning (=used to emphasize that something will continue or develop)
right at the beginning
right from the beginning
the very beginning
from beginning to end
a new beginning
start at the beginning (=start an activity or story at the point where it is meant to start)

[+of]
•She's been here since the beginning of the year.
•There's a short poem at the beginning of every chapter.
• From the beginning of my career as a journalist, I've been writing about gender issues.
•I thought he loved me; perhaps he did in the beginning.
•That chance meeting marked the beginning of a long and happy relationship.
•This is just the beginning of a new and different life for you.
•I said he would cause trouble, right from the beginning.
•I opposed it from the very beginning.
•The whole trip was a disaster from beginning to end.
•I feel like I've been offered a new beginning.
•Could we start at the beginning? Tell me where you first met him.

2 beginnings [plural] the early signs or stages of something that later develops into something bigger or more important
[+of]
•I think I have the beginnings of a cold.
from humble/small beginnings
•He rose from humble beginnings to great wealth.
3 the beginning of the end the time when something good starts to end $ old use
used to tell someone to go away $ [C]
a plant with yellow, pink, red, or white flowers $
the past tense of BEGET $
the past participle of BEGET [T usually in negatives]
1 to feel angry or upset with someone because they have something which you think they do not deserve
begrudge sb sth
•We shouldn't begrudge her this success.
2 to feel annoyed or unhappy that you have to pay something, give someone something etc
begrudge sb sth
•The farmer's wife never begrudged him a meal at the end of the day.
begrudge doing sth
•I begrudge spending so much money on train fares. [T]
1 to interest and attract someone:
•She was beguiled by his smooth talk.
2 to persuade or trick someone into doing something
beguile sb into doing sth
•He was beguiled into buying another copy of her book.
3 literary to do something that makes the time pass in an enjoyable way
attractive and interesting:
•a beguiling smile
- beguilingly adverb [C]
a title of respect, used for married Muslim women, especially of high rank
the past participle of BEGIN $
on behalf of sb also in behalf of sb AmE
a) instead of someone, or as their representative:
•She asked the doctor to speak to her parents on her behalf.
•On behalf of everyone here, may I wish you a very happy retirement.
b) because of or for someone:
•Oh, don't go to any trouble on my behalf. [I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to do things that are good, bad, sensible etc; = act
•She behaved in a very responsible way.
[+towards]
•I think he behaved disgracefully towards you.
[+like]
•grown men behaving like schoolboys
behave as if/though
•He was a little boy, but he behaved as if he was an adult.
2 also behave yourself to not do things that annoy or offend people; misbehave
•Will you children please behave!
•I hope Nicholas behaved himself at the party.
well-behaved/badly-behaved
•a badly-behaved class
3 [always + adv/prep] if something behaves in a particular way, it does those things:
•Quantum mechanics is the study of the way atoms behave.behavior AmE $ [U] BrE
1 the things that a person or animal does

good/bad behaviour
violent/aggressive/criminal etc behaviour
human/social behaviour
pattern of behaviour/behaviour pattern
behaviour problem (=when someone often behaves badly)
change/modify your behaviour
influence sb's behaviour

•It is important to reward good behaviour.
• The headmaster will not tolerate bad behaviour.
[+towards]
•She complained of her boss's inappropriate behavior towards her.
• Can TV violence cause aggressive behavior?
• We are trying to understand the causes of criminal behaviour.
•the effects of alcohol on human behaviour
• the boundaries of acceptable social behavior
•common animal behavior patterns
• It's hard to change your behaviour, even harder to keep it changed.
•They argued that the presence of TV cameras at the trial influenced the behavior of attorneys, witnesses, and jurors.

2 be on your best behaviour to behave as well and politely as you can in order to please someone:
•I want you both to be on your best behaviour at Grandad's.
3 the things that something in science normally does
[+of]
•the behaviour of human chromosomes
- behavioural adjective
•behavioural science
- behaviourally adverbbehaviorism AmE [U] BrE
the belief that the scientific study of the mind should be based only on people's behaviour, not on what they say about their thoughts and feelings
- behaviourist noun [C] [T]
to cut off someone's head as a punishment:
•Charles I was beheaded in 1649.
the past tense and past participle of BEHOLD $ [C]
formal something that is very large:
•a trade behemoth that shipped abroad $800 billion worth of goods
at the behest of sb formal because someone has asked for something or ordered something to happen:
•The committee was set up at the behest of the president.
1 at or towards the back of a thing or person:
•I turned to speak to the person standing behind me.
•Someone could easily creep up behind us.
•The car behind was hooting impatiently.
•A figure in a brown suit stepped out from behind the bushes.
•Jane shut the door behind her.
•The manager was sitting behind a large desk.
close behind/not far behind
•He set off down the road with the rest of us following close behind.
!! Do not say 'behind of': He hid behind a chair (NOT behind of a chair).
2 not as successful or not having made as much progress as someone or something else:
•Mark's always behind the rest of his class in mathematics.
•This victory lifts Ferguson's team into fifth place, nine points behind leaders Norwich.
•Compared with the United States, Europe was falling behind in the important field of computer technology.
3 used to say that someone is late in doing what they have to do:
•This work should have been finished yesterday. I'm getting terribly behind.
•Victor had fallen behind with his mortgage payments after losing his job.
•an important research project that is already two years behind schedule (=not ready at the time planned)
4 used for talking about the hidden reason for something:
•I wonder what's behind this change of plan.
•Perhaps a bitter experience lay behind her anger.
5 supporting a person, idea etc:
•The workers are very much behind these proposals.
•I suppose I'm lucky because my parents were behind me all the way.
6 responsible for a plan, idea etc or for organizing something:
•It was alleged that foreign agents were behind the recent violence.
•The Rotary Club is behind the fund-raising for the new hospital.
7 if an unpleasant experience or situation is behind you, it no longer upsets you or affects your life:
•Now you can put all these worries behind you.
•a chance to start a new life and leave all your troubles behind
8 if you have experience behind you, you have gained valuable skills or important qualities that can be used:
•Marjorie is one of the top designers in the business, with years of experience behind her.
9 used when the real facts about a situation or someone's character are hidden by the way things seem or by the way a person behaves:
•We were determined to find the truth behind this mystery.
•You could see the burning hatred behind Graham's calm manner.
10 if a student stays behind after school or after a lesson, they stay after it has finished
behind sb's back at BACK^2 (9); behind bars at BAR^1 (7); behind the times at TIME^1 (38)[C]
informal the part of your body that you sit on; = bottom $ past tense and past participle beheld [T] literary
to see or to look at something - sometimes used humorously
be a sight/joy/pleasure etc to behold
•The beauty of the garden was a pleasure to behold.
- beholder noun [C]
lo and behold at LO (2) $
feel/be beholden to sb to feel that you have a duty to someone because they have done something for you:
•I hate feeling beholden to anyone.behoove AmE $ BrE
it behoves sb to do sth formal used to say that someone should do something because it is right or necessary, or it will help them [U]
a pale brown colour
- beige adjective [linking verb]
1 the present participle of BE
2 used to give the reason for something:
•Being a quiet sort of person, I didn't want to get involved.
•You can't expect them to sit still for that long, children being what they are.
3 being as BrE spoken because; = as
•You might as well drink it, being as you've paid for it.
1 come into being/be brought into being to start to exist:
•a law that first came into being in 1912
2 [C] a living thing, especially a person:
•a human being
intelligent/conscious/rational etc being
•a story about alien beings who invade Earth
3 [U] literary the most important quality or nature of something, especially of a person
the core/roots/whole of sb's being
•The whole of her being had been taken over by a desire to return to her homeland.bejeweled AmE BrE literary
wearing jewels or decorated with jewels:
•bejewelled handsbelabor AmE $ [T] BrE
1 belabour the point formal to keep emphasizing a fact or idea in a way that is annoying
2 old-fashioned to hit someone or something hard
happening or arriving late:
• a belated attempt to increase support
belated recognition/realization/acknowledgement
•The statement was a belated acknowledgement that the project had not been a success.
•a belated birthday present
- belatedly adverb [I,T] technical
to make someone who is climbing a mountain etc safe by attaching a rope to them and to a rock
1 [I] to let air from your stomach come out loudly through your mouth; = burp
2 also belch out [I,T] to send out a large amount of smoke, flames etc, or to come out of something in large amounts:
•a line of chimneys belching out smoke
•Flames belched from the wreckage.
- belch noun [C] $ [usually before noun] formal
1 experiencing a lot of problems or criticism:
•the country's beleaguered steel industry
2 surrounded by an army:
•Supplies are being brought into the beleaguered city. plural belfries [C]
a tower for a bell, especially on a church
from or relating to Belgium or its people[C]
someone from Belgium past tense and past participle belied, present participle belying [T]
1 to give someone a false idea about something:
•Her pleasant manner belied her true character.
2 to show that something cannot be true or real:
•His cheerful smile belied his words.
1 [singular, U] the feeling that something is definitely true or definitely exists

a strong/firm belief
a sincere/passionate belief
it is sb's belief that
a mistaken/false belief
a widespread/common/widely held belief (=something that many people think)
a deeply held/strongly held belief (=something you believe very much)
a growing belief
popular belief (=what most people think)
contrary to popular belief (=despite what most people think)

[+in]
• a strong belief in God
[+that]
• his passionate belief that technology is a tool to be used with imagination
• It is my belief that we will find a cure for cancer in the next ten years.
• Thieves broke into the building in the mistaken belief that there was expensive computer equipment inside.
• It is a widely held belief that violent crime is increasing.
• a strongly held belief that stealing is wrong
•a growing belief that war was inevitable
• Contrary to popular belief, eating carrots does not improve your eyesight.

2 [singular] the feeling that something is good and can be trusted
[+in]
•If you're selling, you have to have genuine belief in the product.
•When you get something wrong, it can shake your belief in yourself.
3 [C] an idea that you believe to be true, especially one that forms part of a system of ideas:
•religious beliefs
•Several members hold very right-wing beliefs.
4 beyond belief used to emphasize that something is so extreme that it is difficult to believe:
•What she did was stupid beyond belief.
it beggars belief at BEGGAR^2 (1); to the best of your belief at BEST^3 (4); DISBELIEF, UNBELIEF
something that is believable can be believed because it seems possible, likely, or real:
•a story with believable characters in it
•That scenario is entirely believable.
1 [T not in progressive] to be sure that something is true or that someone is telling the truth:
•You shouldn't believe everything you read.
•I believed him, even though his story sounded unlikely.
believe (that)
•I don't believe he's only 25.
•I don't believe a word of it (=I think it is completely untrue).
2 [T not in progressive] to think that something is true or possible, although you are not completely sure
believe (that)
•Detectives believe that the victim knew his killer.
it is believed (that)
•It is believed that the house was built in 1735.
believe so (=think that something is true)
•'Have they arrived yet?' 'Yes, I believe so.'
be believed to be sth
•At 115, Mrs Jackson is believed to be the oldest person in the country.
•The four men are widely believed (=believed by a lot of people) to have been killed by their captors.
•Did you honestly believe that I'd be stupid enough to do that?
•I firmly believe that the business will be a success.
3 it's difficult/hard to believe (that) used when you are surprised that something is true:
•Sometimes, it's hard to believe we've been married for 50 years.
4 can't/don't believe sth used when you are very surprised or shocked by something:
•I can't believe he's expecting us to work on Sunday as well!
•I couldn't believe it when he told me what had happened.
can hardly/scarcely believe sth
•I could scarcely believe my luck.
5 believe it or not used when you are saying something that is true but surprising:
•He enjoys school, believe it or not.
6 would you believe it! or I don't believe it! used when you are surprised or angry about something:
•And then he just walked out. Would you believe it!
7 believe (you) me used to emphasize that something is definitely true:
•There'll be trouble when they find out about this, believe you me!
8 you'd better believe it! used to emphasize that something is true
9 don't you believe it! used to emphasize that something is definitely not true
10 can't believe your eyes/ears used to say that someone is very surprised by something they see or hear
11 if you believe that, you'll believe anything used to say that something is definitely not true, and that anyone who believes it must be stupid
12 seeing is believing or I'll believe it when I see it used to say that you will only believe that something happens or exists when you actually see it
13 [I] to have a religious faith:
•She says those who believe will go to heaven.

PHRASAL VERBS
believe in sb/sth phr v
1 to be sure that someone or something exists:
•Do you believe in God?
2 to think that something is effective or right:
•I don't believe in all these silly diets.
believe in doing sth
•The school believes in letting children learn at their own pace.
3 to trust someone and be confident that they will be successful:
•The people want a President they can believe in.
•You've got to believe in yourself, or you'll never succeed.

WORD CHOICE: believe, believe in
If you believe something, you think it is true. If you believe someone, you think they are telling the truth: Nobody believed what I said. | I didn't do it - you've got to believe me!
Use believe in to mean
that you think something exists Do you believe in God?
that you think that something is good He doesn't believe in private education.
that you think someone is good and will achieve good things My mother always believed in me.

make believe at MAKE^1 (19) $ [C]
1 be a (great/firm) believer in sth to believe strongly that something is good and effective:
•I'm a great believer in regular exercise.
2 someone who believes in a particular god, religion, or system of beliefs [C]
in Britain, one of two posts with a round flashing orange light on the top, marking a place that cars must stop at to allow people to cross a road [T]
formal to make someone or something seem small or unimportant:
•He tends to belittle her efforts. [C]
1 a piece of electrical equipment that makes a ringing sound, used as a signal or to get someone's attention
ring/press the bell
•He rang the bell and waited for someone to answer the door.
•She walked up the path and rang the door bell.
a bell rings/goes
•The bell went and everyone rushed out of the classroom.
2 a hollow metal object like a cup with a piece of metal hanging inside it, which makes a ringing noise when it moves or you shake it:
•church bells
3 give sb a bell BrE spoken to telephone someone:
•I must give Vicky a bell later.
4 something that is shaped like a bell:
•the bell of a flower
alarm bells ring at ALARM^1 (5); as clear as a bell at CLEAR^1 (10); DIVING BELL; ring a bell at RING^2 (4) $ [U]
1 a poisonous plant; = deadly nightshade
2 a substance from this plant, used as a drug[plural]
trousers with legs that get wider from the knee to the bottom; = flares [C]
especially BrE a young man who carries bags, takes messages etc in a hotel [C] old-fashioned
a beautiful girl or woman
the belle of the ball (=the most beautiful girl at a dance or party) $ [C]
especially AmE a young man who carries bags, takes messages etc in a hotel $ formal
behaving in a way that is likely to start an argument or fight; = aggressive
•bellicose criticism
- bellicosity $ noun [U]
1 very unfriendly and wanting to argue or fight; = aggressive
•a belligerent attitude
2 [only before noun] formal a belligerent country is fighting a war against another country
- belligerence, belligerency noun [U] $
1 [I,T] to shout loudly in a deep voice; = yell
•'That's your problem!' bellowed Hurley.
•Tony was bellowing orders from upstairs.
2 [I] to make the deep sound that a BULL makes[C]
1 a loud deep shout:
•His voice rose to a bellow.
a bellow of rage/laughter etc
•Alex gave another bellow of laughter.
2 the deep sound that a BULL makes
3 bellows [plural]
a) an object used for blowing air into a fire to make it burn better
b) part of a musical instrument that pushes air through pipes to produce a sound, for example in an ORGAN[C]
AmE a hollow red, green, or yellow vegetable; = pepper BrE[C]
someone who rings church bells
- bell-ringing noun [U] plural bellies [C]
1
a) your stomach:
•a full belly
b) BrE the front part of your body between your chest and your legs; = abdomen
•She was lying on her belly.
2 the middle part of an animal's body, near its stomach
3 literary a curved or rounded part of an object:
•the belly of a plane
4 black-bellied/fat-bellied/big-bellied etc having a black, fat, big etc stomach
5 go belly up informal if a business or company goes belly up, it stops operating because it cannot pay its debts
BEER BELLY, POTBELLYalso belly out past tense and past participle bellied, present participle bellying, third person singular bellies [I] literary
to fill with air and become rounder in shape:
•The curtains bellied in the breeze. [C,U] informal
a pain in your stomach; = stomachache[I] informal
to complain a lot, especially about something unimportant; = whinge
[+about]
•She never stops bellyaching about money.[C] informal
the small round mark in the middle of your stomach; = navel[C]
a dance from the Middle East in which a woman moves her stomach and HIPs around
- belly dancer noun [C]
- belly dancing noun [U][C]
a way of jumping into water, in which the front of your body falls flat against the surface of the water
- bellyflop verb [I]
have had a bellyful of sb/sth informal to be annoyed by someone or something because you have had to deal with them for too long:
•I'd had a bellyful of his family by the end of the weekend.[C] informal
a deep loud laugh $ [I not in progressive]
1 [always + adv/prep] if something belongs somewhere, that is the right place or situation for it:
•Put the chair back where it belongs.
[+in]
•an attitude that doesn't belong in modern society
2 if you feel you belong in a place or situation, you feel happy and comfortable in it, because you have the same interests and ideas as other people:
•I worked there for five years but never really felt I belonged.

PHRASAL VERBS
belong to sb/sth phr v
1 if something belongs to someone, they own it:
•The house belonged to my grandfather.
•Who does this scarf belong to?
2 to be a member of a group or organization:
•He belongs to the golf club.
3 to be related to something or form part of it:
•cars that belong to a different era
4 to be related to or produced by a particular person:
•She recognized the voice as belonging to the man who had attacked her.
5 if a competition or period of time belongs to someone, they are the most important or successful person in it:
•All the acts were good, but the evening belonged to a dance group from Moscow.
- belonging noun [U]
•It's important to have a sense of belonging (=a feeling that you are happy and comfortable somewhere). $ [plural]
the things you own, especially things that you can carry with you; = possessions
•an insurance policy that covers your personal belongings
1 literary or humorous loved very much by someone:
•He never recovered from the death of his beloved daughter.
•He's always talking about his beloved computer!
[+of/by]
•a book beloved of children everywhere
2 my/her etc beloved literary the person that you love most
dearly beloved at DEARLY (3) $
1 in a lower place or position, or on a lower level; above
•an animal that lives below ground
•Water was dripping onto the floor below.
•I could hear voices in the courtyard below my window.
•They camped a few hundred feet below the summit.
•There was an ugly scar below his left eye.
• Down below, people were talking and laughing.
•Somewhere far below, a door slammed.
•The kitchen is directly below her bedroom.
•Captain Parker went below (=to the lower level of the ship), leaving Clooney in charge.
2 of a lower rank or having a less important job than someone else; above
•A captain is below a general.
•No one below the level of senior manager was present at the meeting.
and/or below
•officers of the rank of captain and below
3 less than a particular number, amount, level etc; above
•Test scores below 50 were classed as 'unsatisfactory'.
•In June the rate of inflation fell below 3%.
•Tom's spelling is well below average (=much worse than the normal standard).
below freezing/zero (=lower than the temperature at which water freezes)
•In winter, temperatures dip to 40 degrees below freezing.
and/or below
•free travel for children four years old and below
4 lower on the same page, or on a later page; above
•Details of courses are listed below.
•For more information, see below.
below par at PAR (2); below the belt at BELT^1 (4)
!! below or under?
see box at UNDER [C]
1 a band of leather, cloth etc that you wear around your waist to hold up your clothes or for decoration:
•He unbuckled his leather belt.
2 a large area of land that has particular features or where particular people live:
•America's farming belt
•the green (=countryside) belt BrE
GREEN BELT
3 a circular band of something such as rubber that connects or moves parts of a machine
CONVEYOR BELT, FAN BELT
4 below the belt informal unfair or cruel:
•That was a bit below the belt, Paul.
•The comments hit below the belt (=they were unfair or cruel).
5 have/get sth under your belt to have achieved something useful or important:
•a secretary with several years' experience under her belt
6 belt and braces BrE informal a belt and braces way of doing something is one in which you do more than necessary in order to make sure that it succeeds
BLACK BELT, GARTER BELT, SEAT BELT, SAFETY BELT, SUSPENDER BELT; tighten your belt at TIGHTEN (6)
1 HIT [T] informal to hit someone or something hard:
•Dan belted the ball towards the goal.
2 GO QUICKLY [I always + adv/prep] BrE spoken to go somewhere very fast; = charge
[+down/along etc]
•We were belting down the motorway at 95 miles per hour.
3 FASTEN [T] to fasten something with a belt:
•Maria belted her raincoat firmly.
•a dress belted loosely at the waist

PHRASAL VERBS
belt sth <=> out phr v
to sing a song or play an instrument loudly:
•She was belting out old Broadway favourites.

belt up phr v BrE
1 spoken used to tell someone rudely to be quiet
2 informal to fasten your SEAT BELT in a vehicle
fastened with a belt:
•a belted jacket [C] AmE
a fast main road that goes around a city, not through the centre; = ring road BrE $ [T] formal
to complain or say that you are disappointed about something:
•He was bemoaning the fact that lawyers charge so much.
bemoan the lack/absence/loss of sth
•an article bemoaning the lack of sports facilities in the area
looking as if you are confused; = bewildered
•a bemused expression
[+by]
•He looked slightly bemused by all the questions.
- bemusedly adverb
- bemusement noun [U]
•a look of bemusement
- bemuse verb [T]
1 OUTDOOR SEAT [C] a long seat for two or more people, especially outdoors:
•We sat on a park bench and talked.
2 IN A LAW COURT the bench
a) the seat where a judge or MAGISTRATE sits in a court of law:
•Would the prisoner please approach the bench?
b) the position of being a judge or MAGISTRATE in a court of law:
•He was appointed to the bench last year.
sit/serve on the bench (=work as a judge or MAGISTRATE)
3 SPORTS the bench the seat where members of a sports team sit when they are not playing in the game:
•Batts and Dorigo are on the bench tonight.
•Simpson came off the bench to play in midfield.
4 PARLIAMENT benches [plural] BrE the seats in the British parliament where members of a particular party sit:
•There was cheering from the Conservative benches.
BACKBENCH, BACKBENCHES, FRONT BENCH
5 TABLE [C] a long heavy table used for working on with tools or equipment:
•a carpenter's bench[T]
AmE to not allow a sports player to play in a game, or to remove them from a game:
•Anderson has been benched until his injury has healed. $ [C]
something that is used as a standard by which other things can be judged or measured:
•benchmark data
•The valuation becomes a benchmark against which to judge other prices.
[+for]
•figures that are a useful benchmark for measuring the company's performance
[+of]
•results that are used as a benchmark of success[T]
to use a company's good performance as a standard by which to judge the performance of other companies of the same type
benchmark sb/sth against sth
•British Steel is benchmarked against the best operations anywhere in the world.
- benchmarking noun [U] past tense and past participle bent
1 [I,T] to move part of your body so that it is not straight or so that you are not upright:
•Lee bent and kissed her.
•She bent her head.
•Bend your knees, but keep your back straight.
[+over]
•Emma bent over to pick up the coins.
[+down]
•I bent down to lift the box off the floor.
[+towards/across etc]
•He bent towards me and whispered in my ear.
2 [T] to push or press something so that it is no longer flat or straight:
•You need a special tool to bend the steel.
3 [I] to become curved and no longer flat or straight:
•Several branches started bending towards the ground.
4 [I] when a road bends, it changes direction to form a curve:
•The road bends sharply to the left.
5 bend the truth to say something that is not completely true
6 bend over backwards (to do sth) to try very hard to be helpful:
•We bent over backwards to get it finished on time.
7 bend sb's ear spoken to talk to someone, especially for a long time about something that is worrying you
8 on bended knee
a) trying very hard to persuade someone to do something:
•He begged on bended knee for another chance.
b) in a kneeling position:
•He went down on bended knee and asked her to marry him.
9 bend your mind/efforts to sth formal to give all your energy or attention to one activity, plan etc
10 bend to sb's will formal to do what someone else wants, especially when you do not want to
bend the rules at RULE^1 (1)[C]
1 a curved part of something, especially a road or river:
•The car came round the bend at a terrifying speed.
[+in]
•a sharp bend in the road
2 an action in which you bend a part of your body:
•We started the session with a few knee bends to warm up.
3 drive sb round the bend BrE spoken to annoy someone:
•His attitude drives me round the bend.
4 be/go round the bend BrE spoken to be or become crazy:
•I sometimes feel I'm going round the bend looking after young children all day.
5 the bends a painful and serious condition that DIVERs get if they come up from deep water too quickly $ [C] informal
1 a time when people drink a lot of alcohol or take a lot of drugs:
•The whole team went on a bender and were arrested.
2 BrE taboo a very offensive word for a man who is attracted to other men. Do not use this word.; = homosexual
1 easy to bend:
•a bendy rubber doll
2 with many curves or angles:
•a bendy road formal
1 in or to a lower position than something, or directly under something; = underneath
•The dolphins disappeared beneath the waves.
•Jo enjoyed feeling the warm sand beneath her feet.
•He was standing on the bridge looking at the river beneath.
•Some roofs collapsed beneath the weight of (=unable to support the weight of) so much snow.
see box at UNDER
2 covered by something:
•Shiona shivered beneath the bedclothes.
•Suddenly Cranston pulled out a large handgun from beneath his robes.
3 used to say that someone's real character or feelings are not shown because their appearance or behaviour is different; = underneath
•Dave sensed that something more sinister lay beneath the woman's cheerful exterior.
•She tried to keep calm but beneath the surface she was angry.
4 not good enough or suitable for someone:
•She acts as if even speaking to us is beneath her.
•He felt it would be beneath his dignity to comment.
•His mother felt he was marrying beneath him (=marrying someone who was not good enough).
•I consider such behaviour to be beneath contempt (=so bad you have no respect for the person involved).
5 in a lower, less important rank or job than someone else; = below [C]
a member of a Christian religious order of MONKs
- Benedictine adjective [C,U]
a strong alcoholic drink that is a type of LIQUEUR [C,U]
a Christian prayer that asks God to protect and help someone formal
[C,U] something, especially money, that someone gives a person or organization in order to help them do something good or when someone gives money in this way $ [C]
someone who gives money for a good purpose:
•An anonymous benefactor donated $2 million.
[+of/to]
•a generous benefactor of the university [C]
the pay and position of a Christian priest who is in charge of a PARISH formal
helping people, or resulting in something good:
•the beneficent properties of natural remedies
- beneficence noun [U]
- beneficently adverb
having a good effect; detrimental
•a drug that has a beneficial effect on the immune system
[+to/for]
•Cycling is highly beneficial to health and the environment.
•an arrangement that is mutually beneficial (=it has advantages for everyone who is involved)
- beneficially adverb $ plural beneficiaries [C]
1 someone who gets advantages from an action or change
[+of]
•The rich were the main beneficiaries of the tax cuts.
2 someone who receives money or property from someone else who has died
[+of]
•He was the chief beneficiary of his father's will.
1 ADVANTAGE [C,U] an advantage, improvement, or help that you get from something

be of benefit (to sb) (=be useful to someone)
have the benefit of sth
get/gain/derive benefit (from sth)
reap the benefits (of sth) (=enjoy the advantages of something)
the full benefit (of sth)
for sb's benefit
be to the benefit of sb
mutual benefit (=useful to two or more people)
with/without the benefit (of sth) (=using/not using something)
economic/financial/social benefits
health benefits
sth outweighs the benefits of sth (=something is more important than the benefits)

[+of]
• the benefits of contact lenses
• The new credit cards will be of great benefit to our customers.
• I never had the benefit of a university education.
• We want him to get maximum benefit from the course.
• We're just beginning to reap the benefits of all our hard work.
•You need to spend at least a week there to get the full benefit.
•Could you just explain again for Mark's benefit?
•I hope that the decision taken today will be to the benefit of the whole nation.
•My proposition, I assure you, would be to our mutual benefit.
• Most motorists manage without the benefit of four-wheel drive.
• the airport's economic benefit to the region
• the health benefits of moderate wine consumption
•How does one decide whether the economic costs of regulation will outweigh the economic benefits?

2 MONEY FROM GOVERNMENT [C,U] BrE money provided by the government to people who are sick, unemployed, or have little money; = welfare AmE
unemployment/housing/child etc benefit
•You might be entitled to housing benefit.
on benefit
•families on benefit
•those people eligible to claim benefit
3 EXTRA THINGS [C usually plural] extra money or other advantages that you get as part of your job or from insurance that you have:
•We offer an excellent salary and benefits package.
•medical benefits
FRINGE BENEFIT
4 give sb the benefit of the doubt to accept what someone tells you even though you think they may be wrong or lying, but you cannot be sure:
•The referee gave him the benefit of the doubt.
5 with the benefit of hindsight/experience used to say it is easier to know the right thing to do after something has happened or if you have a lot of experience:
•He admitted that with the benefit of hindsight the original launch had not been large enough.
6 benefit concert/performance/match a concert, performance etc arranged to make money for CHARITY:
•a benefit concert for famine reliefpast tense and past participle benefited, present participle benefiting
[I,T] if you benefit from something or it benefits you, it gives you an advantage, improves your life, or helps you in some way:
•They are working together to benefit the whole community.
[+from/by]
•Many thousands have benefited from the new treatment.
•They would benefit by reducing their labour costs.
benefit greatly/enormously/considerably etc
•I'm sure you'll benefit greatly from the visit.
kind and generous:
•A benevolent uncle paid for her to have music lessons.
•a benevolent smile
- benevolence noun [U]
- benevolently adverbB.Eng. AmE [C] BrE
a first university DEGREE in ENGINEERING $
1 [U] the language used in Bangladesh and West Bengal
2 [C] someone from Bengal
- Bengali adjective literary
having no knowledge or understanding
- benightedly adverb
1 kind and gentle:
•He shook his head in benign amusement.
2 a benign TUMOUR (=unnatural growth in the body) is not caused by CANCER; malignant
the past tense and past participle of BEND
1 something that is bent is no longer flat or straight:
•a bent nail
•Stand with your knees slightly bent.
•He breathed in deeply, bent double in pain (=with the top part of your body leaning forward towards your legs).
•a bent old man (=not standing straight)
2 bent on sth completely determined to do something, especially something bad:
•a crowd of hooligans bent on violence
be bent on doing sth
•They seemed bent on destroying his career.
HELL-BENT
3 BrE informal financially dishonest and willing to use your official position unfairly; honest
•a bent policeman
4 BrE informal not polite an insulting word meaning HOMOSEXUAL
5 bent out of shape AmE spoken very angry or upset[singular]
formal special natural skill or interest in a particular area
musical/artistic/literary etc bent
•readers of a more literary bent [U]
a liquid obtained from coal, used for making plastics [U]
a liquid obtained from PETROLEUM, used to clean clothes [T]
1 to officially arrange for someone to have something that you own after your death; = leave
bequeath sth to sb
•She bequeathed her collection of paintings to the National Gallery.
bequeath sb sth
•His father bequeathed him a fortune.
2 to pass knowledge, customs etc to people who come after you or live after you [C]
formal money or property which you arrange to give to someone after your death:
•a bequest of $5000 [T + for]
formal to speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong
1 having lost a close friend or relative because they have recently died:
•a bereaved mother
2 the bereaved the person or people whose close friend or relative has just died:
•Our sympathies go to the bereaved. [C,U]
formal when someone loses a close friend or relative because they have died:
•depression caused by bereavement or divorce
1 bereft of hope/meaning/life etc completely without any hope etc:
•The team now seems bereft of inspiration.
2 feeling very sad and lonely:
•His death in 1990 left her completely bereft. $ [C]
a round cap with a tight band around the head and a soft loose top part [U]
a disease of the nerves caused by lack of VITAMINs $ [C] BrE informal
a stupid person:
•No, you berk, they only do that in films!also Bermudas $ [plural]
short trousers that end at the knee plural berries [C]
a small soft fruit with small seeds $
go berserk informal to become very angry and violent:
•Dad went berserk when he found out. $ [C]
1 a place where a ship can stop and be tied up
2 a place for someone to sleep in a ship or on a train; = bunk
give sb/sth a wide berth at WIDE^1 (7)[I,T]
to bring a ship into a berth or arrive at a berth [C]
a valuable stone that is usually green or yellow past tense and past participle besought $ or, beseeched [T] literary
to eagerly and anxiously ask someone for something; = beg past tense and past participle beset, present participle besetting [T] formal
1 [usually passive] to make someone experience serious problems or dangers
beset sb with/by sth
•The business has been beset with financial problems.
•the injuries which have beset the team all season
2 besetting sin a particular bad feature or habit - often used humorously
1 next to or very close to the side of someone or something:
•Wendy came up and sat beside me.
•the table beside the bed
•I was standing right beside her at the time.
!! Do not confuse beside (=next to) and besides (=in addition to): He sat down beside Mary. | Who was there besides you?
2 in comparison with something or someone:
•This year's sales figures don't look very good beside last year's results.
•The children seemed tiny beside him.
3 be beside yourself to be feeling so angry, excited etc that you find it difficult to control yourself:
•The poor girl was almost beside herself.
be beside yourself with anger/excitement/rage etc
•Mom and Dad will be beside themselves with worry.
4 be beside the point to not be directly connected with the main subject or problem that you are talking about:
•Yes, he's a very charming young man, but that's beside the point. informal
1 spoken used when adding another reason:
•I need the money. And besides, when I agree to do something, I do it.
2 in addition to someone or something else that you are mentioning:
•The area has stunning scenery, beautiful beaches, and much more besides.
•People choose jobs for other reasons besides money.
•Besides myself, the only English people there were Keith and Doreen.
besides doing sth
•Besides being heartbroken, she felt foolish.
see box at EXCEPT^1 [T]
1 to surround a city or castle with military force until the people inside let you take control:
•In April 655, Osman's palace was besieged by rebels.
2 [usually passive] if people, worries, thoughts etc, besiege you, you are surrounded by them:
•Miller was besieged by press photographers.
3 be besieged with letters/demands/requests etc to receive a very large number of letters, requests etc $ [T]
literary besmirch sb's honour/reputation to spoil the good opinion that people have of someone $
be besotted (with sb/sth) to love or want someone or something so much that you cannot think or behave sensibly:
•He's completely besotted with her. $
the past tense and past participle of BESEECH past tense bespoke $ past participle bespoken $ [T] literary
to be a sign of something formal
wearing glasses $ BrE
a bespoke product, especially computer software or a piece of clothing, has been specially made for a particular customer:
•the cost of development of a bespoke system
•bespoke tailoring [superlative of good]
1 better than anything else or anyone else in quality, skill, how effective it is etc:
•He won the best actor award.
•What's the best way to cook this fish?
•The best thing to do is to stop worrying.
it's best to do sth
•It's best to go later in the season.
easily the best/by far the best (=much better than anything else)
•John's idea is by far the best option.
•Our pilots are given the best possible training.
•We use only the very best ingredients.
2 best friend the friend that you know and like better than anyone else:
•She was my best friend in college.
3 best dress/shoes/clothes etc clothing that you keep for special occasions:
•I put on my best suit especially.
4 the next best thing something that is not exactly what you want but is as similar to it as possible:
•If sterile equipment isn't available, the next best thing is to clean equipment with disinfectant.
5 best of all used to introduce the fact about a situation that is even better than the other good things:
•It's clean and well-located, but best of all, it's affordable.
6 best before BrE written on food packets with the date which the food should be eaten before:
•Best before 13 July.
•a best-before date
be on your best behaviour at BEHAVIOUR (2); your best bet at BET^2 (2); the best/better part of at PART^1 (6)[superlative of well]
1 in a way that is better than any other:
•It works best if you let it warm up first.
•This can best be described as a series of steps.
•the best-dressed man in Paris
2 to the greatest degree; = most
•You know him best - you should ask him.
•The part I like best is the meal afterwards.
•He's perhaps best known for his role in 'Midnight Cowboy.'
3 as best you can spoken as well as you can, even if this is not very good:
•I'll try and fix it as best I can.
4 had best spoken ought to:
•We'd best be getting back.
had better at BETTER^2 (3)
1 the best
a) the most helpful, most successful etc situation or results that you can achieve:
•We all want the best for our children.
•It's the best we can do in the circumstances.
b) the person or thing that is better than any other:
•She's the best of the new young writers.
2 do your best to try as hard as you can to do something:
•As long as you do your best, we'll be happy.
do your best to do sth
•She did her best to make him comfortable.
3 at best used to emphasize that something is not very good, pleasant, honest etc even if you consider it in the best possible way:
•The campaign was at best only partially successful.
•The technique is at best ineffective and at worst dangerous.
4 to the best of your ability/knowledge/belief etc used to say that something is as much as you know, believe, or are able to do:
•I'm sure he'll do the work to the best of his ability.
5 not the best of sth used to say that something is not very good or could be better:
•He hasn't been in the best of health lately.
•They didn't part on the best of terms.
6 with the best of intentions/for the best of reasons used to mean that someone does something with good intentions or for good reasons, even if the result is not always good:
•I'm sure he went there with the best of intentions.
7 the best of both worlds a situation in which you have the advantages of two different things without any of the disadvantages:
•They live in a village but it's only an hour from London so they have the best of both worlds.
8 at your best performing as well or effectively as you are able to:
•At her best, she's a really stylish player.
•He was never at his best early in the morning.
9 make the best of sth to accept a situation which is not very good, and do whatever you can to make it better:
•We are stuck here so we might as well make the best of it.
make the best of a bad job/situation etc BrE
10 all the best used to express good wishes to someone for the future:
•We'd just like to wish him all the best in his new job.
[+for]
•All the best for the New Year!
11 at the best of times if something is not very good, pleasant etc at the best of times, it is usually even worse than this:
•It's crowded at the best of times but today it was unbearable.
12 the best of a bad lot/bunch BrE the least bad person or thing in a group of not very good people or things
13 be for the best especially spoken used to say that a particular event may seem bad now, but might have a good result later:
•I still don't want him to go but maybe it's for the best.
14 your Sunday best old-fashioned your best clothes, which you only wear on special occasions[T]
old-fashioned to defeat someone $ literary
behaving like an animal, especially in a cruel way:
•bestial and barbaric acts
- bestially adverb $ [U]
1 sexual relations between a person and an animal
2 formal very cruel behaviour $ plural bestiaries [C]
an old book about strange animals, written in the Middle Ages[singular]
the man who helps the BRIDEGROOM at a wedding ceremony $ [T]
formal to give someone something of great value or importance
bestow sth on/upon sb
•honours bestowed on him by the Queen[C,U]
a description of the best way of performing a particular activity, especially in business, that can be used by other people or companies as a set of rules to follow:
•We are currently developing a number of best practices to enhance network security.bestseller [C]
a popular product, especially a book, which many people buy:
•His new book went straight to number one on the best-seller list.
•The game is already a bestseller in Japan.
- best-selling adjective [only before noun]
•a best-selling author
•the UK's best-selling album past tense and past participle bet, present participle betting
1 [I,T] to risk money on the result of a race, game, competition, or other future event; gamble
•How much do you want to bet?
bet (sb) that
•He bet me £10 that I wouldn't do it.
bet (sth) on sth
•She bet all her money on a horse that came last.
[+against]
•I wouldn't bet against him winning the championship this year.
2 I bet I'll bet spoken
a) used to say that you are fairly sure that something is true, something is happening etc, although you cannot prove this:
•I bet Nigel's sitting at home now laughing his head off.
•Bet you wish you'd arrived earlier.
•I bet you she won't come.
b) used to show that you understand or can imagine the situation that someone has just told you about:
•'God, I was so angry.' 'I bet you were.'
•'It makes things much easier.' 'Yeah, I'll bet it does.'
c) used to show that you do not believe what someone has just told you:
•'I'm definitely going to give up smoking this time.' 'Yeah, I bet!'
3 you bet! spoken used to emphasize that you agree with someone or are keen to do what they suggest:
•'Going to the party on Saturday?' ' You bet!'
4 you (can) bet your life/your bottom dollar spoken used when you are sure that you know what someone will do or what will happen:
•You can bet your bottom dollar he won't be back.
5 (do you) want to bet?/wanna bet? spoken used to say that you think something that someone has just said is not true or not likely to happen:
•'I'm sure Tom'll be here soon.' 'Wanna bet?'
6 don't bet on it I wouldn't bet on it spoken used to say that you do not think something is likely to happen:
•He said he'd finish by tomorrow, but I wouldn't bet on it.[C]
1 an agreement to risk money on the result of a race, game etc or on something happening, or the money that you risk:
•a £50 bet
[+on]
•A few of us had a bet on who'd get married first.
place/put/lay a bet
•We placed bets on three horses.
•Bookmakers are already taking bets on the outcome.
win/lose a bet
•If he scores now, I'll win my bet.
2 your best bet spoken used when advising someone what to do:
•Your best bet is to put an advert in the local newspaper.
•The train might be a better bet.
3 a good/safe bet an action or situation that is likely to be successful or does not involve much risk:
•If you're looking for long-term growth, the government's own saving certificates are a pretty good bet.
hedge your bets at HEDGE^2 (2)
4 it's a safe/sure/fair bet (that) spoken used to say that something seems almost certain:
•I think it's a pretty safe bet that he'll get the job.
5 my bet spoken used when saying what you expect to happen in the future:
•My bet is he'll be back this time next week.
6 do sth for a bet to do something stupid, dangerous etc to win money from someone or to prove that you can do it:
•He climbed the tree for a bet. $
[singular] the second letter of the Greek alphabet, β or B[C]
a drug used to help prevent HEART ATTACKs [C] technical
a test of software in which it is given to customers to use, so that any problems will be found; alpha test[C] technical
software that is being tested by people who will use it, to see if it works properly; alpha version [U]
a plant whose leaves have a fresh taste, and which some people chew, especially in Asia[C,U]
small pieces of red nut with a bitter taste, that are wrapped in a betel leaf and chewed $ [singular]
sb's bête noire the person or thing that someone dislikes most
woe betide sb used to say that someone will be in trouble if they do something - often humorous:
•Woe betide anyone who wakes the baby! $ [T]
literary to be a sign of something [T]
1 FRIENDS to be disloyal to someone who trusts you so that they are harmed or upset:
•He felt that she had betrayed him.
betray sb to sb
•What kind of man would betray his own sister to the police?
•She had betrayed her parents' trust.
•I would never betray a confidence (=tell a secret which someone has trusted me with).
2 COUNTRY to be disloyal to your country, company etc, for example by giving secret information to its enemies:
•people who betray their country for money
3 EMOTIONS [not in progressive or passive] to show feelings that you are trying to hide; = give away
•His voice betrayed his nervousness.
•His face betrayed nothing (=showed no emotion).
4 TRUTH to show that something is true or exists, especially when it is not easily noticed; = give away
•The slightest sound might betray his presence.
•The crumpled sheets betrayed the fact that someone had been sleeping there.
5 betray your beliefs/principles/ideals etc to stop supporting your old beliefs and principles, especially in order to get power or avoid trouble
- betrayer noun [C] [C,U]
when you betray your country, friends, or someone who trusts you
[+of]
•a ruthless betrayal of their election pledges
•She felt a great sense of betrayal. $ [C] old-fashioned
an agreement that two people will be married; = engagement $ old-fashioned
1 be betrothed to sb to have promised to marry someone
2 sb's betrothed the person that someone has agreed to marry
- betroth verb [T] $
1 [comparative of good] more useful, interesting, satisfactory, effective, suitable etc; worse
•Your stereo is better than mine.
•a better job with a better salary
•There must be a better way to do this.
•a better-quality car
much/a lot/far better
•We now have a much better understanding of the disease.
better still/even better
•It was even better than last year.
!! Better is a comparative form. Do not say 'more better'.
2 [comparative of well]
a) more healthy or less ill or painful than before; worse
•She is a little better today, the doctor says.
•I'm feeling much better, thank you.
b) completely well again after an illness:
•When you're better we can see about planning a trip.
•I hope he gets better (=recovers from an illness) soon.
3 it is better/it would be better used to give your opinion or make a suggestion about what you think should be done or happen
it is better to do sth
•It's much better to get a proper written agreement.
[+if]
•It might be better if you stayed here.
4 get better to improve:
•Her English isn't really getting any better.
•Things can only get better.
5 no better
a) not better than something else or something before:
•The following day the weather was no better.
•John's no better; he never does any washing up either.
b) used to say that something is the best
there is no better way/example/place etc
•There's no better way of exploring the region.
6 nothing better
a) used to say that you really like something or think that something is very good
like/love/enjoy nothing better (than)
•She likes nothing better than a nice long walk along the beach.
•There's nothing better than beating someone who's playing well.
b) used to say that a thing or situation is not very good, but is the only thing possible or available
have nothing better to do
•Have you got nothing better to do than sit there playing that silly game?
•I only picked it up because there was nothing better to read.
7 that's better spoken used to say that something has improved, that you are happier or more comfortable, or to encourage someone:
•Ah, that's better. I needed to sit down.
•Move it left a bit. Yes, that's better.
•'Can you turn it down a bit?' 'Is that better?'
8 better late than never spoken used to say that even if something happens late or someone arrives late, this is better than it not happening or their not arriving at all
your better half/other half at HALF^2 (8)
the best/better part of sth at PART^1 (9)
against your better judgment at JUDGMENT (1)
sb's better nature at NATURE (2)
better luck next time at LUCK^1 (14)
better the devil you know at DEVIL (11)
have seen better days at SEE^1 (30)[comparative of well]
1 to a higher standard or quality; worse
•He can speak French a lot better than I can.
•Your bike will run better if you oil it.
fare better at FARE^2
2 to a higher degree; = more
•She knows this town better than you do.
•I think I like the red one better.
•Potter is better known for his TV work.
3 had better
a) used to give advice about what someone should do or to say what you should do or need to do:
•I'd better go and get ready.
•I think you'd better ask Jo first.
•Better just check she's okay.
•You had better not tell Oliver (=it is not a good idea).
b) used to threaten someone:
•You'd better keep your mouth shut about this.
!! In speech, people usually shorten had to 'd, and may not pronounce it at all. But do not leave out had or 'd in writing: You'd better come here (NOT You better)!
4 do better to perform better or reach a higher standard:
•We did better than all the other schools.
•You can do better than that!
5 the sooner the better/the bigger the better etc used to emphasize that you would prefer something to happen as soon as possible, want something to be as big as possible etc:
•School finishes at the end of the week, and the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned.
•The younger you start learning a language, the better you'll speak it.
6 go one better (than sb) informal to do something more successfully than someone else:
•The following year Lewis went one better by winning the gold medal.
•Of course, they had to go one better and have the whole garden redesigned.
BETTER OFF
1 the better the one that is higher in quality, more suitable etc when you are comparing two similar people or things:
•It's hard to decide which one's the better.
2 get the better of sb
a) if your feelings or wishes get the better of you, they make you behave in a way you would not normally behave:
•My curiosity finally got the better of me and I opened the letter.
•I think her nerves got the better of her.
b) to defeat someone or deal successfully with a problem
3 for the better in a way that improves the situation:
•a definite change for the better
•The President's fortunes seem, at last, to have taken a turn for the better (=started to improve).
4 so much the better used to say that something would be even better or bring even more advantages:
•If they can do them both at the same time, then so much the better.
5 be all the better for sth to be improved by a particular action, change etc:
•I think it's all the better for that extra ten minutes' cooking.
6 for better or (for) worse used to say that something must be accepted, whether it is good or bad, because it cannot be changed:
•Work is, for better or worse, becoming more flexible nowadays.
7 your betters old-fashioned people who are more important than you or deserve more respect
WORSE^2
elders and betters at ELDER^2 (2)[T]
1 to be higher in quality, amount etc than someone or something else:
•His total of five gold medals is unlikely to be bettered.
2 better yourself to improve your position in society by getting a better education or earning more money
3 formal to improve something:
•bettering the lot of the working classes $ [singular]
formal improvement, especially in someone's social and economic position
for the betterment of sb/sth
•social change for the betterment of society as a whole[no comparative]
1 having more money than someone else or than you had before; worse off
•She'll be about £50 a week better off.
WELL-OFF (1)
2 happier, improved, more successful etc; worse off
[+with/without]
•I think she's better off without him.
be better off doing sth (=used to give advice or an opinion)
•He'd be better off starting with something simpler.
1 [U] when people risk money on the results of games, competitions etc or other future events; gambling
2 what's the betting the betting is BrE used to say that something seems very likely to happen or to be true:
•What's the betting Dan's involved in this somewhere?[C]
a place in Britain where people go to place BETs on the results of races, competitions etc; = bookmaker's
1 also in between in or through the space that separates two things, people, or places:
•I sat down between Sue and Jane.
•a house and stables with a yard in between
•The ball rolled between his feet.
•a small town halfway between Salt Lake City and Denver
2 also in between in the time that separates two times or events:
•Are there any public holidays between Christmas and Easter?
•You shouldn't eat between meals.
•The team have a lot of work to do between now and Sunday.
•A lot of students spend a year abroad in between school and university.
•I've had a few jobs with long periods of unemployment in between.
3 within a range of amounts, numbers, distances etc:
•The project will cost between eight and ten million dollars.
•Most of the victims were young men between the ages of 16 and 21.
4 used to say which two places are joined or connected by something:
•They're building a new road between Manchester and Sheffield.
•a regular air service between London and Paris
5 used to say which people or things are involved in something together or are connected:
•the long-standing friendship between Bob and Bryan
•co-operation between the two countries
•She had overheard a private conversation between two MPs.
•the link between serious sunburn and deadly skin cancer
6 used to say which people or things get, have, or are involved in something that is shared:
•Tom divided his money between his children.
•Between the four of them they managed to lift her into the ambulance.
•We collected £17 between us.
7 used to say which two things or people you are comparing:
•the contrast between town and country life
•In her book she makes a comparison between Russian and British ballet.
•the difference between good music and really great music
8 between you and me also between ourselves spoken used before telling someone something that you do not want them to tell anyone else:
•Between you and me, I think Schmidt's about to resign.
9 come between sb if something comes between two people, it causes an argument or problems between them:
•I let my stupid pride come between us.
10 used when it is difficult to give an exact description of something and you therefore have to compare it to two things that are similar to it:
•He uttered a sound that was something between a sigh and a groan.
1 literary between
2 betwixt and between old-fashioned not quite belonging to one group or to another [C]
1 a sloping edge or surface, usually along the edge of a piece of wood or glass
2 a tool for making this kind of edge or surface
- bevelled adjective
•bevelled glass [C]
formal a hot or cold drink:
•alcoholic beverages
•the Food and Beverage Manager [not before noun] BrE informal
drunk:
•We're all going out to get bevvied up. plural bevvies [C] BrE informal
a drink, especially an alcoholic drink:
•Maybe she'd had a few bevvies. [singular]
a large group of people of the same kind, especially girls or young women
[+of]
•a bevy of beauties [T]
literary to express deep sadness or disappointment about something $ [I,T only in imperative and infinitive]
used to warn someone to be careful because something is dangerous
[+of]
•Beware of the dog!
beware of doing sth
•They should beware of making hasty decisions.
•Police warned drivers to beware. $ [T usually passive]
to confuse someone:
•He was bewildered by his daughter's reaction. $
totally confused:
•a bewildered expression on his face
confusing, especially because there are too many choices or things happening at the same time
a bewildering variety/array/range
•a bewildering variety of choices
- bewilderingly adverb
•The details are bewilderingly complex. $ [U]
a feeling of being very confused; = confusion
in bewilderment
•She looked at him in bewilderment. [T usually passive]
1 to make someone feel so interested or attracted that they cannot think clearly:
•Tim's utterly bewitched by her.
2 to get control over someone by putting a magic SPELL on them
- bewitching adjective
•a bewitching smile $
1 on or to the further side of something:
•They crossed the mountains and headed for the valleys beyond.
•Beyond the river, cattle were grazing.
•She drove through Westport, and stopped a few miles beyond at a wayside inn.
2 later than a particular time, date etc; = after
•What changes await us in the coming year and beyond?
•The ban has been extended beyond 2003.
•The disco went on until beyond midnight.
3 more or greater than a particular amount, level, or limit:
•More people are choosing to work beyond retirement age.
•Inflation has risen beyond the 5% level.
4 outside the range or limits of something or someone:
•Such tasks are far beyond the scope of the average schoolkid.
•expensive luxuries that are beyond the reach of ordinary people
5 used to say that something is impossible to do
beyond repair/control/belief etc (=impossible to repair, control, believe etc)
•Scott's equipment was damaged beyond repair.
•The town centre had changed beyond all recognition.
•Due to circumstances beyond our control the performance has had to be cancelled.
6 be beyond sb to be too difficult for someone to understand:
•The whole problem was quite beyond him.
•Why Joan ever married such an idiot in the first place is beyond me.
7 used to mean 'except' in negative sentences:
•Fred owns nothing beyond the clothes on his back.
•I can't tell you anything beyond what you know already.
the beyond literary whatever comes after this lifebhajee [C]
a hot-tasting Indian vegetable cake cooked in BATTER (=a liquid mixture of flour, egg, and milk or water):
•onion bhajis
two, twice, or double; semi-, di-, tri-
•bilingual (=speaking two languages)
•to bisect (=cut in two)
happening twice each year:
•a biannual report; annual, biennial
1 [singular, U] an opinion about whether a person, group, or idea is good or bad which influences how you deal with it
political/gender/racial etc bias
•a discussion about political bias in the press
•Students were evaluated without bias or favoritism.
[+against/towards/in favour of]
•It's clear that the company has a bias against women and minorities.
2 [singular] a natural skill or interest in one type of thing:
•Lydia has a strong artistic bias.
3 on the bias in a DIAGONAL direction[T]
to unfairly influence attitudes, choices, or decisions:
•Several factors could have biased the results of the study.biassed
1 unfairly preferring one person or group over another:
•Of course I'm biased, but I thought my daughter's paintings were the best.
•racially biased attitudes
[+against/towards/in favour of]
•news reporting that was heavily biased towards the government
2 more interested in a particular thing than in another
[+towards]
•The majority of infants are biased towards being social rather than being antisocial. $ [C]
a sports competition in which competitors SKI across fields and then shoot a RIFLE; decathlon, pentathlon [C]
1 a piece of cloth or plastic tied under a baby's chin to protect its clothes when it is eating
2 the part of an APRON, DUNGAREES, or OVERALLs that covers your chest
3 your best bib and tucker your best clothes - used humorouslyBible
1 the Bible the holy book of the Christian religion, consisting of the OLD TESTAMENT and the NEW TESTAMENT
2 [C] a copy of the Bible
3 [singular] informal the most useful and important book on a particular subject:
•It's the anatomy student's bible! [usually before noun]
relating to or written in the Bible:
•The disease dates back to biblical times.
biblical story/text/reference
•the biblical story of Noah $ plural bibliographies [C]
1 a list of all the books and articles used in preparing a piece of writing
2 a list of books and articles that are all about a particular subject
- bibliographer noun [C] [C]
formal someone who likes books formal
liking to drink too much alcohol - sometimes used humorously [only before noun] technical
a bicameral LEGISLATURE (=part of the government that makes laws) consists of two parts, such as the Senate and the House of Representatives in the US Congress; unicameralalso bicarbonate also bicarb $ [U] technical
a chemical substance used especially in baking, and sometimes taken with water as a medicine; = baking soda $ plural bicentenaries [C]
especially BrE the day or year exactly 200 years after an important event; centenary
[+of]
•the bicentenary of Mozart's death
- bicentenary adjective [only before noun]
•the bicentenary year [C]
AmE the day or year exactly 200 years after an important event:
•the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence
- bicentennial adjective
•bicentennial celebrations [C usually plural]
the large muscle on the front of your upper arm:
•He had an eagle tattoo on one of his biceps. $ [I]
to argue, especially about something very unimportant:
•I wish you two would stop bickering.
[+about/over]
•They kept bickering over who should answer the phone.
- bickering noun [U] [C]
a vehicle with two wheels that you ride by pushing its PEDALs with your feet; = bike
•Can James ride a bicycle yet?
EXERCISE BIKE[I always + adv/prep]
formal to go somewhere by bicycle; = bike, cycle
- bicyclist noun [C][plural] especially AmE
CYCLING SHORTS [C]
1 an offer to pay a particular price for something, especially at an AUCTION
[+for]
•They put in a bid for the house.
•the person who places the highest bid
•We've made a bid of nearly £400m for the company.
•A takeover bid for the airline was launched today.
2 an offer to do work or provide services for a specific price
[+for]
•rival bids for the cleaning contract
3 an attempt to achieve or obtain something
[+for]
•a bid for power
bid to do sth
•a desperate bid to free herself from a loveless marriage
4 a statement of how many points you hope to win in a card gamepast tense and past participle bid, present participle bidding
1 [I,T] to offer to pay a particular price for goods, especially in an AUCTION
bid (sb) sth for sth
•She bid £100 for a Victorian chair.
•What am I bid for lot 227? Shall we start at $500?
[+against]
•The two men ended up bidding against each other at the auction.
2 [I] to offer to do work or provide services for a specific price, in competition with other offers
[+for]
•Three firms bid for the contract on the new buildings.
3 [I,T] to say how many points you think you will win in a game of cardspast tense bade or, bid past participle bid or, bidden present participle bidding literary
1 bid sb good afternoon/good morning etc to greet someone
2 [T] to order or tell someone what to do
bid sb (to) do sth
•The queen bade us enter.
willing to do what you are told without arguing $ [C]
1 someone who offers to pay a particular amount of money for something that is being sold:
•The antiques will be sold to the highest bidder (=the person who offers to pay the most).
2 someone who offers to do work or provide services for a particular amount of money, in competition with others:
•one of 13 bidders for the contract [U]
1 when you BID for goods, especially in an AUCTION:
•The bidding was brisk and sales went well.
2 at sb's bidding formal because someone has told you to
3 do sb's bidding formal to obey someone's requests or orders plural biddies
old biddy informal an old woman, especially one who is unpleasant or annoying
1 bide your time to wait until the right moment to do something:
•They are stronger than us and can afford to bide their time.
2 [I] old use to wait or stay somewhere, often for a long time; = abide $ [C]
a small low bath that you sit on to wash your bottom
1 a biennial event happens once every two years; annual
2 a biennial plant stays alive for two years; annual, perennial
- biennially adverb $ [C]
a frame like a table on which a dead body or COFFIN is placed
1 [T] old-fashioned informal to hit someone hard with your FIST; = thump
•He biffed me on the nose.
2 [I] informal to fall or hit something when riding a bicycle, SNOWBOARD etc:
•I was skiing too fast and biffed at the bottom of the hill.
- biff noun [C][C] informal
an embarrassing mistake $ [plural]
special glasses with an upper part made for seeing things that are far away, and a lower part made for reading
- bifocal adjective $ [I]
formal if a road, river etc bifurcates, it divides into two separate parts
- bifurcation $ noun [C,U] comparative bigger, superlative biggest
1 SIZE of more than average size or amount:
•a big house
•I need a bigger desk.
•She had a big grin on her face.
•a big increase in crime
•Los Angeles is the biggest city in California.
•The garage isn't big enough for two cars.
•When they lose, they lose in a big way (=to a large degree).
•There was this great big (=extremely big) spider in the sink.
see box at FAT^1
2 IMPORTANT important and serious:
•a big decision
•Buying your own house is a big commitment.
•The big game is on Friday.
•There's a big difference between understanding something and being able to explain it to others.
•Everyone was getting ready for the big day (=a day when an important event will happen).
3 POPULAR/SUCCESSFUL successful or popular, especially in business or entertainment:
•Julia Roberts became a big star after 'Pretty Woman'.
•She's very big in Australia.
•After years as a small-time actor, he suddenly made it big (=became very successful) in Hollywood.
the big boys (=the most powerful people or companies)
BIG CHEESE, BIG NOISE; big shot at SHOT^1 (14); BIG TIME
4 OLDER
a) big sister/brother your older sister or brother
b) older or more like an adult - used especially by children or when you are talking to children:
•Come on, don't cry. You're a big girl now.
5 LARGE DEGREE [only before noun] informal
a) doing something to a large degree
a big eater/drinker/spender etc
•Des is a big gambler, you know.
be a big fan/admirer of sb/sth
b) done to a large degree or with great energy
give sb a big hug/kiss
•Mama gave me a big hug.
give sb a big hand (=clap loudly)
6 BAD [only before noun] informal used to emphasize how bad something is:
•AIDS remains a big problem in many parts of the world.
•Buying that house was a big mistake.
•I never said that, you big liar!
7 have big ideas/plans to have impressive plans for the future:
•I've got big plans for this place.
8 be big on sth spoken
a) to like something very much:
•I'm not big on kids.
b) to have a lot of a quality or feature:
•The new BMW is big on safety features.
9 what's the big idea? spoken used when someone has done something annoying, especially when you want them to explain why they did it:
•Hey, what's the big idea? Who said you could use my computer?
10 GENEROUS it is big of sb to do sth spoken
a) used to say that someone is very kind or generous to do something
b) used when you really think that someone is not kind or helpful at all:
•A whole £5! That was very big of her, I must say!
11 big mouth spoken someone who has a big mouth cannot be trusted to keep things secret:
•I'm sorry. I shouldn't have opened my big mouth.
me and my big mouth (=said when you wish you had not told someone a secret)
BIGMOUTH
12 LETTERS informal big letters are CAPITALs , for example G, R, A etc
13 WORDS informal big words are long or unusual and are difficult to read or understand
14 be/get too big for your boots informal to be too proud of yourself
15 use/wield the big stick informal to threaten to use your power to get what you want
think big at THINK^1 (39)

WORD CHOICE: big, large, great
big and large have the same meaning, but large is slightly more formal and more likely to be used in written than spoken English: a big lunch | a large house
large is used with quantity words such as 'number' and 'amount': large amounts of money | a large proportion of the students
great is not usually used to talk about size but it can be used in literary writing to describe very large and impressive things: Before them stood a great palace.
great is used with length, height, and age, and in the expression a great deal (=a lot): The grass had reached a great height. | a great deal of money
WORD CHOICE: big, tall, high
big is not used just to describe a person's height. It is used to describe a child who is growing, or a person who is heavy, with a lot of fat or muscle on their body.
tall is used to describe a person's height. It can also be used to describe trees, buildings, or other things that are narrow and measure a long distance from bottom to top: She is tall and thin. | the tallest building in London
high is used to describe things or places that are a long way from the ground: a high shelf | the highest mountain in the world

past tense and past participle bigged, present participle bigging
big it up BrE spoken informal to spend a lot of money and enjoy yourself in a social situation, in a way that other people will notice [U]
the crime of being married to two people at the same time; monogamy, polygamy
- bigamist noun [C], adjective
the Big Apple New York City[C]
a large musical band, especially popular in the 1940s and 1950s, that plays JAZZ or dance music and has a leader who plays SOLOs :
•Tommy Dorsey's big band
- big-band adjective
the big bang theory the idea that the universe began with a single large explosion (the 'big bang'), and that the pieces are still flying apart; steady state theory
a big-boned person is large without being fatBig Brother [U]
any person, organization, or system that seems to want to control people's lives and restrict their freedom:
•Increasingly, the state is taking a big brother role in this area.[plural] informal especially AmE
a lot of money:
•Her parents spent big bucks on her wedding.[U]
1 very large companies, considered as a powerful group with a lot of influence
2 a product or type of activity that people spend a lot of money on:
•Dieting has become big business.[C]
a large animal of the cat family, such as a lion or tiger[C] informal
an important and powerful person in an organization - used humorously[singular] spoken
1 used to say that you do not think something is as important as someone else thinks it is:
•It's just a game. If you lose, big deal.
• What's the big deal? It's only a birthday, not the end of the world.
• It's no big deal. Everybody forgets things sometimes.
2 an important or exciting event or situation:
•This audition is a big deal for Joey.
3 make a big deal of/out of/about sth to get too excited or upset about something, or make something seem more important than it is:
•I know I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing, but I'm worried about you.[C]
1 BrE old-fashioned a small railway in a FUNFAIR, with steep slopes and sharp curves to give an exciting ride
2 the Big Dipper AmE a group of seven bright stars seen only from northern parts of the world; = the Plough BrE[U]
large wild animals hunted for sport, such as lions and ELEPHANTs :
•a big game hunter [C]
1 informal something very large, important, or successful:
•I think their new CD is going to be a biggie.
2 no biggie AmE spoken said when something is not important or when you are not upset or angry about something:
•'Oh, I'm sorry.' 'That's okay, no biggie.'[U]
AmE government - used when people think it is controlling their lives too much:
•big government welfare policies[C]
informal a person or company that has a lot of power and influence:
•one of the party's big guns
informal someone who is big-headed thinks they are very important, clever etc - used to show disapproval
- =big-head noun [C]
see box at PROUD $
very kind and generous[C]
someone who is very important and successful and who has a lot of influence:
•one of the big hitters of the Conservative Party $ [C]
a wild sheep with long curved horns that lives in the mountains of western North America [C]
a slight bend or curve in a coast[C] AmE informal
an important and popular male student at a college or university, especially someone who is good at sports[U] informal
a large amount of money:
•Carter won big money in Vegas last year. [C]
informal someone who cannot be trusted to keep secrets[C]
a famous person or group, especially a musician, actor etc:
•Poor attendance at the concert was put down to the lack of big names.[C]
informal an important and powerful person in an organization [C]
someone who is bigoted:
•racist bigots
having such strong opinions about a group of people that you are unwilling to listen to anyone else's opinions:
•The decision not to allow disabled athletes to take part was seen as petty and bigoted. [U]
bigoted behaviour or beliefs:
•sensational news stories that just encourage bigotry and intolerance
the big screen the cinema, rather than the television or theatre
on the big screen
•She was last seen on the big screen in the comedy 'Jawbreaker'.[C]
informal someone who has a lot of power or influence in a company or an area of business:
•His father's a big shot and he thinks he is, too.[only before noun] AmE informal
expensive:
•big ticket items such as cars or jewelry
the big time informal the position of being very famous or important, for example in the entertainment business or in politics:
•The 46-year-old author has finally hit the big time.
- big-time adjective [only before noun]
•big-time cocaine dealersspoken especially AmE
to a very large degree:
•Morris messed up big time.[C]
the largest toe on your foot[C]
the very large tent in which a CIRCUS performance takes place[C] BrE
a machine used in AMUSEMENT PARKs , consisting of a very large upright wheel with seats hanging from it, which turns round slowly; = ferris wheel [C]
informal an important person:
•A few of the company bigwigs have their own jets. [only before noun] BrE
a bijou house or apartment is small and fashionable - often used humorously:
•a bijou residence in Mayfair [C]
1 a bicycle:
•Let's go for a bike ride.
by bike
•They'll be coming by bike.
2 informal a MOTORCYCLE
3 on your bike! BrE spoken used to tell someone rudely to go away
1 [I always + adv/prep] informal to ride a bicycle:
•She bikes to work every day.
2 [T] to take something to someone by MOTORCYCLE in order to get it there quickly
bike sth over/round
•We're late for our deadline. Can you bike the photos over to us? $ [C]
1 someone who rides a MOTORCYCLE, especially as part of a group:
•Most of the bikers rode Harley-Davidsons.
2 someone who rides a bicycle:
•trails for bikers and hikers [C]
a piece of clothing in two separate parts that women wear for swimming[C]
the place on a woman's legs where the hair around her sexual organs stops growing [C] technical
a CONSONANT sound such as /p/ or /b/ that is made using both lips
- bilabial adjective
LABIAL
involving two groups or nations
bilateral relations/trade/agreements/negotiations etc
•bilateral negotiations between Israel and Syria
- bilaterally adverb
MULTILATERAL, UNILATERAL $ plural bilberries [C]
a blue-black fruit that grows in Northern Europe, or the bush it grows on [U]
1 a bitter green-brown liquid formed in the LIVER, which helps you to DIGEST fats
2 literary anger and hatred
1 [C usually plural] the broad bottom part of a ship
2 [U] old-fashioned informal nonsense
1 written or spoken in two languages:
•a bilingual dictionary
•The report proposed bilingual education in schools.
2 able to speak two languages equally well:
•Their kids are completely bilingual.
[+in]
•Louis is virtually bilingual in Dutch and German.
- bilingual noun [C]; monolingual, multilingual
1 feeling as if you might VOMIT:
•I got up feeling bilious and with a terrible headache.
•She felt a bilious attack coming on.
2 very unpleasant:
•bilious green walls
3 literary bad-tempered
- biliousness noun [U] [T]
informal to cheat someone, especially by taking their money; = swindle
bilk sb out of sth
•Consumers were bilked out of more than $15,000. [C]
1 REQUEST FOR PAYMENT a written list showing how much you have to pay for services you have received, work that has been done etc
[+for]
•The bill for the repairs came to $650.
phone/electricity/gas/water etc bill
•Have you paid the phone bill?
2 RESTAURANT especially BrE a list showing how much you have to pay for food you have eaten in a restaurant; = check AmE
•Could we have the bill, please?
3 LAW a written proposal for a new law, which is brought to a parliament so that it can be discussed
approve/pass/veto a bill
•The House of Representatives passed a new gun-control bill.
•The senator introduced a bill that would increase the minimum wage.
4 MONEY AmE a piece of paper money; = note BrE; coin
•a five-dollar bill
5 fit/fill the bill to be exactly what you need:
•This car fits the bill perfectly. It's cheap and gets good mileage.
6 CONCERT/SHOW ETC a programme of entertainment at a theatre, concert, cinema etc, with details of who is performing, what is being shown etc:
•Tricia topped the bill (=was the most important performer) at the Children's Variety Show.
7 give sb/sth a clean bill of health to officially state that someone is in good health or that something is working correctly:
•Maddox was given a clean bill of health.
8 BIRD a bird's beak
9 ADVERTISEMENT a printed notice advertising an event
10 PART OF A HAT AmE the front part that sticks out on a hat such as a BASEBALL CAP
11 the (old) bill BrE spoken the police[T]
1 to send someone a bill:
•Clients will be billed monthly.
bill sb for sth
•I was billed for equipment that I didn't order.
2 be billed to do sth if someone is billed to appear, perform etc somewhere, it has been planned and advertised that they will do this:
•Johnson was billed to speak at two conferences.
3 bill and coo old-fashioned if two lovers are billing and cooing, they are kissing and talking softly

PHRASAL VERBS
bill sth as sth phr v
to advertise or describe something in a particular way:
•The castle bills itself as the oldest in England. $ [C]
a large sign used for advertising; = hoarding BrE [C]
a private house where soldiers are living temporarily[T]
to put soldiers in a private house to live there temporarily $ [C]
AmE a small flat leather case, used for carrying paper money, CREDIT CARDs etc in your pocket; = wallet [C]
a tool which has a curved blade with a hooked point, used for cutting off tree branches etc $ [U]
a game played on a cloth-covered table in which balls are hit with a CUE (=a long stick) against each other and into pockets at the edge of the table; pool, snooker
- billiard adjective [only before noun]
•a billiard table
give sb top/star billing to name a particular performer, actor etc as being the most important person in a show, play etc plural billion or billions
1 the number 1,000,000,000:
•The final cost could be as much as one billion dollars.
two/three/four etc billion
•3.5 billion years ago
•Overseas debt is a staggering £16 billion.
billions of pounds/dollars etc
•Many airlines have lost billions of dollars.
2 an extremely large number of things or people
a billion
•A billion stars shone in the night sky.
billions of sth
•There are billions of things I want to say.
3 BrE old use the number 1,000,000,000,000
- billionth adjective
- billionth noun [C] $ [C]
someone who has more than a billion dollars or poundsplural bills of exchange [C]
technical a signed document ordering someone to pay someone else a particular amount of moneyplural bills of fare [C]
old-fashioned a list of the food that is served in a restaurant; = menuplural bills of lading [C]
technical a list of the goods being carried, especially on a shipplural bills of rights [C]
a written statement of the most important rights of the citizens of a countryplural bills of sale [C] technical
a written document showing that someone has bought something $ [I]
1 also billow out if something made of cloth billows, it moves in the wind:
•Her long skirt billowed in the breeze.
2 if a cloud or smoke billows, it rises in a round mass
[+out of/up etc]
•There was smoke billowing out of the windows.[C usually plural]
1 a moving cloud or mass of something such as smoke or cloth
2 literary a wave, especially a very large onealso billycan plural billies [C]
BrE a pot for cooking or boiling water when you are camping[C]
a male goat - used especially by or to children; nanny goat $ plural bimbos [C]
informal an insulting word for an attractive but unintelligent young woman:
•He picked up some bimbo at the club.
appearing or happening every two months or twice each month; monthly, quarterly
•a bimonthly magazine
- bimonthly adverb [C]
1 BrE a container for putting waste in; trash can, waste paper basket
•Throw it in the bin.
DUSTBIN, LITTER BIN
2 a large container for storing things, such as goods in a shop or substances in a factorypast tense and past participle binned, present participle binning [T]
BrE informal to throw something away:
•'What should I do with this letter?' 'Just bin it!'
1 the binary system a system of counting, used in computers, in which only the numbers 0 and 1 are used
2 consisting of two parts; = double
•a binary star system past tense and past participle bound
1 TIE/FASTEN [T] written
a) to tie someone so that they cannot move or escape:
•They bound my arms and legs with rope.
bound and gagged (=tied up, and with cloth tied around your mouth so you cannot speak)
b) also bind up to tie things firmly together with cloth or string:
•The pile of newspapers was bound with string.
2 FORM A CONNECTION [T] to form a strong emotional or economic connection between two people, countries etc; = unite
bind sb/sth together
•Their shared experiences in war helped to bind the two communities together.
3 MAKE SB DO STH [T usually passive] if you are bound by an agreement, promise etc, you must do what you have agreed to do or promised to do:
•The monks are bound by vows of silence.
bind sb to do sth
•Employees are not bound to give their reasons for leaving.
4 STICK TOGETHER [I,T] technical to stick together in a mass, or to make small pieces of something stick together:
•The flour mixture isn't wet enough to bind properly.
[+with]
•The hydrogen molecule binds with the oxygen molecule.
5 BOOK [T] to fasten the pages of a book together and put them in a cover
BOUND^2 (9)
6 STITCH [T] to sew cloth over the edge of a piece of material, or stitch over it, to strengthen it:
•The edges of the blanket were bound with ribbon.

PHRASAL VERBS
bind sb over phr v [usually passive] law

a) BrE if someone is bound over by a court of law, they are warned that if they cause more trouble, they will be legally punished:
•The demonstrators were bound over to keep the peace.
b) AmE if someone is bound over for TRIAL, they are forced by law to appear in a court of law[singular] informal
an annoying or difficult situation:
•It's a real bind having to look after the children.
in a bind
•Caroline was really in a bind. $
1 [C] a removable cover for holding loose sheets of paper, magazines etc
2 [C] a person or machine that fastens the parts of a book together
3 [C,U] a substance that makes things stick together
4 [C] AmE an agreement in which you pay something to show that you intend to buy some property
a binding contract/promise/agreement etc a promise, agreement etc that must be obeyed
1 [C] a book cover
2 [U] material sewn or stuck along the edge of a piece of cloth for strength or decoration [U]
a wild plant that winds itself around other plants [C]
informal a short period when you do too much of something, such as eating or drinking:
•a drinking binge
•a week-long binge of shopping
on a binge
•Ken's gone on a binge with his mates.[I]
informal to do too much of something, such as eating or drinking, in a short period of time
[+on]
•Whenever she's depressed she binges on chocolates. $ [U]
a game played for money or prizes in which numbers are chosen by chance and called out, and if you have the right numbers on your card you win:
•Vera won £20 at bingo.
used when you have just done something successfully and are pleased:
•Bingo! That's the one I've been looking for.[C] BrE
a plastic bag used inside a BIN for holding waste plural binmen [C] BrE
someone who comes to people's houses to collect their waste; = garbage collector $ [plural]
a pair of special glasses, that you hold up to your eyes to look at objects that are a long distance away; = field glasses[U] technical
the ability to FOCUS both eyes on one object, which humans, monkeys, and some birds and other animals have $ [C]
technical a mathematical expression that has two parts connected by the sign + or the sign -, for example 3x + 4y or x - 7
- binomial adjective $
relating to or using living things:
•bio-genetics
•biophysics $ [C]
someone who studies or works in biochemistry $ [U]
the scientific study of the chemistry of living things
- biochemical adjective $
materials, chemicals etc that are biodegradable are changed naturally by BACTERIA into substances that do not harm the environment; non biodegradable
•This carton is made of biodegradable plastic. $ [U] technical
the variety of plants and animals in a particular place:
•the biodiversity of the rainforest $ [U]
a method of helping people to relax by teaching them to control their heart rate, breathing etc, using an instrument attached to the body $ [C]
someone who writes a biography of someone else $ plural biographies
1 [C] a book that tells what has happened in someone's life, written by someone else
[+of]
•Boswell's biography of Dr. Johnson
2 [U] literature that consists of biographies; autobiography
- biographical adjective
•biographical information $
1 relating to the natural processes performed by living things:
•the biological functions of the body
•Depression is both biological and psychological.
2 biological weapons/warfare/attack etc weapons, attacks etc that involve the use of living things, including BACTERIA, to harm other living things:
•a ban on chemical and biological weapons
3 [only before noun] relating to biology:
•the biological sciences
4 biological parent/father/mother etc a child's parent through birth, rather than through ADOPTION
- biologically adverb[singular]
1 technical the system in plants and animals that controls when they sleep, eat, produce babies etc; = body clock
2 the idea that when a woman reaches a certain age, she will soon be too old to have a baby:
•career women who hear the biological clock ticking $ [C]
someone who studies or works in biology $ [U]
1 the scientific study of living things:
•a degree in biology
•molecular biology
2 the scientific laws that control the life of a particular type of animal, plant etc:
•the biology of bacteria $ [U]
technical plant and animal matter used to provide power or energy $ [C] technical
a type of environment that is described according to the typical weather conditions and plants that exist there $
bionic arms, legs etc are electronic and therefore stronger or faster than normal arms etc - often used humorously:
•I swear Mom has bionic ears. $ [U]
the scientific study of how PHYSICS relates to biological processes $ [C]
informal a film that tells the story of someone's life $ plural biopsies [C]
the removal of cells, TISSUE etc from someone's body in order to find out more about a disease they may have:
•a breast biopsy $ [plural]
regular changes in the speed at which physical processes happen in your body, which some people believe can affect the way you feel $ [singular]
technical the part of the world in which animals, plants etc can livealso biotech informal $ [U]
the use of living things such as cells, BACTERIA etc to make drugs, destroy waste matter etc:
•the biotech industries
- biotechnological $ adjective $
involving two political parties, especially parties with opposing views:
•a bipartisan committee
•bipartisan cooperation $
formal involving two different parts or groups:
•a bipartite treaty
•bipartite DNA structures [C]
technical an animal with two legs, such as a human [C]
a type of aircraft with two sets of wings, especially one built in the early 20th century $ [usually before noun]
1 involving two opposing countries, groups etc:
•the bipolar view of the world during the Cold War
2 bipolar disorder technical MANIC DEPRESSION AmE
representing or including people from two different races; = mixed race BrE
•biracial families $
1 [C,U] a tree with smooth BARK (=outer covering) and thin branches, or the wood from this tree
2 the birch BrE the practice of hitting people with birch sticks as an official punishment
SILVER BIRCH[T]
to hit someone with a birch sticks as an official punishment $ [C]
1 a creature with wings and feathers that can usually fly. Many birds sing and build nests, and female birds lay eggs.:
•wild birds
•The dawn was filled with the sound of birds.
•a flock of birds (=a group of birds flying together)
•a wooden bird cage
2 BrE informal a word meaning a young woman, which some people think is offensive
3 the birds and the bees the facts about sex - used humorously or to children
4 a little bird told me (sth) informal used to say that you know something, but you will not say how you found out:
•A little bird told me that you've got engaged.
5 birds of a feather (flock together) informal used to say that two or more people have similar attitudes, beliefs etc
6 give sb the bird
a) AmE informal to make a very rude sign at someone by holding your middle finger up
b) BrE to show strong disapproval of someone who is performing or speaking in public by shouting, making rude noises etc
7 a bird in the hand (is worth two in the bush) used to say that it is better to keep what you have than to risk losing it by trying to get more
8 the bird has flown informal used to say that the person you are looking for has already left or escaped
9 be (strictly) for the birds old-fashioned informal to be silly, useless, or not practical
10 wise/wily/funny/weird etc old bird old-fashioned informal a person who seems wise, funny etc
11 do bird BrE old-fashioned informal to serve a prison sentence; = do time
early bird at EARLY^1 (9); kill two birds with one stone at KILL^1 (13) $ [C]
a bowl in a garden that is filled with water for birds to wash in[C] AmE informal
someone who is silly or stupid
- bird-brain or birdbrained adjective[C]
AmE a dog that is trained to find and return with birds that have been shot for sport; = gun dog BrE $ [C]
1 spoken a word meaning a little bird, used especially by or to children
2 in golf, a score that is one less than PAR
3 AmE a small object with feathers that you hit across the net in a game of BADMINTON; = shuttlecock BrE[T]
in golf, to get the ball into the hole in one hit less than PAR:
•Woods birdied the last two holes to take a 10-stroke lead.plural birds of paradise [C]
1 a brightly coloured bird from New Guinea
2 a tall orange flowerplural birds of passage [C]
1 technical a bird that flies from one area or country to another, according to the seasons
2 literary someone who never stays in the same place for longplural birds of prey [C]
a bird that kills other birds or small animals for food $ [U]
a mixture of seeds for feeding birds[singular]
1 a view of something from high above it:
•Visitors can enjoy a bird's-eye view of the area from the castle turrets.
2 a general report or account of something, without many details:
•a bird's-eye view of recent research $ [U]
a type of very small bullet that is fired in large numbers:
•The crowd was dispersed by police using tear gas and birdshot. $ [U]
the musical noises made by birds[C]
BrE a high wooden structure in a garden that you put food on for birds[C]
someone who watches wild birds and tries to recognize different types
- bird-watching noun [U] [C]
a square cap worn by Roman Catholic priests $ plural biros [C] trademark BrE
a pen with a small ball at the end that puts ink onto paper; = ball point
•a red biro $
1 give birth (to sb) if a woman gives birth, she produces a baby from her body:
•Patsy was celebrating last night after giving birth to twins.
2 [C,U] the time when a baby comes out of its mother's body

at birth
from/since birth
date of birth especially BrE
birth date especially AmE
place of birth
time of birth
home birth (=when a mother gives birth at home instead of in a hospital)
hospital birth (=when a mother gives birth in hospital)
premature birth (=when a baby is born earlier than it should be)
stillbirth (=when a baby is born dead)
multiple birth (=when a mother gives birth to two babies or more at the same time)
birth weight
birth defect (=something wrong with a baby when it is born)

•Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!
•He only weighed 2 kilos at birth.
•Henry has been blind from birth.
• What's your date of birth?
• The exact place of birth is not recorded.
• They believe that the position of the planets at the time of birth determines the fate of the individual.
• More and more women are choosing to have home births.
• Smoking in pregnancy has been linked to premature birth.
• the association between birth weight and blood pressure
• The drug was found to cause serious birth defects.

3 [singular] the time when something new starts to exist
[+of]
•the birth of a nation
•The film gave birth to a TV show of the same name.
4 [U] the character, language, social position etc that you have because of the family or country you come from:
•a woman of noble birth
French/German etc by birth[C]
an official document showing when and where you were born, and your parents' names[U]
the practice of controlling the number of children you have; = contraception
•a safe method of birth control $ [C]
1 your birthday is a day that is an exact number of years after the day you were born:
•He was in Kansas to celebrate his 74th birthday.
happy birthday! (=what you say on someone's birthday)
birthday card/gift/party etc
•Are you going to Anne's birthday party?
the birthday girl/boy informal (=the person whose birthday it is)
2 a day that is an exact number of years since an organization was established or an event first happened; anniversary
•The City of Cleveland Orchestra is celebrating its 200th birthday.
3 in your birthday suit informal not wearing any clothes - used humorously[C]
a child's natural father, rather than a man who has become the child's legal father through ADOPTION $ [U]
the process of giving birth to a baby:
•a birthing class $ [C]
a permanent mark on your skin that you have had since you were born:
•Paul had a birthmark on his left cheek.[C]
a child's natural mother, rather than a woman who has become the child's legal mother through ADOPTION[C]
a child's natural mother or father, rather than someone who has become the child's legal mother or father through ADOPTION $ [C usually singular]
1 the place where someone was born, used especially when talking about someone famous:
•Stratford-upon-Avon was Shakespeare's birthplace.
2 the place where something first started to happen or exist:
•New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz. $ [C]
the number of births for every 100 or every 1000 people in a particular year in a particular place:
•the rising birthrate $ [C usually singular]
something such as a right, property, money etc that you believe you should have because of the family or country you belong to:
•Freedom of speech is every American's birthright.
•Charles felt cheated of his birthright.
1 [C] BrE a small thin dry cake that is usually sweet and made for one person to eat; = cookie AmE
•a packet of chocolate biscuits
•cheese and biscuits
2 [C] AmE a type of soft bread baked in small round pieces
3 [U] a light brown colour
4 take the biscuit BrE informal to be the most surprising, annoying etc thing you have ever heard:
•I've heard some excuses, but this really takes the biscuit! $ [T]
formal to divide something into two equal parts:
•A long cobbled street bisects the town from east to west.
1 sexually attracted to both men and women
2 technical having features of both males and females:
•a bisexual plant
- bisexual noun [C]
- bisexuality noun [U] [C]
1 a priest with a high rank in some Christian religions, who is the head of all the churches and priests in a large area:
•the Bishop of Durham
2 a piece in the game of CHESS that can be moved sideways over any number of squares of the same colour [C]
1 the area that a bishop is in charge of; = diocese
2 the position of being a bishop [U]
a grey-white metal that is often used in medicines. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Bi. plural bison or bisons [C]
an animal like a large cow with hair on its head and shoulders; buffalo [U]
a thick creamy soup made from SHELLFISH:
•lobster bisque $ plural bistros [C]
a small restaurant or bar:
•a French bistro
1 ONLY SLIGHTLY a bit especially BrE
a) slightly or to a small degree; = a little
•Could you turn the TV up a bit?
•Try to relax a bit.
•That's a bit odd.
•'Are you sorry to be leaving?' 'Yes, I am a bit.'
•Aren't you being a little bit unfair?
•I think you're a bit too young to be watching this.
•She looks a bit like my sister.
a bit better/older/easier etc
•I feel a bit better now.
b) sometimes, but not very often:
•I used to act a bit when I was younger.
2 AMOUNT a bit especially BrE informal a small amount of a substance or of something that is not a physical object; = a little
[+of]
•I may need a bit of help.
•He still likes to do a bit of gardening.
•I want to spend a bit of time with him before he goes.
•With a bit of luck we should have finished by five o'clock.
•Everyone needs a little bit of encouragement.
•'Would you like cream in your coffee?' 'Yes please, just a bit.'
a bit more/less
•Can we have a bit less noise please?
see box at FEW
3 QUITE A LOT quite a bit also a good bit BrE a fairly large amount or to a fairly large degree:
•She's quite a bit older than you, isn't she?
•He knows quite a bit about painting.
[+of]
•I expect you do quite a bit of travelling?
quite a bit more/less
•They're worth quite a bit more than I thought.
4 TIME/DISTANCE a bit especially BrE a short period of time or a short distance; = a while
•You'll have to wait a bit.
in a bit
•I'll see you in a bit.
for a bit
•We sat around for a bit chatting.
•I walked on a bit and then turned back.
5 a bit of a sth especially BrE used to show that the way you describe something is only true to a limited degree:
•The news came as a bit of a shock.
•I felt a bit of a fool.
•It looks like they left in a bit of a hurry.
6 not a bit/not one bit especially BrE not at all:
•You're not a bit like your brother.
•Am I cross? No, not a bit of it.
•I'm not in the least bit interested in whose fault it is.
•Well, you haven't surprised me, not one bit.
7 every bit as important/bad/good etc especially BrE used to emphasize that something is equally important, bad etc as something else:
•Jodi plays every bit as well as the men.
8 bit by bit especially BrE gradually:
•Bit by bit, I was starting to change my mind.
9 a/one bit at a time especially BrE in several small parts or stages:
•Try to improve your lifestyle a bit at a time.
10 take a bit of doing/explaining etc BrE to be difficult to do, explain etc:
•The new system took a bit of getting used to.
11 be a bit much BrE to be unacceptable, impolite, or unfair:
•It's a bit much when he criticizes us for doing something that he does himself.
12 be a bit of all right BrE informal used to say that someone is sexually attractive
13 bit on the side BrE informal someone's bit on the side is a person they are having a sexual relationship with, even though they already have a wife, husband, or partner - used humorously or to show disapproval:
•She stayed in the hope that he'd tire of his bit on the side.
14 a bit of stuff/fluff/skirt BrE informal not polite offensive expressions meaning a young woman, especially one who is sexually attractive
15 a bit of rough BrE informal someone of a lower social class that someone has a sexual relationship with - used humorously

WORD CHOICE: a bit, a bit of
Use a bit before an adjective, not before a noun, nor before an adjective+noun: He's a bit shy (NOT a bit shy man).
Before a noun or adjective+noun, use a bit of: Let's listen to a bit of music (NOT a bit music). | It was a bit of a strange decision (NOT a bit strange decision).
You can also use a bit after the main verb: I cried a bit (NOT a bit cried).

[C]
1 PIECE a small piece of something
[+of]
•bits of broken glass
•He wedged the door open with a bit of wood.
break/rip/shake etc sth to bits
•The aircraft was blown to bits.
•He's taken the engine to bits.
fall/come to bits
•The old house was falling to bits.
2 PART BrE informal a part of something larger:
•This is the boring bit.
[+of]
•We did the last bit of the journey on foot.
[+about]
•Did you like the bit about the monkey?
3 to bits BrE informal very much or extremely:
•Mark's a darling, I love him to bits.
thrilled/chuffed/pleased to bits
•I've always wanted a car, so I'm thrilled to bits.
4 COMPUTER the smallest unit of information that a computer uses:
•a 32-bit processor
5 TOOL the sharp part of a tool for cutting or making holes:
•a drill bit
6 HORSE the metal bar attached to a horse's BRIDLE that is put into its mouth and used to control it
be champing at the bit at CHAMP^1 (2)
7 bits and pieces also bits and bobs BrE informal any small things of various kinds:
•Let me get all my bits and pieces together.
8 do your bit informal to do a fair share of the work, effort etc that is needed to achieve something good or important:
•Everyone should do their bit for the environment.
9 get the bit between your teeth BrE take the bit between your teeth AmE to do something or deal with something in a very determined way, so that you are not likely to stop until it is done
10 MONEY
a) two bits/four bits AmE informal 25 cents or 50 cents
b) BrE old-fashioned a small coin:
•a threepenny bit
11 pull sth to bits BrE informal to criticize something strongly:
•The critics pulled his new play to bits.
12 TYPICAL BEHAVIOUR/EXPERIENCE informal used to mean a kind of behaviour or experience that is typical of someone or something
the (whole) student/movie star/travelling etc bit
•Then she gave us the concerned mother bit.
the past tense of BITE [C]
1 especially BrE a female dog
2 informal an insulting word for a woman that you dislike or think is unpleasant - also used humorously between friends:
•The silly bitch went and told the police.
•Ooh, you're such a bitch!
3 informal something that causes problems or difficulties:
•I love that silk dress, but it's a bitch to wash.
SON OF A BITCH
life's a bitch at LIFE (20)[I] informal
1 to make unpleasant remarks about someone
[+about]
•He never bitches about other members of the team.
2 AmE to complain continuously:
•Stop bitching!
[+at]
•He's always bitching at me.bitching AmE spoken informal
very good:
•That guy has one bitchin truck.
unkind and unpleasant about other people; = catty
•a bitchy remark
•She can be really bitchy sometimes.
- bitchily adverb
- bitchiness noun [U] past tense bit , past participle bitten , present participle biting
1 TEETH [I,T] to use your teeth to cut, crush, or chew something:
•The dog bit him and made his hand bleed.
[+into/through/at/down]
•She bit into a croissant and took a sip of coffee.
•An adult conger eel can easily bite through a man's leg.
•Nina pushed her fist into her mouth and bit down hard.
bite sth off
•a man whose arm was bitten off by an alligator
bite your nails (=bite the nails on your fingers, especially because you are nervous)
•I wish I could stop biting my nails.
bite your lip (=because you are upset or not sure what to say)
•She paused uncertainly, biting her lip.
2 INSECT/SNAKE [I,T] to injure someone by making a hole in their skin; sting
•I think I've been bitten.
•The dog's been badly bitten by fleas.
•Spiders generally bite only in self-defence.
3 PRESS HARD [I] if an object bites into a surface, it presses firmly into it and does not move or slip
[+into]
•The hooves of the galloping horses had bitten deep into the soft earth.
•He wore boots that bit into the ice.
4 EFFECT [I] to start to have an unpleasant effect:
•The new tobacco taxes have begun to bite.
[+into]
•The recession is biting into the music industry.
5 ACCEPT [I] to believe what someone tells you or to buy something they are selling, especially when they have persuaded you to do this:
•The new camcorders were withdrawn after consumers failed to bite.
6 FISH [I] if a fish bites, it takes food from a hook and so gets caught:
•The fish just aren't biting today.
7 bite your tongue to stop yourself from saying what you really think, even though this is difficult:
•She should have bitten her tongue.
8 bite the dust informal to die, fail, or be defeated:
•Italy's championship hopes eventually bit the dust.
9 bite the bullet informal to start dealing with an unpleasant or dangerous situation because you cannot avoid it any longer:
•I finally bit the bullet and left.
10 bite off more than you can chew to try to do more than you are able to do
11 he/she won't bite spoken used to say that there is no need to be afraid of someone, especially someone in authority:
•Well go and ask him - he won't bite!
12 what's biting you/her etc? spoken used to ask why someone is annoyed or upset
13 sth/sb bites spoken not polite used to say that you dislike someone or something very much or think that something is very bad
14 once bitten, twice shy used to say that if you have failed or been hurt once, you will be more careful next time
15 bite the hand that feeds you to harm someone who has helped or supported you
16 be bitten by the showbiz/travel/flying etc bug to develop a very strong interest in something

PHRASAL VERBS
bite back phr v
1 bite sth <=> back to stop yourself from saying or showing what you really think:
•Tamar bit back the retort which sprang to her lips.
2 to react strongly and angrily to something
[+at]
•Determined to bite back at car thieves, he wired his car to an electric fence.
bite sb's head off at HEAD^1 (33)
NAIL-BITING
1 USING TEETH [C] the act of cutting or crushing something with your teeth:
•Antonio devoured half his burger in one bite.
take/have a bite (of sth/out of sth)
•She picked up the sandwich and took a bite.
•Can I have a bite of your apple?
give sb a bite
•Some fish can give you a nasty bite.
•Her body was covered in bite marks.
2 WOUND [C] a small hole made where an animal or insect has bitten you
snake/mosquito/ant etc bites
[+of]
•The infection is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito.
3 a bite (to eat) informal a small meal:
•We had a bite to eat and a couple of drinks before the flight.
4 TASTE [U] a pleasantly sharp taste:
•Goat's cheese adds extra bite to any pasta dish.
5 COLD [singular] a feeling of coldness:
•There was no mistaking the approach of winter; he could feel its bite.
6 STRONG EFFECT [U] a special quality in a performance, piece of writing etc that makes its arguments very effective and likely to persuade people:
•The film gains incisive bite from Sellers' performance as the union chief.
7 FISH [C] when a fish takes the food from a hook:
•Sometimes I sit for hours and never get a bite.
8 another/a second bite at the cherry BrE a second chance to do something
9 JAW [C usually singular] technical the way that a person or animal's top and bottom teeth touch when their mouth is closed:
•Our dentist said that Emmy should wear a brace to improve her bite.
LOVE BITE, SOUND BITE; sb's bark is worse than their bite at BARK^2 (4)also bite-size [only before noun]
small enough to put into your mouth to eat:
•sushi served in convenient bite-size pieces
1 a biting wind is unpleasantly cold; = icy
•A biting wind blew down from the hills.
2 a biting criticism, remark etc is cruel or unkind:
•a biting satire on corruption
- bitingly adverbwritten abbreviation BMP [C]
technical a computer image that is stored or printed as an arrangement of BITs :
•bitmap fonts
- bitmapped adjective
•bitmapped graphics[C]
a small and unimportant acting job in a play or film:
•He's had bit parts in a couple of soaps.[C]
someone who is not important and who has little influence in a particular situation:
•Although he was NRC chairman, Hervey was strictly a bit player in government.
the past participle of BITE $
1 feeling angry, jealous, and upset because you think you have been treated unfairly; bitterly
[+about]
•I feel very bitter about what has happened.
•a bitter and vindictive old man
2 [only before noun] making you feel very unhappy and upset; bitterly
a bitter disappointment/blow
•If he failed, it would be a bitter disappointment to his parents.
•His photo stirred up bitter memories.
from bitter experience (=because of your own very unpleasant experiences)
•She knew from bitter experience that it would be impossible to talk it over with Julian.
3 a bitter argument, battle etc is one in which people oppose or criticize each other with strong feelings of hate and anger
bitter dispute/battle/struggle etc
•The couple are locked in a bitter battle for custody of the children.
•The government faces bitter opposition to these policies.
•The countries are still bitter enemies.
4 having a sharp strong taste like black coffee without sugar; sour; sweet
•Enjoy the beer's bitter taste as you slowly drink it.
•bitter chocolate
5 unpleasantly cold; bitterly
•a bitter wind
•the bitter cold of the Midwestern winters
6 to the bitter end continuing until the end, even though this is difficult:
•Employees have vowed to fight the closure to the bitter end.
7 a bitter pill (to swallow) something very unpleasant that you must accept:
•The knowledge that his friends no longer trusted him was a bitter pill to swallow.
- bitterness noun [U]
1 [C,U] BrE a type of dark beer that is popular in Britain, or a glass of this:
•A pint of bitter, please.
2 bitters [U] a strong bitter liquid made from plants that is added to alcoholic drinks $
1 in a way that produces or shows feelings of great sadness or anger:
•He complained bitterly about his exam grades.
•I was bitterly disappointed.
•The march was bitterly opposed by local residents.
2 bitterly cold very cold $
1 feelings, memories, or experiences that are bittersweet are happy and sad at the same time:
•bittersweet memories of childhood
2 a taste or smell that is bittersweet is both sweet and bitter at the same time BrE
having too many small parts that do not seem to be related or connected to each other:
•I thought the film was rather bitty.
- bittiness noun [U] $ [U]
a dark sticky substance that is used for making the surface of roads
- bituminous $ adjective [C]
technical any sea animal that has two shells joined together:
•bivalve molluscs [C]
a temporary camp built outside without any tentspast tense and past participle bivouacked, present participle bivouacking [I]
to spend the night outside without tents in a temporary camp:
•The climbers bivouacked halfway up the mountain.
1 appearing or happening every two weeks; = fortnightly
•a bi-weekly magazine
2 appearing or happening twice a week:
•a bi-weekly television drama [singular]
informal a particular type of business, especially one relating to entertainment:
•the music biz
SHOWBIZ $
very unusual or strange:
•a bizarre coincidence
•dancers in rather bizarre costumes
- bizarrely adverb
see box at UNUSUAL past tense and past participle blabbed, present participle blabbing [I] informal
to tell someone something that should be kept secret
[+to]
•This is not something you go blabbing to your friends about. $ [I]
informal to talk in a silly or annoying way for a long time
[+on]
•I wish she'd stop blabbering on about her boyfriends. $ [C]
informal someone who tells secrets because they always talk too much comparative blacker, superlative blackest
1 COLOUR having the darkest colour, like coal or night:
•a black evening dress
jet/inky black (=very dark)
•jet black hair
2 NO LIGHT very dark because there is no light:
•It was still pitch black (=very dark) at that time of the morning.
3 PEOPLE also Black
a) belonging to the race of people who originally came from Africa and who have dark brown skin; white
•Over half the students are black.
b) [only before noun] relating to black people:
•politics from a black perspective
•Black and Asian music
4 DRINK [only before noun] black coffee or tea does not have milk in it; white
•Black coffee, no sugar, please.
5 DIRTY informal very dirty
be black with soot/dirt/age etc
6 WITHOUT HOPE sad and without hope for the future:
•the blackest period of European history
•a mood of black despair
•It's been another black day for the car industry with more job losses announced.
7 HUMOUR making jokes about serious subjects, especially death:
•a very black joke
8 ANGRY [only before noun] full of feelings of anger or hate; blackly
•Denise gave me a black look.
9 a black mark (against sb) if there is a black mark against you, someone has a bad opinion of you because of something you have done
10 not be as black as you are painted not to be as bad as people say you are
11 BAD literary very bad:
•black deeds
- blackness noun [C]
1 [C,U] the dark colour of coal or night:
•You look good wearing black.
•thick fur patterned in blacks and browns
COAL-BLACK
2 [C] also Black someone who belongs to the race of people who originally came from Africa and who have dark brown skin; white
•laws that discriminated against blacks
3 be in the black to have money in your bank account; be in the red [T]
1 BrE if a TRADE UNION blacks goods or a company, it refuses to work with them:
•The union has blacked all non-urgent work.
2 old-fashioned to make something black

PHRASAL VERBS
black out phr v
1 to become UNCONSCIOUS; = faint, pass out
•For a few seconds, he thought he was going to black out.
2 black sth <=> out to put a dark mark over something so that it cannot be seen:
•The censors had blacked out several words.
3 black sth <=> out to hide or turn off all the lights in a town or city, especially during war; blackout
skin that is black and blue has BRUISEs (=dark marks) on it as a result of being hit:
•If you do that again, I'll beat you back and blue.
1 showing pictures or images only in black, white, and grey; colour
•black and white photos
•an old black and white TV
2 black and white considering things in a way that is too simple and as if things are either completely good or completely bad:
•There's still a tendency to see the issues in black and white.
3 in black and white in written form, and therefore definite:
•Once it's down in black and white, you can't forget it.also the black arts [C] [plural]
BLACK MAGIC $ [T]
to vote against someone, especially so that they cannot join a club or social group[C]
1 a high rank in sports such as JUDO and KARATE
2 someone who has this rank
[+in]
•Sandy's a black belt in judo. $ plural blackberries [C]
a small black or purple BERRY from a bush that has THORNs (=sharp points) $ [C]
a common European and American bird, the male of which is completely black $ [C]
a board with a dark smooth surface, used in schools for writing on with CHALK; whiteboard[C] informal
a piece of equipment on an aircraft that records what happens on a flight and can be used to discover the cause of accidents; = flight recorder[C,U]
a play, story etc that is funny, but also shows the unpleasant side of human life $ [C]
a small blue-black BERRY that grows in bunches on a bush
the Black Death the illness that killed large numbers of people in Europe and Asia in the 14th century
BUBONIC PLAGUE, PLAGUE^1 (2)[singular]
business activity that takes place secretly, especially in order to avoid tax; black market
1 [I,T] to become black, or make something black:
•The thunder became louder and the sky blackened.
2 blacken sb's name/character/reputation to say unpleasant things about someone in order to make other people have a bad opinion of them[U]
the variety of English spoken by some black people in the US[C]
if you have a black eye, you have a dark area around your eye because you have been hit:
•Jack looked like someone had given him a black eye.black-eyed pea [C]
a small white bean with a black spot on it[U] informal
oil $ [C] old use
a man who treats other people very badly [C]
a small dark spot on the skin, with a black centre[C]
1 an area in outer space into which everything near it, including light, is pulled
2 informal something that uses up a lot of money:
•I'm worried that the project could become a financial black hole.[U]
jokes or funny stories that deal with the unpleasant parts of human life[U]
an area of ice that is very difficult to see:
•Driving conditions are dangerous, with black ice in many areas.
1 [U] a card game, usually played for money, in which you try to get as close to 21 points as possible
2 [C] a weapon like a stick covered with leather, used to hit people [C] BrE
someone who continues to work when other workers are on STRIKE - used to show disapproval [T]
to put a person, country, product etc on a blacklist:
•Many people in the industry were blacklisted for their alleged communist sympathies.[C]
a list of people, countries, products etc that are disapproved of, and should therefore be avoided or punished:
•Friends of the Earth have produced a blacklist of environmentally damaging products.[U]
magic that is believed to use the power of the Devil for evil purposes; white magic [U]
1 when someone tries to get money from you or make you do what they want by threatening to tell other people your secrets
2 when someone tries to make you do what they want by making threats or by making you feel guilty if you do not do it:
•She had already tried emotional blackmail (=tried to make him feel guilty) to stop him leaving.[T]
to use blackmail against someone:
•He was jailed for four years for blackmailing gay businessmen.
blackmail sb into (doing) sth
•I refuse to be blackmailed into making a quick decision.
- blackmailer noun [C][C]
the system by which people illegally buy and sell foreign money, goods that are difficult to obtain etc
[+in]
•There was a thriving black market in foreign currency.
•Many foods were only available on the black market.
•black market cigarettes; black economy[C]
someone who sells things on the black market[C]
a member of a group of black people who believe in the religion of Islam and want a separate black society [C]
1 a period of darkness caused by a failure of the electricity supply; = power cut
2 a situation in which particular pieces of news or information are not allowed to be reported:
•As the crisis worsened, the authorities imposed a news blackout.
3 a period during a war when all the lights in a town or city must be turned off
4 if someone has a blackout, they suddenly become unconscious[U]
pepper made from crushed seeds from which the dark outer covering has not been removed; white pepper[C,U] BrE
a kind of thick dark SAUSAGE made from animal blood and fat[C usually singular]
someone who is regarded by other members of their family or group as a failure or embarrassment:
•Amy's always been the black sheep of the family. [C]
someone who makes and repairs things made of iron, especially HORSESHOEs $ [C] BrE
a place or area where there are more problems than usual:
•Arbroath is now the unemployment blackspot of north-east Scotland.
•an accident blackspot (=where there are a lot of road accidents) $ [C]
a European bush that has small white flowers
a black-tie event is one at which people wear special formal clothes, such as TUXEDOs for men; white tie $ AmE
1 [U] a thick black sticky substance that becomes hard as it dries, used to cover roads; = tarmac BrE
2 the blacktop the surface of a road covered by this substance:
•We left the blacktop and drove along a forest road.[C]
a very poisonous type of SPIDER that is black with red marks $ [C]
1 the organ in your body that holds URINE (=waste liquid) until it is passed out of your body
2 a bag of skin, leather, or rubber, for example inside a football, that can be filled with air or liquid
GALL BLADDER $ [not before noun] BrE informal
very drunk:
•Geoff got completely bladdered last night. [C]
1 the flat cutting part of a tool or weapon; edge
[+of]
•The blade of the knife flashed in the moonlight.
•a razor blade
2 the flat wide part of an object that pushes against air or water:
•the blade of an oar
3 blade of grass a single thin flat piece of grass
4 the metal part on the bottom of an ICE-SKATE
SHOULDER BLADE $ [C] informal
someone who SKATEs or ROLLERBLADEs past tense and past participle blagged, present participle blagging [I,T] BrE informal
to obtain something you want by talking in a clever way:
•He blagged his way in by saying he was a friend of the owner. $ [C] BrE informal
someone who gets something they want by lying to people in a clever way
1 blah, blah, blah spoken used when you do not need to complete what you are saying because it is boring or because the person you are talking to already knows it:
•You know how Michelle talks: 'Tommy did this, and Jesse did that, blah, blah, blah.'
2 [U] BrE spoken remarks or statements that are boring and do not mean much:
•the usual blah about everyone working harder
3 the blahs [plural] AmE informal a feeling of being sad and bored:
•a case of the winter blahsAmE spoken informal
1 not having an interesting taste, appearance, character etc:
•The chili was kind of blah.
2 slightly ill or unhappy:
•I feel really blah today. [T]
1 to say or think that someone or something is responsible for something bad:
•Don't blame me - it's not my fault.
•I blame his mother. She does everything for him.
blame sb/sth for sth
•Marie still blames herself for Patrick's death.
•The report blames poor safety standards for the accident.
•The decision to increase interest rates was widely blamed (=blamed by many people) for the crisis.
blame sth on sb/sth
•One of the computers is broken and she's blaming it on me.
•The crash was blamed on pilot error.
2 sb/sth is to blame (for sth) used to say that someone or something is responsible for something bad:
•Officials believe that more than one person may be to blame for the fire.
partly/largely/entirely etc to blame
•Television is partly to blame.
3 I don't blame you/you can hardly blame him etc spoken used to say that you think it was right or reasonable for someone to do what they did:
•'She's left her husband.' 'I don't blame her, after the way he treated her.'
•You can hardly blame him for not waiting. You were in there for an hour.
4 don't blame me spoken used when you are advising someone not to do something but you think that they will do it in spite of your advice:
•Buy it then, but don't blame me when it breaks down.
5 sb only has himself/herself to blame spoken used to say that someone's problems are their own fault:
•If he fails his exams, he'll only have himself to blame.[U]
responsibility for a mistake or for something bad

take/accept the blame (=say that something is your fault)
get the blame (=be blamed)
put/lay/pin/place the blame (for sth) on sb (=blame someone, especially for something that is not their fault)
share the blame
apportion/assign blame formal (=blame someone)
shift the blame (onto sb) (=blame someone else for something you did)
the blame lies with sb (=used to say that someone did something)

[+for]
•Do you accept any blame for what happened?
•You can't expect Terry to take all the blame.
• I always get the blame for his mistakes!
• She stole the money but she's trying to put the blame on me.
•There was no safety barrier, but the court ruled that the child's parents must share the blame for the accident.
• We are not here to apportion blame.
• It's no use trying to shift the blame onto other people.
• In my opinion, the blame lies with the police.

see box at FAULT^1
not guilty of anything bad; = innocent
•The police are not always entirely blameless (=are guilty of doing something bad) in these matters.
•She had led a blameless life.
- blamelessly adverb $
deserving blame or disapproval:
•blameworthy conduct $
1 [T] to put vegetables, fruit, or nuts into boiling water for a short time:
•Blanch the peaches and remove the skins.
2 [I] literary to become pale because you are frightened or shocked:
•Patrick visibly blanched. $ [C,U] BrE
a cold sweet food made from CORNFLOUR, milk, and sugar; = pudding AmE
1 without any excitement, strong opinions, or special character; = dull
•a few bland comments
2 food that is bland has very little taste:
•a bland diet
- blandly adverb
- blandness noun [U] [plural] formal
pleasant things that you say in order to persuade or influence someone:
•How sensible she had been to resist his blandishments.
1 without any writing, print, or recorded sound:
• Leave the last page blank.
•a blank cassette
2 a blank face or look shows no emotion, understanding, or interest; blankly
blank face/look/expression/eyes
•Zoe looked at me with a blank expression.
•She gazed at him in blank astonishment.
3 go blank
a) if your mind goes blank, or if you go blank, you are suddenly unable to remember something:
•My heart began to race and my mind went blank.
b) to stop showing any images, writing etc:
•Suddenly the screen went blank.
- blankness noun [U]
BLANK VERSE[C]
1 an empty space on a piece of paper, where you are supposed to write a word or letter:
•When you've filled in the blanks, hand the form back to me.
2 my mind's a blank spoken used to say that you cannot remember something:
•I'm trying to think of his name, but my mind's a complete blank.
3 a CARTRIDGE (=container for a bullet in a gun) that contains an explosive but no bullet:
•Soldiers fired blanks into the crowd.
draw a blank at DRAW^1 (32)
1 also blank out [I] informal if you blank, or if your mind blanks, you are suddenly unable to remember something:
•I just blanked in the oral exam.
2 [T] BrE informal to ignore someone who you would usually greet or speak to:
•Last time I saw Mike Adams he completely blanked me.

PHRASAL VERBS
blank sth <=> out phr v
1 to cover something so that it cannot be seen:
•The actual names had been blanked out.
2 to completely forget something, especially deliberately:
•I tried to blank out everything he had said.blank check AmE [C] BrE
1 a cheque that has been signed, but has not had the amount written on it
2 give sb a blank cheque BrE /check AmE to give someone permission to do whatever they think is necessary in a particular situation
1 [C] a cover for a bed, usually made of wool
2 [singular] a thick covering or area of something
[+of]
•The hills were covered with a thick blanket of snow.
blanket of fog/cloud
3 [singular] something that makes it hard for you to find information or the truth about something
[+of]
•The inquiry was conducted under a blanket of secrecy.
electric blanket at ELECTRIC (1); WET BLANKET, SECURITY BLANKET[T usually passive]
to cover something with a thick layer
be blanketed in/with sth
•The rooftops were blanketed in snow.[only before noun]
blanket statement/rule/ban etc a statement, rule etc that affects everyone or includes all possible cases:
•the proposed blanket ban on tobacco advertising
•a blanket strategy [only before noun] AmE spoken
used to show annoyance when you want to avoid swearing:
•The blankety-blank key is stuck!
in a way that shows no emotion, understanding, or interest:
•Anna stared blankly at the wall.[U]
poetry that has a fixed RHYTHM but does not RHYME
FREE VERSEalso blare out $ [I,T]
to make a very loud unpleasant noise:
•Horns blared in the street outside.
•The radio was blaring out the latest pop songs.
- blare noun [singular] $ [U] informal
pleasant but untrue things that you say to someone in order to trick or persuade them $
not worried or excited about things that most people think are important, impressive etc
[+about]
•He's very blasé about money now that he's got that job. [I]
to speak in a way that insults God or people's religious beliefs, or to use the names of God and holy things when swearing
- blasphemer noun [C] plural blasphemies [C,U]
something you say or do that is insulting to God or people's religious beliefs
- blasphemous adjective
•The book has been widely condemned as blasphemous.
- blasphemously adverb $ [C]
1 AIR/WIND a sudden strong movement of wind or air
[+of]
•A blast of cold air swept through the hut.
2 EXPLOSION an explosion, or the very strong movement of air that it causes
in the blast
•Thirty-six people died in the blast.
bomb/shotgun/nuclear etc blast
•A bomb blast completely destroyed the building.
3 LOUD NOISE a sudden very loud noise, especially one made by a whistle or horn
[+on]
•The station master gave a blast on his whistle and we were off.
long/short blast
•a long trumpet blast
4 (at) full blast as powerfully or loudly as possible:
•I had the gas fire going full blast.
•The radio was on at full blast.
5 FUN a blast informal an enjoyable and exciting experience:
•The concert was a blast.
•We had a blast at the fair.
6 EMOTION a sudden strong expression of a powerful emotion
[+of]
•She was totally unprepared for the blast of criticism she received.
7 a blast from the past informal something from the past that you remember, see, or hear again, and that reminds you of that time in your life:
•That's a blast from the past. No one has called me that for years.
1 GUN/BOMB [T] to damage or destroy something, or to injure or kill someone, using a gun or a bomb
blast sb with sth
•She blasted her husband with a shotgun because he was having an affair.
•The first shot missed and blasted a hole in the far wall.
•The plane was blasted out of the sky by a terrorist bomb.
2 BREAK STH INTO PIECES [I,T] to break something into pieces using explosives, especially in order to build something such as a road
blast sth through sth
•A 1.5 km tunnel was blasted through the mountain.
blast sth out of sth
•The road will have to be blasted out of solid rock.
[+through]
•Railway workers had blasted through the mountains 90 years before.
3 LOUD NOISE also blast out [I,T] to produce a lot of loud noise, especially music:
•He was woken by the radio alarm clock blasting out rock music.
[+from]
•Dance music blasted from the stereo.
4 CRITICIZE [T] to criticize someone or something very strongly - used especially in news reports
blast sb for (doing) sth
•Union leaders blasted the Government for failing to tackle the jobs crisis.
5 KICK/HIT A BALL [T] to hit or kick a ball very hard:
•With six minutes remaining, he blasted the ball through the Coleraine defences for his 19th goal of the season.
6 AIR/WATER [I,T] if air or water is blasted somewhere, or if it blasts somewhere, it moves there with great force:
•The wind ripped through the trees and blasted a curtain of rain up the meadow.
•Icy winds and driving snow blasted through the pine trees.
7 SPORTS [T] AmE informal to beat another team very easily:
•The Seahawks were blasted 35-14 by the Broncos.

PHRASAL VERBS
blast off phr v
if a spacecraft blasts off, it leaves the ground
BLAST-OFFalso blast her/it etc
used when you are very annoyed about something:
•Oh blast! I've forgotten my key. $ [only before noun]
spoken informal used to express annoyance:
•I wish that blasted baby would stop crying![C]
a large industrial structure in which iron is separated from the rock that surrounds it[U]
the moment when a SPACECRAFT leaves the ground:
•10 seconds to blast-off
blast off at BLAST^2
something bad that is blatant is very clear and easy to see, but the person responsible for it does not seem embarrassed or ashamed:
•a blatant abuse of power
•blatant discrimination
- blatantly adverb $ [I]
to talk for a long time about unimportant things
- blather noun [C,U]
1 FIRE
a) [C usually singular] a big dangerous fire - used especially in news reports; ablaze
•It took almost 100 firemen to bring the blaze under control.
fight/tackle/control a blaze
•Helicopters were used to help fight the blaze.
house/factory/barn etc blaze
•a huge chemical factory blaze
b) [singular] a fire burning with strong bright flames:
•I lit the fire and soon had a cheerful blaze going.
2 LIGHT/COLOUR [singular] very bright light or colour; ablaze
[+of]
•the blaze of light from the security lamps
•The garden is a blaze of colour at this time of year.
3 blaze of publicity/glory a lot of public attention or success and praise:
•As soon as the trial was over, the blaze of publicity surrounding him vanished.
•She played the Canada tournament then retired, going out in a blaze of glory (=ending her career with a lot of success and praise).
4 [singular] a sudden show of very strong emotion:
•A blaze of anger flashed across his face.
5 what the blazes/who the blazes etc old-fashioned spoken used to emphasize a question when you are annoyed:
•What the blazes is going on here?
6 like blazes old-fashioned spoken as fast, as much, or as strongly as possible:
•We had to run like blazes.
7 [C usually singular] a white mark, especially one down the front of a horse's face[I]
1 FIRE to burn very brightly and strongly; blazing
•The room was warm and cosy, with a fire blazing in the hearth.
2 LIGHT to shine with a very bright light:
•A huge truck was advancing towards us, its headlights blazing.
•The sun blazed down as we walked along the valley.
3 EYES [usually in progressive] literary if someone's eyes are blazing, their eyes are shining brightly because they are feeling a very strong emotion, usually anger
[+with]
•Linda leapt to her feet, her dark eyes blazing with anger.
4 GUN also blaze away if guns blaze, they fire bullets quickly and continuously:
•An enemy plane roared overhead, its guns blazing.
5 blaze a trail to develop or do something new and important, or to do something important that no one has done before:
•an innovative young company that has blazed a trail for others to follow
6 be blazed across/all over sth if something is blazed across a newspaper etc, it is written in a way that everyone will notice:
•News of their divorce was blazed across all the tabloids. $ [C]
a jacket, sometimes with the special sign of a school, club etc on it [only before noun]
1 extremely hot:
•a blazing August afternoon
2 full of strong emotions, especially anger:
•He jumped to his feet in a blazing fury.
blazing row (=very angry argument) [T]
be blazoned across/on/over sth to be written or shown on something in a very noticeable way [U]
a chemical used to make things pale or white, or to kill GERMs [T]
to make something pale or white, especially by using chemicals or the sun:
•She bleached her hair blond.
•The wood had been bleached by the sun. $ [plural] especially AmE
long wooden BENCHes arranged in rows, where you sit to watch sport
1 without anything to make you feel happy or hopeful
a bleak future/prospect
•The company still hopes to find a buyer, but the future looks bleak.
2 cold and without any pleasant or comfortable features:
•a bleak January afternoon
•The landscape was bleak and bare.
- bleakly adverb
- bleakness noun [U]also bleary-eyed $
unable to see very clearly, because you are tired or have been crying:
•Steve emerged from his room, unshaven and bleary-eyed.
- blearily adverb
- bleariness noun [U] [I]
1 to make the sound that a sheep or goat makes
2 informal to complain in a silly or annoying way:
•'But I've only just got here,' bleated Simon.
- bleat noun [C] past tense and past participle bled
1 BLOOD
a) [I] to lose blood, especially because of an injury:
•Your nose is bleeding.
•Tragically, she bled to death.
bleed profusely/heavily (=bleed a lot)
•Mrs Burke was found unconscious and bleeding profusely.
b) [T] to take some blood from someone's body, done in the past in order to treat a disease:
•When he fell sick several days later, he had a doctor bleed him.
2 MONEY [T] to force someone to pay an unreasonable amount of money over a period of time:
•His ex-wife clearly intends to bleed him for every last penny.
bleed sb dry/white (=take all their money, possessions etc)
•The ten-year war has bled the country dry.
3 AIR/LIQUID [T] to remove air or liquid from a system in order to make it work properly, for example from a heating system:
•We need to bleed the radiators.
4 COLOUR [I] to spread from one area of cloth or paper to another; = run
•Wash it in cold water so the colours don't bleed.
5 bleed red ink informal if a company or business bleeds red ink, it loses a lot of money rather than making money:
•Analysts predict the retailer will continue to bleed red ink, with losses topping $180 million.
my heart bleeds (for sb) at HEART (37) $ [C] BrE spoken not polite
a very offensive word for a person, especially a man that you dislike [U]
the condition of losing blood from your body:
•Use pressure to control the bleeding.
•The bleeding had almost stopped.
•He died of internal bleeding.
severe/heavy bleeding (=when someone is losing a lot of blood)[only before noun] BrE spoken not polite
an offensive way of emphasizing something when you are angry:
•Get your bleeding hands off my car!also bleeding heart liberal [C]
informal someone who feels sympathy for poor people or criminals, in a way that you think is not practical or helpful [C]
1 a short high sound made by a piece of electronic equipment
2 a bleeper
1 [I] to make a high electronic sound:
•The timer on the cooker started to bleep.
2 [T] BrE to let someone know, through their bleeper, that you want them to telephone you; = beep AmE
3 [T] also bleep out to prevent an offensive word being heard on television or the radio by making a high electronic sound:
•All the swear words had been bleeped out. $ [C] BrE
a small machine that you carry with you, that makes short high electronic sounds to tell you that you must telephone someone; = pager; = beeper AmE [C]
a small mark, especially a mark on someone's skin or on the surface of an object, that spoils its appearance[T often passive]
to spoil the beauty or appearance of something, so that it is not perfect; unblemished
- blemished adjective
1 [I,T] to combine different things in a way that produces an effective or pleasant result, or to become combined in this way:
•a story that blends fact and legend
[+with/together]
•Leave the sauce for at least one hour to allow the flavours to blend together.
2 [T] to thoroughly mix together soft or liquid substances to form a single smooth substance:
•Blend the sugar, eggs, and flour.
3 [T usually passive] to produce tea, tobacco, WHISKY etc by mixing several different types together

PHRASAL VERBS
blend in phr v
if someone or something blends in with people or objects, they match them or are similar, and you do not notice them
[+with]
•The old house blends in perfectly with the countryside.[C]
1 a product such as tea, tobacco, or WHISKY that is a mixture of several different types
2 a mixture of different things that combine together well:
•an excellent team, with a nice blend of experience and youthful enthusiasm[C]
a family in which one or both parents have children from previous marriages living with the family $ [C]
an electric machine that you use to mix liquids and soft foods together; = liquidizer BrE [T]
1 bless you! spoken
a) what you say when someone SNEEZEs
b) used to thank someone for doing something for you
2 bless (him/her etc) spoken used to show that you are fond of someone, amused by them, or pleased by something they have done:
•He's always willing to help. Bless him!
•'Jess made this card for me.' 'Bless!'
3 be blessed with sth to have a special ability, good quality etc:
•Fortunately we're both blessed with good health.
4 if God blesses someone or something, he helps and protects them:
•May God bless you.
5 to ask God to protect someone or something:
•The couple later had their marriage blessed in their local parish church.
6 to make something holy:
•Then the priest blesses the bread and wine.
7 bless my soul/I'll be blessed! old-fashioned spoken used to express surprise
1 [only before noun] spoken used to express annoyance:
•Now where have I put that blessed book?
2 [only before noun] very enjoyable or desirable:
•a few moments of blessed silence
3 holy:
•the Blessed Virgin
- blessedly adverb
- blessedness noun [U]
1 [C] something that you have or something that happens which is good because it improves your life, helps you in some way, or makes you happy:
•The dishwasher has been a real blessing!
it is a blessing (that)
•It's a blessing no-one was badly hurt.
2 [U] someone's approval or encouragement for a plan, activity, idea etc
with sb's blessing
•They were determined to marry, with or without their parents' blessing.
•The Defense Department has given its blessing to the scheme.
3 a mixed blessing a situation that has both good and bad parts:
•Having children so early in their marriage was a mixed blessing.
4 a blessing in disguise something that seems to be bad or unlucky at first, but which you later realize is good or lucky
5 count your blessings used to tell someone to remember how lucky they are, especially when they are complaining about something
6 [C,U] protection and help from God, or words spoken to ask for this:
•The priest gave the blessing. $ [I]
to talk about things that are not important - used especially in Scotland
- blether noun [C,U]
the past tense of BLOW
1 [singular,U] an unhealthy condition of plants in which parts of them dry up and die
2 [singular] something that makes people unhappy or that spoils their lives or the environment they live in
[+on]
•Her guilty secret was a blight on her happiness.
•the blight of poverty[T]
to spoil or damage something, especially by preventing people from doing what they want to do:
•a disease which, though not fatal, can blight the lives of its victims
•a country blighted by poverty
- blighted adjective
•blighted hopes $ [C] BrE old-fashioned informal
1 used to talk about someone that you feel sorry for or JEALOUS of:
•Poor old blighter.
•You lucky blighter!
2 a bad or unpleasant person BrE spoken informal
used to express surprise:
•Blimey, look at that!also Colonel Blimp [C] BrE
someone, especially an old man, with old-fashioned political ideas - used to show disapproval
- Blimpish adjective [C]
1 a small AIRSHIP (=type of aircraft without wings)
2 AmE spoken not polite an offensive word for a very fat person
1 UNABLE TO SEE
a) unable to see; colour-blind, visually impaired, handicapped
•a school for blind children
•the needs of blind and partially-sighted people
totally/completely/almost/partially blind
•She's almost blind in her right eye.
•He was slowly going blind (=becoming blind).
•Beverley was born blind and deaf.
b) the blind [plural] people who are unable to see:
•talking books for the blind
c) as blind as a bat unable to see well - used humorously:
•I'm as blind as a bat without my glasses.
d) blind with tears/rage/pain etc unable to see because of tears, pain, or a strong emotion; blindly
•She screamed at him, her eyes blind with tears.
2 be blind to sth to completely fail to notice or realize something; blindly
•International companies are all too often blind to local needs.
•He was totally blind to the faults of his children.
3 turn a blind eye (to sth) to deliberately ignore something that you know should not be happening:
•Teachers were turning a blind eye to smoking in school.
4 not take/pay a blind bit of notice BrE informal to completely ignore what someone does or says, especially in a way that is annoying:
•He never pays a blind bit of notice to what his staff tell him.
5 not make a blind bit of difference BrE informal used to emphasize that whatever someone says or does will not change the situation at all:
•Try and talk to her if you want. But I don't think it'll make a blind bit of difference.
6 FEELINGS
a) blind faith/prejudice/obedience etc strong feelings that someone has without thinking about why they have them - used to show disapproval:
•Blind faith sent thousands of people to a pointless war.
•a story about blind loyalty
b) blind panic/rage strong feelings of fear or anger that you cannot control:
•In a moment of blind panic she had pulled the trigger and shot the man dead.
•Blind rage took hold of him.
7 ROAD blind bend/corner a corner in a road that you cannot see beyond when you are driving
8 the blind leading the blind used to say that people who do not know much about what they are doing are guiding or advising others who know nothing at all
9 AIRCRAFT blind flying is when you use only instruments to fly an aircraft because you cannot see through cloud, mist etc
10 blind drunk BrE informal extremely drunk
- blindness noun [U]
rob sb blind at ROB (3); swear blind at SWEAR (3)[T]
1 to make it difficult for someone to see for a short time:
•For a moment I was blinded by the glare of headlights coming towards me.
•The dust choked and blinded him.
•Blinded by tears, I walked towards the door.
2 to make someone lose their good sense or judgment and be unable to see the truth about something:
•He should have known better. But he was blinded by his own self-centredness.
blind sb to sth
•Children's bad behaviour should not blind us to their need for love.
•His single-minded determination to win the war is blinding him to other dangers.
3 to permanently destroy someone's ability to see:
•He had been blinded in an explosion.
4 blind sb with science to confuse or trick someone by using complicated language
effing and blinding at EFF (1)[C]
1 also (window) shade AmE a covering, especially one made of cloth, that can be rolled up and down to cover a window inside a building:
•The blinds were drawn (=pulled down) to protect the new furniture from the sun.
open/pull down/draw the blinds
ROLLER BLIND, VENETIAN BLIND
2 AmE a small shelter where you can watch birds or animals without being seen by them; = hide BrE
3 [singular] a trick or excuse to stop someone from discovering the truth[C]
1 a small narrow street with no way out at one end
2 a way of doing something that seems as if it will have a successful result, but which in fact does not:
•False information has led the police up a series of blind alleys.[C]
an arranged meeting between a man and woman who have not met each other before:
•Would you ever go on a blind date? $
1 [singular] BrE informal an excellent performance, especially in sport:
•He played an absolute blinder!
2 blinders [plural] AmE pieces of leather that are put beside a horse's eyes to stop it from seeing objects on either side; = blinkers BrE $ [C]
a piece of cloth that covers someone's eyes to prevent them from seeing anything[T]
to cover someone's eyes with a piece of cloth:
•Blindfold the prisoner!also blindfolded $ BrE
1 with your eyes covered by a piece of cloth
2 can do sth blindfold informal used to say that it is very easy for you to do something because you have done it so often
1 [usually before noun] so bright or strong that you cannot see properly
blinding flash/light/glare etc
•the desert with its strange twisted plants and its blinding light
blinding rain/snow/heat etc
•I struggled back to the hut through blinding rain.
2 blinding headache a very bad HEADACHE
3 blinding realization/clarity/revelation etc a sudden realization, clear understanding, or new idea about something:
•It was then that she realised, with blinding clarity, that she loved him.
•Suddenly I had a blinding flash of inspiration.
4 BrE spoken informal very good and enjoyable:
•It's a blinding album.
very or extremely:
•It was blindingly obvious that Max wasn't really interested.
1 not thinking about something or trying to understand it:
•Don't just blindly accept what you are told.
2 not seeing or noticing what is around you, especially because you are upset:
•'I don't know,' she repeated as she stared blindly down into her glass.
•I ran blindly upstairs.[U]
a children's game in which one player whose eyes are covered tries to catch the others [T] AmE informal
1 to hit the side of a vehicle with your vehicle in an accident:
•Their car was blindsided by a bus at the intersection.
2 to give someone an unpleasant surprise:
•I was blindsided by his suggestion.[C]
1 something that you are unable or unwilling to understand:
•I have a blind spot where computers are concerned.
2 the part of the road that you cannot see when you are driving a car
3 the point in your eye where the nerve enters, which is not sensitive to light [U] informal
expensive objects such as JEWELLERY that are worn in a way that is very easy to notice
1 [I,T] to shut and open your eyes quickly:
•I blinked as I came out into the sunlight.
2 [I] if lights blink, they shine unsteadily or go on and off quickly:
•The light on your answering machine is blinking.
3 not (even) blink to not seem at all surprised:
•When I told her how much it would cost, she didn't even blink.
4 before you could blink spoken extremely quickly
5 blink back/away tears to shut and open your eyes in order to get rid of tears:
•Lynn laughed, blinking back unexpected tears.
1 on the blink spoken not working properly:
•My computer's on the blink again.
2 in the blink of an eye very quickly
3 [C] the action of quickly shutting and opening your eyes $
1 having a limited view of a subject, or refusing to accept or consider different ideas; = narrow-minded
a blinkered attitude/approach
•a blinkered attitude to other cultures
2 a horse that is blinkered is wearing blinkers $ [plural]
1 BrE pieces of leather that are put beside a horse's eyes to stop it from seeing objects on either side; = blinders AmE
2 AmE informal the small lights on a car that you flash on and off to show which way you are turning [only before noun]
BrE informal used to show that you are annoyed:
•Turn that blinking music down! [C]
1 a short high electronic sound, or a flashing light on the screen of a piece of electronic equipment:
•blips on a radar screen
2 a short pause or change in a process or activity, especially when the situation gets worse for a while before it improves again:
•A government spokesman described the rise in inflation as a temporary blip. [U]
perfect happiness or enjoyment
domestic/wedded/marital bliss
•Mr Lowe has just celebrated six months of wedded bliss to his sweetheart Ellen.
•I didn't have to get up till 11 - it was sheer bliss. BrE informal
extremely happy and relaxed, especially as a result of using illegal drugs:
•blissed-out partygoers
- bliss out verb [I]
1 extremely happy or enjoyable:
•blissful sunny days
2 blissful ignorance a situation in which you do not yet know about something unpleasant
- blissfully adverb
•Jean seems blissfully happy.
•blissfully unaware of the impending danger [only before noun]
among the group of film stars, musicians etc who are fairly famous or popular, but are not the most popular or famous; A-list
•B-list celebrities $ [C]
1 a swelling on your skin containing clear liquid, caused for example by a burn or continuous rubbing:
•New shoes always give me blisters.
2 a swelling on the surface of metal, rubber, painted wood etc[I,T]
to develop blisters or make blisters form:
•The paint will blister in the heat.
- blistered adjective
•My hands were blistered from all the digging.
1 extremely hot; = blazing
•the blistering heat of the desert
2 blistering attack/criticism etc very critical remarks expressing anger and disapproval:
•She launched into a blistering attack on her boss.
3 used to describe actions in sport which are very fast or forceful:
•Schumacher set a blistering pace from the start.
- blisteringly adverb
•a blisteringly hot day $
1 seeming not to care or worry about the effects of what you do:
•a blithe disregard for the facts
2 literary happy and having no worries
- blithely adverb
•He seems blithely unaware of how much anger he's caused.
•'Don't worry. I'll pay,' she said blithely.
blithering idiot spoken someone who has done something very stupid [C usually singular]
1 a sudden military attack, especially from the air
the Blitz (=the bombing of British cities by German aircraft in 1940 and 1941)
2 informal a period of great effort in order to deal with something quickly and completely
[+on]
•We'll have to have a blitz on the house before your parents arrive.
3 a big effort to make people notice something or buy something
a media/marketing/advertising etc blitz
•The campaign was launched with a nationwide publicity blitz.
- blitz verb [T]
•News came that Rotterdam had been blitzed. $ [C]
1 a severe snow storm:
•We got stuck in a blizzard.
2 a sudden large amount of something unpleasant or annoying that you must deal with
[+of]
•a blizzard of emails $
1 full of liquid, gas, food etc, so that you look or feel much larger than normal:
•a red bloated face
•I feel really bloated after that meal.
2 if you describe an organization as bloated, you mean that it is too big and does not work effectively:
•the bloated state bureaucracy $ [C]
a smoked fish $ [C]
1 a very small round mass of a liquid or sticky substance
[+of]
•a blob of honey
2 something that cannot be clearly seen, especially because it is far away:
•Without a telescope, the comet will look like a fuzzy blob. $ [C usually singular]
a large group of people or countries with the same political aims, working together:
•the former Soviet bloc
EN BLOC $ [C]
1 SOLID MATERIAL a piece of hard material such as wood or stone with straight sides
2 STREETS/AREA
a) AmE the distance along a city street from where one street crosses it to the next:
•Head for 44th Street, a few blocks east of Sixth Avenue.
•The church is down the block.
b) the four city streets that form a square around an area of buildings:
•Let's walk round the block.
•She grew up playing with the other kids on the block.
c) AusE a large piece of land:
•a ten acre block near the city
3 LARGE BUILDING a large building divided into separate parts
[+of]
•a block of flats
•an office block
•an apartment block
•the school science block
4 QUANTITY OF THINGS a quantity of things of the same kind, considered as a single unit
[+of]
•New employees receive a block of shares in the firm.
•a system for storing large blocks of data
•Set aside blocks of time for doing your homework.
5 block booking/voting an arrangement that is made for a whole group to buy something or to vote together
6 INABILITY TO THINK [usually singular] the temporary loss of your normal ability to think, learn, write etc:
•I have a mental block whenever I try to remember my password.
•After his second novel Garland had writer's block (=he could not write anything).
7 STOPPING MOVEMENT [usually singular] something that prevents movement or progress
[+to]
•a major block to progress
ROADBLOCK, STUMBLING BLOCK
8 PUNISHMENT the block in the past, a solid block of wood on which someone's head was cut off as a punishment
9 put your head/neck on the block to risk destroying other people's opinion of you or losing your job by doing or saying something:
•I'm not prepared to put my head on the block for him.
10 SPORT a movement in sport that stops an opponent going forward or playing the ball forward
11 SELL go on the block to be sold, especially at an AUCTION:
•$500 million worth of art will go on the block.
BLOCK CAPITALS, TOWER BLOCK; be a chip off the old block at CHIP^1 (7); I'll knock your block off at KNOCK^1 (24)[T]
1 also block up to prevent anything moving through a space by being or placing something across it or in it:
•A fallen tree is blocking the road.
•The sink's blocked up.
2 block sb's way/path/exit/escape etc to stand in front of someone, so that they cannot go past:
•I tried to get through, but there were too many people blocking my way.
3 to stop something happening, developing, or succeeding:
•The Senate blocked publication of the report.
•laws designed to block imports of cheap tobacco
4 block sb's view to be in front of someone so that they cannot see something:
•The huge building across the street blocked our view of the sea.
5 also block out to stop light reaching a place:
•Can you move? You're blocking my light.
6 to stop a ball, a blow etc from getting to where your opponent wants it to:
•a shot blocked by the goalkeeper

PHRASAL VERBS
block sb/sth <=> in phr v
1 to park your car too close to another car, so that the other one cannot drive away
2 to paint or draw simple shapes or areas of colour:
•I'll just block in the main buildings.

block sth<=> off phr v
to completely close something such as a road or an opening:
•Police blocked off the city centre streets.
•The fireplace had been blocked off.

block sth<=> out
1 to stop light reaching a place:
•There was a heavy curtain blocking out the light.
2 to stop yourself thinking about something or remembering it:
•a memory so terrible that she tried to block it out $ [C]
1 [usually singular] the surrounding of an area by soldiers or ships to stop people or supplies leaving or entering:
•a naval blockade
•They've imposed an economic blockade on the country.
•an agreement to lift the blockade (=end it)
2 something that is used to stop vehicles or people entering or leaving a place:
•Angry farmers used tractors as blockades on the streets.[T]
to put a place under a blockade:
•The ships blockaded the port. $
1 [C] something that is stopping movement in a narrow place:
•a blockage in the pipe
2 [U] the state of being blocked or prevented[C usually singular]
a piece of equipment with wheels and ropes, used for lifting heavy things $ [C]
informal a book or film that is very good or successful:
•the latest Hollywood blockbuster
- blockbusting adjective
•a blockbusting movie[plural]
letters in their large form such as A, B, C, rather than a, b, c:
•Complete the form in block capitals. $ [C]
old-fashioned informal a very stupid person $ [C]
a small strong building used as a shelter from enemy guns[plural]
block capitals[C]
AmE a party held in the street for all the people living in the area $ [C]
a web page that is made up of information about a particular subject, in which the newest information is always at the top of the page; = web log
- blogger noun [C] $ [C]
BrE informal a man:
•He's a nice bloke.blokeish $ BrE informal
if you do blokish things, you behave in a traditionally male way:
•playing football, fixing the car, and other blokish activities $
1 another spelling of BLONDE
2 a man who is blond has pale or yellow hair $
1 blonde hair is pale or yellow in colour
2 a woman who is blonde has pale or yellow hair[C]
informal a woman with pale or yellow-coloured hair:
•a beautiful blonde [U]
1 the red liquid that your heart pumps around your body

lose blood
draw blood (=make someone bleed)
give/donate blood (=have blood taken from you for the medical treatment of other people)
blood clots (=blood that forms a mass and stops flowing)
dried blood
be caked with blood (=covered in dry blood)
pool of blood
drop of blood
trickle of blood
blood flows/oozes/gushes
blood test
blood cell
blood sample

•She lost a lot of blood in the accident.
• The dog bit her but didn't draw blood.
•I'm going to give blood this afternoon.
•Cooked garlic helps to prevent blood clotting, and so reduces the risk of heart attack.
• Dried blood matted his hair on each side of his head.
• My trousers were caked with blood.
•Her body was found in a pool of blood.
• A single drop of blood can transport the virus.
• the steady trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth
• Blood oozed from a cut on his forehead.
• Blood tests proved he was not the father.

2 (have) sb's blood on your hands to have caused someone's death:
•dictators with blood on their hands
3 in cold blood in a cruel and deliberate way:
•Evans had been murdered in cold blood.
4 make sb's blood boil to make someone extremely angry:
•The way they treat people makes my blood boil.
5 make sb's blood run cold to make someone feel extremely frightened
6 like getting blood out of a stone almost impossible:
•Getting the truth out of her is like getting blood out of a stone.
7 blood is thicker than water used to say that family relationships are more important than any other kind
8 be after sb's blood to be angry enough to want to hurt someone
9 sb's blood is up BrE someone is extremely angry about something and determined to do something about it:
•They tried to stop me, but my blood was up.
10 the family to which you belong from the time that you are born:
•There's Irish blood on his mother's side.
11 be/run in sb's blood if an ability or tendency is in, or runs in, someone's blood, it is natural to them and others in their family
12 sweat blood to work extremely hard to achieve something:
•Beth sweated blood over that article.
13 blood, sweat, and tears extremely hard work
14 new/fresh blood new members in a group or organization who bring new ideas and energy:
•We need to bring in some new blood and fresh ideas.
15 blood on the carpet a situation where people have a very strong disagreement, with the result that something serious happens, such as someone losing his or her job
16 young blood old-fashioned a fashionable young man
bad blood at BAD^1 (27); BLUE-BLOODED, RED BLOOD CELL, WHITE BLOOD CELL; your own flesh and blood at FLESH^1 (6); shed blood at SHED^2 (5)[T]
BrE to give someone their first experience of an activity, especially a difficult or unpleasant one
full of action or violence:
•a blood-and-guts struggle between the two teams[only before noun]
BrE full of exciting and violent action or emotion[C]
a store of human blood to be used in hospital treatment $ [singular]
the violent killing of many people at one time; = massacre[C]
a man who promises loyalty to another, often in a ceremony in which the men's blood is mixed together[C]
1 a medical examination of someone's blood to see if it contains the right substances in the right amounts
2 the number of cells in someone's blood:
•Her blood count is very low. $
extremely frightening:
•a bloodcurdling scream[C]
someone who gives their blood to be used in the medical treatment of other people[C]
a quarrel between people or families that lasts for many years, in which each side murders or injures members of the other side[C]
especially BrE one of the classes into which human blood can be separated, including A, B, AB and O; = blood type AmE[U]
the normal temperature of the human body [C]
a large dog with a very good sense of smell, often used for hunting
1 without killing or violence:
•a bloodless coup
2 a bloodless part of your body is very pale:
•His lips were thin and bloodless.
3 lacking in human feeling
- bloodlessly adverb [U]
1 killing people; = bloodshed
•The movie contains scenes of violence and bloodletting.
2 a medical treatment used in the past which involved removing some of a person's blood
3 a reduction in the number of people working for an organization, industry etc:
•Many jobs have been lost, and the bloodletting isn't over yet. [C]
all the members of a family of people or animals over a period of time; pedigree
•a royal bloodline
•Hereford cattle with bloodlines going back 200 years[U]
a strong desire to be violent[U]
1 money paid for murdering someone
2 money paid to the family of someone who has been murdered[C]
an orange with red juice[U]
a serious illness in which an infection spreads through your blood[U]
the force with which blood travels through your body:
•high blood pressure
check/take sb's blood pressure (=measure it)
•The nurse will take your blood pressure.
dark red, like blood
- blood-red noun [U]also blood relative [C]
someone related to you by birth rather than by marriage [U]
the killing of people, usually in fighting or war:
•diplomacy aimed at stopping further bloodshed $
if your eyes are bloodshot, the parts that are normally white are red or pink[C]
a sport that involves the killing of animals:
•a demonstration against blood sports [C]
a mark or spot of blood
- bloodstained adjective
•a bloodstained handkerchief $ [U]
horses that have been bred for racing:
•a bloodstock auction [C usually singular]
the blood flowing in your body:
•The drug is injected directly into the bloodstream. $ [C]
1 a creature that sucks blood from the bodies of other animals
2 informal someone who always uses other people's money or help - used in order to show disapproval $
1 eager to kill and wound, or enjoying killing and violence:
•a bloodthirsty crowd
2 describing or showing violence:
•The film was too bloodthirsty for me.[C,U]
the process of putting blood into someone's body as a medical treatment[C]
especially AmE one of the classes into which human blood can be separated, including A, B, AB, and O; = blood group BrE[C]
one of the tubes through which blood flows in your body; artery, vein spoken especially BrE
1 used to emphasize what you are saying in a slightly rude way:
•It's bloody cold out there!
•That's a bloody good idea.
•Bloody hell!
•'Are you going to go with him?' 'Not bloody likely (=definitely not).'
2 bloody well used to emphasize an angry statement or order:
•It serves you bloody well right.
1 covered in blood, or bleeding
2 with a lot of killing and injuries:
•a bloody battle
3 scream/yell bloody murder AmE informal to protest in a loud very angry way:
•She was furious - screaming bloody murder at the manager!
4 bloody/bloodied but unbowed harmed by events but not defeated by them:
•He emerged from the discussions bloody but unbowed.past tense and past participle bloodied, present participle bloodying, third person singular bloodies [T]
to injure someone so that blood comes, or to cover something with blood
deliberately making things difficult for other people; awkward
•Stop being so bloody-minded!
- bloody-mindedness noun [U]
1 [C,U] a flower or flowers:
•beautiful red blooms
•a mass of bloom on the apple trees
2 in (full) bloom with the flowers fully open
3 [singular,U] the healthy happy appearance that someone has, especially when they are young:
•The rosy bloom of her cheeks had faded.[I]
1 if a plant or a flower blooms, its flowers appear or open
2 to become happier, healthier, or more successful in a way that is very noticeable:
•She was positively blooming the last time I saw her. $
1 bloomers [plural] underwear that women wore in the past, like loose trousers that end at the knees
2 [C] BrE old-fashioned an embarrassing mistake that you make in front of other people - used humorously; = blooper AmE [only before noun] BrE spoken old-fashioned
used for emphasizing a remark, especially when you are angry or surprised:
•It's blooming ridiculous! $ [C] AmE
1 an embarrassing mistake that you make in front of other people; = bloomer BrE
2 a ball in baseball that is high and slow and easy to catch or hit $ [C,U]
1 a flower or the flowers on a tree or bush:
•pale pink blossoms
•The cherry tree was covered in blossom.
2 in (full) blossom with the flowers fully open[I]
1 if trees blossom, they produce flowers:
•The apple trees are just beginning to blossom.
2 also blossom out to become happier, more beautiful, more successful etc:
•Pete's blossomed out in his new school.
[+into]
•The idea blossomed into a successful mail order business. $ past tense and past participle blotted, present participle blotting [T]
1 to make a wet surface become dry by pressing soft paper or cloth on it
2 blot your copybook BrE informal to do something that spoils the idea that people have of you

PHRASAL VERBS
blot sth <=> out phr v
1 to cover or hide something completely:
•Thick white smoke blotted out the sun.
2 if you blot out an unpleasant memory, a thought etc, you deliberately try to forget it:
•She said she took drugs to blot out her problems.

blot sth <=> up phr v
to remove liquid from a surface by pressing soft paper or cloth onto it[C]
1 a mark or dirty spot on something, especially made by ink:
• ink blots
2 a building, structure etc that is ugly and spoils the appearance of a place:
•The new power station is a blot on the landscape.
3 something that spoils the good opinion that people have of someone or something
[+on]
•The increase in juvenile crime is a blot on our time. $ [C]
a pink or red mark on the skin, or a coloured mark on something
- blotchy adjective
- blotched adjective $ [C]
1 a large piece of blotting paper kept on top of a desk
2 AmE a book in which an official daily record is kept:
•the police blotter
3 AmE informal the drug LSD[U]
soft thick paper used for drying wet ink on a page after writing $ BrE informal
drunk $ [C]
a shirt for women:
•a silk blouse $ past tense blew , past participle blown $
1 WIND MOVING [I,T] if the wind or a current of air blows, it moves:
•A cold breeze was blowing hard.
•It was blowing from an easterly direction.
•Outside, the weather was blowing a gale.
2 WIND MOVING STH [I,T usually + adv/prep] to move or to move something by the force of the wind or a current of air:
•Her hair was blowing in the breeze.
•The wind blew the rain into our faces.
•My ticket blew away.
blow (sth) open/shut
•A sudden draught blew the door shut.
3 AIR FROM YOUR MOUTH [I,T always + adv/prep] to send air out from your mouth
blow (sth) into/onto/out etc
•She blew onto her coffee to cool it down.
•He blew the smoke right in my face.
•You'll have to blow harder than that!
4 MAKE A NOISE [I,T] to make a sound by passing air through a whistle, horn etc:
•The whistle blew for halftime.
•A truck went by and blew its horn at her.
5 VIOLENCE [T always + adv/prep] to damage or destroy something violently with an explosion or by shooting
blow sth away/out/off sth
•Part of his leg had been blown off.
blow sth/sb to pieces/bits/smithereens
•A bomb like that could blow you to bits.
6 LOSE AN OPPORTUNITY [T] informal to lose a good opportunity by making a mistake or by being careless:
•We've blown our chances of getting that contract.
•You've got a great future ahead of you. Don't blow it.
7 WASTE MONEY [T] informal to spend a lot of money in a careless way, especially on one thing:
•I blew all the money I won on a trip to Hawaii.
8 blow your nose to clean your nose by forcing air through it into a cloth or a piece of soft paper
9 blow sb a kiss to kiss your hand and then pretend to blow the kiss towards someone:
•She leant out of the window and blew him a kiss.
10 ELECTRICITY STOPS [I,T] if an electrical FUSE blows, or a piece of electrical equipment blows a fuse, the electricity suddenly stops working because a thin wire has melted:
•The floodlights blew a fuse.
11 TYRE [I,T] if a tyre blows or if a car blows a tyre, it bursts
12 MAKE A SHAPE [T] to make or shape something by sending air out from your mouth:
•The kids were blowing bubbles in the backyard.
blow glass (=shape glass by blowing into it when it is very hot and soft)
13 SURPRISE/ANNOYANCE blow/blow me/blow it etc BrE spoken said to show annoyance or surprise:
•Blow it! I forgot to phone Jane.
• Blow me down if she didn't just run off!
•Well, I'm blowed!
14 TELL A SECRET [T] to make known something that was meant to be a secret:
•Your coming here has blown the whole operation.
blow sb's cover (=make known what someone's real job or name is)
•It would only take one phone call to blow his cover.
15 blow sb's mind spoken to make you feel very surprised and excited by something:
•Seeing her again really blew my mind.
MIND-BLOWING
16 blow your top/stack/cool also blow a fuse/gasket informal to become extremely angry quickly or suddenly:
•One day, I just blew my top and hit him.
17 blow the whistle on sb informal to tell someone in authority about something wrong that someone is doing:
•He blew the whistle on his colleagues.
WHISTLE-BLOWER
18 blow sth (up) out of (all) proportion to make something seem much more serious or important than it is:
•The issue was blown up out of all proportion.
19 blow your own trumpet especially BrE also blow your own horn AmE informal to talk a lot about your own achievements - used to show disapproval:
•Dave spent the whole evening blowing his own trumpet.
20 blow sb/sth out of the water to defeat someone or something that you are competing with, or to achieve much more than they do:
•Motown had blown all the other record companies out of the water.
21 blow hot and cold BrE informal to keep changing your attitude towards someone or something
22 blow sth sky-high BrE to destroy an idea, plan etc by showing that it cannot be true or effective:
•This new information blows his theory sky-high.

PHRASAL VERBS
blow sb<=> away phr v informal especially AmE
1 to make someone feel very surprised, especially about something they like or admire:
•It just blows me away, the way everyone's so friendly round here.
2 to kill someone by shooting them with a gun:
•One move and I'll blow you away!
3 to defeat someone completely, especially in a game:
•Nancy blew away the rest of the skaters.

blow down phr v
if the wind blows something down, or if something blows down, the wind makes it fall:
•The garden gate has blown down.
blow sth <=> down
•Several trees were blown down in the night.

blow in phr v
1 also blow into sth informal to arrive in a place, especially suddenly:
•Jim blew in about an hour ago.
•Guess who's just blown into town?
2 if a storm or bad weather blows in, it arrives and begins to affect a particular area:
•The first snowstorm blew in from the north.

blow sb/sth <=> off phr v AmE informal
1 to treat someone or something as unimportant, for example by not meeting someone or not going to an event:
•Tanya just blew me off - she said she didn't want to see me any more.
•Bud got into trouble for blowing off the meeting.
2 blow the lid off sth to make known something that was secret, especially something involving important or famous people:
•Her book blew the lid off the Reagan years.
3 blow sb's head off to kill someone by shooting them in the head
4 blow off steam AmE to get rid of anger or energy by doing something; = let off steam BrE
•I went jogging to blow off some steam.

blow out phr v
1 if you blow a flame or a fire out, or if it blows out, it stops burning:
•The match blew out in the wind.
blow sth <=> out
•Blow out all the candles.
2 if a tyre blows out, it bursts
3 blow itself out if a storm blows itself out, it ends
4 blow your/sb's brains out to kill yourself or someone else with a shot to the head
5 blow sb <=> out AmE spoken to easily defeat someone:
•We blew them out 28 - 0.
6 AmE if you blow out your knee or another joint in your body, or if it blows out, you injure it badly
7 if an oil or gas WELL blows out, oil or gas suddenly escapes from it
8 blow sb out to stop having a friendship or relationship with someone

blow over phr v
1 if the wind blows something over, or if something blows over, the wind makes it fall:
•Our fence blew over in the storm.
blow sth <=> over
•The hurricane blew some palm trees over.
2 if an argument or unpleasant situation blows over, it ends or is forgotten:
•They weren't speaking to each other, but I think it's blown over now.
3 if a storm blows over, it goes away

blow up phr v
1 to destroy something, or to be destroyed, by an explosion:
•The plane blew up in mid-air.
blow sth <=> up
•Rebels attempted to blow up the bridge.
2 blow sth <=> up to fill something with air or gas:
•Can you blow up this balloon?
•We'll blow the tyres up.
3 if a situation, argument etc blows up, it suddenly becomes important or dangerous:
•A crisis had blown up over the peace talks.
4 blow sth <=> up if you blow up a photograph, you make it larger; = enlarge
•How much would it cost to have this photo blown up?
5 informal to become very angry with someone:
•Jenny's father blew up when she didn't come home last night.
[+at]
•I was surprised at the way he blew up at Hardy.
6 if bad weather blows up, it suddenly arrives:
•It looks as if there's a storm blowing up.
7 blow up in sb's face if something you have done or planned to do blows up in your face, it suddenly goes wrong:
•One of his deals had just blown up in his face.[C]
1 BAD EFFECT an action or event that causes difficulty or sadness for someone

serious/severe/major blow
shattering/devastating/bitter blow (=something that makes you extremely disappointed and upset)
cruel/heavy/grievous blow
deal a blow (to sb/sth)/deal (sb/sth) a blow
strike a blow
suffer/receive a blow
come as a blow (to sb)
fatal/final/mortal blow (=one that ends something)

•Joe resigned, which was a severe blow because we needed him desperately.
• His mother's death was a shattering blow.
• The election result dealt a further blow to the party.
•The factory closures came as a blow to the local economy.
•The final blow for many firms was the government's abolition of import duties.

2 HARD HIT a hard hit with someone's hand, a tool, or a weapon:
•She died from a heavy blow to the head.
•He struck a blow which threw her to the floor.
•Martin received a blow on the nose.
•He had been struck a glancing blow (=a blow that did not hit him directly) by the car.
[+to]
•He gave her a violent blow to the head.
3 BLOWING an action of blowing:
•One big blow and the candles were out.
4 come to blows (with sb) if two people come to blows, they start arguing or hitting each other because they disagree about something
[+over]
•They almost came to blows over the money.
5 soften/cushion the blow to make something unpleasant easier for someone to accept:
•A reduction in interest rates would soften the blow of tax increases.
6 low blow AmE informal something unkind you say to deliberately embarrass or upset someone
strike a blow for sb/sth at STRIKE^1 (13)
a blow-by-blow account/description etc an account that includes all the details of an event exactly as they happened:
•Jenny bored us with a blow-by-blow account of her holiday.past tense and past participle blow-dried, present participle blow-drying, third person singular blow-dries [T]
to dry hair and give it shape by using an electric HAIRDRYER
- blow-dry noun [C]
•a cut and blow-dry[C]
a small electric machine that blows hot air onto your hair in order to dry it; = hair dryer $ [C]
1 a machine that blows out air, for example inside a car
2 on the blower BrE old-fashioned on the telephone in order to talk to someone[C]
a fly that lays its eggs on meat or wounds $ [C] AmE informal
someone who talks too much and has very strong opinions[C]
1 a hole in the surface of ice where water animals such as SEALs come to breathe
2 a hole in the top of the head of a WHALE, DOLPHIN etc through which they breathe[C] informal
the practice of touching a man's sexual organs with your lips and tongue to give him sexual pleasure $ [C]
BrE a piece of equipment that produces a very hot flame, used especially for removing paint; = blowtorch AmE $
the past participle of BLOWalso blowout especially AmE $ [C]
1 a sudden bursting of a tyre; puncture
•I had a blow-out on the driver's side.
2 [usually singular] informal a big expensive meal or large social occasion:
•We went for a real blow-out to celebrate.
3 AmE informal an easy victory over someone in a game
4 a sudden uncontrolled escape of oil or gas from a WELL $ [C]
a tube through which you can blow a small stone, ARROW etc, used as a weapon
a blowsy woman is fat and looks untidy $ [C]
a piece of equipment that produces a small very hot flame, used especially for removing paint; = blowlamp BrE[C]
1 a photograph or part of a photograph that has been made larger
2 [C usually singular] AmE a sudden big argument or disagreement
blow up at BLOW^1 $
windy
another spelling of blowsy [C]
bacon, lettuce, and tomato the name of a sandwich that contains these foodsalso blub $ [I]
to cry noisily, especially in a way that annoys people[U]
the fat of sea animals, especially WHALEs [T]
1 to hit someone several times with something heavy:
•He was bludgeoned to death with a hammer.
2 to force someone to do something by making threats or arguing with them
[+into]
•I won't let myself be bludgeoned into marriage.
3 bludgeon your way through/to/past etc sb/sth to get somewhere or achieve something by pushing past other people, or not caring about them:
•He bludgeoned his way through the crowd.[C]
a heavy stick with a thick end, used as a weapon
1 having the colour of the sky or the sea on a fine day; navy, navy blue
•the blue waters of the lake
dark/light/pale/bright blue
•a dark blue raincoat
2 [not before noun] informal sad and without hope; = depressed
•I've been feeling kind of blue.
3 informal blue jokes, stories etc are about sex, in a way that might offend some people
BLUE MOVIE
4 argue/talk etc till you're blue in the face informal to argue, talk etc about something a lot, but without achieving what you want:
•You can tell them till you're blue in the face, but they'll still do what they want.
5 blue with cold especially BrE someone who is blue with cold looks extremely cold
6 go blue BrE if someone goes blue, their skin becomes blue because they are cold or cannot breathe properly
7 talk a blue streak AmE informal to talk very quickly without stopping
- blueness noun [U]
BLACK AND BLUE; once in a blue moon at ONCE^1 (15); scream blue murder at SCREAM^1 (1)
1 [C,U] the colour of the sky or the sea on a fine day:
•She nearly always dresses in blue.
•the rich greens and blues of the tapestry
2 blues [U] also the blues a slow sad style of music that came from the southern US:
•a blues singer
RHYTHM AND BLUES
3 the blues [plural] informal feelings of sadness:
•A lot of women get the blues after the baby is born.
4 out of the blue informal if something happens out of the blue, it is very unexpected
a bolt from/out of the blue at BOLT^1 (3)
5 [C] Blue BrE someone who has represented Oxford or Cambridge University at a sport, or the title given to such a person
6 the blue literary the sea or the sky
boys in blue at BOY^1 (9)[C]
a baby whose skin is slightly blue when it is born because it has a heart problem [C]
a small plant with blue flowers that grows in woods $ plural blueberries [C,U]
a small blue fruit, or the plant it grows on:
•blueberry pie $ [C]
a small blue bird that lives in North America
a blue-blooded person belongs to a royal or NOBLE family
- =blue-blood noun [U][C] AmE
1 a book with a list of prices that you can expect to pay for any used car
2 a book with a blue cover that is used in American colleges for writing answers to examination questions $ [C] BrE
a large blue fly[C,U]
a type of cheese with blue lines in it and a strong taste
blue-chip companies/shares etc companies or SHAREs that make a profit and are considered safe
- blue chip noun [C][only before noun]
blue-collar workers do physical work, rather than working in offices; white-collar, pink-collar[C usually singular] BrE
informal the man or boy in a group who is most liked and approved of by someone in authority:
•John was always the blue-eyed boy at school. $
[U] a type of music from the southern and western US, played on instruments such as the GUITAR and VIOLIN [C]
a common large North American bird with blue feathers[plural] AmE
blue trousers made in a heavy material; = jeans[C] AmE
a law used in the past in the US to control activities that were considered immoral, such as drinking alcohol and working on Sundays[C]
a film that shows a lot of sexual activity [C]
1 a plan for achieving something
[+for]
•a blueprint for health-care reform
2 a photographic print of a plan for a building, machine etc on special blue paper
[+for]
•a blueprint for the new shopping mall
3 technical a pattern that all living cells contain, which decides how a person, animal, or plant develops and what it looks like:
•By changing the tomato's genetic blueprint, scientists can alter the rate at which it ripens.also blue riband BrE [C]
the first prize in a competition, sometimes consisting of a small piece of blue material
- blue ribbon also blue riband BrE adjective [only before noun]
•the club's prized blue riband award[only before noun] AmE
blue-sky tests etc are done to test ideas and not for any practical purpose $ [C] BrE
a woman who is more interested in ideas and studying than in parties, men etc - sometimes used to show disapproval
bluesy music is slow and sad, like BLUES [U] trademark
bluetooth technology allows electronic equipment to communicate by using radio, so that, for example, a computer and printer can work together without having a wire connecting them [I,T]
to pretend something, especially in order to achieve what you want in a difficult or dangerous situation:
•You wouldn't really tell her. You're bluffing!
bluff your way out of/through/past etc sb/sth (=go somewhere or succeed in doing something by deceiving someone)
•I hope we'll be able to bluff our way past the guard.
•'I was with Don,' she said, deciding to bluff it out (=continue to pretend something).
bluff sb into (doing) sth (=make someone do something by deceiving them)
1 [C,U] an attempt to deceive someone by making them think you will do something when you do not intend to do it:
•The threat was only a bluff.
•Whatever you say, you must do it. This isn't a game of bluff.
DOUBLE BLUFF
2 call sb's bluff to tell someone to do what they have threatened because you do not believe that they will really do it
3 [C] a very steep cliff or slope
a bluff person, usually a man, is pleasant but very direct and does not always consider other people:
•He was a bluff no-nonsense administrator.
slightly blue:
•Her skin had a bluish tinge. $ [C]
a careless or stupid mistake:
•A last-minute blunder cost them the match.
1 [I always + adv/prep] to move in an unsteady way, as if you cannot see properly
[+about/around]
•Someone was blundering about in the kitchen.
blunder into/past/through etc sth
•Phil came blundering down the stairs.
2 [I] to make a big mistake, especially because you have been careless or stupid:
•They blundered badly when they gave him the job.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to enter a place or become involved in a difficult situation by mistake
[+into]
•Somehow we blundered into the war.
[+in]
•He would have agreed if you hadn't blundered in. $ [C]
a type of gun used in the past [only before noun]
careless or stupid:
•You blundering idiot!
1 not sharp or pointed; sharp
•Sharpen all your blunt knives.
•a blunt pencil
2 speaking in an honest way even if this upsets people; bluntly
•To be blunt, many of the candidates cannot read or write.
•Julian's blunt words hurt her.
3 blunt instrument
a) a heavy object that is used to hit someone:
•The victim suffered a blow to the head from a blunt instrument.
b) a method of doing something that does not work very well because it has a lot of other effects which you do not want:
•The mini-exams in English, science, and maths are a blunt instrument which will reveal little about children's abilities.
- bluntness noun [U][T]
1 to make a feeling less strong:
•The bad weather blunted their enthusiasm for camping.
2 to make the point of a pencil or the edge of a knife less sharp
speaking in a direct honest way that sometimes upsets people:
•'You're drunk,' she said bluntly.
• To put it bluntly, she's not up to the job. $ [C usually singular]
1 a shape that you cannot see clearly
[+of]
•I just saw the blur of the car as it passed in front of me.
•The island was a faint blur through misty rain.
2 something that you cannot remember clearly:
•The days before the accident were a blur.past tense and past participle blurred, present participle blurring [I,T]
1 to become difficult to see or to make something difficult to see, because the edges are not clear:
•The street lights were blurred by the fog.
•Many of the details in the picture are blurred.
2 to be unable to see clearly:
•Tears blurred her eyes.
•His vision was blurred.
3 to make the difference between two ideas, subjects etc less clear:
•His films blur the boundaries between fact and fiction.
•The design of the conservatory is meant to blur the distinction between the house and the garden.
- blurry adjective
•a few blurry photos of their holiday together
BLURRED $ [C]
a short description giving information about a book, new product etc $
1 unclear in shape, or making it difficult to see shapes:
•a blurred photo
2 difficult to remember or understand clearly:
•blurred memories $

PHRASAL VERBS
blurt sth <=> out phr v
to say something suddenly and without thinking, usually because you are nervous or excited:
•Peter blurted the news out before we could stop him. [I]
1 to become red in the face, usually because you are embarrassed:
•Wilson saw she was watching him and blushed.
•Joan blushed at the unexpected compliment.
•Kate blushed scarlet.
2 to feel ashamed or embarrassed about something
blush to do sth
•I blush to admit that I haven't read it.
3 sth that would make sb blush something so shocking that it would shock someone who is not normally easily shocked:
•language that would make a sailor blush
4 the blushing bride a young woman on her wedding day - used humorously
- blushingly adverb
1 [C] the red colour on your face that appears when you are embarrassed:
•Donald felt a blush warm his cheeks.
•She bent her head to hide her blushes.
2 at first blush literary when first thought of or considered:
•At first blush, this sounds like good news.
spare sb's blushes at SPARE^2 (10)also blush AmE $ [U]
cream or powder used for making your cheeks look red or pink $
1 [I,T] to speak in a loud angry way that is not really very impressive:
•'That's hardly the point,' he blustered.
2 [I] if the wind blusters, it blows violently
- bluster noun [U]
- blustering adjective
•blustering wintry weather
blustery weather is very windy:
•a cold and blustery day [U] trademark
a blue sticky material used to fix paper to a wallalso blvd BrE
the written abbreviation of boulevard [C]
a film that is made cheaply and is of low quality [C,U] technical
bitmap a type of computer FILE that contains images $ [U]
body odour an unpleasant smell from someone's body caused by SWEAT $ [C]
1 also boa constrictor a large snake that is not poisonous, but kills animals by crushing them
2 a FEATHER BOA $ [C]
1 a wild pig
2 a male pig $
1 [C]INFORMATION a flat wide piece of wood, plastic etc that you can use to show information
on a board
•The plan of the new building is displayed on a board at the back of the room.
•I've put a list of names up on the board.
•I'll check the departure board for train times.
BILLBOARD, BLACKBOARD, NOTICEBOARD, SCOREBOARD
2 FOR PUTTING THINGS ON [C] a flat piece of wood, plastic, card etc that you use for a particular purpose such as cutting things on, or for playing indoor games:
•Martha was chopping vegetables on a wooden board.
•a chess board
BREADBOARD, CHEESEBOARD, CHOPPING BOARD
3 also BoardGROUP OF PEOPLE [C also + plural verb] BrE a group of people in a company or other organization who make the rules and important decisions:
•a board meeting
•a board member
[+of]
•The Board of Directors met yesterday.
•There was disagreement among the agency's board of governors.
•The decision was discussed and agreed at board level.
sit on a board/have a seat on a board (=be a member of a board)
•He gave up his seat on the board after 40 years.
4 IN NAMES Board used in the name of some organizations:
•the New York State Board of Elections
•the British Boxing Board of Control
5 IN BUILDING [C] a long thin flat piece of wood used for making floors, walls, fences etc:
•We'll have to take the boards up to check the wiring.
FLOORBOARD
6 on board
a) on a ship, plane, or spacecraft; = aboard
•There are 12 children on board the ship.
b) involved with something or working for an organization:
•Supporters of the treaty say that it will be necessary to have the United States on board.
•He came on board in the late Sixties and spent two decades with the agency.
7 MEALS [U] the meals that are provided for you when you pay to stay somewhere:
•In the nursing home she will have to pay for room and board.
•The landlord provides board and lodging (=meals and a place to stay).
FULL BOARD, HALF BOARD
8 go by the board if an idea, way of behaving, or plan goes by the board, it fails to happen, ends, or is no longer possible:
•It seems that loyalty has gone by the board.
9 IN WATER SPORTS [C] a SURFBOARD or SAILBOARD
10 across the board if something happens or is done across the board, it affects everyone in a particular group, place etc:
•The changes will affect local authorities across the board.
•We find jobs for people right across the board from chief executives to cleaners.
11 take sth on board to listen to and accept a suggestion, idea etc:
•The school refused to take any of the parents' criticisms on board.
12 ELECTRICITY [C] a CIRCUIT BOARD
13 THEATRE the boards [plural] the stage in a theatre
tread the boards at TREAD^1 (7)
14 SPORTS AREA boards [plural] AmE the low wooden wall around the area in which you play ICE HOCKEY
15 college/medical boards AmE examinations that you take in the US when you formally ask to be accepted as a student at a college or medical school
ABOVE BOARD, DIVING BOARD, DRAWING BOARD, IRONING BOARD, SOUNDING BOARD; sweep the board at SWEEP^1 (11)
1 [I,T] formal to get on a bus, plane, train etc in order to travel somewhere:
•The couple boarded the train for New York.
•Passengers were standing on the dock, waiting to board.
2 be boarding if a plane or ship is boarding, passengers are getting onto it:
•Olympic Airways Flight 172 to Istanbul is now boarding at Gate No. 37.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to stay in a room in someone's house that you pay for:
•Several students boarded with Mrs. Smith.
4 [I] to stay at a school at night as well as during the day:
•Dickie was sent away to school as soon as he was old enough to board.

PHRASAL VERBS
board sth <=> out phr v
to pay money and arrange for an animal to stay somewhere:
•We'll have to board the cat out while we're away.

board sth <=> up phr v
to cover a window or door, or all the windows and doors of a building, with wooden boards:
•The shop was boarded up. $ [C]
1 a student who stays at a school during the night, as well as during the day; day pupil
2 someone who pays to live in another person's house with some or all of their meals provided; = lodger[C]
an indoor game played on a specially designed board made of thick card or wood $ [U]
1 the act of getting on a ship, plane etc in order to travel somewhere:
•Boarding is now taking place at Gate 38.
2 narrow pieces of wood that are fixed side by side, usually to cover a broken door or window
a British word for BOARDING PASS[C]
a private house where you pay to sleep and eat; = guesthousealso boarding card BrE [C]
an official card that you have to show before you get onto a plane[C]
a school where students live as well as study
DAY SCHOOL $ [C]
a room where the DIRECTORs of a company have meetings $ [C]
AmE a raised path made of wood, usually built next to the sea $
1 [I,T] to talk too proudly about your abilities, achievements, or possessions:
•'I wouldn't be afraid,' she boasted.
boast that
•Amy boasted that her son was a genius.
[+about]
•He's boasting about how much money he has made.
[+of]
•The company is inclined to boast of its success.
2 [T not in progressive] if a place, object, or organization boasts something, it has something that is very good:
•The city boasts two excellent museums.
•The Society boasts 3000 members worldwide.
- boaster noun [C][C]
something that you like telling people because you are proud of it:
•It is the company's proud boast that it can deal with all a customer's needs in one phone call.
•Philip's boast is that he started out without any outside financial backing.
an empty/idle/vain boast (=a false statement that something is good or possible)
•She claimed that she could beat anyone, but it was an empty boast.
•'Making knowledge work' is the university's phrase, and it is no idle boast (=not a boast, but true). $
talking too proudly about yourself
- boastfully adverb
- boastfulness noun [U] $ [C]
1 a vehicle that travels across water:
•If we had a boat, we could row across to the island.
•a fishing boat
on/in a boat
•MacKay said he would sleep on his boat.
by boat
•Some of the beaches can only be reached by boat.
•The tour includes boat trips up the river.
LIFEBOAT, MOTORBOAT, POWERBOAT, ROWING BOAT, SPEEDBOAT, STEAMBOAT
2 informal a ship, especially one that carries passengers:
•We're taking the night boat to St. Malo.
3 be in the same boat (as sb) to be in the same unpleasant situation as someone else:
•Everyone has lost their job. We're all in the same boat.
GRAVY BOAT, SAUCE BOAT; burn your bridges/boats at BURN^1 (18); miss the boat at MISS^1 (14); push the boat out at PUSH^1 (15); rock the boat at ROCK^2 (3) $ [C]
a hard STRAW hat with a flat top[C]
a long pole with an iron hook at the end, used to pull or push a small boat $ [C]
a building beside a lake or river where boats are kept $ [U]
the activity of travelling in a small boat for pleasure:
•Let's go boating on the lake. $ plural boatmen [C]
a man who you pay to take you out in a boat or for the use of a boat[plural]
people who escape from bad conditions in their country in small boats; refugees $
another spelling of BOSUN[C]
a train that takes people to or from ships in a port $ [C]
an area where boats are built and repaired
Bob's your uncle! BrE spoken used to say that something will be easy to do:
•Just copy the disk, and Bob's your uncle!past tense and past participle bobbed, present participle bobbing
1 MOVE ON WATER [I] to move up and down when floating on the surface of water:
•The boat bobbed gently up and down on the water.
2 MOVE SOMEWHERE [I always + adv/prep] to move quickly in a particular direction:
•Mrs Foster bobbed about, gathering up her things.
3 bob your head to move your head down quickly as a way of showing respect, greeting someone, or agreeing with them:
•He spoke rapidly to the girl, who bobbed her head.
4 CUT HAIR [T] to cut someone's, especially a woman's, hair in a bob:
•her neatly bobbed hair[C]
1 a way of cutting hair so that it hangs to the level of your chin and is the same length all the way round your head
2 a quick up and down movement of your head or body, to show respect, agreement, greeting etc:
•The maid gave a little bob and left the room.
3 [plural] informal a SHILLING (=coin used in the past in Britain):
•At last I'm making a few bob (=a reasonable amount of money).
bits and bobs at BIT^2 (7) $ [C]
a small round object that you wind thread onto, especially for a SEWING MACHINE; spool, reel $ [C]
BrE a small soft ball, usually made of wool, that is used especially for decorating clothes:
•Her pullover had bobbles on the front.
- bobbly adjective
1 [T] AmE to drop or hold a ball in an uncontrolled way; = fumble
2 [I] BrE if a piece of clothing bobbles, especially a sweater, it forms little balls on the surface of the cloth after it has been worn or washed; = pill AmE[C]
a WOOLLEN hat with a bobble on the top $ plural bobbies [C] BrE informal old-fashioned
a policeman[C]
AmE a thin piece of metal bent into a narrow U shape that you use to hold your hair in place; = hairgrip BrEbobby sox [plural] AmE
girls' short socks that have the tops turned over $ [C]
a large North American wild cat that has no tail; = lynx $ [plural]
bits and bobs at BIT^2 (7)also bobsled $
1 [C] a small vehicle with two long thin metal blades instead of wheels, that is used for racing down a special ice track
2 [U] a sports event in which people race against each other in bobsleighs:
•Sixteen teams took part in the 400m bobsleigh.
- bobsleigh verb [I] $ [C]
ragtag and bobtail at RAGTAG $ [C]
a bird from North America, often shot for sport; = quail $ [C]
1 BrE spoken a person:
•He's a clever bod.
2 informal someone's body:
•She's got a lovely bod.
3 odd bod informal a strange person:
•He's a bit of an odd bod but very pleasant. $
1 the past tense of BIDE
2 bode well/ill (for sb/sth) to be a good or bad sign for the future:
•The opinion polls do not bode well for the Democrats.also bodge up $ [singular]
spoken a mistake or something that is not as good as it should be; botch
•The builders have made a complete bodge of the kitchen.
- bodge verb [T] $ [C]
1 the part of a woman's dress above her waist
2 a tight-fitting woman's WAISTCOAT worn over a BLOUSE in former times
3 old use a piece of woman's underwear that covers the upper part of her body; = corset $ [only before noun]
related to the human body:
•Many bodily changes occur during adolescence.
•bodily sensations
1 by moving the whole of your or someone else's body:
•He lifted the child bodily aboard.
2 by moving a large object in one piece:
•The column was transferred bodily to a new site by the bank of the river. $ [C]
a long thick needle without a point $ plural bodies
1 PEOPLE/ANIMALS [C] the physical structure of a person or animal:
•the human body
•My fingers were numb and my whole body ached.
body weight/temperature/size
•Your body temperature is higher in the daytime than at night.
•For their body size, these birds lay very small eggs.
•He needs to overcome a negative body image (=what you think about your own body).
2 DEAD PERSON [C] the dead body of a person:
•A dog found the body of a girl in the woods.
•Laura had never seen a dead body before.
3 GROUP [C] a group of people who work together to do a particular job or who are together for a particular purpose:
•The British Medical Association is the doctors' professional body.
[+of]
•There were reports of a large body of armed men near the border.
•Kaplan served on the governing body of the museum (=the group who control the museum).
•The student body (=all the students in a school or college) numbers 5000.
•The research will be used by government departments and other public bodies (=groups whose work is connected to the government).
in a body (=as a group, together)
•The women moved towards the building in a body.
4 body of sth
a) a large amount or mass of something, especially something that has been collected
body of knowledge/evidence/opinion etc
•There is now a considerable body of knowledge of the different stages of childhood.
•There is a growing body of evidence that charges are too high.
b) the main, central, or most important part of something:
•The arguments are explained in the body of the text.
•Leave three blank lines between the date and the body of the letter.
5 body of water a large area of water such as a lake:
•The city was built near a large body of water.
6 MIDDLE PART [C] the central part of a person or animal's body, not including the head, arms, legs or wings:
•Nick had bruises on his face and body.
•The bird has a small body and long wings.
7 VEHICLE [C] the main structure of a vehicle not including the engine, wheels etc:
•Workers at the factory are making steel bodies for cars.
8 OBJECT [C] technical an object that is separate from other objects:
•Keep the caps on the bottles to prevent foreign bodies entering them (=objects that should not be there).
heavenly body at HEAVENLY (3)
9 HAIR [U] if your hair has body, it is thick and healthy:
•This shampoo will give more body to your hair.
10 TASTE [U] if food or an alcoholic drink has body, it has a strong FLAVOUR (=taste):
•A small amount of tomato paste will give extra colour and body to the sauce.
11 full/medium/light bodied used to describe how much taste an alcoholic drink has, with a full bodied drink having the strongest taste:
•a full bodied wine
12 long/thick etc bodied etc having a long, thick etc body:
•a slim bodied orange-gold fish
ABLE-BODIED
13 keep body and soul together to continue to exist with only just enough food, money etc:
•He's working at the shop to keep body and soul together
14 body and soul
a) completely:
•She threw herself body and soul into her work.
b) the whole of a person:
•They think they own the employees, body and soul.
15 INSTRUMENT [C] the wide part of a musical instrument such as a VIOLIN or GUITAR, or of a sports RACKET (=bat):
•The guitar is 16 inches wide across the body.
16 CLOTHING [C] BrE body suit AmE a type of tight fitting shirt worn by women that fastens between their legs
over my dead body at DEAD^1 (11)[U]
clothing worn by the police that protects them against bullets[C]
a large bag in which a dead body is removed:
•No pictures of dead soldiers, body bags, or coffins were allowed.[C]
1 a serious loss, disappointment, or defeat; blow
•Hopes of economic recovery were dealt a body blow by this latest announcement.
2 a hard hit between your neck and waist during a fight[U]
an activity in which you do hard physical exercise in order to develop big muscles
- body builder noun [C][C]
the system in your body that controls types of behaviour which happen at regular times, such as sleeping or eating; = biological clock[C]
the number of dead soldiers after a period of fighting, or the process of counting their bodies[C]
someone whose body appears instead of an actor's or actress's in a film, especially in scenes where they are not wearing any clothes; double $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to protect an important person:
•The Senator arrived, surrounded by personal bodyguards.
2 a group of people who work together to protect an important person[U]
changes in your body position and movements that show what you are feeling or thinking:
•It was obvious from Luke's body language that he was nervous.[U]
the natural smell of someone's body, especially when this is unpleasant; = BO[U]
making a hole in a part of the body in order to fix a ring or other piece of jewellery to the body[singular] formal
all the people in a nation forming a state under the control of a single government[C]
a thorough search for drugs, weapons etc, that might be hidden on someone's body:
•Everyone entering the building had a body search.
- body-search verb [T][C]
a building where the main structure of a car is repaired[U]
a chemical substance that you put onto your body to make it smell nice; deodorant[C]
a close-fitting piece of clothing that covers the whole of your body[C]
AmE a type of tight fitting shirt worn by women that fastens between their legs; = body BrE[C] BrE
a piece of warm clothing without arms that you wear over a SWEATER or a shirt, especially when you are outside:
•a woolly fleece body warmer $ [U]
the metal frame of a vehicle, not including the engine, wheels etc:
•The bodywork's beginning to rust. $ [C]
a white South African whose family is related to the Dutch people who settled in South Africa in the 1600s; Afrikaner $ [C] BrE informal
1 a scientist
2 someone who is very clever:
•He was always a bit of a boffin, even at school.
• computer boffins $
1 [C,U] an area of low wet muddy ground, sometimes containing bushes or grasses; marsh, swamp
2 [C] BrE informal a toiletpast tense and past participle bogged, present participle bogging

PHRASAL VERBS
bog sb/sth <=> down phr v [usually passive]
1 if a process or plan becomes bogged down, it is delayed so that no progress is made:
•Talks to settle the pay dispute have become bogged down.
[+in]
•Don't let yourself get bogged down in minor details.
2 if something gets bogged down, it becomes stuck in soft ground and is unable to move:
•The car got bogged down in the mud.

bog off phr v BrE spoken informal
used to tell someone rudely to go away:
•Just bog off and leave me alone!bogie $ [C]
1 technical when you take one more shot than PAR (=the usual number of shots) to get the ball into the hole in GOLF; birdie, eagle
2 a problem or difficult situation that makes you feel anxious
[+of]
•the bogey of recession
3 BrE informal a piece of MUCUS from inside your nose
4 a bogeyman $ plural bogeymen [C]
1 an evil spirit, especially in children's imagination or stories
2 someone who people think is evil or unpleasant:
•Manson was and remains America's number one bogeyman. $
the/your mind boggles also sth makes the/your mind boggle also sth boggles the/your mind informal if your mind boggles when you think of something, it is difficult for you to imagine or accept it:
•The sheer amount of data makes the mind boggle.
[+at]
•My mind boggles at the amount of work still to do. $
boggy ground is wet and muddy; bog
•a boggy patch at the edge of the field $ [C]
a BOGEY[T]
to use one more than PAR (=the usual number of strokes) to get the ball into the hole in GOLF[C,U]
BrE informal TOILET PAPER[only before noun] BrE informal
not special or interesting in any way; = average $
not true or real, although someone is trying to make you think it is; = false
•bogus insurance claims
•bogus applications for asylum $
living in a very informal or relaxed way and not accepting society's rules of behaviour:
•bohemian cafes frequented by artists, musicians, and actors
- bohemian noun [C]
1 [I,T] when a liquid boils, or when you boil it, it becomes hot enough to turn into gas
[+at]
•The solution boiled at 57.4°C.
•Put the spaghetti into plenty of boiling salted water.
•We were advised to boil the water before drinking it.
2 [I,T] to cook something in boiling water:
•a boiled egg
•Boil the rice for 15 minutes.
•She fried the chicken and put the vegetables on to boil.
3 [I,T] if something containing liquid boils, the liquid inside it is boiling:
•The kettle's boiling - shall I turn it off?
•The saucepan boiled dry on the stove.
4 [T] to wash something, using boiling water:
•I always boil the cotton sheets.
5 [I] if you are boiling with anger, you are extremely angry
[+with]
•Lewis was boiling with rage and misery.

PHRASAL VERBS
boil away phr v
if a liquid boils away, it disappears because it has been heated too much:
•The soup's almost boiled away.

boil down phr v
1 boil down to sth informal if a long statement, argument etc boils down to a single statement, that statement is the main point or cause:
•Think of the money you can make - that's what it all boils down to.
•It boils down to a question of priorities.
2 boil sth <=> down to make a list or piece of writing shorter by not including anything that is not necessary:
•You can boil this down so that there are just two main categories.
3 if a food or liquid boils down, or if you boil it down, it becomes less after it is cooked:
•Spinach tends to boil down a lot.
boil sth <=> down
•glue made from boiling down old sheepskins

boil over phr v
1 if a liquid boils over when it is heated, it rises and flows over the side of the container:
•The milk was boiling over on the stove behind her.
2 if a situation or an emotion boils over, the people involved stop being calm:
•All the bitterness of the last two years seemed to boil over.
[+into]
•Anger eventually boils over into words and actions that are later regretted.

boil up phr v
1 if a situation or emotion boils up, bad feelings grow until they reach a dangerous level:
•She could sense that trouble was boiling up at work.
•He could feel the anger boiling up inside him.
2 boil sth <=> up to heat food or a liquid until it begins to boil:
•Boil the fruit up with sugar.
BOILING POINT (2); make sb's blood boil at BLOOD^1 (4)
1 the boil BrE a boil AmE the act or state of boiling:
•Add the seasoning and bring the sauce to the boil.
•She waited for the water to come to the boil (=begin to boil).
2 [C] a painful infected swelling under someone's skin:
•The boy's body is covered in boils.
3 go off the boil BrE to become less good at something that you are usually very good at:
•He's gone off the boil after a tournament win in Dubai.[C]
BrE a hard SWEET that often tastes of fruit; = hard candy AmE $ [C]
a container for boiling water that is part of a steam engine, or is used to provide heating in a house $ [C,U] AmE
a standard piece of writing or a design for something that can be easily used each time you need it, for example in business or legal documents; template
•a boilerplate for a fax message
•lawyers selling boilerplate wills[C]
1 a room in a large building where the building's boiler is
2 AmE informal a room or office where people sell SHAREs or services on the telephone, using unfair and sometimes dishonest methods[C]
BrE a piece of loose clothing like trousers and a shirt joined together, that you wear over your clothes to protect them when you are working; overalls
spoken very hot; freezing
•Can I open a window? It's boiling in here.
•It was a boiling hot morning.[C usually singular]
1 the temperature at which a liquid boils
2 a point where people can no longer deal calmly with a problem; flashpoint
•Relations between the two countries have almost reached boiling point.
someone, especially a child, who is boisterous makes a lot of noise and has a lot of energy:
•a class of boisterous five year olds $
another spelling of PAK CHOI $ comparative bolder, superlative boldest
1 PERSON/ACTION not afraid of taking risks and making difficult decisions:
•In a surprisingly bold move, he is threatening court action against the company.
•My aunt Flo was a bold determined woman.
•He had the ability to take bold imaginative decisions.
2 MANNER/APPEARANCE so confident or determined that you sometimes offend people:
•You should be feeling confident and bold when you meet your bank manager.
•She marched into his office as bold as brass (=very confident and not showing enough respect).
3 COLOURS/SHAPES very strong or bright so that you notice them:
•bold geometric shapes
•Stripes are bold, bright, and fun to wear.
•bold colours
4 LINES/WRITING written or drawn in a very clear way:
•an envelope addressed to her in a bold black hand
•The graphics are bold and colourful.
•The print should be bold and easy to read.
5 PRINTED LETTERS printed in letters that are darker and thicker than ordinary printed letters:
•All the headings are in bold type.
6 make/be so bold (as to do sth) formal to do something that other people feel is rude or not acceptable:
•I see that you have been so bold as to ask for food at this late hour.
7 if I may be so bold BrE spoken formal used when asking someone a question, to show that you are slightly annoyed with them:
•Tell me, if I may be so bold as to ask, precisely what you are talking about.
- boldly adverb
- boldness noun [U] $ [U]
technical a way of printing letters that makes them thicker and darker than normal
- boldfaced adjective
- boldface adjective $ [C]
literary the main part of a tree; = trunk $ plural boleros [C]
a type of Spanish dance, or the music for this dance $ plural boleros [C]
a short jacket for a woman $ [C]
the part of a cotton plant that contains the seeds $ [C]
1 BrE a short thick post in the street that is used to stop traffic entering an area or to show a JUNCTION more clearly
2 a thick stone or metal post used for tying ships to when they are in port $ [T]
BrE spoken informal to tell someone angrily that you do not like what they have done:
•I'll bollock him for sticking his rubbish in my cupboard. $ [C]
BrE spoken informal when someone tells you that they are very angry with you:
•I expect I'll get a right bollocking from my boss when she finds out. $ [plural] BrE spoken informal
1 used to say rudely that you think something is wrong or stupid; = rubbish
•Your lyrics are complete bollocks; they don't actually mean anything, do they?
•She's just talking a load of old bollocks.
2 a word used to emphasize that you are annoyed or angry:
•Oh bollocks! We've missed it.
3 bollocks to you/that/it etc used when you refuse to accept or obey something:
•Yeah well bollocks to you too mate!
4 the two round male organs that produce SPERM; = testicle[C]
an insect that eats and destroys cotton plants $ [U]
a type of cooked meat often eaten in sandwiches $ [U]
another spelling of BALONEY $ [C] AmE
a string worn around your neck that you fasten with a decoration $ [C]
1 someone who supported the COMMUNIST party at the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917
2 old-fashioned an insulting way of talking about a communist or someone who has strong LEFT-WING opinions
- bolshevik adjectivebolshy $ BrE informal
tending to be angry or annoyed and not to obey people:
•There's no need to be so bolshie.
- bolshiness noun [U]also bolster up $ [T]
1 to help someone to feel better and more positive:
•He is making a bold attempt to bolster the territory's confidence.
2 to improve something:
•his efforts to bolster his career[C]
a long firm PILLOW, usually shaped like a tube $ [C]
1 LOCK a metal bar that you slide across a door or window to fasten it
2 SCREW a screw with a flat head and no point, for fastening things together
3 a bolt from (out of) the blue news that is sudden and unexpected:
•Was this money a bolt from the blue or did you know you were going to get it?
4 bolt of lightning lightning that appears as a white line in the sky:
•There's not much left of his house after it was struck by a bolt of lightning.
THUNDERBOLT
5 make a bolt for it BrE to suddenly try to escape from somewhere:
•They attacked the driver and he straightaway made a bolt for it.
6 WEAPON a short heavy ARROW that is fired from a CROSSBOW
7 CLOTH a large long roll of cloth
have shot your bolt at SHOOT^1 (24); the nuts and bolts of sth at NUT^1 (6)
1 [I] to suddenly run somewhere very quickly, especially in order to escape or because you are frightened:
•The horse reared up and bolted.
•Kevin had bolted through the open window.
2 [T] also bolt down to eat very quickly; = gobble
•He bolted down his breakfast.
3 [T] to fasten two things together using a bolt
bolt sth to sth
•The cell contained an iron bedframe bolted to the floor.
bolt sth together
•The boxes were made of heavy panels of metal bolted together.
4 [T] to lock a door or window by sliding a bolt across
sit/stand bolt upright to sit or stand with your back very straight, often because something has frightened you:
•She sat bolt upright in the back seat during the whole journey. $ [C] BrE
a place where you can escape to and hide:
•a bolthole in the countryespecially BrE
bolt-on part/component/extra something that is connected to the outside of a machine after it has been made, and is then part of the machine $ [C]
1 WEAPON a weapon made of material that will explode

a bomb explodes/goes off
drop a bomb
plant a bomb (=leave a bomb somewhere)
detonate a bomb (=make a bomb explode)
unexploded bomb
bomb attack
bomb threat
bomb blast

•Fortunately the house was empty when the bomb exploded.
•The bomb went off at 9.30 in the morning.
•Enemy planes dropped over 200 bombs during the raid.
•Terrorists had planted a bomb somewhere in the station.
•One theory is that the bomb was detonated by remote control.
• Unexploded bombs were found there as late as the 1960s.
• a bomb attack on a crowded bus in the city centre
•The station was closed for six hours following a bomb threat.
• the bomb blast that killed one and injured more than 100 people
ATOMIC BOMB, CAR BOMB, CLUSTER BOMB, HYDROGEN BOMB, LETTER BOMB, NEUTRON BOMB, NUCLEAR BOMB, PARCEL BOMB, PETROL BOMB, SMART BOMB, SMOKE BOMB, STINK BOMB, TIME BOMB

2 BAD PERFORMANCE/EVENT AmE informal a play, film, event etc that is not successful:
•This is just another one of Hollywood's bland and boring bombs.
3 be the bomb informal to be very good or exciting:
•That new P Diddy CD is the bomb.
4 the bomb used to describe NUCLEAR weapons, and especially the HYDROGEN BOMB:
•Voices of dissent began to rise against the bomb.
5 cost a bomb BrE informal to cost a lot of money
6 make a bomb BrE informal to get a lot of money by doing something
1 [T] to attack a place by leaving a bomb there, or by dropping bombs on it from a plane:
•The town was heavily bombed in World War II.
•Government aircraft have been bombing civilian areas.
CARPET-BOMB, DIVE-BOMB
2 [I always + adv/prep] BrE informal to move or drive very quickly:
•Suddenly a police car came bombing down the high street.
3 [I,T] AmE informal to fail a test very badly:
•I bombed my midterm.
4 [I] AmE if a play, film, event etc bombs, it is not successful:
•His latest play bombed on Broadway.

PHRASAL VERBS
be bombed out phr v
if a building or the people in it are bombed out, the building is completely destroyed:
•My family were bombed out in 1941. $ [T]
1 to attack a place for a long time using large weapons, bombs etc:
•I had been in action bombarding the Normandy coast.
2 to do something too often or too much, for example criticizing or questioning someone, or giving too much information:
•The office was bombarded by telephone calls.
bombard sb with sth
•They bombarded him with questions.
•Today we are bombarded with advice on what to eat and what to avoid. $ [C]
1 the person on a military aircraft responsible for dropping bombs
2 a low rank in the British army $ [C,U]
a continuous attack on a place by big guns and bombs:
•The bombardment continued for a terrible nine hours.
aerial/artillery/naval bombardment (=attack from the air, land, or sea)
•The effects of the artillery bombardment were devastating. $
bombastic language contains long words that sound important but have no real meaning:
•He is best known for three rather bombastic poems.
- bombast $ noun [U][U]
the job of dealing with bombs that have not exploded, and making them safe
bomb disposal experts/team/squad/unit
•The device, which contained 400lbs of explosive, was made safe by army bomb disposal experts. $ [not before noun]
informal very drunk or affected by illegal drugs; = stoned
•I feel like going out and getting completely bombed. $ [C]
1 a plane that carries and drops bombs
2 someone who hides a bomb somewhere in order to destroy something[C]
a short jacket which fits tightly around your waist $ [C,U]
the use of bombs to attack a place:
•The south-west of the country suffered an intensive bombing campaign.
•They were planning bombing raids in some of America's major cities.
•a terrorist network responsible for a wave of bombings in Paris
[+of]
•the bombing of Hiroshima[C]
when people have to be moved out of a building because there may be a bomb there:
•a bomb scare in Central London $ [C]
1 an unexpected and very shocking piece of news:
•Then came the bombshell: the factory was to close down.
•Finally she dropped the bombshell. She was pregnant, she said.
2 blonde bombshell humorous a sexually attractive woman with light-coloured hair[C]
a room or building that is built to protect people from bomb attacks[C]
a place where a bomb has destroyed several buildings in a town:
•They've pulled down so many buildings around here it looks like a bomb site. $
real, true, and not intended to deceive anyone:
•Only bona fide members are allowed to use the club pool. $ [plural] BrE
if you check someone's bona fides, you check that they are who they say they are, and that their intentions are good and honest:
•The firm required a reference to establish the bona fides of the client. $ [C]
a lucky or successful situation where people can make a lot of money:
•2002 will be a bonanza year for the computer industry.
•an amazing cash bonanza $
said to someone before they start eating a meal, to tell them you hope they enjoy their food $ [C] BrE informal
your head $ [C]
1 MONEY an official document promising that a government or company will pay back money that it has borrowed, often with INTEREST:
•My father put all his money into stock market bonds.
•furious trading on the bond market
2 RELATIONSHIP something that unites two or more people or groups, such as love, or a shared interest or idea; tie
[+between]
•the emotional bond between mother and child
[+with]
•the United States' special bond with Britain
[+of]
•lifelong bonds of family and friendship
3 bonds [plural] literary something that limits your freedom and prevents you from doing what you want
[+of ]
•the bonds of fear and guilt
4 WITH GLUE the way in which two surfaces become attached to each other using glue:
•Use a glue gun to form a strong bond on wood or china.
5 CHEMISTRY technical the chemical force that holds atoms together in a MOLECULE:
•In each methane molecule there are four CH bonds.
6 WRITTEN AGREEMENT a written agreement to do something, that makes you legally responsible for doing it; contract
7 my word is my bond formal used to say that you will definitely do what you have promised
8 in/out of bond technical in or out of a BONDED WAREHOUSE
1 [I] if two things bond with each other, they become firmly fixed together, especially after they have been joined with glue:
•It takes less than 10 minutes for the two surfaces to bond.
2 [I] to develop a special relationship with someone
[+with]
•Time must be given for the mother to bond with her baby.
3 [T] technical to keep goods in a bonded warehouse $ [U]
1 the state of having your freedom limited, or being prevented from doing what you want:
•young women lost to the bondage of early motherhood
2 literary the state of being a slave
in bondage
•Since the age of 13 he had been in bondage.
3 the practice of being tied up for sexual pleasure[C]
technical an official place for storing goods that have been brought into a country before tax has been paid on them $ [C]
technical someone who owns government or industrial BONDs $ [U]
1 a process in which a special relationship develops between two or more people
[+between]
•the bonding between mare and foal
2 male/female bonding informal the activity of doing things with other people of the same sex, so that you feel good about being a man or a woman:
•They're in the bar again doing some male bonding!
3 technical the connection of atoms or of two surfaces that are glued together:
•chemical bonding $
1 [C] one of the hard parts that together form the frame of a human, animal, or fish body:
•The X-ray showed that the bone was broken in two places.
hip/leg/cheek etc bone (=the bone in your hip etc)
•He broke his collar bone.
big-boned/fine-boned/small-boned etc (=with big etc bones)
•She was tall and big-boned.
•Amelia had inherited her mother's good bone structure.
2 [U] a substance made of bones:
•the bone handle of his dagger
3 the bare bones the simplest and most important details of something:
•I can't tell you more than the bare bones of what happened.
4 make no bones about (doing) sth to not feel nervous or ashamed about doing or saying something:
•Mary made no bones about enjoying a drink.
5 bone of contention something that causes arguments between people:
•The examination system has long been a serious bone of contention in this country.
6 be chilled/frozen to the bone to be extremely cold
7 skin and bone very thin:
•She was all skin and bone.
8 a bag of bones someone who is much too thin
9 feel/know sth in your bones to be certain that something is true, even though you have no proof and cannot explain why you are certain:
•She knew that something good was sure to happen; she could feel it in her bones.
10 have a bone to pick with sb spoken used to tell someone that you are annoyed with them and want to talk about it
11 close to the bone a remark, statement etc that is close to the bone is close to the truth in a way that may offend someone:
•His jokes were a bit close to the bone.
12 cut sth to the bone to reduce costs, services etc as much as possible:
•Shops cut prices to the bone in the January sales.
13 on the bone meat that is served on the bone is still joined to the bone:
•a boiled ham on the bone
14 off the bone meat that is served off the bone has been cut away from the bone:
•roasted duck, off the bone
dry as a bone at DRY^1 (1); work your fingers to the bone at WORK^1 (29)[T]
to remove the bones from fish or meat:
•boned breast and thigh meat

PHRASAL VERBS
bone up on sth phr v
to learn as much as you can about a subject, because you need the knowledge, for example for an examination:
•I have to bone up on criminal law for a test next week.[U]
delicate and expensive cups, plates etc that are made partly with crushed bone
completely dry:
•There had been no rain for months and the land was bone dry. $ [C]
informal a stupid personBrE
extremely lazy:
•He's just bone idle. $
boneless meat or fish has had the bones taken out:
•boneless chicken breasts[U]
the soft substance in the hollow centre of bones; = marrow
•a bone marrow transplantalso bone meal $ [U]
a substance used to feed plants that is made of crushed bones $ [singular]
informal not polite an ERECTION $ [C]
a large outdoor fire, either for burning waste or for a party:
•Someone had lit a bonfire and we sat round it chatting.Bonfire Night [U]
November 5th, when people in Britain light FIREWORKs and burn a GUY on a large outdoor fire; = Guy Fawkes' night $ [C]
1 a deep sound made by a large bell
2 informal an object used for smoking CANNABIS, in which the smoke goes through water to make it coolalso bongo drums $ [plural]
a pair of small drums that you play with your hands $ [U]
formal a friendly feeling among a group of people:
•They were relaxed and full of bonhomie. $ [I,T]
1 BrE informal to have sex with someone - used humorously
2 informal to hit someone lightly on the head or to hit your head on something:
•He fell, bonking his head against a tree.
1 [singular] BrE informal the action of having sex - used humorously:
•a quick bonk
2 [C] informal the action of hitting someone lightly on the head, or hitting your head against something
3 [C] informal a sudden short deep sound, for example when something hits the ground $ [not before noun]
1 slightly crazy
2 drive sb bonkers to make someone feel crazy or very annoyed:
•Thinking about the whole problem has driven me nearly bonkers. $ [C] written
a clever remark $ [C]
1 BrE the metal lid over the front of a car; = hood AmE
•I'll need to check under the bonnet.
2
a) a warm hat that a baby wears which ties under its chin
b) a type of hat that women wore in the past which tied under their chin and often had a wide BRIM
have a bee in your bonnet at BEE (2) $ BrE
pretty and healthy:
•a bonny baby $ [C,U]
a tree that is grown so that it always stays very small, or the art of growing trees in this way
- bonsai adjective $ [C]
1 money added to someone's wages, especially as a reward for good work:
•Long-term savers qualify for a cash bonus.
•Further additions to your pay may take the form of bonus payments.
•a Christmas bonus
•Each worker receives an annual bonus.
•a £20,000 bonus
2 something good that you did not expect in a situation
[+for]
•Britain's possession of North Sea oil has proved a bonus for British technology.
•He promised to take me to the match with the added bonus of an afternoon off school.
3 no-claims bonus BrE a reduction in the cost of your car insurance when you do not make a CLAIM in a particular yearalso bon viveur $ [C]
formal someone who enjoys good food and wine, and being with people $
used to wish someone a good journey $
1 someone or part of their body that is bony is very thin:
•She had a bony intelligent face.
•He was tall and bony.
2 bony meat or fish contains a lot of small bones
3 a part of an animal that is bony consists mostly of bone [I,T]
to shout 'boo' to show that you do not like a person, performance, idea etc:
•Some of the audience started booing.
•She was booed off stage (=they shouted 'boo' until she left the stage).
1 a noise made by people who do not like a person, performance, idea etc
2 a word you shout suddenly to someone as a joke in order to frighten them
3 wouldn't say boo to a goose an expression used to describe a shy quiet person [C]
1 [usually plural] informal a woman's breast
2 BrE informal a silly mistake
3 AmE old-fashioned a stupid or silly person[I] BrE informal
to make a stupid mistake; = goof AmE
•I think Jean's boobed again.[C]
informal a silly mistake:
•I made a bit of a boo-boo asking her about David![C]
1 BrE a piece of women's clothing made of material that stretches, that covers her chest; = tube top AmE
2 the boob tube AmE informal the television plural boobies [C]
informal a silly or stupid person[singular]
AmE old-fashioned informal a mental hospital[C] informal
a prize given as a joke to the person who is last in a competitionbooby-trap [C]
1 a hidden bomb that explodes when you touch something else that is connected to it:
•He lost both legs in a booby trap bomb blast.
2 a HARMLESS trap that you arrange for someone as a joke
- booby-trapped adjective
- booby trap verb $ [C] AmE informal
a thick piece of MUCUS from your nose [C]
a BOGEYMAN $ [I]
informal to dance, especially to fast popular musicalso boogie woogie $ [U]
1 a type of music played on the piano with a strong fast RHYTHM:
•boogie rock at its finest
2 a boogie informal a dance, or an occasion when you dance, especially to fast popular music:
•You work hard all week - you deserve a boogie now and then. written
used in stories to show that someone is crying
1 PRINTED PAGES [C] a set of printed pages that are held together in a cover so that you can read them:
•I've just started reading a book by Graham Greene.
•a cookery book
•a special exhibition of children's books
[+about/on]
•a book about cats
•a cheap paperback book
•I can't afford to buy hardback books.
2 TO WRITE IN [C] a set of sheets of paper held together in a cover so that you can write on them:
•a black address book
•a notebook
3 SET OF THINGS [C] a set of things such as stamps, matches, or tickets, held together inside a paper cover:
•a cheque book
4 books [plural]
a) ACCOUNTS written records of the financial accounts of a business:
•An accountant will examine the company's books.
•a small firm that is having problems balancing the books (=keeping its profits and spending equal)
on the books
•They have £50 billion worth of orders on the books.
cook the books at COOK^1 (3)
b) JOBS the names of people who use a company's services, or who are sent by a company to work for other people
on sb's books
•an agent with a lot of popular actors on his books
5 by the book exactly according to rules or instructions:
•She feels she has to go by the book and can't use her creativity.
do/play sth by the book
•The police were careful to do everything by the book.
6 a closed book a subject that you do not understand or know anything about:
•Chemistry is a closed book to me.
7 be in sb's good/bad books informal used to say that someone is pleased or annoyed with you
8 LAW be on the books if a law is on the books, it is part of the set of laws in a country, town, area etc
9 PART OF A BOOK [C] one of the parts that a very large book such as the Bible is divided into
[+of]
•the Book of Isaiah
10 in my book spoken said when giving your opinion:
•In my book, nothing is more important than football.
11 bring sb to book to punish someone for breaking laws or rules, especially when you have been trying to punish them for a long time:
•War criminals must be brought to book.
STATUTE BOOK; take a leaf out of sb's book at LEAF^1 (2); read sb like a book at READ^1 (16); suit sb's book at SUIT^2 (5); a turn-up for the book at TURN-UP (2); throw the book at sb at THROW^1 (26)

WORD FOCUS: book
a book about imaginary events:
novel
thriller
mystery
horror story
love story
detective story
whodunit
books about imaginary events in general:
fiction
science fiction
romantic fiction
crime fiction
chick lit informal
famous or important novels, poems etc :
literature
books about real events:
non-fiction
a book that gives information:
reference book
encyclopedia
textbook
a book about someone's life:
biography
autobiography
journal
diary
someone who writes books:
writer
author
novelist
a book with a hard cover:
hardback BrE /hardcover AmE
a book with a cover made of paper or card:
paperback

1 [I,T] to make arrangements to stay in a place, eat in a restaurant, go to a theatre etc at a particular time in the future; reserve
•Have you booked a holiday this year?
•You need to book well in advance for Christmas.
•The flight was already fully booked (=no more seats were available).
•To get tickets, you have to book in advance.
•The show's booked solid (=all the tickets have been sold) until February.
2 [T] to arrange for someone such as a singer to perform on a particular date:
•The band was booked for a benefit show in Los Angeles.
3 be booked up
a) if a hotel, restaurant etc is booked up, there are no more rooms, places, seats etc still available:
•The courses quickly get booked up.
b) if someone is booked up, they are extremely busy and have arranged a lot of things they must do:
•I'm all booked up this week - can we get together next Friday?
4 [T] to arrange for someone to go to a hotel, fly on a plane etc:
•I've booked you a flight on Saturday.
book sb on/in etc
•I'll book you in at the Hilton.
5 [T] to put someone's name officially in police records, along with the charge made against them:
•Smith was booked on suspicion of attempted murder.
6 [T] BrE when a REFEREE in a sports game books a player who has broken the rules, he or she officially writes down the player's name in a book as a punishment

PHRASAL VERBS
book in phr v also book into sth
BrE to arrive at a hotel and say who you are etc; = check in
•Several tourists were booking in.
1 BrE tickets for a concert, performance etc that are bookable can be ordered before it happens
2 bookable offence an offence for which a sports player can be punished by having his or her name written into the REFEREE's book [U]
the process of fastening the pages of books inside a cover
- bookbinder noun [C] [C]
a piece of furniture with shelves to hold books[C]
1 a club that offers books cheaply to its members
2 a group of people who meet regularly to discuss a particular book they have all read [C usually plural]
one of a pair of objects that you put at the end of a row of books to prevent them from falling over [C] informal
a BOOKMAKER [C]
1 an arrangement to travel by train, use a hotel room etc at a particular time in the future; reservation
•bookings on cruise ships
•I made a booking for two double rooms.
•I'm calling to confirm my booking (=say definitely that I want to travel etc).
•If you cancel your booking, there will be a small charge.
•Places on the course are limited and advance booking is essential.
block booking (=a booking for a large number of dates, seats, rooms etc)
2 an arrangement made by a performer to perform at a particular time in the future
3 BrE the act of writing a football player's name in a book as a punishment for breaking the rules[C]
BrE a place where you can buy train or bus tickets; = ticket office
BOX OFFICE
someone who is bookish is more interested in reading and studying than in sports or other activities:
•a shy bookish man [U]
the job or activity of recording the financial accounts of an organization; accountancy [C]
a very short book that usually contains information on one particular subject; leaflet
•a free booklet on drug abusealso bookie informal $ [C]
someone whose job is to collect money that people want to risk on the result of a race, competition etc, and who pays them if they guess correctly $ [C]
1 a piece of paper, leather etc that you put in a book to show you the last page you have read
2 a way of saving the address of a page on the Internet so that you can find it again easily[T]
to save the address of a page on the Internet so that you can find it again easily [C]
AmE a vehicle that contains a library and travels to different places so that people can use it; = mobile library BrE [C]
a decorated piece of paper with your name on it, that you stick in the front of your books [C]
a metal or wood frame that holds a book upright so that you can read it without holding it in your hands $ [C]
a person or company that sells books plural bookshelves [C]
a shelf that you keep books on, or a piece of furniture used for holding books; bookcase $ [C]
especially BrE a shop that sells books; = bookstore AmE $ [C]
BrE a small shop that has an open front and sells books and magazines, often at a railway station; = newsstand AmE $ [C]
AmE a shop that sells books; = bookshop[C]
BrE a card that you can exchange for books:
•She gave me a book token for Christmas.[C]
1 how much a car of a particular age, style etc should be worth if you sold it
2 technical
a) the value of a business after you sell all of its ASSETs and pay all of its debts
b) the value of something that a company owns, which it lists in its accounts $ [C]
1 someone who likes reading very much
2 an insect that eats books
1 INCREASE IN BUSINESS [singular] a quick increase of business activity; slump
•The boom has created job opportunities.
[+in]
•a sudden boom in the housing market
consumer/investment/property etc boom
•the post-war property boom
boom years/times
•In boom times, airlines do well.
•the economic boom of the 1950s
•The economy went from boom to bust (=from increasing to decreasing) very quickly.
BOOM TOWN
2 WHEN STH IS POPULAR [singular] an increase in how popular or successful something is, or in how often it happens:
•the disco boom of the 1970s
[+in]
•the boom in youth soccer in the U.S.
BABY BOOM
3 SOUND [C] a deep loud sound that you can hear for several seconds after it begins, especially the sound of an explosion or a large gun:
•the dull boom of the cannons
SONIC BOOM
4 BOAT [C] a long pole on a boat that is attached to the bottom of a sail, and that you move to change the position of the sail
5 LONG POLE [C]
a) a long pole used as part of a piece of equipment that loads and unloads things
b) a long pole that has a camera or MICROPHONE on the end
6 ON A RIVER/HARBOUR [C] something that is stretched across a river or a BAY to prevent things floating down or across it
1 [I usually in progressive] if business, trade, or a particular area is booming, it is increasing and being very successful:
• Business was booming, and money wasn't a problem.
•Tourism on the island has boomed.
2 also boom (sth <=>) out [T] to say something in a loud deep voice:
•'Ladies and gentlemen,' his voice boomed out.
3 also boom out [I] to make a loud deep sound:
•Guns boomed in the distance.
- booming adjective
•a booming economy[C]
AmE informal a GHETTO BLASTER [C]
a curved stick that flies in a circle and comes back to you when you throw it, first used in Australia[I]
if a plan or action boomerangs on someone, it affects them badly instead of the person who it was intended to affect[C]
a town or city that suddenly becomes very successful because there is a lot of new industry [C usually singular]
something that is very useful and makes your life a lot easier or better:
•The bus service is a real boon to people in the village.[C]
literary a very close friend $ [plural] AmE informal
the boondocks a place that is a long way from the nearest town $ [singular] AmE informal
an officially organized plan or activity that is very complicated and wastes a lot of time, money, and effort:
•a bureaucratic boondoggle [plural] AmE informal
the boondocks $ [C]
a man who behaves in a very rude way
- boorish adjective
- boorishly adverb [T]
1 to increase or improve something and make it more successful:
•The new resort area has boosted tourism.
boost sb's confidence/morale/ego
•The win boosted the team's confidence.
2 also boost up to help someone reach a higher place by lifting or pushing them:
•She put her foot on his hands, and he boosted her up.
3 if a ROCKET or motor boosts a SPACECRAFT, it makes it go up into space or go in a particular direction
4 AmE informal to steal something
1 [singular] something that gives someone more confidence, or that helps something increase, improve, or become successful
[+to]
•a major boost to the economy
[+for]
•a multi-million pound boost for the British film industry
•Add a little more vanilla, to give the flavor a boost.
get/receive a boost
•The community will get a boost from a new library and recreation center.
morale/ego boost
•The poll provided a morale boost for the Conservatives.
2 give sb a boost (up) to lift someone so that they can reach a higher place:
•If I give you a boost, could you reach the window?
3 [U] an increase in the amount of power available to a ROCKET, piece of electrical equipment etc $ [C]
1 a small quantity of a drug that increases the effect of one that was given before, so that someone continues to be protected against a disease:
•a booster shot
2 something that helps someone or something to increase or improve, or to be more successful or confident:
•a booster pump
•a profit booster for the company
morale/confidence booster
•Mail from home is a big morale booster for far-away troops.
3 a rocket that is used to provide extra power for a SPACECRAFT to leave the Earth:
•a giant booster rocket
4 AmE someone who gives a lot of support to a person, organization, or an idea:
•a dance organized by the school's booster clubalso booster chair booster cushion BrE [C]
a special seat for a small child that lets them sit in a higher position in a car or at a table [C]
1 a type of shoe that covers your whole foot and the lower part of your leg; Wellington
•hiking boots
•a pair of walking boots
2 BrE an enclosed space at the back of a car, used for carrying bags etc; = trunk AmE
•The new model has a bigger boot.
3 the boot informal when someone is forced to leave their job; = the sack; dismiss
•The chairman denied that he had been given the boot.
•He should have got the boot years ago.
4 to boot in addition to everything else you have mentioned:
•She was a great sportswoman, and beautiful to boot.
5 put the boot in BrE informal
a) to criticize or be cruel to someone who is already in a bad situation
b) to attack someone by kicking them repeatedly, especially when they are on the ground
6 the boot is on the other foot BrE used to say someone who has caused problems for other people in the past is now in a situation in which people are causing problems for them
7 AmE a metal object that the police attach to one of the wheels of an illegally parked car so that it cannot be moved; = wheel clamp BrE
be/get too big for your boots at BIG^1 (14); lick sb's boots at LICK^1 (7); tough as old boots at TOUGH^1 (2)
1 also boot up [I,T] to start the program that makes a computer ready to be used; load
2 [T] informal to kick someone or something hard
boot sth in/round/down etc
•The goalkeeper booted the ball upfield.
3 [T] AmE to stop someone from moving their illegally parked vehicle by fixing a piece of equipment to one of the wheels; = clamp BrE

PHRASAL VERBS
boot sb <=> out phr v informal
to force someone to leave a place, job, or organization, especially because they have done something wrong; = throw out
•His fellow students booted him out of the class.[C]
a training camp for people who have just joined the US Army, Navy, or Marine Corpsbootie [C]
a short thick sock that a baby wears instead of a shoe $ [C]
1 a small partly enclosed place where one person can do something privately, such as use the telephone or vote:
•a voting booth
2 a small partly enclosed structure or tent where you can buy things, play games, or get information, usually at a market or a FAIR:
•a crafts booth
3 a partly enclosed place in a restaurant with a table between two long seats [C usually plural]
a long piece of string that you use to fasten a boot [only before noun]
bootleg alcohol, software, or RECORDINGs are made and sold illegally:
•bootleg tapes[C]
an illegal recording of a music performancepast tense and past participle bootlegged, present participle bootlegging [I,T]
to illegally make or sell alcohol, or to illegally make or sell copies of software or RECORDINGs
- bootlegger noun [C]
- bootlegging noun [U][C] BrE
a CAR BOOT SALE [plural]
pull/haul yourself up by your bootstraps to improve your position and get out of a difficult situation by your own efforts, without help from other people [U] especially literary
valuable things that a group of people, especially an army that has just won a victory, take away or steal from somewhere; = loot informal
extremely nice, enjoyable, or attractive:
•bootylicious babes [singular, U]
informal alcoholic drink:
•a bottle of booze
on the booze
•He's been on the booze (=drinking too much alcohol) for five days.
off the booze
•My husband is now off the booze (=no longer drinking too much alcohol) and he is a different person. $ [C]
1 BrE a PUB
2 someone who often drinks a lot of alcohol[C] BrE old-fashioned informal
a party where people drink a lot of alcohol [U] informal
when someone drinks alcohol, especially a lot of it:
•You've been out boozing, haven't you?
- booze verb [I]
showing that someone has drunk too much alcohol:
•boozy laughter $ past tense and past participle bopped, present participle bopping informal
1 [T] to hit someone, especially gently:
•Tom bopped him on the nose.
2 [I] to dance to popular music:
•kids happily bopping on the dance floor
3 informal [I always + adv/prep] to go somewhere or to several different places, especially to enjoy yourself:
•We spent the afternoon just bopping around town.
1 another word for BEBOP
2 [C] a gentle hit:
•a bop on the head
3 [singular] BrE informal a dance $
TEENYBOPPER [U]
a mineral used for cleaning $ plural bordellos [C] especially literary
a house where men can pay to have sex; = brothel $ [C]
1 the official line that separates two countries, states, or areas, or the area close to this line

on the border
across/over the border
cross the border
a common/shared border
border town
border region/area
border controls
border guard
border crossing
border dispute (=a disagreement about where the border should be)
north/south/east/west of the border

•the German-Polish border
[+between]
•The river lies on the border between the US and Mexico.
[+with]
•regular patrols along the border with France
•a market town on the border of England and Wales
•He fled across the border to freedom.
• To cross the border, you will need a valid passport.
• The two governments have settled their differences over their common border.
• the border town of El Paso, Texas
•The coach took us south of the border to Tia Juana.

2 a band along or around the edge of something such as a picture or piece of material:
•writing paper with a black border
3 an area of soil where you plant flowers or bushes, along the edge of an area of grass:
•a flower and shrub border
4 something that separates one situation, state etc from another:
•new scientific discoveries that are stretching the borders of knowledge[T]
1 if one country, state, or area borders another, it is next to it and shares a border with it:
•countries that border the Mediterranean
[+on]
•The area borders on the Yorkshire Dales.
2 to form a border along the edge of something:
•a path bordered by a high brick wall

PHRASAL VERBS
border on sth phr v
to be very close to being something extreme:
•His confidence bordered on arrogance. $ [C]
1 the land near the border between two countries
2 the borderland between two qualities is an unclear area that contains features of both of them $
1 very close to not being acceptable:
•In borderline cases, the student's coursework is considered, as well as exam grades.
•The referee's decision was borderline.
2 [usually before noun] having qualities of both one situation, state etc and another more extreme situation or state:
•a borderline schizophrenic (=someone who has some signs of being mentally ill)
1 [singular] the point at which one quality, situation, emotion etc ends and another begins:
•She slipped over the borderline into sleep.
on the borderline
•I was on the borderline between a first- and a second-class degree.
2 [C] a border between two countries $
the past tense of BEAR
1 [T] to make someone feel bored, especially by talking too much about something they are not interested in:
•He's the sort of person who bores you at parties.
•a film that will bore its young audience
bore sb with sth
•I won't bore you with all the technical details.
bore sb to death/tears (=make them very bored)
2 [I,T] to make a deep round hole in a hard surface
bore sth through/into/in sth
•The machine bores a hole through the cards.
[+through/into]
•To build the tunnel they had to bore through solid rock.
3 [I + into] if someone's eyes bore into you, they look at you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable
1 [singular] something that is not interesting to you or that annoys you:
•Waiting is a bore.
•You'll find it's a terrible bore.
2 [C] someone who is boring, especially because they talk too much about themselves or about things that do not interest you:
•He turned out to be a crashing bore (=used to emphasize that someone is very boring).
3 [singular] the measurement of the width of the inside of a long hollow object such as a pipe or the BARREL of a gun:
•Take a length of piping with a bore of about 15mm.
12-/16-/20- etc bore
•a 12-bore shotgun
wide/narrow/fine bore
•a fine bore tube
4 [singular] a wave of water that moves quickly along a river from the sea at particular times of the year:
•the Severn bore
5 [C] a BOREHOLE $
tired and impatient because you do not think something is interesting, or because you have nothing to do:
•He was easily bored.
•After a while I got bored and left.
[+with]
•Are you bored with your present job?
bored stiff/to tears/to death/out of your mind (=extremely bored)
!! Do not confuse bored, which describes a feeling, and boring, which describes something that makes you feel bored: bored students | a boring job $ [U]
the feeling you have when you are bored, or the quality of being boring:
•a game to relieve the boredom of a long journey
•the sheer boredom of being in jail
[+with]
•his boredom with life in a small town $ [C]
a deep hole made using special equipment, especially in order to get water or oil out of the ground
not interesting in any way:
•Her husband is about the most boring person I've ever met.
•The job was dull and boring.
dead/incredibly/terribly etc boring (=very boring)

WORD FOCUS: boring
similar words:
not very interesting
dull
dreary
drab
very boring:
tedious
mind-numbing
soul-destroying
$
a past participle of BEAR
1 be born when a person or animal is born, they come out of their mother's body or out of an egg:
•Forty lambs were born this spring.
[+in]
•Swift was born in 1667.
•She was born in India, where her father was a British official.
[+at]
•Then, most babies were born at home.
[+on]
•I was born on December 15th, 1973.
be born into/to/of sth (=be born in a particular situation, type of family etc)
•One-third of all children are born into single-parent families.
be born with sth (=have a particular disease, type of character etc since birth)
•Jenny was born with a small hole in her heart.
•I was born and raised (=born and grew up) in Alabama.
be born blind/deaf etc (=be blind, deaf etc when born)
•a newly-born baby
•the queen's firstborn son
be born lucky/unlucky etc (=always be lucky, unlucky etc)
Australian/French etc born (=born in or as a citizen of Australia etc)
!! Do not say 'I born', 'I have been born', or 'I am born'. Say I was born: He was born in Pakistan.
2 START EXISTING be born something that is born starts to exist:
•the country where the sport of cricket was born
[+(out) of] (=existing as a result of a particular situation)
•The alliance was born of necessity in 1941.
•Bill spoke with a cynicism born of bitter experience.
3 born and bred born and having grown up in a particular place and having the typical qualities of someone from that place:
•I was born and bred in Liverpool.
4 be born to do/be sth to be very suitable for a particular job, activity etc:
•He was born to be a politician.
5 I wasn't born yesterday spoken used to tell someone you think is lying to you that you are not stupid enough to believe them
6 there's one born every minute spoken used to say that someone has been very stupid or easily deceived
7 be born under a lucky/unlucky star to always have good or bad luck in your life
8 be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to be born into a rich family
NATURAL-BORN[only before noun]
1 born leader/musician/teacher etc someone who has a strong natural ability to lead, play music etc:
•the skill of a born actor
2 born loser someone who always seems to have bad things happen to them
3 in all your born days old-fashioned used to express surprise or annoyance at something that you have never heard about before:
•In all her born days she had never heard anything like it.
1 born-again Christian someone who has become an EVANGELICAL Christian
2 born-again non-smoker/vegetarian etc informal someone who has recently stopped smoking, eating meat etc, and who is always talking about it and suggesting that other people do the same $
the past participle of BEAR
1 water-borne/sea-borne/air-borne etc carried by water, the sea, air etc:
•waterborne diseases
2 be borne in on/upon sb if a fact is borne in on someone, they realize that it is true $ [C]
a town, or part of a large city, that is responsible for managing its own schools, hospitals, roads etc:
•the borough of Queens in New York City
•Lambeth Borough Council[C]
especially BrE the organization that controls a borough $ [I,T]
1 to use something that belongs to someone else and that you must give back to them later; lend, loan
•Can I borrow your pen for a minute?
borrow sth from sb
•You are allowed to borrow six books from the library at a time.
•They borrowed heavily (=borrowed a lot of money) from the bank to start their new business.
!! Do not confuse borrow and lend (=give someone permission to use something of yours): I borrowed his bike. | Can you lend me your pen?
2 to take or copy someone's ideas, words etc and use them in your own work, language etc
borrow sth from sb/sth
•I borrowed my ideas from Eliot's famous poem 'The Waste Land'.
•To borrow a phrase (=use what someone else has said), if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.
[+from]
•English has borrowed words from many languages.
3 borrow trouble AmE informal to worry about something when it is not necessary
be living on borrowed time at LIVE^1 (17)
beg, borrow, or steal at BEG (8) $ [C]
someone who has borrowed money and has not yet paid it all back:
•Most borrowers pay 7% interest. $
1 [C,U] when a person, government, company etc borrows money, or the money that they borrow:
•Public borrowing has to be increased.
2 [C] something such as a word, phrase, or idea that has been copied from another language, book etc:
•words that are French borrowings
[+from]
•His music is full of borrowings from other composers.
3 borrowings [plural] the total amount of money that a company or organization owes[plural]
the amount of money that a company is allowed to borrow, according to its own rules $ [C,U] BrE old-fashioned
a special prison for criminals who are not old enough to be in an ordinary prison $ [U] especially BrE old-fashioned
something that you think is silly, not good, or not true:
•He thinks modern art is bosh.
- bosh interjection
1 [C usually singular] written the front part of a woman's chest:
•She cradled the child to her bosom.
2 [C usually plural] a woman's breast
3 the bosom of the family/the Church etc the situation where you feel safe because you are with people who love and protect you
4 [singular] literary a word meaning someone's feelings and emotions, used especially when these are bad or unpleasant:
•Drury harboured bitterness in his bosom.
5 bosom friend/buddy/pal literary a very close friend
having large breasts $ [C]
1 the person who employs you or who is in charge of you at work; employer, manager, supervisor
•I'll have to ask my boss for a day off.
•Since I'm my own boss (=I work for myself, rather than for an employer), my hours are flexible.
2 informal someone with an important position in a company or other organization:
•the new boss at Paramount Pictures
•union bosses
•An alleged Mafia boss was acquitted last night.
3 the person who is the strongest in a relationship, who controls a situation etc:
•Remember, you're the parent. You're the boss.
•When you first start training a dog, it's important to let him see that you're the boss.
•You've got to show the kids who's boss.
4 a round decoration on the surface of something, for example on the ceiling of an old building[T]
to tell people to do things, give them orders etc, especially when you have no authority to do it
boss sb about BrE
/around
•Five-year-old girls love to boss people around.informal
very good, attractive, or fashionable:
•a boss car $ [C]
a dance that comes from Brazil, or the music for this dance $ comparative bossier, superlative bossiest
1 always telling other people what to do, in a way that is annoying:
•her loud bossy sister
2 bossy-boots BrE informal someone who you think tells other people what to do too often
- bossily adverb
- bossiness noun [U] $ [C]
an officer on a ship whose job is to organize the work and look after the equipment; = boatswain $ [C] technical
a computer PROGRAM that performs the same operation many times in a row, for example one that searches for information on the Internet as part of a SEARCH ENGINE [only before noun]
relating to plants or the scientific study of plants
- botanically adverb[C]
a large public garden where many different types of flowers and plants are grown for scientific study $ [C]
someone whose job is to make scientific studies of wild plants $ [U]
the scientific study of plantsalso botch up $ [T]
informal to do something badly, because you have been careless or because you do not have the skill to do it properly:
•The builders really botched up our patio.
•a botched investigationalso botch-up BrE [C] informal especially BrE
a piece of work, a job etc that has been badly or carelessly done:
•I've just made an awful botch of my translation.
•The whole thing was a botch job. $
1 used to talk about two people, things etc together, and emphasize that each is included; either
•Both Helen's parents are doctors.
•Hold it in both hands.
•You can both swim, can't you?
•They both started speaking together.
•Oxford is not far from Stratford, so you can easily visit both in a day.
[+of]
•Both of my grandfathers are farmers.
2 sb can't have it both ways used to say that someone cannot have the advantages that come from two separate situations because they cannot exist together:
•It's either me or her. You can't have it both ways.
both...and... used to emphasize that something is true not just of one person, thing, or situation but also of another:
•He's lived in both Britain and America.
•She can both speak and write Japanese.
•Both he and his wife enjoy tennis. $
1 MAKE AN EFFORT [I,T usually in questions and negatives] to make the effort to do something
(not) bother to do sth
•He didn't bother to answer the question.
not bother about/with
•He didn't bother with a reply.
(not) bother doing sth
•Many young people didn't bother voting.
don't/didn't/won't etc bother
•'Do you want me to wait for you?' 'No, don't bother.'
• Why bother to go abroad, when there are so many nice places here at home?
2 WORRY [I,T] to make someone feel slightly worried, upset, or concerned:
•Being in a crowd really bothers me.
•It was very noisy, but that didn't bother me.
[+about] especially BrE
•I try not to bother about what other people think.
bother sb that
•It really bothered me that he'd forgotten my birthday.
3 ANNOY [I,T] to annoy someone, especially by interrupting them when they are trying to do something:
•Danny, don't bother Ellen while she's reading.
•Would it bother you if I put on some music?
bother sb about/with sth
• It didn't seem worth bothering the doctor about.
4 sb can't/couldn't be bothered (to do sth) especially BrE used to say that you do not want to make the effort to do something, or that you are not interested in doing something:
•It was so hot I couldn't be bothered to cook.
•I should be revising, but I just can't be bothered.
5 CAUSE PAIN [T] if a part of your body bothers you, it is slightly painful or uncomfortable:
•My back's been bothering me.
6 sorry to bother you spoken used as a very polite way of interrupting someone when you want their attention:
•Sorry to bother you, but Mr. Grey is on the line.
7 FRIGHTEN [T] to upset or frighten someone by talking to them when they do not want to talk to you, trying to hurt them, touch them sexually etc:
•Don't worry, my dog won't bother you.
•If he starts bothering you, let me know.
8 not bother yourself/not bother your head to not spend time or effort on something, either because it is not important or because it is too difficult
[+with/about]
•Cliff didn't want to bother himself with masses of detail.
9 bother it/them etc BrE spoken old-fashioned used to express a sudden feeling of annoyance about something:
•Oh bother it! The thread's broken again!
1 [U] especially BrE trouble or difficulty that has been caused by small problems and that usually only continues for a short time; = trouble
•It's an old car, but it's never caused me any bother.
[+with]
•Joe's been having a bit of bother with his back again.
•'Thanks for your help.' ' It was no bother (=used to emphasize that you were happy to help someone) at all.'
•My mother hardly ever went to the bother of (=the effort of) making cakes.
•Are you sure the station is on your way? I don't want to give you any extra bother.
•I should have phoned the shop first and saved myself the bother of going there.
sth is more bother than it's worth (=it is too difficult to be worth doing)
2 a bother especially BrE a person or job that slightly annoys you by causing trouble or problems:
•I hate to be a bother, but could you show me how the photocopier works?BrE informal
used when you are slightly annoyed:
•Oh bother! I forgot to phone Jean. $
used when you are slightly annoyed:
•Botheration. I forgot my glasses. $ [not before noun]
1 worried or upset
[+about]
•He doesn't seem too bothered about the things that are written about him in the papers.
bothered that
•No one else seemed bothered that Grandfather wasn't there.
2 not bothered especially BrE if you are not bothered about something, it is not important to you:
•'What film do you want to see?' 'I'm not bothered.'
[+about]
•He's not really bothered about getting the facts right.
hot and bothered at HOT^1 (12) $
slightly annoying $
1 [C] a container with a narrow top for keeping liquids in, usually made of plastic or glass:
•an empty bottle
a wine/milk/beer etc bottle
[+of]
•a bottle of champagne
2 [C] also bottleful the amount of liquid that a bottle contains:
•Between us, we drank three bottles of wine.
3 [C] a container for babies to drink from, with a rubber part on top that they suck, or the milk contained in this bottle:
•My first baby just wouldn't take a bottle at all.
4 the bottle alcoholic drink - used when talking about the problems drinking can cause:
•Peter let the bottle ruin his life.
hit the bottle (=regularly drink too much)
•She was under a lot of stress, and started hitting the bottle.
be on the bottle BrE (=be drinking lot of alcohol regularly)
5 [U] BrE informal courage to do something that is dangerous or unpleasant; = nerve
•I never thought she'd have the bottle to do it!
6 bring a bottle BrE bring your own bottle AmE used when you invite someone to an informal party to tell them that they should bring their own bottle of alcoholic drink
HOT-WATER BOTTLE[T]
1 to put a liquid, especially wine or beer, into a bottle after you have made it:
•The whisky is bottled here before being sent abroad.
2 BrE to put vegetables or fruit into special glass containers in order to preserve them; = can AmE

PHRASAL VERBS
bottle out phr v BrE informal
also bottle it to suddenly decide not to do something because you are frightened; = cop out
•'Did you tell him?' 'No, I bottled out at the last minute.'

bottle sth <=> up phr v
1 to deliberately not allow yourself to show a strong feeling or emotion:
•It is far better to cry than to bottle up your feelings.
2 to cause problems by delaying something:
•The bill has been bottled up in Congress.[C] BrE
a container in the street that you put empty bottles into, so that the glass can be used again $
bottled water/beer etc water, beer etc that is sold in a bottlepast tense and past participle bottle-fed [T]
to feed a baby or young animal with milk from a bottle rather than from their mother's breast
- bottle-feeding noun [U]
- bottle-fed adjective[U]
a very dark green colour
- bottle green adjective $ [C]
1 a place in a road where the traffic cannot pass easily, so that there are a lot of delays
2 a delay in one stage of a process that makes the whole process take longer:
•Understaffing has caused a real bottleneck.[C]
a small tool used for removing the metal lids from bottles $
1 LOWEST PART the bottom the lowest part of something; top
[+of]
•Can you hold the bottom of the ladder for me?
at the bottom (of sth)
•Grandma was standing at the bottom of the stairs.
•at the bottom of the page
•Go downstairs and wait for me at the bottom.
the bottom of the page/screen
•There should be a menu bar at the bottom of your screen.
2 LOWEST SIDE [C usually singular] the flat surface on the lowest side of an object
the bottom of sth
•Something's hanging from the bottom of your car.
•What's that on the bottom of your shoe?
3 LOWEST INNER PART [C usually singular] the lowest inner surface of something such as a container
at/in the bottom of sth
•I found the keys - they were at the bottom of my handbag.
•The drugs had been hidden in a suitcase with a false bottom.
4 LOWEST SOCIAL POSITION/RANK the bottom the lowest position in an organization or company; top
[+of]
•The Giants are at the bottom of the league.
the bottom of the ladder/pile/heap (=the lowest position in society, an organization etc)
•Immigrants were at the bottom of the pile.
•Higgins had started at the bottom (=in a low position in a company) and worked his way up to become managing director.
second/third etc from bottom
•United currently lie second from bottom of the Premier League.
5 OCEAN/RIVER the bottom the ground under a sea, river etc, or the flat land in a valley
[+of]
•The bottom of the pool is very slippery.
at/on the bottom (of sth)
•A body was found at the bottom of the canal.
the sea/river bottom
•fish living on the sea bottom
6 BODY [C] the part of your body that you sit on; = backside
•I just sat on my bottom and slid down.
7 CLOTHES [C usually plural] the part of a set of clothes that you wear on the lower part of your body:
•pyjama bottoms
•a blue bikini bottom
8 FURTHEST PART the bottom of a road/garden etc especially BrE the part of a road, area of land etc that is furthest from where you are:
•There's a shop at the bottom of the street.
9 get to the bottom of sth to find out the cause of a problem or situation:
•I never got to the bottom of this!
10 be/lie at the bottom of sth to be the basic cause of a problem or situation:
•Lack of money is at the bottom of many family problems.
11 be at/hit/reach rock bottom
a) to be in a very bad situation that could not be any worse:
•I was at rock bottom, and knew I had to try and stop drinking.
b) to be at a very low level:
•We bought the house when prices were at rock bottom.
12 from the bottom of your heart in a very sincere way:
•Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
13 the bottom drops/falls out of the market when people stop buying a particular product, so that the people who sell it can no longer make any money
14 bottoms up! spoken used to tell someone to enjoy or finish their alcoholic drink
15 big-bottomed/round-bottomed etc having a bottom or base that is big, round etc
16 at bottom formal the way a person or situation really is, although they may seem different:
•She's a good kind person at bottom.; top
you can bet your bottom dollar at BET^1 (4); knock the bottom out of at KNOCK^1 (25); from top to bottom at TOP^1 (21); the bottom of the list at LIST^1 (2); scrape the bottom of the barrel at SCRAPE^1 (5)
1 [only before noun] in the lowest place or position; top
•It's on the bottom shelf.
•The towels are in the bottom drawer.
•You've got some butter on your bottom lip.
•the bottom right hand corner of the page
2 [not before noun] the least important, successful etc; top
•I was bottom of the class (=the least successful student) in Spanish.
•Britain came bottom on efforts to tackle pollution and global warming.
3 [only before noun] especially BrE in the place furthest away from where you are:
•Most of the sheep were grazing in the bottom field.
4 bottom gear the lowest GEAR of a vehicle

PHRASAL VERBS
bottom out phr v
if a situation, price etc bottoms out, it stops getting worse or lower, usually before improving again; level off/out
•There are signs that the recession has bottomed out.[C]
BrE all the things, especially things that you use in a house, that a woman collects to use when she is married; = hope chest AmE $
1 a bottomless hole, sea etc is one that is extremely deep:
•There was a rope dangling down into a dark, bottomless hole.
2 seeming to have no end or limit:
•the bottomless well of information available through the Internet
•The government does not have a bottomless pit (=a supply with no limits) of money to spend on public services.[singular]
1 the bottom line used to tell someone what the most important part of a situation is, or what the most important thing to consider is:
•The bottom line is that recycling isn't profitable.
•In radio you have to keep the listener listening. That's the bottom line.
2 the profit or the amount of money that a business makes or loses
3 the least amount of money that you are willing to accept in a business deal
- bottom-line adjective $ [only before noun]
in the lowest, furthest, or deepest position or place; topmost
a bottom-up plan is one in which you decide on practical details before thinking about general principles; top-down $ [U]
serious food poisoning caused by BACTERIA in preserved meat and vegetables $ [C]
old use a woman's bedroom or private sitting room $
a bouffant hair style is one in which your hair is raised away from your head at the top [C,U]
a tropical plant that has red or purple flowers and grows up walls [C] literary
a main branch on a tree $
the past tense and past participle of BUY $ [C,U]
a clear soup made by boiling meat and vegetables in water[C]
AmE a small square made of dried meat or vegetables, used to give a stronger taste to soups; = stock cube BrE $ [C]
a large round piece of rock $ [C]
1 a wide road in a town or city, often with trees along the sides
2 written abbreviation Blvd used as part of the name of a particular road:
•Sunset Boulevard
1 BALL/OBJECT [I,T] if a ball or other object bounces, or you bounce it, it immediately moves up or away from a surface after hitting it
[+off]
•The ball bounced off the post and into the goal.
bounce sth on/against etc sth
•The kids were bouncing a ball against the wall.
2 JUMP UP AND DOWN [I] to move up and down, especially because you are hitting a surface that is made of rubber, has springs etc
[+on]
•Lyn was bouncing on the trampoline.
•Stop bouncing up and down on the sofa.
3 CHEQUE [I,T] if a cheque bounces, or if a bank bounces a cheque, the bank will not pay any money because there is not enough money in the account of the person who wrote it:
•The bank charges £30 for a bounced cheque.
4 WALK [I always + adv/prep] to walk quickly and with a lot of energy:
•Olivia came bouncing into the room.
5 STH MOVES UP AND DOWN [I] if something bounces, it moves quickly up and down as you move:
•Her hair bounced when she walked.
6 LIGHT/SOUND [I,T] if light or sound bounces, it hits a surface and then moves quickly away from it
bounce (sth) off sth
•The radio signals are bounced off a satellite.
7 EMAIL also bounce back [I,T] if an email that you send bounces or is bounced, it is returned to you and the other person does not receive it because of a technical problem
8 bounce ideas off sb to talk about your ideas with someone in order to get their opinion:
•When you work in a team you can bounce your ideas off each other.
9 FORCE SB TO LEAVE [T] informal to force someone to leave a place, job, or organization, especially because they have done something wrong
bounce sb from sth
•Taylor was bounced from the team for assaulting another player.

PHRASAL VERBS
bounce sth <=> around phr v informal
to discuss ideas with other people:
•I wanted to have a meeting so that we could bounce a few ideas around.

bounce back phr v
1 to feel better quickly after being ill, or to become successful again after failing or having been defeated; = recover
•The company's had a lot of problems in the past, but it's always managed to bounce back.
2 if an email that you send bounces back or is bounced back, it is returned to you and the other person does not receive it because of a technical problem

bounce sb into sth phr v BrE
to force someone to decide to do something, especially without giving them time to consider it carefully
bounce sb into doing sth
•Party members feel that they were bounced into accepting the policy.
1 [C] the action of moving up and down on a surface:
•Try to catch the ball on the second bounce.
2 [U] the ability to move up and down on a surface, or that surface's ability to make something move up and down:
•The ball had completely lost its bounce.
•a basketball court with good bounce
3 [singular,U] a lot of energy that someone has:
•Exercise is great. I feel like there's a new bounce in my step.
4 [U] hair that has bounce is in very good condition and goes back to its shape if you press it:
•a brand new styling spray that gives your hair body and bounce $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to stand at the door of a club, bar etc and stop unwanted people coming in, or make people leave if they are behaving badly
2 a fast ball in CRICKET that passes or hits the BATSMAN above the chest after it bounces
healthy and full of energy:
•a bouncing baby girl
1 a bouncy ball etc quickly moves away from a surface after it has hit it
2 a bouncy surface is made of a substance that makes people move up and down when they are on it:
•The new bed is nice and bouncy.
3 someone who is bouncy is always very happy, confident, and full of energy
4 hair or material that is bouncy goes back to its shape when you press it
- bouncily adverb
- bounciness noun [U][C] BrE
a large object filled with air, often shaped like a castle, that children jump on for fun
the past tense and past participle of BIND[no comparative]
1 LIKELY be bound to to be very likely to do or feel a particular thing:
•Don't lie to her. She's bound to find out about it.
it is bound to be (=used to say that something should have been expected)
•'It's hot!' 'Well, it was bound to be, I just took it out of the oven.'
•When you are dealing with so many patients, mistakes are bound to happen.
2 LAW/AGREEMENT be bound (by sth) to be forced to do what a law or agreement says you must do
bound (by sth) to do sth
•The Foundation is bound by the treaty to help any nation that requests aid.
•You are legally bound to report the accident.
3 DUTY be/feel bound to do sth to feel that you ought to do something, because it is morally right or your duty to do it:
•Ian felt bound to tell Joanna the truth.
•Well I'm bound to say (=I feel I ought to say), I think you're taking a huge risk.
be duty bound/honour bound to do sth
•A son is duty bound to look after his mother.
4 TRAVELLING TOWARDS bound for London/Mexico etc also London-bound/Mexico-bound etc travelling towards a particular place or in a particular direction:
•a plane bound for Somalia
•We tried to get seats on a Rome-bound flight.
• homeward-bound (=travelling towards home) commuters
northbound/southbound/eastbound/westbound
•All eastbound trains have been cancelled due to faulty signals.
5 RELATIONSHIP be bound (together) by sth if two people or groups are bound together by something, they share a particular experience or situation which causes them to have a relationship; unite
•The two nations were bound together by a common history.
6 be bound up in sth to be very involved in something, so that you cannot think about anything else:
•He was too bound up in his own problems to listen to any of mine.
7 be bound up with sth to be very closely connected with a particular problem or situation:
•Mark's problems are all bound up with his mother's death when he was ten.
•The people of Transkei began to realize that their future was inseparably bound up with that of South Africa.
8 snow-bound/strike-bound/tradition-bound etc controlled or limited by something, so that you cannot do what you want or what other people want you to:
•a fog-bound airport
•people who are wheelchair-bound
•a desk-bound sergeant (=having to work in an office, instead of doing a more active job)
9 a bound book is covered on the outside with paper, leather etc; bind
[+in]
•a Bible bound in Moroccan leather
•a leather-bound volume of Shakespeare's plays
10 I'll be bound old-fashioned used when you are very sure that what you have just said is true:
•He had good reasons for doing that, I'll be bound.
11 bound and determined AmE very determined to do or achieve something, especially something difficult:
•Klein is bound and determined to win at least five races this year.
1 [I always + adv/prep] to run with a lot of energy, because you are happy, excited, or frightened
[+up/towards/across etc]
•Suddenly a huge dog came bounding towards me.
2 be bounded by sth if a country or area of land is bounded by something such as a wall, river etc, it has the wall etc at its edge:
•a yard bounded by a wooden fence
•The US is bounded in the north by Canada and in the south by Mexico.
1 bounds [plural]
a) the limits of what is possible or acceptable
within the bounds of sth
•We are here to make sure that the police operate within the bounds of the law.
be/go beyond the bounds of credibility/reason/decency etc
•The humor in the movie sometimes goes beyond the bounds of good taste.
be within/beyond the bounds of possibility (=be possible/not possible)
•It was not beyond the bounds of possibility that they could meet again.
b) old-fashioned the edges of a town, city etc
2 out of bounds if a place is out of bounds, you are not allowed to go there; = off-limits AmE
[+to/for]
•The path by the railway line is officially out of bounds to both cyclists and walkers.
3 by leaps and bounds/in leaps and bounds BrE if someone or something increases, develops etc by leaps and bounds, they increase etc very quickly:
•Julie's reading is improving in leaps and bounds.
4 know no bounds formal if someone's honesty, kindness etc knows no bounds, they are extremely honest etc
5 in bounds/out of bounds inside or outside the legal playing area in a sport such as American football or BASKETBALL
6 [C] a long or high jump made with a lot of energy plural boundaries
1 [C] the real or imaginary line that marks the edge of a state, country etc, or the edge of an area of land that belongs to someone

national/state/city etc boundary (=a boundary between countries, states, cities etc)
geographical/natural boundary (=a river, line of mountains etc that form a boundary)
political boundary (=an official recognized boundary)
mark a boundary
cross a boundary
boundary wall/fence
boundary line
boundary dispute (=a disagreement about where a boundary should be)

[+between]
•The Mississippi River forms a natural boundary between Iowa and Illinois.
• National boundaries are becoming increasingly meaningless in the global economy.
• We would need their agreement to build outside the city boundary.
•The stream curves round to mark the boundary of his property.
• Anything that crosses the boundary of a black hole cannot get back.
• We walked through the churchyard towards the boundary wall.
• The property's boundary line is 25 feet from the back of the house.
• boundary disputes between neighbouring countries

2 [C usually plural] the limit of what is acceptable or thought to be possible
[+of]
•the boundaries of human knowledge
within/beyond the boundaries of sth
•within the boundaries of the law
push back the boundaries (of sth) (=to make a new discovery, work of art etc that is very different from what people have known before, and that changes the way they think)
•art that pushes back the boundaries
3 [C] the point at which one feeling, idea, quality etc stops and another starts
[+of/between]
•the boundaries between work and play
•the blurring of the boundaries between high and popular culture
4 [C] the outer limit of the playing area in CRICKET, or a shot that sends the ball across this limit for extra points
your bounden duty old use something that you should do because it is morally correct $ [C] old-fashioned
a man who has behaved in a way that is morally wrong
having no limit or end:
•boundless energy and enthusiasm
- boundlessly adverb
- boundlessness noun [U]
very generous
1 if something is bountiful, there is more than enough of it:
•bountiful harvests
2 generous:
•bountiful God plural bounties
1 [C] an amount of money that is given to someone by the government as a reward for doing something, especially catching or killing a criminal
[+on]
•a notorious cattle rustler with a bounty on his head
2 [U] literary food or wealth that is provided in large amounts:
•People came from all over the world to enjoy America's bounty.
3 [U] literary the quality of being generous[C]
someone who catches criminals and brings them to the police for a reward $
1 [C] an arrangement of flowers, especially one that you give to someone
2 [C,U] the smell of a wine $ plural bouquets garnis [C]
a small bag full of herbs that you put into food that you are cooking to give it a special taste $ [U]
a type of American WHISKY $
1 belonging to the MIDDLE CLASS:
•She came from a respectable bourgeois family.
•bourgeois morality
2 too interested in having a lot of possessions and a high position in society:
•the Sixties backlash against bourgeois materialism
3 belonging to or typical of the part of society that is rich, educated, owns land etc, according to Marxism; proletarian
- bourgeois noun [C]
PETTY BOURGEOIS $
the bourgeoisie the people in a society who are rich, educated, own land etc, according to Marxism; the proletariat spoken informal
about:
•What are you talking 'bout? [C]
1 a bout of depression/flu/sickness etc a short period of time during which you suffer from an illness
2 a short period of time during which you do something a lot, especially something that is bad for you:
•a drinking bout
[+of]
•a bout of unemployment
3 a BOXING or WRESTLING match [C]
a small shop that sells fashionable clothes or other objects $ [C]
AmE a flower that a man wears fastened to his jacket, at a wedding; = buttonhole BrE [C]
a Greek musical instrument similar to a GUITAR $
1 technical relating to cows:
•bovine diseases
2 written slow and slightly stupid, like a cow - used to show disapproval:
•a bovine expression of contentment $ [U]
BrE informal old-fashioned violent behaviour, especially by a group of young men
bovver boy (=someone who behaves in a violent way)
1 [I] to bend the top part of your body forward in order to show respect for someone important, or as a way of thanking an AUDIENCE:
•She bowed and left the stage.
•Corbett entered the room, bowing respectfully.
•The servant bowed low and handed his master the sealed note.
[+before/to ]
•He bowed before the king.
2 bow your head to bend your neck so that you are looking at the ground, especially because you want to show respect for God, or because you are embarrassed or upset:
•She bowed her head and prayed.
•Phil stood there, his head bowed in shame.
3 [I,T] to bend your body over something, especially in order to see it more closely
[+over]
•Teague sat at his desk, bowed over a book.
4 [I,T] to bend or to make something bend:
•The trees bowed in the wind.
•He made his way up the steep stairs, his back bowed under the weight of the heavy bag.
5 bow and scrape to show too much respect to someone in authority - used to show disapproval

PHRASAL VERBS
bow down phr v
1 to bend your body forward, especially when you are already kneeling, in order to show respect
[+before/to etc]
•Maria entered the room and bowed down before the statue.
•Come, let us bow down in worship.
2 bow down to sb literary to let someone give you orders or tell you what to do - used to show disapproval

bow out phr v
1 to stop taking part in an activity, job etc, especially one that you have been doing for a long time
[+of]
•Reeves thinks it is time for him to bow out of politics.
2 to not do something that you have promised or agreed to do; = get out of
[+of]
•You're not trying to bow out of this, are you?

bow to sb/sth phr v
to finally agree to do something that people want you to do, even though you do not want to do it:
•Congress may bow to public pressure and lift the arms embargo.
•Myers finally bowed to the inevitable (=accepted something he could not change) and withdrew from the campaign.
1 [C] the act of bending the top part of your body forward to show respect for someone when you meet them, or as a way of thanking an AUDIENCE
take/give a bow (=bow to the audience at the end of a performance)
•The music ended and the girl took a bow.
•He gave a final bow just as the curtains came down.
•This is done with a formal bow to the king or queen.
2 [C] also bows [plural] the front part of a ship; stern, yacht [C]
1 a weapon used for shooting ARROWs , made of a long thin piece of wood held in a curve by a tight string:
•a bow and arrow
2 a knot of cloth or string with a curved part on either side, and two loose ends, worn in the hair as decoration or for tying SHOELACEs :
•Ella wore a bow in her hair.
in a bow
•long chestnut hair tied back in a bow
3 a long thin piece of wood with a tight string fastened along it, used to play musical instruments such as the VIOLIN or CELLO
have more than one string to your bow at STRING^1 (8)
[I,T] to play a piece of music on a musical instrument with a BOW^3also bowdlerise BrE [T]
to remove all the parts of a book, play etc that you think might offend someone - used to show disapproval:
•a bowdlerized version of 'Antony and Cleopatra'
1 bowels [plural] the system of tubes inside your body where food is made into solid waste material and through which it passes out of your body; intestine
move/empty/open your bowels (=get rid of solid waste from your body)
2 [singular] one part of this system of tubes:
•cancer of the bowel
3 a bowel movement formal the act of getting rid of solid waste from your body
4 the bowels of sth literary the lowest or deepest part of something
the bowels of the earth (=deep under the ground) $ [C] literary
a pleasant place in the shade under a tree:
•a rose-scented bower $
1 CONTAINER [C] a wide round container that is open at the top, used to hold liquids, food, flowers etc; dish
•Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
•Fill the bowl with water.
a mixing/serving bowl (=a bowl used for mixing foods or serving them)
•Beat the butter in a mixing bowl until creamy and soft.
a soup/salad/cereal etc bowl (=a bowl to eat or serve soup, salad etc from)
2 AMOUNT [C] also bowlful the amount of something contained in a bowl
[+of]
•a bowl of rice
•a bowl of fruit
3 GAME
a) bowls BrE [plural] an outdoor game played on grass in which you try to roll big balls as near as possible to a small ball; = lawn bowling AmE
b) [C usually singular] a special game in American football played by the best teams after the normal playing season:
•the Rose Bowl
4 BALL [C] BrE a ball that you use in the game of bowls
5 SHAPE [C] the part of an object such as a spoon, pipe, toilet etc that is shaped like a bowl:
•the bowl of a pipe
a toilet/lavatory bowl
6 STADIUM [C usually singular] AmE a large STADIUM shaped like a bowl, where people go to watch special events, such as sports games or music CONCERTs :
•the Hollywood Bowl
1 [I,T] to roll a ball along a surface when you are playing the game of bowls
2 [I,T]
a) to throw a ball at the BATSMAN (=the person who hits the ball) in CRICKET; bat
b) [T] to make a batsman have to leave the field by throwing a ball so that it hits the WICKET behind him
3 [I always + adv/prep] to travel along very quickly and smoothly
[+along/down]
•We were bowling along at about 90 miles per hour.

PHRASAL VERBS
bowl sb <=> out phr v
in CRICKET, when a team is bowled out, each member of the team has had to leave the field and there is no one left to BAT

bowl sb <=> over phr v
1 to accidentally hit someone and knock them down because you are running in a place that is full of people or things; = knock over
2 to surprise, please, or excite someone very much; = knock out
•He was bowled over by her beauty. $ [plural]
legs that curve outwards at the knees
- bow-legged adjective $ [C]
1 a player in CRICKET who throws the ball at a BATSMAN
2 also bowler hat BrE a hard round black hat that businessmen sometimes wear; = derby AmE $ [U]
1 an indoor game in which you roll a large heavy ball along a wooden track in order to knock down a group of PINs (=wooden objects shaped like bottles):
•Do you want to go bowling with us Friday?
2 the act of throwing a ball at the BATSMAN in CRICKET[C]
a building where you go bowling[C]
the heavy ball you use in the game of bowling[C]
an area of short grass where you play the game of BOWLs $ plural bowmen [C]
a soldier in the past whose weapon was a BOW $ [C]
a short piece of cloth tied in the shape of a bow that men sometimes wear around their neck $ [C]
a window that curves out from a wall [C]
a word meaning a dog, used by and to small children
a word used to make the sound a dog makes, used by and to small children $
1 CONTAINER [C] a container for putting things in, especially one with four stiff straight sides
cardboard/wooden/plastic etc box
•a strong cardboard box
toolbox/shoebox/matchbox etc (=a box used for keeping tools etc in)
2 AMOUNT also boxful [C] the amount of something contained in a box
[+of]
•a box of chocolates
3 SHAPE [C]
a) a small square on a page for people to write information in:
•Put an 'X' in the box if you would like to join our mailing list.
b) a SQUARE or RECTANGLE on a page where information is given or where an answer can be written:
•The box on the left gives a short history of the battle.
4 IN A COURT/THEATRE ETC [C] a small area of a theatre or court that is separate from where other people are sitting:
•the jury box
•a box at the Palace Theatre
5 SMALL BUILDING [C] a small building or structure used for a particular purpose; = booth
•a sentry box
telephone box BrE
6 AT A POST OFFICE box 25/450 etc a box with a number in a POST OFFICE, where you can have letters etc sent instead of to your own address; = PO Box
7 SPORTS FIELD [C usually singular] a special area of a sports field that is marked by lines and used for a particular purpose:
•the penalty box
8 PROTECTION [C] BrE a piece of plastic that a man wears over his sex organs to protect them when he is playing a sport, especially CRICKET
9 TREE [C,U] a small tree that keeps its leaves in winter and is often planted around the edge of a garden or field:
•a box hedge
10 TELEVISION the box informal the television:
•What's on the box tonight?
11 be out of your box BrE informal to be very drunk or have taken an illegal drug
BLACK BOX
1 [I,T] to fight someone as a sport by hitting them with your closed hands inside big leather GLOVEs
2 also box up [T] to put things in boxes:
•Want to help me box up the Christmas tree lights?
BOXED
3 [T] to draw a box around something on a page
4 box sb's ears old-fashioned to hit someone on the side of their head

PHRASAL VERBS
box sb/sth <=> in phr v
1 to surround someone or something so that they are unable to move freely:
•Someone had parked right behind them, boxing them in.
2 feel boxed in
a) to feel that you cannot do what you want to do because a person or situation is limiting you:
•Married for only a year, Connie already felt boxed in.
b) to feel that you cannot move freely, because you are in a small space

box sth <=> off phr v
to separate a particular area from a larger one by putting walls around it:
•We're going to box off that corner to get extra storage space.[C]
AmE a deep narrow valley with very straight sides and no way out; = gorge $ [C]
AmE a railway carriage with high sides and a roof, used for carrying goods $ [usually before noun]
sold in a box or boxes:
•a boxed set of CDs[C]
AmE a type of WRENCH with a hollow end that fits over a NUT that is being screwed or unscrewed; = ring spanner BrE $ [C]
1 someone who BOXes , especially as a job
2 a large dog with short light brown hair and a flat nose[plural]
loose cotton underwear for men $ [U]
the sport of fighting while wearing big leather GLOVEs [C,U]
BrE a national holiday in England and Wales, on the first day after Christmas Day that is not a Sunday[C]
BrE a place marked with yellow painted lines where two roads cross each other[C]
AmE a LUNCH (=a meal eaten in the middle of the day) that you take to school or work with you in a LUNCHBOX; = packed lunch BrE[C]
an address at the POST OFFICE that people can have their letters etc sent to instead of their own address
1 [C] the place in a theatre, cinema etc where tickets are sold; ticket office
at the box office
•Collect your tickets at the box office.
2 [singular] used to describe how successful a film, play, or actor is, by the number of people who pay to see them
a (huge) box office hit/success
a (big) box office draw (=a successful actor who many people will pay to see)
box office receipts/takings etc (=the number of tickets sold or the money received)[C]
BrE a small room in a house where you can store things [C]
1 a male child, or a male person in general; girl
•The boys wanted to play football.
•The school has over 1,200 boys and girls aged 11 - 18.
a teenage/adolescent boy
•A group of teenage boys stood talking in a group outside.
bad/naughty boy
•'You naughty boy!' she said in a harsh voice.
•What a polite little boy (=young male child) you are.
•Come on, Timmy, act like a big boy (=an older boy) now.
2 a son:
•I love my boys, but I'd like to have a girl too.
•How old is your little boy (=young son)?
3 office/paper/delivery etc boy a young man who does a particular job
4 city/local/country boy informal a man of any age who is typical of people from a particular place, or who feels a strong connection with the place he grew up in:
•The classic story of a local boy who's made good (=who has succeeded).
•I'm just a country boy.
5 the boys [plural] informal a group of men who are friends and often go out together:
•Friday is his night out with the boys.
•He considers himself just one of the boys (=not anyone special, but liked by other men).
6 a way of talking to a male horse or dog:
•Good boy!
7 boys [plural] informal
a) a group of men who do the same job:
•Oh no! Wait until the press boys get hold of this story.
b) men in the army, navy etc, especially those who are fighting in a war:
•our boys on the front lines
8 boys will be boys used to say that you should not be surprised when boys or men behave badly, are noisy etc
9 the boys in blue informal the police
10 old boy/my dear boy BrE old-fashioned a friendly way for one man to speak to another man
11 AmE not polite an offensive way of talking to a black man
BLUE-EYED BOY; jobs for the boys at JOB (15); MAMA'S BOY, MUMMY'S BOY, OLD BOY, WIDE BOYAmE informal
1 used when you are excited or pleased about something:
•Boy, that was a great meal!
2 oh boy! used when you are slightly annoyed or disappointed about something:
•Oh boy! Bethany's sick again.[C]
a group of attractive young men who perform by singing and dancing, and who are especially popular with teenage girls:
•Christy's favorite boy band is Boyzone. $ [T]
to refuse to buy something, use something, or take part in something as a way of protesting:
•We boycott all products tested on animals.[C]
an act of boycotting something, or the period of time when it is boycotted:
•They are now trying to organize a boycott.
[+of/on/against]
•a boycott on GM crops
•He called for a boycott of the elections. [C]
a man that you are having a romantic relationship with; girlfriend
•Have you met Jilly's new boyfriend yet? [U]
the time of a man's life when he is a boy; girlhood
•boyhood memories
someone who is boyish looks or behaves like a boy in a way that is attractive; girlish
•boyish good looks
•At 45, she still had a trim boyish figure.
- boyishly adverb
•boyishly handsome
- boyishness noun [U] $ [C]
a member of the SCOUTs ; girl scout, guide[C]
an attractive young man who an older, usually rich or successful woman has a sexual relationship with[C]
a young man who is very successful:
•Robson, the boy wonder of the department $ plural bozos [C]
informal someone who you think is silly or stupid:
•Who's the bozo in the pyjamas?BPS technical
bits per second a measurement of how fast a computer or MODEM can send or receive information:
•a 28,800 bps modemalso Br BrE
1 the written abbreviation of brother
2 the written abbreviation of British [C]
a piece of underwear that a woman wears to support her breasts
1 [T] to mentally or physically prepare yourself or someone else for something unpleasant that is going to happen
brace yourself (for sth)
•Nancy braced herself for the inevitable arguments.
•You had better brace yourself - I have some bad news.
•The military needs to brace itself for further spending cuts, says McCoy.
brace yourself to do sth
•Cathy braced herself to see Matthew, who she expected to arrive at any minute.
be braced for sth
•The base was braced for an attack.
2 [T] to push part of your body against something solid in order to make yourself more steady
brace sth against sth
•Gina braced her back against the wall and pushed as hard as she could.
brace yourself (for sth)
•Before he could brace himself she'd shoved him out of the door.
•The pilot told passengers and crew to brace themselves for a rough landing.
3 [T] to make something stronger by supporting it:
•Wait until we've braced the ladder.
•Workers used steel beams to brace the roof.
4 [I,T] to make your body or part of your body stiff in order to prepare to do something difficult
1 [C] something that is used to strengthen or support something, or to make it stiff:
•The miners used special braces to keep the walls from collapsing.
neck/back/knee brace (=a brace which supports the neck etc)
•He was being fitted for a back brace.
•She had to wear a brace after the accident.
2 [C] also braces AmE a system of metal wires that people, usually children, wear on their teeth to make them grow straight
3 [C usually plural] AmE a metal support that someone with weak legs wears to help them walk; = callipers BrE
4 braces [plural] BrE two long pieces of material that stretch over someone's shoulders and fasten to their trousers at the front and the back to stop them falling down; = suspenders AmE
5 [C] one of a pair of signs { } used to show that information written between them should be considered together; bracket
6 a brace of sth especially BrE two things of the same type, especially two birds or animals that have been killed for food or sport:
•a brace of partridge [C]
a band or chain that you wear around your wrist or arm as a decoration; bangle
•a gold bracelet
bracing air or weather is cold and makes you feel very awake and healthy:
•a bracing sea breeze [U]
a plant that often grows in forests and becomes reddish brown in the autumn [C]
1 [usually plural] also round bracket BrE one of the pair of signs ( ) put around words to show extra information; = parenthesis AmE
in brackets
•Last year's sales figures are given in brackets.
ANGLE BRACKETS
SQUARE BRACKET
PUNCTUATION MARK
2 income/tax/age etc bracket a particular income, tax etc range:
•Peter's salary puts him in the highest tax bracket.
•families in lower income brackets
3 a piece of metal, wood, or plastic, often in the shape of the letter L, fixed to a wall to support something such as a shelf[T usually passive]
1 to consider two or more people or things as being similar or the same
bracket sb together
•Women and minors were bracketed together for the legislation.
bracket sb with sb
•Arizona has been bracketed with Iowa in the tournament.
2 to put brackets around a written word, piece of information etc:
•Debit amounts are bracketed.
brackish water is not pure because it is slightly salty [C] AmE
1 a small metal object like a button with two metal sticks that are put through several pieces of paper and folded down to hold the papers together
2 a small thin wire nail with either a small head or a part that sticks out to the side instead of a head $ [C]
especially BrE a small tool with a sharp point for making holes; = awl past tense and past participle bragged, present participle bragging [I,T]
to talk too proudly about what you have done, what you own etc - used to show disapproval; = boast
•'I came out top in the test,' he bragged.
[+about]
•Ben's always bragging about his success with women.
brag that
•Julia used to brag that her family had a villa in Spain. $ [U] especially literary
proud talk about something that you claim to own, to have done etc $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who is always talking too proudly about what they own or have donealso Brahmin [C]
someone of the highest rank in the Hindu faith
1 [U] a narrow band of material formed by twisting threads together, used to decorate the edges of clothes:
•a jacket trimmed with red braid
2 [C] a length of hair that has been separated into three parts and then woven together; = plait BrE
in braids
•Suzy always wears her hair in braids.
- braided adjective[T]
to weave or twist together three pieces of hair or cloth to form one length; = plait BrE [U]
a form of printing for blind people, with raised parts that they can read by touching the paper with their fingers
1 ORGAN [C] the organ inside your head that controls how you think, feel, and move:
•Messages from the brain are carried by the central nervous system.
•the chemistry of the brain
•the human brain
the right/left hemisphere of the brain (=the right or left side of the brain)
•Emotional responses are a function of the right hemisphere of the brain.
•She died of a brain tumour.
brain tissue/cell
2 INTELLIGENCE [C usually plural, U] the ability to think clearly and learn quickly:
•If you had any brains, you'd know what I meant.
•The job requires brains.
•Something's addled your brains (=made you confused).
•Come on, use your brain, John.
3 PERSON [C usually plural] informal someone who is intelligent, with good ideas and useful skills:
•Some of our best brains are leaving the country to work in the US.
BRAIN DRAIN
4 FOOD [U] also brains [plural] the brain of an animal, used as food
5 have sth on the brain informal to be always thinking about something:
•I've got that song on the brain today.
6 be the brains behind/of sth to be the person who thought of and developed a particular plan, system, or organization, especially a successful one:
•Danny's definitely the brains of the project.
7 brain dead
a) in a state where your brain has stopped working properly even though your heart may still be beating
b) informal in a state in which you seem stupid or uninteresting, especially because you live a boring life or are very tired
8 brain box BrE informal a very intelligent person
BIRD-BRAIN, HARE-BRAINED; beat your brains out at BEAT^1 (22); pick sb's brains at PICK^1 (7); rack your brain(s) at RACK^2 (2)[T] informal
to hit someone very hard on the head - used humorously:
•I wanted to brain him. [singular]
an idea, plan, organization etc that someone has thought of without any help from anyone else
[+of]
•The festival was the brainchild of Reeves.[U]
damage to someone's brain caused by an accident or illness:
•Potts suffered severe brain damage in the crash.
- brain-damaged adjective
the brain drain a movement of highly skilled or professional people from their own country to a country where they can earn more money
completely stupid:
•What a brainless thing to do!
- brainlessly adverbalso brain power $ [U]
1 intelligence, or the ability to think:
•A lot of brainpower went into solving the problem.
2 educated intelligent people who have special skills, especially in science, considered as a group:
•the country's shortage of scientific brainpower[C]
a process in which detailed photographs of the inside of your brain are taken and examined by a doctor $
1 [C usually singular] a sudden clever idea; = brainwave BrE
•Kirby had a sudden brainstorm.
2 [C] BrE informal if you have a brainstorm, you are suddenly unable to think clearly or sensibly:
•I must have had a brainstorm that afternoon. $ [U]
when a group of people meet in order to try to develop ideas and think of ways of solving problems:
•a brainstorming session to come up with slogans for new products
- brainstorm verb [I,T]
•Employees get together and brainstorm ideas.[C]
a difficult problem that is fun trying to solve $ [T]
to make someone believe something that is not true, by using force, confusing them, or continuously repeating it over a long period of time:
•Young people are being brainwashed by this religious group.
brainwash sb into doing sth
•Commercials brainwash consumers into buying things they don't need.
- brainwashing noun [U] [C]
1 BrE a sudden clever idea; = brainstorm AmE
•I've had a brainwave! Let's go this weekend instead.
2 an electrical force that is produced by the brain and that can be measured comparative brainier, superlative brainiest
able to learn easily and think quickly; = clever; = smart AmE
•He always was the brainy one, except at maths. [T]
to cook meat or vegetables slowly in a small amount of liquid in a closed container; stew
- braised adjective [C]
1 a piece of equipment that makes a vehicle go more slowly or stop:
•Test your brakes after driving through water.
•Moira slammed on the brakes (=use them suddenly and with a lot of force) and skidded to a halt.
•I managed to put on the brakes just in time.
the rear/front brakes
•a car equipped with anti-lock brakes
•the screech of brakes (=the loud unpleasant noise they can make)
apply the brakes formal
•Williams testified that he tried to apply the brakes but couldn't stop the vehicle in time.
2 act as a brake on sth to make something develop more slowly, be more difficult to do, or happen less:
•Rises in interest rates usually act as a brake on expenditure.
3 put the brakes on sth to stop something that is happening[I]
to make a vehicle or bicycle go more slowly or stop by using its brake
brake sharply/hard (=brake quickly)
•He braked sharply to avoid the dog.[U]
liquid used in certain kinds of brakes so that the different parts move smoothly[C]
a light on the back of a vehicle that comes on when you use the brake[C]
one of the two curved parts that press against the wheel of a vehicle in order to make it go more slowly or stop [C]
a wild BLACKBERRY bush [U]
the crushed outer skin of wheat or a similar grain that is separated from the rest of the grain when making white flour $ [C]
1 OF A TREE a part of a tree that grows out from the TRUNK (=main stem) and that has leaves, fruit, or smaller branches growing from it; limb
•After the storm, the ground was littered with twigs and branches.
•The topmost branches were full of birds.
2 OF A BUSINESS/SHOP/COMPANY ETC a local business, shop etc that is part of a larger business etc:
•The bank has branches all over the country.
•a branch office in Boston
•She now works in our Denver branch.
•Where's their nearest branch?
•They're planning to open a branch in St. Louis next year.
•Have you met our branch manager, Mr. Carlson?
3 OF GOVERNMENT a part of a government or other organization that deals with one particular part of its work; department
•All branches of government are having to cut costs.
the executive/judicial/legislative branch (=the three main parts of the US government)
4 OF A SUBJECT one part of a large subject of study or knowledge; field
a branch of mathematics/physics/biology etc
5 OF A FAMILY a group of members of a family who all have the same ANCESTORs ; side
•the wealthy South American branch of the family
6 OF A RIVER/ROAD ETC a smaller less important part of a river, road, or railway that leads away from the larger more important part of it:
•The rail company may have to close the branch line to Uckfield.[I]
to divide into two or more smaller, narrower, or less important parts; fork
•Another road branched northward.
•When you reach the village green, the street branches into two.

PHRASAL VERBS
branch off phr v
1 if a road, passage, railway etc branches off from another road etc, it separates from it and goes in a different direction; = fork off
[+from]
•a passage branching off from the main tunnel
2 BrE to leave a main road; = fork off
[+from/into]
•We branched off from the main road and turned down a country lane.
3 to start talking about something different from what you were talking about before
[+into]
•Then the conversation branched off into a discussion about movies.

branch out phr v
to start doing something different from the work or activities that you normally do:
•Don't be afraid to branch out and try something new.
branch out into (doing) sth
•Profits were falling until the bookstore branched out into selling CDs. [C]
1 a type of product made by a particular company, that has a particular name or design; make
[+of]
•What brand of detergent do you use?
brand leader/leading brand (=the brand that sells the most)
•products which lack a strong brand image
brand loyalty (=the tendency to always buy a particular brand)
own brand BrE
store brand AmE (=a product made and sold by a particular store)
2 brand of humour/politics/religion etc a particular type of humour, religion, politics etc:
•a strange macabre brand of humour
3 a mark made or burned on a farm animal's skin that shows who it belongs to[T]
1 to describe someone or something as a very bad type of person or thing, often unfairly
brand sb (as) sth
•You can't brand all football supporters as hooligans.
•Stealing that money has branded Jim for life- no-one will trust him again.
2 to burn a mark onto something, especially a farm animal, in order to show who it belongs to
brand sth with sth
•Each cow was branded with the ranch's logo.
3 technical to give a name to a product or group of products so that they can be easily recognized by their name or design [only before noun]
a branded product is made by a well-known company and has the company's name on it [U]
a practice which involves a company giving a group of their products the same brand name, helping this name to become well-known[C]
a piece of metal that is heated and used for burning marks on cattle or sheep, to show who they belong to [T] written
to wave something around in a dangerous or threatening way, especially a weapon:
•A man leapt out brandishing a kitchen knife.[C]
the name given to a product by the company that makes it; = trade name
new and not yet used:
•a brand-new car
•His clothes looked brand-new. plural brandies [C,U]
a strong alcoholic drink made from wine, or a glass of this drink[U]
a mixture of butter, sugar, and brandy, usually eaten with CHRISTMAS PUDDING
1 behaving too confidently and speaking too loudly - used to show disapproval:
•Brash noisy journalists were crowding around the ambassador.
2 a brash building, place, or object attracts attention by being very colourful, large, exciting etc:
•The painting was bold, brash, and modern.
- brashly adverb
- brashness noun [U] $
1 METAL [U] a very hard bright yellow metal that is a mixture of COPPER and ZINC:
•an old brass bedstead
2 MUSIC
a) [U] musical instruments that are made of metal, such as the TRUMPET and the TROMBONE:
•brass instruments
PERCUSSION, STRINGED INSTRUMENT, WIND INSTRUMENT, WOODWIND
b) the brass (section) the people in an ORCHESTRA or band who play musical instruments that are made of metal
3 DECORATIONS [C usually plural] an object made of brass, usually with a design cut into it, or several brass objects
4 get down to brass tacks informal to start talking about the most important facts or details of something
5 PEOPLE WITH TOP JOBS the brass AmE informal people who hold the most important positions; = top brass BrE
6 it's brass monkeys/brass monkey weather BrE spoken informal used to say that it is very cold
7 MONEY [U] BrE old-fashioned informal money
as bold as brass at BOLD (2)[C]
a band consisting mostly of brass musical instruments such as TRUMPETs , horns etc $ BrE informal
annoyed; = fed up $ [C]
a cheap informal restaurant, usually serving French food $ [C] formal
a BRA[plural] AmE
a set of connected metal rings worn over a person's fingers, used as a weapon; = knuckleduster BrE $
1 a woman who is brassy is too loud, confident, or brightly dressed:
•a drunken brassy nightclub singer
2 sounding hard and loud like the sound made by a BRASS musical instrument
3 having a bright gold-yellow colour like BRASS [C] informal
1 a badly behaved child:
•a spoiled brat
2 Army/Navy/military etc brat AmE a child whose family moves often because one or both parents works for the army, navy etc
- bratty adjective $ [U]
behaviour that is deliberately intended to make other people believe you are brave and confident:
•youthful bravado comparative braver, superlative bravest
1
a) dealing with danger, pain, or difficult situations with courage and confidence; = courageous
•brave soldiers
•her brave fight against cancer
it is brave of sb (to do sth)
•It was brave of you to speak in front of all those people.
b) the brave [plural] brave people:
•Today we remember the brave who died in the last war.
2 very good:
•Despite their captain's brave performance, Arsenal lost 2-1.
brave effort/attempt
•the brave efforts of the medical staff to save his life
3 put on a brave face/front to pretend that you are happy when you are really very upset
4 brave new world a situation or a way of doing something that is new and exciting and meant to improve people's lives:
•the brave new world of digital television
- bravely adverb
•She smiled bravely.[T]
1 to deal with a difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant situation:
•I decided to take the train to work rather than brave the traffic.
brave the elements/weather etc (=go out in bad weather)
•More than 100 people braved the elements and attended the rally.
2 brave it out to deal bravely with something that is frightening or difficult
[C] a young fighting man from a Native American tribe [U]
actions, behaviour, or an attitude that shows courage and confidence; = courage
•an act of great bravery $
used to show your approval when someone, especially a performer, has done something very well:
•Bravo! Encore! $ [U]
great skill shown in the way you perform, write, paint etc, especially when you do something very difficult:
•a bravura performance $ [C]
a noisy quarrel or fight among a group of people, especially in a public place:
•a drunken brawl in the street[I]
to quarrel or fight in a noisy way, especially in a public place:
•Fans brawled outside the stadium.
- brawler noun [C] $ [U]
1 physical strength, especially when compared with intelligence:
•Mina has the brains, I have the brawn.
2 BrE meat from a pig's head that has been boiled and pressed in a container and is often served in thin flat pieces; = headcheese AmE $
very large and strong:
•His brawny arms glistened with sweat. [I]
1 if a DONKEY brays, it makes a loud sound
2 if someone brays, they laugh or talk in a loud, slightly annoying way
- bray noun [C]
1 used to describe a person or the actions of a person who is not embarrassed about behaving in a wrong or immoral way:
•At first I was scared, but as I went on, I became more brazen.
•her brazen admission that she was cheating on him
2 literary having a shiny yellow colour

PHRASAL VERBS
brazen sth out phr v
to deal with a situation that is difficult or embarrassing for you by appearing to be confident rather than ashamed:
•She knew she could either admit the truth or brazen it out.
doing something openly, without showing or feeling any shame:
•She smiled at him brazenly. $ [C]
a metal container that holds a fire and is used to keep people warm outsidealso brazil nut [C]
a type of curved nut that has a hard shell
relating to Brazil or its people[C]
someone from Brazil
1 [C,U] an action that breaks a law, rule, or agreement
[+of]
•This was a clear breach of the 1994 Trade Agreement.
•They sued the company for breach of contract.
•a breach of professional duty
be in breach of sth
•He was clearly in breach of the law.
2 [C] a serious disagreement between people, groups, or countries
[+with]
•Britain did not want to risk a breach with the US over sanctions.
[+between]
•What had caused the sudden breach between Henry and his son?
•She wanted to help heal the breach between them.
3 breach of confidence/trust an action in which someone does something that people have trusted them not to do:
•We regard the publication of this information as a serious breach of trust.
4 breach of security an action in which someone manages to learn secret information or manages to get into a place that is guarded:
•There had been a major breach of security at the air base.
5 breach of the peace BrE the crime of making too much noise or fighting in a public place:
•He was arrested and charged with breach of the peace.
6 [C] a hole made in a wall that is intended to protect a place
[+in]
•a breach in the castle wall
•a breach in the flood defence barrier
7 step into the breach to help by doing someone else's job or work when they are unable to do it; = step in
•Thanks for stepping into the breach last week.[T]
1 to break a law, rule, or agreement; = break
•The company accused him of breaching his contract.
•Traders who breach the rules could face a fine of up to £10,000.
2 to break a hole in a wall that is intended to protect a place:
•The storm had breached the sea wall in two places. [U]
1 a type of food made from flour and water that is mixed together and then baked:
•Would you like some bread with your soup?
•the smell of fresh bread
•a loaf of bread
•Could you cut me a slice of bread please?
•a piece of bread and butter
white/brown/rye etc bread
•a brown bread sandwich
2 your/sb's bread and butter informal the work that provides you with most of the money that you need in order to live:
•Writing is my bread and butter.
3 know which side your bread is buttered on informal to know which people to be nice to in order to get advantages for yourself
4 old-fashioned informal money[only before noun]
1 BrE bread-and-butter questions are very important basic ones:
•bread-and-butter political issues such as jobs and housing
2 bread-and-butter work is work that is not very exciting but provides you with most of the money that you need in order to live $
1 [C] a basket in which you keep or serve bread
2 [singular] the part of a country or area that provides most of its food:
•Zambia could be the breadbasket of Africa.[C]
BrE a container that you keep bread in so that it stays fresh; = bread box $ [C]
a wooden board on which you cut bread $ [C]
a BREAD BIN [plural]
very small pieces of bread that are left after cutting bread, or are used in cooking:
•Coat the fish with breadcrumbs and fry in a little oil.
covered in breadcrumbs before cooking:
•breaded plaice [C,U]
a large tropical fruit that looks like bread when it is cooked
the breadline a very low level of income which allows people to eat but not have any extra things:
•a family living on the breadline
1 [C,U] the distance from one side of something to the other; = width; broad, depth, length
[+of]
•the breadth of the river
5 metres/3 feet etc in breadth
•The boat measured fifteen feet in length and four feet in breadth.
2 [U] the quality of including a lot of different people, things, or ideas; broad, depth
[+of]
•The job wasn't giving him the breadth of experience he wanted.
•His breadth of knowledge was amazing.
•a politician known for his breadth of vision
•We need to provide more breadth in the college curriculum.
HAIR'S BREADTH; the length and breadth of at LENGTH (8) $ [C]
the member of a family who earns the money to support the others past tense broke $ , past participle broken $
1 SEPARATE INTO PIECES
a) [T] if you break something, you make it separate into two or more pieces, for example by hitting it, dropping it, or bending it:
•I had to break a window to get into the house.
•Don't lean on the fence like that - you'll break it!
break sth in half/two
•He broke the biscuit in half and handed one piece to me.
• Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it over a gentle heat.
b) [I] if something breaks, it separates into two or more pieces:
•He kept pulling at the rope until it broke.
•The frames are made of plastic and they tend to break quite easily.
2 BONES [T] to damage a bone in your body by making it crack or split:
•She fell downstairs and broke her hip.
3 MACHINES
a) [T] to damage a machine so that it does not work properly:
•Don't mess about with my camera - you'll break it.
•Someone's broken the TV.
b) [I] if a machine breaks, it stops working properly:
•The washing machine's broken again.
4 RULES/LAWS [T] to disobey a rule or law:
•They're breaking the law by employing such young children.
•If you break the rules you will be punished.
•The police are determined to catch motorists who break the speed limit.
5 PROMISE/AGREEMENT [T] to not do something that you have promised to do or signed an agreement to do:
•I never break my promises.
•You betrayed me. You broke your word.
break an agreement/contract
•He was worried that he might be breaking his contract.
6 STOP/REST [I] to stop for a short time in order to have a rest or eat something
[+for]
•Shall we break for lunch now?
7 END STH [T] to stop something from continuing:
•We need to break the cycle of poverty and crime in the inner cities.
•We took turns driving, in order to try and break the monotony.
•New talks will begin on Monday in an effort to break the deadlock.
8 DEFEAT SB [T] to make someone feel that they have been completely defeated and they cannot continue working or living:
•Losing his business nearly broke him.
•I won't give in. I won't be broken by him.
9 DESTROY AN ORGANIZATION [T] to damage an organization so badly that it no longer has any power:
•The government finally succeeded in breaking the unions.
10 DAY/DAWN [I] when the day or the DAWN breaks, the sky gets light:
•Dawn was breaking by the time we arrived home.
11 STORM [I] if a storm breaks, it begins:
•We were keen to get back to the hotel before the storm broke.
12 WEATHER [I] if the weather breaks, it suddenly changes and becomes cold or wet:
•The following day the weather broke and we had ten days of solid rain.
13 WAVES [I] when waves break, they fall onto the land at the edge of the water:
•We sat and watched the waves breaking on the shore
14 SB'S VOICE [I]
a) when a boy's voice breaks, it becomes lower and starts to sound like a man's voice:
•He was fifteen, and his voice was just beginning to break.
b) if your voice breaks, it does not sound smooth because you are feeling strong emotions:
•Her voice broke as she told us what had happened.
15 NEWS
a) [I] if news about an important event breaks, it becomes known:
•News of his resignation broke yesterday afternoon.
•The minister has refused to give any interviews since the scandal broke.
b) [T] if you break unpleasant news to someone, you tell it to them:
•I didn't know how I was going to break the news to my mother.
•The doctor finally broke it to me that there was no cure.
16 break a habit to stop doing something that you do regularly, especially something that you should not do:
•a new drug which helps smokers to break their habit
17 break a record to do something even faster or even better than the previous best time, amount etc:
•an attempt to break the 10,000 metres world record
18 break a journey BrE to stop somewhere for a short time during a long journey:
•We decided to break our journey in Oxford.
19 break sb's heart to make someone very unhappy by ending a relationship with them or doing something that upsets them a lot:
•He broke my heart when he left me.
•It would break her heart if she lost her children.
•It'll break your father's heart if you tell him you're giving up college.
20 break a strike to force workers to end a STRIKE:
•The government has threatened to bring in the army to break the 10 month old strike.
21 break a link/tie/connection to end a relationship with a person or organization:
•The US has now broken all diplomatic links with the regime.
•Sometimes it is necessary to break family ties in order to protect the child.
22 break the skin to cut the skin on your body:
•Their teeth are sharp enough the break the skin.
23 break the back of sth to finish the main or worst part of something:
•I think we've broken the back of the job now.
24 break the bank to cost a lot of money, or more money than you have:
•A new hard drive doesn't have to break the bank.
25 break sb's concentration to interrupt someone and stop them from being able to continue thinking or talking about something:
•The slightest sound would break his concentration.
26 break the silence to end a period of silence by talking or making a noise:
•The silence was broken by a loud scream.
27 break sb's spirit to destroy someone's feeling of determination:
•They could not break her spirit.
•The spirit of our soldiers will never be broken.
28 break sb's power to take away someone's position of power or control:
•At last the power of the church was finally broken.
29 break the ice informal to make people feel more friendly and willing to talk to each other:
•Sam's arrival broke the ice and people began to talk and laugh.
30 break a code to succeed in understanding something that is written in a secret way:
•Scientists worked day and night to break the code.
31 break wind to allow gas to escape from your bottom, making a noise and an unpleasant smell
32 break (sb's) serve to win a game in tennis when your opponent is starting the game by hitting the ball first:
•Hewitt broke serve twice in the second set.

PHRASAL VERBS
break away phr v
1 to leave a group or political party and form another group, usually because of a disagreement:
•More than 30 Labour MPs broke away to form a new left-wing party.
[+from]
•They broke away from the national union and set up their own local organization.
BREAKAWAY^2
2 to leave your home, family, or job and become independent
[+from]
•I felt the need to break away from home.
3 to move away from someone who is holding you:
•She started crying and tried to break away.
[+from]
•She broke away from him and ran to the door.
4 to move away from other people in a race or game:
•Radcliffe broke away 200 metres before the finish.
5 to become loose and no longer attached to something:
•Part of the plane's wing had broken away.

break down phr v
1 if a car or machine breaks down, it stops working:
•The car broke down just north of Paris.
•The printing machines are always breaking down.
BREAKDOWN
2 to fail or stop working in a successful way:
•Negotiations broke down after only two days.
•I left London when my marriage broke down.
BREAKDOWN
3 break sth <=> down if you break down a door, you hit it so hard that it breaks and falls to the ground:
•Police had to break down the door to get into the flat.
4 break sth <=> down to change or remove something that prevents people from working together and having a successful relationship with each other:
•Getting young people together will help to break down the barriers between them.
•It takes a long time to break down prejudices.
5 if a substance breaks down or something breaks it down, it changes as a result of a chemical process
break sth <=> down
•Food is broken down in the stomach.
•Bacteria are added to help break down the sewage.
6 to be unable to stop yourself crying, especially in public:
•He broke down and cried.
•She broke down in tears when she heard the news.
7 break sth <=> down to separate something into smaller parts so that it is easier to do or understand:
•He showed us the whole dance, then broke it down so that we could learn it more easily.
•The question can be broken down into two parts.
BREAKDOWN

break for sth phr v
to suddenly run towards something, especially in order to escape from someone:
•He broke for the door, but the guards got there before he did.

break in phr v
1 to enter a building by using force, in order to steal something:
•Thieves broke in and stole £10,000 worth of computer equipment.
BREAK-IN
2 to interrupt someone when they are speaking
[+on]
•I didn't want to break in on his telephone conversation.
[+with]
•Dad would occasionally break in with an amusing comment.
3 break sth <=> in to make new shoes or boots less stiff and more comfortable by wearing them:
•I went for a walk to break in my new boots.
4 break sb in to help a person get used to a certain way of behaving or working:
•She's quite new to the job so we're still breaking her in.
5 break sth <=> in to teach a young horse to carry people on its back:
•We break the horses in when they're about two years old.

break into sth phr v
1 to enter a building or car by using force, in order to steal something:
•Someone broke into my car and stole the radio.
•Her house was broken into last week.
2 to become involved in a new job or business activity:
•She made an attempt to break into journalism.
•It's a profession that is very hard to break into.
•Many British firms have failed in their attempts to break into the American market.
3 to start to spend money that you did not want to spend:
•I don't want to break into my savings unless I have to.
4 break into a run/trot etc to suddenly start running:
•He broke into a run as he came round the corner.
5 break into a smile/a song/applause etc to suddenly start smiling, singing etc:
•Her face broke into a smile.
•He suddenly broke into song.
•The audience broke into loud applause.

break sb of sth phr v
to make someone stop having a bad habit:
•Try to break yourself of the habit of eating between meals.

break off phr v
1 to suddenly stop talking:
•She started to speak, then broke off while a waitress served us coffee.
•He broke off in mid-sentence to shake hands with the new arrivals.
break sth <=> off
•I broke off the conversation and answered the phone.
2 break sth <=> off to end a relationship:
•She broke off their engagement only a few weeks before they were due to be married.
•The US has broken off diplomatic relations with the regime.
3 if something breaks off, or if you break it off, it comes loose and is no longer attached to something else:
•One of the car's wing mirrors had broken off.
break sth <=> off
•He broke off a piece of bread.

break out phr v
1 if something unpleasant such as a fire, fight, or war breaks out, it starts to happen:
•I was still living in London when the war broke out.
•Does everyone know what to do if a fire breaks out?
•Fighting broke out between demonstrators and the police.
OUTBREAK
2 to escape from a prison
[+of]
•Three men have broken out of a top security jail.
BREAKOUT
3 to change the way you live because you feel bored
[+of]
•She felt the need to break out of her daily routine.
4 break out in spots/a rash/a sweat etc if you break out in spots etc, they appear on your skin:
•I broke out in a painful rash.
•My whole body broke out in a sweat.

break through phr v
1 break through (sth) to manage to get past or through something that is in your way:
•Several demonstrators broke through the barriers despite warnings from the police.
•After hours of fierce fighting, rebels broke through and captured the capital.
2 break through (sth) if the sun breaks through, you can see it when you could not see it before because there were clouds:
•The sun broke through at around lunch time.
•The sun soon broke through the mist.
3 to manage to do something successfully when there is a difficulty that is preventing you:
•He's a very talented young actor who's just ready to break through.
[+into]
•It is possible that at this election some of the minority parties might succeed in breaking through into parliament.
BREAKTHROUGH

break up phr v
1 if something breaks up, or if you break it up, it breaks into a lot of small pieces:
•It seems that the plane just broke up in the air.
break sth <=> up
•Use a fork to break up the soil.
2 break sth <=> up to separate something into several smaller parts:
•There are plans to break the company up into several smaller independent companies.
•You need a few trees and bushes to break up the lawn.
3 break sth <=> up to stop a fight:
•Three policemen were needed to break up the fight.
4 break sth <=> up to make people leave a place where they have been meeting or protesting:
•Government soldiers broke up the demonstration.
•Police moved in to break up the meeting.
5 if a marriage, group of people, or relationship breaks up, the people in it separate and do not live or work together any more:
•He lost his job and his marriage broke up.
•The couple broke up last year.
•Many bands break up because of personality clashes between the musicians.
[+with]
•Has Sam really broken up with Lucy?
BREAKUP
6 if a meeting or party breaks up, people start to leave:
•The party didn't break up until after midnight.
•The meeting broke up without any agreement.
7 BrE when a school breaks up, it closes for a holiday:
•School breaks up next week.
[+for]
•When do you break up for Easter?
8 break sb up AmE informal to make someone laugh by saying or doing something funny:
•He really breaks me up!

break with sb/sth phr v
1 to leave a group of people or an organization, especially because you have had a disagreement with them:
•She had broken with her family years ago.
•They broke with the Communist Party and set up a new party.
2 break with tradition/the past to stop following old customs and do something in a completely different way:
•Now is the time to break with the past.
•His work broke with tradition in many ways.

WORD FOCUS: words meaning break
smash with a lot of force
shatter into many pieces
split into two pieces
snap into two pieces, with a sudden loud noise
tear paper/cloth
burst pipe/tyre/balloon
crumble break into a lot of small pieces
disintegrate break into a lot of small pieces and be destroyed
fracture if a bone fractures or you fracture it, it breaks slightly so that a small line appears on the surface

1 STOP WORKING [C] a period of time when you stop working in order to rest, eat etc

have/take a break
do sth without a break
lunch break
coffee/tea break
break time BrE (=the times during the school day when there are no lessons)

•We'll have a short break for lunch, then start again at 2 o'clock.
• Let's take a ten-minute break.
•We'd worked for ten hours without a break.
• I'll go shopping during my lunch break.
• You'll just have to stay in at break time and do it again.

2 STOP DOING STH [C] a period of time when you stop doing something before you start again
[+from]
•I wanted a break from university life.
•She decided to take a career break when she had children.
[+in]
•a welcome break in my normal routine
3 HOLIDAY [C] a short holiday:
•I was beginning to feel that I needed a break.
•We flew off for a week's break in Spain.
•They're offering weekend breaks in Paris for only a hundred pounds.
the Easter/Christmas etc break
•Are you looking forward to the summer break?
4 AT SCHOOL [U] the time during the school day when classes stop and teachers and students can rest, eat, play etc
at break
•I'll speak to you at break.
•They get together with their friends at break time.
5 ON TV [C] a pause for advertisements during a television or radio programme:
•Join us again after the break.
•We'll be back with more after a short break.
6 STH STOPS HAPPENING [C] a period of time when something stops happening before it starts again
[+in]
•We'll go for a walk if there's a break in the rain.
•Latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance.
•She waited for a break in the conversation.
•There was no sign of a break in the weather (=an improvement in bad weather).
7 END A RELATIONSHIP [singular] a time when you leave a person or group, or end a relationship with someone:
•I wanted a clean break so that I could restart my life.
•It was years before I plucked up enough courage to make the break and leave him.
[+with]
•He was beginning to regret his break with the Labour Party.
8 SPACE/HOLE [C] a space or hole in something
[+in]
•We crawled through a break in the hedge.
•The sun shone through a break in the clouds.
9 CHANCE [C] informal a sudden or unexpected chance to do something that allows you to become successful in your job:
•There are hundreds of young musicians out there looking for their first break.
•He got his first big break in 1998.
•a lucky break
10 BONES [C] the place where a bone in your body has broken:
•It's quite a bad break, which will take several months to heal.
11 TENNIS [C] a situation in a game of tennis in which you win a game when your opponent is starting the game by hitting the ball first:
•She really needs a break of serve now if she wants to win this match.
12 SNOOKER [C] the number of points that a player wins when it is their turn to hit the ball in a game such as SNOOKER
13 break with tradition/the past a time when people stop following old customs and do something in a completely different way:
•It is time for a complete break with the past.
14 make a break for sth to suddenly start running towards something in order to escape from a place:
•As soon as the guard's back was turned they made a break for the door.
•Two of the prisoners made a break for it but were soon recaptured.
15 give me/it a break! spoken used when you want someone to stop doing or saying something that is annoying you
16 give sb a break spoken to stop being strict with someone so that a situation becomes easier for them:
•Give the kid a break. It's only his second day on the job.
17 the break of day literary the time early in the morning when it starts getting light
made of a material such as glass or clay that breaks easily:
•Make sure you pack breakable ornaments carefully.
[C,U] something that someone breaks, especially when they must pay for it:
•All breakages must be paid for.
breakaway group/party/movement a breakaway group etc is formed by people who have left another group because of a disagreement:
•a breakaway group of journalists
•Hundreds of miners joined the breakaway union.
break away at BREAK^1[singular]
1 a time when some people leave a group or organization after a disagreement and start a new group or organization
[+from]
•He led a breakaway from the Communist Party.
2 a change from the usual or accepted way of doing something
[+from]
•His work marks a breakaway from traditional building styles. $ [U]
a type of dancing to popular music that involves a lot of jumping and rolling on the floor
1 [C,U] the failure of a relationship or system
[+of]
•He moved away after the breakdown of his marriage.
•A sudden rise in oil prices could lead to a breakdown of the economy.
[+in]
•There has been a serious breakdown in relations between the two countries.
marriage/marital/family breakdown
•Family breakdown can lead to behavioural problems in children.
2 [C] a serious medical condition in which someone becomes mentally ill and is unable to work or deal with ordinary situations in life:
•I was worried he might have a breakdown if he carried on working so hard.
•Two years ago he suffered a mental breakdown.
•She had already had one nervous breakdown.
3 [C] an occasion when a car or a piece of machinery breaks and stops working:
•Always carry a phone with you in case you have a breakdown on the motorway.
[+in]
•a breakdown in the cooling system
4 [C] a list of all the separate parts of something
[+of]
•Can you give us a breakdown of the figures?
•a breakdown of the costs
5 [singular] the changing of a substance into other substances:
•the breakdown of glucose in the body to release energy
break down at BREAK^1also breakdown lorry [C] BrE
a vehicle with special equipment that is used to pull a car that is broken and does not work to a place where it can be repaired; = tow truck AmE $ [C]
a large wave with a white top that rolls onto the shore
CIRCUIT BREAKERbreak-even [U]
the level of business activity at which a company is making neither a profit nor a loss
(the) breakeven point/level
•The firm should reach breakeven point after one year.
break even at EVEN^2 (11) [C,U]
the meal you have in the morning:
•We had bacon and eggs for breakfast.
•I never seem to have time to eat breakfast.
•After a hearty breakfast (=large breakfast) we set out for a hike.
•a light breakfast (=small breakfast)
•a working breakfast (=a breakfast at which you talk about business)
- breakfast verb [I]
BED AND BREAKFAST, CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST, ENGLISH BREAKFAST; wedding breakfast at WEDDING (1); make a dog's breakfast of sth at DOG^1 (8)[U] BrE
television programmes that are broadcast in the early part of the morning[C]
an act of entering a building illegally and by force, especially in order to steal things:
•Since the break-in we've had all our locks changed.
break in at BREAK^1[U] law
the crime of entering a building illegally and by force
at breakneck speed/pace extremely and often dangerously fast:
•He drove away at breakneck speed. [C]
an escape from a prison, especially one involving a lot of prisoners
break out at BREAK^1 [C]
an important new discovery in something you are studying, especially one made after trying for a long time
[+in]
•Scientists have made a major breakthrough in the treatment of cancer.
break through at BREAK^1 [C,U]
1 the act of ending a marriage or relationship:
•the breakup of her marriage
2 the separation of a group, organization, or country into smaller parts
[+of]
•the breakup of the Soviet Union
break up at BREAK^1 $ [C]
a wall built out into the sea to protect the shore from the force of the waves
1 [C]WOMAN'S BODY one of the two round raised parts on a woman's chest that produce milk when she has a baby:
•These bras are specially designed for women with large breasts.
• breast milk
• breast cancer
bare-breasted/small-breasted etc
2 CHEST [C] written the part of your body between your neck and your stomach:
•Dick cradled her photograph against his breast.
3 BIRD [C] the front part of a bird's body, below its neck:
•a robin with a red breast
red-breasted/white-breasted etc
•red-breasted geese
4 MEAT [U] meat that comes from the front part of the body of a bird such as a chicken:
•turkey breast
5 CLOTHES [C usually singular] the part of a jacket, shirt etc that covers the top part of your chest
DOUBLE-BREASTED, SINGLE-BREASTED
6 make a clean breast of it/things to admit that you have done something wrong
7 EMOTIONS [C] literary where your feelings of sadness, love, anger, fear etc come from:
•a troubled breast
beat your breast at BEAT^1 (31); CHIMNEY BREAST[T] formal
1 to reach the top of a hill or slope
2 to push against something with your chest $ [C]
a long flat bone in the front of your chest which is connected to the top seven pairs of RIBs ; = sternumpast tense and past participle breast-fed [I,T]
if a woman breastfeeds, she feeds her baby with milk from her breast rather than from a bottle; = nurse; suckle, bottle-feed [C]
a leather or metal protective covering worn over the chest by soldiers during battles in the past[C]
a pocket on the outside of a shirt or JACKET, above the breast $ [U]
a way of swimming in which you push your arms out and then bring them back in a circle towards you while bending your knees towards your body and then kicking out
1
a) [U] the air that you send out of your lungs when you breathe:
•Leo could smell the wine on her breath.
•Let your breath out slowly.
•He's got bad breath (=breath that smells unpleasant).
b) [U] air that you take into your lungs:
•Eric came running into the room, out of breath (=having difficulty breathing because he had just been running).
•She was fat and short of breath (=unable to breathe easily, especially because of ill health).
gasp/fight etc for breath (=breathe quickly because you are having difficulty breathing)
•When he reached the top of the stairs, his heart was pounding and he was gasping for breath.
c) [C] an amount of air that you take into your lungs
take a (deep/long/big etc) breath (=breathe in a lot of air at one time)
•Shaun took a deep breath and dived in.
!! Do not confuse the noun breath with the verb breathe She took a breath and continued. | I can't breathe in here!
2 a breath of fresh air
a) something that is new and different in a way you think is exciting and good:
•Osborne's play brought a breath of fresh air to the British theatre.
b) clean air outside, which you feel you need after being inside for a long time:
•I'm going outside for a breath of fresh air.
3 don't hold your breath informal used to say that something is not going to happen soon:
•The system's due for an update, but don't hold your breath.
4 catch your breath also get your breath back to start breathing normally again after running or making a lot of effort:
•Slow down, I need a minute to catch my breath.
5 don't waste your breath also save your breath spoken used to say that someone will not be able to persuade someone else, so there is no point in trying:
•Save your breath. She's already made up her mind.
•Will he listen to me or will I just be wasting my breath?
6 take sb's breath away to be extremely beautiful or exciting:
•The view from the top will take your breath away.
7 under your breath in a quiet voice so that no one can hear you:
•'Son of a bitch,' he muttered under his breath.
8 in the same breath
a) also in the next breath used to say that someone has said two things at once that are so different from each other they cannot both be true:
•He criticized the film, then predicted in the same breath that it would be a great success.
b) if you mention two people or things in the same breath, you show that you think they are alike or are related:
•I became nervous when the doctor mentioned my mother's name and 'cancer' in the same breath.
[+as/with]
•a young poet mentioned in the same breath as T.S. Eliot
9 with your last/dying breath at the moment when you are dying:
•With his last breath he cursed his captors.
10 [singular] written a very small amount or a sign of something
[+of]
•They did everything they could to avoid the slightest breath of scandal.
11 a breath of air/wind literary a slight movement of air:
•Scarcely a breath of air disturbed the stillness of the day.
with bated breath at BATED; draw breath at DRAW^1 (24)
hold your breath at HOLD^1 (17)
clothing that is breathable allows air to pass through it easilyalso -lyse BrE [T]
to make someone breathe into a special piece of equipment in order to see if they have drunk too much alcohol to be allowed to drivealso Breathalyser BrE $ [C] trademark
a piece of equipment used by the police to see if a driver of a car has drunk too much alcohol
1 AIR [I,T] to take air into your lungs and send it out again:
•The room filled with smoke, and it was becoming difficult to breathe.
•People are concerned about the quality of the air they breathe.
•Relax and breathe deeply (=take in a lot of air).
2 BLOW [I,T] to blow air or smoke out of your mouth
[+on]
•Roy breathed on his hands and rubbed them together vigorously.
breathe sth over sb
•The fat man opposite was breathing garlic all over me.
3 sb can breathe easy/easily used when saying that someone can relax because a worrying or dangerous situation has ended:
•With stocks going up, investors can breathe easily.
4 breathe a sigh of relief to stop being worried or frightened about something:
•Once the deadline passed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
5 be breathing down sb's neck informal to pay very close attention to what someone is doing in a way that makes them feel nervous or annoyed:
•How can I concentrate with you breathing down my neck all the time?
6 not breathe a word to not tell anyone anything at all about something, because it is a secret:
•Don't breathe a word; it's supposed to be a surprise.
7 breathe life into sth to change a situation so that people feel more excited or interested:
•Critics are hoping the young director can breathe new life into the French film industry.
8 SKIN [I] if your skin can breathe, air can reach it
9 CLOTHES/FABRIC [I] if cloth or clothing breathes, air can pass through it so that your body feels pleasantly cool and dry
10 WINE [I] if you let wine breathe, you open the bottle to let the air get to it before you drink it
11 SAY STH QUIETLY [T] written to say something very quietly, almost in a whisper:
•'Wait,' he breathed.
12 breathe your last (breath) literary to die
13 breathe fire to talk and behave in a very angry way
live and breathe sth at LIVE^1 (19)

PHRASAL VERBS
breathe in phr v
to take air into your lungs:
•The doctor made me breathe in while he listened to my chest.
breathe sth <=> in
•Wyatt breathed in the cool ocean air.

breathe out phr v
to send air out from your lungs:
•Jim breathed out deeply.
breathe sth <=> out
•Lauren lit up a cigarette, then breathed out a puff of smoke.

WORD FOCUS: breathe
to breathe in:
inhale formal
to breathe out:
exhale formal
to breathe noisily:
sniff
snorewhen sleeping
snort
sigh
to breathe with difficulty:
gasp
pant
wheeze
be short of breath
be out of breath
to be unable to breathe:
choke
suffocate
$
have/take a breather informal to stop what you are doing for a short time in order to rest, especially when you are exercising
HEAVY BREATHER [U]
the process of breathing air in and out:
•His breathing was deep and regular.
•When I picked up the phone all I heard was heavy breathing (=loud breathing).also breathing room [C,U]
1 a short time when you have a rest from doing something before starting again:
•This deal should give the company some extra breathing room before its loans are due.
2 enough room to move or breathe easily and comfortably in
1 having difficulty breathing, especially because you are very tired, excited, or frightened:
•The long climb left Jan feeling breathless.
[+with]
•They waited, breathless with anticipation.
2 written excited:
•His first novel drew breathless superlatives from critics.
3 at (a) breathless pace/speed extremely fast
4 literary unpleasantly hot, with no fresh air or wind:
•the breathless heat of a midsummer night in Rome
- breathlessly adverb
- breathlessness noun [U]
very impressive, exciting, or surprising:
•The view from my bedroom window was absolutely breathtaking.
•an act of breathtaking arrogance
- breathtakingly adverb[C] BrE
a test in which the police make a car driver breathe into a special bag to see if he or she has drunk too much alcohol; breathalyze
if someone's voice is breathy, you can hear their breath when they speak
the past tense and past participle of BREED [C]
the part of a gun into which you put the bulletsalso breech delivery [C]
a birth in which the lower part of a baby's body comes out of its mother first [plural]
short trousers that fasten just below the knees:
•riding breeches past tense and past participle bred
1 [I] if animals breed, they MATE in order to have babies:
•Eagles breed during the cooler months of the year.
2 [T] to keep animals or plants in order to produce babies or new plants, especially ones with particular qualities:
•These dogs were originally bred in Scotland to round up sheep.
CROSSBREED^1, PUREBRED, THOROUGHBRED
3 [T] to cause a particular feeling or condition:
•Poor living conditions breed violence and despair.
4 [T] if a place, situation, or thing breeds a particular type of person, it produces that type:
•Society's obsession with sex has bred a generation of unhappy children.
WELL-BRED; born and bred at BORN^2 (3)[C]
1 a type of animal that is kept as a pet or on a farm
[+of]
•Spaniels are my favourite breed of dog.
2 a particular kind of person or type of thing:
•Real cowboys are a dying breed (=not many exist anymore).
•Dodd was one of that rare breed (=there are not many of them) who could make the game of football look simple.
[+of]
• a new breed of international criminal $ [C]
someone who breeds animals or plants as a job:
•a dog breeder [U]
1 when animals produce babies:
•Open-sea fish lay several million eggs each breeding season.
2 the activity of keeping animals or plants in order to produce animals or plants that have particular qualities:
•the breeding of pedigree dogs
•Benson took great care in selecting breeding stock (=animals you keep to breed from).
3 the fact of coming from a family of high rank and having polite social behaviour:
•The young lieutenant had an air of wealth and good breeding.[C]
1 a place or situation where something bad or harmful develops
[+for]
•Overcrowded slums are breeding grounds for crime.
2 a place where animals go in order to breed [C]
1 a gentle wind:
•flowers waving in the breeze
2 be a breeze informal to be very easy:
•Don't think that learning Dutch will be a breeze.
shoot the breeze at SHOOT^1 (13)
1 [I always + adv/prep] to walk somewhere in a calm confident way
[+in/into/out etc]
•She just breezed into my office and said she wanted a job.
2 [T] to do very well in a test, a piece of written work etc, with very little effort:
•Don't bother studying for the English exam - you'll breeze it.

PHRASAL VERBS
breeze through sth phr v
to achieve something very easily:
•He breezed through the exam.[C] BrE
a light brick used in building, made of CEMENT and CINDERs ; = cinder block AmE
1 a breezy person is happy, confident, and relaxed:
•a breezy and relaxed air of confidence
2 if the weather is breezy, the wind blows quite strongly
- breezily adverb [plural] old use
used to address or talk about the members of an organization or group, especially a religious group [C] BrE
a musical note which continues for twice as long as a SEMIBREVE [U] formal
1 the quality of expressing something in very few words; brief
•Letters published in the newspaper are edited for brevity and clarity.
2 the quality of continuing for only a short time; brief
•the brevity of her visit
1 [T] to make beer:
•Every beer on the menu was brewed locally.
2 [I] if a drink of tea or coffee is brewing, the taste is getting into the hot water:
•He read the paper while the tea brewed.
3 [T] to make a drink of tea or coffee:
•freshly brewed coffee
4 be brewing
a) if something unpleasant is brewing, it will happen soon:
•There's trouble brewing in the office.
b) if a storm is brewing, it will happen soon

PHRASAL VERBS
brew up phr v BrE informal
to make a drink of tea
1 [C] especially BrE a drink that is brewed, especially tea
2 [C,U] AmE beer, or a can or glass of beer:
•a cold brew in a frosty glass
•We grabbed a six-pack of brew and headed for the porch.
3 [C usually singular] a combination of different things
[+of]
•The band played a strange brew of rock, jazz, and country music.
HOME BREW $ [C]
a person or company that makes beer plural breweries [C]
a place where beer is made, or a company that makes beerbrier $
1 [C,U] a wild bush with branches that have small sharp points
2 [C] a tobacco pipe made from briar [T]
1 to illegally give someone, especially a public official, money or a gift in order to persuade them to do something for you:
•The only way we could get into the country was by bribing the border officials.
bribe sb to do sth
•He bribed one of the prison guards to smuggle out a note.
2 to offer someone, especially a child, something special in order to persuade them to do something
bribe sb with sth
•Samantha wouldn't do her homework until I bribed her with ice cream.[C]
1 money or a gift that you illegally give someone to persuade them to do something for you:
•The officials said that they had been offered bribes before an important game.
accept/take a bribe
•A Supreme Court judge was charged with taking bribes.
2 something special offered to someone, especially a child, in order to persuade them to do something [U]
the act of giving bribes:
•We tried everything - persuasion, bribery, threats.
•He was found guilty of bribery and corruption (=bribery and dishonest behaviour). [U] BrE
small objects that are not worth very much money but are interesting or attractive
1 [C,U] a hard block of baked clay used for building walls, houses etc:
•a brick wall
•a house made of brick
•Protesters attacked the police with stones and bricks.
2 bricks and mortar houses - used especially when talking about them as an INVESTMENT
3 [C] BrE a small square block of wood, plastic etc used as a toy
4 [C] old-fashioned a good person who you can depend on when you are in trouble
be (like) banging/bashing etc your head against a brick wall at HEAD^1 (31); drop a brick at DROP^1 (27)

PHRASAL VERBS
brick sth <=> off phr v
to separate an area from a larger area by building a wall of bricks:
•Some of the rooms had been bricked off.

brick sth <=> up/in phr v
to fill or close a space by building a wall of bricks in it:
•The windows were bricked up. [C] written
a criticism of something:
•The plan has drawn both brickbats and praise.also brickie informal BrE $ [C]
someone whose job is to build walls, buildings etc with bricks
- bricklaying noun [U][U]
a brownish red colour
- brick red adjective $ [U]
1 the bricks that have been used to build something:
•The brickwork was cracked and in need of repair.
2 the work of building something with bricks [only before noun]
relating to a wedding or a woman who is getting married:
•a bridal gown[C]
the group of people who arrive at the church with the bride[C]
a special set of rooms in a hotel for two people who have just got married [C]
a woman at the time she gets married or just after she is married; groom
•You may kiss the bride.also groom [C]
a man at the time he gets married, or just after he is married [C]
a girl or woman, usually unmarried, who helps a bride on her wedding day and is with her at the wedding
BEST MANplural brides-to-be [C]
a woman who is going to be married soon:
•Jonathan's bride-to-be
1 OVER A RIVER/ROAD ETC [C] a structure built over a river, road etc that allows people or vehicles to cross from one side to the other
2 CONNECTION [C] something that provides a connection between two things; = link
[+between/to]
•The training programme is seen as a bridge between school and work.
•a scheme to build bridges (=make a better relationship) between the police and the community
3 SHIP [C usually singular] the raised part of a ship from which the officers control it
4 CARD GAME [U] a card game for four players who play in pairs
5 the bridge of your nose the upper part of your nose between your eyes
6 PAIR OF GLASSES [C usually singular] the part of a pair of glasses that rests on your nose
7 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT [C usually singular] a small piece of wood under the strings of a VIOLIN or GUITAR, used to keep them in position
8 FOR TEETH [C] a small piece of metal that keeps false teeth in place by attaching them to your real teeth
burn your bridges at BURN^1 (18); cross that bridge when you come to it at CROSS^1 (10); be (all) water under the bridge at WATER^1 (6)[T]
1 to reduce or get rid of the difference between two things:
•The differences between our two cultures can be bridged if we continue to communicate.
•Alvin managed to bridge the gap between ballet and modern dance.
2 written to build or form a bridge over something:
•a fallen tree bridging the stream [C]
a strong position far forward in enemy land from which an army can go forward or attackbridge loan AmE [C] BrE
an amount of money that a bank lends you for a short period of time until you receive money from somewhere else [C]
a set of leather bands put around a horse's head and used to control its movements
1 [I] written to become angry and offended about something
[+at]
•The senator bridled at the reporter's question.
2 [T] to put a bridle on a horsealso bridleway [C]
a path that you ride a horse on [U]
a soft French cheese
1 continuing for a short time:
•We stopped by Alice's house for a brief visit.
•Let's keep this conversation brief; I have a plane to catch.
a brief period/moment/spell etc
•Greene spent a brief time at Cambridge.
2 using very few words or including few details:
•The President read a brief statement to reporters before boarding his plane.
•a brief description of the film
3 be brief to say or write something using only a few words, especially because there is little time:
•I'll be brief; a lot of changes are going to happen.
4 clothes which are brief are short and cover only a small area of your body:
•a very brief bikini[C]
1 [usually singular] official instructions that explain what someone's job is, what their duties are etc:
•The architect's brief is to design an extension that is modern but blends with the rest of the building.
2 law a short spoken or written statement giving facts about a law case:
•The ACLU filed a brief (=gave one to the court) opposing the decision.
3 BrE law a law case that a lawyer will argue in a court
4 a short report about something
5 in brief
a) in as few words as possible:
•We should, in brief, invest heavily in digital systems.
b) without any details:
•Here again are today's headlines in brief.
6 briefs [plural] men's or women's underwear worn on the lower part of the body[T]
to give someone all the information about a situation that they will need
brief sb on sth
•The president has been fully briefed on the current situation in Haiti.
DEBRIEF [C]
a flat case used especially by business people for carrying papers or documents [C,U]
information or instructions that you get before you have to do something
1 for a short time:
•We stopped off briefly in London on our way to Geneva.
2 in as few words as possible:
•Sonia explained briefly what we had to do. [sentence adverb]
•Briefly, I think we should accept their offer. $ [C]
a BRIAR [C]
1 a ship with two MASTs (=poles) and large square sails
2 AmE a military prison, especially on a ship [C]
1 a large group of soldiers forming part of an army
2 an insulting word for a group of people who have the same beliefs:
•the anti-nuclear brigade
3 a group of people who are organized to do something:
•Snowmobile brigades delivered food and medicine.
FIRE BRIGADE $ [C]
a high military rank in the British Army, or the person who has this rank[C]
a high army rank or someone holding this rank [C] literary
a thief, especially one of a group that attacks people in mountains or forests comparative brighter, superlative brightest
1 LIGHT shining strongly, or with plenty of light:
•Her eyes were hurting from the bright lights.
•The buildings looked lovely in the bright sunshine.
•a large bright room
2 SUNNY if the weather is bright, the sun is shining and there is a lot of light; dull
•The weather was bright and sunny.
•a bright autumn day
3 INTELLIGENT intelligent and able to learn things quickly:
•He was an exceptionally bright child.
•a bright ambitious young man
•He is constantly coming up with bright ideas for making money.
4 COLOURS bright colours are strong and easy to see:
•a bright red jumper
•I never wear bright colours.
5 CHEERFUL happy and full of energy:
•Her voice was bright and cheerful.
•She gave him a bright smile.
•He looked up at me with bright eyes.
6 SUCCESSFUL if the future looks bright, you think that something will be successful; = promising
•The school's future now looks very bright.
•I'm sure the company has a bright future now.
7 as bright as a button very intelligent and full of energy
8 look on the bright side to see the good points in a situation that seems to be bad:
•Come on, try to look on the bright side.
9 bright and early very early in the morning:
•He was up bright and early, keen to get started.
10 bright spark informal someone who says or does something that they think is intelligent but is really wrong or stupid:
•Some bright spark thought the building was on fire and called the fire brigade.
11 bright and breezy happy and confident
12 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed happy and full of energy
13 the bright lights the interesting exciting life in a big city:
•She missed the bright lights of London.
14 bright spot an event or a period of time that is more pleasant when everything else is unpleasant:
•The only bright spot of the weekend was our trip to the theatre.
- brightly adverb
•The sun shone brightly.
•brightly-coloured clothes
•She smiled brightly.
- brightness noun [U]
1 MAKE LIGHTER [T] also brighten sth <=> up to make something lighter or brighter:
•Use blonde highlights to brighten your hair.
•The morning sunshine brightened up the room.
2 MAKE MORE ATTRACTIVE [T] also brighten sth <=> up to make something more colourful or attractive:
•She bought some flowers to brighten the room.
•I want to brighten the place up a bit.
3 MAKE MORE ENJOYABLE [T] also brighten sth <=> up to make something more enjoyable, exciting or interesting:
•His letter brightened my day.
•I felt I needed something to brighten up my life.
4 BECOME LIGHTER/BRIGHTER [I] to shine more strongly, or become brighter in colour:
•The stage lights brightened to reveal a street scene.
5 BECOME SUNNY [I] also brighten up if the weather brightens, the sun begins to shine and it becomes lighter:
•The sky brightened after lunch.
•Let's hope the weather brightens up later.
•It brightened up a bit in the afternoon.
6 BECOME HAPPY [I] also brighten up to become happier or more excited:
•His eyes brightened when we started talking about money.
•She brightened up a bit when she saw us. [plural] AmE
car HEADLIGHTs when they are shining as brightly as possible:
•driving with brights on BrE informal
very good:
•It sounds really brill! [U]
1 a very high level of intelligence or skill:
•He is also respected for his brilliance as an artist.
2 very great brightness:
•The stars glittered with the brilliance of jewels.
1 BRIGHT brilliant light or colour is very bright and strong:
•She closed her eyes against the brilliant light.
•We sat outside in the brilliant sunshine.
•She was dressed in brilliant white.
2 CLEVER extremely clever or skilful:
•I think that's a brilliant idea.
•a brilliant performance
•a brilliant young musician
3 EXCELLENT BrE excellent:
•The film was absolutely brilliant.
4 SUCCESSFUL very successful:
•He had a long and brilliant career.
•The project was a brilliant success.
- brilliantly adverb
•The sun was shining brilliantly.
•The goalkeeper played brilliantly. [U]
an oily substance that was used in the past on men's hair $ [C]
trademark a ball of wire filled with soap, which is used for cleaning pans [C]
1 the bottom part of a hat that sticks out to protect you from sun and rain:
•an old straw hat with a broad brim
2 the top edge of a container:
•She filled each glass to the brim.
filled/full to the brim (=completely full)
•The cup was filled to the brim with coffee.past tense and past participle brimmed, present participle brimming [I]
1 if your eyes brim with tears, or if tears brim from your eyes, you start to cry
[+with]
•Her eyes brimmed with tears.
•Her tears brimmed over again as she started to speak.
2 be brimming (over) with sth to have a lot of a particular thing, quality, or emotion:
•The flowerbeds were brimming over with flowers
•He seemed to be brimming with confidence.
•Rob was just brimming with enthusiasm. [not before noun]
very full of something
[+of]
•The team is brimful of confidence after their win last week.
•a glass brimful of red winealso brindle
a brindled animal is brown and has marks or bands of another colour
- brindle noun [C,U] [U]
1 water which contains a lot of salt and is used for preserving food:
•fish pickled in brine
2 sea water past tense and past participle brought $ [T]
1
a) to take something or someone with you to the place where you are now, or to the place you are talking about; take
•Did you bring an umbrella?
•It was the first time Joey had ever brought a girl home.
•They brought news of further fighting along the border.
bring sth/sb to sth/sb
•Is it OK if I bring some friends to the party?
bring sb/sth with you
•For some reason, Jesse had brought a tape recorder with him.
b) to get something for someone and take it to them
bring sb sth
•Can you bring me another beer?
•Robert asked the waiter to bring him the check.
•While she was in prison, friends used to bring her books and writing materials.
bring sth/sb to sth/sb
•He expects me to bring everything to him in bed.
2
a) to make a particular situation exist or cause a particular feeling:
•efforts to bring peace to the region
•The strikes are expected to bring chaos.
•The senator's speech brought an angry response from Civil Rights groups.
b) to cause someone or something to reach a particular state or condition
bring sth to an end/a close/a halt/a conclusion (=make something stop)
•The trial was swiftly brought to an end.
•It was the war that first brought him to power (=make someone have power over a country).
•So far the US has been unable to bring him to justice (=make him be punished for his actions).
• Bring the sauce to the boil (=heat it until it boils).
•The country had been brought to its knees (=caused to be in such a bad condition that it is almost impossible to continue).
3 [always + adv/prep] to make something move in a particular direction
bring sth up/down/round etc
•Bring your arm up slowly until it's level with your shoulder.
•He lifted the axe above his head, then brought it down with a thud on the tree trunk.
•The storm brought the old oak tree crashing down.
4 [always + adv/prep] if something brings people to a place, it makes them go there:
•The discovery of gold brought thousands of people to the Transvaal.
what brings you here? (=used to ask why someone is in a particular place)
•What brings you here on a night like this?
5 to make something available for people to use, have, enjoy etc:
•The expansion of state education brought new and wider opportunities for working class children.
bring sth to sb/sth
•The government is launching a new initiative to bring jobs to deprived areas.
bring sb sth
•It's a good sign - let's hope it will bring us some luck.
6 if a period of time brings a particular event or situation, the event or situation happens during that time:
•The 1930s brought unemployment and economic recession.
•Who knows what the future will bring?
7 bring charges/a lawsuit/a court case/a prosecution/a claim (against sb) to begin a court case in order to try to prove that someone has done something wrong or is legally responsible for something wrong:
•Survivors of the fire later brought a billion dollar lawsuit against the company.
•The police say they are planning to bring charges against him.
8 bring a smile to sb's lips/face to make someone smile:
•Her words brought a sudden smile to his lips.
9 bring tears to sb's eyes to make someone start to cry:
•The pain brought tears to his eyes.
10 bring the total/number/score etc to sth used when saying what the new total etc is:
•This brings the total to 46.
11 cannot/could not bring yourself to do sth to feel unable to do something because it would upset you or someone else too much:
•She still can't bring herself to talk about it.
12 spoken used when saying that something is the next thing that you want to talk about
that/this/which brings me to ...
•This brings me to the main point of today's meeting.
13 if a programme is brought to you by a particular television or radio company, they broadcast it or make it
sth is brought to you by sb
•This programme is brought to you by the BBC.
14 bring sth to bear (on/upon sth) formal to use something, for example your power, authority, or your knowledge, in a way that will have a big effect on something or someone:
•The full force of the law was brought to bear on anyone who criticized the government.
15 bring home the bacon informal to earn the money that your family needs to live

PHRASAL VERBS
bring sth <=> about phr v
to make something happen; = cause
•How can we bring about a change in attitudes?
•A huge amount of environmental damage has been brought about by the destruction of the rainforests.

bring sb/sth <=> along phr v
to take someone or something with you when you go somewhere:
•You're welcome to bring along a friend.
•I've brought some pictures along to show you.

bring sb/sth around/round phr v
1 bring the conversation around/round to sth to deliberately and gradually introduce a new subject into a conversation:
•I'll try to bring the conversation around to the subject of money.
2 to make someone become conscious again:
•I slapped his face a couple of times to try to bring him round.
3 to manage to persuade someone to do something or to agree with you:
•She won't listen to me. Let's see if Sue can bring her round.
[+to]
•I'm sure I can bring him around to our point of view.
4 to bring someone or something to someone's house:
•I'll bring the books around tomorrow.

bring back phr v
1 bring sth <=> back to start to use something again that was used in the past; = reintroduce
•The city council has decided to bring back the old electric trams.
•Bringing back the death penalty has done absolutely nothing to reduce crime.
2 bring sth <=> back to make you remember something:
•The trip brought back a lot of happy memories.
•Seeing those pictures on TV brought it all back to me.
3 bring sth <=> back to take something or someone with you when you come back from somewhere
bring sth back for sb
•Don't forget to bring something back for the kids.
bring sb back sth
•If you're going to the store, could you bring me back a six-pack?
4 bring sb <=> back to return someone to their previous job or position of authority; = reinstate
•Following their latest defeat, soccer fans are urging the club to bring back the former manager.
5 bring sb back to sth if something that is said brings you back to a particular subject, it is connected with that subject, so you will start talking about it again:
•This brings us back to the question of funding.

bring sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to reduce something to a lower level:
•The government hopes these measures will help to bring down inflation.
2 to fly a plane down to the ground; = land
•The pilot managed to bring the plane down safely.
3 to make a plane, bird, or animal fall to the ground by shooting at it:
•A bomber had been brought down by anti-aircraft fire.
4 to force a government or ruler to stop ruling a country:
•a crisis that could bring down the government
5 to make someone fall over:
•He was brought down by the goalkeeper and awarded a penalty.

bring sth <=> down on/upon sb phr v
to make something bad happen to someone, especially to yourself or to people connected with you:
•His recklessness brought down disaster on the whole family.

bring sth <=> forth phr v literary
to produce something or make it appear:
•a tragic love affair that brought forth only pain

bring sth <=> forward phr v
1 to change an arrangement so that something happens sooner
[+to]
•The meeting's been brought forward to Thursday.
2 bring forward legislation/plans/policies etc to officially introduce plans etc for people to discuss:
•The government has brought forward new proposals to tackle the problem of increasing crime.
3 to record the result of a calculation so that it can be used in a further calculation:
•The balance brought forward is £21,765.

bring sb/sth <=> in phr v
1 to introduce a new law:
•Harsh anti-Trade Union laws were brought in in the early 1980s.
2 to ask someone to become involved in a discussion or situation:
•I'd like to bring in Doctor Hall here and ask him his views.
bring sb in to do sth
•The police were brought in to investigate the matter.
3 to earn a particular amount or produce a particular amount of profit:
•The sale of the house only brought in about £45,000.
4 to attract customers to a shop or business:
•We've got to bring in more business if we want the restaurant to survive.
5 bring in a verdict to say officially in a law court whether someone is guilty or not guilty of a crime; = return a verdict
•The jury brought in a verdict of not guilty.

bring sb/sth into sth phr v
1 to cause someone or something to be in a particular situation:
•Most of the land has now been brought into cultivation.
•The work brought me into contact with a lot of very interesting people.
2 to make someone become involved in a discussion or situation:
•The government is trying to bring teachers into the debate on education.
•There is a danger that this could bring other countries into the war.

bring sth <=> off phr v
to succeed in doing something difficult; = pull off
•They managed to bring off the most daring jewellery robbery in history.

bring sth <=> on phr v
1 to make something bad or unpleasant happen; = cause
•Stress can bring on an asthma attack.
•What's brought this on? Have I upset you somehow?
2 to help someone to improve or make progress:
•Teachers have to bring on the bright children and at the same time give extra help to those who need it.
3 to make plants or crops grow faster:
•Keeping the young plants in a greenhouse will help bring them on.

bring sth on/upon sb phr v
to make something unpleasant happen to someone:
•You have brought disaster on the whole village!
bring sth on/upon yourself
•I've got no sympathy for him - he's brought this all on himself!

bring sb onto sth phr v
if something brings you onto a particular subject, it is a good time for you to start talking about it:
•This brings me onto the question of pay rises.

bring sth <=> out phr v
1 to make something easier to see, taste, notice etc:
•The spices really bring out the flavour of the meat.
•Fatherhood seems to have brought out the caring side of him.
2 to produce something that will be sold to the public:
•He's bringing out a new album next month.
•They've brought out a new perfume called 'Desire'.
3 to take something out of a place:
•Jenny opened the cupboard and brought out a couple of bottles.
4 bring out the best/worst in sb to make someone behave in the best or worst way that they can:
•Alcohol just brings out the worst in her.
5 bring sb out of himself/herself to make someone feel more confident and able to talk to people:
•Changing schools has really brought her out of herself.

bring sb out in sth phr v
if something brings you out in spots, it makes them appear on your skin:
•Any foods containing wheat bring him out in a rash.

bring sb/sth round
BRING AROUND

bring sb through (sth) phr v
to help someone to successfully deal with a very difficult event or period of time:
•Both my children have brought me through extremely difficult times since my husband died.

bring sb <=> together phr v
1 to arrange for people to meet and do something together:
•We brought together researchers from three different universities to work on the project.
2 to make people have a better relationship or feel closer to each other:
•Any attack by a foreign power will inevitably bring the people of a country together.

bring sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to mention a subject or start to talk about it; = raise
•Why did you have to bring up the subject of money?
2 to look after and influence a child until he or she is grown up; = raise
•He was brought up by his grandparents.
bring sb up to do sth
•In my day, children were brought up to respect the law.
be brought up (as) a Catholic/Muslim etc
•I was brought up a Catholic.
UPBRINGING
3 to make something appear on a computer screen:
•Can you bring up the list of candidates again?
4 BrE if you bring food up, it comes back up from your stomach and out of your mouth:
•I had a sandwich for lunch and promptly brought it up again.
5 to charge someone with a particular crime and make them go to a court to be judged
[+before]
•He was brought up before a magistrate, charged with dangerous driving.
6 bring sb up short/with a start to surprise someone and make them suddenly stop talking or doing something:
•Her question brought me up short.

WORD CHOICE: bring, take, get, fetch
bring means to carry something or come with someone to the place where you are or to the place where you are talking about: Would you like me to bring anything to the party? | She brought her Spanish friend into class.
take means to carry something or go with someone to another place, away from where you are or where you are talking about: Don't forget to take your umbrella. | I'll take you home.
get means to go to another place and come back with something or someone: I went upstairs to get my jacket.
In British English, you can also use fetch: Will you fetch Susan from the airport?
In American English, you only use fetch to talk about a dog getting something.

1 the brink (of sth) a situation when you are almost in a new situation, usually a bad one
on the brink of death/disaster/war etc
•In October 1962 the world seemed on the brink of nuclear war.
•The company had huge debts and was on the brink of collapse.
to the brink (of sth)
•managers who have taken their companies to the brink of disaster
back from the brink (of sth)
•He will go down in history as the leader who pulled us back from the brink (=saved us from disaster).
2 push/tip sb over the brink to make someone start doing crazy or extreme things
3 the brink of sth literary the edge of a very high place such as a cliffalso brinksmanship AmE [U]
a method of gaining political advantage by pretending that you are willing to do something very dangerous
briny water is water that contains a lot of salt
the briny old-fashioned the sea $ [U] literary
energy and confidence $ [C,U]
a type of sweet bread made with flour, eggs, and butter [C]
a block of pressed coal dust, to burn in a fire or BARBECUE
1 quick and full of energy:
•a brisk walk
•They set off at a brisk pace.
2 quick, practical and showing that you want to get things done quickly:
•Her tone of voice is brisk.
3 trade or business that is brisk is very busy, with a lot of products being sold:
•The public bar was already doing a brisk trade.
4 weather that is brisk is cold and clear
- briskly adverb
•They walked briskly.
- briskness noun [U] [U]
meat from the chest of an animal, especially a cow
1 [C,U] a short stiff hair that feels rough:
•His chin was covered with bristles.
2 [C] a short stiff hair, wire etc that forms part of a brush[I]
1 to behave in a way that shows you are very angry or annoyed
bristle with rage/indignation etc
•John pushed back his chair, bristling with rage.
[+at]
•He bristled at her rudeness.
2 if an animal's hair bristles, it stands up stiffly because the animal is afraid or angry

PHRASAL VERBS
bristle with sth phr v
to have a lot of something or be full of something:
•a battleship bristling with guns
1 bristly hair is short and stiff
2 a bristly part of your body has short stiff hairs on it:
•a bristly chin [C]
informal someone from Britain [plural] old-fashioned
trousers
relating to Britain or its people:
•the British government
•a British-born scientist
- Britishness noun [U]
the British [plural] people from Britain $ [C] AmE old-fashioned
someone from Britain
the group of islands that includes Great Britain, Ireland, and the smaller islands around them[U]
BST the time one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time that is used in Britain from late March to late October; daylight saving time [C]
formal someone from Britain:
•the ancient Britons
•the first Briton to win the championship for twenty years
1 hard but easily broken:
•The branches were dry and brittle.
•Joanna was diagnosed as having brittle bones.
2 a situation, relationship, or feeling that is brittle is easily damaged or destroyed:
•He spoke with the brittle confidence of someone who, underneath, was very worried.
3 showing no warm feelings:
•a brittle laugh $ plural bros [C] spoken
1 your brother
2 AmE a way of greeting a friend $ [T]
1 broach the subject/question/matter etc to mention a subject that may be embarrassing or unpleasant or cause an argument:
•I broached the subject of his past.
2 to open a bottle or BARREL containing wine, beer etc $ [C]
a type of road in Britain that is smaller than an A-ROAD $
1 WIDE a road, river, or part of someone's body etc that is broad is wide; narrow ; breadth
•We went along a broad passage.
•He was six feet tall, with broad shoulders.
six feet/three metres etc broad
•The room is three metres long and two metres broad.
see box at WIDE^1
2 INCLUDING A LOT including many different kinds of things or people; narrow ; breadth
•The show aims to reach the broadest possible audience.
broad range/spectrum
•Students here study a broad range of subjects.
broad category/field/area etc
•Private pension schemes fall into two broad categories.
•a party which lacks a broad base of political support
•The play is a comedy, in the broadest sense of the word.
3 GENERAL concerning the main ideas or parts of something rather than all the details:
•The client should understand, in broad terms, the likely cost of the case.
broad consensus/agreement etc
•The members were in broad agreement.
broad outline/framework
•I'll give you a broad outline of the plan.
4 LARGE AREA covering a large area:
•a broad expanse of water
5 WAY OF SPEAKING a broad ACCENT clearly shows where you come from; = strong
•a broad Scottish accent
6 broad smile/grin a big smile:
•Abby came in with a broad smile on her face.
7 in broad daylight if something, especially a crime, happens in broad daylight, it happens in the daytime and in public:
•The attack happened in broad daylight, in one of the busiest parts of town.
8 broad hint a HINT (=suggestion) that is very clear and easy to understand:
•In June he gave a broad hint that he might retire.
9 a broad church BrE an organization that contains a wide range of opinions:
•The Labour Party has to be a broad church.
10 HUMOUR broad humour is rather rude or concerned with sex
11 broad in the beam informal having large or fat HIPs [C] AmE spoken not polite
an offensive word for a woman $ [U]
1 technical a system of sending radio signals which allows several messages to be sent at the same time
2 a system of connecting computers to the Internet and moving information, such as messages or pictures, at a very high speed
- broadband adjective [only before noun]
•broadband communications $ [C]
BrE a round pale green bean $ [only before noun]
dealing only with the main parts of something, and not with the details; = general
•a broadbrush strategy $ [C]
a programme on the radio or on television:
•a news broadcast
•CNN's live broadcast of the trial (=sent out at the same time as the events are happening)past tense and past participle broadcast
1 [I,T] to send out radio or television programmes:
•The interview was broadcast live across Europe.
2 [T] to tell something to a lot of people:
•There was no need to broadcast the fact that he lost his job. $ [C]
1 someone who speaks on radio or television programmes:
•a well-known journalist and broadcaster
2 a company which sends out television or radio programmes:
•the British broadcaster Channel Four $ [U]
the business of making television and radio programmes:
•a career in broadcasting $
1 [T] to increase something such as your knowledge, experience, or range of activities:
•The course helps school-leavers broaden their knowledge of the world of work.
•I'd like to work abroad to broaden my horizons (=learn, experience, or attempt new things).
•Travel broadens the mind (=helps you to understand and accept other people's beliefs, customs etc).
2 [I,T] to affect or include more people or things, or to make something affect or include more people or things; = widen, expand
•Mr Mates said the party must broaden its appeal to younger voters.
•Flynn's appeal broadened as the campaign continued into the summer months.
•I want to broaden the discussion to other aspects of the problem.
3 [I,T] to make something wider or to become wider; = widen
•Mark's smile broadened.
•The council decided to broaden the pavement.

PHRASAL VERBS
broaden out phr v
if something, especially a river or road, broadens out, it becomes wider; = widen out
•The river broadens out at this point.AmE
the broad jump the LONG JUMP $ [U]
CARPET that is woven in a single wide piece $
1 in a general way, relating to the main facts rather than details:
•She knows broadly what to expect.
broadly similar/comparable/equivalent etc
•We reached broadly similar conclusions.
• Broadly speaking, there are four types of champagne.
•Independent films are, broadly defined, movies that appeal to sophisticated audiences.
2 smile/grin broadly to have a big smile on your face which clearly shows that you are happy or amused
3 including a range of different things or subjects:
•a broadly based school curriculum
•We invest broadly to lessen the risk.broad-minded $
willing to respect opinions or behaviour that are very different from your own; narrow-minded
•Her parents were broadminded, tolerant, and liberal.
- broad-mindedness noun [U]
SMALL-MINDED $ [C]
a newspaper printed on large sheets of paper, especially a serious newspaper; tabloid $ [C]
1 a strong criticism of someone or something:
•Can the government survive this latest broadside from its own supporters?
2 an attack in which all the guns on one side of a ship are fired at the same time
with the longest side facing something; = sideways
[+to]
•I brought the boat in broadside to the beach.[T]
especially AmE to crash into the side of another vehicle $ [C]
a heavy sword with a broad flat blade $ [C,U]
thick heavy decorative cloth which has a pattern of gold and silver threads:
•brocade curtains
•deluxe brocades and satins
- brocaded adjective $ [U]
a green vegetable that has short branch-like stems $ [C]
a thin book giving information or advertising something:
•a holiday brochure $ [C]
1 [usually plural] a thick strong leather shoe with a pattern in the leather:
•a new pair of brogues
2 [usually singular] an ACCENT, especially an Irish or Scottish accent
1 [T] AmE to cook something under direct heat, or over a flame on a BARBECUE; = grill BrE
•broiled chicken
2 [I,T] AmE to become very hot:
•We lay broiling in the sun. $ [C]
1 AmE a special area of a STOVE used for cooking food under direct heat; = grill BrE
2 a broiler chicken[C]
a chicken that is suitable to be cooked by broiling AmE
broiling weather, sun etc makes you feel extremely hot; = boiling
•a broiling day $
the past tense of BREAK[not before noun]
1 having no money:
•I'm fed up with being broke all the time.
flat/stony broke (=completely broke)
2 go broke if a company or business goes broke, it can no longer operate because it has no money:
•A lot of small businesses went broke in the recession.
3 go for broke informal to take big risks when you try to achieve something:
•At 2-0 down with ten minutes left, you have to go for broke. $
the past participle of BREAK
1 PIECE OF EQUIPMENT not working properly:
•The CD player's broken again.
•Do you know how the phone got broken (=became broken)?
2 OBJECT in small pieces because it has been hit, dropped etc:
•Mind the broken glass.
•Wrap it up well so it doesn't get broken (=become broken) in the mail.
3 BONE cracked because you have had an accident:
•a badly broken leg
•Gibbs had an X-ray which revealed no broken bones.
4 NOT CONTINUOUS interrupted and not continuous:
•a broken white line
•a long noisy night of broken sleep
5 PERSON extremely weak mentally or physically because you have suffered a lot:
•He returned from the war a broken man.
6 broken English/French etc if you speak in broken English, French etc, you speak slowly and make a lot of mistakes because you only know a little of the language
7 broken home a family that no longer lives together because the parents have DIVORCEd :
•The majority of offenders do not come from broken homes.
8 broken marriage a marriage that has ended because the husband and wife do not live together any more
9 a broken heart a feeling of extreme sadness, especially because someone you love has died or left you:
•I reckon she died of a broken heart.
not working or in very bad condition:
•a broken-down truck
extremely sad, especially because someone you love has died or left you; heartbroken
•He was broken-hearted when she left. $ written
if you say something brokenly, you speak in short phrases with a lot of pauses, because you are feeling a strong emotion $ [C]
1 someone who buys and sells things such as SHAREs in companies or foreign money for other people
STOCKBROKER
2 someone who arranges sales or business agreements for other people:
•a real estate broker[T]
broker a deal/settlement/treaty etc to arrange the details of a deal etc so that everyone can agree to it:
•a ceasefire agreement brokered by the UN $ [U]
1 the business of being a broker
2 the amount of money a broker charges
3 brokerage house/firm a company of brokers, or the place where they work $ plural brollies [C]
BrE informal an UMBRELLA $
1 [C,U] a chemical which is sometimes used in medicine to make people feel calm
2 [C] formal a statement which is intended to make someone less angry but which is not effective $ [C] AmE
informal a BRONCO $ medical
affecting the bronchial tubes:
•a bronchial infection[C] medical
one of the tubes that take air into your lungs $ [U]
an illness which affects your bronchial tubes and makes you cough
- bronchitic adjective $ plural broncos [C]
a wild horse from the western US:
•a bucking bronco $ [C]
a large DINOSAUR with a small head and a long neck $ [C]
AmE a sound that you make by sticking out your tongue and blowing, often considered rude; = raspberry BrE $
1 [U] a hard metal that is a mixture of COPPER and TIN:
•a bell cast in bronze
2 [U] the dark reddish brown colour of bronze
3 [C] a work of art such as a STATUE (=model of a person), made of bronze:
•three bronzes by Giacometti
4 [C,U] a BRONZE MEDAL:
•King won a bronze in the 100 metres.
1 made of bronze:
•a bronze statuette by Degas
2 having the dark reddish brown colour of bronze
the Bronze Age the time, between about 6000 and 4000 years ago, when bronze was used for making tools, weapons etc
IRON AGE, STONE AGE $
having skin that is attractively brown because you have been in the sun; = tanned[C]
a MEDAL made of bronze given to the person who comes third in a race or competition:
•The bronze medal went to Nool of Estonia.
- bronze medallist BrE bronze medalist AmE noun [C]
•an Olympic bronze medallist
GOLD MEDAL, SILVER MEDAL $ [C]
a piece of jewellery that you fasten to your clothes, usually worn by women; = pin AmE [I]
1 to keep thinking about something that you are worried or upset about:
•Don't sit at home brooding all day.
[+over/about/on]
•There's no point brooding over it - she's gone.
2 if a bird broods, it sits on its eggs to make the young birds break out[C]
1 a family of young birds all born at the same time
2 a family with a lot of children - used humorously
[+of]
•Mary has a whole brood of grandchildren. literary
1 mysterious and threatening:
•the brooding silence of the forest
2 looking thoughtful and sad:
•brooding eyes
- broodingly adverb[C]
a MARE (=female horse) that is kept for breeding
1 BrE informal wishing that you had a baby:
•I get broody when I see baby clothes in shop windows.
2 silent because you are thinking or worrying about something:
•Damian's been really broody lately.
3 if a female bird is broody, it wants to lay eggs or to sit on them to make the young birds break out
- broodiness noun [U] [C]
a small stream:
•a babbling brook
not brook sth/brook no sth formal to not allow or accept something:
•He would brook no criticism, even from his beloved daughter.
1 [C] a large brush with a long handle, used for sweeping floors
2 [U] a large bush with small yellow flowers [C]
a broom with a long handle and thin sticks tied at one end that a WITCH is supposed to fly on in storiesalso Bros BrE $
the written abbreviation of Brothers , used in the names of companies:
•Warner Bros. $ [C,U]
soup with meat, rice, or vegetables:
•chicken broth
SCOTCH BROTH $ [C]
a house where men pay to have sex with PROSTITUTEs $ [C]
1 a male who has the same parents as you; sister
•I have two brothers, William and Mark.
elder/older/younger etc brother
•My younger brother is a doctor.
little/kid brother (=younger brother)
•I have to take my little brother to school.
•My big brother (=older brother) has always looked after me.
•my twin brother
2 spoken informal a word meaning a black man, used especially by other black men
3 a male member of a group with the same interests, religion, profession etc as you
4 plural brothers or brethren a male member of a religious group, especially a MONK:
•Brother Justin
5 AmE a member of a FRATERNITY (=a club of male university students)
6 brothers in arms literary soldiers who have fought together in a war
BIG BROTHER, BLOOD BROTHER, HALF-BROTHER, STEPBROTHERespecially AmE
used to show you are annoyed or surprised:
•Oh, brother - I really don't want to deal with this now. $
1 [U] a feeling of friendship between people:
•the spirit of brotherhood
2 [C] an organization formed for a particular purpose, especially a religious one:
•the Franciscan brotherhood
3 [C] old-fashioned a union of workers in a particular trade
4 [U] the relationship between brothersplural brothers-in-law [C]
1 the brother of your husband or wife
2 the husband of your sister
3 the husband of your husband or wife's sister; sister-in-law $
showing feelings of kindness, loyalty etc that you would expect a brother to show; sisterly
•brotherly love
•brotherly advice [C]
a carriage used in the past, which had four wheels and a roof and was pulled by a horse $
the past tense and past participle of BRING $ [singular, U]
unnecessary excitement, criticism, or activity - used especially in news reports to show disapproval:
•the pre-election brouhaha [C]
1 literary the part of your face above your eyes and below your hair; = forehead
mop/wipe your brow (=dry your brow with your hand or a cloth because you are hot or nervous)
your brow furrows/creases/wrinkles (=lines appear on your brow because you are thinking or are worried)
•His brow furrowed. 'I don't understand,' he said.
2 an EYEBROW
3 the brow of a hill the top part of a slope or hill past tense browbeat, past participle browbeaten [T]
to try to make someone do something, especially in a threatening way
browbeat sb into doing sth
•She was determined to browbeat everyone into believing her.
1 having the colour of earth, wood, or coffee:
•dark brown hair
2 having skin that has been turned brown by the sun:
•He'd been on vacation and looked very brown.
•He was as brown as a berry after two weeks in the sun.[C,U]
the colour of earth, wood, or coffee:
•This particular model is available in brown, white, or grey.
•the browns and greens of the landscape[I,T]
1 to heat food so that it turns brown, or to become brown by being heated:
•First brown the meat in a frying pan.
2 to become brown because of the sun's heat, or to make something brown in this way:
•The children's faces were browned by the sun.
3 browned off BrE informal annoyed or bored; = fed up
•They are getting browned off by the situation. [C] BrE
a place, especially in a city, that is used for building homes, offices etc, where in the past there have already been buildings, industries etc; greenfield site[plural]
BrE electrical goods that provide entertainment at home, such as televisions and computers
WHITE GOODS
1 the Brownies the part of the Girl Guides Association that is for younger girls
2 [C] also Brownie Guide a member of this organization [C]
a thick flat chocolate cake:
•chocolate brownies
win/earn/score etc brownie points informal to get praise for something you have done after trying to make someone have a good opinion of you:
•I'm not doing it just to get brownie points.[I,T]
informal to try to make someone in authority like you by being very nice to them - used in order to show disapproval
- brown-noser noun [C]
- brown-nosing noun [U] [C]
AmE a time when the amount of electrical power supplied to an area is reduced[U]
rice that still has its outer layer $
[C] a house in the US with a front made of reddish-brown stone, common in New York City[U]
a type of sugar that is brown in colour and contains MOLASSES
1 [I] to look through the pages of a book, magazine etc without a particular purpose, just looking at the most interesting parts
[+through]
•Jon was browsing through the photographs.
2 [I,T] to look at the goods in a shop without wanting to buy any particular thing
[+around]
•The trip allows you plenty of time for browsing around the shops.
•tourists browsing the boutiques and souvenir stalls
3 [I,T] to search for information on a computer or on the Internet:
•a feature that allows you to browse your hard drive and choose the graphic you want to display
4 [I] if a goat, DEER etc browses, it eats plants
- browse noun [singular]
•We had a quick browse around the shops. $ [C]
a computer program that finds information on the Internet and shows it on your computer screen:
•a Web browser [C]
1 a purple or brown mark on your skin that you get because you have fallen, been hit etc:
•minor cuts and bruises
2 a mark on a piece of fruit that spoils its appearance
1 [I,T] if part of your body bruises or if you bruise part of your body, it gets hit or hurt and a bruise appears:
•She fell off her bike and bruised her knee.
2 [T] to affect someone badly and make them feel less confident
bruise sb's pride/ego
•The incident had bruised his pride.
3 [I,T] if a piece of fruit bruises or is bruised, it gets a bruise by being hit, dropped etc
- bruised adjective
•a badly bruised knee
•a bruised ego $ [C] informal
a big strong man who likes fighting or arguing [U]
purple or brown marks that you get on your skin where you have fallen, been hit etc
[+to/on]
•She suffered severe bruising to her arms and legs.
difficult and unpleasant, and leaving you feeling tired or emotionally harmed:
•a bruising contest [C] BrE informal
someone from the city of Birmingham in England
- Brummie adjective [C,U]
a meal eaten in the late morning, as a combination of breakfast and LUNCH [C]
a woman with dark brown hair
bear/take/suffer etc the brunt of sth to receive the worst part of an attack, criticism, bad situation etc:
•an industry that bore the brunt of the recession
•The car took the full brunt of the explosion.
1 OBJECT FOR CLEANING/PAINTING [C] an object that you use for cleaning, painting, making your hair tidy etc, made with a lot of hairs, BRISTLEs , or thin pieces of plastic fastened to a handle; broom
•a scrubbing brush
HAIRBRUSH, NAILBRUSH, PAINTBRUSH, TOOTHBRUSH
2 TREES [U]
a) small bushes and trees that cover an area of land
b) branches that have broken off bushes and trees
3 MOVEMENT [singular] a movement in which you brush something to remove dirt, make something smooth, tidy etc:
•I'll just give my hair a quick brush.
4 TOUCH [singular] a quick light touch, made by chance when two things or people pass each other:
•the brush of her silk dress as she walked past
5 [C] a time when you only just avoid an unpleasant situation or argument
[+with]
•His first brush with the law came when he was arrested for disorderly behaviour.
•A brush with death can make you appreciate life more.
6 TAIL [C] the tail of a FOX
BROADBRUSH; daft as a brush at DAFT (1)
1 CLEAN/MAKE TIDY [T] to clean something or make something smooth and tidy using a brush; sweep
•Don't forget to brush your teeth.
2 REMOVE [T always + adv/prep] to remove something with a brush or with your hand
brush sth off/from etc sth
•Ella brushed the crumbs off her jacket.
•He brushed the tears from his eyes.
3 TOUCH LIGHTLY [I always + adv/prep, T] to touch someone or something lightly when passing them:
•Something brushed her shoulders.
[+against]
•I felt her hair brush against my arm.
[+past]
•Nell brushed past him in the doorway.
4 PUT STH ON STH [T always + adv/prep] to put a liquid onto something using a brush
brush sth with sth
•Brush the pastry with milk.
brush sth over/onto sth
•Brush a little oil over the top of the pizza.

PHRASAL VERBS
brush sb/sth <=> aside phr v
to refuse to listen to someone, or refuse to consider something; = dismiss
•He simply brushed all my objections aside.

brush sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to clean something using a brush:
•He was brushing the pony down.
2 brush yourself down to use your hands to remove dirt from your clothes, especially after you have fallen

brush sb/sth <=> off phr v
to refuse to listen to someone or their ideas, especially by ignoring them or saying something rude:
•Corman brushed off accusations that he had acted dishonestly.
BRUSH-OFF

brush up (on) sth phr v
to practise and improve your skills or your knowledge of something that you learned in the past:
•I must brush up on my French before I go to Paris.
brush sth under the carpet at SWEEP^1 (15) [only before noun]
brushed cloth has been made so it is soft:
•brushed cotton[singular]
rude or unfriendly behaviour that shows you are not interested in someone:
•She gave him the brush-off.
•I tried to be friendly but I just got the brush-off.
brush off at BRUSH^2 [U]
small dead branches broken from trees or bushes $ [U]
the way in which an artist puts paint on a picture using a brush $
using very few words in a way that seems rude; = abrupt
•a brusque manner
- brusquely adverb
- brusqueness noun [U] [C]
a small round green vegetable that looks like a very small CABBAGE
1 very cruel and violent
brutal murder/attack/assault
•a brutal attack on a defenceless old man
•a brutal man
2 not pleasant and not sensitive to people's feelings:
•He replied with brutal honesty.
- brutally adverb
•He was brutally murdered.
•If I'm brutally honest, I don't like her dress. plural brutalities [C,U]
cruel and violent behaviour, or an event involving cruel and violent treatment:
•allegations of police brutality
[+of]
•the brutalities of waralso brutalise BrE [T usually passive]
1 to affect someone so badly that they lose their normal human feelings:
•He was brutalized by his experiences in jail.
2 to treat someone in a cruel or violent way:
•Demonstrators claimed they had been brutalized by police officers.
- brutalization $ noun [U] [C]
a man who is cruel, violent, and not sensitive
1 brute force/strength physical strength rather than intelligence and careful thinking:
•Discussion can be more effective than the use of brute force.
2 [only before noun] simple and not involving any other facts or qualities:
•The brute fact is that the situation will not improve.
•brute stupidity
cruel and not sensitive to people's feelings
- brutishness noun [U] [U] trademark
a type of oil used on men's hair to make it shiny and smooth AmE
1 [C] Bachelor of Science a first university DEGREE in a science subject; = BSc BrE; B.A.
[+in]
•a B.S. in Biology
2 [U] not polite the abbreviation of bullshit B.Sc. [C] BrE
Bachelor of Science a first university DEGREE in a science subject; = B.S. AmE
[+in]
•He's going to Birmingham to do a BSc in Biochemistry.
•Catherine McBride, BSc [U]
bovine spongiform encephalopathy a serious brain disease that affects cows; = mad cow disease [C]
1 the side of a record that has the less well-known song on it
2 the song on this side of the record [U]
the abbreviation of British Summer Time [C,U]
Business and Technical Education Council a range of examinations that are done by students in England and Wales at different levels in a variety of subjects relating to work. BTEC courses are usually done after the age of 17.; GNVQ
•a BTEC Diploma in Art and Designbtw
the written abbreviation of by the way , often used in email or TEXT MESSAGEs on MOBILE PHONEs [C] AmE old-fashioned
used to speak to a man, especially when you are angry:
•Hey, what do you think you're doing, bub? [C]
1 a ball of air or gas in liquid:
•When water boils, bubbles rise to the surface.
•soap bubbles
•She was blowing bubbles in her milk with a straw.
2 a small amount of air trapped in a solid substance:
•Examine the glass carefully for bubbles.
3 a bubble of sth literary a small amount of a feeling:
•A bubble of anger rose in Pol's throat.
4 also speech bubble a circle around the words said by someone in a CARTOON
5 the bubble bursts used for saying that a very successful or happy period of time suddenly ends:
•The bubble has finally burst in the mobile phone industry.
6 burst/prick sb's bubble to make someone suddenly realize that something is not as good as they thought it was[I]
1 to produce bubbles:
•Heat the cheese until it bubbles.
[+up]
•The cola bubbled up when I unscrewed the lid.
2 to make the sound that water makes when it boils
[+away]
•The water was bubbling away on the stove.
3 also bubble over to be excited
[+with]
•Mary was bubbling over with excitement.
4 also bubble away/up if a feeling or activity bubbles, it continues to exist:
•Resentment was still bubbling inside her.
•Speculation has been bubbling away for months that he plans to resign.[U]
a British dish of potatoes and CABBAGE mixed together and cooked in fat
1 [U] a liquid soap that smells pleasant and makes bubbles in your bath water
2 [C] a bath with this in the water[U]
a type of CHEWING GUM that you can blow into a bubble[C]
a type of machine for printing from a computer, that SPRAYs ink onto the paperalso bubble pack [U]
a sheet of plastic covered with bubbles of air, used for wrapping and protecting things
1 always happy, friendly, and eager to do things:
•She has a very bubbly personality.
2 full of bubbles[U] informal
CHAMPAGNE:
•a glass of bubbly $ [U]
a very serious disease spread by rats, that killed a lot of people in the Middle Ages; Black Death $ [C]
1 someone who attacks ships at sea and steals from them; = pirate
2 someone who is very successful, especially in business, but may not be honest [C]
1 DOLLAR informal a US, Canadian, or Australian dollar:
•He owes me ten bucks.
•The movie is about a group of men trying to make a buck (=earn some money) as male strippers.
big/mega bucks (=a lot of money)
•Using celebrities in advertising is guaranteed to pull in big bucks.
make a fast/quick buck (=make some money quickly, often dishonestly)
2 the buck stops here also the buck stops with sb used to say that a particular person is responsible for something:
•The buck stops firmly with the boss.
3 pass the buck to make someone else them responsible for something that you should deal with
4 ANIMAL plural buck or bucks a male rabbit, DEER, and some other male animals; doe
5 feel/look like a million bucks informal especially AmE to feel or look very healthy, happy, and beautiful
6 MAN old-fashioned a young man
(get) a bigger/better etc bang for your buck at BANG^1 (5)
1 HORSE [I] if a horse bucks, it kicks its back feet into the air, or jumps with all four feet off the ground
2 MOVE SUDDENLY [I] to suddenly move up and down or backwards and forwards in an uncontrolled way:
•The plane bucked sharply.
3 OPPOSE [T] to oppose something in a direct way:
•He was a rebel who continually bucked the system (=opposed rules or authority).
•Unemployment in the area has bucked the national trend by falling over the last month.
[+against]
•Initially he had bucked against her restraints.
4 MAKE SB HAPPIER [T] to make someone feel more happy, confident, or healthy:
•He was bucked by the success he'd had.
•She gave me a tonic which bucked me a little.

PHRASAL VERBS
buck for sth phr v
to try very hard to get something, especially a good position at work:
•He's bucking for promotion.

buck up phr v
1 to become happier or to make someone happier:
•Come on, buck up, things aren't that bad!
buck sb <=> up
•You need something to buck you up.
2 buck up! BrE old-fashioned used to tell someone to hurry up:
•Buck up, John! We'll be late.
3 informal to improve, or to make something improve:
•It'll be a long time before the situation starts to buck up.
buck sth <=> up
•a company that is looking to buck up its networking capabilities
4 buck your ideas up BrE informal used to tell someone to improve their behaviour or attitudeAmE
buck naked not wearing any clothes [C] AmE informal
a COWBOY - used especially when talking to children $ [C]
a light vehicle with four wheels that is pulled by a horse, and was used in the US in the 19th century [C]
1 an open container with a handle, used for carrying and holding things, especially liquids; = pail
2 also bucketful the quantity of liquid that a bucket can hold
[+of]
•a bucket of water
3 a part of a machine shaped like a large bucket and used for moving earth, water etc
4 informal a large amount of something:
•They were drinking beer by the bucket.
[+of]
•They made buckets of cash on the deal.
5 weep buckets informal to cry a lot
6 in buckets informal if rain comes down in buckets, it is raining very hard
kick the bucket at KICK^1 (20); a drop in the bucket at DROP^2 (8)

PHRASAL VERBS
bucket down phr v BrE informal
to rain very hard; = pour
•It's been bucketing down all day.[C]
a car seat with a high curved back, for one person[C] BrE informal
a place that sells cheap plane tickets
1 BEND [I,T] to become bent or curved because of heat or pressure, or to make something bend or curve in this way:
•The steel pillars began to buckle.
[+under]
•The rails buckled under the intense heat of the fire.
2 KNEES/LEGS [I] if your knees or legs buckle, they become weak and bend; = give way
•John felt his knees start to buckle.
3 DO STH YOU DO NOT WANT [I] to do something that you do not want to do because a difficult situation forces you to do it; = give in
•To his credit, he refused to buckle.
buckle under the pressure/strain/weight
•A weaker person would have buckled under the weight of criticism.
4 FASTEN [I,T] to fasten a buckle or be fastened with a buckle:
•Amy buckled the belt around her waist.
buckle sth on/up/together
•Lou was buckling on his revolver.

PHRASAL VERBS
buckle down phr v
to start working very hard
[+to]
•You'd better buckle down to some revision now.

buckle up phr v
to fasten your SEAT BELT in a car, aircraft etc[C]
a piece of metal used for fastening the two ends of a belt, for fastening a shoe, bag etc, or for decoration [U]
stiff cloth, used in the past for covering books and making the stiff parts of clothes [C,U] BrE
a mixture of CHAMPAGNE and orange juice, or a glass of this $ [U]
a lot of small metal balls that are fired together from a gun [U]
strong soft leather made from the skin of a DEER or goat[plural]
teeth that stick forward out of your mouth
- buck-toothed adjective [U]
a type of small grain used as food for chickens, and for making flour $ literary
relating to the countryside [C]
1 a young tightly rolled up flower or leaf before it opens:
•rose buds
in bud (=having buds but no flowers yet)
come into bud (=start to produce buds)
2 spoken especially AmE BUDDY:
•Hey, bud, how's it going?
COTTON BUD, TASTE BUD; nip sth in the bud at NIP^1 (3)past tense and past participle budded, present participle budding [I]
to produce buds $ [U]
a religion of east and central Asia, based on the teaching of Gautama Buddha
- Buddhist noun [C]
- Buddhist adjective
1 budding artist/actor/writer etc someone who is just starting to paint, act etc and will probably be successful at it
2 [only before noun] beginning to develop:
•a budding romance plural buddies [C]
1 informal a friend:
•We're good buddies.
2 AmE spoken used to talk to a man or boy, especially one you do not know:
•Hey, buddy! This your car?informal especially AmE
be buddy-buddy (with sb) to be very friendly with someone[C]
a place on a computer where you keep a list of the names of people that you regularly send INSTANT MESSAGEs to[C] AmE
a system in which two people in a group are put together to help each other or keep each other safe [I,T usually in negatives]
1 to move, or to make someone or something move:
•She leaned on the door, but it wouldn't budge.
[+from]
•Will hasn't budged from his room all day.
•The horse refused to budge an inch.
2 to change your opinion, or to make someone change their opinion:
•The government has refused to budge.
[+on]
•He won't budge on the issue.
[+from]
•Treacy refuses to budge from his principles. $ [C] BrE formal
a BUDGIE [C]
1 the money that is available to an organization or person, or a plan of how it will be spent

defence/education/advertising etc budget (=the amount of money available for a particular activity)
budget deficit (=when more money has been spent than is available)
budget cut (=when less money becomes available)
on/within budget (=not costing more money than planned)
under budget (=costing less money than planned)
over budget (=costing more money than planned)
a tight budget (=when there is not much money available)
balance the budget (=make sure only the money available is spent)

[+of]
• a welfare program with a budget of $2 million
[+for]
• The budget for photography has been cut.
•The defence budget was still growing.
• 80% of the annual education budget was spent on teachers' salaries.
• a package of fiscal policies designed to cut the budget deficit
• the problems posed by budget cuts and staff shortages
• The project was completed within budget.
• If you come in under budget, everyone will be very impressed.
•Feature movies always run over budget.
• We have to keep within a tight budget.
• They need to save £8 million this year to balance the budget.

2 on a budget if you are on a budget, you do not have much money to spend:
•Travellers on a budget might prefer to camp.
•a book which offers great ideas for decorating on a budget
•families on a tight budget
3 also Budget BrE an official statement that a government makes about how much it intends to spend and what taxes will be necessary[I,T]
1 to carefully plan and control how much money you spend and what you will buy with it:
•We'll have to budget more carefully in the future.
•This scheme enables you to budget the cost through fixed monthly payments.
[+for]
•We've budgeted for a new car next year.
2 if you budget something such as time, you decide how much of it you will need
- budgeting noun [U][only before noun]
1 very low in price - often used in advertisements; = cheap
•budget flights
2 low-budget/big-budget used for saying how much money has been spent on doing something, especially making a film:
•low-budget movies $
relating to the way money is spent in a budget [C] BrE
a small brightly coloured bird that people keep as a pet
1 wine/film/opera etc buff someone who is interested in wine, films etc and knows a lot about them
2 [U] a pale yellow-brown colour; = beige
•buff envelopes
3 in the buff old-fashioned not wearing any clothes; = naked
- buff adjectivealso buff up [T]
to polish something with a cloth:
•Sandra was buffing her nails.

PHRASAL VERBS
buff up phr v informal
to exercise in order to make your muscles bigger:
•Smith buffed up for his role as Muhammad Ali.or buffalo $ plural buffaloes [C]
1 an African animal similar to a large cow with long curved horns
WATER BUFFALO
2 a BISON $ [C]
1 PROTECTION someone or something that protects one thing or person from being harmed by another
[+against]
•Eastern Europe was important to Russia as a buffer against the West.
[+between]
•She often had to act as a buffer between father and son.
2 RAILWAY one of the two special metal springs on the front or back of a train or at the end of a railway track to take the shock if the train hits something
3 buffer zone an area between two armies, which is intended to separate them so that they do not fight
4 buffer state a smaller country between two larger countries, which makes war between them less likely
5 COMPUTER a place in a computer's memory for storing information temporarily
6 PERSON BrE old-fashioned an old man who is not good at managing things:
•He's a nice old buffer.
7 FOR POLISHING something used to polish a surface
8 run into/hit the buffers informal an activity or plan that hits the buffers is stopped and does not succeed[T]
1 to reduce the bad effects of something:
•Consumer spending is buffering the effects of the recession.
2 if a computer buffers information, it holds it for a short while before using it $ [C]
1 a meal at a party or other occasion, in which people serve themselves at a table and then move away to eat:
•a cold buffet
buffet breakfast/lunch/supper
•The price includes morning coffee, buffet lunch, and afternoon tea.
2 a place in a railway station, bus station etc where you can buy and eat food or drink
3 AmE a piece of furniture in which you keep the things you use to serve and eat a meal; = sideboard BrE [T usually passive]
1 if something, especially wind, rain, or the sea, buffets something, it hits it with a lot of force:
•London was buffeted by storms last night.
2 literary to treat someone unkindly:
•I was weary of being buffeted by life.

PHRASAL VERBS
buffet sth about phr v
to move something in one direction and then another, again and again, with force:
•The body was buffeted about in the waves.
- buffeting noun [C,U]also buffet $ [C] BrE
a part of a train where you can buy food and drink [C] old-fashioned
someone who does silly things that make you laugh
- buffoonery noun [U] [C]
1 informal an illness that people catch very easily from each other but is not very serious
catch/pick up/get a bug
•I picked up a bug last weekend.
•There's a nasty bug going round (=which a lot of people have caught).
tummy/stomach bug (=illness affecting your stomach)
•He's off work with a stomach bug.
•a 24-hour flu bug
2 especially AmE a small insect
3 a fault in the system of instructions that operates a computer:
•a bug in the software
DEBUG
4 a small piece of electronic equipment for listening secretly to other people's conversations
5 informal a sudden strong interest in doing something
the travel/sailing etc bug
•She's got the travel bug.
•I had one flying lesson and immediately caught the bug (=became very interested in flying).past tense and past participle bugged, present participle bugging [T]
1 informal to annoy someone:
•It just bugs me that I have to work so many extra hours for no extra money.
•The baby's crying is really bugging him.
2 to put a BUG (=small piece of electronic equipment) somewhere secretly in order to listen to conversations:
•Do you think the room is bugged? [C] AmE
something that makes people anxious or afraid $ [C]
something that makes people feel annoyed or worried:
•Paperwork is our worst bugbear.
having eyes that stick out $ [C]
1 BrE not polite an offensive word for someone who is very annoying or unpleasant
2 not polite someone that you pretend to be annoyed with, although you actually like or love them:
•The poor little bugger got an awful shock.
3 BrE not polite a job or activity that is very difficult:
•The exam was a bit of a bugger.
4 bugger all BrE not polite nothing:
•There's bugger all wrong with this machine.[T] BrE
1 spoken not polite said when you are annoyed or angry:
•Bugger it! I don't see why I should pay for everything.
2 I'm buggered/bugger me! spoken not polite said when you are surprised about something:
•Well I'm buggered! I never thought you'd do that.
3 bugger the ... spoken not polite used to say that you do not care about the person or thing you are talking about:
•Bugger the expense, I'm going to buy it!
4 taboo or law to have ANAL sex with someone

PHRASAL VERBS
bugger about phr v also bugger around spoken not polite
1 to behave in a stupid way or waste time; = mess about/around
•Let's stop buggering about and go.
2 bugger sb about to cause unnecessary problems for someone; = mess sb about/around
•Don't let Peter bugger you about.

bugger off phr v spoken not polite
to go away or leave a place:
•Tim buggered off to Australia years ago.
•'Bugger off!' she screamed.

bugger sth <=> up phr v spoken not polite
to ruin something or do something very badly; = cock up, mess up
•It really buggered up our plans when the train was cancelled. $ [not before noun] BrE spoken not polite
1 extremely tired
2 completely ruined or broken:
•The washing machine's buggered.
3 I'm buggered if ... used to say that you do not know something, will not do something, or are not able to do something:
•I'm buggered if I can remember. [U]
BrE law ANAL sex plural buggies [C]
1 BrE a light folding chair on wheels that you push small children in; = pushchair; = stroller AmE
2 a light carriage pulled by a horse
3 AmE a small bed on wheels, that a baby lies in; = baby carriage; = pram BrE [C]
a musical instrument like a TRUMPET, which is used in the army to call soldiers
- bugler noun [C] past tense and past participle built
1 MAKE STH [I,T] to make something, especially a building or something large:
•The purpose is to build new houses for local people.
•The road took many years to build.
•They needed $3m to build the bridge.
•It is the female birds that build the nests.
•Developers want to build on the site of the old gas works.
•a row of recently built houses
build sb sth
•He's going to build the children a doll's house.
2 MAKE STH DEVELOP also build up [T] to make something develop or form:
•She had built a reputation as a criminal lawyer.
•She's been busy building her career.
•Ross took twenty years to build up his business.
build (up) a picture of sb/sth (=form a clear idea about someone or something)
•We're trying to build up a picture of what happened.
3 be built of sth to be made using particular materials:
•The church was built of brick.
4 FEELING also build up [I,T] if a feeling builds or if you build it, it increases gradually over a period of time:
•Tension began to build as they argued more frequently.
•In order to build your self esteem, set yourself targets you can reach.
5 build bridges to try to establish a better relationship between people who do not like each other:
•Peter needs to try and build bridges with Lizzie.

PHRASAL VERBS
build sth around sth phr v
to base something on an idea or thing and develop it from there:
•Successful businesses are built around good personal relationships.

build sth <=> in phr v
to make something so that it is a permanent part of a wall, room etc:
•You could build in a wardrobe with mirrored doors.
BUILT-IN

build sth into sth phr v
1 to make something so that it is a permanent part of a wall, room etc:
•There are three cash machines built into the wall.
2 to make something a permanent part of a system, agreement etc:
•Opportunities for reviewing the timings should be built into the plan.

build on phr v
1 build sth on sth to base something on an idea or thing:
•Our relationship is built on trust.
2 build on sth to use your achievements as a base for further development:
•The new plan will build on the success of the previous programme.
3 to add another room to a building in order to have more space
build sth <=> on
•We're planning to build on a conservatory.

build up phr v
1 INCREASE GRADUALLY if something builds up somewhere or if you build it up, it gradually becomes bigger or greater
build sth <=> up
•The museum has built up a fine art collection.
•the rate at which the pension builds up
BUILD-UP
2 DEVELOP build sth <=> up to make something develop or form
[+into]
•He's built up the family firm into a multinational company.
3 FEELING if a feeling builds up or if you build it up, it increases gradually over a period of time:
•If you don't express your feelings, frustration and anger can build up.
build up sth
•You have to build up trust.
4 MAKE HEALTHY build sb/sth <=> up to make someone well and strong again, especially after an illness:
•Taking exercise will build up your strength.
5 PRAISE build sb/sth <=> up to praise someone or something so that other people think they are really good or so that they have more confidence:
•The coach has been building his men up before the match.
6 build up sb's hopes/build sb's hopes up to unfairly encourage someone to think that they will get what they hope for:
•Don't build your hopes up too much.

build up to sth phr v
to prepare for a particular moment or event:
•I could tell she was building up to some kind of announcement.[singular,U]
the shape and size of someone's body

slim/slender build
slight build (=a body shape that looks thin)
stocky/sturdy build (=a body shape that looks broad and heavy)
muscular build
medium/average build
strong build
athletic build

•a woman of slim build
• You're a surprisingly strong swimmer for one of such a slight build.
•I wanted a more athletic and muscular build.

$ [C]
especially BrE a person or a company that builds or repairs buildings
1 [C] a structure such as a house, church, or factory, that has a roof and walls:
•They need money to pay for new buildings.
•The offices are on the top two floors of the building.
•a farmhouse and other farm buildings
2 [U] the process or business of building things:
•There is a limited supply of land for building.
•stone, timber, and other building materials
[+of]
•The enquiry recommended the building of a tunnel.[C]
1 a block of wood or plastic for young children to build things with
2 building blocks [plural] the pieces or parts which together make it possible for something big or important to exist:
•Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. $ [C]
someone whose job is to organize the building of a house, office, factory etc[C]
a place where a house, factory etc is being built[C]
BrE a type of bank that you pay money into in order to save it and earn interest and that will lend you money to buy a house or apartment; = savings and loan association AmE[C usually singular]
1 an increase over a period of time
[+of]
•a heavy build-up of traffic on the motorway
2 a description of someone or something before an event in which you say they are very special or important:
•The presenter gave her a big build-up.
3 the length of time spent preparing an event:
•I was running 20 miles a week in my build-up for the race.
build up at BUILD^1
the past tense and past participle of BUILD
used to describe someone's size or shape:
•She is built like a dancer.
•a heavily-built man[singular] especially BrE
places where there are buildings and roads, and not the countryside:
•The overall strategy involves a major improvement to the built environment.
forming a part of something that cannot be separated from it; inbuilt
•a built-in microphone
a built-up area has a lot of buildings and not many open spaces:
•He was fined for speeding in a built-up area. [C]
1 the glass part of an electric light, that the light shines from; = light bulb
•a 100 watt bulb
2 a root shaped like a ball that grows into a flower or plant:
•tulip bulbs
fat, round, and unattractive:
•a bulbous nose [C]
1 a curved mass on the surface of something, usually caused by something under or inside it:
•The gun made a bulge under his jacket.
2 a sudden temporary increase in the amount or level of something:
•a bulge in the birthrate
- bulgy adjective[I]
also bulge out to stick out in a rounded shape, especially because something is very full or too tight
[+with]
•His pockets were bulging with candy.
•He fell heavily to the floor, his eyes bulging wide with fear. [U]
an illness in which a person cannot stop themselves from eating too much, and then VOMITs in order to control their weight
- bulimic adjective
1 the bulk (of sth) the main or largest part of something:
•The bulk of consumers are based in towns.
2 [C usually singular] a big mass or shape of something:
•the great bulk of a building
3 [U] the size of something or someone:
•The dough will rise until it is double in bulk.
4 in bulk if you buy goods in bulk, you buy large amounts each time you buy them
1 bulk buying/orders etc the buying etc of goods in large quantities at one time
2 [only before noun] bulk goods are sold or moved in large quantities:
•bulk flour for commercial bakeries
3 bulk mail if you send something bulk mail, you send large amounts of it for a smaller cost than normalbulk large
to be the main or most important part of something

PHRASAL VERBS
bulk sth <=> out phr v
to make something bigger or thicker by adding something else:
•We can bulk out the report with lots of diagrams. [C]
a wall which divides the structure of a ship or aircraft into separate parts
1 something that is bulky is bigger than other things of its type and is difficult to carry or store:
•a bulky parcel
2 someone who is bulky is big and heavy:
•Andrew is a bulky man.
- bulkiness noun [U]
1 MALE COW [C] an adult male animal of the cattle family:
•a herd of cows with one bull
2 MALE ANIMAL [C] the male of some other large animals such as the ELEPHANT or WHALE
3 take the bull by the horns to bravely or confidently deal with a difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant problem:
•Nora decided to take the bull by the horns and organize things for herself.
4 NONSENSE [U] informal nonsense or something that is completely untrue; = rubbish
•What a load of bull!
5 like a bull in a china shop if you are like a bull in a china shop, you keep knocking things over, dropping things, breaking things etc
6 like a bull at a gate if you move somewhere like a bull at a gate, you move there very fast, ignoring everything in your way
7 RELIGION [C] an official statement from the Pope
8 CENTRE [C] also bullseye the centre of a TARGET that you are shooting at
9 BUSINESS [C] technical someone who buys SHAREs because they expect prices to rise; bear
BULL MARKET
cock and bull story at COCK^1 (4); like a red rag to a bull at RED^1 (5); shoot the bull at SHOOT^1 (13)
used to say that you do not believe or agree with what someone has said:
•Bull! Where did you get that idea?[plural] BrE
a set of metal bars fixed to the front of a large vehicle such as a Jeep or Land Rover in order to protect it from damage
- bullbarred $ adjective
•bullbarred vehicles $ [C]
a powerful dog with a large head, a short neck, and short thick legs[C] trademark BrE
a small metal object that shuts tightly to hold papers together $ [T]
1 to destroy buildings etc with a bulldozer
2 to push objects such as earth and rocks out of the way with a bulldozer
3 bulldoze sb into (doing) sth to force someone to do something that they do not really want to do $ [C]
a powerful vehicle with a broad metal blade, used for moving earth and rocks, destroying buildings etc [C]
a small piece of metal that you fire from a gun; shell, shot
•He was killed by a single bullet.
•a bullet wound in the shoulder
•Several bullet holes could be seen beside a window.
PLASTIC BULLET; bite the bullet at BITE^1 (9) [C]
1 a news report on radio or television
2 an official statement that tells people about something important
3 a letter or printed statement that a group or organization produces to tell people its news[C]
1 AmE a board on the wall that you put information or pictures on; = noticeboard BrE
2 a place in a computer information system where you can read or leave messages[C]
a thing in a list that consists of a word or short phrase, with a small printed symbol in front of it
something that is bullet-proof is designed to stop bullets from going through it:
•an inch-thick wall of bullet-proof glass [C]
a type of entertainment popular in Spain, in which a person fights and kills a BULL
- bullfighter noun [C]
- bullfighting noun [U] [C]
a small grey and red European bird $ [C]
a kind of large FROG that makes a loud noise
determined to get what you want without really thinking enough about it
- bullheadedly adverb $ [C]
AmE old-fashioned a piece of equipment that you hold up to your mouth to make your voice louder; = megaphone BrE [U]
bars of gold or silver:
•gold bullion
1 [not before noun] feeling confident about the future:
•He's very bullish about the company's prospects.
2 technical in a business market that is bullish, the prices of SHAREs are rising or seem likely to rise; bearish
- bullishly adverb
- bullishness noun [U][C] technical
a STOCK MARKET in which the price of SHAREs is going up and people are buying them
having a short and very thick neck [C]
a young male cow that cannot breed[C]
1 the area in a baseball field in which PITCHERs practise throwing
2 the PITCHERs of a baseball team [C]
the place where a BULLFIGHT is held[C]
AmE informal an occasion when a group of people meet to talk in a relaxed and friendly way:
•an all-night bull sessionbull's-eye [C]
1 the centre of a TARGET that you try to hit when shooting or in games like DARTs ; = bull
2 BrE a large hard round sweet [U] spoken not polite
something that is stupid and completely untrue; = rubbish
•Forget all that bullshit and listen to me!
•What he told me was a load of bullshit.past tense and past participle bullshitted, present participle bullshitting [I,T]
to say something stupid or completely untrue, especially in order to deceive someone or make them think you are important:
•Don't believe him, he's probably bullshitting.
- bullshitter noun [C][C]
a strong short-haired dog
PIT BULL TERRIER plural bullies [C]
someone who uses their strength or power to frighten or hurt someone who is weaker:
•Bullies are often cowards.past tense and past participle bullied, present participle bullying, third person singular bullies [T]
1 to threaten to hurt someone or frighten them, especially someone smaller or weaker
2 to put pressure on someone in order to make them do what you want
bully sb into (doing) sth
•Don't let them bully you into working on Saturdays.

PHRASAL VERBS
bully off phr v BrE
to start a game of HOCKEY
- bully-off noun [C]
- bullying noun [U]
•an attempt to tackle the problem of bullying in schools
bully for you/him etc spoken used when you do not think that someone has done anything special but they want you to praise them:
•Yes, I know you've done all the dishes. Bully for you![C]
BrE informal someone who behaves in a violent and threatening way [C]
a tall plant that looks like grass and grows by water $ [C]
1 something that protects you from an unpleasant situation
[+against]
•a bulwark against dictatorship
2 bulwarks [plural] the sides of a boat or ship above the DECK
3 a strong structure like a wall, built for defence [C] informal
1 BrE the part of your body that you sit on; = bottom
2 AmE someone, especially a man, who has no home or job, and who asks people for money
3 beach/ski etc bum someone who spends all their time on the beach SKIing etc without having a job
4 someone who is very lazy
5 get/put bums on seats BrE informal to make a large number of people go to see a film, play, sports match etc:
•She's the kind of star who will put bums on seats.past tense and past participle bummed, present participle bumming [T] BrE informal
to ask someone for something such as money, food, or cigarettes; = cadge
•She bummed a little cash off me.

PHRASAL VERBS
bum around phr v informal
1 also bum about to spend time lazily doing nothing
2 bum around sth to travel around, living very cheaply, without having any plans:
•He spent a year bumming around Australia.[only before noun] informal
1 bad and useless:
•The orchestra was excellent. No one played a bum note.
•I thought Jim got a bum deal (=unfair treatment).
2 a bum ankle/leg etc AmE an injured ANKLE, leg etc[C] BrE
a small bag that you wear around your waist to hold money, keys etc [I]
1 also bumble on to speak in a confused way so that no one can understand you:
•What was Karl bumbling on about?
2 also bumble around to move in an unsteady way [C]
a large hairy BEE [only before noun]
behaving in a careless way and making a lot of mistakes:
•a kind bumbling man with a gentle smilebumph [U]
BrE informal boring written information that you have to read:
•I got loads of bumf about the introduction of the Euro. $
a bummer informal a situation that is disappointing or annoying:
•It was a real bummer being ill on holiday.
1 [I always + adv/prep, T] to hit or knock against something
[+against]
•I ran after him, bumping against people in my hurry.
[+into]
•Tim was a clumsy boy, always bumping into the furniture.
bump sth on sth
•She bumped her arm on the table.
•The roof was so low he bumped his head (=his head hit the roof).
2 [I always + adv/prep] to move up and down as you move forward, especially in a vehicle:
•A police car bumped down the track.
[+along]
•The plane was bumping along the runway.
3 [T always + adv/prep] to push or pull something somewhere in an irregular or unsteady way:
•Flora was bumping her bags down the steps.
4 [T] informal to move someone or something into a different class or group, or to remove them from a class or group altogether:
•The flight was overbooked, and Dad was the first one to be bumped.
bump sb up to/out of/from etc sth
•The reforms bumped many families off the state-provided healthcare list.
5 [T] to move a radio or television programme to a different time:
•'Married with Children' will be bumped from Sundays to Saturdays.

PHRASAL VERBS
bump into sb phr v
to meet someone who you know when you were not expecting to; = run into
•I bumped into Jean in town this morning.

bump sb <=> off phr v informal
to kill someone

bump sth <=> up phr v
to suddenly increase something by a large amount:
•Prices were bumped up by 10 percent last week.[C]
1 an area of skin that is raised because you have hit it on something; lump
•She has a bump on the back of her head.
•He had a few injuries, mostly bumps and bruises.
2 a small raised area on a surface:
•The car hit a bump on the road.
SPEED BUMP
3 the sound or sudden movement of something hitting a hard surface:
•We heard a bump in the next room.
fall/sit down etc with a bump
•Rose fell, landing with a bump.
4 informal a small accident in which your car hits something but you are not hurt $ [C]
1 BrE a bar fixed on the front and back of a car to protect it if it hits anything; = fender AmE
2 bumper-to-bumper bumper-to-bumper traffic is very close together and moving slowly[only before noun]
unusually large
bumper crop/harvest
•We hope readers will enjoy this bumper issue of 'Homes and Gardens'.[C]
a small electric car that you drive in a special area at a FUNFAIR and deliberately try to hit other cars; dodgems[C]
a small sign on the bumper of a car, with a humorous, political, or religious message
another spelling of BUMF [C]
informal someone from the countryside who is considered to be stupid
too proud of your abilities in a way that annoys other people; = arrogant
- bumptiously adverb
- bumptiousness noun [U] comparative bumpier, superlative bumpiest
1 a bumpy surface is flat but has a lot of raised parts so it is difficult to walk or drive on it; = uneven; smooth
•a bumpy road
•The ground is bumpy in places.
2 a bumpy journey by car or plane is uncomfortable with movements up and down because of bad road or weather conditions; smooth
•The plane made a bumpy landing.
3 a bumpy ride/time having a lot of problems for a long time:
•Shareholders have had a bumpy ride. [C]
1 BrE a small round sweet cake:
•a sticky bun
2 a small round type of bread:
•a hamburger bun
3 if a woman has her hair in a bun, she fastens it in a small round shape at the back of her head
4 buns [plural] AmE informal the two round parts of a person's bottom; = buttocks
5 have a bun in the oven BrE informal to be PREGNANT - used humorously
1 GROUP OF THINGS [C] a group of things that are fastened, held, or growing together
[+of]
•I'll send her a bunch of flowers.
•He had a bunch of keys on his belt.
•a bunch of grapes
2 GROUP OF PEOPLE [singular] informal a group of people:
•The ancient Egyptians were a clever bunch.
[+of]
•a friendly bunch of people
3 the best/pick of the bunch the best among a group of people or things
4 LARGE AMOUNT [singular] AmE a large number of people or things, or a large amount of something
[+of]
•There's a whole bunch of places I want to visit.
5 bunches [plural] BrE if a girl wears her hair in bunches, she ties it together at each side of her head
thanks a bunch at THANKS (5)also bunch together, bunch up
1 [I,T] to stay close together in a group, or to make people do this:
•The children bunched together in small groups.
•John stopped, forcing the rest of the group to bunch up behind him.
2 [I,T] to make part of your body tight or to become tight like this:
•Sean bunched his fists.
3 [I,T] to pull material together tightly in folds:
•She bunched the cloth up and threw it away.
4 [T] to hold or tie things together in a bunch [C]
1 a group of things such as papers, clothes, or sticks that are fastened or tied together
[+of]
•bundles of newspapers
•a small bundle containing mostly clothing
2 a number of things that belong or are dealt with together
[+of]
•bundles of data
3 computer software and sometimes other equipment or services that are included with a new computer at no extra cost
4 a bundle informal a lot of money:
•College evening classes cost a bundle.
•A company can make a bundle by selling unwanted property.
5 be a bundle of nerves informal to be very nervous
6 be a bundle of laughs/fun BrE informal an expression meaning a person or situation that is fun or makes you laugh, often used jokingly when they are not fun at all:
•Being a teenager isn't a bundle of laughs.
7 not go a bundle on sth/sb BrE informal to not like something or someone very much:
•Jim never drank, and certainly didn't go a bundle on gambling.
1 [T always + adv/prep] to quickly push someone or something somewhere because you are in a hurry or you want to hide them
bundle sb into/through etc sth
•They bundled Perez into the car and drove off.
2 [I always + adv/prep] BrE to move somewhere quickly in a group
[+into/through etc]
•Six of us bundled into a taxi.
3 [T] to include computer software or other services with a new computer at no extra cost
bundle sth with/into sth
•Microsoft can bundle Windows NT at discounted prices with its popular desktop application programs.
bundle sth together
•The company offered customers a single computer solution, bundling together hardware and software.

PHRASAL VERBS
bundle sb <=> off phr v
to send someone somewhere quickly without asking them if they want to go

bundle sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 also bundle sth <=> together to make a bundle by tying things together:
•Bundle up the newspapers and take them to the skip.
2 also bundle sth <=> together to put different things together so that they are dealt with at the same time:
•The lawsuit bundles together the claims of many individuals into one big case.
3 to put warm clothes on someone or yourself because it is cold:
•People sat bundled up in scarves, coats, and boots.
[+against]
•spectators bundled up against the cold [C]
1 a round piece of rubber, wood etc used to close the top of a container
2 BrE informal money given to someone secretly, and usually illegally, to make them do something[T always + adv/prep] BrE informal
to put something somewhere quickly and carelessly
bung sth in/into etc sth
•Can you bung these clothes in the washing machine?

PHRASAL VERBS
bung sth <=> up phr v BrE
1 to block something, especially a hole
2 be bunged up to find it difficult to breathe because you have a cold $ [C]
1 BrE a house which is all on ground level
2 AmE a small house which is often on one level [U]
a sport in which you jump off something very high with a long length of special rope that stretches tied to your legs, so that you go up again without touching the ground
- bungee jump noun [C], noun [C] [T]
to fail to do something properly, because you have made stupid mistakes - used especially in news reports:
•The whole police operation was bungled.
- bungled adjective
•a bungled rescue attempt
- bungle noun [C]
- bungler noun [C] [C]
a painful lump on the first joint of your big toe
1 [C] a narrow bed that is attached to the wall, for example on a train or ship
2 also bunk bed [often plural] one of two beds that are attached together, one on top of the other
3 do a bunk BrE informal to suddenly leave a place without telling anyone
4 [U] informal nonsense; = bunkum
•What a load of bunk!also bunk down [I] informal
to sleep somewhere, especially in someone else's house:
•You can bunk down on the sofa for tonight.

PHRASAL VERBS
bunk off (sth) phr v informal
to stay away from somewhere such as school or to leave somewhere early without permission; = skive
•John and I used to bunk off school. $ [C]
1 a strongly built shelter for soldiers, usually underground
2 BrE a large hole on a golf course filled with sand; = sand trap AmE
3 a place where you store coal, especially on a ship or outside a house[T] BrE
to hit a golf ball into a bunker [C]
a building where workers sleep [U]
BUNKalso bunny rabbit plural bunnies [C]
a word for a rabbit, used especially by or to children[C] AmE
the area of a mountain where people learn to SKI; = nursery slope BrE $ [C]
a piece of equipment that produces a hot gas flame, for scientific EXPERIMENTs [I]
AmE to deliberately hit the ball a short distance in a game of baseball
- bunt noun [C] [U]
small flags on strings, used to decorate buildings and streets on special occasions $ [C]
an object that floats on the sea, a lake etc to mark a safe or dangerous areaalso buoy up [T]
1 to make someone feel happier or more confident:
•The party is buoyed up by the latest opinion poll results.
2 to keep profits, prices etc at a high level:
•Increased demand for computers buoyed their profits.
3 to keep something floating $ [U]
1 the ability of an object to float
2 the power of a liquid to make an object float:
•Salt water has more buoyancy than fresh water.
3 a feeling of happiness and a belief that you can deal with problems easily
4 the ability of prices, a business etc to quickly get back to a high level after a difficult period $
1 happy and confident:
•Phil was in buoyant mood.
2 buoyant prices etc tend to rise:
•a buoyant economy
3 able to float or keep things floating:
•Cork is very buoyant.
- buoyantly adverb $
1 [I,T] to talk about something in a confused way that is difficult to understand
[+on/away]
•I had to listen for an hour while she burbled away.
2 [I] to make a sound like a stream flowing over stones
- burble noun [singular] $
the burbs [plural] AmE informal the SUBURBs (=areas around a city where people live) $
1 [C] something difficult or worrying that you are responsible for
[+of]
•The burden of taxation has risen considerably.
[+on]
•I don't like being a burden on other people.
•Nothing can lift the burden from my shoulders.
the tax/financial/debt burden
2 the burden of proof law the duty to prove that something is true
3 [C] something that is carried; = load
BEAST OF BURDEN
1 be burdened with/by sth to have a lot of problems because of a particular thing:
•a company burdened with debt
UNBURDEN
2 be burdened with sth to be carrying something heavy $
formal causing problems or additional work:
•These charges are particularly burdensome for poor parents. $ plural bureaus or bureaux $ [C]
1 an office or organization that collects or provides information:
•an employment bureau
•the Citizens Advice Bureau
2 a government department or a part of a government department in the US:
•the Federal Bureau of Investigation
3 an office of a company or organization that has its main office somewhere else:
•the London bureau of the Washington Post
4 BrE a large desk or writing table
5 AmE a piece of furniture with several drawers, used to keep clothes in; = chest of drawers BrE $ plural bureaucracies
1 [U] a complicated official system which is annoying or confusing because it has a lot of rules, processes etc; red tape
•the reduction of unnecessary bureaucracy
2 [C,U] the officials who are employed rather than elected to do the work of a government, business etc $ [C]
someone who works in a bureaucracy and uses official rules very strictly $
involving a lot of complicated official rules and processes
- bureaucratically adverb $ plural bureaux de change $ [C] BrE
a shop where you can change foreign money; exchangealso buret AmE [C]
a glass tube with measurements on it, used in scientific EXPERIMENTs $ [I]
formal to grow or develop quickly:
•the burgeoning market for digital cameras $ [C]
a flat round piece of finely cut BEEF, which is cooked and eaten, or one of these served in a bread BUN; = hamburger
CHEESEBURGER, VEGEBURGER $ [C]
a BOROUGH - used in Scotland $ [C] old use
someone who lives in a particular town $ [C]
someone who goes into houses, shops etc to steal things; robber, thief
CAT BURGLAR[C]
a piece of equipment that makes a loud noise when someone tries to get into a building illegally $ [T]
AmE to go into a building and steal things; = burgle BrE $ plural burglaries [C,U]
the crime of getting into a building to steal things:
•Burglaries in the area have risen by 5%.
•He was charged with burglary.
•Most burglaries happen at night. $ [T] BrE
to go into a building and steal things; = burglarize AmE
•We've been burgled three times. $ plural burgundies
1 [C,U] red or white wine from the Burgundy area of France
2 [U] a dark red colour
- burgundy adjective
•a burgundy skirt [C,U]
1 the act or ceremony of putting a dead body into a GRAVE
2 the act of burying something in the ground
[+of]
•the burial of solid wastes $
another spelling of BURQA $ [U]
AmE a type of thick rough cloth; = hessian BrE $ [C,U]
1 speech, acting, or writing in which a serious subject is made to seem silly or an unimportant subject is treated in a serious way
2 AmE a performance involving a mixture of COMEDY and STRIPTEASE, popular in America in the past $
a burly man is big and strong:
•a burly policeman $ past tense and past participle burnt $ or, burned
1 PRODUCE FLAMES AND HEAT [I]
a) if a fire burns, it produces heat and flames:
•There was a fire burning in the fireplace.
•An average household candle will burn for about six hours.
b) if something is burning, it is producing flames and being damaged or destroyed by fire:
•Parts of the building are still burning.
2 DESTROY STH WITH FIRE [T] to destroy or damage something with fire :
•I burnt all his old letters.
•Cars were burned and shops were looted during the rioting.
•The Grand Hotel had burnt to the ground.
•Make sure the iron isn't too hot or you'll burn the cloth.
•He dropped his cigarette and burnt a hole in the carpet.
3 INJURE/KILL SB WITH FIRE [T] to hurt yourself or someone else with fire or something hot:
•I burned my hand on the oven door.
•She was badly burned in a road accident.
•16 passengers were burned to death (=died in a fire).
•A family of five were burned alive in their home last night (=died in a fire).
•Heretics were burnt at the stake (=burnt in a fire as a punishment).
4 SUN [I,T] if the sun burns your skin, or if your skin burns, it becomes red and painful from the heat of the sun; sunburn
•I burn quite easily.
•Don't forget you can still get burnt when you're swimming or when it's cloudy.
•Her face and neck were quite badly burned.
5 FOOD [I,T] to spoil food by cooking it for too long, or to become spoiled in this way:
•I'm afraid I've burnt the pizza.
burn sth to a crisp/cinder
•The meat was burned to a crisp.
6 CHEMICALS [T] to damage or destroy something by a chemical action:
•Quite a lot of household chemicals can burn your skin.
7 FUEL [I,T] if you burn a FUEL, or if it burns, it is used to produce power, heat, light etc:
•The boiler burns oil to produce heat.
•greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels
8 FAT/ENERGY [T] if you burn fat or CALORIES, you use up energy stored in your body by being physically active:
•Taking a brisk walk every morning is a great way to burn calories.
•a fat-burning exercise
9 LIGHT [I] if a light or lamp burns, it shines or produces light:
•A lamp was burning in the kitchen window.
•The hall light was still burning.
10 FEEL HOT AND PAINFUL [I,T] if a part of your body burns, or if something burns it, it feels unpleasantly hot:
•The whisky burned my throat as it went down.
•My eyes were burning from the smoke.
11 FACE/CHEEKS [I] if your face or cheeks are burning, they feel hot because you are embarrassed or upset:
•I could feel my cheeks burning as I spoke.
12 CD [T] if you burn a CD or DVD, you record music, images, or other information onto it using special computer equipment
13 be burning with rage/desire etc to feel a particular emotion very strongly:
•She was burning with curiosity.
14 be burning to do sth to want to do or find out something very much:
•I was burning to know how he had got on in New York.
15 be/get burned informal
a) to be emotionally hurt by someone or something:
•Take things slowly this time - you don't want to get burned again.
b) to lose a lot of money:
•The company got badly burned in the dot.com collapse.
16 burn your fingers/get your fingers burned informal to suffer the unpleasant results of something that you have done:
•I tried a dating agency once, but got my fingers badly burnt - I'll never do it again.
17 burn a hole in your pocket if money burns a hole in your pocket, you want to spend it as soon as you can
18 burn your bridges/boats informal to do something with the result that you will not be able to return to a previous situation again, even if you want to:
•I'm really tempted to take up that job offer in Washington, but I don't want to burn my boats with this company.
19 burn the candle at both ends informal to get very tired by doing things until very late at night and getting up early in the mornings
20 burn the midnight oil informal to work or study until late at night
21 it burns sb that/how etc AmE used to say that something makes someone feel angry or jealous:
•It really burns me the way they treat us.
22 GO FAST [I always + adv/prep] informal to travel very fast
[+along/up etc]
•a sports car burning up the motorway

PHRASAL VERBS
burn away phr v
if something burns away or is burned away, it is destroyed by fire
burn sth <=> away
•All her hair had been burnt away.

burn down phr v
1 if a building burns down or is burned down, it is destroyed by fire:
•She was worried that the house might burn down while they were away.
burn sth <=> down
•The old town hall was burnt down in the 1970s.
2 if a fire burns down, the flames become weaker and it produces less heat

burn sth <=> off phr v
1 to remove something by burning it:
•You can use a blowlamp to burn off the old paint.
2 to use energy that is stored in your body by doing physical exercise:
•I decided to go for a run to try and burn off a few calories.

burn out phr v
1 if a fire burns out or burns itself out, it stops burning because there is no coal, wood etc left:
•He left the fire to burn itself out.
2 be burnt out if a building or vehicle is burnt out, the inside of it is destroyed by fire:
•The hotel was completely burnt out. Only the walls remained.
•We passed several burnt out cars.
3 burn sth <=> out to remove something by burning it:
•The cancer cells are burnt out using a laser beam.
4 to work so hard over a period of time that you become unable to continue working because you are tired, ill, or unable to think of any new ideas:
•It's a high-pressure job and you could burn out young.
be/get burnt out
•He was almost burnt out by the time he was 21.
burn yourself out
•She's in danger of burning herself out.
BURNOUT (1)
5 if an engine or electric wire burns out or is burnt out, it stops working because it has been damaged by getting too hot:
•The plugs are wired so that if one burns out, the others will still start the engine.
burn sth <=> out
•I think you've burnt out one of the gaskets.
6 if a ROCKET or JET burns out, it stops working because all its FUEL has been used
BURNOUT (2)

burn up phr v
1 if something burns up or is burnt up, it is completely destroyed by fire or heat:
•The satellite will burn up as it re-enters the earth's atmosphere.
burn sth <=> up
•Most of the woodland has now been burnt up.
2 burn sth <=> up informal to use a lot of something in a careless way:
•Most household appliances burn up loads of electricity.
•He just burns up money!
3 be burning up spoken if someone is burning up, they are very hot, usually because they are ill:
•Feel his forehead - he's burning up.
4 burn sb up AmE informal to make someone very angry:
•The way he treats her really burns me up.
5 burn sth <=> up to use energy that is stored in your body, by being physically active:
•As we get older, our body becomes less efficient at burning up calories.

WORD FOCUS: burn
to be burning:
be on fire
be ablaze
be alight
to start burning:
catch fire
burst into flames
ignite
to make something start burning:
light
set fire to sth
to make something stop burning:
put out
extinguish
to hurt or damage your skin with hot liquid or steam:
scald
the crime of deliberately setting fire to buildings:
arson
[C]
1 an injury caused by fire, heat, the light of the sun, or acid:
•His body was covered in bruises and cigarette burns.
severe/serious burns
•She was taken to the hospital with serious burns.
•Several of the survivors suffered severe burns.
•She is being treated for minor burns.
2 a mark on something caused by fire or heat:
•The desk was covered with graffiti and burn marks.
3 a painful mark on the skin caused by it rubbing hard against something rough
4 the burn informal a painful hot feeling in your muscles when you exercise a lot:
•Go for the burn.
5 BrE a small stream $ [C]
1 BrE the part of an OVEN or heater that produces heat or a flame:
•a gas burner
2 AmE one of the round parts on the top of a COOKER that produce heat
3 put/leave sth on the back burner informal to delay doing something until a later time:
•The government quietly put the scheme on the back burner.
BUNSEN BURNER $ [only before noun]
1 on fire:
•She was rescued from a burning building.
2 feeling very hot:
•Claudia put her hands to her burning face.
3 burning ambition/desire/need etc a burning AMBITION, desire, need etc is very strong:
•My burning ambition is to be world champion.
4 burning issue/question a burning ISSUE or question is very important and urgent:
•Education has become a burning issue in this election.
5 written burning eyes look at you very hard or show very strong feeling
burning hot very hot $ [T] formal
1 to polish metal or another substance until it shines
2 to work hard in order to improve something:
•He missed no opportunity to burnish his image.
- burnished adjective $
1 [U] the feeling of always being tired because you have been working too hard:
•Many of the teachers are suffering from burnout.
2 [C,U] the time when a ROCKET or JET has finished all of its FUEL and stops operating $ especially BrE
the past tense and past participle of BURN
1 damaged or hurt by burning:
•burnt toast
2 burnt offering
a) something that is offered as a gift to a god by being burnt on an ALTAR
b) BrE humorous food that you accidentally burnt while you were cooking it $
1 [I] to pass gas loudly from your stomach out through your mouth; = belch
2 [T] to help a baby to do this, especially by rubbing or gently hitting its back
- burp noun [C]burka $ [C]
a long piece of clothing worn by Muslim women in some countries, which covers the head, face, and body, with only a small square to see through; abaya, chador $ [C]
1 also bur the seed container of some plants, covered with sharp points that make it stick to things
2 BrE a way of pronouncing English with a strong 'r' sound
3 a fairly quiet regular sound like something turning quickly; = whirr
•the burr of a motor
4 a rough spot on a piece of metal $ plural burritos [C]
a Mexican dish made with a TORTILLA (=flat thin bread) folded around meat or beans with cheese $ plural burros [C]
AmE a small DONKEY $
1 [I always + adv/prep, T] to make a hole or passage in the ground; = dig down
[+into/under/through etc]
•Mother turtles burrow into the sand to lay their eggs.
2 [I,T always + adv/prep] to press your body close to someone or under something because you want to get warm or feel safe; = nestle
[+into/under/down etc]
•The child stirred and burrowed deeper into the bed.
burrow sth into/against etc sth
•She burrowed her head into his shoulder.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to search for something that is hidden in a container or under other things; = rummage
[+in/into/through etc]
•Helen burrowed in her bag for a handkerchief.[C]
a passage in the ground made by an animal such as a rabbit or FOX as a place to live $ [C]
someone at a school or college who deals with the accounts and office work $ plural bursaries [C] BrE
an amount of money given to someone so that they can study at a university or college; = grant $ past tense and past participle burst
1 BREAK OPEN [I,T] if something bursts or if you burst it, it breaks open or apart suddenly and violently so that its contents come out:
•The pipes had burst and the house was under two feet of water.
2 be bursting with sth to have a lot of something or be filled with something:
•John was bursting with ideas and good humour.
•The shops are bursting with food.
be bursting with pride/energy/excitement etc
•Your mum's bursting with pride for you.
3 MOVE SUDDENLY [I always + adv/prep] to move somewhere suddenly or quickly, especially into or out of a place
[+into/through/in etc]
•Jo burst into the room.
4 burst open to open suddenly:
•The door burst open and Tom ran into the room.
5 be bursting to do sth informal to want to do something very much:
•Zach was bursting to tell them something.
6 be bursting
a) BrE informal to need to go to the toilet very soon
b) also be bursting at the seams to be so full that nothing else can fit inside
7 burst sb's bubble informal to destroy someone's beliefs or hopes about something:
•Steve was so happy I couldn't bear to burst his bubble.
8 burst its banks if a river bursts its banks, water from it goes on to the land

PHRASAL VERBS
burst in on/upon sb/sth phr v
to interrupt something by entering a room, in a way that embarrasses you or other people:
•I'm sorry to burst in on you like this.

burst into sth phr v
1 to suddenly begin to make a sound, especially to start singing, crying, or laughing:
•Claire looked as if she were about to burst into tears.
•Suddenly, the group burst into laughter.
•Lydia burst into song.
2 burst into flames/flame to suddenly start to burn very strongly:
•Their car crashed and burst into flames.

burst onto/upon/on sth phr v
to suddenly appear and become very successful:
•The band burst onto the music scene in 1997.

burst out phr v
1 burst out laughing/crying/singing etc to suddenly start to laugh, cry etc:
•Everyone in the room burst out laughing.
2 to suddenly say something in a forceful way:
•'I don't believe it!' she burst out angrily.
OUTBURST (1)
full (up) to bursting at FULL^1 (1); burst the bubble at BUBBLE^1 (6); the bubble bursts at BUBBLE^1 (5)[C]
1 the act of something bursting or the place where it has burst:
•a burst in the water pipe
2
a) a short sudden effort or increase in activity
[+of]
•The van gave a sudden burst of speed.
b) a short sudden and usually loud sound
[+of]
•sharp bursts of machine gun fire
c) a sudden strong feeling or emotion
burst of anger/enthusiasm/temper etc $ [C]
literary a BURDEN $
gone for a burton BrE old-fashioned informal lost, broken, or dead past tense and past participle buried, present participle burying, third person singular buries [T]
1 DEAD PERSON to put someone who has died in a GRAVE
bury sb in/at etc sth
•He was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's.
2 OBJECT to put something under the ground, often in order to hide it:
•Electric cables are buried beneath the streets.
3 FALL ON STH [usually in passive] to fall on top of someone or something, usually harming or destroying them
be buried under/beneath etc sth
•The skiers were buried under the snow.
•57 miners were buried alive.
4 HIDDEN [usually in passive] to cover something so that it cannot be found:
•His glasses were buried under a pile of papers.
5 FEELING/MEMORY to ignore a feeling or memory and pretend that it does not exist:
•a deeply buried memory
6 bury your face/head etc (in sth) to press your face etc into something soft:
•Noel buried his face in the pillow.
7 bury your face/head in your hands to cover your face with your hands because you are very upset
8 bury your head in the sand to ignore an unpleasant situation and hope it will stop if you do not think about it
9 bury the hatchet/bury your differences to agree to stop arguing about something and become friends
10 IN A SURFACE to push something, especially something sharp, into something else with a lot of force
bury sth in sth
•The dog buried its teeth in my leg.
•The bullet buried itself in the wall.
11 bury yourself in your work/studies etc to give all your attention to something:
•After the divorce, she buried herself in her work.
12 INFORMATION to put a fact or information somewhere in a larger document so that it is unlikely to be found or read:
•The story was buried at the back of the paper.
13 LOVED ONE literary to have someone you love die:
•She had buried her husband, two sons, and a daughter.
be dead and buried at DEAD^1 (14)also busses especially AmE plural buses [C]
1 a large vehicle that people pay to travel on

get on a bus
get off a bus
wait for a bus
catch a bus
take a bus
ride a bus AmE
miss a bus (=be too late to get on a bus)
bus fare (=money you pay for a bus journey)
bus pass (=a card you buy that allows you to make several bus journeys)
bus ride/trip/journey
bus route (=the way a bus goes)
school bus

•There were a lot of people on the bus this morning.
•She got on the bus at Clark Street.
• I'll tell you when to get off the bus.
• a line of people waiting for a bus
• Sally had to run to catch the bus.
• I took the bus to the university.
• Too tired to walk? Try riding the bus for a peso or two.
• Hurry up or we'll miss the bus!
by bus
•The best way to get there is by bus.
• Unable to afford bus fares, she walked to interviews.
•I lost my glasses on the school bus.

2 a CIRCUIT that connects the main parts of a computer so that signals can be sent from one part of the computer to anotherpast tense and past participle bused or, bussed, present participle busing or, bussing
1 [T usually passive] to take a person or a group of people somewhere in a bus
bus sb to/in/into sth
•Casey was bussed to the school.
2 [T] AmE to take away dirty dishes from the tables in a restaurant:
•Shelley had a job bussing tables. [C]
AmE a young man whose job is to take away dirty dishes from the tables in a restaurant [C]
a tall fur hat worn by some British soldiers [C]
1 a plant with many thin branches growing up from the ground; tree, shrub
•a rose bush
•The child was hiding in the bushes.
2 the bush wild country that has not been cleared, especially in Australia or Africa
3 a bush of hair is a lot of thick untidy hair
beat about the bush at BEAT^1 (14) [not before noun]
informal very tired
hide your light under a bushel to not tell anyone that you are good at somethingAmE informal
badly done or of such bad quality that it is not acceptable:
•bush league reporting plural Bushmen [C]
someone who belongs to a southern African tribe who live in the BUSH (=wild country) [I,T]
to push or cut your way through thick trees or bushes comparative bushier, superlative bushiest
1 bushy hair or fur grows thickly:
•a bushy tail
2 bushy plants grow thickly, with a lot of branches and leaves
- bushiness noun [U]
in a busy way:
•Students were busily writing notes.
1 BUYING OR SELLING GOODS OR SERVICES [U] the activity of making money by producing or buying and selling goods, or providing services; commerce, trade
•Students on the course learn about all aspects of business.
•We do business with a number of Italian companies.
•Vanessa decided to go into business as an art-dealer.
set up/start up in business
•The scheme offers free advice to people wanting to set up in business.
•In order to stay in business, you must do better than your competitors.
the advertising/music/fashion etc business
•Carl began in the music business by running a recording studio.
business activities/interests etc
•He has a wide range of business interests.
2 COMPANY [C] an organization such as a company, shop, or factory that produces or sells goods or provides a service:
•She now has her own $25 million home-shopping business.
•They don't know how to run a business.
•The company began as a small family business (=owned and controlled by one family).
•Owners of small businesses (=that employ only a few people) will be hit hardest by these tax changes.
big business (=large and powerful companies in general)
•Does big business have more control over our everyday lives than our elected governments?
the business community (=people who work in business generally)
•the international business community
3 HOW MUCH WORK A COMPANY HAS [U] the amount of work a company does or the amount of money it makes:
•We're now doing twice as much business as we did last year.
•Exports account for 72% of overall business.
business is good/bad/slow etc
•Business is slow during the summer.
drum up business (=try to get more work for you or your company)
•Perot was in Europe, drumming up business for his new investment company.
4 FOR YOUR JOB [U] work that you do as part of your job:
•She's in New York this week on business (=for her work).
•Hi Maggie! Is this phone call business or pleasure?
business trip/meeting etc
•We discussed the idea over a business lunch.
•useful business contacts
5 WHAT SOMEONE SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN [U]
a) if something is not your business or none of your business, you should not be involved in it or ask about it:
•It was not her business, she decided, to ask where the money came from.
•It's none of your business how much I weigh.
•'Who's that girl you were with?' ' Mind your own business (=Don't ask questions about something that does not concern you)!'
•Are you going out with Kate tonight? 'That's my business' (=it doesn't concern you, so don't ask me questions about it).
b) if it is someone's business to do something, it is their duty or responsibility to do it
it is the business of sb to do sth
•It is the business of government to listen to the various groups within society.
6 THINGS TO BE DEALT WITH [U] things that need to be done or discussed:
•Okay, let's get down to business (=start doing or discussing something).
•'Is there any other business?' the chairman asked.
7 MATTER [singular] a situation or activity, especially one that you have a particular opinion about or attitude towards
a serious/strange/funny etc business
•Leon regards keeping fit as a serious business.
•Tanya found the whole business ridiculous.
8 be in business
a) to be involved in business activities:
•The company has been in business for over thirty years.
b) spoken to have all that you need to start doing something:
•I've just got to buy the paint and then we're in business.
9 (go) out of business if a company goes out of business, or something puts it out of business, it stops operating, especially because of financial problems:
•Higher interest rates will drive small firms out of business.
10 be back in business to be working or operating in a normal way again:
•The band are back in business after a long break.
11 sb was (just) minding their own business spoken used to say that someone was not doing anything unusual or wrong at the time when something unfair or bad happened to them:
•I was driving along, minding my own business, when the police stopped my car.
12 go about your business to do the things that you normally do:
•The street was full of ordinary people going about their business.
13 make it your business to do sth to make a special effort to do something:
•Ruth made it her business to get to know the customers.
14 mean business informal to be serious about doing something even if it involves harming someone:
•The border is guarded by troops who mean business.
15 unfinished business something you need to discuss further with someone or a situation that has not yet reached a satisfactory solution:
•The sudden death of a loved one can often leave the bereaved with an agonising sense of unfinished business.
16 business is business spoken used to say that profit is the most important thing to consider:
•We can't afford to employ someone who isn't good at the job - business is business.
17 business as usual when someone or something is still working or operating normally when you think they might not be:
•Despite last night's scare, it was business as usual in the White House today.
18 have no business doing sth/have no business to do sth to do something you should not be doing:
•He was drunk and had no business driving.
19 not be in the business of doing sth to not be intending to do something because you think it is a bad idea:
•I'm not in the business of selling my best players.
20 and all that business spoken informal and other things of the same general kind:
•She handles the publicity and all that business.
21 (it's) the business BrE informal used to say that something is very good or works well:
•Have you seen David's new car? It's the business!
22 do the business BrE informal
a) to do what you are expected to do or what people want you to do:
•Come on, then, and do the business.
b) to have sex
BIG BUSINESS; funny business at FUNNY (3); like nobody's business at NOBODY^1 (2); monkey business at MONKEY^1 (3); SHOW BUSINESS[C]
a card that shows a business person's name, position, company, address etc[U]
travelling conditions on an aircraft that are more expensive than TOURIST CLASS, but not as expensive as FIRST CLASS
ECONOMY CLASS
the business end (of sth) informal the end of a tool or weapon that does the work or causes the damage:
•the business end of a gun[plural]
the normal hours that shops and offices are open
effective and practical in the way that you do things:
•a businesslike manner plural businessmen [C]
a man who works in business[C]
an area where many companies and businesses have buildings and officesplural business people [C]
a person who works in business[C]
a document which explains what a company wants to do in the future, and how it plans to do it[U]
a course of study on economic and financial subjects and managing a business[C] AmE
a suit that someone wears during the day at work plural businesswomen [C]
a woman who works in business [U]
a system in the US in which students ride buses to schools that are far from where they live, so that a school has students of different races [I]
BrE to play music in a public place in order to earn money
- busker noun [C][C]
a part of a wide road that only buses are allowed to use $ [C] AmE
an amount of people on a bus that is full $ [singular] BrE
a holiday spent doing the same work as you do in your job - often used humorously[C]
a special ticket giving cheap or free bus travel [T] AmE old-fashioned
to kiss someone in a friendly rather than sexual way:
•politicians bussing babies
a plural of bus[C]
especially BrE a small structure with a roof that keeps people dry while they are waiting for a busalso bus terminal [C]
a place where buses start and finish their journeys[C]
a place at the side of a road, marked with a sign, where buses stop for passengers past tense and past participle bust BrE also, busted especially AmE [T]
1 BREAK informal to break something:
•I bust my watch this morning.
•Tony busted the door down.
2 POLICE
a) if the police bust someone, they charge them with a crime:
•He was busted by U.S. inspectors at the border.
bust sb for sth
•Davis got busted for drugs.
b) informal if the police bust a place, they go into it to look for something illegal:
•Federal agents busted several money-exchange businesses.
3 TRY HARD bust a gut informal also bust your butt/ass AmE spoken to try extremely hard to do something:
•I bust a gut trying to finish that work on time.
4 MONEY AmE informal to use too much money, so that a business etc must stop operating:
•The trip to Spain will probably bust our budget.
5 crime-busting/union-busting/budget-busting etc informal used with nouns to show that a situation is being ended or an activity is being stopped:
•crime-busting laws
6 ... or bust! informal used to say that you will try very hard to go somewhere or do something:
•Idaho or bust!
7 MILITARY especially AmE to give someone a lower military rank as a punishment; = demote

PHRASAL VERBS
bust out phr v informal
to escape from a place, especially prison

bust up phr v informal
1 BrE if people bust up, they end their relationship or friendship; = break up
•They bust up after six years of marriage.
BUST-UP (1)
2 bust sth <=> up to prevent an illegal activity or bad situation from continuing; = break up
•A couple of teachers stepped in to bust up the fight.
3 bust sth <=> up AmE to damage or break something:
•A bunch of bikers busted up the bar.
4 AmE to start laughing a lot; = crack up
•Elaine busted up laughing at the sight of him.[C]
1 a model of someone's head, shoulders, and upper chest, usually made of stone or metal
[+of]
•a bust of Beethoven
2 a woman's breasts, or the part of her clothes that covers her breasts
3 a measurement around a woman's breast and back:
•a 36-inch bust
4 informal a situation in which the police go into a place in order to catch people doing something illegal:
•a drug bust
boom to bust at BOOM^1 (1)[not before noun]
1 go bust informal a business that goes bust cannot continue operating
2 BrE informal broken:
•The television's bust again. AmE spoken informal
1 broken:
•a busted arm
2 [not before noun] caught doing something wrong and likely to be punished:
•You guys are so busted! $
1 AmE spoken used to speak to a man who is annoying you or who you do not respect:
•You're under arrest, buster!
2 crime-buster/budget-buster/sanctions-buster etc informal used with nouns to mean someone or something that ends a situation or stops an activity $ [C]
a tight piece of clothing that women wear on the top half of the body, which does not cover their shoulders or arms [I always + adv/prep]
to move around quickly, looking very busy
[+about/round etc]
•Madge bustled round the room, putting things away.
1 [singular] busy and usually noisy activity
[+of]
•a continual bustle of people coming and going
hustle and bustle at HUSTLE^2 (1)
2 [C] a frame worn by women in the past to hold out the back of their skirts
a bustling place is very busy
bustling with sb/sth
•The flower market was bustling with shoppers.[C] informal
1 the end of a relationship
[+of]
•the bust-up of their marriage
bust up at BUST^1
2 BrE a very bad quarrel or fight:
•Cathy and I had a real bust-up yesterday. informal
a woman who is busty has large breasts comparative busier, superlative busiest
1 PERSON if you are busy, you are working hard and have a lot of things to do:
•She's busy now - can you phone later?
•a busy mother of four
[+with]
•Mr Haynes is busy with a customer at the moment.
busy doing sth
•Rachel's busy studying for her exams.
•There were lots of activities to keep the kids busy.
2 TIME a busy period of time is full of work or other activities:
•December is the busiest time of year for shops.
•a busy day
•He took time out of his busy schedule to visit us.
3 PLACE a busy place is very full of people or vehicles and movement:
•We live on a very busy road.
4 TELEPHONE especially AmE if a telephone you are calling is busy, it makes a repeated sound to tell you that the person you are calling is talking on their telephone; = engaged BrE
•I called Sonya, but her line was busy.
•I keep getting a busy signal.
5 PATTERN a pattern or design that is busy is too full of small details - used to show disapprovalpast tense and past participle busied, present participle busying, third person singular busies [T]
busy yourself with sth to use your time dealing with something:
•He busied himself with answering letters. $ plural busybodies [C]
someone who is too interested in other people's private activities - used to show disapproval [C]
a small plant with bright flowers $ [U]
AmE work that gives someone something to do, but that is not really necessary strong
1 used to connect two statements or phrases when the second one adds something different or seems surprising after the first one:
•It's an old car, but it's very reliable.
•They rushed to the hospital, but they were too late.
•We've invited the boss, but she may decide not to come.
•an expensive but extremely useful book
•'Has he got any experience?' 'No, but he's keen to learn.'
2 used to introduce a statement that explains why the thing you have mentioned did not happen or is not possible:
•I'd like to go but I'm too busy.
•They would have married sooner, but they had to wait for her divorce.
3 used after a negative to emphasize that it is the second part of the sentence that is true:
•He lied to the court not just once, but on several occasions.
•The purpose of the scheme is not to help the employers but to provide work for young people.
4 except:
•What can we do but sit and wait?
•I had no choice but to accept the challenge.
•Not a day goes by but I think of dear old Larry (=I think of him every day).
5 but for
a) used when you are saying that something would have happened if something or someone else had not prevented it:
•But for these interruptions, the meeting would have finished earlier.
•The score could have been higher but for some excellent goalkeeping by Simon.
•I might never have got to university but for you.
b) except for something or someone:
•All was silent but for the sound of the wind in the trees.
6 but then (again) spoken
a) used when you are adding a statement that says almost the opposite of what you have just said:
•John might be ready to help us, but then again, he might not.
•You feel really sorry for him. But then again, it's hard to like him.
b) used when you are adding a statement that makes what you have just said seem less surprising:
•Dinah missed the last rehearsal, but then she always was unreliable, wasn't she?
7 spoken used when you are replying to someone and expressing strong feelings such as anger, surprise etc:
•But that's marvellous news!
•'They won't even discuss the problem.' 'But how stupid!'
8 sb cannot but do sth formal used to say that someone has to do something or cannot stop themselves from doing it:
•I could not but admire her.
9 spoken used when disagreeing with someone:
•'It was a good idea.' 'But it didn't work.'
10 spoken used to emphasize a word or statement:
•It'll be a great party - everyone, but everyone, is coming.
•They're rich, but I mean rich.
11 spoken used to change the subject of a conversation:
•But now to the main question.
•But tell me, are you really planning to retire?
12 spoken used after expressions such as 'excuse me' and 'I'm sorry':
•Excuse me, but I'm afraid this is a no-smoking area.
1 apart from; = except
•I could come any day but Thursday.
•There's no one here but me.
•I could still see nothing but the spirals of desert dust.
•He was unable to swallow anything but liquids.
2 the last but one/the next but two etc especially BrE the last or next thing or person except for one, two etc:
•Pauline and Derek live in the next house but one (=they live two houses away from us).
only:
•This is but one example of what can happen when things go badly wrong.
•It's going to be difficult. Anyway, we can but try.
•We have relationships of many different sorts - with our children, our parents, our boss and our friends, to name but a few.
buts [plural] spoken reasons that someone gives for not doing something or agreeing with something:
•'I don't want to hear any buts,' Jo snapped.
•He is the best player - no ifs, ands, or buts about that. [U]
a gas stored in liquid form, used for cooking and heating informal
1 a woman who is butch looks, behaves, or dresses like a man
2 a man who is butch seems big and strong, and typically male $ [C]
1 someone who owns or works in a shop that sells meat
2 the butcher's a shop where you can buy meat
3 someone who has killed someone else cruelly and unnecessarily, especially someone who has killed a lot of people
4 have/take a butcher's BrE spoken informal to have a look at something[T]
1 to kill animals and prepare them to be used as meat
2 to kill someone cruelly or unnecessarily, especially to kill a lot of people
3 informal to spoil something by working carelessly:
•That hairdresser really butchered my hair! [U]
1 cruel and unnecessary killing:
•the butchery of battle
2 the preparation of meat for sale $ [C]
the main male servant of a house [C]
1 PART OF YOUR BODY AmE informal the part of your body that you sit on; = buttocks
•a baby's soft little butt
be a pain in the butt at PAIN^1 (3)
2 CIGARETTE the end of a cigarette after most of it has been smoked
3 be the butt of sth to be the person or thing that other people often make jokes about:
•Paul quickly became the butt of everyone's jokes.
4 GUN the thick end of the handle of a gun:
•a rifle butt
5 get your butt in/out/over etc AmE spoken used to rudely tell someone to go somewhere or do something:
•Kevin, get your butt over here!
6 AmE spoken work/play etc your butt off to work, play etc very hard:
•I worked my butt off in college.
7 CONTAINER BrE a large round container for collecting or storing liquids:
•a rainwater butt
8 HITTING WITH YOUR HEAD the act of hitting someone with your head[I,T]
1 to hit or push against something or someone with your head
2 if an animal butts someone, it hits them with its horns

PHRASAL VERBS
butt in phr v
1 to interrupt a conversation rudely:
•Stop butting in!
2 to become involved in a private situation that does not concern you
[+on]
•They don't want outsiders butting in on their decision-making.

butt out phr v especially AmE spoken
used to tell someone rudely that you do not want them to be involved in a conversation or situation:
•This has nothing to do with you, so just butt out! [C]
a hill with steep sides and a flat top in the western US $ [U]
1 a solid yellow food made from milk or cream that you spread on bread or use in cooking
BREAD-AND-BUTTER
2 butter wouldn't melt in sb's mouth used to say that someone seems to be very kind and sincere but is not really
- buttery adjective[T]
to spread butter on something:
•buttered toast

PHRASAL VERBS
butter sb <=> up phr v
informal to say nice things to someone so that they will do what you want:
•Don't think you can butter me up that easily.[C]
a large pale yellow bean $ [U]
a soft mixture of butter and sugar used inside or on top of cakes $ [C]
a small shiny yellow wild flower $ [U]
the natural fat in milk $ [singular]
informal someone who often drops things they are carrying or trying to catch $ plural butterflies [C]
1 a type of insect that has large wings, often with beautiful colours
2 have/get butterflies (in your stomach) informal to feel very nervous before doing something:
•I always get butterflies before an exam.
3 the butterfly a way of swimming by lying on your front and moving your arms together over your head while your legs move up and down
4 someone who usually moves on quickly from one activity or person to the next:
•Gwen's a real social butterfly. $ [U]
the liquid that remains after butter has been made $ [U]
a type of sweet or sauce made from butter and sugar boiled together, or the taste this has:
•butterscotch pudding $ [C] AmE spoken not polite
1 someone's ANUS
2 used to insult someone:
•You butthole! [C usually plural]
one of the fleshy parts of your body that you sit on [C]
1 a small round flat object on your shirt, coat etc which you pass through a hole to fasten it:
•small pearl buttons
•A button was missing from his shirt.
•She undid (=unfastened) the buttons of her blouse.
do up a button BrE (=fasten a button)
2 a small part or area of a machine that you press to make it do something:
• Press the pause button.
•Click on the icon with the right mouse button.
3 a small area on a computer screen, especially on a website, that you CLICK on in order to perform an action
4 AmE a small metal or plastic pin with a message or picture on it; = badge BrE
•presidential campaign buttons
5 button nose/eyes a nose or eyes that are small and round
6 on the button especially AmE informal exactly right, or at exactly the right time:
•She got to our house at two, on the button.
7 press/push (all) the right buttons to get what you want by behaving in a clever way:
•She seemed to push all the right buttons.
8 press/push sb's buttons to make someone angry by doing or saying something that annoys them:
•He really knows how to push Dad's buttons.
9 at/with the push/touch of a button used to emphasize how easy a machine is to use because it is controlled by pushing a button:
•The instrument can gauge a distance with the push of a button.
as bright as a button at BRIGHT (7)[I,T]
1 also button up to fasten clothes with buttons or to be fastened with buttons:
•Sam, make sure Nina buttons up her jacket.
2 button it! BrE button your lip/mouth AmE spoken used to tell someone in a rude way to stop talking[only before noun]
1 a button-down shirt or collar has the ends of the collar fastened to the shirt with buttons
2 a button-down company or style is formal and traditional:
•He didn't fit in with the button-down culture of his new boss.informal
someone who is buttoned-up is not able to express their feelings, especially sexual feelings $ [C]
1 a hole for a button to be put through to fasten a shirt, coat etc
2 BrE a flower you fasten to your clothes; = boutonniere AmE [C]
a brick or stone structure built to support a wall[T] formal
to support a system, idea, argument etc, especially by providing money:
•The evidence seemed to buttress their argument. plural butties [C]
BrE informal a SANDWICH
a woman who is buxom is attractively large and healthy and has big breasts past tense and past participle bought $
1
a) [I,T] to get something by paying money for it; sell
•Where did you buy that dress?
•Ricky showed her the painting he'd bought that morning.
buy sb sth
•Let me buy you a drink.
buy sth for sb/sth
•The money will be used to buy equipment for the school.
buy (sth) from sb
•It's cheaper to buy direct from the manufacturer.
buy sth for $10/£200 etc
•Dan bought the car for $2000.
•It's much cheaper to buy in bulk (=buy large quantities of something).
b) [T] if a sum of money buys something, it is enough to pay for it:
•$50 doesn't buy much these days.
buy sb sth
•$15 should buy us a pizza and a drink.
2 buy (sb) time to deliberately make more time for yourself to do something, for example by delaying a decision:
•'Can we talk about it later?' he said, trying to buy a little more time.
3 [T] informal to believe something that someone tells you, especially when it is not likely to be true:
•'Let's just say it was an accident.' ' He'll never buy that.'
4 [T] informal to pay money to someone, especially someone in a position of authority, in order to persuade them to do something dishonest; = bribe
•People say the judge had been bought by the Mafia.
5 buy sth at the cost/expense/price of sth to get something that you want, but only by losing something else:
•The town has been careful not to buy prosperity at the expense of its character.
6 sb bought it old-fashioned informal someone was killed

PHRASAL VERBS
buy sth <=> in phr v
to buy something in large quantities:
•Companies are buying in supplies of paper, in case the price goes up.

buy into sth phr v
1 informal to accept that an idea is right and allow it to influence you:
•I never bought into this idea that you have to be thin to be attractive.
2 to buy part of a business or organization, especially because you want to control it:
•Investors were invited to buy into state-owned enterprises.

buy sb <=> off phr v
to pay someone money to stop them causing trouble or threatening you; = bribe

buy out phr v
1 buy sb/sth <=> out to buy someone's share of a business or property that you previously owned together, so that you have complete control
BUYOUT
2 buy sb out of sth to pay money so that someone can leave an organization such as the army before their contract has ended

buy sth <=> up phr v
to quickly buy as much of something as possible, for example land, tickets, or goods:
•Much of the land was bought up by property developers.[C, usually singular]
1 something that is worth buying, because it is cheap, good quality, or likely to gain in value
a good/excellent etc buy
•The wine is a good buy at $6.50.
•It's worth shopping around for the best buy (=what you want at the lowest price).
2 informal an act of buying something, especially something illegal; = deal $ [C]
1 someone who buys something expensive such as a house or car; seller, vendor
•There were several potential buyers.
•discounts for first-time buyers
2 someone whose job is to choose and buy the goods for a shop or company:
•a buyer for a chain store[singular]
a situation in which there is plenty of something available, so that buyers have a lot of choice and prices tend to be low; seller's market [C]
a situation in which someone gains control of a company by buying all or most of its SHAREs :
•a management buyout
buy out at BUY^1
1 MAKE A SOUND [I] to make a continuous sound, like the sound of a BEE:
•a loud buzzing noise
2 MOVING AROUND [I always + adv/prep]
a) to move around in the air making a continuous sound like a BEE:
•Bees were buzzing around the picnic tables.
b) to move quickly around a place
•Pamela buzzed around checking that everything was ready.
•There were all sorts of rumours buzzing through the office.
3 EXCITEMENT [I] if a group of people or a place is buzzing, there is a lot of activity or excitement
[+with]
•a classroom buzzing with activity
4 CALL [I,T]
a) to call someone by pressing a BUZZER:
•Kramer buzzed at the security door, and I let him in.
[+for]
•Tina buzzed for her secretary.
b) to make something happen, for example make a door or gate open or close, by pressing a buzzer
buzz sb in/out
•She buzzed them in and greeted them warmly.
buzz sb through sth
•The guard buzzed me through the gate.
5 THOUGHTS [I] if your head or mind is buzzing with thoughts, ideas etc, you cannot stop thinking about them
[+with]
•My mind was buzzing with new ideas.
•Questions started buzzing round in my head.
6 EARS [I] if your ears or head are buzzing, you can hear a continuous low unpleasant sound
7 AIRCRAFT [T] informal to fly an aircraft low and fast over buildings, people etc:
•Military jets buzzed the city.

PHRASAL VERBS
buzz off phr v spoken
1 buzz off! used to tell someone in a rude way to go away
2 BrE to go away:
•I've finished everything, so I'll buzz off now.
1 [C] a continuous noise like the sound of a BEE
[+of]
•the buzz of mosquitoes
2 [singular] a lot of activity, noise, and excitement
[+of]
•the buzz of conversation and laughter
3 [singular] informal a strong feeling of excitement, pleasure, or success, or a similar feeling from drinking alcohol or taking drugs:
•Playing well gives me a buzz.
•Neil gets a buzz from drinking one beer.
4 give sb a buzz informal to telephone someone:
•I'll give you a buzz on Monday.
5 the buzz informal unofficial news or information that is spread by people telling each other; gossip, rumour $ [C]
1 BrE a type of large HAWK (=hunting bird)
2 AmE a type of large bird that eats dead animals [C]
AmE a hair style that is very short, usually worn by men $ [C]
a small thing, usually shaped like a button, that BUZZes when you press it:
•Press the buzzer if you know the answer.[C]
AmE a SAW with a round blade that is spun around by a motor; = circular saw $ [C]
a word or phrase from one special area of knowledge that people suddenly think is very important:
•'Multimedia' has been a buzzword in the computer industry for years.
1 WHO/WHAT DOES STH used especially with a PASSIVE verb to say who or what does something or makes something happen:
•I was attacked by a dog.
•a church designed by the famous architect, Sir Christopher Wren
•We are all alarmed by the rise in violent crime.
•interference by the state in the affairs of the Church
•his appointment by the BBC as a producer
2 MEANS/METHOD used to say what means or method someone uses to do something:
•You can reserve the tickets by phone.
•Send it by airmail.
•Some customers prefer to pay by cheque.
by car/train/bus/taxi etc
•They travelled to Chicago by train.
by air/sea/land/road/rail etc
•All supplies are transported by air.
by doing sth
•She earns her living by selling insurance.
•He was taken from his home by force.
3 ROAD/DOOR used to say which road, entrance, door etc someone uses to get to a place:
•They came in by the back door.
•It's quicker to go by the country route.
4 TAKING HOLD used to say which part of an object or of a person's body someone takes hold of:
•He took Elaine by the arm and led her across the road.
•She grabbed the hammer by the handle.
5 WRITER/COMPOSER ETC used to give the name of someone who wrote a book, produced a film, wrote a piece of music etc:
•the 'New World Symphony' by Dvorak
•a short story by Charles Dickens
•Who's it by?
6 BESIDE beside or near something:
•She stood by the window.
•Jane went and sat by Patrick.
7 PAST past someone or something without stopping:
•He walked right by me without even saying hello.
•I pass by the farm every day on my way to work.
8 BEFORE before or not later than a particular time:
•The documents need to be ready by next Friday.
•I reckon the film should be over by 9.30.
•By the end of the day we had sold over 2000 tickets.
•By the time we got home we were tired and hungry.
9 ACCORDING TO according to a particular rule, method, or way of doing things:
•You've got to play by the rules.
•Profits were £6 million, but by our standards this is low.
10 CHANGE/DIFFERENCE used to say how great a change or difference is:
•The price of oil fell by a further $2 a barrel.
•I was overcharged by £3.
•Godard's first film was better by far (=by a large amount or degree).
11 MEASUREMENTS used to give the measurements of a room, container etc:
•a room 15 metres by 23 metres
12 QUANTITY used to show what unit of measurement or quantity is involved in selling, paying for, producing etc something:
•Eggs are sold by the dozen.
•We're paid by the hour.
•She wanted to tear his hair out by the handful.
13 GRADUAL CHANGE used to say that something happens gradually:
•Day by day he grew weaker.
•Little by little I was beginning to discover the truth about Garfield.
•One by one, the men stepped forward.
14 QUICK CHANGE used to say that something or someone is quickly becoming worse, better etc:
•The financial crisis was growing more serious by the hour.
15 LIGHT used to say that something happens in a particular kind of light:
•We walked through the palace gardens by moonlight.
16 by day/night during the day or the night:
•a tour of Paris by night
17 JOB/NATURE ETC used when you are giving information about someone's character, job, origin etc:
•George I and George II were Germans by birth.
•Cautious by nature, Simpkin was reluctant to interfere.
•Robert Key was a teacher by profession.
18 VISITING in order to visit a person or place for a short time:
•On the way, I stopped by the post office.
19 (all) by yourself
a) completely alone:
•Dave spent Christmas all by himself.
b) without help from anyone:
•You can't move the furniture all by yourself.
20 MULTIPLYING/DIVIDING used between two numbers when talking about multiplying or dividing:
•What's 48 divided by 4?
21 EMPHASIS used when expressing strong feelings or making serious promises:
•By God, I'll kill that boy when I see him!
22 FATHER if a woman has children by a particular man, that man is the children's father:
•She's got two children by her previous husband.
23 by the by spoken used when mentioning something that may be interesting but is not particularly important:
•By the by, Ian said he might call round tonight.
by the way at WAY

WORD CHOICE: by, with, in
by is used especially in passives, to say who or what does or causes something: She was hit by a truck. | a book written by Peter Carey
Use with or in after verbs which describe a state rather than an action: The room was lit with candles. | Her house is always filled with music. | The books were covered in dust.
Use with to say what tool you use to do something: I got the stain out with this brush (NOT by this brush).

1 past someone or something:
•As I was standing on the platform, the Liverpool train went whizzing by.
•James walked by without even looking in my direction.
2 used to say that time passes:
•As the summer days slipped by, it was easy to forget about the war.
•Ten years had gone by since I had last seen Marilyn.
3 beside or near someone or something:
•A crowd of people were standing by, waiting for an announcement.
4 in order to visit a person or place for a short time:
•Why don't you stop by for a drink after work?
5 by and large used when making a general statement:
•By and large, the new arrangements have worked well.
6 by and by old use soon:
•She will be better by and by.bye-
less important:
•a by-product (=something made in addition to the main product)
•a by-election (=one held between regular elections)
informal goodbye:
•Bye, Dave.
bye for now (=used to say that you will see or speak to someone again soon)[C]
a situation in a sports competition in which a player or a team does not have an opponent to play against and continues to the next part of the competition
another spelling of BY-informal
goodbye - used especially when speaking to children, friends, or members of your family:
•Say bye-bye to Daddy, Tommy.
go (to) bye-byes BrE an expression meaning go to sleep, used by or to childrenbye-election [C]
especially BrE a special election to replace a politician who has left parliament or died; general election $
bygone age/era/days etc a period of time in the past:
•The buildings reflect the elegance of a bygone era. $
let bygones be bygones to forget something bad that someone has done to you and forgive them $ [C]
1 a law made by a local government that people in that area must obey
2 AmE a rule made by an organization to control the people who belong to it[C]
a line at the beginning of an article in a newspaper or magazine that gives the writer's name $ [C]
1 (heart) bypass operation/ surgery an operation to direct blood through new VEINs (=blood tubes) outside the heart because the veins in the heart are blocked or diseased:
•a triple heart bypass operation
2 a road that goes around a town or other busy area rather than through it; ring road
3 technical a tube that allows gas or liquid to flow around something rather than through it[T]
1 to go around a town or other busy place rather than through it:
•Interstate 8 bypasses the town to the north.
2 to avoid obeying a rule, system, or someone in an official position:
•Francis bypassed his manager and wrote straight to the director.also byproduct $ [C]
1 something additional that is produced during a natural or industrial process
[+of]
•a by-product of oil refining
2 an unplanned additional result of something that you do
[+of]
•Job losses are an unfortunate byproduct of the recession.
END PRODUCT $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned a farm building in which cattle are kept; = cowshed $ [C]
someone who watches what is happening without taking part; = onlooker
•Several innocent bystanders were killed by the blast. [C]
a unit for measuring computer information, equal to eight BITs (=the smallest unit on which information is stored on a computer):
•Each character requires one byte of storage space.
GIGABYTE, KILOBYTE, MEGABYTE, TERABYTE [C]
1 a small road or path which is not used very much
2 byways [plural] the less important parts of an activity or subject:
•a scholar exploring the highways and byways of Russian music (=the important and less important parts) $
1 be a byword for sth to be so well known for a particular quality that your name is used to represent that quality:
•His name has become a byword for honesty in the community.
2 [singular] a word, phrase, or saying that is very well known:
•Caution should be a byword for investors. $
1 also byzantine complicated and difficult to understand:
•the byzantine complexity of our tax laws
2 relating to the Byzantines or the Byzantine empire:
•a 5th century Byzantine church
1 the written abbreviation of Celsius or, Centigrade :
•Water boils at 100°C.
2 written informal a way of writing "see", used especially in emails and TEXT MESSAGEs :
•CU (=see you) in class!c plural C's, c's [C,U]
1 the third letter of the English alphabet
2 the first note in the musical SCALE of C MAJOR, or the musical KEY based on this note
3 a mark given to a student's work to show that it is of average quality
4 the number 100 in the system of ROMAN NUMERALs also c.
1 also C the written abbreviation of century :
•the economic changes of the C20th
2 a written abbreviation of circa (=about), used especially before dates:
•c. 1830
3 © the written abbreviation of copyright
4 AmE the written abbreviation of cup , used in cooking
the written abbreviation of country and western also ca BrE
a written abbreviation of circa (=about):
•dating from ca. 1900 [C]
1 a taxi:
•New York's yellow cabs
take/get a cab
•I took a cab to the airport.
call (sb) a cab (=telephone for a taxi)
•Ralph tried to hail a cab (=wave to get a cab to stop for you).
2 the part of a bus, train, or truck in which the driver sits
3 a carriage pulled by horses that was used like a taxi in the past [C] formal
a small group of people who make secret plans, especially in order to have political power $ [C]
a tent or small wooden structure used for changing clothes at a beach or pool $
1 [C,U] entertainment, usually with music, songs, and dancing, performed in a restaurant or club while the customers eat and drink:
•a cabaret singer
2 [C] a restaurant or club where this is performed:
•the most famous Parisian cabaret, the Moulin Rouge
1 [C,U] a large round vegetable with thick green or purple leaves
2 [C] BrE informal someone who cannot think, move, speak etc as a result of brain injury; = vegetablecabby [C]
informal a taxi driver $ [C]
a long heavy wooden pole that is thrown into the air as a test of strength in sports competitions in Scotland [C]
1 a small house, especially one built of wood in an area of forest or mountains:
•a log cabin
2 a small room on a ship in which you live or sleep
3 an area inside a plane where the passengers sit or where the pilot works:
•the First Class cabin[C]
a young man who works as a servant on a ship[U]
travelling conditions on a ship that are better than TOURIST CLASS but not as good as FIRST CLASS[U]
the group of people whose job is to take care of the passengers on a plane; flight attendant, stewardess[C]
a large motor boat with one or more cabins for people to sleep in [C]
1 also Cabinet [also + plural verb] BrE the politicians with important positions in a government who meet to make decisions or advise the leader of the government:
•a cabinet meeting
•a member of the Cabinet
2 a piece of furniture with doors and shelves or drawers, used for storing or showing things; = cupboard
•The aspirin's in the medicine cabinet.[C]
someone whose job is to make good quality wooden furniture[U] informal
when you feel upset and impatient because you have not been outside for a long time
1 [C] a plastic or rubber tube containing wires that carry telephone messages, electronic signals, television pictures etc:
•cables and switches for computers
overhead/underground/undersea cable
•overhead power cables
2 [C,U] a thick strong metal rope used on ships, to support bridges etc
3 [U] a system of broadcasting television by using cables, paid for by the person watching it
on cable
•I'll wait for the movie to come out on cable.
cable network/channel/programme
•HBO, CNN and other cable networks
4 [C] a TELEGRAM[I,T]
to send someone a TELEGRAM
cable sb sth
•I cabled Mary the good news.[C]
1 a vehicle that hangs from a moving cable, and is used to take people up and down mountains
2 a vehicle similar to a train that is pulled along by a moving cable $ [C] AmE
a show, sports event etc that is broadcast on a CABLE TELEVISION station; broadcast
•the MTV Video Awards cablecast
- cablecast verb [T]
a cable-knit SWEATER has a raised pattern of crossing lines on it[C]
a MODEM (=piece of equipment that allows information from one computer to be sent to another) that uses CABLE connections instead of telephone wires, and allows you to search the Internet very quickly[C]
a railway on which vehicles are pulled up steep slopes by a moving CABLE
a television that is cable-ready is able to receive cable television signals directly without needing any special equipmentcable TV
a system of broadcasting television programmes by CABLE
SATELLITE TELEVISION [U]
all the wires that are used for electrical equipment or an electrical system:
•new cabling to handle 30 Internet terminals
the whole (kit and) caboodle informal everything:
•I think it's time to replace the whole caboodle: computer, printer, and monitor. [C]
AmE a small railway carriage at the back of a train, usually where the person in charge of it travels; = guard's van BrE[C]
BrE a place where taxis wait for customers; = cabstand AmE $ [C] BrE
a car with a roof that can be folded back; = convertible [C]
AmE a place where taxis wait for customers; = taxi rank BrE [U]
the seed from which chocolate and COCOA are made [C]
1 a number of things that have been hidden, especially weapons, or the place where they have been hidden
[+of]
•a cache of explosives
•a large arms cache
2 technical a special part of a computer's memory that helps it work faster by storing information for a short time:
•cache memory[T]
1 to hide something in a secret place, especially weapons
2 technical to store information in a computer's memory for a short time $ [singular, U]
formal if something has cachet, people think it is very good or special:
•It's a good college, but lacks the cachet of Harvard. BrE informal
careless and tending to drop things, or badly done; = clumsy [I]
1 to laugh in a loud unpleasant way, making short high sounds
2 when a chicken cackles, it makes a loud high sound[C]
1 a loud high sound that a chicken makes; cluck
2 a short high unpleasant laugh $ [singular]
a loud unpleasant mixture of sounds
[+of]
•a cacophony of car horns
- cacophonous adjective plural cacti or cactuses [C]
a desert plant with sharp points instead of leaves [U]
computer-aided design the use of computers to design industrial products [C]
old-fashioned a man who cannot be trusted, especially one who treats women badly $ [C]
technical a dead human body, especially one used for study; = corpse literary
looking extremely thin, pale, and unhealthy:
•cadaverous cheeks plural caddies [C]
1 also caddie someone who carries the GOLF CLUBs for someone who is playing golf
2 a small box for storing teacaddie past tense and past participle caddied, present participle caddying, third person singular caddies [I + for]
to carry GOLF CLUBs for someone who is playing golf [C]
1 the way someone's voice rises and falls, especially when reading out loud:
•the cadence of my mother's voice
2 a regular repeated pattern of sounds or movements:
•the Brazilian cadences of the music
3 technical a set of CHORDs [C] technical
a difficult part of a long piece of music, which a performer plays alone in order to show his or her skill [C]
someone who is training to be an officer in the army, navy, AIR FORCE, or police [I,T]
BrE informal to ask someone you know for something such as food, money, or cigarettes, because you do not have any or do not want to pay
cadge sth from/off sb
•I cadged a lift from Joanna. [C]
1 trademark a very expensive and comfortable car
2 AmE informal something that is regarded as an example of the highest quality of a particular type of product
[+of]
•the Cadillac of stereo systems [U]
a soft poisonous metal that is used in BATTERIES and in the protective SHIELDs in NUCLEAR REACTORs . It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Cd $ [C also + plural verb] BrE
a small group of specially trained people in a profession, political party, or military force
[+of]
•a cadre of highly trained scientistsalso caesarean section $ [C]
an operation in which a woman's body is cut open to take a baby out
born/delivered etc by caesarean
•Both her children were born by caesarean section.
•She had to have a caesarean.cesium AmE [U] BrE
a soft silver-white metal that is used in PHOTOELECTRIC CELLs . It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Cs $ [C]
technical a pause in the middle of a line of poetry $ [C]
1 a small restaurant where you can buy drinks and simple meals
2 a public place that is connected to a computer network, where people with similar interests discuss things by sending and receiving messages:
•an Internet café $ [C]
a restaurant, often in a factory, college etc, where you choose from foods that have already been cooked and carry your own food to a table; = canteen BrE
•the school cafeteria $ [C] BrE
a special pot for making coffee, with a metal FILTER that you push down [C] BrE informal
a café $ [U]
a substance in tea, coffee, and some other drinks that makes you feel more active; decaffeinated
•Avoid caffeine (=drinks with caffeine) before bedtime.
•a caffeine-free cola
- caffeinated adjective $ [C,U]
a drink made with coffee and hot milkkaftan $ [C]
a long loose piece of clothing, usually made of silk or cotton, and worn in the Middle East [C]
a structure made of wires or bars in which birds or animals can be kept
[T] to put or keep an animal or bird in a cage:
•caged birds
unwilling to tell people about your plans, intentions, or opinions
[+about]
•He was very cagey about the deal.
- cagily adverb
- caginess noun [C]
BrE a thin coat with a HOOD that stops you from getting wet
be in cahoots (with sb) to be working secretly with another person or group, especially in order to do something dishonest:
•The Forest Service and the timber industry were in cahoots. $ [C]
a pile of stones that marks a particular place, especially at the top of a mountain $ [C]
1 a large box filled with air, that people go into to work under water, for example when building bridges
2 a large box for carrying AMMUNITION $ [I,T]
to gradually persuade someone to do something by being nice to them, or making promises to them
cajole sb into doing sth
•Aid workers do their best to cajole rich countries into helping.
1 [C] someone from Louisiana in the US who has French-Canadian ANCESTORs
2 [U] a type of music played by Cajun people
- Cajun adjective
•Cajun cooking
1 [C,U] a soft sweet food made by baking a mixture of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs:
•cake and ice cream
•chocolate cake
birthday/wedding/Christmas cake
•Do you want some birthday cake?
slice/piece of cake
•Would you like a slice of cake?
make/bake a cake
•Sally decided to bake him a cake.
2 fish/rice/potato etc cake fish, rice etc that has been formed into a flat round shape and then cooked
3 [C] a small block of something
[+of]
•a cake of soap
4 be a piece of cake spoken to be very easy:
•'How do you do that?' 'It's a piece of cake! Watch!'
5 take the cake also take the biscuit BrE informal to be worse than anything else you can imagine:
•I've heard some pretty dumb ideas, but that takes the cake!
6 have your cake and eat it BrE have your cake and eat it too AmE spoken to have all the advantages of something without its disadvantages
7 a slice of the cake BrE a share of the profit, help etc that is available:
•Both companies expect to get a big slice of the cake.
sell like hot cakes at HOT CAKE (1)
1 be caked with/in sth to be covered with a layer of something soft or wet that becomes thick and hard when it dries:
•Our boots were caked with mud.
2 [I] if a substance cakes, it forms a thick hard layer when it dries $ [C] BrE spoken
someone's mouth[C] AmE
a cake TIN^1 (4)[C]
a piece of kitchen equipment with a handle and a wide flat end that you use for cutting and serving cakes, TARTs etc[C]
1 BrE a metal container in which you bake a cake; = cake pan AmE
2 a metal container with a lid, that you keep a cake in $ [singular]
AmE informal a very easy thing to do, or a very easy victory; = piece of cake
•The game was a cakewalk. $ [U]
a pink liquid that you put on sore, ITCHY or SUNBURNed skin to make it less painful plural calamities [C]
a terrible and unexpected event that causes a lot of damage or suffering; = disaster
•It would be a calamity for the farmers if the crops failed again.
- calamitous adjective past tense and past participle calcified, present participle calcifying, third person singular calcifies [I,T]
technical to become hard, or make something hard, by adding LIME [U]
a silver-white metal that helps to form teeth, bones, and CHALK. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Ca [no comparative]
something that is calculable can be measured by using numbers, or studying the facts available; incalculable
•clear and calculable benefits [T]
1 to find out how much something will cost, how long something will take etc, by using numbers:
•These instruments calculate distances precisely.
calculate how much/how many etc
•I'm trying to calculate how much paint we need.
calculate (that)
•Sally calculated that she'd have about £100 left.
calculate sth on sth
•Rates are calculated on an hourly basis.
2 to guess something using as many facts as you can find
calculate (that)
•Researchers calculated that this group was at a higher risk of heart disease.
calculate how/what/whether etc
•It's difficult to calculate what effect all these changes will have on the company.
3 be calculated to do sth to be intended to have a particular effect:
•a question calculated to embarrass him

PHRASAL VERBS
calculate on sth phr v
if you calculate on something, you are depending on it for your plans to succeed:
•We're calculating on an early start.
calculate on sb/sth doing sth
•Ken hadn't calculated on Polson refusing his offer.
1 a calculated crime or dishonest action is deliberately and carefully planned - used to show disapproval:
•a calculated attempt to deceive the American public
2 a calculated risk/gamble something risky that you do after thinking carefully about what might happen:
•The police took a calculated risk in releasing him.
- calculatedly adverb
thinking carefully about how to get exactly what you want, often without caring about anyone else - used to show disapproval:
•He gave her a calculating look.
1 [C usually plural, U] when you use numbers in order to find out an amount, price, or value
make/do a calculation
•Dee looked at the bill and made some rapid calculations.
by sb's/some/many calculations
•By some calculations, the population will reach 8 million soon.
2 [C,U] careful planning in order to get what you want, especially without caring about the effects on other people; miscalculation
•political calculation
3 [U] when you think carefully about what the probable results will be if you do something; miscalculation $ [C]
a small electronic machine that can add, multiply etc [U]
the part of mathematics that deals with changing quantities, such as the speed of a falling stone or the slope of a curved line $
the American spelling of CAULDRON $ [C]
1 a set of pages that show the days, weeks, and months of a particular year, that you usually hang on a wall
2 AmE
a) a book with separate spaces or pages for each day of the year, on which you write down the things you have to do; = diary BrE
•a desk calendar
b) all the things you plan to do in the next days, months etc:
•an event that deserves a place on your calendar
3 a system that divides and measures time in a particular way, usually starting from a particular event
the Roman/Islamic/Gregorian etc calendar
•The Islamic calendar has fewer days than the Gregorian calendar.
4 all the events in a year that are important for a particular organization or activity
golfing/sporting/racing etc calendar
•The Derby is a major event in the racing calendar.[C]
1 one of the 12 months of the year:
•Salaries will be paid at the end of the calendar month.
2 a period of time from a specific date in one month to the same date in the next month[C]
the period of time from January 1st to December 31st of the same year $ plural calves $ [C]
1 the part of the back of your leg between your knee and your ANKLE
2 the baby of a cow, or of some other large animals, such as an ELEPHANT
3 be in/with calf if a cow is in or with calf, it is going to have a baby
kill the fatted calf at KILL^1 (15) $ [U]
the skin of a calf, used for making shoes, bags etc $
the American spelling of CALIBRE [T] technical
1 to check or slightly change an instrument or tool, so that it does something correctly
2 to mark an instrument or tool so that you can use it for measuring [U] technical
1 the process of checking or slightly changing an instrument or tool so that it does something correctly:
•the calibration of flight instruments
2 a set of marks on an instrument or tool used for measuring, or the act of making these marks correctcaliber AmE $ BrE
1 [U] the level of quality or ability that someone or something has achieved
of sb's calibre
•Where will we find another man of his calibre?
•The school has always attracted a high calibre of student.
of high/the right etc calibre
•The paintings were of the highest caliber.
of this/that calibre
•The city needs a hotel of this calibre (=of this high standard).
2 [C]
a) the width of the inside of a gun or tube:
•a .22 caliber weapon
b) the width of a bullet $ [U]
1 BrE heavy cotton cloth that is usually white
2 AmE light cotton cloth with a small printed pattern
3 calico cat AmE a cat that has black, white, and brown fur; = tortoiseshell BrE $
the American spelling of CALLIPERS [C]
a Muslim ruler, especially in the past [C]
the country a caliph rules, or the period of time when they rule it
the American spelling of CALLISTHENICS $
an American spelling of CAULK $ [U]
computer-assisted language learning the use of computers to help people learn foreign languages $
1 TELEPHONE [I,T] to telephone someone:
•She calls her father every couple of days.
•I'll call you soon.
•What time did Tony call?
call a doctor/the police/a cab etc (=telephone someone and ask them to come to you)
•I think we should call a doctor.
•I'm gonna call the cops!
2 DESCRIBE [T] to use a word or name to describe someone or something in a particular way
call sb sth
•Are you calling me a liar?
•You may call it harmless fun, but I call it pornography.
call sb names (=use insulting names for someone)
•The other kids used to call me names, but I tried to ignore them.
3 HAVE A NAME [T] to have a particular name or title, or use a particular name or title for someone or something
be called sth
•Their eldest son is called Matthew.
•The arrow that appears on the screen is called a cursor.
call sb sth
•My name's Virginia, but my friends call me Ginny.
•Do you want to be called Miss or Ms?
call sb by sth
•I prefer to be called by my middle name.
4 GIVE SB/STH A NAME [T] especially BrE to give someone or something the name they will be known by in the future; = name AmE
•What are you going to call the new puppy?
call sb sth
•They've decided to call the baby Louise.
5 ASK/ORDER BY SPEAKING [T] to ask or order someone to come to you
call sb into/over/across etc
•Peter called the waitress over and ordered a large brandy.
•Marcie was called up to the principal's office.
6 ARRANGE [T] to arrange for something to happen at a particular time
call a meeting/strike/election etc
•The Security Council has called an emergency session to discuss the crisis.
•According to the law, the election must be called within the next two months.
7 SAY/SHOUT [I,T] to say or shout something loudly so that someone can hear you:
•I heard someone calling in the distance.
•'I'm coming!' she called down the stairs.
•Sheila was just sneaking out when her mother called her.
•She heard him call her name.
8 call yourself sth to say that you are a particular type of person, although you do nothing to show this is true:
•How could Julian call himself a friend and then let me down so badly?
9 call the shots/tune informal to be in a position of authority so that you can give orders and make decisions:
•It was a job in which she was able to call the shots.
10 call it a day informal to decide to stop working, especially because you have done enough or you are tired:
•Come on, let's call it a day and go home.
11 call collect AmE to make a telephone call that is paid for by the person who receives it; = reverse the charges BrE
12 READ NAMES [T] also call out to read names or numbers in a loud voice in order to get someone's attention:
•When I call your name, go and stand in line.
13 COURT [T usually passive] to tell someone that they must come to a law court or official committee
call sb to do sth
•They were called to give evidence at the trial.
14 call (sth) into question to make people uncertain about whether something is right, good, or true:
•I feel that my competence is being called into question here.
15 be/feel called to do sth to feel strongly that you should do something:
•He felt called to write to all his fellow investors, warning them of the impending crisis.
16 call sb/sth to order formal to tell people to obey the rules of a formal meeting
17 VISIT [I] also call round BrE to stop at a house or other place for a short time to see someone or do something:
•She called round for a chat.
call on sb
•We thought we'd call on James on the way home.
call (in) at sth
•I regularly called in at his office for news.
call into sth
•People often call into the library while they're out shopping.
18 call it £10/2 hours etc spoken used to suggest a general figure rather than a more specific one, especially in order to make things simpler:
•'I owe you £10.20.' 'Oh, call it £10!'
19 call it a draw if two opponents in a game call it a draw, they agree that neither of them has won
call it quits at QUITS (2)
20 call it/things even spoken use this to say that someone who owes you something does not have to give you anything more than they have already given you
21 call (sb's) attention to
a) to ask people to pay attention to a particular subject or problem:
•May I call your attention to item seven on the agenda.
b) to make someone notice someone or something:
•I wanted to shout out to Ken, but I didn't want to call attention to myself.
22 call sth to mind
a) to remind you of something:
•Don't those two call to mind the days when we were courting?
b) to remember something:
•I couldn't call to mind where I'd seen him before.
23 call a huddle AmE informal to make people come together to talk about something
24 call time (on sb/sth) to say that it is time for something to finish or stop
25 TRAINS/SHIPS [I] if a train, ship, bus etc calls at a place, it stops there for a short time; = stop
•This train calls at all stations to Broxbourne.
26 COIN [I,T] to guess which side of a coin will land upwards when it is thrown in the air, in order to decide who will play first in a game:
•It's your turn to call.
27 CARD GAME [I,T] to risk the same amount of money as the player who plays before you in a POKER game

PHRASAL VERBS
call back phr v
1 call (sb) back to telephone someone again, for example because they were not at home when you telephoned last time:
•I'll call back later.
•Can you ask John to call me back when he gets in?
2 BrE to return to a place you went to earlier:
•You could call back to collect her at noon.

call by phr v
to stop and visit someone when you are near the place where they live or work:
•I thought I'd call by and see how you were.

call down sth phr v
formal to ask for someone, especially a god, to make something unpleasant happen to someone or something
[+on/upon]
•He called down vengeance on them.

call for sb/sth phr v
1 if a group of people calls for something, they ask publicly for something to be done:
•Human Rights groups are calling for the release of political prisoners.
2 to need or deserve a particular type of behaviour or treatment:
•Dealing with children who are so damaged calls for immense tact and sensitivity.
•That kind of abuse is really not called for (=it is unnecessary and unwelcome).
UNCALLED FOR
3 BrE to meet someone at their home in order to take them somewhere:
•I'll call for you at 8 o'clock.
4 AmE to say that a particular kind of weather is likely to happen; = predict
•The forecast calls for more rain.

call sth <=> forth phr v
formal to produce a particular reaction:
•Great works of classical music can often call forth a mixture of responses from the listener.

call in phr v
1 call sb/sth <=> in to ask someone to come and help you with a difficult situation:
•The government then called in troops to deal with the disturbances.
2 to telephone somewhere, especially the place where you work, to tell them where you are, what you are doing etc:
•Rachael called in sick (=telephoned to say she was too ill to come to work).
3 to telephone a radio or television show to give your opinion or to ask a question:
•Over 2000 viewers called in with complaints about the bad language used in the programme.
4 call in a loan/debt to officially tell someone to pay back money you lent them:
•The economy slid further into bankruptcy when several foreign banks called in unpaid loans.
5 BrE to visit a person or place while you are on your way to somewhere else
[+on/at]
•Could you call in on Mum on your way home?

call sb/sth <=> off phr v
1 to decide that a planned event will not take place; = cancel
•The trip to Italy might be called off.
2 to officially decide that something should be stopped after it has already started:
•Rescuers had to call off the search because of worsening weather conditions.
3 to order an animal or person to stop attacking or threatening someone:
•Call your dog off.

call on/upon sb/sth phr v
1 to formally ask someone to do something
call on sb to do sth
•The UN has called on both sides to observe the ceasefire.
2 to visit someone for a short time:
•Why don't you call on my sister when you're in Brighton?

call out phr v
1 to say something loudly
call sth <=> out
•'Hi there!' I called out.
[+to]
•The firemen called out to him.
2 call sb <=> out to ask or order a person or an organization to help, especially in a difficult or dangerous situation:
•The army was called out to help fight fires.
3 call sb/sth <=> out BrE to order workers to go on STRIKE:
•The transport workers were called out.

call up phr v
1 informal especially AmE to telephone someone
call sb <=> up
•He called me up to tell me about it.
•I'm going to call up and cancel my subscription.
2 call sth <=> up if you call up information on a computer, you make the computer show it to you:
•I called up their website, but it didn't have the information I was looking for.
3 call sb <=> up BrE to officially order someone to join the army, navy, or air force; = draft AmE
•I was called up three months after war broke out.
4 call sb <=> up to choose someone for a national sports team; call-up
•Hurst was called up for the game against Mexico.
5 call sth <=> up to produce something or make it appear:
•Local people believe she can call up the spirits of the dead.

WORD CHOICE: call, phone, telephone, ring
In spoken English, it is usual to say that you call or phone someone: He calls me almost every day. | Phone me when you get there.
In spoken British English, it is also very usual to say that you ring someone: Have you rung Kim yet?
It is fairly formal and not very usual in spoken English to say that you telephone someone.

!! Do not say that you 'call to' someone I called him (NOT called to him) to let him know.

!! There is no verb 'phone call' I need to call (NOT to phone call) Monica.
You can also say that you give someone a (phone) call or, in British English, give them a ring: Give me a call sometime. | I think I'll give Mum a ring.

!! Do not say 'give someone a phone'.

SO-CALLED; call sb's bluff at BLUFF^2 (2)
too close to call at CLOSE^2 (8)
1 TELEPHONE [C] when you speak to someone on the telephone

phone call
make a call
give sb a call
get/receive a call
take a call (=speak to someone on the phone when someone else has answered)
return a call (=telephone someone who tried to telephone you earlier)
local call
long-distance call
incoming call (=a call someone makes to you)
hoax/crank call (=a call intended to trick someone)
anonymous call (=from an unknown person)

[+for]
•Were there any phone calls for me while I was out?
[+from]
•There was a call from Ann for you.
•It's cheaper to make calls after 6pm.
•I'll give you a call at the weekend.
•I got a call from Jane last week.
•I'll take the call in my office.
•Why haven't you returned any of my calls?
•You can make a local call for under 2p a minute.
•I don't make many long-distance calls, so my phone bill's usually quite low.
•This telephone only accepts incoming calls.
•Detectives are investigating a hoax call which led to the evacuation of an office block.
•an anonymous call to a Sunday newspaper

2 be on call if someone such as a doctor or engineer is on call, they are ready to go and help whenever they are needed as part of their job:
•Don't worry, there's a doctor on call 24 hours a day.
3 SHOUT/CRY [C]
a) a loud sound that a particular bird or animal makes; = cry
[+of]
•I again heard the call of an owl.
b) a shout that you make to get someone's attention
4 VISIT [C] a visit, especially for a particular reason:
•Sorry, Doctor Pugh is out on a call at the moment.
pay/make a call (on sb) (=visit someone)
5 REQUEST/ORDER [C] a request or order for something or for someone to do something:
•Members obediently answered the calls for funds.
call for sb to do sth
•There have been calls for the secretary to resign.
a call to arms (=an order for people to fight against an enemy)
6 DECISION
a) [C] the decision made by a REFEREE in a sports game
make a good/bad call
•There may have been a few bad calls, but they're making them for a reason.
b) [singular] especially AmE informal a decision:
•Don't just say what you think I would like. It's your call.
make a call (=decide something)
an easy/hard call (=an easy or difficult decision)
judgement call (=a decision based on your personal judgement of a situation)
7 there isn't much call for sth used for saying that not many people want a particular thing:
•There isn't much call for black and white televisions these days.
8 there is no call for sth spoken used to tell someone that their behaviour is wrong and unnecessary:
•There's no call for that kind of language! I'm doing my best!
9 AT AN AIRPORT [C] a message announced at an airport that a particular plane will soon leave:
•This is the last call for flight BA872 to Moscow.
10 have first call on sth
a) to have the right to be the first person to use something
b) to be the first person that you will help because they are important to you:
•Her children had first call on her time.
11 the call of sth literary the power that a place or way of life has to attract someone:
•the call of the sea
12 the call of nature a need to URINATE (=pass liquid from your body) - used especially humorously
be at sb's beck and call at BECK (1); PORT OF CALL, ROLL-CALL, WAKE-UP CALL[C]
1 BrE a PHONE BOX
2 AmE a public telephone beside a road or FREEWAY used to telephone for helpcall center AmE [C] BrE
an office where people answer customers' questions, make sales etc by using the telephone rather than by meeting people $ [C]
1 someone making a telephone call:
•'Could you hold for one moment?' he asked the caller.
2 old-fashioned someone who visits your housecaller ID AmE [C,U] BrE
a special service on your telephone that lets you know who is calling before you answer the telephone[C]
a PROSTITUTE who arranges by telephone to meet men [U]
the art of producing beautiful writing using special pens or brushes, or the writing produced this way
- calligrapher noun [C][C]
AmE a radio or television programme in which people telephone to give their opinions; = phone-in BrE
•a call-in talk show $ [C]
1 a strong desire or feeling of duty to do a particular kind of work, especially religious work; = vocation
•It wasn't until Durant was in her thirties that she found her calling.
2 formal someone's profession or trade[C]
AmE a small card with a name and often an address printed on it, that people in the past gave to people they visited; = visiting card BrEcalipers AmE $ [plural] BrE
1 a tool used for measuring thickness, or the distance between two surfaces, or the DIAMETER (=inside width) of something
2 BrE metal bars that someone wears on their legs to help them walk; = brace AmEcalisthenics AmE [U] BrE
a set of physical exercises that are intended to make you strong and healthy[plural] especially AmE
a CALL SIGN[C] technical
the right to buy a particular number of SHAREs at a special price within a particular period of time
not caring that other people are suffering:
•We were shocked at the callous disregard for human life.
•a callous attitude
•the callous slaughter of seals
- callously adverb
- callousness noun [U]
calloused skin is rough and covered in CALLUSes :
•rough, calloused hands[C] BrE
a situation in which someone is called to another person's house or place of business to do repairs, help them etc:
•The lifeboat has had ten call-outs in the past year.
•call-out charges $
young and without experience - used to show disapproval; = immature
•a callow youth[U]
1 a special service that you can buy from your telephone company which prevents particular people from calling you
2 when you let an answering machine answer your telephone calls, and you then only talk to callers that you want to speak toalso call letters especially AmE [C usually singular]
a name made up of letters and numbers, used by people operating communication radios to prove who they are $ [U]
the amount of time that is available for the user of a MOBILE PHONE to make calls[C] BrE
1 an order to join the army, navy etc; = draft AmE
•He got his call-up papers in July.
2 an opportunity or invitation to play for a professional sports team, especially a national one
[+to]
•Stewart's recent call-up to the Wales squad [C]
an area of thick hard skin:
•the calluses on his hands[U]
a telephone service that allows you to receive another call when you are already talking on the telephone, without ending the first call $ comparative calmer, superlative calmest
1 relaxed and quiet, not angry, nervous, or upset:
•Glen was calm and composed at the funeral.
remain/stay/keep calm
•I tried to stay calm and just ignore him.
2 if a place, period of time, or situation is calm, there is less activity, trouble etc than there sometimes is, or than there has been recently:
•The financial markets are calm at the moment.
•The streets are calm again after last night's disturbances.
3 a sea, lake etc that is calm is smooth or has only gentle waves:
•The seas were dead calm.
- calmly adverb
- calmness noun [U][singular, U]
1 a situation or time that is quiet and peaceful
[+of]
•They remained on the terrace after dinner, enjoying the calm of the evening.
morning/afternoon/evening calm
•A scream shattered the late afternoon calm.
•Hindu leaders appealed for calm (=asked that the public stay calm) after a temple was burnt to the ground.
•The presence of soldiers helped restore calm.
•The last five years have seen a period of relative calm.
2 the calm before the storm a calm peaceful situation that will not continue because a big argument, problem etc is comingalso calm down [I,T]
1 to become quiet and relaxed after you have been angry, excited, nervous, or upset, or to make someone become quiet and relaxed:
•He tried to calm the frightened children.
•Calm down and tell me what happened.
•We have tried to calm people's fears.
calm yourself (down)
•She lit a cigarette to calm herself down.
2 if a situation calms down, it becomes easier to deal with because there are fewer problems and it is not as busy as it was before:
•It took about six months for things to calm down after we had the baby. $ [U]
BrE trademark a type of gas that is sold in metal containers and used for heating and cooking where there is no gas supply [C]
1 a unit for measuring the amount of ENERGY that food will produce:
•An average potato has about 90 calories.
•a calorie-controlled diet
low-calorie/high-calorie
•a low-calorie snack
•Do you need to burn off a few calories (=lose some weight by exercising)?
•My wife convinced me to finally start counting calories (=control my weight by being careful about what I eat).
2 technical the amount of heat that is needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. It is used as a unit for measuring energy.
- caloric $ adjective
1 food that is calorific tends to make you fat
2 technical producing heat plural calumnies
1 [C] an untrue and unfair statement about someone that is intended to give people a bad opinion of them
2 [U] when someone says things like this $ [I]
to give birth to a CALF $
the plural of CALF [U]
the Christian religious teachings of John Calvin, based on the idea that events on Earth are controlled by God and cannot be changed by humans
1 following the teachings of Calvinism
2 also Calvinistic having strict moral standards and tending to disapprove of pleasure; = puritanical
- Calvinist noun [C] $ plural calypsos [C]
a type of Caribbean song based on subjects of interest in the news $ plural calyxes or calyces [C]
the green outer part of a flower that protects it before it opens [U]
computer-aided manufacturing the use of computers to make industrial products [C]
a wheel or part of a wheel that is shaped to change circular movement into backwards and forwards movement $ [U]
a feeling of friendship that a group of people have, especially when they work together:
•the camaraderie of the women's basketball team $ [C,U]
technical a slight curve from the centre of a road or other surface to the side, which makes water flow to the side [U]
thin white cloth made of LINEN or cotton $ [C]
a type of camera that records pictures and sound on VIDEOTAPE
the past tense of COME [C]
a large desert animal with a long neck and either one or two HUMPs (=large raised parts) on its back $ [U]
a thick yellowish brown cloth, usually used for making coats [C]
a plant with dark green leaves and red, pink, or white flowers, or the flowers of this plant $ [C,U]
a soft French cheese that is white outside and yellow inside $ plural cameos [C]
1 a short appearance in a film or play by a well-known actor
cameo role/appearance
•Denholm Eliot put in a cameo appearance as a butler.
2 a small piece of jewellery with a raised shape, usually a person's face, on a flat background of a different colour:
•a cameo brooch
3 a short piece of writing that gives a clear idea of a person, place, or event [C]
1 a piece of equipment used to take photographs or make films or television programmes; camcorder, video camera
on/off camera (=while a camera is recording or not recording)
•The crime was caught on camera by police.
2 in camera law a law case that is held in camera takes place secretly or privately plural cameramen [C]
someone who operates a camera for films or television
!! Do not confuse with photographer (=person who takes still photographs).
not liking to have your photograph taken $ [plural]
BrE a piece of women's underwear that combines a CAMISOLE and KNICKERS $ [C]
a light piece of women's underwear that covers the chest down to the waist and has narrow bands over the shoulderschamomile [C,U]
a plant with small white and yellow flowers that are sometimes used to make tea
1 [U] a way of hiding something, especially soldiers and military equipment, by using paint, leaves etc to make it look like the things around it:
•soldiers learning camouflage technique
•the camouflage netting over the tanks
2 [U] the type of green and brown clothes, paint etc that soldiers wear to make themselves more difficult to see:
•The men were dressed in camouflage and carrying automatic weapons.
•camouflage trousers
3 [singular, U] the way that the colour or shape of an animal protects it by making it difficult to see in the area in which it lives:
•The whiteness of the arctic fox acts as camouflage, hiding it from its enemies.
4 [singular, U] behaviour that is designed to hide something
[+for]
•Aggression is often a camouflage for insecurity.[T]
to hide something, especially by making it look the same as the things around it, or by making it seem like something else
camouflage sth with sth
•I saw a truck, heavily camouflaged with netting and branches.
•The strain she was under was well camouflaged by skilful make-up.
1 IN THE MOUNTAINS/FOREST ETC [C,U] a place where people stay in tents, shelters etc for a short time, usually in the mountains, a forest etc:
•Let's go back to camp - it's getting dark.
•a camp near Lake Ellen Wilson
•The soldiers broke camp (=took down their tents etc) and left before dawn.
pitch/make camp (=set up a tent or shelter)
•It was dark by the time we pitched camp.
•We set up camp (=made the camping place ready) at nearby Icicle Lake.
•The expedition's base camp (=main camp) was 6,000 feet below the summit.
mining/logging etc camp (=a camp where people stay when they are doing these kinds of jobs)
2 prison/labour/detention etc camp a place where people are kept for a particular reason, when they do not want to be there:
•a refugee camp just across the border
CONCENTRATION CAMP
3 FOR CHILDREN [C,U] a place where young people go to take part in activities, and where they usually stay for several days or weeks:
•The camp offers hiking, fishing, canoeing, and boating.
•scout camp
•Two years ago, she started a summer camp for girls aged 8 and older.
tennis/football etc camp (=a camp where you can do one particular activity)
DAY CAMP, HOLIDAY CAMP
4 GROUP OF PEOPLE [C] a group of people or organizations who have the same ideas or principles, especially in politics:
•the extreme right-wing camp of the party
•At least you know that Lynne is definitely in your camp (=supports you rather than someone else, and agrees with your ideas).
have a foot in both camps at FOOT^1 (21)
5 MILITARY [C] a permanent place where soldiers live or train:
•Donny is stationed at Camp Pendleton.[I]
1 to set up a tent or shelter and stay there for a short time:
•We'll camp by the river for the night, and move on tomorrow.
camping gear/equipment
•camping gear such as a sleeping bag, tent, and backpack
2 go camping to visit an area, especially the mountains or a forest, and stay in a tent:
•We went camping in the San Bernardino Mountains.

PHRASAL VERBS
camp out phr v
1 to sleep outdoors, usually in a tent:
•What he liked best about scouting was camping out.
2 to stay somewhere where you do not have all the usual things that a house has:
•We'll just have to camp out until our furniture arrives.

camp sth up phr v informal
camp it up to deliberately use unnatural body or face movements, in a way that some people think is typical of a HOMOSEXUAL man
1 a man who is camp moves or speaks in the way that people used to think was typical of HOMOSEXUALs
2 also campy AmE clothes, decorations etc that are camp are very strange, bright, or unusual [C]
1 a series of actions intended to achieve a particular result relating to politics or business, or a social improvement:
•Florida was a key state in his campaign for re-election.
•an anti-bullying campaign
•an advertising campaign
[+for/against]
•a campaign for equal rights
•Jones ran a good campaign.
campaign funds/money/financing
•He raised nearly $30 million in campaign funds.
launch/mount a campaign (=plan, organize, and begin a campaign)
•Police have launched a campaign to crack down on drug dealers.
2 a series of battles, attacks etc intended to achieve a particular result in a war[I]
to lead or take part in a series of actions intended to achieve a particular social or political result
[+for/against]
•a group campaigning against the destruction of the rainforests
- campaigner noun [C] [C]
a high bell tower that is usually separate from any other building $ [U] formal
the skill of ringing bells, and the study of bells $ [C]
BrE a light narrow bed that folds flat and is easy to carry; = cot AmE $ [C]
1 someone who is staying in a tent or shelter
2 also camper van BrE a vehicle that has cooking equipment and beds in it
3 AmE a special type of tent on wheels that has cooking equipment and beds in it
4 AmE a child who is taking part in a camp
5 happy camper spoken someone who seems to be happy with their situation $ [C]
a fire made outdoors by people who are camping[C]
especially BrE someone who supports an organization or a political party, but who is not actually a member of it [C]
AmE an area where people can camp, often with a water supply and toilets; = campsite BrE $ [U]
a white substance with a strong smell, used especially to keep insects away [C]
1 BrE an area where people can camp, often with a water supply and toilets; = campground AmE
2 AmE a place, usually within a campground, where one person or group can camp [C] BrE
a small folding seat with no back [C,U]
1 the land and buildings of a university or college, including the buildings where students live:
•a beautiful campus in New England
on/off campus
•Most first-year students live on campus.
2 the land and buildings belonging to a large company:
•the Microsoft campus outside Seattle $ [C]
a metal bar that a CAM is fastened to in an engine strong negative short formcan't
1 ABILITY to be able to do something or to know how to do something:
•You can swim, can't you?
•Even a small personal computer can store vast amounts of information.
•Gabriella can speak French fluently.
•I'm afraid Mr Harding can't see you now - he's busy.
•The police are doing all they can to find her.
2 REQUESTING spoken used to ask someone to do something or give you something:
•Can I have a cigarette, please?
•Can you help me lift this box?
3 ALLOWED to be allowed to do something or to have the right or power to do something:
•You can't park here - it's a no parking zone.
•'Can we go home now, please?' 'No you can't.'
•Any police officer can insist on seeing a driver's license.
4 POSSIBILITY used to say that something is possible:
•I am confident that a solution can be found.
•There can be no doubt that he is guilty.
•Some packaging cartons can be stored flat.
•Can he still be alive after all this time?
5 SEEING/HEARING ETC used with the verbs 'see', 'hear', 'feel', 'taste', and 'smell', and with verbs connected with thinking, to mean that someone sees something, hears something etc:
•Here they are - I can see their car.
•Can you smell something burning?
•I can't understand why you're so upset.
•He can't remember where he put the tickets.
6 NOT TRUE [in negatives] used to say that you do not believe that something is true:
•This can't be the right road.
•It can't be easy caring for a man and a child who are not your own.
7 SHOULD NOT [in questions and negatives] used to say that someone should not or must not do something:
•You can't expect the world to change overnight.
•We can't go on like this.
•Jill's left her husband, but can you blame her after the way he treated her?
8 SURPRISE/ANGER [usually in questions and negatives] spoken used when you are surprised or angry:
•You can't be serious!
•They can't have arrived already, surely!
•How can you be so stupid!
9 SOMETIMES used to say what sometimes happens or how someone sometimes behaves:
•It can be quite cold here at night.
•Peter can be really annoying.
10 GIVING ORDERS spoken used to tell someone in an angry way to do something:
•And you can stop that quarrelling, the pair of you.
•If you won't keep quiet, you can get out.

WORD CHOICE: can, could, be able to
Use can and be able to to say that someone has the ability to do something. Be able to is more formal: Can you swim? | Young children are not able to open the bottle.
Use could to say that someone has the ability to do something, but does not do it: He could do a lot better.
Could is also the past form of can. Use could or a past form of be able to to say that someone had the ability to do something in the past: She could ride a bike when she was three. | He was able to walk with a stick.

!! In the following cases, you cannot use can. You must use be able to:
with used to, to say that someone had the ability to do something in the past but no longer does: I used to be able to play the violin.
to talk about future ability. Use will be able to: After only a few lessons, you will be able to understand basic Spanish.
after other verbs, for example might, may, would, want, or hope: He might be able to fix your car. | You should be able to taste the difference. | I want her to be able to use a computer.

[C]
1 a metal container in which food or drink is preserved without air:
•a Coke can
[+of]
•All we've got is a couple of cans of soup.
2 a special metal container that keeps the liquid inside it under pressure. The liquid is released as a SPRAY when you press the button
[+of]
•a can of hairspray
3 especially AmE a metal container with a lid that can be removed, used for holding liquid:
•Two large cans of paint ought to be enough.
4 can of worms a very complicated situation that causes a lot of problems when you start to deal with it:
•I just don't know what to do - every solution I can think of would just open up a whole new can of worms.
5 in the can informal a film that is in the can is complete and ready to be shown
6 the can informal
a) a prison
b) AmE a toilet
carry the can at CARRY^1 (26)past tense and past participle canned, present participle canning [T] AmE
1 to preserve food by putting it into a metal container from which all the air is removed; = tin BrE; canned
2 informal to dismiss someone from a job; = sack
3 can it! spoken used to tell someone to stop talking or making a noise
relating to Canada or its people[C]
someone from Canada[U]
AmE meat from the back or sides of a pig, served in thin narrow pieces [C]
a long passage dug into the ground and filled with water, either for boats to travel along, or to take water to a place:
•We walked along by the side of the canal.
•the Panama Canal
by canal
•The goods were transported by canal to London.[C]
a long narrow boat that is used for travelling on a canalalso canalise BrE [T]
1 technical to make a river deeper or straighter, especially in order to prevent flooding
2 formal to direct people's energy or feelings towards one particular thing $ [C]
a small piece of bread with cheese, meat etc on top, which is served with drinks at a party $ [C] written
a piece of news that is false and is told to people deliberately in order to harm someone $ plural canaries [C]
a small yellow bird that people often keep as a pet [U]
a card game [C]
a fast dance in which a line of women kick their legs high into the air past tense and past participle cancelled, present participle cancelling BrE past tense and past participle canceled, present participle canceling AmE
1 [I,T] to say that an event that was planned will not happen:
•Our flight was cancelled.
•I'm afraid I'll have to cancel our meeting tomorrow.
•You'll just have to ring John and cancel.
2 [I,T] to end an agreement or arrangement that you have with someone:
•I phoned the hotel to cancel my reservation.
•The bank agreed to cancel all the company's debts.
3 [T] to say officially that a document can no longer be used or no longer has any legal effect:
•I phoned the bank to cancel the cheque.

PHRASAL VERBS
cancel sth <=> out phr v
if two things cancel each other out, they are equally important and have an opposite effect to each other, so that neither one has any effect:
•The losses in our overseas division have cancelled out the profits made in the home market. [C,U]
1 a decision that an event that was planned will not happen:
•Rail passengers are fed up with cancellations and delays.
•Bad weather led to the cancellation of the game.
2 a decision to end an agreement or arrangement that you have with someone:
•There is a cancellation fee of £20.
•The restaurant is fully booked this evening, but we will let you know if there are any cancellations.
1 [U] the fourth sign of the ZODIAC, represented by a CRAB, which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between June 22 and July 23
2 also Cancerian [C] someone who was born between June 22 and July 23
- Cancerian adjective $
1 [C,U] a very serious disease in which cells in one part of the body start to grow in a way that is not normal; tumour
•A lot of cancers can now be treated successfully.
lung/breast/stomach etc cancer
•Smoking causes lung cancer.
•She was told last year that she had cancer.
•He died of cancer last month.
[+of]
•cancer of the womb
•a new treatment which effectively kills cancer cells
2 [C] an evil influence that affects a lot of people and is difficult to stop:
•Drug abuse is the cancer of our society.
- cancerous adjective
•a cancerous growth
•cancerous cellsalso candelabrum plural candelabra [C]
a decorative object which holds several CANDLEs or lamps
telling the truth, even when the truth may be unpleasant or embarrassing; = frank
[+about]
•She was quite candid about the difficulties the government is having.
[+with]
•He was remarkably candid with me.
•It struck me as an unusually candid confession for a politician.
- candidly adverb
CANDOUR [U]
an infection in the mouth and throat of children or in a woman's VAGINAalso candidature plural candidacies [C,U]
the position of being one of the people who are competing in an election; candidate
[+for]
•The local party supported her candidacy for the post of chairman.
announce/declare your candidacy
•He has not yet officially announced his candidacy for the presidential election.
•She later withdrew her candidacy. $ [C]
1 someone who is being considered for a job or is competing in an election:
•a presidential candidate
[+for]
•There are only three candidates for the job.
2 BrE someone who is taking an examination:
•Candidates are not allowed to use a calculator in this exam.
3 someone or something that is likely to experience or get something
[+for]
•The school is an obvious candidate for extra funding.
•The novel must be a prime candidate for the award. [only before noun]
candied fruit has been cooked in sugar as a way of preserving it [C]
1 a stick of WAX with a string through the middle, which you burn to give light
2 can't hold a candle to sb/sth informal if something or someone cannot hold a candle to something or someone else, they are not as good as the other thing or person:
•No other singer can hold a candle to her.
burn the candle at both ends at BURN^1 (19) [U]
the gentle light produced when a candle burns:
•The jewels sparkled in the candlelight.
by candlelight
•We ate by candlelight.
lit by the gentle light of candles:
•a candle-lit dinner for two [C]
a specially shaped metal or wooden stick that you put a candle into [U]
cloth decorated with patterns of raised threads[only before noun]
informal willing to try anything and expect that it will work:
•He has a wonderful can-do attitude towards work.candor AmE $ [U] BrE
the quality of being honest and telling the truth, even when the truth may be unpleasant or embarrassing; candid
•She spoke with remarkable candour about her experiences. plural candies [C,U]
1 AmE a sweet food made from sugar or chocolate:
•a box of candies
•a candy bar
•Do you want a piece of candy?
2 mind/brain candy informal something that is entertaining or pleasant to look at, but which you do not approve of because you think it is not serious:
•Most video games are just brain candy.[C] AmE
an apple covered with a sweet sticky mixture[C] AmE
a stick of hard red and white sugar with a curved end $ [U] BrE
a type of sweet food made from sticky threads of pink sugar wound around a stick
candy-striped cloth has narrow coloured lines on a white background
1 [U] thin pieces of the stems of plants, used for making furniture and baskets:
•a cane chair
•cane furniture
2 [C] a long, thin stick made from the stem of a plant, used for supporting other plants in a garden
3 [C] a long thin stick with a curved handle that you can use to help you walk
4 [C] a stick that was used in the past by teachers to hit children with as a punishment:
•Children knew that if they misbehaved they would get the cane (=be punished with a cane).[T]
to punish someone, especially a child, by hitting them with a stick $
relating to dogs:
•canine diseases
•her loyal canine friend[C]
1 also canine tooth one of the four sharp pointed teeth in the front of your mouth
2 formal a dog $ [C]
1 a round metal case that contains gas and bursts when it is thrown or fired from a gun:
•Police fired tear gas canisters into the crowd.
2 a metal container for keeping something in:
•a tea canister
•a petrol canister $ [C,U]
1 an evil influence that spreads quickly among people and is difficult to destroy:
•the canker of violence in modern society
2 a disease that affects trees or plants [U] especially BrE
an illegal drug that is usually smoked in cigarettes; = marijuana AmE
1 canned food is preserved in a round metal container; = tinned BrE
•canned tomatoes
•canned fruit
2 canned music/laughter music or laughter that has been recorded and is used on television or in radio programmes $ [U]
small tubes of PASTA filled with meat and sometimes cheese, and covered in a sauce plural canneries [C]
a factory where food is put into cans [C]
1 a person who eats human flesh
2 an animal that eats the flesh of other animals of the same kind
- cannibalism noun [U]
- cannibalistic adjectivealso cannibalise BrE [T]
1 to take parts of one machine to use in another, for example to repair it:
•The truck was cannibalized for parts.
2 technical if one of a company's products cannibalizes another, it takes sales away from it [C]
a large heavy powerful gun that was used in the past to fire heavy metal balls[I always + adv/prep]
to hit someone or something while moving fast
[+into]
•She came hurtling round the corner and cannoned straight into me.
[+off]
•The ball cannoned off the far post. [C]
a continuous heavy attack by large guns $ [C]
a heavy iron ball fired from a cannon[U]
ordinary soldiers whose lives are not considered to be very important, and who are sent to fight where they are likely to get killed $
1 a negative form of 'can':
•Mrs Armstrong regrets that she cannot accept your kind invitation.
2 cannot but formal used to say that you feel you have to do something:
•One cannot but admire her determination.
1 clever, careful, and not easily deceived, especially in business or politics:
•a canny political advisor
2 nice, good - used in Scotland:
•a canny lass
- cannily adverb [C]
a long light boat that is pointed at both ends and which you move along using a PADDLE
paddle your own canoe at PADDLE^2 (5)[I]
to travel by canoe
- canoeist noun [C] [U]
the sport of travelling in a canoe [C]
1 a Christian priest who has special duties in a CATHEDRAL
2 formal a standard, rule, or principle, or set of these, that are believed by a group of people to be right and good
[+of]
•Mapplethorpe's pictures offended the canons of American good taste.
3 formal
a) a list of books or pieces of music that are officially recognized as being the work of a certain writer:
•the Shakespearean canon
b) all the books that are recognized as being the most important pieces of literature:
•the literary canon
4 a piece of music in which a tune is started by one singer or instrument and is copied by each of the others
5 an established law of the Christian church $
1 according to CANON LAW
2 technical in the simplest mathematical formalso canonise BrE [T]
to officially state that a dead person is a SAINT
- canonization $ noun [C,U][U]
the laws of the Christian Church [I]
BrE old-fashioned if two people canoodle, they kiss and hold each other in a sexual way[C]
a tool for opening a can of food plural canopies [C]
1 a cover made of cloth that is fixed above a bed, seat etc as a decoration or as a shelter
2 the leaves and branches of trees, that make a kind of roof in a forest:
•the forest canopy
3 literary something that spreads above you like a roof:
•a canopy of twinkling stars
- canopied adjective strong
thou canst old use used to mean 'you can' when talking to one person $
1 the short form of cannot:
•Sorry, I can't help you.
•You can swim, can't you?
2 used to say that something is impossible or unlikely:
•You can't miss it - it's a huge building.
1 [U] insincere talk about moral or religious principles by someone who is pretending to be better than they really are
2 [U] formal special words used by a particular group of people, especially in order to keep things secret; = slang
•thieves' cant[I,T]
to lean, or make something leancantaloupe $ [C,U]
a type of MELON with a hard green skin and sweet orange flesh
bad-tempered and complaining a lot:
•a cantankerous old man $ [C]
a piece of religious music for singers and instruments [C]
1 BrE a place in a factory, school etc where meals are provided, usually quite cheaply
2 a small container in which water or other drink is carried by soldiers, travellers etc
3 a canteen of cutlery BrE a set of knives, forks, and spoons in a box $ [I,T]
to ride or make a horse run quite fast, but not as fast as possible; gallop
- canter noun [C]
•She rode off at a canter. [C]
a short religious song usually using words from the Bible $ [C]
a long piece of metal or wood that sticks out from an upright post or wall and supports a shelf, the end of a bridge etc
- cantilevered adjective
•a cantilevered staircase $ plural cantos [C]
one of the parts into which a very long poem is divided; stanza $ [C]
one of the areas that a country such as Switzerland is divided up into, that has limited political powers [U]
a Chinese language spoken in Southern China and Hong Kong $ [C]
technical a camp where soldiers live $ [C]
1 a man who leads the prayers and songs in a Jewish religious service
2 the leader of a group of singers in a church [C] AmE informal
someone from Canada
1 [U] strong cloth used to make bags, tents, shoes etc:
•a canvas bag
2 [C] a painting done with oil paints, or the piece of cloth it is painted on:
•The gallery has a canvas by Paul Cézanne.
•'Four Women on a Bench', oil on canvas , 1991
3 a broader/wider/larger canvas the whole of a situation, and not just a part of it:
•These questions must be considered on a broader canvas.
4 under canvas BrE in a tent
1 [I,T] to try to persuade people to support a political party, politician, plan etc by going to see them and talking to them, especially when you want them to vote for you in an election:
•Candidates from all three parties were out canvassing in Darlington today.
[+for]
•Chapman spent the rest of May canvassing for votes.
•The US has been canvassing support from other Asian states.
2 [I,T] to ask people about something in order to get their opinion or to get information:
•Police canvassed the neighborhood, but didn't find any witnesses.
3 [T] to talk about a problem, suggestion etc in detail:
•A committee was set up to canvass the city's educational options.
- canvasser noun [C]
- canvass noun [C] [C]
a deep valley with very steep sides of rock that usually has a river running through italso canyoneering AmE [U]
a sport in which you walk and swim along a fast-moving river at the bottom of a canyon [C]
1 HAT
a) a type of flat hat that has a curved part sticking out at the front, and is often worn as part of a uniform:
•a baseball cap
•old men in flat caps
•a chauffeur's peaked cap
b) a covering that fits very closely to your head:
•a swimming cap
•a shower cap
c) a type of simple hat that fits very closely to your head, worn especially by women in the past:
•a white lace cap
2 COVERING a protective covering that you put on the end or top of an object; = top
•Make sure you put the cap back on the pen.
•a bottle cap
3 LIMIT an upper limit that is put on the amount of money that someone can earn, spend, or borrow:
•a cap on local council spending
4 SPORT BrE
a) if a sports person wins a cap or is given a cap, he or she is chosen to play for their country:
•He won his first England cap against Wales in 1994.
b) a sports person who has played for his or her country:
•Mason is one of two new caps in the team.
5 SMALL EXPLOSIVE a small paper container with explosive inside it, used especially in toy guns
6 SEX a CONTRACEPTIVE made of a round piece of rubber that a woman puts inside her VAGINA; = diaphragm
7 go cap in hand (to sb) BrE go hat in hand AmE to ask for money or help in a very respectful way, from someone who has a lot more power than you:
•Elderly people should receive a heating allowance every winter, instead of having to go cap in hand to the government.
FLAT CAP, ICE CAP, KNEECAP, MOB CAP, SKULL CAP, TOECAP; a feather in your cap at FEATHER^1 (2); if the cap fits (, wear it) at FIT^1 (8); put your thinking cap on at THINKING^1 (3)past tense and past participle capped, present participle capping [T]
1 COVER be capped with sth to have a particular substance on top:
•a graceful tower capped with a golden dome
•magnificent cliffs capped by lovely wild flowers
2 LIMIT [often passive] to limit the amount of something, especially money, that can be used, allowed, or spent:
•the only county to have its spending capped by the government
3 GOOD/BAD to say, do, or be something that is better, worse, or more extreme than something that has just happened or been said:
•Well, we went three nights with no sleep at all. I bet you can't cap that!
4 be capped by sth to have something very good or very bad at the end of an event:
•a fabulous weekend, capped by dinner in the Times Square Hotel
5 SPORT [usually passive] BrE to choose someone for a national sports team:
•He's been capped three times for England.
6 to cap it all (off) BrE spoken used before a statement to say that something is the last in a series of annoying, unpleasant, or funny events:
•To cap it all, the phones didn't work, and there was no hot water.
7 snow-capped, white-capped etc with snow on top, with white on top etc:
•snow-capped mountains
8 TOOTH to cover a tooth with a special hard white substance:
•He's had his teeth capped.also caps.
the abbreviation of capital letter plural capabilities [C]
1 the natural ability, skill, or power that makes a machine, person, or organization able to do something, especially something difficult:
•the country's manufacturing capability
capability to do sth
•Does the company have the capability to change to meet market needs?
•I can speak French, but simultaneous translation is beyond my capabilities (=too difficult).
2 the ability that a country has to take a particular kind of military action
military/nuclear etc capability
•America's nuclear capability
1 capable of (doing) sth having the qualities or ability needed to do something:
•I don't think he's capable of murder.
•The company isn't capable of handling an order that large.
•I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself, thank you!
2 able to do things well:
•a strong, capable woman
3 capable hands someone who is able to do something well:
•Helen was put in the capable hands of hair stylist Daniel Herson.
- capably adverb formal
able to contain a lot:
•a capacious suitcase
- capaciousness noun [U] $ [C]
a piece of equipment that collects and stores electricity plural capacities
1 [singular] the amount of space a container, room etc has to hold things or people
[+of]
•The fuel tank has a capacity of 40 litres.
•The room had seating capacity for about 80.
•The orchestra played to a capacity crowd (=the largest number of people who can fit into a hall, theatre etc).
•All the hotels were filled to capacity (=completely full).
2 [C,U] someone's ability to do something
[+for]
•a child's capacity for learning
•an infinite capacity for love
capacity to do sth
•a capacity to think in an original way
3 [singular] formal someone's job, position, or duty; = role
in a professional/official etc capacity
•Rollins will be working in an advisory capacity on this project.
(do sth) in your capacity as sth
•I attended the meeting in my capacity as chairman of the safety committee.
4 [singular, U] the amount of something that a factory, company, machine etc can produce or deal with:
•The company has the capacity to build 1500 trucks a year.
•The factory has been working at full capacity. (=making the most amount of things that it can)
5 [singular, U] the size or power of something such as an engine:
•The tax on cars is still based on engine capacity. [C]
1 a long loose piece of clothing without SLEEVEs that fastens around your neck and hangs from your shoulders
2 a large piece of land surrounded on three sides by water:
•Cape Cod $ [I always + adv/prep]
to jump around and play in a happy excited way[C]
1 a small dark green part of a flower used in cooking to give a sour taste to food
2 informal a planned activity, especially an illegal or dangerous one:
•I'm too old for this sort of caper.
3 behaviour or an activity that is amusing or silly and not serious:
•the comic capers of a cartoon cat and mouse
4 a short jumping or dancing movement $ plural capillaries [C]
the smallest type of BLOOD VESSEL (=tube carrying blood) in the body $ [U]
technical the force that makes a liquid rise up a narrow tube
1 CITY [C] an important city where the main government of a country, state etc is:
•Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
2 MONEY [singular, U] money or property, especially when it is used to start a business or to produce more wealth:
•The government is eager to attract foreign capital.
WORKING CAPITAL, VENTURE CAPITAL
3 LETTER [C] a letter of the alphabet written in its large form as it is, for example, at the beginning of someone's name; lower case, upper case
4 CENTRE OF ACTIVITY [C] a place that is a centre for an industry, business, or other activity:
•Hollywood is the capital of the movie industry.
5 make capital from/out of sth to use a situation or event to help you get an advantage
6 BUILDING [C] technical the top part of a COLUMN (=a long stone post used in some buildings)
1 a capital letter is one that is written or printed in its large form; lower case, upper case
•capital 'B'
2 relating to money that you use to start a business or to make more money:
•capital investments
3 capital offence/crime an offence that is punished by death
4 trouble with a capital T, fast with a capital F etc informal used with any word in order to emphasize that you are talking about an extreme type of something
5 old-fashioned excellent[plural]
technical machines, buildings, and other property belonging to a company[plural]
profits you make by selling your possessions[U]
a tax that you pay on profits that you make when you sell your possessions[plural]
goods such as machines or buildings that are made for the purpose of producing other goods; consumer goods
a capital-intensive business, industry etc needs a lot of money in order to operate properly; labour-intensive [U]
an economic and political system in which businesses belong mostly to private owners, not to the government; communism, socialism [C]
1 someone who supports capitalism; communist, socialist
2 someone who owns or controls a lot of money and lends it to businesses, banks etc to produce more wealth
venture capitalist at VENTURE CAPITALalso capitalistic
using or supporting capitalism; communist, socialist
•the capitalist systemalso capitalise BrE [T]
1 to write a letter of the alphabet using a CAPITAL letter
2 to supply a business with money so that it can operate
3 technical to calculate the value of a business based on the value of its SHAREs or on the amount of money it makes

PHRASAL VERBS
capitalize on sth phr v
to use a situation or something good that you have, in order to get an advantage for yourself:
•Ecuador has capitalized on its natural beauty to attract tourism.
- capitalization $ noun [U][C]
technical a tax on private or industrial wealth that is paid to the government[U]
punishment which involves killing someone who has committed a crime; death penalty [C]
a tax or payment of the same amount from each person
1 the Capitol the building in Washington D.C. where the US Congress meets
2 [C] the building in each US state where the people who make the laws for that state meet
1 the US Congress
2 the hill in Washington D.C. where the Capitol building stands [I]
1 formal to accept or agree to something that you have been opposing for a long time; = give in
•Helen finally capitulated and let her son have a car.
2 formal to accept defeat by your enemies in a war; = surrender
- capitulation noun [C,U] [C]
a small smooth PILL (=solid piece of medicine) with a shape that is slightly longer and narrower than a TABLET (=a small round pill) $ [U]
an Afro-Brazilian mixture of dance, song, and fighting that is similar to the MARTIAL ARTs $ [C]
a male chicken that has had its sex organs removed to make it grow big and fat $ plural cappuccinos [C,U]
Italian coffee made with hot milk and with chocolate powder on top
1 [C,U] a sudden and unreasonable change of mind or behaviour:
•the caprices of a spoilt child
2 [U] the tendency to change your mind suddenly or behave in an unexpected way
1 likely to change your mind suddenly or behave in an unexpected way:
•She was as capricious as her mother had been.
2 literary changing quickly and suddenly:
•a capricious wind
- capriciously adverb $
1 [U] the tenth sign of the ZODIAC, represented by a goat, which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between December 22 and January 20
2 [C] someone who was born between December 22 and January 20 [C,U]
technical a kind of PEPPER (=a green, red, or yellow vegetable) $ [I,T]
if a boat capsizes, or if you capsize it, it turns over in the water[singular, U]
the button that you press on a computer when you want to use capital letters [C]
a round machine shaped like a drum, used to wind up a rope that pulls or lifts heavy objects $ [C]
1 a plastic container shaped like a very small tube with medicine inside that you swallow whole; tablet
2 a small plastic container with a substance or liquid inside
3 the part of a spacecraft in which people live and work:
•a space capsule orbiting the Earth
TIME CAPSULE [C]
1 the sailor in charge of a ship, or the pilot in charge of an aircraft:
•The Captain and crew welcome you aboard.
2 a military officer with a fairly high rank
GROUP CAPTAIN
3 someone who leads a team or other group of people
[+of]
•Julie's captain of the quiz team.
•The Blackhawk's team captain was the first to score.
4 captain of industry someone who owns or has an important job in a big company[T]
1 to lead a group or team of people and be their captain:
•The U.S. team, captained by Arthur Ashe, won the Davis Cup in 1981 and 1982.
2 to be in charge of a ship, aircraft etc plural captaincies [C,U]
the position of being captain of a team, or the period during which someone is captain [C]
words printed above or below a picture in a book or newspaper or on a television screen to explain what the picture is showing; subtitle
- caption verb [T usually passive]
•a photograph of the couple captioned 'rebuilding their romance' [T]
to attract someone very much, and hold their attention
be captivated by sb/sth
•He was captivated by her beauty.
very attractive and interesting, in a way that holds your attention:
•a captivating smile
•a captivating account of her childhood in Beijing
1 kept in prison or in a place that you are not allowed to leave:
•captive soldiers
•captive animals
•His son had been taken captive (=became a prisoner) during the raid.
•a pilot who was held captive (=kept as a prisoner) for six years
2 captive audience people who listen or watch someone or something because they have to, not because they are interested
3 captive market the people who must buy a particular product or service, because they need it and there is only one company selling it
4 be captive to sth to be unable to think or speak freely, because of being influenced too much by something:
•Our communities should not be captive to the mistakes of the past.[C]
someone who is kept as a prisoner, especially in a war [U]
when a person or animal is kept in a prison, CAGE etc and not allowed to go where they want:
•The hostages were released from captivity.
in captivity
•animals bred in captivity $ [C]
someone who is keeping another person prisoner; captive
•He managed to escape from his captors. $ [T]
1 PERSON to catch a person and keep them as a prisoner:
•Government troops have succeeded in capturing the rebel leader.
•40 captured French soldiers
2 PLACE/THING to get control of a place or object that previously belonged to an enemy, during a war:
•The town was captured after a siege lasting ten days.
•The Dutch fleet captured two English ships.
3 ANIMAL to catch an animal after chasing or following it:
•The tiger was finally captured two miles outside the village.
4 FILM/RECORD/ART to succeed in recording, showing, or describing a situation or feeling, using words or pictures:
•These photographs capture the essence of working-class life at the turn of the century.
•The robbery was captured on police video cameras.
5 capture sb's imagination/attention etc to make someone feel very interested in something:
•His stories of foreign adventure captured my imagination.
6 capture sb's heart to make someone love you
7 BUSINESS/POLITICS to get something that previously belonged to one of your competitors:
•We aim to capture eight percent of the UK wine market.
•Republicans captured three Senate seats that had been held by Democrats.
8 capture the headlines to be talked or written about a lot in the newspapers or on television:
•Irvine Welsh first captured the headlines with his novel 'Trainspotting'.
9 COMPUTER technical to put something in a form that a computer can use:
•The data is captured by an optical scanner.
10 CHESS to remove one of your opponent's pieces from the board in CHESS[U]
1 when you catch someone in order to make them a prisoner:
•The two soldiers somehow managed to avoid capture.
2 when soldiers get control of a place that previously belonged to an enemy
[+of]
•the capture of Jerusalem in 1099
3 when you get control of something that previously belonged to one of your competitors
4 when you put information into a form a computer can use $ [C]
1 a vehicle with four wheels and an engine, that can carry a small number of passengers

by car
get in/into a car
get out of a car
drive a car
park a car
parked car
take the car (=drive it somewhere)
car crash/accident
car chase
car crime
police car
company car (=a car you are given to use by your company)

•I've left my bag in the car.
•I always go to work by car.
•Dan got out of the car and locked the door.
•He wasn't even old enough to drive a car.
• Cars were parked on both sides of the road.
•A line of parked cars ran parallel to the pavements.
•You really ought to walk a bit more, rather than taking the car everywhere.
•Coughlan was killed in a car accident.
•a high-speed car chase through the streets of London
• Car crime is the fastest-growing crime.
• Police cars occasionally circled the building.
!! Do not use go in/out with 'car'. Use get in/out: She got into her car (NOT went into her car) and drove off. | 'Stop the car. I want to get out!' (NOT go out)

2 sleeping/dining/buffet car a train carriage used for sleeping, eating etc
3 AmE a train carriage
4 the part of a lift, BALLOON, or AIRSHIP in which people or goods are carried

WORD FOCUS: car
big cars:
limousine
people carrier BrE
gas-guzzler AmE informal
estate car BrE
small cars:
compact AmE
hatchback BrE
other types of car:
pickup
van
saloon BrE /sedan AmE
sports car
convertible
SUV AmE
off-roader
four-wheel drive /4x4
where you park your car:
garage
car park BrE /parking lot AmE
multi-storey car park BrE
parking space
carport
someone who drives a car:
driver
motorist
learner driver
someone who drives a rich or important person's car for them:
chauffeur
driver
[C]
a glass container with a wide neck, used for serving wine or water at meals[C]
special equipment in a car that makes a loud noise if anyone tries to steal or damage the car
1 [C,U] a sticky brown sweet made of boiled sugar, butter, and milk
2 [U] burnt sugar used for giving food a special taste and colour
3 [U] a light yellow-brown colour
CRèME CARAMELalso caramelise BrE
1 [I] if sugar caramelizes, it becomes brown and hard when it is heated
2 [T] to cook something such as fruit or vegetables with sugar
- caramelized adjective
•caramelized onions [C] technical
a hard shell on the outside of some animals such as a CRAB or TORTOISE; = shell [C] BrE
1 also karat AmE a unit for measuring how pure gold is
9/18/22/24 carat gold
•a 22 carat gold chain
•Pure gold is 24 carats.
2 a unit for measuring the weight of jewels, equal to 200 MILLIGRAMs :
•the Orloff diamond, a stone of 194.5 carats [C]
1 BrE a vehicle that a car can pull and in which people can live and sleep when they are on holiday; = trailer AmE
caravan site/park (=area of land where people can park their caravans)
2 BrE a covered vehicle that is pulled by a horse, and in which people can live; = wagon AmE
•a gipsy caravan
3 a group of people with animals or vehicles who travel together for safety, especially through a desert [U]
BrE the activity of taking holidays in a caravan:
•a caravanning holiday [C]
a hotel with a large open central area, used in the past in Eastern countries by groups of people and animals travelling together [C,U]
a plant whose seeds are used in cooking $ [C] informal
1 BrE a CARBURETTOR
2 [usually plural] especially AmE a food such as rice, potatoes, or bread that contains CARBOHYDRATE:
•Before a race I eat plenty of carbs. $ [C]
a short light RIFLE $
1 [C,U] technical a substance that is in foods such as sugar, bread, potatoes etc, which provides your body with heat and energy and which consists of oxygen, HYDROGEN, and CARBON
2 [C usually plural] foods such as rice, bread, and potatoes that contain carbohydrates $ [U]
a liquid that kills BACTERIA, used for preventing the spread of disease or infection[C]
a bomb hidden inside a car $
1 [U] a chemical substance that exists in a pure form as diamonds, GRAPHITE etc, or in an impure form as coal, petrol etc. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol C
2 [C,U] CARBON PAPER
3 [C] a CARBON COPY (1) $
carbonated drinks contain small bubbles; fizzy
•carbonated spring water[C]
1 a copy, especially of something that has been TYPEd using CARBON PAPER; cc
2 someone or something that is very similar to another person or thing
[+of]
•The robbery is a carbon copy of one that took place last year.[U]
a method of finding out the age of very old objects by measuring the amount of carbon in them[U]
the gas produced when animals breathe out, when carbon is burned in air, or when animal or vegetable substances decay $ technical
producing or containing carbon or coal:
•carboniferous rocksalso ise BrE $ [I,T]
to change or make something change into CARBON by burning it without air
- carbonized adjective
- carbonization $ noun [U][U]
a poisonous gas produced when CARBON, especially in petrol, burns in a small amount of air[C,U]
thin paper with a blue or black substance on one side, that you put between sheets of paper when TYPING on a typewriter in order to make a copy onto the second sheet of paper[C]
a large area of forest that is believed to help the environment by taking in CARBON from the air so that the effects of GLOBAL WARMING are reduced[C,U]
a tax on businesses and industries which produce substances with a carbon base, that can damage the environment:
•carbon taxes on fossil fuels[C]
BrE an outdoor sale where people sell things from the back of their cars $ [C]
1 a large painful lump under someone's skin
2 a red jewel, especially a GARNETcarburetor AmE $ [C] BrE
a part of an engine, especially in a car, that mixes the petrol with air so that it burns and provides power $ [C]
1 the body of a dead animal
2 the decaying outer structure of a building, vehicle, or other object $ [C] medical
a substance that can cause CANCER $
likely to cause CANCER:
•the carcinogenic effects of coal dust $ [C] medical
a CANCER $
1 INFORMATION [C] a small piece of plastic or paper containing information about a person or showing, for example, that they belong to a particular organization, club etc:
•Employees must show their identity cards at the gate.
•I haven't got my membership card yet.
2 MONEY [C] a small piece of plastic, especially one that you get from a bank or shop, which you use to pay for goods or to get money:
•Lost or stolen cards must be reported immediately.
•a £10 phone card
•Every time you use your store card, you get air miles.
CHARGE CARD, CHEQUE CARD, CREDIT CARD, DEBIT CARD
3 GREETINGS [C] a piece of folded thick stiff paper with a picture on the front, that you send to people on special occasions
birthday/Christmas/greetings etc card
•a Mother's Day card
4 HOLIDAY [C] a card with a photograph or picture on one side, that you send to someone when you are on holiday; = postcard
•I sent you a card from Madrid.
5 STIFF PAPER [U] BrE thick stiff paper; cardboard
•Cut a piece of white card 12 x 10cm.
6 FOR WRITING INFORMATION [C] a small piece of thick stiff paper that information can be written or printed on:
•a set of recipe cards
•the score card from their golf game
7 GAMES [C]
a) a small piece of thick stiff paper with numbers and signs or pictures one side. There are 52 cards in a set; = playing card
pack/deck of cards (=a complete set of cards)
b) game in which these cards are used:
•I'm no good at cards.
•We were having a game of cards.
•Let's play cards.
•a book of card games
c) a small piece of thick stiff paper with numbers or pictures on them, used to play a particular game:
•a set of cards for playing Snap
8 football/baseball etc card a small piece of thick stiff paper with a picture on one side, that is part of a set which people collect
9 BUSINESS [C] a small piece of thick stiff paper that shows your name, job, and the company you work for;; = business card; visiting card
•My name's Adam Carver. Here's my card.
10 COMPUTER [C] the thing inside a computer that the CHIPs are attached to, that allows the computer to do specific things:
•a graphics card
11 be on the cards BrE be in the cards AmE to seem likely to happen:
•At 3-1 down, another defeat seemed to be on the cards.
12 play your cards right to deal with a situation in the right way, so that you are successful in getting what you want:
•If he plays his cards right, Tony might get a promotion.
13 put/lay your cards on the table to tell people what your plans and intentions are in a clear, honest way:
•What I'd like us to do is put our cards on the table and discuss the situation in a rational manner.
14 play/keep your cards close to your chest to keep your plans, thoughts, or feelings secret
15 get/be given your cards BrE informal to have your job taken away from you
16 have another card up your sleeve to have another advantage that you can use to be successful in a particular situation
17 trump/best/strongest card something that gives you a big advantage in a particular situation:
•The promise of tax cuts proved, as always, to be the Republican Party's trump card.
18 sb's card is marked BrE if someone's card is marked, they have done something that makes people in authority disapprove of them
19 PERSON [C usually singular] old-fashioned informal an amusing or unusual person:
•Old Fred's a real card, isn't he!
20 SPORT [C] a small piece of stiff red or yellow paper, shown to a player who has done something wrong in a game such as football
21 LIST AT SPORTS EVENT [C] a list of races or matches at a sports event, especially a horse race:
•a full card of 120 riders for the Veterans race
22 TAROT [C] a small piece of thick stiff paper with a special picture on one side, that is put down in a pattern in order to tell someone what will happen in their future
23 TOOL [C] technical a tool that is similar to a comb and is used for combing, cleaning, and preparing wool or cotton for SPINning
hold all the cards at HOLD^1 (30)
play the race/nationalist/environmentalist etc card at PLAY^1 (14)
stack the cards at STACK^2 (4)[T]
1 especially AmE to ask someone to show a card proving that they are old enough to do something, especially to buy alcohol
2 to show a red or yellow card to someone playing a sport such as football, to show that they have done something wrong
3 to comb, clean, and prepare wool or cotton, before making cloth $ [C,U]
the seeds of an Asian fruit, used to give a special taste to Indian and Middle Eastern food $ [U]
a stiff brown material like very thick paper, used especially for making boxes:
•We covered the hole with a sheet of cardboard.
1 made from cardboard:
•a cardboard box
2 [only before noun] seeming silly and not real:
•a romantic novel full of cardboard characters[C]
an area in a large town or city where people who have no home sleep outside using cardboard boxes to try to keep warm[C]
1 a picture drawn on cardboard so that it can stand up on a surface
2 a person or character in a book, film etc who does not seem natural or real:
•the sort of movie in which the characters are just cardboard cut-outs[only before noun]
1 card-carrying member someone who has paid money to a political organization and is an official and active member of it:
•a card-carrying member of the Labour Party
2 believing very strongly in something - used to show disapproval:
•One of them is a card-carrying ecology freak.[C] AmE
a box of cards that contain information about something and are arranged in order, especially the cards with book information on them in a library; = card index BrE $ [C]
someone who has a CREDIT CARD $ [only before noun] medical
relating to the heart:
•cardiac surgery
cardiac arrest/failure (=when the heart stops working) $ [C] BrE informal
a cardiganalso cardigan sweater AmE $ [C]
a SWEATER similar to a short coat, fastened at the front with buttons or a zip $ [C]
1 a priest of high rank in the Roman Catholic Church
2 a North American bird. The male is a bright red colour
3 a CARDINAL NUMBER[only before noun]
very important or basic:
•Having clean hands is one of the cardinal rules when preparing food.
•an issue of cardinal importancealso cardinal [C]
a number such as 1, 2, or 3, that shows how many of something there are, but not what order they are in
ORDINAL NUMBER[C] BrE technical
one of the four main points (north, south, east, or west) on a COMPASS[C]
1 informal something bad or stupid that you must avoid doing:
•politicians who commit the cardinal sin of ignoring public opinion
2 a serious SIN in the Christian religion[C] BrE
a box of cards that contain information about something and are arranged in order, especially the cards with book information on them in a library; = card catalog AmE $ [U] informal
any type of exercise that makes the heart stronger and healthier, for example running:
•a combination of cardio, weight training, and kung fu $ medical
relating to the heart:
•a cardiograph (=machine that measures movements of the heart)
•cardiovascular (=the heart and the tubes through which blood flows in your body) $ [C] medical
a doctor who studies or treats heart diseases $ [U]
the medical study of the heartcardsharp BrE $ [C]
someone who cheats when playing cards in order to make money[C]
a small light table, usually with folding legs, used for playing card games on[C]
BrE a way of voting at a TRADE UNION meeting in which your vote represents the votes of all the members of your organization $
1 LOOKING AFTER SB [U] the process of looking after someone, especially because they are ill, old, or very young:
•high standards of medical care
•They shared the care of the children.
•Care facilities for the elderly are inadequate.
in sb's care (=being looked after by someone)
•The children had been left in the care of a babysitter.
be under sb's care (=be officially looked after or treated by someone)
•Mentally ill patients will be under the care of a psychiatrist.
DAY CARE, HEALTH CARE, INTENSIVE CARE; tender loving care at TENDER^1 (5)
2 take care of sb/sth
a) to look after someone or something:
•Who's taking care of the dog while you're away?
take care of yourself
•The children are old enough to take care of themselves.
b) to deal with all the necessary work, arrangements etc:
•Her secretary always took care of the details.
•Don't worry about your accommodation - it's all taken care of.
c) to pay for something - used when you want to avoid saying this directly:
•We'll take care of the fees.
3 take care
a) spoken used when saying goodbye to family and friends:
•Take care! See you next week!
b) to be careful:
•Take care when driving in icy conditions.
take care to do sth
•Take care to ensure that the ladder is steady before you climb it.
take care (that)
•Take care that the meat is cooked properly.
4 KEEPING STH IN GOOD CONDITION [U] the process of doing things to keep something in good condition and working correctly:
•With proper care, the washing machine should last for years.
•advice on skin care
5 CAREFULNESS [U] when you are careful to avoid damage, mistakes etc:
•The note on the box said 'Fragile - handle with care'.
•The picture had been drawn with great care.
6 take care over/with sth to spend a lot of time and effort making sure that something is perfect:
•Paul always takes great care over his appearance.
7 in care BrE a child who is in care is being looked after by the government, not by their parents:
•When he was sent to prison, the children were taken into care.
8 PROBLEM/WORRY [C,U] literary something that causes problems and makes you anxious or sad:
•At last I felt free from my cares.
•Alex looked as though he didn't have a care in the world (=had no problems or worries).
•a man with the cares of the world on his shoulders (=with a lot of problems or worries)
9 care of sb BrE in care of sb AmE used when sending letters to someone at someone else's address; = c/o
•Send me the letter care of my uncle.
10 have a care! BrE spoken old-fashioned used to tell someone to be more careful[I,T]
1 to think that something is important, so that you are interested in it, worried about it etc
[+about]
•The only thing he seems to care about is money.
care what/how/whether etc
•She didn't care what her father thought.
•'He looked angry.' ' I don't care!'
2 to be concerned about what happens to someone, because you like or love them; caring
[+about]
•I care about him and hate to see him hurt like this.
•She felt that nobody cared.
3 who cares? spoken used to say that something does not worry or upset you because it is not important:
•It's rather old and scruffy, but who cares?
4 see if I care! spoken used when you are angry or upset, to say that you do not care about what someone will do:
•Go with William, then - see if I care!
5 sb couldn't care less spoken used to say that someone does not care at all about something:
•I really couldn't care less what you think!
6 what does sb care? spoken used to say that someone does not care at all about something:
•What do I care? It's your responsibility now!
7 as if I cared! spoken used to say that something is not important to you at all:
•As if I cared whether he comes with us or not!
8 for all sb cares spoken used when you are angry that someone does not seem concerned about someone or something:
•We could be starving for all they care!
9 not care to do sth old-fashioned to not like doing something:
•She doesn't care to spend much time with her relatives.
•I wouldn't care to meet him in a dark alley!
•I've experienced more reorganizations than I care to remember (=a lot of them).
10 any ... you care to name/mention any thing of a particular kind:
•Virtually any piece of equipment you care to name can be hired these days.
11 would you care to do sth? spoken formal used to ask someone politely whether they want to do something:
•Would you care to join us for dinner?

PHRASAL VERBS
care for sb/sth phr v
1 to look after someone who is not able to look after themselves; = take care of
•He thanked the nurses who had cared for him while he was sick.
•The children are being well cared for.
2 to do things that keep something in good condition:
•Instructions on caring for your new sofa are included.
3 would you care for sth? spoken formal used to ask someone politely if they would like something:
•Would you care for another drink?
4 not care for sb/sth formal to not like someone or something:
•I don't much care for his parents. [I always + adv/prep]
AmE to move forwards quickly without control, making sudden sideways movements; = career BrE
[+down/over/along etc]
•The car careened around the corner. $ [C]
1 a job or profession that you have been trained for, and which you do for a long period of your life
[+in]
•a career in journalism
•a teaching career
•He realized that his acting career was over.
career development/advancement/progression etc
•Career prospects within the company are excellent.
•a physiotherapist who wanted to make a dramatic career change by becoming an author
•Nurses want an improved career structure (=better opportunities to move upwards in their jobs).
2 career soldier/teacher etc someone who intends to be a soldier, teacher etc for most of their life, not just for a particular period of time:
•a career diplomat
3 the period of time in your life that you spend doing a particular activity:
•She had not had a very impressive school career up till then.
•My career as an English teacher didn't last long.
•Beating the defending champion has to be the highlight of my career.[I always + adv/prep]
BrE to move forwards quickly without control, making sudden sideways movements; = careen AmE
[+down/along/towards etc]
•The truck careered down the hill and into a tree.[C]
a short period of time when you do not work in your usual job or profession, for example because you want to look after your children[C]
AmE a CAREERS OFFICER $
someone who is careerist considers their career to be more important to them than anything else - often used to show disapproval
- careerism noun [U]
- careerist noun [C]also careers adviser [C]
BrE someone whose job is to give people advice about what jobs and professional training might be suitable for them; = career counselor AmE[C]
a woman whose career is very important to her, so that she may not want to get married or have children:
•a fiercely independent career woman $
having no worries or problems:
•He thought back to the carefree days of his childhood.
•a carefree attitude $
1 (be) careful! spoken used to tell someone to think about what they are doing so that something bad does not happen:
•Be careful - there's broken glass on the floor!
2 trying very hard to avoid doing anything wrong or to avoid damaging or losing something; careless
•a careful driver
careful to do sth
•Be careful to dispose of your litter properly.
[+with]
•He was being very careful with the coffee so as not to spill it.
careful who/what/how etc
•I'll be more careful what I say in the future.
[+about]
•Mara was careful about what she ate.
careful (that)
•We were very careful that he didn't find out.
3 paying a lot of attention to details, so that something is done correctly and thoroughly:
•Any school trip requires careful planning.
careful consideration/attention/thought
•Careful consideration has been given to all applications.
careful analysis/examination/study etc
•careful analysis of the data
4 careful with money not spending more money than you need to
5 you can't be too careful spoken used to say that you should do everything you can to avoid problems or danger
- carefulness noun [U] $
in a careful way; carelessly
•He folded the sheets up carefully.
look/listen/think etc carefully
•You need to think very carefully about which course you want to do.
carefully planned/chosen/controlled etc
•carefully chosen words $ [C] AmE
someone who takes care of a child or sick person[C] BrE
a building where people who are old or ill live and are looked after[C]
a small piece of cloth in a piece of clothing that tells you how to wash it $
1 not paying enough attention to what you are doing, so that you make mistakes, damage things etc; careful
•It was careless of him to leave the door unlocked.
•a careless mistake
•careless driving
[+with]
•He's careless with his glasses and has lost three pairs.
• Careless talk can be disastrous for a business.
2 [usually before noun] natural and not done with any deliberate effort or attention:
•He ran a hand through his hair with a careless gesture.
3 not concerned about something
[+of]
•a man careless of his own safety
•She gave a careless shrug.
!! Do not use careless to mean that someone has no worries. Use carefree: They all felt happy and carefree.
- carelessly adverb
- carelessness noun [U][C]
AmE a package of food, sweets etc that is sent to someone living away from home, especially a student at college $ [C] BrE
someone who looks after an old or ill person at home [T]
1 especially literary to touch someone gently in a way that shows you love them; = stroke
•His hands gently caressed her body.
2 literary to touch something gently, in a way that seems pleasant or romantic:
•Waves caressed the shore.[C] especially literary
a gentle touch or kiss that shows you love someone $ [C]
1 BrE someone whose job is to look after a building, especially a school; = janitor AmE
2 someone who looks after a house or land while the person who owns it is not there
3 caretaker manager/government/boss etc a manager, government etc that is in charge for a short period of time until another manager or government is chosen
4 AmE someone who looks after other people, especially a teacher, parent, nurse etc[C] BrE
someone whose job is to look after people who need care $
looking sad, worried, and tired:
•a careworn expression $ plural cargos or cargoes [C,U]
the goods that are being carried in a ship or plane; = freight
[+of]
•A ship carrying a cargo of oil has run aground.
•a cargo plane
from or relating to the islands in the Caribbean sea
- Caribbean noun [C] plural caribou [C]
a North American REINDEER $
1 [C] a funny drawing of someone that makes them look silly
[+of]
•caricatures of politicians.
2 [C] a description of someone or something that is only partly true and makes them seem silly
[+of]
•The report presents a caricature of the true situation.
3 [U] the activity of drawing or writing caricatures[T]
to draw or describe someone or something in a way that makes them seem silly
caricature sb/sth as sth
•Scientists are often caricatured as absent-minded professors. $ [C]
someone who draws or writes caricatures $ [U] technical
decay in someone's teeth; = cavity $ [C]
a set of bells in a tower that are controlled from a piano KEYBOARD, or a tune played on these bells $
1 thinking about what other people need or want and trying to help them; care
•a warm and caring man
•a caring attitude
•The school aims to educate children in a caring environment.
2 [only before noun] involving the job of looking after other people:
•Like many of the caring professions, nursing is very badly paid.
•More men are taking on a caring role. $ [C,U]
the crime of using a weapon to force the driver of a car to drive you somewhere or give you their car; hijacking
- carjacker noun [C]
- carjack verb [T] $ [C]
the amount of people or things a car can hold
[+of]
•A carload of tourists pulled up and asked for directions. $ [U] literary
a dark red colour
- carmine adjective $ [U]
when a lot of people are killed and injured, especially in a war:
•a scene of terrible carnage $ formal
1 relating to sex or someone's body:
•carnal desires
2 carnal knowledge/relations sexual activity
- carnally adverb $ [C]
a flower that smells sweet. Men often wear a carnation on their jacket on formal occasions $ [C]
1 BrE a small book of tickets that you can use on trains, buses etc
2 an official document that allows you to go somewhere, especially to drive across the border into another country for a limited period; pass $
1 [C,U] a public event at which people play music, wear special clothes, and dance in the streets:
•preparations for this year's carnival
•when it's Carnival in Rio
•a carnival atmosphere throughout the town
2 [C] AmE a noisy outdoor event at which you can ride on special machines and play games for prizes; = funfair BrE
3 [C] AmE an event at a school, in which students play games for prizes
4 carnival of sth literary an exciting mixture of things:
•Shakespeare's carnival of images $ [C]
1 an animal that eats flesh; herbivore, omnivore
2 humorous someone who eats meat; vegetarian
- carnivorous $ adjective [U]
the fruit of a Mediterranean tree, which tastes similar to chocolatealso Christmas carol [C]
a traditional Christmas songpast tense and past participle carolled, present participle carolling BrE past tense and past participle caroled, present participle caroling AmE [I,T] literary
to sing or say something in a happy way:
•'Goodbye,' carolled Boris happily. $ [C] medical
one of the two ARTERIES in your neck that supply blood to your head [I]
literary to drink a lot, be noisy, and have fun
- carousal noun [C,U]also carrousel AmE [C]
1 especially AmE a machine with wooden horses on it that turns around and around, which people can ride on for fun
2 the moving belt that you collect your bags from at an airport $ [I]
to keep complaining about something in a way that is annoying
[+about]
•He always finds something to carp about.plural carp [C]
a large fish that lives in lakes and rivers and can be eaten $ [U]
a medical condition in which you have a lot of pain and weakness in your wrist[C] BrE
1 an area where people can park their cars; = parking lot AmE
2 an enclosed building in a public place where people can park their cars; = parking garage AmE $ [C]
someone whose job is making and repairing wooden objects $ [U]
the skill or work of a carpenter $
1 [C,U] heavy woven material for covering floors or stairs, or a piece of this material; carpeting, rug
•My bedroom carpet is green.
•All the rooms had fitted carpets (=carpets cut to fit the shape of the rooms).
2 a carpet of sth literary a thick layer of something on the ground:
•a carpet of flowers
3 be/get called on the carpet AmE informal to be criticized by someone in authority because you have done something wrong:
•He was called on the carpet by his supervisors to explain his excessive spending.
MAGIC CARPET; sweep/brush sth under the carpet at SWEEP^1 (15)[T]
1 [usually passive] to cover a floor with carpet:
•The building has been carpeted throughout.
2 [usually passive] especially BrE informal to talk in an angry way to someone because they have done something wrong
carpet sb for sth
•Top officers were carpeted for bullying younger officers.
3 literary if leaves, flowers etc carpet the ground, they cover it in a thick layer
be carpeted with sth
•The whole garden was carpeted with daffodils. $ [C]
1 someone from the northern US who went to the southern US after the Civil War in order to make money, especially in a dishonest way
2 someone who moves to a different place to try to be politically successful - used in order to show disapproval
3 BrE someone who opens an account at a BUILDING SOCIETY because they think that the building society will soon become a bank, and then they will receive money or SHAREs in the bank[T]
to drop a lot of bombs over a small area to destroy everything in it
- carpet bombing noun [U] $
1 [U] carpets in general, or the material used for making them:
•a spacious room with wall-to-wall carpeting (=covering the whole floor)
2 [C] BrE informal an occasion when you talk to someone in an angry way because they have done something wrong:
•He was called to the manager's office for a carpeting.[C] BrE old-fashioned
a type of soft shoe that you wear in your house; = slipper[C]
a simple machine for sweeping carpets, which does not use electricitycarpool [C]
1 a group of people who agree to travel together to work, school etc in one car and share the cost
2 a group of cars that a company or organization owns for its workers or members to usecar-pool $ [I] especially AmE
if a group of people carpool, they travel together to work, school etc in one car and share the cost
- carpooling noun [U] $ [C]
a shelter for a car which consists of a roof supported by posts or walls [C]
a small enclosed desk for one person to use in a library
1 VEHICLE PULLED BY HORSE [C] a vehicle with wheels that is pulled by a horse, used in the past
2 TRAIN [C] BrE one of the parts of a train where passengers sit; = car AmE
3 MOVEMENT OF GOODS [U] BrE formal the act of moving goods from one place to another or the cost of moving them:
•Canals in the area were originally built for the carriage of coal.
•It costs £45.50 including carriage.
4 MACHINE PART [C] a moving part of a machine that supports or moves another part:
•the carriage of a typewriter
5 POSITION OF BODY [U] formal used when describing the position of someone's body as they walk, stand, or sit:
•her graceful carriage
6 FOR MOVING HEAVY OBJECTS [C] something with wheels that is used to move a heavy object, especially a gun
BABY CARRIAGE[C]
a clock inside a glass case with a handle on top [C]
BrE one of the two sides of a MOTORWAY or main road, for vehicles travelling in the same direction:
•the northbound carriageway of the M1
DUAL CARRIAGEWAY $ [C]
1 a company that moves goods or passengers from one place to another; carry
•an international carrier
2 a military vehicle or ship used to move soldiers, weapons etc
AIRCRAFT CARRIER, PEOPLE CARRIER
3 medical someone who passes a disease or GENE to other people, especially without being affected by it themselves; carry
•carriers of the lung disease, TB
4 something used for carrying something; carry
•a baby carrier
5 BrE a carrier bag
6 AmE a company that provides a service such as insurance or telephones[C]
BrE a bag that you are given in a shop, to carry the things you have bought[C]
a PIGEON (=type of bird) that has been trained to carry messages [U]
the decaying flesh of dead animals, which is eaten by some animals and birds
1 [C,U] a long pointed orange vegetable that grows under the ground:
•grated carrots
•carrot juice
2 [C] informal something that is offered to someone in order to try and persuade them to do something:
•They have refused to sign the agreement despite a carrot of £140 million.
3 carrot and stick informal a way of trying to persuade someone to do something by offering them something good if they do it, and a punishment if they do not:
•the government's carrot and stick approach in getting young people to find jobs BrE
carroty hair is orange
an American spelling of CAROUSEL past tense and past participle carried, present participle carrying, third person singular carries
1 LIFT AND TAKE [T] to hold something in your hand or arms, or support it as you take it somewhere:
•Gina was carrying a small bunch of flowers.
•Angela carried the child in her arms.
•Let me carry that for you.
•Jack carried his grandson up the stairs.
carry sth to sth/sb
•The waiter carried our drinks to the table.
2 VEHICLE/SHIP/PLANE [T] to take people or things from one place to another in a vehicle, ship, or plane:
•The ship was carrying supplies from the UN World Food Programme.
•There are more airplanes carrying more people than ever before in the skies.
3 PIPE/WIRE ETC [T] if a pipe, wire etc carries something such as liquid or electricity, the liquid, electricity etc flows or travels along it:
•A drain carries surplus water to the river.
•The aim is for one wire to carry both television and telephone calls.
4 MOVE STH [T] to cause something to move along or support something as it moves along:
•This stretch of water carries a lot of shipping.
•The bridge carries the main road over the railway.
•Pollution was carried inland by the wind.
5 HAVE WITH YOU [T] to have something with you in your pocket, on your belt, in your bag etc everywhere you go:
•I don't carry a handbag. I just carry money in my pocket.
•All the soldiers carried rifles.
•He says he's got to carry a knife to protect himself.
6 HAVE A QUALITY [T] to have something as a particular quality:
•Degree qualifications carry international recognition.
•Few medical procedures carry no risk of any kind.
•Older managers carry more authority in a crisis.
•The plan is not likely to carry much weight with (=have much influence over) the authorities.
•If the child believes in what she is saying, she will carry conviction (=make others believe what she says is true).
7 NEWS/PROGRAMMES [T] if a newspaper, a television or radio broadcast, or a website carries a piece of news, an advertisement etc, it prints it or broadcasts it:
•The morning paper carried a story about demonstrations in New York and Washington D.C.
•The national TV network carries religious programmes.
8 INFORMATION [T] if something carries information, the information is written on it:
•All tobacco products must carry a health warning.
•goods carrying the label 'Made in the USA'
9 BE RESPONSIBLE [T] to be responsible for doing something:
•Each team member is expected to carry a fair share of the workload.
•Which minister carries responsibility for the police?
•Parents carry the burden of ensuring that children go to school.
10 SHOP [T] if a shop carries goods, it has a supply of them for sale:
•The sports shop carries a full range of equipment.
11 BUILDING [T] if a wall etc carries something, it supports the weight of that thing:
•These two columns carry the whole roof.
12 TAKE SB/STH [T] to take something or someone to a new place, point, or position
carry sb/sth to sth
•The president wanted to carry the war to the northern states.
•Blair carried his party to victory in 1997.
carry sb/sth into sth
•Clinton carried his campaign into Republican areas.
13 DISEASE [T] if a person, animal, or insect carries a disease, they can pass it to other people or animals even if they are not ill themselves; carrier
•The disease is carried by a black fly which lives in the rivers.
•Birds and monkeys can carry disease.
14 carry insurance/a guarantee etc to have insurance etc:
•All our products carry a 12-month guarantee.
15 be/get carried away to be so excited, angry, interested etc that you are no longer really in control of what you do or say, or you forget everything else:
•It's easy to get carried away when you can do so much with the graphics software.
•I just got carried away because it was such fun.
16 be carried along (by sth) to become excited about something or determined to do something:
•The crowd were carried along on a tide of enthusiasm.
•You can be carried along by the atmosphere of an auction and spend more than you planned.
17 CRIME [T] if a crime carries a particular punishment, that is the usual punishment for the crime:
•Drink-driving should carry an automatic prison sentence.
•Murder still carries the death penalty.
18 SOUND [I] if a sound carries, it goes a long way:
•In the winter air, sounds carry clearly.
•The songs of the whales carry through the water over long distances.
19 BALL [I] if a ball carries a particular distance when it is thrown, hit, or kicked, it travels that distance
20 carry sth in your head/mind to remember information that you need, without writing it down:
•Alice carried a map of the London Underground in her head.
21 TUNE [T] to sing a tune using the correct notes:
•I sang solos when I was six because I could carry a tune.
•The highest voice carries the melody.
22 PERSUADE [T] to persuade a group of people to support you:
•He had to carry a large majority of his colleagues to get the leadership.
•Her appeal to common sense was what finally carried the day (=persuaded people to support her).
23 VOTE be carried if a suggestion, proposal etc is carried, most of the people at an official meeting vote for it and it is accepted:
•The amendment was carried by 292 votes to 246.
•The resolution was carried unanimously (=everyone agreed).
•Those in favour of the motion raise your arm. Those against? The motion is carried (=proposal is accepted).
24 ELECTION [T] AmE if someone carries a state or local area in a US election, they win in that state or area:
•Cuban Americans play an important role in whether he carries Florida in the fall campaign.
25 YOUR BODY [T always + adv/prep] to stand and move in a particular way, or to hold part of your body in a particular way:
•He had a way of carrying his head on one side.
carry yourself
•She carried herself straight and with confidence.
26 carry the can (for sb/sth) BrE informal to be the person who has to take the blame for something even if it was not their fault, or not their fault alone:
•He has been left to carry the can for a decision he didn't make.
27 NOT ENOUGH EFFORT [T] if a group carries someone who is not doing enough work, they have to manage without the work that person should be doing:
•We can't afford to carry anyone. Every game is going to be difficult now.
28 CHILD [I,T] old-fashioned if a woman is carrying a child, she is PREGNANT (=has a baby developing inside her)
29 carry all/everything before you literary to be completely successful in a struggle against other people
30 carry sth too far/to extremes/to excess to do or say too much about something:
•I don't mind a joke, but this is carrying it too far.
31 WEIGHT [T] to weigh a particular amount more than you should or than you did:
•Joe carries only nine pounds more than when he was twenty.
32 carry a torch for sb to love someone romantically who does not love you:
•He's been carrying a torch for your sister for years.
33 carry the torch of sth to support an important belief or tradition when other people do not:
•Leaders in the mountains carried the torch of Greek independence.
34 as fast as his/her legs could carry him/her as fast as possible:
•She ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
35 ADDING NUMBERS [T] to put a number into the next row to the left when you are adding numbers together

PHRASAL VERBS
carry sth <=> forward phr v
1 to succeed in making progress with something:
•It will be up to the new team now to carry the work forward.
2 to include an amount of money in a later set of figures or calculations

carry sth <=> off phr v
1 to do something difficult successfully:
•I was flattered to be offered the job but wasn't sure if I could carry it off.
2 to win a prize:
•a film that carried off three Oscars

carry on phr v
1 especially BrE to continue doing something:
•Sorry, I interrupted you. Please carry on.
carry on doing sth
•You'll have an accident if you carry on driving like that.
[+with]
•I want to carry on with my course.
carry on as usual/as you are/regardless etc
•For the time being, you're to carry on as normal.
2 to continue moving:
•He stopped and looked back, then carried on down the stairs.
•Carry straight on until you get to the traffic lights.
3 carry on sth if you carry on a particular kind of work or activity, you do it or take part in it:
•Mr Dean carried on his baking business until he retired.
•It was so noisy it was hard to carry on a conversation.
4 spoken to talk in an annoying way
[+about]
•I wish everyone would stop carrying on about it.
5 old-fashioned to have a sexual relationship with someone, when you should not:
•Lucy confessed to carrying on behind her husband's back.
[+with]
•She was carrying on with a neighbour.

carry sth <=> out phr v
1 to do something that needs to be organized and planned:
•There is a shortage of people to carry out research.
•A survey is now being carried out nationwide.
•Turn off the water supply before carrying out repairs.
2 to do something that you have said you will do or that someone has asked you to do:
•Nicholson didn't carry out his threat to take legal action.
•We carried out her instructions precisely.
•Will the government carry out its promise to reform the law?

carry sth <=> over phr v
1 if something is carried over into a new situation, it continues to exist in the new situation:
•The pain and violence of his childhood were carried over into his marriage.
2 to make an official arrangement to do something or use something at a later time:
•Up to five days' holiday can be carried over from one year to the next.

carry sb/sth through phr v
1 to complete or finish something successfully, in spite of difficulties:
•I'm determined to carry this through.
2 carry sb through (sth) to help someone to manage during an illness or a difficult period:
•Her confidence carried her through.
CARD-CARRYING, CARRIER, CASH AND CARRY; fetch and carry at FETCH^1 (3)[U]
technical the distance a ball or bullet travels after it has been thrown, hit, or fired $ [C] AmE
a large soft bag; = holdall BrE $ [C] BrE
a small bed used for carrying a baby[C]
1 [usually singular] BrE spoken a situation in which someone behaves in a silly or annoying way:
•What a carry-on!
2 AmE a bag that you are allowed to take onto a plane with you
carry on at CARRY^1[only before noun]
carry-on bags are ones that you are allowed to take onto a plane with you[C]
especially AmE food that you can take away from a restaurant to eat somewhere else, or a restaurant that sells food like this; = takeaway BrE[singular]
1 something you do, or something that happens now, that is the result of a situation that existed in the past
[+from]
•Some of the problems schools are facing are a carry-over from the previous government's policies.
2 an amount of money that has not been used and is available to use later
[+from]
•The budget includes a £7 million carry-over from last year.
carry over at CARRY^1[C]
1 a special seat for a baby or young child that can be used in a car
2 a seat in a car:
•leather car seats $
feeling sick because you are travelling in a car
- carsickness noun [U] $ [C]
1 a vehicle with no roof that is pulled by a horse and used for carrying heavy things
HANDCART
2 AmE a large wire basket on wheels that you use in a SUPERMARKET; = trolley BrE
3 AmE a small table with wheels, used for moving and serving food and drinks; = trolley BrE
4 put the cart before the horse to do two things in the wrong order
upset the apple cart at UPSET^2 (5)[T always + adv/prep]
1 to take something somewhere in a cart, truck etc
cart sth away
•Household waste is carted away by the city's Sanitation Department.
2 informal to carry something somewhere, especially something that is heavy or difficult to carry:
•We carted all the furniture upstairs.

PHRASAL VERBS
cart sb off/away phr v informal
to take someone somewhere, especially to prison or hospital:
•He collapsed and had to be carted off to hospital.[U]
money that people in Britain must pay if they want to drive a car on the roads; = road tax $ [U]
permission or freedom to do whatever you want:
•The new manager will be given carte blanche as long as she can increase the company's profits.
•She had carte blanche to produce a film suitable for children. $ [C]
a group of people or companies who agree to sell something at a particular price in order to prevent competition and increase profits; monopoly
•an illegal drug cartel $ [C]
someone whose job was to drive a CART in the past $ [C]
a large strong horse, often used for pulling heavy loads $ [C,U]
a strong substance that can bend, which is around the joints in your body and in your outer ear $ [C]
the amount that a CART can hold
[+of]
•cartloads of hay $ [U]
the activity of making maps
- cartographer noun [C] $ [C]
1 a small box made of CARDBOARD or plastic that contains food or a drink
[+of]
•a carton of fruit juice
•a milk carton
2 especially AmE a large container with smaller containers of goods inside it
[+of]
•a carton of cigarettes $ [C]
1 a short film that is made by photographing a series of drawings:
•cartoon characters such as Donald Duck
2 a funny drawing in a newspaper or magazine, especially about politicians or events in the news
3 also cartoon strip a set of drawings that tell a funny story, especially in a newspaper or magazine; = comic strip
4 technical a drawing that an artist does before starting to do a painting $ [C]
someone who draws cartoons[C]
a CARTOON $ [C]
1 a small container or piece of equipment that you put inside something to make it work:
•computer game cartridges
•an ink cartridge for a printer
2 a tube containing explosive powder and a bullet that you put in a gun; = shell[U]
BrE thick strong paper used for drawing on[C]
a narrow road with a rough surface, usually on a farm $ [C]
1 a movement in which you turn completely over by throwing your body sideways onto your hands while bringing your legs over your head
do/turn cartwheels
•The children were doing cartwheels in the park.
2 the wheel of a CART
- cartwheel verb [I] $
1 MAKE OBJECT OR PATTERN [T] to make an object or pattern by cutting a piece of wood or stone; carving
carve sth out of/from sth
•a statue carved from a single block of marble
•carved wooden chairs
2 CUT STH INTO A SURFACE [T] to cut a pattern or letter on the surface of something
carve sth on/in/into sth
•Someone had carved their initials on the tree.
3 CUT MEAT [I,T] to cut a large piece of cooked meat into smaller pieces using a knife:
•Carve the meat into slices.
•Who's going to carve?
4 JOB/POSITION/LIFE [T] also carve out to succeed in getting the job, position, life etc that you want:
•He had carved a niche for himself as a photographer.
•She carved out a very successful career in the film industry.
•He moved to San Francisco to carve out a new life for himself.
5 WATER/WIND [T] if a river, the wind etc carves land or rock, it removes some of it:
•The river had carved channels in the limestone rock.
not be carved in stone at STONE^1 (9)
6 REDUCE STH [T always + adv/prep] to reduce the size of something by removing some of it
carve sth from sth
•The company carved $1 million from its budget.

PHRASAL VERBS
carve sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to divide land, a company etc into smaller parts and share it between people - used especially to show disapproval:
•The Ottoman Empire was carved up by Britain and France after World War I.
•The two companies are attempting to carve up a large slice of America's publishing industry between them.
2 BrE informal to drive past someone in a car and then suddenly move in front of them so that you are too close $ [C]
someone who carves wood or stone $ plural carveries [C] BrE
a restaurant that serves ROAST meat[singular] informal
an arrangement between two or more people, governments etc by which they divide something among themselves even though this is wrong $
1 [C] an object or pattern made by cutting a shape in wood or stone for decoration; carve
2 [U] the activity or skill of carving something[C]
a large fork used to hold cooked meat firmly while you are cutting it[C]
a large knife used for cutting large pieces of meat[C]
a place where there is special equipment for washing cars [C]
technical a PILLAR in the shape of a female figure $ [C]
a man who has had sexual relationships with many women [C]
an ancient Arab city or the market in it [C]
1 a small steep WATERFALL that is one of several together
2 something that hangs down in large quantities
[+of]
•Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.[I always + adv/prep]
to flow, fall, or hang down in large quantities:
•Her thick black hair cascaded down below her waist.
•Gallons of water cascaded over the side of the bath.
1 EXAMPLE [C] an example of a particular situation or of something happening
[+of]
•There were 16 cases of damage to vehicles in the area.
in the case of sth
•The amount of fruit in fruit juices must be 6% in the case of berries and 10% in the case of other fruits.
in some/many/most etc cases
•In many cases standards have greatly improved.
•Williams' career is a case in point (=a clear example of something that you are discussing or explaining).
•This is a classic case (=typical example) of poor design.
2 SITUATION [C usually singular] a situation that exists, especially as it affects a particular person or group
in sb's case
•Like the others, he produced a written explanation, but in Scott's case this was a 30-page printed booklet.
•Changing men's and women's traditional roles is not easy, but in our case it has been helpful.
it is the case (that)
•It may be the case that the scheme will need more money.
•We tend to think of these people as untrustworthy, but that is not the case.
in this case
•In this case, several solutions could be tried.
in which case
•He won't want to eat it unless he's really hungry, in which case he'll eat almost anything.
3 (just) in case
a) as a way of being safe from something that might happen or might be true:
•Take an umbrella, in case it rains.
•He had his camera ready, just in case he saw something that would make a good picture.
b) AmE if:
•In case I'm late, start without me.
4 in any case whatever happens or happened:
•I don't see why I couldn't do it. In any case, I'm going to try.
•He's too young to come and in any case I want him to spend the time with Mom.
5 in that case if that is the situation:
•'He didn't want to talk to Sally.' 'In that case why did he agree to meet her?'
6 REASON/ARGUMENT [C usually singular] a set of reasons why something should happen or be done:
•Let me research the facts before I put forward a case.
[+for]
•A group of us met to make our case for more women in the cabinet.
•There is a strong case (=very good set of reasons) for getting parents more involved in the school's activities.
7 LAW/CRIME [C]
a) a question or problem that will be dealt with by a law court:
•The case will be heard in the High Court.
•She is keen at all costs to avoid a court case.
•The lawyers will only be paid if they win the case.
•He was bound to lose the case.
[+against]
•Marshall has dropped the case against us.
b) all the reasons that one side in a legal argument can give against the other side:
•The evidence does not support the prosecution's case.
•The court ruled that we had a case (=had enough good arguments to go to a law court).
c) an event or set of events that need to be dealt with by the police in order to find out if a crime has been committed and who committed it
[+of]
•Police are investigating a case of armed robbery.
on the case
•Around 50 police officers are on the case.
8 BOX/CONTAINER [C]
a) a large box or container in which things can be stored or moved:
•a packing case
•a case of wine
b) a special box used as a container for holding or protecting something:
•a jewellery case
•Jim put his violin back in its case.
c) BrE a SUITCASE:
•Polly carried her cases upstairs to the bedroom.
BOOKCASE, BRIEFCASE, PILLOWCASE
9 it's a case of sth spoken used before describing a situation:
•Everyone can learn, it's just a case of practising.
•It's a case of too many people and not enough jobs.
10 DISEASE [C] an example of a disease or a person who has a disease
[+of]
•There are thousands of new cases of AIDS in Africa every year.
11 in case of sth used to describe what you should do in a particular situation, especially on official notices:
•In case of fire, break the glass.
12 GRAMMAR [C,U] technical the way in which the form of a word changes, showing its relationship to other words in a sentence:
•case endings
13 be on sb's case informal to be criticizing someone continuously:
•Dad's always on my case about something or other.
14 be on the case spoken if someone says they are on the case, they know about a problem and are going to try to solve it
15 get off my case spoken used to tell someone to stop criticizing you or complaining about you:
•OK, OK, just get off my case!
16 PERSON [C] someone who is being dealt with by a doctor, a SOCIAL WORKER, the police etc
BASKET CASE, NUTCASE
LOWER CASE; I rest my case at REST^2 (9); UPPER CASE

GRAMMAR(just) in case
in case is followed by the simple present, the simple past, or 'should': Write it down in case you forget (NOT in case you will forget). | I had a snack, just in case there was no time (NOT in case there would be no time) to eat later. | Here's a contact number, in case there should (NOT will/would) be a problem.
WORD CHOICE: in this case, in this respect
Do not use in this/that case to refer to a particular aspect of something. Use in this/that respect: He supports the death penalty, and in that respect (NOT in that case) I think he is wrong. | Computers can search for information much more quickly than humans, and in this respect (NOT in this case) they are more efficient.

[T]
1 be cased in sth to be completely surrounded by a material or substance:
•The reactor will be cased in metal.
CASING
2 case the joint informal to look around a place that you intend to steal from in order to find out information [C]
a detailed written record kept by a doctor, SOCIAL WORKER, or police officer of the cases they have dealt with[C]
a detailed record of someone's past illnesses, problems etc that a doctor or SOCIAL WORKER studies[U]
law a type of law that is based on decisions judges have made in the past $ [C]
the number of people a doctor, SOCIAL WORKER etc has to deal withalso casement window [C]
a window that opens like a door with HINGEs at one side[C]
a detailed account of the development of a particular person, group, or situation that has been studied over a period of time[U]
work that a SOCIAL WORKER does which is concerned with the problems of a particular person or family that needs help
- caseworker noun [C] [U]
1 money in the form of coins or notes rather than cheques, CREDIT CARDs etc:
•Cash was taken during a burglary of the apartment.
in cash
•The traffic police will accept fines in cash immediately.
•The shop charges less if the customer pays in cash.
HARD CASH, PETTY CASH
2 money:
•Health and education need cash from the government.
•A phone line to help children in trouble has been closed due to lack of cash.
•Charity workers must constantly raise more cash (=collect more money) for the needy.
•Corporate owners often find themselves strapped for cash (=without enough money) to pay taxes.
3 cash down BrE cash up front AmE if you pay for something cash down, you pay before you receive it
4 cash on delivery COD a payment system in which the customer pays the person who delivers the goods to them[T]
cash a cheque/postal order/draft etc to exchange a cheque etc for the amount of money it is worth:
•Traveller's cheques can be cashed at most hotels for a small charge.
•Where can I get this cashed?

PHRASAL VERBS
cash in phr v
1 to make a profit from a situation in a way that other people think is wrong or unfair
[+on]
•The record company was trying to cash in on her fame by releasing early teenage recordings.
2 cash sth <=> in to exchange something such as an insurance POLICY for its value in money
3 cash in your chips to die - used humorously

cash up phr v cash out AmE BrE
to add up the amount of money received in a shop in a day so that it can be checked
- cashable adjective[C]
money that you get from a bank, using a CREDIT CARD:
•It seems so easy to get a $100 cash advance every few days at a local ATM machine.[C] BrE
a shop where customers representing a business or organization can buy large amounts of goods at cheap prices [U]
1 a way of getting money at a shop when you use a DEBIT CARD to pay for the things you are buying, in which the shop gives you money which it takes from your bank account:
•I got £40 cashback.
2 a way of reducing the price of a car, piece of furniture etc where the seller says what the price is and offers to give a certain amount of money back to the person who buys it:
•Price on the road - £8750. But on top of that, we'll give you £500 cashback.[C]
a place at a big party, wedding etc where guests have to pay for their own drinks[C]
a small metal box with a lock that you keep money in[C]
a special plastic card used for getting money from a machine outside a bank[C]
something that a company sells very successfully and that brings in a lot of money[C]
a crop grown in order to be sold rather than to be used by the people growing it
subsistence crop at SUBSISTENCE (2)[C] BrE
the desk in a shop where you pay[C]
an amount by which a seller reduces a price if the buyer pays immediately or before a particular date[C]
BrE a CASH MACHINE [C]
1 a small curved nut
2 the tropical American tree that produces the cashew nut[singular, U]
the movement of money coming into a business as income and going out as wages, materials etc:
•We expect a rise in both our production and our cash flow.
•The builder is unable to pay due to cash flow problems. $ [C]
someone whose job is to receive or pay out money in a shop[T]
to force an officer to leave the army, navy etc because they have done something wrong
a cash-in-hand payment is made in the form of notes and coins so that there is no record of the payment
done or working without using money in the form of coins and notes:
•a cashless pay system
•the cashless society[C]
a machine in or outside a bank, SUPERMARKET, or other public building, from which you can obtain money with a special plastic card $ [U]
a type of fine soft wool:
•I wish I could afford a cashmere sweater. [C] trademark
BrE a CASH MACHINE[C]
a machine used in shops to keep the money in and record the amount of money received from each sale; = till BrE
not having as much money as is needed:
•cash-starved public services
not having enough money:
•cash-strapped governments
•cash-strapped shoppers [C]
an outer layer of metal, rubber etc that covers and protects something such as a wire or tyre $ plural casinos [C]
a place where people try to win money by playing card games or ROULETTE:
•Doesn't that club have a casino upstairs? $ [C]
a round wooden container used for storing wine or other liquids, or the amount of liquid that it contains:
•a cask of rum $ [C]
1 a small decorated box in which you keep jewellery and other valuable objects
2 AmE a COFFIN [C,U]
a tropical plant with thick roots that you can eat, or the flour made from these roots $ [C]
1 food that is cooked slowly in liquid in a covered dish in the OVEN:
•chicken casserole
2 a deep covered dish used for cooking food in an oven[T]
to cook food in a casserole [C]
1 a small flat plastic case containing MAGNETIC TAPE, that can be used for playing or recording sound:
•Now available on cassette or CD!
2 a closed container with photographic film in it, that can be fitted into a camera[C]
a piece of electrical equipment used for playing cassettes[C]
a piece of electrical equipment used for recording sound or for playing cassettes on; = tape recorder [C]
a long, usually black, piece of clothing worn by priests $ past tense and past participle cast
1 cast light on/onto sth to provide new information about something, making it easier to understand:
•research findings that cast new light on the origin of our universe
•The numerous biographies of Baldwin cast little light on the subject.
2 cast doubt(s) on sth to make people feel less certain about something:
•Her documentary casts serious doubt on Gilligan's conviction.
3 LIGHT AND SHADE [T] literary to make light or a shadow appear somewhere
cast sth over/on/across sth
•The flames cast dancing shadows on the walls.
•the shade cast by low-hanging branches
4 cast a shadow/cloud over sth literary to make people feel less happy or hopeful about something:
•The allegations cast a cloud over the Mayor's visit.
•Her father's illness cast a shadow over the wedding celebrations.
5 LOOK [T] literary to look quickly in a particular direction
cast a look/glance at sb/sth
•She cast an anguished look at Guy.
cast sb a glance/look
•The young tramp cast him a wary glance.
•She blushed, casting her eyes down.
6 cast an eye on/over sth to examine or read something quickly in order to judge whether it is correct, good etc:
•Mellor cast an eye over the draft for inaccuracies.
cast a critical/expert etc eye
•Tonight,Tim Goodman casts a cynical eye on TV ads.
7 cast a vote/ballot to vote in an election:
•Barely one in three will bother to cast a ballot on February 26th.
•To qualify, candidates must get at least 10% of the votes cast.
CASTING VOTE
8 cast a spell on/over sb
a) to attract someone very strongly and to keep their attention completely:
•Hong Kong casts a spell over the visitor almost as soon as the aircraft touches down.
b) to use magic words or acts to change someone or something:
•She's a witch, and she'll cast a spell on you if she catches you.
9 cast your mind back literary to try to remember something that happened in the past
[+to]
•Cast your mind back to your first day at school.
[+over]
•He frowned, casting his mind back over the conversation.
10 cast aspersions on sth/sb formal to suggest that someone is not as truthful, honest etc as they seem:
•remarks that cast aspersions on the integrity of the jury
11 METAL [T] to make an object by pouring liquid metal, plastic etc into a MOULD (=hollow container)
cast sth in/from sth
•a statue of a horse cast in bronze
12 ACTING [T] to choose which people will act particular parts in a play, film etc
cast sb alongside/opposite sb (=choose people for the two main roles)
•Pfeiffer was expected to be cast alongside Douglas in Basic Instinct.
cast sb as sth
•Coppola cast him as Sodapop in The Outsiders.
cast sb in a role/a part/the lead
•The producer finally cast Finsh in the male lead.
13 DESCRIBE [T] to regard or describe someone as a particular type of person
cast sb as sth
•Clinton had cast himself as the candidate of new economic opportunity.
•Clarke's trying to cast me in the role of villain here.
14 THROW [T always + adv/prep] literary to throw something somewhere; = toss
•Sparks leapt as he cast more wood on the fire.
15 FISHING [I,T] to throw a fishing line or net into the water:
•There's a trick to casting properly.
16 SEND AWAY [T always + adv/prep] literary to force someone to go somewhere unpleasant
cast sb into prison/Hell etc
•Memet should, in her opinion, be cast into prison.
17 cast your net (far and) wide to consider or try as many things as possible in order to find what you want:
•We cast our net wide to get the right person for the job.
18 SKIN when a snake casts its skin, the top layer of skin falls off slowly; = shed
19 cast a shoe if a horse casts a shoe, the shoe falls off by accident
20 cast a horoscope to prepare and write a HOROSCOPE for someone

PHRASAL VERBS
cast about/around for sth phr v
to try hard to think of the right thing to do or say:
•She cast about frantically for an excuse.
•Telecoms companies are casting around for ways of recouping huge losses.

cast sb/sth <=> aside phr v literary
to remove or get rid of someone or something because you no longer want or need them:
•When Henry became King, he cast aside all his former friends.
cast aside inhibitions/doubts etc
•Cast aside your fears.

cast away phr v [usually passive]
to be left alone on a lonely shore or island because your ship has sunk:
•If you were cast away on a desert island, what would you miss most?

cast off phr v
1 to untie the rope that fastens your boat to the shore so that you can sail away
2 cast sb/sth <=> off literary to remove or get rid of something or someone that you no longer want or need:
•His family had cast him off without a penny.
3 to finish a piece of KNITTING by removing the stitches from the needle to make an edge that will not come undone
cast sth <=> off
•Cast off four stitches.

cast on phr v
to start a piece of KNITTING by making the first stitches on the needle
cast sth <=> on
•Cast on 132 stitches.

cast sb/sth <=> out phr v
literary to force someone or something to leave a place:
•God has cast out the demons from your soul.

cast sth <=> up phr v literary
if the sea casts something up, it carries it onto the shore:
•A body had been cast up on the rocks.
the die is cast at DIE^2 (3); throw in/cast your lot with sb/sth at LOT^2 (8); cast pearls before swine at PEARL (4)[C]
1 ACTORS all the people who perform in a play, film etc
[+of]
•Films like 'Ben Hur' have a cast of thousands.
•the entire cast of 'Les Miserables'
•an all-star cast
•a strong supporting cast (=everyone except the main actors)
•a member of the cast
2 ON ARM/LEG also plaster cast a hard protective case that is put over your arm, leg etc because the bone is broken:
•Murray has his leg in a cast.
3 FOR MAKING A SHAPE a MOULD (=hollow container) into which you pour liquid metal, plastic etc in order to make an object of a particular shape, or the object made in this way
[+of]
• Make a cast of the statue.
4 sb's cast of mind formal the way that a person thinks and the type of opinions or mental abilities they have:
•Mary was of a far less intellectual cast of mind.
5 FISHING the act of throwing a fishing line into the water
6 COLOUR literary a small amount of a particular colour:
•Sage leaves have a silvery cast.
7 EYE old-fashioned a problem with your eye which causes it to look sideways
8 EARTH a small pile of earth that a WORM produces on the surface of the ground [plural]
a musical instrument made of two small round pieces of wood or plastic that you hold in one hand and knock together, used especially by Spanish dancers $ [C]
someone who is left on a lonely shore or island after their ship has sunk[not before noun] literary
sad and disappointed:
•She could not bear to see him so miserable and cast down. $ [C,U]
1 one of the fixed social classes, which cannot be changed, into which people are born in India:
•the caste system
2 a group of people who have the same position in society technical
built to look like a castlecastor $ [C]
1 a small wheel fixed to the bottom of a piece of furniture so that it can move in any direction
2 BrE a small container with holes in the top, used to spread sugar, salt etc on food; = shaker AmEcastor sugar [U]
BrE sugar with very small grains used for cooking [T]
formal to criticize or punish someone severely
- castigation noun [U] $
1 [U] the process of choosing the actors for a film or play; cast
•a casting director
2 [C] an object made by pouring liquid metal, plastic etc into a MOULD (=specially shaped container)
3 the casting couch a situation in which an actress is persuaded to have sex in return for a part in a film, play etc - used humorously[C usually singular] BrE
the vote of the person in charge of a meeting, which can be used to make a decision when there is an equal number of votes supporting and opposing a proposal[U]
a type of iron that is hard, breaks easily, and is shaped in a MOULD
1 a cast-iron excuse/alibi/guarantee etc an excuse etc that is very certain and cannot fail
2 made of cast iron:
•a cast-iron frying pan $ [C]
1 also Castle a very large strong building, built in the past as a safe place that could be easily defended against attack:
•Edinburgh Castle
•a ruined castle
2 one of the pieces used in a game of CHESS. Each player has two castles, which start the game in the corner squares, and can move only forwards or sideways; = rook
3 castles in the air plans or hopes that you have that are unlikely ever to become real[only before noun]
cast-off clothes or other goods are not wanted or have been thrown away[plural]
clothes that you do not wear any more and give to someone else:
•As the youngest of five kids I was always dressed in other people's cast-offs. $
another spelling of CASTER[U]
a thick oil made from the seeds of a plant and used in the past as a medicine to make the BOWELs empty[U]
another spelling of CASTER SUGAR $ [T]
to remove the TESTICLEs of a male animal or a man
- castration noun [U]
1 RELAXED relaxed and not worried, or seeming not to care about something:
•a casual manner
•His eyes were angry, though he sounded casual.
•Marsha was quite casual about appearing on TV.
•She had a casual attitude to life.
2 NOT FORMAL not formal or not for a formal situation; formal
•Jean felt more comfortable in casual clothes.
•a casual jacket
3 WORK employed as a temporary worker or working for only a short period of time:
•casual labour
•staff employed on a casual basis
•Chris has occasional casual work but mostly he is unemployed.
4 RELATIONSHIP knowing someone or having sex with someone without wanting a close relationship with them; serious
•She will never be more than a casual acquaintance.
•They had been conducting a casual affair for years.
•John just wanted casual sex.
5 WITHOUT ATTENTION without any serious interest or attention:
•He gave us a casual glance as he walked by, but didn't stop.
• To the casual observer (=to someone who is not looking carefully) Mary seemed quite calm.
6 NOT PLANNED [only before noun] happening by chance without being planned:
•a casual conversation
•He made some casual remark (=one without thinking much about it) about her holiday.
7 NOT REGULAR [only before noun] doing something or using something sometimes but not regularly or often; = occasional
•a casual drug user
•The museum is of great interest, both to experts and to casual visitors.
- casually adverb
•a casually dressed young man
•'Where do you work?' she asked casually.
•He walked down the road, casually swinging his bag.
- casualness noun [U] plural casualties
1 [C] someone who is hurt or killed in an accident or war:
•Our aim is to reduce road casualties.
•thousands of civilian casualties (=people who are not soldiers who are injured or killed)
cause/inflict casualties
•The rebels claim to have inflicted heavy casualties.
2 [singular] someone or something that suffers as a result of a particular event or situation
[+of]
•The Safer City Project is the latest casualty of financial cutbacks.
3 [U] also Casualty BrE the part of a hospital that people are taken to when they are hurt in an accident or suddenly become ill; = Emergency Room AmE
in casualty
•Rosemary ended up in casualty last night. [U]
formal the use of clever but often false arguments to answer moral or legal questions [C]
1
a) a small animal with four legs that people often keep as a pet. Cats sometimes kill small animals and birds; feline
tabby/ginger/tortoiseshell etc cat (=colours of cats)
•a tom cat (=a male cat)
b) also big cat a large animal such as a lion or TIGER
2 let the cat out of the bag to tell someone a secret, especially without intending to
3 put/set the cat among the pigeons to do or say something that causes arguments, trouble etc
4 play (a game of) cat and mouse (with sb) to pretend to allow someone to do or have what they want, and then to stop them from doing or having it:
•The police played an elaborate game of cat and mouse to trap him.
5 the cat's whiskers/pyjamas informal something or someone that is better than everything else:
•I really thought I looked the cat's whiskers in that dress.
6 like a cat on hot bricks BrE like a cat on a hot tin roof AmE so nervous or anxious that you cannot keep still or keep your attention on one thing
7 not stand/have a cat in hell's chance (of doing sth) informal to not have any chance of succeeding:
•His party does not have a cat in hell's chance of ever being returned to government.
8 when the cat's away (the mice will play) used to say that people will not behave well when the person who has authority over them is not there
9 like the cat that got the cream BrE like the cat that ate the canary AmE informal very proud or pleased because of something you have achieved or got
10 look like sth the cat dragged/brought in BrE informal to look very dirty or untidy
raining cats and dogs at RAIN^2 (1); there's not enough room to swing a cat at ROOM^1 (5) [C]
literary a violent or sudden event or change, such as a serious flood or EARTHQUAKE
- cataclysmic adjective [usually before noun] $ [C usually plural]
an area underground where dead people are buried; = tomb [C] formal
a decorated raised structure on which the dead body of an important person is placed before their funeral $ [U]
a language spoken in part of Spain around Barcelonaalso catalog AmE $ [C]
1 a complete list of things that you can look at, buy, or use, for example in a library or at an art show:
•a mail order catalog
•an online catalogue
2 catalogue of mistakes/crimes/cruelty etc a series of mistakes, crimes etc that happen one after the other and never seem to stop:
•a catalogue of terrorist crimes
•an appalling catalogue of errorsalso catalog AmE [T]
1 to make a complete list of all the things in a group:
•The manuscripts have never been systematically catalogued.
2 to list all the things that are connected with a particular person, event, plan etc:
•The report catalogued numerous dangerous work practices. [U] technical
the process of making a chemical reaction quicker by adding a catalyst [C]
1 technical a substance that makes a chemical reaction happen more quickly without being changed itself
2 something or someone that causes an important change or event to happen
[+for]
•They hope his election will act as a catalyst for reform.
- catalytic adjective[C]
a piece of equipment fitted to a car's EXHAUST system that reduces the amount of poisonous gases the engine sends out [C]
a sailing boat with two separate HULLs (=the part that goes in the water) [C]
1 a large weapon used in former times to throw heavy stones, iron balls etc
2 BrE a small stick in the shape of a Y with a thin rubber band fastened over the two ends, used by children to throw stones; = slingshot AmE
3 a piece of equipment used to send an aircraft into the air from a ship
1 [T always + adv/prep] to push or throw something very hard so that it moves through the air very quickly:
•Sam was catapulted into the air by the force of the blast.
2 catapult sb to fame/stardom etc to suddenly make someone very famous:
•A remarkable series of events catapulted her into the limelight. [C]
1 a medical condition that causes the LENS of your eye to become white, so that you slowly lose your sight
2 literary a large WATERFALL $ [U] BrE
an uncomfortable condition in which your body produces a thick liquid that blocks your nose and throat:
•After a cold, many patients complain of persistent catarrh.
1 [C,U] a terrible event in which there is a lot of destruction, suffering, or death; = disaster
environmental/nuclear/economic etc catastrophe
•The Black Sea is facing ecological catastrophe as a result of pollution.
prevent/avert a catastrophe
•Sudan requires food immediately to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
2 [C] an event which is very bad for the people involved; = disaster
[+for]
•If the contract is cancelled, it'll be a catastrophe for everyone concerned.
- catastrophic $ adjective
•a catastrophic fall in the price of rice
•The failure of the talks could have catastrophic consequences.
- catastrophically adverb $
not able to move or talk because of an illness, shock etc
catatonic stupor/trance $
be (sitting) in the catbird seat AmE informal to be in a position where you have an advantage[C]
a thief who enters a building by climbing up walls, pipes etc $ [C]
a loud whistle or shout expressing disapproval of a speech or performance:
•jeers and catcalls from the audience
- catcall verb [I] past tense and past participle caught $
1 TAKE AND HOLD
a) [I,T] to get hold of and stop an object such as a ball that is moving through the air; throw
•Stephen leapt up and caught the ball in one hand.
•'Pass me that pen, would you?' 'Here you are. Catch!'
•The kids were throwing and catching a frisbee down on the beach.
b) [T] to suddenly take hold of someone or something with your hand:
•He caught her elbow to steady her.
•Miss Perry caught hold of my sleeve and pulled me back.
2 FIND/STOP SB [T]
a) to stop someone after you have been chasing them and not let them get away:
•'You can't catch me!' she yelled, running away.
b) to find a criminal or enemy and stop them from escaping; = capture
•State police have launched a massive operation to catch the murderer.
•If you go back to the city you're bound to get caught.
3 SEE SB DOING STH [T] to see someone doing something that they did not want you to know they were doing
catch sb doing sth
•I caught him reading my private letters.
•Gemma turned around and caught the stranger looking at her intently.
catch sb in the act (of doing sth) (=catch someone while they are doing something illegal)
•The gang was caught in the act of unloading the cigarettes.
•He was caught red-handed (=as he was doing something wrong) taking money from the cash register.
catch sb at it
•We knew he'd been cheating, but we'd never caught him at it before.
4 ILLNESS [T] to get an infectious disease:
•Anton caught malaria while he was in Mali, and nearly died.
•Many young people are still ignorant about how HIV is caught.
catch sth from/off sb/sth
•In these areas, typhoid and cholera are often caught from contaminated water supplies.
•I caught chicken pox off my friend at school and had to stay home for two weeks.
catch your death (of cold) BrE spoken (=get a very bad cold)
•Don't stand out there in the rain. You'll catch your death.
5 catch sb by surprise/catch sb off guard also catch sb napping/unawares catch sb on the hop BrE to do something or to happen when someone is not expecting it or prepared for it:
•Her question caught him off guard.
6 catch sb with their pants/trousers down to discover that someone is doing something that they should not be doing or has not done something that they should have done:
•He's not the first politician to be caught with his pants down, and he won't be the last.
7 ANIMAL/FISH [T] to trap an animal or fish by using a trap, net, or hook, or by hunting it:
•Did you catch any fish?
•Early settlers caught rabbits and squirrels and even rats in order to survive.
8 catch a train/plane/bus to get on a train, plane etc in order to travel on it, or to be in time to get on a train, plane etc before it leaves:
•I caught the 7.15 train to London.
•There's a train in now. If you run, you'll just catch it.
•I have to hurry - I have a bus to catch.
9 NOT MISS SB/STH [T] to not be too late to do something, see something, talk to someone etc; miss
•I managed to catch her just as she was leaving.
•I just caught the last few minutes of the documentary.
•Tumours like these can be treated quite easily if they're caught early enough.
catch the post BrE (=post letters in time for them to be collected that day)
10 GET STUCK [I,T] if your hand, finger, clothing etc catches or is caught in something, it gets stuck in it accidentally:
•His overalls caught in the engine.
•Her microphone was forever getting caught on her clothes.
11 catch sb's attention/interest/imagination etc to make you notice something and feel interested in it:
•Lucie whistled sharply to catch the other girl's attention.
•This is a story that will catch the imagination of every child.
12 not catch sth spoken to not hear or understand what someone says:
•I'm afraid I didn't catch your name.
13 HEAR [T] to manage to hear a sound:
•I caught the muffled thud of a car door slamming in the street.
14 catch you later spoken used to say goodbye:
•'I'll give you a call in a couple days.' 'Okay. Catch you later.'
15 DO/SEE STH [T] spoken especially AmE to go somewhere in order to do or see something:
•We could catch a movie (=go to a movie).
•M Records caught his act and signed him immediately.
16 catch a ride AmE spoken to go somewhere in someone else's car:
•I caught a ride as far as Columbus.
17 you won't catch me doing sth also you won't catch me somewhere spoken used to say that you would never do something:
•I love dancing but you won't catch me being the first on the dance floor!
18 catch it informal to be punished by someone such as a parent or teacher because you have done something wrong:
•You'll catch it if Dad finds out where you've been.
19 catch a glimpse of sb/sth to see someone or something for a very short time:
•Fans waited for hours at the airport to catch a glimpse of their idol.
20 catch sight of sb/sth to suddenly see someone or something that you have been looking for or have been hoping to see:
•I caught sight of her in the crowd.
21 DESCRIBE WELL [T] to show or describe the character or quality of something well in a picture, piece of writing etc; = capture
•a novel that catches the mood of post-war Britain
22 BURN
a) catch fire if something catches fire, it starts to burn accidentally:
•Two farm workers died when a barn caught fire.
b) [I] if a fire catches, it starts to burn:
•For some reason the charcoal wasn't catching.
23 catch sb's eye
a) to attract someone's attention and make them look at something:
•Out on the freeway, a billboard caught his eye.
b) to look at someone at the same moment that they are looking at you:
•Every time she caught his eye, she would glance away embarrassed.
24 catch yourself doing sth to suddenly realize you are doing something:
•Standing there listening to the song, he caught himself smiling from ear to ear.
25 HIT [T] to hit someone in or on a particular part of their body:
•The punch caught him right in the face.
26 be caught in/without etc sth to be in a situation that you cannot easily get out of or in which you do not have something you need:
•We got caught in a rainstorm on the way here.
•Here's a useful tip if you're caught without a mirror.
27 catch your breath
a) to pause for a moment after a lot of physical effort in order to breathe normally again:
•Hang on a minute - let me catch my breath!
b) to stop breathing for a moment because something has surprised, frightened, or shocked you
c) to take some time to stop and think about what you will do next after having been very busy or active:
•It was an enforced absence from work, but at least it gave me a little time to catch my breath before the final push.
28 CONTAINER [T] if a container catches liquid, it is in a position where the liquid falls into it:
•Place the baking sheet under the muffin pan to catch the drips.
29 SHINE [T] if the light catches something or if something catches the light, the light shines on it:
•The sunlight caught her hair and turned it to gold.
30 catch the sun informal if you catch the sun, your skin becomes red and sometimes sore because of the effects of sunlight:
•You've caught the sun on the back of your neck.
31 WIND [T] if something catches the wind or the wind catches something, it blows on it:
•Gary swung the sail round to catch the light wind.
32 SPORT
a) [T] to end a player's INNINGS in CRICKET by catching the ball that is hit off their BAT before it touches the ground
b) [I] to be the CATCHER in a game of baseball

PHRASAL VERBS
catch at sth phr v
to try to take hold of something:
•She caught at his arm, 'Hang on. I'm coming with you.'

catch on phr v
1 to become popular and fashionable:
•The idea of glasses being a fashion item has been slow to catch on.
2 to begin to understand or realize something
[+to]
•It was a long time before the police caught on to what he was really doing.

catch sb out phr v
1 to make someone make a mistake, especially deliberately and in order to prove that they are lying:
•The interviewer may try to catch you out.
2 if something unexpected catches you out, it puts you in a difficult situation because you were not expecting it or not fully prepared for it:
•Even the best whitewater rafters get caught out by the fierce rapids here.

catch up phr v
1 to improve and reach the same standard as other people in your class, group etc:
•If you miss a lot of classes, it's very difficult to catch up.
[+with]
•At the moment our technology is more advanced, but other countries are catching up with us.
2 to come from behind and reach someone in front of you by going faster
[+with]
•Drive faster - they're catching up with us.
catch sb up BrE
•You go on ahead. I'll catch you up in a minute.
3 to do what needs to be done because you have not been able to do it until now
[+on]
•I have some work to catch up on.
•I need to catch up on some sleep (=after a period without enough sleep).
4 to spend time finding out what has been happening while you have been away or during the time you have not seen someone
[+on]
•The first thing I did when I got home was to phone up Jo and catch up on all the gossip.
•I'll leave you two alone - I'm sure you've got a lot of catching up to do.
5 be/get caught up in sth to be or get involved in something, especially something bad:
•I didn't want to get caught up in endless petty arguments.

catch up with sb phr v
1 to finally find someone who has been doing something illegal and punish them:
•It took six years for the law to catch up with them.
2 if something bad from the past catches up with you, you cannot avoid dealing with it any longer:
•At the end of the movie his murky past catches up with him.
1 [C] an act of catching a ball that has been thrown or hit:
•Hey! Nice catch!
2 [C usually singular] informal a hidden problem or difficulty:
•This deal looks too good to be true - there must be a catch somewhere.
the catch is (that)
•The catch is that you can't enter the competition unless you've spent $100 in the store.
3 [C] a hook or something similar for fastening a door or lid and keeping it shut
4 [C] a quantity of fish that has been caught at one time
5 [U] a simple game in which two or more people throw a ball to each other:
•Let's go outside and play catch.
6 a catch in your voice/throat a short pause that you make when you are speaking because, you feel upset or are beginning to cry:
•There was a catch in Anne's voice and she seemed close to tears.
7 a (good) catch someone who is a good person to have a relationship with or to marry because they are rich, attractive etc - often used humorously [U]
an impossible situation that you cannot solve because you need to do one thing in order to do a second thing, but you cannot do the second thing until you have done the first:
•It's a Catch-22 situation- without experience you can't get a job and without a job you can't get experience.
intended to include all possibilities:
•a vague catch-all clause in the contract
•a catch-all term $ [C]
AmE a drawer, cupboard etc where you put any small objects $ [C]
in baseball, the player behind the BATTER, who catches missed balls; pitcher [not before noun]
1 an illness that is catching is easily passed to other people; = infectious
2 an emotion or feeling that is catching spreads quickly among people:
•Julia's enthusiasm was catching. $ [C]
1 BrE the catchment area of a school, hospital etc is the area that its students, patients etc come from
2 technical the area that a river or lake gets water from [C]
a short well-known phrase made popular by an entertainer or politician, so that people think of that person when they hear it $ [C]
a word or phrase that refers to a feature of a situation, product etc that is considered important:
•Variety is the catchword at our latest venue, the Beehive Club.
a catchy tune or phrase is easy to remember:
•a catchy song
• catchy advertising slogans [singular]
a set of questions and answers about the Christian religion that people learn in order to become full members of a church:
•We were taught to recite the catechism. $ [usually before noun]
a categorical statement is a clear statement that something is definitely true or false
categorical denial/assurance etc
•Can you give us a categorical assurance that no jobs will be lost? $
in such a sure and certain way that there is no doubt
categorically deny/refuse etc sth
•He has categorically denied his guilt all along.
•Are you prepared to state categorically that her death was caused by lack of food?also categorise BrE [T]
to put people or things into groups according to the type of person or thing they are; = classify
•The population is categorized according to age, sex, and social group.
categorize sth/sb as sth
•Keene doesn't like to be categorized as a socialist.
- categorization $ noun [C,U] $ plural categories [C]
a group of people or things that are all of the same type
[+of]
•There are five categories of workers.
•people in the over-45 age category
•Seats are available in eight of the 10 price categories.
fall into/belong in/fit into a category
•Voters fall into three main categories.
•Williams' style does not fit easily into the category of jazz. $ [I,T]
to provide and serve food and drinks at a party, meeting etc, usually as a business
[+for]
•This is the biggest event we've ever catered for.
•Joan has catered functions for up to 200 people.

PHRASAL VERBS
cater for sb/sth phr v also cater to sb/sth
to provide a particular group of people with the things they need or want:
•an LA bank catering to Asian businesses
•Vegetarians are well catered for.
•Most perfume ads cater to male fantasies. $ [C]
a person or company that provides and serves food and drinks at a party, meeting etc [U]
the activity of providing and serving food and drinks at parties, meetings etc for money; self-catering
•Who did the catering?
catering business/service etc[C] trademark
also Caterpillar track a metal belt made of short connected pieces that is fastened over the wheels of a heavy vehicle to help it to move over soft ground:
•a Caterpillar tractor (=a vehicle fitted with this belt) $ [C]
a small creature like a WORM with many legs that eats leaves and that develops into a BUTTERFLY or other flying insect $ [I]
to make a loud high unpleasant noise like the sound a cat makes
- caterwauling noun [U]
•the sound of drunken caterwauling coming from next door [C] informal
a word for a fight between women, that some people consider offensive plural catfish [C,U]
a type of fish that has WHISKERs (=strong hairs) around its mouth and lives in rivers or lakespet door AmE [C] BrE
a small hole cut into a door and covered with wood or plastic that moves to allow a pet cat to enter or leave a house [U]
strong thread made from the INTESTINEs of animals and used for the strings of musical instruments $ [U]
formal the act or process of removing strong or violent emotions by expressing them through writing, talking, acting etc:
•Music is a means of catharsis for me. $ formal
helping you to remove strong or violent emotions:
•a cathartic experience [C]
the main church of a particular area under the control of a BISHOP:
•St Paul's Cathedral
cathedral city BrE (=one with a cathedral)pinwheel AmE [C] BrE
a round flat FIREWORK that spins around as it burns $ [C] medical
a thin tube that is put into your body to remove liquids
- catheterize also -ise verb [T] $ [C]
technical the negative ELECTRODE, marked (-), from which an electric current leaves a piece of equipment such as a BATTERY; anode [C]
a piece of equipment used in televisions and computers, in which ELECTRONs from the cathode produce an image on a screen
connected with the Roman Catholic Church
- Catholic noun [C]
- Catholicism $ noun [U]
including a very wide variety of things:
•Whoever lived here before us had catholic tastes (=liked a lot of different things).
•a catholic collection of records [C] AmE informal
a place where men can pay women to have sex with them; = brothel [C]
BrE a long soft flower that hangs in groups from the branches of trees such as the WILLOWalso kitty litter AmE [U]
a substance like small grey stones that people put in boxes for cats that live indoors, and which the cats use as a toilet [C]
informal a very short sleep
have/take a catnap
•Nomes slept badly, and had to take catnaps during the day.
- catnap verb [I] [singular]
a whip made of nine knotted strings, used in the past for punishing people $ [C]
an electronic machine used in a hospital to get an image of the inside of someone's body
- CAT scan noun [C]
•Her X-rays and CAT scans were normal.
1 [U] a game you play by winding string around your fingers to make different patterns
2 [singular] a set of lines, threads etc that form a complicated pattern:
•The searchlights wove a cat's cradle of light. [C] BrE trademark
one of a line of small flat objects fixed in the middle of the road that shine when lit by car lights and guide traffic in the darkcatspaw $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who is used by someone else to achieve something bad[C]
a tight piece of women's clothing that covers the body and legs in one piece
an American spelling of KETCHUP plural catteries [C]
BrE a place where people can pay to leave their pet cats to be cared for while they are away from home [plural]
cows and BULLs kept on a farm for their meat or milk:
•herds of cattle
dairy/beef cattle
20/100 etc head of cattle (=20, 100 etc cattle)
•a cattle ranchercattle guard AmE [C] BrE
a set of bars placed over a hole in the road, so that animals cannot go across but cars can plural cattlemen [C]
someone who looks after or owns cattlealso cattle auction AmE [C]
1 a place where cattle are bought and sold
2 informal a beauty competition or a social event where women are judged only by their appearance - used to show disapproval[C]
a type of stick that gives cattle an electric shock when it touches them, used to make them move[C]
a vehicle or part of a train that is used for carrying cattle
someone who is catty says unkind things about people
- cattily adverb
- cattiness noun [U]
KITTY-CORNER $ [C]
1 a long raised structure that MODELs walk along in a fashion show; = runway AmE
2 the catwalk the business of designing clothes for fashion shows
3 a narrow structure for people to walk on that is high up inside or outside a building $ [C]
a member of the race of people with white or pale skin
- Caucasian adjective $ [C]
1 a meeting of the members of a political party to choose people to represent them in a larger meeting, election etc
2 AmE an organized group of people who have similar aims or interests, especially political ones:
•the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus $ [only before noun] technical
relating to an animal's tail $
the past tense and past participle of CATCHcaldron $ [C]
a large round metal pot for boiling liquids over a fire:
•a witch's cauldron $ [C,U]
a vegetable with green leaves around a firm white centre[C]
an ear permanently swollen into a strange shape, as a result of an injuryalso calk AmE $ [T]
to fill the holes or cracks in a ship with an oily or sticky substance in order to keep water out $
1 relating to the connection between two things, where one causes the other to happen or exist; cause
causal relationship/link/factor etc
•a causal relationship between unemployment and crime
2 technical a causal CONJUNCTION, such as 'because', introduces a statement about the cause of something
- causally adverb $ [U]
formal the relationship between a cause and the effect that it has $ [U] formal
1 the action of causing something to happen or exist
2 causality $ formal
acting as the cause of something:
•Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. $
1 [C] a person, event, or thing that makes something happen; effect
[+of]
•Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for American women in their forties.
establish/investigate/discover etc the cause
•It's our job to establish the cause of the fire.
root/underlying etc cause
•The cost of the project was enormous, but it was not the fundamental cause of its failure.
cause and effect (=the idea that one thing directly causes another)
die of/from natural causes (=because of old age or an illness, not an accident, murder etc)
2 [U] a fact that makes it right or reasonable for you to feel or behave in a particular way; = reason
[+for]
•There is no cause for alarm.
•The patient's condition is giving cause for concern.
•The present political climate gives little cause for optimism.
have (good) cause to do sth
•His father has good cause to be proud of him.
with/without good cause
•Many people are worried about the economy, and with good cause.
3 [C] an organization, belief, or aim that a group of people support or fight for
[+of]
•her lifelong devotion to the cause of women's rights
Nationalist/Republican etc cause
champion/further a cause
•Since founding Island Records, Blackwell has championed the cause of Jamaican music.
worthy/good cause (=an organization that helps people who are ill, old etc, especially a CHARITY)
•You can get fit, and at the same time raise money for a worthy cause.
•Please give generously, it's all in a good cause (=done in order to help people).
4 have/make common cause (with/against sb) formal to join with other people or groups in order to oppose an enemy:
•U.S. officials expect other Western governments to make common cause with them over the arrests.
5 [C] law a case that is brought to a court of law
lost cause at LOST^2 (12)

WORD CHOICE: cause, reason
A cause is something such as an action, event, or situation that makes something happen: The cause of the accident is not known. | a determination to tackle the causes of crime
A reason is an explanation for something: Can you think of any reason why he would behave in this way? | There is a good reason (NOT a good cause) for my decision.
GRAMMAR
Use the cause of, not 'cause for' or 'cause why': What is the cause of all this unrest?

!! cause for is used in some expressions such as cause for alarm/concern/complaint/optimism/satisfaction: There is no cause for concern. | His remarks give some cause for hope.
Use cause sb to do sth, not 'cause that sb does sth': A cat ran into the road, causing her to brake suddenly (NOT causing that she braked suddenly).

[T]
to make something happen, especially something bad:
•Heavy traffic is causing delays on the freeway.
•The fire caused £15,000 worth of damage.
cause sth for sb
•The oil spill is causing problems for coastal fisheries.
cause concern/uncertainty/embarrassment etc
•The policy changes have caused great uncertainty for the workforce.
•I'm sorry if I caused any confusion.
cause sb trouble/problems etc
•You've caused us all a lot of unnecessary worry.
•Sorry, I didn't mean to cause offence (=offend you).
cause sb/sth to do sth
•What caused you to change your mind? $ plural causes célèbres (same pronunciation) [C]
an event or legal case that a lot of people become interested in, because it is an exciting subject to discuss or argue about:
•The case became a cause célèbre among feminists. $ [C]
a raised road or path across wet ground or through water $
1 a caustic substance can burn through things by chemical action:
•caustic soda (=a chemical used for cleaning things)
2 a caustic remark criticizes someone in a way that is unkind but often cleverly humorous
caustic wit/comments/remark etc
•Eliot appreciated Pound's caustic wit.
- caustically adverb
•'I can hardly wait,' Sir Trevor replied caustically.also cauterise BrE $ [T]
medical to treat a wound or a growth on your body by burning it with hot metal, a LASER, or a chemical $
1 [U] the quality of being very careful to avoid danger or risks; cautious
with caution
•We must proceed with extreme caution.
•The physician must exercise caution when prescribing anti-depressants.
counsel/urge caution
•Many parents are tempted to intervene, but most experts counsel caution.
treat/view sth with caution (=think carefully about something because it might not be true)
•Evidence given by convicted criminals should always be treated with the utmost caution.
err on the side of caution at ERR (1)
2 [C] a warning or piece of advice telling you to be careful:
•Although pleased, Henson added a caution that the team still has a long way to go.
word/note of caution
•A final word of caution - never try any of this without backing up your system.
3 throw/cast caution to the winds literary to stop worrying about danger and to take a big risk:
•Throwing caution to the winds, she swung around to face him.
4 [C,U] BrE a spoken official warning given to someone who has been ARRESTed or who has done something wrong that is not a serious crime:
•He was let off with a caution.
under caution
•The defendant may make a statement under caution.
1 [I,T] to warn someone that something might be dangerous, difficult etc
caution (sb) against sth
•Business leaders are cautioning against hasty action that would hamper flexibility.
caution (sb) that
•Officials were quick to caution that these remarks did not mean an end to the peace process.
caution sb to do sth
•He cautioned them to avoid the forest at night.
2 [T] BrE
a) to warn someone officially that the next time they do something illegal they will be punished
caution sb for (doing) sth
•She was cautioned for speeding.
b) to warn someone officially that what they say to a police officer may be used as EVIDENCE in a court of law $ [usually before noun]
giving a warning about what not to do
cautionary note/comment/words etc
•Most observers were optimistic, yet some sounded a cautionary note.
cautionary tale (=the story of an event that is used to warn people)
•a cautionary tale about how not to buy a computer $
careful to avoid danger or risks; caution
•a cautious driver
•a cautious approach to the crisis
•The air-pollution board has reacted with cautious optimism to the announcement.
cautious about (doing) sth
•Keller is cautious about making predictions for the success of the program.
- cautiously adverb
•The government responded cautiously to the move.
- cautiousness noun [U] [C]
a line of people on horses or in cars or carriages moving along as part of a ceremony $ [usually before noun]
not caring enough about rules, principles, or people's feelings:
•The club's owner showed a cavalier attitude to the licensing laws. [plural,U]
1 the part of an army that fights on horses, especially in the past:
•The Black Prince led a cavalry charge against them.
2 the part of a modern army that uses TANKs plural cavalrymen [C]
a soldier who fights on a horse [C]
a large natural hole in the side of a cliff or hill, or under the ground:
•the entrance to a cave

PHRASAL VERBS
cave in phr v
1 if the top or sides of something cave in, they fall down or inwards
[+on]
•The roof of the tunnel caved in on them.
2 to finally stop opposing something, especially because someone has persuaded or threatened you
[+to]
•The chairman is expected to cave in to pressure from shareholders. [C]
formal a warning that something may not be completely true, effective etc
caveat that
•She will be offered treatment, with the caveat that it may not work. $ [U]
law the principle that the person who buys something is responsible for checking that it is not broken, damaged etc[C]
1 when the roof of something such as a mine falls in
2 when someone stops opposing something plural cavemen [C]
1 someone who lived in a CAVE many thousands of years ago
2 informal an insulting word for a man who you think is rude, violent etc:
•Are you going to give me the macho caveman act? $ [C] BrE
someone who goes into CAVEs deep under the ground as a sport; = spelunker AmE $ [C]
a large CAVE $ literary
a cavernous room, space, or hole is very large and deep:
•a cavernous dining hallcaviare $ [U]
the preserved eggs of various large fish, eaten as a special very expensive food:
•caviare and champagne past tense and past participle cavilled, present participle cavilling BrE past tense and past participle caviled, present participle caviling [I] AmE formal
to make unnecessary complaints about someone or something
[+at]
•They cavilled at our calculations.
- cavil noun [C,U] [U] BrE
the sport of going into CAVEs deep under the ground; = spelunking AmE plural cavities [C]
formal a hole or space inside something:
•Put herbs inside the body cavity of the fish.
•I have no cavities (=no holes in my teeth).[C]
a wall consisting of two walls with a space between them to keep out cold and noise:
•cavity wall insulation $ [I]
to jump or dance around in a playful or sexual way
[+about/around]
•She cavorted about in the shallow water.
[+with]
•The photograph shows him cavorting with two young women. $ [C]
the loud sound made by some types of bird, especially CROWs
- caw verb [I] [C]
AmE a very small low island formed of CORAL or sand $ [U]
the red powder made from a PEPPER that has a very hot taste plural caymans [C]
a South American animal like an ALLIGATOR [U]
Citizens' Band a type of radio communication which people can use to speak to each other over short distances, especially when they are driving [C]
Commander of the British Empire an honour given to some British people for things they have done for their country [U]
1 computer-based testing a way of taking standard tests such as the GRE on a computer
2 computer-based training the use of computers to teach people to do something:
•CBT software
1 carbon copy to used in a business letter or email to show that you are sending a copy to someone else:
•To Neil Fry, cc: Anthea Baker, Matt Fox
2 the abbreviation of cubic centimetre or, cubic centimetres :
•a 200cc engine [U] BrE
the written abbreviation of closed circuit television [C]
compact disc a small circular piece of hard plastic on which high quality recorded sound or large quantities of information can be stored[C]
a piece of equipment used to play COMPACT DISCs
see cture at CAR $ [C,U]
compact disc - recordable a type of CD that you can record music, images, or other information onto, using special equipment on your computer, and that can be recorded onto only once $ [C,U]
compact disc read-only memory a CD on which large quantities of information can be stored to be used by a computer $ [C,U]
compact disc - rewritable a type of CD that you can record music, images, or other information onto, using special equipment on your computer, and that can be recorded onto several times [U]
Craft, Design, and Technology a practical subject studied in British schoolsC.E. AmE BrE
Common Era used after a date to show it was after the birth of Christ; = AD; BC [I,T]
1 formal to stop doing something or stop happening
cease to do sth
•He ceased to be a member of the association.
•The things people will do for charity never cease to amaze me (=I am always surprised by them).
cease doing sth
•the decision to cease using CFCs in packaging
•The rain ceased and the sky cleared.
cease trading/production/operations etc (=stop operating a business)
•The company ceased production at their Norwich plant last year.
cease fire! (=used to order soldiers to stop shooting)
2 cease and desist law to stop doing something
CEASEFIRE; wonders will never cease at WONDER^2 (5)
without cease formal without stopping $ [C]
an agreement to stop fighting for a period of time, especially so that a more permanent agreement can be made:
•a ceasefire agreement
•They have called a temporary ceasefire in the region.
ARMISTICE, TRUCE
happening for a long time without stopping:
•the ceaseless fight against crime
- ceaselessly adverb
•The men worked ceaselessly through the night. $
1 [C] a large EVERGREEN tree with leaves shaped like needles
2 also cedarwood [U] the hard red wood of the cedar tree, which smells pleasant [T]
formal to give something such as an area of land or a right to a country or person, especially when you are forced to
cede sth to sb
•Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1842.
CESSION [C]
a mark put under the letter 'c' in French and some other languages, to show that it is an 's' sound instead of a 'k' sound. The letter is written 'ç'. [U]
trademark a service in which the BBC broadcasts written information on television in Britain [C]
an evening entertainment with Scottish or Irish singing and dancing [C]
1 the inner surface of the top part of a room; roof
•rooms with high ceilings
•a light hanging from the ceiling
2 the largest number or amount of something that is officially allowed
[+of]
•a public spending ceiling of £240 bn
impose/set/put a ceiling (on sth)
•The government imposed a ceiling on imports of foreign cars.
raise/lower the ceiling (on sth)
3 technical the greatest height an aircraft can fly at or the level of the clouds
GLASS CEILING [C]
informal a CELEBRITY:
•TV celebs [C] formal
someone who performs or takes part in a religious ceremony
1 [I,T] to show that an event or occasion is important by doing something special or enjoyable; celebration
•It's Dad's birthday and we're going out for a meal to celebrate.
•My folks are celebrating their 50th anniversary.
•We hope to give fans something to celebrate this season.
celebrate Christmas/Thanksgiving etc
•How do you usually celebrate New Year?
2 [T] formal to praise someone or something:
•poems that celebrate the joys of love
3 [T] to perform a religious ceremony, especially the Christian Mass
famous:
•a celebrated actress
•a celebrated legal case
1 [C] an occasion or party when you celebrate something
anniversary/birthday etc celebrations
•the lively New Year celebrations in the city centre
2 [singular, U] the act of celebrating
in celebration of sth
•a reception in celebration of the Fund's 70th Anniversary
•The show is a celebration of new young talent.
•I think this is a cause for celebration (=reason to celebrate). $ [only before noun]
done in order to celebrate a particular event or occasion:
•Join us for a celebratory drink in the bar. plural celebrities
1 [C] a famous living person; = star
•a sporting celebrity
•He became a national celebrity.
•They had invited a number of minor celebrities (=people who are not very famous).
2 [U] formal the state of being famous; = fame [U]
a large white root vegetable which is a type of CELERY [U]
a vegetable with long pale green stems that you can eat cooked or uncooked:
•a stick of celery $ [usually before noun]
1 relating to the sky or heaven
celestial bodies (=the sun, moon, stars etc)
2 literary very beautiful
not married and not having sex, especially because of your religious beliefs; virgin
•Catholic priests are required to be celibate.
- celibate noun [C]
- celibacy noun [U]
•a vow of celibacy [C]
1 BODY the smallest part of a living thing that can exist independently
blood/brain/nerve cell
•red blood cells
•cancer cells
•Embryos grow by cell division (=the splitting of cells).
2 PRISON a small room in a prison or police station where prisoners are kept:
•He spent a night in the cells at the local police station.
•the walls of his prison cell
3 PHONE AmE a CELLULAR PHONE; a telephone that you can carry around with you, that works by using a network of radio stations to pass on signals; = mobile BrE
•Call me on my cell if you're running late.
4 ELECTRIC a piece of equipment for producing electricity from chemicals, heat, or light:
•a car powered by electric fuel cells
5 SECRET GROUP a small group of people who are working secretly as part of a larger political organization:
•a terrorist cell
6 RELIGIOUS a small room in a MONASTERY or CONVENT where someone sleeps
7 INSECT/SMALL ANIMAL a small space that an insect or other small creature has made to live in or use:
•the cells of a honeycomb $ [C]
1 a room under a house or other building, often used for storing things; = basement
•a coal cellar
2 a store of wine belonging to a person, restaurant etc
SALT CELLAR [C]
someone who plays the cello [C]
someone who shares a prison cell with someone else $ plural cellos [C]
a musical instrument like a large VIOLIN that you hold between your knees and play by pulling a BOW (=special stick) across the strings [U]
trademark a thin transparent material used for wrapping thingscell phone $ [C] especially AmE
a cellular telephone; = mobile phone BrE $
1 consisting of or relating to the cells of plants or animals
2 a cellular telephone system works by using a network of radio stations to pass on signals:
•a cellular network[C] especially AmE
a telephone that you can carry with you and use in any place; = mobile phone BrE [U]
fat that is just below someone's skin and makes it look uneven and unattractive [U]
1 on celluloid on cinema film:
•Chaplin's comic genius is preserved on celluloid.
2 a plastic substance made mainly from CELLULOSE that was used in the past to make photographic film and other objects $ [U]
1 the material that the cell walls of plants are made of and that is used to make plastics, paper etc
2 also cellulose acetate technical a plastic that is used for many industrial purposes, especially making photographic film and explosiveswritten abbreviation C [U]
a scale of temperature in which water freezes at 0° and boils at 100°; = Centigrade
•12° Celsius (=12 degrees on the Celsius scale)
- Celsius adjective [C]
a member of a race of people who lived in ancient Britain and Western Europe before the Romans came, or a person living now whose ANCESTORs were members of this race
relating to the Celts or their languages [U]
1 a grey powder made from LIME and clay that becomes hard when it is mixed with water and allowed to dry, and that is used in building; concrete
•a bag of cement
2 a thick sticky substance that becomes very hard when it dries and is used for filling holes or sticking things together[T]
1 also cement over to cover something with cement
2 to make a relationship between people, countries, or organizations firm and strong
cement a relationship/alliance
•They want to cement a good working relationship between the government and trade unions.[C]
a machine with a round drum that turns around, into which you put cement, sand, and water to make CONCRETE $ plural cemeteries [C]
a piece of land, usually not belonging to a church, in which dead people are buried; graveyard $ [C]
a MONUMENT built to remind people of soldiers, sailors etc who were killed in a war and are buried somewhere else $ [C]
someone whose job is to examine books, films, letters etc and remove anything considered to be offensive, morally harmful, or politically dangerous; censorship[T]
to examine books, films, letters etc to remove anything that is considered offensive, morally harmful, or politically dangerous etc; censorship, ban
•The information given to the press was carefully censored by the Ministry of Defence. formal
criticizing and expressing disapproval:
•His tone was censorious.
- censoriously adverb
- censoriousness noun [U] $ [U]
the practice or system of censoring something:
•the censorship of television programmes $ [U]
formal the act of expressing strong disapproval and criticism:
•a vote of censure[T]
formal to officially criticize someone for something they have done wrong:
•He was officially censured for his handling of the situation. plural censuses [C]
1 an official process of counting a country's population and finding out about the people
2 an official process of counting something for government planning:
•a traffic census [C]
1 1/100th of the standard unit of money in some countries. For example, there are 100 cents in one dollar or in one EURO: symbol ¢
2 put in your two cents' worth AmE to give your opinion about something, when other people do not want to hear it
not one red cent at RED^1 (7) $ [C]
a creature in ancient Greek stories with the head, chest, and arms of a man and the body and legs of a horse $ [C]
someone who is 100 years old or olderalso centennial especially AmE $ plural centenaries [C] especially BrE
the day or year exactly 100 years after a particular event
[+of]
•a concert to mark the centenary of the composer's birth $
the American spelling of CENTREalso cent- [in nouns]
1 a hundred:
•a centipede (=creature with 100 legs)
2 a 100th part of a unit:
•a centimetre (=0.01 metres)written abbreviation C [U]
CELSIUS
- Centigrade adjectivecentiliter AmE written abbreviation cl $ [C] BrE
a unit for measuring an amount of liquid. There are 100 centilitres in one litre. $ [C]
1/100th of a FRANC or some other units of moneycentimeter AmE written abbreviation cm $ [C] BrE
a unit for measuring length. There are 100 centimetres in one metre [C]
a small creature like a WORM with a lot of very small legs
1 MIDDLE [only before noun, no comparative] in the middle of an area or an object:
•He lives in central London.
•The roof is supported by a central column.
Central America/Asia/Europe etc
2 FROM ONE PLACE [only before noun, no comparative] used about the part of an organization, system etc which controls the rest of it, or its work:
•the party's central office
•the system's central control unit
•central planning
3 IMPORTANT more important and having more influence than anything else
[+to]
•values which are central to our society
•Owen played a central role in the negotiations.
•His ideas were of central importance in the development of the theory.
central idea/theme/concern etc
•Education has become a central issue in public debate.
4 EASY ACCESS a place that is central is easy to reach because it is near the middle of a town or area:
•It's very central, just five minutes walk from the main square.
5 party/comedy etc central informal a place where something is happening a lot:
•Tim's house became party central for the band and their friends.
- centrally adverb
•Our office is centrally situated.
•All data is held centrally.
- centrality noun [U][C]
a national bank that does business with the government, and controls the amount of money available and the general system of banks[C,U] especially BrE
the level of government which deals with national rather than local things; local government[U]
a system of heating buildings in which water or air is heated in one place and then sent around the rest of the building through pipes etc:
•the central heating boiler
- centrally heated adjective [U]
a way of governing a country or controlling an organization in which one group has power and tells people in other places what to doalso centralise BrE [T]
to organize the control of a country, organization, or system so that everything is done or decided in one place; decentralize
•plans to centralize the company's European activities
- centralized adjective
•a centralized database
- centralization $ noun [U][U] BrE
a system for locking the doors of a car in which all the locks are operated when you turn the key in one lock or use a REMOTE CONTROLled key[C]
the main part of your NERVOUS SYSTEM, consisting of your brain and your SPINAL CORD[C]
a CPU[C]
BrE a narrow piece of ground that divides the two parts of a MOTORWAY or other main roadcenter AmE $ BrE
1 MIDDLE [C usually singular] the middle of a space, area, or object, especially the exact middle
in the centre (of sth)
•There was an enormous oak table in the center of the room.
•The hotel is right in the centre of the village.
[+of]
•Draw a line through the centre of the circle.
•lines radiating out from the centre
•chocolates with soft centres
2 BUILDING [C] a building which is used for a particular purpose or activity
[+for]
•the European Centre for Nuclear Research
•an exhibition at the Community Arts Centre
•a conference centre
3 PLACE OF ACTIVITY [C] a place where there is a lot of a particular type of business, activity etc
business/commercial/financial etc centre
•a major banking centre
•It's not exactly a cultural center like Paris.
[+of/for]
•The city became a centre for the paper industry.
•a center of academic excellence (=a very good place for education)
4 OF A TOWN [C] BrE the part of a town or city where most of the shops, restaurants, cinemas, theatres etc are; = downtown AmE
town/city centre
•shops in the town centre
•the main route into Leeds city centre
5 INVOLVEMENT be at the centre of sth if a person or thing is at the centre of something that is happening, they are involved in it more than other people or things:
•He always seems to be at the centre of things.
be at the centre of a row/dispute/controversy etc
•the businessman at the centre of the row over political donations
6 be the centre of attention to be the person that everyone is giving attention to:
•Betty just loves being the centre of attention.
7 be/take centre stage if something or someone is centre stage, they have an important position and get a lot of attention:
•After his father's death, he was able to rise to power and take centre stage.
8 POLITICS the centre a MODERATE (=middle) position in politics in which you do not support extreme ideas:
•The party's new policies show a swing towards the centre.
left/right of centre
•Her political views are slightly left of centre.
centre-right/centre-left
•a centre-left government
9 SPORT [C] a player in sports such as football and BASKETBALL who plays in or near the middle of the field or playing area:
•the Sonics' six-foot-four-inch center
centre forward/half/back etc (=players in different parts of the middle section of the playing area)
10 centre of population/urban centre an area where a large number of people live:
•Nuclear installations are built well away from the main centres of population.center AmE [T] BrE
to move something to a position at the centre of something else:
•The title isn't quite centred on the page, is it?

PHRASAL VERBS
centre around/round sth phr v also be centred around/round sth BrE
if your thoughts, activities etc centre around something or are centred around it, it is the main thing that you are concerned with or interested in:
•In the 16th century, village life centred around religion.

centre on/upon sth phr v also be centred on/upon sth
if your attention centres on something or someone, or is centred on them, you pay more attention to them than anything else:
•The debate centred on funding for health services.
•Much of their work is centred on local development projects.centered AmE $ BrE
1 also -centred [only after noun] having a particular person or group as the most important part or FOCUS of something:
•a student-centred approach
•family centered care
2 feeling calm and in control of your life and feelings:
•Julia seems very centred nowadays.centerfold AmE $ [C] BrE
1 the two pages that face each other in the middle of a magazine or newspaper
2 a picture of a woman with no clothes on that covers the two pages in the middle of a magazinecenter forward AmE [C] BrE
an attacking player who plays in the centre of the field in British football[singular]
the point in any object on which it can balancecenterpiece AmE $ BrE
1 [singular] the most important, noticeable, or attractive part of something
[+of]
•The centrepiece of Bevan's policy was the National Health Service.
2 [C] a decoration, especially an arrangement of flowers, in the middle of a table $ [U]
a force which makes things move away from the centre of something when they are moving around it [C]
a machine that spins a container around very quickly so that the heavier liquids and any solids are forced to the outer edge or bottom $ [U]
technical a force which makes things move towards the centre of something when they are moving around it
having political beliefs that are not extreme; = moderate
- centrist noun [C] $ [C]
an army officer of ancient Rome, who was in charge of about 100 soldiers plural centuries [C]
1 one of the 100-year periods measured from before or after the year of Christ's birth
the 11th/18th/21st etc century
•The church was built in the 13th century.
the next/last century
•by the beginning of the next century
•twentieth-century art forms such as Cubism
•the story of life on a small farm at the turn of the century (=the beginning of the century)
2 a period of 100 years:
•many centuries ago
3 100 RUNs scored by one CRICKET player in an INNINGS $ [C]
Chief Executive Officer the person with the most authority in a large company
1 [U] the art of making pots, bowls, TILEs etc, by shaping pieces of clay and baking them until they are hard
2 [plural] things that are made this way:
•an exhibition of ceramics
- ceramic adjective
•ceramic tiles $
1 [C,U] a breakfast food made from grain and usually eaten with milk:
•a bowl of breakfast cereal
2 [C] a plant grown to produce grain, for example wheat, rice etc:
•cereal crops
!! Do not confuse with serial (=a story broadcast or written in several parts). plural cerebellums or cerebella [C]
technical the bottom part of your brain that controls your muscles $
1 [only before noun] medical relating to or affecting your brain:
•a cerebral haemorrhage (=bleeding in the brain)
2 having or involving complicated ideas rather than strong emotions:
•a cerebral film $ [U]
a disease caused by damage to the brain before or during birth which results in difficulties of movement and speech $
1 [usually before noun] used in a ceremony or done as part of a ceremony:
•the Mayor's ceremonial duties
•Native American ceremonial robes
2 if a position in a country or organization is ceremonial, it gives no real power:
•the largely ceremonial post of President[C,U]
a special ceremony, or special formal actions:
•an occasion for public ceremonial $
done in a formal serious way, as if you were in a ceremony
- ceremoniously adverb
•He ceremoniously burnt the offending documents. $ plural ceremonies
1 [C] an important social or religious event, when a traditional set of actions is performed in a formal way; ceremonial
•the wedding ceremony
•a graduation ceremony
•the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games
2 [U] the special actions and formal words traditionally used on particular occasions:
•The queen was crowned with due ceremony.
3 without ceremony in a very informal way, without politeness:
•He wished me good luck in the future and left without further ceremony.
not stand on ceremony at STAND^1 (42) [U]
a bright pinkish-red colour
- cerise adjective $
be a (dead) cert BrE informal to be certain to happen or to succeed:
•Put your money on Thorpe to win, he's a dead cert.
1 the written abbreviation of certificate
2 the written abbreviation of certified $
1 [not before noun] confident and sure, without any doubts; = sure
certain (that)
•I'm absolutely certain that I left the keys in the kitchen.
•I felt certain that I'd passed the test.
certain who/what/how etc
•I'm not certain when it will be ready.
[+about/of]
•Now, are you certain about that?
•They were watching him. He was certain of it.
2 if something is certain, it will definitely happen or is definitely true

it is/seems certain (that)
be/appear/look/seem certain to do sth
be certain of (doing) sth
it is not certain whether/how etc
almost/virtually/practically certain
fairly certain
by no means certain/far from certain (=not definite)
certain death

• It now seems certain that there will be an election in May.
•Many people look certain to lose their jobs.
•It is wise to apply early to be certain of obtaining a place.
• It's not certain where he lived.
• His re-election was considered virtually certain.
• It is by no means certain that the deal will be accepted.
• If they stayed in the war zone they would face certain death.

3 make certain
a) to check that something is correct or true; = make sure
make certain (that)
•We need to make certain that it's going to fit first.
b) to do something in order to be sure that something will happen; = make sure
make certain (that)
•Secure the edges firmly to make certain that no moisture can get in.
4 for certain without doubt; = for sure
know/say (sth) for certain
•I know for certain it's in here somewhere.
that's/one thing's for certain
•One thing's for certain, he won't be back.
5 [only before noun] used to talk about a particular person, thing, group of things etc without naming them or describing them exactly:
•The library's only open at certain times of day.
•I promised to be in a certain place by lunchtime.
•There are certain things I just can't discuss with my mother.
certain kind/type/sort
•the expectation of a certain kind of behaviour
in certain circumstances/cases etc
•Extra funding may be available in certain circumstances.
6 a certain
a) used to say that an amount is not great:
•You may need to do a certain amount of work in the evenings.
to a certain extent/degree (=partly, but not completely)
•I do agree with his ideas to a certain extent.
b) enough of a particular quality to be noticed:
•There's a certain prestige about going to a private school.
c) formal used to talk about someone you do not know but whose name you have been told:
•a certain Mr Franks
certain of sb/sth formal particular people or things in a group:
•Certain of the payments were made on Mr Maxwell's authority. $ [sentence adverb]
1 without any doubt; = definitely
•I certainly never expected to become a writer.
•They're certainly not mine.
it is certainly true/possible etc
•It is certainly true that there are more courses on offer.
•The girl was almost certainly murdered.
•'Not smoking has made a real difference.' 'It most certainly has.'
2 spoken used to agree or give your permission:
•'I'd like a beer, please' 'Certainly, sir.'
•'Can I come along?' 'Certainly.'
3 certainly not spoken used to disagree completely or to refuse to give permission:
•'May I go?' 'Certainly not!' $ plural certainties
1 [U] the state of being completely certain
with certainty
•She knew with absolute certainty that he'd say no.
•The result is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty.
2 [U] the fact that something is certain to happen
certainty of (doing) sth
•the certainty of being caught
certainty that
•There's no certainty that he'll remember.
3 [C] something that is definitely true or that will definitely happen:
•He usually does quite well, but it's not a certainty.
•The only certainty is that there will need to be major changes. $
1 informal crazy, especially in a way that is dangerous:
•If you ask me, that man is certifiable.
2 especially AmE definitely a particular thing:
•The guy's a certifiable megastar.
3 especially AmE good enough to be officially approved:
•grade A certifiable beef $ [C]
1 an official document that states that a fact or facts are true
birth/death/marriage certificate (=giving details of someone's birth, death, or marriage)
2 an official paper stating that you have completed a course of study or passed an examination:
•a degree certificate $ BrE
having successfully completed a training for a profession:
•a certificated nurse $
1 [C,U] an official document that says that someone is allowed to do a certain job, that something is of good quality etc:
•We successfully completed the certification for open water diving.
2 [U] the process of giving someone or something an official document that says they are allowed to do a certain job, that something is of good quality etc
[+of]
•certification of competence[U]
AmE a way of sending post in which someone records that you have sent it, and the person it is sent to must sign their name to prove they have received it; = recorded delivery BrE[C]
a CPA $ past tense and past participle certified, present participle certifying, third person singular certifies [T]
1 to state that something is correct or true, especially after some kind of test:
•The accounts were certified by an auditor.
certify (that)
•We need to certify that the repairs have been satisfactorily carried out.
certify sb dead (=when a doctor says officially that a person is dead) BrE
•The driver was certified dead at the scene.
2 to give an official paper to someone which states that they have completed a course of training for a profession; certificate
certify sb as sth
•She was certified as a teacher in 1990.
3 to officially state that someone is mentally ill $ [U]
formal the state of being or feeling certain about somethingalso cerulean blue [U] literary
a deep blue colour like a clear sky
- cerulean adjective $
1 related to the neck:
•cervical vertebrae (=the bones in the back of your neck)
2 related to the cervix:
•cervical cancer[C]
BrE technical a test for CANCER of a woman's CERVIX; = pap smear AmE $ [C]
the narrow passage into a woman's UTERUS $
another spelling of CAESAREAN
the American spelling of CAESIUM [C,U] formal
a pause or stop; cease
[+of]
•a cessation of hostilities (=when the fighting stops in a war) [C,U]
the act of giving up land, property, or rights, especially to another country after a war, or something that is given up in this way; cede
•Spanish cession of the territory in 1818 [C]
1 also cesspool a large hole or container under the ground in which waste from a building, especially from the toilets, is collected
2 a place or situation in which people behave in a bad or immoral way:
•For weeks the affair threatened to be a cesspit of scandal. [C]
technical a MAMMAL that lives in the sea, such as a WHALE
- cetacean adjective
used in writing to introduce something else that should be compared or considered [C]
chlorofluorocarbon a gas used in FRIDGEs and AEROSOL cans, believed to be responsible for damaging the OZONE LAYERalso cha-cha-cha [C]
a dance from South America with small, fast steps $ [C]
a long, usually black piece of clothing worn by Muslim women in some countries, which covers the head and body; abaya, burqa
1 [I,T] if a part of your body chafes or if something chafes it, it becomes sore because of something rubbing against it:
•Wear a T-shirt under your wetsuit to stop it chafing.
2 [I] to feel impatient or annoyed
[+at/against/under]
•Some hunters are chafing under the new restrictions.
3 [T] BrE to rub part of your body to make it warm $ [U]
1 the outer seed covers that are separated from grain before it is used as food
2 dried grasses and plant stems that are used for food for farm animals
separate the wheat from the chaff at WHEAT (2) [C]
a common small European bird $ [U]
annoyance and disappointment because something has not happened the way you hoped
to sb's chagrin
•The area was declared a wildlife reserve, much to the chagrin of developers.
be chagrined formal to feel annoyed and disappointed:
•Dale was chagrined that she wasn't impressed.
1 JOINED RINGS [C,U] a series of metal rings which are joined together in a line and used for fastening things, supporting weights, decoration etc; link
•She had a gold chain around her neck.
•a length of heavy chain
•the Mayor's chain of office (=a decoration worn by some British officials at ceremonies)
pull the chain (=flush the toilet) BrE
a bicycle chain (=that makes the wheels turn)
2 CONNECTED EVENTS [C] a connected series of events or actions, especially which lead to a final result:
•the chain of events that led to World War I
•The salesmen are just one link in the chain (=part of a process) of distribution.
•a rather complicated chain of reasoning
CHAIN OF COMMAND, FOOD CHAIN
3 SHOPS/HOTELS [C] a number of shops, hotels, cinemas etc owned or managed by the same company or person
[+of]
•a chain of restaurants
hotel/restaurant/retail etc chain
•several major UK supermarket chains
CHAIN STORE
4 CONNECTED LINE [C] people or things which are connected or next to each other forming a line
mountain/island chain
•the Andean mountain chain
chain of atoms/molecules etc technical
•a chain of amino acids
•They quickly formed a human chain (=a line of people who pass things from one person to the next) to move the equipment.
•They sat on the grass making daisy chains (=flowers tied together).
5 PRISONERS [C usually plural] metal chains fastened to the legs and arms of a prisoner, to prevent them from escaping
in chains
•He was led away in chains.
ball and chain (=a chain attached to someone's ankle at one end with a heavy metal ball at the other)
6 BUYING A HOUSE [C usually singular] BrE a number of people buying houses, where each person must complete the sale of their own house before they can buy the next person's house
1 [T] to fasten someone or something to something else using a chain, especially in order to prevent them from escaping or being stolen
chain sb/sth to sth
•a bicycle chained to the fence
•Four activists chained themselves to the gates.
chain sb/sth up
•The elephants were chained up by their legs.
chain sb/sth together
•Their hands and feet were chained together.
2 be chained to sth to have your freedom restricted because of something you must do:
•She felt chained to the kitchen sink.
•I don't want a job where I'm chained to a desk all day.[C]
a group of prisoners chained together to work outside their prison[C]
a letter sent to several people asking them to send a copy of the letter to several more people[C]
a type of fence made of wire twisted together into a diamond pattern[U]
protective clothing made by joining many small metal rings together, worn by soldiers in the past[C]
a system in an organization by which decisions are made and passed from people at the top of the organization to people lower down:
•Symonds is third in the chain of command.[C]
1 technical a chemical or NUCLEAR reaction which produces energy and causes more reactions of the same kind
2 a series of related events, each of which causes the next:
•A sudden drop on Wall Street can set off a chain reaction in other financial markets. $ [C]
a tool used for cutting wood, consisting of a circular chain with teeth which is driven by a motor[I,T]
to smoke cigarettes one immediately after another
- chain-smoker noun [C][C,U]
a way of sewing in which each new stitch is pulled through the last onealso chainstore $ [C]
one of a group of shops, all of which are owned by one organization; = chain $
1 [C] a piece of furniture for one person to sit on, which has a back, a seat, and four legs:
•a table and chairs
in/on a chair
•He was sitting in a chair.
•He sank back into his chair.
kitchen chair/garden chair etc
2 [singular] the position of being in charge of a meeting or committee, or the person who is in charge of it:
•Address your questions to the chair, please.
be in the chair
•Who will be in the chair at tomorrow's meeting?
[+of ]
•He was nominated as chair of the board of governors.
3 [C] the position of being a university PROFESSOR
[+of]
•a new Chair of Medicine
4 the chair AmE informal the ELECTRIC CHAIR[T]
to be the CHAIRPERSON of a meeting or committee:
•The commission of inquiry was chaired by a well-known judge.also chair lift $ [C]
a line of chairs hanging from a moving wire, used for carrying people up and down mountains, especially to SKI $ plural chairmen [C]
1 someone, especially a man, who is in charge of a meeting or directs the work of a committee or an organization; chairwoman
[+of]
•Potts was appointed chairman of the education committee.
deputy/vice chairman
•Barrett serves as vice chairman.
!! Many people use chairperson or chair instead, to avoid suggesting that this person must be a man.
2 BrE someone who is in charge of a large company or organization:
•the chairman of British Aerospace
•Williams has been chairman of the board for five years. $ [C,U]
the position of being a chairman, or the time when someone has this position
under sb's chairmanship
•A committee was set up under the chairmanship of Edmund Compton. $ plural chairpersons [C]
someone who is in charge of a meeting or directs the work of a committee or organization plural chairwomen [C]
a woman who is a chairperson $ plural chaises longues (same pronunciation) [C]
1 a long chair with an arm only at one end, which you can sit on and stretch your legs out
2 AmE a long chair with a back that can be upright for sitting, or can lie flat for lying down $ [C]
1 a house with a steep sloping roof, common in places with high mountains and snow such as Switzerland
2 BrE a small house, especially in a HOLIDAY CAMP [C]
a gold or silver decorated cup used, for example, to hold wine in Christian religious services $ [U]
1 soft white or grey rock formed a long time ago from the shells of small sea animals; = limestone
•chalk cliffs
2 also chalks [plural] small sticks of a white or coloured substance like soft rock, used for writing or drawing:
•a box of coloured chalks
•a piece of chalk
•writing in chalk on the blackboard
3 chalk and cheese BrE completely different from each other:
•The two brothers are as different as chalk and cheese.
•They're like chalk and cheese, those two.
long chalk at LONG^1 (21)[T + up/on]
to write, mark, or draw something with chalk

PHRASAL VERBS
chalk sth <=> up phr v
1 to succeed in getting something, especially points in a game:
•Seattle chalked up another win last night over Denver.
2 to record what someone has done, what someone should pay etc
[+to]
•You can chalk the drinks up to my account.
3 chalk it up to experience informal to accept a failure or disappointment calmly and regard it as an experience that you can learn something from $ [C]
AmE a BLACKBOARD:
•She wrote the day's menu up on a chalkboard. $
similar to chalk or containing chalk:
•white chalky soil
•There were some chalky bits in the bottom of the drink.
- chalkiness noun [U]
1 STH DIFFICULT [C,U] something that tests strength, skill, or ability, especially in a way that is interesting
[+of]
•The company is ready to meet the challenges of the next few years.
the challenge of doing sth
•I relish the challenge of rebuilding the club.
face/take on/accept etc a challenge (=be ready to deal with one)
•Martins now faces the biggest challenge of his career.
meet a challenge/rise to a challenge (=successfully deal with one)
•a new and vibrant initiative to meet the challenge of the 21st century
intellectual/physical challenge
•the intellectual challenge of postgraduate research
2 QUESTION STH [C] when someone refuses to accept that someone or something is right and legal
[+to]
•a direct challenge to the Governor's authority
[+from]
•The president faces a strong challenge from nationalists.
pose/represent/present a challenge (to sb)
•The strike represented a serious challenge to the government.
mount/launch a challenge
•They decided to mount a legal challenge to the decision.
3 COMPETITION [C] when someone tries to win something or invites someone to try to beat them in a fight, competition etc
[+for]
•They are ready to mount a challenge for the championship.
•They threw down the challenge that he couldn't wash 40 cars in one hour (=invited him to try to do it).
•The Prime Minister narrowly avoided a leadership challenge last year.
4 STOP [C] a demand from someone such as a guard to stop and give proof of who you are, and an explanation of what you are doing
5 IN LAW [C] law a statement made before the start of a court case that a JUROR is not acceptable[T]
1 QUESTION STH to refuse to accept that something is right, fair, or legal:
•a boy with a reputation for challenging the authority of his teachers
challenge a view/an idea/an assumption etc
•Viewpoints such as these are strongly challenged by environmentalists.
•They went to the High Court to challenge the decision.
challenge sb to do sth
•I challenge Dr. Carver to deny his involvement!
2 COMPETITION to invite someone to compete or fight against you, or to try to win something; challenger, dare
challenge sb to sth
•After lunch Carey challenged me to a game of tennis.
[+for]
•Liverpool are challenging for the title (=in a position where they could win).
3 STH DIFFICULT to test the skills or abilities of someone or something; = stimulate
•I'm really at my best when I'm challenged.
challenge sb to do sth
•Every teacher ought to be challenging kids to think about current issues.
4 STOP SB to stop someone and demand proof of who they are, and an explanation of what they are doing:
•We were challenged by the security guard at the gate.
5 IN LAW law to state before the start of a court case that a JUROR is not acceptable
- challenger noun [C]
•Lewis is his main challenger for the world title.
visually/physically/mentally etc challenged AmE used as a polite expression for describing someone who has difficulty doing things because they are blind etc
difficult in an interesting or enjoyable way:
•Teaching young children is a challenging and rewarding job.
•a challenging problem
- challengingly adverb $
1 ENCLOSED SPACE [C] an enclosed space, especially in your body or inside a machine:
•a combustion chamber
•The heart has four chambers.
2 ROOM [C] a room used for a special purpose, especially an unpleasant one
gas/torture chamber (=used for killing people by gas or for hurting them)
3 MEETING ROOM [C] a large room in a public building used for important meetings:
•the council chamber
4 PARLIAMENT [C] one of the two parts of a parliament or of the US Congress. For example, in Britain the upper chamber is the House of Lords and the lower chamber is the House of Commons
5 PRIVATE ROOM [C] a word used in the past to mean a bedroom or private room:
•the Queen's private chambers
6 chambers [plural] especially BrE an office or offices used by BARRISTERs or judges
7 GUN [C] the place inside a gun where you put the bullet $ [C]
an important official who managed the house of a king or queen in the past $ [C]
a female worker whose job is to clean and tidy bedrooms, especially in a hotel[U]
CLASSICAL music written for a small group of instrumentsplural chambers of commerce [C]
a group of business people in a particular town or area, working together to improve trade[C]
a small group of musicians who play CLASSICAL music together[C]
a round container for URINE, used in a bedroom and kept under the bed in the past [C]
1 a LIZARD that can change its colour to match the colours around it
2 someone who changes their ideas, behaviour etc to fit different situations $ plural chamois
1 [C] a wild animal like a small goat that lives in the mountains of Europe and southwest Asia
2 also chamois leather [C,U] soft leather prepared from the skin of chamois, sheep, or goats and used for cleaning or polishing, or a piece of this leather; shammy
another spelling of CAMOMILE [I,T] BrE
1 to bite food in a noisy way; = chomp
2 be champing at the bit to be unable to wait for something patiently[C] informal
a CHAMPION:
•the world champ [U]
a French white wine with a lot of BUBBLEs , drunk on special occasions $ [U]
BrE informal champagne [C]
1 someone or something that has won a competition, especially in sport:
•the world heavyweight boxing champion
•the Olympic champion
reigning/defending champion (=the champion at the present time)
2 champion of sth/sb someone who publicly fights for and defends an aim or principle, such as the rights of a group of people:
•a champion of women's rights[T] written
to publicly fight for and defend an aim or principle, such as the rights of a group of people:
•She championed the cause of religious freedom.
1 [C] also championships [plural] a competition to find which player, team etc is the best in a particular sport:
•the women's figure skating championships
•Holland won the European Championship.
2 [C] the position or period of being a champion; = title
•Warwickshire are the current holders of the cricket championship.
3 [U + of] written the act of championing something or someone $
1 POSSIBILITY [C,U] how possible or likely it is that something will happen, especially something that you want

there's a chance (that) (=it is possible that)
there's every chance (that) (=it is very likely)
some chance
little chance
no chance
a good/fair chance (=something is likely)
a slight/slim/outside chance (=something is unlikely)
a fifty-fifty chance (=the possibility of something happening or not happening is equal)
a million to one chance/a one in a million chance (=something is extremely unlikely to happen)
lessen/minimize/reduce the chance(s) of sth (=make it less likely)
increase/improve the chance(s) of sth (=make it more likely)
chances are (=it is likely)

• There's always the chance that something will go wrong.
[+of]
•what are the team's chances of success?
•She has a good chance of a successful recovery.
•There is little chance of her being found alive.
•The day will be cloudy with a slight chance of rain later tonight.
•He gave the show a fifty-fifty chance of survival.
•It was a million to one chance, but it had happened.
•The operation is performed under local anaesthetic, which lessens the chances of infection.
•How can we improve our chances of career development?
• Chances are they'll be out when we call.

2 OPPORTUNITY [C] a time or situation which you can use to do something that you want to do; = opportunity
chance to do sth
•Ralph was waiting for a chance to introduce himself.
[+of]
•our only chance of escape
have/get a chance (to do sth)
•I never get a chance to relax these days.
•I'm sorry, I haven't had a chance to look at it yet.
•I can explain everything if you'll just give me a chance.
•You should take the chance (=use the opportunity) to travel while you're still young.
grab the chance/jump at the chance (=eagerly and quickly use an opportunity)
•If someone invited me over to Florida, I'd jump at the chance.
•Denise never misses the chance of a free meal.
a second chance/another chance
•He was given a second chance to prove his abilities.
•Friday is your last chance to see the show before it closes.
•I'll give you one last chance and if you don't bring it on Monday, you'll be in trouble.
a chance of a lifetime/a chance in a million (=a chance that you are very unlikely to have again)
•I couldn't pass up going to Japan; it was a chance in a million.
•Quick! Now's your chance to ask her, before she leaves.
•Rick could do really well, given half a chance (=if he were given even a small opportunity).
3 RISK take a chance to do something that involves risks:
•The rope might break, but that's a chance we'll have to take.
•After losing $20,000 on my last business venture, I'm not taking any chances this time.
[+on]
•He was taking a chance on a relatively new young actor.
•He decided to take his chances in the boat.
4 LIKELY TO SUCCEED sb's chances how likely it is that someone will succeed:
•Ryan will be a candidate in next month's elections, but his chances are not good.
sb's chances of doing sth
•England's chances of winning the series have all but disappeared.
not fancy/not rate sb's chances BrE (=think someone is unlikely to succeed)
•I don't really fancy their chances against such tough opposition.
5 LUCK [U] the way some things happen without being planned or caused by people; fate
by chance
•I bumped into her quite by chance in Oxford Street.
leave sth to chance (=to not plan something but just hope that everything will happen as intended)
•Dave had thought of every possibility, he was leaving nothing to chance.
pure/sheer/blind chance (=not at all planned)
•It was pure chance that they ended up working in the same office in the same town.
• As chance would have it, the one time I wanted to see her, she wasn't in.
6 stand/have a chance (of sth/of doing sth) if someone or something stands a chance of doing something, it is possible that they will succeed:
•If we did move to London, I'd stand a much better chance of getting a job.
•Ireland have an outside chance (=slight chance) of qualifying for the World Cup.
•He has a sporting chance of promotion (=a fairly good chance).
•I've given myself a fighting chance of getting to the finals (=a small but real chance if a great effort can be made).
7 by any chance spoken used to ask politely whether something is true:
•Are you Mrs Grant, by any chance?
8 any chance of ...? spoken used to ask whether you can have something or whether something is possible:
•Any chance of a cup of coffee?
•Any chance of you coming to the party on Saturday?
9 be in with a chance if a competitor is in with a chance, it is possible that they will win:
•I think we're in with a good chance of beating them.
10 no chance!/fat chance! spoken used to emphasize that you are sure something could never happen:
•'Maybe your brother would lend you the money?' 'Huh, fat chance!'
11 on the off chance if you do something on the off chance, you do it hoping for a particular result, although you know it is not likely:
•I didn't really expect her to be at home. I just called on the off chance.
OFF-CHANCE
12 chance would be a fine thing! BrE spoken used to mean that the thing you want to happen is very unlikely:
•'Do you think you'll get married?' 'Chance would be a fine thing!'
game of chance at GAME^1 (15)

WORD CHOICE: chance, chances, luck
chance means possibility: There is a small chance he is still alive. | You've got a good chance of passing.
chance also means opportunity: You will have the chance to meet the star of the show.
chance also means that something happened by coincidence or was not planned: It was pure chance that we bought the same shoes.
Someone's chances are the probability that they will do something: Her chances of finding him after all these years are slim. | He aims to win today - what are his chances?

!! Use chances of doing sth, not 'chances to do sth': Your chances of getting (NOT chances to get) a job are as good as anyone's.
luck is when something good happens without being planned: He won more through luck than skill. | It was such luck that you were there to help me!

1 [T] to do something that you know involves a risk:
•I wasn't sure if I'd got quite enough petrol to get me home, but I decided to chance it.
•We decided not to chance our luck in the storm.
•She'd never played before, but she was ready to chance her arm (=take a risk by doing something which may fail).
chance doing sth
•I decided to stay where I was. I couldn't chance being seen.
2 [I] literary to happen in a way which is not expected and not planned
chance to do sth
•She chanced to be passing when I came out of the house.
• It chanced that we both went to Paris that year.

PHRASAL VERBS
chance on/upon/across sb/sth phr v formal
to find something or meet someone when you are not expecting to:
•Henry chanced upon some valuable coins in the attic.[only before noun]
not planned or expected; = accidental
chance meeting/encounter/event etc
•A chance meeting with a journalist changed everything.
•A chance remark by one of his colleagues got him thinking. $ [C]
the part of a church where the priests and the CHOIR (=singers) sit $ plural chancelleries [C]
1 the building in which a chancellor has his or her office
2 the officials who work in a chancellor's office
3 the offices of an official representative of a foreign country; = chancery $ [C]
1 the Chancellor of the Exchequer
2
a) the person who officially represents a British university on special occasions
b) the person in charge of some American universities
3 the leader of the government or the main government minister of some countries:
•Helmut Kohl, the former German Chancellorplural Chancellors of the Exchequer [C]
the British government minister in charge of taxes and government spending $ [singular]
1 especially BrE a government office that collects and stores official papers
2 the part of the British system of law courts which deals with EQUITY
3 the offices of an official representative of a foreign country; = chancellery $
not certain, or involving a lot of risk; = risky
•Acting professionally is a chancy business.
- chanciness noun [U] $ [C]
a large round frame for holding CANDLEs or lights that hangs from the ceiling and is decorated with small pieces of glass $ [C]
someone who made or sold CANDLEs in the past
SHIP'S CHANDLER
1 BECOME DIFFERENT/MAKE STH DIFFERENT [I,T] to become different, or to make something become different:
•Susan has changed a lot since I last saw her.
•Changing your eating habits is the best way to lose weight.
•The rules are not going to change overnight (=change quickly).
•Why do the leaves on trees change colour in the autumn?
change (from sth) to sth
•He changed from being a nice lad to being rude and unhelpful.
[+into]
•The hissing sound gradually changed into a low hum.
change sb/sth into sth
•A witch had changed him into a mouse.
change sth to sth
•Mueller changed his name to Miller when he became a U.S. citizen.
changing circumstances/attitudes/conditions etc
•the changing circumstances of the family
change drastically/radically/profoundly etc
•Attitudes towards sexuality have radically changed.
2 START DOING/USING STH DIFFERENT [I,T] to stop doing or using one thing, and start doing or using something else instead; = switch
•She changed jobs in May.
change (from sth) to sth
•The company has recently changed to a more powerful computer system.
•The ship changed course and headed south.
•The company has had to change direction because of developments in technology.
•Piper awkwardly tried to change the subject (=talk about something else).
3 REPLACE STH [T] to put or use something new or different in place of something else, especially because it is old, damaged, or broken:
•Three boys were changing a tyre by the side of the road.
•When I lost my keys, we had to change all the locks.
change sth (from sth) to sth
•The time of the meeting has been changed from 11 a.m. to 10:30.
•How often do you change cars (=buy a new car and sell the old one)?
4 change your mind to change your decision, plan, or opinion about something:
•Her father tried to get her to change her mind.
[+about]
•If you change your mind about the job, just give me a call.
5 change sides to leave one party, group etc and join an opposing party, group etc :
•It's quite rare for politicians to change sides.
6 CLOTHES
a) [I,T] to take off your clothes and put on different ones:
•Francis came in while Jay was changing.
•Change your dress - that one looks dirty.
[+into/out of]
•Sara changed into her swimsuit and ran out for a quick swim.
•You'd better go and get changed.
b) [T] to put a clean NAPPY on a baby, or to put clean clothes on a baby or small child:
•I bathed him and changed his diaper.
•Can you change the baby for me while I finish chopping the carrots?
7 BED [T] to take the dirty SHEETs off a bed and put on clean ones
8 EXCHANGE GOODS [T] BrE
a) to take back to a shop something that you have bought and get something different instead, especially because there is something wrong with it; = exchange AmE
change sth for sth
•I bought these gloves for my daughter, but they're too large. Can I change them for a smaller size?
b) to give a customer something different instead of what they have bought, especially because there is something wrong with it; = exchange AmE
•I'm sure the shop will change them for you.
9 EXCHANGE MONEY [T]
a) to get smaller units of money that add up to the same value as a larger unit:
•Can you change a £20 note?
b) to get money from one country for the same value of money from another country
change sth into/for sth
•I want to change my dollars into pesos, please.
10 TRAINS/BUSES/AIRCRAFT [I,T] to get off one train, bus, or aircraft and into another in order to continue your journey
[+at]
•Passengers for Liverpool should change at Crewe.
change trains/buses/planes etc
•I had to change planes in Denver.
all change! (=used to tell passengers to get off a train because it does not go any further)
11 change hands if property changes hands, it starts to belong to someone else:
•The house has changed hands three times in the last two years.
12 change places (with sb)
a) to give someone your place and take their place:
•Would you mind changing places with me so I can sit next to my friend?
b) to take someone else's social position or situation in life instead of yours:
•She may be rich, but I wouldn't want to change places with her.
13 GEAR [I,T] to put the engine of a vehicle into a higher or lower GEAR in order to go faster or slower
change (into/out of) gear
•Change into second gear as you approach the corner.
[+up/down] BrE
•Change down before you get to the hill.
14 change your tune informal to start expressing a different attitude and reacting in a different way, after something has happened:
•The question is, will the president change his tune on taxes?
15 WIND [I] if the wind changes, it starts to blow in a different direction
16 change your spots to change your character completely:
•US business has changed its spots in recent years.

PHRASAL VERBS
change sth <=> around phr v
to move things into different positions:
•When we'd changed the furniture around, the room looked quite different.

change over phr v
to stop doing or using one thing and start doing or using another:
•Complete all the exercises on one leg, then change over.
[+to]
•We hope to change over to the new software by next month.
chop and change at CHOP^1 (3)

WORD FOCUS: change
to change something:
alter
adapt
adjust
amend
modify
revise
vary
to change a system or organization:
restructure
reorganize
reform
to change something completely:
transform
revolutionize
to change facts or information, or change what someone has said:
twist
distort
misrepresent
easily changed:
flexible
adaptable
impossible to change:
fixed
final
irrevocable

1 THINGS BECOMING DIFFERENT [C,U] the process or result of something or someone becoming different:
•Many people find it hard to cope with change.
•scientists worried about climatic change
[+in]
•changes in the immigration laws
•A change in personality may mean your teenager has a drug problem.
[+of]
•a change of temperature
•No major changes were made to the book.
change for the better/worse (=a change that makes a situation better or worse)
•There was a change for the better in the patient's condition.
social/political/economic etc change
•the sweeping political changes after the fall of communism
•She had a change of heart (=change in attitude) and decided to stay.
•Family life has undergone dramatic change in recent years.
2 FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER [C] the fact of one thing or person being replaced by another:
•The car needs an oil change.
[+of]
•a change of government
•a change of address
change from sth to sth
•the gradual change from grasslands to true desert
•The government has made some major policy changes.
3 PLEASANT NEW SITUATION [singular] a situation or experience that is different from what happened before, and is usually interesting or enjoyable
[+from]
•The morning was cool; a welcome change from the heat of the day before.
for a change
•How about dinner out for a change?
it/that makes a change (=used to say that something is better than and different from usual)
•'Ron's buying the drinks.' 'That makes a change.'
change of scene/air/pace etc (=when you go to a different place or do something different)
•The patients benefit greatly from a change of scenery.
4 MONEY [U]
a) the money that you get back when you have paid for something with more money than it costs:
•Here's your change, sir.
make change AmE (=give someone change)
•Andy was making change for a customer.
b) money in the form of coins, not paper money
in change
•I have about a dollar in change.
•Matt emptied the loose change from his pockets.
•A beggar asked for some spare change (=coins that you do not need).
c) coins or paper money that you give in exchange for the same amount of money in a larger unit
change for £1/$10
•Excuse me, have you got change for a pound?
make change AmE (=give someone change)
•Can you make change for $20?
5 small change
a) coins you have that do not have a high value:
•I only had about a pound in small change.
b) used to emphasize that something is a small amount of money when it is compared to a larger amount:
•The program costs $20 million a year, small change by Washington standards.
6 change of clothes/underwear etc an additional set of clothes that you have with you, for example when you are travelling
7 TRAIN/BUS/AIRCRAFT [C] a situation in which you get off one train, bus, or aircraft and get on another in order to continue your journey:
•Even with a change of trains, the subway is quicker than a cab at rush hour.
8 get no change out of sb BrE spoken to get no useful information or help from someone:
•I wouldn't bother asking Richard - you'll get no change out of him.
ring the changes at RING^2 (6)
likely to change, or changing often:
•changeable weather
1 a changed man/woman someone who has become very different from what they were before, as a result of a very important experience:
•Since she stopped drinking, she's a changed woman.
2 relating to a change in someone's situation:
•All organisations need to adapt to changed circumstances.
never seeming to change:
•a changeless desert landscape [C]
literary a baby that is believed to have been secretly exchanged for another baby by FAIRIES[singular]
the MENOPAUSE $ [C]
a change from one activity, system, or way of working to another
changeover (from sth) to sth
•a changeover from military to civilian government[C]
AmE a small bag in which coins are kept; = purse BrE[C] BrE
a room where people change their clothes when they play sports, go swimming etc; = locker room AmE[C]
a special piece of furniture that you put a baby on when you change its NAPPY [C]
1 TELEVISION a television station and all the programmes that it broadcasts:
•the news on Channel 4
•The kids are watching cartoons on the Disney Channel.
•What channel is ER on?
•He changed channels to watch the basketball game.
2 FOR GETTING INFORMATION/GOODS ETC a system or method that you use to send or obtain information, goods, permission etc:
•The United States and other countries are working through diplomatic channels to find a solution.
•The new software will be sold through existing distribution channels.
[+of]
•It is important that we open channels of communication with the police.
3 SEA/RIVER
a) an area of water that connects two larger areas of water:
•St George's Channel
b) the Channel BrE the area of water between France and England; = the English Channel
c) the deepest part of a river, HARBOUR, or sea, especially where it is deep enough to allow ships to sail in
4 WATER a passage that water or other liquids flow along:
•an irrigation channel
5 RADIO a particular range of SOUND WAVEs which can be used to send and receive radio messages
6 IN A SURFACE a long deep line cut into a surface or a long deep space between two edges; = groove
•The sliding doors fit into these plastic channels.
7 WAY TO EXPRESS YOURSELF a way of expressing your thoughts, feelings, or physical energy
[+for]
•Art provides a channel for the children's creativity.past tense and past participle channelled, present participle channelling BrE past tense and past participle channeled, present participle channeling AmE [T]
1 to control and direct something such as money or energy towards a particular purpose; = direct
channel sth into sth
•Most of his energy was channeled into writing and lecturing.
channel sth to sb
•Profits are channelled to conservation groups.
channel sth through sth
•The famine relief money was channelled through the UN.
2 to control or direct people or things to a particular place, work, situation etc
channel sb/sth into sth
•Women were likely to be channeled into jobs as teachers or nurses.
•Drugs from government pharmacies were being channeled into illegal drug markets.
3 to cut a long deep line in something:
•Water had channelled grooves in the rock.
4 to send water through a passage:
•An efficient irrigation system channels water to the crops.
5 to allow a spirit to come into your body and speak through you, to tell people a message that you have received in this way:
•She claims to channel the spirit of a 2,000-year-old hunter.channeling AmE [U] BrE
a practice based on the belief that dead people can communicate with living people by making their spirit enter a living person's body and speaking through them
- channeller noun [C]channel hopping [U]
when you change from one television channel to another, only watching a few minutes of any programme $ [I,T]
1 to repeat a word or phrase again and again:
•protestors chanting anti-government slogans
2 to sing or say a religious song or prayer in a way that involves using only one note or TONE:
•a priest chanting the liturgy[C]
1 words or phrases that are repeated again and again by a group of people:
•Others in the crowd took up the chant (=began chanting).
[+of]
•chants of 'oh no, we won't go'
2 a regularly repeated tune, often with many words sung on one note, especially used for religious prayers
- chanter noun [C]also chantry chapel $ plural chantries [C]
a small church or part of a church paid for by someone so that priests can pray for them there after they die $
HANUKKAH $ [U]
1 a situation in which everything is happening in a confused way and nothing is organized or arranged in order:
•The country was plunged into economic chaos.
complete/utter/absolute etc chaos
•There was total chaos on the roads.
in chaos
•The kitchen was in chaos.
2 the state of the universe before there was any order $
a chaotic situation is one in which everything is happening in a confused way:
•a chaotic mixture of images
1 [C] especially BrE a man, especially a man you know and like:
•a decent sort of chap
2 chaps [plural] protective leather covers worn over your trousers when riding a horse
CHAPPED [U]
AmE land on which small OAK trees grow close together [C]
AmE a small printed book, usually consisting of writings about literature, poetry, or religion
1 [C] a small church, or a room in a hospital, prison, big church etc in which Christians pray and have religious services
2 [C] a building where Christians who are Nonconformists have religious services
3 [U] BrE the religious services held in a chapel:
•Bethan goes to chapel every Sunday.
4 [C] BrE the members of a UNION in the newspaper or printing industrychaperon $ [C]
1 an older woman in the past who went out with a young unmarried woman on social occasions and was responsible for her behaviour
2 AmE someone, usually a parent or teacher, who is responsible for young people on social occasions:
•Three parents went on the school ski trip as chaperones.chaperon [T]
to go somewhere with someone as a chaperone [C]
a priest or other religious minister responsible for the religious needs of a club, the army, a hospital etc:
•the prison chaplain plural chaplaincies [C]
the job of being a chaplain, or the place where a chaplain works
chapped lips or hands are sore, dry, and cracked, especially as a result of cold weather or wind
- chap verb [T] plural chappies [C] BrE
a CHAP $ [C]
1 one of the parts into which a book is divided:
•Read Chapter 11 as your homework.
•This chapter discusses power, and how people use it.
2 a particular period or event in someone's life or in history
[+of]
•We hope that they will join us in opening a new chapter of peace and cooperation.
[+in]
•the noblest chapter in our history
3 all the priests belonging to a CATHEDRAL, or a meeting of these priests
4 the local members of a large organization such as a club:
•the local chapter of the American Legion
5 give/quote sb chapter and verse to give someone exact details about where to find some information
6 a chapter of accidents BrE a series of unlucky events coming one after another $ [C]
a building where the priests belonging to a CATHEDRAL meet $ past tense and past participle charred, present participle charring
1 [I,T] to burn something so that its outside becomes black:
•Roast the peppers until the skin begins to char and blister.
CHARRED
2 [I] BrE old-fashioned to work as a cleaner in a house, office, public building etc
1 [C] BrE old-fashioned a CHARWOMAN
2 [U] BrE old-fashioned tea:
•a cup of char [C] BrE old-fashioned
a large comfortable bus used for pleasure trips $
1 ALL SB'S QUALITIES [C usually singular] the particular combination of qualities that makes someone a particular type of person; characteristic
•He has a cheerful but quiet character.
•Children grow up with a mixture of character traits (=character qualities) from both sides of their family.
•his temper and other character flaws (=bad qualities)
in character/out of character (=typical or untypical of someone's character)
•He swore, which was out of character for him.
the English/French etc character
•Openness is at the heart of the American character.
character sketch (=a description of someone's character)
2 PERSON [C]
a) a person in a book, play, film etc:
•Candida is the most interesting character in the play.
main/central character
•In the story, the main character has left his girlfriend and baby.
•Everyone recognizes Disney's cartoon characters.
b) a person of a particular type, especially a strange or dishonest one:
•a couple of shady characters standing on the corner
•I'm considered a reformed character these days (=someone who has stopped doing bad things).
c) an interesting and unusual person:
•Linda was something of a character.
3 QUALITIES OF STH [singular,U] the particular combination of features and qualities that makes a thing or place different from all others; = nature
[+of]
•The whole character of the school has changed.
•the unspoilt character of the coast
in character
•The southern state became more nationalist in character.
4 MORAL STRENGTH [U] a combination of qualities such as courage, loyalty, and honesty that are admired and regarded as valuable:
•a woman of great character
•Schools were created to teach reading and mathematics, not moral character.
•It takes strength of character to admit you are wrong.
•outdoor programs that are meant to be character building (=develop good moral qualities)
5 INTERESTING QUALITY [U] a quality that makes someone or something special and interesting:
•a red wine with a meaty character
•suburban houses that lack character
6 REPUTATION [U] formal the opinion that people have about whether you are a good person and can be trusted:
•a man of previous good character
•The campaign was accused of character assassination (=an unfair attack on someone's character) because of its negative ads.
•His defence called several people as character witnesses (=people who think that someone has a good character).
•Mr Wetherby wrote him a character reference (=a statement about his good qualities).
7 LETTER/SIGN [C] a letter, mark, or sign used in writing, printing, or on a computer:
•the Chinese character for horse[C]
an actor who typically plays unusual characters, rather than the most important characters
a British spelling of CHARACTERIZE [C usually plural]
a quality or feature of something or someone that is typical of them and easy to recognize
[+of]
•a baby discovering the physical characteristics of objects
defining/distinguishing characteristic (=one that separates someone or something from others of the same type)
•Violent images are a defining characteristic of his work.
very typical of a particular thing or of someone's character:
•the highly characteristic (=very typical) flint walls of the local houses
[+of]
•the qualities that were characteristic of the Nixon administration
- characteristically adverb $ [C,U]
1 the way in which a writer makes a person in a book, film, or play seem like a real person:
•Pilcher's books are full of humour, good characterization, and lively dialogue.
2 the way in which the character of a real person or thing is described
characterization of sb/sth as sth
•the characterization of the enemy as 'cruel fanatics'also characterise BrE [T]
1 to describe the qualities of someone or something in a particular way; = portray
characterize sb as (being) sth
•The group was characterized as being well-educated and liberal.
2 to be typical of a person, place, or thing:
•Bright colours characterize his paintings. $
not having any special or interesting qualities:
•a characterless modern building $
1 charades [U] a game in which one person uses actions and no words to show the meaning of a word or phrase, and other people have to guess what it is
2 [C] a situation in which people behave as though something is true or serious, when it is not really true:
•Unless more money is given to schools, all this talk of improving education is just a charade. $ [T]
AmE to cook food over a very hot charcoal fire
- charbroiled adjective $
1 [U] a black substance made of burned wood that can be used as FUEL:
•cooking over a charcoal fire
2 [C,U] a stick of this substance used for drawing:
•a sketch drawn in charcoal
3 also charcoal grey [U] a dark grey colour
- #charcoal adjective $ [U]
a vegetable with large leaves $
1 PRICE [C,U] the amount of money you have to pay for goods or services:
•Gas charges will rise in July.
[+of]
•an admission charge of $5
[+for]
•There's a 50 pence booking charge for each ticket.
•Guided tours are provided at no charge.
•Your order will be sent free of charge (=at no cost).
•The shop will fit them for a small extra charge.
2 CONTROL [U] the position of having control or responsibility for a group of people or an activity
in charge (of sth)
•He asked to speak to the person in charge.
•the officer in charge of the investigation
•Stern put Travis in charge of (=gave him control of) the research team.
•Owens came in and took charge of (=took control of) the situation.
•A commander in each county was to have charge of the local militia.
3 SB/STH YOU LOOK AFTER
a) be in/under sb's charge if someone or something is in your charge, you are responsible for looking after them:
•teachers that do their best for the children in their charge
•The files were left in your charge.
b) [C] formal someone that you are responsible for looking after:
•Sarah bought some chocolate for her three young charges.
4 CRIME [C] an official statement made by the police saying that they believe someone may be guilty of a crime

on a charge (of sth)
bring/press charges (=state officially that someone is guilty of a crime)
face charges (=be accused of a crime)
drop the charges (=decide to stop making charges)
deny a charge
admit a charge
plead guilty to a charge
be released without charge
be cleared/acquitted of a charge (=when someone is officially not guilty at the end of a trial)
be convicted of a charge (=when someone is found guilty at the end of a trial)

[+against]
•He was found guilty of all six charges against him.
•Phillips was arrested on drug charges.
•The following morning, he was arrested on a charge of burglary.
•Young appeared in court on a murder charge.
[+of]
•Higgins is facing a charge of armed robbery.
•As it was his first offence, the store agreed not to press charges.
•Police dropped the charges against him because of insufficient evidence.
•Nine people have pleaded guilty to various charges.
•Green was cleared of all charges against him.

5 BLAME [C] a written or spoken statement blaming someone for doing something bad or illegal; = allegation
charge that
•the charge that tobacco companies target young people with their ads
[+of]
•a charge of racial discrimination against the company
deny/counter a charge (=say that a charge is untrue)
•Wallace denied charges that he had lied to investigators.
lay/leave yourself open to a charge of sth (=be likely to be blamed for something)
•The speech laid him open to charges of political bias.
6 ATTACK [C] an attack in which soldiers or animals move towards someone or something very quickly
7 EFFORT lead the charge to make a strong effort to do something:
•It was small businesses that led the charge against health care changes.
8 ELECTRICITY [U] electricity that is put into a piece of electrical equipment such as a BATTERY
on charge (=taking in a charge of electricity)
•Leave the battery on charge all night.
9 EXPLOSIVE [C] an explosive put into something such as a bomb or gun
10 STRENGTH OF FEELINGS [singular] the power of strong feelings:
•Cases of child abuse have a strong emotional charge.
11 get a charge out of sth AmE spoken to be excited by something and enjoy it very much:
•I got a real charge out of seeing my niece take her first steps.
12 AN ORDER TO DO STH [C] formal an order to do something
charge to do sth
•The old servant fulfilled his master's charge to care for the children.
reverse the charges at REVERSE^1 (6)
1 MONEY
a) [I,T] to ask someone for a particular amount of money for something you are selling:
•The hotel charges $125 a night.
charge sb £10/$50 etc (for sth)
•The restaurant charged us £40 for the wine.
charge sth at sth
•Calls will be charged at 44p per minute.
[+for]
•We won't charge for delivery if you pay now.
charge rent/a fee/interest etc
•The gallery charges an entrance fee.
b) charge sth to sb's account/room etc to record the cost of something on someone's account, so that they can pay for it later:
•Wilson charged the drinks to his room.
•Use a courier and charge it to the department.
c) [T] AmE to pay for something with a CREDIT CARD
charge sth on sth
•I charged the shoes on Visa.
•'How would you like to pay?' 'I'll charge it.'
2 CRIME [T] to state officially that someone may be guilty of a crime
charge sb with sth
•Gibbons has been charged with murder.
3 BLAME SB [T] formal to say publicly that you think someone has done something wrong
charge that
•Demonstrators have charged that the police used excessive force against them.
4 RUN [I always + adv/prep] to deliberately run or walk somewhere quickly
[+around/through/out etc]
•The boys charged noisily into the water.
5 ATTACK [I,T] to deliberately rush quickly towards someone or something in order to attack them:
•Then, with a final effort, our men charged the enemy for the last time.
[+at/towards/into]
•The bear charged towards her at full speed.
6 ELECTRICITY [I,T] also charge up if a BATTERY charges, or if you charge it, it takes in and stores electricity:
•The shaver can be charged up and used while travelling.
7 ORDER SB [T] formal to order someone to do something or make them responsible for it
charge sb with doing sth
•The commission is charged with investigating war crimes.
8 GUN [T] old use to load a gun
9 GLASS [T] BrE formal to fill a glass
CHARGED $ BrE
1 needing to be paid for:
•Advice will be given as a chargeable service.
2 something that is chargeable must have tax paid on it:
•chargeable assets[C]
AmE an account you have at a shop that allows you to take goods away with you now and pay later[C]
a plastic card from a particular shop that you can use to buy goods there and pay for them later; credit card $
a charged situation or subject makes people feel very angry, anxious, or excited, and is likely to cause arguments or violence:
•the charged atmosphere in the room
•a highly charged debate $ plural chargés d'affaires (same pronunciation) [C]
an official who represents a particular government during the absence of an AMBASSADOR or in a country where there is no ambassador[C]
BrE a worker in charge of other workers, whose position is below that of a FOREMAN[C]
a nurse who is responsible for the work done in one part of a hospital $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment used to put electricity into a BATTERY
2 literary a horse that a soldier or KNIGHT rides in battle[C]
a record kept in a police station of the names of people the police have stated may be guilty of a particular crime [C]
a vehicle with two wheels pulled by a horse, used in ancient times in battles and races $ [C]
the driver of a chariot [U]
a natural ability to attract and interest other people and make them admire you:
•He lacks charisma.
1 having charisma:
•Martin Luther King was a very charismatic speaker.
2 charismatic church/movement groups of Christians who believe that God can give them special abilities, for example the ability to cure illness
1 relating to giving help to the poor; uncharitable ; charity
•charitable groups
•a charitable donation
2 kind and sympathetic in the way you judge people:
•a charitable view of his actions
- charitably adverb plural charities
1 [C] an organization that gives money, goods, or help to people who are poor, sick etc; charitable
•Several charities sent aid to the flood victims.
charity event/walk/concert etc (=an event organized to collect money for a charity)
2 [U] charity organizations in general:
•All the money raised by the concert will go to charity.
for charity
•The children raised over £200 for charity.
3 [U] money or gifts given to help people who are poor, sick etc:
•refugees living on charity
•Her pride wouldn't allow her to accept charity.
4 [U] formal kindness or sympathy that you show towards other people:
•Mother Teresa's works of charity
•Newspaper reports showed him little charity.
5 charity begins at home a phrase meaning that you should take care of your own family, country etc before you help other people[C]
BrE a shop that sells used goods that are given to it, in order to collect money for a charity $ plural charladies [C] BrE old-fashioned
a CHARWOMAN $ [C] literary
someone who pretends to have special skills or knowledge - used to show disapproval $ [C, singular] AmE informal
a pain in a large muscle, for example in your leg, caused by the muscle becoming tight; = cramp $ [C] BrE spoken
a stupid person
feel a right/proper charlie (=feel very stupid) $
1 [C,U] a special quality someone or something has that makes people like them, feel attracted to them, or be easily influenced by them - used to show approval; charming
•Robert's boyish charm
[+of]
•the charm of this small Southern city
•She turned on the charm (=used her charm) to everyone she met.
•The room had no windows and all the charm of a prison cell (=used to say that something has no charm).
2 [C] a very small object worn on a chain or BRACELET:
•a charm bracelet
•a small gold horseshoe worn as a lucky charm
3 [C] a phrase or action believed to have special magic powers; = spell
4 work like a charm to work exactly as you had hoped:
•The new sales program has worked like a charm.[T]
1 to attract someone and make them like you, sometimes in order to make them do something for you; charming
•We were charmed by the friendliness of the local people.
2 to please and interest someone:
•a story that has charmed generations of children
3 to gain power over someone or something by using magic $
have/lead a charmed life to be lucky all the time, so that although you are often in dangerous situations nothing ever harms you[singular] written
a group of people who have special power or influence:
•politicians outside the charmed circle $ [C]
someone who uses their charm to please or influence people:
•Even at ten years old, he was a real charmer.
SNAKE CHARMER $
very pleasing or attractive:
•a charming little Italian restaurant
•Harry can be very charming.
- charmingly adverb[C] especially AmE
a school where young women were sometimes sent in the past to learn how to behave politely and gracefully $ [C]
literary a place where the bodies and bones of dead people are stored $
something that is charred has been burned until it is black:
•the charred remains of a body $ [C]
1 information that is clearly arranged in the form of a simple picture, set of figures, GRAPH etc, or a piece of paper with this information on it; = diagram
•a chart showing last year's sales
•a weather chart
•the theatre's seating chart
2 the charts the lists, which come out weekly, of the most popular records:
•Her new single went straight to number one in the pop charts.
•Brooks again topped the charts (=was the most popular).
chart hit/success/star etc
•the Beatles' first chart hit
3 a detailed map, especially of an area of the sea or the stars
BAR CHART, FLOW CHART, PIE CHART[T]
1 to record information about a situation or set of events over a period of time, in order to see how it changes or develops:
•Scientists have been charting temperature changes in the oceans.
2 to make a plan of what should be done to achieve a particular result:
•Each team was responsible for making its own decisions and charting its own course.
3 to make a map of an area of land, sea, or stars, or to draw lines on a map to show where you have travelled; uncharted $
1 [C] a statement of the principles, duties, and purposes of an organization:
•the freedoms embodied in the UN charter
2 [U] the practice of paying money to a company to use their boats, aircraft, etc, or the boat, aircraft etc used in this way:
•boats available for charter
•a charter service
3 [C] a signed statement from a government or ruler which allows a town, organization, or university to officially exist and have special rights:
•The town's charter was granted in 1838.
4 [singular] BrE informal a law or official decision that seems to give someone the right to do something most people consider morally wrong:
•Reducing the number of police is just a thieves' charter.[T]
1 to pay a company for the use of their aircraft, boat etc:
•We chartered a boat to take us to some of the smaller islands.
2 to say officially that a town, organization, or university officially exists and has special rights $ [only before noun] BrE
chartered accountant/surveyor/engineer etc an ACCOUNTANT, SURVEYOR etc who has successfully completed special examinations[C]
an aircraft journey that is arranged for a particular group or for a particular purpose, and that usually costs less than an ordinary aircraft journey; scheduled flight[C]
AmE an original member of a club or organization; = founder member BrE[C]
a school in the US that is run by parents, companies etc rather than by the public school system, but which the state government supports $ [U]
1 a green or yellow alcoholic drink
2 a bright yellow-green colour
chart-topping record/group/hit etc a record, group etc that has sold the most records in a particular week $ plural charwomen [C] BrE old-fashioned
a woman who works as a cleaner, especially in someone's house $ especially BrE
unwilling to risk doing something
chary about/of doing sth
•Banks were chary of lending the company more money.
1 FOLLOW [I,T] to quickly follow someone or something in order to catch them:
•The dogs saw him running and chased him.
•kids chasing around the house
chase sb along/down/up sth etc
•The police chased the suspect along Severn Avenue.
[+after]
•A gang of boys chased after her, calling her names.
2 MAKE SB/STH LEAVE [T always + adv/prep] to make someone or something leave, especially by following them for a short distance and threatening them
chase sb away/off
•The men were chased off by troops, who fired warning shots.
chase sb out of sth
•Anne went to chase the dog out of the garden.
3 TRY TO GET STH [I,T] to use a lot of time and effort trying to get something such as work or money:
•Top graduates from the university are chased by major companies.
[+after]
•reporters chasing after a story
4 HURRY [I always + adv/prep] BrE to rush or hurry somewhere
[+around/up/down etc]
•I was chasing around getting everything organized.
5 ROMANCE [T] to try hard to make someone notice you and pay attention to you, because you want to have a romantic relationship with them:
•'Sometimes a girl wants to be chased,' Amelia said.
6 METAL [T] technical to decorate metal with a special tool:
•chased silver
7 chase the dragon informal to smoke the drug HEROIN

PHRASAL VERBS
chase sb/sth <=> down phr v
to find something or someone that you have been looking for:
•We had to chase down everyone we'd sold a bike to.

chase sb/sth <=> up phr v BrE
1 to remind someone to do something they promised to do for you:
•David hasn't paid yet - you'd better chase him up.
2 to try to make something happen or arrive more quickly, because it has been taking too long:
•Can you chase up those photos for me tomorrow?
1 [C] the act of following someone or something quickly in order to catch them:
•a high-speed car chase
•Police spotted the car and gave chase (=chased it).
2 [singular] when you use a lot of time and effort trying to get something
[+after]
•the chase after higher-paying jobs
PAPER CHASE, WILD GOOSE CHASE $ [C]
a weaker alcoholic drink which is drunk after a strong one, or a stronger alcoholic drink which is drunk after a weak one:
•a pint of bitter and a whisky chaser
1 [C] a very deep space between two areas of rock or ice, especially one that is dangerous:
•a rope bridge across the chasm
2 [singular] a big difference between two people, groups, or things
[+between]
•the chasm between rich and poor plural chassis [C]
1 the frame on which the body, engine, wheels etc of a vehicle are built
2 the landing equipment of a plane
1 old-fashioned not having sex with anyone, or not with anyone except your husband or wife; celibate, chastity
•She led a chaste, decent life.
2 not showing sexual feelings:
•a chaste kiss on the cheek
3 simple and plain in style:
•a chaste nightgown
- chastely adverb [T usually passive] formal
to make someone realize that their behaviour was wrong or mistaken:
•Party workers have returned to their home towns, chastened by their overwhelming defeat.
- chastening adjective
•a chastening experience [T]
1 formal to criticize someone severely:
•'You're a fool,' she chastised herself.
2 old-fashioned to physically punish someone
- chastisement noun [C,U] [U]
the principle or state of not having sex with anyone, or not with anyone except your husband or wife [C,U]
especially BrE an informal friendly conversation
[+with]
•I've had a long chat with Vinnie.
[+about]
•a chat about the weather
•She was enjoying their friendly little chat.
•She used to drop in for a chat quite often.
BACKCHATpast tense and past participle chatted, present participle chatting [I]
1 also chat away especially BrE to talk in a friendly informal way, especially about things that are not important:
•John and I sat up until the early hours chatting.
[+with/to]
•Mary was there, chatting to her mother.
[+about]
•Susie chatted away about her social life.
2 to communicate with several people in a chat room on the Internet

PHRASAL VERBS
chat sb <=> up phr v
BrE informal to talk to someone in a way that shows you are sexually attracted to them:
•I spent the evening chatting up Liz. $ plural chateaux $ [C]
a castle or large country house in France [C]
formal the female owner, or wife of the owner, of a castle or large country house in France[C]
a telephone service that people call to talk to other people who have called the same service[C]
a place on the Internet where you can write messages to other people and receive messages back from them immediately, so that you can have a conversation while you are ONLINE[C]
BrE a television or radio show on which people talk about themselves in reply to questions; = talk show AmE
•a TV chat show host (=person who asks the questions on the show) [C]
law old-fashioned a piece of personal property that you can move from one place to another:
•a society in which women are considered to be chattels
GOODS AND CHATTELS $ [I]
1 also chatter away/on to talk quickly in a friendly way without stopping, especially about things that are not serious or important:
•She chattered away happily until she noticed I wasn't listening.
•She chattered excitedly like a child.
[+about]
•We were chattering about the events of last night.
2 if birds or monkeys chatter, they make short high sounds
3 if your teeth are chattering, you are so cold or frightened that your teeth are knocking together
4 the chattering classes BrE educated MIDDLE-CLASS people who like to discuss and have opinions about recent events and situations in society
- chatterer noun [C][U]
1 informal talk, especially about things that are not serious or important
[+of]
•the excited chatter of the audience
•Jane's constant chatter was annoying him.
•gossip and idle chatter
•She was full of chatter about her new friends.
2 a series of short high sounds made by some birds or monkeys
[+of]
•the chatter of birds
3 a hard quick repeated sound made by your teeth knocking together or by machines
[+of]
•the chatter of the printer $ [C]
informal someone, especially a child, who talks too much
1 liking to talk a lot in a friendly way:
•He was in an unusually chatty mood.
2 a piece of writing that is chatty has a friendly informal style:
•a chatty letter[C]
BrE something that someone says in order to start a conversation with someone they think is sexually attractive $ [C]
someone whose job is to drive a car for someone else[T]
1 to drive a car for someone as your job
2 also chauffeur sb <=> around to drive someone in your car, especially when you do not want to:
•I spent most of the day chauffeuring the kids around. $ [U]
1 a belief that your own sex is better or more important than the other sex, especially if you are a man:
• male chauvinism
2 a strong belief that your country or race is better or more important than any other:
•national chauvinism $ [C]
1 someone, especially a man, who believes that their own sex is better or more important than the other sex:
•He's a bit of a male chauvinist.
•a male chauvinist pig (=an insulting name for a male chauvinist)
2 someone who believes that their own country or race is better or more important than any other
- chauvinist adjective $
1 having the belief that your own country or race is better or more important than any other:
•a chauvinistic dislike of all things foreign
2 having the belief that your own sex is better, or more important than the other sex, especially if you are a man
- chauvinistically adverb comparative cheaper, superlative cheapest
1 LOW PRICE not at all expensive, or lower in price than you expected; expensive
•cheap rail fares
•the cheapest TV on the market
•Property is cheaper in Spain than here.
•a cheap shop (=one that sells goods cheaply)
•The equipment is relatively cheap and simple to use.
•This coat was dirt cheap informal (=very cheap).
cheap and cheerful BrE (=simple and not expensive, but of reasonable quality)
•a cheap and cheerful Italian restaurant
2 BAD QUALITY low in price and quality:
•Cheap wine gives me a headache.
•cheap jewellery
•The furniture looked cheap and nasty.
•a cheap imitation of the real thing
3 NOT EXPENSIVE TO USE not costing much to use or to employ; = inexpensive
cheap to run/use/maintain etc
•Gas appliances are usually cheaper to run than electric ones.
•For the employer, a part-time workforce means a cheap labour supply.
4 NOT DESERVING RESPECT showing a lack of honesty, moral principles, or sincere feelings, so that you do not deserve respect:
•She felt cheap and stupid, like a naughty child caught stealing.
•You're lying, aren't you? You're so cheap.
•His remark was a cheap shot at short people.
•another cheap political stunt
•It was nothing but a cheap trick (=unkind trick).
5 NOT GENEROUS AmE not liking to spend money; = mean BrE
•She's too cheap to take a cab.
6 cheap thrill excitement that does not take much effort to get:
•Bella will sleep with anyone for a cheap thrill.
7 life is cheap used to say that it is not important if people die
8 cheap at the price/at any price BrE cheap at twice the price so good, useful, or desirable that the cost is not important
- cheaply adverb
•a cheaply furnished room
•They lived as cheaply as possible.
- cheapness noun [U]
•the relative cheapness of housing

WORD FOCUS: words meaning cheap
reasonable not too expensive
economical used about cars, systems, or methods that do not cost a lot of money to use
be good value to be well worth the price you pay
be a bargain to be very cheap

at a low price:
•Air fares to Africa don't come cheap (=are expensive).
•I bought this house because it was going cheap (=selling for a lower price than usual).
•She used to get meat cheap at the butcher's.
•They're selling linen off cheap in Lewis's.
on the cheap spending less money than is needed to do something properly:
•A clean environment cannot be had on the cheap.
•holidaying on the cheap
1 [I,T] to become or make something become lower in price or value:
•The good harvest that year cheapened the costs of some raw materials.
2 [T] to make something or someone seem less deserving of respect:
•She never compromised or cheapened herself. $ [only before noun] informal
not of good quality and not costing very much:
•a cheapo camera [C]
informal someone who spends as little money as possible - used to show disapproval:
•The cheapskate didn't even pay for the cab.
1 [I,T] to behave in a dishonest way in order to win or to get an advantage, especially in a competition, game, or examination:
•He had cheated in the test by using a calculator.
•Don't look at my cards - that's cheating.
[+at]
•She always claimed that I cheated at chess.
2 [T] to trick or deceive someone so that they do not get or keep something they have a right to have:
•Illegal workers are often cheated by employers.
cheat sb (out) of sth
•a woman who cheated her aged aunt out of her fortune
3 feel cheated to feel that you have been treated wrongly or unfairly and have not got what you deserve:
•Young people often feel cheated by their parents without knowing why.
4 cheat death/fate etc to manage to avoid death or a very bad situation even though it seemed that you would not be able to:
•The Italian ace cheated death in a spectacular 100 mph crash.
5 be cheated of victory/success etc if you are cheated of victory, success etc, you do not achieve it because of something unfortunate that happens

PHRASAL VERBS
cheat on sb phr v
to be unfaithful to your husband, wife, or sexual partner by secretly having sex with someone else:
•The magazine claims that almost half of Britain's women cheat on their partners.[C]
1 someone who is dishonest and cheats:
•His addiction has turned him into a cheat and a liar.
2 a cheat something that is dishonest or unfair
3 a set of instructions given to a computer that make it easier for someone who is playing a computer game to win
1 FIND OUT [I,T] to do something in order to find out whether something really is correct, true, or in good condition:
•Check the tiles carefully before you buy them.
•A first rule in solving any mystery is to check the facts.
•Fill in the cash book carefully and always check your calculations.
check (that)
•Check that all the doors are locked securely.
check whether/how/who etc
•Let me just check whether the potatoes are cooked.
•They paused to check how the other climbers were getting on.
check (sth) for sth
•I checked the typing for errors.
•Turn the tap on and check for leaks.
check sth against/with sth (=compare something with something else to see whether they are the same)
•You must check the evidence against other sources and decide if it is reliable.
•Positive test results are double checked (=looked at twice) to make absolutely sure.
2 ASK SB [I,T] to ask someone whether something is correct, true, or allowed:
•I'm not authorized to give you a refund - I'll have to check first.
check (that)
•Make a phone call to check that you are writing to the right person.
check whether/how/who etc
•I'll call the factory to check whether the beds can be delivered today.
[+with]
•It's wise to check with your doctor before going on a diet.
3 NOT DO STH [T] to suddenly stop yourself from saying or doing something because you realize it would be better not to:
•I had to check the urge to laugh out loud.
check yourself
•He grinned, and then checked himself, not wanting to upset Jack.
4 STOP STH [T] to stop something bad from getting worse or continuing to happen:
•The police are failing to take adequate measures to check the growth in crime.
5 BAGS/CASES ETC [T] AmE check in BrE to leave your bags at an official place so they can be put on a plane or a train, or to take someone's bags in order to do this:
•Any luggage over five kilos must be checked.
6 MAKE A MARK [T] AmE to make a mark ( ) next to an answer, something on a list etc to show you have chosen it, that it is correct, or that you have dealt with it; = tick BrE
7 Check spoken especially AmE say this when someone mentions each thing on a list, to tell them that you have it or have done it:
•'Passport?' 'Check.' 'Ticket?' ' Check'.

PHRASAL VERBS
check in phr v
1 if you check in or are checked in at a hotel or airport, you go to the desk and report that you have arrived:
•You need to check in two hours before the flight.
[+at]
•He checked in at the Europa Hotel.
check sb <=> in
•Airline employees were checking in passengers.
CHECK-IN
2 check sth <=> in to leave your bags at an official place so they can be put on a plane or a train, or to take someone's bags in order to do this:
•I said goodbye and went to check in my suitcases.
3 AmE to call someone to tell them that you are safe or where you are:
•He just called to check in and tell them how he was doing.

check sth <=> off phr v
to write a mark next to something on a list to show that you have chosen it, dealt with it, or made sure that it is correct:
•One by one he checked them off on his register.

check on sb/sth phr v
1 to make sure that someone or something is safe, is in a satisfactory state, or is doing what they should be doing:
•Honey, can you go upstairs and check on the kids?
•My neighbour comes in once a week to check on things and feed the fish.
2 to try to find out if something is true or correct:
•He wanted to check on the girl's story.

check out phr v
1 MAKE SURE
a) check sth <=> out to make sure that something is actually true, correct, or acceptable; = investigate
•I made a phone call to check out his address.
[+with]
•Check it out with your boss before you do anything.
b) if information checks out, it is proved to be true, correct, or acceptable:
•His credit record checks out.
2 LOOK AT SB/STH check sb/sth <=> out to look at someone or something because they are interesting or attractive:
•If I hear about a website that sounds interesting, I check it out.
•Hey, check out that car!
3 GET INFORMATION check sb <=> out informal to get information about someone, especially to find out if they are suitable for something:
•I'll check them out as potential employers.
4 HOTEL to leave a hotel after paying the bill:
•We checked out at noon.
CHECKOUT
5 BOOKS check sth <=> out AmE to borrow a book from a library:
•The library allows you to check out six books at a time.

check sth/sb <=> over phr v
1 to look closely at something to make sure it is correct or acceptable:
•They spent the rest of the morning checking over their equipment.
2 to examine someone to make sure they are healthy:
•I'd like the doctor to check you over and do a few tests.

check up on sb/sth phr v
1 to try to find out if someone is doing what they said they would do or what you want them to do:
•Don't worry; no-one is going to check up on you.
2 to make sure that something is true or correct:
•Dustin called me to check up on some facts.
1 FINDING OUT [C] the process of finding out if something is safe, correct, true, or in the condition it should be
[+on]
•the need for tighter checks on arms sales
•Conduct regular checks on your water quality.
run/carry out/make a check
•I decided to run a check on all personnel.
•I keep a careful check on my blood pressure.
have a check BrE
•Have a check in your bag first and see if it's there.
•the airport's routine security checks
• random drug checks
health/medical/dental etc check (=a test done to make sure you are healthy)
spot check (=a quick check of one thing among a group of things, that you do without warning)
•a spot check on the accounts
2 keep/hold sb/sth in check keep someone or something under control:
•You must learn to keep your emotions in check.
•attempts to keep global warming in check
•He made an effort to hold himself in check.
3 A CONTROL ON STH [C usually singular] something that controls something else and stops it from getting worse, continuing to happen etc
[+on]
•Higher interest rates will act as a check on public spending.
4 checks and balances a system that makes it possible for some people or parts of an organization to control the others, so that no particular person or part has too much power or influence
5 PATTERN [C,U] a pattern of squares, especially on cloth:
•a shirt with brown and black checks
check suit/jacket etc (=made with cloth patterned with checks)
•a blue cotton check dress
CHECKED
6 FROM YOUR BANK [C] the American spelling of CHEQUE
[+for]
•a check for $30
by check
•Can I pay by check?
7 IN A RESTAURANT [C] AmE a list that you are given in a restaurant showing what you have eaten and how much you must pay; = bill BrE
8 coat check/hat check AmE [C]
a) a place in a restaurant, theatre etc where you can leave your coat, bag etc to be guarded until you go home
b) a ticket that you are given so you can claim your things from this place
9 MARK [C] AmE a mark ( ) that you put next to an answer to show that it is correct or next to something on a list to show that you have dealt with it; = tick BrE
10 CHESS [U] the position of the KING (=most important piece) in CHESS where it can be directly attacked by the opponent's pieces
the American spelling of CHEQUEBOOK[C] AmE
a special plastic card, similar to a CREDIT CARD, that you can use to pay for things directly from your CHECKING ACCOUNT; = debit card
checked cloth has a regular pattern of differently coloured squares:
•a checked blouse $ [C]
1 AmE someone who works at the CHECKOUT in a SUPERMARKET
2 spell/grammar checker a computer program that checks whether the spelling of words or the grammar of a sentence is correct
3 someone who makes sure that something is written or done correctly
4 checkers [U] a game for two players using 12 flat round pieces each and a board with 64 squares, in which the purpose is to take the other player's pieces by jumping over them with your pieces; = draughts BrE
CHINESE CHEQUERS $ [C]
AmE a board that you play checkers on, with 32 white squares and 32 black squares; = draughtboard BrEalso chequered BrE $
1 having a pattern made up of squares of two different colours:
•a red and white checkered tablecloth
•a checkered marble floor
2 have a checkered history/career/past etc to have had periods of failure as well as successful times in your past:
•This is an unusual building with a checkered history.also chequered flag BrE [C]
a flag covered with black and white squares that is waved at the beginning and end of a motor race
1 [singular] a place where you report your arrival at an airport, hotel, hospital etc:
•the check-in desk
•Make sure you're at the check-in by 5.30.
2 [U] the process of reporting your arrival at an airport, hotel, hospital etc:
•Ask your travel agent about check-in times.
check in at CHECK^1[C]
AmE a bank account that you can take money out of at any time, and for which you are given checks to use to pay for things; = current account BrE
DEPOSIT ACCOUNT [C]
a list that helps you by reminding you of the things you need to do or get for a particular job or activity:
•The guide contains a useful checklist of points to look for when buying a car. [C,U]
1 the position of the KING (=most important piece) in CHESS at the end of the game, when it is being directly attacked and cannot escape
2 a situation in which someone has been completely defeated
- checkmate verb [T]
•The king is checkmated and the game is over.
1 [C] the place in a SUPERMARKET where you pay for the goods you have collected:
•Why can't they have more checkouts open?
•the checkout assistant
2 [C,U] the time by which you must leave a hotel room:
•Checkout is at noon.
check out at CHECK^1 [C]
a place, especially on a border, where an official person examines vehicles or people:
•They had to cross five military checkpoints. [C]
AmE a place in a restaurant, theatre etc where you can leave your coat, bags etc to be guarded; = cloakroom BrEcheck-up [C]
a general medical examination that a doctor or DENTIST gives you to make sure you are healthy:
•It's important to have regular checkups. $ [U]
a firm smooth yellow cheese
1 [C] the soft round part of your face below each of your eyes:
•Lucy stretched up to kiss his cheek.
•Billy had rosy cheeks and blue eyes.
•her tear-stained cheeks
•Julie's cheeks flushed with pleasure at the compliment.
red-cheeked/hollow-cheeked/rosy-cheeked etc
•a red-cheeked, plump old fellow
2 [singular,U] BrE disrespectful or rude behaviour, especially towards someone in a position of authority:
•I've had enough of that boy's cheek.
have the cheek to do sth
•He had the cheek to make personal remarks and expect no reaction.
•She's got a cheek; she just goes on till she gets what she wants.
•It's a bit of a cheek, asking me to do it for you.
• What a cheek! Of course I read the instructions!
3 cheek by jowl (with sb/sth) very close to someone or something else:
•an expensive French restaurant cheek by jowl with a cheap clothes shop
4 turn the other cheek to deliberately avoid reacting in an angry or violent way when someone has hurt or upset you
5 cheek to cheek if two people dance cheek to cheek, they dance very close to each other in a romantic way
6 [C] informal one of the two soft fleshy parts of your bottom; = buttock
tongue in cheek at TONGUE^1 (6)
TONGUE-IN-CHEEK[T]
BrE to speak rudely or with disrespect to someone, especially to someone older such as your teacher or parents; = sass AmE
•You can cheek some teachers and they just don't do anything. $ [C usually plural]
one of the two bones above your cheeks, just below your eyes:
•She had high cheekbones and green eyes. BrE
rude or disrespectful, sometimes in a way that is amusing
cheeky devil/monkey etc
•You did that on purpose, you cheeky little devil!
•Now don't be cheeky to your elders, young woman.
•a chubby five-year-old with a cheeky grin
- cheekily adverb
•He grinned cheekily.
- cheekiness noun [U] [I]
if a young bird cheeps, it makes a weak, high noise:
•baby birds cheeping for food
- cheep noun [C] $
1 [C] a shout of happiness, praise, approval, or encouragement; boo
•A great cheer went up from the crowd.
•So let's give a cheer to the kids who passed their exams.
•The final whistle was greeted with triumphant cheers from players and spectators.
2 three cheers for sb! spoken used to tell a group of people to shout three times as a way of showing support, happiness, thanks etc:
•Three cheers for the birthday girl!
3 [U] formal a feeling of happiness and confidence:
•'Hello,' said Auguste cheerily. His good cheer was not returned.
•Christmas cheer
4 [C] a special CHANT (=phrase that is repeated) that the crowds at a US sports game shout in order to encourage their team to win
CHEERS
1 [I,T] to shout as a way of showing happiness, praise, approval, or support of someone or something:
•Everybody cheered when the firemen arrived.
•The audience was shouting and cheering.
•The spectators cheered him wildly.
2 [T] to make someone feel more hopeful when they are worried:
•By late afternoon there came news that cheered them all.
•Government policy towards higher education contains little to cheer university students.

PHRASAL VERBS
cheer sb <=> on phr v
to shout encouragement at a person or team to help them do well in a race or competition:
•They gathered round the swimming pool and cheered her on.

cheer up phr v
1 to become less sad, or to make someone feel less sad:
•Cheer up! The worst is over.
•They cheered up when they saw us coming along.
cheer sb <=> up
•Here's a bit of news that will cheer you up.
•You both need cheering up, I think.
2 cheer sth <=> up to make a place look more attractive:
•I bought some posters to cheer the place up a bit.
- cheering adjective
•cheering news $
1 happy, or behaving in a way that shows you are happy:
•She was feeling more cheerful than before.
•I'm making a real effort to be cheerful despite everything.
cheerful voice/smile/manner etc
•'I'm Robyn,' she said with a cheerful smile.
•It does me good to see a cheerful young face.
2 something that is cheerful makes you feel happy because it is so bright or pleasant:
•a bright, cheerful Italian restaurant
•There was a cheerful, colourful picture on the wall.
•The house has a cheerful atmosphere.
3 tending to be happy most of the time:
•She was a cheerful and agreeable companion.
•Before the accident he had been cheerful and confident.
4 [only before noun] a cheerful attitude shows that you are willing to do whatever is necessary in a happy way:
•a cheerful approach to the job
- cheerfully adverb
•He smiled cheerfully.
•'Morning!' she called cheerfully.
- cheerfulness noun [U]
cheap and cheerful at CHEAP^1 (1) $ BrE informal
goodbye $ [C]
1 a member of a team of young women who encourage a crowd to cheer at a US sports game by shouting special words and dancing:
•She was a popular cheerleader at the University of Texas.
2 someone who encourages other people to do something:
•She was our cheerleader, teacher, and friend. $ [U]
1 the activity of being a cheerleader:
•a cheerleading camp for girls
2 AmE the act of loudly supporting an organization, idea etc and not being willing to listen to criticism of it:
•The conventions have become nothing but cheerleading rallies for the presidential campaign. $
cheerless weather, places, or times make you feel sad, bored, or uncomfortable; = gloomy
•This is a cold, cheerless place.
•The day was grey and cheerless.
- cheerlessness noun [U] $
1 used when you lift a glass of alcohol before you drink it, in order to say that you hope the people you are drinking with will be happy and have good health
2 BrE informal thank you
3 BrE informal goodbye $
happy or making you feel happy:
•She gave me a cheery smile.
•He left them with a cheery wave.
- cheerily adverb [C,U]
1 a solid food made from milk, which is usually yellow or white in colour, and can be soft or hard:
•half a kilo of cheese
•a cheese sandwich
•Sprinkle with the grated cheese.
•a selection of English cheeses
piece/bit/slice/lump etc of cheese
cow's/goat's/sheep's cheese (=from the milk of a cow etc)
2 (say) cheese! spoken used to tell people to smile when you are going to take their photograph
BIG CHEESE; chalk and cheese at CHALK^1 (3) $ [C]
1 a board used to cut cheese on
2 a variety of cheeses that are served at the end of a meal:
•The meal was finished with the cheeseboard and a dish of fruit. $ [C]
a HAMBURGER cooked with a piece of cheese on top of the meat
1 [C,U] a cake made from a mixture containing soft cheese:
•a slice of cheesecake
2 [U] old-fashioned photographs of pretty women with few clothes on; beefcake $ [U]
thin cotton cloth used for putting around some kinds of cheeses, and sometimes for making clothes $ BrE
bored and annoyed with something:
•You sound really cheesed off.[U]
BrE behaviour that shows you are unwilling to give or spend money
- cheese-paring adjective
1 tasting like cheese or containing cheese:
•cheesy sauces
2 informal cheap and not of good quality:
•a cheesy soap opera
3 informal not sincere:
•a cheesy grin [C]
a member of the cat family that has long legs and black spots on its fur, and can run extremely fast [C]
a skilled cook, especially the main cook in a hotel or restaurant:
•a master chef
•a pastry chef [C]
BrE a small round sweet cake with dried fruit in it [C]
a substance used in chemistry or produced by a chemical process
toxic/hazardous/dangerous chemicals
•the organic chemicals industry
•synthetic chemicals[only before noun]
relating to substances, the study of substances, or processes involving changes in substances:
•the chemical composition of bleach
•a chemical analysis of the soil
- chemically adverb
•Chemically, the substances are similar.[U]
the study of machines used in industrial chemical processes
- chemical engineer noun [C][C,U]
a natural process in which the atoms of chemicals mix and arrange themselves differently to form new substances:
•the chemical reaction between ozone and chlorine[U]
methods of fighting a war using chemical weapons[C]
a poisonous substance, especially a gas, used as a weapon in war [C]
1 a piece of women's underwear for the top half of the body
2 a simple dress that hangs straight from a woman's shoulders [C]
1 a scientist who has special knowledge and training in chemistry
2 BrE someone trained to prepare drugs and medicines, who works in a shop; = pharmacist AmE
3 BrE a shop where you can buy medicines, beauty products etc; = pharmacy; = drugstore AmE [U]
1 the science that is concerned with studying the structure of substances and the way that they change or combine with each other; biochemistry, biology, physics
2 if there is chemistry between two people, they like each other and find each other attractive
[+between]
•It was obvious that there was a very real chemistry between them.
3 the way substances combine in a particular process, thing, person etc:
•a person's body chemistry[C]
a box containing equipment for children to do simple chemistry at home [C]
BrE a shop where medicines and TOILETRIES are sold; pharmacy; = drugstore AmE $ [U]
the use of drugs to control and try to cure CANCER [U]
twisted thread with a surface like a soft brush, or cloth made from this and used for decorations, curtains etccheck AmE [C] BrE
a printed piece of paper that you write an amount of money on, sign, and use instead of money to pay for things
[+for]
•They sent me a cheque for £100.
by cheque
•Can I pay by cheque?
•You could write her a cheque.
cash a cheque (=get cash in exchange for a cheque)
BLANK CHEQUE, TRAVELLER'S CHEQUEcheckbook AmE [C] BrE
a small book of cheques that your bank gives you[U] BrE
when newspapers get material for articles by paying people a lot of money for information about crimes or the private lives of famous people - used to show disapprovalalso cheque guarantee card [C] BrE
a card given to you by your bank that you must show when you write a cheque, which promises that the bank will pay out the amount written on the cheque; cash card, check card $
a British spelling of CHECKERED
a British spelling of CHECKERED FLAG $
CHINESE CHEQUERS [T]
1 if you cherish something, it is very important to you:
•He was a man who cherished his privacy.
•I still cherish the memory of that day.
cherish a hope/an idea/a dream etc
•a willingness to re-examine cherished beliefs
2 to love someone or something very much and take care of them well:
•In marriage, a man promises to cherish his wife.
•his most cherished possession [C]
a small CIGAR with both ends cut straight plural cherries
1 [C] a small round red or black fruit with a long thin stem and a stone in the middle:
•a bunch of cherries
•cherry pie
2
a) [C] also cherry tree the tree on which this fruit grows
b) [U] also cherrywood the wood of this tree, used for making furniture
3 [U] also cherry red a bright red colour
- cherry adjective
another bite/a second bite at the cherry at BITE^2 (8)[C] AmE
a large round red FIRECRACKER (=small loud explosive) [I,T]
to choose the best things or people you want from a group before anyone else has the chance to take them[C]
a type of very small TOMATO [C]
1 an ANGEL shown in works of art as a fat pretty child with small wings
2 informal a young pretty child who behaves very well
3 plural cherubim one of the ANGELs who guard the seat where God sits
- cherubic adjective
•a smile of cherubic innocence $ [U]
a strong-smelling garden plant used as a herb [U]
a game for two players, who move their playing pieces according to particular rules across a special board to try to trap their opponent's KING (=most important piece):
•They meet fairly often to play chess. $ [C]
a square board with 64 black and white squares, on which you play chessalso chesspiece plural chessmen [C]
any of the 16 black or 16 white playing pieces used in the game of chess [C]
1 the front part of your body between your neck and your stomach; breast
•Her heart was pounding in her chest.
•a hairy chest
chest pain/infection/injury
•He collapsed with severe chest pains.
FLAT-CHESTED
2 a large strong box that you use to store things in or to move your personal possessions from one place to another:
•a large wooden chest
3 get something off your chest to tell someone about something that has been worrying or annoying you for a long time, so that you feel better afterwards $ [C] BrE
a soft comfortable SOFA, usually covered with leather
1 [C] a smooth red-brown nut that you can eat:
•roast chestnuts
2 also chestnut tree [C] the tree on which this nut grows
3 [U] a red-brown colour
4 [C] a horse that is red-brown in colour
5 an old chestnut a joke or story that has been repeated many times
6 [C] a HORSE CHESTNUT
WATER CHESTNUT
red-brown in colour:
•her chestnut hairplural chests of drawers [C] especially BrE
a piece of furniture with drawers, used for storing clothes; = dresser AmE
1 BrE if you have a chesty cough, or if you are a bit chesty, you have a lot of MUCUS (=thick liquid) in your lungs
2 informal used to describe a woman with large breasts, when you want to avoid saying this directly [C]
1 a pattern in a V shape
2 a piece of cloth in the shape of a V which soldiers have on their sleeve to show their rank
1 [I,T] to bite food several times before swallowing it:
•This meat's so tough I can hardly chew it!
[+at/on]
•a dog chewing on a bone
2 [I,T] to bite something continuously in order to taste it or because you are nervous
[+on]
•We gave the dog an old shoe to chew on.
chew your lip/nails
•She chewed her lip and said nothing.
chew gum/tobacco
3 chew the cud if a cow or sheep chews the cud, it keeps biting on food it has brought up from its stomach
4 chew the fat informal to have a long friendly conversation

PHRASAL VERBS
chew on sth phr v
informal to think carefully about something for a period of time

chew sb <=> out phr v AmE informal
to talk angrily to someone in order to show them that you disapprove of what they have done:
•John couldn't get the guy to cooperate and so I had to call and chew him out.

chew sth <=> over phr v
to think carefully about something for a period of time:
•Let me chew it over for a few days.

chew sth <=> up phr v
1 to damage or destroy something by tearing it into small pieces:
•Be careful if you use that video recorder. It tends to chew tapes up.
2 to bite something many times with your teeth so that you can make it smaller or softer and swallow it:
•The dog's chewed up my slippers again.
bite off more than you can chew at BITE^1 (10)[C]
1 the act of biting something many times with your teeth
2 a sweet that you chew
3 a piece of tobacco that you chew but do not swallow[U]
a type of sweet that you chew for a long time but do not swallow
food that is chewy has to be chewed a lot before it is soft enough to swallow:
•chewy toffees
very fashionable and expensive, and showing good judgement of what is attractive and good style:
•Margaret was looking very chic in blue.
•a chic restaurant
- chic noun [U]
•the art of comfortable chic [C] BrE
an S-shaped bend in a straight road, especially on a track for racing cars [U] formal
the use of clever plans or actions to deceive people:
•Clearly there is some chicanery going on. $ plural Chicanos [C]
a US citizen who was born in Mexico or whose family came from Mexico; Hispanic
- Chicano adjective [C]
1 a baby bird:
•a mother hen with her chicks
2 informal a word meaning a young woman, that some people think is offensive [C]
a North American bird with a black head
1 [C] a common farm bird that is kept for its meat and eggs; hen, cock, rooster, chick
2 [U] the meat from this bird eaten as food:
•roast chicken
•fried chicken
•chicken soup
3 [C] informal someone who is not at all brave; = coward
•Don't be such a chicken!
4 [U] a game in which children do something dangerous, for example stand on a railway line when a train is coming, and try to be the one who continues doing it for the longest time
5 which came first, the chicken or the egg? used to say that it is difficult or impossible to decide which of two things happened first, or which action is the cause and which is the effect
6 a chicken and egg situation/problem etc a situation in which it is impossible to decide which of two things happened first, or which action is the cause and which is the effect
7 sb's chickens have come home to roost used to say that someone's bad or dishonest actions in the past have caused the problems that they have now
don't count your chickens before they've hatched at COUNT^1 (8); SPRING CHICKEN

PHRASAL VERBS
chicken out phr v informal
to decide at the last moment not to do something you said you would do, because you are afraid:
•You're not chickening out, are you?[not before noun] informal
not brave enough to do something; = cowardly
•Dave's too chicken to ask her out.[U]
an amount of money that is so small that it is almost not worth having:
•The bank offered to lend us £1,000 but that's chicken feed compared to what we need.[C,U] AmE
a thin piece of BEEF covered in BREADCRUMBS and cooked in hot fatalso chickenpox $ [U]
an infectious illness which causes a slight fever and spots on your skin[C]
an area surrounded by a fence where chickens are kept [C] AmE informal not polite
an offensive word for someone who is not at all brave; = coward
- chickenshit adjective[U]
a type of thin wire net used to make fences for chickens[U] informal
books about young women and the typical problems they have with men, sex, losing weight etc, especially books written by women for women to read - used humorously [C]
a large brown PEA which is cooked and eaten; = garbanzo AmE [U]
a garden WEED with small white flowers [U]
1 a European plant whose bitter leaves are eaten in SALADs
2 the roots of this plant, used in coffee or instead of coffee [I,T] written
to tell someone that you do not approve of something that they have done or said; = scold
•'Edward, you are naughty,' Dorothy chided.
chide sb for (doing) sth
•She chided him for not responding to her Christmas cards.
•He swiftly chided himself for such thoughts.
1 [only before noun] highest in rank:
•He was recently appointed chief economist at the Bank of Scotland.
•the government's chief medical officer
2 most important; = main; chiefly
•One of the chief causes of crime today is drugs.
•Safety has been, and always will be, our chief concern.
•The chief reason for this was that people were living longer.
•his chief rival for the job
•the prosecution's chief witness
•She had many reasons for taking the money, but chief among them was revenge.
3 chief cook and bottle washer someone who does a lot of small jobs to make sure that an event is successful - used humorously[C]
1 SB IN CHARGE OF AN ORGANIZATION the most important person, or one of the most important people, in a company or organization - used especially in job titles and in news reports
police/army/fire etc chief
•Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams
[+of]
•the British Chief of Defence Staff
•Most health chiefs believe the reforms have gone too far.
•industry chiefs
commander-in-chief/editor-in-chief etc (=used in job titles for people with the highest rank)
•They offered him the position of editor-in-chief.
2 RULER OF TRIBE the ruler of a tribe:
•the Zulu leader, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi
•Native American tribal chiefs
3 too many chiefs and not enough Indians BrE used to say there are too many people saying how something should be done and not enough people doing it
4 great white chief BrE old-fashioned the person in charge of a group of people, company, organization etc - used humorously[C]
a police officer in charge of the police in a large area of Britain
the Chief Executive the President of the US[C]
CEO the person with the most authority in a large company[C]
a British police officer of middle rank[C]
the most important judge in a court of law, especially the US Supreme Court
mostly but not completely; = mainly
•The work consists chiefly of interviewing the public.
•I lived abroad for years, chiefly in Italy.plural chiefs of staff [C]
1 an officer of high rank in the army, navy etc who advises the officer in charge of a particular military group or operation
2 an official of high rank who advises the person in charge of an organization or government:
•the White House chief of staff
the Chief Rabbi the main leader of the JEWISH religion in a country[C]
a British police officer of high rank [C]
the leader of a tribe or a Scottish CLAN $ [U]
a soft thin silk or NYLON material that you can see through:
•a pink chiffon ballgown $ [C]
hair that is tied in a smooth knot at the back of a woman's head; = bun [C]
a very small dog with smooth hair, originally from Mexico [plural ]
painful red areas on your fingers or toes that are caused by cold weather plural children [C]
1 YOUNG PERSON someone who is not yet an adult; = kid
•The hotel is ideal for families with young children.
•Your interest and support are important to your child.
•The film is not suitable for children under 12.
•I was very happy as a child (=when I was a child).
three-year-old child/child of eight etc
•For a child of five this was a terrifying experience.
•parents with pre-school children (=children who are too young to go to school)
•an agreement to regulate child labour (=the use of children in industry)
child killer/victim/prostitute etc (=a child who is a killer etc)
•the rights of the unborn child (=a baby that is still inside its mother)
2 SON/DAUGHTER a son or daughter of any age:
•I have five children, all happily married.
•She lives with her husband, Paul, and three grown-up children.
•Annie had always wanted to get married and have children.
•Alex is an only child (=he has no brothers or sisters).
youngest/eldest child especially BrE
•Our youngest child, Sam, has just started university.
youngest/middle/oldest child especially AmE
3 SB INFLUENCED BY AN IDEA someone who is very strongly influenced by the ideas and attitudes of a particular period of history
[+of]
•a real child of the Sixties
4 SB WHO IS LIKE A CHILD someone who behaves like a child and is not sensible or responsible - used to show disapproval:
•She's such a child!
5 sth is child's play used to say that something is very easy to do:
•I've cooked for 200 people before now. So, tonight is child's play by comparison.
6 children should be seen and not heard an expression meaning that children should be quiet and not talk - used when you disapprove of the way a child is behaving
7 be with child old use to be PREGNANT
8 be heavy/great with child old use to be nearly ready to give birth[U]
the crime of harming a child physically, sexually, or emotionally $ [U]
1 the process of being PREGNANT and giving birth to children:
•the trend towards later marriage and childbearing
2 childbearing age/years if a woman is of childbearing age or in her childbearing years, she is of an age when it is physically possible for her to have babies[U]
an amount of money that the British government gives to families with children $ [U]
the act of having a baby
in/during/after childbirth
•His wife died in childbirth. $ [U]
an arrangement in which someone who is trained to look after children cares for them while the parents are at work:
•People earning low wages will find it difficult to pay for childcare.
•I think more women would work if there were better childcare facilities. [C,U]
the period of time when you are a child:
•I had a very happy childhood.
in/during/since (sb's) childhood
•Most infections occur in childhood.
•She had been writing poems since her childhood.
childhood home/friend/experience etc (=a home etc that you had when you were a child)
•Last summer, Jill took me to see her childhood home.
childhood memories (=the memories you have of your childhood)
SECOND CHILDHOOD
1 [usually before noun] relating to or typical of a child; adult
•a high childish laugh
•her childish excitement
2 behaving in a silly way that makes you seem much younger than you really are - used to show disapproval; = immature; mature
•Don't be so childish!
•I wish politicians would stop this childish name-calling.
!! This word is generally used to suggest someone's behaviour is silly or immature. To talk about positive qualities connected with children, use childlike.
- childishly adverb
- childishness noun [U]
having no children
childless couple/woman/marriage
•It was a happy but childless marriage.
•couples who deliberately remain childless
- childlessness noun [U]
having qualities that are typical of a child, especially positive qualities such as INNOCENCE and eagerness
childlike innocence/simplicity/directness
•'You know I love you,' she said with childlike simplicity.
childlike delight/wonder/excitement
•The sight filled her with childlike excitement.
•Standing, she looked less childlike. $ [C] BrE
someone who is paid to look after young children while their parents are at work
- childminding noun [U][C]
someone who harms children by touching them in a sexual way, or trying to have sex with them
- child molesting noun [U][C]
a child who is unusually skilful at doing something such as playing a musical instrument
something that is childproof is designed to prevent a child from opening, damaging, or breaking it:
•a childproof lock
the plural of CHILD[C] BrE
a place where children live if their own parents have died or cannot look after themalso maintenance BrE [U]
money that someone pays regularly to their former wife or husband in order to support their children
the American spelling of CHILLI
1 [singular] a feeling of coldness:
•There was a slight chill in the air.
morning/autumnal/January etc chill
•Suddenly aware of the morning chill, she closed the window.
[+of]
•He sat in the chill of the evening, staring out over the city below.
•I turned on the heater in the hall to take the chill off the house (=to heat it slightly).
2 [C] a sudden feeling of fear or worry, especially because of something cruel or violent:
•The sound of his dark laugh sent a chill through her.
chill of fear/apprehension/disquiet etc
•Fay felt a chill of fear as she watched Max go off with her daughter.
•There was something in his tone that sent a chill down Melissa's spine (=made her very frightened).
3
a) [C] an illness which causes a slight fever, headache, and SHIVERing (=slight shaking of the body):
•Let's get these wet clothes off you before you catch a chill.
b) [C usually plural] a feeling of being cold, caused by being ill
1 [I,T] if you chill something such as food or drink, or if it chills, it becomes very cold but does not freeze:
•a glass of chilled white wine
•Spoon the mixture into a pudding basin and chill for at least two hours.
•The longer this salad chills, the better the flavour.
2 also chill out [I] informal to relax completely instead of feeling angry, tired, or nervous:
•'Hold it! Just chill for a second, won't you!'
•I spent the afternoon chilling out in front of the TV.
3 [T] to make someone very cold:
•The wind blew across her body, chilling her wet skin.
chilled to the bone/marrow (=extremely cold)
•Come and sit by the fire - you look chilled to the bone.
4 [T] literary to suddenly frighten someone, especially by seeming very cruel or violent:
•The anger in his face chilled her.
chill sb to the bone/chill sb to the marrow/chill sb's blood (=frighten sb a lot)
•He jerked his head round and saw something that chilled his blood.[usually before noun]
unpleasantly cold:
•the chill night air
•a chill wind $ [C] informal
a film or book that is intended to frighten youchili AmE chilies AmE plural chillies BrE BrE
1 [C] also chilli pepper BrE chili pepper AmE a small thin red or green PEPPER with a very strong hot taste
2 [U] also chilli con carne BrE chili con carne AmE a spicy dish made with beans, meat, and chillies
something that is chilling makes you feel frightened, especially because it is cruel, violent, or dangerous:
•the chilling sound of wolves howling
- chillingly adverb
•It was chillingly clear that he wanted revenge.chili powder AmE [U] BrE
a hot-tasting red powder made from dried chillies[C]
1 a room in a bar, office etc where people go to play games, listen to music, watch television etc so that they can relax
2 a website that contains games, pictures, music etc and is designed for people who want to relax or have fun
1 chilly weather or places are cold enough to make you feel uncomfortable
chilly day/night/evening etc
•a chilly November morning
chilly wind/breeze/air etc
•Getting chilly, isn't it?
•The bathroom's a bit chilly.
2 if you feel chilly, you feel uncomfortably cold
3 unfriendly:
•The speech met with a chilly reception.
- chilliness noun [singular, U] $
another spelling of CHIMERA
1 [I,T] if a bell or clock chimes, it makes a ringing sound, especially to tell you what time it is:
•The clock in the hall chimed six.
2 [I] to be the same as something else or to have the same effect
[+with]
•Her views on life didn't quite chime with mine.

PHRASAL VERBS
chime in phr v
to say something in a conversation, especially to agree with what someone has just said:
•'We'll miss you too,' the children chimed in.
1 [C] a ringing sound made by a bell or clock
2 chimes [plural] a set of bells or other objects that produce musical sounds, used as a musical instrument or, for example, as a type of doorbell
WIND CHIMESchimaera $ [C]
1 formal something, especially an idea or hope, that is not really possible and can never exist:
•trying to present that chimera, 'a balanced view'
2 an imaginary creature that breathes fire and has a lion's head, a goat's body, and a snake's tail formal
imaginary or not really possible [C]
1 a vertical pipe that allows smoke from a fire to pass out of a building up into the air, or the part of this pipe that is above the roof:
•We can't light a fire because the chimney hasn't been swept.
2 a tall vertical structure containing a chimney; smokestack
•a factory chimney
3 technical a narrow opening in tall rocks or cliffs that you can climb up
4 smoke like a chimney if someone smokes like a chimney, they smoke a lot of cigarettes or tobacco - used humorously[C] BrE
the part of a wall in a room that encloses a chimney[C] BrE
a decoration, usually made of brick or stone, built above a FIREPLACE[C] BrE
a short wide pipe made of baked clay or metal, that is attached to the top of a chimney[C] BrE
1 the tall chimney of a building such as a factory; = smokestack AmE
2 a group of small chimneys on a roof[C]
someone whose job is to clean chimneys using special long brushesalso chimp [C]
an intelligent African animal that is like a large monkey without a tail [C]
1 the front part of your face below your mouth:
•He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
2 (keep your) chin up! spoken used to tell someone to make an effort to stay brave and confident when they are in a difficult situation:
•Chin up! It'll be over soon.
3 take sth on the chin to accept a difficult or unpleasant situation without complaining - used to show approval:
•One of our great strengths is our ability to take it on the chin and come out fighting. [U]
1 a hard white substance produced by baking a type of clay at a high temperature:
•china teacups
2 also chinaware plates, cups etc made of china:
•I'll get my best china out. [singular,U]
an area in a city where there are Chinese restaurants and shops, and where a lot of Chinese people live
1 [C] a small South American animal bred for its fur
2 [U] the pale grey fur of the chinchilla
1 [U] the language used in China
2 the Chinese [plural] people from China
3 [singular] BrE informal a meal of Chinese food, or a restaurant that sells Chinese food:
•Do you fancy going out for a Chinese?
relating to China, its people, or its languageChinese checkers AmE [U] BrE
a game in which you move small balls from hole to hole on a board in the shape of a star[C]
a small box made of thin paper that you put a light inside as a decoration[plural] BrE
a type of CABBAGE eaten especially in East Asia[U]
a kind of medicine that uses herbs and ACUPUNCTURE[U] BrE
the passing of information from one person to another, and then to others, when the information gets slightly changed each time[C] taboo
a very offensive word for someone from China. Do not use this word.
1 [C] a small hole in a wall, or between two things that join together, that lets light or air through; = crack
[+in]
•The sun came through a chink in the curtains.
2 [C] BrE a high ringing sound made by metal or glass objects hitting each other; = clink
•the chink of coins
3 a chink in sb's armour a weakness in someone's character or in something they have said, that you can use to attack them[I,T] BrE
if glass or metal objects chink, or if you chink them, they make a high ringing sound when they knock together; = clink
•They chinked their glasses and drank a toast to the couple.
BrE lacking courage or determination $ [plural]
loose trousers made from strong woven cotton [C]
a band of cloth under your chin to keep a hat or HELMET in place [U]
smooth cotton cloth that is printed with a flowery pattern and is used for making curtains, furniture covers etc:
•pink chintz curtains
1 BrE covered with chintz:
•a chintzy sofa
2 AmE informal cheap and badly made; = cheap
•a chintzy chest of drawers
3 AmE informal unwilling to give people things or spend money; = stingyalso chinup [C] AmE
an exercise in which you hang on a bar and pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar; = pull-up BrE [singular] BrE informal
an informal conversation; = chat
- chinwag verb [I] [C]
1 FOOD
a) BrE [usually plural] a long thin piece of potato cooked in oil; = French fry AmE
• fish and chips
•a bag of chips
b) AmE [usually plural] a thin flat round piece of food such as potato cooked in very hot oil and eaten cold; = crisp BrE
•They gave us bags of potato chips.
2 COMPUTER a small piece of SILICON that has a set of complicated electrical connections on it and is used to store and PROCESS information in computers:
•the age of the silicon chip
•chip technology
3 PIECE a small piece of wood, stone, metal etc that has been broken off something:
•Wood chips covered the floor of the workshop.
•a chocolate chip cookie (=one that contains small pieces of chocolate)
4 MARK a small hole or mark on a plate, cup etc where a piece has broken off
[+in]
•There's a chip in this bowl.
5 have a chip on your shoulder to easily become offended or angry because you think you have been treated unfairly in the past
6 when the chips are down spoken in a serious or difficult situation, especially one in which you realize what is really true or important:
•When the chips are down, you've only got yourself to depend on.
7 be a chip off the old block informal to be very similar to your mother or father in appearance or character
8 GAME [usually plural] a small flat coloured piece of plastic used in games such as POKER or BLACKJACK to represent a particular amount of money
9 SPORT also chip shot, chip kick a hit in golf, or a kick in football or RUGBY, that makes the ball go high into the air for a short distance
10 have had your chips BrE informal to be in a situation in which you no longer have any hope of improvement
11 let the chips fall (where they may) AmE to not worry about what the results of a particular action will be:
•I decided to tell her my opinion and let the chips fall where they may.
BLUE CHIP; cash in your chips at CASH IN (3)past tense and past participle chipped, present participle chipping
1 ACCIDENTALLY BREAK (STH) [I,T] if you chip something, or if it chips, a small piece of it breaks off accidentally:
•Gary fell and chipped one of his front teeth.
•He chipped a bone in his knee and was carried off the pitch.
•These plates chip really easily.
[+off]
•The paint had chipped off the gate.
2 REMOVE STH [I,T always + adv/prep] to remove something, especially something hard that is covering a surface, by hitting it with a tool so that small pieces break off:
•Archaeologists were carefully chipping away at the rock.
•You have to chip the rust off before you start painting.
•Chip out the plaster with a steel chisel.
3 SPORT [T] to hit a golf ball or kick a football or a RUGBY ball so that it goes high into the air for a short distance:
•United scored just before half-time when Adcock cleverly chipped the ball over the keeper.
4 POTATOES [T] BrE to cut potatoes into thin pieces ready to be cooked in hot oil

PHRASAL VERBS
chip away at sth phr v
to gradually make something less effective or destroy it:
•Writers such as Voltaire and Diderot were chipping away at the foundations of society.
•Fears about the future chipped away at her sense of well-being.

chip in phr v
1 to interrupt a conversation by saying something that adds more detail
[+with]
•Other committee members chipped in with suggestions.
•'It won't be easy,' Jeff chipped in.
•I'd just like to chip in, Bill, if I might.
2 if each person in a group chips in, they each give a small amount of money so that they can buy something together:
•We all chipped in to buy Amy a graduation present.
chip in (with) sth
•52 people in the music industry each chipped in $250 apiece. $ [U]
a type of board made from small pieces of wood pressed together with glue [C]
a small American animal similar to a SQUIRREL with black lines on its fur [C] BrE
a small thin SAUSAGE[C] BrE
a deep pan with a wire basket inside used for cooking food in hot oil, especially CHIPs
something that is chipped has a small piece broken off the edge of it:
•The nail varnish on her toes was chipped.
•a chipped saucer
•a chipped tooth $ old-fashioned informal
happy and active:
•You're looking very chipper this morning. [plural] BrE
small pieces of stone used when putting new surfaces on roads or railway tracksalso chippie, chippy informal [C] BrE
a shop that cooks and sells FISH AND CHIPS and other FRIED food $ [C] BrE
someone who is trained to examine and treat foot injuries and diseases; = podiatrist
- chiropody noun [U] $ [U]
the treatment of physical problems by pressing on and moving the bones in someone's back and joints $ [C]
someone who treats physical problems using chiropracticalso chirrup BrE $
1 [I,T] if a bird or insect chirps, it makes short high sounds
2 to speak in a happy high voice:
•'Yes, all finished,' he chirped.
- chirp noun [C] $
happy and active:
•You're very chirpy this morning - have you had some good news?
- chirpily adverb
- chirpiness noun [U] $ [I]
CHIRP [C]
a metal tool with a sharp edge, used to cut wood or stonepast tense and past participle chiselled, present participle chiselling BrE past tense and past participle chiseled, present participle chiseling [T] AmE
to use a chisel to cut wood or stone into a particular shape
chisel sth into/from/in etc sth
•Martin chiselled a hole in the door for the new lock.chiseled AmE [usually before noun] BrE
if a man has chiselled features, his chin, mouth, nose etc have a strong clear shape
chiselled features/chin/mouth/nose etc
•his chiselled good looks [C] BrE
1 an official note that shows that you are allowed to have something:
•Take the chit to the counter and collect your books.
2 old-fashioned a young woman who behaves badly and does not respect older people[U] informal
conversation about things that are not very important:
•boring social chit-chatalso chitlings chitlins $ [plural]
the INTESTINE of a pig eaten as food, especially in the southern US
a man who is chivalrous behaves in a polite, kind, generous, and honourable way, especially towards women
- chivalrously adverb [U]
1 behaviour that is honourable, kind, generous, and brave, especially men's behaviour towards women
2 a system of religious beliefs and honourable behaviour that KNIGHTs in the Middle Ages were expected to follow [plural]
the long thin green leaves of a plant with purple flowers. Chives taste like onion and are used in cookingchivy past tense and past participle chivvied, present participle chivvying, third person singular chivvies [T] BrE informal
to try to make someone do something more quickly, especially in an annoying way
chivvy sb along/up
•Go and see if you can chivvy the kids up a bit. [C,U]
a chemical COMPOUND that is a mixture of CHLORINE and another substance:
•sodium chloride [T]
to add chlorine to water to kill BACTERIA [U]
a greenish-yellow gas with a strong smell that is used to keep the water in swimming pools clean. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Cl $ [C]
a CFC $ [U]
a liquid that makes you become unconscious if you breathe it
- chloroform verb [T] $ [U]
the green-coloured substance in plants $ [C,U] BrE informal
CHOCOLATE $ [C]
another spelling of CHOCOHOLIC $ plural choccies [C] BrE spoken
a CHOCOLATE (2)[C] BrE
a small block of ICE CREAM covered with chocolate $ [C]
a block of wood or metal that you put in front of the wheel of a vehicle to prevent it from moving $ [not before noun] BrE

a) completely full of people or things
[+with]
•Paris was chock-a-block with tourists.[not before noun]
informal completely full of people or things
[+of]
•The pond was chock-full of weeds.chocaholic $ [C] informal
someone who likes chocolate very much and eats a lot of it $
1 [U] a sweet brown food that you can eat as a sweet or use in cooking to give foods such as cakes a special sweet taste:
•a chocolate bar
•a chocolate cake
•a packet of chocolate biscuits
•I prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate.
2 [C] a small sweet that is covered with chocolate:
•Would you like a chocolate?
•a box of chocolates
3 [C,U] a hot sweet drink made with milk and chocolate, or a cup of this drink:
•a mug of hot chocolate
•Two coffees and one chocolate, please.
4 [U] a dark brown colour[only before noun] BrE informal
a chocolate box place looks pretty, but in a way that is false because it seems too perfect:
•He had grown tired of the chocolate box views.[C]
a kind of small BISCUIT with small pieces of chocolate in it $
tasting or smelling of chocolate:
•a chocolatey taste
1 [C,U] if you have a choice, you can choose between several things; choose
[+between]
•Voters have a choice between three main political parties.
[+of]
•You have a choice of hotel or self-catering accommodation.
•You have a choice- you can stay here on your own or you can come with us.
•She was faced with an agonizing choice.
•We must encourage children to exercise choice and make their own decisions.
•He has to make some important choices.
•The booklet is supposed to help parents make informed choices (=good choices because they have the right information) for their children.
•They gave us no choice in the matter.
•We had no choice but to destroy the animal.
•You have left me with no choice.
2 [singular] the range of people or things that you can choose from:
•It was a small shop and there wasn't much choice.
[+of]
•There is a choice of four different colours.
•We offer a wide choice of wines and beers.
•Consumers these days are spoilt for choice (=have a lot of things to choose from). BrE
3 [C] the person or thing that someone chooses
[+of]
•I don't really like her choice of jewellery.
•I think London was a good choice as a venue.
4 by choice if you do something by choice, you do it because you want to do it and not because you are forced to do it:
•She lives alone by choice.
5 the sth of your choice the person or thing of your choice is the one that you would most like to choose:
•Many children are not able to go to the school of their choice.
6 the sth of choice the thing of choice is the one that people prefer to use:
•It is the drug of choice for this type of illness.
HOBSON'S CHOICE
1 [only before noun] formal choice food is of very good quality:
•choice steak
•We select only the choicest apples for our pies.
2 a few choice words/phrases if you use a few choice words, you say exactly what you mean in an angry way:
•He told us what he thought of the idea in a few choice words. $ [C]
1 a group of people who sing together for other people to listen to; choral
•He joined a church choir at the age of eight.
2 [usually singular] the part of a church in which a choir sits during religious ceremonies $ [C]
a young boy who sings in a church choir $ [C]
someone who teaches a choir to sing together $
1 [I] to be unable to breathe properly because something is in your throat or there is not enough air
[+on]
•He choked on a piece of bread.
•Six people choked to death on the fumes.
2 [T] if something chokes you, it makes you unable to breathe properly:
•I felt as if there was a weight on my chest, choking me.
•The smoke was choking me.
3 [T] to prevent someone from breathing by putting your hands around their throat and pressing on it:
•His hands were round her throat, choking her.
4 [I,T] to be unable to talk clearly because you are feeling a strong emotion
[+with]
•He was choking with rage.
•I was too choked with emotion to speak.
•Her voice was choked with rage.
5 [T] also choke sth <=> out to say something with difficulty because you are very upset or angry:
•'Get out,' she choked.
6 [ T] also choke sth <=> up to fill a place so that things cannot move through it:
•Weeds were choking the stream.
be choked (up) with sth
•The gutters were choked up with leaves.
7 [I] informal to fail at doing something, especially a sport, because there is a lot of pressure on you:
•People said I choked, but I just had a bad day on the golf course.
8 [T] if one plant chokes another, it kills it by growing all around it and taking away its light and room to grow:
•Weeds can quickly choke delicate garden plants.
9 choke a horse AmE spoken if you say that something is big enough to choke a horse, you are emphasizing that it is very big:
•a wad of bills big enough to choke a horse

PHRASAL VERBS
choke sth <=> back phr v
to control your anger, sadness etc so that you do not show it:
•He choked back tears as he described what had happened.
•She choked back a sob.
•I choked back my anger.

choke off sth phr v
to prevent something from happening:
•It is feared that higher interest rates might choke off economic recovery.

choke sth <=> out phr v
to say something with difficulty because you are very upset or angry:
•His heart hammered as he choked out the words.
•'No!' she choked out.

choke up phr v
1 choke sth <=> up to fill a place so that things cannot move through it
be choked up with sth
•The stream was choked up with weeds.
2 choke sb up to make someone feel very upset and unable to talk:
•This song really chokes me up.
•I was really choked up when I saw her again.[C]
1 a piece of equipment in a vehicle that controls the amount of air going into the engine, and that is used to help the engine start
2 the sound that someone makes when they cannot breathe properly because something is in their throat or there is not enough air:
•She gave a little choke of laughter.choke collar AmE [C] BrE
a chain that is fastened around the neck of a dog to control it $ plural chokecherries [C]
a North American tree that produces small sour fruit $ [not before noun]
BrE very upset:
•I was really choked when I heard he'd died. $ [C]
a piece of jewellery that fits very tightly around a woman's neck:
•a diamond choker $ [U]
literary great anger:
•What had brought on this fit of choler? $ [U]
a serious disease that causes sickness and sometimes death. It is caused by eating infected food or drinking infected water $ literary
bad-tempered or angry:
•He was a choleric, ill-tempered man. $ [U]
a chemical substance found in your blood. Too much cholesterol in your body may cause heart disease. $ [I] informal
to eat something
[+on]
•She was chomping on a bread roll.
[+away]
•a boy chomping away on a banana
•British people chomp their way through more than a billion bars of chocolate every year. [C]
spoken a train - used by children or when speaking to children past tense chose $ , past participle chosen $ [I,T]
1 to decide which one of a number of things or people you want; choice
•It took us ages to choose a new carpet.
•A panel of six judges will choose the winner.
•He chose his words carefully as he spoke.
•I don't mind which one we have - you choose.
[+between]
•For pudding we could choose between strawberry ice cream and apple tart.
[+from]
•You can choose from a wide range of vehicles.
choose to do sth
•I chose to learn German rather than French.
choose sb/sth to do sth
•They chose Donald to be their leader.
choose sb/sth as sth
•The company has chosen London as its base.
choose sb/sth for sth
•Why did you choose me for the job?
2 to decide to do something because that is what you prefer to do
choose to do sth
•I chose to ignore his advice.
•You can, if you choose, invest your money in the stock market.
3 there is little/nothing to choose between sth used when you think that two or more things are equally good and you cannot decide which is better:
•There was little to choose between the two candidates.

WORD FOCUS: choose
similar words:
select
pick
appoint
nominate
go for
plump for
opt for
choosey informal
someone who is choosy will only accept things that they like a lot or they consider to be very good
[+about]
•She's very choosy about clothes. $ past tense and past participle chopped, present participle chopping [T]
1 also chop up to cut something into smaller pieces:
•He went outside to chop some more wood for the fire.
•Can you chop up some carrots for me?
•Add two finely chopped onions and a clove of garlic.
chop sth into pieces/chunks etc
•Chop the meat into small cubes.
2 informal to reduce an amount of money by a large amount:
•He suddenly found that his income had been chopped in half.
3 chop and change BrE informal to keep changing your mind:
•You can't keep chopping and changing like this!

PHRASAL VERBS
chop at sth phr v
to hit something with a sharp tool in order to cut it:
•They chopped at the bushes with their knives.

chop sth <=> down phr v
to make a tree fall down by cutting it with a sharp tool:
•A couple of the older trees will have to be chopped down.
•Large areas of rainforest are being chopped down every day.

chop sth <=> off phr v
to remove something by cutting it with a sharp tool:
•The branch had been chopped off.[C]
1 a small piece of meat on a bone, usually cut from a sheep or pig; steak
•a grilled pork chop
•a lamb chop
2 the chop BrE
a) if you get or are given the chop, you lose your job:
•Six more staff got the chop last week.
•He was worried that he might be for the chop (=lose his job).
b) if something gets or is given the chop, it is closed or stopped because people do not want to pay for it any more:
•We were worried the project might get the chop.
•Several other factories might now be for the chop (=likely to be closed or stopped).
3 a hard downward movement that you make with your hand:
•a karate chop
4 the act of hitting something with a sharp tool in order to cut it:
•With one last chop he split the log in two.
5 chops [plural] informal the lower part of the face of a person or animal - used humorously:
•Jack was grinning all over his chops.
an expression used when you want someone to hurry:
•Come on! Chop-chop! $ [C]
1 BrE a large knife that you use for cutting large pieces of meat
2 informal a HELICOPTER:
•There was a police chopper waiting for us.
3 a type of MOTORCYCLE on which the front wheel is further forward than the place where your hands rest
4 choppers [plural] informal teeth:
•a row of huge white chopperschopping block AmE [C] BrE
a large piece of wood or plastic that you cut meat or vegetables on when you are cooking $
choppy water has a lot of waves and is not smooth to sail on:
•The small boat bobbed about on the choppy water. $ [C usually plural]
one of the two thin sticks that you use to eat food in many countries in Asia $ [U]
a Chinese dish of meat and vegetables, served with rice [only before noun]
related to music that is sung by a large group of people together; choir
•an evening of choral music $ [C]
a piece of music praising God, usually sung in a church by a large group of people $ [C]
1 a combination of several musical notes that are played at the same time and sound pleasant together
2 strike/touch a chord (with sb) to do or say something that people feel is familiar or true:
•Many of the things she says will strike a chord with other young women.
•He knew that what he was saying had touched a chord.
3 technical a straight line joining two points on a curve
!! Do not confuse with cord (=thick string), which has the same pronunciation. $ [C]
1 a small job that you have to do regularly, especially work that you do to keep a house clean:
•everyday chores like shopping and housework
•We share the domestic chores.
2 something you have to do that is very boring and unpleasant:
•I find driving a real chore. $ [T]
to arrange how dancers should move during a performance:
•The show is very cleverly choreographed. $ [U]
the art of arranging how dancers should move during a performance
- choreographer noun [C] $ [C]
a singer in a church CHOIR $ [U]
a spicy SAUSAGE made in Spain $ [I] formal
to laugh because you are amused or pleased about something:
•Harry chortled with delight.
- chortle noun [C] [C]
1 the part of a song that is repeated after each VERSE:
•Everyone joined in the chorus.
2 a large group of people who sing together; = choir
•I sing with the university chorus.
3 a piece of music written to be sung by a large group of people:
•a recording of the Hallelujah Chorus
4 a group of singers, dancers, or actors who act together in a show but do not have the main parts:
•New voices are needed to join the chorus for the annual festival in October.
5 a chorus of thanks/disapproval/protest etc something that a lot of people all say at the same time:
•The minister was greeted with a chorus of boos.
•There was a chorus of agreement from the committee.
•More politicians have now joined in the chorus of complaints.
6 in chorus if people say something in chorus, they say the same thing at the same time:
•'Thank you,' they said in chorus.[T]
if people chorus something, they say it at the same time:
•'Hurry up!' chorused the girls.[C]
a woman who sings and dances with a large group of other women and men in a show or film[C]
a group of people who stand in a straight line and sing and dance together in a show or film $
the past tense of CHOOSE $
1 the past participle of CHOOSE
2 the chosen few a small number of people who are treated as special and better than other people:
•information made available only to the chosen few
1 [U] old-fashioned informal food:
•I ordered some chow and sat down.
2 also chow chow [C] a type of dog with long thick fur that first came from China

PHRASAL VERBS
chow down phr v AmE informal
to eat:
•She had to chow down with the others in the cafeteria. $ [U]
a thick soup usually made with fish, vegetables, and milk $ [singular] AmE informal
a stupid person [U]
a Chinese dish made with meat, vegetables, and NOODLEs
also Jesus Christ the man who is worshipped by Christians as the son of God; Christian
•a follower of Christ
used to express annoyance or surprise. Some people think this use is offensive:
•Christ! That's hot! [T]
1 to officially give a child its name at a Christian religious ceremony; baptize
•She was christened Sarah.
2 to give something or someone a name:
•His fans christened him the king of rock.
•The new plane has been christened the Hawk.
3 informal to use something for the first time:
•We haven't christened the new garden chairs yet. [U] formal
all the Christian people or countries in the world [C]
a Christian religious ceremony at which a child is officially given a name and becomes a member of a Christian church; baptism [C]
a person who believes in the ideas taught by Jesus Christ
1 related to Christianity:
•the Christian religion
•the Christian church
•a Christian minister
2 also christian behaving in a good, kind way:
•That wasn't a very christian thing to do!
the Christian era the period from the birth of Christ to the present time [U]
the religion based on the life and beliefs of Jesus Christ[C]
a person's first name, especially when they are given this name in a Christian religious ceremony:
•She didn't like children to call her by her Christian name.[U]
a religion started in America in 1866, which includes the belief that illnesses can be cured by faith
- Christian Scientist noun [C] [C,U]
the period of time around 25 December, the day when Christians celebrate the birth of Christ
at Christmas
•We'll see you at Christmas.
over Christmas
•I'll be in Scotland over Christmas.
•Are you going home for Christmas?
•a Christmas present
•the Christmas holidays
•Merry Christmas and a happy New Year everyone![C,U]
a special cake that people eat in Britain at Christmas[C]
a special card that people send to friends and relatives at Christmas[C]
a Christian song that people sing at Christmas[C]
a special COOKIE that people eat in the US at Christmas[C]
a tube of coloured paper that two people pull apart at Christmas in Britain for fun. It makes a loud sound as it is pulled apart, and usually contains a small toy[U]
December 25th, the day when most Christians celebrate the birth of Christ:
•I always spend Christmas Day with my family.
•We'll be at home on Christmas Day.[C]
a special meal that people eat on Christmas Day[U]
December 24th, the day before Christmas Day:
•We spent Christmas Eve cooking and getting ready for Christmas Day.
•Unfortunately, I've got to work on Christmas Eve.[C]
a special sweet food that contains a lot of dried fruit and is eaten in Britain at the end of the main meal on Christmas Day[C]
a long sock which children leave in their house on Christmas Eve to be filled with presents
typical of Christmas:
•It looked very Christmassy with lights on the trees. [U]
the period around Christmas[C]
a FIR tree that people put in their houses and decorate for Christmas $
1 technical related to a musical scale which consists of SEMITONEs :
•a chromatic scale
•chromatic harmonies
2 formal related to bright colours $ [U]
a type of hard shiny metal:
•a chrome candleholder[U]
a very bright yellow colour
- chrome yellow adjective $ [U]
a hard blue-white metal that is used to cover metal objects with a shiny silver protective surface. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Cr:
•a chromium-plated handrail $ [C]
a part of every living cell that is shaped like a thread and contains the GENEs that control the size, shape etc that a plant or animal has $
1 a chronic disease or illness is one that continues for a long time and cannot be cured; acute
•chronic arthritis
•chronic asthma
•chronic heart disease
2 a chronic problem is one that continues for a long time and cannot easily be solved:
•a period of recession and chronic unemployment
•There is now a chronic shortage of teachers.
3 chronic alcoholic/gambler etc someone who has behaved in a particular way for a long time and cannot stop:
•He was a chronic alcoholic and unable to hold down a job.
•a chronic smoker
4 BrE informal extremely bad:
•The food was absolutely chronic!
- chronically adverb
•patients who are chronically ill
•The service has been chronically underfunded for years.[U]
an illness that makes you feel very tired and weak and can last for a long time $ [C]
a written record of a series of events, especially historical events, written in the order in which they happened
[+of]
•He has produced a chronicle of his life during the war years.[T]
to describe events in the order in which they happened:
•His life is chronicled in a new biography published last week.
•The book chronicles the events leading up to the war. $ [C]
a scientific instrument for measuring periods of time $
1 arranged according to when things happened or were made:
•We arranged the documents in chronological order.
2 chronological age a person's chronological age is how old they actually are, rather than how old their mind or body seems
- chronologically adverb
•The paintings are displayed chronologically. $ plural chronologies
1 [U] the order in which events happened in the past
[+of]
•It is important to establish the chronology of the events.
2 [C] an account of events in the order in which they happened:
•The book includes a chronology of his life and works. $ [C]
a very exact clock, used for scientific purposes [C]
a MOTH or BUTTERFLY at the stage of development when it has a hard outer shell and is changing into its adult form [C]
a garden plant with large brightly coloured flowers [C]
a fish that lives in lakes and rivers
slightly fat in a way that looks healthy and attractive:
•a chubby six-year-old
•a baby with round chubby cheeks
- chubbiness noun [U] [T] informal especially BrE
1 to throw something in a careless or relaxed way
chuck sth on/out of/into etc sth
•Tania chucked her bag down on the sofa.
•I chucked a few things into a suitcase and left.
chuck sb sth
•Chuck me that pen, would you?
2 to throw something away because you do not want it any more:
•I think I might have chucked it by mistake.
3 also chuck sth <=> in to leave your job:
•You haven't chucked your job, have you?
4 BrE to end a romantic relationship with someone:
•Why did Judy chuck him?
5 chuck it down to rain very heavily:
•It chucked it down all afternoon.
6 chuck sb under the chin to gently touch someone under their chin in a friendly way

PHRASAL VERBS
chuck sth <=> away phr v informal
to throw something away because you do not want it any more:
•I chucked all my old clothes away when we moved house.

chuck sb off sth phr v informal
1 to make someone leave a place or stop using something:
•He'll chuck you off his land if he finds you.
2 chuck yourself off sth to jump from somewhere that is very high:
•She tried to chuck herself off the bridge twice last week.

chuck sb/sth <=> out phr v informal
1 to throw something away because you do not want it any more:
•It was broken so I chucked it out.
2 to make someone leave a place or a job:
•Their landlord chucked them out when they couldn't pay the rent.
[+of]
•They got chucked out of the pub for fighting.

chuck sth <=> in phr v
to leave your job:
•He had a job as a driver but he chucked it in.
•I decided to chuck it all in and go to Australia.
1 [C] part of a machine that holds something firmly so that it does not move
2 [singular] spoken a friendly word used to address someone in some parts of Northern England [I]
to laugh quietly:
•What are you chuckling about?
- chuckle noun [C]
•Rosie gave a little chuckle.[U]
meat that comes from just above the shoulder of a cow[C] AmE old-fashioned
a vehicle that carries food for a group of people [not before noun] BrE informal
very pleased or happy:
•He's really chuffed about passing the exam. past tense and past participle chugged, present participle chugging
1 [I always + adv/prep] if a car, train etc chugs somewhere, it moves there slowly, with the engine making a repeated low sound
[+along/up/around etc]
•The boat chugged out of the harbour.
2 [T] also chug-a-lug AmE informal to drink all of something in a glass or bottle without stopping
3 [I always + adv/prep] to make slow but steady progress:
•The economy just keeps chugging along.
- chug noun [C usually singular]
1 [C] informal old-fashioned a good friend:
•Freddie's an old school chum of mine.
2 [U] small pieces of oily fish, used to catch other fish
informal friendly:
•You and Eric have become quite chummy, haven't you? [C]
1 informal someone who is silly or stupid, and who is easily deceived
2 chump chop/steak BrE a thick piece of meat with a bone in it $ [I] informal
to VOMIT [C]
1 a large thick piece of something that does not have an even shape:
•ice chunks
[+of]
•a chunk of bread
2 a large part or amount of something:
•The rent takes a large chunk out of my monthly salary.
[+of]
•A huge chunk of the audience got up and left before the end of the show.
3 a chunk of change AmE informal a large amount of money:
•Lurie risked a pretty big chunk of change on the race.
1 thick, solid, and heavy:
•chunky jewellery
2 chunky food has large pieces in it:
•chunky peanut butter
3 someone who is chunky has a broad, heavy body $
1 [C] a building where Christians go to worship; cathedral
•a short church service
•church bells
2 [U] the religious ceremonies in a church:
•Mrs Dobson invited us to dinner after church.
•My parents go to church every Sunday.
at church
•We didn't see you at church this morning.
3 [C] also Church one of the separate groups within the Christian religion:
•the Catholic Church
4 [singular, U] the institution of the Christian religion, and all the priests and other ministers who are part of it:
•the church's attitude towards marriage
•separation of church and state $ [C]
someone who goes to church regularly $ plural churchmen [C]
a priest; = clergyman
the Church of England also C of E the state church in England, the official leader of which is the Queen or King
the Church of Scotland the state church in Scotland[C]
a school in Britain that is partly controlled by a church $ [C]
someone who looks after church property and money $ plural churchwomen [C]
a female priest; = clergywoman $ [C]
a piece of land around a church where people are buried $
formal not polite or friendly:
•It seemed churlish to refuse his invitation. $
1 [I] if your stomach churns, you feel sick because you are nervous or frightened:
•My stomach was churning on the day of the exam.
2 [I,T] also churn up if water, mud etc churns, or if something churns it, it moves about violently:
•We stood on the dock and watched the ocean churn.
3 [I] if a machine, engine, wheel etc churns, it or its parts begin to move:
•I pressed the gas pedal, and slowly the wheels began to churn.
4 [T] to make milk by using a churn

PHRASAL VERBS
churn sth <=> out phr v
to produce large quantities of something, especially without caring about quality:
•She's been churning out novels for twenty years.

churn sb/sth up phr v
1 churn sth <=> up to damage the surface of the ground, especially by walking on it or driving a vehicle over it:
•The lawn had been churned up by the tractor.
2 to move water, mud etc around violently
churn sth <=> up
•The oars had churned up the mud, clouding the water.
3 BrE to make someone upset or angry:
•Though she looked calm, in reality she was churned up inside.[C]
1 a container used for shaking milk in order to make it into butter
2 also milk churn BrE a large metal container used to carry milk in [C]
1 a long narrow structure that slopes down, so that things or people can slide down it from one place to another:
•a rubbish chute
•a laundry chute
•The pool had several water chutes.
2 informal a PARACHUTE [U]
a mixture of fruits, hot-tasting SPICEs , and sugar, that is eaten especially with meat or cheese:
•mango chutney [U] informal
a lot of confidence and courage to do something, especially something that might involve being impolite to someone in authority - used to show approval; = nerve
•It took a lot of chutzpah to talk to your boss like that.
the CIA the Central Intelligence Agency the department of the US government that collects information about other countries, especially secretly interjection informal
used to say goodbye $ [C]
an insect that lives in hot countries, has large transparent wings, and makes a high singing noise
Criminal Investigation Department the department of the British police that deals with very serious crimes [in nouns]
another form of the suffix -ICIDE:
•genocide (=killing a whole race of people)
- -cidal [in adjectives]
- -cidally [in adverbs] $
1 [C,U] BrE an alcoholic drink made from apples, or a glass of this drink; = hard cider AmE
2 [U] AmE also apple cider a non-alcoholic drink made from apples $ [C]
a thick tube-shaped thing that people smoke, and which is made from tobacco leaves that have been rolled up; cigarette $ [C]
a thin tube of paper filled with finely cut tobacco that people smoke; cigar
•a packet of cigarettesalso cigarette end BrE $ [C]
the part of a cigarette that remains when someone has finished smoking it $ [C]
a narrow tube for holding a cigarette $ [C]
a small object that produces a flame for lighting cigarettes, CIGARs etc; = lighter $ [C,U]
thin paper that people put tobacco in to make their own cigarettes plural ciggies [C] BrE spoken informal
a cigarette $ [U] AmE
the strong-tasting leaves of a small plant, used especially in Asian and Mexican cooking; = coriander BrE [C]
a COMMANDER IN CHIEF [singular] informal
1 something that is very easy:
•'How was the exam?' 'Oh, it was a cinch!'
be a cinch to do sth
•The program is a cinch to install.
2 AmE something that will definitely happen, or someone who will definitely do something
be a cinch to do sth
•Most observers say the President is a cinch to win re-election.[T]
1 to pull a belt, STRAP etc tightly around something:
•a blue dress cinched at the waist by a wide belt
2 AmE to make something certain to happen:
•They cinched a place in the play-off. $ [C usually plural]
a very small piece of burnt wood, coal etc:
•a cold hearth full of cinders
•The cake was burnt to a cinder (=completely burnt).[C] AmE
a large grey brick used to build houses and other buildings, made from CEMENT and cinders; = breeze-block BrE BrE
relating to films or to the film industry:
•a cine-projector [C] BrE
a camera for making moving films, rather than photographs [U] BrE
film used in a cine camera
1 [C] especially BrE a building in which films are shown; = movie theater AmE
•It's on at the local cinema.
2 the cinema BrE if you go to the cinema, you go to a cinema to see a film:
•We decided to go to the cinema.
3 [singular,U] the skill or industry of making films:
•a leading figure in Italian cinema $ [C usually plural] BrE
someone who goes to the cinema to see a film; = moviegoer AmE
relating to films:
•a cinematic masterpiece $ [U]
the skill or study of making films:
•with impressive cinematography by Robert Surtees
- cinematographer noun [C] [C]
someone who likes films very much and considers them to be a form of art, not just entertainment:
•He is a complete cinephile. [U]
a sweet-smelling brown substance used for giving a special taste to cakes and other sweet foods:
•a cinnamon rollcypher $
1 [C,U] formal a system of secret writing; = code
•an expert in ciphers
•messages written in cipher
2 [C] someone who is not important and has no power or influence:
•At work, she was a cipher, a functionary, nothing more.
3 literary [C] the number 0; = zero $ formal
used before a date to show that something happened close to but not exactly on that date:
•manuscripts dating from circa 1100 $ [only before noun] technical
relating to a period of 24 hours, used especially when talking about changes in people's bodies:
•the body's circadian rhythm $ [C]
1 SHAPE a completely round shape, like the letter O:
•Draw a circle 10cm in diameter.
•Cut the pastry into circles.
2 ARRANGED IN CIRCLE a group of people or things arranged in the shape of a circle:
•The children stood round in a circle.
[+of]
•a circle of chairs
3 GROUP OF PEOPLE a group of people who know each other and meet regularly, or who have similar interests or jobs
[+of]
•a circle of friends
political/legal/literary etc circles
•He's well-known in fashionable circles.
•Johnson was part of the president's inner circle (=the people who have the most influence).
4 THEATRE BrE the upper floor of a theatre, that has seats arranged in curved rows; = balcony AmE
5 go/run around in circles to think or argue about something without deciding anything or making progress
6 come/go full circle also turn full circle BrE to end in the same situation in which you began, even though there have been changes in the time in between:
•Sooner or later, fashion comes full circle.
square the circle at SQUARE^3 (5)
VICIOUS CIRCLE
1 [T] to draw a circle around something:
•Circle the correct answer.
2 [I,T] to move in the shape of a circle around something, especially in the air:
•The plane circled the airport before landing.
[+round/above/over etc]
•The pigeons circled above the terrace. $ [C]
a narrow band of gold, silver, or jewels worn around someone's head or arms $ [C]
1 a path that forms a circle around an area, or a journey along this path:
•We did a circuit of the old city.
2 BrE a track that cars, MOTORBIKEs etc race around
3 the tennis/lecture/cabaret etc circuit all the places that are usually visited by someone who plays tennis etc:
•a well-known entertainer on the club circuit
4 the complete circle that an electric current travels:
•an electrical circuit
5 a regular trip around an area made by a judge or a religious leader, so that a court of law or church can meet in several different places:
•a circuit judge
•a circuit preacher
6 do circuits BrE informal to do CIRCUIT TRAINING
CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION, PRINTED CIRCUIT, SHORT CIRCUIT[C]
a board in a piece of electrical equipment that uses thin lines of metal to CONDUCT (=carry) electricity between different points[C]
a piece of equipment that stops an electric current reaching a machine if the machine becomes dangerous[C]
a court of law that meets in small towns within a particular area whenever a judge visits from a larger town $
going from one place to another in a way that is longer than the most direct way:
•a hard, circuitous hike
- circuitously adverb $ [U]
a system of electric circuits[U] BrE
a series of many different exercises done quickly after each other, in order to increase your fitness $
1 shaped like a circle:
•a circular table
2 moving around in a circle:
•a circular bus route
3 circular argument/logic/reasoning an argument or way of thinking that is not right because the statement it uses to prove that the argument is true can only be true if the original argument is already true
- circularity $ noun [U][C]
a printed advertisement, notice etc that is sent to lots of people at the same time[C]
a WASTEPAPER BASKET - used humorously[C]
an electric tool with a round metal blade that has small sharp parts around the edge, used for cutting wood $
1 [I,T] to move around within a system, or to make something do this:
•Swimming helps to get the blood circulating through the muscles.
•Ceiling fans circulated warm air around the room.
2 [I] if information, facts, ideas etc circulate, they become known by many people:
• Rumours began circulating that the Prime Minister was seriously ill.
3 [T] to send goods, information etc to people:
•The group circulated petitions calling for a federal law to ban handguns.
4 [I] to talk to a lot of different people in a group, especially at a party $
1 [singular, U] the movement of blood around your body:
•Exercise improves the circulation.
good/bad circulation
•Doctors had to remove her leg because of bad circulation.
2 [U] the exchange of information, money etc from one person to another in a group or society
in/out of circulation
•Police believe there are thousands of illegal guns in circulation.
•The book was taken out of circulation.
remove/withdraw sth from circulation
•The Treasury Department plans to remove older coins from circulation and replace them with new ones.
3 [C, usually singular] the average number of copies of a newspaper or magazine that are usually sold each day, week, month etc
[+of]
•The newspaper has a daily circulation of 55,000.
4 [C,U] the movement of liquid, air etc in a system:
•Let's open the windows and get some circulation in here.
5 in circulation/out of circulation informal when someone takes part or does not take part in social activities at a particular time:
•Sandy's out of circulation until after her exams. $ [only before noun]
relating to the movement of blood around your body:
•the heart and circulatory system $ [T]
1 to cut off the skin at the end of the PENIS (=male sex organ)
2 to cut off a woman's CLITORIS (=part of her sex organs) $ [C,U]
the act of circumcising someone, or an occasion when a baby is circumcised as part of a religious ceremony $
[C usually singular, U] the distance or measurement around the outside of a circle or any round shape; diameter, perimeter, radius
[+of]
•the circumference of the Earth
in circumference
•The island is only nine miles in circumference. $ [C]
a mark placed above a letter in a French word to show its pronunciation, for example, ô $ [C,U] formal
the practice of using too many words to express an idea, instead of saying it directly $ [T]
to sail, fly, or travel completely around the Earth, an island etc
- circumnavigation $ noun [C,U]
•circumnavigation of the world $ [T]
1 [often passive] formal to limit power, rights, or abilities; = restrict
•The President's power is circumscribed by Congress and the Supreme Court.
2 technical to draw a line around something:
•a circle circumscribed by a square $ formal
thinking carefully about something before doing it, in order to avoid risk; = cautious
•The governor was usually circumspect when dealing with the media.
- circumspectly adverb
- circumspection $ noun [U] $
1 [C usually plural] the conditions that affect a situation, action, event etc:
•The Soviet Union had been forced by circumstances to sign a pact with Nazi Germany.
•I can't imagine a circumstance in which I would be willing to steal.
in ... circumstances
•The rules can only be waived in exceptional circumstances.
under ... circumstances
•Prisoners can only leave their cells under certain circumstances (=if particular conditions exist).
•He was found dead in suspicious circumstances (=in a way that makes you think something illegal or dishonest has happened).
•Unless there are extenuating circumstances, all students must be present on the day of the exam (=reasons which make you feel that it was reasonable for someone to break the usual rules).
2 under no circumstances also in no circumstances BrE used to emphasize that something must definitely not happen:
•Under no circumstances are you to leave the house.
3 under/given the circumstances also in the circumstances BrE used to say that a particular situation makes an action, decision etc necessary, acceptable, or true when it would not normally be:
•It's the best result that could be expected under the circumstances.
4 [U] formal the combination of facts, events etc that influence your life, and that you cannot control:
•He was a victim of circumstance.
5 circumstances [plural] formal the conditions in which you live, especially how much money you have
economic/financial/personal etc circumstances
•Whether or not you qualify for a loan will depend on your financial circumstances.
•people living in difficult social circumstances
in reduced circumstances old-fashioned (=with much less money than you used to have)
pomp and circumstance at POMP $
1 law based on something that appears to be true but is not proven
circumstantial evidence/case
•The case against McCarthy is based largely on circumstantial evidence.
2 formal including all the details:
•The book includes a long and circumstantial account of Empson's conversation with the Queen.
- circumstantially adverb $ [T] formal
1 to avoid a problem or rule that restricts you, especially in a clever or dishonest way - used to show disapproval:
•The company opened an account abroad, in order to circumvent the tax laws.
2 to avoid something by changing the direction in which you are travelling:
•We went north in order to circumvent the mountains.
- circumvention noun [U] $
1 [C] a group of people and animals who travel to different places performing skilful tricks as entertainment
circus act (=a trick performed in a circus)
circus ring (=a large circular area where tricks are performed)
2 [singular] informal a situation in which there is too much excitement or noise:
•The first day of school is always such a circus.
•The trial has turned into a media circus.
3 [C usually singular] BrE a round open area where several streets join together, often used in place names:
•Piccadilly Circus
4 [C] a place in ancient Rome where fights, races etc took place, with seats built in a circle $ [U]
a serious disease of the LIVER, often caused by drinking too much alcohol [U]
a form of cloud that is light and shaped like feathers, high in the sky
Commonwealth of Independent States an association formed by countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union plural cissies [C] BrE informal
SISSY $ [C]
a container in which the supply of water for a building is stored inside the building; = tank [C]
1 a strong FORT (=small castle) built in the past as a place where people could go for safety if their city was attacked; = fortress
2 the citadel of sth literary a place or situation in which an idea, principle, system etc that you think is important is kept safe; = stronghold
•the last citadel of freedom [C]
1 AmE a formal statement or piece of writing publicly praising someone's actions or achievements
[+for]
•a citation for bravery
2 an official order for someone to appear in court or pay a FINE for doing something illegal
[+for]
•Turner was issued a traffic citation for reckless driving.
3 a line taken from a book, speech etc; = quotation
•The essay begins with a citation from 'Hamlet'. [T] formal
1 to mention something as an example, especially one that supports, proves, or explains an idea or situation:
•The judge cited a 1956 Supreme Court ruling in her decision.
cite sth as sth
•Several factors have been cited as the cause of the unrest.
2 to give the exact words of something that has been written, especially in order to support an opinion or prove an idea; = quote
•The passage cited above is from a Robert Frost poem.
3 to order someone to appear before a court of law
cite sb for sth
•Two managers had been cited for similar infractions.
4 BrE to mention someone by name in a court case:
•Sue was cited in the divorce proceedings.
5 to mention someone because they deserve praise
cite sb (for sth)
•Garcia was cited for her work with disabled children. [C]
1 someone who lives in a particular town, country, or state:
•We need our schools to teach students to be good citizens.
•The mayor urged citizens to begin preparing for a major storm.
SENIOR CITIZEN
2 someone who legally belongs to a particular country and has rights and responsibilities there, whether they are living there or not; national
•At the time, there were over 2000 British citizens living in Iraq.
3 second-class citizen someone who is made to feel unimportant because of the way people treat them [U] formal
all the citizens in a particular town, country, or state[C]
when a person who is not a police officer catches someone and presents them to the police because they have done something illegal:
•Brown made a citizen's arrest when a youth attempted to rob an elderly woman.[U]
CB [U]
1 the legal right of belonging to a particular country; nationality
French/US/Brazilian etc citizenship
•I have applied for French citizenship.
•McGuirk holds dual citizenship (=the legal right of being a citizen in two countries) in Ireland and the US.
2 the ways in which a good citizen behaves, for example being responsible and helping their COMMUNITY:
•The schools should be responsible for teaching our children good citizenship. [U]
a weak acid found in some fruits such as LEMONs [C]
a fruit like a LEMON but bigger [U]
an oil used for keeping insects away [C]
1 also citrus tree a type of tree that produces citrus fruits
2 also citrus fruit a fruit with thick skin, such as an orange or LEMON
- citrus adjective plural cities [C]
1 a large important town:
•New York City
•a capital city
•The nearest big city was St. Louis.
city dweller (=someone who lives in a city)
INNER CITY
2
a) BrE a large town, that has been given an official title by a king or queen :
•the city of Oxford
b) AmE a town of any size that has definite borders and powers that were officially given by the state government:
•The city of Cleveland celebrated its 200th birthday with fireworks and an outdoor concert.
3 [usually singular] the people who live in a city:
•The city has been living in fear since last week's earthquake.
4 the City BrE the area of London which is Britain's financial centre, and the important institutions there
City banker/stockbroker etc (=a banker etc who works in the city)
5 the city AmE the government of a city:
•The city is working to improve public transportation.[C] BrE
the main shopping or business area in a city; downtown[C]
the group of elected officials who are responsible for governing a city[C]
1 BrE a department of a newspaper that deals with financial news
2 AmE a department of a newspaper that deals with local news[C]
1 also financial editor BrE a JOURNALIST responsible for the financial news in a newspaper
2 AmE a newspaper EDITOR who is responsible for local news[plural]
the group of people who govern a city
1 [U] AmE the government of a city:
•The recycling program simply hasn't been a high priority at City Hall.
2 [C usually singular] the building a city government uses as its offices[U] AmE
the study of the way cities work, so that roads, houses, services etc can be provided effectively; = town planning BrE [C,U]
the way a city looks, or the way it looks from a particular place:
•the gray New York cityscape[C]
someone who lives and works in a city and has no experience of anything outside it - often used to show disapproval $ [C]
an independent state that consists of a city and the surrounding country area, especially in the past:
•the city-state of Athens
involving all the areas of a city:
•a citywide campaign to fight racism [only before noun]
1 relating to a town or city:
•Jackson spent the day meeting with local religious and civic leaders.
2 relating to the people who live in a town or city:
•It is your civic duty to vote in the local elections.
•The local art museum is a source of civic pride (=people's pride in their own city).civic center AmE [C] BrE
1 BrE an area in a city where all the public buildings are
2 AmE a large public building where events such as sports games and concerts are held [U] especially AmE
a school subject dealing with the rights and duties of citizens and the way government works
1 [only before noun] relating to the people who live in a country
civil war/disturbance/unrest etc (=fighting etc between different groups of people living in the same country)
CIVIL LIBERTY, CIVIL RIGHTS
2 [only before noun] relating to the ordinary people or things in a country that are not part of military, government, or religious organizations:
•They were married in a civil ceremony in May.
3 [only before noun] relating to the laws about the private affairs of citizens, such as laws about business or property, rather than laws about crime; civil law, criminal
•Many civil cases can be settled out of court.
4 polite in a formal but not very friendly way; civility
•Try at least to be civil.civil defense AmE [U] BrE
the organization of ordinary rather than military people to help defend their country from military attack[U]
when people, especially a large group of people, refuse to obey a law in order to protest in a peaceful way against the government[U]
the planning, building, and repair of roads, bridges, large buildings etc
- civil engineer noun [C] [C]
anyone who is not a member of the military forces or the police:
•Many innocent civilians were killed during the war.
- civilian adjective [only before noun]
•It was difficult to return to civilian life after ten years in the military. formal
1 [U] polite behaviour which most people consider normal; civil
•Please have the civility to knock before you enter next time.
2 civilities [plural] something that you say or do in order to be polite:
•We exchanged civilities when we were neighbours, but nothing more.also civilisation BrE $
1 [C,U] a society that is well organized and developed, used especially about a particular society in a particular place or at a particular time; civilized
•modern American civilization
[+of]
•the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome
2 [U] all the societies in the world considered as a whole:
•The book explores the relationship between religion and civilization.
• the dawn of civilization (=the beginning of civilization)
3 [U] a place such as a city where you feel comfortable, especially because it is modern; civilized
•After a week in the mountains all I wanted to do was get back to civilization.also civilise BrE [T]
1 to influence someone's behaviour, making or teaching them to act in a more sensible or gentle way:
•Andrea was a great civilizing influence on her husband.
2 to improve a society so that it is more organized and developed, and often more fair or comfortable:
•Ellis was credited with civilizing the Texas prison system.also civilised BrE
1 a civilized society is well organized and developed, and has fair laws and customs; civilization
•Such things should not be allowed to happen in a civilized society.
2 pleasant and comfortable; civilized
•'This is very civilized,' she said, lying back in the sun with a gin and tonic.
3 behaving in a polite sensible way instead of getting angry:
•Let's try and be civilized about this, shall we?
4 a civilized hour a time that is not too early in the morning:
•Can't we have the meeting at a more civilized hour?[U]
the area of law relating to the affairs of private citizens rather than crime; criminal lawalso civil liberties [U]
the right of all citizens to be free to do whatever they want while respecting the rights of other people
the civil list the sum of money given every year by Parliament to the King or Queen of Britain and members of their family[plural]
the rights that every person should have, such as the right to vote or to be treated fairly by the law, whatever their sex, race, or religion
civil rights demonstration/movement etc
•a civil rights leader
BILL OF RIGHTS[C]
someone employed in the civil service
the civil service the government departments that manage the affairs of the country[C,U]
a war in which opposing groups of people from the same country fight each other in order to gain political control:
•the Spanish civil warcivies [plural]
informal ordinary clothes, rather than military uniform:
•Sam! I didn't recognise you in civvies. [U] BrE old-fashioned informal
ordinary life as it is lived outside the army, navy, or air force:
•I bet your family will be glad to see you when you get back to civvy street. [U]
the abbreviation of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease plural cl or cls
the written abbreviation of centilitre or, centilitres
[I] to make a continuous short hard sound:
•the sound of high heels clacking across the courtyard
- clack noun [singular]
•the clack of typewriters literary
1 wearing a particular kind of clothing
[+in]
•She felt hot, despite being clad only in a thin cotton dress.
warmly/suitably/scantily clad (=dressed warmly etc)
2 snow-clad/ivy-clad etc covered in a particular thing:
•an armour-clad ship [U] especially BrE
a cover of hard material that protects the outside of a building, piece of equipment etc:
•decorative timber cladding
1 TRUTH [T] to state that something is true, even though it has not been proved
claim (that)
•The company claims that their product 'makes you thin without dieting'.
claim to do/be sth
•No responsible therapist will claim to cure your insomnia.
•I don't claim to be a feminist, but I'd like to see more women in managerial posts.
claim to have done sth
•Two young girls claim to have seen the fairies.
claim responsibility/credit (for sth) (=say officially that you are responsible for something that has happened)
•The group claimed responsibility for a series of bombings.
•Opposition leaders will claim victory if the turnout is lower than 50%.
claim sb/sth as sth
•A letter appeared in The Times claiming Fleming as the discoverer of penicillin.
2 MONEY [I,T] to officially demand or receive money from an organization because you have a right to it
claim sth back
•He should be able to claim the price of the ticket back.
[+on] BrE
•You can claim on the insurance if you have an accident while on holiday.
claim benefit/an allowance/damages etc
•If you're still not satisfied, you may be able to claim compensation.
3 LEGAL RIGHT [T] to state that you have a right to take or have something that is legally yours:
•The majority of those who claim asylum are genuine refugees.
•Lost property can be claimed between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
4 DEATH [T] if a war, accident etc claims lives, people die because of it - used especially in news reports:
•The earthquake has so far claimed over 3000 lives.
5 ATTENTION [T] if something claims your attention, you notice and consider it carefully:
•The military conflict continues to claim our undivided attention.[C]
1 TRUTH a statement that something is true, even though it has not been proved
claim that
•Gould rejected claims that he had acted irresponsibly.
false/extravagant/dubious etc claims
•firms that make false claims about their products
•They made claims they couln't live up to.
•the competing claims of scientists
dispute/deny/reject a claim
•The foreign affairs department has denied claims that the men were tortured.
•Evidence to support these claims is still lacking.
claim to do/be sth
•his claim to be the rightful owner of the painting
•I make no claim to understand the complexities of the situation.
2 MONEY
a) an official request for money that you think you have a right to
[+for]
•claims for compensation
reject/uphold/lose etc a claim
•A disabled man has lost his claim for unfair dismissal.
make/put in/file a claim
•All claims should be made in writing.
pay/wage claim (=a request from workers for more money)
•Fill in and return the claim form as soon as it arrives.
b) the sum of money you request when you make a claim:
•The insurance company cannot meet (=pay) such enormous claims.
3 RIGHTS a right to do something or to have something, especially because it belongs to you or because you deserve it
[+to/on]
•Surely they have a rightful claim on their father's land?
•The Maldives pressed its claim to hold next year's summit.
•Philip feared Edward would lay claim to the Scottish crown.
•the competing claims of parents and teachers
have a claim on sb's time/attention etc
•A woman who has given a man children will always have some claim on his love.
4 stake your claim (for sth) to say that you have a right to own or do something, especially when other people also say they have a right to it:
•Tickets are on a 'first come, first served' basis, so stake your claim now.
5 sb's/sth's claim to fame a place or person's claim to fame is the reason why they are famous - often used humorously to mention something that is not very important:
•My main claim to fame is that I once shook Elvis's hand.
6 LAND something such as a piece of land that contains valuable minerals [C]
someone who claims something, especially money, from the government, a court etc because they think they have a right to it:
•benefit claimants $ [C]
someone who says they can see what will happen in the future
- clairvoyance noun [U]
•the gifts of telepathy and clairvoyance
- clairvoyant adjective [C]
1 a SHELLFISH you can eat that has a shell in two parts that open up:
•clam chowder (=a type of soup)
2 as happy as a clam AmE informal very happy
3 AmE informal someone who does not say what they are thinking or feelingpast tense and past participle clammed, present participle clamming

PHRASAL VERBS
clam up phr v
informal to suddenly stop talking, especially when you are nervous or shy:
•A sensitive child is likely just to clam up. [C]
AmE an informal outdoor party near the sea, where clams are cooked and eaten $ [I always + adv/prep]
to climb or move slowly somewhere, using your hands and feet because it is difficult or steep
[+over/across etc]
•They clambered over the slippery rocks.
•We all clambered aboard and the boat pulled out.
feeling unpleasantly wet, cold, and sticky:
•Get your clammy hands off me!
- clammily adverb
- clamminess noun [U]clamor AmE $ [singular, U] BrE
1 a very loud noise made by a large group of people or animals:
•He shouted over the rising clamour of voices.
2 the expression of feelings of anger and shock by a large number of people - used especially in news reports
[+for]
•Trouillot disregarded the growing public clamour for her resignation.
- clamorous adjectiveclamor AmE [I] BrE
1 [always + adv/prep] to demand something loudly
[+for]
•The audience cheered, clamoring for more.
clamour to do sth
•All his friends were clamouring to know where he'd been.
2 to talk or shout loudly:
•Children clamored excitedly. [T]
1 [always + adv/prep] to put or hold something in a position so that it cannot move:
•She clamped her hands over her ears.
•Creed opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it shut.
2 clamp sanctions/restrictions etc on sb to put limits on what someone is allowed to do:
•The President clamped sanctions on the island after the bomb attack.
3 [always + adv/prep] to hold two things together, using a clamp:
•Clamp the two parts together until the glue dries.
4 also wheel-clamp [usually passive] BrE to put a clamp on the wheel of a car so that the car cannot be driven away. This is usually done because the car is illegally parked; = boot AmE
•He returned, only to discover his car had been clamped.

PHRASAL VERBS
clamp down phr v
to take firm action to stop a particular type of crime
[+on]
•The police are clamping down on drink-driving offenders.[C]
1 a piece of equipment for holding things together
2 also wheel clamp BrE a metal object that is fastened to the wheel of a car so that the car cannot be driven away. This is usually done because the car is illegally parked; = boot AmE [C usually singular]
sudden firm action that is taken to reduce crime
[+on]
•a clampdown on drug dealers [C]
1 a large group of families that often share the same name:
•the Campbell clan
•warring clans
2 informal a very large family:
•The whole clan will be here over Christmas.
done or kept secret:
•a clandestine affair
•clandestine meetings [I,T]
if a metal object clangs, or if you clang it, it makes a loud ringing sound:
•The gates clanged shut behind her.
- clang noun [singular] $ [C usually singular]
BrE informal a silly or embarrassing mistake:
•I can't help noticing the occasional clanger in war films.
•He's being blamed for dropping a massive political clanger (=making a silly or embarrassing remark).clangor $ [U] literary
a loud sound that continues for a long time [I]
if a metal object clanks, it makes a loud heavy sound:
•A tram clanked past.
- clank also clanking noun [C]
•the clanking of machinery written
a group of people who are clannish are very close to each other, and seem unfriendly towards strangers:
•a small clannish community plural clansmen [C]
a male member of a CLAN plural clanswomen [C]
a female member of a CLAN past tense and past participle clapped, present participle clapping
1 [I,T] to hit your hands against each other many times to make a sound that shows your approval, agreement, or enjoyment; applause
•One man began to clap, and others joined in.
•The couple were cheered and clapped on their arrival.
•The audience clapped politely but without much enthusiasm.
2 [T] if you clap your hands, you hit your hands together a few times to attract someone's attention or to show that you are pleased:
•Narouz clapped his hands and a servant entered.
•Mandy laughed and clapped her hands in delight.
3 [T] to put your hand on something quickly and firmly:
•'Mick!' She clapped her hand over her mouth. 'I'd forgotten!'
•Ben grinned and clapped me amiably on the shoulder.
4 clap eyes on sb/sth BrE informal to see someone or something, especially when you did not expect to:
•Mark had loved the house from the moment he clapped eyes on it.
5 clap sb in prison/jail/irons literary to suddenly put someone in prison or chains
- clapping noun [U]
•Each song was greeted with enthusiastic clapping.
1 [singular] the loud sound that you make when you hit your hands together many times to show that you enjoyed something
give sb a clap BrE
•Come on everyone, let's give Tommy a clap.
2 [singular] a sudden loud noise:
•an ear-splitting clap of thunder
3 the clap informal GONORRHEA $ [C,U]
especially BrE a set of boards used to cover the outside of a building, or one of these boards:
•clapboard housesBrE
a clapped-out car, machine etc is old and in very bad condition $ [C]
1 the metal part inside a bell that hits it to make it ring
2 run/go/drive etc like the clappers BrE informal to run, drive etc very fast [U]
informal talk that is stupid or shows a lack of knowledge:
•romantic claptrap
1 [C,U] red wine from the Bordeaux area of France:
•a bottle of claret
2 [U] a dark red colour
- claret adjective [C,U] formal
the act of making something clearer or easier to understand, or an explanation that makes something clearer:
•There have been a number of official changes and clarifications.
[+on/of]
•Email us if you require further clarification on how to order.
seek/ask for clarification
•I asked for clarification on the legal position. past tense and past participle clarified, present participle clarifying, third person singular clarifies [T]
1 formal to make something clearer or easier to understand; clarification
clarify issues/a statement/matters etc
•Could you clarify one or two points for me?
•Reporters asked him to clarify his position (=say exactly what his beliefs are) on welfare reform.
clarify how/what etc
•The report aims to clarify how these conclusions were reached.
2 to make something cleaner or purer by heating it:
•clarified butter [C]
a musical instrument like a long black tube, that you play by blowing into it and pressing KEYs to change the notes
- clarinettist noun [C] $ [C] formal
a strong and direct request for people to do something:
•This election is a clarion call for our country to face the challenges ahead. [U]
1 the clarity of a piece of writing, law, argument etc is its quality of being expressed clearly; clear
•Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
•a lack of clarity in the law on property rights
2 the ability to think, understand, or remember something clearly; clear
•He had only visited the village once, but remembered it with surprising clarity.
clarity of vision/purpose/thought etc
•Churchill's clarity of vision impressed all who knew him.
3 the quality of being clear and easy to see or hear; clear
•The picture was of such clarity that it could have been a photograph.
1 [I] if two armies, groups etc clash, they start fighting - used in news reports:
•Troops clashed near the border.
[+with]
•Police have clashed with demonstrators again today.
2 [I] if two people or groups clash, they argue because they have very different beliefs and opinions - used in news reports
[+with]
•Democrats clashed with Republicans in a heated debate.
[+over/on]
•The two men have clashed over the report's conclusions.
3 [I] if two colours or designs clash, they look very bad together
[+with]
•I can't wear red - it clashes with my hair.
4 [I] especially BrE if two events clash, they happen at the same time in a way that is inconvenient; = conflict AmE
[+with]
•The announcement has been delayed to avoid clashing with the Prime Minister's speech.
5 [I,T] if two pieces of metal clash, or if you clash them, they make a loud ringing sound:
•The cymbals clashed.[C]
1 a short fight between two armies or groups - used in news reports:
•an escalation (=increase) of armed clashes along the border
[+between/with]
• violent clashes between police and demonstrators
2 an argument between two people or groups because they have very different beliefs or opinions - used in news reports
[+between/with]
•The company's expansion plans could put it in a head-on clash with environmentalists.
personality/culture clash (=a situation in which two people or groups do not like each other)
3 a sports match between two teams, players etc that is expected to be very exciting - used in sports reports:
•The heavyweight clash goes ahead in Las Vegas on 8 May.
4 a situation in which two events happen at the same time in a way that is inconvenient:
•a scheduling clash on TV
5 a loud sound made by two metal objects hitting each other:
•the clash of swords
6 a combination of two colours, designs etc that look bad together:
•a colour clash $
1 [C] a small metal object for fastening a bag, belt, piece of jewellery etc
2 [singular] a tight hold; = grip
•the firm clasp of her hand[T] written
1 to hold someone or something tightly, closing your fingers or arms around them; = grip
•A baby monkey clasps its mother's fur tightly.
clasp your hands/arms around/behind sth
•Fenella leaned forward, clasping her hands around her knees.
•She stood with her hands clasped tightly together.
clasp sb/sth in your hands/arms
•She clasped the photograph in her hands.
clasp sb to your chest/bosom (=hold someone tightly with your arms)
2 to fasten something with a clasp $
1 SOCIAL GROUP
a) [C] one of the groups in a society that different types of people are divided into according to their jobs, income, education etc
professional/landowning/working etc class
•a Marxist view of the ruling classes
•a member of the landed class (=people who own land)
class divisions/differences etc
• social class inequalities
LOWER CLASS, MIDDLE CLASS, UPPER CLASS, WORKING CLASS; the chattering classes at CHATTER^1 (4)
b) [U] the system in which people are divided into these groups:
•Defining the concept of class is not an easy task.
class system/structure
•The old class system is slowly disappearing.
2 STUDENTS [C, also + plural verb BrE ]
a) a group of students who are taught together; classmate
in a class
•We're in the same class for math.
•Gary came top of the class in English.
•My class are going to the Lake District.
b) AmE a group of students who finished studying together in the same year; classmate
•a class reunion
the class of 1965/2001 etc (=the group of students who finished in 1965 etc)
•The class of '69 spent almost as much time protesting as learning.
3 TEACHING PERIOD [C,U] a period of time during which someone teaches a group of people, especially in a school; = lesson BrE
geography/French/cooking etc class
•I missed Bible class last week.
in class (=during the class)
•No talking in class!
•Were you late for class this morning?
have a class AmE
•I have physics class at 9:30 on Tuesdays.
4 STUDYING [C] a series of classes in a particular subject; = course BrE
[+in]
•a class in photography at night school
dance/aerobics/Greek etc class
•Dance classes start at 5:15.
take/attend/do a class (=go to a series of classes)
•Cindy's taking a class on dealing with stress.
•He attended evening classes at the local college.
5 SAME TYPE OF STH [C] a group of people, animals, or things that are considered together because they are similar in some way
[+of]
•Have you passed a test for this class of vehicle?
6 TRAIN/AIRCRAFT ETC [C usually singular] one of the different standards of seats, food etc available on a train, aircraft etc
first/business/tourist etc class
•We always travel first class.
7 QUALITY [C] a group into which people or things are divided according to their quality or abilities
nicer/better etc class of sth
•The port now attracts a wealthier class of visitor.
in a class of its own/in a different class (=better than everything else)
•Its sheer versatility puts this computer in a different class.
•He's not in the same class (=not as good) as her at tennis.
8 STYLE/SKILL [U] informal a high level of style or skill in something; classy
have/show class
•The team showed real class in this afternoon's match.
•A fountain will give your garden a touch of class.
class player/actress etc
a class act informal (=someone who is skilful, attractive etc)
•Laughton is a class act who's proved his worth in the game.
HIGH-CLASS, LOW-CLASS
9 UNIVERSITY DEGREE [C] BrE one of the three levels of a university degree:
•a second class degree[T often passive]
to consider people, things etc as belonging to a particular group, using an official system; = classify
class sb/sth as sth
•Heroin and cocaine are classed as hard drugs.[C]
AmE a LAWSUIT arranged by a group of people for themselves and other people with the same problem
- class-action adjective [only before noun]
•class-action lawsuits[U] technical
knowledge and understanding of the class system, and of your own and other people's social class [usually before noun]
1 TYPICAL having all the features that are typical or expected of a particular thing or situation
classic example/mistake/case etc
•Too many job hunters make the classic mistake of thinking only about what's in it for them.
2 ADMIRED admired by many people, and having a value that has continued for a long time:
•The Coca-Cola bottle is one of the classic designs of the last century.
•a collection of classic cars
3 VERY GOOD of excellent quality:
•Roy scored a classic goal in the 90th minute.
4 TRADITIONAL a classic style of art or clothing is attractive in a simple traditional way; classical
•She chose a classic navy suit for the ceremony.[C]
1 a book, play, or film that is important and has been admired for a long time:
•'La Grande Illusion' is one of the classics of French cinema.
all-time/modern/design etc classic
•The play has become an American classic.
2 something that is very good and one of the best examples of its kind:
•What makes a car a classic?
3 classics [plural] the language, literature, and history of Ancient Rome and Greece; classicist
•Judith studied classics at Oxford.
1 belonging to a traditional style or set of ideas
classical ballet/dance etc
•the classical theory of relativity
2 relating to music that is considered to be important and serious and that has a value that continues for a long time
classical music/musician/composer etc
•a leading classical violinist
•a classical repertoire
3 relating to the language, literature etc of Ancient Greece and Rome:
•classical literature
•a classical scholar
•classical mythology
4 also classic typical of a particular thing or situation:
•the classical argument against democracy
- classically adverb
•a classically trained singer
•Classically, infection appears in the lower jaw. [U]
a style of art, literature etc that is simple, regular, and does not show strong emotions; realism, romanticism [C]
someone who studies CLASSICs
[C,U] a process in which you put something into the group or class it belongs to, or the group that it belongs to; classify
•the classification of wines according to quality
•There are five job classifications.
classified information, documents etc are ones which the government has ordered to be kept secret[C]
a small advertisement you put in a newspaper to buy or sell something; = small ad BrE; = want ad AmE past tense and past participle classified, present participle classifying, third person singular classifies [T]
1 to decide what group something belongs to; classification
classify sth as/under sth
•In law, beer is classified as a food product.
•We'd classify Drabble's novels under 'Romance'.
•Families are classified according to the father's occupation.
2 to regard people or things as belonging to a particular group because they have similar qualities; classification
•As a musician, Cage is hard to classify.
- classifiable adjective $ [usually before noun]
a classless society is one in which people are not divided into different social classes:
•Australia is the closest we have to a classless society.
- classlessness noun [U] $ [C]
a member of the same class in a school, college or, in the US, a university $ [C]
a room that you have lessons in at a school or collegealso class war [singular,U]
in MARXIST THEORY, political opposition and the fight for economic power between CAPITALISTs (=the owners of property, factories etc) and the PROLETARIAT (=the workers) $ [U]
school work done by students while they are in a class rather than at home; homework $ informal
fashionable and expensive:
•classy restaurants $
1 [I] if heavy hard objects clatter, or if you clatter them, they make a loud unpleasant noise:
•The tray slipped and clattered to the floor.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to move quickly and noisily:
•children clattering up and down the stairs
- clatter noun [singular, U]
•the clatter of dishes $ [C]
1 a part of a written law or legal document covering a particular subject of the whole law or document:
•A confidentiality clause was added to the contract.
2 technical a group of words that contains a subject and a verb, but which is usually only part of a sentence $ [U]
a strong fear of being in a small enclosed space or in a situation that limits what you can do; agoraphobia
- claustrophobic adjective
•I get claustrophobic in elevators.
•a claustrophobic atmosphere $ [C]
a musical instrument like a piano, that was played especially in the past [C]
medical a COLLARBONE $ [C]
1 a sharp curved nail on an animal, bird, or some insects:
•The cat dug his claws into my leg.
•lobster claws
2 get your claws into sb
a) if someone gets their claws into another person, they influence them in a harmful way:
•The thought of Eloise getting her claws into the child made his blood run cold.
b) to say unpleasant things about someone in order to upset them:
•Wait till the papers get their claws into him.
3 the curved end of a tool or machine, used for lifting things:
•a claw hammer[I,T]
1 to tear or pull at something, using claws or your fingers
[+at]
•The cat keeps clawing at the rug.
•Mary clawed at her husband's sleeve, trying to stop him.
2 claw your way to try very hard to reach a place or position, using a lot of effort and determination
claw your way up/along/back etc
•He clawed his way forward inch by inch.
•Benson clawed his way back into the lead.

PHRASAL VERBS
claw sth <=> back phr v
1 to get back something that you had lost, by trying very hard:
•The company has managed to claw back its share of the market.
2 BrE if a government or organization claws back money it has given to people, it takes it back [U]
a type of heavy sticky earth that can be used for making pots, bricks etc
feet of clay at FOOT^1 (27)[U] BrE
a sport in which you shoot at circles of hard clay that are thrown up into the air; = skeet shooting AmE comparative cleaner, superlative cleanest
1 NOT DIRTY without any dirt, marks etc; dirty

keep sth clean
wipe sth clean (=wipe a cloth over something so it is clean)
sweep/scrub etc sth clean (=rub something hard with a cloth or brush so it is clean)
clean and tidy especially BrE
neat and clean especially AmE
nice and clean
spotlessly/scrupulously clean (=very clean)
as clean as a whistle (=very clean)

•Are your hands clean?
•clean towels
•Make sure you keep the wound clean.
• Wipe that sink clean when you're done.
•As usual, she left her room clean and tidy before going to school.
•a spotlessly clean kitchen
•I want you to get those plates as clean as a whistle.

2 PEOPLE/ANIMALS having a clean appearance and habits:
•Cats are naturally clean.
3 ENVIRONMENT containing or producing nothing that is dirty or harmful; cleanly
clean air/water/energy etc
•the Clean Air Act
• cleaner fuels
4 FAIR OR LEGAL
a) done in a fair or legal way; dirty
•a clean fight
b) showing that you have followed the rules:
•a clean driving licence
•For the last three years, he's had a clean record.
c) [not before noun] informal not hiding any weapons or illegal drugs:
•They searched him at the airport, but he was clean.
d) [not before noun] no longer taking illegal drugs:
•Dave's been clean for two years now.
5 NOT OFFENSIVE talk, jokes, behaviour etc that are clean are not offensive or about sex; dirty
•Oh, don't get mad - it's just good clean fun!
• Keep it clean (=do not offend people with what you say).
clean living (=a way of life which is healthy and moral)
6 come clean informal to finally tell the truth about something you have been hiding
[+about]
•The government should come clean about its plans.
7 make a clean breast of it to admit that you have done something wrong so that you no longer feel guilty
8 a clean break
a) a complete and sudden separation from a person, organization, or situation:
•Den left the next day, needing to make a clean break.
9 clean sheet/slate a record of someone's work, behaviour, performance etc that shows they have not done anything wrong or made any mistakes:
•Jed looked forward to starting life again with a clean sheet.
•Lewis has kept a clean sheet in every game (=not let the other team score).
10 clean hands if a person, government, organization etc has clean hands, they have done something in a fair or legal way:
•Neither side is coming to the negotiating table with completely clean hands.
11 PAPER a piece of paper that is clean has not yet been used; = fresh
12 SMOOTH having a smooth or regular edge or surface; cleanly
•a clean cut
•Use a clean, simple typeface for signs.
13 a clean bill of health a report that says you are healthy or that a machine or building is safe:
•Inspectors gave the factory a clean bill of health.
14 a clean sweep
a) a very impressive victory in a competition, election etc
[+for]
•All the polls had pointed to a clean sweep for the Democrats.
•Hopes that the French would make a clean sweep at the Games were dashed.
b) a complete change in a company or organization, often by removing people
15 TASTE having a fresh pleasant taste:
•Add a little lemon juice to give the pasta a cool, clean taste.
16 clean copy a piece of writing without mistakes or other marks written on it
17 MOVEMENT a clean movement in sport is skilful and exact:
•He steadied his arm, hoping for a clean shot.
- cleanness noun [U]
CLEAN-CUT; keep your nose clean at NOSE^1 (9)

WORD FOCUS: CLEAN
very clean:
spotless
pristine
immaculate
spick and span

1 [I,T] to remove dirt from something by rubbing or washing; cleanse
•Your shoes need cleaning.
•Is it easy to clean?
clean sth down/off
•We clean the machines down at the end of each day.
clean sth off/from sth
•He used a tissue to clean his fingerprints off the gun.
DRY-CLEAN; spring-clean at SPRING-CLEANING
2 [I,T] to clean a building or other people's houses as your job:
•Anne comes in to clean twice a week.
3 clean your teeth BrE to make your teeth clean using a TOOTHBRUSH and TOOTHPASTE; = brush your teeth AmE
4 [T] to remove the inside parts of an animal or bird before cooking it:
•Harry caught the fish and cleaned them himself.
5 clean your plate to eat all your food

PHRASAL VERBS
clean sb/sth out phr v
1 clean sth <=> out to make the inside of a room, house etc clean or tidy:
•We'd better clean out the attic this week.
2 clean sb out informal if something expensive cleans you out, you spend so much money on it that you now have very little left:
•Quite frankly, that trip to Paris cleaned me out.
3 clean sb/sth out informal to steal everything from a place, or all of someone's possessions

clean up phr v
1 to make a place completely clean and tidy:
•We spent all Saturday morning cleaning up.
clean sth <=> up
•plans to clean up the beaches
[+after]
•John always expects other people to clean up after him (=to make a place clean after he has used it).
2 to wash yourself after you have got very dirty
clean yourself up
•Let me just go clean myself up.
•Dad's upstairs getting cleaned up.
3 clean up your act informal to start behaving sensibly and responsibly:
•Some companies could face heavy fines if they fail to clean up their act.
4 informal to win a lot of money or make a lot of money in a business deal:
•He cleaned up at the races yesterday.
5 clean sth <=> up to improve moral standards in a place or organization:
•It's high time British soccer cleaned up its image.
CLEAN-UP

WORD FOCUS: words meaning CLEAN
wash with soap and water
wipe with a damp cloth
brush with a brush to remove the dirt
polish by rubbing with a cloth
scrub by rubbing hard
sweep with a broom
mop with water and a mopa tool with a long handle
vacuumalso /hoover BrE with a machine that sucks up dust
disinfect using chemicals to kill germs
cleanse to clean your skin using a special cream
rinse to put water on to remove dirt or soap
dust to remove dust, for example with a cloth

used to emphasize the fact that an action or movement is complete and thorough
clean away/through/out
•The thieves got clean away with $300,000 worth of equipment.
•The car hit her with such force that she was lifted clean off the ground.
•Sorry, I clean forgot (=completely forgot) your birthday.[singular] BrE
a process in which you clean something:
•The car needs a good clean.
someone who is clean-cut looks neat and clean, and appears to have a good moral character:
•clean-cut college boys $
1 [C] especially BrE someone whose job is to clean other people's houses, offices etc
2 [C,U] a machine or substance used for cleaning:
•a vacuum cleaner
•toilet bowl cleaner
3 the cleaner's a DRY CLEANER'S
4 take sb to the cleaner's informal
a) to cheat someone and to take all their money or possessions
b) to defeat someone completely:
•The Lakers took the Bulls to the cleaner's, winning 96-72. [U]
the process of job of making a house, office etc clean:
•Liz comes on Thursday to do the cleaning.
cleaning lady/woman (=a woman who cleans houses, offices etc as her job) [U]
the practice of keeping yourself or the things around you clean:
•a high standard of cleanliness
1 quickly and smoothly with a single movement:
•The branch snapped cleanly in two.
2 without producing dirt, pollution etc:
•a fuel that burns cleanly without loss of power [T]
1 to make something completely clean:
•Use a piece of gauze to cleanse the cut.
•The water is cleansed and reused.
2 to remove everything that is bad or immoral from a person's character, an organization, or a place - used especially in news reports
cleanse sb/sth of sth
•The mayor was elected on a promise to cleanse the city government of corruption.
ETHNIC CLEANSING $ [C,U]
1 a substance used for removing dirt or MAKE-UP from your face
2 a substance containing chemicals that is used for cleaning surfaces inside a house, office etc:
•cream cleanser for the bathroom
a man who is clean-shaven does not have a BEARD or MOUSTACHEalso cleanup [C usually singular]
a process by which you get rid of dirt or waste from a place:
•The cleanup of the oil spill took months.
•millions of dollars in clean-up costs $ comparative clearer, superlative clearest
1 EASY TO UNDERSTAND expressed in a simple and direct way so that people understand; clarity, clearly
•clear instructions
•The question wasn't very clear.
•It's the clearest guide I've used.
[+about]
•The school is clear about its policy on bullying.
clear about what/when/how etc
•Be very clear about what jobs should be completed, and by when.
[+on]
•The rules are quite clear on the point.
[+to]
•It was clear to him that Tolkien was a literary genius.
make sth clear
•The bishop made his views clear in a letter to the publisher.
•How can you make the meaning clearer?
make it clear that
•Make it clear that you will not take sides.
absolutely/abundantly clear
•Can I make it absolutely clear that we did not intend this to happen?
•Perhaps I tried to cover too much and didn't make myself clear (=express myself well).
•If you don't understand, it's best to say so and get things clear.
•If I catch you smoking again, you're grounded. Do I make myself clear (=used when you are angry)?
clear picture/idea (=a good understanding)
•The report gave a clear picture of the property's condition.
•He writes crystal clear (=very easy to understand) prose.
2 IMPOSSIBLE TO DOUBT impossible to doubt, question, or make a mistake about; clearly
•clear evidence of guilt
•They won by a clear majority.
it is clear whether/why/how etc
•It is not yet clear whether he shares these views.
it is clear (that)
•It is clear that the drug does benefit some patients.
•When it became clear that I was going to have a baby, he left me.
clear case/example of sth
•a clear case of sexual discrimination
3 SURE ABOUT STH feeling certain that you know or understand something; clearly
[+about/on]
•Are you all clear now about what you have to do?
clear whether/what/how etc
•I'm still not really clear how this machine works.
•Let me get this clear- you hadn't seen her in three days?
•a clearer understanding of the issues
4 THINKING able to think sensibly and quickly; clarity, clearly
•She felt that her thinking was clearer now.
•In the morning, with a clear head, she'd tackle the problem.
5 SUBSTANCE/LIQUID easy to see through, rather than coloured or dirty; = transparent; cloudy, opaque
•clear glass bottles
•a crystal clear mountain lake
6 WEATHER clean and fresh, without clouds or mist:
•a clear June morning
•The skies were clear and blue.
7 EYES healthy, very pure in colour, and without any redness:
•clear blue eyes
8 SKIN smooth and without any red spots:
•a clear complexion
9 EASY TO SEE having details, edges, lines etc that are easy to see, or shapes that are easy to recognize; clarity
•a TV with a clear picture and high-quality sound
10 EASY TO HEAR easy to hear, and therefore easy to understand; clarity, clearly
•a clear speaking voice
•The radio reception isn't very clear.
•It's a good recording; the sound is as clear as a bell (=very clear).
11 AFTER TAX a clear amount of profit, wages etc is what is left after taxes have been paid on it; = net
•I get £200 a week clear.
•Sam makes a clear $90,000 per year.
12 a clear conscience the knowledge that you have done the right thing and should not feel guilty:
•I don't think I could vote for him with a clear conscience.
•She had done what she could and her conscience was clear.
13 PERIOD OF TIME without any planned activities or events:
•Next Monday is clear; how about 10 o'clock?
•Leave at least one clear day between the flight and any business meetings.
14 NOT BUSY complete or whole:
•Allow three clear days for delivery.
15 NOT BLOCKED/COVERED not covered or blocked by anything that stops you from doing or seeing what you want:
•The roads were fairly clear this morning.
clear view/look
•From the top floor you get a clear view of the bay.
[+of]
•To prevent fires, the sides of the roads are kept clear of underbrush.
16 see your way clear (to doing sth) informal to have the necessary time or willingness to be able to do something:
•We expect good results soon, if the board can see its way clear to continuing funding the project.
17 be clear of sth to not be touching something, or to be past someone or something:
•Wait to cross until the street is clear of cars.
•The curtains should be a couple of inches clear of the floor.
18 as clear as mud spoken used humorously to say that something is very difficult to understand
ALL CLEAR; the coast is clear at COAST^1 (2)
- clearness noun [U]
1 SURFACE/PLACE [T] to make somewhere emptier or tidier by removing things from it:
•Snowplows have been out clearing the roads.
clear sth of sth
•Large area of land had been cleared of forest.
clear sth from sth
•Workers have been clearing the wreckage from the tracks.
•Dad cleared a space (=moved things so that there was room) in the garage for Jim's tools.
•It's Kelly's turn to clear the table (=remove the dirty plates, forks etc).
2 REMOVE PEOPLE [T] to make people, cars etc leave a place:
•Within minutes, police had cleared the area.
clear sb/sth from sth
•Crowds of demonstrators were cleared from the streets.
3 CRIME/BLAME ETC [T usually passive] to prove that someone is not guilty of something:
•Rawlings was cleared after new evidence was produced.
clear sb of (doing) sth
•Maya was cleared of manslaughter.
•a long-running legal battle to clear his name
4 PERMISSION [T]
a) to give or get official permission for something to be done:
•He was cleared by doctors to resume skating in August.
clear sth with sb
•Defence policies must often be cleared with NATO allies first.
b) to give official permission for a person, ship, or aircraft to enter or leave a country:
•The plane took off as soon as it was cleared.
5 clear your throat to cough in order to be able to speak with a clear voice
6 WEATHER also clear up [I] if the weather, sky, mist etc clears, it becomes better and there is more sun:
•The haze usually clears by lunchtime.
7 LIQUID [I] if a liquid clears, it becomes more transparent and you can see through it:
•Wait for the water to clear before adding any fish.
8 CHEQUE [I,T] if a cheque clears, or if a bank clears it, the bank allows the money to be paid into the account of the person whose name is on the cheque
9 GO OVER/PAST [T] to go over a fence, wall etc without touching it, or to go past or through something and no longer be in it:
•The plane barely cleared the fence at the end of the runway.
•Edwards cleared 18 feet in the pole vault.
•The plane cleared Chinese airspace.
10 clear a debt/loan to get rid of a debt by paying what you owe
11 clear your head/mind to stop worrying or thinking about something, or get rid of the effects of drinking too much alcohol:
•A good walk might clear my head.
12 FACE/EXPRESSION [I] literary if your face or expression clears, you stop looking worried or angry:
•She looked embarrassed, but then her face cleared.
13 clear the way for sth written to make it possible for a process to happen:
•This agreement will clear the way for further talks.
14 SKIN also clear up [I] if your skin clears, red marks on it disappear:
•The rash has finally cleared.
15 clear the air to do something to end an argument or bad situation, for example discuss a problem calmly
16 clear (sth through) customs to be allowed to take things through CUSTOMs
17 clear the decks to do all the work that needs to be done before you can do other things:
•I'm trying to clear the decks before Christmas.
18 EARN [T] informal to earn a particular amount of money after taxes have been paid on it:
•Diane clears £20,000 a year.

PHRASAL VERBS
clear sth <=> away phr v
to make a place look tidier by removing things or putting things back where they belong:
•When dinner was done and cleared away, Auntie Lou made some tea.
•Homeowners are clearing away brush near their houses to prevent fires.

clear off phr v BrE informal
to leave a place quickly:
•They cleared off when they saw the police coming.
clear off! (=used to tell someone angrily to go away)

clear out phr v
1 clear sth<=> out to make a place tidy by removing things from it and getting rid of them:
•I need to clear out my closet.
2 to leave a place or building quickly:
•Wait to get on the train until the people getting off have cleared out.
clear out! BrE (=used to tell someone angrily to go away)
CLEAR-OUT

clear up phr v
1 to make a place look tidier by putting things back where they belong:
•I don't mind you using the kitchen as long as you clear up afterwards.
clear sth <=> up
•Adam, clear up this mess before your father sees it.
[+after]
•I get really tired of clearing up after you (=tidying places that you have made untidy).
2 clear sth<=> up to explain or solve something, or make it easier to understand:
•The White House hopes these problems can be cleared up soon.
•There are a couple of points we need to clear up before the meeting begins.
3 if the weather clears up, it gets better
4 if an illness or infection clears up, it disappears
1 away from something, or out of the way:
•Firefighters pulled her clear of the wreckage.
•Please stand clear of the doors.
2 keep/stay/steer clear (of sb/sth) to avoid someone or something because of possible danger or trouble:
•If you're a beginner, steer clear of resorts with reputations for difficult skiing.
3 informal especially AmE used to emphasize a long distance:
•You can see clear to the hills.
loud and clear at LOUD^2 (2)
in the clear not guilty of something:
•If Middlemass had spoken to Potter at 8:45, Potter was in the clear. $
1 [C,U] the process of getting official permission or approval for something:
•She'll race if she gets medical clearance from her doctor.
•Morris did not have a security clearance.
2 [C,U] official permission for a plane to take off or land
[+for]
•The pilot requested clearance for an emergency landing.
3 [C,U] the removal of unwanted things from a place:
•the clearance of minefields
snow/land/slum etc clearance
•flooding caused by forest clearance
4 [C,U] the amount of space around one object that is needed for it to avoid touching another object:
•There was less than a foot's clearance between the ship's sides and the wharf.
5 [C,U] a process by which a cheque goes from one bank to another
6 [C] an occasion when a player in a game such as football kicks the ball away from his or her GOAL[C]
an occasion when goods in a shop are sold cheaply in order to get rid of them
easy to understand or be certain about; = definite
•There is not always a clear-cut distinction between right and wrong.[C]
AmE an area of forest that has been completely cut down
- clear-cut verb [T]
able to think in a clear and sensible way $ [C]
a small area in a forest where there are no trees[C]
one of the banks in Britain that uses a clearing house when dealing with other banks[C]
1 a central office where banks exchange cheques and other financial documents
2 an office that receives and gives out or sells information or goods for several other organizations:
•a clearing house for data on comets and asteroids $
1 [sentence adverb] without any doubt; = obviously
•Clearly, ignoring him had been a mistake.
2 in a way that is easy to see, hear, or understand:
•Please speak clearly.
•The economy was clearly failing.
3 in a way that is sensible:
•I wasn't thinking clearly.[C usually singular] BrE informal
a process in which you get rid of unwanted objects or possessions:
•I had a clear-out and got rid of a lot of old toys.
able to understand a problem or situation well:
•a clear-sighted analysis
- clear-sightedness noun [U] $ [C]
a road in Britain on which vehicles must not stop [C]
1 a small bar with two short arms around which ropes can be tied, especially on a ship
2 [usually plural] a short piece of rubber, metal etc attached to the bottom of a sports shoe; = stud
3 cleats [plural] AmE a pair of sports shoes with these pieces attached to them, in order to prevent someone from slipping; spikes [C,U]
1 the space between a woman's breasts
2 formal a difference between two people or things that often causes problems or arguments past tense cleaved ,, clove $ , or, cleft past participle cleaved ,, past tense cloven $ or, cleft
1 [I,T always + adv/prep] literary to cut something into separate parts using a heavy tool, or to be able to be cut in this way:
•The wooden door had been cleft in two.
2 [T] formal to divide something into two completely separate parts:
•the racial problems that still cleave American society
3 cleave the air/darkness etc literary to move quickly through the air etc:
•His fist cleft the air.

PHRASAL VERBS
cleave to sb/sth phr v
1 formal to continue to think that a method, belief, person etc is true or valuable, even when this seems unlikely:
•John still cleaves to his romantic ideals.
2 literary to stick to someone or something, or seem to surround them $ [C]
a heavy knife for cutting up large pieces of meat [C]
a sign at the beginning of a line of written music to show the PITCH of the notes
treble/bass clef [C]
1 a natural crack in something, especially the surface of rocks or the Earth etc
2 an area on the chin or lip that goes slightly inwards
be (caught) in a cleft stick BrE to be in a very difficult situation in which any action or decision you make will cause problems
a past tense and past participle of CLEAVE[C]
a split in someone's upper lip, that they are born with[C]
a split in the top of the inside of someone's mouth, that they are born with and that makes it difficult for them to speak clearly [C,U]
a plant that attaches itself to trees, buildings, fences etc as it grows, and that has white or coloured flowers [U] formal
forgiveness and less severe punishment for a crime
grant/give sb clemency
•She was granted clemency after killing her violent husband. formal
clement weather is neither too hot nor too cold; = mild; inclement [C] BrE
a kind of small, sweet orange [T]
1 clench your fists/teeth/jaw etc to hold your hands, teeth etc together tightly, usually because you feel angry or determined:
•Jody was pacing the sidelines, her fists clenched.
2 to hold something tightly in your hand or between your teeth:
•a cigar clenched between his teeth $
the clergy [plural] the official leaders of religious activities in organized religions, such as priests, RABBIs , and MULLAHs ; clerical
•the power of the clergy in the Middle Ages $ plural clergymen [C]
a male member of the clergy $ plural clergywomen [C]
a female member of the clergy [C]
a member of the clergy
1 relating to office work, especially work such as keeping records or accounts:
•a clerical error
•clerical workers
2 relating to the clergy:
•a clerical collar $ [C]
1 someone who keeps records or accounts in an office:
•a clerk in a commercial firm
2 AmE someone whose job is to help people in a shop:
•the clerk in the shoe store
3 AmE someone whose job is to help people when they arrive at and leave a hotel:
•Leave the keys with the desk clerk.
4 an official in charge of the records of a court, town council etc
5 old use a priest in the Church of England[I] informal especially AmE
to work as a clerkplural clerks of works [C]
BrE someone who is in charge of repairs to the buildings in a particular place $
1 especially BrE able to learn and understand things quickly; = intelligent; = smart AmE
•a clever man
very/extremely/quite/pretty etc clever
•Lucy is quite clever and does well at school.
2 able to use your intelligence to get what you want, especially in a slightly dishonest way:
•a clever lawyer's tricks
3 [not before noun] especially BrE skilful at doing a particular thing:
•Bill's very clever with his hands.
•his clever ball control
clever at doing sth
•He was clever at finding bargains.
4 done or made in an unusual or interesting way that is very effective:
•What a clever little gadget!
•a clever marketing strategy
5 BrE spoken used jokingly when someone has done something silly or stupid:
•'When I got to the library I found I'd left the books at home.' 'That was clever!'
6 clever clogs/dick BrE spoken used to describe someone who is annoying because they are always right or always think they are right
7 be too clever by half BrE spoken to be clever, and to show that you are clever in a way that annoys other people
- cleverly adverb
- cleverness noun [U] $ [C]
an idea or phrase that has been used so much that it is not effective or does not have any meaning any longer:
•There is plenty of truth in the cliché that a trouble shared is a trouble halved.
- clichéd adjective
1 [I,T] to make a short hard sound, or make something produce this sound:
•The door clicked shut behind me.
•Mother clicked her tongue (=made a short sound to show disapproval) and sighed.
•Edmund clicked his fingers (=made a short sound to get someone's attention) for John to follow him.
•Sergeant Vogel clicked his heels (=hit the heels of his shoes together) and bowed.
•Twist the lever and the gears click into place.
2 [I,T] to press a button on a computer MOUSE to choose something from the screen that you want the computer to do, or to press a button on a REMOTE CONTROL:
•Choose the image you want by clicking twice.
•Programs must grab a viewer's attention in the time it takes to click a TV remote.
[+on]
•Children can click on a sentence to hear it read aloud.
3 [I] informal to suddenly understand or realize something:
•It's hard work, but one day it will just click.
•I thought, 'What is he doing?' and then suddenly it all clicked into place (=I understood how all the events related to each other).
4 [I] informal if two people click, they like, understand, and agree with each other:
•Petra and I clicked straight away.
5 [I] informal to happen in a good or successful way, especially because people are working together well:
•If everything clicks, we should have a good season.[C]
1 a short hard sound:
•The door closed with a click.
2 the click of a mouse used to show how quickly something can be done on a computer:
•Your photos can be viewed with the click of a mouse.
if a word or picture that you can see on a computer screen is clickable, it will connect you to more information when you click on it by pressing a button on the computer MOUSE[C]
an advertisement on the Internet that you can click on for more information, and which allows the advertiser to know how many people are interested enough in their advertisement to do this:
•Click-throughs are one of the standard ways to measure the effectiveness of online ads.
•click-through rates [C]
1 someone who gets services or advice from a professional person, company, or organization; = customer
•a meeting with an important client
2 technical a computer on a NETWORK that receives information from a SERVER (=large powerful computer) $ [singular]
all the people who regularly use a shop, restaurant etc:
•The restaurant attracts a young clientele.[C]
a country that is dependent on the support and protection of a more powerful country - used in news reports [C]
a large area of rock or a mountain with a very steep side, often at the edge of the sea or a river $ [C]
a situation in a story, film, or a competition that makes you feel very excited or nervous because you do not know what will happen or have to wait a long time to see how it will end:
•Tonight's vote may be a cliffhanger.
•the episode's cliffhanger ending
- cliffhanging adjective
forming a very exciting or important part of an event or story, especially near the end of it; climax
•a climatic moment
1 [C,U] the typical weather conditions in a particular area:
•Los Angeles' warm, dry climate
• climate change (=a permanent change in weather conditions)
2 [C] an area with particular weather conditions:
•These flowers will not grow in cold climates.
3 [C usually singular] the general feeling or situation in a place at a particular time
political/economic/social etc climate
•Small businesses are finding it hard to survive in the present economic climate.
[+of]
•a climate of growing racial intolerance in large cities [only before noun]
relating to the weather in a particular area:
•climatic conditions $ [U]
the scientific study of climate
- climatologist noun [C] [C usually singular]
1 the most exciting or important part of a story or experience, which usually comes near the end; climactic
[+of]
•the climax of his naval career
[+to]
•a thrilling climax to the game
•The festival reaches its climax with the traditional boat-burning ceremony.
2 an ORGASM
1 [I,T] if a situation, process, or story climaxes, it reaches its most important or exciting part
[+in/with]
•a series of special events climaxing with a spectacular fireworks show
2 [I] to have an ORGASM
1 MOVE UP/DOWN [I always + adv/prep, T] to move up, down, or across something using your feet and hands, especially when this is difficult to do:
•Harry climbed the stairs.
•Boys were climbing trees along the river bank.
[+up/down/along etc]
•The wall is too high to climb over.
•They climbed up into the loft of the old barn.
2 TEMPERATURE/PRICES ETC [I] to increase in number, amount, or level:
•The temperature has climbed steadily since this morning.
•Inflation climbed 2% last month.
[+to]
•The divorce rate had climbed to almost 30% of all marriages.
3 WITH DIFFICULTY [I always + adv/prep] to move into, out of, or through something slowly and awkwardly:
•The bus pulled in, and we climbed aboard.
[+through/over/into etc]
•John climbed through the window into the kitchen.
•I turned the TV on and climbed into bed.
4 PATH/SUN/PLANE [I] to move gradually to a higher position:
•The roller coaster climbs 91 feet and reaches speeds of 45 miles an hour.
[+into/up etc]
•The path climbs high into the hills.
•The plane climbed to 11,600 feet to try to get above the clouds.
5 SPORT [I,T] to climb mountains or rocks as a sport:
•Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest.
•She loves to hike and climb.
CLIMBING
6 PLANT [I] to grow up a wall or other structure
climbing rose/plant
7 IN A LIST [I,T] to move higher in a list of teams, records etc as you become more popular or successful
[+to]
•Their new album has climbed to number 2 in the US charts.
8 IN YOUR LIFE/JOB [I,T] to move to a better position in your social or professional life:
•Steve climbed rapidly in the sales division.
•men who climbed the career ladder in the 1980s
9 be climbing the walls spoken to become extremely anxious, annoyed, or impatient:
•If I don't get a drink soon, I'll be climbing the walls.

PHRASAL VERBS
climb down phr v BrE
to admit that you were wrong, especially after being certain that you were right
1 MOVEMENT UPWARDS [C usually singular] a process in which you move up towards a place, especially while using a lot of effort:
•a long, steady climb to the top
2 INCREASE [C usually singular] an increase in value or amount:
•The dollar continued its climb against the yen.
[+in]
•a steady climb in house prices
3 IMPROVEMENT [C usually singular] the process of improving something, especially your professional or social position:
•a slow climb out of the recession
[+to]
•the Labour Party's climb to power
4 LIST/COMPETITION [singular] a process in which someone or something gets a higher position in a list or in a competition because of being popular or successful:
•the Giants' climb from twelfth to fifth in the league
•the song's steady climb up the charts
5 ROCK/MOUNTAIN [C] a steep rock, cliff, or mountain you climb up:
•one of the hardest rock climbs in the world[C usually singular] BrE
an occasion when you admit that you were wrong:
•a humiliating climb-down by the government $ [C]
1 someone who climbs as a sport:
•a mountain climber
2 a person or animal that can climb easily:
•Monkeys are good climbers.
3 a plant that grows up a wall or other structure
SOCIAL CLIMBER [U]
the sport of climbing mountains or rocks:
•a climbing rope
rock/mountain climbing
•He goes climbing nearly every weekend.[C]
BrE a structure for children to climb on, made from metal bars, wood, or rope; = jungle gym AmE [C usually plural] literary
a place that has a particular type of CLIMATE:
•sunnier climes
1 [T] to finally agree on something or get something after trying very hard:
•a young salesman eager to clinch the deal
clinch a match/championship/victory etc
•A last-minute touchdown clinched the game for the Saints.
2 clinch it informal if an event, situation, process etc clinches it, it makes someone finally decide to do something that they were already thinking of doing:
•We'd talked about moving, and the burglary clinched it for us.
3 [I] if two people clinch, they hold each other's arms tightly, especially when they are fighting[C]
1 a situation in which two people hold each other's arms tightly, especially when they are fighting
2 a situation in which two people who love each other hold each other tightly; = embrace $ [C]
informal a fact, action, or remark that finally persuades someone to do something, or that ends an argument, discussion, or competition:
•Sixsmith scored the clincher after 81 minutes. [C] technical
a series of very small differences in a group of things of the same kind; = continuum past tense and past participle clung [I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to hold someone or something tightly, especially because you do not feel safe
[+to/on/at etc]
•He wailed and clung to his mother.
•Passengers clung desperately onto the lifeboats.
2 [always + adv/prep] to stick to someone or something, or seem to surround them
[+to/around etc]
•His wet shirt clung to his body.
•The smell of cigarette smoke clung to her clothes.
3 to stay close to someone all the time because you are too dependent on them or do not feel safe - used to show disapproval:
•Some children tend to cling on their first day at school.
•a less clinging wife

PHRASAL VERBS
cling on phr v
to continue trying to stay in power, in business etc:
•Other businesses cling on and hope.

cling to sth phr v also cling on to sth
1 to continue to believe or do something, even though it may not be true or useful any longer
cling to the hope/belief/idea etc (that)
•He clung to the hope that she would be cured.
2 to stay in a position of power or stay ahead, when this is difficult, or to try to do this:
•an attempt to cling to power [U] BrE trademark
very thin transparent plastic, used to cover food and keep it fresh; = plastic wrap AmEalso clinging
1 someone who is clingy is too dependent on another person, and will often hold onto them - used to show disapproval:
•a shy, clingy child
2 clingy clothing or material sticks tightly to your body and shows its shape - use this to show approval:
•She wore a clingy red dress. [C]
1 a place, often in a hospital, where medical treatment is given to people who do not need to stay in the hospital
dental/family planning/antenatal etc clinic
•women attending an antenatal clinic
•an appointment at an outpatient clinic (=clinic for someone who does not need to stay in a hospital)
2 especially BrE a period of time during which doctors give treatment or advice to people with particular health problems:
•The baby clinic is held on Monday afternoons.
3 a meeting during which a professional person gives advice or help to people:
•an MP's clinic
•a free clinic on caring for roses
4 AmE a place where medical treatment is given at a low cost:
•the doctors who volunteer at the inner-city clinic
5 AmE a group of doctors who work together and share the same offices; = practice
6 an occasion when medical students are taught how to decide what illness a patient has and how to treat it
1 [only before noun] relating to treating or testing people who are sick:
•The drug has undergone extensive clinical trials (=tests to see if it is effective in treating people).
clinical medicine/experience/training etc (=medicine etc that deals directly with people, rather than with research or ideas)
•The therapy has helped people with clinical depression (=a strong feeling of sadness, for which you need medical help).
2 relating to a hospital or clinic:
•The program gives the students experience in a clinical setting.
3 considering only the facts and not influenced by personal feelings:
•A formal marriage agreement sounds clinical, but it can be a good idea.
4 a clinical building or room is very plain and clean, but not attractive or comfortable:
•The walls were painted a clinical white.
- clinically adverb
•clinically tested drugs[C]
a THERMOMETER for measuring the temperature of your body [C]
a doctor who treats and examines people, rather than one who does RESEARCH [I,T]
if two glass or metal objects clink, or if you clink them, they make a short ringing sound when they are hit together:
•Spoons clinked against the crockery.[singular]
1 the short ringing sound made by metal or glass objects hitting each other:
•the clink of glasses
2 old-fashioned informal prison $
1 [C,U] the hard material like rocks, which is left after coal has been burnt
2 [C] AmE a bad note in a musical performance:
•The singer hit a real clinker.
3 [C] AmE informal something or someone that is a total failure:
•Most of the songs are good, but there are a few clinkers.
1 FOR FASTENING [C] a small metal or plastic object that holds or fastens things together:
•The wire is held on with a metal clip.
•a wad of money in a gold clip
BULLDOG CLIP, PAPERCLIP
2 FILM [C] a short part of a film or television programme that is shown by itself, especially as an advertisement:
•clips from the new James Bond film
3 GUN [C] a container for bullets which passes them quickly into the gun so that they can be fired
4 at a good/rapid/fast etc clip quickly:
•Traffic was moving at a good clip.
5 CUT [singular] BrE the act of cutting something to make it shorter or tidier:
•I gave the hedge a clip.
6 a clip round the ear/earhole BrE informal a short hit on the side of someone's head
7 NEWSPAPER [C] an article that is cut from a newspaper or magazine for a particular reason
8 $100/50 cents etc a clip AmE informal if things cost $100, 50 cents etc a clip, they cost that amount of money eachpast tense and past participle clipped, present participle clipping
1 FASTEN [I always + adv/prep, T] to fasten something together or to be fastened together using a clip
clip sth into/onto etc sth
•A microphone was clipped to his tie.
•a stack of bills clipped together
2 CUT [T] to cut small amounts of something in order to make it tidier:
•The hedges had just been clipped.
3 CUT FROM NEWSPAPER [T always + adv/prep] to cut an article or picture from a newspaper, magazine etc
clip sth out of/from sth
•a cartoon clipped from a Minneapolis newspaper
4 HIT [T] to hit something quickly at an angle, often by accident:
•A truck swerved and clipped a parked car.
5 REDUCE [T] to slightly reduce an amount, quantity etc - used in news reports
clip sth off/from sth
•Gunnell clipped a second off the world record.
6 clip sb's wings to restrict someone's freedom, activities, or power
7 clip sb round the ear/earhole BrE informal to hit someone quickly on the side of the head
8 TICKET [T] BrE to make a hole in a bus or train ticket to show that it has been used; = punch AmE
9 clip your words to say words in a quick, short, and not very friendly way[U]
images, photographs, or pictures that are on particular websites, CD-ROMs , and FLOPPY DISKs , and that you can copy and use in your own computer documents $ [C]
1 a small flat board with a CLIP on top that holds paper so that you can write on it
2 a part of a computer's MEMORY that stores information when you are moving it from one document to another[singular]
the sound made by a horse as it walks on a hard surface
- clip-clop verb [I][C] informal
a NIGHTCLUB that charges an unfairly high price for drinks[only before noun]
attached to something with a CLIP:
•clip-on earrings
- clip-on noun [C]
1 cut so that it is short and neat:
•a neatly clipped hedge
2 a clipped voice is quick and clear but not very friendly $
1 clippers [plural] a special tool with two blades, used for cutting small pieces from something:
•nail clippers
2 [C] a fast sailing ship used in the past [C]
1 an article or picture that has been cut out of a newspaper or magazine; = cutting
newspaper/press clippings
•old press clippings about movie stars
2 [usually plural] a small piece cut from something bigger:
•hedge clippings [C]
a small group of people who think they are special and do not want other people to join them - used to show disapproval
[+of]
•a ruling clique of officials
•the cliques formed by high school studentsalso cliquish
a cliquey organization, club etc has a lot of cliques or is controlled by them - used to show disapproval [C]
a small part of a woman's outer sexual organs, where she can feel sexual pleasureBrE
the written abbreviation of councillor $
1 [C] a warm piece of clothing like a coat without sleeves that hangs loosely from your shoulders
2 [singular] an organization, activity, or way of behaving that deliberately protects someone or keeps something secret
[+of]
•the cloak of secrecy around the country's rulers
[+for]
•The political party is used as a cloak for terrorist activities.
under the cloak of sth
•prejudice hiding under the cloak of religion[T usually passive]
1 to deliberately hide facts, feelings etc so that people do not see or understand them - used especially in news reports
cloaked in secrecy/mystery
•The talks have been cloaked in secrecy.
2 literary to cover something, for example with darkness or snow
[+in]
•hills cloaked in mist
- cloaked adjective
•The riders were cloaked (=they wore cloaks).[usually before noun]
very secret and mysterious, and usually involving the work of SPIES:
•a cloak-and-dagger operation $ [C]
1 a small room where you can leave your coat; = coatroom AmE
2 BrE a room in a public building where there are toilets - used when you want to be polite; = rest room AmE
•Excuse me, where's the ladies' cloakroom? $ [T] informal
1 to hit someone very hard
2 to affect or punish someone or something badly, especially by making them lose money:
•The paper got clobbered for libel.
•The company has been clobbered by falling property prices.
3 to defeat someone very easily in a way that is embarrassing for the team that loses:
•The Dallas Cowboys clobbered the Buffalo Bills last night.[U] BrE informal
someone's possessions, especially their clothes:
•Liam's football clobber $ [C]
1 a hat shaped like a bell, worn by women in the 1920s
2 BrE a glass or transparent plastic cover put over young plants to protect them during cold weather $ [C]
1 an instrument that shows what time it is, in a room or outside on a building:
• The clock on the church tower said nine o'clock.
•I lay there listening to the clock ticking.
•Mary set her alarm clock for 6:30 am (=made sure it would ring at 6:30).
•My clock stopped and I didn't wake up in time.
•I heard the clock strike six.
by the hall/kitchen/church etc clock (=according to a particular clock)
•What time is it by the kitchen clock?
the clock is slow/fast (=the clock is showing an earlier or later time than the real time)
•The station clock was ten minutes slow.
wind (up) a clock (=turn a key in a clock so that it keeps working)
set a clock by sth (=change the time on a clock according to the time on the television, radio etc)
•I set my clock by the 6 o'clock news.
clock face (=the front part of a clock)
ALARM CLOCK, CARRIAGE CLOCK, CUCKOO CLOCK, GRANDFATHER CLOCK
watch the clock at WATCH^1 (8)
2 around the clock also round the clock BrE all day and all night without stopping:
•Kim has been working round the clock to finish it in time.
3 put/turn the clock back
a) also set the clock back AmE to go back to the way things were done in the past instead of doing things in a modern way - used in order to show disapproval:
•The new employment bill will put the clock back fifty years.
b) to return to a good situation that you experienced in the past or to make someone remember such a situation:
•The kids are all grown up now and you can't put the clocks back.
4 put the clock(s) back/forward BrE to change the time shown on the clock to one hour earlier or later, when the time officially changes
5 the clocks go back/forward BrE the time changes officially to one hour earlier or later:
•The clocks go back in October.
6 against the clock
a) if you work against the clock, you work as quickly as you can because you do not have much time:
•Everyone is racing against the clock to get things ready in time.
b) if you run, swim etc against the clock, you run or swim a particular distance while your speed is measured
7 twenty-four hour clock a system for measuring time in which the hours of the day and night have numbers from 0 to 23
8 start/stop the clock to start or stop measuring how much time is left in a game or sport that has a time limit
9 the clock
a) an instrument in a vehicle that measures how far it has travelled
on the clock
•a car with 43,000 miles on the clock
b) an instrument in a vehicle that measures the speed at which it is travelling
10 run out the clock/kill the clock AmE if a team runs out the clock at the end of a game, it tries to keep the ball for the rest of the game so that its opponents cannot get any points
BIOLOGICAL CLOCK, BODY CLOCK, DANDELION CLOCK, TIME CLOCK[T]
1 to cover a distance in a particular time, or to reach a particular speed in a race:
•Karen won in the 300 metres, clocking 42.9 seconds.
•the first steam engine to clock 100 miles an hour
2 to measure or record the time or speed that someone or something is travelling at
clock sb at/doing sth
•The police clocked him doing between 100 and 110 miles per hour.
3 BrE informal to notice someone or something, or to look at them carefully:
•Did you clock the bloke by the door?
4 BrE to reduce the number of miles or kilometres shown on the instrument in a car that says how far it has gone, in order to sell the car for more money:
•He knew the car had been clocked, but he couldn't prove it.

PHRASAL VERBS
clock in/on phr v especially BrE
to record on a special card the time you arrive at or begin work; = punch in AmE
•I clock on at 8:30.

clock off phr v BrE
1 informal to leave work at the end of the day:
•What time do you clock off?
2 to record on a special card the time you stop or leave work:
•At this time a lot of service workers would be clocking off.

clock out phr v especially BrE
to record on a special card the time you stop or leave work; = punch out AmE

clock up sth phr v
to reach or achieve a particular number or amount:
•The Dodgers have clocked up six wins in a row.
•I clocked up 90,000 miles in my Ford.
•Councillor Scott has clocked up more than 25 years on the borough council.[C]
a machine that is a clock and a radio. You can set the clock to turn the radio on and wake you up.[C, usually singular] technical
a measurement of how quickly a computer's CPU (=main controlling part) can deal with instructions:
•a clock speed of 1 gigahertz $ [U] BrE
when you often look at a clock to see what time it is because you are bored or want to stop working
- clockwatcher noun [C] $
in the same direction in which the HANDs of a clock move; anticlockwise, counterclockwise
•Screw the lid on clockwise.
- clockwise adjective
ANTICLOCKWISE, COUNTERCLOCKWISE $ [U]
1 BrE clockwork toys, trains, soldiers etc have machinery inside them that makes them move when you turn a key:
•mechanical toys powered by clockwork
•The tape was driven by a clockwork motor.
2 go/run like clockwork to happen in exactly the way you had planned:
•The concert went like clockwork.
3 like clockwork also (as) regular as clockwork happening at the same time and in the same way every time:
•Matt came round each Friday, regular as clockwork.
4 with clockwork precision/accuracy in an extremely exact way $ [C]
1 a lump of mud or earth
2 informal a stupid person $ [C]
1 clodhoppers [plural] a pair of heavy strong shoes - used humorously
2 BrE informal someone who is awkward and roughalso clog up $ past tense and past participle clogged, present participle clogging [I,T]
to block something or become blocked:
•tourists whose cars clog the roads each summer
[+with]
•Over many years, the pipes had got clogged up with grease.
- clogged adjective
•clogged highways[C usually plural]
a shoe made of wood with a leather top that covers the front of your foot but not your heel $ [C]
1 [usually plural] a covered passage that surrounds one side of a square garden in a church, MONASTERY etc
2 a building where MONKs or NUNs live $
1 protected from the difficulties and demands of ordinary life:
•Academics lead a cloistered life.
2 a cloistered building contains cloisters $ [C]
1 technical an animal or plant produced by scientists from one cell of another animal or plant, so that they are exactly the same
2 technical a computer that is built as an exact copy of a more famous computer:
•an IBM clone
3 informal someone or something that looks and behaves exactly the same as someone or something else
[+of]
•She's an exact clone of her sister![T]
1 to make an exact copy of a plant or animal by taking a cell from it and developing it artificially
2 to copy the number of someone else's MOBILE PHONE onto a new CHIP and then use that number on a different telephone, so that the mobile phone's owner receives the telephone bill $ [singular]
the sound made when a heavy object falls to the ground or hits another heavy object
- clonk verb [I,T] $ past tense and past participle clopped, present participle clopping [I]
if a horse clops, its HOOVES make a loud sound as they touch the ground
- clop noun [singular] $
1 SHUT [I,T] to shut something in order to cover an opening, or to become shut in this way; = shut; open ; closed
•Would you mind if I closed the window?
•She closed the curtains.
•Let me do the car door - it won't close properly.
•Beth closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
•She heard the door close behind her.
2 MOVE PARTS TOGETHER [I,T] to move the parts of something together so that there is no longer a space between them:
•Anne closed her book and stood up.
3 SHUT FOR PERIOD OF TIME [I,T] also close up if a shop or building closes, or you close it, it stops being open to the public for a period of time; open ; = shut BrE; closed
•The shops close at six.
•Harry usually closes the store completely when he goes on vacation.
4 STOP OPERATING [I,T] also close down if a company, shop etc closes, or you close it, it stops operating permanently; = shut down; closed
•We have reluctantly decided to close the factory.
•The shop closed down some time last year.
5 END [I,T] to end or to make something end, especially in a particular way
close sth with/by etc
•I will now close the meeting by asking you to join me in a final toast.
[+with]
•The movie closes with an emotional reunion in Prague.
closing remarks (=something you say at the end of a speech)
•In her closing remarks, the judge urged the jury to consider the facts only.
6 close an account to stop having and using a bank account or other financial account:
•My husband closed all my credit card accounts without even asking me.
7 IN MONEY MARKETS [I always + adv/prep] to be worth a particular amount of money at the end of a day's TRADING (=the buying and selling of shares ) on the STOCK EXCHANGE
[+at]
•The dollar closed at 64p against the pound.
[+up/down]
•Their shares closed 27p up (=worth 27p more)
•.
8 close a deal/sale/contract etc to successfully agree a business deal, sale etc
9 OFFER FINISHES [I] to finish on a particular date; = end
•Our special offer closes on June 3.
10 MAKE DISTANCE/DIFFERENCE SMALLER [I,T] to make the distance or difference between two things smaller:
•an attempt to close the gap between the rich and poor
[+on]
•The other car was closing on us fast.
11 MAKE STH UNAVAILABLE [T] to make taking part in an activity or using an opportunity no longer possible; closed
•Bidding for the painting will close on Friday.
•The country has now closed its borders to all foreign nationals (=will not let foreigners in).
•The legislation aims to close a lot of legal loopholes.
12 be closed if a subject is closed, you are no longer willing to discuss it:
•It was a regrettable incident but I now consider the matter closed.
13 close your doors (to sb) to stop operating permanently:
•In 1977 the Skyfame Aircraft Museum closed its doors to the public for the last time.
14 close your mind to/against sth to refuse to think about something:
•She wanted to close her mind to the outside world.
15 HOLD STH [I always + adv/prep, T] if someone's hands, arms etc close around something, or are closed around something, they hold it firmly
close (sth) around/round/over etc sth
•Her left hand closed over his arm.
•She reached for the keys and closed her hand tightly around them.
16 WOUND also close up [I,T] if a wound closes, or if someone closes it, the edges grow together again or are sewn together:
•The surgeon closed the incision neatly.
17 close ranks
a) if people close ranks, they join together to protect each other, especially because their group, organization etc is being criticized
b) if soldiers close ranks, they stand closer together
18 close the book on sth to stop working on something, especially a police operation, because it is not making any progress:
•Detectives had closed the book on the Hornsey Murders case three years previously.

PHRASAL VERBS
close down phr v
1 close sth <=> down if a company, shop etc closes down or is closed down, it stops operating permanently:
•Paramount closed down its London office in 1968.
2 BrE to stop broadcasting radio or television programmes at the end of the day:
•BBC 2 closes down at 12:45 tonight.

close in phr v
1 to move closer to someone or something, especially in order to attack them:
•The snake closed in for the kill.
[+on/around/upon etc]
•enemy soldiers closing in on them from all sides
2 if the night, bad weather etc closes in, it becomes darker or gets worse:
•The sun had set and dusk was closing in.
3 if the days close in, they become shorter because it is autumn

close sth <=> off phr v
to separate a road, room etc from the area around it so that people cannot go there or use it:
•The roads into the docks were closed off by iron gates.

close on sb/sth phr v
1 to get nearer to someone or something that is moving in front or ahead of you:
•The patrol car was rapidly closing on us.
2 AmE to successfully arrange a LOAN, especially in order to buy a house

close sth <=> out phr v AmE
1 to finish in a particular way:
•The bond market closed out the week on a strong note.
2 if a store closes out a type of goods, they sell all of them cheaply:
•We're closing out this line of swimwear.

close up phr v
1 close sth <=> up if a shop or building closes up or is closed up, it stops being open to the public for a period of time:
•The resorts are all closed up for the season.
2 close up shop to stop doing something for a period of time or permanently:
•When it rains, there is no alternative but to close up shop.
3 if a group of people close up, they move closer together
4 close sth <=> up if a wound closes up or if someone closes it up, the edges grow together again or are sewn together:
•The scar is closing up nicely - it'll soon be time to take the stitches out.
5 to become narrower or to shut:
•The flowers close up at night.
•Occasionally the channel widened then closed up tight again.
6 to refuse to talk to someone about something:
•The moment I said I was a police officer, everyone would close up like a clam.

close with sb/sth phr v
1 to agree a business deal with someone:
•It was such a good offer that I closed with him on the spot.
2 literary to move towards someone in order to fight with them

WORD CHOICE: close, shut, lock, turn/switch off
In many contexts, the verbs close and shut can be used in exactly the same way: Please close OR shut the gate. | The windows were all closed OR shut. | She closed OR shut her eyes. | The store closes OR shuts at 7.

!! Use close for a road, border, or airport: All the crossing points on the border have been closed (NOT shut).

!! Before a noun, use closed: a closed door (NOT shut door)

!! You cannot say 'close someone somewhere'. Use shut or lock to say that someone is put in a room or building and cannot get out: They shut her (NOT closed her) in her bedroom. | He was locked (NOT closed) in a cell.
Use switch off or turn off with electrical things: Will you turn off (NOT close) the TV? | I switched off (NOT closed) all the lights.

CLOSING DATE, CLOSING TIME; close/shut the door on sth at DOOR (9); close your eyes to sth at EYE^1 (16) $ comparative closer, superlative closest
1 NEAR not far from someone or something; = near
•If you need to buy bread or milk, the closest shop is about a mile away.
[+to]
•Susan sat on a chair close to the window.
•I don't mind where we go on vacation as long as it's close to a beach.
•His eyes were small and close together.
•There are several accounts of dolphins living in close proximity to humans (=close to humans).
•The victim had been shot at close range (=from very close).
2 NEAR IN TIME near to something in time
[+to]
•It was close to one-fifteen a.m.
[+together]
•Our birthdays are quite close together.
3 LIKELY TO HAPPEN seeming very likely to happen or very likely to do something soon
close to doing sth
•The two countries are close to signing a peace agreement.
•We're close to clinching the deal.
close to death/tears/despair etc
•The old dog could barely whimper and seemed close to death.
•The prosecution's main witness was close to tears as she described the events of that night.
4 LIKE/LOVE if two people are close, they like or love each other very much:
•My brother and I are very close.
[+to]
•I felt closer to Rob that evening than ever before.
•Fiona and I have always been close friends.
5 SIMILAR very similar to each other
[+to]
•When I saw Henry with another woman I felt something close to jealousy.
•Fitt was the closest thing to a socialist in the party.
•Their newest model bears a close resemblance to (=is very similar to) that of their rival competitor.
6 CAREFUL [usually before noun] looking at, thinking about, or watching something very carefully; closely
take/have/get a close look (at sth)
•She lifted up Jenny's silver medallion to take a closer look.
keep a close watch/eye on (=watch someone or something very carefully)
•Don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on the kids.
•You could have improved your answers by closer attention to detail.
7 NUMBER/AMOUNT if a number or amount is close to another number or amount, it is not much higher or lower than it:
•We don't know the exact figures, but about 10,000 might be a close approximation (=close to the actual figure).
[+to]
•Inflation is close to 7 percent.
8 COMPETITION/ELECTION ETC finishing or being played, fought etc with both sides almost equal:
•It was a close game that could have gone either way.
a close second/third etc (=a finishing position in a competition that is very nearly second, third etc)
•The result is too close to call (=so close that it is impossible to know who will win).
9 close relation/relative a member of your family such as your brother, sister, parent etc; distant
•The wedding was attended by close family only.
10 VERY NEARLY BAD used when you have only just managed to avoid something bad, dangerous, or embarrassing happening:
•'Phew, that was close,' Frank said as he swerved to avoid the cyclist.
a close call/thing/shave (=a situation in which something dangerous, embarrassing etc almost happens)
•United had a close shave when Liverpool almost scored.
11 ALMOST very nearly getting, finding, or achieving something
[+to]
•At this point, the investigators were closer to the truth than they realized.
12 keep in close contact/touch if two people keep in close contact, they see, talk to, or write to each other often:
•Text messaging enables people to keep in close contact at all times.
13 WORK/TALK TOGETHER relating to a situation in which people work well with each other or talk to each other often:
•He retained very close links with France throughout his life.
•What we need now is closer cooperation between the club and supporters.
14 WITH LITTLE SPACE with little or no space around something or between things:
•The horses are always eager for exercise after the close confinement of the stables.
•The shoe is a close fit (=there is no space around the foot).
•I find it difficult to read such close print (=with letters printed so close together).
15 close/you're close/that's close spoken used to tell someone that they have almost guessed or answered something correctly:
•'I reckon he must be about thirty-eight.' 'Close - he was forty last week.'
16 close to the bone if something someone says is close to the bone, it makes you feel uncomfortable or offends you, especially because it is about something you do not want to admit is true
17 close, but no cigar spoken used when something someone does or says is almost correct or successful:
•It was close, but no cigar for the Dodgers as they lost to the Reds 4-3.
18 too close for comfort if something that happens is too close for comfort, it is near enough to make you feel nervous or afraid:
•From somewhere too close for comfort came the sound of machine-gun fire.
19 close to home
a) if a remark or criticism is close to home, it makes you feel uncomfortable because it is likely to be true:
•His comments struck unpleasantly close to home.
b) if something unpleasant happens close to home, you are directly affected by it:
•It's one thing seeing riots on TV, but when they happen so close to home it's a different matter.
20 at close quarters if something happens or is done at close quarters, it happens inside a small space or is done from a short distance away:
•The troops had been fighting at close quarters.
21 WEATHER BrE uncomfortably warm because there seems to be no air:
•The weather that night was hot and close, with a hint of thunder in the distance.
22 UNWILLING TO TALK ABOUT STH [not before noun] unwilling to tell people about something; = secretive
[+about]
•You're very close about your work, aren't you?
23 UNWILLING TO SPEND MONEY [not before noun] not generous
[+with]
•You won't get a penny out of Jack - he's very close with his money.
24 a close shave when the hair on someone's face is cut very close to the skin
25 close work work that involves looking at or handling things in a very skilful, detailed, and careful way:
•After years of close work, she could hardly see a thing if it was over a yard away.
26 close vowel technical a close vowel is pronounced with only a small space between the tongue and the top of the mouth
- closeness noun [U]
•She had never had the physical or emotional closeness that she needed.
play your cards close to your chest at CARD^1 (14) $
1 not far away; = near
•Come a little closer, so you can see better.
•Her father lives quite close by.
•They were sitting close together on the couch.
•A variety of good restaurants and cafés are close at hand (=very near).
•James heard footsteps close behind him.
•Ronnie sped off into the distance, with his brother's car following close behind.
stay/keep close
•We must all stay close.
hold/draw sb close (=hold someone against your body)
•He drew her close to him.
2 close up/up close/close to from only a short distance away:
•Now that I could see him close up, I saw that he was very attractive.
3 close on sth/close to sth spoken used to talk about a number, amount etc that is almost exact, but not completely:
•a voyage of close on 2000 miles
4 come close (to doing sth)
a) to almost do something:
•I tell you, I was so mad I came close to hitting her.
•She came so close to the finals she must have been bitterly disappointed to go out now.
b) to be almost as good as someone or something else:
•It's not as good as his last movie, but it comes pretty close.
5 a close run thing BrE a situation in which the people competing with each other are almost equal, so neither of them is more likely to win than the other:
•The upcoming election looks likely to be a close run thing.
6 close on the heels of sth very soon after something else
come/follow close on the heels of sth
•Yet another scandal followed close on the heels of the senator's resignation.
7 near to the surface of something:
•An electric razor doesn't really shave as close as a blade.
8 run sb close BrE to be almost as successful, skilful etc as someone else:
•Last season United ran them close both at home and away.
sail close to the wind at SAIL^1 (6) $
1 [singular] formal the end of an activity or of a period of time:
• At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index was 1.92 points down.
•The monsoon season was drawing to a close (=ending).
•The event came to a close (=finished) with a disco.
•Finally the meeting was brought to a close by the new chairman (=he ended the meeting).
2 [C usually singular] BrE the area and buildings surrounding a CATHEDRAL $ [singular]
BrE used in street names for a road that has only one way in or out:
•Take a left turn into Brown's Close. $
close-cropped grass or hair is cut very short $
1 not open; = shut; open
•Make sure all the windows are closed.
•She kept her eyes tightly closed.
2 [not before noun] if a shop, public building etc is closed, it is not open and people cannot enter or use it; = shut; open
•The shops here are closed on Sundays.
closed to the public/visitors etc
•The castle is closed to visitors in winter.
3 restricted to a particular group of people; open
•The golf club has closed membership.
•a closed meeting
•The police have a closed circle of suspects.
4 not willing to accept new ideas or influences; open
•You're facing this situation with a closed mind.
closed society/world/way of life
•Venetian art in this period was a closed world.
5 behind closed doors if something happens behind closed doors, it happens in private and the public are not allowed in:
•It seems that the deal was made behind closed doors.
•Football authorities ordered the club to play its next two games behind closed doors after the riots in February.
6 a closed book (to sb) a subject or problem that someone does not know about or understand:
•Mathematics has always been a closed book to me.
7 a closed set (of sth) a restricted group, or a group that cannot change or grow:
•The law is not a closed set of rules and principles.
in closed session at SESSION (2)AmE
if a television programme is closed captioned, you are able to read the words that are said at the bottom of your screen, if you have a special piece of equipment attached to your television[U]
CCTV a system of cameras and television that is used in many public buildings and shopping centres to protect them from crime[only before noun]
closed-door meetings or talks take place secretly[C, usually singular]
a country that does not trade with any other countries $
1 [C] a situation in which work in a company, factory etc stops, especially permanently; = shutdown
2 [C,U] BrE the end of radio or television broadcasts each day[C] especially AmE
another form of CLOSE SEASON (1)[C]
a company, factory etc where all the workers must belong to a particular TRADE UNION $
close-fitting clothes are tight and show the shape of your bodyalso closely-knit $
a close-knit group of people is one in which everyone knows each other well and gives each other support when they need it:
•a close-knit community
1 very carefully:
•The detective watched him closely, waiting for a reply.
closely controlled/guarded/monitored etc
•Political activity is closely controlled.
•Details of the program are a closely-guarded secret.
2 to a very great degree:
•I have been closely involved in the work of both committees.
•The successful applicant will be working closely with our international staff.
•a creature that closely resembles a red monkey
3 closely related/connected/associated etc if two or more things are closely related etc, there is a strong connection between them:
•closely related subjects such as physics, chemistry, and maths
•Her development as a writer is closely connected with her religion.
4 in a way that is close to other things in time or space:
•a flash of lightning, followed closely by thunder
•We were so closely packed in the elevator I could hardly move.also closed mouthed AmE $
not willing to say much because you are trying to keep a secret $ AmE
closeout sale/price a sale or price that is intended to get rid of goods cheaply
- closeout noun [C] $ [only before noun] BrE
in a close-run competition, the winner succeeds by a very small distance or number of points, votes etc:
•The Labour Party won the seat, but it was a close-run thing (=they nearly failed). $ [C] BrE
1 the period each year when particular animals, birds, or fish cannot legally be killed for sport; open season ; = closed season AmE
2 the period of a year when particular sports are not normally played $
close-set eyes are near to each other $ [C]
1 especially AmE a cupboard built into the wall of a room from the floor to the ceiling; wardrobe
•a closet full of beautiful clothes
2 come out of the closet
a) to tell people that you are HOMOSEXUAL after hiding the fact; = come out
b) to admit something or to start to discuss something that was kept secret before
3 be in the closet AmE informal to not tell people that you are HOMOSEXUAL
WATER CLOSET; a skeleton in the closet at SKELETON (5)
closet homosexual/alcoholic etc someone who is a HOMOSEXUAL etc but who does not want to admit it:
•a closet communist[T usually passive]
to shut someone in a room away from other people in order to discuss something private, to be alone etc
be closeted with sb
•All morning he'd been closeted with various officials.
•Don't let her closet herself away in her room. $ [C,U]
a photograph or part of a film in which the camera seems to have been very close to the picture it took
[+of]
•a close-up of her face
in close-up
•Much of the movie is shot in close up. $ [only before noun]
happening or done at the end of an event or a period of time
closing remarks/words/ceremony etc
•The judge gave his closing speech to the jury.
closing stages/seconds/minutes etc
•in the closing years of his life[U]
the shutting of a factory, school, hospital etc permanently
[+of]
•the closing of an old railway station[C]
the last date on which it is possible to do something
[+for]
•The closing date for applications is 6 August.[C,U]
the time when a PUB in Britain must stop serving drinks and close $
1 [C,U] when a factory, school, hospital etc has to close permanently:
•Several military bases are threatened with closure.
factory/hospital/school etc closure
•the problem of school closures
[+of]
•the closure of St Bartholomew's Hospital
2 [C,U] when a road, bridge etc is closed for a short time so that people cannot use it:
•On the M40, there are lane closures near Oxford.
3 [U] when an event or a period of time is brought to an end, or the feeling that something has been completely dealt with:
•Funerals help give people a sense of closure. $ past tense and past participle clotted, present participle clotting [I,T]
if a liquid such as blood or milk clots, or if something clots it, it becomes thicker and more solid
CLOTTED CREAM[C]
1 a thick almost solid mass formed when blood or milk dries:
•He developed a blood clot on his brain and died.
2 BrE informal a stupid person $
1 [U] material used for making things such as clothes
cotton/woollen/silk etc cloth
•a dress of the finest silk cloth
2 [C] a piece of cloth used for a particular purpose:
•She mopped her face with a wet cloth.
•Is there a clean cloth for the table?
DISHCLOTH, FACECLOTH, TABLECLOTH
3 man of the cloth formal a Christian priest[C] BrE
a soft flat cap with a stiff pointed piece at the front $ [T usually passive]
1 formal to put clothes on your body; = dress
be clothed in sth
•The King was clothed in a purple gown.
fully/partially/scantily etc clothed
•The children lay on the bed, fully clothed and fast asleep.
2 to provide clothes for yourself or other people:
•They could barely keep the family fed and clothed. $ [plural]
the things that people wear to cover their body or keep warm:
•I enjoy shopping for clothes and shoes.
•What sort of clothes was he wearing?
• casual clothes
put on/take off clothes
•She had a shower and put on clean clothes.
change your clothes/change into clean/dry etc clothes
•The kids ran upstairs to change into dry clothes.
work/school etc clothes
•men dressed in ordinary street clothes
•a clothes shop
a change of clothes at CHANGE^2 (6); designer clothes at DESIGNER^2; PLAIN-CLOTHES

WORD CHOICE: clothes, clothing, garment, cloth
clothes are things that you wear, for example shirts and dresses: I need some new clothes. | Do you ever wear your sister's clothes?

!! clothes is always plural and has no singular form: He was wearing nice clothes (NOT a nice clothe/clothes).
Use clothing to talk about a particular type of clothes or when talking about making or selling clothes: Special protective clothing is worn. | a clothing manufacturer

!! This word is not used much in ordinary spoken language I went shopping for summer clothes (NOT clothing).
In formal English, you can use garment or piece/item/article of clothing to refer to one thing you wear: a long velvet garment | a discarded article of clothing
But it is more usual to name the particular thing you mean He was wearing a long coat (NOT long garment).
Cloth is the material that clothes are made from: a suit made from fine woollen cloth

[C]
a large basket for clothes that need to be washed, dried, or IRONed [C] BrE
a brush used to remove dirt, dust etc from clothes[C] BrE
a curved piece of metal, plastic, or wood with a hook on it that you use for hanging clothes; = hanger AmE[C]
1 BrE a frame that you hang clothes on to dry indoors
2 AmE informal a woman who is very interested in clothes and who likes to have many different clothes - used to show disapproval $ [C]
a long thin rope on which you hang clothes to dry outdoors; = washing line BrE[C] BrE
a wooden or plastic object that you use to fasten wet clothes to a clothesline; = clothespin AmE $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who makes or sells men's clothes or material for clothes $ [U]
the clothes that people wear:
•the basic necessities such as food and clothing
warm/outdoor/waterproof etc clothing
•Lab workers must wear protective clothing.
item/article/piece of clothing
•She took only a few items of clothing.
•Remember to bring a change of clothing.
clothing manufacturer/industry/trade etc
•a clothing store[U] BrE
very thick cream made by slowly heating milk and taking the cream from the top $ [C] AmE technical
a way of ending an argument over a BILL in the US government and forcing a vote on it
1 IN THE SKY [C,U] a white or grey mass in the sky that forms from very small drops of water
heavy/thick/dense etc clouds
•Dark clouds floated across the moon.
•Heavy clouds had gathered over the summit of Mont Blanc.
low/high cloud
•Visibility was bad due to low cloud.
STORM CLOUD, THUNDERCLOUD
2 IN THE AIR [C] a mass of dust, smoke etc in the air, or a large number of insects flying together
cloud of dust/smoke/gas etc
•A cloud of steam rose into the air
•clouds of mosquitoes buzzing around us
3 PROBLEM [C] something that makes you feel afraid, worried. unhappy etc
[+of]
•the cloud of economic recession
cloud on the horizon (=something that might spoil a happy situation)
•The only cloud on the horizon was her mother's illness.
•Fears of renewed terrorist attacks cast a cloud over the event (=spoilt the happy situation).
•He returned to New York under a cloud of gloom and despair.
4 under a cloud (of suspicion) informal if someone is under a cloud, people have a bad opinion of them because they think they have done something wrong:
•He left the company under a cloud of suspicion.
5 be on cloud nine informal to be very happy about something
6 every cloud has a silver lining used to say that there is something good even in a situation that seems very sad or difficult
7 be/live in cloud-cuckoo-land BrE to think that a situation is much better than it really is, in a way that is slightly stupid
have your head in the clouds at HEAD^1 (24)
1 [T] to make someone less able to think clearly or make sensible decisions
cloud sb's judgement/mind/vision etc
•Don't let your personal feelings cloud your judgement.
•Fear had clouded his vision.
2 also cloud over [I,T] if someone's face or eyes cloud, or if something clouds them, they start to look angry, sad, or worried:
•Ann's eyes clouded with the pain.
•Then suspicion clouded his face.
3 [T usually passive] to make something less pleasant or more difficult than it should have been:
•Her happiness was clouded by having to leave her son behind.
4 cloud the issue/picture etc to make a subject or problem more difficult to understand or deal with, especially by introducing unnecessary ideas:
•Totally uninformed judgements only cloud the issue.
5 also cloud up [I,T] if glass or a liquid clouds, or if something clouds it, it becomes less clear and more difficult to see through:
•Our windows were clouded up with steam.
•The water clouded and I could no longer see the river bed.
6 [T] to cover something with clouds:
•Thick mist clouded the mountaintops.

PHRASAL VERBS
cloud over phr v
1 also cloud up AmE if the sky clouds over, it becomes dark and full of black clouds
2 if someone's face or eyes cloud over, they start to look angry or sad:
•His face clouded over in disappointment. [C] BrE
a thick mass of low cloud $ [C]
a sudden short rain storm
a cloudless sky is clear and has no clouds in it
1 a cloudy sky, day etc is dark because there are a lot of clouds; clear
•a cloudy night with some light rain
•Tomorrow, it will be cloudy and cool.
2 cloudy liquids are not clear:
•a rather cloudy wine
3 cloudy thoughts, memories etc are not very clear or exact
1 [U] informal power or the authority to influence other people's decisions
political/economic etc clout
•people with financial clout
the clout to do sth
•Few companies have the clout to handle such large deals.
•An official protest could carry considerable clout.
2 [C] BrE informal a hard blow given with the hand:
•He gave him a clout round the ear.[T]
informal to hit someone or something hard:
•She clouted the boy across the face. $ [C]
1 one of the separate parts that form a GARLIC plant:
•a clove of garlic
2 a black SPICE (=something used to give a special taste to food) with a strong sweet smell
a past tense of CLEAVE $
a past participle of CLEAVE[C]
the type of foot that sheep, cows, and goats have, that is divided into two parts $ [U]
1 a small plant, usually with three leaves on each stem. If you find one with four leaves, it is thought to bring you luck:
•a four-leaf clover
2 in clover informal living comfortably because you have plenty of money:
•The money kept him in clover for years. $ [C]
1 the leaf of a clover plant
2 a network of curved roads which connect two main roads where they cross [C]
1 someone who wears funny clothes, a red nose, bright MAKE-UP on their face etc, and does silly things to make people laugh, especially at a CIRCUS
2 someone who often makes jokes or behaves in a funny way:
•Frankie's a bit of a clown.
class clown (=someone in a school class who behaves in a funny or silly way)
3 a stupid or annoying person:
•I can't understand what she sees in that clown.also clown around/about [I]
to behave in a silly or funny way:
•Stop clowning around!
silly or stupid [I]
if something sweet or pleasant cloys, it begins to annoy you because there is too much of it:
•Her sweet submissive smile began to cloy after a while.
1 a cloying attitude or quality annoys you because it is too sweet or nice:
•cloying sentimentality
2 cloying food or smells are sweet and make you feel sick:
•the thick cloying smell of cheap perfume
- cloyingly adverb $ [C]
a test in which words have been removed from a short piece of writing, and students have to write what they think are the correct words in the empty spaces [C]
1 FOR AN ACTIVITY OR SPORT
a) [also + plural verb BrE ] an organization for people who share a particular interest or enjoy similar activities, or a group of people who meet together to do something they are interested in
rugby/golf/squash etc club
•Our chess club really needs new members.
[+for]
•a club for unemployed young people
•It costs £15 to join the club.
•She belongs to a local health club.
b) the building or place where the members of a particular club meet or play sport:
•We could have dinner at the golf club.
COUNTRY CLUB, FAN CLUB, YOUTH CLUB
2 PROFESSIONAL SPORT [also + plural verb BrE ] especially BrE a professional organization including the players, managers, and owners of a sports team:
•Manchester United Football Club
3 FOR DANCING/MUSIC a place where people go to dance, listen to music, and meet socially:
•a jazz club
•Shall we go to a club?
•I'm not into the club scene at all.
4 TRADITIONAL MEN'S CLUB especially BrE
a) an organization, traditionally for men only, which provides a comfortable place to relax, eat, meet other members, or stay the night:
•He always stays at his London club.
b) the building where this organization is based
5 book/record/wine etc club an organization which people join in order to buy books, records, wine etc cheaply
6 GOLF also golf club a long thin metal stick used in golf to hit the ball
7 WEAPON a thick heavy stick used to hit people or things
8 IN CARD GAMES
a) clubs one of the four SUITs (=types of cards) in a set of playing cards, which has the design of three round black leaves in a group together
ten/king etc of clubs
•the ace of clubs
b) a card from this suit:
•You have to play a club.
9 in the club BrE old-fashioned if a woman is in the club, she is going to have a baby - used humorously; = pregnant
10 join the club also welcome to the club AmE spoken used after someone has described a bad situation that they are in, to tell them that you are in the same situation:
•'He never listens to me.' 'Join the club.'past tense and past participle clubbed, present participle clubbing [T]
to hit someone hard with a heavy object:
•baby seals being clubbed to death

PHRASAL VERBS
club together phr v
if people club together, they share the cost of something:
•We clubbed together to buy her a present. BrE
interesting and good at talking in a friendly and relaxed way with other people [U]
informal the activity of going to NIGHTCLUBs :
•She always goes clubbing when she's in New York.
- clubber noun [C] informal
a clubby place is where everyone is very friendly to each other, but people who are outside their group are not very welcome:
•the clubby atmosphere of the media[U]
a part of some planes where each seat has more space and more comfort than the usual seat, but is more expensive; = business class
[C,U] a foot that has been badly twisted since birth and that prevents someone from walking properly
- club-footed adjective [C]
a building used by a club, especially a sports club [U]
1 the part of a town which contains a lot of NIGHTCLUBs :
•New York's clubland
2 the most popular NIGHTCLUBs and the people who go to them:
•She's rapidly becoming a clubland favourite.[C]
a large sandwich consisting of three pieces of bread with two different kinds of cold food between them[C,U]
water filled with BUBBLEs that is often mixed with other drinks; = soda water
1 [I] if a chicken clucks, it makes a short low sound
2 [I,T] to express sympathy or disapproval by saying something, or by making a short low noise with your tongue:
•Edith clucked her tongue impatiently.
[+over/around etc]
•She stood clucking over the baby.
- clucking adjective
•clucking noises[C usually singular]
1 a low short noise made by chickens
2 a sound made with your tongue, used to show disapproval or sympathy:
•a disapproving cluck
3 dumb/stupid cluck AmE a stupid person:
•You dumb cluck, why'd you tell him? [C]
1 an object or piece of information that helps someone solve a crime or mystery:
•Police have found a vital clue (=a very important clue).
[+to/about/as to]
•We now have an important clue as to the time of the murder.
•Archaeological evidence will provide clues about what the building was used for.
[+in]
•This information is a valuable clue in our hunt for the bombers.
•a desperate search for clues
2 information that helps you understand the reasons why something happens
[+to/about/as to]
•Childhood experiences may provide a clue as to why some adults develop eating disorders.
3 a piece of information that helps you solve a CROSSWORD PUZZLE, answer a question etc:
•I'll give you a clue, Kevin, it's a kind of bird.
4 not have a clue (where/why/how etc) informal
a) to not have any idea about the answer to a question, how to do something, what a situation is etc:
•'Do you know how to switch this thing off?' 'I haven't a clue.'
•Until I arrived here, I hadn't got a clue what I was going to say to her.
b) to be very stupid, or very bad at a particular activity:
•Don't let Mike cook you dinner; he hasn't got a clue.
•I haven't a clue how to talk to girls.
[+about]
•No point asking Jill - she hasn't got a clue about maths.

PHRASAL VERBS
clue sb <=> in phr v informal
to give someone information about something
[+on/about]
•Somebody must have clued him in on our sales strategy.clued-in AmE BrE informal
knowing a lot about something
[+on/about]
•Ask Margaret. She's pretty clued-up about that sort of thing. informal
having no understanding or knowledge of something - used to show disapproval
[+about]
•Many teachers are clueless about the needs of immigrant students.
1 [C] a group of trees, bushes, or other plants growing very close together
[+of]
•a thick clump of grass
in a clump
•The roses were planted in clumps across the park.
2 [C + of] a small mass of something such as earth or mud
3 [U] the sound of someone walking with heavy steps:
•I heard the clump of Ralph's boots going up the stairs.
1 [I always + adv/prep] to walk with slow noisy steps
[+up/down/along etc]
•The kids clumped up the stairs in their boots.
2 also clump together [I,T] if separate objects clump together, or are clumped together, they form a group or solid mass:
•This product will cause bacteria and loose dirt to clump together in the water tank. comparative clumsier, superlative clumsiest
1 moving in an awkward way and tending to make things fall over:
•I felt clumsy, shy and awkward at the party.
•a clumsy attempt to catch the ball
2 a clumsy object is not easy to use and is often large and heavy
3 a clumsy action or statement is said or done carelessly or badly, and likely to upset someone:
•David made a clumsy attempt to comfort us.
•a clumsy piece of diplomacy
- clumsily adverb
- clumsiness noun [U]
the past tense and past participle of CLING [C]
a loud sound made when two solid objects hit each other:
•the clunk of the car door being shut
- clunk verb [I,T] $ [C] AmE informal
1 an old car or other machine that does not work well
2 something that is completely unsuccessful because people think it is stupid or wrong
heavy and awkward to wear or use:
•clunky old shoes $ [C]
1 a group of things of the same kind that are very close together
[+of]
•a cluster of low farm buildings
•a cluster of red berries
•a diamond cluster ring
2 a group of people all in the same place
[+of]
•A cluster of children stood around the ice cream van.[I,T always + adv/prep]
if a group of people or things cluster somewhere, or are clustered somewhere, they form a small group in that place
[+around/together etc]
•Reporters clustered around the palace gates for news.
•Industries in Britain tend to be clustered together.[C]
a bomb that sends out smaller bombs when it explodes
- cluster-bomb verb [T]
1 [T] to hold something tightly because you do not want to lose it; = grip, grasp
•She was clutching a bottle of champagne.
2 [I,T] also clutch at sb/sth
a) to suddenly take hold of someone or something because you are frightened, in pain or in danger; = grab
•He clutched at a pillar for support.
•Tom fell to the ground clutching his stomach.
b) clutch at sb's heart if something clutches at your heart, you suddenly feel fear or nervousness
3 be clutching at straws especially BrE to be trying everything possible to find a solution or hope in a difficult situation, even though it will probably be unsuccessful:
•I knew that trying the alternative medicine was just clutching at straws.
1 [C] the PEDAL that you press with your foot when driving a vehicle in order to change GEAR,or the part of the vehicle that this controls
2 sb's clutches [plural] the power, influence, or control that someone has:
•a small boy trying to escape from his mother's clutches
in sb's clutches
•She'll have him in her clutches soon enough.
3 clutch of sth a small group of similar things:
•a clutch of eggs (=the number of eggs laid by a bird at one time)
•a clutch of young mothers
4 [singular] a tight hold that someone has on something; = grip, grasp
•I shook myself free of her clutch.[C]
a small bag that women carry in their hand, used especially on formal social occasionsalso clutter up $ [T]
1 to cover or fill a space or room with too many things, so that it looks very untidy:
•Piles of books and papers cluttered his desk.
be cluttered (up) with sth
•The walls were cluttered with paintings and prints.
2 to fill your mind with a lot of different things:
•the everyday tasks that clutter our lives
- cluttered adjective[singular, U]
a large number of things that are scattered somewhere in an untidy way; = junk
[+of]
•the clutter of soaps, shampoos and towels in the bathroom
•Could you get rid of some of that clutter in your bedroom?plural cm or cms
the written abbreviation of centimetre or, centimetres $ [C] AmE informal
a 100 dollar note $
1 the abbreviation of company :
•James Smith & Co.
2 and co BrE spoken the other members of a particular group of people:
•I can't say I'm looking forward to seeing Angela and co again.
3 the written abbreviation of county :
•Co. Durham
the written abbreviation of care of , used especially in addresses when you are sending a letter or package to someone who is living in someone else's house:
•John Hammond, c/o Mrs Pearce, The Old Rectory, Reepham $
1 together with:
•to coexist (=exist together or at the same time)
•coeducation (=with boys and girls together)
2 doing something with someone else as an equal or with less responsibility:
•my co-author (=someone who wrote the book with me)
•the co-pilot (=someone who helps a pilot) $ [C]
Commanding Officer an officer who is in charge of a military unit $
1 SPORT [C] someone who trains a person or team in a sport:
•a tennis coach
•the Norwegian national coach
2 HELP FOR EXAM [C] especially BrE someone who gives private lessons to someone in a particular subject, especially so that they can pass an examination
3 BUS [C] BrE a bus with comfortable seats used for long journeys; = bus AmE
by coach
•We went to Paris by coach.
on a coach
•She's going to Grimsby on a coach.
•a coach trip to Scotland
•The restaurant was full of coach parties (=groups of people travelling together on a coach).
4 TRAIN [C] BrE one of the parts of the train in which the passengers sit; = car AmE
5 HORSES [C] a large carriage pulled by horses and used in the past for carrying passengers
6 IN PLANE/TRAIN [U] AmE the cheapest type of seats on a plane or train:
•We flew coach out to Atlanta.[T]
1 to teach a person or team the skills they need for a sport; = train; coaching
•Nigel coaches a cricket team in his spare time.
2 especially BrE to give someone private lessons in a particular subject, especially so that they can pass an important test; coaching
coach sb in/for sth
•The child was coached for stardom by her mother.
3 to help someone prepare what they should say or do in a particular situation - used to show disapproval; coaching
coach sb in/on sth
•The girl must have been carefully coached in what to say in court. $ [C] BrE
someone who builds the main outer structure of a car[C] BrE
a building, similar to a GARAGE, used in the past in Britain for storing a carriage which was pulled by horses $ [U]
1 a process in which you teach a person or team the skills they need for a sport; coach
tennis/football/rugby etc coaching
•a coaching session with one of England's leading boxers
2 the process of helping someone prepare for an important test or prepare what they should say or do in a particular situation; coach[C] BrE
a small hotel in Britain used in the past by people travelling in carriages pulled by horses $ [C] BrE
a group of people travelling in a COACH, especially when it is full
[+of]
•coachloads of Japanese tourists $ plural coachmen [C]
someone who drove a COACH pulled by horses in the past[C] BrE
the place where people begin or end their journeys on buses that travel a long distance; = bus station AmE $ [U] BrE
the main outer structure of a car $ [I,T]
if a liquid coagulates, or something coagulates it, it becomes thick and almost solid:
•Blood had coagulated around the wound.
- coagulation $ noun [U] $
1 [U] a hard black mineral which is dug out of the ground and burnt to produce heat:
•Put some coal on the fire.
•the coal mining industry
•a lump of coal
2 [C usually plural] a piece of coal, especially one that is burning:
•Red hot coals glowed in the grate.
3 [C usually plural] AmE a piece of wood or coal that is burning; charcoal
•Grill over hot coals for four to five minutes.
4 carry/take coals to Newcastle BrE to take something to a place where there is already plenty of it available
5 haul/rake/drag sb over the coals to speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong
very dark black:
•coal-black eyes[C] BrE
a small building or large container where coal is stored[C]
a small underground room where coal is stored $ [I] formal
if objects or ideas coalesce, they combine to form one single group
[+into/with]
•Gradually the different groups of people coalesced into one dominant racial group.
- coalescence noun [U] $ BrE
1 [C] the part of a coal mine where the coal is cut from the ground
2 at the coalface where the real work is done, not just talked about:
•Academics will be working at the coalface alongside the doctors. $ [C]
an area where there is coal under the groundBrE
using coal to make something work:
•a coal-fired electricity generating station[U]
gas produced by burning coal, used especially for electricity and heating
NATURAL GAS[C] BrE
a COAL CELLAR $ [C] BrE
a small building where coal is stored $
1 [C] a union of two or more political parties that allows them to form a government or fight an election together
[+of]
•a coalition of democratic forces
•the centre-right coalition government
•an emergency meeting of the three coalition parties
2 [C] a group of people who join together to achieve a particular purpose, usually a political one
[+of]
•a coalition of environmental groups
3 [U] a process in which two or more political parties or groups join together:
•He hoped to convert his party members to a belief in coalition.
in coalition with sb
•He was working in coalition with other Unionist leaders. $ plural coalmen [C]
a man who delivers coal to people's housesalso coal pit BrE [C]
a place from which coal is dug out of the ground
- coal miner noun [C][C] BrE
a specially shaped container with a handle for carrying coal[U]
a thick black sticky liquid made by heating coal without air, from which many drugs and chemical products are made:
•coal tar soap $
1 having a rough surface that feels slightly hard; = rough; smooth
•a jacket of coarse wool
2 consisting of threads or parts that are thick or large; fine
•The coarse sand was hot and rough under her feet.
•tufts of coarse grass
3 talking in a rude and offensive way, especially about sex; = crude
•coarse jokes
- coarsely adverb
•coarsely ground black pepper
- coarseness noun [U][U] BrE
the sport of catching fish, except for TROUT or SALMON, in rivers and lakes $ [I,T]
1 to become thicker or rougher, or to make something thicker or rougher:
•Hard work had coarsened his hands.
2 to become or to make someone become less polite in the way they talk or behave:
•He's been coarsened by his experience of war. $
1 [C] the area where the land meets the sea; coastal
[+of]
•the west coast of Africa
•We drove along the Pacific coast to Seattle.
on the coast
•I used to live in a small village on the coast (=on the land near the sea).
off the coast
•a small island off the coast (=in the sea near the land) of Scotland
•the first European to cross Africa coast to coast
•a deserted stretch of coast
2 the coast is clear informal if the coast is clear, it is safe for you to do something without being seen or caught[I]
1 [usually + adv/prep] if a car or bicycle coasts, it moves without any effort from you or any power from the engine
[+down/around/along etc]
•Bev coasted downhill on her bicycle.
2 to not try very hard to do something well - used to show disapproval:
•Janey's teacher says she's just coasting at school.
3 to be successful at something without much effort:
•They scored three goals in the first half and from then on United were coasting.
[+to/through]
•The Ugandan relay team are coasting to victory.
4 to sail along the coast while staying close to land $ [only before noun]
in the sea or on the land near the coast:
•the coastal waters of Britain
•the coastal path $ [C]
1 a small thin object on which you put a glass, or cup, to protect a table from heat or liquids
2 a ship that sails from port to port along a coast, but does not go further out to sea
ROLLER COASTER[C]
a BRAKE on some types of bicycle that works by moving the PEDALs backwards
the Coast Guard a military organization in the US that is in charge of watching for ships in danger and preventing illegal activities in the ocean $
1 the Coastguard [also + plural verb BrE ] the organization that helps swimmers and ships that are in danger and helps to prevent illegal activities around the coast:
•the Coastguard station at Stornoway
•Contact the Coastguard immediately if you see a boat in trouble.
2 [C] BrE a member of this organization $ [C]
the land on the edge of the coast, especially the shape of this land as seen from the air:
•California's rugged coastline
•a beautiful stretch of coastline
along/around the coastline
•the sandy hills along the coastline of New England $ [C]
1 a piece of clothing with long sleeves that is worn over your clothes to protect them or to keep you warm:
•Billy! Put your coat on, it's cold outside!
•The kids took off their coats and threw them on the floor.
•I need a new winter coat.
•The lab assistants wear long white coats.
MORNING COAT
2 AmE a jacket that you wear as part of a suit; = jacket
3 the fur, wool, or hair that covers an animal's body:
•a dog with a glossy coat
4 a thin layer of a paint or other substance that you spread thinly over the surface of something
[+of]
•He applied a light coat of varnish.
cut your coat according to your cloth at CUT^1 (43)[T]
to cover something with a thin layer of something else:
•A layer of snow coated the trees.
coat sth with/in sth
•Next, coat the fish with breadcrumbs.[C] AmE
a place in a public building where you can leave your coat while you are in the building; = cloakroom BrE $
1 metal-coated/plastic-coated etc covered with a thin layer of metal, plastic etc
SUGAR-COATED
2 white-coated/fur-coated etc wearing a white coat, fur coat etc[C]
an object that you use to hang up clothes on; = hanger $ [C]
a thin layer of something that covers a surface
[+of]
•a fine coating of dust
•The tent has a waterproof coating on both sides.plural coats of arms [C]
a set of pictures or patterns painted on a SHIELD and used as the special sign of a family, town, university etc[C]
a board or pole with hooks on it that you hang coats on $ [C] AmE
a COAT CHECK $ [C]
a tall pole with hooks at the top that you hang coats on $ [plural]
1 if you achieve something on someone's coattails, you achieve it because of the other person's power or success
on sb's coattails
•A number of Republican congressmen were elected on Bush's coattails.
2 the cloth at the back of a TAILCOAT that is divided into two pieces $ [T]
1 to persuade someone to do something that they do not want to do by talking to them in a kind, gentle, and patient way:
•'Please, Vic, come with us,' Nancy coaxed.
coax sb into/out of (doing) sth
•We had to coax Alan into going to school.
coax sb to do sth
•We watched the bear coax its cubs to enter the water.
coax sb down/out/back etc
•Firefighters managed to coax the man down from the roof.
2 to make something such as a machine do something by dealing with it in a slow, patient, and careful way
coax sth out of/from/into etc sth
•He coaxed a fire out of some dry grass and twigs.
•The driver coaxed his bus through the snow.

PHRASAL VERBS
coax sth out of/from sb phr v
to persuade someone to tell you something or give you something:
•I managed to coax some money out of Dad.
- coaxing noun [U]
•She needs a bit of gentle coaxing.
- coaxingly adverb $ [C]
1 a CORNCOB
CORN ON THE COB
2 BrE a round LOAF of bread
3 a type of horse that is strong and has short legs
4 a male SWAN $ [U]
1 a shiny silver-white metal that is often combined with other metals or used to give a blue colour to substances such as glass. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Co
2 also cobalt blue a bright blue-green colour
- cobalt adjective $ [T] old-fashioned
1 to repair or make shoes
2 to put COBBLESTONEs on a street

PHRASAL VERBS
cobble sth <=> together phr v
to quickly produce or make something that is useful but not perfect:
•The diplomats cobbled an agreement together.
•She cobbled together a tent from a few pieces of string and a sheet.[C]
a cobblestone $
a cobbled street is covered with cobblestones $
1 [C,U] cooked fruit covered with a sweet bread-like mixture:
•peach cobbler
2 [C] old-fashioned someone who makes and repairs shoes
3 cobblers [plural] BrE spoken informal nonsense:
•I've never heard such a load of old cobblers in my life! $ [C]
a small round stone set in the ground, especially in the past, to make a hard surface for a road $ [C]
a poisonous African or Asian snake that can spread the skin of its neck to make itself look bigger $ [C]
1 a net of sticky threads made by a SPIDER to catch insects, that is inside a building and has not been removed
2 blow/clear the cobwebs away to do something, especially go outside, in order to help yourself to think more clearly and feel better:
•A brisk walk will soon blow the cobwebs away.
- cobwebbed adjective $ [U]
a South American bush whose leaves are used to make the drug COCAINE $ [U]
a drug, usually in the form of a white powder, that is taken illegally for pleasure or used in some medical situations to prevent pain
CRACK^2 (7) $ plural coccyxes or coccyges $ [C] technical
the small bone at the bottom of your SPINE; = tailbone $ [U]
a substance used to give food a red colour $ plural cochleas or cochleae [C] technical
a part of the inner ear $ [C]
1 CHICKEN an adult male chicken; = rooster BrE; hen
•A cock crowed in the distance.
2 MALE BIRD especially BrE an adult male bird of any kind:
•A cock pheasant rose from the hill in front of me.
3 SEX ORGAN informal not polite a PENIS
4 cock and bull story BrE a story or excuse that is silly and unlikely but is told as if it were true:
•a cock and bull story about the dog eating her homework
5 OBJECT THAT CONTROLS FLOW something that controls the flow of liquid or gas out of a pipe or container; = tap
BALLCOCK, STOPCOCK
6 MAN BrE old-fashioned used by some people when talking to a man they know well
HALF COCKED[T]
1 to lift a part of your body, or hold a part of your body at an angle:
•She cocked her head and considered the offer.
•He cocked a quizzical eyebrow at her.
2 to pull back the HAMMER of a gun so that it is ready to be fired
3 to move your hat so that it is at an angle
4 cock an ear/eye to listen or look very carefully:
•The little dog looked up and cocked its ears.
5 cock a snook at sb/sth BrE informal to show clearly that you do not respect someone or something:
•He has always tried to cock a snook at authority.

PHRASAL VERBS
cock sth <=> up phr v BrE informal not polite
to spoil something by making a stupid mistake or doing it badly:
•His secretary cocked up his travelling schedule and he's furious about it.
COCK-UP $ [C]
a small piece of cloth used as a decoration on a hat to show rank, membership of a club etc $ [C]
the loud sound made by an adult male chicken $ [not before noun] BrE
pleased and excited about something, especially something you have done
[+at/about/over]
•Robert's cock-a-hoop about his new job. $ [U]
a type of Scottish soup made with chicken, vegetables, and LEEKs $ AmE informal
a cockamamie story or excuse is not believable or does not make sense:
•What cockamamie idea will he think up next? $ [C]
an Australian PARROT with a lot of feathers on the top of its head $ [C]
a European BEETLE (=a kind of insect) that damages trees and plants $ [U] literary
the time in the early morning when the sun rises; = dawn[C] BrE
1 knock/beat sb/sth into a cocked hat to be a lot better than someone or something else:
•My mother is such a good cook she knocks everybody else into a cocked hat.
2 a hat with the edges turned up on three sides, worn in the past $ [C]
a young male chicken $ [C]
a dog with long ears and long silky fur
1 unlikely to succeed:
•The whole idea is completely cock-eyed.
2 not straight but set at an angle:
•I think you put that shelf up cock-eyed.[C]
an occasion when two male chickens are made to fight as a sport
- cockfighting noun [U] $ [C]
1 a common European SHELLFISH that is used for food
2 warm the cockles of sb's heart especially BrE to make someone feel happy and full of good feelings towards other people:
•Seeing her new baby just warms the cockles of your heart.Cockney $
1 [C] someone who comes from the east part of London, and who has a particular way of speaking which is typical of working class people who live there
2 [U] a way of speaking English that is typical of working class people in the east part of London
- cockney adjective
•She has a broad cockney accent. $ [C]
1 the area in a plane, small boat, or racing car where the pilot or driver sits
AIRCRAFT, YACHT
2 a small enclosed area where COCK FIGHTs took place in the pastalso roach AmE $ [C]
a large black or brown insect that lives in dirty houses, especially if they are warm and there is food to eat $ [C]
the red flesh that grows from the top of a male chicken's head $ [C] taboo informal
a very insulting word for a man. Do not use this word. $ old-fashioned
too confident of your abilities or knowledge, in a way that is annoying to other people:
•He seemed rather too cocksure for my liking. $ [C]
1 an alcoholic drink made from a mixture of different drinks
2 seafood/prawn/lobster cocktail small pieces of fish, PRAWNs , or LOBSTER served cold with a sauce and eaten as the first part of a meal
3 fruit cocktail a mixture of small pieces of fruit
4 a mixture of several things which is dangerous, unpleasant, confusing, or exciting
[+of]
•a lethal cocktail of painkillers and whisky
•The book contains a powerful cocktail of romance, family crises and big business.
MOLOTOV COCKTAIL[C]
an area in a hotel or other place where you can buy cocktails as well as beer and wine[C]
a formal dress for wearing to parties or other evening social events[C]
a public room in a hotel, restaurant etc, where you can buy alcoholic drinks[C]
a party, usually in the early evening, at which alcoholic drinks are served and for which people usually dress formally[C]
a container in which cocktails are mixed[C]
a short pointed piece of wood on which small pieces of food are served[C] AmE
a woman who serves drinks to people sitting at tables in a bar[C] BrE spoken informal
something that has been spoiled by someone's stupid mistake or by being done badly:
•He's made a monumental cock-up of his first assignment.
[+over]
•There's been a cock-up over the tickets for the football on Saturday. $ informal
too confident about yourself and your abilities, especially in a way that annoys other people:
•He's a cocky little man and I don't like him.
- cockily adverb
- cockiness noun [U] $ [U]
1 also cocoa powder a brown powder made from cocoa beans, used to make chocolate and to give a chocolate taste to foods
2 a sweet hot drink made with cocoa powder, sugar, and milk or water:
•a cup of cocoa[C]
the small seed of a tropical tree which is used to make cocoa[U]
a fat obtained from the seeds of a tropical tree, used in making some COSMETICS $
1 [C] the large brown seed of a tropical tree, which has a hard shell containing white flesh that you can eat and a milky liquid that you can drink:
•large tropical gardens of coconut palms
2 [U] the white flesh of a coconut, often used in cooking:
•desiccated coconut (=dried coconut)[U] BrE
a rough material used to cover floors that is made from the FIBREs covering a coconut shell[U]
the liquid inside a coconutplural coconut shies [C] BrE
an outdoor game in which you try to knock coconuts off posts by throwing balls at them [C]
1 a silk cover that young MOTHs and other insects make to protect themselves while they are growing
2 something that wraps around you completely, especially to protect you
[+of]
•The baby peered out of its cocoon of blankets.
3 a place or situation in which you feel comfortable and safe, and are protected from anything unpleasant
[+of]
•She was surrounded by the cocoon of a loving family.[T usually passive]
to protect or surround someone or something completely, especially so that they feel safe
be cocooned in sth
•She was cocooned in a reassuring network of friends and relatives.
•Usually she lay for ages cocooned in her warm bed.
- cocooned adjective
•a rich, cocooned existenceC.O.D. AmE $ [U] BrE
cash on delivery a payment system in which the customer pays the person who delivers the goods to them $ plural cod
1 [C] a large sea fish that lives in the North Atlantic
2 [U] the white flesh of a cod, eaten as food:
•Two cod fillets, please.[only before noun] BrE
not real, but intended to look or sound real - often used humorously:
•a cod English accent $ [C]
1 an additional separate part at the end of a piece of music
2 a separate piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or a speech $ [T]
to treat someone in a way that is too kind and gentle and that protects them from pain or difficulty:
•Don't coddle the child - he's fine! $
1 LAWS/BEHAVIOUR [C] a set of rules, laws, or principles that tell people how to behave:
•The Torah is the basis for all the Jewish laws and their moral code.
•Each state in the US has a different criminal and civil code.
•The judge ruled that there had been no breach of the code.
•There were plans to introduce a dress code (=rules about what to wear) for civil servants.
code of conduct/behaviour/ethics
•the strict code of conduct that is so much a part of karate
code of practice (=a set of rules that people in a particular business or profession agree to obey)
•The Textile Services Association has drawn up a code of practice endorsed by the Office of Fair Trading.
HIGHWAY CODE, PENAL CODE
2 SECRET MESSAGE [C,U] a system of words, letters, or symbols that you use instead of ordinary writing, so that the information can only be understood by someone else who knows the system
in code
•All reports must be sent in code.
break/crack a code (=manage to understand a code)
•They didn't realise that we'd broken their secret code.
3 SYMBOLS GIVING INFORMATION [C] a set of numbers, letters, or symbols that shows what something is or gives information about it:
•Goods that you order must have a product code.
•Every item found on the archaeological dig is given a code number.
BAR CODE, GENETIC CODE, POSTCODE, ZIP CODE
4 TELEPHONES also dialling code , STD code BrE [C] the group of numbers that comes before a telephone number when you are calling from a different area; = area code AmE
•What's the code for Aberdeen?
5 COMPUTERS [C,U] a set of instructions that tell a computer what to do
MACHINE CODE, SOURCE CODE
6 SOUNDS/SIGNALS [C] a system of sounds or signals that represent words or letters when they are sent by machine
MORSE CODE[T usually passive]
1 to put a set of numbers, letters, or symbols on something to show what it is or give information about it:
•Each path is coded to show the level of difficulty.
2 to put a message into code so that it is secret $
1 coded information uses a system of words, letters or symbols instead of ordinary writing so that it can only be understood by someone else who knows the system:
•He sent a coded message to CIA headquarters.
2 having a set of numbers, letters, or symbols to show what something is or give information about it:
•The wires are colour coded for easy identification.
3 coded language expresses your opinion in an indirect way because it will probably offend someone:
•They voiced their criticism in coded statements.
4 technical coded sounds or signals can only be understood by special machines:
•coded signals broadcast by the BBC radio transmitters $ [U]
a drug used to stop pain[C]
a name that is used to keep someone's or something's real name a secret
- code-name verb [T]
•a crime busting operation code-named Jeeves $ [C] informal
a computer PROGRAMMER:
•a coders' convention[U]
when two AIRLINE companies sell tickets together and use the same numbers for their flights[C]
1 a word or phrase that is given a different meaning to its usual meaning, so that it can be used to communicate something secretly
2 a word or expression that you use instead of a more direct one when you want to avoid shocking someone
[+for]
•'Lively discussion' is a code word for 'arguing'. $ plural codices [C] technical
an ancient book written by hand:
•a sixth-century codex $
old codger informal not polite an offensive word for an old man $ [C] law
a document making a change or addition to a WILL (=a legal document saying who you want your money and property to go to when you die) $ past tense and past participle codified, present participle codifying, third person singular codifies [T]
to arrange laws, principles, facts etc in a system
- codification $ noun [C,U] $ [U]
a system of marking something with letters, symbols etc so that facts about it can be understood by someone who knows the system:
•Most petrol stations use colour coding for different types of petrol.
•A coding system is used to record what is found and when.[U]
a yellow oil from a fish that contains a lot of substances that are important for good health $ [C]
a piece of coloured cloth worn by men in the 15th and 16th centuries to cover the opening in the front of their trousers $ [U] BrE informal
nonsense:
•What a load of codswallop! $
1 using a system in which students of both sexes are educated together:
•The university became coed in 1967.
2 AmE a coed place, team etc is used by or includes people of both sexes; = mixed BrE[C] AmE old fashioned
a woman student at a university $ [U]
a system in which students of both sexes are educated together
- coeducational adjective $ [C] technical
the number by which an unknown quantity is multiplied:
•In 8pq, the coefficient of pq is 8. $ formal
if people are coequal, they have the same rank, ability, importance etc $ [T]
to force someone to do something they do not want to do by threatening them
coerce sb into (doing) sth
•The rebels coerced the villagers into hiding them from the army. $ [U]
the use of threats or orders to make someone do something they do not want to do:
•The defendant explained that he had been acting under coercion. $ formal
using threats or orders to make someone do something they do not want to do:
•coercive measures to reduce absenteeism
- coercively adverb $ [I]
if two different things coexist, they exist at the same time or in the same place
[+with]
•great wealth coexisting with extreme poverty $ [U]
when two different things or groups of people exist together at the same time or in the same place
[+of]
•the coexistence of two systems of measurement
•over fifty years of peaceful coexistence BrE
the C of E the Church of England the official church in England, which has the queen or the king as its leader
- C of E adjective $
1 [U] a hot dark brown drink that has a slightly bitter taste:
•Do you want a cup of coffee?
•Do you like your coffee white (=with milk) or black (=without milk)?
2 [C,U] a cup of coffee:
•Who wants a coffee?
over coffee
•dinner guests chatting over coffee (=while drinking coffee)
DECAFFEINATED
3 [U] whole coffee beans, crushed coffee beans, or a powder to which you add water to make coffee:
•a jar of coffee
• instant coffee (=powdered coffee)
•I haven't got any real coffee (=coffee beans) at the moment.
4 [U] a light brown colour
wake up and smell the coffee at WAKE UP (3)[C]
a small restaurant that serves coffee and other non-alcoholic drinks, sandwiches, cakes etc
COFFEE SHOP[C]
the seed of a tropical bush that is used to make coffee[C]
a short time when you stop working to have a cup of coffee; = tea break BrE[C]
a small machine that crushes coffee beans[C]
a restaurant that serves coffee, cakes etc[C]
a machine that gives you a cup of coffee, tea etc when you put money in it $ [C]
an electric machine that makes coffee[C]
a COFFEE GRINDER[C] BrE
a social occasion when a group of people meet in the morning to talk and drink coffee, and usually give money to help a church or another organization[C]
a container from which coffee is served[C]
1 AmE a restaurant that serves cheap meals
2 BrE a place in a large shop or a hotel that serves meals and non-alcoholic drinks[C]
a low table on which you put cups, newspapers etc[C]
a large expensive book that has a lot of pictures in it and is meant to be looked at rather than read $ [C]
1 sb's coffers the money that an organization, government etc has available to spend:
•The money from the exhibition should swell the hospital's coffers a little.
2 a large strong box used to hold valuable or religious objects $ [C]
a long box in which a dead person is buried or burnt; = casket AmE
a nail in sb's/sth's coffin at NAIL^1 (3) $ [C]
1 a wheel with small bits sticking out around the edge that fit together with the bits of another wheel as they turn around in a machine
2 one of the small bits that stick out on a cog
3 a cog in the machine/wheel someone who only has a small unimportant job in a large business or organization $ formal
if a statement is cogent, it seems reasonable and correct
cogent argument/reason/case etc
•a cogent argument for banning the drug
- cogently adverb
- cogency noun [U] $ [I + about/on]
formal to think carefully and seriously about something
- cogitation $ noun [U] $ [C,U]
a kind of BRANDY (=strong alcoholic drink) made in France, or a glass of this drink $ technical
cognate words or languages have the same origin[C] technical
a word in one language that has the same origin as a word in another language:
•The German 'Hund' is a cognate of the English 'hound'. $ [U]
formal the process of knowing, understanding, and learning something:
•the regions of the brain that are responsible for memory and cognition $ formal
related to the process of knowing, understanding, and learning something:
•cognitive psychology
- cognitively adverbcognisance $ [U] formal
1 knowledge or understanding of something
2 take cognizance of sth to understand something and consider it when you take action or make a decisioncognisant $ [not before noun] formal
if someone is cognizant of something, they know about it and understand it
[+of]
•He was cognizant of the peculiarities of the case. $
the cognoscenti formal people who have special knowledge about a particular subject, especially art, literature, or food $ [C]
a COG $ [I]
to live with another person and have a sexual relationship with them without being married
- cohabitation $ noun [U] $ [I]
1 if ideas, arguments, beliefs, statements etc cohere, they are connected in a clear and reasonable way; coherent
•All the details are there and are correct but they don't cohere.
2 if two objects cohere, they stick togetheralso coherency $ [U]
1 when something such as a piece of writing is easy to understand because its parts are connected in a clear and reasonable way:
•An overall theme will help to give your essay coherence.
•He had a coherence of outlook and thought.
2 if a group has coherence, its members are connected or united because they share common aims, qualities, or beliefs:
•A common religion ensures the coherence of the tribe. $
1 if a piece of writing, set of ideas etc is coherent, it is easy to understand because it is clear and reasonable:
•The three years of the course are planned as a coherent whole.
•a coherent account of the incident
2 if someone is coherent, they are talking in a way that is clear and easy to understand:
•He sounded coherent, but he was too ill to have any idea what he was saying.
3 if a group is coherent, its members are connected or united because they share common aims, qualities, or beliefs:
•They were never a coherent group.
- coherently adverb
•She could not think coherently. $ [U]
1 if there is cohesion among a group of people, a set of ideas etc, all the parts or members of it are connected or related in a reasonable way to form a whole:
•a sense of community and social cohesion
2 technical a close relationship, based on grammar or meaning, between two parts of a sentence or a larger piece of writing $
1 connected or related in a reasonable way to form a whole:
•a cohesive community
2 uniting people or things:
•Historically, sport has been a cohesive force in international relations.
- cohesively adverb
- cohesiveness noun [U] $ [C]
1 someone's cohorts are their friends who support them and stay loyal to them - used in order to show disapproval:
•Mark and his cohorts eventually emerged from the studio.
2 technical a group of people of the same age, social class etc, especially when they are being studied:
•a cohort of 386 patients aged 65 plus $ [C]
formal the way someone's hair is arranged; = hairstyle
- coiffured or coiffed adjectivealso coil up [I,T]
to wind or twist into a series of rings, or to make something do this:
•The snake coiled around the branches of the tree.
•Her long hair was coiled up in a plait at the top of her head.
•He coiled the rope.
- coiled adjective [only before noun][C]
1 a continuous series of circular rings into which something such as wire or rope has been wound or twisted
[+of]
•a coil of rope
2 one ring of wire, rope etc in a continuous series
3 a wire or a metal tube in a continuous circular shape that produces light or heat when electricity is passed through it:
•the coil in a light bulb
4 the part of a car engine that sends electricity to the SPARK PLUGs
5 a CONTRACEPTIVE that is a flat curved piece of metal or plastic that is fitted inside a woman's UTERUS; = IUD
1 [C] a piece of metal, usually flat and round, that is used as money; bill, note
2 toss/flip a coin to choose or decide something by throwing a coin into the air and guessing which side of it will show when it falls:
•Let's toss a coin to see who goes first.
3 the other/opposite side of the coin a different or opposite way of thinking about something:
•Making the rules is only part of it. How the rules are carried out is the other side of the coin.
4 two sides of the same coin two problems or situations that are so closely connected that they are really just two parts of the same thing:
•Great opportunity and great danger are two sides of the same coin.
5 [U] money in the form of metal coins[T ]
1 to invent a new word or expression, especially one that many people start to use:
•The word 'aromatherapy' was coined in the 1920s.
2 to coin a phrase spoken said in a joking way when you use a very common expression, to show that you know it is used a lot:
•He'd thought the flight would never - to coin a phrase - get off the ground.
3 coin money/coin it (in) BrE informal to earn a lot of money very quickly:
•BT at its profitable peak was coining it at the rate of £90 a second.
4 to make pieces of money from metal
1 [U] the system or type of money used in a country:
•the gold coinage of the Roman empire
2 [C] a word or phrase that has been recently invented:
•The phrase 'glass ceiling' is a fairly recent coinage.
3 [U] the invention of new words or phrases
4 [U] the making of coins $ [I]
1 to happen at the same time as something else, especially by chance; coincidence
[+with]
•His entry to the party coincided with his marriage.
•When our vacations coincided, we often holidayed together.
planned/timed/arranged to coincide
•The show is timed to coincide with the launch of a new book.
2 [not in progressive] if two people's ideas, opinions etc coincide, they are the same; coincidence
•The interests of the US and those of the islanders may not coincide.
[+with]
•The cloth had a natural look which coincided perfectly with the image Laura sought.
3 to meet or be in the same place:
•The journey coincides in part with the Pennine Way. $
1 [C,U] when two things happen at the same time, in the same place, or to the same people in a way that seems surprising or unusual; coincide, coincidental
•'I'm going to Appleby tomorrow.' ' What a coincidence!I'm going up there too.'
by coincidence
•By coincidence, John and I both ended up at Yale.
sheer/pure coincidence (=completely by chance)
•I didn't set out to find you - it's sheer coincidence that I should walk along the same street.
not a coincidence/more than coincidence
•After the fourth attack on her car she was convinced that the vandalism was more than just coincidence.
•It seemed to her a happy coincidence that Robert should invite her for the weekend.
2 [singular] formal when two ideas, opinions etc are the same
[+of]
•a coincidence of interest between the mining companies and certain politicians $ formal
existing or happening at the same place or time
[+with]
•The rise of the novel was coincident with the decline of storytelling. $
happening completely by chance without being planned; coincidence
purely/completely/entirely coincidental
•Any similarity between this film and real events is purely coincidental.
- coincidentally adverb [sentence adverb]
•We have become very profitable. Not coincidentally, we have only half as many employees as we did in 1988. $ [U] AmE
1 a type of insurance in which the payment is split between two people, especially between an employer and a worker:
•health coinsurance
2 insurance that will only pay for part of the value or cost of something $ [T] AmE
to buy or provide insurance in which the payment is split between two people, or insurance that will only pay for part of the value or cost of something $ [U]
the rough material that covers the shell of a COCONUT, used for making MATs , ropes etc $ [U]
technical the act of having sex; = sexual intercourse
- coital adjective $
1 Coke [C,U] trademark the drink Coca-Cola, or a bottle, can, or glass of this drink
2 [U] informal COCAINE
3 [U] a solid black substance produced from coal and burned to provide heat
the written abbreviation of colonel $ [C]
technical a low point between two high places in a mountain range
the written abbreviation of column $ [C,U]
a brown sweet SOFT DRINK or a bottle, can, or glass of this drink:
•a can of cola $ [C]
a metal or plastic bowl with a lot of small holes in the bottom and sides, used to separate liquid from food $ comparative colder, superlative coldest
1 OBJECTS/SURFACES/LIQUIDS/ROOMS something that is cold has a low temperature; hot ; coldness
•She splashed her face with cold water.
•a blast of cold air
•We slept on the cold ground.
•The house felt cold and empty.
ice/stone/freezing cold (=very cold)
•The radiator is stone cold; isn't the heating working?
go/get cold (=become cold)
•My tea's gone cold.
•Come and eat or your dinner will get cold!
2 WEATHER when there is cold weather, the temperature of the air is very low; hot ; coldness
•It was so cold this morning I had to scrape the ice off my windshield.
•The day was bitterly cold.
•The hut sheltered her from the cold wind.
cold winter/evening/January etc
•the coldest winter on record
cold out/outside
•It was raining and freezing cold outside.
•The weather gets colder around the middle of October.
turn/grow cold (=become cold or colder, especially suddenly)
•The nights grew colder.
3 be/feel/look/get cold if you are cold, your body is at a low temperature:
•Could you turn up the heater, I'm cold.
•I feel so cold!
•My feet are as cold as ice (=very cold).
4 FOOD cold food is cooked but not eaten hot:
•a plate of cold meats
•a cold buffet
•Serve the potatoes cold.
5 LACKING FEELING unfriendly or lacking normal human feelings such as sympathy, pity, humour etc; warm ; coldly, coldness
•Martin was really cold towards me at the party.
•His voice was sharp and cold as ice.
•She gave him a cold stare.
•a cold, calculated murder
6 get/have cold feet informal to suddenly feel that you are not brave enough to do something you planned to do:
•The plan failed after sponsors got cold feet.
7 give sb the cold shoulder informal to deliberately ignore someone or be unfriendly to them, especially because they have upset or offended you
8 LIGHT/COLOUR a cold colour or light reminds you of things that are cold; warm ; coldness
•the cold light of a fluorescent tube
9 in the cold light of day in the morning, when you can think clearly or see something clearly:
•The house seemed less threatening in the cold light of day.
10 cold (hard) cash AmE money in the form of paper money and coins rather than cheques or CREDIT CARDs
11 leave sb cold to not feel interested in or affected by something in any way:
•Opera left him cold.
12 take/need a cold shower used humorously to say that someone is sexually excited and the cold water will stop them feeling that way
13 sb's trail/scent is cold used to say that you cannot find someone because it has been too long since they passed or lived in a particular place:
•The trail's gone cold. I tracked the boy as far as the factory, but there it ended.
14 IN GAMES [not before noun] used in children's games, to say that someone is far away from the hidden object or answer they are trying to find:
•You're getting colder!
15 cold facts facts without anything added to make them more pleasant or interesting:
•Statistics can be merely cold facts.
16 cold steel literary a weapon such as a knife or sword
in cold blood at BLOOD^1 (3); cold fish at FISH^1 (8); blow hot and cold at BLOW^1 (21); cold comfort at COMFORT^1 (7); pour cold water over/on at POUR (6); a cold sweat at SWEAT^2 (4)
1 [C] a common illness that makes it difficult to breathe through your nose and often makes your throat hurt:
•I' ve got a bad cold.
•Keep your feet dry so you don't catch a cold (=become ill).
COMMON COLD
2 [U] also the cold a low temperature or cold weather:
•I was shivering with cold.
•Don't go out in the cold without your coat!
you'll catch your death of cold (=used to warn someone that they may become very ill if they do not keep themselves warm in cold weather) BrE
3 come in from the cold to become accepted or recognized, especially by a powerful group of people
4 leave sb out in the cold informal to not include someone in an activity:
•He chose to favour us one at a time and the others were left out in the cold.
1 AmE suddenly and completely:
•Paul stopped cold. 'What was that noise?'
2 out cold informal unconscious:
•He drank until he was out cold.
•You were knocked out cold (=hit on the head so that you became unconscious).
3 without preparation:
•I can't just get up there and make a speech cold!
1 not showing or involving any emotions or pity for other people's suffering:
•a cold-blooded killer
• cold-blooded murder
2 a cold-blooded animal, such as a snake, has a body temperature that changes with the temperature of the air or ground around it; warm-blooded
- cold-bloodedly adverb
- cold-bloodedness noun [U][T]
to telephone or visit someone you have never met before and try to sell them something
- cold call noun [C]
- cold-calling noun [U][U]
if something that is slightly positive is cold comfort to someone who is feeling very bad about a situation, it does not make them feel any better:
•The drop in the unemployment figures is cold comfort to those still looking for work.[U]
a thick white oily cream used for cleaning your face and making it softer[plural]
thinly cut pieces of cooked meat eaten cold[C] BrE
a box-like structure with sides and a top made of glass or clear plastic, used for keeping young plants warm as they start to grow[C]
the front edge of a mass of cold air heading towards a place
WARM FRONT[U]
a type of NUCLEAR FUSION (=the joining together of the centre of two atoms, which releases energy) which some scientists believe can happen at extremely low temperatures, but which other scientists believe is impossible $
behaving in a way that shows no pity or sympathy:
•I had no idea you could be so cold-hearted.
- cold-heartedly adverb
- cold-heartedness noun [U] $
if you do something coldly, you do it without any emotion or warm feeling, making you seem unfriendly; cold, coldness
say/speak/reply etc coldly
•' Well, what can I do for you?' he asked coldly.
•Janine looked at her coldly. $ [U]
1 when someone is unfriendly and does not show any warm feelings:
•There was a certain coldness about him.
2 the state of being cold
[+of]
•the icy coldness of the water
(give sb/get) the cold shoulder to behave in an unfriendly way towards someone that you know
- cold shoulder verb [T][C]
a sudden short period of very cold weather[C]
a painful spot on your lip or inside your mouth that is caused by a VIRUS[C]
a period of several days or weeks when the weather is much colder than usual[U]
1 if you keep something such as food in cold storage, you keep it in a cold place so that it will stay fresh and in good condition
2 put sth in cold storage to not do or use something such as a plan or idea until later in the future:
•He aims to please even if it means putting his principles in cold storage.[C]
BrE a room that is kept very cold and used to store food, etc to keep it fresh[U]
an unpleasant physical condition suffered by people who stop taking a drug that they are ADDICTED to:
•addicts who are made to go cold turkey[singular,U]
1 an unfriendly political relationship between two countries who do not actually fight each other
2 the Cold War this unfriendly relationship between the US and the Soviet Union after the Second World Waralso cole slaw AmE $ [U]
a SALAD made with thinly cut raw CABBAGE $ [U]
if a baby has colic, it has severe pain in its stomach and BOWELs
- colicky adjective [U]
an illness in which part of your COLON swells, causing pain [I]
1 to work together with a person or group in order to achieve something, especially in science or art; collaborator
[+on]
•The two nations are collaborating on several satellite projects.
[+with]
•During the late seventies, he collaborated with the legendary Muddy Waters.
collaborate to do sth
•Researchers are collaborating to develop the vaccine.
collaborate in (doing) sth
•Elephants collaborate in looking after their young.
2 to help a country that your country is fighting a war with, especially one that has taken control of your country; collaborator
[+with]
•Vigilantes began combing the city for anyone known to have collaborated with the enemy.
1 [C,U] when you work together with another person or group to achieve something, especially in science or art:
•The company is building the centre in collaboration with the Institute of Offshore Engineering.
[+between]
•a collaboration between the two theatres
[+with]
•The project has involved collaboration with the geography department.
2 [U] when someone gives help to a country that their country is fighting a war with, especially one that has taken control of their country $
collaborative effort/work/project etc a job or piece of work that involves two or more people working together to achieve something $ [C]
1 someone who helps their country's enemies, for example by giving them information, when the enemy has taken control of their country; collaborate, collaboration
•Their job was to identify enemy collaborators.
2 someone who works with other people or groups in order to achieve something, especially in science or art; collaborate, collaboration
•collaborators on a biography of Dickens $
1 [C] a picture made by sticking other pictures, photographs, cloth etc onto a surface
2 [U] the art of making pictures in this way $ [U]
a PROTEIN found in people and animals. It is often used in beauty products and treatments to make people look younger and more attractive
1 STRUCTURE [I] if a building, wall etc collapses, it falls down suddenly, usually because it is weak or damaged:
•Uncle Ted's chair collapsed under his weight.
•The roof had collapsed long ago.
2 ILLNESS/INJURY [I] to suddenly fall down or become unconscious because you are ill or weak:
•He collapsed with a heart attack while he was dancing.
•Marion's legs collapsed under her.
3 FAIL [I] if a system, idea, or organization collapses, it suddenly fails or becomes too weak to continue:
•The luxury car market has collapsed.
•I thought that without me the whole project would collapse.
4 PRICES [I] if prices, levels, etc collapse, they suddenly become much lower:
•There were fears that property prices would collapse.
5 SIT/LIE [I] to suddenly sit down, especially because you are very tired or want to relax:
•I was so exhausted when I got home, I just collapsed on the sofa.
6 FOLD STH SMALLER [I,T] if a piece of furniture or equipment collapses, or if you collapse it, you can fold it so that it becomes smaller:
•The legs on our card table collapse so we can store it in the closet.
7 MEDICAL [I] if a lung or a BLOOD VESSEL collapses, it suddenly becomes flat, so that it no longer has any air or blood in it
1 BUSINESS/SYSTEM/IDEA ETC [singular, U] a sudden failure in the way something works, so that it cannot continue
[+of]
•the collapse of the Soviet Union
•the threat of economic collapse
•His business was in danger of collapse.
2 BUILDING/STRUCTURE/FURNITURE ETC [U] when something suddenly falls down:
•the collapse of an apartment building during the earthquake
•The ancient abbey was in imminent danger of collapse.
3 ILLNESS/INJURY [singular, U] when someone suddenly falls down or becomes unconscious because of an illness or injury:
•The president said he was fine after his collapse yesterday.
•She suffered a collapse under anaesthetic.
4 MONEY/PRICES ETC [singular] a sudden decrease in the value of something:
•the collapse of the stock market
[+in]
•a collapse in the value of pensions
something collapsible can be folded so that it uses less space:
•a collapsible chair $ [C]
1 CLOTHING the part of a shirt, coat etc that fits around your neck, and is usually folded over:
•He grabbed me by the collar.
•He loosened his collar and tie.
2 CAT/DOG a narrow band of leather or plastic that is fastened around an animal's neck
3 INJURED NECK an object that someone wears around their neck to support it when it has been injured
4 BUSINESS a way of making sure that the STOCKs you own do not lose money, even if their price becomes lower
5 MACHINE a circular ring that goes round a pipe to make it stronger, especially where two pipes join together
6 COLOURED FUR/FEATHERS a band of fur, feathers, or skin around an animal's neck that is a different colour from the rest of the animal
BLUE-COLLAR, DOG COLLAR, WHITE-COLLAR[T]
1 to catch someone and hold them so that they cannot escape:
•The police collared him less than twenty minutes after the robbery.
2 to find someone so that you can talk to them, especially when they would prefer to avoid you:
•He collared her in the staff room at lunchtime and started telling her about his holiday plans.
3 high-collared/open-collared/fur-collared etc used about clothes that have a particular type of collar:
•a high-collared blouse $ [C]
one of the pair of bones that go from the bottom part of your neck to your shoulders $ [plural] AmE
a vegetable with large green leaves, eaten cooked $
a collarless jacket, shirt etc is one that does not have a collar[C]
an object like a button, used to fasten old-fashioned collars to shirts [T]
1 formal to gather information together, examine it carefully, and compare it with other information to find any differences
collate information/results/data/figures
•A computer system is used to collate information from across Britain.
2 to arrange sheets of paper in the correct order; = sort
- collation noun [U] [U]
property or other goods that you promise to give someone if you cannot pay back the money they lend you; = security
•People put up their homes as collateral in order to raise the money to invest in the scheme.
- collateralize AmE verb [T][only before noun]
1 collateral damage people who are hurt or killed, or property that is damaged accidentally in a war - used especially by the army, navy etc:
•Hitting any non-military targets would risk 'collateral damage'.
2 relating to something or happening as a result of it, but not as important:
•There may be collateral benefits to the scheme.
3 collateral relatives are members of your family who are not closely related to you $ [C]
someone you work with, used especially by professional people:
•a colleague of mine from the bank
•She discussed the idea with some of her colleagues.
1 BRING TOGETHER [T] to get things of the same type from different places and bring them together; collection, collector
•After 25 years of collecting recipes, she has compiled them into a cookbook.
•The company collects information about consumer trends.
•We've been out collecting signatures for our petition.
2 KEEP OBJECTS [T] to get and keep objects of the same type, because you think they are attractive or interesting; collection, collector
•Arlene collects teddy bears.
3 RENT/DEBTS/TAXES [T] to get money that you are owed; collector
collect tax/rent/a debt
•The landlady came around once a month to collect the rent.
4 MONEY TO HELP PEOPLE [I,T] to ask people to give you money or goods for an organization that helps people
[+for]
•I'm collecting for Children in Need.
5 INCREASE IN AMOUNT [I,T] if something collects in a place, or you collect it there, it gradually increases in amount:
•Rain collected in pools on the road.
•solar panels for collecting energy from the sun
•I didn't know what to do with it, so it just sat there collecting dust.
6 WIN STH [T] to receive something because you have won a race, game etc:
•Redgrave collected his fifth Olympic gold medal in Sydney.
7 collect yourself/collect your thoughts to make an effort to remain calm and think clearly and carefully about something:
•I got there early so I had a few minutes to collect my thoughts before the meeting began.
8 TAKE SB/STH FROM A PLACE [T] especially BrE to come to a particular place in order to take someone or something away; = pick up AmE
•Martin's gone to collect the children from school.
•I've got to go and collect the book I ordered from the library.
9 CROWD [I] formal to come together gradually to form a group of people:
•A crowd was beginning to collect around the scene of the accident.

PHRASAL VERBS
collect sth <=> up phr v BrE
to pick up several things, and put them together:
•Can you collect up all the dirty plates and cups?AmE
call/phone sb collect when you telephone someone collect, the person who receives the call pays for it; collect call; = reverse the charges BrE $ [C]
a short prayer in some Christian servicesalso collectible
something that is collectable is likely to be bought and kept as part of a group of similar things, especially because it might increase in value
- collectable also collectible noun [C]
•shops selling antiques and collectables[C] AmE
a telephone call paid for by the person who receives it
1 in control of yourself and your thoughts, feelings etc:
•She wanted to arrive feeling cool, calm, and collected.
2 collected works/poems/essays/edition all of someone's books, poems etc printed in one book or set of books:
•the Collected Works of Shakespeare
1 SET/GROUP [C]
a) a set of similar things that are kept or brought together because they are attractive or interesting; collect, collector
•a stamp collection
•my record collection
[+of]
•a collection of Japanese vases
b) a group of objects together in the same place:
•a collection of empty wine bottles on the back porch
2 MONEY [C] the act of asking people to give you money for an organization that helps people, or during a church service, or the money collected in this way; collect
[+for]
•Every Christmas we have a collection for a local charity.
•We'll be taking up a collection at the end of tonight's service.
3 RENT/DEBTS/TAXES [U] the act of obtaining money that is owed to you; collect, collector
•a debt collection agency
4 BRINGING TOGETHER [U] the act of bringing together things of the same type from different places to form a group; collect
•a computerized data collection system
5 TAKING STH AWAY [C,U] the act of taking something from a place; collect
•Garbage collections are made every Tuesday morning.
•Please collect your purchases from the customer collection point.
6 FASHION [C] the clothes designed by a fashion company for a particular season:
•Donna Karen's new spring collection
7 BOOKS/MUSIC [C] several stories, poems, pieces of music etc that are in one book or on one record
[+of]
•a new collection of Frost's poetry
8 PEOPLE [C usually singular] a group of people, especially people you think are strange or unusual in some way
[+of]
•There was an interesting collection of people at the wedding.[C]
a container with a small hole in the top, that people put money for CHARITY into[C]
a large, almost flat dish that you put money into during some religious services [only before noun]
shared or made by every member of a group or society:
•a collective decision made by all board members
•our collective responsibility for the environment[C]
1 a group of people who work together to run something such as a business or farm, and who share the profits equally
2 the business or farm that is run by this type of group[U]
the discussions held between employers and a union in order to reach agreement on wages, working conditions etc[C]
a large farm that is owned by the government and controlled by the farm workers
as a group:
•All members of the cabinet are collectively responsible for decisions taken.
•Rain, snow and hail are collectively known as precipitation.[C]
technical a noun, such as 'family' or 'flock', that is the name of people or things considered as a unit [U]
a political system in which all businesses, farms etc are owned by the government
- collectivist adjectivealso collectivise BrE [T]
to join privately owned farms or businesses together, so that they can be owned by the government in a Communist political system
- collectivization $ noun [U] $ [C]
1 someone who collects things that are interesting or attractive; collect, collection
•a stamp collector
•The painting was bought by a private collector.
2 someone whose job is to collect taxes, tickets, debts etc; collect, collection
tax/ticket/debt/refuse collector[C]
an object that people want to have because it is interesting or rare, and might become valuable:
•Original teddy bears have become real collectors' items. $ [C]
old-fashioned a girl or young woman - used in Ireland $
1 SPECIALIZED EDUCATION [C,U] a school for advanced education, especially in a particular profession or skill:
•a teacher training college
•the London College of Fashion
•Donna left school and went to art college.
at college
•We were great friends when we were at college.
SIXTH FORM COLLEGE
2 US UNIVERSITY [C,U] AmE a large school where you can study after HIGH SCHOOL and get a degree; = university BrE
•Some people who want to go to college still can't get there.
in college
•Fran just finished her freshman year in college.
•a decline in the number of college students studying history
• college graduates
•a college education
• college campuses
COMMUNITY COLLEGE, JUNIOR COLLEGE
3 PART OF A UNIVERSITY [C] one of the groups of teachers and students that form a separate part of some universities, especially in Britain:
•Trinity College, Cambridge
4 STUDENTS AND TEACHERS [C also + plural verb BrE ] the students and teachers of one of these organizations
5 PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION [C] a group of people who have special rights, duties, or powers within a profession or organization:
•the American College of Surgeons
6 NAME OF A SCHOOL [C] BrE a word used in the name of some large schools, especially PUBLIC SCHOOLs
ELECTORAL COLLEGE[plural] trademark
tests taken by students in order to attend some US universities [C]
a member of a college
- collegian adjective
1 relating to college or a college:
•collegiate sports
2 a collegiate university is one that is organized into separate colleges [I]
1 to hit something or someone that is moving in a different direction from you; collision
•A car and a van collided on the motorway.
[+with]
•I ran around the corner, and almost collided with Mrs Laurence.
•Two trains collided head-on (=when they were moving directly towards each other).
2 to disagree strongly with a person or group, especially on a particular subject
[+with]
•The President has again collided with Congress over his budget plans.
3 if two very different ideas, ways of thinking etc collide, they come together and produce an interesting result
•Istanbul, where east and west collide $ [C]
a middle-sized dog with long hair, kept as a pet or trained to control sheep $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned someone who works in a coal mine $ plural collieries [C] BrE
a COAL MINE and the buildings and machinery connected with it [C,U]
1 an accident in which two or more people or vehicles hit each other while moving in different directions; collide
[+with]
•The school bus was involved in a collision with a truck.
•Two people were killed in a head-on collision (=between two vehicles that are moving directly towards each other) on highway 218.
2 a strong disagreement between two people or groups
[+between]
•a collision between the two countries over fishing rights
3 be on a collision course
a) to be likely to have serious trouble because your aims are very different from someone else's:
•The two nations are on a collision course that could lead to war.
b) to be moving in a direction in which you will hit something:
•an asteroid on a collision course with Earth $ [I]
technical when words collocate, they are often used together and sound natural together
[+with]
•'Enigmatic' collocates with 'smile'.
- collocate noun [C] $ [C,U] technical
the way in which some words are often used together, or a particular combination of words used in this way:
•'Commit a crime' is a typical collocation in English. $
language or words that are colloquial are used mainly in informal conversations rather than in writing or formal speech
- colloquially adverb $ [C]
an expression or word used in informal conversation $ [C] formal
a CONFERENCE $ [C] formal
a conversation
SOLILOQUY [I]
to work with someone secretly, especially in order to do something dishonest or illegal
[+with]
•Several customs officials have been accused of colluding with drug traffickers.
[+in]
•She knew about the plan, and colluded in it. [U]
a secret agreement that two or more people make in order to do something dishonest $
the collywobbles BrE informal an uncomfortable feeling that you get when you are very nervousalso eau de cologne $ [U]
a liquid that smells slightly of flowers or plants, that you put on your neck or wrists; perfume $ [C]
1 technical the lower part of the BOWELs , in which food is changed into waste matter
2 the sign (:) that is used in writing and printing to introduce an explanation, example, QUOTATION (1) etc; semicolon $ [C]
a high rank in the army, Marines, or the US air force, or someone who has this rank $
1 relating to a country that controls and rules other countries, usually ones that are far away; colony
•the struggle against colonial rule
•Britain was the largest colonial power.
2 made in a style that was common in the US in the 18th century:
•a large colonial house
3 relating to the US when it was under British rule:
•The town was first established in colonial times.[C]
someone who lives in a COLONY but who is a citizen of the country that rules the colony $ [U]
when a powerful country rules a weaker one, and establishes its own trade and society there; colony, imperialism
•a legacy of European colonialism $ [C]
a supporter of colonialism
- colonialist adjective
•colonialist attitudes $
1 relating to the COLON
2 colonic irrigation the practice of washing someone's COLON with water, which is believed to make them more healthy $ [C]
someone who settles in a new colonyalso colonise BrE $ [T]
1 to establish political control over an area or over another country, and send your citizens there to settle; colony
2 if animals or plants colonize an area, large numbers of them start to live there:
•a dead tree that has been colonized by ants
- colonizer $ noun [C]
- colonization $ noun [U] $ [C]
a row of upright stone posts that usually support a roof or row of ARCHes
- colonnaded adjective $ plural colonies [C]
1 a country or area that is under the political control of a more powerful country, usually one that is far away; colonial, colonize
•Algeria was formerly a French colony.
CROWN COLONY
2 one of the 13 areas of land on the east coast of North America that later became the United States:
•Connecticut was one of the original colonies.
3 a group of people who are similar in some way and who live together, or the place where they live:
•an artists' colony
•a leper colony
4 a group of animals or plants of the same type that are living or growing together:
•a seal colony
•breeding colonies of rare birds $
the American spelling of COLOUR
color me surprised/confused/embarrassed etc AmE spoken informal used to say that you are very surprised, confused etc by something:
•'Color me amazed!' says prize-winner Angela Harris. [U]
the colours or pattern of colours on a plant or animal $
1 [U] a difficult piece of music that is meant to be sung fast
2 [C] a woman, especially a SOPRANO, who sings this type of music[C] AmE
a group of people who carry flags in an official ceremonyalso colourize BrE [T]
to add colour to a film that was first made in black and white
- colorization $ noun [U][singular]
AmE the set of laws or social customs in some places that prevents people of different races from going to the same places or taking part in the same activities; = colour bar BrE $
used to emphasize that something is extremely large:
•a colossal statue of the King
•a colossal waste of money
- colossally adverb $ [C]
someone or something that is extremely big or extremely important:
•an intellectual colossus like Leonardocolor AmE $ BrE
1 RED/BLUE/GREEN ETC [C] red, blue, yellow, green, brown, purple etc:
•What colour dress did you buy?
•What colour are his eyes?
•The pens come in a wide range of colours.
light/bright/pastel etc colour
•I love wearing bright colours.
reddish-brown/yellowy-green/deep blue etc colour
•The walls were a lovely reddish-brown color.
2 COLOUR IN GENERAL [U] also colours the appearance of something as a result of the way it REFLECTs (=throws back) light, especially when its appearance is very bright or is made up of a lot of different colours:
•Bright bold accessories are the quickest way to add colour to a room.
in colour
•The wine was almost pink in colour (=was almost pink).
blaze/riot/mass of colour (=lots of different bright colours)
•In summer the gardens are a blaze of colour.
•a splash of colour (=a small area of a bright colour)
•The sky began to slowly change colour.
•the fall colors (=the colours of the trees in autumn)
3 SB'S RACE [C,U] how dark or light someone's skin is, which shows which race they belong to:
•Everyone has a right to a job, regardless of their race, sex, or colour.
•people of all colors
•the continuing battle against colour prejudice
COLOURED^2
4 people/women/students etc of color especially AmE people, women etc who are not white:
•I'm the only person of color in my class.
5 SUBSTANCE [C,U] a substance such as paint or DYE that makes something red, blue, yellow etc:
•Wash the garment separately, as the colour may run (=come out when washed).
•jams that contain no artificial colours or preservatives
lip/nail/eye colour
•our new range of eyeshadows and lip colours
6 in (full) colour a television programme, film, or photograph that is in colour contains colours such as red, green, and blue rather than just black and white; in black and white
•All the recipes in the book are illustrated in full colour.
7 SB'S FACE [U] if you have some colour in your face, your face is pink or red, usually because you are healthy or embarrassed:
•You look a lot better today. At least you've got a bit of colour now.
•One of the girls giggled nervously as colour flooded her cheeks (=her cheeks suddenly went very pink or red).
•He stared at her, the colour draining from his face.
8 STH INTERESTING [U] interesting and exciting details or qualities that someone or something has:
•The old market is lively, full of colour and activity.
•a travel writer in search of local colour
add/give colour to sth (=make something more interesting)
•Intelligent use of metaphors can add colour and style to your writing.
9 lend/give colour to sth to make something, especially something unusual, appear likely or true:
•We now have independent evidence that lends colour to the accusation of fraud.
10 off colour
a) [not before noun] BrE someone who is off colour is feeling slightly ill
b) [usually before noun] especially AmE off-colour jokes, stories etc are rude and often about sex
11 colours [plural]
a) the colours that are used to represent a team, school, club, country etc
club/team/school colours
•a peaked cap in the team colours
•Australia's national colours are gold and green.
b) BrE a flag, shirt etc that shows that someone or something belongs to or supports a particular team, school, club, or country
12 see the colour of sb's money spoken to have definite proof that someone has enough money to pay for something:
•'A whiskey, please.' 'Let's see the color of your money first.'
with flying colours at FLYING^1 (2); nail your colours to the mast at NAIL^2 (5); your true colours at TRUE^1 (13)

WORD FOCUS: colour
a particular kind of colour:
shade
hint
hue
words for describing dark colours:
dark
deep
rich
words for describing light colours:
light
pale
soft
pastel
words for describing bright colours:
bright
brilliant
vivid
garish disapproving
gaudy disapproving
having a lot of colours:
colourful
multicoloured BrE /multicolored AmE
color AmE BrE
1 [T] to change the colour of something, especially by using DYE:
•If I didn't colour my hair I'd be totally grey.
•Colour the icing with a little green food colouring.
colour sth red/blue etc
•Sunset came and coloured the sky a brilliant red.
2 [I,T] also colour in to use coloured pencils to put colours inside the lines of a picture:
•On the back page is a picture for your child to colour in.
•She has no idea how to colour a picture - she just scribbles all over it.
3 [I] literary when someone colours, their face becomes redder because they are embarrassed; = blush
•Her eyes suddenly met his and she coloured slightly.
4 colour sb's judgement/opinions/attitudes etc to influence the way someone thinks about something, especially so that they become less fair or reasonable:
•In my position, I can't afford to let my judgement be coloured by personal feelings.color AmE BrE
colour television/photograph/printer etc a colour television, photograph etc that produces or shows pictures in colour rather than in black, white, and grey; black and white
•a large color TV
•Please ask for our free colour brochure.colorant AmE [C] BrE
a substance used to change the colour of something, especially someone's hair[C usually singular] BrE
a set of laws or social customs that prevents black people from going to the same places or taking part in the same activities as white people; = color line AmEcolor-blind AmE BrE
1 unable to see the difference between all or some colours
2 treating people from different races equally and fairly:
•The law should be colour-blind.
- colour-blindness noun [U]color coded AmE BrE
things that are colour coded are marked with different colours so that it is easy to see what they are to be used forcolor-coordinated AmE BrE
clothes, decorations etc that are colour-coordinated have colours which look good together
- =colour-coordi#nation noun [U]colored AmE $ BrE
1 brightly/highly/richly etc coloured having a bright colour such as red, blue, or yellow etc, or a deep shade of a particular colour, but not black, white, or plain
2 having a colour other than black or white:
•coloured glass
•a cream-coloured sweater
3 taboo old-fashioned a very offensive word used to describe someone who is a member of a race of people with dark or black skin. Do not use this word.
4 used in South Africa to describe someone whose parents or grandparents were not of the same race as each othercolored AmE [C] BrE
1 taboo old-fashioned a very offensive word for someone who is a member of a race of people with dark or black skin. Do not use this word.
2 a person whose parents or grandparents were not of the same race as each other - used in South Africacolorfast AmE $ BrE
cloth that is colourfast will not lose its colour when it is washedcolorful AmE $ BrE
1 having bright colours or a lot of different colours:
•a colourful display of flowers
•colorful costumes
2 interesting, exciting, and full of variety
colourful history/past/career/life
•Charlie Chaplin had a long and colorful career.
colourful character/figure (=someone who is interesting and unusual)
3 colourful language, speech etc uses a lot of swearing
- colourfully adverbcoloring AmE BrE
1 [C,U] a substance used to give a particular colour to food:
•green food colouring
2 [U] the activity of putting colours into drawings, or of drawing using CRAYONs , coloured pencils etc:
•a children's colouring competition
3 [U] the colour of someone's skin, hair, and eyes:
•Mandy has her mother's fair coloring.
4 [U] the colours of an animal, bird, or plantcoloring book AmE [C] BrE
a book full of pictures that are drawn without colour so that a child can colour them incolorist AmE [C] BrE
1 technical a painter who uses colour itself as a subject of a painting
2 someone whose job is to DYE people's hair (=change the colour)colorless AmE $ BrE
1 having no colour:
•a colourless, odourless gas
2 if your face, hair, eyes, skin, or lips are colourless, they are very pale, usually because you are ill or frightened
3 not interesting or exciting; = dull
•his colourless personality
- colourlessly adverbcolor scheme AmE [C] BrE
the combination of colours that someone chooses for a room, painting etc[C] BrE
a magazine printed in colour and given free with a newspaper, especially on Saturdays or Sundays $ [C]
1 a young male horse; filly
2 [usually plural] BrE a member of a sports team for young people:
•our colts team $ [C]
1 a tall solid upright stone post used to support a building or as a decoration
2 a line of numbers or words written under each other that goes down a page; row
in a column
•Add up the numbers in each column.
[+of]
•a column of figures
3 an article on a particular subject or by a particular writer that appears regularly in a newspaper or magazine:
•He writes a weekly column for 'The Times'.
music/science/gardening etc column
4 one of two or more areas of print that go down the page of a newspaper or book and that are separated from each other by a narrow space:
•Turn to Page 5, column 2.
•'The Sun' devoted 10 column inches to the event (=their article filled a column ten inches long).
5 something that has a tall thin shape
[+of]
•a column of smoke
6 a long moving line of people or things
[+of]
•a column of marching men
FIFTH COLUMN, GOSSIP COLUMN, PERSONAL COLUMN, SPINAL COLUMN $ [C]
someone who writes articles, especially about a particular subject, that appear regularly in a newspaper or magazine $
the abbreviation of commercial organization , used in Internet addresses $ [C,U]
someone who is in a coma has been unconscious for a long time, usually because of a serious illness or injury
be in/go into/come out of a coma
•He went into a coma and died soon afterwards. $
technical in a coma $
1 [C] a flat piece of plastic, metal etc with a row of thin teeth on one side, used for making your hair look tidy; brush
2 [C] a small flat piece of plastic, metal etc with a row of thin teeth on one side, used for keeping your hair back or for decoration
3 [singular] if you give your hair a comb, you make it tidy using a comb:
•Your hair needs a good comb.
4 [C] the red piece of flesh that grows on top of a male chicken's head
5 [C] a HONEYCOMB
FINE-TOOTH COMB[T]
1 to make hair look tidy using a comb:
•Melanie ran upstairs to comb her hair.
2 to search a place thoroughly
comb sth for sb/sth
•Police are still combing the woods for the missing boy.

PHRASAL VERBS
comb sth <=> out phr v
to use a comb to make untidy hair look smooth and tidy:
•She sat combing out her hair in front of the kitchen mirror.

comb through sth phr v
to search through a lot of objects or information in order to find a specific thing or piece of information:
•We spent weeks combing through huge piles of old documents. $
1 [U] fighting, especially during a war
in combat
•Corporal Gierson was killed in combat.
•We flew over 200 combat missions.
•training in unarmed combat (=fighting without weapons)
mortal combat (=fighting until one person kills another)
hand-to-hand combat (=fighting in which you are close enough to touch your opponent)
combat aircraft/jacket/boots etc
2 [C] a fight or battle $ past tense and past participle combated, present participle combating [T]
to try to stop something bad from happening or getting worse - used especially in news reports
combat inflation/crime/racism etc
•In order to combat inflation, the government imposed strict controls on foreign currency.
•new strategies for combatting terrorism $ [C]
someone who fights in a war[U]
a type of mental illness caused by the terrible experiences of fighting in a war or battle ; post-traumatic stress disorder
•These treatment methods enabled 80 percent of combat-fatigue-affected troops to return to duty. $
ready and willing to fight or argue:
•Congress is in a combative mood.
- combativeness noun [U] $ [plural]
loose trousers, often with many pockets:
•She always wore combats, which were more fashionable than jeans. [C]
a machine or vehicle that can be used in two or more different ways - used especially in product names:
•The new Combi can be used either as a passenger plane, or for transporting freight. $
1 [C,U] two or more different things that exist together or are used or put together; combine
[+of ]
•A combination of factors may be responsible for the increase in cancer.
•A combination of tact and authority was needed to deal with the situation.
•Certain combinations of sounds are not possible in English.
in combination (with sth)
•Some drugs which are safe when taken separately are lethal in combination.
2 [C] the series of numbers or letters you need to open a combination lock
3 winning combination a mixture of different people or things that work successfully together
4 [U] especially AmE used before a noun to mean that something has more than one purpose or uses more than one method:
•a combination nightclub and café
•new combination drug therapies[C]
a lock which can only be opened by using a series of numbers or letters in a particular order[C]
an OVEN that uses ordinary forms of heating such as gas or electricity and MICROWAVE s
1 [I,T] if you combine two or more different things, or if they combine, they begin to exist or work together; combination
combine sth with sth
•Augustine was later to combine elements of this philosophy with the teachings of Christianity.
•Diets are most effective when combined with exercise.
combine to do sth
•A number of factors have combined to create this difficult situation.
•Ruth hesitated, uncertain of how to combine honesty and diplomacy in her answer.
combined effect/effects (=the result of two or more different things used or mixed together)
•The combined effects of the war and the drought resulted in famine.
2 [T] to have two or more different features or qualities at the same time; combination
combine sth with/and sth
•Good carpet wool needs to combine softness with strength.
3 [I,T] if two or more different substances combine, or if you combine them, they mix or join together to produce a new single substance; combination
combine to do sth
•Different amino acids combine to form proteins.
•Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.
combine sth with sth
•Steel is produced by combining iron with carbon.
4 [T] to do two different activities at the same time
combine sth with sth
•Many people enjoy combining a holiday with learning a new skill.
combine sth and sth
•the problems facing women who wish to combine a career and family
combine business with pleasure (=work and enjoy yourself at the same time)
5 [I,T] if two or more groups, organizations etc combine, or if you combine them, they join or work together in order to do something
combine to do sth
•Ten British and French companies combined to form the Channel Tunnel Group.
•University zoologists and government vets are combining forces (=working together) to investigate the disease. $ [C]
1 also combine harvester a machine used by farmers to cut grain, separate the seeds from it, and clean it
2 a group of people, businesses etc who work together:
•The factory was sold to a British combine after the war. [only before noun]
1 done, made, or achieved by several people or groups working together; = joint
combined effort/action/operation
•Dinner was a combined effort.
2 a combined total is the sum of two or more quantities or figures added together:
•Her records have sold a combined total of 14 million copies.
•We could only afford a small flat, even on our combined salaries.[C] technical
a word that is combined with another word or another combining form to make a new word, for example 'Anglo', meaning 'English', in the word 'Anglo-American' $ plural combos [C]
1 a small band that plays JAZZ or dance music:
•He played trumpet professionally in a jazz combo.
2 a COMBINATION of different things, especially of different types of foods - used especially in product names:
•I chose the vegetarian combo.
able to burn easily
combustible material/gas etc [U]
1 the process of burning
2 technical chemical activity which uses oxygen to produce light and heat
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE[C]
the enclosed space, for example in an engine, in which combustion happens past tense came , past participle come [I]
1 MOVE TOWARDS SB/STH to move towards you or arrive at the place where you are; go
•Let me know when they come.
•Can you come here for a minute?
• Come a bit closer and you'll be able to see better.
•What time will you be coming home?
[+in/into/out of etc]
•There was a knock on the door and a young woman came into the room.
[+to/towards]
•I could see a figure coming towards me.
[+across/down/up etc]
•As they came down the track, the car skidded.
come to do sth
•I've come to see Philip.
come and do sth
•I'll come and help you move the rest of the boxes.
•Come and look at this!
come running/flying/speeding etc
•Jess came flying round the corner and banged straight into me.
come to dinner/lunch
•What day are your folks coming to dinner?
here comes sb/sth spoken (=used to say that someone or something is coming towards you)
•Ah, here comes the bus at last!
2 GO WITH SB if someone comes with you, they go to a place with you:
•We're going for a drink this evening. Would you like to come?
[+with]
•I asked Rosie if she'd like to come with us.
[+along]
•It should be good fun. Why don't you come along?
3 TRAVEL TO A PLACE to travel to or reach a place:
•Which way did you come?
[+through/across/by way of etc]
•They came over the mountains in the north.
[+from]
•Legend has it that the tribe came from across the Pacific Ocean.
come by car/train/bus etc
•Will you be coming by train?
•Have you come far (=travelled a long way) today?
•I've come a long way to see you.
come 50/100 etc miles/kilometres
•Some of the birds have come thousands of miles to winter here.
4 POST if a letter etc comes, it is delivered to you by post; = arrive
•A letter came for you this morning.
•The phone bill hasn't come yet.
5 HAPPEN if a time or an event comes, it arrives or happens:
•At last the day came for us to set off.
•The moment had come for me to break the news to her.
•The time will come when you'll thank me for this.
•Christmas seems to come earlier every year.
be/have yet to come (=used when something has not happened yet but will happen)
•The most exciting part is yet to come.
•I knew he'd be able to take care of himself, come what may (=whatever happens).
6 REACH A LEVEL/PLACE [always + adv/prep] to reach a particular level or place
[+up/down]
•She had blonde hair which came down to her waist.
•The water came up as far as my chest.
7 BE PRODUCED/SOLD [always + adv/prep] to be produced or sold with particular features
[+in]
•This particular sofa comes in four different colours.
•Cats come in many shapes and sizes.
[+with]
•The computer comes complete with software and games.
8 ORDER [always + adv/prep] to be in a particular position in an order, a series, or a list
[+before/after]
•P comes before Q in the alphabet.
come first/second etc
•She came first in the 200 metres.
9 come open/undone/loose etc to become open etc:
•His shoelace had come undone.
•The rope came loose.
10 come to do sth
a) to begin to have a feeling or opinion:
•He came to think of Italy as his home.
•I came to believe that he was innocent after all.
b) to do something by chance, without planning or intending to do it:
•Can you tell me how the body came to be discovered?
come to be doing sth
•I often wondered how I came to be living in such a place.
11 come and go
a) to be allowed to go into and leave a place whenever you want:
•The students can come and go as they please.
b) to keep starting and stopping:
•The pain comes and goes.
12 take sth as it comes to accept something as it happens, without trying to plan for it or change it:
•We just take each year as it comes.
•He takes life as it comes.
13 have sth coming (to you) informal to deserve to be punished or to have something bad happen to you:
•I do feel sorry for him, but I'm afraid he had it coming.
14 as nice/as stupid etc as they come informal extremely nice, stupid etc:
•My uncle Walter is as obstinate as they come.
15 for years/weeks/days etc to come used to emphasize that something will continue for a long time into the future:
•This is a moment that will be remembered and celebrated for years to come.
16 in years/days to come in the future:
•In years to come, some of the practices we take for granted now will seem quite barbaric.
17 have come a long way to have made a lot of progress:
•Computer technology has come a long way since the 1970s.
18 come as a surprise/relief/blow etc (to sb) to make someone feel surprised, pleased, disappointed etc:
•The decision came as a great relief to us all.
•The news will come as no surprise to his colleagues.
19 come easily/naturally (to sb) to be easy for someone to do:
•Public speaking does not come easily to most people.
•Writing came naturally to her, even as a child.
20 come of age
a) to reach the age when you are legally considered to be an adult:
•He'll inherit the money when he comes of age.
b) to develop into an advanced or successful form:
•Space technology didn't really come of age until the 1950s.
21 come right out with sth/come right out and say sth informal to say something in a very direct way, often when other people think this is surprising:
•You came right out and told him? I don't know how you dared!
22 come clean informal to tell the truth about something you have done
[+about]
•I think you should come clean about where you were last night.
23 not know whether you are coming or going informal to feel very confused because a lot of different things are happening:
•I don't know whether I'm coming or going this week.
24 come good/right BrE informal to end well, after there have been a lot of problems:
•Don't worry, it'll all come right in the end.
25 come to pass literary to happen after a period of time:
•It came to pass that they had a son.
26 SEX informal to have an ORGASM
27 come in! used to tell someone who has knocked on your door to enter your room, house etc:
•She tapped timidly on the door. 'Come in!' boomed a deep voice from inside.
28 how come? used to ask someone why or how something happened:
•How come you've ended up here?
•'Last I heard, she was teaching in Mexico.' 'How come?'
29 come to think of it/come to that used to add something that you have just realized or remembered:
•Come to think of it, George did seem a bit depressed yesterday.
•He had never expected to have a wife, or even a girlfriend come to that.
30 come July/next year/the next day etc used to talk about at a particular time in the future:
•Come spring, you'll have plenty of colour in the garden.
31 come again? used to ask someone to repeat what they have just said
32 don't come the innocent/victim/helpless male etc with me BrE used to tell someone not to pretend that they are something they are not in order to get sympathy or help from you:
•Don't come the poor struggling artist with me. You're just lazy!
33 come (now) old-fashioned used to comfort or gently encourage someone
34 come, come!/come now old-fashioned used to tell someone that you do not accept what they are saying or doing

PHRASAL VERBS
come about phr v
1 to happen, especially in a way that is not planned:
•The opportunity to get into computing came about quite by accident.
•I don't know how this confusion has come about.
2 if a ship comes about, it changes direction

come across phr v
1 come across sb/sth to meet, find, or discover someone or something by chance:
•I came across an old diary in her desk.
•I've never come across anyone quite like her before.
2 if an idea comes across well, it is easy for people to understand:
•Your point really came across at the meeting.
3 if someone comes across in a particular way, they seem to have particular qualities; = come over
[+as]
•He comes across as a very intelligent, sensitive man.
•She sometimes comes across as being rather arrogant.
•I don't think I came across very well (=seemed to have good qualities) in the interview.

come across with sth phr v
to provide money or information when it is needed:
•I hoped he might come across with a few facts.

come after sb phr v
to look for someone in order to hurt them, punish them, or get something from them:
•She was terrified that Trevor would come after her.

come along phr v
1 be coming along informal to be developing or making progress; = progress
•He opened the oven door to see how the food was coming along.
•Your English is coming along really well.
2 to appear or arrive:
•A bus should come along any minute now.
•Take any job opportunity that comes along.
3
a) to go to a place with someone:
•We're going into town - do you want to come along?
b) to go somewhere after someone:
•You go on ahead - I'll come along later.
4 come along!
a) used to tell someone to hurry up; = come on
•Come along! We're all waiting for you!
b) used to encourage someone to try harder; = come on
•Come along! Don't give up yet!

come apart phr v
1 to split or fall into pieces:
•I picked the magazine up and it came apart in my hands.
2 to begin to fail:
•The whole basis of the agreement was coming apart.
•She felt as if her life was coming apart at the seams (=failing completely).

come around phr v
1 also come round BrE to come to someone's home or the place where they work in order to visit them; = come over
•I'll come around later and see how you are.
•Why don't you come round for lunch?
2 also come round BrE to change your opinion so that you now agree with someone or are no longer angry with them
[+to]
•It took him a while to come around to the idea.
•Don't worry - she'll come round eventually.
3 also come round BrE if a regular event comes around, it happens as usual:
•By the time the summer came around, Kelly was feeling much better.
4 AmE to become conscious again after you have been unconscious; = come round BrE
•When she came around her mother was sitting by her bed.
[+from]
•You might feel a little sick when you come around from the anesthetic.

come at sb/sth phr v
1 to move towards someone in a threatening way:
•Suddenly, he came at me with a knife.
2 if images, questions, facts etc come at you, you feel confused because there are too many of them at the same time:
•Questions were coming at me from all directions.
3 informal to consider or deal with a problem in a particular way; = approach
•We need to come at the problem from a different angle.

come away phr v
1 to become separated from the main part of something; = come off
•One of the wires in the plug had come away.
•I turned some of the pages and they came away in my hand.
2 to leave a place with a particular feeling or idea:
•We came away thinking that we had done quite well.
[+with]
•I came away with the impression that the school was very well run.

come back phr v
1 to return to a particular place or person; = return
•My mother was scared that if I left home I'd never come back.
•Ginny's left me, and there's nothing I can do to persuade her to come back.
2 to become fashionable or popular again; comeback
•Who'd have thought hippy gear would ever come back!
•High heels are coming back into fashion.
3 to appear or start to affect someone or something again; = return
•The pain in her shoulder was coming back again.
•It took a while for my confidence to come back.
4 if something comes back to you, you remember it or remember how to do it:
•As I walked the city streets that evening, the memories came flooding back.
[+to]
•I can't think of her name at the moment, but it'll come back to me.
5 to reply to someone quickly, often in an angry or unkind way; comeback
[+at]
•He came back at me immediately, accusing me of being a liar.

come before sb/sth phr v formal
to be brought to someone in authority, especially a judge in a law court, to be judged or discussed by them:
•When you come before the judge, it's best to tell the whole truth.
•The case is due to come before the courts next month.

come between sb phr v
1 to make people argue and feel angry with each other, when they had been friends before:
•Nothing will ever come between us now.
•I didn't want to come between a husband and wife.
2 to prevent someone from giving enough attention to something:
•She never let anything come between her and her work.

come by phr v
1 come by sth to manage to get something that is rare or difficult to get:
•How did you come by these pictures?
•Jobs were hard to come by.
2 come by (sth) to make a short visit to a place on your way to somewhere else:
•He said he'd come by later.
•I'll come by the house and get my stuff later, OK?

come down phr v
1
a) if a price, level etc comes down, it gets lower:
•It looks as if interest rates will come down again this month.
b) to accept a lower price
[+to]
•He's asking £5000, but he may be willing to come down to £4800.
2 if someone comes down to a place, they travel south to the place where you are:
•Why don't you come down for the weekend sometime?
[+to]
•Are you coming down to Knoxville for Christmas?
3 to fall to the ground:
•A lot of trees came down in the storm.
•We were still out in the fields when the rain started coming down.
4 come down on the side of sb/sth also come down in favour of sb/sth to decide to support someone or something:
•The committee came down in favour of making the information public.
5 informal to start to feel normal again after you have been feeling very happy and excited:
•He was on a real high all last week and he's only just come down.
6 informal to stop feeling the effects of a strong drug:
•When I came down, I remembered with horror some of the things I'd said.
7 BrE old-fashioned to leave a university after completing a period of study

come down on sb phr v
to punish someone or criticize them severely:
•We need to come down hard on young offenders.
•I made the mistake of answering back, and she came down on me like a ton of bricks (=very severely).

come down to sb/sth phr v
1 if a complicated situation or problem comes down to something, that is the single most important thing:
• It all comes down to money in the end.
2 if something old has come down to you, it has been passed between people over a long period of time until you have it:
•The text which has come down to us is only a fragment of the original.

come down with sth phr v
to get an illness:
•I think I'm coming down with a cold.

come for sb/sth phr v
1 to arrive to collect someone or something:
•I'll come for you at about eight o'clock.
2 to arrive at a place in order to take someone away by force:
•Members of the secret police came for him in the middle of the night.

come forward phr v
to offer help to someone, or offer to do something:
•So far, only one candidate has come forward.
•The police are appealing for more witnesses to come forward with information.

come from sb/sth phr v
1 if you come from a place, you were born there or lived there when you were young:
•I come from London originally.
2 to be obtained from a place, thing, or person, or to start or be made somewhere:
•A lot of drugs come from quite common plants.
•My information comes from a very reputable source.
•The idea came from America.
3 to happen as the result of doing something
come from doing sth
•Most of her problems come from expecting too much of people.
4 coming from him/her/you etc spoken used to say that someone should not criticize another person for doing something, because they have done the same thing themselves:
•You think I'm too selfish? That's rich coming from you!
5 where sb is coming from informal the basic attitude or opinion someone has, which influences what they think, say, or do:
•I can see where you're coming from now.

come in phr v
1 if a train, bus, plane, or ship comes in, it arrives at a place:
•What time does your train come in?
[+to]
•We come in to Heathrow at nine in the morning.
2 if money or information comes in, you receive it:
•Reports are coming in of a massive earthquake in Mexico.
•We haven't got enough money coming in.
3 to be involved in a plan, deal etc:
•We need some financial advice - that's where Kate comes in.
[+on]
•You had the chance to come in on the deal.
4 to join in a conversation or discussion:
•Can I come in here and add something to what you're saying?
5 to become fashionable or popular; go out
•Trainers really became popular in the 1980s, when casual sportswear came in.
6 to finish a race
come in first/second etc
•His horse came in second to last.
7 if the TIDE comes in, the sea moves towards the land and covers the edge of it; go out

come in for sth phr v
come in for criticism/blame/scrutiny to be criticized, blamed etc for something:
•The government has come in for fierce criticism over its handling of this affair.

come into sth phr v
1 to receive money, land, or property from someone after they have died:
•She'll come into quite a lot of money when her father dies.
2 to be involved in something:
•Josie doesn't come into the movie until quite near the end.
•Where do I come into all this?
3 come into view/sight if something comes into view, you begin to see it:
•The mountains were just coming into view.
4 come into leaf/flower/blossom to start to produce leaves or flowers:
•The early roses were just coming into flower.
5 not come into it spoken used to say that something is not important:
•Money doesn't really come into it.
6 come into your own to become very good, useful, or important in a particular situation:
•On icy roads, a four-wheel drive vehicle really comes into its own.

come of sth phr v
to happen as a result of something:
•I did ask a few questions, but nothing came of it.
•That's what comes of not practising - you've forgotten everything!

come off phr v
1 come off (sth) to become removed from something:
•The label had come off, so there was no way of knowing what was on the disk.
2 come off (sth) BrE to fall off something:
•Dyson came off his bike as he rounded the last corner, but wasn't badly hurt.
3 informal if something that has been planned comes off, it happens:
•In the end the trip never came off.
4 informal to be successful:
•It was a good idea, but it didn't quite come off.
•The performance on the first night came off pretty well.
5 come off sth to stop taking a drug that you have been taking regularly:
•It wasn't until I tried to come off the pills that I realized I was addicted.
6 come off best/better/worst etc BrE to gain or lose the most, more, the least etc from a situation:
•As far as pensions go, it's still women who come off worst.
7 come off it! BrE spoken used to tell someone that you do not believe what they are saying:
•Oh come off it! You can't seriously be saying you knew nothing about any of this.

come on phr v
1 come on! spoken
a) used to tell someone to hurry:
•Come on, we'll be late!
b) used to encourage someone to do something:
•Come on, you can do it!
•Come on, cheer up!
c) used to tell someone that you know that what they have just said was not true or right:
•Oh come on, don't lie!
d) used to make someone angry enough to want to fight you:
•Come on, then, hit me!
2 come on in/over/up etc spoken used to tell someone to come in, over, up etc, usually in a friendly way:
•Come on in - I've made some coffee.
3 if a light or machine comes on, it starts working:
•A dog started barking and lights came on in the house.
4 if an illness comes on, you start to be ill with it:
•I can feel a headache coming on.
5 if a television or radio programme comes on, it starts:
•Just at that moment, the news came on.
6 if rain or snow comes on, it starts:
•The rain came on just before lunchtime.
7 to come onto a stage or sports field:
•He scored only two minutes after he'd come on.
8 to improve or make progress:
•The children are really coming on now.
•Your English is coming on really well.
9 come on sb/sth to find or discover someone or something by chance:
•We came on a group of students having a picnic.
10 come on strong informal to make it very clear to someone that you think they are sexually attractive

come on to sb/sth phr v
1 to start talking about a new subject:
•I'll come on to this question in a few moments.
2 informal if someone comes on to another person, they make it very clear that they are sexually interested in them; come-on
•The way she was coming on to Jack, I'm amazed he managed to get out alive!

come out phr v
1 if something comes out, it is removed from a place:
•These stains will never come out!
2 if information comes out, people learn about it, especially after it has been kept secret:
•No doubt the truth will come out one day.
• It's come out that several ministers received payments from the company.
3 if a photograph comes out, it shows a clear picture:
•I took loads of photographs, but most of them didn't come out.
•Some of the wedding photos have come out really well.
4 if a book, record etc comes out, it becomes publicly available:
•When is the new edition coming out?
5 if something comes out in a particular way, that is what it is like after it has been made or produced:
•I've made a cake, but it hasn't come out very well.
•The cover has come out a bit too big.
6 if something you say comes out in a particular way, that is how it sounds or how it is understood:
•His words came out as little more than a whisper.
•That didn't come out the way I meant it to.
•I tried to explain everything to her, but it came out all wrong (=not in the way I intended).
7 if someone comes out in a particular way, that is the situation they are in at the end of an event or series of events:
•The more experienced team came out on top.
[+of]
•She came out of the divorce quite well.
8 to be easy to notice:
•His right-wing opinions come out quite strongly in his later writings.
9 to say publicly that you strongly support or oppose a plan, belief etc
[+in favour of]
•The board of directors has come out strongly in favour of a merger.
[+against]
•Teachers have come out against the proposed changes.
•At least he's got the courage to come out and say what he thinks.
10 if the sun, moon, or stars come out, they appear in the sky:
•The sky cleared and the sun came out.
11 if a flower comes out, it opens:
•The snowdrops were just starting to come out.
12 if someone comes out, they say that they are GAY when this was a secret before
[+to]
•That summer, I decided to come out to my parents.
13 BrE informal to refuse to work, as a protest:
•Nurses have threatened to come out in support of their pay claim.
•We decided to come out on strike.
14 if a young woman came out in the past, she was formally introduced into upper class society at a large formal dance

come out at sth phr v
if something comes out at a particular amount, that is the amount it adds up to:
•The whole trip, including fares, comes out at $900.

come out in sth phr v
come out in spots/a rash etc if you come out in spots etc, spots appear on your body:
•If I eat eggs, I come out in a rash.

come out of sth phr v
1 to no longer be in a bad situation:
•There are signs that the country is coming out of recession.
2 to happen as a result of something:
•One or two excellent ideas came out of the meeting.
3 come out of yourself informal to start to behave in a more confident way:
•Penny's really come out of herself since she started that course.

come out with sth phr v
to say something, especially something unusual or unexpected:
•Some of the things he comes out with are so funny!

come over phr v
1
a) if someone comes over, they visit you at your house:
•Do you want to come over on Friday evening?
b) if someone comes over, they come to the country where you are
[+to/from]
•When did your family first come over to America?
2 come over sb if a strong feeling comes over you, you suddenly experience it:
•A wave of sleepiness came over me.
•I'm sorry about that - I don't know what came over me (=I do not know why I behaved in that way).
3 if an idea comes over well, people can understand it easily:
•I thought that the points he was making came over quite clearly.
4 if someone comes over in a particular way, they seem to have particular qualities; = come across
•He didn't come over very well (=seem to have good qualities) in the interview.
[+as]
•She comes over as a very efficient businesswoman.
5 come over (all) shy/nervous etc informal to suddenly become very shy, nervous etc

come round phr v BrE
to COME AROUND

come through phr v
1 if a piece of information, news etc comes through, it arrives somewhere:
•We're still waiting for our exam results to come through.
•There is news just coming through of an explosion in a chemical factory.
2 to be made official, especially by having the correct documents officially approved:
•I'm still waiting for my divorce to come through.
3 come through (sth) to continue to live, be strong, or succeed after a difficult or dangerous time; = survive
•If he comes through the operation OK he should be back to normal within a few weeks.
•It's been a tough time, but I'm sure you'll come through and be all the wiser for it.

come through with sth phr v
to give someone something they need, especially when they have been worried that you would not produce it in time:
•Our representative in Hong Kong finally came through with the figures.

come to phr v
1 come to a decision/conclusion/agreement etc to decide something, agree on something etc after considering or discussing a situation; = reach
•We came to the conclusion that there was no other way back to the camp.
•If they don't come to a decision by midnight, the talks will be abandoned.
2 come to a halt/stop
a) to slow down and stop; = stop
•The train came to a stop just yards from the barrier.
b) to stop operating or continuing:
•After the election our funding came to an abrupt halt.
3 come to sth to develop so that a particular situation exists, usually a bad one:
•I never thought it would come to this.
•We need to be prepared to fight, but hopefully it won't come to that (=that won't be necessary).
•All those years of studying, and in the end it all came to nothing.
• It's come to something when I'm not allowed to express an opinion in my own house!
what is the world/the country etc coming to? (=used to say that the world etc is in a bad situation)
4 come to sth to add up to a total amount:
•That comes to £23.50.
•The bill came to £48.50.
5 come to sb if a thought or idea comes to you, you realize or remember something:
•The answer came to me in a flash.
•I've forgotten her name, but maybe it'll come to me later.
6 to become conscious again after you have been unconscious:
•When he came to, he was lying on the floor with his hands tied behind his back.
7 when it comes to sth informal when you are dealing with something or talking about something:
•He's a bit of an expert when it comes to computers.

come under sth phr v
1 come under attack/fire/scrutiny etc to be attacked, shot at etc:
•The government has come under attack from opposition leaders over proposals to cut health spending.
2 to be governed or controlled by a particular organization or person:
•The organization comes under the authority of the EU.
3 if a piece of information comes under a particular title, you can find it under that title:
•The proposals come under three main headings.

come up phr v
1 if someone comes up to you, they come close to you, especially in order to speak to you:
•One of the teachers came up and started talking to me.
[+to]
•A man came up to him and asked for a light.
2 if someone comes up to a place, they travel north to the place where you are
[+to]
•Why don't you come up to New York for the weekend?
3 if a subject comes up, people mention it and discuss it; = arise
•His name came up in the conversation.
•The subject of salaries didn't come up.
4 if a problem or difficulty comes up, it appears or starts to affect you; = arise
•I'm afraid I'll have to cancel our date - something's come up.
•The same problems come up every time.
5 if a job or an opportunity comes up, it becomes available:
•A vacancy has come up in the accounts department.
6 to be dealt with in a law court:
•Your case comes up next week.
7 be coming up to be going to happen soon:
•With Christmas coming up, few people have much money to spare.
8 if the sun or moon comes up, it moves up into the sky where you can see it; = rise
•It was six o'clock, and the sun was just coming up.
9 if a plant comes up, it begins to appear above the ground:
•The first spring bulbs are just coming up.
10 if food comes up, it goes back through your mouth from your stomach after being swallowed; vomit
11 coming (right) up! spoken used to say that food or drink will be ready very soon:
•'Two martinis, please.' 'Coming up!'

come up against sth/sb phr v
to have to deal with problems or difficulties:
•We may find we come up against quite a lot of opposition from local people.
•You've got no idea of what you're going to come up against.

come up for sth phr v
1 come up for discussion/examination/review etc to be discussed, examined etc:
•This matter will come up for discussion at next month's meeting.
•The regulations come up for review in April.
2 come up for election/re-election/selection etc to reach the time when people have to vote about whether you should continue in a political position:
•The governors come up for re-election next year.

come upon sb/sth phr v
1 to find or discover something or someone by chance:
•We came upon a little cottage just on the edge of the wood.
2 literary if a feeling comes upon you, you suddenly feel it:
•A wave of tiredness came upon her.

come up to sth/sb phr v
1 to reach a particular standard or to be as good as you expected:
•This doesn't come up to the standard of your usual work.
•The resort certainly failed to come up to expectations.
2 be (just) coming up to sth to be nearly a particular time:
•It's just coming up to 11 o'clock.

come up with sth phr v
1 to think of an idea, answer etc:
•Is that the best excuse you can come up with?
•We've been asked to come up with some new ideas.
2 informal to produce an amount of money:
•We wanted to buy the house but we couldn't come up with the cash.
•How am I supposed to come up with $10,000?

WORD CHOICEcome, go
Use come for movement towards the place where the speaker is or will be: Come and see me at my office. | I could see them coming down the hill (=getting nearer to me) | . | When are you coming home (=to our home) | ?
Use go for movement in other directions: Are you going to Sally's tonight? | I wish he would go home (=to his home, away from me).

[U] informal
a man's SEMEN (=the liquid he produces during sex) [C usually singular]
1 make/stage a comeback if a person, activity, style etc makes a comeback, they become popular again after being unpopular for a long time:
•The miniskirt made a comeback in the late 1980s.
2 a quick reply that is often clever, funny, and insulting; = retort
•I couldn't think of a good comeback.
3 a way of getting payment or a reward for something wrong or unfair that has been done to you:
•Check your contract carefully, or you may have no comeback if something goes wrong.
come back at COME^1 [C]
1 someone whose job is to tell jokes and make people laugh:
•He started as a stand-up comedian (=someone who tells jokes to an audience).
2 someone who is amusing:
•You'll like Matt. He's a real comedian. [C]
a female comedian [singular]
a situation that is not as good, important, interesting etc as the situation you had previously:
•The film marks a real comedown for the director.
come down at COME^1 $ plural comedies
1 [U] entertainment that is intended to make people laugh
comedy writer/series/show/actor etc
•a career in stand-up comedy (=telling jokes in front of people as a job)
2 [C] a play, film, or television programme that is intended to make people laugh:
•a highly successful TV comedy
3 [U] the quality in something such as a book or play that makes people laugh; = humour; tragedy
•Can't you see the comedy of the situation?
BLACK COMEDY, SITUATION COMEDYplural comedies of manners [C]
a play, film, or television programme that shows how silly people's behaviour is or can be literary old-fashioned
a comely woman is attractive
- comeliness noun [U][C usually singular] informal
something that someone does deliberately to make someone else sexually interested in them:
•Rick's the kind of guy who thinks every smile is a come-on.
give sb the come-on (=do something to show you are sexually interested in someone)
come on to sb/sth at COME ON (2) $
all comers informal anyone who wants to take part in an activity, especially a sporting competition:
•The contest is open to all comers.
LATECOMER, NEWCOMER $ [C]
an object in space like a bright ball with a long tail, that moves around the sun:
•Halley's comet [singular]
a punishment or something bad which happens to you that you really deserve:
•You'll get your comeuppance one day! $
1 PHYSICAL [U] a feeling of being physically relaxed and satisfied, so that nothing is hurting you, making you feel too hot or cold etc; comfortable, discomfort
built/made/designed for comfort
•All our sports shoes are designed for comfort and performance.
too hot/high/tight etc for comfort (=physically unpleasant for a particular reason)
•The temperature was too low for comfort.
•I dress for comfort, not fashion.
•Alan was very reluctant to leave the warmth and comfort of the fire.
in comfort
•Upstairs is a more intimate bar where guests can relax in comfort.
•Now you can watch your favorite movies in the comfort of your own home.
2 EMOTIONAL [U] if someone or something gives you comfort, they make you feel calmer, happier, or more hopeful after you have been worried or unhappy; comforting
•Whenever he was upset, he would turn to her for comfort and advice.
give/bring/provide/offer comfort
•a book which offers comfort and help to the parents of children with cancer
•The knowledge that Cara was safe gave him some comfort.
great/much/little comfort
•My faith has been a source of great comfort over the years.
take/draw/derive comfort from (doing) sth
•He drew comfort from her warm support.
find/take comfort in (doing) sth
•You can take some comfort in the fact that you did your best.
it's no/some comfort
•It was no comfort to think he might be as frightened as she was.
if it's any comfort (=used to introduce a statement that you think may make someone feel slightly less worried or unhappy)
•Well, if it's any comfort, I don't think he'll try again.
3 SB/STH THAT HELPS [C] someone or something that helps you feel calmer, happier, or more hopeful after you have been worried or unhappy; comforting
be a comfort (to sb)
•Louisa's been a great comfort to me since Mary died.
• It's a comfort to know there's someone to keep an eye on the kids.
4 MONEY/POSSESSIONS [U] a way of living in which you have all the money and possessions that you need or want; comfortable
in comfort
•When Dad died, he left us both enough to live in comfort for the rest of our lives.
•He was used to a life of comfort.
5 comforts [plural] the things that make your life nicer and more comfortable, especially things that are not necessary:
•Modern caravans really do offer all the comforts of home.
•hotels with all the modern comforts (=things such as a television, telephone etc)
material comforts (=money and possessions)
CREATURE COMFORTS
6 too close/near for comfort something that is too close for comfort makes you feel worried, unhappy, or uncomfortable, because it is dangerous in some way:
•The cars were whizzing past us much too close for comfort.
7 cold/small comfort a small piece of good news that does not make you feel better about a bad situation
[+for/to]
•Another drop in the inflation rate was cold comfort yesterday for the 2.74 million jobless.
COMFORT FOOD, COMFORT ZONE[T]
to make someone feel less worried, unhappy, or upset, for example by saying kind things to them or touching them; comforting
•Within hours of the news, Helen was on the telephone trying to comfort her heartbroken friend.
•He longed to take her in his arms and comfort her.
•Mr Aston's father was last night being comforted by relatives.
comfort yourself
•She comforted herself with the thought that it would soon be spring. $
1 FURNITURE/PLACES/CLOTHES ETC making you feel physically relaxed, without any pain or without being too hot, cold etc; comfort
comfortable chair/bed/sofa etc
•The bed wasn't particularly comfortable.
comfortable room/lounge/hotel etc
•Joyce has a comfortable apartment in Portland.
comfortable clothes/shoes/boots etc
•Wear loose, comfortable clothing.
comfortable to wear/use/sit on etc
•Linen is very comfortable to wear.
2 PHYSICALLY RELAXED feeling physically relaxed, without any pain or without being too hot, cold etc; comfort
•I was so comfortable and warm in bed I didn't want to get up.
•Sit down and make yourself comfortable.
•With difficulty, she rolled her body into a more comfortable position.
3 CONFIDENT [not before noun] confident, relaxed, and not worried
[+with]
•She's never felt very comfortable with men.
•In our business, we need people who are comfortable in an unstructured environment.
4 MONEY having enough money to buy all the things you need or want, without having to worry about how much they cost
comfortable life/retirement/existence etc
•Jean had been looking forward to a comfortable retirement.
5 COMPETITION/VOTE [usually before noun] if you have a comfortable win or lead, you win or are leading by a large amount
comfortable win/victory
•The pair had a comfortable win, beating the German team by nearly three seconds.
•The bill should pass in the House by a comfortable margin.
•Another penalty from Roberts gave the home team a comfortable half-time lead.
6 ILL/INJURED [not before noun] if someone who is ill or injured is comfortable, they are not in too much pain $
1 FURNITURE/PLACES/CLOTHES in a way that makes you feel physically relaxed, without any pain, or without being too hot, cold etc:
•The hotel is modern and comfortably furnished.
•his comfortably baggy jeans
2 PHYSICALLY RELAXED in a way that feels physically relaxed, without any pain, or without being too hot, cold etc:
•I was sitting comfortably in the lounge, reading a newspaper.
3 MONEY with enough money to live on without having to worry about paying for things:
•She earns enough money to live comfortably.
•His family were comfortably off (=fairly rich).
4 WIN/ACHIEVEMENT easily and without problems:
•Davis won comfortably, 9-1, 9-3, 9-2.
•the amount of work you can comfortably deal with
5 CONFIDENT in a confident and relaxed way:
•They were soon chatting comfortably with each other. $ [C]
1 AmE a cover for a bed that is filled with a soft warm material such as feathers; = duvet BrE
2 someone or something that comforts you[C,U]
simple food that makes you feel relaxed and happy $
making you feel less worried, unhappy, or upset
it is comforting to think/have/know etc
•It's comforting to know I can call my parents any time.
•With this comforting thought, Harry fell asleep.
•His voice was strangely comforting.
- comfortingly adverb[C usually singular]
your comfort zone is the range of activities or situations that you feel happy and confident in informal
comfortable:
•a comfy chair $
amusing you and making you want to laugh; tragic
•a comic novel
comic writer/actress/performer etc (=someone who writes or performs things that make you laugh)
comic relief (=a situation in a serious story that makes you relax a little because it is funny)
•The song provides some comic relief from the intensity of the scene.[C]
1 also comic book a magazine for children that tells a story using comic strips
2 someone whose job is to tell jokes and make people laugh; = comedian
•a stand-up comic $
behaviour or situations that are comical are funny in a strange or unexpected way:
•The note of pure panic in his voice was almost comical.
- comically adverb[C]
a series of pictures drawn inside boxes that tell a story; cartoon
1 the coming of sth/sb the time when something new begins, especially something that will cause a lot of changes:
•With the coming of railways, new markets opened up.
2 comings and goings informal the movements of people as they arrive at and leave places
[+of]
•Beds are arranged so that patients can watch the comings and goings of visitors and staff.[only before noun]
formal happening soon:
•the coming winter
UP-AND-COMING[singular]
the point in a young person's life, usually the age of 18 or 21, at which their society considers them to be an adult $ [C]
the mark (,) used in writing and printing to show a short pause or to separate things in a list
INVERTED COMMA
PUNCTUATION MARK $
1 CONTROL [U] the control of a group of people or a situation
under sb's command
•troops under the command of General Roberts
in command (of sth)
•Lieutenant Peters was now in command.
•He felt fully in command of the situation.
take command (of sth) (=begin controlling a group or situation and making decisions)
•The fire officer took command, ordering everyone to leave the building.
at sb's command
•Each congressman has a large staff at his command (=available to be used).
•By 1944, Fletcher had command of a B-17 bomber and a 10 man crew.
2 ORDER [C] an order that should be obeyed:
•Shoot when I give the command.
3 COMPUTER [C] an instruction to a computer to do something
4 command of sth knowledge of something, especially a language, or ability to use something
(have a) good/excellent/poor etc command of sth
•He's studied in the US and has a good command of English.
5 MILITARY [C also + plural verb BrE ]
a) a part of an army, navy etc that is controlled separately and has a particular job:
•pilots of the Southern Air Command
b) a group of officers or officials who give orders:
•the Army High Command
c) the group of soldiers that an officer is in control of
6 at your command if you have a particular skill at your command, you are able to use that skill well and easily:
•a pianist with the keys at his command
7 be in command of yourself to be able to control your emotions and thoughts:
•Kathleen walked in, tall, slim, confident and in total command of herself.
1 ORDER [I,T] to tell someone officially to do something, especially if you are a military leader, a king etc
command sb to do sth
•Captain Picard commanded the crew to report to the main deck.
command that
•The General commanded that the regiment attack at once.
2 LEAD THE MILITARY [I,T] to be responsible for giving orders to a group of people in the army, navy etc; commander
•He commands the 4th Battalion.
3 DESERVE AND GET [T] to get something such as respect or attention because you do something well or are important or popular
command respect/attention/support etc
•Philip was a remarkable teacher, able to command instant respect.
command a high fee/wage/price etc
•Which graduates command the highest salaries?
4 CONTROL [T] to control something:
•The party that commands a majority of seats in Parliament forms the government.
5 VIEW [T] if a place commands a view, you can see something clearly from it:
•The Ramses Hilton commands a magnificent view of Cairo. $ [C]
the army officer in charge of a place or group of people $ [T]
to take someone else's property for your own use, especially during a war:
•The local hotel was commandeered for the wounded. $ [C]
1 an officer of any rank who is in charge of a group of soldiers or a particular military activity:
•the American Commander, General Otis
•our platoon commander
2 a high rank in the navy, or someone who holds this rank
3 a British police officer of high rank
WING COMMANDERplural commanders in chief [C usually singular]
someone of high rank who is in control of all the military organizations in a country or of a specific military activity:
•The Queen is Commander in Chief of the British armed forces. $
1 [only before noun] having the authority or position that allows you to give orders:
•a commanding officer
2 having the confidence to make people respect and obey you - used to show approval:
•Papa's commanding presence
3 a commanding view or position is one from which you can clearly see a long way
4 being in a position from which you are likely to win a race or competition easily:
•a commanding lead $ [C]
one of the ten rules given by God in the Bible that tell people how they must behave[C]
the part of a space vehicle from which its activities are controlled $ plural commandos or commandoes
1 [C] a soldier who is specially trained to make quick attacks into enemy areas:
•a commando raid
2 go commando AmE spoken to not wear any underwear - used humorously[C usually singular]
a special performance at a theatre that is given for a king, president etc[C]
the place from which military leaders and their officers control activities [T]
to do something to show that you remember and respect someone important or an important event in the past:
•a parade to commemorate the town's bicentenary
- commemorative adjective
•a commemorative plaque [U]
something that makes you remember and respect someone important or an important event in the past
in commemoration of sb/sth
•a service in commemoration of those who died in the war [I,T] formal
to begin or to start something:
•Work will commence on the new building immediately.
•Your first evaluation will be six months after you commence employment.
[+with]
•The course commences with a one week introduction to Art Theory.
commence doing sth
•The planes commenced bombing at midnight. formal
1 [U] the beginning of something
[+of]
•the commencement of building work
2 [C,U] AmE a ceremony at which university, college, or high school students receive their DIPLOMAs ; = graduation [T] formal
1 to praise or approve of someone or something publicly
commend sb for sth
•Inspector Marshall was commended for his professional and caring attitude.
•The paper was highly commended in the UK Press Awards.
2 to tell someone that something is good or deserves attention; = recommend
•Colleagues, I commend this report to you.
•Ian McKellen's performance had much to commend it (=was very good).
3 commend itself (to sb) formal if something commends itself to you, you approve of it:
•The plan did not commend itself to the Allies. formal
deserving praise:
•Your enthusiasm is highly commendable.
•Baldwin answered with commendable honesty.
- commendably adverb $ [C,U] formal
an official statement praising someone, especially someone who has been brave or very successful
matching something in size, quality, or length of time
[+with]
•Salary will be commensurate with age and experience. $
1 [C,U] an opinion that you express about someone or something; = remark
•Does anyone have any questions or comments?
[+on/about]
•his comments about asylum seekers
•He was fined for making abusive comments to the referee.
fair comment (=criticism that is reasonable or deserved)
2 [U] criticism or discussion of something someone has said or done:
•The speech received much comment in the press.
no comment (=used by people in public life when they do not want to answer questions)
3 be a comment on sth to be a sign of the bad quality of something:
•The number of adults who cannot read is a sad comment on the quality of our schools.[I,T]
to express an opinion about someone or something; = remark
[+on]
•People were always commenting on my sister's looks.
comment that
•Morrison's lawyer commented that the decision was 'outrageous'. $ plural commentaries [C,U]
1 a spoken description of an event, given while the event is happening, especially on the television or radio:
•Commentary is by Tom Ferris.
[+on]
•We'll be bringing you full commentary on the game between Notts and Brescia.
running commentary (=a continuous description of something)
2 something such as a book or article that explains or discusses a book, poem, idea etc:
•political commentary
3 be a sad/tragic/devastating etc commentary on sth to be a sign of how bad a particular situation is:
•The incident was a sad commentary on British football. $ [I + on]
to describe an event such as a sports game on television or radio $ [C]
1 someone who knows a lot about a particular subject, and who writes about it or discusses it on the television or radio:
•political commentators
2 someone on television or radio who describes an event as it is happening:
•a sports commentator $ [U]
the buying and selling of goods and services; = trade
•measures promoting local commerce and industry
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, E-COMMERCE $
1 related to business and the buying and selling of goods and services:
•Our top priorities must be profit and commercial growth.
2 related to the ability of a product or business to make a profit:
•Gibbons failed to see the commercial value of his discovery.
commercial success/failure
•The film was a huge commercial success.
3 [only before noun] a commercial product is one that is produced and sold in large quantities
4 more concerned with money than with quality:
•I used to like their music but they've become very commercial.
5 commercial radio/TV/channel etc radio or television broadcasts that are produced by companies that earn money through advertising
1 [C] an advertisement on television or radio:
•a soap powder commercial
2 commercial break the time when advertisements are broadcast during a television or radio programme $ [U]
the principle or practice of being more concerned with making money from buying and selling goods than you are about their quality - used to show disapproval:
•the commercialism of modern culturealso commercialise BrE $ [T]
1 [usually passive] to be more concerned with making money from something than about its quality - used to show disapproval:
•Christmas has become so commercialized.
2 to sell something completely new to the public for the first time:
•Some space launches will be commercialized to help pay for more space research.
- commercialization $ noun [U] $
1 considering whether a business or product is making a profit :
•The project is no longer commercially viable (=certain to make money). [sentence adverb]
•Commercially, the movie was a flop.
2 produced or used in large quantities as a business:
•commercially farmed land
3 if a new product is commercially available, you can buy it in shops:
•the world's first commercially available 3-D computer screen[C] BrE old-fashioned
someone who travels from place to place selling goods for a company; = sales representative $ [C] informal
an insulting word for a COMMUNIST
1 [I,T] formal to mix together, or to make different things do this:
•Many towns allow recyclable items to be commingled for collection in a single container.
2 [T] AmE technical if a financial organization commingles money, it mixes its own money with money that belongs to its customers or to another part of the business, usually in an illegal way
commingle sth with sth
•The company faces charges that it commingled its own funds with customer funds.
- commingling noun [U] [I + with] formal
to express your sympathy for someone who is unhappy about something [plural, U] formal
a feeling of sympathy for someone when something unpleasant has happened to them:
•Congratulations to the winners, commiserations to the losers.
CONDOLENCE $ [C]
a military department that is responsible for supplying food $ plural commissaries [C]
1 BrE an officer in the army who is in charge of food supplies
2 AmE a shop that supplies food and other goods in a military camp
3 AmE a place where you can eat in a large organization such as a film STUDIO, factory etc
1 [C] a group of people who have been given the official job of finding out about something or controlling something:
•The Government set up a commission to investigate allegations of police violence.
[+on]
•the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
2 [C,U] an extra amount of money that is paid to a person or organization according to the value of the goods they have sold or the services they have provided:
•The dealer takes a 20% commission on the sales he makes.
on commission
•He sold cosmetics on commission.
3 [C] a request for an artist, designer, or musician to make a piece of art or music, for which they are paid:
•a commission from the Academy for a new sculpture
4 [C] the position of an officer in the army, navy etc
5 [U] formal the commission of a crime is the act of doing it
6 out of commission
a) not working or not available for use:
•One of the ship's anchors was out of commission.
b) informal ill or injured, and unable to work
7 in commission available to be used:
•The operating theatres will be back in commission next week.
1 [T] to formally ask someone to write an official report, produce a work of art for you etc:
•The report was commissioned by the Welsh Office.
commission sb to do sth
•Macmillan commissioned her to illustrate a book by Spike Milligan.
2 be commissioned (into sth) to be given an officer's rank in the army, navy etc:
•He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. $ [C]
BrE someone whose job is to stand at the entrance to a hotel or theatre wearing a uniform and help people; = doorman[C]
a military officer who has a commission $ [C]
1 someone who is officially in charge of a government department in some countries
2 the head of the police department in some parts of the US
3 a member of a commission[C] BrE
a lawyer who may legally be a WITNESS to particular legal documents past tense and past participle committed, present participle committing
1 CRIME [T] to do something wrong or illegal:
•Women commit fewer crimes than men.
commit murder/rape/arson etc
•Brady committed a series of brutal murders.
2 commit suicide to kill yourself deliberately
3 commit adultery if a married person commits adultery, they have sex with someone who is not their husband or wife
4 SAY YOU WILL DO STH [I,T] to say that someone will definitely do something or must do something
commit sb to doing sth
•He has clearly committed his government to continuing down the path of economic reform.
commit sb to sth
•Meeting them doesn't commit us to anything.
commit yourself
•I'd committed myself and there was no turning back.
commit yourself to (doing) sth
•The banks have committed themselves to boosting profits by slashing costs.
5 RELATIONSHIP [I,T] to give someone your love or support in a serious and permanent way:
•Anna wants to get married, but Bob's not sure he wants to commit.
[+to]
•He has not yet committed to any of the candidates.
6 MONEY/TIME [T] to decide to use money, time, people etc for a particular purpose
commit sth to sth
•A lot of money has been committed to this project.
7 FOR TRIAL [T] BrE to send someone to be tried in a court of law:
•The two men were committed for trial at Bristol Crown Court.
8 PRISON/HOSPITAL [T] to order someone to be put in a hospital or prison
commit sb to sth
•The judge committed him to prison for six months.
9 commit sth to memory formal to learn something so that you remember it; = memorize
10 commit sth to paper formal to write something down
COMMITTED
1 [C] a promise to do something or to behave in a particular way:
•Are you ready to make a long-term commitment?
[+to]
•Our company has a commitment to quality and customer service.
2 [U] the hard work and loyalty that someone gives to an organization, activity etc:
•I was impressed by the energy and commitment shown by the players.
[+to]
•Her commitment to work is beyond question.
3 [C] something that you have promised you will do or that you have to do:
•Will the job fit in with your family commitments?
4 [C] an amount of money that you have to pay regularly:
•I had a lot of financial commitments.
5 [C,U] the use of money, time, people etc for a particular purpose:
•commitments of food and medical aid of over $4 billion [C,U]
1 the process in which a court sends someone to a mental hospital or prison
2 formal the burying or CREMATING of a dead person
willing to work very hard at something:
•The party has a core of committed supporters.
[+to]
•We are fully committed to Equal Opportunity policies.
[C also + plural verb BrE ] a group of people chosen to do a particular job, make decisions etc
[+of]
•the International Committee of the Red Cross
[+on]
•a Ministerial committee on security affairs
on a committee
•He's on the finance committee.
•a committee meeting
•committee members
SELECT COMMITTEE; standing committee at STANDING^1 (1) $ [C]
1 a piece of furniture shaped like a chair that can be used as a toilet
2 an old-fashioned piece of furniture with drawers or shelves
3 AmE a word meaning 'toilet' used by people who do not like saying 'toilet' $ formal
a house or room that is commodious is very big $ plural commodities [C]
1 a product that is bought and sold:
•agricultural commodities
•Commodity prices fell sharply.
2 formal a useful quality or thing:
•Time is a precious commodity. $ [C]
1 a high rank in the navy, or someone who has this rank
2 the CAPTAIN in charge of a group of ships that are carrying goods $
1 HAPPENING OFTEN happening often and to many people or in many places; rare
•Heart disease is one of the commonest causes of death.
[+among]
•Bad dreams are fairly common among children.
it's common for sb to do sth
•It's common for new fathers to feel jealous of the baby.
!! Do not say 'It is common that...': It is common for children to be afraid (NOT It is common that children are afraid) of the dark.
2 A LOT existing in large numbers; rare
•Daisies are very common flowers.
3 SAME/SIMILAR [usually before noun, no comparative] common aims, beliefs, ideas etc are shared by several people or groups:
•people working towards a common goal
•countries that share a common language
[+to]
•a theme that is common to all her novels
4 common ground facts, features, or beliefs that are shared by people or things that are very different
[+between]
•There is a great deal of common ground between management and trade unions on this issue.
5 SHARED BY EVERYONE [ no comparative] belonging to or shared by everyone in a society
[+to]
•These problems are common to all societies.
•Joe was chosen as captain by common consent (=with everyone's agreement).
6 common knowledge something everyone knows:
• It is common knowledge that travel broadens the mind.
7 the common good the advantage of everyone:
•They work together for the common good.
8 common practice a usual or accepted way of doing things:
•It was common practice for families to attend church together.
9 ORDINARY [only before noun, no comparative] ordinary and not special in any way:
•common salt
•The twentieth century was called the century of the common man (=ordinary people).
•He insists that he is a revolutionary not a common criminal.
10 common courtesy/decency/politeness a polite way of behaving that you expect from people:
•It would be common courtesy to return their hospitality.
11 common or garden BrE ordinary; = garden-variety AmE
•a common or garden dispute
12 make/find common cause (with/against sb) formal to join with other people or groups in order to achieve something:
•France and Russia made common cause against Britain.
13 common touch the ability of someone in a position of power or authority to talk to and understand ordinary people - used to show approval:
•He's made it to the top without losing the common touch.
14 SOCIAL CLASS BrE old-fashioned an offensive word used for describing someone from a low social class
1 have sth in common (with sb) to have the same interests, attitudes etc as someone else:
•I found I had a lot in common with these people.
•four women with almost nothing in common
2 have sth in common (with sth) if objects or ideas have something in common, they share the same features:
•The two games have much in common.
3 in common with sb/sth in the same way as someone or something else:
•In common with a lot of other countries, we're in an economic recession.
4 [C] a large area of open land in a town or village that people walk or play sport on:
•Boston Common $ [U] formal
the fact of having things in common[C]
a slight illness in which your throat hurts and it is difficult to breathe normally; = cold[U]
used to say that something is used by a lot of people or accepted by everyone:
•Words like 'spliff' and 'blunt' have become common currency.[C]
1 an attitude or quality that all the different members of a group have:
•The common denominator of both types of novel is the vulnerable, threatened heroine.
2 the lowest common denominator the least attractive, least intelligent people or features in a situation:
•trashy TV programs that appeal to the lowest common denominator
3 technical a number that can be divided exactly by all the DENOMINATORs (=bottom number) in a set of FRACTIONs $ [C]
someone who is not a member of the NOBILITY[U] BrE
lands that belongs to or can be used by everyone living in an area[U]
the system of laws that has developed from customs and the decisions of judges rather than from laws made by Parliament; statute law[only before noun]
1 common-law marriage/husband/wife a relationship that is considered to be a marriage because the man and woman have lived together for a long time
2 according to or related to common law
common law rules/courts/rights etc $
1 usually or by most people; = widely
•Sodium chloride is more commonly known as salt.
•a commonly used industrial chemical
2 often, in many places, or in large numbers; = widely
•Lung cancer is the most commonly found cancer in men.
•commonly available software packages[C]
in grammar, a common noun is any noun that is not the name of a particular person, place, or thing. For example, 'book, 'sugar', and 'stuff' are common nouns; proper noun, noun $
happening or existing in many places, and therefore not special or unusual:
•Car thefts are commonplace in this part of town.[C usually singular]
1 something that happens or exists in many places, so that it is not unusual:
•Women's groups have become a commonplace.
2 something that has been said so often that it is no longer interesting or original
3 the commonplace something that is ordinary or boring; = the everyday
•Moore took as his main theme the mystery of the commonplace.[C] BrE
a room in a school or college that a group of teachers or students use when they are not teaching or studying $
the Commons the larger and more powerful of the two parts of the British parliament, whose members are elected by citizens; the Lords
•The Government has a huge majority in the Commons.[U]
the ability to behave in a sensible way and make practical decisions:
•Use your common sense for once!
•a common-sense approach to education $
1 the Commonwealth an organization of about 50 countries that were once part of the British EMPIRE:
•the Commonwealth Games
2 [C] an association of countries with political or economic connections
[+of]
•a commonwealth of nations
3 [C] AmE the official legal title of some US states $ [singular, U]
sudden noisy activity:
•They heard a commotion downstairs.
•Everyone looked to see what was causing the commotion. $ [plural] BrE technical
communications used when talking about computer programs that allow communication between different computers; = communications software AmE $
1 shared by a group of people or animals, especially a group who live together:
•a communal bathroom
2 involving people from many different races, religions, or language groups:
•the worst communal violence in two years
3 relating or belonging to all the people living in a particular COMMUNITY:
•crops grown on communal land $ [C]
1 a group of people who live together and who share the work and their possessions:
•a hippie commune
2 the smallest unit of local government in countries such as France and Belgium
3 a group of people in a Communist country who work as a team on a farm, and give what they produce to the state

PHRASAL VERBS
commune with sb/sth phr v formal
1 to communicate with a person, god, or animal, especially in a mysterious, SPIRITUAL way
2 commune with nature to spend time outside in a natural place, enjoying it in a quiet peaceful way:
•Take time to relax and commune with nature. formal
1 a communicable disease can be passed on to other people; = infectious
2 able to be communicated:
•Some experiences are communicable only through symbols. [C]
someone who receives COMMUNION regularly in the Christian church
1 EXCHANGE INFORMATION [I,T] to exchange information or conversation with other people, using words, signs, writing etc:
•We communicated mostly by e-mail.
[+with]
•People use more than words when they communicate with each other.
communicate sth to sb
•The decision was communicated to our staff late in 1998.
2 TELL PEOPLE STH [I,T] to express your thoughts and feelings clearly, so that other people understand them:
•A baby communicates its needs by crying.
communicate sth to sb
•Without meaning to, she communicated her anxiety to her child.
•His enthusiasm communicated itself to the voters.
•A teacher must be able to communicate effectively to students.
3 UNDERSTAND [I] if two people communicate, they are able to talk about and understand each other's feelings or desires:
•Many couples make themselves miserable by not communicating.
[+with]
•Parents sometimes find it difficult to communicate with their teenage children.
4 DISEASE [T usually passive] to pass a disease from one person or animal to another; communicable
5 ROOMS [I] if rooms or parts of a building communicate, you can get directly to one from the other:
•communicating doors
1 [U] the process by which people exchange information or express their thoughts and feelings:
•Good communication is vital in a large organization.
•Radio was the pilot's only means of communication.
2 communications
a) [plural] ways of sending information, especially using radio, telephone, or computers:
•Modern communications are enabling more people to work from home.
b) [plural] roads, railways etc that are used for travelling and sending goods
[+with]
•Paris has good communications with many European cities.
c) [U] the study of using radio, television, cinema etc to communicate:
•a diploma in communications
3 [U] the way people express themselves so that other people will understand:
•a week's course in improving communication skills
•There has been a breakdown in communication (=failure).
4 be in communication with sb formal to talk or write to someone regularly
5 [C] formal a letter, message, or telephone call:
•a communication from the Ministry of Defence[C] BrE
a chain that a passenger can pull to stop a train in an EMERGENCY (=a sudden dangerous situation)[C]
a SATELLITE that is used to send radio, television, and telephone signals around the world $
1 able to talk easily to other people:
•Tom wasn't very communicative - he kept himself to himself.
2 relating to the ability to communicate, especially in a foreign language:
•students' communicative skills $ [C]
someone who is able to express ideas or their feelings clearly to other people:
•She's a skilled communicator.
1 Communion [U] also Holy Communion the Christian ceremony in which people eat bread and drink wine as signs of Christ's body and blood
2 [U] formal a special relationship with someone or something which makes you feel that you understand them very well
[+with]
•Prayer is a form of communion with God.
3 [C] formal a group of people or organizations that share the same religious beliefs; = denomination
•He belongs to the Anglican communion. $ [C]
an official report or announcement:
•A communiqué was issued by NATO Defence Ministers.Communism $ [U]
1 a political system in which the government controls the production of all food and goods, and there is no privately owned property; capitalism, socialism
2 the belief in this political systemCommunist $ [C]
someone who is a member of a political party that supports communism, or who believes in communism; capitalist, socialistCommunist
relating to communism; capitalist, socialist
•a communist country
•a communist regime plural communities
1 [C, also + plural verb BrE ] the people who live in the same area, town etc:
•The new arts centre will serve the whole community.
• community education programmes
community relations/affairs/needs etc
•We meet once a month to discuss community problems.
community groups/leaders etc
•Community leaders met to discuss the proposed golf course.
community spirit (=the desire to be friendly with and help other people who live in the same community)
2 [C] a group of people who have the same interests, religion, race etc:
•different ethnic communities
the gay/black/Asian etc community
•the gay community in San Francisco
the business/academic/scientific etc community
3 the community society and the people in it:
•The trend is towards reintegrating mentally ill people into the community.
the international community (=all the countries of the world)
•The President appealed to the international community for aid for the flood victims.
4 sense of community the feeling that you belong to a community
5 [C] a group of plants or animals that live in the same environment:
•Communities of otters are slowly returning to British rivers.community center AmE [C] BrE
a place where people from the same area can go for social events, classes etc[C] AmE old use
money that is collected by the people and businesses in an area to help poor people[C]
1 a SECONDARY SCHOOL in the UK that students from the local area can go to, and which also has classes for adults
2 a college in the US that students can go to for two years in order to learn a skill or prepare for university; = junior college[U] law
property that is considered to be owned equally by both a husband and wife in US law[U]
work that is not paid that someone does to help other people, sometimes as punishment for a crime $
[C,U] law a reduction in how severe a punishment is:
•Activists are campaigning for a commutation of Pollard's sentence.
1 [I] to regularly travel a long distance to get to work
[+to/from/between]
•Jim commutes to Manhattan every day.
2 commute a sentence (to sth) technical to change the punishment given to a criminal to one that is less severe:
•Baldry's 20-year prison sentence was commuted to three years.
3 commute sth for/into sth technical to exchange one thing, especially one kind of payment, for another:
•He commuted his pension for a lump sum.[C usually singular]
the journey to work every day:
•My morning commute takes 45 minutes. $ [C]
someone who travels a long distance to work every day[C] BrE
an area around a large city, from which many people travel to work every day $ [C] informal
1 AmE a ticket for a play, sports game etc that is given away free
2 BrE a COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL[T]
AmE spoken to give something such as a ticket away free $
1 small, but arranged so that everything fits neatly into the space available - used to show approval:
•The compact design of the machine allows it to be stored easily.
•The students' rooms were compact, with a desk, bed, and closet built in.
2 packed or put together firmly and closely:
•The bushes grew in a compact mass.
3 small, but solid and strong:
•a short compact-looking man
- compactly adverb
- compactness noun [U] $ [C]
1 a small flat container with a mirror, containing powder for a woman's face
2 a COMPACT CAMERA
3 AmE a small car
4 formal an agreement between countries or people:
•A compact was negotiated between the company and the union. [T]
to press something together so that it becomes smaller or more solid:
•compacted earth[C]
a small camera with a LENS that cannot be removed[C,U]
CD a small circular piece of hard plastic on which high-quality recorded sound or large quantities of information can be stored:
•The new album is available on vinyl, cassette, or compact disc.[C]
a CD PLAYER [C]
1 someone you spend a lot of time with, especially a friend:
•For ten years he had been her constant companion.
•His dog became his closest companion.
•a travelling companion
dinner/drinking companion
2 one of a pair of things that go together or can be used together
[+to]
•This book is a companion to Professor Farrer's first work.
companion volume/piece etc
•The Encyclopedia of Gardening is a companion volume to the Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers.
3 used in the titles of books about a particular subject:
•A Companion to Japanese Literature
4 someone, especially a woman, who is paid to live or travel with an older person literary
friendly and pleasant to be with:
•They sat together in companionable silence.
- companionably adverb [U]
when you are with someone you enjoy being with, and are not alone:
•When Stan died, I missed his companionship. [C] technical
the steps going from one DECK (=level) of a ship to another deck plural companies
1 BUSINESS [C also + plural verb BrE ] a business organization that makes or sells goods or services; = business, firm

run a company
set up/start a company
join a company (=become an employee)
a company goes bust/bankrupt (=stops doing business because it has lost too much money)
record/oil/insurance/phone etc company
multinational company (=one that has offices in different countries)
company policy
company director/executive

•Which company do you work for?
•The company are hoping to expand their operations abroad.
•In ten years, Jeff went from working in the mailroom to running the company.
•The company was set up just after the war.
• Insurance companies say they investigated 43,000 cases of fraud last year.
•I called the phone company about the bill.
•an independent record company
•a multinational company specializing in sports equipment
•a final draft of the company policy on the use of email for private purposes
•Once again, company directors have awarded themselves a massive pay increase.
LIMITED COMPANY, PARENT COMPANY, PUBLIC COMPANY

2 OTHER PEOPLE [U] when you are with other people and not alone:
•The two men enjoy each other's company.
•Rita's husband is away for the week, so I thought I'd go over and keep her company (=be with her so that she doesn't feel lonely).
•Come over for dinner - I could use the company (=would like to be with people).
•James is good company (=a cheerful person who is enjoyable to be with).
as company
•Bessie was glad to have the dog as company.
in sb's company (=with someone)
•I felt nervous in the company of such an important man.
in company with sb (=together with another person or group)
•He's performing in company with saxophonist Ernie Watts.
3 GUESTS [U] people who are visiting you in your home:
•It looks like the Hammills have company.
•We're expecting company this evening.
4 FRIENDS [U] your friends or the group of people you spend time with:
•People judge you by the company you keep (=the people you spend time with).
•Things began to go wrong when he got into bad company.
5 PERFORMERS [C] a group of actors, dancers, or singers who work together:
•a theatre company
•a touring company
•the Kirov Ballet Company
6 be in good company used to tell someone who has made a mistake that they should not be embarrassed because some important or respected people have made the same mistake:
•If you can't program the video recorder, you're in good company.
7 GROUP [U] formal a group of people who are together in the same place, often for a particular purpose or for social reasons:
•He glanced around at the assembled company.
•Some jokes are just not appropriate to tell in mixed company (=in a group of both men and women).
in company (=when surrounded by other people, especially at a social occasion)
•Parents should teach their children how to behave in company.
8 sb and company informal used after a person's name to mean that person and their friends:
•This has not stopped Senator Biden and company from trying to make it an issue in the election.
9 ARMY [C] a group of about 120 soldiers who are usually part of a larger group
10 two's company, three's a crowd used to suggest that two people would rather be alone together than have other people with them
part company at PART^2 (4); present company excepted at PRESENT^1 (7)

WORD FOCUS: company
similar words:
firm
business
a big company:
corporation
multinational
conglomerate
an Internet company:
dot-com
a company that is owned by a larger company:
subsidiary
affiliate
abbreviations used in company names:
LtdLimited
Co.Company
Corp.Corporation
PLCPublic Limited Company BrE
Pty.Proprietary used in Australia and South Africa
[C]
a car that your employer gives you while you work for them[U] law
the laws relating to the way in which companies operateplural company secretaries [C]
someone with a high position in a company who deals with ADMINISTRATIVE and legal matters $
1 similar to something else in size, number, quality etc, so that you can make a comparison; compare, comparison
•A car of comparable size would cost far more abroad.
comparable figures/data/results
•comparable figures for the same period of time last year
[+with/to]
•The planet Pluto is comparable in size to the moon.
2 being equally important, good, bad etc:
•These two artists just aren't comparable.
[+with/to]
•His poetry is hardly comparable with Shakespeare's.
- comparability $ noun [U] $
in a similar way or to a similar degree:
•comparably priced products
1 comparative comfort/freedom/wealth etc comfort etc that is quite good when compared to how comfortable, free, or rich etc something or someone else is; = relative
•After a lifetime of poverty, his last few years were spent in comparable comfort.
•She didn't want to leave the comparative safety of the shelter.
2 comparative study/analysis etc a study etc that involves comparing something to something else:
•a comparative study of the US and British steel industries
3 comparative beginner/newcomer etc someone who is not really a beginner etc, but who seems to be one when compared to other people who have lived or worked somewhere for a long time:
•After living here five years, we're still considered comparative newcomers.
4 comparative figures/data comparative figures etc are similar to other figures, so that you can make a comparison:
•Comparative figures for last year clearly show how sales have declined.
5 technical the comparative form of an adjective or adverb shows an increase in size, quality, degree etc when it is considered in relation to something else. For example, 'bigger' is the comparative form of 'big', and 'more slowly' is the comparative form of 'slowly'; superlative
the comparative technical the form of an adjective or adverb that shows an increase in size, degree etc when something is considered in relation to something else. For example, 'bigger' is the comparative of 'big', and 'more slowly' is the comparative of 'slowly'.; the superlative
as compared to something else or to a previous state; = relatively
•a comparatively small number of people
• Comparatively few books have been written on the subject.
•Crime on the island is comparatively rare.
• Comparatively speaking, this part of the coast is still unspoiled. $
1 [T] to examine or judge two or more things in order to show how they are similar to or different from each other; comparison, comparative
•The report compares the different types of home computer available.
compare sth/sb with sth/sb
•The police compared the suspect's fingerprints with those found at the crime scene.
compare sth/sb to sth/sb
•Davies' style of writing has been compared to Dickens'.
compare and contrast (=an expression used when telling students to write about the things that are similar or different in works of literature or art)
•Compare and contrast the main characters of these two novels.
2 compared to/with sth used when considering the size, quality, or amount of something in relation to something similar:
•a 20% reduction in burglary compared with last year
•Compared to our small flat, Bill's house seemed like a palace.
3 [I] to be better or worse than something else
compare (favourably/unfavourably) with sth
•The quality of English wines can now compare with wines from Germany.
•How does life in Britain compare with life in the States?
•The imported fabric is 30% cheaper and compares favourably (=is as good) in quality.
4 sth doesn't/can't compare (with sth) if something does not compare with something else, it is not as good, large etc:
•The rides at the fair just can't compare with the rides at Disneyland.
5 compare notes (with sb) informal to talk to someone in order to find out if their experience of something is the same as yours:
•Leading scientists got together in Paris to compare notes on current research.
beyond/without compare literary a quality that is beyond compare is the best of its kind:
•a beauty and an elegance beyond compare
1 COMPARING [U] the process of comparing two or more people or things; compare, comparative
[+with]
•Comparison with his previous movies shows how Lee has developed as a director.
in comparison (with/to sth)
•In comparison to other recent video games, this one isn't very exciting.
•He was a loud friendly man. In comparison, his brother was rather shy.
by comparison (with sth)
•By comparison with other European countries, car prices in the UK are very high.
•After months of living in a tropical climate, Spain seemed cool by comparison.
for comparison (with sth)
•These figures are provided for comparison with the results of previous studies.
•He showed us the original text for comparison.
•Her paintings invite comparison with those of the early Impressionists (=they remind you of them).
stand/bear comparison (=is as good as someone or something else)
•Irving's work bears comparison with the best of the modern novelists.
on comparison BrE (=after you have compared two things to see if they are similar or different)
•On comparison, the Renault was the more reliable of the two cars.
2 JUDGMENT [C] a statement or examination of how similar or different two people or things are
[+of]
•a comparison of pollution levels in Chicago and Detroit
[+between]
•The article makes a comparison between the two poems.
3 BE LIKE STH [C] a statement that someone or something is like someone or something else
(make/draw) a comparison between sb/sth (=show the similarities between two people or things)
•The writer draws comparisons between the two presidents.
•You can't make a comparison between American and Japanese schools - they're too different.
4 there's no comparison spoken used when you think that someone or something is much better than someone or something else
[+between]
•There's just no comparison between canned vegetables and fresh ones.
5 GRAMMAR [U] a word used in grammar meaning the way an adverb or adjective changes its form to show whether it is COMPARATIVE or SUPERLATIVE[I]
to go to different shops in order to compare the prices of things, so that you can buy things for the cheapest possible price
- comparison shopping noun [U] $ [C]
1 a smaller enclosed space inside something larger:
•The bag is divided into separate compartments.
•The engine compartment is soundproofed.
•She kept the money hidden in a secret compartment in her briefcase.
GLOVE COMPARTMENT
2 one of the separate areas into which a plane, ship, or train is divided:
•a first-class compartmentalso compartmentalise BrE $ [T]
to divide something into separate areas or groups:
•Women are better than men at compartmentalizing their lives.
- compartmentalized adjective
- compartmentalization $ noun [U]
1 [C] an instrument that shows directions and has a needle that always points north:
•a map and compass
compass points/points of the compass (=the marks on a compass that show you north, south, east, west etc)
2 [C] also compasses a V-shaped instrument with one sharp point and a pen or pencil at the other end, used for drawing circles or measuring distances on maps
3 [U] formal the area or range of subjects that someone is responsible for or that is discussed in a book
[+of]
•Within the brief compass of a single page, the author covers most of the major points. [U]
a strong feeling of sympathy for someone who is suffering, and a desire to help them
[+for]
•compassion for the sick
feel/show/have compassion
•Did he feel any compassion for the victim of his crime?
with compassion
•Lieberman explores this sensitive topic with compassion.
•I was shocked by the doctor's lack of compassion.
feeling sympathy for people who are suffering:
•a caring, compassionate man
•I allowed him to go home on compassionate grounds.
•One measure of a civilized and compassionate society is how well it treats its prison population.
- compassionately adverb[U]
special permission to have time away from work because one of your relatives has died or is very ill[U]
if you are suffering from compassion fatigue, you have stopped feeling sympathy for people and do not want to give any more money to help them, because you have seen so many reports on television, in newspapers etc about other groups of people who are in trouble :
•Some donors, battered by so many appeals for help, may find themselves battling compassion fatigue.[singular] technical
a symbol that consists of a circle with a pointed star in it, which is printed on maps and shows which direction is north, south, east, west etc [U]
1 technical the ability of one piece of computer equipment to be used with another one, especially when they are made by different companies
[+with]
•the system's compatibility with Windows software
2 the ability to exist or be used together without causing problems:
•compatibility of flavours
3 the ability to have a good relationship with someone because you have similar interests, ideas etc:
•sexual compatibility
1 if two pieces of computer equipment are compatible, they can be used together, especially when they are made by different companies; compatibility
•The new software is IBM compatible (=can be used with IBM computers).
2 able to exist or be used together without causing problems; compatibility
[+with]
•Stephen's political views often weren't compatible with her own.
3 two people that are compatible are able to have a good relationship because they have similar opinions or interests; compatibility[C] technical
a piece of computer equipment that can be used in or with another piece of equipment, especially one made by a different company:
•Most programs work with IBM compatibles. $ [C]
someone who was born in or is a citizen of the same country as someone else
sb's compatriot
•Schmidt defeated his compatriot Hausmann in the quarter final. past tense and past participle compelled, present participle compelling [T]
1 to force someone to do something; compulsion
compel sb to do sth
•The law will compel employers to provide health insurance.
•She felt compelled to resign because of the scandal.
2 formal to make people have a particular feeling or attitude; compulsion
•His performance compelled the audience's attention.
1 compelling reason/argument/case etc an argument etc that makes you feel certain that something is true or that you must do something about it:
•Lucy had no compelling reason to go into town.
•The court was presented with compelling evidence that she'd murdered her husband.
2 very interesting or exciting, so that you have to pay attention:
•His life makes a compelling story.
3 compelling need/desire/urge (to do sth) a strong need, desire etc to do something, making you feel that you must do it:
•He felt a compelling need to tell someone about his idea.
- compellingly adverb plural compendiums or compendia [C]
1 formal a book that contains a complete collection of facts, drawings etc on a particular subject:
•a cricketing compendium
2 BrE a set of different BOARD GAMEs in a box $
1 [I] to replace or balance the effect of something bad:
•Because my left eye is so weak, my right eye has to work harder to compensate.
[+for]
•Her intelligence more than compensates for her lack of experience.
2 [T] to pay someone money because they have suffered injury, loss, or damage:
•the government's promise to compensate victims of the flood
compensate sb for sth
•The firm will compensate workers for their loss of earnings. $
1 [U] money paid to someone because they have suffered injury or loss, or because something they own has been damaged
[+for]
•compensation for injuries at work
[+from]
•She received compensation from the government for the damage caused to her property.
in compensation
•The jury awarded Tyler $1.7 million in compensation.
as compensation
•The workers were given 30 days' pay as compensation.
•People who are wrongly arrested may be paid compensation.
demand/seek/claim compensation
•The parents are seeking compensation for birth defects caused by the drug.
award/grant compensation
•The court awarded Jamieson £30,000 compensation.
2 [C,U] something that makes a bad situation better:
•One of the few compensations of losing my job was seeing more of my family.
by way of compensation (=in order to make a situation better)
•By way of compensation he offered to take her out for a meal.
3 [C,U] when someone behaves in a particular way in order to replace something that is missing or to balance the bad effects of something
[+for]
•Linda's aggressiveness is just a compensation for her feelings of insecurity.
as compensation (for sth)
•Lip-reading can act as compensation for loss of hearing.
4 [U] AmE the money someone is paid for doing their job $ [usually before noun] formal
1 compensatory payments are paid to someone who has been harmed or hurt in some way:
•She was awarded a large sum in compensatory damages.
2 intended to reduce the bad effects of something:
•Workers are given a compensatory day off when a national holiday falls on a weekend. $ [C] BrE
someone who introduces the people who are performing in a television programme, theatre show etc; = host AmE
- compere verb [I,T]
•Ballentine will compere the show. [I]
1 BUSINESS if one company or country competes with another, it tries to get people to buy its goods or services rather than those available from another company or country; competition, competitor, competitive
[+with/against]
•They found themselves competing with foreign companies for a share of the market.
•The Renault Clio competes against such cars as the Peugeot 206.
[+for]
•The stores have to compete for customers in the Christmas season.
[+in]
•The company must be able to compete in the international marketplace.
compete to do sth
•Several advertising agencies are competing to get the contract.
can't compete (with sth) (=be unable to be more successful)
•Small, independent bookstores simply can't compete with the big national chains.
2 PERSON to try to gain something and stop someone else from having it or having as much of it; competition, competitive
[+for]
•She and her sister are always competing for attention.
[+against]
•I had to compete against 19 other people for the job.
[+with]
•As a stepmother, don't even try to compete with the children's mother for their love.
3 IN A COMPETITION to take part in a competition or sports event; competitor
[+in/at]
•How many runners will be competing in the marathon?
•Professional athletes may now compete at the Olympics.
[+against]
•Edwards will be competing against his closest rival Olsson in the triple jump.
4 sb/sth can't compete with sb/sth to not be as interesting, attractive etc as someone or something else:
•Melinda was plain and knew she couldn't compete with her sister where boys were concerned. $
1 [U] also competency the ability to do something well; incompetence
[+in]
•Students will gain competence in a wide range of skills.
[+of]
•He questioned the competence of the government.
professional/linguistic/technical etc competence
•Doctors have to constantly update their knowledge in order to maintain their professional competence.
2 [U] law the legal power of a court of law to hear and judge something in court, or of a government to do something
be within the competence of sth
•Many legal issues are within the competence of individual states rather than the federal government.
3 [C] also competency formal a skill needed to do a particular job:
•Typing is considered by most employers to be a basic competence. $
1 having enough skill or knowledge to do something to a satisfactory standard; incompetent
•A competent mechanic should be able to fix the problem.
very/highly/extremely competent
•She's a highly competent linguist.
competent to do sth
•I don't feel competent to give an opinion at the moment.
•He is the only party leader competent enough to govern this country.
2 satisfactory but not especially good:
•The workmen did a competent job.
3 technical having normal mental abilities:
•We believe the patient was not mentally competent.
•A psychiatrist said McKibben was competent to stand trial.
4 [not before noun] law having the legal power to deal with something in a court of law
competent to do sth
•This court is not competent to hear your case.
- competently adverb [only before noun]
1 competing stories, ideas etc cannot all be right or accepted:
•Several people gave competing accounts of the accident.
•a compromise between competing interests within the organization
•competing claims
2 competing products/brands/companies etc products etc that are trying to be more successful than each other $
1 [U] a situation in which people or organizations try to be more successful than other people or organizations; compete, competitor
[+for]
•Competition for the job was intense.
[+between/among]
•Sometimes there's a lot of competition between children for their mother's attention.
•This price reduction is due to competition among suppliers.
[+in]
•competition in the automobile industry
fierce/stiff/intense etc competition
•There is fierce competition between the three leading soap manufacturers.
be in competition with sb/sth
•Government departments are in direct competition with each other for limited resources.
in the face of competition (from sb/sth) (=in a situation where you are competing with someone or something)
•Small grocery stores are going out of business in the face of stiff competition from the large supermarket chains.
2 [singular, U] the people or groups that are competing against you, especially in business or in a sport; compete, competitor
•Going to trade fairs is an ideal opportunity to size up the competition.
no/not much/little etc competition (=no one who is likely to be better than you)
•Jones is certain to win the race; there's just no competition.
a lot of/considerable/fierce etc competition
•The team overcame fierce competition for their place in the finals.
foreign/international competition (=companies from other countries that you are competing with)
•Japanese PC makers now face foreign competition in their home market.
3 [C] an organized event in which people or teams compete against each other; competitor

enter a competition (=take part in a competition)
hold/run/launch a competition (=organize a competition)
win/lose a competition
be out of a competition (=no longer be in a competition)
knock sb out of a competition (=defeat someone so that they can no longer take part in the competition)
a knockout competition BrE (=one in which if you lose a game, you are no longer in the competition)
the winner of a competition

•a photography competition
competition to do sth
•a competition to find a designer for the new airport building
•Teams from high schools all over the state have entered the competition.
•The competition will be held in Copenhagen next year.
•Who won the competition?
•With France and Germany out of the competition, England have a great chance to win.
•Liverpool were knocked out of the competition in the third round.

1 determined or trying very hard to be more successful than other people or businesses; compete, competitor
•Some US industries are not as competitive as they have been in the past.
•The team seems to have lost its competitive edge recently (=its ability to compete well).
2 relating to competition; compete, competitor
•Competitive sports encourage children to work together as a team.
highly/fiercely/intensely etc competitive
•Advertising is an intensely competitive business.
3 products or prices that are competitive are cheaper than others but still of good quality:
•The hotel offers a high standard of service at competitive rates.
- competitively adverb [U]
1 the ability of a company, country, or a product to compete with others:
•New machinery has enhanced the company's productivity and competitiveness.
•Europe's competitiveness in international markets
2 the desire to be more successful than other people:
•Her enthusiasm and competitiveness rubbed off on everyone. $ [C]
1 a person, team, company etc that is competing with another:
•Last year they sold twice as many computers as their competitors.
major/main competitors
•The company's four major competitors have nothing to rival the new product.
2 someone who takes part in a competition:
•Two of the competitors failed to turn up for the race. $
1 [C] a book, list, record etc which consists of different pieces of information, songs etc
[+of]
•a compilation of love songs
compilation CD/album/tape
2 [U] the process of making a book, list, record etc from different pieces of information, songs etc:
•dictionary compilation [T]
1 to make a book, list, record etc, using different pieces of information, music etc; compilation
•The document was compiled by the Department of Health
compile sth from/for sth
•The report was compiled from a survey of 5000 households.
2 technical to put a set of instructions into a computer in a form that it can understand and use $ [C]
1 someone who collects different pieces of information to be used in a book, report, or list
2 technical a set of instructions in a computer that changes a computer language known to the computer user into the form needed by the computer [U]
a feeling of satisfaction with a situation or with what you have achieved, so that you stop trying to improve or change things - used to show disapproval:
•Doctors have warned against complacency in fighting common diseases.
•Despite yesterday's win, there is clearly no room for complacency if the team want to stay top of the league.
pleased with a situation, especially something you have achieved, so that you stop trying to improve or change things - used to show disapproval:
•There's a danger of becoming complacent if you win a few games.
•a complacent attitude towards the problem
[+about]
•We simply cannot afford to be complacent about the future of our car industry.
- complacently adverb
1 [I,T not in passive] to say that you are annoyed, not satisfied, or unhappy about something or someone; complaint
•Residents are complaining because traffic in the area has increased.
•'You never ask my opinion about anything,' Rod complained.
complain (that)
•She complained that no one had been at the airport to meet her.
[+about]
•She often complains about not feeling appreciated at work.
[+of]
•Several women have complained of sexual harassment.
[+to]
•Neighbours complained to the police about the dogs barking.
•Employees complained bitterly about working conditions.
2 (I/you/he etc) can't complain spoken used to say that a situation is satisfactory, even though there may be a few problems:
•I make a good living. I can't complain.

PHRASAL VERBS
complain of sth phr v formal
to say that you feel ill or have a pain in a part of your body:
•Dan's been complaining of severe headaches. [C] law
someone who makes a formal complaint in a court of law; = plaintiff
1 [C,U] a statement in which someone complains about something:
•The sales assistants are trained to deal with customer complaints in a friendly manner.
•A common complaint among air passengers is that not enough leg room is provided.
formal/official complaint
[+about]
•Keating was dismissed after complaints about the quality of his work.
[+of]
•complaints of police brutality
[+from/to]
•complaints from local residents
•a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority
[+against]
•All complaints against police officers are carefully investigated.
complaint that
•We are concerned by complaints that children are being bullied.
•If you wish to make a complaint, you should see the manager (=complain formally to someone).
have/receive a complaint
•The BBC received a stream of complaints about the programme.
• Complaints are dealt with by the customer services department.
•The Council received over 10,000 letters of complaint.
file/lodge/submit a complaint (=complain officially to someone)
•She went to the city council and lodged a complaint.
reason/cause/grounds for complaint
•Anyone dismissed because of their race has legitimate grounds for complaint.
•a complaints procedure (=a system for dealing with complaints)
2 [C] something that you complain about:
•Our main complaint was the poor standard of service.
•My only complaint is that the price is rather high.
3 [C] formal an illness that affects a particular part of your body:
•He is having treatment for a chest complaint. [U] formal
willingness to do what pleases other people
- complaisant adjective
- complaisantly adverb AmE
light/fair/dark complected having light or dark skin $ [C]
1 someone or something that emphasizes the good qualities of another person or thing
[+to]
•This wine would be a nice complement to grilled dishes.
2 the number or quantity needed to make a group complete
[+of]
•Each new cell will carry its full complement of chromosomes.
3 technical a word or phrase that follows a verb and describes the subject of the verb. In 'John is cold' and 'John became chairman', 'cold' and 'chairman' are complements. $ [T]
to make a good combination with someone or something else:
•John and Bob complemented each other extremely well.
•The dark red walls complement the red leather chairs. $
1 complementary things go well together, although they are usually different:
•The computer and the human mind have different but complementary abilities.
2 technical complementary colours of light are very different and combine to make white
3 technical two angles that are complementary add up to 90 degrees
- complementarity $ noun [U][U]
especially BrE complementary medicine uses treatments that are not part of traditional Western medicine:
•acupuncture and other complementary therapies
1 [usually before noun] used to emphasize that a quality or situation is as great as it could possibly be; = total
•The police were in complete control of the situation.
•Their engagement came as a complete surprise to me.
•This is a complete waste of time.
a complete fool/idiot etc
•Meg realized she'd been a complete fool.
•a complete stranger
•The darkness was almost complete.
2 including all parts, details, facts etc and with nothing missing; = whole; incomplete
•a complete set of china
•The list below is not complete.
• the complete works of Shakespeare (=a book, CD etc containing everything Shakespeare wrote)
3 [not before noun] finished; incomplete
•Work on the new building is nearly complete.
4 complete with sth having particular equipment or features:
•The house comes complete with swimming pool and sauna.
- completeness noun [U]
•For the sake of completeness I should mention one further argument.[T]
1 to finish doing or making something, especially when it has taken a long time:
•The students have just completed their course.
•The building took two years to complete.
2 to make something whole or perfect by adding what is missing:
•The child's task was to complete the sentences.
•I need one more stamp to complete the set.
3 to write the information that is needed on a form; = fill out
•In all, more than 650 people completed the questionnaire.
•Send your completed form to the following address.
to the greatest degree possible; = totally
•I completely forgot that it was his birthday yesterday.
•He had never completely recovered from his illness.
•a completely new range of low-cost computers
•I'm not completely sure.
•Portuguese is pronounced completely differently from Spanish. [U]
1 the state of being finished:
•The new houses are nearing completion (=almost finished).
•The project has a completion date of December 22nd.
2 the act of finishing something
[+of]
•The job is subject to your satisfactory completion of the training course.
on completion (of sth)
•On completion of the building, they make a final inspection.
3 law the final point in the sale of a house, when all the documents have been signed and all the money paid $
1 consisting of many different parts and often difficult to understand; = complicated; simple
•a complex system of highways
•Photosynthesis is a highly complex process.
•Peter seemed to have an instant understanding of the most complex issues.
•It was a very complex relationship between two complex people.
2 technical a complex word or sentence contains a main part and one or more other parts; compound $ [C]
1 a group of buildings, or a large building with many parts, used for a particular purpose:
•The town has one of the best leisure complexes in the country.
•a three-story apartment complex
2 a complex of sth formal a large number of things which are closely related:
•China was a complex of different societies.
3 an emotional problem in which someone is unnecessarily anxious about something or thinks too much about something:
•I used to have a complex about my looks.
INFERIORITY COMPLEX, OEDIPUS COMPLEX, PERSECUTION COMPLEX
1 [C] the natural colour or appearance of the skin on your face:
•Drinking lots of water is good for the complexion.
pale/fair/ruddy etc complexion (=a pale, fair, red etc face)
fair-complexioned/smooth-complexioned etc
•She was fair-complexioned with pale blonde hair.
2 [singular] the general character or nature of something:
•Crime has risen everywhere, under governments of every political complexion.
3 put a different/new/fresh complexion on sth to make a situation or event seem different:
•This document puts a different complexion on the matter. plural complexities
1 [U] the state of being complicated
[+of]
•There is increasing recognition of the complexity of the causes of poverty.
•a design of great complexity
2 [C usually plural] one of the many details or features of something that make it hard to understand or deal with
[+of]
•The complexities of economics are clearly and entertainingly explained. [U] formal
when someone obeys a rule, agreement, or demand; comply
in compliance with sth
•He changed his name to Lee in 1815 in compliance with his uncle's will.
[+with]
•Patients should have a history of good compliance with treatment.
ensure/secure/enforce compliance
•The staff involved should be monitored to ensure compliance with the policy.
1 willing to obey or to agree to other people's wishes and demands; comply
•For years I had tried to be a compliant and dutiful wife.
2 made or done according to particular rules or standards; comply
[+with]
•Future versions will be fully compliant with the industry standard. $ [T]
1 to make a problem or situation more difficult:
•The situation is complicated by the fact that I've got to work late on Friday.
• To complicate matters further, differences exist as regards legal systems, trade customs and language.
2 [usually passive] to make an illness worse:
•a heart condition complicated by pneumonia $
1 difficult to understand or deal with, because many parts or details are involved; = complex
•a complicated voting system
•For young children, getting dressed is a complicated business.
very/extremely/immensely/highly etc complicated
•Mental illness is a very complicated subject.
2 consisting of many closely connected parts; = complex
•a complicated pattern
•The human brain is an incredibly complicated organ. $
1 [C,U] a problem or situation that makes something more difficult to understand or deal with:
•The fact that the plane was late added a further complication to our journey.
2 [C usually plural] medical a medical problem or illness that happens while someone is already ill and makes treatment more difficult:
•Pneumonia is one of the common complications faced by bed-ridden patients. [U] formal
1 involvement in a crime, together with other people
[+in]
•Jennings denied complicity in the murder.
2 involvement in or knowledge of a situation, especially one that is morally wrong or dishonest
[+with]
•His complicity with the former government had led to his downfall.
- complicit adjective
•The careers of officers complicit in the cover-up were ruined. $
1 [C] a remark that shows you admire someone or something:
•Being compared to Abba is a great compliment.
•Rob Andrew had a quiet game, which is meant as a compliment.
•All Félix's guests paid her extravagant compliments.
•To Joe the greatest compliment was to be considered amusing.
2 take sth as a compliment to be pleased about what someone says about you, even though they may not mean to be nice:
•They all seem to think that I ask rather cheeky questions, which I'll take as a compliment.
3 [singular] an action that shows you admire someone:
•He paid MacLennan the finest compliment of all by imitating him.
[+to]
•It's a great compliment to the band that he came out of retirement to interview them.
4 fish for compliments to try to make someone say something nice about you
5 compliments [plural] praise or good wishes:
•This soup is delicious; my compliments to the chef.
6 with the compliments of sb/with our compliments formal used by a person or company when they send or give something to you:
•With the compliments of J. Nocuold & Son.
•Please accept these tickets with our compliments.
7 the compliments of the season old-fashioned used as a spoken or written greeting at Christmas and New Year
8 return the compliment to behave towards someone in the same way that they have behaved towards you:
•They didn't take a lot of notice of me, and I returned the compliment.
9 back-handed compliment BrE left-handed compliment AmE something that someone says to you which is nice and not nice at the same time:
•'You've got a brain. Try using it.' 'Thanks for the backhanded compliment!' $ [T]
to say something nice to someone in order to praise them
compliment sb on sth
•Bob complimented me on my new hairstyle.
•The groom was so nervous he forgot to compliment the bridesmaids. $
1 given free to people:
•There was a complimentary bottle of champagne in the hotel room.
•I've got some complimentary tickets for the theatre tonight.
2 saying that you admire someone or something
[+about]
•Jennie was very complimentary about Katharine's riding.
•complimentary remarksalso compliments slip [C] BrE
a small piece of paper with a company's name and address on it, which it sends with goods instead of a letter $ [U]
a Christian church service held late in the evening, especially in the Roman Catholic church past tense and past participle complied, present participle complying, third person singular complies [I] formal
to do what you have to do or are asked to do; compliance, compliant
[+with]
•Failure to comply with the regulations will result in prosecution.
•The newspaper was asked by federal agents for assistance and agreed to comply. $ [C]
one of several parts that together make up a whole machine, system etc; = constituent
•companies that make electronic components for computer products
[+of]
•each component of their work
key/major/important etc component
•Exercise is one of the key components of a healthy lifestyle.[only before noun]
the component parts of something are the parts that it consists of; = constituent
component parts/elements etc
•We've been breaking down the budget into its component parts. $ formal
comport yourself to behave in a particular way:
•He comported himself in a way that won him respect.

PHRASAL VERBS
comport with sth phr v formal
to follow or be in agreement with an idea, belief, or rule
- comportment noun [U] $
1
a) be composed of sth to be formed from a number of substances, parts, or people; = consist of
•Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen.
•The legal system is composed of people, and people make mistakes.
b) [T not in progressive] formal to combine together to form something; = make up
•More than 17.6 million firms compose the business sector of our economy.
2 [I,T] to write a piece of music; composer, composition
•Barrington has composed the music for a new production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
3 compose a letter/poem/speech etc to write a letter, poem etc, thinking very carefully about it as you write it:
•Compose a letter to your local paper stating your views on an issue of your choice.
4
a) compose yourself to try hard to become calm after feeling very angry, upset, or excited:
•Lynn sat at the desk, taking several deep breaths to compose herself.
b) compose your face/features/thoughts to make yourself look or feel calm; composure
•When asked a question, give yourself a second or two to compose your thoughts.
5 [T] to arrange the parts of a painting, photograph, or scene in a way that achieves a particular result:
•I like the way he composes his photographs. $
1 seeming calm and not upset or angry:
•He appeared very composed despite the stress he was under.
2 a composed SALAD is arranged carefully on a plate rather than being mixed together $ [C]
someone who writes music; composition $ [only before noun]
1 made up of different parts or materials:
•The author builds up a useful composite picture of contemporary consumer culture.
•composite metals
2 AmE a composite drawing or photograph consists of pictures of each separate part of the face put together into one drawing, and is used especially to help catch criminals:
•Police released a composite sketch of the suspect on Saturday.[C]
1 something made up of different parts or materials
[+of]
•The child's character was a composite of two girls I knew.
2 AmE a picture of a possible criminal, made by police from descriptions given by WITNESSes ; = identikit BrE $
1 PARTS/MEMBERS [C,U] the way in which something is made up of different parts, things, or members; compose
[+of]
•The composition of the group that is studied depends on the interests of the researcher.
•Some minerals have complex chemical compositions.
2 MUSIC/WRITING
a) [C] a piece of music, a poem, or a piece of writing; compose, composer
•a composition by jazzman Dave Brubeck, called 'Chromatic Fantasy'
•a mixture of traditional songs and original compositions
b) [U] the art or process of writing pieces of music, poems etc:
•The Journals contain accounts of literary composition.
3 PICTURE [C,U] the way in which the different parts that make up a photograph or picture are arranged:
•Martin starts by lightly sketching in the compositions for his paintings.
4 WRITING AT SCHOOL [C] a short piece of writing about a particular subject, that is done at school; = essay
•I had to write a composition about the Royal visit.
5 PRINTING [U] technical the process of arranging words, pictures etc on a page before they are printed
- compositional adjective $ [C]
someone who arranges words, pictures etc on a page before they are printed $ [not before noun]
able to think clearly and be responsible for your actions - often used humorously $ [U]
a mixture of decayed plants, leaves etc used to improve the quality of soil[T]
to make plants, leaves etc into compostcompost pile AmE [C] BrE
leaves, plants etc that you have put in a pile in your garden in order to make compost $ [U]
the state of feeling or seeming calm
recover/regain your composure (=become calm after feeling angry or upset)
•Carter looked stunned, but he soon regained his composure.
keep/maintain your composure (=stay calm)
•The widow broke down in tears, but her daughters maintained their composure.
•He has lost his composure under the pressure of the situation. $ [C,U]
fruit that has been cooked in sugar and water and is eaten cold $ [C]
1 technical a substance containing atoms from two or more ELEMENTs :
•man-made organic compounds
[+of]
•Sulphur dioxide is a compound of sulphur and oxygen.
2 a combination of two or more parts, substances, or qualities
[+of]
•Communication ability is a compound of several different skills.
•Brush on a damp-proofing compound.
3 an area that contains a group of buildings and is surrounded by a fence or wall:
•a prison compound
4 technical a noun, adjective etc that is made up of two or more words. The noun 'flower shop' and the adjective 'self-made' are compounds [T]
1 to make a difficult situation worse by adding more problems
compound a problem/difficulty etc
•Helmut's problems were compounded by an unsatisfactory relationship with his landlady.
2 BrE to make a bad action worse by doing more bad things
compound a crime/an offence etc
•He compounded the offence by calling his opponents liars.
3 be compounded of sth formal to be a mixture of things:
•a smell compounded of dust and dead flowers
4 AmE to pay INTEREST that is calculated on both the sum of money and the interest:
•Interest is compounded quarterly. $ technical
1 compound eye/leaf etc a single eye, leaf etc that is made up of two or more parts; simple
2 compound noun/adjective etc a noun, adjective etc that is made up of two or more words. For example, 'ice cream' is a compound noun
3 compound sentence a sentence that has two or more main parts; complex sentence[C]
a broken bone that cuts through someone's skin[U]
INTEREST that is calculated on both the sum of money lent or borrowed and on the unpaid interest already earned or charged; simple interest $ [I,T not in progressive]
to understand something that is complicated or difficult; = understand, grasp; comprehension
•She cannot comprehend the extent of the disaster.
•I did not fully comprehend what had happened.
comprehend what/how/why etc
•It may be hard to comprehend how much this gift means for my country.
comprehend that
•Finally, she comprehended that he wanted his pay.
!! In spoken English and ordinary written English, it is more usual to use understand. $
easy to understand; = understandable; incomprehensible
•Her speech was slurred and barely comprehensible.
[+to]
•The procedure must be clear and comprehensible to all staff.
- comprehensibility $ noun [U] $
1 [U] the ability to understand something; = understanding; comprehend
[+of]
•They don't have the least comprehension of what I'm trying to do.
•The research project will focus on children's comprehension of pretence.
•Why you let her talk you into doing such a foolish thing is beyond my comprehension (=impossible for me to understand).
2 [C,U] an exercise given to students to test how well they understand written or spoken language:
•new methods of testing reading comprehension
•a comprehension task $
1 including all the necessary facts, details, or problems that need to be dealt with; = thorough
•We offer our customers a comprehensive range of financial products.
•a comprehensive guide to British hotels and restaurants
•The following guidelines do not aim to be totally comprehensive.
comprehensive review/study/survey/account etc
•a thorough and comprehensive review of the case
•a comprehensive study of alcoholism
!! Do not confuse with comprehensible (=possible to understand) or understanding (=sympathetic about people's problems): His report was barely comprehensible. | My parents are very understanding.
2 comprehensive insurance/cover/policy car insurance that pays for damage whether it is caused by you or someone else
3 comprehensive education/system a system of education in Britain in which children of different abilities go to the same school and are taught together
- comprehensively adverb
•No system has failed as comprehensively as the prison system.
- comprehensiveness noun [U]also comprehensive [C]
a state school in Britain for children over the age of 11 of different abilities:
•Kylie goes to the local comprehensive.
•Nine out of ten secondary school children are in comprehensive schools.
1 [I,T] to press something or make it smaller so that it takes up less space, or to become smaller:
•Light silk is best for parachutes, as it compresses well and then expands rapidly.
•Isobel nodded, her lips compressed.
compress sth into sth
•Snow falling on the mountainsides is compressed into ice.
•The miners used rock drills and compressed air to drive through hard rock.
2 [I,T] to make a computer FILE smaller by using a special computer PROGRAM, which makes the file easier to store or send, or to become smaller in this way:
•The program compresses any data saved to the disk.
3 [T] to write or express something using fewer words; = condense
compress sth into sth
•In this chapter we compress into summary form the main issues discussed so far.
4 [T ] to reduce the amount of time that it takes for something to happen or be done
compress sth into sth
•Many couples want to compress their childbearing into a short space of time in their married life.
- compressible adjective
- compression noun [U]
•data compression $ [C]
a small thick piece of material that you put on part of someone's body to stop blood flowing out or to make it less painful
cold/hot compress
•Apply a cold compress to the injury. $ [C]
a machine or part of a machine that compresses air or gas [not in progressive] formal
1 [linking verb] to consist of particular parts, groups etc:
•The house comprises two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room.
be comprised of sb/sth
•The committee is comprised of well-known mountaineers.
2 [T] to form part of a larger group of people or things; = constitute, make up
•Women comprise a high proportion of part-time workers. $
1 [C,U] an agreement that is achieved after everyone involved accepts less than what they wanted at first, or the act of making this agreement:
•Compromise is an inevitable part of marriage.
•To stop the argument they decided on a compromise.
[+with]
•Fresh attempts at compromise with the legislature were also on the agenda.
[+between]
•a compromise between government and opposition
•If moderates fail to reach a compromise, the extremists will dominate the agenda.
•Everyone has to be prepared to make compromises.
2 [C] a solution to a problem in which two things or situations are changed slightly so that they can exist together
[+between]
•a happy compromise between the needs of family and work
1 [I] to reach an agreement in which everyone involved accepts less that what they wanted at first:
•She admitted that she was unable to compromise.
[+with]
•His work-mates demanded that he never compromise with the bosses.
[+on]
•The new regime was prepared to compromise on the oil dispute.
2 [T] to do something which is against your principles and which therefore seems dishonest or shameful
compromise your principles/standards/integrity etc
•As soon as you compromise your principles you are lost.
compromise yourself
•She had already compromised herself by accepting his invitation. $
proving that you have done something morally wrong or embarrassing, or making it seem as if you have done so
compromising position/situation
•The doctor was found in a compromising position with a nurse (=having sex with her).
compromising letter/photograph/picture etc
•A large number of compromising letters fell into the hands of investigators. $ [C] formal
an official title for a CONTROLLER
1 [C] a strong and unreasonable desire to do something; compel
•The desire to laugh became a compulsion.
compulsion to do sth
•Leith felt an overwhelming compulsion to tell him the truth.
•the compulsion to smoke or eat too much
2 [singular, U] the act of forcing or influencing someone to do something they do not want to do; compel
under (no) compulsion to do sth
•Owners are under no compulsion to sell their land.
•The use of compulsion in psychiatric care cannot be justified.
1 compulsive behaviour is very difficult to stop or control, and is often a result of or a sign of a mental problem; obsessive
compulsive gambling/overeating/spending etc
•Compulsive overspending in these days of credit cards has become more common.
2 compulsive overeater/gambler/spender/liar etc someone who has such a strong desire to eat too much etc that they are unable to control it:
•a help group for compulsive overeaters
3 a book, programme etc that is compulsive is so interesting that you cannot stop reading or watching it
compulsive reading/viewing
•'Gardening World' is compulsive viewing for gardeners.
- compulsively adverb
- compulsiveness noun [U]
something that is compulsory must be done because it is the law or because someone in authority orders you to; = mandatory; voluntary
•the threat of compulsory redundancies
compulsory schooling/education
•11 years of compulsory education
•Car insurance is compulsory.
- compulsorily adverb [U usually in negatives] formal
a feeling that you should not do something because it is bad or wrong
have/feel no compunction about (doing) sth
•He had no compunction about interfering in her private affairs.
•They used their tanks against the leftists without compunction. $ [C,U] formal
the process of calculating or the result of calculating:
•the computation of the monthly statistics
- computational adjective
•computational linguistics [I,T] formal
to calculate a result, answer, sum etc:
•Final results had not yet been computed. $ [C]
an electronic machine that stores information and uses programs to help you find, organize, or change the information:
•A message flashed up on my computer screen.
•recent problems with hospital computer systems
on computer
•The information is stored on computer.
by computer
•Shoppers can send in their orders by computer and pick up their goods later.
computer software/program/application
•the latest computer software
• computer games (=games that you play on a computer) for children
•the use of computer graphics (=pictures and images created by computers) in film
•the development of computer technology
•the computer industry
•a huge global computer network

WORD FOCUS: computer
people who work with computers:
user
programmer
web designer
IT person
software engineer
(systems) analyst
administrator
webmaster
helpdesk
techie informal
geek disapproving informal
someone who tries to break into a computer system:
hacker
cracker
things you do with your computer:
start up /power up your computer
open a file or document
enter information
click on an icon
cut and paste pieces of text
copy files or programs
scroll up and down the page
delete things you do not want
download files or pictures from the Internet
burn CDs or DVDs
close a file or document
save your work
shut down your computer
computer problems:
bug
virus
error
corrupted file/data
crash
worm
[U]
CAD[U]
CAM
able to use a computer well:
•Students need to be computerate as well as literate.also computerise BrE [T]
to use a computer to control the way something is done, to store information etc:
•a scheme to computerize the library service
•a computerized system for compiling the weekly charts of record sales
• computerized information
•a computerized database
- computerization $ noun [U]
•the computerization of the printing industry
able to use a computer:
•Nowadays, all graduates are computer-literate.
- computer literacy noun [U][U]
the use of computer images that are models of real things, used to help improve the way that something is designed or to solve a problem:
•computer modelling of the city's traffic flow[U]
the study of computers and what they can do:
•a BSc in Computer Science[C]
a set of instructions secretly put into a computer, usually spread through emails, which can destroy information stored on the computer [U]
the use of computers as a job, in a business etc:
•Have you ever done any computing?
•computing facilities for language research $ [C]
1 formal a friend, especially someone who shares difficult work or danger:
•He misses his comrades from his days in the Army.
2 SOCIALISTs or COMMUNISTs often call each other 'comrade', especially in meetings:
•Comrades, please support this motion.
- comradely adjectiveplural comrades in arms [C]
someone who has fought with you or worked with you to achieve particular aims $ [U] formal
friendship and loyalty among people who work together, fight together etc:
•It was the spirit of comradeship that made victory possible.
BrE the written abbreviation of Conservative , in British politics:
•Sir Teddy Taylor (Con) $ past tense and past participle conned, present participle conning [T] informal
1 to get money from someone by deceiving them
con sb out of sth
•He conned me out of £300.
2 to persuade someone to do something by deceiving them
con sb into doing sth
•You had no right to con me into thinking I could trust you.[C] informal
1 a trick to get someone's money or make them do something:
•a con to make people pay for goods they hadn't actually received
2 a prisoner
MOD CONS; the pros and cons at PRO^1 (3) $
together; = with
•a confederation
•to conspire (=plan together)[C] informal
someone who tricks or deceives people in order to get money from them $ [C,U] formal
a series of events or things joined together one after another
[+of]
•a strange concatenation of events $
a concave surface is curved inwards in the middle; convex
•a concave lens plural concavities formal
1 [U] the state of being concave
2 [C] a place or shape that is curved inwards [T] formal
1 to hide something carefully:
•The shadows concealed her as she crept up to the house.
•The path was concealed by long grass.
•a concealed weapon
2 to hide your real feelings or the truth:
•She tried to conceal the fact that she was pregnant.
conceal sth from sb
•She was taking drugs and trying to conceal it from me.
- concealment noun [U]
•deliberate concealment of his activities
1 ADMIT STH IS TRUE [I,T] to admit that something is true or correct, although you wish it were not true; concession
•'That's the only possible solution.' 'Yes, I suppose so,' Charles conceded.
concede (that)
•I conceded that I had made a number of errors.
2 ADMIT DEFEAT [I,T] to admit that you are not going to win a game, argument, battle etc; concession
•The Georgian forces defended the capital but were finally obliged to concede.
•In May 1949, Stalin conceded defeat and reopened land access to Berlin.
3 concede a goal/point/penalty to not be able to stop your opponent from getting a GOAL during a game:
•The team has conceded only 19 goals in 28 games.
4 GIVE STH AS A RIGHT [T] to give something to someone as a right or PRIVILEGE, often unwillingly; concession
concede sth to sb
•The king finally agreed to concede further powers to Parliament.
•Finally the company conceded wage increases to their workers.
1 [U] an attitude that shows you have too high an opinion of your own abilities or importance; = conceitedness
•The conceit of the woman!
2 [C] technical an unusual way of showing or describing something in a play, film, work of art etc:
•His sermons were full of puns and conceits.
someone who is conceited thinks they are very clever, skilful, beautiful etc - used to show disapproval:
•You're the most conceited, selfish person I've ever known.
- conceitedly adverb
- conceitedness noun [U]
able to be believed or imagined; inconceivable
• It is conceivable that you may get full compensation, but it's not likely.
•We were discussing the problems from every conceivable angle.
- conceivably adverb
•Conceivably, interest rates could rise very high indeed.
1 [I,T] formal to imagine a particular situation or to think about something in a particular way
(cannot) conceive of (doing) sth
•Many people can't conceive of a dinner without meat or fish.
conceive that
•He could not conceive that anything really serious could be worrying his friend.
conceive what/why/how etc
•I can hardly conceive what it must be like here in winter.
conceive of sth/sb as sth
•Language may be conceived of as a process which arises from social interaction.
2 [T] to think of a new idea, plan etc and develop it in your mind:
•Scientists first conceived the idea of the atomic bomb in the 1930's.
3 [I,T] to become PREGNANT:
•fertility treatment for women who have difficulty conceiving $
1 [I] to think very carefully about something that you are doing; concentration
•Now please concentrate.
•Adrian was finding it difficult to concentrate.
[+on ]
•Be quiet - let me concentrate on my homework.
2 [I,T] to be present in large numbers or amounts somewhere, or to cause people or things to be present in large numbers or amounts somewhere; concentration
concentrate sth in/at sth
•Italian industry is concentrated mainly in the north.
•Construction of the aircraft is being concentrated at Prestwick.
[+in/at]
•Women concentrate in a small number of occupations.
3 sth concentrates the mind if something concentrates the mind, it makes you think very clearly:
•Relaxing in a Jacuzzi concentrates the mind wonderfully.
4 [T] to make a substance or liquid stronger by removing some of the water from it; concentrated

PHRASAL VERBS
concentrate (sth) on sth phr v
to give most of your attention or effort to one thing:
•Doctors are aiming to concentrate more on prevention than cure.
concentrate your efforts/attention/energy/mind etc on sth
•I'm concentrating my efforts on writing my autobiography.[C,U]
a substance or liquid which has been made stronger by removing most of the water from it:
•orange juice concentrate $
1 a concentrated liquid or substance has been made stronger by removing water from it:
•concentrated orange juice
•a concentrated cream detergent
2 [only before noun] showing a lot of effort or determination:
•He made a concentrated effort to improve his work. $
1 [U] the ability to think about something carefully or for a long time; concentrate
•She needed all her powers of concentration to stop herself from slipping on the icy road.
•Lack of concentration was a real problem.
•I lost my concentration and fell asleep.
2 [U] a process in which you put a lot of attention, energy etc into a particular activity; concentrate
concentration on (doing) sth
•concentration on your health
•concentration on providing quality value and service
3 [C,U] a large amount of something in a particular place or among particular people; concentrate
[+of]
•the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
•the concentration of power in the hands of a few
•the effect on trees of high concentrations of sulphur dioxide around industrial areas
•people with blood alcohol concentrations above the limit
4 [C] technical the amount of a substance contained in a liquid; concentrate
high/low concentrations
•Additives are expensive but are used in very low concentrations.
[+of]
•allowable concentrations of pesticides in drinking water[C]
a prison where political prisoners and other people who are not soldiers are kept and treated cruelly, especially during a war
having the same centre; eccentric
•concentric circles $ [C]
an idea of how something is, or how something should be done
[+of]
•the concept of total patient care
•the concept of infinite space
concept that
•the concept that we are citizens of one world
•a new concept in business travel
•our basic concepts of decent human behaviour
•It's very simple, once you grasp the concept.
1 [C,U] an idea about what something is like, or a general understanding of something; concept
[+of]
•the conception of parliamentary democracy
•changing conceptions of the world
have (no) conception of sth
•They have no conception of what women really feel and want.
2 [U] a process in which someone forms a plan or idea; conceive
•the original conception of the book
3 [C,U] the process by which a woman or female animal becomes PREGNANT, or the time when this happens; conceive
•the moment of conception formal
dealing with ideas, or based on them:
•the conceptual framework of the play
- conceptually adverb[U] technical
art in which the main aim of the artist is to show an idea, rather than to represent actual things or peoplealso conceptualise BrE [I,T]
to form an idea:
•How do older people conceptualize their health?
- conceptualization $ noun [C,U] $
1 WORRY
a) [U] a feeling of worry about something important:
•The recent rise in crime is a matter of considerable public concern.
[+for]
•our concern for human rights
[+about/over/with]
•the rise of concern about the environment
•the growing concern over inflation
•concern with worsening law and order
concern that
•increased concern that the war could continue for a long time
be a cause for concern/cause concern
•The activities of the far right have been a cause for concern for a while now.
•In her last days the poet expressed concern for her father.
b) [C] something that worries you:
•One of the concerns that people have is the side effects of treatment.
•Education remains the electorate's main concern.
•the concerns expressed by parents
2 STH IMPORTANT [C,U] something that is important to you or that involves you:
•His main concern is to be able to provide for his family.
[+for]
•The consumer has become a major concern for this government.
of concern to sb
•topics of concern to television viewers
3 FEELING FOR SB [singular, U] a feeling of wanting someone to be happy and healthy:
•He was moved by her obvious concern.
[+for]
•parents' loving concern for their children
4 sb's concern if something is your concern, you are responsible for it:
•The money side of the business is your concern.
5 not sb's concern/none of sb's concern if something is not your concern, you are not interested in it and you do not need to worry about it or become involved in it:
•His affairs were none of her concern.
6 BUSINESS [C] a business or company:
•The restaurant is a family concern.
•We will continue to run the company as a going concern (=a business that is financially successful).[T]
1 [not in passive] if a story, book, report etc concerns someone or something, it is about them:
•This study concerns couples' expectations of marriage.
•The report concerns the drug traffic on the Mexican-US border.
2 to make someone feel worried or upset:
•Issues like food additives do concern me.
3 [not in passive] if an activity, situation, rule etc concerns you, it affects you or involves you:
•The tax changes will concern large corporations rather than small businesses.
4 concern yourself with/about sth formal to become involved in something because you are interested in it or because it worries you:
•He told them not to concern themselves about him.
•He loved his wife, and concerned himself with her needs and desires.
5 to whom it may concern an expression written at the beginning of a formal letter when you do not know the name of the person you want to communicate with $
1 INVOLVED [not before noun] involved in something or affected by it:
•Divorce is very painful, especially when children are concerned.
•Some of the farmers concerned suffer particularly from the low prices.
•We are trying to reach an agreement with all concerned (=everyone who is involved or affected).
[+with]
•all the people concerned with children's education
[+in]
•There was no evidence that he was concerned in any criminal activity.
2 WORRIED worried about something
[+about]
•She is concerned about how little food I eat.
[+for]
•He called the police because he was concerned for Gemma's safety.
concerned (that)
•Pamela was concerned that her schoolwork had deteriorated despite her hard work.
•The drug came under strong attack from concerned professional observers.
3 as far as sb is concerned spoken used to show what someone's opinion on a subject is or how it affects them:
•As far as Americans are concerned, a lot of our hotels are below average.
•As far as I'm concerned, you can forget about it.
4 as far as sth is concerned also where sth is concerned spoken used to show which subject or thing you are talking about:
•As far as traffic is concerned there are no delays at the moment.
5 THINK STH IS IMPORTANT [not before noun] believing that something is important
[+with]
•Many politicians are more concerned with power and control than with the good of the people.
concerned to do sth
•Mr Quinn is simply concerned to hold on to his job.
6 LOVE/CARE caring about someone and whether they are happy and healthy
[+for/about]
•He was genuinely concerned for the children.
7 concerned with sb/sth if a book, story etc is concerned with a person, subject etc, it is about that subject:
•This chapter is concerned with the mental health of older people. $
about or relating to:
•calls from young children concerning lost pets
•the facts concerning Marr's car crash $ [C]
1 a performance given by musicians or singers:
•a rock concert
•live concert performances
•a concert of French choral music
•We were going to a concert in Bath Abbey.
•He gave a concert at the opera house.
2 in concert (with sb)
a) formal people who do something in concert do it together after having agreed on it:
•Britain has to pursue policies in concert with other EU members.
•It appeared that both the accused were acting in concert in the attack upon the deceased.
b) playing or singing at a concert:
•They're appearing in concert tonight at the Royal Concert Hall. $
concerted effort/action/attack etc a concerted effort etc is done by people working together in a carefully planned and very determined way:
•Libraries have made a concerted effort to attract young people.
- concertedly adverb $ [C]
someone who often goes to concerts, or someone who is at a particular concert[C]
a large public building where concerts are performed $ [C]
a musical instrument like a small ACCORDION, that you hold in both hands and play by pressing in from each side[I] BrE
if something concertinas, it folds together on itself:
•His too-long trousers concertinaed around his feet. $ [C]
the most important VIOLIN player in an ORCHESTRA $ plural concertos [C]
a piece of CLASSICAL music, usually for one instrument and an ORCHESTRA
1 STH YOU ALLOW SB [C] something that you allow someone to have in order to end an argument or a disagreement; concede
[+to]
•a policy of no concessions to terrorists
•The British were not prepared to make any concessions.
[+on]
•his readiness to make concessions on many of the issues raised
[+from]
•We will try to force further concessions from the government.
major/important/substantial concession
•The committee has won a number of major concessions from the prison authorities.
2 A RIGHT [C,U] a special right that a particular person or group of people is allowed to have, for example by the government or an employer, or the act of giving or allowing something as a right:
•the ending of tax concessions for home owners
•the import/export concessions that had been granted to the island
[+of]
•the concession of autonomy to the universities
3 PRICE REDUCTION [C] BrE a reduction in the price of tickets, FEEs etc for certain groups of people, for example old people or children; = reduction
•To qualify for travel concessions you have to be 60.
•Open daily, adults £4, concessions £2 (=people who have the right to a concession pay £2).
4 CHANGE OF BEHAVIOUR [C] a change in your behaviour that you make because of a particular situation or idea:
•He took off his jacket as a concession to the heat.
•He made no concessions to fashion.
5 BUSINESS [C] AmE
a) the right to have a business in a particular place, especially in a place owned by someone else:
•The company owns valuable logging and mining concessions.
b) a small business that sells things in a place owned by someone else:
•Joe runs a hamburger concession in the mall.
6 THINGS SOLD concessions [plural] AmE the things sold at a concession stand $ [C]
someone who has been given the right to have a business in a particular place, especially in a place owned by someone else $
1 given as a concession
2 BrE specially reduced in price, for example for old people or children:
•a concessionary fares scheme for pensioners[C] AmE
a small business that sells food, drinks, or other things at sports events, theatres etc $ [C]
the large twisted shell of a tropical sea animal that looks like a SNAIL $ [C]
1 someone in a hotel whose job is to help guests by telling them about places to visit, restaurants to eat in etc
2 someone who looks after a block of apartments and who checks who is going in and coming out, especially in France [I,T] formal
to do something to make people more likely to stop arguing, especially by giving them something they want:
•proposals designed to conciliate the unions
- conciliator noun [C] [U] formal
the process of trying to get people to stop arguing and agree; reconciliation
•conciliation talks between the two sides $
doing something that is intended to make someone stop arguing with you
conciliatory approach/tone/gesture etc
•Perhaps you should adopt a more conciliatory approach.
•Brooks felt in no mood to be conciliatory.
1 short, with no unnecessary words; = brief
•Your summary should be as clear and concise as possible.
2 [only before noun] shorter than the original book on which something is based:
•the Concise Dictionary of Spoken Chinese
- concisely adverb
- conciseness noun [U] $ [C] formal
a private and secret meeting
1 [T] to decide that something is true after considering all the information you have; conclusion
conclude that
•The report concluded that the school should be closed immediately.
conclude from sth that
•Richardson concluded from his studies that equality between the sexes is still a long way off.
2 [T] formal to complete something you have been doing, especially for a long time:
•When the investigation is concluded, the results will be sent to the US Attorney's office.
•Francis, having concluded his business with James, left for Miami.
3 [I,T] to end something such as a meeting, book, event, or speech by doing or saying one final thing
[+with]
•Each chapter concludes with a short summary.
conclude by doing sth
•She concluded by saying she was proud to be from Salford.
• To conclude, I'd like to express my thanks to my family.
•'So now', she concluded, 'I'm trying to bring some order to the garden.'
4 conclude an agreement/treaty/contract etc to finish arranging an agreement etc successfully:
•That same year, France concluded a trading agreement with Spain.
concluding remark/section/stage etc the last remark etc in an event or piece of writing:
•the concluding section of Chapter 6
1 [C] something you decide after considering all the information you have; conclude

come to a conclusion/reach a conclusion (=decide something)
draw a conclusion (from sth) (=decide something because of information you have)
lead to/point to/support the conclusion that (=make you decide that)
jump to conclusions (=decide something too quickly, without knowing all the facts)
logical conclusion
firm conclusion
inescapable conclusion (=the conclusion that you must come to)

•These are the report's main conclusions.
conclusion (that)
•I soon came to the conclusion that she was lying.
•It is still too early to reach a conclusion on this point.
•There are perhaps two main conclusions to be drawn from the above discussion.
•All the evidence pointed to the conclusion that he was guilty.
•It's important not to jump to conclusions.
•The police came to the inescapable conclusion that the children had been murdered.

2 [C] formal the end or final part of something; = end
[+of]
•At the conclusion of the meeting, little progress had been made.
3 in conclusion used in a piece of writing or a speech to show that you are about to finish what you are saying; = finally
•In conclusion, I would like to say how much I have enjoyed myself today.
4 [U] the final arrangement of an agreement, a business deal etc
[+of]
•celebrating the conclusion of a peace treaty
5 be a foregone conclusion to be certain to happen, even though it has not yet officially happened:
•The outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion.
showing that something is definitely true; inconclusive
conclusive proof/evidence/findings etc
•The investigation failed to provide any conclusive evidence.
- conclusively adverb $ [T]
1 to invent a clever story, excuse, or plan, especially in order to deceive someone:
•John concocted an elaborate excuse for being late.
2 to make something, especially food or drink, by mixing different things, especially things that are not usually combined:
•Jean concocted a great meal from the leftovers. $ [C]
something, especially a drink or food, made by mixing different things, especially things that are not usually combined:
•He sipped the concoction cautiously. $ formal
existing or happening together, especially as a result of something:
•war with all its concomitant sufferings
- concomitantly adverb[C] formal
something that often or naturally happens with something else
[+of]
•Deafness is a frequent concomitant of old age. $ [U]
1 formal the state of having a friendly relationship, so that you agree on things and live in peace; discord
2 technical in grammar, concord between words happens when they match correctly, for example when a plural noun has a plural verb following it $
1 [C] an alphabetical list of all the words used in a book or set of books, with information about where they can be found and usually about how they are used:
•a Shakespeare concordance
[+to]
•a concordance to the Bible
2 [C] a list of all the words in a book, magazine etc, held on a computer DATABASE, showing every example of a particular word in the book etc:
•concordance lines
3 [U] formal the state of being similar to something else or in agreement with it:
•the concordance between the proposals $ formal
being in agreement or having the same regular pattern $ [C]
1 a large hall or open place in a building such as an airport or train station
2 formal a large crowd that has gathered together
[+of]
•an immense concourse of spectators $
1 made of concrete:
•a concrete floor
2 definite and specific; abstract
•What does that mean in concrete terms?
•the lack of any concrete evidence
•a dialogue about concrete issues and problems
- concretely adverb $ [U]
a substance used for building that is made by mixing sand, very small stones, CEMENT, and water $ [T]
to cover something such as a path, wall etc with concrete[C usually singular]
an unpleasant area in a city that is full of big ugly buildings and has no open spaces[C]
a CEMENT MIXER $ [C]
a woman in the past who lived with and had sex with a man who already had a wife or wives, but who was socially less important than the wives $ past tense and past participle concurred, present participle concurring [I] formal
1 to agree with someone or have the same opinion as them
[+with]
•The committee largely concurred with these views.
2 to happen at the same time; = coincide
concur to do sth
•Everything concurred to produce the desired effect. $ formal
1 [C] an example of events, actions etc happening at the same time
[+of]
•a strange concurrence of events
2 [U] agreement
[+with]
•Jules expressed his concurrence with the suggestion. $
1 existing or happening at the same time:
•The exhibition reflected concurrent developments abroad.
2 formal in agreement
[+with]
•My opinions are concurrent with yours.
- concurrently adverb
•Because his prison sentences run concurrently, he could be free in two years. [T usually passive]
if you are concussed, something hits you on the head, making you lose consciousness or feel sick for a short time:
•He was concussed by the blast.
1 [U] BrE [C] AmE a small amount of damage to the brain that makes you lose consciousness or feel sick for a short time, usually caused by something hitting your head
with (a) concussion
•He was rushed into hospital with concussion.
•I had a concussion and a lot of scrapes and bruises.
2 [C usually singular] a violent shaking movement, caused by the very loud sound of something such as an explosion:
•The ground shuddered and heaved with the concussion of the blast. [T]
1 DISAPPROVE to say very strongly that you do not approve of something or someone, especially because you think it is morally wrong:
•Politicians were quick to condemn the bombing.
condemn sth/sb as sth
•The law has been condemned as an attack on personal liberty.
condemn sb/sth for (doing) sth
•She knew that society would condemn her for leaving her children.
2 PUNISH to give someone a severe punishment after deciding they are guilty of a crime
condemn sb to sth
•He was found guilty and condemned to death.
3 FORCE TO DO STH if a particular situation condemns someone to something, it forces them to live in an unpleasant way or to do something unpleasant
condemn sb to (do) sth
•people condemned to a life of poverty
•His occupation condemned him to spend long periods of time away from his family.
4 NOT SAFE to state officially that something is not safe enough to be used:
•an old house that had been condemned
condemn sth as sth
•The pool was closed after being condemned as a health hazard. $ [C,U]
an expression of very strong disapproval of someone or something, especially something you think is morally wrong
[+of]
•There was widespread international condemnation of the bombing. $
expressing strong disapproval:
•my father's condemnatory attitude [only before noun]
1 a condemned person is going to be punished by being killed
2 a condemned building is officially not safe to live in or use[C] BrE
a room for a prisoner who was going to be punished by death; death row $
1 [U] small drops of water that are formed when steam or warm air touches a cold surface:
•There was a lot of condensation on the windows.
2 [U] technical when a gas becomes a liquid
3 [C,U] formal the act of making something shorter
1 [I,T] if a gas condenses, or is condensed, it becomes a liquid:
•the mist which condensed on every cold surface
[+into]
•The gaseous metal is cooled and condenses into liquid zinc.
2 [T] to make something that is spoken or written shorter, by not giving as much detail or using fewer words to give the same information
condense sth into sth
•This whole chapter could be condensed into a few paragraphs.
3 [T] to make a liquid thicker by removing some of the water:
• condensed soup[U]
a type of thick sweet milk sold in cans $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment that makes a gas change into a liquid
2 a machine for storing electricity, especially in a car engine $ [I]
1 to behave as if you think you are better, more intelligent, or more important than other people - used to show disapproval
[+to]
•Take care not to condescend to your readers.
2 to do something in a way that shows you think it is below your social or professional position - used to show disapproval
condescend to do sth
•'Yes. I know,' Clara said, condescending to look at Rose for the first time.
- condescension noun [U] $
behaving as though you think you are better, more intelligent, or more important than other people - used to show disapproval:
•Professor Hutter's manner is extremely condescending.
- condescendingly adverb $ [C] formal
a powder or liquid, such as salt or KETCHUP, that you use to give a special taste to food
1 SITUATION conditions [plural] the situation in which people live or work, especially the physical things that affect the quality of their lives:
•Conditions in the prison were atrocious.
living/working conditions
•an attempt to improve living conditions for the working classes
• Poor working conditions lead to demoralized and unproductive employees.
in appalling/overcrowded/dreadful etc conditions
•These children work 70 metres below ground in appalling conditions.
•In May, staff went on strike, demanding better pay and conditions.
2 WEATHER conditions [plural] the weather at a particular time, especially when you are considering how this affects people:
•The conditions during the first half of the match were appalling.
cold/windy/icy etc conditions
•In cold conditions you'll need a sleeping bag with a hood.
•the worsening weather conditions
3 THINGS AFFECTING SITUATION conditions [plural] all the things that affect the way something happens
under ... conditions
•Under normal conditions, people will usually do what requires least effort.
•Under these conditions, the fire can be rapidly controlled.
•Profits increased by £1.5m, despite the difficult economic conditions.
•The combination of rain and greasy surfaces made driving conditions treacherous.
4 STATE [singular, U] the state that something is in, especially how good or bad its physical state is
in (a) good/poor/excellent/terrible etc condition
•The car has been well maintained and is in excellent condition.
•The house was in a terrible condition.
[+of]
•The condition of nuclear plants is a matter of great concern.
5 HEALTH/FITNESS [singular, U] how healthy or fit you are:
•She is being treated at Walton Hospital, where her condition is described as 'satisfactory'.
in (a) critical/stable/satisfactory condition
•One of the victims was in a critical condition after suffering severe burns.
physical/mental condition
•If you are uncertain about your physical condition, check with your doctor before trying these exercises.
•'I'm so out of condition (=unfit),' she panted.
•an athlete in peak condition
in no condition to do sth (=too drunk, ill, or upset to be able to do something)
•I was in no condition to cope with a train journey.
•Mark can't possibly drive home in that condition (=when he is so drunk, ill, or upset).
6 AGREEMENT/CONTRACT [C] something that you must agree to in order for something to happen, especially when this is included in a contract

lay down/impose/set conditions (=say what must be done)
strict condition
meet/satisfy/fulfil a condition (=do what has been agreed)
terms and conditions (=what a contract says must be done)
on condition that/on one condition (=only if a particular thing is agreed to)
subject to conditions (=if particular things are agreed to)

•She laid down only one condition: that her name not be revealed.
[+for]
•There were strict conditions for letting us use their information.
•The bank agreed to extend the loan if certain conditions were met.
•A statement of your terms and conditions of employment can be found in the Personnel Handbook.
•He was released on bail on condition that he did not go within half a mile of his mother's address.
•The application was approved, subject to certain conditions.

7 FOR STH TO HAPPEN [C] something that must exist or happen first, before something else can happen
[+for/of]
•Our goal is to create the conditions for a lasting peace.
•Investment is a necessary condition of economic growth.
8 ILLNESS [C] an illness or health problem that affects you permanently or for a very long time:
•People suffering from this condition should not smoke.
heart/lung etc condition
•She has a serious heart condition.
•Was he being treated for any medical condition?
9 SITUATION OF GROUP [singular] formal the situation or state of a particular group of people, especially when they have problems and difficulties:
•Few people can really appreciate the condition of the poor in our cities.
•All my paintings are ultimately about the human condition.
10 NEVER on no condition never:
•On no condition should untrained personnel use the equipment.
1 [T] to make a person or an animal think or behave in a certain way by influencing or training them over a period of time; conditioning
•People are conditioned by the society in which they live.
condition sb to do sth
•Many women are conditioned from birth to be accepting rather than questioning.
2 [T] formal to control or decide the way in which something can happen or exist; = determine
•What I buy is conditioned by the amount I earn.
3 [I,T] to keep hair or skin healthy by putting a special liquid on it; conditioner
•a shampoo that washes and conditions all in one
1 if an offer, agreement etc is conditional, it will only be done if something else happens first; unconditional
•a conditional acceptance
[+on/upon]
•His agreement to buy our house was conditional on our leaving all the furniture in it.
2 in grammar, a conditional sentence is one that begins with 'if' or 'unless' and expresses something that must be true or happen before something else can be true or happen
- conditionally adverb[C]
a sentence or CLAUSE that is expressed in a conditional form[C usually singular]
a judgment made by a court that allows someone who has done something illegal not to be punished if they obey rules set by the court $ [C,U]
1 a liquid that you put onto your hair after washing it to make it softer
2 BrE a liquid that you wash clothes in to make them softer; = softener AmE [U]
the process by which people or animals are trained to behave in a particular way when particular things happen:
• Social conditioning makes crying more difficult for men.
AIR CONDITIONING $ plural condos [C] AmE informal
a CONDOMINIUM $ [C usually plural, U]
sympathy for someone who has had something bad happen to them, especially when someone has died:
•a letter of condolence
send/offer your condolences (=formally express your sympathy when someone has died) $ [C]
a thin rubber bag that a man wears over his PENIS (=sex organ) during sex, to prevent a woman having a baby or to protect against disease $ [C] especially AmE
1 one apartment in a building with several apartments, each of which is owned by the people living in it
2 a building containing several of these apartments $ [T]
to accept or forgive behaviour that most people think is morally wrong:
•I cannot condone the use of violence under any circumstances. $ [C]
a very large South American VULTURE (=a bird that eats dead animals) $
be conducive to sth formal if a situation is conducive to something such as work, rest etc, it provides conditions that make it easy for you to work etc:
•an environment conducive to learning
1 CARRY OUT [T] to carry out a particular activity or process, especially in order to get information or prove facts
conduct a survey/investigation/review etc
•We are conducting a survey of consumer attitudes towards organic food.
conduct an experiment/a test
•Is it really necessary to conduct experiments on animals?
conduct a campaign
•They conducted a campaign of bombings and assassinations.
conduct an interview
•The interview was conducted in English.
•The memorial service was conducted by the Rev. David Prior.
•It was the first time that I had conducted business in Brazil.
2 MUSIC [I,T] to stand in front of a group of musicians or singers and direct their playing or singing; conductor
conduct an orchestra/choir
•The orchestra is conducted by John Williams.
•Who will be conducting?
3 BEHAVE conduct yourself formal to behave in a particular way, especially in a situation where people judge you by the way you behave:
•He was a player who always conducted himself impeccably, both on and off the field.
4 ELECTRICITY/HEAT [T] if something conducts electricity or heat, it allows electricity or heat to travel along or through it; conductor
•Aluminium, being a metal, readily conducts heat.
5 SHOW SB STH [T always + adv/prep] formal to take or lead someone somewhere
conduct sb to sth
•On arrival, I was conducted to the commandant's office.
conducted tour (of sth) (=a tour of a building, city, or area with someone who tells you about that place)
•a conducted tour of Berlin $ [U] formal
1 the way someone behaves, especially in public, in their job etc; = behaviour
•The Senator's conduct is being investigated by the Ethics Committee.
•an inquiry into the conduct of the police
ethical/professional etc conduct
•the Law Society's Code of Professional Conduct
improper/violent/offensive etc conduct
•He was arrested for disorderly conduct (=noisy violent behaviour).
2 conduct of sth the way in which an activity is organized and carried out:
•complaints about the conduct of the elections
•Disclosure of information would compromise the proper conduct of the investigation. [U]
the passage of electricity through wires, heat through metal, water through pipes etc
able to conduct electricity, heat etc:
•Copper is a very conductive metal.
- conductivity $ noun [U] $ [C]
1 someone who stands in front of a group of musicians or singers and directs their playing or singing
2 BrE someone whose job is to collect payments from passengers on a bus
3 AmE someone who is in charge of a train and collects payments from passengers or checks their tickets; = guard BrE
4 something that allows electricity or heat to travel along it or through it:
•Wood is a poor conductor of heat.
LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR $ [C]
1 technical a pipe or passage through which water, gas, a set of electric wires etc passes
2 formal a connection between two things that allows people to pass ideas, news, money, weapons, drugs etc from one place to another
[+for]
•Drug traffickers have used the country as a conduit for shipments to the U.S. $ [C]
1 a solid or hollow shape that is round at one end, has sloping sides, and has a point at the other end, or something with this shape
2 an object shaped like a large cone that is put on a road to prevent cars from going somewhere or to warn drivers about something
3 the fruit of a PINE or FIR tree; conifer
4 a piece of thin cooked cake, shaped like a cone, that you put ICE CREAM in, or a cone like this with ice cream in it
5 technical a CELL in your eye that is shaped like a cone, that helps you see light and colour; rod

PHRASAL VERBS
cone sth <=> off phr v BrE
to put a row of orange CONEs around an area to prevent people or cars from going there, for example during building work [C] formal
1 a beautifully prepared sweet food
2 something, especially a piece of clothing or a building, that is very delicate and complicated, or has a lot of decoration
[+of]
•a dreamy confection of pink beads and satin
3 something such as a film or song that is not serious or important $ [C]
someone who makes or sells sweets, cakes etc[U] AmE
a kind of sugar that is very powdery; = icing sugar BrE $ [U]
sweets, chocolates etc plural confederacies [C]
a confederation [C]
1 formal someone who helps someone else do something, especially something secret or illegal; = accomplice
•The young woman was his confederate, of course.
2 a member of a confederacy
- confederate adjective [C]
a group of people, political parties, or organizations that have united for political purposes or trade $ past tense and past participle conferred, present participle conferring formal
1 [I] to discuss something with other people, so that everyone can express their opinions and decide on something
[+with]
•Franklin leant over and conferred with his attorneys.
2 confer a title/degree/honour etc to officially give someone a title etc, especially as a reward for something they have achieved
[+on/upon]
•An honorary degree was conferred on him by the University.
- conferment noun [C,U] $ [C]
1 a large formal meeting where a lot of people discuss important matters such as business, politics, or science, especially for several days:
•Representatives from over 100 countries attended the International Peace Conference in Geneva.
[+on]
•a UN conference on the environment
hold a conference (=have a conference)
conference centre/facilities/hall etc
PRESS CONFERENCE
2 a private meeting for a few people to have formal discussions
[+with]
•After a brief conference with his aides, he left for the airport.
conference room/table etc
•The meeting will be held in the conference room at 10 am.
in conference
•Mr Dickson is in conference.
3 AmE a group of teams that play against each other to see who is the best:
•the Western Conference finals[C]
a telephone call in which several people in different places can all talk to each other [I,T]
1 to admit, especially to the police, that you have done something wrong or illegal; confession
confess to (doing) sth
•Edwards confessed to being a spy for the KGB.
•Occasionally people confess to crimes they haven't committed just to get attention.
confess (that)
•My husband confessed he'd been having an affair with a woman in his office.
•Torture was used and Fian confessed.
2 to admit something that you feel embarrassed about; confession
confess (that)
•Marsha confessed that she didn't really know how to work the computer.
confess to (doing) sth
•He confessed to having a secret admiration for his opponent.
I (have to/must) confess (=used when admitting something you feel slightly embarrassed about)
•I must confess I don't visit my parents as often as I should.
3 to tell a priest or God about the wrong things you have done so that you can be forgiven; confession
•He knelt and confessed his sin. [only before noun]
having admitted publicly that you have done something:
•a confessed criminal
SELF-CONFESSED
1 [C] a statement that you have done something wrong, illegal, or embarrassing, especially a formal statement:
•Sanchez's confession was read out to the court.
[+of]
•a confession of adultery
•At 3 a.m. Higgins broke down and made a full confession.
•I have a confession- I like Britney Spears' music.
2 [C,U] when you tell a priest or God about the bad things that you have done:
•You must go to confession.
•a priest who hears confession
3 [C] formal a statement of what your religious beliefs are
[+of]
•a confession of faith [C]
a place in a church, usually an enclosed room, where a priest hears people make their confessions
confessional speech or writing contains private thoughts or feelings that you would normally keep secret $ [C] formal
the priest who someone regularly makes their confession to [U]
small pieces of coloured paper that you throw into the air over people who have just got married or at events such as parties, PARADEs etc $ [C]
someone you tell your secrets to or who you talk to about personal things $ [C]
a female confidant [T]
1 to tell someone you trust about personal things that you do not want other people to know
confide to sb that
•He confided to his friends that he didn't have much hope for his marriage.
2 formal to give something you value to someone you trust so they look after it for you
confide sth to sb
•He confided his money to his brother's safekeeping.

PHRASAL VERBS
confide in sb phr v
to tell someone about something very private or secret, especially a personal problem, because you feel you can trust them:
•I've never felt able to confide in my sister. $
1 FEELING SB/STH IS GOOD [U] the feeling that you can trust someone or something to be good, work well, or produce good results

lack of confidence
have confidence in sb/sth
have every/complete/absolute confidence in sb/sth
lose (your) confidence in sb/sth
gain/win sb's confidence
increase confidence (in sb/sth)
inspire confidence (in sb/sth) (=make people have confidence)
restore confidence (in sb/sth) (=bring back people's confidence)
destroy/shatter (sb's) confidence (in sb/sth)
undermine (sb's) confidence (in sb/sth) (=make someone have less confidence)
public confidence
business confidence (=when businesses think the economic situation is good)
consumer confidence (=when ordinary people think the economic situation is good)

[+in]
•Our first priority is to maintain the customer's confidence in our product.
•The survey reveals a general lack of confidence in the police.
•She had complete confidence in the young nurse.
•Opinion polls show that voters have lost confidence in the administration.
•the school's campaign to win back the confidence of local parents
•The Bank immediately took action to restore confidence.
•These miscarriages of justice have undermined confidence in our legal system.
• Public confidence in the government is at an all-time low.
•Surveys indicate an improvement in business confidence.

2 BELIEF IN YOURSELF [U] the belief that you have the ability to do things well or deal with situations successfully
[+in]
•Minton is an outstanding boxer, with tremendous confidence in his own ability.
•I didn't have any confidence in myself.
lack confidence/be lacking in confidence
•She's a good student, but she lacks confidence.
•Living on her own in a foreign country for a year gave her a lot of confidence.
confidence to do sth
•Good training will give a beginner the confidence to enjoy skiing.
gain (in)/lose confidence
•You do lose confidence when you spend years and years at home with children.
sb's confidence is growing/sb is growing in confidence
•I felt I was doing well and my confidence began to grow.
boost/increase etc sb's confidence (=make someone feel more confident)
shake/damage etc sb's confidence (=make someone feel less confident)
•Julie's confidence was badly shaken by her car accident.
with confidence
•Our goal is to prepare students to go into the business world with confidence.
3 FEELING STH IS TRUE [U] the feeling that something is definite or true
say/speak/predict etc with confidence
•How can anyone say with confidence that the recession is over?
[+in]
•I have complete confidence in Mr Wright's analysis of the situation.
have confidence (that)
•I have every confidence that the job will be completed satisfactorily on time.
4 gain/win/earn sb's confidence if you gain someone's confidence, they begin to trust you:
•After a discouraging start, the young priest had begun to win the confidence of the villagers.
5 KEEP INFORMATION SECRET [U] if you tell someone something in confidence, you tell them something on the understanding that they will not tell anyone else; confide
in confidence
•I'll tell you about Moira - in confidence, of course.
in strict/the strictest confidence
•Any information given during the interview will be treated in the strictest confidence.
breach of confidence (=when someone tells someone something that they were told in confidence)
•Lawyers are satisfied that no breach of confidence took place.
6 take sb into your confidence to tell someone your secrets or private or personal details about your life:
•Elsa took me into her confidence and told me about some of the problems she was facing.
7 A SECRET [C] a secret or a piece of information that is private or personal
share/exchange confidences
•They spent their evenings drinking wine and sharing confidences.
•I have never betrayed a confidence.
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE, VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE
a confidence-building event, activity etc increases your confidence:
•the use of confidence-building exercises to assist adults to return to the labour market[C]
a dishonest trick played on someone in order to get their money; = con
- confidence trickster noun [C] $
1 [not before noun] sure that something will happen in the way that you want or expect
confident (that)
•We are confident next year's profits will be higher.
•He is quietly confident that there will be no problems this time.
[+of]
•The Prime Minister appeared relaxed and confident of winning an overall majority.
•The company is confident of success.
[+about]
•I feel quite confident about the future.
2 sure that you have the ability to do things well or deal with situations successfully:
•Despite her disability, Philippa is very confident.
[+about]
•I feel much more confident about myself and my abilities these days.
confident smile/voice/manner etc
•He began to read in a calm, confident voice.
3 sure that something is true
confident (that)
•We are confident we have done nothing wrong.
•He began to feel confident that Zaborski was only guessing.
•It is not possible to give a confident answer to the question whether the delay was unreasonable.
!! Do not confuse with the noun confidant (=someone you tell secrets or personal things to).
- confidently adverb
SELF-CONFIDENT

WORD FOCUS: confident
confident about your abilities:
confident
self-confident
sure of yourself
assured
poised
too confident:
overconfident
cocky
brash
not confident:
lack confidence
be insecure
be unsure of yourself
$
1 spoken or written in secret and intended to be kept secret:
•a confidential government report
•Doctors are required to keep patients' records completely confidential.
•The information will be regarded as strictly confidential (=completely confidential).
2 a confidential way of speaking or behaving shows that you do not want other people to know what you are saying:
•His voice sank into a confidential whisper.
- confidentially adverb $ [U]
a situation in which you trust someone not to tell secret or private information to anyone else:
•The relationship between attorneys and their clients is based on confidentiality.
breach of confidentiality (=when someone gives away information they have promised to keep secret)
•It is a breach of confidentiality for a priest to reveal what someone has said in the confessional.
behaving in a way that shows you want to tell someone about something that is private or secret:
•Her tone was suddenly confiding.
- confidingly adverb
•He leant forward confidingly. $ [C,U]
1 formal or technical the shape or arrangement of the parts of something; = layout
[+of]
•the configuration of pistons in an engine
2 technical the combination of equipment needed to run a computer system $ [T] technical
to arrange something, especially computer equipment, so that it works with other equipment [T]
1 LIMIT to keep someone or something within the limits of a particular activity or subject; = restrict
confine sth to sth
•The police cadet's duties were confined to taking statements from the crowd.
•We confined our study to 10 cases.
confine yourself to (doing) sth
•Owen did not confine himself to writing only one type of poem.
2 KEEP SB IN A PLACE to keep someone in a place that they cannot leave, such as a prison
confine sb to sth
•Any soldier who leaves his post will be confined to barracks (=made to stay in the barracks).
be confined in sth
•He was allegedly confined in a narrow, dark room for two months.
3 STOP STH SPREADING to stop something bad from spreading to another place
confine sth to sth
•Firefighters managed to confine the fire to the living room.
4 STAY IN ONE PLACE [usually passive] if you are confined to a place, you have to stay in that place, especially because you are ill:
•Vaughan is confined to a wheelchair.
•She's confined to bed with flu.
1 be confined to sb/sth to exist in or affect only a particular place or group:
•The risk of infection is confined to groups such as medical personnel.
2 a confined space or area is one that is very small:
•It wasn't easy to sleep in such a confined space.
1 [U] formal the act of putting someone in a room, prison etc that they are not allowed to leave, or the state of being there:
•They were held in confinement for three weeks.
•He visited prisoners at their place of confinement.
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
2 [C,U] old-fashioned or formal the time when a woman gives birth to a baby:
•the pros and cons of home versus hospital confinement $ [plural]
limits or borders
within/beyond the confines of sth
•within the confines of the prison $ [T]
1 to show that something is definitely true, especially by providing more proof:
•New evidence has confirmed the first witness's story.
•To confirm my diagnosis I need to do some tests.
confirm that
•Research has confirmed that the risk is higher for women.
confirm what
•The new results confirm what most of us knew already.
2 to say that something is definitely true:
•The President refused to confirm the rumor.
•Managers have so far refused to confirm or deny reports that up to 200 jobs are to go.
confirm that
•Walsh confirmed that the money had been paid.
confirm what
•My brother will confirm what I have told you.
3 to tell someone that a possible arrangement, date, or situation is now definite or official:
•Could you confirm the dates we discussed?
•Smith was confirmed as the club's new manager yesterday.
confirm a booking/reservation/appointment
•I am writing to confirm a booking for a single room for the night of 6 June.
4 to make you believe that your idea or feeling is right
confirm your fears/doubts/suspicions etc
•This just confirms my worst fears.
confirm you in your belief/opinion/view etc (that) (=make you believe something more strongly)
•The expression on his face confirmed me in my suspicions.
5 be confirmed to be made a full member of the Christian church in a special ceremony $ [C,U]
1 a statement, document etc that says that something is definitely true
[+of]
•There has still been no official confirmation of the report.
confirmation that
•verbal confirmation that payment has been made
2 a letter etc that tells you that an arrangement, date, time etc is now definite:
•Most hotels require confirmation from a prospective guest in writing.
3 a religious ceremony in which someone is made a full member of the Christian church $
a confirmed bachelor/atheist/vegetarian etc someone who seems completely happy with the way of life they have chosen $ [T]
to officially take private property away from someone, usually as a punishment:
•Miss Williams confiscated all our sweets.
•Many opposition supporters had their goods confiscated.
- confiscation $ noun [C,U]
•the confiscation of pornographic material $ [C] formal
1 a very large fire that destroys a lot of buildings, forests etc
2 a violent situation or war [T] formal
to combine two or more things to form a single new thing:
•He conflates two images from Kipling's short stories in the film.
- conflation noun [C,U] $
1 [C,U] a state of disagreement or argument between people, groups, countries etc
[+over]
•conflicts over wage settlements
[+between]
•the conflict between tradition and innovation
in conflict (with sb)
•normal kids who are in conflict with their parents
political/social/industrial conflict
•social and political conflict in the 1930s
•the threat of industrial conflict in the coalfields
•Marx points out the potential conflicts below the surface of society.
•His views on the literal truth of the Bible brought him into conflict with other Christian leaders.
•Doctors exercise considerable power and often come into conflict with politicians.
•a lawyer specializing in conflict resolution
2 [C,U] fighting or a war
armed/military/violent conflict
•For years the region has been torn apart by armed conflicts.
•UN troops intervened to avert a threat of violent conflict.
•efforts to resolve the conflict
3 [C,U] a situation in which you have to choose between two or more opposite needs, influences etc:
•As women increasingly went out to work, the possibility of a conflict of loyalties became stronger.
[+between]
•a conflict between the demands of one's work and one's family
in conflict (with sth)
•The principles of democracy are sometimes in conflict with political reality.
4 [C,U] a situation in which you have two opposite feelings about something:
•a state of inner conflict
5 [C] AmE something that you have to do at the same time that someone wants you to do something else:
•Sorry, I have a conflict on Friday. Can we make it Monday?
6 conflict of interest/interests
a) a situation in which you cannot do your job fairly because you will be affected by the decision you make:
•There is a growing conflict of interest between her position as a politician and her business activities.
b) a situation in which different people want different things [I]
if two ideas, beliefs, opinions etc conflict, they cannot exist together or both be true
[+with]
•new evidence which conflicts with previous findings
conflicting opinions/demands/interests etc
•I had been given a great deal of conflicting advice.
•There are conflicting views about what caused the accident. AmE
be/feel conflicted (about sth) to be confused about what choice to make, especially when the decision involves strong beliefs or opinions:
•Many mothers today feel conflicted about working outside the home. $ [singular]
1 technical the place where two or more rivers flow together
2 formal a situation in which two or more things combine or happen at the same time
[+of]
•a confluence of unhappy events $ [I]
1 to behave in the way that most other people in your group or society behave; conformist
•the pressure on schoolchildren to conform
[+to/with]
•people who do not conform to traditional standards of behaviour
2 to obey a law, rule etc
[+to/with]
•Students can be expelled for refusing to conform to school rules.
•All new buildings must conform with the regional development plan.
•products which conform to international safety standards
3 conform to a pattern/model/ideal etc to be similar to what people expect or think is usual:
•Joseph does not conform to the stereotype of a policeman. $ [C,U] technical
the shape of something or the way in which it is formed:
•the conformation of the earth $
thinking and behaving like everyone else, because you do not want to be different, or forcing people to do this - often used to show disapproval; nonconformist
•a country with a conformist education system
- conformist noun [C] $ [U]
1 behaviour that obeys the accepted rules of society or a group, and is the same as that of most other people:
•an emphasis on conformity and control
[+to]
•conformity to social expectations
2 in conformity with sth formal in a way that obeys rules, customs etc:
•We must act in conformity with local regulations. [T]
1 to confuse and surprise people by being unexpected:
•His amazing recovery confounded the medical specialists.
2 to prove someone or something wrong
confound the critics/pundits/experts etc
•United's new striker confounded the critics with his third goal in as many games.
3 formal to defeat an enemy, plan etc
4 formal if a problem etc confounds you, you cannot understand it or solve it:
•Her question completely confounded me.
5 confound it/him/them etc old-fashioned used to show that you are annoyed with someone or something [only before noun] old-fashioned
used to show that you are annoyed:
•That confounded dog has run away again! [T]
1 if a problem, difficulty etc confronts you, it appears and needs to be dealt with:
•The problems confronting the new government were enormous.
be confronted with sth
•Customers are confronted with a bewildering amount of choice.
2 to deal with something very difficult or unpleasant in a brave and determined way:
•We try to help people confront their problems.
3 to face someone in a threatening way, as though you are going to attack them:
•Troops were confronted by an angry mob.
4 to ACCUSE someone of doing something, especially by showing them the proof
confront sb with/about sth
•I confronted him with my suspicions, and he admitted everything.
•I haven't confronted her about it yet. $ [C,U ]
1 a situation in which there is a lot of angry disagreement between two people or groups:
•She had stayed in her room to avoid another confrontation.
[+with/between ]
•an ideological confrontation between conservatives and liberals
2 a fight or battle
military/violent/armed confrontation
•Japan seemed unlikely to risk military confrontation with Russia. $
likely to cause arguments or make people angry:
•a confrontational style of management [T]
1 to make someone feel that they cannot think clearly or do not understand:
•I understand the text but the diagrams are confusing me.
2 to think wrongly that a person or thing is someone or something else:
•People might well confuse the two products.
confuse sb/sth with sb/sth
•I always confuse you with your sister - you look so alike.
•Donald Regan, not to be confused with former President Ronald Reagan
3 confuse the issue/matter/argument etc to make it even more difficult to think clearly about a situation or problem or to deal with it:
•He kept asking unnecessary questions which only confused the issue.
1 unable to understand or think clearly what someone is saying or what is happening:
•I'm totally confused. Could you explain that again?
[+about]
•If you're confused about anything, phone my office.
•All the corridors looked the same and he felt thoroughly confused.
2 not clear or not easy to understand:
•Witness statements presented a confused picture of the incident.
•a lot of confused ideas
- confusedly adverb
unclear and difficult to understand:
•The instructions were really confusing.
•It was a very confusing situation.
- confusingly adverb
1 [C,U] when you do not understand what is happening or what something means because it is not clear
[+about/over/as to]
•There was some confusion as to whether we had won or lost.
create/lead to confusion
•This complicated situation has led to considerable confusion.
2 [C,U] a situation in which someone wrongly thinks that a person or thing is someone or something else:
•To avoid confusion, the teams wore different colours.
[+between]
•There is a confusion in the public mind between psychology and psychiatry.
3 [U] a feeling of not being able to think clearly what you should say or do, especially in an embarrassing situation:
•His confusion at meeting her there was quite apparent.
in confusion
•Matt stared at her in confusion.
4 [C,U] a very confusing situation, that usually has a lot of noise and action, so that it is difficult for someone to understand it or control it:
•a scene of indescribable confusion
[+of]
•There was a confusion of shouts and orders as the ship prepared to depart. [T] formal
to prove that a person or an argument is completely wrong $ [C]
a dance in which people dance in a line, holding on to the person in front of them [I]
if a liquid such as blood congeals, it becomes thick or solid:
•a pan full of congealed fat
1 pleasant in a way that makes you feel comfortable and relaxed
congenial atmosphere/surroundings/environment
•The department provides a congenial atmosphere for research.
•Frank was a very congenial colleague.
[+to]
•The summers out here are not congenial to the average North European.
2 suitable for something:
•Compost provides congenial conditions for roots to develop.
- congeniality noun [U] [usually before noun]
1 a congenital medical condition or disease has affected someone since they were born:
•congenital abnormalities
•a congenital defect
2 a congenital quality is one that has always been part of your character and is unlikely to change:
•He's a congenital liar.
•her congenital inability to make decisions
- congenitally adverb $ [C]
a large fish that looks like a snake
1 full of traffic:
•congested airspace
•The roads out of Cornwall were heavily congested (=very congested).
2 a part of your body that is congested is very full of liquid, usually blood or MUCUS
- congestion noun [U]
•traffic congestion[U] BrE
a way of reducing traffic in city centres by charging drivers money to enter; = road pricing
•Plans to introduce congestion charging were dropped until after the election. $
1 [C] a large business organization consisting of several different companies that have joined together:
•an international conglomerate
industrial/financial/media etc conglomerate
2 [C,U] technical a rock consisting of different sizes of stones held together by clay
3 [C] formal a group of things gathered together $ [C] formal
a group of different things gathered together
[+of]
•the loose conglomeration of artists known as L'École de Paris [plural] informal
CONGRATULATIONs [T]
1 to tell someone that you are happy because they have achieved something or because something nice has happened to them:
•He never even stopped to congratulate me.
congratulate sb on sth
•She congratulated me warmly on my exam results.
congratulate sb for (doing) sth
•All three are to be congratulated for doing so well.
2 congratulate yourself (on sth) to feel pleased and proud of yourself because you have achieved something or something good has happened to you:
•I congratulated myself on my good fortune.
- congratulatory $ adjective
•congratulatory messages [U]
1 congratulations
a) used when you want to congratulate someone:
•'I've just passed my driving test!' 'Congratulations!'
[+on]
•Congratulations on a superb performance!
b) words saying you are happy that someone has achieved something:
•Give Oscar my congratulations.
2 when you tell someone that you are happy because they have achieved something or because something nice has happened to them:
•letters of congratulation $ [I]
to come together in a group:
•Crowds began to congregate to hear the President's speech. $ [C also + plural verb] BrE
1 a group of people gathered together in a church:
•The congregation knelt to pray.
2 the people who usually go to a particular church:
•Several members of the congregation are away. $ [U]
a type of Christianity in which each congregation is responsible for making its own decisions
- Congregational adjective
- Congregationalist noun [C] $
1 [C,U] a formal meeting of representatives of different groups, countries etc, to discuss ideas, make decisions etc:
•a congress of the ruling Labor Party
2 [C] the group of people chosen or elected to make the laws in some countries
3 Congress the group of people elected to make laws in the US, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives:
•The President has lost the support of Congress.
4 [singular] used in the names of political parties:
•Gandhi's Congress Party
- congressional adjective [only before noun]
•a congressional committee $ plural congressmen [C]
a man who is a member of a congress, especially the US House of Representatives $ plural congresswomen [C]
a woman who is a member of a congress, especially the US House of Representatives $
1 formal fitting together well
2 technical congruent TRIANGLEs are the same size and shape
- congruence noun [U] $
shaped like a CONE:
•huts with conical roofs $ [C]
a tree such as a PINE or FIR that has leaves like needles and produces brown CONEs that contain seeds. Most types of conifer keep their leaves in winter
- coniferous $ adjective
•coniferous forestsalso conj BrE
the written abbreviation of conjunction $ formal
1 [U] when you form ideas or opinions without having very much information to base them on:
•What she said was pure conjecture.
•There has been some conjecture about a possible merger.
2 [C] an idea or opinion formed by guessing; = guess, hypothesis
•My results show that this conjecture was, in fact, correct.
- conjectural adjective[I,T] formal
to form an idea or opinion without having much information to base it on; = guess
conjecture that
•It seems reasonable to conjecture that these conditions breed violence. [I,T] formal
to join together, or to make things or people do this[plural]
two people who are born with their bodies joined to each other $ [only before noun] formal
1 relating to marriage:
•conjugal love
2 conjugal visit a private meeting between a prisoner and his or her wife or husband, during which they are allowed to have sex $
1 [I] if a verb conjugates, it has different forms to show different tenses etc:
•The verb 'to go' conjugates irregularly.
2 [T] if you conjugate a verb, you state the different forms that it can have $ [C]
1 the way that a particular verb conjugates
2 a set of verbs in languages such as Latin that conjugate in the same way
1 in conjunction with sb/sth working, happening, or being used with someone or something else:
•The worksheets are designed to be used in conjunction with the new course books.
2 [C] a combination of different things that have come together by chance
[+of]
•a happy conjunction of events
3 [C] technical a word such as 'and', 'but', or 'because' which joins parts of a sentence [U]
a painful and infectious disease of the eye that makes it red $ [C] formal
a combination of events or situations, especially one that causes problems:
•the historic conjuncture from which Marxism arose $
1 [I,T] to perform clever tricks in which you seem to make things appear, disappear, or change by magic:
•The magician conjured a rabbit out of his hat.
2 [T] to make something appear or happen in a way which is not expected:
•He has conjured victories from worse situations than this.
3 a name to conjure with the name of a very important person

PHRASAL VERBS
conjure sth <=> up phr v
1 to bring a thought, picture, idea, or memory to someone's mind
conjure up images/pictures/thoughts etc (of sth)
•Dieting always seems to conjure up images of endless salads.
2 to make something appear when it is not expected, as if by magic:
•Somehow we have to conjure up another $10,000.
3 to make the soul of a dead person appear by saying special magic wordsconjuror $ [C]
someone who entertains people by performing clever tricks in which things seem to appear, disappear, or change by magic; = magician $ [U]
the skill of performing clever tricks in which you seem to make things appear, disappear, or change by magic; = magic
•He did conjuring tricks for the children. $ [C] BrE informal
a nose[T]
informal to hit someone hard, especially on the head

PHRASAL VERBS
conk out phr v informal
1 if a machine or car conks out, it suddenly stops working:
•Our car conked out on the way home.
2 if someone conks out, they fall asleep because they are very tired:
•I got home from work and I just conked out on the sofa. $
1 [C] the large brown shiny seed of the HORSE CHESTNUT tree
2 conkers [U] BrE a children's game in which conkers are hung from pieces of string and you try to break the other person's conker by hitting it with your own $ plural conmen [C] informal
someone who tries to get money from people by tricking them; con
1 JOIN THINGS [T] to join two or more things together
connect sth to/with sth
•The railway link would connect Felixstowe with Fishguard.
•Connect the speakers to the CD player.
•We'd like two rooms with connecting doors (=doors that join the rooms).
2 RELATIONSHIP [T] to realize or show that a fact, event, or person is related to something:
•She did not connect the two events in her mind.
connect sb/sth with sth
•There is little evidence to connect them with the attack.
3 ELECTRICITY/TELEPHONE ETC [I,T] to join something to the main supply of electricity, gas, or water, or to a telephone or computer network; disconnect
[+to]
•Click here to connect to the Internet.
•Has the phone been connected yet?
•The power supply should be connected by a qualified electrician.
4 TRANSPORT [I] if one train, flight etc connects with another, it arrives just before the other one leaves so that you can continue your journey:
•I missed the connecting flight.
[+with/to]
•This train connects with the one to Glasgow.
•From Toronto you can connect to all other Air Canada destinations.
5 TELEPHONES [T] to join two telephone lines so that two people can speak:
•Please hold the line. I'm trying to connect you.
6 HIT STH [I] to succeed in hitting someone or something:
•He swung at the ball, but didn't connect.
7 UNDERSTAND PEOPLE [I] especially AmE if people connect, they feel that they like each other and understand each other
[+with]
•They valued her ability to empathize and connect with others.

PHRASAL VERBS
connect sth <=> up phr v
to join something to the main supply of electricity, gas, or water, to the telephone network, or to another piece of equipment:
•Is the washing machine connected up yet?
[+with]
•The autopilot can be connected up with the flight recorder.
1 JOINED to be joined to something else or joined to a large system or network
[+to]
•The light is connected to a timer.
•a computer connected to the Internet
[+by]
•a series of artificial lakes connected by waterfalls
2 RELATIONSHIP if two facts, events, people etc are connected, there is some kind of relationship between them
[+with]
•problems connected with drug abuse
•everyone connected with the film industry
•Mr Edelson was closely connected with Trinity College.
3 well connected having important or powerful friends or relatives [U]
1 the feeling people have that they are members of a group in society and that they share particular qualities with other members of that group:
•Human beings have a need for both independence and connectedness.
2 the degree to which people are connected by electronic technology such as the Internet and e-mail
[+between/with]
•Communication technology has increased the connectedness between physicians and patients.
1 RELATIONSHIP [C] the way in which two facts, ideas, events etc are related to each other, and one is affected or caused by the other; = link

have a connection (with/to sth)
establish a connection (between two things) (=prove or discover a link)
make a connection (between two things) (=realize there is a link)
there is a connection (between two things)
see a connection (=realize there is a connection)
close/direct connection
causal connection (=when one thing causes the other)
tenuous/loose connection (=one that is not at all close)

[+between]
•the causal connection between smoking and cancer
• There is a connection between pollution and the death of trees.
[+with]
•Mr O'Hara had no known connection with terrorist activity.
[+to]
•Williams apparently has no connection to the case.
•Police have so far failed to establish a connection between the two murders.
•The evidence was there in the file but no one made the connection.
•Students often see little connection between school and the rest of their lives.
•He demonstrated the close connection between social conditions and health.

2 JOINING [C,U] when two or more things are joined together or when something is joined to a larger system or network:
•a digital telephone connection via satellite
•They're offering free Internet connection.
[+to]
•The socket allows connection to a PC.
•There's a £25 connection charge (=money you pay to be connected to a service such as telephones, electricity etc).
3 in connection with sth concerning or involving something
arrest/charge/question etc sb in connection with a crime
•Two men have been arrested in connection with the attack.
•visits made to Spain in connection with her business
•his work in connection with refugees
4 ELECTRICAL WIRE [C] a wire or piece of metal joining two parts of a machine or electrical system:
•an electrical connection
•My radio isn't working properly - I think it's got a loose connection (=wires which are not joined correctly).
5 TRAIN/FLIGHT ETC [C] a train, bus, or plane which is arranged to leave at a time which allows passengers from an earlier train, bus, or plane to use it to continue their journey
[+to]
•If this train gets delayed we'll miss our connection to Paris.
6 ROAD/RAILWAY ETC [C] a road, railway etc that joins two places and allows people to travel between them:
•Cheshunt has good rail connections to London.
7 PEOPLE connections [plural]
a) people who you know who can help you, especially because they are in positions of power:
•connections in high places
•We have good connections in the advertising industry.
b) people who are related to you, but not very closely:
•He is English, but has Irish connections.
•the network of family connections in Italy [C]
a word that joins parts of a sentence[U]
parts of the body such as muscle or fat that exist between or join organs and other body parts $ [U] technical
the ability of computers and other electronic equipment to connect with other computers or programs:
•a growing demand for high-speed connectivity
•Internet connectivity software $ [C]
an object which is used to join two pieces of equipment together
a British spelling of CONNECTION[C]
technical the structure on top of a SUBMARINE (=underwater ship)also conniption fit [C] AmE old-fashioned
a way of behaving which shows that you are very angry:
•My mother threw a conniption fit when I didn't come home till two in the morning. [I]
1 to not try to stop something wrong from happening
[+at]
•He would not be the first politician to connive at a shady business deal.
2 connive (with sb) to do sth to work secretly with someone to achieve something, especially something wrong; = conspire
•They connived with their mother to deceive me.
- connivance noun [U]
•We could not have escaped without the connivance of the guards.
a conniving person secretly tries to gain something or harm someone - used to show disapproval $ [C]
someone who knows a lot about something such as art, food, or music:
•a wine connoisseur
[+of]
•Fry was a connoisseur of Renaissance art. $ [C]
a quality or an idea that a word makes you think of that is more than its basic meaning; denotation
[+of]
•The word 'professional' has connotations of skill and excellence.
•a negative connotation
- connotative $ adjective $ [T] formal
if a word connotes something, it makes you think of qualities and ideas that are more than its basic meaning; denote
•The word 'plump' connotes cheerfulness. $
connubial bliss formal the state of being happily married:
•living in connubial bliss $
1 [I,T] to get control of a country by fighting:
•The Normans conquered England in 1066.
•Egypt was conquered by the Persian king Kambyses.
2 [I,T] to defeat an enemy:
•The Zulus conquered all the neighbouring tribes.
3 [T] to gain control over something that is difficult, using a lot of effort
conquer your nerves/fear
•She was determined to conquer her fear of flying.
•efforts to conquer inflation
•drugs to conquer the disease
4 [T] to succeed in climbing to the top of a mountain when no one has ever climbed it before:
•an attempt to conquer the peaks of Everest
5 [T] to become very successful in a place:
•In the last few years, the company has succeeded in conquering the European market.
- conqueror noun [C]
- conquering adjective
•conquering heroes $
1 [singular, U] the act of getting control of a country by fighting:
•the Norman Conquest (=the conquest of England by the Normans)
[+of]
•the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire
2 [C] land that is won in a war:
•French conquests in Asia
3 [C] someone that you have persuaded to love you or to have sex with you - often used humorously:
•He boasts about his many conquests.
4 when you gain control of or deal successfully with something that is difficult or dangerous
[+of]
•the conquest of space $ [C]
one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 18th century $ [U] formal
when people are members of the same family $ [C,U]
1 the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wrong
guilty/troubled conscience (=a guilty feeling, because you have done something wrong)
•It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help.
•Well, at least I can face them all with a clear conscience (=when you know that you have done nothing wrong).
•a film with a social conscience (=a moral sense of how society should be)
prisoner of conscience (=someone who is in prison because of their political or religious beliefs)
•I can't tell you what to do - it's a matter of conscience (=something that you must make a moral judgment about).
•a crisis of conscience among medical staff (=a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do)
•The dog's sad look pricked her conscience (=made her feel guilty) and she took him home.
!! Do not confuse with consciousness (=the condition of being awake and aware of thoughts and feelings).
2 a guilty feeling that you have about something bad you have done
twinge/pang of conscience
•Ian felt a pang of conscience at having misjudged her.
have no conscience (about sth) (=not feel guilty about something)
•They've no conscience at all about cheating.
3 on your conscience if you have something on your conscience, it makes you feel guilty:
•He didn't want somebody's death on his conscience.
•Could you live with that on your conscience?
4 not in (all/good) conscience formal if you cannot in all conscience do something, you cannot do it because you think it is wrong:
•I couldn't in all conscience tell him that his job was safe.
feeling very guilty about something that you have done wrong:
•Kate hurried home, conscience-stricken at leaving her mother alone. $
careful to do everything that it is your job or duty to do:
•A conscientious teacher may feel inclined to take work home.
•a conscientious and hard-working student
- conscientiously adverb
- conscientiousness noun [U]
•his conscientiousness and loyalty to the company[C]
someone who refuses to become a soldier because of their moral or religious beliefs
DRAFT DODGER $
1 AWARE [not before noun] noticing or realizing something; = aware
conscious of (doing) sth
•I became conscious of someone watching me.
•I was very conscious of the fact that I had to make a good impression.
conscious that
•She was conscious that Marie was listening to every word.
2 AWAKE awake and able to understand what is happening around you; unconscious
•The driver was still conscious when the ambulance arrived.
3 conscious effort/decision/attempt etc an effort etc that is deliberate and intended:
•Vivien had made a conscious effort to be friendly.
4 CONCERNED thinking a lot about or concerned about something
politically/environmentally/socially etc conscious
•environmentally conscious consumers
health-conscious/fashion-conscious etc
•Many employers are becoming more safety-conscious.
[+of]
•She was very conscious of security.
SELF-CONSCIOUS
5 THOUGHTS conscious thoughts, memories etc are ones which you know about; subconscious
•the conscious mind
•Without conscious thought, she instinctively placed a hand on his arm.
•It affects the audience at a deeper, less conscious level.
- consciously adverb
•She was probably not consciously aware of the true nature of her feelings. $
1 [U] the condition of being awake and able to understand what is happening around you:
•David lost consciousness (=went into a deep sleep) at eight o'clock and died a few hours later.
•She could faintly hear voices as she began to regain consciousness (=wake up).
2 [C,U] your mind and your thoughts:
•The painful memories eventually faded from her consciousness.
•Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness.
•research into human consciousness
3 [C] someone's ideas, feelings, or opinions about politics, life etc:
•The experience helped to change her political consciousness.
4 [U] when you know that something exists or is true; = awareness
•This will increase public consciousness of the pollution issue.
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS[U]
the process of making people understand and care more about a moral, social, or political problem, especially by giving them information [T]
1 to make someone join the army, navy etc; = draft AmE
conscript sb into sth
•Young Frenchmen were conscripted into the army and forced to fight in Algeria.
2 to make someone become a member of a group or take part in a particular activity; = recruit $ [C]
someone who has been made to join the army, navy etc; = draftee AmE
•a young army conscript [U]
when people are made to join the army, navy etc; = draft $ [T]
1 to officially state in a special religious ceremony that a place or building is holy and can be used for religious purposes:
•The bones will be reburied in consecrated ground.
2 to officially state in a special religious ceremony that someone is now a priest, BISHOP etc
- consecration $ noun [U]
consecutive numbers or periods of time follow one after the other without any interruptions:
•It had rained for four consecutive days.
•Can they win the title for the third consecutive season?
- consecutively adverb
•Number the pages consecutively. formal
1 involving the agreement of all or most people in a group:
•a consensual style of management
2 consensual sexual activity is wanted and agreed to by the people involved [singular, U]
an opinion that everyone in a group agrees with or accepts
[+on/about]
•a lack of consensus about the aims of the project
consensus that
•There is a consensus among teachers that children should have a broad understanding of the world.
•The EU Council of Finance Ministers failed to reach a consensus on the pace of integration.
•the current consensus of opinion
•The general consensus was that technology was a good thing.
•the consensus politics of the fifties [U]
1 permission to do something

with/without sb's consent
give/grant (your) consent
refuse/withhold (your) consent
obtain (sb's) consent
prior consent (=consent before something can happen)
written consent
verbal consent (=spoken consent)
parental consent (=consent from someone's parents)
informed consent (=consent based on full information about what will happen)
tacit consent (=consent given without being actually spoken)

•He took the car without the owner's consent.
•Her parents gave their consent to the marriage.
•A patient can refuse consent for a particular treatment at any time.
•Most owners are happy to have their names used for publicity if this is done with their prior consent.
• Informed consent was obtained from all participants before the study began.
AGE OF CONSENT

2 agreement about something; dissent
•The chairman was elected by common consent (=with most people agreeing).
•divorce by mutual consent (=by agreement between both the people involved)[I]
to give your permission for something or agree to do something
[+to]
•Her father reluctantly consented to the marriage.
consent to do sth
•He rarely consents to do interviews.[C] law
someone who is considered to be old enough to decide whether they want to have sex
AGE OF CONSENT $
1 [C] something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions
[+of]
•Many believe that poverty is a direct consequence of overpopulation.
[+for]
•Our findings have far-reaching consequences for researchers.
dire/disastrous/serious etc consequences
•Errors in forecasting can have dire consequences.
with ... consequences
•He ate some poisonous mushrooms, with fatal consequences.
take/suffer/face the consequences (of sth) (=accept the bad results of something you have done)
•He broke the law, and now he must face the consequences of his actions.
2 as a consequence (of sth)/in consequence (of sth) formal as a result of something:
•Animals have died as a consequence of coming into contact with this chemical.
•She was over the age limit and, in consequence, her application was rejected.
3 of little/no/any etc consequence formal not very important or valuable
[+to]
•Your opinion is of little consequence to me.
•I don't suppose it is of any consequence now. $ [usually before noun] formal
happening as a result of a particular event or situation:
•the rise in inflation and consequent fall in demand
SUBSEQUENT $ [usually before noun] formal
1 happening as a direct result of a particular event or situation:
•redundancy and the consequential loss of earnings
2 important; = significant; inconsequential
•a consequential decision
- consequentially adverb $ [sentence adverb]
as a result:
•Most computer users have never received any formal keyboard training. Consequently, their keyboard skills are inefficient.
•The molecules are absorbed into the bloodstream and consequently affect the organs. $ formal
1 [singular] a group of officials who control and protect an area of land, a river etc:
•the Thames Conservancy
2 [U] the protection of natural things such as animals, plants, forests etc; = conservation $ [U]
1 the protection of natural things such as animals, plants, forests etc, to prevent them being spoiled or destroyed; = preservation; conserve
•wildlife conservation
•a local conservation group
[+of]
•conservation of the countryside
2 when you prevent something from being lost or wasted; conserve
•energy conservation
[+of]
•Recycling is an important part of the conservation of resources.[C]
1 an area where animals and plants are protected
2 BrE an area where interesting old buildings are protected and new buildings are carefully controlled $ [C]
someone who works to protect animals, plants etc or to protect old buildings
- conservationism noun [U] $ [U]
1 dislike of change and new ideas:
•people's innate conservatism in matters of language
2 also Conservatism the political belief that society should change as little as possible
3 Conservatism the political beliefs of the British Conservative Party $
1 not liking changes or new ideas:
•a very conservative attitude to education
•conservative views
2 Conservative belonging to or concerned with the Conservative Party in Britain:
•Conservative policies
•a Conservative MP
3 not very modern in style, taste etc; = traditional
•a dark conservative suit
4 a conservative estimate/guess a guess which is deliberately lower than what the real amount probably is:
•At a conservative estimate, the holiday will cost about £1500.
- conservatively adverb
•a fortune conservatively estimated at 2 million dollars
•He was conservatively dressed in a dark business suit.[C]
1 Conservative someone who supports or is a member of the Conservative Party in Britain
2 someone who does not like changes in politics, ideas, or fashion:
•an argument between reformers and conservatives in the organization
the Conservative Party a British political party on the RIGHT $ [C] BrE
a school where people are trained in music or acting; = conservatory AmE $ plural conservatories [C]
1 BrE a room with glass walls and a glass roof, where plants are grown, that is usually added on to a house
2 AmE a school where people are trained in music or acting; = conservatoire BrE $ [T]
1 to protect something and prevent it from changing or being damaged; = preserve
•We must conserve our woodlands for future generations.
•efforts to conserve fish stocks
2 to use as little water, energy etc as possible so that it is not wasted:
•systems designed to conserve energy $ [C,U] formal
fruit that is preserved by being cooked with sugar; = jam
•strawberry conserve $
1 THINK ABOUT [I,T] to think about something carefully, especially before making a choice or decision
consider doing sth
•I seriously considered resigning (=almost actually resigned).
consider the possibility of (doing) sth
•Have you considered the possibility of retraining?
consider whether (to do sth)
•We are considering whether to change our advice to tourists.
consider where/how/why etc
•We're still considering where to move to.
•We will have to consider your offer carefully.
be considering your position formal (=be deciding whether or not to leave your job)
2 OPINION [T] to think of someone or something in a particular way or to have a particular opinion
consider (that)
•The local authority considered that the school did not meet requirements.
consider sb/sth (to be) sth
•A further increase in interest rates is now considered unlikely.
•Liz Quinn was considered an excellent teacher.
•They consider themselves to be Europeans.
•I consider it a great honour to be invited.
consider it necessary/important etc to do sth
•I did not consider it necessary to report the incident.
consider sb/sth to do sth
•The campaign was considered to have failed.
consider yourself lucky/fortunate (=believe you are lucky etc)
•Consider yourself lucky you weren't in the car at the time.
consider yourself (to be) sth (=think of yourself as a particular type of person)
•They consider themselves to be middle class.
3 PEOPLE'S FEELINGS [T] to think about someone or their feelings, and try to avoid upsetting them; considerate
•You've got to learn to consider other people!
•You never once considered my feelings in all this, did you?
4 IMPORTANT FACT [I,T] to think about an important fact relating to something when making a judgment; considering
•It's not surprising when you consider that he only arrived 6 months ago.
• All things considered, I'm sure we made the right decision.
5 DISCUSS [T] to discuss something such as a report or problem, so that you can make a decision about it:
•The committee has been considering the report.
6 LOOK AT [T] formal to look at someone or something carefully:
•Henry considered the sculpture with an expert eye.
7 Consider it done spoken used to say yes very willingly when someone asks you to do something for them:
•'Could you drive me to the airport tomorrow?' 'Consider it done.'
all things considered at THING^2
fairly large, especially large enough to have an effect or be important; inconsiderable
considerable amount/number etc of sth
•We've saved a considerable amount of money.
•Michael has already spent considerable time in Barcelona.
•issues of considerable importance
•The series has aroused considerable interest.
much or a lot:
•It's considerably colder today.
•Conditions have improved considerably over the past few years.
always thinking of what other people need or want and being careful not to upset them; inconsiderate
•He was always kind and considerate.
it is considerate of sb (to do sth)
•It was very considerate of you to let us know you were going to be late.
[+towards]
•As a motorist, I try to be considerate towards cyclists.
- considerately adverb
1 [U] formal careful thought and attention, especially before making an official or important decision:
•proposals put forward for consideration
under consideration
•There are several amendments under consideration.
due/serious/proper etc consideration
•After due consideration, I have decided to tender my resignation.
give sth careful/full etc consideration
•We would have to give serious consideration to banning it altogether.
deserve/merit consideration
•These plans definitely merit further consideration.
2 take sth into consideration to remember to think about something important when you are making a decision or judgement:
•We will take your recent illness into consideration when marking your exams.
3 [C] a fact that you think about when you are making a decision:
•Political rather than economic considerations influenced the location of the new factory.
4 [U] the quality of thinking about other people's feelings and being careful not to upset them
[+for]
•The murdered woman's name has not been released, out of consideration for her parents.
•They've got no consideration for others.
• Show some consideration!
5 [singular, U] formal a payment for something, especially a service:
•I might be able to help you, for a small consideration.
•a payment in consideration of (=as payment for) their services $ [only before noun]
a considered opinion, reply, judgment etc is one that you have thought about carefully:
•He hadn't had time to form a considered opinion.
•The committee is meeting to prepare a considered response to the problem.
ILL-CONSIDERED
used to say that you are thinking about a particular fact when you are giving your opinion:
•Considering the strength of the opposition, we did very well to score two goals.
considering (that)
•I think we paid too much for the house, considering that we needed to get the roof repaired.
considering who/how etc
•John did quite well in his exams, considering how little he studied.spoken
used after you have given an opinion, to say that something is true in spite of a situation that makes it seem surprising:
•He didn't look too tired, considering.
[T] formal to send something somewhere, especially in order to sell it

PHRASAL VERBS
consign sb/sth to sth phr v formal
1 to make someone or something be in a particular situation, especially a bad one:
•It was a decision which consigned him to political obscurity.
consign sb/sth to the dustbin/scrapheap/rubbish heap etc BrE
•Many older people feel they have been consigned to the medical scrapheap.
2 to put something somewhere, especially in order to get rid of it:
•The shoes looked so tatty that I consigned them to the back of the cupboard. $ [C] technical
the person that something is delivered to
1 [C] a quantity of goods that are sent somewhere, especially in order to be sold
[+of]
•a large consignment of clothes
2 on consignment goods that are on consignment are being sold for someone else for a share of the profit
3 [U] when someone sends or delivers something[C] AmE
a shop where you take things you do not want, so the shop can sell them and give you a share of the profit $ [C] technical
the person who sends goods to someone else

PHRASAL VERBS
consist in sth phr v [not in progressive] formal
to be based on or depend on something:
•Happiness does not consist in how many possessions you own.

consist of sth phr v [not in progressive]
to be formed from two or more things or people:
•The buffet consisted of several different Indian dishes.
consist mainly/largely/primarily of sb/sth
•The audience consisted mainly of teenagers.
consist entirely/solely of sb/sth
•The area does not consist entirely of rich people, despite popular belief. plural consistencies [C,U]
1 the quality of always being the same, doing things in the same way, having the same standards etc - used to show approval; inconsistency
[+in]
•Consumer groups are demanding greater consistency in the labelling of food products.
[+of]
•Consistency of performance depends on several factors.
[+between/among]
•There are checks to ensure consistency between interviewers.
2 how thick, smooth etc a substance is
[+of]
•Beat the mixture until it has the consistency of thick cream.
1 always behaving in the same way or having the same attitudes, standards etc - usually used to show approval; inconsistent
•She's one of the team's most consistent players.
[+in]
•We need to be consistent in our approach.
2 continuing to happen or develop in the same way:
•a consistent improvement in the country's economy
3 a consistent argument or idea does not have any parts that do not match other parts; inconsistent
•The evidence is not consistent.
4 be consistent with sth if a fact, idea etc is consistent with another one, it seems to match it:
•Her injuries are consistent with having fallen from the building.
•The results are consistent with earlier research.
- consistently adverb
•consistently high performance $ [C,U]
something that makes you feel better when you are sad or disappointed
[+for/to]
•The only consolation for the team is that they get a chance to play the game again.
• If it's any consolation, things do get easier as the child gets older.
•He had the consolation of knowing that he couldn't have done any better.
be little/no consolation
•The fact that there has been a reduction in crime is little consolation to victims of crime.[C]
a prize that is given to someone who has not won a competition:
•Ten runners-up received a T-shirt as a consolation prize. $ formal
intended to make someone feel better $ [T]
to make someone feel better when they are feeling sad or disappointed; consolation
•No one could console her when Peter died.
console yourself with sth
•She consoled herself with the fact that no one else had done well in the exam either.
console yourself that
•He consoled himself that he would see Kate again soon. $ [C]
1 a flat board that contains the controls for a machine, piece of electrical equipment, computer etc
2 a special cupboard for a television, computer etc $ [I,T]
1 to strengthen the position of power or success that you have, so that it becomes more effective or continues for longer:
•The company has consolidated its position as the country's leading gas supplier.
•The team consolidated their lead with a third goal.
2 to combine things in order to make them more effective or easier to deal with:
•We consolidate information from a wide range of sources.
•They took out a loan to consolidate their debts.
•The company is planning to consolidate its business activities at a new site in Arizona.
- consolidation $ noun [C,U]
•the consolidation of political power $ [U]
clear soup made from meat or vegetables $ [C]
1 a speech sound made by partly or completely stopping the flow of air through your mouth; vowel
2 a letter that represents a consonant sound. The letters 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u', and sometimes 'y' represent vowels, and all the other letters are consonants
1 be consonant with sth formal to match or exist well with something else:
•This policy is scarcely consonant with the government's declared aims.
2 technical relating to a combination of musical notes that sounds pleasant; dissonant
- consonance noun [U]
•a religion in consonance with Christianity $ [C]
1 the wife or husband of a ruler
PRINCE CONSORT
2 a group of people who play very old music, or the group of old-fashioned instruments they use
3 in consort (with sb) formal doing something together with someone $

PHRASAL VERBS
consort with sb phr v formal
to spend time with someone that other people do not approve of:
•a man who regularly consorted with prostitutesor consortiums $ plural consortia [C]
a group of companies or organizations who are working together to do something:
•a consortium of oil companies
•The aircraft will be built by a European consortium.
1 very easy to notice; inconspicuous
•The notice must be displayed in a conspicuous place.
•a bird with conspicuous white markings
•I felt very conspicuous in my red coat.
2 conspicuous success, courage etc is very great and impressive:
•He had represented Italy with conspicuous success.
•The award is given for notable or conspicuous achievement in science.
3 be conspicuous by your/its absence used to say that someone or something is not somewhere where they were expected to be:
•a group that were conspicuous by their absence from the awards ceremony[U]
the act of buying a lot of things, especially expensive things that are not necessary, in order to IMPRESS other people and show them how rich you are plural conspiracies [C,U]
1 a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal; conspire
conspiracy to do sth
•He was charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
[+against]
•a conspiracy against the government
•There were many conspiracy theories (=beliefs that something is the result of a conspiracy) surrounding Princess Diana's death.
2 conspiracy of silence an agreement not to talk about something, even though it should not be a secret:
•There's often a conspiracy of silence surrounding bullying in schools. $ [C]
someone who is involved in a secret plan to do something illegal
1 a conspiratorial expression, voice, or manner suggests you are sharing a secret with someone:
•His voice became low and conspiratorial.
•Natasha whispered to Maggie in a conspiratorial tone.
conspiratorial whisper/smile/wink etc
•Britta gave him a conspiratorial smile.
2 relating to a conspiracy
- conspiratorially adverb $ [I]
1 to secretly plan with someone else to do something illegal; conspiracy
conspire (with sb) to do sth
•All six men admitted conspiring to steal cars.
[+against]
•There was some evidence that he had been conspiring against the government.
2 if events conspire to do something, they happen at the same time and make something bad happen
conspire to do sth
•Pollution and neglect have conspired to ruin the city.
[+against]
•Emily felt that everything was conspiring against her. $ [C]
1 a British police officer of the lowest rank
2 in the US, someone who has some of the powers of a police officer and can send legal documents that order someone to do something $ plural constabularies [C]
the police force of a particular area or country $ [U] formal
1 the quality of staying the same even though other things change
[+of]
•constancy of temperature
2 loyalty and faithfulness to a particular person $
1 happening regularly or all the time:
•There was a constant stream of visitors to the house.
•Amy lived in constant fear of being attacked.
•He kept in constant contact with his family while he was in Australia.
2 staying the same:
•The truck was travelling at a fairly constant speed.
3 literary loyal and faithful:
•a constant friend[C]
1 technical a number or quantity that never changes
2 formal something that stays the same even though other things change
VARIABLE^2 $
all the time, or very often:
•He talked constantly about his work.
•The English language is constantly changing. $ [C]
1 a group of stars that forms a particular pattern and has a name:
•a star in the constellation of Orion
2 a constellation of sth literary a group of people or things that are similar:
•a constellation of ideas $ [U]
a feeling of worry, shock, or fear:
•The government's plans have caused considerable consternation among many Americans.
•A new power station is being built much to the consternation of environmental groups (=they are very worried about it).
in consternation
•He looked at her in consternation. $ [U]
the condition of having difficulty in getting rid of solid waste from your body; diarrhoea
- constipated $ adjective plural constituencies [C]
1 BrE an area of a country that elects a representative to a parliament:
•a rural constituency
•constituency boundaries
•He represents the Essex constituency of Epping Forest.
2 [also + plural verb BrE ] the people who live and vote in a particular area
3 any group that supports or is likely to support a politician or a political party:
•The trade unions were no longer the constituency of the Labour Party alone. [C]
1 someone who votes in a particular area
2 one of the substances or things that combine to form something
[+of]
•Sodium is one of the constituents of salt.[only before noun] formal
being one of the parts of something:
•the EU and its constituent members[C]
a group of elected representatives that have the power to write or change their country's constitution $
1 [linking verb, not in progressive] to be considered to be something:
•Failing to complete the work constitutes a breach of the employment contract.
•The rise in crime constitutes a threat to society.
2 [linking verb, not in progressive] if several people or things constitute something, they are the parts that form it:
•We must redefine what constitutes a family.
3 [T usually in passive] formal to officially form a group or organization:
•The Federation was constituted in 1949. $ [C]
1 also Constitution a set of basic laws and principles that a country or organization is governed by:
•The right to speak freely is written into the Constitution of the United States.
2 your health and your body's ability to fight illness
(have) a strong/good/weak etc constitution
•She's got a strong constitution - she'll recover in no time.
3 formal the parts or structure of something
[+of]
•What's the chemical constitution of the dye? $
1 officially allowed or limited by the system of rules of a country or organization:
•a constitutional right to privacy
•a constitutional monarchy (=a country ruled by a king or queen whose power is limited by a constitution)
2 connected with the constitution of a country or organization:
•a constitutional crisis
constitutional reform/change/amendment
•a proposal for constitutional reform
3 relating to someone's health, physical ability, or character
- constitutionally adverb
•a constitutionally guaranteed right
•He was constitutionally incapable of dealing with conflict.[C] old-fashioned
a walk you take because it is good for your health $ [U]
the belief that a government should be based on a constitution
- constitutionalist noun [C] $ [U]
the quality of being acceptable according to a constitution:
•A decision on the proposal's constitutionality still has to be made. [T]
1 to stop someone from doing what they want to do
constrain sb from doing sth
•Financial factors should not constrain doctors from prescribing the best treatment for patients.
2 to limit something:
•Poor soil has constrained the level of crop production.
•Women's employment opportunities are often severely constrained by family commitments.
be/feel constrained to do sth to feel that you must do something:
•He felt constrained to accept the invitation.
1 [C] something that limits your freedom to do what you want; = restriction
[+on]
•Constraints on spending have forced the company to rethink its plans.
•the constraints of family life
financial/environmental/political etc constraints
•There have been financial and political constraints on development.
impose/place constraints on sb/sth
•constraints imposed on teachers by large class sizes
2 [U] control over the way people are allowed to behave, so that they cannot do what they want:
•freedom from constraint
1 [I,T] to make something narrower or tighter, or to become narrower or tighter:
•Caffeine constricts the blood vessels in your body.
•Linda's throat constricted and she started to cry.
2 [T] to limit someone's freedom to do what they want:
•Fear of crime constricts many people's lives.
- constricted adjective
- constriction noun [C,U] [T]
1 to build something such as a house, bridge, road etc:
•There are plans to construct a new road bridge across the river.
construct sth from/of/in sth
•skyscrapers constructed entirely of concrete and glass
2 to form something such as a sentence, argument, or system by joining words, ideas etc together:
•Boyce has constructed a new theory of management.
3 technical to draw a mathematical shape:
•Construct a square with sides of 5cm. $ [C] formal
1 an idea formed by combining several pieces of information or knowledge
2 something that is built or made
1 BUILDING STH [U] the process of building things such as houses, bridges, roads etc
[+of]
•the construction of a new airport
under construction (=being built)
•The hotel is currently under construction.
•a road construction project
•construction workers
2 MAKING STH FROM MANY PARTS [U] the process of making something using many parts:
•Work out the exact design before you start construction.
3 WAY STH IS MADE [U] the materials used to build or make something, or its design and structure:
•The houses were partly timber in construction.
•External doors should be of robust construction.
4 A BUILDING/STRUCTURE [C] formal something that has been built:
•a strange construction made of wood and glass
5 GRAMMAR [C] the way in which words are put together in a sentence, phrase etc:
•difficult grammatical constructions
6 IDEAS/KNOWLEDGE [U] the process of forming something from knowledge or ideas:
•the construction of sociological theory
7 put a construction on sth formal to think that a statement has a particular meaning or that something was done for a particular reason:
•The judge put an entirely different construction on his remarks.
- constructional adjective
useful and helpful, or likely to produce good results:
•The meeting was very constructive.
•We welcome any constructive criticism.
- constructively adverb[C,U]
BrE when your employer changes your job or working conditions so you feel forced to leave your job $ [C]
a company or person that builds things [T usually in passive]
to understand a remark or action in a particular way; misconstrue
construe sth as sth
•comments that could be construed as sexist
•The term can be construed in two different ways. $ [C]
a government official who is sent to live in a foreign city in order to help people from his or her own country who are living or staying there; ambassador
•the British Consul in Geneva
- consular $ adjective
•a consular official $ [C]
the building in which a consul lives and works; embassy
1 [I,T] to ask for information or advice from someone because it is their job to know something:
•If symptoms persist, consult a doctor without delay.
consult sb about sth
•An increasing number of people are consulting their accountants about the tax laws.
[+with]
•I need to consult with my lawyer.
2 [I,T] to discuss something with someone so that you can make a decision together:
•I can't believe you sold the car without consulting me!
[+with]
•The President consulted with European leaders before taking action.
3 [T] to look for information in a book, map, list etc:
•Have you consulted a dictionary? plural consultancies
1 [C] a company that gives advice on a particular subject:
•a management consultancy
•a consultancy firm
2 [U] advice that a company is paid to provide:
•consultancy fees [C]
1 someone whose job is to give advice on a particular subject:
•a management consultant
2 BrE a hospital doctor of a very high rank who has a lot of knowledge about a particular area of medicine $
1 [C,U] a discussion in which people who are affected by or involved in something can give their opinions
[+with]
•The decision was reached after consultation with parents and teachers.
[+between]
•He's calling for urgent consultations between the government and the oil industry to resolve the problem.
in consultation with sb
•The plans were drawn up in consultation with engineers.
consultation process/exercise/period
•There will be a public consultation exercise to ask for people's views.
consultation paper/document
2 [C] a meeting with a professional person, especially a doctor, for advice or treatment:
•A follow-up consultation was arranged for two weeks' time.
3 [U] the process of getting advice from a professional person:
•Trained parenting experts are available for consultation by telephone.
4 [U] the process of looking for information or help in a book:
•Leaflets were regularly displayed for consultation by students. [usually before noun]
providing advice and suggesting solutions to problems:
•a consultative document [U]
the service of providing advice to companies[only before noun]
providing advice to companies:
•a major international consulting firm[C]
a room where a doctor sees patients $
consumable goods are intended to be used and then replaced $ [plural]
goods that are intended to be used and then replaced:
•consumables such as printer ribbons and disks $ [T]
1 to use time, energy, goods etc; consumption
•Only 27% of the paper we consume is recycled.
•A smaller vehicle will consume less fuel.
2 formal to eat or drink something; consumer, consumption
•Alcohol may not be consumed on the premises.
3 literary if a feeling or idea consumes you, it affects you very strongly, so that you cannot think about anything else:
•She was scared by the depression which threatened to consume her.
be consumed with sth
•He was consumed with guilt after the accident.
4 formal if fire consumes something, it destroys it completely
TIME-CONSUMING $ [C]
someone who buys and uses products and services; consumption, producer
•Consumers will soon be paying higher airfares.
•It will offer a wider choice of goods for the consumer (=consumers in general).
• Consumer demand led to higher imports of manufactured goods.
• Consumer spending was down by 0.1% last month.
•sources of consumer advice (=advice for consumers)[U]
the level of people's satisfaction with the economic situation, which is shown by how much money they spend:
•Consumer confidence reached an all-time low in September.[plural]
BrE large things such as cars, televisions, or furniture that you do not buy often[plural]
goods that people buy for their own use, rather than goods bought by businesses and organizations; capital goods[C]
an organization that makes sure that CONSUMERs are treated fairly and that products are safe $ [U]
1 the belief that it is good to buy and use a lot of goods and services - often used to show disapproval:
•the growth of consumerism
2 actions to protect people from unfair prices, advertising that is not true etc
- consumerist adjective[C]
a list of the prices of products that shows how much prices have increased during a particular period of time[C]
a society in which buying goods and services is considered to be very important $
using a lot of something such as time, energy, or space:
•a time-consuming job
•energy-consuming labour $ [only before noun]
a consuming feeling is so strong that you think of little else:
•a consuming hatred
consuming interest/passion (=a strong feeling of interest, or something you are extremely interested in)
•During this period, politics became his consuming interest. $ [only before noun] formal
1 showing a lot of skill:
•a great performance from a consummate actor
•He won the race with consummate ease (=very easily).
•De Gaulle conducted his strategy with consummate skill.
2 used to emphasize how bad someone or something is:
•his consummate lack of tact
•The man's a consummate liar.
- consummately adverb $ [T] formal
1 to make a marriage or relationship complete by having sex
2 to make something complete, especially an agreement $ [singular, U] formal
1 when people make a marriage or relationship complete by having sex
2 the point at which something is complete or perfect:
•the consummation of his ambitions [U]
1 AMOUNT USED the amount of energy, oil, electricity etc that is used; consume
energy/fuel etc consumption
•dramatic rises in fuel consumption
•Vigorous exercise increases oxygen consumption.
2 FOOD/DRINK
a) formal the act of eating or drinking; consume
[+of]
•The consumption of alcohol on the premises is forbidden.
fit/unfit for human consumption (=safe or not safe to eat)
•The meat was declared unfit for human consumption.
b) the amount of a substance that people eat, drink, smoke etc
alcohol/tobacco/caffeine etc consumption
•The Government wants to reduce tobacco consumption by 40%.
3 BUYING the act of buying and using products; consume, consumer
•art intended for mass consumption (=to be bought, seen etc by lots of people)
•China's austerity program has cut domestic consumption (=when products are bought in the country where they were produced).
conspicuous consumption (=when people buy expensive products to prove they are rich)
4 for general/public/private etc consumption intended to be heard or read only by a particular group of people:
•secret policy documents that are not for public consumption
5 old-fashioned TUBERCULOSIS [C]
old-fashioned someone with TUBERCULOSIS
- consumptive adjective
a written abbreviation of continued $
1 COMMUNICATION [U] communication with a person, organization, country etc
[+with/between]
•There is very little contact between the two tribes.
•Few people have daily contact with mentally disabled people.
be/get/stay/keep in contact (with sb)
•We stay in contact by email.
•We'd like to make contact with other schools in the area.
•The children lost contact with their families (=they no longer see them because they do not know where to find them).
•the ship's failure to make radio contact
•She put me in contact with an expert in the field (=she gave me their name, telephone number etc).
face-to-face/social/personal contact (=talking to someone who is with you)
•There is little personal contact with customers.
•staff who have direct contact with the patient
•The town is cut off from contact with the outside world.
2 TOUCH [U] when two people or things touch each other
[+with/between]
•Children need physical contact with a caring adult.
•The disease spreads by sexual contact between infected animals.
in contact with sth
•For a second, his hand was in contact with mine.
•When water comes into contact with air, carbon dioxide is released.
on contact (with sth)
•The bomb exploded on contact (=at the moment it touched something).
3 EXPERIENCE [U] when you meet someone or experience a particular kind of thing:
•Everyone who came into contact with Di felt better for knowing her.
•Pat's job brings her into contact with the problems people face when they retire.
4 PERSON [C usually plural] a person you know who may be able to help or advise you:
•He has a lot of contacts in the media.
•a worldwide network of contacts
business/personal contacts
5 contacts [plural] a situation in which you can communicate easily with a group, country etc
[+with/between]
•We have good contacts with the local community.
•He goes to great lengths to maintain these contacts.
•the establishment of diplomatic contacts
6 point of contact
a) a place you go to or a person you meet when you ask an organization for help
first/initial point of contact
•Primary health care teams are the first point of contact for users of the service.
b) a way in which two different things are related:
•finding a point of contact between theory and practice
c) the part of something where another thing touches it:
•The sting causes swelling at the point of contact.
7 ELECTRICAL [C] an electrical part that completes a CIRCUIT when it touches another part
8 EYES [C] informal a contact lens
eye contact at EYE^1 (5)[T]
to write to or telephone someone:
•Give the names of two people who can be contacted in an emergency.
•Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries.
- contactable adjective [not before noun]
•A mobile phone makes you contactable wherever you are.[only before noun]
1 contact number/address/details a telephone number or address where someone can be found if necessary:
•If you are babysitting, make sure you have a contact number for the parents.
2 contact explosives or chemicals become active when they touch something:
•contact poisons[C]
a small round piece of plastic that you put on your eye to help you see clearly[C]
a sport such as AMERICAN FOOTBALL, RUGBY etc in which players have physical contact with each other
1 [U] technical a situation in which a disease is spread by people touching each other:
•The danger of contagion is very small.
2 [C] technical a disease that can be passed from person to person by touch
3 [singular] formal a feeling or attitude that spreads quickly between people or places:
•a contagion of fear that spread from city to city
1 a disease that is contagious can be passed from person to person by touch
2 a person who is contagious has a disease that can be passed to another person by touch:
•The patient is still highly contagious.
3 if a feeling, attitude, or action is contagious, other people are quickly affected by it and begin to have it or do it:
•her contagious enthusiasm
- contagiousness noun [U] [T]
1 CONTAINER/PLACE if something such as a bag, box, or place contains something, that thing is inside it:
•The thieves stole a purse containing banknotes.
•The museum contains a number of original artworks.
2 WRITING/SPEECH if a document, book, speech etc contains something, that thing is included in it:
•The letter contained information about Boulestin's legal affairs.
be contained in/within sth
•The proposed changes are contained in a policy statement.
3 SUBSTANCE if a substance contains something, that thing is part of it:
•This product may contain nuts.
4 CONTROL FEELINGS to control strong feelings of anger, excitement etc:
•Jane couldn't contain her amusement any longer.
contain yourself
•He was so excited he could hardly contain himself.
5 STOP STH to stop something from spreading or escaping:
•Doctors are struggling to contain the epidemic.
•measures aimed at containing political opposition
SELF-CONTAINED
6 MATHS technical to surround an area or an angle:
•How big is the angle contained by these two sides? $ [C]
1 something such as a box or bowl that you use to keep things in:
•ice cream in plastic containers
2 a very large metal box in which goods are packed to make it easy to lift or move them onto a ship or vehicle:
•a container ship [U] formal
the act of keeping something under control, stopping it becoming more powerful etc:
•containment of public expenditure
•political containment of member states [C] formal
a substance that makes something dirty:
•environmental contaminants [T]
1 to make a place or substance dirty or harmful by putting something such as chemicals or poison in it:
•Drinking water supplies are believed to have been contaminated.
2 to influence something in a way that has a bad effect:
•He claims the poster ads have 'contaminated Berlin's streets'.
- contamination noun [U]
•radioactive contamination
water, food etc that is contaminated has had a harmful substance added to it
contaminated food/blood/water supplies etc
•Several outbreaks of infection have been traced to contaminated food.
a written abbreviation of continued $
1 [T] to think about something that you might do in the future; = consider
•He had even contemplated suicide.
contemplate doing sth
•Did you ever contemplate resigning?
2 [T] to accept the possibility that something is true
too dreadful/horrifying etc to contemplate
•The thought that she might be dead was too terrible to contemplate.
3 [I,T] to think about something seriously for a period of time; = consider
•Jack went on vacation to contemplate his future.
contemplate what/whether/how etc
•She sat down and contemplated what she had done.
contemplate your navel (=think so much about your own life that you do not notice other important things - used humorously)
4 [T] to look at someone or something for a period of time in a way that shows you are thinking:
•He contemplated her with a faint smile. $ [U]
quiet, serious thinking about something:
•The monks spend an hour in contemplation each morning. $
spending a lot of time thinking seriously and quietly:
•a contemplative mood
- contemplatively adverb[C] formal
someone who spends their life thinking deeply about religious matters
formal happening or done in the same period of time; = contemporary
[+with]
•Built in the 13th century, the chapels are contemporaneous with many of the great Gothic cathedrals.
- contemporaneously adverb
- contemporaneity noun [U] $
1 belonging to the present time; = modern
contemporary music/art/dance etc
•an exhibition of contemporary Japanese prints
•life in contemporary Britain
2 happening or done in the same period of time
[+with]
•The wall hangings are thought to be roughly contemporary with the tiled floors.plural contemporaries [C]
someone who lived or was in a particular place at the same time as someone else
sb's contemporaries
•Oswald was much admired by his contemporaries at the Academy. [U]
1 a feeling that someone or something is not important and deserves no respect
[+for]
•The contempt he felt for his fellow students was obvious.
utter/deep contempt
•The report shows utter contempt for women's judgement.
open/undisguised contempt
•She looked at him with undisguised contempt.
•The public is treated with contempt by broadcasters.
•How could she have loved a man who so clearly held her in contempt?
beneath contempt
•That sort of behaviour is simply beneath contempt (=does not deserve respect or attention).
2 law disobedience or disrespect towards a court of law:
•He was jailed for 7 days for contempt of court.
in contempt of sth
•He was found in contempt of the order.
3 complete lack of fear about something
[+for]
•his contempt for danger literary
not deserving any respect at all; = despicable
•They were portrayed as contemptible cowards.
showing that you think someone or something deserves no respect:
•Benedict threw her a contemptuous glance.
[+of]
•He was openly contemptuous of his elder brother.
- contemptuously adverb
1 [I] to compete against someone in order to gain something
[+for]
•Three armed groups are contending for power.
•Inevitably, fights break out between the members of contending groups.
2 [T] to argue or state that something is true
contend (that)
•Some astronomers contend that the universe may be younger than previously thought.

PHRASAL VERBS
contend with sth phr v
to have to deal with something difficult or unpleasant:
•The rescue team also had bad weather conditions to contend with. $ [C]
someone or something that is in competition with other people or things
[+for]
•a contender for the Democratic nomination
serious/strong/leading etc contender
•Her new album has to be a strong contender for the Album of the Year award. $
1 contents [plural]
a) the things that are inside a box, bag, room etc
[+of]
•The customs official rummaged through the contents of his briefcase.
•Most of the gallery's contents were damaged in the fire.
contents insurance (=insurance for things such as furniture that you have in your house)
b) the things that are written in a letter, book etc
[+of]
•She kept the contents of the letter a secret.
•The program automatically creates a table of contents (=a list at the beginning of a document that shows the different parts into which it is divided).
•He cast his eye down the contents page.
2 [singular] the amount of a substance that is contained in something, especially food or drink
fat/protein/alcohol etc content
•the fat content of cheese
•water with a low salt content
3 [singular, U] the ideas, facts, or opinions that are contained in a speech, piece of writing, film, programme etc:
•The content of the media course includes scripting, editing and camera work.
4 [singular, U] the information contained in a website, considered separately from the software that makes the website work:
•The graphics are brilliant. It's just a shame the content is so poor. [not before noun]
1 happy and satisfied:
•Andy was a good husband, and Nicky was clearly very content.
[+with]
•We'll be content with a respectable result in tomorrow's match.
2 content (for sb) to do sth willing to do or accept something, rather than doing more:
•She sat quietly, content to watch him working.
•He seemed quite content to let Steve do the talking.
•Dr Belson had been more than content for them to deal with any difficulties.
3 not content with sth used to emphasize that someone wants or does more than something:
•Not content with her new car, Selina now wants a bike for trips into the city centre.[U]
1 literary a feeling of quiet happiness and satisfaction
2 do sth to your heart's content to do something as much as you want:
•She took refuge in the library, where she could read to her heart's content.[T]
1 content yourself with (doing) sth to do or have something that is not what you really wanted, but is still satisfactory:
•Mr Lal has been asking for more responsibility, but has had to content himself with a minor managerial post.
2 formal to make someone feel happy and satisfied:
•I was no longer satisfied with the life that had hitherto contented me.
happy and satisfied because your life is good; discontented
•I felt warm, cosy and contented.
•They lapsed into a contented silence
- contentedly adverb
•He smiled contentedly.
1 [C] formal a strong opinion that someone expresses
sb's contention that
•Her main contention is that doctors should do more to encourage healthy eating.
2 [U] formal argument and disagreement between people
source/area/point of contention
•The issue of subsidies is a source of contention in Europe.
bone of contention at BONE^1 (5)
3 in contention having a chance of winning something:
•A goal from Hodge kept England in contention.
4 out of contention no longer having a chance of winning something:
•Injury has put him out of contention for the title.
1 causing a lot of argument and disagreement between people
contentious issue/area/subject etc
•Animal welfare did not become a contentious issue until the late 1970s.
2 someone who is contentious often argues with people
- contentiously adverb [U]
the state of being happy and satisfied; discontent
•He gave a sigh of contentment, and fell asleep.
•a feeling of deep contentment $ [C]
1 a competition or a situation in which two or more people or groups are competing with each other

hold a contest
enter a contest (=start taking part in one)
win/lose a contest
beauty contest (=a competition to find the most beautiful person)
talent contest (=a competition to find the best performer)
popularity contest (=a situation in which people decide which person they like the most)
unequal contest BrE (=when one person has a much greater chance of winning)
fair contest (=when everyone has the same chance of winning)
close contest (=when someone wins by only a very small amount)
leadership contest (=when two politicians compete to become the leader of their party)

[+for]
•the bitter contest for the Republican presidential nomination
•Stone decided to hold a contest to see who could write the best song.
•I only entered the contest for fun.
•It is clear that the election will be a close contest.
[+between/against]
•the 1960 contest between Kennedy and Nixon
•the 1975 Liberal leadership contest

2 no contest informal
a) spoken used to say that someone or something is the best of its kind:
•I think you're the best rider here, no contest.
b) if a victory is no contest, it is very easy to achieve
3 plead no contest law to state that you will not offer a defence in a court of law for something wrong you have done [T] formal
1 to say formally that you do not accept something or do not agree with it:
•His brothers are contesting the will.
2 to compete for something or to try to win it:
•His wife is contesting a seat on the council. [C]
someone who competes in a contest $ [C,U]
1 the situation, events, or information that are related to something and that help you to understand it
political/social/historical etc context
•the political context of the election
place/put/see etc sth in context
•To appreciate what these changes will mean, it is necessary to look at them in context.
in the context of sth
•These incidents are best understood in the broader context of developments in rural society.
2 the words that come just before and after a word or sentence and that help you understand its meaning:
•The meaning of 'mad' depends on its context.
3 take/quote sth out of context to repeat part of what someone has said or written without describing the situation in which it was said, so that it means something quite different:
•His comments, taken out of context, seem harsh. [usually before noun]
relating to a particular context
contextual information/factors etc
- contextually adverbalso contextualise BrE [T] formal
to consider something together with the situation, events, or information related to it, rather than alone:
•The essays seek to contextualise Kristeva's writings. formal
next to something, or next to each other:
•America's 48 contiguous states
- contiguously adverb
- contiguity $ noun [U] $ [U]
1 medical the ability to control your BOWELs and BLADDER; incontinence
2 old-fashioned the ability to control your sexual desires $ [C]
1 a large mass of land surrounded by sea:
•the continents of Asia and Africa
2 the Continent BrE old-fashioned Western Europe, not including Britain
1 medical able to control your BOWELs and BLADDER; incontinent
2 old-fashioned able to control your sexual desires $
1
a) the continental United States all the states of the US except Alaska and Hawaii
b) continental Europe/Asia etc all the countries of Europe, Asia etc that are not on islands
2 relating to a large mass of land:
•the warming-up of continental interiors
3 typical of the warmer countries in Western Europe:
•a continental-style café
4 BrE old-fashioned belonging to or in the European continent, not including Britain:
•continental holidays[C]
a breakfast consisting of coffee and bread with butter and JAM; English breakfast[U]
the very slow movement of the CONTINENTs across the Earth's surface[C] BrE
a DUVETplural continental shelves [C] technical
the edge of a CONTINENT where it slopes down steeply to the bottom of the ocean plural contingencies [C]
1 an event or situation that might happen in the future, especially one that could cause problems:
•a contingency plan
•Add up your outgoings, putting on a bit more for contingencies.
2 contingency fee an amount of money that a lawyer in the US will be paid only if the person they are advising wins in court formal
depending on something that may happen in the future
[+on/upon]
•Further investment is contingent upon the company's profit performance.[C also + plural verb BrE ]
1 a group of people who all have something in common, such as their nationality, beliefs etc, and who are part of a larger group:
•Has the Scottish contingent arrived yet?
2 a group of soldiers sent to help a larger group
[+of]
•A large contingent of troops was dispatched. [only before noun]
1 continuing for a long time without stopping:
•five weeks of continual rain
•the Japanese business philosophy of continual improvement
2 repeated many times, often in a way that is harmful or annoying:
•She has endured house arrest and continual harassment by the police.
- continually adverb
•We are continually reassessing the situation.

WORD CHOICE: continual, continuous
continual and continuous are both used to describe things that continue without stopping: continual rain | a continuous fall in unemployment since 1998
Use continuous to describe things that go on without a break: I had six continuous hours of meetings. | a continuous line of trees
Use continual to describe things which happen repeatedly: his continual attempts to intervene
Use continual when the thing that is happening is annoying or bad: She was fed up with the continual arguments.

[singular, U] formal
the state of continuing for a long period of time:
•the continuance in power of the Nationalist party
1 [C] something that continues or follows something else that has happened before, without a stop or change
[+of]
•The present economic policy is a continuation of the earlier one.
2 [U] the continuation of something is the fact that it continues to exist or happen
[+of]
•measures to ensure the continuation of food supplies
3 [C] something that joins something else as if it were part of it
[+of]
•The Baltic Sea is a continuation of the North Sea.[C] AmE
a school for children who cannot study at high school because they have social problems
1 [I,T] to not stop happening, existing, or doing something; continuous, continual, discontinue
continue to do sth
•Sheila continued to work after she had her baby.
•He will be continuing his education in the US.
•I felt too sick to continue.
continue unabated/apace/unchecked (=continue at the same high speed or level)
•The flood of refugees continued unabated.
[+with]
•He was permitted to continue with his work while in prison.
[+for]
•The strike continued for another four weeks.
continue doing sth
•Most elderly people want to continue living at home for as long as they can.
2 [I,T] to start again, or start doing something again, after an interruption; = resume
•After a brief ceasefire, fighting continued.
•Rescue teams will continue the search tomorrow.
continue doing sth
•He picked up his book and continued reading.
3 [I] to go further in the same direction
[+down/along/into etc]
•We continued along the road for some time.
•The road continues northwards to the border.
4 [I] to stay in the same job, situation etc
[+as]
•Miss Silva will continue as publishing director.
5 [I,T] to say more after an interruption:
•'And so', he continued, 'we will try harder next time.'
6 to be continued used at the end of part of a story, a television show etc to tell people that the story has not finished yet [only before noun]
continuing to happen or exist for a long time, or happening many times:
•threats to the continued existence of the species
•continued press speculation[U]
training and education for adults that takes place outside the formal education system, usually in classes in the evenings $ [U]
1 the state of continuing for a period of time, without problems, interruptions, or changes:
•We should ensure continuity of care between hospital and home.
2 technical the organization of a film or television programme to make it seem that the action happens without pauses or interruptions[C]
someone on the radio or television who says what programme is being broadcast next, or gives information about future programmes $ plural continuos [C] technical
a musical part consisting of a line of low notes with figures showing the higher notes that are played with them
1 continuing to happen or exist without stopping; continue
•continuous economic growth
•a continuous flow of information
2 something such as a line that is continuous does not have any spaces or holes in it
3 continuous assessment BrE a way of judging a student's work by looking at what they have achieved during the year rather than testing them in an examination
4 technical the continuous form of a verb shows that an action is continuing. In English, this is formed by the verb 'be', followed by a PRESENT PARTICIPLE, as in 'I was waiting for the bus.'
- continuously adverb
•UMNO had ruled Malaysia continuously since independence. plural continuums or continua [C] formal
a scale of related things on which each one is only slightly different from the one before:
•The Creole language is really various dialects arranged on a continuum.
•All the organisms in an ecosystem are part of an evolutionary continuum. $ [I,T]
if you contort something, or if it contorts, it twists out of its normal shape and looks strange or unattractive
[+with/in]
•His face was contorted with rage.
•His body contorted in agony. $
1 [C] a twisted position or movement that looks surprising or strange:
•I could not force my body into the contortions required by classical ballet.
•facial contortions
2 [U] when something is twisted so that it does not have its normal shape:
•involuntary muscle contortion
3 [C] something difficult you have to do in order to achieve something:
•He went through a series of amazing contortions to get Karen a work permit. $ [C]
someone who twists their body into strange positions in order to entertain people $ [C]
1 the shape of the outer edges of something such as an area of land or someone's body:
•the contours of the hills
•the contours of her face
2 also contour line a line on a map that shows points that are of equal heights above sea level $
1 a contoured surface or object has been made with curves in it:
•contoured seats
2 contoured land has some parts higher than others $
acting against something, or opposite to something:
•contraceptive devices (=against conception) $ [U]
goods that are brought into a country illegally, especially to avoid tax:
•a cargo of contraband
- contraband adjective
•contraband cigarettes $ [C]
a DOUBLE BASS $ [U]
the practice of preventing a woman from becoming PREGNANT when she has sex, or the methods for doing this; = birth control
•The pill is a popular method of contraception. $ [C]
a drug, object, or method used to prevent a woman from becoming PREGNANT when she has sex:
•free contraceptives
- contraceptive adjective [only before noun]
•a contraceptive device $ [C]
1 an official agreement between two or more people, stating what each will do

enter into/make a contract (with sb)
sign a contract (with sb)
agree a contract
a contract to do sth
end/terminate a contract (with sb)
break a contract (with sb) (=do something that is not allowed by your contract)
win/be awarded a contract (=gain a contract to do work for someone)
renew sb's contract (=make a new contract with someone)
fulfil BrE
/fulfill AmE
a contract (=do what you have agreed to do)
on a contract/under contract (=working for someone with whom you have a contract)
the terms of a contract
one-/two-/ten- etc year contract
be in breach of contract (=having done something not allowed by your contract)

•Read the contract carefully before you sign it.
[+with/between]
•Tyler has agreed a seven-year contract with a Hollywood studio.
•a three-year contract to provide pay telephones at local restaurants
•His contract is to be terminated by mutual consent.
•What are the legal consequences of breaking a contract?
•The contract was awarded to builders John Worman Ltd.
•Mr Venables informed me the club would not be renewing my contract.
•The firm operates schools under contract to state education authorities.
•Employees who refuse to relocate are in breach of contract.

2 subject to contract if an agreement is subject to contract, it has not yet been agreed formally by a contract
3 informal an agreement to kill a person for money:
•They put a contract out on him and he's in hiding.
1 [I] to become smaller or narrower; expand
•Metal contracts as it cools.
•The economy has contracted by 2.5%.
2 [T] formal to get an illness:
•Two-thirds of the adult population there has contracted AIDS.
3 [I,T] to sign a contract in which you agree formally that you will do something or someone will do something for you
contract (sb) to do sth
•They are contracted to work 35 hours a week.
•the company that had been contracted to build the models
contract (with) sb for sth
•Doctors control their budgets and contract with hospitals for services.
contract a marriage/alliance etc (=agree to marry someone, form a relationship with them etc)
•Most of the marriages were contracted when the brides were very young. $

PHRASAL VERBS
contract in phr v BrE
1 contract sb/sth <=> in to arrange for a person or company outside your own organization to come in and do a particular job:
•We contract in cleaning services.
2 formal to agree officially to take part in something:
•The rules require all members to contract in.

contract out phr v
1 contract sth <=> out to arrange to have a job done by a person or company outside your own organization
[+to]
•The company has contracted the catering out to an outside firm.
2 BrE to agree officially not to take part in something such as a PENSION PLAN[U]
a form of the card game BRIDGE, in which one of the two pairs says how many TRICKs they will try to win
1 [C] medical a very strong and painful movement of a muscle, especially the muscles around the WOMB during birth
2 [U] the process of becoming smaller or narrower:
•the contraction of metal as it cools
3 [C] a shorter form of a word or words:
•'Haven't' is a contraction of 'have not'. $ [C]
a person or company that agrees to do work or provide goods for another company:
•a roofing contractor [only before noun]
agreed in a contract:
•Tutors have a contractual obligation to research and publish.
- contractually adverb $
1 [I,T] to disagree with something, especially by saying that the opposite is true:
•Deborah opened her mouth to contradict, but closed it again.
•Dad just can't bear to be contradicted.
•The article flatly contradicts their claims.
2 [T] if one statement, story etc contradicts another, the facts in it are different so that both statements cannot be true:
•The witness statements contradict each other and the facts remain unclear.
3 contradict yourself to say something that is the opposite of what you said before:
•Within five minutes he had contradicted himself twice. $
1 [C] a difference between two statements, beliefs, or ideas about something that means they cannot both be true:
• apparent contradictions in the defendant's testimony
[+between]
•a contradiction between the government's ideas and its actual policy
2 [U] the act of saying that someone else's opinion, statement etc is wrong or not true:
•You can say what you like without fear of contradiction.
3 a contradiction in terms a combination of words that seem to be the opposite of each other, with the result that the phrase has no clear meaning:
•'Permanent revolution' is a contradiction in terms.
4 in (direct) contradiction to sth in a way that is opposite to a belief or statement:
•Your behaviour is in direct contradiction to the principles you claim to have. $
two statements, beliefs etc that are contradictory are different and therefore cannot both be true or correct
contradictory messages/statements/demands etc
•The public is being fed contradictory messages about the economy. $ [C]
in contradistinction to sth formal in contrast to or compared to something:
•plants in contradistinction to animals $ [C,U] BrE
a temporary arrangement on a road that is being repaired, that makes traffic travelling in both directions use only one side of the road:
•A contraflow is in operation between Junctions 6 and 12. $ [C]
a line of white steam made in the sky by a plane $ [C] medical
a medical reason for not giving someone a particular medicine or drug
- contraindicate $ verb [T usually passive]
•In this situation, steroids are contraindicated. $ plural contraltos
1 [C] the lowest female singing voice, or a woman with a voice like this
2 [singular] the part of a musical work that is written for a contralto voice [C]
a piece of equipment or machinery that looks funny, strange, and unlikely to work well:
•a bizarre contraption $ BrE
in the opposite way or direction; = conversely $
1 on the contrary/quite the contrary used to add to a negative statement, to disagree with a negative statement by someone else, or to answer no to a question:
•It wasn't a good thing; on the contrary it was a huge mistake.
•'I suppose your wife doesn't understand you.' 'On the contrary, she understands me very well.'
•'Are they happy?' 'No, no, quite the contrary.'
2 evidence/statements etc to the contrary something showing or saying the opposite:
•Unless there is evidence to the contrary, we ought to believe them.
•He continued to drink despite advice to the contrary.
3 the contrary formal the opposite of what has been said or suggested
1 contrary ideas, opinions, or actions are completely different and opposed to each other:
•Two contrary views emerged.
•The men shouted contrary orders.
[+to]
•The government's actions are contrary to the public interest.
2 contrary to popular belief/opinion used to say that something is true even though people believe the opposite:
•Contrary to popular belief, a desert can be very cold.
3 formal a contrary wind is not blowing in the direction you want to sail $
someone who is contrary deliberately does different things from other people:
•Evans was his usual contrary self.
- contrariness noun [U] $
1 [C,U] a difference between people, ideas, situations, things etc that are being compared:
•While there are similarities in the two cultures, there are also great contrasts.
[+between]
•the economic and social contrasts between the poor and the rich
[+with]
•The marble is smooth and polished, making a strong contrast with the worn stonework around it.
by contrast (to/with)
•The birth rate for older women has declined, but, by contrast, births to teenage mothers have increased.
in contrast (to/with)
•The stock lost 60 cents a share, in contrast to last year, when it gained 21 cents.
(in) stark/marked/sharp etc contrast to sth
•The winter heatwave in California is a stark contrast to the below-freezing temperatures on the East Coast.
•The spirited mood on Friday was in sharp contrast to the tense atmosphere last week.
•The approach to learning at this school stands in marked contrast to the traditional methods used at other schools nearby.
2 [C] something that is very different from something else:
•The wine used in the sauce is quite sweet, so add dried thyme as a contrast.
[+to]
•The red stems of this bush provide a contrast to the drab brown of the rest of the winter garden.
3 [U] the degree of difference between the light and dark parts of a television picture, X-RAY, PHOTOCOPY etc:
•This button adjusts the contrast.
•The chemical heightens contrast between different kinds of tissue in the breast.
4 [U] the differences in colour, or between light and dark, that an artist uses in paintings or photographs to make a particular effect:
•The artist has used contrast marvelously in his paintings. $
1 [I] if two things contrast, the difference between them is very easy to see and is sometimes surprising
[+with]
•The snow was icy and white, contrasting with the brilliant blue sky.
contrast sharply/strikingly with sth (=be extremely different from something)
•These results contrast sharply with other medical tests carried out in Australia.
2 [T] to compare two things, ideas, people etc to show how different they are from each other
contrast sth with sth
•In another passage, Melville again contrasts the land with the sea.
•an essay comparing and contrasting (=showing how two things are similar and different) Verdi and Wagner and their operas $
two or more things that are contrasting are different from each other, especially in a way that is interesting or attractive:
•a blue shirt with a contrasting collar $ [T] formal
to do something that is not allowed according to a law or rule; = violate
•Some portions of the bill may contravene state law. $
[C,U] when someone does something that is not allowed by a law or rule; = violation
[+of]
•Sending the troops was a contravention of the treaty.
in contravention of sth (=in a way not allowed by a rule or law)
•Several of the girls were wearing trousers, in contravention of the school rules on dress. $ plural contretemps [C]
an argument or disagreement - often used humorously
1 [I,T] to give money, help, ideas etc to something that a lot of other people are also involved in
[+to/towards]
•City employees cannot contribute to political campaigns.
contribute sth to/towards sth
•The volunteers contribute their own time to the project.
2 [I] to help to make something happen:
•Stress is a contributing factor in many illnesses.
[+to]
•Alcohol contributes to 100,000 deaths a year in the US.
contribute substantially/significantly/greatly etc to sth
•Enya's success has contributed substantially to the current interest in Celtic music.
3 [I,T] to write articles, stories, poems etc for a newspaper or magazine; contributor
[+to]
•one of several authors contributing to the book $
1 [C] something that you give or do in order to help something be successful
[+to/towards]
•Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to Quantum Theory.
•The school sees its job as preparing students to make a contribution to society.
significant/substantial/valuable etc contribution
•Wolko made outstanding contributions to children's medicine.
2 [C] an amount of money that you give in order to help pay for something:
•a campaign contribution
[+of]
•A contribution of £25 will buy 15 books.
[+to/towards]
•Contributions to charities are tax deductible.
•You can make annual contributions of up to $1000 in education savings accounts.
3 [C] a regular payment that you make to your employer or to the government to pay for things that you will receive when you are no longer working, for example health care, a PENSION etc:
•income tax and national insurance contributions
[+to]
•Have you been making regular contributions to a pension plan?
4 [C] a piece of writing, a song, a speech etc that forms part of a larger work such as a newspaper, book, broadcast, recording etc
[+from]
•a magazine with contributions from well-known travel writers
•a Christmas album featuring contributions from Carly Simon, Amy Grant, and others
5 [U] when you give money, time, help etc:
•All the money has been raised by voluntary contribution. $ [C]
1 someone who gives money, help, ideas etc to something that a lot of other people are also involved in:
•campaign contributors
[+to]
•Dr Win was a major contributor to the research.
2 someone who writes a story, song, speech etc that forms part of a larger work such as a newspaper, book, broadcast, recording etc
[+to]
•a regular contributor to Time magazine
3 formal someone or something that helps to cause something to happen
[+to]
•Cars are still one of the principal contributors to air pollution. $
1 [only before noun] being one of the causes of a particular result:
•Smoking is a contributory factor in lung cancer.
2 a contributory PENSION or insurance plan is one that is paid for by the workers as well as by the company they work for; noncontributory [U] law
failure to take enough care to avoid or prevent an accident, so that you are partly responsible for any loss or damage caused[C]
a CONFIDENCE TRICK $ formal
feeling guilty and sorry for something bad that you have done:
•a contrite apology
- contritely adverb
- contrition noun [U] formal
1 [C] something that is artificial or does not seem natural, but that helps something else to happen - usually used to show disapproval:
•A ridiculous series of plot contrivances moves the film along.
2 [C,U] a plan or trick to make something happen or get something for yourself, or the practice of doing this:
•Harriet's matchmaking contrivances
3 [C] a machine or piece of equipment that has been made for a special purpose:
•a steam-driven contrivance used in 19th century clothing factories [T]
1 formal to succeed in doing something in spite of difficulties
contrive to do sth
•Schindler contrived to save more than 1,000 Polish Jews from the Nazis.
2 to arrange an event or situation in a clever way, especially secretly or by deceiving people:
•The lawsuit says oil companies contrived the oil shortage in the 1970s.
3 to make or invent something in a skilful way, especially because you need it suddenly:
•In 1862, a technique was contrived to take a series of photographs showing stages of movement.
seeming false and not natural:
•The characters are as contrived as the plot. $
1 MAKE SB/STH DO WHAT YOU WANT [U] the ability or power to make someone or something do what you want or make something happen in the way you want

have control (over/of sth)
take/gain control (of/over sth)
fight/struggle for control (of/over sth)
lose control (of/over sth)
be under control
keep sth under control (=keep something happening in the way you want)
get/go out of control (=stop happening in the way you want)
beyond/outside sb's control (=impossible for someone to control)
full/total control

•The disease robs you of muscle control.
[+of/over]
•Babies are born with very little control over their movements.
•Artists like to have some control over where their works are hung in a gallery.
•She's a good teacher who has control of her class.
•Students are encouraged to take control of their own learning, rather than just depending on the teacher.
•Excessive drinking can make you lose control of your own life.
•'Do you need any help?' 'No. It's under control, thanks.'
•Dogs are allowed on the trails if they are kept under control.
•The car spun out of control and hit a tree.
•Flight delays do occur, for reasons that are outside our control.

2 POWER [U] the power to make the decisions about how a country, place, company etc is organized or what it does:
•The press was freed from political control.
[+of]
•Jordan asked for editorial control of the project.
in control (of sth)
•Anti-government forces are still in control of the area.
•By the end of the year, the rebels had control over the northern territories.
•The Johnson family has effective control of the company, owning almost 60% of the shares.
•China gained control of the island in 1683.
•His son is being trained to take control of the family business.
•The Democrats lost control of Congress in the last election.
under the control of sb
•The college was under the control of a group of trustees.
•The whole of this area came under Soviet control after World War II.
•The Conservatives are hoping to regain control of the city council.
3 WAY OF LIMITING STH [C,U] an action, method, or law that limits the amount or growth of something, especially something that is dangerous:
•pest control
[+of]
•the control of inflation
[+on]
•The authorities imposed strict controls on the movement of cattle.
•an agreement on arms control (=control of the amount of weapons a country has)
under control
•Firefighters had the blaze under control by 9:44 p.m.
•Shea used diet and exercise to bring her weight under control.
•The Federal Reserve Bank raised interest rates to keep inflation under control.
rent/price/wage etc controls
•Rent controls ensured that no one paid too much for housing.
tight/rigid controls (=strict controls)
•The government favours the introduction of tighter controls on immigration.
•Police used fire hoses and dogs for crowd control.
4 ABILITY TO STAY CALM [U] the ability to remain calm even when you feel very angry, upset, or excited:
•There were sudden tears in his eyes and he paused, fighting for control.
•Davidson lost control of himself and started yelling.
•Small children can't be expected to have the same self-control (=ability to control their emotions and behaviour) as an adult.
under control
•Her voice is under control, but she is almost shaking with anger.
in control
•I felt calm and in control.
5 MACHINE/VEHICLE [C] the thing that you press or turn to make a machine, vehicle, television etc work:
•the TV remote control
•the volume control on the radio
•a car with manual controls
at the controls (=controlling a vehicle or aircraft)
•Belton, at the controls, made a perfect landing.
6 PEOPLE WHO ORGANIZE ACTIVITY [singular, U] the people who direct an activity or who check that something is done correctly, the place where this is done, or the process of doing it:
•air-traffic control
•Please stop at passport control.
•computers used for stock control
7 SCIENTIFIC TEST [C]
a) a person, group etc against which you compare another person or group that is very similar, in order to see if a particular quality is caused by something or happens by chance
control group/population/sample etc
•A control group of non-smoking women were compared to four groups of women smokers.
b) a thing that you already know the result for that is used in a scientific test, in order to show that your method is working correctly
CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT
8 COMPUTER also control key [singular] a particular button on a computer that allows you to do certain operations:
•Press control and F2 to exit.
BIRTH CONTROL, QUALITY CONTROL, REMOTE CONTROLpast tense and past participle controlled, present participle controlling [T]
1 POWER to have the power to make the decisions about how a country, place, company etc is organized or what it does:
•The Democrats continued to control the Senate until last year.
•a huge company controlling half the world's coffee trade
Labour-/Republican-/Democrat- etc controlled
•a Conservative-controlled council
2 LIMIT to limit the amount or growth of something, especially something that is dangerous:
•a chemical used to control weeds
•an economic plan to control inflation
•Development in areas of outstanding natural beauty is strictly controlled.
•Strict measures were taken to control the spread of foot and mouth disease.
3 MAKE SB/STH DO WHAT YOU WANT to make someone or something do what you want, or make something happen in the way that you want:
•Police had to be called in to control the crowds.
•a skilled rider controlling a spirited horse
•a controlling parent
4 EMOTION if you control your emotions, your voice, your expression etc, you succeed in behaving calmly and sensibly, even though you feel angry, upset, or excited:
•Sarah took a deep breath, trying to control her anger.
•He controlled the urge to laugh.
control yourself
•Newman controlled himself with an effort.
5 MACHINE/PROCESS/SYSTEM to make a machine, process, or system work in a particular way:
•a radio-controlled toy car
•A thermostat controls the temperature in the building.
control how/what/which etc
•The valves in the heart control how quickly the blood is pumped around the body.
6 CHECK STH to make sure that something is done correctly; = check, monitor
•The company strictly controls the quality of its products.

WORD CHOICE: control, manage, run, be in charge
To control something means to have the power to make it work in the way that you want, usually without anyone else being able to stop you: The army controls the north of the country. | With 75% of the shares, he effectively controls the company.
To manage something means to organize the way that it works, often with responsibility for other people's work: She manages a team of software developers. | David managed a small bookstore.
To run something such as a business means to organize it and take the important decisions about how it works, perhaps as the owner of the business: I run my own cleaning business. | Louise will be running the project.
To be in charge means to have responsibility for a situation or activity and decide what happens in it: When the Director is away, her deputy is in charge. | He's in charge of marketing.
WORD CHOICE: control, check, inspect, examine, test, monitor

!! Do not use control to mean 'check' or 'test'. Use one of the following verbs:
check or inspect means to look at something carefully to see if it is correct, safe, or legal: Your passports will be checked on arrival. | Safety officers inspected the building.
examine means to look at something very carefully in order to find out more about it: Experts who examined the letter declared it a fake.
test means to carry out an experiment or process in order to find out what qualities something has: They test blood samples for drugs. | Every car is tested to ensure that it meets high safety standards.
monitor means to keep checking or testing something over a period of time to see if it changes: Her heart rate is being monitored. | This device monitors room temperature and humidity.

[C] informal
someone who is too concerned about controlling all the details in every situation they are involved in[C]
a particular button on a computer that allows you to do certain operations $
able to be controlled:
•Diabetes is a serious but controllable disease. $
1 deliberately done in a particular way, or made to have particular qualities:
•a test held under controlled conditions
•a controlled explosion
2 limited by a law or rule:
•Access to the site is closely controlled.
•a police search for controlled drugs (=a drug that is illegal to have without permission from a doctor)
3 calm and not showing emotion, even if you feel angry, afraid etc:
•a controlled, authoritative voice[C]
a scientific test done in a place where you can control all the things that might affect the test:
•a controlled experiment to determine the effects of light on plant growth[C] law
a drug that is illegal to possess or use without permission from a doctor:
•an arrest for the possession and sale of controlled substances $ [C]
1 someone who is in charge of a particular system, organization, or part of an organization:
•air-traffic controllers
2 also comptroller formal someone who is in charge of the money received or paid out by a company or government department[C usually singular]
if you have a controlling interest in a company, you own enough SHAREs to be able to make decisions about what happens to the company
[+in]
•The firm paid over $10 million for a controlling interest in five hotels.[C]
the room that a process, service, large machine, factory etc is controlled from:
•the submarine's control room[C]
a tall building at an airport from which people direct the movement of aircraft on the ground and in the air $
causing a lot of disagreement, because many people have strong opinions about the subject being discussed:
•the controversial issue of welfare reform
•a highly controversial (=very controversial) plan to flood the valley in order to build a dam
•He is a controversial figure (=person who does controversial things) in the art world.
- controversially adverb $ plural controversies [C,U]
a serious argument about something that involves many people and continues for a long time:
•a political controversy
•the controversy surrounding Skinner's theories
cause/provoke/arouse controversy
•The judges' decision provoked controversy.
[+over/about]
•the controversy over campaign-finance issues
• Controversy arose (=began) over the use of the chemicals on fruit and vegetables. $ [C,U] medical
a BRUISE or BRUISING
- contused adjective [C]
1 a confusing and difficult problem:
•the conundrum of our purpose on earth
2 a trick question asked for fun; = riddle $ [C] formal
a group of towns that have spread and joined together to form an area with a high population, often with a large city as its centre $ [I]
to spend time getting well after an illness; = recover
•the time needed to convalesce after an operation $ [singular]
the length of time a person spends getting well after an illness:
•a long and painful convalescence $ [C]
someone who is spending time getting well after an illness
- convalescent adjectivealso convalescent hospital [C]
a place where people stay when they need care from doctors and nurses, but are not sick enough to be in a hospital; nursing home [I] technical
to move heat by convection [U] technical
the movement in a gas or liquid caused by warm gas or liquid rising, and cold gas or liquid sinking[C]
a special OVEN that makes hot air move around inside it so that all the parts of the food get the same amount of heatalso convector heater $ [C] BrE
an electrical heater that uses hot air [I,T]
if a group of people convene, or someone convenes them, they come together, especially for a formal meeting:
•a report by experts convened by the National Institutes of Healthconvenor $ [C]
1 someone who arranges for people to meet at a formal meeting
2 BrE an important official for a TRADE UNION at a factory or office
1 [U] the quality of being suitable or useful for a particular purpose, especially by making something easier or saving you time:
•Ready meals sell well because of their convenience.
the convenience of doing sth
•Most of us like the convenience of using credit cards to buy things.
for convenience
•For convenience, the German translation is printed below.
2 [U] what is easiest and best for a particular person
at sb's convenience (=at a time that is best and easiest for someone)
•These meals can be prepared in advance, and served at your convenience.
for sb's convenience
•For your convenience, the bank is open until 7 p.m.
•Services should be run to suit the convenience of the customer, not the staff.
3 [C] something that is useful because it saves you time or means that you have less work to do:
•The supermarket offers a bag-packing service, as a convenience to customers.
•a hotel with all the modern conveniences, including Internet access
4 at your earliest convenience formal as soon as possible - used in letters:
•We should be grateful if you would reply at your earliest convenience.
5 [C usually plural] also public convenience formal a public toilet
6 a marriage of convenience a marriage that has been agreed for a particular purpose, not because the two people love each other:
•In the past most royal marriages were marriages of convenience, arranged for political reasons.[C,U]
food that is partly or completely prepared already and that is sold frozen or in cans, packages etc, so that it can be prepared quickly and easily:
•We eat too little fresh food, relying instead on convenience foods.[C]
a shop where you can buy food, alcohol, magazines etc, that is often open 24 hours each day
1 useful to you because it saves you time, or does not spoil your plans or cause you problems:
•Mail-order catalogs are a convenient way to shop.
•My secretary will call you to arrange a convenient time to meet.
[+for]
•Is three o'clock convenient for you?
convenient to do sth
•It is simple and convenient to use.
2 close and easy to reach:
•The bus stop around the corner is probably the most convenient.
[+for] BrE
[+to] AmE
•restaurants convenient for shops and theatres
INCONVENIENT
1 in a way that is useful to you because it saves you time or does not spoil your plans or cause you problems:
•Conveniently, her parents are often willing to babysit.
•At that time, ice cream couldn't be conveniently bought in a store.
2 in a place that is close or easily reached:
•The hotel is conveniently located near the airport.
3 if someone has conveniently forgotten, ignored, lost etc something, they deliberately do this because this helps them to avoid a problem or to get what they want:
•You conveniently forgot to tell me she was Nick's sister. $ [C]
another spelling of CONVENER $ [C]
a building or set of buildings where NUNs live
CONVENT SCHOOL
1 [C] a large formal meeting for people who belong to the same profession or organization or who have the same interests:
•a teachers' convention
•the city's new convention center
•a convention for science fiction fans
2 [C] a formal agreement, especially between countries, about particular rules or behaviour; = pact, treaty
[+on]
•the European convention on human rights
3 [C,U] behaviour and attitudes that most people in a society consider to be normal and right; = custom
•Playing together teaches children social conventions such as sharing.
•They defied the conventions of the time by living together without being married.
by convention
•By convention, the bride's father gives her away at her wedding.
4 [C] a method or style often used in literature, art, the theatre etc to achieve a particular effect:
•the conventions of the nineteenth century novel
1 [only before noun] a conventional method, product, practice etc has been used for a long time and is considered the usual type:
•Internet connections through conventional phone lines are fairly slow.
•Bake for 20 minutes in a conventional oven; 8 in a microwave.
2 always following the behaviour and attitudes that most people in a society consider to be normal, right, and socially acceptable, so that you seem slightly boring:
•a strong believer in conventional morals
[+in]
•He is conventional in his approach to life.
3 (the) conventional wisdom the opinion that most people consider to be normal and right, but that is sometimes shown to be wrong:
•As traffic grew, the conventional wisdom was that roads should be widened to make room.
4 [only before noun] conventional weapons and wars do not use NUCLEAR explosives or weapons:
•conventional forces
5 conventional medicine the usual form of medicine practised in most European and North American countries; = western medicine
- conventionally adverb
- conventionality noun [U] $ [C] especially AmE written
someone who attends a convention[C]
a school for girls that is run by Roman Catholic NUNs $ [I]
1 to come from different directions and meet at the same point to become one thing; diverge
•The two rivers converge into one near Pittsburgh.
2 if groups of people converge in a particular place, they come there from many different places and meet together to form a large crowd
[+on]
•Reporters converged on the scene.
3 if different ideas or aims converge, they become the same; diverge
•Cultural beliefs about the role of women converge with government policies.
- convergent adjective
•The member states should start to have more convergent policies. $ [not before noun]
1 formal having knowledge or experience of something
[+with]
•Staff members are conversant with the issues.
2 AmE able to hold a conversation in a foreign language, but not able to speak it perfectly
[+in]
•Kim was conversant in Russian. $
[C,U] an informal talk in which people exchange news, feelings, and thoughts

have/hold a conversation (with sb)
carry on a conversation (with sb) (=have a conversation)
get into (a) conversation (with sb) (=start having a conversation)
make (polite) conversation (with sb) (=talk to someone in order to be polite)
engage sb in conversation
(a) conversation turns to sth (=people start talking about something)
deep in conversation (=very involved in conversation)
snatches of conversation (=small parts of a conversation)
topic of conversation
a private conversation

•a telephone conversation
•Children quickly get bored by adult conversation.
[+with]
•a short conversation with the teacher
[+about]
•a conversation about family and friends
•They had a short conversation in German and seemed to be disagreeing about something.
•It's impossible to carry on a conversation with all this noise in the background.
•'Did you have a good journey?' he said, trying to make conversation.
•He was silent, no matter how hard Sofia tried to engage him in conversation.
•After a while, the conversation turned to a friend's coming wedding.
•They were deep in conversation, relaxed and smiling.
•He could hear snatches of conversation from across the room.

$
1 a conversational style, phrase etc is informal and commonly used in conversation:
•The article was written in straightforward, almost conversational language.
2 relating to conversation:
•lessons in conversational German
- conversationally adverb $ [C]
someone who talks about intelligent, amusing, and interesting things[C]
something that provides a subject for conversation - often used humorously about objects that seem very strange or ugly $ [I] formal
to have a conversation with someone
[+with]
•She enjoyed the chance to converse with someone who spoke her language. $ formal
the converse the converse of a fact, word, statement etc is the opposite of it:
•Some teachers welcomed the change; but for the majority of teachers, the converse was true. $ formal
opposite:
•a converse example $
used when one situation is the opposite of another:
•American consumers prefer white eggs; conversely, British buyers like brown eggs. $ [C,U]
1 when you change something from one form, purpose, or system to a different one
[+into]
•The warehouse was undergoing conversion into apartments.
[+of]
•the conversion of waste into usable products
[+to]
•The British conversion to the metric system took place in the 1970s.
house/barn/loft etc conversion BrE (=when you change the use of a house, barn etc, so that it becomes apartments, a house, a room etc)
2 when someone changes from one religion or belief to a different one
[+to]
•a conversion to vegetarianism
[+from]
•Newman's conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism
3 a way of scoring extra points in RUGBY or AMERICAN FOOTBALL[C] BrE
a course for students who have some knowledge of a subject, but who need slightly different or more knowledge in order to do something:
•A qualified pilot would still need a conversion course to fly microlight aircraft. $
1
a) [T] to change something into a different form of thing, or to change something so that it can be used for a different purpose or in a different way
convert sth to/into sth
•They converted the spare bedroom into an office.
•The stocks can be easily converted to cash.
•a 19th century converted barn (=barn changed into a house)
b) [I] to change into a different form of thing, or change into something that can be used for a different purpose or in a different way
[+to/into]
•a sofa that converts into a bed
•In the process, the light energy converts to heat energy.
2
a) [T] to persuade someone to change to a different religion
convert sb to sth
•European missionaries converted thousands to Christianity.
b) [I] to change to a different religion
[+to]
•She converted to Catholicism.
3
a) [I] to change to a different set of ideas, principles, or ways of doing something
[+to]
•people who have recently converted to vegetarianism
b) [T] to persuade someone to change to a different set of ideas, principles, or ways of doing something
convert sb to sth
•She succeeded in converting me to her point of view.
newly/freshly converted
•newly converted feminists
4 [I,T] to make a conversion in RUGBY or AMERICAN FOOTBALL
preach to the converted at PREACH (4) $ [C]
someone who has been persuaded to change their beliefs and accept a particular religion or opinion
[+to]
•a convert to Christianity
•recent converts to the causeconvertor $ [C]
a piece of equipment that changes the form of something, especially so that it can be more easily used:
•a converter that allows you to view digital television on your old TV
CATALYTIC CONVERTER $
1 an object that is convertible can be folded or arranged in a different way so that it can be used as something else:
•a convertible sofa
2 technical able to be exchanged for the money of another country:
•a convertible currency
3 technical a financial document such as an insurance arrangement or a BOND that is convertible can be exchanged for money, STOCKs etc
- convertibility $ noun [U][C]
a car with a soft roof that you can fold back or remove; hardtop, cabriolet $
curved outwards, like the surface of the eye; concave
•a convex lens
•a convex mirror
- convexly adverb
- convexity noun [C,U] [T]
1 to communicate or express something, with or without using words:
•All this information can be conveyed in a simple diagram.
•Ads convey the message that thin is beautiful.
•He was sent to convey a message to the U.N. Secretary General.
convey sth to sb
•I want to convey to children that reading is one of life's greatest treats.
convey a sense/an impression/an idea etc
•You don't want to convey the impression that there's anything illegal going on.
2 formal to take or carry something from one place to another:
•Your luggage will be conveyed to the hotel by taxi.
3 law to legally change the possession of property from one person to another
1 [C] formal a vehicle:
•Wheeled conveyances of any kind are not allowed in the park.
2 [U] formal when you take something from one place to another:
•the conveyance of goods
3 [U] when you communicate or express something, with or without words:
•Facial expressions are part of the conveyance of meaning.
4 [C] law a legal document that gives land, property etc to one person from another [U] BrE
the work done, usually by a lawyer, to change the possession of property, especially a house, from one person to another
- conveyancer noun [C]conveyer $ [C]
1 a person or thing that carries or communicates something:
•the conveyer of good news
2 a conveyor belt[C]
a long continuous moving band of rubber, cloth, or metal, used in a place such as a factory or airport to move things from one place to another:
•We lifted our baggage from the conveyor belt. [T]
to prove or officially announce that someone is guilty of a crime after a TRIAL in a law court; acquit
convict sb of sth
•She was convicted of shoplifting.
convict sb on sth
•He was convicted on fraud charges.
•a convicted murderer $ [C]
someone who has been proved to be guilty of a crime and sent to prison:
•an escaped convict
1 [C] a very strong belief or opinion
religious/political etc convictions
•a woman of strong political convictions
deep/strong conviction
•The Dotens have a deep conviction that marriage is for life.
conviction that
•The students possess the conviction that they can make a difference to their community.
2 [U] the feeling of being sure about something and having no doubts
with/without conviction
•He was able to say with conviction that he had changed.
•'No,' she said, without conviction.
•It was a reasonable explanation, but his voice lacked conviction.
•It took her so much effort to speak that what she said carried great conviction (=showed she felt sure of what she said).
3 [C,U] a decision in a court of law that someone is guilty of a crime, or the process of proving that someone is guilty; acquittal
•They had no previous convictions.
•Applicants are checked for criminal convictions.
[+for]
•This was her third conviction for theft.
•the trial and conviction of Jimmy Malone
have the courage of your convictions at COURAGE (2) [T]
1 to make someone feel certain that something is true:
•Her arguments didn't convince everyone, but changes were made.
convince sb (that)
•Baker had to convince jurors that his client had been nowhere near the scene of the murder.
convince sb of sth
•The officials were eager to convince us of the safety of the nuclear reactors.
2 to persuade someone to do something; = persuade
convince sb to do sth
•I've been trying to convince Jean to come with me.
1 [not before noun] feeling certain that something is true:
•Molly agreed, but she did not sound very convinced.
be convinced (that)
•I was convinced that we were doing the right thing.
[+of]
•Researchers are convinced of a genetic cause for the disease.
firmly/totally/fully etc convinced
•Herschel was firmly convinced of the possibility of life on other planets.
2 convinced Muslim/Christian etc someone who believes very strongly in a particular religion
1 making you believe that something is true or right:
•convincing evidence of his guilt
wholly/utterly/totally etc convincing
•Courtenay played the role in an utterly convincing way.
2 convincing victory/win an occasion when a person or team wins a game by a lot of points
- convincingly adverb formal
friendly and pleasantly cheerful:
•a convivial atmosphere
- convivially adverb
- conviviality noun [U] $
1 [C usually singular] formal a large formal meeting of a group of people, especially church officials
2 [U] formal the process of arranging for a large meeting to be held
3 [C usually singular] AmE the ceremony held when students have finished their studies and are leaving a college or university $ [T] formal
to tell people that they must come together for a formal meeting:
•Separate meetings had been convoked by the two opposing factions. $
1 complicated and difficult to understand:
•long paragraphs and convoluted sentences
•The argument is rather convoluted.
2 formal having many twists and bends:
•a tightly-coiled convoluted tube $ [C usually plural]
1 the complicated details of a story, explanation etc, which make it difficult to understand
[+of]
•the endless convolutions of the plot
2 a fold or twist in something which has many of them
[+of]
•the many convolutions of the small intestine $ [C]
a group of vehicles or ships travelling together, sometimes in order to protect one another
[+of]
•The British left in a convoy of 20 cars.
in convoy
•We drove in convoy in case their car broke down again.
•a military convoy
aid/relief/food etc convoy[T]
to travel with something in order to protect it:
•American destroyers helped to convoy much-needed supplies to Britain in 1917.
1 [I] if your body or a part of it convulses, it moves violently and you are not able to control it:
•He sat down, his shoulders convulsing with sobs.
2 be convulsed with laughter/anger etc to be laughing so much or feel so angry that you shake and are not able to stop yourself
3 [T] if something such as a war convulses a country, it causes a lot of problems or confusion:
•A wave of nationalist demonstrations convulsed the country in 1919. [C]
1 a shaking movement of your body that you cannot control, which happens because you are ill; = seizure
•His temperature was very high and he went into convulsions.
2 [usually plural] a great change that affects a country:
•the 19th-century political convulsions in France
3 be in convulsions to be laughing a lot [usually before noun]
a convulsive movement or action is sudden, violent, and impossible to control:
•a convulsive sob
- convulsively adverb
•Con's body jerked convulsively.coney $ plural conies or coneys
1 [C] old use a rabbit
2 [U] rabbit fur used for making coats
1 [I] when DOVEs or PIGEONs coo, they make a low soft cry
2 [I,T] to make soft quiet sounds, or to speak in a soft quiet way:
•'Darling,' she cooed.
•a cooing voice
- coo noun [C]
bill and coo at BILL^2 (3)BrE
used to express surprise:
•Coo! That must have cost a lot!
1 [I,T] to prepare food for eating by using heat:
•Where did you learn to cook?
•Cook the sauce over a low heat for 10 minutes.
cook a meal/dinner/breakfast etc
•I'm usually too tired to cook an evening meal.
cook sth for supper/lunch/dinner etc
•He was cooking rice for supper.
cook sb sth
•She cooked them all a good dinner every night.
cook (sth) for sb
•I promised I'd cook for them.
•slices of cooked ham
•a cooked breakfast
2 [I] to be prepared for eating by using heat:
•He could smell something delicious cooking.
•Hamburgers were cooking in the kitchen.
3 cook the books to dishonestly change official records and figures in order to steal money or give people false information:
•The Government was cooking the books and misleading the public over unemployment.
4 be cooking informal to be being planned in a secret way:
•They've got something cooking, and I don't think I like it.
5 be cooking (with gas) spoken used to say that someone is doing something very well:
•The band's really cooking tonight.

PHRASAL VERBS
cook sth <=> up phr v
1 to prepare food, especially quickly:
•Every night he cooked up a big casserole.
2 informal to invent an excuse, reason, plan etc, especially one that is slightly dishonest or unlikely to work:
•the plan that Graham and Dempster had cooked up

WORD FOCUS: words meaning cook
fryin oil
boilin hot water
bakebread and cakes in an oven
roastmeat or vegetables in an oven
microwaveusing a microwave oven
grill /broil AmEusing a grill
steam
toast
simmer
poach
barbecue
stir-fry
saute
chargrill
rawnot cooked
rareused about meat that has been cooked for a short time
well-doneused about meat that has been cooked for a long time
[C]
1 someone who prepares and cooks food as their job; = chef
•He works as a cook in a local restaurant.
2 be a good/wonderful/terrible etc cook to be good or bad at preparing and cooking food
3 too many cooks (spoil the broth) used when you think there are too many people trying to do the same job at the same time, so that the job is not done well
chief cook and bottle-washer at CHIEF^1 (3) [C]
AmE a book that tells you how to prepare and cook food; = cookery book BrE[only before noun] BrE
cook-chill foods have already been cooked when you buy them, and are stored at a low temperature, but not frozen $ [C] BrE
1 a large piece of equipment for cooking food on or in; = stove AmE
•a gas cooker
2 a fruit, especially an apple, that is suitable for cooking but not for eating raw [U]
BrE the art or skill of cooking:
•a one-year cookery course
•French cookery[C]
BrE a book that tells you how to prepare and cook food; = cookbook AmE
•a recipe from a cookery book [C] old-fashioned
an outdoor kitchen where you cook food, especially in a military camp [C]
1 especially AmE a small flat sweet cake; = biscuit BrE
•a glass of milk and a cookie
•a chocolate chip cookie
2 tough/smart cookie informal someone who is clever and successful, and knows how to get what they want
3 that's the way the cookie crumbles informal said when something bad has happened and you must accept things the way they are, even though you do not want to
4 technical information that a website leaves in your computer so that the website will recognize you when you use it again
5 AmE old-fashioned an attractive young woman[C] AmE
an instrument that cuts cookies into special shapes before you bake them[only before noun] AmE
almost exactly the same as other things of the same type, and not very interesting:
•the cookie cutter approach of the urban renewal programme[C] AmE
a flat piece of metal that you bake food on; = baking tray BrE [U]
1 the act of making food and cooking it:
•My mother does all the cooking.
•I love cooking.
2 food made in a particular way or by a particular person:
•My compliments on your cooking.
•Indian cooking
•simple, basic home cooking (=good food like the food you get in your own home)
[only before noun] suitable for or used in cooking:
•The rooms all have cooking facilities (=there is cooking equipment in the rooms).
cooking pot/utensils/equipment etc
•cooking apples[C]
an apple that is usually cooked, rather than eaten raw; eating apple[U]
oil from plants, such as SUNFLOWERs or OLIVEs , used in cooking [C] AmE informal
a party or occasion when a meal is cooked and eaten outdoors:
•a cookout on the beach $ [U]
containers and equipment used for cooking comparative cooler, superlative coolest
1 TEMPERATURE low in temperature, but not cold, often in a way that feels pleasant:
•She swam out into the cool water.
•The evening air was cool.
•Relax in the sun with a cool drink.
•the cooler weather of September
2 CLOTHING clothing that is cool is made of thin material so that you do not become too hot:
•a cool cotton dress
3 CALM calm and not nervous, upset, or excited
keep/stay cool
•his ability to keep cool in a crisis
•She looks efficient and as cool as a cucumber.
•Outwardly she is cool, calm and collected.
•a cool customer (=someone who always behaves calmly)
•Keep a cool head (=stay calm).
4 APPROVAL informal very attractive, fashionable, interesting etc in a way that people admire - used in order to show approval:
•She's pretty cool.
•You look cool in denim.
•Cool bike!
•'I'm thinking of studying abroad.' 'Really? Cool.'
5 AGREEMENT spoken used to say that you agree with something, that you understand it, or that it does not annoy you:
•OK, Ryan, that's cool, I can handle that.
•'I just have to go, you know.' 'It's all right, it's cool.'
•'I'm finished.' 'Cool.'
[+about]
•My mum was cool about whatever I wore.
sth is cool with sb
•Would Friday be cool with you guys?
sb is cool with sth
•'Do you want to come over to my house and watch a video tonight?' 'I'm cool with that.'
6 NOT FRIENDLY behaving in a way that is not as friendly as you expect:
•My proposal met with a cool response.
•Luke gave her a cool look.
7 COLOUR a cool colour is one, such as blue or green, that makes you think of cool things
8 a cool million/hundred thousand etc informal a surprisingly large amount of money:
•He earns a cool half million every year.
- coolness noun [U]
•the coolness of the nights
- coolly adverb
•She nodded coolly and walked out.
1 [I,T] also cool down to make something slightly colder, or to become slightly colder:
•The air conditioning doesn't seem to be cooling the room much.
•Allow the biscuits to cool for five minutes.
•a cooling breeze
2 [I] if a feeling, emotion, or relationship cools, it becomes less strong:
•The affair had cooled, on her side at least.
•When tempers had cooled, he apologized.
3 cool it spoken
a) used to tell someone to stop being angry, violent etc:
•Come on now - calm down, cool it.
b) to stop putting as much effort into something, or pressure on someone, as you have been:
•He was getting more serious about her. It was time to cool it.
4 cool your heels to be forced to wait:
•I'll put him in a cell to cool his heels for a bit.

PHRASAL VERBS
cool down phr v
1 to make something slightly colder, or to become slightly colder:
•The air has cooled down a little now.
cool sb/sth <=> down
•A glass of lemonade will cool you down.
2 to become calm after being angry:
•After I cooled down I realized I had been wrong.

cool off phr v
1 to return to a normal temperature after being hot:
•Cool off with an iced drink.
•By late autumn Mediterranean islands have cooled off, and can have rainy days.
2 to become calm after being angry:
•He slammed the door and went for a walk to cool off.
1 the cool a temperature that is pleasantly cold
[+of]
•They went for a stroll in the cool of the evening.
2 keep your cool to remain calm in a frightening or difficult situation:
•I must keep my cool, she thought; losing my temper isn't going to help.
3 lose your cool to stop being calm in an annoying or frightening situation:
•Kenneth finally lost his cool with a photographer, and threatened to hit him.
play it cool to behave in a calm way because you do not want someone to know that you are really nervous, angry etc:
•She would not show him how upset she was. It was always smarter to play it cool. [C,U] technical
a liquid or gas used to cool something, especially an enginealso coolbag $ [C]
BrE a container that keeps food and drink cool and fresh, used on a PICNIC; = cooler AmE $ [C]
1 a container in which something, especially drinks, is cooled or kept cold:
•Mike went to fetch a bottle of wine from the cooler.
2 AmE a coolbox
3 AmE a machine that provides AIR CONDITIONING
4 the cooler informal prison
not easily excited or upset:
•We need a quick-thinking, cool-headed person for the job. [C] taboo old-fashioned
a very offensive word for an unskilled worker who is paid very low wages, especially in parts of Asia. Do not use this word.[C]
1 BrE a period of time after you have signed some types of sales agreement, when you can change your mind about buying something:
•Customers signing new life policies will have a cooling-off period of 14 days in which to cancel.
2 a period of time when two people or groups who are arguing about something can go away and think about how to improve the situation[C]
a system for keeping the temperature in a machine, engine etc low:
•a fault in the power station's cooling system[C]
a large round tall building, used in industry for making water cool [C] informal
1 AmE a RACCOON
2 taboo a very offensive word for a black person. Do not use this word.
made from the skin of a RACCOON:
•pictures of traders in coonskin caps $ [C]
a COOPERATIVE [C]
a building for small animals, especially chickens[not before noun]
having to stay for a period of time in a place that is too small:
•It isn't good for you to be cooped up in the house all day. $ [C]
someone who makes BARRELs also co-operate BrE $ [I]
1 to work with someone else to achieve something that you both want
[+in/on]
•The two universities are to cooperate in the development of a new industrial process.
•They agreed to co-operate with Brazil on a programme to protect the rain-forests.
[+with]
•Leopards cooperate with each other when hunting game.
•As chairman I was anxious to co-operate with Mr Baker as far as possible.
•The church seeks to cooperate closely with local schools.
cooperate to do sth
•Both sides agreed to co-operate to prevent illegal fishing in the area.
2 to do what someone wants you to do
[+with]
•I will advise my client to cooperate fully with the police.
•If you refuse to co-operate, I shall kill you.also co-operation BrE $ [U]
1 when you work with someone to achieve something that you both want
[+with]
•political co-operation with Britain
in cooperation with sb
•A study was undertaken in co-operation with oil companies.
•Burglar alarm companies claim they work in close co-operation with the police.
[+between]
•the lack of effective co-operation between industry and higher education
•the need to strengthen international co-operation
2 willingness to do what someone asks you to do:
•Have your passports ready, and thank you for your cooperation.
•Your full cooperation is requested.also co-operative BrE $
1 willing to cooperate; = helpful; uncooperative
•He was doing his best to be cooperative.
•a cooperative witness
2 made, done, or operated by people working together:
•a co-operative venture between the City Council and the police
3 a cooperative store, bank etc is operated by people working together as a cooperative:
•a co-operative store in a provincial town
- cooperatively adverbalso co-operative BrE [C]
a business or organization owned equally by all the people working there; = co-op
•a women-only housing co-operative
•a workers' co-operativealso co-opt BrE $ [T] formal
1 BrE to make someone a member of a group, committee etc, by the agreement of all the members:
•The committee may co-opt additional members for special purposes.
coopt sb onto/into/to sth
•She was coopted onto the county education committee.
2 to persuade someone to help or support you
coopt sb to do sth
•Social scientists were co-opted to work with the development agencies.
•Nan was coopted into the kitchen to make pastry.also co-ordinate BrE $
1 [T] to organize an activity so that the people involved in it work well together and achieve a good result:
•The agencies are working together to co-ordinate policy on food safety.
•a co-ordinated approach to economic and social questions
2 [T] to make the parts of your body move and work together well:
•Her movements were beautifully co-ordinated.
•I couldn't get my brain to function or coordinate my muscles.
3 [I,T] if clothes, decorations etc coordinate, or if you coordinate them, they look good together because they have similar colours and styles:
•Don't be afraid to mix colours, as long as they co-ordinate.
•You might coordinate your curtains and cushions.
[+with]
•The cooker is green, to co-ordinate with the kitchen.also co-ordinate BrE $ [C]
1 technical one of a set of numbers which give the exact position of a point on a map, computer screen etc
2 coordinates [plural] things such as clothes that can be worn or used together because their colours match or their styles are similar:
•Matching bag and accessories provide a complete ensemble of colour coordinates.also co-ordinate BrE technical
1 equal in importance or rank in a sentence; subordinate
•coordinate clauses joined by 'and'
2 involving the use of coordinates[C]
a word such as 'and' or 'but' which joins two words, groups, or CLAUSEs which are equal in importance or rank; subordinating conjunctionalso co-ordination BrE $ [U]
1 the way in which your muscles move together when you perform a movement:
•Too much alcohol affects your coordination.
2 the organization of people or things so that they work together well
[+of]
•the coordination of our economic policies
[+between]
•co-ordination between central and local government $ [C]
someone who organizes the way people work together in a particular activity [C]
1 a small black and white water bird with a short beak
2 old coot AmE informal an old man who you think is strange or unpleasant:
•a miserable, mean old coot $ [C]
1 informal a police officer:
•the local cop
•a narcotics cop
•He pulled out his badge and said he was a cop.
2 not be much cop BrE informal to not be very good:
•They say he's not much cop as a coach.
3 it's a fair cop BrE spoken used humorously when someone has discovered that you have done something wrong and you want to admit itpast tense and past participle copped, present participle copping [T] spoken informal
1 cop it BrE
a) to be punished or spoken to angrily because you have done something wrong:
•You'll cop it when Mum finds out!
b) to be killed
2 BrE to receive something, especially something that you do not want:
•I copped all the blame for what happened.
3 cop hold of sth BrE used to tell someone to hold something:
•Cop hold of the other end, will you?
4 cop an attitude AmE to behave in a way that is not nice, especially by showing that you think you are better or more intelligent than other people
5 cop a feel AmE to touch someone in a sexual way when they do not want you to
6 cop a plea AmE to agree to say you are guilty of a crime in order to receive a less severe punishment:
•Dunn copped a plea to avoid going to jail.
7 cop a buzz AmE to feel the effects of taking illegal drugs or drinking alcohol

PHRASAL VERBS
cop off phr v BrE informal
to meet someone and start a sexual relationship with them
[+with]
•The hero falls in love with Dee but eventually cops off with the more desirable Clare.

cop out phr v informal
to not do something that someone thinks you should do:
•As far as I'm concerned, she's copped out and joined the rat race.
COP-OUT $ [I]
1 to succeed in dealing with a difficult problem or situation:
•Sometimes I find it hard to cope.
•He coped quite well as manager while still captaining the team.
[+with]
•She feared she wouldn't be able to cope with two new babies.
•Local authorities have to cope with the problems of homelessness.
2 if a system or machine copes with a particular type or amount of work, it does it
[+with]
•No system is designed to cope with the floods we have had this year.
•My computer can cope with huge amounts of data.[C]
a long loose piece of clothing worn by priests on special occasions $ [C]
a machine that makes exact copies of writing or pictures on paper by photographing them; = photocopier[C]
a pilot who shares the control of an aircraft with the main pilot $ [C,U]
a layer of rounded stones or bricks at the top of a wall or roof $ [usually before noun]
existing or being produced in large quantities:
•He could drink copious amounts of beer without ill effect.
•She listened to me and took copious notes.
- copiously adverb
•Then she wept copiously.[C] informal
something you do or say in order to avoid doing or accepting something:
•There is plenty to do on your own doorstep; to look further is a cop-out. $
1 [U] a soft reddish-brown metal that allows electricity and heat to pass through it easily, and is used to make electrical wires, water pipes etc. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Cu
2 coppers [plural] BrE money of low value made of copper or BRONZE:
•He offered to do the job for a few coppers.
3 [U] a reddish-brown colour:
•her copper hair
4 [C] BrE informal a police officer
- coppery adjective
•coppery skin[C]
a large European tree with purple-brown leaves
able to be depended on:
•a copper-bottomed guarantee $ [C]
a poisonous yellow and brown North American snake $ [U]
neat regular curving handwriting with the letters all joined together in a very specific style, used especially in the past $ [C]
a copse[T]
to cut a tree down so that useful new wood will grow from the bottomalso coppice $ [C]
a group of trees or bushes growing close together[C] BrE informal
a POLICE STATION $ [C] AmE
a HELICOPTER $ [C] technical
a type of verb that connects the subject of a sentence to its COMPLEMENT, for example 'seem' in the sentence 'The house seems big'; = linking verb $ [I + with] technical
to have sex
- copulation $ noun [U] $ plural copies
1 [C] something that is made to be exactly like another thing
[+of]
•She forwarded them a copy of her British passport.
•This chair is a copy of an original design.
•Be sure to make copies of all the documents.
• back-up copies of your files
2 [C] one of many books, magazines, records etc that are all exactly the same
[+of]
•We have six copies of the movie to give away.
•a copy of the local newspaper
•The hardback costs £16.99 a copy.
•The record sold a million copies.
• Free copies are available on request.
3 [U] technical something written in order to be printed in a newspaper, magazine, advertisement etc:
•Now that I've seen the finished copy, I'm delighted.
4 good copy informal interesting news:
•The interviews made good copy and helped with the film's publicity.
FAIR COPY, HARD COPY, SOFT COPYpast tense and past participle copied, present participle copying, third person singular copies
1 [I,T] to deliberately make or produce something that is exactly like another thing:
•Could you copy this letter and send it out, please?
•To copy a file, press F3.
copy (sth) from sth
•a design copied from an 18th century wallpaper
•The pupils just copy from textbooks and learn facts.
copy sth into sth
•He copied the number into his notebook (=wrote the same number there).
2 [T] to deliberately do something that someone else has done or behave like someone else:
•Children often copy what they see on television.
•I found myself copying him and his mannerisms.
3 [I,T] to cheat in an examination, schoolwork etc by looking at someone else's work and writing the same thing as they have
[+from]
•Jeremy had copied from the girl next to him.

PHRASAL VERBS
copy sth <=> down phr v
to write something down exactly as it was said or written:
•I think I must have copied your number down wrong.

copy sb in phr v
to send someone a copy of an e-mail message you are sending to someone else
[+on]
•Can you copy me in on the memo you're sending to Chris?

copy sth <=> out phr v
to write something again exactly as it is written in the document that you are looking at:
•The monks copied their manuscripts out by hand.

copy sth <=> up phr v BrE
to write something again in a better or neater form:
•It is important to copy up your notes soon after the lecture. $ [only before noun]
completely suitable or correct:
•a copybook answer $ [C]
informal someone who copies other people's clothes, behaviour, work etc - used by children to show disapproval
copycat crime/attack etc a crime, attack etc which is similar to a famous crime that another person has committed:
•Crime reports in newspapers often encourage copycat crimes.[C]
someone whose job is to make sure that the words in a book, newspaper etc are correct and ready to be printed
- copy-edit verb [I,T] $ [C]
someone who made written copies of documents, books etc in the past $ [C,U]
the legal right to be the only producer or seller of a book, play, film, or record for a specific length of time:
•Who owns the copyright of this book?
•The database will be protected by copyright.
infringement/breach of copyright (=when you break the copyright laws)
- copyright adjective
•copyright material
- copyright verb [T] $ [C]
someone who writes the words for advertisements $ [U]
chicken cooked in red wine $ plural coquetries [C,U] literary
behaviour that is typical of a coquette $ [C] literary
a woman who frequently tries to attract the attention of men without having sincere feelings for them; = flirt
- coquettish adjective
- coquettishly adverb $ BrE spoken
used when you are very surprised or impressed by something $
the form used for CON- before r:
•to correlate (=connect together) $ [C]
a small round boat that you move with a PADDLE $ [U]
a hard red, white, or pink substance formed from the bones of very small sea creatures, which is often used to make jewellery
pink or reddish-orange in colour[C]
a line of hard rocks formed by coral, found in warm sea water that is not very deep $ plural cors anglais (same pronunciation) [C]
BrE a long wooden musical instrument which is like an OBOE but with a lower sound; = English horn AmEalso blimey $ BrE old-fashioned
used to express surprise $
1 [C,U] a piece of thick string or thin rope:
•The robe was held at the waist by a cord.
•He pulled explosives and some tangled cord from his bag.
2 cords [plural] trousers made from a thick strong cotton cloth with thin raised lines on it
3 [C,U] an electrical wire or wires with a protective covering, usually for connecting electrical equipment to the supply of electricity:
•the phone cord
•an extension cord
4 [C] AmE a specific quantity of wood cut for burning in a fire:
•We use three cords of wood in a winter.
cut the cord at CUT^1 (40); COMMUNICATION CORD, SPINAL CORD, UMBILICAL CORD, VOCAL CORDS
cord clothes are made from CORDUROY:
•green cord trousers $ [U]
rope or cord in general, especially on a ship $ [C,U]
1 BrE sweet fruit juice that you add water to before you drink it:
•lime cordial
2 AmE old-fashioned a strong sweet alcoholic drink; = liqueur
•an after-dinner cordial
friendly but quite polite and formal:
•The talks were conducted in a cordial atmosphere.
- cordiality $ noun [U] $
1 in a friendly but polite and formal way:
•You are cordially invited to our wedding on May 9.
2 cordially dislike/loathe etc to dislike someone or something very strongly $ [U]
an explosive used in bullets and bombs $
a piece of equipment that is cordless is not connected to its power supply by wires:
•a cordless phone
•a cordless drill $ [C]
a line of police officers, soldiers, or vehicles that is put around an area to stop people going there
[+of]
•A cordon of police surrounded the building.
[+around]
•the security cordon around the capital

PHRASAL VERBS
cordon sth <=> off phr v
to surround and protect an area with police officers, soldiers, or vehicles:
•Police cordoned off the street where the murder took place. $ [only before noun]
relating to cooking of very high quality:
•a cordon bleu chef $ [U]
a thick strong cotton cloth with thin raised lines on it, used for making clothes:
•a corduroy jacket $ [C]
1 FRUIT the hard central part of a fruit such as an apple:
•Remove the cores, and bake the apples for 40 minutes.
2 MOST IMPORTANT PART the most important or central part of something
[+of]
•The core of the book focuses on the period between 1660 and 1857.
•Debt is at the core of the problem.
3 PEOPLE a number of people who form a group which is very important to an organization:
•The business needs a new core of trained administrators.
•a core group of clients
HARD CORE
4 to the core extremely or completely
shaken/shocked/thrilled to the core
•When I heard the news, I was shaken to the core.
•That woman is rotten to the core!
•He was a bureaucrat to the core.
5 PLANET the central part of the Earth or any other PLANET
6 NUCLEAR REACTOR the central part of a NUCLEAR REACTOR
1 core curriculum/subjects/skills etc subjects that have to be studied at a school or college:
•the national core curriculum
•the core subjects of English, maths, and science
•Schools have to deliver the core skills.
2 core business/activities/operations etc the main business or activities of a company or organization:
•The core business of airlines is flying people and cargo from place to place.
•the company's core product
3 core values/beliefs the values or beliefs that are most important to someone:
•the core values of American liberalism, such as taxing the rich to help the poor[T]
to remove the centre from a fruit $ [C] formal
someone who is a member of the same religion as you $ [C]
a specially shaped knife for taking the hard centres out of fruit $ [C]
someone whose name is given in a DIVORCE because they have had sex with the wife or husband of the person who wants the divorce; respondent $ [C]
a small dog with short legs and a pointed nose $ [U] BrE
a herb, used especially in Asian cooking; = cilantro AmE $
1 [U] the BARK (=outer part) of a tree from southern Europe and North Africa, used to make things:
•a cork bulletin board
2 [C] a long round piece of cork which is put into the top of a bottle, especially a wine bottle, to keep liquid inside[T]
to close a bottle by blocking the hole at the top tightly with a long round piece of cork; uncork $ [U] BrE
the charge made by a hotel or restaurant for allowing people to bring in their own alcoholic drinks $
corked wine tastes bad because a fault in the cork has allowed air into the bottle $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
someone or something you think is very good
- corking adjective $ [C]
a tool made of twisted metal that you use to pull a CORK out of a bottle[only before noun]
twisted or curly; = spiral
•corkscrew curls $ [C]
a large black sea bird which has a long neck and eats fish $
1 [U] BrE plants such as wheat, BARLEY, and OATS or their seeds:
•fields of corn
•an ear of corn (=the top part of this plant where the seeds grow)
2 [U]
a) AmE a tall plant with large yellow seeds that grow together on a COB (=long hard part), which is cooked and eaten as a vegetable or fed to animals; = maize BrE
•All our chickens are fed on corn.
CORN ON THE COB
b) the seeds of this plant
SWEETCORN
3 [C] a painful area of thick hard skin on your foot $ [only before noun] AmE informal
cornball humour is extremely simple, old-fashioned, and silly:
•Country and Western songs always have such cornball titles.[U]
bread made from CORNMEAL[C]
crushed MAIZE formed into a small flat piece, cooked in oil, and eaten cold, especially in the USalso cob $ [C]
the hard part of a corn plant that the yellow seeds grow on $ [C]
a European bird with a loud sharp cry[C] BrE
a figure made in the past from wheat plants to celebrate the HARVEST $ [C]
the transparent protective covering on the outer surface of your eye
- corneal adjective $ [U]
1 BrE BEEF that has been cooked and preserved in a can
2 AmE BEEF that has been covered in salt water and spices to preserve it $
1 WHERE TWO LINES/EDGES MEET [C] the point at which two lines or edges meet:
•He pulled a dirty handkerchief out by its corner and waved it at me.
[+of]
•Their initials were sewn on the corner of every pillow.
in the corner (of sth)
•The TV station's name appears in the corner of the screen.
on the corner (of sth)
•Jessie sat on the corner of her bed.
three-cornered/four-cornered etc
•a three-cornered hat
2 ROAD [C usually singular]
a) the point where two roads meet
[+of]
•Ruth walked with her as far as the corner of the road.
on the corner
•The hotel is on the corner of 5th and Maine.
at the corner
•Several women were standing at the corner, talking to two police officers.
•kids hanging around on street corners
b) a point in a road where it turns sharply:
•He had tried to take the corner too quickly, and had lost control of the car.
•The petrol station is around the corner.
3 CORNER OF A ROOM/BOX [C usually singular] the place inside a room or box where two walls or sides meet
in the corner (of sth)
•There was an old piano in the corner of the living room.
corner table/seat
•I reserved a corner table in my favourite restaurant.
4 MOUTH/EYE [C] the sides of your mouth or eyes:
•A tear appeared in the corner of his eye.
5 DIFFICULT SITUATION [singular] a difficult situation that you cannot easily escape from
back/box/force/push sb into a corner (=put someone into a situation where they do not have any choices about what to do)
•Don't let your enemies back you into a corner.
•The writers have painted themselves into a corner by killing off all the most popular characters in the first series.
•He found himself in a tight corner (=a very difficult situation) looking for a way to get out.
6 SPORTS [C]
a) a kick that one team is allowed to take from one of the corners of their opponent's end of the field
b) any of the four corners of the area in which the competitors fight in BOXING or WRESTLING, especially one of the two corners where the competitors go in between ROUNDs
7 DISTANT PLACE [C] a distant place in another part of the world
[+of]
•She's gone off to work in some remote corner of the world.
•People came from the four corners of the world (=from lots of different places) to make America their new home.
8 see sth out of the corner of your eye to notice something accidentally, without turning your head towards it or looking for it:
•Out of the corner of her eye she saw the dog running towards her.
9 (just) around/round the corner
a) near:
•There's a bus stop just around the corner.
b) likely to happen soon:
•Economic recovery is just around the corner.
10 turn the corner to start to become successful or to feel better or happier, after a time when you have been unsuccessful, ill, or unhappy:
•We knew Dad had turned the corner when he started complaining about the hospital food.
11 fight your corner/fight sb's corner BrE to try very hard to defend yourself in a discussion or argument, or to do this for someone else:
•My line manager supports me, and says she's willing to fight my corner.
12 cut corners to save time, money, or energy by doing things quickly and not as carefully as you should:
•Don't try to cut corners when you're decorating.
13 cut a corner to go across the corner of something, especially a road, instead of staying next to the edges
14 have/get a corner on sth to be the only company, organization etc that has a particular product, ability, advantage etc:
•London does not have a corner on film festivals.
•The company admitted reducing prices to get a corner on the market.
KITTY-CORNER
1 [T] to force a person or animal into a position from which they cannot easily escape:
•Once the dog was cornered, he began to growl.
2 [T] to go to someone who is trying to avoid you, and make them listen to you:
•Later, he cornered Jenny on the stairs and asked her what was wrong.
3 corner the market to gain control of the whole supply of a particular kind of goods:
•They've been trying to corner the market by buying up all the wheat in sight.
4 [I] if a car corners, it goes around a corner or bend in the road[C] BrE
a small shop near houses, that sells food, cigarettes, and other things needed every day; convenience store $ [C]
1 something that is extremely important because everything else depends on it
[+of]
•The magazine became the cornerstone of McFadden's publishing empire.
2 a stone at one of the bottom corners of a building, often put in place at a special ceremony; = foundation stone $ [C]
1 a musical instrument like a small TRUMPET
2 BrE a container made of very thin cake, that you hold in your hand and eat ICE CREAM from; = cone[C] BrE
a place where corn used to be bought and sold $ [plural]
small flat pieces of crushed corn, usually eaten at breakfast with milk $ [U] BrE
fine white flour made from CORN (2), used in cooking to make soups and sauces thicker; = cornstarch AmE $ [C]
a wild plant with blue flowers $ [C]
wood or PLASTER that runs along the top edge of a wall, used for decoration:
•A carved cornice runs around the high-ceilinged room. $ [C]
a road built along a coast $ [C]
a folded piece of PASTRY, baked with meat and potatoes in it, for one person to eat[U] AmE
CORN WHISKEY $ [U]
a rough type of flour made from dried crushed CORN (2)[U]
the top part of a CORN (2) plant on which yellow seeds grow, cooked and eaten as a vegetable $ [U]
a kind of American bread made from cornmeal $ [plural]
a way of having your hair in small tight PLAITs in lines along your head $ [U] AmE
CORNFLOUR[U]
a very sweet thick liquid made from CORN (2), used in cooking $ [singular]
1 a container in the shape of an animal's horn, full of fruit and flowers, used to represent a time when there are large supplies of food
2 literary a lot of good things
[+of]
•a cornucopia of delightsalso corn liquor [U]
a strong alcoholic drink made from CORN (2) $
too silly and repeated too often to be funny or interesting:
•corny jokes
•I know it sounds corny, but I dream about her every night. $ plural corollaries [C] formal
something that is the direct result of something else
[+of/to]
•Is social inequality the inevitable corollary of economic freedom? $ [C]
the shining circle of light seen around the sun when the moon passes in front of it in an ECLIPSE $
relating to the heart; = cardiac
•coronary diseaseplural coronaries [C] informal
if someone has a coronary, their heart suddenly stops working because the flow of blood to it has been blocked by a small piece of solid blood; = heart attack[C]
one of the two ARTERIES that supply blood to the heart[C,U]
a disease which causes someone's heart to suddenly stop working, because the flow of blood to it has been blocked by a small piece of solid blood; = coronary $ [C]
the ceremony at which someone is officially made king or queen $ [C]
an official whose job is to discover the cause of someone's death, especially if they died in a sudden or unusual way:
•The coroner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.
•The coroner's court heard how Mr Banner had been shot twice in the head. $ [C]
a small CROWN worn by princes or other members of a royal family, especially on formal occasions $
1 the abbreviation of corporation :
•Microsoft Corp.
2 the abbreviation of corporal $
a plural of CORPUS $ [C]
a low rank in the army, air force etc[U]
punishment that involves hitting someone, especially in schools and prisons; capital punishment
•Corporal punishment was abolished in Britain in 1986. $ [only before noun]
1 belonging to or relating to a corporation:
•The company is moving its corporate headquarters (=main offices) from New York to Houston.
•Vince is vice-president of corporate communications.
•Corporate America is not about to be converted to the environmentalist cause.
•changing the corporate culture (=the way that people in a corporation think and behave) to accept family-friendly policies
•an advertising campaign intended to reinforce our corporate identity (=the way a company presents itself to the public)
•the yacht can be hired for corporate hospitality (=entertainment provided by companies for their customers)
2 shared by or involving all the members of a group:
•corporate responsibility
3 used to describe a group of organizations that form a single group:
•The university is a corporate body made up of several different colleges.
- corporately adverb $ [C]
1 a big company, or a group of companies acting together as a single organization:
•He works for a large American corporation.
•multinational corporations
•the Siemens Corporation
corporation tax (=tax that companies have to pay on their profits)
2 an organization or group of organizations that work together for a particular purpose and are officially recognized as one:
•the New Orleans Citywide Development Corporation
•a housing corporation
3 BrE old use a group of people elected to govern a town or city; = council $ [U]
the power and influence that large corporations have $ formal
1 relating to the body, rather than to the mind, feelings, or spirit; = physical
•corporeal desires
2 existing in a physical form and able to be touched $ plural corps $ [C]
1 a group in an army with special duties and responsibilities:
•the medical corps
•the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
2 a group of people who work together to do a particular job:
•the president's press corps
•the diplomatic corps
3 technical a trained army unit made of two or more DIVISIONs (=groups of soldiers)
!! Do not confuse with corpse (=dead body) which has a different pronunciation $ . $ [C]
the dead body of a person; = body
•The corpse was found by children playing in the woods. $ formal
fat
- corpulence noun [U] $ plural corpuses or corpora [C]
1 formal a collection of all the writing of a particular kind or by a particular person:
•the entire corpus of Shakespeare's works
2 technical a large collection of written or spoken language, that is used for studying the language:
•a corpus of spoken English
HABEAS CORPUS $ [C]
one of the red or white cells in the blood $ [C]
a fairly small enclosed area where cattle, horses etc can be kept temporarily, especially in North Americapast tense and past participle corralled, present participle corralling BrE past tense and past participle corraled, present participle corraling AmE [T]
1 to make animals move into a corral:
•They corralled the cattle before loading them onto the truck.
2 to keep people in a particular area, especially in order to control them:
•Once at the airport, we were herded to the gate and corralled into a small room.
1 having no mistakes; = right; incorrect
•If my calculations are correct, we're about 10 miles from Exeter.
•Score one point for each correct answer.
•You are absolutely correct, the Missouri is the longest river in the US.
factually/grammatically/anatomically etc correct
•The sentence is grammatically correct, but doesn't sound natural.
2 suitable and right for a particular situation:
•What's the correct procedure in cases like this?
•When lifting heavy weights, it is very important that your back is in the correct position.
3 correct behaviour is formal and polite:
•It was not considered correct for young ladies to go out on their own.
- correctly adverb
•If I remember correctly, he's Spanish.
•We must make sure that things are done correctly.
- correctness noun [U][T]
1 to make something right or to make it work the way it should:
•Some eyesight problems are relatively easy to correct.
•You have the right to see a copy of your file, and to correct any mistakes you may find.
2 to show someone that something is wrong, and make it right:
•Correct my pronunciation if it's wrong.
•'She's in Ireland now.' 'She was,' Farrell corrected him.
correct yourself
•'I,' Lady Deverill corrected herself, 'we are very happy here.'
3 if a teacher corrects a student's written work, he or she writes marks on it to show the mistakes in it
4 correct me if I'm wrong spoken used when you are not sure that what you are going to say is true or not:
•Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say you'd never met him before?
5 I stand corrected formal spoken used to admit that something you have said is wrong after someone has told you it is wrong
1 [C] a change made in something in order to make it right or better:
•I just need to make a few corrections, and then we can send it to the printer.
2 [U] spoken used to say that what you have just said is wrong and you want to change it:
•That will basically cover fifty...correction sixty percent of all charges.
3 [U] the act of changing something in order to make it right or better:
•Please hand in your papers for correction.
4 [U] old-fashioned punishment for people who have done something wrong or illegal [only before noun] technical
relating to the punishment of criminals
correctional facility/institution/centre (=a prison)[U]
a special white liquid used for covering mistakes made when writing something $ [U] formal
correctness of behaviour [usually before noun]
intended to make something right or better again:
•corrective surgery
corrective action/measures
•corrective measures to deal with the country's serious economic decline[C usually singular] formal
something that is intended to correct a fault or mistake
[+to]
•The biography is a useful corrective to the myths that have grown up around this man. $ [I,T]
if two or more facts, ideas etc correlate or if you correlate them, they are closely connected to each other or one causes the other
[+with]
•Poverty and poor housing correlate with a shorter life expectancy.
correlate strongly/significantly/closely
•Lack of prenatal care correlates strongly with premature birth. $ [C]
either of two things that correlate with each other $
[C,U] a connection between two ideas, facts etc, especially when one may be the cause of the other
[+between]
•Researchers found a strong correlation between urban deprivation and poor health.
strong/high/close/significant etc correlation
•There is a direct correlation between the best-known brands and the best-selling brands.
[+with]
•There was also some correlation with social class. formal
two or more facts, ideas etc that are correlative are closely related or dependent on each other:
•rights and their correlative responsibilities
- correlative noun [C] $ [I]
1 if two things or ideas correspond, the parts or information in one relate to the parts or information in the other:
•The two halves of the document did not correspond.
[+with/to]
•The numbers correspond to points on the map.
2 to be very similar to or the same as something else
[+to]
•The French 'baccalauréat' exam roughly corresponds to British Alevels.
correspond closely/exactly/precisely to sth
•The description of these events corresponds closely to other accounts written at the time.
3 to write letters to someone and receive letters from them:
•For the next three years they corresponded regularly.
[+with]
•She stopped corresponding with him after the death of her mother. $ [U]
1 the letters that someone sends and receives, especially official or business letters:
•A secretary came in twice a week to deal with his correspondence.
2 the process of sending and receiving letters:
•The magazine is unable to enter into any correspondence on medical matters.
(be in) correspondence with sb
•He had been in correspondence with her for several years before they finally met.
•All correspondence between us must cease.
3 a relationship or connection between two or more ideas or facts
[+between]
•There was no correspondence between the historical facts and Johnson's account of them.[C]
a course of lessons in which the student works at home and sends completed work to their teacher by post:
•I'm taking a correspondence course in business studies. $ [C]
1 someone who is employed by a newspaper or a television station etc to report news from a particular area or on a particular subject; reporter
political/foreign/legal etc correspondent
•the political correspondent for The Times
•Our correspondent in South Africa sent this report.
2 someone who writes letters:
•I'm not a very good correspondent, I'm afraid. $ [only before noun]
1 caused by or connected with something you have already mentioned:
•The war, and the corresponding fall in trade, have had a devastating effect on the country.
2 having similar qualities or a similar size, position etc to something else; = equivalent
•Sales are up 10% on the corresponding period last year.
- correspondingly adverb
•As his political power has shrunk, he has grown correspondingly more dependent on the army. $ [C]
1 a long narrow passage on a train or between rooms in a building, with doors leading off it
in the corridor
•We had to wait outside in the corridor until our names were called.
down/along the corridor
•She hurried down the corridor.
•Go down here and the bathroom's at the end of the corridor.
2 a narrow area of land between cities or countries that has different qualities or features from the land around it:
•the industrial corridor that connects Queretaro with Mexico City
3 corridors of power the places where important government decisions are made $ [C] BrE technical
a deep bowl-shaped area on a mountain $ [T] formal
to provide information that supports or helps to prove someone else's statement, idea etc:
•We now have new evidence to corroborate the defendant's story.
•Experiments elsewhere corroborate these results.
- corroboration $ noun [U]
- corroborative $ adjective
•corroborative evidence $ [I,T]
1 if metal corrodes, or if something corrodes it, it is slowly destroyed by the effect of water, chemicals etc:
•Higher levels of pollution have started to corrode pipes.
2 written to gradually make something weaker or destroy it completely:
•Corruption has corroded our confidence in the police force. $ [U]
the gradual destruction of metal by the effect of water, chemicals etc or a substance such as RUST produced by this process:
•They are sprayed with oil to prevent corrosion.
•Check for signs of corrosion. $
1 a corrosive liquid such as an acid can destroy metal, plastic etc:
•a highly corrosive substance
2 written gradually making something weaker, and possibly destroying it; = damaging
•the corrosive effect of money in modern politics $
in the shape of waves or folds, or made like this in order to give something strength:
•corrugated cardboard
1 using your power in a dishonest or illegal way in order to get an advantage for yourself; incorruptible
•Corrupt judges have taken millions of dollars in bribes.
2 immoral or dishonest:
•a corrupt society
•officials engaged in corrupt practices
3 something that is corrupt is not pure or has been damaged or partly ruined:
•corrupt data
- corruptly adverb
- corruptness noun [U][T]
1 to encourage someone to start behaving in an immoral or dishonest way:
•Young prisoners are being corrupted by the older, long-term offenders.
•They say power corrupts.
2 to change the traditional form of something, such as a language, so that it becomes worse than it was:
•The culture has been corrupted by Western influences.
3 to change the information in a computer, so that the computer does not work properly any more:
•a virus which corrupts the data on your hard drive
- corruptible adjective
- corruptibility noun [U]
1 [U] dishonest, illegal, or immoral behaviour, especially from someone with power:
•officials charged with bribery and corruption
•The investigation uncovered widespread corruption within the police force.
political/official corruption
2 [C usually singular] technical a changed form of something, for example a word:
•The word 'Thursday' is a corruption of 'Thor's Day'. $ [C]
a group of small flowers that a woman fastens to her clothes on a special occasion such as a wedding $ [C]
a piece of tight-fitting underwear that women wore especially in the past to make them look thinner $ [C]
a line of people or cars that move along slowly in a funeral $ plural cortices [C]
the outer layer of an organ in your body, especially your brain
- cortical $ adjective $ [U]
a HORMONE that is used especially in the treatment of injuries and diseases such as ARTHRITIS:
•a cortisone injection $
literary attractive and having a lot of energy, or shining brightly:
•a play with scenes of coruscating brilliance'cos BrE spoken informal
because:
•I don't get out much now cos of the children. $ technical
the written abbreviation of cosine $ [C]
a heavy weapon in the shape of a short thick pipe[T]
to hit someone with a cosh $ plural cosignatories [C]
one of a group of people who sign a legal document for their department, organization, country etc:
•Both cosignatories must sign the cheque. $ [C] technical
the measurement of an ACUTE angle in a TRIANGLE with a RIGHT ANGLE, that is calculated by dividing the length of the side next to it by the length of the HYPOTENUSE; sine $
1 dealing with the outside appearance rather than the important part of something; = superficial
•We're making a few cosmetic changes to the house before we sell it.
•Many MPs denounced the resolution as a cosmetic exercise (=something which will look good, but have no real effect).
2 intended to make your hair, skin, body etc look more attractive:
•the cosmetic industry
•cosmetic products
•Are you on the diet for health or cosmetic reasons? $ [plural]
creams, powders etc that you use on your face and body in order to look more attractive; make-up
•a range of cosmetics and toiletries[U]
medical operations that improve your appearance after you have been injured, or because you want to look more attractive $
1 relating to space or the universe
2 extremely large:
•a scandal of cosmic proportions
- cosmically adverb[C usually plural]
a stream of RADIATION reaching the Earth from space $ plural cosmogonies [C,U]
the origin of the universe, or a set of ideas about this $ [U]
the science of the origin and structure of the universe, especially as studied in ASTRONOMY $ [C]
an ASTRONAUT from the former Soviet Union $
1 a cosmopolitan place has people from many different parts of the world - use this to show approval:
•a vibrant, cosmopolitan city
•a lively hotel with a cosmopolitan atmosphere
2 a cosmopolitan person, belief, opinion etc shows a wide experience of different people and places:
•Brigitta has such a cosmopolitan outlook on life.[C]
someone who has travelled a lot and feels at home in any part of the world $
the cosmos the whole universe, especially when you think of it as a system $ [T]
to give someone as much care and attention as you can, especially too much:
•He cosseted her with flowers and champagne. $
1 [C] the amount of money that you have to pay in order to buy, do, or produce something

pay the cost of sth
meet/bear the cost (of sth) (=pay for something)
cover the cost (of sth) (=pay for all of something)
the cost of doing sth
at a cost of $10/$100 etc
high/low cost
full/total cost
extra/additional cost
rising/escalating cost
at no extra cost (to sb)
labour/transport/legal etc costs
running/operating costs (=what it costs to organize an event or run a business)

[+of]
•the cost of accommodation
•I offered to pay the cost of the taxi.
•Insurance to cover the cost of a funeral is possible.
•This doesn't include the cost of repairing the damage.
•The new building's going up at a cost of$82 million.
• low cost housing
•the high cost of production
•A cassette/radio is included at no extra cost.
•The funds will just cover the museum's running costs.
COST OF LIVING

2 costs [plural]
a) the money that you must regularly spend in order to run a business, a home, a car etc
reduce/cut costs
•We have to cut costs in order to remain competitive.
•At this rate we'll barely cover our costs (=make enough money to pay for the things we have bought).
•the travel costs incurred in attending the meeting (=money you have to spend)
•Because of the engine's efficiency the car has very low running costs (=the cost of owning and using a car or machine).
b) also court costs the money that you must pay to lawyers etc if you are involved in a legal case in court, especially if you are found guilty:
•Bellisario won the case and was awarded costs.
•He was fined £1000 and ordered to pay costs of £2200.
3 [C,U] something that you lose, give away, damage etc in order to achieve something
at (a) cost to sb
•She had kept her promise to Christine, but at what cost to herself?
social/environmental etc cost
•the environmental cost of such mining projects
•They need to weigh up the costs and benefits (=disadvantages and advantages) of regulation.
•He's determined to win, whatever the cost (=no matter how much work, money, risk etc is needed).
•We must avoid a scandal at all costs (=whatever happens).
4 [singular] especially AmE the price that someone pays for something that they are going to sell; = cost price
at cost
•His uncle's a car dealer and let him buy the car at cost (=without making a profit).
5 know/find out/learn etc sth to your cost to realize something is true because you have had a very unpleasant experience:
•Driving fast in wet conditions is dangerous, as my brother discovered to his cost!
count the cost at COUNT^1 (10)

WORD CHOICE: cost, costs, price, charge, fee, fare
Use cost to talk about paying for services and activities, rather than objects: The total cost of the trip was under $500. | I worked out the cost of the repairs.
Your costs are the amount of money you have to spend in order to run a business or to do a particular activity: The shop was not making enough money to cover its costs.
Use price to mean the amount of money that you must pay for something in a place such as a shop or restaurant: We are cutting all our prices (NOT costs) by 50% for one day only! | We were shocked by the price of a cup of coffee in London.
A charge is the amount you have to pay to have a particular service or use something: For a small charge we will also make your hotel reservations.
A fee is the amount you have to pay to enter or join something: The gallery charges no entrance fee. | The fee for membership is £25 per year.It is also the amount you have to pay for a professional service | The lawyer explained her fees.
A fare is the amount you have to pay to travel somewhere by bus, train, plane etc: I need some money for my bus fare. | His parents paid his fare to Sydney.

1 past tense and past participle cost [linking verb] to have a particular price:
•A full day's activities will cost you £45.
•His proposals could cost the taxpayer around £8 billion a year.
•How much would it cost us to replace?
not cost sb a penny (=cost nothing)
•It won't cost you a penny for the first six months.
cost a (small) fortune/a pretty penny (=have a very high price)
•It's costing us a fortune in phone bills.
cost a bomb/a packet BrE (=have a very high price)
•What a fantastic dress. It must have cost a bomb!
•Lighting can change the look of a room and needn't cost the earth (=have a price which is too high).
•Getting that insured is going to cost you an arm and a leg (=have a very high price).
2 cost sb their job/life/marriage etc when something makes you lose your job etc:
•Joe's brave action cost him his life.
•His strong stand on the issue could have cost him his job.
•Bad management could be costing this club a chance at the title.
3 cost sb dear/dearly to make someone suffer a lot or to lose something important:
•A couple of missed chances in the first half cost them dear.
•The scandal has cost Nicholson dearly.
4 past tense and past participle costed [T usually passive] to calculate the total price of something or decide how much the price of something should be:
•We'll get the plan costed before presenting it to the board.
5 it will cost you spoken used to say that something will be expensive:
•Tickets are available, but they'll cost you! $ [C]
one of two or more famous actors who appear together in a film or playpast tense and past participle co-starred, present participle co-starring [I]
to be working in a film or play with other famous actors
[+with/in]
•She's co-starring in a TV version of the 1960s thriller.
•He co-starred with Bruce Willis in the movie Die Hard.
cost-benefit analysis/study/approach technical a way of calculating the methods or plans that will bring you the most BENEFITS (=advantages or help) for the smallest cost, especially in businesscost effective
bringing the best possible profits or advantages for the lowest possible costs
cost effective way of doing sth
•the most cost-effective way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions
•The procedure is quick, easy to use and cost effective.
- cost-effectively adverb
- cost-effectiveness noun [U] $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
someone who sells fruit and vegetables in the street $ [C,U]
the process of calculating the cost of a future business activity, product etc, or the calculation itself:
•the planning and costing of staffing levels
•We were asked to prepare detailed costings for the scheme. $
1 very expensive, especially wasting a lot of money:
•a complex and costly procedure
•Such a database would be extremely costly to set up.
2 something that is costly causes a lot of problems or trouble:
•His delay in making a decision could prove costly in the long run.
- costliness noun [U]
the cost of living the amount of money you need to pay for the food, clothes etc you need to live:
•Average wages have increased in line with the cost of living.[U]
the price that someone pays for something that they are going to sell $
1 [C] a set of clothes worn by an actor or by someone to make them look like something such as an animal, famous person etc; outfit
•The film featured lavish costumes and spectacular sets.
•Hallowe'en costumes
2 [C,U] clothes that are typical of a particular place or period of time in the past:
•The dancers were all in national costume.
•performers dressed in period costume (=the clothes of a period of history)
3 [C] BrE a SWIMMING COSTUME[C]
a play that is about a particular time in history, in which people wear costumes from that time[U]
cheap jewellery that is often designed to look expensivecozy AmE $ BrE
1 a place that is cosy is small, comfortable, and warm:
•The living room was warm and cosy.
2 a situation that is cosy is comfortable and friendly:
•a cosy chat
3 having a close connection or relationship, especially one you do not approve of:
•He was accused of being too cosy with some clients.
- cosily adverb
- cosiness noun [U]plural cosies [C] BrE
a covering for a TEAPOT that keeps the tea inside from getting cold too quickly:
•a tea cosy $ [C]
1 BrE a small bed with high sides for a baby or young child; = crib AmE
2 AmE a CAMP BED[C]
BrE the sudden and unexpected death of a baby while it is sleeping; = crib death AmE $ [C] formal
a small group of people who enjoy doing the same things together, and do not like including others; clique $ technical
1 formal having the same pattern or features
2 coterminous countries share the same border $ [C]
a small house in the country:
•a country cottage
•We're staying in a holiday cottage in Dorset. $ [U]
soft white cheese made from sour milk[C]
a small hospital, usually in a country area[C]
an industry that consists of people working at home:
•Hand weaving is a flourishing cottage industry in the region. $ [C]
a person in the past who lived in a cottage $ [U] BrE informal
when a HOMOSEXUAL man goes to a public toilet with the intention of meeting other men for sex $ [U] BrE
1 cloth or thread made from the white hair of the cotton plant:
•a white cotton shirt
•Made from 100% cotton.
2 a plant with white hairs on its seeds that are used for making cotton cloth and thread
3 BrE thread used for sewing:
•a needle and cotton
•a cotton reel (=small round tube which cotton thread is wound around)
4 AmE COTTON WOOL

PHRASAL VERBS
cotton on phr v informal
to begin to understand something; realize
•It took me a while to cotton on.
[+to]
•Sarah soon cottoned on to what he was trying to do.

cotton to sb/sth phr v AmE informal
to begin to like a person, idea etc:
•I didn't cotton to her at first, but she's really nice.[C] BrE
a small thin stick with COTTON WOOL at each end, used for cleaning places that are hard to reach, such as inside your ears; = Q-tip AmE[U] AmE
CANDYFLOSS[C]
a machine that separates the seeds of a cotton plant from the cotton[only before noun] especially AmE old-fashioned
used to emphasize that you are annoyed or surprised:
•Mind your own cotton-picking business! $ [C,U]
a North American tree with seeds that look like white cotton[U] BrE
1 a soft mass of cotton that you use especially for cleaning and protecting wounds:
•She put some disinfectant on a piece of cotton wool and dabbed it on her cheek.
2 wrap sb (up) in cotton wool to protect someone completely from the dangers, difficulties etc of life:
•You can't wrap those kids in cotton wool all their lives. plural couches [C]
1 a comfortable piece of furniture big enough for two or three people to sit on; = sofa, settee
•Tom offered to sleep on the couch.
2 a long narrow bed for a doctor's or PSYCHIATRIST's patients to lie on
be couched in sth formal to be expressed in a particular way:
•The offer was couched in legal jargon. [C] BrE
a narrow bed that folds down from the wall in a train, or a comfortable seat on a night train or boat; sleeping car[C]
someone who spends a lot of time sitting and watching television $ [C]
a large brown wild cat from the mountains of Western North America and South America; = mountain lion $ [I]
1 to suddenly push air out of your throat with a short sound, often repeatedly:
•Matthew coughed and cleared his throat.
•I think I'm getting a cold or flu - I've been coughing and sneezing all day.
2 to make a sudden sound like someone coughing:
•The engine coughed and spluttered, then stopped altogether.

PHRASAL VERBS
cough up phr v
1 informal to give someone money, information etc when you do not really want to:
•Come on, cough up.
cough sth <=> up
•Insurance companies had to cough up £10 million in storm damage claims.
2 cough sth <=> up to push something out of your throat or lungs into your mouth:
•You must go to the doctor if you're coughing up blood.
1 [C] the action or sound made when you cough:
•Stuart gave an embarrassed cough.
2 [U] a medical condition that makes you cough a lot:
•She's got a terrible smoker's cough.
dry/persistent/ticklish etc cough
•Symptoms include a sore throat and dry, persistent cough.also cough syrup or cough medicine [U]
a thick, usually sweet, liquid containing medicine that helps you to stop coughing strong negative short formcouldn't
1 PAST ABILITY used as the past tense of 'can' to say what someone was able to do or was allowed to do in the past:
•By the time she was eight, she could read Greek and Latin.
•In those days you could buy a box of cigars for a dollar.
•Could you hear what I was saying?
•I couldn't get tickets after all, they were sold out.
•I knew I couldn't afford the rent.
•The teacher said we could all go home.
2 POSSIBILITY
a) used to say that something is possible or might happen:
•Most accidents in the home could be prevented.
•It could be weeks before we get a reply.
•If you're not careful, you could get into even worse trouble.
•A faulty connection could easily (=would be likely to) cause a fire.
b) used to say that something was a possibility in the past, but did not actually happen:
•Somebody could have been killed.
•I could have warned you if I had known where you were.
•He could have escaped, but he chose to stand and fight.
3 EMPHASIZING YOUR FEELINGS spoken used to emphasize how happy, angry etc you are by saying how you want to express your feelings:
•Sometimes he irritates me so much I could scream.
•I was so angry I could have killed her.
•I was so relieved I could have kissed them all.
4 REQUESTING spoken used to make a polite request:
•Could you help me with these boxes?
•Could I have a drink of water, please?
•How about Sam? Could he come along too?
•I wonder if I could just ask you to sign this.
5 SUGGESTING used to suggest doing something:
•You could ask your doctor for a check-up.
•You could always try phoning her at the office.
•Maybe we could get together sometime next week?
•Couldn't you get one of your friends to help you?
6 ANNOYANCE spoken used to show that you are annoyed about someone's behaviour:
•You could have told me you were going to be late (=you should have told me but you did not)!
•You could at least say that you're sorry.
•How could you be so stupid!
7 couldn't be better/worse/more pleased etc used to emphasize how good, bad etc something is:
•Their lifestyles couldn't be more different.
•'How are things?' 'Fine! Couldn't be better.'
•Ordering on-line couldn't be simpler.
8 I couldn't BrE spoken used to politely say that you do not want any more food or drink:
•'Would you like another piece of pie?' 'Oh, no thanks, I couldn't.'
9 could do with sth spoken to need or want something:
•I could do with a hot drink.
could do worse (than) at WORSE^1 (5)
couldn't care less at CARE^2 (5)
couldn't agree more at AGREE (1) old use
thou couldst words meaning 'you could' plural coulis [C]
a thin fruit sauce [C]
1 a group of people that are chosen to make rules, laws, or decisions, or to give advice:
•the council for civil liberties
•the UN Security Council
2 the organization that is responsible for local government in a particular area in Britain:
• local council elections
•He sent a letter to the council to complain about the noise.
County/District/City etc Council
•Northampton Borough Council
council leader/officer/worker etc
council chamber/offices
3 a group of people elected to the government of a city in the US:
•the Los Angeles city council[C] BrE
an area in a town or city with streets of council housesalso council flat [C] BrE
a house or FLAT in Britain that is provided by the local council for a very low rentcouncilor AmE $ [C] BrE
a member of a council:
•Write to your local councillor to complain.
!! Do not confuse with counsellor (=person whose job is to help you talk about and deal with your problems). plural councilmen [C] AmE
a man who is a member of the government of a city in the USplural councils of war [C]
a meeting to decide how to deal with a particular problem - used humorously[singular, U] BrE
a tax which every home in Britain has to pay to local government, based on the area and the value of the house, FLAT etc plural councilwomen [C] AmE
a woman who is a member of the government of a city in the US [U]
1 a type of lawyer who represents you in court
[+for]
•The judge asked counsel for the defence to explain.
2 keep your own counsel written to keep your plans, opinions etc secret
3 literary advicepast tense and past participle counselled, present participle counselling BrE past tense and past participle counseled, present participle counseling AmE [T]
1 formal to advise someone
counsel sb to do sth
•She counselled them not to accept this settlement.
2 to listen and give support to someone with problems:
•a new unit to counsel alcoholicscounseling AmE [U] BrE
advice and support given by a counsellor to someone with problems, usually after talking to them:
•advice and counselling for people with disabilities
group/bereavement/debt etc counselling
•a debt counselling service
[+for]
•She's been undergoing counseling for depression.counselor AmE $ [C] BrE
someone whose job is to help and support people with problems:
•Have you thought of seeing a counsellor?
student/marriage guidance/stress etc counsellor
1 FIND THE TOTAL also count up [T] to calculate the total number of things or people in a group:
•I was amazed at the number of plants - I counted 147.
count (up) how many
•Count up how many ticks are in each box.
2 SAY NUMBERS also count up [I] to say numbers in order, one by one or in groups
[+to]
•Sarah can count up to five now.
count by twos/fives etc
•It's quicker to count by tens (=saying 10, 20, 30 ...).
3 BE ALLOWED [I,T] to be allowed or accepted, or to allow or accept something, according to a standard, set of ideas, or set of rules:
•A linesman had his flag up so the kick did not count.
[+as]
•Locally produced sales by American firms in Japan do not count as exports.
•Today's session is counted as training, so you will get paid.
[+towards]
•Results from the two rounds count towards championship points.
4 INCLUDE [T] to include someone or something in a total:
•There are more than two thousand of us, not counting the crew.
count sb/sth among sth
•I count Jules and Ady among my closest friends.
5 CONSIDER STH [T] to consider someone or something in a particular way
count sb/sth as sth
•I don't count him as a friend anymore.
•You should count yourself lucky that you weren't hurt.
6 IMPORTANT [I not in progressive] to be important or valuable:
•First impressions really do count.
[+for]
•His promises don't count for much.
•His overseas results count for nothing.
7 I/you can count sb/sth on (the fingers of) one hand spoken used to emphasize how small the number of something is:
•The number of cougar attacks on humans can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
8 don't count your chickens (before they're hatched) spoken used to say that you should not make plans that depend on something good happening, because it might not:
•I wouldn't count your chickens, Mr Vass. I've agreed to sign the contract, but that's all.
9 count your blessings spoken used to tell someone to be grateful for the good things in their life
10 count the cost to start having problems as a result of your earlier decisions or mistakes:
•We're now counting the cost of not taking out medical insurance.
11 who's counting? used to say that you are not worried about the number of times something happens - often used humorously:
•Apparently the next Star Trek film (number six, but who's counting ?) will definitely be the last.
12 count sheep to imagine a line of sheep jumping over a fence, one at a time, and count them as a way of getting to sleep

PHRASAL VERBS
count down phr v
to count the number of days, minutes etc until a particular moment or event
count sth <=> down
•We are counting down the days to the end of this tour.

count sb in phr v
to include someone in an activity:
•When the game gets started, you can count me in.

count on/upon sb/sth phr v
1 to depend on someone or something, especially in a difficult situation:
•You can count on me.
•With luck, you might cover your costs, but don't count on it.
count on (sb/sth) doing sth
•We're all counting on winning this contract.
•They were counting on him not coming out of hospital.
count on sb/sth to do sth
•You can count on Dean to ruin any party.
2 to expect something:
•The presence of Paula was one thing he hadn't counted on.
count on (sb/sth) doing sth
•We didn't count on so many people being on vacation.

count sb/sth out phr v
1 to not include someone or something in an activity:
•I'm sorry, you'll have to count me out tonight.
2 to decide that someone or something is not important or worth considering:
•I wouldn't count him out. If anybody can make a comeback, he can.
3 count sth <=> out to put things down one by one as you count them:
•The teller counted out ten $50 bills.
stand up and be counted at STAND^1 (5); it's the thought that counts at THOUGHT^2 (12)[C]
1 TOTAL the process of counting, or the total that you get when you count things:
•Hold your breath for a count of 10.
2 MEASUREMENT a measurement that shows how much of a substance is present in a place, area etc that is being examined:
•The pollen count is high today.
3 lose count to forget a number you were calculating or a total you were trying to count
[+of]
•There have been so many accidents here, the police have lost count.
4 keep count to keep a record of the changing total of something over a period of time
[+of]
•I never manage to keep count of what I spend on my credit card.
5 on all/several/both etc counts in every way, in several ways etc:
•It was important that they secure a large and widespread audience. They failed on both counts.
6 at the last count according to the latest information about a particular situation:
•At the last count, I had 15 responses to my letter.
7 be out for the count
a) to be in a deep sleep
b) if a BOXER is out for the count, he has been knocked down for ten seconds or more
8 LAW technical one of the crimes that someone is charged with:
•Davis was found not guilty on all counts.
count of theft/burglary/murder etc
•He was charged with two counts of theft.
9 RANK/TITLE a European NOBLEMAN with a high rank
a countable noun has both a singular and a plural form; count noun; uncountable [C usually singular]
1 the period of time before something happens, such as a spacecraft being LAUNCHed , when someone counts backwards until the event happens
2 the period of time before an important event, when people become more and more excited about it
[+to]
•the countdown to the World Cup
[C] literary your face or your expression:
•All colour drained from her countenance.[T]
formal to accept, support, or approve of something
countenance (sb) doing sth
•I will not countenance you being rude to Dr Baxter. $ [C]
1 the place where you pay or are served in a shop, bank, restaurant etc:
•He wondered if the girl behind the counter recognised him.
2 AmE a long flat surface on top of a piece of furniture, especially in a kitchen; = worktop BrE
3 over the counter drugs, medicines etc that are bought over the counter are ones that you can buy in a shop without a PRESCRIPTION from a doctor
4 under the counter if you buy something under the counter, you buy it secretly and usually illegally:
•It's risky, but you can get alcohol under the counter.
5 a small object that you use in some games that are played on a board
6 a piece of electrical equipment that counts something:
•Set the video counter to zero before you press play.
GEIGER COUNTER
7 a computer program that counts the number of people that have visited a website
8 an action that tries to prevent something bad from happening, or an argument that is used to prove that something is wrong
[+to]
•The road blocks were a counter to terrorist attacks in that area.
1 [I,T] to say something in order to try to prove that what someone said was not true or as a reply to something:
•'I could ask the same thing of you,' she countered.
counter an argument/an allegation/a criticism etc
•He was determined to counter the bribery allegations.
2 [T] to do something in order to prevent something bad from happening or to reduce its bad effects:
•There are steps you can take to counter the effects of stress.
be/run/go counter to sth to be the opposite of something:
•Some actions by the authorities ran counter to the president's call for leniency. $
1 the opposite of something:
•a counterproductive thing to do (=producing results opposite to what you wanted)
2 done or given as a reaction to something, especially to oppose it:
•claims and counterclaims
3 matching something:
•my counterpart in the American system (=someone who has the same job that I have) [T]
to reduce or prevent the bad effect of something, by doing something that has the opposite effect:
•They gave him drugs to counteract his withdrawal symptoms.
- counteraction noun [C,U] [C]
an attack you make against someone who has attacked you, in a war, sport, or argument
- counterattack verb [I,T] $ [T]
to have an equal and opposite effect to something such as a change, feeling etc:
•Riskier investments tend to be counterbalanced by high rewards.
- counterbalance $ noun [C] $ [C]
a statement that says someone has done something wrong, made after they have said that you have done something wrong $
AmE ANTICLOCKWISE
CLOCKWISE $ [U]
the art, beliefs, behaviour etc of people who are against the usual or accepted behaviour, art etc of society:
•the counterculture revolution of the late 1960s[U]
the process of trying to stop someone SPYing on your country $
made to look exactly like something else, in order to deceive people; = fake
counterfeit currency/money etc
•counterfeit £10 notes
counterfeit goods/software etc[T]
to copy something exactly in order to deceive people; = fake
•They admitted counterfeiting documents. $ [C]
the part of something such as a cheque or ticket that you keep as a record $ [U]
military action against people who are fighting against their own country's government [U]
action that a country takes in order to stop other countries discovering its secrets $ [T] formal
to officially tell people to ignore an order, especially by giving them a different one:
•Terrorists tried to force him to countermand the order to attack. $ [C usually plural]
an action taken to prevent another action from having a harmful effect:
•new countermeasures against terrorism $ [C]
old-fashioned a BEDSPREAD $ [C]
someone or something that has the same job or purpose as someone or something else in a different place
sb's counterpart
•Belgian officials are discussing this with their French counterparts. $
1 [U] the combination of two or more tunes played together so that they sound like one tune
in counterpoint to sth
•The viola is exactly in counterpoint to the first violin.
2 [C] a tune that is one part of counterpoint
3 [C,U] when two things that are different are compared in an interesting or pleasant way
[+to]
•I have used my interviews with parents as a counterpoint to a professional judgement. $
achieving the opposite result to the one that you want:
•Sending young offenders to prison can be counterproductive.[C,U]
political or military actions taken to get rid of a government that is in power because of a previous REVOLUTION
- counter-revolutionary noun [C]
- counter-revolutionary adjective $ [T]
to sign a paper that has already been signed by someone else:
•The note must be countersigned by a doctor. $ [C]
a man who is trained to sing with a very high voice
counter-terrorist operation/team/unit etc a plan or group that tries to prevent the activities of violent political groups
- counter-terrorism noun [U]
- counter-terrorist noun [C] $ formal
with an equally strong but opposite effect [C]
a woman with the same rank as an EARL or a COUNT^2 (9)[C]
an office where accounts and money were kept in the past [usually before noun]
too many to be counted:
•a famous film clip which has been shown countless times[C]
a noun that has both a singular and plural form and can be used with 'a' or 'an'
NOUN
typical of the countryside, or made to seem typical of the countryside:
•the countrified existence of the newly rich plural countries
1 [C] an area of land that is controlled by its own government, president, king etc; nation
•the Scandinavian countries
•developing countries
•Finding a doctor can be difficult in a foreign country.
MOTHER COUNTRY
2 the country
a) land that is outside towns and cities, including land used for farming; = the countryside
in the country
•I've always wanted to live in the country.
b) all the people who live in a particular country:
•The President has the support of the country.
3 [U] an area of land that is suitable for a particular activity, has particular features or that is connected with a particular person or people:
•The Peak District is good walking country.
•mountainous country
•the rugged moors of Brontë country
4 [U] country and western music:
•I'm a big fan of country.
5 go to the country BrE if a Prime Minister goes to the country, they ask for a GENERAL ELECTION to be held[only before noun]
1 belonging to or connected with the countryside; = rural; urban
•They much preferred country life to life in the city.
2 relating to country and western music:
•a country singer[U] formal
popular music in the style of music from the southern and western US[C]
someone who is considered to be stupid because they are from an area outside towns and cities; = yokel[C]
a sports and social club, especially one for rich people[C]
someone who does not have a lot of experience and is confused by busy city life[U]
a traditional form of dance in which pairs of dancers move in rows and circles[C] BrE
a large house in the countryside, especially one that is of historical interest; stately home plural countrymen [C]
1 sb's countryman someone from your own country; = compatriot
•It was two years since I'd seen any fellow countrymen.
2 BrE a man who lives in the country rather than in a town or city[U]
COUNTRY AND WESTERN[C] BrE
the countryside house of someone who is rich and owns land [U]
land that is outside cities and towns; = the country
•The house had lovely views over open countryside.
in the countryside
•people who live in the countryside
happening or existing in all parts of a country; = nationwide
- countrywide adverb plural countrywomen [C] BrE
a woman who lives in the country rather than in a town or city plural counties [C]
an area of a state or country that has its own government to deal with local matters:
•Fairfax County, Virginia[C]
a group of people who are elected to the local government of a county, especially in Britain:
•Kent County Council[C]
a local court of law. In Britain county courts deal with private quarrels between people rather than with serious crimes. In the US they also deal with less important criminal cases[C] AmE
an event that happens each year in a particular county, with games and competitions for the best farm animals, cooking etccounty seat AmE [C] BrE
the town in a county where its government is [C]
1 a sudden and sometimes violent attempt by citizens or the army to take control of the government; = coup d' état
•Haiti's first elected president was deposed in a violent military coup.
•a coup attempt by junior officers
•He evaded capture after the failed coup.
2 an achievement that is extremely impressive because it was very difficult:
•Getting a former professional player as coach was a major coup for the club. [singular]
1 an action or event that ends or destroys something that has gradually been getting weaker
2 a hit or shot that kills someone or something $ plural coups d'état (same pronunciation) [C]
a COUP $ [C]
a car with two doors and a sloping back; sports car
1 a couple
a) two things or people of the same kind
[+of]
•There are a couple of girls waiting for you.
b) a small number of things:
•I just need to make a couple more calls.
[+of]
•You'll be all right in a couple of days.
2 [C] two people who are married or having a sexual or romantic relationship:
•a newly married couple
•the couple next door
1 [T] to join or fasten two things together
couple sth to sth
•Each element is mathematically coupled to its neighbours.
2 [I] formal to have sex

PHRASAL VERBS
couple sth with sth phr v [usually passive]
if one thing is coupled with another, the two things happen or exist together and produce a particular result; = combine
•Lack of rain coupled with high temperatures caused the crops to fail. [C]
two lines of poetry, one following the other, that are the same length:
•rhyming couplets [C]
1 something that connects two things together, especially two vehicles
2 when two things are joined or connected; = combination
•an attractive coupling of two Slavonic Dances
3 formal an act of having sex $ [C]
1 a small piece of printed paper that gives you the right to pay less for something or get something free:
•The coupon entitles you to 10 cents off your next purchase.
2 a printed form, used when you order something, enter a competition etc:
•To order, fill in the coupon on page 154. $ [U]
1 the quality of being brave when you are in danger, in pain, in a difficult situation etc; bravery; cowardice
•Sue showed great courage throughout her illness.
courage to do sth
•Gradually I lost the courage to speak out about anything.
•He did not have the courage to tell Nicola that he was ending their affair.
summon/pluck up the courage (to do sth) (=try to make yourself be brave enough to do something)
•I plucked up the courage to go out by myself.
•Driving again after his accident must have taken a lot of courage (=needed courage).
2 have the courage of your (own) convictions to be brave enough to say or do what you think is right even though other people may not agree or approve
DUTCH COURAGE
brave:
•He was wrong, and courageous enough to admit it.
•a courageous decision
- courageously adverb $ [C]
a long vegetable with dark green skin; = zucchini AmE $ [C]
1 a person or company that is paid to take packages somewhere
2 BrE old-fashioned a REP[T]
to send something somewhere using a courier $
1 of course
a) used to show that what you are saying is expected or already known and so not surprising:
•You can pay by cheque, assuming of course you have a valid cheque card.
•Of course there are exceptions to every rule.
b) also course informal spoken used to say yes or to give permission politely:
•'Can I have a word with you?' 'Of course.'
•'Can you give me a lift?' 'Course, no problem.'
c) also course spoken used to emphasize that what you are saying is true or correct:
•Of course he'll come!
well/but of course
•Well of course I love you.
2 of course not also course not spoken informal used to say very strongly that something is not true or correct:
•He asked his father if it was true. ' Of course not,' Jack said.
•'You don't mind if I call her?' 'No, course not.'
3 EDUCATION [C]
a) a series of lessons in a particular subject; = class AmE
do a course BrE
take a course
•Andy's doing a one-year journalism course.
[+on/in]
•a course on architecture
•I'm taking a course in graphic design.
•73 candidates enrolled on the course.
•For details, contact your course tutor.
b) BrE a period of study in a particular subject, especially at university; = program AmE
take/follow a course
•Students following the Honours course are expected to study Islamic History.
degree/postgraduate etc course
•entry qualifications for degree-level courses
taught course (=one which has formal lectures, rather than one in which a student studies alone)
!! course is never followed by 'of': a course in English (NOT of English)
CORRESPONDENCE COURSE, CRASH COURSE, REFRESHER COURSE, SANDWICH COURSE
4 TIME [singular] a period of time or process during which something happens
during/in/throughout/over the course of sth
•During the course of our conversation, it emerged that Bob had been in prison.
•Over the course of the next few years, the steel industry was reorganized.
in the course of doing sth
•In the course of researching customer needs, we discovered how few families have adequate life insurance.
5 DEVELOPMENT [singular] the usual or natural way that something changes, develops, or is done
[+of]
•forces that shape the course of evolution
•Meeting Sally changed the whole course of his life.
in the normal/natural/ordinary course of events
•In the normal course of events, a son would inherit from his father.
take/run its course (=develop in the usual way and reach a natural end)
•Relax and let nature take its course.
•It seems the boom in World Music has run its course.
•Gorbachev changed the course of Soviet history.
6 PLANS [singular, U] the general plans someone has to achieve something or the general way something is happening:
•They will go to any lengths to get the White House to change course.
•He will steer a middle course between pacifism and revolution.
•As long as the economy stays on course, the future looks rosy.
7 ACTIONS [C usually singular] an action or series of actions that you could take in order to deal with a particular situation:
•I agreed that this was the only sensible course of action.
take/decide on a course
•The judge took the only course of action open to him.
8 DIRECTION [C usually singular, U] the planned direction taken by a boat or plane to reach a place:
•The plane changed course to avoid the storm.
on/off course (=going in the right or wrong direction)
•The ship was blown off course.
•The aircraft was almost 10 miles off course.
•She tightened the mainsail while holding the course (=travelling in the same direction as planned).
9 on course likely to achieve something because you have already had some success
[+for]
•If he wins today, he's on course for the Grand Slam.
on course to do sth
•We're back on course to qualify for the championship.
10 MEAL [C] one of the separate parts of a meal
three-course/five-course etc meal
•The ticket includes entry and a four-course meal.
first/second/main etc course
•We had fish for the main course.
11 SPORT [C] an area of land or water where races are held, or an area of land designed for playing golf:
•a particularly difficult course
•an 18-hole course
ASSAULT COURSE, OBSTACLE COURSE (1)
12 MEDICAL TREATMENT [C] especially BrE an amount of medicine or medical treatment that you have regularly for a specific period of time
course of injections/drugs/treatment etc
•a course of antibiotics
13 in (the) course of time after some or enough time has passed; = eventually
•She'll get used to school in the course of time.
14 RIVER [C] the direction a river moves in:
•The course of the water was shown by a line of trees.
15 WALL [C] a layer of bricks, stone etc in a wall:
•a damp-proof course
as a matter of course at MATTER^1 (20); par for the course at PAR (3); stay the course at STAY^1 (7); in due course at DUE^1 (4)
1 [I always + adv/prep] literary if a liquid or electricity courses somewhere, it flows there quickly:
•Tears coursed down his cheeks.
2 [I always + adv/prep] literary if a feeling courses through you, you feel it suddenly and strongly:
•His smile sent waves of excitement coursing through her.
3 [I,T] to chase rabbits with dogs as a sport $ [C] BrE
a book that students use regularly during a set of lessons on a particular subject; = textbook $ [U]
computer software that is designed to teach people a particular subject $ [U]
work that students do during a course of study, rather than in examinations, and that forms part of their final mark $
1 FOR DECIDING ABOUT A LEGAL CASE [C,U] the place where a trial is held, or the people there, especially the judge and the JURY who examine the evidence and decide whether someone is guilty or not guilty

court of law
court case
appear in court
go to court
take sb to court (=bring a legal case against someone)
bring a case to court
a case comes to court
settle sth out of court (=reach an agreement about a dispute without using the court)
be thrown out of court (=a judge refuses to consider a case)
a case is heard in court (=a case is dealt with by a court)
the court (=the judge, the jury, and the other people in a court)
criminal court (=a court where cases about crimes are heard)
civil court (=a court where cases about civil disagreements are heard)

•A crowd of reporters had gathered outside the court.
•It could not be proved in a court of law.
•The court case lasted six weeks.
•Four people will appear in court today, charged with possessing explosives.
•I'd rather resolve our differences without going to court.
•She threatened to take the magazine to court if they didn't publish an immediate apology.
•We hadn't enough evidence to bring the case to court.
•Victims are often not told when a case comes to court.
•In the end the matter was settled out of court.
•The case was thrown out of court.
• The court ruled that no compensation was due.
• The court upheld the earlier decision (=decided that the earlier decision was correct).
•Dr Porter told the court that the post-mortem revealed signs of strangulation.
COUNTY COURT, CROWN COURT, HIGH COURT, KANGAROO COURT, MAGISTRATES' COURT, SMALL CLAIMS COURT, STATE COURT, SUPREME COURT, TRIBUNAL

2 FOR PLAYING A SPORT [C] an area made for playing games such as tennis; field, pitch
squash/tennis/basketball etc court
•Can you book a squash court for tomorrow?
on court
•The players are due on court in an hour.
3 KING/QUEEN
a) [C] the place where a king or queen lives and works:
•the royal courts of Europe
b) the court the king, queen, their family, and their friends, advisers etc:
•Several members of the court were under suspicion.
•There was a taste in court circles for romantic verse.
• Court officials denied the rumours.
4 hold court formal to speak in an interesting, amusing, or forceful way so that people gather to listen
[+to]
•Dylan was holding court upstairs to a group of fans.
5 pay court to sb old-fashioned to give someone a lot of attention to try and make them like you
6 AREA NEXT TO A BUILDING [C] a COURTYARD
the ball is in sb's court at BALL^1 (7); be laughed out of court at LAUGH^1 (6); FOOD COURT

WORD FOCUS: court
people in a court of law:
judge
magistrate
jury
defence BrE /defenseAmE
prosecution
defendant
witness
attorney
lawyer
barrister BrE
solicitor BrE
district attorney AmE
what happens in a court case: At the beginning of the trial, the person who is accusedpleads guilty or
not guilty to the
charges against them. The lawyers for the prosecution try to
prove that the defendant is guilty, and the lawyers for the defence try to prove that their client is innocent. The judge and the jury
examine the evidence and listen to the
testimony of the witnesses. At the end of the trial, the judge then
sums up the case, and the jury then
gives their verdict. If the person is
found guilty, the judge
sentences them to a period of time in prison, or orders them to pay a
fine. If the person is
found not guilty, they are
released.
[T]
1 to try hard to please someone, especially because you want something from them:
•His campaign team have assiduously courted the media.
2 court danger/death etc formal to behave in a way that makes danger etc more likely:
•To have admitted this would have courted political disaster.
3 be courting old-fashioned if a man and a woman are courting, they are having a romantic relationship and may get married:
•That was back in the 1960s when we were courting.
4 old-fashioned if a man courts a woman, he spends time being nice to her because he hopes to marry her[C]
BrE the king, queen, or JACK in a set of playing cards; = face card AmE[C] BrE
someone who reports the news relating to a royal family for a newspaper or television company[plural]
the costs of taking a case to court:
•You could be ordered to pay court costs. $
polite and showing respect for other people; discourteous
•The staff are always courteous and helpful.
•a courteous reply $ [C]
a woman who had sex with rich or important men for money in the past; prostitute $ plural courtesies
1 [U] polite behaviour and respect for other people; = politeness; discourtesy
•It's a matter of common courtesy to acknowledge letters.
have the courtesy to do sth
•He didn't even have the courtesy to call and say he couldn't come.
2 [C] something you do or say to be polite:
•The two men exchanged courtesies before getting down to business.
3 (by) courtesy of sb by someone's permission or kindness, rather than by paying them:
•photographs supplied courtesy of Blenheim Palace
4 (by) courtesy of sth if one thing happens courtesy of another, the second thing caused the first:
•Healy received a deep cut on his left hand, courtesy of Nicol's ice skate.
5 do sb the courtesy of doing sth to be polite enough to do something for someone:
•At least do me the courtesy of telling the truth.[only before noun]
1 provided free to a customer by a company
courtesy bus/taxi/car/phone etc
•The hotel runs a courtesy bus from the airport.
•Most reviewers receive a courtesy copy of the book.
2 courtesy visit/call a visit etc done to be polite or show respect:
•Our captain put in a courtesy visit during dinner. $ [C] AmE
a building containing law courts and government offices $ [C]
someone in the past with an important position at a royal court $
graceful and polite:
•a tall man with courtly manners
- courtliness noun [U] $
[C,U] a court that judges soldiers etc who may have broken military law, or an occasion when this judgment is made:
•Navy commanders recommended that he be tried by court-martial.past tense and past participle court-martialled, present participle court-martialling BrE past tense and past participle court-martialed, present participle court-martialing AmE [T]
to hear and judge someone's case in a military court:
•The drill instructor was court-martialed for having sex with a trainee.[singular]
the highest law court in Britain apart from the HOUSE OF LORDS[singular]
one of 12 law courts in the US that deals with cases when people are not satisfied with the judgment given by a lower court; appellate courtplural courts of inquiry [C]
BrE a group of people chosen to discover the facts about something such as a serious accident; grand juryalso law court plural courts of law [C]
a place where law cases are judged; = court[C]
an order or decision made by a law court:
•His computer was seized under a court order.[C]
someone whose job is to record everything that is said during a court case $ [C]
a room in a law court where cases are judged $
1 [C,U] the period of time during which a man and woman have a romantic relationship before marrying
2 [U] special behaviour used by animals to attract each other for sex:
•courtship rituals[C]
BrE a type of plain formal shoe worn by women; = pump AmE $ [C]
an open space that is completely or partly surrounded by buildings:
•the castle courtyard [U]
a type of North African food made of crushed wheat [C]
1 the child of your UNCLE or AUNT
FIRST COUSIN, KISSING COUSIN, SECOND COUSIN
2 something that has the same origins as something else
[+of/to]
•a drug that is a chemical cousin to amphetamines
close/distant cousin
•The Alaskan brown bear is a close cousin of the grizzly bear.
3 someone or something that is similar to someone or something else:
•His avant-garde music, sometime cousin to jazz, had limited appeal.also haute-couture $ [U]
the design and production of expensive and fashionable clothes, or the clothes themselves:
•a couture collection $ [C]
1 part of the coast where the land curves round so that the sea is partly surrounded by land; bay
•The last fishing boats left the cove.
2 BrE old-fashioned a man [C]
a group or meeting of WITCHes [C]
a legal agreement in which someone promises to pay a person or organization an amount of money regularly; endowment
- covenant verb [I,T]
•He covenanted to pay £30 a month into the fund. $
send sb to Coventry BrE to refuse to speak to someone in order to punish them, show disapproval etc $ [T]
1 HIDE/PROTECT also cover up to put something over or be over something in order to hide, close, or protect it:
•Cover the pot and bake for an hour.
•She wore a low-cut dress, partly covered by a thin shawl.
cover sth with sth
•Dan covered his face with his hands.
2 LAYER if something covers a surface, it forms a layer over it:
•Grey mould covered the walls.
•Much of the country is covered by snow.
cover sth with/in sth
•The bulletin board was covered with messages.
•The eruption of the volcano covered states as far away as Montana in a fine layer of ash.
3 INCLUDE to include or deal with a particular subject or group of things:
•The course covers all aspects of business and law.
•Are there any areas you feel are not covered adequately in the book?
•'Exercise' is a word which covers a vast range of activities.
•We need more time to cover so much ground (=include so many things).
•pollutants that are not covered by the Kyoto agreement
4 DISTANCE to travel a particular distance:
•They were hoping to cover 40 miles yesterday.
•A leopard can cover a lot of ground very quickly.
5 AREA to spread over an area:
•The city covers 25 square miles.
6 NEWS to report the details of an event for a newspaper or a television or radio programme:
•I'd just returned from covering the Cambodian war.
7 MONEY if a sum of money covers the cost of something, it is enough to pay for it:
•The award should be enough to cover her tuition fees.
•Airlines are raising fares to cover the rising costs of fuel.
8 INSURANCE if your insurance covers you or your possessions, it promises to pay you money if you have an accident, something is stolen etc:
•Most policies cover accidental damage to pipes.
•The treatment wasn't covered by her healthcare insurance.
cover sb against/for sth
•Are we covered for theft?
cover sb to do sth
•He thought he was covered to drive the vehicle.
9 GUNS
a) to protect someone by being ready to shoot anyone who attacks them:
•I'll make for the door - cover me, will you?
b) to aim a gun at a person or a place where people might be, in order to prevent them from moving or escaping:
•He stepped into the doorway and swung the gun up to cover the corridor.
10 SPORT to stay close to a member of the opposing team or a part of the field in order to prevent your opponents from gaining points
11 MUSIC to perform or record a song that was originally recorded by another artist:
•They've covered several hits from the 1980s.
12 cover (all) the bases to make sure you can deal with any situation or problem so that nothing bad happens:
•Parents are already stressed trying to cover the bases at home and at work.
13 cover yourself (against sth) also cover your back cover your butt/ass AmE to do things in a way that will prevent people from blaming or criticizing you:
•Doctors are concerned to cover themselves against charges of negligence.
•He copied Stella in on the email just to cover his back.
14 cover your tracks to try to hide something you have done so that other people do not find out:
•He started to destroy documents to cover his tracks.

PHRASAL VERBS
cover for sb phr v
1 to do the work that someone else usually does, because they are not there:
•Who's covering for you while you're away?
2 to prevent someone from getting into trouble by lying for them, especially about where they are or what they are doing

cover sth <=> over phr v
to put something on top of something else so that it is completely hidden:
•The female lays a single egg and covers it over.

cover up phr v
1 cover sth <=> up to put something over something else so that it cannot be seen:
•Her legs were so swollen she had to cover them up.
2 cover sth <=> up to prevent people from discovering mistakes or unpleasant facts; whitewash
•The whole thing was covered up and never reached the papers.
•Mum is worried, but she covers it up by joking.
COVER-UP
3 cover up for sb to protect someone by hiding unpleasant facts about them:
•They covered up for Kirk by refusing to answer any questions.
4 to put clothes, BLANKETs etc over yourself in order to protect or hide your body, or to keep yourself warm:
•Cover up, or stay out of the sun.
cover yourself up
•Hastily, she covered herself up with the towel.
1 PROTECTION [C] something that is put on top of something else to protect it; lid
•a blue duvet cover
•a plastic cover
•A dust cover (=to keep dirt etc off) hung over the painting.
2 BOOKS [C] the outer front or back part of a magazine, book etc:
•His photo's on the cover of Newsweek again.
front/back cover
•an advertisement on the back cover
•I read the magazine from cover to cover (=all of it).
cover photo/shot/picture (=picture on the front cover)
•The cover shot was of three guys in army kit.
3 BED the covers [plural] the sheets etc that you put over yourself when you are in bed:
•The covers had slipped off in the night.
4 SHELTER [U] shelter or protection from bad weather or attack
run/dive for cover
•He was shot in the head as he ran for cover.
•We were forced to take cover in a barn.
•Three soldiers broke cover (=left the place where they were hiding).
5 INSURANCE [U] BrE the protection an insurance gives you, so that it pays you money if you are injured, something is stolen etc; = coverage AmE
•temporary medical cover
[+against/for]
•cover against fire and theft
6 WAR [U] military protection and support given to aircraft, ships etc that are likely to be attacked:
•fighters used as cover for ground troops
7 PLANTS [U] trees and plants that grow in large numbers on a piece of land:
•Once the forest cover is felled, rains wash away the soil.
•With its spreading stems, ivy makes good ground cover.
8 WEATHER [U] clouds, snow etc that partly hide the sky or the ground
cloud/snow/fog etc cover
•Cloud cover in the morning should clear later.
9 WORK [U] an arrangement in which people do a job or provide a service, especially because the people who normally do it are not there; backup
•It's your responsibility to arrange adequate cover for holiday periods.
•night-time ambulance cover
10 MUSIC also cover version [C] a new recording of a song, piece of music etc that was originally recorded by a different artist:
•She's opted to do a cover version for her first single.
11 SECRET [C usually singular] behaviour or activities that seem normal or honest but are being used to hide something bad or illegal
[+for]
•The gang used the shop as a cover for drug deals.
•All that toughness is just a cover for his inability to show affection.
12 under cover
a) pretending to be someone else in order to do something secretly:
•She was working under cover to get information on drug gangs.
b) under a roof or other structure:
•The aircraft is displayed under cover in the USAF Gallery.
13 under (the) cover of darkness/night literary hidden by the darkness of night:
•They escaped under cover of darkness.
14 under plain cover/under separate cover if a letter etc is sent under plain cover or under separate cover, it is sent in a plain envelope or a separate envelope:
•The bill will be sent to you later under separate cover. [U]
1 when a subject or event is reported on television or radio, or in newspapers
media/press etc coverage
•The allegations received widespread media coverage.
• live coverage of the match (=the match is broadcast at the same time that it is happening)
2 AmE the protection an insurance company gives you, so that it pays you money if you are injured, something is stolen etc; = cover BrE
•health care coverage
3 the range of subjects and facts included in a book, programme, class etc
[+of]
•Prestel's website provides good coverage of the subject.
4 when something affects or covers a particular area or group of things:
•More satellites are needed to provide telephone coverage in remote areas. $ [plural]
AmE a piece of clothing that you wear over all your clothes to protect them; = overalls BrE[C]
money that you have to pay in a restaurant in addition to the cost of the food and drinks, especially when there is a band or dancing $
1 having a roof:
•a covered arena
2 having a layer of something on top:
•snow-covered hills[C]
an attractive young woman whose photograph is on the front cover of a magazine
1 [singular] something that covers or hides something:
•a light covering of snow
2 coverings [plural] a layer of something such as paper, wood, or cloth used to cover walls, floors etc:
•colourful wall coverings[C]
BrE a letter that you send with documents or a package that gives information about its contents; = cover letter AmE
•Send your CV and a covering letter to the address below. $ [C] old-fashioned
a cloth cover for a bed; = bedspread[C] AmE
a covering letter[C] BrE
a document that proves you have car insurance[C, usually singular]
the price printed on the front of a book, magazine etc:
•10p of the cover price goes directly to charity.[C]
the main story that appears with a picture on the front cover of a newspaper or magazine $
secret or hidden; overt
•covert operations against the government[C]
a group of thick bushes where animals can hide[C]
an attempt to prevent the public from discovering the truth about something; whitewash
•He accused the government of a cover-up.
COVER UP (2) [T] formal
to have a very strong desire to have something that someone else has:
•The Michelin Awards are coveted by restaurants all over the world. formal
having a very strong desire to have something that someone else has:
•They began to cast covetous eyes on their neighbours' fields.
- covetously adverb
- covetousness noun [U] [C]
1 a large female animal that is kept on farms and used to produce milk or meat; bull
2 a male or female animal of this type; bull
•a herd of cows
3 the female of some large animals, such as the ELEPHANT or the WHALE; bull
4 BrE spoken not polite an offensive word for a woman who you think is stupid or unpleasant
5 have a cow informal to be very angry or surprised about something
6 till the cows come home informal for a very long time, or for ever
CASH COW, MAD COW DISEASE, SACRED COW[T usually passive]
to frighten someone in order to make them do something
cow sb into sth
•The protesters had been cowed into submission by the police. $ [C]
someone who is not at all brave:
•Try it. Don't be such a coward.
- cowardly adjective
•a cowardly attack on a defenceless manalso cowardliness $ [U]
lack of courage; bravery
•cowardice in the face of danger [C]
a small bell [C]
1 in the US, a man who rides a horse and whose job is to care for cattle
2 BrE someone who is dishonest in business, or who produces very bad quality work:
•a firm of cowboy builders
3 cowboys and Indians a game played by children who fight while pretending to be cowboys and Native Americans[C]
a hat with a wide circular edge and a soft round top; Stetson $ [C]
a piece of metal on the front of a train that pushes things off the track[C] AmE
a round flat mass of dry solid waste from a cow; = cow pat $ [I]
to bend low and move back because you are frightened
[+back/against/under etc]
•He cowered against the wall. $ [C]
in the US, a woman who rides a horse and whose job is to care for cattle [C]
someone whose job is to care for cattle; rancher [C,U]
the skin of a cow or the leather made from it [C]
1 a large HOOD that covers your head and shoulders:
•a monk in a dark habit and cowl
2 a cover for a CHIMNEY [C]
hair that sticks up on your head [C]
a metal cover for an aircraft engine[C]
the neck on a piece of clothing that falls in folds at the front $ [C]
someone who works with you and has a similar position; = colleague [C]
a round flat mass of solid waste from a cow; = cow chip AmE[C] AmE informal
a COW CHIP $ [C] AmE old-fashioned
a COWBOY [C]
a small shiny shell that was used in the past as money in parts of Africa and Asia [C]
a building where cows are kept [C]
a small European wild plant with sweet smelling yellow flowers $ [C]
someone who controls the direction of a rowing boat, especially in races
- cox verb [T] $ [C] old-fashioned
a stupid man who is too proud of his clothes and appearance $ [C]
a cox
1 shy or pretending to be shy in order to attract people's interest:
•She gave him a coy smile.
2 unwilling to give information about something; open
[+about]
•Tania was always coy about her age.
- coyly adverb
- coyness noun [U] $ [C]
a small wild dog that lives in North West America and Mexico [C]
an animal like a BEAVER, kept on farms for its fur $ BrE informal
because [T] old-fashioned
to trick or deceive someone $
the usual American spelling of COSY $ [C] BrE informal
a SWIMMING COSTUME [C] AmE
Certified Public Accountant an ACCOUNTANT who has passed all his or her examinations $ [U]
cardiopulmonary resuscitation when you breathe into someone's mouth and press repeatedly on their chest in order to make them breathe again and make their heart start beating again after it has stopped [C] technical
central processing unit the part of a computer that controls what it does
1 [C] a sea animal with a hard shell, five legs on each side, and two large CLAWs ; crustacean
2 [U] the flesh of this animal that you can cook and eat:
•crab meat
•dressed crab (=prepared for eating)
3 crabs [plural] informal a medical condition in which a type of LOUSE (=insect) is in the hair around sexual organs
4 [singular] AmE informal someone who becomes annoyed easily about unimportant things[C]
a small sour apple, or the tree it grows on
literary writing which is crabbed is small, untidy, and difficult to read
easily annoyed by unimportant things; = bad-tempered
•a crabby old man
•You're a bit crabby this morning. $ [U] AmE
a kind of rough grassalso crabways
sideways:
•I moved crabwise along the edge of the cliff.
1 BREAK [I,T] to break or to make something break, either so that it gets lines on its surface, or so that it breaks into pieces:
•Don't put boiling water in the glass or it will crack.
•Concrete is liable to crack in very cold weather.
•He picked up a piece of rock and cracked it in half.
•She fell and cracked a bone in her leg.
•He cracked a couple of eggs into a pan.
2 SOUND [I,T] to make a quick loud sound like the sound of something breaking, or to make something do this:
•Thunder cracked overhead.
•He cracked his whip and galloped off.
•Dennis rubbed his hands together and cracked his knuckles.
3 HIT [T] to hit someone or something hard
crack sth on sth
•I slipped and cracked my head on the door.
•She cracked him over the head with a hammer.
4 NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE [I] to be unable to continue doing something because there is too much pressure and you do not have the mental strength to continue
[+under]
•Some young executives crack under the pressure of having to meet tough sales targets every month.
•He cracked under interrogation and confessed.
5 VOICE [I] if your voice cracks, it starts to sound different because you are feeling strong emotions:
•His voice cracked slightly as he tried to explain.
6 SOLVE/UNDERSTAND [T] to find the answer to a problem or manage to understand something that is difficult to understand; = solve
•I think we've cracked the problem of the computer crashing all the time.
•It took them nearly two months to crack the code.
•This new evidence could help detectives to crack the case.
7 STOP SB [T] informal to stop a person from being successful:
•His political enemies have never managed to crack him.
8 OPEN A SAFE [T] to open a SAFE illegally in order to steal the things inside it
9 COMPUTER [T] to illegally copy computer software or change free software which may lack certain features of the full VERSION, so that the free software works in the same way as the full version:
•You can find out how to crack any kind of software on the web.
10 crack it BrE informal to manage to do something successfully:
•I think we've cracked it!
•He seems to have got it cracked.
11 crack a joke informal to tell a joke:
•He kept cracking jokes about my appearance.
12 crack open a bottle BrE informal to open a bottle of alcohol for drinking:
•We cracked open a few bottles.
13 get cracking informal to start doing something or going somewhere quickly:
•I think we need to get cracking if we're going to catch this train.
14 crack the whip informal to make people work very hard
15 sth is not all/everything it's cracked up to be informal used to say that something is not as good as people say it is:
•I thought the film was OK, but it's not all it's cracked up to be.

PHRASAL VERBS
crack down phr v
to become more strict in dealing with a problem and punishing the people involved
[+on]
•The government is determined to crack down on terrorism.
•The police are cracking down hard on violent crime.
CRACKDOWN

crack into sth phr v
to secretly enter someone else's computer system, especially in order to damage the system or steal the information stored on it; hack
•A teenager was accused of cracking into the company's network.

crack on phr v BrE informal
to continue working hard at something in order to finish it
[+with]
•I need to crack on with my project work this weekend.

crack up phr v informal
1 crack (sb) up to laugh a lot at something, or to make someone laugh a lot:
•Everyone in the class just cracked up.
•She's so funny. She cracks me up.
2 to become unable to think or behave sensibly because you have too many problems or too much work:
•I was beginning to think I was cracking up!
1 GAP [C] a very narrow space between two things or two parts of something
[+between]
•He squeezed into a crack between two rocks.
[+in]
•He could see them through a crack in the door.
•She opened the door a crack and peeped into the room.
2 BREAK [C] a thin line on the surface of something when it is broken but has not actually come apart
[+in]
•There were several small cracks in the glass.
3 WEAKNESS [C] a weakness or fault in an idea, system, or organization
[+in]
•The cracks in their relationship were starting to show.
•The first cracks are beginning to appear in the economic policy.
4 SOUND [C] a sudden loud sound like the sound of a stick being broken
loud/sharp crack
•There was a sharp crack as the branch broke off.
[+of]
•We could hear the crack of gunfire in the distance.
•a crack of thunder
5 JOKE [C] informal a clever joke or rude remark
[+about]
•I didn't like his crack about her being overweight.
•He's always making cracks about how stupid I am.
6 ATTEMPT [C] informal an attempt to do something; = shot
[+at]
•I'd like a crack at climbing that mountain.
•The competition's open to anyone - why don't you have a crack?
7 DRUG [U] an illegal drug that some people take for pleasure:
•crack addicts
8 BODY [C] informal the space between someone's BUTTOCKs
9 a crack on the head a hard hit on the head:
•You've had a nasty crack on the head and you need to rest.
10 a crack in sb's voice a change in someone's voice because they are feeling very upset:
•He noticed the crack in her voice as she tried to continue.
11 the crack of dawn very early in the morning
at the crack of dawn
•We were up at the crack of dawn.
12 COMPUTER [C] a piece of information or computer CODE that lets you illegally change free software which may lack certain features of the full VERSION, so that the free software works in the same way as the full version
13 a fair crack of the whip BrE informal the same chance as other people to do something:
•They feel they haven't been given a fair crack of the whip.[only before noun]
1 with a lot of experience and skill:
•crack troops
•a crack regiment
•a crack sportsman
2 crack shot someone who is able to shoot a weapon very well and hit the thing they are aiming atplural crack babies [C]
a baby that is born with medical and mental problems because its mother regularly smoked the illegal drug CRACK before the baby was born [C usually singular]
action that is taken to deal more strictly with crime, a problem, protests etc
[+on/against]
•a military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations
•the government's crackdown against drugs
crack down at CRACK^1
1 something that is cracked has one or more lines on the surface because it is damaged but not completely broken:
•The mirror was cracked and dirty.
•dry, cracked lips
•He escaped with a cracked rib and bruising.
2 someone's voice that is cracked sounds rough and uncontrolled
3 [not before noun] informal slightly crazy $ [C]
1 a hard dry type of bread in small flat shapes, that is often eaten with cheese
2 also Christmas cracker a decorated paper tube that makes a small exploding sound when you pull it apart. Crackers contain a small gift, a paper hat, and a joke, and are used at Christmas in Britain.
3 a FIRECRACKER
4 BrE spoken something that is very good or funny:
•That was a cracker of a goal.
5 someone who illegally breaks into a computer system in order to steal information or stop the system from working properly; = hacker
•computer crackers
6 BrE old-fashioned informal a very attractive woman $ [not before noun]
crazy:
•You lent him all that money? You must be crackers! [C] informal
someone who uses the illegal drug CRACK[C]
a place where the illegal drug CRACK is sold, bought, and smoked [only before noun] BrE informal
very good, exciting etc; = great
•We've got two cracking games to look forward to. [I]
to make repeated short sounds like something burning in a fire:
•logs crackling on the fire
•An announcement crackled over the tannoy.
- crackle noun [C]
- crackly adjective
1 [singular, U] the sound made by something when it crackles:
•There was silence except for the crackling of the fire.
2 [U] BrE the hard skin on a piece of pig meat when it has been cooked for a long time
3 cracklings [plural] AmE pieces of skin, usually from a pig or chicken, that have been cooked in hot oil and are eaten cold $ [C]
someone who is slightly crazy
- crackpot adjective
•crackpot schemes[C]
1 a NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
2 AmE an accident involving one or more vehicles
crack up at CRACK^1
1 [C] a small bed for a baby, especially one that moves gently from side to side; cot
•She rocked the cradle to quieten the child.
2 the cradle of sth formal the place where something important began:
•Athens is often regarded as the cradle of democracy.
3 from (the) cradle to (the) grave all through your life:
•From cradle to grave, the car marks every rite of American passage.
4 [singular] the beginning of something:
•Like most Catholic children, he had heard stories of Ireland from the cradle.
5 [C] a structure that is used to lift something heavy up or down:
•a window-cleaner's cradle
6 [C] the part of a telephone where you put the RECEIVER when you are not using it:
•She replaced the receiver on the cradle.
CAT'S CRADLE; rob the cradle at ROB (5)[T]
1 to hold something gently, as if to protect it:
•John cradled the baby in his arms.
2 to hold a telephone RECEIVER by putting it between your ear and your shoulder:
•She hunched over the desk, telephone cradled at her neck.also cradle-snatcher BrE [C]
someone who has a romantic relationship with someone who is much younger - used to show disapproval; sugar daddy, toy boy
- cradle-rob cradle-snatch BrE verb [I] $ [in nouns]
1 a vehicle of a particular type:
•a spacecraft
•a hovercraft
•several aircraft
2 skill of a particular kind:
•statecraft (=skill in government)
•stagecraft (=skill in acting, directing etc in plays) $
1 plural crafts [C] a job or activity in which you make things with your hands, and that you usually need skill to do; handicraft
•traditional rural crafts
•arts and crafts
2 plural craft [C]
a) a small boat
b) an aircraft or spacecraft
3 [C] formal a profession, especially one needing a special skill:
•The musician spends years perfecting his craft.
4 [U] skill in deceiving people:
•Craft and cunning were necessary for the scheme to work.
LANDING CRAFT[T usually passive]
to make something using a special skill, especially with your hands:
•Each doll is crafted individually by specialists.
•a hand-crafted silver cigar caseplural craft knives [C] BrE
a very sharp knife used for cutting paper, thin wood etc $ plural craftsmen [C]
someone who is very skilled at a particular CRAFT $ [U]
1 very detailed work that has been done using a lot of skill, so that the result is beautiful:
•The carving is a superb piece of craftsmanship.
2 the special skill that someone uses to make something beautiful with their hands:
•Salisbury Cathedral is remarkable for its high standard of craftsmanship. $ plural craftswomen [C]
a woman who is very skilled at a particular CRAFT $ comparative craftier, superlative craftiest
good at getting what you want by clever planning and by secretly deceiving people; = cunning, sly
•He's a crafty old devil.
- craftily adverb
- craftiness noun [U] [C]
a high and very steep rough rock or mass of rocks
1 a mountain that is craggy is very steep and covered in rough rocks:
•the craggy peaks of the Sierra Madre
2 having a face with many deep lines on it:
•his thin craggy face past tense and past participle crammed, present participle cramming
1 [T always + adv/prep] to force something into a small space
cram sth into/onto etc sth
•Jill crammed her clothes into the bag.
•A lot of information has been crammed into this book.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if a lot of people cram into a place or vehicle, they go into it so it is then full
[+in/into]
•We all crammed in and Pete started the car.
•36,000 spectators crammed into the stadium to see the game.
3 [T] especially AmE if a lot of people cram a place, they fill it:
•Thousands of people crammed the mall Sunday.
4 [I] to prepare yourself for an examination by learning a lot of information quickly; = swot BrE
•She's been cramming hard all week.
[+for]
•I have to cram for my chemistry test tomorrow.

PHRASAL VERBS
cram sth <=> in phr v also cram sth into sth
to do a lot of activities in a short period of time; = pack in
•We crammed in as much sightseeing as possible during our stay in New York.
crammed with/crammed full of sth completely full of things or people; = packed
•The guide is crammed full of useful information.
•The streets were crammed with people. $ [C] BrE
a special school that prepares people quickly for examinations
1 [C,U] a severe pain that you get in part of your body when a muscle becomes too tight, making it difficult for you to move that part of your body:
•Several players were suffering from cramp.
•muscle cramps
have/get (a) cramp
•One of the swimmers got cramp and had to drop out of the race.
WRITER'S CRAMP
2 (stomach) cramps [plural] severe pains in the stomach, especially the ones that women get when they MENSTRUATE
1 [T] to prevent the development of someone or something; = hinder, restrict
•Stricter anti-pollution laws may cramp economic growth.
2 cramp sb's style informal to prevent someone from behaving in the way they want to:
•Paul said he didn't want Sarah to come along because she cramps his style.
3 [I,T] also cramp up to get or cause cramp in a muscle:
•He cramped in the last 200 metres of the race.
•Sitting still for so long had cramped her muscles.
1 a cramped room, building etc does not have enough space for the people in it; crowded
•The kitchen was small and cramped.
•a cramped apartment
•The troops slept in cramped conditions with up to 20 in a single room.
2 also cramped up unable to move properly and feeling uncomfortable because there is not enough space:
•cramped muscles
3 writing that is cramped is very small and difficult to read $ [C usually plural]
a piece of metal with sharp points that mountain climbers fasten under their boots to stop them slipping on ice or snow $ plural cranberries [C]
a small red sour fruit:
•cranberry sauce [C]
1 a large tall machine used by builders for lifting heavy things; hoist
2 a tall water bird with very long legs[I,T always + adv/prep]
to look around or over something by stretching or leaning
crane forward/over etc
•The children craned forward to see what was happening.
•He craned his neck above the crowd to get a better view.plural crane flies [C]
BrE a flying insect with long legs; = daddy longlegs plural craniums or crania [C] technical
the part of your head that is made of bone and covers your brain
- cranial adjective [C]
1 a handle on a piece of equipment, that you can turn in order to move something
2 informal someone who has unusual ideas and behaves strangely:
•Zoff was originally dismissed as a crank, but his theories later became very influential.
3 crank call/letter a telephone call or letter in which someone says annoying things
4 AmE informal someone who easily gets angry or annoyed with people
also crank up [T] to make something move by turning a crank:
•Try cranking the engine.

PHRASAL VERBS
crank sth <=> up phr v informal
to make the sound of something, especially music, louder:
•We cranked up the volume.

crank sth <=> out phr v
to produce a lot of something very quickly:
•He cranked out three novels last year. $ [C]
a long piece of metal in a vehicle that is connected to the engine and helps to turn the wheels
1 BrE informal strange; eccentric, weird
•Organic farming is no longer thought of as cranky.
2 informal bad-tempered:
•I was feeling tired and cranky.
- crankiness noun [U] plural crannies [C]
a small narrow hole in a wall or rock:
•The toad hid itself in a cranny in the wall.
nook and cranny at NOOK (3) spoken not polite
1 [U] something someone says that you think is completely wrong or untrue; = rubbish
•You don't believe all that crap, do you?
load/pile of crap also
bunch of crap AmE
•That's a bunch of crap! I never said that.
•He came out with a load of crap about how he'd tried to call me yesterday.
•Greg's full of crap (=often says things that are completely wrong).
cut the crap (=used to tell someone to stop saying things that are completely wrong)
•Just cut the crap and tell me what really happened.
2 [U] something that is very bad or is of bad quality; = rubbish
•They sell a lot of stuff cheap, but most of it is crap.
load/pile of crap also
bunch of crap AmE
•The game was a load of crap.
3 [U] things that are useless or unimportant:
•What is all this crap doing on my desk?
4 [U] bad or unfair treatment
take/stand for/put up with crap (=to allow someone to treat you badly)
•I'm not going to take any more of this crap!
•I don't need this kind of crap (=used when you are angry about the way someone is behaving towards you).
•I'm tired of you giving me crap (=saying bad things) about my long hair.
5 [U] solid waste that is passed from your BOWELs
6 [singular] the act of passing solid waste from your BOWELs
take a crap also
have a crap BrE
7 craps [plural] AmE a game played for money in the US, using two DICE
shoot craps (=to play this game)BrE spoken not polite
very bad:
•a crap film
•I've had such a crap day.
[+at]
•I'm really crap at tennis.past tense and past participle crapped, present participle crapping [I] informal not polite
to pass waste matter from your BOWELs $ informal not polite
the crapper a toilet informal not polite
very bad:
•a crappy hotel
1 CAR/PLANE ETC [I,T] to have an accident in a car, plane etc by violently hitting something else; collide
•The jet crashed after take-off.
[+into/onto etc]
•The plane crashed into a mountain.
crash a car/bus/plane etc
•He was drunk when he crashed the car.
2 HIT SB/STH HARD [I,T always + adv/prep] to hit something or someone extremely hard while moving, in a way that causes a lot of damage or makes a lot of noise
[+into/through etc]
•A brick crashed through the window.
•We watched the waves crashing against the rocks.
•The plates went crashing to the ground.
•A large branch came crashing down.
3 LOUD NOISE [I] to make a sudden loud noise:
•Thunder crashed and boomed outside.
4 COMPUTER [I,T] if a computer crashes, or if you crash the computer, it suddenly stops working:
•The system crashed and I lost three hours' worth of work.
5 FINANCIAL [I] if a STOCK MARKET or SHAREs crash, they suddenly lose a lot of value
6 SPORT [I] BrE to lose very badly in a sports event:
•Liverpool crashed to their worst defeat of the season.
7 SLEEP [I] spoken
a) to stay at someone's house for the night:
•Can I crash at your place on Saturday night?
b) also crash out to go to bed, or go to sleep very quickly, because you are very tired:
•I crashed out on the sofa this afternoon.
8 PARTY [T] informal to go to a party that you have not been invited to:
•We crashed Joe's party yesterday.
9 crashing bore BrE old-fashioned someone who is very boring[C]
1 an accident in which a vehicle violently hits something else; collision
plane/car etc crash
•41 people were killed in the plane crash.
•the Clapham rail crash
•a fatal crash
•a head-on crash between two trains
•a crash victim
2 a sudden loud noise made by something falling, breaking etc:
•I heard a loud crash.
with a crash
•The branch came down with a crash.
[+of]
•a crash of thunder
3 an occasion when a computer or computer system suddenly stops working
4 an occasion on which the STOCKs and SHAREs in a STOCK MARKET suddenly lose a lot of value:
•the stock market crash of October 1987[C] BrE
a strong fence or wall built to keep cars apart or to keep them away from people, in order to prevent an accident[C]
a course in which you learn a lot about a particular subject in a very short period of time
[+in]
•a crash course in Spanish[C]
an attempt to lose a lot of weight quickly by strictly limiting how much you eat[C]
a very strong hard hat that protects your head, and is worn by racing car drivers, people riding MOTORCYCLEs etccrash-landing [C]
an occasion when a pilot has to bring a plane down to the ground in a rougher and more dangerous way than usual because the plane has a problem:
•He was forced to make a crash-landing in the middle of the desert.
- crash-land verb [I,T]
behaving in a stupid and offensive way which shows that you do not understand or care about other people's feelings; insensitive
•a crass remark
•an act of crass stupidity
- crassly adverb [in nouns]
another form of the suffix -OCRAT [C]
1 a large box made of wood or plastic that is used for carrying fruit, bottles etc
[+of]
•a crate of beer
2 old-fashioned a very old car or plane that does not work very wellalso crate up [T]
to pack things into a crate $ [C]
1 a round hole in the ground made by something that has fallen on it or by an explosion:
•craters on the moon's surface
2 the round open top of a VOLCANO [C]
a wide piece of loosely folded material that men wear around their necks; tie [T]
to have an extremely strong desire for something:
•She's an insecure child who craves attention.
formal completely lacking courage; = cowardly
•He had a craven fear of flying.
- cravenly adverb [C]
an extremely strong desire for something; longing
[+for]
•She had a craving for some chocolate. $ [C]

stick in your craw at STICK^1 (11) $ plural crawfish [C]
a CRAYFISH $ [I]
1 to move along on your hands and knees with your body close to the ground
[+along/across etc]
•The baby crawled across the floor.
2 if an insect crawls, it moves using its legs
[+over/up etc]
•There's a bug crawling up your leg.
3 crawl into/out of bed to get into or out of bed slowly because you are very tired:
•We crawled into bed at 2 am.
4 if a vehicle crawls, it moves forward very slowly
[+by/along etc]
•The traffic was crawling along.
5 BrE informal to be too pleasant or helpful to someone in authority, especially because you want them to help you - used in order to show disapproval
[+to]
•She's always crawling to the boss.
6 be crawling with sth to be completely covered with insects, people etc:
•The floor was crawling with ants.
•The whole place was crawling with cops.
7 crawl the Net/web if a computer program crawls the Net, it quickly searches the Internet to find the particular information you need; spider
•robots that crawl the net searching out e-mail addresses for junk mailing[singular]
1 a very slow speed:
•The traffic had slowed to a crawl.
2 the crawl a way of swimming in which you lie on your stomach and move one arm, and then the other, over your head; backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly[C] BrE
a special part of a road that can be used by slow vehicles so that other vehicles can go past; fast lane plural crayfish [C,U]
a small animal like a LOBSTER that lives in rivers and streams, or the meat from this animal $ [C]
a stick of coloured WAX or CHALK that children use to draw pictures[I,T]
to draw something with a crayon [C]
a fashion, game, type of music etc that becomes very popular for a short time; = fad
[+for]
•She started a craze for this type of jewellery.
•At that time, scooters were the latest craze.
fitness/dance/fashion etc craze
•The jogging craze began in the 1970s.
behaving in a wild and uncontrolled way like someone who is mentally ill
crazed with grief/pain/fear etc
•He was crazed with grief after the death of his mother.
•The old woman had a crazed expression on her face.
•a crazed killer comparative crazier, superlative craziest
1 STRANGE very strange or not sensible; = mad
•The neighbours must think we're crazy.
•It's an absolutely crazy idea.
•I know this idea sounds crazy, but it may be worth a try.
crazy to do sth
•It'd be crazy to go out in this rain.
•I must have been crazy to agree to this.
•He often works 12 hours a day - it's crazy.
2 crazy about sb/sth liking someone very much, or very interested in something:
•He's crazy about her.
•Dan's crazy about football.
3 ANGRY angry or annoyed:
•Turn that music down. It's driving me crazy (=really annoying me)!
•Dad will go crazy when he hears about this.
4 like crazy very much or very quickly:
•We're going to have to work like crazy to get this finished on time.
5 go crazy to do something too much, in a way that is not usual or sensible, especially because you are excited:
•Don't go crazy and spend it all at once.
6 MENTALLY ILL mentally ill; = mad
•I feel so alone, sometimes I wonder if I'm going crazy.
- crazily adverb
- craziness noun [U]plural crazies [C] informal especially AmE
someone who is crazy[U] BrE
a golf game, played for fun outdoors, in which you hit a small ball through passages, over bridges and small hills etc; = miniature golf[U] BrE
pieces of stone of different shapes fitted together to make a path or flat area[C]
a cover for a bed, made from small pieces of cloth of different shapes and colours that have been sewn together [I]
if something such as a door, wooden floor, old bed, or stair creaks, it makes a long high noise when someone opens it, walks on it, sits on it etc:
•The floorboards creaked as she walked across the room.
•The door creaked open.
- creak noun [C]
1 something such as a door, floor, or bed that is creaky creaks when you open it, walk on it, sit on it etc, especially because it is old and not in good condition:
•creaky stairs
2 an organization, company etc that is creaky uses old-fashioned methods and does not work very well:
•creaky state-owned factories
- creakily adverb
- creakiness noun [U]
1 [U] a thick yellow-white liquid that rises to the top of milk:
•fresh cream
•strawberries and cream
2 [U] a pale yellow-white colour
3 [C,U] used in the names of foods containing cream or something similar to it:
•cream of chicken soup
4 [C,U] a thick smooth substance that you put on your skin to make it feel soft, treat a medical condition etc; lotion
•sun cream
•face cream
5 the cream of sth the best people or things from a group:
•the cream of Europe's athletes
•The students at this college are the cream of the crop (=the best of all).
pale yellow-white in colour:
•a cream-coloured carpet[T]
1 to mix foods together until they become a thick soft mixture:
•Cream the butter and sugar together.
•creamed potatoes
2 AmE informal to hit someone very hard or easily defeat someone in a game, competition etc:
•We got creamed 45-6.

PHRASAL VERBS
cream sb/sth <=> off phr v especially BrE
to choose the best people or things from a group, especially so that you can use them for your own advantage:
•The best students are creamed off by the large companies. $ [U]
a type of soft white smooth cheese[C] BrE
a light BISCUIT often eaten with cheese $
1 [U] a white liquid or powder that you can use instead of milk or cream in coffee or tea
2 [C] a small container for holding cream plural creameries [C] old-fashioned
a place where milk, butter, cream, and cheese are produced or sold; dairy[C,U] BrE
a small meal eaten in Britain, with small cakes and tea comparative creamier, superlative creamiest
1 thick and smooth like cream:
•Beat the mixture until smooth and creamy.
•a soft cheese with a creamy texture
2 containing cream:
•creamy milk
3 pale yellow-white in colour
1 [C] a line on a piece of cloth, paper etc where it has been folded, crushed, or pressed:
•She smoothed the creases from her skirt.
•I'll have to iron out the creases.
2 [C] a fold in someone's skin:
•the creases on his forehead
3 [singular] the line where the player has to stand to hit the ball in CRICKET[I,T]
to become marked with a line or lines, or to make a line appear on cloth, paper etc by folding or crushing it; crumple
•Don't sit on my newspaper. You'll crease it!
•These trousers crease really easily.
•A worried frown creased her forehead.

PHRASAL VERBS
crease (sb) up phr v
BrE spoken to laugh a lot, or to make someone laugh a lot:
•She really creases me up!
- creased adjective
•This shirt is too creased to wear. [T]
1 to make something exist that did not exist before:
•Some people believe the universe was created by a big explosion.
•Her behaviour is creating a lot of problems.
•The new factory is expected to create more than 400 new jobs.
2 to invent or design something:
•This dish was created by our chef Jean Richard.
•Philip Glass created a new kind of music.
•The software makes it easy to create colourful graphs.
3 create sb sth BrE to officially give someone a special rank or title:
•James I created him Duke of Buckingham.
1 [U] the act of creating something
[+of]
•The plan should result in the creation of 2000 new jobs.
•the creation of a single European currency
•a job creation scheme
2 [C] something that has been created:
•The dress is a stunning creation in green, gold, and white.
•Most countries have systems of government that are relatively modern creations.
3 the Creation the act by God, according to the Bible, of making the universe, including the world and everything in it
4 [U] literary the whole universe and all living things [C]
someone who believes that God created the universe in the way described in the Bible
- creationism noun [U]
- creationist adjective
1 involving the use of imagination to produce new ideas or things:
•This job is so boring. I wish I could do something more creative.
•I teach creative writing at Trinity College.
•the creative process of writing a poem
•Diaghilev did his great creative work in France.
•a creative solution to the problem
2 someone who is creative is very good at using their imagination to make things; inventive
•You're so creative! I could never make my own clothes.
- creatively adverb
- creativeness noun [U][C] informal
someone such as a writer or artist who uses their imagination or skills to make things[U]
the process of using unusual but not illegal ways to change business accounts to make them look better than they really are [U]
the ability to use your imagination to produce new ideas, make things etc:
•artistic creativity
•Teachers have been attacked for stifling creativity in their pupils.
•Editors complain about the lack of creativity in the ideas put to them. $
1 [C] someone who made or invented a particular thing; inventor
[+of]
•Walt Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse
2 the Creator God $ [C]
1 LIVING THING anything that is living, such as an animal, fish, or insect, but not a plant:
•The first living creature sent into space was a dog named Laika.
creatures of the deep (=animals and fish that live in the ocean)
2 IMAGINARY OR STRANGE an imaginary animal or person, or one that is very strange and frightening:
•creatures from outer space
3 a creature of habit someone who always does things in the same way or at the same time
4 STH MADE OR INVENTED formal something, especially something bad, that was made or invented by a particular person or organization
[+of]
•The poll tax was a creature of the Government.
5 SB CONTROLLED BY STH someone who is controlled or influenced a lot by something
[+of]
•He was a creature of the military government.
6 beautiful/stupid/adorable etc creature literary someone who has a particular character or quality:
•He was the most beautiful creature Dot had ever seen.[plural]
all the things that make life more comfortable and enjoyable, such as good food, a warm house, and comfortable furniture; mod conscrèche $ [C]
1 BrE a place where babies are looked after while their parents are at work; = day care center AmE
2 AmE a model of the scene of Jesus Christ's birth, placed in churches and homes at Christmas; = crib BrE [U]
formal the acceptance of something as true
give credence to sth (=to believe or accept something as true)
•I don't give any credence to these rumors.
gain credence (=to become more widely accepted or believed)
•His ideas quickly gained credence among economists.
lend credence to sth (=to make something more believable)
•The DNA results lend credence to Hausmann's claims of innocence.
someone who is credentialed is legally allowed to do a particular job, because they have done the right type of training:
•a newly credentialed teacher [plural]
1 someone's education, achievements, experience etc that prove they have the ability to do something
[+for/as]
•She had excellent credentials for the job.
•There are doubts over his credentials as a future Prime Minister.
•He spent the first part of the interview trying to establish his credentials as a financial expert.
•Her academic credentials include an MA and a PhD.
2 a letter or other document which proves your good character or your right to have a particular position:
•The commissioner presented his credentials to the State Department. [U]
1 the quality of deserving to be believed and trusted
damage/undermine sb's credibility (as sth)
•The scandal has damaged his credibility as a leader.
[+of]
•There are serious questions about the credibility of these reports.
gain/lose credibility
•Predictions of economic recovery have now lost all credibility.
2 credibility gap the difference between what someone says and what they do:
•a credibility gap between the Government's promises and their achievements
deserving or able to be believed or trusted
credible explanation/story/account etc
•He was unable to give a credible explanation for his behaviour.
•Her excuse was barely credible.
credible threat/challenge/force etc
•Can Thompson make a credible challenge for the party leadership?
•a credible alternative to nuclear power
- credibly adverb
1 DELAYED PAYMENT [U] an arrangement with a shop, bank etc that allows you to buy something and pay for it later
on credit
•56 per cent of new cars were bought on credit.
•Several stores are offering interest-free credit (=credit with no INTEREST charges).
•a credit agreement
•What's the credit limit on your Visa card?
credit facilities (=the opportunity to buy something on credit)
2 PRAISE [U] approval or praise that you give to someone for something they have done
[+for]
•Credit for this win goes to everybody in the team.
•They never give Gene any credit for all the extra work he does.
take/claim/deserve etc (the) credit
•She deserves credit for trying her best.
to sb's credit (=used to say that someone has done something good)
•To Jamie's credit, he remained calm.
•Credit must go to Fiona for making sure everything ran smoothly.
3 be a credit to sb/sth also do sb/sth credit to behave so well or be so successful that your family, team etc are proud of you:
•She's a credit to her profession.
•Your children really do you credit.
4 have sth to your credit to have achieved something:
•She already has two successful novels to her credit.
5 in credit if you are in credit, you have money in your bank account:
•There are no bank charges if you stay in credit.
6 the credits [plural] a list of all the people involved in making a film or television programme, which is shown at the beginning or end of it
7 on the credit side used to talk about the good things about someone or something:
•On the credit side, the book is extremely well-researched.
8 UNIVERSITY [C] a successfully completed part of a course at a university or college:
•I don't have enough credits to graduate.
9 AMOUNT OF MONEY [C] an amount of money that is put into someone's bank account or added to another amount; debit
•The company promised to provide credits to customers who had been charged too much.
10 TRUE/CORRECT [U] the belief that something is true or correct:
•The witness's story gained credit with the jury.[T not in progressive]
1 to add money to a bank account; debit
[+to]
•The cheque has been credited to your account.
[+with]
•For some reason my account's been credited with an extra $76.
2 credit sb with (doing) sth to believe or admit that someone has a quality, or has done something good:
•Do credit me with a little intelligence!
•Evans is credited with inventing the system.
3 be credited to sb/sth if something is credited to someone or something, they have achieved it or are the reason for it:
•Much of Manchester United's success can be credited to their manager.
4 formal to believe that something is true
difficult/hard/impossible etc to credit
•We found his statement hard to credit. [usually before noun]
deserving praise or approval:
•The team produced a creditable performance.
•She did a creditable job of impersonating the singer Mariah Carey.
- creditably adverb[C]
BrE an account with a shop which allows you to take goods and pay for them later; = charge account AmE[C]
a small plastic card that you use to buy goods or services and pay for them later:
•We accept all major credit cards.[C] BrE
a document given to a customer who is owed money, for example because they have returned goods $ [C]
a person, bank, or company that you owe money to; debtor [C]
a judgment made by a bank or other company about how likely a person or business is to pay their debts[C]
a credit note $ formal
considered to be able to pay debts:
•creditworthy borrowers
- creditworthiness noun [U] $ plural credos [C]
a formal statement of the beliefs of a particular person, group, religion etc:
•American Express is emphasizing its 'the customer is first' credo. $ [U] formal
willingness or ability to believe that something is true:
•Advertisers were accused of exploiting consumers' credulity.
strain/stretch credulity (=seem very difficult to believe)
•It strained credulity to believe that a nuclear war would not lead to the destruction of the planet. $ formal
always believing what you are told, and therefore easily deceived; = gullible
•Quinn charmed credulous investors out of millions of dollars. [C]
1 a set of beliefs or principles:
•Marxism has never been weaker as a political creed.
•a religious creed
•people of all colours and creeds
2 the Creed a formal statement of belief spoken in certain Christian churches [C]
1 AmE AusE a small narrow stream or river
2 BrE a long narrow area of water that flows from the sea into the land
3 be up the creek (without a paddle) spoken also be up shit creek (without a paddle) not polite to be in a very difficult situation:
•If I don't get my passport by Friday, I'll be up the creek. [C]
a FISHERMAN's basket for carrying fish past tense and past participle crept [I always + adv/prep]
1 to move in a quiet, careful way, especially to avoid attracting attention
[+into/over/around etc]
•Johann would creep into the gallery to listen to the singers.
•He crept back up the stairs, trying to avoid the ones that creaked.
2 if something such as an insect, small animal, or car creeps, it moves slowly and quietly; crawl
[+down/along/away etc]
•a caterpillar creeping down my arm
3 to gradually enter something and change it
[+in/into/over etc]
•Funny how religion is creeping into the environmental debate.
4 if a plant creeps, it grows or climbs up or along a particular place
[+up/over/around etc]
•ivy creeping up the walls of the building
5 if mist, clouds etc creep, they gradually fill or cover a place
[+into/over etc]
•Fog was creeping into the valley.
6 BrE informal to be insincerely nice to someone, especially someone in authority, in order to gain an advantage for yourself
creep (up) to sb
•I'm not the kind of person to creep to anybody.
7 sb/sth makes my flesh creep used to say that someone or something makes you feel strong dislike or fear:
•His glassy stare made my flesh creep.

PHRASAL VERBS
creep up on sb/sth phr v
1 to surprise someone by walking up behind them silently:
•Don't yell - let's creep up on them and scare them.
2 if a feeling or idea creeps up on you, it gradually increases:
•The feeling she had for Malcolm had crept up on her and taken her by surprise.
3 to seem to come sooner than you expect:
•Somehow, the end of term had crept up on us.[C]
1 informal especially AmE someone who you dislike extremely:
•Get lost, you little creep!
2 BrE informal someone who tries to make you like them or do things for them by being insincerely nice to you:
•Don't try and flatter her - she doesn't approve of creeps.
3 give sb the creeps if a person or place gives you the creeps, they make you feel nervous and a little frightened, especially because they are strange:
•That house gives me the creeps.
4 mission/cost/grade etc creep when something gradually starts to go beyond what it was intended to deal with or include:
•He denied that giving civilian tasks to the NATO forces was a case of mission creep. $ [C]
a plant that grows up trees or walls, or along the ground
VIRGINIA CREEPER informal
making you feel nervous and slightly frightened:
•There's something creepy about the way he looks at me.
•The whole place feels creepy.plural creepy-crawlies [C] informal
an insect, especially one that you are frightened of $ [T]
to burn the body of a dead person at a funeral ceremony
- cremation noun [C,U]also crematory $ plural crematoriums, crematoria [C]
a building in which the bodies of dead people are burned at a funeral ceremony plural crèmes caramels [C,U] BrE
a sweet food made from milk, eggs, and sugarcreme de la creme [singular]
the very best of a kind of thing or group of people:
•Oxford and Cambridge are often seen as the crème de la crème of British universities. $ [U]
a strong sweet green alcoholic drink $
1 [C,U] a language that is a combination of a European language with one or more other languages; pidgin
2 Creole [C]
a) someone whose family was originally from both Europe and Africa
b) someone whose family were originally French SETTLERs in the southern US
3 [U] food prepared in the spicy strong-tasting style of the southern US:
•shrimp creole
- creole adjective $ [U]
a thick brown oily liquid used for preserving wood
- creosote verb [T]crêpe
1 [U] a type of light soft thin cloth, with very small folded lines on its surface, made from cotton, silk, wool etc
2 [C] a very thin PANCAKE
3 [U] tightly pressed rubber used especially for making the bottoms of shoes:
•crepe-soled shoes $ [U]
a type of thin brightly coloured paper that stretches slightly and is used for making decorations
the past tense and past participle of CREEP $ plural crescendos [C]
1 if a sound or a piece of music rises to a crescendo, it gradually becomes louder until it is very loud; diminuendo
•The shouting rose to a deafening crescendo.
•The curtains opened as the music reached a crescendo.
2 if an activity or feeling reaches a crescendo, it gradually becomes stronger until it is very strong:
•The campaign reached its crescendo in the week of the election. [C]
1 a curved shape that is wider in the middle and pointed at the ends:
•a small crescent of pastry topped with cheese
•a crescent moon
2 the curved shape that is used as a sign of the Muslim religion
3 a street with a curved shape - often used in the names of streets [U]
a small plant with round green leaves that are eaten raw; mustard
•Sprinkle some finely chopped cress over the top. [C]
1 the top or highest point of something such as a hill or a wave
[+of]
•It took us over an hour to reach the crest of the hill.
2 a special picture that is used as a sign of a family, town, school, or organization; coat of arms
school/family crest
3 a group of feathers that stick up on the top of a bird's head:
•exotic birds with colourful crests
4 a decoration of long bright feathers that soldiers wore in the past on top of their hats
5 be on/riding the crest of a wave to be very successful:
•a young film director who is on the crest of a wave at the moment
[T] formal to reach the top of a hill or mountain:
•They crested a wooded hill shortly before sunset.
1 a crested bird has a crest on its head
2 marked by the crest of a family, town, school, or organization:
•crested notepaper $
looking disappointed and upset:
•He came back looking crestfallen.
the Cretaceous period was the time long ago when rocks containing CHALK were formed $ [C]
informal an offensive word for someone who is extremely stupid $ [U]
CJD a very serious disease that kills people and that may be caused by eating BEEF that is infected with BSE [C]
a deep open crack in the thick ice on a mountain [C]
a narrow crack in the surface of something, especially in rock:
•small creatures that hide in crevices in the rock
1 [C] all the people who work on a ship or plane:
•The plane crashed, killing two of the crew and four passengers.
[+of]
•He joined the crew of a large fishing boat.
•a crew member
2 [C] a group of people working together with special skills:
•a TV camera crew
GROUND CREW
3 [singular] a group of people or friends - often used to show disapproval:
•a motley crew of students
•Do you still hang out with the same crew?
4 [C] a team of people who compete in ROWING races:
•Who will be on the college crew?
5 [C] informal a group of musicians, especially in GARAGE music[I,T]
to be part of the crew on a boat:
•The boat is crewed by ten men.[C]
a very short hair style for men plural crewmen [C]
a member of the crew on a boat or ship[C]
a plain round neck on a SWEATER or shirt, or a sweater or shirt with this type of neck
1 [C] AmE a bed for a baby or young child, with bars on the side to stop the baby from falling out; = cot BrE
2 [C] BrE a bed with high sides for a very young baby, which you can move gently from side to side; = cradle
3 [C] a wooden frame in which you put food for animals such as cows and horses
4 [C] BrE a model of the scene of Jesus' birth, often placed in churches and homes at Christmas; Nativity
5 [C] BrE informal a book or piece of paper with information or answers to questions, which students sometimes use dishonestly in examinations
6 [C] AmE spoken the place where someone lives
sb's crib
•I'm not at my crib, I'm at Jed's house.
7 [U] the card game of cribbagepast tense and past participle cribbed, present participle cribbing [I,T] especially BrE
to copy school or college work dishonestly from someone else
crib sth off/from sb
•He didn't want anyone to crib the answers from him.also crib [U]
a card game in which players show how many points they have by putting small pieces of wood in holes in a small board[C]
AmE the sudden and unexpected death of a baby while it is asleep; = cot death BrE [C]
a pain in the muscles in your neck or back that is caused by the muscles becoming stiff
a crick in your back/neck
•He was getting a crick in his neck from leaning out of the window for so long.[T]
to hurt your back or neck by bending or moving in a way that makes the muscles become stiff:
•I cricked my back bending to pick up the suitcase.
1 [U] a game between two teams of 11 players in which players try to get points by hitting a ball and running between two sets of three sticks
2 [C] a small brown insect that can jump, and that makes a rough sound by rubbing its wings together $ [C] BrE
someone who plays cricket; batsman, bowler, fielder
•Her father was a very good cricketer. $ [C]
a TOWN CRIER BrE spoken
used to show that you are surprised or annoyed:
•Crikey, I'm late!
1 [U] illegal activities in general

commit crime
combat/fight crime
turn to crime (=start committing crimes)
crime rate (=the amount of crime that happens somewhere)
crime figures/statistics
crime prevention
violent crime
serious crime
petty crime (=crime that is not very serious)
car crime BrE
street crime
victim of crime
juvenile/youth crime (=by children and teenagers)
tough on crime (=always punishing crime severely)

•We moved here ten years ago because there was very little crime.
•Women commit far less crime than men.
•Police officers are being given new powers to help combat crime.
•the reasons why people turn to crime
•The town has a relatively low crime rate.
•The latest crime figures show a drop in the number of robberies.
•We need to focus more on crime prevention.
• Violent crime is on the increase in the city.
•There has been a rise in serious crime in the area.
•He became involved in petty crime as a teenager.
•a police crackdown on car crime
• Street crime was rising rapidly in the Russian capital.
•a new support group for victims of crime
•Politicians are trying to appear tough on crime.
•the latest novel by crime writer Ed McBain
!! Do not say 'make/do (a) crime'. Use commit: Young men are more likely to commit crime. She has committed a terrible crime.

2 [C] an illegal action, which can be punished by law:
•He insisted that he had not committed any crime.
•Rape is a very serious crime.
•men who have been found guilty of violent crimes
[+against]
•Crimes against the elderly are becoming more common.
•The City Council made it a crime to drink alcohol in the street.
•Police are still busy hunting for clues at the scene of the crime (=where the crime happened).
3 a life of crime when someone spends their life stealing and committing other crimes, in order to get money to live
4 the perfect crime a crime that no one knows has been committed, so no one can be punished for it
5 crime of passion a crime, especially murder, caused by sexual jealousy
6 crime against humanity a crime of cruelty against large numbers of people, especially in a war
7 crime doesn't pay used to say that crime does not give you any advantage, because you will be caught and punished - used when warning people not to get involved in crime
8 [singular] something that someone is blamed or criticized for doing - use this when you think someone is treated very unfairly; sin
• My only crime is that I fell in love with another girl.
•Johnson's biggest crime was that he told the truth.
9 it's a crime spoken said when you think something is very wrong, and someone should not do it:
•It would be a crime to waste all that good food.
partners in crime at PARTNER^1 (5); WHITE-COLLAR (2)

WORD FOCUS: crime
crimes that involve stealing things:
robbery
burglary
theft
shoplifting
fraud
carjacking
crimes that involve attacking people :
assault
mugging
murder
rape
someone who commits crimes:
criminal
thief
crook
burglar
mugger
robber
pickpocket
rapist
offender
lawbreaker
[singular]
a sudden large increase in the amount of crime in an area:
•More police officers are being brought in to help tackle the current crime wave.
1 relating to crime:
•Experts cannot agree on the causes of criminal behaviour.
•I was sure he was involved in some kind of criminal activity.
•She has not committed a criminal offence (=a crime).
•He was arrested and charged with criminal damage (=damaging someone's property illegally).
•The doctor was found guilty of criminal negligence (=not taking enough care to protect people in your work).
2 relating to the part of the legal system that is concerned with crime; civil
•The case will be tried in a criminal court.
•We no longer have any faith in the criminal justice system.
•The police are investigating the matter, and he may face criminal charges (=he may be officially accused of a crime).
•She usually deals with serious criminal cases.
•a criminal lawyer
3 wrong, dishonest, and unacceptable:
•It seems criminal that teachers are paid so little money.
- criminally adverb
•a hospital for the criminally insane
- criminality noun [U][C]
someone who is involved in illegal activities or has been proved guilty of a crime:
•Police have described the man as a violent and dangerous criminal.
•a convicted criminal (=someone who has been found guilty of a crime)
•The new law will ensure that habitual criminals (=criminals who commit crimes repeatedly) receive tougher punishments than first-time offenders.
•Teenagers should not be sent to prison to mix with hardened criminals (=criminals who have committed a lot of crimes and will never stop committing crimes).also criminalise BrE [T]
to make something illegal, or to say that someone is a criminal because of something they have done; decriminalize
•The government has introduced new legislation to criminalize computer hacking.[U]
laws concerning crimes and their punishments; civil law, common law
•There was not enough evidence to bring a prosecution under the criminal law.[C]
an official record kept by the police of any crimes a person has committed:
•He already had a criminal record. $ [U]
the scientific study of crime and criminals
- criminologist noun [C] [T]
1 to press cloth, paper etc into small regular folds:
•Use a hot iron to crimp the edges.
2 to make your hair slightly curly by using a special heated tool:
•a young woman with crimped blonde hair
1 deep red in colour:
•The leaves turn crimson in autumn.
•a crimson dress
2 if you go crimson, your face becomes red because you are very angry or embarrassed
go/turn/flush/blush crimson
•The boy blushed crimson.
[+with]
•Her face was crimson with embarrassment.
- crimson noun [U][I] literary
if your face crimsons, it becomes red because you are embarrassed; = blush
•Rachel crimsoned and sat down. [I]
1 to move away from someone or something because you are afraid:
•A stray dog was cringing by the door.
•She cringed away from him.
2 to feel embarrassed by something that you have said or done because you think it makes you seem silly; wince
[+at]
•She cringed at the sound of her own voice.
•It makes me cringe when I think how stupid I was.also crinkle up [I,T]
1 if you crinkle part of your face, or if it crinkles, you move it so that small lines appear on it:
•His mouth crinkled into a smile.
•He smiled boyishly, crinkling his eyes.
•Her face crinkled up in disgust.
2 to become covered with small folds, or make something do this:
•The heat was beginning to make the cellophane crinkle.
- crinkled adjective
•The pages were brown and crinkled.[C]
a thin fold, especially in your skin or on cloth, paper etc:
•The first crinkles of age were beginning to appear round her eyes.
crinkle-cut vegetables have been cut into long pieces with gentle curves along the edges:
•a bag of frozen crinkle-cut chips
1 having a lot of small lines or folds:
•She looked fondly at his crinkly face.
•He smiled his nice, crinkly smile.
•The paper was brown and crinkly at the edges.
2 hair that is crinkly is stiff and curly:
•He had blue eyes and crinkly fair hair. [C]
a round frame that was worn in the past under a woman's skirt to support it and hold it away from her body old-fashioned
used to express surprise or anger [C]
1 old-fashioned someone who is unable to walk properly because their legs are damaged or injured - now considered offensive; disabled
2 emotional cripple informal someone who cannot express their feelings to other people - used to show disapproval[T]
1 old-fashioned to hurt someone badly so that they cannot walk properly; = disable
•She was crippled in a car accident.
2 to damage something badly so that it no longer works or is no longer effective:
•The industry is being crippled by high interest rates.
- crippled adjective
•The pilot guided the crippled helicopter to the ground.
1 causing so much damage or harm that something no longer works or is no longer effective:
•the crippling effects of war on the economy
2 a crippling disease or condition causes severe pain and makes it difficult or impossible for someone to walk plural crises [C,U]
1 a situation in which there are a lot of problems that must be dealt with quickly so that the situation does not get worse or more dangerous; emergency

economic/financial/political crisis
deal with/handle a crisis
energy/oil/housing crisis
debt/budget crisis
a crisis erupts/arises
a major/severe crisis
resolve/solve/defuse a crisis
avert a crisis
in/during a crisis
be in crisis
crisis management (=dealing with a crisis)

•The country now faces an economic crisis.
•The Prime Minister was criticized for the way in which he handled the crisis.
•the current debt crisis
•a major political crisis
•I was relieved that we had averted yet another financial crisis.
•Oil companies were heavily criticized when they made large profits during the oil crisis of the 1970s.
•The car industry is now in crisis.
•He doesn't seem to be very good at crisis management.

2 a time when a personal emotional problem or situation has reached its worst point:
•an emotional crisis
•In times of crisis, you find out who your real friends are.
•He seems to be going through a crisis.
•She has reached a crisis point in her career.
•Both parties experienced an identity crisis (=feeling of uncertainty about their purpose) at the end of the '90s.
3 crisis of confidence a situation in which people no longer believe that a government or an economic system is working properly, and will no longer support it or work with it:
•There seems to be a crisis of confidence in the economy.
4 crisis of conscience a situation in which someone feels worried or uncomfortable because they have done something which they think is wrong or immoral
MIDLIFE CRISIS [C] BrE
a very thin flat round piece of potato that is cooked in oil and eaten cold; chip; = potato chip AmE
•a packet of crisps
1 HARD something that is crisp is hard, and makes a pleasant sound when you break it or crush it:
•She kicked at the crisp leaves at her feet.
•He stepped carefully through the crisp, deep snow.
2 FOOD food that is crisp is pleasantly hard or firm when you bite it; = crispy; soggy
•a crisp green salad
•a crisp, juicy apple
•Cook the pastry until it is crisp and golden.
•The meat should be nice and crisp on the outside.
3 PAPER/CLOTH paper or cloth that is crisp is fresh, clean, and new; = fresh
•a crisp, new five dollar bill
•crisp cotton sheets.
4 WEATHER weather that is crisp is cold and dry; humid
•The air was fresh and crisp.
•a crisp, clear autumn day
•The weather remained crisp and dry.
5 PEOPLE if someone behaves or speaks in a crisp way, they are confident, polite, and firm, but not very friendly:
•Her tone was crisp and businesslike.
6 PICTURE/SOUND a picture or sound that is crisp is clear; = sharp
•an old recording that still sounds remarkably crisp
- crisply adverb
•'Take a seat,' she said crisply.
- crispness noun [U][I,T]
to become crisp or make something become crisp by cooking or heating it:
•Cook the chicken until the skin is nicely crisped. [C,U]
a thin dry BISCUIT with a salty taste
food that is crispy is pleasantly hard on the outside:
•a piece of crispy fried breadcriss-cross $
1 [I,T] to make a pattern of straight lines that cross each other:
•Railway lines crisscross the countryside.
2 [T] to travel many times from one side of an area to another:
•They spent the next two years crisscrossing the country by bus.criss-cross [C]
a pattern made up of a lot of straight lines that cross each other; zigzag
•Inside the box was a crisscross of wires.
- crisscross adjective
•a crisscross pattern of streets $ plural criteria [C usually plural]
a standard that you use to judge something or make a decision about something:
•the criteria we use to select candidates
[+for]
•the criteria for measuring how good schools are
•Academic ability is not the sole criterion for admission to the college.
•a set of criteria for identifying people who are genuinely ill and unable to work
meet/satisfy/fulfil criteria
•To qualify for a grant, students must satisfy certain criteria. [C]
1 someone whose job is to make judgments about the good and bad qualities of art, music, films etc; = reviewer
music/art/film/theatre/literary critic
•a review by the theatre critic of the Sunday Times
2 someone who criticizes a person, organization, or idea
[+of]
•Critics of the scheme have said that it will not solve the problem of teenage crime.
fierce/outspoken critic
•He has always been an outspoken critic of the government.
3 armchair critic someone who criticizes other people but who does not have any proper experience of the activity the other people are doing

word choicecritic, review, criticism, critique
!! Do not usecriticto refer to something that a critic says or writes.
Areviewis the usual word for a short article that a critic writes in a newspaper or magazine: His first novel got wonderful reviews. | Have you read the reviews of her play?
criticismis the activity of publishing opinions about things such as books and films, or a group of essays, lectures etc on this subject: a collection of literary criticism
Acritiqueis a detailed explanation of the problems of something such as a set of political ideas, in the form of a speech, book, article etc: He wrote a critique of capitalism.

1 CRITICIZING if you are critical, you criticize someone or something
[+of]
•Many economists are critical of the government's economic policies.
•Many parents are strongly critical of the school.
•He made some highly critical remarks.
2 IMPORTANT something that is critical is very important because what happens in the future depends on it; = crucial
[+to]
•These talks are critical to the future of the peace process.
•It is absolutely critical for us to know the truth.
•Foreign trade is of critical importance to the economy.
3 SERIOUS/WORRYING a critical time or situation is serious and worrying because things might suddenly become much worse:
•The fighting has stopped, but the situation is still critical.
•changes that took place during the critical period at the end of the war
4 ILL so ill that you might die:
•He is still in a critical condition in hospital.
•She is in intensive care, where she remains critical but stable.
5 the critical list
a) the list of patients in a hospital who are so ill that they might die
on the critical list
•Two of the victims were still on the critical list Sunday night.
take sb off the critical list
•He was taken off the critical list and is now in a stable condition.
b) if a system, plan, company etc is on the critical list, it is having severe problems and might fail soon
6 MAKING JUDGMENTS making careful judgments about how good or bad something is:
•His book provides a critical analysis of the television industry in Britain.
•She looked round the room with a critical eye.
7 ART/LITERATURE according to critics who give judgments about art, films, theatre, and books:
•The book came out last year to great critical acclaim (=critics said it was very good).
•Her first play was a critical success (=critics said it was good).
1 critically ill/injured so ill or so badly injured that you might die; fatally
•10 people died and 30 were critically injured in a rail crash yesterday.
•She is still critically ill in hospital.
2 IMPORTANT in a way that is very important; = crucially
•The success of the project depends critically on the continuation of this funding.
•This is a critically important meeting.
3 SERIOUS/WORRYING in a way that is very serious and worrying; = dangerously
•Food supplies are at a critically low level.
4 CRITICIZING in a way that shows you are criticizing someone or something:
•Mike looked at her critically.
•He has spoken critically of the government's refusal to support the industry.
5 MAKING JUDGMENTS thinking about something and giving a careful judgment about how good or bad it is:
•We teach students to think critically about the texts they are reading.
6 ART/LITERATURE according to critics who give judgments about art, films, theatre, and books:
•The play was critically acclaimed (=praised by critics) when it opened in London last month.[C,U]
1 the amount of a substance that is necessary for a NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION to start
2 the smallest number of people or things that are needed in order for something to happen or be possible:
•How can we get a critical mass of people involved to keep the club running?[C]
a way of planning and organizing a large piece of work so that there will be few delays and the cost will be as low as possible:
•Costs can be calculated once the critical path has been established. [C,U]
1 remarks that say what you think is bad about someone or something; praise

strong/severe/harsh criticism
widespread criticism (=when a lot of people criticize something)
public criticism
constructive criticism (=criticism aimed at helping someone improve)
direct/level criticism at sb (=criticize someone)
come in for/attract/draw criticism (=be criticized)
face criticism
accept/take criticism (=accept criticism and learn from it)
provoke criticism (=make people criticize something)
a storm/barrage of criticism (=a lot of criticism)

[+of]
•My main criticism of the scheme is that it does nothing to help families on low incomes.
•Despite strong criticism, the new system is still in place.
•There has been widespread criticism of the decision.
•We try to give students constructive criticism.
•Another criticism levelled at him was that his teaching methods were old-fashioned.
•The government's economic strategy has attracted a lot of criticism.
•You must learn to accept criticism.
•Many employees find it hard to take even mild criticism.
•His actions provoked severe criticism from civil rights groups.
•the storm of criticism that followed his announcement

2 writing which expresses judgments about the good or bad qualities of books, films, music etc:
•literary criticismalso criticise BrE
1 [I,T] to express your disapproval of someone or something, or to talk about their faults; praise
•Ron does nothing but criticize and complain all the time.
be strongly/sharply/heavily criticized
•The decision has been strongly criticized by teachers.
•The new law has been widely criticized.
criticize sb/sth for (doing) sth
•He has been criticized for incompetence.
•Doctors have criticized the government for failing to invest enough in the health service.
criticize sb/sth as sth
•The report has been criticized as inaccurate and incomplete.
2 [T] formal to express judgments about the good and bad qualities of something:
•We look at each other's work and criticize it.

WORD FOCUS: criticize
to criticize someone or something very strongly:
attack
lay into
tear sb/sth to shreds
pillory
pan
to criticize someone unfairly:
put sb down
slag sb off BrE informal
talk about sb behind their back
bitch about informal
to criticize small details:
pick holes
[C,U]
a detailed explanation of the problems of something such as a set of political ideas; evaluation
[+of]
•a major new critique of his work
•a critique of modern economic theory[T] formal
to say how good or bad a book, play, painting, or set of ideas is; evaluate
•He offered to critique our plans. $ [C] AmE spoken
a creature, especially an animal $
1 [I] to make a deep low sound like the sound a FROG makes
2 [I,T] to speak in a low rough voice, as if you have a sore throat:
•'Help!' she croaked, her throat dry with fear.
3 [I] informal to die[C]
1 the sound that a FROG makes
2 a low rough sound made in a person's or animal's throat:
•The words came out as a dry croak.
- croaky adjective $ [I,T]
to make clothes etc from wool or cotton, using a special needle with a hook at one end; knit
- crochet noun [U]
- crocheting noun [U] $ [C]
1 old use a clay pot
2 crocks BrE informal old-fashioned cups, dishes, plates etc
3 a crock (of shit) AmE spoken something that is unbelievable, unfair, untrue etc $ [not before noun]
1 BrE old-fashioned injured or broken
2 AmE spoken drunk:
•Kitty got totally crocked last night. $ [U] BrE
cups, dishes, plates etc; cutlery
•a stack of dirty crockery $
1 [C] a large REPTILE with a long mouth and many sharp teeth that lives in lakes and rivers in hot wet parts of the world; alligator
2 [U] the skin of this animal, used for making things such as shoes:
•a crocodile briefcase
3 [C] BrE a long line of people, especially school children, walking in pairs
4 crocodile tears if someone sheds crocodile tears, they seem sad, sorry, or upset, but they do not really feel this way:
•They weep crocodile tears for the poor, but are basically happy with things as they are. $ [C]
a small purple, yellow, or white flower that appears in early spring $ [C] BrE
a very small farm in Scotland $ [C] BrE
someone who lives and works on a croft in Scotland $ [U] BrE
the system of farming on crofts in Scotland $ [C]
a piece of bread, shaped in a curve and usually eaten for breakfast $ [C] not polite
an ugly or unpleasant old woman $ plural cronies [C usually plural]
one of a group of people who spend a lot of time with each other - used to show disapproval
sb's cronies
•the senator's political cronies. $ [U]
the practice of unfairly giving the best jobs to your friends when you are in a position of power - used to show disapproval [C]
1 informal a dishonest person or a criminal:
•The crooks got away across the park.
2 a long stick with a curved end, used by people who look after sheep
3 the crook of your arm the part of your arm where it bends[T]
if you crook your finger or your arm, you bend it
1 bent, twisted, or not in a straight line; straight
crooked smile/grin
•His lips curled into a crooked smile.
•Your tie's crooked.
•narrow crooked streets
2 dishonest:
•a crooked cop
- crookedly adverb
- crookedness noun [U] [I,T]
to sing or speak in a soft gentle voice, especially about love:
•Sinatra crooning mellow tunes
•'My child,' Sarah crooned.
- crooner noun [C] $ [C]
1 a plant such as wheat, rice, or fruit that is grown by farmers and used as food; GM
•The main crops were oats and barley.
• crop production
•crops grown for market
CASH CROP
2 the amount of wheat, rice, fruit etc that is produced in a season; = harvest
[+of]
•this season's crop of quality pears
•Fruit growers are gathering in a bumper crop (=a very large amount of something produced in a season).
•increased crop yields
3 crop of sb/sth a group of people that arrive or things that happen at the same time
[+of]
•South Korea's present crop of elected politicians
4 a short whip used in horseriding
5 the part under a bird's throat where food is stored
6 a very short HAIRSTYLE
7 crop of dark hair/blonde curls etc hair that is short, thick, and attractive:
•his reddish crop of shining hairpast tense and past participle cropped, present participle cropping
1 [T] to cut someone's hair short:
•Stella had had her hair closely cropped.
2 [T] to cut a part off a photograph or picture so that it is a particular size or shape
3 [T] if an animal crops grass or other plants, it makes them short by eating them
4 [I] BrE if a plant crops, it produces fruit, grain etc:
•My strawberries crop in June or July.

PHRASAL VERBS
crop up phr v
1 if a problem crops up, it happens or appears suddenly and in an unexpected way; = arise
2 if something such as a name or a subject crops up, it appears in something you read or hear; = come up
•Your name kept cropping up in conversation.[C]
a pattern that appeared in British farm fields, which some people believe were made by creatures from another world[U]
AmE CROP-SPRAYING $
come a cropper BrE informal
a) to fail in something, especially unexpectedly:
•Swedish investors have come a cropper in London.
b) to accidentally fall from a horse, bicycle etc:
•She came a cropper on the ski slopes.[U]
the practice of changing the crops that you grow in a field each year to preserve the good qualities in the soil[U]
BrE the practice of dropping chemicals from a plane onto crops in order to kill insects; = crop-dusting AmE[C]
a type of women's shirt that does not cover the stomach $ [U]
a game played on grass in which players hit balls with wooden MALLETs (=long-handled hammers) so that they roll under curved wires $ [C]
a piece of crushed meat, fish, potato etc that is made into a small round piece, covered in BREADCRUMBS, and cooked in oil $ [C]
a CROZIER $
1 GO FROM ONE SIDE TO ANOTHER [I,T] to go or stretch from one side of something such as a road, river, room etc to the other
[+to]
•He crossed to the window.
cross (over) the road/street/river etc
•It's easy to have an accident just crossing the road.
•He was hit by a car when he tried to cross over the road near Euston station.
cross the Atlantic/the Channel etc
•the first steamship to cross the Atlantic
•An old bridge crosses the river.
[+over]
•She crossed over to sit beside Dot.
2 CROSS A LINE ETC [T] if you cross a line, track etc you go over and beyond it:
•He raised his arms in triumph as he crossed the line for his 100-metres win.
3 TWO ROADS/LINES ETC [I,T] if two or more roads, lines, etc cross, or if one crosses another, they go across each other:
•The by-pass crosses Wilton Lane shortly after a roundabout.
4 LEGS/ARMS/ANKLES [T] if you cross your legs, arms, or ANKLEs , you put one on top of the other:
•She was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed.
5 cross sb's mind [usually in negatives] if you say that an idea, thought etc never crossed your mind, you mean that you did not think of it; = occur to sb
• It didn't cross her mind that she might be doing something illegal.
the thought has (never) crossed my mind (=used to tell someone you have thought of the thing they are suggesting, or have never thought of it)
6 cross sb's face written if an expression crosses someone's face, it appears on their face:
•A look of surprise crossed her face.
7 cross your fingers used to say that you hope something will happen in the way you want:
•She hung the washing out, then crossed her fingers for a dry day.
•The exam's at two. Will you keep your fingers crossed for me?
8 BREED OF PLANT/ANIMAL [T] to mix two or more different breeds of animal or plant to form a new breed; crossbreed
•a flower produced by crossing several different varieties
cross sth with sth
•These cattle were crossed with horned animals from the highlands.
9 sb's paths cross also cross paths if two people's paths cross, or if they cross paths, they meet, usually without expecting it:
•If our paths crossed I usually ignored her.
•We didn't cross paths again until 2001.
10 cross that bridge when you come to it used to say that you will not think or worry about something until it actually happens
11 cross my heart (and hope to die) spoken informal used to say that you promise that you will do something, or that what you are saying is true
12 MAKE SB ANGRY [T] to make someone angry by opposing their plans or orders:
•He hated anyone who crossed him.
13 SPORT [I,T] to kick, throw, or hit the ball across the playing area in a sport such as football, HOCKEY etc
14 CHEQUE [T] BrE to draw two lines across a cheque to show that it must be paid into the bank account of the person whose name is on it
15 LETTERS [I] if two letters about the same subject cross in the post, each was sent before the other was received
16 cross swords (with sb) to argue with someone:
•I've crossed swords with him on a number of issues.
17 cross yourself to move your hand across your upper body in the shape of a cross as a sign of the Christian faith
18 cross sb's palm with silver especially BrE to give money to someone when you want them to tell your FORTUNE

PHRASAL VERBS
cross sth <=> off phr v also cross sth off sth
to draw a line through one or more things on a list because you have dealt with them or they are not needed any more:
•Whenever I buy something, I cross it off the list.

cross sth <=> out phr v
to draw a line or lines through something you have written or drawn, usually because it is wrong:
•I crossed out 'Miss' and wrote 'Ms'.

cross over phr v
1 if an entertainer crosses over from one area of entertainment to another, they become successful in the second one as well as the first
CROSSOVER (2)
2 BrE old use to die
dot the i's and cross the t's at DOT^2 (4); cross the Rubicon at RUBICON[C]
1 MIXTURE OF THINGS a mixture of two things, breeds, or qualities
[+between]
•The tour manager's role is a cross between hostess and courier.
•Their dog is a cross between two well-known breeds.
2 MARK ON PAPER especially BrE
a) a mark (x or +) used on paper, to represent where something is, or where something should be:
•I've put a cross on the map to mark where our street is.
•Please sign your name by the cross.
b) a mark (x) used on paper to show that something that has been written or printed is not correct:
•My homework got a lot more ticks than crosses.
c) a mark (x or +) used by someone who cannot write, in order to sign their name
3 CHRISTIAN SIGN
a) the cross the cross that Jesus Christ died on:
•Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
b) an object, picture, or mark in the shape of a cross, used as a sign of the Christian faith or for decoration:
•Pauline wore a tiny gold cross.
4 PUNISHMENT an upright post of wood with another crossing it near the top, that people in the past were fastened to with nails and left to die on as a punishment
5 MILITARY AWARD a decoration in the shape of a cross that is given to someone as an honour, especially for military courage:
•He was awarded the George Cross.
6 SPORT
a) a kick or hit of the ball in a sport such as football, HOCKEY etc, that goes across the field
b) a way of hitting someone in the sport of BOXING, in which your arm goes over theirs as they try to hit you:
•He caught his opponent with a right cross to the chin.
7 PROBLEM if you describe something as the cross that someone has to bear, you mean it is a problem that makes them very unhappy or worried, and that continues for a long time:
•I feel sorry for you, but we all have our crosses to bear.
the sign of the Cross at SIGN^1 (10)[usually before noun] especially BrE
angry or annoyed
get/be cross (with sb)
•She gets cross when he goes out drinking.
•Sometimes I get very cross with the children.
[+at/about]
•She was cross at being interrupted.
- crossly adverb $
1 going from one side to the other:
•a cross-Channel ferry (=sailing from Britain to France)
2 going between two things and joining them:
•cross-cultural influences $ [C]
1 a bar that joins two upright posts, especially two GOALPOSTs
2 the metal bar between the seat and the HANDLEBARS on a man's bicycle $ [plural]
SKULL AND CROSSBONES[only before noun]
relating to activity across a border between two countries
cross-border trade/business etc
cross-border attack/raid $ [C]
a weapon like a small BOW attached to a longer piece of wood, used for shooting ARROWs with a lot of force $ past tense and past participle crossbred [I,T]
if one breed of plant or animal crossbreeds with another, or if you crossbreed them, they breed, producing a new type of plant or animal
- crossbred adjective[C]
an animal or plant that is a mixture of breeds; hybrid[I,T]
to make certain that something is correct by using a different method to check it again
- =cross-check noun [C][only before noun]
1 across fields or not along main roads:
•cross-country running
•We took a cross-country route instead of the motorway.
2 from one part of the country to the other:
•cross-country flights
- cross-country adverb
•We rode cross-country to the village.plural cross-countries [C,U]
a race that involves running or SKIING across countryside and fields, not on a track, or the sport of doing this[only before noun]
belonging to or involving two or more different societies, countries, or CULTUREs ; multicultural
•cross-cultural communication[C]
a current in the sea, a river etc that moves across the general direction of the main current[U] BrE
the practice of wearing the clothes of the opposite sex, especially for sexual pleasure; transvestite
- cross-dresser noun [C] $
if a telephone line is crossed, it is connected by mistake to two or more telephones, so that you can hear other people's conversations:
•I phoned him up and got a crossed line.[C]
a cheque in Britain that has two lines across it showing that it must be paid into a bank account[T]
to ask someone questions about something that they have just said, to see if they are telling the truth, especially in a court of law
- #cross-exami=nation noun [C,U]
•He broke down under cross-examination. $
having eyes that both look in towards the nosealso cross-fertilise BrE [T]
1 to combine the male sex cells from one type of plant with female sex cells from another
2 to influence someone or something with ideas from other areas:
•In a university students live together, encourage, support and cross-fertilise each other.
- #cross-fertili=zation noun [U] $ [U]
1 bullets from two or more opposite directions that pass through the same area:
•Doctors who tried to help the wounded were caught in the crossfire.
in crossfire
•Many civilians were killed in crossfire.
2 situation in which people are arguing, and the results of this affect other people who are not directly involved:
•During a divorce, kids often get caught in the crossfire.
wood that is cross-grained has lines that go across it instead of along it[U]
lines drawn across part of a picture, DIAGRAM etc to show that something is made of different material, or to produce the effect of shade $ [C]
1 a place where you can safely cross a road, railway, river etc:
•You must give way to any pedestrians on the crossing.
LEVEL CROSSING, PEDESTRIAN CROSSING, PELICAN CROSSING, ZEBRA CROSSING
2 a place where two lines, roads, tracks etc cross:
•Turn left at the first crossing.
3 a journey across the sea, a lake, or a river:
•The crossing was rough. $
in a sitting position with your knees wide apart and one foot on top of the other:
•We sat cross-legged on the floor.
- cross-legged adjective $
1 [C] the change a popular performer makes from working in one area of entertainment to another:
•Madonna has made a crossover from rock music to the movies.
2 [C,U] the fact of liking, using, or supporting different types of things or groups:
•There is not much crossover between readers of modern and historical romances.
CROSS OVER (1) $ [C]
something that lies across another thing, especially in a building, on a railway track etc
at cross-purposes if two people are at cross-purposes, they do not understand each other because they are talking about different things but fail to realize this:
•I think we're talking at cross-purposes.past tense and past participle cross-referred, present participle cross-referring [I,T]
to tell a reader to look in another place in the book they are reading, so that they can get further information
[+to/from]
•The author cross-refers to his other books. $ [C,U]
a note that tells the reader of a book to go to another place in the book, to get further information:
•The book has clear cross-references and a good index.
- cross-reference verb [T] $ plural crossroads [C]
1 a place where two roads meet and cross each other; junction, T-junction
at the crossroads
•Turn left at the next crossroads.
•The car was approaching the crossroads.
2 a time when someone has to make very important decisions which will affect their future
at a crossroads
•Now farming is at a crossroads in the European Community.
•a career crossroads
3 an important or central place
at the crossroads
•The city was ideally situated at the crossroads to the great trade centres of Europe.[C]
1 something that has been cut in half so that you can look at the inside, or a drawing of this
[+of]
•a cross-section of a plant stem
in cross-section
•The roof beams were 50 centimetres square in cross-section.
2 a group of people or things that is typical of a much larger group; sample
[+of]
•a wide cross-section of the taxpaying population[U]
when one company helps to sell another company's products by, for example, advertising the second company's products at the same time as its own[C,U]
a stitch in a cross shape used in decorative sewing[C]
a smaller street that crosses another streetalso cross-town $ [only before noun]
moving in a direction across a town or city:
•a crosstown bus[C usually plural]
a type of shoe that can be worn for playing different types of sports[U]
1 an exercise programme that includes many different kinds of exercise, so that all of your muscles are used:
•Cross-training helps you add variety to your workouts.
2 when people in a company learn about each other's jobs, so that they understand each other better and work together better as a team:
•Cross-training is a vital part of job rotation.
- cross-train verb [I] $ [C]
AmE a specially marked place for people to walk across a street; = pedestrian crossing BrE $ [C]
a wind that blows across the direction that you are moving in $
1 from one corner of something to the opposite corner:
•Halve the potatoes crosswise.
2 two things that are placed crosswise are arranged to form the shape of an 'x'also crossword puzzle $ [C]
a word game in which you write the answers to questions in a pattern of numbered boxes:
•I like to sit down and do the crossword.also crutch BrE $ [C]
the part of your body between the tops of your legs, or the part of a piece of clothing that covers this; groin $ [C]
BrE a musical note which continues for a quarter of the length of a SEMIBREVE; = quarter note AmE; minim, quaver $
easily annoyed or made slightly angry; = grumpy
•a crotchety old man [I]
1 also crouch down to lower your body close to the ground by bending your knees completely; squat
•He crouched in the shadows near the doorway.
•Paula crouched down and held her hands out to the fire.
2 to bend over something so that you are very near to it; lean
[+over]
•a young girl crouched over a book
- crouch noun [C]
•She dropped to the ground in a crouch. [U]
an illness in children which makes them cough and have difficulty breathing $ [C]
someone whose job is to collect and pay out money where people play cards, ROULETTE etc for money at a CASINO $ [C usually plural]
a small square piece of CRISP bread that is served with soup or on SALAD $
1 [C] a large shiny black bird with a loud cry
2 [singular] the loud sound a COCK makes
3 as the crow flies in a straight line:
•ten miles from here as the crow flies
eat crow at EAT (7)[I]
1 if a COCK crows, it makes a loud high sound
2 to talk about what you have done in a very proud way - used to show disapproval
[+over/about]
•He was crowing over winning the bet.
3 written if someone, especially a baby, crows, they make a noise that shows they are happy:
•Ben rushed to his father, crowing with pleasure. $ [C]
a heavy iron bar used to lift something or force it open
1 [C] a large group of people who have gathered together to do something, for example to watch something or protest about something
[+of]
•a crowd of angry protesters
•a crowd of 30,000 spectators
•There were crowds of shoppers in the street.
•A vast crowd gathered in the main square.
•She mingled with the crowd of guests, exchanging greetings.
•Saturday's game was watched by a capacity crowd (=the maximum number of people that a sports ground etc can hold).
•Troops fired tear gas and shots to disperse a crowd of 15,000 demonstrators.
2 [singular] informal a group of people who know each other, work together etc:
•I didn't know him; he wasn't one of the usual crowd.
3 the crowd ordinary people, not unusual in any way:
•You have to do things exceptionally well to stand out from the crowd (=be different from ordinary people).
•He wanted to go unnoticed, to be one of the crowd.
1 [I always + adv/prep] if people crowd somewhere, they gather together in large numbers, filling a particular place
[+into]
•Hundreds of people crowded into the church for the funeral.
[+round/around]
•We all crowded round the table.
be crowded together
•the rapid spread of infection in areas where people are crowded together
2 [T] if people or things crowd a place, there are a lot of them there:
•Holiday-makers crowded the beaches.
•Range after range of mountains crowd the horizon.
3 [T] if thoughts or ideas crowd your mind or memory, they fill it, not allowing you to think of anything else:
•Strange thoughts and worries were crowding his mind.
4 [T]
a) to make someone angry by moving too close to them:
•Stop crowding me - there's plenty of room.
b) especially AmE to make someone angry or upset by making too many unfair demands on them

PHRASAL VERBS
crowd in phr v
if problems or thoughts crowd in on you, you cannot stop thinking about them
[+on]
•She shut her mind against the fears that were crowding in on her.

crowd sb/sth <=> out phr v
to force someone or something out of a place or situation:
•Supermarket chains have crowded out the smaller shops.
too full of people or things:
•a crowded room
•a crowded street
•The train was very crowded, and we had to stand.
[+with]
•The narrow roads were crowded with holiday traffic.also crowd-pleaser [C]
an actor, politician, or sportswoman etc who always pleases an AUDIENCE (=people watching a performance)
1 HAT FOR KING/QUEEN [C]
a) a circle made of gold and decorated with jewels, worn by kings and queens on their heads
b) a circle, sometimes made of things such as leaves or flowers, worn by someone who has won a special honour
2 COUNTRY'S RULER the crown
a) the position of being king or queen:
•The treaty of Troyes made Henry V heir to the crown of France.
b) the government of a country such as Britain that is officially led by a king or queen:
•He has retired from the service of the Crown.
3 TOOTH [C] an artificial top for a damaged tooth
4 HEAD [usually singular] the top part of a hat or someone's head
[+of]
•auburn hair piled high on the crown of her head
•a hat with a high crown
5 HILL [usually singular] the top of a hill or something shaped like a hill
[+of]
•They drove to the crown of Zion hill and on into town.
•The masonry at the crown of the arch is paler than on either curve.
6 SPORTS [usually singular] the position you have if you have won an important sports competition:
•Can she retain her Wimbledon crown?
•He went on to win the world crown in 2001.
7 MONEY [C]
a) the standard unit of money in some European countries:
•Swedish crowns
b) an old British coin. Four crowns made a pound.
8 PICTURE [C] a mark, sign, BADGE etc in the shape of a crown, used especially to show rank or quality[T ]
1 to place a crown on the head of a new king or queen as part of an official ceremony in which they become king or queen; coronation
•Louis was crowned at Reims in 814.
crown sb (as) king/queen etc
•In 1896 Nicholas was crowned as tsar.
2 to make something perfect or complete, by adding an achievement etc
crown sb with sth
•a long career crowned with a peaceful retirement
3 be crowned with sth literary having something on top:
•Almost every hill is crowned with a little walled village.
4 to put a protective top on a damaged tooth
5 informal to hit someone on the head[C]
a COLONY controlled by the British government[C,U]
a court of law in Britain that deals with serious criminal cases and is higher than a Magistrates' Court[C usually plural]
a king or queen:
•All the crowned heads of Europe were present. [always before noun]
used to describe something that makes something complete or perfect, or is the best feature of something:
•The hotel's crowning glory was a stunning roof garden.
•his crowning achievement[C]
1 the crown jewels the crown, sword, jewels etc worn by a king or queen for official ceremonies
2 the best or most valuable thing that a person or place has:
•Innsbruck's crown jewel is the old town centre.[C]
the son of a king or queen, who is expected to become the next king $ [C]
the daughter of a king or queen, who is expected to become the next queen[plural]
the very small lines that form in the skin near the eyes of older people[C]
a small box at the top of a ship's MAST from which someone can watch for danger, land etccrosier $ [C]
a long stick with a decorative curved end, carried by a BISHOP $ [C]
the abbreviation of cathode ray tube
something that is crucial is extremely important, because everything else depends on it
[+to ]
•This aid money is crucial to the government's economic policies.
crucial in/to doing sth
•The work of monks was crucial in spreading Christianity.
play a crucial role/part in sth
•The city of Mycenae played a crucial role in the history of Greece.
•The conservation of tropical forests is of crucial importance.
- crucially adverb [C]
a container in which substances are heated to very high temperatures [C]
a cross with a figure of Christ on it
1 [C,U] in past times, the act of killing someone by fastening them to a cross and leaving them to die
2 the Crucifixion the death of Christ on the cross
3 [C] also Crucifixion a picture or other object representing Christ on the cross $ formal
shaped like a cross past tense and past participle crucified, present participle crucifying, third person singular crucifies [T]
1 to kill someone by fastening them to a cross
2 to criticize someone severely and cruelly for something they have done, especially in public [U] informal
something unpleasant to look at, smell, taste etc:
•I can't eat this crud!
- cruddy adjective
1 not exact or without any detail, but generally correct and useful; approximate
•a crude estimate of the population available for work
2 not developed to a high standard, or made with little skill:
•a crude wooden bridge
•crude workmanship
3 offensive or rude, especially in a sexual way; = vulgar
•crude pictures
•His language was often crude.
4 [only before noun] crude oil, rubber etc is in its natural or raw condition before it is treated with chemicals
5 in crude terms expressed in a simple way:
•Private morality, in crude terms, is not the law's business.
- crudely adverb
•crudely built shacks
- crudeness noun [U]
- crudity noun [C,U]also crude oil [U]
oil that is in its natural condition, as it comes out of an OIL WELL, before it is made more pure or separated into different products:
•1000 barrels of crude
1 making someone suffer or feel unhappy:
•His death was a cruel blow.
•Sometimes life seems unbearably cruel.
2 deliberately hurting people or animals; kind
•The prisoner was a hard, cruel man.
•cruel jokes about mothers-in-law
•It was a cruel, tactless thing to say.
[+to]
•She was often cruel to her sister.
3 be cruel to be kind to do something to someone that will make them upset or unhappy in order to help them in another way
- cruelly adverb
•He was cruelly neglected by his parents. plural cruelties
1 [C,U] behaviour or actions that deliberately cause pain to people or animals; kindness
•The children had suffered cruelty and neglect.
•There was a hint of cruelty in Brian's smile.
[+to]
•cruelty to animals
[+of]
•the cruelty of the slave trade
•The deliberate cruelty of his words cut her like a knife.
•the cruelties of war
2 [U] the unfairness of something that happens:
•the cruelty of life [C]
a thing that holds the containers for salt, pepper, oil, or VINEGAR on a table
1 [I,T] to sail along slowly, especially for pleasure:
•We were cruising in the Caribbean all winter.
•an evening spent cruising the River Seine
2 [I usually + adv/prep] to move at a steady speed in a car, aircraft etc:
•We were cruising along at 50 miles per hour.
•We fly at a cruising speed of 500 mph.
3 [I,T] to drive a car slowly through a place with no particular purpose:
•They cruised up and down the coast road.
4 [I] informal to do something well or successfully, without too much effort
[+to]
•The horse cruised to a three-length win.
5 [I,T] informal to go to a bar or other public place, looking for a sexual partner:
•We went cruising the singles bars.[C]
1 a holiday on a large ship:
•a Mediterranean cruise
[+around]
•a cruise around the world
2 a journey by boat for pleasure[C]
a piece of equipment in a car that makes it go at a steady speed[C]
a large ship for cruising[C]
a large explosive weapon that flies close to the ground and can be aimed at something hundreds of kilometres away $ [C]
1 a large fast ship used by the navy:
•a battle cruiser
2 a boat used for pleasure
3 AmE a police car $ [C]
a BOXER who weighs less than 86.18 kilograms, and who is heavier than a LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT but lighter than a HEAVYWEIGHT[C]
a large ship with restaurants, bars etc that people have holidays on [U] AmE
1 the activity of taking a holiday on a cruise ship
2 when young people drive cars slowly down a particular street as a way of being with their friends:
•a sign saying 'No cruising'
3 when someone looks for sexual partners in bars, restaurants, on the street etc [C]
1 a very small piece of dry food, especially bread or cake:
•She stood up to brush the crumbs off her uniform.
•Coat with bread crumbs and bake.
2 a very small amount of something
crumb of comfort/hope/affection etc
•There was only one crumb of comfort - Alex hadn't said anything to Jeff.
1 [I] also crumble away if something, especially something made of stone or rock, is crumbling, small pieces are breaking off it:
•The old stonework was crumbling away.
•crumbling colonial buildings
2 [I,T] to break apart into lots of little pieces, or make something do this:
•The fall leaves crumbled in my fingers.
•¼ cup crumbled goat's cheese
3 [I] also crumble away to lose power, become weak, or fail:
•The Empire began to crumble during the 13th century.
•our crumbling economy
that's the way the cookie crumbles at COOKIE (3)[U] BrE
a sweet dish of fruit covered with a dry mixture of flour, butter, and sugar and baked:
•apple crumble
something that is crumbly breaks easily into small pieces:
•a nice, crumbly cheese
•the garden's crumbly black soil BrE old-fashioned
used to express surprise informal
of bad quality or unpleasant:
•We were staying in this really crummy hotel.
•a crummy job BrE
1 [C] a small round bread with holes in one side, eaten hot with butter
2 [U] informal not polite an offensive word for someone who is sexually attractive
1 [I,T] also crumple up to crush something so that it becomes smaller and bent, or to be crushed in this way:
•Dan tore the page out, crumpled it, and threw it in the wastepaper basket.
2 [I] if your face crumples, you suddenly look sad or disappointed, as if you might cry
3 [I] if your body crumples, you fall down in an uncontrolled way
[+to]
•The blow hit him in the head and he crumpled to the ground.
1 also crumpled up crushed into a smaller bent shape:
•Tom flattened the crumpled paper against his knee.
2 cloth or clothing that is crumpled has a lot of lines or folds in it:
•an old man with untidy hair and a crumpled suit
3 someone who is crumpled somewhere, is lying still in a strange position after they have fallen
1 [singular] a noise like the sound of something being crushed:
•The only sound was the crunch of tyres on gravel.
2 [C, singular] AmE a difficult situation caused by a lack of something, especially money or time:
•Three new teachers were hired to help ease the crunch.
cash/budget/financial etc crunch
•Cost cutting had enabled the organization to survive a previous cash crunch.
3 the crunch also crunch time AmE an important time, especially one when a difficult decision has to be made:
• The crunch came when my bank asked for my credit card back.
• When it came to the crunch, she couldn't agree to marry him.
4 [C] an exercise in which you lie on your back and lift your head and shoulders off the ground to make your stomach muscles strong; = sit-up
1 [I] to make a sound like something being crushed:
•Their boots crunched loudly on the frozen snow.
2 [I always + adv/prep, T] to eat hard food in a way that makes a noise
[+on]
•The dog was crunching on a bone.
3 crunch (the) numbers to do a lot of calculations in order to find an answer:
•The computer will crunch all the numbers to determine the final score.
food that is crunchy is firm and makes a noise when you bite it - usually used to show approval:
•a delicious crunchy salad
- crunchiness noun [U] [C]
1 a determined attempt to change something because you think you are morally right; campaign
[+against/for]
•He seems to be running a one-man crusade against cigarette smoking.
2 also Crusade one of a series of wars fought in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries by Christian armies trying to take Palestine from the Muslims[I]
to take part in a crusade
[+against/for]
•He continued to crusade for free education for all.
- crusader noun [C] [T]
1 to press something so hard that it breaks or is damaged:
•His leg was crushed in the accident.
•Two people were crushed to death in the rush to escape.
2 to press something in order to break it into very small pieces or into a powder:
•Crush two cloves of garlic.
3 crush a rebellion/uprising/revolt etc to use severe methods to stop people from fighting you or opposing you; = put down
•The revolution was crushed within days.
4 crush sb's hopes/enthusiasm/confidence etc to make someone lose all hope, confidence etc
5 to make someone feel extremely upset or shocked:
•Sara was crushed by their insults.

PHRASAL VERBS
crush on sb phr v AmE informal
to have a feeling of romantic love for someone, especially someone you do not know well:
•a guy in my class that I'm crushing on
1 [singular] a crowd of people pressed so close together that it is difficult for them to move:
•There's always such a crush on the train in the mornings.
2 [C] a strong feeling of romantic love for someone, especially one that a young person has for someone older who they do not know well; infatuation
•She had a huge crush on her geography teacher.
•It's just a schoolgirl crush.
3 [C] AmE informal someone who you have a feeling of romantic love for, but who you do not know well:
•a first date with your crush [usually before noun]
1 very hard to deal with, and making you lose hope and confidence:
•The Eighth Army had suffered a crushing defeat.
•Failing his final exams was a crushing blow (=made him lose hope and confidence).
•the crushing burden of debt
2 a crushing remark, reply etc contains a very strong criticism
- crushingly adverb
•'That's fairly obvious,' she replied crushingly. [C,U]
1 the hard brown outer surface of bread:
•sandwiches with the crusts cut off
2 the baked outer part of foods such as PIEs or PIZZAs :
•a thin crust pizza
3 a thin hard dry layer on the surface of something:
•A hard gray crust had formed on the bottom of the tea kettle.
4 the hard outer layer of the Earth:
•deep within the Earth's crust
earn a crust at EARN (1); UPPER CRUST [C] technical
an animal such as a LOBSTER or a CRAB that has a hard outer shell and several pairs of legs, and usually lives in water
- crustacean adjective
having a thin hard dry layer on the surface
[+with]
•old boots crusted with mud
1 bread that is crusty is pleasant to eat because it has a hard CRUST:
•a crusty baguette
2 informal someone who is crusty is bad-tempered; = grumpy
•a crusty old man
3 having a thin dry hard layer of something on the surface:
•The lake was ringed by crusty salt deposits. [C]
1 [usually plural] one of a pair of long sticks that you put under your arms to help you walk when you have hurt your leg
on crutches (=use crutches)
•I was on crutches for three months after the operation.
2 something that gives someone support or help, especially something that is not really good for them:
•As things got worse at work, he began to use alcohol as a crutch.
3 BrE the part of your body between the tops of your legs; = crotch
the crux the most important part of a problem, question, argument etc
[+of]
•The crux of the matter is how do we prevent a flood occurring again?
•The crux of the problem lay in the lack of equipment. past tense and past participle cried, present participle crying, third person singular cries
1 PRODUCE TEARS [I] to produce tears from your eyes, usually because you are unhappy or hurt:
•Don't cry, Laura. It'll be OK.
•Upstairs, a baby began to cry.
•Jamie looked like he'd been crying.
•I just couldn't stop crying.
•That film always makes me cry.
[+over/about]
•I am too old to be crying over some young guy.
[+with/in]
•She felt like crying with frustration.
[+for]
•She could hear him crying for his mother.
cry your eyes/heart out (=be extremely sad and cry a lot)
•Oliver, alone, began to cry bitterly (=cry a lot).
cry yourself to sleep (=cry until you fall asleep)
2 SAY LOUDLY [T] written to shout or say something loudly; = cry out
•'Stop!' she cried.
•It was painful, and made me cry aloud.
[+to]
•'Goodbye then!' he cried to her.
[+for]
•I could hear voices crying for help.
3 cry over spilt milk to waste time feeling sorry about an earlier mistake or problem that cannot be changed:
•It's no use crying over spilt milk.
4 for crying out loud spoken used when you feel annoyed or impatient with someone:
•For crying out loud, stop nagging!
5 cry foul to protest because you think something is wrong or not fair:
•When the ads appeared, it was the Democrats' turn to cry foul.
6 ANIMALS/BIRDS [I] if animals or birds cry, they make a loud sound:
•I could hear gulls crying and the soft whisper of the sea.
7 cry wolf to ask for help when you do not need it, so that people do not believe you when you really need help
8 cry into your beer informal to feel too much pity for yourself, especially because you think you have been treated unfairly

PHRASAL VERBS
cry off phr v BrE
to say that you cannot do something that you have already promised to do; cancel
•Leah and I were going to go to Morocco together, but at the last moment she cried off.

cry out phr v
1 to make a loud sound of fear, shock, pain etc
[+in/with]
•Even the smallest movement made him cry out in pain.
•John tightened his grip until she cried out.
2 to shout or say something loudly:
•'Why are you doing this?' she cried out suddenly.
[+for]
•I felt too terrified to even cry out for help.
3 be crying out for sth informal to need something urgently:
•The kitchen is crying out for a coat of paint.
•My parents had divorced and I was crying out for love.
not know whether to laugh or cry at LAUGH^1 (3); cry for the moon at MOON^1 (4); a shoulder to cry on at SHOULDER^1 (5)

WORD FOCUS: words meaning cry
be in tears to be crying
burst into tears to suddenly start crying
break down (in tears) to suddenly cry a lot, after trying not to cry
sob to cry noisily, with sudden noisy breaths
weep especially written to cry a lot for a long time
bawl if a baby bawls, it cries very loudly
have tears in your eyes to be about to cry
your eyes water you start to cry, especially because you have been cutting up onions or there is a lot of smoke
plural cries
1 SOUND EXPRESSING EMOTION [C] a loud sound expressing a strong emotion such as pain, fear, or pleasure:
•a baby's cry
cry of pain/alarm/delight etc
•Alice leapt to one side with a cry of alarm.
let out/give a cry
•The stone hit him on the forehead and he gave a sharp cry.
2 SHOUT [C] a shouted word or phrase
[+of]
•At last, there was a cry of 'Silence!', and everyone looked towards the door.
[+for]
•Fortunately, a passerby heard his cries for help.
3 TEARS [singular] especially BrE a period of time during which tears come out of your eyes, usually because you are unhappy:
•It's good to have a cry sometimes.
•I felt much better after I'd had a good cry (=cried for a long time).
4 cry for help something someone says or does that shows that they are very unhappy and need help:
•I think taking the pills was a cry for help.
5 PHRASE [C] a phrase that is used to unite people in support of a particular action or idea; = slogan
•'Land and Liberty' was the rallying cry of revolutionary Mexico.
BATTLE CRY (1), WAR CRY
6 ANIMAL/BIRD [C] a sound made by a particular animal:
•the cries of seagulls overhead
be a far cry from sth at FAR^2 (5); in full cry at FULL^1 (22); HUE AND CRY plural crybabies [C]
someone, especially a child, who cries too often without good reason - used to show disapproval:
•Don't be such a crybaby!
1 it's a crying shame spoken used to say that something is very sad or upsetting:
•It would be a crying shame if the village shop closed down.
2 crying need for sth a serious need for something:
• There is a crying need for a place where our young people can meet.[U]
when someone produces tears from their eyes, usually because they are unhappy or hurt:
•As he neared her tent he heard the sound of crying. [U]
the scientific study of very low temperatures
- cryogenic adjective [C]
a room under a church, used in the past for burying people; vault
having a meaning that is mysterious or not easily understood
cryptic remark/comment/statement etc
•a cryptic note at the end of the letter
- cryptically adverb $ formal
secret or hidden:
•a crypto-Communist $ [U]
the study of secret writing and CODEs
- cryptographer noun [C]
1 [U] very high quality clear glass:
•a set of six crystal glasses
2 [C] a small regular-shaped piece of a substance, formed naturally when this substance becomes solid:
•ice crystals
•copper sulphate crystals
3 [C,U] rock that is clear, or a piece of this
4 [C] AmE the clear cover on a clock or watch[C]
a glass ball that you can look into, which some people believe can show what is going to happen in the future
1 very clearly stated and easy to understand:
•I want to make one thing crystal clear - I do not agree with these proposals.
2 completely clean and clear:
•the crystal clear water of the lake $
1 made of crystals
2 very clear or transparent, like crystalalso crystallise BrE
1 [I,T] if a liquid crystallizes, it forms CRYSTALs :
•The liquid will crystallize at 50 degrees centigrade.
2 [I,T] if an idea, plan etc crystallizes or is crystallized, it becomes very clear in your mind:
•Inside her a thought was crystallizing.
- crystallization $ noun [U]also crystallised BrE
crystallized fruit, GINGER, or flowers are made by a special process which covers them with sugar [C,U]
Certificate of Secondary Education an examination in a range of subjects that was done by students in schools in England and Wales before 1988, usually at the age of 15 or 16; GCSE [C] AmE informal
a CAESAREAN [U] BrE
TEAR GASct. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of carat :
•a 24ct gold necklace [C]
another name for a CAT SCANcu. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of cubic :
•40 cu feet [C]
1 the baby of a wild animal such as a lion or a bear:
•a five-month old lion cub
•a tiger and her cubs
2 the Cubs the CUB SCOUT organization
3 a member of the CUB SCOUTS organization
CUB REPORTER $ [C]
a very small space or room, used especially for storing things [C]
1 a solid object with six equal square sides:
•a sugar cube
•an ice cube
•Cut the meat into small cubes.
2 the cube of sth the number you get when you multiply a number by itself twice, for example 4 x 4 x 4 = 64, so the cube of 4 is 64
3 AmE spoken a CUBICLE[T]
1 to multiply a number by itself twice:
•4 cubed is 64
2 to cut food into cubes $ [C]
the cube root of a particular number is the number that, when multiplied by itself twice will give that number:
•4 is the cube root of 64
relating to a measurement of space which is calculated by multiplying the length of something by its width and height; square
cubic centimetre/metre/inch etc
•75,000 million cubic metres of gas
•the cubic capacity of an engine [C]
a small part of a room that is separated from the rest of the room:
•a shower cubicle
•office workers in their cubicles [U]
a 20th century style of art, in which objects and people are represented by GEOMETRIC shapes
- cubist adjective
•cubist paintings
- cubist noun [C] [C]
an ancient unit for measuring length, equal to the length of your arm between your wrist and your elbow[C]
a young newspaper or television REPORTER without much experience[C]
1 the Cub Scouts the part of the SCOUT organization for younger children
2 a young child who is a member of this organization; Girl Scout, boy scout $ [C] old use
an insulting word for a man whose wife has been having sex with another man[T] old use
if a wife or her LOVER cuckold her husband, they have sex with each other $ [C]
a grey European bird that puts its eggs in other birds' NESTs and that makes a sound that sounds like its name[not before noun] informal
crazy or silly:
•You're completely cuckoo![C]
a clock with a wooden bird inside that comes out every hour and makes a sound $ [C,U]
a long thin round vegetable with a dark green skin and a light green inside, usually eaten raw [U]
food that a cow or similar animal has chewed, swallowed, and brought back into its mouth to chew a second time:
•a cow chewing its cud [I,T]
to hold someone or something very close to you with your arms around them, especially to show that you love them; hug
•Dawn and her boyfriend were cuddling on the sofa.

PHRASAL VERBS
cuddle up phr v
to lie or sit very close to someone or something
[+to/together]
•The children cuddled up to each other for warmth.[singular]
an act of cuddling someone; hug
•Come over here and let me give you a cuddle.
1 a person or animal that is cuddly makes you want to cuddle them:
•He is the most affectionate and cuddly dog I have ever known.
2 [only before noun] cuddly toys are soft toys designed for children to cuddle
1 [C] a short thick stick used as a weapon
2 take up the cudgels (on behalf of sb/sth) formal to start to fight for an idea that you believe in [C]
1 an action or event that is a signal for something else to happen
[+for]
•Our success was the cue for other companies to press ahead with new investment.
sb's cue to do sth
•I think that's my cue to explain why I'm here.
2 a word, phrase, or action in a play that is a signal for the next person to speak or act:
•She stood nervously in the wings waiting for her cue.
miss your cue (=not speak or act when you are supposed to)
3 (right/as if) on cue happening or done at exactly the right moment:
•And then, on cue, the weather changed.
•As if on cue, Sam arrived.
4 take your cue from sb to use someone else's actions or behaviour to show you what you should do or how you should behave:
•With interest rates, the smaller banks will take their cue from the Federal Bank.
5 a long straight wooden stick used for hitting the ball in games such as BILLIARDS and POOL[T]
to give someone a sign that it is the right moment for them to speak or do something, especially during a performance:
•The studio manager will cue you when it's your turn to come on.

PHRASAL VERBS
cue sth <=> up phr v
to make a CASSETTE, VIDEO, or CD be exactly in the position you want it to be in, so that you can play something immediately when you are ready:
•The videotape's cued up and ready to go![C]
the ball which a player hits with the cue in a game such as BILLIARDS [C]
1 the end of a sleeve
2 AmE a narrow piece of cloth turned upwards at the bottom of a trouser leg; = turn-up BrE
3 an action in which you hit someone lightly on the head with your hand open
4 cuffs [plural] HANDCUFFS
OFF-THE-CUFF[T]
1 to hit someone lightly, especially in a friendly way:
•She cuffed him playfully on the side of the head.
2 to put HANDCUFFS on someone[C]
a small piece of jewellery that a man can use to fasten his shirt cuffs [U]
1 a particular style of cooking:
•French cuisine
•vegetarian cuisine
[+of]
•the traditional cuisine of the Southwest
2 the food cooked in a particular restaurant or hotel, especially when it is very good:
•Enjoy the delicious cuisine created by our award-winning chef.
HAUTE CUISINE $ [C]
1 a road which is closed at one end, so that there is only one way in and out
2 an unhelpful situation in which you cannot make any more progress:
•These ideas lead us into a philosophical cul-de-sac. $ [only before noun]
formal relating to cooking:
•culinary skills
•mushrooms dried for culinary use
•the region's culinary delights (=food that tastes very good)
1 [I,T] to kill some animals of a group, usually the weakest ones, especially so that the size of the group does not increase too much
2 [T] formal to find or choose information from many different places
cull sth from sth
•The data had been culled from a variety of sources.[C]
the act of killing the weakest animals in a group, especially so that the size of the group does not increase too much $
another spelling of COLANDER

PHRASAL VERBS
culminate in/with sth phr v
if a process culminates in or with a particular event, it ends with that event:
•A series of events for teachers and students will culminate in a Shakespeare festival next year. [U]
the culmination of sth something, especially something important, that happens at the end of a long period of effort or development:
•This little book represented the culmination of 15 years' work. $ [plural]
women's trousers which stop at the knee and are shaped to look like a skirt
1 formal deserving blame:
•Both parties were held to be to some extent culpable.
2 law a culpable action is one that is considered criminal
culpable homicide/negligence etc
•He pleaded guilty to culpable homicide.
- culpably adverb
- culpability noun [U] [C]
1 the person who is guilty of a crime or doing something wrong; victim
•Police finally managed to catch the culprit.
2 informal the reason for a particular problem or difficulty:
•High production costs are the main culprit.
1 [C] an extreme religious group that is not part of an established religion:
•Anyone who betrayed the cult could be punished by death.
2 [C] a fashionable belief, idea, or attitude that influences people's lives
[+of]
•Diet, exercise ... It's all part of this cult of self-improvement.
3 [singular] a group of people who are very interested in a particular thing:
•O'Brien has a cult of devoted readers.
4 [C,U] formal a system of religious beliefs and practices
PERSONALITY CULT[only before noun]
cult film/band/figure etc a film, music group etc that has become very popular but only among a particular group of people:
•the 1980s cult movie 'The Gods Must Be Crazy'
•The actor James Dean acquired the status of a cult hero.
land which is cultivable can be used to grow crops [T]
1 to prepare and use land for growing crops and plants:
•The land was too rocky to cultivate.
2 formal to plant and take care of a particular crop; = grow
•We cultivated maize and watermelons.
3 to work hard to develop a particular skill, attitude, or quality:
•Try to cultivate a more relaxed and positive approach to life.
•The company has been successful in cultivating a very professional image.
4 to make an effort to develop a friendly relationship with someone, especially someone who can help you:
•Professor Gladwyn would be an acquaintance worth cultivating.
1 someone who is cultivated is intelligent and knows a lot about music, art, literature etc:
•a highly cultivated man
2 cultivated land is land that is used for growing crops or plants:
•cultivated fields
3 [only before noun] cultivated crops or plants are ones grown by people; wild
•cultivated mushrooms [U]
1 the preparation and use of land for growing crops:
•different methods of soil cultivation
under cultivation
•These fields have been under cultivation (=used for growing crops) for years.
2 the planting and growing of plants and crops:
•Terraces for rice cultivation covered the hillsides.
[+of]
•the successful cultivation of tobacco
3 the deliberate development of a particular quality or skill $ [C]
1 formal someone who grows crops or plants, especially a farmer
2 a tool or machine that is used to prepare land for growing crops [usually before noun]
1 belonging or relating to a particular society and its way of life:
•the very real historical and cultural differences between our two societies
•the desire to maintain a distinct cultural identity
•It is important to look at the political and cultural context in which the novel was written.
•people who share the same cultural background
cultural heritage/traditions etc (=ideas, customs etc that have existed in a particular society for a long time)
•Japan's unique cultural heritage
MULTICULTURAL
2 relating to art, literature, music etc:
•the city's rich and varied cultural life
•Students need to have time for relaxation and cultural activities, as well as for academic work.
•In the later Middle Ages, Prague was an important cultural centre (=a place, usually a big city, where a lot of artistic and musical events happen).
1 in a way that is related to the ideas, beliefs, or customs of a society:
•Teaching materials need to be culturally appropriate. [sentence adverb]
•Historically and culturally, Britain has always been linked to the continent.
2 in a way that is related to art, music, literature etc:
•The French are a culturally sophisticated people. [sentence adverb]
•Culturally, the city has a lot to offer. $
1 IN A SOCIETY [C,U] the beliefs, way of life, art, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society:
•We speak Danish at home so that the boys don't lose touch with their language and culture.
•In our culture, it is rude to ask someone how much they earn.
•I love working abroad and meeting people from different cultures.
Western/American/Japanese etc culture
•A brief history of Western culture.
modern/contemporary culture
•Business is one of the major forces in modern culture.
2 IN A GROUP [C,U] the attitudes and beliefs about something that are shared by a particular group of people or in a particular organization:
•Every government department has its own particular culture.
corporate/business/company culture
•Changing the corporate culture is a long and difficult process.
[+of]
•In the field of drug development, the culture of secrecy is deep and strong.
•modern American youth culture
•the drug culture that is destroying so many young lives today
•the German political culture
SUBCULTURE
3 ART/MUSIC/LITERATURE [U] activities that are related to art, music, literature etc:
•If it's culture you're looking for, the city has plenty of museums and art galleries.
•the Italian Ministry of Culture
popular culture (=the music, books, films etc that are liked by a lot of people)
4 SOCIETY [C] a society that existed at a particular time in history:
•This technique was then adapted and refined by the more sophisticated cultures of the ancient world.
•primitive cultures
5 MEDICINE/SCIENCE [C,U] technical BACTERIA or cells grown for medical or scientific use, or the process of growing them:
•It takes two to three weeks to grow the culture from which the presence of handicap can be detected.
•The laboratories have extensive tissue culture facilities.
6 CROPS [U] technical the practice of growing crops:
•clearing forest for rice culture[T] technical
to grow BACTERIA or cells for medical or scientific use $
intelligent, polite, and interested in art, literature, music etc:
•a well-read and cultured woman
•His voice was cultured and unmistakably English.[C]
a PEARL that has been grown artificially[singular, U]
the feeling of being confused or anxious that you get when you visit a foreign country or a place that is very different from the one you are used to:
•India is where I first experienced real culture shock.
•Moving to London was a bit of a culture shock after ten years of living in the country. $ [C]
a pipe that takes a stream under a road, railway line etc
used between two nouns to show that something has two purposes:
•a kitchen-cum-dining room
•a lunch-cum-business meeting $
1 a process or system that is cumbersome is slow and difficult:
•Doctors are complaining that the system is cumbersome and bureaucratic.
•cumbersome procedures
2 heavy and difficult to move:
•a large cumbersome machine
3 words or phrases that are cumbersome are long or complicated $ [U]
the seeds of a plant that have a sweet smell and are used especially in Mexican and Indian cooking, or the plant that they grow on $ AmE
with honours if you GRADUATE cum laude, you finish a university degree and are given official praise for special achievement
MAGNA CUM LAUDE, SUMMA CUM LAUDE $ [C]
a wide piece of cloth that a man wears around his waist as part of a special suit worn on very formal occasions $
increasing gradually as more of something is added or happens:
•Learning is a cumulative process.
cumulative effect (of sth)
•Depression is often caused by the cumulative effects of stress and overwork. [C,U]
a thick white cloud with a flat bottom edge $
relating to the writing used by the people of ancient Mesopotamia
- cuneiform noun [U] [U] technical
the act of touching the female sex organs with the lips and tongue in order to give sexual pleasure; fellatio
1 someone who is cunning is clever and good at deceiving people in order to get what they want; = crafty
•a cunning opponent
2 behaviour or actions that are cunning are clever but dishonest and unfair, and are used to get what you want:
•a cunning plan
3 a cunning object or piece of equipment is clever and unusual:
•a cunning little device for keeping out draughts
4 AmE old-fashioned attractive:
•a cunning little dress
- cunningly adverb[U]
the ability to achieve what you want by deceiving people in a clever way:
•the tiger's ferocity and cunning
•She would use low cunning (=unpleasant dishonest methods) to win people's sympathy. [C] taboo informal
1 a stupid or unpleasant person
2 a woman's VAGINA (=sex organ)
1 FOR DRINKING [C] a small round container, usually with a handle, that you use to drink tea, coffee etc; saucer
•Mathew picked up the cup and sipped his coffee.
•She put her cup and saucer down on the table.
tea/coffee cup
•Helen took the coffee cups into the kitchen.
paper/plastic/china etc cup
•They drank cheap wine from plastic cups.
2 DRINK [C] the liquid contained inside a cup
[+of]
•Let's go and have a cup of coffee.
•Will you stay for a cup of tea?
•Would you like another cup?
3 AMOUNT OF LIQUID/FOOD [C]
a) a unit used in the US for measuring food or liquid in cooking, equal to eight FLUID OUNCEs or 237 MILLILITREs :
•Mix the butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
b) also cupful the amount of liquid or food that a cup can hold:
•Breakfast consisted of half a cup of milk and a dry biscuit.
4 SPORT COMPETITION
a) [C] a specially shaped silver container, often with two handles, that is given as a prize in a competition, especially a sports competition:
•The president of the club came to present the cup to the winners.
b) [singular] a sports competition in which a cup is given as a prize:
•They've won the European Cup twice.
•Germany's World Cup team
5 ROUND THING [C] something round and hollow that is shaped like a cup:
•The flowers' white petals contrast handsomely with their lemon-yellow cups.
•acorn cups
[+of]
•She held it in the cup of her hand.
6 GOLF [C] AmE a hole in the ground that you have to try to hit the ball into in the game of golf
7 CLOTHING [C]
a) the part of a BRA that covers a woman's breast
b) AmE a JOCKSTRAP
8 ALCOHOL [C,U] BrE a mixed alcoholic drink:
•He's gone to get me some fruit cup.
•a glass of champagne cup
9 not be your cup of tea spoken to not be the type of thing that you like:
•Jazz just isn't my cup of tea - I prefer classical music.
10 in your cups BrE old-fashioned drunk, or when drunk:
•By the time Anthony arrived, Richard was already deep in his cups.
EGGCUPpast tense and past participle cupped, present participle cupping [T]
1 to hold something in your hands, so that your hands form part of a circle around it:
•He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
•Luke was sitting at his desk, one hand cupping his chin.
2 cup your hand(s) to make a shape like a cup with your hand or hands:
•He struck a match and cupped his hand around the flame. $ [C]
a piece of furniture with doors, and sometimes shelves, used for storing clothes, plates, food etc; closet, wardrobe
•It's in the kitchen cupboard.
•The cupboard doors were open. [C]
a small round cake[C]
the last and most important game in a competition, especially a football competition [C]
the amount that a cup can hold
1 [singular] the Roman god of sexual love, represented as a beautiful boy with wings who is carrying a BOW and ARROW
2 [C] an image of this god, used to represent love
3 play cupid to try to arrange for two people to fall in love with each other:
•She vowed never to play cupid again. [U] formal
very strong desire for something, especially money or property; = greed
•the cupidity of some businessmen [C]
a round structure on the top of a building, that is shaped like an upside down bowl:
•a golden edifice with an onion-shaped cupola [C] BrE spoken
a cup of tea:
•I'm dying for a cuppa![C]
a game between two teams in a competition in which only the winning team will play any more games:
•Saturday's FA Cup tie against Spurs $ [C] old-fashioned
an unfriendly dog, especially one that is a mix of several breeds $
an illness that is curable can be cured; incurable $ [U]
a strong thick alcoholic drink that tastes of oranges $ plural curacies [C]
the job or position of a curate, or the period of time that someone has this position $ [C]
1 a priest of the lowest rank, whose job is to help the priest who is in charge of an area
2 curate's egg BrE something that has good and bad parts:
•The book is something of a curate's egg. $
able to, or intended to cure illness; heal
•the spring's alleged curative properties
- curative noun [C]
•This herb was once thought to be a curative. $ [C]
someone who is in charge of a MUSEUM or ZOO:
•He's Curator of Prints at the Metropolitan. $ [T]
to control or limit something in order to prevent it from having a harmful effect:
•measures to curb the spread of the virus[C]
1 an influence which helps to control or limit something
[+on]
•We are trying to keep a curb on their activities.
2 AmE the raised edge of a road, between where people can walk and cars can drive; = kerb BrE; pavement, sidewalk $ [U]
also curds [plural] the thick substance that forms in milk when it becomes sour; whey
BEAN CURD $ [I,T]
1 to become thicker or form curd, or to make a liquid do this:
•Milk may curdle in warm weather.
2 make your blood curdle to make you very frightened
BLOODCURDLING $ [C]
1 a medicine or medical treatment that makes an illness go away
[+for]
•There is still no cure for AIDS.
2 something that solves a problem, or improves a bad situation; solution
[+for]
•There is no easy cure for loneliness.
3 the act of making someone well again after an illness:
•The new treatment effected a miraculous cure.[T]
1 to make an illness or medical condition go away:
•Many types of cancer can now be cured.
•an operation that can cure short-sightedness in 15 minutes
2 to make someone well again after they have been ill; heal
•She had some acupuncture treatment which seems to have cured her.
cure sb of sth
•90% of patients can be cured of the disease.
3 to solve a problem, or improve a bad situation:
•Attempts to cure unemployment have so far failed.
4 cure sb of sth to make someone stop behaving in a particular way or stop them having a particular feeling or attitude:
•Nothing could cure her of her impatience with Anna.
5 to preserve food, tobacco etc by drying it, hanging it in smoke, or covering it with salt:
•cured ham[C]
something that people think will cure any problem or illness
[+for]
•Investment is not a cure-all for every economic problem. $ [C,U]
1 a law that forces people to stay indoors after a particular time at night, or the time people must be indoors:
•The government imposed a night-time curfew throughout the country.
•The curfew was lifted (=ended) on May 6th.
•The whole town was placed under curfew.
•Anyone found in the streets after curfew was shot.
2 AmE the time, decided by a parent, by which a child must be home or asleep in the evening $ plural curios [C]
a small object that is interesting because it is beautiful or rare $ plural curiosities
1 [singular, U] the desire to know about something

satisfy sb's curiosity
arouse sb's curiosity (=make people want to know about something)
out of curiosity (=because of curiosity)
with curiosity
natural curiosity
intellectual/scientific curiosity
idle curiosity (=wanting to know about something for no particular reason)
be burning with curiosity (=want to know about something very much)

•I opened the packet just to satisfy my curiosity.
•The news aroused a lot of curiosity among local people.
•She decided to follow him out of curiosity.
•Margaret looked at him with curiosity.
[+about]
•Children have a natural curiosity about the world around them.
•a man of immense intellectual curiosity
•It was idle curiosity that made me ask.

2 [C] someone or something that is interesting because they are unusual or strange:
•a house full of old maps and other curiosities
•In the past, men who wanted to work with children were regarded as something of a curiosity.
•It's not worth much, but I kept it for its curiosity value.
3 curiosity killed the cat used to tell someone not to ask too many questions about something $
1 wanting to know about something; inquisitive
•Puppies are naturally curious.
[+about]
•He was curious about how she would react.
curious to know/see/hear etc
•Mandy was curious to know what happened.
curious look/glance
•Her shouting attracted some curious glances from other people in the restaurant.
2 strange or unusual:
•He felt a curious mixture of excitement and panic.
•a curious coincidence
• It's curious that she left without saying goodbye.
- curiously adverb
•'What have you got in there?' Felix asked curiously.
•She felt curiously calm. $ [I,T]
1 to form a twisted or curved shape, or to make something do this:
•Mary was busy curling her hair.
[+around/round]
•Ivy curled round the tree.
2 [always + adv/prep] to move, forming a twisted or curved shape, or to make something do this
[+across/along etc]
•Morning mists curled across the river.
curl sth around/round/over etc sth
•He curled his arm around Claudia's waist.
3 if you curl your lip, or if your lip curls, you move it upwards and sideways, to show that you disapprove of someone or something:
•Her lip curled in contempt.

PHRASAL VERBS
curl up phr v
1 to move so that you are lying or sitting with your arms and legs bent close to your body:
•I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep.
•Sarah was curled up on the sofa.
2 if something flat curls up, its edges start to become curved and point upwards:
•The letter was now yellow and beginning to curl up.
make sb's toes curl at TOE^1 (5); make your hair curl at HAIR (9)
1 [C] a piece of hair that hangs in a curved shape:
•a little boy with beautiful blonde curls
2 [singular, U] the ability of your hair to form curls:
•Use a diffuser to maximise the volume and curl of your hair.
•hair that has a natural curl
3 [C] something in the shape of a curve:
•Decorate the cake with chocolate curls.
[+of]
•A curl of smoke rose from her cigarette.
4 [C] an exercise in which you repeatedly bend your arms, legs, or stomach in order to make your muscles strong
5 curl of sb's lip/mouth a sideways and upwards movement of your lip or mouth, showing that you disapprove of someone or something $ [C]
a small plastic or metal tube used for making hair curl; = roller
•Her hair was in curlers. $ [C]
a bird with long legs and a long beak that lives near water $ [U]
a sport played on ice, in which players slide flat heavy stones towards a marked placecurling iron AmE [plural] [C] BrE
a piece of electrical equipment that you heat and use to put curls in your hair $
1 having a lot of curls; straight
•long dark curly hair
2 BrE curved in shape:
•cows with curly horns
- curliness noun [U] $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who is often annoyed or angry, especially an old person $ [C]
1 a small dried GRAPE used especially in baking cakes; raisin, sultana
2 a small round red or black BERRY
BLACKCURRANT, REDCURRANT $ plural currencies
1 [C,U] the system or type of money that a country uses:
•The bank can supply you with foreign currency.
•There are moves towards a single currency in Europe.
•The local currency is the Swiss franc.
HARD CURRENCY
2 [U] the state of being accepted or used by a lot of people:
•The argument has received wide currency.
•Marxism began to gain currency.
•The idea was common currency in European political life. $ [only before noun]
happening or existing now:
•the current President
•In its current state, the house would be worth £200,000.[C]
1 a continuous movement of water in a river, lake, or sea; tide
ocean/sea/tidal etc current
• Strong currents can be very dangerous for swimmers.
2 a continuous movement of air:
•Some birds use warm air currents to help them fly.
[+of]
•currents of warm air rising from the plain
3 a flow of electricity through a wire:
•an electrical current
ALTERNATING CURRENT, DIRECT CURRENT
4 an idea, feeling, or opinion that a particular group of people has:
•The committee reflects the different political currents within the organization.
[+of]
•There was an underlying current of discontent among teachers.
!! Do not confuse with currant (=small dried fruit).[C]
BrE a bank account that you can take money out of at any time; = checking account AmE[U]
important political events or other events in society that are happening now $
at the present time:
•The brochure shows the products that are currently available.
•He is currently working on his first novel. $ [only before noun]
relating to the curriculum of a school:
•curricular changes plural curricula orplural curriculums [C]
the subjects that are taught by a school, college etc, or the things that are studied in a particular subject:
•Languages are an essential part of the school curriculum.
•curriculum planning
on the curriculum BrE
•IT is now on the curriculum in most schools.
in the curriculum AmE
•Students are exempt from some classes in the curriculum for religious reasons.; syllabus [C]
1 a formal British expression for CV; = resume AmE
2 AmE a short written description of a university teacher's previous jobs and work, that they send when looking for a new teaching job $ [only before noun]
cooked with hot spices:
•curried lamb $ plural curries [C,U]
a type of food from India, consisting of meat or vegetables in a spicy sauce:
•chicken currypast tense and past participle curried, present participle currying, third person singular curries
curry favour (with sb) to try to make someone like you or notice you in order to get something that you want - used to show disapproval:
•a businessman who made several attempts to curry favour with politicians[U]
a mixture of spices, used in cooking to give food a spicy taste $
1 [I] to swear:
•Gilbert was cursing under his breath.
2 [T] to say or think bad things about someone or something because they have made you angry:
•He cursed his bad luck in arriving just after she'd left.
curse sb/sth for (doing) sth
•Elsa cursed herself for believing his lies.
3 [T] to ask God or a magical power to harm someone

PHRASAL VERBS
curse sb <=> out phr v AmE informal
to swear at someone who has made you angry[C]
1 a swear word or words that you say because you are very angry:
•He muttered a curse under his breath.
2 a word or sentence used to ask God or a magical power to do something bad to someone or something:
•He believed that someone had put a curse on the house.
3 something that causes trouble, harm etc
[+of]
•Noise is one of the curses of modern-day life.
4 the curse old-fashioned a MENSTRUAL PERIOD $
1 be cursed with/by sth to be affected by something bad:
•The museum has been cursed by financial problems since it opened.
2 literary suffering as a result of a punishment by God or a god $
written in a style of writing with the letters joined together:
•cursive script
- cursively adverb $ [C]
a mark that can be moved around a computer screen to show where you are working $
done very quickly without much attention to details
cursory glance/look
•Even a cursory glance at the figures will tell you that sales are down this year.
cursory examination/inspection
•a cursory examination of the evidence
- cursorily adverb $
using very few words in a way that seems rude:
•With a curt nod, he turned away and sat down.
•a curt note
- curtly adverb
- curtness noun [U] $ [T] formal
to reduce or limit something:
•The new law will curtail police powers.
severely/drastically curtail
•Budget cuts have drastically curtailed training programs.
- curtailment noun [C,U] $ [C]
1 a piece of hanging cloth that can be pulled across to cover a window, divide a room etc:
•red velvet curtains
draw/close/pull the curtains
•Ella drew the curtains and switched the light on.
draw back/open the curtains
•Shall I open the curtains?
2 a sheet of heavy material that comes down at the front of the stage in a theatre
the curtain goes up/rises
•Before the curtain went up, the dancers took their places on stage.
the curtain comes down/falls
3 written a thick layer of something that stops anything behind it from being seen
[+of]
•a curtain of smoke
4 bring down the curtain on sth informal to cause or mark the end of a situation or period of time:
•The decision brought down the curtain on a 30-year career.
5 (it'll) be curtains for sb/sth informal used to say that someone will die or that something will end

PHRASAL VERBS
curtain sth <=> off phr v
to separate one area, room etc from another by hanging a curtain between them:
•The room was curtained off by red drapes.[C]
the time at the end of a performance when the actors come to the front of the stage to receive APPLAUSE $ [only before noun]
a curtained window or door has a curtain hanging across it[C]
a small hook that is joined to the top of a curtain so that you can hang it up[C]
a long piece of plastic or metal that you hang a curtain on[C]
an event such as a performance or sports event that happens before a more important one:
•A local team are playing as a curtain raiser to the game between England and Italy.curtsey $ past tense and past participle curtsied, present participle curtsying, third person singular curtsies [I]
if a woman curtsies, she bends her knees with one foot in front of the other as a sign of respect for an important person; bow
- curtsy noun [C] $
having an attractively curved body shape - used about women:
•a tall, curvaceous young woman $ [C,U] technical
the state of being curved, or the degree to which something is curved
[+of]
•the curvature of the Earth's surface
•He suffered from curvature of the spine. $ [C]
1 a line that gradually bends like part of a circle
[+of]
•the curve of her hips
•a sweeping curve of railroad track
2 a line on a GRAPH that gradually bends and represents a change in the amount or level of something:
•The curve illustrates costs per capita.
demand/supply curve
•The market demand curve has increased.
3 a bend in a road, river etc:
•The car took the curve much too quickly.
4 also curve ball in baseball, a ball that spins and moves in a curve when it is thrown, so that it is difficult to hit
5 throw sb a curve AmE to surprise someone with a question or problem that is difficult to deal with
LEARNING CURVE[I,T]
to bend or move in the shape of a curve, or to make something do this:
•The track curved round the side of the hill.
•A smile curved her lips. $
having a shape that is like a curve and not straight:
•a curved wall $
1 having a shape with several curves:
•a curvy line
2 a woman who is curvy is attractive because her body has a lot of curves [C]
1 a cloth bag filled with soft material that you put on a chair or the floor to make it more comfortable; pillow
•a velvet cushion
•a cushion cover
2 something that stops one thing from hitting another thing:
•Good sports shoes should provide a cushion when running.
3 [usually singular] something, especially money, that prevents you from being immediately affected by a bad situation
[+against]
•Savings can act as a cushion against unemployment.
4 the soft rubber edge of the table used for playing BILLIARDS or SNOOKER[T]
1 to make the effect of a fall or hit less painful, for example by having something soft in the way:
•His landing was cushioned by the fresh snow that had fallen.
2 to protect someone from an unpleasant situation or the unpleasant effects of something
cushion the blow/impact (of sth)
•generous leaving allowances to help cushion the blow of redundancy
cushion sb from/against sth
•Parents today often feel their children should be cushioned from the outside world. [U]
something soft that protects someone or something when they hit a surface:
•A special pad in the heel offers good cushioning as you walk.
a cushy job or life is very easy and does not need much effort:
•I wish I had a nice cushy job like her.
•a very cushy number (=an easy job or life)
1 [C] technical the point formed where two curves join
2 be on the cusp of sth [singular] to be at the time when a situation or state is going to change:
•The country was on the cusp of economic expansion.
3 on the cusp someone who was born on the cusp was born near the time when one STAR SIGN ends and another begins [I,T] BrE old-fashioned, AmE spoken
to swear because you are annoyed by something

PHRASAL VERBS
cuss sb <=> out phr v AmE spoken
to swear and shout at someone because you are angry:
•She got mad and started cussing him out.[C] old-fashioned
a rude word that you use because you are angry $
1 [U] a sweet yellow sauce that is made with milk, sugar, eggs, and flour
2 [C,U] a soft baked mixture of milk, sugar, and eggs[C]
a PIE filled with a substance that looks like custard, which people throw at each other as a joke in films, on television etc $
relating to the custody of someone, especially a child:
•custodial care[C] BrE
a period of time that someone has to spend in prison as a punishment $ [C]
1 someone who is responsible for looking after something important or valuable
[+of]
•Farmers are custodians of the land for the next generation.
2 especially AmE someone who looks after a public building:
•a custodian at the stadium
3 custodian of tradition/moral values etc someone who tries to protect a traditional set of beliefs, attitudes etc [U]
1 the right to take care of a child, given to one of their parents when they have DIVORCED
[+of]
•He got custody of his son after the divorce.
•It is usually the mother who is awarded custody (=legally allowed to have custody).
•a dispute over who should have custody of the children
•The couple will retain joint custody (=they will both have custody) of their daughters.
•Allen is fighting a bitter custody battle over his three children.
2 when someone is kept in prison until they go to court, because the police think they have committed a crime:
•The committee is looking at alternatives to custody.
in custody
•Police are investigating the death of a man in custody.
hold/keep sb in custody
•A man is being held in police custody in connection with the murder.
remand sb in custody BrE (=send someone to prison to wait until they go to court)
•A man has been remanded in custody charged with the murder of a schoolgirl.
•She was taken into custody as a suspect.
3 formal when someone is responsible for keeping and looking after something:
•Managers are responsible for the safe custody and retention of records.
•The collection of art books is now in the custody of the university.
1 [C,U] something that is done by people in a particular society because it is traditional
local/ancient/French etc custom
•The guide offers information on local customs.
it is the custom (for sb) to do sth
•It's the custom for the bride's father to pay for the wedding.
the custom of doing sth
•The custom of naming women after flowers is becoming less common.
2 [singular] formal something that you usually do every day, or in a particular situation:
•He awoke early, as was his custom.
3 customs [plural]
a) the place where your bags are checked for illegal goods when you go into a country; immigration
•She was stopped at customs and questioned.
•It took ages to clear customs (=be allowed through customs) but then we were out of the airport quite quickly.
•You won't be able to take that through customs.
b) the government department that checks goods coming into a country and collects any taxes on them:
•customs officers
•the US customs service
4 [U] formal the practice of regularly using a particular shop or business:
•an advertisement to attract more custom
•Smaller shops lose a lot of custom when supermarkets open nearby.[only before noun] especially AmE
custom products or services are specially designed and made for a particular person:
•His son operates a custom furniture business.
custom-made/custom-built/custom-designed etc made, built etc for a particular person:
•He always wore custom-made suits
•custom-ordered vehicles $
1 something that is customary is normal because it is the way something is usually done; = usual
it is customary (for sb) to do sth
•In some cultures it is customary for the bride to wear white.
2 [only before noun] someone's customary behaviour is the way they usually do things; = usual
•Barbara answered with her customary enthusiasm.
- customarily $ adverb $ [C]
1 someone who buys goods or services from a shop, company etc:
•We aim to offer good value and service to all our customers.
•We've had several letters from satisfied customers.
customer service/care
•Many of the banks offer a poor level of customer service.
•He's one of our regular customers.
best/biggest/largest customer (=the person or company who uses a shop or company the most)
2 awkward/tricky/tough etc customer someone who is difficult to deal with because they behave in a deliberately unhelpful way
cool customer at COOL^1 (3)

WORD CHOICE: customer, client, patron, shopper, consumer
Customer is the most general word. A customer is someone who buys something from a particular shop. People who pay to use something such as a transport service can also be called customers: A customer came in and bought several jackets. | Customers are advised that the next train is delayed.
A client is someone who pays for a service: a hairdresser and her clients
A patron of a particular restaurant, bar etc is someone who eats or drinks there. This is a fairly formal word and it is more usual to use customer: Patrons are asked to refrain from smoking.
A shopper is someone who is involved in the activity of buying things from shops: The street was crowded with shoppers.
A consumer is anyone who pays for goods and services. This word is used especially when you are talking about people's rights: Consumers have a right to know what they are buying.

[U]
the part of a company or business that deals with questions, problems etc that customers have:
•You should call customer services and complain.
•He's customer services manager at the store. $
able to be changed in order to be suitable for a particular object or situation:
•Download free, customizable business forms from Entrepreneur.com.also customise BrE [T]
to change something to make it more suitable for you, or to make it look special or different from things of a similar type:
•a customized car
the department of the British government that is responsible for collecting tax on goods that are being bought or sold, or goods that have been brought into the country past tense and past participle cut present participle cutting
1 REDUCE [T] to reduce the amount of something:
•They're introducing CCTV cameras in an attempt to cut street crime in the area.
•You need to cut the amount of fat and sugar in your diet.
•Scientists are warning that unless carbon emissions are cut, we could be heading for an environmental catastrophe.
•700 jobs will be lost in order to cut costs and boost profits.
•The major aviation companies need to cut prices if they are to compete with budget airlines.
cut sth by £1 million/$5 billion/half etc
•The welfare budget has been cut by $56 billion.
cut sth off sth
•A new direct service will cut two hours off the flying time between London and Seoul.
•Staffing levels had already been cut to the bone (=reduced to the lowest level possible).
2 DIVIDE STH WITH A KNIFE, SCISSORS ETC [I,T] to divide something or separate something from its main part, using scissors, a knife etc:
•Do you want me to cut the cake?
•The telephone wires had been cut minutes before the assault.
cut sth with sth
•Jane cut the cord with a knife.
cut sb sth
•Can you cut me a piece of bread, please?
[+along/across/round etc]
•Using a pair of scissors, cut carefully along the dotted lines.
[+through]
•We'll need a saw that will cut through metal.
cut sth in half/in two
•Cut the orange in half.
cut sth into slices/chunks/pieces etc (=make something into a particular shape by cutting)
•Cut the carrots into thin strips.
cut sth to size/length (=cut something so that it is the size you need)
•The curtain pole can be cut to length.
CUT AWAY, CUT OFF, CUT OUT, CUT UP
3 MAKE STH SHORTER WITH A KNIFE ETC [T] to make something shorter with a knife, scissors etc, especially in order to make it neater:
•For reasons of hygiene, we had to cut our fingernails really short.
cut the lawn/grass/hedge etc
•From outside the open window came the sound of someone cutting the hedge.
have/get your hair cut
•Isn't it about time you got your hair cut?
4 REMOVE PARTS FROM FILM ETC [T] to remove parts from a film, book, speech etc, for example because it is too long or might offend people:
•The original version was cut by more than 30 minutes.
5 MAKE A HOLE/MARK [I,T] to make a hole or mark in the surface of something, or to open it using a sharp tool
[+into]
•The blade cut deep into the wood.
cut sth into sth
•Strange letters had been cut into the stone.
• Cut a hole in the middle of the paper.
• Cut open the chillies and remove the seeds.
6 INJURE [T] to injure yourself on something sharp that breaks the skin and makes you bleed
cut your finger/knee/hand etc
•I noticed he'd cut his finger quite badly.
cut yourself (on sth)
•Marcie said she'd cut herself on a broken glass.
•That knife's extremely sharp! Mind you don't cut yourself.
•On Eric's chin was a scrap of cotton wool where he'd cut himself shaving.
•She fell and cut her head open.
7 MAKE/FORM STH BY CUTTING [T] to make or form something from a solid piece of wood, metal etc using a sharp tool:
•I'll get a spare key cut for you.
cut sth from sth
•The chair had been cut from the trunk of a tree.
8 LET SB GET FREE [T] to cut something such as metal or rope in order to let someone escape from where they are trapped
cut sb from sth
•She had to be cut from the wreckage of her car.
•He was in the vehicle for an hour before he was cut free.
9 TOOL/MATERIAL [I] if a tool cuts well, badly etc, it cuts things well or badly etc:
•professional quality tools that cut efficiently and smoothly
10 CLOTHES [T usually passive] if a piece of clothing is cut in a particular way, that is the way it is designed and made:
•The T-shirt is cut fairly low at the neck.
11 ON COMPUTER [I,T] to remove something from a document or FILE on a computer:
•To cut text, press Control + C.
• Cut and paste the picture into a new file (=remove it and then make it appear in a new file).
12 GO A QUICK WAY [I always + adv/prep] to get to somewhere by a quicker and more direct way than the usual way; shortcut
[+through/down/across etc]
•I usually cut through the car park to get to work.
•Let's cut across the field.
13 DIVIDE AN AREA [I,T] to divide an area into two or more parts
cut sth in/into sth
•The river cuts the whole region in two.
[+through]
•The new road will cut through a conservation area.
14 PLAYING CARDS [I,T] to divide a pack of cards into two:
•First cut the pack, and then deal the cards
15 MUSIC [T] to produce a CD, song etc for people to buy:
•The band cut their first single in 2001.
16 CROPS [T] to take the top part off crops such as wheat before gathering them
17 cut a deal to make a business deal:
•A French company has reportedly cut a deal to produce software for government agencies.
18 cut (sb) a check AmE informal to write a CHECK for a particular amount of money and give it to someone:
•When the damage assessor called, he cut a check for $139.
19 Cut! spoken said by the DIRECTOR of a film to tell people to stop acting, filming etc
20 PUT A FILM TOGETHER [T] to put the parts of a film together so that they make a continuous story, and get rid of the parts you do not want
21 cut in line AmE to unfairly go in front of other people who are waiting to do something
22 cut class/school AmE informal to deliberately not go to a class that you should go to:
•She started cutting classes.
23 cut your teeth (on sth) to get your first experience of doing something and learn the basic skills:
•Both reporters cut their journalistic teeth on the same provincial newspaper.
24 cut corners to do something in a way that saves time, effort, or money, but that also results in it not being done properly:
•There's always a temptation to cut corners when you're pushed for time, but it's not usually worth it.
25 cut sth short to stop doing something earlier than you planned:
•The band has cut short its US concert tour.
•Her athletic career was cut short by a leg injury.
26 cut sb short to stop someone from finishing what they wanted to say:
•I tried to explain, but he cut me short.
27 cut the ... spoken an impolite way of telling someone to stop doing something because it is annoying you:
•Cut the sarcasm, Jane, and tell me what really happened!
• Cut the crap (=stop saying something that is not true)! I saw his car outside your house.
28 cut sb dead to deliberately ignore someone when you meet them:
•I saw Ian in town but he cut me dead.
29 cut your losses to stop doing something that is failing, so that you do not waste any more money, time, or effort:
•He decided to cut his losses and sell the business.
30 LINE [T] if a line cuts another line, they cross each other at a particular point
31 TOOTH [T] if a baby cuts a tooth, the tooth starts to grow
32 cut sb to the quick/bone literary to upset someone very much by saying something cruel:
•His mockery frightened her and cut her to the bone.
33 cut to the chase informal to immediately start dealing with the most important part of something
34 cut a fine/strange etc figure literary to have an impressive, strange etc appearance:
•Mason cuts a battered but defiant figure.
35 cut your own throat to behave in a way that will cause harm to yourself, especially because you are very offended or angry about something:
•He'd just be cutting his own throat if he left now.
36 (it) cuts both ways spoken used to say that something has two effects, especially a good effect and a bad one:
•The higher the interest rate, the greater the financial risk - which, of course, cuts both ways.
37 cut the ground from under sb's feet to make someone or their ideas seem less impressive by having better ideas yourself or doing something before they do
38 cut and run informal to avoid a difficult situation by leaving suddenly:
•Although the company has faced financial difficulties, they do not intend to cut and run.
39 cut no ice/not cut much ice if something cuts no ice with someone, it will not persuade them to change their opinion or decision:
•It's unlikely that these arguments will cut much ice with Democrats.
40 cut the (umbilical) cord to stop being too dependent on someone, especially your parents
41 not cut the mustard informal to not be good enough:
•Other magazines have tried to copy the formula but have never quite cut the mustard.
42 DRUGS [T usually passive] to mix an illegal drug such as HEROIN with another substance
43 cut your coat according to your cloth to spend only as much money as you can afford
44 to cut a long story short spoken used to say that you are only going to mention the main facts of something:
•To cut a long story short, he threw them out of the house.
45 cut it/things fine cut it close AmE to leave yourself just enough time to do something:
•Even in normal traffic, 20 minutes to get to the airport is cutting it fine.
46 not cut it informal to not be good enough to do something:
•Players who can't cut it soon quit the team.
47 cut a swathe through sth literary to cause a lot of damage in a place or among a group of people:
•A series of bribery scandals has cut a swathe through the government.
48 you could cut the atmosphere with a knife informal used to say that everyone in a place is very annoyed or angry with each other and this is very easy to notice

PHRASAL VERBS
cut across sth phr v
if a problem or feeling cuts across different groups of people, they are all affected by it:
•Domestic violence seems to cut across most social divisions.

cut sth <=> away phr v
to remove unwanted or unnecessary parts from something by cutting it:
•Cut away all the dead wood.

cut back phr v
1 to reduce the amount, size, cost etc of something
[+on]
•Several major hospitals are cutting back on staff at the moment.
cut sth <=> back
•Education spending cannot be cut back any further.
•Richer countries must do more to cut back carbon emissions.
CUTBACK
2 cut sth <=> back to remove the top part of a plant in order to help it to grow:
•Cut back the shoots in spring to encourage bushier growth.
3 to eat, drink, or use less of something, especially in order to improve your health
[+on]
•Try to cut back on foods containing wheat and dairy products.

cut down phr v
1 REDUCE to reduce the amount of something
cut sth <=> down
•Installing double-glazing will cut down the noise from traffic.
[+on]
•By getting the design right, you can cut down on accidents.
2 EAT/USE LESS to eat, drink, or use less of something, especially in order to improve your health:
•I've always smoked, but I'm trying to cut down.
[+on]
•Cut down on fatty foods and alcohol if you want to lose weight.
3 TREE cut sth <=> down to cut through the main part of a tree so that it falls on the ground
4 KILL cut sb <=> down literary to kill or injure someone, especially in a battle:
•Hundreds of men were cut down by crossbow fire.
5 REDUCE LENGTH cut sth <=> down to reduce the length of something such as a piece of writing:
•Your essay's too long - it needs cutting down a little.
6 cut sb down to size to make someone realize that they are not as important, successful etc as they think they are

cut in phr v
1 INTERRUPT to interrupt someone who is speaking by saying something:
•'What shall I do?' Patrick cut in again.
[+on]
•Sorry to cut in on you, but there are one or two things I don't understand.
2 DRIVING to suddenly drive in front of a moving car in a dangerous way
[+on]
•She cut in on a red Ford, forcing the driver to brake heavily.
3 MACHINE if a part of a machine cuts in, it starts to operate when it is needed:
•The safety device cuts in automatically.
4 INCLUDE SB cut sb in informal to allow someone to take part in a plan or to make money from it
[+on]
•Come on, Joey, you said you were going to cut me in on this one!

cut sb/sth off phr v
1 SEPARATE cut sth <=> off to separate something by cutting it away from the main part:
•One of his fingers was cut off in the accident.
cut sth off sth
•Cut the fat off the meat.
2 STOP SUPPLY cut sth <=> off to stop the supply of something such as electricity, gas, water etc:
•The gas had been cut off.
•The US has threatened to cut off economic and military aid.
3 get cut off to suddenly not be able to hear someone that you were speaking to on the telephone:
•I don't know what happened - we just got cut off.
4 be cut off
a) if a place is cut off, people cannot leave it or reach it:
•In winter, the town is often cut off by snow.
b) to be a long way from other places and be difficult to get to:
•Accessible only by air, the town is cut off from the rest of the country.
c) if someone is cut off, they are lonely and not able to meet many other people:
•Many older people feel cut off and isolated.
5 STOP BEING FRIENDLY cut sb <=> off to stop having a friendly relationship with someone:
•Julia had been completely cut off by all her family and friends.
cut yourself off (from sb)
•After his wife died, he cut himself off completely from the rest of the world.
6 INTERRUPT to interrupt someone and stop them from finishing what they were saying:
•Emma cut him off in mid-sentence.
7 PREVENT STH cut sb off from sth to prevent someone from having something that they need or want:
•The project aims to ensure that poorer people are not cut off from the benefits of computer technology.
8 MONEY/PROPERTY to refuse to let someone receive your money or property, especially when you die:
•My parents threatened to cut me off without a penny if I married him.
9 DRIVING cut sb <=> off AmE to suddenly drive in front of a moving car in a dangerous way:
•A man in a station wagon cut me off on the freeway.
10 cut off your nose to spite your face to do something because you are angry, even though it will harm you

cut out phr v
1 REMOVE STH cut sth <=> out to remove something by cutting round it:
•The cancerous cells had to be cut out.
[+of]
•Billy showed me the article he'd cut out of the magazine
2 CUT A SHAPE cut sth <=> out to cut a shape from a piece of paper, cloth etc:
•The children were cutting out squares from the scraps of material.
3 STOP STH HAPPENING cut sth <=> out to stop something from happening or existing:
•The idea behind these forms is to cut out fraud.
•A catalytic converter will cut out 90% of carbon monoxide emissions.
4 STOP DOING/EATING STH cut sth <=> out to stop doing or eating something, especially because it might be bad for your health:
•The current advice to pregnant women is to cut out alcohol.
5 FROM WRITING cut sth <=> out to remove something from a piece of writing, especially because it might offend people:
•I would cut out that last bit about racial prejudice.
6 cut it/that out spoken used to tell someone to stop doing something because it is annoying you:
•Hey, you guys, cut it out - Mom's trying to get some sleep.
7 NOT INVOLVE SB cut sb <=> out to stop someone from doing something or being involved in something:
•The new rules will cut out 25% of people who were previously eligible to vote.
8 be cut out for sth also be cut out to be sth [usually in questions and negatives] to have the qualities that you need for a particular job or activity:
•In the end, I decided I wasn't cut out for the army.
•Are you sure you're really cut out to be a teacher?
9 ENGINE if an engine or machine cuts out, it suddenly stops working:
•The engine cut out halfway across the lake.
10 LIGHT/VIEW cut sth <=> out to prevent light, sound etc from reaching somewhere:
•You'll need sunglasses that will cut out harmful UV rays from the sun.
11 cut sb out to prevent someone from getting something, especially your money after your death:
•Em's father decided to cut her out of his will.
have your work cut out at WORK^2 (15)
cut out the middleman at MIDDLEMAN

cut through sth phr v
1 written to move or pass easily through water or air:
•The boat cut effortlessly through the water.
2 to quickly and easily deal with something that is confusing or difficult:
•You need someone to help you cut through all the irritating legal jargon.
3 literary if a sound cuts through silence or noise, it is heard because it is loud:
•A piercing shriek cut through the silence.

cut up phr v
1 CUT INTO PIECES cut sth <=> up to cut something into small pieces:
•Could you cut the pizza up, please?
[+into]
•He cut the paper up into little pieces.
2 DRIVING cut sb/sth <=> up BrE to suddenly drive in front of a moving vehicle in a dangerous way:
•Some idiot cut me up on the motorway.
3 BEHAVE BADLY AmE informal to behave in a noisy or rude way
4 cut up rough BrE informal to react in an angry or violent way:
•Careful how you approach him - he can cut up a bit rough if he's got a mind to.
5 CRITICIZE cut sb <=> up informal to criticize someone in an unpleasant way
CUT UP

WORD FOCUS: words meaning cut
chop to cut vegetables, meat, or wood into pieces
slice to cut bread, vegetables, or meat into thin pieces
dice to cut vegetables into small pieces
peel to cut the outside part off an onion, apple etc
grate to cut cheese or vegetables into small pieces by rubbing them against a special tool
carve to cut pieces from a large piece of meat
saw to cut wood using a special tool called a saw
chop down to cut down a tree, using an axe
snip to cut something quickly using scissors
shave to remove hair from your face or body
trim to remove small parts of something to make it look neat
mow to cut grass
prune to cut off the top part of plants, in order to make them grow better
[C]
1 REDUCTION [usually plural] a reduction in the size or amount of something, especially the amount of money that is spent by a government or company:
•There will be cuts across all levels of the company.
[+in]
•Cuts in public spending mean that fewer people can go on to higher education.
•The decision to make cuts in health care provision has been widely criticized.
tax/pay/job etc cuts
•A shorter working week will mean pay cuts for millions of workers.
•The building plans could be hit by possible spending cuts.
[+of]
•A cut of 1% in interest rates was announced yesterday.
2 SKIN WOUND a wound that is caused when something sharp cuts your skin:
•That's quite a nasty cut - you ought to get it seen to by a doctor.
•The driver escaped with minor cuts and bruises.
3 HOLE/MARK a narrow hole in or mark in the surface of something, made by a sharp tool or object:
•Make a small cut in the paper.
4 HAIR [usually singular]
a) an act of cutting someone's hair; = haircut
•How much do they charge for a cut and blow-dry?
b) the style in which your hair is cut; = haircut
•a short stylish cut
5 CLOTHES [usually singular] the style in which clothes have been made:
•I could tell by the cut of his suit that he wasn't a poor man.
6 SHARE OF STH [usually singular] someone's share of something, especially money
[+of]
•She was determined to claim her cut of the winnings.
7 REMOVAL FROM FILM an act of removing a part from a film, play, piece of writing etc, or a part that has been removed
8 FILM [usually singular] the process of putting together the different parts of a film and removing the parts that will not be shown:
•Spielberg himself oversaw the final cut.
9 the cut and thrust of sth the exciting but sometimes difficult or unpleasant way that something is done:
•the cut and thrust of political debate
10 be a cut above sth to be much better than someone else or something else:
•The movie is a cut above recent thrillers.
•He proved himself to be a cut above the rest in last week's competition.
11 MEAT a piece of meat that has been cut to a size suitable for cooking or eating:
•Long slow cooking is more suitable for cheaper cuts of meat.
12 ROAD AmE a road that has been made through a hill
COLD CUTS, POWER CUT, SHORT CUT
a situation, decision, result etc that is cut and dried cannot now be changed:
•I don't think the plan is as cut and dried as people think.
a cutaway model, drawing etc is open on one side so that you can see the details inside it
- cutaway noun [C] [C usually plural]
a reduction in something, such as the number of workers in a company or the amount of money a government or company spends:
•The shortage of teachers was blamed on government cutbacks.
[+in]
•cutbacks in funding for libraries
•A fall in donations has forced the charity to make cutbacks.
sharp/drastic/severe cutback
•sharp cutbacks in the military budget
CUT BACK (1)
1 very pretty or attractive:
•a cute little puppy
•The baby's so cute.
•That's a really cute outfit.
2 especially AmE sexually attractive:
•Tell us about this cute guy you met!
3 especially AmE clever in a way that can seem rude:
•Their lawyer tried a cute trick.
- cutely adverb
- cuteness noun [U]
too pretty or clever in a way you think is annoying:
•She spoke in a tiny cutesy voice.
another spelling of CUTIE[U]
glass that has patterns cut into its surface:
•a cut glass decanter [C]
the area of hard skin around the base of your nailscutey [C] spoken
someone who is attractive and nice:
•Mark is such a cutie! [C]
a short sword with a curved blade, used by SAILORs or PIRATEs in the past $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who makes or sells cutlery [U] especially BrE
knives, forks, and spoons that you use for eating and serving food; crockery; = silverware AmE [C]
1 a small flat piece of meat on a bone:
•a lamb cutlet
2 vegetable/nut etc cutlet BrE small pieces of vegetables, nuts etc that are pressed together into a flat piece and cookedcutoff $
1 [C usually singular] a limit or level at which you stop doing something; deadline
cut-off date/point/score etc (=the date etc when you stop doing something)
•The cut-off date for registration is July 2.
2 [C usually singular] when you completely stop doing something or supplying something
[+of]
•A full-scale cut-off of US aid would be a disaster.
3 cutoffs or cut-off jeans/trousers etc [plural] short trousers that you make by cutting off the bottom part of a pair of trousers [C]
1 the shape of a person, object etc that has been cut out of wood or paper; silhouette
2 a piece of equipment that stops a machine that is not working properlyalso cut-rate especially AmE
1 cut-price goods or services are cheaper than usual:
•cut-price toys
•a travel operator offering cut-price deals
2 a cut-price shop sells goods at reduced prices:
•cut-price supermarkets $ [C]
1 [often plural] a tool that is used for cutting something:
•wire cutters
•a pastry cutter
2 someone whose job is to cut something:
•a diamond cutter
3 a small shipcutthroat $ [usually before noun]
a cut-throat activity or business involves people competing with each other in an unpleasant way:
•Cut-throat competition is keeping prices low.
•the cut-throat world of advertising[C] BrE
a RAZOR with a very long sharp blade, used especially in the past [C]
1 a stem or leaf that is cut from a plant and put in soil or water to grow into a new plant
2 BrE an article that has been cut from a newspaper or magazine; = clipping
press/newspaper cuttings
•Margot sent him some press cuttings about the wedding.
3 BrE a passage that has been dug through high ground for a railway, road etc; = cut AmE
unkind and intended to upset someone:
•a cutting remark[C]
BrE a piece of wood or plastic that you cut meat or vegetables on; = chopping board
1 the cutting edge (of sth) the newest and most exciting stage in the development of something
at the cutting edge (of sth)
•research that's at the cutting edge of genetic science
•The deck represents the cutting edge in CD reproduction.
2 [singular] an advantage over other people or things:
•The team are relying on Gregg to give them a cutting edge.
- =cutting-edge adjective
•cutting-edge scientific discoveries[C]
a room where the different parts of a film are cut apart and put into the correct order, to make the final form of the film plural cuttlefish [C]
a sea creature with ten soft armsalso cut-up [not before noun]
1 informal very upset about something that has happened
[+about]
•He was very cut up about Stephen dying.
2 be badly cut up to have a lot of injuries because you have been in an accident or fight[C] AmE informal
someone who makes other people laugh by doing amusing things, especially in a situation when they should not do this AmE spoken
a short form of 'because'; = cos BrE
•'Why?' 'Cuz I said so!' [C]
curriculum vitae a short written document that lists your education and previous jobs, which you send to employers when you are looking for a job; = resume AmEcwt. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of hundredweight [in nouns]
1 the state or quality of being something:
•accuracy
•bankruptcy
2 a particular rank or position:
•a baronetcy $ technical
having a dark greenish-blue colour
- cyan noun [U] [U]
a very strong poison $
relating to computers, especially to messages and information on the Internet:
•cyber-shopperscyber crime $ [C,U]
criminal activity that involves the use of computers or the Internet $ [U]
the illegal act of deceiving people on the Internet in order to gain money, power etc $ [U]
CYBERSPACE $ [U]
activity that involves the Internet and the people who use it $ [U]
the scientific study of the way in which information is moved and controlled in machines, the brain, and the NERVOUS SYSTEM
- cybernetic adjective $ [U]
stories about imaginary events relating to computer science, usually set in the future
- cyberpunk adjective [only before noun] $ [U]
a feeling of illness caused by using a computer for long periods of time or being in a room with a lot of computers - used humorously $ [U]
all the connections between computers in different places, considered as a real place where information, messages, pictures etc exist:
•Students are discovering the endless amount of information in cyberspace. $ [C]
someone who officially records the names of companies that they do not own or work for as DOMAIN NAMEs on the Internet in order to sell these names to companies for profit
- cybersquatting noun [U] $ [U]
the illegal use of the Internet, email, or other electronic communication systems to follow someone or threaten them:
•The state's first cyberstalking laws went into effect a little over a year ago.
- cyberstalker noun [C] $ [C]
someone who uses the Internet to damage computer systems, especially for political purposes:
•Such a strategic attack, mounted by cyberterrorists, would shut down everything from power stations to air traffic control centres.
- cyberterrorism noun [U] $ [C] informal
the wife of a man who spends a lot of time working or playing on his computer - used humorously $ [C]
a creature that is partly human and partly machine plural cyclamen [C]
a plant with pink, red, or white flowers [C]
1 a number of related events that happen again and again in the same order:
•a woman's menstrual cycle
[+of]
•the cycle of the seasons
•Sometimes the only way to break the cycle of violence in the home is for the wife to leave.
LIFE CYCLE
vicious cycle at VICIOUS CIRCLE
2 especially BrE a bicycle or MOTORCYCLE:
•a map showing cycle routes
3 the period of time needed for a machine to finish a process:
•This washing machine has a 50-minute cycle.
4 a group of songs, poems etc that are all about a particular important event
1 [I] especially BrE to travel by bicycle; = bike AmE
[+to/down/home etc]
•Do you cycle to work?
2 [I,T] AmE to go through a series of related events again and again, or to make something do this:
•The water is cycled through the machine and reused.[C] BrE
a part of a wide road that only bicycles are allowed to use[C] BrE
a path for bicycles, for example beside a road or in a park [C] BrE
a road or path, sometimes a long one, for bicyclesalso cyclical
happening in cycles:
•cyclical changes in the economy
- cyclically adverb [U] especially BrE
the activity of riding a bicycle[plural] especially BrE
a pair of short trousers made out of cloth that stretches [C]
someone who rides a bicycle $ [C]
a very strong wind that moves very fast in a circle; hurricane, typhoon $ [singular]
a very big man in ancient Greek stories who only had one eye in the middle of his forehead [C]
a young SWAN $ [C]
1 a shape, object, or container with circular ends and long straight sides; tube
•The gases are stored in cylinders.
2 the tube within which a PISTON moves forwards and backwards in an engine:
•a four-cylinder engine
3 be firing/running on all cylinders informal to be operating or performing very well:
•In this book, the author is firing on all cylinders.
in the shape of a cylinder:
•a cylindrical oil tank [C]
a musical instrument in the form of a thin round metal plate, which you play by hitting it with a stick or by hitting two of them together:
•the clash of cymbals [C]
someone who is not willing to believe that people have good, honest, or sincere reasons for doing something:
•Even hardened cynics believe the meeting is a step towards peace.
- cynicism noun [U]
1 unwilling to believe that people have good, honest, or sincere reasons for doing something:
•a cynical view of human nature
[+about]
•The public is cynical about election promises.
2 not caring that something might not be morally right, might hurt someone etc, when you are trying to get something for yourself:
•a cynical disregard for international agreements
- cynically adverb $
another spelling of CIPHER [C]
a tree with dark green leaves and hard wood, which does not lose its leaves in winter
the Cyrillic alphabet is the one used for Russian, Bulgarian, and some other Slavonic languages [C]
a lump containing liquid that grows in your body or under your skin, and that sometimes needs to be removed; boil $ [U]
a serious medical condition, especially in children, in which breathing and DIGESTing food is very difficult [U]
an infection of the BLADDER that especially affects women $ [U]
the scientific study of cells from living things
- cytologist noun [C] $ [C]
1 another spelling of TSAR
2 banking/drug/health etc czar AmE someone who is very powerful in a particular job or activity
another spelling of TSARINA
1 the short form of 'would':
•I asked if she'd be willing to help.
2 the short form of 'had':
•Nobody knew where he'd gone.
3 the short form of 'did':
•Where'd you get that?
the form used for -ED after 'e':
•bakedd plural D's, d's
1 [C,U] the fourth letter of the English alphabet
2 [C,U] the second note in the musical SCALE of C MAJOR or the musical KEY based on this note
3 [C] a mark given to a student's work to show that it is not very good:
•I got a D in history last semester.
4 the number 500 in the system of ROMAN NUMERALs
D AND C
the short form of 'do':
•D'you know how many people are going to be there?also d BrE
1 the written abbreviation of died :
•John Keats d. 1821
2 the written abbreviation of penny or, pence in the system of money used in Britain before 1971 [C]
the abbreviation of district attorney [C]
1 a small amount of something that you put onto a surface
[+of]
•a dab of butter
2 a light touch with your hand, a cloth etc:
•She wiped her tears away with a dab of her handkerchief.
3 be a dab hand at/with sth BrE informal to be very good at a particular activity
4 a small flat fish
5 dabs [plural] BrE old-fashioned your FINGERPRINTs past tense and past participle dabbed, present participle dabbing
1 [I,T] to touch something lightly several times, usually with something such as a cloth:
•She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.
[+at]
•He dabbed at his bleeding lip.
2 [T] to put a substance onto something with quick light movements of your hand
dab sth on/onto etc sth
•She hastily dabbed some cream on her face.
1 [I] to do something or be involved in something in a way that is not very serious
[+in/at/with]
•people who dabble in painting as a way of relaxing
2 [T] BrE to move your hands, feet etc about in water
dabble sth in sth
•children dabbling their feet in the sea $ [C]
a large country house in Russia [C]
a type of small dog with short legs and a long body $ [U]
a type of cloth that is not made from natural materials $ [C]
a repeated sound pattern in poetry, consisting of one long sound followed by two short sounds, as in the word 'carefully'
- dactylic adjective [C]
father:
•She lives with her mom and dad.
•Dad, will you help me? plural daddies [C]
father - used especially by children or when speaking to children:
•Daddy's home!
SUGAR DADDY $ [C]
a flying insect with six long legs $ plural dadoes [C]
the lower part of a wall in a room, especially when it is decorated differently from the upper part of the wall [C]
a creature in ancient Greek stories that is half a god and half a man; demon [C]
a tall yellow spring flower with a tube-shaped part in the middle informal
silly or crazy in an amusing way $ especially BrE
1 silly:
•a daft idea
•Me, jealous? Don't be daft (=that is a silly idea).
•She's as daft as a brush (=extremely silly).
2 be daft about sth to be extremely interested in something:
•Tony's still daft about cars!
- daftness noun [U] $ [C]
1 a short pointed knife used as a weapon
2 look daggers at sb informal to look at someone angrily
3 be at daggers drawn if two people are at daggers drawn, they are extremely angry with each other
CLOAK-AND-DAGGER $ plural dagos [C] taboo
a very offensive word for someone from Spain, Italy, or Portugal. Do not use this word. $ [C,U]
an old type of photograph, or the process used to make it [C,U]
an Indian dish made with beans, PEAs , or LENTILs $ [C]
a large garden flower with a bright colour [only before noun]
1 happening or done every day:
•daily flights to Miami
2 daily life the ordinary things that you usually do or experience
3 relating to a single day:
•the daily rate of pay
happening or done every day:
•The zoo is open daily.plural dailies [C]
1 also daily paper a newspaper that is printed and sold every day, or every day except Sunday
2 BrE old-fashioned also daily help someone, especially a woman, who is employed to clean someone's house
3 dailies [plural] AmE the prints of a film as it is being made, which are looked at every day after filming ends; = rushes BrE comparative daintier, superlative daintiest
1 small, pretty, and delicate:
•a dainty gold chain
•a child with dainty features
2 moving or done in a careful way, using small movements:
•a dainty walk
- daintily adverb
- daintiness noun [U]plural dainties [C] old-fashioned
something small that is good to eat, especially something sweet such as a cake [C]
a sweet alcoholic drink made with RUM and fruit juice $ plural dairies [C]
1 a place on a farm where milk is kept and butter and cheese are made
2 a company which sells milk and sometimes makes other things from milk, such as cheese
3 dairy products/produce milk, butter, cheese etc[plural]
cattle that are kept to produce milk rather than for their meat[C]
a farm that has cows and produces and sells milk $ [C]
a woman who worked in a dairy in the past $ plural dairymen $ [C]
a man who works in a dairy [singular]
a low stage in a room that you stand on when you are making a speech or performing, so that people can see and hear you plural daisies [C]
1 a white flower with a yellow centre
2 be pushing up (the) daisies to be dead - used humorously
fresh as a daisy at FRESH (11)[C]
daisies attached together into a string that you can wear around your neck or wrist [C]
a valley - used in the past or in the names of places, especially in the North of England [C,U] literary
a romantic or sexual relationship between two people that is not considered serious past tense and past participle dallied, present participle dallying, third person singular dallies [I]
to waste time, or do something very slowly:
•Don't dally along the way! We haven't got much time.

PHRASAL VERBS
dally with sb/sth phr v
1 to do something or think about something, but not in a very serious way:
•They've dallied with the idea of touring round the world.
2 old-fashioned to have a romantic relationship with someone, but not in a serious waydalmatian [C]
a large dog with short white hair and black or brown spots [C]
1 a special wall built across a river or stream to stop the water from flowing, especially in order to make a lake or produce electricity
2 technical the mother of a four-legged animal, especially a horse; sirealso dam up past tense and past participle dammed, present participle damming [T]
1 to stop the water in a river or stream from flowing by building a special wall across it
2 to stop something from being expressed or continuing:
•Once she allowed her anger to show, it could not be dammed up again.
1 PHYSICAL HARM [U] physical harm that is done to something or to a part of someone's body, so that it is broken or injured

do/cause damage
serious/severe/extensive damage
irreparable/irreversible/permanent damage (=damage that cannot be repaired)
minor damage
accidental damage
brain/liver/lung etc damage
flood/storm/fire etc damage (=damage caused by a flood, storm, fire etc)

[+to]
•damage to property
•These chemicals have been found to cause serious environmental damage.
•The earthquake caused extensive structural damage.
•His eyesight may have suffered irreparable damage.
•The other ship sustained only minor damage.
•The insurance covers accidental damage to the vehicle.
•There may be permanent brain damage.
•the need to reduce flood damage

2 EMOTIONAL HARM [U] harm caused to someone's emotions or mind:
•The death of a parent can cause long-lasting psychological damage.
3 BAD EFFECT [U] a bad effect on something
[+to]
•The damage to his reputation was considerable.
•The closure of the factory will cause severe damage to the local economy.
damage limitation/control
•the attempts at political damage control during the scandal
4 damages [plural] law money that a court orders someone to pay to someone else as a punishment for harming them or their property; compensation
•The court awarded him £15,000 in damages.
5 the damage is done used to say that something bad has happened which makes it impossible to go back to the way things were before it happened:
•She immediately apologized, but the damage was done.
6 what's the damage? spoken used humorously to ask how much you have to pay for something[T]
1 to cause physical harm to something or to part of someone's body:
•insects that damage crops
badly/severely/seriously damage
•Smoking can severely damage your health.
•a shampoo for dry or damaged hair
2 to have a bad effect on something or someone in a way that makes them weaker or less successful:
•The changes in share values have damaged investor confidence.
•emotionally damaged children

WORD CHOICE: damage, hurt, injure, wound
Damage means to cause physical harm to a thing or to a part of your body: Fires can damage crops and animals. | He damaged a knee ligament playing rugby.
You do not usually talk about damaging a person. Use hurt, injure, or wound instead: He was hurt in a climbing accident (NOT He was damaged in a climbing accident).
However, you can talk about damaging an unborn child German measles in pregnancy can damage your baby.
Use hurt or injure to talk about people suffering physical harm as a result of an accident, earthquake, hurricane etc: No one was hurt in the car crash. | We hoped he wasn't seriously injured.

!! Do not say 'injure someone's health'. Say 'damage someone's health'.
Use wound to talk about someone being hurt by a weapon such as a gun or a knife: He shot dead three people and wounded several others. | a wounded soldier

1 causing physical harm to someone or something:
•the damaging effects of sunlight
2 affecting someone or something in a bad way:
•damaging criticism of his policies
[+to]
•The loss of jobs was damaging to morale. [U]
a type of cloth with a pattern woven into it, often used to cover furniture:
•a damask tablecloth
a British title given to a woman as an honour for achievement or for doing good things:
•Dame Judi Dench [C]
1 AmE old-fashioned informal a woman
2 BrE a humorous female character in a PANTOMIME (=a special play at Christmas) who is played by a man not polite
a way of spelling 'damn it' not polite
1 used when you are very annoyed or disappointed:
•Damn! I've locked my keys in the car.
2 used when something is impressive or surprising:
•Damn, she's old.[+ adj/adv] informal not polite
1 used to emphasize a statement:
•Everything was so damn expensive.
•The band sounded pretty damn good.
•I'll damn well do as I please.
•You know damn well what I'm talking about.
•He damn near (=almost) drowned.
•'It isn't easy.' ' Damn right, it's not.'
2 damn all especially BrE nothing at all:
•He knows damn all about cars.[only before noun] spoken not polite
1 used when you are angry or annoyed with someone or something:
•Turn off the damn TV!
2 used to emphasize something negative:
•It's a damn shame he left her.
3 not a damn thing nothing at all:
•There's not a damn thing you can do about it.
4 a damn sight more/better etc a lot more, a lot better etc:
•He's as smart as you or me and a damn sight tougher.[T]
1 damn it/you etc! spoken not polite used when you are extremely angry or annoyed with someone or something:
•Damn it, be careful with that!
•Stop, damn you!
•Damn that telephone!
2 (I'll be/I'm) damned if ... spoken not polite used to make a negative statement in a strong way:
•'Where's Wally?' 'Damned if I know.' (=I don't know)
•I'll be damned if I can find my keys (=I can't find them).
•I'll be damned if I let him in the house (=I won't let him in).
3 I'll be damned spoken not polite used when you are surprised:
•I'll be damned! I haven't seen him for years!
4 damn the consequences/expense/calories etc spoken used to say that you are going to do something, even though it might have bad results:
•The time has come for me to speak out, and damn the consequences.
5 be damned to be given the punishment of going to HELL after you die
6 to state that something is very bad:
•The critics damned the play on the first night.
damn (sb/sth) with faint praise (=show that you think someone or something is not good by only praising them a little)
7 damned if you do, damned if you don't spoken used to say that whatever you say or do will be considered wrong
(as) near as damn it at NEAR^1 (8)spoken not polite
1 not give a damn (about sb/sth) to not care at all about someone or something:
•I don't give a damn about her.
2 be not worth a damn to have no value at all:
•Her promise isn't worth a damn. old-fashioned
very bad or annoying:
•This damnable heat!
- damnably adverb [U]
when someone is punished by being sent to HELL after their death, or the state of being in hell for everold-fashioned
used when you are very angry or annoyed
another form of 'damn', used especially in writing
the damned the people who God will send to HELL when they die because they have been so bad spoken not polite
1 do/try your damnedest to try very hard to do something:
•I'll do my damnedest to fix it, but I can't promise anything.
2 [only before noun] used to emphasize that something is unusual, surprising etc:
•It was the damnedest thing you ever saw![only before noun]
very stupid:
•a damn-fool mistake
proving or showing that someone has done something very bad or wrong:
•damning evidence of her treachery
•a damning report
sword of Damocles at SWORD (2)
1 slightly wet, often in an unpleasant way:
•Wipe the leather with a damp cloth.
•a cold, damp day
2 damp squib BrE informal something that is intended to be exciting, effective etc, but which is disappointing
- dampness noun [U]
- damply adverb

WORD CHOICE: damp, moist, humid
Use damp especially to say that something is slightly wet in an unpleasant way: The room was cold and damp.
Use moist to say that something is slightly wet in a pleasant way or in the way it should be: She took a mouthful of the delicious moist cake. | rich, moist soil
Use humid to talk about the weather or the air when it is slightly wet and makes you feel uncomfortable: the hot humid atmosphere of a greenhouse

[U] BrE
water in walls or in the air that causes things to be slightly wet:
•Damp had stained the walls.[T]
to dampen something

PHRASAL VERBS
damp sth <=> down phr v
to make a fire burn more slowly, often by covering it with ASH[C] BrE
a layer of material which is put into the bottom of a wall to prevent water rising through it [T]
1 to make something slightly wet; = moisten
2 also dampen down BrE to make something such as a feeling or activity less strong:
•The light rain dampened the crowd's enthusiasm.
•Raising interest rates might dampen the economy.
3 to make a sound or movement less loud or strong:
•The spring dampens the shock of the impact. $ [C]
1 put a damper on sth to make something less enjoyable, active, or great than it could have been:
•A couple of knee injuries put a damper on his football career.
2 a type of small metal door that is opened or closed in a STOVE or FURNACE, to control the air reaching the fire so that it burns more or less strongly
3 a piece of equipment that stops a movement from being too strong
4 a piece of equipment that stops a piano string from making a sound[C] BrE
a DAMP COURSE [C] old use
1 a young woman who is not married
2 damsel in distress a young woman who needs help or protection - used humorously [C]
a small bitter purple PLUM $
1 [C] a special set of movements performed to a particular type of music:
•The waltz is an easy dance to learn.
folk/traditional dance
•the traditional dances and music of Russia
2 [C] a social event or party where you dance:
•Are you going to the dance this weekend?
•the school dance
3 [C] an act of dancing:
•Claire did a little dance of excitement.
have a dance especially BrE
•Let's have another dance.
4 [C] a piece of music which you can dance to:
•The band was playing a slow dance.
5 [U] the activity or art of dancing:
•modern dance
•dance and movement classes
song and dance about sth at SONG (4); lead sb a dance at LEAD^1 (19)
1 [I,T] to move your feet and body in a way that matches the style and speed of music:
•Come on, let's dance.
[+to]
•They danced to Ruby Newman's orchestra (=the orchestra was playing).
[+with]
•The bride danced with her father.
dance a waltz/rumba/tango etc
2 [I,T] to dance in performances, especially in BALLET:
•He danced with the Boston Repertory Ballet.
•Nakamura dances several solos in this production.
3 [I] literary to move up, down, and around quickly:
•Pink and white balloons danced in the wind.
4 dance to sb's tune to do what someone wants you to do - used to show disapproval:
•At that time, Eastern bloc countries danced to the Soviet tune.
5 dance attendance on sb to do everything possible in order to please someone:
•a movie star with several young men dancing attendance on her
- dancing noun [U]
•the beauty of her dancing[C]
a group of musicians who play music that you dance to[C]
a special floor in a restaurant, hotel etc for people to dance on[C]
a large public room where people paid to go and dance in the past $ [C]
1 someone who dances as a profession:
•The dancer's technique is strong.
ballet/ballroom/flamenco etc dancer
•Margot Fonteyn, the famous British ballet dancer
2 someone who dances:
•the dancers on the floor
good/bad dancer
•Dave's a good dancer. [C]
a medical operation to clean out the inside of a woman's UTERUS [C]
a wild plant with a bright yellow flower which later becomes a white ball of seeds that are blown away in the wind[C] BrE
the soft ball of white seeds that grows on the dandelion plant $
get sb's dander up to make someone angry - often used humorously old-fashioned
a man who is dandified wears very fashionable clothes in a way that shows he cares too much about his appearance [T] old-fashioned
to play with a baby or small child by moving them up and down in your arms or on your knee [U]
small pieces of dead skin from someone's head that can be seen in their hair or on their shoulders plural dandies [C] old-fashioned
a man who spends a lot of time and money on his clothes and appearanceespecially AmE
very good - often used in a slightly humorous way:
•We're at our hotel, and everything is fine and dandy. [C]
someone from Denmark especially AmE
a word meaning DAMN that people use because it is less offensive
- dang adjective, adverb
- dang verb [T] $
1 [U] the possibility that someone or something will be harmed, destroyed, or killed:
•Danger! No boats beyond this point.
in danger
•The refugees believe that their lives are in danger.
•I don't want to put you in danger.
[+of]
•The danger of a fire in the home increases during the holidays.
be in danger of (doing) sth
•The bridge was in danger of collapsing.
grave/great/real/serious etc danger
•The condor was in grave danger of extinction.
[+from]
•The public was not aware of the danger from nuclear tests in Nevada.
out of danger
•The patient is now out of danger.
•Pedestrians on this road face constant danger from cars.
2 [C,U] the possibility that something bad will happen
be in danger of (doing) sth
•The party is in danger of being defeated in the next election.
danger that
•There is a danger that museums will attempt to entertain rather than educate.
the danger of (doing) sth
•to guard against the danger of becoming isolated
3 [C] something or someone that may harm or kill you:
•the dangers that abound in the region
[+of]
•Children need to be educated about the dangers of drug use.
be a danger to sb/sth
•The wreck is a danger to other ships.
4 there's no danger of sth used to say that something will not happen:
•There's no danger of Darren ever getting up early.
5 be on the danger list BrE to be so ill that you may diedanger pay AmE [U] BrE
additional money that you are paid for doing dangerous work
1 able or likely to harm or kill you; harmful
•laws about dangerous dogs
•Some of these prisoners are extremely dangerous.
• It's dangerous for a woman to walk alone at night.
[+for]
•The crumbling sidewalks are dangerous for old people.
[+to]
•The virus is probably not dangerous to humans.
highly/very dangerous
•The aircraft caught fire, a highly dangerous situation.
•The powdered milk was not as good as breast milk, and was downright dangerous (=actually dangerous) when it was mixed with unclean water.
2 involving a lot of risk, or likely to cause problems; = risky
•The business is in a dangerous financial position.
•a politically dangerous strategy
3 dangerous ground/territory a situation or subject that could make someone very angry or upset:
•Teachers can be on dangerous ground if they discuss religion.
- dangerously adverb
•people who drive dangerously

WORD FOCUS: dangerous
similar words:
hazardous
risky
treacherous
perilous literary

1 [I,T] to hang or swing loosely, or to make something do this
[+from]
•A light bulb dangled from a wire in the ceiling.
dangle sth in/over etc sth
•I dangled my feet in the clear blue water.
2 [T] to offer something good to someone, in order to persuade them to do something
dangle sth in front of sb/before sb
•A good pay package and a company car were dangled in front of her.
1 [U] the language used in Denmark
2 [C] AmE a very sweet cake made of light PASTRY; = Danish pastry
relating to Denmark, its people, or its language[C]
a small fairly flat sweet cake, often with fruit inside
unpleasantly wet and cold:
•a dank prison cell
- dankness noun [U] $
a man who is dapper is nicely dressed, has a neat appearance, and is usually small or thin:
•a dapper little man in a grey suit [T] literary
to mark something with spots of colour, light, or shade
marked with spots of colour, light, or shade:
•the dappled shade of the treesdapple-gray AmE [C] BrE
a horse that is grey with spots of darker grey $ BrE
like Darby and Joan used humorously when talking about an old husband and wife who live very happily together $
1 [I not in progressive] to be brave enough to do something that is risky or that you are afraid to do - used especially in questions or negative sentences:
•He wanted to ask her, but he didn't dare.
•'I'll tell Dad.' 'You wouldn't dare!'
dare (to) do sth
•I daren't go home.
•Only a few journalists dared to cover the story.
•She hardly dared hope that he was alive.
•Dare we admit this?
2 how dare you spoken said to show that you are very angry and shocked about what someone has done or said:
•How dare you accuse me of lying!
3 don't you dare! spoken said to warn someone not to do something because it makes you angry:
•Don't you dare talk to me like that!
4 [T] to try to persuade someone to do something dangerous or embarrassing as a way of proving that they are brave
dare sb to do sth
•One night they dared Frank to steal a bottle of his father's whiskey.
•So jump, then. I dare you.
5 dare I say/suggest spoken formal used when saying something that you think people may not accept or believe:
•I thought the play was, dare I say it, boring.
6 I dare say also I daresay spoken especially BrE used when saying or agreeing that something may be true:
•I dare say things will improve.[C]
something dangerous that you have dared someone to do
for a dare BrE
on a dare AmE (=because someone has dared you to)
•She ran across a busy road for a dare. $ [C]
someone who likes doing dangerous things
- daredevil adjective $ especially BrE
the short form of 'dare not' $
I daresay at DARE^1 (6) $
1 involving a lot of risk or danger, or brave enough to do risky things:
•a daring rescue attempt
2 new or unusual in a way that may shock people:
•a daring new building
- daringly adverb[U]
courage that makes you willing to take risks:
•a plan of great daring $ comparative darker, superlative darkest
1 NO LIGHT if it is dark, there is little or no light; light
•The church was dark and quiet.
•the dark winter days
•Suddenly, the room went dark (=became dark).
• It gets dark (=night begins) about ten o'clock during the summer.
• It was still dark (=was night) when we boarded the train.
•It was pitch dark (=completely dark) in the attic.
2 COLOUR quite close to black in colour; light, pale
•There were dark clouds in the sky.
•men in dark suits
•a slightly darker colour
dark blue/green/pink etc
•a dark blue dress
3 HAIR/EYES/SKIN someone who is dark has hair, eyes, or skin that is brown or black in colour; fair
•a tall, dark man
•John's dark skin and eyes
4 MYSTERIOUS mysterious or secret:
•a dark secret
keep sth dark BrE (=keep something secret)
•Apparently, he has a son, but he's kept that very dark.
5 EVIL evil or threatening:
•There was a darker side to his character.
•a place where so many dark deeds had been committed
•the dark forces of the universe
6 UNHAPPY TIME a dark time is unhappy or without hope:
•the dark days of the war
•Even in the darkest moments, I still had you, my love.
7 FEELINGS/THOUGHTS if you have dark feelings or thoughts, you are very sad or worried:
•a dark depression
•her darkest fears
8 HUMOUR dark humour deals with things that are bad or upsetting in a funny way; = black
•the dark humor common in difficult situations
9 darkest Africa/South America etc old-fashioned the parts of Africa etc about which we know very little
1 the dark when there is no light, especially because the sun has gone down:
•my childish fear of the dark
in the dark
•I turned off the light and lay there in the dark.
•We stood outside in the pitch dark (=when there is no light at all).
2 after/before/until dark after, before, or until the sun goes down at night:
•I want you home before dark.
3 in the dark informal knowing nothing about something important, because you have not been told about it:
•We're in the dark just as much as you are.
•College officials were kept in the dark about the investigation.
a shot in the dark at SHOT^1 (10)
1 the Dark Ages the period in European history from 476 AD to about 1000 AD
2 a time when attitudes, knowledge, technology etc were not as modern or developed as they are now:
•Richard is stuck in the Dark Ages when it comes to his attitudes towards women. $
1 [I,T] to become dark, or to make something dark:
•The sky darkened and a few drops of rain fell.
•a darkened theater
•The evening shadows darkened the room.
2 [I,T] to become less hopeful or positive, or to make something like this:
•As he got drunker, his mood darkened.
3 [I] if someone's face darkens, they start to look angry:
•The captain's face darkened as he read.
4 never darken my door again old-fashioned said when you do not want to see someone again - now used humorously[plural]
glasses with dark glass in them that you wear to protect your eyes from the sun or to hide your eyes; sunglasses[C]
1 someone who is not well known, and who surprises people by winning a competition:
•In the 1955 golf championship, dark horse Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan.
2 BrE someone who does not tell people much about themselves, but who has surprising qualities or abilities:
•She's a dark horse. I didn't know she'd written a novel. $ [C] taboo old-fashioned
a very offensive word for a black person. Do not use this word. $
1 in a sad, angry, or threatening way:
•Fred scowled darkly at her.
2 having a dark colour:
•a darkly handsome young man
3 darkly funny/humorous/comic dealing with something that is bad or upsetting in a funny way:
•a darkly comic look at illness $ [U]
1 when there is no light:
•the long hours of darkness during winter
in darkness
•The lamp suddenly went out, leaving us in darkness.
total/pitch/complete darkness
•The room was in total darkness.
•We lit our campfire as darkness fell (=it became night).
•He stared out the window at the gathering darkness (=the night slowly coming).
2 evil or the devil:
•His smooth manner covered a heart of darkness.
the forces/powers of darkness (=the devil or evil people)
3 the dark quality of a colour:
•the darkness of the lenses $ [C]
a special room with only red light or no light, where film from a camera is made into photographs $
1 spoken used when speaking to someone you love:
•Look, darling, there's Mary.
2 [C] someone who is very nice:
•You really are a darling, Barney.
3 the darling of sth the most popular person or thing in a particular group or area of activity:
•She's the darling of the fashion world.[only before noun]
1 used of someone you love very much:
•my two darling daughters
2 spoken used when you think someone or something is attractive:
•What a darling little house!also darn it/him/them etc $ AmE informal
used to show that you are annoyed or disappointed; = damn
•Darn! I forgot my keys!
•Darn it! I'll have to do it all myself!also darned spoken informal
1 used to emphasize how bad, stupid, unfair etc someone or something is; = damn
•The darn fool got lost on the way.
2 a darn sight better/harder etc a lot better, harder etc; = damn
•He'd earn a darn sight more money there.
- darn also darned adverb
•It was a darned good movie.[T]
to repair a hole in a piece of clothing by stitching wool over it:
•Her cardigan had been darned at the elbows.[C]
a place where a hole in a piece of clothing has been repaired neatly with wool $ spoken informal
1 I'll be darned! used when you are surprised about something:
•Did they really? I'll be darned!
2 I'll be darned if ... used to emphasize that you will not allow something to happen
3 darned if I know used to emphasize that you do not know something $
1 [I always + adv/prep] to move suddenly and quickly in a particular direction:
•Jill darted forward and pulled him away from the fire.
2 [I,T] literary to look at someone or something very quickly:
•Tom darted a terrified glance over his shoulder at his pursuers.
1 [C] a small pointed object that is thrown or shot as a weapon, or one that is thrown in the game of darts:
•a poisoned dart
2 darts [U] a game in which darts are thrown at a round board with numbers on it
3 [singular] a sudden quick movement in a particular direction:
•The prisoner made a dart for the door.
4 dart of guilt/panic/pain etc a very sudden, sharp feeling:
•It sent a dart of terror through her.
5 [C] a small fold put into a piece of clothing to make it fit better $ [C]
a round board used in the game of darts
1 [I always + adv/prep] to go or run somewhere very quickly:
•Olive dashed into the room, grabbed her bag, and ran out again.
2 dash sb's hopes to disappoint someone by telling them that what they want is not possible:
•Hopkins' hopes were dashed when his appeal was denied.
3 (I) must dash/(I) have to dash BrE spoken used to tell someone that you must leave quickly:
•Anyway, I must dash - I said I'd meet Daniel at eight.
4 [I,T always + adv/prep] written to throw or push something violently against something, especially so that it breaks
dash sth against/on sth
•The ship was dashed against the rocks.
[+against]
•Waves were dashing against the sea wall.
5 dash it (all)! BrE old-fashioned used to show that you are slightly annoyed or angry about something

PHRASAL VERBS
dash off phr v
1 to leave somewhere very quickly:
•Harry dashed off before she had a chance to thank him.
2 dash sth <=> off to write or draw something very quickly:
•She dashed off a quick letter.
1 SMALL AMOUNT [singular]
a) a small amount of a substance that is added to something else
[+of]
•Add salt, pepper and a dash of vinegar.
b) a small amount of a quality that is added to something else
[+of]
•Add a dash of romance to your life with a trip to Paris.
2 RUN QUICKLY [C usually singular] an occasion when someone runs somewhere very quickly in order to get away from something or someone, or in order to reach them
make a dash for sth
•He made a dash for the door.
•The prisoners made a dash for freedom.
•It's pouring with rain - we'll have to make a dash for it.
•When the alarm went there was a mad dash for the exit.
3 LINE [C] a line [ - ] used in writing to separate two closely related parts of a sentence, as for example, in the sentence 'Go home - they're waiting for you.'; hyphen
4 SOUND [C] a long sound or flash of light used for sending messages in MORSE CODE; dot
5 CAR [C] AmE a DASHBOARD
6 STYLE [U] old-fashioned style, energy, and courage in someone such as a soldier
7 cut a dash old-fashioned to look very impressive and attractive in particular clothes:
•With her new image, she'll certainly cut a dash on her holiday cruise. $ [C]
the part in front of the driver in a car that has the controls on it
a man who is dashing wears nice clothes and is very attractive and confident:
•a dashing young doctor
- dashingly adverb $ old-fashioned
very cruel or evil:
•tales of pirates and their dastardly deeds [U]
digital audio tape a system used to record sound or information in DIGITAL form [plural,U]
1 information or facts:
•The research involves collecting data from two random samples.
[+on]
•data on pesticide use
experimental/historical/statistical etc data
•detailed research data
2 information in a form that can be stored and used, especially on a computer:
•It's possible to store a lot more data on a DVD.
data storage/transfer/retrieval[C]
a database [C]
a large amount of data stored in a computer system so that you can find and use it easily:
•customer details held on a database
database system/software/application etc[U]
the process of using a computer to examine large amounts of information about customers, in order to discover things about them that are not easily seen or noticed[U]
the use of computers to store and organize information, especially in business [C]
1 DAY a particular day of the month or year, especially shown by a number:
•The date on the letter was 30th August 1962.
•What's today's date?
[+of]
•What's the date of the next meeting?
date of birth/birth date (=the day you were born)
•Please write your name, address, and date of birth on the form.
date of publication/issue/delivery etc
•You should apply at least 8 weeks before your date of departure.
set/decide on/fix a date (=choose a particular day for something)
•Have you set a date for the wedding?
•The closing date (=last day you can do something) for applications is 10th Sept.
2 at a later/future date formal at some time in the future; = later
•The details will be agreed at a later date.
3 to date up to now:
•The cost of the work to date has been about £150 million.
•Her best performance to date was her third place at the World Junior Championships.
4 ROMANTIC MEETING
a) an occasion when you go out with someone that you like in a romantic way
[+with]
•I've got a date with Andrea tomorrow night.
•I felt like a teenager going out on a first date.
BLIND DATE
b) AmE someone that you have a date with
sb's date
•Can I bring my date to the party?
5 ARRANGEMENT TO MEET SB a time arranged to meet someone, especially socially:
•Let's make a date to come over and visit.
6 FRUIT a sweet sticky brown fruit with a long hard seed inside
CLOSING DATE; expiry date at EXPIRY (2); OUT-OF-DATE, SELL-BY DATE, UP-TO-DATE
1 WRITE DATE [T] to write or print the date on something:
•a newspaper dated November 23, 1963
•Make sure you sign and date it at the bottom.
2 FIND AGE [T] to find out when something old was made or formed:
•The rocks are dated by examining the fossils found in the same layer.
•radiocarbon dating
3 OLD-FASHIONED [I] if clothing, art etc dates, it begins to look old-fashioned:
•His designs are so classic, they've hardly dated at all.
DATED
4 RELATIONSHIP [T] AmE to have a romantic relationship with someone; = go out with
•Is he still dating Sarah?
5 SHOW SB'S AGE [T] if something that you say, do, or wear dates you, it shows that you are fairly old:
•Yes, I remember the moon landings - that dates me, doesn't it?

PHRASAL VERBS
date from sth phr v also date back to sth
to have existed since a particular time in the past:
•The church dates from the 13th century. [C] AmE
a small book in which you write things you must do, addresses, telephone numbers etc; = diary
old-fashioned; out-of-date
•That dress looks a bit dated now. [singular]
the INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE[C,U]
a RAPE that is committed by someone the woman has met in a social situation[C]

a) an object used for printing the date on documents
b) the mark that it makesalso dating service [C]
a business that helps people to meet other people in order to have a romantic relationship [C usually singular]
a particular form of a noun in some languages such as Latin and German, which shows that the noun is the INDIRECT OBJECT of a verb $ [T]
to put paint or a soft substance on something without being very careful:
•soldiers' faces daubed with black mud
1 [C] a small amount of a soft or sticky substance
[+of]
•a daub of paint
2 [U] technical mud or clay used for making walls
wattle and daub at WATTLE (1) $ [C]
someone's female child:
•She's got two daughters and one son.
•our eldest daughter
[+of]
•the daughter of Labour MP Tony Bennplural daughters-in-law
[C] your son's wife $
behaving in a way that a daughter is expected to behave $ [T usually passive]
1 to make someone feel afraid or less confident about something:
•He felt utterly daunted by the prospect of moving to another country.
•Don't be daunted by all the technology.
2 nothing daunted old-fashioned used to say that someone continues or starts to do something in spite of difficulties:
•It was steep but, nothing daunted, he started climbing. $
frightening in a way that makes you feel less confident:
•The trip seemed rather daunting for a young girl.
•He's got the daunting task of following in Ferguson's footsteps.
•the daunting prospect of asking for a loan $
confident and not easily frightened:
•dauntless optimism $ [I]
to take a long time to do something or walk somewhere:
•Don't dawdle - we're late already!
[+over]
•I dawdled over a second cup of coffee.
- dawdler noun [C] $ [C,U]
1 the time at the beginning of the day when light first appears; = daybreak; dusk
at dawn
•The first boats set off at dawn.
•When dawn broke (=the first light of the day appeared), we were still 50 miles from Calcutta.
•I was up at the crack of dawn (=very early in the morning) to get the plane.
•We worked from dawn to dusk (=through the whole day while it is light).
•the cold light of dawn
2 the dawn of civilization/time etc the time when something began or first appeared:
•People have been falling in love since the dawn of time.
3 a false dawn something that seems positive or hopeful but really is not:
•There was talk of share prices recovering, but that was just a false dawn.[I]
1 if day or morning dawns, it begins:
•The morning dawned fresh and clear after the storm.
2 literary if a period of time or situation dawns, it begins:
•The age of Darwin had dawned.
3 formal if a feeling or idea dawns, you have it for the first time:
• It began to dawn that something was wrong.

PHRASAL VERBS
dawn on sb phr v
if a fact dawns on you, you realize it for the first time:
•Then the ghastly truth dawned on me.
• It dawned on me that Joanna had been right all along.
the dawn chorus the sound of many birds singing at dawn[C]
an attack or operation by soldiers or police that happens very early in the morning
1 24 HOURS [C] a period of 24 hours:
•We spent three days in Paris.
•'What day is it today?' 'Friday.'
•He left two days ago.
•I'll call you in a couple of days.
•The following day, a letter arrived.
on a/the following/that etc day (=during a particular day)
•Over 10,000 soldiers died on that one day in January.
•What really happened on that day so long ago?
•I saw Jane the day before yesterday.
•We're leaving for New York the day after tomorrow.
•Women generally use up about 2000 calories a day (=each day).
•I got an email from Jo the other day (=a few days ago).
2 NOT NIGHT [C,U] the period of time between when it gets light in the morning and when it gets dark; night
•She only leaves her house during the day.
•It was a cold blustery day.
•Kept in that dark cell, I could no longer tell whether it was day or night.
on a/that/the following etc day
•She first met Steve on a cold but sunny day in March.
by day (=during the day)
•Owls usually sleep by day and hunt by night.
•The day dawned (=started) bright and clear.
3 WHEN YOU ARE AWAKE [C usually singular] the time during the day when you are awake and active:
•His day begins at six.
•Jackie starts the day with a few gentle exercises.
•Sometimes I feel I just can't face another day.
•'See you later,' said the girl, 'Have a nice day.' (=used in a friendly way when you say goodbye to someone)
•It's been a long day (=used when you have been awake and busy for a long time).
all day (long) (=during the whole time you are awake)
•I've been studying all day. I'm beat!
!! Do not say all the day. Say all day.
4 TIME AT WORK [C] the time you spend doing your job during a 24-hour period:
•I work a ten-hour day.
•Rail workers are campaigning for a shorter working day.
•I've got a day off (=a day when I do not have to go to work) tomorrow.
5 PAST [C] used to talk about a time in the past:
•I knew him pretty well from his days as a DJ in the Bounty Club (=from when he was a DJ).
•I always used to do the cooking in the early days of our marriage.
•Not much was known about the dangers of smoking in those days (=then).
•They were very much opposed to the government of the day (=that existed then).
• One day (=on a day in the past), a mysterious stranger called at the house.
• From day one (=from the beginning), I knew I wouldn't get on with him.
• In my day (=in the past, when I was young), kids used to have some respect for their elders.
in sb's student/army/childhood etc days (=in the past when someone was a student etc)
•I used to run six miles a day in my army days.
those were the days spoken (=used to talk about a time in the past you think was better than now)
•We used to stay in bed all morning and party all night. Those were the days!
6 NOW [C] used to talk about the situation that exists now:
•I don't do much exercise these days (=now).
•It's incredible that such attitudes still exist in this day and age (=used to express disapproval that something still exists now).
• To this day (=until and including now), he denies any involvement in the crime.
up to/until/to the present day (=until and including now)
•This tradition has continued right up until the present day.
7 FUTURE [C] used to talk about a time in the future
one day/some day (=some time in the future)
•I'd like to go and visit the States one day.
•Some day we might get him to see sense.
• One of these days (=some time soon) I'm going to walk right out of here and never come back.
•Kelly's expecting the baby any day now (=very soon).
• The day will come (=the time will come) when he won't be able to care for himself any more.
8 sb's/sth's day a successful period of time in someone's life or in something's existence:
•Your grandfather was a famous radio personality in his day (=at the time he was most successful).
•Don't be too disappointed you didn't win - your day will come (=you will be successful in the future).
•Game shows like that have had their day (=were successful in the past, but are not any more).
9 Independence/election/Christmas etc day a day on which a particular event or celebration takes place:
•Rioting broke out just three days before polling day.
10 five/three/nine etc years to the day exactly five years etc:
•It's two years to the day since he died.
11 sb's days someone's life:
•She ended her days in poverty.
12 sb's/sth's days are numbered used to say that someone or something will not exist for much longer:
•It seems that the hospital's days are numbered.
13 day after day also day in day out continuously for a long time in a way that is annoying or boring:
•I couldn't stand sitting at a desk day after day.
14 from day to day also from one day to the next if a situation changes from day to day or from one day to the next, it changes often:
•I never know from day to day what I'm going to be doing.
•His moods swung wildly from one day to the next.
DAY-TO-DAY; live from day to day at LIVE^1 (5)
15 day by day slowly and gradually:
•Her health was improving day by day.
16 night and day also day and night all the time; = continuously
•Being together night and day can put a great pressure on any relationship.
17 day out especially BrE a trip you make for pleasure on a particular day:
•A visit to the caves makes a fascinating and exciting day out for all the family.
18 have an off day to be less successful or happy than usual, for no particular reason:
•Even the greatest athletes have their off days.
19 make sb's day to make someone very happy:
•Hearing her voice on the phone really made my day.
20 soup/dish/fish etc of the day a soup, meal etc that a restaurant serves on a particular day in addition to the meals they always offer
21 be all in a day's work if something difficult, unpleasant, or unusual is all in a day's work for someone, it is a normal part of their job
22 take each day as it comes also take it one day at a time to deal with something as it happens and not worry about the future:
•Since I had the accident, I've learned to take each day as it comes.
23 the day of reckoning a time when you have to deal with the unpleasant results of something you did in the past
24 it's (just) one of those days used to say that everything seems to be going wrong on this particular day
25 it's not sb's day used when several unpleasant things have happened to someone in one day:
•It really wasn't Chris's day - he overslept and then his car broke down.
26 make a day of it BrE to spend all day doing something for pleasure:
•If the weather's nice, we'll make a day of it and take a picnic.
27 that'll be the day used to say that you think something is very unlikely to happen:
•'Bill says he's going to start going to the gym.' 'That'll be the day!'
28 not have all day used to say that you want someone to do something faster because you do not have enough time to wait for them to finish:
•Hurry up! I haven't got all day!
29 it's not every day (that) used to say that something does not happen often and is therefore very special:
•Let's go out and celebrate. After all, it's not every day you get a new job.
30 be on days to work during the day at a job you sometimes have to do at night:
•I'm on days this week.
31 40/50/60 etc if he's/she's a day used to emphasize that someone is at least as old as you are saying:
•She's ninety if she's a day.
at the end of the day at END^1 (12); call it a day at CALL^1 (10); carry the day at CARRY^1 (22); the early days at EARLY^1 (1); every dog (has) its day at DOG^1 (11); the good old days at OLD (8); HALF DAY; have a field day at FIELD DAY (1); it's early days at EARLY^1 (3); it's (a little) late in the day at LATE^1 (8); it's sb's lucky day at LUCKY (5); (live to) see the day at SEE^1 (23); name the day at NAME^2 (6); OPEN DAY; save the day at SAVE^1 (12); SPEECH DAY, SPORTS DAY[C] BrE
a boy DAY PUPIL [U]
the time of day when light first appears:
•We arrived in Cairo at daybreak.[C] AmE
a place where children can go in the day during the school holidays to do sports, art etcdaycare $ [U]
when babies or young children, or sick or old people are looked after during the day, especially while their family members are at work
day care centre/services/facilities
•subsidized day care facilities
[+for]
•Local authorities may provide day care for under fives.
•a day care centre for the elderly[C] BrE
a place where sick or old people or people who have a particular problem can go during the day to be looked after, to meet other people, or to get help
[+for]
•a local day centre for homeless people [I]
to think about something pleasant, especially when this makes you forget what you should be doing; dream
[+about]
•What are you daydreaming about? There's work to be done.
- daydreamer noun [C][C]
pleasant thoughts you have while you are awake that make you forget what you are doing; dream[C] BrE
a girl DAY PUPIL $ trademark
having a very bright orange, green, yellow, or pink colour:
•Day-Glo orange posters[C]
your normal job which you earn most of your money from doing, especially as opposed to another interest:
•I'd love to be a professional writer, but I'm not giving up my day job just yet. [U]
1 the light produced by the sun during the day
in daylight
•They're shy animals and don't often come out in daylight.
•The park is open to the public during daylight hours.
•If possible, it's better to work in natural daylight.
in broad daylight at BROAD^1 (7)
2 (put) daylight between yourself and sb informal if you put daylight between yourself and someone else, you make the distance or difference between you larger:
•Now the team need to put some daylight between themselves and their rivals for the championship.
3 scare/frighten the (living) daylights out of sb informal to frighten someone a lot:
•It scared the living daylights out of me when the flames shot out.
4 beat/knock the (living) daylights out of sb informal to hit someone a lot and seriously hurt them
5 daylight robbery BrE informal a situation in which something costs you a lot more than is reasonable:
•£2.50 for a cup of coffee? It's daylight robbery!also daylight savings [U]
the time during the summer when clocks are one hour ahead of standard time
BRITISH SUMMER TIME[C]
a place where small children can be looked after while their parents are at workplural days off [C]
a day when you do not go to work, school etc because you have a holiday or because you are sick:
•On my days off, you'll usually find me out in the back garden.
take/have a day off
•I'm taking a few days off before the wedding.
the day of judgement JUDGMENT DAY[C] BrE
a student who goes to a BOARDING SCHOOL but who lives at home[U] BrE
a system that allows workers to spend one day a week studying a subject at a college[C] BrE
a train or bus ticket that lets you go somewhere at a cheaper price than usual, if you go there and back on the same day[C]
a room in a hospital where patients can go to read, watch television etc[C,U]
a school where the students go home in the evening rather than one where they live
BOARDING SCHOOL [U]
the time during the day between the time when it gets light and the time when it gets dark
in/during the daytime
•I can't sleep in the daytime.
•Can I take your daytime telephone number (=the number of the telephone you use during the day)?
•daytime television[only before noun]
1 day-to-day work/business/life etc day-to-day jobs or activities are ones that you do every day as a normal part of your life, your job etc:
•The manager is responsible for the day-to-day running of the hotel.
2 planning for only one day at a time, usually because you are unable to plan for longer:
•I see a counsellor and can now handle life on a day-to-day basis.[U]
the activity of using a computer to buy and sell SHAREs on the Internet, often buying and selling very quickly to make a profit out of small price changes
- day trader noun [C][C] BrE
a visit to an interesting place when you go there and come back the same day
[+to]
•I remember my grandparents taking me on a day trip to Blackpool.
- day tripper noun [C]
in a daze feeling confused and not able to think clearly:
•She wandered round in a daze, not quite sure what to do.
unable to think clearly, especially because of a shock, accident etc:
•Dazed survivors staggered from the wreckage.
dazed look/expression etc
•Her face was very pale and she wore a dazed expression. [T]
1 if a very bright light dazzles you, it stops you from seeing properly for a short time:
•a deer dazzled by the headlights
2 to make someone feel strong admiration:
•As children, we were dazzled by my uncle's good looks and charm.
- dazzle noun [U]
1 a light that is dazzling is very bright and makes you unable to see properly for a short time
2 very impressive and attractive:
•a dazzling display of football skills
the written abbreviation of decibel or, decibels
the abbreviation of direct current ; AC
the abbreviation of District of Columbia in the US [U]
a chemical used to kill insects that harm crops
1 shows an opposite:
•deindustrialization (=becoming less industrial)
2 shows that something is removed:
•Debone the fish (=remove its bones).
•The king was dethroned (=removed from power).
3 shows that something is reduced:
•The government have devalued the currency. [C]
a religious official, in some Christian churches, who is just below the rank of a priest $ [C]
a female religious official, in some Christian churches, who is just below the rank of a priest [T]
to switch something, especially a piece of equipment, off or to stop it from being used any more; activate
•You need to type in a code number to deactivate the alarm. [no comparative]
1 NOT ALIVE no longer alive

a dead body
be shot dead
be found dead
be feared/presumed dead
drop dead (=die suddenly)
clinically dead (=dead based on medical checks)
dead on arrival (=dead when arriving at a hospital)
pronounce sb dead (=a doctor says that someone is dead after checking their body)
leave sb for dead (=leave someone because you think they are dead)
stone dead/dead as a doornail informal (=dead, with no signs of life)
more dead than alive (=very badly hurt or ill and almost dead)
long dead/dead and gone (=dead for a long time)

•Her mother had been dead for ten years.
•Police are trying to contact the family of the dead man.
•a pile of dead leaves
•the dead body of a young soldier
•Two men were shot dead by terrorists.
•Magnus was found dead in his car.
•One man is still missing, presumed dead.
•He was out playing golf when he suddenly had a heart attack and dropped dead.
•She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
•His fellow climbers had left him for dead on the mountain.
•We didn't know if she was dead or alive.
•When they found him he was more dead than alive.
•Her parents were long dead.
!! Do not confuse dead, which is an adjective, with died, which is the past tense and past participle of the verb die: The man was already dead (NOT The man was already died).

2 NOT WORKING [not before noun] not working because there is no power:
•I picked up the phone but discovered the line was dead.
•Suddenly the radio went dead.
•I think the batteries are dead.
3 ALREADY USED already used:
•a small pile of dead matches
dead glass/bottle (=one that someone has finished drinking from in a bar or restaurant)
4 BORING [not before noun] a place that is dead is boring because there is nothing interesting or exciting happening there:
•This place is dead after nine o'clock.
5 NOT ACTIVE/USED not active or being used:
•The luxury car market has been dead in recent months.
6 ARM/LEG ETC [not before noun] a part of your body that is dead has no feeling in it, especially because the blood supply to it has been stopped:
•When I got up my foot had gone dead where I'd been sitting on it.
7 NO EMOTION [not before noun] showing no emotion or sympathy:
•Jennie's eyes were cold and dead.
8 TIRED [not before noun] spoken very tired:
•I can't go out tonight. I'm absolutely dead!
•She was dead on her feet and didn't have the energy to argue (=used when someone keeps going even though they are very tired).
9 be dead to the world to be very deeply asleep or unconscious:
•Better leave Craig - he's dead to the world.
10 USED FOR EMPHASIS [only before noun] completely or exactly - used to emphasize what you are saying:
•We all sat waiting in dead silence (=complete silence).
•The train came to a dead stop (=it stopped completely).
•The arrow hit the dead centre of the target (=the exact centre).
•I've given the whole thing up as a dead loss (=completely useless or a complete failure).
•John tells me it's a dead cert, we can't lose (=something which will certainly happen, win, succeed etc).
•He fell to the floor in a dead faint (=completely unconscious).
11 over my dead body spoken used to say that you are determined not to allow something to happen:
•You'll marry him over my dead body!
12 I wouldn't be seen/caught dead spoken used to say that you would never wear particular clothes, go to particular places, or do particular things, because you would feel embarrassed
[+in/on/with etc]
•I wouldn't be seen dead in a dress like that!
13 IN SERIOUS TROUBLE spoken in serious trouble
if ... I'm dead/you're dead etc
•If Mum finds out about this, I'm dead.
•You're in dead trouble now (=in very serious trouble)!
•One word of this to Sam and you're dead meat (=you are in serious trouble and someone is very angry with you)!
14 be dead and buried an argument, problem, plan etc that is dead and buried is not worth considering again:
•The old argument about whether the UK should be a member of the EU should now be dead and buried.
15 be dead in the water informal if a plan or idea is dead in the water, it is unlikely to continue successfully
16 drop dead! spoken used to rudely and angrily tell someone to go away and leave you alone
17 dead language a dead language, for example Latin or Ancient Greek, is no longer used by ordinary people
living language at LIVING^1 (1)
18 the dead hand of sth something which stops or slows your progress, especially a strong influence:
•the dead hand of local government bureaucracy
19 PLANET a dead PLANET has no life on it
20 IN SPORT when the ball is dead in some games, it is no longer on the playing area
(as) dead as a dodo at DODO (3)
DEAD RINGER
- deadness noun [U]informal
1 completely
dead right/wrong
•'It's a crazy idea.' 'You're dead right!'
dead straight/flat
•The road was dead straight.
dead quiet/calm/still
•Everything suddenly went dead still.
be dead (set) against sth (=completely disagree with something)
•Her family were dead against the marriage.
•He was obviously dead drunk.
•When he saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks (=suddenly stopped moving completely).
2 spoken very:
•He was dead good-looking.
•It sounded dead boring.
dead beat/tired (=very tired)
3 [+ adj/adv] directly or exactly:
•I stared dead ahead at the doorway.
•The bus arrived dead on time.
1 the dead [plural] people who have died:
•Families on both sides buried their dead.
the dead and injured/wounded/dying
•Most of the dead and injured had been passengers on the bus.
2 the dead of night/winter the middle of the night or the middle of the winter:
•creeping around in the dead of night
3 rise/come back/return from the dead to become alive again after dying:
•Christ rose from the dead. [C]
1 someone who is lazy and has no plans in life
2 someone who avoids paying their debts $ [C]
a strong lock often used on doors
a dead duck informal a plan, idea etc that is not worth considering because it is very likely to fail:
•He admitted that the whole project was a dead duck. [T]
to make a feeling or sound less strong:
•medicine to deaden the pain[C]
1 a street with no way out at one end
2 a situation from which no more progress is possible
come to/reach a dead end
•The negotiations have reached a dead end.
3 dead-end job a job with low wages and no chance of progress [T]
to remove the dead or dying flowers from a plant[C]
a situation during or at the end of a race or competition in which two or more competitors have the same number of points etc, have reached the same level, or have taken the same time to complete a particular distance[C]
1 a law, idea etc that still exists but that people no longer obey
2 a letter that cannot be delivered or returned [C]
a date or time by which you have to do or complete something
[+for]
•The deadline for applications is May 27th.
[+of]
•It has to be in before the deadline of July 1st.
meet/miss a deadline (=have or not have something finished on time)
•working under pressure to meet a deadline
set/impose a deadline
•They've set a deadline of Nov 5.
tight/strict deadline (=a deadline that is difficult) $ [singular, U]
1 a situation in which a disagreement cannot be settled; = stalemate
•The talks have reached a complete deadlock.
•a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock
•Negotiations ended in deadlock.
2 BrE a DEADBOLT
- deadlocked adjective
•Talks between management and unions remain deadlocked over the issue of possible redundancies.
1 VERY DANGEROUS likely to cause death; = lethal
•a deadly poison
•a deadly weapon
deadly disease/virus
2 deadly enemy someone who will always be your enemy and will try to harm you as much as possible:
•The two rapidly became deadly enemies.
3 COMPLETE complete or total:
•We sat in deadly silence.
•He was in deadly earnest (=completely serious).
4 VERY EFFECTIVE causing harm in a very effective way:
•She hit the target with deadly accuracy.
5 LIKE DEATH [only before noun] like death in appearance:
•His face had a deadly paleness.
deadly serious/dull/boring etc very serious, dull etc:
•I'm deadly serious, this isn't a game![C,U]
a poisonous European plant; = belladonna
sounding and looking completely serious when you are saying or doing something funny
deadpan voice/expression etc
•deadpan humour[U]
calculating the position of a ship or aircraft without using the sun, moon, or stars[C]
someone who looks exactly like someone else
[+for]
•Dave's a dead ringer for Paul McCartney.dead weight [singular]
1 something that is very heavy and difficult to carry
2 someone or something that prevents you from making progress or being successfuldeadwood [U]
1 people or things within an organization which are no longer useful or needed
2 branches of a tree which are no longer alive
1 physically unable to hear anything or unable to hear well; hearing impaired
•communication between deaf and hearing people
•I think Mum's going a bit deaf.
•She's deaf and dumb (=unable to hear or speak) and communicates using sign language.
•Tom was born profoundly deaf (=completely deaf).
stone deaf/deaf as a post informal (=completely deaf)
HARD OF HEARING, TONE-DEAF
2 the deaf [plural] people who are deaf:
•a school for the deaf
3 be deaf to sth literary to be unwilling to hear or listen to something:
•She was deaf to his pleas.
4 turn a deaf ear (to sth) to be unwilling to listen to what someone is saying or asking:
•The factory owners turned a deaf ear to the demands of the workers.
5 fall on deaf ears if advice or a warning falls on deaf ears, everyone ignores it
- deafness noun [U] [T usually passive]
1 if a noise deafens you, it is so loud that you cannot hear anything else
2 to make someone go deaf
1 very loud:
•a deafening roar
2 deafening silence a complete silence, when it is uncomfortable or you are expecting someone to say something[C]
old-fashioned, not polite someone who is unable to hear or speak
1 AGREEMENT [C] an agreement or arrangement, especially in business or politics, that helps both sides involved

make/do a deal
strike/cut a deal (=make a deal)
negotiate a deal
close/clinch a deal (=successfully complete a deal)
get a good deal (on sth) (=buy something at a good price)
business deal
pay deal
sth is a done deal informal (=something has been completely and finally agreed)

•They made a deal to sell the land to a property developer.
[+with]
•rumors that the company had struck a deal with Microsoft to market its products
[+between]
•Twelve US soldiers were released after a deal between the army and the guerillas.
•Cash incentives worth almost £45 million helped to clinch the deal.
•You can get some really good deals on the internet.
•She and Branson have been discussing a possible business deal together.
•The merger is still far from being a done deal.
•a new band signing a major record deal

2 a great deal also a good deal a large quantity of something; = a lot
[+of]
•It took a great deal of time and effort.
•His work has been attracting a great deal of attention.
a great deal more/less etc (=a lot more, less etc)
•He knew a good deal more than I did.
•She's married to a man a good deal older than herself.
!! Only use a great/good deal of with uncountable nouns: a great deal of time/money/work/interest/information
3 TREATMENT [C usually singular] treatment of a particular type that is given or received
a better/fairer etc deal
•a better deal for nurses
•The prime minister promised farmers a new deal (=a new and fairer system).
a rough/raw deal (=unfair treatment)
•Women tend to get a raw deal from employers.
4 it's a deal spoken used to say that you agree to do something:
•OK, it's a deal.
5 CARDS [singular] when you give out cards to players in a card game; dealer
•It's your deal, Alison.
6 WOOD [U] BrE FIR or PINE wood used for making things:
•a deal table
7 a deal of sth old-fashioned a large amount of something
BIG DEALpast tense and past participle dealt
1 [I,T] also deal sth <=> out to give playing cards to each of the players in a game:
•Whose turn is it to deal?
2 [I] informal to buy and sell illegal drugs:
•Many users end up dealing to support their habit.
3 deal a blow (to sb/sth) to cause harm to someone or something - used in news reports
deal a heavy/severe/serious etc blow
•The sanctions have dealt a severe blow to the local tourism industry.
•This will deal a blow to consumer confidence.

PHRASAL VERBS
deal in phr v
1 deal in sth to buy and sell a particular type of product; dealer
deal in shares/securities etc
•investors dealing in stocks and shares
deal in drugs/stolen goods etc
•He then began dealing in heroin.
deal in antiques/second-hand books etc
2 deal in sth to be interested or involved in something:
•As a scientist, I do not deal in speculation.
3 deal sb in to include someone in a game of cards

deal sth <=> out phr v
1 to give playing cards to each of the players in a game:
•I began dealing out the cards.
2 to decide what kind of punishment someone will get

deal with sb/sth phr v
1 to take the necessary action, especially in order to solve a problem; = handle
•an effective strategy for dealing with disruptive pupils
•Don't worry, I'll deal with this.
deal with a problem/issue/matter etc
•The council has failed to deal with the problem of homelessness in the city.
deal effectively/adequately etc with sth
•They should deal properly and fairly with any complaint.
2 if a book, speech etc deals with a particular subject, it is about that subject:
•These ideas are dealt with more fully in Chapter Four.
3 to do business with someone or have a business connection with someone:
•Most travel agents do not deal directly with these companies.
4 to succeed in controlling your feelings about an emotional problem so that it does not affect your life; = cope with
•How's he dealing with the whole thing? $ [C]
1 someone who buys and sells a particular product, especially an expensive one
car/antique/art etc dealer
[+in]
•a dealer in modern art
2 someone who sells illegal drugs
3 someone who gives out playing cards in a game $ [C]
a business that sells a particular company's product, especially cars
1 dealings [plural] the business activities or relationships that someone is involved in:
•an investigation of his financial dealings
[+with]
•She is ruthless in her dealings with competitors.
•We've had dealings with him in the past.
2 [U] the activity of buying, selling, or doing business with people:
•penalties for drug dealing
plain/honest/fair dealing (=a particular way of doing business)
•a reputation for fair dealing
insider dealing at INSIDER TRADING; WHEELING AND DEALING
the past tense and past participle of DEAL [C]
1 a priest of high rank in the Christian church who is in charge of several priests or churches
2 someone in a university who is responsible for a particular area of work:
•the admissions dean
3 AmE someone with a lot of experience of a particular job or subject; = doyen BrE
[+of]
•Neier is the dean of American human rights activism. plural deaneries [C]
the area controlled by a dean or the place where a dean lives[C] AmE
a list of the best students at a university $
Oh dear used to show that you are surprised, upset, or annoyed because something bad has happened:
•Oh dear, I've broken the lamp.
•'I think I'm getting a cold.' 'Oh dear!'[C]
1 used when speaking to someone you love:
•How did the interview go, dear?
2 spoken used by an older person when speaking in a friendly way to someone who is younger:
•Can I help you, dear?
•Come along, my dear, take a seat.
3 BrE spoken someone who is kind and helpful:
•Be a dear and make me a coffee.
4 old dear BrE a fairly rude expression meaning an old womancomparative dearer, superlative dearest
1 Dear used before someone's name or title to begin a letter:
•Dear Sir or Madam, ...
•Dear Mrs. Wilson, ...
•Dear Meg, ...
2 BrE expensive; cheap
•Cars are 59% dearer in Britain than in Europe.
3 formal a dear friend or relative is very important to you and you love them a lot:
•Mark became a dear friend.
be dear to sb
•His sister was very dear to him.
4 hold sth dear to think that something is very important:
•Household economy was something my mother held very dear.
5 dear old... BrE spoken used to describe someone or something in a way that shows your love or liking of them; = good old
•Here we are, back in dear old Manchester!
6 for dear life written if you run, fight, hold on etc for dear life, you do it as fast or as well as you can because you are afraid:
•She grasped the side of the boat and hung on for dear life.
7 the dear departed BrE literary a person you love who has died
cost sb dear written to cause a lot of trouble and suffering for someone:
•Carolyn's marriage to Pete cost her dear. $ spoken
used when speaking to someone you lovedeary $ spoken informal
1 used when speaking to someone you love
2 dearie me old-fashioned used when you are surprised or sad about something[C] old-fashioned
a letter that a man receives from his wife or girlfriend that tells him she no longer loves him $
1 very much:
•James loved her dearly.
•I would dearly like to know what she said.
2 in a way that involves a lot of suffering, damage, trouble etc:
•The weakness in their defense has already cost them dearly this season.
•Ordinary people are paying dearly for the mistakes of this administration.
3 dearly beloved spoken used by a priest or minister at the beginning of a Christian service $ [singular]
a lack of something
[+of]
•a dearth of job opportunities $
another spelling of DEARIE
1
a) [U] the end of the life of a person or animal; birth
[+of]
•The death of his mother came as a tremendous shock.
•Cancer is the leading cause of death in women.
•How Danielle met her death (=died) will probably never be known.
•His friend was close to death.
•His family are still mourning John's tragic death.
•the anniversary of Lenin's death
bleed/burn/starve etc to death
•a homeless man who froze to death
beat/stab/shoot etc sb to death
•The 76-year-old pensioner was beaten to death.
put/sentence/condemn sb to death (=kill someone or decide they should be killed as an official punishment)
•Legend has it that Sarah was put to death for practising witchcraft.
•Members of the family have received death threats.
•He remained president until his untimely death (=death at a surprisingly young age ) in 1917.
•Two of the passengers managed to escape death (=avoid being killed).
b) [C] a particular case when someone dies; birth
•a campaign to reduce the number of traffic deaths
[+from]
•deaths from cancer
•I heard there'd been a death in the family.
2 the death of sth the permanent end of something; birth
•The latest bombing is the death of all our hopes.
•These regulations could spell the death (=lead to the end) of the American car industry.
3 to death informal
a) used to emphasize that a feeling or emotion is very strong
be bored/scared/frightened etc to death
•She was scared to death of what might happen next.
•I'm absolutely sick to death of it (=very angry, bored, or unhappy about something).
bore/scare/love etc sb to death
•He drove at a speed which frightened Leonora to death.
•She used to worry me to death.
b) used to say that an action is continued with a lot of effort and for as long as possible:
•They just work you to death in that place.
4 do sth to death informal to perform or present an idea, joke etc so often that people become tired of it:
•Most of his material has been done to death by numerous comedians.
5 to the death
a) until someone is dead:
•They will fight to the death rather than give an inch of ground.
•soldiers locked in a bitter struggle to the death
b) until you achieve something even if it means that you suffer:
•The leadership election has become a fight to the death.
6 Death a creature that looks like a human SKELETON, used in paintings, stories etc to represent the fact that people die
7 be at death's door to be very ill and likely to die
8 look/feel like death warmed up BrE look/feel like death warmed over AmE informal to look or feel very ill or tired
9 you'll catch your death (of cold) spoken old-fashioned used to warn someone that they are likely to become ill because they are wet or cold
10 sb will be the death of me spoken old-fashioned used to say that someone is causing you a lot of worry and problems:
•That boy will be the death of me!
BLACK DEATH; kiss of death at KISS^2 (3); life and death at LIFE (10)
[C usually singular] the bed on which someone dies or is dying
on your deathbed
•On her deathbed, Miriam's mother reveals that she never knew her father.
deathbed confession/conversion etc (=made when you are dying)
•The disease allowed no time for a deathbed repentance.[singular]
an action or event that makes something fail or end; death knell
•His decision to leave the show has delivered a death blow to the series.[C]
a place where large numbers of prisoners are killed or die, usually in a war[C]
a legal document, signed by a doctor, that states the time and cause of someone's death; birth certificate[only before noun]
a death-defying action is very dangerous:
•death-defying film stunts[plural] BrE old-fashioned
INHERITANCE TAX[singular]
a sign that something will soon fail or stop existing; death blow
(sound/strike/toll) the death knell for/of sth
•The loss of Georgia would sound the death knell of Republican hopes.
deathless prose/verse/lines etc writing that is very bad or boring - used humorously
reminding you of death or of a dead body
deathly cold/white/pale
•She was deathly pale, and looked as if she might faint.
a deathly hush/silence (=complete silence)
•A deathly hush fell over the room.[C]
a model of a dead person's face, made by covering their face with a soft substance and letting it become hard[singular]
the legal punishment of death; capital punishment
•Three Britons are facing the death penalty for spying.[C]
1 the number of deaths for every 100 or every 1000 people in a particular year and in a particular place; birth rate
2 the number of deaths each year from a particular disease or in a particular group:
•childhood death rates[C]
a noise that sometimes comes from the throat or chest of someone who is dying $ [U]
the part of a prison where prisoners who will be punished by being killed are kept
on death row
•a murderer on death row[C]
1 the official punishment of death, ordered by a judge:
•He received a death sentence.
•Premeditated murder carries (=is punished by) the death sentence.
2 something such as an illness that makes you sure you will die:
•Cancer is no longer a death sentence.
3 an action or decision that is very harmful to someone or something:
•In 1987, the government passed a death sentence on the river by granting permission for the new dam.[C] literary
a human SKULL, used as a sign of death[C]
a group of people who have been ordered to kill someone's political opponents[plural]
1 the final stages before something fails or ends:
•The peace pact seems to be in its death throes.
2 sudden violent movements that people sometimes make when they are dying[C usually singular]
the total number of people who die in an accident, war etc:
•As the unrest continued, the death toll rose.
•The official death toll stands at 53.[C] informal
a vehicle, building, piece of equipment etc that is in very bad condition and might injure or kill someone:
•A car with tires in this condition is simply a death trap.[C]
1 an official document stating that someone is to be killed as a punishment
2 something that is likely to cause you very serious trouble, or even your death:
•By indulging in casual sex, many teenagers could be signing their own death warrants.[singular]
a desire to die:
•Before I did the jump, people would ask if I had a death wish. [C] informal
a DEBUTANTEdébâcle [C]
an event or situation that is a complete failure:
•the debacle of the 1994 elections $ past tense and past participle debarred, present participle debarring [T usually passive] formal
to officially prevent someone from doing something; = ban
debar sb from (doing) sth
•All five men were debarred from entering France for three years. $ [I]
to DISEMBARK (=get off a ship)
[+from]
•I remember how glad I felt debarking from a ship in Bremerhaven after six days on the ocean. [T] formal
to make someone or something lose its value or people's respect:
•The medical profession has been debased by these revelations.
debase yourself
•actors who debased themselves by participating in the show
debase a currency/coinage (=reduce its value)
- debasement noun [C,U]
•currency debasement
things that are debatable are not certain because people have different opinions about them:
•a debatable point
it is debatable whether/how etc
•It's debatable whether this book is as good as her last.
•Whether the object was used for rituals is highly debatable.
1 [C,U] discussion of a particular subject that often continues for a long time and in which people express different opinions

heated/fierce/intense debate (=one in which people express strong and very different opinions)
widespread debate
lively debate
public debate
a debate rages (=it happens over a period of time and people have strong feelings about it)
long-running debate
ongoing debate (=continuing debate)
provoke/trigger/spark off a debate (=cause a debate)

•the gun-control debate in the US
•The new drug has become the subject of heated debate within the medical profession.
[+over/about]
•There has been widespread public debate over the introduction of genetically modified food.
•There was much lively debate about whether women should spend more time in the home.
•A fierce debate raged over which artist's work should be chosen for the prize.
[+between]
•the ongoing debate between environmentalists and the road-building lobby over the future of our countryside
•Nuclear power has always been a topic that has sparked off considerable debate.

2 [C,U] a formal discussion of a particular problem, subject etc in which people express different opinions, and sometimes vote on them
[+on/over/about]
•a debate on legalized gambling
•a televised debate
have/hold/conduct a debate
•It would have been better to hold the debate during the day.
be under debate
•What topics are under debate in Congress this week?
3 be open to debate also be a matter for debate if an idea is open to debate, no one has proved yet whether it is true or false; = debatable
•Whether that would have made any difference is open to debate.[I,T]
1 to discuss a subject formally when you are trying to make a decision or find a solution:
•The issue will be debated on Tuesday.
debate whether/what/how etc
•Meanwhile, philosophers debate whether it's right to clone an individual.
debate (sth) with sb
•an invitation to debate with William on the future of democracy
•His conclusions are hotly debated (=argued about strongly).
2 to consider something carefully before making a decision
debate with yourself
•I debated with myself whether I should tell anyone.
debate who/what/how etc
•I'm still debating what to do.
debate doing sth
•For a moment Mary debated telling Rick the truth. $ [C]
someone who speaks in a formal debate $ formal
someone who is debauched behaves in a bad or immoral way, for example by drinking too much alcohol, taking drugs, or having sex with many people $ [U] formal
immoral behaviour involving drugs, alcohol, sex etc:
•a life of debauchery $ [C] technical
an official document produced by a company showing how much INTEREST it will pay on a LOAN (=money it has borrowed) [T] formal
1 to make someone ill and weak
2 to make an organization or system less effective or powerful:
•Progress has been debilitated by a refusal to share ideas.
- debilitating adjective
•a debilitating disease plural debilities [C,U] formal
weakness, especially as the result of illness; disability
•physical and mental debility [C]
1 technical a decrease in the amount of money in a bank account, for example because you have taken money out of it; credit ; direct debit
2 technical a record in financial accounts that shows money that has been spent or that is owed; credit
3 on the debit side used to say that something is a disadvantage in a particular situation, especially after you have described the advantages:
•Bikes are easy to park, but on the debit side can be dangerous in traffic.[T] technical
1 to take money out of a bank account; credit
debit sth from sth
•The sum of £25 has been debited from your account.
2 to record in financial accounts the money that has been spent or that is owed
debit sth against/to sth
•Purchases are debited against the client's account.[C]
a plastic card with your signature on that you can use to pay for things. The money is taken directly from your bank account
CASH CARD, CHEQUE CARD, CREDIT CARDdebit receipt AmE [C]
a written record showing that a customer owes money to a company $ old-fashioned
a man who is debonair is fashionable and confident [T]
to ask someone questions about a job they have just done or an experience they have just had, in order to gather information; brief
•The returning bomber crews were debriefed.
- debriefing noun [U]
•a debriefing session $ [U]
1 the pieces of something that are left after it has been destroyed in an accident, explosion etc:
•She was hit by flying debris from the blast.
2 technical pieces of waste material, paper etc
plant/garden/industrial etc debris
•Clean the ventilation ducts to remove dust and insect debris.
1 [C] a sum of money that a person or organization owes
[+of]
•This over-ambitious strategy has saddled them with debts of around $3,000,000.
pay (off)/repay/clear/settle etc a debt
•He had enough money to pay off his father's outstanding debts.
•Romania is paying more and more to Western banks simply to service the debt (=pay it).
run up/amass debts
•students who run up huge debts
2 [U] when you owe money to someone; credit
in debt (to sb)
•Nearly half the students said they were in debt.
•The band will be in debt to the record company for years.
£200/$1000 etc in debt
•A rash business decision left him $600 in debt.
get/run/fall etc into debt
•The club sank deeper into debt.
be heavily/deeply in debt (=owe a lot of money)
3 [C usually singular] the degree to which you have learned from or been influenced by someone or something else
[+to]
•Braque acknowledged his debt to Impressionist painting.
4 debt of gratitude/thanks the fact of being grateful to someone who has helped you:
•I owe a debt of gratitude to my tutors.
BAD DEBT, NATIONAL DEBT[C]
someone whose job is to get back the money that people owe $ [C] technical
a person, group, or organization that owes money; creditor [U]
an arrangement in which very poor countries do not have to pay back all the money that has been lent to them by richer countries[usually before noun]
debt-ridden countries or organizations owe so much money they cannot pay the money back past tense and past participle debugged, present participle debugging [T]
1 to remove the BUGs (=mistakes) from a computer program; disinfect
2 to remove secret listening equipment from a place
- debugging noun [U] [T]
to show that an idea or belief is false:
•His claims were later debunked by fellow academics.
- debunker noun [C] $ [C]
the first public appearance of an entertainer, sports player etc or of something new and important
sb's debut
•He made his Major League debut as shortstop.
film/acting/directorial etc debut
•His Broadway debut was 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'.
debut album/CD/single etc
•Their debut album was recorded in 1991.
debut match/performance etc
•He scored in his debut match for the club.
1 [I] to appear in public or become available for the first time:
•The show will debut next Monday at 8.00pm.
2 [T] to introduce a product to the public for the first time; release; = launch
•Ralph Lauren debuted his autumn collection in Paris last week.also deb informal [C]
a young rich UPPER-CLASS woman who starts going to fashionable events as a way of being introduced to upper-class societyalso Dec BrE
the written abbreviation of December [in nouns]
ten:
•a decalitre (=10 litres)
•the decathlon (=a sports competition with 10 different events)
DECI- [C]
a period of 10 years [U]
behaviour that shows that someone has low moral standards and is more concerned with pleasure than serious matters
having low moral standards and being more concerned with pleasure than serious matters:
•Pop music was condemned as decadent and crude.
- decadently adverbdecaff [U] informal
decaffeinated coffee
coffee or tea that is decaffeinated does not contain CAFFEINE (=the substance that keeps you awake) $ [C]
AmE a piece of paper with a pattern or picture on it that you stick on a surface; = transfer BrE [I] formal
to leave a place quickly
[+to/from]
•The wealthier inhabitants decamped to the suburbs. [T]
to pour liquid, especially wine, from one container into another
decant sth into sth
•Never decant cleaning products into old pop bottles. $ [C]
a container used for serving alcoholic drinks:
•a crystal decanter [T]
to cut off someone's head:
•a decapitated body
- decapitation noun [C,U] $ [singular]
a sports competition with 10 different events; pentathlon, triathlon
1 [I,T] to be slowly destroyed by a natural chemical process, or to make something do this; rot
•Her body was already starting to decay.
•Most archaeological finds are broken, damaged, or decayed.
•decaying organic matter
2 [I] if buildings, structures, or areas decay, their condition gradually becomes worse:
•Hundreds of historic buildings are being allowed to decay.
•Britain's decaying inner cities
3 [I] if traditional beliefs, standards etc decay, people do not believe in them or support them any more; = decline
•In Orthodox Europe, mass religion seems to have decayed less.[U]
1 the natural chemical change that causes the slow destruction of something:
•old cars in various stages of decay
• tooth decay
2 the gradual destruction of buildings, structures etc because they have not been cared for:
•poverty and urban decay
fall into (a state of) decay
•During the war, the area fell into decay.
3 the gradual destruction of ideas, beliefs, social or political systems etc:
•moral and spiritual decay [U] law
death:
•On your decease, the house passes to your wife. law
the deceased someone who has died, especially recently:
•The deceased left a large sum of money to his children. [C,U]
behaviour that is intended to make someone believe something that is not true:
•an atmosphere of hypocrisy and deceit
deliberate/calculated/outright deceit
someone who is deceitful tells lies in order to get what they want:
•His manner was sly and deceitful.
- deceitfully adverb
•His lawyer argued that his client had not acted deceitfully.
- deceitfulness noun [U] [T]
1 to make someone believe something that is not true; = trick; deception
•He had been deceived by a young man claiming to be the son of a millionaire.
deceive sb into doing sth
•He tried to deceive the public into thinking the war could still be won.
deceive sb about sth
•I wouldn't deceive you about anything as important as this.
2 deceive yourself to refuse to believe that something is true because the truth is unpleasant:
•I thought she loved me, but I was deceiving myself.
deceive yourself that
•He didn't deceive himself that he and Ruth could remain friends.
3 to give someone a wrong belief or opinion about something:
•Don't be deceived by the new cover - this is a rehash of old hits.
- deceiver noun [C] [I] formal
to go slower, especially in a vehicle; = slow down; accelerate
- deceleration noun [U]
•a deceleration in economic growthwritten abbreviation Dec. $ [C,U]
the 12th month of the year, between November and January
next/last December
•Last December they visited Prague.
in December
•We got married in December.
on December 6th
•Jake's birthday is on December 6th.
on 6th December BrE
•The event was to take place on 6th December.
December 6 AmE
•Her letter arrived December 6.
1 [U] polite, honest, and moral behaviour and attitudes that show respect for other people:
•a judgment reflecting the decency and good sense of the American people
common/human/public decency (=standards of behaviour that are expected of everyone)
•The film was banned on the grounds of public decency.
•Is there no sense of decency left in this country?
•If they're going to charge people a fee, they ought to at least have the decency to tell them in advance.
2 decencies [plural] old-fashioned standards of acceptable behaviour
1 [usually before noun] of a good enough standard or quality:
•a decent salary
•Don't you have a decent jacket?
•a house with a decent-sized yard
•Their in-flight magazine is actually halfway decent (=quite good).
2 following moral standards that are acceptable to society; decency
decent citizens/people/folk etc
•The majority of residents here are decent citizens.
•a decent burial
•Paul visited the local bars more frequently than was decent for a senior lecturer.
•The chairman did the decent thing (=did what people thought he ought to) and resigned.
3 [usually before noun] treating people in a fair and kind way:
•I decided her father was a decent guy after all.
• It was decent of you to show up today.
4 wearing enough clothes so that you do not show too much of your body - used humorously:
•Are you decent? Can I come in?
- decently adverbalso decentralise BrE [I,T]
to move parts of a government, organization etc from a central place to several different smaller ones; centralize
•Many firms are decentralizing their operations.
- decentralized adjective
•a decentralized economy
- decentralization $ noun [U] [C,U]
the act of deliberately making someone believe something that is not true; deceive
•She didn't have the courage to admit to her deception.
•He was convicted of obtaining money by deception.
1 something that is deceptive seems to be one thing but is in fact very different:
•Some snakes move with deceptive speed (=move faster than you think or expect).
•Gwen's students may look angelic, but appearances can be deceptive.
2 intended to make someone believe something that is not true:
•misleading and deceptive adverts
•deceptive practices
- deceptively adverb [in nouns]
a 10th part of a unit:
•a decilitre (=0.1 litres)
DECA-written abbreviation dB [C]
a unit for measuring the loudness of sound:
•noise levels exceeding 85 decibels
1 [I,T] to make a choice or judgment about something, especially after considering all the possibilities or arguments; decision
•Has anything been decided yet?
decide to do sth
•Tina's decided to go to Prague for her holidays.
decide (that)
•It was decided that four hospitals should close.
decide who/what/whether etc
•I can't decide whether I like him or not.
•People have a right to decide how to spend their own money.
decide between sth
•A meeting was called to decide between the three candidates.
decide for yourself (=make your own decision)
•You must decide for yourself.
•The trainees decide among themselves what programs to take.
decide against/in favour of (doing) sth
•He eventually decided against telling Georgina.
•After a long discussion, they decided in favour of (=chose) the younger applicant.
2 [T] to influence a situation or event so that a particular result is produced:
•It was the penalty kick that decided the match.
3 [T] to be the reason for someone making a particular choice:
•Taxes could be the deciding factor for millions of floating voters.
decide sb to do sth
•The look he gave her decided her not to ask.
4 [I,T] law to make an official or legal judgment:
•The Commission will have the power to decide disputes.
decide in favour of/against sb
•If the Parole Board decides in his favour, the prisoner will be released.

PHRASAL VERBS
decide on/upon sth phr v
to choose something or someone after thinking carefully:
•Have you decided on a date for the wedding? [only before noun] formal
definite and easily noticed:
•a decided change for the better
1 [+ adj/adv] definitely or in a way that is easily noticed:
•Cole's style is decidedly more formal than the previous manager's.
2 BrE written in a way that shows that you are very sure about a decision:
•'I'm not going to do it,' said Margaret decidedly. $ [C usually singular]
the last part of a game or competition, which will show who the winner is:
•This next round will be the decider.
deciduous trees lose their leaves in winter; evergreen [C]
a FRACTION (=a number less than 1) that is shown as a FULL STOP followed by the number of TENTHs , HUNDREDTHs etc. The numbers 0.5, 0.175, and 0.661 are decimals
a decimal system is based on the number 10:
•changing to a decimal system
•calculations accurate to three decimal places (=one of the numbers after the full stop in a decimal)also decimalisation BrE $ [U]
the process of changing to a decimal system of money or measurement
- decimalize $ verb [I,T][C]
the FULL STOP in a decimal, used to separate whole numbers from TENTHs , HUNDREDTHs etc [T]
to destroy a large part of something:
•The population has been decimated by disease.
- decimation noun [U] $ [T]
1 to find the meaning of something that is difficult to read or understand; indecipherable
•She studied the envelope, trying to decipher the handwriting.
2 to change a message written in a CODE into ordinary language so that you can read it; = decode
- decipherment noun [U]
1 [C] a choice or judgment that you make after a period of discussion or thought

make a decision
take a decision (=make an important decision, especially after considering carefully)
reach/come to a decision
a big/major decision
a difficult/hard/tough etc decision
decision to do sth
the right/wrong decision
reverse/overturn a decision (=officially change an earlier decision)
sb's decision is final (=it cannot be changed)
a snap decision (=one made extremely quickly)

•Do you ever wonder if you made the right decision?
•No final decision has been taken, but it seems likely that the two companies could merge in the near future.
[+about/on]
•We finally came to a firm decision on the matter.
•They can help with decisions about where to invest your money.
•I need to think about it. It's a big decision.
•All managers face tough decisions at one time or another.
•She refused to discuss her decision to quit the group.
[+as to which/whether/who etc]
•Viewers make the final decision as to who should be eliminated from the competition.
•The Supreme Court has overturned the lower court's decision.
•The judges' decision is final.
•She made a snap decision, which was to have fatal consequences.
•What were the reasons behind your decision?

2 [U] the quality someone has that makes them able to make choices or judgments quickly and confidently; indecision
•the ability to act with speed and decision
3 [U] the act of deciding something:
•The Court has the ultimate power of decision.[C usually plural]
a person in a large organization who is responsible for making important decisions:
•the corporation's key decision-makers[U]
the process of making important decisions:
•attempts to involve workers in decision-making
1 an action, event etc that is decisive has a big effect on the way that something develops
decisive factor/effect/influence etc
•Women can play a decisive role in the debate over cloning.
decisive action/steps
•We will take decisive steps towards political union with Europe.
2 someone who is decisive is good at making decisions quickly and with confidence; indecisive
•a decisive leader
•a talent for quick decisive action
3 definite and clear in a way that leaves no doubt
decisive victory/result/defeat etc
•The answer was a decisive no.
- decisively adverb
•Yet again, we have failed to act decisively., noun [U]
•military decisiveness
•the speed and decisiveness of his victory [C]
1 ON A SHIP
a) the outside top level of a ship that you can walk or sit on:
•Let's go up on deck.
above/below deck
•Peter stayed below deck.
b) one of the different levels on a ship
main/passenger/car etc deck
•a staircase leading to the passenger deck
2 ON A BUS, PLANE ETC one of the levels on a bus, plane etc
lower/upper etc deck
•I managed to find a seat on the upper deck.
•Eddie returned to the flight deck (=the part of an aircraft where the pilot sits).
DOUBLE-DECKER (1), SINGLE-DECKER
3 AT THE BACK OF A HOUSE AmE a wooden floor built out from the back of a house, where you can sit and relax outdoors; decking
•deck furniture
4 MUSIC a piece of equipment used for playing music tapes, records etc
cassette/tape/record deck
5 CARDS a set of playing cards; = pack BrE
•Irene shuffled the deck.
•a deck of cards
all hands on deck at HAND^1 (38); clear the decks at CLEAR^2 (17); hit the deck at HIT^1 (17)[T]
1 also deck sth out [usually passive] to decorate something with flowers, flags etc
deck sth (out) with sth
•The street was decked with flags for the royal wedding.
2 informal to hit someone so hard that they fall over:
•Gerry just swung round and decked him. $ [C] BrE
a folding chair with a long seat made of cloth, used especially on the beach [C]
someone who works on a ship, cleaning and doing small repairs [U]
a wooden floor next to a house or in a garden[C]
a flat shoe made of CANVAS (=heavy cloth) [I,T] written
to speak loudly, sometimes with actions, so that people notice you
- declamation noun [C,U] $
declamatory speech or writing expresses feelings and opinions very strongly:
•a declamatory style [C,U]
1 an important official statement about a particular situation or plan, or the act of making this statement:
•a ceasefire declaration
•Under Islamic law it was possible to divorce by simple declaration.
[+of]
•the declaration of war
2 an official or serious statement of what someone believes
[+of]
•the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
•declarations of undying love
3 a statement in which you officially give information about yourself:
•a declaration of taxable earnings
a declarative sentence has the form of a statement $
1 STATE OFFICIALLY [T] to state officially and publicly that a particular situation exists or that something is true:
•A state of emergency has been declared.
declare that
•The court declared that Brown's case should be reviewed.
declare sth (to be) sth
•Several countries wanted Antarctica to be declared a 'world park'.
•The city was declared to be in a state of siege.
•I declare you man and wife.
declare sth illegal/invalid etc
•The war was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice.
•Mr Steel has been declared bankrupt (=it has been officially stated that he cannot pay his debts).
•We celebrate September 16, the day when Mexico declared independence from Spain (=officially stated that it was no longer ruled by Spain).
2 STATE WHAT YOU THINK [T] to say publicly what you think or feel:
•'It's not fair,' Jane declared.
•He declared his intention to stand for president.
declare that
•Carol held a press conference and declared that she was innocent.
declare yourself (to be) sth
•Edward declared himself angry and frustrated.
3 declare war (on sb/sth)
a) to state officially that you are at war with another country
b) informal to say that something is wrong and that you will do everything you can to stop it:
•Angry residents have declared war on the owners of the factory.
4 MONEY/PROPERTY ETC [T]
a) to state on an official government form how much money you have earned, what property you own etc:
•All tips are counted as part of your earnings and must be declared.
b) to tell a CUSTOMS official that you are carrying goods on which you should pay tax when you enter a country
5 declare an interest to tell people that you are connected with something that is being discussed:
•I should, at this point, declare an interest: I own shares in the company.
6 CRICKET [I] to choose to end your team's turn before all your players have BATTED

PHRASAL VERBS
declare against sb/sth phr v
to state that you oppose someone or something

declare for sb/sth phr v
to state that you support someone or something $
stated officially and publicly
declared aim/objective/intention etc
•It is their declared intention to increase taxes.
official information that is declassified was secret but is not secret any more; classified
- declassify verb [T] [C]
1 the set of various forms that a noun, PRONOUN, or adjective can have according to whether it is the SUBJECT, OBJECT etc of a sentence in a language such as Latin or German
2 a particular set of nouns etc that all have the same set of forms [singular, U]
a decrease in the quality, quantity, or importance of something
[+in]
•There has been a decline in the size of families.
[+of]
•the decline of manufacturing
rapid/sharp/steep/dramatic decline
•a rapid decline in unemployment
steady/gradual/long-term decline
•The island's population initially numbered 180, but there was a gradual decline until only 40 people were left.
•the social and economic decline faced by many cities
in decline
•There's a widely held belief that educational standards are in decline (=falling).
fall/go etc into decline
•The port fell into decline (=became less important and less busy) in the 1950s.
1 DECREASE [I] to decrease in quantity or importance:
•Spending on information technology has declined.
•Car sales have declined by a quarter.
•After the war, the city declined in importance.
2 SAY NO [I,T] formal to say no politely when someone invites you somewhere, offers you something, or wants you to do something:
•Offered the position of chairman, Smith declined, preferring to keep his current job.
•Mary declined a hot drink and went to her room.
decline an offer/invitation etc
•Mary declined Jay's invitation to dinner.
decline to do sth
•The court declined to review her case.
•The minister declined to comment (=refused to speak to people who report the news) about the progress of the peace talks.
3 BECOME WORSE [I] to become gradually worse in quality; = deteriorate
•Her health has been declining progressively for several months.
•Qualified staff are leaving and standards are declining.
4 sb's declining years formal the last years of someone's life
5 GRAMMAR
a) [I] if a noun, PRONOUN, or adjective declines, its form changes according to whether it is the SUBJECT, OBJECT etc of a sentence
b) [T] if you decline a noun, PRONOUN, or adjective, you show the various forms that it can take
- declining adjective
•declining attendance at baseball games $ [T]
1 to discover the meaning of a message written in a CODE (=a set of secret signs or letters); = decipher
2 if a computer decodes DATA, it receives it and changes it into a form that can be used by the computer or understood by a person; encode
•The software decodes the information embedded in the satellite broadcasts.
3 to receive electronic or DIGITAL signals and change them into a picture and sound for a television or radio; encode
•decoding boxes for your TV set
4 technical to understand the meaning of a word rather than use a word to express meaning; encode $ [C]
a piece of electronic equipment that receives a signal and changes it for another machine to use, for example to put pictures and sound onto your television $ [U]
the top edge of a woman's dress that is cut very low to show part of her shoulders and breasts
- décolleté $ adjectivealso decolonise BrE $ [T]
to make a former COLONY politically independent
- decolonization $ noun [U] [T]
to stop using a ship, weapon, or NUCLEAR REACTOR and to take it to pieces $ [I,T]
1 to decay or make something decay:
•a partially decomposed body
2 technical to divide into smaller parts, or to make something do this
- decomposition $ noun [U] [T]
1 to reduce the pressure of air on something
2 technical to change the information in a computer document back into a form that can be easily read or used, when the information was stored on the computer in a special form that used less space on the computer's memory:
•Most Macintosh computers can decompress files automatically.
- decompression noun [U][C]
a special room where people go after they have been deep under the sea, so that their bodies can slowly return to normal air pressure[U]
a dangerous medical condition that people get when they come up from deep under the sea too quickly; = the bends [C,U]
medicine that you can take if you have a cold, to help you breathe more easily [U]
a method used in PHILOSOPHY and the criticism of literature which claims that there is no single explanation of the meaning of a piece of writing
- deconstruct verb [T] [T]
to remove a dangerous substance from somewhere; contamination
•It may cost over $5 million to decontaminate the whole site.
- decontamination noun [U] $ [C usually singular, U]
the way that the inside of a building is decorated:
•The decor is a mix of antique and modern.
1 [I,T] BrE to paint the inside of a room, put special paper on the walls etc:
•The bathroom is decorated in green and yellow.
•We plan to spend the weekend decorating.
2 [T] to make something look more attractive by putting something pretty on it:
•Children's pictures decorated the walls of the classroom.
decorate sth with sth
•an old-fashioned dress decorated with ribbons and lace
3 [T] to give someone a MEDAL as an official sign of honour
decorate sb for sth
•soldiers decorated for bravery
- decorating noun [U]
1 [C usually plural] something pretty that you put onto something else in order to make it more attractive:
•Christmas decorations
•cake decorations
2 [U] the style in which something is decorated:
•He is an expert on Islamic decoration.
for decoration
•a box with paper flowers glued to it for decoration
3 [U] BrE when you paint or put special paper on the inside walls, ceiling etc of a house or building
4 [C] something such as a MEDAL that is given to someone as an official sign of honour $
pretty or attractive, but not always necessary or useful:
•a decorative panel above the door
- decoratively adverb $ [C] especially BrE
someone who paints houses and puts paper on the walls as their job; interior designer
formal having the correct appearance or behaviour for a particular occasion
- decorously adverb
•A servant was hovering decorously behind them. [U]
formal behaviour that shows respect and is correct for a particular situation, especially a formal occasion:
•He was disciplined for breaching the Senate's rules of decorum. [C]
1 someone or something that is used to trick someone into going somewhere or doing something, so that you can catch them, attack them etc:
•Officer Langley acted as a decoy to catch the rapist.
2 a model of a bird used to attract wild birds so that you can watch them or shoot them
- decoy verb [T] [I,T]
to become less or go down to a lower level, or to make something do this; reduce; increase
•Average house prices decreased by 13% last year.
[+to]
•By 1881, the population of Ireland had decreased to 5.2 million.
[+from]
•The North's share of the world's energy consumption is expected to decrease from 70% to 60%.
[+in]
•Attacks of asthma decrease in frequency through early adult life.
•The government wants to decrease population growth. [C,U]
the process of becoming less, or the amount by which something becomes less; increase ; = reduction
[+in]
•Teachers reported decreases in drug use and verbal abuse of teachers.
[+of]
•There has been a steady decrease of temperature. [C]
1 an official order or decision, especially one made by the ruler of a country:
•The Emperor issued the decree repealing martial law.
2 a judgment in a court of law[T]
to make an official judgment or give an official order
decree (that)
•The King decreed that there should be an end to the fighting.[singular]
BrE an order by a court of law which officially ends a marriage [singular]
BrE an order by a court of law that a marriage will end at a particular time in the future unless there is a good reason not to end it
old and in bad condition:
•The buildings were in a decrepit state.
- decrepitude noun [U]also decriminalise BrE [T]
to state officially that something is not illegal any more:
•the campaign to decriminalize cannabis
- decriminalization $ noun [U] past tense and past participle decried, present participle decrying, third person singular decries [T]
formal to state publicly that you do not approve of something; = condemn [T]
to change a message or information on a computer back into a form that can be read, when someone has sent it to you in a type of computer CODE; encrypt
•Only certain employees will be able to decrypt sensitive documents.
- decryption noun [U] [T]
1 to give all your attention and effort to one particular thing
dedicate yourself/your life to sth
•The actress now dedicates herself to children's charity work.
2 to say at the beginning of a book or film, or before a piece of music, that it has been written, made, or performed for someone that you love or respect
dedicate sth to sb
•The book was dedicated to her husband.
3 to state in an official ceremony that a building will be given someone's name in order to show respect for them
4 to use a place, time, money etc only for a particular purpose
dedicate sth to/for sth
•The company dedicated $50,000 for the study.
1 someone who is dedicated works very hard at what they do because they care a lot about it:
•a dedicated and thoughtful teacher
•She is a dedicated socialist.
[+to]
•The Woodland Trust is dedicated to preserving our native woodland.
2 [only before noun] made for or used for only one particular purpose:
•a dedicated graphics processor
1 [U] hard work or effort that someone puts into a particular activity because they care about it a lot:
•To reach a high level of skill requires talent, dedication, and a lot of hard work.
[+to]
•I admire his dedication to the job.
2 [C] an act of dedicating something to someone, or a ceremony where this is done
3 [C] the words used at the beginning of a book, film, or piece of music, thanking someone or saying that book etc has been written to show respect for them $ [T] formal
to use the knowledge and information you have in order to understand something or form an opinion about it
deduce that
•From her son's age, I deduced that her husband must be at least 60.
[+from]
•What did Darwin deduce from the presence of these species?
- deducible adjective [T]
to take away an amount or part from a total; = subtract
deduct sth from sth
•The payments will be deducted from your salary.
- deductible adjective
•Interest charges are tax deductible. [C,U]
1 the process of using the knowledge or information you have in order to understand something or form an opinion, or the opinion that you form:
•Children will soon make deductions about the meaning of a word.
2 the process of taking away an amount from a total, or the amount that is taken away:
•After deductions for tax etc, your salary is about £700 a month.
using the knowledge and information you have in order to understand or form an opinion about something:
•deductive reasoning [C]
1 formal something someone does, especially something that is very good or very bad:
•After the morning's good deeds he deserved a rest.
•She tried to strangle her baby and her lover helped her finish the evil deed.
2 law an official paper that is a record of an agreement, especially an agreement concerning who owns property:
•a mortgage deed
3 in deed in what you do:
•Everyone sins at some time, in thought if not in deed.
4 your good deed for the day something kind or helpful that you do - used humorously[C,U]
a legal document signed by only one person, for example in order to officially change your name:
•Steve changed his name by deed poll to Elvis Presley-Smith. [C] informal
a DISC JOCKEY
- deejay verb [I] [T not in progressive] formal
to think of something in a particular way or as having a particular quality; = consider
deem that
•They deemed that he was no longer capable of managing the business.
deem sth necessary/appropriate etc
•They were told to take whatever action they deemed necessary.
be deemed to be sth
•They were deemed to be illegal immigrants.
be deemed to do sth
•UK plans were deemed to infringe EU law. comparative deeper, superlative deepest
1 GOING FAR DOWN
a) going far down from the top or from the surface; shallow
•The castle is on an island surrounded by a deep lake.
•The swimming pool has a deep end and a shallow end for kids.
•We'll take the boat out into deep water where we can dive.
•a deep narrow valley
b) you use deep to say what distance something goes down from the top or surface
2 metres/6 feet etc deep
•Dig a hole around 12 inches deep.
ankle-deep/waist-deep etc
•In places, the snow was waist-deep (=deep enough to reach a person's waist).
KNEE-DEEP
2 GOING FAR IN going far in from the outside or from the front edge of something:
•a deep wound
•She was sitting in a deep leather chair.
3 SERIOUS serious or severe:
•Despite the peace process, there are deep divisions in the community.
•The country is in a deep recession.
•Evan would be in deep trouble if he was caught.
4 BREATH a deep breath or SIGH is one in which you breathe a lot of air in or out:
•She stopped and took a deep breath.
•Tom gave a deep sigh of relief.
5 FEELING/BELIEF a deep feeling, belief etc is very strong and sincere; = profound
•May I express my deepest sympathy.
•The letters show her deep affection for him.
•He has a deep understanding of the environment.
6 SOUND a deep sound is very low:
•Her laugh was deep and loud.
•I love that deep bass line.
7 COLOUR a deep colour is dark and strong; light, pale
•She gazed at him with wide deep blue eyes.
•The berries are a deep red colour.
8 DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND important but complicated or difficult to understand:
•These problems are too deep for me.
•There is a deep issue of principle involved.
9 SLEEP if someone is in a deep sleep, it is difficult to wake them:
•He lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
10 deep in thought/conversation etc thinking so hard or paying attention to something so much that you do not notice anything else that is happening around you
11 deep in debt owing a lot of money
12 a deep impression a strong effect or influence that remains for a long time:
•What he said made a deep impression on me.
13 PERSON a deep person is serious and intelligent, but is hard to know well:
•Henry has always been a deep one. He keeps his views to himself.
14 be in deep shit spoken not polite to be in a bad situation because of something you have done
15 be in deep water to be in trouble or in a difficult or serious situation:
•The company is in deep water over their refusal to reduce prices.
16 BALL GAMES a deep ball is hit, thrown, or kicked to a far part of the sports field
17 jump/be thrown in at the deep end to choose to do or be made to do a very difficult job without having prepared for it:
•She decided to jump in at the deep end, buy a farm, and teach herself.
18 go off at the deep end informal to become angry suddenly and violently, usually when there is not a good reason
1 [always + adv/prep] a long way into or below the surface of something:
•Some bones were hidden deep beneath the ground.
•The railway tunnel led deep under the mountains.
•We were deep in a tropical rainforest (=far from the edge of the forest).
•Tom stared deep into her eyes.
•They talked deep into the night (=very late).
2 deep down
a) if you know or feel something deep down, you secretly know or feel it even though you do not admit it:
•He knew, deep down, that he would have to apologise.
b) if someone is good, evil etc deep down, that is what they are really like even though they usually hide it:
•Deep down, she is a very caring person.
3 two/three etc deep if things or people are two deep, three deep etc, there are two, three etc rows or layers of things or people:
•People were standing four deep at the bar.
4 run/go deep if a feeling such as hatred or anger runs deep in someone, they feel it very strongly, especially because of something that has happened in the past:
•The prejudice runs deep and we need to understand the fears behind it.
5 be in (too) deep informal to be very involved in a situation, especially so that it causes you problems
still waters run deep at STILL^2 (5)
the deep literary the sea
1 GET WORSE [I] if a serious situation deepens, it gets worse - used especially in news reports:
•The recession continues to deepen.
•a deepening international crisis
2 BECOME STRONGER [I,T] to become stronger or greater, or to make something stronger or greater:
•Jeanne liked Simon as a friend but she did not want the relationship to deepen.
•The idea only deepened his gloom.
•The mystery deepened (=became even more mysterious).
•Students explore new ideas as they deepen their understanding (=understand more) of the subject.
3 EXPRESSION ON SB'S FACE [I] literary if someone's smile or FROWN deepens, they smile even more or frown even more:
•Her worried frown deepened.
4 WATER [I,T] if water deepens, or if someone deepens it, it becomes deeper:
•The river deepens beyond the town.
•The harbour has been deepened to take bigger boats.
5 COLOUR [I] literary if light or a colour deepens, it becomes darker:
•The twilight deepened.
6 SOUND [I] if a sound deepens, it becomes lower:
•His voice deepened as he relaxed.
7 BREATH [I] if your breathing deepens, you take more air into your lungs $ [C]
a large metal box in which food can be stored at very low temperatures for a long time; = freezer[T]
to cook food under the surface of hot fat or oil
1 used to emphasize that a belief, feeling, opinion etc is very strong, important, or sincere:
•Her lies hurt my father deeply.
•She is deeply upset.
•He loves her deeply.
•Teachers are deeply divided on this issue.
• deeply held religious beliefs
2 in a serious, careful way:
•Most doctors think deeply about what their patients want.
3 a long way into something
[+into]
•John kept sinking more deeply into the mud.
4 breathe deeply to take a large breath of air into your lungs
5 sleep deeply to be in a deep sleep, from which it is hard to wake upalso deeply rooted
a deep-rooted habit, idea, belief etc is so strong in a person or society that it is very difficult to change or destroy it; deep-seated
•a deep-rooted suspicion of lawyers[only before noun]
deep-sea fishing or DIVING is done in the deep part of the sea, far away from land
a deep-seated attitude, feeling, or idea is strong and is very difficult to change; deep-rooted
•a deep-seated fear of failure
deep-set eyes seem to be further back into the face than most people's[T]
AmE informal to decide not to use something such as a plan
the Deep South the most southern states of the US[U] medical
DVT a serious illness which happens when a small amount of blood becomes very thick and causes the heart to stop beating properly. This sometimes happens to people who have been on long plane journeys, because they have been sitting still for so long $ plural deer [C]
a large wild animal that can run very fast, eats grass, and has horns $ [C]
a type of soft hat with pieces of cloth that cover your ears [T]
to spoil the surface or appearance of something, especially by writing on it or breaking it:
•Most of the monuments had been broken or defaced.
- defacement noun [U] $
formal really existing although not legally stated to exist; de jure
•a de facto state of war
- de facto adverb [U]
the act of defaming someone:
•He sued the newspaper for defamation of character. [T]
to write or say bad or untrue things about someone or something, so that people will have a bad opinion of them
- defamatory $ adjective $
1 by default
a) if you win a game, competition etc by default, you win it because your opponent did not play or because there were no other competitors
b) if something happens by default, it happens because you did not do anything to change it
2 [C,U] formal failure to pay money that you owe at the right time
in default
•The company is in default on its loan agreement.
[+in]
•The bank can seize the asset in the event of a default in payment.
•the risk of default by borrowers
3 [U] law failure to do something that you are supposed to do according to the law or because it is your duty
4 [C usually singular] technical the way in which things are arranged on a computer screen unless you decide to change them:
•You can change the default settings to suit your needs.
5 in default of sth formal because of the lack or absence of something[I]
1 to fail to pay money that you owe at the right time
[+on]
•He defaulted on his child support payments.
2 to not do something that you are supposed to do, especially that you are legally supposed to do
- defaulter noun [C] [C,U]
1 failure to win or succeed

admit/accept/concede defeat
suffer a defeat (=experience a defeat)
a heavy/humiliating/crushing/resounding defeat
a narrow defeat (=by only a small amount)
inflict a defeat on sb

•She was a woman who hated to admit defeat.
•The Democratic Party candidate has already conceded defeat.
[+in]
•The socialist party suffered a crushing defeat in the French elections.
•The captain offered no excuses for his team's humiliating defeat.
•Italy's narrow defeat in their game with Germany
•They inflicted a heavy defeat on the Government's plans to tighten asylum controls.

2 victory over someone or something
[+of]
•The defeat of the army was followed by the establishment of constitutional government.[T]
1 to win a victory over someone in a war, competition, game etc; = beat
•They hoped to defeat the enemy at sea.
defeat sb by sth
•Newcastle were defeated by 3 goals to 2.
2 if something defeats you, you cannot understand it and therefore cannot answer or deal with it; = beat
•It was the last question on the paper that defeated me.
3 to make something fail
defeat the object/purpose (of the exercise)
•Don't let your arms relax as that would defeat the object of the exercise.
sad and unable to deal with problems:
•He looked lost and defeated. [C]
someone who believes that they will not succeed
- defeatist adjective
•a defeatist attitude
- defeatism noun [U] [I]
formal to get rid of waste matter from your BOWELs
- defecation noun [U] [C]
a fault or a lack of something that means that something or someone is not perfect:
•All the cars are tested for defects before they leave the factory.
•a genetic defect [I]
to leave your own country or group in order to go to or join an opposing one
[+to/from]
•a Russian actor who defected to the West
- defector noun [C]
- defection noun [C,U]
not made properly, or not working properly; = faulty
•The disease is caused by a defective gene.
•defective productsdefense AmE BrE
1 PROTECTION
a) [U] the act of protecting something or someone from attack
[+of]
•In Britain, the defence of the country has historically been left to the navy.
•a firm commitment to the defense of human rights
•The first line of defence is a smoke detector.
b) [C] something that can be used to protect something or someone from attack:
•The area's flood defences need repair.
[+against]
•The immune system is the body's defence against infection.
SELF-DEFENCE
2 MILITARY
a) [U] all the systems, people, materials etc that a country uses to protect itself from attack:
•calls for a national debate on defence
•the Defense Department
b) defences BrE defenses AmE [plural] all the armies, weapons, structures etc that are available to defend a place:
•The invading army easily overcame the town's defences.
3 AGAINST CRITICISM [C,U] something that you say or do in order to support someone or something that is being criticized
in sb's/sth's defence
•Jean wrote a letter to the paper in Angela's defense.
[+of]
•a philosophical defence of nationalism
come/leap to sb's defence
•Evelyn Waugh came to Wilson's defence and acknowledged the brilliance of the book's themes.
4 IN A LAW COURT
a) [C] the things that are said in a court of law to prove that someone is not guilty of a crime:
•Major has a good defence and believes he will win the case.
•a defence lawyer
b) the defence all the lawyers who try to prove in a court of law that someone is not guilty of a crime:
•The defense called only one witness.
PROSECUTION (2)
5 EMOTIONS [C] something you do or a way of behaving that prevents you from seeming weak or being hurt by others:
•Liz dropped her defences and began to relax.
6 SPORT [C] BrE the players in a game whose main job is to try to prevent the other team from getting pointsdefenseless AmE BrE
weak and unable to protect yourself from attack or harm:
•a defenceless old ladydefense mechanism AmE [C] BrE
1 a process in your brain that makes you forget things that are painful for you to think about
2 a reaction in your body that protects you from an illness or danger
1 [I,T] to do something in order to protect someone or something from being attacked:
•a struggle to defend our homeland
defend sth against/from sth
•the need to defend democracy against fascism
defend yourself (against/from sb/sth)
•advice on how women can defend themselves from sex attackers
[+against]
•We need to defend against military aggression.
2 [T] to use arguments to protect something or someone from criticism, or to prove that something is right:
•She was always defending her husband in front of their daughter.
•Students should be ready to explain and defend their views.
defend sb against/from sb/sth
•He defended his wife against rumours and allegations.
defend yourself (against/from sth)
•Cooper wrote to the journal immediately, defending himself.
3 [T] to do something in order to stop something from being taken away or in order to make it possible for something to continue:
•the workers' attempts to defend their interests
•We are defending the right to demonstrate.
4 [I,T] to protect your own team's end of the field in a game such as football, in order to prevent your opponents from getting points:
•Bournemouth defended well throughout the game.
5 [T] to take part in a competition that you won the last time it was held, and try to win it again:
•The world heavyweight champion was defending his title.
•the defending champion
•He is defending a Labour majority of 5,000.
6 [I,T] to be a lawyer for someone who has been charged with a crime; prosecute
•He had top lawyers to defend him.
•Howard, defending, said Thompson had been drinking heavily. [C]
the person in a court of law who has been ACCUSED of doing something illegal; plaintiff; = prisoner AmE
•We find the defendant not guilty. $ [C]
1 one of the players in a game such as football who have to defend their team's GOAL from the opposing team:
•It's his fourth season as an Arsenal defender.
2 someone who defends a particular idea, belief, person etc:
•He presented himself as a defender of democracy.
the American spelling of DEFENCE $ [C,U] AmE
the players in a game of football etc whose main job is to try to prevent the other team from getting points
1 a defensible opinion, idea, or action seems reasonable, and you can easily support it; indefensible
•a morally defensible prison system
2 a defensible building or area is easy to protect against attack
- defensibly adverb
1 used or intended to protect someone or something against attack; offensive
•The prince drew up his forces in a strong defensive position.
•The rockets are a purely defensive measure against nuclear attack.
2 behaving in a way that shows you think someone is criticizing you even if they are not:
•She despised herself for sounding so defensive.
•a reserved and defensive manner
3 AmE relating to stopping the other team from getting points in a game; offensive
•defensive play
- defensively adverb
- defensiveness noun [U]
1 on/onto the defensive behaving in a way that shows that you think that someone is criticizing you even if they are not:
•In his presence, she was constantly on the defensive.
2 put/force sb on the defensive if you put someone on the defensive in an argument, you attack them so that they are in a weaker position:
•an issue that is sure to put the White House on the defensive $ past tense and past participle deferred, present participle deferring [T]
to delay something until a later date; = put back
defer sth until/to sth
•Further discussion on the proposal will be deferred until April.
•The committee deferred their decision.

PHRASAL VERBS
defer to sb/sth phr v formal
to agree to accept someone's opinion or decision because you have respect for that person:
•I will defer to your wishes.
- deferment noun [C,U]
- deferral noun [C,U] [U] formal
polite behaviour that shows that you respect someone and are therefore willing to accept their opinions or judgment
[+to]
•Lewis was annoyed that Adam did not show enough respect and deference to him.
out of/in deference to sth (=because you respect someone's beliefs, opinions etc)
•They were married in church out of deference to their parents' wishes.
- deferential adjective
•deferential treatment
- deferentially adverb [U]
behaviour that shows you refuse to do what someone tells you to do, especially because you do not respect them; defy
act/gesture of defiance
•Running away was an act of defiance against his parents.
in defiance (of sth)
•Many people were drinking in the streets, in flagrant defiance of the ban.
•Her fists clenched in defiance.
clearly refusing to do what someone tells you to do:
•Mark smashed a fist on the desk in a defiant gesture.
- defiantly adverb $ [C]
a machine that gives the heart an electric shock to make it start beating again after a heart attack plural deficiencies [C,U] formal
1 a lack of something that is necessary; = shortage
[+of]
•a deficiency of safe play areas for children
iron/vitamin etc deficiency
•Some elderly people suffer from iron deficiency in their diet.
2 a weakness or fault in something
[+in]
•There are deep deficiencies in this law. formal
1 not containing or having enough of something:
•Women who are dieting can become iron deficient.
[+in]
•patients who were deficient in vitamin C
2 not good enough:
•Our prisons are our most deficient social service. [C]
the difference between the amount of something that you have and the higher amount that you need; shortfall
•the country's widening budget deficit
•the US's foreign trade deficit
[+of]
•a deficit of £2.5 million
[+in]
•Many countries have a big deficit in food supply.
in deficit
•The US balance of payments was in deficit. [T] formal
to make something less pure and good, especially by showing no respect:
•Hallam's tomb had been defiled and looted. [C] formal
a narrow passage, especially through mountains [T]
1 to describe something correctly and thoroughly, and to say what standards, limits, qualities etc it has that make it different from other things:
•the ability to define clients' needs
•The duties of the post are difficult to define.
clearly/well defined
•The tasks will be clearly defined by the tutor.
define sth as sth
•70% of the workers can be defined as low-paid.
2 to explain exactly the meaning of a particular word or idea; definition
•I'll now try to define the term 'popular culture'.
define sth as sth
•A budget is defined as 'a plan of action expressed in money terms'.
•Define precisely what you mean by 'crime'.
3 to show the edge or shape of something clearly; definition
•The bird has sharply defined black and rust markings.
- definable adjective
1 clearly known, seen, or stated; = clear
•It's impossible for me to give you a definite answer.
•We need to record sufficient data to enable definite conclusions to be reached.
•He'd shown definite signs of resigning himself to the situation.
2 a definite arrangement, promise etc will happen in the way that someone has said; indefinite
•Fix a definite date for the delivery of your computer.
3 [not before noun] saying something very firmly so that people understand exactly what you mean
[+about]
•She's not definite about retiring from the game.[C usually singular]
1 the word 'the' in English
INDEFINITE ARTICLE
2 a word in another language that is like 'the'
without any doubt; = certainly
•'Do you reckon Margot will be there?' ' Definitely not.'
•The hotel fitness centre is definitely worth a visit.
•I definitely need a holiday.
1 [C] a phrase or sentence that says exactly what a word, phrase, or idea means; define
•a dictionary definition
[+of]
•There are many definitions of the word 'feminism'.
definition of sth as sth
•the definition of God as infinite
2 by definition if something has a particular quality by definition, it must have that quality because all things of that type have it:
•People say that students are by definition idealistic and impatient.
3 [U] the clear edges, shapes, or sound that something has:
•technologies such as high definition television
•good muscle definition
1 [usually before noun] a definitive book, description etc is considered to be the best and cannot be improved
definitive study/work/guide etc
•the definitive study of Victorian railway stations
2 a definitive agreement, statement etc is one that will not be changed:
•a definitive agreement to buy the company
- definitively adverb
1 [I,T] if a tyre, BALLOON etc deflates, or if you deflate it, it gets smaller because the gas inside it comes out; inflate ; go down, let down
2 [T] to make someone feel less important or less confident:
•She was deflated when Fen made no comment on her achievement.
3 [T] to show that a statement, argument etc is wrong:
•Simkin hoped to find a way to deflate his opponent's argument.
4 [I,T] technical to change economic rules or conditions in a country so that prices fall or stop rising [U] technical
a reduction in the amount of money in a country's ECONOMY, so that prices fall or stop rising; inflation
- deflationary adjective
•the government's deflationary policies
1 [I,T] if someone or something deflects something that is moving, or if it deflects, it turns in a different direction:
•Connor deflected the blow with his left forearm.
2 [T] to do something to stop people paying attention to you, criticizing you etc
deflect sth (away) from sth
•his attempts to deflect attention away from his private life
•The committee is seeking to deflect criticism by blaming me.
3 [T] to take someone's attention away from something
deflect sb from (doing) sth
•Nothing can deflect me from reaching my goal. [C,U]
1 the action of making something change its direction
[+of]
•the deflection of the missile away from its target
2 technical the degree to which the moving part on a measuring instrument moves away from zero $ [T] literary
to have sex with a woman who has never had sex before $ past tense and past participle defogged, present participle defogging [T]
AmE to remove mist from the windows inside a car, by using heat; = demist BrE $ [C,U] formal
a chemical substance, used especially in war, that makes all the leaves of plants drop off $ [T] formal
to use defoliant on a plant or tree $ [U]
the cutting or burning down of all the trees in an area:
•the deforestation of the tropics
- deforest $ verb [T usually passive] $ [I,T]
if you deform something, or if it deforms, its usual shape changes so that its usefulness or appearance is spoiled:
•Wearing badly-fitting shoes can deform your feet. $ [C,U] technical
a change in the usual shape of something, especially one that makes it worse, or the process of changing something's shape $
something that is deformed has the wrong shape, especially because it has grown or developed wrongly:
•the deformed toe on his right foot $ plural deformities [C,U]
a condition in which part of someone's body is not the normal shape:
•a hip deformity $ [T]
to trick a person or organization in order to get money from them
defraud sb of sth
•She defrauded her employers of thousands of pounds.
•He faces charges of theft and conspiracy to defraud (=a secret plan to cheat someone, made by two or more people).
defray costs/expenses formal to give someone back the money that they have spent on something:
•The proceeds from the competition help to defray the expenses of the evening. $ [T]
to officially remove a priest from his or her job because he or she did something wrong
- defrocked adjective $
1 [I,T] if frozen food defrosts, or if you defrost it, it gets warmer until it is not frozen; melt, thaw
2 [I,T] if a FREEZER or REFRIGERATOR defrosts, or if you defrost it, it is turned off so that the ice inside it melts
3 [T] AmE to remove ice from inside the windows of a car by using heat or warm air written
1 a deft movement is skilful, and often quick:
•He sketched her with quick, deft strokes.
•deft footwork
2 skilful at doing something:
•his deft chairmanship of the company
- deftly adverb
- deftness noun [U] formal
not existing any more, or not useful any more:
•the now-defunct nuclear reactor [T]
1 to improve a difficult or dangerous situation, for example by making people less angry or by dealing with the causes of a problem
defuse a situation/crisis/row etc
•Beth's quiet voice helped to defuse the situation.
defuse tension/anger etc
•The agreement was regarded as a means of defusing ethnic tensions.
2 to remove the FUSE from a bomb in order to prevent it from exploding past tense and past participle defied, present participle defying, third person singular defies [T]
1 to refuse to obey a law or rule, or refuse to do what someone in authority tells you to do; defiance
•people who openly defy the law
2 defy description/analysis/belief etc to be almost impossible to describe or understand:
•The beauty of the scene defies description.
3 defy logic/the odds etc to not happen according to the principles you would expect:
•a 16-week premature baby who defied the odds and survived
4 I defy sb to do sth spoken formal used when you ask someone to do something that you think is impossible:
•I defy anyone to prove otherwise.also deg BrE
the written abbreviation of degree or, degrees [I]
to become worse
[+into]
•The conference degenerated into a complete fiasco.
- degeneration noun [U]
formal morally unacceptable:
•The painting was condemned as 'degenerate'.[C]
someone whose behaviour is considered to be morally unacceptable
a degenerative illness gradually gets worse and cannot be stopped; progressive
1 [C,U] an experience or situation that makes you feel ashamed and angry:
•a life of poverty and degradation
2 [U] the process by which something changes to a worse condition
1 [T] to treat someone without respect and make them lose respect for themselves:
•a movie that degrades women
degrade yourself (by doing sth)
•How can you degrade yourself by writing such trash?
2 [T] to make a situation or the condition of something worse:
•The dolphin's habitat is being rapidly degraded.
3 [I,T] technical if a substance, chemical etc degrades, or if something degrades it, it changes to a simpler form
- degradable adjective
a degrading experience, event etc is unpleasant and makes you lose respect for yourself
[+to]
•Pornography is degrading to women and to the men that look at it.
•the degrading treatment that the prisoners receive in jail
1 [C] written abbreviation deg. a unit for measuring temperature. It can be shown as a symbol after a number. For example, 70° means 70 degrees:
•Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
20 degrees Celsius/70 degrees Fahrenheit/1 degree Centigrade etc
•The temperature dropped to five degrees Centigrade.
2 [C] written abbreviation deg. a unit for measuring the size of an angle. It can be shown as a symbol after a number. For example, 18° means 18 degrees:
•Then the cylinder is rotated 180 degrees.
3 [C,U] the level or amount of something
[+of]
•1960s Britain was characterised by a greater degree of freedom than before.
•Newspapers vary in the degree to which they emphasize propaganda rather than information.
4 to a degree also to some degree/to a certain degree partly:
•To a degree, it is possible to educate oneself.
•We're all willing to support him to some degree.
5 [C] a course of study at a university or college, or the QUALIFICATION that is given to you when you have successfully completed the course
[+in]
•a degree in Economics
•Applicants must have a degree in Engineering.
•an Honours degree
6 by degrees very slowly; = gradually
•By degrees, Huy forced himself into a sitting position.also dehumanise BrE [T ]
to treat people so badly that they lose their good human qualities:
•War dehumanizes people.
- dehumanizing adjective
- dehumanization $ noun [U] $
1 [T] to remove the liquid from a substance such as food or a chemical; rehydrate, hydrate
•The substance is dehydrated and stored as powder.
2 [I,T] to lose too much water from your body, or to make this happen:
•Alcohol dehydrates the body.
- dehydrated adjective
- dehydration noun [U] [T]
to remove the ice from something, especially an aircraft past tense and past participle deified, present participle deifying, third person singular deifies [T]
to treat someone or something with extreme respect and admiration
- deification noun [U]
deign to do sth to do something that you think you are really too important to do - often used humorously:
•Travis called after her, but she didn't deign to answer. [U]
the belief in a God who made the world but has no influence on human lives; theism plural deities [C]
a god or GODDESS:
•the deities of ancient Greece $ [U]
the feeling that what is happening now has happened before in exactly the same way:
•a strange sense of déjà vu
unhappy, disappointed, or sad:
•The unemployed stood at street corners, dejected.
- dejectedly adverb
- dejection noun [U] $ technical
true or right because of a law; de facto
1 [C ] when someone or something has to wait, or the length of the waiting time:
•Sorry for the delay, Mr Weaver.
[+in]
•Why was there a delay in warning the public?
[+of]
•a delay of about an hour
long/considerable/slight etc delay
•Long delays are expected on the motorways.
2 [U] when something does not happen or start when it should do
without delay
•They must restore normal services without delay.
•There can be no excuse for any further delay.
1 [I,T] to wait until a later time to do something:
•Don't delay - send off for the information now.
•He delayed his decision on whether to call an election.
delay sth until sth
•The opening of this section of the road is delayed until September.
delay sth for sth
•Our meeting was delayed for ten minutes.
delay doing sth
•Big companies often delay paying their bills.
2 [T] to make someone or something late
seriously/badly/slightly etc delayed
•The flight was badly delayed because of fog.
- delayed adjective[only before noun]
designed to work or start only after a fixed period of time has passed:
•a delayed-action bomb[C usually plural]
something you do deliberately in order to delay something so that you gain an advantage for yourself formal
1 extremely pleasant to taste or smell; = delicious
•Delectable smells rose from the kitchen.
2 used , often humorously, to describe a very attractive woman
- delectably adverb [U] formal
if you do something for someone's delectation, you do it to give them enjoyment, pleasure, or amusement [C]
someone who has been elected or chosen to speak, vote, or take decisions for a group; representative
•Around 350 delegates attended the conference.
1 [I,T] to give part of your power or work to someone in a lower position than you:
•A good manager knows when to delegate.
•It takes experience to judge correctly how much power should be delegated.
delegate sth to sb
•Minor tasks should be delegated to your assistant.
2 [T] to choose someone to do a particular job, or to be a representative of a group, organization etc
delegate sb to do sth
•I was delegated to find a suitable conference venue.
1 [C] a group of people who represent a company, organization etc
[+to]
•the head of the American delegation to the United Nations
[+of]
•a delegation of government officials
•A trade delegation will visit Kuwait.
2 [U] the process of giving power or work to someone else so that they are responsible for part of what you normally do
[+of]
•the delegation of authority [T]
to remove something that has been written down or stored in a computer:
•His name was deleted from the list.
•I seem to have deleted a file by mistake. $ formal
damaging or harmful:
•the deleterious effects of smoking
1 [U] when you remove something from a piece of writing or from a computer's memory
[+of]
•the deletion of unwanted files
2 [C] a letter or word that has been removed from a piece of writing [C]
a DELICATESSEN
1 intended or planned; unintentional ; = intentional
•a deliberate attempt to humiliate her
•The attack on him was quite deliberate.
2 deliberate speech, thought, or movement is slow and careful:
•He approached her with slow, deliberate steps.
- deliberateness noun [U] [I]
to think about something very carefully:
•The jury deliberated for four days before acquitting him.
[+on/about/over]
•There was silence while she deliberated on his words.
1 done in a way that is intended or planned; = on purpose, intentionally
•He was deliberately trying to upset her.
2 done or said in a slow careful way:
•He shook his head slowly and deliberately.
1 [C,U] careful consideration or discussion of something:
• After much deliberation, first prize was awarded to Derek Murray.
[+of]
•the deliberations of committee meetings
2 [U] formal if you speak or move with deliberation, you speak or move slowly and carefully $ formal
existing for the purpose of discussing or planning something plural delicacies
1 [C] something good to eat that is expensive or rare:
•Snails are considered a delicacy in France.
2 [U] a careful and sensitive way of speaking or behaving so that you do not upset anyone; = tact
•He carried out his duties with great delicacy and understanding.
3 [U] the quality of being easy to harm or damage
1 needing to be dealt with carefully or sensitively in order to avoid problems or failure:
•There's something I have to speak to you about - it's a delicate matter.
•delicate negotiations
2 easily damaged or broken; = fragile
•delicate hand-cut glass
•The sun can easily damage a child's delicate skin.
3 old-fashioned someone who is delicate is hurt easily or easily becomes ill:
•a delicate child
4 a part of the body that is delicate is attractive and graceful:
•Her wrists and ankles were slim and delicate.
•her delicate features
5 made skilfully and with attention to the smallest details:
•a plate with a delicate pattern of leaves
6 a taste, smell, or colour that is delicate is pleasant and not strong:
•The wine has a dry delicate flavour.
•a delicate pink
- delicately adverb
INDELICATE [plural]
clothes that are made from material that needs careful treatment [C]
a shop that sells high quality cheeses, SALADs , cooked meats etc
1 very pleasant to taste or smell:
•'The meal was absolutely delicious,' she said politely.
•the delicious smell of new-mown grass
2 literary extremely pleasant or enjoyable
- deliciously adverb
•deliciously spicy meat
1 [U] a feeling of great pleasure and satisfaction
with/in delight
•The kids were screaming with delight.
to sb's delight/to the delight of sb
•To the delight of his proud parents, he has made a full recovery.
squeal/gasp/cry etc of delight
•She gave a little gasp of delight.
2 [C] something that makes you feel very happy or satisfied
the delights of sth
•a chance to sample the delights of nearby Vienna
it is a delight to do sth
•It was a delight to see him so fit and healthy.
3 take delight in (doing) sth to enjoy something very much, especially something you should not do:
•Chris takes great delight in teasing his sister.[T]
to give someone great satisfaction and enjoyment:
•Her fabulous recipes will delight anyone who loves chocolate.
delight sb with sth
•He is delighting audiences with his wit and humour.

PHRASAL VERBS
delight in sth phr v [T not in passive]
to enjoy something very much, especially something that other people think is not nice:
•He delights in complicating everything.
•She delighted in interesting conversation.
very pleased and happy
delighted to do sth
•Sandy will be delighted to see you.
delighted (that)
•I'm delighted that we have settled the matter.
[+with/by/at]
•She was delighted with her new home.
•I am delighted by the result.
•Her screams of delighted laughter filled the air.
!! Do not say 'very delighted'. Say absolutely delighted.
- delightedly adverb
very pleasant:
•a delightful little girl
•The whole house is delightful.
- delightfully adverb
•a movie that's full of delightfully comic moments [T] formal
to set or say exactly what the limits of something are
- delimitation noun [C,U] [T] formal
1 to describe or draw something carefully so that people can understand it:
•The document delineates your rights and your obligations.
2 to make the borders between two areas very clear:
•The boundaries of these areas should be clearly delineated.
- delineation noun [U] plural delinquencies [C,U]
illegal or immoral behaviour or actions, especially by young people:
•the ever-rising statistics of delinquency and crime
1 behaving in a way that is illegal or that society does not approve of; criminal
delinquent girls/boys/children/teenagers
2 technical a delinquent debt, account etc has not been paid on time:
•the recovery of delinquent loans[C]
someone, especially a young person, who breaks the law or behaves in ways their society does not approve of:
•Deanes writes and lectures about teenage delinquents.
JUVENILE DELINQUENT
1 talking continuously in an excited or anxious way, especially because you are ill:
•He suffered an attack of malaria and was delirious.
2 extremely excited or happy
[+with]
•He was delirious with joy.
- deliriously adverb
1 [U] a state in which someone is delirious, especially because they are very ill:
•Before she died she had fits of delirium.
2 [singular,U] extreme excitement $ [U] medical
the DT's $
1 TAKE STH SOMEWHERE [I,T] to take goods, letters, packages etc to a particular place or person:
•The morning mail has just been delivered.
•Do you deliver on Saturdays?
deliver sth to sb
•They set off to deliver supplies to an isolated village.
•I'm having some flowers delivered for her birthday.
2 deliver a speech/lecture/address etc to make a speech etc to a lot of people:
•The king delivered a televised speech to the nation on Nov 5.
3 DO STH YOU SHOULD DO [I,T] to do or provide the things you are expected to, because you are responsible for them or they are part of your job:
•the costs of delivering adequate nursing care
•the failure of some services to deliver the goods (=do what they have promised)
•The company will deliver on its promises.
4 BABY [T] to help a woman give birth to her baby, or to give birth to a baby:
•They rushed her to hospital where doctors delivered her baby.
5 BLOW/SHOCK ETC [T] to give something such as a blow, shock, or warning to someone or something:
•He delivered a strong warning about the dangers facing the government.
6 deliver a judgment/verdict to officially state a formal decision or judgment:
•The jury delivered a verdict of unlawful killing.
7 PERSON [T] formal to put someone into someone else's control
deliver sb to sb
•Sharett had betrayed him and delivered him to the enemy.
8 VOTES [T] especially AmE to get the votes or support of a particular group of people in an election:
•He cannot deliver the Latino vote.
9 MAKE SB FREE OF STH [T] literary or biblical to help someone escape from something bad or evil
deliver sb from sth
•'Deliver us from evil,' she prayed.

PHRASAL VERBS
deliver sth <=> up phr v formal
to give something to someone else:
•A bankrupt must deliver up all his books, papers and records.
- deliverer noun [C] [C usually plural] technical
something that a company has promised to have ready for a customer, especially parts of computer systems:
•software deliverables [U + from] formal
the state of being saved from harm or danger; salvation, rescue plural deliveries
1 [C,U] the act of bringing goods, letters etc to a particular person or place, or the things that are brought:
•Most Indian restaurants offer free delivery.
•You can expect delivery in a week to ten days.
•fresh milk deliveries
[+of]
•deliveries of food and supplies
on delivery (=when something is delivered)
•The restaurant pays cash on delivery for fish, which the local fishermen like.
2 take delivery of sth to officially accept something large that you have bought:
•We expect to take delivery of the aircraft sometime in June.
3 [C] the process of giving birth to a child; labour
•Mrs Howell had an easy delivery.
•Liz was taken to the delivery room (=a room in a hospital for births) immediately.
4 [U] the way in which someone speaks in public:
•You'll have to work on your delivery.[C]
a man who delivers goods to people [C] literary
a small valley with grass and trees [T]
to remove lice ( LOUSE) or similar animals from someone's hair, clothes etc [C]
1 the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet
2 an area of low land where a river spreads into many smaller rivers near the sea:
•the Nile delta [T]
to make someone believe something that is not true; = deceive
•I was angry with him for trying to delude me.
delude sb/yourself into doing sth
•It is easy to delude yourself into believing you're in love.
•Don't be deluded into thinking your house is burglarproof. [C ]
1 [usually singular] a large amount of something such as letters or questions that someone gets at the same time; = flood
[+of]
•Viewers sent a deluge of complaints about the show.
2 formal a large flood, or period when there is a lot of rain; = flood[T]
1 [usually passive] to send a very large number of letters, questions etc to someone all at the same time; = flood
be deluged with sth
•He was deluged with phone calls from friends and colleagues, congratulating him.
2 formal to cover something with a lot of water; = flood
1 [C,U] a false belief about yourself or the situation you are in
under a delusion (that)
•He is under the delusion that I am going to cheat him.
2 delusions of grandeur the belief that you are much more important or powerful than you really are
- delusive adjective
- delusional adjective $ [usually before noun]
of better quality and more expensive than other things of the same type; luxury
•a deluxe hotel
•The deluxe model costs a lot more. [I]
1 to try to find more information about someone or something
[+into]
•research that delves deeply into this issue
2 [always + adv/prep] to search for something by putting your hand deeply into a bag, container etc
[+into/in]
•He delved into his pocket and brought out a notebook.
the written abbreviation of Democrat or, Democratic also demagnetise BrE [T]
to take away the MAGNETIC qualities of something; magnetize $ [C]
a political leader who tries to make people feel strong emotions in order to influence their opinions - used to show disapproval
- demagogy, demagoguery noun [U]
- demagogic $ adjective $
1 [singular, U] the need or desire that people have for particular goods and services:
•Food production is still increasing faster than demand.
[+for]
•the demand for new housing
huge/great/strong etc demand
•There is a huge demand for new cars.
•the growing demand for pasta in the UK
in demand
•He was a successful lecturer, much in demand.
•We rely on new sources of energy to meet demand.
•strong consumer demand
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
2 [C] a very firm request for something that you believe you have the right to get:
•demonstrations in support of the nationalists' demands
[+for]
•their demand for higher salaries
demand that
•demands that he should resign
3 demands [plural] the difficult, annoying, or tiring things that you need to do, or a skill you need to have
[+of]
•the demands of modern life
[+on]
•The curriculum makes great demands on the teacher.
•There are heavy demands on people's time these days.
place/put demands on/upon sb/sth
•the increased demands placed on police officers
4 popular demand when a lot of people have asked for something to be done, performed etc
by/due to popular demand (=because of popular demand)
•The exhibition will run for an extra week, due to popular demand.
5 on demand formal whenever someone asks:
•Should you feed your baby on demand, or stick to a timetable?[T]
1 to ask for something very firmly, especially because you think you have a right to do this:
•Angry demonstrators demanded the resignation of two senior officials.
demand to know/see/have etc sth
•I demand to know what's going on.
demand that
•They demanded that the military government free all political prisoners.
demand sth of sb
•It seemed that no matter what she did, more was demanded of her.
•'Where are you going?' she demanded angrily.
!! Do not say 'demand for something'. Say demand something: I demand my money back! (NOT I demand for my money back!)
2 if one thing demands another, it needs that thing in order to happen or be done successfully:
•Too many things demanded his attention at the same time.
•It's a desperate situation demanding a desperate remedy. $
1 needing a lot of ability, effort, or skill:
•a demanding job
physically/emotionally/intellectually etc demanding
•Climbing is physically demanding.
2 expecting a lot of attention or expecting to have things exactly the way you want them, especially in a way that is not fair:
•Her mother could be very demanding at times. $ [T] formal
to decide or mark the limits of an area, system etc $ [U] formal
1 the point at which one area of work, responsibility etc ends and another begins
[+between]
•traditional lines of demarcation between medicine and surgery
2 the process of deciding on or marking the border between two areas of land
[+of]
•the exact demarcation of the north-south boundary [T]
to do something that makes people lose respect for someone or something; degrade
•language that demeans women
demean yourself (by doing sth)
•I wouldn't demean myself by begging him for a job.
showing less respect for someone than they deserve, or making someone feel embarrassed or ashamed; degrading
[+to]
•policies demeaning to women
•I refuse to do demeaning work.demeanor AmE $ [singular, U] BrE formal
the way someone behaves, dresses, speaks etc that shows what their character is like:
•his quiet, reserved demeanour
1 crazy or behaving in a very strange way:
•She was almost demented with grief.
2 old-fashioned suffering from dementia $ [U]
an illness that affects the brain and memory, and makes you gradually lose the ability to think and behave normally $ [U] BrE
a type of rough brown sugar $ [I,T] technical
to make one part of a large company into a separate company:
•After the takeover, several subsidiary companies were demerged. [C]
1 formal a bad quality or feature of something
[+of]
• The merits and demerits (=the good and bad qualities) of this argument have been explored.
2 AmE a mark showing that a student has behaved badly at school; merit [C]
in the past, a very big house and all the land that belonged to it
half; semi-
•a demisemiquaver (=very short musical note) $ [C]
1 someone who is so important and powerful that they are treated like a god
2 a man in ancient stories, who is half god and half human:
•demigods such as Hercules $ [C] BrE
a large bottle with a short narrow neck, used for making winealso demilitarise BrE [T usually passive]
to remove the weapons, soldiers etc from a country or area so that there can be no fighting there:
•the demilitarized zone between the two countries
- demilitarization $ noun [U] [U]
the process of removing LANDMINEs from an area of land [U]
1 formal the end of something that used to exist
[+of]
•the imminent demise (=happening soon) of the local newspaper
2 formal or law death:
•the mystery surrounding Elena's untimely demise (=when death happens sooner than is normal or expected)
- demise verb [I] [T]
BrE to remove mist from a car window, by using heat; = defog AmE
- demister noun [C] $ plural demos [C]
1 a recording containing an example of someone's music that is sent to a record company so that they can decide whether to produce it or not:
•a demo tape
2 BrE informal an event at which a large group of people publicly protest about something; = demonstration
•Police stood by to stop any pro-independence demos.
3 an explanation of how something works; = demonstration
4
a) AmE an example of a product that is used to show what it is like or how it works:
•demo homes on the new development
b) a computer program that shows what a new piece of software will be able to do when it is ready to be sold:
•Click here to download a demo of the new version of our personal finance software.[T] informal
to show or explain how something works or is done, especially new computer equipment; = demonstrate
•They're going to demo some of the new software at this year's Mac convention. $ past tense and past participle demobbed, present participle demobbing [T] BrE
to demobilize soldiers etcalso demobilise BrE $ [T usually passive]
to send home the members of an army, navy etc, especially at the end of a war:
•programmes to help demobilized soldiers fit into civilian life
- demobilization $ noun [U] $ plural democracies
1 [U] a system of government in which every citizen in the country can vote to elect its government officials:
•a return to democracy after 16 years of military rule
2 [C] a country that has a government which has been elected by the people of the country:
•a parliamentary democracy
•Western democracies
3 [U] a situation or system in which everyone is equal and has the right to vote, make decisions etc; democratic
•democracy within the trade unions[C]
a member or supporter of the Democratic Party of the US [C]
someone who believes in democracy, or works to achieve it
1 controlled by representatives who are elected by the people of a country:
•a democratic government
•the role of the media in the democratic process
2 organized according to the principle that everyone has a right to be involved in making decisions:
•a democratic management style
3 organized according to the principle that everyone in a society is equally important, no matter how much money they have or what social class they come from:
•a democratic society
4 also Democratic belonging to or supporting the Democratic Party of the US:
•the Democratic nominee for the presidency
- democratically adverb
•democratically elected councils
the Democratic Party one of the two main political parties of the US; the Republican Partyalso democratise BrE $ [T]
to change the way in which a government, company etc is organized, so that it is more democratic:
•efforts to democratize school management structures
- democratization $ noun [U]
1 demographics [plural] information about a group such as the people who live in a particular area:
•the demographics of a newspaper's readership
2 [singular] a part of the population that is considered as a group, especially by advertisers who want to sell things to that group:
•the 21-40 demographic
- demographic adjective
•demographic change $ [U]
the study of human populations and the ways in which they change, for example the study of how many births, marriages and deaths happen in a particular place at a particular time
- demographer noun [C] $ [T]
1 to completely destroy a building:
•The entire east wing of the building was demolished in the fire.
2 to prove that an idea or opinion is completely wrong:
•He demolished my argument in minutes.
3 to end or ruin something completely:
•These ants can demolish large areas of forest.
4 to defeat someone very easily:
•Miami demolished Texas 46 - 3.
5 especially BrE informal to eat all of something very quickly:
•He demolished a second helping of pie.
- demolition n [C,U][C]
1 an act of criticizing someone severely or telling other people things about them which may be unfair or untrue, in order to harm them or to cause people to have a bad opinion of them:
•He accused opposition leaders of doing a demolition job on the President.
2 an event, especially a sports event, in which one person or team defeats the other one very easily
[+against]
•Currie led the team with 55 points in the demolition job against Ireland. [C]
1 an evil SPIRIT or force:
•He was speeding down the motorway as if pursued by a demon.
2 [usually plural] something that makes you anxious and causes you problems:
•She struggled with her husband's demons of addiction and alcoholism.
3 someone who is very good at something - often used humorously:
•a demon cook
4 the demon drink BrE alcoholic drink - often used humorously
DAEMONalso demoniac formal
wild, uncontrolled, and evil:
•Fear gripped her at the demoniacal glint in his dark eyes.
- demoniacally adverb $
1 wild and cruel:
•demonic laughter
2 relating to a demon:
•the demonic forces in the universe
- demonically adverb $ formal
able to be shown or proved:
•We must provide demonstrable improvements in health services.
- demonstrably adverb
•These conclusions are demonstrably wrong.
1 [T] to show or prove something clearly:
•The study demonstrates the link between poverty and malnutrition.
demonstrate that
•Hitchcock's films demonstrate that a British filmmaker could learn from Hollywood.
demonstrate how/what/why etc
•This section will attempt to demonstrate how the Bank of England operates.
•The government now has an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to reform.
2 [T] to show or describe how to do something or how something works
demonstrate how
•They'll be demonstrating how to handle modern, high performance cars.
•Instructors should demonstrate new movements before letting the class try them.
3 [I] to protest or support something in public with a lot of other people:
•Supporters demonstrated outside the courtroom during the trial.
[+against]
•What are they demonstrating against?
4 [T] to show that you have a particular ability, quality, or feeling:
•He has demonstrated an ability to meet deadlines. [C]
1 an event at which a large group of people meet to protest or to support something in public
peaceful/violent demonstration
•Police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration.
•The proposals sparked mass demonstrations.
[+against]
•a demonstration against the government's educational policies
stage/hold a demonstration
•Supporters staged a demonstration outside the US embassy.
2 an act of explaining and showing how to do something or how something works
[+of]
•He gave a practical demonstration of the boat's military potential.
•a cookery demonstration
3 formal an action that proves that someone or something has a particular ability, quality, or feeling
[+of]
•The high level of calls is a clear demonstration of the need for this service.
•a physical demonstration of affection $
willing to show that you care about someone:
•My mother wasn't demonstrative; she never hugged me.
- demonstratively adverb[C]
one of the words 'this', 'that', 'these', and 'those' $ [C]
1 someone who takes part in a demonstration:
•anti-war demonstrators
2 someone who shows people how to do something or how something worksalso demoralise BrE $ [T]
to reduce or destroy someone's courage or confidence:
•The illness demoralized him and recovery took several weeks.
- demoralized adjective
•The refugees were cold, hungry, and demoralized.
- demoralizing adjective
•the demoralizing effects of unemployment
- demoralization $ noun [U] $ [T usually in passive]
to make someone's rank or position lower or less important; promote
•The sergeant was demoted to private.
- demotion $ noun [C,U] $ formal
used by or popular with most ordinary people $
making someone less eager or willing to do their job:
•Tasks that do not challenge you can be very demotivating.
- demotivate verb [T] $ past tense and past participle demurred, present participle demurring [I]
to express doubt about or opposition to a plan or suggestion:
•They demurred politely, but finally agreed to stay.[U]
disagreement or disapproval
without demur
•I agreed to this without demur. $
1 quiet, serious, and well-behaved - used especially about women in the past:
•Old photos of Maggie show her young and demure.
2 demure clothes do not show much of a woman's body:
•a demure white dress
- demurely adverb past tense and past participle demystified, present participle demystifying, third person singular demystifies [T]
to make a subject that seems difficult or complicated easier to understand, especially by explaining it in simpler language:
•This book attempts to demystify the male worlds of plumbing and carpentry.
- demystification noun [U] [C]
1 the home of some animals, for example lions or FOXes
2 a place where secret or illegal activities take place:
•corrupt gambling dens
•a den of thieves
3 an enclosed and secret place where children play
4 especially AmE a room in a house where people relax, watch television etc
5 BrE old-fashioned a small room in a house where people can work, read etc without being interrupted:
•Father retreated to his den.
6 den of iniquity a place where activities that you think are immoral or evil happen - often used humorously:
•Her mother was convinced that London was a den of iniquity.also denationalise BrE [T]
to sell a business or industry that is owned by the state, so that it is then owned privately; = privatize; nationalize
- denationalization $ noun [U]
1 [C,U] a statement saying that something is not true; deny
[+of]
•The government issued an official denial of the rumour.
denial that
•denials that border security had not been strict enough
2 [U] when someone refuses to allow someone else to have or to do something
[+of]
•protests against the denial of human rights
3 [U] a condition in which you refuse to admit or believe that something bad exists or has happened
in denial
•His girlfriend is in denial, and refuses to admit that he will soon die. $ [U]
a unit for measuring how thin NYLON, silk etc thread is
10-/15-/20- etc denier
•a pair of 15-denier tights [T]
to say things to make someone or something seem less important or good:
•people who denigrate their own country
- denigration noun [U]
[U] a type of strong cotton cloth used especially to make JEANS [C + of] literary
an animal, plant, or person that lives or is found in a particular place $ [T usually passive] technical
to officially set the value of something according to one system or type of money $ [C]
1 a religious group that has slightly different beliefs from other groups within the same religion:
•Christians of all denominations
2 technical the value shown on a coin, paper money, or a stamp $
relating or belonging to a particular religious denomination $ [C] technical
the number below the line in a FRACTION; numerator
lowest common denominator at COMMON DENOMINATOR (2) $ [T] formal
1 to mean something; connote
•What does the word 'curriculum' denote that 'course' does not?
2 to represent or be a sign of something; = indicate
•Crosses on the map denote villages.
- denotative adjective
- denotation $ noun [C] $ [C] formal
the exciting last part of a story or play:
•The plot takes us to Paris for the denouement of the story. [T]
1 to express strong disapproval of someone or something, especially in public; denunciation
•Amnesty International denounced the failure by the authorities to take action.
denounce sb/sth as sth
•He denounced the election as a farce.
2 to give information to the police or other authority about someone's illegal political activities
denounce sb to sb
•She denounced him to the secret police.
1 made of or containing a lot of things or people that are very close together; = thick
dense undergrowth/forest/woodland/jungle etc
•A narrow track wound steeply up through dense forest.
•a dense rurally-based population
2 difficult to see through or breathe in
dense fog/smoke/cloud
•dense black smoke
3 informal not able to understand things easily; = stupid
•Am I being dense? I don't quite understand.
4 a dense piece of writing is difficult to understand because it contains a lot of information or uses complicated language
5 technical a substance that is dense has a lot of MASS in relation to its size:
•Water is eight hundred times denser than air.
- densely adverb
•a densely populated area
- denseness noun [U] [U]
1 the degree to which an area is filled with people or things
[+of]
•the size and density of settlements
•areas of high population density
2 technical the relationship between the MASS of something and its size [C]
1 a hollow area in the surface of something, usually made by something hitting it
[+in]
•There was a large dent in the passenger door.
2 a reduction in the amount of something
[+in]
•The trip made a big dent in our savings.
•Eight years of effort have hardly put a dent in drug trafficking.
1 [I,T] if you dent something, or if it dents, you hit or press it so that its surface is bent inwards:
•No one was injured, but the car was scratched and dented.
2 [T] to damage or harm something:
•The scandal has dented his reputation. [only before noun]
relating to your teeth
dental treatment/care
•Dental care was free in the 60s.
dental disease/problems/decay etc[U]
thin strong string that you use for cleaning between your teeth[C]
someone who works with a dentist and cleans people's teeth, or gives them advice about how to look after their teeth[C]
someone whose job is to help a dentist[C]
a dentist who can perform operations in the mouthalso dentin [U]
the type of bone that your teeth are made of [C]
someone whose job is to treat people's teeth
the dentist/the dentist's (=the place where a dentist works)
•I'm going to the dentist this afternoon. [U]
the medical study of the mouth and teeth, or the work of a dentist $ [plural]
a set of artificial teeth worn by someone who does not have their own teeth any longer; = false teeth $ [T usually passive] formal
1 to remove the plants and trees that cover an area of land:
•a hillside denuded in a fire
2 to take something away from someone or something
denude sb/sth of sth
•The fact that people have left farm work has denuded many villages of their working populations.
- denudation $ noun [U] [C]
a public statement in which you criticize someone or something past tense and past participle denied, present participle denying, third person singular denies [T]
1 SAY STH IS NOT TRUE to say that something is not true, or that you do not believe something; denial
deny (that)
•I've never denied that there is a housing problem.
•I can't deny her remarks hurt me.
deny doing sth
•Two men have denied murdering a woman at a remote picnic spot.
strongly/vehemently/strenuously etc deny sth
•Jackson vehemently denied the allegations.
•The government denied the existence of poverty among 16- and 17-year-olds.
deny a charge/allegation/claim
•The men have denied charges of theft.
2 NOT ALLOW to refuse to allow someone to have or do something:
•landowners who deny access to the countryside
deny sb sth
•She could deny her son nothing.
deny sth to sb
•This is the only country in Europe to deny cancer screening to its citizens.
3 there's no denying (that/sth) spoken used to say that it is very clear that something is true:
•There's no denying that this is an important event.
4 FEELINGS to refuse to admit that you are feeling something:
•Emotions can become destructive if they are suppressed and denied.
5 deny yourself (sth) to decide not to have something that you would like, especially for moral or religious reasons:
•He denied himself all pleasures and luxuries. $ [C,U]
a chemical substance that you put on the skin under your arms to stop you from smelling bad; antiperspirantalso deodorise BrE $ [T]
to remove a bad smell or to make it less noticeable $
1 [I,T] to leave, especially when you are starting a journey; departure
[+from]
•ocean liners arriving at and departing from the island
[+for]
•Dorothy departed for Germany last week.
•Flights by Air Europe depart Gatwick on Tuesdays.
2 depart this life formal to die
3 [I] to start to use new ideas or do something in a different way; departure
[+from]
•It's revolutionary music; it departs from the old form and structures.
•In his speech, the President departed from his text only once.
4 [I,T] to leave an organization or job; departure
•the company's departing chairman $ [only before noun]
dead - used in order to avoid saying the word 'dead':
•his dear departed wife $ [C]
1 one of the groups of people who work together in a particular part of a large organization such as a hospital, university, company, or government:
•the personnel department
•the English department
[+of]
•the Department of the Environment
2 an area in a large shop where a particular type of product is sold:
•the toy department
3 be sb's department spoken if something is someone's department, they are responsible for it or know a lot about it:
•I'll see what I can do, but it's not really my department.
4 spoken a particular part of someone's character, or a particular part of a larger activity or subject:
•Dave was a little lacking in the trustworthiness department.
- departmental $ adjective
•a departmental meeting
FIRE DEPARTMENT, POLICE DEPARTMENTalso departmentalise BrE $ [T]
to divide something into different departments[C]
a large shop that is divided into separate departments, each selling a different type of goods $
1 [C,U] an act of leaving a place, especially at the start of a journey; arrival
[+for]
•I saw Simon shortly before his departure for Russia.
[+of]
•There was a delay in the departure of our plane.
[+from]
•Mozart's departure from Paris in September 1778
2 [C,U] an act of leaving an organization or position
[+from]
•He refused to discuss his departure from the government.
3 [C] a flight, train etc that leaves at a particular time:
•There are several departures for New York every day.
4 [C] a way of doing something that is different from the usual, traditional, or expected way
[+from]
•Their new designs represent a departure from their usual style.
radical/major/significant etc departure (=a big change)
•This would be a radical departure from the subsidy system.[C]
the place at an airport where people wait until their plane is ready to leave[C]
a board in an airport or station that shows the times at which planes or trains leave
it/that depends spoken used to say that you cannot give a definite answer to something because your answer will be affected by something else:
•'How long are you staying?' 'I don't know; it depends.'
it depends who/what/how/whether etc
•You may take several months to reach your target weight - it depends how much you want to lose.

PHRASAL VERBS
depend on/upon sb/sth phr v
1 if something depends on something else, it is directly affected or decided by that thing:
•The length of time spent exercising depends on the sport you are training for.
depend on how/what/whether etc
•Choosing the right bike depends on what you want to use it for.
depending on sth
•The expenses you claim can vary enormously, depending on travel distances involved.
2 to need the support, help, or existence of someone or something in order to exist, be healthy, be successful etc; = rely on
•The country depends heavily on its tourist trade.
•We depend entirely on donations from the public.
depend on sb/sth for sth
•Many women have to depend on their husbands for their state pension.
depend on sb/sth to do sth
•I'm depending on you to tell me everything.
depend on sb/sth doing sth
•We're depending on him finishing the job by Friday.
3 to trust or have confidence in someone or something:
•You can depend on Jane - she always keeps her promises.
!! Do not say that one thing 'is depend on' another. Say one thing is dependent on another.
able to be trusted to do what you need or expect:
•our most dependable ally
•a dependable source of income
- dependably adverb
- dependability noun [U]dependent AmE [C] BrE
someone, especially a child, who depends on you for food, clothes, money etcalso dependency [U]
1 when you depend on the help and support of someone or something else in order to exist or be successful; independence
[+on/upon]
•our dependence on oil as a source of energy
•the financial dependency of some women on men
2 drug/alcohol dependence when someone is ADDICTED to drugs or alcohol
3 technical when one thing is strongly affected by another thing
[+of]
•the mutual dependence of profit and growth plural dependencies
1 [U] DEPENDENCE:
•drug dependency
2 [C] a country that is controlled by another country; colony
•Britain's Caribbean dependencies
1 needing someone or something in order to exist, be successful, be healthy etc; independent
[+on/upon]
•Norway's economy is heavily dependent on natural resources.
•Jan's mother was dependent on her for physical care.
•Do you have any dependent children (=who you are still supporting financially)?
2 ADDICTED to drugs, alcohol etc
[+on/upon]
•the needs of people dependent on drugs
•a danger of becoming alcohol dependent
3 be dependent on/upon sth to be directly affected or decided by something else:
•Your pay is dependent on how much you produce.
the American spelling of DEPENDANT[C]
a CLAUSE in a sentence that gives information related to the main clause, but cannot exist alone [T] formal
to describe something or someone in writing or speech, or to show them in a painting, picture etc:
•a book depicting life in pre-revolutionary Russia
depict sb/sth as sth
•The god is depicted as a bird with a human head.
- depiction noun [C,U] $ plural depilatories [C] formal
a substance that gets rid of unwanted hair from your body
- depilatory adjective [only before noun]
•depilatory creams [I]
to get off a plane [T usually passive]
to reduce the amount of something that is present or available:
•Salmon populations have been severely depleted.
- depletion noun [U]
•the depletion of the ozone layer formal
very bad, unpleasant, and shocking; = appalling
•The prisoners were held in deplorable conditions.
•His conduct was deplorable.
- deplorably adverb $ [T] formal
to disapprove of something very strongly and criticize it severely, especially publicly:
•The UN deplored the invasion as a 'violation of international law'.
1 [I,T] to organize or move soldiers, military equipment etc so that they are in the right place and ready to be used
deploy forces/troops/weapons etc
•NATO's decision to deploy cruise missiles
2 [T] formal to use something for a particular purpose, especially ideas, arguments etc:
•a job in which a variety of professional skills will be deployed
- deployment noun [C,U]also depoliticise BrE [T]
to remove political influence or control from a situation
- depoliticization $ noun [U] $ [T usually passive]
to greatly reduce the number of people living in a particular area:
•The disease could depopulate this whole region.
- depopulation $ noun [U] $ [T]
to make someone leave a country and return to the country they came from, especially because they do not have a legal right to stay; export
deport sb from/to sth
•He was deported from Ecuador when his visa expired.
- deportation $ noun [C,U]
•the deportation of illegal immigrants $ [C] formal
someone who has been deported or is going to be deported $ [U]
1 BrE the way that someone stands and walks:
•lessons in manners and deportment
2 old-fashioned especially AmE the way that someone behaves in public $ [T]
to remove a leader or ruler from a position of power $ [C]
1 a part of the cost of something you are buying that you pay some time before you pay the rest of it
[+of]
•A deposit of 10% is required.
put down a deposit (on sth) (=pay a deposit)
•We put down a deposit on a house last week.
2 money that you pay when you rent something such as an apartment or car, which will be given back if you do not damage it
[+of]
•We ask for one month's rent in advance, plus a deposit of $500.
3 an amount of money that is paid into a bank account; withdrawal
[+into]
•I'd like to make a deposit (=pay some money) into my savings account.
4 a layer of a mineral, metal etc that is left in soil or rocks through a natural process
[+of]
•rich deposits of gold in the hills
5 an amount or layer of a substance that gradually develops in a particular place:
•fatty deposits on the heart
6 an amount of money paid by a CANDIDATE in a political election in Britain, that is returned to them if they get enough votes
lose your deposit (=not get enough votes)
1 [T always + adv/prep] formal to put something down in a particular place:
•The female deposits her eggs directly into the water.
2 [T] to leave a layer of a substance on the surface of something, especially gradually:
•As the river slows down, it deposits a layer of soil.
3 [T] to put money or something valuable in a bank or other place where it will be safe
deposit sth in sth
•You are advised to deposit your valuables in the hotel safe.
deposit sth with sb/sth
•The dollars are then deposited with banks outside the USA.[C] especially BrE
a bank account that pays INTEREST on the money that you leave in it
CHECKING ACCOUNT, CURRENT ACCOUNT
1 [U] technical the natural process of depositing a substance on rocks or soil:
•the deposition of marine sediments
2 [C] law a statement written or recorded for a court of law, by someone who has promised to tell the truth
3 [C,U] the act of removing someone from a position of power $ [C]
someone who puts money in a bank or other financial organization $ plural depositories [C]
a place where something can be safely kept
- depository adjective $ [C]
1 a place where goods are stored until they are needed:
•the company's distribution depot
•a fuel storage depot
2 bus/tram etc depot BrE a place where buses etc are kept and repaired
3 AmE a railway station or bus station, especially a small one [T] formal
to be an evil influence on someone, especially someone who is young or not very experienced
completely evil or morally unacceptable:
•a killer's depraved mind
- depravity noun [U] [T] formal
to strongly disapprove of or criticize something
- deprecation noun [U]also deprecatory formal
1 expressing criticism or disapproval:
•She glanced at me in a deprecating way.
2 BrE intended to make someone feel less annoyed or disapproving:
•a deprecating smile
SELF-DEPRECATING
- deprecatingly adverb
1 [I] to decrease in value or price; appreciate
•New cars depreciate in value quickly.
2 [T] technical to reduce the value of something over time, especially for tax purposes:
•Company computers are depreciated at 50% per year.
3 [T] formal to make something seem unimportant:
•those who depreciate the importance of art in education [U]
a reduction in the value or price of something:
•the depreciation of the dollar [C usually plural] formal
an act of taking or destroying something [T]
1 to make someone feel very unhappy:
•The thought of taking the exam again depressed him.
• It depresses me that nobody seems to care.
2 to prevent an ECONOMY from being as active and successful as it usually is:
•Several factors combined to depress the American economy.
3 formal to press something down, especially a part of a machine:
•Depress the clutch fully.
4 formal to reduce the value of prices or wages:
•High interest rates may depress share prices. [C]
a substance or drug that makes your body processes slower and makes you feel very relaxed or sleepy; stimulant
- depressant adjective
1
a) very unhappy:
•She felt lonely and depressed.
[+about]
•Don't get depressed about it.
•The divorce left him deeply depressed.
•I was depressed at the thought of all the hard work ahead.
b) suffering from a medical condition in which you are so unhappy that you cannot live a normal life:
•patients who are clinically depressed
2 an area, industry etc that is depressed does not have enough economic or business activity:
•Britain's depressed housing market
3 formal a depressed level or amount is lower than normal:
•a depressed appetite
making you feel very sad:
•It's a depressing thought.
•The whole experience was very depressing.
- depressingly adverb
•depressingly poor results
1 [C,U]
a) a medical condition that makes you very unhappy and anxious and often prevents you from living a normal life:
•women who suffer from post-natal depression (=that sometimes happens after the birth of a baby)
b) a feeling of sadness that makes you think there is no hope for the future:
•Lucy's mood was one of deep depression.
2 the (Great) Depression the period during the 1930s when there was not much business activity and not many jobs
3 [C,U] a long period during which there is very little business activity and a lot of people do not have jobs; recession
•the devastating effects of economic depression
4 [C] a part of a surface that is lower than the other parts:
•depressions in the ground
5 [C] technical a mass of air under low pressure, that usually causes rain
relating to or suffering from DEPRESSION:
•patients with depressive symptoms[C]
someone who suffers from DEPRESSION [C usually plural, U]
the lack of something that you need in order to be healthy, comfortable, or happy:
• Sleep deprivation can result in mental disorders.
social/economic/emotional etc deprivation
•Low birth weight is related to economic deprivation.
[+of]
•the deprivations of prison life

PHRASAL VERBS
deprive sb of sth phr v
to prevent someone from having something, especially something that they need or should have:
•A lot of these children have been deprived of a normal home life.
not having the things that are necessary for a comfortable or happy life:
• Deprived children tend to do less well at school.
deprived areas/neighbourhoods etc (=where a lot of deprived people live)
•our deprived inner citiesalso Dept BrE
the written abbreviation of department
1 [C usually singular, U]
a) the distance from the top surface of something such as a river or hole to the bottom of it; deep
•a sea with an average depth of 35 metres
to/at a depth of sth
•The cave descends to a depth of 340 feet.
•Plant the beans at a depth of about six inches.
a metre/foot etc in depth (=deep)
•a channel of about two feet in depth
b) the distance from the front to the back of an object:
•The depth of the shelves is about 35 cm.
2 [U] how strong an emotion is or how serious a situation is
[+of]
•the depth of public feeling on this issue
•People need to realize the depth of the problem.
3 [U]
a) also depths the quality of having a lot of knowledge, understanding, or experience
depth of knowledge/understanding/experience
•I was impressed by the depth of her knowledge.
•a man of great depth and insight
•She's quiet, but perhaps she has hidden depths.
b) when a lot of details about a subject are provided or considered:
•Network news coverage often lacks depth.
•The subject was discussed in great depth.
IN-DEPTH
4 be out of your depth
a) to be involved in a situation or activity that is too difficult for you to understand or deal with:
•I felt completely out of my depth at the meeting.
b) BrE to be in water that is too deep for you to stand in
5 the depths of sth when a bad feeling or situation is at its worst level:
•She was in the depths of despair.
•The country was recovering from the depths of recession.
6 the depths of the ocean/countryside/forest etc the part that is furthest away from people, and most difficult to reach:
•Astronomers may one day travel to the depths of space.
7 the depths of winter the middle of winter, especially when it is very cold
8 the depths literary the deepest parts of the sea[C]
a bomb that explodes at a particular depth under water [C] formal
a small group of people who are sent to talk to someone in authority, as representatives of a larger group
depute sb to do sth formal to tell or allow someone to do something instead of youalso deputise BrE
1 [I] BrE to do the work of someone of a higher rank than you for a short time because they are unable to do it
[+for]
•Jed could deputise for Stewart, if necessary.
2 [T] AmE to give someone below you in rank the authority to do your work for a short time, usually because you are unable to do it; delegate plural deputies [C]
1 also Deputy someone who is directly below another person in rank, and who is officially in charge when that person is not there
deputy director/chairman/governor etc
•the Deputy Secretary of State
2 someone whose job is to help a SHERIFF in the US
3 a member of parliament in some countries, for example France
1 [I,T] if a train derails or something derails it, it goes off the tracks
2 [T] to spoil or interrupt a plan, agreement etc:
•a mistake that might derail the negotiations
- derailment noun [C,U]
someone who is deranged behaves in a crazy or dangerous way, usually because they are mentally ill:
•a deranged gunman
- derangement noun [C,U] $ plural derbies [C]
1 Derby used in the names of some well-known horse races:
•the Kentucky Derby
• the Derby BrE (=a famous race in England)
2 BrE a sports match between two teams from the same area or city
3 especially AmE a man's hard round hat that is usually black; = bowler BrE
4 a particular type of race or competition:
•a donkey derby [T usually passive]
to remove government rules and controls from some types of business activity:
•industries that have been deregulated
- deregulation noun [U]
a derelict building or piece of land is in very bad condition because it has not been used for a long time[C]
someone who has no money or home, lives on the streets, and is very dirty - used to show disapproval
1 dereliction of duty formal when someone fails to do what they should do as part of their job
2 [U] the state of being derelict:
•areas of industrial dereliction [T] formal
to make remarks or jokes that show you think someone or something is silly or useless; = mock
•You shouldn't deride their efforts.
deride sb as sth
•The party was derided as totally lacking in ideas. $ [not before noun]
considered to be necessary if you want to be accepted, fashionable etc - used humorously:
•the gleaming white teeth that are de rigueur for movie stars [U]
when you show that you think someone or something is stupid or silly:
•His speech was greeted with derision by opposition leaders.
showing that you think someone or something is stupid or silly:
•derisive laughter
- derisively adverb
1 an amount of money that is derisory is so small that it is not worth considering seriously:
•Unions described the pay offer as derisory.
2 DERISIVE [+from]
something that is derivable can be calculated from something else
[C,U +of] technical the origin of something, especially a word [C]
1 something that has developed or been produced from something else
[+of]
•Heroin is a derivative of morphine.
2 a type of financial INVESTMENT:
•the derivatives market
not new or invented, but copied or taken from something else - used to show disapproval:
•a derivative text
1 [T] to get something, especially an advantage or a pleasant feeling, from something
derive sth from sth
•Medically, we will derive great benefit from this technique.
derive pleasure/enjoyment etc
•Many students derived enormous satisfaction from the course.
2 also be derived [I,T] to develop or come from something else
[+from]
•This word is derived from Latin.
•patterns of behaviour that derive from basic beliefs
3 [T] technical to get a chemical substance from another substance
be derived from sth
•The enzyme is derived from human blood. $ [U]
a disease of the skin that causes redness, swelling, and pain $ [U]
the part of medical science that deals with skin diseases and their treatment
- dermatologist noun [C]

PHRASAL VERBS
derogate from sth phr v formal
to make something seem less important or less good $
derogatory remarks, attitudes etc are insulting and disapproving:
•Their conversation contained a number of derogatory racial remarks. [C]
1 a tall machine used for lifting heavy weights, especially on ships
2 a tall tower built over an oil well, used to raise and lower the DRILL $ [C]
your BUTTOCKs - used humorously
deeds/acts etc of derring-do very brave actions like the ones that happen in adventure stories - used humorously $ [C]
a member of a Muslim religious group, some of whom dance fast and spin around as part of a religious ceremony [U] technical
the process of removing salt from sea water so that people can use it
- desalinate verb [T] [T] BrE
to remove the white substance that forms on the inside of pipes, KETTLEs etc [C,U]
a tune that is played or sung above the main tune in a piece of music
1 [I,T] formal to move from a higher level to a lower one; ascend
•Our plane started to descend.
•I heard his footsteps descending the stairs.
[+to/from/into etc]
•The path continues for some way before descending to Garsdale Head.
!! It is more usual to say go down or come down.
2 [I] literary if darkness, silence, a feeling etc descends, it becomes dark etc or you start to feel something, especially suddenly
[+on/upon/over]
•Total silence descended on the room.
•An air of gloom descended over the party headquarters.
3 in descending order (of sth) numbers, choices etc that are in descending order are arranged from the highest or most important to the lowest or least important:
•The hotels are listed in descending order of price.

PHRASAL VERBS
descend from sb/sth phr v
1 be descended from sb to be related to a person or group who lived a long time ago:
•She claims to be descended from Abraham Lincoln.
•The people here are descended from the Vikings.
2 to have developed from something that existed in the past:
•ideas that descend from those of ancient philosophers

descend on/upon sb/sth phr v
if a large number of people descend on a person or a place, they come to visit or stay, especially when they are not very welcome:
•Millions of tourists descend on the area every year.

descend to sth phr v
to behave or speak in an unpleasant way, which is not the way you usually behave:
•Surely he wouldn't descend to such a mean trick?
descend to sb's level (=behave or speak as badly as someone else)
•Other people may gossip, but don't descend to their level. [C]
1 someone who is related to a person who lived a long time ago, or to a family, group of people etc that existed in the past; ancestor
sb's descendants/the descendants of sb
•The coastal areas were occupied by the descendants of Greek colonists.
•He was a direct descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte.
2 something that has developed from something else
[+of]
•Quechua is a descendant of the Inca language.
1 [C,U] formal the process of going down; ascent
•Passengers must fasten their seat belts prior to descent.
[+from/to]
•The descent to Base Camp took about two days.
2 [U] your family origins, especially your nationality or relationship to someone important who lived a long time ago
of Russian/Italian etc descent
•young men and women of Asian descent
[+from]
•The emperor claimed descent from David.
by descent
•They're Irish by descent.
3 [C] a path or road that goes down a slope; ascent
[+from/to]
•There is no direct descent from the summit.
4 [singular] a gradual change towards behaviour or a situation that is very bad
descent into alcoholism/chaos/madness etc
•the story of his descent into drug abuse
5 [singular] BrE a sudden unwanted visit or attack:
•the descent on the town by a motorcycle gang [T]
1 to say what something or someone is like by giving details about them:
•The police asked her to describe the two men.
•An alternative approach to the problem is described in Chapter 3.
describe sb/sth as (being/having) sth
•After the operation her condition was described as comfortable.
•The youth is described as being 18 to 19 years old.
describe how/why/what etc
•It's difficult to describe how I feel.
describe sb/sth to sb
•So describe this new boyfriend to me!
describe doing sth
•He described finding his mother lying on the floor.
2 describe a circle/an arc etc formal to make a movement which forms the shape of a circle etc:
•Her hand described a circle in the air. [C,U]
1 a piece of writing or speech that gives details about what someone or something is like:
•Berlin sounds fascinating from your description.
[+of]
•The writer began with a description of the area.
•The police have issued a detailed description of the missing woman.
•an accurate description of the event
•I checked my job description.
give/provide etc a description
•The booklet gives a brief description of each place.
brief/short/full/complete description
•Your insurance company will need a full description of the stolen property.
•The guide gives a general description of the island.
fit/match/answer a description (=be like the person or thing described)
•He matches the description of the attacker.
2 be beyond/past description to be too good, bad, big etc to be described easily:
•The death and destruction were beyond description.
3 of every/some/any etc description also of all descriptions people or things of every type, some type etc:
•People of all descriptions came to see the show.
1 giving a description of something:
•the descriptive passages in the novel
2 technical describing how the words of a language are actually used, rather than saying how they ought to be used; prescriptive
- descriptively adverb [T]
to spoil or damage something holy or respected
- desecration noun [U] [T]
to end a system in which people of different races are kept separate; integrate; segregate
- desegregation $ noun [U] [T]
1 to remove something from a list of choices on a computer
2 BrE if members of a political party deselect an existing Member of Parliament, they refuse to choose him or her as a CANDIDATE at the next election
- deselection noun [U]also desensitise BrE [T]
to make someone react less strongly to something by making them become used to it
desensitize sb to sth
•Does TV desensitize people to violence?
- desensitization $ noun [U] $
1 [C,U] a large area of land where it is always very hot and dry, and there is a lot of sand:
•the Sahara Desert
•This area of the country is mostly desert.
in the desert
•The plane crash-landed in the desert.
2 [C] a place where there is no activity or where nothing interesting happens:
•The railroad yard was a desert now.
!! Do not confuse desert and dessert although they have similar spellings. $
1 [T] to leave someone or something and no longer help or support them; = abandon
•Helen was deserted by her husband.
•Many of the party's traditional voters deserted it at the last election.
•The price rise caused many readers to desert the magazine.
desert sb for sb
•He deserted her for another woman.
2 [T] to leave a place so that it is completely empty; = abandon
•The birds have deserted their nest.
3 [I] to leave the army, navy etc without permission:
•Several hundred soldiers have deserted.
4 [T] if a feeling, quality, or skill deserts you, you no longer have it, especially at a time when you need it:
•Mike's confidence seemed to have deserted him. $
1 empty and quiet because no people are there:
•The streets were deserted.
•The old mine now stands completely deserted.
2 deserted wife/husband/child etc a wife etc who has been left by her husband etc $ [C]
a soldier who leaves the army, navy etc without permission $ [U] technical
the process by which useful land, especially farm land, changes into desert $
1 [C,U] the act of leaving the army, navy etc without permission
2 [U] law the act of leaving your wife or husband because you do not want to live with them any longer[C]
a small tropical island that is far away from other places and has no people living on it $
get/receive your (just) deserts to be punished in a way that you deserve:
•Offenders should receive their just deserts. $ [T]
1 to have earned something by good or bad actions or behaviour:
•What have I done to deserve this?
deserve to do sth
•We didn't deserve to win.
richly/fully/thoroughly etc deserve sth
•the success he so richly deserves
•I'm sorry for the kids. They deserve better (=deserve to be treated in a better way).
deserve a rest/break/holiday etc
•I think we deserve a rest after all that hard work.
•Ledley deserves a place in the team.
•Paula deserves a special mention for all the help she has given us.
•I would never hit anyone, even if they deserved it.
•What has he done to deserve this punishment?
deserve all/everything you get (=deserve any bad things that happen to you)
•He deserves all he gets for being so dishonest.
•People who are sent to prison for drunk-driving get what they deserve.
2 deserve consideration/attention etc if a suggestion, idea, or plan deserves consideration, attention etc, it is good enough to be considered, paid attention to etc; = merit
•This proposal deserves serious consideration.
3 sb deserves a medal spoken used to say that you admire the way someone dealt with a situation or problem
[+for]
•You deserve a medal for putting up with Ian's constant demands. $
earned because of good or bad behaviour, skill, work etc:
•He has a well-deserved reputation as a reliable worker.
a deserved win/victory/success etc
•Larsson's goal gave Celtic a deserved victory. $
1 in a way that is right or deserved
deservedly popular/well-known/famous etc
•Bistro Roti is a deservedly popular restaurant.
•Arsenal were deservedly beaten 2-1 by Leeds.
2 (and) deservedly so used to say that you agree that something is right and deserved:
•She is widely respected in the music world, and deservedly so. $
1 needing help and support, especially financial support
deserving causes/cases
•The National Lottery provides extra money for deserving causes.
2 be deserving of sth formal to deserve something:
•Some criminals are more deserving of their punishment than others. technical
1 desiccated food has been dried in order to preserve it
2 completely dry:
•desiccated soil [U]
technical the process of becoming completely dry $ plural desiderata [C] formal
something that is wanted or needed
1 PROCESS OF PLANNING [U] the art or process of making a drawing of something to show how you will make it or what it will look like:
•The new plane is in its final design stage.
•the design process
•the design team
•a course in graphic design
•computer-aided design
2 ARRANGEMENT OF PARTS [C,U] the way that something has been planned and made, including its appearance, how it works etc:
•The car's design has been greatly improved.
[+of]
•the design of the new building
•Some changes have been made to the computer's basic design.
•a design fault
•The electric windows are an important design feature of this model.
3 PATTERN [C] a pattern for decorating something:
•a floral design
•Vinyl flooring is available in a wide range of designs.
4 DRAWING [C] a drawing that shows how something will be made or what it will look like
[+for]
•the design for the new sports centre
5 INTENTION [C,U] a plan that someone has in their mind
by design (=intentionally)
•We shall never know whether this happened by accident or by design.
•He has some grand designs for the company.
6 have designs on sth to want something for yourself, especially because it will bring you money:
•Several developers have designs on the property.
7 have designs on sb formal to want a sexual relationship with someone:
•It soon became obvious that he had designs on her.[T]
1 to make a drawing or plan of something that will be made or built:
•The tower was designed by Gilbert Scott.
design sth for sth
•She designed a new logo for the company.
well/badly etc designed
•a badly designed office
• specially designed software
2 [usually passive] to plan or develop something for a specific purpose
design sth to do sth
•These exercises are designed to strengthen muscles.
be designed for sb/sth
•The course is designed for beginners.
be designed as sth
•The book is designed as a reference manual. [T usually passive]
1 to choose someone or something for a particular job or purpose
be designated sth
•The lake was recently designated a conservation area.
designate sth as/for sth
•Funds were designated for projects in low-income areas.
designate sb to do sth
•She has been designated to take over the position of treasurer.
2 to represent or refer to something using a particular sign, name etc:
•Buildings are designated by red squares on the map. [only after noun]
formal used after the name of an official job to show that someone has been chosen for that job but has not yet officially started work:
•the director designate[C]
someone who agrees not to drink alcohol when a group of friends go out together to a party, bar etc so that he or she can drive the others safely to and from home[C]
a baseball player who replaces the PITCHER when it is the pitcher's turn to hit the ball formal
1 [U] the act of choosing someone or something for a particular purpose, or of giving them a particular description
[+as]
•the designation of Stansted as the third London airport
2 [C] a name or title:
•Her official designation is Systems Manager. $ [C]
someone whose job is to make plans or patterns for clothes, furniture, equipment etc:
•an interior designer
•a software designer
dress/fashion designer[only before noun]
made by a well-known and fashionable designer
designer clothes/jeans/suits etc
designer label (=an expensive brand from a well-known designer)[C]
an illegal drug that has an exciting or relaxing effect, and is taken for pleasure $
1 formal something that is desirable is worth having or doing:
•The ability to speak a foreign language is highly desirable.
•a desirable neighborhood
• It is desirable that you should have some familiarity with computers.
•It is desirable to keep the cost as low as possible.
2 literary sexually attractive:
•a desirable young woman
- desirably adverb
- desirability $ noun [U] $
1 [C,U] a strong hope or wish
desire to do sth
•a strong desire to win
[+for]
•a desire for knowledge
desire that
•It was Harold's desire that he should be buried next to his wife.
express/show a desire
•She expressed a desire to visit us.
have no desire to do sth (=used to emphasize that you do not want to do something)
•I have no desire to cause any trouble.
overwhelming/burning desire (=very strong desire)
•Paul had a burning desire to visit India.
2 [U] formal a strong wish to have sex with someone:
•female sexual desire
[+for]
•He tried to hide his desire for her.
your heart's desire at HEART (23)[T not in progressive]
1 formal to want something very much:
•The hotel has everything you could possibly desire.
desire to do sth
•He desired to return to Mexico.
•Add lemon juice if desired.
2 literary to want to have sex with someone
- desired adjective
•His remarks had the desired effect. $ [not before noun] formal
wanting something very much
[+of]
•He became restless and desirous of change. [I] formal
to stop doing something:
•We hope that the military regime will desist from its acts of violence.
cease and desist at CEASE^1 (2) [C]
1 a piece of furniture like a table, usually with drawers in it, that you sit at to write and work:
•Marie was sitting at her desk.
2 a place where you can get information or use a particular service in a hotel, airport etc:
•the reception desk
•the check-in desk
3 an office that deals with a particular subject, especially in newspapers or television
the news/sports desk[C]
someone who works at the main desk in a hotel [T]
to remove or reduce the need for skill in a job, usually by changing to machinery
- deskilling noun [U][C]
a job that involves working mostly at a desk in an officeplural desk tidies [C] BrE
a container for putting pens, pencils etc in, that you keep on your desk $ [C]
1 the main area on a computer where you can find the ICONs that represent programs, and where you can do things to manage the information on the computer
2 the top surface of a desk[C]
a computer that is small enough to be used on a desk
LAPTOP[U]
DTP the work of arranging the writing and pictures for a magazine, small book etc, using a computer and special software
1 a place that is desolate is empty and looks sad because there are no people there:
•a desolate landscape
2 someone who is desolate feels very sad and lonely
- desolately adverb
- desolation noun [U] [T usually passive] literary
to make someone feel very sad and lonely:
•David was desolated by his wife's death.
- desolated adjective $ [U]
1 a feeling that you have no hope at all
in despair
•She killed herself in despair.
the depths of despair (=very strong feelings of despair)
•The noise from the neighbours used to drive him to despair.
to the despair of sb
•To the despair of the workers, the company announced the closure of the factory.
2 be the despair of sb old-fashioned to make someone feel very worried, upset, or unhappy:
•She is the despair of her teachers.[I] formal
to feel that there is no hope at all:
•Despite his illness, Ron never despaired.
despair of (doing) sth
•He despaired of ever finding her.
despair of sb
•My teachers began to despair of me. $
showing a feeling that you have no hope at all
despairing cry/look/sigh etc
•She gave me a last despairing look.
- despairingly adverb
another spelling of DISPATCH $ plural desperadoes or desperados [C]
old-fashioned a violent criminal who is not afraid of danger
1 willing to do anything to change a very bad situation, and not caring about danger:
•I had no money left and was desperate.
•Time was running out and we were getting desperate.
•the missing teenager's desperate parents
[+with]
•She was desperate with fear.
2 needing or wanting something very much
[+for]
•The team is desperate for a win.
•I was desperate for a cigarette.
desperate to do sth
•He was desperate to get a job.
3 a desperate situation is very bad or serious:
•a desperate shortage of doctors
•We're in desperate need of help.
4 a desperate action is something that you only do because you are in a very bad situation
desperate attempt/bid/effort
•She made a desperate attempt to escape.
•We had to resort to desperate measures.
desperate battle/struggle/fight
•a desperate struggle to rescue the men
1 in a desperate way:
•The doctors tried desperately to save her life.
•He looked round desperately for someone to help him.
2 very or very much
desperately want/need
•The crops desperately need rain.
desperately poor/ill/tired etc
•He was desperately ill with a fever.
desperately unhappy/lonely/worried etc [U]
the state of being desperate:
•a look of desperation
in/out of desperation
•She resorted to stealing food out of desperation.
•In desperation, we had to borrow the money.
extremely bad, immoral, or cruel:
•It's despicable the way he treats those kids.
•a despicable act of terrorism
•a despicable crime
- despicably adverb [T not in progressive]
to dislike and have a low opinion of someone or something:
•She despised her neighbours.
1 used to say that something happens or is true even though something else might have prevented it; = in spite of
•Despite all our efforts to save the school, the authorities decided to close it.
despite the fact (that)
•She went to Spain despite the fact that her doctor had told her to rest.
2 despite yourself if you do something despite yourself, you do it although you did not intend to:
•Liz realized that, despite herself, she cared about Edward. [T] literary
1 to make a place much less attractive by removing or damaging things; spoil
2 to steal from a place or people using force, especially in a war $
extremely unhappy and without hope:
•Gill had been out of work for a year and was getting very despondent.
[+about]
•He was becoming increasingly despondent about the way things were going.
- despondency noun [U]
- despondently adverb $ [C]
someone, especially a ruler, who uses power in a cruel and unfair way; = tyrant
- despotic $ adjective
- despotically adverb [U]
rule by a despot [C] BrE informal
a house that a lot of people admire and would like to live in - sometimes used humorously $ [C,U]
sweet food served after the main part of a meal
for dessert
•What are we having for dessert? $ [C] BrE
1 a spoon that is larger than a TEASPOON but smaller than a TABLESPOON
2 also dessertspoonful the amount that a dessertspoon can hold, used as a unit for measuring food or liquid in cooking
[+of]
•Add a dessertspoonful of dry mustard.[C,U]
a sweet wine served with dessertalso destabilise BrE [T]
to make something such as a government or ECONOMY become less successful or powerful, or less able to control events:
•an attempt to destabilize the government
- destabilization $ noun [U] [C]
the place that someone or something is going to
sb's destination
•Allow plenty of time to get to your destination.
holiday/tourist destination
•Maui is a popular tourist destination.
1 [not before noun] seeming certain to happen at some time in the future
[+for]
•She seemed destined for a successful career.
destined to do sth
•We were destined never to meet again.
2 destined for sth to be travelling to a particular place, or intended to go there:
•The flight was destined for Cairo.
3 [only before noun] literary a destined person or thing is one that you will have in the future:
•the King's destined bride plural destinies
1 [C usually singular] the things that will happen to someone in the future, especially those that cannot be changed or controlled; = fate
sb's destiny
•Nancy wondered whether it was her destiny to live in England and marry Melvyn.
2 [U] the power that some people believe decides what will happen to them in the future:
•She always had a strong sense of destiny. $
1 having no money, no food, no home etc:
•The floods left many people destitute.
2 be destitute of sth literary to be completely without something:
•a man who is destitute of compassion
- destitution $ noun [U] [T]
1 to damage something so badly that it no longer exists or cannot be used or repaired; destruction
completely/totally destroy
•The school was completely destroyed by fire.
•companies that are polluting and destroying the environment
destroy sb's confidence/hope/faith etc
2 if something destroys someone, it ruins their life completely:
•The scandal destroyed Simmons and ended his political career.
3 informal to defeat an opponent easily:
•The Bears destroyed the Detroit Lions 35-3.
4 to kill an animal, especially because it is ill or dangerous:
•One of the bulls had to be destroyed.

WORD CHOICE: destroy, ruin, spoil
Destroy means to damage something so badly that it no longer exists or people can no longer use it: The earthquake destroyed even the tallest buildings. | The rainforests are being destroyed at a frightening rate.
If you ruin or spoil something, it still exists, but it has lost all its good qualities or features. Ruin is stronger than spoil: The rain ruined my hair. | I don't want to spoil your day.

$ [C]
1 a small fast military ship with guns
2 someone or something that destroys things or people [U]
the act or process of destroying something or of being destroyed; destroy
[+of]
•the destruction of the rainforest
• weapons of mass destruction
•the environmental destruction caused by the road building programme
•The floods brought death and destruction to the area.
causing damage to people or things; destroy
•the destructive power of modern weapons
[+to]
•What is good for the individual can be destructive to the family.
- destructively adverb
- destructiveness noun [U] $ formal
done without any particular plan or purpose:
•They talked briefly in a desultory manner.
- desultorily $ adverbalso Det BrE
the written abbreviation of detective
1 [I,T] if you detach something, or if it detaches, it becomes separated from the thing it was attached to; attach
detach sth from sth
•You can detach the hood from the jacket.
•Please detach and fill out the application form.
2 detach yourself from sb/sth to try to be less involved in or less concerned about a situation:
•Doctors have to detach themselves from their feelings.
able to be removed and put back; = removable
•The coat has a detachable lining.
1 not reacting to or becoming involved in something in an emotional way; involved
•Try to take a more detached view.
[+from]
•He appeared totally detached from the horrific nature of his crimes.
detached way/manner
•She described what had happened in a cold and detached manner.
2 especially BrE a detached house or garage is not joined to another building
SEMI-DETACHED, TERRACED HOUSE
1 [U] the state of not reacting to or being involved in something in an emotional way; involvement
[+from]
•He felt a sense of detachment from what was happening around him.
2 [C] a group of soldiers who are sent away from a larger group to do a special job
3 [singular, U] formal when something becomes separated from something else
[+of]
•detachment of the retina $
1 [C] a single feature, fact, or piece of information about something
[+of]
•She told me every detail of her trip.
down to the smallest/last detail (=completely)
•Todd had planned the journey down to the smallest detail.
2 [U] all the separate features and pieces of information about something
in detail
•He described the process in detail (=using a lot of details).
•This issue will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 5.
•McDougal was reluctant to go into detail (=give a lot of details) about the new deal.
•Editing requires great attention to detail.
•the fine detail of the plan
have an eye for detail (=be skilled at noticing details)
•Photographers need to have an eye for detail.
3 details [plural] information that helps to complete what you know about something
[+of]
• Full details of the incident were recently revealed.
[+about]
•She refused to give any details about what had happened.
•Details of the course can be found on our website.
further/more details
•For further details, contact the personnel department.
4 [singular, U] technical a specific duty in the army, or the person or group with that duty:
•the security detail[T]
1 to list things or give all the facts or information about something:
•The report details the progress we have made over the last year.
2 detail sb to (do) sth to officially order someone, especially soldiers, to do a particular job:
•Four soldiers were detailed to guard duty.
3 AmE to clean a car very thoroughly, inside and out; = valet BrE $
1 containing or including a lot of information or details
detailed description/account/analysis etc
•a detailed study of crime in Seattle
•More detailed information is available on request.
2 having a lot of decorations or small features that are difficult to produce:
•a beautifully detailed carving $ [U]
1 decorations that are added to something such as a car or piece of clothing
2 AmE the process of cleaning a car very thoroughly, inside and out; = valeting BrE [T]
1 to officially prevent someone from leaving a place:
•Two suspects have been detained by the police for questioning.
•She was detained in hospital with a suspected broken leg.
2 [usually passive] formal to stop someone from leaving as soon as they expected; = delay
•He was detained in Washington on urgent business. [C] formal
someone who is officially kept in a prison, usually because of their political views [T]
to notice or discover something, especially something that is not easy to see, hear etc:
•Many forms of cancer can be cured if detected early.
difficult/impossible/easy/possible etc to detect
detect a change/difference
•Dan detected a change in her mood.
detect a note of sarcasm/irony/excitement etc
•Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?
- detectable adjective [U]
when something is found that is not easy to see, hear etc, or the process of looking for it
[+of]
•Early detection of the disease is vital.
escape/avoid detection
•By flying low, the plane avoided detection by enemy radar. [C]
1 a police officer whose job is to discover information about crimes and catch criminals
STORE DETECTIVE
2 also private detective someone who is paid to discover information about someone or something:
•She hired a detective to find out if her husband was having an affair.
3 detective work efforts to discover information, find out how something works, answer a difficult question etc:
•It took a lot of detective work to discover the cause of the problem.
4 detective story/novel etc a story etc about a crime, often a murder, and a detective who tries to find out who did it $ [C]
a machine or piece of equipment that finds or measures something:
•a smoke detector
•a metal detector
LIE DETECTORdetente $ [U]
a time or situation in which two countries that are not friendly towards each other agree to behave in a more friendly way
1 [U] the state of being kept in prison
in detention
•Willis was held in detention for five years.
2 [C,U] a punishment in which children who have behaved badly are forced to stay at school for a short time after the others have gone home
in detention
•She was always getting put in detention.detention center AmE [C] BrE
a prison, often for a particular type of person $ past tense and past participle deterred, present participle deterring [T]
to stop someone from doing something, by making them realize it will be difficult or have bad results; deterrent
•The company's financial difficulties have deterred potential investors.
deter sb from (doing) sth
•The security camera was installed to deter people from stealing.
!! Do not say 'deter someone to do something'. Say deter someone from doing something. $ [C,U]
a liquid or powder used for washing clothes, dishes etc $ [I]
1 to become worse:
•Ethel's health has deteriorated.
•America's deteriorating economy
2 deteriorate into sth to develop into a bad or worse situation:
•The argument deteriorated into a fight.
- deterioration $ noun [U] $ [C]
formal something that strongly influences what you do or how you behave
[+of]
•Social class is a major determinant of consumer spending patterns. $
formal definite or with an exact limit; indeterminate
•a determinate prison sentence of five years $
1 [U] the quality of trying to do something even when it is difficult
determination to do sth
•Yuri shows great determination to learn English.
•his dogged determination (=very strong determination) to succeed
2 [C,U] formal the act of deciding something officially
[+of]
•the determination of government policy
3 [C] formal the act of finding the exact level, amount, or cause of something
[+of]
•accurate determination of the temperature $ [T]
1 to find out the facts about something; = establish
•Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire.
determine how/what/who etc
•The aim of the inquiry was to determine what had caused the accident.
determine that
•Experts have determined that the signature was forged.
2 if something determines something else, it directly influences or decides it:
•The amount of available water determines the number of houses that can be built.
•The age of a wine is a determining factor as to how it tastes.
determine how/whether/what etc
•How hard the swimmers work now will determine how they perform in the Olympics.
3 to officially decide something:
•The date of the court case has not yet been determined.
determine how/what/who etc
•The tests will help the doctors determine what treatment to use.
4 determine to do sth formal to decide to do something:
•We determined to leave at once. $
1 having a strong desire to do something, so that you will not let anyone stop you:
•Gwen is a very determined woman.
determined to do sth
•She was determined to win.
determined (that)
•He was determined that the same mistakes would not be repeated.
2 showing determination, especially in a difficult situation
determined attempt/effort
•She was making a determined effort to give up smoking.
•The library was closed down despite determined opposition. $ [C] technical
a word that is used before a noun in order to show which thing you mean. In the phrases 'the car' and 'some cars', 'the' and 'some' are determiners $ [U]
the belief that what you do and what happens to you are caused by things that you cannot control
- deterministic $ adjective $ [C]
1 something that makes someone less likely to do something, by making them realize it will be difficult or have bad results:
•The small fines for this type of crime do not act as much of a deterrent.
[+to/for/against]
•Window locks are an effective deterrent against burglars.
•the deterrent effect of prison sentences
2 nuclear deterrent the NUCLEAR weapons that a country has in order to prevent other countries from attacking it
- deterrence noun [U] [T not in progressive] formal
to hate something or someone very much:
•Liz and Mo detested each other.
- detestation noun [U] formal
very bad, and deserving to be criticized or hated:
•a detestable little man
- detestably adverb $ [T]
1 to remove a king or queen from power
2 to remove someone from a position of authority or importance:
•an attempt to dethrone the senator
•Douglas dethroned Tyson in a fight that shook the boxing world.
- dethronement noun [U] [I,T]
to explode or to make something explode
- detonation noun [U] $ [C]
a piece of equipment used to make a bomb etc explode $ [C]
1 a way of going from one place to another that is longer than the usual way
make/take a detour
•We took a detour to avoid the town centre.
2 AmE a different road for traffic when the usual road cannot be used; = diversion BrE[I,T] AmE
to make a detour $ [U]
1 informal special treatment to help people stop drinking alcohol or taking drugs; = rehab
in detox
•She spent a month in detox.
2 when you do not eat solid food or only drink special liquids for a period of time, which is thought to remove harmful substances from your body[I] informal
1 if someone detoxes, they are given special treatment at a hospital to help them stop drinking alcohol or taking drugs
2 to not eat solid food or only drink special liquids for a period of time, which is thought to remove harmful substances from your body $ [U]
1 the process of removing harmful chemicals or poison from something
2 detox
- detoxify $ verb [T]

PHRASAL VERBS
detract from sth phr v [not in progressive]
to make something seem less good:
•One mistake is not going to detract from your achievement. $ [C]
someone who says bad things about someone or something, in order to make them seem less good than they really are
sb's detractors
•Even the President's detractors admit that the decision was the right one. [U] formal
harm or damage
to the detriment of sth (=resulting in harm or damage to something)
•He worked very long hours, to the detriment of his marriage. formal
causing harm or damage; = damaging
[+to]
•Smoking is detrimental to your health.
•the detrimental effect of pollution on the environment
- detrimentally adverb [U] formal
pieces of waste that remain after something has been broken up or used $
1 [U] the situation in tennis when both players have 40 points, after which one of the players must win two more points to win the game
2 [C] AmE a playing card with the number two on it
3 what/how etc the deuce ...? old-fashioned spoken used to add force to a question:
•What the deuce is going on?also mark $ [C]
the standard unit of money used in Germany before the EURO
1 [I,T] technical to reduce the value of one country's money when it is exchanged for another country's money:
•Nigeria has just devalued its currency.
2 [T] to make someone or something seem less important or valuable:
•History has tended to devalue the contributions of women.
- devaluation noun [C,U]
•the devaluation of the pound [T]
1 to make someone feel extremely shocked and sad:
•Rob was devastated by the news of her death.
2 to damage something very badly or completely:
•The city centre was devastated by the bomb.
- devastation noun [U]
feeling extremely shocked and sad:
•She was left feeling totally devastated.
1 badly damaging or destroying something
devastating effect/impact
•Acid rain has a devastating effect on the forest.
devastating results/consequences
•The oil spill has had devastating consequences for local wildlife.
•It will be a devastating blow for the town if the factory closes.
2 making someone feel extremely sad or shocked:
•He was in Nice when he heard the devastating news.
•Long-term unemployment can be devastating.
3 very impressive or effective:
•In a devastating display of military muscle, soldiers seized the town yesterday.
4 literary extremely attractive:
•a devastating smile
- devastatingly adverb
•a devastatingly attractive man
1 GROW [I,T] to grow or change into something bigger, stronger, or more advanced, or to make someone or something do this; advance
•Knowledge in the field of genetics has been developing very rapidly.
•Corsica has developed its economy around the tourist industry.
[+into]
•Chicago developed into a big city in the late 1800s.
[+from]
•It's hard to believe that a tree can develop from a small seed.
•exercises to develop muscle strength
2 NEW IDEA/PRODUCT [T] to design or make a new idea, product, system etc over a period of time:
•Scientists are developing new drugs to treat arthritis.
•She should have developed her own style instead of copying him.
•Researchers are developing technology for the US military.
3 FEELING [T] to start to have a feeling or quality that then becomes stronger:
•He had developed a certain affection for me.
develop a sense/awareness/knowledge of sth
•The children are beginning to develop a sense of responsibility.
•It was in college that he developed a taste for (=started to like) rugby football.
4 SKILL/ABILITY [I,T] if you develop a skill or ability, or if it develops, it becomes stronger or more advanced:
•The course is designed to help students develop their speaking skills.
5 DISEASE [I,T] if you develop a disease or illness, or if it develops, you start to have it:
•Some alcoholics develop liver disease.
•Pneumonia can develop very quickly.
6 FAULT/PROBLEM [T] to begin to have a physical fault:
•The oil tank had developed a small crack.
•The plane developed engine trouble and was forced to land.
7 PROBLEM/DIFFICULTY [I] if a problem or difficult situation develops, it begins to happen or exist, or it gets worse:
•Trouble is developing in the cities.
[+into]
•Regional clashes could develop into larger quarrels.
8 IDEA/ARGUMENT [T] to make an argument or idea clearer, by studying it more or by speaking or writing about it in more detail:
•We will develop a few of these points in the seminar.
9 LAND [T] to use land for the things that people need, for example by taking minerals out of it or by building on it:
•We would like to see the land developed for low-cost housing.
10 PHOTOGRAPHY [I,T] to make a photograph out of a photographic film, using chemicals:
•Did you ever get the pictures developed?
1 a developed country is one of the rich countries of the world with many industries, comfortable living for most people, and usually an elected government; developing, underdeveloped
•energy consumption in the developed world
developed countries/nations
•The charity works with children in less developed countries.
2 a developed sense, system etc, is better, larger, or more advanced than others:
•Dogs have a highly developed sense of smell.
•plants with well developed root systems
•Labour has a more fully developed programme for the unemployed. $
1 [C] a person or company that makes money by buying land and then building houses, factories etc on it:
•a Florida property developer
2 [C] a person or an organization that works on a new idea, product etc to make it successful:
•software developers
3 [C,U] a chemical substance used for making images appear on film or photographic paper
late developer at LATE^1 (7)
1 a developing country is a poor country that is trying to increase its industry and trade and improve life for its people; developed, underdeveloped
developing countries/nations
•aid to developing countries
•poverty and hunger in the developing world
developing economies/markets
•the developing economies in Eastern Europe
2 growing or changing:
•the growth of the developing embryo
•a developing crisis in Washington
1 GROWTH [U] the process of gradually becoming bigger, better, stronger, or more advanced:
•child development
[+of]
•a course on the development of Greek thought
professional/personal development
•opportunities for professional development
2 ECONOMIC ACTIVITY [U] the process of increasing business, trade, and industrial activity
economic/industrial/business etc development
•economic development in Russia
3 EVENT [C] a new event or piece of news that changes a situation:
• recent political developments in the former Soviet Union
•We will keep you informed of developments.
4 NEW PLAN/PRODUCT [U] the process of working on a new product, plan, idea etc to make it successful:
•The funds will be used for marketing and product development.
under/in development
•Spielberg has several interesting projects under development.
5 IMPROVEMENT [C] a change that makes a product, plan, idea etc better:
•There have been significant computer developments during the last decade.
6 BUILDING PROCESS [U] the process of planning and building new houses, streets etc on land
for development
•The land was sold for development.
7 HOUSES/OFFICES ETC [C] a group of new buildings that have all been planned and built together on the same piece of land:
•a new housing development
relating to the development of someone or something:
•the developmental stages of childhood
•Higher education is a continuing developmental process.
- developmentally adverbalso deviancy [U]
when something is different, especially in a bad way, from what is considered normal:
•sexual deviance
different, in a bad way, from what is considered normal:
•deviant behaviour
- deviant noun [C]
•a sexual deviant [I]
to change what you are doing so that you are not following an expected plan, idea, or type of behaviour
[+from]
•The plane had to deviate from its normal flight path. formal
DEVIANT
1 [C,U] a noticeable difference from what is expected or acceptable
[+from]
•There must be no deviation from the normal procedure.
2 [C] technical the difference between a number or measurement in a SET and the average of all the numbers or measurements in that set
STANDARD DEVIATION [C]
1 a machine or tool that does a special job; = gadget
•modern labour-saving devices
device for doing sth
•a device for separating metal from garbage
device to do sth
•The company makes devices to detect carbon monoxide.
2 a special way of doing something that makes it easier to do
device for doing sth
•Testing yourself with information on cards is a useful device for studying.
•a memory device
3 a plan or trick, especially for a dishonest purpose
device to do sth
•Their proposal was only a device to confuse the opposition.
4 a bomb or other explosive weapon
explosive/nuclear/incendiary etc device
5 the special use of words in literature, or of words, lights etc in a play, to achieve an effect:
•Metaphor is a common literary device.
leave sb to their own devices at LEAVE^1 (4)
1 the devil also the Devil the most powerful evil SPIRIT in some religions, especially in Christianity; = Satan
2 [C] an evil SPIRIT; = demon
•The villagers believed a devil had taken control of his body.
3 speak of the devil also talk of the devil BrE spoken used when someone you have just been talking about walks into the room where you are
4 poor/lucky/handsome etc devil spoken used to talk about someone who you feel sorry for, who is lucky etc:
•What on earth is wrong with the poor devil?
5 little/old devil spoken used to talk about a child or an older man who behaves badly, but who you like:
•He's a naughty little devil.
•I really miss the old devil.
6 be a devil BrE spoken used to persuade someone to do something they are not sure they should do:
•Go on, be a devil, have another gin and tonic.
7 what/who/why etc the devil? old-fashioned spoken used to show that you are surprised or annoyed:
•How the devil should I know what she's thinking?
8 a devil of a time/job etc old-fashioned spoken a difficult or unpleasant time, job etc:
•We had a devil of a job trying to get the carpet clean again.
9 go to the devil! old-fashioned spoken used to tell someone rudely to go away or stop annoying you
10 do sth like the devil old-fashioned spoken to do something very fast or using a lot of force:
•They rang the bell and ran like the devil.
11 better the devil you know (than the devil you don't) used to say that it is better to deal with someone or something you know, even if you do not like them, than to deal with someone or something new that might be worse
12 between the devil and the deep blue sea in a difficult situation because there are only two choices you can make and both of them are unpleasant
13 ... and the devil take the hindmost used to say that everyone in a situation only cares about what happens to themselves and does not care about other people
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
1 literary very bad, difficult, or unpleasant:
•devilish schemes to cheat people
2 seeming likely to cause trouble, but in a way that is amusing or attractive:
•Dalton looked at her with a devilish grin. [+ adj/adv] old-fashioned
very - used to show that you think something is annoying or bad:
•a devilishly difficult taskdeviled AmE BrE
devilled food is cooked with very hot pepper:
•deviled eggs
happy and willing to take risks:
•a devil-may-care attitude to lifealso devilry [U] literary
wild or bad behaviour that causes trouble:
•eyes blazing with devilment[C]
someone who pretends to disagree with you in order to have a good discussion about something:
•He would play devil's advocate with anyone.[C,U] AmE
a type of chocolate cake
1 using dishonest tricks and deceiving people in order to get what you want; deceitful
•a devious politician
2 formal not going in the most direct way to get to a place:
•a devious route
- deviously adverb
- deviousness noun [U] [T]
to plan or invent a new way of doing something:
•She devised a method for quicker communications between offices. formal
be devoid of sth to be completely lacking in something:
•His face was devoid of any warmth or humour. [U]
when a national government gives power to a group or organization at a lower or more local level
- devolutionist adjective
- devolutionist noun [C] $ formal
1 [I,T] if you devolve responsibility, power etc to a person or group at a lower level, or if it devolves on them, it is given to them
devolve sth to sb/sth
•The federal government has devolved responsibility for welfare to the states.
[+on/upon]
•Half of the cost of the study will devolve upon the firm.
2 [I,T] if land, money etc devolves to someone, it becomes their property when someone else dies $ [T]
1 to use all or most of your time, effort etc in order to do something or help someone; = dedicate
devote your time/energy/attention etc to sth
•He wanted to devote his energies to writing films.
devote yourself to sth
•She devoted herself full-time to her growing business.
2 to use a particular area, period of time, or amount of space for a specific purpose
devote sth to sth
•The meeting will be devoted to health and safety issues. $
1 giving someone or something a lot of love and attention:
•a devoted father
[+to]
•Isabella was devoted to her brother.
2 dealing with, containing, or being used for only one thing; = dedicated
[+to]
•a museum devoted to photography
3 strongly supporting someone or something because you admire or enjoy them:
•Beckham's devoted fans
•The journal had a devoted following of around 1000 subscribers.
- devotedly adverb [C]
1 someone who enjoys or admires someone or something very much
[+of]
•a devotee of 1930s films
2 a very religious person:
•a Sikh devotee $
1 [U] the strong love that you show when you pay a lot of attention to someone or something
[+to]
•Alanna has always shown intense devotion to her children.
2 [U] the loyalty that you show towards a person, job etc, especially by working hard; dedication
[+to]
•the soldier's courage and devotion to duty
•his integrity and devotion to his patients
3 [U] strong religious feeling
4 devotions [plural] prayers and other religious acts $
relating to or used in religious services:
•devotional music $ [T]
1 to eat something quickly because you are very hungry:
•The boys devoured their pancakes.
2 to read something quickly and eagerly, or watch something with great interest:
•He devoured science fiction books as a teenager.
3 be devoured by sth to be filled with a strong feeling that seems to control you:
•Cindy felt devoured by jealousy.
4 literary to destroy someone or something:
•Her body had been almost entirely devoured by the disease.
5 to use up all of something:
•a job that devours all my energy
1 someone who is devout has a very strong belief in a religion:
•a devout Catholic
2 formal a devout hope or wish is one that you feel very strongly:
•It is my devout hope that we can work together in peace.
- devoutly adverb $ [U]
the small drops of water that form on outdoor surfaces during the night $ [C]
a single drop of dew:
•dewdrops sparkling in the morning sunlight $ [U] AmE
the forming of dew or the time when dew begins to appear $
wet with drops of DEW:
•The dewy woodland was solitary and still.
having eyes that are slightly wet with tears [U]
1 skill and speed in doing something with your hands:
•Computer games can improve children's manual dexterity.
2 skill in using words or your mind:
•his charm and verbal dexterityalso dextrous
1 skilful and quick when using your hands:
•dextrous use of the needle
2 skilful in using words or your mind:
•his dexterous accounting abilities
- dexterously adverb $ [U]
a type of sugar that is in many sweet fruits
another spelling of DEXTEROUS
two, twice, or double:
•A diphthong is a vowel made up of two sounds.
SEMI-, BI-, TRI- [U]
a serious disease in which there is too much sugar in your blood
1 having diabetes:
•Sarah is diabetic.
2 caused by diabetes:
•a diabetic coma
3 produced for people who have diabetes:
•diabetic chocolate[C]
someone who has diabetes $
1 also diabolic evil or cruel:
•diabolical abuse
2 BrE informal extremely unpleasant or bad:
•The toilets were in a diabolical state.
- diabolically adverb [C] technical
a mark placed over, under, or through a letter in some languages, to show that the letter should be pronounced differently from the same letter without a mark
- diacritical adjective
•diacritical marks [C] literary
a circle of jewels that a queen, princess etc wears on her head $ [T]
to find out what illness someone has, or what the cause of a fault is, after doing tests, examinations etc
diagnose sb as (having) sth
•Joe struggled in school before he was diagnosed as dyslexic.
diagnose sth as sth
•The illness was diagnosed as mumps.
diagnose sb with sth
•She was diagnosed with breast cancer. $ plural diagnoses [C,U]
the process of discovering exactly what is wrong with someone or something, by examining them closely; prognosis
[+of]
•diagnosis of kidney disease
•An exact diagnosis can only be made by obtaining a blood sample. $
relating to or used for discovering what is wrong with someone or something
diagnostic tests/tools
•Doctors depend on accurate diagnostic tools.
1 a diagonal line is straight and joins two opposite corners of a flat shape, usually a square; horizontal, vertical
2 following a sloping angle:
•diagonal parking spaces
- diagonal noun [C]
- diagonally adverb
•The path goes diagonally across the field. [C]
a simple drawing or plan that shows exactly where something is, what something looks like, or how something works
[+of]
•a diagram of the heating system
- diagrammatic adjective
- diagrammatically adverbpast tense and past participle diagrammed, present participle diagramming [T]
to show or represent something in a diagram [C]
1 the round part of a clock, watch, machine etc that has numbers that show you the time or a measurement:
•The lighted dial of her watch said 1.20.
•She looked at the dial to check her speed.
2 the part of a piece of equipment such as a radio or THERMOSTAT that you turn around to do something, such as find a different station or change the temperature:
•The dial on the heater was set to'HOT'.
3 the wheel on an older telephone with numbered holes for your fingers that you move around in order to make a callpast tense and past participle dialled, present participle dialling BrE past tense and past participle dialed, present participle dialing AmE [I,T]
to press the buttons or turn the dial on a telephone in order to make a telephone call:
•I think I dialed the wrong number. [C,U]
a form of a language which is spoken only in one area, with words or grammar that are slightly different from other forms of the same language; accent
Chinese/Yorkshire/Belfast etc dialect
•The people up there speak a Tibetan dialect.
•the local dialectalso dialectics [U] formal
a method of examining and discussing ideas in order to find the truth, in which two opposing ideas are compared in order to find a solution that includes them both
- dialectical adjective[C]
BrE the numbers at the beginning of a telephone number that represent a specific area of a city or country; = area code AmE[C]
BrE the sound you hear when you pick up the telephone that lets you know that you can make a call; = dial tone AmEalso dialog AmE $ [C,U]
1 a conversation in a book, play, or film:
•a boring movie full of bad dialog
•Students were asked to read simple dialogues out loud.
2 formal a discussion between two groups, countries etc
[+between/with]
•There is a need for constructive dialogue between leaders.
MONOLOGUEdialog box AmE [C] BrE
a box that appears on your computer screen when the program you are using needs to ask you a question before it can continue to do something. You CLICK on one part of the box to give your answer.[C]
AmE the sound you hear when you pick up the telephone that lets you know that you can make a call; = dialling tone BrE[only before noun]
relating to a telephone line that is used to send information from one computer to another:
•a dial-up connection
- dial-up noun [C] [U]
the process of taking harmful substances out of someone's blood using a special machine, because their KIDNEYs do not work properly:
•a dialysis machine
on dialysis
•He has been on dialysis for the past three years. $
decorated with artificial DIAMONDs :
•a diamanté necklace $ [C]
a straight line from one side of a circle to the other side, passing through the centre of the circle, or the length of this line
3 inches/1 metre etc in diameter
•Draw a circle six centimetres in diameter.
[+of]
•The diameter of the Earth is about 13,000 km.
diametrically opposed/opposite completely different and opposite:
•The two ideas are diametrically opposed.
1 [C,U] a clear, very hard valuable stone, used in jewellery and in industry:
•a diamond engagement ring
2 [C] a shape with four straight but sloping sides of equal length, with one point facing directly up and the other directly down:
•Cut the cookie dough into diamonds.
3
a) diamonds one of the four SUITs (=types of cards) in a set of playing cards, which has the design of a red diamond shape on it
two/queen etc of diamonds
•the ace of diamonds
b) [C] a card from this suit:
•You have to play a diamond.
4 [C]
a) the area in a baseball field that is within the diamond shape formed by the four BASEs
b) the whole playing field used in baseball[C]
the date that is exactly 60 years after the date when two people were married or after some other important date[C]
AmE someone who behaves in a slightly rude way, but is really kind and generous; = rough diamond BrE[C]
the date that is exactly 60 years after the date of an important event, especially of someone becoming a king or queen
GOLDEN JUBILEE, SILVER JUBILEE[C] AmE
a special LANE on a road or street that is marked with a diamond shape and can be used only by buses, taxis etc and sometimes private cars with more than one passenger[C] BrE
the date that is exactly 60 years after the date when two people were married $ [C]
AmE a piece of soft cloth or soft paper that is put between a baby's legs and fastened around its waist to hold liquid and solid waste; = nappy BrE
•Wait a minute while I change her diaper.[U]
AmE sore skin between a baby's legs and on its BUTTOCKS, caused by a wet diaper; = nappy rash BrE literary
diaphanous cloth is so thin that you can almost see through it [C]
1 the muscle that is between your lungs and your stomach, and that you use when you breathe
2 a round rubber object that a woman can put inside her VAGINA to stop her from getting PREGNANT
3 technical a thin round object, especially in a telephone or LOUDSPEAKER, that is moved by sound or that moves when it produces sound
4 technical a round flat part inside a camera that controls the amount of light that enters the camera $ [C]
someone who writes a diary, especially one that is later solddiarrhea AmE [U] BrE
an illness in which waste from the BOWELs is watery and comes out often $ plural diaries [C]
1 a book in which you write down the things that happen to you each day; = journal
•Inge kept a diary (=wrote in a diary) during the war years.
diary entry (=what you have written for a particular day)
2 especially BrE a book with separate spaces for each day of the year, in which you write down the meetings, events etc that are planned for each day; = calendar AmE
•Did you put the meeting date in your diary? [C]
1 the Diaspora the movement of the Jewish people away from ancient Palestine, to settle in other countries
2 the spreading of people from a national group or culture to other areas:
•the African diaspora $
the diatonic scale a set of eight musical notes that uses a particular pattern of spaces between the notes [C] formal
a long speech or piece of writing that criticizes someone or something very severely
[+against]
•a diatribe against contemporary American civilization [plural] AmE informal
the right to have, use, or do something:
•Freshmen have first dibs on dormitory rooms.
1 [plural] singular die one or more small blocks of wood, plastic etc that have six sides with a different number of spots on each side, used in games
throw/roll the dice
•It's your turn to roll the dice.
!! Die is singular and dice is plural, but many people use dice when they are talking about a single die.
2 [U] any game of chance that is played with dice
3 the dice are loaded the situation is arranged so that a particular person will win or gain an advantage
4 no dice especially AmE old-fashioned spoken used to refuse to do something or to say that something is not possible:
•'Can I borrow some cash?' 'Sorry, no dice.'
5 a throw of the dice something you do that you hope will have an effect on a situation, but is not certain to do so:
•a last desperate throw of the dice to try and win his wife back
1 also dice sth <=> up [T] to cut food into small square pieces:
•diced carrots
2 dice with death to put yourself in a very dangerous situation informal
slightly dangerous and uncertain:
•The future looks pretty dicey for small businesses. $ plural dichotomies [C] formal
the difference between two things or ideas that are completely opposite
[+between]
•a dichotomy between his public and private lives [C]
1 informal not polite a PENIS
2 spoken not polite an offensive word for a stupid annoying person, especially a man:
•He's acting like a complete dick.
3 AmE old-fashioned a PRIVATE DETECTIVE
clever dick at CLEVER (6); SPOTTED DICK

PHRASAL VERBS
dick sb around phr v AmE spoken not polite
to cause a lot of problems for someone, especially by changing your mind a lot or preventing them from getting what they want:
•The phone company's been dicking me around for three months. spoken old-fashioned
1 what/who/where the dickens ...? used when asking a question to show that you are very surprised or angry:
•What the dickens is the matter with her?
2 as pretty/smart etc as the dickens AmE very pretty, clever etc:
•Isn't she as cute as the dickens!
Dickensian buildings, living conditions etc are poor, dirty, and unpleasant:
•a single mother living in a Dickensian block of flats $ [I] informal especially AmE
to argue about or discuss the details of a sale, agreement etc
[+about/over]
•Politicians in Washington are still dickering over the budget.
another spelling of DICKY^2 [C] spoken not polite
an offensive word for a stupid annoying person, especially a man:
•Don't be such a dickhead! BrE old-fashioned
weak, and likely to break or not work properly
dicky heart/ticker (=a heart that is weak and not very healthy)dickey [C]
a false shirt front or collar worn under a suit or dress $ [C] BrE informal
1 a small bird - used by or when speaking to children
2 not hear a dickybird to not hear any news about someone or something:
•'Have you heard from them since they moved?' 'No, not a dickybird.'
a plural of DICTUM $ [C] trademark
an office machine on which you can record speech so that someone can listen to it and TYPE it later $
1 [I,T] to say words for someone else to write down
dictate a letter/memo etc to sb
•She's dictating a letter to her secretary right now.
2 [I,T] to tell someone exactly what they must do or how they must behave
[+to]
•The media cannot be allowed to dictate to the government.
dictate who/what/how etc
•Can they dictate how the money will be spent?
•Federal funds have to be used as dictated by Washington.
dictate that
•Islamic custom dictates that women should be fully covered.
•The US government attempted to dictate the terms of the agreement.
3 [T] to control or influence something; = determine
dictate what/how etc
•Funds dictate what we can do.
dictate that
•The laws of physics dictate that what goes up must come down.
•The massive publicity dictated a response from the city government. [C]
an order, rule, or principle that you have to obey
[+of]
•teenagers following the dictates of fashion
1 [U] when you say words for someone to write down:
•There were no secretaries available to take dictation (=write down what someone is saying).
2 [C] a piece of writing that a teacher reads out to test your ability to hear and write the words correctly:
•I hate doing French dictations. $ [C]
1 a ruler who has complete power over a country, especially one whose power has been gained by force:
•the downfall of the hated dictator
2 someone who tells other people what they should do, in a way that seems unreasonable:
•a real little dictator
1 a dictatorial government or ruler has complete power over a country:
•dictatorial regimes
2 a dictatorial person tells other people what to do in an unreasonable way:
•Professor Clement's dictatorial attitude
- dictatorially adverb $
1 [C,U] government by a ruler who has complete power
2 [C] a country that is ruled by one person who has complete power [U]
1 the way in which someone pronounces words
clear/perfect/good etc diction
•She had perfect diction.
2 the choice and use of words and phrases to express meaning, especially in literature $ plural dictionaries [C]
1 a book that gives a list of words in alphabetical order and explains their meanings in the same language, or another language:
•a German - English dictionary
2 a book that explains the words and phrases used in a particular subject:
•a science dictionary plural dictums or dicta [C]
1 a formal statement of opinion by someone who is respected or has authority
2 a short phrase that expresses a general rule or truth:
•Descartes' famous dictum: 'I think; therefore, I am'
the past tense of DO
1 speech or writing that is didactic is intended to teach people a moral lesson:
•His novel has a didactic tone.
2 someone who is didactic is too eager to teach people things or give instructions
- didactically adverb [T] BrE informal
to get money from someone by deceiving them
diddle sb out of sth
•They'll diddle you out of your last penny if you give them the chance.also diddlysquat AmE informal
not know/mean diddly to know or mean nothing at all:
•Brad? He doesn't know diddly about baseball. [C]
a long wooden musical instrument, played especially in Australia
the short form of 'did not':
•You saw him, didn't you?
•I didn't want to go.
thou didst old use you did past tense and past participle died, present participle dying, third person singular dies [I]
1 BECOME DEAD to stop living and become dead:
•He died in 1985 at the age of 76.
•Her father died suddenly in an accident when she was only ten.
[+of/from]
•The animals died of starvation in the snow.
•patients who are dying from cancer
•She died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 98.
die for sth (=be killed while fighting to defend something)
•Do you believe in anything enough to die for it?
die young/happy/poor
•She died young, at the age of 27.
•The bullet went straight through his head, and he died instantly.
to your dying day/until the day you die (=until you die)
•It must remain a secret until the day I die.
sb's dying breath/wish (=someone's last breath or wish)
•It was his dying wish that the house be opened to the public.
die a hero/martyr/rich man etc
•My uncle died a hero.
die a natural/violent/agonizing death
•Did she die a natural death (=did she die naturally, or did someone kill her?)?
2 DISAPPEAR to disappear or stop existing:
•Our love will never die.
•The family name will die with him (=disappear when he dies).
•He's one of a dying breed (=a type of person that is no longer common).
3 MACHINES informal to stop working; = break down
•The engine spluttered and died.
die on sb (=stop working while they are using it)
•The mower just died on me.
4 be dying for sth/to do sth spoken to want something very much:
•I'm dying for a cup of coffee.
•She was dying to ask where he'd got it.
•I'm dying to see what it is.
5 be dying of hunger/thirst/boredom spoken to be very hungry, thirsty, bored etc:
•Do you fancy a cup of tea? I'm dying of thirst.
6 I nearly died/I could have died spoken used to say that you felt very surprised or embarrassed:
•I nearly died when I saw it was my ex-husband!
7 I'd rather die spoken used to say very strongly that you do not want to do something:
•I'd rather die than work for him!
8 in the dying minutes/seconds/moments (of sth) during the last minutes or seconds before the end of something:
•United scored an equaliser in the dying minutes of the game.
9 old habits/traditions/customs die hard used to say that it takes a long time to change to a new way of doing something
10 never say die spoken used to encourage someone to continue doing something that is difficult
11 die a/the death informal to gradually fail or be forgotten:
•The rumour gradually died a death.
12 die laughing spoken to laugh a lot:
•We nearly died laughing when he told us.
13 to die for informal if something is to die for, it is extremely nice, attractive, or desirable:
•She had hair to die for.

PHRASAL VERBS
die away phr v
if sound, wind, or light dies away, it becomes gradually weaker until you cannot hear, feel, or see it:
•Her voice died away as she saw the look on David's face.
•She waited until the footsteps had died away.

die back phr v
if a plant dies back, it dies above the ground but remains alive at its roots

die down phr v
if something dies down, it becomes less strong, active, or violent:
•Don't worry, the gossip will soon die down.
•when the excitement had died down

die off phr v
if a group of people or animals die off, they die one by one until there are no more of them

die out phr v
to disappear or stop existing completely:
•The wild population of koalas is in danger of dying out.
•There will be outbreaks of rain, gradually dying out in the afternoon.

WORD FOCUS: die
a ceremony for someone who has died:
funeral a ceremony at which someone who has died is buried or burned
burial when someone's body is put into the ground
cremation when someone's body is burned
hearse a large car that takes the body to the funeral
coffin a box in which someone is buried or carried to the funeral
grave the place where someone is buried
graveyard /cemetery an area where dead people are buried
undertaker someone who arranges funerals
the mourners the people at a funeral
[C]
1 a metal block used to press or cut something into a particular shape
2 a DICE
3 the die is cast used to say that a decision has been taken and cannot now be changed[U]
the process of making metal objects by forcing liquid metal into a hollow container with a particular shape, and then allowing it to become hard $ [C]
someone who opposes change and refuses to accept new ideas
- diehard adjective
•a few diehard fans
old habits die hard at DIE^1 (9)
1 [U] a type of heavy oil used instead of petrol in engines, especially in trucks, buses, and trains:
•a 1.9 litre diesel engine
diesel car/truck etc
2 [C] informal a vehicle that uses dieselalso diesel oil [U]
DIESEL
1 [C,U] the kind of food that a person or animal eats each day
balanced/healthy/poor etc diet
•It is important to have a balanced, healthy diet.
•the effects of poor diet and lack of exercise
vegetarian/high-fibre/Western etc diet
[+of]
•They exist on a diet of fish.
•Bamboo is the panda's staple diet (=main food).
in sb's diet
•the importance of vitamins and minerals in your diet
2 [C] a limited range and amount of food that you eat when you want to get thinner
go/be on a diet
•Lyn always seems to be on a diet.
3 [C] a limited type of food and drink that someone is allowed because they have a health problem:
•a salt-free diet
4 a diet of sth too much of an activity that you think is boring or has bad effects:
•Kids today are raised on a constant diet of pop music and television.
5 [C] old-fashioned an official meeting to discuss political or church matters[I]
to limit the amount and type of food that you eat, in order to become thinner; = slim[only before noun]
diet drinks or foods contain less sugar or fat than ordinary ones:
• a diet soda $
related to the food someone eats; nutritional
•special dietary requirements $ [C]
someone who is trying to become thinner by controlling what they eat [U]
the science that is concerned with what people eat and drink and how this affects their healthdietitian [C]
someone who is trained to give people advice about what it is healthy for them to eat and drink $ [I]
1 to be different from something in some way:
•The two systems differ in many respects.
[+from]
•People differ from one another in their ability to handle stress.
[+between]
•The symptoms did not differ between the two groups.
differ widely/greatly/significantly etc
•We soon found that prices differed enormously.
•Experts have differing views on the subject.
2 if two people or groups differ about something, they have opposite opinions; = disagree
[+about/on/over]
•The two lawyers differed about how to present the case.
3 agree to differ to stop arguing with someone and accept that you will never agree
4 I beg to differ spoken formal used to say that you disagree with someone
1 [C,U] a way in which two or more people or things are not like each other; similarity

big/major/important/significant difference
small/minor difference
subtle difference (=not obvious)
marked difference (=very noticeable)
there's no difference (=they are the same)
there's very little difference (=they are very similar)
there's a world of difference (=they are very different)
know/can tell the difference (=be able to recognize the difference)
spot the difference (=notice the difference)

[+between]
•The main difference between the groups was age.
•There's a big difference between knowing that something is true, and being able to prove it.
[+in]
•Researchers found a number of important differences in the way boys and girls learn.
• subtle differences in meaning
•There was a marked difference in his behavior toward me.
• There was certainly no difference between them in terms of intelligence.
• There is very little difference between the parties on green issues.
• There's a world of difference between us.
•Do children know the difference between right and wrong?
•See if you can spot the difference between these two pictures.
•Class differences still play an important role in society.

2 [singular, U] the amount by which one thing is greater or smaller than another
difference in age/size etc
•There's not much difference in price.
•There's a five-hour time difference between London and New York.
split the difference at SPLIT^1 (9)
3 make a/the difference to have an important effect or influence on something or someone:
•Whatever she did, it made no difference.
[+to]
•One more person wouldn't make any difference to the arrangements.
[+between]
•It could make the difference between missing your train and getting to work on time.
•Having a good teacher has made all the difference for Alex (=had an important influence).
4 it makes no difference to sb used to say that it does not matter to someone which thing happens, is chosen etc:
•Morning or afternoon. It makes no difference to me.
5 our/your/their differences disagreements:
•We've had our differences in the past, but we get on OK now.
settle/resolve your differences (=agree not to argue any more)
6 difference of opinion a slight disagreement:
•There have been some differences of opinion as to exactly how the money should be spent.
7 with a difference informal used to describe something which is interesting or unusual, especially in a good way:
•an adventure holiday with a difference
1 not like something or someone else, or not like before; similar

very/quite different
completely/totally/entirely different
radically different (=very different)
significantly/markedly different (=different in a very noticeable way)
slightly different
subtly different (=different in a way that is not easy to notice)
refreshingly different (=different in a good way)
no different (from/to sth)
a different world (=a very different situation or environment)

[+from]
•Our sons are very different from each other.
[+to]
•Her jacket's different to mine.
[+than] AmE
•He seemed different than he did in New York.
•The place looks completely different now.
•They decided to try a radically different approach.
• We found women had significantly different political views from men.
•a slightly different way of doing things
• What actually happened was subtly different from the PR people's version.
•The show is refreshingly different from most exhibitions of modern art.
• The publishing business is no different from any other business in this respect.
•It's a different world here in London.
!! In spoken British English, different from and different to are both common, but teachers prefer different from. Different than is also used in American English and occasionally in British English. Do not say different of.

2 [only before noun] used to talk about two or more separate things of the same basic kind; = various
•Different people reacted in different ways.
different types/kinds etc
•There are many different types of fabric.
•I looked in lots of different books but couldn't find anything about it.
3 [only before noun] another:
•I think she's moved to a different job now.
4 spoken unusual, often in a way that you do not like:
•'What did you think of the film?' 'Well, it was certainly different.'
- differently adverb
•I didn't expect to be treated any differently from anyone else.
•Things could have turned out quite differently. [C]
1 formal a difference between things, especially between the wages of people doing different types of jobs in the same industry or profession
pay/wage/salary differential
2 technical a differential gear
based on or depending on a difference:
•differential rates of pay
•differential treatment of part-time and full-time staff[U]
a way of measuring the speed at which an object is moving at a particular moment[C] technical
an arrangement of GEARs that allows one back wheel of a car to turn faster than the other when the car goes around a corner
1 [I,T] to recognize or express the difference between things or people; = distinguish
[+between]
•It's important to differentiate between fact and opinion.
differentiate sth from sth
•It's sometimes hard to differentiate one sample from another.
2 [T] to be the quality, feature etc that makes one thing or person clearly different from another; = distinguish
•What differentiates these two periods of history?
differentiate sth from sth
•Its unusual nesting habits differentiate this bird from others.
3 [I] to behave differently towards someone or something, especially in an unfair way; = discriminate
[+between]
•a policy which differentiates between men and women
- differentiation noun [U]
•socio-economic differentiation
1 hard to do, understand, or deal with; easy
•a difficult question
•an immensely difficult task
•Was the exam very difficult?
• It's difficult to see how more savings can be made.
difficult (for sb) to understand/find/obtain etc
•That's rather difficult for me to explain.
•He's finding it difficult to get a job.
2 involving a lot of problems and causing a lot of trouble or worry:
•a difficult situation
•Things are a bit difficult at home at the moment.
•There could be difficult times ahead.
make life/things difficult for sb (=cause problems for someone)
•She's doing everything she can to make life difficult for him.
3 someone who is difficult never seems pleased or satisfied; = awkward
•Don't be so difficult!
•a difficult customer

WORD FOCUS: difficult
difficult to do:
hard
tough
challenging
daunting
difficult and needing a lot of physical effort:
tough
strenuous
back-breaking
gruelling
arduous
punishing
difficult to deal with or talk about:
tricky
awkward
delicate
sensitive
touchy
words for describing a difficult person:
awkward
trying
words for describing difficult conditions:
adverse
hostile
plural difficulties
1 [U] if you have difficulty doing something, it is difficult for you to do
have/experience difficulty (in) doing sth
•They had great difficulty in finding a replacement.
with/without difficulty
•He got to his feet with difficulty.
!! Do not say that someone 'has difficulty to do something'. Say that someone has difficulty doing something or has difficulty in doing something.
2 [C usually plural] a problem or something that causes trouble

have/experience/encounter difficulties
run/get into difficulties (=experience difficulties)
difficulties arise
overcome difficulties
cause difficulties (for sb)
be fraught with/beset by difficulties (=involve a lot of difficulties)
practical difficulties
mechanical/technical difficulties
financial difficulties (=a bad financial situation)
breathing difficulties
behavioural difficulties (=bad behaviour)
marital difficulties (=problems between a husband and wife)

[+with]
•There are several difficulties with this theory.
•If you have any difficulties, give me a call.
•The project soon ran into difficulties.
• Difficulties can arise when there is more than one defendant.
•We're confident that the legal difficulties can be overcome.
•The rearrangement of school classes may cause timetabling difficulties.
•Their ten years of marriage have been fraught with difficulties.
• the practical difficulties of prosecuting alleged war criminals
•The broadcast was delayed because of technical difficulties.
•She developed breathing difficulties during the night.

3 [U] if you are in difficulty, you are in a situation in which you have problems
in difficulty
•The business is in financial difficulty.
get/run into difficulty (=get into a difficult situation)
•She soon got into difficulty with debt.
4 [U] the quality of being difficult to do
the difficulty of (doing) sth
•the difficulty of solving such problems
5 [U] how difficult something is:
•The tests vary in difficulty.
LEARNING DIFFICULTIES
shy and not wanting to make people notice you or talk about you
diffident manner/smile/voice etc
[+about]
•He was diffident about his own success.
- diffidently adverb
- diffidence noun [U] [T] technical
to bend light or sound waves as they pass around something or through a hole; refract
- diffraction noun [U]
1 [I,T] to make heat, light, liquid etc spread through something, or to spread like this
[+through/into/across]
•The pollutants diffuse into the soil.
2 [I,T] to spread ideas or information among a lot of people, or to spread like this:
•Their ideas diffused quickly across Europe.
3 [T] to make a bad feeling or situation less strong or serious:
•an attempt to diffuse his anger
- diffusion noun [U]
1 spread over a large area:
•The organization is large and diffuse.
2 using a lot of words and not explaining things clearly and directly:
•His writing is diffuse and difficult to understand.
- diffuseness noun [U] past tense and past participle dug , present participle digging
1 [I,T] to move earth, snow etc, or to make a hole in the ground, using a SPADE or your hands
dig a hole/trench/grave etc
•They dig a small hole in the sand to bury their eggs.
[+down]
•Dig down about 6 inches.
[+for]
•birds digging for worms
2 [T] to remove something, especially vegetables, from the ground using a SPADE:
•freshly dug carrots
3 [I,T always + adv/prep] to put your hand into something, especially in order to search for something:
•She dug around in her bag for a pen.
•He dug his hands deep into his pockets.
4 dig your heels in to refuse to do something in spite of other people's efforts to persuade you
5 dig deep to use something which you have, especially money or effort, which you would not normally need:
•With one man sent off, the team had to dig deep and hang on for a draw.
6 dig a hole for yourself also dig yourself into a hole to get yourself into a difficult situation by doing or saying the wrong thing
7 dig sb out of trouble/a mess/a hole etc to help a person or organization get out of trouble
8 dig your own grave to do something that will cause serious problems for you in the future
9 [T] old-fashioned to like something:
•I dig that hat!

PHRASAL VERBS
dig in phr v
1 dig sth <=> in also dig sth into sth to mix something into soil by digging:
•Dig some fertiliser into the soil first.
2 also dig (sth) into sth to push a hard or pointed object into something, especially someone's body, or to press into something:
•She dug her finger nails into his arm.
dig sth <=> in
•He dug his spurs in and urged his horse on.
•I could feel one of the hooks digging in.
3 if a group of people, especially soldiers, dig in, they make a protected place for themselves or prepare for a difficult situation:
•The troops dug in along the defensive line.
•We just have to dig in and hope we can turn things around.
4 also dig into sth informal to start eating food that is in front of you:
•Go in - dig in!
•He was already digging into his pie and chips.

dig into sth phr v
1 to start using a supply of something, especially money:
•I'm going to have to dig into my savings again.
2 to try to find out about something unknown or secret:
•He had been digging into her past.
DIG IN

dig sth <=> out phr v
1 to get something out of earth, snow etc using a SPADE or your hands
[+of]
•We had to dig the car out of a snow drift.
2 to find something you have not seen for a long time, or that is not easy to find:
•I must remember to dig out that book for you.

dig sth <=> up phr v
1 to remove something from the earth using a SPADE:
•I'll dig up that plant and move it.
2 to remove the surface of an area of ground, road etc, or to make holes in it:
•They're digging up the road just outside my flat.
3 to find hidden or forgotten information by careful searching:
•They tried to dig up something from his past to spoil his chances of being elected.[C]
1 a joke or remark that you make to annoy or criticize someone
[+at]
•He couldn't resist a dig at the referee.
•Here was a chance to have a dig at trade unionists.
2 give sb a dig to push someone quickly and lightly with your finger or elbow:
•Ginnie gave her sister a dig in the ribs.
3 an organized process of digging in order to find ancient objects for study:
•an archaeological dig
4 digs [plural] BrE old-fashioned a room that you pay rent to live in
in digs
•He's 42 and still living in digs. [T]
1 to change food that you have just eaten into substances that your body can use:
•Most babies can digest a wide range of food easily.
INGEST
2 to understand new information, especially when there is a lot of it or it is difficult to understand:
•I struggled to digest the news. [C]
a short piece of writing that gives the most important facts from a book, report etc
food that is digestible can be easily digested; indigestible
1 [U] the process of digesting food
2 [C] your ability to digest food easily:
•Too much tea is bad for your digestion. [only before noun]
connected with the process of digestion
digestive system/organs/juices etcalso digestive [C]
a type of plain slightly sweet BISCUIT that is popular in Britain $ [C]
a large machine that digs and moves earth
GOLD DIGGER [plural]
a place where people are digging holes in the ground [C]
a type of camera that can store pictures in a DIGITAL form which can be put into a computer, rather than on film [C]
1 one of the written signs that represent the numbers 0 to 9
three-digit/four-digit etc number
•4305 is a four-digit number.
2 technical a finger or toe
1 using a system in which information is recorded or sent out electronically in the form of numbers, usually ones and zeros:
•digital TV
•a digital signal
•a digital camera
•digital recording
digital cassette/audiotape etc
•a recording on digital audiotape
2 giving information in the form of numbers; analogue
•a digital watch
3 formal relating to the fingers and toes
- digitally adverb[C]
information on an electronic message that proves who the person sending the message is
1 also digital [U] a system of broadcasting using digital signals; analogue, cable
2 [C] a television which can receive digital broadcastsalso digitise BrE [T]
to put information into a digital form
behaving in a calm and serious way, even in a difficult situation, which makes people respect you:
•a dignified old lady
•She made a dignified departure. past tense and past participle dignified, present participle dignifying, third person singular dignifies [T]
to make something or someone seem better or more important than they really are, especially by using a particular word to describe them
dignify sb/sth with sth
•I cannot dignify him with the name 'physician'. $ plural dignitaries [C]
someone who has an important official position; = VIP
•Flowers were presented to visiting dignitaries. [U]
1 the ability to behave in a calm controlled way even in a difficult situation
with dignity
•The family faced their ordeal with dignity and courage.
•an appearance of quiet dignity
2 your dignity your sense of your own value or importance
retain/lose your dignity
•Old people need to retain their dignity and independence.
•Arguing was beneath her dignity (=was something she thought she was too important to do).
3 the fact of being respected or deserving respect
with dignity
•Patients should be allowed to die with dignity.
•Prisoners should be treated with regard for human dignity.
4 a calm and serious quality
[+of]
•the dignity of the occasion
5 stand on your dignity formal to demand to be treated with proper respect [I]
to talk or write about something that is not your main subject:
•Do you mind if I digress for a moment?
- digression noun [C,U]
•After several long digressions he finally reached the interesting part of the story.
another spelling of DYKE [C,U]
an order that is forced on people by a ruler or government:
•government by diktat
a dilapidated building, vehicle etc is old and in very bad condition; derelict
- dilapidation noun [U] [I,T]
if a hollow part of your body dilates or if something dilates it, it becomes wider; contract
•dilated pupils

PHRASAL VERBS
dilate on/upon sth phr v formal
to speak or write a lot about something:
•He dilated upon their heroism.
- dilation noun [U] $ formal
slow in doing something $ plural dildos [C]
an object shaped like a male sex organ that a woman can use for sexual pleasure [C]
a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what to do, because all the choices seem equally good or equally bad:
•a moral dilemma
in a dilemma
•I'm in a dilemma about this job offer.
•This placed Robert Kennedy in a dilemma.
•Many women are faced with the dilemma of choosing between work and family commitments.
be on the horns of a dilemma at HORN^1 (6) $ [C]
someone who is not serious about what they are doing or does not study a subject thoroughly
- dilettante adjective [only before noun]
someone who is diligent works hard and is careful and thorough:
•a diligent student
- diligently adverb
•They worked diligently all morning.
- diligence noun [U] [U]
a type of herb[C]
a whole CUCUMBER which has been preserved in VINEGAR past tense and past participle dilly-dallied, present participle dilly-dallying, third person singular dilly-dallies [I]
to waste time, because you cannot decide about something:
•Don't dilly-dally, just get on with it! $ [T]
1 to make a liquid weaker by adding water or another liquid; water down
•diluted fruit juice
dilute sth with/in sth
•Dilute the paint with a little oil.
2 to make a quality, belief etc weaker or less effective; water down
•an attempt to dilute the proposals
- dilution noun [C,U]
•Any dilution of standards must be resisted.
a dilute liquid has been made weaker by the addition of water or another liquid:
•dilute hydrochloric acid comparative dimmer, superlative dimmest
1 DARK fairly dark or not giving much light, so that you cannot see well; bright
•in the dim light of the early dawn
•a dim glow
2 SHAPE a dim shape is one which is not easy to see because it is too far away, or there is not enough light:
•The dim outline of a building loomed up out of the mist.
3 take a dim view of sth to disapprove of something:
•Miss Watson took a dim view of Paul's behaviour.
4 dim recollection/awareness etc a memory or understanding of something that is not clear in your mind; = vague
•Laura had a dim recollection of someone telling her this before.
5 EYES literary dim eyes are weak and cannot see well:
•Isaac was old and his eyes were dim.
6 FUTURE CHANCES if your chances of success in the future are dim, they are not good:
•Prospects for an early settlement of the dispute are dim.
7 in the dim and distant past a very long time ago - used humorously
8 NOT INTELLIGENT informal not intelligent:
•You can be really dim sometimes!
- dimly adverb
•a dimly lit room
•She was only dimly aware of the risk.
- dimness noun [U]past tense and past participle dimmed, present participle dimming
1 [I,T] if a light dims, or if you dim it, it becomes less bright:
•The lights in the theatre began to dim.
2 [I,T] if a feeling, quality etc dims or is dimmed, it grows weaker or less:
•Even the rain could not dim their enthusiasm.
•Hopes of a peaceful settlement have dimmed.
3 dim your headlights/lights AmE to lower the angle of the front lights of your car, especially when someone is driving towards you; = dip BrE [C]
1 a coin of the US and Canada, worth one tenth of a dollar
2 a dime a dozen AmE informal very common and not valuable; = ten a penny BrE
•PhDs are a dime a dozen nowadays.[C] AmE
a cheap book with a story that contains a lot of exciting events [C]
1 a part of a situation or a quality involved in it; = aspect
[+of]
•the moral dimension of world politics
add a new/an extra/another etc dimension (to sth)
•His coaching has added another dimension to my game.
political/social/economic etc dimension
•It is important to keep in mind the historical dimension to these issues.
•You can have a spiritual dimension to your life without being religious.
2 [usually plural] the length, height, width, depth, or DIAMETER of something:
•a rectangle with the dimensions 5cm x 2cm
[+of]
•We'll need to know the exact dimensions of the room.
3 a direction in space that is at an angle of 90 degrees to two other directions:
•A diagram represents things in only two dimensions.
FOURTH DIMENSION, THREE-DIMENSIONAL (1), TWO-DIMENSIONAL (1)
4 dimensions [plural] how great or serious a problem is:
•We're heading for a catastrophe of enormous dimensions.[C] AmE
a shop that sells many different kinds of cheap goods, especially for the house
1 [I,T] to become or make something become smaller or less; = reduce
•The party's share of the electorate has diminished steadily.
•These drugs diminish blood flow to the brain.
2 [T] to deliberately make someone or something appear less important or valuable than they really are:
•Don't let him diminish your achievements.
•But that's not to diminish the importance of his discoveries.
3 diminishing returns when the profits or advantages you are getting from something stop increasing in relation to the effort you are makingalso diminished capacity AmE [U] law
when someone is not considered to be responsible for their actions because they are mentally ill $ plural diminuendos [C]
a part in a piece of music where it becomes gradually quieter; crescendo
- diminuendo adjective, adverb $ [C,U] formal
a reduction in the size, number, or amount of something
[+of/in]
•a diminution in value
small:
•a shy diminutive man[C]
a word formed by adding a diminutive suffix[C] technical
an ending that is added to a word to express smallness, for example 'ling' added to 'duck' to make 'duckling'also dimmer switch $ [C]
an electric light switch that can change the brightness of the light [C]
1 a small hollow place on your skin, especially one on your cheek or chin when you smile
2 a small hollow place in a surface
- dimpled adjective
•dimpled cheeks [C] spoken
a stupid person
- #dim-=witted adjective [singular]
a loud unpleasant noise that continues for a long time
[+of]
•The din of the engines was deafening.
above the din
•Ged was trying to make himself heard above the din.past tense and past participle dinned, present participle dinning

PHRASAL VERBS
din sth into sb phr v
to make someone learn and remember something by saying it to them many times:
•Respect for our elders was dinned into us at school. $ [C]
the standard unit of money in Yugoslavia and some Middle Eastern countries [I] formal
to eat dinner:
•He was dining with friends at the Ritz.

PHRASAL VERBS
dine on/off sth phr v formal
to eat a particular kind of food for dinner, especially expensive food:
•We dined on lobster and strawberries.

dine out phr v
1 formal to eat dinner in a restaurant or in someone else's house; eat out
•They would dine out together once a month.
2 dine out on sth BrE informal to keep using a story about something that has happened to you, in order to entertain people at meals
wine and dine sb at WINE^2 $ [C]
1 someone who is eating in a restaurant
2 especially AmE a small restaurant that serves cheap meals [C] AmE
a small area, usually in or near the kitchen, where people eat mealsalso dingbat [C] AmE spoken
a stupid person:
•Some ding-a-ling parked too close to us. $
1 [U] the noise made by a bell
2 [singular] BrE spoken a noisy argument:
•They were having a real ding-dong in the kitchen.
3 [C] AmE spoken a stupid person plural dinghies [C]
a small open boat used for pleasure, or for taking people between a ship and the shore
RUBBER DINGHY $ plural dingoes [C]
an Australian wild dog comparative dingier, superlative dingiest
dark, dirty, and in bad condition:
•a dingy room
•a dingy side-street
- dinginess noun [U][C]
a carriage on a train where meals are served; = restaurant car[C]
a room where you eat meals in a house or hotel[C]
a table at which you eat meals
DINNER TABLE
fair dinkum spoken informal fair or honest - used in Australian English informal
1 BrE small and attractive:
•a dinky little bag
2 AmE too small and often not very nice:
•It was a really dinky hotel room. $
1 [C,U] the main meal of the day, eaten in the middle of the day or the evening
to dinner
•Perhaps we should invite them to dinner.
for dinner
•We're having fish for dinner tonight.
•What time do you usually have dinner?
•We eat dinner at about seven.
•a three course dinner
school dinners BrE (=meals provided in the middle of the day at school)
dinner money BrE (=money children are given to pay for their meal at school)
Sunday/Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner (=a special meal eaten on Sunday, at Christmas, at Thanksgiving etc)
•dinner guests
2 [C] a formal occasion when an evening meal is eaten, often to celebrate something:
•The Club's annual dinner will be held in November.
dog's dinner at DOG^1 (9); more sth than you've had hot dinners at HOT^1 (30); TV DINNER

WORD CHOICE: dinner, supper, tea, lunch
In Britain, the main meal of the day is dinner and it is usually eaten in the evening. Some people call this meal supper, but to others supper is a very small meal that is eaten just before they go to bed. Some people call this main evening meal tea, but to others tea is a small meal that is eaten in the afternoon.
Some people use dinner to refer to the meal they eat in the middle of the day, but if you want to be clear that you are referring to this meal, use lunch.

[C]
a social event in the evening, that includes a formal meal and music for dancing[C] BrE
a black or white jacket worn by men on very formal occasions, usually with a BOW TIE[C] BrE
a woman who serves meals to children at school[C]
a social event when people are invited to someone's house for an evening mealalso dinner set [C]
a complete set of plates, dishes etc, used for serving a meal
the dinner table
a) an occasion when people are eating dinner together:
•It wasn't a very suitable conversation for the dinner table.
b) the table at which people eat dinner
DINING TABLE[C,U] AmE
a restaurant in which you see a play after your meal, or this type of entertainment $ [U]
the time when you usually have dinner, especially in the middle of the day:
•Do you want to go for a drink at dinnertime? $ [C]
1 one of a group of REPTILEs that lived millions of years ago
2 informal someone or something that is old-fashioned and no longer effective or suitable for modern times:
•lengthy speeches by some of the party's dinosaurs
by dint of (doing) sth by using a particular method:
•By dint of hard work and persistence, she had got the job of manager. [C]
the area under the control of a BISHOP in some Christian churches
- diocesan $ adjective $ [C] technical
a piece of electrical equipment that makes an electrical current flow in one direction $ [C,U]
a chemical COMPOUND that contains two atoms of oxygen and one atom of another chemical ELEMENT
CARBON DIOXIDE $ [C,U]
a very poisonous chemical used in industry and farmingBrE
the written abbreviation of diploma past tense and past participle dipped, present participle dipping
1 PUT STH IN LIQUID [T] to put something into a liquid and lift it out again
dip sth in/into sth
•He dipped his hand in the water.
•Dip the strawberries into melted chocolate.
2 MOVE DOWN [I,T] to move down, or to make something move down, usually for just a short time:
•We watched the sun dip below the horizon.
•She dipped her head and spoke into the microphone.
3 BECOME LESS [I] if an amount or level dips, it becomes less, usually for just a short time; = fall
•Profits dipped slightly last year.
•Temperatures dipped to -10°C last night.
4 ROAD/PATH [C] if land or a road or path dips, it slopes down and then goes up again
5 dip your headlights/lights BrE to lower the angle of the front lights of your car when someone is driving towards you
6 ANIMALS [T] to put animals in a chemical that kills insects on their skin

PHRASAL VERBS
dip into sth phr v
1 to read short parts of a book, magazine etc, but not the whole thing:
•It's the kind of book you can dip into now and again.
2 to use some of an amount of money that you have:
•Medical bills forced her to dip into her savings.
•Parents are being asked to dip into their pockets for new school books (=use their own money to pay for them).
3 to put your hand into a bag or box in order to take out one of the things inside:
•On her lap was a bag of candy which she kept dipping into.
SKINNY-DIPPING
1 SWIM [C] informal a quick swim:
•Are you coming in for a dip?
take/have a dip
•Let's take a dip in the lake before lunch.
2 DECREASE [C] a slight decrease in the amount of something
[+in]
•an unexpected dip in profits
3 FOOD [C,U] a thick mixture that you can dip food into before you eat it:
•sour cream and onion dip
4 IN A SURFACE [C] a place where the surface of something goes down suddenly, then goes up again
[+in]
•a dip in the road
5 FOR ANIMALS [C,U] a chemical that kills insects on sheep and other animals:
• sheep dip
6 PERSON [C] AmE spoken a stupid person
7 a dip into sth a quick look at information, a book, magazine etc:
•People interested in history would enjoy a dip into this book.
LUCKY DIP $ [U]
a serious infectious throat disease that makes breathing difficult $ [C] technical
a vowel sound made by pronouncing two vowels quickly one after the other. For example, the vowel sound in 'main' is a diphthong. $ [C]
1 BrE a document showing that someone has successfully completed a course of study or passed an examination:
•I'm hoping to get my teaching diploma this year.
[+in]
•a diploma in catering
2 AmE a document showing that a student has successfully completed their HIGH SCHOOL or university education
high school/college diploma $ [U]
1 the job or activity of managing the relationships between countries:
•international diplomacy
2 skill in dealing with people without upsetting them:
•The job requires tact and diplomacy.
gunboat diplomacy at GUNBOAT (2) [C]
1 someone who officially represents their government in a foreign country; ambassador
•French diplomats
2 someone who is good at dealing with people without upsetting them
1 relating to or involving the work of diplomats:
•Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting began on Oct 25.
2 diplomatic relations/ties the arrangement between two countries that each should keep representatives at an EMBASSY in the other's country
establish/break off diplomatic relations
•The two countries established diplomatic relations last year.
3 dealing with people politely and skilfully without upsetting them; = tactful
•They were always very diplomatic with awkward clients.
•a diplomatic answer
- diplomatically adverb
•Maria handled the situation very diplomatically.[C]
a bag or container used for sending official government documents to diplomats working abroad[U]
all the diplomats working in a particular country[U]
a diplomat's special rights in the country where they are working, which protect them from local taxes and PROSECUTION
the Diplomatic Service the British government department that sends people to represent Britain in other countries $ [C] old-fashioned
a DIPLOMAT $ [C]
1 a small bird that finds its food in streams
2 a large spoon with a long handle, used for taking liquid out of a container
BIG DIPPER informal
silly or crazy [C] AmE spoken not polite
an offensive word for a stupid person [C] BrE old-fashioned
someone who has a very strong desire for alcohol, which they cannot control; = alcoholic [C]
1 a stick for measuring the amount of liquid in a container, especially the amount of oil in a car's engine
2 spoken a stupid person [C]
a picture made in two parts which can be closed like a book
TRIPTYCH $
1 extremely serious or terrible:
•warnings of dire consequences that often don't come true
•The country is in dire need of food aid.
•The situation looked dire.
2 be in dire straits to be in an extremely difficult or serious situation:
•Everyone agrees the sport is in dire straits.
3 dire warning/prediction/forecast a warning about something terrible that will happen in the future:
•Last night there were dire warnings of civil war.
1 WITHOUT INVOLVING OTHERS done without any other people, actions, processes etc coming between; indirect
•Experienced users have direct access to the main data files.
•I'm not in direct contact with them.
•Few policy-makers have had direct experience of business.
direct effect/impact/influence etc
•Educational level has a sizeable direct effect on income.
direct link/connection/relationship etc
•There is a direct link between poverty and ill-health.
direct result/consequence
•The decision to close the hospital is a direct result of Government health policy.
2 FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER going straight from one place to another without stopping or changing direction; indirect
•Which is the most direct route to London?
•a direct flight to New York
3 EXACT [only before noun] exact or total:
•Weight increases in direct proportion to mass.
•For Lawrence, in direct contrast to Adam, everything seemed to come so easily.
•a direct quote (=exact words) from the book
4 BEHAVIOUR/ATTITUDE saying exactly what you mean in an honest clear way; indirect
•Women often feel men are too direct and not sympathetic enough.
•Now, let me ask you a direct question, and I expect a direct answer.
5 direct descendant someone who is related to someone else through their parents and grandparents, not through their AUNTs , UNCLEs etc
[+of]
•She claimed to be a direct descendant of Wordsworth.
6 direct hit an occasion on which something such as a bomb hits a place exactly, causing a lot of damage:
•During the war, the cathedral suffered many direct hits.
•One of the bombers scored a direct hit.
7 direct heat/sunlight strong heat or light that someone or something is not protected from; indirect
•Never change the film in direct sunlight.
DIRECTLY, DIRECTNESS
1 AIM [T always + adv/prep] to aim something in a particular direction or at a particular person, group etc
direct sth at/towards etc sth
•The machine directs an X-ray beam at the patient's body.
•The new route directs lorries away from the town centre.
•I'd like to direct your attention to paragraph four.
•I want to direct my efforts more towards my own projects.
2 BE IN CHARGE [T] to be in charge of something or control it:
•Mr Turner was directing the investigation from a very early stage.
•The choir was directed by Sir David Willcocks.
3 FILM/PLAY [I,T] to give the actors in a play, film, or television programme instructions about what they should do:
•The play was directed by Frank Hauser.
4 WAY/ROUTE [T] formal to tell someone how to get to a place
direct sb to sth
•Could you direct me to Trafalgar Square, please?
5 TELL SB TO DO STH [T] formal to tell someone what they should do; = order
direct sb to do sth
•The judge directed the jury to find Mr Baggs not guilty.
direct that
•He directed that his body should be buried in Upton, Northamptonshire.

WORD CHOICE: direct, take, guide, lead
If you direct someone somewhere, you tell them which way to go to get there, but you do not go with them: He directed me to a hotel near the airport (NOT He guided me to a hotel near the airport).

!! Do not say that you direct something in a particular direction. Say that you point something in a particular direction: He pointed the gun at the policeman (NOT He directed the gun at the policeman).
If you take, guide, or lead someone somewhere, you go with them there: I'll take you to the airport. Use guide especially to talk about helping someone along a difficult route: They guided me through a maze of one-way streets. Use lead to talk about going in front of someone who is following you: The waiter led us to a table in the corner.

1 without stopping or changing direction; = directly
•Can we fly direct to Chicago, or do we stop in Salt Lake City first?
2 without dealing with anyone else first; = directly
•Esther decided to contact the manager direct.
•It is usually cheaper to buy the goods direct from the wholesaler.[U] technical
the ability to obtain DATA directly from a computer FILE without starting from the beginning[U]
an action such as a STRIKE or a protest that is intended to make a government or company change something immediately:
•Peaceful direct action by pressure groups has a powerful effect on public opinion.[U]
DC a flow of electricity that moves in one direction only; alternating current[C,U] BrE
an instruction you give your bank to pay money directly out of your account regularly to a particular person or organization[U]
a method of paying someone's wages directly into their bank account
- direct deposit verb [T][U] AmE technical
DIRECT SPEECH
1 TOWARDS [C] the way something or someone moves, faces, or is aimed:
•Which direction did they go in?
in the direction of sth
•The suspects were last seen heading in the direction of Miami.
in sb's direction
•Tony glanced in her direction and their eyes met.
•The girls pointed in the opposite direction.
•On seeing me, Maurice changed direction and went along the wharf instead.
•As shots rang out, the crowd ran screaming in all directions.
from the direction of sth
•There was a loud scream from the direction of the children's pool.
in a southerly/easterly etc direction
•Continue in a southerly direction until you reach the road.
2 directions [plural]
a) instructions about how to get from one place to another:
•A very helpful woman gave me directions to the police station.
b) instructions about what to do
•Be sure you read the directions before using any piece of equipment.
3 WAY STH DEVELOPS [C] the general way in which someone or something changes or develops:
•We are happy with the direction the club is taking.
move/head/go in the right direction
•I believe that things are heading in the right direction in South Africa.
new/different/exciting etc direction
•The company is hoping to extend its operations in new directions.
4 CONTROL [U] control, management, or advice
under sb's direction
•Under Thompson's direction, the college has developed an international reputation.
5 WHERE FROM OR WHERE TO [C] where something comes from or where something leads
in a direction
•The evidence all points in this direction.
from a direction
•Help came from a wholly unexpected direction.
6 PURPOSE [U] a general purpose or aim:
•Her mother felt that Rachel's life lacked direction.
7 FILM/PLAY [U] the instructions given to the actors and other people working on a film, play etc
a step in the right direction at STEP^1 (2) technical
1 relating to the direction in which something is pointing or moving
2 a directional piece of equipment receives or gives out radio signals from some directions more strongly than others
lacking a clear direction or aim:
•I felt directionless and lost. [C]
an official order or instruction
[+on]
•proposals for implementing the EU directive on paternity leaveformal
giving instructions:
•The team leader will have a less directive role.
1 with no other person, action, process etc between; indirectly
•The new property tax law won't directly affect us.
•We hope to bring together the countries directly involved in the conflict.
[+to/from]
•Application for admission to this course should be made directly to the University.
2 exactly in a particular position or direction; = right
directly in front of/behind/under etc sth
•It was a small house, directly behind the church.
•The girl was sitting directly opposite him.
•Have you noticed how he never looks directly at you?
3 speak/ask/answer etc directly to say exactly what you mean without trying to hide anything:
•Jeff has a job in mind, but refuses to say directly what it is.
4 BrE old-fashioned very soon:
•He should be here directly, if you don't mind waiting.
5 BrE old-fashioned immediatelyBrE old-fashioned
as soon as:
•I came directly I got your message.[U]
advertisements that are sent by post to many people[U]
the business of selling things directly to people by post or telephone rather than in shops[singular, U]
a method of teaching a foreign language without using the student's own language [U]
the quality of being clear, plain, or easy to understand:
•She has a childlike enthusiasm and directness.
[+of]
•The directness of the question startled me.[C] technical
in grammar, the person or thing that is affected by the action of a TRANSITIVE verb, for example 'Mary' in the statement 'I saw Mary'
INDIRECT OBJECT $ [C]
1 someone who controls or manages a company; executive
[+of]
•a former director of Gartmore Pensions Ltd
•The company is run by a board of directors (=a group of directors).
2 someone who is in charge of a particular activity or organization
[+of]
•the director of education for Norfolk
finance/marketing/sales etc director (=the person in charge of the financial department etc)
3 the person who gives instructions to the actors and other people working on a film or play; producer [C]
1 the group of directors who run a company; = board
2 a department of a government or large organization in charge of a particular area or activity:
•the regional directorate of education[C] BrE
the person in charge of a large public organization:
•the Director-General of Fair Trading [only before noun]
relating to the work of a film or theatre director:
•De Niro's directorial debut, Tales of the Bronx[C]
a teacher in a British university or language school who is in charge of organizing the students' programmes of study[C]
a film containing all the parts that the director wanted to include, that usually appears after the film has been shown in cinemas without those parts $ [C]
the position of being a director of a company or organization
under the directorship of sb
•The Institute was established in 1960 under the directorship of Professor Leon Radzinowicz. plural directories [C]
1 a book or list of names, facts etc, usually arranged in alphabetical order:
•I couldn't find your number in the telephone directory.
•a new business directory
2 a place in a computer where FILEs or programs are organizeddirectory assistance AmE [U] BrE
a service on the telephone network that you can use to find out someone's telephone number[U]
speech reported using the actual words spoken, as in " 'I don't want to go,' said Julie."
INDIRECT SPEECH, REPORTED SPEECH[C,U]
a tax, such as income tax, which is collected from the person who pays it, rather than a tax on goods or services; indirect tax
- di#rect tax=ation noun [U][only before noun]
direct-to-consumer advertising is aimed at the customer who will buy the product rather than the shops where it will be sold $ [C]
1 a slow sad song sung at a funeral
2 a song or piece of music that is too slow and boring [C]
an AIRSHIP $ [C]
a heavy pointed knife used as a weapon in Scotland in the past $ [U]
1 any substance that makes things dirty, such as mud or dust:
•You should have seen the dirt on that car!
•His face and hands were black with dirt.
•a patch of grass, covered in dog dirt (=waste from a dog's bowels)
2 especially AmE earth or soil:
•Michael threw his handful of dirt onto the coffin.
in (the) dirt
•The children had been sitting in the dirt.
3 informal information about someone's private life or activities which could give people a bad opinion of them if it became known:
•The newspapers had been digging up dirt on the President.
4 talk, writing, a film etc that is considered bad or immoral because it is about sex
dish the dirt at DISH^2; hit/strike paydirt at PAYDIRT; hit the dirt at HIT^1 (17); treat sb like dirt at TREAT^1 (1) $ [C] informal especially AmE
someone who is very unpleasant and immoral[C]
a small MOTORCYCLE for young people, usually ridden on rough paths or fieldsinformal
extremely cheap:
•Such cheap goods obviously rely on dirt cheap labor.
•I got these shoes dirt cheap.[C] AmE informal
a DISHER[C] AmE
a poor farmer who works to feed himself and his family, without paying anyone else to helpinformal
extremely poor[C]
a road made of hard earth[C]
1 a road or path made of hard earth
2 a track used for MOTORCYCLE races $ comparative dirtier, superlative dirtiest
1 NOT CLEAN covered in or marked by an unwanted substance; clean
•a stack of dirty dishes in the sink
•How did you get so dirty?
dirty clothes/washing/laundry
•She circled the bedroom, picking up dirty clothes.
2 SEX relating to sex, in a way that is considered immoral or unpleasant:
•kids telling dirty jokes
•a dirty magazine
•She looked at me as if I had said a dirty word.
have a dirty mind BrE (=think about sex a lot)
dirty weekend BrE (=a weekend when a man and woman who are not married to each other go away to have sex)
3 BAD/IMMORAL used to emphasize that you think someone or something is bad, dishonest, or immoral:
•You're a dirty liar!
•a dirty fighter
•you and your dirty little deals
do the dirty on sb BrE (=treat someone in a way that is unfair or dishonest)
•What a dirty rotten trick!
4 sth is a dirty word if something is a dirty word, people believe it is a bad thing even if they do not know or think much about it; = swear word
•'Liberal' has somehow become a dirty word in America.
5 give sb a dirty look to look at someone in a very disapproving way:
•Susan gave her brother a dirty look.
6 dirty trick a dishonest or unfair action, especially done by a government, company, or organization:
•political dirty tricks
7 wash your dirty linen/laundry also air your dirty laundry AmE to discuss something embarrassing or bad about yourself where everyone can see, know, or hear:
•The divorce has meant airing their dirty laundry in court.
8 do sb's dirty work to do an unpleasant or dishonest action for someone, so that they do not have to do it themselves:
•I'm not talking to him; you do your own dirty work!
9 it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it used to say that something is unpleasant to do, but that it is necessary - often used humorously
10 DRUGS AmE informal containing or possessing illegal drugs
11 dirty bomb a bomb that contains a RADIOACTIVE substance which makes the bomb more dangerous than bombs containing only traditional explosives
12 SPORT a dirty sports event is one in which people competing in the event have illegally used drugs to improve their performance:
•Many people think that the race has been a dirty event for years.
- dirtily adverb

WORD FOCUS: dirty
similar words:
filthy
grubby
grimy
mucky BrE
muddy
greasy
dusty
soiled
contaminated
polluted
informal
1 play dirty to behave in a very unfair and dishonest way, especially in a competition or game:
•a team that plays dirty
2 talk dirty to talk about sex using offensive words
3 dirty great/dirty big BrE spoken extremely big:
•a dirty great snakepast tense and past participle dirtied, present participle dirtying, third person singular dirties [I,T]
1 to make something dirty
2 to make someone feel or seem bad, dishonest, or immoral:
•The army's actions dirtied its reputation.
3 dirty your hands to do hard physical work, in which your hands become dirty[C] informal
an older man who is too sexually interested in younger women - used to show disapproval
1 shows an opposite or negative:
•I disapprove (=do not approve)
•dishonesty (=lack of honesty)
2 [in verbs] shows the stopping or removing of a condition:
•Disconnect the machine.
•Disinfect the wound. plural disabilities
1 [C] a physical or mental condition that makes it difficult for someone to use a part of their body properly, or to learn normally
with a disability
•Public places are becoming more accessible to people with disabilities.
learning/physical/mental etc disability
•children with severe learning disabilities
2 [U] when you have a physical or mental disability:
•learning to cope with disability
3 [U] AmE money that is given by the government to people who have physical disabilities
on disability
•Evans lives on disability because of an accident that left her paralyzed. [T]
1 [usually passive] to make someone unable to use a part of their body properly:
•Carter was permanently disabled in the war.
2 to deliberately make a machine or piece of equipment impossible to use:
•The virus will disable your computer.
- disablement noun [C,U]
- disabling adjective
•a disabling injury
1 someone who is disabled cannot use a part of their body properly, or cannot learn easily; handicapped
•a support group for parents of disabled children
•a severely disabled polio patient
physically/mentally disabled
•If you are elderly or physically disabled, massage can be beneficial.
•teachers who work with learning disabled children (=children who have problems learning)
disabled parking/toilet/access etc (=for physically disabled people)
2 the disabled [plural] people who are disabled:
•The theatre has good access for the disabled. [T] formal
to persuade someone that what they believe is not true
disabuse sb of sth
•I tried to disabuse him of that notion. $ [C,U]
something that causes problems, or that makes someone or something less likely to be successful or effective; advantage

big/major/serious/grave disadvantage
advantages and disadvantages
be at a disadvantage (=have a disadvantage)
put/place sb at a disadvantage
the advantages/benefits outweigh the disadvantages (=there are more advantages than disadvantages )
social/economic/educational disadvantage (=a situation in which someone has a much lower social, economic, or educational level than other people)

[+of]
•The main disadvantage of the material is that it fades in strong sunlight.
[+to]
•There are some big disadvantages to marriage - you do lose a lot of your freedom.
•Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.
•Anyone who can't use a computer is at a disadvantage these days.
•The new rules may put European farmers at a disadvantage.
•The benefits of the system far outweigh the disadvantages.
•Criminal behaviour can be linked to economic disadvantage.

[T]
to make someone less likely to be successful or to put them in a worse situation than others $
1 having social problems, such as a lack of money or education, which make it difficult for you to succeed:
•disadvantaged areas of the city
2 the disadvantaged [plural] people who are disadvantaged:
•health programs for the disadvantaged [+ to/for] formal
unfavourable and likely to cause problems for you; advantageous
- disadvantageously adverb formal
not satisfied with your government, leader etc, and therefore no longer loyal to them or no longer believing they can help you:
•the disaffected youth from poor neighborhoods
- disaffection noun [U] [I,T + from] formal
if an organization disaffiliates from another organization or is disaffiliated from it, it breaks the official connection it has with it; affiliate
- disaffiliation noun [U] [I]
1 to have or express a different opinion from someone else; agree
[+with]
•He is tolerant of those who disagree with him.
[+about/on/over]
•Experts disagree on how much the program will cost.
•Barr strongly disagreed with Kronfeld's statement.
2 if statements, numbers, or reports about the same event or situation disagree, they are different from each other; agree
•The statements of several witnesses disagree.

PHRASAL VERBS
disagree with sb phr v
if something such as food or weather disagrees with you, it has a bad effect on you or makes you ill:
•Seafood always disagrees with me. formal
1 not at all enjoyable or pleasant; agreeable
•a disagreeable job
[+to]
•The conversation was disagreeable to him.
2 unfriendly and bad-tempered; agreeable
•a rude, disagreeable woman
- disagreeably adverb
1 [C,U] a situation in which people express different opinions about something and sometimes argue; agreement
•We've had a few disagreements, but we're still good friends.
[+about/over/as to/on]
•disagreements about who will be allowed to vote
[+among/between]
•There were disagreements among doctors about the best way to treat the disease.
[+with]
•Connor's disagreements with school administrators
sharp/fundamental/profound etc disagreement (=serious disagreement)
be in disagreement (=disagree)
•Scientists are in disagreement about the significance of the data.
2 [U] differences between two statements, reports, numbers etc that ought to be similar; agreement
[+between]
•There is disagreement between these two estimates. [T]
to officially refuse to accept something, because a rule has been broken; allow
•Machester United had a goal disallowed for being offside. $ [I]
1 to become impossible to see any longer; = vanish; appear
[+behind/under/into etc]
•The sun had disappeared behind a cloud.
disappear from view/sight
•David watched her car until it disappeared from view.
•At this point the path seemed to disappear altogether (=disappear completely).
2 to be lost, or to become impossible to find; = vanish
•The two girls disappeared while walking home from school.
•My keys have disappeared again.
disappear without trace BrE
/without a trace AmE (=without any way of finding them)
•75,000 soldiers simply disappeared without trace.
3 to stop existing:
•The rain forest may disappear forever. $ [C,U]
1 when someone or something becomes impossible to see or find:
•Police are investigating the woman's disappearance.
2 when something stops existing; extinction
•the disappearance of ancient forests [I,T]
1 to make someone feel unhappy because something they hoped for did not happen or was not as good as they expected:
•I hated to disappoint her.
•Great things were expected of this band, and they didn't disappoint.
2 disappoint sb's hopes/expectations/plans to prevent something from happening that someone hoped for or expected:
•The Berlin settlement of 1878 disappointed Russian hopes in the Balkans.
unhappy because something you hoped for did not happen, or because someone or something was not as good as you expected:
•Dad seemed more disappointed than angry.
•disappointed customers
[+at/with/about]
•Local residents were disappointed with the decision.
disappointed (that)
•I was disappointed that we played so well yet still lost.
[+in]
•I'm very disappointed in you.
bitterly/deeply/terribly disappointed
•The girl's parents were bitterly disappointed at the jury's verdict.
disappointed to hear/see/find etc
•Visitors were disappointed to find the museum closed.
not as good as you hoped or expected:
•disappointing profit figures
•The Lakers' loss in the playoffs was very disappointing.
- disappointingly adverb
1 [U] a feeling of unhappiness because something is not as good as you expected, or has not happened in the way you hoped:
•He could see the disappointment in her eyes.
to sb's (great) disappointment
•To Edward's disappointment, Gina never turned up at the party.
[+at/with/over etc]
•the managers' disappointment with the results
•Several people expressed disappointment at the delay.
disappointment that
•her disappointment that she hadn't been picked
•She was unable to hide her bitter disappointment.
2 [C] someone or something that is not as good as you hoped or expected:
•The movie was kind of a disappointment.
great/bitter disappointment
•The loss was a bitter disappointment.
[+to]
•She felt she was a disappointment to her family.
[+for]
•The team's performance has been a disappointment for the fans. [U] formal
disapproval of someone or something because you think they are morally wrong; approbation [U]
an attitude that shows you think that someone or their behaviour, ideas etc are bad or not suitable; approval
[+of]
• strong disapproval of the country's human rights record
with/in disapproval
•Baxter eyed our clothes with obvious disapproval.
•Clarissa shook her head in disapproval.
1 [I] to think that someone or their behaviour, ideas etc are bad or wrong; approve
•I knew my parents would disapprove, but I went anyway.
[+of]
•I disapprove of diets; it's better to eat sensibly.
•Her family strongly disapproved of her behaviour.
2 [T] formal to not agree to something that has been suggested; approve
•The board of directors disapproved the sale.
showing that you think someone or something is bad or wrong; approving
•a disapproving frown
- disapprovingly adverb $
1 [I] to reduce the size of your army, navy etc, and the number of your weapons; arm
•Getting the rebels to disarm will not be easy.
2 [T] to take away someone's weapons; arm
•Captured soldiers were disarmed and put into camps.
3 [T] to make someone feel less angry or disapproving of you, and more friendly; disarming
•His tact and political skills disarmed his critics.
4 [T] to take the explosives out of a bomb, MISSILE etc $ [U]
when a country reduces the number of weapons it has, or the size of its army, navy etc:
•a commitment to worldwide nuclear disarmament $
making you feel less angry or disapproving towards someone, and more friendly:
•a disarming sense of humor
- disarmingly adverb [T] formal
to make something untidy [U] formal
the state of being untidy or not organized
in disarray
•This left the Liberal Party in total disarray.
throw sth into disarray/fall into disarray
•The delay threw the entire timetable into disarray. $ [T]
another spelling of DISSOCIATE $ [C,U]
1 a sudden event such as a flood, storm, or accident which causes great damage or suffering; catastrophe

air disaster
nuclear disaster
natural disaster (=caused by nature)
ecological/environmental disaster (=one that causes great damage to nature)
end in disaster
spell disaster (=mean that there will be disaster)
disaster strikes (=it happens)
on the brink of disaster
prevent/avert a disaster
sth is a disaster waiting to happen

•One hundred and twenty people died in China's worst air disaster.
•the economic consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
[+for]
•The oil spill was a disaster for Alaskan sea animals.
•The 1987 hurricane was the worst natural disaster to hit England for decades.
•Their expedition nearly ended in disaster, when one of the climbers slid off the mountain.
•The drought could spell disaster for wildlife.
• Disaster struck when two men were killed during their parachute jumps.
•The peace process was on the brink of disaster.
•Luckily the pilot saw the other plane just in time, and a disaster was narrowly averted.

2 something that is very bad or a failure, especially when this is very annoying or disappointing
sth is a complete/total/disaster
•Because of the weather, the parade was a total disaster.
•The evening was an unmitigated disaster (=a complete failure).
[+for]
•The cuts in funding will be a disaster for the schools.
•Five small boys on skis is a recipe for disaster (=is very likely to end badly).[C]
1 a place where a flood, storm, fire etc has happened and caused a lot of damage:
•The town was declared a disaster area (=officially called a disaster area) after the floods.
2 informal a place that is very untidy or dirty:
•The kitchen is a disaster area. $
very bad, or ending in failure:
•a disastrous first marriage
disastrous effects/consequences/results
•Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth.
•The move proved disastrous (=was disastrous) for the company.
- disastrously adverb [T] formal
to say that you are not responsible for something, that you do not know about it, or that you are not involved with it
- disavowal noun [C,U] [I,T]
to stop existing as an organization, or to make something do this $ past tense and past participle disbarred, present participle disbarring [T]
to make a lawyer leave the legal profession; debar [U]
a feeling that something is not true or does not exist; unbelief, belief
•The reaction to the murders was one of shock and disbelief.
in/with disbelief
•Rosie stared in disbelief. [I,T] formal
to not believe something or someone:
•I see no reason to disbelieve him.
- disbelieving adjective $ [T] formal
to pay out money, especially from a large sum that is available for a special purpose
- disbursement noun [C,U]also disk especially AmE [C]
1 a round flat shape or object:
•three keys attached to a metal disc
2 a COMPACT DISC
3 a record that you play on a RECORD PLAYER
4 BrE a computer DISK
on disc
•The report form is available on disc from Personnel.
5 a flat piece of CARTILAGE between the bones of your back:
•He retired early because of a slipped disc (=one that has moved out of its correct place).
DISC BRAKES, DISC JOCKEY, DISK DRIVE, LASER DISK $
1 [T] to get rid of something; = throw away
•Discard any old cleaning materials.
•discarded paper
2 [I,T] to put down unwanted cards in a card game $ [C]
an unwanted card that is put down in a card game[plural]
BRAKEs that work by two hard surfaces pressing against a DISC in the centre of a car wheel $ [T not in progressive] formal
1 to notice or understand something by thinking about it carefully
discern what/where/why etc
•Officials were keen to discern how much public support there was.
2 to be able to see something by looking carefully; = perceive
•We could just discern a town in the distance.
- discernible adjective
- discernibly adverb $
showing the ability to make good judgments, especially about art, music, style etc; = discriminating
•an ideal tour for the discerning traveller
the discerning eye/ear (=someone who can make good judgments about art or music) $ [U] formal
1 the ability to make good judgments about people or about art, music, style etc:
•the woman's taste and discernment
2 when you notice or understand something:
•the discernment of opportunities $
1 SEND SB AWAY [T] to officially allow someone to leave somewhere, especially the hospital or the army, navy etc, or to tell them that they must leave:
•Hospitals now tend to discharge patients earlier than in the past.
•The judge discharged the jury.
discharge sb from sth
•Several of the recruits were discharged from the Army due to medical problems.
discharge yourself BrE (=leave hospital before your treatment is complete)
conditionally discharge sb BrE (=let someone leave prison if they obey particular rules)
•Dunning was conditionally discharged for two years.
2 GAS/LIQUID/SMOKE ETC [I always + adv/prep, T] to send out gas, liquid, smoke etc, or to allow it to escape
discharge sth into sth
•Sewage is discharged directly into the sea.
[+into]
•Rainwater collects here and then discharges into the river Kennett.
3 SHOOT [T] formal to fire a gun or shoot an ARROW etc:
•A soldier accidentally discharged his weapon.
4 DUTY/RESPONSIBILITY/DEBT ETC [T] formal to do or pay what you have a duty to do or pay
discharge your duties/responsibilities/obligations etc
•The trustees failed to discharge their duties properly.
5 ELECTRICITY [I,T] if a piece of electrical equipment discharges, or if it is discharged, it sends out electricity
6 A WOUND [I,T] if a wound or body part discharges a substance such as PUS (=infected liquid), the substance slowly comes out of it
7 GOODS/PASSENGERS [T] formal to take goods or passengers off a ship, plane etc $ formal
1 [U] when you officially allow someone to leave somewhere, especially the hospital or their job in the army, navy etc
[+from]
•Nurses visit the mother and baby for two weeks after their discharge from the hospital.
DISHONOURABLE DISCHARGE, HONORABLE DISCHARGE
2 [C,U] when gas, liquid, smoke etc is sent out, or the substance that is sent out
[+of]
•the discharge of toxic waste into the sea
3 [C,U] when a substance slowly comes out of a wound or part of your body, or the substance that comes out
4 [C,U] electricity that is sent out by a piece of equipment, a storm etc
5 [U] when someone performs a duty or pays a debt
[+of]
•the discharge of the college's legal responsibilities
6 [U] when someone shoots a gun [C]
1 someone who believes in the ideas of a great teacher or leader, especially a religious one
[+of]
•He was also an avid reader and a disciple of Tolstoy.
2 one of the first 12 men to follow Christ
- discipleship noun [U] $ [C]
someone who believes people should obey orders and rules, and who makes them do this:
•Dad was a strict disciplinarian. $
relating to the punishment of someone who has not obeyed rules, or to trying to make people obey rules:
•The investigation led to disciplinary action (=things you do to punish someone) against two officers.
disciplinary hearing/committee (=a meeting or group that decides if someone should be punished)
1 [U] a way of training someone so that they learn to control their behaviour and obey rules:
•The book gives parents advice on discipline.
•serious discipline problems in the police force
2 [U] the ability to control your own behaviour, so that you do what you are expected to do:
•Working from home requires a good deal of discipline.
SELF-DISCIPLINE
3 [C,U] a way of training your mind or learning to control your behaviour:
•Martial arts teach respect, discipline, and cooperation.
[+for]
•Learning poetry is a good discipline for the memory.
4 [C] an area of knowledge or teaching, especially one such as history, chemistry, mathematics etc that is studied at a university[T]
1 to punish someone in order to keep order and control:
•The officers were later disciplined.
2 to teach someone to obey rules and control their behaviour:
•Different cultures have different ways of disciplining their children.
3 discipline yourself (to do sth) to control the way you work, how regularly you do something etc, because you know it is good for you:
•Try to discipline yourself to write every day.
obeying rules and controlling your behaviour:
•skilled and disciplined workers[C]
DJ someone whose job is to play the music on a radio show or in a club where you can dance [T] formal
to state, especially officially, that you are not responsible for something, that you do not know about it, or that you are not involved with it; = deny
disclaim responsibility/knowledge etc
•Martin disclaimed any responsibility for his son's actions. $ [C]
a statement that you are not responsible for or involved with something, or that you do not know about it - used especially in advertising or legal agreements $ [T] formal
1 to make something publicly known, especially after it has been kept secret; = reveal
•Some companies have already voluntarily disclosed similar information.
•He refused to disclose the identity of the politician.
disclose that
•It was disclosed that £3.5 million was needed to modernize the building.
2 to show something by removing the thing that covers it; = reveal $ [C,U]
a secret that someone tells people, or the act of telling this secret:
•the disclosure of private medical information $ plural discos
1 [C] a place or social event at which people dance to recorded popular music:
•the school disco
2 [U] a type of dance music that was first popular in the 1970s $
the American spelling of DISCOLOUR
1 [U] the process of becoming discoloured
2 [C] a place on the surface of something where it has become discoloureddiscolor AmE $ [I,T] BrE
to change colour, or to make something change colour, so that it looks unattractive:
•Once cut, apples quickly discolour. $
completely confused - used humorously [T] formal
to make someone feel slightly uncomfortable, annoyed, or embarrassed:
•He was discomfited by her silence.
- discomfiture noun [U] $
1 [U] a feeling of slight pain or of being physically uncomfortable:
•If the exercise causes discomfort, stop immediately.
2 [U] a feeling of embarrassment, shame, or worry:
•To her discomfort, he laughed.
3 [C] something that makes you feel uncomfortable or gives you a slight pain:
•the discomforts of air travel $ [T] formal
to make someone feel worried and no longer calm; = disturb
- discomposure $ noun [U] $ [T]
to make someone feel slightly confused, embarrassed, or worried
- disconcerted adjective
•a disconcerted look $
making you feel slightly confused, embarrassed, or worried:
•a disconcerting question
- disconcertingly adverb
1 [T] to remove the supply of power, gas, water etc from a machine or piece of equipment; connect
disconnect sth from sth
•Always disconnect the machine from the mains first.
•The family agreed to disconnect her life support system.
2 [I,T] to separate something from the thing it is connected to, or to become separated; connect
[+from]
•Two freight cars disconnected from the train engine.
disconnect sth from sth
•Disconnect part A from part D.
3 [T] to officially stop supplying a service, such as water, telephone, electricity, or gas, to a house or other building; connect
•Eleven percent of households were disconnected for non-payment of bills.
4 [I,T] if you disconnect or become disconnected from your feelings, family, society etc, you no longer feel as though you belong or have a relationship with them
[+from]
•Divorced men can too easily become disconnected from their children.
5 [T] to break the telephone connection between two people; connect
- disconnection noun [C,U][singular]
when two people or groups no longer understand or have a relationship with each other:
•the disconnect between the ordinary public and the concerns of politicians
disconnected thoughts or ideas do not seem to be related to each other; = unrelated $ formal
extremely sad and hopeless:
•He was disconsolate after his divorce.
- disconsolately adverbalso discontentment [U]
a feeling of being unhappy and not satisfied with the situation you are in; contentment
[+with]
•Discontent with the current government is strong.
[+at/over]
•There is widespread discontent at the quality of education.
•Perhaps she sensed my growing discontent.
unhappy or not satisfied with the situation you are in; contented
[+with]
•She became increasingly discontented with her work.
- discontentedly adverb [T]
to stop doing, producing, or providing something:
•Bus route 51 is being discontinued.
•a discontinued china pattern
- discontinuation noun [U]
- discontinuance noun [U] $ plural discontinuities
1 [C] a sudden change or pause in a process
[+between]
•the policy discontinuities between the present and previous governments
2 [U] when a process is not continuous:
•discontinuity in economic development formal
not continuous $
1 [U] formal disagreement or arguing between people:
•marital discord
•discord within NATO
2 [C,U] an unpleasant sound made by a group of musical notes that do not go together well; harmony $
1 formal a discordant sound is unpleasant because it is made up of musical notes that do not go together well
2 literary strange, wrong, or unsuitable in relation to everything around; harmonious
•The modern decor strikes a discordant note in this 17th century building.
3 formal not in agreement:
•discordant results from the experiment [C] especially BrE
a DISCO [C]
a reduction in the usual price of something
10% discount/discount of 25% etc
•Members get a 15% discount.
at a discount
•Employees can buy books at a discount.
[+on]
•The Young Persons Railcard gives you a discount on rail travel.
offer/give sb a discount
discount price/fare
•discount airfares to Europe
discount store/shop/warehouse (=a place where you can buy goods cheaply) $ [T]
1 to regard something as unlikely to be true or important:
•Experts discounted the accuracy of the polls.
•General Hausken had not discounted the possibility of an aerial attack.
2 to reduce the price of something:
•Games were discounted to as little as $5. $ [C]
a shop or person that sells goods cheaply[C usually singular]
the interest rate that a country's CENTRAL BANK charges to other banks $ [T]
1 to persuade someone not to do something, especially by making it seem difficult or bad; encourage
•attempts to discourage illegal immigration
discourage sb from doing sth
•My father is a lawyer, and he discouraged me from entering the field.
!! Do not say 'discourage someone to do something'. Say discourage someone from doing something.
2 to make someone less confident or less willing to do something; = demoralize; encourage
•You should not let one failure discourage you.
3 to make something less likely to happen; encourage
•Aspirin may discourage tumour growth in some types of cancer. $
no longer having the confidence you need to continue doing something; = demoralized
•A lot of players get discouraged and quit. $
1 [U] when you no longer feel confident or willing to do something:
•In research, times of discouragement alternate with times of great achievement.
2 [U] when you try to persuade someone not to do something, especially by making it seem difficult or bad:
•the discouragement of smoking
3 [C] something that discourages you $
making you lose the confidence or determination you need to continue doing something:
•The results were discouraging.
- discouragingly adverb $ formal
1 [C] a serious speech or piece of writing on a particular subject
[+on/upon]
•a discourse on art
2 [U] serious conversation or discussion between people:
•Candidates should engage in serious political discourse.
3 [U] the language used in particular types of speech or writing:
•a study of spoken discourse $

PHRASAL VERBS
discourse on/upon sth phr v formal
to make a long formal speech about something, or to discuss something seriously $ formal
not polite, and not showing respect for other people; = rude, impolite
•It would be discourteous to ignore his request.
- discourteously adverb $ plural discourtesies [C,U] formal
an action or behaviour that is not polite or does not show respect $ [T]
1 to find someone or something, either by accident or because you were looking for them:
•The body was discovered in a field.
•Forest Service crews often discover campfires that have not been put out completely.
2 to find out something that you did not know about before:
•The exercises let students discover math concepts on their own.
discover (that)
•She discovered that she was pregnant.
discover who/what/how etc
•His friends were shocked to discover how ill he was.
3 if someone discovers a new place, fact, substance etc, they are the first person to find it or know that it exists:
•The Curies are best known for discovering radium.
4 to notice or try something for the first time and start to enjoy it:
•At fourteen, Louise discovered boys.
5 to notice someone who is very good at something and help them to become successful and well-known:
•a band that's waiting to be discovered
- discoverer noun [C] plural discoveries
1 [C] a fact or thing that someone finds out about, when it was not known about before:
•recent archaeological discoveries
[+about]
•The Hubble Telescope has allowed astronomers to make significant discoveries about our galaxy.
discovery that
•the discovery that bees can communicate with each other
2 [U] when someone discovers something
[+of]
•the discovery of oil in Alaska [T]
1 to make people stop respecting or trusting someone or something:
•The company's lawyers tried to discredit her testimony.
2 to make people stop believing in a particular idea:
•Some of Freud's theories have now been discredited.[U]
the loss of other people's respect or trust
to sb's discredit
•To his discredit, he knew about the problem but said nothing.
bring discredit on/upon/to sb/sth
•The behaviour of fans has brought discredit on English football. formal
bad or wrong, and making people lose respect for you or trust in you:
•discreditable dealings
1 careful about what you say or do, so that you do not offend, upset, or embarrass people or tell secrets; indiscreet
•He assured her that he would be discreet.
•I stood back at a discreet distance.
2 small and showing good taste or judgment - use this to show approval:
•discreet jewelry
- discreetly adverb plural discrepancies [C,U]
a difference between two amounts, details, reports etc that should be the same
[+in]
•Police found discrepancies in the two men's reports.
[+between]
•There is a large discrepancy between the ideal image of motherhood and the reality.
clearly separate:
•The change happens in a series of discrete steps.
- discretely adverb
- discreteness noun [U] [U]
1 the ability and right to decide exactly what should be done in a particular situation
at sb's discretion (=according to someone's decision)
•The awards are made at the discretion of the committee.
•Promotions are left to the discretion of the supervisor.
[+over/as to]
•People want to have more discretion over their working hours.
use/exercise your discretion
•The judge exercised his discretion rightly to admit the evidence.
discretion to do sth
•The committee has the absolute discretion to refuse applications.
2 the ability to deal with situations in a way that does not offend, upset, or embarrass people or tell any of their secrets:
•British newspapers no longer feel they must treat the royal family with discretion.
3 discretion is the better part of valour used to say that it is better to be careful than to take unnecessary risks $
not controlled by strict rules, but decided on by someone in a position of authority:
•the court's discretionary powers
discretionary award/grant/fund etc[U]
the money remaining from your income after your bills have been paid, which can be spent on entertainment, holidays etc
1 [I] to treat a person or group differently from another in an unfair way
[+against]
•Under federal law, it is illegal to discriminate against minorities and women.
discriminate on the grounds/basis of sth
•It was found that the company still discriminated on the basis of race in promotions.
2 [I,T] to recognize a difference between things; = differentiate
[+between]
•Newborn babies can discriminate between a man's and a woman's voice.
discriminate sth from sth
•the process of learning to discriminate fact from opinion
able to judge what is of good quality and what is not; = discerning
•a book that will appeal to discriminating readers [U]
1 the practice of treating one person or group differently from another in an unfair way:
•laws to prevent discrimination
[+against]
•widespread discrimination against older people in the job market
[+in favour of]
•discrimination in favour of university graduates
racial/sex/religious etc discrimination (=treating someone unfairly because of their race, sex etc)
POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION, REVERSE DISCRIMINATION
2 the ability to recognize the difference between two or more things, especially the difference in their quality:
•shape discrimination $
treating a person or a group of people differently from other people, in an unfair way:
•discriminatory hiring practices $ formal
discussing many different ideas, facts etc, without always having a clear purpose:
•a long, discursive article
- discursively adverb [C]
1 a heavy flat circular object which is thrown as far as possible as a sport
2 the discus the sport of throwing this object [T]
1 to talk about something with another person or a group in order to exchange ideas or decide something:
•Littman refused to discuss the case publicly.
•If you would like to discuss the matter further, please call me.
discuss sth with sb
•Pupils should be given time to discuss the book with their classmates.
discuss what/who/where etc
•Your accountant will discuss with you how to complete these forms.
2 to talk or write about something in detail and consider different ideas or opinions about it:
•This topic will be discussed in Chapter 4. [C,U]
1 when you discuss something:
•class discussions
•the topics suggested for discussion
[+of]
•the discussion of important issues
[+about]
•high-level discussions about trade and commerce
[+with]
•The embassy will continue discussions with the Chinese government.
•We have had discussions about her legal situation.
under discussion (=being discussed)
•The project is under discussion as a possible joint venture between the two space agencies.
2 a piece of writing about a subject that considers different ideas or opinions about it
[+of]
•the report's discussion of the legislation[C]
a place on the Internet where people can write and receive messages in order to share ideas and information about a particular subject:
•the Mercedes-Benz discussion list [U] formal
a complete lack of respect that you show for someone or something because you think they are not important or good enough
with disdain
•She watched me with disdain.
•a look of complete disdain
[+for]
•his disdain for capitalismformal
1 [T] to have no respect for someone or something, because you think they are not important or good enough:
•Childcare was seen as women's work, and men disdained it.
2 disdain to do sth to refuse to do something because you are too proud to do it:
•Butler disdained to reply. formal
showing that you do not respect someone or something, because you think that they are not important or good enough:
•a disdainful look
[+of]
•university professors who are disdainful of popular entertainment
- disdainfully adverb
1 [C,U] an illness which affects a person, animal, or plant

have/suffer from a disease
heart/liver/brain etc disease
a disease of the brain/stomach etc
catch a disease
contract a disease formal (=catch a disease)
a disease spreads/the spread of a disease
infectious/contagious disease (=one that spreads quickly from one person to another)
a fatal/deadly disease (=one that causes death)
an incurable disease (=one that cannot be cured)
a degenerative disease (=one that gradually gets worse and worse)
a cure for a disease
the symptoms of a disease (=the things that show that someone has it)

•She suffers from a rare disease of the brain.
• Heart disease runs in our family.
•filthy conditions that cause disease
•She contracted the disease while she was abroad on holiday.
•The government has taken steps to halt the spread of the disease.
•vaccinations against infectious diseases such as measles
•'Mad cow disease' is a fatal degenerative disease of the nervous system.
•The first symptoms of the disease are vomiting and a slight fever.

2 [C] something that is seriously wrong with society or with someone's mind, behaviour etc:
•Loneliness is a disease of our urban communities.
- diseased adjective
•diseased muscles
•a diseased plant $
1 [I] to get off a ship or aircraft; embark
2 [T] to put people or goods onto the shore from a ship
- disembarkation $ noun [U] $
1 existing without a body or separated from a body:
•disembodied spirits
2 a disembodied sound or voice comes from someone who cannot be seen past tense and past participle disembowelled, present participle disembowelling [T]
to remove someone's BOWELs
- disembowelment noun [U] $
disappointed with someone or something, and no longer believing that they are good; = disillusioned
[+with]
•By that time I was becoming disenchanted with the whole idea.
- disenchantment noun [U]
•Voters have expressed growing disenchantment with the government. [T]
to take away someone's rights, especially their right to vote
- disenfranchisement $ noun [U]
not having any rights, especially the right to vote, and not feeling part of society
1 [T] to move so that you are not touching or holding someone
disengage yourself
•Sally found it difficult to disengage herself from his embrace.
2 [I,T] if you disengage something, especially a part of a machine, or if it disengages, you make it move away from another part that it was connected to; engage
•Disengage the gears when you park the car.
•He tapped in the code and the lock disengaged.
3 [I] to stop being involved or interested in something
[+from]
•Too many young people disengage from learning.
4 [I,T] if two armies disengage, they stop fighting; engage
- disengagement noun [U]
not involved with or interested in something or someone, and feeling separate from them; engaged
•teenagers who are depressed or disengaged from their families [T]
1 to separate different ideas or pieces of information that have become confused together:
•It's very difficult to disentangle fact from fiction in what she's saying.
2 disentangle yourself (from sb/sth) to escape from a difficult situation that you are involved in:
•She had just disentangled herself from a long relationship.
3 to remove knots from ropes, strings etc that have become twisted or tied together
4 to separate something from the things that are twisted around it [U]
a lack of balance in something [T] formal
to officially decide that a particular church is no longer the official church of your countrydisfavor AmE $ [U] BrE
a feeling of dislike and disapproval; favour
with disfavour
•The job creation program is looked upon with disfavour by the local community.
•Coal fell into disfavour because burning it caused pollution. $ [T]
to spoil the appearance that something naturally has:
•His face had been disfigured in an accident.
- disfigured adjective
- disfigurement noun [C,U]
- disfiguring adjective
•a disfiguring disease [T]
to DISENFRANCHISE someone $
1 [T] literary if a vehicle or building disgorges people, they come out of it in a large group:
•Cars drew up to disgorge a wedding party.
2 [T] if something disgorges what was inside it, it lets it pour out:
•Chimneys were disgorging smoke into the air.
3 [I,T] if a river disgorges, it flows into the sea:
•The Mississippi disgorges its waters into the Gulf of Mexico.
4 [T] formal to give back something that you have taken illegally
5 [T] formal to bring food back up from your stomach through your mouth
1 [U] the loss of other people's respect because you have done something they strongly disapprove of:
•Smith faced total public disgrace after the incident.
in disgrace
•Toranaga sent us away in disgrace.
•His actions brought disgrace on the family.
•There was no disgrace in finishing fourth.
2 be a disgrace used to say that something or someone is so bad or unacceptable that the people involved with them should feel ashamed:
•The UK rail system is a national disgrace.
[+to]
•You are a disgrace to the medical profession.
absolute/utter disgrace
• It's an absolute disgrace, the way he treats his wife.[T]
to do something so bad that you make other people feel ashamed:
•How could you disgrace us all like that?
disgrace yourself (by doing sth)
•I'm not the one who disgraced herself at the wedding!
be (publicly) disgraced (=be made to feel ashamed, especially in public)
bad, embarrassing, or unacceptable:
•It's a disgraceful waste of taxpayers' money.
absolutely/utterly etc disgraceful
•Their behaviour was absolutely disgraceful.
• It is disgraceful that anyone should have to live in such conditions.
- disgracefully adverb
annoyed or disappointed, especially because things have not happened in the way that you wanted:
•a disgruntled client [T]
1 to change someone's appearance so that people cannot recognize them
disguise yourself as sb/sth
•Maybe you could disguise yourself as a waiter and sneak in there.
•He escaped across the border disguised as a priest.
2 to change the appearance, sound, taste etc of something so that people do not recognize it:
•There's no way you can disguise that southern accent.
disguise sth as sth
•a letter bomb disguised as a musical greetings card
3 to hide a fact or feeling so that people will not notice it:
•Try as he might, Dan couldn't disguise his feelings for Katie.
disguise the fact (that)
• There's no disguising the fact that business is bad.
•The speech was seen by many as a thinly disguised attack on the president.
1 [C,U] something that you wear to change your appearance and hide who you are, or the act of wearing this:
•His disguise didn't fool anyone.
•She wore dark glasses in an absurd attempt at disguise.
2 in disguise
a) wearing a disguise:
•The woman in the park turned out to be a police officer in disguise.
b) made to seem like something else that is better:
•'Tax reform' is just a tax increase in disguise.
blessing in disguise at BLESSING (4) [U]
1 a strong feeling of dislike, annoyance, or disapproval
with disgust
•Joan looked at him with disgust.
in disgust
•Sam threw his books down in disgust and stormed out of the room.
to sb's disgust
• Much to my disgust, I found that there were no toilets for the disabled.
[+with]
•Nelson's disgust with US politics
[+at]
•The fans didn't hide their disgust at the umpire's decision.
2 a very strong feeling of dislike that almost makes you sick, caused by something unpleasant:
•He reached into the bin with a look of disgust on his face.
with disgust
•Edward tasted the thin, sour wines with disgust.[T]
1 to make someone feel very annoyed or upset about something that is not acceptable:
•Many parents claimed to be disgusted by the amount of violence in the film.
be disgusted to find/hear/see etc
•Dear Sir, I was disgusted to see the picture on page one of Sunday's feature section.
2 to be so unpleasant that it makes you feel almost sick:
•The thought of dissecting a frog disgusts me.
very annoyed or upset by something that is not acceptable:
•Disgusted onlookers claimed the driver was more concerned about his car than about the victim.
[+at/by/with]
•Most locals are disgusted by the anti-foreigner violence.
disgusted that
•Animal welfare workers were disgusted that anyone could do this to a puppy.
1 extremely unpleasant and making you feel sick; = revolting
•Rubbish was piled everywhere - it was disgusting.
•Smoking is a really disgusting habit.
2 shocking and unacceptable:
•Sixty pounds for a thirty-minute consultation. I think that's disgusting!
•That's a disgusting thing to say.
- disgustingly adverb
•They're disgustingly rich. [C]
1 a flat container with low sides, for serving food from or cooking food in; bowl
•a serving dish
•an ovenproof dish
[+of]
•a large dish of spaghetti
2 the dishes all the plates, cups, bowls etc that have been used to eat a meal and need to be washed
do/wash the dishes
•I'll just do the dishes before we go.
3 food cooked or prepared in a particular way as a meal:
•a wonderful pasta dish
•The menu includes a wide selection of vegetarian dishes.
•This soup is substantial enough to serve as a main dish (=the biggest part of a meal).
4 something that is shaped like a dish:
•a soap dish
5 informal old-fashioned someone who is sexually attractive
SIDE DISH, SATELLITE DISH
[I,T] informal to give a lot of information about something or someone, especially something that would usually be secret or private
[+on]
•She's ready to dish on boys, beauty, and break-ups in her new column.
dish the dirt (=tell people shocking things about someone's private life)

PHRASAL VERBS
dish sth <=> out phr v
1 to give something to various people in a careless way:
•We'll probably dish out some leaflets there too.
•Paul still tends to dish out unwanted advice.
2 to serve food to people:
•Sam's dishing out sandwiches if you want one.
3 sb can dish it out but they can't take it used to say that someone often criticizes other people, but does not like being criticized

dish sth <=> up phr v
to put food for a meal into dishes, ready to be eaten:
•Could you dish up the vegetables? $ [U]
disagreement about important things which makes people be unfriendly to each other $ [C]
a cloth used for washing dishes $ formal
disappointed, so that you lose hope and the determination to continue doing something:
•If young children don't see quick results they grow disheartened.
- dishearten verb [T] $
making you lose hope and determination
it is disheartening to hear/see etc sth
•It's disheartening to see what little progress has been made.
- dishearteningly adverbalso dirt-disher $ [C] AmE informal
someone who enjoys telling people a lot of information about other people's behaviour and private lives; = gossip
•the movie role of the light-hearted Hollywood disherdisheveled AmE BrE
if someone's appearance or their clothes, hair etc is dishevelled, they look very untidy:
•Pam arrived late, dishevelled and out of breath. $
not honest, and so deceiving or cheating people; honest
•dishonest traders
•People on welfare are wrongly seen as lazy or dishonest.
- dishonestly adverb
•A person is guilty of theft if he or she dishonestly obtains property. $ [U]
behaviour in which you deceive or cheat people; honesty dishonor AmE $ [U] BrE
loss of respect from other people, because you have behaved in a morally unacceptable way; honour
•You've brought enough dishonour on your family already without causing any more trouble.dishonor AmE [T] BrE
1 formal to make your family, country, profession etc lose the respect of other people:
•He dishonored the uniform and did not deserve to be a marine.
2 if a bank dishonours a cheque, it refuses to pay out money for it; honour
3 to refuse to keep an agreement or promise; honour
•Union leaders accused management of dishonouring existing pay agreements.dishonorable AmE $ BrE
not morally correct or acceptable; honourable
•Surrender was seen as dishonourable.dishonorable discharge AmE [C,U] BrE
an order to someone to leave the army, navy etc, because they have behaved in a morally unacceptable way [C] AmE
a large bowl in which you wash dishes, plates etc [C] AmE
a DISHCLOTH[C]
AmE a cloth used for drying dishes $ [C]
1 a machine that washes dishes
2 especially AmE someone whose job is to wash dirty dishes, plates etc, especially in a restaurant $ [U]
AmE liquid soap used to wash dishes; = washing-up liquid BrE $ [U]
1 dirty water that dishes have been washed in
2 informal if you say that tea or coffee tastes like dishwater, you mean that it tastes unpleasantly weak
old-fashioned informal sexually attractive [T]
to make someone realize that something which they thought was true or good is not really true or good:
•I hate to disillusion you, but I don't think she's coming back.
- disillusionment noun [U]
disappointed because you have lost your belief that someone is good, or that an idea is right; = disenchanted
[+by/with]
•As she grew older, Laura became increasingly disillusioned with politics. [C]
something that makes people less willing to do something; incentive
disincentive to (doing/do) sth
•High interest rates can be a disincentive to expanding a business. [U]
a lack of willingness to do something; inclination
•the increasing disinclination of farm workers' children to consider a job in farming
be/feel disinclined to do sth formal to be unwilling to do something; = reluctant
•I was disinclined to talk to Stephen about it. [T]
1 to clean something with a chemical that destroys BACTERIA:
•First use some iodine to disinfect the wound.
•Disinfect the area thoroughly.
2 to run a special computer program to get rid of a computer VIRUS [C,U]
a chemical or a cleaning product that destroys BACTERIA; antiseptic $ [U]
false information which is given deliberately in order to hide the truth or confuse people, especially in political situations; misinformation
•government disinformation about the effects of nuclear testing formal
not sincere and slightly dishonest; ingenuous
•Keeping the details of the tax changes vague is disingenuous.
- disingenuously adverb [T]
to take away from someone, especially your son or daughter, their legal right to receive your money or property after your death; inherit, will
1 [I,T] to break up, or make something break up, into very small pieces:
•The whole plane just disintegrated in mid-air.
2 [I] to become weaker or less united and be gradually destroyed:
•a society disintegrating under economic pressures
- disintegration noun [U]
•the disintegration of the Soviet empire into separate republics $ past tense and past participle disinterred, present participle disinterring [T] formal
1 to dig and remove a dead body from a GRAVE; inter
2 to find or use something that has been lost or not used for a long time:
•She disinterred two frozen TV dinners from the freezer. [U]
1 a lack of interest
[+in]
•The exception to Balfour's disinterest in social issues was education.
2 when you are able to judge a situation fairly because you are not involved in it
1 able to judge a situation fairly because you are not concerned with gaining any personal advantage from it; = objective, impartial, unbiased
•A lawyer should provide disinterested advice.
2 not interested. Many teachers think that this is not correct English; uninterested
- disinterestedly adverb [C,U] technical
the process of taking your money out of a company by selling your SHAREs in it; investment
1 something, especially a speech or piece of writing, that is disjointed has parts that do not seem well connected or are not arranged well:
•disjointed fragments of information
2 a disjointed activity or system is one in which the different parts do not work well together:
•Burley was critical of his team's disjointed performance.disjuncture [C usually singular] formal
a difference between two things that you would expect to be in agreement:
•a disjunction between the skills taught in schools and the skills demanded by employers technical
a disjunctive CONJUNCTION expresses a choice or opposition between two ideas. For example, 'or' is a disjunctive conjunction. [C]
1 a small flat piece of plastic or metal which is used for storing computer or electronic information
2 the usual American spelling of DISC
COMPACT DISC, FLOPPY DISK, HARD DISK, LASER DISK[C]
a piece of equipment in a computer system that is used to get information from a disk or to store information on it $ [C]
a FLOPPY DISK [T not in progressive]
to think someone or something is unpleasant and not like them; like
•Why do you dislike her so much?
dislike doing sth
•I dislike being the centre of attention.
1 [C,U] a feeling of not liking someone or something; liking
[+of]
•She shared her mother's dislike of housework.
[+for]
•Truman had a strong dislike for communism.
intense/acute/violent etc dislike (=very strong dislike)
•His colleagues regarded him with intense dislike.
•When the two men met, they took an instant dislike to each other (=they disliked each other immediately).
2 dislikes [plural] the things that you do not like:
•A good hotel manager should know his regular guests' likes and dislikes. $ [T]
1 to move a bone out of its normal position in a joint, usually in an accident:
•I dislocated my shoulder playing football.
2 formal to spoil the way in which a plan, system, or service is arranged, so that it cannot work normally; = disrupt
•Communications were temporarily dislocated by the bad weather.
- dislocated adjective
•a dislocated elbow
- dislocation $ noun [C,U]
•The 1930s was a period of economic dislocation. $ [T]
1 to force or knock something out of its position:
•Ian dislodged a few stones as he climbed up the rock.
2 to make someone leave a place or lose a position of power:
•the revolution that failed to dislodge the British in 1919
doing or saying things that do not support your friends, your country, or the group you belong to; loyal
[+to]
•He felt he had been disloyal to his friends.
- disloyalty noun [U]
1 if a situation or a place is dismal, it is so bad that it makes you feel very unhappy and hopeless:
•The future looks pretty dismal right now.
•a dismal, grey afternoon
2 bad and unsuccessful:
•The team's record so far is pretty dismal.
•Her scheme was a dismal failure.
- dismally adverb [T]
1 to take a machine or piece of equipment apart so that it is in separate pieces:
•Chris dismantled the bike in five minutes.
2 to gradually get rid of a system or organization:
•an election promise to dismantle the existing tax legislation [U]
the worry, disappointment, or unhappiness you feel when something unpleasant happens
with/in dismay
•They stared at each other in dismay.
to sb's dismay
•I found to my dismay that I had left my notes behind.
•The thought of leaving filled him with dismay.[T]
to make someone feel worried, disappointed, and upset:
•The poor election turnout dismayed politicians.
worried, disappointed, and upset when something unpleasant happens
dismayed to see/discover/learn etc
•Ruth was dismayed to see how thin he had grown.
[+at/by]
•They were dismayed at the cost of the repairs.
dismayed that
•We are dismayed that the demonstration was allowed to take place. $ [T]
1 to cut a body into pieces or tear it apart
2 formal to divide a country, area, or organization into smaller parts
- dismemberment noun [U] [T]
1 to refuse to consider someone's idea, opinion etc, because you think it is not serious, true, or important:
•The government has dismissed criticisms that the country's health policy is a mess.
dismiss sth as sth
•He just laughed and dismissed my proposal as unrealistic.
•It's an idea that shouldn't be dismissed out of hand (=dismissed immediately and completely).
2 to remove someone from their job; = fire, sack
dismiss sb from sth
•Bryant was unfairly dismissed from his post.
dismiss sb for sth
•Employees can be dismissed for sending obscene emails.
3 formal to tell someone that they are allowed to go, or are no longer needed:
•The class will be dismissed early today.
4 if a judge dismisses a court case, he or she stops it from continuing:
•The case was dismissed owing to lack of evidence.
5 to end the INNINGS of a player or team in the game of CRICKET
1 [C,U] when someone is removed from their job:
•Wilson was claiming compensation for unfair dismissal.
•No dismissals have been announced yet.
2 [U] when someone decides or says that something is not important, serious, or true:
•Gill's dismissal of the book as '386 pages of rubbish'
3 [C,U] a decision by a judge to stop a court case
refusing to consider someone or something seriously
[+of]
•Some historians have been dismissive of this argument.
dismissive gesture/wave/shrug etc
•Cath spread both hands in a dismissive gesture.
- dismissively adverb formal
1 [I + from] to get off a horse, bicycle, or MOTORCYCLE; mount
2 [T] to take something, especially a gun, out of its base or support $
deliberately not doing what you are told to do by your parents, teacher, etc; obedient
- disobedience noun [U]
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE $ [I,T]
to refuse to do what someone with authority tells you to do, or refuse to obey a rule or law; obey
•punishment for disobeying orders $
1 [C] medical a mental or physical illness which prevents part of your body from working properly
a disorder of the brain/liver/digestive system etc
•He suffers from a rare disorder of the liver.
a stomach/lung/heart etc disorder
a mental/psychiatric disorder
•people with mental disorders
•severe eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia
2 [U] a situation in which a lot of people behave in an uncontrolled, noisy, or violent way in public
civil/public/crowd disorder
•A number of stadiums were closed because of crowd disorder.
3 [U] a situation in which things or people are very untidy or disorganized; order
in/into disorder
•Everything was in disorder, but nothing seemed to be missing.
•His whole system was thrown into disorder. $
1 not tidy, planned, or arranged in order:
•her grey, disordered hair
2 if someone is mentally disordered, their mind is not working in a normal and healthy way $ formal
1 untidy or without any order; orderly
•clothes left in a disorderly heap
2 behaving in a noisy violent way and causing trouble in a public place
disorderly conduct/behaviour
•He was arrested for disorderly conduct.
•Bell denied being drunk and disorderly.also disorganised BrE $
1 not arranged or planned in a clear order, or lacking any kind of plan or system; well-organized
•The conference was completely disorganized.
2 someone who is disorganized is very bad at arranging or planning things; organized
•He's an extremely disorganized person.
UNORGANIZEDalso disorientated BrE
1 confused and not understanding what is happening around you
2 confused about where you are or which direction you should go:
•When he emerged into the street, he was completely disoriented.also disorientating BrE
1 making someone not know where they are or which direction they should go:
•a disorientating maze of corridors
2 confusing you and making you not certain about what is happening around you:
•Lack of sleep can be disorienting.
- disorient also disorientate BrE verb [T] , noun [U] $ [T not in progressive]
to say that you no longer want to be connected with someone or something, especially a member of your family or something that you are responsible for:
•Frankly, I'm not surprised her family disowned her.
•Since 1960, Kubrick has virtually disowned the film. [T] formal
to criticize someone or something in a way that shows you do not think they are very good or important:
•Matcham's theatres were widely disparaged by architects.
- disparagement noun [C,U]
criticizing someone or something, and showing that you do not think they are very good or important
disparaging remarks/comments
•She made some disparaging remarks about the royal family.
- disparagingly adverb formal
consisting of things or people that are very different and not related to each other:
•a meeting covering many disparate subjects
•the difficulties of dealing with disparate groups of people plural disparities [C,U] formal
a difference between two or more things, especially an unfair one; parity
[+in/between]
•We are still seeing a disparity between the rates of pay for men and women.
not influenced by personal emotions and therefore able to make fair decisions; = impartial
•a dispassionate view of the situation
- dispassionately adverbdespatch [T]
1 formal to send someone or something somewhere for a particular purpose
dispatch sb/sth to sb/sth
•A reporter was dispatched to Naples to cover the riot.
•Goods are normally dispatched within 24 hours.
2 to deal with someone or to finish a job quickly and effectively:
•She dispatched (=beat) her opponent 6-2, 6-1.
3 old-fashioned to deliberately kill a person or animaldespatch
1 [C] a message sent between military or government officials:
•a dispatch from headquarters
2 [C] a report sent to a newspaper from one of its writers who is in another town or country
3 [singular] the act of sending people or things to a particular place:
•the dispatch of warships to the region
4 with dispatch formal if you do something with dispatch, you do it well and quickly
mentioned in dispatches at MENTION^1 (4)BrE
1 the dispatch box a box on a central table in the British Parliament, which important members of parliament stand next to when they make speeches
2 [C] a box for holding official papers $ [C] AmE
someone whose job is to send out vehicles such as taxis or AMBULANCEs to places where they are needed[C] BrE
someone whose job is to take messages or packages by MOTORCYCLE past tense and past participle dispelled, present participle dispelling [T]
to make something go away, especially a belief, idea, or feeling:
•We want to dispel the myth that you cannot eat well in Britain.
•Light poured into the hall, dispelling the shadows.
not necessary or important and so easy to get rid of; indispensable
•Part-time workers are considered dispensable. plural dispensaries [C]
a place where medicines are prepared and given out, especially in a hospital
PHARMACY
1 [C,U] special permission from someone in authority, especially a religious leader, to do something that is not usually allowed:
•Caroline's marriage was annulled by special dispensation from the church.
2 [U] formal the act of providing people with something as part of an official process
[+of]
•the dispensation of justice
3 [C] formal a religious or political system that has control over people's lives at a particular time [T] formal
1 to give something to people, especially in fixed amounts; = give out
dispense sth to sb
•Villagers dispensed tea to people involved in the accident.
•a machine for dispensing cash
2 to officially provide something for people
dispense justice (=decide whether or not someone is guilty of a crime and what punishment they should receive)
3 to officially prepare and give medicines to people

PHRASAL VERBS
dispense with sth phr v formal
to not use or do something that people usually use or do, because it is not necessary:
•Ann suggested that they dispense with speeches altogether at the wedding.
dispense with sb's services (=no longer employ someone)
•Let's dispense with the formalities (=speak openly and directly), shall we? $ [C]
a machine which provides a particular amount of a product or substance when you press a button or put money into it:
•a paper towel dispenser
CASH DISPENSER[C] BrE
a CHEMIST or PHARMACIST $ [C,U]
the process of spreading things over a wide area or in different directions:
•the role of birds in the dispersal of seeds $ [I,T]
1 if a group of people disperse or are dispersed, they go away in different directions:
•Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
2 if something disperses or is dispersed, it spreads in different directions over a wide area:
•The clouds dispersed as quickly as they had gathered. $ [U]
DISPERSAL
someone who is dispirited does not feel as hopeful, eager, or interested in something as they were in the past:
•At last, dispirited and weary, they gave up the search.
- dispiritedly adverb [T]
1 to take the place or position of something or someone; = replace
•Coal has been displaced by natural gas as a major source of energy.
•immigrants who displace US workers in the job market
2 to make a group of people or animals have to leave the place where they normally live:
•Fifty thousand people have been displaced by the fighting.
3 to force something out of its usual place or position:
•The water displaced by the landslides created a tidal wave.
- displaced adjectiveplural displaced persons [C] technical
someone who has been forced to leave their country because of war or cruel treatment; = refugee
1 [U] formal when a group of people or animals are forced to leave the place where they usually live
2 [singular] technical the weight or VOLUME of liquid that something replaces when it floats in that liquid - used especially to describe how heavy something such as a ship is [C]
1 OBJECTS an arrangement of things for people to look at or buy
[+of]
•a superb display of African masks
•a dazzling display (=very good display) of flowers
•The window display caught her eye.
• display cases containing old photographs
2 ENTERTAINMENT a public performance of something that is intended to entertain people:
•a fireworks display
[+of]
•a display of juggling
3 on display
a) something that is on display is in a public place where people can look at it; = on show
•Mapplethorpe's photographs were first put on display in New York.
be/go on display
•One of the world's oldest cars has gone on display in Brighton today.
b) if a quality, feeling, or skill is on display, it is very clear and easy to notice:
•The musical talent on display is extremely impressive.
4 display of affection/emotion/aggression etc an occasion when someone clearly shows a particular feeling, attitude, or quality:
•Unprovoked displays of aggression cannot be tolerated.
5 ON EQUIPMENT a part of a piece of equipment that shows information, for example a computer screen:
•This time the display flashed a red warning signal.
1 [T] to show something to people, or put it in a place where people can see it easily:
•shop windows displaying the latest fashions
•All the exam results will be displayed on the noticeboard.
2 [T] to clearly show a feeling, attitude, or quality by what you do or say:
•She displayed no emotion on the witness stand.
•ten piano pieces, each written to display the talents of individual players
3 [T] if a computer or something similar displays information, it shows it on its screen:
•I pressed 'return' and an error message was displayed.
4 [I] if a male bird or animal displays, it behaves in a particular way as a signal to other birds or animals, especially to attract a female formal
annoyed or not satisfied; pleased
•He looked extremely displeased.
[+with]
•City officials are displeased with the lack of progress.
- displease verb [T]
- displeasing adjective $ [U] formal
the feeling of being annoyed or not satisfied with someone or something; = annoyance
[+at/with]
•Their displeasure at being kept waiting was clear.
incur sb's displeasure (=make someone displeased) $ [T]
disport yourself old-fashioned to amuse yourself by doing things that are active and enjoyable - used humorously $
1 intended to be used once or for a short time and then thrown away:
•disposable nappies
2 available to be used:
•disposable resources
- disposable noun [C][U]
the amount of money you have left to spend after you have paid your taxes, bills etc $
1 [U] when you get rid of something
[+of]
•the safe disposal of radioactive waste
• bomb disposal experts
2 at sb's disposal available for someone to use:
•Tanner had a lot of cash at his disposal.
sb is at your (complete) disposal (=someone is ready to help you in any way)
3 [C] AmE a small machine under the kitchen SINK which breaks vegetable waste into small pieces; = waste disposal
4 [U] technical the sale of something you own such as a house, a business, or land:
•The profit or loss on the disposal of an asset must be accounted for.
5 [U] formal the way in which an amount of money is used:
•The Commission has complete control over the disposal of the funds. $ [T always + adv/prep]
formal to arrange things or put them in their places:
•Chinese vases are disposed around the gallery.

PHRASAL VERBS
dispose of sth phr v
1 to get rid of something, especially something that is difficult to get rid of:
•an incinerator built to dispose of toxic waste
2 to sell something, especially part of a business:
•I am still not sure how best to dispose of the shares.
3 formal to deal with something such as a problem or question successfully:
•Your idea at least disposes of the immediate problem.
4 to defeat an opponent:
•Two goals by Raul disposed of Barcelona.

dispose sb to/towards sth phr v formal
to make someone more likely to have particular feelings or thoughts:
•The body releases a chemical that disposes you towards sleep. $ formal
1 be well/favourably/kindly disposed (to/towards sb/sth) to like or approve of someone or something:
•Management is favourably disposed to the idea of job-sharing.
2 be/feel/seem etc disposed to do sth formal to want or be willing to do something:
•Jon disagreed, but did not feel disposed to argue.
3 be disposed to sth formal to have a tendency towards something:
•a man disposed to depression formal
1 [C usually singular] a particular type of character which makes someone likely to behave or react in a certain way; = temperament
of a nervous/sociable/sensitive etc disposition (=having a nervous etc character)
•The film is not suitable for people of a nervous disposition.
have a cheerful/sunny etc disposition (=have a happy character)
2 [singular] a tendency or willingness to behave in a particular way; = inclination
have/show a disposition to do sth
•Neither side shows the slightest disposition to compromise.
[+towards]
•Most children have a disposition towards obedience.
3 [C usually singular] the position or arrangement of something in a particular place
[+of]
•a map showing the disposition of American forces
4 [U] formal the way in which something is dealt with or used
[+of]
•A solicitor advised him as to the disposition of the money.
5 [C,U] law the act of formally giving property to someone:
•the disposition of assets on death [T usually passive]
to take property or land away from someone
be dispossessed of sth
•Many black South Africans had been dispossessed of their homes.
- dispossession noun [U]
the dispossessed people who have had property or land taken away $ [C,U] formal
a situation in which two or more things are not equal in amount, level etc:
•a dangerous disproportion between production and consumption $
too much or too little in relation to something else:
•the disproportionate amount of money being spent on defence
- disproportionately adverb [T]
to show that something is wrong or not true; prove
•These figures disproved Smith's argument.
- disproof noun [C,U] formal
something that is disputable is not definitely true or right, and therefore is something that you can argue about; indisputable [C,U] formal
a discussion about a subject which people cannot agree on formal
tending to argue; = argumentative [C,U]
1 a serious argument or disagreement

be involved in a dispute
get into a dispute (=become involved)
settle/resolve a dispute
bitter dispute
long-running dispute (=one that lasts a long time)
political/legal dispute
pay dispute
industrial dispute BrE
labor dispute AmE (=between workers and employers)
territorial dispute (=about land)
domestic dispute (=between a couple who live together)
be in dispute with sb (=be involved in a dispute)
a dispute arises (=it starts)

[+with]
•The firm is involved in a legal dispute with a rival company.
[+over]
•He got into a dispute over a taxi fare.
•Every effort was made to settle the dispute, but without success.
[+between]
•the bitter border dispute between the countries
•A long-running pay dispute is disrupting rail services.
•The coal industry was plagued by industrial disputes.
•The police don't usually like to intervene in domestic disputes.
•The miners were in dispute with their employers over pay.
• A dispute arose over who was to be the next king.

2 be beyond dispute if something is beyond dispute, everyone agrees that it is true or that it really happened:
• It is beyond dispute that advances in medicine have enabled people to live longer.
3 be open to dispute if something is open to dispute, it is not completely certain and not everyone agrees about it:
•His interpretation of the poem is open to dispute.
4 be in dispute if something is in dispute, people are arguing about it:
•The facts of the case are still in dispute.
1 [T] to say that something such as a fact or idea is not correct or true:
•The main facts of the book have never been disputed.
dispute that
•Few would dispute that travel broadens the mind.
2 [I,T] formal to argue or disagree with someone
dispute (sth) with sb
•Hazlitt, though much younger, was soon disputing with Wordsworth on equal terms.
•What happened next is hotly disputed.
3 [T] to try to get control of something or win something:
•Soviet forces disputed every inch of ground. $ past tense and past participle disqualified, present participle disqualifying, third person singular disqualifies [T usually passive]
1 to stop someone from taking part in an activity because they have broken a rule; = ban
disqualify sb from (doing) sth
•He was disqualified from driving.
2 to unfairly prevent someone from doing a job or taking part in an activity; = exclude
disqualify sb from (doing) sth
•a system which disqualifies the poor from education
- disqualification $ noun [C,U]
•automatic disqualification [U] formal
anxiety or unhappiness about something
[+over/about/at]
• public disquiet over deaths in police custody
[+among]
•His appointment caused disquiet among members.
express/voice your disquiet
•The union has voiced its disquiet about the way the protest was handled. formal
causing anxiety:
•He found Jean's manner disquieting. [C] formal
a long speech or written report $ [T]
to ignore something or treat it as unimportant:
•He ordered the jury to disregard the witness's last statement.
•Mark totally disregarded my advice.[singular, U]
when someone ignores something that they should not ignore
[+for/of]
•his disregard for her feelings
total/reckless/complete/flagrant etc disregard
•Local councillors accused the terrorists of showing a complete disregard for human life.
in disregard of sth
•He said the bombing was in complete disregard of the Geneva Convention. $ [U]
buildings, roads etc that are in disrepair are in bad condition because they have not been cared for:
•buildings allowed to fall into disrepair
•The castle is in a state of disrepair.
considered to be dishonest, bad, illegal etc; reputable
•disreputable behavior
•a disreputable neighbourhood [U]
a situation in which people no longer admire or trust someone or something:
•He faces six charges of bringing the game into disrepute.
•This theory fell into disrepute in the fifties. [singular, U]
lack of respect for someone or something; respect
[+for]
•disrespect for the law
•Damien has always had a healthy disrespect (=that you think is good) for media opinion.
•It was said on the spur of the moment and I meant no disrespect to anybody.
• No disrespect to Phil, but the team has performed better since he left (=used to show you are not criticizing someone).
- disrespectful adjective
- disrespectfully adverb[T]
to say or do things that show a lack of respect for someone:
•Hicks accused Williams of disrespecting him at a record company party. $ [I] formal
to remove your clothes [T]
to prevent something from continuing in its usual way by causing problems:
•Traffic was disrupted by a hoax bomb.
•Climate change could disrupt the agricultural economy. [C,U]
a situation in which something is prevented from continuing in its usual way:
•The strike caused widespread disruption.
causing problems and preventing something from continuing in its usual way
[+to]
•Night work can be very disruptive to home life.
•Mike's parents thought I was a disruptive influence (=a person who causes disruption).
•ways to handle disruptive pupils
- disruptively adverb [T] informal
to say unkind things about someone you know [U]
a feeling of not being satisfied; satisfaction
[+with]
•30% of customers expressed dissatisfaction with the service.
not satisfied because something is not as good as you had expected; satisfied
•dissatisfied clients
[+with]
•If you are dissatisfied with this product, please return it. [T]
1 to cut up the body of a dead animal or person in order to study it
2 to examine something carefully in order to understand it:
•books in which the lives of famous people are dissected
3 to divide an area of land into several smaller pieces:
•fields dissected by small streams
- dissection noun [C,U] [I,T] literary
to hide your true feelings, thoughts etc [T] formal
to spread information or ideas to as many people as possible:
•Her findings have been widely disseminated.
- dissemination noun [U]
•the dissemination of information [C,U]
disagreement among a group of people
[+in/within/between/among]
•This move sowed dissension within the party ranks.
•The Labour Party was torn by internal dissensions.
1 [U] refusal to agree with an official decision or accepted opinion; = opposition; consent, assent
•the ruthless suppression of political dissent
•These voices of dissent grew louder and louder.
2 [C] law a statement by a judge giving their reasons for disagreeing with the other judges in a law case[I]
1 to say that you disagree with an official decision or accepted opinion
[+from]
•Few historians would dissent from this view.
•There are some dissenting voices (=people who do not agree) among the undergraduates.
2 law if a judge dissents, they say formally that they do not agree with the other judges in a law case $ [C]
1 a person or organization that disagrees with an official decision or accepted opinion:
•Political dissenters were imprisoned.
2 also Dissenter someone in the past who did not accept the beliefs of the established Protestant church in Western Europe; = non-conformist $ [C]
a long piece of writing on a particular subject, especially one written for a university degree $
do sb/sth a disservice also do a disservice to sb/sth to do something that gives other people a bad opinion of someone or something:
•The fans have done the game a great disservice. [C]
someone who publicly criticizes the government in a country where this is punished:
•a prominent political dissident
- dissident adjective [only before noun]
•dissident writers
- dissidence noun [U] $
not the same; similar
[+to]
•Madonna's career is not dissimilar to (=is quite similar to) Cher's.
- dissimilarity noun [C,U]
•dissimilarities between the US and Britain [I,T] formal
to hide your true feelings or intentions, especially by lying formal
1 [I,T] to gradually become less or weaker before disappearing completely, or to make something do this:
•As he thought it over, his anger gradually dissipated.
•Little by little, the smoke was dissipated by the breeze.
2 [T] to waste something valuable such as time, money, or energy:
•His savings were soon dissipated. formal
spending too much time enjoying physical pleasures such as drinking alcohol in a way that is harmful [U] formal
1 the process of making something gradually weaker or less until it disappears:
•the dissipation of heat
2 the enjoyment of physical pleasures in a way that is harmful:
•a life of dissipation
3 the act of wasting money, time, energy etc:
•the dissipation of resources $ [T]
1 to do or say something to show that you do not agree with the views or actions of someone with whom you had a connection
dissociate yourself from sth
•I wish to dissociate myself from Mr Irvine's remarks.
2 technical to regard two things or people as separate and not connected to each other; associate
- dissociation $ noun [U]
having an immoral way of life, for example drinking too much alcohol or having sex with many people [U]
1 the act of formally ending a parliament, business, or marriage; dissolve
•The president announced the dissolution of the National Assembly.
2 the act of breaking up an organization, institution etc so that it no longer exists:
•the dissolution of the monasteries
3 the process by which something gradually becomes weaker and disappears:
•the eventual dissolution of class barriers $
1 BECOME PART OF LIQUID
a) [I,T] if a solid dissolves, or if you dissolve it, it mixes with a liquid and becomes part of it:
•Stir until the sugar dissolves.
[+in]
•Sugar dissolves in water.
dissolve sth in sth
•Dissolve the tablet in water.
2 END [T] to formally end a parliament, business arrangement, marriage etc:
•The monarch had the power to dissolve parliament.
3 EMOTION dissolve into/in laughter/tears etc to start laughing or crying:
•She dissolved into fits of laughter.
4 BECOME WEAKER [I,T] to gradually become smaller or weaker before disappearing, or to make something do this:
•Her enthusiasm dissolved his shyness.
•A few clouds formed briefly before dissolving again.
1 [C,U] technical a combination of notes that sound strange because they are not in HARMONY; consonance
2 [U] formal lack of agreement
- dissonant adjective [T]
to persuade someone not to do something; persuade
dissuade sb from (doing) sth
•a campaign to dissuade young people from smoking
- dissuasion noun [U] $ [C]
a stick, used in the past for spinning wool
1 AMOUNT OF SPACE [C,U] the amount of space between two places or things
[+from/between]
•the distance from Chicago to Detroit
•Measure the distance between the two points.
short/long/considerable/great distance
•The cottage is some distance (=quite a long distance) from the road.
at a distance of 2 feet/10 metres etc
•A shark can smell blood at a distance of half a kilometer.
•Some members travelled a considerable distance to attend the meeting.
•She felt she had to put some distance between herself and the house (=go quite a long way away from it).
within walking/striking/commuting etc distance (of sth) (=near enough for you to reach in a reasonable time)
•If you are within striking distance of Speyside, visit the lakes.
stopping/braking distance (=the distance you travel in a car after pressing the brakes before the car stops)
2 FAR AWAY [singular] used to talk about a situation when something is far away from you in space or time
in the distance
•Church bells rang in the distance (=they were far away).
at/from a distance
•We watched from a safe distance (=we were far away).
3 UNFRIENDLY FEELING [singular] a situation in which two people do not have a close friendly relationship
[+between]
•There was still a distance between me and my father.
4 keep your distance
a) to stay far enough away from someone or something to be safe:
•A lighthouse on the cliff warns ships to keep their distance.
b) also keep sb at a distance to avoid becoming too friendly with someone:
•The neighbours tend to keep their distance.
5 go the (full) distance informal to finish something you have started:
•Do you think Greg will go the distance this time?
LONG-DISTANCE, MIDDLE DISTANCE
distance yourself (from sth) to say that you are not involved with someone or something, especially to avoid being connected with them:
•The UNO has firmly distanced itself from the anti-government movement.[U]
a method of study that involves working at home and sending your work to your teacher
1 FAR AWAY far away in space or time:
•the sound of distant gunfire
•Her honeymoon seemed a distant memory.
•That affair was in the dim and distant past (=a long time ago).
•The President hopes to visit Ireland in the not too distant future (=quite soon).
[+from]
•stars that are distant from our galaxy
2 NOT FRIENDLY unfriendly:
•After the quarrel Sue remained cold and distant.
3 NOT CONCENTRATING thinking deeply about something private, rather than about what is happening around you:
•Geri had a distant look in her eyes.
4 RELATIVE [only before noun] not closely related to you; close
•a distant cousin
5 distant from sth different from something or not closely connected with it:
•The reality of independence was distant from the hopes they had had.
- distantly adverb
•We are distantly related. [U]
a feeling that something or someone is unpleasant or morally offensive
[+for]
•her distaste for any form of compromise
unpleasant or morally offensive:
•What follows is John's story. Parts of it may seem distasteful, even shocking. written
feeling or showing distaste:
•She looked distastefully at the overflowing bin. $ [U]
1 a serious infectious disease that affects animals, especially dogs
2 BrE a type of paint that you mix with water to paint walls [I,T] formal
to swell or make something swell because of pressure from inside
- distended adjective
•a distended stomach
- distension noun [U] technical distil past tense and past participle distilled, present participle distilling [T]
1 to make a liquid such as water or alcohol more pure by heating it so that it becomes a gas and then letting it cool. Drinks such as WHISKY are made this way:
•distilled water
2 to remove a chemical substance from a plant, for example by heating or pressing it
3 to get the main ideas or facts from a much larger amount of information
distill sth into sth
•The notes I had brought back were waiting to be distilled into a book.
- distillation noun [C,U] $ [C]
a person or company that makes strong alcoholic drinks such as WHISKY plural distilleries [C]
a factory where strong alcoholic drink such as WHISKY is produced
1 clearly different or belonging to a different type:
•two entirely distinct languages
distinct types/groups/categories etc
•There are four distinct types.
[+from]
•The learning needs of the two groups are quite distinct from each other.
2 as distinct from sth used to make it clear that you are not referring to a particular kind of thing, but to something else:
•a movie star, as distinct from an actor
3 something that is distinct can clearly be seen, heard, smelled etc:
•The outline of the ship became more distinct.
4 [only before noun] a distinct possibility, feeling, quality etc definitely exists and cannot be ignored:
•I got the distinct impression he was trying to make me angry.
• There is a distinct possibility that this will eventually be needed.
•the distinct lack of enthusiasm from my sister
1 DIFFERENCE [C,U] a clear difference or separation between two similar things
[+between]
•the distinction between formal and informal language
clear/sharp distinction
•There is often no clear distinction between an allergy and food intolerance.
make/draw a distinction
•The Act makes no distinction between children and adults (=it treats them as if they were the same).
2 EXCELLENCE [U] the quality of being excellent and important:
•No one today doubts Eliot's distinction as a poet.
3 BEING SPECIAL [singular] the quality of being special in some way
have/earn/achieve etc the distinction of doing sth
•At that time, it had the distinction of being the largest bridge in the UK.
•The US enjoys the dubious distinction of being the lawsuit capital of the world.
4 RESULT [C,U] a special mark given to a student whose work is excellent
with distinction
•He obtained a law doctorate with distinction.
having a special quality, character, or appearance that is different and easy to recognize:
•a rock band with a distinctive sound
- distinctively adverb
- distinctiveness noun [U]
1 clearly:
•Speak clearly and distinctly.
•He distinctly remembered the day his father left.
2 very:
•Paul was left feeling distinctly foolish.
distinctly uncomfortable/uneasy/unhappy etc
3 used to say that something has a particular quality or character that is easy to recognize:
•dishes with a distinctly Jewish flavor
1 [I,T] to recognize and understand the difference between two or more things or people; = differentiate
[+between]
•His attorney argued that Cope could not distinguish between right and wrong.
distinguish sb/sth from
•a method of distinguishing cancer cells from normal tissue
2 [T not in progressive] to be the thing that makes someone or something different or special
distinguish sb/sth from
•The factor that distinguishes this company from the competition is customer service.
distinguishing feature/mark/characteristic
•The main distinguishing feature of this species is the leaf shape.
3 [T not in progressive] written to be able to see the shape of something or hear a particular sound:
•The light was too dim for me to distinguish anything clearly.
4 distinguish yourself to do something so well that people notice and remember you:
•He distinguished himself on several occasions in the civil war.
easy to recognize as being different from something else
[+from]
•The fake was barely distinguishable from the original painting.
barely/hardly/scarcely distinguishable
clearly/easily/readily distinguishable
•The cheese is easily distinguishable by its colour.
1 successful, respected, and admired:
•a long and distinguished career
2 dressed in neat and attractive clothes that are worn by adults, not looking like a young person:
•a tall distinguished figure in a dark suit $
1 [I,T] to change the appearance, sound, or shape of something so that it is strange or unclear:
•Tall buildings can distort radio signals.
2 [T] to report something in a way that is not completely true or correct:
•His account was badly distorted by the press.
3 [T] to change a situation from the way it would naturally be:
•an expensive subsidy which distorts the market
- distorted adjective
•His face was distorted in anger.
- distortion $ noun [C,U]
•a gross distortion of the facts [T]
to take someone's attention away from something by making them look at or listen to something else:
•Try not to distract the other students.
distract sb/sth from sth
•Coverage of the war was used to distract attention from other matters.
- distracting adjective
anxious and unable to think clearly
- distractedly adverb
1 [C,U] something that stops you paying attention to what you are doing:
•I study in the library as there are too many distractions at home.
[+from]
•Demands for equality were seen as a distraction from more serious issues.
2 drive sb to distraction to continue annoying or upsetting someone very much:
•The baby's constant crying drove me to distraction.
3 [C] old-fashioned a pleasant activity $
so upset and worried that you cannot think clearly:
•Relatives are tonight comforting the distraught parents. [U]
1 a feeling of extreme unhappiness:
•Luke's behaviour caused his parents great distress.
in distress
•The girl was crying and clearly in distress.
2 suffering and problems caused by a lack of money, food etc:
•acute financial distress
in distress
•charities that aid families in distress
3 formal great physical pain
4 a situation when a ship, aircraft etc is in danger and needs help:
•We picked up a distress signal 6 km away.
in distress
•The ship is in distress and taking on water.[T]
to make someone feel very upset:
•The dream had distressed her greatly.
1 very upset
deeply/visibly distressed
•Hannah was deeply distressed by the news.
[+at/by]
•My client is very distressed at the treatment she received from your officers.
distressed to find/hear/see/learn etc sth
•She was distressed to see he was crying.
2 technical in a lot of pain:
•The animal was clearly distressed.
3 distressed furniture or clothes have been made to look older than they really are
4 formal having very little money:
•a family living in distressed circumstancesalso distressful
making you feel very upset:
•a distressing experience
- distressingly adverb [T]
1 to share things among a group of people, especially in a planned way; = give out
distribute sth among/to sb
•Clothes and blankets have been distributed among the refugees.
•a man distributing leaflets to passers-by
2 to supply goods to shops and companies so that they can sell them:
•Milk is distributed to the local shops by Herald's Dairies.
3 to spread something over a large area:
•Make sure the weight of the load is evenly distributed.
4 be distributed to exist in different parts of an area or group
be widely/evenly distributed
•This species of dolphin is widely distributed throughout the world.
•The population is distributed in a very uneven pattern.
1 [U] the act of sharing things among a large group of people in a planned way
[+of]
•the distribution of aid supplies
2 [U] when goods are supplied to shops and companies for them to sell:
•a distribution centre
3 [C,U] the way in which something exists in different amounts in different parts of an area or group:
•population distribution
[+of]
•the highly unequal distribution of economic power [usually before noun]
connected with distribution:
•distributive costs $ [C]
1 a company or person that supplies shops and companies with goods
2 the part of an engine that sends an electric current to the SPARK PLUGs $ [C]
a company that has an arrangement to sell the products of another company:
•the UK distributorship for Sol lighting products [C]
1 an area of a town or the countryside, especially one with particular features
rural/financial/theatre etc district
•a house in a pleasant suburban district
2 an area of a country, city etc that has official borders:
•a postal district[C]
a lawyer in the US who works for the government in a particular area and who is responsible for bringing people who may be criminals to court[C] BrE
a group of people elected to organize local services such as education, health services etc in a particular area[C]
a US court of law which deals with cases involving national rather than state law[C] BrE
a nurse who visits people in their own homes [U]
a feeling that you cannot trust someone; mistrust
•Local people regard the police with suspicion and distrust.
[+of]
•Dylan's deep distrust of journalists made him difficult to interview.
- distrustful adjective[T]
to not trust someone or something; trust
•She had every reason to distrust him. $ [T]
1 INTERRUPT to interrupt someone so that they cannot continue what they are doing:
• Sorry to disturb you, but I have an urgent message.
•The thieves fled when they were disturbed by a neighbour.
• Do not disturb (=a sign you put on a door so that people will not interrupt you).
2 WORRY to make someone feel worried or upset:
•What disturbs you most about this latest development?
3 MOVE to move something or change its position:
•If you find a bird's nest, never disturb the eggs.
•I promise not to disturb anything.
4 CHANGE to change a normal situation in a way that causes problems:
•My hormone balance is disturbed by my pregnancy.
•New procedures often disturb the comfortable habits of the workforce.
5 disturb the peace law to behave in a noisy and unpleasant way in public $
1 [C,U] formal a situation in which people behave violently in public:
•There were disturbances in the crowd as fans left the stadium.
create/cause a disturbance
•army training on controlling civil disturbance
2 [C,U] something that interrupts what you are doing, or the act of making this happen:
•We arrange the work so there's as little disturbance as possible.
[+to]
•When a helicopter lands, it can cause a disturbance to local residents.
3 [U] a medical condition in which someone is mentally ill and does not behave normally:
•a history of mental disturbance $
1 not behaving normally because of a mental condition
mentally/emotionally disturbed
•the care of emotionally disturbed children
•while the balance of his mind was disturbed
2 worried or upset
[+by/about/at]
•Police are very disturbed about the latest trend.
seriously/deeply/greatly etc disturbed
disturbed to find/see/discover/learn etc
•She was disturbed to learn he had bought a motorbike.
disturbed that
•I'm disturbed that so many of the students appear to be illiterate.
3 disturbed sleep sleep that is interrupted $
worrying or upsetting:
•a disturbing increase in the crime rate
- disturbingly adverb
people who are disunited are in the same organization, country, or group but cannot agree or work with each other [U]
a situation in which a group of people cannot agree or work with each other:
•Disunity destroyed the Republicans at the polls. [U]
a situation in which something is no longer used:
•The building eventually fell into disuse. [usually before noun]
a disused building, railway, mine etc is no longer used [C]
a long narrow hole dug at the side of a field, road etc to hold or remove unwanted water
LAST-DITCH
1 [T] informal to stop having something because you no longer want it:
•The government has ditched plans to privatise the prison.
2 [T] informal to end a romantic relationship with someone:
•Meg and Neil were due to marry, but she ditched him.
3 [T] AmE spoken informal to not go to school, a class etc when you should; = skip BrE
•Did you ditch class today?
4 [T] AmE spoken informal to leave someone you are with in a place without telling them you are going
5 [I,T] to land an aircraft in a controlled crash into water:
•Two balloonists who ditched during the race were rescued by helicopter. $
as dull as ditchwater BrE very boring $ [I]
to keep being unable to make a final decision about something
[+over/about/between]
•He accused the government of dithering over the deal.
• Stop dithering, girl, and get on with it!
- ditherer noun [C]
a ditransitive verb has an INDIRECT OBJECT and a DIRECT OBJECT. 'Give' in the sentence 'Give me the book' is ditransitive.; intransitive, transitive
another spelling of DITZY $ spoken informal
1 used to say that you have exactly the same opinion as someone else:
•'I hated school.' 'Ditto.'
2 used to say that what is true of one thing is also true of another:
•Where should she go? Mississippi? Too hot. Ditto Alabama.also ditto mark plural dittoes [C] written
a mark that you write immediately under a word in a list to show that the same word is repeated plural ditties [C]
a short simple poem or song - used humorouslyditsy AmE informal
silly or stupid, and likely to forget things easily
- ditz noun [C] [C] medical
a substance that increases the flow of URINE
- diuretic adjective $ technical
1 happening or active in the daytime; nocturnal
2 happening every dayalso Div BrE
the written abbreviation of division [C]
a very successful and famous female singer:
•opera diva Jessye Norman $ [C]
1 a bed with a thick base
2 a long low soft seat without a back or arms past tense dived also, dove $ AmE, , past participle dived [I]
1 JUMP INTO WATER to jump into deep water with your head and arms going in first
[+into/off etc]
•The snaps show the TV presenter as she dives into a pool.
•Diving off the cliffs is dangerous.
2 SWIM UNDER WATER to swim under water using special equipment to help you breathe:
•The first time you dive on a coral reef is an experience you will never forget.
3 GO DEEPER/LOWER to travel down through the air or through water to a lower level:
•The submarine began to dive.
•The aircraft appeared to dive vertically towards the crowd.
4 MOVE QUICKLY [always + adv/prep] to move or jump quickly in a particular direction or into a particular place:
•Jackson dived after the ball.
•We dived into a shop to avoid the rain.
•The soldiers were diving for cover (=to protect themselves behind something).
5 dive into your bag/pocket etc to put your hand quickly in your bag, pocket etc in order to get something out:
•He dived into his pocket and produced a packet of cigarettes.
6 NUMBERS if numbers, prices etc dive, they suddenly become much lower than before:
•The dollar dived against the yen in Tokyo today.

PHRASAL VERBS
dive in phr v
to start doing something eagerly:
•Harvey dived in with several questions.[C]
1 SUDDEN MOVEMENT a sudden movement in a particular direction or into a particular place:
•She made a dive for the bathroom.
2 SUDDEN FALL a sudden fall in the amount, value, or success of something:
•The news put shares in a dive.
•The team's fortunes have taken a dive this year.
3 MOVEMENT DOWNWARDS when something moves down through the air or water:
•Thankfully, the pilot managed to pull out of the dive and regain control.
steep/vertical dive
4 JUMP a jump into deep water with your head and arms going in first
5 SWIM the act of going under water to swim, using special equipment to help you breathe
6 PLACE informal a bar, club etc that is cheap and dirty[I,T]
if an aircraft dive-bombs a place, it drops bombs on it
- dive-bomber noun [C] $ [C]
1 someone who swims or works under water using special equipment to help them breathe
2 someone who jumps into water with their head and arms first $ [I]
1 if similar things diverge, they develop in different ways and so are no longer similar:
•The two species diverged millions of years ago.
•Global growth rates are diverging markedly.
2 if opinions, interests etc diverge, they are different from each other
[+from]
•Here Innocent's views diverged from Gregory's.
3 if two lines or paths diverge, they separate and go in different directions; converge
- divergence noun [C,U]
•divergence between the US and Europe
- divergent adjective
• divergent views $
very different from each other:
•subjects as diverse as pop music and archaeology
- diversely adverb $ past tense and past participle diversified, present participle diversifying, third person singular diversifies
1 [I,T] if a business, company, country etc diversifies, it increases the range of goods or services it produces
[+(away) from]
•farmers forced to diversify away from their core business
[+into]
•The company is planning to diversify into other mining activities.
•We need to diversify the economy.
2 [I,T] to change something or to make it change so that there is more variety:
•User requirements have diversified over the years.
3 [I] technical to put money into several different types of INVESTMENT instead of only one or two
[+into]
•Spread the risk by diversifying into dollar bonds.
- diversification $ noun [U]
•diversification of the rural economy $
1 [C,U] a change in the direction or use of something, or the act of changing it
[+of]
•a campaign to halt the diversion of the river
•the diversion of funds into the military budget
2 [C,U] an enjoyable activity that you do to stop yourself from becoming bored
3 [C] something that stops you from paying attention to what you are doing or what is happening:
•Two prisoners created a diversion to give the men time to escape.
4 [C] BrE a different way that traffic is sent when the usual roads are closed $ written
intended to take someone's attention away from something:
•Most children are skilled in diversionary tactics. $
1 [U] the fact of including many different types of people or things
cultural/ethnic/linguistic etc diversity
•The curriculum will take account of the ethnic diversity of the population.
2 [singular] a range of different people, things, or ideas; = variety
[+of]
•a diversity of opinions $ [T]
1 to change the use of something such as time or money
divert sth into/to/(away) from etc sth
•The company should divert more resources into research.
•Officials diverted revenue from arms sales to the rebels.
2 to change the direction in which something travels
divert a river/footpath/road etc
•Canals divert water from the Truckee River into the lake.
•The high street is closed and traffic is being diverted.
3 if you divert your telephone calls, you arrange for them to go directly to another number, for example because you are not able to answer them yourself for some time:
•Remember to divert your phone when you are out of the office.
4 to deliberately take someone's attention from something by making them think about or notice other things
divert (sb's) attention (away from sb/sth)
•The crime crackdown is an attempt to divert attention from social problems.
•He'd been trying to divert suspicion away from himself.
5 formal to amuse or entertain someone $ formal
entertaining and amusing:
•a mildly diverting film
[I,T] technical if a company divests, it sells some of its ASSETs , INVESTMENTs etc:
•pressure on hospitals to divest tobacco-related stocks

PHRASAL VERBS
divest sb of sth phr v formal
1 divest yourself of sth to sell or give away something you own:
•Dad had long since divested himself of anything valuable.
2 divest yourself of sth to remove something you are wearing or carrying:
•Pedro divested himself of his overcoat.
3 to take something away from someone:
•The king was divested of all his wealth and power. [C,U] technical
another word for DISINVESTMENT
1 SEPARATE [I,T] if something divides, or if you divide it, it separates into two or more parts
divide sth into sth
•Scientists traditionally divide the oceans into zones.
•The book is divided into six sections.
[+into]
•Here, the river divides into three channels.
2 KEEP SEPARATE also divide off [T] to keep two areas separate from each other:
•The Wall used to divide East and West Berlin.
divide sth from sth
•Only a thin curtain divided her cabin from his.
3 SHARE also divide up [T] to separate something into parts and share them between people
divide sth between/among sb/sth
•The money will be divided equally among the charities.
4 SPEND TIME/ENERGY [T] if you divide your time, energy etc between different activities or places, you spend part of your time doing each activity or in each place
divide sth between sth/sb
•She divides her time between New York and Paris.
5 MATHEMATICS
a) [T] to calculate how many times one number contains a smaller number; multiply
divide sth by sth
•If you divide 21 by 3, you get 7.
•'What's six divided by three?' 'Two'.
b) [I] to be contained exactly in a number one or more times
[+into]
•8 divides into 64.
6 DISAGREE [T] to make people disagree so that they form groups with different opinions:
•The issue of cloning has sharply divided voters.
7 divide and rule/conquer to defeat or control people by making them argue with each other instead of opposing you
8 divided loyalties a feeling you have when two people you like have argued and you are not sure which person you should support:
•Divorce is an agony of divided loyalties for children.
- divided adjective
•a deeply divided society
•The committee was divided over the proposal.[C usually singular]
1 a strong difference between the beliefs or way of life of groups of people, that may make them hate each other:
•The North/South divide is characteristic of Britain.
cultural/political/racial etc divide
•people on both sides of the political divide
2 AmE a line of high ground between two river systems; = watershed[C]
AmE a main road with two lines of traffic travelling in each direction, separated by a piece of land; = dual carriageway BrE [C]
1 a part of a company's profit that is divided among the people with SHAREs in the company
2 BrE prize money offered in a national competition called the FOOTBALL POOLS which people can win by correctly guessing the results of football games
3 technical a number that is to be divided by another number
4 pay/bring dividends to be very useful and bring a lot of advantages, especially later in the future:
•Good eating habits will pay dividends later on in life. $ [C]
1 something that divides something else into parts:
•a room divider
•alphabetical file dividers
2 AmE a piece of land that separates traffic travelling in opposite directions on a main road; = reservation BrE
•Police saw his Mercedes speeding along the center divider.
3 dividers [plural] an instrument used for measuring or marking lines or angles, consisting of two pointed pieces of metal joined together at the top[C usually singular]
the difference between two similar things
[+between]
•What's the dividing line between normal drinking and addiction? [U]
the ability to say what will happen in the future, or the act of doing this
1 coming from or relating to God or a god
divine intervention/providence/revelation/guidance etc
•faith in divine providence
•divine power
•divine love
2 old-fashioned very pleasant or good
1 [T] literary to discover or guess something
divine that
•Somehow, the children had divined that he was lying.
2 [I] to search for underground water or minerals using a Y-shaped stick:
•a divining rod (=the stick used for this)
- diviner noun [C][singular]
1 the right given to a king or queen by God to rule a country, that in former times could not be opposed
2 informal the right to do what you want without having to ask permission:
•Being my wife doesn't give you the divine right to read my mail. [U]
1 the sport of swimming under water using special equipment to help you breathe:
•We went diving on the coral reef.
2 the activity of jumping into water with your head and arms first
SCUBA DIVING[C]
a metal container that is open at the bottom and filled with air under pressure, in which people can work under water[C]
a board above the edge of a SWIMMING POOL which people DIVE from plural divinities
1 [U] AmE the study of God and religious beliefs; = theology BrE
•a graduate of Harvard divinity school
2 [U] the quality or state of being a god
3 [C] a god [not before noun]
able to be divided, for example by a number
[+by]
•6 is divisible by 3.
[+into]
•The nervous system is divisible into three parts.
1 SEPARATING [C,U] the act of separating something into two or more different parts, or the way these parts are separated or shared
division of sth between/among/into sth
•the division of words into syllables
•the traditional division of labour (=the way that particular tasks are shared) between husband and wife
2 DISAGREEMENT [C,U] disagreement among the members of a group that makes them form smaller opposing groups
division between/within/among sth
•Can he heal the deep divisions among Republican ranks?
racial/class/gender etc division
•The old class divisions had begun to break down.
•The Army was plagued by internal divisions.
3 MATHEMATICS [U] the process of finding out how many times one number is contained in another; multiplication, long division
4 PART OF AN ORGANIZATION [C] a group that does a particular job within a large organization:
•the Computer Services Division
5 MILITARY [C] a large military group:
•a tank division
6 SPORT [C] one of the groups of teams that a sports competition is divided into, often based on the number of games they have won
the Premier/First/Second/Third/Fourth Division
•a second-division club
7 IN PARLIAMENT [C] a process in which members of the British parliament vote for something by dividing into groups:
•MPs forced a division on the bill.
•Some members supported the opposition in the division lobbies (=the rooms where the vote takes place). [only before noun]
relating to one of the parts into which a large organization, group etc is divided:
•divisional headquarters
causing a lot of disagreement between people:
•The strike was a divisive issue in the community.
socially/economically/politically etc divisive
•socially divisive policies $ [C] technical
the number by which another number is to be divided $
1 [C,U] the legal ending of a marriage; separation
•Why doesn't she get a divorce?
•In Britain, one in three marriages ends in divorce.
file/sue/petition for divorce (=start the legal divorce process)
•His wife had threatened to start divorce proceedings.
•the rise in the divorce rate
•She received the house as part of the divorce settlement (=the amount of money, property etc each person receives in a divorce case).
•The Act extended the grounds (=legal reasons) for divorce.
2 [C usually singular] formal the fact of separating two related things
[+between]
•the divorce between theory and method
1 [I,T] if someone divorces their husband or wife, or if two people divorce, they legally end their marriage; separate
•David's parents divorced when he was six.
•My father threatened to divorce her.
2 [T] formal to separate two ideas, subjects etc completely
divorce sth from sth
•It is difficult to divorce sport from politics.
3 [T] to stop being involved in an activity, organization, situation etc
divorce yourself from sth
•Our society has divorced itself from religion. $
1 no longer married to your wife or husband:
•Are you married, single, or divorced?
•a divorced woman
[+from]
•Anne is divorced from Simon's father.
•My parents are getting divorced.
2 separate from and not connected in any way to an idea, subject etc
[+from]
•His ideas are completely divorced from reality. $ [C]
1 AmE old-fashioned a woman who is divorced
2 BrE a man or woman who is divorced [C]
a small piece of earth and grass that you dig out accidentally while playing a sport such as GOLF or POLO [T] formal
to give someone information that should be secret; = reveal
divulge information/secrets/details etc (to sb)
•It is not company policy to divulge personal details of employees.
divulge that
•Clare divulged that she was recovering from a nervous breakdown.
divulge what/where etc
•The Pentagon refused to divulge what type of plane it was. plural divvies [C] BrE informal
a stupid personpast tense and past participle divvied, present participle divvying, third person singular divvies

PHRASAL VERBS
divvy sth <=> up phr v informal
to share something between several people:
•We can divvy up the profits between us.also Divali [U]
a Hindu FESTIVAL that is celebrated in the autumn informal
the southern states of the US that fought against the northern states in the Civil War [U]
a type of traditional JAZZ music [U] BrE
do-it-yourself the activity of making or repairing things yourself instead of buying them or paying someone else to do it
1 feeling unable to stand steadily, for example because you are looking down from a high place or because you are ill:
•The heat and the champagne made him feel dizzy.
•She started to suffer from dizzy spells (=a short period when you feel dizzy).
[+with]
•Ruth felt dizzy with relief.
2 the dizzy heights (of sth) an important position - used humorously:
•Naomi had reached the dizzy heights of manageress.
3 informal stupid and forgetful:
•a dizzy blonde
4 very busy and exciting:
•Hong Kong buzzes from dawn to dusk at a dizzy pace.
- dizziness noun [U]
•headaches, dizziness, and vomiting
- dizzily adverb
making you feel dizzy:
•The riverbank rushed towards her with dizzying speed. [C]
disc jockey someone who plays records on a radio show or in a club where you can dance [C]
a magical person in Islamic stories who has special powers; = genie [U]
deoxyribonucleic acid a substance that carries GENETIC information in the cells of the body
DNA testing/profiling/fingerprinting/evidence etc (=processes that examine DNA samples to help discover who has committed a crime)
•The men will undergo voluntary DNA testing of their saliva.[U]
the act of examining the DNA found where a crime has happened and the DNA of people who may have committed the crime, in order to find out who is responsible past tense did , past participle done , third person singular does strong
1
a) used with another verb to form questions or negatives:
•Do you like bananas?
•I don't feel like going out tonight.
•Ian didn't answer.
•Where do you live?
•Doesn't Rosie look wonderful?
•Don't listen to her!
b) spoken used to form QUESTION TAGs (=short questions that you add to the end of statements):
•You know Tony, don't you?
•She didn't understand, did she?
2 used instead of repeating a verb that has already been used:
•'Will Kay come?' 'She may do.'
•So now you know as much as I do.
•'You forgot all about it.' 'No, I didn't.'
•'I want to go home.' 'So do I.'
•I didn't believe the story and neither did he.
3 used to emphasize the main verb in a sentence:
•Do be careful.
•You do look nice in that hat.
•I do think she's behaved badly.
•'You should have warned me.' 'But I did warn you.'
•He owns, or did own (=emphasizing past tense), a yacht.
4 spoken used when politely offering someone something:
•Do have another sandwich.past tense did, past participle done, third person singular does
1 ACTION/ACTIVITY [T] to perform an action or activity:
•Have you done your homework yet?
•You need to do more exercise.
•It's a pleasure doing business with you.
•I didn't know what to do.
•All he does is sit in front of the television all day.
do something/nothing/anything etc
•We should do something to help him.
•It all happened so quickly that I couldn't do anything about it.
•bored teenagers with nothing to do
do the laundry/ironing/dishes etc
•It's your turn to do the dishes.
2 SUCCEED [I] used to ask or talk about how successful someone is at something
do well/badly
•Students are under considerable pressure to do well.
how sb/sth is doing (with/in sth)
•You should get promoted after about a year, depending on how you're doing.
•How's he doing in trying to give up smoking?
3 HAVE AN EFFECT [T] to have a particular effect on something or someone:
•The scandal will do serious damage to his reputation.
•This will do nothing for (=will not improve) Jamie's confidence.
•The colour does nothing for her (=does not improve her appearance).
•Getting the job has done a lot for (=had a good effect on) her self-esteem.
•A week in the countryside will do you good (=make you feel better).
•Exercise can do wonders for (=have a very good effect on) body, mind, and spirit.
4 JOB [T] to have a particular job:
•What do you want to do after you leave school?
•What do you do for a living (=as your job)?
•I don't like her but she's very good at what she does.
5 ENOUGH/ACCEPTABLE [I,T not in progressive] used to say that something will be enough or be acceptable:
•We don't have a lot of wine for the party, but it should just about do.
•I can't find my black shoes so these will have to do.
•A few sandwiches will do me for lunch.
• It won't do (=it is not acceptable) to say that the situation couldn't have been avoided.
6 what sb will do for sth used to talk about what arrangements someone has made to get something they need:
•What will you do for money if you leave your job?
•I'm not sure what we'll do for transport yet.
7 what is sb/sth doing? spoken used to ask why someone or something is in a particular place or doing a particular thing, especially when you are surprised or annoyed by this:
•What's my coat doing on the floor?
•What are you doing walking around at this time of night?
•What on earth do you think you're doing?
8 do your/sb's hair/nails/make-up etc to do something that improves your appearance or someone else's appearance:
•It must take her ages to do her make-up in the mornings.
•Who does your hair?
9 SPEND TIME [T] informal to spend a period of time doing something:
•She did a year backpacking around the world.
•Oh yes, I certainly did my time in the army (=spent time in the army).
10 STUDY [T not in passive] BrE to study a particular subject in a school or university:
•I did French for five years.
11 COOK [T] to cook a particular type of food:
•I was thinking of doing a casserole tonight.
12 do 10 miles/20 kms etc to achieve a particular distance, speed etc:
•We did 300 kilometres on the first day.
•The car can do 120 mph.
13 PROVIDE A SERVICE [T] to provide a particular service or sell a particular product:
•They do interior and exterior design.
•We don't do food after two o'clock.
14 PERFORM A PLAY [T] to perform a particular play, show etc:
•We did 'Guys and Dolls' last year.
15 DECORATE [T] to paint or decorate a room, house etc:
•How are you going to do your living room?
16 BEHAVE [I] to behave in a particular way:
•In the evenings students are free to do as they please (=do what they want).
•I wish you'd do as you're told (=do what you are told to do)!
17 sb doesn't do nice/funny/sensible etc spoken informal used humorously to say that someone cannot or does not behave in a particular way:
•Sensible? I don't do sensible.
18 COPY BEHAVIOUR [T] to copy someone's behaviour or the way they talk, especially in order to entertain people:
•He does a brilliant George Bush (=copies him in a very funny way).
19 do lunch/do a movie etc informal to have lunch, go to see a film etc with someone:
•Let's do lunch next week.
20 DRUGS [T] informal to use an illegal drug:
•He says he's never done hard drugs in his life.
21 VISIT [T] to visit a particular place, especially as a tourist:
•Let's do the Eiffel Tower today.
22 that'll do! spoken used to tell a child to stop behaving badly
23 that does it! spoken used to say angrily that you will not accept a situation any more:
•Right, that does it! I'm not going to listen to any more of this!
24 that should do it also that ought to do it spoken used to say that you will have finished doing something if you just do one more thing:
•I've just got to prepare the dessert and that should do it.
25 do it informal to have sex - used humorously or when you want to avoid saying the word 'sex'
26 sb would do well to do sth used to advise someone that they should do something:
•Most people would do well to reduce the amount of salt in their diet.
27 PUNISH [T] BrE spoken to punish or attack someone
be/get done at DONE^2 (8)
28 DECEIVE [T] BrE informal to deceive or trick someone
be done at DONE^2 (7)
29 what's doing ...? spoken used to ask what is happening:
•What's doing at your place tonight?
30 do or die used to say that someone is determined to do something very brave or dangerous even if they die attempting it
31 how (are) you doing? spoken used when you meet someone to ask them if they are well, happy etc:
•Hi Bob, how you doing?
32 what can I do you for? spoken used humorously to ask someone how you can help them, especially when you are trying to sell them something
33 do well by sb to treat someone well:
•His relations always did pretty well by him.

PHRASAL VERBS
do away with sb/sth phr v
1 to get rid of something or stop using it:
•People thought that the use of robots would do away with boring low-paid factory jobs.
2 informal to kill someone

do sb <=> down phr v
to criticize someone, especially in an unfair way:
•I know you don't like him, but there's no need to keep doing him down in front of the boss.

do for sb/sth phr v
BrE informal to kill someone or harm something or someone very badly:
•Working 100 hours a week nearly did for me.
be done for at DONE^2 (3)

do sb in phr v informal
1 to kill someone:
•He was planning to do himself in.
2 to make someone feel extremely tired:
•That walk really did me in.
done in at DONE^2 (4)

do sth <=> out phr v BrE
1 to make a room look nice by decorating it:
•The room was beautifully done out in pastel colours.
2 informal to clean a room or cupboard thoroughly

do sb out of sth phr v informal
to dishonestly stop someone from getting or keeping something, especially something they have a right to have:
•Are you trying to do me out of a job?

do sb/sth over phr v
1 do sth <=> over especially AmE to make a place look attractive by decorating it:
•The whole apartment had been done over in an Art Deco style.
2 AmE to do something again, especially because you did it wrong the first time:
•If you make too many mistakes, you'll have to do it over.
3 do sth <=> over BrE spoken informal to steal things from a building
4 BrE spoken informal to attack and injure someone

do up phr v
1 to fasten something, or to be fastened in a particular way
do sth <=> up
•Do up your coat or you'll get cold.
•a skirt which does up at the back
2 do sth <=> up to repair an old building or car, or to improve its appearance:
•They did up an old cottage in the Scottish Highlands.
3 do sth <=> up to decorate something in a particular way:
•The apartment was done up in Viennese style.
4 do sth <=> up to wrap something in paper
5 do yourself up to make yourself look neat and attractive:
•Sue spent ages doing herself up.

do with sth phr v
1 could do with sth spoken to need or want something:
•I could have done with some help this morning.
2 have/be to do with sb/sth to be about something, be related to something, or be involved with something:
•Their conversation had been largely to do with work.
•I'm sorry about the accident, but it's nothing to do with me (=I am not involved in any way).
•This question doesn't have anything to do with the main topic of the survey.
•I'm sure her problems have something to do with what happened when she was a child.
3 what to do with yourself how to spend your time:
•She didn't know what to do with herself after she retired.
4 what sb should do with sth/what to do with sth etc used to ask or talk about how someone should deal with something:
•What shall I do with these papers?
•I wouldn't know what to do with a newborn baby.
5 what has sb done with sth? spoken used to ask where someone has put something:
•What have you done with the remote for the TV?
6 what is sb doing with sth? used to ask why someone has something:
•What are you doing with my diary?
7 I can't be doing with sth BrE spoken used to say that you are annoyed by something and do not want to have to think about it:
•I can't be doing with all this right now.

do without phr v
1 do without (sth) to live or do something without a particular thing:
•I don't have any sugar so you'll have to do without.
•You can do without a carpet but you've got to have somewhere to sit.
2 can do without sth used to say that something is annoying you or causing you problems:
•You can do without all that hassle.
•Those are the type of stupid remarks I can do without.
DOING
DONE^2; do your bit at BIT^2 (8); how do you do at HOW (11); nothing doing at NOTHING^1 (14); do sb proud at PROUD (5); do sth to death at DEATH (4); CAN-DOplural dos or do's [C]
1 informal a party or other social event:
•We're having a do to celebrate his 30th birthday.
2 dos and don'ts also do's and don'ts things that you should and should not do in a particular situation:
•The booklet lists the dos and don'ts of caring for dogs.
3 AmE informal a HAIRDOdoh $ [singular, U]
the first note in the musical SCALE according to the SOL-FA system $
dead on arrival used when someone is said by a doctor to be dead when they are brought to a hospital
the written abbreviation of date of birth [not before noun] spoken informal
able to be done or completed:
•We've got to think first whether this plan is doable. $ [C] informal
a doctor $ [C]
AmE someone who guides visitors through a MUSEUM, church etc $
quiet and easily controlled:
•Labradors are gentle, docile dogs.
- docilely adverb
- docility $ noun [U] $
1 [C] a place in a port where ships are loaded, unloaded, or repaired; dry dock
•A crowd was waiting at the dock to greet them.
in dock
•The ship is in dock for repairs.
2 the docks [plural] the area of a port where there are docks:
•James arrived at the docks expecting to see a luxury liner.
3 [C] AmE a JETTY
4 the dock the part of a law court where the person who is charged with a crime stands
in the dock
•Three defendants stood in the dock.
5 in the dock especially BrE thought to have done something dishonest, harmful, or wrong:
•These chemicals remain in the dock until we have more scientific evidence.
6 [C,U] a plant with thick green leaves that grows wild in Britain:
•a dock leaf
1 SHIPS [I,T] if a ship docks, or if the captain docks it, it sails into a dock so that it can unload
[+at/in]
•We docked at Rangoon the next morning.
2 dock sb's wages/pay/salary to reduce the amount of money you pay someone as a punishment:
•The company has threatened to dock the officers' pay.
3 COMPUTERS [T] to connect two computers using an electrical wire
dock sth to/into/with sth
•Users can dock a laptop to their desktop setup.
4 SPACECRAFT [I + with] if two spacecraft dock, they join together in space
5 ANIMALS [T] to cut an animal's tail short $ [C] BrE
someone whose job is loading and unloading ships; = longshoreman AmE $ [C]
1 technical a short document giving details of goods that are delivered
2 AmE law a list of legal cases that will be heard in a particular court
3 AmE a list of things that are to be discussed or done; = agenda
•What's on the docket for tomorrow's meeting?also docklands $ [U]
the area of a port where there are docks:
•a dockland development $ [singular]
the edge of the land that is next to the water in a port $ [C]
someone whose job is loading and unloading ships $ [C]
a place where ships are repaired or built $ [C]
1 written abbreviation Dr someone who is trained to treat people who are ill:
•She was treated by her local doctor.
•You should consult your family doctor for further advice.
go to/see/visit a doctor
•I'd like to make an appointment to see Dr Pugh.
•His doctor prescribed him some antibiotics. (=ordered drugs for him by writing an official note)
the doctor's informal (=the place where your doctor works)
•'Where's Sandy today?' 'I think she's at the doctor's.'
•a busy doctor with over 2000 patients on her list
2 someone who holds the highest level of degree given by a university:
•a Doctor of Law

WORD FOCUS: doctor
similar words:
physician especially AmE
GP BrE
consultant
registrar
a doctor who does operations:
surgeon
a doctor who treats mental illnesses:
psychiatrist
psychotherapist
shrink informal
a doctor who treats people's teeth:
dentist
orthodontist
a doctor who treats animals:
vet
veterinarian especially AmE
someone who is training to be a doctor:
medical student
intern AmE
the place where you go to see your doctor:
surgery BrE
office AmE
[T]
1 to dishonestly change something in order to gain an advantage:
•He had doctored his passport to pass her off as his daughter.
•There are concerns that some players have been doctoring the ball.
2 to add something harmful to food or drink:
•Paul suspected that his drink had been doctored.
3 to remove part of the sex organs of an animal to prevent it from having babies; = neuter
•You should have your cat doctored.
4 to give someone medical treatment, especially when you are not a doctor:
•Bill doctored the horses with a strong-smelling ointment. $ [only before noun]
done as part of work for the university degree of doctor:
•a doctoral thesis $ [C]
a university degree of the highest level
[+in]
•She received her doctorate in history in 1998.[C]
a PHD $ formal
certain that your beliefs or opinions are correct and unwilling to change them:
•The party followed an increasingly doctrinaire course. $
1 [C,U] a set of beliefs that form an important part of a religion or system of ideas:
•traditional doctrines of divine power
•Marxist doctrine
2 Doctrine [C] AmE a formal statement by a government about its future plans:
•the announcement of the Truman Doctrine
- doctrinal $ adjective $ [C]
a film on television which shows real events in the form of a story $ [C]
1 a piece of paper that has official information on it
2 a piece of written work that is stored on a computer; file $ [T]
1 to write about something, film it, or take photographs of it, in order to record information about it
document how/what etc
•His research will document how the debt crisis occurred.
2 to support an opinion, argument etc with recorded facts
be well/extensively/poorly etc documented
•It is well documented that men die younger than women. $ [C]
someone whose job is to make documentaries $ plural documentaries [C]
a film or television or a radio programme that gives detailed information about a particular subject
[+on/about]
•A local film crew is making a documentary about volcanoes.[only before noun]
1 documentary films, programmes, photographs etc give or show information about a particular subject:
•documentary films
2 consisting of or written on documents
documentary evidence/proof
•One of the most useful sources of documentary evidence is maps. $
1 [U] official documents, reports etc that are used to prove that something is true or correct:
•Applicants must provide supporting documentation.
2 [C,U] the act of recording information in writing, on film etc
[+of]
•a careful documentation of the costs $ [C] BrE
a television programme that shows what happens in the daily lives of real people $
shaking slightly and walking with difficulty because of old age:
•a doddering old man
- dodder verb [I] $ BrE
weak and not able to do things easily because of old age:
•Some of the patients are a bit doddery. $
be a doddle BrE informal to be very easy:
•The exam was a doddle! $
1 [I,T] to move quickly to avoid someone or something:
•He ran across the courtyard, dodging a storm of bullets.
[+between/through/into etc]
•Helen clutched Edward's arm as they dodged through the traffic.
2 [T] to deliberately avoid discussing something or doing something; = evade
dodge an issue/question
•Senator O'Brian skillfully dodged the crucial question.
draft dodging (=when someone avoids an order to join the army, navy etc)[C]
informal something dishonest that is done to avoid a rule or law:
•Businesses are investing in tree plantations as a tax dodge (=a way of avoiding paying tax). $ [C] BrE
a car used on the dodgems; = bumper car AmE $
BrE the dodgems a ride at a FUNFAIR in which people drive small electric cars in an enclosed area, trying to hit other cars $ [C]
tax/draft dodger someone who uses dishonest methods to avoid paying taxes or serving in the army, navy etc $ BrE informal
1 not working properly or not in good condition:
•Norton Disk Doctor can perform miracles on a dodgy hard disk.
•Simon was rushed to hospital after eating what must have been dodgy prawns.
2 seeming to be false, dishonest, or not to be trusted:
•One girl thought the men looked dodgy.
•dodgy share dealings
3 involving risk or danger:
•There were a few dodgy moments. $ plural dodos [C]
1 a large bird that was unable to fly and no longer exists
2 AmE informal a stupid person
3 (as) dead as a dodo completely dead or inactive, or no longer used $ [C]
1 a female rabbit or DEER; buck, stag
2 doe eyes large attractive eyes:
•a pretty girl with big brown doe eyes $ [C]
informal someone who does things instead of just thinking or talking about them:
•Dole is a doer, not a talker. strong
the third person singular of the present tense of DO
the short form of 'does not' $ [T] old-fashioned
to remove the hat you are wearing as a sign of respect $ [C]
1 ANIMAL a common animal with four legs, fur, and a tail. Dogs are kept as pets or trained to guard places, find drugs etc; puppy
•I could hear a dog barking.
•a pack of stray dogs
•What breed of dog is she?
2 MALE ANIMAL a male dog, FOX, or WOLF; bitch
3 WOMAN informal not polite an offensive word meaning an unattractive woman
4 dog eat dog when people compete against each other and will do anything to get what they want:
•It's a dog eat dog world out there.
5 be going to the dogs informal if a country or organization is going to the dogs, it is getting worse and will be difficult to improve
6 DISHONEST informal not polite an offensive word for an unpleasant or dishonest man:
•You dirty dog!
7 a dog's life spoken a life that is difficult and unpleasant, with very little pleasure:
•His wife's a nag who leads him a dog's life (=makes his life unpleasant).
8 make a dog's breakfast of sth BrE informal to do something very badly:
•The orchestra made a complete dog's breakfast of the fourth movement.
9 a dog's dinner BrE informal something that is meant to be impressive or fashionable but that other people think is not:
•She was dressed up like a dog's dinner.
10 not have a dog's chance BrE informal to have no chance of being successful
11 every dog has its/his day used to say that even the most unimportant person has a time in their life when they are successful and important
12 like a dog with two tails BrE informal very pleased and happy because something good has happened
13 FEET dogs [plural] AmE informal feet:
•Boy, my dogs really hurt.
14 POOR QUALITY AmE informal something that is of very poor quality
15 dog and pony show AmE an event that has only been organized so that people can admire it and think that it is impressive, not for any real purpose
16 be the dog's bollocks BrE informal a very rude expression used to say that something is very good
17 the dogs BrE informal a sports event consisting of a series of races for dogs
18 put on the dog AmE old-fashioned to pretend to be richer, more clever etc than you really are
the hair of the dog at HAIR (13); SHAGGY DOG STORY; as sick as a dog at SICK^1 (1); let sleeping dogs lie at SLEEP^1 (6); the tail wagging the dog at TAIL^1 (11); TOP DOG; treat someone like a dog at TREAT^1 (1)past tense and past participle dogged, present participle dogging [T]
1 if a problem or bad luck dogs you, it causes trouble for a long time:
•He has been dogged by injury all season.
2 to follow close behind someone $ [C]
1 a vehicle with two wheels and seats that is pulled by a horse
2 a small vehicle pulled by a dog $ [C]
a DOG WARDEN[C]
1 a piece of thin leather that you fasten around a dog's neck
2 informal a stiff round white collar worn by priests[plural]
1 the hottest days of the year
2 a period of time when something is not successful:
•Few opera houses survived the dog days of the 1980s. $
dog-eared books or papers have been used so much that the corners are turned over or torn:
•a dog-eared novel[C] BrE
the small part of a cigarette left after it has been smoked $ [C]
1 an organized fight between dogs
2 a fight between armed aircraft $ plural dogfish or dogfishes [C]
a type of small SHARK $
dogged behaviour shows that you are very determined to continue doing something:
•a dogged determination to succeed
- doggedly adverb
- doggedness noun [U] $ [U]
poetry that is silly or funny and not intended to be serious $ [C]
another spelling of DOGGY $
doggone it AmE spoken old-fashioned used when you are slightly annoyed about something
- doggone adjective, adverb
•What are those doggone kids doing in my yard?doggie $ plural doggies [C]
a dog - used by or to childreninformal
1 like or relating to dogs:
•doggy noises from the shed
2 doggy style/fashion a way of having sex in which a man has a position behind his partner[C]
a small bag for taking home the food that is left over from a meal in a restaurant[singular,U]
DOG PADDLE $
1 be in the doghouse informal to be in a situation in which someone is annoyed with you because of something you have done
2 [C] AmE a small house outdoors for a dog to sleep in $ [C]
a place where a road, path etc suddenly changes direction $ [C,U]
a set of firm beliefs held by a group of people who expect other people to accept these beliefs without thinking about them
religious/political/ideological etc dogma
•the rejection of political dogma $
someone who is dogmatic is completely certain of their beliefs and expects other people to accept them without arguing:
•Her staff find her bossy and dogmatic.
- dogmatically adverb
- dogmatism $ noun [U]
•the narrow dogmatism of the past
- dogmatist noun [C] $ [C]
someone who helps people who are in bad situations, but who is annoying because their help is not needed - used to show disapproval:
•I've got very little time for interfering do-gooders.also doggy paddle [singular,U]
a simple way of swimming by moving your legs and arms up and down $ plural dogsbodies [C] BrE
someone who has to do all the small boring jobs that no one else wants to do:
•I spent the summer helping out as a general dogsbody on the local paper. $ [C]
a SLEDGE (=a vehicle that travels over snow) that is pulled by dogs[C] AmE
a small piece of metal that soldiers wear on a chain around their necks with their name, blood type etc written on itinformal
very tired[C] BrE
someone whose job is to collect dogs without owners $ BrE
the DoH the abbreviation of the Department of Health $ spoken
used humorously when you have just realized that you have done or said something stupiddo $ [singular, U]
the first or eighth note in the SOL-FA musical SCALE plural doilies [C]
a circle of paper or cloth with a pattern of holes in it that you put under things to protect the surface below, or for decoration
1 be sb's (own) doing if something bad is someone's doing, they did or caused it:
•If you fall into this trap, it will be all your own doing.
2 take some doing informal to be hard work:
•We had to be on the parade ground for 5.30 a.m. and that took some doing.
3 doings [plural] events, activities etc that someone is involved in:
•Supper is a family get-together, where the doings of the day are talked about.[U]
DIY $ [plural] informal

a) if an industry, company, activity etc is in the doldrums, it is not doing well or developing
in the doldrums
•The property market has been in the doldrums for months.
•Recent economic doldrums have damaged the rural west.
b) if you are in the doldrums, you are feeling sad:
•Fay is in the doldrums today. $ [U] informal
1 BrE money given by the government in Britain to people who are unemployed
be/go on the dole (=be unemployed and receiving money from the government)
•Too many young people are still on the dole.
•The number claiming dole went up by 3,500.
2 the dole queue/dole queues BrE the number of people who are unemployed and claiming money from the government, or a line of people waiting to claim this money each week:
•As two factories closed today, 500 people joined the dole queue.
•Meanwhile, dole queues lengthened.
3 the dole AmE money given by the government in the US to people who need financial help; = welfare
on the dole
•people on the public dole

PHRASAL VERBS
dole sth <=> out phr v informal
to give something such as money, food, advice etc to more than one person
[+to]
•Vera was doling out candy to all the kids. $ formal
very sad:
•a doleful song about lost love
- dolefully adverb $
1 [C] a child's toy that looks like a small person or baby:
•a small wooden doll
2 [C] old-fashioned informal a word meaning an attractive young woman - now usually considered offensive:
•Hey, doll, why don't you get me a cup of coffee?
3 [singular] AmE informal a very nice person:
•Thanks, you're a doll.informal

PHRASAL VERBS
doll yourself up phr v informal
if a woman dolls herself up, she puts on attractive clothes and MAKE-UP, especially before going out to a party, club etc:
•Maggie was in her room, dolling herself up.
be/get dolled up (for sth)
•The girls were all dolled up for a party. $ [C]
1 the standard unit of money in the US, Canada, Australia, and some other countries, divided into 100 CENTs : symbol $:
•It cost three dollars.
•a ten-dollar bill
2 the dollar the value of US money in relation to the money of other countries:
•The pound has risen against the dollar (=increased in value in relation to the dollar).
you can bet your bottom dollar at BET^1 (4); feel/look like a million dollars at MILLION (4) $ [U] technical
a situation in which countries outside the US want to use the dollar rather than their own country's money[only before noun] AmE
financial:
•From a dollars-and-cents point of view, this idea just won't work. $ [C] AmE
a DOLL'S HOUSE $ [C] informal
1 a small amount of soft food, usually dropped from a spoon
[+of]
•a dollop of thick cream
2 an amount of something
[+of]
•a big dollop of luck
- dollop verb [T][C] BrE
a small toy house with furniture inside; = dollhouse AmE $ plural dollies [C]
1 a DOLL - used especially by children
2 technical a flat frame on wheels used for moving heavy objects[C] BrE old-fashioned informal
a pretty young woman, especially one who wears fashionable clothes $ [C] technical
two or more large upright stones supporting a large flat piece of stone, built in ancient timesdolor AmE $ [U] BrE literary
great sadness $ [C]
a very intelligent sea animal like a fish with a long grey pointed nose
dolphin-safe fish is caught in a way that does not harm or kill dolphins:
•dolphin-safe tuna $ [C] old-fashioned
a silly or stupid person
- doltish adjective
1 [in U nouns] the state of being something:
•freedom
•boredom
2 [in C nouns]
a) an area ruled in a particular way:
•a kingdom
b) a particular rank:
•a dukedom
OFFICIALDOM $ [C] formal
1 an area of activity, interest, or knowledge, especially one that a particular person, organization etc deals with
outside/within the domain of sth/sb
•This problem is outside the domain of medical science.
•Looking after the house was viewed as a woman's domain.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
2 an area of land owned and controlled by one person or government, especially in the past:
•the extent of the royal domain
3 technical the set of possible quantities by which something can vary in mathematics
4 a domain name[C]
the first part of a website's address, which usually begins with 'www.' and ends with '.com', '.org', '.uk', or other letters that show which country the website is from $ [C]
1 a round roof on a building
2 a shape or building like a ball cut in half $
covered with a dome or shaped like a dome:
•a high domed ceiling
1 relating to or happening in one particular country and not involving any other countries
domestic market/economy/demand etc
•the booming domestic economy
•US foreign and domestic policy
•our nation's domestic affairs
• Domestic flights (=flights that stay inside a particular country) go from Terminal 1.
2 [only before noun] relating to family relationships and life at home:
•Unfortunately his domestic life wasn't very happy.
domestic tasks/chores/responsibilities etc
•Nowadays there is more sharing of domestic chores.
•families that can afford domestic help (=help with cleaning, washing etc)
•an organization that supports women facing domestic violence (=violence in a family, especially from a husband to his wife)
3 used in people's homes:
•a new tax on domestic fuel
• domestic appliances such as washing machines
4 someone who is domestic enjoys spending time at home and is good at cooking, cleaning etc:
•No, I'm not very domestic.
5 [only before noun] a domestic animal lives on a farm or in someone's home:
•cats, dogs and other domestic pets
- domestically adverb
•domestically produced coal[C]
1 old-fashioned a servant who works in a large house
2 BrE informal a fight between members of a family in their home:
•It sounded like the neighbours were having a bit of a domestic. [T]
to make an animal able to work for people or live with them as a pet; tame
- domestication noun [U]
1 domesticated animals are able to work for people or live with them as pets
2 someone who is domesticated enjoys spending time at home and doing work in the home:
•Ray's very domesticated and even likes baking cakes. $ [U]
life at home with your family:
•a scene of happy domesticity[C] AmE
someone who you live with and have a sexual relationship with, but who you are not married to[U] BrE old-fashioned
the study of cooking, sewing etc, taught as a subject at school; =  home economics[U] formal
the work of a servant in a large house $ [C] formal
the place where someone lives:
•Military service entails frequent changes of domicile. $ formal
be domiciled in to live in a particular place $ [only before noun] formal
domiciliary services/care/visits etc services, care etc in someone's home $ [U]
the fact of being more powerful, more important, or more noticeable than other people or things; dominate
[+of]
•the continuing dominance of the army in Uganda
political/economic/cultural etc dominance
•the economic and political dominance of Western countries
[+over]
•television's dominance over other media $
1 more powerful, important, or noticeable than other people or things; dominate
•The dominant male gorilla is the largest in the group.
•Japan became dominant in the mass market during the 1980s.
•its dominant position within the group
2 controlling or trying to control other people or things - used to show disapproval; = domineering
•a dominant personality
3 technical a dominant GENE causes a child to have a particular physical feature or illness, even if it has been passed on from only one parent; recessive
•The disease is under the control of a single dominant gene.[singular] technical
the fifth note of a musical SCALE of eight notes $
1 [I,T] to control someone or something or to have more importance than other people or things:
•The industry is dominated by five multinational companies.
•New Orleans dominated throughout the game.
•Her loud voice totally dominated the conversation.
•Education issues dominated the election campaign.
2 [T] to be larger and more noticeable than anything else in a place:
•The cathedral dominates the city.
- dominating adjective
•his dominating characteristic
- domination $ noun [U]
•the desire for political domination $ [C]
a woman who is the stronger partner in a SADOMASOCHISTIC sexual relationship $
someone who is domineering tries to control other people without considering their feelings or ideas - used to show disapproval:
•a domineering mother
- domineer verb [I] [C]
a member of a Christian religious group who leads a holy life
- Dominican adjective
1 [U] literary the power or right to rule people or control something
have/hold dominion over sb/sth
•Alexander the Great held dominion over a vast area.
2 [C] formal the land owned or controlled by one person or a government:
•the king's dominions
3 also Dominion [C] old-fashioned a country belonging to the British EMPIRE or COMMONWEALTH; colony, protectorate
•opinion both at home and in the dominions $ plural dominoes
1 [C] one of a set of small flat pieces of wood, plastic etc, with different numbers of spots, used for playing a game
2 dominoes [U] the game played using dominoes
3 domino effect a situation in which one event or action causes several other things to happen one after the other $ [C]
1 BrE a university teacher, especially one who teaches at the universities of Oxford or Cambridge
2 informal the leader of a Mafia organizationpast tense and past participle donned, present participle donning [T] literary
to put on a hat, coat etc $ [I,T]
1 to give something, especially money, to a person or an organization in order to help them
donate sth to sb/sth
•Last year he donated $1,000 to cancer research.
2 to allow some blood or a body organ to be removed from your body so that it can be used in a hospital to help someone who is ill or injured:
•people who volunteer to donate blood $
1 [C] something, especially money, that you give to a person or an organization in order to help them
[+to/from]
•Would you like to make a donation (=give money) to our charity appeal?
•There have been generous donations from EEC funds.
2 [U] the act of giving something, especially money, to help a person or an organization
[+of]
•the donation of a quarter of a million pounds
blood/organ donation
the past participle of DO[not before noun, no comparative]
1 FINISHED finished or completed; = finished
•The job's nearly done.
sb is done (with sth) (=someone has finished doing or using something)
•As soon as I'm done, I'll give you a call.
•Are you done with this magazine?
•I'll be glad when the exams are over and done with (=completely finished).
2 COOKED cooked enough to eat; overdone, underdone
•Is the pasta done yet?
3 be done for informal to be in serious trouble or likely to fail:
•If we get caught, we're done for.
4 done in informal extremely tired:
•Sit down - you look done in.
5 be done also be the done thing BrE to be socially acceptable:
•Showing affection in public just isn't done in Japan.
6 be done with it have done with it BrE used to tell someone to stop thinking about or trying to decide something because they have already done this enough:
•Just buy it and have done with it!
7 be done BrE informal to be deceived or cheated:
•If you paid £50, you were done, mate!
8 be/get done BrE informal to be caught by the police for doing something illegal, but usually not too serious
[+for]
•I got done for speeding last night.
9 a done deal informal an agreement that has been made and cannot be changed:
•The merger is far from a done deal.
be hard done by at HARD^2 (6)
used to agree to and accept the conditions of a deal:
•'I'll give you $90 for it.' 'Done!' $ [C]
a man who is good at persuading women to have sex with him $
1 [C] a grey or brown animal like a horse, but smaller and with long ears
2 donkey's years BrE spoken a very long time
for donkey's years
•I've had this jacket for donkey's years.[C] BrE
a short thick coat, usually very dark blue, with a piece of leather or plastic across the shoulders $ [U] BrE
the hard boring work that is part of a job or project:
•Why do I always have to do the donkeywork? $ BrE
clever, serious, and more interested in ideas than real life $ [C]
1 a person, group etc that gives something, especially money, to help an organization or country:
•We urgently need more assistance from donor countries (=countries that give money, food etc to help in poor countries or disaster areas).
•An anonymous donor (=whose name is unknown) has given £500 towards the restoration fund.
2 someone who gives blood or a body organ so that it can be used in the medical treatment of someone else:
•Some patients die before a suitable donor is found.
blood/organ/kidney etc donor
•the shortage of blood donors[C]
a card that you carry to show that when you die a doctor can take parts of your body to use in the medical treatment of someone else[only before noun] BrE informal
lazy or unwilling to make any changes, especially in politics:
•the do-nothing government of the last few years $
1 the short form of 'do not':
•Don't worry!
•You know him, don't you?
dos and don'ts at DO^3 (2)
2 spoken an incorrect short form of 'does not':
•She don't like it. $ especially AmE
another spelling of DOUGHNUTdoodad AmE [C] BrE informal
a small object whose name you have forgotten or do not know:
•Where's the doodah to turn off the TV? [I]
to draw shapes, lines, or patterns without really thinking about what you are doing:
•Brad was doodling on a sheet of paper.
- doodle noun [C] [C] AmE informal
a small object whose name you have forgotten or do not know, especially a part of a machine BrE spoken
crazy [T usually passive]
to make someone or something certain to fail, die, be destroyed etc
be doomed to failure/defeat/extinction etc
•Many species are doomed to extinction.
•The plan was doomed from the start.
be doomed to do sth
•We are all doomed to die in the end.
- doomed adjective
•passengers on the doomed flight[U]
something very bad that is going to happen, or the fact that it is going to happen:
•A sense of impending doom (=coming very soon) gripped her.
sense/feeling of doom
spell doom for sth (=mean that something will be unable to continue or survive)
•The recession spelled doom for many small businesses.
•Thousands of soldiers met their doom (=died) on this very field.
doom and gloom/gloom and doom (=when there seems to be no hope for the future)
•Despite these poor figures, it's not all doom and gloom.BrE
saying or making you feel that something very bad is going to happen soon:
•documentaries full of doom-laden predictionsalso doomster BrE $ [C] especially AmE
someone who says that bad things are going to happen [U]
1 till/until Doomsday informal for a very long time:
•You could wait till Doomsday and he'd never show up.
2 the last day of the Earth's existence, when everything will be destroyed, according to some religions
doomsday scenario (=a description of a very bad and hopeless situation) $ [C] BrE informal
a DOOMSAYER $ [C]
1 the large flat piece of wood, glass etc that you open and close when you go into or out of a building, room, vehicle etc, or when you open a cupboard; gate
open/close/shut the door
•Could you open the door for me?
the door swung/flew/burst etc open
•The door flew open and Ruth stormed in.
slam the door (=shut it loudly, usually because you are angry)
front/back/side door (=at the front, back etc of a house)
•Is the back door shut?
•the main door (=at the front entrance) of the cathedral
kitchen/bathroom/bedroom etc door
•Don't forget to lock the garage door.
•Can you answer the door (=open it after someone has knocked or pressed the bell)?
get the door AmE (=open or close it for someone)
•Here, let me get the door for you.
knock on/at the door
•Knock on the door and see if they're home.
cupboard/fridge etc door
•Mary slid back the closet door.
door handle/knob
•brass door handles
2 the space made by an open door; = doorway
in/out (of)/through the door
•Rick turned and ran out of the door.
•I glanced through the open door.
3 at the door if someone is at the door, they are waiting for you to open the door of a building so they can come inside:
•There's somebody at the front door.
4 out of doors outside; = outdoors
•I prefer working out of doors.
5 show/see sb to the door to take someone to the main way out of a building:
•My secretary will show you to the door.
6 two/three etc doors away/down/up used to say how many houses or buildings there are between your house, office etc and another building
[+from]
•Patrick lived two doors away from me.
7 (from) door to door
a) especially BrE from one place to another:
•How long is the journey, door to door?
b) going to each house in a street or area to sell something, collect money, or ask for votes:
•Joe sold vacuum cleaners door to door for years.
DOOR-TO-DOOR
8 be on the door to work at the entrance to a theatre, club etc, collecting tickets
9 shut/close the door on sth to make something impossible:
•The accident shut the door on her ballet career.
at death's door at DEATH (7); behind closed doors at CLOSED (5); get in through the back door at BACK DOOR (2); lay sth at sb's door at LAY^2 (19); NEXT DOOR; open doors (for sb) at OPEN^2 (16); OPEN-DOOR POLICY; open the door to sth at OPEN^2 (16); show sb the door at SHOW^1 (20) $ [C]
a button outside a house that makes a sound when you push it so that people inside know you are there
ring the doorbell (=push the button)[only before noun]
very determined:
•a do-or-die attitude $ [C] especially AmE
a DOORPOST $ [C]
someone who guards the main door of a large building and lets people in and out $ [C]
a round handle that you turn to open a dooralso knocker $ [C]
a heavy metal ring or bar on a door that you use to knock with $ plural doormen [C]
a man who usually wears a uniform and works in a hotel, club etc letting people into the building, helping people find taxis etc; porter $ [C]
1 a piece of material inside or outside a door for you to clean your shoes on
2 informal someone who lets other people treat them badly and never complains:
•Don't let him treat you like a doormat. $
(as) dead as a doornail informal completely dead $ [C]
one of two upright posts on either side of a doorway[C] AmE
a prize given to someone who has the winning number on their ticket for a show, dance etc $ [C]
1 a step just outside a door to a house or building
on the doorstep
•He stood on the doorstep, straightening his tie.
•the front doorstep
2 on sb's/the doorstep
a) very near someone's home:
•Wow! You've got the beach right on your doorstep!
b) at someone's home:
•I got a bit of a shock when he just turned up on the doorstep.
3 BrE informal a very thick piece of breadpast tense and past participle doorstepped, present participle doorstepping [I,T] BrE
if politicians or JOURNALISTs doorstep people, they visit people at their homes in order to get votes or information - often used to show disapproval:
•Journalists had doorstepped the couple and their neighbours.also doorstopper BrE $ [C]
1 something you put under or against a door to keep it open
2 a rubber object fastened to a wall to stop a door hitting it when it opens[only before noun]
visiting each house in a street or area, usually to sell something, collect money, or ask for votes:
•a door-to-door salesman
door to door at DOOR (7) $ [C]
the space where a door opens into a room or building
in the doorway
•There was Paolo, standing in the doorway. plural doozies [C] AmE informal
something that is extremely good, bad, strange, big etc:
•I've heard lies before, but that one was a real doozy! $ informal
1 [U] a drug that is not legal, especially MARIJUANA:
•Jeff used to smoke dope all the time.
2 [C] spoken a stupid person; = idiot
•What a dope!
3 dope test a test given to people or animals taking part in a sport, to see if they have taken or have been given a drug to improve their performance
4 the dope (on sb/sth) new information about someone or something, especially information that not many people know:
•What's the dope on the new guy?[T usually passive]
1 also dope sb up to give a person or an animal a drug, often in their food or drink, to make them unconscious:
•The girl had been doped and kidnapped.
2 to give an animal a drug that makes it perform better in a race
3 be doped (up) BrE to be unable to think or behave normally, because of the effects of drugs or alcohol
[+on]
•She was doped up on drink and drugs most of the time.AmE informal
very good:
•Check out our dope new album. $ [C] informal
someone who takes a lot of illegal drugsalso dopy BrE $ informal
1 thinking or reacting slowly, as if you have taken a drug:
•She's still a little dopey from the anaesthetic.
2 slightly stupid:
•a dopey grin $ [U]
the practice of using drugs to improve performance in a sport
doping scandal/ban/test etc
•doping offences $ [C]
1 sb's doppelganger someone who looks exactly like someone else; = double
2 an imaginary spirit that looks exactly like a living person $
a British spelling of DOPEY $
in the oldest and simplest of the Greek building styles; Ionic
•a Doric column $ [C] informal
someone who you think is or looks stupid
- dorky adjective $ [C] informal
a DORMITORY $
not active or not growing at the present time but able to be active later; active
lie/remain dormant
•The seeds remain dormant until the spring.
•a huge dormant volcano
- dormancy noun [U]dormer window BrE $ [C]
a window built into a roof, so that it sticks out from the roof
SKYLIGHT $ plural dormitories [C]
1 especially BrE a large room for several people to sleep in, for example in a BOARDING SCHOOL or HOSTEL
2 AmE a large building at a college or university where students live; = hall of residence BrE[C] BrE
a town that is near a city with more work opportunities, so that many people who live there travel to work in the city every day; = bedroom community/suburb AmE $ plural dormice [C]
a small European mouse with a long furry tail $ [only before noun]
on or relating to the back of an animal or fish:
•a shark's dorsal fin plural dories
1 [C] a rowing boat that has a flat bottom and is used for fishing
2 [C,U] a flat sea fish that can be eaten, or the flesh of this fish $ [U] technical
Disk Operating System software that is loaded onto a computer system to make all the different parts work together $ [C usually singular]
the amount of a medicine or drug that you should take at one time, especially regularly
high/low dosage
[+of]
•He was recommended a high dosage of morphine.
increase/reduce the dosage
•The daily dosage is steadily reduced over several weeks. $ [C]
1 the amount of a medicine or a drug that you should take
[+of]
•Never exceed the recommended dose of painkillers.
high/low dose
•Start with a low dose and increase it.
2 an amount of something that you do or experience at one time, especially something unpleasant
a bad/mild dose of flu BrE (=making you feel very ill or only slightly ill)
•Dave had a bad dose of flu.
lethal/fatal dose (of sth) (=an amount that kills)
•a lethal dose of radiation
•I quite like Jamie in small doses (=in limited amounts but not a lot or often).
3 like a dose of salts BrE informal very quickly and easily:
•The cleaners went through the house like a dose of salts.also dose up [T]
to give someone medicine or a drug
dose sb/yourself with sth
•Sumi dosed herself up with aspirin and went to bed. $ [U] BrE informal
money $ [singular]
an action in COUNTRY DANCING in which partners move around each other with their backs towards each other
- do-si-do verb [I] $ [I] BrE informal
also doss down to sleep somewhere that is not your usual place, or not a real bed:
•I dossed down on the couch downstairs.

PHRASAL VERBS
doss around/about phr v
to spend your time in a lazy way, doing very little:
•We just dossed around all day Saturday.BrE informal
a doss work that does not need much effort:
•This job's a real doss. $ [C] BrE informal
1 someone who has nowhere to live, and sleeps in the street or in cheap HOSTELs
2 someone who is very lazy[C] BrE informal
a place where people who have nowhere to live can stay cheaply; = flophouse AmE $ [C]
a set of papers containing detailed, usually secret information about a person or subject; = file
[+on]
•A firm of detectives produced a dossier on his activities. $ [C]
1 a small round mark or spot:
•a pattern of dots on the screen
2 on the dot informal exactly on time or at a particular time:
•I'll be there on the dot.
at three o'clock/seven thirty etc on the dot (=at exactly 3:00/7:30 etc)
•Mr Green arrived at six on the dot.
3 something that looks like a small spot because it is so far away:
•The plane was just a dot on the horizon.
4 a short sound or flash of light used when sending messages by MORSE CODE; dash
the year dot at YEAR (13)past tense and past participle dotted, present participle dotting [T]
1 to mark something by putting a dot on it or above it:
•She never dots her i's.
2 [usually passive] if an area is dotted with things, there are a lot of them there but they are spread far apart
be dotted with sth
•The lake was dotted with sailboats.
be dotted about/around etc sth
•The company has over 20 stores dotted around the country.
•Brilliant red poppies dotted the field.
3 to put a very small amount of something on a surface, especially in several places
dot sth with sth
•Dot the apples with butter.
4 dot the i's and cross the t's informal to pay careful attention to all the details when you are finishing something $
in your dotage in your old agedot.com, dot com $ [only before noun] informal
relating to a person or company whose business is done using the Internet or involves the Internet:
•a dot-com company
•dot-com millionaires
- dot-com noun [C]
•Several of the leading dot-coms saw their share prices slide yesterday. $

PHRASAL VERBS
dote on/upon sb phr v
to love someone very much, and show this by your actions:
•Everyone doted on Sally, the only girl in the family.
- doting adjective [only before noun]
•a doting parent
- dotingly adverb old use
a form of 'does'[C]
a machine connected to a computer that prints letters, numbers etc using many small DOTs [C]
a series of printed or drawn DOTs that form a line
sign on the dotted line at SIGN^2 (4) $ old-fashioned informal
1 slightly crazy
2 dotty about sb/sth liking or loving someone or something very much:
•Gemma's dotty about horses. [usually before noun]
1 OF TWO PARTS consisting of two parts that are similar or exactly the same:
•a double sink
•a double wardrobe
•the great double doors of the cathedral
•Don't park your car on double yellow lines.
2 TWO DIFFERENT USES combining or involving two things of the same type:
•a double murder case
•A lot of the jokes were based on double meaning.
3 TWICE AS BIG twice as big, twice as much, or twice as many as usual:
•a double whisky
•The city was enclosed by walls of double thickness.
4 FOR TWO PEOPLE made for two people or things to use; single
•Do you need a double bed or two singles?
•a double room
•a double garage
5 TWO LETTERS/NUMBERS BrE spoken used to say that a particular letter or number is repeated:
•My name's Robbins with a double 'b'.
•The number is 869 double 2 (=86922).
6 FLOWER a double flower has more than the usual number of PETALs
DOUBLY
1 TWICE THE SIZE [C,U] something that is twice as big, as much etc as usual or as something else:
•Scotch and water, please - make it a double.
•'They offered me £10,000.' 'I'll give you double.'
2 ROOM [C] a room for two people in a hotel; single
•A double costs $95 a night.
3 TENNIS doubles [U] a game played between two pairs of players, especially in tennis; singles
•the men's doubles
MIXED DOUBLES
4 BASEBALL [C] a hit in baseball which allows the BATTER to reach second BASE:
•Walker led the inning with a double.
5 SIMILAR PERSON sb's double someone who looks very like someone else:
•She's her mother's double.
6 IN FILMS [C] an actor who takes the place of a more famous actor in a film, especially because the acting involves doing something dangerous:
•I think they used a double in the shower scene.
7 at the double BrE on the double AmE informal very quickly and without any delay:
•He was told to get back to Washington on the double.
8 double or quits BrE double or nothing AmE a situation in a game when you must do something that could either win you twice as much money or make you lose it all
1 [I,T] to become twice as big or twice as much, or to make something twice as big or twice as much
double in size/number/value etc
•Within two years the company had doubled in size.
•The church has doubled its membership in the last five years.
double the size/number/amount etc (of sth)
•A promise was given to double the number of police on duty.
2 [T] also double over/up to fold something in half:
•Take a sheet of paper and double it over.
3 [I] to hit the ball far enough to get to second BASE in a game of baseball

PHRASAL VERBS
double as sb/sth phr v
to have a second use, job, or purpose as a particular thing:
•The school doubled as a hospital during the war.

double back phr v
to turn around and go back the way you have come:
•The driver doubled back and headed for Howard Bay.
double back on yourself
•We kept getting lost and having to double back on ourselves.

double up phr v
1 also double over to suddenly bend over at the waist because you are laughing so much or are in pain:
•Emilio doubled over, grabbing his leg.
be doubled up/over with laughter/pain etc
•Both the girls were doubled up with laughter.
2 to share something, especially a bedroom
[+with]
•You'll have to double up with Susie while your aunt is here.
be bent double to be bent over a long way:
•The trees were almost bent double in the wind.
see double at SEE^1 (29)
twice as big, twice as much, or twice as many
double the amount/number/size etc
•We'll need double this amount for eight people.
•The value of the house is double what it was.[C]
two actors, especially COMEDIANs , who perform together[C]
someone who finds out an enemy country's secrets for their own country but who also gives secrets to the enemy; spydouble-barreled AmE BrE
1 a double-barrelled gun has two places where the bullets come out
2 BrE a double-barrelled family name has two parts
3 AmE very strong or using a lot of force:
•a double-barreled attackalso bass [C]
a very large musical instrument shaped like a VIOLIN that the musician plays standing up[C]
a bed made for two people to sleep in[C]
a cinema, theatre, concert etc performance in which you can see two films, plays etc, one after the other[C usually singular]
a situation in which any choice you make will have bad resultstechnical
a double-blind scientific test or study compares two or more groups in which neither the scientists nor the people being studied know which group is being tested and which group is not[C]
an attempt to deceive someone by telling them the truth, hoping that they will think you are lying[C]
a pot for cooking food, consisting of one pan resting on top of another pan with hot water in it[I,T]
to promise the same seat in a theatre, on a plane etc to more than one person by mistake
- double-booking noun [U]
a double-breasted jacket, coat etc has two sets of buttons; single-breasted[I,T]
to check something again so that you are completely sure it is correct, safe etc[C]
a fold of loose skin under someone's chin that looks like a second chin[U] BrE
very thick cream; single cream[T]
to cheat someone, especially after you have agreed to do something dishonest with them
- double cross noun [C]
- double-crosser noun [C][C] old-fashioned
an occasion when two COUPLEs meet to go to a film, restaurant etc together
- double-date verb [I,T][C] BrE informal
someone who deceives other people
- double dealing noun [U] $ [C]
1 a bus with two levels; single-decker
2 a sandwich made with three pieces of bread and two layers of food
- double-decker adjective [only before noun][only before noun] especially AmE
relating to the numbers 10 to 99; = double-figure BrE
•double-digit inflation[plural] AmE
the numbers from 10 to 99; = double figures
•Sam's team scored in the double digits in nine out of ten games.[I] AmE
to get money from two places at once, usually in a way that is not legal or not fair[U]
1 BrE informal speech or writing that you cannot understand; = nonsense
2 AmE a game in which one child jumps over two long ropes that are being swung around in a circle by other children
do double duty to do more than one job or be useful for more than one thing at the same time
[+as]
•The sofa does double duty as a guest bed.
1 a double-edged sword/weapon something that seems to be good, but that can have a bad effect:
•Being famous is often a double-edged sword.
2 having two different parts:
•a double-edged attack on global warming
3 a double-edged remark has two possible meanings, one of which is not very nice:
•It sounded like a double-edged comment.
4 with two cutting edges:
•a double-edged knife $ [C]
a word or phrase that may be understood in two different ways, one of which is often sexual[C]
two mistakes, one after another, when you are SERVING in tennis, which make you lose a point[C] AmE
1 a cinema performance in which two films are shown one after the other; = double bill BrE
2 a video with two films on it[only before noun] BrE
relating to the numbers 10 to 99; = double-digit AmE
•Almost all leading shares had double-figure gains.[plural]
the numbers from 10 to 99; = double digits AmE
in double figures
•King's was the only other score in double figures.
approach/reach/go into etc double figures
•The death toll is thought to have reached double figures.[C usually singular]
a British university degree in which a student reaches the highest standard in two subjects[U] BrE
glass on a window or door in two separate sheets with a space between them, used to keep noise out and heat in
- double-glaze verb [T][C]
two baseball games played one after the other[C] technical
a shape consisting of two parallel SPIRALs that twist around the same centre, found especially in the structure of DNA[U] AmE law
a feature of a life insurance POLICY that allows double the value of the contract to be paid in the case of death by accident[U] law
when someone is taken to court a second time for the same crime, in some unusual situations
able to move the joints in your fingers, arms etc backwards as well as forwards[C]
if someone lives a double life, they deceive people by having two separate homes, families, or sets of activities, one of which they keep secret
lead/live a double life
•Marje had no idea that her husband was leading a double life with another woman.[C]
two negative words used in one sentence when only one is needed in correct English grammar, for example in the sentence 'I don't want nobody to help me!'[I,T]
to leave a vehicle on a road beside another vehicle that is already parked there[C]
the action of making two runners in a game of baseball have to leave the field by throwing the ball quickly from one BASE to another before the runners reach either oneBrE informal
as quickly as possible:
•Call an ambulance double quick!
- double-quick adjective [only before noun]
•Lunch was produced in double-quick time.
something such as tape or paper that is double-sided has something on both surfaces:
•Stick down the edge of the carpet with double-sided sticky tape. [U] BrE
speech that is complicated and can have more than one meaning, sometimes used deliberately to deceive or confuse people; = double-talk[C]
a rule, principle etc that is unfair because it treats one group of people more severely than another in the same situation [C]
a man's tight jacket, worn in Europe from about 1400 to the middle 1600s[C]
do a double take to look at someone or something again because you are very surprised by what you saw or heard[U]
speech that is complicated and can have more than one meaning, sometimes used deliberately to deceive or confuse people; = double-speak BrE
•legal double-talk [U] BrE
a dishonest belief in two opposing ideas at the same time[U]
double pay given to someone when they work at a time when people do not normally workespecially AmE
very quick or as quickly as possible:
•Get upstairs and clean your room - double-time![U]
a medical condition in which you see two objects instead of one all the time, for example after an accident[C]
two bad things that happen together or one after the other:
•the double whammy of higher prices and more taxes [C]
a gold coin used in the past in Spain and Spanish America
1 [+ adj] much more than usual:
•Be doubly careful when driving in fog.
2 in two ways or for two reasons:
•You are doubly mistaken.
1 [C,U] a feeling of being not sure whether something is true or right

have (your) doubts
have no doubts at all
raise doubts (=make people have doubts)
express/voice doubts (=say that you have doubts)
nagging/lingering doubt (=a doubt that does not go away)
serious/grave doubts
an element of doubt (=a slight doubt)
there is little/some/no doubt (that) (=used to talk about how certain you are about something)
not the slightest doubt (=no doubt at all)
without a shadow of a doubt (=with no doubt at all)
cast/throw doubt on sth (=make someone feel uncertain about something)

•Ally was confident that we would be ready on time, but I had my doubts.
[+about]
•Elizabeth had no doubts at all about his ability to do the job.
•The incident raises doubts about the safety of nuclear power.
•The meeting will provide people with an opportunity to voice any doubts they may have about the proposals.
•There was still one little nagging doubt at the back of his mind.
[+as to whether/what etc]
•Some government ministers had serious doubts as to whether the policy would work.
•There is an element of doubt as to whether the deaths were accidental.
• There's no doubt that one day a cure will be found.
• There is little doubt he was the killer.
•She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this was where she wanted to be.
•The prosecution tried to cast doubt on her character as a witness.

2 no doubt used when you are saying that you think something is probably true:
•No doubt you'll have your own ideas.
•She was a top student, no doubt about it (=it is certainly true).
3 if/when (you're) in doubt used when advising someone what to do if they are uncertain about something:
•If in doubt, consult your doctor.
4 be in doubt if something is in doubt, it may not happen, continue, exist, or be true:
•The future of the peace talks is in doubt.
5 beyond doubt if something is beyond doubt, it is completely certain:
•The prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of the crime.
put the game/result/match beyond doubt (=do something which makes it certain that a particular player or team will win a match)
•Ferdinand's second goal put the game beyond doubt.
6 without doubt used to emphasize an opinion:
•Sally was without doubt one of the finest swimmers in the school.
7 open to doubt something that is open to doubt has not been proved to be definitely true or real:
•The authenticity of the relics is open to doubt.
SELF-DOUBT; give sb/sth the benefit of the doubt at BENEFIT^1 (4)[T not in progressive]
1 to think that something may not be true or that it is unlikely:
•Kim never doubted his story.
doubt (that)
•I doubt we'll ever see him again.
doubt if/whether
•You can complain, but I doubt if it'll make any difference.
•'Do you think there'll be any tickets left?' ' I doubt it (=I don't think so).'
2 to not trust or have confidence in someone:
•I never doubted myself. I always knew I could play tennis at this level.
•She loved him, and had never doubted him.
•I have no reason to doubt his word (=think that he is lying).
- doubter noun [C]
1 probably not true or not likely to happen:
•Prospects for a lasting peace remain doubtful.
it is doubtful if/whether
•It was doubtful whether the patient would survive the operation.
it is doubtful that
•It is doubtful that the missing airmen will ever be found.
2 not sure that something is true or right:
•'Everything's going to be all right, you'll see.' Jenny looked doubtful.
[+if/whether]
•I'm still doubtful whether I should accept this job.
doubtful about (doing) sth
•At first we were doubtful about employing Charlie.
3 unlikely to be successful:
•Already the whole scheme was looking increasingly doubtful.
4 probably not good; = dubious
•Here the tap water is of doubtful quality.
- doubtfully adverb $ [singular]
someone who does not always believe things until they have seen proof of them
used when saying that something is almost certain to happen or be true:
•Doubtless there would be dozens of photographers waiting for her. [C usually singular]
a mixture of water and something such as VINEGAR, that a woman puts into her VAGINA to wash it, or the object that she uses to do this
- douche verb [I,T] $
1 [singular, U] a mixture of flour and water ready to be baked into bread, PASTRY etc
2 [U] informal money $ [C]
a small round cake, often in the form of a ring [only before noun] literary
brave and determined $
1 looking and feeling like dough
2 doughy skin is pale and soft and looks unhealthy $
1 serious, never smiling, and unfriendly
2 a dour place is one that is plain and dull, and where people do not have any fun
- dourly adverbdowse [T]
1 to stop a fire from burning by pouring water on it
2 [+ with/in] to cover something in water or other liquid [C]
1 a kind of small white PIGEON (=bird) often used as a sign of peace
2 someone in politics who prefers peace and discussion to war; hawk $ AmE
a past tense of DIVEdovecote $ [C]
a small house built for doves to live in
1 [I,T] to fit together perfectly or to make two plans, ideas etc fit together perfectly
[+with]
•My vacation plans dovetail nicely with Joyce's.
2 [T + together] to join two pieces of wood by means of dovetail jointsalso dovetail joint [C]
a type of JOINT fastening two pieces of wood together
preferring peace and discussion to war; hawkish $ [C]
1 a woman from a high social class who has land or a title from her dead husband:
•the dowager Duchess of Devonshire
2 informal a respected and impressive old lady
1 a dowdy woman is not attractive, because she wears dull and unfashionable clothes
2 dowdy things are dull, unattractive, and unfashionable:
•a dowdy dress [C]
a wooden pin for holding two pieces of wood, metal, or stone together [U]
wood in the shape of a round rod, cut up to make dowelsalso Dow Jones Average $
the Dow Jones Index a daily list of prices of shares on the American Stock Exchange, based on the daily average prices of 30 industrial shares; the FTSE Index
1 TO A LOWER POSITION to or towards a lower place or position; up
•David bent down to tie his shoelace.
•Get down off the table.
•Tears were streaming down my face.
•The sun was going down and it would soon be dark.
•They came running down the stairs.
•She stood on a balcony looking down into the courtyard.
•Glancing down the list of runners, I noticed a familiar name.
•Her flowing black hair came down to her waist.
•Ken fell asleep face down (=with his face towards the ground) on the couch.
2 IN A LOWER PLACE in a lower place or position; up
•We heard the sound of laughter down below.
•The bathroom is down those stairs.
•Halfway down the page, there was the item I was looking for.
3 TO LIE/SIT into a sitting or lying position:
•Please sit down.
•I think I'll go and lie down for a while.
4 ALONG at or to a place that is further along something such as a road or path:
•A young man came hurrying down the street.
•She looked down the road to see if anyone was coming.
•There is a pleasant little cafe bar a hundred yards down the road.
•The bus stop is a bit further down on the left-hand side.
5 SOUTH in or towards the south; up
•They drove all the way down from Boston to Miami.
•They sailed down the east coast of Africa.
•Now he's bought a villa down south.
•a trip down Mexico way
6 SOMEWHERE LOCAL at or to a place that is not far away:
•She's just gone down to the shops.
•I saw her down at the station this morning.
7 RIVER away from the place where a river starts; up
•Chunks of ice came floating down the river.
8 FASTENED TO A SURFACE used with verbs that mean 'fasten' to show that something is fastened firmly to the surface or object below it:
•The coffin lid had been nailed down.
9 LESS at or towards a level or amount that is less; up
•Keep your speed down.
•House prices have come down in recent months.
•Turn the radio down.
[+to]
•Sharif cut his report down to only three pages.
10 LOSING losing to an opponent by a certain number of points
two goals down/three points down etc
•Swindon were six points down at one stage.
11 WRITTEN used with verbs that mean 'write' to show that you write something on paper or in a book:
•I'll write down the address for you.
•Start by jotting down a few ideas.
•Let's put you down as self-employed.
12 ON A LIST if you are down for something, your name is on a list of people who want to do something or are intended to do something
[+for]
•Purvis is down for the 200 metre freestyle event.
•We've already put his name down for nursery school.
down to do sth
•I've got you down to do the table decorations.
13 TO LATER TIMES from an earlier time in history to a later time or to people who are born in later times:
•a person whose words and actions have inspired millions of people down the centuries
•This knowledge was handed down in the family from father to son.
•The story has been passed down the generations for a thousand years.
[+to]
•traditions that have come down to us from medieval times
14 PAID IMMEDIATELY paid to someone immediately:
•A top quality freezer for only £20 down and £5 a week for a year.
15 EVERY PART from top to bottom:
•I want you to wash my car down.
16 SWALLOWED in or into your stomach as a result of swallowing:
•Meg's been very ill and can't keep her food down.
•He gulped down the coffee.
17 SAD unhappy or sad:
•Andy's been feeling down lately.
18 COMPUTER if a computer is down, it is not working; up
19 be down to sb if an action or decision is down to you, it is your responsibility:
•It's down to me to make sure that everyone is happy.
be up to sb at UP^1 (19b)
20 be down to sb/sth to be the result of one person's actions or one particular thing:
•Chris's success is all down to him.
21 be down to your last pound/dollar/litre etc to be left with only a small amount of something:
•We're down to our last five dollars.
22 down to sth/sb including everything or everyone, even the smallest thing or the least important person:
•Everyone uses the cafeteria, from the managing director down to the office boy.
•The plans were all complete down to the last detail.
23 be/go down with sth to have a particular illness:
•Jane's gone down with flu.
24 Down with sb/sth spoken used to say that you strongly oppose a government, leader etc and want them to lose their power:
•Down with the government!
25 be down on sb/sth informal to have a severe attitude towards someone or something, especially when this is unfair:
•Why is Mark so down on her at the moment?
26 LEAVING UNIVERSITY BrE used to say that someone leaves or has left a university at the end of a period of study
[+from]
•Sarah came down from Oxford in 1966.
27 COMPLETED already done or completed:
•Well, you've passed your second test, so it's two down and four more to go.
28 down under informal in or to Australia or New Zealand
29 Down! spoken used to tell a jumping dog to get down
30 be down with sb spoken informal to be friends with someone
be down on your luck at LUCK^1 (17)[T]
1 to drink or eat something quickly:
•He downed the coffee in one gulp.
2 to knock or force someone to the ground:
•O'Malley downed his opponent in the first round.
3 down tools BrE to stop working, especially because you are taking part in a STRIKE (=protest about pay or conditions by stopping work)
1 [U] soft hair like a baby's
2 [U] the soft fine feathers of a bird
3 [C] one of the four chances that an American football team has to move forward when it is their turn to have the ball
4 the downs low round hills covered with grass, as in the south of England
5 have a down on sb BrE informal to dislike or have a bad opinion of someone:
•For some reason, Malcolm had a down on the whole teaching profession.
ups and downs at UP^2 (1)
1 at or towards the bottom or end of something; up-
•downstairs
•downriver (=nearer to where it goes into the sea)
2 used to show that something is being made smaller or less important; up-
•to downgrade a job (=make it less important)
•to downsize a company (=reduce the number of jobs in it)
3 used to show that something is bad or negative; up-
•the downside of a situation (=the negative part of it)
•down-market products (=low quality products)
1 having no luck or money:
•a down-and-out actor
2 having no home and living on the street[C]
BrE someone who has no home and who lives on the street
BrE unattractive and not well cared for, because of a lack of money:
•The town today is a shabby, down-at-heel place.
not showing any strong feelings, especially not happy ones; upbeat
•Al was surprisingly downbeat about the party.[C]
1 the first note in a BAR of music
2 the movement a CONDUCTOR makes to show when this note is to be played or sung $
1 sad or upset because of something bad that has happened
2 downcast eyes are looking down:
•Penelope sat silently, her eyes downcast. $ informal
1 [C] a drug that makes you feel very relaxed or sleepy; upper
2 [singular] a person or situation that stops you feeling happy:
•The weather was a bit of a downer.
3 be on a downer BrE to be sad or experiencing a series of sad events:
•What's up with Ruth? She's been on a downer all week. $ [singular]
1 complete loss of your money, moral standards, social position etc, or the sudden failure of an organization:
•the scandal that led to the president's downfall
2 something that causes a complete failure or loss of someone's money, moral standards, social position etc
be sb's downfall
•an addiction to gambling that proved to be her downfall [T]
1 to make a job less important, or to move someone to a less important job; upgrade
2 to make something seem less important or valuable than it is:
•Police often downgrade the seriousness of violence against women in the home.
3 to state that something is not as serious as it was:
•Hurricane Bob has been downgraded to a tropical storm. $
feeling sad and disappointed, especially because you have tried to achieve something but have failed:
•When no replies came, I began to feel downhearted.
1 towards the bottom of a hill or towards lower land; uphill
•I was going downhill and my brakes failed.
2 go downhill if a situation goes downhill, it gets worse; = deteriorate
•Grandma fell and broke her leg, and she went downhill quite rapidly after that.
1 on a slope that goes down to a lower point; uphill
•downhill skiing
•It's a long walk back, but at least it's all downhill.
2 be all downhill (from here)/be downhill all the way (from here) to be easy to do, because you have already done the hard part:
•The worst is over - it's all downhill from here.[only before noun] AmE
typical of the simple values and customs of people who live in the country, especially in the southern US; homely
•down-home family recipes $ [T]
to move information or programs from a computer network to a small computer:
•games that can be downloaded free from the Internet $ [C]
a computer FILE or program that has been downloaded, or the process of downloading it:
•We've got reviews and downloads of the latest business software. $
if a computer program or FILE is downloadable, you are allowed to copy it from a computer network onto your own computer $ BrE
downmarket goods or services are cheap and not of very good quality; = downscale AmE; upmarket
•downmarket tabloid newspapers
•The company wanted to break away from its traditional, downmarket image.BrE
1 go/move downmarket to start buying or selling cheaper goods or services
2 take sth downmarket to change a product or service so that it is cheaper and more popular - used to show disapproval:
•He was accused of taking the radio station downmarket in order to compete with commercial stations.[C]
a payment you make when you buy something that is only part of the full price, with the rest to be paid later:
•We've almost got enough money to make a down payment on a house. $ [T]
to make something seem less important than it really is; = play down
•White House officials attempted to downplay the President's role in the affair. $ [C usually singular]
a lot of rain that falls in a short time [+ adj/adv]
used to emphasize that something is completely bad or untrue:
•Jed's just downright lazy.
•It's downright disgusting!
- downright adjective [only before noun]
•That's a downright lie! $
in the direction that the water in a river is flowing; upriver ; downstream
•The bridge was another mile downriver. AmE
downscale goods or services are cheap and not of very good quality $ [I,T] AmE
to sell or buy cheaper goods of lower quality $ [I]
1 to put the engine of a vehicle into a lower GEAR in order to go slower
2 if someone downshifts, they choose to do a less important or difficult job, so that they do not have to worry about their work and have more time to enjoy their life
the downside the negative part or disadvantage of something:
•Digital cell phones offer more security, but the downside is that they have less power.
[+of]
•The downside of the book is that it is written in a rather boring style. [I,T]
if a company or organization downsizes, it reduces the number of people it employs in order to reduce costs:
•The airline has downsized its workforce by 30%.
- downsizing noun [U] [C]
BrE a pipe that carries water away from the roof of a building[U]
a condition that someone is born with, that stops them from developing in a normal way, both mentally and physically
towards or near the front of the stage in a theatre; upstage
- downstage adjective $
1 towards or on a lower floor of a building, especially a house; upstairs
•Rosie ran downstairs to answer the door.
•Charles was downstairs in the kitchen.
2 the downstairs the rooms on the ground floor in a house:
•We have still got to paint the downstairs.
- downstairs adjective
•a downstairs bathroom [only before noun] AmE
in or from the southern part of a state; upstate
•A downstate judge was called in to hear the case.
- downstate adverb
in the direction that the water in a river or stream is flowing; upstream ; downriver
•a boat drifting downstream [U]
1 the time when a computer is not working
2 also down time informal a period of time when you have finished what you were doing, and you can relax or do something that you had not originally planned to do:
•Often, during semesters, you have down time when you can do some exercise.
- downtime adjective
•downtime activities for teachers
practical and direct in a sensible honest way:
•Fran's a very friendly, down-to-earth person.
•a chef with a very down-to-earth approach to cooking
to or in the centre or main business area of a town or city; uptown
•I have to go downtown later.
- downtown adjective [only before noun]
•downtown restaurants
•She works for a law firm in downtown Miami. $
downtrodden people are treated badly and without respect by people who have power over them $ [C usually singular]
a period or process in which business activity, production etc is reduced and conditions become worse; upturn
•America's current economic downturn
[+in]
•a downturn in the auto industry $ [only before noun]
1 moving or pointing towards a lower position; upward
•a gentle downward slope
2 moving to a lower level; upward
•Share prices continued their downward trend.
•She was caught in a downward spiral of drink and drugs.
DOWNWARDS
computer software that is downwardly compatible can be used on older computers as well as very new ones
someone who is downwardly mobile is becoming poorer; upwardly mobile also downward $
1 towards a lower level or position; upwards
•Nina glanced downwards.
•Hold out your hands with your palms facing downwards.
•The body was lying face downwards (=with the front of the body on the floor).
2 used when a number or amount becomes smaller; upwards
•The death toll was later revised downwards to 689.
3 from the chairman/president/top etc downwards used to mean that people of all levels in an organization, country etc are affected by something:
•Everyone from the chairman downwards is taking a pay cut.
in the direction that the wind is moving; upwind
covered in or filled with soft fine hair or feathers:
•the baby's downy head $ plural dowries [C]
property and money that a woman gives to her husband when they marry in some societies [I + for]
to look for water or minerals under the ground using a special stick that points to where they are [T]
another spelling of DOUSE $ [C]
someone who dowses for water or minerals $ [C]
a special stick in the shape of a Y used by a dowser [C]
the oldest, most respected, or most experienced member of a group
[+of]
•the doyen of sports commentators [C]
the oldest, most respected, or most experienced woman in a group
[+of]
•the doyenne of piano teachers in the cityalso doz BrE
the written abbreviation of dozen $ [I]
to sleep lightly for a short time:
•Grandad was dozing in his chair.

PHRASAL VERBS
doze off phr v
to go to sleep, especially when you did not intend to; = drop off, nod off
•I must have dozed off.
- doze noun [singular]written abbreviation doz. plural dozen or dozens
1 twelve:
• a dozen eggs
two/three/four etc dozen (=24, 36, 48 etc)
•The number of deaths has risen to more than two dozen.
dozens of people/companies/cars etc (=but not hundreds or thousands)
•According to a government spokesman, dozens of people were killed.
•Chris, Helen, and half a dozen others went on holiday together.
• A dozen or so (=about 12) cars were parked near the entrance.
2 informal a lot of
a dozen
•I've heard this story a dozen times before.
dozens of sth
•She's had dozens of boyfriends.
•We collected dozens and dozens of shells on the beach.
BAKER'S DOZEN; a dime a dozen at DIME (2); nineteen to the dozen at NINETEEN (2); six of one and half a dozen of another at SIX (4) $
1 not feeling very awake
2 BrE informal slow to understand things; = stupid
•Those kids are really dozy sometimes! [U] technical
the abbreviation of data processing also DPhil BrE [C]
Doctor of Philosophy a university degree of a very high level, which involves doing advanced RESEARCH; = PhD
dots per inch a way of measuring how much ink is put on the page by a PRINTER
the DPP the abbreviation of the Director of Public Prosecutions Dr. AmE BrE
1 the written abbreviation of doctor
2 the written abbreviation of drive :
•88 Park Dr
1 not bright in colour, especially in a way that stops you from feeling cheerful; = dull
•The walls were painted a drab green.
2 boring:
•people forced to live grey, drab existences in ugly towns
- drabness noun [U]
DRIBS AND DRABS plural drachmas or drachmae [C]
the standard unit of money used in Greece before the EURO $
very strict and cruel
draconian measures/controls/penalties etc
•draconian measures to control population growth $ [C]
1 PIECE OF WRITING a piece of writing or a plan that is not yet in its finished form:
•the rough draft of his new novel
•I read the first draft and thought it was very good.
•All parties eventually approved the final draft (=finished form) of the peace treaty.
2 MILITARY the draft AmE
a) a system in which people are ordered to join the army, navy etc, especially during a war; = conscription
b) the group of people who are ordered to do this
3 MONEY especially BrE a written order for money to be paid by a bank, especially from one bank to another
4 SPORTS AmE a system in which professional teams choose players from colleges to join their teams
5 COLD AIR/BEER the American spelling of DRAUGHT[T]
1 PIECE OF WRITING to write a plan, letter, report etc that will need to be changed before it is in its finished form:
•Eva's busy drafting her speech for the conference.
2 MILITARY [usually passive] to order someone to join the army, navy etc, especially during a war; = conscript
be drafted into sth
•My dad was eighteen when he got drafted into the army.
3 SPORTS AmE to choose a college player to join a professional team:
•Craigwell was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks.

PHRASAL VERBS
draft sb <=> in phr v also draft sb into sth
to ask or order someone to work in a place where they do not normally work:
•Extra staff were drafted in to deal with the Christmas rush.
•Hundreds of police have been drafted into the area.
1 draft proposal/copy/version etc a piece of writing that is not yet in its finished form
2 the American spelling of DRAUGHT[C]
the committee that decides who will be drafted into the army, navy etc[C]
a card sent to someone telling them they have been drafted into the army, navy etc[C]
someone who illegally avoids joining the army, navy etc, even though they have been ordered to join $ [C]
someone who has been drafted into the army, navy etc $ [C]
a draftsman $ plural draftsmen [C]
1 also drafter someone who puts a suggested law or a new law into the correct words
2 the American spelling of DRAUGHTSMAN $
the American spelling of DRAUGHTY past tense and past participle dragged, present participle dragging
1 PULL STH [T] to pull something along the ground, often because it is too heavy to carry
drag sth away/along/through etc
•Inge managed to drag the table into the kitchen.
2 PULL SB [T always + adv/prep] to pull someone somewhere where they do not want to go, in a way that is not gentle:
•He grabbed her arm and dragged her into the room.
3 drag yourself to/into/out of etc sth informal to move somewhere with difficulty, especially because you are ill, tired, or unhappy:
•I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom.
•Can you drag yourself away from (=stop watching) the TV for a minute?
4 PERSUADE SB TO COME [T always + adv/prep] informal if you drag someone somewhere, you persuade or force them to come with you when they do not want to:
•Mom dragged us to a classical music concert.
5 COMPUTER [T] to move words, pictures etc on a computer screen by pulling them along with the MOUSE:
•You can drag and drop text like this.
6 BE BORING [I] if time or an event drags, it seems to go very slowly because nothing interesting is happening:
•Friday afternoons always drag.
7 TOUCH THE GROUND [I] if something is dragging along the ground, part of it is touching the ground as you move
[+along/in/on]
•Your coat's dragging in the mud.
8 drag your feet/heels informal to take too much time to do something because you do not want to do it:
•The authorities are dragging their feet over banning cigarette advertising.
9 drag a lake/river etc to look for something in a lake, river etc by pulling a heavy net along the bottom:
•The police are dragging the lake for the missing girl's body.
10 drag sb's name through the mud to tell people about the bad things that someone has done, so that they will have a bad opinion of them
11 drag sb through the courts to force someone to go to a court of law, especially in order to make them have a bad experience because you are angry with them
12 drag sb kicking and screaming into sth to force someone to do something that they do not want to - used humorously:
•The party will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
13 look as if you've been dragged through a hedge backwards to look very untidy - used humorously
14 INJURED LEG/FOOT [T] if you drag your leg, foot etc, you cannot lift it off the ground as you walk because it is injured:
•a bird dragging its broken wing

PHRASAL VERBS
drag sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to make someone feel unhappy and weak:
•Joe's been ill for weeks now - it's really dragging him down.
2 to make the price, level, or quality of something go down:
•Declining prices for aluminium have dragged down the company's earnings.
3 if someone or something bad drags you down, they make you become worse or get into a worse situation:
•Don't let them drag you down to their level.

drag sb/sth into sth phr v also drag sb/sth <=> in
1 to make someone get involved in an argument, war, or other unpleasant situation that they do not want to be involved in:
•I'm sorry to drag you into this mess.
2 to talk about something when you are having a discussion or argument, even though it is not connected with it:
•Don't drag my past into this!

drag on phr v
if an event or situation drags on, it continues for too long
[+for]
•an expensive court battle that could drag on for years

drag sth <=> out phr v
to make an event or situation last longer than is necessary:
•Neither of them wanted to drag the divorce out longer than they had to.

drag sth out of sb phr v
to make someone tell you something when they had not intended to tell you or were not supposed to tell you:
•Police finally dragged a confession out of him.

drag sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to mention an unpleasant or embarrassing story from the past, even though it upsets someone:
•Why do you have to drag that up again?
2 be dragged up BrE if a child is dragged up, their parents do not teach them to behave properly - used humorously:
•Those children have been dragged up, not brought up!
1 a drag informal
a) something or someone that is boring:
•Don't be such a drag! Come to the party.
b) something that is annoying and continues for a long time:
•It's a real drag having to travel so far to work every day.
2 be a drag on sb/sth to make it hard for someone to make progress towards what they want:
•Any slowdown in the economy is going to be a drag on the President's re-election campaign.
3 [C] the act of breathing in smoke from your cigarette:
•Frank took a drag on his cigarette.
4 in drag wearing clothes worn by the opposite sex, especially to entertain people:
•The whole performance is done in drag.
5 [U] the force of air that pushes against an aircraft or a vehicle that is moving forward:
•The car's rounded edges reduce drag.
6 the main drag AmE informal the biggest or longest street that goes through a town:
•Our hotel is right on the main drag. [C]
1 a system in which the police look for criminals, using very thorough methods
2 a net that is pulled along the bottom of a river or lake, to bring up things that may be there [C]
1 a large imaginary animal that has wings and a long tail and can breathe out fire
2 a woman who behaves in an angry, unfriendly way
chase the dragon at CHASE^1 (7) plural dragonflies [C]
a brightly-coloured insect with a long thin body and transparent wings which lives near water [C]
a soldier in past times who rode a horse and carried a gun and sword

PHRASAL VERBS
dragoon sb into sth phr v
to force someone to do something they do not want to do
dragoon sb into doing sth
•Monica was dragooned into being on the committee.[C]
informal a HOMOSEXUAL man who dresses as a woman, especially to entertain people[C]
a car race over a very short distance
- drag racing noun [U] $ [C]
a car used in drag races that is long, narrow, and low
1 LIQUID
a) [T] to make the water or liquid in something flow away:
•The swimming pool is drained and cleaned every winter.
drain sth from sth
•Brad drained all the oil from the engine.
•Can you drain the spaghetti, please (=pour away the water from the pan)?
b) [I always + adv/prep] if liquid drains away, it flows away
[+away/off/from]
•I watched the bath water drain away.
c) [I] if something drains, the liquid that is in it or on it flows away and it becomes dry:
•Open ditches drain very efficiently.
•She washed up and left the dishes to drain.
well-drained/poorly-drained soil (=soil from which water flows away quickly or slowly)
•This plant needs rich, well-drained soil.
2 MAKE SB TIRED [T] to make someone feel very tired and without any energy:
•Working with children all day really drains you.
3 USE TOO MUCH [T] to use too much of something, especially money, so that there is not enough left:
•Huge imports were draining the country's currency reserves.
4 the colour/blood drains from sb's face/cheeks used to say that someone's face becomes very pale, because they are frightened or shocked:
•When the verdict was read out, all the colour drained from Zelda's cheeks.
5 drain a glass/cup etc written to drink all the liquid in a glass, cup etc:
•Hannah drained her mug in one gulp.

PHRASAL VERBS
drain away phr v
if something drains away, it is reduced until there is none left:
•I watched the light drain away.
anger/confidence/tension/hope etc drains away
•Sally felt her anger drain away.

drain sth <=> off phr v
to make water or a liquid flow off something, leaving it dry:
•After cooking the meat, drain off the excess fat.[C]
1 especially BrE a pipe that carries water or waste liquids away:
•The flood was caused by a blocked drain.
•There's a problem with the drains.
2 BrE the frame of metal bars over a drain where water etc can flow into it; = grate AmE
3 AmE the hole in the bottom of a bath or SINK that water flows out through; = plughole BrE
4 a drain on sth something that continuously uses a lot of time, money etc:
•The war was an enormous drain on the country's resources.
5 down the drain informal
a) if time, effort, or money goes down the drain, it is wasted or produces no results:
•Well that's it. 18 months' work down the drain.
b) if an organization, country etc goes down the drain, it becomes worse or fails:
•That's why this country's going down the drain!
BRAIN DRAIN; laugh like a drain at LAUGH^1 (1) [U]
the process or system by which water or waste liquid flows away:
•A handful of pebbles in the bottom of a flowerpot will help drainage.
•a plan to improve the town's drainage system
an American word for DRAINING BOARD
very tired and without any energy:
•Suddenly, she felt totally drained.
•I felt depressed and completely drained of energy.also drain board AmE [C]
a slightly sloping area next to a kitchen SINK where you put wet dishes to dry [C]
1 BrE a pipe that carries rain water away from the roof of a building
2 AmE a pipe that carries waste water away from buildings[plural]
tight trousers with narrow legs [C]
a male duck
DUCKS AND DRAKES [C]
a small alcoholic drink, especially WHISKY - used especially in Scotland $
1 [C,U] a play for the theatre, television, radio etc, usually a serious one, or plays in general; comedy
•the great traditions of ancient Greek drama
a TV/television/radio drama
•the award-winning TV drama 'Prime Suspect'
•a new drama series for Saturday nights
•a drama critic
•a courtroom drama (=one that takes place in a court of law)
•a lavish costume drama (=one about events in a past century)
•He plays a Russian spy in the comedy drama'Sleepers'.
2 [U] acting - used when talking about it as a subject to study or teach:
•young actors coming out of drama school
•our drama teacher
3 [C,U] an exciting event or set of events, or the quality of being exciting:
•Maggie's life is always full of drama.
•accidents, burst pipes, and other domestic dramas
•a night of high drama (=very exciting events)
•the drama of the moment
4 make a drama out of sth to become upset about a small problem and make it seem worse than it really is:
•Brian always makes such a drama out of everything.
5 drama queen a woman or HOMOSEXUAL man who tends to behave as if situations are worse than they really are - used to show disapproval
1 great and sudden
dramatic change/shift/improvement
•Computers have brought dramatic changes to the workplace.
dramatic increase/rise/fall/drop/reduction etc
•Universities have suffered a dramatic drop in student numbers.
dramatic effect/results
•A serious accident can have a dramatic effect on your family's finances.
2 exciting or impressive:
•A superb goal by Owen earned United a dramatic victory yesterday.
•Some of the most dramatic events in American history happened here.
•the dramatic scenery of the Grand Canyon
3 connected with acting or plays:
•the amateur dramatic society
•the dramatic arts
4 intended to be impressive, so that people notice:
•She needed a stunning dress to help her make a dramatic entrance.
•Tristan threw up his hands in a dramatic gesture.
- dramatically adverb
•Output has increased dramatically.[U]
when the people watching a play know something that the characters do not, and can understand the real importance or meaning of what is happening
[plural] behaviour that shows too much emotion, and is annoying or does not seem sincere:
•Rex had no time for her dramatics, and left the room.
amateur dramatics at AMATEUR $ [plural] formal
the characters in a play; cast [C]
someone who writes plays, especially serious ones; = playwrightalso dramatise BrE [T]
1 to make a book or event into a play or film:
•a novel dramatized for television
2 to make a situation seem more exciting, terrible etc than it really is:
•Why do you have to dramatize everything?
3 to make something more noticeable; = highlight
•This incident dramatized the difficulties involved in the project.
- dramatization $ noun [C,U]
the past tense of DRINK [T]
1 to put something somewhere so that it hangs or lies loosely
drape sth over/around/across sth
•He took off his coat and draped it over a chair.
•Mina lay back, her arms draped lazily over the cushions.
2 to cover or decorate something with a cloth
drape sth over/around sth
•Jack emerged with a towel draped around him.
drape sth with/in sth
•The soldiers' coffins were draped with American flags. $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
someone who sells cloth, curtains etc
1 [U] cloth arranged in folds:
•a table covered with drapery
2 draperies [plural] AmE long heavy curtains
3 [U] BrE cloth and other goods sold by a draper:
•a drapery business [plural] AmE
long heavy curtains
extreme and sudden
drastic action/measures
•NATO threatened drastic action if its terms were not met.
• drastic cuts in government spending
• Drastic changes are needed if environmental catastrophe is to be avoided.
- drastically adverb
•The size of the army was drastically cut. old-fashioned
used to show you are annoyed
- dratted adjective $ [C] BrE
1 AIR cold air that moves through a room and that you can feel; = draft AmE
•Can you close the window? I'm in a draught.
2 BEER on draught beer that is on draught is served from a large container rather than a bottle; = on draft AmE
3 GAME
a) draughts [U] a game played by two people, each with 12 round pieces, on a board of 64 squares; = checkers AmE
b) one of the round pieces used in the game of draughts; = checker AmE
4 MEDICINE old use a medicine that you drink:
•a sleeping draught
5 SHIP technical the depth of water needed by a ship so that it will not touch the bottom of the sea, a river etc; = draft AmE
6 SWALLOW written the act of swallowing liquid, or the amount of liquid swallowed at one time; = draft AmE
•Mick took a long draught of lager.draft AmE [only before noun] BrE
1 draught beer is served from a large container rather than a bottle
2 a draught animal is used for pulling heavy loads $ [C] BrE
a board with 64 squares on which the game of draughts is played; = checkerboard AmE[C,U] BrE
material that you put around the edge of windows and doors to stop cold air from coming into the housedraftsman AmE $ plural draughtsmen [C] BrE
1 someone whose job is to draw all the parts of a new building or machine that is being planned
2 someone who draws welldraftsmanship AmE $ [U] BrE
the skill of drawing or the ability to draw welldrafty AmE $ BrE
a draughty room or building has cold air blowing through it:
•a draughty old house $ past tense drew , past participle drawn $
1 PICTURE [I,T] to produce a picture of something using a pencil, pen etc:
•Katie had drawn a cottage with a little stream running next to it.
•She asked the little girl to draw a picture of the man she'd spoken to.
•Keith was drawing a complicated-looking graph.
•I've never been able to draw very well.
draw sb sth
•Can you draw me a map of how to get there?
2 draw (sb's) attention to make someone notice something
[+to]
•I have been asked to draw your attention to the following points.
•A dark house can draw attention to the fact that the house is empty.
draw attention to yourself
•He didn't want to draw attention to himself.
•The case drew international attention.
3 draw a conclusion to decide that a particular fact or principle is true according to the information you have been given
[+from]
•It would be unwise to draw firm conclusions from the results of a single survey.
4 draw a comparison/parallel/distinction etc to compare two people or things and show how they are similar or different
[+between]
•The author draws a comparison between East and West Germany and the North-South divide in England.
•The report draws a distinction between various forms of health care.
5 GET A REACTION [T] to get a particular kind of reaction from someone
draw sth from sb
•His remarks drew an angry response from Democrats.
draw praise/criticism
•The movie drew praise from critics.
6 ATTRACT [T] to attract someone or make them want to do something
draw sb to sth
•What first drew you to teaching?
•Beth felt strangely drawn to this gentle stranger.
•The festival is likely to draw huge crowds.
7 GET STH YOU NEED [T] to get something that you need or want from someone or something
draw sth from sth
•I drew a lot of comfort from her kind words.
•Plants draw nourishment from the soil.
8 GIVE INFORMATION be drawn [usually in negatives] to give information in reply to questions about something:
•She refused to be drawn on the subject of her divorce.
9 MOVE [I always + adv/prep] to move in a particular direction:
•She drew away, but he pulled her close again.
•The boat drew alongside us and a man appeared on the deck.
•I arrived just as the train was drawing into the station.
10 draw near/closer to become closer in time or space:
•Maria grew anxious as the men drew closer.
•Christmas is drawing near.
11 draw level to move into a position where you are equal to someone else in a race, game, or competition:
•Black drew level with the other runners.
12 PULL SB/STH [T always + adv/prep] to move someone or something in a particular direction by pulling them gently
draw sb/sth aside/up/across etc
•Bobby drew a chair up to the table.
•Hussain drew me aside to whisper in my ear.
draw the curtains/a blind etc (=close them by pulling them gently)
13 PULL A VEHICLE [T] if an animal draws a vehicle, it pulls it along:
•a carriage drawn by six horses
•an ox-drawn cart
14 TAKE STH OUT [T] to take something out of a container, pocket etc
draw sth out/from sth
•Ali reached into his pocket and drew out a piece of paper.
draw a gun/sword/weapon etc
•Maria drew her gun nervously and peered out into the gloom.
15 draw a line (between sth) to think or show that one thing is different from another:
•Adolescents often use drugs simply to try to draw a line between their own and their parents' way of life.
16 draw the line (at sth) to allow or accept something up to a particular point, but not beyond it:
•I don't mind doing some gardening but I draw the line at digging.
17 where do you draw the line? spoken used to say it is impossible to decide at which point an acceptable limit has been reached:
•Some say 50 is too old to have a baby, but where do you draw the line?
18 draw a line under sth to say that something is completely finished and you will not think about it again:
•I just want to draw a line under the relationship and move on.
19 draw sb's eye (to sth) if something draws your eye, it makes you notice it:
•My eye was drawn to a painting on the wall.
20 FROM A BANK also draw out [T] to take money from your bank account; = withdraw
•Hughes had drawn $8000 in cash from a bank in Toronto.
21 RECEIVE MONEY [T] to receive an amount of money regularly from a government or financial institution:
•How long have you been drawing unemployment benefit?
•I'll be drawing my pension before he'll ever get around to asking me to marry him!
22 draw a cheque (on sth) BrE draw a check (on sth) AmE to write a cheque for taking money out of a particular bank account
23 BREATHE [I,T] to take air or smoke into your lungs:
•She drew a deep breath.
•Ruth paused to draw breath, her voice barely hiding her excitement.
•He lit his pipe and drew deeply.
24 draw breath to find time to have a rest when you are busy:
•I've hardly had a moment to draw breath.
25 TAKE LIQUID FROM STH [T]
a) to take a liquid from something such as a BARREL or TAP
b) to take water from a WELL
26 FIRE [I] if a fire or CHIMNEY draws, it lets the air flow through to make the fire burn well
27 CHOOSE [I,T] to choose by chance a card, ticket etc that will win a prize:
•The winning ticket will be drawn at the Christmas Party.
28 draw lots/straws to decide who will do something by taking pieces of paper out of a container or choosing STRAWs of hidden lengths:
•We drew lots to see who would go first.
29 draw the short straw used to say that someone has been unlucky because they were chosen to do something that no one else wanted to do:
•He drew the short straw and had to drive everyone to the party.
30 GAME [I,T] especially BrE to finish without either side winning in a game such as football; = tie
•They drew 3-3.
[+with]
•Liverpool drew with Juventus.
31 be drawn against sb BrE to be chosen by chance to play or compete against someone:
•England have been drawn against France in next month's game.
32 draw a blank informal to be unsuccessful in finding information or the answer to a problem:
•All his investigations have drawn a blank so far.
33 draw to a halt/stop if a vehicle draws to a halt or stop, it slows down and stops
34 draw to a close/end to end:
•Festival-goers began to drift off as the evening drew to an end.
35 draw a veil over sth to deliberately keep something unpleasant or embarrassing from being known:
•I'd rather draw a veil over what happened last night.
36 draw blood
a) to make someone bleed:
•The dog bit her so hard that it drew blood.
b) to make someone angry or embarrass them in an argument, especially a public one:
•Barker sought to draw blood by mentioning his rival's weakness of character.
37 draw a bow to bend a BOW by pulling back the string in order to shoot an ARROW
38 SHIP [T] technical if a ship draws a particular depth, it needs that depth of water to float in

PHRASAL VERBS
draw back phr v
1 to move backwards, especially because you are frightened or surprised:
•Suddenly, she drew back, startled.
draw back in horror/shock/fear etc
•She peeped into the box and drew back in horror.
2 to decide not to do something, especially because you think it would be bad for you; = withdraw
[+from]
•In the end the government drew back from their extreme standpoint.

draw in phr v
1 BrE if the days or nights draw in, it starts to get dark earlier in the evening because winter is coming:
•In October the nights start drawing in.
2 draw sb <=> in to get someone involved in something:
•We should use the demonstration as an opportunity to draw more supporters in.
•Despite himself, he found himself being drawn in by the man's warmth and ease.
3 draw in your horns BrE to spend less money because you have financial problems

draw sb into sth phr v
to make someone become involved in something, especially when they do not want to be involved:
•He tried to draw her into conversation.
•She found herself drawn into a disagreement between two of her neighbours.

draw sth <=> off phr v
to remove some liquid from a larger supply:
•The cold water is heated as it is drawn off.

draw on phr v
1 draw on/upon sth to use information, experience, knowledge etc for a particular purpose:
•His work draws heavily on learning theories of the 1980s.
•She has 20 years' teaching experience to draw on.
2 draw on sth to use part of a supply of something such as money:
•I had to draw on my savings to pay for the repairs.
3 draw on a cigarette/cigar etc to breathe in smoke from a cigarette etc
4 BrE formal if a period of time or an event draws on, it comes closer to its end:
•Winter is drawing on.
•As the journey drew on, he started to feel tired.

draw out phr v
1 draw sth <=> out to take money from your bank account
2 draw sb <=> out to make someone feel less shy and more willing to talk:
•She just needed someone to draw her out and take an interest in her.
3 draw sth <=> out formal to mention a particular piece of information and explain it clearly and in detail:
•There are two major themes to be drawn out in this discussion.
4 draw sth <=> out to make an event last longer than usual:
•The final question drew the meeting out for another hour.
DRAWN-OUT
5 BrE if the days or nights draw out, it stays light until later in the evening because summer is coming

draw up phr v
1 draw sth <=> up to prepare a written document, such as a list or contract:
• Draw up a list of all the things you want to do.
draw up plans/proposals
•He was asked to draw up proposals for reforming the law.
•The contract was drawn up last year.
2 if a vehicle draws up, it arrives somewhere and stops:
•A taxi drew up at the gate.
3 draw up a chair to move a chair closer to someone or something
4 draw yourself up (to your full height) to stand up very straight because you are angry or determined about something:
•He drew himself up and said, 'This has gone far enough'.
5 draw your knees up to bring your legs closer to your body:
•Ruth sat, knees drawn up under her chin, and waited.
be at daggers drawn at DAGGER (3)[C]
1 the final result of a game or competition in which both teams or players have the same number of points; = tie
•The match ended in a draw.
2 an occasion when someone or something is chosen by chance, especially the winning ticket in a LOTTERY, or the teams who will play against each other in a competition:
•England has been selected to play Germany in the draw for the first round of the World Cup.
3 BrE a competition in which people whose names or tickets are chosen by chance win money or prizes:
•Congratulations! You have been entered into our £100,000 prize draw!
4 a performer, place, event etc that a lot of people come to see:
•It is hoped that the new art gallery will be a big draw for visitors.
5 when you breathe in smoke from a cigarette; = drag
•Maltravers took a long draw on his cigarette.
the luck of the draw at LUCK^1 (18); quick on the draw at QUICK^1 (9) $ [C]
a disadvantage of a situation, plan, product etc:
•It's a great city - the only drawback is the weather.
drawback of/to (doing) sth
•The main drawback to these products is that they tend to be too salty. $ [C]
a bridge that can be pulled up to stop people from entering a castle, or to let ships pass $ [C]
1 part of a piece of furniture, such as a desk, that you pull out and push in and use to keep things in:
•She took a file from her desk drawer.
•The scissors are in the kitchen drawer (=drawer in a piece of kitchen furniture).
top/bottom/right-hand/left-hand drawer
•He opened the top drawer of his desk, and took out a brown envelope.
sock/cutlery drawer (=one for keeping socks, or knives, forks etc in)
2 drawers [plural] old-fashioned underwear that women and girls wear between their waist and the tops of their legs; = knickers $
1 [C] a picture that you draw with a pencil, pen etc
[+of]
•a drawing of Canterbury Cathedral
2 [U] the art or skill of making pictures, plans etc with a pen or pencil:
•I've never been very good at drawing.
3 [C] AmE a competition in which people whose names or tickets are chosen by chance win money or prizes; = draw BrE
•The church social will include a buffet dinner and a prize drawing.[C]
1 (go) back to the drawing board if you go back to the drawing board, you start again with a completely new plan or idea, after the one you tried before has failed:
•The current system just isn't working - we need to go back to the drawing board and start afresh.
2 on the drawing board if a plan or product is on the drawing board, it is in the process of being planned or prepared:
•Other car manufacturers have similar projects on the drawing board.
3 a large flat board that artists and DESIGNERs work on[C] BrE
a short metal pin with a round flat head, used especially for putting notices on boards or walls; = thumbtack AmE[U]
an event's, performer's, place's etc ability to attract people to come and see them; = pulling power[C] formal
a room, especially in a large house, where you can entertain guests or relax $ [I,T]
to speak slowly, with vowel sounds that are longer than usual:
•'Can't do that,' he drawled languidly.
- drawl noun [singular]
•'What you got there?' he asked in a slow Texan drawl. $
the past participle of DRAW
someone who looks drawn has a thin pale face, because they are ill, tired or worried
taking more time than usual or more time than you would like:
•The government wants to avoid a long drawn-out war against the rebel forces. $ [C]
a string through the top of a bag, piece of clothing etc that you can pull to make it tighter:
•trousers with a drawstring waist [C]
a flat CART with four wheels that was used in the past for carrying heavy loads, especially BARRELs of beer
[T] to feel anxious or worried about something that is going to happen or may happen:
•I've got an interview tomorrow and I'm dreading it.
dread doing sth
•I'm dreading going back to work.
dread sb doing sth
•Tim dreaded his parents finding out.
dread (that)
•I'm dreading that I'll be asked to make a speech.
dread the thought/prospect of (doing) sth
•He dreaded the prospect of being all alone in that house.
• I dread to think what will happen if they get elected (=I think it will be very bad).
[singular, U] a strong fear of something that is going to happen or may happen
dread of (doing) sth
•the dread of losing those we love
with dread
•Bernice looked with dread at the end of the passage.
•The prospect of flying filled me with dread.
•She lives in dread of (=is continuously very afraid of) the disease returning.also dread literary
[only before noun] making you feel afraid or anxious - often used humorously:
•She couldn't put off the dreaded moment forever.
1 extremely unpleasant; = terrible
•We've had some dreadful weather lately.
•Michelle felt absolutely dreadful (=very ill).
2 [only before noun] used to emphasize how bad something or someone is; = terrible
•He soon realized he had made a dreadful mistake.
1 extremely or very much:
•They're dreadfully busy at the moment.
•Would you mind dreadfully if I didn't come?
2 very badly:
•The team played dreadfully. $ [plural]
a way of arranging your hair, popular with Rastafarians, in which it hangs in thick pieces that look like rope [C]
1 WHILE SLEEPING a series of thoughts, images, and feelings that you experience when you are asleep; daydream
in a dream
•In my dream I flew to a forest of enormous trees.
•I had a really weird dream last night.
•Nick sleeps in my room because he has bad dreams (=frightening dreams) sometimes.
[+about]
•dreams about drowning
recurring dream (=a dream you have again and again)
be/seem like a dream (=seem unreal)
•Those few short months with Tony seemed like a dream to her.
•Seeing him again was like a bad dream (=so unpleasant that it seemed unreal).
2 WISH a wish to do, be, or have something - used especially when this seems unlikely:
•Her dream is to make a movie.
dream of (doing) sth
•Sheila had dreams of university.
fulfil/realize a dream
•I fulfilled a childhood dream when I became champion in June.
the man/woman/dress/place etc of your dreams (=the perfect man, woman etc)
•I have just met the man of my dreams!
beyond your wildest dreams (=better than anything you ever imagined or hoped for)
not/never in your wildest dreams (=used to emphasize that you think something is very strange or unlikely)
•Never in my wildest dreams had I thought I would go to Hollywood.
3 dream house/home/job etc something that seems perfect to someone:
•I've finally found my dream house.
•Win a dream holiday for two in San Francisco!
4 in a dream having a state of mind in which you do not notice or pay attention to things around you:
•Ruth went about her tasks in a dream.
5 be a dream come true if something is a dream come true, it happens after you have wanted it to happen for a long time:
•Marriage to her is a dream come true.
6 like a dream extremely well or effectively:
•The plan worked like a dream.
7 be/live in a dream world to have ideas or hopes that are not correct or likely to happen:
•If you think that all homeless people have it as easy as me, then you are living in dream world.
8 be a dream be perfect or very desirable:
•Her latest boyfriend is an absolute dream.
•Some performers are a dream to work with; others are not.
sb's dream (=something someone would really like)
•She's every adolescent schoolboy's dream.
9 in your dreams spoken used to say in a rude way that something is not likely to happen:
•'I'm going to ask her to go out with me.' 'In your dreams!'past tense and past participle dreamed or, dreamt
1 WISH [I,T] to think about something that you would like to happen or have
dream of/about (doing) sth
•She dreamed of becoming a chef.
•He's got the sort of money that you and I can only dream about.
dream (that)
•She dreamed that one day she would be famous.
2 WHILE SLEEPING [I,T] to have a dream while you are asleep
[+about]
•I dreamt about you last night.
dream (that)
•It's quite common to dream that you're falling.
3 NOT PAY ATTENTION [I] to think about something else and not give your attention to what is happening around you; = daydream
•She had been dreaming and had not followed the conversation.
4 IMAGINE [I,T] to imagine that you have done, seen, or heard something that you have not:
•I was sure I posted the letter but I must have dreamt it.
5 never dreamed (that) used to say that you did not think that something would happen:
•We never dreamed that we would get through to the next round.
6 wouldn't dream of (doing) sth spoken used to say that you would never do something because you think it is bad or wrong:
•I wouldn't dream of letting strangers look after my own grandmother!
7 who would have dreamt that ...? spoken used to express surprise about something that has happened:
•Who would have dreamed that this would happen?

PHRASAL VERBS
dream sth <=> away phr v
to waste time by thinking about what may happen:
•She would just sit in her room dreaming away the hours.

dream on phr v [only in imperative] spoken
used to tell someone that they are hoping for something that will not happen:
•You think I'm going to help you move house? Dream on!

dream sth <=> up phr v
to think of a plan or idea, especially an unusual one:
•He was continually dreaming up new schemes to promote and enlarge the business. $ [C]
1 someone who has ideas or plans that are not practical:
•She was a dreamer - not pragmatic.
2 someone who dreams while they are asleep
thinking about something pleasant and not about what is happening around you:
•'I'm coming,' he replied dreamily, without moving. [U]
1 a happy place or situation that exists only in your imagination
2 informal sleep:
•The kids are both far away in dreamland.
dreamless sleep is very deep and peaceful
as if happening in a dream; = unreal
•The film had a dreamlike quality.
a past tense and past participle of DREAM[singular]
a combination of people who you think will be sure to win an election for a political party
1 looking as though you are thinking about something pleasant rather than what is happening around you:
•a dreamy smile
2 someone who is dreamy has a good imagination but is not very practical:
•He was an artist, not particularly tidy, too dreamy to match her ways.
3 pleasant, peaceful and relaxing:
•The windows cast a dreamy light in the room.
4 informal very attractive and desirable:
•a book of dreamy chocolate recipes
- dreaminess noun [U] $
1 sadly:
•Laura stared drearily at herself in the mirror.
2 dully:
•a drearily predictable thrilleralso drear literary $
dull and making you feel sad or bored:
•the same old dreary routine
•a dreary winter's day
- dreariness noun [U] [U] AmE informal
something that is of very bad quality:
•Readers for publishing houses see a lot of good stuff and a lot of dreck.
1 [I,T] to remove mud or sand from the bottom of a river, HARBOUR etc, or to search for something by doing this:
•They were dredging for oysters.
2 [T + with] to cover food lightly with flour, sugar etc

PHRASAL VERBS
dredge sth <=> up phr v
1 to start talking again about something that happened a long time ago, especially something unpleasant:
•Newsweek magazine dredged up some remarks which he made last year.
2 to manage to remember something, or to feel or express an emotion, with difficulty:
•Robertson tried to dredge up an image of her in his mind.
•From somewhere she dredged up a brilliant smile.
3 to pull something up from the bottom of a river, lake etcalso dredge $ [C]
a machine or ship used for digging or removing mud and sand from the bottom of a river, lake etc
1 [plural] a small amount of a drink, sometimes with bits in, left at the bottom of a cup, glass, or bottle
2 the dregs of society/humanity not polite an offensive expression used to describe the people that you consider are the least important or useful in society [C]
a TOP (=a toy that you spin) with a Hebrew letter on each of its four sides and a point at the bottom, used in a game played during Hanukkah [T]
to make something or someone extremely wet:
•In the early morning they had got drenched in the grass.
- drenching adjective
•drenching rain
1 covered with a lot of a liquid:
•Come on in - you're drenched!
[+in/with]
•I was drenched in sweat.
•chips drenched in vinegar
rain-drenched/sweat-drenched etc
•He changed out of his rain-drenched clothes.
2 drenched in/with light literary something that is drenched with light has a lot of light shining on it
1 [C] a piece of clothing worn by a woman or girl that covers the top of her body and part or all of her legs; skirt
•Sheila wore a long red dress.
•a summer dress
2 [U] clothes for men or women of a particular type or for a particular occasion:
•a gentleman in evening dress (=formal clothes worn especially at important social events)
•The play was performed in modern dress (=clothes from the present time).
dress code (=a standard of what you should wear for a particular situation)
•This restaurant has a strict dress code - no tie, no service.
1 PUT ON CLOTHES [I,T] to put clothes on yourself or someone else:
•Aunt Margaret told her to dress herself in her nicest dress.
•I dress the kids before I go to work.
•I've got to go home to dress.
•I dressed quickly.
dress sb in sth
•She dressed Louis in his best blue jersey.
!! In spoken English, it is more usual to say get dressed.
2 WEAR CLOTHES [I] to wear a particular kind of clothes:
•Dress warmly if you're going out for a walk.
dress casually/smartly
•I spend most of my time in the house with young children, so I dress casually.
[+for]
•How do you normally dress for work?
•We usually dress for dinner (=wear formal clothes for our evening meal).
3 MAKE/CHOOSE CLOTHES [T] to make or choose clothes for someone:
•Versace dressed some of the most famous people in Hollywood.
4 WOUND/CUT ETC [T] to clean, treat, and cover a wound
5 MEAT/FISH [T] to clean and prepare meat or fish so that it is ready to cook or eat:
•dressed crab
6 SALAD [T] to put oil, VINEGAR, salt etc onto a SALAD
7 WINDOW [T] to put an attractive arrangement in a shop window
WINDOW DRESSER
8 SOLDIERS [I,T] technical to stand in a straight line, or to make soldiers do this
9 HAIR [T] formal to arrange someone's hair into a special style
10 WOOD/STONE ETC [T] technical to prepare or put a special surface onto wood, stone, leather etc

PHRASAL VERBS
dress down phr v
1 to wear clothes that are more informal than the ones you would usually wear:
•In many offices, people dress down on Fridays.
2 dress sb <=> down to speak angrily to someone about something they have done wrong
DRESSING-DOWN

dress up phr v
1 to wear special clothes for fun, or to put special clothes on someone
[+as]
•He went to the party dressed up as a Chicago gangster.
[+in]
•I keep a box of old clothes for the children to dress up in.
dress sb <=> up
•We dressed him up as a gorilla.
2 to wear clothes that are more formal than the ones you would usually wear:
•It's a small informal party - you don't have to dress up.
3 dress sth <=> up to make something more interesting or attractive:
•It was the old offer dressed up as something new. $ [U]
a competition in which a horse performs a complicated series of movements in answer to signals from its rider[C] BrE
the lowest of the curved rows of seats upstairs in a theatre; = first balcony AmE
1 get dressed to put your clothes on:
•Go and get dressed!
2 having your clothes on or wearing a particular type of clothes:
•Aren't you dressed yet?
half/fully dressed
•She lay down fully dressed on the bed.
smartly/well-/elegantly etc dressed
•a very well-dressed young man
[+in]
•She was dressed in a two-piece suit.
[+as]
•The children came dressed as animals.
3 dressed to kill informal wearing very attractive clothes so that everyone notices and admires you
4 dressed (up) to the nines informal wearing your best or most formal clothes $ [C]
1 BrE a large piece of furniture with open shelves for storing plates, dishes etc; = Welsh dresser
2 AmE a piece of furniture with drawers for storing clothes, sometimes with a mirror on top; = chest of drawers BrE
3 a fashionable/stylish/sloppy etc dresser someone who dresses in a fashionable etc way:
•Stanley was an impeccable dresser.
4 someone who takes care of someone's clothes, especially an actor's in the theatre, and helps them to dress
1 [C,U] a mixture of liquids, usually oil and VINEGAR, that you put on SALAD or raw vegetables:
•a vinaigrette dressing
FRENCH DRESSING, SALAD DRESSING
2 [C,U] AmE STUFFING (1)
3 [C] a special piece of material used to cover and protect a wound:
•The nurse came to change his dressing.
CROSS-DRESSING, POWER DRESSING, WINDOW DRESSING[singular]
an occasion when you talk angrily to someone because they have done something wrong
give sb/get a dressing-down
•The tobacco companies got a severe dressing-down.[C] BrE AmE formal
a piece of clothing like a long loose coat that you wear inside the house, usually over night clothes; = bathrobe, robe[C]
1 a room where an actor or performer can get ready before going on stage, appearing on television etc
2 AmE a room or area in a store where you can try on clothes; = changing room BrE
3 a small room next to a bedroom in some houses where you can get dressed[C]
a piece of furniture like a table with a mirror on top, sometimes with drawers, that you use when you are doing your hair, putting on MAKE-UP etcdress-up AmE [U] BrE
a children's game in which they put on special clothes and pretend that they are someone else $ [C]
someone who makes their own clothes, or makes clothes for other people as a job
- dressmaking noun [U][C]
the final practice of a play, OPERA etc, using all the clothes, objects etc that will be used for the actual performance[U]
the ability to choose clothes that make you look attractive[C]
a formal shirt, sometimes with a special decoration at the front, that a man wears under a DINNER JACKET[C,U]
a uniform that officers in the army, navy etc wear for formal occasions or ceremonies
1 dressy clothes are suitable for formal occasions:
•Her outfit was smart but not too dressy.
2 someone who is dressy likes to wear very fashionable or formal clothes
the past tense of DRAW
1 [I,T] to let liquid come out of your mouth onto your face:
•Watch out, the baby is dribbling on your shirt!
•He was dribbling tea onto his tie.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if a liquid dribbles somewhere, it flows in a thin irregular stream:
•Blood from the wound dribbled down the side of his face.
3 [I,T] to move the ball along with you by short kicks, BOUNCEs , or hits in a game of football, BASKETBALL etc:
•He was trying to dribble the ball past his opponents.
4 [I always + adv/prep] if something such as money or news dribbles somewhere, it comes or goes in small irregular amounts:
•Money is finally dribbling back into the country now.
5 [T always + adv/prep] to pour something out slowly in an irregular way:
•Dribble a few drops of olive oil over the pizza.
1 [U] a small amount of liquid that has come out of your mouth:
•He wiped the dribble from his chin.
2 a dribble of sth a small amount of liquid:
•There was a dribble of brandy in the bottom of the bottle.
3 [C] the act of moving the ball along with you by short kicks, BOUNCEs or hits in a game of football, BASKETBALL etc
in dribs and drabs in small irregular amounts or numbers over a period of time:
•The guests arrived in dribs and drabs.
dried substances, such as food or flowers, have had the water removed:
•dried herbs[U]
fruit, usually GRAPEs , that has been dried and is often used in cooking[U]
milk that is made into a powder and can be used by adding water $
another spelling of DRYER [I]
1 MOVE SLOWLY to move slowly on water or in the air
[+out/towards etc]
•The rubber raft drifted out to sea.
•Smoke drifted up from the jungle ahead of us.
2 WITHOUT PLAN to move, change, or do something without any plan or purpose
[+around/along etc]
•Jenni spent the year drifting around Europe.
[+into]
•I just drifted into teaching, really.
[+away]
•The others drifted away. Melanie stayed.
drift from sth to sth
•The conversation drifted from one topic to another.
let your gaze/eyes/thoughts/mind etc drift
•Idly she let her eyes drift over his desk.
3 CHANGE to gradually change from being in one condition, situation etc into another without realizing it
[+into]
•She was just drifting into sleep when the alarm went off.
•He drifted in and out of consciousness.
4 MONEY/PRICES if values, prices, SHAREs etc drift, they gradually change:
•The dollar drifted lower against the yen today.
5 SNOW/SAND if snow, sand etc drifts, the wind blows it into large piles
6 let sth drift to allow something, especially something bad, to continue in the same way:
•He couldn't let the matter drift for much longer.

PHRASAL VERBS
drift apart phr v
if people drift apart, their relationship gradually ends:
•Over the years my college friends and I have drifted apart.

drift off phr v
to gradually fall asleep:
•I was just drifting off when the phone rang.
•He felt himself drifting off to sleep.
1 SNOW/SAND [C] a large pile of snow or sand that has been blown by the wind
[+of]
•The road is blocked with massive drifts of snow.
•a snow drift
2 CHANGE [singular] a slow change or development from one situation, opinion etc to another
[+towards/to]
•a drift towards longer working hours
3 MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE [singular, U] a slow movement of large numbers of people that has not been planned
[+from/to/into]
•the drift from the countryside to the cities
4 the drift (of sth) the general meaning of what someone is saying:
•So what's the drift of the argument?
follow/get/catch sb's drift (=understand the general meaning of what someone is saying)
•She didn't quite get my drift, did she?
5 SHIPS/PLANES [U] the movement of a ship or plane from its original direction because of the movement of the wind or water
6 SLOW MOVEMENT [U] very slow movement, especially over water or through the air $ [C]
1 someone who is always moving from one job or place to another with no real purpose
2 a fishing boat that uses a floating net [C]
a large fishing net that floats behind a boat [U]
wood floating in the sea or left on the shore
1 [C] a tool or machine used for making holes in something:
•an electric drill
•a whine like a dentist's drill
PNEUMATIC DRILL
2 [C] a method of teaching students, sports players etc something by making them repeat the same lesson, exercise etc many times:
•a pronunciation drill
3 fire/emergency drill an occasion when people practise what they should do in a dangerous situation such as a fire
4 [U] military training in which soldiers practise marching, using weapons etc:
•rifle drill
5 the drill BrE old-fashioned the usual way that something is done:
•'You know the drill?' 'Not really. Tell me again what to do.'
6 [U] a type of strong cotton cloth
7 [C]
a) a machine for planting seeds in rows
b) a row of seeds planted by a machine
1 [I,T] to make a hole in something using a drill:
•Drill a hole in each corner.
[+into/through]
•He accidentally drilled into a water pipe.
drill for oil/water/gas etc
•BP has been licensed to drill for oil in the area.
2 [T] to teach students, sports players etc by making them repeat the same lesson, exercise etc many times
drill sb in sth
•She was drilling the class in the forms of the past tense.
drill sb to do sth
•I acted instinctively because I had been trained and drilled to do just that.
•The team were well-drilled and organized.
3 [T] to train soldiers to march or perform other military actions:
•The sergeant was drilling the new recruits.
4 [T] to plant seeds in rows using a machine

PHRASAL VERBS
drill sth into sb phr v
to keep telling someone something until they know it very well:
•Mother had drilled it into me not to talk to strangers.[C]
a large structure in the sea used for drilling for oil, gas etc
another spelling of DRYLY past tense drank , past participle drunk
1 [I,T] to take liquid into your mouth and swallow it:
•You should drink plenty of water.
•What would you like to drink?
•Take a seat while I get you something to drink.
•She filled the glass and drank.
2 [I] to drink alcohol, especially regularly or too much:
•He's been drinking heavily since his wife died.
•I don't drink.
•Don't drink and drive.
•My flatmate Cherry drinks like a fish (=regularly drinks a lot of alcohol).
3 drink yourself silly/into a stupor/to death etc to drink so much alcohol that you become very drunk or unconscious, or die:
•If he goes on this way he'll drink himself to death.
4 drink sb under the table to drink more alcohol than someone but not feel as ill as them:
•He could drink nearly anyone under the table.
5 What are you drinking? spoken used to offer to buy someone a drink, especially in a PUB
6 drink sb's health BrE to wish someone good health before having an alcoholic drink

PHRASAL VERBS
drink sth <=> in phr v
to look at, listen to, feel, or smell something in order to enjoy it:
•For a moment she just sat there, drinking in the atmosphere.

drink to sth phr v
1 to wish someone success, good luck, good health etc before having an alcoholic drink:
•Let's drink to your success in your new job.
2 I'll drink to that! spoken used to agree with what someone has said

drink up phr v
to drink all of something
drink sth <=> up
•Drink up your milk.
1 [C] an amount of liquid that you drink, or the act of drinking something
[+of]
• Have a drink of water.
•Do you want a drink of my tea?
•He took a drink of his coffee.
2 [C,U] liquid that you can drink:
•They sell soft drinks (=non-alcoholic drinks).
• food and drink companies
3 [C,U] an alcoholic drink:
• Have another drink.
•After that news I need a stiff drink (=strong alcohol)!
go for a drink BrE (=go to a pub)
•Let's go for a drink.
4 [U] the habit of drinking too much alcohol, in a way that is very bad for your health:
•The marriage ended because of her husband's drink problem (=he drank too much alcohol).
•They had driven him to drink (=made him start drinking too much alcohol regularly).
•After her retirement from the stage she took to drink (=started drinking too much alcohol).
5 drinks [plural] BrE a social occasion when you have alcoholic drinks and sometimes food
for drinks
•Don't forget we're invited to the Jones' for drinks on Sunday.
6 the drink old-fashioned the sea, a lake, or another large area of water
1 water that is drinkable is safe to drink
2 wine, beer etc that is drinkable is of good quality and tastes pleasant[U]
BrE driving a car after having drunk too much alcohol; = drunk-driving AmE
- drink-driver noun [C] $ [C]
1 someone who regularly drinks alcohol:
•Dave has always been a bit of a drinker.
•He was a heavy drinker (=he drank a lot).
2 coffee/wine/champagne etc drinker someone who regularly drinks coffee, wine etc [U]
the activity of drinking alcohol:
•after a night of heavy drinking (=drinking a lot of alcohol)
drinking companion/buddy/partner etc[C]
a piece of equipment in a public place that produces a stream of water for you to drink from[U]
BrE the time when people are allowed to finish their drinks in a PUB, but cannot buy any more drinks[U]
water that is pure enough for you to drink[C]
BrE a machine that serves hot and cold drinks when you put money into it[C]
BrE a party at which alcoholic drinks are served and where you mainly talk to people; = cocktail party past tense and past participle dripped, present participle dripping
1 [I,T] to let liquid fall in drops:
•The tap's dripping.
•Her boots were muddy and her hair was dripping.
drip blood/water/sweat etc
•John came in, his arm dripping blood.
be dripping with blood/sweat etc
•The hand that held the gun was dripping with sweat.
2 [I] to fall in drops
[+down/from etc]
•The rain dripped down his neck.
• Water was dripping through the ceiling.
3 be dripping with sth to contain or be covered in a lot of something
be dripping with jewels/gems/pearls etc
•All the princes were dripping with gems.
•His tone was now dripping with sarcasm.
1 [C] one of the drops of liquid that fall from something:
•I put some plastic buckets on the floor to catch the drips.
2 [singular, U] the sound or action of a liquid falling in drops:
•The silence was broken only by a regular drip, drip, drip.
3 [C] a piece of equipment used in hospitals for putting liquids directly into your blood; = IV
be/put sb on a drip
•At the hospital they put me on a drip.
4 [C] informal someone who is boring and weak
drip-dry clothing does not need IRONing
- drip-dry verb [I,T] [U]
BrE the oily substance that comes out of meat when you cook it
extremely wet:
•Take off that jacket - you're dripping wet. informal
very emotional in a silly way:
•The movie is nothing but a drippy melodrama. past tense drove $ , past participle driven
1 VEHICLE
a) [I,T] to make a car, truck, bus etc move along
[+to/down/off etc]
•I am planning to drive to Morocco next year.
•the man driving the car
•Can you drive?
•So when did you learn to drive?
•Bye! Drive carefully!
•He drives 12 miles to work.
•He drives (=has) a BMW estate.
b) [I always + adv/prep] if a car, truck etc drives somewhere, it moves there:
•After the accident, the other car just drove off.
c) [I] if people drive somewhere, they travel somewhere in a car:
•Shall we drive or take the bus?
[+to/down/off etc]
•They drove back to Woodside.
d) [T always + adv/prep] to take someone somewhere in a car, truck etc:
•She drove Anna to London.
•I'll drive you home.
drive yourself
•I drove myself to hospital.
2 MAKE SB MOVE [T] to force a person or animal to go somewhere:
•Torrential rain drove the players off the course.
•With a few loud whistles, they drove the donkeys out of the enclosure.
3 MAKE SB DO STH [T] to strongly influence someone to do something
drive sb to do sth
•The detective wondered what had driven Christine to phone her.
drive sb to/into sth
•The noises in my head have nearly driven me to suicide.
•Phil, driven by jealousy, started spying on his wife.
4 MAKE SB/STH BE IN A BAD STATE [T] to make someone or something get into a bad or extreme state, usually an emotional one
drive sb crazy/nuts/mad/insane (=make someone feel very annoyed)
•This cough is driving me mad!
drive sb crazy/wild (=make someone feel very sexually excited)
drive sb up the wall/out of their mind (=make someone feel very annoyed)
drive sb to distraction/desperation
•The mosquitoes drive me to distraction.
drive sb/sth into sth
•The factory had been driven into bankruptcy.
5 HIT/PUSH STH INTO STH [T] to hit or push something into something else
drive sth into sth
•We watched Dad drive the posts into the ground.
•She drove her heels into the sand.
6 MAKE SB WORK [T] to make a person or animal work hard
drive yourself
•Don't drive yourself too hard.
7 SPORTS [I,T]
a) to move a ball etc forward in a game of baseball, football, golf etc by hitting or kicking it hard and fast:
•He drove the ball into the corner of the net.
b) to run with the ball towards the GOAL in sports such as BASKETBALL and American football
8 PROVIDE POWER [T] to provide the power for a vehicle or machine
petrol-driven/electrically-driven/battery-driven etc
•a petrol-driven lawn mower
9 RAIN/WIND ETC [I always + adv/prep] if rain, snow, wind etc drives somewhere, it moves very quickly in that direction:
•The rain was driving down hard.
10 drive a coach and horses through sth to destroy an argument, plan etc completely:
•The new bill will drive a coach and horses through recent trade agreements.
11 MAKE A HOLE [T always + adv/prep] to make a large hole in something using heavy equipment or machinery:
•They're planning to drive a tunnel through the mountains.
12 drive sth home to make something completely clear to someone:
•He didn't have to drive the point home. The videotape had done that.
13 drive a wedge between sb to do something that makes people disagree or start to dislike each other:
•I don't want to drive a wedge between you and your father.

PHRASAL VERBS
drive at sth phr v
what sb is driving at the thing someone is really trying to say; = get at
•I still couldn't understand what Toby was driving at.

drive sb <=> away phr v
to behave in a way that makes someone leave:
•He was cruel because he wanted to drive me away.

drive sth <=> down phr v
to make prices, costs etc fall quickly:
•We have to drive down costs.

drive sb/sth <=> in phr v
to hit the ball so that another player can score a RUN in baseball

drive off phr v
1 to hit the ball to begin a game of golf
2 drive sb <=> off to force a person or animal to go away from you:
•We keep dogs in the yard to drive off intruders.

drive sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to force someone or something to leave:
•Downtown stores are being driven out by crime.
2 written to make something stop existing:
•As we went forward, our fear was driven out by horror.

drive sth <=> up phr v
to make prices, costs etc rise quickly:
•The oil shortage drove gas prices up by 20 cents a gallon.
drive/strike a hard bargain at HARD^1 (18)
1 IN A CAR [C] a journey in a car
[+to/along etc]
•Let's go for a drive along the coast.
•Taylor took me for a drive through the town.
an hour's/a two hour etc drive
•It's a two hour drive from Calais to Thiepval.
2 NATURAL NEED [C] a strong natural need or desire:
•The treatment will not affect your sex drive.
3 OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE [C] the hard area or road between your house and the street; = driveway
in/on the drive
•He parked his car in the drive.
4 EFFORT [C] an effort to achieve something, especially an effort by an organization for a particular purpose:
•a recruitment drive for new members
•an economy drive (=effort to reduce spending)
drive to do sth
•a nationwide drive to crack down on crime
5 DETERMINATION [U] determination and energy to succeed:
•Brian has got tremendous drive.
6 POWER [U] the power from an engine that makes the wheels of a vehicle go round
front-wheel/rear-wheel/four-wheel drive
7 COMPUTER [C] a piece of equipment in a computer that is used to get information from a DISK or to store information on it
hard/floppy/A etc drive
DISK DRIVE
8 SPORT [C] an act of hitting a ball hard, especially in tennis, baseball, or golf:
•He hit a long, high drive to right field.
9 MILITARY ATTACK [C] several military attacks
[+into]
•a drive deep into enemy territory
10 ANIMALS [C] when animals such as cows or sheep are brought together and made to move in a particular direction
11 Drive used in the names of roads:
•They live at 141 Park Drive.
drive-by shooting/killing an occasion when someone is shot by someone in a moving car
- drive-by noun [C][C]
1 a restaurant where you are served and eat in your car
2 a place where you can watch films outdoors while sitting in your car [U]
something that is said or written that is silly or does not mean anything:
•Don't talk such drivel!
- drivel verb [I]
the past participle of DRIVE
trying extremely hard to achieve what you want:
•He claims he is not a driven workaholic.
as pure as the driven snow at PURE (11) $ [C]
1 someone who drives a car, bus etc; chauffeur
•a taxi driver
•Do you think you're a good driver?
2 technical a piece of software that makes a computer work with another piece of equipment such as a printer or a mouse
3 a GOLF CLUB with a wooden head
back seat driver at BACK SEAT (2); Sunday driver at SUNDAY (3)also driver's ed [U] AmE
a course, usually taken in high school, that teaches you how to drive a car[C] AmE
an official document or card that says that you are legally allowed to drive; = driving licence BrE[C]
technical a part of a vehicle that takes power from the GEARBOX to the wheelsalso drive-thru [C]
a restaurant, bank etc where you can be served without getting out of your cardrive time [U]
the time during the morning or afternoon when many people are driving to or from work; rush hour
•a morning drivetime radio show [C]
the hard area or road between your house and the street; = drive [U]
the activity of driving a car, truck etc:
•driving lessons
•He was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
•hazardous driving conditions (=weather that makes driving dangerous)
in the driving seat at SEAT^1 (11)
1 driving rain/snow rain or snow that falls very hard and fast
2 driving force someone or something that strongly influences people and makes them do something
[+behind]
•Hawks was the driving force behind the project.
3 driving ambition a very great desire to do or achieve something[C]
BrE an official document or card that says that you are legally allowed to drive; = driver's license AmE[C]
an open outdoor area where people practise hitting golf balls[C]
a business that teaches people how to drive a car[C]
the official test that you must pass in order to be legally allowed to drive on public roads
1 it is drizzling if it is drizzling, light rain and mist come out of the sky:
•The rain isn't too bad - it's only drizzling.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to let a liquid fall on food in a small stream or in small drops:
•Drizzle the soy sauce over the chicken.[singular, U]
weather that is a combination of light rain and mist:
•A light drizzle had started by the time we left.
- drizzly adjective $
amusing in an unusual way $ plural dromedaries
[C] a CAMEL with one HUMP on its back $ [I]
to make a continuous low dull sound:
•An airplane droned overhead.

PHRASAL VERBS
drone on phr v
to speak in a boring way, usually for a long time
[+about]
•Tom was droning on and on about work.
1 [singular] a continuous low dull sound
[+of]
•the steady drone of traffic
2 [C] a male BEE that does no work
3 [C] someone who has a good life but does not work to earn it or give anything back to society
4 [C] technical old-fashioned an aircraft that does not have a pilot, but is operated by radio
1 [I,T] BrE to let SALIVA (=the liquid in your mouth) come out of your mouth; slobber
•The dog was drooling at the mouth.
2 [I] to show in a silly way that you like someone or something a lot
[+over]
•He was drooling over a Porsche.
1 [I,T] to hang or bend down, or to make something do this:
•The plant needs some water - it's starting to droop.
•His eyelids began to droop (=close, because he was sleepy).
•Jessie drooped her head.
2 [I] to become sad or weak:
•Our spirits drooped as we faced the long trip home.
- droop noun [singular]
- droopy adjective
•a droopy moustache $ past tense and past participle dropped, present participle dropping
1 LET STH FALL [T]
a) to stop holding or carrying something so that it falls:
•He dropped his briefcase on a chair.
•She screamed and dropped the torch.
b) to make something such as a bomb fall from a plane:
•U.S. planes began dropping bombs on the city.
•Supplies are being dropped for the refugees.
2 FALL [I] to fall suddenly onto the ground or into something
[+from/off]
•The apples are beginning to drop from the trees.
•Your button has dropped off.
3 MOVE YOUR BODY DOWN [I always + adv/prep, T] to lower yourself or part of your body suddenly
[+down/onto/into]
•He dropped down onto the floor and hid under the table.
•She dropped her head back against the cushion.
4 BECOME LESS [I] to fall to a lower level or amount, especially a much lower level or amount
drop suddenly/sharply/dramatically
•The number of deaths on the roads has dropped sharply.
•Temperatures drop quite dramatically at night, so bring some warm clothing.
[+to]
•Their share of the market dropped to 50 percent this year.
5 REDUCE [T] to reduce the level or amount of something:
•You might be able to get them to drop the price.
•As soon as she saw the police car she dropped her speed.
6 NOT INCLUDE [T] to decide not to include someone or something:
•His name was dropped from the list.
drop sb from a team/side
•Taylor was bitterly disappointed to be dropped from the England side.
7 STOP DOING STH [T] to stop doing something, discussing something, or continuing with something:
•The proposal was dropped after opposition from civil liberties groups.
drop charges/drop a case
•New evidence was presented to the court and the case was dropped.
drop a subject at school/university (=stop studying it)
•Students are allowed to drop history in Year 9.
•You can't expect me to drop everything (=completely stop doing whatever I am doing) whenever you're in town.
•Oh, drop the 'Senator' (=stop calling me 'Senator')- just call me Gordon.
•Some time later, the matter was quietly dropped.
8 STOP TALKING ABOUT STH [I,T] to stop talking about something
drop the subject
•To her relief, Julius dropped the subject.
drop it (=stop talking about a subject)
•Just drop it, will you? I don't want to talk about it any more.
•'What about the money?' 'We've agreed to let it drop (=we have agreed not to talk about it any more).'
9 TAKE SB SOMEWHERE also drop off [T] to take someone by car to a place and leave them there, especially on your way to another place:
•Just drop me here - I can walk the rest of the way.
drop sb at sth
•She dropped Johnny at the school gates at about 8:30.
10 TAKE STH SOMEWHERE [T] to take something to a place and leave it there
drop sth round/in
•I've got your books - I'll drop them round to your place later.
11 VISIT [I always + adv/prep] to visit someone you know, usually without arranging a particular time
[+by/round]
•I just dropped by to see how you were getting on.
•The kids drop round and see her from time to time.
[+into]
•Jan dropped into the office this morning to tell me her news.
drop in (on sb)
•Why don't you drop in for a drink one evening?
12 SLOPE DOWNWARDS [I always + adv/prep] if a path, land etc drops, it goes down suddenly, forming a steep slope
[+down]
•The cliff dropped down over a hundred feet to the sea below.
[+away]
•On the left the ground drops away, giving a view over the rooftops.
13 END A RELATIONSHIP [T] informal to suddenly stop having a relationship with someone, especially a romantic relationship:
•She dropped him as soon as she found out he had been seeing another woman.
14 until/till you drop until you are too tired to continue doing something:
•We're going to shop till we drop!
15 drop a hint to suggest or ask for something in an indirect way, hoping that the person you are talking to will understand what you mean:
•He dropped some big hints about what he wanted for his birthday.
16 drop sb a line/note informal to write a short letter to someone:
•Drop us a line to let us know how you're getting on.
17 drop dead
a) informal to die suddenly
b) spoken informal an impolite expression which you say to someone when you are extremely angry with them
18 sb's jaw dropped used to say that someone was very surprised
19 drop your eyes/gaze to stop looking at someone and look down, usually because you feel embarrassed or uncomfortable:
•Ben looked at me in horror for a moment and then dropped his gaze.
20 the wind drops the wind stops:
•They waited for the wind to drop.
21 drop a bombshell informal to suddenly tell someone a shocking piece of news:
•Finally she dropped the bombshell. She was pregnant and I was the father.
22 drop sb in it informal to say or do something that gets someone else into trouble:
•You told her where we went on Friday night! You've really dropped me in it now!
23 drop $50/£2000 etc [T] informal to lose money in a business deal, a game etc:
•Phil dropped $200 playing poker yesterday.
24 drop a catch to fail to catch a ball hit by a BATSMAN in CRICKET
25 drop a point to lose a point in a sports competition:
•Real Madrid dropped a point at home yesterday.
26 be dropping like flies informal if people are dropping like flies, they are getting ill or dying in large numbers
27 drop a clanger/brick BrE to say something embarrassing in a social situation
28 drop a stitch to let the wool fall off the needle when you are KNITTING
29 drop anchor to lower a boat's ANCHOR to the bottom of the sea, a lake etc so that the boat does not float away
30 drop acid informal to swallow LSD (=an illegal drug)

PHRASAL VERBS
drop back phr v also drop behind
to move more slowly than other people so that they get ahead of you:
•He started out with the leaders but at the first fence he dropped back.
•Ellen dropped behind to tie her shoelace.

drop off phr v
1 to begin to sleep:
•She kept dropping off at her desk.
•I must have dropped off to sleep.
2 drop sb/sth <=> off to take someone or something to a place by car and leave them there on your way to another place:
•I'll drop you off on my way home.
3 to fall to a lower level or amount:
•The number of graduates going into teaching has dropped off sharply.

drop out phr v
1 to no longer do an activity or belong to a group:
•The group gets smaller as members move away or drop out.
2 to leave a school or university before your course has finished; dropout
[+of]
•Bill dropped out of college after his first year.
3 to refuse to take part in ordinary society because you do not agree with its principles; dropout
•In the 60s, Timothy Leary famously urged kids to 'Turn on, tune in and drop out.'
1 LIQUID [C] a very small amount of liquid that falls in a round shape
[+of]
•As the first drops of rain began to fall, Michael started to run.
•A single drop of blood splashed onto the floor.
•A drop of sweat ran down her forehead and into her eye.
RAIN DROP, TEARDROP
2 SMALL AMOUNT [usually singular] informal
a) a small amount of liquid that you drink, especially alcohol
[+of]
•She likes to add a drop of brandy to her tea.
•George hasn't touched a drop (=drunk any alcohol) for years.
b) a small amount of something
[+of]
•I haven't got a drop of sympathy for him.
3 REDUCTION [singular] a reduction in the amount, level, or number of something, especially a large or sudden one; = fall
[+in]
•Manufacturers report a big drop in new orders.
•a drop in temperature
a sharp/dramatic/marked drop in sth
•The results showed a sharp drop in profits.
4 DISTANCE TO GROUND [singular] a distance from a higher point down to the ground or to a lower point:
•There was a steep drop on one side of the track.
•a 20-metre drop
•There was an almost sheer (=vertical) drop to the valley below.
5 at the drop of a hat immediately and without pausing to think about what you are going to do:
•Some of these corporations threaten to sue at the drop of a hat.
6 DELIVERY [C] an act of delivering something somewhere, for example by dropping it from a plane; = delivery
•Air drops (=from a plane) of food aid were made to the region yesterday.
•My first drop of the day is usually somewhere in north London.
MAIL DROP
7 lemon/fruit/chocolate etc drop a sweet that tastes of LEMON etc
8 a drop in the ocean BrE a drop in the bucket AmE a very small amount of something compared to what is needed or wanted:
•5000 new schools are to be built, but this is just a drop in the ocean for such a vast country.
9 eye/ear etc drops a type of medicine that you put in your eye, ear etc, one drop at a time[C]
AmE a large cloth for covering furniture or floors in order to protect them from dust or paint; = dustsheet BrE[C usually singular] AmE informal
a date by which you must have completed something, because after this date it is no longer worth doing; deadline
informal very attractive[C]
a list of choices which appears on a computer screen when you CLICK on a place on the screen[C]
a GOAL in RUGBY football made with a dropkick[only before noun]
a drop-in place is a place offering a service or support where you can go without having to make arrangements first:
•a drop-in advice centre $ [C]
a kick in a game such as RUGBY football, made by dropping the ball and kicking it immediately $ [C]
a very small drop of liquid
[+of]
•tiny droplets of water $ [C]
1 someone who leaves school or college before they have finished:
•a highschool dropout
2 someone who refuses to take part in ordinary society because they do not agree with its social practices, moral standards etc $ [C]
a short glass tube with a hollow rubber part at one end, that you use to measure liquid one drop at a time $ [plural]
the solid waste that passes out of the bodies of animals or birds[C]
a shot in a game such as tennis in which the ball is hit softly and falls quickly to the ground $ [U]
1 something that is of very low quality:
•Most of the poems were pretentious dross.
2 waste or useless substances:
•gold with impurities or dross [C,U]
a long period of dry weather when there is not enough water for plants and animals to live $
the past tense of DRIVE[C]
1 droves [plural] crowds of people
in droves
•Tourists come in droves to see the White House.
2 a group of animals that are being moved together
[+of]
•a drove of cattle $ [C]
someone who moves cattle or sheep from one place to another in groups
1 [I,T] to die from being under water for too long, or to kill someone in this way:
•Many people drowned when the boat overturned.
•Jane was drowned in the river.
drown yourself
•Depressed, Peter tried to drown himself.
2 also drown out [T] if a loud noise drowns out another sound, it prevents it from being heard:
•A train blew its whistle and drowned his voice.
•The noise of the battle was drowned out by his aircraft's engine.
3 [T] to cover something, especially food, with more liquid than is necessary or nice
drown sth in sth
•The fish was drowned in a rich sauce.
4 [I,T] to have a very strong feeling or a serious problem that is difficult to deal with
[+in]
•Relief agencies are drowning in frustration.
•The country is drowning in debt.
5 drown your sorrows to drink a lot of alcohol in order to forget your problems [I]
to be in a light sleep or to feel as though you are almost asleep:
•I was drowsing in front of the television when you called.
1 tired and almost asleep; = sleepy
•The drug can make you drowsy.
2 so peaceful that you feel relaxed and almost asleep; = sleepy
•a drowsy summer afternoon
- drowsily adverb
- drowsiness noun [U] [C]
an occasion when one team easily beats another team in sport:
•Ireland gave England a drubbing at Twickenham. [C]
someone who does hard boring work
- drudge verb [I] [U]
hard boring work [C]
1 an illegal substance such as MARIJUANA or COCAINE, which some people take in order to feel happy, relaxed, or excited

take/use drugs
do drugs informal (=take drugs)
be on drugs (=take drugs regularly)
experiment with drugs (=try taking drugs)
come off drugs (=stop taking drugs permanently)
high on drugs (=experiencing the effects of a drug)
hard drugs (=strong drugs such as HEROIN, COCAINE etc)
soft drugs (=less strong drugs such as MARIJUANA)
recreational drugs (=drugs people take for pleasure)
drug abuse
drug overdose (=when someone takes too much of a drug and becomes unconscious or dies)
drug trafficking/smuggling (=bringing drugs into a country)

•A lot of young people start taking drugs at school.
•One third of America's thirteen-year-olds use drugs.
•I don't drink, and I don't do drugs.
•She always looks as though she's on drugs.
•All the band experimented with drugs, particularly LSD.
•Parents should talk openly to their children about the dangers of drug abuse.
•Jimi Hendrix died of a drug overdose.
•After being returned to the USA he was convicted on drug trafficking charges.
•the war on drugs

2 a medicine, or a substance for making medicines:
•a drug used in the treatment of cancer
[+for]
•new drugs for AIDS-related conditions
• Drugs prescribed (=ordered for people) by doctors can be extremely hazardous if used in the wrong way
•The big drug companies make huge profits.
3 a substance that people doing a sport sometimes take illegally to improve their performance:
•She was banned from the Olympics after failing a drug test (=a test that shows if you have taken drugs).
performance-enhancing drugs
4 [usually singular] a substance such as tobacco, coffee, or alcohol, that makes you want more and more of it
5 be (like) a drug if an activity is like a drug, you enjoy it so much that you want to do it more and more:
•Athletics is like a drug, it keeps dragging you back for more.
DESIGNER DRUG; miracle drug at MIRACLE (3)past tense and past participle drugged, present participle drugging [T]
1 to give a person or animal a drug, especially in order to make them feel tired or go to sleep, or to make them perform well in a race:
•Johnson drugged and attacked four women.
•There was no evidence that the horse had been drugged.
2 to put drugs in someone's food or drink in order to make them feel tired or go to sleep; = spike
•The wine had been drugged.
3 be drugged up to the eyeballs especially BrE to have taken a lot of illegal drugs, or to have been given a lot of medicine:
•She was in pain, despite being drugged up to the eyeballs.
- drugged adjective[C]
someone who cannot stop taking illegal drugs
- =drug ad#diction noun [U][C]
someone who leads an organization that buys and sells large quantities of illegal drugs[C]
an official employed by a government to try to stop the trade of illegal drugs[C]
someone who sells illegal drugs; = dealer [C,U]
rough heavy cloth used especially as a floor covering, or a piece of this cloth [C] informal
someone who often takes illegal drugs [C]
AmE old-fashioned someone who is trained to prepare medicines, and works in a shop; = pharmacistalso drug rehab [U]
the process of helping someone to live without illegal drugs after they have been ADDICTed to them[C]
someone who brings illegal drugs from one country to another $ [C]
especially AmE a shop where you can buy medicines, beauty products etc; = pharmacy AmE; = chemist's BrE [C]
a member of an ancient group of priests, in Britain, Ireland, and France, before the Christian religion [C]
1 a musical instrument made of skin stretched over a circular frame, played by hitting it with your hand or a stick:
•a big bass drum
•1000 people marched, beating drums and carrying flags.
on drums
•Trumpeter Red Rodney was playing with Kenny Clarke on drums (=playing the drums).
•Jones played the drums in an all-girl band.
2 a large round container for storing liquids such as oil, chemicals etc:
•a 5 gallon oil drum
3 something that looks like a drum, especially part of a machine:
•a brake drum
4 bang/beat the drum for sb/sth to speak eagerly in support of someone or something:
•The company is banging the drum for their new software.
5 the drum of sth a sound like the sound a drum makes:
•the steady drum of the rain on the window
EARDRUMpast tense and past participle drummed, present participle drumming
1 [I] to play a drum
2 [I,T] to make a sound similar to a drum by hitting a surface again and again:
•I could hear the rain drumming against the windows.
•Lisa drummed her fingers impatiently on the table.
3 drum sth home to use repeated arguments or messages in order to make sure that people understand something:
•An information booklet will be available and press advertisements will drum home the message.

PHRASAL VERBS
drum sth into sb phr v
to keep telling someone something until they cannot forget it:
•'Don't talk to strangers' is a message drummed into children from an early age.

drum sb out of sth phr v
to force someone to leave an organization, place, or job:
•He was drummed out of the army.

drum sth <=> up phr v
to get support, interest, attention etc from people by making an effort:
•He travelled throughout Latin America drumming up support for the confederation.
•The organization is using the event to drum up business (=get more work and sales). [C]
the sound made when someone hits a drum[C]
a set of drums, used especially by professional musicians[C]
a piece of electronic equipment that makes patterns of sounds like drum music $ [C]
the male leader of a MARCHING BAND $ [C]
a MAJORETTE $ [C]
someone who plays drums [U]
1 when you play a drum, or the sound of a drum being played
2 the sound of something hitting a surface again and again:
•the drumming of the horses' hooves [U]
a type of electronic dance music with a very hard fast beat[C]
a quick continuous beating of a drum, used especially to introduce an important event [C]
1 the lower part of the leg of a chicken or other bird, cooked as food
2 a stick that you use to hit a drum
the past participle of DRINK
1 [not before noun] unable to control your behaviour, speech etc because you have drunk too much alcohol; sober
•You're drunk.
•David would get drunk and I would have to take him home and put him to bed.
[+on]
•He was drunk on beer and whisky.
blind drunk BrE (=very drunk)
•All she wants to do is get blind drunk.
drunk as a lord also
drunk as a skunk (=very drunk)
•He turned up one morning, drunk as a lord.
2 being drunk and disorderly law the crime of behaving in a violent noisy way in a public place when you are drunk
3 drunk on/with sth so excited by a feeling that you behave in a strange way:
•drunk with happiness
PUNCH-DRUNK; roaring drunk at ROARING (5)also drunkard [C]
someone who is drunk or often gets drunk; alcoholic[U] AmE
driving a car after having drunk too much alcohol; = drink-driving BrE
- drunk driver noun [C] [only before noun]
1 drunk or showing that you are drunk:
•McBride was a drunken bully.
•She was lying in a drunken stupor (=nearly unconscious from being drunk) on the sidewalk.
2 drunken party/orgy/brawl etc a party etc where people are drunk:
•Tom got into a drunken brawl (=fight) in a bar.
- drunkenly adverb
- drunkenness noun [U][C] AmE informal
a cell in a prison for people who have drunk too much alcohol comparative drier, superlative driest
1 NOT WET without water or liquid inside or on the surface; wet
•I need to change into some dry clothes.
•Make sure that the surface is clean and dry before you start to paint.
•You should store disks in a cool, dry place.
shake/rub/wipe etc sth dry
•Jean rubbed her hair dry.
•The path is dry as a bone (=very dry).
BONE DRY
2 WEATHER having very little rain or MOISTURE; wet ; arid
•The weather was hot and dry.
•Eastern areas should stay dry tomorrow.
•the dry season
•These plants do not grow well in dry conditions (=when there is not much rain).
•a prolonged dry spell (=period)
3 dry mouth/skin/lips/hair etc without enough of the liquid or oil that is normally in your mouth, skin etc; parched
•His heart was pounding and his mouth was dry.
•Mary has dry, sensitive skin.
•a shampoo for dry hair
•She licked her dry lips.
4 run/go dry if a lake, river etc runs dry, all the water gradually disappears, especially because there has been no rain:
•The river ran dry last summer.
5 HUMOUR someone with a dry sense of humour says funny and clever things while seeming to be serious:
•He had a delightfully dry sense of humour.
6 BORING boring, very serious, and without humour:
•In schools, science is often presented in a dry and uninteresting manner.
•a dry debate on policies
7 dry cough a cough which does not produce any PHLEGM
8 dry wine/sherry etc wine etc that is not sweet:
•a glass of dry white wine
9 WITHOUT ALCOHOL not drinking alcohol, or not allowing any alcohol to be sold:
•Paula had been dry for a year before she started drinking again.
•Kuwait's a dry country.
10 VOICE showing no emotion when you speak:
•'Good evening gentlemen,' he said, in a dry voice.
11 dry bread/toast bread etc eaten on its own without anything such as butter or JAM spread on it
12 THIRSTY informal thirsty
13 not a dry eye in the house used to say that everyone was crying because something was very sad - often used humorously
- dryness noun [U]
DRIP-DRY, DRY ROT; home and dry at HOME^2 (6); leave sb high and dry at HIGH^2 (5); DRYLYpast tense and past participle dried, present participle drying, third person singular dries [I,T]
1 to make something dry, or to become dry:
•Mrs Brown hung the washing on the line to dry.
•He was drying his hair with a towel.
•Mary dried her hands.
•Leave the first coat of paint to dry before adding another.
•She stood up and dried her eyes (=wiped away her tears).
dry yourself
•He quickly dried himself on the thin towel.
2 also dry up BrE to rub plates, dishes etc dry with a cloth after they have been washed:
•You wash and I'll dry.
•Shall I dry up these glasses?

PHRASAL VERBS
dry off phr v
to become dry or to make something dry, especially on the surface:
•We swam in the sea, then stretched out on the sand to dry off.
dry sth <=> off
•He dried the camera off, hoping it would still work.

dry out phr v
1 to become completely dry or to make something completely dry, especially after it has been very wet:
•In summer, water the plants regularly and never let the soil dry out.
dry sth <=> out
•The kitchen was flooded and it took ages to dry it out.
2 dry (sb) out to stop drinking alcohol after you have become an ALCOHOLIC, or to make someone do this:
•He's been drying out at a private clinic.
•The hospital dried Michael out and sent him home.

dry up phr v
1 COME TO AN END if a supply of something dries up, it comes to an end and no more is available:
•Foreign investment may dry up.
•The work soon dried up.
2 RIVER/LAKE ETC if something such as a river dries up, the water in it disappears:
•Across central and west Texas, waterholes and wells have dried up.
dry sth <=> up
•Taking too much water for household use is drying up the river.
3 STOP TALKING if someone dries up, they stop talking:
•'It was -' She dried up again.
•Everyone became embarrassed and conversation dried up.
4 PLATES/DISHES ETC BrE to rub plates, dishes etc dry with a cloth after they have been washed
dry sth <=> up
•I'll just dry up these mugs and we can have a coffee.
CUT AND DRIED, DRIED [C]
a female spirit who lives in a tree, in ancient Greek stories[C]
an electric BATTERY containing chemicals that are not in a liquid form[C]
the type of cell used in a dry battery $ [T]
to clean clothes etc with chemicals instead of water
- #dry =cleaning noun [U]plural dry cleaner's [C]
a shop where you can take clothes etc to be dry-cleaned[C]
a place where a ship can be taken out of the water for repairsdrier $ [C]
a machine that dries things, especially clothes
HAIRDRYER, SPIN-DRYER, TUMBLE DRYER
not crying[plural]
1 goods such as tobacco, tea, and coffee that do not contain liquid
2 AmE things that are made from cloth such as clothes, sheets, and curtains:
•a dry goods store[U]
CARBON DIOXIDE in a solid form, which is used to make mist in a theatre or DISCO, or to keep food or other things cold[U]
land rather than water:
•After three weeks at sea we were glad to be back on dry land again.drily
if you say something dryly, you say something that is amusing but you appear to be completely serious:
•'I hear you're a hero,' Philip said dryly.
dry-roasted nuts have been cooked without any oil[U]
a disease in wood that turns it into powder[C]
an event that is a practice for a more important event:
•Both the parties are treating the local elections as a dry run.
without getting your feet wet[C]
in Britain, a wall built with pieces of stone that are fitted closely together without using CEMENT to hold them in place[U] AmE
a type of board made of two large sheets of CARDBOARD with PLASTER between them, used to cover walls and ceilings
- =dry-wall verb [I,T] [C] technical
digital subscriber line a telephone line that has special equipment which allows it to receive information from the Internet, or send information at very high speeds
the DSS the abbreviation of the Department of Social Security in Britain
the DTI the abbreviation of the Department of Trade and Industry in Britain [U]
desktop publishing the work of arranging the writing and pictures for a magazine, small book etc, using a computer and special softwareD.T.'s AmE BrE
the DT's a condition in which your body shakes and you see imaginary things, caused by drinking too much alcohol - used humorously $ [only before noun]
having two of something or two parts
dual role/purpose/function
•The bridge has a dual role, carrying both road and rail.
•a dual system of education
dual citizenship/nationality
•She has dual nationality, of Canada and Britain (=she is a citizen of Canada and Britain).
- duality $ noun [U][only before noun]
a dual-band MOBILE PHONE is able to work in at least two different countries because it can receive two different types of signals[C]
BrE a main road that has two lines of traffic travelling in each direction, with a narrow part between them that has no traffic; = divided highway AmE $ [U] technical
the idea that there are two opposite parts or principles in everything, for example body and soul, or the state of having two parts or principles past tense and past participle dubbed, present participle dubbing [T]
1 [usually passive] to give something or someone a name that describes them in some way; label, name
be dubbed sth
•The body, thousands of years old, was found in the Alps and dubbed 'The Iceman'.
2 to change the original spoken language of a film or television programme into another language
be dubbed into sth
•a British film dubbed into French
3 especially BrE to make a record out of two or more different pieces of music or sound mixed together
4 AmE to copy a recording from a tape or CD onto another tape
5 if a king or queen dubs someone, they give the title of KNIGHT to that person in a special ceremony[U]
a style of poetry or music from the West Indies with a strong regular beat $
1 probably not honest, true, right etc:
•The firm was accused of dubious accounting practices.
•Many critics regard this argument as dubious or, at best, misleading.
•The assumption that growth in one country benefits the whole world is highly dubious.
2 [not before noun] not sure whether something is good or true; = doubtful
•I can see you are dubious; take some time to think about it.
[+about]
•Some universities are dubious about accepting students over the age of 30.
•'Are you sure you know what you are doing?' Andy said, looking dubious.
3 the dubious honour/distinction/pleasure (of doing sth) a dubious honour etc is the opposite of an honour - used about something unpleasant that happens:
•The Stephensons had the dubious honor of being the 100th family to lose their home in the fire.
4 not good or not of good quality:
•The room was decorated in dubious taste.
- dubiously adverb
- dubiousness noun [U] $
like a DUKE or belonging to a duke [C]
a gold coin that was used in several European countries in the past [C]
a woman with the highest social rank outside the royal family, or the wife of a DUKE:
•the Duchess of York plural duchies [C]
the land and property of a DUKE or DUCHESS; = dukedom
1 [C] a very common water bird with short legs and a wide beak, used for its meat, eggs, and soft feathers
2 [C] a female duck; drake
3 [U] the meat of a duck used as food:
•roast duck with orange sauce
4 take to something like a duck to water to learn how to do something very easily:
•She took to dancing like a duck to water.
5 also ducks BrE spoken used to speak to someone, especially a woman, in a friendly way:
•What can I get you, ducks?
6 [C] a SCORE of zero by a BATSMAN in a game of CRICKET
DEAD DUCK, LAME DUCK; like water off a duck's back at WATER^1 (8); DUCKS AND DRAKES, SITTING DUCK
1 also duck down [I,T] to lower your head or body very quickly, especially to avoid being seen or hit:
•If she hadn't ducked, the ball would have hit her.
[+behind/under etc]
•Jamie saw his father coming and ducked quickly behind the wall.
•Tim ducked down to comb his hair in the mirror.
•She ducked her head to look more closely at the inscription.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to move somewhere very quickly, especially to avoid being seen or to get away from someone
[+into]
•The two men ducked into a block of flats and disappeared.
[+out of]
•She ducked out of the door before he could stop her.
[+back]
•'Wait a minute', he called, ducking back inside.
3 [T] informal to avoid something, especially a difficult or unpleasant duty; = dodge
•The ruling body wanted to duck the issue of whether players had been cheating.
•Glazer ducked a question about his involvement in the bank scandal.
4 [T] to push someone under water for a short time as a joke
duck sb under sth
•Tom grabbed him from behind to duck him under the surface.

PHRASAL VERBS
duck out of sth phr v
to avoid doing something that you have to do or have promised to do:
•I always ducked out of history lessons at school. [C]
a PLATYPUS $ [plural]
long boards used to make a path over muddy ground[C]
a seat on the end of a long pole, used in the past to put a person under water as a punishment [C]
a young duck[U] BrE
a children's game in which you make flat stones jump across the surface of water [U]
a plant that grows on the surface of ponds BrE spoken
used to speak to someone in a friendly way, especially a woman or childold-fashioned informal
1 AmE perfect or satisfactory:
•Well, that's just ducky.
2 attractive in an amusing or interesting way; = cute [C]
1 a pipe or tube that liquids, air, CABLEs etc pass through:
•Air is heated and then circulated through large ducts to all parts of the house.
2 a narrow tube in your body or in a plant that liquid passes through:
•a tear duct $
ductile metals can be pressed or pulled into shape without needing to be heated
- ductility noun [U] [U]
a system of pipes or tubes that liquids, air, CABLEs etc pass through [C]
1 something that is useless, especially because it does not work correctly:
•Several of the fireworks were duds.
2 duds [plural] informal clothes
- dud adjective
•a dud light bulb $ [C] AmE
1 informal a man:
•a real cool dude
2 old-fashioned an American man from a city, who is living in or visiting a farm or RANCH[C]
a holiday place in the US where you can ride horses and live like a COWBOY formal
in high dudgeon in an angry or offended way - often used humorously $
1 EXPECTED [not before noun] expected to happen or arrive at a particular time
due to do sth
•The team are due to fly to Italy next month.
•His new book is due to be published next year.
[+in/on/at]
•She's pregnant and the baby's due in April.
•The final results of the experiment are due on December 9.
•I'm due at his office at 4.30.
[+for]
•The car is due for its annual service again.
[+back]
•When are the library books due back?
DUE DATE
2 OWED owed to someone either as a debt or because they have a right to it:
•Any money due you will be sent by cheque through the post.
[+to]
•Thanks are due to all those who took part.
3 MONEY if an amount of money is due, it must be paid at a particular time:
•The next income tax payment is due on 31 January.
4 in due course at some time in the future when it is the right time, but not before:
•Further details will be announced in due course.
5 PROPER [only before noun] formal proper or suitable:
•He was banned for six months for driving without due care and attention.
due regard/consideration
•We want the best for each individual child with due regard for the interests of the other children.
6 with (all) due respect spoken used when you disagree with someone or criticize them in a polite way:
•Dad, with all due respect, was not a very good husband.
DULY, DUE TO
1 your due your due is what you deserve, or something it is your right to have:
•He accepted all the praise he received as his due.
•Freddy, to give him his due (=to be fair to him), always tried to be honest.
2 dues [plural] regular payments you make to an organization of which you are a member; = fees
•Robert failed to pay his dues last year.
due north/south/east/west directly to the north, south, east, or west[C usually singular]
the date on which something is supposed to happen:
•Fewer than five percent of women have their babies on their due date. $ [C]
1 a fight with weapons between two people, used in the past to settle a quarrel:
•The officer challenged him to a duel.
2 a situation in which two people or groups are involved in an angry disagreement:
•a verbal duelpast tense and past participle duelled, present participle duelling BrE past tense and past participle dueled, present participle dueling AmE [I ]
to fight a duel[U] AmE law
the correct process that should be followed in law and is designed to protect someone's legal rights $ [C]
a piece of music for two singers or players; quartet, solo, triopast tense duetted, past participle duetting
if one singer or musician duets with another, they sing or play together
because of something:
•The court of inquiry ruled that the crash was due to pilot error.
•She has been absent from work due to illness.
•The restaurant's success was due largely to its new manager.
•Attendance at the meeting was small, due in part to (=partly because of) the absence of teachers. [C]
AmE informal the part of your body that you sit on; = bottom
•Get off your duff (=stop sitting or stop being lazy) and help me!BrE informal
bad or useless

PHRASAL VERBS
duff sb <=> up phr v BrE informal
to fight someone and injure themduffle bag [C]
a bag made of strong cloth, with a round bottom and a string around the topduffle coat $ [C]
a coat made of rough heavy cloth, usually with a HOOD and TOGGLEs (=buttons shaped like tubes) $ [C] informal
someone who is stupid or not very good at something
the past tense and past participle of DIG [C]
1 a low shelter at the side of a sports field, where players and team officials sit
2 a shelter dug into the ground for soldiers to use; trench
3 a small boat made by cutting out a hollow space in a tree trunk:
•a dugout canoe AmE
used to say that what someone else has just said or asked is stupid [C,U] law
AmE driving under the influence the crime of driving when you have had too much alcohol to drink; = DWI
•There were a large number of DUI arrests on New Year's Eve. $ [C]
a man with the highest social rank outside the royal family; duchess
•the Duke of Norfolk $ [C]
1 the rank of a duke
2 the land and property belonging to a duke; = duchy
sb's dulcet tones someone's voice - used humorously:
•Basil's dulcet tones could be heard in the corridor. $ [C]
1 a musical instrument with up to 100 strings, played with light hammers
2 a small instrument with strings that is popular in American FOLK MUSIC, and is played across your knees comparative duller, superlative dullest
1 BORING not interesting or exciting:
• Life is never dull when Elizabeth is here.
•a dull movie
•It sounded pretty dull to me.
•The weekly meeting tends to be deadly dull (=very dull).
•Last week we had a hurricane. Never a dull moment running a hotel in the Caribbean (=it's always interesting or exciting).
2 COLOUR/LIGHT not bright or shiny:
•The bird is dull brown and gray in colour.
•Her eyes were dull with dark shadows beneath them.
•the dull afternoon light
3 WEATHER not bright and with lots of clouds:
•Outside the weather was hazy and dull.
•a dull sky
4 PAIN a dull pain is not severe but does not stop; sharp
•a dull ache in her lower back
•The pain was dull but persistent.
5 SOUND not clear or loud:
•The gates shut with a dull thud.
6 KNIFE/BLADE not sharp; = blunt
7 NOT INTELLIGENT old-fashioned not able to think quickly or understand things easily; = stupid
•If you don't understand then you're duller than I thought.
8 TRADE if business on the Stock Exchange is dull, few people are buying and selling
- dully adverb
•'Well Michael?' he said dully.
•Her stomach ached dully.
- dullness noun [U]
1 [T] to make something become less sharp or clear:
•He drank some alcohol to dull the pain.
•Her fear and anxiety dulled her mind.
2 [I,T] to become less bright or loud, or to make something become less bright or loud:
•His eyes dulled a little.
•The constant rain dulled all sound. $ [C]
someone who is stupid and has no imagination $
1 in the proper or expected way:
•Here are your travel documents, all duly signed.
2 at the proper time or as expected:
•The Queen duly appeared on the balcony to wave to the crowds.
1 informal stupid:
•What a dumb question.
•a bunch of dumb kids
•'What is it?' I asked, playing dumb (=pretending to be stupid).
•She's no dumb blonde (=a pretty woman with blonde hair who seems stupid).
2 unable to speak, because you are angry, surprised, shocked etc:
•He stared at the burnt-out car in dumb disbelief.
•She was struck dumb with terror.
3 old-fashioned someone who is dumb is not able to speak at all. Many people think that this use is offensive; mute
deaf and dumb at DEAF (1)
4 dumb luck informal something good that happens in an unexpected way, especially when it is not deserved:
•It was just dumb luck that we found the place at all.
5 dumb animals/creatures used to talk about animals when you want to emphasize that humans often treat them badly and they cannot protect themselves
- dumbly adverb
•For a few seconds she gazed dumbly at him.
- dumbness noun [U]

dumb sth <=> down
to present news or information in a simple and attractive way without many details so that everyone can understand it - used to show disapproval:
•Have history textbooks been dumbed down over the past decade?
- dumbing down noun [U] [C]
1 two weights connected by a short bar, that you can lift to strengthen your arms and shoulders; = weights
2 AmE informal someone who is stupid
extremely surprised:
•He was completely dumbfounded by the incident.
- dumbfound verb [T] $ plural dumbos [C] informal
someone who is stupid[C,U]
the use of movements without words to express something; mime
so shocked or surprised that you cannot speak[C]
a small LIFT used to move food, plates etc from one level in a restaurant, hotel etc to another [C]
a soft bullet that causes serious wounds because it breaks into pieces when it hits you plural dummies [C]
1 FOR CLOTHES a model that is the shape and size of a person, especially used in order to show clothes in a shop or when you are making clothes:
•a shop-window dummy
•a tailor's dummy
2 COPY an object that is made to look like a tool, weapon, vehicle etc but which you cannot use:
•During practice runs, the warheads in the missiles will be dummies.
3 DOLL a small model of a person, with a mouth that can be moved so that it looks as though it is talking, used for entertainment:
•a ventriloquist's dummy
4 SPORTS BrE a move in a sport such as football in which a player pretends to pass the ball but does not, in order to deceive the other team's players
5 FOR BABIES BrE a specially shaped rubber object that you put in a baby's mouth for it to suck; = pacifier AmE
6 STUPID PERSON especially AmE informal someone who is stupid:
•No, you dummy. The other hand.
7 CARD GAME cards that are placed on the table by one player for all the other players to see in a game of BRIDGE[only before noun]
a dummy tool, weapon, vehicle etc is made to look like a real one but you cannot use it; = replica
•a dummy rifle[C]
an occasion when you practise doing something in complete detail to see if it works; = dry run
•Do a dummy run to see how long it will take. [T]
1 PUT STH SOMEWHERE [always + adv/prep] to put something somewhere in a careless untidy way:
•Merrill dumped her suitcase down in the hall.
dump sth on sth
•They dump tons of salt on icy road surfaces to make driving safer.
dump sth in/into sth
•He found a can of beef stew and dumped it in a saucepan to heat.
2 GET RID OF STH
a) to get rid of something that you do not want:
•Ellie dumped all the photos of her ex-husband.
•He dumped her body into the sea.
b) to get rid of waste material by taking it from people's houses and burying it under the soil:
•Britain dumps more of its waste than any other European country.
3 END RELATIONSHIP informal to end a relationship with someone:
•Vicky dumped Neil yesterday.
4 SELL GOODS to get rid of goods by selling them in a foreign country at a much lower price
[+in/on]
•a campaign to stop cheap European beef being dumped in West Africa
5 COPY INFORMATION technical to copy information stored in a computer's memory on to something else such as a DISK or MAGNETIC TAPE
DUMPING

PHRASAL VERBS
dump on sb phr v informal
1 dump sth on sb to unfairly give someone an unwanted job, duty, or problem to deal with:
•Don't just dump the extra work on me.
2 AmE to treat someone badly
3 AmE to criticize someone very strongly and often unfairly:
•politicians dumping on their opponents
4 dump (sth) on sb to tell someone all your problems and worries:
•We all dump our troubles on Mike.[C]
1 WASTE a place where unwanted waste is taken and left
rubbish dump BrE
/garbage dump AmE
•The fire probably started in a rubbish dump.
•Put the rest into a sack to take to the dump.
•an underground nuclear waste dump
•a dump site
2 WEAPONS a place where military supplies are stored, or the supplies themselves:
•There has been a series of explosions in an ammunition dump.
3 UNPLEASANT PLACE informal a place that is unpleasant to live in because it is dirty, ugly, untidy etc:
•' What a dump,' she added as they entered the village.
•Why are you living in a dump like this?
4 down in the dumps informal very sad and without much interest in life:
•She's feeling a bit down in the dumps.
5 COMPUTER technical the act of copying the information stored in a computer's memory onto something else, such as a DISK:
•a screen dump
6 take a dump informal not polite to pass solid waste from the BOWELs [C]
BrE a DUMP TRUCK [U]
the act of getting rid of dangerous waste material in a place that is not safe:
•The government has promised to stop dumping by the state-owned chemical plants.[C]
1 a place where people get rid of waste material
[+for]
•Rivers have always been a dumping ground for man's unwanted waste.
2 a place where people are sent when no one knows how to deal with them
[+for]
•The prison has been the dumping ground for difficult prisoners for years. [C]
1 a round lump of flour and fat mixed with water, cooked in boiling liquid and served with meat:
•chicken and dumplings
2 a sweet dish made of PASTRY filled with fruit:
•apple dumplings $ [C]
trademark a large metal container used for waste in the US; = skip BrE[C] AmE
a vehicle with a large open container at the back that can move up to pour sand, soil etc onto the ground
someone who is dumpy is fat, short, and unattractive:
•a dumpy little man [U]
a brownish-grey colour
- dun adjective [C] old-fashioned
someone who is slow at learning things:
•the dunce of the class[C]
a tall pointed hat that a stupid student had to wear in school in the past [C,U]
a British cake made with fruit and nuts $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who is stupid $ [C]
a hill made of sand near the sea or in the desert; = sand dune[C]
a car with big wheels and no roof that you can drive across sand; = beach buggy [U]
solid waste from animals, especially cows [plural]
1 BrE loose trousers that have a square piece of cloth that covers your chest, and long thin pieces that fasten over your shoulders; = overalls AmE
2 AmE old-fashioned heavy cotton trousers used for working in; = jeans [C]
a dark underground prison, especially under a castle, that was used in the past
1 [T] to quickly put something into a liquid and take it out again, especially something you are eating:
•Jill dunked her ginger biscuit in her tea.
•I dunked my head under the water and scrubbed at my hair.
2 [T] AmE to push someone under water for a short time as a joke; = duck BrE
3 [I,T] to jump up by the basket and throw the ball down into it in BASKETBALL
- dunk noun [C]
dunk for apples at APPLE (3); SLAM DUNK $
a way of saying 'I don't know'. Some people think that this use is not correct English:
•'Do you want to come?' 'I dunno, I might.' $ plural duos [C]
1 two people who perform together or are often seen together:
•the comedy duo Reeves and Mortimer
2 a piece of music for two performers; = duet $ [C]
the top part of your BOWEL, below your stomach
- duodenal $ adjective
•a duodenal ulcer $ [C]
someone who is tricked, especially into becoming involved in something illegal[T usually passive]
to trick or deceive someone
dupe sb into doing sth
•Consumers are being duped into buying faulty electronic goods. $ [C] AmE
a type of house that is divided into two parts, so that it has two separate homes in it $ [T]
1 to copy something exactly:
•New copies of the form can be duplicated from a master copy.
•The video had been duplicated illegally.
2 to repeat something in exactly the same way:
•We don't want staff to duplicate each other's work.
- duplication $ noun [U] $ [only before noun]
exactly the same as something, or made as an exact copy of something:
•A duplicate copy should be made for the county record office.
•a duplicate key[C]
1 an exact copy of something that you can use in the same way
[+of]
•Locksmiths can make duplicates of most keys.
•She kept both the duplicate and the original.
2 in duplicate if something is in duplicate, there are two copies of it:
•Copies of the proposal should be sent in duplicate. $ [U]
dishonest behaviour that is intended to deceive someone
- duplicitous adjective $
1 staying in good condition for a long time, even if used a lot; = hardwearing
•Wood is a durable material.
2 continuing for a long time:
•His poetry has proved durable.
- durably adverb
- durability $ noun [U]
CONSUMER DURABLES[plural]
AmE large things such as cars, televisions, and furniture, that you do not buy often; = consumer durables BrE $ [U]
the length of time that something continues:
•The course is of three years' duration.
for the duration (of sth)
•The package includes cycle hire for the duration of your holiday. $ [U]
illegal or unfair threats
under duress
•The confession was obtained under duress. $ trademark
1 [C] BrE a rubber CONTRACEPTIVE that a man wears over his PENIS during sex
2 [U] AusE clear narrow plastic that is sticky on one side and is used for fastening paper $
1 from the beginning to the end of a period of time:
•During the summer she worked as a lifeguard.
•He slept calmly during the early part of the night.
•Foxes remain hidden during the day.
2 at some point in a period of time:
•My father was killed during the war.
•I mentioned the subject during our discussions at her Washington office.

WORD CHOICE: during, while

!! Do not say 'during doing something'. Say while doing something: While travelling to work, I saw an accident (NOT During travelling to work, I saw an accident).

!! Do not say 'during someone does something'. Say while someone does something: He stole her money while she slept (NOT He stole her money during she slept).

!! Do not say 'during someone is young/asleep etc'. Say while someone is young/asleep etc: It's best to get your teeth fixed while you're still young (NOT during you're still young).during, for, or since?See note at SINCE

$
old use the past tense of DARE [U]
the time before it gets dark when the sky is becoming less bright; = twilight; dawn
at dusk
•The street lights go on at dusk.
dark or not very bright in colour:
•The room was filled with dusky shadows.
dusky pink/orange/blue etc
•a dusky pink room [U]
1 dry powder consisting of extremely small bits of dirt that is in buildings on furniture, floors etc if they are not kept clean:
•All the furniture was covered in dust.
•a thick layer of dust
•There's not a speck of dust in the kitchen.
gather/collect dust (=become covered with dust)
•Her old trophies were collecting dust on the shelves.
• Dust particles floated in the sunlight.
•A sudden breeze sent motes of dust (=small bits of dust) dancing in the air.
2 dry powder consisting of extremely small bits of earth or sand:
•The wind was blowing dust and leaves up from the ground.
•A car sped past in a cloud of dust.
3 powder consisting of extremely small bits of a particular substance
coal/brick/chalk etc dust
4 a dust BrE the act of dusting something:
•I need to give the sitting room a dust.
5 let the dust settle/wait for the dust to settle to allow or wait for a confused situation to become clear
bite the dust at BITE^1 (8); DUSTY
leave sb in the dust at LEAVE^1 (15)
not see sb for dust at SEE^1 (36)
1 [I,T] to clean the dust from a surface by moving something such as a soft cloth across it:
•Rachel dusted the books and the bookshelves.
•I was dusting in the bedroom when the phone rang.
2 also dust down dust off [T] to remove something such as dust or dirt from your clothes by brushing them with your hands:
•He got to his feet and dusted his knees.
dust yourself (down/off)
•Corbett dusted himself down and walked off.
3 [T] to put a fine powder over something
dust sth with sth
•Dust the biscuits with icing sugar.

PHRASAL VERBS
dust sth <=> off phr v
1 to remove something such as dust or dirt from your clothes by brushing them with your hands:
•They were dusting off leaves and twigs.
dust yourself off
•He got to his feet and dusted himself off.
2 to get something ready in order to use it again, after not using it for a long time:
•The government is dusting off schemes for supporting creative industries. [C]
BrE a large container outside your house, used for holding waste until it is taken away; = garbage can AmE[C]
a DUSTMAN[C]
an area of land that has DUST STORMs and very long periods without rain[C] AmE informal
a small ball of dust that forms in a place that is not cleaned regularly, such as under furniture[C]
BrE a large vehicle that goes from house to house to collect waste from dustbins; = garbage truck AmE[C] AmE
a paper cover of a book, which you can remove; = dust jacket $ [C]
1 a cloth for removing dust from furniture
2 AmE old-fashioned a light coat that you wear to protect your clothes while you are cleaning the house
3 AmE informal a DUST STORM[C]
a paper cover of a book, which you can remove plural dustmen [C]
BrE someone whose job is to remove waste from DUSTBINs ; = garbage collector AmE [C]
a flat container with a handle that you use with a brush to remove dust and waste from the floor:
•Have you got a dustpan and brush? [C]
especially BrE a large sheet of cloth used to protect furniture from dust or paint; = drop cloth AmE[C]
a storm with strong winds that carries large amounts of dust [C] BrE informal
a fight
1 covered with dust:
•Adrian cycled along the dusty road.
•Everything's really dusty.
2 dusty blue/pink etc blue etc that is not bright but is slightly grey:
•The curtains had faded to a dusty pink.
1 relating to the Netherlands, its people, or its language
2 go Dutch (with sb) to share the cost of a meal in a restaurant
3 Dutch treat AmE an occasion when you share the cost of something such as a meal in a restaurant
1 the Dutch [plural] people from the Netherlands
2 [U] the language used in the Netherlands
DOUBLE-DUTCH[C,U]
a public sale at which the price of something is gradually reduced until someone will pay it[C]
a farm building with a curved roof on a frame that has no walls, used for storing HAY[C]
a round rubber CONTRACEPTIVE, that a woman wears inside her VAGINA during sex; = diaphragm, cap[U]
courage or confidence that you get when you drink alcohol[U]
a disease that affects and kills ELM trees plural Dutchmen [C]
1 a man from the Netherlands
2 I'm a Dutchman BrE spoken used to show that you do not believe something:
• If that ball was out, then I'm a Dutchman.[C]
a large cooking pot with a lid plural Dutchwomen [C]
a woman from the Netherlands $
dutiable goods are those that you must pay duty on $
doing what you are expected to do and behaving in a loyal and obedient way:
•a dutiful son
•Dutiful applause greeted his speech. $
if you do something dutifully, you do it because you think it is the correct way to behave:
•I dutifully wrote down every word. $ plural duties
1 STH YOU MUST DO [C,U] something that you have to do because it is morally or legally right; = obligation

do your duty
it is sb's duty to do sth
have a duty to do sth
have a duty to sb/owe sb a duty
sense of duty
moral duty
legal duty
fail in your duty (=fail to do something that you should do for someone)
be duty-bound to do sth formal (=have a duty to do something)

•I promise I will do my duty.
•We feel it is our duty to help her.
•Local authorities have a duty to keep the streets clean.
•You have a duty to your husband and to your children.
•She has a strong sense of moral duty.
•The unions have failed in their duty to female workers.
•In the traditional Hindu family, the son is duty-bound to look after his mother.

2 WORK [C usually plural, U] something you have to do as part of your job
duties
•Martin's duties included cleaning the cars.
•She works for her father doing part-time secretarial duties.
•He will soon be fit enough to carry out his duties (=do his job).
•He can only do light duties.
•When Juliet reported for duty (=arrived and said she was ready to start work) she was sent to check on a new patient.
•A teacher may be fired for neglect of duty (=failing to do their job properly).
•He did three tours of duty in Vietnam (=three periods working in a foreign country as a soldier, government officer etc).
3 be on/off duty to be working or not working at a particular time, especially when you are doing a job which people take turns to do, so that someone is always doing it:
•He's on night duty next week.
•Mary goes on duty (=starts working) tonight at half past ten.
•What time do you go off duty (=finish work)?
4 TAX [C,U] a tax you pay on something you buy
[+on]
•the duty on cigarettes
customs duty (=tax paid on goods coming into the country)
DEATH DUTIES, STAMP DUTY
5 do duty as sth to be used as something; = serve as sth
•The living room also does duty as a home office.
DOUBLE DUTY, HEAVY-DUTY; jury duty at JURY SERVICE; on active duty at ACTIVE SERVICE
duty-free goods can be brought into a country without paying tax on them:
•duty-free cigarettes
•the duty-free shop
- duty-free adverb[C,U]
alcohol, cigarettes etc that you can bring into a country without having to pay tax on them $ [C] especially BrE
a large cloth bag filled with feathers or similar material that you use to cover yourself in bed; = comforter AmE [C,U]
digital video disc or digital versatile disc a type of computer DISC that can store a large amount of information, sound, pictures, and video:
•a DVD player
•The film is now out on video and DVD. [U] medical
the abbreviation of deep vein thrombosis $ plural dwarfs or dwarves [C]
1 an imaginary creature that looks like a small man:
•Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
2 a person who is a dwarf has not continued to grow to the normal height because of a medical condition. Many people think that this use is offensive.
WHITE DWARF[only before noun]
a dwarf plant or animal is much smaller than the usual size:
•a dwarf conifer[T usually passive]
to be so big that other things are made to seem very small:
•The cathedral is dwarfed by the surrounding skyscrapers. [C] AmE informal
someone who is weak, slightly strange, and not popular or fashionable past tense and past participle dwelt or, dwelled [I always + adv/prep]
literary to live in a particular place:
•They dwelt in the middle of the forest.

PHRASAL VERBS
dwell on/upon sth phr v
to think or talk for too long about something, especially something unpleasant:
•That is not a subject I want to dwell on. $ [C]
city/town/cave etc dweller a person or animal that lives in a particular place:
•City dwellers suffer higher pollution levels. [C] formal
a house, apartment etc where people live[C] formal especially BrE
a house that people live in, not one that is being used as a shop, office etc
a past tense and past participle of DWELL [C,U] AmE law
driving while intoxicated the crime of driving when you have had too much alcohol to drink; = DUI [I]
also dwindle away to gradually become less and less or smaller and smaller:
•The elephant population is dwindling.
•His money had dwindled away.
[+to]
•The stream has dwindled to a trickle.
- dwindling adjective
•dwindling resources [C,U]
1 a substance you use to change the colour of your clothes, hair etc:
•hair dye
2 dye job informal someone who has had a dye job has used a substance to change the colour of their hair[T]
to give something a different colour using a dye
dye sth black/blue/blonde etc
•Priscilla's hair was dyed jet black.
- dyed adjective
having strong beliefs, likes, or opinions that will never change:
•Even dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists were impressed by the changes.
the present participle of DIE
1 dying moment/minutes/seconds during the last minutes, seconds etc before something ends:
•Chandler's goal was in the dying minutes of the game.
2 [only before noun] happening just before someone dies:
•It was her dying wish to have a simple burial.
3 to your dying day for the rest of your life:
•He regretted the decision to his dying day.
4 [only before noun] gradually decreasing until soon there will be none left:
•Women who enjoy baking are a dying breed.
5 the dying [plural] people who are dying:
•a hospice for the dyingdike [C]
1 a wall or bank built to keep back water and prevent flooding
2 taboo informal an offensive word for a LESBIAN (=woman who is sexually attracted to women). Do not use this word.
3 especially BrE a narrow passage to carry water away; = ditch
1 full of energy and new ideas, and determined to succeed:
•dynamic and ambitious people
2 continuously moving or changing:
•a dynamic and unstable process
3 technical relating to a force or power that causes movement
- dynamically adverb
1 dynamics
a) [plural] the way in which things or people behave, react, and affect each other
[+of]
•the dynamics of the family
•He did research on group dynamics and leadership styles.
b) [U] the science relating to the movement of objects and the forces involved in movement
c) [plural] changes in how loudly music is played or sung
2 [singular] formal something that causes action or change
[+of]
•She regards class conflict as a central dynamic of historical change. [U]
energy and determination to succeed:
•her entrepreneurial dynamism [U]
1 a powerful explosive used especially for breaking rock:
•a dynamite blast
2 something or someone that is likely to cause a lot of trouble:
•If the proposals became public they would be dynamite.
3 old-fashioned informal someone or something that is very exciting or impressive:
•The band is dynamite.[T]
to damage or destroy something with dynamite $ plural dynamos [C]
1 a machine that changes some other form of power directly into electricity:
•bicycle lights powered by a dynamo
2 someone who is excited about what they do and who puts a lot of energy into it:
•the team's midfield dynamo
3 something that has a strong effect on something else, and that makes things happen:
•Oil is the dynamo of the country's economy. $ plural dynasties [C]
1 a family of kings or other rulers whose parents, grandparents etc have ruled the country for many years:
•The Habsburg dynasty ruled in Austria from 1278 to 1918.
2 a period of time when a particular family ruled a country or area
3 informal a group or family that controls a particular business or organization for a long time:
•the Rothschild banking dynasty
the short form of 'do you':
•D'you know what I mean? $ [U]
a serious disease of your BOWELs that makes them BLEED and pass much more waste than usual
1 not following the normal patterns of social behaviour, especially with the result that someone cannot behave in a normal way or have a satisfactory life:
•dysfunctional family relationships
2 not working properly or normally [U]
a condition that makes it difficult for someone to read and spell
- dyslexic adjective
•Two of the children in the class are dyslexic. [U]
a problem that your body has in dealing with the food you eat; = indigestion
1 suffering from dyspepsia
2 old-fashioned bad-tempered $ [C]
an imaginary place where life is extremely difficult and a lot of unfair or immoral things happen; utopia
MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
1 BrE technical the written abbreviation of earth (=a connection between a piece of electrical equipment and the ground)
2 the abbreviation of E number
3 the written abbreviation of east or, eastern e plural E's or e's
1 [C,U] the fifth letter of the English alphabet
2 [C,U] the third note in the SCALE of C MAJOR or the musical KEY based on this note
3 [C] a mark given to a student's work to show that it is of very low quality
4 [C,U] ECSTASY (=an illegal drug)E-
electronic used before another word to mean something that is done on or involves the Internet:
•e-shopping
•e-commerce
1 every one of two or more things or people, considered separately; every
•She had a bottle in each hand.
•Grill the fish for five minutes on each side.
•Each member of the team is given a particular job to do.
•We each have our own skills.
•When the children arrive, you give them each a balloon.
•There are four bedrooms, each with its own shower and WC.
•The tickets cost £20 each (=each ticket costs £20).
•You get two cookies each (=every one of you gets two cookies).
[+of]
•I'm going to ask each of you to speak for three minutes.
•There are 250 blocks of stone, and each one weighs a ton.
each day/week/month etc (=on each day, in each week etc)
•a disease that affects about 10 million people each year
2 each and every used to emphasize that you are talking about every person or thing in a group:
•These are issues that affect each and every one of us.
•Firemen face dangerous situations each and every day.
3 each to his/their own used to say that we all have different ideas about how to do things, what we like etc, especially when you do not agree with someone else's choice:
•I'd have chosen something more modern myself, but each to his own.

WORD CHOICE: each, every
It is often correct to use either each or every, but they have slightly different meanings.
Use each when you are thinking about the people or things in a group separately, one by one: Each student came forward to receive a medal(emphasizes that they came forward one after another) | Each time you exercise, you get a little stronger.
Use every when you are thinking about the whole group of people or things together, with no exceptions: Every student was given a prize(emphasizes that everyone in the group got a prize) | Warm up every time you exercise.

!! Do not useeach with words such as 'almost', 'nearly', or 'not'. Use every: Almost every window was broken. | Not every child enjoyed the party.

!! Do not use each in negative clauses. Use none: None of the answers were correct (NOT Each of the answers were not correct).
GRAMMAR
each and every are followed by a singular verb: Each item was thoroughly checked. | Every member wears a uniform.
each and every are usually followed by a singular pronoun or determiner (he, she, it, his, himself etc): Each component can be replaced separately if it breaks. | Every woman must decide for herself.
But you can use 'they', 'them', 'their' etc when you do not want to say whether people are male or female Every child has their own room.

[not used as the subject of a sentence]
used to show that each of two or more people does something to the other or others; one another
•Susan and Robert kissed each other passionately.
•The girls looked at each other.
•They enjoy each other's company.
be at each other's throats at THROAT (5)BrE
if you BET (=try to win money by guessing the winner of a race) money each way, you will win if the horse or dog you choose comes first, second, or third
- each way adjective
•a £10 each way bet $
1 very keen and excited about something that is going to happen or about something you want to do
eager to do sth
•I was eager to get back to work as soon as possible.
•He's a bright kid and eager to learn.
•She's a very hard worker and very eager to please.
•A crowd of eager young students were already waiting outside.
[+for]
•fans eager for a glimpse of the singer
2 eager beaver informal someone who is too keen and works harder than they should
- eagerly adverb
•They're eagerly awaiting the big day.
- eagerness noun [U]
•People were pushing each other out of the way in their eagerness to get to the front. [C]
1 a very large strong bird with a beak like a hook that eats small animals, birds etc
2 two STROKEs less than PAR (=(the usual number of strokes for a hole)) in a game of golf
3 eagle eye used to say that someone is watching carefully or is likely to notice something:
•They carried on working, under the eagle eye of the owner.[T]
to use two STROKEs less than the usual number of strokes for a hole in a game of golf[only before noun]
very good at seeing or noticing things:
•One eagle-eyed passerby noticed that the window was slightly open. [C]
a young EAGLE [in adjectives and nouns]
another form of the SUFFIX -AN:
•Keynesean economics (=according to the ideas of Keynes) $
1 PART OF YOUR BODY [C] one of the organs on either side of your head that you hear with:
•She tucked her hair behind her ears.
•She's had her ears pierced (=small holes made in her ears in order to wear earrings).
whisper/say (sth) in sb's ear
•Lou turned to Mark and whispered something in his ear.
long-eared/short-eared etc
•a long-eared rabbit
inner/middle ear (=the parts inside your ear which you use to hear sounds)
2 HEARING [C] used to talk about hearing
to sb's ears
•It sounds odd to the ears of an ordinary English speaker.
•I just wondered if the rumour had reached your ears (=if you had heard it).
prick (up) your ears at PRICK^1 (5)
3 GRAIN [C] the top part of a plant such as wheat that produces grain
[+of]
•an ear of corn
4 smile/grin etc from ear to ear to show that you are very happy or pleased by smiling a lot:
•She came out of his office, beaming from ear to ear.
5 [singular] the ability to learn music, copy sounds etc
[+for]
•She has no ear for languages at all.
•a good ear for dialogue
6 a sympathetic ear used to say that someone listens sympathetically to what someone is saying:
•He's always prepared to lend a sympathetic ear.
7 close/shut your ears to sth to refuse to listen to bad or unpleasant news:
•You can't just close your ears to their warnings.
turn a deaf ear at DEAF (4); fall on deaf ears at DEAF (5)
8 be all ears informal to be very keen to hear what someone is going to tell you:
•As soon as I mentioned money, Karen was all ears.
9 be out on your ear informal to be forced to leave a job, organization etc, especially because you have done something wrong:
•You'd better start working harder, or you'll be out on your ear.
10 be up to your ears in work/debt/problems etc to have a lot of work etc
11 have sth coming out (of) your ears informal to have too much of something:
•We've got pumpkins coming out our ears this time of year.
12 keep your/an ear to the ground to make sure that you always know what is happening in a situation
13 keep your ears open to always be listening in order to find out what is happening or to hear some useful information:
•I hope you'll all keep your eyes and ears open for anything unusual.
14 go in (at) one ear and out (at) the other informal if information goes in one ear and out the other, you forget it as soon as you have heard it:
•I don't know why I tell her anything. It just goes in one ear and out the other.
15 give sb a thick ear BrE informal to hit someone on the ear:
•Behave yourself or I'll give you a thick ear!
16 have sb's ear to be trusted by someone so that they will listen to your advice, opinions etc:
•He claimed to have the ear of several top ministers.
17 play sth by ear to play music that you have heard without having to read written music
see also play it by ear at PLAY^1 (11)
18 sb's ears are burning used to say that someone thinks that people are talking about them
19 sb's ears are flapping BrE spoken used to say that someone is trying to listen to your private conversation
see also DOG-EARED
bend sb's ear at BEND^1 (7)
send sb off with a flea in their ear at FLEA (2)
make a pig's ear of at PIG^1 (5)
wet behind the ears at WET^1 (7) $ [singular, U]
a pain inside your ear:
•I've got terrible earache and a sore throat.[plural]
liquid medicine to put in your ear $ [C]
a tight thin piece of skin over the inside of your ear which allows you to hear sound $
give sb an earful informal to tell someone how angry you are about something they have done:
•He gave me a real earful about being late so often. $ [C]
BrE informal your ear
clip round the earhole at CLIP^1 (6) $ [C]
a man with a high social rank:
•the Earl of Warwick $ [C]
1 the rank of an earl
2 the land or property belonging to an earl $
at the earliest no earlier than the time or date mentioned:
•Work will begin in October at the very earliest.[C]
the soft piece of flesh at the bottom of your ear $ comparative earlier, superlative earliest
1 FIRST PART in the first part of a period of time, event, or process

early morning/afternoon/evening
early spring/summer etc
early August/January etc
in the early days/months/years (=in the beginning)
in your early twenties/forties/seventies etc (=aged 20-23, 40-43, 70-73 etc)
the early 1920s/1980s/90s etc (=1920-1923, 1980-1983, 1990-1993 etc)
as early as (=used for emphasizing an early time)
the early stages/part (of sth)
sb's early life/childhood/adolescence etc
sb's early songs/books/work etc
sb's early memories (=the things someone remembers from when they were very young)
early signs/indications

•the early morning sunshine
•an afternoon in early spring
• In the early days, the railways mainly carried goods.
•She is in her early twenties.
•the recession of the early 1980s
•The money could be paid as early as next week.
•He spent the early part of his career at St John's Hospital.
•the experiences of early childhood
•the early works of Shakespeare
•My earliest memories are of fruit trees.
• Early signs are encouraging.

2 BEFORE USUAL arriving or happening before the usual or expected time; late
five minutes/three hours etc early
•The bus was ten minutes early.
[+for]
•I was a few minutes early for my appointment.
•David decided to take early retirement (=stop working before the normal age).
•She drank herself into an early grave (=died younger than is normal).
3 BEGINNING used to emphasize that something has just begun, especially when you do not know how it will develop:
• It's too early to say whether the show will be a success.
• It's early days yet. I don't want to make any predictions.
4 NEW THING [only before noun] being one of the first people, events, machines etc:
•Early motor cars had very poor brakes.
•fossil evidence of early man
5 the early hours the time between MIDNIGHT and morning:
•I didn't finally get to bed until the early hours.
in the early hours of sth
•The attack happened in the early hours of Sunday morning.
6 an early start a start made very early in the day because you have a lot to do, far to go etc:
•We need to make an early start tomorrow.
7 at/from an early age when you are very young, or starting when you were very young:
•She's played tennis from a very early age.
8 an early night if you have an early night, you go to bed earlier than usual; a late night
have/get an early night
•I think I'll get an early night.
9 early bird/early riser someone who always gets up very early in the morning
10 the early bird catches the worm used to say that if you do something early or before other people, you will be successful
11 early potatoes/lettuces etc potatoes etc that are ready to be picked before any otherscomparative earlier, superlative earliest
1 before the usual, arranged, or expected time; late
•We arrived early.
•They must have come home early.
2 near the beginning of a period of time, event, process etc; late
[+in]
•She went out early in the morning.
•He was sent off early in the game.
early this/next/last year etc
•The building should be finished early next year.
•The restaurant opened earlier this month.
•We want to start as early as possible.
•The disease is easy to treat if diagnosed early.
3 early on at an early stage in a relationship, process etc:
•I realized early on I'd never pass the exam.
[+in]
•We encountered problems early on in the project.
early warning system/device etc a system or equipment which tells you that something bad, especially an enemy attack, is going to happen $ [T usually passive]
to decide that something will be used for a particular purpose or have something done to it in the future
earmark sb/sth for sth
•85% of foreign aid is earmarked by Congress for specific purposes.
•schools earmarked for closure
earmark sb/sth as sth
•He had been earmarked as a potential leader. $ [plural]
two pieces of material joined by a band over the top of your head, which you wear to keep your ears warm $
1 MONEY FOR WORK [I,T] to receive a particular amount of money for the work that you do

earn money
earn a wage/salary
earn a living (=earn enough money for the things you need to live)
earn a crust BrE (=earn enough money to live)
be earning BrE (=to have a job)
earn good money/earn well (=earn a lot of money)
earn a fortune (=earn an extremely large amount of money)

•He earns nearly £20,000 a year.
•You don't earn much money being a nurse.
•He did all sorts of jobs to earn a living.
•I was the only person in the house who was earning.
•She was earning good money at the bank.
•Chris will pay - he's earning a fortune.
see box at GAIN^1

2 PROFIT [T] to make a profit from business or from putting money in a bank etc:
•The movie earned £7 million on its first day.
•You could earn a higher rate of interest elsewhere.
3 STH DESERVED [T]
a) to do something or have qualities that make you deserve something:
•I think you've earned a rest.
•He soon earned the respect of the players.
•He hopes to earn a place in the Olympic team.
•The company has earned a reputation for reliability.
b) if your actions or qualities earn you something, they make you deserve to have it
earn sb sth
•That performance earned her an Oscar as Best Actress.
4 earn your/its keep
a) to do jobs in return for being given a home and food:
•We older children were expected to earn our keep.
b) to be useful enough to be worth the time or money spent:
•These aircraft are still earning their keep. $ [C]
1 someone who earns money for the job that they do
high/low/average earner
•Private childcare is still too expensive for the average earner.
•He is the only wage earner in the family.
2 a business or activity which makes a profit:
•the country's biggest export earner
3 a nice little earner BrE informal something that earns you a lot of money $
very serious and sincere:
•a rather earnest young man
•Matthews was in earnest conversation with a young girl.
•an earnest desire to offer something useful to society
earnest expression/look/voice etc
earnest attempt/effort etc
- earnestly adverb
•earnestly discussing politics
- earnestness noun [U]
1 in earnest if something starts happening in earnest, it begins properly - used when it was happening in a small or informal way before:
•On Monday your training begins in earnest!
2 be in earnest to really mean what you are saying, especially when expressing an intention or wish:
•She wasn't sure whether he was in earnest or not.
be in dead/deadly/complete earnest
•Although he smiled, Ashley knew he was in deadly earnest. $ [plural]
1 the money that you receive for the work that you do; salary, pay (2, 1)
•an employee's average weekly earnings
•He claimed compensation for loss of earnings.
2 the profit that a company or country makes:
•The company's earnings have dropped by 5% in the first quarter.
•Oil provides 40% of Norway's export earnings.
relating to the amount of money that you earn:
•an earnings-related pension scheme $ [usually plural]
a small piece of equipment connected by a wire to a radio, PERSONAL STEREO etc, which you put in or over your ears so that only you can listen to it $ [C]
1 a small piece of equipment that you put into your ear to hear a recording, message etc
2 [usually plural] one of the two pieces at the side of a pair of glasses that go round your ears
3 the part of a telephone that you listen through $ [C usually plural]
a small piece of rubber that you put inside your ear to keep out noise or water $ [C]
a piece of jewellery that you wear on your ear
gold/diamond/pearl etc earrings
•She was wearing a pair of beautiful diamond earrings. $
1 within earshot near enough to hear what someone is saying:
•Everyone within earshot soon knew her opinion of Reggie.
2 out of earshot not near enough to hear what someone is saying:
•I waited for her to get out of earshot before laughing.
very loud:
•There was an ear-splitting crack. $
1 WORLD also Earth [singular, U] the PLANET that we live on:
•the planet Earth
the earth
•The earth revolves around the sun.
the earth's surface/atmosphere/crust etc
•71% of the earth's surface is sea.
on earth
•the origin of life on Earth
2 SOIL [U] the substance that plants grow in; = soil
soft/bare/damp etc earth
•footprints in the wet earth
•a lump of earth
3 LAND [U] the hard surface of the world, as opposed to the sea or air; = ground
•The earth began to shake.
•They watched the kite fall back to earth.
see box at GROUND^1
4 what/why/how etc on earth ...? spoken used to ask a question when you are very surprised or angry:
•What on earth did you do that for?
5 cost/pay/charge the earth informal to cost etc a very large amount of money:
•It must have cost the earth!
6 the biggest/tallest/most expensive etc ... on earth the biggest etc example of something that exists:
•the most powerful man on earth
7 RELIGION [U] used in religion to refer to the time when people are alive as opposed to being in HEAVEN or HELL:
•Jesus' time on earth
move heaven and earth at HEAVEN (9)
hell on earth at HELL^1 (2)
8 come back/down to earth (with a bump) to stop behaving or living in a way that is not practical:
•She soon brought him back down to earth.
9 no ... /nothing on earth used to emphasize that you mean nothing at all:
•Nothing on earth would have persuaded me to go.
•There's no reason on earth why you should tell him.
10 look/feel etc like nothing on earth BrE to look or feel very strange:
•The next morning I felt like nothing on earth.
11 ELECTRICITY [C usually singular] BrE a wire that makes a piece of electrical equipment safe by connecting it with the ground; = ground AmE
12 ANIMAL'S HOME [C] the hole where a wild animal such as a FOX lives; den, lair
13 go to earth BrE to hide in order to escape from someone who is chasing you; = go to ground
14 run sb/sth to earth BrE to find someone, especially by looking in many places
DOWN-TO-EARTH
promise sb the moon/the earth at PROMISE^1 (3)
the salt of the earth at SALT^1 (2)[T]
BrE to make electrical equipment safe by connecting it to the ground with a wire; = ground AmE
•Make sure that the machine is properly earthed. $
1 unable to move away from the surface of the Earth
2 having very little imagination and thinking too much about practical things $ [only before noun]
1 an earthen floor or wall is made of soil
2 an earthen pot etc is made of baked clay $
an earthenware pot, bowl etc is made of very hard baked clay
- earthenware noun [U] $ [C]
a human - used in SCIENCE FICTION stories $
1 no earthly reason/use etc no reason, use etc at all:
•I see no earthly reason why he shouldn't come.
2 [only before noun] literary connected with life on Earth rather than in heaven:
•our earthly pleasures
•an earthly paradise[C]
a woman who has all the qualities expected of a mother and is especially interested in simple, natural ways of living $ [C]
a sudden shaking of the earth's surface that often causes a lot of damage:
•An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck southern California on June 28.
•The city is in an earthquake zone.[C usually plural]
a science, such as GEOLOGY, which involves the study of the physical world
surprising or shocking and very important:
•an earth-shattering eventalso earthward $
towards the earth's surface:
•The missile fell earthwards.
- earthward adjective $ [C usually plural]
a large long pile of earth, used in the past to stop attacks $ [C]
a common type of long thin brown WORM that lives in soil $
1 tasting, smelling, or looking like earth or soil:
•earthy colours
2 talking about things that are often considered rude, especially sex and the human body, in a relaxed direct way:
•earthy language
- earthiness noun [U][C]
a type of tube that is wide at one end, used by old people in the past to help them hear $ [C]
a long brown insect with two curved pointed parts at the back end of its body [U]
1 with ease if you do something with ease, it is very easy for you to do it; = easily
•They won with ease.
•The security codes could be broken with relative ease.
•I was impressed by the ease with which the information could be retrieved.
2 at ease feeling relaxed, especially in a situation in which people might feel a little nervous
[+with]
•She felt completely at ease with Bernard.
put/set sb at (their) ease (=make someone feel relaxed)
•She had an ability to put people at their ease.
3 ill at ease not relaxed:
•You always look ill at ease in a suit.
4 ease of application/use etc written how easy something is to use etc, or the quality of being easy to use etc:
•It emphasizes the software's convenience and ease of use.
for ease of sth
•The bowl is removable for ease of cleaning.
5 the ability to feel relaxed or behave in a natural relaxed way:
•He had a natural ease which made him very popular.
6 a life of ease a comfortable life, without problems or worries
7 (stand) at ease used to tell soldiers to stand in a relaxed way with their feet apart
1 IMPROVE [I,T] if something unpleasant eases, or if you ease it, it gradually improves or becomes less
ease the pain/stress/tension
•He'll give you something to ease the pain.
ease the pressure/burden
•This should ease the burden on busy teachers.
•measures to ease congestion in the city
•Her breathing had eased.
2 MAKE EASIER [T] to make something, especially a process, happen more easily; = smooth
•The agreement will ease the way for other countries to join the EU.
3 MOVE [I,T always + adv/prep] to move yourself or something slowly and carefully into another place or position:
•She eased her shoes off.
ease yourself into/through etc sth
•Phil eased himself into an armchair.
ease your way past/through etc sth
•He eased his way through the crowd.
•Jean eased back on the pillows and relaxed.
4 ease your grip to hold something less tightly
5 ease sb's mind to make someone feel less worried about something:
•It would ease my mind to know you had arrived safely.

PHRASAL VERBS
ease (sb) into sth phr v
if you ease yourself or someone else into a new job etc, you start doing it gradually or help them to start:
•After the baby, she eased herself back into work.

ease off phr v
1 if something, especially something that you do not like, eases off, it improves or gets less; = ease up
•The rain had eased off a bit.
•Why don't you wait until the traffic eases off a little?
2 ease off on sb to stop being unpleasant to someone or asking so much from them

ease out phr v
1 if a vehicle eases out, it slowly moves forward into the traffic
2 ease sb <=> out to make someone leave a job, a position of authority etc, in a way that makes it seem as if they have chosen to leave

ease up phr v
1 to work less hard or do something with less energy than before:
•Just relax and ease up a little.
2 to start doing something less
[+on]
•You should ease up on the whisky.
3 to improve or get less; = ease off
•The snow was easing up. [C]
a wooden frame that you put a painting on while you paint it
1 without problems or difficulties:
•They won quite easily.
•We found the house easily enough.
easily accessible/available etc
•The castle is easily accessible by road.
easily understood/identified etc
•It's easily recognised by its bright blue tail feathers.
2 could/can/might easily used to say that something is possible or is very likely to happen:
•The first signs of the disease can easily be overlooked.
•They could so easily have escaped.
•Gambling can all too easily become an addiction (=used to say that something bad is very possible).
3 easily the best/biggest etc definitely the best etc:
•She is easily the most intelligent person in the class.
4 in a relaxed way:
•His son grinned easily back at him. [U]
1 a feeling of being relaxed and comfortable with someone
2 when something is not difficult
1 the East
a) the countries in Asia, especially China and Japan:
•Martial arts originated in the East.
b) the countries in the eastern part of Europe and Central Asia:
•American relations with the East.
c) AmE the part of the US east of the Mississippi River, especially the states north of Washington DC:
•She was born in the East but now lives in Atlanta.
•He was born in Utah but went to college back East.
2 East-West relations/trade etc political relations etc between countries in eastern Europe and those in western Europe and North America; Far East, Middle East, Near EastEast written abbreviation E [singular, U]
1 the direction from which the sun rises, and which is on the right if you are facing north:
•Which way is east?
from/towards the east
•He turned and walked away towards the east.
to the east (of sth)
•To the east of the pier were miles of sandy beaches.
2 the east the eastern part of a country or area:
•Housing in the east was as bad as ever.
[+of]
•the east of ScotlandEast written abbreviation E
1 [only before noun] in the east or facing the east:
•I don't know the east coast well.
•He was born in East Jerusalem.
2 an east wind comes from the eastwritten abbreviation E
1 towards the east:
•We drove east along Brooklyn Avenue.
[+of]
•a small farming community 18 miles east of Paris
•an east-facing bedroom
2 out east to or in the countries in Asia, especially China and Japan:
•The drug is being used all the time out east.
travelling or leading towards the east:
•A crash on the eastbound side of the freeway is blocking traffic.
the East Coast the part of the US that is next to the Atlantic Ocean, especially those states north of Washington DC
the East End the eastern part of London, north of the River Thames
- East Ender noun [C] $ [C,U]
1 a Christian holy day in March or April when Christians remember the death of Christ and his return to life:
•on Easter Sunday
GOOD FRIDAY
2 the period of time just before and after Easter Day
at Easter
•We'll probably go away at Easter.
Easter holiday/weekend/break
•We spent the Easter holidays in Wales.[singular]
an imaginary rabbit that children believe brings chocolate eggs at Easter[C]
1 BrE a chocolate egg bought or given as a present at Easter
2 AmE an egg that has been coloured and decorated to celebrate Easter $
1 towards or in the east:
•We drove off in an easterly direction.
2 an easterly wind comes from the eastplural easterlies [C]
a wind that comes from the eastEastern written abbreviation E $
1 in or from the east of a country or area:
•the eastern shore of the island
•farmers in eastern England
2 in or from the countries in Asia, especially China and Japan:
•Eastern religions
3 in or from the countries in the east part of Europe, especially the countries that used to have Communist governments:
•Eastern Europe $ [C]
AmE someone from the eastern US, north of Washington DC $
furthest east:
•the easternmost part of the country
the East Side the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York, lived in mostly by poor people who have come to the US from other countriesalso eastward $
towards the east:
•The ship continued sailing eastwards.
- eastward adjective
•We followed an eastward course up the river. comparative easier, superlative easiest
1 NOT DIFFICULT not difficult to do, and not needing much effort; difficult, hard
•The test was easy.
•Finishing the task will not be easy.
•There must be an easier way to do that.
easy to do sth
•It's a great car, and very easy to drive.
•instructions that are easy to follow
•It would have been easy for the team to lose the game.
make it easier (to do sth)
•The software makes it easier to download music from the net.
•Having you here does make things a lot easier for me.
as easy as pie/ABC/falling off a log (=very easy)
•The station is within easy reach of (=close to) the town centre.
•The park is within easy walking distance (=close enough to walk to).
2 COMFORTABLE comfortable or relaxed, and without problems; hard
•On the whole, Dad has had an easy life.
easy day/week etc
•She had a nice easy day at home.
•You can have an easy time of it now that the kids have all left home.
•Why don't we make life easy for ourselves and finish it tomorrow?
3 NOT WORRIED not feeling worried or anxious; uneasy
•We talk more openly when we feel easy and relaxed.
•I can leave the children with my mother with an easy mind.
4 FRIENDLY friendly and pleasant with other people:
•She is gentle and easy to be with.
5 EASILY ATTACKED able to be hunted or attacked without difficulty:
•The soldiers on the streets are an easy target for terrorists.
•Tourists are easy prey for thieves.
6 take the easy way out to end a situation in a way that seems easy, but is not the best or most sensible way:
•I just took the easy way out and gave him some cash.
7 have an easy time (of it) to have no problems or difficulties:
•She's not been having an easy time of it financially.
8 easy money money that you do not have to work hard to get:
•We can buy them for $10 and sell them for $25 - easy money.
9 easy on the eye/ear pleasant to look at or listen to:
•Soft colours are easy on the eye.
10 it's/that's easy for you to say spoken used when someone has given you some advice that would be difficult for you to follow
11 there are no easy answers used when saying that it is difficult to find a good way of dealing with a problem
12 I'm easy spoken used to say that you do not mind what choice is made:
•'What would you like to do now?' 'I don't know, I'm easy.'
13 be (living) on easy street informal, especially AmE to be in a situation in which you have plenty of money:
•If I get this new job, we'll be living on easy street.
14 on easy terms if you buy something on easy terms, you pay for it with several small payments instead of paying the whole amount at once:
•New settlers in the west could buy land on relatively easy terms.
15 eggs over easy AmE eggs cooked on a hot surface and turned over quickly before serving
16 woman/lady/girl of easy virtue old-fashioned a woman who has sex with a lot of men
17 SEX informal someone, especially a woman, who is easy has a lot of sexual partners
see also EASE, EASILY

WORD FOCUS: easy
easy to do:
simple
not difficult
very easy to do:
be a piece of cake
be child's play
be a snap AmE
be a doddle BrE
anyone can do it
be like falling off a log informal
easy to use:
user-friendly
easy job:
cushy informal

1 take it easy
a) also take things easy to relax and not do very much:
•Take things easy for a few days and you should be all right.
b) spoken used to tell someone to become less upset or angry:
•Just take it easy and tell us what happened.
c) AmE spoken used to say goodbye
2 go easy on/with sth to not use too much of something:
•Go easy on salty foods such as bacon.
3 go easy on sb to be more gentle and less strict or angry with someone:
•Go easy on Peter for a while - he's having a hard time at school.
4 easier said than done especially spoken used to say that something would be very difficult to do:
•Finding the perfect house was easier said than done.
5 rest/breathe easy to stop worrying:
•We can rest easy now - we've got everything under control.
6 easy does it spoken used to tell someone to be more careful and slow, especially in moving
7 get off easy informal to escape severe punishment for something that you have done wrong:
•The rich could hire good lawyers and get off easy.
8 easy come, easy go spoken used when something, especially money, was easily obtained and is quickly used or spent
9 stand easy an order telling soldiers who are already standing at EASE to relax more[C]
a large comfortable chair; armchair
not easily upset, annoyed, or worried:
•Her easy-going nature made her popular.[U]
music that is relaxing to listen to and has nice tunes, but is not very interesting BrE
a word meaning very easy, used especially by children past tense ate $ , past participle eaten
1 FOOD [I,T] to put food in your mouth and chew and swallow it

eat well/healthily/sensibly (=eat food that will keep you healthy)
eat right AmE (=eat food that will keep you healthy)
eat properly BrE (=eat food that will keep you healthy)
eat hungrily
something to eat (=some food)
eat like a horse informal (=eat a very large amount)
eat like a bird informal (=eat very little)
a bite to eat informal (=some food)
eating habits
eating disorder (=a medical condition in which you do not eat normally)
ready-to-eat (=used to describe foods that you do not have to prepare)
I couldn't eat another thing/bite spoken (=used to say that you are full)

•Felix chatted cheerfully as he ate.
•A small girl was eating an ice cream.
•We had plenty to eat and drink.
•It's important to eat healthily when you are pregnant.
•I exercise and eat right and get plenty of sleep.
•Would you like something to eat?
•She can eat like a horse and never put on weight.
•We stopped at McDonalds to get a bite to eat.
•Good eating habits are the best way of preventing infection.
• ready-to-eat foods such as deli meats and cheeses
•'More cake?' 'No thanks, I couldn't eat another thing.'
•No chicken for me. I don't eat meat (=I never eat meat).
•Does Rob eat fish?

2 MEAL [I,T] to have a meal:
•Let's eat first and then go to a movie.
•We had just started eating breakfast when the phone rang.
[+at]
•We could not afford to eat at Walker's very often.
3 eat your words to admit that what you said was wrong:
•I'm going to make you eat your words.
4 eat your heart out
a) used to say, especially humorously, that something is very good:
•That's a great drawing. Pablo Picasso eat your heart out!
b) BrE to be unhappy about something or to want someone or something very much:
•If you had any sense you'd forget him, but eat your heart out if you want to.
5 eat sb alive/eat sb for breakfast to be very angry with someone or to defeat them completely:
•You can't tell him that - he'll eat you alive!
6 USE [T] to use a very large amount of something:
•This car eats petrol.
7 eat humble pie also eat crow AmE to admit that you were wrong and say that you are sorry
8 I'll eat my hat used to emphasize that you think something is not true or will not happen:
•If the Democrats win the election, I'll eat my hat!
9 have sb eating out of your hand to have made someone very willing to believe you or do what you want:
•He soon had the client eating out of his hand.
10 eat sb out of house and home to eat a lot of someone's supply of food, so that they have to buy more - used humorously
11 what's eating sb? spoken used to ask why someone seems annoyed or upset:
•What's eating Sally today? She just yelled at me.
12 I could eat a horse spoken used to say you are very hungry
13 I/we won't eat you spoken used to tell someone that you are not angry with them and they need not be frightened
14 you are what you eat used to say that you will be healthy if the food you eat is healthy

PHRASAL VERBS
eat sth <=> away phr v
to gradually remove or destroy something; = erode
•The stones are being eaten away by pollution.

eat away at sth/sb phr v
1 to gradually remove or reduce the amount of something:
•His gambling was eating away at their income.
2 to make someone feel very worried over a long period of time:
•The thought of mother alone like that was eating away at her.

eat in phr v
to eat at home instead of in a restaurant

eat into sth phr v
1 to gradually reduce the amount of time, money etc that is available:
•John's university fees have been eating into our savings.
2 to gradually damage or destroy something:
•Acid eats into the metal, damaging its surface.

eat out phr v
to eat in a restaurant instead of at home:
•Do you eat out a lot?

eat up phr v
1 to eat all of something:
•Come on, eat up, there's a good girl.
eat sth <=> up
•She's made a cake and wants us to help eat it up.
2 eat sth <=> up informal to use a lot of something, especially until there is none left:
•Big cars just eat up money.
3 be eaten up with/by jealousy/anger/curiosity etc to be very jealous, angry etc, so that you cannot think about anything else
EATS
have your cake and eat it at CAKE^1 (6)
in a good enough condition to be eaten
EDIBLE $ [C]
big/light/fussy etc eater someone who eats a lot, not much, only particular things etc:
•I've never been a big eater. plural eateries [C]
informal especially AmE a restaurant or other place to eat:
•one of the best eateries in town[C]
an apple that you eat raw rather than cooked; cooking apple[C]
a medical condition in which you do not eat a normal amount of food and are ill because of this [plural]
informal food, especially for a party:
•You get the drink, and I'll organize the eats. $ [U]
a sweet-smelling liquid used to make you feel fresh and smell nice [plural]
the edges of a roof that stick out beyond the walls:
•Birds had nested under the eaves. $ past tense and past participle eavesdropped, present participle eavesdropping [I]
to deliberately listen secretly to other people's conversations; overhear
•There was Helena eavesdropping outside the door.
- eavesdropper noun [C]
1 [singular] also ebb tide the flow of the sea away from the shore, when the TIDE goes out; flood tide
2 be at a low ebb to be in a bad state or condition:
•His confidence is at a low ebb.
3 ebb and flow a situation or state in which something increases and decreases in a kind of pattern:
•the ebb and flow of the conversation
•the ebb and flow of passengers in the station[I]
1 if the TIDE ebbs, it flows away from the shore
2 also ebb away to gradually decrease:
•Linda's enthusiasm began to ebb away. $ [U]
a VIRUS that causes bleeding from many parts of the body and usually causes death [U]
a hard black woodliterary
black:
•her ebony hair [C]
electronic book a book that you read on a computer screen or on a special small computer that you can hold in your hands, and that is not printed on paper formal
very happy and excited:
•My father is a naturally ebullient personality.
- ebullience noun [U]
the EC the European Community the former name for the EU [U]
electronic cash money used to buy things on the Internet, but that does not exist in a physical form or belong to any particular country
1 behaving in a way that is unusual and different from most people:
•His eccentric behaviour lost him his job.
•Aunt Nessy was always a bit eccentric.
2 technical eccentric circles do not have the same centre point; concentric
- eccentrically adverb[C]
someone who behaves in a way that is different from what is usual or socially accepted:
•I was regarded as something of an eccentric. plural eccentricities
1 [U] strange or unusual behaviour:
•Kate's mother had a reputation for eccentricity.
2 [C] an opinion or action that is strange or unusual:
•I found his eccentricities amusing rather than irritating. [C]
BrE a round cake filled with CURRANTs (=type of dried fruit) [C]
formal a priest, usually in the Christian churchalso ecclesiastic
relating to the Christian church or its priests:
•ecclesiastical history [C] especially BrE
1 electrocardiograph a piece of equipment that records electrical changes in your heart
2 electrocardiogram a drawing produced by an ELECTROCARDIOGRAPH $ [C]
1 also echelons a rank or level of authority in an organization, business etc, or the people at that level
upper/higher/lower echelons
•the upper echelons of government
•Their clients are drawn from the highest echelons of society.
2 technical a line of ships, soldiers, planes etc arranged in a pattern that looks like a series of steps $
1 [I] if a sound echoes, you hear it again because it was made near something such as a wall or hill:
•The sound of an engine echoed back from the thick forest.
[+through/round]
•He could hear eerie noises echoing through the corridors.
2 [I] if a place echoes, it is filled with sounds that are repeated or are similar to each other
[+with]
•The house echoed with the sound of children's voices.
3 [T] literary to repeat what someone else has just said:
•'You bet,' she said, echoing his words.
4 [T] to repeat an idea or opinion because you agree with it:
•The article simply echoed the NRA's arguments against gun control.plural echoes [C]
1 a sound that you hear again after a loud noise, because it was made near something such as a wall:
•Her scream was followed by a loud echo.
2 something that is very similar to something that has happened or been said before
[+of]
•The article contains echoes of an earlier report.
•This idea finds an echo in many African countries. $ [C]
a long cake covered with chocolate and filled with cream [U] literary
1 praise and admiration:
•Miller's new play has been greeted with great éclat.
2 a way of doing something with a lot of style, especially in order to attract attention
including a mixture of many different things or people, especially so that you can use the best of all of them:
•galleries with an eclectic range of styles and artists
•an eclectic mixture of 18th and 19th century furniture
- eclectically adverb
- eclecticism noun [U][C]
formal someone who chooses the best or most useful parts from many different ideas, methods etc
1 [C] an occasion when the sun or the moon cannot be seen, because the Earth is passing directly between the moon and the sun, or because the moon is passing directly between the Earth and the sun:
•an eclipse of the sun
•a total eclipse
2 [singular] a situation in which someone or something loses their power or fame, because someone or something else has become more powerful or famous:
•Many people expected the growth of television to mean the eclipse of radio.
3 in eclipse formal less famous or powerful than you should be:
•Mrs Bosanquet's novels are now in eclipse.[T]
1 if the moon eclipses the sun, the sun cannot be seen behind the moon, and if the Earth eclipses the moon, the moon cannot be seen because the Earth is between the sun and the moon
2 [often passive] to become more important, powerful, famous etc than someone or something else, so that they are no longer noticed; overshadow
•The economy had eclipsed the environment as an election issue. [singular]
technical the path along which the sun seems to move $
relating to the environment:
•eco-warriors (=people who try to stop damage to the environment) $
not harmful to the environment:
•eco-friendly products $ [U]
a type of BACTERIA that can make you very ill if it is in any food that you eat $ [only before noun]
1 connected with the way plants, animals, and people are related to each other and to their environment; environmental
•an ecological disaster
2 interested in preserving the environment; environment
•ecological groups
- ecologically adverb
•an ecologically-sound production process $ [C]
a scientist who studies ecology $ [singular, U]
the way in which plants, animals, and people are related to each other and to their environment, or the scientific study of this; environment
•the natural ecology of the Earth
•plant ecology $ [U] informal
the abbreviation of e-commerce $ [U]
electronic commerce the activity of buying and selling goods and services and doing other business activities using a computer and the Internet:
•e-commerce applications such as online ticketing and reservations $
1 [only before noun] relating to trade, industry, and the management of money; economy
•Economic growth is slow.
•the government's economic policy
•Economic reform is needed.
•In the current economic climate (=conditions), we must keep costs down.
2 an economic process, activity etc produces enough profit for it to continue; = profitable; uneconomic
•It is no longer economic for us to run the service.
!! Do not confuse with economical (=cheap or not wasteful). $
1 using money, time, goods etc carefully and without wasting any; economic
•A small car is more economical to run.
•good-quality clothes at economical prices
2 economical with the truth used humorously to say that someone is not telling the truth $
1 in a way that is related to systems of money, trade, or business:
•In economically advanced countries, women marry later. [sentence adverb]
•Economically, capitalism has transformed societies.
2 in a way that uses money, goods, time etc without wasting any:
•We produce food as economically as possible.
•Small trees use space in the garden economically. $
1 [U] the study of the way in which money and goods are produced and used; economic
•a Harvard professor of economics
2 [plural] the way in which money influences whether a plan, business etc will work effectively:
•The economics of the scheme will have to be looked at very carefully.
HOME ECONOMICS $ [C]
someone who studies the way in which money and goods are produced and used and the systems of business and tradealso economise BrE $ [I]
to reduce the amount of money, time, goods etc that you use
[+on]
•Higher taxes encourage people to economize on fuel. $ plural economies
1 [C] the system by which a country's money and goods are produced and used, or a country considered in this way:
•a capitalist economy
•the slowdown in the Japanese economy
2 [C] something that you do in order to spend less money:
•The council must make economies to meet government spending targets.
•Not insuring your belongings is a false economy (=it is cheaper but could have bad results).
3 [U] the careful use of money, time, goods etc so that nothing is wasted:
•The gas fire was turned low for reasons of economy.
•The company announced that it would cut 500 jobs as part of an economy drive (=a way to save money).
4 economies of scale technical the financial advantages of producing something in very large quantities
BLACK ECONOMY, MARKET ECONOMY, MIXED ECONOMY
economy size/pack a product that is cheaper because you are buying a larger amount[U]
the cheapest type of seats in a plane
- economy class adverb
•We flew economy class.[U] BrE
a serious illness in which people get blood CLOTs because they have been sitting for a long time in a very small space on a plane; DVT $ [C]
all the animals and plants in a particular area, and the way in which they are related to each other and to their environment; ecology $ [U]
when someone tries to stop or harm organizations or companies that do things that are bad for the environment
- ecoterrorist noun [C] $ [U]
the business of organizing holidays to natural areas, especially areas that are far away such as the RAIN FOREST, where people can visit and learn about the area in a way that will not hurt the environment
- ecotourist noun [C] [U]
a pale brown colour
- ecru adjective plural ecstasies
1 [C,U] a feeling of extreme happiness
in (an) ecstasy
•She was in an ecstasy of love.
go into ecstasies (=become very happy and excited)
2 [U] an illegal drug that gives a feeling of happiness and energy. Ecstasy is especially used by people who go out to dance at clubs and parties.
1 feeling extremely happy and excited:
•an ecstatic welcome from the thousands who lined the streets
2 ecstatic review/praise/applause a REVIEW (=an opinion about a film, play etc that appears in a newspaper or magazine), praise etc that say that something is very good:
•The exhibition attracted thousands of visitors and ecstatic reviews.
- ecstatically adverb [U]
electro-convulsive therapy; another word for ELECTRIC SHOCK THERAPY [in nouns]
technical the removing of a particular part of someone's body by an operation:
•an appendectomy (=removing the appendix) $
supporting the idea of uniting the different branches of the Christian religion
- ecumenically adverb $ [U]
a condition in which your skin becomes dry, red, and swollen
1 forms the regular past tense and past participle of verbs. The past participle form is often used as an adjective:
•I want, I wanted, I have wanted
•I show, I showed, I have shown
•He walked away.
•a sound that echoed through the room
•a wanted criminal
2 [in adjectives] having a particular thing:
•a bearded man (=a man with a beard)
•a kind-hearted womanEd.
1 the abbreviation of education :
•Higher Ed.
2 the written abbreviation of edited ,, edition , or, editor [U]
a type of yellow cheese from the Netherlands plural eddies [C]
a circular movement of water, wind, dust etc:
•the racing river caused swirling eddiespast tense and past participle eddied, present participle eddying, third person singular eddies [I]
if water, wind, dust etc eddies, it moves around with a circular movement:
•Mist eddied round the house.also the Garden of Eden [singular]
in the Bible story, the garden where Adam and Eve, the first humans lived, often seen as a place of happiness and INNOCENCE
1 OUTSIDE PART [C] the part of an object that is furthest from its centre:
•Put the lamb in the centre of the dish, with the vegetables and herbs around the edge.
the edge of sth
•the right hand edge of the page
•Jennifer walked to the edge of the wood.
•Billy sat on the edge of the bed.
•He stood at the water's edge staring across the lake.
•A leaf was on the ground, curling up at the edges.
2 BLADE [C] the thin sharp part of a blade or tool that cuts:
•a knife with a sharp edge
3 ADVANTAGE [singular, U] something that gives you an advantage over others:
•Companies are employing more research teams to get an edge.
•The next version of the software will have the edge over its competitors.
4 on edge nervous, especially because you are expecting something unpleasant to happen:
•Paul felt on edge about meeting Lisa.
5 VOICE [singular] a quality in someone's voice that makes it sound slightly angry or impatient:
•There was an edge of hostility in Jack's voice.
•Desperation lent an edge to her voice.
6 SLOPE [C] an area beside a very steep slope:
•She walked almost to the edge of the cliff.
7 on the edge of sth close to the point at which something different, especially something bad, will happen:
•Their economy is on the edge of collapse.
•She is on the edge of despair.
8 QUALITY [singular] a special quality of excitement or danger:
•The school's campaign has been given an extra edge by being filmed for television.
9 take the edge off sth to make something less bad, good, strong etc:
•Pascoe was drinking whisky to take the edge off the pain.
10 on the edge of your seat giving all your attention to something exciting:
•The film's ending had me on the edge of my seat.
11 be on the edge informal to be behaving in a way that makes it seem as if you are going crazy
CUTTING EDGE
KNIFE-EDGE
1 MOVE [I,T always + adv/prep] to move gradually with several small movements, or to make something do this:
•Tim was edging away from the crowd.
•She edged closer to get a better look.
•He edged her towards the door.
edge your way into/round/through etc sth
•Christine edged her way round the back of the house.
2 PUT AT EDGE [T usually passive] to put something on the edge or border of something:
•The city square was edged by trees.
be edged with sth
•The tablecloth is edged with lace.
3 CHANGE [I,T always + adv/prep] to change gradually, especially so as to get better or worse
[+up/down]
•Profits have edged up.
•The paper has edged ahead of (=been more successful than) its rivals.
4 GRASS [T] to cut the edges of an area of grass so that they are tidy and straight[C] AmE
an area at the edge of a large city that has its own businesses, shops, offices etc, so that many of the people who used to live there while working in the large city now both live and work in the edge cityalso edgewise
sideways
get a word in edgeways at WORD^1 (26) [C,U]
something that forms an edge or border:
•a white handkerchief with blue edging
1 nervous and worried:
•She's been edgy lately, waiting for the test results.
2 aware of the newest ideas and styles and therefore considered very fashionable:
•The band is trying to develop an edgy new image. [U] technical
the abbreviation of electronic data interchange
something that is edible can be eaten:
•These berries are edible, but those are poisonous. [C] formal
1 an official public order made by someone in a position of power; = decree
•The emperor issued an edict forbidding anyone to leave the city.
2 any order - used humorously [C]
formal a building, especially a large one:
•Their head office was an imposing edifice. past tense and past participle edified, present participle edifying, third person singular edifies [T]
formal to improve someone's mind or character by teaching them something
- edification noun [U]
•For our edification, the preacher reminded us what `duty' meant. formal
an edifying speech, book etc improves your mind or moral character by teaching you something - sometimes used humorously:
•No-one would claim that the film is morally edifying.
1 [I,T] to prepare a book, piece of film etc for printing or broadcasting by removing mistakes or parts that are not acceptable:
•The newspaper edits letters before printing them.
2 [T] to prepare a book or article for printing by deciding what to include and in what order:
•a collection of essays edited by John Gay
3 [T] to prepare a film by deciding what to include and in what order
4 [T] to be responsible for the information that is included in a newspaper, magazine etc:
•She used to edit the Observer.

PHRASAL VERBS
edit sth <=> out phr v
to remove something when you are preparing a book, piece of film etc for printing or broadcasting; = cut
•The interviewer's questions have been edited out.
- edit noun [C] [C]
1 the form that a book, newspaper, magazine etc is produced in:
•a paperback edition
•the US edition of Marie Claire magazine
2 the copies of a book, newspaper etc that are produced and printed at the same time:
•The textbook was first published in 1858 and is now in its 39th edition.
•A limited edition of 2000 copies has been published.
first edition (=the first copies of a particular book, that are often valuable)
3 a newspaper, magazine etc:
•Martin was reading the early edition of the Evening News.
4 a television or radio programme that is broadcast regularly or is part of a series:
•the early evening edition of Scotland Today $ [C]
1 the person who is in charge of a newspaper or magazine, or part of a newspaper or magazine, and decides what should be included in it
[+of]
•the editor of the Daily Telegraph
economics/sports/political etc editor
2 someone who prepares a book or article for printing by deciding what to include and checking for any mistakes
3 someone who chooses what to include in a book on a particular subject:
•the editor of a book of essays on modern poetry
4 someone who prepares a film, television programme, or sound recording for broadcasting by deciding what to include and checking for any mistakes:
•a TV script editor
5 someone who reports on a particular subject for a radio or television news programme; correspondent
•Here is John Simmonds, our Diplomatic Editor, with the latest news.
6 technical a computer program that allows you to make changes to saved information
COPY EDITOR, SUB-EDITOR
1 relating to the preparation of a newspaper, book, television programme etc for printing or broadcasting:
•an editorial assistant
2 [usually before noun] expressing the opinion of a particular newspaper editor rather than just giving facts:
•the paper's editorial column
- editorially adverb
•The paper is editorially independent.[C]
a piece of writing in a newspaper that gives the editor's opinion about something, rather than reporting factsalso editorialise BrE [I]
to give your opinion and not just the facts about something, especially publicly
[+on/about/against etc]
•The BBC is not supposed to editorialize about the news. $ [U]
the position of being the editor of a newspaper or magazine, or the time during which someone is an editor
the abbreviation of educational institution , used in Internet addresses for schools, colleges etc $
able to learn or be educated:
•At that time, deaf children were not considered educable. $ [T]
1 [usually passive] to teach a child at a school, college, or university:
•The Omerod School educates handicapped children.
be educated at sth
•He was educated at Bristol University.
2 to give someone information about a particular subject, or to show them a better way to do something; teach
educate sb about/in/on sth
•a campaign to educate teenagers about HIV $
1 having been well taught and learned a lot:
•a highly educated woman
2 university-educated/well-educated/privately-educated etc having had a particular type of education
3 educated guess a guess that is likely to be correct because it is based on some knowledge:
•Investors must make an educated guess as to the company's potential. $
1 [singular, U] the process of teaching and learning, usually at school, college, or university:
•the education system
get/receive an education
•She also hopes her children will get a good education.
university/college education
•I'm sure he has a college education.
•efforts to increase access to higher education (=education at college or university).
formal education at FORMAL^1 (6)
2 [U] the teaching of a particular subject
health/sex education
3 [U] the institutions and people involved with teaching:
•the local education authority
4 [singular] an interesting experience which has taught you something - often used humorously:
•Having Jimmy to stay has been quite an education!
ADULT EDUCATION, FURTHER EDUCATION, HIGHER EDUCATION $
1 relating to education:
•the educational development of children
2 teaching you something you did not know before:
•educational games
- educationally adverbalso educationist $ [C]
formal someone who knows a lot about ways of teaching and learning $
something that is educative teaches you something:
•The educative process needs to begin early in a child's life. $ [C]
1 formal a teacher or someone involved in the process of educating people
2 AmE an EDUCATIONALIST $ [U]
films, television programmes, or computer SOFTWARE that educate and entertain at the same time $
relating to the time of King Edward VII of Britain (1901-1910):
•an Edwardian house [in nouns]
1 someone who is being treated in a particular way:
•the payee (=someone who is paid)
•a trainee
•an employee
2 someone who is in a particular state or who is doing something:
•an absentee (=someone who is absent)
•an escapee
the EEC the European Economic Community the former name for the EU [C]
1 electroencephalograph a piece of equipment that records the electrical activity of your brain
2 electroencephalogram a drawing made by an electroencephalograph
an expression of sudden fear and surprise:
•Eek! A mouse! [C]
a long thin fish that looks like a snake and can be eaten literary
the short form of EVEN $ [in nouns]
someone who does or makes a particular thing:
•an auctioneer (=someone who runs auction sales)
•a profiteer (=someone who makes unfair profits) $ literary
the short form of EVER $
strange and frightening:
•the eerie sound of an owl hooting at night
- eerily adverbalso electronic fatigue [U]
problems that people have as a result of using computers too much or for too long, for example tiredness at work or a lack of communication [I] BrE spoken informal
1 effing and blinding swearing:
•Did you hear her effing and blinding at him?
2 eff off! used to tell someone to go away instead of saying FUCK OFF
EFFING [T] formal
1 to destroy or remove something; = erase; deface
•Nothing can efface the last picture I have of them from my mind.
2 efface yourself to behave in a quiet way so that people do not notice or look at you
SELF-EFFACING
1 CHANGE/RESULT [C,U] the way in which an event, action, or person changes someone or something

have an effect (on sb/sth)
big/major/profound/significant/dramatic effect
bad/harmful/negative/damaging/detrimental/adverse effect
beneficial/positive effect
long-term effect
feel the effect (of sth)
knock-on-effect BrE (=an effect caused by the thing that happened before)
cumulative effect (=the effect of many things happening one after another)
the desired effect (=the effect you wanted)
cause and effect (=one thing directly causing the other)

[+on]
•My parents' divorce had a big effect on me.
[+of]
•the harmful effects of modern farming practices
•the long-term effects of the drug
•I could feel the effects of the thin mountain air.
•This ingredient also has the effect of making your skin look younger.
•A system failure has a knock-on effect throughout the whole hotel.
•the cumulative effect of human activities on the global environment
•A much lower dose of the painkiller can still produce the desired effect.
•In mental illness, there is a complex relationship between cause and effect.
GREENHOUSE EFFECT, SIDE EFFECT

2 put/bring sth into effect to make a plan or idea happen:
•It won't be easy to put the changes into effect.
3 take effect to start to produce results:
•The morphine was starting to take effect and the pain eased.
4 LAW/RULE
a) take effect/come into effect if a law, rule, or system takes effect or comes into effect, it officially starts
b) be in effect if a law, rule, or system is in effect, it is being used now
5 with immediate effect/with effect from formal starting to happen immediately, or from a particular date:
•Hoskins is appointed manager, with immediate effect.
6 in effect used when you are describing what you see as the real facts of a situation:
•In effect, we'll be earning less than we were last year.
7 to good/great/no etc effect used to show how successful an action is:
•We tried to wake him, but to no effect.
8 to this/that/the effect used when you are giving the general meaning of something, rather than the exact words:
•Jim told me to go away, or words to that effect.
•The letter said something to the effect that she was no longer needed.
9 IDEA/FEELING [C usually singular] an idea or feeling that an artist, speaker, book etc tries to make you think of or to feel
[+of]
•Turner's paintings give an effect of light.
10 for effect if someone does something for effect, they do it in order to make people notice:
•She paused for effect, then carried on speaking.
11 PERSONAL POSSESSIONS effects [plural] formal the things that someone owns; = belongings
•Don's few personal effects were in a suitcase under the bed.
12 FILM [C usually plural] an unusual or impressive sound or image that is artificially produced for a film, play, or radio programme
SOUND EFFECTS, SPECIAL EFFECT[T]
formal to make something happen:
•Many parents lack confidence in their ability to effect change in their children's behaviour.
!! Do not confuse with the verb affect (=to have an effect on something).
1 successful, and working in the way that was intended; ineffective
•The cheaper drugs are just as effective in treating arthritis.
•the painting's highly effective use of colour
•Training is often much less effective than expected.
•the most effective ways of reducing inner city congestion
2 [no comparative, not before noun] if a law, agreement, or system becomes effective, it officially starts
[+from]
•The cut in interest rates is effective from Monday.
3 [no comparative, only before noun] real rather than what is officially intended or generally believed:
•The rebels are in effective control of the city.
- effectiveness noun [U]
1 in a way that produces the result that was intended:
•Children have to learn to communicate effectively.
2 used to describe what you see as the real facts of the situation [sentence adverb]
•Effectively, it has become impossible for us to help.
•Most of the urban poor are effectively excluded from politics. formal
producing the result that was wanted or intended; = effective; ineffectual
a man who is effeminate looks or behaves like a woman
- effeminately adverb
- effeminacy noun [U] $ [I] technical
a liquid that effervesces produces small bubbles of gas $
1 someone who is effervescent is very happy, excited, and active:
•an effervescent personality
2 a liquid that is effervescent produces small bubbles of gas; = fizzy, sparkling
- effervescence noun [U] $ formal
1 weak and powerless in a way that you dislike:
•an attack against effete intellectuals
2 an effete man looks or behaves like a woman formal
working in the way you intended; = effective
•an equally efficacious method of treatment [U + of]
formal the ability of something to produce the right result; = effectiveness
1 [U] the quality of doing something well and effectively, without wasting time, money, or energy; inefficient
[+of]
•the efficiency of the train service
•considerable advancements in energy efficiency
2 efficiencies [plural] the amounts of money, supplies etc that are saved by finding a better or cheaper way of doing something:
•operating efficiencies
if someone or something is efficient, they work well without wasting time, money, or energy; inefficient
•a very efficient secretary
•an efficient use of land
•Lighting is now more energy efficient.
- efficiently adverb plural effigies
1 [C] a STATUE of a famous person
[+of]
•an effigy of Saint Francis
2 [U] a roughly made, usually ugly, model of someone you dislike:
•a threat to burn the president in effigy [only before noun] BrE spoken
an offensive word used to emphasize that you are angry and to avoid saying the swear word ' FUCKING ' directly:
•She's gone to effing bingo again.
effing and blinding at EFF [U] technical
the action of flowers, art etc forming and developing, or the period of time when this happens [C,U] formal
liquid waste, especially chemicals or SEWAGE $
1 PHYSICAL/MENTAL ENERGY [U] the physical or mental energy that is needed to do something:
•Lou lifted the box easily, without using much effort.
make the effort (to do sth)
•He made the effort to say something pleasant.
it takes effort (to do sth)
•It takes a lot of time and effort to get an exhibition ready.
•An automatic car takes all the effort out of driving (=it makes driving very easy).
•Frank put a lot of effort into the party.
•Visit the cathedral when you're there. It's well worth the effort (=it is definitely worth doing).
2 ATTEMPT [C,U] an attempt to do something, especially when this involves a lot of hard work or determination
make an effort (to do sth)
•I know you don't like her, but please make an effort to be polite.
•Jack has made a concerted effort (=tried hard over a long time) to improve his behaviour.
•We make every effort to satisfy clients' wishes.
•They made no effort to include us in the negotiations.
sb's effort(s) to do sth
•Tom's determined efforts to stop smoking haven't been very successful.
•Church leaders are prepared to meet the terrorists in an effort to (=in order to try to) find peace.
[+at]
•Further efforts at negotiation have broken down.
through sb's efforts (=because of their efforts)
•The money was raised largely through the efforts of parents.
•The meal was a joint effort (=it was done by two people together).
despite sb's efforts
•Despite all our efforts we lost the game 1-0.
•With a supreme effort of will Isabel forced back the tears.
3 be an effort to be difficult or painful to do:
•I was so weak that even standing up was an effort.
4 PARTICULAR SITUATION [C] work that people do to achieve something in a particular situation:
•the fundraising effort
•the international relief effort
•Everyone did what they could to support the war effort.
5 good/bad/poor etc effort something that has been done well, badly etc:
•Not a bad effort for a beginner! $
something that is effortless is done in a very skilful way that makes it seem easy:
•Alexei rose to his feet with a single effortless movement.
- effortlessly adverb
•He dived effortlessly into the turquoise water. [U] formal
rude behaviour that shocks you because it is so confident
have the effrontery to do sth
•She had the effrontery to ask me for more money. $ literary
beautiful and bright
- effulgence noun [U] [C,U]
1 technical a liquid or gas that flows out of something, or the act of flowing out:
•a massive effusion of poisonous gas
2 formal an uncontrolled expression of strong good feelings:
•He greeted the guests with effusion.
showing your good feelings in a very excited way:
•Our host gave us an effusive welcome.
[+in]
•Dotty was effusive in her thanks.
- effusively adverb
- effusiveness noun [U] [C] BrE
a picture, made by using a computer, of a person who the police think was responsible for a crime, which they show on television or the Internet in order to try and catch the person [U]
English as a Foreign Language the teaching of English to people whose first language is not English, and who do not live in an English-speaking country [C,U] technical
the abbreviation of electronic funds transfer
the abbreviation of for example :
•citrus fruits, e.g. oranges and grapefruit $
based on the belief that everyone is equal and should have equal rights:
•an egalitarian society
- egalitarianism noun [U]
1 BIRD [C] a round object with a hard surface, that contains a baby bird, snake, insect etc and which is produced by a female bird, snake, insect etc:
•Blackbirds lay their eggs in March.
•an ostrich egg
•The eggs hatch (=break open to allow the baby out) in 26 days.
2 FOOD [C,U] an egg, especially one from a chicken, that is used for food
fried/poached/boiled etc eggs
•Joe always has bacon and egg for breakfast.
•Whisk the egg white (=the white part) until stiff.
•Beat in two of the egg yolks (=the yellow part).
SCRAMBLED EGG
3 EGG SHAPE [C] something the same shape as an egg:
•a chocolate Easter egg
EASTER EGG
4 ANIMALS/PEOPLE [C] a cell produced by a woman or female animal that combines with SPERM (=male cell) to make a baby; = ovum
5 (have) egg on your face if someone, especially someone in authority, has egg on their face, they have been made to look stupid by something embarrassing:
•The Pentagon's been left with egg on its face.
6 put all your eggs in one basket to depend completely on one thing or one course of action in order to get success, so that you have no other plans if this fails:
•When planning your investments, it's unwise to put all your eggs in one basket.
7 lay an egg AmE informal to fail or be unsuccessful at something that you are trying to do
8 good egg old-fashioned someone who you can depend on to be honest, kind etc
kill the goose that lays the golden egg at KILL^1 (14); NEST EGG

PHRASAL VERBS
egg sb <=> on phr v
to encourage someone to do something, especially something that they do not want to do or should not do:
•Bob didn't want to jump, but his friends kept egging him on. [C]
a small container that holds a boiled egg while you eat it [C] informal
someone who is very intelligent, and only interested in ideas and books $ [U]
a drink made from eggs, sugar, milk, and alcohol, usually drunk at Christmas $ [C,U] AmE
a large vegetable with smooth purple skin; = aubergine BrE[C]
a SPRING ROLL [C,U]
1 the hard outside part of a bird's egg
2 a type of paint, used especially on wood, that is not shiny when dry[C]
a small glass container with sand in it that runs from one part to the other in about three or five minutes, used for measuring the time it takes to boil an egg $ plural egos [C]
1 the opinion that you have about yourself
big/enormous etc ego
•Richard has the biggest ego (=thinks he is very clever and important) of anyone I've ever met.
•That promotion really boosted her ego (=made her feel better about herself).
•I need someone to massage my bruised ego (=when you feel less confident than before).
•a fragile ego
ALTER EGO
2 technical the part of your mind with which you think and take action, according to Freudian PSYCHOLOGY; ID, superego $
thinking only about yourself and not about what other people might need or want; = self-centred
- egocentricity $ noun [C,U] $ [U]
EGOTISM
- egoist noun [C]
- egoistic $ adjective $ [C]
someone who thinks that they are very important, and does not care whether they upset other people in order to get what they want [U]
the belief that you are much better or more important than other people [C]
someone who likes to talk about how great and important they think they are
- egotistic adjective
someone who is egotistical likes to talk about how great and important they think they are:
•He's the most selfish, egotistical individual I have ever met!
- egotistically adverb[C]
if someone is on an ego trip, they think that what they do makes them more important than other people - used to show disapproval:
•Their singer's on a real ego trip. formal
an egregious mistake, failure, problem etc is extremely bad and noticeable
- egregiously adverb [U] formal law
the act of leaving a building or place, or the right to do this [C]
a bird that lives near water and has long legs and long white tail feathers
relating to Egypt or its people[C]
someone from Egypt spoken
1 BrE used when you want someone to repeat something because you did not hear it:
•Eh? She's got how many children?
2 used when you want someone to reply to you or agree with something you have said:
•Maybe teenagers aren't as clueless as everyone thought, eh?
3 BrE used when you are surprised by something that someone has said [U]
one of two important holidays in the Muslim religion $ [C]
a thick warm cover for a bed, filled with duck feathers; duvetwritten informal
a way of writing parts of words that sound like '-ate', '-eat', or '-ait', used especially in emails and TEXT MESSAGEs :
•gr8 (=great)
•I h8 (=hate) homework!
•It's 2 l8 (=too late)
1 the number 8:
•It's only eight days till Christmas.
•They woke at eight (=eight o'clock).
•My parents died when I was eight (=eight years old).
2 [C] a team of eight people who row a racing boat, or the boat that they row
the number 18:
•At least eighteen bullets were fired.
•Jim was eighteen (=18 years old).
- eighteenth adjective, pron
•in the eighteenth century
•her eighteenth birthday
•I'm planning to leave on the eighteenth (=the 18th day of the month).
coming after seven other things in a series:
•in the eighth century
•her eighth birthday
- eighth pron
•I'm planning to leave on the eighth (=the eighth day of the month).[C]
one of eight equal parts of something[C] AmE technical
a musical note that continues for an eighth of the length of a WHOLE NOTE; = quaver BrE
1 the number 80
2 the eighties [plural] also the '80s, the 1980s the years from 1980 to 1989:
•The band was incredibly successful in the eighties.
the early/mid/late eighties
•Their troubles began in the mid eighties.
3 be in your eighties to be aged between 80 and 89
early/mid/late eighties
•Hilda Simpson was a woman in her early eighties.
4 in the eighties if the temperature is in the eighties, it is between 80 degrees and 89 degrees
in the low/mid/high eighties
•The temperature is expected to remain in the low eighties.
- eightieth adjective
•her eightieth birthday $ [C]
an event in Wales at which there are competitions in singing, poetry, and music $
either ... or
a) used to begin a list of two or more possibilities:
•You add either one or two cloves of garlic.
•She's the kind of person you either love or hate.
see box at ALSO
b) used to say that if one thing does not happen then something else will have to:
•It's your choice! Either she leaves or I will!
•£75 seems a lot to pay for a starter motor, but it's either that or a new car!
c) an either-or situation a situation in which you cannot avoid having to make a decision or choice
1 one or the other of two things or people; any
•There's tea or coffee - you can have either.
•We can offer a comfortable home to a young person of either sex.
[+of]
•Could either of you lend me five pounds?
2 used to show that a negative statement is true about both of two things or people; neither
•I've lived in New York and Chicago, but don't like either city very much.
[+of]
•There were two witnesses but I wouldn't trust either of them.
3 either side/end/hand etc both sides, ends, hands etc; = each
•He sat in the back of the car with a policeman on either side.
•There are shops at either end of the street.
4 either way
a) used to say that something will be the same whichever of two things happens or is true:
•You can get to Edinburgh by train or plane, but either way it's very expensive.
b) more or less than a certain amount or measurement:
•A few marks either way can make the difference between a pass and a fail.
c) used to say that someone or something does not firmly support or want either one of two things:
•'All right, let's do that,' said Camille, who didn't care either way.
5 could go either way if a situation could go either way, both possible results are equally likely:
•The latest opinion poll suggests the vote could go either way.
1 [in negatives] used to show that a negative statement is also true about another thing or person, or to add a different negative statement about something or someone; neither
•I haven't seen the movie and my brother hasn't either (=he also has not seen it).
•'I can't swim.' 'I can't, either.'
•It's not an easy car to drive , and at $40,000 it's not cheap either.
2 me either AmE spoken used to say that a negative statement is also true about you:
•'I don't have any money right now.' 'Me either.' [I,T]
1 when a man ejaculates, SEMEN comes out of his PENIS
2 old-fashioned or literary to suddenly shout or say something, especially because you are surprised
- ejaculation noun [C,U]
1 [T] to make someone leave a place or building by using force
eject sb from sth
•The demonstrators were ejected from the hall.
2 [T] to make someone leave a job or position very quickly
eject sb from sth
•420 workers have been ejected from their jobs with no warning.
3 [T] to suddenly send something out:
•Two engines cut out and the plane started to eject fuel as it lost height.
4 [I] if a pilot ejects, he or she escapes from a plane, using an ejector seat because it is going to crash
5 [I,T] if you eject a TAPE or DISK, or if it ejects, it comes out of a machine after you have pressed a particular button
- ejection noun [C,U]ejection seat AmE [C] BrE
a special seat that throws the pilot out of a plane when it is going to crash

PHRASAL VERBS
eke sth <=> out phr v
1 eke out a living/existence to manage to live with very little money or food:
•They eke out a miserable existence in cardboard shacks.
2 to make a small supply of something such as food or money last longer by carefully using small amounts of it:
•How did Mum manage to eke out the food when we were kids? [C] AmE
ECG
1 having a lot of small parts or details put together in a complicated way:
•pure silks embroidered with elaborate patterns
2 carefully planned and organized in great detail:
•a very elaborate telecommunications network
- elaborately adverb
•an elaborately carved wooden statue
[I,T] to give more details or new information about something:
•He said he had new evidence, but refused to elaborate any further.
[+on]
•McDonald refused to elaborate on his reasons for resigning.
- elaboration noun [C,U] $ [U] literary
a style that is full of energy and confidence:
•The attack was planned and led with great élan. [I not in progressive]
formal if a particular period of time elapses, it passes:
•Several months elapsed before his case was brought to trial.
•The assignment must be completed within an overall elapsed time of one week. [U]
a type of rubber material that can stretch and then return to its usual length or size:
•The ball was attached to the bat with a piece of elastic.
1 made of elastic:
•an elastic cord
2 a material that is elastic can stretch and then go back to its usual length or size:
•the horny elastic pad in a horse's hoof
3 a system or plan that is elastic can change or be changed easily:
•Demand for this type of holiday will probably be fairly elastic.
4 AmE if a piece of clothing is elastic, it is made with material that can stretch:
•children's pants with an elastic waist BrE
if a piece of clothing is elasticated, it is made with material that can stretch:
•skirts with elasticated waists[C]
BrE a thin circular piece of rubber used for fastening things together; = rubber band [U]
1 the ability of something to stretch and go back to its usual length or size:
•the skin's natural elasticity
2 elasticity of demand technical the degree to which a change in the price of something leads to a change in the amount of it that is sold $ [C,U] trademark BrE
a piece of thin material that is stuck to the skin to cover cuts and other small wounds; = Band-Aid AmE
extremely happy and excited, especially because of something that has happened or is going to happen:
•He felt elated and mildly drunk.
[+at/by]
•She was elated at the prospect of a holiday. [U]
a feeling of great happiness and excitement $ [C]
1 the joint where your arm bends
2 the part of a shirt etc that covers your elbow
3 elbow grease informal hard work and effort, especially when cleaning or polishing something
4 give sb the elbow BrE informal to tell someone that you no longer like them or want them to work for you and that they should leave
5 elbow room enough space in which to move easily:
•There's more elbow room in the restaurant since they extended it.
6 a curved part of a pipe
rub elbows with sb at RUB^1 (5)[T]
to push someone with your elbows, especially in order to move past them
elbow your way through/past/into etc sth (=move through a group of people by pushing past them)
•He elbowed his way to the bar and ordered a beer.
•She pushed through the crowd, elbowing people out of the way. $ especially BrE
the elder of two people, especially brothers and sisters, is the one who was born first
elder brother/son/sister/daughter etc
•His elder son Liam became a lawyer.
•Sarah is the elder of the two.
!! It is more usual to say older.[C]
1 be sb's elder formal to be older than someone else
be two/ten etc years sb's elder
•Janet's sister was eight years her elder.
2 sb's elders (and betters) people who are older than you and who you should respect
3 a member of a tribe or other social group who is important and respected because they are old:
•a meeting of the village elders
4 someone who has an official position of responsibility in some Christian churches
5 elder abuse the crime of harming an old person
6 a small wild tree that has white flowers and black BERRIES $ plural elderberries [C]
the fruit of the elder tree $
1 used as a polite way of saying that someone is old or becoming old:
•a well-dressed elderly woman
2 the elderly people who are old:
•a retirement village for the elderly[C]
someone old and respected, especially a politician, who people ask for advice because of his or her knowledge and experience especially BrE
the eldest of a group of people, especially brothers and sisters, is the one who was born first; old
eldest son/daughter/brother/child etc
•My eldest daughter is 17.
•He was the eldest of six children. [T usually passive]
1 to choose someone for an official position by voting:
•the country's first democratically elected government
•a new method for electing the leader of the party
elect sb to sth
•He was elected to a US state governorship.
elect sb (as) president/leader/mayor etc
•In 1768, John Wilkes was elected as their Member of Parliament.
2 elect to do sth formal to choose to do something:
•You can elect to delete the message or save it.
president-elect/governor-elect/prime minister-elect etc the person who has been elected as president etc, but who has not yet officially started their job
1 [C] when people vote to choose someone for an official position:
•The Labour Party won the 2001 election by a huge majority.
• Elections will be held on 14 February.
local/municipal/state/national election
•He will be fighting local elections next May.
presidential/mayoral/parliamentary etc election
•The next presidential election is due in two years.
stand for election BrE
•She was one of the first women to stand for election to parliament.
run for election
2 [singular] the fact of being elected to an official position:
•Within three months of his election he was forced to resign.
sb's election to sth
•his election to Parliament
see also GENERAL ELECTION $ [U]
speeches and other activities that are intended to persuade people to vote for a particular person or political party formal
1 an elective position or organization is one for which there is an election:
•the 34 elective seats in the National Assembly
2 elective medical treatment is treatment that you choose to have, although you do not have to:
• elective surgery such as hip replacements
3 AmE an elective course is one that students can choose to take, although they do not have to take it in order to GRADUATE[C]
AmE a course that students can choose to take, but they do not have to take it in order to GRADUATE $ [C]
someone who has the right to vote in an election:
•Over 36% of electors did not vote at all. [only before noun]
relating to elections and voting:
•Our electoral system strongly favours two-party government.
•a campaign for electoral reform
- electorally adverb
the Electoral College a group of people chosen by the votes of the people in each US state, who come together to elect the President, or a similar group in other countriesalso electoral roll [C]
an official list of the people who are allowed to vote in an election [singular]
all the people in a country who have the right to vote:
•A majority of the electorate oppose the law.
1 needing electricity to work, produced by electricity, or used for carrying electricity
electric light/kettle/cooker etc
•the heat from a small electric fire
electric current/power/charge (=a flow of electricity)
•an electric blanket (=one with electric wires in it, used for making a bed warm)
2 making people feel very excited:
•The atmosphere in the courtroom was electric.
1 relating to electricity:
•The fire was caused by an electrical fault.
•an electrical engineer (=a person who designs and makes electrical equipment)
2 using electricity
electrical equipment/goods/appliances etc
- electrically adverbalso electric storm [C]
a violent storm with a lot of LIGHTNING[U]
a very bright blue colour
- electric blue adjective[C usually singular]
a chair in which criminals are killed using electricity, especially in the US, in order to punish them for murder:
•He faces death by the electric chair in a Florida state prison. [C]
someone whose job is to connect or repair electrical wires or equipment [U]
1 the power that is carried by wires, CABLEs etc, and is used to provide light or heat, to make machines work etc:
•The farm was very isolated, but it had electricity.
•the electricity supply
•the electricity bill
2 a feeling of excitement [plural]
BrE the parts of a machine that use electrical power[C]
a sudden shock to your body, caused by electricity[U]
a method of treatment for mental illness that involves sending electricity through someone's brain; = ECT past tense and past participle electrified, present participle electrifying, third person singular electrifies [T]
1 if a performance or a speech electrifies people, it makes them feel very interested or excited:
•She would sit at the piano and sing, electrifying us all.
2 to change a railway so that it uses electrical power, or to supply a building or area with electricity:
•The west coast main line has been electrified.
- electrifying adjective
- electrified adjective
•electrified fences
- electrification noun [U] $ technical
1 relating to electricity or made to work by electricity:
•electrocute (=to hurt or kill someone by electricity)
•an electromagnet
2 electric and something else:
•electro-chemical $ [C] technical
an ECG (2) $ [C] technical
an ECG (1)[U]
ELECTRIC SHOCK THERAPY [T usually passive]
1 BrE if someone is electrocuted, they are injured or killed by electricity passing through their body:
•Last week a housewife was electrocuted by her washing machine.
2 to kill someone using electricity
- electrocution noun [U] $ [C]
a small piece of metal or a wire that is used to send electricity through a system or through a person's body:
•The monkeys have electrodes implanted into the brain to measure their brain activity. $ [C]
technical an EEG (2) $ [C]
technical an EEG (1) $ [U]
1 technical the process of separating a liquid into its chemical parts by passing an electric current through it
2 the process of using electricity to destroy hair roots and to remove unwanted hairs from your face etc [C] technical
a liquid that allows electricity to pass through it $ [C]
a piece of metal that becomes MAGNETIC (=able to attract metal objects) when an electric current is turned on $ [U]
technical a force relating to electric and MAGNETIC FIELDs , or the study of this force
- electromagnetic $ adjective $ [C]
a very small piece of matter with a negative electrical CHARGE that moves around the NUCLEUS (=central part) of an atom; proton, neutron $
1 electronic equipment, such as computers and televisions, uses electricity that has passed through computer CHIPs TRANSISTORs , etc:
•electronic games
•an electronic organizer (=a small piece of electronic equipment that you can use to record addresses, phone numbers etc)
2 using or produced by electronic equipment:
•electronic music
•electronic banking
•electronic publishing (=a system of producing books, magazines etc in a form that can be read on a computer)
- electronically adverb
•electronically controlled gates
•The information is recorded electronically. $ [U]
a general word for various different types of electronic dance and listening music; drum 'n' bass, house music, techno, trance[U]
a service provided by banks that allows people to pay money from one account to another, pay bills etc using the Internet; = e-banking[U]
money that can be used to buy things on the Internet, but that does not exist in a physical form or belong to any particular country[U] technical
EDI a way for companies and banks to send information to each other by computer using an agreed FORMAT so that the company receiving the documents can easily read them on their computer and print them out on paper[C,U]
EFT when money is moved from one bank account, business etc to another using only computer systems[U]
EMAIL[U]
money that can be used to buy things on the Internet, but that does not exist in a physical form or belong to any particular country[C]
a small piece of electronic equipment that you can use to record addresses, telephone numbers, dates of meetings etc[U]
the business of producing books, magazines, or newspapers that are designed to be read using a computer $
1 [U] the study or industry of making equipment, such as computers and televisions, that work electronically
electronics company/industry/firm etc
•an electronics engineer
2 [plural] electronic equipment:
•the market for consumer electronics[C]
a type of CODE that is used in an electronic document to prove who wrote it[U]
a system of attaching a small piece of electronic equipment to a criminal, which allows the police to know where he or she is[U]
a service provided by AIRLINEs that allows people to buy their tickets on the Internet and usually does not give them tickets in the form of paper[C]
a very powerful MICROSCOPE (=scientific instrument used for looking at small objects) that uses ELECTRONs instead of light to make things look larger $ [T usually passive]
to put a very thin layer of metal onto the surface of an object, using ELECTROLYSIS
1 beautiful, attractive, or graceful:
•a tall, elegant young woman
•You can dine in elegant surroundings.
2 an idea or a plan that is elegant is very intelligent yet simple:
•an elegant solution to the problem
- elegantly adverb
- elegance noun [U]
•the style and elegance of the designs literary
showing that you feel sad about someone who has died or something that no longer exists:
•He spoke of his childhood in elegiac tones. plural elegies [C]
a sad poem or song, especially about someone who has died; eulogy [C]
1 PART one part or feature of a whole system, plan, piece of work etc, especially one that is basic or important
[+of]
•Honesty is a vital element of her success.
[+in]
•the primary element in the country's economy
important/key/essential/vital etc element
•Besides ability, the other essential element in political success is luck.
•Business and management elements are built into the course.
2 element of surprise/truth/risk/doubt etc an amount, usually small, of a quality or feeling:
•There is an element of truth in your argument.
3 CHEMISTRY a simple chemical substance such as CARBON or oxygen that consists of atoms of only one kind
COMPOUND^1 (1)
4 PEOPLE a group of people who form part of a larger group, especially when the rest of the group does not approve of them; faction
•the hard-line communist elements in the party
5 the elements [plural] the weather, especially bad weather:
•sailors battling against the elements
6 HEATING the part of a piece of electrical equipment that produces heat
7 the elements of sth the most simple things that you have to learn first about a subject:
•She doesn't even know the basic elements of politeness.
8 EARTH/AIR/FIRE/WATER one of the four substances (earth, air, fire, and water) from which people used to believe that everything was made
9 be in your element to be in a situation that you enjoy, because you are good at it:
•Graham was in his element, building a fire and cooking the steaks.
10 be out of your element to be in a situation that makes you uncomfortable or unhappy:
•She was out of her element in this dull little town.
1 simple, basic, and important:
•Love and fear are two of the most elemental human emotions.
2 technical existing as a simple chemical element that has not been combined with anything else:
•elemental sulphur
1 simple or basic:
•the elementary principles of justice and democracy
•You've made a very elementary mistake.
2 [only before noun] concerning the first and easiest part of a subject; intermediate, advanced
•I'm only familiar with the subject at an elementary level.
•I know a little elementary science.
3 [only before noun] AmE relating to elementary school; = primary BrE
• elementary education[C]
technical one of the types of pieces of matter including ELECTRONs , PROTONs , and NEUTRONs that make up atoms[C]
a school in the US where basic subjects are taught for the first six years of a child's education [C]
a very large grey animal with four legs, two TUSKs (=long curved teeth) and a TRUNK (=long nose) that it can use to pick things up
WHITE ELEPHANT $ formal
slow, heavy, and awkward, like an elephant:
•elephantine footsteps [T]
1 formal to move someone or something to a more important level or rank, or make them better than before:
•Language has elevated humans above the other animals.
elevate sb/sth to sth
•Their purpose is to elevate AIDS to the top of government priorities.
2 technical to lift someone or something to a higher position:
•Gradually elevate the patient into an upright position.
3 technical to increase the amount, temperature, pressure etc of something:
•These drugs may elevate acid levels in the blood.
1 elevated thoughts, words etc seem to be intelligent or of high moral standard:
•elevated philosophical language
2 [only before noun] an elevated position or rank is very important and respected
3 raised off the ground or higher up than other things:
•The train runs on an elevated track.
4 formal elevated levels, temperatures etc are higher than normal:
•elevated blood sugar levelselevated railroad AmE [C] BrE
a railway that is above the streets in a town formal
making you feel interested in intelligent or moral subjects - sometimes used humorously:
•The lecture was an exciting and elevating experience.
1 [singular] a height above the level of the sea
[+of]
•The road climbs steadily to an elevation of 1400 feet.
2 [U] formal an act of moving someone to a more important rank or position
[+to]
•her sudden elevation to international stardom
3 [C,U] formal an increase in the amount or level of something:
•a sudden elevation of blood pressure
4 [C] technical an upright side of a building, as shown in a drawing done by an ARCHITECT (=person who plans buildings):
•the front elevation of a house
5 [C] technical the angle made with the HORIZON by pointing a gun:
•The cannon was fired at an elevation of 60 degrees. $ [C]
1 AmE a machine that takes people and goods from one level to another in a building; = lift BrE
•We'll have to take the elevator.
2 a machine with a moving belt and containers, used for lifting grain and liquids, or for taking things off ships[U] informal
the type of music that is played in shops and public places, and is usually thought to be boring
1 the number 11:
•She was sent to jail for eleven months.
•I never go to bed before eleven (=11 o'clock).
•James had worked every summer since he was eleven (=11 years old).
2 [C] a team of 11 players in football or CRICKET:
•He plays regularly in the first eleven (=the best team of 11 players).also 11-plus [singular]
an examination that all children in Britain used to take at the age of 11 in order to decide what kind of SECONDARY SCHOOL they should go to. In some areas, children still take this examination. [U] BrE old-fashioned
a cup of coffee or tea and a BISCUIT, that you have in the middle of the morning
1 coming after ten other things in a series:
•in the eleventh century
•her eleventh birthday
2 the eleventh hour the last moment before something important happens:
•At the eleventh hour the government decided that something had to be done.
- eleventh pron
•I'm planning to leave on the eleventh (=the 11th day of the month).[C]
one of eleven equal parts of something plural elves [C]
an imaginary creature like a small person with pointed ears and magical powers; fairy, pixie
someone who looks elfin is small and delicate:
•She had an elfin face and wide grey eyes. [T]
to succeed in getting information or a reaction from someone, especially when this is difficult:
•When her knock elicited no response, she opened the door and peeped in.
elicit sth from sb
•The test uses pictures to elicit words from the child.
- elicitation noun [U] [T] technical
to leave out the sound of a letter or of a part of a word:
•Most English speakers elide the first 'd' in 'Wednesday.'
- elision noun [C,U]
1 someone who is eligible for something is able or allowed to do it, for example because they are the right age
[+for]
•Students on a part-time course are not eligible for a loan.
eligible to do sth
•Over 500,000 18-year-olds will become eligible to vote this year.
2 [only before noun] an eligible man or woman would be good to marry because they are rich, attractive, and not married:
•Stephen was regarded as an eligible bachelor.
- eligibility noun [U] [T]
1 to completely get rid of something that is unnecessary or unwanted
eliminate a need/possibility/risk/problem etc
•The credit card eliminates the need for cash or cheques.
•The teacher should try to eliminate the possibility that the child has a hearing defect.
eliminate sth/sb from sth
•Fatty foods should be eliminated from the diet.
2 [usually passive] to defeat a team or person in a competition, so that they no longer take part in it:
•Our team was eliminated in the first round.
3 to kill someone in order to prevent them from causing trouble:
•a ruthless dictator who eliminated all his rivals
4 eliminate sb from your enquiries BrE if the police eliminate someone from their enquiries, they decide that that person did not commit a particular crime [U]
1 REMOVAL OF STH the removal or destruction of something
[+of]
•the elimination of lead in petrol
2 DEFEAT the defeat of a team or player in a competition, so that they may no longer take part
3 KILLING the act of killing someone, especially to prevent them from causing trouble
[+of]
•The killings are part of a campaign of elimination of the political opposition.
4 BODY PROCESS technical the process of getting rid of substances that your body no longer needs
[+of]
•the elimination of toxins from the body
process of elimination at PROCESS^1 (6) [C]
a group of people who have a lot of power and influence because they have money, knowledge, or special skills
political/social/economic etc elite
•the domination of power by a small political elite
•a struggle for power within the ruling elite
an elite group contains the best, most skilled or most experienced people or members of a larger group:
•an elite group of artists
•elite universities
an elitist system, government etc is one in which a small group of people have more power and advantages than other people:
•an elitist education system
- elitism noun [U]
- elitist noun [C] $
1 [C] literary a magical liquid that is supposed to cure people of illness, make them younger etc:
•the search for the elixir of life
2 [C] something that is supposed to solve problems as if by magic:
•The current new wave of technology should prove an economic elixir.
relating to the period 1558-1603 when Elizabeth I was queen of England:
•Elizabethan drama
- Elizabethan noun [C]
•The Earl of Essex was a famous Elizabethan. plural elk [C]
1 BrE a very large brown North American, European, and Asian animal with wide flat horns; = moose AmE
2 AmE a large North American DEER [C]
a curved shape like a circle, but with two slightly longer and flatter sides; oval plural ellipses technical
1 [C,U] when words are deliberately left out of a sentence, though the meaning can still be understood. For example, you may say 'He's leaving but I'm not' instead of saying 'He's leaving but I'm not leaving.'
2 [C] the sign (...) used in writing to show that some words have deliberately been left out of a sentencealso elliptic
1 having the shape of an ellipse:
•Kepler published his discovery of the elliptical orbits of planets in 1609.
2 elliptical speech or writing is difficult to understand because more is meant than is actually said:
•The language is often elliptical and ambiguous. [C,U]
a type of large tree with broad leaves, or the wood from this tree [U]
good clear speaking in public, involving voice control, pronunciation etc:
• elocution lessons
- elocutionary adjective
- elocutionist noun [C] $ [I,T]
to become longer, or make something longer than normal:
•Her legs were elongated by the very high heels which she wore.
- elongation $ noun [C,U] $
longer than normal:
•The picture shows two elongated figures dancing. $ [I]
to leave your home secretly in order to get married:
•My parents didn't approve of the marriage, so we eloped.
- elopement noun [C,U]
1 able to express your ideas and opinions well, especially in a way that influences people:
•an eloquent appeal for support
2 showing a feeling or meaning without using words:
•The photographs are an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war.
- eloquently adverb
- eloquence noun [U]
1 [used after words beginning with 'some-', 'every-', 'any-', and 'no-', and after question words]
a) besides or in addition to someone or something:
•There's something else I'd like to talk about as well.
•I'd like you to come, and anyone else who's free.
•He was awake now, as was everyone else.
•Who else was at the party?
•'Two coffees, please.' 'Anything else?' 'No, thanks.'
• Above all else (=more than any other things) she was seeking love.
b) used to talk about a different person, thing, place etc:
•He went to live with another woman.
•I'd like to live anywhere else but here.
•If I can't trust you, who else can I trust?
2 or else spoken
a) used to say that there will be a bad result if someone does not do something:
•Hurry up or else we'll miss the train.
b) used to say what another possibility might be:
•The salesman will reduce the price or else include free insurance.
c) used to threaten someone:
•Hand over the money, or else!
see box at UNLESS
3 BrE spoken used after a question word to say that the thing, person, or place you have mentioned is the only one possible:
•'What are you doing?' 'Waiting for you, what else?'
4 what else can sb do/say? spoken used to say that it is impossible to do or say anything apart from what has been mentioned:
•'Will you really sell the house? ' 'What else can I do? I can't live here.'
see also if nothing else at NOTHING^1 (11)
be something else at SOMETHING (9) $
in, at, or to another place:
•She is becoming famous in Australia and elsewhere.
•Kerala has less crime and alcoholism than elsewhere in India. [U]
especially BrE English Language Teaching the teaching of the English language to people whose first language is not English [I,T]
formal to explain something that is difficult to understand by providing more information:
•The full picture has not yet been elucidated.
- elucidation noun [C,U]
- elucidatory $ adjective [T]
1 to escape from someone or something, especially by tricking them; = avoid
•He managed to elude his pursuers by escaping into a river.
2 if something that you want eludes you, you fail to find or achieve it:
•She took the exam again, but again success eluded her.
3 if a fact or the answer to a problem eludes you, you cannot remember or solve it; = escape
•The exact terminology eludes me for the moment.
1 an elusive person or animal is difficult to find or not often seen:
•She managed to get an interview with that elusive man.
2 an elusive result is difficult to achieve:
•She enjoys a firm reputation in this country but wider international success has been elusive.
3 an elusive idea or quality is difficult to describe or understand:
•For me, the poem has an elusive quality.
- elusively adverb
- elusiveness noun [U]
the plural of ELF spoken
sometimes used as a short form of 'them':
•Go on, Bill, you tell 'em!
the form used for EN- before b, m, or p:
•embittered (=made to feel extremely disappointed)
•empowerment (=when someone is given control of something)
extremely thin from lack of food or illness:
•The prisoners were ill and emaciated.
- emaciation noun [U]e-mail
1 [U] a system that allows you to send and receive messages by computer; = electronic mail
•contact someone by email
•your email address
2 [C,U] a message that is sent from one person to another using the email system:
•Send me an e-mail when you have any news.
•I haven't had time to check my email this morning.e-mail [T]
1 to send someone an email:
•Will you e-mail me about it?
2 to send someone a document using email:
•Can you email me the proposal by the end of today?
[T] formal to produce a smell, light etc, or to show a particular quality:
•He emanates tranquility.

PHRASAL VERBS
emanate from sth phr v formal
to come from or out of something:
•Wonderful smells were emanating from the kitchen.
- emanation noun [C,U] [T]
formal to give someone the political or legal rights that they did not have before:
•Slaves were emancipated in 1834.
- emancipation noun [U]
1 socially, politically, or legally free
2 old-fashioned an emancipated woman is not influenced by old-fashioned ideas about how women should behave [T]
1 to make a man feel weaker and less male:
•Some men feel emasculated if they work for a woman.
2 to make someone or something weaker or less effective:
•The bill has been emasculated by Congress.
3 medical to remove all or part of a male's sex organs; = castrate
- emasculation noun [U] $ [T]
to treat a dead body with chemicals, oils etc to prevent it from decaying
- embalmer noun [C] [C]
a wide wall of earth or stones built to stop water from flooding an area, or to support a road or railway $ plural embargoes [C]
an official order to stop trade with another country; = boycott, sanctions
[+on/against]
•an embargo on wheat exports
•an embargo against the country
impose/lift an embargo (=start or end one)
•Many allies are pushing to lift the embargo.
trade/arms/oil etc embargo[T]
1 to officially stop particular goods being traded with another country; = boycott
•Several countries embargoed arms shipments to Yugoslavia.
2 to stop information from being made public until a particular date or until permission is given; = censor $ [I,T]
to go onto a ship or a plane, or to put or take something onto a ship or plane; disembark

PHRASAL VERBS
embark on/upon sth phr v
to start something, especially something new, difficult, or exciting:
•He embarked on a new career as a teacher.
- embarkation $ noun [C,U] [T]
1 to make someone feel ashamed, nervous, or uncomfortable, especially in front of other people:
•He didn't want to embarrass her by asking questions.
2 to do something that causes problems for a government, political organization, or politician, and makes them look bad:
•The revelations in the press have embarrassed the government.
1 feeling nervous and uncomfortable and worrying about what people think of you, for example because you have to talk or sing in public, or because you have made a silly mistake:
•Lori gets embarrassed if we ask her to sing.
•He looked embarrassed when I asked him where he'd been.
very/deeply/highly/acutely embarrassed
•Michelle was acutely embarrassed (=very embarrassed) at having to ask for money.
embarrassed smile/laugh/grin etc
•Ken gave her an embarrassed grin.
•There was an embarrassed silence.
embarrassed to do sth
•He was embarrassed to admit making a mistake.
[+about/at]
•I felt embarrassed about how untidy the house was.
2 financially embarrassed having no money or having debts

WORD FOCUS: embarrassed
similar words:
uncomfortable
awkward
sheepish
red-faced
very embarrassed:
mortified

making you feel ashamed, nervous, or uncomfortable:
•She asked a lot of embarrassing questions.
•an embarrassing situation
[+for]
•This incident is deeply embarrassing for the government.
- embarrassingly adverb
•an embarrassingly poor performance
1 [U] the feeling you have when you are embarrassed
[+at]
•She suffered extreme embarrassment at not knowing how to read.
•He could not hide his embarrassment at his children's rudeness.
to sb's embarrassment
•To her embarrassment, she couldn't remember his name.
2 [C] an event that causes a government, political organization etc problems, and makes it look bad
[+to/for]
•The allegations have been an acute embarrassment (=serious and severe embarrassment) to the Prime Minister.
•The scandal was a further source of embarrassment to the government.
3 [C] someone who behaves in a way that makes you feel ashamed, nervous, or uncomfortable
[+to]
•Tim's drinking has made him an embarrassment to the whole family.
4 financial embarrassment debts or a lack of money that causes problems for you
5 an embarrassment of riches so many good things that it is difficult to decide which one you want plural embassies [C]
a group of officials who represent their government in a foreign country, or the building they work in:
•the American Embassy in Paris formal
1 [only before noun] an embattled person, organization etc has many problems or difficulties:
•The embattled president had to resign.
2 surrounded by enemies, especially in war or fighting:
•The embattled army finally surrendered. past tense and past participle embedded, present participle embedding
1 [I,T usually passive] to put something firmly and deeply into something else, or to be put into something in this way
be embedded in sth
•A piece of glass was embedded in her hand.
2 [T usually passive] if ideas, attitudes, or feelings etc are embedded, you believe or feel them very strongly:
•Feelings of guilt are deeply embedded in her personality.
3 [T] to put something such as a GRAPHIC into a computer program or page on the Internet [T]
1 to make something more beautiful by adding decorations to it
embellish sth with sth
•The dress was embellished with gold threads.
2 to make a story or statement more interesting by adding details that are not true:
•She gave an embellished account of what had happened.
- embellishment noun [C,U] $ [C usually plural]
a piece of wood or coal that stays red and very hot after a fire has stopped burning:
•glowing embers [I,T]
to steal money from the place where you work:
•Two managers were charged with embezzling $400,000.
- embezzlement noun [U]
- embezzler noun [C] $
angry, sad, or full of hate because of bad or unfair things that have happened to you; = bitter
•a sick, embittered, and lonely old man
- embitter verb [T] [not before noun]
if something is emblazoned with a name, design etc, it has that design on it where it can easily be seen
[+with]
•a T-shirt emblazoned with a political slogan
[+on/across]
•The sponsor's name is emblazoned on the players' shirts.
- emblazon verb [T] [C]
1 a picture, shape, or object that is used to represent a country, organization etc; logo
[+of]
•The national emblem of Canada is a maple leaf.
2 something that represents an idea, principle, or situation
[+of]
•Expensive cars are seen as an emblem of success. formal
seeming to represent or be a sign of something; = representative
[+of]
•The Vespa scooter became emblematic of sophisticated urban culture across Europe. $
the embodiment of sth someone or something that represents or is very typical of an idea or quality; = epitome
•He is the embodiment of evil. $ past tense and past participle embodied, present participle embodying, third person singular embodies [T]
1 to be a very good example of an idea or quality; = represent
•She embodies everything I admire in a teacher.
2 formal to include something:
•The latest model embodies many new improvements. $ [T]
formal to give someone more courage:
•Emboldened by her smile, he asked her to dance. [C]
medical something such as a hard mass of blood or a small amount of air that blocks a tube carrying blood through the body $
having a surface that is decorated with a raised pattern
[+with]
•She was given a Bible embossed with her name.
•embossed stationery
- emboss verb [T]
1 [I,T] to put your arms around someone and hold them in a friendly or loving way; = hug
•Jack warmly embraced his son.
•Maggie and Laura embraced.
2 [T] formal to eagerly accept a new idea, opinion, religion etc:
•We hope these regions will embrace democratic reforms.
•Most West European countries have embraced the concept of high-speed rail networks with enthusiasm.
3 [T] formal to include something as part of a subject, discussion etc:
•This course embraces several different aspects of psychology.[C]
the act of holding someone close to you, especially as a sign of love
in an embrace
•They held each other in a tender embrace. $
1 [I,T] to decorate cloth by sewing a pattern, picture, or words on it with coloured threads
embroider sth with sth
•The dress was embroidered with flowers.
embroider sth on sth
•A colourful design was embroidered on the sleeve of the shirt.
•a richly embroidered jacket
2 [T] to make a story or report of events more interesting or exciting by adding details that are not true; = embellish plural embroideries
1 [C,U] a pattern sewn onto cloth, or cloth with patterns sewn onto it
2 [U] the act of sewing patterns onto cloth
3 [U] imaginary details that are added to make a story seem more interesting or exciting; = embellishment [T]
to involve someone or something in a difficult situation
embroil sb/sth in sth
•I became embroiled in an argument with the taxi driver. $ plural embryos [C]
1 an animal or human that has not yet been born, and has just begun to develop; foetus
2 in embryo at a very early stage of development:
•The system already exists in embryo. $ [U]
the scientific study of embryos
- embryologist noun [C] $
1 at a very early stage of development:
•The plans are still only in embryonic form.
2 relating to an EMBRYO:
•embryonic development
•embryonic cells [C] AmE
master of ceremonies someone who introduces the performers on a television or radio programme or at a social event:
•a game show emcee
- emcee verb [I,T] [T] formal
to remove the mistakes from something that has been written; amend
- emendation noun [C,U]
1 [C] a valuable bright green stone that is often used in jewellery
2 [U] a bright green colour
- emerald adjective $ [I]
1 to appear or come out from somewhere:
•The flowers emerge in the spring.
[+from]
•The sun emerged from behind the clouds.
2 if facts emerge, they become known after being hidden or secret; come out
•Eventually the truth emerged.
•Later it emerged that the judge had employed an illegal immigrant.
3 to come out of a difficult experience
[+from]
•She emerged from the divorce a stronger person.
4 to begin to be known or noticed:
•a religious sect that emerged in the 1830s
[+as]
•Local government has recently emerged as a major issue. $ [U]
1 when something begins to be known or noticed
[+of]
•the emergence of Japan as a world leader
2 when someone or something comes out of a difficult experience
[+from]
•the company's emergence from bankruptcy $ plural emergencies [C,U]
an unexpected and dangerous situation that must be dealt with immediately; crisis
•Lifeguards are trained to deal with emergencies.
in an emergency
•The staff need to know what to do in an emergency.
• In case of emergency, press the alarm button.
emergency exit/supplies etc (=used in an emergency)
•$500,000 of emergency aid for the victims of the earthquake
•The plane had to make an emergency landing.
•The government called an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis.
STATE OF EMERGENCY[C]
AmE a piece of equipment in a car that you pull up with your hand to stop the car from moving; = handbrake[C] AmE
a chain that a passenger pulls to stop a train in an emergency; = communication cord BrE[C]
AmE a part of a hospital that immediately helps people who have been hurt in an accident or who are extremely ill; = ER; = casualty BrE[plural]
BrE official organizations such as the police or the fire service, that deal with crime, fires, and injuries $ [only before noun]
in the early stages of existence or development:
•the emergent nations of the world $ [only before noun]
in an early state of development:
•the country's emerging oil industry
emeritus professor/director etc or professor/director etc emeritus a PROFESSOR, director etc who is no longer working but has kept his or her previous job title as an honour [U]
a very hard mineral that is used for polishing things and making them smooth[C]
a narrow piece of stiff paper with emery on it, used for shaping your nails [C]
medical something that you eat or drink in order to make yourself VOMIT (=bring up food from your stomach)
- emetic adjective [C]
someone who leaves their own country to live in another; immigrant [I]
to leave your own country in order to live in another country; immigrate
[+to/from]
•He emigrated to Australia as a young man.
- emigration noun [C,U] [C] formal
someone who leaves their own country to live in another, usually for political reasons:
•Russian émigrés living in Paris
1 [U] the quality of being famous and important
of great/such etc eminence
•a scientist of great eminence
2 Your/His Eminence a title used when talking to or about a CARDINAL (=priest of high rank in the Roman Catholic Church)
3 [C] literary a hill or area of high ground $ plural eminences grises [C]
someone who has unofficial power, often secretly, through someone else:
•Borusa had no wish to become president, instead preferring to operate as an eminence grise behind the scenes.
an eminent person is famous, important, and respected:
•an eminent lawyer[U]
law the right of the US government to take private land for public use formal
completely and without a doubt - use this to show approval:
•Woods is eminently suitable for the job. $ [C]
a Muslim ruler, especially in Asia and parts of Africa:
•the Emir of Kuwait $ [C]
the country ruled by an emir, or his position $ plural emissaries [C]
someone who is sent with an official message or to do official work; = envoy
•Japan is sending two emissaries to Washington to discuss trade issues.
1 [C usually plural] a gas or other substance that is sent into the air:
•Britain has agreed to cut emissions of nitrogen oxide from power stations.
2 [U] the act of sending out light, heat, gas etc past tense and past participle emitted, present participle emitting [T]
to send out gas, heat, light, sound etc:
•The kettle emitted a shrill whistle. $ formal
1 making something, especially your skin, softer and smoother:
•Almond oil is renowned for its soothing, emollient properties.
2 making someone feel calmer when they have been angry:
•an emollient reply
- emollient noun [C] $ [C,U]
formal money or another form of payment for work you have donealso e-cash [U]
ELECTRONIC MONEY $ [I]
to clearly show emotion, especially when you are acting:
•Siskind encourages the children to emote to the music as they dance. $ [C]
a special sign that is used to show an emotion in EMAIL and on the Internet, often by making a picture. For example, the emoticon :-) looks like a smiling face and means that you have made a joke $ [C,U]
a strong human feeling such as love, hate, or anger:
•Her voice was full of emotion.
conflicting/mixed emotions
•Sara listened with mixed emotions.
•She was good at hiding her emotions.
•Kim received the news without showing any visible sign of emotion. $
1 [only before noun] relating to your feelings or how you control them:
•She provided emotional support at a very distressing time for me.
•Ann suffered from depression and a number of other emotional problems.
•the physical and emotional state of the patient
2 making people have strong feelings; = emotive
•Abortion is a very emotional issue.
•The funeral was a very emotional experience for all of us.
3 having strong feelings and showing them to other people, especially by crying
get/become emotional
•He became very emotional when we had to leave.
4 influenced by what you feel, rather than what you know:
•an emotional response to the problem
- emotionally adverb
•Nursing is an emotionally and physically demanding job. $ [U]
a tendency to show or feel too much emotion $
making people have strong feelings; = emotional
emotive issue/subject/word etc
•Child abuse is an emotive subject.
- emotively adverb past tense and past participle empanelled, present participle empanelling BrE past tense and past participle empaneled, present participle empaneling AmE [T]
to choose the members of a JURY in a court of lawalso empathise BrE [I]
to be able to understand someone else's feelings, problems etc, especially because you have had similar experiences; sympathize
[+with]
•My mother died last year so I can really empathize with what he's going through. [U]
the ability to understand other people's feelings and problems; sympathy
[+with/for]
•She had great empathy with people.
- empathetic also empathic adjective $ [C]
the man who is the ruler of an EMPIRE plural emphases [C,U]
1 special attention or importance
[+on]
•In Japan there is a lot of emphasis on politeness.
put/place emphasis on sth
•The course places emphasis on practical work.
•a change of emphasis in government policy
2 special importance that is given to a word or phrase by saying it louder or higher, or by printing it in a special way
[+on]
•The emphasis should be on the first syllable.
•'And I can assure you,' she said with emphasis, 'that he is innocent.'also emphasise BrE [T]
1 to say something in a strong way:
•The report emphasizes the importance of improving safety standards.
•Logan made a speech emphasizing the need for more volunteers.
emphasize that/how
•The Prime Minister emphasized that there are no plans to raise taxes.
2 to say a word or phrase louder or higher than others to give it more importance
3 to make something more noticeable:
•The dress emphasized the shape of her body.
1 expressing an opinion, idea etc in a clear, strong way to show its importance:
•an emphatic denial
emphatic that
•Wilde was emphatic that the event should go ahead.
[+about]
•He was pretty emphatic about me leaving.
2 emphatic win/victory/defeat a win etc in which one team or player wins by a large amount
- emphatically adverb [U]
medical a serious disease that affects the lungs, making it difficult to breathe $ [C]
1 a group of countries that are all controlled by one ruler or government:
•the Roman empire
2 a group of organizations controlled by one person:
•a business empire[U]
attempts to get more power within the organization you work for [only before noun]
based on scientific testing or practical experience, not on ideas; theoretical, hypothetical
• empirical evidence
- empirically adverb [U]
the belief in basing your ideas on practical experience
- empiricist noun [C] [C]
a place where a large gun is put and fired:
•a gun emplacement [T]
1 to pay someone to work for you:
•The factory employs over 2000 people.
employ sb as sth
•Kelly is employed as a mechanic.
employ sb to do sth
•We have been employed to look at ways of reducing waste.
2 to use a particular object, method, skill etc in order to achieve something
employ a method/technique/tactic etc
•The report examines teaching methods employed in the classroom.
3 [usually passive] formal to spend your time doing a particular thing
be employed in (doing) sth
•Her days are employed in gardening and voluntary work.
in sb's employ old-fashioned working for someone:
•He had a number of servants in his employ.
having skills or qualities that are necessary to get a job:
•The training scheme aims to make people more employable. [C]
someone who is paid to work for someone else; = worker
•a government employee $ [C]
a person, company, or organization that employs people:
•The shoe factory is the largest employer in this area. [U]
1 the condition of having a paid job:
•She was offered employment in the sales office.
•terms and conditions of employment
employment opportunities/prospects
•The employment prospects for graduates in computer science are excellent.
•Steve's still looking for full-time employment.
•the needs of women who combine paid employment and care for their families
in employment
•21.7% of all those in employment were in part-time jobs.
2 the act of paying someone to work for you
[+of]
•Mexican law prohibits the employment of children under 14.
3 the number of people who have jobs; unemployment
•Nationwide employment now stands at 95%.
full employment (=a situation in which everyone has a job)
•Many economists consider full employment an unrealistic goal.
4 formal the use of a particular object, method, skill etc to achieve something
[+of]
•Was the employment of force justified?plural employment agencies [C]
a business that makes money by finding jobs for people; job centre plural emporiums or emporia [C] old-fashioned
a large shop $ [T]
1 to give someone more control over their own life or situation:
•The Voting Rights Act was needed to empower minority groups.
2 formal to give a person or organization the legal right to do something
be empowered to do sth
•The President is empowered to appoint judges to the Supreme Court.
- empowerment noun [U] [C]
a female ruler of an EMPIRE, or the wife of an EMPEROR [plural]
bottles or glasses that are empty:
•The barman collected the empties. [U]
1 a feeling of great sadness and loneliness:
•She felt an emptiness in her heart when he left.
2 when there is nothing or nobody in a place
[+of]
•the silence and emptiness of the desert comparative emptier, superlative emptiest
1 CONTAINER having nothing inside:
•an empty box
•an empty bottle
•an empty space behind the desk
•The fuel tank's almost empty.
2 PLACE an empty place does not have any people in it:
•I hate coming home to an empty house.
•The hall was half-empty.
•The streets were empty.
•The building stood empty for several years.
3 NOT USED not being used by anyone:
•I spotted an empty table in the corner.
•He put his feet on an empty chair.
4 PERSON/LIFE unhappy because nothing in your life seems interesting or important:
•The divorce left him feeling empty and bitter.
•Her life felt empty and meaningless.
5 empty words/gestures/promises etc words etc that are not sincere, or have no effect:
•His repeated promises to pay them back were just empty words.
6 do sth on an empty stomach to do something without having eaten any food first:
•I can't work properly on an empty stomach.
7 empty nest also empty nest syndrome a situation in which parents become sad because their children have grown up and moved out of their house
8 empty of sth not containing a particular type of thing, or not having a particular quality:
•The beach was almost empty of people.
- emptily adverbpast tense and past participle emptied, present participle emptying, third person singular empties
1 also empty out [T] to remove everything that is inside something:
•Did you empty the dishwasher?
empty sth onto/into sth
•Elinor emptied the contents of the envelope onto the table.
•He emptied out the ashtray.
2 [I] if a place empties, everyone leaves it:
•The stores were closing, and the streets began to empty.

PHRASAL VERBS
empty into sth phr v
if a river empties into a larger area of water, it flows into it:
•The Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
without getting what you hoped or expected to get
return/come back etc empty-handed
•I spent all morning looking for a suitable present, but came home empty-handed.informal
silly and not intelligent plural emus or emu [C]
a large Australian bird that can run very fast but cannot fly [T]
to do something or behave in the same way as someone else, especially because you admire them; = imitate
•Young had hoped to emulate the success of Douglas Wilder.
- emulation noun [U] $ [C]
a substance that is added, especially to food, to prevent liquids and solids from separating past tense and past participle emulsified, present participle emulsifying, third person singular emulsifies [I,T]
to combine to become a smooth mixture, or to make two liquids do this [C,U]
1 a mixture of liquids that do not completely combine, such as oil and water
2 technical the substance on the surface of photographic film or paper that makes it react to light
3 BrE also emulsion paint a type of paint used inside buildings on walls or ceilings that is not shiny when it dries; gloss, eggshell
1 [in adjectives] made of a particular material or substance:
•a golden crown
•wooden seats
2 [in verbs] to make something have a particular quality:
•darken (=make or become dark)
•strengthen (=make or become stronger) [in verbs]
1 to make someone or something be in a particular state or have a particular quality:
•enlarge (=make something bigger)
•endanger (=put someone in danger)
2 to go completely around something, or include all of it:
•encircle (=surround everything) [T]
to make it possible for someone to do something, or for something to happen
enable sb/sth to do sth
•The loan enabled Jan to buy the house.
•There are plans to enlarge the runway to enable jumbo jets to land.
- enabler noun [C] [in adjectives]
Internet-enabled/Java-enabled etc a computer PROGRAM that is Internet-enabled, Java-enabled etc can be used with that program or includes it as one of its features:
•Find out more about our free Internet-enabled software. [only before noun]
law an enabling law is one that makes something possible or gives someone special legal powers [T]
1 formal to act in a play, story etc:
•a drama enacted on a darkened stage
2 law to make a proposal into a law:
•Congress refused to enact the bill.
- enactment noun [C,U] [U]
1 a hard shiny substance that is put onto metal, clay etc for decoration or protection
2 the hard smooth outer surface of your teeth
3 a type of paint that produces a shiny surface when it is dry
- enamel adjectivepast tense and past participle enamelled, present participle enamelling BrE past tense and past participle enameled, present participle enameling AmE [T]
to cover or decorate something with enamelenamored AmE $ BrE
1 [not before noun] liking something very much
[+of/with]
•You don't seem very enamoured with your job.
2 formal in love with someone
[+of/with]
•He was greatly enamoured of Elizabeth. $
all together as a single unit, rather than separately:
•You cannot dismiss these stories en bloc. [I,T]
formal to make a camp or put people, especially soldiers, in a camp:
•The army was encamped near Damascus. [C]
a large temporary camp, especially of soldiers:
•a military encampment $ [T]
1 to express or show something in a short way; = sum up
•The words of the song neatly encapsulate the mood of the country at that time.
encapsulate sth in sth
•Her whole philosophy can be encapsulated in this one sentence.
2 to completely cover something with something else, especially in order to prevent a substance getting out
encapsulate sth in sth
•The leaking fuel rods will be encapsulated in lead.
- encapsulation $ noun [C,U] [T]
to cover or surround something completely
encase sth in sth
•His broken leg was encased in plaster. [in nouns]
another form of the suffix -ANCE:
•existence
•occurrence $ [U] medical
swelling of the brain $ [T]
1 formal if something that you see or hear enchants you, you like it very much:
•I was enchanted by the way she smiled.
•The garden enchanted her.
2 literary to use magic on something or someone $
1 someone who is enchanted with someone or something likes them very much
[+with]
•She was enchanted with the flowers you sent her.
2 an enchanted object or place has been changed by magic so that it has special powers; bewitched
•an enchanted castle $ [C]
literary someone who uses magic on people and things; wizard $
very pleasant or attractive:
•an enchanting place
•an enchanting story
•The child looked enchanting in a pale blue dress.
- enchantingly adverb $
1 [U] the quality of being very pleasant or attractive:
•the enchantment of poetry
2 [C,U] literary a change caused by magic, or the state of being changed by magic $ [C] literary
1 a woman who uses magic on people and things; witch
2 a woman who men think is very attractive and interesting
1 [C] a Mexican food consisting of a TORTILLA (=flat piece of bread) that is rolled up and filled with meat or cheese, and covered with a spicy sauce
2 the big enchilada AmE informal something that is the most important or biggest of its type:
•We're aiming our products at the big enchilada - the home computer market.
3 the whole enchilada AmE informal all of something:
•Come on. Let's hear it - the whole enchilada. $ [T]
to surround someone or something completely:
•The island was encircled by a dusty road.
- encirclement noun [U] [C]
a small area that is within a larger area where people of a different kind or nationality live:
•the former Portuguese enclave of East Timor $ [T]
1 to put something inside an envelope as well as a letter:
•Please enclose a cheque with your order.
please find enclosed (=used in business letters to say that you are sending something with a letter)
•Please find enclosed an agenda for the meeting.
2 [usually passive] to surround something, especially with a fence or wall, in order to make it separate:
•The pool area is enclosed by a six-foot wall.
•an enclosed area $
1 [C] an area surrounded by a wall or fence, and used for a particular purpose:
•the bear enclosure at the zoo
2 [U] the act of making an area separate by putting a wall or fence around it:
•the enclosure of arable land for pasture
3 [C] something that is put inside an envelope with a letter $ [T]
to put a message or other information into CODE; decode, decipher $ plural encomiums or encomia [C] formal
the expression of a lot of praise [T] formal
1 to include a wide range of ideas, subjects, etc:
•The study encompasses the social, political, and economic aspects of the situation.
2 to completely cover or surround something:
•The houses encompassed about 100 square metres. $ [C]
an additional or repeated part of a performance, especially a musical one:
•The band came back onstage for an encore.
said when you have enjoyed a musical performance very much and want the performer to sing or play more $ [T]
1 to experience something, especially problems or opposition
encounter problems/difficulties
•They encountered serious problems when two members of the expedition were injured.
encounter opposition/resistance
•The government has encountered strong opposition to its plans to raise income tax.
•The doctor had encountered several similar cases in the past.
2 formal to meet someone without planning to:
•I first encountered him when studying at Cambridge.[C]
1 an occasion when you meet someone, or do something with someone you do not know:
•She didn't remember our encounter last summer.
[+with]
•His first encounter with Wilson was back in 1989.
•Bernstein began training the young musician after a chance encounter at a concert (=a meeting that happened by chance).
•casual sexual encounters (=occasions when people have sex)
[+between]
•hostile encounters between supporters of rival football teams
2 an occasion when you meet or experience something
[+with]
•a child's first encounter with books
•a close encounter with a snake (=a frightening situation in which you get too close to something) $ [T]
1 to give someone the courage or confidence to do something; discourage
•I want to thank everyone who has encouraged and supported me.
encourage sb to do sth
•Cooder was encouraged to begin playing the guitar by his father.
encourage sb in sth
•Fleur encouraged Dana in her ambition to become a model.
2 to persuade someone to do something; discourage
•Cantor didn't mind if they worked late; in fact, he actively encouraged it.
encourage sb to do sth
•A 10p rise in cigarette prices is not enough to encourage smokers to stop.
3 to make something more likely to exist, happen, or develop:
•Violent TV programmes encourage anti-social behaviour.
- encouraged adjective [not before noun]
•She felt encouraged by the many letters of support. $ [U]
when you encourage someone or something, or the things that encourage them:
•With encouragement, Sally is starting to play with the other children.
• words of encouragement
encouragement to do sth
•She needed no encouragement to continue (=did not need any encouragement). $
giving you hope and confidence; = reassuring
•The encouraging news is that typhoid is on the decrease.
•The signs are encouraging- but there's a long way to go.
- encouragingly adverb $ [I always + adv/prep]
1 to gradually take more of someone's time, possessions, rights etc than you should
[+on/upon]
•Bureaucratic power has encroached upon the freedom of the individual.
2 to gradually cover more and more land
[+into]
•The fighting encroached further east.
- encroachment noun [C,U]
•foreign encroachment
covered with a hard layer of something
[+with/in]
•a gold crown encrusted with diamonds
mud-encrusted/jewel-encrusted etc
- encrustation noun [C,U] [T]
to protect information by putting it into a special CODE that only some people can read, especially information that is on a computer; decrypt
- encryption noun [U]
•secure encryption of data
- encrypted adjective
•files stored in encrypted form $ [T usually passive]
formal to make it difficult for you to do something or for something to happen; = burden
•He died in 1874, heavily encumbered by debt.
[+with]
•The whole process was encumbered with bureaucracy.
- encumbrance noun [C] [C]
a letter sent by the Pope to all Roman Catholic BISHOPs also encyclopaedia BrE [C]
a book or CD, or a set of these, containing facts about many different subjects, or containing detailed facts about one subject:
•the Encyclopedia of Musicalso encyclopaedic BrE
having a lot of knowledge or information about a particular subject:
•an encyclopedic knowledge of medieval literature
1 LAST PART [singular] the last part of a period of time, event, activity, or story; beginning, start
[+of]
•Costs are expected to double by the end of 2005.
at the end
•What would she find at the end of her journey?
•Hooker's death marked the end of an era.
•I played the tape from beginning to end.
2 FINISHED [singular] a situation in which something is finished or no longer exists
put/bring an end to sth
•It's hoped the talks may bring an end to the violence.
call for/demand an end to sth
•The EU is demanding an end to the ivory trade.
•At last it seemed the war might be coming to an end.
•The spacecraft is nearing the end of its useful life.
be at an end
•He rose to indicate that the conversation was at an end.
•Well, I hope that's the end of the matter.
•Another year has passed, with no end in sight to the suffering.
3 LONG OBJECT [C] the part of a place or long object that is furthest from its beginning or centre
[+of]
•Jo joined the end of the line.
•We sat at opposite ends of the table.
• the far end (=furthest from you) of the room
•The channel measures 20 feet from end to end.
stand/place sth on end (=in an upright position)
•Harry stood the box on end to open it.
lay/place sth end to end (=in a line, with the ends touching)
•bricks laid end to end
4 TIP/POINT [C] the thin part of something long or narrow, that is furthest from you; = tip
[+of]
•The end of the pencil snapped.
•He lost the end of his finger.
•He wore spectacles perched on the very end of his nose.
5 SCALE [C usually singular] one of the two points that begin or end a scale
lower/cheaper etc end
•the cheaper end of the price range
•At the opposite end of the political spectrum are the Marxist theories.
•Some teenagers are just a nuisance, but at the other end of the scale there are kids who pose a real threat.
6 CONNECTION [C usually singular] one of two places that are connected by a telephone call, journey etc
the end of the phone/line
•Sometimes, all you need is a calm voice on the end of the phone.
•We'll get a bus connection at the other end.
•Any problems at your end (=where you are)?
7 REMAINING PIECE [C] especially BrE a small piece of something that is left after you have finished with it:
•cigarette ends
8 AIM [usually plural] an aim or purpose, or the result you hope to achieve
political/military etc ends
•40% of all research is undertaken for military ends.
•She'll do anything to achieve her own ends.
•Every task has a clear end in view.
to that end formal
•He wants to cut costs, and to that end is looking at ways of cutting the company's operations.
an end in itself (=something you do because you want to, not in order to get other advantages)
•IT is a tool for learning, not merely an end in itself.
the end justifies the means (=used to say that doing bad things is acceptable if they achieve an important result)
9 PART OF AN ACTIVITY [singular] informal part of a job, activity, or situation that involves or affects one person or group of people:
•She works in the sales end of things.
10 SPORT [C] one of the two halves of a sports field
11 DEATH [C usually singular] a word meaning death - used to avoid saying this directly:
•He met his end (=died) in a car accident.
12 at the end of the day spoken used to give your final opinion after considering all the possibilities:
•At the end of the day, it's his decision.
13 for days/weeks etc on end for many days, weeks etc without stopping:
•He was beaten and denied sleep for days on end.
14 in the end after a period of time, or after everything has been done:
•What did you decide in the end?
see box at LASTLY
15 end of story spoken informal used to avoid saying any more about a subject that is embarrassing or secret:
•I tripped and hurt my arm. That's it - end of story.
16 the end of your tether/rope the point at which you are so angry and tired of a situation that you can no longer deal with it:
•Frustrated and bitter, Hogan had reached the end of his tether with politics.
17 the end of the road/line the end of a process, activity, or state:
•Our marriage had reached the end of the line.
18 make ends meet to have only just enough money to buy the things you need:
•When Mike lost his job, we could barely make ends meet.
19 it's not the end of the world spoken used to tell someone that a problem is not as bad as they think
20 hold/keep your end up BrE informal to stay brave and hopeful in a difficult situation
21 no end spoken informal very much:
•Your letter cheered me up no end.
22 no end of trouble/problems etc spoken informal a lot of trouble etc:
•This will cause no end of trouble.
23 the living end AmE spoken used as an expression of slight disapproval - often used humorously:
•What will she do next? She's the living end!
24 go to the ends of the earth literary to do everything possible to achieve something:
•I'd go to the ends of the earth to be with him.
25 to the end of time literary forever
DEAD END
ODDS AND ENDS
be-all and end all at BE^2 (15)
to the bitter end at BITTER^1 (6)
burn the candle at both ends at BURN^1 (19)
jump/be thrown in at the deep end at DEEP^1 (17)
go off at the deep end at DEEP^1 (18)
be at a loose end at LOOSE^1 (14)
make sb's hair stand on end at HAIR (8)
be on/at the receiving end (of sth) at RECEIVE (5)
be on the sharp end of at SHARP^1 (19)
come to a sticky end at STICKY (6)
the tail end of sth at TAIL^1 (6)
at your wits' end at WIT (7)
get the wrong end of the stick at WRONG^1 (15)
1 [I,T] if a situation or activity ends, or if someone or something ends it, it finishes or stops; start, begin
•World War II ended in 1945.
•talks aimed at ending the conflict
end by doing sth
•I'd like to end by inviting questions from the audience.
[+with]
•The festival will end with a spectacular laser show.
2 [T] literary to spend the last part of your life in a particular place or doing a particular thing:
•He ended his days in prison.
•She seemed destined to end her days living alone.
3 end your life/end it all to kill yourself
4 the ... to end all ... used to describe something that is the best, most important, or most exciting of its kind:
•the movie with the car chase to end all car chases
5 the year/week etc ending sth used to refer to the year etc that ends on a particular date:
•the financial results for the year ending 31 Dec 2001

PHRASAL VERBS
end in sth phr v
1 to finish in a particular way:
•One in three marriages ends in divorce.
2 it'll (all) end in tears BrE spoken used to say that something will have a bad result or not be successful

end up phr v
to be in a particular situation, state, or place after a series of events, especially when you did not plan it:
•He came round for a coffee and we ended up in bed together.
•I wondered where the pictures would end up after the auction.
end up doing sth
•Most slimmers end up putting weight back on.
[+with]
•Anyone who swims in the river could end up with a nasty stomach upset.
[+as]
•He could end up as President.
[+like]
•I don't want to end up like my parents. $ [T]
to put someone or something in danger of being hurt, damaged, or destroyed:
•Smoking during pregnancy endangers your baby's life.
- endangered adjective
•The lizards are classed as an endangered species (=one that soon may no longer exist).
- endangerment noun [U] legal
•charges of child endangerment $

PHRASAL VERBS
endear sb to sb phr v
to make someone popular and liked
endear yourself to sb
•The emperor saw an opportunity to endear himself to the Athenians. $
making someone love or like you
endearing qualities/traits etc
•Shyness is one of her most endearing qualities.
•an endearing smile
- endearingly adverb $ [C,U]
actions or words that express your love for someone:
•nicknames and other terms of endearmentendeavor AmE $ [I] BrE
formal to try very hard
endeavour to do sth
•We always endeavor to please our customers.endeavor AmE BrE
[C,U] formal an attempt to do something new or difficult
scientific/creative etc endeavour
•an outstanding example of human endeavor
endeavour to do sth
•They made every endeavour to find the two boys.
•Despite our best endeavours, we couldn't start the car.
an endemic disease or problem is always present in a particular place, or among a particular group of people; epidemic, pandemic
•Violent crime is now endemic in parts of Chicago.endgame [C usually singular]
the final stage of a war, disagreement etc when everyone is trying to gain an advantage for themselves
1 [C] the way that a story, film, activity etc finishes
happy/perfect/surprise etc ending
•a story with a happy ending
[+to]
•Cookies and coffee are the perfect ending to a meal.
2 [U] when a process stops or is finished, or when you finish it
[+of]
•the first elections since the ending of the dictatorship
3 [C] the last part of a word:
•Verbal nouns have the ending -ing.
NEVER-ENDING $ [C,U]
1 BrE a vegetable with curly green leaves that you eat raw
2 AmE a vegetable with long white bitter-tasting leaves that you eat raw or cooked; = chicory BrE
1 very large in amount, size, or number:
•an endless stream of visitors
•The possibilities are endless.
•He's been in a lot of trouble - drugs, guns, blackmail - the list is endless.
2 something that is endless seems to continue forever:
•an endless round of boring meetings
- endlessly adverb
•This city is endlessly fascinating. $
medical relating to the system in your body that produces HORMONEs :
•the endocrine glands $ [C usually plural]
a chemical produced by your body that reduces pain and can make you feel happier $ [T]
1 to express formal support or approval for someone or something
endorse a proposal/an idea/a candidate etc
•The Prime Minister is unlikely to endorse this view.
2 if a famous person endorses a product or service, they say in an advertisement that they use and like it
3 to sign your name on the back of a cheque to show that it is correct
4 [usually passive] BrE if your DRIVING LICENCE is endorsed for a driving offence, an official record is made on it to show that you are guilty of the offence
- endorsement noun [C,U]
•celebrity endorsements
•the official endorsement of his candidacy $ [C] medical
an instrument used by doctors who are performing a medical OPERATION on someone. It is a very small camera with a powerful LENS, which is pushed into the body through a very small hole and sends pictures back to the doctor. $ [U] medical
the medical examination of the inside of the body, using an endoscope [T]
to give a college, hospital etc a large sum of money that provides it with an income

PHRASAL VERBS
endow sb/sth with sth phr v formal
1 to make someone or something have a particular quality, or to believe that they have it:
•Her resistance to the Nationalists endowed her with legendary status.
2 be endowed with sth to naturally have a good feature or quality:
•She was endowed with both good looks and brains.
3 to give someone something
see also WELL-ENDOWED
1 [C,U] a sum of money given to a college, hospital etc to provide it with an income, or the act of giving this money
2 [C] a natural quality or ability that someone has[C] BrE
technical an insurance arrangement that pays you a sum of money after an agreed period of time[C usually singular]
something that is produced by a particular process or activity; by product
•a high-quality end product
•the end product of years of practice[C usually singular]
the final result of a process or activity:
•If tasks are too challenging, the end result is that learners are discouraged. $ formal
if a bad situation is endurable, you can accept it, even though it is difficult or painful; = bearable $ [U]
the ability to continue doing something difficult or painful over a long period of time
physical/mental endurance
•She was pushed beyond her powers of endurance.
•The marathon is a test of endurance.
endurance sports/training (=designed to test or improve your endurance) $
1 [T] to be in a difficult or painful situation for a long time without complaining:
•It seemed impossible that anyone could endure such pain.
endure doing sth
•He can't endure being apart from me.
2 [I] to remain alive or continue to exist for a long time:
•friendships which endure over many years $
continuing for a very long time:
•the enduring appeal of Shakespeare's plays
•enduring hatred
- enduringly adverb
•an enduringly popular performer[C]
the person who uses a particular product, rather than the people who make or develop it[C]
one of the areas at each end of an American football field that you touch with the ball to score [C]
a liquid that is put into someone's RECTUM to make their BOWELs empty plural enemies [C]
1 someone who hates you and wants to harm you:
•She's a dangerous enemy to have.
•Cats and dogs have always been natural enemies.
•an old enemy of her father
make an enemy (of sb)
•a ruthless businessman who made a lot of enemies
•the unforgettable sight of the president shaking hands with his sworn enemy (=an enemy you will always hate)
sb's worst enemy (=the person they hate most)
•I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
2 someone who opposes or competes against you:
•political enemies
•He was imprisoned for being 'an enemy of the revolution'.
3 also the enemy the country against which your country is fighting in a war:
•He was accused of collaboration with the enemy.
enemy forces/aircraft/territory etc
•a town behind enemy lines
4 something that people think is harmful or damaging:
•The usual enemies, cigarettes and alcohol, are targeted for tax rises.
•The common enemy that united them was communism.
5 be your own worst enemy to behave in a way that causes problems for yourself
6 public enemy number one informal someone famous who has done something bad and who a lot of people do not like:
•His views made him public enemy number one in the eyes of the media.
7 the enemy within people in a society etc that other people think are trying to secretly destroy or damage it:
•efforts to label environmentalists as the enemy within
8 if one thing is the enemy of another, the second thing cannot exist because the first thing destroys it:
•Boredom is the enemy of learning. $
having or needing a lot of energy or determination:
•an energetic man
•an energetic drive to get more customers
energetic in doing sth
•We need to be more energetic in promoting ourselves abroad.
- energetically adverb
•He fought energetically against apartheid.also energise BrE $ [T]
1 to make someone feel more determined and energetic:
•The charity hopes the campaign will energise its volunteers.
2 [usually passive] technical to make a machine work
- energizing adjective $ plural energies [C,U]
1 the physical and mental strength that makes you able to do things:
•Helping people takes time and energy.
•Boy, where do those kids get their energy?
•She was full of energy after her vacation.
•a waste of energy
have the energy to do sth
•I don't have the energy to deal with it right now.
•Try to put more energy into your defensive game.
nervous energy (=too much energy that you have when you are nervous)
2 power that is used to provide heat, operate machines etc
nuclear/solar etc energy
•research into renewable energy sources
•the world's energy resources
•energy consumption
3 a special power that some people believe exists in their bodies and in some buildings:
•There was a lot of energy in the room this morning - did you feel it?
4 technical in physics, the ability that something has to work or move:
•kinetic energy
5 sb's energies the effort and interest that you use to do things
apply/devote/channel your energies into/to sth
•She's devoting all her energies to the wedding plans. $ [T] formal
to make you feel tired and weak:
•The hot sun enervated her to the point of collapse.
- enervated adjective [not before noun]
•David felt too enervated to resist.
- enervating adjective $ [C]
a young successful person who behaves in a way that is shocking but also amusing
literary very weak or ill
- enfeeble verb [T] $ [T]
formal to cover or surround someone or something completely:
•The wizard screamed as the darkness enfolded him.
•He reached out to enfold her in his arms. $ [T]
1 to make people obey a rule or law
enforce a law/ban etc
•Governments make laws and the police enforce them.
•Parking restrictions will be strictly enforced.
2 to make something happen or force someone to do something
enforce sth on sb
•It is unlikely that a record company would enforce its views on an established artist.
- enforceable adjective
•The recommendations are not legally enforceable. $
made to happen, especially by things you cannot control
enforced absence/separation etc
•a period of enforced isolation $ [U]
when people are made to obey a rule, law etc:
• law enforcement $ [C]
someone whose job is to make sure people do the things they should:
•a law enforcer
•an enforcer for a drugs gang [T]
to give a group of people the right to vote; disenfranchise
- enfranchisement $ noun [U]
•the enfranchisement of EU citizens
- enfranchised adjective
•newly enfranchised shareholders formal
1 [I always + prep] to be doing or to become involved in an activity
[+in/on/upon]
•Only 10% of American adults engage in regular exercise.
•The two parties engaged upon an escalating political struggle.
•Mr Armstrong was engaged in prayer.
engage in doing sth
•Despite her illness, she remains actively engaged in shaping policy.
2 [T] to attract someone's attention and keep them interested
engage sb's interest/attention
•The toy didn't engage her interest for long.
engage sb in conversation (=start talking to them)
3 engage with sb/sth to get involved with other people and their ideas in order to understand them:
•Are you so tired you don't have the energy to engage with your kids?
4 [T] formal to employ someone to do a particular job
engage sb to do sth
•Her father engaged a tutor to improve her maths.
engage sb as sth
•We'd be able to engage local people as volunteers.
5 [I,T] if you engage part of a machine, or if it engages, it moves so that it fits into another part of the machine; disengage
•She engaged the clutch and the car moved.
[+with]
•The wheel engages with the cog and turns it.
6 [I,T] to begin to fight an enemy:
•American forces did not directly engage.
1 if two people are engaged, they have agreed to marry:
•Have you heard? Sally and Ray are getting engaged.
•She is engaged to be married.
[+to]
•Kate's engaged to a guy from England.
2 BrE if you call someone on the telephone and their line is engaged, they are already speaking to someone else; = busy AmE
•She rang Mrs Tavett but the line was engaged.
engaged tone/signal (=the sound you hear when the phone is engaged)
3 BrE written a public toilet that is engaged is being used; vacant
4 be otherwise engaged formal to be unable to do something because you are doing something else
1 BEFORE MARRIAGE [C] an agreement between two people to marry, or the period of time they are engaged
[+of/to]
•Their engagement was announced in the paper.
•Tony was stunned when Lisa suddenly broke off their engagement (=finished it).
engagement ring (=a ring that a man gives a woman to show that they are engaged)
2 ARRANGEMENT TO DO STH [C] an official arrangement to do something, especially one that is related to your work
official/public/royal etc engagement
•The princess will continue to carry out royal engagements.
•This is his only public speaking engagement on the tour.
•His excuse of a prior engagement was accepted.
3 INVOLVEMENT [U] when you become involved with someone or something in order to understand them
[+with/in]
•a strategy of engagement and cooperation with China
•Many students pass without any real engagement in learning.
4 FIGHTING [C,U] technical fighting between armies etc:
•military rules of engagement
5 EMPLOYMENT [C,U] formal an official arrangement to employ or pay someone to do a particular job:
•Please sign to indicate your acceptance of the terms of engagement.
6 MACHINE PARTS [U] the fitting together of the working parts of a machine
pleasant and attracting your interest:
•an engaging smile
- engagingly adverb $ [T]
formal to be the cause of a situation or feeling:
•the changes in society engendered by the war
engender sth in sb
•relationships that engender trust in children [C]
1 the part of a vehicle that produces power to make it move; motor
start/switch on an engine
•The engine won't start.
stop/turn off/switch off an engine
•He switched off the car's engine and waited.
•Is the engine running smoothly?
diesel/petrol etc engine
•an old steam engine
•We were stranded with engine trouble on a deserted highway.
2 a vehicle that pulls a railway train
3 [usually singular] formal something powerful that causes great changes in society
engine of change/growth etc
•The Marshall Plan was the engine of postwar economic growth.
•Rome's deadly war engine
FIRE ENGINE $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to design or build roads, bridges, machines etc
mechanical/electrical/software etc engineer
•He trained as a civil engineer (=one who designs and builds roads, bridges etc).
2 someone whose job is to take care of the engines on a ship or aircraft
3 BrE someone whose job is to repair electrical equipment or machines
service/maintenance engineer
4 AmE someone whose job is driving a train[T]
1 to make something happen by skilful secret planning:
•powerful enemies who engineered his downfall
•Perhaps she could engineer a meeting between them?
2 to change the GENETIC structure of a plant, animal etc; = genetically modify
•the dangers of engineering native plants
• genetically engineered crops
3 [often passive] technical to design and plan the building of roads, bridges, machines, etc $ [U]
the work involved in designing and building roads, bridges, machines etc; civil engineering
GENETIC ENGINEERING
1 [U] the language used in Britain, the US, Australia, and some other countries:
•Do you speak English?
•leaflets written in plain English (=English that is easy to understand)
2 the English [plural] people from England
3 [U] literature written in English, studied as a subject at school or university:
•She decided to major in English.
1 relating to England or its people:
•the English countryside
•under English law
2 relating to the language used in Britain, the US, Australia and some other countries:
•English grammar[C usually singular]
a large cooked breakfast consisting of BACON, eggs, TOAST etc; continental breakfast[C] AmE
a long wooden musical instrument which is like an OBOE but with a lower sound; = cor anglais BrE plural Englishmen [C]
1 a man from England
2 an Englishman's home is his castle BrE used to say that your home is a place where you can feel safe and do whatever you want[C]
AmE a round thick flat piece of bread with small holes inside plural Englishwomen [C]
a woman from England $ formal
swollen and full of liquid [T]
1 to cut words or designs on metal, wood, glass etc
engrave sth on sth
•Their names are engraved on a stone tablet.
engrave sth with sth
•a pendant engraved with a simple design
2 be engraved in/on your memory/mind/heart literary to be impossible to forget
- engraver noun [C]
1 [C] a picture made by cutting a design into metal, putting ink on the metal, and then printing it
2 [U] the skill of engraving things $ [T]
if something engrosses you, it interests you so much that you do not notice anything else:
•The scene was stunning, and for a time engrossed all our attention.
engross yourself in sth
•Take your mind off it by engrossing yourself in a good book.
- engrossed adjective
•Dad was engrossed in the paper.
•Who's that guy Ally's been engrossed in conversation with all night?
- engrossing adjective [T]
1 if an unpleasant feeling engulfs you, you feel it very strongly:
•despair so great it threatened to engulf him
2 to completely surround or cover something:
•The building was engulfed in flames. $ [T]
to improve something:
•Good lighting will enhance any room.
•The publicity has done little to enhance his reputation.
- enhancer noun [C]
•flavor enhancers
- enhancement noun [C,U] $ written
improved or better:
•enhanced access to information [C]
someone or something that is strange and difficult to understand; = mystery
•The neighbours regarded him as something of an enigma.
mysterious and difficult to understand
enigmatic smile/expression etc
- enigmatically adverb
•'You'll see,' he replied enigmatically. [T]
1 formal to order or try to persuade someone to do something
enjoin sb to do sth
•The organisation has been enjoined to end all restrictions.
2 law to legally prevent someone from doing something
enjoin sb from doing sth
•The defendant was enjoined from using the patent. [T]
1 to get pleasure from something:
•Sandra enjoys her job in the city.
•I enjoyed every minute of it.
enjoy doing sth
•Young children enjoy helping around the house.
enjoy yourself (=be happy in a particular situation)
•Julia was just starting to enjoy herself.
!! Enjoy is never followed by a preposition, and almost always has an object: Did you enjoy it (NOT Did you enjoy)? | I enjoyed myself at Cal's (NOT I enjoyed at Cal's).
2 formal to have a particular ability or advantage:
•These workers enjoy a high level of job security.
3 enjoy! spoken used to say that you hope someone gets pleasure from something you give them:
•Here's your steak - enjoy!
something enjoyable gives you pleasure:
•Games can make learning more enjoyable.
•an enjoyable experience
- enjoyably adverb
1 [C,U] the feeling of pleasure you get from having or doing something, or something you enjoy doing:
•Acting has brought me enormous enjoyment.
•Unfortunately, a small minority want to spoil everyone else's enjoyment.
2 [U] formal the fact of having something $ [I,T]
if you enlarge something, or if it enlarges, it increases in size or scale:
•an operation to enlarge her breasts
•Police will have the pictures enlarged in an attempt to identify the thief.
enlarge sb's understanding/knowledge etc
•A good way to enlarge your vocabulary is to read a daily newspaper.

PHRASAL VERBS
enlarge on/upon sth phr v formal
to provide more information about something you have already mentioned:
•Mrs Maughan did not enlarge on what she meant. $
1 [C] a photograph that has been printed again in a bigger size
2 [C,U] an increase in size or amount:
•enlargement of the EU $ [C]
a piece of equipment used to make photographs bigger [T]
formal to explain something to someone
enlighten sb as to/on/about sth
•Baldwin enlightened her as to the nature of the experiment.
- enlightening adjective
1 someone with enlightened attitudes has sensible, modern views and treats people fairly and kindly
enlightened attitude/approach etc
•'Empowerment' is the new buzz-word in enlightened management circles.
2 showing a good understanding or knowledge of something:
•We don't actually know, but I can make an enlightened guess. [U]
1 formal when you understand something clearly, or when you help someone do this:
•Isabel looked to Ron for enlightenment.
2 the final stage reached in the Buddhist and Hindu religions when you no longer suffer or feel desire and you are at peace with the universe:
•the quest for spiritual enlightenment
1 [T] to persuade someone to help you to do something
enlist sb's help/services etc
•He has enlisted the help of a sports psychologist for the team.
•The public are being enlisted to help.
2 [I,T usually passive] to join the army, navy etc
[+as]
•He enlisted as a private.
[+in]
•At the outbreak of war, he was enlisted in the army.
- enlistment noun [C,U] [usually before noun]
having a rank below that of an officer in the army, navy etc:
•officers and enlisted men [T]
to make something more interesting:
•Humour can help enliven a dull subject. $
if people do something en masse, they do it together:
•The management team resigned en masse. [not before noun]
very involved in an unpleasant or complicated situation
[+in/with]
•Congress worried about becoming enmeshed in a foreign war. plural enmities [C,U]
formal a feeling of hatred towards someone
[+between/towards]
•the enmity between the two communities $ [T usually passive] formal
1 to improve your character:
•art which ennobles the human race
2 to make someone a member of the NOBILITY (=the people in society who have a high rank, such as princes etc)
- ennoblement noun [U]
- ennobling adjective $ [U]
formal a feeling of being tired, bored, and unsatisfied with your life $ plural enormities
1 [singular] the great size, seriousness, or difficulty of a situation, problem, event etc
[+of]
•Even now, the full enormity of his crimes has not been exposed.
•the enormity of the task
2 [C usually plural] formal a very evil and cruel act; = atrocity $
very big in size or in amount; = huge
•an enormous bunch of flowers
•an enormous amount of money
•The team made an enormous effort. $
very or very much:
•an enormously successful actor
•The project has benefited enormously from Jan's knowledge. [always after a verb, adjective, or adverb]
1 to the degree that is necessary or wanted:
•Are the carrots cooked enough?
•He just hadn't thought enough about the possible consequences.
•You can go to school when you're old enough.
[+for]
•Is the water warm enough for you?
enough to do sth
•Will Evans be fit enough to play?
•The rooms are all large enough to take a third bed.
•Surely no one would be foolish enough to lend him the money?
•You're late. It's just not good enough (=not satisfactory or acceptable).
2 fairly but not very:
•I was happy enough in Bordeaux, but I missed my family.
•He's a nice enough young man.
3 bad/difficult/hard etc enough used to say that a situation is already bad and you do not want it to get any worse:
•Life's difficult enough without you interfering all the time.
4 lucky/unfortunate etc enough to be/do sth used to say that someone is lucky or unlucky that something happens to them:
•They were unlucky enough to be caught in the storm.
5 would you be good/kind enough to do sth? spoken used to ask someone politely to do something for you:
•Would you be good enough to hold the door open?
6 strangely/oddly/curiously etc enough used to say that a fact or something that happens is strange or surprising:
•Strangely enough, I didn't feel at all nervous when I faced the audience.
7 near enough BrE spoken used when you are guessing a number, amount, time etc because you cannot be exact:
•The full cost comes to £3000, near enough.
fair enough at FAIR^1 (14)
sure enough at SURE^2 (1)
1 as many or as much as is needed or wanted:
•Have I given you enough money?
•Not enough is known about what happened.
[+for]
•There aren't enough chairs for everyone.
enough to do/eat etc
•Erica was worried that the children weren't getting enough to eat.
enough (sth) to do sth
•The police didn't have enough evidence to convict him.
•He didn't even earn enough to pay the rent.
•You've had more than enough time to make all the preparations.
enough to go round (=enough of something for everyone to have some)
•Do you think we've got enough pizza to go round?
not nearly/nowhere near enough informal (=much less than you need)
•We only had $500, and that was nowhere near enough to buy a new camcorder.
time/reason/trouble etc enough old-fashioned
•Come on - there'll be time enough to chat later.
2 used to say that a situation is already bad and you do not want it to get any worse:
•She has enough problems without you two getting into fights.
•I don't want to bother him - he has enough to worry about.
3 have had enough (of sth) spoken used to say you are tired or angry about a situation and want it to stop:
•When I got home I just sat down and cried. I'd had enough.
•I've just about had enough of your stupid remarks.
4 enough is enough spoken used to say that something that is happening should stop:
•There comes a point when you say enough is enough.
5 that's (quite) enough spoken used to tell someone to stop doing something:
•Now, you two, that's quite enough. Sit down and be quiet.
6 enough said spoken used to tell someone that they do not need to say any more because you understand the point they are making:
•'He's the sort of man who wears a lot of jewellery.' 'Enough said.'
7 can't get enough of sth/sb informal to enjoy something so much that you want more and more of it:
•Her millions of fans can't get enough of her.

GRAMMAR
enough comes after adjectives, never before: This one is big enough (NOT enough big). | Is it warm enough for you?
enough usually comes before nouns: We haven't got enough time. | Are there enough plates?
Sometimes people use enough after nouns in particular expressions, but this is not very usual: There will be time enough for that later.

!! Nouns used with enough must be plural or uncountable, never singular: There aren't enough books (NOT enough book). | She has enough money to live on.

$ [I,T]
especially BrE another spelling of INQUIRE $ plural enquiries
especially BrE another spelling of INQUIRY [T usually passive]
to make someone very angry:
•Many readers were enraged by his article. $ formal
enjoying something so much that you can think of nothing else:
•The orchestra played before an enraptured audience. [T]
1 to improve the quality of something, especially by adding things to it:
•Add fertilizer to enrich the soil.
•Education can greatly enrich your life.
2 to make someone richer
3 technical to increase the number of atoms in a NUCLEAR FUEL so that it produces more power
- enrichment noun [U]
•curriculum enrichment
- enriched adjective
•enriched uraniumenroll AmE $ past tense and past participle enrolled, present participle enrolling [I,T] BrE
to officially arrange to join a school, university, or course, or to arrange for someone else to do this
[+on/for] BrE
•I decided to enrol for 'Art for Beginners'.
[+in] especially AmE
•Californians are rushing to enroll in special aerobics classes.enrollment AmE $ BrE
1 [U] the process of arranging to join a school, university, course etc:
•Enrolment will take place in September.
2 [C] the number of people who have arranged to join a school, university, course etc:
•Student enrolments have more than doubled. $
on the way
[+from/to]
•a flight en route from Tokyo to Sydney
[+for] BrE
•We stayed there en route for London.
•Why don't we stop for lunch en route? $ [T usually passive]
to settle yourself in a place where you feel comfortable and safe
[+in/at/on etc]
•Nick was comfortably ensconced in front of the TV set.
ensconce yourself
•Agnes had ensconced herself in the best bedroom. $
1 [C also + plural verb] BrE a small group of musicians, actors, or dancers who perform together regularly
instrumental/string/brass etc ensemble
[+of]
•an ensemble of Mexican artistes
2 [C usually singular] a set of things that go together to form a whole
3 [C usually singular] a set of clothes that are worn together:
•an attractive ensemble [T usually passive]
formal if something such as a tradition or right is enshrined in something, it is preserved and protected so that people will remember and respect it
[+in]
•The right of free speech is enshrined in the Constitution. [T] formal
to cover or surround something so that it is not possible to see, understand, or explain it:
•hills enshrouded in mist
•the mystery that enshrouds their disappearance $ [C]
1 a flag on a ship that shows what country the ship belongs to:
•the Russian ensign
2 a low rank in the US navy, or an officer who has this rank [T usually passive]
1 to make someone a slave
2 formal if something enslaves you, it completely controls your life and your actions:
•She seemed enslaved by hatred.
- enslavement noun [U] $ [T]
1 formal to trap someone in an unpleasant or illegal situation, from which they cannot escape
[+in]
•Young girls were ensnared in prostitution rings.
2 to catch an animal in a trap $ [I] formal
to happen after or as a result of something
[+from]
•problems that ensue from food and medical shortages $ [only before noun]
happening after a particular action or event, especially as a result of it
the ensuing battle/conflict/debate etc
•In the ensuing fighting, two students were killed.
the ensuing days/months/years etc (=the days, months etc after an event)
•The situation deteriorated over the ensuing weeks. $ BrE

a) an en suite bathroom is joined onto a bedroom:
•Both bedrooms have en suite bathrooms.
b) an en suite bedroom has a bathroom joined onto it:
•57 bedrooms, all en suitealso insure AmE $ [T] especially BrE
to make certain that something will happen properly; = make sure
•facilities to ensure the safety of cyclists
ensure (that)
•The hospital tries to ensure that people are seen quickly. [in adjectives and nouns]
someone or something that does something, or that has a particular quality:
•local residents
-ANT [T]
1 to involve something as a necessary part or result:
•A new computer system entails a lot of re-training.
•Some foreign travel is entailed in the job.
entail doing sth
•The journey will entail changing trains twice.
2 old use if you entail property, you arrange for it to be given to a specific person, usually your oldest son, when you die [T usually passive always + adv/prep]
1 to make something become twisted and caught in a rope, net etc
[+in/with]
•Small animals can get entangled in the net.
2 to involve someone in an argument, a relationship, or a situation that is difficult to escape from
entangle sb in sth
•fears that the US could get entangled in another war
be entangled with sb
•I didn't want to become entangled with my best friend's wife.
- entangled adjective
1 [C] a difficult situation or relationship that is hard to escape from:
•She had always been afraid of any emotional entanglements.
2 [U] when something becomes entangled in something
3 [C often plural] a fence made of BARBED WIRE that prevents enemy soldiers from getting too close
see DOUBLE ENTENDRE $ [C,U]
a situation in which two countries have friendly relations with each other; détente
•the Anglo-Russian entente $
1 GO INTO
a) [I,T] to go or come into a place:
•Silence fell as I entered the room.
•Few reporters dared to enter the war zone.
b) [T] if an object enters part of something, it goes inside it:
•The bullet had entered his brain.
2 START WORKING [I,T] to start working in a particular profession or organization, or to start studying at a school or university:
•Both the boys entered the army.
•She entered politics in 1996.
•He entered the Church (=became a priest) as a young man.
3 START AN ACTIVITY [T] to start to take part in an activity, or become involved in a situation:
•He entered the election as the clear favourite.
•The rebels were prepared to enter negotiations (=start discussing something).
4 COMPUTER
a) [T] to put information into a computer by pressing the keys:
•Press the return key to enter the information.
enter sth into sth
•The names are entered into a database.
b) [I,T] if you enter a computer system, you are given permission to use it by the computer:
•It won't let you enter without a password.
5 WRITE INFORMATION [T] to write information on a particular part of a form, document etc:
•Don't forget to enter your postcode.
[+in/into]
•Enter your name in the space provided.
6 COMPETITION/EXAMINATION [I,T] to arrange to take part in a race, competition, examination etc, or to arrange for someone else to take part:
•At least 30 schools entered the competition.
[+for]
•Decisions about when he or she is entered for an examination should be taken very carefully.
7 PERIOD OF TIME [T] to begin a period of time when something happens:
•The economy entered a period of recession in the mid 1980s.
enter its third week/sixth day/second year etc
•The talks have now entered their third week.
8 START TO EXIST [T] if a new idea, thought etc enters your head, or a new quality enters something, it suddenly starts to exist there:
•A note of panic entered her voice.
it never entered sb's head/mind (=used to say that someone never considered a particular idea, especially when this is surprising)
•It never entered his head that she might be seeing someone else.
9 enter sb's life if someone or something enters your life, you start to know them or be affected by them:
•By the time Angie entered his life, he was almost 30.
10 OFFICIAL STATEMENT [T] formal to make an official statement:
•Wilson entered a plea of not guilty (=said that he was not guilty at the beginning of a court case).
•Residents entered a number of objections to the scheme.

PHRASAL VERBS
enter into sth phr v
1 enter into an agreement/contract etc to make an official agreement to do something
[+with]
•Some local authorities have entered into partnership with private companies.
2 to start discussing or dealing with something:
•It could be a problem, but we don't need to enter into that just yet.
enter into discussions/negotiations (with sb)
•The government refused to enter into discussions with the opposition.
3 [usually in negatives] to affect a situation and be something that you consider when you make a choice:
•He always buys the best - money doesn't enter into it.
4 enter into the spirit of it/things to take part in a game, party etc in an eager way

enter upon sth phr v formal
to start doing something or being involved in it:
•countries newly entering upon industrialization [U]
a painful infection in your INTESTINEs $
1 [C] a company, organization, or business:
• commercial enterprises such as banks and food manufacturers
state/public enterprise especially BrE (=one owned by the government)
2 [U] the activity of starting and running businesses:
•the management of state enterprise (=done by the government)
FREE ENTERPRISE, PRIVATE ENTERPRISE
3 [C] a large and complicated project, especially one that is done with a group of other people; = initiative
•The programme is a joint enterprise with the London Business School.
4 [U] the ability to think of new activities or ideas and make them work:
•We're looking for young people with enterprise and creativity.[C,U]
a society or attitude which encourages people to start new businesses and be successful $
having the ability to think of new activities or ideas and make them work:
•Some enterprising students are designing software.
•an enterprising scheme to provide interest-free loans
- enterprisingly adverb $
1 [I,T] to amuse or interest people in a way that gives them pleasure
entertain sb with sth
•She entertained the children with stories, songs and drama.
•A museum should aim to entertain as well as educate.
2 [I,T] to invite people to your home for a meal, party etc, or to take your company's customers somewhere to have a meal, drinks etc:
•Mark usually does the cooking when we entertain.
•Do you get an allowance for entertaining clients?
3 entertain an idea/hope/thought etc formal to consider an idea etc, or allow yourself to think that something might happen or be true:
•She could never entertain the idea of living in the country. $ [C]
someone whose job is to tell jokes, sing etc in order to entertain people:
•Sinatra remains one of the top entertainers of all time.
•street entertainers $
amusing and interesting:
•Children's TV nowadays is much more entertaining.
•an entertaining evening[U]
when you invite people for meals or to parties, at home or for business reasons:
•simple recipes for easy entertaining
•The hotel is used for corporate entertaining (=for business reasons). $
1 [C,U] things such as films, television, performances etc that are intended to amuse or interest people:
•The town provides a wide choice of entertainment.
•There will be live entertainment (=performed then, not recorded) throughout the day.
light entertainment (=comedy)
•The dolphins give good entertainment value (=a lot of amusement and interest).
the entertainment industry/business/world
2 [U] formal when you entertain someone at home, or for business:
•the entertainment of friendsenthrall AmE $ past tense and past participle enthralled, present participle enthralling [T usually passive] BrE
to make someone very interested and excited, so that they listen or watch something very carefully
be enthralled by/with sb/sth
•The children were enthralled by the story she was telling
- enthralled adjective $
extremely interesting:
•an enthralling experience $ [T]
if a king or queen is enthroned, there is a ceremony to show that they are starting to rule
- enthronement noun [C,U] $
1 [I] to talk about something in a very interested or excited way
[+about/over]
•Rick was there, enthusing about life in Australia.
2 [T usually passive] to make someone interested in something or excited by it
be enthused by/with sth
•The owners were certainly enthused by the offer. $
1 [U] a strong feeling of interest and enjoyment about something and an eagerness to be involved in it

with enthusiasm
great/much/considerable/enormous enthusiasm
little enthusiasm
lack of enthusiasm
full of enthusiasm (=very enthusiastic)
show (great/considerable/little) enthusiasm
lose enthusiasm
share sb's enthusiasm
fire sb with enthusiasm (=make them very enthusiastic)
generate enthusiasm (=make people enthusiastic)
dampen sb's enthusiasm (=make them less enthusiastic)
boundless/unbounded enthusiasm (=great enthusiasm)

•Gillian and Darren greeted the speakers with great enthusiasm.
•We went along to the local diving club, full of enthusiasm.
•They go about their tasks with little enthusiasm.
[+for]
•Britain's apparent lack of enthusiasm for such a scheme
•Employers showed little enthusiasm for the new regulations.
•He shares your enthusiasm for jazz.
•I left university fired with enthusiasm for work.
•A delay of two hours did not dampen their enthusiasm.

2 [C] formal an activity or subject that someone is very interested in $ [C]
someone who is very interested in a particular activity or subject
baseball/outdoors/sailing etc enthusiast
•a keep-fit enthusiast
[+for]
•an enthusiast for the latest management thinking $
feeling or showing a lot of interest and excitement about something
enthusiastic about (doing) sth
•All the staff are enthusiastic about the project.
•The singer got an enthusiastic reception.
•an enthusiastic supporter of reform
- enthusiastically adverb [T]
to persuade someone to do something or go somewhere, usually by offering them something that they want
[+into/away/from etc]
•The birds were enticed back into Britain 40 years ago.
entice sb/sth to do sth
•Our special offers are intended to entice people to buy.
- enticement noun [C,U]
something that is enticing attracts or interests you a lot:
•It was a hot day and the water looked enticing.
- enticingly adverb $ [only before noun]
used when you want to emphasize that you mean all of a group, period of time, amount etc; = whole
•It was the worst day in my entire life.
•The entire staff agreed.
•Have you drunk the entire bottle? $
completely and in every possible way:
•Our situation is entirely different.
•The ridge consists entirely of volcanic rock.
•Her reasons were not entirely clear. $ formal
1 in its/their entirety including every part:
•The film has been shown in its entirety for the first time.
2 the entirety of sth formal the whole of sth:
•We stayed in the hotel throughout the entirety of the weekend. [T often passive]
1 to give someone the official right to do or have something
be entitled to (do) sth
•Full-time employees are entitled to receive health insurance.
entitle sb to sth
•Membership entitles you to the monthly journal.
2 be entitled sth if a book, play etc is entitled something, that is its name:
•a documentary entitled 'The Price of Perfection' [C,U]
the official right to have or do something, or the amount that you have a right to receive
[+to]
•Do you need advice on your entitlement to state benefits?
benefit/holiday/pension etc entitlement
•The paid holiday entitlement is 25 days.also entitlement [C]
a US government programme or system that gives money or help to people who need it plural entities [C]
formal something that exists as a single and complete unit; being
•The mind exists as a separate entity.
•Good design brings a house and garden together as a single entity. [T usually passive] formal
to bury or trap someone in something or under the ground $ [U]
the scientific study of insects
- entomologist noun [C]
- entomological $ adjective $ [C usually singular, also + plural verb] BrE
a group of people who travel with an important person:
•the president and his entourage [plural]
the inside parts of an animal or person's body, especially their INTESTINEs
1 [C] a door, gate etc that you go through to enter a place; exit
[+to/of]
•the main entrance to the school
front/back/side entrance
•the station entrance
entrance hall/foyer/gate etc
2 [C usually singular] the act of entering a place or room, especially in a way that people notice:
•Bridget made a dramatic entrance into the room.
3 [U] the right or ability to go into a place
[+to]
•Entrance to the museum is free.
•Reporters even managed to gain entrance to her hotel.
•How much is the entrance fee (=money you pay to get in somewhere)?
4 [U] permission to become a member of or become involved in a profession, university, society etc:
•the initial interview for entrance to the Civil Service
• entrance examinations
5 [C] when a person, country, organization etc first becomes involved in a particular area of activity
[+into]
•The referendum blocked Switzerland's entrance into the European Economic Area.
6 make your/an entrance to come onto the stage in a play $ [T usually passive] literary
if someone or something entrances you, they make you give them all your attention because they are so beautiful, interesting etc:
•I was entranced by the sweetness of her voice.
- entranced adjective [not before noun]
•She stopped, entranced.
- entrancing adjective
•entrancing stories [C]
1 someone who takes part in a competition
2 especially BrE someone who has recently started studying at university, or working
[+to]
•a fall in the number of new entrants to higher education past tense and past participle entrapped, present participle entrapping [T] formal
to trap someone or something, or make it impossible for them to escape from a situation, especially by tricking them:
•He felt that she was trying to entrap him. [U]
the practice of trapping someone by tricking them, especially to show that they are guilty of a crime [T] formal
to ask someone, in a very emotional way, to do something for you; = beg
entreat sb to do sth
•His friends entreated him not to go. plural entreaties [C,U]
formal a serious request in which you ask someone to do something for you $
1 [C] the main dish of a meal, or a dish served before the main course - used in restaurants or on formal occasions:
•an entrée of roast duck
2 [C,U] formal the right or freedom to enter a place or to join a social group
[+to/into]
•My family name gave me an entrée into upper class Boston society.
strongly established and not likely to change - often used to show disapproval
[+in]
•Ageism is entrenched in our society.
entrenched attitudes/positions/interests etc
•a deeply entrenched belief in male superiority
- entrench verb [T]
1 [U] when an attitude, belief etc becomes firmly established
2 [C] a system of TRENCHes (=long deep holes) dug by soldiers for defence or protection $ BrE spoken
used humorously to tell someone that what you are going to say is secret and they must not tell anyone else $ [C]
someone who starts a new business or arranges business deals in order to make money, often in a way that involves financial risks
- entrepreneurial adjective [U] technical
a lack of order in a system, including the idea that the lack of order increases over a period of time [T]
to make someone responsible for doing something important, or for taking care of someone
entrust sth/sb to sb
•She entrusted her son's education to a private tutor.
be entrusted with sth/sb
•I was entrusted with the task of looking after the money. plural entries
1 ACT OF ENTERING [C,U] the act of going into something; exit
[+into]
•It was dark and their entry into the camp had gone unnoticed.
•Harry made his entry into the village.
•There was no sign of a forced entry.
•How did the thieves gain entry (=get in)?
2 BECOMING INVOLVED [U] when someone starts to take part in a system, a particular kind of work etc, or the permission they need in order to do this
[+into/to]
•Britain's entry into the European Union
•the minimum height for entry into the police force
•This enabled European banks to gain entry into new markets.
•the entry requirements for a degree course
3 RIGHT TO ENTER [U] the right to enter a place, building etc
[+to/into]
•Entry to the gardens is included in the price of admission.
•The refugees were repeatedly refused entry into (=not allowed in) the country.
no entry (=written on signs to show that you are not allowed to go somewhere)
•an entry visa
4 COMPETITION [C]
a) something that you write, make, do etc in order to try and win a competition:
•The winning entry will be published in our April issue.
•What's the closing date for entries?
b) [usually singular] the number of people or things taking part in a competition:
•We've attracted a record entry this year.
5 STH WRITTEN [C] a piece of writing in a DIARY, or in a book containing information such as a dictionary:
•a dictionary entry
6 COMPUTER [U] the act of putting information into a computer:
•data entry
7 DOOR [C] also entryway AmE a door, gate, or passage that you go through to enter a place
ENTRANCE^1 (1)entry-level
entry level product/model/computer etc a product etc that is the most basic or simple of its kind, making it suitable for people who do not have much money to spend or who do not have experience using the product $ [C]
trademark a type of telephone outside a building that allows visitors to ask someone inside to open the door [C] AmE
a door, gate, room, or passage that you go through to enter a place; = entry [I,T often passive]
1 to twist two things together or to wind one thing around another:
•They walked together with their arms entwined.
2 be entwined (with sth) to be closely connected with something in a complicated way:
•Our views of leadership are entwined with ideas of heroism. $ [C]
BrE a number representing a chemical that has been added to a food, shown on the outside of a container $ [T]
formal to name a list of things one by one
1 [I,T] to pronounce words clearly and carefully
2 [T] formal to express an idea clearly and exactly:
•ideas that Darwin was to enunciate decades later
- enunciation noun [U] $
another spelling of INURE [T] formal
to cover or wrap something or someone up completely
[+in]
•mountain peaks enveloped in mist
•the enveloping darkness $ [C]
1 a thin paper cover in which you put and send a letter:
•envelopes and stamps
•She tore open the envelope and frantically read the letter.
•He got a job stuffing envelopes (=filling them with letters) at the campaign headquarters.
SAE, SASE
2 a layer of something that surrounds something else
[+of]
•an envelope of gases around the planet
3 push the envelope AmE to try to go beyond the normal limits of something:
•a musician who pushes the envelope of improvisation
an enviable quality, position, or possession is good and other people would like to have it:
•Now he was in the enviable position of not having to work for a living.
- enviably adverb
wanting something that someone else has; jealous
[+of]
•Colleagues were envious of her success.
•envious looks
- enviously adverb
1 the environment the air, water, and land on Earth, which can be harmed by man's activities :
•Some of these chemicals are very damaging to the environment.
•legislation to protect the environment
•the effects of acid rain on the environment
•the government minister for the environment
2 [C,U] the people and things that are around you in your life, for example the buildings you use, the people you live or work with, and the general situation you are in:
•Our first task was to improve the physical environment (=buildings, furniture etc) in the school.
•Young children often feel happier in the home environment.
•The company had failed to provide a safe environment for its workers.
working/learning environment
•a pleasant working environment
political/economic environment
•a stable economic environment
3 [C] the natural features of a place, for example its weather, the type of land it has, and the type of plants that grow in it; habitat
•a forest environment
•a very adaptable creature that will eat different foods in different environments

WORD FOCUS: environment
good for the environment:
environmentally friendly
eco-friendly
sustainable
recyclable
biodegradable
renewable
organic
people who want to protect the environment:
greens
eco-warriors
things that cause harm to the environment:
pollution
greenhouse gases
global warming
acid rain
deforestation

1 concerning or affecting the air, land, or water on Earth:
•the environmental damage caused by the chemical industry
•an international meeting to discuss environmental issues
•the environmental impact of pollution from cars
•an environmental group (=group of people who want to protect the environment)
2 concerning the people and things around you in your life, for example the buildings you use, the people you live or work with, and the general situation you are in:
•This will reduce the environmental risks to employees' health.
- environmentally adverb
•environmentally damaging projects [C]
someone who is concerned about protecting the environmentalso environment friendly
products that are environmentally friendly do not harm the environment when they are made or when you use them; = eco-friendly [plural]
formal the area surrounding a place:
•people living in Geneva and its environs
•outside the environs of the college [T]
to think that something is likely to happen in the future:
•The scheme cost a lot more than we had originally envisaged.
envisage doing sth
•I don't envisage working with him again. [T]
to imagine something that you think might happen in the future, especially something that you think will be good; = envisage
•As a young teacher, I envisioned a future of educational excellence. [C]
someone who is sent to another country as an official representative; = emissary
•The United Nations is sending a special envoy to the area. past tense and past participle envied, present participle envying, third person singular envies [T]
1 to wish that you had someone else's possessions, abilities etc:
•I really envy you and Ian, you seem so happy together.
•She has a lifestyle which most people would envy.
envy sb sth
•He envied Rosalind her youth and strength.
2 I don't envy you/her etc spoken used to say that you are glad that you are not in the bad situation that someone else is in[U]
1 the feeling of wanting something that someone else has; jealousy
with envy
•He watched the others with envy.
[+of]
•his envy of the young man's success
twinge/pang of envy
•I felt a twinge of envy when I saw them together.
•She could see that all the other girls were green with envy (=feeling a lot of envy).
2 be the envy of sb to be something that other people admire and want to have very much:
•an education system that is the envy of all European countries [C]
a chemical substance that is produced in a plant or animal, and helps chemical changes to take place in the plant or animal [C]
another spelling of AEONepaulet [C]
a small piece of cloth attached to the shoulder of a coat or shirt, especially on a military uniform $ [C]
a narrow sword with a sharp point, used in the sport of FENCING [plural]
small cheap things that people use in their ordinary life:
•a collection of sporting ephemera
existing or popular for only a short time:
•Fashion is by nature ephemeral. [C]
a book, poem, or film that tells a long story about brave actions and exciting events:
•a Hollywood epic
1 an epic book, poem, or film tells a long story about brave actions and exciting events:
•an epic tale of mutiny on the high seas
•epic poetry
2 an epic event continues for a long time and involves brave or exciting actions:
•his epic journey to South America
3 very large and impressive:
•He had produced a meal of epic proportions.epicenter AmE $ [C] BrE
1 the place on the surface of the Earth that is right above the point where an EARTHQUAKE begins inside the Earth
2 the place where the most important things happen and important decisions are made:
•London became the epicentre of the world fashion industry. $ [C]
formal someone who enjoys good food and drink formal
gaining pleasure from the senses, especially through good food and drink [C]
1 a large number of cases of a disease that happen at the same time; pandemic
•Over 500 people died during last year's flu epidemic.
[+of]
•an epidemic of cholera
2 a sudden increase in the number of times that something bad happens
[+of]
•Britain is suffering an epidemic of petty crime.
- epidemic adjective [only before noun]
•Violent crime is reaching epidemic proportions in some cities. $ [U]
the study of the way diseases spread, and how to control them
- epidemiologist noun [C]
- epidemiological $ adjective $ [C,U]
technical the outside layer of your skin $ [C]
a drug that is put into your back using a needle, done to prevent you feeling pain, especially when having a baby $ [C]
the piece of flesh that hangs down at the back of your throat [C]
a short sentence that expresses an idea in a clever or amusing way
- epigrammatic adjective $ [C]
a short sentence written on a STATUE, or used as an introduction to a book [U]
a medical condition affecting your brain, that can make you suddenly become unconscious or unable to control your movements for a short time
caused by epilepsy:
•He had an epileptic fit.[C]
someone who has epilepsyalso epilog AmE $
1 [C] a speech or piece of writing that is added to the end of a book, film, or play and discusses or explains the ending
2 [singular] literary something that happens at the end of a series of events; prologue
•a disastrous epilogue to his career [U]
a Christian holy day on January 6th that celebrates the day when the Three Kings came to see the baby Jesus
relating to a BISHOP:
•his episcopal duties[singular]
a group of Christians in the US and Scotland $ [C]
1 an event or a short period of time during which something happens:
•She decided she would try to forget the episode by the lake.
•one of the most interesting episodes in his career
2 a television or radio programme that is one of a series of programmes in which the same story is continued each week:
•Watch next week's thrilling episode!
[+of]
•the first episode of a new drama series $ formal
1 something that is episodic happens from time to time and then stops for a while, rather than happening all the time:
•his episodic involvement in politics
2 an episodic story or memory is one in which a lot of different events happen that do not follow on from each other [C]
one of the letters in the New Testament of the Bible [C]
formal a long or important letter $ formal
written in the form of a letter or a series of letters:
•an epistolary novel $ [C]
a short piece of writing on the stone over someone's GRAVE (=place in the ground where someone is buried) [C]
a word or short phrase used to describe someone, especially when praising them or saying something unpleasant about them:
•He hardly deserves the epithet 'fascist'.
the epitome of sth the best possible example of something:
•She looked the epitome of elegance.
•He was the very epitome of evil.also epitomise BrE [T]
to be a very typical example of something:
•This building epitomizes the spirit of the nineteenth century. $ [C]
a period of history; = era
•the Victorian epoch
•The king's death marked the end of an epoch.
• the beginning of a new epoch
very important in changing the way people live or the way a society is organized:
•the epoch-making social changes of the 1960s $ [only before noun]
the eponymous character in a book, film, or play is the character whose name is in its title:
•Hester, the book's eponymous heroine $ [U]
a type of glue $ [plural]
a white powder that can be mixed with water and used as a medicine [U]
electronic publishing the business of producing books, magazines, or newspapers that are designed to be read using a computer
- e-publisher noun [C]
1 formal someone who is equable remains calm and happy and does not often get annoyed:
•a young man with a naturally equable temperament
2 technical equable weather is neither too hot nor too cold:
•a place with a pleasant, equable climate
- equably adverb
•She smiled equably.
1 SAME the same in size, number, amount, value etc as something else; equivalent
equal number/amount (of sth)
•Both candidates received an equal number of votes.
(of) equal value/importance
•They believe that all work is of equal value.
equal in size/length/height etc
•The two towns are roughly equal in size.
of equal size/length/height etc
[+to]
•The rent was equal to half his monthly income.
2 SAME RIGHTS/CHANCES having the same rights, opportunities etc as everyone else, whatever your race, religion, or sex:
•Our constitution states that all men are equal.
•Our education system should provide equal opportunities for all children.
•The government is committed to achieving equal rights for women.
3 be equal to sth
a) to have the ability to deal with a problem, piece of work etc successfully; = be up to
•I'm not sure he's equal to the task.
•Are you equal to this challenge?
b) to be as good as something else:
•The architecture here is equal to any in the world.
4 on equal terms/on an equal footing with neither side having any advantage over the other:
•This law will help small businesses to compete on equal terms with large multinational corporations.
5 all (other) things being equal spoken if things are as you normally expect them to be:
•All things being equal, a small car will cost less than a larger one.past tense and past participle equalled, present participle equalling BrE past tense and past participle equaled, present participle equaling AmE
1 [linking verb] to be exactly the same in size, number, or amount as something else:
•Two plus two equals four.
•Prices should become more stable when supply equals demand.
2 [T] to be as good as something else, or get to the same standard as someone or something else:
•Thompson equalled the world record.
3 be equalled (only) by sth used to say that two things are as strong or as important as each other:
•Her distaste for books was equalled only by her dislike of people.
4 [T] to produce a particular result or effect:
•A highly-trained workforce equals high productivity.[C]
1 someone who is as important, intelligent etc as you are, or who has the same rights and opportunities as you do:
•He treats all his staff as equals.
•a friendship between equals
[+in]
•She wasn't his equal in intelligence.
2 be the equal of sb/sth to be as good as someone or something else:
•The company proved to be the equal of its US rivals.
3 be without equal also have no equal formal to be better than everyone or everything else of the same type:
•His paintings are without equal. $ [U]
a situation in which people have the same rights, advantages etc
[+of]
•All people have the right to equality of opportunity.
[+with]
•Women have yet to achieve full equality with men in the workplace.
[+between]
•equality between men and women
racial/sexual equality
•The government must promote racial equality.also equalise BrE
1 [T] to make two or more things the same in size, value, amount etc:
•We have tried to equalize the workload between the different teachers.
2 [I] BrE to get a point in a game, so that you have the same number of points as your opponent:
•England equalized ten minutes later.also equaliser BrE $ [C]
1 BrE a point that you score in a game, that gives you the same number of points as your opponent:
•England scored the equalizer with only ten minutes to go.
2 something that makes all people equal because everyone experiences it in the same way:
•Sport is a great equalizer in schools.
1 [+ adj/adv] to the same degree or amount:
•You must have a good education, but practical training is equally important.
2 in equal parts or amounts:
•We agreed to divide the money equally between everyone.
3 [sentence adverb] used when introducing a second idea or statement that is as important as your first one:
•We want the economy to grow, but equally we want low inflation.equal sign AmE [C] BrE
the sign (=) that you use in mathematics to show that two things are the same size, number, or amount [U]
formal calmness in the way that you react to things, which means that you do not become upset or annoyed:
•He received the news with surprising equanimity. [T]
to consider that two things are similar or connected
equate sth with sth
•Most people equate wealth with success.

PHRASAL VERBS
equate to sth phr v
to be equal to something:
•a rate of pay which equates to £6 per hour
1 [C] a statement in mathematics that shows that two amounts or totals are equal:
•In the equation 2x + 1 = 7, what is x?
2 [C usually singular] the set of different facts, ideas, or people that all affect a situation and must be considered together:
•The tourist industry forms a crucial part of the region's economic equation.
•The question of cost has now entered the equation.
3 [singular] when you consider that two things are similar or connected:
•the equation of violence with powerEquator $
the equator an imaginary line drawn around the middle of the Earth that is exactly the same distance from the North Pole and the South Pole
on/at/near the equator
•a small village near the equator
1 near the equator:
•equatorial rainforests
2 equatorial weather is very hot and wet:
•an equatorial climate
relating to horse-riding:
•equestrian sports
at an equal distance from two places
[+from/between]
•The city is equidistant between London and Glasgow. [C]
technical a TRIANGLE (1) whose three sides are all the same length [singular, U]
1 a balance between different people, groups, or forces that compete with each other, so that none is stronger than the others and a situation is not likely to change suddenly:
•The government is anxious not to upset the economic equilibrium.
2 a state in which you are calm and not angry or upset:
•She struggled to recover her equilibrium.
relating to horses, or looking like a horse $ [C]
one of the two times in a year when night and day are of equal length:
•the spring equinox past tense and past participle equipped, present participle equipping [T]
1 to provide a person or place with the things that are needed for a particular kind of activity or work
equip sb/sth with sth
•They spent a lot of money equipping the school with new computers.
•He equipped himself with a hammer and nails.
be equipped with sth
•The rooms are equipped with video cameras.
be equipped to do sth
•The emergency services are equipped to deal with disasters of this kind.
well/poorly/fully etc equipped
•a well equipped hospital
2 to give someone the information and skills that they need to do something
equip sb with sth
•We equip students with the skills they will need once they leave college.
equip sb for sth
•training that will equip you for the job
equip sb to do sth
•We must equip young teachers to deal with difficult children.
1 [U] the tools, machines, clothes etc that you need to do a particular job or activity
•a shop selling camping equipment
•some brand new computer equipment
piece/bit of equipment
•a very useful piece of equipment
2 [singular] the process of equipping someone or something
[+of]
•A lot of money was spent on the equipment of the new hospital. formal
treating all people in a fair and equal way; inequitable
•an equitable distribution of food supplies
- equitably adverb
•The work should be shared more equitably.
1 [U] formal a situation in which all people are treated equally and no one has an unfair advantage; inequity
•a society run on the principles of equity and justice
2 [U] technical the amount of money that you would have left if you sold your house and paid off the money you borrowed to buy the house
3 equities [plural] technical SHAREs in a company from which the owner of the shares receives some of the company's profits rather than a fixed regular payment
4 [U] law the principle that a fair judgment must be made in a situation where the existing laws do not provide an answer
having the same value, purpose, job etc as a person or thing of a different kind
[+to]
•a qualification which is equivalent to a degree
•I had no dollars, but offered him an equivalent amount of sterling.
- equivalence noun [U][C]
something that has the same value, purpose, job etc as something else:
•The word has no equivalent in English.
[+of]
•He had drunk the equivalent of 15 whiskies.
1 if you are equivocal, you are deliberately unclear in the way that you give information or your opinion; = ambiguous
•His answer was equivocal.
•She was rather equivocal about her work.
2 information that is equivocal is difficult to understand or explain because it contains different parts which suggest that different things are true:
•The results of the police enquiry were equivocal. [I]
formal to avoid giving a clear or direct answer to a question
- equivocation noun [C,U] $
forms the comparative of many short adjectives and adverbs:
•hot, hotter
•dry, drier
•fast, faster
-EST[in nouns]
1 someone who does something or is doing something:
•a dancer
•a driver
2 something that does something:
•a scraper (=a tool you use for scraping)
-AR, -OR $ [C usually singular] AmE informal
EMERGENCY ROOM $ BrE
a sound you make when you do not know exactly what to say next:
•Well, er - I'm not really sure. $ [C]
a period of time in history that is known for a particular event, or for particular qualities
[+of]
•We live in an era of instant communication.
•a new era of world peace
•His death marked the end of an era.
•the Victorian era [T]
to completely get rid of something such as a disease or a social problem
eradicate sth from sth
•We can eradicate this disease from the world.
•an attempt to eradicate inflation
•This problem has now been completely eradicated.
- eradication noun [U] $ [T]
1 to remove information from a computer memory or recorded sounds from a tape:
•The computer crashed, and all our records were erased.
2 to remove writing from paper:
•Some of the names had been accidentally erased.
3 to get rid of something so that it has gone completely and no longer exists:
•Their dream is to erase poverty and injustice from the world.
erase sth from your mind/memory
•He couldn't erase the image from his mind.
•She had tried to erase the memory of that day. $ [C]
a small piece of rubber that you use to remove pencil or pen marks from paper; = rubber BrE $ [U] formal
when you erase something, or when something is erased:
•a way to avoid accidental erasure of data from your computer $ old use literary
before
1 in a straight upright position:
•Martin stood erect on the platform.
2 an erect PENIS or NIPPLE is stiff and bigger than it usually is because a person is sexually excited[T]
1 formal to build something such as a building or wall:
•an imposing town hall, erected in 1892
•Police have erected barriers across the main roads into the town.
2 to fix all the pieces of something together, and put it in an upright position; = put up
•It took a couple of hours to erect the tent.
3 to establish something such as a system or institution
1 [C] if a man has an erection, his PENIS increases in size and becomes stiff and upright because he is sexually excited
have/get an erection
2 [U] the act of building something or putting it in an upright position
[+of]
•the erection of a new templealso e-résumé $ [C]
electronic resume an electronic written record of your education and previous jobs that you send to an employer over the Internet when you are looking for a new job $ technical
an ergative verb can be either TRANSITIVE or INTRANSITIVE, with the same word used as the object of the transitive form and as the subject of the intransitive form, such as 'cooked' in the sentences 'He cooked the potatoes' and 'The potatoes cooked quickly'. $ [sentence adverb] formal
therefore $ [U]
the way in which the careful design of equipment helps people to work better and more quickly:
•We were very impressed with the machine's ergonomics.
- ergonomic adjective
•a new ergonomic design
- ergonomically adverb
- ergonomist $ noun [C]
[singular, U] the abbreviation of exchange rate mechanism $
1 [U] an expensive white fur, used especially for the formal clothes of judges, kings, and queens
2 [C] a small animal whose fur is white in winteralso erode away $ [I,T]
1 if the weather erodes rock or soil, or if rock or soil erodes, its surface is gradually destroyed:
•The cliffs are being constantly eroded by heavy seas.
•The rocks have gradually eroded away.
2 to gradually reduce something such as someone's power or confidence:
•Our personal freedom is being gradually eroded away.
•Repeated exam failure had eroded her confidence. $ [C]
a part of your body that gives you sexual pleasure when it is touched $ [U]
1 the process by which rock or soil is gradually destroyed by wind, rain, or the sea:
•the problem of soil erosion
•the erosion of the coastline
2 the process by which something is gradually reduced or destroyed
[+of]
•the gradual erosion of our civil liberties $
1 an erotic book, picture, or film shows people having sex, and is intended to make people reading or looking at it have feelings of sexual pleasure
2 erotic thoughts, feelings, or experiences involve sexual excitement:
•an erotic dream
- erotically adverb $ [plural]
erotic pictures, films, and writing; pornography $ [U]
a style or quality that expresses strong feelings of sexual love and desire, especially in works of art:
•the eroticism of his early love poems $ [I]
1 err on the side of sth to be more careful or safe than is necessary, in order to make sure that nothing bad happens:
•It's always best to err on the side of caution.
2 old use to make a mistake [C]
a short journey in order to do something for someone, for example delivering or collecting something for them:
•I seemed to spend my life running errands for people.
•She was always sending me on errands.
on an errand
•I couldn't stop because I was on an errand.
•He quickly set out on his errand of mercy (=journey to help someone in danger).
(send sb on) a fool's errand at FOOL^1 (11) [only before noun] old-fashioned
behaving badly, usually by not obeying your parents or not being faithful to your husband or wife:
•an errant wife
•their errant son
something that is erratic does not follow any pattern or plan but happens in a way that is not regular:
•His breathing was becoming erratic.
•She found it hard to cope with his erratic behaviour.
- erratically adverb
•He always drives erratically. plural errata [C]
technical a mistake in a book, shown in a list added after the book is printed $ formal
erroneous ideas or information are wrong and based on facts that are not correct:
•His economic predictions are based on some erroneous assumptions.
- erroneously adverb $
1 [C,U] a mistake
[+in]
•There must be an error in our calculations.
make/commit an error
•The government has committed a serious error.
serious/grave/fatal error
•I realized I had made a fatal error.
computer/driver etc error
•The bill was sent to the wrong person because of a computer error.
•The accident was caused by human error (=a mistake by a person).
2 [C] a mistake when you are working on a computer, which means that the computer program cannot do what you want it to do:
•An error message.
3 error of judgment a mistake in the way that you examine a situation and decide what to do:
•The decision to expand the company was an error of judgement.
4 be in error to have made a mistake, especially when making an official decision:
•The doctor has admitted that he was in error.
5 do sth in error if you do something in error, you do it by mistake:
•The wrong man was arrested in error.
6 see the error of your ways literary to realize that you have been behaving badly and decide to stop
see also trial and error at TRIAL^1 (4) $ [usually before noun]
artificial, and not as good as the real thing:
•ersatz coffee $ [only before noun] formal
former or in the past:
•She found herself ostracized by erstwhile friends.
•his erstwhile allies
showing a lot of knowledge based on careful study; = learned
- eruditely adverb
- erudition noun [U] [I]
1 if fighting, violence, noise etc erupts, it starts suddenly; = break out
•Violence erupted after police shot a student during the demonstration.
•A political row erupted over the MP's comments.
2 if a VOLCANO erupts, it explodes and sends smoke, fire, and rock into the sky
3 if a place or situation erupts, there is a sudden increase in activity or emotion
[+into]
•They were angry to the point of erupting into riot.
•Their conversations often erupted into minor squabbles.
4 erupt into laughter/shouting etc to suddenly start laughing, shouting etc:
•He erupted into loud, desperate sobs.
5 if spots erupt on your body, they suddenly appear on your skin
- eruption noun [C,U]
•a volcanic eruption
•the eruption of violencealso -ry (in nouns)
1 a quality or condition:
•bravery (=the quality of being brave)
•slavery (=the condition of being a slave)
2 things of a particular kind:
•machinery (=different types of machines)
•all her finery (=beautiful clothes)
3 a place where a particular activity happens:
•a bakery (=where bread is baked)
•an oil refinery [I,T]
1 if fighting, violence, or a bad situation escalates, or if someone escalates it, it becomes much worse
[+into]
•Her fear was escalating into panic.
•The fighting on the border is escalating.
•We do not want to escalate the war.
2 to become higher or increase, or to make something do this:
•The costs were escalating alarmingly.
•policies that escalate their own costs
•escalating crime
- escalation noun [C,U]
•the escalation of fighting in June
•a rapid escalation in value $ [C]
a set of moving stairs that take people to different levels in a building $ [C] BrE
a thin piece of meat with no bones in it, especially VEAL (=meat from a young cow), cooked in hot oil [C]
1 an adventure or series of events that are exciting or contain some risk:
•their dangerous escapades in the Great War
2 AmE a sexual relationship that is exciting or risky, but that is not considered serious
1 PERSON/PLACE [I] to get away from a place or dangerous situation when someone is trying to catch you or stop you:
•He broke down the locked door and escaped.
[+from/through/over etc]
•He escaped from prison in October.
[+to]
•She escaped to Britain in 1938.
2 DANGER [I,T] to get away from a dangerous or bad situation
[+with]
•He escaped with minor injuries.
escape unhurt/unscathed/unharmed etc
•A boy escaped unhurt when the fire in his room exploded.
•They went to the hills to escape the summer heat.
escape sb's clutches (=escape from someone)
•The youth was trying to escape the clutches of two drunken female companions.
3 AVOID [I,T] to avoid something bad or that you do not want to happen:
•He narrowly escaped death in an avalanche.
•The two passengers escaped serious injury.
•They must not be allowed to escape justice.
•It seemed impossible he would escape detection.
4 GAS/LIQUID ETC [I] if gas, liquid, light, heat etc escapes from somewhere, it comes out:
•Vents allow any steam to escape if the system overheats.
5 SOUND [I,T] literary if a sound escapes from someone, they accidentally make that sound:
•A small laugh escaped her.
[+from]
•Holman let a weary sigh escape from his lips.
6 escape sb's attention/notice if something escapes your attention or notice, you do not see it or realize that it is there
7 the name/date/title etc escapes sb used to say that someone cannot remember something:
•For some reason which escapes me, we had to take a taxi.
8 there's no escaping (the fact) used to emphasize that something is definitely important or will definitely happen:
•There's no escaping the fact that work has profound effects on emotions and health.
1 [C,U] the act of getting away from a place, or a dangerous or bad situation:
•The girl had no chance of escape.
•Christina hoped it wouldn't be too long before she could make her escape.
[+from]
•the firm's narrow escape from bankruptcy
•an escape route
•They had a lucky escape (=were lucky not to be hurt or killed) when a car crashed into the front of their house.
2 [singular, U] a way of forgetting about a bad or boring situation for a short time
[+from]
•Travel can be an escape from the routine drudgery of life.
3 [C,U] an amount of gas, liquid etc that accidentally comes out of the place where it is being kept, or an occasion when this happens:
•The lid prevents the escape of poisonous gases.
FIRE ESCAPE [only before noun]
an escaped person or animal has escaped from somewhere:
•an escaped prisoner [C] literary
someone who has escaped from somewhere[C,U]
the speed at which a ROCKET must travel in order to get into space [U]
activities or entertainment that help you forget about bad or boring things for a short time:
•Books were a form of escapism from the real world.
- escapist adjective
•pure escapist entertainment $ [C] BrE
someone who escapes from ropes, chains, a cage etc to entertain people $ [C]
a high steep slope or cliff between two levels on a hill or mountain [C] AmE law
a legal process in which someone's money and property are given to the state after they die if they do not have a WILL, or if there is nobody else with a legal right to receive their money or property [T] formal
to deliberately avoid doing or using something:
•I had eschewed politics in favour of a life practising law. $ [T]
1 to take someone somewhere, especially when you are protecting or guarding them:
•The shipment was escorted by guards.
escort sb back/through/to etc (sth)
•Two Marines escorted Benny inside.
•I escorted her to the door.
2 to go with someone and show them a place
escort sb around (sth)
•The company escorts prospective buyers around the property.
3 old-fashioned to go with someone to a social event:
•Bill escorted Ellie to the opera. $ [C]
1 a person or a group of people or vehicles that go with someone in order to protect or guard them:
•a police escort
under escort
•He was driven away to prison under armed escort (=protected or guarded by an escort).
2 someone who goes with someone to a formal social event
3 someone who is paid to go out with someone socially:
•an escort agency
4 AmE a PROSTITUTE, especially one who goes to social events or on trips with the person who pays them $ [C] formal
a small writing desk $ [U] law
money, land, or a written contract, etc that is held by someone who is not directly involved in an agreement while the agreement is being achieved:
•a property that is being held in escrow $ plural escudos [C]
the standard unit of money used in Portugal before the EURO [C] formal
a SHIELD on which someone's COAT OF ARMS (=family sign) is painted
1 [in nouns] the people or language of a particular country or place:
•the Viennese (=people from Vienna).
•l'm learning Japanese (=the language of Japan).
2 [in adjectives] belonging to a particular country or place:
•Chinese music
3 [in nouns] informal language or words used by a particular group, especially when it sounds ugly or is difficult to understand:
•journalese (=language used in newspapers)
•officialese (=language used in official or legal writing) $ [C]
ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE $ plural Eskimo or Eskimos [C] old-fashioned
an INUIT (=someone who belongs to a race of people living in the very cold northern areas of North America). Many people now consider this word offensive. [U]
English as a Second Language the teaching of English to people, who are living in an English-speaking country, but whose first language is not English $ [U]
the abbreviation of English for Speakers of Other Languages $
[C] the American spelling of OESOPHAGUS
known and understood by only a few people who have special knowledge about something:
•the esoteric world of scientific supercomputing
- esoterically adverb [U]
1 extra-sensory perception the ability to know what will happen in the future, or to know what another person is thinking
2 English for Specific Purposes or English for Special Purposes the teaching of English to business people, scientists etc whose first language is not English
the written abbreviation of especially $ [C]
a light shoe that is made of cloth and rope BrE formal
SPECIAL
1 [sentence adverb] used to emphasize that something is more important or happens more with one particular thing than with others; = particularly
•I never liked long walks, especially in winter.
•Art books are expensive to produce, especially if they contain colour illustrations.
2 [+ adj/adv] to a particularly high degree or much more than usual; = particularly
•I was especially fond of chocolate biscuits.
•Feedback is especially important in learning skills.
•A depreciation of the dollar would make US exports cheaper and especially so in Japan.
•Graphics are especially well handled in the book.
3 for a particular person, purpose etc
[+for]
•She bought a new pair of trainers especially for the trip.
4 not especially not very, or not very much:
•Accidents aren't especially common, but you never know.
•He didn't especially want to learn to dance.

WORD CHOICE: especially, specially
It is better to use especially in front of adjectives to emphasize them, although some people also use specially: The cake was especially good. | This part is especially interesting.
Use especially to say that something applies more to one thing or situation than to others: Everyone loved it, especially the children. | You should call first, especially if you're going to be late.
Use specially to say that something is done or made for a particular purpose: I got this specially for you. | specially designed equipment

!! Especially never comes at the start of a sentence: He loves fruit. He especially likes kiwis (NOT Especially he likes ...).

$ [U]
an artificial language invented in 1871 to help people from different countries in the world speak to each other [U]
the activity of secretly finding out secret information and giving it to a country's enemies or a company's competitors; = spying; spy
•a campaign of industrial espionage against his main rival
COUNTER-ESPIONAGE $ [C]
especially BrE a wide street next to the sea in a town [T]
formal to support an idea, belief etc, especially a political one
espouse a cause/policy etc
•He espoused a variety of scientific, social and political causes.
- espousal noun [singular, U]
•her espousal of liberal reforms $ plural espressos [C,U]
strong black Italian coffee, or a cup of this coffee $ [U]
formal feelings of loyalty towards people who are all involved in the same activity as you; = team spirit past tense and past participle espied, present participle espying, third person singular espies [T]
literary to suddenly see someone or something; = spy
1 especially BrE esquire a title that is sometimes written after a man's name in the address on an official letter instead of using MR before the name
2 AmE a title of respect that is sometimes put after a lawyer's name:
•Franklin Taylor Esq. [in adjectives]
1 in the manner or style of a particular person, group, or place:
•Kafkaesque (=in the style of the writer Franz Kafka)
2 having a particular quality:
•picturesque (=pleasant to look at) $ [singular]
a formal title that can be written after a man's name, especially in the address on an official letter [in nouns]
a female:
•an actress (=a female actor)
•two lionesses [C]
1 a short piece of writing about a particular subject by a student as part of a course of study
[+on/about]
•an essay on Bernard Shaw
2 a short piece of writing giving someone's ideas about politics, society etc
[+on]
•Rousseau's Essay on the Origin of Languages
3 formal an attempt to do something [T]
formal to attempt to do something [C]
someone who writes essays giving their ideas about politics, society etc
1 [singular] the most basic and important quality of something
[+of]
•The essence of Arsenal's style of football was speed.
•She seems the very essence of kindness (=she seems very kind).
2 in essence used when talking about the most basic and important part of something, especially an idea, belief, or argument:
•In essence his message was very simple.
3 [C,U] a liquid obtained from a plant, flower etc that has a very strong smell or taste and is used especially in cooking:
•vanilla essence
4 sth is of the essence used to say that something is very important:
•Good communications are of the essence to remain competitive.
time/speed is of the essence (=it is very important to do something quickly)
1 extremely important and necessary
[+for/to]
•A good diet is essential for everyone.
it is essential (that)
•It is essential that our pilots are given the best possible training.
it is essential to do sth
•It is essential to book in advance.
•Window locks are fairly cheap and absolutely essential.
•Even in small companies, computers are an essential tool.
2 the essential part, quality, or feature of something is the most basic one:
•The essential difference between Sam and me was the fact that I took life seriously.
•The essential point of relay racing is that it is a team effort.
1 [C usually plural] something that is necessary to do something or in a particular situation:
•She packed a few essentials.
•We only had the bare essentials (=the most necessary things).
2 the essentials [plural] the basic and most important information or facts about a particular subject
[+of]
•We have no reason to doubt the essentials of the girl's story.
used when stating the most basic facts about something; = basically
•Ballet is essentially a middle-class interest.
•Suicide rates have remained essentially unchanged. [sentence adverb]
•Essentially, we are talking about the cold war period.[C]
an oil from a plant that has a strong smell and is used for making PERFUME or in AROMATHERAPY
forms the SUPERLATIVE of many short adjectives and adverbs:
•cold, colder, coldest
•early, earlier, earliest
-ER^1
1 the written abbreviation of established :
•H. Perkins and Company, est. 1869
2 the written abbreviation of estimated [T]
1 to start a company, organization, system, etc that is intended to exist or continue for a long time; = found
•The city of Boerne was established by German settlers in the 1840s.
•Our goal is to establish a new research centre in the North.
2 to begin a relationship with someone or a situation that will continue
establish relations/links/contact etc (with sb)
•Hungary established diplomatic relations with Chile in 1990.
•I wondered why he should bother to try and establish contact with me.
3 to find out facts that will prove that something is true:
•The police must establish the facts of the case before proceeding.
establish that
•The autopsy established that he had been murdered.
establish whether/if
•I was never able to establish whether she was telling the truth.
4 to make people accept that you can do something, or that you have a particular quality
establish yourself (as/in)
•He had three years in which to establish himself as Prime Minister.
•He'd already begun to establish quite a reputation as a journalist. [only before noun]
1 already in use or existing for a long period of time:
•Competition from established businesses can be formidable.
• well-established teaching methods
•By 1969 the civil rights movement was already an established fact.
•Every once in a while, the established order (=people who rule) is overthrown.
2 known to do a particular job well, because you have done it for a long time:
•an established professor of French literature
3 established church/religion especially BrE the official church or religion in a particular country
1 [C] formal an organization or institution, especially a business, shop etc:
•a top class training establishment
2 the establishment the group of people in a society or profession who have a lot of power and influence and are often opposed to any kind of change or new ideas:
•Young people are supposed to rebel against the Establishment.
the medical/legal/military etc establishment
•The public is treated with contempt by the art establishment.
3 [U] the act of starting an organization, relationship, or system
[+of]
•the establishment of NATO in 1949
1 [singular] law all of someone's property and money, especially everything that is left after they die
sb's estate
•The property is part of the deceased's estate.
2 [C] a large area of land in the country, usually with one large house on it and one owner:
•a country estate
3 [C] BrE an area where houses or buildings of a similar type have all been built together in a planned way
council/industrial/housing etc estate
FOURTH ESTATE, REAL ESTATE[C]
BrE someone whose business is to buy and sell houses or land for people; = real estate agent, realtor AmE
- estate agency noun [C]also estate [C]
BrE a car with a door at the back, folding back seats, and a lot of space at the back; = station wagon AmE[C,U]
a tax in the US on the money and possessions of a dead person; inheritance tax [U]
a feeling of respect for someone, or a good opinion of someone
hold sb in high/great esteem
•The critics held him in high esteem as an actor.
token/mark of sb's esteem (=a sign of their respect)
•Please accept the small gift we enclose as a mark of our esteem.
[+for]
•my father's complete lack of esteem for actors
SELF-ESTEEM[T] formal
to respect and admire someone or something:
•Peden was greatly esteemed by the people of Ayrshire.
•He was esteemed as a literary wit. [usually before noun] formal
respected and admired:
•the esteemed French critic Olivier Boissiere
• highly esteemed scholars $ [C]
an American spelling of AESTHETE
- esthetic $ adjective
- esthetical adjective
- esthetically adverb
- esthetics noun [U] formal
deserving respect and admiration; inestimable [C]
1 a calculation of the value, size, amount etc of something:
•a rough estimate (=not an exact calculation) of how much time we'll need
•A conservative estimate (=a deliberately low estimate) puts annual sales at around $100 million.
•The figure will only be about two million, less than half the original estimate.
•Some estimates put the number of deaths at several hundred.
GUESSTIMATE
2 a statement of how much it will probably cost to build or repair something
[+for]
•The garage said they'd send me an estimate for the work. [T]
to try to judge the value, size, speed, cost etc of something, without calculating it exactly
be estimated to be/have/cost etc
•The tree is estimated to be at least 700 years old.
estimate sth at sth
•Organizers estimated the crowd at 50,000.
estimate that
•Scientists estimate that smoking reduces life expectancy by around 12 years on average.
estimate how many/what etc
•It is not easy to estimate how many people have the disease.
- estimated adjective
•heroin with an estimated street value of £50,000
- estimator noun [C]
1 [singular] a judgment or opinion about someone or something
in sb's estimation
•In your estimation, who's going to win?
go up/come down in sb's estimation (=be respected or admired more or less by someone)
2 [C] a calculation of the value, size, amount etc of something:
•Estimations of their total world sales are around the 50 million mark.
1 sb's estranged husband/wife someone's husband or wife whom they are no longer living with, used especially in newspaper reports
2 no longer seeing or talking to a relative or good friend, because of an argument
[+from]
•Mill became estranged from his family after the marriage.
3 no longer feeling any connection with something that used to be important in your life; = alienated
[+from]
•young adults who feel estranged from the church
- estrangement noun [C,U] $ [U]
the usual American spelling of OESTROGEN $ plural estuaries [C]
the wide part of a river where it goes into the sea:
•the Thames estuary[U]
a way of speaking English that is common in London and the southeast of England. In Estuary English /t/ is pronounced as a GLOTTAL STOP, and sometimes /l/ is pronounced like /w/. [U]
estimated time of arrival the time when a plane, ship etc is expected to arrive $ [C]
electronic retailer a business that sells products or services on the Internet, instead of in a shop
- e-tail noun [U]
written after a list of names to mean that other people are also involved in something:
•Boers et al, 2001also etc BrE
et cetera used in writing after a list to show that there are many other similar things or people that you could have added:
•a shop which sells cards, calendars, wrapping paper etc
etc etc (=used when you are rather bored or annoyed by the list you are giving)
•The letter says pay at once, they've reminded us before etc etc.
the full form of etc
1 [I,T] to cut lines on a metal plate, piece of glass, stone etc to form a picture or words
[+on]
•a gravestone with three names etched on it
•A laser is used to etch a pattern in the smooth surface of the disc.
2 be etched on/in your memory/mind literary if an experience, name etc is etched on your memory or mind, you cannot forget it and you think of it often:
•The island remained etched in my memory.
3 [T usually passive] if someone's face is etched with pain, sadness etc, you can see these feelings from their expression
[+with]
•Her face was etched with tiredness.
•Craig saw lines of pain etched around her mouth.
4 [T] to make lines or patterns appear on something very clearly:
•etched glass [C]
a picture made by printing from an etched metal plate $
1 continuing for ever and having no end:
•the Christian promise of eternal life
•She's an eternal optimist (=she always expects that good things will happen).
2 seeming to continue for ever, especially because of being boring or annoying; = never-ending
•the eternal arguments between mother and son
3 eternal truths principles that are always true $
1 for ever:
•I'll be eternally grateful (=very grateful) to you for this.
2 informal always or very often; = constantly
•He's the sort of player who's eternally arguing with the referee.[singular] literary
the difficult situation that occurs when two people have a sexual relationship with the same person $
1 an eternity a period of time that seems very long because you are annoyed, anxious etc:
•Here she waited for what seemed like an eternity.
•That week was an eternity of solitude and boredom.
2 [U] the whole of time without any end:
•a little animal preserved for all eternity as a fossil
3 [U] the state of existence after death that some people believe continues for everalso -th old use Biblical
forms the third person singular of verbs:
•he giveth $ [U]
technical ETHYL ALCOHOL $
1 [U] a clear liquid used in the past as an ANAESTHETIC to make people sleep before an operation
2 the ether
a) the space through which radio waves or computer signals travel:
•voices coming through the ether
b) also aether BrE literary the upper part of the sky $
very delicate and light, in a way that does not seem real:
•ethereal beauty
•His music is ethereal.
- ethereally adverb $ [U] trademark
a system used for connecting computer networks
1 [C] a general idea or belief that influences people's behaviour and attitudes:
•The old ethic of hard work has given way to a new ethic of instant gratification.
WORK ETHIC
2 ethics [plural] moral rules or principles of behaviour for deciding what is right and wrong:
•a report on the ethics of gene therapy
professional/business/medical ethics (=the moral rules relating to a particular profession)
•public concern about medical ethics
•Televised news is based on a code of ethics. [no comparative]
1 relating to principles of what is right and wrong; = moral
ethical issues/questions/problems
•The use of animals in scientific tests raises difficult ethical questions.
•The president must have the highest ethical standards.
2 morally good or correct; unethical
•I don't think it's ethical for you to accept a job you know you can't do.
• ethical investment policies (=investing only in businesses that are considered morally acceptable)
UNETHICAL
- ethically adverb
1 relating to a particular race, nation, or tribe and their customs and traditions:
•The school teaches pupils from different ethnic groups.
•ethnic Russians in Estonia
ethnic violence/divisions/strife etc (=violence etc between people from different races or cultures)
ethnic background/origin
•The students are from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
•plans to partition the republic along ethnic lines (=in a way that keeps different ethnic groups apart)
2 ethnic cooking/fashion/design etc cooking, fashion etc from countries that are far away, which seems very different and unusual:
•ethnic music
- ethnically
•Surinam is culturally and ethnically diverse.[C]
someone who comes from a group of people who are a different race, religion etc or who have a different background from most other people in that country:
•In that neighborhood of New York, we were all ethnics.[U]
the action of forcing people to leave an area or country because of their RACIAL or national group[C]
a group of people of a different race from the main group in a country:
•racial discrimination against doctors from ethnic minorities $
based on the idea that your own race, nation, group etc is better than any other - used in order to show disapproval:
•ethnocentric history textbooks
- ethnocentrism noun [U]
- ethnocentricity $ noun [U] $ [U]
the scientific description of different races of people
- ethnographer noun [C]
- ethnographic adjective
- ethnographically adverb $ [U]
the scientific study and comparison of different races of people; anthropology, sociology
- ethnologist noun [C]
- ethnological $ adjective
- ethnologically adverb $ [singular]
the set of ideas and moral attitudes that are typical of a particular group:
•a community in which people lived according to an ethos of sharing and caring $ [U]
technical the type of alcohol in alcoholic drinks [C]
electronic ticket a ticket, especially for a plane journey, that is stored in a computer and is not given to you in the form of paper
1 literary pale and weak
2 technical a plant that is etiolated is weak and not very green because it has not received enough light
- etiolation noun [U] $ [C,U]
technical the cause of a disease or the scientific study of this
- etiological $ adjective
- etiologically adverb $ [U]
the formal rules for polite behaviour in society or in a particular group:
•strict rules of professional etiquette [in nouns]
1 a small thing of a particular type:
•a kitchenette (=small kitchen)
•a snackette (=a very small meal)
2 a woman who is doing a particular job:
•an usherette (=female usher)
3 something that is not real, but is IMITATION (2):
•flannelette
•chairs covered with leatherette $
1 [U] the study of the origins, history, and changing meanings of words
2 [C] a description of the history of a word
- etymologist noun [C]
- etymological $ adjective , adverb
the EU the abbreviation of the European Union [C,U]
a tall tree that produces an oil with a strong smell, used in medicines
the Eucharist the holy bread and wine, representing Christ's body and blood, used during a Christian ceremony, or the ceremony itself; communion, mass
- Eucharistic adjective [U]
the study of methods to improve the mental and physical abilities of the human race by choosing who should become parents - used in order to show disapprovalalso eulogise BrE [I,T]
to praise someone or something very much:
•The poem does not eulogize the dead soldiers.
•Commentators are eulogizing about the 17-year-old left-hander.
- eulogist noun [C]
- eulogistic adjective plural eulogies [C,U]
a speech or piece of writing in which you praise someone or something very much, especially at a funeral:
•The minister delivered a long eulogy. [C]
a man whose TESTICLEs have been removed, especially someone who guarded a king's wives in some Eastern countries in the past [C]
a polite word or expression that you use instead of a more direct one to avoid shocking or upsetting someone:
•'Pass away' is a euphemism for 'die'.
euphemistic language uses polite words and expressions to avoid shocking or upsetting people
- euphemistically adverb $ [U]
an extremely strong feeling of happiness and excitement which usually only lasts for a short time:
•There was a general atmosphere of pessimism after the euphoria of last year. $
feeling very happy and excited:
•Scientists are euphoric at the success of the test.
- euphorically adverb
1 relating to both Europe and Asia
2 old-fashioned having one European parent and one Asian parent[C]
old-fashioned someone who has one European parent and one Asian parent humorous
used to show how happy you are that you have discovered the answer to a problem, found something etc[only before noun]
European, especially relating to the European Union:
•next month's Euro elections $ [in nouns and adjectives]

a) relating to Europe, especially western Europe or the European Union:
•Euro-MPs
•Europop
b) European and something else:
•the Euro-Asiatic area $ plural euros [C]
a unit of money that can be used in most countries of the European Union:
•the value of the euro against the dollar
•Prices are given in pounds and euros. $ [C]
informal a word meaning a government official of the European Union, often one who makes decisions you do not like - used especially in newspapers $ [C usually plural]
technical a US dollar that has been put in a European bank or lent to a European customer to help trade and provide an international money system $
1 the CONTINENT that is north of the Mediterranean and goes as far east as the Ural Mountains in Russia:
•eastern Europe
2 BrE the European Union:
•the Prime Minister's stated aim of keeping Britain at the heart of Europe
3 BrE the CONTINENT of Europe not including Britain and Ireland:
•British exports to Europe $ [C]
someone from Europe
relating to Europe or its people:
•European languages
•our European partners
the European Union EU a European political and economic organization that encourages trade and friendship between the countries that are members $ [C] BrE
someone, especially a politician, who is against the EU and closer relations with other European countries:
•Conservative Eurosceptics
- Eurosceptic adjective $ [U]
the deliberate killing of a person who is very ill and going to die, in order to stop them sufferingalso euthanase BrE [T]
to kill an animal in a painless way, usually because it is very sick or old; = put down
•The decision to euthanase a pet is heartbreaking.
1 [T] to send people away from a dangerous place to a safe place
evacuate sb from/to sth
•Several families were evacuated from their homes.
•During the war he was evacuated to Scotland.
2 [I,T] to empty a place by making all the people leave:
•Police evacuated the area.
•The order was given to evacuate.
3 [T] formal to empty your BOWELs
- evacuation noun [C,U]
•the evacuation of British troops from the area
•Police ordered the evacuation of the building. [C]
someone who is sent away from a place because it is dangerous, for example because there is a war [T]
1 NOT TALK ABOUT STH to avoid talking about something, especially because you are trying to hide something; evasion
•I could tell that he was trying to evade the issue.
•The minister evaded the question.
2 NOT DO STH to not do or deal with something that you should do; evasion
•You can't go on evading your responsibilities in this way.
•You're simply trying to evade the problem.
3 NOT PAY to avoid paying money that you ought to pay, for example tax; evasion
•Employers will always try to find ways to evade tax.
4 ESCAPE to escape from someone who is trying to catch you:
•She managed to evade the police.
•So far he has evaded capture.
5 NOT ACHIEVE/UNDERSTAND formal if something evades you, you cannot do it or understand it; = elude
•The subtleties of his argument evaded me. [T]
to judge how good, useful, or successful something is; = assess
•You should be able to evaluate your own work.
•We need to evaluate the success of the campaign.
•It can be difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatments. [C,U]
a judgment about how good, useful, or successful something is; = assessment
•We need to carry out a proper evaluation of the new system.
•They took some samples of products for evaluation. $ literary
something that is evanescent does not last very long
1 evangelical Christians believe that they should persuade as many people as possible to become Christians:
•the evangelical church
•evangelical missionaries
2 very eager to persuade people to accept your ideas and beliefs:
•He spoke with evangelical fervour. [C]
1 someone who travels to different places and tries to persuade people to become Christians
2 Evangelist one of the four writers of the books in the Bible called the Gospels
- evangelism noun [U]
- evangelistic adjective
•his evangelistic workalso evangelise BrE [I,T]
to try to persuade people to become Christians:
•an attempt to evangelize the whole nation
1 [I,T] if a liquid evaporates, or if heat evaporates it, it changes into a gas:
•Most of the water had evaporated.
•The sun evaporates moisture on the leaves.
2 [I] if a feeling evaporates, it slowly disappears:
•Hopes of achieving peace are beginning to evaporate.
•His courage had evaporated away.
- evaporation noun [U][U]
milk which has been made thicker and sweeter by removing some of the water from it
1 [U] when you deliberately avoid doing something that you should do, or paying an amount of money that you should pay; evade
•He is in prison for tax evasion.
[+of]
•She accused him of evasion of his responsibilities.
2 [C,U] when you deliberately avoid talking about something or answering a question; evade
•I'm tired of his lies and evasions.
1 not willing to answer questions directly
[+about]
•Paul's being a bit evasive about this job.
•an evasive reply
2 take evasive action to move or do something quickly to avoid someone being hurt:
•Both pilots took evasive action and a collision was avoided.
- evasively adverb
•She answered evasively.
- evasiveness noun [U]
1 [C usually singular] the night or day before an important day
[+of]
•on the eve of the election
•We're arriving on Christmas Eve.
•a New Year's Eve party
2 [C] literary evening:
•one summer's eve
1 used to emphasize something that is unexpected or surprising in what you are saying:
•Most companies have suffered a drop in their profits, even very large companies.
•It was quite difficult to see, even with the light on.
•He became quite successful and even appeared on a television show once.
•She did not even bother to phone us.
•He never even acknowledged my letter.
2 even bigger/better/brighter etc used to emphasize that someone or something is bigger, better etc:
•This will make our job even more difficult.
•The news was even worse than we expected.
•The new version is even better than the old one.
3 used to add a stronger, more exact word to what you are saying:
•Some patients become depressed, even suicidal.
4 even so spoken used to introduce something that is true although it is different from something that you have just said.:
•I know he's only a child, but even so he should have known that what he was doing was wrong.
5 even if used to emphasize that something will still be true if another thing happens:
•She's going to have problems finding a job even if she gets her A levels.
6 even though used to emphasize that something is true although something else has happened or is true:
•Even though he's 24 now, he's still like a little child.
•I can still remember, even though it was so long ago.
7 even now/then in spite of what has happened:
•Even now I find it hard to believe that he lied.
•They invested in new machinery and equipment, but even then the business was still losing money.
8 even as used to emphasize that something happens at the same moment as something else:
•He realized, even as he spoke, that no one would ever believe him.

GRAMMAR
even usually goes before the word or phrase that you want to emphasize because it is surprising: Even Grandma was dancing. | Your room is even messier than mine!

!! But even usually goes after an auxiliary verb or modal verb: They have even invited the teacher (NOT They have invited even...). | He can't even spell his own name (NOT He even can't...).
even is not used to introduce another clause. Use even if,even though, or even when: Even if it's raining (NOT Even it's raining), we go for a walk every day. | I love you, even when you're nasty to me.

!! You can use 'still' with these expressions, but do not use 'but' or 'yet' Even though we're completely different, we're still great friends (NOT but/yet we're great friends).

1 LEVEL flat and level, with no parts that are higher than other parts; uneven
•The floor must be completely even before we lay the tiles.
•You need a flat, even surface to work on.
•He had lovely white, even teeth.
2 NOT CHANGING an even rate, speed, or temperature is steady and does not change:
•The room is kept at an even temperature.
•Wood burns at a fairly even rate.
3 DIVIDED EQUALLY divided equally, so that there is the same amount of something in each place, for each person etc:
•Divide the dough into three even amounts.
•an even distribution of wealth
4 NUMBER an even number can be divided exactly by two; odd
•2, 4, 6 and 8 are even numbers.
5 COMPETITION having teams or competitors that are equally good so that everyone has a chance of winning:
•The first half was very even, and neither side scored.
•an even contest
6 SCORES if the score in a game is even, two teams or players have the same number of points:
•At the end of the first half the scores is even.
7 be even informal to no longer owe someone something, especially money:
•If you give me $5, we'll be even.
8 CALM calm and controlled, and not extreme:
•He read most of the speech in an even tone.
9 an even chance a situation in which it is just as likely that something will happen as not happen:
•I think we have an even chance of winning.
•We knew there was an even chance that the operation would fail.
10 get even (with sb) informal to do something unpleasant to someone to punish them for something that they did to you; = get revenge (on sb)
•I'll get even with him one day.
11 break even to neither make a profit nor lose money:
•We're hoping that we'll at least break even, and perhaps make a small profit.
EVEN-TEMPERED
- evenness noun [U]

PHRASAL VERBS
even out phr v
if things even out, or if you even them out, the differences between them become smaller; = level out
•The differences in their income should even out over time.
even sth <=> out
•Use a brush to even out the variations in colour.

even sth <=> up phr v
to make a situation or competition more equal:
•We put on a couple of more experienced players to even things up a bit.
giving fair and equal treatment to everyone:
•He was very even-handed in the way he treated his employees.
1 [C,U] the early part of the night between the end of the day and the time you go to bed

in the evening(s)
on Monday/Friday/Saturday etc evening
tomorrow evening
yesterday evening
this evening (=today in the evening)
early/late evening
evening meal/news/performance etc (=something that you do or see in the evening)

•I do most of my studying in the evening.
•I'm usually out on Friday evenings.
•What are you doing tomorrow evening?
•Peter left yesterday evening.
•I'll see you this evening.
•It was early evening by the time we got home.
•We had just finished our evening meal when the doorbell rang.
•a broadcast on the evening news

2 [C] a social event that takes place in the evening:
•a musical evening
•an evening of music and poetry
3 good evening used to greet someone when you meet them in the eveninginformal
used to greet someone when you meet them in the evening:
•Evening, Joe. Everything all right?[C]
a class where adults can go to study in the evening
1 [U] formal clothes that people wear for formal meals, parties, and social events in the evening
2 also evening gown especially AmE [C] an attractive dress that a woman wears to a formal meal, party, or social event in the evening[C,U]
a plant with small flowers, whose seeds are used to make medicines
1 covering or affecting all parts of something equally:
•Make sure the surface is evenly covered with paint.
• Spread the butter evenly over the toast.
•Support for the Liberals is fairly evenly spread across the country.
•Make sure the weight is evenly distributed.
2 divided in an equal way:
•The profits will be split evenly between the three of us.
•Government ministers are fairly evenly divided on this issue.
•The prospects for the country are fairly evenly balanced between peaceful reform and revolution.
3 in a regular or steady way:
•He was breathing more evenly now.
•rows of evenly spaced desks
4 evenly matched if two competitors are evenly matched, they are as good as each other and so have an equal chance of winning:
•The two teams are very evenly matched.
5 if you say something evenly, you say it in a calm way without getting angry or upset; = calmly [U] BrE technical
when there is an equal chance that an animal or person will win or lose a race, and the money that someone can win by BETTING on the race is the same as the amount they risk
- evens adjective
•the evens favourite $ [U]
the evening religious ceremony in the Church of England
1 INTERESTING/EXCITING [C] something that happens, especially something important, interesting or unusual:
•one of the most important events in the history of mankind
•Leaving home was a major event in his life.
•the events which led up to the prime minister's resignation
•Police are trying to reconstruct the sequence of events on the night of the murder.
•His resignation triggered a chain of events (=series of events which each cause the next one to happen) that led eventually to the downfall of the government.
•Nothing you could have done would have changed the course of events (=the way in which events happened).
2 SOCIAL GATHERING [C] a performance, sports competition, party etc at which people gather together to watch or take part in something:
•The conference was an important social event (=an event at which people can meet each other).
•one of the major sporting events of the year
charity/fund-raising etc event
•The school raises money by organizing fund-raising events.
3 RACE/COMPETITION [C] one of the races or competitions that are part of a large sports competition:
•The next event will be the 100 metres.
•The 800 metres is not his best event.
FIELD EVENT, THREE-DAY EVENT
4 in any/either event also at all events used to say that something will definitely happen or be true in spite of anything else that may happen; = in any case
•I might see you tomorrow, but I'll phone in any event.
5 in the event used to emphasize what actually happened in a situation as opposed to what you thought might happen; = as it happened
•Extra police officers were brought in, although in the event the demonstration passed off peacefully.
6 in the event of sth also in the event that sth happens used to tell people what they should do if something happens:
•He left a letter for me to read in the event of his death.
7 in the normal course of events if things happen in the normal way; = normally
•In the normal course of events, the money should be released within about three months.
someone who is even-tempered is calm and does not easily become angry; = placid
full of interesting or important events:
•She's led quite an eventful life.
•an eventful day [U]
literary eveningalso three-day eventing [U]
a sport in which horses do three different sorts of competition, usually over three days [only before noun]
happening at the end of a long period of time or after a lot of other things have happened:
•Sweden were the eventual winners of the tournament.
•Both sides were happy with the eventual outcome of the talks. plural eventualities [C]
formal something that might happen, especially something bad
any/every eventuality
•We are prepared for every eventuality.
•That is an unlikely eventuality.
after a long time, or after a lot of things have happened:
•He eventually escaped and made his way back to England.
•Eventually, she got a job and moved to London.
see box at LASTLY $
1 a word meaning at any time; used mostly in questions, negatives, comparisons, or sentences with 'if':
•Nothing ever seems to upset him.
•Have you ever been to Paris?
•I don't think I've ever been here before.
•If you're ever in Seattle, come and see me.
2 formal always:
•Ever optimistic, I decided to take the exam again.
3 hardly ever not very often:
•We hardly ever go out.
4 never ever spoken never:
•You never ever offer to help!
5 for ever for all time:
•Nothing lasts for ever.
6 as ever as always happens:
•As ever, Joe was late.
7 ever since continuously since:
•My back has been bad ever since I fell and hurt it two years ago.
8 ever after for all time after something:
•I suppose they'll get married and live happily ever after.
9 hotter/colder/better etc than ever even hotter etc than before:
•Last night's show was better than ever.
10 as friendly/cheerful/miserable etc as ever as friendly etc as someone or something usually is:
•George was as miserable as ever.
•The food was as bad as ever!
11 ever so cold/wet/nice etc BrE spoken very cold, wet etc:
•The assistant was ever so helpful.
•Thanks ever so much.
12 ever such a BrE used to emphasize what someone or something is like:
•You'll like her, she's ever such a nice girl.
13 ever-increasing/ever-present etc increasing, present etc all the time:
•the ever-increasing problem of drugs in the inner cities
14 Yours ever/Ever yours informal used at the end of a letter above the signature
15 if ever there was one informal used to say that someone or something is a typical example of something:
•He's a natural comedian if ever there was one.
1 an evergreen tree or bush does not lose its leaves in winter
2 an evergreen sportsman, singer etc is still good and popular even though they are fairly old:
•the evergreen Cliff Richard $ [C]
a tree or bush that does not lose its leaves in winter $ formal
continuing for ever, even after someone has died; = eternal
•everlasting fame
•a symbol of God's everlasting love
•a belief in life everlasting $
for evermore literary for ever:
•I will love you for evermore. [always followed by a singular countable noun]
1 used to refer to all the people or things in a particular group or all the parts of something:
•We looked carefully at every car that drove past.
•Every child will receive a certificate at the end of the course.
•I enjoyed every minute of the film.
•I listened carefully to every word he said.
every single (=used to emphasize that you mean 'all')
•He seems to know every single person in the school.
every last drop/bit/scrap etc (=all of something, including even the smallest amount of it)
•They made us pick up every last scrap of paper.
!! Each or every?
see box at EACH
2
a) used to say how often something happens
every day/week/month etc (=at least once on each day, in each week etc)
•They see each other every day.
•Richard visits his mother every week.
every few seconds/ten days etc
•Re-apply your sunscreen every two hours.
•Freda had to stop to rest every hundred metres or so (=each time she had gone 100 metres).
b) used to say how much distance there is between the things in a line
every few feet/ten yards etc
•There were traffic lights every ten yards.
3 every time whenever:
•The roof leaks every time it rains.
4 every now and then/again also every so often sometimes, but not often or regularly:
•I still see her every now and then.
5 every other the first, third, fifth etc or the second, fourth, sixth etc:
•You only need to water plants every other day.
•I visit my parents every other weekend.
6 one in every three/two in every hundred etc used to show how common something is:
•In Britain, one in every three marriages now ends in divorce.
7 the strongest or greatest possible:
•We wish you every happiness in your new home.
•There is every chance that he will recover.
•We have every reason to believe that the operation will be a success.
•We have every intention of winning this competition.
8 in every way in all ways:
•The school's much better now in every way.
9 every bit as good/important etc used to emphasize that something is equally as good, important etc as something else:
•Taking regular exercise is every bit as important as having a healthy diet.
•I loved him every bit as much as she did.
10 every Tom, Dick, and Harry spoken used to mean 'everyone' or 'anyone', especially when you disapprove because there is no limit on who can be included:
•I didn't want every Tom, Dick and Harry knowing about my private life.
11 every which way AmE informal in every direction:
•The kids ran off every which way.
every inch at INCH^1 (3) $
everyone [only before noun]
ordinary, usual, or happening every day:
•the problems of everyday life
•wearing everyday clothes
•a simple, everyday object
•Describe it in ordinary everyday language.
!! Do not confuse with every day (=each day) I see him every day. [singular]
literary a typical, ordinary person who is not very rich and has the problems and difficulties that all people have
every person; = everybody
•If everyone is ready, I'll begin.
•Send my best wishes to everyone in the family.
•Of course everyone else thought it was hilarious!
•Not everyone enjoys sport.
!! Do not confuse with every one (=each one): Every one of the CDs was damaged. AmE spoken
everywhere
1 each thing or all things:
•Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.
•I decided to tell her everything.
•Apart from the bus arriving late, everything else seemed to be going according to plan.
2 all the things in your life, work etc:
•Everything's fine at the moment.
•I felt that everything was going wrong.
3 be/mean everything (to sb) to be the most important thing in someone's life:
•Money isn't everything.
•His children mean everything to him.
4 have everything to have all the things that people want in their lives:
•What do you buy for the man who has everything?
5 and everything spoken and a lot of other similar things:
•Tina's worried about her work and everything.
6 have everything going for you to have all the qualities that are likely to make you succeed:
•You shouldn't worry so much - you've got everything going for you.
7 everything but the kitchen sink informal all the equipment that you need and also a lot of things that you do not need - used humorously:
•I think we've packed everything but the kitchen sink!also everyplace $ AmE spoken
1 in or to every place:
•I've looked everywhere but I can't find the map.
•He's travelled everywhere in Europe.
•The south should remain dry, but everywhere else will have heavy rain.
2 be everywhere to be very common:
•You must have seen the posters, they're everywhere. [C,U]
a sweet DESSERT food, consisting of cooked apples with a layer of SPONGE cake on top [T]
to tell someone legally that they must leave the house they are living in
evict sb from sth
•They were unable to pay the rent, and were evicted from their home.
be/get evicted
•They refused to leave and were forcibly evicted (=evicted by force).
•attempts to have them evicted
- eviction noun [C,U]
•The family now faces eviction from their home.
1 [U] facts or signs that show clearly that something exists or is true
[+of]
•At present we have no evidence of life on other planets.
[+for]
•There is no evidence for these claims.
evidence that
•Do you have evidence that this treatment works?
•They had failed to provide evidence of sufficient financial backing.
clear/strong/good evidence
•There is now clear evidence that these chemicals are damaging the environment.
medical/scientific etc evidence
•Medical evidence shows that men are more likely to have heart attacks than women.
•The study produced one interesting piece of evidence.
•There is not a shred of evidence to support the theory.
2 [U] information that is given in a court of law in order to prove that someone is guilty or not guilty:
•Murrow's evidence was enough to convict Hayes of murder.
•He refused to give evidence at the trial.
[+against]
•There was very little evidence against the two men.
in evidence
•The documents may be used in evidence at the trial.
3 be in evidence formal to be present and easily seen or noticed:
•The police are always in evidence at football matches.
KING'S EVIDENCE, QUEEN'S EVIDENCE, STATE'S EVIDENCE[T usually passive]
formal to show that something exists or is true:
•The volcano is still active, as evidenced by the recent eruption.
easy to see, notice, or understand; = obvious, clear
evident that
•It was evident that she was unhappy.
•It soon became evident that she was seriously ill.
•It was clearly evident that the company was in serious financial difficulties.
[+to]
•It was evident to me that he was not telling the truth.
[+in]
•The growing popularity of the subject is evident in the numbers of students wanting to study it.
•Bob began eating his lunch with evident enjoyment.
SELF-EVIDENT
able to be used as evidence, or relating to evidence:
•All jury members should have a copy of the evidential data.
- evidentially adverb $
1 used to say that something is true because you can see that it is true; = clearly
•She was evidently a heavy smoker.
•He was evidently in pain.
•She was evidently upset by what she saw. [sentence adverb]
•Evidently, the builders had finished and gone home early.
2 used to say that you have been told that something is true; = apparently
•He was evidently a rude, unpleasant child. [sentence adverb]
•Evidently, the local authority are planning to close the school.
1 BAD someone who is evil deliberately does very cruel things to harm other people:
•an evil dictator responsible for the deaths of millions
•his evil deeds
2 WRONG something that is evil is morally wrong because it harms people:
•They condemned slavery as evil.
3 UNPLEASANT very unpleasant:
•an evil smell
•a puddle of evil black liquid
4 DEVIL connected with the Devil and having special powers to harm people:
•evil spirits
•an evil spell
5 the evil eye the power, which some people believe exists, to harm people by looking at them:
•He claimed to have the power of the evil eye.
6 the evil hour/day etc a time when you expect something unpleasant or difficult to happen:
•Don't delay, you're only putting off the evil hour.
- evilly adverb
•Jeff grinned evilly as he picked up the phone.
1 [C] something that is very bad or harmful:
•She wanted to protect her children from the evils of the outside world.
•Poverty is one of the greatest social evils of our time.
•the evils of capitalism
2 [U] cruel or morally bad behaviour in general:
•There is too much evil in the world.
•the eternal struggle between good and evil
the lesser of two evils at LESSER (2)
necessary evil at NECESSARY^1 (3)[C]
old-fashioned someone who commits crimes or does evil things
immoral and cruel, and likely to cause a lot of harm or damage:
•an evil-minded dictator [T]
formal to show a feeling or have a quality in a way that people can easily notice:
•She evinced no surprise at seeing them together. [T] formal technical
to cut the organs out of a person's or animal's body $
making people remember something by producing a feeling or memory in them
[+of]
•a picture that is wonderfully evocative of a hot, summer's day
•beautiful, evocative music $ [T]
to produce a strong feeling or memory in someone:
•The photographs evoked strong memories of our holidays in France.
•His appearance is bound to evoke sympathy.
•Her speech evoked a hostile response.
- evocation $ noun [C,U]
•The poem is an evocation of lost love. $ [U]
1 the scientific idea that plants and animals develop and change gradually over a long period of time
[+of]
•the evolution of mammals
•the theory of evolution
2 the gradual change and development of an idea, situation, or object
[+of]
•the evolution of the computer $
1 relating to the way in which plants and animals develop and change gradually over a long period of time:
•the evolutionary development of birds
•Some scientists have rejected evolutionary theory.
2 relating to the way in which ideas or situations gradually change and develop over a long period of time:
•He is in favour of gradual, evolutionary social change. $ [I,T]
1 if an animal or plant evolves, it changes gradually over a long period of time
[+from]
•Fish evolved from prehistoric sea creatures.
•Animals have evolved camouflage to protect themselves from predators.
2 to develop and change gradually over a long period of time:
•The school has evolved its own style of teaching.
•Businesses need to evolve rapidly.
[+out of]
•The idea evolved out of work done by British scientists.
[+into]
•The group gradually evolved into a political party. [C]
a female sheep $ [C]
a large container for water, that was used in the past [C usually singular]
informal someone's former wife, husband, GIRLFRIEND, or BOYFRIEND:
•I bumped into my ex in town.
former and still living:
•his ex-wife
•an ex-England cricketer $ [T]
to make a bad situation worse:
•The recession has exacerbated this problem.
•I don't want to exacerbate the situation.
- exacerbation $ noun [U]
1 completely correct in every detail:
•Police are still investigating the exact cause of the accident.
•What were his exact words?
•The timing had to be exact.
exact location/position/spot etc
•The exact location of the hostages is unknown.
exact date/time/number/amount etc
•I know her birthday's in July, but I can't remember the exact date.
exact copy/replica etc
•It's not an exact copy, but most people wouldn't notice the difference.
•Some concepts in Chinese medicine have no exact equivalent in Western medicine.
2 to be exact formal used to emphasize that what you are saying is exact:
•She has worked at the bank for many years, nine to be exact.
3 the exact colour/moment/type etc used to emphasize that the same thing is involved:
•the exact colour I was looking for
•He came into the room at the exact moment I mentioned his name.
•That's the exact same thing my dad said.
4 the exact opposite (of sb/sth) someone or something that is as different as possible from another person or thing:
•Gina's the exact opposite of her little sister.
5 sth is not an exact science if you say that an activity is not an exact science, you mean that it involves opinions, guessing etc:
•Predicting the weather is not an exact science.
6 someone who is exact is very careful and thorough in what they do; = precise
- exactness noun [U][T]
1 formal to demand and get something from someone by using threats, force etc
exact sth from sb
•I exacted a promise from Ros that she wouldn't say a word.
2 exact revenge (on sb) if someone exacts revenge, they punish a person who has harmed them:
•Leonard was determined to exact revenge on his wife's killer.
3 exact a high/heavy price if something exacts a high or a heavy price, it has a very bad effect on a person or on a situation:
•The years of conflict have exacted a heavy price.
demanding a lot of effort, careful work, or skill; = demanding
•She was an exacting woman to work for.
exacting standards/demands/requirements etc
•He could never live up to his father's exacting standards. $ [U]
formal the state of being exact
1 used to emphasize that a number, amount, or piece of information is or should be completely correct in every detail:
•It's exactly half past five.
•The figures may not be exactly right, but they're close enough.
exactly where/what/when etc
•I can't remember exactly what she said.
•It's a tragic situation and no one will ever know exactly what happened.
why/what/where etc exactly...?
•Where exactly did you stay in Portugal?
2 used to emphasize that something is the same or different; = precisely
•That's exactly what we've been trying to tell you.
•It's exactly the kind of work I've been looking for.
•She tries to be exactly like her older sister.
•Kevin's teachers saw him as quiet and serious, but with his friends he was exactly the opposite.
•The two candidates responded to the question in exactly the same way.
3 not exactly spoken
a) used as a reply to show that what someone has said is not completely correct or true:
•'You hate Lee, don't you?' 'Not exactly. I just think he's a bit annoying, that's all.'
b) used to show that you mean the complete opposite, either humorously, or when you are annoyed; = hardly
•I wouldn't bother asking Dave - he's not exactly Einstein (=he is stupid).
4 spoken used as a reply to show that you think what someone has said is completely correct or true:
•'So you think we should sell the house?' 'Exactly.' [I,T]
to make something seem better, larger, worse etc than it really is:
•I couldn't sleep for three days - I'm not exaggerating.
it's easy/difficult/impossible to exaggerate sth
•It's difficult to exaggerate the importance of sleep.
1 if something is exaggerated, it is described as better, larger etc than it really is:
•The revenue figures may be slightly exaggerated.
grossly/greatly/wildly exaggerated
•The danger had been greatly exaggerated.
2 an exaggerated sound or movement is emphasized to make people notice:
•an exaggerated sigh
•He made an exaggerated bow.
•He spoke with an exaggerated New York accent.
- exaggeratedly adverb [C,U]
a statement or way of saying something that makes something seem better, larger etc than it really is:
•It would be an exaggeration to say that we were close friends.
•It is no exaggeration to say that everyone will be affected by the new policy.
•The situation can be described, without exaggeration, as disastrous.
slight/gross exaggeration
•That sounds like a slight exaggeration. $ [T] formal
1 to put someone or something into a high rank or position
2 to praise someone, especially God:
•Exalt ye the Lord. $ [U] formal
1 a very strong feeling of happiness
2 the state of being put into a high rank or position $
1 having a very high rank and highly respected:
•I felt shy in such exalted company.
2 formal filled with a great feeling of joy [C]
1 a spoken or written test of knowledge, especially an important one:
•At the end of each level, you take an exam.
pass/fail an exam
•Did you pass the exam?
•He failed the school's entrance exam.
chemistry/French etc exam
•How did you do in your exams?
•the stresses of final exams
•The exam results will be posted up tomorrow.
oral/written exam
•Drivers have to take a written exam as part of their tests.
sit an exam (=take an exam) BrE formal
•He'll sit his exams next summer.
2 AmE the paper on which the questions for an exam are written:
•Do not open your exams until I tell you.
3 AmE a set of medical tests:
•an eye exam
1 [C] formal a spoken or written test of knowledge, especially an important one; = exam
•The examination results will be announced in September.
•He's already taken the entrance examination.
2 [C,U] the process of looking at something carefully in order to see what it is like
[+of]
•a detailed examination of population statistics
under examination
•The proposals are still under examination.
•The issues need further examination.
on examination
• On closer examination the vases were seen to be cracked.
3 [C] a set of medical tests:
•All patients had a complete physical examination.
•A post-mortem examination (=an examination on a dead body) showed that he died from head injuries.
4 [C,U] law the process of asking questions to get specific information, especially in a court of law
CROSS-EXAMINE [T]
1 to look at something carefully and thoroughly because you want to find out more about it:
•A team of divers was sent down to examine the wreck.
•Hegel's philosophy will be examined in detail in Chapter 4.
examine how/whether/what etc
•In the course, we will examine how and why Spain became a democracy in 1931.
examine sth for sth
•The police will have to examine the weapon for fingerprints.
see box at CONTROL^2
2 if a doctor examines you, they look at your body to check that you are healthy
3 formal to ask someone questions to test their knowledge of a subject; = test
examine sb in/on sth
•You will be examined on American history.
4 law to officially ask someone questions in a court of law
CROSS-EXAMINE $ [C]
someone from a university, college, or professional institution who tests students' knowledge or ability $ [C]
1 a specific fact, idea, person, or thing that is used to explain or support a general idea, or to show what is typical of a larger group
[+of]
•Can anyone give me an example of a transitive verb?
good/typical/prime/classic etc example
•This church is a good example of Gothic architecture.
•She cited a number of recent examples to support her theory.
•Certain life events have to be registered by law. The most obvious examples are births, marriages and deaths.
2 for example used before mentioning a specific thing, person, place etc in order to explain what you mean or to support an argument:
•Many countries, for example Mexico and Japan, have a lot of earthquakes.
•Car prices can vary a lot. For example, in Belgium the VW Golf costs $1000 less than in Britain.
3 someone whose behaviour is very good and should be copied by others, or this type of behaviour
[+to]
•Her courage is an example to us all.
•Parents should set an example for their children.
•I suggest you follow Rosie's example (=copy her behaviour) and start doing regular exercise.
•The team captain leads by example.
•She's a shining example (=a very good example) of what a mother should be.
4 make an example of sb to punish someone so that other people are afraid to do the same thing $ [T]
to make someone very annoyed by continuing to do something that upsets them:
•It exasperates me to hear comments like that. $
very annoyed and upset
[+with]
•He was becoming exasperated with the child.
•an exasperated look.
- exasperatedly adverb $
extremely annoying:
•You have this exasperating habit of never looking at me!
- exasperatingly adverb $ [U]
when you feel annoyed because someone continues to do something that is upsetting you:
•Carol sighed in exasperation. [I,T]
1 if a scientist or ARCHAEOLOGIST excavates an area of land, they dig carefully to find ancient objects, bones etc:
•Schliemann excavated the ancient city of Troy.
2 formal to make a hole in the ground by digging up soil etc
- excavation noun [C,U] $ [C]
1 BrE a large machine that digs and moves earth and soil; = steam shovel AmE
2 someone who digs to find things that have been buried under the ground for a long time [T] formal
1 to be more than a particular number or amount:
•Working hours must not exceed 42 hours a week.
•His performance exceeded our expectations.
2 to go beyond what rules or laws say you are allowed to do:
•He was fined for exceeding the speed limit.
•The riot police had exceeded their authority. formal
extremely:
•Thank you. You've been exceedingly kind. past tense and past participle excelled, present participle excelling
1 [I, not in progressive] to do something very well, or much better than most people
[+at/in]
•Rick has always excelled at foreign languages.
2 excel yourself BrE to do something better than you usually do:
•Graham has excelled himself with the new exhibition. [U]
the quality of being excellent
[+of]
•the excellence of the performance
[+in]
•the university's reputation for excellence.
•centres of academic excellence
PAR EXCELLENCE
Your/His/Her Excellency a way of talking to or about people who hold high positions in the state or the church:
•His Excellency the Spanish ambassador
1 extremely good or of very high quality:
•What an excellent idea!
•His car is in excellent condition.
•Second-hand computers can be excellent value.
2 spoken said when you approve of something; = great
•'I'll bring the books over tonight.' 'Excellent.'
- excellently adverb
1 used to introduce the only person, thing, action, fact, or situation about which a statement is not true:
•The office is open every day except Sundays.
•You can have any of the cakes except this one.
[+for]
•Everyone went except for Scott and Dan.
•She felt fine except for being a little tired.
except (that)
•Clarissa could think of nothing to say except that she was so sorry.
[+in/by/to etc]
•Staff are not permitted to make personal phone calls except in an emergency.
except when/where/if
•Benson kept the studio locked except when he was working there.
except do sth
•She had nothing to do except spend money.
except to do sth
•He wouldn't talk about work, except to say that he was busy.
2 used to give the reason why something was not done or did not happen
except (that)
•Liz would have run, except that she didn't want to appear to be in a hurry.
3 spoken used to mention a fact that makes what you have just said seem less true
except (that)
•I have earrings just like those, except they're blue
•A date book would make a great gift, except that a lot of people already have one.

WORD CHOICE: except, besides, apart from, unless
except means 'not including' or 'but not': They invited everyone except Julie.
besides means 'in addition to': Besides Italy (NOT except Italy), I would like to visit France and Spain.
apart from can be used with either meaning: I ate everything apart from (OR except) the soup. | What do you like doing apart from (OR besides) swimming?
except is not used to introduce another clause. Use unless or except if, except when, except while, except that: We won't go unless you really want to (NOT except you really want to). | I cycle to work, except when it rains (NOT except it rains).
In spoken English, people sometimes leave out 'that' The play went well, except (that) a few people forgot their lines.

[T]
formal to not include something
except sth from sth
•High technology equipment would be excepted from any trade agreement.
sb/sth excepted used to say that you are not including a particular person or thing in a statement about something:
•History excepted, Peter has made good progress in all subjects this term.
present company excepted at PRESENT^1 (7) formal
used to introduce the only thing or person in a group about which a statement is not true; = except (for)
•O'Rourke answered all the questions excepting the last one. [C,U]
1 something or someone that is not included in a general statement or does not follow a rule or pattern:
•It's been cold, but today's an exception.
with the exception of sb/sth
•We all laughed, with the exception of Maggie.
without exception
•Each plant, without exception, contains some kind of salt.
notable/important/significant exception
•With one or two notable exceptions, there are few women conductors.
minor/major exception
•With a few minor exceptions, the new edition is much like the previous one.
•The law applies to all EU countries; Britain is no exception.
•We don't usually accept checks, but for you we'll make an exception (=not include you in this rule).
•The spelling of this word is an interesting exception to the rule.
•Successful two-career couples are still the exception, not the rule (=used to emphasize that something is unusual).
2 sb/sth is the exception that proves the rule spoken used to say that the fact that something is not true or does not exist in one situation emphasizes the fact that it is true or exists in general:
•Most people here are very dedicated; I'm afraid Rhea's the exception that proves the rule.
3 take exception to sth to be angry or upset because of something:
•Tom took great exception to my remark about Americans.
1 unusually good; = outstanding
•Richard is an exceptional student.
•exceptional bravery
2 unusual and likely not to happen often:
•This is an exceptional case; I've never seen anything like it before.
•Promotion in the first year is only given in exceptional circumstances.
see box at UNUSUAL [+ adj/adv]
extremely; = outstandingly
•She defended her position exceptionally well.
•an exceptionally talented player $ [C]
a short piece taken from a book, poem, piece of music etc
[+of/from]
•An excerpt of the speech appeared in the Sunday paper.
- excerpt verb [T usually passive]
1 [singular, U] a larger amount of something than is allowed or needed:
•After you apply the oil, wait 20 minutes before wiping off any excess.
[+of]
•It was an excess of enthusiasm that caused the problem.
2 in excess of sth more than a particular amount:
•The car reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.
3 do sth to excess to do something too much or too often, so that it may harm you:
•Drinking is OK as long as you don't do it to excess.
4 excesses [plural] harmful actions that are socially or morally unacceptable
[+of]
•The government was unable to curb the excesses of the secret police.
•the worst excesses of journalism
5 [U] behaviour which is not acceptable because it is too extreme:
•The minister preached a long sermon against the dangers of excess. [only before noun]
1 additional and not needed because there is already enough of something:
•Cut any excess fat from the meat.
2 excess baggage/luggage bags or cases that weigh more than the legal limit that you can take on a plane
much more than is reasonable or necessary:
•his excessive drinking
•$15 for two beers seems a little excessive.
- excessively adverb
•excessively high taxes
1 GIVING/RECEIVING [C,U] the act of giving someone something and receiving something else from them
[+of]
•an exchange of political prisoners
in exchange for sth
•I've offered to paint the kitchen in exchange for a week's accommodation.
•Four of my cassettes for your Madonna CD is a fair exchange.
PART EXCHANGE
2 ARGUMENT/DISCUSSION [C] a short conversation, usually between two people who are angry with each other:
•a quiet exchange between the judge and the clerk
•The DJ was fired after a heated exchange (=a very angry conversation) on air with a call-in listener.
3 exchange of ideas/information etc when people discuss or share ideas, information etc:
•The organization is dedicated to the free exchange of information.
4 STH YOU BUY [C] the act of giving something you have bought back to the store where you bought it, for example because it does not work, fit etc, and taking something else instead:
•The store's policy is not to allow returns or exchanges.
5 MONEY [U] a process in which you change money from one CURRENCY to another:
•Most capital cities have extensive exchange facilities.
6 STUDENTS/TEACHERS [C] an arrangement in which a student, teacher etc visits another school or university to work or study
on an exchange (with sb)
•I'm here for one term, on an exchange with Dr. Fisher.
7 JOBS/HOMES ETC [C] an arrangement in which you stay in someone's home, do someone's job etc for a short time while that person stays in your home, does your job etc:
•Kate's in New York on an employee exchange so she can get some more training.
8 FIGHT [C] an event during a war or fight when two people, armies etc shoot or fire MISSILEs at each other
exchange of fire/gunfire
9 BUILDING corn/wool/cotton etc exchange a large building in a town that was used in the past for buying and selling corn, wool etc
LABOUR EXCHANGE, STOCK EXCHANGE[T]
1
a) to give someone something and receive the same kind of thing from them at the same time:
•We still exchange gifts at Christmas.
•At the end of the game players traditionally exchange shirts with each other.
•We exchanged addresses and phone numbers.
b) to give someone something and receive something different from them; = change
exchange sth for sth
•Where can I exchange my dollars for pounds?
2 to replace one thing with another; = swap
exchange sth for sth
•He exchanged the black jacket for a blue one.
3 exchange words/looks etc (with sb) if two people exchange words, looks etc, they talk to each other, look at each other etc:
•Until this evening I had never so much as exchanged a word with him.
•The two women exchanged glances and laughed.
•I went over and exchanged greetings with everyone.
4 exchange blows (with sb) if two people exchange blows, they hit each other
5 exchange information/ideas etc to discuss something or share information, ideas etc:
•It's a place where people can chat and exchange ideas.
6 exchange contracts especially BrE to complete the final stage of buying a house by signing a contract with the person you are buying it from
- exchangeable adjective[C]
the value of the money of one country compared to the money of another country:
•a more favourable exchange rate[U]
ERM a system for controlling the exchange rate between the money of one country and that of another[C]
a student who goes to a foreign country to study, usually as a part of a programme:
•an 18-year-old exchange student from France $
the Exchequer the British government department that is responsible for collecting taxes and paying out public money; = treasury [C,U]
the government tax that is put on the goods that are produced and used inside a country
excise officer (=someone who collects excise)
excise duty/tax (=the money paid as excise)
•excise duty on tobacco
see also CUSTOMS AND EXCISE [T]
formal to remove or get rid of something, especially by cutting it out:
•The tumour was excised.
- excision noun [C,U]
becoming excited too easily:
•A puppy is naturally affectionate and excitable.
- excitability noun [U] [T]
1 [not in progressive] to make someone feel happy, interested, or eager:
•His playing is technically brilliant, but it doesn't excite me.
2 formal to cause a particular feeling or reaction; = arouse
excite interest/curiosity/sympathy etc
•The court case has excited a lot of public interest.
•He tried not to do anything to excite the suspicion of the police.
excite comment/speculation/a reaction
•The book excited very little comment on this side of the Atlantic.
3 to make someone feel sexual desire; = arouse
4 technical to make an organ, nerve etc in your body react or increase its activity
1 happy, interested, or hopeful because something good has happened or will happen:
•Steve flies home tomorrow - we're all really excited.
[+about]
•Maria's starting to get pretty excited about the wedding.
[+by/at]
•We're all excited by the prospect of a party.
excited to do sth
•Michelle sounded excited to hear from him.
excited (that)
•I'm so excited that we're going to New York.
•The food was nothing to get excited about (=not very good or special).
•excited crowds of shoppers
2 very nervous and upset about something so that you cannot relax
[+about]
•There's no point getting excited about it. We can't change things.
3 feeling sexual desire
- excitedly adverb
•People had gathered and were talking excitedly.
1 [U] the feeling of being excited:
•The news caused great excitement among scientists.
•sexual excitement
[+of]
•the excitement of becoming a parent
[+at]
•children filled with excitement at the thought of visiting Disneyland
wild/flushed/trembling etc with excitement
•She came in bubbling with excitement.
in sb's/the excitement
•In his excitement, he knocked over a lamp.
•In the excitement of the moment, I forgot my camera.
2 [C] an exciting event or situation:
•We were both new to the excitements of life in the big city.
making you feel excited:
•an exciting discovery
•'Julia and Paul are getting married!' 'Oh, how exciting!'
•I've got some very exciting news for you.
•Let's do something exciting.
•Melanie finds her work exciting and rewarding.
exciting opportunity/possibility/prospect etc
•exciting job opportunities
- excitingly adverb
•the most excitingly original movie of the year [I,T] written
to say something suddenly and loudly because you are surprised, angry, or excited:
•'No!' she exclaimed in shock. [C]
a sound, word, or short sentence that you say suddenly and loudly because you are surprised, angry, or excited
[+of]
•horrified exclamations of disgustexclamation point AmE [C] BrE
the mark (!) that you write after a sentence or word that expresses surprise, anger, or excitement [T]
1 to deliberately not include something; include
•a special diet that excludes dairy products
•The judges decided to exclude evidence which had been unfairly attained.
exclude sth from sth
•Some of the data was specifically excluded from the report.
2 to not allow someone to take part in something or not allow them to enter a place, especially in a way that seems wrong or unfair; include
•a mainstream exhibition that excluded women artists
exclude sb from (doing) sth
•The press had been deliberately excluded from the event.
•Sarah heard the other girls talking and laughing and felt excluded.
3 BrE to officially make a child leave their school because of their bad behaviour
4 to decide that something is not a possibility:
•Social workers have excluded sexual abuse as a reason for the child's disappearance.
•At this stage we cannot entirely exclude the possibility of staff cuts.
not including - used especially when you are making a list or calculating a total:
•Television is watched in 97 per cent of American homes (excluding Alaska and Hawaii).
1 [C,U] when someone is not allowed to take part in something or enter a place; inclusion
[+from]
•the country's exclusion from the United Nations
2 [C,U] BrE when a child is officially made to leave their school because of their bad behaviour
3 do sth to the exclusion of sth to do something so much that you do not do, include, or have time for other things:
•Your essays tend to concentrate on one theme to the exclusion of everything else.
4 [C] something that is excluded from a contract; inclusion
•You will be sent full details of the exclusions of your insurance policy.
- exclusionary adjective
•exclusionary business practices[C]
an area that people are not allowed to enter because it is dangerous or because secret things happen there:
•the military exclusion zone
1 available or belonging only to particular people, and not shared
exclusive access/rights/use etc
•Our figure skating club has exclusive use of the rink on Mondays.
exclusive report/interview/coverage etc
•Tune in to our exclusive coverage of Wimbledon.
[+to]
•This offer is exclusive to readers of The Sun.
2 exclusive places, organizations, clothes etc are so expensive that not many people can afford to use or buy them:
•Bel Air is an exclusive suburb of Los Angeles.
•an exclusive girls' school
3 deliberately not allowing someone to do something or be part of a group:
•a racially exclusive hiring policy
4 mutually exclusive if two things are mutually exclusive, you cannot have or do both of them:
•Lesbianism and motherhood are not mutually exclusive.
5 exclusive of sth not including something; inclusive of sth
•Our prices are exclusive of sales tax.
6 concerned with only one thing:
•The committee's exclusive focus will be to improve public transportation.
- exclusivity also exclusiveness noun [U]
•the exclusivity of private education[C]
an important or exciting story that is printed in only one newspaper, because that newspaper was the first to find out about it:
•a New York Post exclusive about the Kennedy marriage
only:
•This offer is available exclusively to people who call now. [T]
to punish someone by no longer allowing them to be a member of the Roman Catholic church
- excommunication noun [C,U][C] informal
a criminal who has been in prison but who is now free [T]
formal to express a very bad opinion of a book, play etc:
•an excoriating review in the Times [U]
formal the solid waste material that you get rid of through your BOWELs [C] formal
1 something that is bad, unnecessary, or ugly - used to show disapproval:
•The new museum is nothing but an excrescence on the urban landscape.
2 an ugly growth on an animal or plant [plural,U]
formal the solid or liquid waste material that people and animals produce and get rid of from their bodies [I,T]
formal to get rid of waste material from your body through your BOWELs , your skin etc; secrete
1 [U] the process of getting rid of waste material from your body
2 [C,U] the waste material that people or animals get rid of from their bodies
1 extremely painful:
•When I bend my arm, the pain is excruciating.
2 if something is excruciating, it is extremely unpleasant, for example because it is boring or embarrassing:
•Helen described the events of the night before in excruciating detail.
- excruciatingly adverb
•His poetry is excruciatingly bad. [T]
formal to prove that someone is not guilty of something
- exculpation noun [U] $ [C]
1 a short journey arranged so that a group of people can visit a place, especially while they are on holiday
[+to]
•Included in the tour is an excursion to the Grand Canyon.
on an excursion
•We went on an excursion to the Pyramids.
2 a short journey made for a particular purpose; = trip
•a shopping excursion
3 excursion into sth formal an attempt to experience or learn about something that is new to you:
•the company's excursion into new markets
behaviour that is excusable can be forgiven; = forgiveable; inexcusable
•an excusable reaction of anger [T]
1 excuse me spoken
a) used when you want to get someone's attention politely, especially when you want to ask a question:
•Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the museum please?
b) used to say that you are sorry for doing something rude or embarrassing:
•Oh, excuse me. I didn't know anyone was here.
c) used to ask someone politely to move so that you can walk past:
•Excuse me, could I just squeeze past?
d) used to politely tell someone that you are leaving a place:
•Excuse me a moment. I'll be right back.
e) used when you disagree with someone but want to be polite about it; = I'm sorry
•Excuse me, but I don't think that's what he meant at all.
f) AmE used to show that you disagree with someone or are very surprised or upset by what they have just said:
•'You're going to pay, right?' 'Excuse me?'
g) especially AmE used to ask someone to repeat something that they have just said; = pardon me
•'What time is it?' 'Excuse me?' 'I asked you what time it is.'
2 FORGIVE to forgive someone for doing something that is not seriously wrong, such as being rude or careless:
•I'll excuse you this time, but don't be late again.
•Please excuse my bad handwriting.
excuse sb for (doing) sth
•Please excuse me for being so late today.
•Smith can be excused for his lack of interest in the course (=his lack of interest is reasonable).
3 FROM A DUTY [usually passive] to allow someone not to do something that they are supposed to do
excuse sb from (doing) sth
•Can I be excused from swimming today? I have a cold.
4 EXPLAIN to be or give a good reason for someone's careless or offensive behaviour:
•Nothing can excuse that kind of rudeness.
5 FROM A PLACE to give someone permission to leave a place:
•May I please be excused from the table?
6 excuse yourself to say politely that you need to leave a place:
•Richard excused himself and went to his room.
7 excuse me (for living)! spoken used when someone has offended you or told you that you have done something wrong

WORD CHOICE: excuse me, pardon me, beg your pardon, sorry
excuse me and pardon me are polite expressions that you use when you do something that could be slightly embarrassing or rude, for example in the cases below.
You usually use sorry to apologize after you have done something wrong.
Use excuse me when you want to interrupt someone, say something to a person you do not know, or get past someone: Excuse me, do you know the time? | Excuse me, can I just reach across and get my bag?
Use excuse me when you have to leave someone for a short time: Excuse me for a moment while I make a call.
excuse me can also be used, especially in American English, when you have not heard or understood what someone has said: 'You're late.' 'Excuse me?' 'I said you're late.' 'Oh, sorry.' Speakers of British English usually use pardon: 'My name is Timothy.' 'Pardon?'
In American English, it is also possible to use pardon me in these situations.
In British English, you usually say pardon me when you have done something slightly impolite such as burping or sneezing. In American English, you usually say excuse me.
I beg your pardon is a rather old-fashioned expression used to apologize for doing something embarrassing or for making a mistake in what you have said: There are 65 - I beg your pardon - 56 students on the course.

!! Do not confuse the verb excuse with the noun excuse , which means a reason for doing something wrong, often an invented or false reason.

[C]
1 a reason that you give to explain careless or offensive behaviour
excuse for (doing) sth
•What's your excuse for being late this time?
•I'm tired of listening to his excuses.
•Fay's always making excuses for her husband's odd behavior.
•I'm sure Mike has a good excuse for not coming.
plausible/legitimate/valid etc excuse
lame/feeble/pathetic excuse
•That's a lame excuse.
2 a reason that you invent to explain an action and to hide your real intentions
excuse to do sth
•I need an excuse to call her.
[+for]
•The conference is an excellent excuse for a few days' holiday by the sea.
•Illness was used as an excuse so the defendant could avoid trial.
look for/find an excuse
•They were looking for any excuse to start a fight.
•I made an excuse at the first possible moment, and got up to leave.
•The arrival of the doctor gave them an excuse to leave.
3 there is no excuse for sth used to say that someone's behaviour is too bad to be explained or accepted:
•There is no excuse for such rudeness.
4 make your excuses to explain why you are not able to do something:
•Please make my excuses at the meeting tomorrow.
5 a poor/rotten etc excuse for sth used when you think someone or something is very bad:
•He's a rotten excuse for a lawyer. Why on earth did you hire him?
6 AmE a note written by your doctor or one of your parents saying that you were ill on a particular day; = sick note BrEBrE
a person or telephone number that is ex-directory is not in the public telephone book; = unlisted AmE
•The number is ex-directory.
•After several threatening calls, we decided to go ex-directory. [C]
an informal word for EXECUTIVE
formal extremely bad; = terrible [T]
literary to express strong disapproval or hatred for someone or something [T]
1 KILL SB to kill someone, especially legally as a punishment
execute sb for sth
•Thousands have been executed for political crimes.
•The report claims 13 people were summarily executed (=killed without any trial or legal process) by the guerrillas.
see box at KILL^1
2 DO STH formal to do something that has been carefully planned; = implement
•The job involves drawing up and executing a plan of nursing care.
3 PERFORM AN ACTION formal to perform a difficult action or movement
beautifully/skilfully/poorly etc executed
•The skaters' routine was perfectly executed.
4 COMPUTER technical if a computer executes a program or COMMAND (=instruction), it makes the program or command happen or work
5 LEGAL DOCUMENT law to make sure that the instructions in a legal document are followed
6 PRODUCE STH formal to produce a painting, book, film etc:
•a boldly executed story
1 [C,U] when someone is killed, especially as a legal punishment:
•their torture and summary execution (=execution without a trial or any legal process)
•a public execution
•He was granted a stay of execution (=delay in carrying out an execution).
2 [U] formal a process in which you do something that has been carefully planned; = implementation
[+of]
•the formulation and execution of urban policy
3 [U] law the process of making sure that the instructions in a legal document are followed:
•the execution of a will
4 [U] formal the performance of a difficult action or movement
5 [U] formal the process of producing something such as a painting, film, book etc, or the way it is produced:
•art that is unusual in design and execution
6 [C,U] technical when you make a computer program work, or a COMMAND (=instruction) happen $ [C]
someone whose job is to execute criminals [C]
1 a manager in an organization or company who helps make important decisions:
•a marketing executive
senior/top executive
•top executives on high salaries
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
2 the executive the part of a government that makes sure decisions and laws work well
JUDICIARY, LEGISLATURE
3 BrE a group of people who are in charge of an organization and make the rules:
•the union's executive[only before noun]
1 relating to the job of managing a business or organization and making decisions:
•a commission with executive powers
executive body/committee etc (=a group of people who have the power to make decisions)
2 for the use of people who have important jobs in a company:
•the executive dining-room
3 expensive and designed for people who earn a lot of money
executive cars/homes etc
• executive toys (=objects to play with at work)[C]
AmE the right of a president or other government leader to keep official records and papers secret $ [C]
someone who deals with the instructions in someone's WILL plural exegeses [C,U]
formal a detailed explanation of a piece of writing, especially a religious piece of writing $ [C]
formal a good or typical example
[+of]
•Milt's career is an exemplar of survival in difficult times.
1 excellent and providing a good example for people to follow:
•a company with an exemplary record on environmental issues
2 [only before noun] an exemplary punishment is very severe and is intended to stop other people from committing the same crime past tense and past participle exemplified, present participle exemplifying, third person singular exemplifies [T] formal
1 to be a very typical example of something:
•The building exemplifies the style of architecture which was popular at the time.
2 to give an example of something:
•Problems are exemplified in the report.
- exemplification noun [C,U]
not affected by something, or not having to do it or pay it
[+from]
•The interest is exempt from income tax.
•Children are exempt from the charges.[T]
to give someone permission not to do or pay something
exempt sb from sth
•Charities are exempted from paying the tax.
•a document that exempts the owner from liability in case of accidents
1 [C] an amount of money that you do not have to pay tax on:
•You qualify for a tax exemption on the loan.
2 [C,U] permission not to do or pay something that you would normally have to do or pay
[+from]
•exemption from customs duties
•The commission has the power to grant temporary exemptions. $
1 FOR HEALTH [U] physical activities that you do in order to stay healthy and become stronger:
•Try to fit some regular exercise into your daily routine.
•Working in an office, I don't get much exercise.
do/take exercise
•Most people need to do more exercise.
gentle/light exercise
•Gentle exercise can be beneficial for older people.
vigorous/strenuous exercise
•After the operation, you should avoid strenuous exercise.
2 MOVEMENT [C] a movement or set of movements that you do regularly to keep your body healthy:
•stretching exercises
•You can do exercises to strengthen your stomach muscles.
3 FOR A SKILL [C usually plural] an activity or process that helps you practise a particular skill:
•relaxation exercises
•role-play exercises
4 IN A BOOK [C] a set of questions in a book that test a student's knowledge or skill:
•Do Exercises 3 and 4 on page 51 for homework.
5 FOR A PARTICULAR RESULT [singular] an activity or situation that has a particular quality or result:
•closing libraries as part of a cost-cutting exercise
•It's a pointless exercise.
[+in]
•Buying a house can be an exercise in frustration.
6 ARMY/NAVY ETC [C,U] a set of activities for training soldiers etc:
•a military exercise
on exercise
•Half the unit was away on exercise.
7 the exercise of sth formal the use of a power or right:
•the exercise of political leadership
1 USE STH [T] formal to use a power, right, or quality that you have:
•There are plans to encourage people to exercise their right to vote.
•People who can exercise some control over their surroundings feel less anxious.
2 DO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY [I] to do sports or physical activities in order to stay healthy and become stronger:
•It's important to exercise regularly.
3 USE PART OF YOUR BODY [T] to make a particular part of your body move in order to make it stronger:
•Swimming exercises all the major muscle groups.
4 ANIMAL [T] to make an animal walk or run in order to keep it healthy and strong:
•people exercising their dogs in the park
5 MAKE SB THINK [T] formal
a) to make someone think about a subject or problem and consider how to deal with it:
•It's an issue that's exercised the minds of scientists for a long time.
b) BrE if something exercises someone, they think about it all the time and are very anxious or worried - often used humorously:
•It was clear that Flavia had been exercised by this thought.[C]
a bicycle that does not move and is used for exercising indoors[C]
a book that students use for writing in $ [T]
1 to use your power, influence etc in order to make something happen:
•They exerted considerable influence within the school.
•Environmental groups are exerting pressure on the government to tighten pollution laws.
2 exert yourself to work very hard and use a lot of physical or mental energy:
•He has exerted himself tirelessly on behalf of the charity. $ [C,U]
1 a lot of physical or mental effort:
•The afternoon's exertions had left us feeling exhausted.
•mental exertion
2 the use of power, influence etc to make something happen:
•the exertion of authority [I]
a word written in the instructions of a play to tell two or more actors to leave the stage $ [I,T]
to remove dead cells from your skin in order to make it smoother
- exfoliation $ noun [U] formal
an ex gratia payment is one that is made as a gift, and not as a legal duty:
•an ex gratia payment of £15,000 [I,T]
to breathe air, smoke etc out of your mouth; inhale
•Take a deep breath, then exhale slowly.
- exhalation noun [C,U] $ [T]
1 to make someone feel extremely tired:
•A full day's teaching exhausts me.
exhaust yourself
•He'd exhausted himself carrying all the boxes upstairs.
2 to use all of something; = use up
•We are in danger of exhausting the world's oil supply.
•Having exhausted all other possibilities, I asked Jan to look after the baby.
3 exhaust a subject/topic etc to talk about something so much that you have nothing more to say about it:
•Once we'd exhausted the subject of Jill's wedding, I didn't know what to say.
1 also exhaust pipe [C] a pipe on a car or machine that waste gases pass through
2 [U] the gas produced when an engine is working:
•exhaust fumes $
1 extremely tired; = worn out
•You look absolutely exhausted.
[+from/by]
•I was exhausted by the journey.
2 having or containing no more of a particular thing or substance:
•an exhausted coal mine $
making you feel extremely tired:
•an exhausting process
•It had been an exhausting day. $ [U]
1 extreme tiredness
with exhaustion
•He collapsed with exhaustion.
• Sheer exhaustion forced him to give up.
•Many runners were suffering from heat exhaustion (=when you become tired and ill because you are too hot).
nervous exhaustion (=when you become ill because you have been working too hard or have been very worried)
2 when all of something has been used
[+of]
•the exhaustion of oil supplies $
extremely thorough and complete:
•an exhaustive investigation
•The list is by no means exhaustive.
- exhaustively adverb
1 [I,T] to show something in a public place so that people can go to see it; = show
•Her paintings have been exhibited all over the world.
2 [T] formal to clearly show a particular quality, emotion, or ability
exhibit signs/symptoms/behaviour etc
•a patient who is exhibiting classic symptoms of mental illness[C]
1 something, for example a painting, that is put in a public place so that people can go to see it:
•The exhibits date from the 17th century.
2 an object that is shown in court to prove whether someone is guilty or not:
•Exhibit A is the hammer found next to the victim.
3 AmE an exhibition:
•a big exhibit in Milan
1 [C] especially BrE a show of paintings, photographs, or other objects that people can go to see
[+of]
•an exhibition of black and white photographs
stage/mount/hold etc an exhibition
•The museum is staging an exhibition of Picasso's work.
2 [U] when something such as a painting is shown in a public place
[+of]
•She never agreed to the public exhibition of her sculptures while she was still alive.
on exhibition
•A collection of paintings by David Hockney is on exhibition at the Museum of Art.
3 exhibition of sth a situation in which someone shows a particular skill, feeling, or type of behaviour:
•I've never seen such an exhibition of jealousy.
4 make an exhibition of yourself to behave in a silly or embarrassing way; = make a fool of yourself [U]
1 behaviour that is intended to make people notice or admire you - used to show disapproval
2 medical a medical condition that makes someone want to show their sexual organs in public places [C]
1 someone who likes to make other people notice them - often used to show disapproval
2 medical someone who has a medical condition that makes them want to show their sexual organs in public places
- exhibitionist adjective $ [C]
a person or company who is showing their work or products to the public:
•an exhibitor at a trade show [T]
to make someone feel very excited and happy
feeling extremely happy, excited, and full of energy:
•Dan felt strangely exhilarated by the day's events.
- exhilarate verb [T]
making you feel happy, excited, and full of energy:
•an exhilarating experience
•an exhilarating walk [U]
a feeling of being happy, excited, and full of energy
[+of]
•She enjoyed the exhilaration of jet-skiing. $ [T]
formal to try very hard to persuade someone to do something; = urge
exhort sb to do sth
•Police exhorted the crowd to remain calm.
- exhortation $ noun [C,U] $ [T]
formal to remove a dead body from the ground, especially in order to check the cause of death; = dig up
- exhumation $ noun [C,U] [plural]
formal the things you must do in order to deal with a difficult or urgent situation; = demands
[+of]
•the exigencies of war formal
1 demanding a lot of attention from other people in a way that is unreasonable
2 an exigent situation is urgent, so that you must deal with it very quickly formal
very small in amount:
•exiguous earnings
1 [singular, U] a situation in which you are forced to leave your country and live in another country, especially for political reasons
in exile
•a writer now living in exile
•He went into exile to escape political imprisonment.
force/drive sb into exile
•The house was raided and the family was forced into exile.
•He spent many years in enforced exile.
voluntary/self-imposed exile
•She had been in voluntary exile since 1990.
2 [C] someone who has been forced to live in exile:
•political exiles
see also TAX EXILE[T usually passive]
to force someone to leave their country, especially for political reasons
exile sb to sth
•Several of the leaders were arrested and exiled to France.
exile sb from sth
•a dictator who was exiled from his home country
•the exiled former president [I not in progressive]
1 to happen or be present in a particular situation or place:
•The custom of arranged marriages still exists in many countries.
•Opportunities exist for students to gain sponsorship.
•Stop pretending that the problem doesn't exist.
•The club will cease to exist if financial help is not found.
2 to be real or alive:
•Do fairies really exist?
•Tom acts as if I don't exist at times.
3 to stay alive, especially in a difficult situation when you do not have enough money, food etc; = survive
[+on]
•The hostages existed on bread and water for over five months.
1 [U] the state of existing
[+of]
•It is impossible to prove the existence of God.
in existence
•The organization has been in existence for 25 years.
•Scientists have many theories about how the universe first came into existence (=started to exist).
[+of]
•The very existence of the museum is threatened by lack of funding.
•the continued existence of economic inequalities
2 [C usually singular] the type of life that someone has, especially when it is bad or unhappy:
•Pablo led a miserable existence when he first moved to San Juan.
eke out a living/existence at EKE formal
existing now; nonexistent
•existent differences[C] technical
something that is real and exists [only before noun] formal
relating to the existence of humans or to existentialism [U] technical
the belief in PHILOSOPHY that people are responsible for their own actions and experiences, and that the world has no meaning
- existentialist adjective
- existentialist noun [C] [only before noun]
present or being used now:
•the existing laws
•The service is available to all existing customers. [C]
1 a door or space through which you can leave a public room, building etc:
•We made for the nearest exit.
•an exit door
•Two men were blocking her exit.
emergency/fire exit (=a special door used only when there is a fire etc)
2 [usually singular] when you leave a room or building:
•They made a quick exit when they saw the police approaching.
3 a place where vehicles can leave a road such as a MOTORWAY, and join another road:
•Take the next exit for Lynchburg.
4 [usually singular] when someone stops being involved in a competition or business, especially because they have not been successful; = departure
•France's early exit from the World Cup[I,T]
1 formal to leave a place
[+from/through]
•I exited through a side window.
•He exited the courtroom in a fury.
2 to stop using a computer program:
•Press F3 to exit.
3 used in the instructions of a play to tell an actor to leave the stage:
•Exit Hamlet, bearing the body of Polonius.[C]
the activity of asking people how they have voted in an election in order to discover the likely result [singular]
a situation in which a lot of people leave a particular place at the same time
[+of]
•A massive exodus of doctors is forcing the government to recruit from abroad.
[+from/to]
•the exodus from the countryside to the towns in the 19th century
•I joined the mass exodus for drinks during the interval. $ formal
an ex-officio member of an organization is only a member because of their rank or position
- ex officio adverb $ [T]
to state officially that someone who has been blamed for something is not guilty
exonerate sb from/of sth
•He was totally exonerated of any blame.
- exoneration $ noun [U] $
an exorbitant price, amount of money etc is much higher than it should be; = astronomical
exorbitant rent/prices etc
•exorbitant rates of interest
- exorbitantly adverb $ [C,U]
1 a process during which someone tries to make an evil SPIRIT leave a place by saying special words, or a ceremony when this is done
2 literary the process of making yourself forget a bad memory or experience $ [C]
someone who tries to make evil SPIRITs leave a placealso exorcise BrE $ [T]
1 to force evil SPIRITs to leave a place by using special words and ceremonies
2 to make yourself forget a bad memory or experience:
•trying to exorcise the past $
something that is exotic seems unusual and interesting because it is related to a foreign country - use this to show approval:
•exotic birds
•exotic places
- exotically adverb $ [plural]
things that are unusual and exciting, especially because they come from foreign countries[C]
a dancer who takes off her clothes while dancing
STRIPTEASE
1 [I,T] to become larger in size, number, or amount, or to make something become larger; expansion; contract
•Water expands as it freezes.
•Sydney's population expanded rapidly in the 1960s.
•exercises that expand the chest muscles
•his expanding waistline
2 [I,T] if a company, business etc expands, or if someone expands it, they open new shops, factories etc; expansion
•The computer industry has expanded greatly over the last decade.
•The hotel wants to expand its business by adding a swimming pool.
•the rapidly expanding field of information technology
[+into]
•We have plans to expand into the U.S. market.
3 [I] literary to become more confident and start to talk more:
•After a few whiskies he started to expand a little.

PHRASAL VERBS
expand on/upon sth phr v
to add more details or information to something that you have already said:
•Payne later expanded on his initial statement.
able to be increased or made larger:
•a computer with 32Mb RAM expandable to 128Mb RAM [C]
a very large area of water, sky, land etc
[+of]
•an expanse of blue sky
vast/wide/large etc expanse
•the vast expanse of the ocean
1 [C,U] when something increases in size, range, amount etc; = growth; expand
[+of]
•The rapid expansion of cities can cause social and economic problems.
[+in]
•an expansion in student numbers
2 [C,U] when a company, business etc becomes larger by opening new shops, factories etc; expand
•The industry has just undergone a period of rapid expansion.
3 [C] an idea, story etc that is based on one that is simpler or more general:
•The novel is an expansion of a short story he wrote about forty years ago. $ formal
encouraging a business or ECONOMY to become bigger and more successful:
•expansionary fiscal policy[C]
a CIRCUIT BOARD that fits into a computer and makes it possible for the computer to do more things, for example play sounds or video pictures, or use a telephone line [U]
when a country or group increases the amount of land or power that they have - used especially to show disapproval:
•military expansionism
- expansionist adjective
- expansionist noun [C][C]
a place on a computer system CIRCUIT BOARD that can hold an EXPANSION CARD
1 very friendly and willing to talk a lot:
•Hauser was in an expansive mood.
2 very large in area, or using a lot of space:
•expansive beaches
•She flung her arms out in an expansive gesture.
3 including a lot of information and using a lot of words:
•an expansive definition
•It was written in an expansive style.
4 relating to a business or ECONOMY becoming bigger or more successful:
•expansive economic policies
- expansively adverb
- expansiveness noun [U] [C] informal
an expatriate

PHRASAL VERBS
expatiate on/upon sth phr v
formal to speak or write in detail about a particular subject $ [C]
someone who lives in a foreign country:
•British expatriates living in Spain
- expatriate adjective [only before noun]
•expatriate workers [T]
1 THINK STH WILL HAPPEN to think that something will happen because it seems likely or has been planned
expect to do sth
•I expect to be back within a week.
•The company expects to complete work in April.
expect sb/sth to do sth
•Emergency repairs were expected to take three weeks.
•I didn't expect him to stay so long.
expect (that)
•There's the doorbell - I expect it'll be my mother.
•He will be hard to beat. I fully expect (=am completely sure about) that and I'm ready.
•'Who are you?' he murmured, only half expecting (=thinking it was possible, but not likely) her to answer.
•He didn't get his expected pay rise.
as expected (=in the way that was planned or thought likely to happen)
•As expected, the whole family was shocked by the news.
sth is (only) to be expected (=used to say that you are not surprised by something, especially something unpleasant)
•A little nervousness is only to be expected when you are starting a new job.
2 DEMAND to demand that someone does something because it is a duty or seems reasonable
expect sth from sb
•The officer expects complete obedience from his troops.
expect sb to do sth
•I can't expect her to be on time if I'm late myself.
expect a lot of sb/expect too much of sb (=think someone can do more than may be possible)
•The school expects a lot of its students.
3 THINK SB/STH WILL ARRIVE to believe that someone or something is going to arrive:
•We're expecting Alison home any minute now.
•Snow is expected by the weekend.
•an expected crowd of 80,000 people
!! Expect or wait for?
see box at WAIT^1
4 THINK to think that you will find that someone or something has a particular quality or does a particular thing:
•I expected her to be taller than me, not shorter.
5 be expecting (a baby) if a woman is expecting, she is going to have a baby
6 what can/do you expect? spoken used to say that you are not surprised by something unpleasant or disappointing:
•The train was delayed, but what do you expect?
7 how do/can you expect ...? spoken used to say that it is unreasonable to think that something will happen or be true:
•If I can't help her, how can you expect to?
8 I expect BrE spoken used to introduce or agree with a statement that you think is probably true:
•I expect you're right.
•'Do you think they're going to attack?' ' I expect so.' [U]
the feeling that something pleasant or exciting is going to happen:
•I saw the look of expectancy in the children's eyes.
LIFE EXPECTANCY [usually before noun]
1 hopeful that something good or exciting will happen, or showing this:
•a row of expectant faces
2 expectant mother/father a mother or father whose baby will be born soon
- expectantly adverb
•He looked expectantly at Sarah, but she didn't speak.
1 [C,U] what you think or hope will happen
expectation that
•For some time he lived with the expectation that he was going to die.
in (the) expectation of sth
•Anne left Germany in the expectation of seeing her family again before very long.
against/contrary to (all) expectations
•Against all expectations, getting up at five is actually easier in winter.
•Having raised expectations (=made people more hopeful), he went on to help only a few people.
above/below expectations
•Profits are below expectations.
beyond (sb's) expectations
•Gina has succeeded beyond our expectations.
•The show exceeded all expectations (=was much better than expected).
come/live up to (sb's) expectations
•His performance did not live up to our expectations (=was not as good as we expected)
•The number of people who attended fell short of expectations (=was lower than expected).
2 [C usually plural] a feeling or belief about the way something should be or how someone should behave
[+of]
•Women who have high expectations of marriage are often disappointed.
•Some people have totally unrealistic expectations of both medical and nursing staff.
3 expectation of life the number of years that someone is likely to live; = life expectancy [U] medical
a type of medicine that you take to help you cough up PHLEGM (=a sticky substance) from your lungs [I]
formal to force liquid out of your mouth; = spitalso expedience plural expediencies [C,U]
action that is quickest or most effective in a particular situation, even if it is morally wrong:
•These are not politics of honest principle; they are politics of political expediency.
helping you to deal with a problem quickly and effectively although sometimes in a way that is not morally right; inexpedient
•This solution is politically expedient but may well cause long-term problems.
expedient to do sth
•We think it is expedient to make a good-will gesture to the new administration.[C]
a quick and effective way of dealing with a problem:
•Moore escaped by the simple expedient of lying down in a clump of grass. [T]
to make a process or action happen more quickly; = speed up
•strategies to expedite the decision-making process
1 [C] a long and carefully organized journey, especially to a dangerous or unfamiliar place, or the people that make this journey:
•an expedition to the North Pole
• another Everest expedition
on an expedition
•He went on an expedition to Borneo.
2 [C] a short journey, usually made for a particular purpose; = trip
•a shopping expedition
•a fishing expedition[C]
a group of soldiers that is sent to another country to fight in a war formal
in a quick and effective way; = efficiently
•All issues presented to the court are considered as fairly and expeditiously as possible.
- expeditious adjective
•an expeditious system for examining claims for refugee status past tense and past participle expelled, present participle expelling [T]
1 to officially force someone to leave a school or organization; expulsion
expel sb from sth
•Two girls were expelled from school for taking drugs.
•The main opposition leader was expelled from her party.
expel sb for doing sth
•He was expelled for making racist remarks.
2 to force a foreigner to leave a country, especially because they have broken the law or for political reasons
expel sb from sth
•Foreign priests were expelled from the country.
expel sb for sth
•Three diplomats were expelled for spying.
3 to force air, water, or gas etc out of your body or out of a container [T]
to use or spend a lot of energy etc in order to do something
expend energy/effort/time/resources etc
•People of different ages expend different amounts of energy.
•Manufacturers have expended a lot of time and effort trying to improve computer security.
expend sth in/on (doing) sth
•A great deal of time and money has been expended on creating a pleasant office atmosphere.
not needed enough to be kept or saved:
•It's a sad moment when a man loses his job and discovers that he is expendable. $
1 [C,U] the total amount of money that a government, organization, or person spends during a particular period of time; income
[+on]
•expenditure on research and development
•huge cuts in public expenditure (=the amount of money a government spends on services for the public)
• government expenditure on education
• capital expenditure (=spending by a company on buildings, machinery, equipment etc)
[+of]
•an expenditure of £1 million
2 [U] the action of spending or using time, money, energy etc:
•the expenditure of time and money on your house or garden
1 [C,U] the amount of money that you spend on something
legal/medical/living/travel etc expenses (=the money that you spend for a particular purpose)
•He borrowed £150,000 and used the money for legal expenses.
at great/considerable/vast expense
•Conference rooms were equipped at great expense.
•The council must now decide whether to go to the expense of appealing through the courts.
•Julie's parents had spared no expense for her wedding (=they spent all the money necessary to buy the best things).
•Everything has been provided tonight - no expense spared.
2 expenses money that you spend on things such as travel and food while you are doing your job, and which your employer then pays to you
on expenses
•Can you claim this meal on expenses?
3 at the expense of sb/sth if something is done at the expense of someone or something else, it is only achieved by doing something that could harm the other person or thing:
•the growth in short breaks, at the expense of longer package holidays
4 at sb's expense
a) if you do something at someone's expense, they pay for you to do it:
•Her mansion was refurnished at taxpayers' expense.
b) if you make jokes at someone's expense, you laugh about them and make them seem stupid or silly:
•Louis kept making jokes at his wife's expense.
5 all expenses paid having all of your costs for hotels, travel, meals etc paid for by someone else:
•The prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to Rio.[C]
money that is available to someone who works for a company so that they can pay for meals, hotels etc when travelling or entertaining people for work:
•I have an expense account and spend about £10,000 a year on entertaining.
costing a lot of money; cheap
•the most expensive restaurant in town
•Petrol is becoming more and more expensive.
•Photography is an expensive hobby.
expensive to buy/run/produce/maintain etc
•The house was too big and expensive to run.
•For low-income families, children's safety equipment can be prohibitively expensive (=so expensive that most people cannot afford it).
•Employing the wrong builder can be a horribly expensive mistake.
•Her husband had expensive tastes (=liked expensive things) and the kids always wanted new clothes.
- expensively adverb
•She's always expensively dressed.

WORD FOCUS: words meaning expensive
high used about prices, rents, or charges
fancy used about restaurants, cars, or clothes that look expensive
posh used about hotels, restaurants, or cars that look expensive and are used by rich or high-class people
cost a lotalso /cost a bomb informal to be very expensive
be out of sb's price range to be more than someone can afford to pay
be a rip-off informal to be much too expensive, so that you feel you have been cheated
exorbitant exorbitant prices are much too high
$
1 KNOWLEDGE/SKILL [U] knowledge or skill that you gain from doing a job or activity, or the process of doing this
[+of/in/with]
•You've got a lot of experience of lecturing.
•my experience in many areas of the music business
•He had no previous experience of managing a farm.
•The advice in the booklet reflects the practical experience we have gained (=experience gained by actually doing something, rather than knowledge from books etc).
•I had some experience in fashion design.
•She was turned down on the grounds of lack of experience.
•I have first-hand experience (=experience gained by doing something myself) of running a school.
gain/get experience
•The programme enables pupils to gain some experience of the world of work.
2 KNOWLEDGE OF LIFE [U] knowledge that you gain about life and the world by being in different situations and meeting different people, or the process of gaining this
in sb's experience
•In his experience, women did not like getting their feet wet and muddy.
know/learn/speak from experience
•Being a parent isn't easy, as I know from experience.
•All animals appear to have some capacity to learn from experience.
•I speak from bitter experience (=having learnt something because something unpleasant happened).
personal/previous/past experience
•From personal experience, she knew and understood the problems of alcohol addiction.
experience shows/suggests that
•Beth's experience suggests that people don't really change deep down.
3 STH THAT HAPPENS [C] something that happens to you or something you do, especially when this has an effect on what you feel or think:
• childhood experiences
[+of/with]
•This was my first experience of living with other people.
[+for]
•Failing an exam was a new experience for me.
•I had a similar experience last year.
•The two children in this story have been through a lot of bad experiences.
•Parachuting is quite an experience.
memorable/unforgettable experience
•This romantic evening cruise is a memorable experience.
religious experience (=a situation in which you feel, hear, or see something that affects you strongly and makes you believe in God)
•This kind of religious experience was a sign of God's special favour.
4 the black/female/Russian etc experience events or knowledge shared by the members of a particular society or group of people:
•No writer expresses the black experience with such passion as Toni Morisson.
5 work experience BrE a system in which a student can work for a company in order to learn about a job, or the period during which a student does this:
•Ella is about to do work experience with a clothing manufacturer.
on work experience
•students on work experience[T]
1 if you experience a problem, event, or situation, it happens to you or affects you
experience problems/difficulties
•Many old people will experience problems as the result of retirement.
•Children need to experience things for themselves in order to learn from them.
2 to feel a particular emotion, pain etc:
•Many women experience feelings of nausea during pregnancy. $
possessing skills or knowledge because you have done something often or for a long time; inexperienced
•an experienced pilot
•an experienced public speaker
•She is experienced and self-assured.
[+in]
•Blake's very experienced in microsurgery. $ informal
based on experience or related to experience:
•experiential approaches to learning [C]
1 a scientific test done to find out how something reacts under certain conditions, or to find out if a particular idea is true
[+with/in/on]
•experiments with alcohol-fuelled cars
•experiments on sleep deprivation
experiment to test/see/demonstrate etc sth
•The researcher sets up experiments to test the hypothesis.
•an experiment to assess the effect of stress on athletes
carry out/perform/do/conduct an experiment
•Teachers are shown how to carry out many simple experiments.
by experiment
•Many small birds guide themselves by the stars, as has been verified by experiment.
2 a process in which you test a new idea or method to see if it is useful or effective
[+with/in/on]
•an experiment in state socialism [I]
1 to try using various ideas, methods etc to find out how good or effective they are
[+with/on/in]
•He experimented with lighter-than-air flight.
•The teacher provided some different materials and left the children to experiment.
2 to do a scientific test to find out if a particular idea is true or to obtain more information
[+with/on]
•I would defend the right of scientists to experiment on animals.
3 to try doing something to find out what it feels like, for example having sex or using illegal drugs
[+with]
•She admitted she had experimented with cocaine.
- experimenter noun [C]
1 used for, relating to, or resulting from experiments
experimental evidence/results/data
•A hypothesis is tested by finding experimental evidence for it.
experimental work/studies
•experimental studies on birds and animals
•experimental animals
2 using new ideas or methods:
•an experimental theatre group
1 relating to experiments:
•data obtained experimentally
2 in a way that involves using new ideas or methods:
•The drugs are being used experimentally on patients suffering from breast cancer.
3 if you do something experimentally, you do it in order to see or feel what something is like:
•He moved his shoulder experimentally; it still hurt. [U]
1 the process of testing various ideas, methods etc to find out how good or effective they are
[+with/in]
•experimentation with computer-assisted language learning
2 the process of performing scientific tests to find out if a particular idea is true or to obtain more information:
•The issue of animal experimentation is an emotive subject.
3 when you try doing something to find out what it feels like, for example having sex or using illegal drugs
[+with]
•experimentation with cannabis
•There is often a period of sexual experimentation during adolescence. $ [C]
someone who has a special skill or special knowledge of a subject, gained as a result of training or experience
[+on/in]
•He's a world expert on marine mammals.
medical/technical/financial etc expert
•Tests should be administered by a medical expert.
1 having a special skill or special knowledge of a subject; inexpert
[+on/in/at]
•The police are expert at handling situations like this in strict confidence.
•He cast his expert eye on the gardener's work.
2 relating to or coming from an expert:
•Ministers depend on civil servants for expert advice.
- expertly adverb
- expertness noun [U] $ [U]
special skills or knowledge in a particular subject, that you learn by experience or training
technical/financial/medical etc expertise
•What he's bringing to the company is financial expertise.
•trainee engineers with varying degrees of computer expertise
[+in]
•expertise in the management of hotels[C]
a computer system containing a lot of information about one particular subject, so that it can help someone find an answer to a problem[C]
someone with special knowledge about a subject who is asked to give their opinion about something relating to that subject in a court of law:
•He appeared as an expert witness before several government inquiries. [T]
formal to show you are sorry for something you have done wrong by accepting your punishment willingly, or trying to do something to improve what you did:
•She expiated her crime by becoming a nun.
- expiation noun [U] [U]
1 the ending of a fixed period of time
2 expiration date the American form of EXPIRY date $ [I]
1 if an official document expires, it can no longer be legally used; = run out
•My passport expires next week.
•players whose contracts expire this summer
[+in/on/at]
•My driving licence expires in March.
•The lease on the flat expired on June 14th.
2 if a period of time when someone has a particular position of authority expires, it ends:
•The chairman's term of office has already expired.
3 literary if someone expires, they die:
•Ophelia expires in Act IV of Hamlet. $ [U] BrE
1 the end of a period of time during which an official document can legally be used, or the end of a period of authority; = expiration AmE
[+of]
•the formal expiry of the presidential term in September
•Only seven minutes remained before the expiry of the noon deadline.
2 expiry date the date after which something is not safe to eat or can no longer be used; = expiration date AmE
•Check the expiry date on your passport.
•Eggs must be marked with an expiry date that is ten days from the date of packing.
SELL-BY DATE [I,T]
1 to tell someone about something in a way that is clear or easy to understand:
•Our lawyer carefully explained the procedure.
explain (to sb) why/how/what etc
•The librarian will explain how to use the catalogue system.
•Let me explain what I mean.
explain that
•He explained that it had been a difficult film to make.
explain sth to sb
•I explained the situation to the bank manager and he arranged a loan.
!! You explain something to someone: He explained the system to me (NOT explained me the system).
2 to give a reason for something or to be a reason for something:
•Wait! I can explain everything.
•How can you explain that sort of behaviour?
explain that
•She explained that she had been ill.
explain why/how/what etc
•I'll explain why I don't believe your story.
•That still doesn't explain how he was able to hide the body.
3 explain yourself
a) to tell someone who is angry or upset with you the reasons why you did something:
•I'm going to give you five seconds to explain yourself.
b) to say clearly what you mean:
•Sorry, I'm not explaining myself very well.

PHRASAL VERBS
explain sth <=> away phr v
to make something seem less important or bad by giving reasons for it:
•The difference in the treatment they receive is hard to explain away.
1 [C,U] the reasons you give for why something happened or why you did something:
•I think you owe me an explanation (=you should explain to me).
[+of/for]
•There is no convincing explanation of the overall structure of the universe.
•There was no apparent explanation for the attack.
provide/give an explanation
•He gave no explanation for what he was doing that evening.
2 [C] a statement or piece of writing intended to describe how something works or make something easier to understand
provide/give an explanation
•The ability to give clear explanations is the most important quality of the ideal teacher.
[+of]
•I'll try and give you a quick explanation of how the machine works. $
giving information about something or describing how something works, in order to make it easier to understand:
•There are explanatory notes at the end of each chapter.
SELF-EXPLANATORY $ [C]
formal a rude word that you use when you are angry or in pain, for example 'shit'; = swear word
able to be easily understood or explained; inexplicable
•The success of the Revolution is explicable in terms of the weakness of the king's government. [T]
formal to explain an idea in detail:
•It is essentially a simple notion, but explicating it is difficult.
- explication noun [C,U]
1 expressed in a way that is very clear and direct; implicit
•The contrast could not have been made more explicit.
• explicit knowledge of grammar
•The kidnappers have given us explicit instructions not to involve the police.
•Be explicit when you talk about money with your family.
[+about]
•He made the rules without being explicit about them.
2 language or pictures that are explicit describe or show sex or violence very clearly:
•The film contains some very explicit love scenes.
• sexually explicit language
- explicitly adverb
- explicitness noun [U] $
1 BURST [I,T] to burst, or to make something burst, into small pieces, usually with a loud noise and in a way that causes damage; explosion
•The device was thrown at an army patrol but failed to explode.
•Far sooner than anyone thought possible, the Russians exploded an atomic bomb.
2 INCREASE SUDDENLY [I] to suddenly increase greatly in number, amount, or degree; = rocket; explosion
•Florida's population exploded after World War II.
3 STRONG FEELINGS [I] to suddenly express strong feelings such as anger
EXPLOSION
•Paul exploded. 'What has it got to do with you?' he yelled.
[+with]
•She exploded with grief and anger.
•He told a joke which made Hank explode with laughter.
[+into]
•He exploded into a screaming, kicking rage.
4 BECOME DANGEROUS [I] if a situation explodes, it is suddenly no longer controlled, and is often violent; = blow up
•Riots may explode at any time.
[+into]
•The continued tension could explode into more violence.
5 explode the myth to prove that something that is believed by many people is actually wrong or not true:
•The programme sets out to explode the myth that some delicate tropical fish are impossible to keep.
6 MAKE A LOUD NOISE [I] to make a very loud noise; explosion
•A clap of thunder exploded overhead. $ technical
an exploded drawing, model etc shows the parts of something separately but in a way that shows how they are related or put together; unexploded
•an exploded diagram of an engine [T]
1 to treat someone unfairly by asking them to do things for you, but giving them very little in return - used to show disapproval:
•Homeworkers can easily be exploited by employers.
2 to try to get as much as you can out of a situation, sometimes unfairly:
•The violence was blamed on thugs exploiting the situation.
3 to use something fully and effectively:
•The new TV companies are fully exploiting the potential of satellite transmission.
4 to develop and use minerals, forests, oil etc for business or industry:
•the urgent need to exploit the resources of the Irish Sea
- exploitable adjective
- exploiter noun [C] [C usually plural]
a brave and exciting adventure that someone has had
[+of]
•the daring exploits of the British Parachute Regiment [U]
1 a situation in which you treat someone unfairly by asking them to do things for you, but give them very little in return - used to show disapproval
[+of]
•The film industry thrives on the sexual exploitation of women.
2 the development and use of minerals, forests, oil etc for business or industry
[+of]
•the controlled exploitation of ocean resources
commercial/economic exploitation
3 the full and effective use of something
[+of]
•greater exploitation of these data
4 an attempt to get as much as you can out of a situation, sometimes unfairly
[+of]
•the exploitation of religion for political ends
taking as much as possible from someone or something and giving very little in return:
•the exploitative nature of multinational companies [C,U]
1 the act of travelling through a place in order to find out about it or find something such as oil or gold in it:
•oil exploration facilities in the North Sea
•You can then use this hut as a base for explorations into the mountains around.
[+of]
•the exploration of space
2 when you try to find out more about something by discussing it, thinking about it etc
[+into/of]
•an exploration into how an abused child becomes an abuser
•the exploration of literary texts $
done in order to find out more about something:
•He's going to have exploratory surgery on his knee. $
1 [T] to discuss or think about something carefully; = look at
•Management need to explore ways of improving office security.
•I'm going to explore the possibility of a part-time job.
2 [I,T] to travel around an area in order to find out about it:
•Venice is a wonderful city to explore.
3 explore (sth) for oil/minerals/gold etc to look for something such as oil, minerals etc
4 [T] written to feel something with your hand or another part of your body to find out what it is like:
•Gingerly she explored the bump on her head with her fingers. $ [C]
someone who travels through an unknown area to find out about it $
1 [C] a loud sound and the energy produced by something such as a bomb bursting into small pieces; explode
bomb/gas/nuclear explosion
•Several people were injured in a bomb explosion.
•We heard a loud explosion.
huge/massive etc explosion
•A massive explosion ripped through the building.
2 [C,U] a process in which something such as a bomb is deliberately made to explode:
•Police carried out a controlled explosion of the device.
3 [C] a sudden or quick increase in the number or amount of something:
•the population explosion in India
[+of]
•the recent explosion of interest in Latin music and dance
4 [C] a sudden expression of emotion, especially anger; = outburst
5 [C] a sudden very loud noise
[+of]
•an explosion of laughter $
1 able or likely to explode:
•Because the gas is highly explosive, it needs to be kept in high-pressure containers.
•A small explosive device (=bomb) was set off outside the UN headquarters today.
2 [usually before noun] relating to or like an explosion:
•the explosive force of volcanoes
3 likely to become violent or to cause feelings of violence:
•He's good at defusing potentially explosive situations.
•the explosive issue of uncontrolled immigration
4 showing sudden strong or angry emotion:
•Both men suddenly spoke in the same explosive tone of voice.
5 [usually before noun] increasing suddenly or quickly in amount or number:
•the explosive growth of microcomputers
6 an explosive sound is sudden and loud
- explosively adverb
- explosiveness noun [U][C,U]
a substance that can cause an explosion
PLASTIC EXPLOSIVE $ plural expos [C]
informal an EXPOSITION (2) $ [C]
1 an exponent of an idea, belief etc tries to explain it and persuade others that it is good or useful
[+of]
•a leading exponent of desktop publishing
2 an exponent of a particular skill, idea, or activity is someone who is good at it
[+of]
•The most famous exponent of this approach to art was probably Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
3 technical a sign written above and to the right of a number or letter to show how many times that quantity is to be multiplied by itself technical
1 exponential growth/increase etc exponential growth, increase etc becomes faster as the amount of the thing that is growing increases:
•an exponential increase in travel
2 using a small number or letter slightly above and to the right of a number or letter that shows how many times a quantity is to be multiplied by itself
- exponentially adverb $
1 [U] the business of selling and sending goods to other countries; import
[+of]
•a ban on the export of toxic waste
for export
•bales of cloth for export to the continent
export market/industry/earnings etc
• Export licences (=official document allowing you to sell something abroad) for arms are strictly controlled.
2 [C usually plural] a product that is sold to another country; import
•Wheat is one of the country's chief exports.
•Selling insurance overseas is Britain's largest invisible export (=a service rather than a product). $
1 [I,T] to sell goods to another country; import
export sth (from sb) to sb
•The company exports tuna to the US.
2 [T] to introduce an activity, idea etc to another place or country:
•Italian food has been exported all over the world.
3 [T] technical to move computer information from one computer to another, from one computer document to another, or from one piece of software to another; import
- exportation $ noun [U] $ [C]
a person, company, or country that sells goods to another country; importer
[+of]
•With the expanded production of North Sea oil and gas, the UK has become a net exporter of fuel (=it exports more fuel than it imports).
major/leading exporter
•Japan is a leading exporter of textiles. $ [T]
1 SHOW to show something that is usually covered or hidden:
•He lifted his T-shirt to expose a jagged scar across his chest.
expose sth to sth
•Potatoes turn green when exposed to light.
2 TO STH DANGEROUS to put someone in a situation where they are not protected from something dangerous or unpleasant
expose sb to sth
•The report revealed that workers had been exposed to high levels of radiation.
expose yourself to ridicule/criticism etc (=say or do something that may make people laugh at you, criticize you etc)
3 TELL THE TRUTH to show the truth about someone or something, especially when it is bad:
•The film exposes the utter horror of war.
•The report exposes the weaknesses of modern medical practice.
expose sb as sth
•The baron was exposed as a liar and a cheat.
4 SEE/EXPERIENCE to make it possible for someone to experience new ideas, ways of life etc
expose sb to sth
•Some children are never exposed to classical music.
5 expose yourself if a man exposes himself, he shows his sexual organs to someone he does not know in a public place, usually because he is mentally ill
6 PHOTOGRAPH to allow light onto a piece of film in a camera in order to take a photograph
7 FEELINGS to show other people feelings that you usually hide, especially when this is not planned:
•I'm afraid I might expose my real feelings for him. $ [C]
a story in a newspaper or on television that shows the truth about something, especially something dishonest or shocking
[+of]
•an exposé of corrupt practices by lawyers $
1 not protected from the weather:
•an exposed coastline
•the side of the garden most exposed to wind
2 not covered:
•All exposed skin should be covered with protective cream.
3 not protected from attack; = vulnerable
•The old fort was very exposed.
•These developments leave the British government in an exposed position.
1 [C,U] formal a clear and detailed explanation
[+of]
•a lucid exposition of educational theories
2 [C] a large public event at which you show or sell products, art etc $ [C] law
a law that makes a particular action into a crime, and then punishes people who took that action before it had legally become a crime $ [I] formal
to express strong disapproval, disagreement, or annoyance with someone
- expostulation $ noun [C,U] $
1 TO DANGER [U] when someone is in a situation where they are not protected from something dangerous or unpleasant
[+to]
•Prolonged exposure to the sun can cause skin cancer.
2 TRUTH [U] the action of showing the truth about someone or something, especially when it is bad
[+of]
•the exposure of his underground political activity
[+as]
•her fear of exposure as a spy
3 PUBLIC ATTENTION [U] the attention that someone or something gets from newspapers, television etc; = publicity
•The failure of their marriage has got a lot of exposure recently.
4 EXPERIENCE [singular, U] the chance to experience new ideas, ways of life etc
[+to]
•The visit to Germany gave them exposure to the language.
•her brief exposure to pop stardom
5 BE VERY COLD [U] the harmful effects on your body of being outside in very cold weather without protection:
•We nearly died of exposure on the mountainside.
6 PHOTOGRAPHY [C]
a) a length of film in a camera that is used to take a photograph:
•I have three exposures left on this roll.
b) the amount of time that light is allowed to enter the camera when taking a photograph
7 SHOW [C] the act of showing something that is usually hidden
8 BUSINESS [C,U] the amount of financial risk that a company or person has
9 DIRECTION [singular] the direction in which a building, hill etc faces:
•My bedroom has a southern exposure.
see also INDECENT EXPOSURE [I,T]
formal to explain or talk about something in detail
[+on]
•She's always expounding on the latest dogmas of feminism. [T]
1 FEELING to tell or show what you are feeling or thinking by using words, looks, or actions
express your views/opinions
•Bill's not afraid to express his opinions.
•Parents have expressed their concerns about their children's safety.
•She expressed an interest in seeing York.
express sth in/by/through sth
•Express your reasons for applying in simple terms.
express sympathy/fear/anger etc
•She doesn't express her emotions as much as he does.
express thanks/gratitude (for sth) (to sb) (=thank someone in a speech or by writing a letter)
•Finally, I'd like to express my sincere thanks to all those who have helped today.
express doubts/reservations
•The USA expressed reservations before agreeing to sign the agreement.
•Many people have expressed their opposition to the proposals for a new ring road.
express yourself (=say what you think or feel)
•Young children often have difficulty expressing themselves.
•He first learnt to express himself through movement at his dance classes.
•Words can't express (=it is impossible to describe) how angry we felt.
2 PARTICULAR EMOTION to show or describe a particular feeling:
•Many of Munch's paintings express a deep feeling of despair.
3 sth expresses itself if something expresses itself, it becomes noticeable; = sth reveals itself
•Religious faith expresses itself in a variety of ways.
4 MATHEMATICS technical to change an amount or quantity into a different form, especially in mathematics
express sth as/in sth
•Express three-quarters as a decimal.
•The value of the coffee becomes significantly higher when expressed in foreign currency.
5 FEEDING BABIES if a woman expresses milk, she presses milk out of her breast in order to feed it to her baby later[only before noun]
1 deliberate and for a specific situation:
•The school was founded with the express purpose of teaching deaf children.
2 clear and definite
express agreement/consent/authority etc
•He is not to leave without my express permission.
•Matthew left express instructions to keep all doors locked.
3 express train/coach/bus a train or bus that does not stop at many places and can therefore travel more quickly
4 express post/mail a system that delivers letters and packages very quickly
5 AmE designed to help you move through a place more quickly:
•express lanes on the freeway
•an express line at a supermarket (=where people with only a few things to buy go to pay)
1 [C usually singular] a train or bus that does not stop in many places and therefore travels quickly
London - Gatwick Express/Orient Express (=a fast train or bus which does a particular journey regularly)
2 [U] a post service that delivers letters and packages very quickly:
•Send these books by express.
send/deliver sth express to send or deliver a letter, package etc quickly using a special post service
1 STRONG FEELINGS/THOUGHTS [C,U] something you say, write, or do that shows what you think or feel
[+of]
•I decided to go to the meeting as an expression of support.
expression of sympathy/thanks/regret etc
•The letter was a genuine expression of sympathy.
•Student leaders are demanding greater freedom of expression (=the right to say what you think without being punished).
give (political/religious/artistic) expression to sth
•The Socialist Party was founded to give political expression to the working classes.
•Another writer who seeks to give expression to popular oral culture is Jose Maria Arguedos.
2 ON SB'S FACE [C,U] a look on someone's face that shows what they are thinking or feeling
[+of]
•an expression of surprise
•There was a blank expression on her face (=no expression on her face).
•In the photograph he seemed devoid of facial expression (=having no expression on his face).
•A pained (=worried) expression crossed her face.
3 WORD/PHRASE [C] a word or group of words with a particular meaning:
•The old-fashioned expression 'in the family way' means 'pregnant'.
pardon/forgive/excuse the expression (=used when you think may offend someone by using particular words)
•After the climb we were absolutely knackered, if you'll pardon the expression.
4 MUSIC/ACTING [U] when you put feeling or emotion into the music that you are making or into your acting
5 MATHEMATICS [C] technical a sign or group of signs that represent a mathematical idea or quantity [U]
a style of painting, writing, or music that expresses feelings rather than describing objects and experiences
- expressionist noun [C]
- expressionist adjective [only before noun]
•the expressionist movement
an expressionless face or voice does not show what someone thinks or feels; expressive
•a blank expressionless stare
- expressionlessly adverb
1 showing very clearly what someone thinks or feels; expressionless
•her wonderfully expressive eyes
2 be expressive of sth formal showing a particular feeling or influence:
•Her poem is expressive of calm days and peace of mind.
- expressively adverb
- expressiveness noun [U] formal
1 if you say something expressly, you say it very clearly and firmly:
•He was expressly forbidden to speak to the girl.
2 deliberately or for a specific purpose:
•The building is expressly designed to conserve energy.[U] AmE
a post service that delivers letters and packages very quickly [C] AmE
a wide road in a city on which cars can travel very quickly without stopping
see also FREEWAY, MOTORWAY $ [T] formal
1 if a government or someone in authority expropriates your private property, they take it away for public use
2 to take something from someone illegally in order to use it
- expropriation $ noun [C,U] [C,U]
1 the act of forcing someone to leave a place; expel
[+of]
•the expulsion of the protesters
[+from]
•his expulsion from the Soviet Union in 1964
2 the act of stopping someone from going to the school where they were studying or from being part of the organization where they worked:
•The headmaster threatened the boys with expulsion.
[+of]
•the expulsion from the Communist Party of its former leader
3 the act of forcing air, water, gas etc out of something [T] formal
1 to remove a name from a list, piece of information, or book
2 to make someone forget something unpleasant
expunge sth from sth
•I wanted to expunge the memory of that first race from my mind. $
an expurgated book, play etc has had some parts removed because they are considered harmful or offensive:
•an expurgated version of her writings
- expurgate verb [T]
1 extremely beautiful and very delicately made:
•the most exquisite craftsmanship
2 very sensitive and delicate in the way you behave or do things:
•She has exquisite taste in art.
3 literary exquisite pain or pleasure is felt very strongly
- exquisitely adverb
- exquisiteness noun [U]plural ex-servicemen [C] BrE
a man who used to be in the army, navy, or AIR FORCEplural ex-servicewomen [C] BrE
a woman who used to be in the army, navy, or AIR FORCE
the written abbreviation of extension when you mean a particular telephone line formal
still existing in spite of being very old:
•Few of the manuscripts are still extant. formal
spoken or done without any preparation or practice; = impromptu
•an extemporaneous speech
- extemporaneously adverb formal
spoken or done without any preparation or practice; = impromptu
•an extempore speech
- extempore adverbalso extemporise BrE [I] formal
to speak or perform without preparation or practice
- extemporization $ noun [C,U]
1 TIME [I + adv/prep,T] to continue for a longer period of time, or to make something last longer:
•Management have agreed to extend the deadline.
[+for/into/over etc]
•Some of our courses extend over two years.
extend sth for/by/until sth
•The government has extended the ban on the import of beef until June.
2 AREA/DISTANCE [I always + adv/prep] to continue for a particular distance or over a particular area
+ across/over/through etc
•The River Nile extends as far south as Lake Victoria.
extend 100 km/30 yards etc (from sth)
•The shelf extends 20 cms from the bookcase.
3 SIZE [T] to make a room, building, road etc bigger or longer:
•We plan to extend the kitchen by six feet.
4 INCLUDE/AFFECT
a) [I always + adv/prep] to affect or include people, things, or places
[+to/beyond etc]
•My duties at the school extend beyond just teaching.
•The vote was extended to all women aged 21 and over in 1928.
b) [T] to make something affect more people, situations, areas etc than before:
•British Coal is planning to extend its operations in Wales.
extend sth to sb/sth
•We can extend our insurance cover to travel abroad.
5 OFFER HELP/THANKS [T] formal to officially offer someone help, sympathy, thanks etc
extend sth to sb
•We'd like to extend a warm welcome to our French visitors.
•I'd like to extend my thanks to all the catering staff.
•The Coroner extended his sympathy to the victim's family.
•The Headteacher has extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to visit the school.
•The banks have decided to extend credit to the company (=allow them to borrow more money).
6 ARMS/LEGS [T] to stretch out a hand or leg:
•George extended his hand (=offered to shake hands).
7 CONTINUE WINNING [T] to increase the number of points, games etc by which one person or team is ahead of other competitors:
•Manchester United extended their lead at the top of the table to 10 points.
8 FURNITURE [I,T] if a table or ladder extends, it can be made longer [only before noun]
1 made longer or bigger:
•an extended business trip
•The computer uses extended memory.
2 long or longer than expected or planned:
•If you are going abroad for an extended period of time, you should consider renting your house out.
3 long and detailed:
•an extended analysis of the film[C]
a family group that consists not only of parents and children but also of grandparents, AUNTs etc; nuclear family
1 MAKING STH BIGGER OR LONGER [C,U] the process of making a road, building etc bigger or longer, or the part that is added
[+of]
•the extension of the Jubilee underground line
2 EXTRA ROOMS [C] BrE another room or rooms which are added to a building
[+to]
•the planned extension to the National Museum
•a loft extension
3 EXTRA TIME [C usually singular] an additional period of time allowed for something:
•Donald's been given an extension to finish his thesis.
•The pub's got an extension tonight (=it will stay open longer than usual).
4 INCLUDE/AFFECT MORE THAN BEFORE [singular, U] the development of something in order to make it affect more people, situations, areas than before
[+of]
•the extension of the copyright laws to cover online materials
•an extension of the powers of the European Parliament
5 TELEPHONE [C]
a) one of many telephone lines connected to a central system in a large building, which all have different numbers:
•Can I have extension 316, please?
•Do you know Mr Brown's extension number?
b) one of the telephones in a house that all have the same number
6 by extension used when you want to mention something that is naturally related to something else:
•My primary responsibility is to the pupils, and by extension to the teachers and parents.
7 extensions [plural] long pieces of artificial hair that can be attached to your hair to make it look longer
hair extensions
8 COMPUTER [C] technical a set of three letters that follow the name of a computer FILE to show what it is. For example, the extension '.doc' shows that a file is a written document.
9 ELECTRIC WIRE [C] BrE an EXTENSION LEAD
10 STRETCH ARM/LEG [C,U] the position of a part of the body when it is stretched, or the process of stretching it
11 UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE [U] part of a university or college that offers courses to people who are not full time studentsextension cord AmE [C] BrE
an additional piece of electric wire that you attach to another wire to make a very long one; = extension
1 large in size, amount, or degree:
•The house stands in extensive grounds.
•Fire has caused extensive damage to the island's forests.
•the extensive use of pesticides
2 containing or dealing with a lot of information and details:
•Extensive research is being done into the connection between the disease and poor living conditions.
•The exhibition has received extensive coverage in the national press.
- extensively adverb
•As a student, he travelled extensively in the Middle East.
1 to ... extent used to say how true something is or how great an effect or change is
to a certain extent/to some extent/to an extent (=partly)
•We all to some extent remember the good times and forget the bad.
•I do agree with him to an extent.
to a great/large extent
•Its success will depend to a large extent on local attitudes.
to a lesser/greater extent (=less or more)
•It will affect farmers in Spain and to a lesser extent in France.
•They examined the extent to which (=how much) age affected language-learning ability.
• To what extent (=how much) did she influence his decision?
to such an extent that/to the extent that (=so much that)
•Violence increased to the extent that residents were afraid to leave their homes.
2 [U] how large, important, or serious something is, especially something such as a problem or injury
[+of]
•Considering the extent of his injuries he's lucky to be alive.
•It's too early to assess the full extent of the damage.
3 [U] the length or size of something:
•They opened out the nets to their full extent.
in extent
•The region is over 10,000 square kilometres in extent.
extenuating circumstances/factors etc formal facts or reasons which make you feel that it was reasonable for someone to break the usual rules, or make you have sympathy for someone who did something wrong or illegal
- extenuation noun [U] $ [C]
1 [usually singular] the outside of something, especially a building; interior
[+of]
•the exterior of the factory
•The dome is tiled on the exterior.
2 calm/cool etc exterior behaviour that seems calm, unfriendly etc but which often hides a different feeling or attitude:
•Beneath that calm exterior, he has a fierce will to win.[usually before noun]
1 on the outside of something; interior
•The exterior walls need a new coat of paint.
2 exterior scenes in a film are filmed outdoors
3 coming from or relating to facts, situations etc other than the one you are considering:
•information that is exterior to the text itself $ [T]
to kill large numbers of people or animals of a particular type so that they no longer exist:
•Staff use the poison to exterminate moles and rabbits.
- exterminator noun [C]
- extermination $ noun [C,U]
•the extermination of the indigenous peoples $ [C] AmE
a university student who works in a particular type of job for a short time in order to gain experience of that type of work:
•a finance major who was an extern with Merrill Lynch
- extern verb [I] $
1 OUTSIDE PART relating to the outside of something or of a person's body; internal
•the external appearance of the building
For external use only (=written on medicines which must be put on your skin and not swallowed)
2 EFFECT relating to your environment or situation, rather than to your own qualities, ideas etc:
•Low birth weight may be caused by external factors, such as smoking during pregnancy.
•influences from the external environment
3 ORGANIZATION coming from or happening outside a particular place or organization; internal
•information from external sources
4 FOREIGN relating to foreign countries; internal
•China will not tolerate any external interference in its affairs.
external affairs/relations
•the Minister of External Affairs
5 INDEPENDENT BrE coming from outside a particular school, university, or organization, and therefore independent; internal
external examination/examiner
external auditors (=someone from outside who looks at an organization's finances)
- externally adverb
•The job should be advertised internally and externally.also externalise BrE $ [T] formal
to express inner feelings; internalize
- externalization $ noun [C,U] $ [plural]
the outer appearance of a situation $ [C] AmE
a job that a university student does in order to gain experience in a particular area of work. Externships are usually not paid and usually last only a short time; extern, internship
•an externship in a law firm
1 an extinct type of animal or plant does not exist any more:
•Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.
•Pandas could become extinct in the wild.
•an extinct species
2 if a type of person, custom, skill etc is extinct, it does not exist in society any more
3 an extinct VOLCANO does not ERUPT any more; active [U]
1 when a particular type of animal or plant stops existing:
•species in danger of extinction
on the verge/edge/brink of extinction (=nearly extinct)
•The breed was on the verge of extinction.
•They were hunted almost to extinction.
•Conservationists are trying to save the whale from extinction.
face extinction/be threatened with extinction
•Many endangered species now face extinction.
2 when a type of person, custom, skill etc stops existing:
•Their traditional way of life seems doomed to extinction. [T] formal
1 to make a fire or light stop burning or shining; = put out
•Please extinguish all cigarettes.
•Firemen were called to extinguish the blaze.
2 to make an idea or feeling stop:
•All hope was almost extinguished. $ [C]
a FIRE EXTINGUISHER $ [T]
formal to completely destroy something that is unpleasant or unwanted $ past tense and past participle extolled, present participle extolling [T]
formal to praise something very much
extol the virtues/benefits etc of sth
•a speech extolling the merits of free enterprise $ [T]
to illegally force someone to give you something, especially money, by threatening them; blackmail
extort sth from sb
•Rebels extorted money from local villagers.
- extortion $ noun [U]
•He faces charges of kidnapping and extortion.
- extortionist noun [C] $
an extortionate price, demand etc is unreasonably high; = exorbitant
•Many local taxi drivers charge extortionate rates.
- extortionately adverb
1 [only before noun] more of something, in addition to the usual or standard amount or number:
•Could you get an extra loaf of bread?
•Allow extra time for your journey.
•Drivers are advised to take extra care.
•Residents can use the gym at no extra cost.
an extra ten minutes/three metres etc
•I asked for an extra two weeks to finish the work.
2 [not before noun] if something is extra, it is not included in the price of something and you have to pay more for it:
•Dinner costs $15 but wine is extra.
an amount of something, especially money, in addition to the usual, basic, or necessary amount; = more
pay/charge/cost etc extra
•I earn extra for working on Sunday.
1 in addition to the usual things or the usual amount:
•They need to offer something extra to attract customers.
one/a few etc extra
•I got a few extra in case anyone else decides to come.
•I'll be making $400 extra a month.
2 [+ adj/adv] used to emphasize an adjective or adverb:
•You're going to have to work extra hard to pass the exam.
•an extra special effort[C]
1 something which is added to a basic product or service that improves it and often costs more:
•Tinted windows and a sunroof are optional extras (=something that you can choose to have or not).
•Be careful, there may be hidden extras (=additional charges which you are not told about).
•It's got lots of useful little extras.
2 an actor in a film who does not say anything but is part of a crowd:
•He started his acting career as an extra.
1 outside or beyond:
•extragalactic (=outside our galaxy)
•extracellular (=outside a cell)
2 informal very or more than normal:
•extra-large
•extra-strong
•extra-special [T]
1 formal to remove an object from somewhere, especially with difficulty:
•You'll have to have that tooth extracted.
extract sth from sth
•He extracted an envelope from his inside pocket.
2 to carefully remove a substance from something which contains it, using a machine, chemical process etc
extract sth from sth
•Oils are extracted from the plants.
3 to get something which you want from someone, such as information, money, help etc, especially when they do not want to give it to you
extract sth from sb
•She had extracted a promise from him.
•They used torture to extract information about their families.
4 to take information or a short piece of writing from a book:
•We need to extract the relevant financial data.
5 to get an advantage or good thing from a situation
extract sth from sth
•They aim to extract the maximum political benefit from the Games.
1 [C] a short piece of writing, music etc taken from a particular book, piece of music etc
[+from]
•I've only seen short extracts from the film.
2 [C,U] a substance obtained from something by using a special process
vanilla/malt/plant etc extract
•Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract.
1 [C,U] the process of removing or obtaining something from something else
[+of]
•the extraction of salt from seawater
•the extraction of information from appropriate reference sources
mineral/oil etc extraction
2 be of French/Russian/Italian etc extraction to be from a French, Russian etc family even though you were not born in that countryalso extractor fan $ [C]
a machine for removing air that is hot or smells unpleasant from a kitchen, factory etc $ [only before noun]
extracurricular activities are not part of the course that a student is doing at a school or college
an extraditable crime is one for which someone can be extradited:
•Possession of explosives is an extraditable offence. [T]
to use a legal process to send someone who may be guilty of a crime back to the country where the crime happened in order to judge them in a court of law
extradite sb to/from Britain/the US etc
•They are expected to be extradited to Britain to face trial.
- extradition noun [C,U]
•an extradition order [only before noun]
beyond or outside the ordinary powers of the law [only before noun]
an extramarital sexual relationship is one that a married person has with a person who is not their husband or wife $ [only before noun]
1 relating to a place or organization but happening or done outside it:
•extramural activities
2 especially BrE extramural courses are for people who are not FULL-TIME students formal
1 not belonging to or directly related to a particular subject or problem; = irrelevant
[+to]
•Such details are extraneous to the matter in hand.
2 coming from outside:
•extraneous noises [C]
a computer system in a company that allows better communication between the company and its customers by combining Internet and INTRANET systems, so that some customers can view some of the company's private information that is not normally available on the Internet $ [only after noun]
used, often humorously, to describe someone who is very good at doing something
gardener/cakemaker/chef etc extraordinaire $ especially BrE
1 [+ adj/adv] extremely:
•We were extraordinarily lucky.
2 in a way that seems strange:
•Why had James behaved so extraordinarily? $
1 very unusual or surprising:
•It took an extraordinary amount of work.
• It's extraordinary that he should make exactly the same mistake again.
quite/most extraordinary BrE
•Chris's behaviour that morning was quite extraordinary.
extraordinary thing to do/say/happen
•What an extraordinary thing to do!
how extraordinary! BrE spoken (=used to express surprise)
see box at UNUSUAL
2 very much greater or more impressive than usual; = incredible
•a woman of extraordinary beauty
•an extraordinary talent
3 extraordinary meeting/session etc a meeting which takes place in addition to the usual ones
4 envoy/ambassador/minister extraordinary an official employed for a special purpose, in addition to the usual officials [I,T]
to use facts about the present or about one thing or group to make a guess about the future or about other things or groups
extrapolate (sth) from sth
•It is possible to extrapolate future developments from current trends.
•You're extrapolating from your own feelings to mine.
extrapolate (sth) to sth
•These results cannot, however, be extrapolated to other patient groups.
- extrapolation noun [C,U][U]
ESP [C]
a creature that people think may exist on another PLANET
relating to things that exist outside the Earth
formal happening outside a particular country[U]
especially BrE a period of usually 30 minutes added to the end of a football game in some competitions if neither team has won after normal time; = overtime AmE
in extra time
•Beckham scored in extra time.
•The match went into extra time.
1 spending or costing a lot of money, especially more than is necessary or more than you can afford:
•Would it would be too extravagant to buy both?
•an extravagant lifestyle
2 doing or using something too much or more than is necessary
[+with]
•Don't be too extravagant with the wine.
•an extravagant display of loyalty
3 if someone makes extravagant claims, promises etc, they make big claims or promises that are not true or real:
•extravagant claims about the drug's effectiveness
4 very impressive because of being very expensive, beautiful etc:
•extravagant celebrations
- extravagantly adverb
- extravagance noun [C,U]
•the extravagance of the Royal Palace
•His only extravagance (=the only expensive thing he bought) was fine wine. [C]
a very large and expensive entertainment:
•a musical extravaganza $ [C]
another spelling of EXTROVERT
extra virgin OLIVE OIL comes from OLIVEs that are pressed for the first time, and is considered to be the best quality olive oil
1 [only before noun] very great in degree:
•Extreme poverty still exists in many rural areas.
extreme care/caution
•It is necessary to use extreme caution with chemicals.
•extreme cold
•He had extreme difficulty getting hold of the ingredients.
2 very unusual and severe or serious
extreme example/case
•an extreme case of cruelty
•Force is only justified in extreme circumstances.
extreme weather/conditions etc
3 extreme west/end/left etc the part furthest to the west, nearest the end etc:
•on the extreme edge of the cliff
4 extreme opinions, beliefs, or organizations, especially political ones, are considered by most people to be unacceptable and unreasonable:
•extreme right-wing nationalists
5 [only before noun] extreme sports/surfing/skiing etc an extreme sport is one that is done in a way that has much more risk and so is more dangerous than an ordinary form of the sport
6 extreme athlete/surfer/skier etc someone who does extreme sports:
•Extreme surfers will ride waves that reach heights of more than fifty feet.[C]
1 a situation, quality etc which is as great as it can possibly be - used especially when talking about two opposites
[+of]
•The bacteria can withstand extremes of heat and cold.
•In fact, the truth lies between the two extremes.
at the other/opposite extreme
•At the other extreme is a country like Switzerland with almost no unemployment.
•Advertisements seem to go from one extreme to the other (=change from one extreme thing to something totally opposite).
2 in the extreme to a very great degree:
•This kind of experiment seems cruel in the extreme.
3 to extremes if someone does something to extremes, they do it to a point beyond what is normal or acceptable
take/carry sth to extremes
•Problems only occur when this attitude is taken to extremes.
•She had gone to extremes to avoid seeing him.[U]
a competition, similar to BOXING, in which two people are allowed to hit or kick each other and in which there are almost no rules [+ adj/adv]
to a very great degree:
•Earthquakes are extremely difficult to predict.
•I'm extremely sorry to have troubled you.
IN EXTREMIS [U]
opinions, ideas, and actions, especially political or religious ones, that most people think are unreasonable and unacceptable [C]
someone who has extreme political opinions and aims, and who is willing to do unusual or illegal things in order to achieve them:
•The bomb was planted by right-wing extremists.
- extremist adjective plural extremities
1 [C usually plural] one of the parts of your body that is furthest away from the centre, for example your fingers and toes
2 [U] the degree to which something goes beyond what is usually thought to be acceptable:
•The committee was uncomfortable about the extremity of the proposal.
3 [C] the part that is furthest away from the centre of something
eastern/southern etc extremity of sth
•an island at the southern extremity of New Zealand [T]
1 to escape from a difficult or embarrassing situation, or to help someone escape
extricate yourself/sb from sth
•How was he going to extricate himself from this situation?
2 to remove someone from a place in which they are trapped
extricate sb/yourself from sth
•Firemen had to extricate the driver from the wreckage. formal
coming from outside or not directly relating to something; intrinsic
•Staff who complete extra qualifications receive no extrinsic rewards (=no extra money etc).
•a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factorsextravert $ [C]
someone who is active and confident, and who enjoys spending time with other people; introvert
•Her sister was always more of an extrovert.
- extrovert adjective
•a friendly, extrovert young Australianalso extrovert $
having a confident character and enjoying the company of other people; introverted
- extroversion $ noun [U] [T]
1 formal to push or force something out through a hole
2 technical to force plastic or metal through a hole so that it has a particular shape
- extrusion noun [C,U] $
1 happy and full of energy and excitement:
•an exuberant personality
2 exuberant decorations, patterns etc are exciting and complicated or colourful:
•exuberant carvings
- exuberance noun [U]
•She needs to try and control her natural exuberance.
- exuberantly adverb $
1 [T] if you exude a particular quality, it is easy to see that you have a lot of it:
•She exudes self-confidence.
•He exuded an air of wealth and power
2 [I,T] formal to flow out slowly and steadily, or to make something do this:
•The plant exudes a sticky liquid. [I,T]
formal to show that you are very happy and proud, especially because you have succeeded in doing something
[+at/in/over]
•She exulted in her new discovery.
•'We made the front page!' Jos exulted.
- exultation noun [U]
•a sense of exultation formal
very happy or proud, especially because you have succeeded in doing something:
•an exultant mood
•Ralph was exultant.
- exultantly adverb [in adjectives]
the form used for -Y, especially after y:
•clayey soil
1 FOR SEEING WITH [C] one of the two parts of the body that you use to see with:
•He's got brown eyes and a cheerful smile.
•There were tears in her eyes as she listened to the story.
•Ow! I've got something in my eye!
•Jessica's eyes sparkled with excitement.
close/shut your eyes
•He yawned, closed his eyes again, and turned over.
•Emily opened her eyes.
drop/lower your eyes (=to look down)
have/keep etc your eyes glued to sth (=to be watching something with all your attention)
•Winifred sat with her eyes glued to the television screen.
•Clark's eyes narrowed as he saw the man approaching.
•Louise's eyes widened.
• All eyes were immediately turned on (=everyone looked at) Henry.
•I've got an eye test (=a test to check how well I can see) tomorrow.
blue-eyed/one-eyed/bright-eyed etc
•a brown-eyed girl
WIDE-EYED
2 WAY OF SEEING/UNDERSTANDING [C usually singular] a particular way of seeing, judging, or understanding something:
•Go through your shopping list with a critical eye for foods with a high fat content.
with the eye of sb
•The magazine combines the accuracy of the scientist with the eye of the artist.
to sb's eye(s)
•The picture quality, to my eye, is excellent.
through the eyes of sb (=from the point of view of a particular person)
•The story is told through the eyes of a refugee child.
in the eyes of sb (=according to a particular person or group)
•Carl could do no wrong in the eyes of his parents.
3 keep an eye on sth/sb to look after someone or something and make sure that they are safe:
•Mary will keep an eye on the kids this afternoon.
•We keep a watchful eye on our elderly neighbors.
4 have/keep your eye on sb to carefully watch everything that someone does, especially because you do not trust them:
•We want Taylor in jail where we can keep an eye on him.
5 eye contact when you look directly at someone at the same time as they are looking at you:
•People who are lying tend to avoid eye contact.
•In a formal interview, try to maintain good eye contact with the interviewers.
6 keep/have one eye/half an eye on sb/sth to be watching someone or something at the same time that you are doing something else:
•Louise was stirring the soup with half an eye on the baby.
7 have your eye on sth to want something that you think might become available:
•He has his eye on the bigger apartment next door.
8 the naked eye if you can see something with the naked eye, you can see it without using any artificial help such as a TELESCOPE or MICROSCOPE
with the naked eye
•It's just about possible to see the planet with the naked eye on a clear night.
visible/invisible to the naked eye
•Dust mites are tiny creatures, invisible to the naked eye.
9 before your very eyes also (right) in front of your eyes especially spoken if something happens before your very eyes, it happens where you can clearly see it:
•The murder had apparently taken place before our very eyes.
10 can't take your eyes off sb/sth to be unable to stop looking at someone or something, especially because they are extremely interesting or attractive:
•She looked stunning. I couldn't take my eyes off her all evening.
11 under the (watchful/stern etc) eye of sb while being watched by someone who is making sure that you behave properly or do something right:
•We went to dances, but only under the watchful eye of our father.
12 run/cast your eye over sth to look at something quickly:
•She cast her eye over the front page of the paper.
13 set/lay/clap eyes on sb/sth spoken to see something or meet someone, especially for the first time:
•I loved that house from the moment I clapped eyes on it.
14 keep an eye open/out (for sth) to watch carefully so that you will notice when someone or something appears:
•Keep an eye out for rabbits in the field.
15 with an eye to (doing) sth if you do something with an eye to doing something else, you do it in order to make the second thing more likely to happen:
•Most novels are published with an eye to commercial success.
16 close/shut your eyes to sth to ignore something or pretend that you do not know it is happening:
•Most governments know that we're heading for an environmental catastrophe but they shut their eyes to it.
17 have a (good) eye for sth to be good at noticing a particular type of thing, especially something attractive, valuable, of good quality etc:
•Ernest has an eye for detail.
•She's definitely got a good eye for a bargain.
18 keep your eyes peeled/skinned spoken to watch carefully and continuously for something
[+for]
•She stumbled along, keeping her eyes peeled for a phone box.
19 with your eyes open knowing fully what the problems, difficulties, results etc of a situation might be:
•I've no-one to blame but myself - I went into this deal with my eyes open.
20 can do sth with your eyes shut/closed to be able to do something very easily:
•Believe me, you could run that place with your eyes closed.
21 make eyes at sb/give sb the eye informal to look at someone in a way that shows you think they are sexually attractive:
•Don't look now, but that guy over there is really giving you the eye.
22 an eye for/on/to the main chance if you have an eye for the main chance, you will take advantage of any possible opportunity to get what you want - used to show disapproval
23 one in the eye for sb BrE spoken something that will annoy someone or give them a disadvantage - used especially when you think this is a good thing:
•This latest judgement will definitely be one in the eye for the fast food corporations.
24 an eye for an eye the idea that if someone does something wrong, you should punish them by doing the same thing to them:
•An eye for an eye is no way to run a civilised justice system.
25 for sb's eyes only used to say that something is secret and must only be seen by one particular person or group:
•The information is for police eyes only.
26 have eyes in the back of your head to know what is happening all around you, even when this seems impossible:
•We'll have to be really careful - old Jonesey has eyes in the back of his head.
27 get/keep your eye in BrE informal to practise or to continue practising an activity so that you become good at it
28 have eyes like a hawk to notice every small detail or everything that is happening, and therefore be very difficult to deceive:
•We never got away with anything in Mrs. Podell's class - she had eyes like a hawk.
29 have eyes popping (out of your head) BrE especially spoken to be very surprised, shocked, or excited by something you see
30 be up to your eyes in sth BrE informal to be very busy doing something:
•He's up to his eyes in paperwork.
31 have eyes bigger than your belly spoken used to say that you have taken more food than you are able to eat
32 only have eyes for sb if someone only has eyes for someone, they love and are interested in that person only
33 my eye! old-fashioned spoken used to say that you do not believe something
34 all eyes are on/watching/fixed on etc
a) used to say that everyone is looking at someone or something:
•All eyes were on the speaker, and nobody noticed me slip into the hall.
b) used to say that a lot of people are paying attention to a particular person or situation:
•For the time being, all eyes are on the White House.
35 in a pig's eye! AmE spoken used to show that you do not believe what someone is saying
36 CAMERA [singular] the eye of the camera is the way that you appear in photographs:
•Fashion models are completely comfortable with the eye of the camera.
37 NEEDLE [C] the hole in a needle that you put the thread through
38 FOR FASTENING CLOTHES [C] a small circle or U-shaped piece of metal used together with a hook for fastening clothes
39 STORM [singular] the calm centre of a storm such as a HURRICANE
40 POTATO [C] a dark spot on a potato that a new plant can grow from
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW, BLACK EYE, CATSEYE, PRIVATE EYE, RED EYE; the apple of sb's eye at APPLE (2); not bat an eye at BAT^2 (2); turn a blind eye (to sth) at BLIND^1 (3); see sth out of the corner of your eye at CORNER^1 (8); the evil eye at EVIL^1 (5); give sb the glad eye at GLAD (6); look sb in the eye/face at LOOK^1 (7); in your mind's eye at MIND^1 (40); here's mud in your eye at MUD; open sb's eyes (to) at OPEN^2 (17); in the public eye at PUBLIC^1 (4); make sheep's eyes at at SHEEP (4); a sight for sore eyes at SIGHT^1 (14); in the twinkling of an eye at TWINKLING; keep a weather eye on at WEATHER^1 (5); pull the wool over sb's eyes at WOOL (4)present participle eyeing or, eying [T]
to look at someone or something carefully, especially because you do not trust them or because you want something:
•The man behind the desk eyed us suspiciously.
•A crowd of local children gathered around, eying us in silence.

PHRASAL VERBS
eye sb <=> up phr v
informal to look at someone in a way that shows you think they are sexually attractive:
•There was a group of lads at the bar, eyeing up every girl who walked in. $ [C]
1 the round ball that forms the whole of your eye, including the part inside your head
2 eyeball to eyeball if two people are eyeball to eyeball, they are directly facing each other, especially in an angry or threatening way
3 up to the/your eyeballs in sth informal if someone is up to their eyeballs in something, they have more than they can deal with:
•She's up to her eyeballs in debt.
4 drugged/doped up to the eyeballs if someone is drugged up to the eyeballs, they have taken a lot of drugs so that their behaviour is severely affected[T]
informal to look directly and closely at something or someone:
•They eyeballed each other suspiciously. [C]
1 the line of hair above your eye:
•thick bushy eyebrows
2 raise your eyebrows to move your eyebrows upwards in order to show surprise or disapproval:
•'Really?' she said, raising her eyebrows.
•This decision caused a few raised eyebrows (=surprised some people).
3 be up to your eyebrows in sth spoken to have more of something than you can deal with:
•I'm absolutely up to my eyebrows in work.[C,U]
a special pencil you can use to make your eyebrows darker[U] informal
someone or something that is attractive to look at, but is not serious or important
something eye-catching is unusual or attractive in a way that makes you notice it:
•an eye-catching design[plural]
special liquid which you put into your eyes because they are sore or dry, or as a medical treatment [C]
1 an eyeful informal
a) if you get an eyeful of something interesting or shocking, you see it
b) old-fashioned something or someone, especially a woman, who is very attractive to look at
2 an amount of liquid, dust, or sand that has got into someone's eye $
1 [C] a LENS for one eye, worn to help you see better with that eye; = monocle
2 eyeglasses [plural] old-fashioned or AmE a pair of GLASSes [C]
1 one of the small hairs that grow along the edge of your EYELIDs
2 flutter your eyelashes if a woman flutters her eyelashes, she moves them up and down very quickly, in order to look sexually attractive
having no eyes [C]
a hole surrounded by a metal ring that is put in leather or cloth so that a string can be passed through it[U]
a height equal to the level of your eyes
at/above/below eye level
•Your screen should be at eye level.
•an eye-level grill [C]
a piece of skin that covers your eye when it is closed:
•His eyelids began to droop (=close, because he was sleepy).
•The room spun. Her eyelids fluttered (=moved up and down quickly) and she fainted.
not bat an eyelid at BAT^2 (2) $ [C,U]
coloured MAKE-UP that you put along the edges of your eyelids to make your eyes look bigger or more noticeable:
•She was wearing thick, black eyeliner.
•an eyeliner pencil[C usually singular]
an experience from which you learn something surprising or new:
•The whole trip has been a real eye-opener.[C]
a piece of material worn over one eye, usually because that eye has been damaged [C]
the glass piece that you look through in a MICROSCOPE or TELESCOPE[C,U]
coloured MAKE-UP that you put on your EYELIDs to make your eyes look more attractive [U]
your ability to see
poor/good/failing etc eyesight
•Eagles have very keen eyesight.
•He had a problem with his eyesight. $ [C]
something that is very ugly, especially a building surrounded by other things that are not ugly:
•The factory is an eyesore.[U]
a pain you feel in your eyes, for example because you are tired or have been reading a lot[C]
1 sb would give their eye teeth for sth spoken used to say that someone wants something very much:
•I'd give my eye teeth to be able to play the piano like that.
2 one of the long pointed teeth at the corner of your mouth; = canine tooth $ [U]
BrE spoken old-fashioned something that you do not believe is true $ [U]
glasses, SUNGLASSES etc - used especially by companies who make them [C]
someone who has seen something such as a crime happen, and is able to describe it afterwards
eyewitness account/report/testimony
•According to eyewitness accounts, soldiers opened fire on the crowd.
•One eyewitness said he saw her talking to a man in a blue car.
a present participle of EYE^2 [C]
BrE a small island in a riveralso eyry BrE $ [C]
1 the NEST of a large bird, especially an EAGLE, that is usually built high up in rocks or trees
2 literary a room or building that is very high up [C]
a magazine that can be read on the Internet
1 the written abbreviation of Fahrenheit :
•Water boils at 212° F.
2 the written abbreviation of female
3 the written abbreviation of false f plural F's, f's
1 [C,U] the sixth letter of the English alphabet
2 [C,U] the fourth note in the musical SCALE^1 (8) of C MAJOR or the musical KEY based on this note
3 [C] a mark given to a student's work to show that it is not good enough:
•I got an F in chemistry.
F-WORDalso f BrE
1 the written abbreviation of forte , used in music to show that a part should be played or sung loudly
2 the written abbreviation of female
1 the FA the Football Association the organization that is in charge of professional football in England:
•the FA Cup
2 sweet FA BrE not polite nothing [U]
the fourth note in a musical SCALE^1 (8) according to the SOL-FA system BrE informal
extremely good:
•a fab new car
1 [C] a traditional short story that teaches a moral lesson, especially a story about animals:
•the fable of the fox and the crow
2 [U] fables or other traditional stories:
•monsters of fable literary
famous and often mentioned in traditional stories; = legendary
•the fabled Fountain of Youth
1 [C,U] cloth used for making clothes, curtains etc; = material
•our new range of fabrics and wallpapers
cotton/silk/synthetic etc fabric
•printed cotton fabric
2 [singular] the fabric of a society is its basic structure, way of life, relationships, and traditions
[+of]
•Drug abuse poses a major threat to the fabric of our society.
•The country's social fabric is disintegrating.
3 the fabric of sth the fabric of a building is its basic structure, including walls and the roof:
•the need to preserve the fabric of the church [T]
1 to invent a story, piece of information etc in order to deceive someone:
•The police were accused of fabricating evidence.
2 technical to make or produce goods or equipment; = manufacture
•The discs are expensive to fabricate.
1 [C,U] a piece of information or story that someone has invented in order to deceive people
complete/total/pure fabrication
•Of course, it might all be complete fabrication.
2 [U] technical the process of making or producing something; = manufacturefabric conditioner BrE [C,U]
a liquid that you put in water when washing clothes in order to make them feel softer
1 extremely good or impressive; = wonderful
•You look fabulous!
•a fabulous meal
•The room has fabulous views across the lake.
2 [only before noun] very large in amount or size; = huge
•the Duke's fabulous wealth
3 [only before noun] fabulous creatures, places etc are mentioned in traditional stories, but do not really exist
fabulously rich/expensive/successful etc extremely rich, expensive etcfaçade [C]
1 the front of a building, especially a large and important one
[+of]
•the facade of the cathedral
•an impressive building with a red brick facade
2 [usually singular] a way of behaving that hides your real feelings:
• Behind her cheerful facade, she's a really lonely person.
[+of]
•She managed to maintain a facade of bravery. [C]
1 FRONT OF YOUR HEAD the front part of your head, where your eyes, nose, and mouth are:
•She had a beautiful face.
•Her face was white with fear.
•A big smile spread across his face.
•I could see from the look on her face that something was wrong.
•I felt like punching him in the face.
!! Something is on someone's face, not in their face: You've got a mark on your face.
2 EXPRESSION an expression on someone's face

a long face (=an unhappy expression)
pull/make a face (=change your expression to make people laugh or to show you are angry, disappointed etc)
a blank face (=an expression that shows you do not know or recognize something)
a face like thunder (=a very angry expression)
sb's face lights up/brightens (=they start to look happy)
sb's face falls (=they start to look unhappy)
sb's face darkens (=they start to look angry or threatening)
see sth in sb's face
show in sb's face
sth is written all over sb's face (=something is obvious from someone's expression)
you should have seen his/her face spoken (=used to say that someone was very angry, surprised etc)
the look/expression on sb's face
a smile/grin/frown etc on sb's face

•the children's happy faces
• I'll never forget my father's face - I'd never seen him so upset before.
• What's the long face for?
• Emma was making faces at me through the window.
• Judging from her blank face, I'd say she didn't know what we were talking about.
• Mr Neeson came striding towards us with a face like thunder.
• David's face lit up when I mentioned her name.
• Her face fell and I thought she might burst into tears.
•Tom's face darkened and he turned angrily on Sam.
• They were glad he was there. He could see it in their faces.
• The disappointment was written all over his face.
• You should have seen Gary's face when I told him I was resigning.
•He had a surprised, slightly puzzled look on his face.
•Sally watched him with a smile on her face.

3 keep a straight face to not laugh or smile, even though something is funny
4 pale-faced/round-faced etc having a face that has a particular shape or colour:
•a pale-faced youth
RED-FACED
5 grim-faced/serious-faced etc showing a particular expression on your face:
•Negotiators emerged grim-faced after the day's talks.
BAREFACED, PO-FACED, POKER-FACED, STONY-FACED
6 PERSON a person
new/different face (=someone who you have not seen before)
•There are a few new faces in class this year.
•Gordon Bradley is a familiar face (=someone who you know or have seen many times before) at the Shrewsbury Flower Show.
•It's the same old faces (=people who you see often, especially too often) at our meetings every week.
famous/well-known face (=someone who is famous from television, magazines, films etc)
•She looked around at the sea of faces (=lots of people seen together) in the cafeteria.
7 face to face
a) if two people are standing face to face, they are very close and are looking at each other
meet sb/talk to sb/explain sth etc face to face (=to meet someone and talk to them, instead of just hearing about them, talking to them on the phone etc)
•Actually, I've never met her face to face.
•'You could have just phoned.' 'I wanted to explain things face to face.'
come face to face/find yourself face to face with sb (=to meet someone, especially in a way that surprises or frightens you)
•At that moment he came face to face with Sergeant Burke.
•The two men stood face to face without a word.
b) if you come face to face with something difficult, you experience it and have to deal with it:
•It was the first time he'd ever come face to face with death.
bring sb face to face with sth
•Sometimes one is brought face to face with facts which cannot be ignored.
FACE-TO-FACE
8 say sth/tell sb sth to their face if you say something unpleasant to someone's face, you say it to them directly, rather than to other people:
•I told him to his face just what I thought of him.
9 face down/downwards with the face or front towards the ground:
•Keith was lying face down on the bed.
10 face up/upwards with the face or front towards the sky:
•The body was lying face up in the rain.
11 in the face of sth in a situation where there are many problems, difficulties, or dangers:
•It is amazing how Daniels has survived in the face of such strong opposition from within the party.
12 on the face of it used to say that something seems true but that you think there may be other facts about it which are not yet clear:
•It looks, on the face of it, like a minor change in the regulations.
•On the face of it, his suggestion makes sense.
13 the face of sth
a) the nature or character of an organization, industry, system etc, and the way it appears to people:
•technology that has changed the face of society
•Is this the new face of the Tory party?
the ugly/unacceptable/acceptable face of sth (=the qualities of an organization, industry etc which people find unacceptable or acceptable)
•the unacceptable face of capitalism
b) the general appearance of a particular place:
•the changing face of the landscape
14 MOUNTAIN/CLIFF the face of a mountain, cliff etc is a steep vertical surface or side
[+of]
•He fell and died while attempting to climb the north face of Mont Blanc.
•The cliff face was starting to crumble into the sea.
•a sheer (=very steep) rock face
15 CLOCK the front part of a clock or watch, where the numbers and hands are
16 lose face if you lose face, you do something which makes you seem weak, stupid etc, and which makes people respect you less:
•He doesn't want to back down (=accept defeat in an argument) and risk losing face.
17 save face if you do something to save face, you do it so that people will not lose their respect for you:
•Both countries saved face with the compromise.
18 disappear/vanish from/off the face of the earth used to say that you have no idea where someone is and have not seen them in a very long time:
•I haven't seen Paul in ages; he seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.
19 on the face of the earth used when you are emphasizing a statement to mean 'in the whole world':
•If she was the last woman on the face of the earth, I still wouldn't be interested!
20 sb's face doesn't fit used to say that someone will not get or keep a particular job because they are not the kind of person that the employer wants
21 set your face against sth especially BrE to be very determined that something should not happen:
•It is a shame that the local Labour Party has set its face against the scheme.
22 MINE the part of a mine from which coal, stone etc is cut
COALFACE
23 OUTSIDE SURFACE one of the outside surfaces of an object or building:
•A cube has six faces.
24 SPORT the part of a RACKET or BAT etc that you use to hit the ball
25 in your face in yer face BrE spoken informal behaviour, criticisms, remarks etc that are in your face are very direct and often shocking or surprising:
•Bingham has a very 'in your face' writing style.
26 get in sb's face spoken informal if someone gets in your face, they really annoy you
27 get out of my face spoken informal used to tell someone in an impolite way to go away because they are annoying you
28 what's his face/what's her face spoken informal used as a way of talking about someone when you cannot remember their name:
•I saw old what's his face in school yesterday.
29 put your face on informal to put MAKE-UP on:
•I just need to run upstairs and put my face on.
blow up in sb's face at BLOW UP (7); put on a brave face at BRAVE^1 (3); do sth till you're blue in the face at BLUE^1 (4); have egg on your face at EGG^1 (5); FACE-TO-FACE; fly in the face of at FLY^1 (18); laugh in sb's face at LAUGH^1 (11); long face at LONG^1 (12); not just a pretty face at PRETTY^2 (4); show your face at SHOW^1 (15); shut your face at SHUT^1 (2); a slap in the face at SLAP^2 (2); be staring sb in the face at STARE^1 (2); a straight face at STRAIGHT^2 (8); wipe sth off the face of the earth at WIPE^1 (8); wipe the smile/grin off sb's face at WIPE^1 (7); have sth written all over your face at WRITE (10)[T]
1 DIFFICULT SITUATION if you face or are faced with a difficult situation, or if a difficult situation faces you, it is going to affect you and you must deal with it:
•Emergency services are facing additional problems this winter.
•The President faces the difficult task of putting the economy back on its feet.
•McManus is facing the biggest challenge of his career.
•As the project comes to an end, many workers now face an uncertain future.
•He must face the prospect of financial ruin.
be faced with sth
•I was faced with the awful job of breaking the news to the girl's family.
•the difficulties faced by the police
•If he is found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in jail.
face charges/prosecution (=have legal charges brought against you)
•He was the first member of the former government to face criminal charges.
2 ADMIT A PROBLEM EXISTS also face up to sth to accept that a difficult situation or problem exists, even though you would prefer to ignore it

face the fact that
face facts
face the truth
(let's) face it spoken (=used when saying something that is hard for someone to accept)

•Many couples refuse to face the fact that there are problems in their marriage.
•You've got to face facts, Rachel. You can't survive on a salary that low.
•He had to face the awful truth that she no longer loved him.
• Face it, kid. You're never going to be a rock star.

3 can't face if you can't face something, you feel unable to do it because it seems too unpleasant or difficult:
•I don't want to go back to college - I just can't face it.
•I can't face the thought of going into town when it's this hot.
•She couldn't face the prospect of another divorce.
can't face doing sth
•He couldn't face driving all the way to Los Angeles.
4 TALK/DEAL WITH SB to talk or deal with someone, when this is unpleasant or difficult for you:
•You're going to have to face him sooner or later.
•I don't know how I'm going to face her after what happened.
•The accident left her feeling depressed and unable to face the world (=be with people and live a normal life).
5 BE OPPOSITE to be opposite someone or something, or to be looking or pointing in a particular direction:
•The two men stood facing each other, smiling.
•When he turned to face her, he seemed annoyed.
•Lunch is served on the terrace facing the sea.
south-facing/west-facing etc
•a south-facing garden
face north/east etc
•The dining room faces east.
see box at FRONT^1
6 OPPONENT/TEAM to play against an opponent or team in a game or competition:
•Martinez will face Robertson in tomorrow's final.
7 face the music informal to accept criticism or punishment for something you have done
8 BUILDING be faced with stone/concrete etc a building that is faced with stone, CONCRETE etc has a layer of that material on its outside surfaces

PHRASAL VERBS
face sb <=> down phr v especially AmE
to deal in a strong and confident way with someone who opposes you:
•Harrison successfully faced down the mob of angry workers.

face off phr v AmE
to fight, argue, or compete with someone, or to get into a position in which you are ready to do this:
•The two candidates will face off in a televised debate on Friday.

face up to sth phr v
to accept and deal with a difficult fact or problem:
•They'll never offer you another job; you might as well face up to it.
•She had to face up to the fact that he was guilty.[C] AmE
the king, queen, or JACK in a set of playing cards; = court card BrE $ [C] BrE
a small square cloth used to wash your face or hands; = washcloth AmE[C,U]
a thick cream used to keep the skin on your face soft and smooth [usually before noun]
a faceless person, organization, or building has nothing that makes them special, interesting, or different - used to show disapproval:
•He had become just another faceless bureaucrat.
•faceless modern office blocks [C]
1 if you have a facelift, you have an operation in which doctors remove loose skin from your face in order to make you look younger
2 work or repairs that make a building or place look newer or better:
•The new owner had given the pub a facelift.[C]
1 informal especially AmE a fight or argument:
•a face-off between police and rioters
2 the start of a game of ICE HOCKEY[C] BrE
a thick cream that you spread over your face and leave on for a short time, in order to clean and improve your skin[U]
powder that you put on your face in order to make it look less shiny[C]
an action or arrangement that prevents you from losing other people's respect[only before noun]
a face-saving action or arrangement prevents you from losing other people's respect:
•a face-saving compromise [C]
1 one of several parts of someone's character, a situation etc; = aspect
[+of]
•He has travelled extensively in China, recording every facet of life.
2 multi-faceted/many-faceted consisting of many different parts:
•The issues are complex and multi-faceted.
3 one of the flat sides of a cut jewel[U] AmE
1 time that you spend at your job because you want other people, especially your manager, to see you there, whether or not you are actually doing good work:
•Here we reward performance, not face time.
2 time that you spend talking to someone when you are with them, rather than on the telephone
[+with]
•In return for his donation, he wanted face time with the President.
saying things that are intended to be clever and funny but are really silly and annoying:
•Don't be so facetious!
•facetious comments
- facetiously adverb
- facetiousness noun [U][only before noun]
a face-to-face meeting, conversation etc is one where you are with another person and talking to them:
•a face-to-face interview
face to face at FACE^1 (7)
1 take sth at face value to accept a situation or accept what someone says, without thinking there may be a hidden meaning:
•You shouldn't always take his remarks at face value.
2 [singular, U] the value or cost shown on the front of something such as a stamp or coin
on your face or relating to your face:
•Victor's facial expression didn't change.
•facial hair
- facially adverb
•Facially the boys are similar.[C]
if you have a facial, you have a beauty treatment in which your face is cleaned and creams are rubbed into it[C]
a thick substance which you use to clean the skin on your face thoroughly $
1 a facile remark, argument etc is too simple and shows a lack of careful thought or understanding:
•facile generalizations
2 [only before noun] formal a facile achievement or success has been obtained too easily and has no value:
•a facile victory
- facilely adverb
- facileness noun [U] [T] formal
to make it easier for a process or activity to happen:
•Computers can be used to facilitate language learning.
- facilitation noun [U] $ [C]
1 someone who helps a group of people discuss things with each other or do something effectively
2 technical something that helps a process to take place plural facilities
1 facilities [plural] rooms, equipment, or services that are provided for a particular purpose:
•All rooms have private facilities (=private bathroom and toilet).
•The hotel has its own pool and leisure facilities.
• toilet facilities
•childcare facilities
2 [C usually singular] a special part of a piece of equipment or a system which makes it possible to do something:
•Is there a call-back facility on this phone?
•a bank account with an overdraft facility
3 [C] a place or building used for a particular activity or industry, or for providing a particular type of service:
•a top-secret research facility
•the finest indoor sports facility in the US
4 [singular] a natural ability to do something easily and well; = talent
[+for]
•She has an amazing facility for languages.
5 the facilities AmE spoken the toilet, used to be polite:
•Excuse me, I have to use the facilities. [C,U]
1 an outer surface of a wall or building made of a different material from the rest in order to make it look attractive
2 material fastened to the inside of a piece of clothing to strengthen it
3 facings [plural] parts of a jacket, coat etc around the neck and wrists which have a different colour from the rest [C]
1 an exact copy of a picture, piece of writing etc
2 formal a FAX
1 TRUE INFORMATION [C] a piece of information that is known to be true:
•Newspapers have a duty to provide readers with the facts.
[+about]
•The book is full of interesting facts about the World Cup.
[+of]
•First of all, we need to establish the facts of the case.
it's a fact/that's a fact (=used to emphasize that something is definitely true or that something definitely happened)
•The divorce rate is twice as high as in the 1950s - that's a fact.
is that a fact? (=used to reply to a statement that you find surprising, interesting, or difficult to believe)
•'She used to be a professional singer.' 'Is that a fact?'
it's a (well-known/little-known etc) fact that
•It's a fact that most deaths from lung cancer are caused by smoking.
•I know for a fact that (=used to say that something is definitely true) she earns more than I do.
get your facts right/straight (=make sure you are right about something)
•Mr Craig should get his facts straight before making false allegations.
•Your ability to write and argue is of little use if you get your facts wrong (=are wrong about something).
stick to the facts (=only say what you know is true)
hard facts (=information that is definitely true and can be proven)
•We need hard facts not just interesting theories.
the bare facts (=the basic details of a situation or story)
2 the fact (that) used when talking about a situation and saying that it is true:
•Our decision to build the museum in Hartlepool was influenced by the fact that there were no national museums in the North East.
•He refused to help me, despite the fact that I asked him several times.
given the fact (that)/in view of the fact (that) (=used when saying that a particular fact influences your judgement about something or someone)
•Given the fact that this is their first game, I think they did pretty well.
due to the fact (that)/owing to the fact (that) (=because)
•The school's poor exam record is largely due to the fact that it is chronically underfunded.
•The fact we didn't win when we were so close is very disappointing.
3 in (actual) fact
a) used when you are adding something, especially something surprising, to emphasize what you have just said:
•I know the mayor really well. In fact, I had dinner with her last week.
b) used to emphasize that the truth about a situation is the opposite of what has been mentioned:
•They told me it would be cheap but in fact it cost me nearly $500.
•Her teachers said she was a slow learner, whereas in actual fact she was partially deaf.
4 the fact (of the matter) is spoken used when you are telling someone what is actually true in a particular situation, especially when this may be difficult to accept, or different from what people believe:
•The fact of the matter is that he's just not up to the job.
5 the fact remains used to emphasize that what you are saying about a situation is true and people must realize this:
•The fact remains that the number of homeless people is rising daily.
6 REAL EVENTS/NOT A STORY [U] situations, events etc that really happened and have not been invented; fiction
•Much of the novel is based on fact.
•It's a news reporter's job to separate fact from fiction.
7 facts and figures [plural] the basic details, numbers etc concerning a particular situation or subject:
•Here are a few facts and figures about the country.
8 the facts speak for themselves used to say that the things that have happened or the things someone has done show clearly that something is true
9 after the fact after something has happened or been done, especially after a mistake has been made
as a matter of fact at MATTER^1 (4); face facts at FACE^2 (2); in point of fact at POINT^1 (17)

WORD CHOICE: in fact, as a matter of fact, the fact is
Use in fact or as a matter of fact to say more about a previous statement: Antibiotics will not help. In fact, they may make symptoms worse. | The album is brilliant - their best ever, as a matter of fact.
You can also use in fact or as a matter of fact to correct what has been said: They had met but were not, in fact, friends. | 'You've never been there, have you?' 'As a matter of fact I have.'
Use the fact is to introduce your main point or to say what the real truth is: Many women are constantly dieting. The fact is, most diets do not work. | The fact is, he's just no good at his job.

fact-finding trip/visit/mission etc an official trip, visit etc during which you try to find out facts and information about something for your organization, government etc
1 [C] a small group of people within a larger group, who have different ideas from the other members, and who try to get their own ideas accepted:
•struggles between the different factions within the party
•the leaders of the warring factions
2 [U] formal disagreements and arguments between different groups within an organization:
•jealousy and faction
- factional adjective
•factional conflict [U]
disagreements between different groups within an organization formal
made to happen artificially by people rather than happening naturallyplural facts of life [C]
1 an unpleasant situation that exists and that must be accepted:
•Mass unemployment seems to be a fact of life nowadays.
•Persuading others to accept the hard financial facts of life is not a very popular job.
2 the facts of life the details about sex and how babies are born:
•Mum told me the facts of life when I was twelve. $ [C]
1 CAUSE/INFLUENCE one of several things that influence or cause a situation:
•The rise in crime is mainly due to social and economic factors.
[+in]
•The vaccination program has been a major factor in the improvement of health standards.
important/major/key/crucial factor
•The weather could be a crucial factor in tomorrow's game.
deciding/decisive/determining factor (=the most important factor)
•We liked both houses, but price was the deciding factor.
2 LEVEL ON A SCALE a particular level on a scale that measures how strong or effective something is:
•factor 15 suntan oil
•Even in July the windchill factor (=the degree to which the air feels colder because of the wind) can be intense.
3 by a factor of five/ten etc if something increases or decreases by a factor of five, ten etc, it increases or decreases by five times, ten times etc
4 MATHEMATICS technical a number that divides into another number exactly:
•3 is a factor of 15.[T] AmE technical
to divide a number into factors

PHRASAL VERBS
factor sth <=> in phr v also factor sth into sth technical
to include a particular thing in your calculations about how long something will take, how much it will cost etc

factor sth <=> out phr v technical
to not include something in your calculations about how long something will take, how much it will cost etc [C] technical
the result when you multiply a whole number by all the numbers below it:
•factorial 3 = 3 x 2 x 1 plural factories [C]
a building or group of buildings in which goods are produced in large quantities, using machines:
•a car factory
•factory workers[U]
a type of farming in which animals are kept inside, in small spaces or small CAGEs , and made to grow or produce eggs very quickly
- factory farm noun [C]
the factory floor
a) the area in a factory where goods are made
b) the ordinary workers in a factory, rather than the managers
on the factory floor
•There's been a lot of talk on the factory floor (=among the ordinary workers) about more layoffs in the spring. $ [C] formal
a servant or worker who has to do many different kinds of jobs for someone[C]
a piece of paper giving all the most important information about something
based on facts or relating to facts:
•Try to keep your account of events as factual as possible.
factual information/knowledge/statements etc
•Libraries are stores of factual information.
•The report contained a number of factual errors.
- factually adverb
•The document is factually correct. plural faculties
1 [C] a department or group of related departments within a university
[+of]
•the Faculty of Law
•the Engineering Faculty
2 [C,U] AmE all the teachers in a university:
•Both faculty and students oppose the measures.
3 [C usually plural] a natural ability, such as the ability to see, hear, or think clearly:
•an assessment of the patient's mental faculties
in full possession of all your faculties (=able to see, hear, think etc in the normal way)
[+of]
•the faculty of sight
4 [C] formal a particular skill that someone has
[+for]
•She had a great faculty for absorbing information. [C]
something that people like or do for a short time, or that is fashionable for a short time:
•Interest in organic food is not a fad, it's here to stay.
- faddish adjective
- faddishness noun [U]
someone who is faddy dislikes many kinds of food - used to show disapproval:
•Jackie's a terribly faddy eater.
1 also fade away [I] to gradually disappear:
•Hopes of a peace settlement are beginning to fade.
•Over the years her beauty had faded a little.
2 [I,T] to lose colour and brightness, or to make something do this:
•the fading evening light
•a pair of faded jeans
•The sun had faded the curtains.
3 also fade away [I] to become weaker physically, especially so that you become very ill or die
4 [I] if a team fades, it stops playing as well as it did before

PHRASAL VERBS
fade in phr v
to appear slowly or become louder, or to make a picture or sound do this
fade sth <=> in
•Additional background sound is faded in at the beginning of the shot.
- =fade-in noun [C]

fade out phr v
to disappear slowly or become quieter, or to make a picture or sound do this
fade sth <=> out
•He slid a control to fade out the music.
- =fade-out noun [C]also feces AmE [plural] formal
solid waste material from the BOWELs
- faecal adjectivefaerie $ plural faeries [C] old use
a FAIRY

PHRASAL VERBS
faff about/around phr v BrE informal
to waste time doing unnecessary things:
•Stop faffing around! [C]
1 BrE informal a cigarette
2 AmE taboo informal a very offensive word for a HOMOSEXUAL man. Do not use this word.
3 be a fag BrE informal to be a boring or difficult thing to do
4 a young student in some British PUBLIC SCHOOLs who has to do jobs for an older student[C] BrE informal
the end of a cigarette that someone has finished smoking BrE informal
1 also fagged out [not before noun] extremely tired
2 I can't be fagged spoken used to say that you are too tired or bored to do something; = I can't be bothered [C]
1 BrE a ball made of meat mixed with bread, which is cooked
2 AmE taboo informal a very offensive word for a HOMOSEXUAL man. Do not use this word.
3 old-fashioned small sticks that are tied together, used for burning on a firewritten abbreviation F [U]
a scale of temperature in which water freezes at 32° and boils at 212°:
•72° Fahrenheit (=72 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale)
- Fahrenheit adjective
1 NOT SUCCEED [I] to not succeed in achieving something:
•It looks likely that the peace talks will fail.
[+in]
•He failed in his attempt to regain the world title.
fail to do sth
•Doctors failed to save the girl's life.
•Millions of people have tried to quit smoking and failed miserably (=been completely unsuccessful).
•his efforts to save his failing marriage
• If all else fails, you may be advised to have an operation.
2 NOT DO STH [I] to not do what is expected, needed, or wanted
fail to do sth
•The letter failed to arrive.
•Firms that fail to take advantage of the new technology will go out of business.
•The government are failing in their duty to protect people.
3 EXAM/TEST
a) [I,T] to not pass a test or examination:
•I failed my driving test the first time I took it.
•Daniel failed maths but passed all his other subjects.
b) [T] to decide that someone has not passed a test or examination:
•Her work was so bad that I had no choice but to fail her.
4 I fail to see/understand formal used to show that you are annoyed by something that you do not accept or understand:
•I fail to see why you find it so amusing.
5 COMPANY/BUSINESS [I] if a company or business fails, it is unable to continue because of a lack of money
6 MACHINE/BODY PART [I] if a part of a machine or an organ in your body fails, it stops working:
•The engine failed on take-off.
•The hospital said that his kidneys were failing.
7 HEALTH [I] if your sight, memory, health etc is failing, it is gradually getting weaker or is not as good as it was:
• Failing eyesight forced him to retire early.
8 never fail to do sth to do something or happen so regularly that people expect it:
•My grandson never fails to phone me on my birthday.
9 your courage/will/nerve fails (you) if your courage etc fails, or if it fails you, you suddenly do not have it when you need it:
•She had to leave immediately, before her courage failed her.
10 fail sb to not do what someone has trusted you to do; = let sb down
•I feel I've failed my children by not spending more time with them.
11 CROPS [I] if crops fail, they do not grow or produce food, for example because of bad weather
12 RAINS [I] if the RAINs (=a lot of rain that falls at a particular time each year) fail, they do not come when expected or it does not rain enough
words fail me at WORD^1 (28)
1 without fail
a) if you do something without fail, you always do it:
•Tim visits his mother every day without fail.
b) used to tell someone very firmly that they must do something:
•I want that work finished by tomorrow, without fail!
2 [C] an unsuccessful result in a test or examination; pass
•I got a fail in history.
a failed actor/writer etc someone who wanted to be an actor etc but was unsuccessful [C]
a fault or weakness:
•I love him, despite his failings.
failing that/this used to say that if your first suggestion is not successful or possible, there is another possibility that you could try:
•We will probably have the conference at the Hyatt Hotel or, failing that, at the Fairmont.
1 a fail-safe machine, piece of equipment etc contains a system that makes the machine stop working if one part of it fails
2 a fail-safe plan is certain to succeed $
1 LACK OF SUCCESS [C,U] a lack of success in achieving or doing something; success
•Winston is not someone who accepts failure easily.
failure to do sth
•the conference's failure to reach an agreement
end/result in failure
•Harry's plans ended in failure.
2 UNSUCCESSFUL PERSON/THING [C] someone or something that is not successful; success
•I always felt a bit of a failure at school.
a total/complete failure
•The advertising campaign was a total failure.
3 failure to do sth an act of not doing something which should be done or which people expect you to do:
•Failure to produce proof of identity could result in prosecution.
4 BUSINESS [C,U] a situation in which a business has to close because of a lack of money:
•Business failures in Scotland rose 10% last year.
5 MACHINE/BODY PART [C,U] an occasion when a machine or part of your body stops working properly:
•The cause of the crash was engine failure.
heart/kidney/liver etc failure
•He died from kidney failure.
[+in]
•a failure in the computer system
6 CROPS [C,U] an occasion when crops do not grow or produce food, for example because of bad weather:
•a series of crop failures
1 difficult to see, hear, smell etc:
•She gave a faint smile.
•a very faint noise
•the faint light of dawn
2 a faint hope/possibility/chance etc a very small or slight hope etc:
•There's still a faint hope that they might be alive.
3 not have the faintest idea to not know anything at all about something:
•I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about.
4 feeling weak and as if you are about to become unconscious because you are very ill, tired, or hungry:
•The heat made him feel quite faint.
[+with]
•I was faint with hunger.
- faintly adverb
•Everyone looked faintly surprised.
•The sun shone faintly through the clouds.
- faintness noun [U]
damn sb/sth with faint praise at DAMN^4 (6)[I]
1 to suddenly become unconscious for a short time; = pass out
•Several fans fainted in the blazing heat.
2 I nearly/almost fainted spoken used to say that you were very surprised by something:
•I nearly fainted when they told me the price.[singular]
an act of becoming unconscious
in a (dead) faint
•She fell down in a faint. $
1 not trying very hard, because you do not want to do something, or you are not confident that you can succeed; = half-hearted
•She made a rather faint-hearted attempt to stop him from leaving.
2 sth is not for the faint-hearted used humorously to say that something is difficult and needs a lot of effort $
1 REASONABLE AND ACCEPTABLE a fair situation, system, way of treating people, or judgment seems reasonable, acceptable, and right; unfair
•All we are asking for is a fair wage.
•£150 is a fair price.
fair trial/hearing
•the right to a fair trial
•What do you think is the fairest solution?
•The report is a fair summary of the issues facing us.
it is fair to do sth
•It seems fair to give them a second chance.
it's only fair (that) (=used to say that it is right to do something)
•It's only fair that we tell him what's happening.
it's fair to say (that) (=used when you think what you are saying is correct or reasonable)
•I think it's fair to say that by then he had lost the support of most of his staff.
it's not fair on sb
•I can't carry on working such long hours. It's not fair on my family.
2 TREATING EVERYONE EQUALLY treating everyone in a way that is right or equal; unfair
•Why does Eric get to go and I don't? It's not fair!
•Life isn't always fair.
[+to]
•The old law wasn't fair to women.
it's only fair (that)
•You pay him $10 an hour - it's only fair that I should get the same.
•My boss expects a lot - but he's very fair.
3 QUITE LARGE a fair size/amount/number/bit/distance etc especially BrE quite a large size, number etc:
•I've still got a fair amount of work left to do.
•We had travelled a fair way (=quite a long distance) by lunch time.
there's a fair chance (that)/of sth (=it is quite likely that something will happen)
•There's a fair chance we'll be coming over to England this summer.
4 HAIR/SKIN someone who is fair, or who has fair hair or skin, has hair or skin that is very light in colour; dark
5 ACCORDING TO THE RULES a fair fight, game, or election is one that is played or done according to the rules; unfair
6 LEVEL OF ABILITY neither particularly good nor particularly bad; = average
•Her written work is excellent but her practical work is only fair.
7 WEATHER weather that is fair is pleasant and not windy, rainy etc; = fine
•It should be generally fair and warm for the next few days.
8 have had more than your fair share of sth to have had more of something, especially something unpleasant, than seems reasonable:
•Poor old Alan! He's had more than his fair share of bad luck recently.
9 give sb a fair crack of the whip BrE informal to give someone the opportunity to do something, especially so that they can show that they are able to do it
10 give sb/get a fair shake AmE informal to treat someone, or to be treated, in a way that gives everyone the same chances as everyone else:
•Women don't always get a fair shake in business.
11 by fair means or foul using any method to get what you want, including dishonest or illegal methods
12 all's fair in love and war used to say that in some situations any method of getting what you want is acceptable
13 PLEASANT/ATTRACTIVE old use or literary pleasant and attractive:
•a fair maiden
14 fair enough especially BrE used to say that you agree with someone's suggestion or that something seems reasonable; = OK
•'I think we should split the bill.' 'Fair enough.'
15 to be fair used when adding something after someone has been criticized, which helps to explain or excuse what they did; = in fairness
•She should have phoned to tell us what her plans were although, to be fair, she's been very busy.
16 be fair! especially BrE used to tell someone not to be unreasonable or criticize someone too much:
•Now Pat, be fair, the poor girl's trying her hardest!
17 fair's fair used when you think it is fair that someone should do something, especially because of something that has happened earlier:
•Come on, fair's fair - I paid last time so it's your turn.
18 fair comment BrE used to say that a remark or criticism seems reasonable
19 you can't say fairer than that BrE used to say that an offer you are making to someone is the best and fairest offer they can possibly get:
•I'll give you £25 for it - you can't say fairer than that, can you?
20 it's a fair cop BrE used humorously to admit that you should not be doing something that someone has caught you doing
21 with your own fair hands BrE if you do something with your own fair hands, you do it yourself without any help - used humorously
have a fair idea of sth at IDEA[C]
1 also funfair BrE a form of outdoor entertainment, at which there are large machines to ride on and games in which you can win prizes; = carnival AmE
2 AmE an outdoor event, at which there are large machines to ride on, games to play, and sometimes farm animals being judged and sold
state/county fair
3 book/antiques/craft/trade etc fair an event at which people or businesses show and sell their products:
•the Frankfurt Book Fair
•an antiques fair
•a trade fair (=where companies show their newest products)
•a craft fair (=where people sell handmade products such as jewellery, paintings etc)
4 job/careers fair an event where people go to get information about different kinds of jobs
5 BrE an outdoor event with games and things to eat and drink, usually organized to get money for a school, club etc; = fête
6 BrE old-fashioned a market where animals and farm products are sold:
•a horse fair
1 win (sth)/beat sb fair and square to win a competition, sports match etc honestly and without cheating
2 play fair to do something in a fair and honest way:
•In international trade, very few countries play fair.[C] BrE
a neat copy of a piece of writing $ AusE spoken
real or true[U]
if someone or something is fair game, it is acceptable, reasonable, or right to criticize them:
•The young star's behavior made her fair game for the tabloid press. $ [C]
an open space on which a FAIR^2 (1) takes place[C] AmE old-fashioned informal
someone who is likely to succeed because someone in authority likes them; = blue-eyed boy BrE
•the boss's fair-haired boy $
1 [+ adj/adv] more than a little, but much less than very; quite
•The house had a fairly large garden.
•She speaks English fairly well.
•The instructions seem fairly straightforward.
see box at RATHER
2 in a way that is fair, honest, and reasonable:
•I felt I hadn't been treated fairly.
3 BrE old-fashioned used to emphasize the degree, force etc of an action:
•He fairly raced past us on his bike. $
able to understand and judge situations fairly and always considering other people's opinions:
•He's a fair-minded man - I'm sure he'll listen to what you have to say. $ [U]
1 the quality of being fair:
•the basic fairness of the judicial system
2 in fairness (to sb) used after you have just criticized someone, in order to add something that explains their behaviour or performance; = to be fair
•Tardelli had a poor match, although in fairness he was playing with a knee injury.[U]
1 playing according to the rules of a game without cheating:
•rules designed to ensure fair play
2 fair treatment of people without cheating or being dishonest:
•the British tradition of fair play
•This kind of behavior violates many people's sense of fair play.
turnabout is fair play at TURNABOUT
the fair sex also the fairer sex old-fashioned women $ [C]
the part of a GOLF COURSE that you hit the ball along towards the hole[C]
someone who only wants to be your friend when you are successful $ plural fairies [C]
1 a small imaginary creature with magic powers, which looks like a very small person
2 old-fashioned not polite an offensive word for a HOMOSEXUAL man[C] BrE
a very small cake[C]
1 a woman with magic powers who saves someone from trouble, in a story
2 someone who helps people when they are in trouble $
1 [U] an imaginary place where fairies live
2 [singular] a place that looks very beautiful and special:
•At night, the harbor is a fairyland.[plural] BrE
small coloured lights used especially to decorate a Christmas treealso fairy story [C]
1 a children's story in which magical things happen
2 a story that someone has invented and is difficult to believe $ [only before noun]
extremely happy, lucky etc in a way that usually only happens in children's stories:
•a fairytale romance
•The kiss was a fairytale ending to the evening. $ [singular]
something that has already happened or been done and cannot be changed
1 TRUST/CONFIDENCE IN SB/STH [U] a strong feeling of trust or confidence in someone or something
have faith (in sb/sth)
•I still have faith in him.
•'Have faith, Alexandra,' he said.
lose faith (in sb/sth)
•The public has lost faith in the government.
destroy/restore sb's faith (in sb/sth)
•It's really helped restore my faith in human nature.
2 RELIGION
a) [U] belief and trust in God:
•deep religious faith
[+in]
•my faith in God
b) [C] one of the main religions in the world:
•People from all faiths are welcome.
the Jewish/Muslim/Hindu etc faith
•members of the Jewish faith
3 break faith with sb/sth to stop supporting or believing in a person, organization, or idea:
•How could he tell them the truth without breaking faith with the Party?
4 keep faith with sb/sth to continue to support or believe in a person, organization, or idea
5 good faith honest and sincere intentions:
•He proposed a second meeting as a sign of his good faith.
•The woman who sold me the car claimed she had acted in good faith (=had not meant to deceive me).
6 bad faith intentions that are not honest or sincere
7 an act of faith something you do that shows you trust someone completely:
•Allowing Ken to be in charge of the project was a total act of faith.[C]
a group of people who share a particular set of religious beliefs:
•In any faith community there are varying levels of commitment.
1 [usually before noun] remaining loyal to a particular person, belief, political party etc and continuing to support them:
•Hollis was a good and faithful friend.
•years of faithful service to the company
•our faithful family dog, Bogey
•Eileen became a faithful member of the church.
[+to]
•He remained faithful to his principles to the last.
2 [usually before noun] representing an event or an image in a way that is exactly true or that looks exactly the same:
•a faithful account of what had happened
•a faithful reproduction of the original picture
3 if you are faithful to your wife, boyfriend etc, you do not have a sexual relationship with anyone else
[+to]
•Do you think Bob's always been faithful to you?
4 [only before noun] able to be trusted or depended on:
•my faithful old Toyota
- faithfulness noun [U]
1 the faithful [plural]
a) the people who are very loyal to a leader, political party etc and continue to support them:
•Hess still has the support of the party faithful.
b) the people who believe in a religion:
•church bells calling the faithful to evening prayer
2 [C] a loyal follower, supporter, or member:
•A handful of old faithfuls came to the meeting.
1 in a loyal way:
•He had served the family faithfully for 40 years.
•Ann faithfully promised never to tell my secret.
2 in a regular way:
•She wrote faithfully in her journal every day.
•Every year, we faithfully make a trip up there to see him.
3 Yours faithfully BrE the usual polite way of ending a formal letter, which you have begun with Dear Sir or Dear Madam
Yours sincerely at SINCERELY[U]
a method of treating illnesses by praying
- faith healer noun [C] formal
someone who is faithless cannot be trusted:
•a faithless friend
- faithlessness noun [U] [C]
1 a copy of a valuable object, painting etc that is intended to deceive people:
•The painting was judged a fake.
•Jones can spot a fake from 20 feet away.
2 someone who is not what they claim to be or does not have the skills they say they have:
•Her psychologist turned out to be a fake.[usually before noun]
1 made to look like a real material or object in order to deceive people:
•fake fur
•a fake ID card
•a fake $20 dollar bill
2 not real and seeming to be something it is not, in order to deceive people:
•I gave a fake name.
•She was speaking with a fake German accent.
•a fake smile of friendliness
1 [T] to make something seem real in order to deceive people:
•She faked her father's signature on the cheque.
•The insurance company suspected that he had faked his own death.
•The results of the experiments were faked.
2 [I,T] to pretend to be ill, interested etc when you are not:
•I thought he was really hurt but he was faking it.
3 [I,T] to pretend to move in one direction, but then move in another, especially when playing sport:
•He faked a pass and then handed the ball off to Perry.

PHRASAL VERBS
fake sb <=> out phr v AmE
to deceive someone by making them think you are planning to do something when you are really planning to do something else $ [C]
a travelling Hindu or Muslim holy man $ [C,U]
fried balls of an Arabic food made with CHICKPEAs $ [C]
a bird that kills and eats other animals and can be trained to hunt $ [C]
someone who trains falcons to hunt $ [U]
the skill or sport of using falcons to hunt $ past tense fell , past participle fallen $
1 MOVE DOWNWARDS [I] to move or drop down from a higher position to a lower position:
•The tree was about to fall.
•The book fell from his hands.
•Enough rain had fallen to flood the grounds.
[+down]
•Rob fell down the stairs.
•She flushed and her eyes fell (=she looked down).
2 STOP STANDING/WALKING ETC [I] to suddenly go down onto the ground after you have been standing, walking, or running, especially without intending to:
•I fell and hit my head.
slip/stumble/trip etc and fall
•He slipped and fell on the ice.
[+down]
•Lizzie fell down and hurt her knee.
•Peter was playing by the river when he fell in (=fell into the water).
fall to/on your knees (=move down to the ground so that your body is resting on your knees)
•She fell to her knees beside his body.
fall flat on your face at FLAT^3 (5)
3 DECREASE [I] to go down to a lower level, amount, price etc, especially a much lower one; rise
•The rate of inflation was falling.
•The island is warm all year round and winter temperatures never fall below 10 degrees.
•He believes that educational standards are falling.
[+from]
•Advertising revenue fell from $98.5 million to $93.3 million.
[+to]
•The number of subscribers had fallen to 1000.
fall sharply/steeply (=by a large amount)
•London share prices fell sharply yesterday.
4 BECOME [I, linking verb] to start to be in a new or different state
[+adj]
•I'll stay with her until she falls asleep.
•I think that I've fallen in love with Angela.
•She fell ill with flu.
•Albert fell silent and turned his attention to his food.
[+into]
•The house was empty for many years and fell into disrepair.
•One false step can mean falling into debt.
•He fell into despair.
5 BELONG TO A GROUP [I always + prep] to belong to or be part of a particular group, area of responsibility, range of things, or type of things
[+into]
•Many illnesses fall into the category of stress-related illnesses.
•Leaders fall into two categories.
[+within]
•The judge said that this matter did not fall within the scope of the auditor's duties.
[+under]
•The job falls under the heading of 'sales and marketing'.
•Meat and poultry production fall under the control of the Agriculture Department.
6 fall short of sth to be less than the amount or standard that is needed or that you want:
•This year's profit will fall short of 13%.
•He would sack any of his staff who fell short of his high standards.
7 fall victim/prey to sth/sb to get a very serious illness or be attacked or deceived by someone:
•Breastfed babies are less likely to fall victim to stomach disorders.
•Young men are more likely to fall victim to violence.
8 night/darkness/dusk falls if night etc falls, it starts to become dark at the beginning of the night:
•It grew colder as night fell.
•Darkness had fallen by the time we reached home.
9 silence/a hush/sadness etc falls literary used to say that a person, group, or place becomes quiet, sad etc:
•A long silence fell between us.
10 START DOING STH [I] to start doing something or being involved with something, often without intending to:
•I fell into conversation with some guys from New York.
•He had fallen into the habit of having a coffee every time he passed the coffee machine.
11 fall into place
a) if parts of a situation that you have been trying to understand fall into place, you start to understand how they are connected with each other:
•Suddenly, all the details started falling into place.
b) if the parts of something that you want to happen fall into place, they start to happen in the way that you want:
•I was lucky because everything fell into place at exactly the right time.
12 fall to pieces/bits
a) to break into many pieces; = fall apart
•The book had been well used and finally fell to pieces.
b) if something such as a plan or a relationship falls to pieces, it stops working properly; = fall apart
•The family is falling to pieces.
13 be falling to pieces/bits if something is falling to pieces, it is in very bad condition, especially because it is very old; = be falling apart
•The house is falling to pieces.
14 fall flat if a joke, remark, or performance falls flat, it fails to interest or amuse people:
•Marlow's attempts at jokes fell flat.
15 fall foul of sb/sth to do something which makes someone angry or which breaks a rule, with the result that you are punished:
•He is worried that his teenage kids will fall foul of the law.
16 fall by the wayside to fail, or to stop being done, used, or made:
•Health reform was one of his goals that fell by the wayside.
•Luxury items fall by the wayside during a recession.
17 fall from grace/favour to stop being liked by people in authority:
•He fell from grace for the first time when he was convicted of drink-driving.
18 fall from a great height to be forced to leave an important job or position, or lose the respect that people had for you
19 fall into the hands/clutches of sb if something or someone falls into the hands of an enemy or dangerous person, the enemy etc gets control or possession of them:
•He wants to prevent the business falling into the hands of a competitor.
•We must not let these documents fall into the wrong hands.
20 fall into a trap/pitfall to make a mistake that many people make:
•Don't fall into the trap of feeling guilty.
21 fall into step
a) to start to walk next to someone else, at the same speed as them
[+beside/with]
•Holly slowed her pace and fell into step with the old man.
b) to start doing something in the same way as the other members of a group
[+with]
•The other countries on the Council are expected to fall into step with the US.
22 fall into line to obey someone or do what other people want you to do, especially when you do not want to do it at first:
•Most countries have signed the treaty but some are reluctant to fall into line.
23 HANG DOWN [I always + adv/prep] to hang down loosely
[+over]
•His dark hair fell over his face.
24 LIGHT/SHADOW [I always + adv/prep] to shine on a surface or go onto a surface:
•The last rays of sunlight were falling on the fields.
•Arthur's shadow fell across the doorway.
25 SPECIAL EVENT/CELEBRATION [I always + adv/prep] to happen on a particular day or at a particular time:
•I'd like to dedicate this record to all whose anniversaries fall at this time of year.
[+on]
•Her birthday will fall on a Friday this year.
26 LOSE POWER [I] if a leader or a government falls, they lose their position of power:
•The previous government fell after only 6 months in office.
27 BE TAKEN BY AN ENEMY [I] if a place falls in a war or an election, a group of soldiers or a political party takes control of it
[+to]
•The city fell to the advancing Russian armies.
28 BE KILLED [I] to be killed in a war; = die
29 HIT [I always + adv/prep] to hit a particular place or a particular part of someone's body
[+on]
•The first punch fell on his nose.
30 it's as easy as falling off a log spoken used to say that something is very easy to do
31 VOICE/SOUND [I] if someone's voice or a sound falls, it becomes quieter or lower; rise
32 fall between two stools BrE to be neither one type of thing nor another, or be unable to choose between two ways of doing something
33 fall on stony ground BrE if a request, suggestion, joke etc falls on stony ground, it is ignored or people do not like it
34 fall from sb's lips literary if words fall from someone's lips, they say them
35 the stress/accent/beat falls on sth used to say that a particular part of a word, phrase, or piece of music is emphasized or is played more loudly than the rest:
•In the word 'report', the stress falls on the second syllable.

PHRASAL VERBS
fall about phr v BrE
to laugh a lot about something:
•It was so funny everyone just fell about laughing.

fall apart phr v
1 if an organization, system, relationship etc falls apart, it stops being effective or successful:
•Don't be reckless or your plans may fall apart.
•The minister claimed that the health service was falling apart at the seams.
2 be falling apart to be in very bad condition:
•Tommy's old bicycle was rusty and falling apart.
3 to break into pieces:
•The book fell apart in my hands.
4 to be unable to deal with your personal or emotional problems:
•She had to get some rest or she was going to fall apart.
5 sb's world/life falls apart if someone's world or life falls apart, something very bad and serious happens which changes their life:
•When his wife left him, his world fell apart.

fall away phr v
1 to slope down:
•From where we stood, the ground fell away sharply to the valley floor.
2 to become separated from something after being fixed to it:
•The paint was falling away in patches.
3 if a feeling falls away, you stop having it, usually suddenly:
•The view from the top was wonderful and our tiredness fell away.
4 BrE to decrease; = fall; rise
•Demand for our more theoretical courses has fallen away.

fall back phr v
1 if soldiers fall back, they move back because they are being attacked; = retreat
•He yelled for his men to fall back.
2 to move backwards because you are very surprised, frightened etc:
•Scott fell back a pace in astonishment.
3 BrE to decrease; = fall; rise
•When inflation started to rise, house prices fell back.

fall back into sth phr v
to go back to doing something or behaving in a way which you did before:
•I was amazed at how easily I fell back into the old routine.

fall back on sb/sth phr v
to use something or depend on someone's help when dealing with a difficult situation, especially after other methods have failed
have sb/sth to fall back on
•She has no relatives to fall back on.
•Where negotiation fails, they must fall back on the law.
FALLBACK

fall behind (sb/sth) phr v
1 to go more slowly than other people so that they gradually move further ahead of you:
•His mother was chatting and didn't notice that he had fallen behind.
•She hurt her ankle and had fallen behind the others.
2 to become less successful than other people, companies, countries etc:
•After her time in hospital, Jenny's parents are afraid she has fallen behind educationally.
•Companies that are not market-driven risk falling behind the competition.
3 to fail to finish a piece of work or pay someone money that you owe them at the right time
[+with/on]
•After losing his job, he fell behind with his mortgage payments.
•The project has fallen behind schedule.

fall down phr v
1 be falling down if a building is falling down, it is in very bad condition:
•The bridge is falling down and will need a million dollars to repair it.
2 to fail because of a particular reason or in a particular way:
•That's where the whole argument falls down.
[+on]
•He is falling down on the supervisory aspects of his job.
•The local authority is falling down on the job of keeping the streets clean.

fall for sb/sth phr v informal
1 to be tricked into believing something that is not true:
•He is too smart to fall for that trick.
2 to start to love someone:
•That was the summer I worked at the fairground, and met and fell for Lucy.
3 to like a place as soon as you see it

fall in phr v
1 if the roof, ceiling etc falls in, it falls onto the ground; = collapse
2 to start walking or forming a line of people behind someone else
[+behind]
•His men fell in behind him and they left.

fall into sth phr v
1 to move somewhere quickly by relaxing your body and letting it fall on something:
•She turned and fell into his arms.
•We fell into bed, exhausted.
2 to start doing something by chance:
•I fell into the job really.

fall in with sb/sth phr v
1 to accept someone's ideas, decisions etc and not disagree with them:
•Once she explained her problem, he was happy to fall in with her plans.
2 to become friendly with a person or group of people after meeting them by chance; = get in with
•She fell in with the wrong crowd in her teens.

fall off phr v
1 fall off (sth) if part of something falls off, it becomes separated from the main part:
•The door handle keeps falling off.
•A button had fallen off her jacket.
2 if the amount, rate, or quality of something falls off, it decreases; = fall; rise
•Audience figures fell off during the second series of the programme.
3 sb nearly/almost fell off their chair spoken used to say that someone was very surprised when something happened:
•When I saw my brother on the stage I nearly fell off my chair.
fall off the back of a lorry at LORRY

fall on/upon sb/sth phr v
1 if a duty or job falls on someone, they are responsible for doing it:
•The responsibility usually falls on the mother.
2 literary to eagerly start eating or using something:
•She fell on the food as if she hadn't eaten for days.
3 literary to suddenly attack or get hold of someone:
•Some of the older boys fell on him and broke his glasses.
4 sb's eyes/gaze/glance fall(s) on sth if your eyes etc fall on something, you notice it:
•His eyes fell on her bag. 'Are you going somewhere?'
5 fall on hard/bad times to experience difficulties and problems in your life such as not having enough money:
•The aim is to raise money for workers who have fallen on hard times.
fall on deaf ears at DEAF (5)

fall out phr v
1 to have a quarrel
[+with]
•Carrie's always falling out with people.
2 if a tooth or your hair falls out, it is then no longer attached to your body:
•The drugs made her hair fall out.
3 if soldiers fall out, they stop standing in a line and move away to different places

fall over phr v
1 to fall onto the ground or to fall from an upright position:
•Tommy fell over and cut his knee badly.
•Her bike fell over.
2 fall over sth to hit your foot against something by mistake and fall to the ground; = trip over
•She fell over the dog and broke her front teeth.
3 fall over yourself to do sth to be very eager to do something, especially something you do not usually do:
•People were falling over themselves to help her.

fall through phr v
if an agreement, plan, sale etc falls through, it is not completed successfully:
•The studio planned to make a movie of the book but the deal fell through.

fall to sb/sth phr v
1 if a duty or job falls to someone, they are responsible for doing it, especially when this is difficult or unpleasant:
• It fell to me to give her the bad news.
2 written to start doing something:
•They fell to work with a will.
fall to doing sth
•He fell to thinking about how nice a warm bath would be.
be/fall under a spell at SPELL^2 (3); fall on your feet at FOOT^1 (19); sb's face fell at FACE^1 (2); stand or fall by/on at STAND^1 (33)
1 MOVEMENT DOWN [C] movement down towards the ground or towards a lower position:
•the first fall of autumn leaves
•The rise and fall of the dancers' bodies create a pattern.
•Mrs Evans had a fall (=fell to the ground) and broke her leg.
•He stretched out his hands to break his fall (=prevent himself from falling too quickly and hurting himself).
2 REDUCTION [C] a reduction in the amount, level, price etc of something; rise
[+in]
•There has been a fall in oil prices.
sharp/steep fall
•the sharp fall in the birth rate in European countries
[+of]
•Their industrial output went down again in December, which meant a fall of 2.2% over the year.
3 SEASON [singular] AmE the season between summer and winter, when leaves change colour and the weather becomes slightly colder; = autumn
•Eleanor plans to go to Southwestern Community College this fall.
•The area is beautiful in the fall.
4 LOSS OF POWER/SUCCESS [singular] a situation in which someone or something loses their position of power or becomes unsuccessful
[+from]
•The president lived on for twenty years after his fall from power.
•the story of Napoleon's rise and fall (=period of success followed by failure)
•Rumours are that the company is heading for a fall (=is likely to fail soon).
5 fall from grace a situation in which someone stops being respected by other people or loses their position of authority, especially because they have done something wrong:
•He was the head of the intelligence service until his fall from grace.
6 DEFEAT [singular] a situation in which a country, city etc is defeated by an enemy
[+of]
•the fall of Jerusalem in AD70
7 falls also Falls [plural] a place where a river suddenly goes straight down over a cliff:
•The spray from the falls is so dense that you can hardly see.
•Niagara Falls
8 SPORT [C] an act of forcing your opponent onto the ground in WRESTLING or JUDO
9 SNOW/ROCKS [C] an amount of snow, rocks etc that falls onto the ground
[+of]
•Fresh falls of snow were forecast.
•The road is blocked by a rock fall.
10 the Fall also the fall the occasion in the Bible when God punished Adam and Eve by making them leave the Garden of Eden formal
containing or based on false ideas:
•Such an argument is misleading, if not wholly fallacious.
- fallaciously adverb plural fallacies
1 [C] a false idea or belief, especially one that a lot of people believe is true; = misconception
•It's a common fallacy that a neutered dog will become fat and lazy.
2 [C,U] formal a weakness in someone's argument or ideas which is caused by a mistake in their thinking
PATHETIC FALLACY $ [C]
something that can be used or done if a supply, method etc fails:
•It's wise to have an extra video player as a fallback.
•Do you have a fallback option?
fall back on sb/sth at FALL^1 $
the past participle of FALL^1
1 [only before noun] on the ground after falling down:
•The road was blocked by a fallen tree.
•fallen leaves
2 a fallen woman old-fashioned a woman who has had a sexual relationship with someone she is not married to
3 the fallen [plural] formal soldiers who have been killed in a war[C] informal especially AmE
1 someone who is punished for someone else's crime or mistake; = scapegoat
•Browne claims that the company was simply looking for a fall guy.
2 someone who is easily tricked or made to seem stupid formal
able to make mistakes or be wrong; infallible
•Humans are fallible.
•These surveys are often a rather fallible guide to public opinion.
- fallibility noun [U]
have a falling-out (with sb) informal to have a bad quarrel with someone[C]
a SHOOTING STARalso falling-off BrE [singular]
a decrease in the level, amount, or number of something; = fall; rise
[+in]
•a fall-off in profits $ [C] medical
one of the two tubes in a female through which eggs move to the UTERUS $ [U]
1 the dangerous RADIOACTIVE dust which is left in the air after a NUCLEAR explosion and which slowly falls to earth:
•protection against radioactive fallout
2 the results of a particular event, especially when they are unexpected:
•The political fallout of the affair cost him his job.[C]
a building under the ground in which people can shelter from a NUCLEAR attack $
1 fallow land is dug or PLOUGHed but is not used for growing crops:
•They let the land lie fallow for a year.
2 fallow period a time when nothing is done or achieved:
•The band went through a fallow period in the late 90s.[C]
a small European DEER which is yellowish brown with white spots $
1 UNTRUE a statement, story etc that is false is completely untrue:
•Please decide whether the following statements are true or false.
•false accusations
2 WRONG based on incorrect information or ideas:
•I don't want to give you any false hopes.
•The statement gives us a false impression that we understand something when we do not.
•We often make false assumptions about people of other cultures.
• a false sense of security (=a feeling of being safe when you are not really safe)
3 NOT REAL
a) not real, but intended to seem real and deceive people:
•The drugs were hidden in a suitcase with a false bottom.
•The man had given a false name and address.
b) artificial
false teeth/hair/eyelashes etc
4 NOT SINCERE not sincere or honest, and pretending to have feelings that you do not really have:
•She's so false.
•a false laugh
•'You played brilliantly.' 'Not really,' Ian replied with false modesty.
5 false economy something that you think will save you money but which will really cost you more:
•It's a false economy not to have travel insurance.
6 under false pretences if you get something under false pretences, you get it by deceiving people:
•He was accused of obtaining money under false pretences.
7 false move/step a small movement or action that will result in harm:
• One false move and you're dead.
8 false imprisonment/arrest the illegal act of putting someone in prison or ARRESTing them for a crime they have not committed[C]
a situation in which people wrongly think that something bad is going to happen:
•Fire fighters responded to a false alarm at one of the college dormitories.
•The patient was okay - it was a false alarm.[C] formal
a situation in which something good seems likely to happen, but it does not:
•The ceasefire turned out to be another false dawn.[C]
1 a word in a foreign language that is similar to one in your own, so that you wrongly think they both mean the same thing
2 someone who seems to be your friend but is not $ formal
1 [C] a statement that is untrue; = lie
•Saunders is deliberately telling a falsehood.
2 [U] the practice of telling lies; = lying
•No one had accused me of falsehood before.
3 [U] the state of not being true:
•Most people believe in right and wrong, truth and falsehood.[C]
something that is wrongly thought or shown to be a particular thing, especially after a scientific test or RESEARCH:
•50% of the 170 compounds were judged to be carcinogenic, but some of these might be false positives.
•Many substances give false positive reactions in allergy skin testing.[C]
1 an unsuccessful attempt to begin a process or event:
•After several false starts, the concert finally began.
2 a situation at the beginning of a race when one competitor starts too soon and the race has to start again[plural]
a set of artificial teeth worn by someone who has lost their natural teeth; = dentures $ plural falsettos [C]
a very high male voice
- falsetto adverb $ [plural] informal
pieces of material inside a BRA used to make a woman's breasts look larger $ past tense and past participle falsified, present participle falsifying, third person singular falsifies [T]
to change figures, records etc so that they contain false information:
•The file was altered to falsify the evidence.
- falsification $ noun [C,U]
•the falsification of records $ [U] formal
the quality of being false or not true; truth $
1 [I] to become weaker and unable to continue in an effective way:
•The economy is showing signs of faltering.
•My mother's grip upon the household never faltered.
2 [I,T] to speak in a voice that sounds weak and uncertain, and keeps stopping:
•Laurie's voice faltered as she tried to thank him.
•'I can't,' she faltered.
3 [I] to become less certain and determined that you want to do something:
•We must not falter in our resolve.
4 [I] to stop walking or to walk in an unsteady way because you suddenly feel weak or afraid:
•She faltered for a moment. $
1 nervous and uncertain or unsteady:
•a baby's first faltering steps
2 becoming less effective or successful:
•the faltering Mideast peace talks
- falteringly adverb [U]
the state of being known about by a lot of people because of your achievements
win/achieve/gain/find fame
•Streisand won fame as a singer before she became an actress.
rise/shoot to fame
•Plant shot to fame in the seventies as the lead singer of Led Zeppelin.
international/worldwide/national fame
•At that time, the Beatles were at the height of their fame.
•The town's only claim to fame (=the only reason why it is well known) is that Queen Elizabeth I once visited it.
•He set off to find fame and fortune.
of ... fame (=used to show what someone is famous for)
•Hugh Grant, of 'Notting Hill' fame written
well-known; = famous
•the famed literary critic Nathan Hall
[+for]
•the island of Lontar, famed for its nutmeg and cloves [only before noun] formal
connected with a family or typical of a family; = family
•familial obligations
•familial relationships $
1 someone or something that is familiar is well-known to you and easy to recognize:
•a familiar tune
look/sound familiar
•The voice on the phone sounded familiar.
[+to]
•The signs of drug addiction are familiar to most doctors.
•It was a relief to be back in familiar surroundings.
•Beggars on the street are becoming a familiar sight.
•This kind of situation was all too familiar (=very familiar) to John.
•Her face seems vaguely familiar, but I can't quite place her.
2 be familiar with sth to have a good knowledge or understanding of something:
•Are you familiar with this type of machine?
•I'm not really familiar with her poetry, sorry to say.
3 be on familiar terms with sb to know someone well and be able to talk to them in an informal way:
•He's on familiar terms with all the teachers.
4 talking to someone as if you know them well although you do not
[+with]
•I thought he was being a bit familiar with my wife.
5 informal and friendly in speech, writing etc:
•The novel is written in an easy, familiar style.
FAMILIARLY[C]
a cat or other animal that lives with a WITCH and has magical powers
a British spelling of FAMILIARIZE [U]
1 a good knowledge of a particular subject or place
[+with]
•In fact his familiarity with the Bronx was pretty limited.
2 the quality of being well-known to you:
•I miss the familiarity of home.
3 a relaxed way of speaking to someone or behaving with someone:
•He treated her with the easy familiarity of an equal.
4 familiarity breeds contempt an expression meaning that if you know someone too well, you find out their faults and respect them lessalso familiarise BrE
familiarize yourself/sb with sth to learn about something so that you understand it, or to teach someone else about something so that they understand it:
•Employees must familiarize themselves with the health and safety manual.
- familiarization $ noun [U]
•a one-day familiarization course $
in an informal or friendly way:
•Charles, familiarly known as Charlie plural families
1 CLOSELY RELATED GROUP [C] a group of people who are related to each other, especially a mother, a father, and their children

the whole family/all the family
member of a family/family member
a family of three/four/five etc
a close/close-knit family (=a family whose members have a close relationship)
immediate family (=closest relations)
nuclear family (=a family consisting of a mother, a father, and their children)
family background (=the sort of family someone comes from)
one-parent family/single-parent family
the Royal Family (=the King or Queen and their family)
family home/car/holiday etc
a family film/show etc (=that is suitable for children as well as adults)
family life
family resemblance (=when members of the same family look like each other)
family gathering (=when members of a family who do not live together arrange to meet)
family unit

•Do you know the family next door?
•The Webb family still has its farm over there. [also + plural verb] BrE
•The family now live in London.
• The whole family had caught colds.
• For younger members of the family, there is an outdoor play area.
• This house isn't big enough for a family of seven.
• My family has always been close.
• Is there a history of heart disease in your immediate family?
• He lost contact with his extended family.
• the traditional nuclear family
• children living in a one-parent family
• The Royal Family must now rethink its attitude to marriage.
•the break-up of the family unit

2 ALL YOUR RELATIONS [C,U also + plural verb BrE ] all the people you are related to, including those who are now dead:
•I'm moving to Detroit because I have some family there.
•My family come from Scotland originally.
in sb's family
•That painting has been in our family (=been owned by our family) for 200 years.
•Asthma runs in the family (=is common in the family).
3 CHILDREN [C] children:
•Couples with young families wouldn't want to live here.
•They're getting married next year, and hope to start a family (=have children) straight away.
bring up/raise a family
•the problems of bringing up a family on a very low income
4 family size/pack etc a container or package containing a large amount of a product
5 GROUP OF ANIMALS/THINGS [C] technical a group of related animals, plants, languages etc
the cat/parrot/squirrel etc family
•The cat family includes lions and tigers.
•Spanish and Italian are part of the Romance language family.
6 she's/he's family informal used to emphasize your connection with someone who is related to you
7 in the family way old-fashioned PREGNANT[C usually singular]
a group of people who are closely related to each other - used especially when emphasizing that someone does or does not belong to this group[U]
money given by the government in Britain to parents who do not earn much money[C]
a doctor trained to treat the general health problems of people of all ages; = GP[C]
1 a man who enjoys being at home with his wife or partner and children
2 a man with a wife or partner and children[C]
the name someone shares with all the members of their family; = surname, last name[U]
the practice of controlling the number of children that are born by using CONTRACEPTION:
•a family planning clinic[U]
a part of medical practice in the US in which doctors learn to treat general health problems of people of all ages[C] especially BrE
a GP[C]
1 a room in a house where the family can play games, watch television etc
2 a hotel room which has enough space for several people, especially parents and children, to sleep
3 a room in a PUB in Britain where children are allowed to sit[C]
a drawing that gives the names of all the members of a family over a long period of time, and shows how they are related to each other[plural]
traditional ideas about what a family should be like, which emphasize the importance of marriage - used especially when talking about politics:
•The party places great emphasis on family values. [C,U]
a situation in which a large number of people have little or no food for a long time and many people die:
•the great potato famine in Ireland
severe/widespread famine
•Widespread famine had triggered a number of violent protests.
•A million people are facing famine. [not before noun] informal
extremely hungry; = starving
•What's for supper? I'm famished.
1
a) known about by many people in many places:
•a famous actor
•Many famous people have stayed in the hotel.
•The Eiffel Tower is a famous landmark (=a famous place or building that is easy to recognize).
[+for]
•France is famous for its wine.
[+as]
•Virginia is famous as the birthplace of several US presidents.
•Da Vinci's world-famous portrait of the Mona Lisa
b) the famous [plural] people who are famous:
•a nightclub used by the rich and famous
2 famous last words spoken used when someone has said too confidently that they can do something or that something will happen

WORD FOCUS: famous
similar words:
well-known
celebrated
renowned
eminent
noted
legendary
famous for doing something bad:
notorious
infamous
not famous:
little-known
unknown
obscure
a famous person:
celebrity
celeb informal
star

1 get on/along famously old-fashioned to have a friendly relationship with someone
2 in a way that is famous:
•The trouble with common sense, as Voltaire famously observed, is that it is not very common. [C]
1 someone who likes a particular sport or performing art very much, or who admires a famous person:
•Hundreds of football fans began rioting in the streets.
[+of]
•He's a big fan of Elvis Presley.
fan mail/letters (=letters sent to famous people by their fans)
2
a) a machine with turning blades that is used to cool the air in a room by moving it around:
•a ceiling fan
b) a flat object that you wave with your hand which makes the air coolerpast tense and past participle fanned, present participle fanning [T]
1 to make air move around by waving a fan, piece of paper etc so that you feel cooler
fan yourself
•People in the audience were fanning themselves with their programmes.
2 literary to make someone feel an emotion more strongly; = fuel
•Her resistance only fanned his desire.
fan the flames (of sth)
•The book will serve to fan the flames of debate like no other.
3 fan a fire/flame etc to make a fire burn more strongly by blowing or moving the air near it:
•Then the wind rose, fanning a few sparks in the brush.

PHRASAL VERBS
fan out phr v
1 if a group of people fan out, they walk forwards while spreading over a wide area
2 fan sth <=> out to spread out a group of things that you are holding so that they make a half-circle:
•Fan the cards out, then pick one.
3 if something such as hair or clothing fans out, it spreads out in many directions [C]
1 someone who has extreme political or religious ideas and is often dangerous; = extremist
•fanatics who represent a real danger to democracy
•a religious fanatic
2 someone who likes a particular thing or activity very much; = enthusiast
•a health food fanatic
•a fitness fanatic
- fanatical adjective
•a fanatical sportsman
•He was fanatical about tidiness.
- fanatically adverb [U]
extreme political or religious beliefs - used to show disapproval; = extremism
•The bombing symbolizes the worst of religious fanaticism.[C]
the belt that operates a FAN which keeps a car engine cool BrE
sexually attractive $ [C]
pigeon/horse etc fancier someone who breeds or is interested in a particular kind of animal or plant
1 imagined rather than based on facts - often used to show disapproval:
•a fanciful story
•The suggestion that there was a conspiracy is not entirely fanciful.
2 full of unusual and very detailed shapes or complicated designs:
•fanciful decorations
- fancifully adverb[C]
an organization for FANs of a particular team, famous person etc past tense and past participle fancied, present participle fancying, third person singular fancies [T]
1 LIKE/WANT BrE informal to like or want something, or want to do something; = feel like
•Fancy a quick drink, Emma?
fancy doing sth
•Sorry, but I don't fancy going out tonight.
2 SEXUAL ATTRACTION BrE informal to feel sexually attracted to someone:
•All the girls fancied him.
3 fancy yourself BrE informal to behave in a way that shows you think you are very attractive or clever:
•That bloke on the dance floor really fancies himself.
4 fancy yourself (as) sth BrE to believe, usually wrongly, that you have particular skills or are a particular type of person:
•He fancies himself an artist.
•She fancies herself as another Madonna.
5 THINK STH WILL BE SUCCESSFUL BrE to think someone or something is likely to be successful in something:
•Which team do you fancy this year?
•I don't fancy our chances of getting a ticket this late.
6 fancy!/fancy that! BrE spoken used to express your surprise or shock about something:
•'The Petersons are getting divorced.' 'Fancy that!'
•Fancy seeing you here!
7 THINK/BELIEVE literary to think or believe something without being certain
fancy (that)
•She fancied she heard a noise downstairs.plural fancies
1 LIKING/WISH [singular] especially BrE
a) a feeling, especially one that is not particularly strong or urgent, that you like someone or want to have something
take a fancy to sb/sth (=decide that you like someone or want to have something)
•Mr Hill took a real fancy to Clara.
•Wanting to go to Mexico was just a passing fancy (=the feeling did not last long).
•Because of its high cost, a carpet is not an item that you change as the fancy takes you (=whenever you want).
b) take/catch your fancy if something takes or catches your fancy, you like it or want to have it:
•Did you see anything that took your fancy?
2 tickle sb's fancy informal to seem attractive or amusing to someone:
•The idea of playing a joke on her tickled his fancy.
3 IDEA [C] old-fashioned an idea or opinion that is not based on fact:
•Oh, that was just a fancy of his.
4 IMAGINATION [U] literary imagination or something that you imagine
flight of fancy at FLIGHT (6)comparative fancier, superlative fanciest
1 fancy hotels, restaurants, cars etc are expensive and fashionable; = swanky
•Harry took me to a fancy restaurant for our anniversary.
fancy prices BrE (=very high and often unreasonable prices)
2 having a lot of decoration or bright colours, or made in a complicated way:
•fancy soaps in seashell shapes
•I just want a basic sports coat - nothing fancy.
3 complicated and needing a lot of skill; straightforward
•I can't do all that fancy stuff on the computer.
•Negotiating a deal can take some fancy footwork (=skill at making deals).
4 [only before noun] AmE fancy food is of a high quality[U] BrE
clothes that you wear, especially to parties, that make you look like a famous person, a character from a story etc:
•an invitation to a fancy-dress party
able to do anything you like because you do not have a family or other responsibilities:
•Ten years ago I was footloose and fancy-free.[C] old-fashioned
a man that a married woman has a sexual relationship with, who is not her husband[C] old-fashioned
a woman that a married man has a sexual relationship with, who is not his wife $ [U]
decorative sewing; = embroidery $ plural fandangos [C]
a fast Spanish or South American dance, or the music for this dance $
1 [C] a short loud piece of music played on a TRUMPET to introduce an important person or event
2 [U] a lot of activity, advertising, or discussion relating to an event:
•The deal was announced with much fanfare. [C]
a long sharp tooth of an animal such as a snake or wild dog [C]
1 especially BrE a small window above a door or a larger window; = transom AmE
2 AmE a window shaped like a half-circle plural fannies [C] informal
1 AmE the part of your body that you sit on; = bottom
2 BrE taboo informal a very offensive word for a woman's outer sex organs. Do not use this word; = genitals $ [C]
a piece of music that does not have a regular form or stylealso fantasise BrE [I,T]
to imagine that you are doing something which is very pleasant or exciting, but which is very unlikely to happen
[+about]
•Sometimes she fantasized about buying a boat and sailing around the world.
fantasize that
•I used to fantasize that my real parents were famous movie stars.
1 extremely good, attractive, enjoyable etc:
•You look fantastic!
•It's a fantastic place, really beautiful!
2 spoken used when someone has just told you something good; = excellent, wonderful
•'I've passed my driving test.' 'Fantastic!'
•That's fantastic news!
3 a fantastic amount is extremely large; = huge
•Kids spend fantastic amounts of money on CDs.
4 a fantastic plan, suggestion etc is not likely to be possible:
•a fantastic scheme
5 [only before noun] a fantastic story, creature, or place is imaginary and is very strange and magical; = fantastical
•fantastic tales of dragons and fairy queens
- fantastically adverb
strange, unreal, and magical; = fantastic
•fantastical creatures with golden wings and lions' faces plural fantasies
1 [C,U] an exciting and unusual experience or situation you imagine happening to you, but which will probably never happen:
•I used to have fantasies about living in Paris with an artist.
•sexual fantasies
•Young children sometimes can't distinguish between fantasy and reality.
•He lived in a fantasy world of his own, even as a small boy.
2 [singular, U] an idea or belief that is based only on imagination, not on real facts:
•Memories can sometimes be pure fantasy, rather than actual recollections.
3 [C] a story, film etc that is based on imagination and not facts:
•a surrealist fantasy set in a South American village[U]
a game in which lots of people make imaginary football teams by choosing real players. They get points according to how well the players do in real games, and the winner is the person whose team gets the most points [C]
a magazine written by and for people who admire and support a popular musician, a sports team etc [C usually plural]
a frequently asked question $ comparative farther $ or, further $ superlative farthest $ or, furthest $
1 DISTANCE
a) a long distance; a long way
•Have you driven far?
•Since I changed jobs, I have to travel further to get to work.
•Let's see who can jump the furthest!
[+from]
•The children don't go far from home.
[+away]
•She wants to move as far away from here as possible.
•They could hear the sound of water not far away.
[+down]
•He lives further down the street.
further afield (=further away from where you are now)
•If you want to go further afield, there are bicycles for hire.
further north/south etc
•Many birds fly further south in the autumn.
•The plains stretched for as far as the eye could see (=all the distance you could see).
•The lake is about 4 miles away, but we probably won't get that far (=won't go as far as that place).
b) how far used when asking the distance between two places, or when talking about the distance between two places:
•How far is it to the station?
•The man didn't say how far it was to the next town.
c) as far as sth to a place or point, but not beyond it:
•They managed to get as far as the Spanish border.
!! Far is used mainly in questions and negative sentences. In other kinds of sentences use a long way away The airport is quite a long way away (NOT is quite far).
2 A LOT/VERY MUCH very much, or to a great degree
far better/easier etc
•The new system is far better than the old one.
•There are a far greater number of women working in television than twenty years ago.
far more/less
•I enjoyed it far more than I expected.
far too much/long/busy etc
•That's far too much to pay.
•It would take me far too long to explain.
[+above/below/beyond]
•He bought it for a price that was far beyond (=much more than) its real value.
•The teacher said that her writing skills were far below average.
•We've kept the original features of the house as far as possible (=as much as possible).
• How far do those old, outdated laws affect today's legislation?
•His style was far removed (=very different) from that of Picasso.
not far off/out/wrong (=close to being correct)
•I guessed it would cost $100 and it was $110, so I was not far out.
3 PROGRESS used to talk about how much progress someone makes, or how much effect something has:
•He started to explain, but he didn't get far (=he did not succeed in saying very much) before Mary interrupted him.
get as far as doing sth
•They had got as far as painting the kitchen.
•Many people felt that the new law did not go far enough (=did not have a big enough effect, so that more needed to be done).
4 TIME a long time in the past or the future, or a long time into a particular period
[+into]
•We talked far into the night.
[+ahead]
•They want to plan much further ahead than the next two or three years.
•The first petrol-driven car was produced as far back as 1883.
FAR-OFF
5 go too far also take/carry sth too far to do something too extreme:
•One day she will go too far.
•Some people thought he had gone too far in his criticism of the police.
6 go so far/as far as to do sth spoken to do or say something extreme:
•The government went so far as to try to arrest opposition leaders.
•I wouldn't go so far as to say that we agreed on the subject.
7 so far also thus far formal until now:
•So far we have not had to borrow any money.
•They're delighted with the replies they've received from the public thus far.
8 so far so good spoken used to say that things have been happening successfully until now:
•We've reached the semi-finals. So far so good.
9 far from sth used to say that something very different is true or happens:
•Conditions are still far from ideal.
far from doing/being sth
•Far from helping the situation, you've just made it worse.
10 far from it spoken used to say that the opposite of what has just been said is true:
•'Are you bored?' 'Far from it. I could listen all night.'
•Local people aren't objecting - far from it.
11 far and wide over a large area:
•His fame spread far and wide.
•People came from far and wide (=came from many places) to see the concert.
12 by far/far and away used to say that something is much better, worse etc than anything else:
•Watching sport was by far the most popular activity on Saturday afternoons.
•Spring is far and away the best time to visit the islands.
13 sb will/would/should etc go far used to say that you think someone will be successful in the future:
•He was the best student in his year, and everyone was sure he would go far.
14 as/so far as I'm concerned spoken used when giving your opinion about something:
•As far as I'm concerned she can come home whenever she likes.
15 as/so far as sth is concerned spoken used when you want to talk about a particular thing:
•As far as money's concerned, there shouldn't be a problem.
16 as/so far as I know/I can remember/I can tell/I can see etc spoken used to say that you think that something is true, although it is possible that you do not know all the facts or cannot remember completely:
•There weren't any buildings there at all, as far as I can remember.
•As far as I can see, there's nothing else to discuss.
17 far be it from me to do sth spoken used when saying that you do not want to criticize someone or say what they should do, especially when this is what you are really about to do:
•Far be it from me to try and teach you your job, but don't you think you should have been more careful?
18 as far as it goes used to say that an idea, suggestion, plan etc is satisfactory, but only to a limited degree:
•His theories are fine, as far as they go.
19 not go far
a) if money does not go far, you cannot buy very much with it:
•My salary doesn't go very far these days.
b) if a supply of something does not go far, it is not enough:
•The coffee won't go far if everyone wants a cup.
20 in so far as/insofar as/in as far as formal to the degree that:
•The research suggests that the drug will be successful, in so far as one can draw conclusions from such a small sample size.comparative farther or, further superlative farthest or, furthest
1 a long distance away; near
•We can walk to my house from here. It isn't far.
•You could see the mountains in the far distance.
2 the far side/end/corner etc the side, end etc that is furthest from you; near
•They crossed the bridge and walked along the far side of the stream.
•There was a piano in the far corner of the room.
3 the far north/south etc the part of a country or area that is furthest in the direction of north, south etc:
•It will become windy in the far north and west.
4 the far left/right people who have extreme LEFT-WING or RIGHT-WING political opinions:
•The candidate for the far right got ten percent of the vote.
5 be a far cry from sth to be very different from something:
•The company lost £3 million, which is a far cry from last year's £60 million profit.
1 [only before noun] literary a long distance away; = distant
•She dreamed of flying away to exotic faraway places.
•faraway noises
2 a faraway look an expression on your face which shows that you are not paying attention but thinking about something very different:
•His eyes had a distant faraway look, like a sailor staring out to sea. $
1 [singular] an event or a situation that is very badly organized or does not happen properly, in a way that is silly and unreasonable:
•She admitted that the interview had been a complete farce from start to finish.
2 [C,U] a humorous play or film in which the characters are involved in complicated and silly situations, or the style of writing or acting that is used $
1 a situation or event that is farcical is very silly and badly organized:
•Opposition leaders described the government's plans as 'farcical'.
2 a farcical play or film is a humorous one in which the characters become involved in silly and complicated situations
- farcically adverb $
1 [C] the price you pay to travel somewhere by bus, train, plane etc
bus/train/air/cab fare
•Air fares have shot up by 20%.
half-fare/full-fare
•Children under 14 travel half-fare.
see box at COST^1
2 [U] written food, especially food served in a restaurant or eaten on a special occasion:
•traditional Christmas fare
3 [C] a passenger in a taxi
4 [U] something that is offered to the public, especially as entertainment:
•The movie is suitable family fare.
fare well/badly/better etc to be successful, unsuccessful etc:
•Although Chicago has fared better than some cities, unemployment remains a problem.
•He wondered how Ed had fared in the interview.
the Far East the countries in the east of Asia, such as China, Japan, Korea etc
- Far Eastern adjective
MIDDLE EAST, NEAR EAST $
1 [C,U] old-fashioned the action of saying goodbye:
•Mourners gathered to bid farewell to the victims of the plane tragedy.
•a farewell speech
2 farewell party/dinner/drink etc a party or dinner that you have because someone is leaving a job, city etc:
•40 of her colleagues gathered for her farewell presentation.old use
goodbye
extremely unlikely to be true or to happen:
•All this may sound a bit far-fetched, but companies are already developing 'intelligent' homes.
1 very distant
far-flung corners/places/regions etc
•expeditions to far-flung corners of the globe
•people flying to far-flung destinations
2 spread out over a very large area:
•Email enables far-flung friends to keep in touch.[not before noun] informal
very sick, drunk, crazy etc:
•She's pretty far gone - can you drive her home? $ [C]
1 an area of land, used for growing crops or keeping animals:
•a 300-hectare farm
•farm workers
•farm animals
•Joe had worked on the farm all his life.
a pig/dairy/cattle etc farm
•He runs a pig farm in Lincolnshire.
!! Say on a/the farm, not 'in a/the farm'.
2 the main house on a farm where the farmer lives
factory farm at FACTORY FARMING; FISH FARM, FUNNY FARM[I,T]
1 to use land for growing crops or keeping animals:
•The family has farmed here for generations.
•The land has been farmed organically since 1995.
2 farmed salmon/fish/rabbits etc fish and animals that have been raised on farms, and not caught from the wild

PHRASAL VERBS
farm sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to send work to other people instead of doing it yourself
[+to]
•The processing will be farmed out to people in local villages.
2 to send someone to a different place where they will be looked after - used to show disapproval
[+to]
•At the age of 16 she was farmed out to family friends. $ [C]
someone who owns or manages a farm[C]
a place where farmers bring their fruit, vegetables, meat, and other products to sell directly to people in a town or city $ [C]
someone who works on a farm $ [C]
the main house on a farm, where the farmer lives $ [U]
the practice or business of growing crops or keeping animals on a farm
sheep/dairy/livestock etc farming
organic/intensive farming
•the farming industry $ [U]
land used for farming $ [C]
a farmhouse and the buildings around it $ [C]
an area surrounded by farm buildingsliterary
1 a long way from where you are; = distant
a far-off land/country/place etc
•visitors from a far-off land
•far-off galaxies
2 a long time ago:
•in those far-off days when we were young
very strange or unusual; = weird
•Tim's designs were just far-out.
having a great influence or effect
far-reaching reforms/proposals/changes
•These countries need to carry out far-reaching reforms to modernize their economies.
far-reaching implications/impact/effects
•Tourism has had far-reaching effects on the island's culture. $ [C]
someone who makes shoes for horses' feet; blacksmith $ [U]
the language of Iran; = Persian $
1 far-sighted people, ideas, or plans are wise because they show an understanding of what will happen in the future:
•far-sighted investments
•a far-sighted politician
2 especially AmE able to see or read things clearly only when they are far away from you; short-sighted ; = long-sighted BrE
- far-sightedness noun [U] $ [I] not polite
to make air come out of your BOWEL s; = break wind

PHRASAL VERBS
fart about/around phr v informal
to waste time not doing very much:
•Stop farting around and get on with your work!
1 [C] not polite an act of making air come out of your BOWEL s
2 old fart informal a stupid and uninteresting older person $
1 a greater distance than before or than something else; a COMPARATIVE form of 'far'; = further
•We decided not to go any farther.
farther away/apart/down/along etc
•The boats were drifting farther and farther apart.
•a resort town farther up the coast
farther south/north etc
•Two miles farther south is the village of Santa Catarina.
•Most of them were locals, but some had come from farther afield (=a greater distance away).
2 if you do something farther, you do it more or to a greater degree; = further
•We'd better investigate farther.
•The police decided not to take the matter any farther (=do more about it).
!! In spoken English it is more usual to use further.[only before noun]
more distant; a COMPARATIVE form of 'far'; = further
•A table stood at the farther end of the kitchen. $
at or to the greatest distance away; the SUPERLATIVE form of 'far':
•My sister was the one who travelled farthest.
farthest away/apart etc
•She lived farthest away from school of all of us.
!! In spoken English it is more usual to use furthest.also furthest
the most distant; the SUPERLATIVE form of 'far':
•the farthest corners of the globe $ [C]
an old British coin that was worth one quarter of a PENNY [C] BrE
1 a DASHBOARD
2 a long board above a shop with the shop's name on it [T not in progressive]
if someone or something fascinates you, you are attracted to them and think they are extremely interesting:
•The idea of travelling through time fascinates me. [not before noun]
extremely interested by something or someone:
•I was fascinated by her voice.
fascinated to see/hear/learn etc
•Ed was fascinated to see gorillas in the wild.
extremely interesting:
•a fascinating book
•That sounds absolutely fascinating.
find sb/sth fascinating
•I found him quite fascinating.
- fascinatingly adverb
1 [singular, U] the state of being very interested in something, so that you want to look at it, learn about it etc; obsession
[+for/with]
•Police knew of his fascination with guns.
in fascination
•The children watched in fascination.
2 [C,U] something that interests you very much, or the quality of being very interesting
hold/have a fascination for sb
•India will always hold a great fascination for me.
•The fascination lay in the mystery of what was inside the box. [U]
a RIGHT-WING political system in which people's lives are completely controlled by the state and no political opposition is allowed [C]
1 someone who supports fascism:
•The fascists came to power in 1933.
2 informal someone who is cruel and unfair and does not like people to argue with them:
•My last boss was a real fascist.
3 informal someone who has extreme RIGHT-WING opinions
- fascist adjective
•Mussolini's fascist regime [in adverbs]
like something, or in the way that a particular group of people does something:
•They ate Indian-fashion, using their fingers.
1 [singular, U] something that is popular or thought to be good at a particular time
[+for]
•the fashion for so-called 'discovery methods' of learning
[+in]
•The emerging science of photography was already changing fashions in art.
•Eastern religions used to be the fashion in the 60s.
•His ideas are coming back into fashion (=they are becoming popular again).
•Their music will never go out of fashion (=stop being fashionable).
•Self-help books are now all the fashion (=they are very fashionable).
2 [C, U] a style of clothes, hair etc that is popular at a particular time:
•They sold the latest fashions from Europe (=the most recent fashions).
•The 1960s space-age look has influenced both men's and women's fashions.
•Hats are in fashion again this year (=they are fashionable).
•Grey is out of fashion now (=it is no longer fashionable).
•extreme designs which will go out of fashion as quickly as they came in (=stop being fashionable)
•Fur coats were considered to be the height of fashion and sophistication (=were thought to be very fashionable).
•Teenage girls are very fashion conscious (=they are very concerned about wearing the latest fashions).
3 [U] the business or study of making and selling clothes, shoes etc in new and changing styles:
•a leading men's fashion magazine
•the fall fashion shows in New York, Milan, and Paris
•She used to be one of the world's top fashion models.
• fashion photographer Richard Avedon
•The dark-eyed Italian is set to take the fashion world by storm (=become very successful in the world of fashion).
•She hopes to find work in the fashion industry (=all the companies and people who are involved in fashion).
•a 22-year-old student at the London College of Fashion
4 in a ... fashion in a particular way:
•Please leave the building in an orderly fashion.
•Perhaps they could sit down and discuss things in a civilised fashion.
•She will be working out her problems in her own fashion (=in the way that she usually does this) and should be allowed to do so.
5 after a fashion not very much, not very well, or not very effectively:
•'Can you speak Russian?' 'After a fashion.'
6 after the fashion of sb in a style that is typical of a particular person:
•Her early work is very much after the fashion of Picasso and Braque.
7 like it's going out of fashion informal use this to emphasize that someone does something a lot or uses a lot of something:
•Danny's been spending money like it's going out of fashion.
parrot fashion at PARROT^1 (2)[T]
1 to shape or make something, using your hands or only a few tools
fashion sth from sth
•He fashioned a box from a few old pieces of wood.
fashion sth into sth
•Jamie could take a piece of wood and fashion it into a wonderful work of art.
2 [usually passive] to influence and form someone's ideas and opinions:
•We are all unique human beings, fashioned by life experiences.
1 popular, especially for a short period of time; unfashionable
•Strong colours are very fashionable at the moment.
it is fashionable (for sb) to do sth
•It suddenly became fashionable for politicians to talk about green issues.
2 popular with, or used by, rich people; unfashionable
a fashionable resort/area/address etc
•He runs a very fashionable restaurant near the Harbor.
- fashionably adverb
•fashionably dressed young ladies[C]
a company that produces new and expensive styles of clothes [C] informal
someone who is very interested in fashion and who likes the very newest styles[C] informal
someone who likes to wear very fashionable clothes[C]
an event at which new styles of clothes are shown to the public[C]
something that you own or wear that is considered new or different, and that is intended to make other people notice you:
•Mobile phones make a big fashion statement.[C] informal
someone who always wears what is fashionable, even if it makes them look bad $
1 MOVING QUICKLY moving quickly:
•Slow down - you're driving too fast.
•a fast-moving river
•Johnny ran off as fast as his legs could carry him (=running as quickly as he could).
2 IN A SHORT TIME happening in a short time:
•Kids grow up fast these days.
•The survivors needed help fast.
•How fast can you get the job done?
fast becoming/disappearing/approaching etc
•Access to the Internet is fast becoming a necessity.
• It all happened so fast I didn't even notice I was bleeding.
3 fast asleep sleeping very deeply:
•Nick was lying on the sofa, fast asleep.
4 be stuck/held fast to become or be firmly fixed and unable to move:
•The boat was stuck fast in the mud.
•She tried to pull her hand free, but it was held fast.
5 be getting/be going nowhere fast informal to not succeed in making progress or achieving something:
•I kept asking her the same question, but I was getting nowhere fast.
6 not so fast spoken used to tell someone not to be too eager to do or believe something:
•Not so fast. We've got to prove it first, haven't we?
7 fast by sth literary very close to something:
•fast by the river
play fast and loose with sb at PLAY^1 (30); stand fast at STAND^1 (25); thick and fast at THICK^2 (2)

WORD FOCUS: fast
moving very quickly:
at high speed
like lightning
at top speed
flat out
doing something quickly:
quick
rapid
swift
prompt
speedy
happening quickly:
rapid
speedy
meteoric
at an alarming rate
in no time

1 MOVING QUICKLY moving or able to move quickly:
•a fast car
•He's one of the fastest runners in the world.
2 IN A SHORT TIME doing something or happening in a short time:
•The subway is the fastest way to get downtown.
•The company must give a faster response to clients' requests.
•The rainforests are being chopped down at an alarmingly fast rate.
•I'm a fast learner.
3 CLOCK [not before noun] a clock that is fast shows a later time than the real time:
•That can't be the time - my watch must be fast.
five minutes/an hour etc fast
•I always keep my watch 15 minutes fast.
4 fast track a way of achieving something more quickly than is normally done
on the fast track
•a young actress on the fast track to fame and success
5 fast road a road on which vehicles can travel very quickly
6 fast film/lens a film or LENS (2) that can be used when there is little light, or when photographing something that is moving very quickly
7 COLOUR a colour that is fast will not change when clothes are washed
COLOURFAST
8 SPORTS a fast surface is one on which a ball moves very quickly
9 fast and furious done very quickly with a lot of effort and energy, or happening very quickly with a lot of sudden changes:
•Arsenal's opening attack was fast and furious.
10 sb is a fast worker informal used to say that someone can get what they want very quickly, especially in starting a sexual relationship with another person
11 fast talker someone who talks quickly and easily but is often not honest or sincere
12 WOMAN old-fashioned becoming involved quickly in sexual relationships with men:
•fast cars and fast women
13 make sth fast to tie something such as a boat or tent firmly to something else
14 fast friends literary two people who are very friendly for a long time
FAST FOOD, FAST-FORWARD, FAST LANE; make a fast buck at BUCK^1 (1); pull a fast one at PULL^1 (10)[I]
to eat little or no food for a period of time, especially for religious reasons:
•Muslims fast during Ramadan.[C]
a period during which someone does not eat, especially for religious reasons:
•Gandhi drank some orange juice to break (=end) his three-week fast. $ [C]
a ball that is thrown very hard and quickly towards the BATTER in a game of BASEBALL[C]
a day when you do not eat any food, especially for religious reasons $
1 CLOTHES/BAG ETC also fasten up
a) [T] to join together the two sides of a coat, shirt, bag etc so that it is closed; = do up; unfasten
•'I'm going now,' she said, fastening her coat.
•Fasten your seat belt.
b) [I] to become joined together with buttons, hooks etc; = do up
•I was so fat that my skirt wouldn't fasten.
2 WINDOW/GATE ETC [I,T] to firmly close a window, gate etc so that it will not open, or to become firmly closed; unfasten
•Make sure all the windows are securely fastened before you leave.
3 ATTACH STH TO STH [T] to attach something firmly to another object or surface
fasten sth with sth
•Fasten the edges of the cloth together with pins.
fasten sth to sth
•They fastened the rope to a tree.
4 HOLD STH TIGHTLY [I,T] to hold something firmly with your hands, legs, arms, or teeth
fasten sth around/round sth
•She fastened her arms around his neck.
[+around/round]
•A strong hand fastened round her wrist.
[+on/onto]
•Their long claws allow them to fasten onto the rocks and hold firm.
5 fasten your eyes/gaze on sb/sth to look at someone or something for a long time:
•He rose, his eyes still fastened on the piece of paper.
6 fasten your attention on sb/sth to think a lot about one particular thing or person:
•He was working quietly, all his attention fastened on the task.

PHRASAL VERBS
fasten on/upon sth phr v
to give particular attention to something because you think it is important or interesting:
•My mother fastened on the word "unsafe".

fasten onto sb/sth phr v also fasten on to sb/sth
1 to give particular attention to something because you think it is important or interesting
2 to follow someone and stay with them, especially when they do not want you to; = latch onto sb
•The dog seemed lost and fastened onto us.also fastening $ [C]
1 something that you use to join something together, such as a button on a piece of clothing:
•shoes with velcro fasteners
2 something that is used to keep a door, window etc firmly shut[U]
food such as HAMBURGERs which is prepared quickly and that you can take away with you[I,T]
1 to wind a tape or video forwards quickly without playing it
2 to move quickly to a later point in a story
[+to]
•Fast-forward to America at the turn of the century.
- fast-forward noun [U]
very careful about small details in your appearance, work etc; = meticulous
•people who are fastidious about personal hygiene and appearance
- fastidiously adverb
- fastidiousness noun [U]
1 the fast lane informal an exciting way of life that involves dangerous and expensive activities:
•Brenda is a lady who loves life in the fast lane.
2 [C usually singular] the part of a big road where people drive fastest:
•I broke down in the fast lane of the M6. $ [C] literary
a place that is safe because it is difficult to reach; = stronghold
•mountain fastnesses[singular]
the fast track to something is the fastest way of achieving it:
•Many saw independence as the fast track to democracy.[only before noun]
happening or making progress more quickly than is usual:
•a fast-track procedure for adoption comparative fatter, superlative fattest
1 FLESH weighing too much because you have too much flesh on your body; thin
•Are you suggesting I'm too fat?
•a short fat man in his early fifties
•You'll get fat if you eat all that chocolate.
•He looks much fatter than in his photo.
2 OBJECT thick or wide; thin
•Dobbs was smoking a fat cigar.
•a big fat book
3 MONEY [only before noun] informal containing or worth a large amount of money:
•a fat cheque
•Of course the supermarkets' aim is to make fat profits.
4 fat chance informal used to say that something is very unlikely to happen
[+of]
•'You can go to bed now and sleep easy.' 'Fat chance of that!'
5 (a) fat lot of good/use spoken not at all useful or helpful:
•Fat lot of use you are in the kitchen.
6 fat cat informal someone who has too much money, especially someone who is paid too much for their job - used in order to show disapproval:
•the fat cats at the top who have recently been given obscene pay increases
7 in fat city AmE old-fashioned having plenty of money
8 grow fat on sth to become rich because of something used to show disapproval:
•The finance men had grown fat on managing other people's money.
9 a fat lip informal a lip that is swollen because it has been hit:
•My friend was badly injured with bruised ribs and a fat lip.
10 APPROVAL informal another spelling of PHAT; used to show approval, especially of someone or something that is fashionable, interesting, or attractive
fat/phat beats (=music that sounds good)
•Check out these fat beats.
- fatness noun [U]
•a rise in fatness in children

WORD CHOICE: fat, overweight, obese, chubby, plump, big, well-built
In general, people do not like to be called fat. But some ways to say 'fat' are less rude than others.
fat is a very direct word. You might use it about yourself but it will usually cause offence if you use it about someone else: I'm so fat at the moment!
overweight is a more polite way to say that someone is fatter than they usually are or than they should be: She is a little overweight.
obese is a word used especially by doctors to describe people who are very fat, in a way that is bad for their health.
chubby is a more informal word and is used especially of children or of rounded body parts such as cheeks or knees.
plump means fat and rounded in a pleasant way: a plump, motherly woman
big andwell-built are fairly polite ways to describe someone with a large, strong, or fat body: For big men like him, air travel can be uncomfortable.

1 [U] a substance that is stored under the skin of people and animals, that helps to keep them warm:
•Rolls of fat bulged over his collar.
•I didn't like the meat - there was too much fat on it.
2 [C,U] an oily substance contained in certain foods:
•Cream has a high fat content.
high/low in fat
•This cheese is relatively low in fat.
•You should think about reducing your fat intake (=the amount of fat you eat).
high-fat/low-fat
•a low-fat diet
SATURATED FAT
3 [C,U] an oily substance taken from animals or plants and used in cooking:
•Place the chicken in the hot fat.
4 the fat is in the fire used to say that there will be trouble because of something that has happened
5 live off the fat of the land to get enough money to live comfortably without doing much work
6 run to fat to start to become fat, especially because you are getting older or do not do much exercise
chew the fat at CHEW^1 (4); PUPPY FAT
1 resulting in someone's death:
•potentially fatal diseases
fatal accident/illness/injury etc
•a fatal climbing accident
•If it is not treated correctly, the condition can prove fatal (=be fatal).
2 having a very bad effect, especially making someone fail or stop what they are doing
[+to]
•Disunity finally proved fatal to the rebels' cause.
•There was one fatal flaw (=serious weakness) in his argument.
•His presidential hopes suffered a fatal blow in New Hampshire.
fatal mistake/error
•Telling your employees they're unimportant is a fatal error. [U]
the belief that there is nothing you can do to prevent events from happening
- fatalist noun [C]
believing that there is nothing you can do to prevent events from happening:
•a fatalistic approach to life
- fatalistically adverb plural fatalities
1 [C] a death in an accident or a violent attack:
•a 50% increase in the number of traffic fatalities
2 [U] formal the fact that a disease is certain to cause death:
•The most serious form of skin cancer has a 30 percent fatality rate.
3 [U] formal the feeling that you cannot control what happens to you
1 in a way that causes death
fatally injured/wounded
•Two officers were fatally injured in the explosion.
2 in a way that will make something fail or be unable to continue
fatally flawed/weakened/damaged etc
•Bolton's idea was fatally flawed.
•He has been fatally undermined by his own finance minister.[C] informal
a place where children who are fat go to lose weight and to exercise, especially in the summer
1 [C usually singular] the things that will happen to someone, especially unpleasant events

suffer a fate
seal/decide/settle sb's fate (=make it certain that something will happen to someone)
meet the same/a similar fate
leave/abandon sb to their fate (=leave someone when something terrible could happen to them)
the fate awaiting sb (=what will happen to someone)
accept a fate
resign yourself to your fate (=accept it)
a fate befalls sb (=they suffer a particular fate)
sb's ultimate fate (=the final things that happen)

•I wouldn't wish such a fate on my worst enemy.
[+of]
•No one knows what the fate of the hostages will be.
• The rest of Europe was to suffer the same fate.
• A meeting to decide the fate of the factory is to be held today.
• She wanted to prevent other children from meeting the same fate.
• They had abandoned him and left him to his fate.
•Spencer's father had died young, and he feared that the same fate awaited him.
•They would rather starve to death than accept the fate of slavery.
• She seemed placidly resigned to her fate.
• the fate that befell a captured rebel general
• Nothing is known of Green's origins or ultimate fate, only that he was involved in building the church.

2 [U] a power that is believed to control what happens in people's lives:
•Fate plays cruel tricks sometimes.
a twist/quirk of fate (=something unexpected that happens)
•By a strange twist of fate Smith's first match is against the team that gave him the sack last season.
3 a fate worse than death something terrible that might happen to you - often used humorously:
•He had rescued an innocent young girl from a fate worse than death.
4 the Fates the three goddesses who, according to the ancient Greeks, controlled what happened to people
tempt fate at TEMPT (3)
certain to happen or to do something because a mysterious force is controlling events; = destined
be fated to do sth
•I'm fated to spend my last years in an old folks' home.
ILL-FATED [usually before noun]
having an important, especially bad, effect on future events
fateful day/night/year etc
•The goalkeeper on that fateful day in 1954 was Fred Martin of Aberdeen.
•When his rent was raised, he made the fateful decision to move north.
- fatefully adverb[C] AmE informal
a place where people who are fat can go to lose weight and improve their health
HEALTH FARM
containing no fat:
•fat-free yoghurt [C] informal
a stupid person; = idiot
- #fat-=headed adjective $ [C]
1 PARENT a male parent:
•Ask your father to help you.
•Andrew was very excited about becoming a father.
•He's been like a father to me.
a father of two/three/four etc (=a man with two, three etc children)
•The driver, a father of four, escaped uninjured.
•Steve recently became the proud father of a 7lb 12oz baby girl.
2 PRIEST Father a priest, especially in the Roman Catholic church:
•I have sinned, Father.
•Father Devlin
HOLY FATHER
3 fathers [plural] people related to you who lived a long time ago; = ancestors
•Our fathers were exiles from their native land.
FOREFATHER
4 GOD Father a way of talking to or talking about God, used in the Christian religion:
•our Heavenly Father
5 the father of sth the man who was responsible for starting something:
•Freud is the father of psychoanalysis.
6 from father to son if property or skill passes from father to son, children receive it or learn it from their parents:
•This is a district where old crafts are handed down from father to son.
7 like father like son used to say that a boy behaves like his father, especially when this behaviour is bad
8 a bit of how's your father BrE informal the act of having sex - used humorously
CITY FATHERS, FOUNDING FATHER[T]
1 to become the father of a child by making a woman PREGNANT:
•Hodgkins fathered seven children.
2 formal to start an important new idea or system:
•Bevan fathered the concept of the National Health Service.

PHRASAL VERBS
father sth on sb phr v BrE
formal to claim that someone is responsible for something when they are not:
•A collection of Irish stories was fathered on him.[singular] BrE
an imaginary man who wears red clothes, has a long white beard, and is said to bring presents to children at Christmas; = Santa Claus[C]
an older man who you trust and respect
[+to/for]
•Ken was a father figure to all of us. $ [U]
the state of being a father:
•The idea of fatherhood frightens me. [U]
the skills and activities involved in being a father:
•Don't get me wrong, fathering certainly has changed.plural fathers-in-law [C]
the father of your husband or wife $ [singular]
the place where someone or their family was born
MOTHER COUNTRY, MOTHERLAND $ [only before noun]
kind and gentle in a way that is considered typical of a good father:
•He took my arm in a fatherly way.
•fatherly advice[C]
a day on which people give cards and presents to their father [C]
a unit for measuring the depth of water, equal to six feet or about 1.8 metresalso fathom out [T]
to understand what something means after thinking about it carefully; = work out
•I still can't fathom out what she meant.
[+how/why/where etc]
•Mark couldn't fathom why she resented him so much. literary
impossible to measure or understand:
•the fathomless depths of the sea
1 [U] very great tiredness; = exhaustion
with fatigue
•Sam's face was grey with fatigue.
from fatigue
•He's suffering from physical and mental fatigue.
2 [U] technical a weakness in metal or wood, caused when it is bent or stretched many times, which is likely to make it break:
• metal fatigue
3 fatigues [plural] loose-fitting army clothes formal
extremely tired; = exhausted
•Sara looked white and fatigued. formal
extremely tiring; = exhausting $ plural fatsoes [C] informal
an insulting word for someone who is fat
kill the fatted calf at KILL^1 (15)
1 [I,T] to make an animal become fatter so that it is ready to eat, or to become fat and ready to eat
2 [T] to make an amount larger:
•These projects simply serve to fatten the pockets of developers.

PHRASAL VERBS
fatten sb/sth <=> up phr v
to make a person or animal fatter:
•My parents are always trying to fatten me up.
likely to make you fat:
•Fats are the most fattening foods of all. informal
having or showing unkind attitudes towards people who are fat:
•fattist jokes
containing a lot of fat:
•Avoid fatty foods.plural fatties [C] informal
an insulting word for someone who is fat[C] technical
an acid that the cells in your body need to use food effectively
very silly or stupid; = idiotic
•fatuous questions
- fatuously adverb
- fatuousness noun [U] [C]
an official order made by an important Islamic religious leader $ [C] AmE
the thing that you turn on and off to control the flow of water from a pipe; = tap BrE $ [C]
1 RESPONSIBLE FOR MISTAKE if something bad that has happened is your fault, you should be blamed for it, because you made a mistake or failed to do something:
•I'm really sorry - it's all my fault.
be sb's fault (that)
•It's your fault we're late.
•I didn't sleep well that night, but it was my own fault.
be sb's fault for doing sth
•It's my fault for not making your new job clearer.
2 at fault if someone is at fault, they are responsible for something bad that has happened:
•The police said that the other driver was at fault.
•Some people claim that it is the UN that is at fault.
3 STH WRONG WITH STH
a) something that is wrong with a machine, system, design etc, which prevents it from working properly:
•a design fault
[+in]
•It sounds as if there's a fault in one of the loudspeakers.
b) something that is wrong with something, which could be improved; = flaw
•There are two serious faults in Hobsbawm's discussion of nationalism.
• For all its faults (=in spite of its faults) we love this city.
c) a mistake in the way that something was made, which spoils its appearance
[+in]
•The sweater had a fault in it and I had to take it back.
4 SB'S CHARACTER a bad or weak part of someone's character:
•His worst fault is his arrogance.
•I may have my faults, but ingratitude is not one of them.
• For all his faults (=in spite of his faults) he was a good father.
5 through no fault of her/my etc own used to say that something bad that happened to someone was not caused by them:
•Through no fault of our own we are currently two players short.
6 CRACK a large crack in the rocks that form the Earth's surface:
•the San Andreas fault in Northern California
7 generous/loyal/honest etc to a fault extremely generous, kind etc:
•Barry's kind, caring and generous to a fault.
8 TENNIS a mistake made when a player is SERVING the ball in tennis
DOUBLE FAULT; find fault with sb/sth at FIND^1 (14)

WORD CHOICE: fault, blame, mistake
If someone causes something bad, you can say that it is their fault or that they are to blame: The accident was my fault. | Nobody is to blame for what happened.

!! Do not say that someone 'has the/a etc fault' We didn't think that it was our fault OR that we were to blame (NOT that we had any fault).

!! Do not say that something is 'someone's blame'.
Use fault to mean something that is wrong with a machine or system, or something that you could criticize about a person or thing: The car engine had developed a fault. | The book's only fault is that it is too long.
Use mistake to mean something that is wrong in someone's grammar, spelling, calculations, decisions etc: Please correct any mistakes (NOT faults) in my letter.

[T usually passive]
to criticize someone or something for a mistake:
•The judge cannot be faulted on his decision.
it is hard/difficult to fault sb/sth
•You might not like O'Donnel's arrogance, but it's hard to fault what he does on the field. $
having no mistakes; = perfect
•a faultless performance
- faultlessly adverb
fault-tolerant computer/machine a computer that continues working even if it has a fault or when there is a fault in a program $
1 not working properly, or not made correctly:
•Customers may ask for a refund if the goods are faulty.
•a faulty gene that causes breast cancer
2 a faulty way of thinking about something contains a mistake, so that you make a wrong decision:
•an idea based on a faulty understanding of biology $ [C]
an ancient Roman god with the body of a man and the legs and horns of a goat $ [C,U] technical
all the animals living in a particular area or period in history
FLORA $ [U]
a style of painting that uses pure bright colours, which was developed in the early 20th century $ [only before noun] especially AmE
artificial, but made to look real:
•faux pearls $ plural faux pas [C]
an embarrassing mistake in a social situation [C] AmE
a large flat pale green bean; = broad bean BrE [C] informal
a favourite person or thing:
•a band that's a college fave
- fave adjective $
the American spelling of FAVOUR
the American spelling of FAVOURABLE $
the American spelling of FAVOURED
the American spelling of FAVOURITE [U]
the American spelling of FAVOURITISMfavor AmE $ BrE
1 HELP [C] something that you do for someone in order to help them or be kind to them

do sb a favour (=do something for someone)
as a favour (to sb) (=because you want to be kind, not because you have to)
ask sb a favour/ask a favour of sb (=ask someone to do something for you)
owe sb a favour (=feel that you should do something for someone because they have done something for you)
return a favour (=do something for someone because they have done something for you)
be doing sb a favour (=used to say that something that seems bad will benefit someone)
do yourself a favour (=do something good for yourself)
a personal favour
a political favour

•Could you do me a favour and tell Kelly I can't make it?
•He hired John as a favour to his father.
•Paul, can I ask you a favor?
•I owed him a favour so I couldn't say no.
•She helps me out when I have too much to do, and I return the favour when I can.
• Do yourself a favour and make sure you get some time to yourself.

2 SUPPORT/APPROVAL [U] support, approval, or agreement for something such as a plan, idea, or system
in favour of sth
•Senior ministers spoke in favour of the proposal.
•I talked to Susie about it, and she's all in favor (=completely approves) of going.
find/gain/win favour
•The idea may find favor with older people.
in sb/sth's favour
•The vote was 60-59 in the government's favor.
•In Sweden and other countries, nuclear power has lost favor.
look on/view/regard sth with favour formal (=support something, and want to help it succeed)
•Employers are more likely to look with favour on experienced candidates.
• All in favour (=used when asking people to vote on something by raising a hand)?
vote/decide in favour of sth (=vote or decide to support something)
•288 members voted in favor of the ban.
find/rule in favour of sb formal (=make a legal decision that supports someone)
3 POPULAR/UNPOPULAR [U] when someone or something is liked or approved of by people, or not liked or approved of
be in favour (with sb)
•The island is very much in favour as a holiday destination.
be out of favour (with sb)
•The stock is currently out of favor with investors.
find/gain/win favour
•Radcliffe's books began to find favour with the reading public.
come/be back in favour (=become popular again)
•Fountain pens have come back in favour.
fall/go out of favour (=stop being approved of)
•Grammar-based teaching methods went out of favour in the 60s and 70s.
4 ADVANTAGE in sb's favour if something is in someone's favour, it gives them an advantage over someone else:
•Conditions on court are very much in Williams' favour.
•The new rules should actually work in your favor.
•Duncan had his height and weight in his favour during the fight.
the odds are (stacked) in sb's favour (=someone has a big advantage)
5 CHOOSE STH INSTEAD do sth in favour of sth if you decide not to use one thing in favour of another, you choose the other one because you think it is better:
•Plans for a tunnel were rejected in favour of a bridge.
6 do sb/sth no favours not do sb/sth any favours to do something that makes someone or something look worse than they are, or that does not help at all:
•Low interest rates don't do savers any favours.
7 UNFAIR SUPPORT [U] support that is given to one person or group and not to others, in a way that does not seem fair:
•Teachers should not show favour to any pupil.
8 do me/us a favour! BrE spoken used when you are annoyed because someone has asked a silly question or done something to upset people:
•Do us a favour, Mike, and shut up!
•'Did you like it?' 'Do me a favour!'
9 GIFT [C] AmE a PARTY FAVOR
10 SEX favours [plural] old-fashioned when you allow someone to have sex with you:
•She shared her sexual favors with many men.
curry favour (with sb) at CURRY^2; without fear or favour at FEAR^1 (6); be thankful/grateful for small favours at SMALL^1 (13)favor AmE [T] BrE
1 PREFER to prefer someone or something to other things or people, especially when there are several to choose from:
•Both countries seem to favour the agreement.
•loose clothing of the type favoured in Arab countries
favour sb/sth over sb/sth
•Florida voters favored Bush over Gore by a very small margin.
2 GIVE AN ADVANTAGE to treat someone much better than someone else, in a way that is not fair:
•a tax cut that favours rich people
favour sb over sb
•a judicial system that favours men over women
3 HELP to provide suitable conditions for something to happen:
•The current economy does not favour the development of small businesses.
4 LOOK LIKE old-fashioned to look like one of your parents or grandparents

PHRASAL VERBS
favour sb with sth phr v formal
to give someone something such as a look or reply:
•McIntosh favoured her with a smile.favorable AmE BrE
1 a favourable report, opinion, or reaction shows that you think that someone or something is good or that you agree with them:
•favourable film reviews
•The response has been overwhelmingly favorable.
2 suitable and likely to make something happen or succeed:
•The disease spreads quickly under favourable conditions.
[+for/to]
•a financial environment that is favorable to job creation
3 if a LOAN, agreement, rate etc is favourable, the conditions of it are reasonable and not too expensive or difficult:
•a favourable interest rate
•the favorable terms of the settlement
4 making people like or approve of someone or something:
•A smart appearance makes a favourable impression at an interview.
- favourably adverbfavored AmE $ [only before noun] BrE
1 receiving special attention, help, or treatment, sometimes in an unfair way:
•a list of favoured customers
•China's most-favored-nation trading status with the US
2 chosen or preferred by many people:
•Brittany is a favoured holiday destination for families.
3 a favoured team, player etc is one that is expected to win
be favoured to do sth
•Silva is favoured to win a medal in the marathon.
4 having desirable qualities:
•a house in a favoured position on a hillfavorite AmE [only before noun] BrE
1 your favourite person or thing is the one that you like the most:
•a child's favourite toy
•What's your favourite colour?
•a favorite spot for picnickers
2 favourite son a politician, sports player etc who is popular with people in the place that they come fromfavorite AmE [C] BrE
1 something that you like more than other things of the same kind :
•Can we have strawberries? They're my favourite.
an old/firm/particular favourite
•a sweater that's an old favorite
[+with]
•Roald Dahl's books are firm favourites with children.
2 someone who is liked and treated better than others by a teacher or parent:
•You always were Dad's favourite.
play favorites AmE (=treat one person better than others)
•The manager insisted he doesn't play favorites.
FAVOURITISM
3 the team, player etc that is expected to win a race or competition
favourite to do sth
•Italy were the favourites to win the World Cup.
•Atwood was the hot favourite for the Booker Prize.favoritism AmE BrE
when you treat one person or group better than others, in an unfair way:
•their favouritism towards their first son $
1 [C] a young DEER
2 [U] a pale yellow-brown colour
having a pale yellow-brown colour[I]
to praise someone and be friendly to them in an insincere way, because you want them to like you or give you something
[+on/over]
•I refused to fawn over her or flatter her.
- fawning adjective
1 [C] a letter or message that is sent in electronic form down a telephone line and then printed using a special machine:
•Did you get my fax?
2 [C] also fax machine a machine used for sending and receiving faxes:
•What's your fax number?
3 [U] the system of sending letters and messages using a fax machine
by fax
•You can book tickets by fax or on-line.[T]
to send someone a letter or message using a fax machine
fax sb sth
•She asked me to fax her the details.
fax sth (through/on) to sb
•The contract should be faxed to him today. [C] literary
a FAIRY (1) - used especially in poetry [T] informal
if a new or difficult situation fazes you, it makes you feel confused or shocked, so that you do not know what to do:
•John was embarrassed, but it didn't faze Mike a bit.
the FBI the Federal Bureau of Investigation the police department in the US that is controlled by the central government, and that deals with crimes that break national laws rather than state laws; CIA BrE
the abbreviation of football club , used in the names of teams:
•Liverpool FC [U] BrE
the abbreviation of FURTHER EDUCATION [U] old-fashioned
loyalty to a king, queen etc $
1 [C,U] the feeling you get when you are afraid or worried that something bad is going to happen

fear that
your deepest/worst/greatest fear
irrational fear (=a fear that is not reasonable or based on logic)
groundless fear (=a fear that you need not have because what you are afraid of does not happen)
deep-seated fear (=a very strong fear that is difficult to change)
in fear (of sth)
be in fear of/for your life (=afraid that you may be killed)
be/live in fear (of sth) (=be always afraid of something)
without fear (of sth)
trembling/shivering/shaking with fear
paralysed with fear (=so afraid that you cannot move)
confirm sb's fears (=show that what you are afraid of has happened)
allay/dispel sb's fears (=stop someone from being afraid)
sb's hopes and fears

•The boy's eyes were full of fear.
[+of]
•a fear of flying
•There are fears that share prices could decrease still further.
[+for]
•The girl's parents expressed fears for her safety.
•Their worst fears became a reality.
•an irrational fear of spiders
•As it turned out, their fears were groundless.
•They looked at one another in fear.
•Thousands of people are in fear of their lives following the shootings.
•Ordinary people lived in fear of being arrested by the secret police.
•People must be able to express their views without fear.
•Rachel was shaking with fear.
•She wept as the policeman confirmed her worst fears.
•What hopes and fears do you have for the future?

2 for fear (that) , for fear of sth because you are worried that you will make something happen:
•She finally ran away for fear that he would kill her.
for fear of doing sth
•He got to the station early, for fear of missing her.
3 no fear! BrE informal used humorously to say that you are definitely not going to do something:
•'Are you going to Bill's party tonight?' 'No fear!'
4 [U] the possibility or danger that something bad might happen:
• There's no fear of revolt now.
5 put the fear of God into sb informal to make someone feel that they must do something, by making sure they know what will happen if they do not do it:
•The Italian manager must have put the fear of God into his team.
6 without fear or favour BrE formal in a fair way:
•The law must be enforced without fear or favour.

WORD CHOICE: fear, afraid, frightened
fear (noun) is the feeling of being afraid. Do not say that you 'have fear'. Use be afraid or be frightened: My whole body was paralysed with fear. | She was suddenly very afraid. | We were too frightened to speak.
The verb to fear is used mainly in literature or newspapers, and not usually in speech: She feared that he would not be found alive. | Fearing more riots, the government made concessions.
It is more usual to say that someone is afraid or is frightened: My parents are afraid that I'll get involved with drugs. | People were frightened of being mugged.

1 [I,T] to feel afraid or worried that something bad may happen:
•Fearing violence, the group asked for police protection.
fear (that)
•Police fear that there may be further terrorist attacks.
fear to do sth formal
•Women feared to go out at night.
fear for sb
•His wife seemed depressed, and he feared for his children.
fear for sb's safety/life
•a terrifying ordeal in which she feared for her life
•Hundreds of people are feared dead in the ferry disaster.
2 fear the worst to think that the worst possible thing has happened or might happen:
•When Tom heard about the accident he immediately feared the worst.
3 [T] to be afraid of someone and what they might do:
•As a leader, he was distrusted and even feared.
4 I fear formal used when telling someone that you think that something bad has happened or is true
I fear (that)
•I fear that there is little more we can do.
I fear so/I fear not
•'Were they satisfied?' 'I fear not.'
5 fear not/never fear formal used to tell someone not to worry:
•Never fear, he'll be with us soon.
GOD-FEARING $
1 formal frightened that something might happen:
•a shy and fearful child
[+of]
•People are fearful of rising crime in the area.
fearful that
•Officials are fearful that the demonstrations will cause new violence.
2 BrE extremely bad; = awful, terrible
•The room was in a fearful mess.
3 [only before noun] written very frightening; = terrifying
•a fearful creature
- fearfulness noun [U] $
1 in a way that shows you are afraid:
•She glanced fearfully over her shoulder.
2 [+ adj/adv] BrE old-fashioned extremely:
•She's fearfully clever. $
not afraid of anything:
•These dogs are absolutely fearless.
•a fearless explorer
- fearlessly adverb
- fearlessness noun [U] $
very frightening:
•a fearsome weapon
a plan, idea, or method that is feasible is possible and is likely to work:
•a feasible solution
economically/technically/politically etc feasible
•It was no longer financially feasible to keep the community centre open.
- feasibly adverb
- feasibility noun [U]
•a feasibility study [C]
1 a large meal where a lot of people celebrate a special occasion; banquet
•a wedding feast
•The king promised to hold a great feast for all his people.
2 a very good large meal:
•all the ingredients for a spaghetti feast
midnight feast (=a meal eaten secretly at night by children)
3 an occasion when there are a lot of enjoyable things to see or do
[+for]
•Next week's film festival should be a real feast for cinema-goers.
•The play is also a visual feast.
4 a day or period when there is a religious celebration:
•the feast day of St. Francis
MOVABLE FEAST
1 feast on/upon sth to eat a lot of a particular food with great enjoyment:
•We feasted on chicken and roast potatoes.
2 feast your eyes on sb/sth to look at someone or something with great pleasure:
•If you like luxury cars, feast your eyes on these.
3 [I] to eat and drink a lot to celebrate something [C]
something that is an impressive achievement, because it needs a lot of skill, strength etc to do
remarkable/considerable/incredible etc feat
•They climbed the mountain in 28 days, a remarkable feat.
[+of]
•an incredible feat of engineering
perform/accomplish/achieve a feat
•the woman who performed the feat of sailing around the world alone
no mean feat (=something that is difficult to do)
•It is no mean feat to perform such a difficult piece. $ [C]
1 one of the light soft things that cover a bird's body:
•an ostrich feather
feather bed/pillow etc (=a bed etc that is filled with feathers)
2 a feather in your cap something you have done that you should be proud of
light as a feather at LIGHT^2 (4); birds of a feather at BIRD (5); ruffle sb's feathers at RUFFLE^1 (2)[T]
1 feather your nest to get money by dishonest methods
2 to put feathers on an ARROW
tar and feather sb at TAR^2 (3)[U]
the practice of letting workers keep their jobs even if they are not needed or do not work well[C]
a long SCARF made of feathers and worn around a woman's neck $
extremely silly[C]
a stick with feathers on the end that you use to remove dust $
1 having feathers, or made from feathers
2 feathered friend informal a bird - used humorously $ [C]
a BOXER who weighs less than 57.15 kilograms, and who is heavier than a BANTAMWEIGHT but lighter than a LIGHTWEIGHT
looking or feeling light and soft, like a feather:
•The plant has feathery leaves. $ [C]
1 a part of something that you notice because it seems important, interesting, or typical:
•Air bags are a standard feature in most new cars.
[+of]
•An important feature of Van Gogh's paintings is their bright colours.
common feature
•Striped tails are a common feature of many animals.
•The room's only redeeming feature (=thing that makes it acceptable) was that it was cheap.
main/important/significant etc feature
•The most distinctive feature of the dinosaurs was their size.
•One of the distinguishing features (=features that are different from other things of the same sort) of modern banking is its dependence on computers.
2 a piece of writing about a subject in a newspaper or a magazine, or a special report on television or on the radio
[+on]
•a special feature on holidaying with your dog
3 [usually plural] a part of someone's face, such as their eyes, nose etc:
•He had fine delicate features.
•Her eyes were her best feature.
4 a part of the land, especially a part that you can see:
•Hedges are an important feature of the landscape in Britain.
5 a film being shown at a cinema:
•There were a couple of short cartoons before the main feature.
double feature (=when two films are shown together)
1 [I,T] to include or show something as a special or important part of something, or to be included as an important part:
•The exhibition features paintings by contemporary artists.
•a cruise ship featuring extensive spa facilities
[+in]
•A study of language should feature in an English literature course.
be featured in sth
•Pupils visited some of the websites featured in the article.
feature prominently/strongly/heavily etc
•Violence seems to feature heavily in all of his books.
feature sb as sth
•The film featured Marlon Brando as the Godfather.
2 [T] to show a film, play etc:
•The Retro Theatre is featuring films by Frank Capra this week.[C]
a full-length film that has a story and is acted by professional actors, and which is usually shown in a cinema $
a featureless place has no interesting parts to notice:
•featureless plainsalso Feb BrE
the written abbreviation of February $
1 literary full of nervous excitement or activity:
•a febrile imagination
2 medical relating to or caused by a feverwritten abbreviation Feb. $ [C,U]
the second month of the year, between January and March
next/last February
•Mum died last February.
in February
•We can do it in February.
on February 6th
•She was allowed home on February 6th.
on 6th February BrE
•Francis was born on 6th February 1928.
February 6 AmE
•I finally arrived February 6.
the American spelling of FAECES
- fecal adjective
lacking determination, and not achieving anything in your life:
•Alice's feckless younger brother
- fecklessly adverb
- fecklessness noun [U] formal
able to produce many children, young animals, or crops; = fertile
- fecundity noun [U]
the past tense and past participle of FEED^1
FED UP[C] AmE informal
a police officer in the FBI
1 a federal country or system of government consists of a group of states which control their own affairs, but which are also controlled by a single national government which makes decisions on foreign affairs, defence etc:
•Switzerland is a federal republic.
2 relating to the central government of a country such as the US, rather than the government of one of its states:
•federal law
•federal taxes[singular]
the FBI [U]
belief in or support for a federal system of government [I + with]
if a group of states federate, they join together to form a federation
1 [C] a group of organizations, clubs, or people that have joined together to form a single group:
•the National Federation of Women's Institutes
2 [C] a group of states that have joined together to form a single group:
•the Russian Federation
3 [U] when groups of people, states etc join together to form a larger group [C]
a soft hat with a BRIM that curls upwards slightly
informal annoyed or bored, and wanting something to change:
•She felt tired and a bit fed up.
[+with]
•I'm really fed up with this constant rain.
•Anna got fed up with waiting. [C]
an amount of money that you pay to do something or that you pay to a professional person for their work:
•school fees
•The health club charges an annual membership fee.
•Cable TV subscribers pay monthly fees.
entrance/entry fee (=fee to enter a place)
•Park entrance fees have gone up to $15.
•The run, to raise money for breast cancer, has a £10 entry fee (=fee to enter a competition).
doctor's/lawyer's/accountant's etc fees
legal/medical fee
•The insurance company paid all my medical fees.
•My solicitor charges a flat fee (=an amount that does not change) for handling the sale of a house.
see box at COST^1
see box at PAY^2
1 extremely weak:
•His voice sounded feeble and far away.
•She was too feeble to leave her room.
2 not very good or effective:
•a feeble excuse
•a rather feeble committee
1 stupid or not sensible:
•a feeble-minded policy
2 old use having much less than average intelligence
- feeble-mindedness noun [U] past tense and past participle fed
1 GIVE FOOD [T]
a) to give food to a person or animal:
•Have you fed the cat?
feed yourself
•She was too weak to feed herself.
feed sth to sb
•Several children were feeding bread to the ducks.
feed sb on/with sth
•They were fed well on her mother's home cooking.
b) to provide enough food for a group of people:
•groceries to feed a family of five
•The prison is required to feed and clothe the prisoners.
2 PLANT [T] to give a special substance to a plant, which helps it grow:
•Feed the tomatoes once a week.
feed sth with sth
•Feed houseplants with a liquid fertiliser.
3 ANIMAL/BABY [I] if a baby or an animal feeds, they eat:
•Frogs generally feed at night.
•Let your baby feed as long as she wants.
4 well-fed/under-fed/poorly-fed having plenty of food or not enough food:
•a well-dressed, well-fed woman
5 COMPUTER [T always + adv/prep] to put information into a computer over a period of time
feed sth into sth
•Figures are fed into the computer, which then predicts the likely profit.
6 SUPPLY STH [T] to supply something, especially a liquid, gas, or electricity:
•The public baths are fed by natural springs.
feed sth to sth
•The sound is fed directly to the headphones.
feed sth with sth
•Laura crouched by the fire, feeding it with dry sticks.
7 PUT STH INTO STH [T] to put something into something else, especially gradually and through a small hole
feed sth into/through sth
•A tube was fed down the patient's throat into her stomach.
feed sth into sth
•She fed her last two coins into the machine for a cup of coffee.
•Shelton fed the electricity meter.
8 INCREASE EMOTION [T] to increase the strength of an emotion, desire etc:
•Her depression grew, fed by her bitter experiences.
9 feed an addiction/need etc to satisfy a strong need, such as a need for a drug:
•He committed both crimes to feed his addiction to heroin.
10 INFORMATION [T] to give someone information or ideas over a period time
feed sb with sth
•She feeds the media with stories, which is a way of getting free advertising.
feed sth to sb
•US intelligence had been feeding false information to a KGB agent.
11 SPORT [T] to throw or hit a ball to someone else on your team, especially so that they can make a point
feed sth to sb
•Johnson fed the ball to Kyman, who scored.
12 feed lines/jokes to sb to say things to another performer so that they can make jokes
13 feed your face informal to eat a lot of food; = stuff yourself
14 TV/RADIO [T] to send a television or radio programme somewhere so that it can be broadcast
15 feed sb a line informal to tell someone something which is not true, so that they will do what you want

PHRASAL VERBS
feed back phr v
to give advice or criticism to someone about something they have done
[+on]
•We're just waiting for the manager to feed back on it.
feed sth <=> back (to sb)
•I am grateful to all those who fed back their comments.
•They feed back to the government the reactions of the people affected.

feed into sth phr v
to have an effect on something or help to make it happen:
•The influence of Italian designer fashion feeds into sports fashion.

feed off sth phr v
1 if an animal feeds off something, it gets food from it:
•birds that feed off the seeds from trees
2 to use something to increase, become stronger, or succeed - sometimes used to show disapproval:
•fad diets that feed off our desire to be thin

feed on sth phr v
1 if an animal feeds on a particular food, it usually eats that food:
•Owls feed on mice and other small animals.
2 if a feeling or process feeds on something, it becomes stronger because of it:
•Prejudice feeds on ignorance.

feed sb up phr v BrE
to give someone a lot of food to make them more healthy; = fatten up AmE
BREAST-FEED, FORCE-FEED, SPOON-FEED; mouth to feed at MOUTH^1 (10)
1 BABY [C] BrE one of the times when you give milk to a small baby:
•the two a.m. feed
2 ANIMAL FOOD [U] food for animals:
•fish feed
3 SUPPLY [C] a tube or piece of equipment which supplies a machine with something, especially FUEL
4 TV/RADIO/COMPUTER [C,U] when a television or radio signal, computer information etc is sent somewhere, or the connection that is used to do this:
•a live satellite feed from the space station
5 MEAL [C] old-fashioned a big meal [U]
1 advice, criticism etc about how successful or useful something is:
•How can I provide feedback without making someone angry?
[+on]
•Try to give each student some feedback on the task.
2 a very unpleasant high noise, caused when a MICROPHONE is too close to an AMPLIFIER [C] AmE
a bag put around a horse's head containing food; = nosebag $ [C]
1 a container with food for animals or birds:
•a bird feeder
2 something that provides supplies for something else:
•The Shyok River is a major feeder of the Indus River.
•The length of the feeder pipe is 50m.
3 a piece of equipment that supplies something to a machine:
•the printer's paper feeder
4 a person or animal that eats in a particular way:
•Catfish are bottom feeders. (=they feed at the bottom of rivers)
5 a small road, railway line, or AIRLINE service that takes traffic to a main road, line, or service[C]
a school from which many students go to a SECONDARY SCHOOL in the same area[C]
a plastic bottle used for giving milk to a baby or young animal[C]
a place where a group of animals or birds find food to eat past tense and past participle felt
1 FEELING/EMOTION [linking verb, T] to experience a particular physical feeling or emotion:
•Do you still feel hungry?
•You can never tell what he's feeling.
•Stop exercising if you feel any pain.
feel fine/good/comfortable etc
•I'm feeling a little better today.
•Marie immediately felt guilty.
feel as if/as though
•When his dad left, he felt as though his world had turned upside-down.
•I felt like I'd really achieved something.
2 NOTICE [T not in progressive] to notice something that is happening to you, especially something that is touching you:
•She felt his warm breath on her cheek.
•The earthquake was felt as far south as San Diego.
feel sb/sth do sth
•She felt his arms go round her.
feel yourself doing sth
•I felt myself blushing.
3 FEEL SMOOTH/DRY ETC [linking verb] to give you a particular physical feeling, especially when you touch or hold something
feel smooth/cold/damp etc
•Her hands felt rough.
•The house felt hot and stuffy.
feel as if/as though
•My leg feels as if it's broken.
•It's nice fabric - it feels like velvet.
4 FEEL GOOD/STRANGE/EXCITING ETC [linking verb] if a situation, event etc feels good, strange etc, that is the emotion or feeling that it gives you:
•After twenty years, seeing him again felt very strange.
feel ... to be/do sth
• It felt wonderful to be wearing clean clothes again.
•How does it feel to be 40?
•It's been a year since her daughter died, but to her, it still feels like yesterday.
5 HAVE AN OPINION [T not usually in progressive] to have a particular opinion, especially one that is based on your feelings, not on facts
feel (that)
•Some of the parents felt the school wasn't doing enough about bullying.
[+about]
•How would you feel about working with Nicole for a while?
•The experience of rape can change how a woman feels about her body.
feel sure/certain (=think that something is definitely true)
•She felt sure she'd made the right decision.
6 feel like (doing) sth spoken to want to have something or do something:
•He didn't feel like going to work.
•Do you feel like another drink?
7 TOUCH [T] to touch something with your fingers to find out about it:
•She felt his forehead. Perhaps he had a temperature.
•Mum, feel this stone. Isn't it smooth?
feel how hard/soft/rough etc sth is
•He could feel how damp his shirt was against his chest.
8 feel around/on/in etc sth (for sth) to search for something with your fingers:
•She felt in her bag for a pencil.
9 feel the force/effects/benefits etc of sth to experience the good or bad results of something:
•The local economy is beginning to feel the effects of the recession.
10 feel the need to do sth to believe that you need to do something:
•Children who can talk to their parents feel less need to try drugs.
11 feel your way
a) to move carefully, with your hands out in front of you, because you cannot see properly:
•Silently, she felt her way across the room.
b) to do things slowly and carefully, because you are not completely sure about a new situation
[+towards]
•The European Union is still feeling its way towards common policies.
12 feel free spoken used to tell someone that they can do something if they want to:
•'Could I use your phone for a minute?' 'Feel free.'
feel free to do sth
•Please feel free to make suggestions.
13 I know (just/exactly) how you feel spoken used to express sympathy with someone or with a remark they have just made:
•I know how you feel, Mark, but maybe it's better not to confront him.
14 not feel yourself spoken to not feel as healthy or happy as usual:
•I don't know what's wrong. I just don't feel quite myself.
15 feel your age to realize that you are not as young or active as you used to be:
•Looking at his grandson made him really feel his age.
16 feel the cold/heat to suffer because of cold or hot weather:
•Old people tend to feel the cold more.
17 feel a death/a loss etc to react very strongly to a bad event, especially someone's death:
•Susan felt her grandmother's death more than the others.

PHRASAL VERBS
feel for sb phr v
to feel sympathy for someone:
•At the Center, the other mothers know what it's like, and they really feel for you.

feel sb <=> out phr v AmE informal
to find out what someone's opinions or feelings are, without asking them directly:
•I thought I'd feel out some of my colleagues before the meeting.

feel sb <=> up phr v informal
to touch someone sexually, without their permission

feel up to sth phr v [usually in questions and negatives] informal
to have the strength, energy etc to do something:
•I just didn't feel up to going.
1 [singular] a quality that something has that makes you feel or think a particular way about it:
•Despite their age, the photographs have a modern feel.
[+about]
•The restaurant has a nice relaxed feel about it.
2 [singular] the way that something feels when you touch it
[+of]
•I like the feel of this cloth.
•a soft feathery feel
3 have/get/give a feel for sth informal to have or develop an understanding of something and skill in doing it:
•exercises that give a child a feel for numbers and measurements
4 [U] when you use your hands, body etc to feel something; = touch
by feel
•She found the light switch by feel. $ [C usually plural]
1 one of the two long things on an insect's head that it uses to feel or touch things. Some sea animals also have feelers.
2 put out feelers to carefully try to discover what people think about something that you want to do:
•They seem interested in a peace settlement and have begun putting out feelers.
1 feel-good film/programme/music etc a film etc whose main purpose is to make you feel happy
2 feel-good factor especially BrE a feeling among ordinary people that everything is going well, and that they do not need to worry about losing their jobs or spending money
1 ANGER/SADNESS/JOY ETC [C] an emotion that you feel, such as anger, sadness, or happiness
[+of]
•terrible feelings of guilt
•It's a great feeling when a wild animal shows you affection.
•It was the last game of the season, and feelings were running high (=people were very angry or excited).
2 WAY SB THINKS/FEELS feelings [plural] someone's feelings are their thoughts, emotions, and attitudes:
•He's considerate of other people's feelings.
•Don't worry. It won't hurt my feelings if you change your mind.
•Children only slowly develop the ability to put their feelings into words (=describe what they are thinking and feeling).
•My parents had mixed feelings (=had both good and bad feelings) about all the changes.
3 OPINION [C] a belief or opinion about something, especially one that is influenced by your emotions:
•My personal feeling is that not enough has been done.
[+on]
•She has strong feelings on the issue of abortion.
[+about]
•a survey on people's feelings about the candidates
•His gut feeling (=opinion based on emotion) was that Burns was probably guilty.
4 have/get a feeling (that) to think that something is probably true, or will probably happen
[+(that)]
•Leslie suddenly got the feeling that somebody was watching her.
•He had a sneaking feeling (=a slight feeling that something is true, without being sure) that they were laughing at him.
•Garry had a sinking feeling (=had a sudden bad feeling that something is true) that he was making a mistake.
[+about]
•I have a good feeling about this. I think it's going to work.
5 GENERAL ATTITUDE [U] a general attitude among a group of people about a subject:
•the anti-American feeling in the region
[+against/in favour of]
•Johnson underestimated the strength of public feeling against the war in Vietnam.
•the depth of feeling against nuclear weapons
6 HEAT/COLD/PAIN ETC [C] something that you feel in your body, such as heat, cold, tiredness etc:
•I keep getting this funny feeling (=a strange feeling) in my neck.
[+of]
•feelings of dizziness
7 ABILITY TO FEEL [U] the ability to feel pain, heat etc in part of your body:
•Harry had lost all feeling in his toes.
8 EFFECT OF A PLACE/BOOK ETC [singular] the effect that a place, book, film etc has on people and the way it makes them feel
[+of]
•the town's strong feeling of history
•It gives a feeling of eating outdoors, without having to worry about being rained on.
9 I know the feeling spoken said when you understand how someone feels because you have had the same experience:
•'It's so embarrassing when you can't remember someone's name.' 'I know the feeling.'
10 the feeling is mutual spoken said when you have the same feeling about someone as they have towards you:
•My dad hated my boyfriend, and the feeling was mutual.
11 bad/ill feeling anger, lack of trust etc between people, especially after an argument or unfair decision:
•The changes have caused a lot of ill feeling among the workforce.
12 with feeling in a way that shows you feel very angry, happy etc:
•Chang spoke with great feeling about the injustices of the regime.
13 a feeling for sth
a) an ability to do something or understand a subject, which you get from experience:
•It's an orchestra that has always shown a special feeling for Brahms' music.
b) a natural ability to do something; = talent
•She has a natural feeling for mathematical ideas.
14 EMOTIONS NOT THOUGHT [U] a way of reacting to things using your emotions, instead of thinking about them carefully:
•The Romantic writers valued feeling above all else.
no hard feelings at HARD^1 (19); hurt sb's feelings at HURT^1 (4)
showing strong feelings:
•a feeling look
- feelingly adverbBrE
1 fee-paying school a school which you have to pay to go to
2 fee-paying student/patient a student or PATIENT who pays for their education or medical treatment
the plural of FOOT
get/have cold feet at COLD^1 (6); feet of clay at FOOT^1 (26); have itchy feet at ITCHY (3) [T] formal
to pretend to have a particular feeling or to be ill, asleep etc:
•Feigning a headache, I went upstairs to my room. [C]
a movement or an attack that is intended to deceive an opponent, especially in BOXING[I,T]
to pretend to hit someone in BOXING
having a strong determined character and being willing to argue with people - use this to show approval:
•DiFranco charmed the audience with her feisty spirit. $
another spelling of FALAFEL $ [U]
a type of grey or white mineral formal
said to wish someone happiness formal literary
well-chosen and suitable:
•a felicitous choice of candidate formal
1 [U] happiness:
•domestic felicity
2 [U] the quality of being well-chosen or suitable:
•a felicity of language
3 felicities [plural] BrE formal suitable or well-chosen remarks or details
1 relating to cats or other members of the cat family, such as lions
2 looking like or moving like a cat:
•She moves with feline grace.[C] technical
a cat or a member of the cat family, such as a tiger
the past tense of FALL[C usually plural]
a mountain or hill in the north of England[T usually passive]
1 to cut down a tree:
•More than 100 trees were felled in just over an hour.
2 written to knock someone down with great force:
•The goalkeeper was felled by a coin thrown from the crowd.
in one fell swoop also at one fell swoop BrE doing a lot of things at the same time, using only one action:
•A single company can close a factory, eliminating 74,000 jobs in one fell swoop. [C] spoken informal
1 a man:
•There's a fella outside who wants to see you.
2 especially BrE a BOYFRIEND:
•What do you think of Janet's new fella? $ [U]
the practice of touching a man's PENIS with the lips and tongue to give sexual pleasure; cunnilingus $ [C] spoken old-fashioned
a man $ [C]
1 old-fashioned a man:
•Paul's an easy-going sort of fellow.
2 sb's fellows BrE old-fashioned people that you work with, study with, or who are in the same situation as you:
•Wooderson's courage earned him the respect of his fellows.
3 AmE a GRADUATE student who has a fellowship in a university
4 especially BrE a member of an important society or a college:
•She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
BEDFELLOW
1 fellow workers/students/countrymen etc people that you work with, study with, or who are in the same situation as you
2 our fellow man/men other people in general:
•We all have obligations to our fellow men.[U] literary
a feeling of sympathy and friendship towards someone because they are like you:
•As an only child myself, I had a fellow feeling for Laura. $
1 [U] a feeling of friendship resulting from shared interests or experiences:
•Regular outings contribute to a sense of fellowship among co-workers.
2 [C] a group of people who share an interest or belief, especially Christians who have religious ceremonies together
3 [C] BrE a job at a university which involves making a detailed study of a particular subject
4 [C]
a) especially AmE money given to a student to allow them to continue their studies at an advanced level; scholarship
•Florian came to the United States on a Fulbright fellowship.
b) AmE a group of officials who decide which students will receive this money:
•He received a gold medal from the Artists' Fellowship in New York.fellow traveler AmE [C] BrE
someone who supports and agrees with the beliefs of an organization, such as the Communist Party, but does not belong to it - used to show disapproval [C] law
someone who is guilty of a serious crime:
•By law, convicted felons (=criminals who are sent to prison) may not own or use guns. plural felonies [C,U] law
a serious crime such as murder; misdemeanour
the past tense and past participle of FEEL[U]
a thick soft material made of wool, hair, or fur that has been pressed flatalso felt-tipped pen felt-tip BrE [C]
a pen that has a hard piece of felt at the end that the ink comes through
1 the written abbreviation of female
2 the written abbreviation of feminine
1 relating to women or girls; male ; feminine
•female voters
•Over half of the staff is female.
2 belonging to the sex that can have babies or produce eggs; male
•a female spider
3 a female plant or flower produces fruit; male
4 technical a female part of a piece of equipment has holes into which the male part can be fitted; male [C]
1 an animal that belongs to the sex that can have babies or produce eggs; male
2 a woman or girl; male
•As a group, females performed better on the test than males.
3 a plant that produces flowers or fruit; male [C]
a loose rubber tube with one end closed, that fits inside a woman's VAGINA when she is having sex, so that she will not have a baby
1 having qualities that are considered to be typical of women, especially by being gentle, delicate, and pretty:
•Dianne loved pretty feminine things.
2 relating to being female; = female
•traditional feminine roles
•Amelia's report describes the experience from a feminine point of view.
3 a feminine noun, PRONOUN etc belongs to a class of words that have different INFLECTIONs from MASCULINE or NEUTER words; masculine [U]
qualities that are considered to be typical of women, especially qualities that are gentle, delicate, and pretty; masculinity
•You don't have to lose your femininity to be an independent, successful woman. [U]
the belief that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men [C]
someone who supports the idea that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men:
•She's been an outspoken feminist for over twenty years.
- feminist adjective [only before noun]
•feminist literaturealso feminise BrE [T]
to change something so that it includes women, is suitable for women, or is considered typical of women:
•women who resist cultural attempts to feminize them $ plural femmes fatales [C]
a beautiful woman who men find very attractive, even though she may make them unhappy $ [C] medical
the THIGH bone
- femoral adjective [only before noun]also fenland [C,U]
an area of low flat wet land, especially in Eastern England [C]
1 a structure made of wood, metal etc that surrounds a piece of land
2 a wall or other structure that horses jump over in a race or competition
3 informal someone who buys and sells stolen goods
4 sit/be on the fence to avoid saying which side of an argument you support
mend (your) fences at MEND^1 (4)
1 [T] to put a fence around something:
•old farmhouses and fenced gardens
2 [I] to fight with a long thin sword as a sport
3 [I + with] to answer someone's questions in a clever way in order to get an advantage in an argument

PHRASAL VERBS
fence sb/sth <=> in phr v
1 to surround a place with a fence:
•The yard was fenced in to keep out wolves.
2 to make someone feel that they cannot leave a place or do what they want:
•Young mothers often feel fenced in at home.

fence sth <=> off phr v
to separate one area from another area with a fence:
•a planting area fenced off from the main garden[only before noun]
fence-mending measures/talks/trip etc fence-mending trips, talks etc are between countries who have a disagreement about something, and are meant to try to improve relations between them
- fence-mending noun [U] $ [C]
someone who fights with a long thin sword as a sport [U]
1 the sport of fighting with a long thin sword
2 fences or the pieces of wood, metal etc used to make them
fend for yourself to look after yourself without needing help from other people:
•The kids had to fend for themselves while their parents were away.

PHRASAL VERBS
fend sb/sth off phr v
1 to defend yourself against someone who is attacking you; = fight sb <=> off
•Tabitha threw up an arm to fend her attacker off.
2 to defend yourself from something such as difficult questions, competition, or a situation you do not want to deal with:
•She uses her secretary to fend off unwanted phone calls.
•The company managed to fend off the hostile takeover bid. $ [C]
1 AmE the side part of a car that covers the wheels; = wing BrE
2 a low metal wall around a FIREPLACE that prevents burning wood or coal from falling out
3 AmE a curved piece of metal over the wheel of a bicycle that prevents water and mud from flying up; = mudguard BrE[C] AmE informal
a car accident in which little damage is done [U]
a Chinese system of organizing the furniture and other things in a house or building in a way that people believe will bring good luck and happiness[T]
feng shui a room/house etc to place the furniture and other things in a room or house in a particular position so that it is arranged according to the feng shui system [C,U]
a FEN [U]
a pale green plant whose seeds are used to give a special taste to food and which is also used as a vegetable $
feral animals used to live with humans but have become wild:
•feral cats $ [I,T]
if fruit, beer, wine etc ferments, or if it is fermented, the sugar in it changes to alcohol:
•fermented fruit juice
- fermentation $ noun [U] $ [U]
a situation of great excitement or trouble in a country, especially caused by political change
in ferment
•In the 1960s, American society was in ferment.
political/intellectual/cultural etc ferment
•the artistic ferment of the late sixth century $ [C]
a type of plant with green leaves shaped like large feathers, but no flowers
- ferny adjective $
1 violent, dangerous, and frightening:
•a ferocious, hungry lion
•a ferocious battle
•The storm grew more and more ferocious with each second.
2 very strong, severe, and unpleasant:
•The congressman is one of the President's most ferocious critics.
•The heat was ferocious.
•Butler is famous for his ferocious temper.
3 relating to an emotion that is felt very strongly:
•Parker was driven by a ferocious determination to succeed.
- ferociously adverb $ [U]
the state of being extremely violent and severe
[+of]
•Detectives were shocked by the ferocity of the attack. [C]
a small animal with a pointed nose, used to hunt rats and rabbits[I]
1 [always + adv/prep] informal to search for something that is lost or hidden among a lot of things or inside a drawer, box etc
[+around/round/about]
•He started ferreting around in his desk.
[+for]
•She ferreted in her bag for a pen.
2 to hunt rats and rabbits using a ferret

PHRASAL VERBS
ferret sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to succeed in finding something such as a piece of information, that is difficult to find:
•It's been difficult for reporters to ferret out the facts in this case.
•Uncle Vernon ferreted out the laundry box from under the stairs.
2 AmE to find and usually get rid of someone who is causing a problem:
•The new program is meant to ferret out problem cops. [C] especially AmE
a very large upright wheel with seats on it for people to ride on in an AMUSEMENT PARK; = big wheel BrE technical
containing or related to iron:
•ferrous metals $ [C] technical
a piece of metal or rubber put on the end of a stick to make it stronger plural ferries [C]
a boat that carries people or goods across a river or a narrow area of waterpast tense and past participle ferried, present participle ferrying, third person singular ferries [T always + adv/prep]
to carry people or things a short distance from one place to another in a boat or other vehicle
ferry sb/sth (from sth) to sth
•The ship was used to ferry supplies to Russia during the war.
ferry sb/sth across sth
•ferrying passengers across the Channel $ [C]
a ferry $
1 fertile land or soil is able to produce good crops:
•800 acres of fertile cropland
2 able to produce babies, young animals, or new plants; infertile
•Most men remain fertile into old age.
3 a fertile imagination/mind/brain an imagination, mind etc that is able to produce a lot of interesting and unusual ideas
4 [only before noun] a fertile situation is one in which something can easily develop and succeed:
•the fertile Philadelphia music scene of the 1960s $ [U]
1 the ability of the land or soil to produce good crops
2 the ability of a person, animal, or plant to produce babies, young animals, or seeds; infertility [C]
a drug given to a woman to help her have a babyalso fertilise BrE $ [T]
1 to make new animal or plant life develop:
•After the egg has been fertilized, it will hatch in about six weeks.
2 to put fertilizer on the soil to make plants grow
- fertilization $ noun [U] $ [C,U]
a substance that is put on the soil to make plants grow $
believing or feeling something very strongly and sincerely:
•a fervent appeal for peace
fervent admirer/believer etc
•a fervent supporter of human rights
- fervently adverb $ formal
believing or feeling something too strongly
- fervidly adverbfervor AmE $ [U] BrE
very strong belief or feeling:
•religious fervour
•revolutionary fervour
•patriotic fervor

fess up AmE informal
to admit that you have done something wrong, although it is not very serious; = own up
•Come on, fess up! Who ate that last cookie?
a beer/song/food etc fest an informal occasion when a lot of people do a fun activity together, such as drinking beer, singing songs, or eating food
SLUGFEST $ [I]
1 if an unpleasant feeling or problem festers, it gets worse because it has not been dealt with:
•The dispute can be traced back to resentments which have festered for centuries.
2 if a wound festers, it becomes infected:
•festering sores
3 if rubbish or dirty objects fester, they decay and smell bad [C]
1 an occasion when there are performances of many films, plays, pieces of music etc, usually happening in the same place every year:
•the Newport Jazz festival
[+of]
•the Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts
2 a special occasion when people celebrate something such as a religious event, and there is often a public holiday:
•Christmas is one of the main festivals in the Christian Calendar.
•religious festivals
1 looking or feeling bright and cheerful in a way that seems suitable for celebrating something:
•The atmosphere was festive and jolly.
•John was obviously in a festive mood.
2 festive occasion a day when you celebrate something special such as a birthday
3 the festive season/period/holiday the period around CHRISTMAS
4 [only before noun] relating to Christmas:
• festive cheer
•festive gifts
1 festivities [plural] things such as drinking, eating, or dancing that are done to celebrate a special occasion:
•The festivities started with a procession through the town.
2 [U] a happy feeling that exists when people celebrate something:
•There was an air of festivity in the village. [T usually passive]
to cover something with flowers, long pieces of material etc, especially for decoration
be festooned with/in sth
•Malaga was festooned with banners and flags in honour of the king's visit.[C] formal
a long thin piece of material, flowers etc, used especially for decorationalso feta [U]
a white cheese from Greece made from SHEEP's milk or GOAT's milk
the usual American spelling of FOETAL [T]
1 especially BrE to go and get something or someone and bring them back:
•Quick! Go and fetch a doctor.
•Shannon went upstairs to fetch some blankets.
fetch sb/sth from sth
•Would you mind going to fetch the kids from school?
fetch sb sth/fetch sth for sb
•Fetch me some coffee while you're up.
!! Fetch or bring?
see box at BRING
2 to be sold for a particular amount of money, especially at a public sale - used especially in news reports:
•The painting is expected to fetch at least $20 million.
3 fetch and carry to do simple and boring jobs for someone as if you were their servant:
•Am I supposed to fetch and carry for him all day?
4 BrE to make people react in a particular way:
•This announcement fetched a huge cheer from the audience.

PHRASAL VERBS
fetch up phr v BrE informal
[always + adv/prep] to arrive somewhere without intending to:
•I fell asleep on the train and fetched up in Glasgow.
play fetch if you play fetch with a dog, you throw something for the dog to bring back to you
attractive, especially because the clothes you are wearing suit you:
•Your sister looks very fetching in that dress. [C]
1 BrE an outdoor event where there are competitions and things to eat and drink, usually organized to get money:
•the church fête
2 AmE a special occasion to celebrate something:
•a farewell fête in honor of the mayor[T usually passive]
to honour someone by holding public celebrations for them:
•The team was fêted from coast to coast. formal
having a strong bad smell; = stinking
•the black fetid water of the lake
•the dog's fetid breath [C]
1 a desire for sex that comes from seeing a particular type of object or doing a particular activity, especially when the object or activity is considered unusual:
•a leather fetish
2 something you are always thinking about or spending too much time doing; obsession
[+for/about]
•Sue has a real fetish about keeping everything tidy. [C]
someone who gets sexual pleasure from unusual objects or activities
- fetishism noun [U] $ [C]
the back part of a horse's leg, just above the HOOF $ [T usually passive] literary
1 to restrict someone's freedom and prevent them from doing what they want:
•fettered by family responsibilities
2 to put chains on a prisoner's hands or feet; = chain $ [plural] literary
1 the things that prevent someone from being free; = constraints
[+of]
•breaking the fetters of convention
2 chains that were put around a prisoner's feet in past times
in fine/good fettle old-fashioned healthy or working properly
the usual American spelling of FOETUS [C]
an angry and often violent quarrel between two people or groups that continues for a long time
[+over]
•a bitter feud over territory
[+with/between]
•a feud between rival drug organizations[I]
to continue quarrelling for a long time, often in a violent way
feud (with sb) over sth
•The neighboring states are feuding over the rights to the river. [only before noun]
relating to feudalism:
•the feudal system
•feudal society [U]
a system which existed in the Middle Ages, in which people received land and protection from a lord when they worked and fought for him
based on a system in which only a few people have all the power in a way that seems very old-fashioned $
1 [C,U] an illness or a medical condition in which you have a very high temperature:
•Andy has a fever and won't be coming into work today.
•I woke up this morning with a fever and an upset stomach.
•She's running a fever (=has a fever).
a high/low/slight fever
•The usual symptoms are a pink rash with a slight fever.
HAY FEVER, SCARLET FEVER, YELLOW FEVER, GLANDULAR FEVER, RHEUMATIC FEVER
2 [singular] a situation in which many people feel very excited or feel very strongly about something
[+of]
•a fever of excitement on Wall Street
election/carnival etc fever (=great interest or excitement about a particular activity or event)
•Soccer fever has been sweeping the nation as they prepare for the World Cup.
3 (at) fever pitch BrE if people's feelings are at fever pitch, they are extremely excited:
•The nation was at fever pitch in the days leading up to the election.
•After a second night of rioting, tensions in the city reached fever pitch.
CABIN FEVER[C] AmE
a COLD SORE $ [only before noun] literary
1 extremely excited or worried; = feverish
•the child's fevered cries
2 suffering from a fever; = feverish
•She wiped his fevered brow (=a hot forehead caused by a fever).
3 a fevered imagination/mind/brain a mind that imagines strange things that are not real:
•These stories are merely a product of her fevered imagination.
1 suffering from a fever:
•She lay in bed, too feverish to sleep.
•There was a feverish blush to his cheeks.
2 very excited or worried about something:
•They waited in a state of feverish anxiety for their mother to come home.
•The show was about to begin and backstage there were signs of feverish activity (=activity that is done very quickly because there is not much time).
- feverishly adverb
•Congress is working feverishly to pass the bill. comparative fewer, superlative fewest
1 [no comparative] a small number of things or people
a few
•I have to buy a few things at the supermarket.
•Pam called to say she's going to be a few minutes late.
•There were a few people sitting at the back of the hall.
•There are a few more things I'd like to discuss.
[+of]
•I've read a few of her books.
•I could suggest many different methods, but anyway, here are just a few.
•There are only a very few (=not many) exceptions.
the last/next few
•The office has been closed for the last few days.
every few days/weeks etc
•The plants need to be watered every few days.
the/sb's few days/weeks etc
•She had enjoyed her few days in Monaco.
2 quite a few/a good few/not a few a fairly large number of things or people:
•She must have cooked a good few dinners over the years.
[+of]
•There were hundreds of protesters, not a few of whom were women.
3 not many or hardly any people or things; many
•low-paid jobs that few people want
•Many people expressed concern, but few were willing to help.
•The team that makes the fewest mistakes usually wins.
[+of]
• Very few of the staff come from the local area.
•Mr Wingate was full of explanations, but precious few (=hardly any) of them made sense.
the few
•The cathedral was one of the few buildings not destroyed in the war.
•This hospital is one of the few that are equipped to provide transplant surgery.
sb's few belongings/friends etc
•I gathered together my few possessions.
4 no fewer than used to emphasize that a number is large:
•I tried to contact him no fewer than ten times.
5 as few as 5/10 etc used to emphasize how surprisingly small a number is:
•Sometimes as few as 20 out of 500 or more candidates succeed in passing all the tests.
6 to name/mention but a few used when you are mentioning only a small number of people or things as examples of a large group:
•This is a feature of languages such as Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese, to name but a few.
7 the (privileged/chosen) few the small number of people who are treated better than others and have special advantages:
•Such information is made available only to the chosen few.
•The needs of the many have been ignored - instead, the priority has been to bring benefits only to the few.
8 be few and far between to be rare:
•Jobs are few and far between at the moment.
9 have had a few (too many) informal to have drunk too much alcohol:
•He looks as if he's had a few!

WORD CHOICE: a few, few, a little, little, a bit, fewer, less
a few and few are used before plural nouns.
a few means 'a small number': It will take a few minutes. | I've got a few friends who live nearby.
few means 'not many'. It emphasizes how small the number is. It is mainly used in writing or formal speech: Few people would deny her talent. | He has few interests outside his work.
In spoken English or informal writing it is more usual to say not many: Not many people saw what happened.
a little and little are used before uncountable nouns.
a little means 'some, but not a lot': We still have a little time left.
In spoken British English, it is more usual to say a bit: 'Are you tired?' 'A bit.' | I've got a bit of money left.
little means 'not much'. It emphasizes how small the amount is. It is mainly used in writing or formal speech: There is now little hope of success.
In spoken English or informal writing it is more usual to say not much: There was not much milk left.
The comparative of few is fewer: Few people have read the book, and even fewer understand it.
The comparative of little is less: We know little about his adult life, and less about his childhood.

!! Sometimes people use less before a plural noun, but many people think that this is incorrect, so it is better to use fewer: a village of fewer (NOT less) than 200 inhabitants

very sensitive and behaving or talking in a strange way:
•a fey and delicate child [C]
a round red hat with a flat top and no BRIM
and following used in writing to refer to the pages after the one you have mentioned:
•pages 17ff $ [C]
the man whom a woman is going to marry $ [C]
the woman whom a man is going to marry $ plural fiascoes or fiascos [C]
an event that is completely unsuccessful, in a way that is very embarrassing or disappointing; = disaster
•The first lecture I ever gave was a complete fiasco. [C] formal
an official order given by someone in a position of authority, without considering what other people want
by fiat
•The matter was settled by presidential fiat. [C] spoken
a small unimportant lie; white lie
•He's been known to tell fibs.past tense and past participle fibbed, present participle fibbing [I] spoken
to tell a small unimportant lie:
•I think you're fibbing.
- fibber noun [C] $
the American spelling of FIBRE $
the American spelling of FIBREBOARD $
the American spelling of FIBREGLASSfiber AmE $ BrE
1 [U] the parts of plants that you eat but cannot DIGEST. Fibre helps to keep you healthy by moving food quickly through your body:
•Fruit and vegetables are high in fibre content.
•food that is high in dietary fibre
2 [C,U] a mass of threads used to make rope, cloth etc
natural/synthetic/man-made etc fibre
•Nylon is a man-made fibre.
3 [C] a thin thread, or one of the thin parts like threads that form natural materials such as wood or CARBON
4 nerve/muscle fibres the thin pieces of flesh that form the nerves or muscles in your body
5 with every fibre of your being literary if you feel something with every fibre of your being, you feel it very strongly:
•He wanted her with every fibre of his being.
moral fibre at MORAL^1 (2); OPTICAL FIBREfiberboard AmE $ [U] BrE
board made from wood fibres pressed togetherfiberglass AmE $ [U] BrE
a light material made from small glass threads pressed together, used for making sports cars, small boats etc[U]
the process of using very thin threads of glass or plastic to carry information in the form of light, especially on telephone lines:
•fibre-optic cables
consisting of many fibres or looking like fibres:
•The coconut has a fibrous outer covering. [C] medical
the outer bone of the two bones in your leg below your knee
1 someone who is fickle is always changing their mind about people or things that they like, so that you cannot depend on them - used to show disapproval:
•an unpredictable and fickle lover
2 something such as weather that is fickle often changes suddenly
- fickleness noun [U]
•the fickleness of fame
1 [U] books and stories about imaginary people and events; non-fiction
•romantic fiction
•historical fiction
2 [C] something that people want you to believe is true but which is not true:
•preserving the fiction of his happy childhood
fictional people, events etc are imaginary and from a book or story:
•fictional characters
•The novel is set in the fictional German town of Kreiswald.also fictionalise BrE [T]
to make a film or story about a real event, changing some details and adding some imaginary characters:
•a fictionalized account of his life in Berlin
not true, or not real:
•a fictitious address
•The author fills this real town with fictitious characters. AmE
imaginary and not real:
•the fictive world of James Bond [C] informal
1 a VIOLIN
2 BrE a dishonest way of getting money:
•an insurance fiddle
on the fiddle
•They suspected he was on the fiddle (=getting money dishonestly or illegally) all along.
3 be a fiddle to be difficult to do and involve complicated movements of your hands:
•This blouse is a bit of a fiddle to do up.
fit as a fiddle at FIT^2 (1); play second fiddle (to sb) at PLAY^1 (22)
1 [I] to keep moving and touching something, especially because you are bored or nervous:
•Stop fiddling, will you!
•I sat and fiddled at the computer for a while.
[+with]
•She was at her desk in the living room, fiddling with a deck of cards.
2 [T] BrE informal to give false information about something, in order to avoid paying money or to get extra money:
•Bert had been fiddling his income tax for years.
fiddle the books (=give false figures in a company's financial records)
3 [I] to play a VIOLIN

PHRASAL VERBS
fiddle around phr v also fiddle about BrE
to waste time doing unimportant things

fiddle around with sth phr v also fiddle about with sth BrE
1 to move the parts of a machine in order to try to make it work or repair it:
•I've been fiddling around with this old car for months but I still can't get it to work.
2 to make small unnecessary changes to something - used to show disapproval; = mess around with
•Why did you let her fiddle about with the remote control?
•The bus company is always fiddling around with the schedules.

fiddle with sth phr v
1 to move part of a machine in order to make it work, without knowing exactly what you should do:
•After fiddling with the tuning I finally got JFM.
2 to move or touch something that does not belong to you, in an annoying way:
•Don't let him fiddle with my bag. $ [C]
1 someone who plays the VIOLIN, especially if they play FOLK MUSIC
2 someone who gives false information, especially on official documents, in order to pay less money or get more than they should:
•tax fiddlers
- fiddling noun [U] old-fashioned
said when you disagree with someone, or are slightly annoyed about something [only before noun]
unimportant, and annoying:
•fiddling little jobs around the house BrE informal
difficult to do, especially because you have to deal with very small objects:
•Fixing the TV was a fiddly job. [U] formal
1 when you are loyal to your husband, girlfriend etc, by not having sex with anyone else; = loyalty; infidelity
•the importance of marital fidelity (=in marriage)
2 when you are loyal to a person, an organization, or something that you believe in; = loyalty
[+to]
•his fidelity to the company over 25 years
3 formal how much a film, a piece of written work etc remains unchanged from an earlier piece of work, or the facts that are known
[+to]
•the movie's fidelity to the original book
HIGH FIDELITY [I]
to keep moving your hands or feet, especially because you are bored or nervous:
•The kids had started to fidget.
[+with]
•Stop fidgeting with your pens![C] informal
someone who is unable to sit or stand still informal
unable to stay still, especially because of being bored or nervous:
•The boys get fidgety if they can't play outside. old use
fie on sb used to express anger or disapproval towards someone [C]
1 FARM an area of land in the country, especially one where crops are grown or animals feed on grass:
•a view of green fields and rolling hills
[+of]
•a field of wheat
corn/rice/wheat etc field
•working in the cotton fields
2 SUBJECT a subject that people study or an area of activity that they are involved in as part of their work
[+of]
•her work in the field of human rights
•Peter's an expert in his field.
•He's the best-known American outside the field of (=not connected with) politics.
3 SPORT an area of ground where sports are played
a baseball/football/cricket etc field
•the local soccer field
on/off the field
•The team have had a bad year, both on and off the field.
•Fans cheered as the players took the field (=went onto the field).
4 PRACTICAL WORK work or study that is done in the field is done in the real world rather than in a class or LABORATORY
in the field
•His theories have not yet been tested in the field.
field trials/testing/research etc
FIELD TRIP, FIELDWORK
5 COMPETITORS
a) all the people, companies, products etc that are competing against each other:
•the field of candidates for the presidential election
be ahead of/lead the field (=be doing better than the others)
•Germany was leading the field with a figure of 53%.
b) all the horses or runners in a race:
•Prince led the field (=was ahead of the others) as they came around the final bend.
6 magnetic/gravitational/force field the area in which a natural force is felt or has an effect:
•the Earth's magnetic field
7 coal/oil/gas field a large area of land where coal, oil, or gas is found:
•North Sea oil fields
8 the field (of battle) the time or place where there is fighting in a war:
•The new tank has yet to be tested in the field.
•medals won on the field of battle
9 field of vision/view the whole area that you are able to see without turning your head
10 snow/ice field a large area of land covered with snow or ice
11 field of fire the area that you can hit when you shoot from a particular position
12 leave the field clear for sb to make it possible for someone to do something or to be successful at something, by not competing with them:
•Josh left the company, leaving the field clear for me.
13 COMPUTERS in a computer document, an amount of space made available for a particular type of information:
•an empty field (=not yet written in)
have a field day at FIELD DAY
play the field at PLAY^1 (29)[T]
1 if you field a team, an army etc, they represent you or fight for you in a competition, election, or war:
•The Ecology Party fielded 109 candidates.
•We fielded a team of highly talented basketball players.
2 to answer questions, telephone calls etc, especially when there are a lot of them or the questions are difficult:
•The Minister fielded questions on the Middle East and other issues.
•The press office fielded numerous calls from the media.
3 be fielding the team that is fielding in a game of CRICKET or baseball is the one that is throwing and catching the ball, rather than the one hitting it; be batting
4 if you field the ball in a game of CRICKET or baseball, you stop it after it has been hit[U] AmE
a type of corn grown to feed to animals, rather than to be eaten by people
SWEETCORN[C]
1 have a field day informal to have a chance to do a lot of something you want, especially the chance to criticize someone:
•The newspapers had a field day when the trial finished.
2 AmE a day when students at a school have sports competitions and parents watch; = sports day BrEalso fieldsman BrE $ [C]
one of the players who tries to catch the ball in a game of CRICKET or baseball[C]
a sport such as jumping or throwing the JAVELIN in an outdoor competition
TRACK EVENT[plural]
BINOCULARS[C]
1 the act of kicking the ball over the GOAL in American football
2 the act of putting the ball through the net to get points in BASKETBALL[U] AmE
HOCKEY played on grass[C]
a temporary hospital for soldiers that is near where the fighting is[C]
an officer of the highest rank in the British army plural fieldmice [C]
a mouse that has a long tail and lives in fields[C]
1 BrE someone who works for an organization whose job involves practical outdoor work, especially work connected with the countryside
2 an officer of high rank in the British army plural fieldsmen [C] BrE
FIELDER[plural] BrE
sports that happen in the countryside, such as hunting, shooting, and fishing[C]
a test of a new piece of equipment, done in the place where it will be used rather than in a LABORATORY
- field-test verb [T][C]
an occasion when students go somewhere to learn about a particular subject, especially one connected with nature or science:
•a geography field trip $ [U]
the study of scientific or social subjects, done outside the class or LABORATORY
- fieldworker noun [C] [C]
1 a very cruel, evil, or violent person:
•a heartless fiend
•Both of them were fighting like fiends.
a sex/rape fiend (=one who commits very unpleasant sex attacks)
2 television/sports/fresh-air etc fiend someone who likes watching television, doing sports etc a lot, or more than is normal; = fanatic
3 drug/dope/cocaine etc fiend someone who takes a lot of illegal drugs
4 an evil spirit
1 cruel and unpleasant:
•a particularly fiendish practical joke
2 very clever in an unpleasant way:
•a fiendish plan
3 extremely difficult or complicated:
•several fiendish exam questions
- fiendishly adverb
- fiendishness noun [U] $
1 done with a lot of energy and strong feelings, and sometimes violent:
•There was fierce fighting in the city.
fierce attack/opposition/criticism etc
•The government's policies came under fierce attack.
•The plan has evoked a fierce debate.
• fierce competition between the companies
2 a fierce person or animal is angry or ready to attack, and looks very frightening:
•fierce guard dogs
•She turned round, looking fierce.
3 fierce emotions are very strong and often angry:
•These people take fierce pride in their independence.
4 fierce cold, heat, or weather is much colder, hotter etc than usual:
•a fierce wind
5 something fierce AmE spoken more loudly, strongly etc than usual:
•It was snowing something fierce.
- fiercely adverb
- fierceness noun [U] $
1 very red or orange, and looking like fire:
•a fiery sunset
•leaves that turn fiery red in autumn
2 becoming angry or excited very quickly:
•He has a fiery temper.
3 showing or encouraging anger or excitement:
•a fiery speech
4 fiery food or drink tastes very strong, making part of your body feel hot [C]
a religious holiday with dancing, music etc, especially in Spain and South America [C]
a musical instrument like a small FLUTE, often played in military bands
1 the number 15:
•a coastal village fifteen miles south of Tourane
•They met when she was fifteen (=15 years old).
2 [C] a team of 15 players in RUGBY UNION
- fifteenth adjective, pron
•in the fifteenth century
•her fifteenth birthday
•I'm planning to leave on the fifteenth (=the 15th day of the month).
1 coming after four other things in a series:
•in the fifth century
•her fifth birthday
2 fifth wheel AmE informal someone who is not wanted in a particular group of people:
•They'd made her feel like a fifth wheel.
- fifth pron
•I'm planning to leave on the fifth (=the fifth day of the month).
- fifthly adverb[C]
1 one of five equal parts of something
2 AmE an amount of alcohol equal to 1/5 of an American GALLON (2), sold in bottles:
•a fifth of bourbon[C]
a group of people who work secretly to help the enemies of the country where they live or the organization in which they work
- fifth columnist noun [C]
1 the number 50
2 the fifties [plural] also the '50s the 1950s the years between 1950 and 1959:
•Standards of living rose in the fifties.
the early/mid/late fifties
•The play was written in the late fifties.
3 be in your fifties to be aged between 50 and 59
early/mid/late fifties
•He must be in his early fifties by now.
4 in the fifties if the temperature is in the fifties, it is between 50 degrees and 59 degrees
in the low/mid/high fifties
•sunny, with temperatures in the mid fifties
5 [C] a piece of paper money that is worth 50 dollars or 50 pounds:
•I can give you five tens for that fifty if you want.
- fiftieth adjective
•her fiftieth birthdayspoken
1 if you divide something fifty-fifty, you divide it equally between two people, companies etc
divide/split/share sth fifty-fifty
•The companies split the profits fifty-fifty.
•We'll share it on a fifty-fifty basis.
go fifty-fifty (on sth) (=share the cost of something equally)
•We went fifty-fifty on a new TV set.
2 if there is a fifty-fifty chance of something happening, it is equally likely to happen as not to happen:
• a fifty-fifty chance of winning [C]
1 a soft sweet fruit with a lot of small seeds, often eaten dried, or the tree on which this fruit grows
2 not give a fig/not care a fig (about/for sth/sb) old-fashioned informal to not be at all concerned about or interested in something or someone
1 the written abbreviation of figure
2 the written abbreviation of figurative past tense and past participle fought $
1 WAR [I,T] to take part in a war or battle
[+in]
•the families of those who fought in the war
[+against/with]
•rebel forces fighting against the Russians
[+about/over/for]
•They fought for control of the islands.
•Neither country is capable of fighting a long war.
•Later the Indians fought the Anglo settlers.
2 HIT PEOPLE [I,T] if someone fights another person, or if two people fight, they hit and kick the other person in order to hurt them
[+with]
•Two guys were fighting with each other in the street.
[+about/over/for]
•They were fighting over a girl.
•She fought him desperately, kicking and biting.
3 TRY TO DO STH [I,T] to try hard to do or get something
[+for]
•The men were fighting for higher wages.
•Stockley is fighting for his life (=trying to stay alive), with serious head injuries.
•She fought her way back into the first team.
fight to do sth
•The president was fighting to survive.
4 PREVENT STH [I,T] to try very hard to prevent something or to get rid of something unpleasant that already exists
[+against]
•People are fighting against repression and injustice.
•We will fight terrorism, wherever it exists.
5 COMPETE [I,T] to take part in an election or compete strongly for something, especially a job or political position
fight an election/a campaign
•The prime minister decided to fight an early general election.
fight (sb) for sth
•He had to fight several other applicants for the job.
•Both men were used to fighting for power.
6 ARGUE [I] to argue about something
[+with]
•I heard her fighting with the boss.
[+about/over]
•They're fighting about who should do the dishes.
7 SPORT [I,T] to take part in a BOXING match:
•Ali fought Foreman for the heavyweight title.
8 EMOTION [I,T] to try very hard not to have or show a feeling:
•She fought her fear.
[+with]
•She was clearly fighting with her emotions.
9 LAW [T] to try to get something or prevent something in a court of law:
•The insurance company are fighting the claims in court.
10 fight your way (through/past etc sb/sth) to move somewhere with difficulty, for example because there are so many people around you:
•We fought our way through the crowd.
11 fight a losing battle to try to do something that you probably cannot succeed in doing:
•I'm fighting a losing battle on this diet.
12 have a fighting chance to have a chance to do something or achieve something if you try very hard:
•Lewis has a fighting chance to win the gold medal.
13 fight tooth and nail (for sth)/fight sth tooth and nail to try very hard to do or achieve something, or to prevent something:
•He's rich now, but he had to fight tooth and nail for it.
14 fight to the death/finish to fight until one person or group is dead or completely defeated
15 fight your own battles fight for what you want, without needing help from other people:
•Mum, I can fight my own battles now.
16 fighting spirit the desire to fight or win:
•In the second half the team showed their true fighting spirit.
17 fighting words/talk something you say that shows that you want to fight hard for something
18 fight fire with fire to use the same methods as your opponents in an argument, competition etc
19 fight like cat and dog if two people fight like cat and dog, they argue a lot because they dislike each other or disagree:
•I didn't get on with her at work either - we fought like cat and dog.
20 fighting fit BrE extremely fit and healthy
21 fight your corner BrE to try to persuade people that your ideas about something are right and should be accepted:
•The Prime Minister made it clear that Britain would fight its corner on Europe.
22 fight shy of (doing) sth BrE to try to avoid doing something or being involved in something:
•Many women fight shy of motherhood.

PHRASAL VERBS
fight back phr v
1 to work hard to achieve or oppose something, especially in a situation where you are losing:
•United fought back and scored a last-minute goal.
[+against]
•She was fighting back against the cancer.
2 to use violence or arguments against someone who has attacked you or argued with you:
•The rebels are fighting back.
3 fight sth <=> back to try hard not to have or show a feeling:
•She looked away, fighting back her tears.
•He fought back the impulse to slap her.

fight sth <=> down phr v
to try hard not to have or show a feeling:
•Doug fought down a feeling of panic.

fight sb/sth <=> off phr v
1 to keep someone away, or stop them doing something to you, by fighting or opposing them:
•Bodyguards had to fight off the crowds.
•The company managed to fight off a takeover attempt.
2 to succeed in stopping other people getting something, and to get it for yourself:
•Allan fought off stiff competition from throughout the UK to win one of only four places at the college.
3 to try hard to get rid of something, especially an illness or a feeling:
•Elaine's fighting off a cold.

fight sth out phr v
to argue or fight until a disagreement is settled:
•We left them to fight it out.
1 HIT [C] a situation in which two people or groups hit, push etc each other:
•Sam's always getting into fights at school.
[+with]
•He got drunk and had a fight with Jim.
[+between]
•A fight broke out between the two gangs.
[+over/about]
•fights over territory
pick/start a fight
•The big guy was trying to pick a fight.
•a street fight
2 ACHIEVE/PREVENT STH [singular] the process of trying to achieve something or prevent something
[+for]
•the fight for justice and democracy
•The little girl lost her fight for life (=fight to stay alive) last night.
[+against]
•the fight against crime
fight to do sth
•the fight to get financial aid
•You'll have a fight on your hands (=it will be difficult) to convince the committee.
3 ARGUMENT [C] an argument
[+with]
•They've had a fight with the neighbours.
[+over/about]
•fights over money
4 SPORT [C] a BOXING match:
•Are you going to watch the big fight tonight?
5 BATTLE [C] a battle between two armies
[+for]
•the fight for Bunker Hill
6 ENERGY [U] energy or the desire to keep fighting for something you want:
•There's plenty of fight left in your grandmother.
7 put up a good fight to work very hard to fight or compete in a difficult situation:
•Our team put up a good fight.
8 a fight to the death/finish a fight that continues until one side is completely defeated [C] BrE
an attempt by someone to get back to a position of strength after they have lost it, especially in sport:
•Arsenal staged a spirited fightback in the second half. $ [C]
1 also fighter plane/aircraft/jet a small fast military plane that can destroy other planes:
•He was shot down by enemy fighters.
•a fighter pilot
2 someone who fights, especially as a sport
3 someone who keeps trying to achieve something in difficult situations:
•James is a fighter - he never gives up.
FIREFIGHTER, FREEDOM FIGHTER [U]
when people or groups fight each other in a war, in the street etc
[+between]
• heavy fighting between government and rebel forces
• Fighting broke out in the crowds.[C]
the large leaf of the fig tree, sometimes shown in paintings as covering people's sex organs
a figment of sb's imagination something that you imagine is real, but which does not exist
1 a figurative word or phrase is used in a different way from its usual meaning, to give you a particular idea or picture in your mind; literal
•He's my son, in the figurative sense of the word.
2 technical figurative art shows objects, people, or the countryside as they really look; abstract
- figuratively adverb
•They have a taste - figuratively speaking - for excitement. $ [C]
1 NUMBER
a) [usually plural] a number representing an amount, especially an official number
unemployment/sales/trade figures
•Ohio's employment figures for December
•Government figures underestimate the problem.
•It's about 30,000 in round figures (=to the nearest 10, 20, 100 etc).
b) a number from 0 to 10, written as a sign rather than a word:
•the figure '2'
•executives with salaries in six figures (=more than £99,000)
a four/five/six figure number (=a number in the thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands etc)
DOUBLE FIGURES, SINGLE FIGURES
2 AMOUNT OF MONEY a particular amount of money
[+of]
•an estimated figure of $200 million
3 PERSON
a) someone who is important or famous in some way
a leading/key/central figure
•Several leading figures resigned from the party.
•the outstanding political figure of his time
b) someone with a particular type of appearance or character, especially when they are far away or difficult to see:
•a tall figure in a hat
•Through the window I could see the commanding figure of Mrs Bradshaw.
cult figure at CULT^2
4 WOMAN'S BODY the shape of a woman's body:
•She has a good figure.
keep/lose your figure (=stay thin or become fat)
•Most women have to watch their figure (=be careful not to get fat).
5 father/mother/authority figure someone who is considered to be like a father etc, or to represent authority, because of their character or behaviour
6 figures [plural] BrE the activity of adding, multiplying etc numbers; = arithmetic
•a natural ability with figures
have a head for figures (=be good at arithmetic)
7 MATHEMATICAL SHAPE a GEOMETRIC shape:
•A hexagon is a six-sided figure.
8 PAINTING/MODEL a person in a painting or a model of a person:
•the figure in the background
FIGURINE
9 DRAWING written abbreviation fig. a numbered drawing or a DIAGRAM in a book
10 put a figure on it/give an exact figure to say exactly how much something is worth, or how much or how many of something you are talking about:
•It's worth a lot but I couldn't put a figure on it.
11 a fine figure of a man/woman someone who is tall and has a good body
12 a figure of fun someone who people laugh at
13 ON ICE a pattern or movement in FIGURE SKATING
1 [I] to be an important part of a process, event, or situation, or to be included in something
[+in/among]
•Environmental issues figured prominently in the talks.
•My wishes didn't figure among his considerations.
•Reform now figures high on the agenda.
2 [T] informal to form a particular opinion after thinking about a situation
figure (that)
•From the way he behaved, I figured that he was drunk.
•It was worth the trouble, I figured.
3 that figures/(it) figures spoken especially AmE
a) used to say that something that happens is expected or typical, especially something bad:
•'It rained the whole weekend.' 'Oh, that figures.'
b) used to say that something is reasonable or makes sense:
• It figures that she'd be mad at you, after what you did.
4 go figure AmE spoken said to show that you think something is strange or difficult to explain:
•'He didn't even leave a message.' 'Go figure.'
5 [T] AmE to calculate an amount:
•I'm just figuring my expenses.

PHRASAL VERBS
figure on sth phr v informal especially AmE
to expect something or include it in your plans:
•She was younger than any of us had figured on.

figure sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to think about a problem or situation until you find the answer or understand what has happened
figure out how/what/why etc
•Can you figure out how to do it?
•If I have a map, I can figure it out.
•Don't worry, we'll figure something out (=find a way to solve the problem).
2 to understand why someone behaves in the way they do:
•Women. I just can't figure them out. $ [only before noun] formal
decorated with a small pattern $ [C]
1 someone who seems to be the leader of a country or organization but who has no real power; puppet
•The Queen is merely a figurehead.
2 a wooden model of a woman that used to be placed on the front of shipsfigure eight AmE [C] BrE
the pattern or shape of a number eight, as seen in a knot, dance etc[C]
a word or expression that is used in a different way from the normal meaning, to give you a picture in your mind[C]
a kind of SKATING in which you move in patterns on the ice
- figure skater noun [C] $ [C]
a small model of a person or animal used as a decoration [C]
a very thin thread or wire:
•an electric filament $ [C] especially AmE
a HAZELNUT [T] informal
to steal something small or not very valuable; = pinch, nick BrE
•He filched a bottle of wine from the cellar. [C]
1 a set of papers, records etc that contain information about a particular person or subject
[+on]
•Mendoza read over the file on the murders.
•The FBI keeps files on former White House employees.
•We will keep your details on file (=store them for later use).
police/case/medical etc file
•a copy of the court file
2 a box or piece of folded card in which you store loose papers:
•She pulled a blue file from the shelf.
3 information on a computer that you store under a particular name

open a file
close a file
save a file
create a file
delete a file
copy a file
access a file
edit a file (=make changes to it)
download a file (=make a copy of a file on the hard disk of your computer)
text/data/graphics file (=containing text etc)

•Click on the icon to open the file.
•You can always save the file into another directory.
• files downloaded from the Internet
•a plain text file

4 a metal tool with a rough surface that you rub on something to make it smooth
NAIL FILE
5 a line of people who are standing or walking one behind the other
[+of]
•a file of soldiers marching in step
in file
•It was dark as we set off in file.
SINGLE FILE, RANK AND FILE
1 [T] to keep papers, documents etc in a particular place so that you can find them easily:
•The contracts are filed alphabetically.
file sth under sth
•I looked to see if anything was filed under my name.
file sth away
•The handbooks are filed away for future reference.
2 [T] to give or send an official report or news story to your employer:
•The officer left the scene without filing a report.
3 [I always + adv/prep, T] law to give a document to a court or other organization so that it can be officially recorded and dealt with
file a complaint/lawsuit/petition etc (against sb)
•Mr Genoa filed a formal complaint against the department.
[+for]
•The Morrisons have filed for divorce.
•Today is the deadline for Americans to file their tax returns.
4 [I always + adv/prep] if people file somewhere, they walk there in a line:
•We began to file out into the car park.
•The mourners filed past the coffin.
5 [I always + adv/prep, T] to use a metal or wooden tool to rub something in order to make it smooth:
•File down the sharp edges.
•She sat filing her nails.[C] AmE
a piece of office furniture with drawers for storing letters, reports etc; = filing cabinet BrE [C]
the name you give to a particular computer file $
an American spelling of FILLET formal
relating to the relationship of a son or daughter to their parents:
•her filial duty $ [I,T]
to try to delay action in Congress or another law-making group by making very long speeches:
•Opponents of the bill threatened to filibuster its final stages.
- filibuster noun [C] [U]
delicate designs or decorations made of gold or silver wire:
•silver filigree jewellery
1 [U] the work of arranging documents in the correct FILEs
2 filings [plural] small sharp bits that come off when a piece of metal is cut or FILEd :
•iron filings
3 [C] a document, report etc that is officially recorded:
•a bankruptcy filing[C] BrE
a piece of office furniture with drawers for storing letters, reports etc; = file cabinet AmE
1 BECOME/MAKE FULL also fill up [I,T] if a container or place fills, or if you fill it, enough of something goes into it to make it full:
•He poured her a drink, then filled his own glass.
•My job was filling the flour sacks.
•Take a deep breath and allow your lungs to fill.
fill (sth) with sth
•Her eyes filled with tears.
fill sth to the brim/to overflowing (=fill something completely)
•a bucket filled to the brim with ice
•There was just enough wind to fill the sails.
•Miller's band was filling dancehalls (=attracting a lot of people) all over the country.
2 LARGE THING/NUMBER [T] if a thing or group fills something, there is no space left:
•Crowds of well-wishers filled the streets.
•His wartime experiences would fill a book!
•All the seats were filled and a number of people were standing.
•Numerous pictures fill every available space.
3 SOUND/SMELL/LIGHT [T] if a sound, smell, or light fills a place, you notice it because it is very loud or strong:
•The smell of freshly baked bread filled the room.
be filled with sth
•The air was filled with the sound of children's laughter.
4 EMOTIONS [T] if you are filled with an emotion, or if it fills you, you feel it very strongly
be filled with admiration/joy/happiness etc
•I was filled with admiration for her.
be filled with horror/fear/anger/doubt/remorse
•Their faces were suddenly filled with fear.
fill sb with sth
•The prospect filled him with horror.
5 PROVIDE STH [T] to provide something that is needed or wanted but which has not been available or present before
fill a need/demand
•Volunteers fill a real need for teachers in the Somali Republic.
fill a gap/hole/niche etc
•I spent most of the summer filling the gaps in my education.
•The company has moved quickly to fill the niche in the overnight travel market.
6 SPEND TIME [T] if you fill a period of time with a particular activity, you spend that time doing it
fill your time/the days etc (with sth)
•I have no trouble filling my time.
7 PERFORM A JOB [T] to perform a particular job, activity, or purpose in an organization, or to find someone or something to do this
fill a post/position/vacancy etc
•Women fill 35% of senior management positions.
•Thank you for your letter. Unfortunately, the vacancy has already been filled.
•The UK should find another weapon to fill the same role.
8 CRACK/HOLE also fill in [T] to put a substance into a hole, crack etc to make a surface level:
•Fill in any cracks before starting to paint.
•materials developed to fill tooth cavities
9 fill yourself (up)/fill your face informal to eat so much food that you cannot eat any more
10 fill an order to supply the goods that a customer has ordered:
•The company is struggling to fill $11 million in back orders.
11 fill the bill AmE to have exactly the right qualities; = fit the bill BrE
•We needed an experienced reporter and Willis fills the bill.
12 fill sb's shoes to do the work that someone else normally does, especially when this is difficult because they have set a high standard

PHRASAL VERBS
fill in phr v
1 DOCUMENT fill sth <=> in to write all the necessary information on an official document, form etc:
•Don't forget to fill in your boarding cards.
2 TELL SB NEWS fill sb <=> in to tell someone about recent events, especially because they have been away from a place
[+on]
•I think you'd better fill me in on what's been happening.
3 CRACK/HOLE fill sth <=> in to put a substance into a hole, crack etc so it is completely full and level
4 fill in time to spend time doing something unimportant because you are waiting for something to happen:
•She flipped through a magazine to fill in the time.
5 SPACE fill sth <=> in to paint or draw over the space inside a shape
6 DO SB'S JOB to do someone's job because they are not there
[+for]
•I'm filling in for Joe for a few days.

fill out phr v
1 fill sth <=> out to write all the necessary information on an official document, form etc
2 if you fill out, or your body fills out, you become slightly fatter:
•Eric is starting to fill out around the waist.
3 if a young person fills out, their body becomes more like an adult's body, for example by having bigger muscles, developing breasts etc:
•At puberty, a girl's body begins to fill out.
4 fill sth <=> out to add more details to a description or story

fill up phr v
1 if a container or place fills up, or if you fill it up, it becomes full
fill sth <=> up
•Shall I fill the car up (=with petrol)?
[+with]
•Her eyes filled up with tears.
2 fill (yourself) up informal to eat so much food that you cannot eat any more
[+with/on]
•Don't fill yourself up with cookies.
•He filled up on pecan pie.
3 fill sb up informal food that fills you up makes you feel as though you have eaten a lot when you have only eaten a small amount
1 have had your fill of sth informal to have done something or experienced something, especially something unpleasant, so that you do not want any more:
•I've had my fill of screaming kids for one day.
2 eat/drink your fill old-fashioned to eat or drink as much as you want or need $ [C,U]
1 BrE a substance used to fill cracks in wood, walls etc, especially before you paint them
2 stories, information, pictures etc that are not important but are used to fill a page in a newspaper or magazine[C] BrE
the lid that fits over the hole in a car that you pour a liquid into, especially oil or petrolfilet AmE $ [C]
a piece of meat or fish without bones
[+of]
•a fillet of solefilet AmE [T]
to remove the bones from a piece of meat or fish:
•filleted fish[singular] BrE informal
someone who does someone else's job because that person is not there:
•I'm here as a fill-in while Robert's away.
food that is filling makes your stomach feel full:
•Pasta and rice are both very filling.
1 [C] a small amount of metal that is put into your tooth to cover a hole:
•gold fillings
2 [C,U] the food that you put inside a PIE, sandwich etc:
•cherry filling
3 [C,U] the soft material inside a CUSHION, PILLOW etc[C]
a place where you can buy petrol for your car; = petrol station BrE [singular]
something that improves a situation or adds excitement or interest to something; = boost
•A cut in lending rates would give a fillip to the housing market.
•British athletics received a tremendous fillip when Wells won the Gold. plural fillies [C]
a young female horse; colt, foal
1 [C] a story that is told using sound and moving pictures, shown at a cinema or on television; = movie AmE

watch/see a film
appear/star in a film
show/screen a film
make/shoot a film
film premiere (=the first time when a film is shown)

•Have you seen any good films recently?
•We stayed in to watch the late-night film.
[+about]
•a film about a young dancer
•a special screening of the film for critics
•a Hollywood film premiere
•Poitier starred in the classic film 'In the Heat of the Night'.

2 [U] moving pictures of real events that are shown on television or at a cinema:
•newsreel film
•the race to be first with film footage (=pictures) of news events
3 [U] the work of making films, considered as an art or a business:
•I'm interested in photography and film.
•the film industry
•a background in film and animation
4 [C,U] the thin plastic used in a camera for taking photographs or recording moving pictures:
•I shot five rolls of film on vacation.
record/capture/preserve sth on film
•The whole incident was recorded on film.
5 [singular] a very thin layer of liquid, powder etc on the surface of something
[+of]
•a film of oil on the surface of the water
CLINGFILM

WORD FOCUS: film
types of film:
comedy
romantic comedy
drama
thriller
western
action film
horror film
war film
art house film
silent film
feature film
films that use drawings or models:
cartoon
animation
animated film
films in general:
cinema
where you go to see a film :
cinema BrE /movie theater AmE
multiplex
the people in a film:
actor
actress
star
cast
the people who make a film:
director
producer
film crew
cameraman /camerawoman
scriptwriter
the music for a film:
soundtrack
the words and the instructions to the actors:
screenplay
a short film advertising another film:
trailer
[I,T]
to use a camera to record a story or real events so that it can be shown in the cinema or on television:
•The love scenes are sensitively filmed.
•She's in Zimbabwe filming a documentary for the BBC.
•a thriller filmed entirely on location in Washington

PHRASAL VERBS
film over phr v
if your eyes film over, they become covered with a thin layer of liquid
- filming noun [U]
•Filming starts in October. $ [C] BrE
someone who goes to see films, especially regularly; theatregoer; = moviegoer AmE formal
relating to films or the art of making films:
•a new filmic stylefilmmaker $ [C]
someone who makes films, especially a DIRECTOR or PRODUCER
- film-making noun [U] $ plural films noirs (same pronunciation) [C,U]
a film that deals with subjects such as evil, moral problems etc, often using a story about people involved in a crime and filmed in a way that seems dark or filled with shadows[C] BrE
a famous actor or actress in cinema films; = movie star AmE [C]
a photographic film that shows photographs, pictures etc one at a time, not as moving pictures:
•an educational filmstrip
very thin, so that you can almost see through it:
•a filmy nightdressalso filo pastry $ [U]
a type of very thin PASTRY which is used by placing many layers together [C] trademark
a small book for writing addresses, things you must do etc, which has pages you can add or remove; personal organizer $ [C]
1 something that you pass water, air etc through in order to remove unwanted substances and make it clean or suitable to use
water/air/oil etc filter
•a pond filter
•coffee filter papers
•filter cigarettes (=with a filter at the end)
2 a piece of equipment or computer program that only allows certain sounds, images, signals, types of information etc to pass through it:
•a UVA light filter
•The firm uses electronic filters to prevent workers from accessing the Internet.
3 BrE a traffic light that shows car drivers when they can turn right or left
1 [T] to remove unwanted substances from water, air etc by passing it through a special substance or piece of equipment:
•The water in the tank is constantly filtered.
•The ozone layer filters harmful UV rays from the sun.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if people filter somewhere, they move gradually to that place:
•Chattering noisily, the crowd began to filter into the auditorium.
3 [I always + adv/prep] if news, information etc filters somewhere, people gradually hear about it from each other:
•The news gradually filtered through from Bombay last night.
4 [I always + adv/prep] if light or sound filters into a place, it can be seen or heard only slightly:
•Moonlight filtered in through the frosted window.
•The familiar notes of Beethoven's 'Für Elise' filtered from the bar.
5 [I,T] BrE if traffic filters, or if a system filters it, cars can turn left or right while other vehicles going straight ahead must wait

PHRASAL VERBS
filter sth <=> out phr v
1 to remove something, using a filter:
•The pump filters out mud.
2 to remove words, information etc that you do not need or want:
•Net users can filter out unwanted emails with software.[C]
a filter at one end of a cigarette that removes some of the harmful substances from the smoke
- filter-tipped adjective
1 [U] very offensive language, stories, or pictures about sex:
•I don't know how you can watch that filth!
2 [U] dirt, especially a lot of it:
•a mound of filth and rubbish
•people living in filth
•Passing cars covered his shoes with filth.
3 the filth BrE informal an offensive word for the police comparative filthier, superlative filthiest
1 very dirty:
•The house was filthy, with clothes and newspapers strewn everywhere.
2 showing or describing sexual acts in a very rude or offensive way
filthy language/story/joke etc
•Your problem is you've got a filthy mind (=you are always thinking about sex).
3 showing anger or annoyance
filthy mood/temper
•Simon had been drinking and was in a filthy temper.
•She gave him a filthy look.
4 filthy weather/night/day the weather, a night etc that is very cold and wet:
•It's a filthy night to be out.informal
1 filthy dirty very dirty
2 filthy rich very rich - usually used to say you think someone has too much money [C,U] technical
a liquid from which a substance has been removed using a FILTER [U]
the process of cleaning a liquid by passing it through a FILTER [C]
1 one of the thin body parts that a fish uses to swim
2 part of a plane that sticks up at the back and helps it to fly smoothly
AIRCRAFT
3 also tail fin a thin piece of metal that sticks out from a car or bomb at the back
4 a FLIPPER [T] AmE informal
to obtain something that is difficult to get by using unusual or unfair methods:
•How he finagled four front row seats to the game I'll never know.
- finagling noun [U]
1 [only before noun] last in a series of actions, events, parts of a story etc:
•The final episode will be shown tonight.
•students preparing for their final examinations
•Stone is filming the final instalment of his Vietnam trilogy.
•the final stages in their relationship
•They scored in the final minutes of the game.
•The final whistle (=blown at the end of a game) was only seconds away when Redknapp equalised.
final demand BrE (=the last bill you receive for money you owe before court action is taken against you)
2 [only before noun] being the result at the end of a process:
•the quality of the final product
•Does anyone know the final score?
final result/outcome
•I do not know what the final outcome will be.
3 if a decision, offer, answer etc is final, it cannot or will not be changed:
•The judge's decision is final.
final decision/say/approval etc
•We can advise the client, but in the end it is he who has the final say.
•Is that your final answer?
and that's final! (=used to say forcefully that you will not change your decision)
•She's not coming with us, and that's final!
4 [only before noun] happening at or near the end of an event or process:
•In the final years of his life, Hervey achieved high office in the church.
5 used to emphasize that the last thing in a series of events is very severe or damaging; = ultimate
final indignity/humiliation
•The vote of no confidence was the final humiliation for a government that had been clinging to office.
in the final analysis at ANALYSIS (4)[C]
1 the last and most important game, race, or set of games in a competition
be through to/reach the final
•He's through to the men's tennis final for the first time.
the finals (=the last few games or races in a competition)
•the NBA finals
2 finals [plural] BrE the set of examinations that students take at the end of their time at university; = final exams
sit/take your finals
•Anna sat her finals last summer.
3 AmE an important test that you take at the end of a particular class in high school or college $ [C]
the last part of a piece of music or of a show, event etc:
•the finale of a Broadway show
•a game with a dramatic finale
grand finale (=very impressive end to a show)
•The fireworks were the grand finale of the ceremonies. [C]
one of the people or teams that reaches the final game in a competition [U]
the quality something has when it is finished or complete and cannot be changed
a sense/air of finality
•The word 'retirement' has a terrible air of finality about it.also finalise BrE [T]
to finish the last part of a plan, business deal etc:
•Jo flew out to Thailand to finalize the details of the deal.
- finalization $ noun [U]
1 after a long time; = eventually
•After several delays we finally took off at six o'clock.
•Finally, Karpov cracked under the pressure.
see box at LASTLY
2 [sentence adverb] used to introduce the last in a series of things; = lastly; firstly
•And finally, I'd like to thank the crew.
3 used when talking about the last in a series of actions:
•She drove off at great speed, hit several parked cars, and finally crashed into a lamp-post.
4 in a way that does not allow changes:
•The matter was not finally settled until 1475. $
1 [U] the management of money by governments, large organizations etc:
•leasing and other forms of business finance
•Russia's finance minister
•the world of high finance (=financial activities involving very large amounts of money)
2 finances [plural] the money that an organization or person has, and the way that they manage it:
•concerns about the company's finances
•She refused to answer questions about her personal finances.
3 [U] money provided by a bank or other institution to help buy or do something
[+for]
•We need to raise finance for further research.[T]
to provide money, especially a lot of money, to pay for something; = fund
•The concerts are financed by the Arts Council.
- financing noun [U]
•The financing for the deal has been approved in principle.finance house BrE $ [C] AmE
a company that lends money, especially to businesses [usually before noun]
relating to money or the management of money:
•financial transactions
•financial assistance
•a financial advisor
•Organic farmers should be encouraged with financial incentives.
•It was a wonderful film, but not exactly a financial success (=something that makes a profit).
financial difficulties/problems/crisis
- financially adverb
•He was successful and financially secure.
•Is the project financially viable?[U] AmE
money given or lent to students at college or university to pay for their education[C] technical
a business organization that lends and borrows money, for example a bank:
•All the big financial institutions cut their interest rates today.[singular] especially BrE
the 12-month period over which a company's accounts are calculated; = fiscal year AmE $ [C]
someone who controls or lends large sums of money [C]
a small bird with a short beak past tense and past participle found [T]
1 GET BY SEARCHING to discover, see, or get something that you have been searching for:
•I can't find the car keys.
•Hold on while I find a pen.
•Her body was later found hidden in the bushes.
•I have to find somewhere else to live.
•She had almost given up hope of finding a husband.
find sb sth
•Tony asked us to find him office facilities in New York.
•Her mother went to the shops, and on her return, Kathleen was nowhere to be found (=could not be found).
2 SEE BY CHANCE to discover something by chance, especially something useful or interesting:
•I found a purse in the street.
•We found a really good bar near the hotel.
3 DISCOVER STATE OF SB/STH to discover that someone or something is in a particular condition or doing a particular thing when you see or touch them:
•I'm sure we'll find her hard at work when we get home.
•He tried the door and found it unlocked.
•She woke to find a man by her bed.
find sb/sth doing sth
•Often he found her quietly weeping alone.
find (that)
•She looked at her glass and was amazed to find it was empty.
4 DO STH WITHOUT MEANING TO to be in a particular state or do a particular thing, or to realize that this is happening, especially when you did not expect or intend it:
•After wandering around, we found ourselves back at the hotel.
find yourself/your mind etc doing sth
•When he left, Karen found herself heaving a huge sigh of relief.
•She tried to concentrate, but found her mind drifting back to Alex.
find (that)
•He found he was shivering.
5 LEARN STH BY STUDY to discover or learn something by study, tests, sums etc:
•The federal government isn't doing enough to find a cure.
•How do you find the square root of 20?
be found to do sth
•The liquid was found to contain 7.4g of phenylamine.
find that
•His study found that married men and women had similar spending patterns.
6 THINK/FEEL to have a particular feeling or opinion, or to have a particular feeling or opinion about someone or something:
•Will Gary and Gail find happiness together?
find sth/sb easy/useful/interesting etc
•She found the work very dull.
•Lots of women I know find him attractive.
•I found them quite easy to use.
find it hard/easy/difficult etc (to do sth)
•Hyperactive children find it difficult to concentrate.
7 EXPERIENCE to have the experience of discovering that something happens or is true
find (that)
•You might find that his work improves now he's at a new school.
•I find people are often surprised at how little it costs.
find sb/sth doing sth
•I think you'll find more women entering the film business now.
find sb/sth to be sth
•I found the people to be charming and very friendly.
8 EXIST IN A PLACE be found somewhere if something is found somewhere, it lives or exists there naturally:
•This species is only found in West Africa.
9 GET ENOUGH MONEY/TIME ETC to succeed in getting enough of something, especially money, time, or energy, to be able to do something:
•He's struggling to find the money for the trip.
•Where are we going to find the time, the support, and the resources to do all this?
10 IN A COURT OF LAW to make an official decision in a court of law
find sb guilty/not guilty (of sth)
•Both men were found guilty of illegally entering the country.
find in sb's favour
•The tribunal found in favour of the defendant.
11 find your way (somewhere) to reach a place by discovering the right way to get there:
•Will you be able to find your way back?
12 find its way somewhere informal if something finds its way somewhere, it arrives or gets there after some time:
•Only one of her inventions has found its way into the shops.
13 find comfort/pleasure/fulfilment etc in sth to experience a good feeling because of something:
•He eventually found solace in religion.
14 find fault with sb/sth to criticize someone or something, often unfairly and frequently:
•He could always find fault with something, either in my writing or in my personality.
15 find it in your heart/yourself to do sth literary to feel able or willing to do something:
•Seb could not find it in his heart to tell Nahum.
16 find yourself informal to discover what you are really like and what you want to do - often used humorously:
•She went to India to find herself.
17 find favour (with sb/sth) formal be liked or approved of by someone:
•The recipes rapidly found favour with restaurant owners.
18 find your feet to become confident in a new situation, especially one that is difficult at first:
•Rob is still finding his feet as a coach.
19 find its mark/target
a) if a bullet, ARROW etc finds its mark etc, it hits what it is supposed to hit
b) if a remark, criticism etc finds its mark etc, it has the effect that you intended it to have
•She soon saw that her accusation had found its mark.
20 find your voice
a) also find your tongue to manage to say something after being too nervous to talk
b) if a writer, musician etc finds their voice, they are able to express their views, ideas, art etc in the way they want to:
•a young film-maker who has finally found his voice
21 be found wanting formal to not be good enough:
•Their defence was found wanting.

PHRASAL VERBS
find against sb phr v law
to judge that someone is wrong or guilty:
•The inspectors are likely to find against the company.

find for sb phr v law
to judge that someone is right or not guilty:
•The judge found for the plaintiff.

find out phr v
1 to get information, after trying to discover it or by chance
find out who/what/how etc
•Has anyone bothered to find out how much all this is going to cost?
find out if/whether
•Did you find out whether there are any seats left?
find out (that)
•I found out that my parents had never been married.
find sth <=> out
•To find out more, visit our website.
find out (sth) about sth
•I need to find out more about these night courses.
[+from]
•We could find out from the local council.
•I thought it best to let you find out for yourself.
see box at KNOW^1
2 find sb out [usually passive] if you are found out, someone discovers that you have been doing something dishonest or illegal; catch
•What happens if we get found out?[C]
1 a find something very good or useful that you discover by chance:
•That restaurant was a real find!
2 something that someone finds, especially by digging or by searching under water:
•important archaeological finds $ [C]
1 someone who finds something that was lost or stolen:
•The finder usually receives a reward.
2 finders keepers (losers weepers) spoken used to say that if someone finds something, they have the right to keep it [only before noun]
typical of the end of the 19th century, especially its art, literature, and attitudes [C]
1 [usually plural] the information that someone has discovered as a result of their study, work etc:
•Surveys conducted in other countries reported similar findings.
2 law a decision made by a judge or JURY
1 ACCEPTABLE [not before noun] especially spoken satisfactory or acceptable; = OK
•'We're meeting at 8.30.' 'Okay, fine.'
looks/seems/sounds fine
•In theory, the scheme sounds fine.
•If you want to use cheese instead of chicken, that's fine.
•'Do you want chili sauce on it?' 'No, it's fine as it is, thanks.'
I'm fine (thanks/thank you) spoken (=used when telling someone that you do not want any more when they offer you something)
•'More coffee?' 'No, I'm fine, thanks.'
that's fine by me/that's fine with me etc spoken (=used when saying that you do not mind about something)
•If Scott wanted to keep his life secret, that was fine by her.
2 HEALTHY in good health; = OK
•'How are you?' 'Fine, thanks, how are you?'
•I feel fine, really.
3 VERY GOOD [usually before noun] very good or of a very high standard:
•Many people regard Beethoven's fifth symphony as his finest work.
•He's a very fine player.
•It's a fine idea.
•Hatfield House is a fine example of Jacobean architecture.
•The restaurant was chosen for its good food and fine wines.
4 WEATHER bright and not raining:
•If it's fine tomorrow we'll go out.
a fine day/morning/evening
•I hope it stays fine for you.
5 NARROW very thin or narrow:
•Fine needles are inserted in the arm.
•a fine thread
•very fine hairs
6 DELICATE [usually before noun] attractive, neat, and delicate:
•fine china
•Her dark hair accentuates her fine features (=nose, eyes, cheeks etc).
7 SMALL
a) fine details, changes, differences etc are very small and therefore difficult to understand or notice:
•We stayed up discussing the finer points of Marxist theory.
b) in small grains, pieces, or drops:
•A fine drizzle started falling.
•a mixture of fine and coarse breadcrumbs
c) fine material is made so that the spaces between the threads are very small:
•fine netting
•scarlet cloth with a very fine weave
8 BAD [only before noun] especially spoken used humorously to say that someone or something is bad in some way:
•That's another fine mess (=bad situation) he's got himself into.
•You're a fine one to talk (=you are criticizing someone for something you do yourself).
9 SPEECH/WORDS sounding important and impressive, but probably not true or honest:
•Only time will tell whether these fine sentiments will translate into action.
10 a fine man/woman etc a good person that you respect:
•Your father is a fine man, a real gentleman.
11 a fine line between sth and sth if you say that there is a fine line between two different things, you mean that they are so similar that one can easily become the other:
•There's a fine line between bravery and recklessness.
12 get sth down to a fine art to practise something so often that you become very skilled at it:
•Mike had got the breakfast routine down to a fine art.
13 not to put too fine a point on it informal used when you are criticizing something in a plain and direct way:
•That's a real ' pub, not to put too fine a point on it.
14 finer feelings someone's finer feelings are the moral values they have, such as love, honour, loyalty etc:
•You can hardly expect such finer feelings in a thief.
15 a fine figure of a man/woman literary someone who looks big, strong, and physically attractive:
•In his portrait, Donlevy is a fine figure of a man.
16 sb's finest hour a time when someone is very successful, brave etc:
•The tournament proved to be Gascoigne's finest hour.
chance would be a fine thing at CHANCE^1 (12)
1 especially spoken in a way that is satisfactory or acceptable:
•'How's it going?' 'Fine, thanks.'
•The dress fitted me fine.
•If I had a good job and my boyfriend stayed at home, that'd suit me fine (=be very acceptable to me).
2 do fine spoken
a) to be satisfactory or acceptable:
•'Something very light,' he ordered. 'An omelette will do fine.'
b) to do something well or in a satisfactory way:
•Don't worry, you're doing fine. Keep at it.
c) to be healthy and well:
•'How's your husband?' 'He's doing fine, thank you.'
3 if you cut something fine, you cut it into very small or very thin pieces; = finely
4 cut it/things fine informal to leave yourself only just enough time to do something[T]
to make someone pay money as a punishment
fine sb for (doing) sth
•She was fined for speeding.
fine sb £200/$500 etc
•The club was fined £50,000 for financial irregularities.[C]
money that you have to pay as a punishment:
•a £40 fine
pay a fine/pay £100/$50 etc in fines
•She was ordered to pay £150 in parking fines, plus court costs.
•Councils will get sweeping powers to impose fines on drivers who park illegally.
heavy/hefty fine (=a large fine)
•If convicted, the men face heavy fines.[U]
the fine arts forms of art, especially paintings or SCULPTURE, that are produced and admired for their beauty and high quality:
•Can photography be considered fine art?
•the faculty of fine arts
1 into very thin or very small pieces:
•finely chopped onion
2 in a very careful, delicate, or exact way:
•Saunders' finely crafted drawings
•These instruments are very finely tuned.
3 beautifully or impressively:
•He wore a silk cloak over a finely embroidered robe.
•high-quality, finely carved statues[U]
SMALL PRINT [U] literary
clothes and jewellery that are beautiful or very expensive, and are worn for a special occasion:
•The guests arrived in all their finery. [U]
if you do something with finesse, you do it with a lot of skill and style:
•Dario played the sonata with great finesse.[T]
1 to handle a situation well, but in a way that is slightly deceitful
2 AmE to do something with a lot of skill and style[C]
go through/over sth with a fine-tooth comb to examine something very carefully and thoroughly:
•The police went over the scene of the crime with a fine-tooth comb.[T]
to make very small changes to something such as a machine, system, or plan, so that it works as well as possible:
•Over the next few days, we fine-tuned the scheme and made some useful improvements.
- fine tuning noun [U] $ [C]
1 PART OF YOUR HAND one of the four long thin parts on your hand, not including your thumb:
•The woman had a ring on her finger, so I assumed she was married.
•We ate with our fingers.
run your fingers through/over/along etc sth
•She ran her fingers through his hair.
2 cross your fingers
a) to hope that something will happen the way you want:
•We're keeping our fingers crossed that she's going to be OK.
b) to secretly put one finger over another finger, because you are telling a lie - done especially by children:
•'He's nice,' said Laura, crossing her fingers under the table.
3 not lift/raise a finger to not make any effort to help someone with their work:
•I do all the work around the house - Frank never lifts a finger.
4 put your finger on sth to know or be able to explain exactly what is wrong, different, or unusual about a situation:
•There was something about the man that worried Wycliffe, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
5 not lay a finger on sb to not hurt someone at all, especially not to hit them:
•If you so much as lay a finger on me, I'll call the police!
6 have/keep your finger on the pulse (of sth) to always know about the most recent changes or developments in a particular situation or activity:
•people with their finger on the pulse of fashion and pop culture
7 have a finger in every pie/ in many pies to be involved in many activities and to have influence over a lot of people, used especially when you think someone has too much influence
8 twist/wrap/wind sb around your little finger to be able to persuade someone to do anything that you want:
•Ed could wrap his mother around his little finger.
9 the finger of blame/suspicion
•The finger of suspicion immediately fell on Broderick.
10 OF A GLOVE the part of a GLOVE that covers your finger
11 SHAPED LIKE A FINGER anything that is long and thin, like the shape of a finger, especially a piece of land, an area of water, or a piece of food:
•fish fingers
•chocolate fingers
[+of]
•the long finger of Chile
12 pull/get your finger out BrE informal used to tell someone to work harder
13 put two fingers up at sb BrE informal to show someone you are angry with them in a very offensive way by holding up your first two fingers with the back of your hand facing them
14 give sb the finger AmE informal to show someone you are angry with them in a very offensive way by holding up your middle finger with the back of your hand facing them
15 be all fingers and thumbs BrE to use your hands in an awkward or careless way, so that you drop or break things
16 long-fingered/slim-fingered etc having long fingers, slim fingers etc:
•lovely long-fingered hands
17 DRINK an amount of an alcoholic drink that is as high in the glass as the width of someone's finger:
•two fingers of whiskey
BUTTERFINGERS, FISH FINGER; have your hands/fingers in the till at TILL^2 (3); count sth on the fingers of one hand at COUNT^1 (7); have green fingers at GREEN^1 (10); burn your fingers/get your fingers burnt at BURN^1 (16); point the/a finger at sb at POINT^2 (9); let sth slip through your fingers at SLIP^1 (15); snap your fingers at SNAP^1 (7); have sticky fingers at STICKY (6); work your fingers to the bone at WORK^1 (29)[T]
1 to touch or handle something with your fingers:
•She fingered the beautiful cloth with envy.
2 informal if someone, especially a criminal, fingers another criminal, they tell the police what they have done $ [C]
the long part of a STRINGED INSTRUMENT which the player presses the strings onto[C]
a small bowl in which you wash your fingers during a meal [U]
the positions in which a musician puts his or her fingers to play a piece of music, or the order in which he or she uses the fingers $ [C]
a mark made by dirty fingers on something clean $ [C]
the hard flat part that covers the top end of your finger; = nail[plural]
special paints that children use to paint with, using their fingers
- finger painting noun [U][U]
when people blame other people for something that has gone wrong, instead of trying to solve the problem:
•There followed months of name-calling and finger-pointing. $ [C]
a mark made by the pattern of lines at the end of a person's finger, which is used by the police to find out who has committed a crime:
•His fingerprints were all over the gun.
•He was careful not to leave any fingerprints.
•The police questioned Beresford and took his fingerprints (=made a record of them).
- fingerprint verb [T] $ [U]
the practice of making a record of people's fingerprints, and using them to try and find out who has committed a crime
GENETIC FINGERPRINTING $ [U]
a system of speaking to people who are DEAF by touching their hand with your fingers and making the shapes of letters $ [C]
1 the end of your finger, that is furthest away from your hand:
•She touched his cheek gently with her fingertips.
2 have sth at your/their fingertips to have knowledge or information ready and available to use very easily:
•We have all the facts and figures at our fingertips.
3 to his/her fingertips BrE in all ways; completely:
•She's British to her fingertips.
1 too concerned with unimportant details and small things that you like or dislike; = fussy
•She's very finicky about what she eats.
2 needing to be done very carefully, while paying attention to small details; = fiddly
•a finicky job
1 STOP DOING STH also finish off [I,T] to complete the last part of something that you are doing:
•You can't go anywhere until you've finished your homework.
•Have you finished that book yet?
finish doing sth
•I finished typing the report just minutes before it was due.
•'How's the decorating going?' 'We've nearly finished.'
2 END [I] especially BrE when an event, activity, or period of time finishes, it ends, especially at a particular time:
•The football season finishes in May.
•What time does school finish?
3 EAT/DRINK also finish up/off [T] to eat or drink all the rest of something, so there is none left:
•I'll just finish my coffee.
4 END STH BY DOING STH also finish off [I,T] to complete an event, performance, piece of work etc by doing one final thing
[+with]
•The party finished with a sing-song.
finish (sth) by doing sth
•I would like to finish by thanking you all for your help.
5 RACE [I,T] to be in a particular position at the end of a race, competition etc
finish first/second/third etc
•He finished second in the 100 metres, behind Ben Johnson.
6 TAKE AWAY SB'S STRENGTH also finish off [T] to take away all of someone's strength, energy etc; = do sb in
•Another run like that would just about finish me.
7 USE ALL OF STH [I,T] BrE to completely use up the supply of something, especially food:
•The ice cream's finished - can you get some more?
8 put/add the finishing touches (to sth) to add the final details that make your work complete:
•The band are currently putting the finishing touches to their new album.
9 SURFACE [T] to give the surface of something, especially wood, a smooth appearance by painting, polishing, or covering it:
•The furniture had been attractively finished in a walnut veneer.

PHRASAL VERBS
finish off phr v
1 finish sth <=> off to complete the last part of something that you are doing:
•It'll take me a couple of hours to finish this job off.
2 finish sth <=> off to use or eat all of something, so there is none left:
•Who finished off the cake?
3 to complete an event, performance, piece of work etc by doing one final thing
[+with]
•We'll finish off with a track from Adam's new album.
finish sth <=> off
•She finished off her speech by thanking her sponsors.
finish off/finish sth <=> off by doing sth
•Finish off by cleaning the monitor and the keyboard.
4 finish sb/sth <=> off to kill a person or animal when they are already weak or wounded
5 finish sb <=> off to take away all of someone's strength, energy etc

finish up phr v
1 BrE informal to arrive at a particular place, after going to other places first; = end up
•I took a long holiday in Italy and finished up in Rome.
2 BrE informal to get into a particular state or situation as the result of what you have done, especially without planning or expecting it; = end up
•One of the guys tried to bribe a police officer and finished up in jail.
[+with]
•Brett got into a fight and finished up with a broken wrist.
3 finish sth <=> up to eat or drink all the rest of something, so there is none left:
•Come on, finish up your drinks!

finish with sth/sb phr v
1 have/be finished with sth to no longer need to use something:
•Have you finished with the scissors?
2 have/be finished with sb to have finished talking to someone or dealing with them, especially when you are angry with them or want to punish them:
•Don't go. I haven't finished with you yet.
•'When I'm finished with you,' he said, 'you'll be lucky if you're still alive.'
3 to end a romantic or sexual relationship with someone:
•So I told him I wanted to finish with him.
1 [C] the end or last part of something:
•I was watching the race but I didn't get to see the finish.
•The day was a disaster from start to finish (=from the beginning until the end).
•I won't walk out - I like to see things through to the finish.
a close finish (=an end of a race where two competitors are very close to each other)
2 a fight to the finish a fight or game in which the teams or competitors struggle until one is completely defeated
3 [C,U] the appearance of the surface of an object after it has been painted, polished etc:
•That table has a beautiful finish.
1 [not before noun] no longer doing, dealing with, or using something; = done
•I'm almost finished.
[+with]
•Are you finished with my tools yet?
2 [only before noun] fully and properly made or completed:
•It took a long time to do, but the finished product was worth it.
finished article BrE
•The painting began to look like the finished article.
3 [not before noun] no longer successful, effective, or able to continue:
•If the bank refuses to increase our loan, we're finished!also finish line AmE
the finishing line the line at which a race ends:
•James crossed the finish line in just under four minutes.
STARTING LINE[C]
a private school where rich girls go to learn social skills
1 having an end or a limit; infinite
•the earth's finite resources
2 technical a finite verb form shows a particular time. 'Am' , 'was', and 'are' are examples of finite verb forms, but 'being' and 'been' are not; non-finite [C] AmE informal old-fashioned
1 someone who tells the police, a teacher, or a parent when someone else breaks a rule or a law
2 a person who you do not like or respect[I +on] AmE informal old-fashioned
to tell the police, a teacher, or a parent that someone has broken a rule or a law; = squeal on sb $
another spelling of FJORD $ [C]
a tree with leaves shaped like needles that do not fall off in winter:
•a fir tree[C]
the hard brown fruit that contains the seeds of a fir tree $
1 FLAMES THAT DESTROY THINGS [C,U] uncontrolled flames, light, and heat that destroy and damage things

start a fire (=deliberately make a fire start burning)
set fire to sth/set sth on fire (=deliberately make something start burning)
be on fire (=be burning)
put out a fire (=stop a fire burning)
fight a fire (=try to make a fire stop burning)
a fire breaks out (=a fire starts suddenly)
sth catches fire (=something starts burning)
a fire burns
a fire goes out (=a fire stops burning)
a fire rages/blazes (=a fire burns strongly for a long time over a large area)
a fire smoulders (=a little smoke comes from a fire, when it has almost gone out)
forest fire (=a very large fire in a forest)
brush fire (=a very large fire in an area of grass)
house fire

•The warehouse was completely destroyed by fire.
•Thirty people died in a fire in downtown Chicago.
•Police think that the fire was started deliberately.
•Rioters set fire to a whole row of stores.
•Sparks from the fireplace could easily set the curtains on fire.
•The house is on fire!
•It took firefighters several hours to put out the fire.
•Residents were evacuated when fire broke out in a block of flats yesterday.
•One of the plane's engines had caught fire.
•People were throwing water on the flames, but the fire was burning more strongly every minute.
•smoke from smouldering fires
•A massive forest fire is still raging in western Java.

2 FLAMES FOR HEATING/COOKING ETC [C] burning material used to heat a room, cook food etc, or get rid of things you do not want:
•Can you put another log on the fire?
by the fire/in front of the fire
•Come and sit in front of the fire.
•a log fire
•a coal fire
•a camp fire (=when you are camping)
make/build/start/light a fire
•You put up the tent and I'll make a fire.
•An open fire (=a fire that burns wood or coal in a FIREPLACE) was burning in the front room.
•Mr Trotter sat by the roaring fire.
•the dying embers of the fire (=pieces of wood, coal etc that have almost been completely burned)
3 HEATING EQUIPMENT [C] BrE a machine that produces heat to warm a room, using gas or electricity as power:
•a gas fire
•an electric fire
turn the fire on/off
•Turn on the fire, I'm cold.
turn the fire up/down (=make it hotter or colder)
4 SHOOTING [U] shots fired from a gun, especially many guns at the same time:
•Troops opened fire on (=started shooting at) the demonstrators.
•These women did vital work, often under enemy fire.
•The rebels agreed to hold their fire (=not shoot).
be in the line of fire at LINE^1 (35)
5 BE ATTACKED be/come under fire
a) to be severely criticized for something you have done - used in news reports:
•Rail chiefs came under fire after raising train fares for the second time this year.
b) to be shot at
[+from]
•Our patrol came under fire from rooftop gunmen.
6 EMOTION [U] a very strong emotion that makes you want to think about nothing else
[+of]
•the fire of religious fanaticism
7 fire in your belly a strong desire to achieve something:
•Three years later, Ali returned to boxing with a new fire in his belly.
8 SICK/INJURED be on fire literary a part of your body that is on fire feels very painful
9 light a fire under sb AmE spoken to do something that makes someone who is being lazy start doing their work
10 go through fire (and water) (for sb) old-fashioned to do something very difficult and dangerous for someone
11 fire and brimstone a phrase describing Hell, used by some religious people
CEASEFIRE; add fuel to the fire/flames at ADD (9); fight fire with fire at FIGHT^1 (18); get on like a house on fire at HOUSE^1 (13); hang fire at HANG^1 (12); play with fire at PLAY^1 (26); set the world on fire at WORLD^1 (22); there's no smoke without fire at SMOKE^1 (5)

WORD FOCUS: fire
a big fire that causes a lot of damage:
blaze
inferno
conflagration literary
someone whose job is to put out fires:
firefighter
fireman
the fire department AmE
the fire brigade BrE

1 SHOOT [I,T] to shoot bullets or bombs
[+at/on/into]
•Soldiers fired on the crowd.
fire sth at sb
•The police fired two shots at the suspects before they surrendered.
fire a gun/weapon/rifle etc (=make it shoot)
•the sound of a gun being fired
fire bullets/missiles/rockets etc
•Guerrillas fired five rockets at the capital yesterday, killing 23 people.
2 JOB [T] to force someone to leave their job; = sack BrE
be/get fired
•She didn't want to get fired.
fire sb from sth
•I've just been fired from my job, and I don't know what to do.
fire sb for sth
•The airline fired him for being drunk.
3 EXCITE [T] to make someone feel interested in something and excited about it; = inspire
be fired with enthusiasm
•I was fired with enthusiasm to go traveling in Asia.
fire sb's enthusiasm/imagination
•stories of magic and adventure that fire children's imaginations
4 QUESTIONS fire questions at sb to ask someone a lot of questions quickly, often in order to criticize them
5 wood-fired/gas-fired/coal-fired using wood, gas, or coal as FUEL:
•a gas-fired stove
•a coal-fired boiler
6 CLAY [T] to bake bricks, clay pots etc in a KILN:
•fired earthenware
7 ENGINE [I] if a vehicle's engine fires, the petrol is lit to make the engine work
8 be firing on all cylinders informal to be thinking or doing something well, using all your mental abilities and energy:
•When the team's firing on all cylinders, they can beat the best in the league.

PHRASAL VERBS
fire away phr v
[only in imperative] spoken used to tell someone that you are ready to answer questions:
•'Do you mind if I ask you something, Woody?' 'Fire away.'

fire back phr v
to quickly and angrily answer a question or remark
[+at]
•President Bush has fired back at his critics.

fire sth <=> off phr v
1 to shoot a bullet, bomb etc into the air:
•Chuck reloaded and fired off both barrels.
•Mexicans have a tradition of firing off guns to welcome in the new year.
2 to quickly send an angry letter to someone:
•I fired off a furious letter to the editor.

fire sb <=> up phr v [usually passive]
to make someone become very excited, interested, or angry:
•It was alarming the way she got so fired up about small things.[C]
a piece of equipment that makes a loud noise to warn people of a fire in a building:
•We were in the middle of an exam when the fire alarm went off.
•Someone set off the fire alarm.[C]
a type of insect that lives in groups. They build large piles of earth to live in, and can give a very painful bite. $ [C] formal
a gun:
•He was charged with illegal possession of a firearm. $ [C]
a ball of fire, especially one caused by an explosion:
•The jet exploded in midair and turned into a fireball. $ [C]
a bomb that makes a fire start burning when it explodes[T]
to attack a place with firebombs:
•His home was firebombed by animal rights activists.
- firebombing noun [U] $ [C]
someone who tries to make people angry about a law, government etc so that they will try to change it:
•an idealistic young firebrand from the valleys $ [C]
a narrow piece of land where all the plants and trees have been removed, made to prevent fires from spreading $ [C]
a brick that is not damaged by heat, used in chimneys[C]
1 BrE the FIRE SERVICE; = fire department AmE
2 AmE a group of people who work together to stop fires burning, but are not paid to do this $ [C] informal
someone who deliberately starts fires to destroy property; = arsonist[C]
someone who is in charge of all the FIRE STATIONs in a city or area $ [C]
a small FIREWORK that explodes loudly[C] AmE
the organization that works to prevent fires and stop them burning; = fire service BrE[C]
a heavy door in a building that is kept closed to help to prevent a fire from spreading[C,U]
an occasion when people pretend that a building is burning and practise leaving it, so that they learn what to do if there is a real fire[C]
an entertainer who puts burning sticks into his mouth
- fire-eating noun [U][C]
a special large vehicle that carries equipment and the people that stop fires burning, especially the equipment that shoots water at a fire; = fire truck AmE[C]
metal stairs or a metal LADDER on the outside of a tall building, that people can use to escape if there is a fire[C]
a door that is used to let people out of a building such as a cinema, hotel, restaurant etc when there is a fire[C]
a metal container with water or chemicals in it, used for stopping small fires[C] technical
a short gun battle, involving soldiers or the policealso fire fighter $ [C]
someone whose job is to stop fires burning; fireman[U]
1 the work of stopping fires burning
2 BrE the actions that are taken to find out what has caused a sudden problem in an organization, machine etc, and to correct it $ plural fireflies [C]
an insect with a tail that shines in the dark $ [C] BrE
a large wire or metal screen that is put in front of a FIREPLACE to protect people; = firescreen AmE $ [C] AmE
a small FIRE STATION, especially in a small town[C]
a water pipe in a street used to get water to stop fires burning[C]
a metal tool used to move or put coal or wood on a fire in a FIREPLACE $ [U]
the light produced by a small fire:
•The room glowed in the firelight. $ [C] BrE
a piece of a substance that burns easily and helps to light a coal fire $ plural firemen [C]
a man whose job is to stop fires burning; = firefighter $ [C]
a special place in the wall of a room, where you can make a fire $ [U]
1 technical the number of weapons that an army, military vehicle etc has available
2 the amount of something important or necessary that is available:
•There is no shortage of financial firepower to fund atomic research. $
a building, piece of cloth etc that is fireproof cannot be badly damaged by flames:
•fireproof clothing
- fireproof verb [T][U] BrE
the crime of starting a fire deliberately; = arson
- fire-raiser noun [C]also fire-retardant
fire retardant materials or substances do not burn easily and are put on things to stop them from burning quickly:
•furniture treated with fire-retardant chemicals[C]
a sale of goods at a lower price because they have been slightly damaged by a fire, or of goods that cannot be stored because of a fire $ [C] AmE
a large wire or metal screen that is put in front of a FIREPLACE to protect people; = fireguard BrEalso fire brigade [C usually singular] BrE
the organization that works to prevent fires and stop them from burning; = fire department AmE $ [C usually singular]
the area close to or around a small fire, especially in a home:
•a cat dozing by the fireside[C]
a building where the equipment used to stop fires burning is kept, and where FIREFIGHTERs stay until they are needed $ [C]
1 a very large fire that is kept burning by the high winds that it causes
2 a lot of protests, complaints, or arguments that happen suddenly and all at once; = storm
[+of]
•Green's proposal provoked a firestorm of protests. $ [C]
a building that would be very difficult to escape from if a fire started there[C] AmE
a FIRE ENGINE $ [C]
1 a special wall that prevents fires from spreading to other parts of a building
2 a system that protects a computer NETWORK from being used or looked at by people who do not have permission to do so
3 a system that is used by large financial or law companies to stop secret information from being passed from one department to another $ [U] informal
a strong alcoholic drink, such as WHISKY $ [U]
wood that has been cut or collected in order to be burned in a fire $ [C usually plural]
1 a small container filled with powder that burns or explodes to produce coloured lights and noise in the sky:
•a New Year's Eve fireworks display
•Jeff and David were in the back yard setting off fireworks.
2 spoken used to say that someone will be angry:
• There'll be fireworks if I get home late again.
3 something that is exciting or impressive:
•The real fireworks are provided by Shakespeare's poetry.
(be) in the firing line to be in a position or situation in which you can be attacked or blamed for something, often unfairly[C]
a group of soldiers whose duty is to punish prisoners by shooting and killing them $ [C]
a business or company, especially a small one
electronics/advertising/law etc firm
•She works for an electronics firm.
a firm of accountants/solicitors/builders etc
•Kevin is with a firm of accountants in Birmingham.
1 not completely hard, but not soft, and not easy to bend into a different shape:
•The sofa cushions are fairly firm.
•a firm green apple
•Most doctors recommend sleeping on a firm mattress.
2 strongly fixed in position, and not likely to move; = secure
•Make sure the ladder feels firm before you climb up.
•A concrete foundation was poured after digging down to firm ground.
•Mount the tanks side by side on a firm base.
3 not likely to change
firm conviction/commitment/belief etc
•Our client hasn't reached a firm decision on the matter yet.
•Blackpool remains a firm favourite with holiday makers from Northern Ireland.
•Corey was always a firm believer in prayer.
•They made a firm offer (=offered to pay a particular amount) on the house over the weekend.
•Diana and Laura have been firm friends (=close friends) since their early teens.
4 showing in the way that you behave or speak that you are the person in control and that you are not likely to change your answer, belief etc:
•Cal replied with a polite but firm 'no'.
•What this country needs is firm leadership.
be firm with sb
•You need to be firm with her or she'll try to take advantage of you.
5 HAND a firm grip/hold/grasp etc if you have something in a firm grip etc, you are holding it tightly and strongly:
•He took a firm grip of my arm and marched me towards the door.
•a firm handshake
6 take a firm stand/line to state your opinion clearly and not be persuaded to change it
7 stand/hold firm to not change your actions or opinions
[+against]
•Jones is urging Christians to stand firm against abortion.
8 firm hand a strict way of dealing with someone:
•These children need a firm hand.
9 MONEY [not before noun] if the value of a particular country's money is firm, it does not fall in value
[+against]
•The pound is still firm against the dollar.
- firmly adverb
- firmness noun [U][T]
to press down on soil to make it harder or more solid

PHRASAL VERBS
firm sth <=> up phr v
1 to make arrangements, ideas etc more definite and exact:
•We're hoping to firm up the deal later this month.
2 to make a part of your body have more muscle and less fat by exercising $
the firmament literary the sky or heaven $ [U] technical
instructions to computers that are stored on CHIPs rather than in programs
HARDWARE (1), SOFTWARE $
1 IN A SERIES coming before all the other things or people in a series:
•Ella was his first girlfriend.
the first thing/time/day etc
•The first time I flew on a plane I was really nervous.
•In the first year, all students take five courses.
•John said the first thing that came into his head.
•This was the first step towards achieving a peace agreement.
•There's a meeting on the first Monday of every month.
the first two/three/few etc
•I only read the first two chapters of the book.
•It rained during the first few days of the trip.
•The first and last mountain I climbed was Mount Rundle in Banff (=it was the only mountain I ever climbed).
2 for the first time used to say that something has never happened or been done before:
•For the first time in his life he felt truly happy.
•The survey revealed that, for the first time, there are more women in the workplace than men.
• Not for the first time she wondered how he coped with so many children.
3 MAIN most important:
•Our first priority is to maintain the standard of work.
•As I see it, my first responsibility is to my family.
4 in the first place
a) used to talk about the beginning of a situation, or the situation before something happened:
•Why did you agree to meet her in the first place?
•He wouldn't have given you the job in the first place if he didn't think you could do it.
b) written used to give the first in a list of reasons or points:
•Her success was secured by two factors. In the first place, she had the support of managers.
5 in the first instance formal at the start of a situation or series of actions:
•The appointment of research officer will be for two years in the first instance.
•Enquiries should be made in the first instance to the Human Resources Director.
6 at first glance/sight the first time that you look at someone or something, before you notice any details:
•At first glance the twins look identical.
•At first sight, there didn't appear to be much damage.
love at first sight at LOVE^2 (2)
7 first things first used to say that something should be done or dealt with first because it is the most important
8 (at) first hand if you see, experience, hear etc something at first hand, you see, experience etc it yourself, not through other people:
•Many people have seen the horrors of war at first hand.
FIRST-HAND
9 first prize/place the prize that is given to the best person or thing in a competition
win/take first prize
•She won first prize in a painting competition.
[+of]
•There is a first prize of £10,000.
10 first choice the thing or person you like best:
•John was our first choice as a name for the baby.
11 first thing as soon as you get up in the morning, or as soon as you start work:
•I'll call you first thing tomorrow.
•We're leaving first thing.
12 at first light literary very early in the morning:
•The search will resume at first light tomorrow.
13 make the first move to be the person who starts to do something when someone else is too nervous, embarrassed etc to do it:
•He was glad she had made the first move and kissed him.
14 not have the first idea about sth also not know/understand the first thing about sth to not know anything about a subject, or not know how to do something:
•I wouldn't have the first idea about what to do in that situation.
•I don't know the first thing about cars.
15 the first flush of sth the beginning of a good period of time when you are young, successful etc
be in the first flush of passion/youth etc
•He was no longer in the first flush of youth.
•The first flush of enthusiasm had passed.
16 JOB TITLE used in the title of someone's job or position to show that they have a high rank:
•the first officer
•the First Lord of the Admiralty
17 first among equals someone who is officially on the same level as other people but really has more power
18 of the first water old-fashioned of the highest quality
1 before anything or anyone else:
•Cindy and Joe arrived first.
•An extra five points will be given to the team that finishes first.
• First of all we'd better make sure we've got everything we need.
2 before doing anything else, or before anything else happens:
•I'll join you in a minute but I need to make a phone call first.
3 done for the first time:
•The book was first published in 2000.
4 at the beginning of a situation or activity:
•When we were first married we lived in Toronto.
•We first became friends when we worked together.
5 [sentence adverb] also first of all used before saying the first of several things you want to say; = firstly
•First, I'd like to thank everyone for coming.
6 first off informal
a) before doing anything else:
•First off I'd like you all to fill in an evaluation sheet.
b) used before saying the first of several things you want to say, especially when you are annoyed:
•First off I didn't agree with the comments in your email.
7 first up BrE spoken informal used to introduce the first thing you are going to talk about, or the first thing that is going to happen:
•First up is the Blues song 'Mississippi Lad'.
8 put sb/sth first to consider someone or something as the most important person or thing:
•We need to choose energy policies that put the environment first.
•Businesses should always put the customer first.
9 come first
a) to be the most important person or thing to someone:
•The care and well-being of patients should always come first.
•As far as I'm concerned, the children come first.
[+with]
•Business always came first with Luke.
b) to win a competition
[+in]
•The choir came first in all sections of the competition.
10 first and foremost used to emphasize the most important quality, purpose, reason etc:
•Dublin is thought of first and foremost for its literary heritage.
11 first and last used to emphasize that something is the most important thing or quality:
•She regarded herself as a teacher first and last, not a writer.
12 first come, first served used to say that something will be given to the people who ask for it first, when there is not enough for everyone:
•Tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

WORD CHOICE: first, first of all, firstly, at first
Use first, first of all, or firstly to introduce the first item in a list of two or more points, instructions etc: First, make sure the screws are securely fixed in position. Then attach the wire. | The plan was not practical, firstly because of the cost, and secondly because local people did not support it.
Use first or first of all to say what happens first in a series of actions: First I fed the baby. Then I made myself a sandwich.
Use at first to say what happened at the beginning of a period of time, when this changed later: At first I was nervous, but I soon started to relax.

1 at first used to talk about the beginning of a situation, especially when it is different now:
•At first, Gregory was shy and hardly spoke.
•I felt quite disappointed at first.
2 [C usually singular] something that has never happened or been done before
[+for]
•The 3-0 defeat was a first for the team.
•These results are firsts in the history of women's athletics.
•'I think he'll agree to it.' 'That will be a first.'
3 from the (very) first from the beginning of a situation:
•I was against the idea from the first.
•I should have known from the first that the relationship would never work.
4 [C] the highest mark you can get in a university DEGREE in Britain:
•Helen got a first in Law.
5 [U] the lowest GEAR in a car or other vehicle, that you use when moving slowly; = first gear
in first
•You should be in first on a hill like this.
•He put the car into first and roared away.
1 the first the first person to do something, or the first thing to happen:
•There are now many similar housing projects but this was the first.
•We hope this year's festival will be the first of many.
the first to do sth
•I always thought my sister would be the first to get married.
•James was the first to arrive.
2 the first I knew/heard used when you have just discovered something that other people already know, and you are slightly annoyed:
•The first I knew he was in Chicago was when I got an email from him.
[+of/about]
•The first I knew about it was when Tony called me this morning.
3 the First spoken used after the name of a king, queen, or Pope when other later ones have the same name:
•Queen Elizabeth the First (=written as Queen Elizabeth I)[U]
simple medical treatment that is given as soon as possible to someone who is injured or who suddenly becomes ill:
•Being given first aid at the scene of the accident probably saved his life.[C] BrE
someone who is trained to give first aid[C]
a special bag or box containing BANDAGEs and medicines to treat people who are injured or become ill suddenly[C]
1
a) the first of the four places in a game of baseball that a player must touch before gaining a point
b) the position of a defending player near this place:
•He plays first base for the Red Sox.
2 get to/reach first base AmE informal
a) to reach the first stage of success in an attempt to achieve something:
•You've gotten to first base if you've landed an interview.
b) old-fashioned informal to kiss someone in a sexual way, used especially by young men to talk about the first stage in a sexual relationship $ [singular]
your first child
- firstborn adjective
•her firstborn son
1 [U] the best and most expensive seats on a plane or train, or rooms in a hotel:
•We prefer to travel in first class.
BUSINESS CLASS, CABIN CLASS, ECONOMY CLASS, TOURIST CLASS
2 [U]
a) a class of post used in Britain for letters and parcels, that is quicker and more expensive than second-class post; second class
b) the class of post used in the US for ordinary business and personal letters
3 [C] the highest class of degree from a British university
1 of very good quality, and much better than other things of the same type:
•This is a first-class wine.
•His writing is first-class.
2 relating to the class of post that is the most expensive and quickest to arrive
first-class stamp/mail/post etc
3 relating to the best and most expensive class of seats on a plane or train, or rooms in a hotel
first-class passenger/seat/compartment etc
- first class adverb
•If I send the letter first class it should arrive tomorrow.
•travel first class[C]
a child of your AUNT or UNCLE; = cousin
1 [C usually singular] BrE used to talk about a university degree such as a BA or a BSc, obtained by people who do not already have a degree
2 murder in the first degree AmE first-degree murder[only before noun]
1 first-degree burn a burn that is not very serious
2 first-degree murder AmE murder of the most serious type, in which someone deliberately kills someone else; manslaughter[C]
one of the first copies of a book, which is often valuable:
•an impressive collection of 19th century first editions[only before noun]
happening for the first time:
•the novelist's first-ever television interview
•It was the first-ever visit to China by an American president.First Family
the first family the family of the President of the US
1 the first floor BrE the floor of a building just above the one at the bottom level; ground floor
•a flat on the first floor
2 the first floor AmE the floor of a building at the bottom level:
•Fire broke out on the first floor of the apartment building.[plural] BrE
the first good result of something
[+of]
•the first fruits of the government's privatization policy[U]
the lowest GEAR in a car or other motor vehicle, used when starting to move or when going up or down a very steep hill[singular]
1 people who have moved to live in a new country, or the children of these people
2 the first type of a machine to be developed
[+of]
•the first generation of hand-held computers
3 the first people to do something
[+of]
•the first generation of radical feminists in the US
- first-generation adjective
•first-generation Americans[C]
the first of two equal periods of time that a sports match is divided intoalso firsthand $ [only before noun]
first-hand experience/knowledge/account etc experience etc that has been learned or gained by doing something yourself or by talking to someone yourself; second-hand
•journalists with first-hand experience of working in war zones
- first-hand adverb
•experience gained first-hand
(at) first hand at FIRST^1 (8)
1 the first lady the wife of the President of the US, or of the GOVERNOR of a US state
2 [C usually singular] a woman who is considered to be the very best at a particular thing
[+of]
•the first lady of jazz, Billie Holiday[C]
the language that you first learn as a child; = native language/tongue, mother tongue; second language[C]
a middle rank in the US army, Marines, or Air Force, or someone who has this rank[U]
the time at the beginning of day when light first appears; = dawn, daybreak $ [sentence adverb]
used to say that the fact or reason that you are going to mention is the first one and will be followed by others; finally, lastly
•Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this success.
see box at FIRST^2also first officer [C]
an officer who has the rank just below captain on a ship that is not a military ship [C]
1 the name or names that come before your family name; = Christian name; surname, last name
•Her first name's Helen, but I don't know her surname.
2 be on first name terms (with sb) BrE be on a first name basis AmE to know someone well enough to call them by their first name[C]
the evening when the first public performance of a show, play etc is given[C]
someone who is guilty of breaking the law for the first time[C]
FIRST MATE[only before noun] BrE
a first-past-the-post system of electing a politician, a government etc is one in which the person or party who gets the most votes wins:
•Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system
first-past-the-post voting
1 the first person technical a form of a verb or a pronoun that is used to show that you are the speaker. For example, 'I', 'me', 'we', and 'us' are first person pronouns, and 'I am' is the first person singular of the verb 'to be'; second person, third person
2 [singular] a way of telling a story in which the writer or speaker tells it as though they were involved in the story; third person
•a first person narrative
in the first person
•The 'Great Gatsby ' is written in the first person.
of the very best quality; = excellent
•He's a first-rate surgeon.BrE
have/give sb first refusal on sth to let someone decide whether to buy something before you offer to sell it to other people:
•I'll let you have first refusal on the car.[C]
an attack made on your enemy before they attack you, especially an attack made using NUCLEAR weapons[only before noun]
a first-string player in a team plays when the game begins because they are the most skilled; second-string[C]
someone who is buying a house or an apartment for the first time
the First World the rich industrial countries of the world; Third World
- first world adjective [always before noun]
•first world economies
the First World War the big war fought in Europe between 1914 and 1918, which involved many different countries; = World War I $ [C]
a narrow area of sea between two areas of land, or the place where a river flows into the sea - used especially in Scotland:
•the Firth of Forth formal
relating to money, taxes, debts etc that are owned and managed by the government:
•a fiscal crisis
fiscal policy/measure
•sound (=good) fiscal policy
•a fiscal matter
- fiscally adverb
•fiscally conservative[C]
1 the 12 month period used by governments to calculate spending and how much tax a person or business must pay
last/current/coming/next fiscal year
2 AmE the 12 month period over which a company calculates its profits or losses; = financial year BrE plural fish or fishes
1 [C] an animal that lives in water, and uses its FINs and tail to swim:
•Ronny caught three huge fish this afternoon.
•Over 1,500 different species of fish inhabit the waters around the reef.
•The stonefish is the most deadly of all fishes.
•The lake is well stocked with fish (=fish have been put into the lake).
freshwater/saltwater/tropical fish
a shoal/school of fish (=a large group of fish swimming together)
2 [U] the flesh of a fish used as food; seafood
•One usually drinks white wine with fish.
3 (be/feel) like a fish out of water to feel uncomfortable because you feel you do not belong in a place or situation:
•I felt like a fish out of water in my new school.
4 there are plenty more fish in the sea used to tell someone whose relationship has ended that there are other people they can have a relationship with
5 neither fish nor fowl neither one thing nor another
6 have other/bigger fish to fry informal to have other things to do, especially more important things
7 odd fish/queer fish BrE old-fashioned someone who is slightly strange or crazy
8 cold fish an unfriendly person who seems to have no strong feelings
9 a big fish in a little/small pond someone who is important in or who has influence over a very small area
drink like a fish at DRINK^1 (2); another/a different kettle of fish at KETTLE (3)
1 [I] to try to catch fish; fishing
•Dad really loves to fish.
[+for]
•a Japanese vessel fishing for tuna in the Eastern Pacific
2 [I always +adv/prep] informal to search for something in a bag, pocket etc
[+about/around]
•She fished around in her purse and pulled out a photo.
[+for]
•Chris fished in his pocket for a coin.
3 [T] to try to catch fish in a particular area of water; fishing
•Other nations are forbidden to fish the waters within 200 miles of the coast.
4 fish for compliments to try to make someone say something nice about you, usually by first criticizing yourself - used to show disapproval:
•It's sickening the way he's always fishing for compliments.
5 [I] to try to find out information, without asking directly:
•'Are you here with your wife?' she asked, fishing.

fish sb/sth <=> out

a) to pull someone or something out of water
[+of]
•The body was fished out of the East River a week later.
b) to find something after searching through a bag, pocket etc, and take it out
[+of]
•Eric fished a peppermint out of the bag.[U]
a meal consisting of fish covered with BATTER (=a mixture of flour and milk) and cooked in oil, served with long thin pieces of potato also cooked in oil:
•Get some fish and chips on your way home.
•a fish and chip shop $ [C]
1 a glass bowl that you can keep fish in
2 a place or situation in which you cannot do anything in private:
•Being in a small town like this is like living in a fishbowl. [C]
a small round flat food consisting of cooked fish mixed with cooked potato $ plural fishermen [C]
someone who catches fish as a sport or as a job
ANGLER plural fisheries [C]
1 a part of the sea where fish are caught in large numbers
2 a FISH FARM[C]
a type of curved LENS (=piece of glass on the front of a camera) that allows you to take photographs of a wide areaalso fishery [C]
an area of water used for breeding fish as a business
- fish farming noun [U][C] BrE
a long piece of fish covered with BREADCRUMBS or BATTER and cooked; = fish stick AmEplural fish fries [C] AmE
an outdoor event held to raise money for an organization, at which fish is cooked and eaten [C]
a small hook with a sharp point at one end, that is fastened to the end of a long string in order to catch fish [U]
1 the sport or business of catching fish:
•Fishing is one of his hobbies.
•Terry's going fishing at Lake Arrowhead next weekend.
deep sea/freshwater/saltwater fishing
salmon/trout/bass etc fishing
FLYFISHING
2 be on a fishing expedition AmE informal to try to find out secret information by asking a lot of questions about different things[U]
very long string made of strong material and used to catch fishalso fishing pole [C]
a long thin pole with a long string and a hook attached to it, used for catching fish[U]
equipment used for fishing[C] BrE
a long deep dish used for cooking whole fish[U]
dried fish crushed into a powder and put on the land to help plants grow $ [C] BrE
1 someone who sells fish
2 also fishmonger's a shop that sells fishalso fishnet tights or fishnets $ [plural] BrE
STOCKINGs with a pattern of small holes that make them look like a net[C] BrE
a kitchen tool used especially for turning food when cooking, with a wide flat part and a handle; = spatula[C] AmE
a FISH FINGER [I] AmE
if a vehicle or aircraft fishtails, the back end of it slides from side to side, usually because the tyres are sliding on water or ice plural fishwives [C] especially BrE
an insulting word for a woman who shouts a lot and is often in a bad temper
1 informal seeming bad or dishonest; = suspicious
•There's something very fishy about him.
2 tasting or smelling of fish:
•a fishy smell $ technical
able to be split by atomic fission [U] technical
1 the process of splitting an atom to produce large amounts of energy or an explosion; fusion
2 the process of dividing a cell into two or more parts $ [C]
a deep crack, especially in rock or earth [C]
1 the hand when it is tightly closed, so that the fingers are curled in towards the PALM. People close their hand in a fist when they are angry or are going to hit someone:
•She held the money tightly in her fist.
•Malcolm clenched his fist (=held his fist very tightly closed) angrily.
•Dooley stood up and shook his fist in her face.
•Varney slammed his fist down onto the table so hard the dishes jumped.
HAM-FISTED, TIGHT-FISTED; hand over fist at HAND^1 (35)
2 make a good/bad fist of sth BrE informal to make a successful or unsuccessful attempt to do something[C]
a fight in which people hit each other with their BARE fists [C]
an amount that is as much as you can hold in your hand
[+of]
•a child clutching a fistful of toffees [plural] old-fashioned
a fight in which you use your BARE hands to hit someone - often used humorously past tense and past participle fitted also, fit AmE , present participle fitting
1 CLOTHES
a) [I,T not in progressive] if a piece of clothing fits you, it is the right size for your body:
•His clothes did not fit him very well.
•The uniform fitted her perfectly.
•The jacket's fine, but the trousers don't fit.
•I know this dress is going to fit you like a glove (=fit you very well).
!! Use fit to say that clothes are not too big or too small. Use suit to say that clothes look attractive on someone The dress fits, but it doesn't suit me.
b) [T usually passive] to try a piece of clothing on someone to see if it is the right size for them, or to make sure a special piece of equipment is right for them
fit sb for sth
•I'm being fitted for a new suit tomorrow.
fit sb with sth
•He may need to be fitted with a hearing aid.
2 RIGHT SIZE/SHAPE
a) [I,T] if something fits in a place, it is the right size or shape to go there:
•I couldn't find a key which fitted the lock.
•Most cookers are designed to fit level with your worktops.
[+in/into/under etc]
•The plastic cover fits neatly over the frame.
[+together]
•All these bits of tubing are supposed to fit together.
b) [T always + adv/prep] to put something carefully into a place that is the right size or shape for it:
•She fitted the last piece into the jigsaw puzzle.
3 ENOUGH SPACE [I,T] if something fits into a place, there is enough space for it:
•I wanted to put the wardrobe behind the door, but I don't think it'll fit.
•You might be able to fit some small flowering plants between the larger bushes.
fit sth in/into sth
•I don't think we'll be able to fit any more people into the car.
•We should be able to fit one more in.
4 EQUIPMENT/PART [T] to put a piece of equipment into a place, or a new part onto a machine, so that it is ready to be used
fit sth on/to etc sth
•I need to fit a lock on the bathroom door.
•Anti-theft devices are fitted to all our cars.
be fitted with sth
•The windows and doors are all fitted with security locks.
5 MATCH/BE SUITABLE [I,T] if something fits another thing, it is similar to it or suitable for it:
•The punishment should fit the crime.
•Police said the car fits the description of the stolen vehicle.
•Scientists often select facts to fit their theories.
•He didn't fit the conventional image of a banker.
[+with]
•The rhythm should fit with the meaning of a poem.
6 fit sb for sth formal to make someone suitable for something or able to do something:
•His natural authority fitted him for a senior position.
7 fit the bill to be the type of person or thing that you want:
•We wanted an experienced sportscaster, and Waggoner fit the bill.
8 if the cap fits (,wear it) BrE if the shoe fits (, wear it) AmE spoken used to tell someone that you think a criticism of them is true:
•'So you think I'm a liar.' 'Well, if the cap fits...'

PHRASAL VERBS
fit in phr v
1 if someone fits in, they are accepted by the other people in a group:
•I never really fitted in at school.
[+with]
•I wasn't sure if she would fit in with my friends.
2 fit sth/sb <=> in to manage to do something or see someone, even though you have a lot of other things to do; = squeeze sth/sb <=> in
•The doctor said he can fit me in at 4:30.
•I wanted to fit in a swim before breakfast.
3 if something fits in with other things, it is similar to them or goes well with them:
•I don't know quite how this new course will fit in.
[+with]
•A new building must fit in with its surroundings.
•You can't expect a baby to fit in with your existing routine.

fit into sth phr v
1 to be part of a group or system:
•Some of the patients we see do not fit neatly into any of the existing categories.
•How does this fit into the company's overall marketing strategy?
2 to be accepted by the people in a group or organization:
•She fitted into the team very well.

fit sb/sth <=> out phr v BrE
to provide a person or place with the equipment, furniture, or clothes that they need:
•The office had been fitted out in style.
[+with]
•The new recruits were fitted out with uniforms and weapons.

fit together phr v
1 if something fits together or you fit it together, different pieces can be joined to make something:
•Look, the tubes fit together like this.
fit sth together
•The pictures show you how to fit it together.
2 if a story, set of facts, set of ideas etc fit together, they make sense when considered together:
•Telecom and computer businesses fit together well.

fit sb/sth <=> up phr v BrE
1 to provide a place with the furniture or equipment that it needs; = fit sth <=> out
[+with]
•The rooms are now fitted up with electric lights.
2 informal to make someone seem guilty of a crime when they are really not guilty:
•I knew that I had been fitted up.
sb's face doesn't fit at FACE^1 (20)comparative fitter, superlative fittest
1 STRONG someone who is fit is strong and healthy, especially because they exercise regularly; unfit
•You must be very fit if you do so much running.
•He was young, good-looking, and physically fit.
•I swim twice a week to try and keep fit.
[+for]
•He may not be fit for Saturday's match.
fit to do sth
•I don't know if I'll be fit enough to take part in the race.
•Psychiatrists said he was fit to stand trial (=he was mentally healthy enough).
•She's over eighty now, but still as fit as a fiddle (=very fit).
fighting fit (=very fit) BrE
•I had just come back from holiday and was fighting fit.
2 SUITABLE suitable or good enough for something; unfit
[+for]
•We had to make sure the land was fit for drilling.
•Some of the food was not fit for human consumption.
•This book is not fit for publication!
fit to do sth
•He is not fit to govern this country!
•This room is not fit to be seen!
3 see/think fit (to do sth) to decide that something is the best thing to do, especially when other people do not agree with you:
•The government saw fit to ignore our advice.
•Sort out the problem in any way you think fit.
4 in a fit state (to do sth) especially BrE healthy enough or in good enough condition for something:
•I was still very shocked and in no fit state to work.
•We'll have to make sure the house is in a fit state to receive visitors.
5 fit for a king of very good quality:
•The meal they provided was fit for a king.
6 ATTRACTIVE BrE sexually attractive
7 fit to drop BrE informal extremely tired; = exhausted
•It was getting late and most of us were fit to drop.
8 fit to burst BrE informal if you are laughing, shouting etc fit to burst, you are doing it a lot:
•The girls were laughing fit to burst.
9 fit to be tied AmE very angry, anxious, or upset:
•I was fit to be tied when she didn't come home until 2 a.m.
1 EMOTION [C] a time when you feel an emotion very strongly and cannot control your behaviour
[+of]
•She killed him in a fit of temper.
•He quit his job in a fit of drunken depression.
2 LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS [C] a short period of time when someone loses consciousness and cannot control their body because their brain is not working properly:
•She used to have fits as a baby.
•people who suffer from epileptic fits
3 LAUGH/COUGH [C] a short time during which you laugh or cough a lot in a way that you cannot control:
•He had a violent coughing fit.
[+of]
•The girls collapsed into a fit of the giggles.
•We were all in fits of laughter trying to clear up the mess.
•Carl had us all in fits (=made us laugh a lot) with his stories.
4 have/throw a fit informal to be very angry or shocked:
•If your mother finds out about this, she'll have a fit.
5 RIGHT SIZE [singular] the way in which something fits on your body or fits into a space:
•The dress was a perfect fit.
•I managed to get everything into the suitcase, but it was a tight fit.
6 SUITABLE [singular] formal if there is a fit between two things, they are similar to each other or are suitable for each other
[+between]
•We must be sure that there's a fit between the needs of the children and the education they receive.
7 in/by fits and starts if something happens in fits and starts, it does not happen smoothly, but keeps starting and then stopping again:
•Technology advances by fits and starts.
•He spoke in fits and starts.past tense and past participle fitted, present participle fitting [I] BrE
to have a SEIZURE (=a sudden condition in which someone cannot control the movements of their body):
•The patient was still fitting.
- fitting noun [U]
•Fitting continued for more than 5 minutes.
not regular, and starting and stopping often:
•John awoke from a fitful sleep.
•The peace talks only seem to be making fitful progress.
- fitfully adverb
•She slept fitfully. [C usually plural] BrE
a piece of furniture or equipment that is made especially for a particular space in a room:
•bathroom fitments [U]
1 when you are healthy and strong enough to do hard work or play sports:
•an exercise programme to improve your fitness
•Running marathons requires a high level of physical fitness.
2 the degree to which someone or something is suitable or good enough for a particular situation or purpose
[+for]
•He questioned McNeil's fitness for high office.
fitness to do sth
•The doctor will first determine your fitness to receive the anaesthetic.
1 be fitted with sth to have or include something as a permanent part:
•Is your car fitted with an alarm?
2 [only before noun] BrE built, made, or cut to fit a particular space:
•a fitted wardrobe
•a fitted kitchen
•fitted carpets
3 [only before noun] fitted clothes are designed so that they fit closely to someone's body; loose
•a fitted black jacket
4 [not before noun] BrE having the right qualities or experience for a particular job:
•Elinor is well fitted to be the sales manager. $ [C] BrE
someone who puts together or repairs machines or equipment:
•a gas fitter [C]
1 [usually plural] BrE a piece of equipment in a house, for example a COOKER or a FRIDGE, that can be moved or taken with you when you sell the house
fixtures and fittings at FIXTURE (2)
2 [usually plural] an outside part of a piece of equipment that makes it possible to use or handle it:
•a sink with chrome fittings (=handle and taps)
•new light fittings
3 an occasion when you put on a piece of clothing that is being made for you, to see if it fits properlyformal
right for a particular situation or occasion; = appropriate
•I thought the memorial was a fitting tribute to the President.
•a fitting end to what was a memorable trip
it is only fitting (that)
•It is only fitting that Simon propose the first toast tonight.[C]
an area in a shop where you can put on clothes to see how they look; = dressing room AmE
1 the number 5:
•There is also a golf course five miles away.
•I'll be back by five (=five o'clock).
•The family moved to Canada when he was five (=five years old).
2 [C] a piece of paper money that is worth five dollars or five pounds; fiver
•Do you have two fives for a ten?
3 give sb (a) five informal to hit the inside of someone's hand with your hand to show that you are very pleased about something
4 take five spoken used to tell people to stop working for a few minutes
5 fives [U] a British ball game in which the ball is hit with the hand against any of three walls; handball
HIGH FIVE, NINE TO FIVEalso five-and-dime [C] AmE old-fashioned
a shop that sells many different types of inexpensive goods, especially for the house; = dime store[only before noun] BrE
five-a-side football is played with five players on each side, usually indoors[singular]
the dark colour on a man's chin where the hair has grown during the day $ [C] BrE informal
a piece of paper money worth five pounds:
•Lend me a fiver, mate?[C] AmE old-fashioned
a piece of paper money worth five dollars:
•It only costs a five-spot.[only before noun]
a five-star hotel, restaurant etc has been judged to be of the highest standard[C] AmE
a GENERAL of the highest rank, who controls an army
1 REPAIR [T] to repair something that is broken or not working properly:
•He's outside fixing the brakes on the car.
•Ellis was able to quickly find and fix the problem.
see box at REPAIR^1
2 LIMIT [T]
a) to decide on a limit for something, especially prices, costs etc, so that they do not change ; = set
fix sth at sth
•The interest rate has been fixed at 6.5%.
•Rent was fixed at $1,750 per month.
b) if two or more companies fix the price for a particular product or service, they secretly agree on the price they will charge for it, in order to keep the price high and make more profit. This practice is illegal:
•The government accused the two companies of fixing petrol prices.
3 fix a time/date/place etc to decide on a particular time etc when something will happen:
•Have you fixed a date for the wedding yet?
4 ARRANGE also fix up [I,T] spoken to make arrangements for something:
•'So when do I get to meet them?' 'Tomorrow, if I can fix it.'
fix (it) for sb to do sth
•I've fixed for you to see him this afternoon at four.
5 ATTACH [T] to attach something firmly to something else, so that it stays there permanently
fix sth to/on sth
•The shelves should be fixed to the wall with screws.
6 PREPARE FOOD [T] informal especially AmE to prepare a meal or drinks; = get
•I'll watch the kids and you fix dinner.
fix sb sth
•Can I fix you a snack?
•Terry fixed herself a cold drink and sat out on the balcony.
7 SOLVE [T] to find a solution to a problem or bad situation:
•The government seems confident that environmental problems can be fixed.
8 fix your attention/eyes/mind etc on sb/sth to think about or look at someone or something carefully:
•Aziz tried to fix his mind on the job at hand.
•Every eye was fixed on the new girl.
9 fix sb with a stare/glare/look etc literary to look directly at someone for a long time:
•Rachel fixed him with an icy stare.
10 HAIR/FACE [T] especially AmE to make your hair or MAKE-UP look neat and attractive:
•Who fixed your hair for the wedding?
•Hold on. Let me just fix my face (=put on make-up) before we go out.
11 CAT/DOG [T] AmE informal to do a medical operation on a cat or dog so that it cannot have babies; = neuter
12 RESULT [T] to arrange an election, game etc dishonestly, so that you get the result you want:
•Many suspected that the deal had been fixed in advance.
13 PAINTINGS/PHOTOGRAPHS [T] technical to use a chemical process on paintings, photographs etc that makes the colours or images permanent
14 PUNISH [T] informal used to say that you will punish someone you are angry with:
•If anybody did that to me, I'd fix him good.
15 be fixing to do sth AmE spoken to be preparing to do something - used in some parts of the US:
•I'm fixing to go to the store. Do you need anything?

PHRASAL VERBS
fix on sb/sth phr v
to choose a suitable thing or person, especially after thinking about it carefully:
•We've finally fixed on a place to have the concert.

fix sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to arrange a meeting, event etc:
•I fixed up an interview with him.
•We'll have to fix up a time to meet.
2 to decorate or repair a room or building; = do up
•We fixed up the guest bedroom before my parents came to stay.
3 to provide someone with something they want
[+with]
•Can you fix me up with a bed for the night?
4 to find a suitable romantic partner for someone
[+with]
•I asked my best friend to fix me up with someone.
1 [C] something that solves a problem:
•Robinson called the proposal a quick fix (=a temporary or easy solution) of limited value.
2 (be) in a fix to have a problem that is difficult to solve; = (be) in a mess
•We're going to be in a real fix if we miss that bus.
•That's put us in a fix.
3 [singular] an amount of something, especially an illegal drug such as HEROIN, that you often use and badly want:
•addicts looking for a fix
•I need my fix of caffeine in the morning or I can't think.
4 get a fix on sb/sth
a) to find out exactly where someone or something is:
•He peered out, trying to get a fix on the enemy's position.
b) to understand what someone or something is really like:
•I couldn't seem to get a fix on the situation.
5 [singular] something that has been dishonestly arranged:
•People think the election was a fix.
always thinking or talking about one particular thing
[+on]
•He never used to be so fixated on losing weight. [C]
1 a very strong interest in or love for someone or something, that is not natural or healthy
[+on/with/about]
•Carlo has an absolute fixation with the royal family.
•a mother fixation
2 technical a kind of mental illness in which someone's mind or emotions stop developing [C,U]
1 a substance used to stick things together or to hold things such as false teeth in place
2 a chemical used on a painting or photograph so that the colours do not change
1 [not before noun] firmly fastened to a particular position
[+to/in/on]
•a mirror fixed to the bathroom wall
2 fixed times, amounts, meanings etc cannot be changed; = set
•The classes begin and end at fixed times.
•fixed prices
•My contract was for a fixed term of five years.
•interest at 10%, fixed for 5 years
3 have fixed ideas/opinions to have very definite ideas or opinions that you will not change - often used to show disapproval
[+about/on]
•He has very fixed ideas about how a wife should behave.
4 how are you fixed for sth? spoken used to ask someone how much of something they have, or to ask about an arrangement:
•How are you fixed for cash?
•How are we fixed for Monday?
5 a fixed smile, expression etc does not show any emotion or does not show how someone really feels
6 be of/have no fixed abode/address BrE law to not have a permanent place to live[plural] technical
land, buildings, or equipment that a business owns and uses[U] technical
buildings or machines that a business owns and that can be used for a long time to produce goods[plural] technical
costs, such as rent, that a business has to pay even when it is not producing anything; variable costs[C]
an amount of money that you receive to live on that does not change:
•pensioners living on a fixed income
without looking at or thinking about anything else
stare/gaze/look fixedly at sth
•Ann stared fixedly at the screen. $ [C]
someone who is good at arranging things and solving problems for other people, sometimes by using dishonest methods:
•a political fixer
1 the fixings AmE the vegetables, bread etc that are eaten with meat at a large meal; = the trimmings BrE
•turkey with all the fixings
2 [plural] BrE things that are used to hold other things together, for example SCREWs [U] formal
when something does not change
[+of]
•fixity of purpose $ [C]
1 BrE a sports match that has been arranged for a particular time and place:
•a list of this season's fixtures
2 [usually plural] a piece of equipment that is fixed inside a house or building and is sold as part of the house:
•light fixtures
fixtures and fittings BrE (=all the equipment that is normally included as part of a house or building when it is sold)
3 be a (permanent) fixture to be always present and not likely to move or go away:
•Gerrard soon became a permanent fixture in the Liverpool team. [I]
if a liquid fizzes, it produces a lot of bubbles and makes a continuous sound:
•champagne fizzing out of the bottle[singular, U]
1 the bubbles of gas in some kinds of drinks, or the sound that they make
2 BrE informal CHAMPAGNE

PHRASAL VERBS
fizzle out phr v informal
to gradually stop happening, especially because people become less interested:
•Their romance just fizzled out.
1 a fizzy liquid contains bubbles of gas; sparkling, flat
•fizzy water
2 fizzy drink BrE a sweet non-alcoholic drink with bubbles of gasfiord $ [C]
a narrow area of sea between high cliffs, especially in Norway [U] informal
soft loose flesh on a person's body - used to show disapproval:
•simple advice to help you fight the flab (=lose weight) $ informal
extremely surprised or shocked:
•When I heard how much money we'd made, I was absolutely flabbergasted. informal
1 having unattractive soft loose flesh rather than strong muscles:
•a flabby stomach
2 used to describe something that is weak or not effective; powerful
•intellectually flabby arguments
•The band's performance was tired and flabby.
- flabbiness noun [U] technical
soft and weak instead of firm:
•a flaccid penis
- flaccidity noun [U]
1 another spelling of FLAK
2 [C] AmE informal someone whose job is to represent an organization and answer questions about it, especially when something bad has happened:
•They spent millions on lobbyists and flacks to improve their image. [C]
1 a piece of cloth with a coloured pattern or picture on it that represents a country or organization:
•Children waving flags greeted the Russian leader.
•the flag of Kenya
•the Spanish flag
a flag is flying (=a flag is shown on a pole)
• Flags were flying at half-mast because of the death of the Premier.
2 a coloured piece of cloth used in some sports as a signal or as a sign showing the position of something:
•The flag went down, and the race began.
•a free kick near the corner flag (=flag on a football pitch)
3 the flag an expression meaning a country or organization and its beliefs, values, and people:
•loyalty to the flag
4 keep the flag flying to achieve success on behalf of your country in a competition:
•Bristol kept the flag flying for English rugby with this win.
5 a FLAGSTONE
fly the flag at FLY^1 (13)past tense and past participle flagged, present participle flagging
1 [T] to make a mark against some information to show that it is important:
•I've flagged the parts I want to comment on.
2 [I] to become tired or weak:
•By the end of the meeting we had begun to flag.

PHRASAL VERBS
flag sb/sth <=> down phr v
to make the driver of a vehicle stop by waving at them:
•I flagged down a taxi. [C] formal
someone who whips themselves, especially as a religious punishment [T] formal
to whip yourself or someone else, especially as a religious punishment
- flagellation noun [U][U] AmE
a game like American football in which players tear off small pieces of cloth called flags from around other players' waists instead of knocking them down; touch football
covered with FLAGSTONEs
becoming tired or losing strength
flagging spirits/energy/morale
•By now the wine had lifted her flagging spirits.
•He presents himself as the man to revive the party's flagging fortunes.
•concern for the country's flagging economy [C]
a large container for liquids, especially beer or wine $ [C]
a tall pole on which a flag hangs; = flagstaff
a flagrant action is shocking because it is done in a way that is easily noticed and shows no respect for laws, truth etc
flagrant abuse/violation/breach etc
•flagrant violations of human rights
•a flagrant disregard for the law
- flagrantly adverb [C]
1 the most important ship in a group of ships belonging to the navy
2 [usually singular] the best and most important product, building etc that a company owns or produces:
•the flagship of the new Ford range
•The firm has just opened a flagship store in Las Vegas.
•the company's flagship product $ [C]
a tall pole on which a flag hangs; = flagpole $ [C]
a smooth flat piece of stone used for floors, paths etc[U]
the expression of strong national feelings, especially when these feelings seem too extreme
1 [I,T] to wave your arms or legs in an uncontrolled way:
•He flailed wildly as she tried to hold him down.
[+around/about]
•James flailed about in the shallow water.
2 [T] to beat someone or something violently, usually with a stick
3 [I,T] to beat grain with a flail[C]
a tool consisting of a stick that swings from a long handle, used in the past to separate grain from wheat by beating it $
1 [singular] a natural ability to do something very well; = talent
•Jo has a flair for languages.
2 [U] a way of doing things that is interesting and shows imagination
artistic/creative flair
•a job for which artistic flair is essential
•Irwin has real entrepreneurial flair.flack [U]
1 informal strong criticism:
•Lilley has taken a lot of flak for his views on drugs.
2 bullets or SHELLs that are shot from the ground at enemy aircraft
FLAK JACKET [C]
1 a small thin piece that breaks away easily from something else
[+of]
•flakes of snow
•chocolate flakes
SNOWFLAKE
2 AmE informal someone who seems strange or who often forgets things; = space cadet
1 also flake off [I] to break off in small thin pieces:
•The paint is beginning to flake off.
•Use a moisturising cream to stop your skin flaking.
2 [I,T] to break fish or another food into small thin pieces, or to break in this way:
•Poach the fish until it flakes easily.
•Remove the skin and flake the flesh.

PHRASAL VERBS
flake out phr v informal
1 BrE to fall asleep because you are extremely tired:
•Phil's flaked out on the sofa.
2 AmE to do something strange, or to not do what you said you would do
[+on]
•Kathy said she'd help but she flaked out on us.[C]
a special coat made of strong, heavy material to protect soldiers and policemen from bullets
1 tending to break into small thin pieces:
•flaky pastry
•flaky skin
2 informal especially AmE a flaky person is slightly strange or often forgets things:
•Carrie's pretty flaky but she's fun to be with.
- flakiness noun [U]also flambéed $
food that is flambéed has an alcoholic drink such as BRANDY poured over it to produce flames
1 behaving in a confident or exciting way that makes people notice you
flamboyant style/character/personality
•Randall's flamboyant style of play
•Spencer lifted his arms in a flamboyant gesture.
2 brightly coloured and easily noticed:
•flamboyant clothes
•Penny has red hair and a rather flamboyant appearance.
- flamboyantly adverb
- flamboyance noun [U]
1 [C,U] hot bright burning gas that you see when something is on fire

douse flames (=pour water on them to make them stop burning)
fan flames (=make them burn more by waving something in front of them)
smother flames (=put something over them to make them stop burning)
flames flicker/dance (=they move)
flames engulf sth (=they surround and burn something)
flames lick sth (=they touch something lightly)
flames leap (=they go high into the air)
candle/coal/gas flame
naked flame (=one that is not enclosed)

•Flames poured out of the windows of the building.
•They rushed past us with buckets of water and tried to douse the flames.
•They sat around the campfire, watching the flickering flames.
•A home video showed how quickly flames engulfed the building.
•a candle flame

2 in flames burning in a way that is difficult to control:
•When we reached Mandalay it was in flames.
•They escaped just as the house was engulfed in flames.
3 go up in flames/burst into flames to suddenly begin burning in a way that is difficult to control:
•The helicopter burst into flames after hitting a power line.
4 a flame of anger/desire/passion etc literary a strong feeling:
•Flames of desire shot through her.
5 [C] an angry or rude email
old flame at OLD (4); naked flame at NAKED (5); fan the flames at FAN^2 (2); add fuel to the fire/flames at ADD (9)[I]
1 literary to become suddenly bright with light or colour, especially red or orange:
•Erica's cheeks flamed with anger.
2 literary to burn brightly:
•A great fire flamed in an open fireplace.
3 to send someone an angry or rude message in an email or on a BULLETIN BOARD $ plural flamencos [C,U]
a fast exciting Spanish dance, or the music that is played for this dancealso flame resistant
1 made of or covered with substances that will not burn easily
2 flameproof cooking dishes can be used in very hot places, such as in an OVEN[C]
a machine like a gun that shoots flames or burning liquid, used as a weapon or for clearing plants [only before noun]
1 a flaming row/temper a very angry argument or temper:
•They seem to have a flaming row at least once a week.
2 covered with flames:
•Residents panicked as flaming petrol poured down the street.
3 BrE informal used to emphasize what you are saying, especially when you feel annoyed:
•You flaming idiot!
4 orange or bright red in colour:
•flaming red hair $ plural flamingos or flamingoes [C]
a large pink tropical bird with very long thin legs and a long neck
something that is flammable burns easily; inflammable, nonflammable
•Caution! Highly flammable liquid. [C] especially BrE
1 a round PIE or cake that is filled with fruit, cheese etc
2 AmE a sweet baked food made with eggs, milk, and sugar; pie, quiche [C]
the flat edge that stands out from an object such as a railway wheel, to keep it in the right position or strengthen it [C]
1 the side of an animal's or person's body, between the RIBs and the HIP
2 the side of an army in a battle, or a sports team when playing:
•We were attacked on our left flank.
3 the side of a hill, mountain, or very large building[T]
to be on both sides of someone or something:
•Lewis entered flanked by two bodyguards.
•mountains flanking the road
1 [U] soft cloth, usually made of cotton or wool, used for making clothes:
•a flannel shirt
2 [C] BrE a piece of cloth you use to wash yourself; = facecloth; = washcloth AmE
3 [U] BrE informal something that someone says that has no real meaning or does not tell you what you want to know
4 flannels [plural] BrE men's trousers made of flannelpast tense and past participle flannelled, present participle flannelling [I,T] BrE
to say things that have no real meaning in order to avoid answering a question directly or to hide your lack of knowledge [U]
soft cotton cloth used especially for making night clothes and sheets
1 FLAT PIECE OF SOMETHING [C] a thin flat piece of cloth, paper, skin etc that is fixed by one edge to a surface, which you can lift up easily:
•Open the tent flap, will you?
•A loose flap of skin covered the wound.
CAT FLAP
2 MOVEMENT [singular] the noisy movement of something such as cloth in the air:
•the flap of the sails
3 EXCITEMENT/WORRY a flap informal a situation in which people feel very excited or worried about something
be in a flap
•Rafi's in a bit of a flap over the wedding plans.
UNFLAPPABLE
4 PART OF AIRCRAFT [C] a part of the wing of an aircraft that can be raised or lowered to help the aircraft go up or downpast tense and past participle flapped, present participle flapping
1 [I,T] if a bird flaps its wings, it moves them up and down in order to fly
2 [I,T] to move quickly up and down or from side to side, often making a noise:
•The flags were flapping in the breeze.
•Flap your arms to keep warm.
3 [I] BrE informal to behave in an excited or nervous way:
•There's no need to flap! [C]
1 BrE a cake made of OATs , sugar, SYRUP, and butter
2 AmE a PANCAKE $ [C]
a fashionable young woman in the late 1920s $
1 also flare up [I] to suddenly begin to burn, or to burn more brightly for a short time:
•The fire flared up again.
2 also flare up [I] if strong feelings flare or flare up, people suddenly become angry, violent etc:
•Rioting has flared up in several northern towns.
• Tempers flared during the debate.
3 also flare up [I] if a disease or illness flares up, it suddenly becomes worse:
•The injury has flared up again, keeping him out of today's game.
4 [I,T] if a person or animal flares their NOSTRILs (=the openings at the end of the nose), or if their nostrils flare, their nostrils become wider because they are angry:
•The bull flared its nostrils and charged.
5 [I always + adv/prep] if a piece of clothing flares out, it becomes wider at one end
[+out]
•The dress flares out from the hips.
- flared adjective
•flared jeans
1 [C] a piece of equipment that produces a bright flame, or the flame itself, used outdoors as a signal:
•The distress flares were spotted by another ship.
2 [C usually singular] a sudden bright flame:
•There was a brief flare as the match was lit.
3 flares [plural] trousers that become wide below the knee[C]
1 a situation in which someone suddenly becomes angry or violent:
•Apart from one or two flare-ups the match went fairly smoothly.
2 a situation in which someone suddenly has problems because of a disease or illness after not having any problems for a long time:
•a flare-up of her arthritis
1 SHINE [I,T] to shine suddenly and brightly for a short time, or to make something shine in this way:
•Lightning flashed overhead.
flash sth into/at/towards sb/sth
•Why is that guy flashing his headlights at me?
•Red warning lights flashed on and off (=shone for a short time and then stopped shining).
2 PICTURES [I always + adv/prep] to be shown quickly on television, on a computer, or on a film
[+across/onto/past etc]
•Images of the war flashed across the screen.
3 flash through sb's mind/head/brain if thoughts, images, memories etc flash through your mind, you suddenly think of them or remember them:
•The possibility that Frank was lying flashed through my mind.
4 flash a smile/glance/look etc (at sb) to smile or look at someone quickly and for a short time:
•'I love this city,' he said, flashing a big smile.
5 SHOW STH QUICKLY [T] to show something to someone for only a short time:
•He flashed his identification card.
6 NEWS/INFORMATION [T always + adv/prep] to send news or information somewhere quickly by radio, computer, or SATELLITE
flash sth across/to sth
•Reporters at the scene flashed the news to their offices.
7 MOVE QUICKLY [I always + adv/prep] to move very quickly
[+by/past/through]
•A meteor flashed through the sky.
8 EYES [I] literary if your eyes flash, they look very bright for a moment, especially because of a sudden emotion
[+with]
•Janet's blue eyes flashed with anger.
9 SEX ORGANS [I,T] if a man flashes, or if he flashes someone, he shows his sexual organs in public; flasher
10 sb's life flashes before their eyes if someone's life flashes before their eyes, they suddenly remember many events from their life because they are in great danger and might die
11 TIME PASSING QUICKLY [I always + adv/prep] if a period of time or an event flashes by or flashes past, it seems to end very quickly
[+by/past]
•Our vacation seemed to just flash by.

PHRASAL VERBS
flash sth <=> around phr v
to use or show something in a way that will make people notice you and think you have a lot of money:
•He's always flashing his money around.

flash back phr v
to suddenly think about or show something that happened in the past, especially in a film, book etc
[+to]
•From here the movie flashes back to Billy's first meeting with Schultz.
FLASHBACK

flash forward phr v
if a film, book etc flashes forward, it shows what happens in the future
[+to]
•The movie then flashes forward to their daughter's fifth birthday.
1 LIGHT [C] a bright light that shines for a short time and then stops shining:
•Two flashes mean danger.
[+of]
•A flash of lightning lit up the night sky.
brilliant/blinding flash
•a brilliant flash of light
2 CAMERA [C,U] a special bright light used when taking photographs indoors or when there is not much light:
•Did the flash go off?
3 in/like a flash also quick as a flash very quickly:
•Just wait here. I'll be back in a flash.
4 flash of inspiration/brilliance/insight/anger etc if someone has a flash of BRILLIANCE, anger etc, they suddenly have a clever idea or a particular feeling
5 a flash in the pan a sudden success that ends quickly and is unlikely to happen again:
•Beene's new novel proves he isn't just a flash in the pan.
6 BRIGHT COLOUR/STH SHINY [C] if there is a flash of something brightly coloured or shiny, it appears suddenly for a short time
[+of]
•The bird vanished in a flash of blue.
7 COMPUTER [U] trademark a system of instructions for a computer that is used especially to make pictures on a website appear to move:
•Flash animation
8 LOOK [C] BrE a quick look used humorously; = glimpse
9 MILITARY [C] BrE a small piece of coloured cloth worn on the shoulder of a military uniform
NEWSFLASH
1 flash flood/fire a flood or fire that happens very quickly or suddenly, and continues for only a short time
2 BrE informal looking very new, bright, and expensive - used to show disapproval:
•a big flash car
3 BrE informal liking to have expensive clothes and possessions so that other people notice you - used to show disapproval:
•Chris didn't want to seem flash in front of his mates.
1 [C,U] a scene in a film, play, book etc that shows something that happened before that point in the story:
•The events of the hero's childhood are shown as a series of flashbacks.
2 [C] a sudden very clear memory of something that happened to you in the past:
•Eaton still has flashbacks of the crash.
3 [C] an occasion when someone has the same bad feeling that they had when they took an illegal drug in the past:
•Many users of this drug experience flashbacks.
4 [C] technical a burning gas or liquid that moves back into a tube or container[C]
a small object that produces a bright light, used when taking photographs indoors or when there is not much light $ [C]
a card with a word or picture on it, used in teaching $ [C]
a man who shows his sexual organs to women in public; flash [C]
a piece of equipment that lights a special bright light when you press the button on a camera to take a photograph [C] AmE
a small electric light that you can carry in your hand; = torch BrE [C]
1 a place where trouble or violence might easily develop suddenly and be hard to control:
•Hebron has been a flashpoint for years.
2 [usually singular] technical the lowest temperature at which a liquid such as oil will produce enough gas to burn if a flame is put near it informal
1 big, bright, or expensive, and intended to be impressive - used to show disapproval:
•large flashy cars
2 someone who is flashy wears expensive clothes, JEWELLERY etc in a way that is intended to be impressive - used to show disapproval:
•a flashy dresser $ [C]
1 BrE a special type of bottle that you use to keep liquids either hot or cold, for example when travelling; = Thermos
2 a HIP FLASK
3 a glass bottle with a narrow top, used in a LABORATORY comparative flatter, superlative flattest
1 SURFACE smooth and level, without raised or hollow areas, and not sloping or curving:
•houses with flat roofs
•a perfectly flat sandy beach
•The countryside near there is flat as a pancake (=very flat).
•Work on a clean, flat surface.
2 MONEY a flat rate, amount of money etc is fixed and does not change or have anything added to it:
•Clients are charged a flat rate of £250 annually.
•We charge a flat fee for car hire.
3 TYRE/BALL a flat tyre or ball has no air or not enough air in it
4 NOT DEEP not very deep, thick, or high, especially in comparison to its width or length:
•The cake came out of the oven flat, not fluffy.
5 DRINK a drink that is flat does not taste fresh because it has no more bubbles of gas in it; fizzy
6 NOT INTERESTING [not before noun] a performance, book etc that is flat lacks interest, excitement, or energy:
•Arsenal looked flat for large parts of the game.
7 BATTERY BrE a flat BATTERY has lost its electrical power; = dead AmE
•Have you checked that the batteries haven't gone flat (=become flat)?
8 BUSINESS/TRADE if prices, economic conditions, trade etc are flat, they have not increased or improved over a period of time:
•Analysts are expecting flat sales in the coming months.
9 E flat/B flat/A flat etc a musical note that is one SEMITONE lower than the note E, B, A etc; sharp, natural
10 MUSICAL SOUND if a musical note is flat, it is played or sung slightly lower than it should be; sharp
11 VOICE not showing much emotion, or not changing much in sound as you speak:
•'He's dead,' she said in a flat voice.
12 a flat refusal/denial etc a refusal etc that is definite and which someone will not change:
•Our requests were met with a flat refusal.
13 be flat on your back
a) to be lying down so that all of your back is touching the floor
b) to be very ill so that you have to stay in bed for a period of time:
•I've been flat on my back with the flu all week.
14 SHOES flat shoes have very low heels
15 LIGHT having little variety of light and dark:
•Flat lighting is typical of Avedon's portraits.
16 and that's flat! BrE spoken old-fashioned used to say that you will definitely not change what you have just said; = and that's that
•I won't go, and that's flat!
- flatness noun [U]
in/into a flat spin at SPIN^2 (6); FLAT FEET[C]
1 PLACE TO LIVE especially BrE a place for people to live that consists of a set of rooms that are part of a larger building; = apartment
•They have a flat in Crouch End.
•a two-bedroom flat
•The building was knocked down to make way for a block of flats (=a large building with many flats in it).
GRANNY FLAT
2 TYRE especially AmE a tyre that does not have enough air inside; = flat tyre
•Damn, the car has a flat.
•He stopped to change a flat.
3 MUSIC
a) a musical note that is one SEMITONE lower than a particular note
b) the sign ($flat;) in written music that shows that a note is one SEMITONE lower than a particular note; sharp, natural
4 LAND flats [plural] an area of land that is at a low level, especially near water:
•mud flats
5 SHOES flats [plural] AmE a pair of women's shoes with very low heels
6 the flat of sb's hand/a knife/a sword etc the flat part or flat side of something
7 on the flat BrE on ground that is level and does not slope
1 FLAT POSITION in a position in which the surface of something is against another surface without curving or sloping:
•The bed can be folded flat for storage.
•He lay flat on the floor.
•That night I lay flat on my back and stared up at the ceiling.
2 three minutes/10 seconds etc flat informal in exactly three minutes, ten seconds etc - used to emphasize that something happens or is done very quickly:
•I was dressed in five minutes flat.
3 fall flat informal if a joke, story etc falls flat, it does not achieve the effect that is intended:
•Unfortunately, what could have been a powerful drama fell flat.
4 MUSIC if you sing or play music flat, you sing or play slightly lower than the correct note so that the sound is unpleasant; sharp
5 fall flat on your face
a) to fall so that you are lying on your chest on the ground:
•Babe slipped and fell flat on her face.
b) informal to not have the result you want or expect, especially when this is embarrassing:
•The theory falls flat on its face when put into practice.
6 flat out informal
a) as fast as possible:
•Everyone's working flat out to finish on time.
b) AmE in a direct and complete way; = straight out
ask/tell sb flat out
•She asked him flat out if he was seeing another woman.
7 tell sb flat BrE spoken to tell someone something directly and definitely; = straight out
•I told him flat that I didn't want to see him again.
flat broke at BROKE^2 (1) [only before noun]
having a flat surface to put something on:
•a flatbed scanner
•a flatbed truck
- flatbed noun [C][C] BrE
a cap made of cloth, with a stiff piece that sticks out at the front $ [C] AmE
a railway carriage without a roof or sides, used for carrying goods
a woman who is flat-chested has small breasts[plural]
a medical condition in which someone's feet rest flat on the ground because the middle of each foot is not as curved as it should be plural flatfish [C]
a type of sea fish with a thin flat body, such as COD or PLAICE
1 having flat feet
2 informal moving in an awkward way; = clumsy
•The defence looked flat-footed as Sutton scored easily.
3 catch sb flat-footed AmE to surprise someone so that they cannot do something in the way they ought to; = catch sb off guard
•The President's announcement seemed to catch Democrats flat-footed. [C] BrE
a small apartment
be flatlining to be at a low level or standard that is neither increasing nor decreasing:
•The Tories have been flatlining in the polls for the last three months.
1 flatly refuse/deny/oppose etc sth to say something in a direct and definite way that is not likely to change:
•He flatly denied ever having met the woman.
2 without showing any emotion:
•'Aunt Alicia has changed her will,' she said flatly. [C] BrE
someone who shares a flat with one or more other people; = roommate AmEalso flat pack [C] BrE
furniture that is sold as parts in a box and has to be put together:
•flat-pack furniture[U] BrE
horse racing without any fences on flat ground; steeplechase
1 also flatten out [I,T] to make something flat or flatter, or to become flat or flatter:
•Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough.
•The land flattened out as we neared the coast.
2 [T] to destroy a building or town by knocking it down, bombing it etc; = level
•Hundreds of homes were flattened by the tornado.
3 flatten yourself against sth to press your body against something:
•I flattened myself against the wall.
4 [T] informal to defeat someone completely and easily in a game, argument etc:
•We flattened them 6-0.
5 [T] informal to hit someone very hard $ [T]
1 to praise someone in order to please them or get something from them, even though you do not mean it:
•Perry would always flatter Mrs. Mitchell by praising her cooking.
2 to make someone look as attractive as they can; = suit
•That dress really flatters your figure.
3 to make something look or seem more important or better than it is:
•Lewis's novel doesn't flatter Midwestern attitudes and morals.
4 flatter yourself if you flatter yourself that something is true about your abilities or achievements, you make yourself believe it is true, although it is not
flatter yourself that
•She flatters herself that she could have been a model.
- flatterer noun [C] $ [not before noun]
pleased because someone has shown you that they like or admire you:
•We were flattered by all the attention.
clothes, pictures etc that are flattering make someone look as attractive as they can or make something as good as possible, even if it is not really very good:
•That colour is very flattering. [U]
1 praise that you do not really mean
2 flattery will get you nowhere/everywhere used humorously when someone has praised you and you want to say that you will help them or not help them $ [C]
a type of hair style that is very short and looks flat on top $ [U]
the condition of having too much gas in the stomach
- flatulent adjective $ [U] AmE
knives, forks, and spoons; = cutlery $ [T]
1 to show your money, success, beauty etc so that other people notice it - used to show disapproval:
•The rich flaunted their wealth while the poor starved on the streets.
2 if you've got it, flaunt it spoken used humorously to tell someone not to hide their beauty, wealth, or abilities $ [C] BrE
someone who plays the FLUTE; = flutist AmE [U] informal
a quality that something has that makes you feel or think a particular way about it; = flavour
•music with a little bit of Caribbean flavaflavor AmE $ BrE
1 [C] the particular taste of a food or drink:
•Which flavor do you want - chocolate or vanilla?
[+of]
•a dry wine with flavors of honey and apricot
a nutty/smoky/bitter etc flavour
•White poppy seeds have a distinctive nutty flavour.
a delicate/strong/rich etc flavour
•The cheese is firm in texture and has a strong flavour.
2 [U] the quality of tasting good
add/give flavour (to sth)
•A pinch of herbs will add flavour to any dish.
3 [C,U] a substance used to give something a particular taste; = flavouring
•artificial flavours
4 [singular] a quality or feature that makes something have a particular style or character:
•The stories have a strong regional flavour.
[+of]
•Critics claim the building would destroy the flavor of the neighborhood.
5 [singular] an idea of what the typical qualities of something are
[+of]
•Marston's book gives you a flavour of life in the 16th century.
6 flavour of the month an idea, person, style etc that is very popular at a particular timeflavor AmE [T] BrE
to give something a particular taste or more tasteflavored AmE $ BrE
1 strawberry-flavoured/chocolate-flavoured etc tasting of STRAWBERRIES, chocolate etc
2 having had a flavour added:
•flavored coffeesflavorful AmE $ BrE
having a strong pleasant taste:
•flavourful cheeseflavoring AmE [C,U] BrE
a substance used to give something a particular flavour or increase its flavour:
•This yoghurt contains no artificial flavourings.flavorful AmE $ BrE
having a strong pleasant taste; bland
•a flavorful Mexican dish $ [C]
1 a mistake, mark, or weakness that makes something imperfect; = defect
[+in]
•a flaw in the software
serious/major/basic/minor etc flaw
•a slight flaw in the glass
•A design flaw (=a mistake or weakness in the way something was made) caused the engine to explode.
2 a mistake or problem in an argument, plan, set of ideas etc
[+of]
•Beautiful scenery does not make up for the flaws of this film.
[+in]
•There is a fundamental flaw in Walton's argument.
fatal flaw (=a weakness that makes something certain to fail)
3 a fault in someone's character:
•Jealousy is Othello's major flaw.
•the former President's character flaws $
spoiled by having mistakes, weaknesses, or by being damaged:
•a flawed concept
fatally/fundamentally/deeply etc flawed
•The research behind this report is seriously flawed. $
having no mistakes or marks, or not lacking anything; = perfect
•Adrian's flawless French
- flawlessly adverb [U]
1 a plant with blue flowers, used for making cloth and oil
2 the thread made from this plant, used for making LINEN literary
flaxen hair is light yellow in colour; = blond [T]
1 formal to criticize someone very severely:
•She was well-known for flaying public officials in her daily column.
2 literary to whip or beat someone very severely
3 formal to remove the skin from an animal or person, especially one that is dead [C]
1 a very small insect without wings that jumps and bites animals and people to eat their blood:
•Are you sure the dog has fleas?
2 send sb off with a flea in their ear BrE to talk angrily to someone, especially because they have done something you disapprove of [C] informal
1 BrE a dirty animal or person that you dislike
2 AmE also fleabag hotel a cheap dirty hotel[C]
a special collar, worn by a dog or cat, that contains chemicals to keep fleas away from them[C]
a market where old or used goods are sold [C] old-fashioned
a cheap dirty cinema or theatre - used humorously [C]
1 a small mark or spot
[+of]
•a black beard with flecks of gray
2 a small piece of something
[+of]
•flecks of sawdust [not before noun]
having small marks or spots, or small pieces of something, covering a surface
[+with]
•red cloth flecked with white

FULLY-FLEDGEDfledgeling [C]
a young bird that is learning to flyfledgeling [only before noun]
a fledgling state or organization has only recently been formed and is still developing; infant
•a fledgling republic past tense and past participle fled [I,T] written
to leave somewhere very quickly, in order to escape from danger:
•His attackers turned and fled.
•Masaari spent six months in prison before fleeing the country.
[+to/from/into]
•Many German artists fled to America at the beginning of World War II.
1 [C] the woolly coat of a sheep, especially the wool and skin of a sheep when it has been made into a piece of clothing
2 [U] an artificial soft material used to make warm jackets
3 [C] BrE a jacket made of this artificial material[T] informal
to charge someone too much money for something, especially by tricking them
soft and woolly, or looking soft and woolly:
•fleecy white towels [C]
1 a group of ships, or all the ships in a navy:
•the US seventh fleet
2 a group of vehicles that are controlled by one company
[+of]
•a fleet of taxisliterary
fast or quick:
•Atalanta was fleet of foot (=able to run quickly).[C]
the highest rank in the US navy, or someone who holds this rank [usually before noun]
lasting for only a short time; = brief
•a fleeting smile
•For one fleeting moment, Paula allowed herself to forget her troubles.
•I caught a fleeting glimpse of them as they drove past.
•Carol was paying a fleeting visit to Paris.
- fleetingly adverb[singular]
a street in London where many important newspaper offices used to be, often used as a name for the British newspaper industry [U]
a language like German spoken in northern Belgium; Dutch [U]
1 the soft part of the body of a person or animal that is between the skin and the bones:
•a freshwater fish with firm white flesh
2 the skin of the human body:
•His flesh was red and covered in sores.
3 the soft part of a fruit or vegetable that can be eaten:
•Cut the melon in half and scoop out the flesh.
4 in the flesh if you see someone in the flesh, you see someone who you previously had only seen in pictures, films etc:
•He looked much shorter in the flesh than on television.
5 make sb's flesh creep/crawl to make someone feel frightened, nervous, or uncomfortable:
•The way he stared at her made her flesh creep.
6 your own flesh and blood someone who is part of your family:
•How can he treat his own flesh and blood that way?
7 the flesh literary the physical human body, as opposed to the mind or spirit
the pleasures/desires/temptations of the flesh (=things such as drinking, eating a lot, or having sex)
8 put flesh on sth BrE to give more details about something to make it clear, more interesting etc; = flesh sth <=> out
•I'll try to put some flesh on the plan Margaret has outlined.
9 go the way of all flesh literary to die
get your pound of flesh at POUND^1 (5); press the flesh at PRESS^2 (14); the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak at SPIRIT^1 (16)

PHRASAL VERBS
flesh sth <=> out phr v
to add more details to something in order to make it clear, more interesting etc; = put flesh on sth
•You need to flesh out your argument with a few more examples.flesh-colored AmE BrE
having a pinkish colour like the colour of white people's skin:
•flesh-coloured tights $ [plural]
areas in a city or town where there are many places that people go to for pleasure, especially sexual pleasure - used humorously[C]
a wound that cuts the skin but does not injure the organs and bones inside the body
1 having a lot of flesh:
•the fleshy part of your hand
2 having a soft thick inner part:
•a plant with fleshy leaves
the past tense of FLY [T]
1 to tighten your muscles or bend part of your body
2 flex your muscles to show your ability to do something, especially your skill or power:
•The new role will allow Delaney to flex her acting muscles.[C] BrE
an electrical wire covered with plastic, used to connect electrical equipment to an electricity supply; = cord AmE; lead [U]
1 the ability to change or be changed easily to suit a different situation:
•Employees expect flexibility in the workplace.
2 the ability to bend or be bent easily:
•Stretching exercises will help your flexibility.
1 a person, plan etc that is flexible can change or be changed easily to suit any new situation; inflexible
•We can be flexible about your starting date.
extremely/highly/fairly etc flexible
•Our new computer software is extremely flexible.
•The government needs a more flexible approach to education.
2 something that is flexible can bend or be bent easily:
•shoes with flexible rubber soles
- flexibly adverbflextime AmE [U] BrE
a system in which people work a particular number of hours each week or month, but can change the times at which they start and finish each day
1 [T usually + adv/prep] to make something move away by hitting or pushing it suddenly or quickly, especially with your thumb and finger:
•Papa flicked the ash from his cigar.
2 [I,T always + adv/prep] to move with a sudden quick movement, or to make something move in this way
[+from/up/down]
•The cow's tail flicked from side to side.
flick sth up/down etc
•Jackie flicked her long hair back.
3 [T] to move a switch so that a machine or piece of electrical equipment starts or stops; = flip
•I felt inside the doorway and flicked the light switch.
flick sth on/off
•Sandra flicked the TV on.
4 flick a glance/look at sb/sth BrE to look very quickly at someone or something:
•Leith flicked a glance at her watch.
5 [T] if you flick something such as a TOWEL or rope, you move it so that the end moves quickly away from you:
•The old man flicked his whip and the horses moved off.

PHRASAL VERBS
flick through sth phr v
to look at a book, magazine, set of photographs etc quickly:
•Will flicked through Carla's photo album.
1 [C] a short quick sudden movement or hit with a part of your body, whip etc:
•With a flick of the wrist, Frye sent the ball into the opposite court.
2 flick of a switch used to emphasize how easy it is to start a machine and use it:
•I can shut off all the power in the building at the flick of a switch.
3 [C usually singular] especially AmE a film:
•an action flick
4 the flicks BrE old-fashioned the cinema
5 have a flick through sth BrE to look at a book, magazine, set of pictures etc very quickly:
•I had a quick flick through your report. $ [I]
1 to burn or shine with an unsteady light that goes on and off quickly:
•The overhead lights flickered momentarily.
2 [always + adv/prep] if an emotion or expression flickers on someone's face or through their mind, it exists or is shown for only a short time
[+across/through/on etc]
•A puzzled smile flickered across the woman's face.
3 to quickly make a sudden small movement or series of movements:
•Polly's eyelids flickered, then she slept.[C]
1 an unsteady light that goes on and off quickly
[+of]
•the flicker of the firelight
2 a flicker of emotion/uncertainty/excitement etc a feeling or expression that continues for a very short time:
•She saw a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
3 a quick sudden movement or series of movements[C] BrE
a knife with a blade inside the handle that moves quickly into position when you press a button; = switchblade AmE $
another spelling of FLYER
a FLY^3 (2)
1 TRAVEL [C] a journey in a plane or space vehicle, or the plane or vehicle that is making the journey

book a flight
catch a flight (=get on a plane to go somewhere)
miss a flight (=arrive too late to get on a plane)
cancel a flight
a long/short flight
a domestic flight (=to another place in the same country)
an international flight (=to another country)
a non-stop/direct flight
a connecting flight (=a flight to continue a journey, after a previous flight)

•He immediately booked a flight to Toulouse.
•Bernstein caught the first flight out of Washington.
•We need to hurry or we'll miss our flight.
•All flights out of Chicago were cancelled.
•Many people have trouble sleeping after a long flight.
•a short flight in a hot air balloon
•Soon smoking will be banned on all domestic flights.
•The number of international flights fell last year.
•British Airways offers non-stop flights from London to Tehran.
•We only had 20 minutes to make our connecting flight.

2 FLYING [U] when something flies through the air
in flight
•pelicans in flight
•In 1968, the first supersonic airliner took flight (=began flying).
3 MOVEMENT THROUGH AIR [U] an object's or bird's movement through the air:
•During its flight, the weapon twists and turns.
4 STAIRS [C] a set of stairs between one floor and the next:
•Bert lives two flights down from here.
a flight of stairs/steps
•She fell down a whole flight of stairs.
5 ESCAPE [U] when you leave a place in order to try and escape from a person or a dangerous situation
[+from]
•Donald Wood's hasty flight from South Africa early in 1978
take flight also
take to flight BrE
•When the alarm sounded, the whole gang took flight.
put sb to flight (=make someone run away especially by fighting or threatening them)
6 flight of fancy/imagination/fantasy thoughts, ideas etc that are full of imagination but that are not practical or sensible
7 BIRDS [C] a group of birds all flying together
[+of]
•a flight of swallows
IN-FLIGHT, TOP-FLIGHT[C]
someone who serves food and drinks to passengers on a plane, and looks after their comfort and safety[C]
the people, such as the pilot and flight attendants, who work on a plane during a flight[C]
1 the room in a plane where the pilot sits to control the plane
2 the flat surface of a ship which military aircraft use to fly into the air from
unable to fly:
•a flightless bird[C]
a middle rank in the British air force, or someone who holds this rank[C]
the course that a plane or space vehicle travels along[C]
a piece of equipment in an aircraft that records details such as the plane's speed and direction; = black box[C]
a middle rank in the British air force, or someone who holds this rank[C]
a machine used to train pilots that copies closely the movements and conditions that exist when flying an aircraft
a woman who is flighty changes her ideas and opinions often, and only remains interested in people or things for a short time [U] old-fashioned informal
information or ideas that are not true or seem very stupid:
•I was sick of his intellectual flimflam.
1 flimsy cloth or clothing is light and thin:
•a flimsy cotton dress
2 something that is flimsy is not strong or well-made, and will break easily:
•a flimsy wooden building
3 a flimsy agreement is weak and can easily be damaged or broken:
•a flimsy alliance between the two tribal groups
4 a flimsy argument or excuse does not seem very likely and people do not believe it; convincing
•The evidence against him is extremely flimsy.
•a flimsy excuse
- flimsily adverb
- flimsiness noun [U]also flinch away [I]
1 to move your face or body away from someone or something because you are in pain, frightened, or upset
[+at]
•She flinched at the touch of his hand.
[+from]
•The boy flinched away from him.
2 to feel embarrassed or upset
[+at]
•Jo flinched at her sister's insensitivity.
3 not flinch from (doing) sth to be willing to do something even though it is difficult or unpleasant:
•He never flinched from doing his duty.; unflinching past tense and past participle flung [T always + adv/prep]
1 THROW STH to throw something somewhere using a lot of force
fling sth into sth
•He flung the box into the river.
•People cheered and flung their hats into the air.
2 MOVE STH to throw or move something roughly and carelessly:
•He flung his coat over the back of a chair.
•She flung back the covers and got up.
•He flung the books aside angrily.
3 PUSH SB to push someone roughly, especially so that they fall to the ground; = throw
•He grabbed her arm and flung her to the ground.
4 MOVE YOUR BODY to move yourself or part of your body quickly, using a lot of force; = throw
•He flung himself down on the bed.
•She flung her arms round Louise.
5 SAY STH to say something to someone in an angry way; = throw
fling sth at sb
•People were flinging all sorts of accusations at her.
•His own words were flung back at him.
6 fling sth open to open a door or window roughly, using a lot of force:
•The door was flung open and Selkirk entered.
7 fling sb in prison/jail to put someone in prison, often without having a good reason:
•Opposition leaders were flung into jail.
8 fling yourself into sth to start doing something with a lot of energy:
•After the divorce he flung himself into his work to forget her.
9 fling yourself at sb
a) to move suddenly towards someone in order to attack them or hold them:
•He flung himself at her and snatched the bag.
•The children flung themselves at him, squealing with joy.
b) informal to show in a very clear, open way that you want to have a sexual relationship with someone - used to show disapproval

PHRASAL VERBS
fling sth <=> off phr v
to quickly remove a piece of clothing; = tear off
•He flung off his coat.

fling sb/sth <=> out phr v BrE informal
1 to make someone leave a place when they do not want to; = throw out
[+of]
•He was flung out of school for swearing at a teacher.
2 to get rid of something you no longer want or need; = throw out
•If it doesn't work, just fling it out.[C usually singular]
1 a short and not very serious sexual relationship:
•They had a brief fling a few years ago.
2 a short period of time during which you enjoy yourself without worrying about anything:
•He sees this as his final fling before he retires.
1 [U] a type of smooth hard stone that makes a small flame when you hit it with steel
2 [C] a piece of this stone or a small piece of metal that makes a small flame when you hit it with steel
1 literary not showing any emotions; = hard, icy
flinty look/stare
•Duvall gave him a flinty stare.
2 like flint or containing flint past tense and past participle flipped, present participle flipping
1 MOVE [I,T always + adv/prep] to move something with a quick sudden movement so that it is in a different position:
•He flipped the top off the bottle and poured himself a drink.
•She flipped the lid of the box open and looked inside.
[+over]
•He flipped the paper over and started writing on the back.
2 TURN IN THE AIR [T] to make a flat object such as a coin go upwards and turn over in the air; = toss
•We flipped a coin to see who would go first.
•There's quite an art to flipping pancakes.
3 ANGRY [I] informal to suddenly become very angry or upset; = lose it
•I just flipped and started shouting.
4 TURN A SWITCH [T] to move a switch so that a machine or piece of electrical equipment starts or stops; = flick
•Anna flipped the switch that opened the front gate.
flip sth on/off
•Josie flipped on the radio.
5 TURN PAGES [I,T] to turn the pages of a book or newspaper quickly, especially because you are looking for something:
•He picked up the newspaper and flipped straight to the sports pages.
[+through]
•I flipped through my address book but couldn't find her phone number.
6 flip your lid informal to suddenly become very angry; = go crazy
•Mom flipped her lid when she found out I was pregnant.

PHRASAL VERBS
flip sb <=> off phr v AmE informal
also flip sb the bird to make a rude sign at someone by lifting up your middle finger and keeping your other fingers down[C]
1 an action in which you make a flat object such as a coin go upwards and turn over in the air; = toss
•In the end the decision was made by the flip of a coin.
2 a movement in which you jump up and turn over in the air, so that your feet go over your head; = somersault
•I tripped and almost did a backward flip down the stairs.
3 an action in which you turn the pages of a book or newspaper quickly, especially because you are looking for something; = flick
[+through]
•I had a quick flip through my cookery books and found a recipe that sounded quite nice.informal
not said or meant seriously; = flippant
•I was fed up with his flip comments.[C]
a set of large pieces of paper that are connected at the top so that you can turn the pages over to present information to peoplepast tense and past participle flip-flopped, present participle flip-flopping [I] AmE informal
to change your opinion about something
- flip-flop noun [C]
•an incredible political flip-flop[plural]
open summer shoes, usually made of rubber, with a V-shaped band across the front to hold your feet; = thongs AmE
not being serious about something that other people think you should be serious about:
•a rather flippant remark
[+about]
•You shouldn't be flippant about such things.
- flippantly adverb
- flippancy noun [U]
•This is no time for flippancy. $ [C]
1 a flat part on the body of some large sea animals such as SEALs , that they use for swimming
2 a large flat rubber shoe that you wear to help you swim faster[C]
a MOBILE PHONE that has a cover which opens upwards BrE spoken
used to show that you are slightly annoyed about something:
•It's too flipping cold to go outside!
•This flipping pen doesn't work![singular]
1 the bad effects of something that also has good effects:
•The flip side of the treatment is that it can make patients feel very tired.
2 old-fashioned the side of a record that does not have the main song on $ [I]
to behave towards someone in a way that shows that you are sexually attracted to them, although you do not really want a relationship with them
[+with]
•She accused him of flirting with other women.
•She was flirting outrageously (=a lot) with some of the managers.

PHRASAL VERBS
flirt with sth phr v
1 to consider doing something, but not be very serious about it:
•He had flirted with the idea of emigrating.
2 to do something that is dangerous or could cause problems for you:
•Climbers enjoy flirting with danger.[C]
someone who flirts with people
a terrible/dreadful etc flirt (=someone who flirts a lot)
•She's an incorrigible flirt! $
1 [C] a short period of time during which you are interested in something
[+with]
•He started his own business last year, after a brief flirtation with political life.
2 [U] behaviour that shows you are attracted to someone sexually:
•She had no objection to a little mild flirtation.
3 [C] a short sexual relationship which is not serious; = fling
[+with]
•She had a brief flirtation with one of the maths students. $
behaving in a way that deliberately tries to attract sexual attention:
•She gave him a flirtatious smile.
•a flirtatious giggle
- flirtatiously adverb
- flirtatiousness noun [U] past tense and past participle flitted, present participle flitting [I always + adv/prep]
to move lightly or quickly and not stay in one place for very long:
•Birds flitted about in the trees above them.
•She seemed to spend her life flitting from one country to another.
•His eyes flitted to his watch. $
1 ON WATER
a) [I] to stay or move on the surface of a liquid without sinking:
•I wasn't sure if the raft would float.
•She spent the afternoon floating on her back in the pool.
[+along/down/past etc]
•A couple of broken branches floated past us.
b) [T] to put something on the surface of a liquid so that it does not sink:
•The logs are trimmed and then floated down the river.
2 IN THE AIR [I always + adv/prep] if something floats, it moves slowly through the air or stays up in the air:
•I looked up at the clouds floating in the sky.
•Leaves floated gently down from the trees.
3 MUSIC/SOUNDS/SMELLS ETC [I always + adv/prep] if sounds or smells float somewhere, people in another place can hear or smell them:
•The sound of her voice came floating down from an upstairs window.
4 WALK GRACEFULLY [I] to walk in a slow light graceful way; = glide
•Rachel floated around the bedroom in a lace nightgown.
5 IDEAS [T] to suggest an idea or plan in order to see if people like it:
•We first floated the idea back in 1992.
6 MONEY [ T] technical if the government of a country floats its money, the value of the money is allowed to change freely in relation to money from other countries:
•Russia decided to float the rouble on the foreign exchange market.
7 COMPANY [T] to sell SHAREs in a company or business to the public for the first time
float sth on sth
•The company will be floated on the stockmarket next year.
FLOTATION (1)
8 CHEQUE [T] AmE to write a cheque when you do not have enough money in the bank to pay it

PHRASAL VERBS
float around phr v informal
to be present in a place:
•There's a lot of cash floating around in the economy at the moment.[C]
1 VEHICLE a large vehicle that is decorated to drive through the streets as part of a special event:
•We stood and watched the Carnival floats drive past.
2 DRINK AmE a sweet drink that has ice cream floating in it
3 FOR FISHING a small light object that floats on the surface of the water, used by people trying to catch fish to show where their line is
4 FOR SWIMMING a flat light object that you can rest part of your body on in water to help you learn to swim
5 MONEY a small amount of money that someone in a shop keeps so that they have enough money to give change to people
6 RELAXATION a time when you sit in a FLOTATION TANK in order to treat illness or injury, or to relax $
a British spelling of FLOTATION $ [only before noun]
often changing, and not staying the same:
•You can choose either a fixed or floating interest rate for the loan.
•The area has a large floating population.[U]
the activity of sitting in a FLOTATION TANK in order to relax, or to treat illness or injury[C]
someone who does not always vote for the same political party at elections $
1 [C] a group of sheep, goats, or birds
[+of]
•a flock of small birds
2 [C usually singular] a large group of people; = crowd
[+of]
•a flock of children
3 [C usually singular] a priest's flock is the group of people who regularly attend his or her church
4 [U] small pieces of wool or cotton that are used for filling CUSHIONs
5 also flocking AmE [U] a soft substance that is used to make patterns on the surface of WALLPAPER, curtains etc[I always +adv/prep]
if people flock to a place, they go there in large numbers because something interesting or exciting is happening there
[+to/into/down etc]
•People have been flocking to the exhibition.
flock to do sth
•Tourists flock to see the town's medieval churches and buildings. $ [C]
an ICE FLOE $ past tense and past participle flogged, present participle flogging [T]
1 to beat a person or animal with a whip or stick:
•He was publicly flogged and humiliated.
2 informal to sell something:
•I'm going to flog all my old video tapes.
3 be flogging a dead horse spoken to be wasting time or effort by trying to do something that is impossible
4 flog sth to death BrE informal to repeat a story or use an idea etc so often that people become bored with it:
•They take a good idea and flog it to death. $ [C]
a punishment in which someone is severely beaten with a whip or stick
1 COVER WITH WATER [I,T] to cover a place with water, or to become covered with water:
•Towns and cities all over the country have been flooded.
•The houses down by the river flood quite regularly.
2 RIVER [I,T] if a river floods, it is too full, and spreads water over the land around it:
•There are now fears that the river could flood.
3 GO/ARRIVE IN LARGE NUMBERS [I always + adv/prep] to arrive or go somewhere in large numbers; = pour, flow
•Refugees are still flooding across the border.
•Donations have been flooding in since we launched the appeal.
4 flood sth with sth to send a very large number of things to a place or organization:
•a plan to flood the country with forged banknotes
5 be flooded with sth to receive so many letters, complaints, or inquiries that you cannot deal with them all easily:
•We've been flooded with offers of help.
6 flood the market to produce and sell a very large number of one type of thing, so that the price goes down
[+with]
•Car manufacturers have been accused of flooding the market with cheap cars.
7 LIGHT [I,T] if light floods a place or floods into it, it makes it very light and bright
[+into]
•Light flooded into the kitchen.
flood sth with sth
•The morning sun flooded the room with a gentle light.
8 FEELING [I always + adv/prep, T] if a feeling or memory floods over you or floods back, you feel or remember it very strongly
[+over/back]
•I felt happiness and relief flooding over me.
•Memories of my time in Paris flooded back.
9 ENGINE [I,T] if an engine floods or if you flood it, it has too much petrol in it, so that it will not start

PHRASAL VERBS
be flooded out phr v
to be forced to leave your home because of floods
1 [C,U] a very large amount of water that covers an area that is usually dry:
•The village was cut off by floods.
•the worst floods for over fifty years
2 [C] a very large number of things or people that arrive at the same time
[+of]
•The UN appealed for help with the flood of refugees crossing the border.
3 in floods of tears crying a lot:
•She came downstairs in floods of tears.
4 in flood a river that is in flood has much more water in it than usual
flash flood at FLASH^3 (1) [C]
1 open the floodgates
a) if something opens the floodgates, or if the floodgates open, it suddenly becomes possible for a lot of things to happen which were prevented from happening before:
•If this case is successful it could open the floodgates for thousands of similar claims.
•There are fears that the floodgates will open and large numbers of parents will take their children out of school.
b) if the floodgates open, or if something opens the floodgates, someone begins to cry and show their emotions after keeping them hidden:
•His display of kindness to her opened the floodgates again, and she began to sob loudly.
2 a gate that is used to control the flow of water from a large lake or river [U]
a situation in which an area of land becomes covered with water, for example because of heavy rain:
•The heavy rain has led to serious flooding in some areas.
•The river banks have been built up to prevent flooding. [C]
a very bright light that is used to light the outside of a building or sports ground at night:
•The church was lit up by floodlights.
under floodlights
•The game will be played under floodlights.
surrounded by floodlights so that people can see at night:
•a floodlit football pitch[C]
the large area of flat land on either side of a river that is sometimes covered with water when the river becomes too full[C]
the flow of the sea in towards the land; ebb tide $ [plural, U]
water that covers an area during a flood $ [C]
1 IN A BUILDING the flat surface that you stand on inside a building:
•a polished wooden floor
•There was a puddle of water on the kitchen floor.
•a warehouse that has 410,000 square feet of floor space
see box at GROUND^1
2 IN A CAR BrE the part of a car that forms its inside floor; = floorboard AmE
3 LEVEL IN BUILDING one of the levels in a building:
•a ground floor flat
on the top/first/tenth etc floor
•Our office is on the top floor.
[+of]
•We are located on the seventh floor of the building.
see box at STOREY
4 OCEAN/FOREST/CAVE FLOOR ETC the ground at the bottom of the ocean, the forest etc:
•creatures that live on the ocean floor
see box at GROUND^1
5 FOR DANCING an area in a room where people can dance:
•There were two or three couples already on the dance floor.
take (to) the floor (=begin dancing)
•Everyone took to the floor for the last waltz.
6 WHERE PEOPLE WORK a large area in a building where a lot of people do their jobs:
•The stock market floor was wildly busy.
•He wasn't keen on the idea of working on the shop floor (=the part of a factory where people make things using machines).
7 LIMIT an officially agreed limit below which something cannot go; ceiling
•Manufacturers have tried to put a floor under the price of their products.
8 the floor
a) the people attending a public meeting:
•Are there any questions from the floor?
b) the part of a parliament, public meeting place etc where people sit:
•The delegates crowded the floor of the House.
9 take the floor to begin speaking at an important public meeting:
•The chairman then took the floor.
10 have the floor to be speaking or have the right to speak at an important public meeting:
•He stepped aside to allow other speakers to have the floor.
11 go through the floor if a price, amount etc goes through the floor, it becomes very low; go through the roof
•In the past few years share prices have gone through the floor.

US/UK DIFFERENCE
The bottom area of a building, on the same level as the land around it, is called the ground floor. In American English this can also be called the first floor.
In British English the first floor is one level up from the ground. In American English this is the second floor.
floor or storey/story? See note at STOREY
GRAMMAR

!! Say on the first/second/fifth etc floor: The cafeteria is on (NOT at/in) the top floor.

[T]
1 to surprise or shock someone so much that they do not know what to say or do:
•A couple of the questions completely floored me.
2 to hit someone so hard that they fall down:
•He was floored in the first round of the fight.
3 AmE informal to make a car go as fast as possible:
•I got into the car and floored it. $ [C]
1 a board in a wooden floor:
•I lifted the carpet to check the floorboards for damp and woodworm.
2 AmE the floor in a car [U]
any material that is used to make or cover floors:
•We've chosen wood flooring for the hall.
•vinyl flooring[C] AmE
a tall lamp that stands on the floor; = standard lamp BrE[only before noun]
long enough to reach the floor:
•floor-length curtains
•a floor-length skirt[C]
a drawing of the shape of a room or building and the position of things in it, as seen from above; = ground plan[C]
a performance by singers, dancers etc at a NIGHTCLUBfloozie plural floozies [C] old-fashioned
a woman who has sexual relationships with a lot of different men, in a way that you disapprove of $ past tense and past participle flopped, present participle flopping [I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to sit or lie down in a relaxed way, by letting all your weight fall heavily onto a chair etc:
•He flopped down onto the bed.
•I got home and flopped in front of the TV.
2 [always + adv/prep] to hang or fall loosely, in an uncontrolled way:
•His head flopped back pathetically.
3 informal if something such as a product, play, or idea flops, it is not successful because people do not like it
1 [C] informal a film, play, product etc that is not successful; hit
disastrous/spectacular etc flop
•The film was a complete flop.
2 [singular] the movement or noise that something makes when it falls heavily:
•He fell with a flop into the water.
BELLY FLOP $ [C] AmE informal
a very cheap hotel where people can stay when they have very little money and nowhere to live; = doss house BrE $
something that is floppy is soft and hangs down loosely rather than being stiff:
•a floppy hat
•a dog with long floppy earsalso floppy [C]
a square piece of plastic that you can store computer information on, and which you can remove from and put into a computer; hard disk [U]
all the plants that grow in a particular place or country:
•Tourism is damaging the flora and fauna (=plants and animals) of the island.
made of flowers or decorated with flowers or pictures of flowers:
•a scarf with a bold floral pattern
•a pretty floral dress
•a light floral fragrance
•There were floral tributes (=flowers sent as a sign of respect after someone has died) from friends and colleagues. $ literary
1 a florid face is red in colour:
•a middle-aged man with a florid complexion
2 florid language, music, or art has a lot of extra unnecessary details or decorations:
•a book written in a very florid style $ [C]
a coin that was used in Britain before 1971, worth about 10p $ [C]
1 someone who owns or works in a shop that sells flowers and indoor plants for the home
2 also florist's a shop that sells flowers and indoor plants for the home $ [U]
1 a type of thin thread that you use for cleaning between your teeth; = dental floss
2 a type of thin thread that you use for sewing[T]
to clean between your teeth using floss $ [C,U]
1 a time when SHAREs in a company are made available for people to buy for the first time:
•The company has decided to postpone its flotation on the stock market until next year.
2 flotation chamber/compartment etc a container filled with air or gas, fixed to something to make it float[C]
a large container full of warm salty water, often with a cover on it to make it dark inside, that you float in so that you can relax, or to treat illness or injury $ [C]
a group of small ships $ [U]
1 broken pieces of wood and other things from a wrecked ship, floating in the sea or scattered on the shore:
•He would walk along the beach collecting the flotsam and jetsam that had been washed ashore.
2 things that people no longer want and so throw away:
•works of art made from the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life
3 people who are very poor and do not have jobs or homes:
•Camps were set up to shelter the flotsam and jetsam of the war. [I always + adv/prep]
to walk in a quick determined way without looking at people because you are angry:
•She flounced out of the room.
1 [C] a band of cloth that is stitched onto a curtain or a piece of clothing in folds as a decoration:
•a group of local girls dressed in frills and flounces
2 [singular] a way of walking in a quick determined way without looking at people, because you are angry:
•She walked off with a flounce.
decorated with flounces:
•a flounced skirt $ [I]
1 to not know what to say or do because you feel confused or upset:
•I found myself floundering as I tried to answer her questions.
•'I'm sorry,' she floundered helplessly.
2 to have a lot of problems and be likely to fail completely:
•More and more firms are floundering because of the recession.
3 [always + adv/prep] to be unable to move easily because you are in deep water or mud, or cannot see very well:
•They were floundering chest-deep in the freezing water.
[+around]
•I could hear them floundering around in the dark.plural flounder or flounders [C,U]
a type of small fish that you can eat $ [U]
a powder that is made by crushing wheat or other grain and is used for making bread, cakes etc
white/wholemeal/rice/wheat etc flour
PLAIN FLOUR, SELF-RAISING FLOUR[T]
to cover a surface with flour when you are cooking:
•Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured board. $
1 [I] to develop well and be successful; = thrive
•The economy is booming and small businesses are flourishing.
2 [I] to grow well and be very healthy; thrive
•Most plants will flourish in the rich deep soils here.
3 [T] to wave something in your hand in order to make people notice it:
•She walked quickly to the desk, flourishing her cheque book.
1 with a flourish with a large confident movement that makes people notice you:
•He opened his wallet with a flourish and took out a handful of notes.
2 [usually singular] a special or impressive part of something:
•There's nothing like a luxurious dessert to give a menu a final flourish.
with a flourish
•They finished the season with a flourish, winning their last three matches.
3 [C] a loud part of a piece of music, played especially when an important person enters:
•a flourish of trumpets
4 [C] a curved line that you use to decorate writing $
1 covered with flour or tasting of flour:
•She wiped her floury hands on her apron.
2 floury potatoes become very soft and break easily when they are cooked [T]
to deliberately disobey a law, rule etc, without trying to hide what you are doing:
•Some companies flout the rules and employ children as young as seven.
deliberately/openly flout sth
•The union had openly flouted the law. $
1 LIQUID/GAS/ELECTRICITY [C usually singular] a smooth steady movement of liquid, gas, or electricity
[+of]
•He struggled to swim against the flow of the water.
•I tied a towel round his leg to try to stem the flow of blood.
2 TRAFFIC [C usually singular, U] the steady movement of traffic:
•a new road system to improve traffic flow through the city centre
3 GOODS/PEOPLE/INFORMATION [C usually singular] the movement of goods, people, or information from one place to another
[+of]
•the flow of funds from the US to Europe
•There has been a steady flow of people leaving the area.
•They have accused the government of trying to block the free flow of information.
•an attempt to stem the flow of refugees across the border
4 SPEECH/WRITING [U] the continuous stream of words or ideas when someone is speaking, writing, or thinking about something:
•I didn't want to interrupt her flow, so I said nothing.
5 OF THE SEA [singular] the regular movement of the sea towards the land:
•the ebb and flow of the tide
6 in full flow informal if someone is in full flow, they are busy talking about something and seem likely to continue for a long time
7 go with the flow to agree that you will do the thing that most people want to do:
•I don't mind, I'll just go with the flow.
8 go against the flow to do something very different from what other people are doing
CASH FLOW; ebb and flow at EBB^1 (3)[I]
1 LIQUID/GAS/ELECTRICITY when a liquid, gas, or electricity flows, it moves in a steady continuous stream
[+over/down/through etc]
•These gates regulate the amount of water flowing into the canal.
•If the windows are shut, air cannot flow freely through the building.
2 GOODS/PEOPLE/INFORMATION [always + adv/prep] if goods, people, or information flow from one place to another, they move there in large numbers or amounts; = pour, flood
•Money has been flowing into the country from Western aid agencies.
•The number of refugees flowing into the area is still increasing.
3 TRAFFIC if traffic flows, it moves easily from one place to another:
•The new one-way system should help the traffic to flow better.
4 ALCOHOL if alcohol flows at a party, people drink a lot and there is a lot available:
•Beer and whisky flowed freely as the evening wore on.
5 WORDS/IDEAS if conversation or ideas flow, people talk or have ideas steadily and continuously, without anything stopping or interrupting them:
•Everyone was relaxed and the conversation flowed freely.
6 SEA when the sea flows, it moves towards the land:
•We watched the tide ebb and flow.
7 FEELINGS if a feeling flows through you or over you, you feel it strongly
[+through/over]
•She felt hot rage flowing through her.
8 CLOTHES/HAIR if clothing or hair flows, it falls or hangs loosely and gracefully:
•Her long hair flowed down her back.
9 flow from sth to happen as a result of something:
•the political consequences that flowed from this decisionalso flow diagram [C]
a drawing that uses shapes and lines to show how the different stages in a process are connected to each other $ [C]
1 a coloured or white part that a plant or tree produces before fruit or seeds:
•a lovely rose bush with delicate pink flowers
•fields full of beautiful wild flowers
2 a small plant that produces beautiful flowers:
•He wasn't interested in growing flowers in the garden.
•She bent down and picked a flower.
bunch/bouquet of flowers
•The first night we met he gave me a bunch of flowers.
•a beautiful flower arrangement (=flowers arranged together in an attractive way)
3 in flower a plant or tree that is in flower has flowers on it:
•It was May, and the apple trees were all in flower.
•Roses start to come into flower in June.
4 the flower of sth literary the best part of something:
•young men killed in the flower of their youth[I]
1 to produce flowers:
•Bulbs that you plant in the autumn should flower the following spring.
2 literary to develop in a very successful way:
•the economic and social conditions that will allow democracy to flower[U]
the skill of arranging flowers in an attractive way $ [C]
an area of ground, for example in a garden, in which flowers are grownplural flower children [C]
a young person in the 1960s and 70s who was against war and wanted peace and love in society $
decorated with a pattern of flowers; = floral, flowery
•a flowered silk dress[C]
AmE a young girl who carries flowers at a wedding ceremony
the flowering of sth formal when something develops in a very successful way:
•The nineteenth century saw a flowering of science and technology. $ [C]
a plastic or clay pot in which you grow plants[U]
the ideas of young people in the 1960s and 70s who believed that peace and love were the most important things in life
1 decorated with a pattern of flowers; = floral, flowered
•a flowery cotton dress
2 a flowery place has a lot of flowers growing in it:
•a flowery meadow
3 a flowery smell or taste is strong and sweet, like flowers:
•her flowery perfume
4 flowery speech or writing uses complicated and rare words instead of simple clear language:
•flowery language $
1 hanging or moving in a smooth graceful way:
•She had pale skin and dark, flowing hair.
•long, flowing robes
2 continuing in a smooth, graceful way, with no sudden changes:
•a flowing melody
•flowing curves $
the past participle of FLY^1fl. oz. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of fluid ounce or fluid ounces [U]
a common illness that makes you feel very tired and weak, gives you a sore throat, and makes you cough and have to clear your nose a lot; = influenza
•Steven's still in bed with flu.
•She's got the flu.
•I couldn't go because I had flu.
a flu virus/bug
•the spread of the flu virus
•Doctors now fear a flu epidemic. past tense and past participle flubbed, present participle flubbing [T] AmE informal
to make a mistake or do something badly; = fluff, mess sth <=> up
•Several of the actors flubbed their lines. [I]
if a price or amount fluctuates, it keeps changing and becoming higher and lower; = vary
[+between]
•Prices were volatile, fluctuating between $20 and $40.
[+around]
•The number of children in the school fluctuates around 100.
•Insect populations fluctuate wildly from year to year. [C,U]
a change in a price, amount, level etc; = variation
[+in]
•the fluctuation in interest rates
•Prices are subject to fluctuation. [C]
a metal pipe or tube that lets smoke or heat from a fire out of a building
1 able to speak a language very well
[+in]
•She was fluent in English, French, and German.
2 fluent French/Japanese etc someone who speaks fluent French etc speaks it like a person from that country:
•He spoke in fluent Italian.
3 fluent speech or writing is smooth and confident, with no mistakes:
•He was a fluent and rapid prose writer.
4 fluent movements are smooth and gentle, not sudden and sharp:
•She rose with the fluent movement of an athlete.
- fluently adverb
•He spoke French fluently.
- fluency noun [U] [U]
1 soft light bits of thread that have come from wool, cotton, or other materials:
•He was picking bits of fluff off his trousers.
•a ball of carpet fluff
2 soft light hair or feathers, especially on a young bird or animal:
•The chicks were just balls of yellow fluff.
3 news, music, writing, work etc that is not serious or important:
•a magazine full of pop and fashion fluff[T]
1 informal to make a mistake or do something badly; = mess sth <=> up
•He fluffed his shot and missed the goal.
•She fluffed her lines in the first scene.
2 also fluff sth <=> up/out to make something soft become larger by shaking it:
•She fluffed up the pillows for me.
3 also fluff sth <=> up/out if a bird fluffs its feathers, it raises them and makes itself look bigger
1 very light and soft to touch:
•a fluffy little kitten
•fluffy towels
2 food that is fluffy is made soft and light by mixing it quickly so that a lot of air is mixed into it:
•Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3 fluffy clouds look light and soft [C,U] technical
a liquid; gas, solid
•He is not allowed solid food yet, only fluids.
•a powerful cleaning fluid
1 a situation that is fluid is likely to change
2 fluid movements are smooth, relaxed, and graceful:
•a loose, fluid style of dancing
3 a fluid substance is a liquid; gaseous, solid
- fluidity noun [U]written abbreviation fl oz [C]
a unit for measuring liquid, equal to 1/20 PINT or 0.028 litres in Britain, and 1/16 pint or 0.030 litres in the US [C] informal
something good that happens because of luck:
•He agreed that the second goal was a fluke.
- fluky flukey adjective
•a fluky win [C]
a long narrow structure built for water to slide down, which is used to move water or wood, or which people slide down for fun:
•a log flume
completely confused by something; = bewildered
•I was completely flummoxed by the whole thing.
- flummox verb [T]
the past tense and past participle of FLING^1 informal especially AmE
1 [I,T] to fail a test:
•Tony flunked chemistry last semester.
2 [T] to give someone low marks on a test so that they fail it; = fail
•She hadn't done the work so I flunked her.

PHRASAL VERBS
flunk out phr v informal especially AmE
to be forced to leave a school or college because your work is not good enough
[+of]
•Ben messed around and flunked out of college.flunky [C] informal
someone who does small jobs for an important person, especially someone who does this because they are trying to please the person - used to show disapproval:
•One of his flunkeys let me in. $
1 fluorescent colours are very bright and easy to see, even in the dark:
•a fluorescent pink T-shirt
2 a fluorescent light contains a tube filled with gas, which shines with a bright light when electricity is passed through it
- fluorescence noun [U] $ [T]
to add fluoride to the water supply
- fluoridation $ noun [U] $ [U]
a chemical which is believed to help protect teeth against decay $ [U]
a chemical substance that is usually in the form of a poisonous pale yellow gas. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol F $ [C]
any chemical that contains fluorine and CARBON:
•the problem of pollution from fluorocarbons
CFC $
confused and nervous or excited; = flustered
•Jack never seemed to be flurried, even when they were very busy. $ plural flurries
1 [singular] a time when there is suddenly a lot of activity and people are very busy
[+of]
•After a quiet spell there was a sudden flurry of phone calls.
•The day started with a flurry of activity.
2 [C] a small amount of snow or rain that is blown by the wind
[+of]
•He opens the door and a flurry of snow blows in.
•Snow flurries are expected overnight.
1 REDNESS ON FACE [singular] a red colour that appears on your face when you are angry or embarrassed; = blush
•His words brought a warm flush to her face.
HOT FLUSH
2 FEELINGS a flush of anger/embarrassment/excitement etc a sudden feeling of anger, embarrassment etc; = surge
•She felt a sudden flush of anger.
3 TOILET [C]
a) the part of a toilet that cleans it with a sudden flow of water:
•The flush isn't working properly.
b) the act of cleaning a toilet by forcing water through it
4 CARDS [C] a set of cards that someone has in a card game that are all of the same SUIT
5 the first flush of youth/manhood the beginning of a period of time when you are young etc:
•a group of adolescent boys in the first flush of manhood
6 a flush of sth a large number of things that happen or arrive at the same time:
•The spring brings a flush of young animals to the farm.
1 BECOME RED [I] to become red in the face, for example when you are angry or embarrassed; = blush
•Susan flushed deeply and looked away.
•He flushed angrily.
flush red/crimson/scarlet
•Robyn felt her cheeks flush scarlet.
[+with]
•Mrs Cooper flushed with indignation.
2 TOILET [I,T] if you flush a toilet, or if it flushes, you make water go through it to clean it:
•Why do children never remember to flush the loo?
•She flushed the rest of her drink down the toilet.
3 CLEAN STH [T] to force water through a pipe in order to clean it
flush sth through sth
•They flush clean water through the pipes once a day.

PHRASAL VERBS
flush sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to make someone leave a place where they are hiding:
•The government is determined to flush out the terrorists.
2 to clean something by forcing water through it:
•The heating system needs to be flushed out once a year.
•Drinking water helps flush out toxins from the body.
1 if two surfaces are flush, they are at exactly the same level, so that the place where they meet is flat
[+with]
•Make sure that the cupboard is flush with the wall.
2 [not before noun] informal if someone is flush, they have plenty of money to spend:
•I'm feeling flush at the moment.
1 red in the face:
•He looked hot and rather flushed.
•Her cheeks were flushed, her expression angry.
[+with]
•He leaned forward, his face flushed with anger.
2 flushed with success/excitement/pleasure etc excited because you have achieved something:
•The team are still flushed with success after their weekend victory. $ [T]
to make someone nervous and confused by making them hurry or interrupting them:
•Don't fluster me, or I'll never be ready on time.BrE
in a fluster nervous and confused because you are trying to do things quickly $
confused and nervous:
•Paul was looking flustered and embarrassed.
•I always get flustered in interviews. [C]
1 a musical instrument like a thin pipe, that you play by holding it across your lips, blowing over a hole, and pressing down buttons with your fingers; flautist
2 a tall narrow glass, used especially for drinking CHAMPAGNE
something that is fluted has hollow or rounded lines down it:
•fluted stone columns [C] AmE
someone who plays the flute; = flautist BrE $
1 [I,T] if a bird or insect flutters, or if it flutters its wings, it flies by moving its wings lightly up and down:
•A small bird fluttered past the window.
2 [I] to make small gentle movements in the air:
•Dead leaves fluttered slowly to the ground.
•The flag fluttered in the light breeze.
3 [I] if your heart or your stomach flutters, you feel very excited or nervous
4 [I] if your eyelids flutter, they move slightly when you are asleep:
•Her eyelids fluttered but did not open.
5 flutter your eyelashes (at sb) if a woman flutters her eyelashes at a man, she looks at him and moves her eyes to make herself attractive to him[singular]
1 a feeling of being nervous, confused, or excited
in a flutter
•She was all in a flutter.
•His sudden resignation caused quite a flutter.
2 a flutter of sth a sudden feeling that is not very strong:
•She felt a flutter of curiosity.
3 a light gentle movement
[+of]
•a flutter of wings
4 have a flutter BrE informal to risk a small amount of money on the result of something such as a horse race; = have a bet technical
relating to rivers or caused by rivers [U]
a situation in which things are changing a lot and you cannot be sure what will happen:
•Everything is in flux at the moment.
•The education system is still in a state of flux. past tense flew past participle flown $
1 TRAVEL BY PLANE [I] to travel by plane:
•She's flying back to the States tomorrow.
•Will you take the train there or fly?
•Maurice is nervous about flying, so he usually travels overland.
[+to]
•The prime minister will be flying to Delhi later today for a three-day visit.
[+from/out of/in etc]
•He was arrested at Heathrow after flying from Brussels airport.
•Lewis stopped off in Jamaica before flying on to Toronto.
2 MOVE THROUGH THE AIR [I] if a plane, spacecraft etc flies, it moves through the air:
•The plane was attacked as it flew over restricted airspace.
3 CONTROL A PLANE [I,T] to be at the controls of a plane and direct it as it flies:
•She was the first woman to fly Concorde.
•The pilot was instructed to fly the plane to Montreal airport.
•Sonny learnt to fly when he was 15.
4 SEND SB/STH BY PLANE [T] to take goods or people somewhere by plane:
•The injured boy was flown by air ambulance to the Royal London Hospital.
fly sth into/out of etc sth
•US planes have been flying food and medical supplies into the area.
5 USE AIR COMPANY/SERVICE [I,T] to use a particular AIRLINE or use a particular type of ticket when you travel by plane:
•We usually fly economy class.
•Millions of passengers fly British Airways every year.
6 CROSS SEA BY PLANE [T] to cross a particular ocean or area of sea in a plane:
•Who was the first person to fly the Atlantic?
7 BIRDS/INSECTS [I] to move through the air using wings:
•The mother bird will feed her chicks until they are able to fly.
•The evening air was clouded with mosquitoes and other flying insects.
[+away/off/in etc]
•At that moment, a wasp flew in through the open window.
•The little robin shook its feathers and flew away.
8 MOVE SOMEWHERE QUICKLY [I]
a) to move somewhere quickly and suddenly
[+down/across/out of etc]
•Ellen flew across the room and greeted her uncle with a kiss.
•Rachel's hand flew to her mouth.
[+open/shut]
•The door flew open and a child rushed out.
b) to move quickly and suddenly through the air:
•There was a loud explosion, and suddenly there was glass flying everywhere.
•William hit Jack on the head and sent his glasses flying.
•The ball bounced off the wall and went flying into the garden next door.
9 KITE [T] to make a KITE fly in the air:
•In the park people were walking their dogs or flying their kites.
10 (I) must fly spoken used to say that you must leave quickly
11 MOVE FREELY [I] to move freely and loosely in the air:
•Harriet ran after him, her hair flying behind her.
12 FLAG [I,T] if a flag flies, or if you fly it, it is fixed to the top of a tall pole so that it can be easily seen:
•After the invasion, people were forbidden to fly their national flag.
•The flags were flying cheerfully in the breeze.
•The government ordered that all flags should be flown at half mast (=halfway down the pole, in order to express public sadness at someone's death).
13 fly the flag to behave in a way that shows that you are proud of your country, organization etc
14 time flies also the hours/the days etc fly used to say that a period of time seems to pass very quickly:
•'Is it midnight already?' 'Well, you know what they say - time flies when you're having fun!'
[+by]
•The following weeks flew by, and soon it was time to leave.
15 fly into a rage/temper/panic etc to suddenly get extremely angry, extremely worried etc:
•Rebecca flew into a rage when she realized no-one had been listening to her.
16 fly off the handle informal to suddenly get very angry:
•Calm down, Terry - there's no need to fly off the handle.
17 let fly (sth)
a) to suddenly start shouting angrily at someone; = let loose
•The prisoner let fly with a torrent of abuse.
b) to suddenly attack someone, especially with bullets or a weapon that is thrown
[+with]
•The soldiers let fly with a hail of machine-gun fire.
18 fly in the face of sth to be the opposite of what most people think is reasonable, sensible, or normal:
•He likes to fly in the face of convention.
19 ESCAPE [T] formal to leave somewhere in order to escape; = flee
•By the time the police arrived, the men had flown.
20 be flying high to be having a lot of success:
•The architectural firm has been flying high recently.
21 fly the nest
a) if a young bird flies the nest, it has grown old enough to look after itself and is no longer dependent on its parents
b) if a young person flies the nest, he or she moves out of their parents' home in order to live independently:
•Now that the kids have flown the nest, I'm thinking about taking a job abroad.
22 PLAN [I] AmE a plan that will fly will be successful and useful:
•News is that the plan for the new hotel isn't going to fly.
23 fly a kite to tell people about an idea, plan etc in order to get their opinion:
•In my latest book, I wanted to fly the kite for an unfashionable theory.
KITE-FLYING (2)
24 go fly a kite AmE spoken used to tell someone to go away, stop saying something, or stop annoying you
25 rumours/accusations etc are flying when a lot of people are talking about something, saying someone has done something wrong etc:
•Rumours were flying as to how the fire started.
26 fly the coop AmE informal to leave or escape:
•All my children have flown the coop now.
27 fly by the seat of your pants informal to have to deal with a situation by guessing what to do, because you know very little about it; = wing it
•Sometimes you'll get back and find that things have changed, so you'll be flying by the seat of your pants for a while.

PHRASAL VERBS
fly at sb phr v also fly into sb AmE
to suddenly rush towards someone and try to hit them because you are very angry with them
the bird has flown at BIRD (8); as the crow flies at CROW^1 (3); sparks fly at SPARK^1 (6)past tense and past participle flied, present participle flying, third person singular flies [I]
to hit a ball in baseball high into the airplural flies [C]
1 INSECT a small flying insect with two wings:
•There were flies buzzing all around us.
2 TROUSERS especially AmE also flies [plural] BrE the part at the front of a pair of trousers which you can open:
•He quickly did up his fly.
•Your flies are undone.
3 sb wouldn't hurt/harm a fly informal used to say that someone is very gentle and is not likely to hurt anyone
4 be dying/dropping etc like flies informal used to say that a lot of people are dying or becoming ill
5 a fly in the ointment informal the only thing that spoils something and prevents it from being successful:
•The only fly in the ointment was Jacky.
6 be a fly on the wall to be able to watch what happens without other people knowing that you are there:
•I wish I'd been a fly on the wall during that conversation.
FLY-ON-THE-WALL
7 there are no flies on sb BrE spoken used to say that someone is not stupid and cannot be tricked
8 on the fly
a) technical while a computer program is actually running:
•The code is translated on the fly.
b) while dealing with a situation, rather than before dealing with it:
•So far, policy is being made on the fly.
9 FISHING a hook that is made to look like a fly and is used for catching fish
10 BASEBALL a fly ball
1 informal very fashionable and attractive:
•Wear something really fly for your Friday date.
2 BrE old-fashioned clever and not easily tricked:
•He's a bit of a fly character.
flyaway hair hair that is soft and thin and becomes untidy easily[C]
a ball that has been hit high into the air in a game of BASEBALL $ BrE
1 old, dirty, and in bad condition
2 meat that is flyblown has flies' eggs in it and is not suitable for eating [C] AmE informal
someone who flies a plane, especially in the US ARMED FORCES; pilot plural fly-bys [C]
an occasion when a spacecraft flies close to a PLANET etc in order to gather information about it[only before noun] informal
a fly-by-night company or businessman is one that you cannot trust because they have only been in business for a short time and are only interested in making quick profits $ [C]
a type of small bird that catches flies and other insects in the air[C]
a holiday arranged at a fixed price that includes your flight to a place, a car to drive while you are there, and a place to stayflier $ [C]
1 a small sheet of paper advertising something:
•People were giving out flyers advertising the event.
2 informal a pilot:
•She was one of the first solo flyers.
3 someone who travels in an aircraft:
•Delays are familiar to all regular flyers. [U]
the sport of fishing in a river or lake with special hooks that are made to look like flies[C]
a player in a game of RUGBY. A fly half has to be able to run quickly.
1 [only before noun] able to fly; = winged
•a story about a flying horse
2 with flying colours if you pass a test with flying colours, you are very successful in it
3 a flying visit a quick visit because you do not have much time
4 a flying start a very good or successful start:
•The appeal has got off to a flying start, with over £200,000 raised in the first week.
5 a flying jump/leap a long high jump made while you are running:
•He took a flying leap and just managed to clear the stream.[U]
the activity of travelling by plane:
•Quite a lot of people are still nervous about flying.[C]
a curved line of stones or bricks that are joined to the outside wall of a large building such as a church, and help to support it[C]
a doctor, especially in Australia, who goes by plane to visit sick people who live a long way from the nearest town[C]
a type of sea fish that can jump out of the water and move along in the air for a short way[C]
a type of BAT that lives in hot countries and eats fruit[C]
an officer in the British airforce[C]
someone who travels to different factories during a STRIKE and tries to persuade workers to stop working[C]
a large round spacecraft from somewhere else in space, that some people believe they have seen in the sky; UFO[C]
a special group of police officers in Britain whose job is to travel quickly to the place where there has been a serious crime:
•the head of Scotland Yard's Flying Squad[C]
a way of stopping someone from running by putting your arms around their legs and making them fall over[C]
a page at the beginning or end of a book, on which there is no printing[only before noun]
a fly-on-the-wall television programme shows people's daily lives in a very natural way, because they forget that they are being filmed
be a fly on the wall at FLY^3 (6) $ [C]
1 BrE a bridge that takes one road over another road; = overpass AmE
2 AmE a flight by a group of planes on a special occasion for people to watch; = flypast BrE $ [C,U]
paper covered with a sticky substance that is hung up in a room in order to catch flies $ [C] BrE
a flight by a group of planes on a special occasion for people to watch; = flyover AmEalso fly [C]
a sheet of material that is put over a tent to protect it from the rain $ [C]
a piece of plastic that you use for hitting and killing flies [C]
a BOXER who weighs less than 50.80 kilograms, and who is heavier than a STRAWWEIGHT but lighter than a BANTAMWEIGHT [C]
a heavy wheel that keeps a machine working at a steady speed [U]
frequency modulation a system used for broadcasting radio programmes; AM $ [C]
a young horse; colt, filly[I]
to give birth to a foal $ [U]
1 also foam rubber a type of soft rubber with a lot of air in it, used in furniture:
•a foam mattress
2 a mass of very small bubbles on the surface of a liquid; = froth
•She scraped the foam off her coffee.
3 a substance which is like a very thick soft liquid with a lot of bubbles in it:
•Firefighters using water and foam are still tackling the blaze.
•shaving foam
- foamy adjective[I]
1 to produce foam:
•The green water splashed and foamed over the rocks.
2 be foaming at the mouth
a) to have bubbles coming out of your mouth because you are very ill
b) informal to be very angry $ past tense and past participle fobbed, present participle fobbing informal

PHRASAL VERBS
fob sb <=> off phr v
1 to tell someone something that is not true in order to stop them from complaining
[+with]
•She fobbed him off with a promise to pay him the money next week.
2 to give someone something that is not very good instead of the thing they really want
[+with]
•They tried to fob me off with a cheap camera.[C]
a small object that is fixed to a key ring as a decoration[C]
a watch that fits into a pocket, or is pinned to a woman's dress $ [U]
a type of Italian bread $ [only before noun]
the focal thing is the one that people pay most attention to:
•This issue has now become the focal centre of interest.[C] technical
the distance between the centre of a lens and the focal point[C]
1 the person or thing that you pay most attention to
[+of]
•The swimming pool is the focal point of the hotel.
[+for]
•The new tax has been the focal point for much discussion.
2 technical the point at which beams of light meet after they have been through a LENS $ [C] BrE
the front part of a ship, where the sailors live; = forecastle AmE $ past tense and past participle focused or, focussed, present participle focusing or, focussing
1 GIVE ATTENTION TO STH [I,T] to give special attention to one particular person or thing, or to make people do this
[+on]
•He felt he needed to focus more on his career.
focus your attention/mind/efforts on sth
•She tried to focus her mind on her work.
focus (sb's) mind/attention (on sth) (=make people give their attention to something)
•We need to focus public attention on this issue.
2 CAMERA/TELESCOPE [I,T] to point a camera or TELESCOPE at something, and change the controls slightly so that you can see that thing clearly
[+on]
•She turned the camera and focussed on Martin's face.
focus sth on sth
•He focused his binoculars on the building opposite.
3 EYES [I,T] if your eyes focus, or if you focus your eyes, you look at something and can see it clearly
[+on]
•All eyes focussed on her.
•His eyes were focussed straight ahead.
4 LIGHT [T] if you focus beams of light, you aim them onto a particular place
1 [singular] the thing, person, situation etc that people pay special attention to

the focus is on sth
the focus of attention/concern/interest
the focus of debate
the main/central/primary focus (of sth)
become the focus (of/for sth)
provide a focus (for sth)
shift the focus (of sth)
the focus shifts (from sth) (to sth)

•The focus of recent research has been on environmental issues.
[+of]
•The war in Bosnia had become the focus of media attention.
• The focus of interest in the series is what goes on in everyday life.
• Another focus of feminist debate has been the film industry.
• I shall now turn to the main focus of this essay.
• Eggs became the focus for the food poisoning scare.
• The focus of the conference shifted from population growth to the education of women.

2 [U] if your focus is on something, that is the thing you are giving most attention to
[+on]
•Our main focus is on helping people get back into work.
•a shift of focus
3 come into focus/bring sth into focus if something comes into focus, or you bring it into focus, people start to talk about it and pay attention to it:
•These issues have recently come into sharp focus (=people have started to talk about them a lot).
4 in focus/out of focus if a photograph or an instrument such as a camera is in focus, you can see the picture clearly. If it is out of focus, you cannot see the picture clearly.
5 [U] the clearness of the picture seen through an instrument such as a camera:
•He raised his binoculars and adjusted the focus.[C]
a small group of people that a company, political party etc asks questions in order to find out what they think of their products, actions etcfocused AmE $ BrE
paying careful attention to what you are doing, in a way that shows you are determined to succeed:
•I've got to stay focussed if I want to win this competition. $ [U]
1 food for farm animals
2 something or someone that is useful only for a particular purpose - used in order to show disapproval
[+for]
•The murders made prime fodder for newspapers.
CANNON FODDER $ [C] literary
an enemy:
•Britain's friends and foesfetal [only before noun]
belonging or related to a foetus:
•a test to detect foetal abnormalities[C]
the body position of an unborn child inside its mother, in which the body is curled and the legs are pulled up against the chestfetus [C]
a baby or young animal before it is born; embryo $
1 [C,U] cloudy air near the ground which is difficult to see through; = mist
thick/dense/freezing fog
•We got lost in the thick fog.
•It will be a cold night, and there may be fog patches.
•A blanket of fog covered the fields.
•The fog lifted (=disappeared) in the afternoon.
2 [singular] informal a state in which you feel confused and cannot think clearly:
•My mind was in a fog.
[+of]
•the fog of tirednesspast tense and past participle fogged, present participle fogging
1 also fog up [I,T] if something made of glass fogs or becomes fogged, it becomes covered in small drops of water that make it difficult to see through; = mist up, steamed up
•The windscreen had fogged up.
2 [T] to make something less clear; = cloud $
unable to travel or work normally because of fog:
•The airport was fogbound.fogy $ plural fogeys or fogies [C]
someone who has old-fashioned ideas and does not like change:
•You're turning into a real old fogey! $
1 if the weather is foggy, there is fog:
•a foggy day in November
•driving in foggy conditions
2 not have the foggiest (idea) spoken to not know at all:
•None of us had the foggiest idea about how to put the tent up.
3 if your mind is foggy, you cannot think or remember things clearly $ [C]
1 a loud horn on a ship, used in fog to warn other ships of its position
2 a voice like a foghorn informal a very loud unpleasant voicefog light AmE [C] BrE
a strong light on the front of a car that helps drivers to see when there is FOG [C]
a small weakness or strange habit that someone has, which does not harm anyone else; = peculiarity
•We all have our little foibles. [U]
a smooth food made from the LIVER of a GOOSE
1 [U] metal sheets that are as thin as paper, used for wrapping food
silver/aluminium/kitchen foil
•Cover the chicken with silver foil and bake.
TINFOIL
2 [U] paper that is covered with very thin sheets of metal:
•chocolates in foil wrappers
3 be a foil to/for sb/sth to emphasize the good qualities of another person or thing, by being very different from them:
•The simple stone floor is the perfect foil for the brightly coloured furnishings.
4 [C] a light narrow sword used in FENCING[T often passive]
to prevent something bad that someone is planning to do:
•A massive arms-smuggling plan has been foiled by the CIA.

PHRASAL VERBS
foist sth on/upon sb phr v
to force someone to accept or have to deal with something that they do not want:
•I keep getting work foisted on me at the last minute. $
1 [in adjectives] of a particular number of kinds:
•The government's role in healthcare is twofold: first, to provide the resources and, second, to make them work better for patients.
2 [in adverbs] a particular number of times:
•The value of the house has increased fourfold (=it is now worth four times as much as before). $
1 BEND [T] to bend a piece of paper, cloth etc by laying or pressing one part over another:
•Fold the paper along the dotted line.
•It'll fit in if you fold it in half.
fold sth over/under/down etc
•Spoon the filling onto the dough, fold it over, and press down the edges.
2 SMALLER/NEATER also fold up [T] to fold something several times so that it makes a small neat shape; unfold
•I wish you kids would fold up your clothes!
•He folded the map neatly.
3 FURNITURE ETC [I,T] if something such as a piece of furniture folds, or you fold it, you make it smaller or move it to a different position by bending it:
•The chairs fold flat for storage.
fold (sth) away/up/down etc
•a useful little bed that folds away when you don't need it
•Can you fold the shutters back?
FOLDING
4 fold your arms to bend your arms so that they rest together against your body:
•George stood silently with his arms folded.
5 BUSINESS also fold up [I] if an organization folds, it closes because it does not have enough money to continue
6 COVER [T always + adv/prep] to cover something, especially by wrapping it in material or putting your hand over it
fold sth in sth
•a silver dagger folded in a piece of white cloth
7 fold sb in your arms literary to hold someone closely by putting your arms around them

PHRASAL VERBS
fold sth <=> in phr v also fold sth into sth
to gently mix another substance into a mixture when you are preparing food:
•Next, fold in the sugar.[C]
1 LINE a line made in paper or material when you fold one part of it over another:
•Bend back the card and cut along the fold.
2 SKIN/MATERIAL [usually plural] the folds in material, skin etc are the loose parts that hang over other parts of it:
•Her dress hung in soft folds.
3 the fold the group of people that you belong to and share the same beliefs and ideas as
return/come back to the fold
•The Church will welcome him back into the fold.
stray from/leave the fold
•a former advocate of free market economics who had strayed from the fold
4 SHEEP a small area of a field surrounded by a wall or fence where sheep are kept for safety; = pen; corral
5 ROCK technical a bend in layers of rock, caused by underground movements in the earth $ [only before noun]
a foldaway bed, table etc can be folded up so it uses less space; folding $ [C]
1 a container for keeping loose papers in, made of folded card or plastic
2 a group of related documents that you store together on a computer $ [only before noun]
a folding bicycle, bed, chair etc has parts that you can bend or fold together to make it easier to carry or store; foldaway $ [U]
the leaves of a plant:
•dark green foliage $ [U]
a VITAMIN found especially in green vegetables, used by the body to produce red blood cells $ plural folios [C] technical
1 a book made with very large sheets of paper
2 a single numbered sheet of paper from a book $
1 [plural] also folks especially AmE people:
•I'm sure there are some folk who would rather they weren't here.
•Thanks to the folks at NBC.
•Wait till the folks back home hear about this!
young/old folk BrE old-fashioned
•Young folk these days don't know the meaning of work.
2 folks [plural]
a) especially AmE your parents and family:
•Is it OK if I call my folks?
b) used when talking to a group of people in a friendly way:
•That's all for now, folks.
3 country/farming etc folk [plural] also country etc folks AmE literary people who live in a particular area or do a particular kind of work:
•simple country folk
4 [U] FOLK MUSIC:
•a folk singer[only before noun]
1 folk art, stories, customs etc are traditional and typical of the ordinary people who live in a particular area:
•folk tales
•an Irish folk song
2 folk science/psychology/wisdom etc science etc that is based on the ideas or beliefs that ordinary people have, and does not involve a high level of technical knowledge
3 folk medicine/remedy a traditional type of medical treatment that uses plants or simple treatments rather than scientific methods[C]
a traditional dance from a particular area, or a piece of music for this dance
- folk dancer noun [C][C]
someone who people in a particular place admire very much because of something they have done:
•Casey Jones is a well-known American folk hero. $ [U]
the traditional stories, customs etc of a particular area or countryalso folk [U]
1 traditional music that has been played by ordinary people in a particular area for a long time
2 a style of popular music in which people sing and play GUITARs , without any electronic equipment $ informal
1 especially AmE friendly and informal:
•The town had a certain folksy charm.
2 in a style that is typical of traditional countryside styles or customs $ [C]
one of the small holes in the skin that hairs grow from $
1 GO AFTER [I,T] to go, walk, drive etc behind or after someone else:
•Are those men following us?
•The patrol car followed the BMW for a few miles and then lost it.
•Tom's already gone out to Rome and his wife and children will follow shortly.
follow sb into/to etc sth
•Peggy followed her out onto the landing.
2 HAPPEN AFTER [I,T] to happen or do something after something else:
•The agreement followed months of negotiation.
•The assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968 was followed by that of Robert Kennedy.
there follows sth
•After weeks of intense fighting, there followed a brief period of calm.
•Most EU countries have signed the agreement and the US is expected to follow shortly (=soon).
FOLLOWING^3
3 COME AFTER [I,T] to come directly after something else in a series, list, or order:
•The chapters that follow deal mainly with mathematics.
•In English, the letter Q is always followed by U.
•We had vegetable casserole with a fruit salad to follow (=as part of a meal).
there follows sth
•There followed several pages of incomprehensible statistics.
4 as follows used to introduce a list of things that you will mention next:
•The winners are as follows: in third place, Mandy Johnson; in second place ...
5 DO WHAT SB SAYS [T] to do something in the way that someone has told or advised you to do it:
•He followed the doctor's advice and had no further trouble.
• Follow the instructions very carefully when filling in the form.
•They followed the plan that Elizabeth had worked out.
6 follow the signs/sb's directions to go somewhere by a particular way according to road signs or to what someone has told you:
•Just follow the signs for the airport.
•I followed Brown's directions and found the farm quite easily.
7 DO THE SAME THING [I,T] to do the same thing as someone else:
•Some state schools follow the example of private schools in asking parents to donate money.
•Environmentalists are urging the government to follow the lead of Scandinavian countries in this matter.
•She's just like any young woman who enjoys following the latest fashions (=wearing fashionable clothes).
follow sb into sth (=do the same job as someone else)
•He does not want to follow his father into a scientific career.
8 BELIEVE IN STH [T] to believe in and obey a particular set of religious or political ideas
9 GO IN PARTICULAR DIRECTION [T]
a) to continue along a particular road, river etc:
•I followed the main road up the mountain.
•Tom followed the track that leads to the old Roman road.
b) to go in the same direction as something else, or to go parallel to something else:
•The road follows the line of the river for several miles.
10 UNDERSTAND [I,T] to understand something such as an explanation or story; = grasp
•I didn't quite follow what he was saying.
easy/difficult/hard etc to follow
•The plot is a little difficult to follow.
11 BE A RESULT [I] to be true as a result of something else that is true
[+from]
•The conclusion that follows from these findings is that inner city schools need more investment, not less.
• It doesn't necessarily follow that you're going to do well academically even if you're highly intelligent.
12 BE INTERESTED [T] to be interested in something and in the way it develops:
•Have you been following that crime series on TV?
•I've been following his progress very closely.
•She just doesn't understand people who follow football or any other kind of sport.
13 follow a pattern/course/trend etc to continue to happen or develop in a particular way, especially in a way that is expected:
•In Australia, the weather follows a fairly predictable pattern.
14 follow suit to do the same as someone else has done:
•Budget companies have been so successful that other airlines have had to follow suit and lower their fares.
15 follow in sb's footsteps to do the same job or to work or live in the same way as someone else before you, especially someone in your family:
•He is a doctor and expects his son to follow in his footsteps.
16 BE ABOUT [T] to show or describe someone's life or a series of events, for example in a film or book:
•The book follows the plight of an orphaned Irish girl who marries into New York society.
17 be a hard act to follow to be so good or successful at something that it will be difficult for the next person, team etc to be as good:
•We're looking for a replacement for Sue, but she's going to be a hard act to follow.
18 WATCH CAREFULLY [T] to carefully watch someone do something:
•She followed Simon with her eyes as he walked to the gate.
19 THINK ABOUT/STUDY [T] to study or think about a particular idea or subject and try to learn something from it:
•It turned out we were both following the same line of research.
•If you follow that idea to its logical conclusion, we'd have to ban free speech altogether.
20 follow your instincts/feelings/gut reaction etc to do the thing that you immediately feel is best without needing to stop and think about it
21 follow the herd/crowd to do the same thing that most other people are doing, without really thinking about it for yourself - used in order to show disapproval
22 follow your nose informal
a) to go straight forward or continue in the same direction:
•Just follow your nose until you come to a small bridge.
b) to go to the place from where there is a particular smell coming:
•I followed my nose to the kitchen, where Marcie was making coffee.
c) to do something in the way that you feel is right:
•After a few years in the detective game, you learn to follow your nose.
23 follow a profession/trade/way of life etc to do a particular job or have a particular way of life

PHRASAL VERBS
follow sb around phr v also follow sb about BrE
to follow someone everywhere they go, especially when this is annoying:
•She told him to go away and stop following her around.

follow on phr v
1 to happen after something else and be connected with it; follow-on
[+from]
•The discussion sessions are supposed to follow on from this morning's lecture.
2 to go to the same place as someone else at a later time:
•You go ahead - I'll follow on later.

follow through phr v
1 to do what needs to be done to complete something or make it successful:
•The project went wrong when the staff failed to follow through.
follow sth <=> through
•If you have followed through all the exercises in this book, you should be ready for the second year course.
2 to continue moving your arm after you have hit the ball in tennis, GOLF etc; follow-through

follow sth <=> up phr v
1 to find out more information about something and take action if necessary:
•The police take people's statements and then follow them up.
2 to do something in addition to what you have already done in order to make it more likely to succeed
[+with]
•If there is no response to your press release, follow it up with a phone call.
•This experiment was quickly followed up by others using different forms of the drug.
FOLLOW-UP $ [C]
someone who believes in a particular system of ideas, or who supports a leader who teaches these ideas; disciple, supporter
•Marx and his followers were convinced that capitalism would destroy itself.
[+of]
•followers of Sun Myung Moon, better known as Moonies
CAMP FOLLOWER $
1 the following afternoon/month/page/chapter etc the next afternoon, month etc; preceding
•He was sick in the evening, but the following day he was better.
2 the following example/way etc the example, way etc that will be mentioned next:
•Payment may be made in any of the following ways: cheque, cash, or credit card.
3 a following wind a wind that is blowing in the same direction as a ship, and helps it to move faster[C]
1 [usually singular] a group of people who support or admire someone:
•The band has a big following in Europe.
2 the following the people or things that you are going to mention:
•The following have been selected to play in tomorrow's game: Louise Carus, Fiona Douglas...
after an event or as a result of it; before
•Following the president's speech, there will be a few minutes for questions.
•Thousands of refugees left the country following the outbreak of civil war.follow-the-leader AmE [U] BrE
a children's game in which one of the players does actions which all the other players must copy[C]
something that is done or made in addition to something else, or done to continue something that was done before; follow on
[+to/from]
•The inspection was a follow-on from the review process.
•a follow-on product[singular]
1 the continued movement of your arm after you have hit the ball in tennis, golf etc; follow through
2 the things that someone does in order to complete a plan; follow through
•The budget has to cover not only the main project but the follow-through.[only before noun]
done in order to find out more or do more about something; follow up
•a follow-up study on children and poverty
1 [C,U] something that is done to make sure that earlier actions have been successful or effective; follow up
•preventative treatment and follow-up several weeks later
2 [C] a book, film, article etc that comes after another one that has the same subject or characters:
•Spielberg says he's planning to do a follow-up next year.
[+to]
•a follow-up to their hit album $ plural follies
1 [C,U] formal a very stupid thing to do, especially one that is likely to have serious results:
•Somerville bitterly regretted his folly at becoming involved.
it would be folly to do sth
•It would be sheer folly to reduce spending on health education.
•the follies of aristocratic society
2 [C] an unusual building that was built in the past as a decoration, not to be used or lived in $
foment revolution/trouble/discord etc formal to cause trouble and make people start fighting each other or opposing the government; = stir up
•They were accused of fomenting rebellion.
- fomentation $ noun [U] $
1 be fond of sb to like someone very much, especially when you have known them for a long time and almost feel love for them:
•Joe's quite fond of her, isn't he?
•Over the years we've grown very fond of each other.
2 be fond of (doing) sth to like something, especially something you have liked for a long time:
•I'm not overly fond of cooking.
•I'd grown fond of the place and it was difficult to leave.
3 be fond of doing sth to do something often, especially something that annoys other people:
•My grandfather was very fond of handing out advice to all my friends.
4 [only before noun] a fond look, smile, action etc shows you like someone very much; = affectionate
•He gave her a fond look.
•As we parted we said a fond farewell.
5 have fond memories of sth/sb to remember someone or something with great pleasure:
•Marie still had fond memories of their time together.
6 a fond hope/belief a belief or hope that something will happen, which seems silly because it is very unlikely to happen
in the fond hope/belief that
•They sent him to another school in the fond hope that his behaviour would improve.
- fondness noun [U]
•a fondness for expensive clothes
FONDLY $
1 [U] a soft mixture made from sugar and water, used for covering cakes:
•a cake decorated with fondant icing
2 [C] a soft sweet made of fondant $ [T]
to gently touch and move your fingers over part of someone's body in a way that shows love or sexual desire:
•She fondled his neck. $
1 fondly imagine/believe/hope etc to believe something that is untrue, hope for something that will probably not happen etc:
•Some people still fondly believe that modern science can solve all the world's problems.
2 in a way that shows you like someone very much; = lovingly
•He turned to see her smiling fondly at him. $ [C,U]
a dish made of melted cheese or chocolate into which you put small pieces of meat, fruit etc using a long fork $ [C]
1 technical a set of letters of a particular size and style, used for printing books, newspapers etc or on a computer screen
2 a large stone container in a church, that holds the water used for the ceremony of BAPTISM
1 [C,U] things that people and animals eat, such as vegetables or meat

good food
hot/cold/spicy/fatty/starchy food
Italian/French/Chinese etc food
fresh food
frozen food
processed food (=food that has chemicals in it to make it last a long time)
canned food also
tinned food BrE (=sold in cans)
junk food (=food that is full of sugar or fat and is bad for your health)
fast food (=hamburgers and other foods that are made to be eaten quickly)
health food (=food that is thought to be good for your health)
organic food (=food that is produced without using harmful chemicals)
baby food
dog/pet/cat food
be off your food BrE (=not want to eat your food)
food shortage
food scare (=when people are afraid to eat a particular kind of food)
the food industry
food colouring/additives

•The restaurant serves good food at affordable prices.
•Try not to eat too much spicy food.
•I love Italian food, especially pasta.
•He eats a lot of junk food and doesn't get enough exercise.
•a fast food restaurant
•People are willing to pay more for organic food.
•Her little boy has a fever and he's been off his food.
•Severe food shortages have led to rioting against the military government.
•The recent series of food scares has made people more wary of eating meat.
•Consumer pressure is being put upon the food industry to cut down on factory farming methods.

2 food for thought something that makes you think carefully:
•The teacher's advice certainly gave me food for thought.[C] AmE
a place that gives food to poor people
the food chain all animals and plants considered as a group in which a plant is eaten by an insect or animal, which is then eaten by another animal and so on:
•Pollution is affecting many creatures lower down the food chain.[C] AmE
a FOOD STAMP[C]
the area in a shopping centre where there are many small restaurants[C]
one of the groups that types of food are divided into, such as meat, vegetables, or milk products [C] informal
someone who is very interested in cooking and eating food; gourmet[U]
a stomach illness caused by eating food that contains harmful BACTERIA, so that you VOMIT[C]
a piece of electrical equipment used to prepare food by cutting and mixing italso food coupon [C]
an official piece of paper that the US government gives to poor people so they can buy food [C usually plural, U]
food - used especially when talking about the business of producing or selling food:
•a shortage of basic foodstuffs
1 STUPID PERSON [C] a stupid person or someone who has done something stupid; = idiot
• What a fool she had been to think that he would stay.
• Like a fool, I accepted straight away.
•You silly old fool!
2 make a fool of yourself to do something stupid that you feel embarrassed about afterwards and that makes you seem silly:
•Sorry I made such a fool of myself last night. I must have been drunk.
3 make a fool of sb to deliberately do something to make someone else seem stupid:
•I suddenly realised that I was being made a fool of.
4 any fool can do sth spoken used to say that it is very easy to do something or to see that something is true:
•Any fool could have seen what would happen.
5 be no/nobody's fool to be difficult to trick or deceive, because you have a lot of experience and knowledge about something:
•Katherine was nobody's fool when it came to money.
6 gooseberry/strawberry etc fool BrE a sweet food made of soft cooked fruit mixed with cream
7 more fool you/him etc BrE spoken used to say that you think someone was stupid to do something, and it is their own fault if this causes trouble:
•'Jim smashed up my car.' ' More fool you for letting him borrow it!'
8 not suffer fools gladly if you say that someone doesn't suffer fools gladly, they do not have any patience with people who they think are stupid
9 be living in a fool's paradise to feel happy and satisfied, and believe there are no problems, when in fact this is not true
10 play/act the fool to behave in a silly way, especially in order to make people laugh:
•Stop playing the fool! You'll fall.
11 (send sb on) a fool's errand to make someone go somewhere or do something for no good reason
12 fools rush in (where angels fear to tread) used to say that people are stupid if they do something immediately without thinking about it first
13 a fool and his money are soon parted used to say that stupid people spend money quickly without thinking about it
14 ENTERTAINER [C] a man whose job was to entertain a king or other powerful person in the past, by doing tricks, singing funny songs etc; = jester
APRIL FOOL
1 [T] to trick someone into believing something that is not true:
•Even art experts were fooled.
you don't/can't fool me
•You can't fool me with that old excuse.
be fooled by sth
•Don't be fooled by appearances.
fool sb into doing sth
•I was fooled into believing their promises.
2 fool yourself to try to make yourself believe something that you know is not really true:
•It's no good fooling yourself. He's not coming back.
3 you could have fooled me spoken used to show that you do not believe what someone has told you:
•'Look, we're doing our best to fix it.' 'Well, you could have fooled me.'
4 sb is just fooling spoken used to say that someone is not serious and is only pretending that something is true; = sb is just kidding
•Don't pay any attention to Henry. He's just fooling.

PHRASAL VERBS
fool around phr v also fool about BrE
1 to waste time behaving in a silly way or doing things that are not important; = mess around
•He always used to fool around in class.
2 to behave in a way which is careless and not responsible; = mess around
[+with]
•Some idiot's been fooling around with the electricity supply!
3 AmE to spend time doing something that you enjoy, but that does not have a particular purpose; = mess around
•The boys were out in the yard, just fooling around.
4 to have a sexual relationship with someone else's wife, boyfriend etc; = mess around
•She found out that he'd been fooling around behind her back.

fool with sth phr v AmE informal
1 to touch or play with something, especially when you should not; = mess with sth
•Who's been fooling with the radio dial?
2 to become involved in something which could cause damage or be dangerous; = mess with sth[only before noun] AmE informal
silly or stupid; = foolish
•What did you say a fool thing like that for? [U] BrE old-fashioned
silly or stupid behaviour $
taking stupid and unnecessary risks; = reckless
•a foolhardy attempt to capture more territory
- foolhardiness noun [U]
1 a foolish action, remark etc is stupid and shows that someone is not thinking sensibly; = silly
•I've never heard anything so foolish in all my life.
• It would be foolish to ignore his advice.
be foolish enough to do sth
•I was foolish enough to believe him.
2 a foolish person behaves in a silly way or looks silly; = stupid
•I was young and foolish at the time.
•a foolish grin
look/feel foolish
•He'd been made to look foolish.
- foolishly adverb
•She foolishly agreed to go with them.
- foolishness noun [U]
a foolproof method, plan, system etc is certain to be successful; = infallible
•a foolproof way of preventing credit card fraud [U]
a large size of paper, especially paper for writing on[U]
1 a kind of yellow metal that exists in some rocks and looks like gold
2 something that you think will be very exciting, very attractive etc but in fact is notalso foos $ [U] informal
TABLE FOOTBALL, especially played as a sport rather than a game $ [C] informal
someone who plays foosball plural feet [C]
1 BODY PART the part of your body that you stand on and walk on

the sole of your foot (=the base of your foot)
bare feet (=without any socks or shoes)
front/back/hind feet (=of an animal)
wipe your feet (=wipe them on a mat to remove dirt)
stamp your feet (=bang them noisily on the ground)
tap your feet (=bang them gently on the ground)
shuffle your feet (=move from one foot to the other)
at sb's feet (=on the ground near your feet)

•My foot hurts.
•I had blisters on the soles of my feet.
•I dropped a glass earlier, so don't walk around in bare feet.
•The vet examined the horse's hind feet.
•Don't wipe your feet on the carpet!
•She stood on the platform, her suitcase at her feet.

2 MEASUREMENT plural feet or foot written abbreviation ft a unit for measuring length, equal to 12 INCHes or about 30 centimetres:
•He's six feet tall, with blonde hair.
•Mark was standing just a few feet away from me.
•I'd say she's about five foot three (=five feet and three inches).
a one/two/three etc foot sth
•a four foot wall
square feet/cubic feet
•15,000 square feet of office space
3 BOTTOM PART the foot of sth the lowest or bottom part of something
the foot of the stairs/ladder etc
•He walked to the foot of the stairs.
the foot of a mountain/cliff etc
•a small cottage at the foot of the hill
at the foot of sth
•a large wooden trunk at the foot of his bed
•The date is shown at the foot of the page.
4 on foot if you go somewhere on foot, you walk there:
•It takes about 30 minutes on foot, or 10 minutes by car.
5 get/jump/rise etc to your feet to stand up after you have been sitting:
•Mike leapt to his feet and ran towards the window.
6 be on your feet
a) to be standing for a long time without having time to sit down:
•The worst thing about working in the shop is that you're on your feet all day.
dead on your feet at DEAD^1 (8)
b) to be standing up:
•As soon as the bell rang the class were on their feet and out of the door.
c) to feel better again after being ill and in bed:
•We'll soon have you on your feet again.
7 be/get back on your feet to have enough money again, or to be successful again after having problems:
•I need to get back on my feet again and forget all this.
8 off your feet sitting or lying down, rather than standing or walking:
•The doctor told me to stay off my feet for a few days.
9 knock/lift etc sb off their feet to make someone fall over:
•They were blown off their feet by the force of the explosion.
10 be rushed/run off your feet to be very busy:
•Before Christmas, most salespeople are rushed off their feet.
11 set foot in sth to go to or enter a place:
•She swore she would never set foot in his house again.
12 be/get under your feet to annoy you by always being in the same place as you and preventing you from doing what you want:
•I hate summer vacation. The kids are under my feet all day long.
13 put your foot down
a) to say very firmly that someone must do something or must stop doing something:
•You'll just have to put your foot down and tell him he can't stay out on school nights.
b) informal to make a car go faster
14 put your feet up informal to relax, especially by sitting with your feet supported on something
15 put your foot in it especially BrE put your foot in your mouth especially AmE to say something without thinking carefully, so that you embarrass or upset someone:
•I've really put my foot in it this time. I didn't realize that was her husband!
16 start/get off on the wrong/right foot to start a relationship badly or well:
•Simon and I got off on the wrong foot but we're good friends now.
17 not put a foot wrong BrE to do everything right and make no mistakes, especially in your job
18 have/keep both feet on the ground to think in a sensible and practical way and not have ideas or aims that will be impossible to achieve:
•It was a great result, but we have to keep our feet firmly on the ground.
19 fall/land on your feet to get into a good situation because you are lucky, especially after being in a difficult situation:
•Don't worry about Nina, she always falls on her feet.
20 get/have/keep your foot in the door to get your first opportunity to work in a particular organization or industry
21 have a foot in both camps to be involved with or connected with two opposing groups of people
22 have sb/sth at your feet used to say that people admire or respect someone very much:
•All Paris was at his feet.
have the world at your feet at WORLD^1 (24)
23 have two left feet informal to be very CLUMSY
24 have one foot in the grave to be very old or very ill - used humorously
25 ...my foot! BrE old-fashioned used to show that you do not believe something that someone has just said:
•£50 my foot! It'll cost £200 at least.
26 leave feet first to die before you leave a place or job - used humorously:
•If you keep fooling around with that gun you'll be leaving this camp feet first.
27 feet of clay someone that you admire who has feet of clay has faults and weaknesses that you did not realize they had
28 foot soldier/patrol a soldier or group of soldiers that walks and does not use a horse or a vehicle
29 foot passenger a passenger on a ship who has not brought a car with them
30
a) left-footed/right-footed using your left foot or right foot when you kick a ball
b) flat-footed/four-footed having a particular type or number of feet
31 foot pedal/brake/pump etc a machine or control that you operate using your feet
32 SOCK the foot the part of a sock that covers your foot
33 POETRY technical a part of a line of poetry in which there is one strong BEAT and one or two weaker ones
the boot is on the other foot at BOOT^1 (6); get/have cold feet at COLD^1 (6); UNDERFOOT; drag your feet/heels at DRAG^1 (8); find your feet at FIND^1 (18); from head to foot at HEAD^1 (1); stand on your own (two) feet at STAND^1 (31); sweep sb off their feet at SWEEP^1 (14); have itchy feet at ITCHY (3); not let the grass grow under your feet at GRASS^1 (6); vote with your feet at VOTE^1 (8)
foot the bill to pay for something, especially something expensive that you do not want to pay for:
•He ordered drinks and then left me to foot the bill! [U]
cinema film showing a particular event:
•old footage from the First World War[U]
a serious disease that kills cows and sheep $
1 [U] BrE a game played by two teams of eleven players who try to kick a round ball into the other team's GOAL; = soccer
•Which football team do you support?
•kids playing football in the street
•My Dad took me to watch my first football match.
•a football club
football fan/supporter
•a group of Scottish football fans
football boots/kit/shirt (=clothes worn to play football)
football pitch/ground/stadium
2 [U] AmE a game played by two teams of eleven players who try to carry or kick an OVAL ball into the other team's GOAL; = American football BrE
•college football games
•a football field
•He played football in high school.
3 football hooligan BrE someone who behaves in a noisy or violent way at a football match
4 [C] a ball used in these games
FLAG FOOTBALL; political football at POLITICAL (4) $ [C] BrE
someone who plays football, especially a professional player; = soccer player AmE[plural]
another word for the POOLs [C]
a narrow bridge used by people who are walking[U]
when someone is deliberately being slow to do something; drag your feet $
1 six-footer/eighteen-footer etc someone or something that measures six feet tall, eighteen feet long etc
2 [C] a line of writing which appears at the bottom of each page of a document which is printed by a computer; header $ [C,U] literary
the sound of each step when someone is walking; = footstep
•heavy footfalls[C]
a mistake in tennis when the person who SERVEs is not standing behind the line [C usually plural]
one of the smaller hills below a group of high mountains:
•the foothills of the Himalayas $ [C]
1 a position from which you can start to make progress and achieve your aims
gain/establish a foothold
•Extreme right-wing parties gained a foothold in the latest European elections.
2 a small hole or crack where you can safely put your foot when climbing a steep rock [U] BrE informal
football
1 [singular] the conditions or arrangements on which something is based
put/place sth on a ... footing
•He wanted to put their relationship on a permanent footing.
a financial/commercial/legal etc footing
•The city started the new year on a stronger financial footing.
on an equal footing (with sb/sth)/on the same footing (as sb/sth) (=in the same state or condition as other people or things)
•The new law puts women on an equal legal footing with men.
•Many of the old polytechnics are now on the same footing as universities.
a sound/firm/secure footing
•They managed to get the business onto a more secure footing.
•The whole country was on a war footing (=ready to go to war at any time).
2 [singular] a firm hold with your feet when you are standing on a dangerous surface:
•Seb struggled to keep his footing on the slippery path.
lose/miss your footing (=be unable to keep standing or balancing)
•The girl lost her footing and fell about 150 feet.
3 [C usually plural] the solid base of bricks, stone etc that is under a building to support it and fasten it to the ground; = foundation [plural]
a row of lights along the front of the stage in a theatre; spotlight[C] AmE
a large strong box that you keep your things in, used especially by soldiers
free to do exactly what you want because you have no responsibilities, for example when you are not married or do not have children:
•footloose students traveling around Europe
•When the kids leave home, you'll be footloose and fancy-free (=free and without worries). plural footmen [C]
a male servant in the past who opened the front door, announced the names of visitors etc $ [C]
1 a note at the bottom of the page in a book, which gives more information about something
2 a piece of additional information that is not very important but is interesting or helps you understand something
[+to]
•There was an interesting footnote to the story. $ [C] especially BrE
a narrow path for people to walk along, especially in the country; = trail AmE [C] BrE
the place on a steam train where the driver stood [C]
1 also footmark a mark made by a foot or shoe:
•We followed the footprints of a deer in the snow.
2 technical the amount of space on a desk that a computer uses:
•PCs with a 50% smaller footprint than other models [C]
something that supports your feet when you are sitting, for example a small piece of furniture or the part of a MOTORCYCLE where you put your feet
play footsie (with sb) informal
a) to secretly touch someone's feet with your feet under a table to show that you think they are sexually attractive
b) AmE to work together and help each other in a dishonest way:
•politicians playing footsie with each other $
having feet that hurt because you have walked a long distance [C]
the sound each step makes when someone is walking:
•He heard someone's footsteps in the hall.
follow (in) sb's footsteps at FOLLOW (15) [C]
a low piece of furniture used to support your feet when you are sitting down $ [U]
things that people wear on their feet, such as shoes or boots:
•outdoor footwear $ [U]
1 skilful use of your feet when dancing or playing a sport
good/neat/fancy etc footwork
•The England keeper revealed some fancy footwork in the victory over Nottingham Forest.
2 skilful methods that you use to achieve something
fancy/deft/nifty etc footwork
•It took a bit of deft footwork to get them to agree. [U] BrE informal
football:
•footy fans $ [C] old-fashioned
a man who is very interested in his clothes and appearance - used to show disapproval
- foppish adjective
- foppishness noun [U] strong $ strong
1 used to say who is intended to get or use something, or where something is intended to be used:
•I've got a present for you.
•Someone left a message for Vicky.
•an English Language course for foreign students
•We need a new battery for the radio.
•These chairs are for the main office.
2 in order to help someone or something:
•I looked after the kids for them.
•Let me carry that bag for you.
•The doctor knew that there was nothing he could do for her.
•Charles died fighting for his country.
•What can I do for you (=used to ask a customer if you can help them)?
3 used to say what the purpose of an object, action etc is
for doing sth
•a knife for cutting bread
•What did you do that for?
•I've bought him a watch for his birthday.
•the documents prepared for his defence
4 in order to have, do, get, or obtain something:
•Are you waiting for the bus?
•the qualifications necessary for a career in broadcasting
•Mother was too ill to get up for dinner.
•I paid $3 for a ticket.
•For further details, write to this address.
•Let's go for a walk.
5 used to say how long an action or situation continues for:
•Bake the cake for 40 minutes.
•We had been talking for a good half hour.
•He's been off work for a while.
!! Since, during, or for?
see box at SINCE
6 used to talk about distance:
•We walked for miles.
•Factories stretch for quite a way along the canal.
7 if something is arranged for a particular time, it is planned that it should happen then:
•I've invited them for 9 o'clock.
•A special meeting has been arranged for 18th October.
8 used to say where a person, vehicle etc is going:
•I set off for work.
•the train for Manchester
•A few days later she would be leaving for New York.
9 used to say what the price or value of something is:
•a cheque for a hundred pounds
•The diamond was insured for two thousand dollars.
10 because of or as a result of something:
•If, for any reason, you cannot attend, please inform us.
•We could hardly see for the mist.
•You'll feel better for a break.
for doing sth
•a reward for making good progress
•Campbell was arrested for dangerous driving.
11 used to say which thing or person your statement or question is related to:
•I'm sure she's the ideal person for the job.
•The questions on this paper are too difficult for 10-year-olds.
•Are you all right for money?
•Fortunately for him, he can swim.
12 used to say which person or thing your feelings are directed towards:
•I came away feeling sorry for poor old George.
•My deep love for him still remains.
•They show no respect for authority.
13 used to say at which meal you eat something:
•We had pasta for lunch.
14 used to say which company, team etc you belong to:
•I've worked for the BBC ever since I left university.
•Deborah used to play for the A team.
•He writes for a weekly paper.
15 supporting or in agreement with something or someone:
•We have studied the arguments for and against nuclear energy.
•How many people voted for the proposal?
•Three cheers for the captain.
be all for (doing) sth (=support something very much)
•I'm all for giving people more freedom.
16 used to say what a word or sign means:
•What's the French word for 'happy'?
•Red is for danger.
17 used to say that a particular quality of someone or something is surprising when you consider what they are:
•She looks young for her age.
•It's cold for July.
18 as a representative of other people:
•Paisley claims to speak for the majority of local people.
19 used to say what is possible, difficult, necessary, unusual etc
for sb/sth to do sth
•It's unusual for Donald to be so bad-tempered.
•There is an urgent need for someone to tackle this problem.
•Here is a chance for everyone to learn new skills.
•There's nothing worse than for a parent to ill-treat a child.
•It was too far for her to walk in high-heeled shoes.
20 for each/every used to say that there is a relationship between one amount and another:
•For each mistake, you'll lose half a point.
•For every three people who agree, you'll find five who don't.
21 sth is not for sb used to say that something is not the kind of thing that someone likes or will enjoy:
•City life is not for me.
•This book is not for everyone.
22 it is (not) for sb to do sth used to say whether it is someone's right or duty to do something:
•It's not for me to tell you what to do.
•It will be for you to decide what action you should take.
23 if it wasn't/weren't for sb/sth also if it hadn't been for sb/sth used to say who or what prevents or prevented something from happening:
•If it hadn't been for you, I should have drowned.
24 that's/there's sb/sth for you! spoken
a) used to say that a particular kind of behaviour or situation is typical of someone or something, especially when you do not expect anything better from that person or thing:
•I know it's outrageous, but that's Melissa for you.
b) used when you are annoyed or disappointed to say that something is the opposite of the quality you are mentioning:
•Well, there's gratitude for you! Here am I trying to help and you tell me not to interfere!
25 be (in) for it spoken to be likely to be blamed or punished:
•You'll be in for it if she finds out what you've done!
see box at SINCEformal
used to introduce the reason for something; = because
•I cannot tell whether she is old or young, for I have never seen her.
•He found it increasingly difficult to read, for his eyesight was beginning to fail. $ [I]
1 to go around searching for food or other supplies
[+for]
•People are being forced to forage for food and fuel.
•In the summer, the goats forage freely (=in any place they want to go).
2 to search for something with your hands in a bag, drawer etc; = ferret around
[+around/through/among etc]
•She foraged around in her purse and produced her ticket.
- forager noun [C]
1 [U] food supplies for horses and cattle
2 [singular] BrE an act of searching for something $ [C]
1 a short attempt at doing a particular job or activity, especially one that is very different from what you usually do
[+into]
•It will be my first foray into local government.
•Wright is about to make his first foray into the music business.
2 a short sudden attack by a group of soldiers, especially in order to get food or supplies; raid
[+into]
•their nightly forays into enemy territory
3 a short journey somewhere in order to get something or do something; = trip
[+into/to]
•We make regular forays to France to buy wine.
- foray verb [I] $
the past tense of FORBID $ past tense forbore $ past participle forborne $ [I] literary
to not do something you could or would like to do because you think it is wiser not to
[+from]
•He decided to forbear from interfering.
forbear to do sth
•Clara forbore to mention his name. $ [C]
a FOREBEAR $ [U] formal
the quality of being patient, able to control your emotions, and willing to forgive someone who has upset you $ formal
patient and willing to forgive $ past tense forbade , past participle forbidden , present participle forbidding [T]
1 to tell someone that they are not allowed to do something, or that something is not allowed; permit
forbid sb to do sth
•He was forbidden to leave the house, as a punishment.
forbid sb from doing sth
•Women are forbidden from going out without a veil.
strictly/expressly/explicitly etc forbid
•The law strictly forbids racial or sexual discrimination.
!! It is more usual to say that someone is not allowed to do something, rather than forbidden to do it: I'm not allowed to stay out after midnight.
2 God/Heaven forbid spoken used to emphasize that you hope that something will not happen:
•'Supposing I had an accident.' 'God forbid!'
3 formal to make it impossible for someone to do something; = prevent
•Lack of space forbids listing the names of all those who contributed. $
1 not allowed, especially because of an official rule; banned
it is forbidden (to do sth)
•It is forbidden to smoke at school.
be strictly/expressly/absolutely etc forbidden
•Alcohol is strictly forbidden in Saudi Arabia.
2 a forbidden place is one that you are not allowed to go to
[+to]
•The Great Mosque is forbidden to Christians.
3 a forbidden activity, subject etc is one that people think that you should not do, talk about etc:
•Sex was always a forbidden topic.
forbidden fruit (=something that you should not have, but that you want)
•Forbidden fruit is always more attractive. $
having a frightening or unfriendly appearance
forbidding place/land/landscape etc
•We sailed past the island's rather dark and forbidding cliffs.
•His face was forbidding, even hostile.
- forbiddingly adverb $
the past tense of FORBEAR $
the past participle of FORBEAR $
1 MILITARY
a) [C usually plural] a group of people who have been trained to do military work for a government or other organization
government/military/defence etc forces
•The riots had to be suppressed by government forces.
•He strengthened American forces in the Gulf.
•a plan to disarm the rebel forces (=those fighting against the government)
b) the forces BrE the army, navy, and AIR FORCE
in the forces
•Both her sons are in the forces.
c) nuclear/conventional forces NUCLEAR weapons or ordinary weapons:
•short-range nuclear forces
AIR FORCE, ARMED FORCES, GROUND FORCES; peacekeeping force at PEACEKEEPING; security forces at SECURITY (1); TASK FORCE (2)
2 MILITARY ACTION [U] military action used as a way of achieving your aims:
•Peace cannot be imposed by force.
•The UN will allow the use of force against aircraft violating the zone.
3 VIOLENCE [U] violent physical action used to get what you want:
•The police used force to overpower the demonstrators.
by force
•In the end he had to be thrown out of the house by force.
•They kicked the door down using sheer brute force.
4 PHYSICAL POWER [U] the amount of physical power with which something moves or hits another thing; strength
[+of]
•The force of the explosion blew out all the windows.
with great/considerable/increasing etc force
•He raised his hand and struck her with terrifying force.
5 NATURAL POWER [C,U] a natural power or event:
•the force of gravity
•powerful natural forces such as earthquakes, floods, and drought
•the forces of nature
6 ORGANIZED GROUP [C usually singular] a group of people who have been trained and organized to do a particular job:
•the company's sales force
•the quality of the teaching force
POLICE FORCE
7 STRONG INFLUENCE [C] something or someone who is powerful and has a lot of influence on the way things happen
the driving force (behind sth/sb) (=the person or thing that makes something happen)
•Betty Coward was the driving force behind the project.
a force for change/peace/democracy etc (=someone or something that makes change, peace etc more likely to happen)
•Healthy competition is a force for innovation.
•He's a quick and decisive player - a force to be reckoned with (=a person, team, company etc that influences what happens).
•The fall in prices was due to forces beyond their control.
MARKET FORCES
8 POWERFUL EFFECT [U] the powerful effect that something has on you:
•Even after 30 years, the play has lost none of its force.
•She was aware of the force of his personality.
9 join/combine forces (with sb/sth) to work together so that you can deal with a problem, be more powerful etc
join forces to do sth
•Local schools have joined forces with each other to share facilities.
10 in force
a) if a law, rule etc is in force, it already exists:
•The trade embargo has been in force for a year.
b) in a large group, especially in order to protest about something; = in large numbers
•Villagers turned out in force to protest about the new road.
11 come into force/bring sth into force if a new law, rule, change etc comes or is brought into force, it starts to exist:
•Parking restrictions in the town centre came into force last month.
12 by/through/out of force of habit because you have always done a particular thing and it is difficult to change:
•I get up at 6 o'clock every day from force of habit.
13 by/through force of circumstance(s) BrE if something happens by force of circumstance, events outside your control make it happen
14 WIND
a) force 8/9/10 etc a unit for measuring the strength of the wind
b) gale/hurricane force wind extremely strong wind that does a lot of damage
15 POLICE the force a word meaning the POLICE FORCE, used especially by police officers
16 the forces of good/evil etc literary people or things that increase the amount of good or bad in the world:
•the battle against the forces of evil
LABOUR FORCE, TOUR DE FORCE, WORKFORCE[T]
1 MAKE SB DO STH to make someone do something they do not want to do; persuade
force sb/yourself to do sth
•Government troops have forced the rebels to surrender.
•Due to the high cost of borrowing, many companies have been forced to close.
•I had to force myself to get up this morning.
force sb/sth into (doing) sth
•women who are forced into arranged marriages
•Bad health forced him into taking early retirement.
2 MAKE SB/STH MOVE [always + adv/prep] to make someone or something move in a particular direction or into a different position, especially through or using great strength; = push
•Westerly gales forced the ship off course.
•Firemen entering the building were forced back by flames.
•She tried to keep the door shut but the man forced it open.
3 force your way through/into etc sth also force your way in/out/past etc to push very hard in order to get somewhere:
•The doctor forced his way through the crowd.
•Demonstrators forced their way past.
4 MAKE STH HAPPEN to make something happen or change, especially more quickly than planned or expected:
•the unfortunate events that forced his resignation
•We need to force the pace on alternative energy policies.
force prices/interest rates etc down/up
•The effect will be to increase unemployment and force down wages.
5 force a door/lock/window to open a door etc using physical strength, often causing damage:
•I forced the lock on the cupboard to see what was inside.
6 force the issue to do something that makes it necessary for someone to make decisions or take action, instead of waiting to see what happens:
•Polly decided to force the issue by demanding an explanation.
7 force sb's hand to make someone do something unwillingly or earlier than they had intended:
•They're reluctant to sell the house yet but the right offer could force their hand.
8 force a smile/laugh etc to make yourself smile, laugh etc even though you feel upset or annoyed

PHRASAL VERBS
force sth <=> back phr v
to stop yourself from showing that you are upset or frightened, especially with difficulty:
•Janet forced back her tears.

force sth <=> down phr v
1 to make yourself eat or drink something, although you do not want it:
•I managed to force down a piece of stale bread.
2 to make a plane land by threatening to attack it:
•The hijacked plane was forced down by military jets.

force sth on/upon sb phr v
to make someone do or accept something even though they do not want to:
•It's no good trying to force a diet on someone.
•people who try to force their own views on you

force sth <=> out of sb phr v
to make someone tell you something by asking them many times, threatening them etc:
•I wasn't going to tell Matt but he forced it out of me. $
1 a forced smile, laugh etc is not natural or sincere:
•'Oh, hello,' said Eileen, with forced brightness.
2 [only before noun] done suddenly and quickly because the situation makes it necessary, not because it was planned or wanted:
•The plane had to make a forced landing in a field.
•the forced repatriation of thousands of refugees[C,U]
an occasion when someone gets into a building illegally by breaking a door, window etc:
•The police found no signs of forced entry.forced labor AmE [U] BrE
when prisoners or SLAVEs are forced to do very hard physical work, or a system in which this happens:
•Two million suffered imprisonment or forced labour.past tense and past participle force-fed [T]
to force someone to eat by putting food down their throat $
1 a forceful person expresses their opinions very strongly and clearly and people are easily persuaded by them; = strong
a forceful personality/character/opponent etc
•He gained a reputation as a forceful member of the party.
2 forceful arguments, reasons etc are strongly and clearly expressed; = powerful
•a forceful attack on government policy
3 having a powerful effect that is likely to change a situation:
•The President hasn't been forceful enough in changing the judicial system.
•Governments should adopt a more forceful approach to improve the environment.
4 using physical force
- forcefully adverb
- forcefulness noun [U] $ [U] law
unexpected events, for example a war, that prevent someone from doing what they had officially planned or agreed to do. An event like this can legally allow an agreement or contract to be changed or ended. $ [plural]
a medical instrument used for picking up and holding things:
•a pair of forceps $
done using physical force:
•the forcible overthrow of the government
•signs of forcible entry into the building $
1 using physical force:
•The police threatened to have protestors forcibly removed.
2 in a way that has a strong clear effect; = powerfully
•The case was forcibly put by the speaker. $ [C]
a place where a river is not deep, so that you can walk or drive across it
- ford verb [T] $
to the fore to or in a position of importance or influence:
•Environmental issues came to the fore in the 1980s.
•The case brought to the fore a lot of racial tensions.[only before noun] technical
the fore parts of a ship, plane, or animal are the parts at the front
- fore adverb $
1 before:
•The enemy had been forewarned.
forewarned is forearmed at FOREWARN (2)
2 placed at the front:
•her forenames
•a horse's forelegs
3 the front part of something:
•his forehead $ [C]
the lower part of the arm, between the hand and the elbow $ [C usually plural] formal
someone who was a member of your family a long time in the past; = ancestor $ [U]
a strong feeling that something bad is going to happen soon:
•She waited for news with a grim sense of foreboding. $ [C]
a description of what is likely to happen in the future, based on the information that you have now; prediction
•The weather forecast is good for tomorrow.
profit/sales/growth forecast
•the company's annual sales forecastpast tense and past participle forecast or, forecasted [T]
to make a statement saying what is likely to happen in the future, based on the information that you have now; = predict
•Rain has been forecast for the weekend.
forecast (that)
•The Federal Reserve Bank forecasts that the economy will grow by 2% this year. $ [C]
someone whose job is to say what is likely to happen in the future, especially what kind of weather is expected:
•the weather forecaster
• Economic forecasters think that the stock market is set to fall. $ [C] AmE technical
the front part of a ship, where the sailors live; = fo'c'sle BrE $ [I ] technical
if a bank forecloses, it takes away someone's property because they have failed to pay back the money that they borrowed from the bank to buy it
[+on]
•Building societies may foreclose on a mortgage if payments are not kept up.
- foreclosure $ noun [C,U]
•housing foreclosures $ [C] BrE
a large open area in front of a building such as a garage or hotel $ formal
intended by FATE (=the power that is believed to control people's lives) to be unsuccessful or unhappy; = doomed $ [C usually plural]
1 the people, especially men, who were part of your family a long time ago in the past; = ancestor
sb's forefathers
•What would our forefathers have thought?
2 someone in the past who did something important that influences your life today:
•Two hundred years ago our forefathers established this nation. $ [C]
the finger next to your thumb; = index finger $ plural forefeet [C] BrE
one of the two front feet of an animal with four legs $
1 be at/in/to the forefront (of sth) to be in a leading position in an important activity that is trying to achieve something or develop new ideas:
•The company has always been at the forefront of science and technology.
•Prison conditions have been pushed to the forefront of public debate.
2 be in/at/to the forefront of sb's mind/attention etc to be what someone is thinking about most, because it is very important to them; at the back of sb's mind
•Fear of unemployment was at the forefront of everyone's minds.forgather $ [I] formal
to meet in a group; = gather $
another spelling of FORGO $ formal
the foregoing (sth) something that has just been mentioned, read, dealt with etc; following
•The foregoing examples illustrate this point.
•The foregoing helps to explain these results.
be a foregone conclusion if something is a foregone conclusion, its result is certain, even though it has not happened yet:
•The election result was a foregone conclusion. $
1 the foreground the part of the view in a picture or a photograph that is closest to you when you are looking at it; background
•There were three figures in the foreground.
2 be in the foreground to be regarded as important and receive a lot of attention:
•Education has been very much in the foreground recently. $ [singular]
a way of hitting the ball in tennis and some other games, with the flat part of your hand facing the direction of the ball; backhand
- forehand adjective $ [C]
the part of your face above your eyes and below your hair $
1 from or relating to a country that is not your own:
•foreign students
•Can you speak any foreign languages?
•the success of foreign companies in various industries
•I thought she sounded foreign.
•transactions in foreign currencies
2 [only before noun] involving or dealing with other countries; domestic
•America's foreign policy
foreign investment/trade etc
•Foreign competition provides consumers with a greater variety of goods.
•our budget for foreign aid (=financial help to countries in need)
•the Chinese Foreign Minister
3 be foreign to sb formal
a) to seem strange to someone as the result of not being known or understood; = be alien to sb
•The language of finance and economics is quite foreign to me.
b) to be not typical of someone's usual character:
•Aggression is completely foreign to his nature.
4 foreign body/matter/object formal a piece of dirt, glass, or other material that has got inside something, especially someone's body, and that should not be there:
•cells that are designed to attack and destroy foreign bodies
- foreignness noun [U][plural]
politics, business matters etc that affect or concern the relationship between your country and other countries
another name for the Foreign Office $ [C]
someone who comes from a different country:
•Some of the local people are suspicious of foreigners.
1 [U] used to talk about buying and selling foreign money
foreign exchange markets/rates/transactions etc
•The dollar is expected to fall in the foreign exchange markets.
2 [U] foreign money, especially money obtained by selling goods to a foreign country:
•foreign exchange earned through exports
3 also exchange [C] an arrangement through which a student exchanges homes, schools etc with a student from another country for a particular length of time, especially in order to learn a language:
•The school organizes a foreign exchange to France.also Foreign and Commonwealth Office
the Foreign Office the British government department that is responsible for dealing with matters concerning other countries $ [U] formal
knowledge that something is going to happen before it actually does $ [C]
one of the two front legs of an animal with four legs $ [C]
1 a piece of hair that falls over someone's forehead
2 the hair on a horse's head that grows between its ears and hangs forward on its face
3 tug/touch your forelock BrE to show too much respect towards someone in authority - used to show disapproval $ plural foremen [C]
1 a worker who is in charge of a group of other workers, for example in a factory
2 the leader of a JURY, who announces their decision in court $
1 the best or most important; = leading, top
•one of the country's foremost authorities on chemical warfare
•Rostropovich was long considered the world's foremost cellist.
2 in a leading position among a group of people or things
[+among/amongst]
•Sharpton was foremost among the protestors.
•Economic concerns are foremost on many voters' minds.
first and foremost at FIRST^2 (10) $ [C] BrE formal
someone's FIRST NAME; = Christian name; surname [only before noun]
relating to the scientific methods used for finding out about a crime
forensic evidence/science/medicine etc
•Forensic experts found traces of blood in the car.
•a career in forensic science
•a forensic pathologist [U]
the use of scientfic tests to solve crimes $ [U]
sexual activity, such as kissing and touching the sexual organs, that happens before having sex $ [C]
1 someone or something that existed before something similar that developed or came later
[+of]
•Babbage's engine was later seen as the forerunner of the modern computer.
2 a sign or warning that something is going to happen $ past tense foresaw $ past participle foreseen [T]
to think or know that something is going to happen in the future; predict
•I've put your name on the list and I don't foresee any problems.
•The disaster could not have been foreseen.
foresee that
•Few analysts foresaw that oil prices would rise so steeply.
foresee what/how etc
•No one foresaw what he was planning. $
1 for/in the foreseeable future for as long as it is possible to know what is likely to happen:
•The situation is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
2 in the foreseeable future fairly soon:
•There is a possibility of water shortages in the foreseeable future.
3 foreseeable difficulties, events etc should be planned for because they are very likely to happen in the future:
•The judge found that it was not foreseeable that the fuel would catch fire.
•foreseeable risk $ [T]
to show or say that something will happen in the future:
•The revolution foreshadowed an entirely new social order. $ [C usually singular, U] BrE
1 the part of the shore between the highest and lowest levels that the sea reaches
2 the part of the shore between the edge of the sea and the part of the land that has houses, grass etc $ formal
1 objects, places etc that are foreshortened appear to be smaller, shorter, or closer together than they really are:
•Viewed from high up, their bodies were oddly foreshortened.
2 ended before the usual or expected time:
•a foreshortened career
- foreshorten verb [T] $ [U]
the ability to imagine what is likely to happen and to consider this when planning for the future; forethought
•It was an example of the authorities' lack of foresight.
foresight to do sth
•Luckily I'd had the foresight to get in plenty of food. $ [C]
a loose fold of skin covering the end of a man's PENIS $ [C]
a large area of land that is covered with trees; wood
thick/dense forest
•Much of Scandinavia is covered in dense forest.
•a tropical forest
•the danger of forest fires
RAIN FOREST; not see the forest for the trees at SEE^1 (41) $ [T] formal
to prevent something from happening or prevent someone from doing something by doing something first:
•a measure intended to forestall further attacks $
forested areas are covered in forests
thickly/heavily/densely etc forested
•heavily forested terrain $ [C]
someone who works in a forest taking care of, planting, and cutting down the trees $ [U]
the science or skill of looking after large areas of trees $
be a foretaste of sth to be a sign of something more important, more impressive etc that will happen in the future:
•Two spectacular wins at the start of the season were a foretaste of things to come. $ past tense and past participle foretold $ [T] formal
to say what will happen in the future, especially by using special magical powers; = predict
•the birth of Christ, foretold by prophets $ [U]
careful thought or planning before you do something; foresight
the forethought to do sth
•No one had the forethought to bring a map. $
the past tense and past participle of FORETELLalso for ever BrE $
1 for all future time:
•I wanted that moment to last forever.
•Many valuable works of art were lost forever.
2 especially spoken for a very long time:
•Once built, stone walls last forever.
•It took forever to clean up after the party.
•The meeting seemed to go on forever and a day.
3 be forever doing sth spoken to do something often, especially in a way that annoys people; = be always doing sth
•He's forever making comments about my weight.
4 forever and ever a phrase meaning forever, used especially in stories
5 go on forever AmE to be extremely long or large:
•The road just went on forever. $ [T often passive]
1 to warn someone about something dangerous, unpleasant, or unexpected before it happens
forewarn sb of/about sth
•We'd been forewarned of the dangers of travelling at night.
2 forewarned is forearmed used to say that it is better to know about something before it happens, so that you can be prepared for it
- forewarning noun [C,U] $ plural forewomen [C]
1 a female worker who is in charge of a group of other workers, especially in a factory
2 a woman who is the leader of a JURY and announces their decision in court $ [C]
a short piece of writing at the beginning of a book that introduces the book or its writer $ [T]
to lose a right, position, possession etc or have it taken away from you because you have broken a law or rule:
•By being absent from the trial, he forfeited the right to appeal.
•She was fined £3,000 and ordered to forfeit her car.[C]
something that is taken away from you or something that you have to pay, because you have broken a rule or made a mistake
be forfeit formal to be legally or officially taken away from you as a punishment:
•The company's property may even be forfeit. $ [C,U] formal
when someone has their property or money officially taken away because they have broken a law or rule:
•Refusal to sign meant forfeiture of property and exile. $
another spelling of FOREGATHER $
the past tense of FORGIVE $
1 [T] to develop something new, especially a strong relationship with other people, groups, or countries; = form
forge a relationship/alliance/link etc (with sb)
•In 1776 the United States forged an alliance with France.
•The two women had forged a close bond.
•Back in the 1980s, they were attempting to forge a new kind of rock music.
2 [T] to illegally copy something, especially something printed or written, to make people think that it is real; counterfeit
•Someone stole my credit card and forged my signature.
•a forged passport
3 [I always + adv/prep] written to move somewhere or continue doing something in a steady determined way
[+into/through]
•Crowds of people forged through the streets towards the embassy.
•He forged into the lead in the fourth set.
[+on]
•Her speech wasn't going down too well, but she forged on.
4 [T] to make something from a piece of metal by heating the metal and shaping it

PHRASAL VERBS
forge ahead phr v
to make progress, especially quickly
[+with]
•Jo's forging ahead with her plans to write a film script.[C]
1 a place where metal is heated and shaped into objects
2 a large piece of equipment that produces high temperatures, used for heating and shaping metal objects $ [C]
someone who illegally copies documents, money, paintings etc and tries to make people think they are real $ plural forgeries
1 [C] a document, painting, or piece of paper money that has been copied illegally; = fake
•The painting was a very clever forgery.
2 [U] the crime of copying official documents, money etc $ past tense forgot $ past participle forgotten $
1 FACTS/INFORMATION [I,T] to not remember facts, information, or people or things from the past:
•I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name.
•I know you told me, but I forgot.
•What happened that day will never be forgotten.
[+about]
•Karl says he forgot about our date.
•She forgot all about their anniversary.
forget (that)
•I forgot that there's a speed limit here.
forget how/what/when/why etc
•How can you forget where you've parked the car?
•He's someone who never forgets a face (=forgets who someone is).
I was forgetting ... (=said when you have just remembered or been reminded about something) spoken
•Oh yes, I was forgetting she was pregnant.
2 STH YOU MUST DO [I,T] to not remember to do something that you should do:
•'Did you remember to post that letter?' 'Oh, sorry, I forgot.'
•Give me your phone number before I forget (=forget to get it).
forget to do sth
•Someone's forgotten to turn off their headlights.
clean forget AmE (=completely forget)
•He meant to invite Monica, but he clean forgot.
3 LEAVE STH SOMEWHERE [T] to not remember to bring something that you need with you
forget your keys/money/cigarettes etc
•Oh no, I've forgotten my wallet.
4 STOP THINKING ABOUT [I,T] to stop thinking or worrying about someone or something:
•Forget him, he's not worth it.
•At my age, I think I can forget fashion.
forget (that)
•After a while you'll forget you're wearing contact lenses.
[+about]
•I'll never be able to forget about the accident.
5 NOT CARE ABOUT [I,T] to not care about or give attention to someone or something any longer
[+about]
•Don't forget about your old friends when you go off to college, okay?
•You can't afford to forget your relationship with your husband.
6 STOP A PLAN [I,T] to stop planning to do something because it is no longer possible or sensible
[+about]
•We'll have to forget about going on holiday.
•If we can't get any funding we might as well forget the whole thing.
7 not forgetting sth BrE used to add something to a list of things you have mentioned:
•You'll have to pay for the packaging and transportation costs, not forgetting airport taxes.
8 forget yourself
a) to do something stupid or embarrassing, especially by losing control of your emotions:
•Lisa forgot herself and reached out to touch his knee.
b) BrE to become so involved in something that you do not think about or notice anything else; = lose yourself
forget yourself in sth
•Often he would forget himself in his work for hours.
9 don't forget
a) used to remind someone to do something:
•We need bread, milk, and eggs - don't forget.
don't forget to do sth
•Don't forget to lock up when you leave.
b) used to remind someone about an important fact or detail that they should consider
don't forget (that)
•But don't forget that you have to pay interest on the loan.
•Don't forget, I'll be home late tonight..
c) used to remind someone to take something with them:
•Don't forget your sandwiches.
10 forget it spoken
a) used to tell someone that something is not important and they do not need to worry about it:
•'Sorry I didn't phone.' 'Forget it.'
b) used to tell someone to stop asking or talking about something, because it is annoying you:
•I'm not coming with you, so forget it.
c) also forget that! AmE used to tell someone that you refuse to do something or that it will be impossible to do something:
•'Can you lend me $10.' 'Forget it, no way.'
•If you're thinking of getting Roy to help, you can forget it!
d) used when someone asks you what you just said and you do not want to repeat it:
•'What did you say?' ' Nothing, just forget it.'
11 I'll never forget sth used to say that you will always remember something from the past, because it was sad, funny, enjoyable etc:
•I'll never forget the look on his face when he opened the door.
12 aren't you forgetting...?/haven't you forgotten...? used to remind someone about something, often humorously:
•Aren't you forgetting that you're already married?
13 I forget used to say that you cannot remember a particular detail about something
I forget what/where/how etc
•I forget what he said exactly but it was very rude.
I forget the name/details etc
•I forget the name of the street, but it's the first on the left.
14 and don't you forget it used to remind someone angrily about an important fact that should make them behave differently:
•I'm the boss around here, and don't you forget it! $
often forgetting things
- forgetfully adverb
- forgetfulness noun [U][C]
a small plant with pale blue flowers $
not very interesting or good - often used humorously; unforgettable
•He'd had a role in one or two forgettable movies. $
if something bad is forgivable, you can understand how it happened and you can easily forgive it; unforgivable
•It was an easily forgivable mistake. $ past tense forgave past participle forgiven [I,T]
1 to stop being angry with someone and stop blaming them, although they have done something wrong
forgive sb for (doing) sth
•I've tried to forgive him for what he said.
•He never forgave her for walking out on him.
forgive myself/yourself etc
•If anything happened to the kids I'd never forgive myself.
you're forgiven spoken (=used to tell someone that you are not angry with them)
•'I'm really sorry.' 'It's okay, you're forgiven.'
forgive sb sth
•God forgives us our sins.
•He didn't look the sort of man to forgive and forget (=forgive someone and no longer think about it).
2 forgive me spoken used when you are going to say or do something that might seem rude or offensive and you want it to seem more polite:
• Forgive me, but I don't think that is relevant.
forgive me for asking/saying etc sth also
forgive my asking/saying etc
• Forgive me for saying so, but that's nonsense.
•Forgive my phoning you so late.
3 sb can be forgiven for thinking/believing/feeling etc sth used to say that it is easy to understand why someone might think or do something:
•You could be forgiven for thinking football is a religion here.
4 forgive a debt/loan formal if a country or organization forgives a debt, it says that the money does not have to be paid back; = write off
•Saudi Arabia's decision to forgive the debt owed by the poorest Islamic countries $ [U]
when someone forgives another person
ask/beg/pray etc for (sb's) forgiveness
•He never admitted his guilt or asked for forgiveness. $
willing to forgive:
•My father was a kind and forgiving man. $ past tense forwent , past participle forgone $ , present participle forgoing [T]
to not do or have something pleasant or enjoyable:
•I had to forgo lunch. $
the past tense of FORGET $
the past participle of FORGET[usually before noun]
that people have forgotten about or do not pay much attention to:
•a forgotten corner of the churchyard $ [C]
1 a tool you use for picking up and eating food, with a handle and three or four points:
•Put the knives and forks on the table.
2 a garden tool used for digging, with a handle and three or four points
3 a place where a road, river, or tree divides into two parts, or one of the parts it divides into:
•the north fork of the Sacramento river
•Take the left fork then go straight on.
4 fork of lightning a sudden flash of LIGHTNING with two or more lines of light
5 one of the two metal bars between which the front wheel of a bicycle or MOTORCYCLE is fixed
TUNING FORK
1 also fork off [I] if a road, river etc forks, it divides into two parts; divide, split
•The path forked off in two directions.
2 fork (off) left/right to go left or right when a road divides into two parts; = turn
•Fork left at the bottom of the hill.
3 [T always + adv/prep] to put food into your mouth or onto a plate using a fork
fork sth into/onto etc sth
•He forked some bacon into his mouth.
4 [T always + adv/prep] to put MANURE into soil or to move soil around using a large garden fork
fork sth in/over etc
•In November, the soil should be forked over.

PHRASAL VERBS
fork out (sth) phr v informal
to spend a lot of money on something, not because you want to but because you have to
[+for/on]
•I had to fork out £600 on my car when I had it serviced.
•We don't want to have to fork out for an expensive meal.

fork sth <=> over phr v informal especially AmE
to give money to someone or something, or spend money on something:
•The arena won't be finished until private donors fork over more money. $
having one end divided into two or more parts:
•Snakes have forked tongues.[U]
lightning that looks like a line of light that divides into several smaller lines near the bottom; sheet lightning $ [C]
an amount of food on a fork
[+of]
•huge forkfuls of foodalso fork-lift [C]
a vehicle with special equipment on the front for lifting and moving heavy things $
1 seeming lonely and unhappy:
•a forlorn figure sitting all by herself
•Ana sat with a bowed head and spoke in a forlorn voice.
2 a place that is forlorn seems empty and sad, and is often in bad condition:
•The house looked old and forlorn.
3 [only before noun] a forlorn hope, attempt, or struggle etc is not going to be successful:
•We continued negotiating in the forlorn hope of finding a peace formula.
- forlornly adverb $
1 TYPE [C] a particular type of something that exists in many different varieties
[+of]
•a severe form of cancer
•The bicycle is an environment-friendly form of transport.
•the art forms of the twentieth century
2 WAY STH IS/APPEARS [C] the way something is or appears to be:
•We oppose racism in all its forms.
in the form of sth
•People are bombarded with information in the form of TV advertising.
•Vitamin C can be taken in capsule or tablet form.
•A typical training programme takes the form of a series of workshops.
3 SHAPE [C] a shape
[+of]
•the shadowy forms of the divers swimming below the boat
in the form of sth
•The main staircase was in the form of a big 'S'.
•The female form is a thing of beauty.
4 DOCUMENT [C] an official document with spaces where you write information, especially about yourself:
• Application forms are available from the college.
•Just complete the entry form (=write the answers to the questions on a form) and return it.
fill in/out a form (=write the answers to the questions on a form)
•Fill in the form and send it back with your cheque.
5 ART/LITERATURE [U] the structure of a work of art or piece of writing, rather than the ideas it expresses, events it describes etc:
•the distinction between form and content
6 PERFORMANCE [U] how well a sports person, team, musician etc is performing, or has performed recently:
•I have been greatly encouraged by the team's recent form.
on present/current/past etc form
•On current form he's one of the top three players in the country.
in good/fine/great form
•He's been in good form all this season.
•He had no qualms about dropping players he thought were off form (=not performing well).
7 SCHOOL [C] BrE a class in a school
first/second/sixth etc form
•examinations taken in the fourth form
FORM TEACHER
8 GRAMMAR [C] a way of writing or saying a word that shows its number, tense etc. For example, 'was' is a past form of the verb 'to be'.
9 CRIMINAL RECORD [U] BrE informal if someone has form, they are known to the police because they have committed crimes in the past
10 bad form old-fashioned behaviour that is considered to be socially unacceptable; = bad manners
•It used to be considered bad form to talk about money.
11 form of words a way of expressing something official; = wording
•The precise form of words has been agreed by the 12 heads of government.
12 be in good/fine/great etc form also be on good/fine/great etc form BrE to be full of confidence and energy, so that you do something well or talk in an interesting or amusing way:
•Michelle was in great form at last week's conference.
13 take form
a) to begin to exist or develop:
•The womb represents the very first place in which life takes form.
b) to start to become a particular shape:
•As the men worked, I watched the ship's hull take form.
true to form at TRUE^1 (7)
1 ESTABLISH [T] to establish an organization, committee, government etc:
•The winning party will form the government.
•CARE was formed in 1946 and helps the poor in 38 countries.
2 BE PART OF STH [linking verb] to be the thing, or one of the things, that is part of something else, often having a particular use:
•Love and trust should form the basis of a marriage.
•The project forms part of a larger project investigating the history of the cinema.
•The river formed a natural boundary between the two countries.
3 START TO EXIST [I,T ] to start to exist, or make something start to exist, especially as the result of a natural process:
•The rocks were formed more than 4000 million years ago.
•By midnight ice was already forming on the roads.
•Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide combine to form acid rain.
4 MAKE/PRODUCE [T] to make something by combining two or more parts:
•In English the past tense of a verb is usually formed by adding 'ed'.
5 SHAPE/LINE [I,T] to come together in a particular shape or line, or to make something have a particular shape; = make
•Film-goers began to form a line outside the cinema.
•Cut off the corners of the square to form a diamond.
6 RELATIONSHIP [T] to establish and develop a relationship with someone:
•She seemed incapable of forming any relationships.
•On returning to Boston, she formed a close friendship with her aunt.
7 form an opinion/impression/idea to use available information to develop or reach an opinion or idea:
•She formed the opinion that one of the pupils was bullying the other.
8 INFLUENCE [T] to have a strong influence on how someone's character develops and the type of person they become; = mould
•Events in early childhood often help to form our personalities in later life. $
1 OFFICIAL [usually before noun] made or done officially or publicly; informal
• formal recognition of the reformed church
•a formal agreement between the countries
•The staff say there is no formal structure for negotiating pay increases.
make/lodge a formal complaint
•Mr Kelly has lodged a formal complaint against the police.
2 BEHAVIOUR formal behaviour is very polite, and is used in official or important situations, or with people you do not know well; informal
•Over the years, teaching methods have changed and become less formal.
3 LANGUAGE formal language is used in official or serious situations; informal
•'Yours sincerely' is a formal way of ending a letter.
4 EVENT/OCCASION a formal event is important, and people who go to it wear special clothes and behave very politely; informal
•I've met her twice but only on formal occasions.
•a formal dinner
5 CLOTHES formal dress is clothing such as a TUXEDO for men or a long dress for women, that is worn to formal events; casual, informal
•We insist on formal dress for dinner.
6 formal education/training/qualifications education etc in a subject or skill, that you receive in a school, college etc rather than practical experience of it:
•knowledge and wisdom gained from experience rather than from formal education
7 ORGANIZED done in a very organized way; informal
•The course includes formal lectures and more informal seminars.
8 GARDEN/PARK a formal garden, park, or room is arranged in a very organized way; informal
•the palace's beautifully restored formal gardens
FORMALLY[C] AmE
1 a dance at which you have to wear formal clothes
2 an expensive and usually long dress that women wear on formal occasions $ [U]
a strong-smelling gas that can be mixed with water and used for preserving things such as dead animals to be used in science etc:
•frogs preserved in formaldehyde $
a British spelling of FORMALIZE $ [U]
a style or method in art, religion, or science that pays a lot attention to the rules and correct forms of something, rather than to inner meanings
- formalist noun [C], adjective, adjective $ $ plural formalities
1 [C usually plural] something that you must do as a formal or official part of an activity or process:
•the formalities necessary for a valid marriage
2 [C usually singular] something you must do even though it has no practical importance or effects
just/only/merely etc a formality
•Getting a gun licence here seems to be just a formality.
3 [U] careful attention to polite behaviour and language in formal situations:
•There is always some degree of formality when one speaks to a stranger.
•The loan was arranged with little formality.also formalise BrE $ [T]
to make a plan, decision, or idea official, especially by deciding and clearly describing all the details:
•Final arrangements for the takeover have yet to be formalized.
- formalization $ noun [U] $
1 officially; informally
•We announced a decision formally recognizing the new government.
2 in a polite way; informally
•He put his hand out formally, and Liza took it.
•'I apologize, Captain,' she said formally. $ [C]
1 the way in which something such as a television show or meeting is organized or arranged:
•The courses were run to a consistent format.
2 the size, shape, design etc, in which something such as a book or magazine is produced:
•a large-format book for the partially-sighted
3 used to talk about video, CD, tape etc when saying what type of equipment it can be played onpast tense and past participle formatted, present participle formatting [T]
1 technical to organize the space on a computer DISK so that information can be stored on it
2 to arrange the pages of a book or the information on a computer etc into a particular design:
•better ways to format your spreadsheets
- formatting noun [U]
- formatted adjective $
1 [U] the process of starting a new organization or group; = creation
[+of]
•the formation of a new government
2 [U] the process by which something develops into a particular thing or shape
[+of]
•the substances which lead to the formation of ozone
•We now know a lot more about the early stages of planetary formation.
3 [C] the way in which a group of things are arranged to form a pattern or shape:
•troop formations
4 in formation if a group of planes, ships, soldiers etc are moving in formation, they are flying, marching etc in a particular order or pattern:
•a squadron of aircraft, flying in formation
5 [C,U] rock or cloud that is formed in a particular shape, or the shape in which it is formed
rock/cloud formation
•the canyon's impressive rock formations
6 [C,U] technical society, politics etc seen as a system of practices and beliefs
social/political/cultural etc formation
•Marx founded a new science: the science of the history of social formations. $ [only before noun]
having an important influence on the way someone or something develops
formative years/period/stages etc (=the period when someone's character develops)
•He exposed his children to music throughout their formative years.
formative influence/effect etc
•International politics were a formative influence on the British labour movement. $ [only before noun]
1 happening or existing before, but not now; present, previous
•the former Soviet Union
•Their farm has been reduced to half its former size.
2 having a particular position in the past; = ex-; present
•my former husband
•former president Clinton
3 in former times/years in the past
4 sb/sth's former self what someone or something was like before they were changed by age, illness, trouble etc:
•She seems more like her former self.
be a shadow/ghost of your former self (=be much less confident, healthy, energetic etc than you used to be)
•The team's a shadow of its former self.
1 the former formal the first of two people or things that you have just mentioned; the latter
•Of the two possibilities, the former seems more likely.
2 first/second/sixth etc former BrE used in some schools to show which class a student is in, according to how many years they have been in school $
in earlier times; = previously
•Kiribati, formerly known as the Gilbert Islands
•This elegant hotel was formerly a castle. $ [U] trademark
strong plastic made in thin sheets, used especially for covering the surfaces of tables and kitchen COUNTERs $
1 very powerful or impressive, and often frightening:
•The building is grey, formidable, not at all picturesque.
•The new range of computers have formidable processing power.
2 difficult to deal with and needing a lot of effort or skill
formidable task/challenge
•the formidable task of local government reorganization
- formidably adverb $
without a definite shape:
•To the listener, this music is incoherent and formless.
•formless horrors that await you in the fog
- formlessly adverb
- formlessness noun [U][C]
a standard letter that is sent to a number of people[C] BrE
the teacher who is responsible for all the students in the same class at a school $ plural formulas or formulae
1 [singular] a method or set of principles that you use to solve a problem or to make sure that something is successful:
•We're still searching for a peace formula.
[+for]
•a formula for the withdrawal of US forces from the area
•There is no magic formula (=a method that is certain to be successful) that will transform sorrow into happiness.
•With viewing figures up a million, the programme has a winning formula.
2 [C] a series of numbers or letters that represent a mathematical or scientific rule:
•the formula for calculating distance
•Sugar is represented by the simple formula CHO.
3 [C] a list of the substances used to make a medicine, FUEL, drink etc, showing the amounts of each substance that should be used:
•Our products are handmade from traditional formulas.
4 Formula One/Two/Three etc a type of car racing, in which the different types are based on the size of the cars' engines:
•a Formula One car
5 [U] a type of liquid food for babies that is similar to a woman's breast milk
6 [C] a fixed and familiar series of words that seems meaningless or insincere:
•a speech full of the usual formulas and clichés $ formal
containing or made from ideas or expressions that have been used many times before and are therefore not very new or interesting:
•Children love jokes and riddles that are heavily formulaic. $ [T]
1 to develop something such as a plan or a set of rules, and decide all the details of how it will be done
formulate a policy/plan/strategy etc
•Tawney formulated Labour Party education policy in 1922.
formulate an idea/theory
•Charles Darwin formulated the theory of natural selection.
2 to think carefully about what to say, and say it clearly:
•We are studying the situation but have not formulated any response yet.
- formulation $ noun [C,U]
•the formulation of clear objectives $ [I]
a word meaning to have sex with someone who you are not married to - used to show strong disapproval
- fornication $ noun [U] $ past tense forsook past participle forsaken [T] formal
1 to leave someone, especially when you should stay because they need you; = abandon
•children forsaken by their parents
2 to stop doing, using, or having something that you enjoy; = give up
•She will never forsake her vegetarian principles.
3 to leave a place, especially when you do not want to:
•He has forsaken his native Finland to live in Britain.
GODFORSAKEN $ old use
certainly $ past tense forswore $ past participle forsworn $ [T] formal
to stop doing something or promise that you will stop doing something; = renounce
•We are forswearing the use of chemical weapons for any reason. $ [C]
a strong building or group of buildings used by soldiers or an army for defending an important place
hold the fort at HOLD^1 (33) $
1 be sb's forte to be something that you do well or are skilled at:
•He found that running long distances was not his forte.
•As a writer, her forte is comedy.
2 [C] a note or line of music played or sung loudly $ technical
played or sung loudly; piano $
1 and so forth used to refer to other things of the type you have already mentioned, without actually naming them; = et cetera
•She started telling me about her bad back, her migraines, and so forth.
2 [only after verb] formal going out from a place or point, and moving forwards or outwards:
•The house was still burning, pouring forth thick black smoke.
back and forth at BACK^1 (11); hold forth at HOLD^1; put forth at PUT; sally forth at SALLY^2; set forth at SET^1 $
1 [only before noun] a forthcoming event, meeting etc is one that has been planned to happen soon:
•the forthcoming elections
•Keep an eye on the noticeboards for forthcoming events.
2 willing to give information about something; unforthcoming
[+about]
•IBM is usually pretty forthcoming about the markets for its products.
3 [not before noun] if something is forthcoming, it is given or offered when needed - often used to say that this does not happen:
•When no reply was forthcoming, she wrote again. $
direct and honest - used in order to show approval:
•She answered in her usual forthright manner. $ formal
immediately:
•He was fined £40, with 28 days' imprisonment if the money was not produced forthwith. $
1 [U] the process of making something stronger or more effective
2 fortifications [plural] towers, walls etc built around a place in order to protect it or defend it:
•a site of ancient fortifications dating from about 500 B.C.[C,U]
wine such as SHERRY or PORT that has strong alcohol added $ past tense and past participle fortified, present participle fortifying, third person singular fortifies [T]
1 to build towers, walls etc around an area or city in order to defend it:
•The town was heavily fortified.
2 to encourage an attitude or feeling and make it stronger; = strengthen
•Her position was fortified by election successes and economic recovery.
3 written to make someone feel physically or mentally stronger
fortify yourself (with sth)
•We fortified ourselves with a breakfast of bacon and eggs.
4 [usually passive] to make food or drinks more healthy by adding VITAMINs to them:
•fortified breakfast cereals
fortify sth with sth
•foods fortified with vitamin B $
music that is fortissimo is played or sung very loudly; pianissimo ; forte $ [U] formal
courage shown when you are in great pain or experiencing a lot of trouble; = strength
•Winnie is a woman of quiet fortitude who has endured a lot of suffering. $ [C usually singular] BrE
two weeks:
•a fortnight's holiday
•in a fortnight's time
•a fortnight ago $ BrE
happening every fortnight or once a fortnight:
•We used to dread my uncle's fortnightly visits. $ [C]
a large strong building used for defending an important place $ formal
happening by chance, especially in a way that has a good result:
•The meeting with Jack was fortuitous.
- fortuitously adverb $
1 someone who is fortunate has something good happen to them, or is in a good situation; = lucky
fortunate to do sth
•I've been fortunate to find a career that I love.
•I was fortunate enough to obtain a research studentship at Stanford.
fortunate in doing sth
•She felt fortunate in being able to please herself where she lived.
fortunate that
•I'm fortunate that I have such an understanding wife.
more/less fortunate than sb
•We've been more fortunate than a lot of farmers.
2 a fortunate event is one in which something good happens by chance, especially when this saves you from trouble or danger; = lucky
•By a fortunate coincidence, a passer-by heard her cries for help.
3 the less fortunate people who are poor:
•We should all consider the plight of the less fortunate. $ [sentence adverb]
happening because of good luck; = luckily
•Fortunately, everything worked out all right in the end. $
1 MONEY [C] a very large amount of money:
•He made a fortune selling property in Spain.
•My first painting sold for £25, a small fortune then for an art student.
•Bill Traylor died in poverty in 1947, but his art is worth a fortune.
•The carpet must have cost a fortune.
•It is quite easy to decorate your house without spending a fortune.
•Her personal fortune was recently estimated at £37 million.
2 CHANCE [U] chance or luck, and the effect that it has on your life:
•I had the good fortune to work with a brilliant head of department.
•Sickness or ill fortune could reduce you to a needy situation.
•I felt it was useless to struggle against fortune.
3 WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU [C usually plural] the good or bad things that happen in life:
•a downturn in the company's fortunes
•This defeat marked a change in the team's fortunes.
•The geographical position of the frontier fluctuated with the fortunes of war (=the things that can happen during a war).
4 tell sb's fortune to tell someone what will happen to them in the future by looking at their hands, using cards etc
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE; fame and fortune at FAME; a hostage to fortune at HOSTAGE (3); seek your fortune at SEEK (4)[C]
a BISCUIT served in Chinese restaurants, containing a piece of paper that says what is supposed to happen to you in the future[C]
someone who uses cards or looks at people's hands in order to tell them what is supposed to happen to them in the future
- fortune telling noun [U] $
1 the number 40
2 the forties [plural] also the '40s, the 1940s the years from 1940 to 1949:
•The place was built as a casino in the forties.
the early/mid/late forties
•He spent several years in Paris in the late forties.
3 be in your forties to be aged between 40 and 49
early/mid/late forties
•The woman was probably in her mid forties.
4 in the forties if the temperature is in the forties, it is between 40 degrees and 49 degrees
in the low/mid/high forties
•The temperature was up in the high forties.
- fortieth adjective
•her fortieth birthday
1 [number] 45
2 also 45 [C] a small record with one song on each side
3 also .45 Colt 45 [C] trademark a small gun[U] informal
a very short sleep:
•I felt a lot better after I had forty winks. [C]
1 an organization, meeting, TV programme etc where people have a chance to publicly discuss an important subject
[+for]
•The journal aims to provide a forum for discussion and debate.
[+on]
•the new national forum on the environment
2 a group of computer users who are interested in a particular subject and discuss it using EMAIL or the Internet
3 a large outdoor public place in ancient Rome used for business and discussionalso forwards $
1 towards a place or position that is in front of you; backwards
•He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table.
•The crowd surged forwards.
•She took another small step forward.
2 towards greater progress, improvement, or development:
•We agreed that the sensible way forward was for a new company to be formed.
•After the Labour Party conference, he stated that we could now go forward as a united party.
•'Britain is now ready to move forward' he said.
3 towards the future in a way that is hopeful; backwards
•I felt that at last I could begin to look forward.
4 from that/this day/time/moment etc forward beginning on that day or at that time:
•They never met again from that day forward.
5 go forward to/into to successully complete one stage of a competition so that you are able to compete in the next stage:
•South Korea went forward into the next round of the World Cup.
6 if you put a clock or a watch forward, you change it so that it shows a later time, for example when the time changes to BRITISH SUMMER TIME; back
•We put our watches forward by 2 hours.
• The clocks go forward this weekend.
7 in or towards the front part of a ship
FAST-FORWARD; look forward to sth at LOOK^1; backwards and forwards at BACKWARDS (5)
1 [only before noun] closer to a person, place, or position that is in front of you; backward
•Army roadblocks prevented any further forward movement.
•Always enter or leave a helicopter from a forward direction.
2 forward planning/thinking plans, ideas etc that are helpful in a way that prepares you for the future:
•With a bit of forward planning we make sure your budget goes as far as possible.
3 no further forward not having made much progress, especially compared to what was expected:
•We are no further forward in solving the crime.
4 [only before noun] at or near the front of a ship, vehicle, building etc; rear
•We sat in one of the forward sections of the train.
5 formal too confident and friendly in dealing with people you do not know very well:
•My father thinks she's far too forward for a young girl.[T]
1 to send letters, goods etc to someone when they have moved to a different address; = send on
•Would you make sure that you forward my mail promptly?
2 to send letters, information etc to someone
forward sth to sb
•Flight times will be forwarded to you with your travel documentation.
3 formal to help something to develop so that it becomes successful; = further
•I see this new responsibility as a good chance to forward my career.[C]
an attacking player on a team in sports such as football and BASKETBALL; back, defender $ [C]
an address that you leave for someone when you move to a new place so that they can send your letters etc to you:
•Did she leave a forwarding address?
planning for and thinking about the future in a positive way, especially by being willing to use modern methods or ideas; backward-looking
•a forward-looking Russian statesman $ [U]
behaviour that is too confident or friendly[C] BrE
a movement in GYMNASTICS in which you roll over forwards onto your back so that your feet go over your head $
FORWARD[C] BrE
a line (/) used in writing, to separate words, numbers, or letters; = slash $ [C]
1 an animal or plant that lived many thousands of years ago and that has been preserved, or the shape of one of these animals or plants that has been preserved in rock:
•fossils of early reptiles
•Marine sponges have a long fossil record (=their development has been recorded over a long period).
LIVING FOSSIL
2 informal an insulting word for an old person[C,U]
a FUEL such as coal or oil that is produced by the very gradual decaying of animals or plants over millions of years:
•Environmentalists would like to see fossil fuels replaced by renewable energy sources.also fossilise BrE $
1 [usually passive] if people, ideas, systems etc fossilize or are fossilized, they never change or develop, even when there are good reasons why they should change:
•Most couples, however fossilized their relationship, have some interests in common.
2 [I,T] to become or form a FOSSIL by being preserved in rock:
•fossilized dinosaur bones
- fossilization $ noun [U] $
1 [T] to help a skill, feeling, idea etc develop over a period of time; = encourage, promote
•The bishop helped foster the sense of a community embracing all classes.
2 [I,T] to take someone else's child into your family for a period of time but without becoming their legal parent; adopt
•The couple wanted to adopt a black child they had been fostering.
1 foster mother/father/parents the people who foster a child:
•It is sometimes difficult to find suitable foster parents.
2 foster child/son/daughter a child who is fostered
3 foster brother/sister someone who has different parents from you, but who is being brought up in the same family
4 foster home a private home where a child is fostered $
the past tense and past participle of FIGHT
1 SMELL/TASTE a foul smell or taste is very unpleasant; = disgusting
•He woke up with a foul taste in his mouth.
•a pile of foul-smelling garbage
•He put down his mug of foul-tasting coffee.
2 in a foul mood/temper BrE in a very bad temper and likely to get angry:
•The argument with his mother left Putt in a foul mood.
3 AIR/WATER very dirty:
•Refugees in the camps are short of food and at risk from foul water.
•extractor fans to remove foul air from the tunnel
4 foul language rude and offensive words:
•She claimed she had been subjected to abuse and foul language.
5 WEATHER especially BrE foul weather is stormy and windy, with a lot of rain or snow:
•Always carry foul weather gear when you go out walking.
- foully adverb
- foulness noun [U]
by fair means or foul at FAIR^1 (11); fall foul of sb/sth at FALL^1 (15)
1
a) [T] if a sports player fouls another player, they do something that is not allowed by the rules
b) [I,T] to hit a ball outside the limit of the playing area in baseball
2 also foul up [T] formal to make something very dirty, especially with waste:
•rivers and lakes fouled almost beyond recovery by pollutants

PHRASAL VERBS
foul up phr v informal
1 to do something wrong or spoil something by making mistakes; foul-up
•We can't afford to foul up this time.
foul sth <=> up
•Glen completely fouled up the seating arrangements.
2 foul sth <=> up to make something very dirty, especially with waste:
•He lit a cigarette and started to foul up the air with stinging yellow smoke.[C]
1 an action in a sport that is against the rules:
•Wright was booked for a foul on the goalkeeper.
2 a hit in baseball which goes outside the limits of the playing area[C]
a line marked on a sports field outside of which a ball cannot be legally played
swearing too much:
•Harry was a nasty foul-mouthed old devil.
- =foul mouth noun [C][U]
1 if the police think someone's death was caused by foul play, they think that person was murdered:
•The police said they had no reason to suspect foul play.
•Detectives have not ruled out foul play.
2 an action that is dishonest, unfair, or illegal, especially one that happens during a sports game[C] informal
a problem caused by a stupid or careless mistake; foul up
•a computer system foul-up
the past tense and past participle of FIND[T]
1 to start something such as an organization, company, school, or city, often by providing the necessary money; = establish
•Founded in 1935 in Ohio, Alcoholics Anonymous is now a world-wide organization.
•Eton College was founded by Henry VI in 1440.
2 be founded on/upon sth
a) to be the main idea, belief etc that something else develops from; = be based on sth
•The British parliamentary system is founded on debate and opposition.
b) to be the solid layer of CEMENT, stones etc that a building is built on:
•The castle is founded on solid rock.
3 technical to melt metal and pour it into a MOULD (=a hollow shape), to make things such as tools and parts for machines
- founding noun [U]
•the founding of the University of Chicago
WELL-FOUNDED
1 BUILDING [C] the solid layer of CEMENT, bricks, stones etc that is put under a building to support it:
•It took the builders three weeks to lay the foundations.
•The earthquake shook the foundations of the house.
2 BASIC IDEA [C] a basic idea, principle, situation etc that something develops from
[+of]
•All theories should be built on a foundation of factual knowledge.
solid/firm foundation
•The course gives students a solid foundation in the basics of computing.
3 ORGANIZATION [C] an organization that gives or collects money to be used for special purposes, especially for CHARITY or for medical RESEARCH:
•the British Heart Foundation
4 ESTABLISHMENT [U] the establishment of an organization, business, school etc; = founding
•The school has served the community since its foundation in 1835.
5 be without foundation also have no foundation formal if a statement, idea etc is without foundation, there is no proof that it is true; = be groundless
•Davis dismissed the allegations as being without foundation.
6 lay/provide the foundation(s) for sth to provide the conditions that will make it possible for something to be successful:
•Careful planning laid the foundations for the nation's economic miracle.
7 SKIN [U] a cream in the same colour as your skin that you put on before the rest of your MAKE-UP
8 shake/rock the foundations of sth also shake/rock sth to its foundations to completely change the way something is done or the way people think by having a completely new idea:
•Darwin's theory rocked the scientific establishment to its foundations.[C] BrE
a general course of study that introduces students to a subject, and is taught in the first year at some universities in Britain[C]
1 a large stone that is placed at the base of a new building, usually by an important person as part of a ceremony
2 the facts, ideas, principles etc that form the base from which something else develops:
•Greek and Latin were once viewed as the foundation stones of a good education. $ [C]
someone who establishes a business, organization, school etc[I] formal
1 to fail after a period of time because something has gone wrong:
•Their marriage began to founder soon after the honeymoon.
[+on]
•The talks foundered on disagreements between the two parties.
2 if a ship or boat founders, it fills with water and sinks
[+on]
•The ship foundered on the rocks.[C] BrE
someone who has helped to establish a new organization, club etc and is one of its first members; = charter member AmE [singular]
the establishment of an organization, business, school etc; = foundation
•the founding of the African National Congress in 1912[C]
someone who begins something such as a new way of thinking, or a new organization
[+of]
•Saint Basil, one of the founding fathers of the Greek Orthodox Church [C] old use
a baby who has been left by its parents, and is found and looked after by other people plural foundries [C]
a place where metals are melted and poured into MOULDs (=hollow shapes) to make parts for machines, tools etc:
•an iron foundry
the fount of all knowledge/wisdom etc literary the place, person, idea etc that all knowledge, WISDOM etc comes from $ [C]
1 a structure from which water is pushed up into the air, used for example as decoration in a garden or park
2 a flow of liquid, or of something bright and colourful that goes straight up into the air
[+of]
•A fountain of blood was pouring from his chest.
•A fountain of sparks shot high into the night sky.
3 fountain of sth written a SOURCE or supply of something:
•Sir Robert was a fountain of information on Asian affairs.
DRINKING FOUNTAIN, SODA FOUNTAIN $ [singular]
the origin of something; = source[C]
a pen that you fill with ink; ballpointwritten informal
a way of writing "for", used especially in emails and TEXT MESSAGEs :
•a message 4 U (=for you) $
1 the number 4:
•She is married with four children.
•They arrived just after four (=four o'clock).
•Luke will soon be four (=four years old).
2 on all fours supporting your body with your hands and knees:
•He was down on all fours playing with the puppy.
3 in fours in groups of four people or things:
•The boxes were stacked in fours.
FOURSOME
4 [C] a hit in CRICKET that scores four RUNs because it goes over the edge of the playing area
5 [C] a team of four people who row a racing boat, or the boat that they row
6 the four corners of the Earth/world literary places or countries that are very far away from each other:
•People from the four corners of the world have come to Ontario to make it their home.
four ply at PLY^24x4 [C]
a vehicle that has four wheels and a FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE $
four times as much or as many:
•a fourfold increase in price
•Profits rose fourfold.also four-leaved clover BrE [C]
a CLOVER plant that has four leaves instead of the usual three, and is considered to be lucky[C]
a word that is considered very rude and offensive, especially one relating to sex or body waste; = swearwordalso four-poster [C]
a bed with four tall posts at the corners, a cover fixed at the top of the posts, and curtains around the sides $ [C]
a group of four people, especially two men and two women, who come together for a social activity or sport:
•Jim and Tina made up a foursome with Jean and Bruce.also foursquare $
1 a building that is four-square is strongly built and square in shape
2 BrE old use firm and determinedalso foursquare
1 if you stand four-square behind someone, you support them completely:
•He stood four-square behind the Prime Minister in the dispute.
2 firmly and solidly:
•The hut stood four-square in a corner of the garden.[only before noun]
a four-star hotel, restaurant etc has been judged to be of a very high standard[U] BrE
a type of petrol with LEAD in it[C] AmE
a GENERAL of a high rank in the US army[C]
an engine that works with two up and down movements of a PISTON $
the number 14:
•He used to work fourteen hours a day.
•I started playing the guitar when I was fourteen (=14 years old).
- fourteenth adjective, pron
•in the fourteenth century
•my fourteenth birthday
•I'm planning to leave on the fourteenth (=the 14th day of the month). $
coming after three other things in a series:
•in the fourth century
•her fourth birthday
- fourth pron
- fourthly adverb
the fourth thing in a series:
•the fourth of July[C]
¼; one of four equal parts
one-fourth/three-fourths
QUARTER^1 (1)
the fourth dimension an expression meaning 'time', used especially by scientists and writers of SCIENCE FICTION
the fourth estate newspapers, news magazines, television and radio news, the people who work for them, and the political influence that they have; = press[C,U]
a system in a vehicle which gives the power of the engine to all four wheels to make it easier to drive, or a vehicle that has this type of system plural fowl or fowls [C,U]
1 a bird, such as a chicken, that is kept for its meat and eggs, or the meat of this type of bird
2 old use any bird $
1 [C] a wild animal like a dog with reddish-brown fur, a pointed face, and a thick tail
2 [C] informal someone who is clever and good at deceiving people:
•He was a sly old fox.
3 [U] the skin and fur of a fox, used to make clothes
4 [C] AmE informal someone who is sexually attractive[T] BrE informal
1 to be too difficult for someone to do or understand:
•We were foxed by the problem.
2 to confuse or deceive someone in a clever way $ [C]
a tall plant with many bell-shaped flowers $ [C]
1 a hole in the ground that soldiers use to fire from or hide from the enemy
2 a hole in the ground where a fox lives $ [C]
a dog with a very good sense of smell, trained to hunt and kill foxes $ [U]
the sport of hunting FOXes with dogs while riding on a horse
- foxhunt noun [C][C]
a small dog with short hair $ [C]
a formal dance which combines short quick steps with long slow steps, or a piece of music for this dance
- foxtrot verb [I] $
1 informal especially AmE sexually attractive; = sexy
•a foxy lady
2 like a FOX in appearance:
•a foxy face
3 skilful at deceiving people; = cunning $ [C]
1 a room or hall at the entrance to a public building; = lobby
hotel/theatre/cinema etc foyer
2 AmE a small room or hall at the entrance to a house or apartment $
the written abbreviation of field post office or, fleet post office , used as part of the address of someone in the American navy or armyFr. AmE BrE
1 a written abbreviation of Father , used before the name of a priest
2 a written abbreviation of franc
3 the written abbreviation of French
4 the written abbreviation of France $ [singular]
a short noisy fight involving several people:
•Eight people were injured in the fracas. [C] technical
a pattern, usually produced by a computer, that is made by repeating the same shape many times in smaller and smaller sizes [C]
1 a very small amount of something
[+of]
•I got these shoes at a fraction of the original price.
•She paused for a fraction of a second.
2 a part of a whole number in mathematics, such as ½ or ¾
1 very small in amount; = tiny
•a fractional increase
•There was a fractional hesitation before he said yes.
2 technical happening or done in a series of steps
3 technical relating to fractions, in mathematics
- fractionally adverb
someone who is fractious becomes angry very easily; = irritable
•Children become fractious when they are tired.
fractious baby/child etc
- fractiousness noun [U] $ [I,T]
1 if a bone or other hard substance fractures, or if it is fractured, it breaks or cracks:
•The immense pressure causes the rock to fracture.
fracture your leg/arm/hip etc
•He fractured his right leg during training.
2 if a group, country etc fractures, or if it is fractured, it divides into parts in an unfriendly way because of disagreement; = split
•The opposition has been fractured by bitter disputes.[C]
a crack or broken part in a bone or other hard substance:
•a stress fracture in his left knee
•a hairline fracture (=very thin crack)
•a fractured shoulder
COMPOUND FRACTURE, SIMPLE FRACTURE $
broken or cracked
fractured skull/jaw/rib etc
•She suffered a fractured skull in the accident. $
1 easily broken or damaged; = delicate; strong
•fragile bones
•Be careful with that vase - it's very fragile.
2 a fragile situation is one that is weak or uncertain, and likely to become worse under pressure; strong
•the country's fragile economy
•Relations between the two countries are in a fragile state.
•the party's fragile unity
3 fragile health a weak physical condition because of illness
4 thin and delicate:
•fragile beauty
5 BrE if someone feels fragile they feel ill, especially because they have drunk too much alcohol
- fragility noun [U] [C]
a small piece of something that has broken off or that comes from something larger:
•glass fragments
[+of]
•fragments of broken pottery $ [I,T]
to break something, or be broken into a lot of small separate parts - used to show disapproval:
•the dangers of fragmenting the Health Service
- fragmented adjective
•a fragmented society
- fragmentation noun [U] $
consisting of many different small parts:
•a fragmentary account of the incident
1 [C,U] a pleasant smell; = scent
[+of]
•the rich fragrance of a garden flower
2 [C] a liquid that you put on your body to make it smell pleasant; = perfume, scent
having a pleasant smell:
•fragrant flowers
- fragrantly adverb
1 someone who is frail is weak and thin because they are old or ill:
• frail elderly people
•her frail health
frail body/physique
mentally/physically frail
2 something that is frail is easily damaged or broken; = fragile
•It seemed impossible that these frail boats could survive in such a storm.
•the country's frail economy plural frailties
1 [U] the lack of strength or health; = weakness
[+of]
•the frailty of her thin body
2 [C,U] something bad or weak in your character; = weakness
• human frailties
1 BORDER [C] a structure made of wood, metal, plastic etc that surrounds something such as a picture or window, and holds it in place:
•They removed the picture from its wooden frame.
door/window/picture frame
2 STRUCTURE [C] the structure or main supporting parts of a piece of furniture, vehicle, or other object:
•a bicycle frame
•the frame of the chair
3 BODY [C] the general shape formed by the bones of someone's body
large/thin/slight etc frame
4 GLASSES [C usually plural] the metal or plastic part of a pair of GLASSes that holds the LENSes
5 MAIN FACTS/IDEAS [C usually singular] the main ideas, facts etc that something is based on:
•A clear explanation of the subject provides a frame on which a deeper understanding can be built.
•Some comments may or may not be understood as harassment, depending on your frame of reference (=knowledge and beliefs that influence the way you think).
6 be in/out of the frame (for sth) to have or not have the chance to take part in something; = be in/out of the running (for sth)
•Liverpool are in the frame for a place in the Cup Final.
7 FILM [C] an area of film that contains one photograph, or one of the series of separate photographs that make up a film or video
8 SPORT [C] a complete part in the games of SNOOKER or BOWLING:
•I won the next three frames.
9 INTERNET [C] one of the areas into which a WEBPAGE is divided
CLIMBING FRAME, COLD FRAME; frame of mind at MIND^1 (15)[T]
1 to surround something with something else so that it looks attractive or can be seen clearly:
•Sarah's face was framed by her long dark hair.
•She stood there, framed against the doorway.
2 to put a picture in a structure that will hold it firmly:
•I'm going to get the picture framed.
•a framed photograph
3 to deliberately make someone seem guilty of a crime when they are not guilty, by lying to the police or in a court of law; = set up
•Needham's lawyers claimed that he had been framed by the police.
frame sb for sth
•The two men were framed for murder.
4 formal to carefully plan the way you are going to ask a question, make a statement etc:
•She wondered how she was going frame the question.
5 formal to organize and develop a plan, system etc:
•Newman played a central role in framing the new law.
6 gilt-framed/wood-framed etc having a frame or frames of a particular colour or material:
•wire-framed spectacles[C]
a plan to make someone seem guilty of a crime which they did not do; = set-up $ [C]
1 [usually singular] a set of ideas, rules, or beliefs from which something is developed, or on which decisions are based
[+of/for]
•This paper provides a framework for future research.
2 social/legal/political etc framework the structure of a society, a legal or political system etc:
•We have to act within the existing legal framework.
3 the main supporting parts of a building, vehicle, or object:
•the metal framework of the roof [C]
the standard unit of money in various countries, and used in France and Belgium before the EURO
1
a) [C,U] permission given by a company to someone who wants to sell its goods or services:
•a franchise holder
•a franchise agreement
under franchise
•The beer is brewed in Britain under franchise.
b) [C] a business that operates as a franchise
2 [C] AmE a professional sports team
3 [U] formal the legal right to vote in your country's elections[T]
to give or sell a franchise to someone [C]
someone who is given or sold a franchise to sell a company's goods or servicesfranchiser $ [C]
a company that sells a franchise $ [in nouns and adjectives]
1 relating to France:
•a Francophile (=someone who loves France)
2 French and something else:
•the Franco-Belgian borderfrancophone $
having French as a first or main language
Francophone countries/nations/communities
- Francophone noun [C] $ [U] informal
a mixture of the French and English languages
1 honest and truthful
be frank with sb
•He was completely frank with her about what happened.
be frank about sth
•She was quite frank about the whole thing.
frank discussion/interview/exchange of views etc
2 to be frank spoken used when you are going to say something that is true, but which other people may not like:
•To be perfectly frank, I think it's a bad idea.
- frankness noun [U][T]
to print a sign on an envelope showing that the cost of sending it has been paid; franking machine[C] AmE
a frankfurteralso Frankenstein foods [C usually plural] informal
food that has been produced by plants that were GENETICALLY MODIFIED - used when you disapprove of this processalso frank AmE $ [C]
a long reddish smoked SAUSAGE [U]
a substance that is burnt to give a sweet smell, especially at religious ceremonies[C] BrE
a machine used by businesses that puts a mark on letters and packages to show that POSTAGE has been paid; = postage meter AmE; frank
1 used to show that you are saying what you really think about something:
•Frankly, I think the Internet is overrated.
•His behaviour was frankly disgraceful.
2 honestly and directly:
•She answered all our questions frankly.
•Nicholas frankly admitted that the report was a pack of lies.
1 extremely worried and frightened about a situation, so that you cannot control your feelings
get/become frantic
•There was still no news of Jill, and her parents were getting frantic.
[+with]
•Your mother's been frantic with worry wondering where you've been.
2 extremely hurried and using a lot of energy, but not very organized; = hectic
•I spent three frantic days trying to get everything ready.
frantic effort/attempt
•Despite our frantic efforts, we were unable to save the boy's life.
frantic pace/rush/haste etc
•There was a frantic rush to escape from the building.
•a day of frantic activity
•a frantic search for her father
- frantically adverb
•He frantically searched for the key. [C] AmE informal
a FRATERNITY:
•a frat boy (=member of a fraternity) $ formal
1 showing a special friendliness to other people because you share interests or ideas with them:
•fraternal solidarity amongst union members
fraternal association/organization/society
2 relating to brothers:
•fraternal loyalty
- fraternally adverb $ plural fraternities
1 the teaching/scientific/criminal etc fraternity all the people who work in a particular profession or share a particular interest
2 [C] a club at an American college or university that has only male members; sorority
3 [U] formal a feeling of friendship between members of a group:
•fraternity between nationsalso fraternise BrE $ [I]
to be friendly with someone, especially if you have been ordered not to be friendly with them
[+with]
•The troops were forbidden to fraternize with the enemy.
- fraternization $ noun [U] [only before noun]
a fratricidal war or struggle is one in which people kill members of their own society or group [C,U]
the crime of murdering your brother or sister $
1 [C,U] the crime of deceiving people in order to gain something such as money or goods
tax/insurance/credit card etc fraud
•He's been charged with tax fraud.
• electoral fraud
•She was found guilty of fraud.
2 [C] someone or something that is not what it is claimed to be:
•I felt like a fraud.
•The police exposed the letter as a fraud. $ [C]
someone who has committed a fraud $
intended to deceive people in an illegal way, in order to gain money, power etc:
•a fraudulent insurance claim
•a fraudulent statement
fraudulent activity/behaviour/conduct
- fraudulently adverb
•He was accused of fraudulently using a stolen credit card.
- fraudulence noun [U] $
1 fraught with problems/difficulties/danger etc full of problems etc:
•Their marriage has been fraught with difficulties.
2 full of anxiety or worry; = tense
•a fraught atmosphere
•a fraught situation
•Julie sounded rather fraught when I spoke to her. [I,T]
1 if cloth or other material frays, or if something frays it, the threads become loose because the material is old:
•The collar had started to fray on Jack's raincoat.
•He had frayed the bottom of his jeans.
2 if someone's temper or nerves fray, or if something frays them, they become annoyed:
• Tempers soon began to fray.
- frayed adjective
•The carpet was badly frayed.
the fray an argument or fight:
•Three civilians were injured during the fray.
into the fray
•He launched himself into the fray.
join/enter the fray
•The other soldiers quickly joined the fray, launching missile attacks in the city. BrE informal
1 be burnt to a frazzle to be completely burnt
2 be worn to a frazzle to feel very tired and anxious informal
feeling tired and anxious, for example after a journey or because you are very busy:
•The meeting left me feeling completely frazzled. [C]
1 informal someone who is extremely interested in a particular subject so that other people think they are strange or unusual:
•a fitness freak
•a religious freak
•a computer freak
2 someone who is considered to be very strange because of the way they look, behave, or think; = weirdo
•These glasses make me look like a freak.
•Women who studied engineering used to be considered freaks.
3 a control freak someone who always wants to control situations and other people
4 also freak of nature something in nature that is very unusual:
•Due to some freak of nature, it snowed in June.
5 an unexpected and very unusual event:
•By some freak of fate, he walked away from the crash completely unhurt.
•April's sales figures were a freak.[only before noun]
unexpected and very unusual:
•a freak result
•He was crushed to death in a freak accident.
freak wind/wave/storm etc
•The men drowned when a freak wave sank their boat.[I] informal
to become suddenly angry or afraid, especially so that you cannot control your behaviour; = flip
•When Ben heard about the accident, he just freaked.

PHRASAL VERBS
freak out phr v informal
to become very anxious, upset or afraid, or make someone very anxious, upset or afraid:
•People just freaked out when they heard the news.
freak sb <=> out
•The whole idea freaked me out.
very unusual and strange, and sometimes frightening; = weird
•freakish weather
- freakishly adverb
- freakishness noun [U] spoken
strange or unusual and a bit frightening; = weird
•The movie was kind of freaky. [C usually plural]
freckles are small brown spots on someone's skin, especially on their face, which the sun can cause to increase in number and become darker; mole
having freckles
freckled face/skin [in adjectives and adverbs]
without something that you do not want:
•a trouble-free journey
•duty-free cigarettes
•a salt-free diet
•They live in the house rent-free.
1 NO COST something that is free does not cost you any money:
•Admission is free for children under 9.
•All students are offered free accommodation.
•Send for our free information pack for more details.
•There's a special free gift with this month's magazine.
2 NOT A PRISONER not held, tied up, or kept somewhere as a prisoner:
•He knew he could be free in as little as three years.
•With one leap he was free!
•He walked out of the courtroom a free man.
•They have called on the government to set all political prisoners free.
•He was found not guilty and walked free from the court.
•The animals are allowed to run free in the park.
•Hundreds of dogs roam free on the streets.
break/pull/struggle free
•She managed to break free from her attacker.
3 NOT CONTROLLED allowed to do or say whatever you want, or allowed to happen, without being controlled or restricted by anyone or anything:
•We had a free and open discussion about religion.
free to do sth
•Remember, you are free to say no.
[+from]
•Newspapers today are entirely free from government control.
•Women are struggling to break free from tradition.
[+of]
•I longed to be free of my family.
•He became president following the country's first free elections last year.
•We would all support the principle of free speech.
•For the first time in its history, the country has a free press.
•Patients are now allowed free access to their medical records.
•The legislation will allow the free movement of goods through all the countries in Europe.
4 NOT BUSY if you are free, or have some free time, you have no work, and nothing else that you must do; available
•I'm free next weekend.
[+for]
•Are you free for lunch tomorrow?
free to do sth
•At last I was free to concentrate on my own research.
a free day/morning/half-hour etc
•I haven't got a free day this week.
•Children these days have very little free time.
5 NOT BEING USED something that is free is available to use because it is not already being used:
•Is this seat free?
•I'm afraid we don't have any free tables this evening.
•He used his free hand to unlock the door and open it.
6 NOT SUFFERING not suffering from something
[+of]
•At last she was free of pain.
[+from]
•A lot of the patients are now free from symptoms.
pain-free/trouble-free etc
•a stress-free life
7 NOT CONTAINING STH not containing something
[+from/of]
•All our drinks are free from artificial colourings and flavourings.
fat-free/dairy-free etc
•a fat-free yoghurt
8 TAX if something is free of tax, you do not have to pay tax on it
[+of]
•This income should be free of tax.
tax-free/duty-free etc
•tax-free earnings
•an opportunity to buy duty-free goods
9 feel free spoken used to tell someone that they can do something:
•Feel free to ask questions.
•'Can I use your bathroom?' 'Yes, feel free.'
10 free and easy relaxed, friendly, and without many rules:
•I knew that life wasn't going to be so free and easy now.
•the free and easy atmosphere of university life
11 free spirit someone who lives as they want to rather than in the way that society considers normal
12 give sb a free hand/rein to let someone do whatever they want or need to do in a particular situation:
•The producer was given a free rein with the script.
13 there's no free lunch also there's no such thing as a free lunch used to say that you should not expect to get something good without having to pay for it or make any effort
14 it's a free country BrE used, usually humorously, to say that you are or should be allowed to do something, after someone has said that you should not do it:
•It's a free country. You can't stop me.
15 get/take a free ride informal to get something without paying for it or working for it, because other people are paying or working for it:
•They are encouraging all workers to join the union rather than just taking a free ride on those who do join.
16 be free with sth to be very generous with something:
•He seems to be very free with other people's money.
•She is always free with her advice.
17 make free with sth informal to use something that belongs to someone else when you should not:
•I knew that they had been making free with our food.
18 NOT RESTRICTED something that is free is not held, blocked, or restricted:
•We opened both doors to allow a free flow of air through the building.
19 CHEMICALS technical a free chemical substance is not combined with any other substance:
•the amount of free oxygen in the atmospherepast tense and past participle freed, present participle freeing [T]
1 RELEASE to allow someone to leave prison or somewhere they have been kept as a prisoner; = release
•He expects to be freed quite soon.
•The terrorists have at last agreed to free the hostages.
free sb from sth
•She was freed from prison last week.
2 NOT CONTROL to allow someone to say and do what they want, after controlling or restricting them in the past
free sb from/of sth
•The press has now been freed from political control.
•She longed to be freed of her responsibilities.
•Art frees the imagination.
3 ALLOW SB/STH TO MOVE to move someone or something so that they are no longer held, fixed, or trapped; = release
•He struggled to free himself, but the ropes were too tight.
•I couldn't free the safety catch.
free sb/sth from sth
•All the victims have now been freed from the wreckage.
4 STOP SB SUFFERING to stop someone suffering from something by removing it
free sb from sth
•new drugs that can free people from pain
•At last the country has been freed from its enormous debts.
5 MAKE AVAILABLE also free sth <=> up to make something available so that it can be used:
•I need to free up some of the disk space on my computer.
•This should free some money for investment.
6 GIVE SB MORE TIME also free sb <=> up to give someone time to do something by taking away other jobs that they have to do
free sb (up) to do sth
•Taking away the burden of administration will free teachers to concentrate on teaching.
•We have freed up some staff to deal with the backlog of work.
1 without payment:
•Children under four can travel free.
•You can get advice free from your local library.
for free
•He offered to do the work for free.
•All these services are available to the public free of charge.
2 not fixed or held in a particular place or position:
•The ropes were now hanging free.
•A gold chain swung free around his neck.
FREELY, SCOT-FREE[C]
someone who is not responsible to anyone else and can do what they wantfree-and-easy BrE
very informal and relaxed:
•the free-and-easy atmosphere of the local pub [C] informal
something that you are given free, usually by a company
on a freebie
•The company paid for the minister to fly out to Australia on a freebie.
freebie holiday/hotel/flight etc
•A waiter was handing round freebie glasses of wine. $ [C]
someone who joins in a war in order to steal other people's goods and money $ old use
not born as a slave[U] BrE
talks between TRADE UNIONs and employers about pay or working conditions that are not controlled by law
1 [C,U] the right to do what you want without being controlled or restricted by anyone; liberty
•People here like their freedom and privacy.
•the rights and freedoms of citizens
freedom to do sth
•We do not have the freedom to do just what we like.
•the freedom to vote
freedom of speech/expression/choice etc (=the legal right to say what you want, choose your own religion etc)
•The First Amendment guarantees freedom of expression.
individual/personal freedom
•The government was accused of using the law to restrict individual freedom
press/academic/political etc freedom
2 [U] the state of being free and allowed to do what you want:
•Kids have too much freedom these days.
•The teachers are given complete freedom in their choice of teaching methods.
freedom to do sth
•The wheelchair gives him the freedom to go out on his own.
•Tracksuits are designed to give you freedom of movement.
3 [U] the state of being free because you are not in prison; captivity, imprisonment
•The prisoner was recaptured after only 48 hours of freedom.
4 freedom from sth the state of not being affected by something that makes you worried, unhappy, afraid etc
freedom from fear/pain/worry etc
•The contraceptive pill gave women freedom from the fear of pregnancy.
5 freedom of choice the right or ability to choose whatever you want to do or have:
•The new satellite TV channels offer viewers greater freedom of choice.
6 freedom of information the legal right of people in some countries to see information which the government has about people and organizations
7 freedom of the city in Britain, an honour given by a city to someone who has done something special[C]
someone who fights in a war against an unfair or dishonest government, army etc; guerrilla, terrorist[U]
the principle and practice of allowing private business to operate without much government control; private enterprisefree-fall [singular, U]
1 the movement of someone or something through the air without engine power, for example before a PARACHUTE opens after someone has jumped out of a plane
in/into free fall
•The spacecraft is now in free fall towards the Earth.
2 a very fast and uncontrolled fall in the value of something:
•the free-fall in housing prices
in/into free fall
•The economy is in free fall.
- free-falling adjective
not connected to or influenced by anything:
•a free-floating exchange rate
•a free-floating currency $ trademark
another spelling of FREEPHONE[singular] informal
1 a situation in which there is total freedom and anything can happen - used to show disapproval:
•the free-for-all of sexual activity in the 1970s
2 a noisy quarrel or fight involving a lot of people:
•A controversial penalty decision sparked a free-for-all at the end of the match. $ [only before noun]
freeform music or art does not have a standard structure or form, and uses new ideas or methods [only before noun]
drawn by hand without using any special tools
freehand drawing/sketch
- freehand adverb $ [C,U] BrE law
when you completely own a building or piece of land for an unlimited time; leasehold
•They bought the freehold of their house.
- freehold adjective
•a freehold property
- freehold adverb
•The property will be sold freehold. $ [C] BrE
an owner of freehold land or property; leaseholder[C]
in Britain, a PUB that can buy beer from different BREWERIES (=a company that makes beer etc), rather than being controlled by one brewery[C]
a chance for a player on one football team to kick the ball freely from a position shown by the REFEREE, given because the other team has done something wrong $
working independently for different companies rather than being employed by one particular company:
•She works freelance from home.
freelance journalist/writer/photographer etc
- freelance verb [I]
•He's freelancing for several translation agencies.
- freelance also freelancer noun [C] $ [C] informal
someone who takes food, drink, or other things from other people, without giving anything in return - used to show disapproval
- freeload verb [I][U] old-fashioned
the practice or principle of having sex with people without being faithful to one person or without being married
1 without anyone stopping or limiting something:
•the country's first freely elected president
•EU members are allowed to travel freely between member states.
talk/speak/write etc freely
•In France he could write freely, without fear of arrest.
•We went outside so that we could talk freely without being overheard.
2 if something moves freely, it moves smoothly and nothing prevents it from doing this:
•She was breathing freely.
•If your muscles are tense, blood cannot circulate freely.
•The leg injury was preventing him from moving freely.
3 freely available very easy to obtain:
•Information is freely available on the Internet.
4 freely admit/acknowledge sth to agree that something is true, even though telling the truth is difficult or embarrassing:
•They freely admitted using the drug.
5 generously and willingly:
•She gave freely to charity. plural freemen [C]
someone who is not a slave[C]
an economic system in which prices are not controlled by the government:
•a free market economy[C]
someone who thinks that prices should be allowed to rise and fall naturally and should not be fixed by the governmentalso Mason [C]
a man who belongs to a secret society in which each member helps the other members to become successfulfreemasonry [U]
the system and practices of Freemasons[C] BrE law
the official act of forgiving someone for a crime[C] BrE
a period of time in a school day when a student does not have a classFreefone $ [U] trademark BrE
an arrangement by which a company or organization pays the cost of telephone calls made to it; toll-free[C]
a port or airport in one country where goods from other countries can be brought in and taken out without being taxed $ [U] trademark BrE
an arrangement by which a company or organization pays the cost of letters that you send to it by post[C] technical
an atom or group of atoms with at least one free ELECTRON, which combines with other atoms very easily:
•It is thought that free radicals can damage cells.
relating to a type of farming which allows animals such as chickens and pigs to move around and eat naturally, rather than being kept in a restricted space; battery
•free-range eggs $ [C]
a plant with pleasant-smelling yellow, white, pink, or purple flowers
1 not fixed to a frame, wall, or other support:
•a freestanding bookcase
2 able to exist on its own and not as part of something bigger:
•The modules can be offered as freestanding courses.
1 [U] a swimming race in which swimmers can use any style they choose, usually CRAWL:
•the 100m freestyle
2 [U] a sports competition in which competitors can use any movements they choose:
•freestyle wrestling
3 [C] a RAP song in which the singer says words directly from their imagination, without planning or writing them first $ [C]
someone who has their own opinions, ideas, and beliefs, rather than accepting other people's - used to show approval
- freethinking adjectiveBrE
free-to-air television or television programmes do not cost extra money to watch:
•free-to-air television coverage of rugby league matches[U]
a situation in which the goods coming into or going out of a country are not controlled or taxed[U]
poetry that does not have a fixed structure and does not RHYME; blank verse[C] BrE
a situation in which members of the British parliament can choose how to vote rather than following the choice of their political party $ [U]
free computer software, often available on the Internet; shareware [C] AmE
a very wide road in the US, built for fast travel; motorway, expressway, highway
•the Central Freeway [I]
to ride a bicycle or drive a vehicle down a hill, without using power from your legs or the engine [only before noun] informal
not worried about rules or what will happen in the future:
•A lot of the girls envied me my independent, freewheeling life.[U]
1 do sth of your own free will to do something because you want to, not because someone else has forced you to:
•He came of his own free will.
2 the ability to make your own decisions about what to do, rather than being controlled by God or Fate past tense froze $ past participle frozen $
1 LIQUID [I,T] if a liquid or something wet freezes or is frozen, it becomes hard and solid because the temperature is very cold; melt, thaw
•The lake had frozen overnight.
2 FOOD [I,T] to preserve food for a long time by keeping it at a very low temperature, or to be preserved in this way:
•I think I'll freeze that extra meat.
•Tomatoes don't freeze well.
3 MACHINE/ENGINE [I] if a machine, engine, pipe etc freezes, the liquid inside it becomes solid with cold, so that it does not work properly:
•The water pipes have frozen.
4 WEATHER it freezes if it freezes outside, the temperature falls to or below FREEZING POINT:
•Do you think it'll freeze tonight?
5 FEEL COLD [I] to feel very cold:
•I nearly froze to death watching that football match.
6 WAGES/PRICES [T] if a government or company freezes wages, prices etc, they do not increase them for a period of time:
•The government has been forced to cut spending and freeze public-sector wages.
7 MONEY/PROPERTY [T] to legally prevent money in a bank from being spent, property from being sold etc:
•The court froze their assets.
8 STOP MOVING [I] to stop moving suddenly and stay completely still and quiet:
•I froze and listened; someone was in my apartment.
[+with]
•She froze with horror.
9 FILM [T] to stop a film or video in order to be able to look at a particular part of it; freeze-frame
•He froze the picture on the screen.
10 sb's blood freezes used to say that someone is very frightened or shocked:
•I heard his scream and felt my blood freeze.

PHRASAL VERBS
freeze sb <=> out phr v
to deliberately prevent someone from being involved in something, by making it difficult for them, being unkind to them etc:
•Why did you freeze me out?

freeze over phr v
if an area or pool of water freezes over, its surface turns into ice:
•We'll go skating if the lake has frozen over.

freeze up phr v
1 if a machine, engine, or pipe freezes up, the liquid inside becomes solid with cold so that it does not work properly; = freeze
2 to suddenly be unable to speak or act normally:
•I wouldn't know what to say. I'd just freeze up.
1 [C] a time when people are not allowed to increase prices or pay
a price/pay/wage freeze
[+on]
•a freeze on pay rises
2 [C] the stopping of some activity or process
[+on]
•The government have imposed a freeze on civil service appointments.
3 [singular] BrE a period of extremely cold weather
4 [C usually singular] AmE a short period of time, especially at night, when the temperature is extremely low
DEEP FREEZE $
freeze-dried food has been frozen and dried very quickly in order to preserve it[U]
when you stop the action on a video at one particular place; freeze
•Press the freeze-frame button.
- freeze-frame verb [T] $ [C]
1 a large piece of electrical kitchen equipment in which food can be stored at very low temperatures for a long time; = deep freeze; fridge
2 AmE a part of a FRIDGE in which food can be stored at very low temperatures for a long time; = freezer compartment BrE[C] BrE
a part of a FRIDGE in which food can be stored at very low temperatures for a long time; = freezer AmE [U]
above/below freezing above or below the temperature at which water freezes:
•It was well below freezing last night.
1 extremely cold:
•It's freezing in this house. Can't I turn on the heating?
•We were freezing cold in the tent last night.
2 below the temperature at which water turns to ice:
•freezing fog
1 [U] the temperature at which water turns into ice; boiling point
2 [C usually singular] the temperature at which a particular liquid freezes:
•Alcohol has a lower freezing point than water.
1 [U] goods that are carried by ship, train, or aircraft, and the system of moving these goods:
•freight services
•We'll send your personal belongings by air freight and your furniture by sea freight.
2 [C] AmE a FREIGHT TRAIN[T]
to send goods by air, sea, or train[C]
part of a train which carries goods $ [C]
a ship or aircraft that carries goods[C]
a train that carries goods
relating to France, its people, or its language:
•an excellent French wine
1 the French [plural] people from France
2 [U] the language used in France, and some other countries:
•How do you ask for directions in French?
3 pardon/excuse my French spoken used to say sorry for swearing[C] BrE
a long thin green vegetable that is usually cooked and eaten whole; = green bean[U]
a long thin LOAF of white bread[plural] especially AmE
FRENCH WINDOWS[U]
a mixture of oil and VINEGAR that is put on SALADs also fry plural French fries [C usually plural] especially AmE
a long thin piece of potato that has been cooked in hot oil; = chip BrEalso horn especially BrE [C]
a musical instrument made of BRASS, that is curved round into a circle with a wide opening at one end[C]
a kiss made with your mouths open and with your tongues touching[C] BrE old-fashioned informal
a CONDOM[C] BrE
a long thin LOAF of white bread; = baguette plural Frenchmen [C]
a man from France[C]
a hairstyle in which the hair is put into a PLAIT that starts from the top of the head at the back[C]
a hairstyle in which the hair is combed across at the back of the head, rolled under, and pinned[U]
a clear liquid put on wooden furniture to protect it and make it shine[C]
a long thin LOAF of white bread; = baguette[U]
pieces of bread put into a mixture of egg and milk and then cooked in hot oil[plural]
a pair of doors made mostly of glass, usually opening onto a garden or BALCONY plural Frenchwomen [C]
a woman from France
frenetic activity is fast and not very organized; = frantic
•She rushes from job to job at a frenetic pace.
frenzied activity is fast and uncontrolled, usually because it is done by someone feeling very anxious or excited:
•A woman was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack on her home tonight.
•frenzied efforts to find a solution
- frenziedly adverb plural frenzies
1 [C,U] a state of great anxiety or excitement, in which you cannot control your behaviour
[+of]
•a frenzy of religious feeling
in a frenzy
•The women were screaming and in a frenzy to get home.
•Doreen had worked herself into a frenzy.
2 [C] a time when people do a lot of things very quickly
[+of]
•There had been a frenzy of activity in my absence.
•a selling frenzy
3 a feeding frenzy
a) an occasion when a lot of people get involved in an activity in an uncontrolled way:
•The film put America's moviegoers into a feeding frenzy.
b) an occasion when a lot of wild animals, especially SHARKs , eat something in a very excited way plural frequencies
1 [U] the number of times that something happens within a particular period of time or within a particular group of people
[+of]
•the frequency of serious road accidents
the high/low frequency (of sth)
•the higher frequency of diabetes in older people
•Side effects from prescribed drugs are being reported with increasing frequency (=more and more often).
•The relative frequency of fraternal twins has halved since 1950.
2 [U] the fact that something happens a lot; = regularity
•Businesses come and go with alarming frequency.
3 [C,U] technical the number of radio waves, sound waves etc that pass any point per second:
•This station broadcasts on three different frequencies.
high/low frequency
•Dolphins produce a high frequency sound.
•the frequency range of the human ear
happening or doing something often; infrequent
more/less frequent
•Her headaches are becoming less frequent.
•Trains rushed past at frequent intervals.
•She was a frequent visitor to the house. $ [T] formal
to go to a particular place often:
•The bar was frequented by actors from the nearby theatre.
very often or many times:
•Limestone was frequently used as a building material. $ plural frescoes or frescos [C]
a painting made on a wall while the PLASTER is still wet; mural
1 NEW adding to or replacing something:
•I'll just make some fresh coffee.
•The report provides fresh evidence about the way the business was run.
•You'll have to start again on a fresh sheet of paper.
2 NEW AND INTERESTING good or interesting because it has not been done, seen etc before:
•Ryan will bring a fresh approach to the job.
•We need some fresh ideas.
•Let's take a fresh look at the problem.
3 RECENT done, experienced, or having happened recently:
•There were fresh fox tracks around the hen huts.
•The accident was still fresh in her mind.
4 a fresh start when you start something again in a completely new and different way after being unsuccessful:
•I hope Jim and I can get back together and make a fresh start.
5 FOOD/FLOWERS
a) fresh food has recently been picked or prepared, and is not frozen or preserved
fresh fruit/vegetables/fish/bread etc
•The beans are fresh from the garden.
b) fresh flowers have recently been picked
6 fresh air air from outside, especially clean air:
•Let's open the windows and have some fresh air in here!
breath of fresh air at BREATH (2)
7 fresh water fresh water contains no salt and comes from rivers and lakes; saltwater
8 TASTE/SMELL ETC [usually before noun] pleasantly clean or cool:
•a fresh minty taste
•It's a light, fresh wine.
9 APPEARANCE pleasant, bright, and clean; dull
•The kitchen is decorated in fresh blues and greens.
•She has brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.
10 WEATHER if the wind is fresh, it is quite cold and strong:
•a fresh breeze
11 NOT TIRED [not usually before noun] full of energy because you are not tired:
•She always seems fresh and lively, even at the end of the day.
•Despite his busy day he arrived looking as fresh as a daisy (=not tired and ready to do things).
12 fresh from sth
a) also fresh out of sth AmE having just finished your education or training, and not having a lot of experience:
•He's fresh out of law school.
b) having just come from a particular place or experience:
•The team is fresh from their victory over the French.
13 be fresh out of sth AmE spoken to have just used your last supplies of something:
•I'm fresh out of beer. Will you take a cola instead?
14 fresh-made/fresh-cut/fresh-grated etc AmE having just been made, cut etc:
•fresh-ground coffee
15 get/be fresh with sb old-fashioned to behave rudely in a way which shows sexual interest, or lack of respect
- freshness noun [U + of]
•the freshness of the early morning
•the freshness and vitality of youth
1 also freshen up [T] to make something look or feel clean, new, attractive, cool etc; = brighten (up)
•I'm going to buy some white paint to freshen up the bathroom walls.
2 [I] if the wind freshens, it gets colder and stronger
3 also freshen up [T] to add more liquid to a drink:
•The waitress freshened our coffee.

PHRASAL VERBS
freshen up phr v
to wash your hands and face in order to feel clean and comfortable
freshen yourself up
•Fiona's gone to freshen herself up. $ [C] BrE
a student who has just started at a college or university
fresh-faced people have a face that looks young and healthy:
•a fresh-faced youth
freshly ground/picked/made etc recently ground, picked etc:
•freshly ground pepper plural freshmen [C] AmE
a student in the first year of HIGH SCHOOL or university $ [only before noun]
1 having water that contains no salt; saltwater
•freshwater lakes
2 living in water that contains no salt; saltwater
•freshwater crabs past tense and past participle fretted, present participle fretting [I]
to worry about something, especially when there is no need:
•Don't fret - everything will be all right.
[+about/over]
•She's always fretting about the children.
fret that
•men of fifty, fretting that they're no longer young
[C] one of the raised lines on the fretboard of a GUITAR etc $ [C]
the long piece of wood on the NECK (=straight part) of a GUITAR against which the fingers press the strings to change the note
anxious and complaining, and unable to relax:
•The child was tired and fretful.
- fretfully adverb
- fretfulness noun [U] $ [C]
a tool for cutting patterns in wood
cut or shaped into complicated patterns as decoration $ [U]
patterns cut into thin wood, metal etc or the activity of making these patterns
1 relating to Sigmund Freud's ideas about the way the mind works, and the way it can be studied
2 a Freudian remark or action is connected with the ideas about sex that people have in their minds but do not usually talk about[C]
something you say that is different from what you intended to say, and shows your true thoughtsalso Fri BrE
the written abbreviation of Friday technical
friable rocks or soil are easily broken into very small pieces or into powder $ [C]
a member of a religious group of Catholic men, who travelled around in the past teaching about Christianity and who were very poor; monk plural friaries [C]
a place where friars live; monastery $ [C,U]
food consisting of small pieces of meat in a thick white sauce:
•chicken fricassee [C] technical
a sound, such as /f/ or /z/, made by forcing your breath through a narrow opening between your lips and teeth, or your tongue and teeth
1 [C,U] disagreement, angry feelings, or unfriendliness between people; = tension
cause/create friction
•Having my mother living with us causes friction at home.
[+between]
•the usual frictions between parents and their teenage children
[+with]
•His independent attitude was a constant source of friction with his boss.
2 [U] technical the natural force that prevents one surface from sliding easily over another surface:
•Putting oil on both surfaces reduces friction.
3 [U] when one surface rubs against another:
•Check your rope frequently, as friction against the rock can wear it away.written abbreviation Fri. [C,U]
the day between Thursday and Saturday
on Friday
•It's Kate's birthday on Friday.
•Diane won't be here Friday. AmE
Friday morning/afternoon etc
•Can you meet me Friday morning?
last Friday
•I had a terrible time last Friday.
this Friday
•We're flying to Vienna this Friday.
next Friday (=Friday of next week)
•Her appointment is next Friday.
a Friday (=one of the Fridays in the year)
•We got married on a Friday. [C]
a large piece of electrical kitchen equipment, used for keeping food and drinks cool; = refrigerator; freezer[C] BrE
a large piece of electrical kitchen equipment, of which one part is a fridge and one part is a FREEZER[C]
a MAGNET with a picture on it or in an interesting shape, used for decorating the outside of a FRIDGE
1 having been cooked in hot oil:
•fried chicken
2 AmE informal unable to think clearly, because you are tired, anxious etc:
•My brain is just totally fried. [C]
1 PERSON YOU LIKE someone who you know and like very much and enjoy spending time with

a friend of mine/yours/Billy's etc
best friend (=the friend you like the most)
good/close friend (=one of the friends you like the most)
old friend (=a friend you have known for a long time)
trusted friend
lifelong friend (=someone who is your friend for the whole of your life)
friend of a friend
circle of friends (=all the friends someone has)
a mutual friend (=someone who is a friend of both you and someone else)
a childhood/boyhood/girlhood friend

•Jerry, this is my friend Lucinda.
• Is this man a friend of yours?
• Julia was the wife of his best friend.
•One of her closest friends died at the weekend.
• I didn't expect this treatment from my father's oldest friend.
• She told this to only a few trusted friends.
• I met Stephano through a friend of a friend.
• Few people smoke in my circle of friends.
•Jill is a mutual friend of ours.

2 be friends (with sb) to be someone's friend:
•I've been friends with the Murkets for twenty years.
3
a) make friends to become friendly with people:
•Jenny has always found it easy to make friends at school.
b) make friends with sb to become friendly with someone:
•He made friends with an old fisherman.
4 be just (good) friends used to say that you are not having a romantic relationship with someone:
•I'm not going out with Nathan - we're just good friends.
5 SUPPORTER someone who supports an organization such as a theatre, ART GALLERY, CHARITY etc by giving money or help
[+of]
•the Friends of the Tate
6 NOT AN ENEMY someone who has the same beliefs, wants to achieve the same things etc as you, and will support you:
•our friends and allies around the world
•She shot him a quick glance as if unsure whether he was friend or foe.
•Don't worry, you're among friends.
7 PARLIAMENT/COURT OF LAW BrE
a) my honourable friend used by a member of parliament when speaking about another member of parliament
b) my learned friend used by a lawyer when speaking about another lawyer in a court of law
8 be no friend of sth to not like or be a supporter of something:
•I'm no friend of socialism, as you know.
9 Friend a member of the Society of Friends; = quaker
10 our/your friend spoken used humorously to talk about someone you do not know, who is doing something annoying:
•Our friend with the loud voice is back.
11 have friends in high places to know important people who can help you
12 a friend in need someone who helps you when you need it

WORD FOCUS: friend
similar words:
mate BrE informal
buddy AmE informal
pal informal
chum BrE informal
crony disapproving
literary
having no friends and no one to help you comparative friendlier, superlative friendliest
1 behaving towards someone in a way that shows you like them and are ready to talk to them or help them; unfriendly
•a friendly smile
•I've found a great pub - good beer and a friendly atmosphere.
[+to/towards]
•Why is he suddenly so friendly towards you, Charlotte?
2 be friendly with sb to be friends with someone:
•Betty's very friendly with the Jacksons.
3 not at war with your own country, or not opposing you; hostile
•friendly nations
4 BrE a friendly game is played for pleasure or practice, and not because it is important to win:
•a friendly match against AC Milan
5 user-friendly/customer-friendly etc not difficult for particular people to understand or use:
•a user-friendly computer program
•a customer-friendly shopping mall
6 environmentally-friendly/ozone-friendly/eco-friendly etc not harmful to the environment, OZONE LAYER etc:
•eco-friendly washing powder
7 friendly fire bombs, bullets etc that accidentally kill people who are fighting on the same side
- friendliness noun [U]plural friendlies [C] BrE
a game played for pleasure or practice, and not because it is important to win[C]
an association in Britain that people regularly pay small amounts of money to, which then provides them with money when they become old or ill
1 [C] a relationship between friends
[+between]
•The friendship between father and youth deepened.
[+with]
•his friendship with King Edward VII
•her close friendship with her aunt
•a lifelong friendship
•The two boys formed a deep and lasting friendship.
•He and Matthew struck up a friendship (=began to be friends).
2 [U] the feelings and behaviour that exist between friends:
•I could always rely on Gary for friendship and support.
•The Indians have extended the hand of friendship (=shown that they want to be friends with another country). $
another spelling of FRYER [plural]
long thin pieces of potato that have been cooked in hot oil; = chips BrE $ [C] especially BrE
a type of cow that is black and white [C]
a decoration that goes along the top of the walls of a room or a building [C]
a small fast ship used especially for protecting other ships in wars [only before noun] spoken not polite
used to emphasize something you are saying when you are angry, annoyed etc:
•I can't open the frigging door!
1 [singular, U] a sudden feeling of fear:
•You gave me such a fright creeping up on me like that!
get/have a fright
•I got an awful fright when I realised how much money I owed.
with fright
•He was shaking with fright.
in fright
•Several of the children cried out in fright.
2 take fright to be very afraid of something, especially so that you run away from it or do not do something that you were going to do:
•The bird took fright and flew away.
•She had promised to marry him, but took fright at the last moment.
3 look a fright old-fashioned to look untidy or unattractive
STAGE FRIGHT [T]
to make someone feel afraid; = scare
•Don't stand so near the edge! You're frightening me.
•She was frightened by the anger in his eyes.
•Computers used to frighten me, but not now.
frighten sb to death/frighten the life out of sb (=make someone feel extremely afraid)
•He drove at a speed which frightened Lara to death.

PHRASAL VERBS
frighten sb <=> away phr v
to make a person or animal go away by making them feel afraid:
•Terrorist activity in the area has frightened most tourists away.

frighten sb into sth phr v
to force someone to do something by making them afraid
frighten sb into doing sth
•He frightened me into staying silent.

frighten sb/sth <=> off phr v
to make a person or animal so nervous or afraid that they go away or do not do something they were going to do:
•The investors were frightened off by the company's low profits that year.
feeling afraid; = scared
•Don't be frightened. We're not going to hurt you.
[+of]
•I was frightened of being left by myself in the house.
•Her father had an awful temper and she was always frightened of him.
frightened to do sth
•The boy was frightened to speak.
frightened that
•She's frightened that her ex-husband will find her.
•To tell the truth, I was frightened to death (=very frightened).
•a frightened horse
!! Do not confuse frightened, which describes a feeling, and frightening, which describes something that makes you feel frightened: a frightened child | a frightening experience
see box at FEAR^1 $ [plural] BrE informal
put the frighteners on sb to make someone do what you want by threatening them
making you feel afraid or nervous; = scary
•That's a frightening thought.
•Going into hospital can be very frightening for a child.
•It was the most frightening experience of my life.
it is frightening (to do sth)
•It's frightening to think how easily children can be hurt.
- frighteningly adverb
•The ice seemed frighteningly thin. old-fashioned especially BrE
1 unpleasant or bad; = awful, terrible
•There's been a frightful accident.
2 used to emphasize how bad something is; = awful, terrible
•Her hair was a frightful mess. BrE old-fashioned
very:
•I'm frightfully sorry about the delay.
1 a woman who is frigid does not like having sex
2 literary not friendly or kind; = cold, icy, frosty
•The guard looked at us with a frigid stare.
3 formal very cold; = icy
•His breath steamed in the frigid air.
- frigidly adverb
- frigidity noun [U] [C]
1 a narrow piece of cloth that has many small folds in it, and that is attached to something as a decoration:
•She was wearing a white blouse with frills at the cuffs.
2 frills [plural] attractive but unnecessary features
without/with no frills
•It was just a comfortable flat with no frills.
•We supply basic, no-frills tractors at low prices.
decorated with lots of frills:
•a frilly skirt [C]
1 BrE if you have a fringe, your hair is cut so that it hangs down over your forehead; = bangs AmE
•a tall girl with straight brown hair and a fringe
2 a decorative edge of hanging threads on a curtain, piece of clothing etc
3 on the fringes (of sth)
a) not completely belonging to or accepted by a group of people who share the same job, activities etc:
•a small group on the fringes of the art world
b) also on the fringe at the part of something that is farthest from the centre; = on the edge of sth
•Nina remained on the fringe of the crowd.
the lunatic fringe at LUNATIC (3)[only before noun]
fringe group/event/issue etc a group, event etc that is less important or popular than the main group etc, or whose opinions are not accepted by most other people involved in the same activity; mainstream
•He used a party conference fringe meeting to defend terrorism.
•The environment is no longer a fringe issue.
•a fringe religious sect[T]
to be around the edge of something:
•A line of trees fringed the pool.[C usually plural]
an additional service or advantage given with a job besides wages:
•A competitive salary with fringe benefits will be offered.[U] BrE
plays by new writers, often on difficult subjects or written in unusual ways, that are not performed in the main theatres plural fripperies [C usually plural]
an unnecessary and useless object or decoration [C,U] trademark
a piece of plastic shaped like a plate that you throw to someone else to catch as a game. The game is also called Frisbee.
1 [T] to search someone for hidden weapons, drugs etc by feeling their body with your hands:
•We were frisked at the airport - can you believe it?
2 [I] if a young animal frisks, it runs and jumps playfully; = skip
•The lambs were frisking around the pen.
1 full of energy and fun:
•a frisky horse
2 informal feeling sexually excited; = horny
- friskily adverb
- friskiness noun [U] $ [C usually singular]
a sudden feeling of excitement or fear; = shiver
[+of]
•A frisson of alarm went through her. $

PHRASAL VERBS
fritter sth <=> away phr v
to waste time, money, or effort on something small or unimportant
[+on]
•He frittered away a fortune on fast cars and gambling.[C]
a thin piece of fruit, vegetable, or meat covered with a mixture of eggs and flour and cooked in hot fat
apple/corn/banana etc fritter AmE informal
be/go on the fritz if something is or goes on the fritz, it is not working correctly; = be/go on the blink
•My TV is on the fritz. $ plural frivolities
1 [C,U] behaviour or activities that are not serious or sensible, especially when you should be serious or sensible:
•I don't think such frivolity helps the organization's public image.
2 [C] something that is silly and unimportant:
•Try not to be distracted by the frivolities of the world.
1 not serious or sensible, especially in a way that is not suitable for a particular occasion:
•The court discourages frivolous law suits.
2 a frivolous person likes having fun rather than doing serious or sensible things - used to show disapproval; serious
- frivolously adverb [I,T] informal
if your hair frizzes, or if you frizz it, it curls very tightly
- frizz noun [U]
•how to give your hair more shape and less frizz
frizzy hair is very tightly curled $

TO AND FRO $ [C]
1 old-fashioned a woman's or girl's dress:
•a party frock
2 a long loose piece of clothing worn by some Christian MONKs $ [C]
a knee-length coat for men, worn in the 19th century $ [C]
1 a small green animal that lives near water and has long legs for jumping; toad
2 have a frog in your throat informal to have difficulty in speaking, especially because of a sore throat
3 Frog taboo a very offensive word for someone from France. Do not use this word. $ plural frogmen [C] BrE
someone who swims under water using special equipment to help them breathe, especially as a job; = diver
•Police frogmen have been searching the lake looking for a weapon. $ [T always + adv/prep] BrE
to force someone to walk somewhere by holding their arms very tightly by their side or behind their back $ [U] BrE
frog's eggs $ past tense and past participle frolicked, present participle frolicking [I] written
to play in an active happy way:
•Lambs frolicked in the next field.[C,U] written
a fun enjoyable game or activity:
•Everyone joined in the Saturday night frolics. strong $ strong
1 WHERE SB/STH STARTS starting at a particular place or position:
•How do you get from here to Colchester?
•an empire stretching from Syria to Spain
•The hotel is on the main road from Newport.
•Ernest twice ran away from home.
2 DISTANCE AWAY used when talking about the distance between places or people to mention one of the places or people:
•We live about five miles from Boston.
•a large Victorian house only fifty yards from my workplace
•He was standing only a few feet away from me.
3 WHEN STH STARTS starting at a particular time:
•He'll be here tomorrow from about seven o'clock onwards.
•We're going to tell her on her birthday - that's two weeks from today.
•From now on, I will only be working in the mornings.
•housewives who work from morning to night (=without stopping)
4 ORIGINAL CONDITION used to say what condition or situation something is in before it changes:
•translating from French into English
•When she arrived, things just went from bad to worse (=got even worse)!
5 from place to place/house to house etc to a number of places:
•She went from house to house asking if anyone had seen the child.
6 from day to day/from minute to minute etc used to say that something continues or keeps changing:
•My health is improving from day to day.
7 vary/change etc from sth to sth to change or be different according to the person, situation, time etc involved:
•The treatment will vary from patient to patient.
8 RANGE used to mention the two ends of a range
from sth to sth
•Prices range from £10,000 to over £100,000.
•a place where you can buy anything from a handgun to a rocket launcher
9 POSITION WHEN WATCHING used to say where someone is when they see or watch something:
•From the top of the hill, you can see for miles.
•There's a man watching us from behind that fence.
10 BEING REMOVED used to say where something is before it is removed:
•She pulled her chair away from her desk.
•Philip snatched the book from my hand.
•He took a knife from his pocket.
•Subtract three from fifteen.
11 ABSENT used to say where someone would normally be, when they are not there:
•The boy's absence from class has been noted.
•I have a brother, but he's away from home at present.
12 ORIGIN used to say where something was or who had it before you obtained it:
•I got the idea from Colin.
•Do you know where the information came from?
•Gray caught smallpox from his nephew.
•I'll show you a short extract from one of our training videos.
•We usually buy our cheese from a shop in the market.
•You have to choose the right answer from a list.
13 SENT/GIVEN BY SB used to say who sends or gives something:
•He had received a bill for nineteen dollars from St Peter's hospital.
•I had a phone call from John.
•You need to get permission from the owner.
•with lots of love from Elaine (=used at the end of a letter or on a card)
14 PLACE OF BIRTH/WORK used to say where someone was born, where they live, or where they work:
•We invited speakers from all the regions.
•Students from all faculties will have access to the machines.
•There's a man from the tax office on the phone.
•I'm from Yorkshire (=I was born in Yorkshire).
15 CAUSE used to state the cause of something:
•mothers who are exhausted from all the sleepless nights
•Death rates from accidents have been on the increase.
•a patient suffering from stomach pains
•The community benefits from having an excellent health service.
16 FORMING OPINIONS
a) used to say what made you form a particular opinion:
•From what I've read, the company seems to be in difficulties.
•It's obvious from a quick glance that the plan has changed dramatically.
b) used to say how a subject is being considered:
•These changes are ideal from my point of view.
•We have spent a lot of time looking at the problem from all angles.
17 MADE OF STH used to say what substance is used to make something:
•Bread is made from flour, water, and yeast.
•a cabinet constructed from chipboard
18 PREVENTED used to say what is prevented or forbidden
from doing sth
•These problems have prevented me from completing the work.
•people who have been disqualified from driving
•Tourist coaches will be banned from entering the city centre.
19 HARM used to mention something bad that you do not want to affect someone or something:
•ways of protecting yourself from attack
•I will keep you safe from harm.
20 DIFFERENCE used when you are comparing things or people to mention one of the things or people:
•She's quite different from her sister.
•Our two cats are so alike, I can never tell one from the other. $ [U] BrE
a thick creamy food made from milk and similar to YOGHURT $ [C]
a leaf of a FERN or PALM^1 (2)
1 PART THAT IS FURTHEST FORWARD the front the part of something that is furthest forward in the direction that it is facing or moving; back
[+of]
•Ricky stepped forward to the front of the stage and began to sing.
the front of the line/queue
•It took ages to get to the front of the queue.
at/in the front (of sth)
•She always sits at the front of the class.
•I found a good place on the bus, on the top deck, right at the front.
2 SIDE THAT FACES FORWARD the front the front of something is the side or surface that faces forward; back
[+of]
•Harvey ran quickly round the front of the car to try and open the other door.
•the control panel on the front of the machine
•He wore an old sweater with a coffee stain down the front.
3 MOST IMPORTANT SIDE the front the most important side or surface of something, that you look at first; back
on the front
•Dean sent me a lovely postcard with a picture of Bolton Abbey on the front.
[+of]
•She's on the front (=a picture of her is on the front) of this month's magazine.
•There's an introduction at the front of the book (=in the first pages).
4 BUILDING the front the most important side of a building, where you go in; back
[+of]
•Ben had just finished painting the front of the house.
5 in front of sb/sth
a) further forward than someone or something; behind
•He was standing in front of her in the lunch queue, and they just got talking.
•He walked along in front of me, holding the lantern.
•Suddenly, something ran across the road in front of the car.
•An old wooden desk stood in front of the window.
b) facing someone or something:
•The door opened and Harriet stood in front of him.
•She sat down in front of the mirror and brushed her hair carefully.
•Billy crouched in front of the fire to warm his hands.
c) outside a building, near its entrance:
•There was a small garden in front of the house.
•It was raining as we parked in front of the hotel.
d) if you say or do something in front of someone, you do it where they can see or hear you:
•Don't swear in front of the children!
•The match was played in front of a crowd of 8000.
e) if you have problems or difficulties in front of you, you will soon need to deal with them
in front of your eyes at EYE^1 (9)
6 in front
a) ahead of something or someone; behind
•He drove straight into the car in front.
b) winning something such as a sports match or competition; = ahead; behind
•His 20th-minute goal put Leeds back in front.
c) in the area nearest the most forward part of something, or nearest the entrance to a building
7 on a ... front in a particular area of activity
on the economic/political etc front
•On the technical front, there have been a number of important developments.
•Excellent teamwork from our staff has brought improvement on all fronts.
on the domestic/international front
•On the domestic front, de Gaulle's priority was to secure his government's authority.
on a wide/broad/limited front
•Schemes of this kind enjoyed success only on a limited front.
8 out front also out the front/out in front BrE the area near the entrance to a building:
•Hurry up! The taxi is out front.
9 in (the) front/up front in the front part of a car, next to the driver or where the driver sits:
•Mom, can I sit in the front?
10 in front of the television/TV/computer etc watching a television or using a computer:
•The average child spends three to four hours in front of the TV.
•I spend most of my time sitting in front of a computer.
11 up front informal
a) money that is paid up front is paid before work is done, or before goods are supplied:
•We need two hundred pounds up front.
b) directly and clearly from the start:
•It's important to tell potential clients this up front.
UPFRONT
12 WEATHER [C] technical the place where two areas of air of different temperatures meet, often shown as a line on weather maps
warm/cold front (=an area of warm or cold air)
13 SEA the front BrE a wide road next to the beach where people can walk for pleasure:
•We could always go for a stroll along the front.
14 BODY your front your chest, or the part of your body that faces forward:
•You've spilled juice all down your front!
•He was asleep, lying on his front with his head turned to one side.
15 ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES [C] a legal business that someone operates in order to hide the illegal activities that they are involved in
[+for]
•The casino was used as a front for cross-border smuggling operations.
16 HIDE FEELINGS [singular] if you put on a front, you behave in a way that is happier, braver etc than you really feel
put on/show a front
•Jenny didn't want Adam to see how worried she was. So she put on a brave front.
•His arrogance is just a front. Deep down he's really insecure.
•When disciplining children, it is important that parents present a united front (=show that they both feel the same about a situation).
17 ORGANIZATION [singular] used in the name of a political party or unofficial military organization:
•the People's Liberation Front
18 WAR [C] the area where fighting happens in a war; = front line
•He joined the army, and was immediately sent to the front.
•Her husband was shot down over the Western Front.
HOME FRONT
19 CHURCH [C] a side of a large important church building:
•the west front of Rouen cathedral

WORD CHOICE: in front, opposite, face
If something or someone is in front of a building, they are directly outside the front of it: Meet me in front of the station.
If something or someone is opposite a building, they are outside the front of it on the other side of a street, area of land etc: the fields opposite the school
Use the verb face to say that a building has something outside the front of it: My apartment block faces (NOT is in front of) the sea. | a house facing the square
WORD CHOICE: in front of, before

!! Use in front of not 'before', to talk about doing something so that people can see or hear you: I had to explain myself in front of (NOT before) the whole class.

!! Use before, not 'in front of',to talk about the order in which things happen: Before starting (NOT In front of starting), let's list what we have to do.

[only before noun]
1 at, on, or in the front of something; back
•Two of his front teeth had been knocked out.
•the front cover of 'Hello!' magazine
•the front wheel of his bicycle
•the dog's front legs
front door/garden/porch (=at the front of a house)
•We walked up the front steps and into the reception area.
front seat/row
•We got there an hour early in order to get seats in the front row.
2 a front organization is a legal one that is run in order to hide a secret or illegal activity:
•a front organization for importing heroin
FRONT MAN (1)
3 technical a front vowel sound is made by raising your tongue at the front of your mouth, such as the vowel sound in 'see'; back
1 [T] especially BrE if someone fronts something such as a musical group or a television programme, they lead it and are the person that the public sees most:
•Fronted by Alan Hull, the band had a number of memorable hits.
2 [T usually passive] also front onto sth BrE if a building or area of land is fronted by something or fronts onto it, it faces that thing:
•The house was fronted by a large ornamental lake.
•The hotel entrance fronted onto a busy road.
3 be fronted by/with sth to be covered or decorated at the front with something:
•a large building fronted with marble [U]
the part of a building or piece of land that is along a road, river etc [only before noun] formal
1 at or relating to the front part of something:
•the frontal armour of the new tanks
2 frontal attack/assault
a) a direct attack on the front of an army:
•The minefields make an all-out frontal attack almost impossible.
b) an attack or criticism that is very strong and direct:
•After the election, the party launched into a frontal assault on the British media.
3 medical relating to the front part of the head:
•tissues in the frontal lobes of the brain
FULL FRONTAL[C] technical
a weather FRONT^1 (12)AmE
in a very important position, where it will receive attention:
•Prayer in schools has become a front-and-center issue.[C]
the front row of seats on each side of the British parliament, on which the leaders of the political parties sit; back bench $ [C]
someone who sits on a front bench in the British parliament; backbencher[U]
the desk where visitors go when they arrive at a hotel or organization[C usually singular]
the main entrance door to a house, at the front; back door $
1 [C] especially BrE the border of a country
[+between/with]
•Lille is close to the frontier between France and Belgium.
on/at the frontier
•Troops established a road block on the frontier.
frontier town/area/post etc (=a town etc on a frontier)
2 the frontier an area where people have never lived before, that not much is known about, especially in the western US before the 20th century:
•a novel about a family's struggle on the American frontier
•space, the final frontier
3 the frontiers of knowledge/physics etc the limits of what is known about something
push back the frontiers (=discover new things) $ plural frontiersmen [C]
a man who lived on the American frontier, especially in the 19th century [C]
a picture or photograph at the beginning of a book, usually opposite the page with the title on it
1 [C usually singular] the place where fighting happens in a war; = front
in/on the front line
•troops who had served in the front line at Magdeburg
•three miles behind the front line
2 in the front line
a) doing something that has not been done before:
•in the front line of the fight against cancer
b) likely to be blamed for an organization's mistakes
- =front-line adjective [only before noun]
•front-line troops[C usually singular]
1 a person who speaks for an organization, for example an illegal one, but is not the leader of it
2 also frontman the leader, and usually the singer, of a musical group[U]
all the pages at the very beginning of a book, including the page with the title on it[singular]
the people in a business who manage things or who deal directly with the public; back office[U] BrE
the areas in a theatre or hotel which are used by the public
- front-of-house adjective
•the front-of-house manager[only before noun]
front-page news/article/story etc something that is printed on the first page of a newspaper because it is very important or exciting[C]
the main room in a house where you usually sit; = living room[C]
the person or thing that is most likely to succeed in a competition:
•the front-runner in June's presidential election $
1 [C,U] very cold weather, when water freezes
late/early/first frost
•Even in May we can sometimes get a late frost.
hard/heavy/sharp/severe frost (=extremely cold weather)
•three continuous nights of hard frost
•the risk of frost damage to crops
2 [U] ice that looks white and powdery and covers things that are outside when the temperature is very cold:
•The grass and trees were white with frost.[T]
especially AmE to cover a cake with a mixture of powdery sugar and liquid; = ice BrE

PHRASAL VERBS
frost over/up phr v
to become covered in frost:
•Overnight all the windowpanes had frosted over. $ [U]
a condition caused by extreme cold, that makes your fingers and toes swell, become darker, and sometimes fall off:
•I nearly got frostbite.
- frostbitten adjective $
1 GLASS frosted glass/window etc frosted glass has been given a rough surface, so that it is not transparent:
•the frosted glass of the bathroom window
2 COLD WEATHER literary covered with frost; = frosty
•the frosted garden
3 CAKE especially AmE covered with frosting; = iced BrE
•chocolate frosted cupcakes
4 HAIR AmE frosted hair has parts that have been made much lighter than others by using chemicals $ [U] especially AmE
a sweet substance put on cakes and made from powdery sugar and butter; = icing BrE $
1
a) extremely cold:
•a beautiful frosty morning
•frosty air
b) covered with FROST:
•the frosty ground
2 unfriendly; = icy
frosty stare/look/tone
•He gave me a frosty stare.
•the frosty silence that followed her announcement
•My words got a frosty reception.
- frostily adverb $
1 [singular, U] a mass of small BUBBLEs on the top of a liquid; = foam
•'Excellent beer,' he said, wiping the froth from his mouth.
2 [singular, U] small white BUBBLEs of SALIVA around a person's or animal's mouth
3 [U] talk or ideas that are attractive but have no real value or meaning:
•The book has too much froth and not enough fact.[I]
1 also froth up if a liquid froths, it produces or contains a lot of small BUBBLEs on top:
•When you first open the bottle the beer will froth for a few seconds.
2 if someone's mouth froths, SALIVA comes out as small white BUBBLEs
3 froth at the mouth
a) to have SALIVA coming out of your mouth as small white BUBBLEs
b) informal to be extremely angry $
1 a liquid that is frothy has lots of small BUBBLEs on top:
•a mug of frothy coffee
2 a frothy book, film etc is enjoyable but not serious or important
- frothily adverb [I]
to make an angry, unhappy, or confused expression, moving your EYEBROWs together:
•She frowned as she read the letter.
[+at]
•Mattie frowned at him disapprovingly.

PHRASAL VERBS
frown on/upon sb/sth phr v
to disapprove of someone or something, especially someone's behaviour:
•Even though divorce is legal, it is still frowned upon.[C usually singular]
the expression on your face when you move your EYEBROWs together because you are angry, unhappy, or confused
with a frown
•He looked at her with a puzzled frown. $
the past tense of FREEZE^1 $
the past participle of FREEZE^1
1 FOOD frozen food has been stored at a very low temperature in order to preserve it; freeze
•You can use fresh or frozen fish.
•frozen peas
2 be frozen (stiff) spoken to feel very cold:
•You must be frozen! Come and sit by the fire.
3 EARTH earth that is frozen is so cold it has become very hard:
•The ground is frozen for most of the year.
•the frozen wastes of Siberia
4 AREA OF WATER a river, lake etc that is frozen has a layer of ice on the surface
5 be frozen with fear/terror/fright to be so afraid, shocked etc that you cannot move $ [U]
a type of natural sugar in fruit juices and HONEY
1 careful to buy only what is necessary; extravagant
•As children we were taught to be frugal and hard-working.
•He led a remarkably frugal existence.
2 a frugal meal is a small meal of plain food; = simple; extravagant
•a frugal breakfast
- frugally adverb
- frugality noun [U] plural fruit or fruits
1 [C,U] something that grows on a plant, tree, or bush, can be eaten as a food, contains seeds or a stone, and is usually sweet:
•Try to eat plenty of fresh fruit.
• fruit and vegetables
•a glass of fruit juice
•a large garden with fruit trees
DRIED FRUIT, SOFT FRUIT
2 [C,U] technical the part of a plant, bush, or tree that contains the seeds
3 the fruit(s) of sth the good results that you have from something, after you have worked very hard:
•I'm looking forward to retirement and having time to enjoy the fruits of my labour (=the results of my hard work).
4 in fruit technical trees, plants etc that are in fruit are producing their fruit
5 the fruits of the earth literary all the natural things that the earth produces, such as fruit, vegetables, or minerals
bear fruit at BEAR^1 (9)[I] technical
if a tree or a plant fruits, it produces fruit[C]
a large BAT (=small animal like a flying mouse) that lives in hot countries and eats fruit
1 [C,U] a cake that has dried fruit in it
2 [C] informal someone who is mentally ill or behaves in a strange way:
•He's an absolute fruitcake.
•You really are nutty as a fruitcake (=crazy). $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
someone who sells fruit[C]
a small fly that eats fruit or decaying plants
1 producing good results; fruitless
•Today's meeting proved more fruitful than last week's.
•a busy and fruitful time
•Annual business reports were a fruitful source of information.
2 literary land that is fruitful produces a lot of crops
- fruitfully adverb
- fruitfulness noun [U] [U] formal
if a plan, project etc comes to fruition, it is successfully put into action and completed, often after a long process
come to/bring to/reach fruition
•His proposals only came to fruition after the war.
•Many people have worked together to bring this scheme to fruition.
failing to achieve what was wanted, especially after a lot of effort; fruitful
fruitless attempt/exercise
•a fruitless attempt to settle the dispute
•So far, their search has been fruitless.
- fruitlessly adverb[C] BrE
a machine which you put money into, and which gives you more money back if three of the same pictures appear on a screen; = slot machine[C,U]
a dish of many different types of fruit cut into small pieces
1 tasting or smelling strongly of fruit:
•a very fruity wine
2 BrE a voice or laugh that is fruity sounds deep and pleasant [C]
a woman who is frumpyalso frumpish
a woman who is frumpy looks unattractive because she dresses in old-fashioned clothes $ [T]
1 if something frustrates you, it makes you feel annoyed or angry because you are unable to do what you want:
•The fact that he's working with amateurs really frustrates him.
2 [usually passive] to prevent someone's plans, efforts, or attempts from succeeding:
•Their attempts to speak to him were frustrated by the guards. $
1 feeling annoyed, upset, and impatient, because you cannot control or change a situation, or achieve something:
•He gets frustrated when people don't understand what he's trying to say.
[+with/at]
•She had become increasingly frustrated with her life.
sexually frustrated (=feeling dissatisfied because you do not have any opportunity to have sex)
2 a frustrated artist/actor/poet etc someone who wants to develop a particular skill but has not been able to do this $
making you feel annoyed, upset, or impatient because you cannot do what you want to do:
•My job can be very frustrating sometimes.
•This is an immensely frustrating experience for the student.
1 [C,U] the feeling of being annoyed, upset, or impatient, because you cannot control or change a situation, or achieve something:
•People often feel a sense of frustration that they are not being promoted quickly enough.
in/with frustration
•I was practically screaming with frustration.
•In spite of his frustrations, he fell in love with the country.
2 [U] the fact of being prevented from achieving what you are trying to achieve
[+of]
•The frustration of his ambitions made him a bitter man. past tense and past participle fried, present participle frying, third person singular fries
1 [I,T] to cook something in hot fat or oil, or to be cooked in hot fat or oil:
•Fry the potatoes, covered, for about 20 minutes.
•I could smell onions frying.
2 [I,T] AmE informal to kill someone in an ELECTRIC CHAIR, or to be killed in an electric chair, as a punishmentalso french fry plural fries [C usually plural] especially AmE
a long thin piece of potato that has been cooked in fat; = chip BrE[plural]
very young fish
SMALL FRYfrier $ [C]
1 deep (fat) fryer a big deep pan for frying food
2 AmE a chicken that has been specially bred to be fried[C]
1 a round flat pan with a long handle, used for frying food
2 out of the frying pan and into the fire to go from a bad situation to one that is even worse[C] BrE informal
a meal of fried food such as eggs, BACON, potatoes etcF/T
the written abbreviation of full-time ; PT
the written abbreviation of fort , used in the names of places:
•Ft. Lauderdaleft. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of foot or, feet :
•a board 6ft x 4ftalso FTP [U]
file transfer protocol; a set of rules that allow you to send documents from one computer to another
- ftp verb [T]also FT 100 Share Index FTSE 100
the FTSE Index the Financial Times Stock Exchange Index a daily list of prices of shares on the London Stock Exchange, based on the daily average prices of shares in the top 100 companies; the Dow Jones Index
1 [C,U] a garden bush with hanging bell-shaped flowers that are red, pink, or white
2 [U] a bright pink colour taboo spoken
1 fuck you/it/them etc used to show that you are very angry at something or someone, or that you do not care about them at all:
•Well, fuck you then. I'll go on my own.
2 [I,T] to have sex with someone
3 fuck me especially BrE used when you think something is surprising or impressive
4 go fuck yourself/himself/themselves etc used to show you are very angry with someone:
•Why don't you go fuck yourself!

PHRASAL VERBS
fuck around phr v
1 to waste time or behave in a silly or careless way:
•Will you two stop fucking around!
2 fuck sb around/about BrE to make someone angry or annoyed by wasting their time:
•Don't fuck me around, OK?

fuck off phr v
to go away - used especially to tell someone to go away in an extremely rude way

fuck sb <=> over phr v AmE
to treat someone very badly:
•They'll just fuck you over if you let them.

fuck up phr v
1 fuck sb <=> up to make someone very unhappy and confused so that they cannot live normally or have normal relationships; mess sb up
•Heroin fucks you up.
2 to make a mistake or do something badly; mess up
•You really fucked up this time.
fuck sth <=> up
•I'm scared of fucking things up.

fuck with sb phr v
to annoy someone or make them angry; mess with sb
•I wouldn't fuck with Alfie if I were you.taboo
used when you are very annoyed about something:
•Fuck! I've forgotten my keys!taboo spoken
1 the fuck used when you are angry or surprised to emphasize what you are saying:
•Get the fuck off my property!
•Shut the fuck up!
what/how/who etc the fuck
•What the fuck do you think you're doing?
2 [C usually singular] the act of having sex
3 not give a fuck also not give a flying fuck AmE to not care at all what happens[U] BrE taboo spoken
nothing:
•Most of the time he sat around doing fuck all. taboo spoken
1 also fucked up completely broken or in a very bad condition:
•The engine's completely fucked.
2 in a very bad situation which will not improve:
•If she can't lend me the money, I'm fucked.taboo spoken
1 very unhappy and confused, so that you cannot control your life properly; messed up
•After three years with Johnny, I was completely fucked up.
2 also fucked completely broken or in a very bad condition:
•These speakers are fucked up.
3 AmE having drunk too much alcohol or taken illegal drugsalso fuck $ [C] taboo spoken
someone who you dislike very much or think is stupid [C] AmE taboo spoken
someone who you dislike very much or think is stupid [only before noun] taboo spoken
1 used to emphasize that you are angry or annoyed:
•It's none of your fucking business!
•I know fucking well you're lying to me.
•What the fucking hell are you staring at?
2 used to emphasize your opinion of something:
•That's fucking good coffee.
•What a fucking idiot! [C] taboo spoken
someone you dislike very much or think is stupid. Do not use this word. [T] BrE informal
if something, especially alcohol or drugs, fuddles you or your mind, it makes you unable to think clearly
- fuddled adjective
•her fuddled mind plural fuddy-duddies [C]
someone who has old-fashioned ideas and attitudes:
•You're such an old fuddy-duddy!
- fuddy-duddy adjective
1 [U] a soft creamy brown sweet food
2 a fudge BrE an attempt to deal with a situation that does not solve its problems completely, or only makes it seem better
1 [I,T] to avoid giving exact details or a clear answer about something:
•He tried to fudge the issue by saying that he did not want to specify periods.
2 [T] to change important figures or facts to deceive people:
•Sibley has been fudging his data for years now.
[C,U] a substance such as coal, gas, or oil that can be burned to produce heat or energy:
•The plane was running low on fuel.
•Coal is one of the cheapest fuels.
•the car's performance and fuel consumption (=how much fuel it uses to travel a particular distance)
•an empty fuel tank
add fuel to the fire/flames at ADD (9)past tense and past participle fuelled, present participle fuelling BrE past tense and past participle fueled, present participle fueling AmE
1 [T] to make something, especially something bad, increase or become stronger:
•His words fuelled her anger still more.
fuel speculation/rumours/controversy etc
•Progress was slow, fueling concerns that the stadium would not be finished on time.
2 also fuel up [I,T] if you fuel a vehicle or if it fuels up, fuel is put into it:
•We'd better fuel up at the next town.
•The van was fuelled and waiting in the basement car park.[C]
a piece of equipment that combines two different ELEMENTs , such as OXYGEN and HYDROGEN, to produce electricity in order to supply power to a vehicle or machine
a fuel-efficient engine or vehicle burns fuel in a more effective way than usual, so that it loses less fuel[U]
a method of putting liquid fuel directly into an engine, which allows a car to ACCELERATE more quickly [singular] BrE informal
air inside a room that feels heavy and unpleasant because of smoke, heat, or too many people:
•the fug of the bar [C]
someone who is trying to avoid being caught by the police
[+from]
•a fugitive from US justice[only before noun]
1 trying to avoid being caught by the police
2 literary lasting for a very short time:
•rare and fugitive visits [C,U]
a piece of music with a tune that is repeated regularly in different KEYs by different voices or instruments [in adjectives]
1 full of something:
•an eventful day
2 having the quality of something or causing something:
•restful colours
•Is it painful?
- fully suffix [in adverbs]
•shouting cheerfully [in nouns]
1 the amount of a substance needed to fill a particular container:
•two cupfuls of milk
2 as much as can be carried by or contained in a particular part of the body:
•an armful of flowers plural fulcrums or fulcra [C]
the point on which a LEVER (=bar) turns, balances, or is supported in turning or lifting somethingfulfill AmE past tense and past participle fulfilled, present participle fulfilling [T] BrE
1 if you fulfil a hope, wish, or aim, you achieve the thing that you hoped for, wished for etc:
•Visiting Disneyland has fulfilled a boyhood dream.
•Being deaf hasn't stopped Karen fulfilling her ambition to be a hairdresser.
•It was then that the organization finally began to fulfill the hopes of its founders.
fulfil an aim/a goal/an objective
•an analysis of how different countries are attempting to fulfill their political goals
2 to do or provide what is necessary or needed
fulfil a role/duty/function etc
•A good police officer is not fulfilling his role if he neglects this vital aspect.
fulfil a requirement/condition/obligation etc
•Britain was accused of failing to fulfil its obligations under the EU Treaty.
•Much of the electrical equipment failed to fulfill safety requirements.
•There is little doubt that the scheme fulfils a need for our community.
3 fulfil a promise/pledge etc formal to do what you said you would do; = keep; break
•I'd like to see him fulfil his promise to reorganize the army.
4 fulfil your potential/promise to be as successful as you possibly can be:
•We want to make sure that all children are able to fulfil their potential.
5 if your work fulfils you, it makes you feel satisfied because you are using all your skills, qualities etc
6 fulfil yourself to feel satisfied because you are using all your skills, qualities etc:
•She succeeded in fulfilling herself both as an actress and as a mother.
7 fulfil a prophesy if a PROPHESY is fulfilled, something happens that someone said would happen
happy and satisfied because your life is interesting and you are doing useful or important things:
•Adult education helps people achieve more fulfilled lives.
making you feel happy and satisfied because you are doing interesting, useful, or important things:
•Nursing is still one of the most fulfilling careers.fulfillment AmE [U] BrE
1 the feeling of being happy and satisfied with your life because you are doing interesting, useful, or important things:
•Are you looking for greater fulfillment and satisfaction in your work?
•a deep sense of fulfilment that makes life worthwhile
seek/find fulfilment
•The real joy of the priesthood is helping people find personal fulfilment.
2 when something you wanted happens or is given to you; = achievement
[+of]
•the fulfillment of a long-held dream
3 the act of doing something that you promised or agreed to do
fulfilment of a promise/duty/condition etc
•People are wondering if they will ever see the fulfillment of the government's campaign pledges.
1 NO SPACE containing as much or as many things or people as possible, so there is no space left; empty
•The train was completely full.
•Don't talk with your mouth full.
•The class is full, but you can register for next term.
[+of]
•The kitchen was full of smoke.
be crammed/stuffed/packed etc full of sth
•Ted's workshop was crammed full of old engines.
half-full/three-quarters full etc
•McQuaid filled his glass until it was three-quarters full.
•The bath was full to the brim (=completely full) with hot water.
full (up) to bursting (=completely full) BrE informal
•The filing cabinet was full to bursting.
2 INCLUDING EVERYTHING [only before noun] complete and including all parts or details:
•Please write your full name and address on the form.
•The Health Centre offers a full range of services.
•Lotus will not reveal full details until the Motor Show.
•The BBC promised a full investigation.
•I don't think he's telling us the full story (=everything he knows about the matter).
3 HIGHEST AMOUNT/LEVEL [only before noun] the highest level or greatest amount of something that is possible; = maximum
•rising prosperity and full employment
•The charity helps disabled children reach their full potential.
•Few customers take full advantage of off-peak fares.
•Parker was driving at full speed when he hit the wall.
in full leaf/bloom
•The roses were now in full bloom.
4 HAVING A LOT OF STH be full of sth
a) to contain many things of the same kind:
•a garden full of flowers
•His essay was full of mistakes.
•The music papers were full of gossip about the band.
•Life's full of surprises, isn't it?
b) to feel, express, or show a lot of a particular emotion or quality
full of excitement/energy/hope etc
•Lucy was a happy child, always full of life.
•He was full of praise for the work of the unit.
c) to talk or think a lot about a particular thing:
•She was full of plans for the wedding.
5 FOOD also full up BrE [not before noun] having eaten so much food that you cannot eat any more:
•No more, thanks. I'm full.
6 EMPHASIS [only before noun] used to emphasize an amount, quantity, or rate
three/six etc full days/years/pages etc
•We devote five full days a month to training.
•His pants rose a full three inches off his shoes.
7 BUSY busy and involving lots of different activities:
•Before her illness, Rose enjoyed a full life.
•Go to bed. You've a full day tomorrow.
8 RANK having or giving all the rights, duties etc that belong to a particular rank or position
full professor/member/colonel etc
•Only full members have the right to vote.
•a full driving licence
9 be full of yourself to have a high opinion of yourself - used to show disapproval:
•My first impression was that he was a bit full of himself.
10 be full of crap/shit/it not polite a rude expression used to say that someone often says things that are wrong or stupid:
•Don't listen to Jerry. He's full of it.
11 CLOTHES made using a lot of material and fitting loosely:
•a dress with a full skirt
12 BODY large and rounded in an attractive way
full figure/face/breasts etc
•clothes for the fuller figure
13 TASTE having a strong satisfying taste:
•Now you can enjoy Nescafé's fuller flavour in a decaffeinated form.
FULL-BODIED
14 SOUND pleasantly loud and deep:
•the rich full sound of the cello
15 full price not a reduced price:
•If you're over 14, you have to pay full price.
16 in full view of sb so that all the people in a place can see, especially when this is embarrassing or shocking:
•The argument happened on stage in full view of the audience.
17 be in full swing if an event or process is in full swing, it has reached its highest level of activity:
•By 8.30, the party was in full swing.
18 full speed/steam ahead doing something with as much energy and effort as possible:
•With last season's misery behind them, it's full steam ahead for the Bears.
19 be full of beans to be excited and have lots of energy
20 (at) full blast informal as strongly, loudly, or quickly as possible:
•The heater was on full blast but I was still cold.
•a car stereo playing Wagner at full blast
21 (at) full tilt/pelt moving as fast as possible:
•She ran full tilt into his arms.
22 be in full cry if a group of people are in full cry, they are criticizing someone very strongly:
•Anyone who's seen the world's press in full cry can understand how Diana felt.
23 to the full to the fullest AmE in the best or most complete way:
•Ed believes in living life to the full.
24 come/go/turn full circle to be in the same situation in which you began, even though there have been changes during the time in between:
•Fashion has come full circle and denim is back.
FULLY; have your hands full at HAND^1 (29); draw yourself up to your full height at DRAW UP (4)
in full including the whole of something:
•The debt must be paid in full.
•His statement on the handling of prisoners is worth quoting in full.
directly
[+on/in]
•She looked him full in the face as she spoke. [C]
a player in a football team who plays in defence, stopping opponents from getting the ball; = defenderBrE
on full beam car HEADLIGHTs (=the main lights at the front) that are on full beam are switched to a position that makes them shine very brightly and straight ahead; = high beam AmE; dipped[only before noun]
1 done with a lot of energy or in a complete way:
•The conflict could escalate into a full-blooded war.
2 having parents, grandparents etc from only one race of people:
•Her father is a full-blooded Cherokee.[only before noun]
having all the qualities of something that is at its most complete or advanced stage:
•The drop in shares could develop into a full-blown crisis.
•full-blown AIDS[U]
a hotel offering full board provides guests with all their meals; half board
•A two-night break costs £125 full board.
1 a full-bodied wine or other drink has a pleasantly strong taste; light
2 a full-bodied sound is complicated and interestingAmE
fast and with a lot of energy:
•Kate took a huge slice and was going at it full bore.full-color AmE [only before noun] BrE
printed using coloured inks rather than only black and white:
•a full-colour brochure[singular]
1 a method of defending in a strong way in BASKETBALL
2 AmE informal the use of pressure or influence by several groups on someone:
•The DEA and the Justice Department put a full-court press on the drug barons.BrE
full-cream milk is ordinary milk without any of the fat removed; skimmed, semi-skimmed[U]
special clothes worn for official occasions:
•officers in full dress uniform $ [U]
dried clay made into a powder that is used to clean cloth or oil
1 showing the whole of someone's face; profile
•In portraits, chiefs were invariably shown full face.
2 covering or protecting your whole face:
•a fullface helmetBrE
full-fat milk, cheese etc contains all the fat that is naturally in it; low fat, reduced fatfully fledged BrE [only before noun] AmE
completely developed, trained, or established:
•India has the potential to become a full-fledged major power.[only before noun]
1 showing the whole of the front of someone's body without clothes on:
•scenes of full frontal nudity
2 done in a direct and strong way:
•a full frontal attack on the governmentfully-grown BrE AmE
a full-grown animal, plant, or person has developed to their full size and will not grow any bigger:
•A full-grown elephant may weigh 2,000 pounds.[C usually singular]
1 an occasion at a cinema, concert hall, sports field etc when there are no empty seats:
•Billy Graham is a speaker who can be sure of playing to a full house.
2 three cards of one kind and a pair of another kind in a game of POKER
1 full-length mirror/photograph/portrait etc a mirror etc that shows all of a person, from their head to their feet
2 full-length skirt/dress/coat etc a skirt etc that reaches the ground, or is the longest possible for that particular type of clothing:
•a full-length evening dress
3 full-length play/book/film etc a play etc that is the normal length:
•Stravinsky's only full-length opera
someone who is lying full-length is lying flat with their legs straight out:
•Ali was stretched out full-length on the couch.[U] BrE
if you turn the STEERING WHEEL of a car to full lock, you turn it as far as it can be turned[plural]
1 if you give someone full marks, you praise them for doing something well
full marks to sb (for sth)
•Not the most stylish mobile, but full marks to Marconi for originality.
2 BrE the highest number of points you can get for school work
the full monty informal the whole amount of something that people want and expect:
•The ice cream was covered in sauce, nuts, chocolate - the full monty.[singular]
the moon when you can see all of it as a complete circle; new moon, half moon, crescent moon [U]
1 in the fullness of time formal after a period of time, when a situation has developed; = in due course
•I'm sure he'll tell us what's bothering him in the fullness of time.
2 the quality of being large and round in an attractive way:
•Use a red gloss on your bottom lip to give it fullness.
3 the quality of being complete
4 the quality of having a pleasantly strong taste or deep sound:
•This recording has a fullness and warmth that brings out the brilliance of the piece.
5 the condition of being full:
•Do you have a feeling of fullness after even a small meal?[only before noun]
extreme:
•If you're going for full-on glamour, add some sparkly jewellery.[only before noun]
covering all of one page in a newspaper or magazine:
•a full-page advert[only before noun]
1 as complete or thorough as possible
full-scale attack/war/riot etc
full-scale study/review etc
•The government will conduct a full-scale inquiry into the crash.
2 a full-scale drawing, model etc is the same size as the thing it represents
of the largest possible size:
•The battery can run a full-size laptop for 12 hours.
•a full-size basketball court
[C] BrE a point (.) that marks the end of a sentence or the short form of a word; = period AmE
•Put a full stop at the end of the sentence.BrE informal
used at the end of a sentence to emphasize that you do not want to say any more about a subject; = period AmE
•I don't have a reason. I just don't want to go, full stop.[only before noun]
a full-term baby is born after a PREGNANCY of the normal length; premature[U] BrE
the end of the normal period of playing time in a sports game; half time
•As the ball went in, the referee blew his whistle for full time.
1 for all the hours of a week during which it is usual for people to work, study etc; part-time
work/study etc full-time
•She works full-time and has two kids.
•The success of the series enabled her to concentrate full-time on writing.
full-time staff/student etc
•They're looking for full-time staff at the library.
full-time job/education etc
•We aim to double the number of young people in full-time study.
2 be a full-time job to be very hard work and take a lot of time:
•Keeping pace with changes is a full-time job.
completely:
•The restaurant is fully booked this evening.
•Elisa has not fully recovered from the incident.
•I am fully aware of your problems.
•The changes in policy are fully described in the review.
•I fully accept that what he says is true.
•This concept is discussed more fully in Chapter 9.[not before noun]
wearing clothes, including things such as shoes:
•She collapsed fully dressed on the bed.full-fledged AmE [only before noun] BrE
completely developed, trained, or established:
•After seven years of training she's now a fully-fledged doctor.full-grown AmE BrE
a fully-grown animal, plant, or person has developed to their full size and will not grow any bigger:
•After six weeks, the larva emerges as a fully-grown beetle. [I] formal
to criticize someone or something angrily
[+at/against/about]
•Mick was fulminating against the unfairness of it all.
- fulmination noun [C,U] formal
a fulsome speech or piece of writing sounds insincere because it contains too much praise, expressions of thanks etc
fulsome gratitude/praise/tribute etc
•The book contains a fulsome dedication to his wife.
- fulsomely adverb
•a fulsomely congratulatory message
- fulsomeness noun [U]
1 also fumble around [I,T] to try to hold, move, or find something with your hands in an awkward way
[+at/in/with]
•She dressed, her cold fingers fumbling with the buttons.
[+for]
•I fumbled around in my bag for a cigarette.
•She reached round to fumble the light on.
2 [I,T] if you fumble with your words when you are speaking, you have difficulty saying something
[+for]
•Asked for an explanation, Mike had fumbled for words.
•The second candidate fumbled her lines.
3 [I,T] to drop a ball after catching it:
•Quarterback Rattay was hit and fumbled the ball.
- fumble noun [C]
- fumbling noun [C]
1 [I,T] to be angry about something
[+at/over/about]
•She sat in the car, silently fuming about what he'd said.
•'You've no right to be here,' he fumed.
2 [I] to give off smoke or gases [plural]
strong-smelling gas or smoke that is unpleasant to breathe in:
•paint fumes [T]
to remove disease, BACTERIA, insects etc from somewhere using chemicals, smoke, or gas
- fumigation noun [U] [U]
1 an experience or activity that is very enjoyable and exciting

have fun (=have an enjoyable time)
good/great fun especially BrE
a lot of fun especially AmE
harmless fun (=enjoyable activities that do not have a bad effect on anyone)
good clean fun (=enjoyable activities that do not involve anything bad or immoral)
sound like fun
join in the fun
it's no fun

•There's plenty of fun for all the family.
• The children were having so much fun, I hated to call them inside.
• Why don't you come with us? It'll be great fun.
• Basketball games are a lot of fun to watch.
• It was a little bit of harmless fun, that's all.
• Snowboarding - that sounds like fun.
•Several Internet sites are inviting people to join in the fun for free.
• It's no fun eating on your own.

2 for fun also just for the fun of it if you do something for fun, you do it because you enjoy it and not for any other reason:
•I simply believe that killing animals for fun is wrong.
•Like most people her age, Deborah struck up relationships just for the fun of it.
3 sb is (great/good) fun BrE used to say that someone is enjoyable to be with because they are happy and amusing:
•You'll like her, darling, she's great fun.
4 behaviour that is not serious and shows happiness and enjoyment:
•Jan's always so cheerful and full of fun.
•Her sense of fun made her very popular at college.
•Evelyn would tease her, but only in fun.
5 fun and games activities, behaviour etc that are not serious - often used to show disapproval
6 make fun of sb/sth to make unkind, insulting remarks about someone or something:
•I'm not making fun of you. I admire what you did.
7 like fun AmE spoken old-fashioned used to say that something is not true or will not happen:
•'I'm going to Barbara's house.' 'Like fun you are! Come and finish your chores first.'
figure of fun at FIGURE^1 (12); poke fun at at POKE^1 (6)[only before noun]
1 enjoyable and amusing:
•Try snowboarding - it's a really fun sport.
a fun day/evening etc
2 a fun person is enjoyable to be with because they are happy and amusing:
•She's a really fun person to be around.
1 [C,U] the purpose that something has, or the job that someone or something does
perform/fulfil a function
•In your new job you will perform a variety of functions.
•The church fulfils a valuable social function.
•The nervous system regulates our bodily functions (=eating, breathing, going to the toilet etc).
•Bauhaus architects thought that function was more important than form.
2 [C] a large party or official event:
•This room may be hired for weddings and other functions.
3 [C usually singular] technical a quantity or quality whose value changes according to another quantity or quality that is related to it:
•The degree of drought is largely a function of temperature and drainage.
4 [C] one of the basic operations performed by a computer[I]
1 to work in the correct or intended way
function normally/correctly/properly etc
•Flights in and out of Taipei are functioning normally again.
•Her legs have now ceased to function.
•You know I can't function (=cannot perform normal activities) without a coffee in the morning.
2 if something functions in a particular way, it works in that way:
•an understanding of how the economy functions

PHRASAL VERBS
function as sth phr v
if something functions as a particular thing, it does what that type of thing normally does, or is used as that thing:
•A library is functioning as a temporary hospital to cope with casualties.
1 designed to be useful rather than beautiful or attractive; decorative
•buildings that are sensitively designed, not purely functional
2 something that is functional is working correctly; = operational
•By 2004, the Supertram is expected to be fully functional.
3 relating to the purpose of something:
•The two departments have slight functional differences.
- functionally adverb[C,U]
food that is designed to improve health and lower the risk of disease, for example by increasing the amount of VITAMINs in it, or removing some of the FAT; = nutraceuticals [U]
the idea that the most important thing about a building, piece of furniture etc is that it is useful
- functionalist noun [C]
- functionalist adjective plural functionalities [C,U]
one or all of the operations that a computer, software program, or piece of equipment is able to perform $ plural functionaries [C]
someone who has a job doing unimportant or boring official duties:
•a meeting of Party functionaries[C] technical
a key on a computer KEYBOARD that tells the computer to do something[C]
a word that does not mean anything on its own, but shows the relationship between other words in a sentence, for example words such as 'but' or 'if'
1 [C] an amount of money that is collected and kept for a particular purpose:
•The house fell into disrepair until a restoration fund was set up.
pension/hardship/compensation etc fund
FUNDING, TRUST FUND
2 funds [plural] money that an organization needs or has:
•A sale is being held to raise funds for the school.
government/public funds
•claims that ministers had misused public funds
•The park remains unfinished due to lack of funds.
•The Museum is so short of funds (=has so little money) it may have to sell the painting.
3 [singular] an organization that collects money, for example to help people who are ill, old etc; charity
•We give to the Children's Fund every Christmas.
4 a fund of sth a large supply of something:
•He had a fund of stories about his boyhood.
5 in funds formal having enough money to do something[T]
to provide money for an activity, organization, event etc:
•The project is jointly funded by several local companies.
•government-funded research
1 relating to the most basic and important parts of something:
•We have to tackle the fundamental cause of the problem.
fundamental change/difference/distinction/shift etc
•a fundamental difference in opinion
fundamental mistake/error
•Novice programmers sometimes make fundamental errors.
•the fundamental principles of liberty and equality
2 very necessary and important:
• fundamental human rights
[+to]
•Water is fundamental to survival. [C]
1 someone who follows religious laws very strictly:
•Muslim fundamentalists
2 a Christian who believes that everything in the Bible is completely and actually true
- fundamentalism noun [U]
- fundamentalist adjective
•a fundamentalist doctrine
in every way that is important or basic:
•The conclusions of the report are fundamentally wrong.
•The political culture of the US is fundamentally different.
the fundamentals (of sth) the most important ideas, rules etc that something is based on:
•an introduction to the fundamentals of design and print production [U]
money that is provided by an organization for a particular purpose:
•College directors have called for more government funding. $ [C]
1 someone who collects money for a CHARITY, political party etc, for example by arranging social events that people pay to attend
2 an event that is organized to collect money for a CHARITY, political party etc [U]
the activity of collecting money for a specific purpose, especially in order to help people who are ill, old etc:
•an Action Pack full of fundraising ideas [C]
1 a religious ceremony for burying or CREMATING (=burning) someone who has died; burial, cremation
•The funeral will be held at St. Martin's Church.
•Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of the two boys.
•the minister who conducted the funeral service
•Nelson's funeral procession down the Thames
•Ramdas, the third son of the Mahatma, set fire to the funeral pyre.
funeral expenses/costs
2 it's your funeral spoken used to warn someone that they, and no one else, must deal with the results of their actions[C]
someone who is paid to organize a funeral; = undertaker BrEalso funeral parlour [C]
the place where a body is kept before a funeral $ [only before noun]
relating to a funeral or the place where someone is buried:
•a funerary monument $
sad, slow, and suitable for a funeral:
•funereal music
•moving at a funeral pace $ [C] BrE
a noisy outdoor event where you can ride on machines, play games to win prizes etc; = fair
connected with or caused by a FUNGUS:
•a fungal infection [C,U]
a chemical used for destroying fungus plural fungi or funguses
[C,U] a simple type of plant that has no leaves or flowers and that grows on plants or other surfaces. MUSHROOMs and MOULD are both fungi. $ [C]
a small railway that carries people up and down a steep hill or mountain, pulled by a thick metal rope [U]
1 a style of music with a strong RHYTHM that is based on JAZZ and African music
2 in a (blue) funk AmE informal very unhappy, worried, or afraid:
•She's in a funk about giving her talk on Sunday.
3 AmE informal a strong smell that comes from someone's body[T] BrE old-fashioned
to avoid doing something because it is difficult, or because you are afraid informal
1 modern, fashionable, and interesting:
•Add a touch of style with these functional yet funky wall lights.
2 funky music is simple with a strong RHYTHM that is easy to dance to
3 AmE having a bad smell or a dirty appearance [C]
1 a thin tube with a wide top that you use for pouring liquid into a container with a narrow opening, such as a bottle
2 BrE a metal CHIMNEY that allows smoke from a steam engine or steam-ship to get outpast tense and past participle funnelled, present participle funnelling BrE past tense and past participle funneled, present participle funneling AmE
1 [I,T always + adv/prep] if you funnel something somewhere, or if it funnels there, it goes there by passing through a narrow opening:
•Police at the barriers funnelled the crowd into the arena.
•Incoming tides funnel up the channel with enormous power.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to send money, information etc from various places to someone; = channel
•His office funneled millions of dollars in secret contributions to the re-election campaign.
the funnies AmE informal a number of different CARTOONs in a newspaper or magazine
1 funnily enough spoken used to say that something is unexpected or strange:
•Funnily enough, I was just about to call you when you called me.
2 in an amusing or strange way comparative funnier, superlative funniest
1 AMUSING making you laugh
funny story/joke/film etc
•Do you remember any funny stories about work?
hilariously/hysterically/wickedly funny
•a wickedly funny scene from the film
•a search for the funniest man in Britain
•If this is your idea of a joke, I don't find it at all funny.
•Luckily, when I explained the situation, he saw the funny side (=recognized that it was partly funny).
•His laughter stopped her mid-sentence. 'What's so funny?' she demanded.
• It's not funny (=don't laugh), Paul; poor Teresa was nearly in tears.
!! Do not use funny to mean 'enjoyable'. Use fun: The picnic was really fun.
2 STRANGE unusual, strange, or difficult to explain:
•I had a funny feeling something was going to happen.
•What's that funny smell?
• It's funny how you remember the words of songs, even ones you don't really like.
It's funny (that)
•It's funny that the kids are so quiet.
• That's funny. I was sure I had $5 in my purse, but it's not there now.
•People tell me I ran the greatest race of my life, but the funny thing is I can't remember much about it.
• It's a funny old world (=strange or unusual things happen in life).
3 DISHONEST appearing to be illegal, dishonest, or wrong:
•There's something funny going on here.
•Remember, Marvin, no funny business while we're out.
4 a funny look if you give someone a funny look, you look at them in a way that shows you think they are behaving strangely:
•I hunkered down, ignoring the funny looks from passers-by.
5 ILL feeling slightly ill:
•I always feel funny after a long car ride.
6 CRAZY BrE informal slightly crazy:
•After his wife died he went a bit funny.
7 go funny informal if a machine, piece of equipment etc goes funny, it stops working properly:
•I just turned it on and the screen went all funny.
8 very funny! spoken used when someone is laughing at you or playing a trick and you do not think it is amusing:
•Very funny! Who's hidden my car keys?
9 I'm not being funny (but) BrE spoken used when you are serious or do not want to offend someone:
•I'm not being funny, but we haven't got much time.
10 funny little sth used to describe something you like because it is small, unusual, or interesting:
•The town centre is crammed with funny little shops.
•his funny little grin
11 funny peculiar or funny ha-ha? BrE funny weird/strange or funny ha-ha? AmE used when someone has described something as funny and you want to know whether they mean it is strange or amusing:
•'Tim's a funny guy.' 'Funny weird or funny ha-ha?'

WORD FOCUS: funny
similar words:
amusing
humorous
witty
comical
very funny:
hilarious
hysterical
something that someone says that is intended to make people laugh:
joke
pun
play on words
[singular]
the soft part of your elbow that particularly hurts when you hit it[C] informal
an expression meaning a PSYCHIATRIC hospital that some people consider offensive - used humorously plural funnymen [C]
a man who works as a COMEDIAN - used in newspapers etc:
•the nation's best-loved funnyman[U] informal
money that has been printed illegally; counterfeit[plural] AmE informal
another expression for the FUNNIES plural funnywomen [C]
a woman who works as a COMEDIAN - used in newspapers etc[C]
an event in which people run a long distance in order to collect money for CHARITY $
1 [U] the thick soft hair that covers the bodies of some animals, such as cats, dogs, and rabbits
FURRY (1)
2 [C,U] the skin of a dead animal with the fur still attached:
•a fur coat
•a fur-lined jacket
•a ban on fur farming (=keeping and killing animals for their fur)
3 [C] a coat or piece of clothing made of fur:
•Lady Yolanda was swathed in elegant furs.
4 [U] a material that looks and feels like fur
imitation/fake/artificial etc fur
•a pair of gloves trimmed with fake fur
5 [U] a harmful or unpleasant substance that sometimes forms on surfaces that are always wet, such as water pipes; = scale
6 the fur flies used to say that an angry argument or fight starts:
•If you're both feeling frustrated, the fur may fly.also fur up BrE past tense and past participle furred, present participle furring [I]
to become covered with an unwanted substance
- furred adjective
•Symptoms include dry lips and a furred tongue. $
1 very angry
[+at/about]
•Residents in the area are furious at the decision.
[+with]
•She was furious with herself for letting things get out of hand.
furious that
•Her family are furious that her name has been published by the press.
•She was absolutely furious.
2 [usually before noun] done with a lot of energy, effort, or speed:
•Neil set off at a furious pace.
furious debate/argument etc
•There was a furious row over the proposals.
•The action is fast and furious.; fury
- furiously adverb $
a furled newspaper, flag etc has been rolled or folded neatly:
•He held a furled umbrella in one hand.
- furl verb [T] $ [C]
a unit for measuring length, equal to about 201 metres, which is used in horse racing. There are eight furlongs in a mile. $ [C,U]
1 a period of time when a soldier or someone working in another country can return to their own country; = leave
•a young soldier home on furlough
2 AmE a period of time when workers are told not to work, especially because there is not enough money to pay them; layoff
•workers forced to take a long, unpaid furlough
3 AmE a short period of time during which a prisoner is allowed to leave prison before returning:
•Morton stabbed the man while on furlough.
- furlough verb [T] AmE
•280,000 federal workers have been furloughed. $ [C]
1 a large container for a very hot fire, used to produce power, heat, or liquid metal
2 a piece of equipment used to heat a building $ [T]
1 to put furniture and other things into a house or room:
•Having bought the house, they couldn't afford to furnish it.
furnish sth with sth
•a room furnished with a desk and swivel chair
2 formal to supply or provide something:
•Will these finds furnish more information on prehistoric man?
furnish sb/sth with sth
•John was furnished with a list of local solicitors.
- furnished adjective
•The bedrooms are elegantly furnished.
•a fully furnished flat $ [plural]
the furniture and other things, such as curtains, in a room:
•a home furnishings store $ [U]
large objects such as chairs, tables, beds, and cupboards:
•I helped him choose the furniture for his house.
•I can't think of a single piece of furniture in my house that I bought new.
•office furniturefuror AmE $ [singular] BrE
a sudden expression of anger among a large group of people about something that has happened; = row
cause/create a furore
•The security leaks have caused a widespread furore.
[+over/about]
•the furor over the oil embargo $ [C]
someone who makes or sells fur clothing $ [C]
1 a deep line or fold in the skin of someone's face, especially on the forehead; wrinkle
•A deep furrow appeared between his brows.
2 a wide deep line made in the surface of something, especially the ground:
•the regular furrows of a plowed field
•The river cuts a long straight furrow between the hills.
1 [I,T] to make the skin on your face form deep lines or folds, especially because you are worried or thinking hard:
•Quin's brow furrowed in concentration.
2 [T] to make a wide, deep line in the surface of something
- furrowed adjective
•a furrowed brow
1 covered with fur or short threads; fluffy
•furry kittens
•pink furry slippers
•furry leaves
2 furry friends informal used humorously to talk about animals in general; feathered friend $
1 MORE more, or to a greater degree:
•A spokesman declined to comment until the evidence could be studied further.
•The flavour of the wine is further improved during the aging period.
•Whaling in Australia was stopped. But the Australian government went further (=said or did something more extreme) and proposed a global ban.
[+into/away etc]
•Marcus sank further and further into debt.
2 take sth further to take action at a more serious or higher level, especially in order to get the result you want:
•The police do not propose to take the matter further.
take sth a stage/step further
•Critics want the government to take this one stage further and ban the film altogether.
3 DISTANCE also farther a greater distance, or beyond a particular place:
•They walked a little further.
[+up/away/along etc]
•His farm is located further away from Riobamba than his brother's.
•His hands moved further down her back.
•They've never been further south than San Diego.
4 TIME into the past or the future
[+back/on/ahead etc]
•Five years further on, a cure has still not been found.
•The records don't go any further back than 1960.
•It might be a sign, much further down the road (=in the future), of a change in policy.
5 IN ADDITION [sentence adverb] formal used to introduce something additional that you want to talk about; = furthermore
•Butter sales have fallen because margarine has improved in flavor. Further, butter consumption has decreased because of links to heart disease.
6 further to sth written formal used in letters to mention a previous letter, conversation etc about the same matter:
•Further to your letter of February 5th, we can confirm your order.
7 nothing could be further from the truth used when you want to say that something is completely untrue:
•People often described him as a bitter academic, but nothing could be further from the truth.
8 nothing could be/is further from sb's mind/thoughts used to emphasize that someone is not thinking about or intending something
9 sth must not go any further used to say that something you are telling someone is secret or private[only before noun]
1 more or additional:
•Are there any further questions?
•We have decided to take no further action.
further details/information etc
•Visit our website for further details.
a further 10 miles/5 minutes etc
•Cook gently for a further 10 minutes.
2 until further notice until you are told that something has changed:
•Lacunza ordered the suspension of the elections until further notice.[T]
to help something progress or be successful; promote
•He dedicated his life to furthering the cause of world peace.
•Alan had been using her to further his career. $ [U] formal
the act or process of helping something progress or be done
[+of]
•the furtherance of science
in furtherance of sth
•Staff are encouraged to use information resources in furtherance of their own professional interests.[U] BrE
abbreviation FE education for adults after leaving school, that is not at a university; higher education $ [sentence adverb] formal
in addition to what has already been said:
•He is old and unpopular. Furthermore, he has at best only two years of political life ahead of him. $ formal
most distant; = furthest
•In the furthermost corner sat a tall thin man. $
1 at the greatest distance from a place or point in time; = farthest
•There was a huge tapestry on the furthest wall.
[+away/from]
•He walked slowly toward the end of the jury box furthest from the judge.
2 more or to a greater degree than other people or things, or than before:
•Maltby's book has probably gone furthest in explaining these events. $
behaving as if you want to keep something secret; = secretive
•There was something furtive about his actions.
furtive glances/looks
•Chris kept stealing furtive glances at me.
- furtively adverb
•She opened the door and looked furtively down the hall.
- furtiveness noun [U] $
1 [U] extreme, often uncontrolled anger; = rage
•I was shaking with fury.
•Jenny stepped forward, her eyes blazing with fury.
•The report was leaked to the press, much to the president's fury.
2 [singular] a feeling of extreme anger:
•'Go on then!' shouted Jamie in a fury. 'See if I care!'
3 a fury of sth a state of very busy activity or strong feeling:
•She was listening with such a fury of concentration that she did not notice Arthur had left.
•In a fury of frustration and fear Nina bit his hand.
4 like fury informal with great effort or energy:
•We went out and played like fury.
5 [U] literary used to describe very bad weather conditions:
•At last the fury of the storm lessened.
6 Fury one of the three snake-haired goddesses in ancient Greek stories who punished crime; furious $ [U]
a wild bush with sharp stems and bright yellow flowers [C]
1 a short thin piece of wire inside electrical equipment which prevents damage by melting and stopping the electricity when there is too much power:
•two 13 amp fuses
•I taught him how to change a fuse.
blow a fuse (=make it melt by putting too much electricity through it)
2 also fuze AmE a thing that delays a bomb, FIREWORK etc from exploding until you are a safe distance away, or makes it explode at a particular time
3 a short fuse if someone has a short fuse, they get angry very easily
blow a fuse at BLOW^1 (16)[I,T]
1 to join together physically, or to make things join together, and become a single thing
fuse (sth) together
•The egg and sperm fuse together as one cell.
2 to combine different qualities, ideas, or things, or to be combined; = merge
•Their music fuses elements as diverse as Cajun, bebop and Cuban waltzes.
fuse (sth) with sth
•Leonard takes Carver-style dirty realism and fuses it with the pace of a detective story.
fuse (sth) into sth
•We intend to fuse the companies into a single organization.
3 BrE if electrical equipment fuses, or if you fuse it, it stops working because a fuse has melted:
•The lights have fused again.
4 technical if a rock or metal fuses, or if ,you fuse it, it becomes liquid by being heated:
•Lead fuses at quite a low temperature.
FUSION[C]
a box that contains the fuses of the electrical system of a house or other building BrE
if a piece of electrical equipment is fused, it is fitted with a fuse $ [C]
the main part of a plane, in which people sit or goods are carried $ [C]
a soldier in the past who carried a light gun called a MUSKET $ [C usually singular]
1 a quick series of shots fired from a gun, or a quick series of other objects that are thrown
[+of]
•a fusillade of bullets
2 a quick series of questions or remarks [C,U]
1 a combination of separate qualities or ideas:
•Her work is a fusion of several different styles.
•the best fusion cuisine in the whole of Vancouver
2 a physical combination of separate things; fission
•the energy that comes from the fusion of hydrogen atoms
NUCLEAR FUSION
3 a type of music which mixes JAZZ with other types of music, especially ROCK
FUSE^2[C]
another word for a HYDROGEN BOMB [singular, U]
1 anxious behaviour or activity that is usually about unimportant things:
•James said he'd better be getting back or there'd be a fuss.
•The Steamatic enables you to clean any carpet with the minimum of fuss.
2 attention or excitement that is usually unnecessary or unwelcome:
•They wanted a quiet wedding without any fuss.
•Until I heard her sing I couldn't see what all the fuss was about (=why people liked it so much).
3 make a fuss/kick up a fuss (about sth) to complain or become angry about something, especially when this is not necessary:
•Josie kicked up a fuss because the soup was too salty.
•I don't know why you're making such a fuss about it.
4 make a fuss of sb/sth BrE make a fuss over sb/sth AmE to pay a lot of attention to someone or something, to show that you are pleased with them or like them:
•Make a fuss of your dog when he behaves properly.[I]
1 to worry a lot about things that may not be very important:
•I wish you'd stop fussing - I'll be perfectly all right.
2 to pay too much attention to small unimportant details
[+with/around/about]
•Paul was fussing with his clothes, trying to get his tie straight.
3 AmE to behave in an unhappy or angry way:
•The baby woke up and started to fuss.

PHRASAL VERBS
fuss over sb/sth phr v
to pay a lot of attention or too much attention to someone or something, especially to show that you are pleased with them or like them:
•His aunts fussed over him all the time.
not be fussed (about sth) BrE spoken to not mind what happens or is done; = bothered
•'Where do you want to go?' 'I'm not fussed.'fussbudget AmE $ [C] BrE old-fashioned informal
someone who worries about unimportant things comparative fussier, superlative fussiest
1 very concerned about small, usually unimportant details, and difficult to please
[+about]
•Leonora was fussy about her looks.
•A lot of small children are fussy eaters (=they dislike many types of food).
•'Do you want to go out or just rent a movie?' 'I'm not fussy.' (=I don't mind)
2 fussy clothes, objects, buildings etc are very detailed and decorated - used to show disapproval; plain, simple
•The furniture looked comfortable, nothing fussy or too elaborate.
3 with small, exact, and careful actions, sometimes showing nervousness:
•She patted her hair with small fussy movements.
- fussily adverb
- fussiness noun [U] $ [U]
1 a type of rough heavy cotton cloth, worn especially in the past
2 literary words that sound important but have very little meaning
- fustian adjective
1 if rooms, clothes, buildings etc are fusty, they have an unpleasant smell, because they have not been used for a long time; = musty
2 informal ideas or people that are fusty are old-fashioned:
•fusty old academics
- fustiness noun [U] $
actions that are futile are useless because they have no chance of being successful; = pointless
a futile attempt/effort
•a futile attempt to save the paintings from the flames
•My efforts to go back to sleep proved futile.
it is futile to do sth
•It was futile to continue the negotiations.
- futility noun [U]
•This sums up Owen's thoughts on the futility of war. $ [C]
a MATTRESS used for sleeping on, especially in Japan $ [only before noun]
1 likely to happen or exist at a time after the present:
•We are now more able to predict future patterns of climate change.
•We've been able to save this land from development and preserve it for future generations.
•the debate over the future development of the European Union
future wife/husband/son-in-law etc (=someone who will be your wife, husband, son-in-law etc)
2 technical the form of a verb used for talking about things that are going to happen:
•the future tense
3 for future reference something kept for future reference is kept in order to be used or looked at in the future
1 the future
a) the time after the present:
•What are your plans for the future?
•It may be useful at some time in the future.
in the near/immediate future (=soon)
•The recession shows no signs of easing in the immediate future.
in/for the foreseeable future (=for as long as you can imagine or plan for)
•We will not be hiring anyone else in the foreseeable future.
•We hope to create more jobs in the not too distant future (=fairly soon).
•Our firm must look to the future (=plan for what will happen).
b) technical the form of a verb that shows that something will happen or exist at a later time. In the sentence, 'I will leave tomorrow,' the verb is in the future.
2 in future BrE from now:
•In future, staff must wear identity badges at all times.
3 [C] what someone or something will do or what will happen to them in the future

what the future holds (=what will happen)
have a great/bright/promising future (ahead of you) (=have a good chance of being successful in the future)
sb's/sth's future lies in/with sth (=someone or something will be involved with something in the future)
the future looks good/bright/bleak etc
face an uncertain/bleak/dark future
fears/hopes/plans for the future
shape the future (=help to decide what will happen in the future)
foretell/predict the future
a brighter future

•The islands should have the right to decide their own future.
[+of]
•Ferguson is optimistic about the future of the business.
•I've decided to return to Mitford and stay there, no matter what the future holds.
•She's only 17, and has a great future ahead of her in tennis.
•Let us hope our future lies in peace, not war.
•For small companies, the future looks bleak.
•The film-makers asked children about their hopes for the future.
•a leader who will shape the organization's future

4 have a/no future to have a chance or no chance of being successful or continuing:
•Does this school have a future?
5 there's a/no future in sth used to say that something is likely or not likely to be successful:
•He felt there was no future in farming.
6 futures [plural] technical goods, money, land etc that will be supplied or exchanged in the future at a time and price that has already been agreedtechnical
the future perfect the form of a verb that shows that the action described will be complete before a particular time in the future, formed in English by 'will have' or 'shall have', as in 'I will have finished by 5 o'clock.'
- future perfect adjectivefutureproof $ [T]
to make or plan something in such a way that it will not become ineffective or unsuitable for use in the future:
•plans to future-proof the company's network
if something is future-proof, it will not become ineffective or unsuitable for use in the future:
•future-proof software[C] technical
a market where FUTUREs are bought and sold [U]
a style of art, music, and literature in the early 20th century which emphasized the importance of modern things, especially technology and machines
- futurist noun [C]
1 something which is futuristic looks unusual and modern, as if it belongs in the future instead of the present:
•The futuristic sports stadium is the pride of the city.
2 futuristic ideas, books, films etc imagine what may happen in the future, especially through scientific developments:
•Orwell's disturbing futuristic novel, '1984' $ [U] formal
the time after the present; = future $ [U]
the activity of trying to say correctly what will happen in the future
- futurologist noun [C]

PHRASAL VERBS
futz around phr v AmE informal
to waste time, especially by doing small, unimportant jobs slowly:
•I spent the entire day just futzing around.
an American spelling of FUSE
1 [singular, U] thin soft hair or a substance like hair that covers something:
•When Jack was born he had a fuzz of black hair on his head.
2 [U] AmE a small amount of soft material that has come from clothing etc; = fluff
3 the fuzz informal an insulting way of talking to or about the police, used especially in the 1960s and 1970s
1 if a sound or picture is fuzzy, it is unclear; blurred
•Some of the photos were so fuzzy it was hard to tell who was who.
2 unclear or confused; clear
•There's a fuzzy line between parents' and schools' responsibilities.
3 covered with soft short hair or fur:
•I stroked the kitten's fuzzy back.
4 fuzzy hair is very curly and sticks straight up
- fuzzily adverb
- fuzziness noun [U][U] technical
a type of LOGIC which is used to try to make computers think like humans
the written abbreviation of forward
for what it is worth; an abbreviation used in emails, to say that you are not sure if what you are writing is very useful $ [C]
used when you are talking about the word FUCK but do not want to say it because it is offensive:
•Mommy, Billy said the f-word.AmE
the written abbreviation of freeway
1 the abbreviation of foreign exchange
2 the abbreviation of special effect s [in verbs]
another form of the suffix -IFYAmE
the abbreviation of fiscal year fyi
for your information used especially in short business notes and emails, when you are telling someone something they need to knowg plural G's, g's
1 [C,U] the seventh letter of the English alphabet
2 [C,U] the fifth note in the musical SCALE of C MAJOR or the musical KEY based on this note
3 [singular,U] AmE used to describe a film that has been officially approved as suitable for people of any age; PG; = U BrE
4 [C] technical a unit for measuring the force caused by GRAVITY on an object as it starts to move faster and faster:
•Astronauts endure a force of several G's during take-off.
•high g-forces
5 [U] AmE a GRAND (=$1000)
a written abbreviation of gram or grams past tense and past participle gabbed, present participle gabbing [I + about] informal
to talk continuously, usually about things that are not important:
•You two were gabbing so much you didn't even see me!
- gabby adjective
the gift of the gab at GIFT (5)gaberdine $
1 [U] a strong material which does not allow water to go through and is often used for making coats
2 [C] a coat made from gabardine past tense and past participle gabbled, present participle gabbling [I,T]
to say something so quickly that people cannot hear you clearly or understand you properly:
•Just calm down, stop gabbling, and tell me what has happened.
•Gina tends to gabble away when she's excited.[singular,U]
a lot of talking that is difficult to understand, especially when several people are talking at the same time; = babble
•a gabble of voices $
another spelling of GABARDINE [C] especially AmE informal
an occasion when people talk to each other a lot [C]
the upper end of a house wall where it joins with a sloping roof and makes a shape like a TRIANGLE:
•the gable end of the barn
having one or more gables:
•a gabled cottage
•gabled roofs past tense and past participle gadded, present participle gadding

PHRASAL VERBS
gad about/around phr v
informal to go out and enjoy yourself, going to many different places, especially when you should be doing something else:
•While I'm at home cooking, he's gadding about with his friends. [C]
informal someone who goes out a lot or travels a lot in order to enjoy themselves plural gadflies [C]
1 someone who annoys other people by criticizing them
2 a fly that bites cattle and horses [C]
a small, useful, and cleverly-designed machine or tool:
•a neat gadget for sharpening knives
see box at MACHINE^1 [U]
modern gadgets in general - sometimes used in order to show disapproval:
•I don't understand how all this electronic gadgetry works. [U]
one of the Celtic languages, especially spoken in parts of Scotland and in Ireland
- Gaelic adjective
•Gaelic poetry[U]
a game played in Ireland between two teams of 15 players, using a round ball that can be kicked or hit with the hands [C]
1 BrE informal the place where someone lives:
•a wretched dirty gaff
2 a stick with a hook at the end, used to pull big fish out of the water [C]
an embarrassing mistake made in a social situation or in public; = faux pas
•The consul's comments were a major diplomatic gaffe. $ [C]
1 the person who is in charge of the lighting in making a cinema film
2 BrE informal an old man - used humorously
3 BrE informal a man who is in charge of people, especially in a factory; = boss past tense and past participle gagged, present participle gagging
1 [I] to be unable to swallow and feel as if you are about to bring up food from your stomach:
•The foul smell made her gag.
[+on]
•He almost gagged on his first mouthful of food.
2 [T] to put a piece of cloth over someone's mouth to stop them making a noise:
•Thugs gagged her and tied her to a chair.
•He left his victim bound and gagged (=tied up and with something over their mouth that stops them speaking).
3 [T] to stop people saying what they want to say and expressing their opinions:
•an attempt to gag political activists
GAG ORDER, GAG RULE
4 be gagging to do sth/be gagging for sth BrE informal to be very eager to do or have something:
•They were gagging to sign the contract.
5 be gagging for it BrE informal to be very eager to have sex[C]
1 informal a joke or funny story:
•He told a few gags.
•It was a bit of a running gag (=a joke which is repeated) in the show.
2 a piece of cloth put over someone's mouth to stop them making a noise [not before noun] informal
1 an insulting word used to describe someone who is confused because they are old:
•Sid keeps forgetting my name. I think he's going a bit gaga.
2 having a strong but often temporary feeling of love for someone; = infatuated
[+about/over]
•I can't imagine why Susan is so gaga about him.
an American spelling of GAUGE
1 a gaggle of tourists/children etc a noisy group of people:
•a gaggle of teenage girls
2 a gaggle of geese a group of GEESE[C]
an order made by the court to prevent any public reporting of a case which is still being considered by a court of law[C]
a rule or law that stops people from talking about a subject during a particular time or in a particular place old-fashioned
1 [U] when someone or something is cheerful and fun:
•Lars enjoyed the warmth and gaiety of these occasions.
GAY^1 (3)
2 gaieties [plural] enjoyable events or activities:
•Elaine missed the gaieties of life in Paris.
1 in a happy way; = cheerfully
•'Morning, Albert,' she called gaily.
2 in a way that shows you do not care about, or do not realize, the effects of your actions:
•They gaily went on talking after the film had started.
3 gaily coloured/painted/decorated etc having bright cheerful colours:
•gaily coloured tropical birds
1 GET STH [T] to obtain or achieve something you want or need
gain control/power
•Radical left-wing parties gained control of local authorities.
•After gaining independence in 1957, it was renamed 'Ghana'.
gain a degree/qualification etc
•He gained a doctorate in Chemical Engineering.
2 GET GRADUALLY [I,T] to gradually get more and more of a quality, feeling etc, especially a useful or valuable one:
•She has gained a reputation as a good communicator.
•Many of his ideas have gained popular support.
•an opportunity to gain experience in a work environment
•The youngsters gradually gain confidence in their abilities.
[+in]
•The sport has gained in popularity in recent years.
3 ADVANTAGE [I,T] to get an advantage from a situation, opportunity, or event
gain (sth) from (doing) sth
•There is much to be gained from seeking expert advice early.
•an attempt to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals
•Who really stands to gain (=is likely to get an advantage) from these tax cuts?
• There's nothing to be gained (=it will not help you) by losing your temper.
4 INCREASE [T] to increase in weight, speed, height, or value:
•Carrie's gained a lot of weight recently.
•The dollar has gained 8% against the yen.
5 gain access/entry/admittance etc (to sth) to manage to enter a place, building, or organization:
•New ramps will help the disabled gain better access.
•methods used by burglars to gain entry to houses
6 gain an understanding/insight/impression etc to learn or find out about something
[+of]
•We are hoping to gain a better understanding of the underlying process.
•This enabled me to gain an overall impression of the school.
7 gain ground to make steady progress and become more popular, more successful etc:
•The anti-smoking lobby has steadily gained ground in the last decade.
8 gain time to deliberately do something to give yourself more time to think; lose time
9 CLOCK [I,T] if a clock or watch gains, or if it gains time, it goes too fast; lose
10 ARRIVE [T] literary to reach a place after a lot of effort or difficulty:
•The swimmer finally gained the river bank.

PHRASAL VERBS
gain on sb/sth phr v
to gradually get closer to a person, car etc that you are chasing:
•Quick - they're gaining on us!

WORD CHOICE: gain, earn, get
Do not use gain to mean 'get money for work you do'. Use earn: people earning less than £10,000 per year | How much does he earn?
Gain means to get something useful or necessary, whether or not you deserve it: I have gained a lot of useful experience. | Her problems seem to have gained her more support from the public.
Use earn rather than gain to say that you get something because you deserve it: Through hard work you will earn the respect of your colleagues.
Get can be used as a less formal way of saying gain or earn: I get $20 an hour. | He has started to get a reputation for being awkward.

nothing ventured, nothing gained at VENTURE^2 (3)
1 ADVANTAGE [C] an advantage or improvement, especially one achieved by planning or effort:
•The party made considerable gains at local elections.
[+in]
•substantial gains in efficiency
[+from]
•the potential gains from improved marketing
[+to/for]
•There are obvious gains for the student.
2 INCREASE [C,U] an increase in the amount or level of something; loss
[+in]
•a gain in weekly output
[+of]
•Retail sales showed a gain of 0.4%.
•The Democratic Party needed a net gain of only 20 votes.
•Eating too many fatty goods could cause weight gain.
3 PROFIT [U] financial profit, especially when this seems to be the only thing someone is interested in; loss
financial/economic/capital etc gain
•They are seeking to realize the maximum financial gain.
[+of]
•a pre-tax gain of $20 million
for gain
•Such research should not be for personal gain.
CAPITAL GAINS
4 ill-gotten gains money or advantages obtained dishonestly - used humorously
gainful employment/work/activity formal work or activity for which you are paid
- gainfully adverb
•gainfully employed past tense and past participle gainsaid [T usually in negatives] formal
to say that something is not true, or to disagree with someone; = contradict
•No one dared to gainsay him. [singular]
the way someone walks:
•a slow shuffling gait $ [C usually plural]
a cloth or leather covering worn below the knee by men in the past, or now by walkers to keep their legs dry [C]
AmE informal a girl or woman - used especially by older people:
•She's a great gal.gal. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of gallon or gallons $ [C]
1 a public entertainment or performance to celebrate a special occasion
gala dinner/performance/night etc
•the Society's Gala Dinner
•a charity gala evening
2 BrE a sports competition, especially in swimming
relating to a galaxy plural galaxies
1 [C] one of the large groups of stars that make up the universe
2 the Galaxy the large group of stars which our sun and its PLANETs belong to
3 [singular] a large number of things that are similar
[+of]
•a galaxy of British artistic talent [C]
1 a very strong wind:
•a severe gale.
it's blowing a gale BrE (=it's very windy)
2 a gale/gales of laughter a sudden loud sound of laughter:
•The bar erupted into gales of laughter.also gale-force
a gale force wind is strong enough to be dangerous or cause damage
- gale-force adverb
•blowing gale-force $
1 have the gall to do sth to do something rude and unreasonable that most people would be too embarrassed to do:
•He even had the gall to blame Lucy for it.
2 [U] old-fashioned anger and hate that will not go away; = resentment
3 [U] old-fashioned BILE
4 [C] a swelling on a tree or plant caused by damage from insects or infection
5 [C] a painful place on an animal's skin, caused by something rubbing against it[T]
to make someone feel upset and angry because of something that is unfair:
•It really galled him to see Anita doing so well now.
GALLING old-fashioned
1 a man who is gallant is kind and polite towards women:
•a gallant young gentleman
2 brave:
•a gallant attempt to save lives $ [C] old-fashioned
a well-dressed young man who is kind and polite towards women [U] formal
1 courage, especially in a battle:
•a medal for gallantry
2 polite attention given by men to women[C]
the organ in your body in which BILE is stored [C]
a sailing ship used mainly by the Spanish from the 15th to the 17th century plural galleries [C]
1
a) a large building where people can see famous pieces of art:
•an exhibition of African art at the Hayward Gallery
•details of museums and art galleries in the city
b) a small privately owned shop or STUDIO where you can see and buy pieces of art
2
a) an upper floor or BALCONY built on an inner wall of a hall, theatre, or church, from which people can watch a performance, discussion etc:
•the public gallery in Congress
in the gallery
•We could only afford seats up in the gallery.
b) the gallery the people sitting in a gallery
3 play to the gallery to do or say something just because you think it will please people and make you popular
4 a level passage under the ground in a mine or CAVE
PRESS GALLERY, SHOOTING GALLERY [C]
1 a kitchen on a ship:
•The fire extinguishers are stored in the galley.
2 a long low Greek or Roman ship with sails which was rowed by SLAVEs in the past
3 technical
a) a TRAY used in the process of printing books etc which holds TYPE
b) also galley proof a sheet of paper on which a new book is printed, so that mistakes can be put right before it is divided into pages
relating to or typical of France or French people:
•Gallic charm $
making you feel upset and angry because of something that is unfair; = annoying
•The most galling thing is that the guy who got promoted is less qualified than me. [I]
informal to spend time enjoying yourself and going from place to place for pleasure - used humorously in order to show disapproval
[+about/around]
•She should be home with the children, not gallivanting around. [C]
1 written abbreviation gal a unit for measuring liquids, equal to eight PINTs . In Britain this is 4.55 litres, and in the US it is 3.79 litres:
•a 20 gallon fish tank
•The car does about 50 miles per gallon.
2 informal a lot of a liquid:
•We drank gallons of coffee to keep ourselves awake.
1 [I] if a horse gallops, it moves very fast with all its feet leaving the ground together; canter, trot
•A neighbour's horse came galloping down the road, riderless.
•a galloping horse
2 [I,T] if you gallop, you ride very fast on a horse or you make it go very fast
[+along/off/towards etc]
•I watched as Jan galloped away.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to move very quickly; = run
•Ian came galloping down the stairs.
1
a) [singular] the movement of a horse at its fastest speed, when all four feet leave the ground together; canter, trot
•The horses broke into a gallop (=begin to go very fast).
at a/full gallop
•Mounted police charged at full gallop.
b) [C] a ride on a horse when it is galloping
2 [singular] a very fast speed
at a/full gallop
•The project began at full gallop. [only before noun]
increasing or developing very quickly
galloping inflation/consumption etc
•galloping inflation of 20 to 30% $ plural gallows [C]
a structure used for killing criminals by hanging them from a ropegallows humor AmE [U] BrE
humour which makes very unpleasant or dangerous things seem funny $ [C]
a hard stone which can form in your GALL BLADDER [C]
AmE old-fashioned someone who is not at all graceful and does not dress neatly:
•You clumsy galoot! $ [only after noun]
in large amounts or numbers:
•bargains galore in the sales $ [plural]
old-fashioned rubber shoes worn over ordinary shoes when it rains or snows [I always + adv/prep]
informal to move in a noisy, heavy, and awkward way
1 formal making people react suddenly with strong feelings or actions:
•The bomb warning had a galvanic effect.
2 technical relating to the production of electricity by the action of acid on metal
a British spelling of GALVANIZE [U]
technical the production of electricity by the use of chemicals, especially as in a BATTERYalso galvanise BrE [T]
to shock or surprise someone so that they do something to solve a problem, improve a situation etc
galvanize sb into (doing) sth
•The possibility of defeat finally galvanized us into action.
•The report galvanized world opinion.also galvanised BrE
galvanised iron/metal etc metal that has had a covering of ZINC put on it so that it does not RUST [C]
1 something that you do or say which is intended to give you an advantage in an argument:
•a clever debating gambit
•These questions are often an opening gambit (=the thing you say first) for a negotiation.
2 a planned series of moves at the beginning of a game of CHESS [I,T]
1 to risk money or possessions on the result of something such as a card game or a race, when you do not know for certain what the result will be; bet
•Their religion forbids them to drink or gamble.
[+on]
•Jack loves gambling on the horses.
2 to do something that involves a lot of risk, and that will not succeed unless things happen the way you would like them to
[+on]
•They're gambling on Johnson being fit for Saturday's game.
gamble sth on sth
•Potter gambled everything on his new play being a hit.
gamble that
•She was gambling that he wouldn't read it too carefully.
[+with]
•We can't relax our safety standards - we'd be gambling with people's lives.

PHRASAL VERBS
gamble sth <=> away phr v
to lose the whole of an amount of money by gambling:
•Nielsen gambled his inheritance away.
- gambler noun [C]
•Stevens was a compulsive gambler.[singular]
an action or plan that involves a risk but that you hope will succeed:
• It was a big gamble for her to leave the band and go solo.
[+on]
• The gamble on the harvest had paid off (=succeeded).
•Ellen had to admit the gamble had paid off (=succeeded).
•In a depressed market, we cannot afford to take a gamble on a new product. [U]
when people risk money or possessions on the result of something which is not certain, such as a card game or a horse race; betting
•The lottery is probably the most popular form of gambling.
•gambling debts
•The police raided a number of illegal gambling dens (=places for illegal gambling). past tense and past participle gambolled, present participle gambolling BrE past tense and past participle gamboled, present participle gamboling AmE [I] literary
to jump or run around in a lively active way; = frolic
•lambs gambolling in a field
- gambol noun [C]
1 ACTIVITY OR SPORT [C]
a) an activity or sport in which people compete with each other according to agreed rules
computer/card/ball etc game
•Dan's never liked card games.
•We used to play games like draughts or chess.
•You'll have to explain the rules of the game.
b) an occasion when a game is played; match
•Did you see the game on TV last night?
[+against/with]
•England's World Cup game against Holland
game of cards/tennis etc
•How about a game of chess?
win/lose a game
•They've won their last three games.
home game (=played at a team's own sports field)
away game (=played at an opposing team's sports field)
BALL GAME, BOARD GAME, VIDEO GAME, WAR GAME
2 games [plural]
a) a large organized sports event:
•the Olympic Games
b) BrE organized sports as a school subject or lesson; = P.E.
•We have games on Thursdays.
•a games lesson
3 PART OF A MATCH [C] one of the parts into which a single match is divided, for example in tennis or BRIDGE^1 (4):
•Graf leads, two games to one.
4 CHILDREN [C] a children's activity in which they play with toys, pretend to be someone else etc
[+of]
•a game of hide-and-seek
•The boys were playing a game in the backyard.
5 SKILL sb's game how well someone plays a particular game or sport
improve/raise your game
•Liam's taking lessons to improve his game.
•the strongest aspect of his game
6 give the game away to spoil a surprise or secret by doing or saying something that lets someone guess what the secret is:
•Lynn gave the game away by laughing when Kim walked in.
7 beat sb at their own game also play sb at their own game BrE to beat someone or fight back against them by using the same methods that they use
8 NOT SERIOUS be a game to be something that you do to enjoy yourself rather than for a serious purpose:
• It's just a game to them. They don't really care what happens.
9 play games (with sb)
a) to behave in a dishonest or unfair way in order to get what you want:
•Are you sure he's really interested, and not just playing silly games with you?
b) to not be serious about doing something:
•We want a deal. We're not interested in playing games.
10 ANIMALS/BIRDS [U] wild animals, birds, and fish that are hunted for food, especially as a sport:
•game birds
BIG GAME
11 the only game in town used to say that something is the only possible choice in a situation:
•The Church of England is no longer the only game in town.
12 BUSINESS [singular] informal an area of work or business:
•We're new to the game and we've still got a lot to learn.
•I've been in this game for over 10 years.
13 what's her/your etc game? BrE spoken used to ask what the true reason for someone's behaviour is:
•Reg is being very nice all of a sudden. What's his game?
14 the game's up spoken used to tell someone that something wrong or dishonest that they have done has been discovered:
•Come out, Don. The game's up.
15 a game of chance a game in which you risk money on the result:
•Poker is a game of chance.
16 sb got game AmE informal used to say that someone is very skilful at doing something, especially playing a sport
17 be on the game BrE informal to be a PROSTITUTE
18 make game of sb old-fashioned to make fun of someone
FAIR GAME
fun and games at FUN^1 (5)
the name of the game at NAME^1 (10)
a mug's game at MUG^1 (5)
1 willing to try something dangerous, new, or difficult:
•Okay. I'm game if you are.
[+for]
•He's always game for a laugh.
game to do sth
•'Who's game to have a try?'
2 game leg old-fashioned an injured or painful leg
- gamely adverb AmE
game the system to use rules or laws to get what you want in an unfair but legal way $ [C]
someone whose job is to look after wild animals and birds that are kept to be hunted on private land[C]
a GAME RESERVE[C]
a plan for achieving success, especially in business or sports:
•He has his game plan all worked out. [U]
the way that a computer game is designed and the skills that you need to play it:
•This is packed with brilliant graphics and gameplay.[C,U]
the situation in a game such as tennis in which one player will win the game if they win the next point; match point $ [C] informal
1 someone who plays computer games
2 AmE a person who is very good at a sport and helps their team to win gamesalso game preserve AmE [C]
a large area of land that is designed for wild animals to live in safely[C]
a television programme in which people play games or answer questions to win prizes:
•a game show contestant [U]
the ability to succeed by using the rules of a game or activity to your own advantage [C] technical
a type of cell which joins with another cell, starting the development of a baby or other young creature[C]
someone whose job is to look after wild animals in a GAME RESERVEgamy
having the strong taste of wild animals that are hunted for food [C] literary
a small thin girl or woman who looks like a boy
- gamine adjective
•a gamine hairstyle [U]
1 informal the activity of playing computer games:
•online gaming
2 old-fashioned the activity of playing cards or other games of chance for money; = gambling
•gaming tables [C]
the third letter of the Greek alphabet[C usually plural]
a beam of light with a short WAVELENGTH, that can pass through solid objects
- #gamma radi=ation noun [U] [U]
BrE meat from a pig's leg which has been preserved using salt; bacon
•gammon steak BrE old-fashioned
a gammy leg or knee is injured or painful [singular]
the complete range of possibilities
[+of]
•College life opened up a whole gamut of new experiences.
•Her feelings that day ran the gamut of emotions (=included all the possibilities between two extremes).
another spelling of GAMEY $ [C]
1 a male GOOSE^1
2 have/take a gander at sth spoken to look at something [C,U]
gin and tonic a popular alcoholic drink served with ice and a thin piece of LEMON [C]
1
a) a group of young people who spend time together, and who are often involved in crime or drugs and who often fight against other groups:
•two rival street gangs
gang member/member of a gang
•The parents have denied that their son is a gang member.
•the problem of inner-city gang violence
b) a group of young people together in one place, especially young people who might cause trouble
[+of]
•There were always gangs of kids hanging around the mall.
•a victim of gang warfare
2 a group of criminals who work together:
•Several gangs were operating in the area.
• Armed gangs have hijacked lorries.
[+of]
•a gang of smugglers
3 informal a group of friends, especially young people:
•The whole gang will be there next weekend.
4 a group of workers or prisoners doing physical work together
CHAIN GANG

PHRASAL VERBS
gang up on/against sb phr v
if people gang up on someone, they join together to attack, criticize, or oppose them, especially in a way that seems unfair:
•Schoolchildren are quick to gang up on anyone who looks or behaves differently.

gang together phr v
if people gang together, they form a group in order to do something together, especially to oppose something:
•The smaller shopkeepers ganged together to beat off competition from the supermarkets.[C]
1 informal an occasion when several people have sex with each other at the same time
2 a GANG RAPE
- gang-bang verb [I,T] $
like gangbusters AmE informal very eagerly and with a lot of energy, or very quickly:
•They were going like gangbusters, then all of a sudden everything went wrong.
a gangland killing/murder/shooting etc a killing etc relating to the world of organized and violent crime:
•Sharp may have been the victim of a gangland revenge killing.
unusually tall and thin, and not able to move gracefully; = lanky
•an awkward gangling teenager [C] technical
1 a painful raised area of skin that is full of liquid, often on the back of your wrist
2 a mass of nerve cells
another form of GANGLING [C]
a board for walking on between a boat and the shore, or between two boats[C]
an occasion when several men attack a woman and force her to have sex with them [U]
a condition in which your flesh decays in part of your body, because blood has stopped flowing there as a result of illness or injury
- gangrenous adjective [C] AmE informal
someone who is a member of a GANG:
•gangstas in South Central L.A.[U]
a type of RAP music with words about drugs, violence, and life in poor areas of cities
- gangsta rapper noun [C] $ [C]
a member of a violent group of criminals [C]
1 a space between two rows of seats in a theatre, bus, or train; = aisle
2 a large board or steps between a boat and the shore for people to walk down
3 gangway! spoken used to tell people in a crowd to let someone go through [U] informal
MARIJUANA [C]
1 a large sea bird that lives in large groups on cliffs
2 BrE informal someone who eats a lot plural gantries [C]
a large metal frame which is used to support heavy machinery or railway signals
a British spelling of JAIL $
a British spelling of JAILBIRD $
a British spelling of JAILER [C]
1 A SPACE a space between two objects or two parts of an object, especially because something is missing
[+in]
•The neighbors' dog got in through a gap in the hedge.
•a gap in the traffic
[+between]
•the gap between the two rows of seats
2 DIFFERENCE a big difference between two situations, amounts, groups of people etc; gulf
[+between]
•the widening gap between the rich and the poor
bridge/close/narrow the gap (=reduce the amount or importance of a difference)
•His films attempt to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity.
•The gap has narrowed to just 12 points now.
•It seems that the trade gap is widening (=the difference between the amount a country imports and exports).
GENERATION GAP
3 STH MISSING something missing that stops something else from being good or complete
[+in]
•There are huge gaps in my knowledge of history.
•Frank's death has left a big gap in my life.
fill/plug the gap
•He filled the gap left by Hirst's retirement.
4 IN TIME a period of time when nothing is happening, that exists between two other periods of time when something is happening
[+in]
•an awkward gap in the conversation
[+between]
•The gaps between his visits got longer and longer.
GAP YEAR
5 IN A MOUNTAIN a low place between two higher parts of a mountain
6 gap in the market a product or service that does not exist, so that there is an opportunity to develop that product or service and sell it [I]
1 to look at something for a long time, especially with your mouth open, because you are very surprised or shocked; = stare
[+at]
•What are all these people gaping at?
2 also gape open to open widely or be wide open:
•Dan stood at the door, his shirt gaping open. [only before noun]
a gaping hole, wound, or mouth is very wide and open[usually before noun]
having wide spaces between your teeth
gap-toothed smile/grin[C] BrE
a year between leaving school and going to university, which some young people use as an opportunity to travel, earn money, or get experience of working:
•Some students choose to work in high-tech industries during their gap year. $
1 [C] a building for keeping a car in, usually next to or attached to a house; carport
•I'll just go and put the car in the garage.
a double/single/two-car/one-car garage
•Their house had a double garage.
•an automatic garage door
2 [C] also parking garage especially AmE a building in a public place where cars can be parked:
•We parked in an underground garage near the hotel.
3 [C] a place where motor vehicles are repaired:
•My car's at the garage.
4 [C] BrE a place where you buy petrol; = petrol station; = gas station AmE
5 [U] a type of popular music played on electronic instruments, with a strong fast beat and singing:
•a collection of the latest dance and garage hits[T]
to put or keep a vehicle in a garage $ [C]
a group of musicians who play ROCK music and practise in a garage $ [C]
AmE a sale of used furniture, clothes etc from people's houses, usually held in or near someone's garage [U]
a mixture of SPICEs which gives a hot taste to food, used especially in Indian cooking $ [U]
formal a particular style of clothing, especially clothes that show your type of work or look unusual:
•priestly garb $ [U]
1 especially AmE waste material, such as paper, empty containers, and food thrown away; = rubbish BrE
•Can you take out the garbage when you go?
2 stupid words, ideas etc; = rubbish BrE
•You're talking garbage.
3 garbage in, garbage out used to say that if the DATA (=information) you put into a computer is bad, the results you get back will be bad, even if the computer program you use works properly[C]
AmE a container with a lid for holding waste until it can be taken away; = dustbin BrE[C]
AmE someone whose job is to remove waste from garbage cans; = dustman BrE[C]
AmE a small machine in the kitchen SINK which breaks vegetable waste into small pieces so that it washes down the DRAIN of the sink; = waste disposal BrE[C]
AmE a garbage collector[C]
AmE a large vehicle which goes from house to house to collect the contents of garbage cans; = dust cart BrEalso garbanzo bean $ plural garbanzos [C] AmE
a CHICKPEA $
be garbed in sth literary to be dressed in a particular type of clothing:
•singers garbed in costumes of gold $
a garbled statement or report is very unclear and confusing; = confused
•The papers had some garbled version of the story.
•a garbled phone message
- garble verb [T]
- garble noun [U] $ [C] BrE
a waiter in a French restaurant $
1 [C] BrE the area of land next to a house, where there are flowers, grass, and other plants, and often a place for people to sit; = yard AmE
•He's outside in the garden.
•Grace brought us some flowers from her garden.
•Our house has a small garden.
•a garden shed
back/front garden (=at the back or the front of the house)
2 [C] AmE a part of the area next to a house, which has plants and flowers in it
vegetable/herb/rose garden
•The house has a beautiful herb garden.
3 gardens [plural] a large area of land where plants and flowers are grown so that the public can go and see them:
•the Botanical Gardens at Kew
4 Gardens BrE used in the name of streets:
•211 Roland Gardens
KITCHEN GARDEN, MARKET GARDEN
lead sb up the garden path at LEAD^1 (12)

WORD FOCUS: garden
parts of a garden:
lawn
flowerbed
hedge
patio
rockery
pond
greenhouse
compost heap
kitchen garden
things you do in the garden: cut the grass /mow the lawn
weed the flowerbeds,
sow seeds,
plant flowers/bushes/trees,
water the plants,
cut back /prune roses and other bushes,
trim the hedge
[I]
to work in a garden, keeping it clean, growing plants etc[C]
BrE a place that sells plants, flowers, and equipment for gardens; = nursery AmE[C]
BrE a town that has been designed to have a lot of trees, areas of grass, and open spaces $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to work in gardens
2 someone who enjoys growing flowers and plants:
•Mom has always been a good gardener. $ [C]
a large white pleasant-smelling flower that grows on a bush $ [U]
the activity of working in a garden, growing plants, cutting a LAWN etc:
•I might do a bit of gardening this afternoon.
gardening gloves/tools/equipment etc

EDEN[C]
BrE a formal party for a lot of people which is held in a large garden in the afternoon[only before noun]
especially AmE very ordinary and not very interesting:
•This is not one of your garden-variety cases of fraud. $ written
extremely large; = gigantic
•a meal of gargantuan proportions
•gargantuan task $ [I]
to clean the inside of your mouth and throat by blowing air through water or medicine in the back of your throat
[+with]
•Gargling with salt water may help your sore throat.
1 [C,U] liquid that you gargle with; = mouthwash
2 a gargle the act of gargling $ [C]
a stone figure of a strange and ugly creature, that carries rain water from the roof of an old building, especially a church $
very brightly coloured in a way that is unpleasant to look at; = brash; subtle
•Many of the rugs are too garish for my taste.
•garish colors
- garishly adverb
•a garishly painted house
- garishness noun [U] $ [C]
a ring of flowers or leaves, worn on your head or around your neck for decoration or for a special ceremony; wreath
[+of]
•garlands of flowers[T usually passive]
literary to decorate someone or something, especially with flowers
be garlanded with sth
•The tree was garlanded with strings of coloured lights. $ [U]
a plant like a small onion, used in cooking to give a strong taste:
•Add a crushed clove of garlic (=single section of it).
- garlicky adjective
•his garlicky breath[C]
a tool used to crush garlic $ [C]
formal a piece of clothing:
•She pulled the garment on and zipped it up.
garment industry/factory/district etc
•She works in the garment district of Manhattan.
•a beautiful range of hand knitted garments
outer/upper garment
•The outer garment was a loose-fitting robe.
UNDERGARMENT
see box at CLOTHES[C]
a special bag used to carry clothes such as suits and dresses:
•I packed the dresses in a black garment bag. $ [T]
formal to take or collect something, especially information or support; glean
•The party garnered 70 percent of the vote. $
1 [C] a dark red stone used as a jewel
2 [U] a dark red colour $ [C]
a small amount of food such as SALAD or fruit that you place on food to decorate it[T]
to add something to food in order to decorate it
garnish sth with sth
•Garnish each dish with a slice of lemon. [C]
a small uncomfortable room at the top of a house, just under the roof; attic [C]
1 a group of soldiers living in a town or FORT and defending it:
•The garrison was called out when news of the enemy's advance was received.
•a garrison town
2 the buildings where a garrison of soldiers live[T]
to send a group of soldiers to defend or guard a place:
•Our regiment will garrison the town. $ [T]
to kill someone by pulling a metal collar or wire tightly around their neck; strangle
- garrotte noun [C]
always talking a lot; = talkative
•Ian isn't normally this garrulous!
- garrulously adverb
- garrulousness noun [U] $ [C]
1 a band of ELASTIC (=material that stretches) worn around your leg to keep a sock or STOCKING up
2 AmE one of four pieces of elastic fixed to a woman's underwear and to her stockings to hold them up; = suspender BrE[C]
AmE a piece of women's underwear with garters hanging down from it which fasten onto STOCKINGs and hold them up; = suspender belt BrE[C]
a harmless American snake with lines of colour along its back plural gases or gasses
1 [C,U] a substance such as air, which is not solid or liquid, and usually cannot be seen:
•hydrogen gas
toxic/poisonous/noxious gases
•a cloud of toxic gas
a gas cylinder/bottle (=for storing gas)
GREENHOUSE GAS
2 [U] a clear substance like air that is burned for heating or cooking
gas cooker/stove/oven
•Can you light the gas for me?
•The explosion was caused by a gas leak from the water heater.
3 gas mark 4/5/6 etc BrE a measurement of the temperature of a gas OVEN
4 [U] AmE also gasoline a liquid made from PETROLEUM, used mainly for producing power in the engines of cars, trucks etc; = petrol BrE
•I probably spend over $200 a month on gas.
•The mechanic found a hole in the gas tank.
5 the gas AmE the gas PEDAL of a car; = accelerator
•We stepped on the gas (=pushed down the gas pedal and made the car go faster) and sped away.
6 [U] a clear substance like air that is used for medical reasons, for example to make people feel less pain or make them sleep during an operation:
•an anaesthetic gas
LAUGHING GAS
7 [U] a type of gas used as a weapon, because it harms or kills people when they breathe it in:
•mustard gas
NERVE GAS, POISON GAS, TEAR GAS
8 [U] AmE informal the condition of having a lot of air in your stomach; = wind BrE
9 a gas AmE old-fashioned spoken something that is fun and makes you laugh a lotpast tense gassed, past participle gassing
1 [T] to poison or kill someone with gas
2 [I] BrE informal to talk for a long time about unimportant or boring things; = chat
•They were just standing there gassing away.

PHRASAL VERBS
gas up phr v AmE
to put petrol in a car:
•We'd better gas up before we go.
gas sth <=> up
•George gassed up the car. [C]
informal someone who talks too much; = windbag[C]
a large room in which people or animals are killed with poisonous gas $
like gas or in the form of gasespecially BrE
using gas as a fuel:
•a gas-fired central heating system[C]
AmE informal a car that uses a lot of petrol
- gas-guzzling adjective [C]
a large deep cut or hole in something, for example in a person's skin:
•Blood poured from a deep gash in her forehead.
- gash verb [T]
•One day Frank gashed his hand on a bit of broken glass. $ [C] BrE
a very large round metal container or building from which gas is carried in pipes to buildings [C]
1 a flat piece of material, often rubber, placed between two surfaces so that steam, oil, gas etc cannot escape
2 blow a gasket
a) if a vehicle blows a gasket, steam or gas escapes from the engine
b) informal to become very angry
1 [U] the light produced from burning gas
2 [C] also gas lamp a lamp in a house or on the street which gives light from burning gas plural gasmen [C] BrE informal
someone whose job is to come to your home to see how much gas you have used or to repair your gas system[C]
a piece of equipment worn over your face to protect you from poisonous gases[C]
a piece of equipment that measures how much gas is used in a building $ [U]
AmE petrol with a small amount of alcohol in it, which can be used in cars and is cheaper than petrol [U] AmE
a liquid obtained from PETROLEUM, used mainly for producing power in the engines of cars, trucks etc; = petrol BrE $ [C] BrE
a GASHOLDER $
1 [I,T] to breathe in suddenly in a way that can be heard, especially because you are surprised or in pain
[+in/with]
•Ollie gasped with pain and slumped forward.
[+at]
•The audience gasped at the splendour of the costumes.
•'My leg!' he gasped. 'I think it's broken!'
2 [I] to breathe quickly in a way that can be heard because you are having difficulty breathing; pant
gasp for air/breath
•Brendan climbed slowly, gasping for breath.
3 be gasping (for sth) BrE spoken to feel that you urgently need something such as a drink or cigarette:
•I'm gasping for a pint![C]
1 when you take in a breath suddenly in a way that can be heard, especially because you are surprised or in pain
[+of]
•With a gasp of pure horror, Lewis jumped up and ran.
•She gave a little gasp and clutched George's hand.
2 when you breathe in air quickly because you are having difficulty breathing:
•Her breath came in shallow gasps.
3 sb's/sth's last gasp the time when someone is about to die, or when something is about to stop happening or existing:
•the last gasp of an industry in decline[C]
AmE the thing that you press with your foot to make a car go faster; = accelerator[C] BrE
a metal ring that gets hot when gas passes through it, used for cooking food; = burner AmE[C]
AmE a place where you can buy petrol and oil for motor vehicles; = petrol station BrE BrE
a gassy drink has too much gas in it; fizzy
•This beer is really gassy. [only before noun] technical
1 relating to your stomach:
•gastric ulcers
2 gastric juices the acids in your stomach that break food into smaller parts
3 gastric flu an illness that makes you VOMIT and gives you DIARRHOEA [U] medical
an illness which makes the inside of your stomach become swollen, so that you feel a burning pain $ [U] medical
a painful illness which makes your stomach and INTESTINE become swollen $ medical
of or relating to the stomach and INTESTINEs $ [only before noun] formal
relating to the art of cooking good food or the pleasure of eating it:
•the gastronomic delights of Thailand
- gastronomically adverb $ [U] formal
the art and science of cooking and eating good food[C]
an engine in which a wheel of special blades is driven round at high speed by hot gases, producing a lot of power:
•the ship's four gas turbine engines $ plural gasworks [C]
a place where gas is made from coal so that it can be used to produce heat and energy
1 [C] the part of a fence or outside wall that you can open and close so that you can enter or leave a place; door
•We went through the gate into the orchard.
•the wrought-iron gates of the palace
open/close/shut a gate
•I left the engine running and ran back to close the gate.
front/back/main gate
•Make sure that the back gate is locked, please.
garden/farm/school gate
•The children poured out of the school gates.
2 [C] the place where you leave an airport building to get on a plane:
•Air France flight 76 leaves from gate 6A.
3 -gate used with the name of a place or a person to give a name to an event involving dishonest behaviour by a politician or other public official:
•Irangate
4
a) [C] BrE the number of people who go in to see a sports event, especially a football match
b) [U] BrE also gate money the amount of money that these people pay[T]
BrE to prevent a student from leaving a school as a punishment for behaving badlyplural gâteaux [C,U] BrE
a large sweet cake, often filled and decorated with cream, fruit, chocolate etc [I,T]
to go to a party that you have not been invited to
- gatecrasher noun [C][C] AmE
an area of houses and sometimes also shops, tennis courts etc, where a fence or wall surrounds the area and the entrance is guarded [C]
a small building next to the gate of a park or at the entrance to the land surrounding a big house $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to open and close a gate, and to allow or not allow people to go through it
2 someone in an organization who has a lot of influence over what products the organization buys, who it buys them from etc
3 someone in an organization who tells customers or people with questions which people in the organization should be able to help them $ [C]
1 one of two strong upright poles set in the ground to support a gate
2 between you, me, and the gatepost BrE spoken used to say that you are going to tell someone your opinion, but you want it to be a secret
1 [C] the opening in a fence, wall etc that can be closed by a gate
2 gateway to sth
a) a place, especially a city, that you can go through in order to reach another much bigger place:
•St. Louis is the gateway to the West.
b) a way of achieving something:
•To me a home in the country is a gateway to happiness.
3 [C] a way of connecting two computer NETWORKs [C]
a drug such as CANNABIS which is not a very dangerous, but which some people believe leads to the use of more dangerous drugs such as HEROIN $
1 COME TOGETHER [I,T] to come together and form a group, or to make people do this:
•A crowd gathered to watch the fight.
•Thousands of people gathered outside the embassy.
[+around/round]
•Gather round, everyone, so that you can see the screen.
•During the air raids, we gathered the children around us and sang songs.
[+together]
•Could the bride's family all gather together for a photo?
be gathered
•Dozens of photographers were gathered outside Jagger's villa.
2 KNOW/THINK [I,T not in progressive] to believe that something is true because of what you have seen or heard; = understand
•You two know each other, I gather.
gather (that)
•I gather you've had some problems with our sales department.
from what I can gather/as far as I can gather (=this is what I believe to be true)
•She's his niece, from what I can gather.
3 COLLECT [I,T] to get things from different places and put them together in one place:
•The researcher's job is to gather information about people.
•They had gathered 440,000 signatures to support their demand.
[+up/together]
•Debbie gathered up the clothes.
4 gather speed/force/momentum etc to move faster, become stronger, get more support etc:
•The cart gathered speed as it coasted down the hill.
•The international relief effort appears to be gathering momentum.
5 gather dust if something gathers dust, it is not being used:
•You may as well take these books - they're just gathering dust on the shelf.
6 CLOTH [T]
a) to pull material into small folds:
•The skirt is gathered at the waist.
b) to pull material or a piece of clothing closer to you:
•Moira gathered her skirts round her and climbed the steps.
7 gather yourself/your strength/your thoughts to prepare yourself for something you are going to do, especially something difficult:
•I took a few moments to gather my thoughts before going into the meeting.
8 CLOUDS/DARKNESS [I] literary to gradually become more cloudy or get darker:
•Storm clouds were gathering so we hurried home.
the gathering darkness/dusk/shadows etc
•the evening's gathering shadows
9 gather sb to you/gather sb up literary to take someone into your arms and hold them in order to protect them or show them love[C]
a small fold produced by pulling cloth together $ [C]
someone who gathers something:
•information gatherers
•Groups of hunters and gatherers (=people who found plant food) used to roam Europe. [C]
1 a meeting of a group of people:
•a select gathering of 20 or 30 people
2 intelligence/information etc gathering the process of collecting information from many different places
3 a fold or group of folds in cloth $ [C] AmE informal
an ALLIGATOR $
doing or saying wrong or impolite things, especially because you do not know the right way to behave:
•It would be gauche to mention the price.
- gaucheness noun [U] $ plural gauchos [C]
a South American COWBOY $
clothes, colours etc that are gaudy are too bright and look cheap - used to show disapproval:
•gaudy jewelry
- gaudily adverb
- gaudiness noun [U]also gage AmE [C]
1 INSTRUMENT an instrument for measuring the size or amount of something
fuel/temperature/pressure etc gauge
•The petrol gauge is still on full.
2 WIDTH/THICKNESS a measurement of the width or thickness of something such as wire or metal:
•a 27 gauge needle
•heavy gauge black polythene
3 a gauge of sth something that helps you make a judgment about a person or situation:
•Retail sales are a gauge of consumer spending.
•The tests will give parents a gauge of how their children are doing.
4 RAILWAY the distance between the lines of a railway or between the wheels of a train:
•a standard gauge railway
broad/narrow gauge (=with more/less than the standard distance between the rails)
5 GUN the width of the BARREL of a gun:
•a 12-gauge shotgun[T]
1 to judge how people feel about something or what they are likely to do
[+whether/what/how etc]
•It is difficult to gauge what the other party's next move will be.
•I looked at Chris, trying to gauge his reaction.
2 to measure or calculate something by using a particular instrument or method:
•The thermostat will gauge the temperature and control the heat. $
1 very thin and pale, especially because of illness or continued worry; = drawn
•the old man's gaunt face
2 literary a building, mountain etc that is gaunt looks very plain and unpleasant:
•a gaunt cathedral
- gauntness noun [U] $
1 throw down the gauntlet to invite someone to fight or compete over a disagreement
2 pick up/take up the gauntlet to accept the invitation to fight or compete over a disagreement
3 run the gauntlet to be criticized or attacked by a lot of people:
•The foreign secretary ran the gauntlet of demonstrators.
4 [C] a long GLOVE that covers someone's wrist and protects their hand, for example in a factory
5 [C] a GLOVE covered in metal, used for protection by soldiers in the past $ [U]
1 very thin transparent material with very small holes in it
2 also gauze bandage AmE thin cotton with very small holes in it that is used for tying around a wound:
•His hands were wrapped in gauze bandages.
3 a material made of thin threads of metal or plastic:
•They covered the tubes with wire gauze.
- gauzy adjective
•a gauzy white dress
the past tense of GIVE [C]
a small hammer that the person in charge of a meeting, court of law, AUCTION etc hits on a table in order to get people's attention $ informal
used in writing to represent the word 'God' when it is said in this way as an expression of surprise, fear etc $ [I]
informal to look at something for a long time, in a way that looks stupid; = stare
[+at]
•Don't just stand there gawking at those girls! $
someone who is gawky moves or behaves in an awkward way; = clumsy
•a gawky, long-legged teenager
- gawkiness noun [U] $ [I] BrE informal
to look at something for a long time, especially with your mouth open because you are surprised; gape
[+at]
•I was carried out on a stretcher, with everyone gawping at me.
•He felt their gawping eyes on him.
1 if someone, especially a man, is gay, they are sexually attracted to people of the same sex; = homosexual; straight, lesbian
•the gay community in London
•gay men and lesbians
•a gay bar
•a campaigner for gay rights (=equal treatment for gay people)
2 old-fashioned bright or attractive:
•gay colours
3 old-fashioned cheerful and excited:
•She felt excited and quite gay.
4 with gay abandon in a careless way, without careful thought
- gayness noun [U]
GAILY, GAIETY[C]
someone who is HOMOSEXUAL, especially a man [I always + adv/prep]
to look at someone or something for a long time, giving it all your attention, often without realizing you are doing so; = stare
[+into/at etc]
•Nell was still gazing out of the window.
•Patrick sat gazing into space (=looking straight in front, not at any particular person or thing).[singular]
a long steady look:
•She felt embarrassed under his steady gaze.
lower/drop your gaze
•Ellen smiled uncomfortably and lowered her gaze.
meet sb's gaze (=look directly at someone who is looking at you)
•He didn't dare to meet her gaze. $ plural gazebos [C]
a small building with open sides in a garden, where you can sit and look at the view [C]
a type of small DEER, which jumps very gracefully and has large beautiful eyes [C]
1 BrE an official newspaper, especially one from the government giving important lists of people who have been employed by them etc
2 used in the names of some newspapers:
•the Phoenix Gazette $ [C]
a list of names of places, printed as a dictionary or as a list at the end of a book of maps informal
an extremely large number; = a lot
•I have a gazillion things to do.
- gazillion noun [C]
•gazillions of dollars [T usually passive]
BrE informal if you are gazumped, the person who is selling you a house sells it to another person who offers them more money:
•We were gazumped at the last minute.
- gazumping noun [U] $ [T] BrE informal
be gazundered if you are gazundered, someone who has agreed to buy your house says that they will only buy it for less than the amount originally agreed
1 the written abbreviation of Great Britain
2 also Gb the written abbreviation of gigabyte or gigabytes [U]
BrE law grievous bodily harm the serious crime of attacking someone and injuring them [C,U]
General Certificate of Education an examination in a range of subjects, done by students in schools in England and Wales at O LEVEL and A LEVEL. In 1988, GCE O levels were replaced by GCSEs:
•two GCE A level passes [C,U]
General Certificate of Secondary Education an examination in a range of subjects, done by students in schools in England and Wales, usually at the age of 15 or 16; O level, A level, GNVQ
do/take (your) GCSEs
•Adam took his GCSEs last year.
GCSE exam/course/coursework/results etc [singular]
gross domestic product the total value of all goods and services produced in a country, in one year, except for income received from abroad; GNP $
1 IN CARS ETC [C,U] the machinery in a vehicle such as a car, truck, or bicycle that you use to go comfortably at different speeds

in/into ... gear
first/second/third etc gear
high/low gear
top/bottom gear BrE
reverse gear (=for driving backwards)
change gear BrE
change/switch/shift gears AmE (=change to a different gear)
crunch/grind the gears (=change gear in a way that makes an unpleasant noise)
in/into gear (=with a gear connecting the engine to the wheels)
out of gear (=with the engine not connected to the wheels)

•His mountain bike had 18 gears.
•Andy drove cautiously along in third gear.
•Does this thing have a reverse gear?
• Any cyclist can climb a difficult hill; you just change gear.
•Don't turn off the engine while you're still in gear.
•It's a good habit to take the car out of gear while you're at a stoplight.

2 [C,U] used to talk about the amount of effort and energy that someone is using in a situation:
•During this period, Japan's export industries were in top gear (=were as active as they could be).
•The Republican's propaganda machine moved into high gear.
step up a gear BrE (=increase the level of effort)
•United stepped up a gear in the second half.
3 change gear BrE change/switch/shift gears AmE to start doing something in a different way, especially using more or less energy or effort:
•The boss expects us to be able to change gear just like that.
4 EQUIPMENT [U] a set of equipment or tools you need for a particular activity:
•He's crazy about photography - he's got all the gear.
•We'll need camping gear when we go away.
5 CLOTHES [U] a set of clothes that you wear for a particular occasion or activity:
•Bring your rain gear.
•police in riot gear
6 MACHINERY [U] a piece of machinery that performs a particular job:
•the landing gear of a plane
•heavy lifting gear
7 DRUGS [U] BrE informal a word meaning illegal drugs, used by people who take drugs
8 get your ass in gear AmE informal used to tell someone to hurry; = move your ass
•You'd better get your ass in gear - you're late.[T]
be geared to sb/sth to be organized in a way that is suitable for a particular purpose or situation:
•The typical career pattern was geared to men whose wives didn't work.
be geared to do sth
•The course curriculum is geared to span three years.

PHRASAL VERBS
gear up phr v
to prepare for something
[+for]
•The organization is gearing up for a convention in May.
gear up/be geared up to do sth
•Fast food restaurants are geared up to serve thousands of people daily. $ [C]
the system of gears in a vehicle $ [U] technical
the relationship between the amount of money that a company is worth and the amount that it owes in debts[C]
a metal rod that you move in order to control the gears of a vehicle[C]
AmE a gear lever[C]
BrE a gear lever $ plural geckos or geckoes [C]
a type of small LIZARD especially AmE
used to show that you are surprised or annoyed; wow
•Aw, gee, Mom, do we have to go?

PHRASAL VERBS
gee up phr v BrE
1 gee sb <=> up informal to encourage someone to try harder:
•The team needs a captain who can gee them up a bit.
2 gee up! used to tell a horse to go faster[C]
BrE a horse - used especially by children or when you are talking to children [C]
informal someone who is not popular because they wear unfashionable clothes, do not know how to behave in social situations, or do strange things; = nerd
•a computer geek
- geeky adjective
the plural of GOOSEAmE old-fashioned
used to show that you are surprised or annoyedAmE informal
very good, in a way that is impressive and exciting:
•gee-whiz graphics
another spelling of JEEZ $ [C] informal
1 BrE a man:
•I know this geezer.
2 AmE an old man $ [C]
an instrument that finds and measures RADIOACTIVITY
the G8 eight of the most important industrial nations in the world (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the US) who meet regularly to discuss the world economic situationalso geisha girl [C]
a Japanese woman who is trained in the art of dancing, singing, and providing entertainment, especially for men [C,U]
a thick wet substance that is used in beauty or cleaning products:
•hair gel
•shower gelpast tense and past participle gelled, present participle gelling
1 also jell especially AmE [I] if a thought, plan etc gels, it becomes clearer or more definite:
•Don't start writing until the idea has gelled in your mind.
2 also jell especially AmE [I] if two or more people gel, they start working well together as a group
[+with]
•He did not gel with Chapman.
•After two days, the group gelled into a team.
3 also jell especially AmE [I] if a liquid gels, it becomes firmer or thicker
4 [T] to put gel into your hair:
• gelled hair [C] BrE old-fashioned
used to represent the word 'girl', when it is said in this waygelatine $
[U] a clear substance obtained from boiled animal bones, used for making JELLY $
in a state between solid and liquid, like a gel [T]
to remove the TESTICLEs of a horse [C]
a horse that has been gelded written
very cold [U]
a powerful explosive [C]
1 also gem stone a beautiful stone that has been cut into a special shape; = jewel
•precious gems
2 something that is very special or beautiful:
•Every single ad in the campaign has been a gem.
•The Fortune is a tiny gem of a theatre.
[+of]
•little gems of advice
3 a very helpful or special person:
•Ben, you're a real gem! $
1 [U] the third sign of the ZODIAC, represented by TWINs , which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between May 22 and June 21
2 [C] someone who was born between May 22 and June 21also Gen BrE
the written abbreviation of General :
•Gen. Philippe Morillon [U]
BrE informal information
[+on]
•She has all the gen on cheap flights.past tense and past participle genned, present participle genning

PHRASAL VERBS
gen up phr v BrE informal
to learn a lot of information about something for a particular purpose
[+on]
•It's a good idea to gen up on the company's product before the interview. $ [C]
a French police officer $
1 [C,U] the fact of being male or female

gender differences/distinctions (=differences between men and women)
gender roles
gender inequality/bias (=when one gender is treated more fairly than another)
gender relations
gender stereotype (=a fixed idea of what men or women are like)
gender politics (=the way that men and women compete with each other for power)
gender issues (=ideas and problems related to being male or female in society)
gender identity (=whether someone is male or female)

•people of the same gender
•Discrimination on grounds of race or gender is forbidden.
• There may be gender differences in attitudes to paid work.
•traditional gender roles
• gender biases in books
• toys that do not reinforce gender stereotypes
•a science fiction story dealing with gender issues

2 [C] males or females, considered as a group:
•differences between the genders
3
a) [U] the system in some languages of marking words such as nouns, adjectives, and PRONOUNs as being MASCULINE, FEMININE, or NEUTER
b) [C] a group such as FEMININE into which words are divided in this system[C]
informal someone who behaves or dresses in a way typical of the opposite sex[C,U]
when men and women are treated differently, in a way that is unfair
relating only to males or only to females:
•gender-specific language [C]
a part of a cell in a living thing that controls what it looks like, how it grows, and how it develops. People get their genes from their parents:
•human genes
•the genes that regulate cell division plural genealogies
1 [U] the study of the history of families
2 [C] a drawing or description that explains how each person in a family is related to the others
- genealogist noun [C]
- genealogical $ adjective
•a useful source of genealogical information[C]
all of the genes available to a particular SPECIES
the plural of GENUS [usually before noun]
1 NOT DETAILED describing or relating to only the main features or parts of something, not the details:
•a general introduction to computing
•I skimmed through it to get a general impression of the text.
•I have a general idea of what I want to express.
•He spoke in general terms about greater competitiveness.
2 RELATING TO WHOLE involving the whole of a situation, group, or thing, rather than specific parts of it:
•There has been a general decline in standards.
•ways to improve your general health
3 ORDINARY ordinary or usual:
•general cooking and cleaning
•I hate paperwork as a general rule.
4 MOST PEOPLE shared by or affecting most people, or most of the people in a group:
•These courses are based around topics of general interest.
•How soon can the drug be made available for general use?
5 NOT LIMITED not limited to one use, activity, subject etc:
•The next ten minutes passed in general conversation.
•It's a good general fertilizer.
•Watford General Hospital
•This type of microphone is suitable for general use.
6 APPROXIMATE used to talk about an approximate area or direction:
•Pat and his friend were in the general area of the crime when it happened.
•They started walking in the general direction of the pub.
7 JOB used in the name of a job to show that the person who does it has complete responsibility:
•the general manager
•the Attorney General
GENERALLY
1 [C] an officer of very high rank in the army or air force
2 in general
a) usually or in most situations:
•In general, about 10% of the candidates are eventually offered positions.
b) used when talking about the whole of a situation, group, or thing, rather than specific parts of it:
•a feeling of dissatisfaction with life in general
•These policies are unpopular with politicians and people in general.
•We're trying to raise awareness about the environment in general and air pollution in particular.general anesthetic AmE [C,U] BrE
a medicine that makes you unconscious during an operation so that you do not feel any pain; local anaesthetic
•I had the operation done under general anaesthetic.[C]
1 the legal officer of a US company with the highest rank
2 a firm of US lawyers that gives general legal advice[U]
AmE a post office department that keeps someone's letters until that person comes to get them; = poste restante BrE[C]
an election in which all the people in a country who can vote elect a government:
•during the 1987 general election campaign
•an attempt to persuade the government to hold a general election (=have a general election)[plural]
the place from which the actions of an organization, especially a military one, are controlled
a British spelling of GENERALIZE [C]
a person who knows about many different things and can do many things well; specialist
- generalist adjective plural generalities
1 [C usually plural] a very general statement that avoids mentioning details or specific cases:
•The Secretary of State has given us nothing today but bland generalities.
2 the generality of sth BrE formal most of a group of people or things:
•Temporary workers are considerably younger than the generality of workers.
3 [U] formal the quality of being true or useful in most situationsalso generalisation BrE $
1 [C] a statement about all the members of a group that may be true in some or many situations but is not true in every case:
•You can't make generalizations about what men and women are like.
broad/sweeping/gross generalization
•a sweeping generalization based on speculation
2 [U] the act of making generalizationsalso generalise BrE
1 [I] to form a general principle or opinion after considering only a small number of facts or examples
[+from]
•She has a tendency to generalize from her husband to all men.
2 [I] to make a general statement about the whole of a group or thing
[+about]
•It is difficult to generalise about the kind of people who come on these courses.
3 [T] formal to say that an idea, result etc is related to a larger group:
•Can we generalise this principle?
generalize sth to sth
•the issue of whether the research findings can be generalized to a wider populationalso generalised BrE [usually before noun]
involving or relating to many things, people, or parts:
•generalized statements
•generalized anxiety[U]
knowledge of facts about many different subjects:
•a general knowledge quiz
1 considering or relating to the whole of a thing or group, rather than to details or specific cases or parts; = broadly
•It was generally a positive conversation.
•She's not really ill, just generally run-down. [sentence adverb]
•Generally, part-timers work in low-status, low-wage occupations.
•The second survey was concerned with working-class culture more generally.
2 by or to most people; = widely
generally regarded/accepted/known etc
•The plants are generally regarded as weeds.
•a generally accepted view
•It could be five years before the drug is generally available.
3 usually or most of the time; = usually
•I generally get in to work by 8.00.
4 generally speaking used to introduce a statement that is true in most cases but not always:
•Generally speaking, the more expensive the stereo, the better it is.
1 [U] the work of a doctor or lawyer who deals with all the ordinary types of illnesses or legal cases, rather than one specific type
2 [C] a group of lawyers or doctors who do all types of work[C]
a doctor who is trained in general medicine; = GP
the general public [also + plural verb BrE ] the ordinary people in a country, rather than people belonging to a particular group:
•health education aimed at the general public[only before noun]
suitable for most situations or jobs, or having a wide range of uses:
•a general-purpose computer [U]
the skill or position of being a general
the general staff the group of military officers who work for a military leader[C]
a shop that sells a wide variety of goods, especially one in a small town[C]
a situation when most of the workers in a country refuse to work in order to protest about working conditions, wages etc [T]
1 to produce or cause something; = create
•a useful technique for generating new ideas
•The program would generate a lot of new jobs.
generate revenue/profits/income etc
•Tourism generates income for local communities.
generate excitement/interest/support etc
•The project generated enormous interest.
2 to produce heat, electricity, or another form of energy:
•Wind turbines generate electricity for the local community.
1 [C also + plural verb BrE] all people of about the same age:
•Like most of my generation, I had never known a war.
•In my generation the divorce rate is very high.
•the need to preserve the planet for future generations
[+of]
•the post-war generation of writers
the younger/older generation (=the younger or older people in society)
•The younger generation don't know what hard work is.
•The story has been handed down from generation to generation.
2 [C] all the members of a family of about the same age:
•Friction is common when three generations live together.
first-generation/second-generation etc (=being a member of the first, second etc generation to live or be born in a country)
•first-generation immigrants
•a third-generation American
3 [C] the average period of time between the birth of a person and the birth of that person's children
for generations
•Some families have lived here for generations.
•The country's attitude toward government is harsher than it was a generation ago.
4 [C] a group of things that were developed from something else, or from which better things were developed
[+of]
•the new generation of mobile phones
•the first generation of nuclear power stations
first-generation/second-generation etc
•second-generation computers
5 [U] the process of producing something or making something happen; = production
[+of]
•the generation of electricity [usually before noun]
connected with a particular generation or the relationship between different generations:
•generational conflict
•generational divisions[singular]
the lack of understanding or the differences between older people and younger people formal
1 able to produce something:
•the generative power of the life force
2 generative grammar/linguistics/phonology the description of a language using rules that produce all the possible correct sentences of the language $ [C]
1 a machine that produces electricity:
•an emergency generator
2 a company that produces electricity
3 something that produces something else
[+of]
•good generators of income [usually before noun]
1 relating to a whole group of things rather than to one thing
generic term/name (for sth)
•Fine Arts is a generic term for subjects such as painting, music and sculpture.
2 a generic product does not have a special name to show that it is made by a particular company
generic drugs
- generically adverb $
[U] a generous attitude, or generous behaviour:
•an act of great generosity
[+to/towards]
•his generosity to the poor
•I shall never forget the generosity shown by the people of Bastaisk.
acts of generosity
1 someone who is generous is willing to give money, spend time etc, in order to help people or give them pleasure; mean
[+to]
•She's always very generous to the kids.
[+with]
•Jim is very generous with his time.
it/that is generous (of sb)
•It was generous of them to ask Anna along.
generous offer/support/donation etc
•my employer's generous offer to pay the bill
2 larger or more than the usual size or amount; measly
•a generous glass of wine
generous amount/helping/measure etc
•a generous helping of pasta
•He had a well-shaped, generous mouth.
3 sympathetic in the way you deal with people, and tending to see the good qualities in someone or something; mean
•She was generous enough to overlook my little mistake.
- generously adverb
•Please give generously to the refugee fund.
•Spread each slice generously with butter. [singular] formal
the beginning or origin of something
[+of]
•the genesis of the myth[U]
a way of treating certain diseases by using GENETIC ENGINEERING
relating to GENEs or GENETICS:
•genetic defects
•each person's genetic make-up
•genetic research
- genetically adverb
•genetically determined characteristicsalso genetically engineered
GM genetically modified foods or plants have had their genetic structure changed so that they are not affected by particular diseases or harmful insects[C]
the arrangement of GENEs that controls the way a living thing develops[U]
the science of changing the genetic structure of an animal, plant, or human, usually to make them stronger or healthier
- genetic engineer noun [C][U]
the process of examining the pattern of someone's GENEs , especially in order to find out if they are guilty of a crime [U]
the study of how the qualities of living things are passed on in their GENEs
- geneticist noun [C]
friendly and happy:
•a genial smile
- genially adverb
- geniality noun [U] [C]
a magical creature in old Arabian stories that will do what you want when you call it [only before noun]
relating to or affecting the outer sex organs:
•the genital area
•genital mutilationalso genitalia [plural] formal technical
the outer sex organs [C]
technical a form of a noun in some languages which shows a relationship of possession or origin between one thing and another
- genitive adjective
1 [U] a very high level of intelligence, mental skill, or ability, which only a few people have:
•The film reveals Fellini's genius.
work/writer/man etc of genius
•Wynford was an architect of genius.
a stroke of genius (=a very clever idea)
•At the time, his appointment seemed a stroke of genius.
•a work of pure genius
2 [C] someone who has an unusually high level of intelligence, mental skill, or ability:
•Freud was a genius.
musical/comic/mathematical etc genius
a genius at (doing) sth
•My father was a genius at storytelling.
3 a genius for (doing) sth special skill at doing something:
•That woman has a genius for organization.
•Warhol's genius for publicity [U]
the deliberate murder of a whole group or race of people; ethnic cleansing
•The military leaders were accused of genocide.
- genocidal adjective
•a genocidal regime $ [C] technical
all the GENEs in one cell of living thing:
•the human genome $ technical
relating to all the GENEs that are found in one type of living thing [C] technical
the GENETIC nature of one type of living thing $ [C]
formal a particular type of art, writing, music etc, which has certain features that all examples of this type share
[+of]
•a new genre of filmmaking
•a literary genre [C]
1 informal especially BrE a GENTLEMAN:
•a well-dressed elderly gent
•I've always prided myself on being a perfect gent.
2 the gents BrE a public toilet for men; = men's room AmE
1 polite, gentle, or graceful:
•She broke into a genteel run.
2 old-fashioned from or relating to a good social class
- genteelly adverb [C]
a small plant with blue or purple flowers that grows in mountain areasalso Gentile [C]
someone who is not Jewish
- gentile adjective [only before noun] [U] formal
the quality of being polite, gentle, or graceful, and of seeming to belong to a high social class:
•The hotel had an air of discreet gentility.
1 kind and careful in the way you behave or do things, so that you do not hurt or damage anyone or anything; rough
•Arthur was a very gentle, caring person.
gentle voice/smile/touch
•'Where does it hurt?' she asked in a gentle voice.
[+with]
•Be gentle with the baby.
2 not extreme, strong, or violent
gentle exercise/walk/stroll etc
•a program of regular gentle exercise
•the gentle pressure of Jill's hand
•After a little gentle persuasion, she agreed to go back to her family.
•Melt the butter over a gentle heat (=low heat).
3 a gentle wind or rain is soft and light:
•a gentle breeze
4 a gentle hill or slope is not steep or sharp:
•the gentle slopes of Mt Pelee
- gentleness noun [U]
GENTLY $ [plural] old use
people belonging to the higher social classes plural gentlemen [C]
1 a polite word for a man, used especially when talking to or about a man you do not know; lady
•Could you serve this gentleman please, Miss Bath?
•Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
•An elderly gentleman was asleep next to the fire.
2 a man who is always polite, has good manners, and treats other people well; lady
•Martin - always the perfect gentleman- got to his feet when my mother walked in.
•Mr Field was a real gentleman.
3 old-fashioned a man from a high social class, especially one whose family owns a lot of property; lady
•an English country gentleman[C] especially BrE
a man belonging to a high social class who owns and runs a farm, but who usually hires people to do the work
a man who is gentlemanly speaks and behaves politely, and treats other people with respect[C]
an agreement that is not written down, made between people who trust each other plural gentlewomen [C] old use
a woman who belongs to a high social class
1 in a gentle way:
•'You go back to bed now,' he said gently.
•She kissed me gently on the cheek.
•Gently cook the peppers for 10-15 minutes.
•Rain pattered gently on the roof above.
•The road curved gently upwards.
2 gently/gently does it! BrE spoken used to tell someone to be careful when they are handling something, moving something etc:
•Gently, Sammy, you don't want to break it. [U]
a gradual process in which an area in bad condition where poor people live is changed by people with more money coming to live there and improving it
- gentrify verb [T usually passive] [plural] old-fashioned
people who belong to a high social class:
•a member of the landed gentry (=gentry who own land) [I] formal
1 to bend one or both knees when in church or a holy place as a sign of respect
2 to show too much respect towards someone or something - used to show disapproval; = kowtow
[+to]
•He was a man of principle, refusing to genuflect to the party leadership.
- genuflection noun [C,U]
1 a genuine feeling, desire etc is one that you really feel, not one you pretend to feel; = sincere
genuine interest/concern/desire etc
•The reforms are motivated by a genuine concern for the disabled.
•a genuine fear of invasion
•'Did he really?' Her surprise seemed genuine.
2 something genuine really is what it seems to be; = real
•We need laws that will protect genuine refugees.
•The strap is genuine leather.
3 someone who is genuine is honest and friendly and you feel you can trust them; false
•She is the most genuine person I've ever met.
4 the genuine article
a) informal a person or thing that is a true example of their type:
•If you want to meet a real Southerner, Jake is the genuine article.
b) something that is real and is not a copy intended to deceive people:
•Some fake designer clothes are so good that people have no idea they're not buying the genuine article.
- genuinely adverb
•The boy seemed genuinely interested.
- genuineness noun [U] plural genera [C] technical
one of the groups into which scientists divide animals or plants, in which the animals or plants are closely related but cannot produce babies together. A genus includes fewer members than a FAMILY and more members than a SPECIES. $ technical
relating to the Earth or its surface:
•geophysics
•geopolitical $ [only before noun]
having a shape or structure made from small flat pieces, usually TRIANGLEs or PENTAGONs , that are put together to form curves:
•a geodesic dome $ [C]
someone who has studied geography to a high levelalso geographic
1 relating to the place in an area, country etc where something or someone is
geographical area/location/position
•a large geographical area
•their geographical proximity to Japan (=nearness to Japan)
2 relating to geography:
•geographical research work
- geographically adverb $ [U]
1 the study of the countries, oceans, rivers, mountains, cities etc of the world:
•a geography lesson
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
2 the geography of a building, city etc is the way all its parts are arranged
[+of]
•The geography of the flats made it hard to get to know our neighbours. $ [U]
the study of the rocks, soil etc that make up the Earth, and of the way they have changed since the Earth was formed
- geologist noun [C]
- geological $ adjective
•geological periods
- geologically adverb [C]
an expert in geomancy [U]
the belief that arranging your home, house, office etc in a particular way will bring you good or bad luck; feng shuialso geometrical
1 having or using the shapes and lines in GEOMETRY, such as circles or squares, especially when these are arranged in regular patterns:
•a geometric design
2 relating to GEOMETRY
- geometrically adverb[C]
a set of numbers in order, in which each is multiplied by a specific number to produce the next number in the series (as in 1, 2, 4, 8, 16,...); arithmetic progression $ [U]
the study in MATHEMATICS of the angles and shapes formed by the relationships of lines, surfaces, and solid objects in space $ [U]
the study of the movements of parts of the Earth, and the forces involved with this, including the weather, the oceans etc
- geophysical adjective
- geophysicist noun [C] $ [U]
ideas and activities relating to the way that a country's position, population etc affect its political development and its relationship with other countries, or the study of this
- geopolitical $ adjective $ BrE informal
1 [C] someone from Tyneside in North East England
2 [U] a way of speaking that is typical of people from Tyneside $
Georgian buildings, furniture etc come from the 18th century, when Britain was ruled by the Kings George the First, Second, and Third:
•Georgian townhouse $
relating to or coming from the heat inside the earth:
•a geothermal energy plant [C]
a plant with red, pink, or white flowers and round leaves $ [C]
a small animal with fur, a tail, and long back legs, that is often kept as a pet
1 [only before noun] relating to the medical care and treatment of old people:
•a specialist in geriatric medicine
2 informal too old to work well:
•a geriatric rock star [U]
the medical treatment and care of old people; gerontology
- geriatrician noun [C] $ [C]
1 a very small living thing that can make you ill
BACTERIA
•Put disinfectant down the toilet to kill any germs.
2 the germ of an idea/theory/feeling etc the early stage of an idea, feeling etc that may develop into something bigger and more important:
•The germ of a story began to form in his mind.
3 technical the part of a plant or animal that can develop into a new plant or animal:
•germ cells containing DNA
WHEATGERM, GERM WARFARE $
relating to Germany, its people, or its language:
•German history
•a young German couple
1 [C] someone from Germany
2 [U] the language used in Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland $ formal
an idea, remark etc that is germane to something is related to it in an important and suitable way; = relevant
[+to]
•an article which is germane to the subject being discussed $
1 relating to the language family that includes German, Dutch, Swedish, and English
2 relating to or typical of Germany or German people[U]
an infectious disease that causes red spots on your body, and can damage an unborn child; = rubella[C]
a large dog rather like a WOLF that is often used by the police, for guarding property etc; = Alsatian BrE $
1 [I,T] if a seed germinates, or if it is germinated, it begins to grow; = sprout
2 [I] if an idea, feeling etc germinates, it begins to develop:
•The idea of setting up his own company began to germinate in his mind.
- germination $ noun [U][U]
the use of harmful BACTERIA in war to cause illness and death among the enemy $ [U]
the scientific study of old age and its effects on the body; geriatrics
- gerontologist noun [C]
- gerontological $ adjective [U]
when politicians change the size and borders of an area before an election, so that one person, group, or party has an unfair advantage
- gerrymander verb [I,T] [C] technical
a noun in the form of the PRESENT PARTICIPLE of a verb, for example 'shopping' in the sentence 'I like shopping' [C] technical
a whole thing that is different from all its parts, and has qualities that are not present in any of its parts by themselves:
•gestalt psychology $
the Gestapo the secret police force used by the state in Germany during the Nazi period [singular, U]
1 medical the process by which a child or young animal develops inside its mother's body before birth, or the period of time when this happens; pregnancy
•The gestation period of a horse is about 11 months.
2 formal the process by which a new idea, piece of work etc is developed, or the period of time when this happens; = development
in gestation
•The report was a very long time in gestation. [I]
to make movements with your arms and hands, usually while speaking, because you are excited, angry, or cannot think of the right words to use; = gesture
•Jane gesticulated wildly and shouted 'Stop! Stop!'
- gesticulation noun [C,U] $
1 [C,U] a movement of part of your body, especially your hands or head, to show what you mean or how you feel
in a ... gesture (of sth)
•Jim raised his hands in a despairing gesture.
•Luke made an obscene gesture with his finger.
[+of]
•She shook her head with a gesture of impatience.
2 [C] something that you say or do, often something small, to show how you feel about someone or something

nice gesture
symbolic gesture (=something you do to show people how you feel)
grand gesture (=something you do to make people notice you)
gesture of goodwill/friendship
gesture of solidarity/support
gesture of defiance
make a gesture (towards sb/sth) (=do something to show that you have some respect for someone or something)

•They decided it would be a nice gesture to send her a card.
• Tearing up the price list was simply a symbolic gesture.
[+of]
• As a gesture of goodwill, we have decided to waive the charges on this occasion.
[+towards]
•The Queen has now made a gesture towards public opinion.

- gestural adjective[I]
to move your hand, arm, or head to tell someone something, or show them what you mean
[+to/towards/at]
•Brad gestured towards the door. 'Get out.'
gesture for sb to do sth
•He gestured for her to take a seat. AmE
used to wish someone good health when they have just SNEEZEd ; = bless you past tense got, past participle got $ BrE , gotten $ AmE , present participle getting
1 RECEIVE [T not in passive] to receive something that someone gives you or sends you:
•She got loads of presents.
•What did you get for Christmas?
•We get a lot of junk mail.
get sth from sb
•We got a letter from Pam this morning.
get sth off sb spoken informal
•I got it off my Dad.
•I got a few games free when I bought my computer.
see box at GAIN^1
2 OBTAIN [T] to obtain something by finding it, asking for it, or paying for it:
•We need to get help quickly!
•It would be a good idea to get professional advice.
•You may be able to get a grant from the local authority.
•He cleared his throat to get our attention.
get sth for sb
•I want you to get some information for me.
get sb sth
•His father managed to get him a job at the local factory.
3 BRING [T] to bring someone or something back from somewhere:
•Run upstairs and get a pillow.
•I went back into the office to get a pen.
•Shall I go and get the phone book?
get sb/sth from sth
•She's just gone to get the kids from school.
get sth for sb
•I'll get a towel for you.
get sb sth
•I'll get you a chair.
see box at BRING
4 BUY [T]
a) to buy something:
•Where did you get that jacket?
get sth for sb
•Joe's going to get tickets for all of us.
get sb sth
•While you're out, could you get me some batteries?
get yourself sth
•He's just got himself a new van.
get sth from sth
•I usually get vegetables from the supermarket.
get sth for $20/£100/50p etc
•You can get a decent PC for about £500 now.
•It's a lovely coat, and I managed to get it cheap in the sales.
b) spoken to pay for something for someone else:
•I'll get these drinks.
c) to buy a newspaper regularly:
•My parents always used to get the Daily Telegraph.
5 MONEY [T]
a) to receive money for doing work:
•Hospital doctors get a minimum of £50,000 a year.
get £2000/$4000 etc for doing sth
•He gets £4 an hour for stacking shelves at the local supermarket.
b) to receive money when you sell something
get £100/$200 etc for sth
•You should get a couple of hundred pounds for your old car.
•Did you get a good price for it?
see box at GAIN^1
6 HAVE A FEELING/IDEA [T] to start to have a feeling or an idea:
•She began to get an uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched.
•I got a terrible shock when I saw how ill he looked.
•I got the impression that everyone was fed up with us.
get pleasure from/out of sth
•She gets a lot of pleasure from her garden.
7 HAVE/EXPERIENCE [T] to have, do, or experience something:
•You don't get enough exercise.
•I never get time to read these days.
•The west of the country gets quite a lot of rain.
•We might get the chance to go to America this year.
8 ILLNESS [T not in passive] to catch an illness:
•I got flu last winter and was in bed for three weeks.
•She was worried she might get food poisoning.
9 ACHIEVE [T] to achieve something:
•I got 98% in my last maths test.
•the person who gets the highest score
10 RECEIVE A PUNISHMENT [T] to receive something as a punishment:
•He got ten years in prison for his part in the robbery.
11 ARRIVE [I always + adv/prep] to arrive somewhere:
•What time will we get there?
•We didn't get home until midnight.
[+to]
•We got to Paris that evening.
12 REACH A POINT [I always + adv/prep] to reach a particular point or stage of something:
•I've got as far as chapter 5.
•I couldn't wait to get to the end of the book.
•Where have you got up to in the story?
•It was disappointing to lose, having got this far in the competition.
13 get (sb) somewhere/anywhere/nowhere if you get somewhere, or if an action gets you somewhere, you make progress:
•I think we're getting somewhere at last.
•We didn't seem to be getting anywhere.
•I've tried arguing, but it got me nowhere.
14 MOVE [I always +adv/prep] to move or go somewhere:
•Get out of my house!
•We managed to get past the guards.
•They shouted at us to get back.
•Peter got to his feet (=stood up).
15 MAKE STH MOVE [T always + adv/prep] to make something or someone move to a different place or position, especially with some difficulty:
•I couldn't get the disk out of the computer.
•Could you help me get the wardrobe up the stairs?
•We must get food and emergency aid into the area as quickly as possible.
16 TRAVEL [T] to travel somewhere on a train, bus etc:
•You can get a bus to the station.
•I got the 9:15 from London to Edinburgh.
17 BECOME [linking verb] to change to a new feeling, situation, or state; = become
•Don't get upset.
•She soon got bored with the job.
•He calmed down as he got older.
•Eat your dinner before it gets cold.
•This is getting silly.
get to be sth informal
•It's getting to be a problem.
•How did you get to be so smart?
see box at BECOME
18 MAKE SB/STH BECOME STH [T] to make someone or something change to a new feeling, situation, or state:
•Sometimes she gets me so angry!
•Don't get the children too excited.
•He was terrified of getting her pregnant.
•It took them fifteen minutes to get the boat ready.
19 BE HURT/BROKEN ETC [linking verb, T] used to say that something, especially something bad, happens to someone or something
get hurt/broken/stolen etc
•You might get hurt if you stand there.
•Mind the camera doesn't get broken.
•My dad got killed in a car crash.
•I knew I would get shouted at if I was late home.
•This is a question we very often get asked.
get sth caught/stuck etc
•She got her foot caught in the wire.
20 MAKE STH HAPPEN TO SB/STH [T]
a) to accidentally make someone or something experience something:
•You're going to get us all killed!
•Mind you don't get yourself burned.
b) to do something, or arrange for it to be done:
•I need to get the washing machine fixed.
•We must get this work finished on time.
21 MAKE STH DO STH [T not in passive] to make something do a particular thing
get sth to do sth
•I couldn't get the engine to start.
get sth doing sth
•We got the lawn mower working again eventually.
22 MAKE SB DO STH [T not in passive] to persuade or force someone to do something
get sb to do sth
•I'll get Terry to check the wiring for me.
•We couldn't get him to sign the agreement.
get sb doing sth
•In the end, we got the children clearing the playground.
23 UNDERSTAND [T not in passive or progressive] informal to understand something:
•I don't think she got the joke.
•I don't get it- it doesn't make sense.
get what/how/who etc
•I still don't get how she knew about the meeting.
24 COOK [T not in passive] to prepare food or a meal:
•She's just getting lunch.
get sb sth
•Shall I get you a sandwich?
25 RADIO/TELEVISION [T not in passive or progressive] to be able to receive a particular radio signal, television station etc:
•Can you get satellite TV here?
26 ANSWER THE DOOR/TELEPHONE [T] informal to answer the door or telephone:
•Can you get the phone for me?
27 CATCH SB [T] to catch someone:
•The police got him in the end.
28 HURT/KILL SB [T] informal to attack, hurt, or kill someone:
•The other gang members threatened to get him if he went to the police.
•I'll get you for this!
29 TRICK SB [T] informal to deceive or trick someone:
•I got you that time!
30 ON THE TELEPHONE [T] if you get someone on the telephone, they answer the telephone when you have made a call, and so you talk to them:
•I tried phoning him at work, but I just got his secretary.
31 get doing sth to begin doing something:
•We got talking about the old days.
•I think we should get going quite soon.
•What are we all waiting for? Let's get moving!
32 get to do sth informal to have the opportunity to do something:
•We got to meet all the stars after the show.
•She gets to travel all over the place with her job.
33 get to like/know/understand sb/sth to gradually begin to like, know, or understand someone or something:
•It'll take a while for you to get to know everyone.
•After a while, I got to like him.
34 you get sth used to say that something happens or exists:
•I didn't know you got tigers in Europe.
35 you've got me (there) used to say you do not know the answer to something
36 it/what gets me used to say that something really annoys you:
•It really gets me the way he leaves wet towels on the bathroom floor.
•What gets me is their attitude.
37 get this especially AmE used to draw attention to something surprising or interesting that you are about to mention:
•And the whole thing only cost - get this - $12.95.

PHRASAL VERBS
get about phr v BrE
1 to go or travel to different places:
•She's eighty now, and doesn't get about much any more.
•He's got an old van which he uses for getting about.
2 if news or information gets about, it is told to a lot of people:
•I don't really want this to get about.

get across phr v
to succeed in communicating an idea or piece of information to someone, or to be communicated successfully
get sth <=> across
•It took him ages to get his point across.
•We must get across the simple fact that drugs are dangerous.
•The message isn't getting across.
[+to]
•It is important that we get this message across to voters.

get ahead phr v
to be successful and do better than other people in a job or work:
•She soon found that it wasn't easy to get ahead in the movie business.

get along phr v
1 if two or more people get along, they have a friendly relationship:
•We've always got along quite well.
[+with]
•They seem to get along with each other.
2 to deal with a job or situation or to make progress:
•How's Sam getting along at university?
[+without]
•Don't worry, we'll get along without you.
3 spoken I must/I'd better be getting along used to say that it is time for you to leave, for example because you have something else to do

get around phr v
1 get around (sth) to go or travel to different places:
•We had to use public transport to get around.
•It's quite easy to get around London.
2 if news or information gets around, it is told to a lot of people:
•News of the accident soon got around.
•Word got around that the department might be closed.
3 get around sth to avoid something that is difficult or causes problems for you:
•I think we should be able to get around most of these problems.
•She was always very clever at getting around the rules.

get around to sth phr v
to do something that you have been intending to do for some time:
•I meant to phone her yesterday, but I never got around to it.
get around to doing sth
•We finally got around to clearing out the garage.

get at sb/sth phr v
1 CRITICIZE to keep criticizing someone in an unkind way:
•Why is he always getting at me?
•He felt he was being got at by the other students.
2 be getting at sth to be trying to say something in a way that is difficult for other people to understand:
•What are you getting at, Helen?
•Do you see the point I'm getting at?
3 REACH to be able to reach something:
•We had to move the washing machine out to get at the wiring behind it.
4 INFORMATION to discover information, especially the truth about a situation:
•I was determined to get at the truth.
5 THREATEN informal to use threats to influence the decision of people who are involved in a court case:
•Do you think some of the jury have been got at?

get away phr v
1 LEAVE to leave a place, especially when this is not easy:
•The meeting dragged on, and I didn't get away until seven.
[+from]
•I like to get away from London at the weekend.
2 ON HOLIDAY informal to take a holiday away from the place you normally live:
•Will you manage to get away this summer?
[+to]
•We're hoping to get away to Scotland for a few days.
3 ESCAPE to escape from someone who is chasing you or trying to catch you:
•The three men got away in a stolen car.
[+from]
•We knew it wouldn't be easy to get away from the police.
[+with]
•The thieves got away with jewellery worth over £50,000.
4 get away! BrE spoken used to say you are very surprised by something or do not believe it
5 the one that got away something good that you nearly had or that nearly happened

get away from sb/sth phr v
1 to avoid something that is difficult or unpleasant for you, or something that limits what you can do in some way:
•I needed to get away from the pressures of work for a while.
•She wanted to get away from the traditional ideas of what theatre is about.
• There is no getting away from this fact (=you cannot avoid or deny this fact).
2 to begin to talk about other things rather than the subject you are supposed to be discussing:
•I think we're getting away from the main issue.
3 get away from it all to have a relaxing holiday:
•You need to get away from it all for a couple of weeks.

get away with sth phr v
1 to not be caught or punished when you have done something wrong:
•Watch Frank - he'll cheat if he thinks he can get away with it.
•No one insults my family and gets away with it!
2 get away with murder informal to not be punished for doing something wrong:
•Some of those children get away with murder!
3 to receive only a small punishment for something:
•The charge was reduced to manslaughter, and she got away with three years in prison.
4 to do something without experiencing any problems or difficulties, even though it is not the best thing to do:
•At school he had always got away with doing the bare minimum amount of work.
•The colour's not quite right, but I think you'll get away with it.

get back phr v
1 RETURN to return to a place:
•I'll talk to you when I get back.
[+to]
•He got back to the office just before lunchtime.
2 DO STH AGAIN to start doing something again or talking about something again
[+to]
•Let's get back to the main point of the discussion.
•Well, I must get back to work.
[+into]
•Have you ever thought about getting back into teaching?
3 BE IN STATE AGAIN to change to a previous state or condition again
[+to]
•Life was beginning to get back to normal.
•I couldn't get back to sleep.
[+together]
•Do you think they'll get back together (=start having a relationship again)?
4 GET STH AGAIN get sth <=> back to get something again after you have lost it or someone else has taken it:
•Did you get your books back?
5 PUNISH SB get sb back informal to do something to hurt or harm someone who has hurt or harmed you
[+for]
•I'll get you back for this!

get back at sb phr v
to do something to hurt or harm someone who has hurt or harmed you:
•He'll probably go out with her just to get back at me.

get back to sb phr v informal
to talk to someone or telephone them later in order to answer a question or give them information:
•I'll find out the prices and get back to you.

get behind phr v
1 if you get behind with a job, payments, rent etc, you do not do or pay as much of it as you should have by a particular time
[+with]
•I don't want to get behind with my work.
•You can always catch up later if you get behind.
2 get behind sb informal to support someone:
•The crowd really got behind them and cheered them on.

get by phr v
to have enough money to buy the things you need, but no more:
•I don't earn a huge salary, but we get by.
[+on]
•Sometimes they had to get by on very little.

get down phr v
1 MAKE SB SAD get sb down to make someone feel unhappy and tired:
•His lack of social life was beginning to get him down.
2 WRITE STH DOWN get sth <=> down to write something, especially something that someone is saying:
•He was followed by a group of reporters trying to get down every word he said.
•It's important to get things down on paper.
3 EAT/DRINK get sth down (sb) to eat or drink something, or persuade someone else to eat or drink something:
•I knew I'd feel better once I'd got some food down.
•Get that tea down you.
•He still says he's not hungry, and I can't get anything down him.
4 AFTER A MEAL BrE to leave the table after a meal - used by children or when you are talking to children:
•Please may I get down?

get down to sth phr v
to start doing something that is difficult or needs a lot of time or energy:
•It's time we got down to work.
•We need to get down to some serious talking.
get down to doing sth
•I always find it hard to get down to revising.

get in phr v
1 ENTER to enter a place, especially when this is difficult:
•We managed to get in through a window.
•The theatre was already full, and we couldn't get in.
2 ARRIVE if a train, plane etc gets in at a particular time, it arrives at that time:
•What time does the bus get in?
[+to]
•We get in to Heathrow at ten o'clock.
3 GET HOME to arrive home:
•We didn't get in until late.
•What time do the boys get in from school?
4 BE ELECTED to be elected to a position of political power:
•The Conservatives have promised to increase spending on health and education if they get in.
5 COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY to be allowed to be a student at a university, college etc:
•I applied to Bristol University, but I didn't get in.
6 BUY A SUPPLY get sth <=> in to buy a supply of something:
•I must remember to get some food in for the weekend.
7 CROPS get sth <=> in to gather a crop and bring it to a sheltered place:
•The whole village was involved with getting the harvest in.
8 ASK FOR WORKER get sb <=> in to ask someone to come to your home to do a job, especially to repair something:
•We'll have to get a plumber in.
9 GIVE STH TO SB get sth in to send something to a particular place or give it to a particular person:
•Please can you get your essays in by Thursday.
•It's best to get your insurance claim in as quickly as possible.
10 DO STH get sth <=> in to manage to do something even though you do not have much time:
•We're hoping to get in a game of golf over the weekend.

get in on sth phr v informal
to become involved in something that other people are doing or planning:
•Quite a few companies would like to get in on the project.
•The scheme has proved very successful, and now other local authorities are keen to get in on the act (=become involved in something exciting or interesting).

get in with sb phr v informal
to become friendly with someone:
•He got in with a bad crowd and started getting into trouble.

get into sth
1 ENTER to enter a place, especially when this is difficult:
•The door was locked and we couldn't get into the house.
2 ARRIVE to arrive at a place:
•What time do we get into New York?
3 BE ELECTED to be elected to a parliament:
•He first got into parliament in 1982.
4 COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY to be allowed to be a student at a university, college etc:
•She got into Edinburgh University.
5 TEAM to be made a member of a team:
•Do you think you might get into the Olympic team this year?
6 START DOING STH to start doing or feeling something, or being in a particular situation:
•He's started getting into trouble at school.
•My parents were always terrified of getting into debt.
•She got into the habit of going for long walks by herself.
•He got into a terrible temper and started throwing things around.
7 BECOME INVOLVED to begin to be involved in doing something:
•How did you first get into script writing?
•She was starting to get into politics.
8 ENJOY informal to begin to enjoy something or be interested in it:
•I first got into jazz when I was at college.
9 CLOTHING informal to put on a piece of clothing, especially when this is difficult because the piece of clothing is too small for you:
•I don't know how she managed to get into those trousers.
10 what's got into sb? spoken used to express surprise that someone is behaving very differently from the way they usually behave:
•I don't know what's got into Sally recently.

get off phr v
1 LEAVE to leave a place, or to help someone to leave a place:
•We'll try and get off straight after lunch.
get off sth
•Get off my land!
get sb off
•I'll phone you as soon as I've got the children off to school.
2 FINISH WORK get off (sth) to finish work and leave the place where you work at the end of the day:
•I usually get off at six o'clock.
•What time do you get off work?
3 SEND STH get sth off to send a letter or package by post:
•I'll have to get this letter off by tonight.
[+to]
•I'll get the forms off to you today.
4 CLOTHING get sth off to remove a piece of clothing:
•Why don't you get those wet clothes off?
5 NOT BE PUNISHED if someone gets off, they are not punished for doing something wrong, or they receive only a small punishment:
•In the end he got off because there wasn't enough evidence against him.
•The police felt he had got off very lightly.
[+with]
•If you're lucky, you'll get off with a fine.
6 HELP SB NOT BE PUNISHED get sb off to help someone avoid being punished for a crime:
•Her lawyers were confident that they could get her off.
7 SLEEP get (sb) off to go to sleep, or to help a child go to sleep:
•I went to bed but couldn't get off to sleep.
•It took us ages to get the baby off.
8 get off to a good/bad etc start to start in a particular way:
•The day had got off to a bad start.
9 STOP TALKING ABOUT STH get off sth to stop talking about a subject:
•Can we get off the subject of death, please?
10 STOP TOUCHING STH get off (sth/sb) informal used to tell someone to stop touching something or someone:
•Get off me!
•Get off those cakes, or there'll be trouble.
•Get off (=stop touching me)!
11 tell sb where to get off informal to tell someone that they are asking you for too much or are behaving in a way you will not accept:
•He wanted £50, but I told him where to get off.
12 get off your butt/ass AmE spoken not polite used to tell someone that they should stop being lazy and start doing something useful

get off on sth phr v informal
to become excited by something, especially sexually excited

get off with sb phr v informal
to start a sexual relationship with someone:
•She spent the whole evening trying to get off with Phil.

get on phr v
1 LIKE SB especially BrE if people get on, they like each other and have a friendly relationship with each other
[+with]
•I've always got on well with Henry.
•The two boys get on well most of the time.
2 PROGRESS to deal with a job or situation or to make progress:
•How is George getting on at school?
[+with]
•How are you getting on with your essay?
[+without]
•I don't know how we'll get on without Michael.
3 CONTINUE DOING STH to continue doing something
[+with]
•Be quiet and get on with your work!
4 BE SUCCESSFUL to be successful in your job:
•You'll have to work hard if you want to get on.
5 CLOTHING get sth on to put a piece of clothing on:
•I can't get my boots on!
6 be getting on
a) if time is getting on, it is quite late:
•Come on, it's getting on and we ought to go home.
•I realized that time was getting on and we would have to hurry.
b) informal if someone is getting on, they are quite old
7 getting on for 90/10 o'clock/2000 etc almost a particular age, time, number etc:
•Mrs McIntyre must be getting on for 90 by now.
•The total cost was getting on for $100,000.
8 get it on AmE informal to have sex
9 get on with it! spoken used to tell someone to hurry:
•Will you lot stop messing around and get on with it!
10 let sb get on with it informal to let someone do something on their own, and not help them or tell them what to do:
•She wanted to decorate her room, so I just let her get on with it.

get onto sb/sth phr v
1 SPEAK/WRITE TO SB informal to speak or write to someone:
•I'll get onto my lawyer about this.
2 LEARN ABOUT SB informal to find out about someone who has been doing something wrong:
•How did the police get onto him?
3 BE ELECTED to be elected as a member of a committee, a political organization etc:
•She was quite keen to get onto the management committee.
4 TALK ABOUT STH to begin to talk about a subject after you have been discussing something else:
•After a few minutes they got onto the subject of the election.
5 DO STH informal to start dealing with something:
•Right, I'll get onto it straight away.

get out phr v
1 LEAVE to leave a room or building:
•You ought to get out into the fresh air.
•Mary screamed at me to get out.
[+of]
•Get out of the kitchen!
2 ESCAPE to escape from a place:
•Some of the animals had got out.
[+of]
•He was determined to get out of prison.
3 HELP SB ESCAPE get sb out to help someone leave a place or escape from a place:
•It's important to get these people out as soon as possible.
[+of]
•We knew it was going to be difficult to get him out of the country.
4 TAKE STH FROM A PLACE get sth <=> out to take something from the place where it is kept:
•She got out her violin and started to play.
5 INFORMATION if information gets out, a lot of people then know it although it is meant to be secret:
•We have to make absolutely certain that none of this gets out.
•It's bound to get out that he's retiring soon.
6 PRODUCE STH get sth <=> out to produce a book or other product that can be sold to people:
•We're hoping to get the new catalogue out next week.
7 SAY STH get sth <=> out to succeed in saying something, especially when this is very difficult:
•I wanted to tell him I loved him, but couldn't get the words out.

get out of sth phr v
1 AVOID DOING STH to avoid doing something you have promised to do or are supposed to do:
•See if you can get out of that meeting tomorrow.
get out of doing sth
•He's trying to get out of tidying his room.
2 STOP DOING STH to stop doing something or being involved in something:
•I wanted to get out of teaching.
3 MAKE SB GIVE/TELL YOU STH get sth out of sb to force or persuade someone to tell you something or give you something:
•I was determined to get the truth out of her.
4 ENJOY STH get sth out of sth to enjoy something you do or experience, or to learn something as a result:
•I hope he got something out of his visit.
get sth out of doing sth
•Children can get a lot out of being involved in community projects.

get over
1 ILLNESS get over sth to become well again after an illness:
•It's taken me ages to get over the flu.
2 UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE get over sth to begin to feel better after a very upsetting experience:
•She never got over the death of her son.
3 IDEAS/INFORMATION get sth <=> over to succeed in communicating ideas or information to other people
[+to]
•It's important that we get this message over to young people.
4 FINISH STH get sth over also get sth over with to do and finish something difficult that you have to do:
•I'll be in touch once I've got my exams over.
•I can't wait to get the interview over with.
5 PROBLEM/DIFFICULTY get over sth to successfully deal with a problem or difficulty:
•I don't know how we're going to get over this problem.
•Once we've got over the first few months, we should be making a reasonable profit.
6 can't/couldn't get over sth spoken used to say that you are very surprised, shocked, or amused by something:
•I can't get over how well you look.

get round phr v BrE
1 if news or information gets round, it is told to a lot of people:
•News like this soon gets round.
2 get round sth to avoid something that is difficult or causes problems for you:
•There must be a way of getting round this problem.
•Most companies manage to get round the restrictions.
3 get round sb to gently persuade someone to do what you want by being nice to them:
•I know how to get round Chris.

get round to sth phr v BrE
to do something that you have been intending to do for some time:
•I keep meaning to put a lock on it, but I never get round to it.
get round to doing sth
•I haven't got round to unpacking from my holiday yet.

get through phr v
1 DO WORK get through sth to do an amount of work:
•We got through half the application forms this morning.
•We've got a lot of work to get through.
2 USE STH get through sth informal to use a lot of something:
•You wouldn't believe the amount of food children can get through in a week!
3 SPEND MONEY get through sth informal to spend a lot of money:
•He can get through £100 in one evening.
4 DIFFICULT TIME get (sb) through sth to come successfully to the end of an unpleasant experience or period of time, or to help someone do this:
•I don't know how we're going to get through the winter.
•It was their love that got me through those first difficult months.
5 TEST/COMPETITION get (sb/sth) through (sth) to be successful in a test or competition, or to make sure that someone or something is successful:
•I finally managed to get through my driving test.
•I knew it was going to be difficult to get the car through its MOT test.
[+to]
•Liverpool have got through to the final of the FA Cup.
6 REACH A PERSON/PLACE to reach a place or person that is difficult to reach
[+to]
•Aid agencies have been unable to get through to the thousands of refugees stranded on the border.
7 BY TELEPHONE to succeed in speaking to someone on the telephone:
•I tried phoning her office, but I couldn't get through.
[+to]
•At last I managed to get through to one of the managers.
8 NEW LAW get (sth) through (sth) if a new law gets through parliament, or if someone gets it through, it is officially approved:
•Anti-hunting legislation will never get through the House of Lords.
•Once again we failed to get the Bill through Parliament.

get (sth) through to sb phr v
to succeed in making someone understand something, especially when this is difficult:
•I couldn't seem to get through to her.
•How can I get it through to him that this is really important?

get to sb/sth phr v informal
1 to make someone feel annoyed or upset:
•I'm under a lot of pressure at work, and sometimes it gets to me a bit.
•Don't let things get to you.
2 get to thinking/wondering sth informal to start thinking something:
•He got to thinking how disappointed his parents would be.

get together phr v
1 if people get together, they meet in order to spend time with each other:
•We must get together some time for a drink.
2 if two people get together, they start a romantic or sexual relationship
3 get sth <=> together to collect things together:
•I need to get some paperwork together for the meeting.
4 get sb <=> together to bring people together to make a group:
•He got together a group of local businessmen to discuss the problem.
5 get sth <=> together to succeed in getting enough money to do or buy something:
•We're trying to get together enough money to buy a flat.
6 get sth together informal to change your life so that it is organized and you are in control of it:
•He's just trying to get his life together at the moment.
get yourself together
•I'm staying with my parents for a while, until I've got myself together a bit.
7 get it together spoken to be organized and successful in your life, job etc:
•The government can't seem to get it together on the environment.

get up phr v
1 get (sb) up to get out of your bed after sleeping, or to make someone get out of their bed:
•We didn't get up until lunch time.
•Get me up at seven, would you?
2 to stand up:
•He got up and walked over to the window.
3 if a wind or storm gets up, it starts and gets stronger
4 be got up as/in sth BrE informal to be dressed in particular clothes:
•He arrived at the party got up as Count Dracula.
•The men were all got up in suits.
5 get it up informal to get an ERECTION (1)

get up to sth phr v
to do something, especially something slightly bad:
•Go upstairs and see what the kids are getting up to.
•What did you get up to at the weekend?
have got at HAVE^2 [C]
1 an escape from a place or unpleasant situation, especially after committing a crime:
•The gunmen made a getaway on foot.
getaway car/vehicle/van (=a car etc used by criminals to escape after a crime)
2 especially AmE a short holiday away from home, or a place where people go for a short holiday:
•Big Bear Lake is a popular weekend getaway.
from the get-go AmE informal from the beginning:
•From the get-go, I knew these tapes were special.[C]
a friendly informal meeting or party:
•a family get-together [C] informal
a set of clothes, especially strange or unusual clothes:
•I hardly recognized him in that getup![U] informal
energy and determination to do things:
•He was the only candidate who had any get-up-and-go. $ [C]
1 a natural spring that sends hot water and steam suddenly into the air from a hole in the ground
2 BrE a machine fixed to a wall over a bath or SINK and used for heating water $
1 very bad or unpleasant; = horrible
•a ghastly little hotel
•The whole thing was a ghastly mistake.
•The weather was ghastly.
2 making you very frightened, upset, or shocked:
•a ghastly accident
3 look/feel ghastly to look or feel ill, upset, or unhappy:
•Are you all right? You look ghastly!
- ghastliness noun [U] [U]
melted butter made from the milk of a cow or BUFFALO, used in Indian cooking $ [C]
a small type of CUCUMBER that has been preserved in VINEGAR to make a type of PICKLE $ plural ghettos or ghettoes [C]
1 a part of a city where people of a particular race or class, especially people who are poor, live separately from the rest of the people in the city. This word is sometimes considered offensive; slum
•unemployment in the ghetto
2 a part of a city where Jews were forced to live in the past:
•the Warsaw ghetto[C] informal
a large radio and TAPE RECORDER that can be carried around, and is often played very loudly in public places. This word is sometimes considered offensive in American English; = boom box AmEalso ghettoise BrE $ [T]
1 to force people to live in a ghetto
2 to make part of a town become a ghetto $ [C]
1 SPIRIT the spirit of a dead person that some people think they can feel or see in a place
[+of]
•the ghost of Old Tom Morris
•They say the young girl's ghost still haunts (=often appears in) the house.
•He looked as if he'd seen a ghost (=he looked very frightened).
HOLY GHOST
2 MEMORY/EFFECT the memory or effect of someone or something bad that lived, existed, or happened in the past
[+of]
•The ghost of Stalinism still affects life in Russia today.
3 the ghost of a smile/sound etc a smile etc that is so slight you are not sure it happened:
•The ghost of a smile flitted across her sad features.
4 TELEVISION/COMPUTER a second image that is not clear on a television or computer screen
5 give up the ghost
a) if a machine gives up the ghost, it does not work any more and cannot be repaired - used humorously:
•Unfortunately, my car's just given up the ghost.
b) to die
6 (not) a ghost of a chance not even a slight chance of doing something, or of something happening:
•They don't stand a ghost of a chance of winning.[T]
to write something as a GHOST WRITER $
slightly frightening and seeming to be related to ghosts or spirits:
•a ghostly figure in a white dress[C]
a story about ghosts that is intended to frighten people[C]
a town that used to have a lot of people living and working in it, but now has very few or none[C]
a small train ride at a FUNFAIR, that is designed to frighten you by taking you through a dark place full of SKELETONs and things that jump out at you[C]
someone who is paid to write a book or story for another person, who then says it is their own work
- ghost-write verb [T] [C]
1 an evil spirit in stories that takes bodies from GRAVEs (=place in the ground where dead people are buried) and eats them
2 someone who gets pleasure from unpleasant things such as accidents that shock other people
- ghoulish adjective [U]
general headquarters the place that a large military operation is controlled from [C]
a soldier in the US army, especially during the Second World War [only before noun]
extremely big, and much bigger than other things of the same type:
•a giant electronics company
•a giant tortoise[C]
1 an extremely tall strong man, who is often bad and cruel, in children's stories
2 a very large successful company:
•the German chemicals giant, BASF
3 a very big man, animal, or plant
4 someone who is very good at doing something
[+of]
•Miles Davis, truly one of the giants of jazz [C]
an extremely tall strong woman, who is often bad and cruel, in children's stories[C] BrE
a person, sports team etc that defeats a much stronger opponent[C]
a PANDA (1) $ [I]
to speak quickly in a way that is difficult to understand, especially because you are very frightened or shocked; jabber
[+with]
•'It was her,' said Ruth, gibbering with fear.
- gibbering adjective BrE
• a gibbering wreck (=someone who is very shocked or frightened) [U]
something you write or say that has no meaning, or is very difficult to understand; = nonsense
•You're talking gibberish! [C]
a wooden frame on which criminals were HANGed in the past with a rope around their neck; = gallows [C]
a small animal like a monkey, with long arms and no tail, that lives in trees in Asia
another spelling of JIBE [plural]
organs such as the heart and LIVER, that you remove from a chicken or other bird before you cook it
1 feeling slightly sick and unable to balance, because everything seems to be moving; = dizzy
•Greg stared down from the seventh floor and began to feel giddy.
2 feeling silly, happy, and excited, or showing this feeling
[+with]
•Sheila felt giddy with excitement.
3 giddy heights a situation in which you have a lot of success:
•Although she had been quite a successful model, she had never reached the giddy heights of the Paris fashion world.
4 old-fashioned silly and not interested in serious things:
•Fiona's very pretty but a bit giddy.
- giddily adverb
- giddiness noun [U] [C] technical
graphics interchange format a type of computer FILE that contains images and is used on the Internet [C]
1 something that you give someone, for example to thank them or because you like them, especially on a special occasion; = present

give sb a gift
receive a gift
make sb a gift of sth formal (=give someone something as a gift)
birthday/wedding/Christmas etc gift
free gift (=something that a shop or business gives you)
make a good/ideal gift (=be a good gift)
gift ideas (=ideas of things you could give someone)

•The earrings were a gift from my aunt.
[+of]
•a generous gift of £50
• The clock was given as a retirement gift when he left the police.
• expensive wedding gifts
• Enjoy a free gift with any purchase of $20 or more.
•This excellent cookbook would make an ideal gift for anyone just going away to college.

2
a) a natural ability; = talent
[+for]
•a gift for languages
•He was a kind man, with a gift for forming lasting friendships.
[+of]
•She has the rare gift of being able to laugh at herself.
b) an ability that is given to you by God
[+of]
•He was said to have possessed the gift of prophecy.
•the use of spiritual gifts
GIFTED
3 a gift BrE informal something that is easier or cheaper than you expected:
•The third goal was an absolute gift.
4 gift (from God) something good you receive or something good that happens to you, even though you might not deserve it:
•This opportunity was a gift from God.
5 the gift of the gab BrE the gift of gab AmE informal an ability to speak confidently and to persuade people to do what you want:
•Jo has always had the gift of the gab.
6 be in sb's gift BrE formal if something is in your gift, you have the power to decide who it should be given to:
•All appointments to military and administrative posts were in the gift of the king.
7 never/don't look a gift horse in the mouth spoken used to tell someone to be grateful for something that has been given to them, instead of asking questions about it or finding something wrong with it
God's gift to sb/sth at GOD (3)[C] AmE
a special piece of paper that is worth a particular amount of money when it is exchanged for goods in a shop, often given as a present; = gift token BrE
having a natural ability to do one or more things extremely well; talented
gifted musician/artist/teacher etc
•She was an extremely gifted poet.
academically/musically/athletically etc gifted
•his musically gifted son
gifted child (=one who is extremely intelligent)
[+with]
•Gifted with a superb voice, she became the Opera's leading soprano.[C]
a shop that sells small things that are suitable for giving as presentsalso gift voucher [C] BrE
a special piece of paper that is worth a particular amount of money when it is exchanged for goods in a shop, often given as a present; = gift certificate AmEalso gift wrapping [U]
attractive coloured paper used for wrapping presents inalso gift wrap past tense and past participle gift-wrapped, present participle gift-wrapping [T]
to wrap a present with gift wrap, especially in a shop:
•Would you like that gift-wrapped, sir? [C]
1 a performance by a musician or a group of musicians playing modern popular music or JAZZ, or a performance by a COMEDIAN
do/play/have a gig
•The band are doing a gig in Sheffield on Nov 12.
2 AmE informal a job, especially one that does not last for a long time
3 informal a gigabytepast tense and past participle gigged, present participle gigging [I]
to give a performance of modern popular music or JAZZ [in nouns]
a BILLION - used with units of measurementwritten abbreviation GB or Gb [C]
a unit for measuring computer information, equal to 1,024 MEGABYTEs , and used less exactly to mean a BILLION bytes.
extremely big; = huge
•a gigantic skyscraper
- gigantically adverb past tense and past participle giggled, present participle giggling [I]
to laugh quickly, quietly, and in a high voice, because something is funny or because you are nervous or embarrassed:
•If you can't stop giggling you'll have to leave the room.
1 [C] a quick, quiet, high-sounding laugh:
•'Catch me if you can,' she said with a giggle.
•Vicky suppressed a nervous giggle.
•He looked so ridiculous I got the giggles (=started to giggle).
•Soon the whole group had the giggles.
•Margaret was seized by a fit of the giggles (=she could not stop giggling).
give sb the giggles (=make someone start giggling)
2 a giggle BrE informal something that you think is fun to do that will not hurt anyone or anything:
•Go on, it'll be a giggle!
giggling a lot:
•a giggly schoolgirl $ plural gigolos [C]
a man who is paid by a rich woman, especially an older woman, to have sex with her [T]
1 to cover something with a thin layer of gold or with something that looks like gold:
•a gilded frame
2 literary to make something look as if it is covered in gold:
•The autumn sun gilded the lake.
3 gild the lily to spoil something by trying to improve it when it is already good enough [C]
1 one of the organs on the sides of a fish through which it breathes
2 full/packed/stuffed etc to the gills informal completely full:
•The bar was packed to the gills on Monday night. [C]
a unit for measuring liquid, equal to ¼ PINT. In Britain this is 0.14 litres, and in the US it is 0.12 litres.
1 [U] a thin shiny material, such as gold or something similar, used to cover objects for decoration
2 [C] a STOCK or SHARE that is GILT-EDGED[only before noun]
covered with gilt:
•gilt letteringtechnical
gilt-edged STOCKs or SHAREs do not give you much INTEREST (=additional money) but are considered very safe as they are sold mainly by governments [C]
1 a tool that is used to make small holes in wood so that you can put screws in easily
2 gimlet-eyed/gimlet eyes if someone is gimlet-eyed, or has gimlet eyes, they look at things very hard and notice every detail
a way of writing the nonstandard spoken short form of 'give me':
•Gimme the ball![C] AmE informal
something that is so easy to do or succeed at that you do not even have to try:
•The victory was a gimme for the New York Yankees. [C] informal
a trick or something unusual that you do to make people notice someone or something - used to show disapproval; stunt
•advertising gimmicks
- gimmicky adjective
- gimmickry noun [U]
1 [C,U] a strong alcoholic drink made mainly from grain, or a glass of this drink
2 [U] GIN RUMMY
COTTON GIN, PINK GIN[C,U]
an alcoholic drink made with gin and TONIC (=a special type of bitter-tasting water), served with ice and a thin piece of LEMON or LIME $ [U]
1 a root with a very strong hot taste, or the powder made from this root, that is used in cooking
2 the plant that this root comes from
3 a bright orange-brown colour
1 BrE hair or fur that is ginger is bright orange-brown in colour:
•a ginger cat
2 [only before noun] flavoured with gingerBrE

PHRASAL VERBS
ginger sth <=> up phr v
to make something more exciting $ [C,U]
a non-alcoholic drink that tastes of ginger and is often mixed with alcohol $ [C,U]
a non-alcoholic drink with a strong taste of ginger $ [U]
1 a heavy sweet cake or a BISCUIT with ginger in it
gingerbread man (=a piece of gingerbread in the shape of a man)
2 AmE complicated decorations on the outside of a house, especially near the roof[C] BrE
a group of people within a political party or organization that tries to persuade the other members to support their ideas; lobby $
if you move gingerly, or touch something gingerly, you do it in a slow careful way, because you are afraid it will be dangerous or painful; = carefully
•He gingerly felt his way along the dark tunnel.ginger snap AmE [C] BrE
a hard BISCUIT with ginger in it [usually before noun]
gingery hair or fur is bright orange-brown in colour:
•his gingery beard [U]
cotton cloth that has a pattern of small white and coloured squares on it:
•a red and white gingham tablecloth [U]
a medical condition in which your GUMs are red, swollen, and painful $ BrE informal
extremely large; = huge
- ginormously adverb[U]
a type of RUMMY (=card game for two people) $ [U]
medicine made from the root of a Chinese plant, that some people think keeps you young and healthy
another spelling of GYPSY $ [C]
a tall African animal with a very long neck and legs and dark spots on its yellow-brown fur $ $ past tense and past participle girded or, girt
1 gird (up) your loins to get ready to do something difficult - used humorously
2 [I,T] if you gird for something, or gird yourself for something, especially something difficult, you prepare for it
gird (yourself) for sth
•By midsummer both police and protesters were girding for confrontation. $ [C]
a strong beam, made of iron or steel, that supports a floor, roof, or bridge $ [C]
a piece of women's underwear which fits tightly around her stomach, bottom, and HIPs and makes her look thinner[T] literary
to surround something:
•the formal garden that girdled the house $ [C]
1 CHILD a female child; boy
•Both boys and girls can apply to join the choir.
little/small/young girl
•I've known Mollie ever since I was a little girl.
five-year-old girl/girl of ten etc
•The patient was a girl of twelve.
•Girls! Please be quiet.
•a teenage girl
2 DAUGHTER a daughter; boy
•They have two girls and a boy.
sb's little girl
•How old's your little girl (=sb's young daughter) now?
•Time for bed, girls!
3 WOMAN a word meaning a woman, especially a young woman, which is considered offensive by some women:
•I'll invite some of the girls from the office.
•Steve's married to a lovely Dutch girl.
4 the girls informal a group of women who are friends and often go out together:
•I'm going out with the girls tonight.
5 ANIMAL used when speaking to a female animal, especially a dog, cat, or horse; boy
•Bring me the stick. Good girl!
6 girl AmE spoken informal used by a woman when she is speaking to another woman she knows well:
•Hey, girl. What's up?
7 (you) go, girl! AmE spoken informal used to encourage a girl or woman, or to say that you agree with what she is saying
8 GIRLFRIEND old-fashioned a word for a woman who you are having a romantic relationship with; = girlfriend
9 my girl old-fashioned used by an older person when speaking to a girl or woman who is younger than they are, or when they are annoyed:
•Just listen to me, my girl!
10 factory girl/shop girl/office girl old-fashioned a young woman who works in a factory, shop, office etc
11 SERVANT old-fashioned a woman servant
OLD GIRL[C] BrE old-fashioned
a girl or woman worker who does several different jobs in an office $ [C]
1 a girl or woman that you are having a romantic relationship with; boyfriend
•He's never had a girlfriend.
sb's girlfriend
•He lives in Chicago with his girlfriend.
split up/break up with your girlfriend (=stop having a romantic relationship)
•one of my ex-girlfriends (=former girlfriends)
•I didn't have a steady girlfriend (=one you have a long relationship with).
2 especially AmE a woman or girl's female friend:
•She's out with one of her girlfriends. $ [U]
the period of her life when a woman is a girl; boyhoodgirly $ informal
1 girlie magazine/calendar etc a magazine etc with pictures of women with no clothes on
2 BrE a girl or woman who is girlie behaves in a silly way, for example by pretending to be shy or always thinking about how she looks
3 BrE spoken suitable only for girls rather than men or boys:
•Pink's a girlie colour![C] old-fashioned not polite
an offensive word used by men when talking to a woman who they think is less sensible or intelligent than a man $
behaving like a girl, looking like a girl, or suitable for a girl; boyish
•a peal of girlish laughter
- girlishly adverb[U] informal
1 the idea that women should take control over their own lives or situations
2 the social or political influence that women have[C]
a SCOUT (=member of the Girl Scouts Association in the US); boy scout $
another spelling of GIRLIE^1 $ plural giros BrE
1 [C] a cheque paid by the government to someone who is unemployed
2 [U] a system of BANKING in Britain in which a central computer can send money from one BANK ACCOUNT to another electronically $
a past participle of GIRD $ [C]
1 the size of something or someone large when you measure around them rather than measuring their height:
•the enormous girth of the tree
•He was a tall man, of considerable girth (=he was fat).
2 a band of leather which is passed tightly around the middle of a horse to keep a SADDLE or load firmly in position
the gist the main idea and meaning of what someone has said or written
[+of]
•The gist of his argument is that full employment is impossible.
•Don't worry about all the details as long as you get the gist (=understand the main meaning) of it. [C] BrE spoken not polite
an offensive word for an unpleasant and annoying person, especially a man:
•You miserable git! past tense gave , past participle given
1 PRESENT OR MONEY [I,T] to let someone have something as a present, or to provide something for someone
give sb sth
•What did Bob give you for your birthday?
•Researchers were given a £10,000 grant to continue their work.
•I've got some old diaries that my grandmother gave me years ago.
give sth to sb
•a ring which was given to him by his mother
•I didn't steal it! Maria gave it to me!
•Most people are willing to give to charity.
•The situation is now desperate, so please give generously.
!! Do not say 'give to sb sth': He gave me a card (NOT gave to me a card).They gave a prize to the best chef (NOT They gave to the best chef a prize).
2 PUT STH IN SB'S HAND [T] to put something in someone's hand
give sb sth
•Give me the letter, please.
give sth to sb
•He poured some wine into a glass and gave it to her.
3 LET SB DO STH [T] to allow or make it possible for someone to do something
give sb sth
•He finally gave us permission to leave.
•These meetings give everyone a chance to express their opinions.
•Students are given the freedom to choose their own topics.
•Language gives us the ability to communicate at a much higher level than any other animal.
•Women were given the vote in the early 1900's.
give sb control/authority/responsibility etc
•She was given absolute control over all recruitment decisions.
give sth to sb
•This bill will give more power to local authorities.
4 TELL SB STH [T] to tell someone information or details about something, or to tell someone what they should do:
•She gave me some information on university courses.
•My secretary will be able to give you more details.
•Let me give you some advice.
give orders/instructions
•She certainly likes giving orders.
•They were given strict instructions not to tell anyone.
•Can you give me directions to the station? (=tell me how to go there)
•He gave the following example.
•You may have to give evidence in court (=tell a court about what you have seen or know to be true).
give an account/description
•He gave a disturbing account of the murder.
5 MAKE A MOVEMENT/DO AN ACTION [T] to do something by making a movement with your hand, face, body etc
give a smile/laugh/grin/frown/yawn etc
•She gave a little frown.
•Joel gave me a smile as I walked in.
•He gave her a big hug.
give a wave/movement/signal
•He gave a wave of his hand.
•Don't move until I give the signal.
give sth a shake/rattle/tug etc
•She picked up the envelope and gave it a shake.
6 SPEECH/TALK/PERFORMANCE [T] to make a speech, perform a piece of music etc for a group of people
give a talk/speech/lecture
•He's giving a talk on early Roman pottery.
give a performance/display
•They gave one of their best performances to date.
7 MAKE SB HAVE A FEELING [T] to make someone have a feeling
give sb sth
•He gave us quite a shock.
•The course has given me a lot more confidence.
•His job did not give him much sense of fulfilment.
give sth to sb
•Their music has given pleasure to a lot of people over the years.
give sb a headache/hangover
•Keep the noise down - you're giving me a headache!
•Whiskey always gives me a terrible hangover.
8 MAKE SB HAVE PROBLEMS [T] to make someone have problems
give sb problems/trouble/difficulties
•The new software has given us quite a few problems.
9 MAKE SB ILL [T] to infect someone with the same illness that you have
give sb sth
•Don't come too close - I don't want you to give me your cold!
give sth to sb
•It's very unlikely a doctor could give HIV to a patient.
10 ORGANIZE A SOCIAL EVENT [T] to organize a social event such as a party; = hold, put on
•We're giving a small party for dad's birthday next week.
11 MAKE SB DO STH [T] to tell someone to do a job or piece of work
give sb work/homework etc
•How much homework are you given in a week?
•He's always giving us chores to do around the house.
12 MAKE SB/STH HAVE A QUALITY [T] to make someone or something have a particular quality; = lend
give sb/sth sth
•The ginger gives the dish a wonderful spicy flavour.
•His grey hair gave him an air of distinction.
•Its association with the movie industry has given the place a certain glamor.
13 PAY FOR [T] to pay a particular amount of money for something:
•They say they're not willing to give any more than they've already offered.
give sb sth for sth
•They gave us £700 for our old car.
•How much will you give me for these two games?
14 BEHAVE TOWARDS [T] to behave towards someone in a way that shows you have a particular attitude or feeling towards them
give sb loyalty/obedience/respect
•The people were expected to give their leader absolute obedience and loyalty.
15 PUNISHMENT [T] to officially say that someone must have a particular punishment
give sb a fine/a sentence
•If you don't pay on time, you could be given a fine of up to $1000.
give sb 6 months/3 years etc (=in prison)
•The judge gave her two years in prison.
16 give (sb) an impression/a sense/an idea to make someone think about something in a particular way:
•I didn't want to give him the wrong idea about the job.
•The report gives us a very accurate picture of life in the inner cities.
17 give sth thought/attention/consideration etc also give thought/attention/consideration etc to sth to spend some time thinking about something carefully:
•Congress has been giving the crime bill serious consideration.
•I'll give the matter some thought and let you know my decision next week.
18 give (sb) a hand spoken to help someone do something:
•Can you give me a hand?
[+with]
•Shall I give you a hand with that bag?
19 give sb a call/buzz informal also give sb a ring/bell BrE to telephone someone:
•I'll give you a call about seven, okay?
20 give sth a try/shot/whirl informal also give sth a go BrE to try to do something, especially something you have not done before:
•I'm not usually much good at this sort of game, but I'll give it a go.
21 give sb time/a few weeks/all day etc to allow time for someone to do something, or for something to happen:
•I've asked him to give me a couple more days to finish my essay.
•Flexible working hours could give working parents more time to spend with their children.
22 I give it six weeks/a month etc spoken used to say that you do not think something will continue successfully for very long:
•I give the project six months at the most before it all falls apart.
23 not give sth a second thought/another thought to not think or worry about something at all:
•The matter didn't seem important, and I hardly gave it a second thought.
24 BE LESS STRICT [I] to be willing to change what you think or do according to what else happens:
•I think that both sides need to give a little.
25 STATE A DECISION [T] BrE to state what your official decision or judgement is, for example in a game:
•The referee has given a penalty.
•The jury will be giving its verdict within the next couple of days.
26 GIVE A MARK/SCORE [T] to decide that someone should have a particular score or mark for something that they have done:
•She only gave me a B for my last essay.
•The judges have given him top marks for this performance.
27 BEND/STRETCH [I] if a material gives, it bends or stretches when you put pressure on it:
•New shoes often feel tight, but the leather should give a little after a few days.
28 BREAK/MOVE [I] if something gives, it breaks or moves away suddenly because of weight or pressure on it:
•The branch suddenly gave beneath him.
•I pushed against the door with all my might, but it still wouldn't give.
29 give me sth (any day/time) spoken used to say that you like something much more than something else:
•Give me good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll any day!
30 would give anything/a lot/your right arm etc for sth spoken used when you would like something very much:
•I'd give my right arm for a figure like that.
31 not give a damn/shit etc spoken not polite used to say that you do not care at all about something:
•I don't give a damn what you think.
32 don't give me that spoken used to say that you do not believe someone's excuse or explanation:
•Don't give me that! I know exactly where you've been!
33 give sb what for spoken to tell someone angrily that you are annoyed with them:
•I'll give that boy what for when I see him!
34 give as good as you get to fight or argue with someone using the same amount of skill or force that they are using:
•I don't worry about Emma because I know she can give as good as she gets.
35 give and take informal to help other people and do things for them as well as expecting them to do things for you:
•You have to learn to give and take in any relationship.
36 give or take a few minutes/a penny/a mile etc spoken used to say that the amount or figure that you have just mentioned is nearly correct, but not exactly:
•It'll be a couple of thousand pounds, give or take fifty or so.
37 I'll give you that spoken used to admit that someone is right about something:
•I was wrong to trust him, I'll give you that.
38 give sb to understand/think/believe sth formal to make someone think that a particular thing is true:
•I was given to understand that I would be offered a permanent job.
39 give it to sb straight informal to tell someone something in a clear direct way:
•There's no point in beating about the bush, so I'll give it to you straight.
40 I give you the chairman/prime minister/groom etc BrE spoken used at the end of a formal speech to invite people to welcome a special guest
41 SEX [T] old-fashioned if a woman gives herself to a man, she has sex with him

PHRASAL VERBS
give sb/sth away phr v
1 to give something to someone because you do not want or need it for yourself:
•I gave most of my books away when I left college.
[+to]
•Give your old clothes away to a thrift shop.
2 to give something to someone without asking for any money, rather than selling it to them:
•We're giving away a free diary with tomorrow's newspaper.
[+to]
•We have 1,000 CDs to give away to our readers.
3 to show where someone is or what they are doing or thinking when they are trying to keep this a secret:
•Don't worry, I won't give you away.
•Sue tried to smile, but her voice gave her away.
give yourself away
•I knew that if I moved I would give myself away.
•The look on his face gave the game away (=showed something that he was trying to keep secret).
4 to tell someone something that you should keep secret:
•He gave away as little information as possible.
•I don't want to give away exactly how the system works.
•I don't want to give the game away (=give information that should be secret) by saying too much.
5 to lose in a game or competition by doing something badly or making mistakes:
•We gave away two goals in the first half.
•The Democrats are now in danger of giving the whole election away.
6 to give formal permission for a woman to marry a man as part of a traditional wedding ceremony

give sth <=> back phr v
1 to give something to the person it belongs to or the person who gave it to you:
•This isn't your money and you must give it back.
•Of course you can have a look at it, as long as you give it back.
give sth back to sb
•I'll give the keys back to you tomorrow morning.
give sb sth <=> back
•Her ex-husband refused to give her back any of her old photos and letters.
2 to make it possible for someone to have or do something again; = restore
give sb sth <=> back
•He underwent an expensive operation to give him back his sight.
•The company finally agreed to give the women their old jobs back.
give sth back to sb
•This legislation will give more power back to local authorities.

give in phr v
1 to finally agree to do or accept something that you had at first opposed, especially because someone has forced or persuaded you to:
•Eventually I gave in and accepted the job on their terms.
•Bob's wife went on at him so much that eventually he gave in.
[+to]
•The government refused to give in to their demands.
2 to accept that you are defeated in a game, fight, competition etc; surrender
•The rebels were eventually forced to give in.
•We will carry on fighting to the end. We will never give in.
3 give sth <=> in BrE to give a piece of work or something you have written to someone in authority; = hand in
•You were supposed to give this work in four days ago.
•Rose decided to give in her notice (=officially say she was going to leave her job).
[+to]
•All assignments must be given in to your teacher by Friday.

give in to sth phr v
to no longer try to stop yourself from doing something you want to do:
•Don't give in to the temptation to argue back.
•If you feel the urge for a cigarette, try not to give in to it.

give of sth phr v formal
if you give of yourself, your time, your money etc, you do things for other people without expecting anything in return:
•Retired people are often willing to give of their time to help with community projects.

give off sth phr v
to produce a smell, light, heat, a sound etc:
•The wood gave off a sweet, perfumed smell as it burned.
•Try not to breathe in the fumes given off by the paint.

give onto sth phr v
if a window, door, or building gives onto a particular place, it leads to that place or you can see that place from it:
•the garden gate that gives onto the main road
•a small balcony giving onto fields

give out phr v
1 give sth <=> out to give something to each person in a group; = hand out
•Can you give the drinks out, please?
[+to]
•Students were giving out leaflets to everyone on the street.
2 if part of your body gives out, it stops working properly or becomes much weaker:
•Just as I approached the town, my legs finally gave out.
3 if a supply of something gives out, there is none left:
•My money was beginning to give out and there were no jobs to be found.
•After two hours her patience gave out.
4 give out sth to produce something such as light, heat, or a signal; = emit
•A gas lamp gave out a pale yellowish light.
5 give sth <=> out BrE formal to announce something, especially officially:
•It was given out that the government was to enter into negotiations with the rebels.

give over phr v BrE spoken informal
to stop doing or saying something that is annoying other people:
•I wish you lot would just give over!
give over doing sth
•Oh, give over complaining, we're nearly there.

give sth over to sb/sth phr v
1 be given over to sth to be used for a particular purpose:
•The land surrounding the village was given over to vineyards.
•The whole day was given over to cooking and preparing for the celebrations.
2 give yourself over to sth to spend all your time doing something:
•In his youth he had given himself over to pleasure.
3 to give responsibility for or control over something to a particular person, organization etc:
•The running of internal affairs was given over to the Chancellor.

give up phr v
1 give sth <=> up to stop doing something, especially something that you do regularly:
•Darren has decided to give up football at the end of this season.
•She gave up her job and started writing poetry.
give up doing sth
•I gave up going to the theatre when I moved out of London.
•Why don't you give up smoking?
2 to stop trying to do something:
•We spent half an hour looking for the keys, but eventually gave up and went home.
•I give up. What's the answer?
•You shouldn't give up so easily.
give up doing sth
•I gave up trying to persuade him to continue with his studies.
give sth <=> up
•She has still not given up the search.
3 give yourself/sb up to allow yourself or someone else to be caught by the police or enemy soldiers:
•The siege ended peacefully after the gunman gave himself up.
[+to]
•In the end, his family gave him up to the police.
4 give up sth to use some of your time to do a particular thing:
•I don't mind giving up a couple of hours a week to deal with correspondence.
5 give sth/sb <=> up to give something that is yours to someone else:
•The family refused to give up any of their land.
•She was put under tremendous pressure to give the baby up.
[+to]
•I would always give my seat up to an elderly person on the bus.
6 give sb <=> up to end a romantic relationship with someone, even though you do not really want to:
•I knew deep down that I should give him up.
7 give sb up for dead/lost etc to believe that someone is dead and stop looking for them:
•The ship sank and the crew were given up for dead.
give up the ghost at GHOST^1 (5)

give up on sb/sth phr v
to stop hoping that someone or something will change or improve:
•He'd been in a coma for six months, and doctors had almost given up on him.
•At that point, I hadn't completely given up on the marriage.

give yourself up to sth phr v
to allow yourself to feel an emotion completely, without trying to control it:
•He gave himself up to despair.

WORD FOCUS: give
put something in someone's hand:
hand
pass
officially give something to someone:
award
present
grant
confer
allocate
give something to people in a group:
hand out
pass around
distribute
give to a charity:
donate
give something to people after you die:
leave
pass on
bequeath
[U]
the ability of a material or substance to bend or stretch when put under pressure:
•The rope has quite a bit of give in it.[U]
a willingness between two people or groups to understand each other, and to let each other have or do some of the things they want:
•In any relationship there has to be some give-and-take.
1 [singular] something that makes it easy for you to guess something
be a clear/dead giveaway (=make it very easy to guess something)
•He'd been smoking dope; his glazed eyes were a dead giveaway.
2 [C] something that is given away free, especially something that a shop gives you when you buy a product[only before noun]
giveaway prices are extremely cheap
the past participle of GIVE[only before noun]
1 any/a given... any particular time, situation, amount etc that is being used as an example:
•On any given day in the Houston area, half the hospital beds are empty.
•The rules are to be followed in any given situation.
at any given time/moment
•There are thought to be around 10,000 young homeless Scots in London at any given time.
2 previously arranged:
•The wrapping machine was pre-set to wrap a given number of biscuits.
•Candidates will have to give a presentation on a given topic.
•a game in which, at a given signal, everyone has to stand still
3 be given to (doing) sth formal to tend to do something, especially something that you should not do:
•He was a quiet man, not usually given to complaining.
4 take sth as given to accept that something is true or exists, especially when you are developing an idea or argument:
•The fact that people find change difficult is taken as given.
taking something into account:
•Given the circumstances, you've done really well.
given that
•Given that the patients have some disabilities, we still try to enable them to be as independent as possible.[C]
a basic fact that you accept as being true:
•Sandra will be at least 15 minutes late - that's a given.
•The concept is taken as a given in social studies.[C] AmE
your FIRST NAME
kind, caring, and generous; mean
•She's a very giving person. $ plural gizmos [C] informal
a small piece of equipment - used when you cannot remember or do not know its correct name $ [C]
a part of a bird's stomach that breaks down food into smaller pieces $ [only before noun] BrE
glacé fruits, especially CHERRIES, have been covered in sugary liquid; = candied $ [U] BrE
a type of ICING used to decorate cakes
1 relating to ice and glaciers, or formed by glaciers:
•a glacial valley
•glacial deposits
2 a glacial look or expression is extremely unfriendly; = icy
3 extremely slow:
•Change was coming, but at a glacial pace.
4 extremely cold; = icy
•a glacial wind
- glacially adverb [U] technical
the process in which land is covered by glaciers, or the effect this process has $ [C]
a large mass of ice which moves slowly down a mountain valley [no comparative]
1 [not before noun] pleased and happy about something
glad (that)
•I'm really glad I don't have to go back there again.
•We're so glad you came.
glad to do sth
•I am glad to be back home.
glad to see/hear etc
•I'm glad to see you looking so well.
•'I've decided to accept the job.' 'I'm glad.'
glad when
•I'll be glad when the war is over.
[+about]
•She wasn't leaving after all. He was glad about that.
[+for]
•'Jamie's been accepted for medical school!' 'I'm so glad for him.'
GLADLY
2 be glad of sth to be grateful for something:
•Thanks Marge, I'll be glad of the help.
be glad of an opportunity/chance/excuse to do sth
•They were glad of the chance to finally get some sleep.
•It was cold outside, and she was glad of her coat.
3 be glad to (do sth) to be very willing and eager to do something:
•We will be glad to send you any information you may need.
•I'm sure he'd be only too glad to (=extremely willing to) help you.
•'Would you give me a hand?' ' I'd be glad to.'
4 I would be glad if formal used in formal situations or letters to ask someone to do something for you:
•I'd be glad if you'd let me know when the funeral is.
5 glad tidings/news old-fashioned good news
6 give sb the glad eye BrE old-fashioned to look at someone in a way that shows you are sexually attracted to them
7 glad rags old-fashioned informal your best clothes that you wear for special occasions
- gladness noun [U]
GLAD-HAND [T]
old-fashioned to make someone feel pleased and happy:
•It will gladden the hearts of my friends to see you. [C]
literary a small open space in a wood or forest[I,T]
to talk to or welcome people in a very friendly way, especially when this is not sincere:
•He moved among the guests, glad-handing well-wishers. $ [C]
a soldier who fought against other men or wild animals as an entertainment in ancient Rome
- gladiatorial adjective
•gladiatorial combat $ plural gladioli [C]
a tall garden plant with long leaves and large brightly-coloured flowers
1 willingly or eagerly:
•I would gladly have done it for him.
2 happily:
•'Here's Michelle!' he said gladly.
not suffer fools gladly at SUFFER (4) informal
attractive, exciting, and connected with wealth and success; = glamorous
•glam young film directors $
an American spelling of GLAMOURalso glamorise BrE [T]
to make something seem more attractive than it really is:
•TV has been accused of glamorizing crime.
- glamorization $ noun [U]
attractive, exciting, and related to wealth and success:
•She led an exciting and glamorous life.
•the most glamorous neighborhood in the city
•a glamorous actress
•On television, she looks so glamorous.usually glamor AmE $ [U]
1 the attractive and exciting quality of being connected with wealth and success
[+of]
•Forget all you read about the glamour of television.
2 a style of attractiveness that suggests wealth:
•Designer clothes are not a passport to instant glamour.
3 glamour girl/boy a performer who is more noticeable for their attractiveness than for their skill or ability $ [I always + adv/prep]
1 to quickly look at someone or something
[+at/up/down etc]
•The man glanced nervously at his watch.
•Wyatt glanced around the restaurant.
•Emily glanced over her shoulder.
2 to read something very quickly
[+at/through etc]
•Can you glance through these figures for me?

PHRASAL VERBS
glance off (sth) phr v
1 to hit a surface at an angle and then move away from it in another direction:
•The bullet had crushed his helmet and glanced off.
2 literary if light glances off a surface, it flashes or shines back from it:
•The sun was glancing off the icy tips of gleaming rock.

WORD CHOICE: glance, glimpse
glance (verb) means 'to look quickly and deliberately' and a glance is the act of quickly looking at someone or something: I glanced at my watch. | She gave me an amused glance.
glimpse (verb) means 'to see something or someone by chance for a very short time' and a glimpse is a sight that you see by chance for a very short time: I glimpsed someone behind the curtain. | We got a glimpse of her face as she hurried past.

[C]
1 a quick look:
•He gave her a quick glance and smiled.
sidelong/sideways glance
•She couldn't resist a sidelong glance (=a look that is not direct) at him.
take/shoot/throw/cast a glance (at sb) (=look at someone or something quickly)
•The couple at the next table cast quick glances in our direction.
•The brothers exchanged glances (=looked at each other quickly).
2 at a glance
a) if you know something at a glance, you know it as soon as you see it:
•He saw at a glance what had happened.
b) in a short form that is easy to read and understand:
•Here are our top ten ski resorts at a glance.
3 at first glance/sight when you first look at something:
•At first glance, the place seemed deserted. $
1 a glancing blow a hit that partly misses so that it does not have its full force
2 a glancing reference/mention a short or indirect reference to something or someone
- glancingly adverb [C]
an organ of the body which produces a substance that the body needs, such as HORMONEs , SWEAT, or SALIVA:
•the pituitary gland $
related to the glands, or produced by the glands[U]
BrE an infectious disease which makes your LYMPH NODEs swell up and makes you feel weak for a long time afterwards $ [I]
1 to look angrily at someone for a long time; stare
[+at]
•She glared at him accusingly.
[+into/across/round etc]
•He glared round the room as if expecting a challenge.
2 [always + adv/prep] to shine with a very strong bright light which hurts your eyes:
•The sun glared down on us.
1 [singular, U] a bright unpleasant light which hurts your eyes
the glare of sth
•the harsh glare of the desert sun
•a special screen to reduce glare
2 [C] a long angry look; stare
•She gave him a hostile glare.
3 the glare of publicity/the media/public scrutiny etc the full attention of newspapers, television etc, especially when you do not want it $
1 very bad and very noticeable; = obvious
•The book's most glaring omission is the lack of an index.
•a glaring example of political corruption
2 too bright and difficult to look at:
•the glaring light of high noon $
in a way that is very clear and easy to notice:
•Some of the clues were glaringly obvious. $ [U]
the POLICY begun by Mikhail Gorbachev in the USSR in the 1980s of allowing discussion of the country's problems $
1 TRANSPARENT MATERIAL [U] a transparent solid substance used for making windows, bottles etc:
•a glass bowl
•a piece of broken glass
pane/sheet of glass (=a flat piece of glass with straight edges)
•the cathedral's stained glass windows
2 FOR DRINKING [C] a container used for drinking made of glass; cup
wine/brandy/champagne etc glass
•Nigel raised his glass in a toast to his son.
3 AMOUNT OF LIQUID [C] the amount of a drink contained in a glass
[+of]
•She poured us a glass of wine each.
4 FOR EYES glasses [plural] two pieces of specially cut glass or plastic in a frame, which you wear in order to see more clearly; = spectacles
•He was clean-shaven and wore glasses.
•I need a new pair of glasses.
distance/reading glasses
!! Do not say 'a glasses': She's got nice (NOT a nice) glasses.
DARK GLASSES, FIELD GLASSES
5 GLASS OBJECTS [U] objects which are made of glass, especially ones used for drinking and eating:
•a priceless collection of Venetian glass
6 people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones used to say that you should not criticize someone for having a fault if you have the same fault yourself
7 under glass plants that are grown under glass are protected from the cold by a glass cover
8 MIRROR [C] old-fashioned a mirror
9 the glass old-fashioned a BAROMETER
CUT GLASS, GROUND GLASS, LOOKING GLASS, MAGNIFYING GLASS, PLATE GLASS
raise your glass at RAISE^1 (16); SAFETY GLASS, STAINED GLASS

PHRASAL VERBS
glass sth <=> in phr v BrE
to cover something with glass, or to build a glass structure around something[singular]
the attitudes and practices that prevent women or particular groups from getting high level jobs, even though there are no actual laws or rules to stop them:
•Goodhue shattered the glass ceiling as the first female publisher at Time Inc.
surrounded by a glass structure:
•a glassed-in porch[U]
FIBREGLASS $ [C]
the amount of liquid a glass will hold $ [C] BrE
1 a building made mainly of glass which is used for growing plants; = greenhouse
2 the glasshouse informal a military prison $ [U]
glass objects, especially ones used for drinking and eating $
1 smooth and shining, like glass:
•the glassy surface of the lake
2 glassy eyes show no feeling or understanding, and do not move
having eyes that do not move or show any expression $ [U]
an eye disease in which increased pressure inside your eye gradually makes you lose your sight
1 [I] also glaze over if your eyes glaze over, they show no expression, usually because you are very bored or tired:
•Sometimes his eyes would glaze over for a second or two.
2 [T] to cover plates, cups etc made of clay with a thin liquid that gives them a shiny surface
3 [T] to cover food with a liquid which gives it an attractive shiny surface:
•Glaze the rolls with egg-white.
4 [T] to fit glass into window frames in a house, door etc[C,U]
1 a liquid that is used to cover plates, cups etc made of clay to give them a shiny surface
2 a liquid which is put onto food to give it an attractive shiny surface
3 a transparent covering of oil paint spread over a painting
glazed look/eyes/expression etc if you have a glazed look, your eyes show no expression, usually because you are very bored or tired $ [C]
someone whose job is to fit glass into window frames [U]
glass that has been used to fill windows
DOUBLE GLAZING [I]
1 to shine softly; = glimmer
•His teeth gleamed under his moustache.
[+with]
•The wooden panelling was gleaming with wax polish.
2 if your eyes or face gleam with a feeling, they show it; = glint
[+with]
•He laughed, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
- gleaming adjective
•gleaming white walls

WORD CHOICE: gleam, glint, glisten, glitter, glow
All these words mean 'to shine' but are used in slightly different ways.
gleam is used especially of smooth clean surfaces that shine: She polished the car until it gleamed. | gleaming white teeth
glint means to shine brightly with a small flash of light. It is used especially of shiny metals: Her jewellery glinted in the sun.
glisten is used of wet or oily surfaces that shine: The wet streets glistened.
glitter means to shine brightly with many small flashes of light: the glittering frost
glow means to shine with a warm soft steady light. It is often used of things that give off heat: The coal in the fireplace was still glowing.

[C]
1 a small pale light, especially one that shines for a short time; = glimmer
[+of]
•They saw a sudden gleam of light.
2 the brightness of something that shines; = glint
[+of]
•the gleam of gold and diamonds
3 an emotion or expression that appears for a moment on someone's face
[+of]
•She saw a gleam of amusement in his eyes.
•Rose looked at me with a furious gleam in her eyes.
4 sth is a gleam in sb's eye used to say that something is being planned or thought about, but does not yet exist:
•In those days, CD-ROMs were still just a gleam in the eye of some young engineer.
1 [T] to find out information slowly and with difficulty
glean sth from sb/sth
•Additional information was gleaned from other sources.
2 [I,T] to collect grain that has been left behind after the crops have been cut [plural]
small pieces of information that you have found out with difficulty
[U] a feeling of satisfaction and excitement, often because something bad has happened to someone else; = delight
•Manufacturers are rubbing their hands with glee as they prepare to cash in.[C]
AmE a group of people who sing together for enjoyment
very excited and satisfied:
•a gleeful laugh
- gleefully adverb [C]
a deep narrow valley in Scotland or Ireland
1 said easily and without thinking about all the problems involved - used to show disapproval:
•glib generalizations
2 speaking easily but without thinking carefully - used to show disapproval:
•glib politicians
- glibly adverb
- glibness noun [U] [I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to move smoothly and quietly, as if without effort
[+across/over/down etc]
•couples gliding over the dancefloor
2
a) if a bird glides, it flies without moving its wings
b) if a plane glides, it flies without using an engine
3 [always + adv/prep] to do or achieve things easily
[+through]
•Kennedy seemed to glide through life.[C]
1 a smooth quiet movement that seems to take no effort
2 technical the act of moving from one musical note to another without a break in sound
3 technical a vowel which is made by moving your tongue from one position to another; diphthong $ [C]
a light plane that flies without an engine [U]
the sport of flying in a glider
HANG-GLIDING $ [C]
1 a small sign of something such as hope or understanding
[+of]
•a glimmer of hope for the future
2 a light that is not very bright; = gleam
[+of]
•the first glimmer of dawn[I]
to shine with a light that is not very bright; = gleam
•a weak, glimmering light [C often plural]
a small sign of thought or feeling:
•The glimmerings of an idea began to come to him. [C]
1 a quick look at someone or something that does not allow you to see them clearly
[+of]
•They caught a glimpse of a dark green car.
brief/fleeting/quick glimpse (=a very short look)
•We only had a fleeting glimpse of the river.
2 a short experience of something that helps you begin to understand it
[+of/into/at]
•a glimpse of what life might be like in the future[T]
1 to see someone or something for a moment without getting a complete view of them; = catch sight of
•I glimpsed a figure at the window.
see box at GLANCE^1
2 to begin to understand something for a moment:
•For the first time she glimpsed the truth about her sister. [I]
1 if a shiny surface glints, it gives out small flashes of light; = sparkle
•The gold rims of his spectacles glinted in the sun.
see box at GLEAM^1
2 if light glints off a surface, it shines back off it:
•Sunlight glinted off the windows of a tall apartment building.
3 if your eyes glint, they shine and show an unfriendly feeling[C]
1 a look in someone's eyes which shows a particular feeling; = gleam
•a humorous glint in her eyes
2 a flash of light from a shiny surface [I]
to shine and look wet or oily
[+with]
•The boy's back was glistening with sweat.
•glistening black hair
see box at GLEAM^1 [C]
a small fault in a machine or piece of equipment, that stops it working:
•a software glitch $ [I]
1 to shine brightly with flashing points of light; = sparkle
•The river glittered in the sunlight.
see box at GLEAM^1
2 if someone's eyes glitter, they shine very brightly and show a particular strong emotion
[+with]
•His blue eyes glittered with anger.[U]
1 brightness consisting of many flashing points of light:
•the glitter of his gold cigarette case
2 literary a bright shining expression in someone's eyes that shows a particular emotion; = gleam
•There was no mistaking the mocking glitter in his eyes.
3 the exciting attractive quality of a place or a way of life which is connected with rich or famous people:
•The glamour and glitter of London was not for him.
4 very small pieces of shiny paper that are used for decoration
- glittery adjective
•glittery earrings [plural]
people who are rich, famous, and fashionable [usually before noun]
1 giving off many small flashes of light; = sparkling
•glittering jewels
2 very successful:
•a glittering career
3 connected with rich, famous and fashionable people:
•a glittering Hollywood premiere [U]
the exciting, attractive quality which is connected with rich, famous and fashionable people; = glamour
•show business glitz
exciting and attractive because of being connected with rich, famous, and fashionable people; = glamorous
•glitzy London parties $
the gloaming literary the time in the early evening when it is becoming dark; = dusk $ [I]
to show in an annoying way that you are proud of your own success or happy about someone else's failure
[+over]
•The fans are still gloating over Scotland's victory.
- gloat noun [singular] $ [C] informal
a small amount of something soft or liquid that has a round shape; = dollop
•globs of paint $
1 affecting or including the whole world; universal
•global climate change
•a slowdown in the global economy
2 considering all the parts of a problem or situation together:
•We are taking a global view of our business.
3 affecting a whole computer system, program, or FILE
- globally adverbalso globalisation BrE $ [U]
the process of making something such as a business operate in a lot of different countries all around the world, or the result of this:
•the increasing globalization of world tradealso globalise BrE $ [I,T]
if a company, industry, or ECONOMY globalizes or is globalized, it has business activities all over the world[singular]
a name for the world, used to emphasize the degree to which everything is connected and each part depends on the others[U]
a general increase in world temperatures caused by increased amounts of CARBON DIOXIDE around the Earth $ [C]
1 a round object with a map of the Earth drawn on it
2 the globe the world:
•We export our goods all over the globe.
3 an object shaped like a ball; = sphere[C] BrE
an ARTICHOKE $ [C]
informal someone who spends a lot of their time travelling to many different countries
- globe-trotting adjective
- globe-trotting noun [U] $
in the shape of a globule or a globe $ [C]
a small drop of a liquid, or of a solid that has been melted:
•globules of fat $ [C]
a musical instrument consisting of many flat metal bars of different lengths, that you play with special hammers; xylophone $ past tense and past participle glommed, present participle glomming

PHRASAL VERBS
glom onto sth phr v AmE informal
1 to become attached to someone or something so strongly that it is difficult to break the attachment:
•The antibodies glom onto the virus and destroy it.
2 to be very attracted to an idea, opinion, style etc:
•College students have glommed onto the new African styles. [singular, U]
1 literary almost complete darkness:
•He peered into the gathering (=increasing) gloom.
2 a feeling of great sadness and lack of hope:
•a time of high unemployment and economic gloom
doom and gloom at DOOM^2 comparative gloomier, superlative gloomiest
1 making you feel that things will not improve; = depressing
•The report paints a gloomy picture of the economy.
2 sad because you think the situation will not improve; = depressed
•Anne dismissed these gloomy thoughts from her mind.
3 dark, especially in a way that makes you feel sad:
•It was a gloomy room with one small window.
- gloomily adverbgloop BrE $ [U] AmE
informal a thick soft wet mass of something
- gloppy adjective [only before noun]
made to seem like something more important:
•Many bosses view secretaries as no more than glorified typists. past tense and past participle glorified, present participle glorifying, third person singular glorifies [T]
1 to make someone or something seem more important or better than they really are:
•films which glorify violence
2 to praise someone or something, especially God
- glorification noun [U]
•the glorification of war
1 having or deserving great fame, praise, and honour:
•We have in our grasp a truly glorious future.
•a glorious victory
2 very beautiful or impressive:
• glorious views of the rocky coast
•a glorious red sky
3 glorious weather is sunny and hot:
•glorious sunshine
4 extremely enjoyable; = wonderful
•We had a glorious afternoon of sailing.
- gloriously adverb plural glories
1 [U] the importance, honour, and praise that people give someone they admire a lot:
•She dreamt of future glory as an Olympic champion.
•Goran's moment of glory came when he defeated Rafter.
•He began the season in a blaze of glory, scoring seven goals in as many games.
2 [C] an achievement that is greatly admired or respected, or makes you very proud
[+of]
•one of the finest artistic glories of Florence
•monuments to past glories
•Becoming a Supreme Court judge was the crowning glory (=most successful part) of her career.
3 [U] when something is beautiful and impressive in appearance:
•They spent $10 million restoring the theatre to its former glory.
in all its/their etc glory
•The sun emerged from behind the clouds in all its glory.
4 bask/bathe in sb's/sth's (reflected) glory to share some of the importance and praise that belongs to someone close to you
5 glory days a time in the past when someone was admired:
•the team's glory days in the late '80s
6 to the (greater) glory of sb/sth formal in order to increase the honour that is given to someone or something:
•The cathedral was built to the greater glory of God.
7 Glory (be) to God/Jesus etc spoken used to say that God deserves praise, honour, and thankspast tense and past participle gloried, present participle glorying, third person singular glories

PHRASAL VERBS
glory in sth phr v
to enjoy or be proud of something:
•She didn't like to glory in her past victories. $
1 [singular,U] a bright shine on a surface:
•This gel will add gloss to even the dullest hair.
polish/shine to a high gloss
•The silverware had been polished to a high gloss.
2 [singular,U] an attractive appearance on the surface of something that may hide something less pleasant:
•Beneath the gloss of success was a tragic private life.
•The injury to Keane took the gloss off Manchester United's victory.
3 [C] a note in a piece of writing that explains a difficult word, phrase, or idea
4 [singular] a description or explanation that makes something seem more attractive or acceptable than it really is:
•The minister was accused of putting a gloss on the government's poor performance.
5 gloss finish/print a surface or photograph that has been made shiny
6 also gloss paint [U] paint that looks shiny after it dries; matt
[T] to provide a note in a piece of writing, explaining a difficult word, phrase, or idea

PHRASAL VERBS
gloss over sth phr v
to avoid talking about something unpleasant, or to say as little as possible about it:
•She glossed over the details of her divorce. $ plural glossaries [C]
a list of special words and explanations of their meanings, often at the end of a book $
1 shiny and smooth:
•her glossy black hair
•the glossy surface of the leaves
2 glossy magazine/brochure etc a magazine etc that is printed on good quality shiny paper, usually with lots of colour pictures
3 something that is glossy has an attractive appearance on the surface that may hide something less pleasant:
•a glossy election campaign
- glossiness noun [U]plural glossies [C usually plural]
1 BrE also glossy magazine a magazine that is printed on good quality shiny paper, usually with lots of colour pictures
2 a photograph printed on shiny paper[C]
technical a speech sound made by completely closing and then opening your glottis, which in some forms of spoken English may take the place of a /t/ between vowel sounds or may be used before a vowel sound $ [C] technical
the space between your VOCAL CORDs which helps to make the sound of your voice. When this space is opened and closed, the movement produces a sound
- glottal adjective [C]
1 a piece of clothing that you wear on your hand in order to protect it or keep it warm; mitten
•a pair of gloves
•boxing gloves
rubber/leather etc gloves
2 the gloves are off used to say that people are ready to begin a fight or argument
fit (sb) like a glove at FIT^1 (1); hand in glove at HAND^1 (34)also glove box [C]
a small cupboard in a car in front of the passenger seat, where small things such as maps can be kept
wearing a glove[C] BrE
a PUPPET that you put over your hand; = hand puppet AmE $ [singular]
1 a soft steady light
[+from]
•the glow from the dying fire
[+of]
•the dim glow of the lightbulb
•the warm glow of the setting sun
•the green glow of the computer monitor
2 the pink colour in your face or body that you have when you are healthy, have been doing exercise, or are excited:
•She had a healthy glow in her cheeks.
3 a glow of pleasure/satisfaction/happiness etc a strong feeling of pleasure etc:
•Sophie felt a glow of pride.[I]
1 to produce or REFLECT a soft steady light; = shine
•The bedside lamp glowed dimly.
•The fireplace was still glowing with the remains of last night's fire.
•The red tip of his cigarette was glowing in the dark.
see box at GLEAM^1
2 if your face or body glows, it is pink or hot because you are healthy, have been doing exercise, or are feeling a strong emotion
[+with]
•She looked exceptionally well, glowing with health.
3 glow with pride/joy/pleasure etc to look very happy because you feel proud etc:
•She gazed up at him, glowing with happiness.
4 if something glows with a quality or colour, it is attractive and has strong colours
[+with]
•The interior of the house glowed with colour, warmth, and life. $ [I]
to look at someone in an angry way; = glare
[+at]
•She glowered at him disapprovingly.
- glower noun [C] $
1 glowing report/account/description etc a report etc that is full of praise:
•I've had glowing reports from Neil about your work.
2 in glowing terms using a lot of praise:
•He speaks of you in glowing terms.
- glowingly adverb[C]
an insect that produces a small amount of light from its body $ [U]
a natural form of sugar that exists in fruit [C,U]
a sticky substance used for joining things togetherpresent participle gluing or, glueing [T]
1 to join two things together using glue; = stick
glue sth (back) together
•The sheets are glued together with strong adhesive.
glue sth in place/position
•Check that you have glued everything in place properly.
2 be glued to sth informal
a) to look at something with all your attention:
•He was glued to the TV when the Olympics were on.
b) to not move because you are very interested, surprised, frightened etc:
•We were glued to our chairs, listening intently to every word.
be glued to the spot BrE
•Sarah was glued to the spot, terrified by the scene in front of her.[U]
the habit of breathing in gases from glues in order to produce a state of pleasure
- glue sniffer noun [C]
1 sticky like glue
2 covered with glue comparative glummer, superlative glummest
if someone is glum, they feel unhappy and do not talk a lot; = gloomy
•Anna looked glum.
•After dinner, Kate lapsed into a glum silence.
- glumly adverb
•She stared glumly at her plate.
- glumness noun [U] [C usually singular]
a supply of something, especially a product or crop, that is more than is needed; shortage
[+of]
•a glut of oil on the world marketpast tense and past participle glutted, present participle glutting [T]
to cause something to have too much of something:
•the glutted property market [U]
a sticky PROTEIN substance that is found in wheat flour $
very sticky:
•glutinous mud [C]
1 someone who eats too much
2 a glutton for punishment someone who seems to enjoy working hard or doing something unpleasant
- gluttonous adjective [U]
formal the bad habit of eating and drinking too much; = greedglycerin [U]
a thick sweet transparent liquid made from fats and used in medicines, explosives, and foodsplural gm or gms
the written abbreviation of gram or grams $ [C]
genetically modified organism a plant or other living thing whose GENEs have been changed by scientists, especially in order to make it less likely to get diseases or be harmed by insects etc
- GMO adjective [only before noun]
•GMO crops [U] BrE
the abbreviation of Greenwich Mean Time , the time as measured at Greenwich in London, that is used as an international standard for measuring time $
1 a gnarled tree or branch is rough and twisted with hard lumps
2 gnarled hands or fingers are twisted, rough, and difficult to move, usually because they are old $
1 a gnarly tree or branch is rough and twisted with hard lumps; = gnarled
2 gnarly hands or fingers are twisted, rough, and difficult to move, usually because they are old; = gnarled
3 AmE spoken a word meaning very good or excellent, used by young people:
•'Look at the size of that wave.' 'Gnarly!'
4 AmE spoken a word meaning very bad, used by young people:
•a gnarly car wreck
gnash your teeth to be very angry or unhappy about something, or to move your teeth against each other so that they make a noise, especially because you are unhappy or angry $ [plural]
BrE informal teeth [C]
a small flying insect that bites $ [I,T always + adv/prep]
to keep biting something hard; = chew
•Dexter gnawed his pen thoughtfully.
•A rat had gnawed a hole in the box.
[+at/on]
•The puppy was gnawing on a bone.

PHRASAL VERBS
gnaw (away) at sb/sth phr v
to make someone feel worried or frightened, over a period of time:
•Something was gnawing at the back of his mind.
•Doubt was gnawing away at her confidence. $ [only before noun]
worrying or painful, especially for a long time:
•gnawing doubts $ [C]
1 a creature in children's stories who looks like a little old man. Gnomes have pointed hats, live under the ground, and guard gold, jewels etc.
2 a stone or plastic figure representing one of these creatures:
•a garden gnome $ written
gnomic remarks are short, clever, and difficult to understand [singular]
gross national product the total value of all the goods and services produced in a country, usually in a single year; GDP plural gnu or gnus [C]
a large African animal with a tail and curved horns; = wildebeest [C,U]
General National Vocational Qualification a course of study and examination in practical subjects such as business, information technology, ENGINEERING etc, done by some students in schools in England and Wales, usually at the age of 16; BTEC, A level, GCSE $ past tense went , past participle gone $ , third person singular goes $
1 MOVE/TRAVEL
a) [I always + adv/prep] also, past participle been to travel or move to a place that is away from where you are or where you live; come
•There's nothing more we can do here. Let's go home.
• Have you ever been to (=have you ever travelled to) Japan?
•I have been to (=have travelled to) Germany several times.
•Where are you going?
•We're going to Canada in the summer.
•Dinah went into the kitchen.
•She went over and put her arm around him.
•I'm going round to her house to find out what's wrong.
•I'll just go up (=go upstairs) and ask him what he wants.
b) [I,T] to move or travel in a particular way or for a particular distance:
•It took us over an hour to go ten miles.
•The car was going much too fast.
•We went a different way from usual that day.
go by bus/train/car etc
•It'll be quicker to go by train.
c) go and do sth also go do sth AmE [not in past tenses] to move to a particular place in order to do something:
•Go wash your hands before lunch.
•I went and spoke to the manager.
!! Come or go?
see box at BEEN
see box at COME^1
2 go flying/laughing/rushing etc to move in a particular way, or to do something as you are moving:
•The plate went crashing to the floor.
•The bullet went flying over my head.
•John went rushing off down the corridor.
3 ATTEND
a) [I] to be at a concert, party, meeting etc
[+to]
•Are you going to Manuela's party?
•I first went to a rock concert when I was 15.
b) go to school/church/work etc to regularly attend school, a church etc:
•He doesn't go to the synagogue these days.
4 LEAVE [I] to leave a place:
•What time does the last train go?
•Right, let's go!
•She turned to go.
be/get going
•It's late! I must get going.
5 DO PARTICULAR ACTIVITY [I,T] to leave the place where you are, in order to do something
go for a walk/swim etc
•Let's go for a walk.
go shopping/swimming/skiing etc
•I need to go shopping this afternoon.
go on a trip/tour/cruise etc
•My parents are going on a cruise.
6 be going to do sth
a) to intend to do something:
•I'm going to tell Dad what you said.
b) used to talk about what will happen in the future:
•He looked as if he was going to cry.
•It's going to rain later.
GONNA
7 REACH [I always + adv/prep, not in progressive] to reach as far as a particular place or to lead to a particular place:
•The road goes through the middle of the forest.
•The belt won't go around my waist.
8 CHANGE [linking verb] to change in some way, especially by becoming worse than before:
•The company went bankrupt last year.
go bad/sour etc
•The bread's gone mouldy.
go grey/white etc
•Her hair is starting to go grey.
go mad/deaf/bald etc
•He went crazy and tried to kill her.
go wild/mad/white etc with sth
•The crowd was going wild with excitement.
see box at BECOME
9 HAPPEN [I always + adv/prep] to happen or develop in a particular way:
•How did your French test go?
go well/smoothly/fine etc
•The party went well.
•Everything's going fine at the moment.
•I feel very encouraged by the way things are going.
•Many industries have been forced to cut jobs and it looks like the electronics industry is going the same way.
10 how are things going?/how's it going?/how goes it? spoken used to ask someone what is happening in their life, especially used as a greeting:
•'Hi Jane. How's it going?' 'Fine, thanks.'
11 USUAL POSITION [I always + adv/prep, not in progressive] if something goes somewhere, that is its usual position:
•Where do the plates go?
•The book goes on the top shelf.
12 FIT [I not in progressive] to be the right size, shape, or amount for a particular space
[+in/under/inside etc]
•I don't think all that will go in the suitcase.
13 BE SENT [I] to be sent or passed on
[+by/through/to etc]
•The email went to everyone in the company.
•That letter should go by special delivery.
•Complaints must go through the proper channels.
14 BE IN A PARTICULAR STATE/CONDITION [linking verb] to be in a particular state or condition, especially a bad one:
•Many families are forced to go hungry.
15 go unanswered/unnoticed/unrewarded etc to not be answered, noticed etc:
•All my letters went unanswered.
•He hoped that his nervousness would go unnoticed.
16 START [I] to start doing something:
•The preparations have been completed and we're ready to go.
•Generally the action doesn't get going (=start) until after midnight.
•I'm going to get going on (=start doing) the decorating next week.
17 WORK WELL [I] if a clock, watch, or machine goes, it moves and works as it should do:
•My watch isn't going.
•I couldn't get the pump going (=make it work).
18 MAKE MOVEMENT [I always + adv/prep] used when you are telling someone about what movement someone or something made:
•She went like this with her hand.
19 SAY [T] spoken informal to say something:
•I asked her what she meant and she just went, 'Don't ask!'
20 MAKE A SOUND [T] to make a particular sound:
•The balloon suddenly went bang.
21 don't go doing sth spoken used to tell someone not to do something, especially something that is wrong or bad:
•It's a secret, so don't go telling everyone.
22 have gone and done sth spoken used when you are surprised or annoyed by what someone has done:
•Kay's gone and lost the car keys!
23 to go
a) still remaining before something happens:
•Only ten days to go to Christmas!
b) still having to be done or dealt with before you have finished:
•Laura's sat six exams and has two more to go.
c) still to travel before you reach the place you are going to:
•only another five miles left to go
d) used for saying that you want to take food away from a restaurant and eat it somewhere else:
•Two chicken dinners with corn to go.
24 don't go there spoken informal used to say that you do not want to think or talk about something:
•'John and Clare having children?' ' Don't go there!'
•'What if the two of them...' Don't even go there!
25 STORY/DISCUSSION/SONG ETC [I always + adv/prep, T not in progressive] used to talk about what something such as a story or song consists of:
•The argument goes like this.
•We need to 'spread a little happiness', as the song goes.
• The story goes that my grandfather saved his captain's life in battle.
26 WHISTLE/BELL ETC [I] to make a noise as a warning or signal:
•A bell goes to mark the end of each class.
27 here/there sb goes again spoken used when someone has annoyed you by doing something they know you do not like:
•There you go again, jumping to conclusions.
28 DISAPPEAR [I] to no longer exist or no longer be in the same place; = disappear
•Has your headache gone yet?
•The door was open and all his things had gone.
29 GET INTO WORSE CONDITION [I] if one of your senses such as sight, hearing etc is going, it is getting worse:
•Dad's eyesight is starting to go.
•I'd forgotten that. My mind must be going.
30 TO BE OBEYED [I] if what someone says goes, that person is in authority and what they say should be obeyed:
•Phil's in charge around here, and what he says goes.
31 BE DAMAGED [I] to become weak, damaged etc, or stop working properly:
•The bulb's gone in the bathroom.
•My jeans are starting to go at the knee.
32 DIE [I] to die - use this when you want to avoid saying the word 'die':
•Now that his wife's gone, he's all on his own.
•When I go, I'd like to have my ashes scattered at sea.
dead and gone at DEAD^1 (1)
33 BE SPENT [I] to be spent:
•I don't know where all my money goes!
[+on]
•Half her salary goes on the rent.
34 BE SOLD [I] to be sold
[+for/at]
•A house like this would go for £250,000.
[+to]
•The jewels will go to the highest bidder.
•He bought me some CDs which were going cheap (=were being sold at a low price).
35 PAY MONEY [I] to offer a particular amount of money for something:
•I'll give you $500 for it but I can't go any higher than that.
[+to]
•I think we could probably go to £15,000.
36 going, going, gone! spoken used to say that something has been sold at an AUCTION
37 TIME [I always + adv/prep] used to say how quickly or slowly time passes:
•The day seemed to go so slowly.
38 there/bang goes sth spoken used to say that you are disappointed because something has stopped you doing or getting what you wanted:
•Well, there goes my chance of fame!
39 go to show/prove/indicate etc sth to help to prove something:
• It just goes to show how much people judge each other by appearances.
40 be going informal to be available:
•Are there any jobs going at the café?
•I'll take that if it's going spare.
41 COLOURS/STYLES/TASTES [I] if colours, tastes, styles etc go, they look, taste etc good together:
•I don't think pink and yellow really go.
[+with]
•Do you think this shirt will go with the skirt I bought?
[+together]
•Pork and apple go especially well together.
42 as sb/sth goes used for comparing someone or something with the average person or thing of that type:
•As marriages go, it certainly wasn't dull.
43 go all out to try very hard to do or get something
[+for]
•We're going all out for victory in this afternoon's game.
go all out to do sth
•The company will be going all out to improve on last year's sales.
44 have nothing/not much/a lot etc going for sb/sth used to talk about how many advantages and good qualities someone or something has:
•It's a town that's got a lot going for it.
45 where does sb/sth go from here? spoken used to ask what should be done next, especially when there is a problem:
•So where do you think we should go from here?
46 LEAVE A JOB [I] to leave your job, especially because you are forced to:
•He was becoming an embarrassment to the government and had to go.
•If Jill goes, who will take her place?
47 GET RID OF STH [I] if something goes, someone gets rid of it:
•The policies will have to go if the party is to win the next election.
•A hundred jobs are expected to go following the merger.
48 TOILET [I] informal to make waste come out of your body

PHRASAL VERBS
go about phr v
1 go about sth to start to do something:
•I want to learn German but I don't know the best way to go about it.
go about doing sth
•The leaflet tells you how to go about making a will.
2 go about sth to do something in the way that you usually do:
•The villagers were going about their business as usual.
•She went about her preparations in a quiet businesslike way.
3 BrE if a ship goes about, it turns to go in the opposite direction

go after sth/sb phr v
1 to follow or chase someone or something because you want to catch them:
•Joe went after her to make sure she was unhurt.
2 to try to get something:
•I can't decide whether to go after the job or not.

go against sb/sth phr v
1 if something goes against your beliefs, principles etc, it is opposite to them:
•This goes against everything I've been brought up to believe in.
•I often have to make decisions that go against the grain (=are not what I would normally choose to do).
2 to do the opposite of what someone wants or advises you to do:
•She was scared to go against her father's wishes.
3 if a decision, judgment etc goes against you, you do not get the result you want:
•His lawyer hinted that the case might go against him.
•The vote went against the government.

go ahead phr v
1 to start to do something, especially after planning it or asking permission to do it
[+with]
•They've decided to go ahead with plans to build 50 new houses on the site.
go ahead and do sth
•I went ahead and arranged the trip anyway.
2 if an event or process goes ahead, it happens:
•A judge has ruled that the music festival can go ahead.
3 spoken used to give someone permission to do something, or let them speak before you:
•'Do you mind if I open the window?' 'No, go ahead.'
•If you want to leave, go right ahead.
4 also go on ahead to go somewhere before the other people in your group:
•You go ahead and we'll catch you up later.
[+of]
•He stood back to let Sue go ahead of him.
5 to start to be winning a game or competition:
•Dulwich went ahead after 22 minutes.
GO-AHEAD^1

go along phr v
1 if you do something as you go along, you do it without planning or preparing it:
•He was making the story up as he went along.
•I never had formal training, I just learned the job as I went along.
2 to go to an event or a place where something is happening
[+to]
•I might go along to the meeting tonight.
3 to happen or develop in a particular way:
•Things seem to be going along nicely.

go along with sb/sth phr v
1 to agree with or support someone or something:
•I would be happy to go along with the idea.
•Often it was easier to go along with her rather than risk an argument.
2 go along with you! BrE spoken old-fashioned used to tell someone that you do not believe what they are saying

go around phr v also go round BrE
1 DRESS/BEHAVE also go about BrE to behave or dress in a particular way
go around doing sth
•You can't go around accusing people like that.
•He goes around in a T-shirt even in winter.
2 ILLNESS go around (sth) also go about (sth) BrE if an illness is going around, a lot of people get it:
•He had a bad dose of the flu virus that was going around.
•There are a lot of nasty bugs going around the school.
3 NEWS/STORY go around (sth) also go about (sth) BrE if news, a story, a joke etc is going around, a lot of people hear it and are talking about it:
•A rumour was going around that I was having an affair with my boss.
•There was a lot of gossip going around the village.
4 go around with sb/go around together also go about with sb BrE to meet someone often and spend a lot of time with them:
•I used to go around with a bad crowd.
5 enough/plenty to go around enough for each person:
•Is there enough ice-cream to go around?
•There were never enough textbooks to go around.
6 what goes around comes around used to say that if someone does bad things now, bad things will happen to them in the future
7 go around in your head if words, sounds etc go around in your head, you keep remembering them for a long time:
•That stupid song kept going around in my head.
go around/round in circles at CIRCLE^1 (5)

go at sth/sb phr v [not in passive] informal
1 to attack someone or argue with someone in a noisy way:
•The two dogs went at each other as soon as I opened the gate.
2 to do something, or start to do something, with a lot of energy:
•Mary went at the task with great enthusiasm.

go away phr v
1 to leave a place or person:
•Go away and leave me alone!
•I went away wondering if I'd said the wrong thing.
2 to travel to a place and spend some time there, for example for a holiday:
•Are you going away this year?
[+for]
•We're going away for the weekend.
[+to]
•He's going away to college next year.
[+on]
•I'm going away on a business trip next week.
3 if a problem, unpleasant feeling etc goes away, it disappears:
•Ignoring the crime problem won't make it go away.

go back phr v
1 to return to a place that you have just come from:
•I think we ought to go back now.
[+to/into/inside etc]
•I felt so sick I just wanted to go back to bed.
[+for]
•I had to go back for my passport (=to get my passport).
2 there's no going back spoken used to say that you cannot make a situation the same as it was before:
•I realized that once the baby was born there would be no going back.
3 [ always + adv/prep] to have been made, built, or started at some time in the past:
•It's a tradition that goes back at least 100 years.
[+to]
•The building goes back to Roman times.
4 if people go back a particular length of time, they have known each other for that length of time:
•Peter and I go back 25 years.
•We go back a long way (=we have been friends for a long time).
5 to think about a particular time in the past or something that someone said before:
•If you go back 20 years, most people didn't own a computer.
[+to]
•I'd like to go back to the point that was made earlier.

go back on sth phr v
to not do something that you promised or agreed to do
go back on your word/promise/decision
•Delors claimed that the President had gone back on his word.

go back to sth phr v
to start doing something again after you have stopped for a period of time:
•He went back to sleep.
go back to doing sth
•She went back to watching TV.

go before phr v
1 to happen or exist before something else:
•In some ways this program improves on what has gone before.
2 go before sb/sth if something goes before a judge, group of people in authority etc, they consider it before making a decision:
•The case will go before the court.
•The proposal is likely to go before the committee.

go beyond sth phr v
to be much better, worse, more serious etc than something else:
•Their relationship had gone beyond friendship.
•This goes beyond all limits of acceptable behaviour.

go by phr v
1 if time goes by, it passes:
•Things will get easier as time goes by.
as the days/weeks/years go by
•As the weeks went by, I became more and more worried.
hardly a day/week/month etc goes by
•Hardly a week goes by without some food scare being reported in the media.
in days/times/years etc gone by (=in the past)
•These herbs would have been grown for medicinal purposes in days gone by.
2 go by sth to form an opinion about someone or something from the information or experience that you have:
•You can't always go by appearances.
• If his past plays are anything to go by, this should be a play worth watching.
3 go by sth to do things according to a set of rules or laws:
•Only a fool goes by the rules all the time.
•There was no doubt that the referee had gone by the book (=had obeyed all the rules).
go by the board at BOARD^1 (8); go by the name of sth at NAME^1 (1)

go down phr v
1 GET LOWER to become lower in level, amount etc:
•His income went down last year.
•Computers have gone down in price.
go down by 10%/250/$900 etc
•Spending has gone down by 2%.
2 STANDARD if something goes down, its quality or standard gets worse:
•This neighbourhood has really gone down in the last few years.
3 go down well/badly/a treat etc
a) to get a particular reaction from someone:
•His suggestion did not go down very well.
•The movie went down very well in America.
•The speech went down a treat with members (=members liked it very much).
•The idea went down like a lead balloon (=was not popular or successful).
b) if food or drink goes down well, you enjoy it:
•I'm not that hungry so a salad would go down nicely.
4 GO FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER to go from one place to another, especially to a place that is further south
[+to]
•We're going down to Bournemouth for the weekend.
•He's gone down to the store to get some milk.
5 go down the shops/club/park etc BrE spoken informal to go to the shops, a club etc:
•Does anyone want to go down the pub tonight?
6 SHIP if a ship goes down, it sinks:
•Ten men died when the ship went down.
7 PLANE if a plane goes down, it suddenly falls to the ground:
•An emergency call was received shortly before the plane went down.
8 BECOME LESS SWOLLEN to become less swollen:
•The swelling will go down if you rest your foot.
9 LOSE AIR if something that is filled with air goes down, air comes out and it becomes smaller and softer:
•Your tyre's gone down.
10 BE REMEMBERED [always + adv/prep] to be recorded or remembered in a particular way
[+as]
•The talks went down as a landmark in the peace process.
•The carnival will go down in history (=be remembered for many years) as one of the best ever.
11 COMPETITION/SPORT
a) to lose a game, competition, or election:
•The Hawkers went down 5-9.
[+by]
•The government went down by 71 votes.
[+to]
•Liverpool went down to Juventus.
b) to move down to a lower position in an official list of teams or players
[+to]
•United went down to the second division.
12 COMPUTER if a computer goes down, it stops working for a short time:
•If one of the file servers goes down, you lose the whole network.
13 LIGHTS if lights go down, they become less bright:
•The lights went down and the curtain rose on an empty stage.
14 SUN when the sun goes down, it appears to move down until you cannot see it any more
15 WIND if the wind goes down, it becomes less strong:
•The wind had gone down but the night had turned chilly.
16 PRISON informal to be sent to prison:
•He went down for five years.
17 HAPPEN spoken informal to happen:
•the type of guy who knows what's going down
•What's going down?
18 LEAVE UNIVERSITY BrE formal old-fashioned to leave Oxford or Cambridge University at the end of a period of study

go down on sb phr v
to touch someone's sexual organs with the lips and tongue in order to give them sexual pleasure

go down with sth phr v BrE informal
to become ill, especially with an infectious disease:
•Half the team had gone down with flu.

go for sb/sth phr v
1 ATTACK BrE to attack or criticize someone:
•The dog suddenly went for me.
2 TRY TO GET STH to try to get or win something:
•Jackson is going for his second gold medal here.
go for it spoken (=used to encourage someone to try to achieve something)
•If you really want the job, go for it!
go for broke at BROKE^2 (3)
3 CHOOSE BrE to choose something:
•I think I'll go for the chocolate cake.
4 I could/would go for sth spoken used to say that you would like to do or have something:
•A full meal for less than five bucks! I could go for that!
5 LIKE informal to like a particular type of person or thing:
•Annie tends to go for older men.
6 the same goes for sb/sth also that goes for sb/sth too spoken used to say that a statement you have just made is true about someone or something else too:
•Close all doors and lock them when you go out. The same goes for windows.

go in phr v
when the sun or the moon goes in, cloud moves in front of it so that it cannot be seen

go in for sth phr v
1 to do an examination or take part in a competition:
•I go in for all the competitions.
2 to do or use something often because you enjoy it or like it:
•I never really went in for sports.
3 to choose something as your job:
•I suppose I could go in for advertising.

go in with sb phr v
to join with someone else to start a business or organization:
•Ellie's going in with a friend who's just started a café.

go into sth phr v
1 JOB [not in passive] to start to do a particular type of job:
•I always wanted to go into nursing.
•She's thinking of going into business (=starting a business).
2 TIME/MONEY/EFFORT [not in passive] to be spent or used to get, make, or do something:
•Years of research have gone into this book.
go into doing sth
•A great deal of time and effort has gone into ensuring that the event runs smoothly.
3 EXPLAIN to explain, describe, or examine something in detail:
•I don't want to go into the matter now.
•I don't want to go into details now.
4 COMPUTER [not in passive] to open a particular computer program, WINDOW, or FILE:
•Go into your D drive.
5 BE IN A PARTICULAR STATE [not in passive] to start to be in a particular state or condition:
•She went into labour at midnight and the baby was born at 8 am.
•The company went into liquidation.
6 HIT [not in passive] if a vehicle goes into a tree, wall, or another vehicle, it hits it:
•His car went into a lamppost in the high street.
7 DIVIDE [not in passive] if a number goes into another number, the second number can be divided by the first:
•12 goes into 60 five times.
8 BEGIN TO MOVE IN PARTICULAR WAY [not in passive] if a vehicle goes into a particular movement, it starts to do it:
•The plane had gone into a steep descent.

go off phr v
1 LEAVE to leave a place, especially in order to do something:
•He went off in search of something to eat.
•John decided to go off on his own.
[+to]
•He went off to work as usual.
go off to do sth
•Geoff went off to play golf.
2 EXPLODE to explode or fire:
•The bomb went off at 6.30 this morning.
•Fireworks were going off all over the city.
•The gun went off and the bullet went flying over his head.
3 MAKE A NOISE if an ALARM goes off, it makes a noise to warn you about something:
•The thieves ran away when the alarm went off.
•I've set the alarm clock to go off at 7 am.
4 STOP LIKING go off sb/sth BrE informal to stop liking something or someone:
•Many women go off coffee during pregnancy.
go off doing sth
•I've gone off cooking lately.
5 STOP WORKING if a machine or piece of equipment goes off, it stops working:
•The central heating goes off at 9 o'clock.
•Suddenly, all the lights went off.
6 go off well/badly etc to happen in a particular way:
•The party went off very well.
7 HAPPEN BrE spoken informal to happen; = go on
•There was a blazing row going off next door.
8 DECAY BrE if food goes off, it becomes too bad to eat:
•The milk's gone off.
9 SLEEP to go to sleep:
•I'd just gone off to sleep when the phone rang.
10 GET WORSE BrE informal to get worse:
•He's a singer whose talent has gone off in recent years.

go off on sb phr v AmE informal
to criticize or speak to someone in a very angry way

go off with sth/sb phr v informal
1 to leave your usual sexual partner in order to have a relationship with someone else:
•She's gone off with her husband's best friend.
2 to take something away from a place without having permission:
•Who's gone off with my pen?

go on phr v
1 CONTINUE
a) to continue doing something or being in a situation
go on doing sth
•He went on working until he was 91.
[+with]
•One of the actors was unwell and couldn't go on with the performance.
•I can't go on like this for much longer.
b) to continue without stopping:
•The noise goes on 24 hours a day.
•The screaming went on and on (=continued for a long time).
ONGOING
2 HAPPEN to happen:
•I don't know what's going on.
•What were the children doing while all this was going on?
•Like all good resorts, there is plenty going on.
GOINGS-ON
3 DO STH NEXT to do something after you have finished doing something else
go on to do sth
•She went on to become a successful surgeon.
[+to]
•Go on to the next question when you've finished.
4 CONTINUE TALKING to continue talking, especially after stopping or changing to a different subject:
•Go on, I'm listening.
•'But,' he went on, 'we have to deal with the problems we're facing.'
[+with]
•After a short pause Maria went on with her story.
5 go on spoken
a) used to encourage someone to do something:
•Go on, have another piece of cake.
b) used when you are agreeing to do something or giving permission for something:
•'Are you sure you won't have another drink?' 'Oh, go on then.'
•'Can I go outside, Dad?' 'Yeah, go on then.'
c) also go on with you BrE old-fashioned used to tell someone that you do not believe them
6 USE AS PROOF go on sth to base an opinion or judgment on something:
•Police haven't much to go on in their hunt for the killer.
7 START TO WORK if a machine or piece of equipment goes on, it starts to work:
•The heat goes on automatically at 6 o'clock.
8 TIME to pass:
•As time went on, I grew fond of him.
9 BEHAVE BrE informal the way someone goes on is the way they behave:
•The way she's going on, she'll have a nervous breakdown.
10 be going on (for) 5 o'clock/60/25 etc to be nearly a particular time, age, number etc:
•Nancy must be going on for 60.
•She's one of those wise teenagers who's 16 going on 70 (=she behaves as though she is older than she is).
11 GO IN FRONT also go on ahead to go somewhere before the other people you are with:
•Bill went on in the car and I followed on foot.
12 TALK TOO MUCH informal to talk too much:
•I really like Clare but she does go on.
[+about]
•I got tired of him going on about all his problems.
•He just went on and on about his new girlfriend.
13 CRITICIZE BrE informal to continue to criticize someone or ask them to do something in a way that annoys them:
•The way she went on, you would have thought it was all my fault.
[+at]
•Stop going on at me!
go on at sb to do sth
•My wife's always going on at me to dress better.
go on at sb about sth
•He's always going on at me about fixing the door.
14 DEVELOP BrE spoken informal to develop or make progress
15 to be going on with/to go on with BrE informal if you have enough of something to be going on with, you have enough for now:
•Have you got enough money to be going on with?

go out phr v
1 LEAVE YOUR HOUSE to leave your house, especially in order to enjoy yourself:
•Are you going out tonight?
[+for]
•We went out for a meal and then on to a movie.
go out doing sth
•Liam goes out drinking every Friday.
go out to do sth
•Can I go out to play now?
go out and do sth
•You should go out and get some fresh air.
2 RELATIONSHIP to have a romantic relationship with someone:
•They've been going out for two years now.
[+with]
•Tina used to go out with my brother.
[+together]
•How long have you been going out together?
3 FIRE/LIGHT to stop burning or shining:
•Suddenly the candle went out.
4 TV/RADIO BrE to be broadcast on television or radio:
•The programme goes out live at 5 o'clock on Mondays.
5 BE SENT to be sent:
•A copy of the instructions should go out with the equipment.
•The magazine goes out to all members at the end of the month.
6 GAME/SPORT to stop playing in a competition because you have lost a game:
•He went out in the first round.
7 MOVE ABROAD to travel to another country in order to live and work there
[+to]
•They are looking for nurses to go out to Saudi Arabia.
8 NO LONGER FASHIONABLE to stop being fashionable or used:
•Hats like that went out years ago.
•This kind of entertainment went out with the ark (=is very old-fashioned).
9 SEA when the TIDE goes out, the sea moves away from the land; come in
10 MAKE PUBLIC if news or a message goes out, it is officially announced to everyone:
•The appeal went out for food and medicines.
11 your heart/thoughts go out to sb used to say that you feel sympathy for someone and are thinking about them:
•Our hearts go out to the victim's family.
12 TIME [always + adv/prep] literary to end:
•March went out with high winds and rain.

go over phr v
1 THINK ABOUT go over sth to think very carefully about something:
•I had gone over and over what happened in my mind.
2 EXAMINE go over sth to search or examine something very carefully:
•In the competition, the judge goes over each dog and assesses it.
3 REPEAT go over sth to repeat something in order to explain it or make sure it is correct:
•Once again I went over exactly what I needed to say.
4 CLEAN go over sth to clean something
5 go over well also go over big AmE if something goes over well, people like it:
•That kind of salesman talk doesn't go over very well with the scientists.

go over to sth phr v
1 to change to a different place or person for the next part of a television or radio programme:
•We're going over to the White House for an important announcement.
2 to change to a different way of doing things:
•They went over to a computerized records system.
3 to change to a different political party or religion:
•the Labour MP who went over to the Conservatives last year

go round phr v BrE

GO AROUND

go through phr v
1 DIFFICULT/UNPLEASANT SITUATION go through sth to experience a difficult or unpleasant situation, feeling etc:
•When you're going through a crisis, it often helps to talk to someone.
•He's going through a divorce at the moment.
•It is devastating for a parent to watch a child go through misery.
2 PROCESS go through sth to experience a particular process:
•Candidates must go through a process of selection.
•Caterpillars go through several stages of growth.
3 USE go through sth to use up money or a supply of something:
•We went through five pints of milk last week.
4 LAW go through (sth) if a law goes through, or goes through Parliament, it is officially accepted
5 DEAL/AGREEMENT if a deal or agreement goes through, it is officially accepted and agreed:
•He accepted the offer and the deal went through.
•The sale of the land went through.
6 PRACTISE go through sth to practise something, for example a performance:
•Let's go through the whole thing again, from the beginning.
7 SEARCH go through sth to search something in order to find something in particular:
•Dave went through his pockets looking for the keys.
•Customs officers went through all my bags.
8 READ/DISCUSS go through sth to read or discuss something in order to make sure it is correct:
•We'll go through the details later on.
•Do you want me to go through this and check your spellings?

go through with sth phr v
to do something you had promised or planned to do, even though it causes problems or you are no longer sure you want to do it:
•He bravely went through with the wedding ceremony even though he was in a lot of pain.
•I had no choice but to go through with it.

go to sb/sth phr v [not in passive]
1 to begin to experience or do something, or begin to be in a particular state:
•I lay down and went to sleep.
•Britain and Germany went to war in 1939.
2 to be given to someone or something:
•All the money raised will go to local charities.
•The house will go to his daughter when he dies.

go together phr v
1 [not in progressive] if two things go together, they exist together or are connected in some way:
•Alcohol abuse and eating disorders often go together.
2 old-fashioned if two people are going together, they are having a romantic relationship

go towards sth phr v [not in passive]
if money goes towards something, it is used to pay part of the cost of that thing:
•The money will go towards a new hospice.
go towards doing sth
•All money raised will go towards renovating the building.

go under phr v
1 if a business goes under, it has to stop operating because of financial problems:
•More than 7000 businesses have gone under in the last three months.
2 to sink beneath the surface of water:
•The Titanic finally went under.
•She went under, coughing and spluttering.

go up phr v
1 INCREASE to increase in price, amount, level etc:
•Train fares have gone up.
•Blood-sugar levels go up as you digest food.
go up by 10%/250/£900 etc
•Unemployment in the country has gone up by a million.
go up from sth to sth
•Spending on research went up from $426 million to $461 million.
2 BUILDING/SIGN if a building or sign goes up, it is built or fixed into place:
•It was a lovely place before all these new houses went up.
3 EXPLODE/BURN to explode, or be destroyed in a fire:
•He had left the gas on and the whole kitchen went up.
•The whole building went up in flames.
go up in smoke at SMOKE^1 (3)
4 SHOUT if a shout or a CHEER goes up, people start to shout or CHEER
[+from]
•A great cheer went up from the audience.
5 TO ANOTHER PLACE BrE to go from one place to another, especially to a place that is further north, or to a town or city from a smaller place
[+to]
•We're going up to Scotland next weekend.
•He went up to the farm to get some eggs.
6 LIGHTS if lights go up, they become brighter:
•when the lights went up at the end of the performance
7 UNIVERSITY BrE formal old-fashioned to begin studying at a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge University

go with sb/sth phr v [not in passive]
1 BE PART OF to be included as part of something:
•The house goes with the job.
•He had fame, money, and everything that goes with it.
go with doing sth
•Responsibility goes with becoming a father.
2 EXIST TOGETHER to often exist with something else or be related to something else:
•Ill-health often goes with poverty.
3 RELATIONSHIP old-fashioned to have a romantic relationship with someone
4 HAVE SEX informal to have sex with someone
5 AGREE to accept someone's idea or plan:
•Let's go with John's original proposal.

go without phr v
1 go without (sth) to not have something that you usually have:
•I like to give the children what they want even if I have to go without.
•It is possible to go without food for a few days.
2 it goes without saying (that) used to say that something is so clearly true that it does not need to be said:
•The Internet, too, it goes without saying, is a good source of information.plural goes
1 TRY [C] an attempt to do something:
•'I can't open this drawer.' 'Here. let me have a go.'
•On the tour, everyone can have a go at making a pot.
•I'd thought about it for some time and decided to give it a go (=try to do something).
•I had a good go (=tried hard) at cleaning the silver.
at/in one go
•Ruby blew out all her candles at one go.
•I'm not sure it will work but it's worth a go.
2 YOUR TURN [C] someone's turn in a game or someone's turn to use something:
•Whose go is it?
•It's your go.
•Can I have a go on your guitar?
•Don't I get a go?
3 make a go of sth informal to make something succeed, especially a business or marriage:
•Nikki was determined to make a go of the business.
•Many businesses are struggling hard to make a go of it.
4 £3/$50 etc a go informal used for saying how much it costs to do something or buy something:
•At £3 a go, the cards are not cheap.
5 on the go informal
a) if you have something on the go, you have started it and are busy doing it:
•Even with three top films on the go, Michelle is reluctant to talk about herself.
•He has at least two other projects on the go.
b) very busy doing a lot of things:
•Children are always on the go.
6 sth is a go AmE spoken used to say that things are working correctly or that you have permission to do something:
•The trip to London is a go.
7 sth is (a) no go spoken used to say that something is not allowed or will not happen:
•The hotel is no go for dogs.
NO-GO AREA
8 it's all go BrE spoken it is very busy:
•It's all go around here.
•It's all go in the commercial property market.
9 have a go spoken, especially BrE
a) to criticize someone:
•You're always having a go.
[+at]
•Will you stop having a go at me!
have a go at sb for/about sth
•Mum had a go at me for not doing my homework.
b) to attack someone:
•A whole gang of yobs were standing around, just waiting to have a go.
c) to try to catch someone who you see doing something wrong, rather than waiting for the police:
•The public should not be encouraged to have a go.
10 ENERGY [U] BrE energy and a desire to do things:
•There's plenty of go in him yet.
11 all the go old-fashioned very fashionable $ [T]
1 to make someone do something by annoying or encouraging them until they do it; provoke
goad sb into (doing) sth
•Kathy goaded him into telling her what he had done.
goad sb on
•They goaded him on with insults.
2 to push animals ahead of you with a sharp stick[C]
1 something that forces someone to do something:
•The offer of economic aid was a goad to political change.
2 a sharp stick for making animals move forward
give (sb) the go-ahead/get the go-ahead to give or be given permission to start doing something:
•The company has been given the go-ahead to build a new supermarket.[only before noun] BrE
using new methods or ideas and therefore likely to succeed:
•a go-ahead company $ [C]
1 something that you hope to achieve in the future; = aim
•His ultimate goal was to set up his own business.
achieve/reach a goal
•They achieved their goal of increasing sales by five percent.
set (yourself/sb) a goal (=decide what you or someone else should try to achieve)
long-term goal/short-term goal (=that you hope to achieve after a long or short time)
2 the area between two posts where the ball must go in order to score in games such as football or HOCKEY
be in goal/keep goal BrE (=be the goalkeeper)
3 the action of making the ball go into a goal, or the score gained by doing this:
•I scored the first goal. $ [C]
informal a goalkeeper $ [C]
the player in a sports team whose job is to try to stop the ball going into the goal; = goaltender AmE $ [C]
a kick in football taken by a goalkeeper after the attacking team has kicked the ball over the goal line $
a goalless match is one in which no goals are scored[C]
a line at either end of the playing area in sports such as football or HOCKEY, along which the goal is placed $ [C]
the area directly in front of a GOAL $ [C usually plural]
1 one of the two posts, with a bar along the top or across the middle, that form the GOAL in games such as football and HOCKEY; = post
2 move/shift the goalposts BrE informal to change the rules, limits etc for something while someone is trying to do something, making it more difficult for them - used to show disapproval $ [C]
AmE a GOALKEEPER $ [C]
1 an animal that has horns on top of its head and long hair under its chin, and can climb steep hills and rocks. Goats live wild in the mountains or are kept as farm animals.
2 get sb's goat spoken informal to make someone extremely annoyed
3 old goat informal an unpleasant old man, especially one who annoys women in a sexual way
4 act/play the goat BrE informal to behave in a silly way
BILLY GOAT, NANNY GOAT $ [C]
a small pointed BEARD on the end of a man's chin $ [C]
someone who looks after a group of goats $ [C] informal
1 BrE an impolite word for someone's mouth:
•Jean told him to shut his gob.
•She's always stuffing her gob with food.
2 a mass of something wet and sticky
[+of]
•There's a gob of gum on my chair.
3 gobs AmE a large amount of something
[+of]
•gobs of moneypast tense and past participle gobbed, present participle gobbing [I]
BrE informal to blow a small amount of liquid out of your mouth; = spit $ [C] old use
a small piece of something, especially food $ informal
1 also gobble up/down [I,T] to eat something very quickly, especially in an impolite or GREEDY way; = wolf
•Don't gobble your food!
•She gobbled down her lunch.
2 [I] to make a sound like a TURKEY

PHRASAL VERBS
gobble sth<=> up phr v informal
1 if one company gobbles up a smaller company, it buys it and takes control of it:
•Air France gobbled up its main French rivals, Air Inter and UTA.
2 to quickly use a lot of a supply of something such as money or land:
•Inflation has gobbled up our wage increases.
3 to eat something very quickly, especially in an impolite or GREEDY way:
•We gobbled up all of the cake in one evening.
- gobble noun [C]also gobbledegook BrE $ [U]
informal complicated language, especially in an official or technical document, that is impossible or difficult to understand - used to show disapproval $ [C]
AmE informal a male TURKEY[C]
someone who takes messages from one person or group to another because the two sides cannot meet or do not want to meet
act/serve as a go-between
•A UN representative will act as a go-between for leaders of the two countries. $ [C]
a cup made of glass or metal, with a base and a stem but no handle $ [C]
a small ugly creature in children's stories that likes to trick people $ BrE spoken informal
very surprised or shocked
another spelling of GO-KART $
1 God the spirit or BEING who Christians, Jews, Muslims etc pray to, and who they believe created the universe

believe in God
worship God
pray to God
belief/faith in God
God's will/the will of God (=what God wants to happen)
the word of God (=what God says)
gift from/of God
Almighty God/God Almighty (=used in prayers and HYMN s)

•Most Americans still believe in God.
• Nothing could shake his belief in God.
• He thought it was the will of God that he should suffer.
•We believe that the Bible is the word of God.
•Every day is a gift from God.
!! In this sense, God is written with a capital letter and without 'the': We asked God (NOT the God) to help us. Expressions containing the word God such as oh my God are common in spoken English but can offend religious people.

2 [C] a male spirit or BEING who is believed by some religions to control the world or part of it, or who represents a particular quality; goddess
[+of]
•Mars, the god of war
Roman/Greek etc god
3 God's gift to sb/sth someone who thinks they are perfect or extremely attractive - used to show disapproval:
•Paul thinks he's God's gift to women.
4 [C] someone who is admired very much:
•To his fans he is a god.
5 [C] something which you give too much importance or respect to:
•Money became his god.
6 the gods
a) the force that some people believe controls their lives, bringing them good or bad luck:
•The gods are against us.
b) BrE informal old-fashioned the seats high up and at the back of a theatre
7 God/oh (my) God/good God/God almighty spoken used to emphasize what you are saying, when you are surprised, annoyed, or amused:
•Oh God, how embarrassing!
8 for God's sake spoken used to emphasize something you are saying when you are annoyed:
•For God's sake, shut up!
9 I swear/hope/wish/pray to God spoken used to emphasize that you promise, hope etc that something is true:
•I hope to God nothing goes wrong.
10 God forbid (that) spoken used to say that you very much hope that something will not happen:
•God forbid that this should ever happen again.
11 God (only) knows spoken
a) used to show that you are annoyed because you do not know something, or because you think that something is unreasonable
God (only) knows who/what/how etc
•God knows what she's doing in there.
•It'll cost God only knows how much.
b) used to emphasize what you are saying:
•God knows, it hasn't been easy.
12 what/how/where/who in God's name spoken used to emphasize a question when you are angry or surprised:
•Where in God's name have you been?
13 God help you/him etc spoken used to warn someone that something bad will happen:
•God help you if you spill anything on the carpet.
14 God help us spoken said humorously when you think that something bad is going to happen:
•'Simon's doing the cooking.' 'God help us!'
15 honest to God spoken used to emphasize that you are not lying or joking:
•Honest to God, I didn't tell her!
16 God willing spoken used to say that you hope there will be no problems:
•We'll be moving next month, God willing.
17 God bless spoken used to say that you hope someone will be safe and happy, especially when you are saying goodbye:
•Good night and God bless.
18 God give me strength! spoken used when you are becoming annoyed
19 there is a God! spoken said when someone is explaining that something very good happened to them at a time when they thought that their situation was very bad:
•In walked four gorgeous, blond Swedish boys, and I thought, 'There is a God!'
20 God rest his/her soul also God rest him/her spoken old use used to show respect when speaking about someone who is dead
21 by God spoken old use used to emphasize how determined or surprised you are
there but for the grace of God at GRACE^1 (6)
in the lap of the gods at LAP^1 (6)
play God at PLAY^1 (8)
thank God/goodness/heavens at THANK (2)

WORD FOCUS: God
places where people worship God:
churchChristians
templeBuddhists and Hindus
mosqueMuslims
synagogueJews
treated with great respect because of being connected with God:
holy
sacred
having strong beliefs in God:
devout
pious
someone who does not believe in God :
atheist
someone who is not sure if God exists:
agnostic
God-awful godawful [only before noun]
informal very bad or unpleasant. Some Christian people find this word offensive:
•What's that god-awful smell? $ plural godchildren [C]
the child that a GODPARENT promises to help and to teach Christian values to. This promise is made at a BAPTISM ceremony.also God damn it $
a word used to express annoyance, anger etc. Some Christian people consider this word offensive.goddam also goddamned $ [only before noun]
spoken a word used to show that you are angry or annoyed, considered offensive by some Christians:
•Where's the goddamn key?
- goddamn goddam goddamned adverb
•I just did something so goddamned stupid. $ [C]
a female godchildGoddess $ [C]
1 a female BEING who is believed to control the world or part of it, or represents a particular quality:
•Aphrodite, goddess of love
2 screen goddess an attractive female film star $ [C]
1 a male GODPARENT
2 informal the head of a criminal organization such as the MAFIA
3 the godfather of sth someone who began or developed something such as a type of music:
•Afrika Bambaataa, the Godfather of hip hopold use
leading a good life and following the rules of the Christian religion:
•God-fearing peopleGodforsaken $ [only before noun]
a godforsaken place is far away from where people live and contains nothing interesting, attractive, or cheerful:
•How can you stand living in this godforsaken town?[usually before noun]
received from God:
•She has a God-given talent for singing.
a God-given right (=the right to do something without asking anyone else's opinion)
•The protesters have no God-given right to disrupt the life of the city. $
the Godhead formal a word that Christians use to mean the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who they consider to be one God in three parts $ old use
not respecting God or not believing in a god
- godlessness noun [U] $
having a quality like God or a god; = divine
•godlike powers $ old use
obeying God and leading a good life
- godliness noun [U] $ [C]
a female GODPARENT $ [C]
someone who promises at a BAPTISM ceremony to help a child, and to teach him or her Christian values $ [singular]
something good that happens to you when you really need it
[+for/to]
•The hot weather has been a godsend for ice-cream sellers. $ [C]
a male GODCHILDGodspeed $ [U]
spoken old use used to wish someone good luck, especially before a journey
the God squad an insulting way of describing Christians who try to persuade other people to become Christians $ [C]
1 BrE spoken old use a woman who often has sex with different men:
•She's a bit of a goer.
2 also -goer used after words such as party, church, and theatre to form nouns that refer to people who regularly go to parties, church etc:
•cinema-goers $ [C]
informal someone who carries messages etc for their employer $ [C]
someone who is likely to be successful because they are very determined and have a lot of energy
- go-getting adjective $ [I] old-fashioned
to look at something with your eyes wide open in surprise or shock; = gape
[+at]
•They were goggling at us as if we were freaks.
with your eyes wide open and looking directly at something, especially in surprise or shock $ [plural]
a pair of GLASSES made of glass or plastic with a rubber or plastic edge that fit against your skin and protect your eyesAmE informal
1 a go-go period of time is one in which prices and the amount workers are paid increase very quickly:
•the go-go 1980s
2 go-go STOCKs increase in value very quickly in a short period of time, but involve a lot of risk[C]
a woman who dances with sexy movements in a bar or NIGHTCLUB
- go-go dancing noun [U] $ [U]
1 the difficulty or speed with which something is done
hard/rough/slow etc going
•I'm getting the work done, but it's slow going.
good going/not bad going
•We climbed the mountain in three hours, which wasn't bad going.
2 the act of leaving a place; = departure
•His going will be no great loss to the company.
3 heavy going if a book, play etc is heavy going, it is boring and difficult to understand
4 while the going's good spoken if you suggest doing something while the going's good, you think it should be done before it becomes difficult or impossible:
•Let's leave while the going's good.
5 when the going gets tough, the tough get going when the conditions become difficult, strong people begin to do something in a determined way
6 the going BrE the condition of the ground, especially for a horse race
comings and goings at COMING^1 (2)
1 the going rate/price/salary etc the usual amount you pay or receive as payment for something
[+for]
•Thirty dollars an hour is the going rate for a math tutor.
2 the biggest/best/nicest etc sth going the biggest, best etc of a particular thing:
•It's some of the best beer going.
3 [not before noun] BrE informal available:
•Are there any jobs going where you work?
4 have a lot going for you to have many advantages and good qualities that will bring success:
•Stop being so depressed. You have a lot going for you.
5 a going concern a business which is making a profit and is expected to continue to do so
6 also -going used after words such as cinema and theatre to form adjectives that describe people who regularly go to the cinema, theatre etc:
•the cinema-going public[singular] informal
1 a thorough examination of something to make sure it is all right; once-over
•The media gave his personal life a pretty firm going-over.
2 give sth a going-over to improve the condition of something, for example by cleaning it thoroughly:
•You ought to give the place a going-over with the Hoover once in a while.
3 give sb a going-over BrE to hit someone and hurt them[plural]
activities or events that are strange or interesting, and often illegal:
•She was shocked by some of the goings-on at the school.go-cart [C]
a small car made of an open frame on four wheels, and used in races
- go-karting noun [U] $
1 [U] a valuable soft yellow metal that is used to make coins, jewellery etc. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Au:
•a gold ring
pure/solid gold
•solid gold watches
9/18/22/24 carat gold (=a measurement used to show how pure gold is)
2 [U] coins, jewellery etc made of gold:
•She came to the party dripping with gold (=wearing a lot of gold).
3 [C,U] the colour of gold:
•The room was decorated in golds and blues.
•Gold looks good on people with dark hair.
4 [C] informal a GOLD MEDAL
have a heart of gold at HEART (2)
1 made of gold
gold watch/chain/ring etc
2 having the colour of gold:
•a gold jacket; goldenalso goldbricker $ [C]
AmE informal someone who stays away from their work, especially by pretending that they are ill
- goldbrick verb [I][C] BrE
a type of CREDIT CARD that gives you special advantages such as a high spending limit[C] informal
an attractive woman who uses her looks to get money from rich men[U]
1 gold in the form of a fine powder
2 be like gold dust BrE to be very valuable and difficult to find:
•Cup final tickets are like gold dust. $
1 having a bright yellow colour like gold:
•golden hair
•golden sand
2 a golden opportunity a good chance to get something valuable or to be very successful:
•He wasted a golden opportunity when he missed from the penalty spot.
3 golden boy/girl someone who is popular and successful:
•Hollywood's golden girl, Julia Roberts
4 [only before noun] a golden period of time is one of great happiness or success
golden years/days etc
•the golden years of childhood
•the golden age of radio
5 sb is golden AmE spoken informal used to say that someone is in a very good situation and is likely to be successful:
•If the right editor looks at your article, you're golden.
6 literary made of gold:
•a golden crownplural golden anniversaries [C]
especially AmE the date that is exactly 50 years after the beginning of something, especially a wedding; diamond anniversary, silver anniversary; = golden wedding BrE; = golden jubilee BrE[C]
a large light brown bird that lives in northern parts of the world[plural] informal
things such as a large SALARY or a good PENSION that make important workers want to continue working for an organization, rather than leave to work for a competing organization[C]
BrE a large amount of money given to someone when they leave their job[C] BrE informal
a large amount of money that is given to a new employee, in order to persuade them not to go to work for another organization:
•New teachers are given golden hellos.[C]
BrE the date that is exactly 50 years after an important event, such as the occasion when someone became king or queen; diamond jubilee, silver jubilee; = golden anniversary AmE
•the Queen's golden jubilee celebrations[C] informal
a song, film etc that is old, but which many people still like[C] informal
part of a business person's contract which states that they will be paid a large amount of money if they lose their job, for example if the company is sold[C] AmE
a small pale RAISIN (=dried fruit) used in baking; = sultana BrE[C]
a large dog with light brown fur[C]
a very important principle, way of behaving etc that should be remembered:
•The golden rule of cooking is to use fresh ingredients.[U]
BrE a sweet thick liquid made from sugar that is used in cooking[C] BrE
the date that is exactly 50 years after a wedding; = golden anniversary; diamond wedding, silver wedding $ [C]
an area of land where gold can be found $ [C]
a small singing bird with yellow feathers on its wings $ plural goldfish [C]
a small shiny orange fish often kept as a pet
1 [C] a round glass bowl in which fish are kept as pets
2 [singular] a situation in which people know about everything that happens in your life:
•Popstars have to live their life in a goldfish bowl.[U]
gold which has been beaten into extremely thin sheets and is used to cover things such as picture frames for decoration[C]
a prize made of gold that is given to someone for winning a race or competition; bronze medal, silver medal
- gold medallist BrE gold medalist AmE gold mine $ [C]
1 informal a business or activity that produces large profits:
•The nightclub turned out to be a real goldmine.
2 a place where gold is dug out from a hole in the ground
3 be sitting on a goldmine to own something very valuable, especially without realizing it
something that is gold-plated has a layer of gold on top of another metal
- gold plate noun [U]
having a gold edge or border:
•gold-rimmed glasses[C]
a situation when a lot of people hurry to a place where gold has just been discovered $ [C]
someone who makes or sells things made from gold
the gold standard technical the use of the value of gold as a fixed standard on which to base the value of money $ [U]
a game in which the players hit a small white ball into holes in the ground with a set of golf clubs, using as few hits as possible:
•He plays golf on Sundays.
•a round of golf (=complete game of golf)
- golfer noun [C]
- golfing noun [U][C]
a small hard white ball used in the game of golf[C]
1 a long wooden or metal stick used for hitting the ball in the game of golf
2 an organization of people who play golf, or the land and buildings they use[C]
an area of land where golf is playedplural golf links [C]
a golf course, especially by the sea $ [C]
a child's DOLL made of cloth, like a man with a black face, white eyes, and short black hair. Golliwogs are considered offensive to black people. $ spoken old use
used to express surprise; = goshplural gollies [C]
informal a golliwog $ [C]
technical the male or female sex organ in which the SPERM or eggs are produced $ [C]
1 a long narrow boat with a flat bottom and high points at each end, used on the CANALs in Venice in Italy
2 the place where passengers sit that hangs beneath an AIRSHIP or BALLOON^1 (2)
3 the enclosed part of a CABLE CAR where the passengers sit $ [C]
someone whose job is to take people for rides in a gondola $
the past participle of GO
1 be gone
a) to be no longer in a particular place:
•The door slammed and he was gone.
•I turned round for my bag and it was gone.
b) to be dead or to no longer exist:
•His wife's been gone for several years.
•Many of the old houses are gone now.
dead and gone at DEAD^1 (1)
2 be gone on sb BrE informal to be very attracted to someone of the opposite sex:
•Kate's really gone on that boy next door.
3 be five/six/seven etc months gone BrE informal to have been PREGNANT for five, six etc months
going, going, gone at GO^1 (36)BrE informal
later than a particular time or older than a particular age; = past
•When we got home it was gone midnight. $ informal
be a goner if someone is a goner, they are soon going to die, to fall, be caught etc:
•Someone hit me from behind and I thought I was a goner. $ [C]
1 a round piece of metal that hangs in a frame and which you hit with a stick to give a deep ringing sound. It is used as a musical instrument or to announce that a meal is ready
2 BrE informal a MEDAL, title, or prize that someone is given $ spoken informal
a way of saying 'going to':
•This isn't gonna be easy.gonorrhoea $ [U]
a disease of the sex organs that is passed on during sex $ [U] AmE informal
newspaper reporting that is concerned with shocking or exciting the reader and not with giving serious news
- gonzo journalist noun [C] [U] informal
an unpleasantly sticky substance; gooey
•My washbag's covered in goo. comparative better $ , superlative best
1 OF A HIGH STANDARD of a high standard or quality; bad, poor
•a good hotel
•good quality cloth
•The train service is not very good.
•My French is better than my Spanish.
•You'll receive the best medical treatment.
•His qualifications aren't good enough.
see box at WELL^1
2 SKILFUL able to do something well:
•She's a very good player.
•Do you know a good builder?
good at (doing) sth
•Alex is very good at languages.
•She's good at making things.
[+with]
•As a politician, you need to be good with words (=skilful at using words).
•He's very good with people (=skilful at dealing with people).
do/make a good job (of doing sth) (=do something well)
•Mike's done a good job of painting the windows.
3 WHAT YOU WANT used about something that is what you want or happens in the way that you want; bad
•That's good news!
•I need a bit of good luck.
4 PLEASANT/ENJOYABLE pleasant and enjoyable
it's good to do sth
•It's good to see you again.
have a good time/day/weekend etc
•Did you have a good vacation?
•That was good fun.
5 SUCCESSFUL/CORRECT likely to be successful or correct:
•She's full of good ideas.
•Well, can you think of a better plan?
•What's the best way to deal with this?
•The police have a pretty good idea who did it.
•I'm not sure, but I could make a good guess.
6 SUITABLE suitable or convenient:
•Is this a good time to talk to you?
•It was a good place to rest.
good for (doing) sth
•It's a good day for going to the beach.
be good for sb especially AmE
•Ten o'clock is good for me.
7 USEFUL useful or helpful; bad
•Do you want some good advice?
• The best thing you can do is wait here.
•You should make good use of your time.
8 BEHAVING WELL behaving well and not causing any trouble - used especially about a child; = well-behaved; naughty
•She's such a good baby.
•The kids were as good as gold (=very good).
be on your best behaviour at BEHAVIOUR (2)
9 MAKES YOU HEALTHY likely to make you healthy, either physically or mentally; bad
[+for]
•Fresh fruit and vegetables are good for you.
•Watching too much TV isn't good for you.
good to eat/drink
•They have to learn which wild foods are good to eat.
10 KEEPS STH IN GOOD CONDITION be good for sth likely to improve the condition of something:
•products that are good for the environment
•The publicity has been good for business.
11 PHYSICALLY WELL [used especially in negatives and comparatives] healthy or well:
•'How are you?' 'Better, thanks.'
•Lyn's not feeling too good today.
12 NOT DAMAGED OR WEAK if the condition of something is good, it is not damaged or weak
in good condition/shape
•It's in pretty good condition for an old car.
•Boris had always kept his body in good shape.
•The Chancellor announced that the economy is in good shape.
•Once the boat's repaired, it'll be as good as new (=in perfect condition).
sb's good eye/arm/leg etc (=the one that is not damaged)
•He sat up, supporting himself on his good arm.
13 KIND kind and understanding about what other people need or want
[+about]
•Dad lent me the money. He was very good about it.
it/that/this is good of sb
•It was good of him to offer you a lift.
•The company's always been very good to me.
14 MORALLY RIGHT behaving correctly or being right according to accepted moral standards; bad
•a good man
•I try to be good, but it isn't always easy.
•Well, that's my good deed for the day (=something good you try to do for someone else every day).
•I'm on the side of the good guys (=people who behave in a morally right way, for example in a film).
15 LARGE large in amount, size, range etc; goodish
•We've had a good crop of apples.
•There's a good range of leisure facilities.
•I'd been waiting a good while (=a fairly long time).
•Our team has a good chance of winning (=is fairly likely to win).
16 REASONABLE PRICE a good price is reasonable and not expensive :
•$30 sounds like a good price to me.
17 COMPLETELY/THOROUGHLY [only before noun] doing something for a long time, so that you do it completely and thoroughly:
•You need a good rest.
• Take a good look at it.
•She sat down and had a good cry.
•This time he waited until he was good and ready (=completely ready).
18 a good deal a lot:
•It cost a good deal, I can tell you.
a good deal of trouble/time/work etc
•I went to a good deal of trouble to get this ticket.
a good deal bigger/better etc
•He was a good deal older than her.
19 good value (for money) BrE something that is good value is not expensive, or is worth what you pay for it:
•The three-course menu is varied and good value for money.
20 good for sth
a) able to be used for a particular period of time; = valid
good for one month/a year etc
•Your passport is good for another three years.
b) likely to continue living or being useful for a particular time or distance, even though old or not in good condition
good for some time/a hundred miles etc
•This old truck is good for another 100,000 miles.
c) informal likely to give you something or provide something:
•Dad should be good for a few bucks.
21 a good three miles/ten years etc at least three miles, ten years etc, and probably more:
•It's a good mile away.
•He's a good ten years younger than her.
22 as good as almost
as good as done/finished etc
•The summer's as good as over.
as good as dead/ruined/useless etc
•This carpet's as good as ruined.
23 a good few/many a fairly large number of things or people:
•I've done this a good few times now.
•A good many people were upset about the new tax.
24 too good to be true/to last informal so good that you cannot believe it is real, or you expect something bad to happen:
•Their relationship had always seemed too good to be true.
25 sb's too good for sb used to say that you think the second person does not deserve to have a relationship with the first:
•George is a good lad, too good for you!
26 in your own good time informal if you do something in your own good time, you do it only when you are ready to do it, rather than when other people want you to:
•I'll tell him in my own good time.
27 in good time (for sth/to do sth) BrE if you do something in good time, you do it early enough to be ready for a particular time or event:
•Ben arrived in good time for dinner.
28 hanging/shooting etc is too good for sb spoken used to say that someone has done something so bad that they deserve the most severe punishment available
29 as good a time/place etc as any used to say that although a time etc is not perfect, there will probably not be a better one:
•I suppose this is as good a place as any to stay.
30 be as good as your word to do something that you promised to do
31 a good word for sb/sth something good that you say about someone or something:
•Dan put in a good word for you at the meeting.
have/find a good word (to say)
•No one had a good word to say for her.
32 be in sb's good books informal if you are in someone's good books, they are pleased with you or your work:
•I'll ask my boss for the day off - I'm in her good books just now.
33 have a good thing going to have or be doing something that is successful:
•They've got a good thing going with that little shop of theirs.
34 be onto a good thing BrE informal to have found an easy way of being successful or getting what you want:
•Andrew knew when he was onto a good thing.
35 make good also make it good to become successful and rich after being poor - used especially in newspapers:
•a country boy who made good in New York
36 make good a debt/loss etc to pay someone money that you owe, or to provide money to replace what has been lost - used especially in business:
•The loss to the company was made good by contributions from its subsidiaries.
37 make good your escape literary to succeed in escaping
38 the good life an expensive way of living with good food, fast cars etc:
•his weakness for women and the good life
39 the good old days the good times in the past :
•We talked for hours about the good old days.
40 sb's good offices formal help that someone provides, especially someone in a position of power
41 good Samaritan someone who gives help to people in trouble
42 the good book old-fashioned the Bible
so far so good at FAR^1 (8)
give as good as you get at GIVE^1 (34)
while the going's good at GOING^1 (4)
hold good at HOLD^1 (14)
for good measure at MEASURE^2 (8)
pay good money for sth at MONEY (5)
bad/good sailor at SAILOR (2)
that's/it's all well and good at WELL^3 (4)
43 good
a) used to say that you are pleased about something:
•Good. I'm glad that's finished.
•'I got an A in Biology, Mum.' ' Oh, good.'
b) used to tell someone that you think their work or what they are doing is good:
•'Is the answer five?' 'Yes, good.'
44 that's good used to say that you approve of something:
•'I've booked a table.' 'Oh, that's good.'
45 (that's a) good idea/point/question used to say that someone has just said or suggested something interesting or important that you had not thought of before:
•'But it's Sunday, the bank will be closed.' 'Good point.'
46 good luck used to say that you hope that someone is successful or that something good happens to them:
•Good luck in your exams.
47 good luck to him/them etc used to say that you hope someone is successful, even if you think this is unlikely:
•'They're hoping to finish it by November.' 'Good luck to them.'
48 good for sb used to say that you approve of something that someone has done:
•'I've decided to accept the job.' 'Good for you.'
49 it's a good thing also it's a good job BrE used to say that you are glad something happened, because there would have been problems if it had not happened:
•It's a good thing you're at home. I've lost my keys.
and a good thing/job too BrE
•She's gone, and a good thing too.
50 that's/it's not good enough used to say that you are not satisfied with something and that you are annoyed about it:
•It's just not good enough. I've been waiting an hour!
51 be good and ready to be completely ready:
•We'll go when I'm good and ready and not before.
52 that's a good one used to tell someone that you do not believe something they have said and think it is a joke or a trick:
•You won $50,000? That's a good one!
53 be good for a laugh also be a good laugh BrE to be enjoyable or amusing:
•It's Hazel's party tomorrow. Should be good for a laugh.
54 good old John/Karen etc used to praise someone, especially because they have behaved in the way that you expect them to:
•Good old Ed! I knew he wouldn't let us down.
55 good grief/God/Lord/heavens/gracious! used to express surprise or anger:
•'It's going to cost us £500.' 'Good grief!'
56 good girl/boy/dog etc used to tell a child or animal that they have behaved well or done something well:
•Sit! Good dog.
57 if you know what's good for you used in a threatening way to tell someone to do something or something bad will happen to them:
•Do as he says, if you know what's good for you!
58 would you be good enough to do sth also would you be so good as to do sth formal used to ask someone very politely to do something:
•Would you be good enough to help me with my bags?
59 all in good time BrE used when someone wants to do something soon but you want to wait a little:
•'When can we open our presents, Mom?' 'All in good time, Billy.'
60 have a good one AmE used to say goodbye and to wish someone a nice day
61 be good to go AmE informal to be ready to do something:
•I've got my shoes and I'm good to go.
62 be as good as it gets spoken if a situation is as good as it gets, it is not going to improve:
•Enjoy yourself while you can. This is as good as it gets.
63 it's all good especially AmE informal used to say that a situation is good or acceptable, or that there is not a problem:
•Don't worry about it, man - it's all good.
64 very good BrE old-fashioned used to tell someone in a position of authority that you will do what they have asked:
•'Tell the men to come in.' 'Very good, sir.'
65 (jolly) good show BrE old-fashioned used to say that you approve of something someone has done

WORD FOCUS: good
very good:
excellent
fantastic
wonderful
great
terrific
neat AmE
superb
amazing
outstanding
brilliant
impressive
fine
first-class
out of this world
of good quality:
high quality
top quality
superior
deluxe
classy
morally good:
decent
virtuous
respectable
honourable BrE /honorable AmE
upright
beyond reproach

1 no good/not much good/not any good
a) not useful or suitable:
•One lesson's not much good - you need five or six.
•'I could come next week.' 'That's no good. I'll be away.'
[+for]
•The land here isn't any good for agricultural crops.
[+to]
•You're no good to me if you can't drive a car.
b) of a low standard or level of ability:
•The movie wasn't much good.
•Is the new headteacher any good?
no good at (doing) sth
•I'm no good at speaking in public.
c) morally bad:
•Stay away from Jerry - he's no good.
2 it's no good (doing sth) used to say that an action will not achieve what it is intended to achieve:
•It's no good telling him - he won't listen.
3 do some good/do sb good to have a useful effect:
•She works for a small charity where she feels she can do some good.
•I'll talk to him but I don't think it will do any good.
•A bit more exercise would do you good.
do more harm than good at HARM^1 (1)
4 what's the good of...?/what good is...? used to say that it is not worth doing or having something in a particular situation:
• What's the good of buying a boat if you're too busy to use it?
• What good is money when you haven't any friends?
5 for good permanently:
•The injury may keep him out of football for good.
6 for the good of sb/sth in order to help someone or improve a situation:
•We must work together for the good of the community.
•Take the medicine - it's for your own good!
7 [U] behaviour, attitudes, forces etc that are morally right:
•She is definitely an influence for good on those boys.
•There's a lot of good in him, in spite of his rudeness.
•the struggle between good and evil
DO-GOODER
8 be up to no good informal to be doing or planning something wrong or dishonest:
•Those guys look like they're up to no good.
9 the common/general good formal the advantage of everyone in society or in a group:
•countries united for the common good
10 be (all) to the good used to say that something that happens is good, especially when it is in addition to or as the result of something else:
•If further improvements can be made, that would be all to the good.AmE spoken informal
well. Many teachers think this is not correct English:
•The business is doing good now.
•Listen to me good!formal
used to say hello when you are greeting someone in the afternoon, especially someone you do not know; good evening, good morning
used when you are leaving someone, or when they are leaving; hello
•Goodbye, John, see you tomorrow.
•I just have to say goodbye to Jane.
say your goodbyes (=say goodbye to several people or everyone)
•We said our goodbyes and left.
old-fashioned especially BrE used to say hello or goodbye, especially in the morning or afternoon:
•I must get back. Good day to you.formal
used to say hello when you are greeting someone in the evening, especially someone you do not know; good afternoon, good morning, good night[U]
when a person, country etc intends to be honest and sincere and does not intend to deceive anyone
in good faith
•The report claimed that the company had acted in good faith.
sign/show/gesture etc of good faith
•A ceasefire was declared as a sign of good faith.
a good-for-nothing person is lazy and useless:
•an idle good-for-nothing drunk
- =good-for-nothing noun [C]
•Ian's a stupid good-for-nothing.[C,U]
the Friday before the Christian holiday of Easter, that Christians remember as the day Jesus Christ was CRUCIFIED $
kind and generousgood humor AmE [U] BrE
a happy, friendly character or attitude to life:
•At eighty her eyes still sparkled with good humour.
- good-humoured adjective
•He was patient and good-humoured., adverbgoody [C]
BrE informal someone in a book or film who is good and does things you approve of; baddie
•the goodies and the baddies BrE informal
1 fairly good but not very good:
•'Is the pay good?' 'Goodish.'
2 a goodish distance/number etc a fairly long way, a fairly large number etc
someone who is good-looking is attractive
- good-looker noun [C]
see box at BEAUTIFUL[plural]
the attractive appearance of someone's face:
•his natural good looks [only before noun]
1 a goodly number/sum/amount etc old-fashioned a large amount:
•£1500 is still a goodly sum.
2 old use pleasant in appearance or good in qualityformal
used to say hello when you are greeting someone in the morning; good afternoon, good evening[singular]
the good opinion that people have of someone or something; = reputation
[+of]
•It threatened to damage the good name of the firm.[U]
a naturally kind and helpful character or attitude to people:
•He had his father's good looks and his mother's good nature. $
naturally kind and helpful and not easily made angry
- good-naturedly adverb[U] BrE
when countries or people try to have friendly and helpful relationships with others that are near them [U]
1 my goodness!/goodness (gracious) me! spoken said when you are surprised or sometimes angry:
•My goodness, you have spent a lot!
2 for goodness' sake spoken said when you are annoyed or surprised, especially when telling someone to do something:
•For goodness' sake stop arguing!
3 goodness (only) knows spoken used to emphasize that you are not sure about something, or to make a statement stronger:
•That bar's been closed for goodness knows how long.
•Goodness knows, I tried to help him!
4 BEING GOOD the quality of being good:
•the desire to see goodness and justice in the world
5 BEST PART the part of food which is good for your health:
•All the goodness of an egg is in the yolk.
6 have the goodness to do sth old-fashioned formal used when asking someone to do something in an extremely polite way:
•Please have the goodness to wait.
7 out of the goodness of sb's heart used when someone has done something in order to be kind or helpful to other people:
•He did it out of the goodness of his heart.
used to say goodbye when you are leaving someone or they are leaving at night, or before going to sleep; good evening
•Good night. Sleep well. [plural]
1 things that are produced in order to be sold
electrical/industrial/agricultural etc goods
•furniture, carpets and other household goods
•the large market for consumer goods (=televisions, washing machines etc)
•Britain's leading exporter of manufactured goods (=things that are made not grown)
•There will be tax increases on a wide range of goods and services.
DRY GOODS
2 things that someone owns and that can be moved:
•They were charged with handling stolen goods.
•We collected up our goods and left.
3 BrE things which are carried by road, train etc; = freight
•a goods train
4 come up with the goods/deliver the goods informal to do what is needed or expected:
•He's a great player. He always comes up with the goods on the day.
5 have/get the goods on sb AmE to have or find proof that someone is guilty of a crime:
•Face it, Bukowski, we got the goods on you!
6 damaged goods someone whose actions mean that they no longer have a good effect or influence on something:
•After the scandal, he was considered damaged goods by the party.
worldly goods at WORLDLY (1)[plural] BrE law
personal possessions[U]
the quality someone has when they are able to make sensible decisions about what to do:
•Mrs Booth showed a lot of good sense.
have the good sense to do sth
•Mark had the good sense not to argue.
•It makes good sense (=is sensible) to do some research before buying.
pleasant, kind, and not easily made angry; bad-tempered [U]
1 kind feelings towards or between people and a willingness to be helpful:
•A fund was set up as a goodwill gesture to survivors and their families.
the season of goodwill (=Christmas)
2 the value that a company has because it has a good relationship with its customers:
•The sale price also covers the goodwill of the business. plural goodies [C usually plural] informal
1 something that is nice to eat:
•We bought lots of goodies for the picnic.
2 something attractive, pleasant, or desirable:
•The competition gives you the chance to win all sorts of goodies.
3 BrE a GOODIE
a word used by children to express pleasure or excitementalso goody-two-shoes AmE plural goody-goodies [C]
someone who tries hard to be very good and helpful in order to please their parents, teachers etc - used especially by children to show disapproval comparative gooier, superlative gooiest informal
1 sticky and soft:
•gooey cakes
•gooey mud
2 showing your love for someone in a way that other people think is silly; = soppy
•Babies make her go all gooey.also goof up [I,T] informal
especially AmE to make a silly mistake:
•Somebody goofed and entered the wrong amount.
•The restaurant totally goofed up our reservations.

PHRASAL VERBS
goof around phr v AmE informal
to spend time doing silly things or not doing very much; = mess about BrE
•We spent the afternoon just goofing around on our bikes.

goof off phr v AmE informal
to waste time or avoid doing any work:
•He's been goofing off at school.[C] informal especially AmE
1 also goof up a silly mistake:
•The goof could cost the city $5 million.
2 also goofball someone who is silly $ [C] AmE
someone who is silly or stupid informal
stupid or silly:
•A goofy grin apread across her face when she saw the card. plural googlies [C]
1 a ball in the game of CRICKET that is thrown to an opponent so that it looks as if it will go in one direction but goes in the other
2 bowl sb a googly BrE informal to ask someone a question that is intended to trick themgooly [C usually plural]
BrE informal a rude or humorous word meaning a TESTICLE [C] informal
1 especially BrE a silly or stupid person
2 especially AmE a violent criminal who is paid to frighten or attack people [U]
AmE informal a thick slightly sticky substance plural geese
1
a) [C] a bird that is like a duck but is larger and makes loud noises
b) [C] a female goose; gander
2 [U] the cooked meat of this bird
3 [singular] old-fashioned informal a silly person
WILD GOOSE CHASE
wouldn't say boo to a goose at BOO^2 (3)
kill the goose that lays the golden egg at KILL^1 (14)
what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander at SAUCE (3)[T]
AmE informal to touch or press someone on their bottom as a joke $ plural gooseberries [C]
1 a small round green fruit that grows on a bush and has a sour taste
2 be a gooseberry also play gooseberry BrE informal to be with two people who are having a romantic relationship and who want to be alone togetheralso goosebumps also gooseflesh [plural] [U] especially AmE
small raised spots on your skin that you get when you are cold or frightened
the goosestep a way of marching by soldiers, in which they lift their legs quite high and do not bend their knees
- goosestep verb [I] $ AmE
the GOP the Grand Old Party another name for the Republican Party in US politics $ [C]
1 a North and Central American animal like a large rat that lives in holes in the ground
2 also Gopher trademark a computer program that helps people find and use information quickly on the Internet $
cut/untie the Gordian knot to quickly solve a difficult problem by determined action:
•In recent years, governments have tried to cut the Gordian knot by imposing cuts in state support to the railways. $ [T usually passive]
if an animal gores someone, it wounds them with its horns or TUSKs :
•He was attacked and gored by a bull.
[U] literary thick dark blood that has flowed from a wound; gory
•He likes movies with plenty of blood and gore (=violence). $ [C]
1 a deep narrow valley with steep sides
2 feel your gorge rise BrE to feel very sick or angry, especially when you see or smell something very unpleasant
1 gorge yourself (on sth) to eat until you are too full to eat any more; = stuff yourself
•We gorged ourselves on ripe plums.
2 be gorged with sth to be completely full of something:
•The insect sucks until it is gorged with blood.BrE spoken informal
extremely beautiful or attractive $ informal
1 extremely beautiful or attractive:
•'What do you think of my new flatmate?' 'He's absolutely gorgeous!'
•You look gorgeous, Maria.
see box at BEAUTIFUL
2 extremely pleasant or enjoyable; = lovely
•a gorgeous cake
•The hotel room had a gorgeous view.
- gorgeously adverb $ [C]
1 Gorgon one of the three sisters in ancient Greek stories who had snakes on their heads that made anyone who looked at them change into stone
2 BrE informal an ugly frightening woman [C]
1 a very large African monkey that is the largest of the APEs
2 a man who is very large and who looks as if he might become violent $ BrE informal
very stupid:
•a gormless grin
•a gormless boy
- gormlessly adverb $ [U]
a PRICKLY bush with bright yellow flowers, which grows in the countryside in Europe
1 informal clearly describing or showing violence, blood, and killing:
•a gory horror movie
•gory tales of murder
2 (all) the gory details all the details about an unpleasant or interesting event - often used humorously:
•Come on, I want to hear all the gory details.
3 literary covered in blood $ informal
used to express surprise:
•Gosh, it's cold. $ [C]
a young GOOSE[C] BrE
a protest against an employer in which the workers work as slowly as possible; work-to-rule, strike; = slowdown AmE $
1 Gospel [C] one of the four books in the Bible about Christ's life:
• the Gospel according to St Luke
2 also Gospel [singular] the life of Christ and the ideas that he taught
preach/spread the gospel (=tell people about it)
•Missionaries were sent to preach the Gospel.
•gospel stories
3 [C usually singular] a set of ideas that someone believes in very strongly and tries to persuade other people to accept
spread/preach the gospel
•spreading the gospel of science
4 also gospel truth [U] something that is completely true:
•Don't take everything she says as gospel (=don't believe everything she says).
5 also gospel music [U] a type of Christian music in which religious songs are sung very loudly:
•a gospel choir $ [U]
1 literary a very light thin material
2 the light silky thread which SPIDERs leave on grass and bushes $
1 [U] information that is passed from one person to another about other people's behaviour and private lives, often including unkind or untrue remarks

piece of gossip
the latest gossip
juicy/hot gossip (=interesting gossip)
idle gossip (=gossip not based on facts)
common gossip (=something that everyone knows and is talking about)
office gossip
village gossip BrE
exchange gossip (=talk about other people's private lives with someone)

[+about]
•Here's an interesting piece of gossip about Mrs Smith.
• What's the latest gossip?
•Do you want to hear some juicy gossip?
•She had no time for idle gossip.
•It was common gossip how he felt about her.
• You miss a lot of office gossip when you have a day off work.
•On Sundays all the men gather in the square to exchange local gossip.

2 [C usually singular] a conversation in which you exchange information with someone about other people's lives and things that have happened:
•Phil's in there, having a gossip with Maggie.
3 [C] someone who likes talking about other people's private lives - used to show disapproval:
•Rick's a terrible gossip.[I]
to talk about other people's behaviour and private lives, often including remarks that are unkind or untrue
[+about]
•The whole town was gossiping about them.[C]
a regular article in a newspaper or magazine about the behaviour and private lives of famous people
- gossip columnist noun [C] $ informal
1 a gossipy conversation, letter etc is informal and full of gossip
2 a gossipy person likes to gossip:
•gossipy secretaries $
the past tense and a participle of GET
!! You cannot say 'I/he/she etc got' in the present tense. Say you have something or have got something: I've got (NOT I got) a new bike. $
1 a word meaning 'I've got you' used when you catch someone or trick them in some way
2 a word meaning 'I understand':
•'Yeah, 5 o'clock, gotcha.' $
1 [U] a type of slow sad popular music that is played on electric GUITARs and KEYBOARDs
2 [C] someone who likes goth music
- goth also gothic adjective $
1 the Gothic style of building was common in Western Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries and included tall pointed ARCHes and windows and tall PILLARs :
•a Gothic church
2 a Gothic story, film etc is about frightening things that happen in mysterious old buildings and lonely places, in a style that was popular in the early 19th century
3 Gothic writing, printing etc has thick decorated letters $ spoken informal
a short form of 'have got to', 'has got to', 'have got a', or 'has got a', which most people think is incorrect:
•We gotta go now. $
AmE the past participle of GET
ILL-GOTTEN GAINS

US/UK DIFFERENCE
In American English, gotten is the usual past participle of get: I'd gotten an A on the test. | It has gotten really warm. | I heard they had gotten divorced.
gotten is not used as the past participle for got to meaning 'must'. Speakers of American English say had to rather than had got to: We had to be there on time.
In British English, gotten is not used. The past participle of get in British English is got: I had got a letter from my sister in Australia.

1 [U] a method of painting using colours that are mixed with water and made thicker with a type of glue
2 [C] a picture painted in this way [T]
to make a deep hole or cut in the surface of something:
•He took a knife and gouged a hole in the bottom of the boat.

PHRASAL VERBS
gouge sth <=> out phr v
1 to form a hole, space etc by digging into a surface and removing material, or to remove material by digging
[+of]
•A rough road had been gouged out of the rock.
•30,000 tonnes of slate are gouged out of the mountains every week.
2 gouge sb's eyes out to remove someone's eyes with a pointed weapon[C]
a hole or cut made in something, usually by a sharp tool or weapon $ [C,U]
a dish of meat cooked in liquid with a hot-tasting pepper, originally from Hungary $ [C]
a round fruit whose outer shell can be used as a container, or the container made from this fruit $ [C]
someone who likes to eat and drink a lot $ [only before noun]
producing or relating to very good food and drink:
•a gourmet cook
•gourmet dinners[C]
someone who knows a lot about food and wine and who enjoys good food and wine [U]
a disease that makes your toes, fingers, and knees swollen and painful
1 Gov. the written abbreviation of governor
2 .gov used in Internet addresses for government websites $
1 [I,T] to officially and legally control a country and make all the decisions about taxes, laws, public services etc; = rule
•the military leaders who govern the country
•a country governed by a military élite
•The party had been governing for seven months.
2 [T] if rules, principles etc govern the way a system or situation works, they control how it happens:
•legislation governing the export of live animals
•The universe is governed by the laws of physics. $ [C]
a female teacher in the past, who lived with a rich family and taught their children at home $
1 [only before noun] having the power and authority to control an organization, country etc; = ruling
•FIFA is the governing body of world soccer (=the group of people who control it).
•The Democrats are now the governing party (=the party in power) in the country.
•the governing class of ancient Rome
2 governing principle a principle that has the most important influence on something:
•Freedom of speech is one of the governing principles in a democracy.; self-governing $
1 also Government [C usually singular also + plural verb BrE ] the group of people who govern a country or state:
•The Government are planning further cuts in public spending.
•The US government has tightened restrictions on firearms.
•Neither party had the majority necessary to form a government (=become the government after an election).
democratic/totalitarian etc government
•The country now has a democratic government for the first time.
•A coalition government (=government made up of members of several political parties) will now be established.
under a government (=during the period of a government)
•Structural reforms are unlikely under the present government.
•a meeting with government officials
•the restructuring of government departments
•Government spending on health care totals about $60 billion a year.
2 [U] a form or system of government:
•Most people in the country support the return to democratic government.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
3 [U] the process or way of governing
in government
•What would the opposition do if they were in government (=governing the country)?
•the importance of good government in developing countries
4 [U] AmE the degree to which the government controls economic and social activities:
•The protest march was really about big government (=when the government controls many activities). $
of a government, or relating to government:
•an attempt to restrict governmental power
governmental body (=organization controlled by the government)[C]
BrE a notice that must be put on products such as cigarettes, to warn people that they are dangerous to their healthGovernor $ [C]
1
a) the person in charge of governing a state in the US
b) the person in charge of governing a country that is under the political control of another country
2 BrE a member of a committee that controls an organization or institution:
•a school governor
•the hospital's board of governors
3 BrE the person in charge of an institution:
•the prison governor
[+of]
•the governor of the central bank
4 BrE a GUVNOR[C]
someone who represents the King or Queen of Britain in other Commonwealth countries which are not REPUBLICs :
•the Governor-General of Australia $ [U]
the position of being governor, or the period during which someone is governor
the written abbreviation of government [C]
1 a long dress that a woman wears on formal occasions
wedding/evening/ball gown
•a white silk wedding gown
2 a long loose piece of clothing worn for special ceremonies by judges, teachers, lawyers, and members of universities; = robe
3 a long loose piece of clothing worn in a hospital by someone doing or having an operation:
•a hospital gown
DRESSING GOWNG.P. AmE [C] BrE
general practitioner a doctor who is trained in general medicine and treats people in a particular area or town:
•I've got an appointment with my GP at five o'clock. [C]
grade point average the average of a student's marks over a period of time in the US education system [U]
Global Positioning System a system that uses radio signals from SATELLITEs to show your exact position on the Earth on a special piece of equipment past tense and past participle grabbed, present participle grabbing [T]
1 WITH YOUR HAND to take hold of someone or something with a sudden or violent movement; = snatch
•I grabbed my bag and ran off.
•Two men grabbed her and pushed her to the ground.
•Kay grabbed hold of my arm to stop herself falling.
grab sth from sb/sth
•I managed to grab the gun from Bowen.
2 FOOD/SLEEP informal to get some food or sleep quickly because you are busy; = snatch
•Why don't you go and grab some sleep?
•Hang on while I grab a cup of coffee.
•Let's grab a bite to eat before we go.
3 GET STH FOR YOURSELF to get something for yourself, sometimes in an unfair way:
•Try to get there early and grab good seats.
•Bob tried to grab all the profit.
4 CHANCE/OPPORTUNITY informal also grab at sth to take an opportunity, accept an invitation etc immediately:
•I think you should grab your chance to travel while you're young.
•She grabbed the opportunity to go to America.
•Melanie grabbed at the invitation to go.
•This is our chance to grab a slice of this new market.
5 GET ATTENTION to get someone's attention:
•The book is full of good ideas to grab your students' attention.
•The plight of the refugees immediately grabbed the headlines (=was the most important story in the newspapers).
6 how does sth grab you? spoken used to ask someone if they would be interested in doing a particular thing:
•How does the idea of a trip to Spain grab you?

PHRASAL VERBS
grab at/for sth phr v
to quickly and suddenly put out your hand to try and catch or get something:
•I grabbed at the glass just before it fell.
•Lucy grabbed for the money.
1 make a grab for/at sth to suddenly try to take hold of something:
•As soon as he turned his back, I made a grab for the revolver.
2 be up for grabs informal if a job, prize, opportunity etc is up for grabs, it is available for anyone who wants to try to have it
3 [C] the act of getting something quickly, especially in a dishonest way:
•a shameless power grab to eliminate opposition
•Officials denounced the settlers' land grab.AmE
1 [C] a container filled with small presents that you put your hand in to pick one out; = lucky dip BrE
2 [singular] a mixture of different things or styles
[+of]
•The treaty covers a grab bag of issues.
3 [singular] informal a situation in which things are decided by chance
1 WAY OF MOVING [U] a smooth way of moving that looks natural, relaxed, and attractive; = gracefulness
•Lena moved with the grace of a dancer.
2 BEHAVIOUR
a) [U] polite and pleasant behaviour:
•The hotel maintains traditional standards of elegance, style, and grace.
have the grace to do sth
•He didn't even have the grace to apologize (=he was not polite enough to apologize).
b) graces [plural] the skills needed to behave in a way that is considered polite and socially acceptable:
•Max definitely lacked social graces.
3 MORE TIME [U] also grace period AmE more time that is allowed to someone to finish a piece of work, pay a debt etc
a day's/week's etc grace
•I got a few days' grace to finish my essay.
4 with (a) good/bad grace in a willing and pleasant way, or an unwilling and angry way:
•Kevin smiled and accepted his defeat with good grace.
•With typical bad grace, they refused to come to the party.
5 GOD'S KINDNESS formal [U] God's kindness that is shown to people:
•We are saved by God's grace.
6 there but for the grace of God (go I) used to say that you feel lucky not to be in the same bad situation as someone else
7 PRAYER [U] a prayer thanking God, said before a meal:
•My father said grace.
8 SOUL [U] the state of someone's soul when it is free from evil, according to Christian belief:
•He died in a state of grace (=when God has forgiven you for the wrong things you have done).
9 Your/His etc Grace used as a title when talking to or about a DUKE, DUCHESS, or ARCHBISHOP
10 the Graces three beautiful Greek goddesses who often appear in art
airs and graces at AIR^1 (9)
fall from grace at FALL^1 (17)
saving grace at SAVE^1 (14)[T]
1 grace sth/sb with your presence to bring honour to an occasion or group of people by coming to something - said humorously when someone comes late or does not often come to meetings etc:
•Ah so you've decided to grace us with your presence!
2 formal to make a place or an object look more attractive:
•His portrait graces the wall of the drawing room.
1 moving in a smooth and attractive way, or having an attractive shape or form:
•Her movements were graceful and elegant.
•The branches formed a graceful curve.
2 behaving in a polite and pleasant way:
•Her father was a quiet man with graceful manners.
- gracefully adverb
•She rose gracefully to her feet and went to the door.
- gracefulness noun [U]
1 not being polite, especially when someone has been kind to you:
•He was bad-tempered and graceless in defeat.
2 moving or doing something in a way that seems awkward; graceful
•The soldiers were graceless with their heavy packs and helmets.
3 something that is graceless is unattractive and unpleasant to look at; graceful
•graceless architecture
- gracelessly adverb
1 behaving in a polite, kind, and generous way, especially to people of a lower rank:
•Sibyl was the most gracious, helpful, and generous person to work with.
•a gracious apology
2 having the kind of expensive style, comfort, and beauty that only rich people can afford:
•a gracious manor house
•a magazine about gracious living
3 gracious (me)!/good gracious!/goodness gracious! old-fashioned used to express surprise or to emphasize 'yes' or 'no':
•Good gracious! What on earth has happened to your feet?
•'Did you ever go back?' 'Good gracious, no.'
4 a gracious act by or gift from God is kind and forgiving
5 [only before noun] used as a polite way of describing a royal person:
•our gracious Queen
- graciously adverb
- graciousness noun [U] [C]
AmE informal a GRADUATE
an adjective which is gradable can be used in the COMPARATIVE or SUPERLATIVE forms, or with words such as 'very' or 'fairly'
- gradability noun [U] [C]
formal a small change or difference between points on a scale:
•There are many gradations of colour between light and dark blue. [C]
1 STANDARD a particular level of quality that a product, material etc has:
•The best grades of tea are expensive.
•industrial grade diamonds
high/low grade
•low grade products
2 RANK a particular level of job:
•There are lots of jobs in junior grades.
3 MARK IN SCHOOL a mark that a student is given for their work or for an examination:
•He got a grade A in maths.
•Tim worked hard and got good grades.
4 make the grade to succeed or reach the necessary standard:
•What does it take to make the grade as a top golfer?
5 SCHOOL YEAR one of the 12 years that students are at school in the American school system, or the students in a particular year
second/eleventh etc grade
•My brother is in the sixth grade.
•a fifth-grade teacher
6 SLOPE AmE a slope or a degree of slope, especially in a road or railway; = gradient BrE[T]
1 to say what level of a quality something has, or what standard it is
grade sth according to sth
•Pencils are graded according to softness.
•All the parks are regularly checked and graded by tourist board inspectors.
2 especially AmE to give a mark to an examination paper or to a piece of school work; = mark
•Ted is grading papers in his office.
3 to give a particular rank and level of pay to a job[C]
AmE a place where a road and railway cross each other, usually with gates that shut the road while the train passes; = level crossing BrE
designed to suit different levels of learning:
•graded coursebooks[C]
AmE GPA $ [in nouns]
first-grader/fourth-grader etc a student in one of the 12 years in an American school[C,U]
AmE an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL [C]
a slope or a degree of slope, especially in a road or railway; = grade AmE
•a steep gradient[C,U]
AmE informal a GRADUATE SCHOOL
1 happening slowly over a long period of time; sudden
•There has been a gradual change in climate.
•the gradual decline in manufacturing industry
•Education is a gradual process.
2 a gradual slope is not steep
slowly, over a long period of time; suddenly
•Jill gradually became aware of an awful smell.
•Gradually, my ankle got better. [C]
1 someone who has completed a university degree, especially a first degree; undergraduate
•a Harvard graduate
[+of]
•a graduate of Edinburgh University
•university graduates
•a history graduate
[+in]
•He's a graduate in philosophy.
2 AmE someone who has completed a course at a college, school etc:
•a high-school graduate
1 [I] to obtain a degree, especially a first degree, from a college or university
[+from]
•Kate graduated from medical school last year.
[+in]
•He graduated in physics from Cambridge University.
2 [I] AmE to complete your education at HIGH SCHOOL
[+from]
•Jerry graduated from high school last year.
3 graduate (from sth) to sth to start doing something that is bigger, better, or more important:
•As an actress she has graduated from small roles to more substantial parts.
4 [T] especially AmE to give a degree or DIPLOMA to someone who has completed a course
[only before noun] especially AmE relating to or involved in studies done at a university after completing a first degree; = postgraduate BrE
•a graduate student
1 divided into different levels:
•graduated rates of taxation
2 a tool or container that is graduated has small marks on it showing measurements[C,U]
AmE a college or university where you can study for a MASTER'S DEGREE or a DOCTORATE after receiving your first degree, or the period of time when you study for these degrees
1 [U] the time when you complete a university degree course or your education at an American HIGH SCHOOL:
•After graduation Neil returned to Ohio.
•On graduation (=after completing a first degree), Nancy became an art teacher.
2 [U] a ceremony at which you receive a university degree or a DIPLOMA from an American HIGH SCHOOL:
•graduation day
3 [C] a mark on an instrument or container used for measuring $
another spelling of GRECO- [U]
rude, humorous, or political writing and pictures on the walls of buildings, trains etc:
•The walls are daubed with graffiti. $
1 [C] a piece of healthy skin or bone taken from someone's body and put in or on another part of their body that has been damaged:
•Martha had to have several skin grafts.
2 [C] a piece cut from one plant and tied to or put inside a cut in another, so that it grows there
3 [U] informal especially BrE hard work:
•Our success has been due to sheer hard graft.
4 [U] especially AmE the practice of obtaining money or advantage by the dishonest use of influence or power:
•He promised to end graft in public life.
1 [T] to remove a piece of skin, bone etc from part of someone's body and put it onto or into a part of their body that has been damaged
graft sth onto/to sth
•The technique involves grafting a very thin slice of bone onto the damaged knee.
2 [T + on/onto] to join a part of a plant or tree onto another plant or tree
3 [T] to add something very different to something, so that it becomes part of it
graft sth onto sth
•New elements are being grafted onto our traditional form of government.
graft sth on
•It is a seventeenth century farmhouse with some Victorian additions grafted on.
4 [I] informal especially BrE to work hard

PHRASAL VERBS
graft off sb phr v AmE
to get money or advantages from someone by the dishonest use of influence, especially political influence

HOLY GRAIL
1 FOOD
a) [U] the seeds of crops such as corn, wheat, or rice that are gathered for use as food, or these crops themselves:
•big sacks of grain
•Last year's grain harvest was the biggest ever.
b) [C] a single seed of corn, wheat etc:
•grains of rice
2 LINES IN WOOD ETC [singular] the natural lines you can see in a substance such as wood, which are the result of its structure
along the grain (=in the same direction as the grain)
•Cut along the grain of the wood.
across the grain (=at 90 degrees to the grain)
3 SMALL PIECE [C] a single very small piece of a substance such as sand or salt
[+of]
•a grain of sand
•There were crumbs and grains of sugar on the table.
4 a grain of sth a very small amount of something:
•The story was so silly it wouldn't have fooled anyone with a grain of sense.
•There is a grain of truth in all folklore and legend.
5 against the grain if something goes against the grain, it is not what you would naturally or normally do:
•Mary is always honest and it went against the grain to tell lies.
6 MEASURE [C] the smallest unit for measuring weight, equal to about 0.06 grams. It is used for weighing medicines
take sth with a pinch/grain of salt at SALT^1 (3)
a photograph that is grainy has a rough appearance, as if the images are made up of spots [in nouns]
a message delivered as an amusing surprise:
•On his birthday we sent him a kissagram (=a woman who was paid to give him a message and kiss him).also gramme BrE written abbreviation g or gm [C]
the basic unit for measuring weight in the METRIC SYSTEM $
1 [U] the rules by which words change their forms and are combined into sentences, or the study or use of these rules:
•Check your spelling and grammar.
•the rules of English grammar
2 [C] a particular description of grammar or a book that describes grammar rules:
•A dictionary lists the words, a grammar states the rules. $ [C]
someone who studies and knows about grammar[C,U]
1 a school in Britain for children over the age of 11 who have to pass a special examination to go there; comprehensive school
2 AmE old-fashioned an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
1 [only before noun] concerning grammar:
•grammatical rules
2 correct according to the rules of grammar; ungrammatical
- grammatically adverb
a British spelling of GRAM $ [C]
old-fashioned a RECORD PLAYER [C]
BrE informal grandmother[only before noun] trademark BrE
Granary bread is bread which contains whole grains of wheat $ plural granaries [C]
a place where grain, especially wheat, is stored
1 big and very impressive; humble
•a grand country house
•The party was a grand affair.
•New Yorkers build on a grand scale.
2 aiming or intended to achieve something impressive:
•Henry Luce had a grand design for America's future.
•The company's grand ambition was to become the first and biggest global airline.
3 important and rich:
•He looked very grand in his ceremonial uniform.
•the grand end of West Avenue
4 Grand
a) used in the titles of buildings or places that are big and impressive:
•the Grand Hotel
•Grand Central Station
b) used in the titles of some people who belong to the highest social class:
•the Grand Duke of Baden
5 informal excellent:
•We all had a grand time.
•Thank you, Shirley, that's grand.
6 a grand total the final total you get when you add up several numbers or amounts
[+of]
•You could add the £15,000 Bonus to the First Prize and win a grand total of £125,000!
7 grand (old) age an age when someone is quite old:
•She had reached the grand old age of 80.
8 the Grand Old Man of sth a man who has been involved in an activity or a profession for a long time and is highly respected:
•the Grand Old Man of British theatre
- grandly adverb
•'I am training her to cook for royalty,' Auguste said grandly.[C] informal
1 plural grand a thousand pounds or dollars:
•The car cost him fifteen grand.
2 a GRAND PIANOalso granddad especially BrE informal
[C] grandfathergranddaddy plural grandaddies [C] AmE informal
1 grandfather
2 the grandaddy of sth the first or greatest example of something:
•Louis Armstrong, the grandaddy of all jazz trumpeters plural grandchildren [C]
the child of your son or daughter
the usual American spelling of GRANDAD
AmE another spelling of GRANDADDY $ [C]
the daughter of your son or daughter [C]
1 a politician of the highest social class who has a lot of influence
2 a Spanish or Portuguese NOBLEMAN of the highest rank, in the past $ [U]
impressive beauty, power, or size:
•the grandeur of the mountains
delusions of grandeur at DELUSION (2) $ [C]
the father of your father or mother[C]
an old-fashioned tall clock which stands on the floor[C]
the last and most impressive or exciting part of a show or performance formal
using words that are too long and formal in order to sound important; = pompous
- grandiloquence noun [U] $
grandiose plans sound very important or impressive, but are not practical
grandiose scheme/plan/idea etc
•grandiose schemes of urban renewal[C]
law a group of people in the US who decide whether someone charged with a crime should be judged in a court of law
- grand juror noun [C][U]
AmE law the crime of stealing very valuable goods [C]
informal grandmother $ [U] technical
a serious form of EPILEPSY; petit mal[C]
a CHESS player of a very high standard $ [C]
the mother of your mother or father[C,U]
an OPERA with a serious subject in which all the words are sung [C]
informal grandfather $ [C usually plural]
one of the parents of your mother or father:
•My grandparents live in Sussex.also grand [C]
the type of large piano often used in concerts, with strings in a horizontal position; upright piano $ plural Grands Prix [C]
one of a set of international races, especially a car race[only before noun]
a Grand Slam sports event is one of the set of most important competitions in a particular sport:
•She won three Grand Slam titles.[C]
1 also Grand Slam the winning of all of a set of important sports competitions in the same year:
•Wales won the Grand Slam.
2 a hit in BASEBALL which gets four points because it is a HOME RUN and there are players on all the bases
3 the winning of all of the TRICKs possible in one game of cards, especially in BRIDGE [C]
the son of your son or daughter [C]
a large structure that has many rows of seats where people sit and watch sports competitions, games, or races [U] AmE
an action that is intended to make people notice and admire you:
•His opening the new school is just a piece of political grandstanding.[C]
1 the grand tour a trip round Europe made in the past by young British or American people from rich families as part of their education
2 an occasion when someone takes you around a building to show it to you - used humorously:
•They took us on a grand tour of their new house. [C]
a large country house with farm buildings [U]
a very hard grey rock, often used in buildinggrannie plural grannies [C] informal
grandmothergrannie [only before noun] BrE
of a style typically used by old women:
•granny shoes[C]
BrE a separate place inside or next to someone's house that is designed for an old relative to live in[C]
a knot that is like a REEF KNOT but is tied wrongly so that it is not firm $ [U] AmE
breakfast food made from mixed nuts, grains, and seeds $ [T]
1 formal to give someone something or allow them to have something that they have asked for:
•Britain could grant Spain's request.
•I would love to be able to grant her wish.
grant sb sth
•The council have granted him permission to build on the site.
grant sth to sb
•A licence to sell alcohol was granted to the club.
grant that (=used in prayers)
•Grant that we may know your presence and love.
2 to admit that something is true although it does not make much difference to your opinion; concede
•He's got talent, I grant you, but he doesn't work hard enough.
3 take it for granted (that) to believe that something is true without making sure:
•He just took it for granted that he would pass the exam.
4 take sb/sth for granted to expect that someone or something will always be there when you need them and never think how important or useful they are:
•Bridget was careful not to take him for granted.[C]
an amount of money given to someone, especially by the government, for a particular purpose:
•The university gets a government grant.
•Anyone wishing to apply for a grant should write to the Treasurer.
[+of]
•a grant of £50,000
[+from]
•These studios are funded by a grant from the Kress Foundation. $ [sentence adverb]
used when you admit that something is true:
•Granted, the music is not perfect, but the flaws are outweighed by the sheer joy of the piece.
a grant-maintained school in Britain receives its money directly from the central government rather than from the local government $
consisting of granules
granulated sugar is in the form of small white grains [C]
a small hard piece of something:
•coffee granules [C]
one of a number of small round green or purple fruits that grow together on a VINE. Grapes are often used for making wine:
•a bunch of grapes
•grape juice [C,U]
a round yellow CITRUS fruit with a thick skin, like a large orange [C]
1 hear sth on the grapevine to hear about something because the information has been passed from one person to another in conversation:
•I heard about his resignation on the grapevine.
2 a climbing plant on which grapes grow; = vine $ [C]
a drawing that uses a line or lines to show how two or more sets of measurements are related to each other; chart
•Martin showed me a graph of their recent sales.
1 a graphic account or description of an event is very clear and gives a lot of details, especially unpleasant ones; = vivid
•a graphic account of her unhappy childhood
•His illness is described in graphic detail.
2 [only before noun] connected with or including drawing, printing, or designing:
•a graphic artist
•the graphic arts [usually before noun]
relating to or containing graphics, especially on a computer:
•a simple graphical representation of the problem
1 if you describe something graphically, you describe it very clearly with a lot of detail; = vividly
2 formal using a graph:
•statistics represented graphically[C]
GUI a way of showing and organizing information on a computer screen that is easy to use and understand[U]
the art of combining pictures, words, and decoration in the production of books, magazines etc
- graphic designer noun [C] [plural]
pictures or images that are designed to represent objects or facts, especially in a computer programalso graphics adapter [C]
a CIRCUIT BOARD that connects to a computer and allows the computer to show images, such as video images, on its screen [U]
a soft black substance that is a kind of CARBON, used in pencils, paints, and electrical equipment $ [U]
the study of HANDWRITING in order to understand people's characters
- graphologist noun [C][U]
paper with many squares printed on it, used for drawing GRAPHs
used in nouns to mean a way of making pictures or of writing:
•radiography
•photography
•calligraphy [I]
to fight or struggle with someone, holding them tightly; = wrestle
[+with]
•Two men grappled with a guard at the door.

PHRASAL VERBS
grapple with sth phr v
to try hard to deal with or understand something difficult:
•The Government has to grapple with the problem of unemployment.
•Molly's upstairs grappling with her maths homework.also grappling hook [C]
an iron tool with several hooks that you tie to a rope and use to hold a boat still, look for objects on the bottom of a river etc $ [T]
1 to take and hold something firmly; = grip
•I grasped his arm firmly and led him away.
•Alan grasped the handle and pulled it.
2 [not in progressive] to completely understand a fact or an idea, especially a complicated one:
•At that time, we did not fully grasp the significance of what had happened.
•Some people find the idea of relativity difficult to grasp.
grasp what/how etc
•A short opening paragraph enables the reader to quickly grasp what the article is about.
grasp that
•Nick had grasped that something was wrong.
3 grasp an opportunity to eagerly and quickly use an opportunity to do something:
•She is ready to grasp any opportunity to expand the business.
4 grasp the nettle BrE to deal with an unpleasant situation firmly and without delay:
•We need to grasp the nettle of prison reform.

PHRASAL VERBS
grasp at sth phr v
to try to hold on to something:
•His foot slipped and he grasped at the top of the wall.[singular]
1 the way you hold something or your ability to hold it; = grip
•Luke took her arm in a firm grasp and led her through the gate.
•He had allowed the ball to slip from his grasp.
2 your ability to understand a complicated idea, situation, or subject; = understanding
[+of]
•Her grasp of the issues was impressive.
a good/firm/thorough etc grasp of sth
•Steve has a good grasp of the European legal system.
[+on]
•After two months, his grasp on the subject was improving.
3 your ability to achieve or gain something
within sb's grasp
•An agreement to end the war seemed within their grasp.
beyond sb's grasp
•Many families with children are finding suitable housing beyond their grasp.
4 literary control or power:
•The king was determined not to let Scotland slip from his grasp. $
too eager to get money and unwilling to give any of it away or spend it:
•Hanson was a hard, grasping man. $
1 IN FIELDS AND GARDENS
a) [U] a very common plant with thin leaves that covers the ground in fields and gardens and is often eaten by animals:
•She enjoyed the feel of grass beneath her feet.
•a blade of grass (=single leaf)
b) [C] a particular kind of grass:
•All grasses need light to grow well.
2 the grass an area of grass, especially an area where the grass is kept cut short:
•I walked across the grass.
•Keep off the grass.
3 DRUG [U] informal MARIJUANA
4 CRIMINAL [C] BrE informal someone, usually a criminal, who gives information about other criminals to the police - used to show disapproval; = informer; = stoolpigeon AmE
SUPERGRASS
5 the grass is greener (on the other side) used to say that other places or situations seem better than yours, although they may not really be better
6 not let the grass grow under your feet to not waste time or delay starting something
7 put sb out to grass informal to make someone leave their job because they are too old to do it effectively
GRASS ROOTS
snake in the grass at SNAKE^1 (2)[I]
also grass sb up BrE informal to tell the police about a criminal's activities
[+on]
•Burton grassed on other prisoners.

PHRASAL VERBS
grass sth <=> over phr v
to cover land with grass[C]
a tennis court which has a grass surface for the players to play on; hard court $ [C]
an insect that has long back legs for jumping and that makes short loud noises $ [U]
also grasslands [plural] a large area of land covered with wild grass; = prairie
the grass roots the ordinary people in an organization, rather than the leaders
- grass roots adjective
•We are hoping for full participation at grass roots level.[C]
a common snake that is not poisonous $
covered with grass:
•a grassy bank [C]
the metal bars and frame that hold the wood, coal etc in a FIREPLACE
1 [T] to rub cheese, vegetables etc against a rough or sharp surface in order to break them into small pieces:
•grated cheese
•Peel and grate the potatoes.
2 [T] written to talk in a low rough voice; hiss
•'Let me go,' he grated harshly.
3 [I] to annoy someone
[+on]
•Mr Fen had a loud voice that grated on her ears.
4 [I,T] to make an unpleasant sound by rubbing, or to make something do this:
•The stones beneath her shoes grated harshly.
1 feeling that you want to thank someone because of something kind that they have done, or showing this feeling; ungrateful
[+for]
•I'm so grateful for all your help.
[+to]
•I am very grateful to all those who took the trouble to write to me.
grateful (that)
•She should be grateful that he was making things easier for her.
extremely/deeply/eternally etc grateful
•I am extremely grateful for the assistance your staff have provided.
•Our grateful thanks go to all who participated.
•She gave me a grateful look.
2 I would be grateful if you could/would ... formal used to make a request:
•I would be most grateful if you could send me an invoice in due course.
- gratefully adverb
•All contributions will be gratefully received.
•The authors gratefully acknowledge your financial support. $ [C]
a tool used for grating food:
•a cheese grater past tense and past participle gratified, present participle gratifying, third person singular gratifies [T] formal
1 [usually passive] to make someone feel pleased and satisfied:
•He was gratified by Lucy's response.
be gratified to see/hear/learn etc
•John was gratified to see the improvement in his mother's health since she had come home.
2 to satisfy a desire, need etc:
•She did not propose to gratify Gloria's curiosity any further.
- gratification noun [C,U]
•sexual gratification
pleasing and satisfying
it's gratifying to do sth
•It's gratifying to note that already much has been achieved.
•The support was considerable and very gratifying.
- gratifyingly adverb $ [C,U]
a dish containing vegetables or fish, covered in cheese or cheese sauce and cooked in an OVEN [C]
a metal frame with bars across it, used to cover a window or hole:
•Leaves clogged the grating over the drain.
a grating sound is hard and unpleasant:
•a harsh grating voice
- gratingly adverb
done or given without payment; = free
•Medical advice was provided gratis. $ [U]
the feeling of being grateful; ingratitude
•Tears of gratitude filled her eyes.
[+to/towards]
•She had a deep gratitude towards David, but she did not love him.
[+for]
•The committee expressed its gratitude for the contribution he had made.
in gratitude for sth
•Will you let me take you out to dinner tomorrow in gratitude for what you've done?
with gratitude
•She accepted his offer with gratitude.
debt of gratitude at DEBT (4) $
said or done without a good reason, in a way that offends someone; = unnecessary
•children's books which include gratuitous violence
- gratuitously adverb
•There is no point in gratuitously antagonizing people. $ plural gratuities [C] formal
1 a small gift of money given to someone for a service they provided; = tip
2 especially BrE a large gift of money given to someone when they leave their job, especially in the army, navy etc [C]
1 the place in the ground where a dead body is buried; tomb
•At the head of the grave there was a small wooden cross.
2 the grave literary death:
•He took that secret to the grave.
3 sb would turn in their grave used to say that someone who is dead would strongly disapprove of something happening now:
•The way Bill plays that piece would have Mozart turning in his grave.
dig your own grave at DIG^1 (8)
from (the) cradle to (the) grave at CRADLE^1 (3)
have one foot in the grave at FOOT^1 (24)
silent as the grave at SILENT (3)
a watery grave at WATERY (4)
1 grave problems, situations, or worries are very great or bad; serious
•Matthew's life is in grave danger.
•The report expressed grave concern over the technicians' lack of training.
•I have grave doubts about his ability.
•The situation is becoming very grave.
2 looking or sounding quiet and serious, especially because something important or worrying has happened; = sombre
•Turnbull's face was grave as he told them about the accident.
- gravely adverb
•Adam nodded gravely.
•We are gravely concerned (=very concerned) about these developments.
GRAVITY
a grave ACCENT is a mark put above a letter in some languages such as French to show the pronunciation, for example è; acute, circumflex $ [C]
someone whose job is to dig graves [U]
small stones, used to make a surface for paths, roads etc:
•a gravel path
gravel pit (=a place where gravel is dug out of the ground)
a gravelled path or road has a surface made of gravel
1 a gravelly voice has a low rough sound
2 covered with or mixed with gravel:
•gravelly soil
at the graveside beside a GRAVE, especially when someone is being buried there
- graveside adjective [only before noun] $ [C]
a stone above a GRAVE showing details of the person buried there; = tombstone $ [C]
1 an area of ground where people are buried, often next to a church; cemetery, churchyard
2 a place where things that are no longer wanted are left:
•a graveyard for old cars
3 a place where people or things fail[C] especially AmE
a regular period of working time that begins late at night and continues until the early morning, or the people who work during this time [U]
formal a seriousness of manner that people respect [I always + adv/prep]
formal to be attracted to something and therefore move towards it or become involved with it
[+to/towards]
•Most visitors to London gravitate to Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. [U]
technical the force that causes two objects such as PLANETs to move towards each other because of their MASS; gravity
•Newton's law of gravitation [usually before noun] technical
related to or resulting from the force of gravity:
•the Moon's gravitational field
•the gravitational pull of the moon [U]
1 technical the force that causes something to fall to the ground or to be attracted to another PLANET; gravitation
•the force of gravity
2 formal the extreme and worrying seriousness of a situation
[+of]
•I could not hide from her the gravity of the situation.
•The penalties should be proportionate to the gravity of the offence.
3 an extremely serious way of behaving or speaking:
•The Consul spoke slowly and with great gravity.
CENTRE OF GRAVITY [U]
1 a sauce made from the juice that comes from meat as it cooks, mixed with flour and water
2 informal AmE something good that is more than you expected to get[C]
a long JUG that you pour gravy from
the gravy train informal an organization, activity, or business from which many people can make money or profit without much effort:
•Privatization is not always the gravy train that governments promise.
the usual American spelling of GREY
1 [I,T] if an animal grazes, or if you graze it, it eats grass that is growing
[+on]
•Groups of cattle were grazing on the rich grass.
•fields where they used to graze their sheep
2 [T] to accidentally break the surface of your skin by rubbing it against something:
•I fell on the gravel, severely grazing my knee.
3 [T] to touch something lightly while passing it, sometimes damaging it:
•A bullet grazed his arm.
4 [I] informal to eat small amounts of food all through the day instead of having regular meals[C]
a wound caused by rubbing that slightly breaks the surface of your skin:
•Adam walked away from the crash with just a graze on his left shoulder.
•minor cuts and grazes [C] trademark
Graduate Record Examination an examination that is done by students in the US who have completed a first DEGREE and want to go to GRADUATE SCHOOL [U]
1 a fatty or oily substance that comes off meat when it is cooked, or off food made using butter or oil
2 a thick oily substance that is put on the moving parts of a car, machine etc to make it run or move smoothly
3 an oily substance that is produced by your skin
elbow grease at ELBOW^1 (3)[T]
1 to put butter, grease etc on a pan etc to prevent food from sticking to it:
•Grease the pan before you pour the batter in.
•a greased baking tray
2 grease sb's palm to give someone money in a secret or dishonest way in order to persuade them to do something:
•Joseph was able to grease a few palms, thus helping his brother to escape.
3 like greased lightning informal extremely fast [U]
a thick soft kind of paint that actors use on their face or body $ [U]
BrE a kind of paper that butter, GREASE, etc cannot pass through, used in cooking and for wrapping food; = waxed paper AmE $ [C]
old-fashioned a young man who is very interested in MOTORCYCLEs and cars, and who behaves in a rough way
1 covered in grease or oil; = oily
•a shampoo for greasy hair
•The food was heavy and greasy.
2 slippery:
•Police say the rain's making the roads greasy.
3 too polite and friendly in a way that seems insincere or unpleasant; = smarmy
- greasily adverb
- greasiness noun [U][C]
a small cheap restaurant that mainly serves FRIED food comparative greater, superlative greatest
1 LARGE [usually before noun] very large in amount or degree:
•The movie was a great success.
•The news came as possibly the greatest shock of my life.
•The paintings cost a great deal (=a lot) of money.
•John always takes great care over his work.
• It gives me great pleasure (=I am very pleased) to introduce tonight's speaker.
• It's a great pity that none of his poems survive.
•The temptation was too great to resist.
!! Big, large, or great?
see box at BIG^1
2 EXCELLENT especially spoken
a) very good; = wonderful, fantastic
•The weather here is great.
•It's great to be home.
•a great day out for all the family
sound/taste/smell/feel etc great
•I worked out this morning and I feel great.
•You look great in that dress.
great for doing sth
•Email's great for keeping in touch.
the great thing about sb/sth (=the very good thing about someone or something)
•The great thing about Alex is that he's always willing to explain things to you.
3 IMPORTANT
a) [usually before noun] important or having a lot of influence:
•one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time
•What makes a novel truly great?
•great historical events
b) used in the title of a person or event that was very important in the past
Peter/Catherine etc the Great
•I'm reading a biography of Alexander the Great.
•the Great Depression
the Great War old-fashioned (=World War One)
4 GENEROUS very good or generous in a way that people admire:
•a great humanitarian gesture
5 EXTREMELY SKILFUL famous for being able to do something extremely well:
•Ali was undoubtedly one of the greatest boxers of all time.
•a book about the lives of the great composers
6 BIG written very big; = huge
•A great crowd had gathered.
•A great iron stove filled half the room.
7 DOING STH A LOT used to emphasize that someone does something a lot
a great talker/reader/admirer etc
•Anthony's a great talker - sometimes you just can't get a word in.
•Len was a great believer in the power of positive thinking.
be a great one for doing sth
•She's a great one for telling stories about her schooldays.
8 great big spoken very big:
•Get your great big feet off my table!
9 to a greater or lesser extent used to emphasize that something is always true, even though it is more true or noticeable in some situations than others:
•Most companies operate in conditions that are to a greater or lesser extent competitive.
10 be no great shakes informal to not be very good, interesting, or skilful:
•The work's no great shakes, but at least I'm earning.
11 be going great guns informal to be doing something extremely well:
•After a slow start, the Tigers are going great guns.
12 BAD spoken informal used when you are disappointed or annoyed about something:
•'Daniel's cancelled the party.' 'Oh great!'
13 ANIMAL/BIRD/PLANT ETC used in the names of some animals or plants, especially when they are bigger than other animals or plants of the same type:
•the Great Crested Grebe
14 the great outdoors informal the countryside, considered as enjoyable and healthy:
•He had a taste for adventure and the great outdoors.
15 great minds (think alike) spoken used humorously when you and another person have had the same idea
16 the greater good a general advantage that you can only gain by losing or harming something that is considered less important:
•Some wars are fought for the greater good.
17 the great and the good people who are considered important - used humorously
18 the great apes the different types of animals that are similar to large monkeys, considered as a group:
•Alone of the great apes, the gorilla is not very efficient at using tools.
19 the great divide a situation in which there is a big difference between groups in society, areas of a country etc, for example a big difference between their wealth or attitudes:
•The great divide between north and south seems to be as unbridgeable as ever.
20 Greater London/Los Angeles/Manchester etc London, Los Angeles etc and its outer areas
21 huge/enormous great BrE spoken used to emphasize how big something is
22 Great Scott!/Great Heavens! spoken old-fashioned used to express shock or surprise
23 great with child literary very soon to have a baby
- greatness noun [U]
•a symbol of national greatness
•She was destined for greatness.[C usually plural]
a very successful and famous person in a particular sport, profession etc:
•Jack Nicklaus is one of golf's all-time greats.
•I think his show's OK, but I wouldn't call him one of the greats.
1 great-grandfather/great-grandmother/great-aunt/great-uncle the GRANDFATHER, GRANDMOTHER etc of your parents
2 great-grandchild/great-granddaughter etc the GRANDCHILDREN of your child $ [C]
a long heavy coat[C]
a very large short-haired dog formal
extremely or very much
greatly increased/reduced
•The cost of repairs has greatly increased in recent years.
•All offers of help will be greatly appreciated.
•The quality of health care varies greatly. [C]
a water bird similar to a duck literary
from ancient Greece, or having a style or appearance that is considered typical of ancient Greece:
•a Grecian urnGraeco- $ [in nouns and adjectives]
ancient Greek and something else:
•Greco-Roman art [U]
a strong desire for more food, money, power, possessions etc than you need:
•people motivated by jealousy and greed comparative greedier, superlative greediest
always wanting more food, money, power, possessions etc than you need:
•a greedy and selfish society
•He looked at the gold with greedy eyes.
•Have you eaten them all, you greedy pig?
[+for]
•They are greedy for profits.
- greedily adverb
•He grabbed the bottle and drank greedily.
- greediness noun [U]
relating to Greece, its people, or its language:
•Greek yoghurt
1 [C] someone from Greece
2 [U] the language used in modern or ancient Greece
3 [C] AmE a member of a SORORITY or FRATERNITY at an American college or university
4 it's all Greek to me informal used to say that you cannot understand something
1 COLOUR having the colour of grass or leaves:
•beautiful green eyes
•Raw coffee beans are green in colour.
dark/light/pale/bright green
•a dark green dress
BOTTLE GREEN, LIME GREEN; olive green at OLIVE (3); PEA GREEN
2 GRASSY covered with grass, trees, bushes etc:
•green fields
3 FRUIT/PLANT not yet ready to be eaten, or very young:
•The bananas are still green.
•tiny green shoots of new grass
4 ENVIRONMENT
a) also Green [only before noun] connected with the environment or its protection:
•green issues such as the greenhouse effect and global warming
•He was an early champion of green politics.
b) harming the environment as little as possible:
•We need to develop greener cleaning products.
5 WITHOUT EXPERIENCE informal young and lacking experience; = naive
•I was pretty green then; I had a lot of things to learn.
6 ILL informal looking pale and unhealthy because you are ill:
•George looked a bit green the next morning.
look green about/around the gills (=look pale and ill)
7 green with envy wishing very much that you had something that someone else has
8 the green-eyed monster literary JEALOUSY - often used humorously
9 have green fingers BrE have a green thumb AmE to be good at making plants grow
10 the green stuff AmE informal money
- greenness noun [U]
1 [C,U] the colour of grass and leaves:
•a room decorated in pale blues and greens
•different shades of green
2 greens [plural] informal vegetables with large green leaves:
•Eat your greens.
3 [C] a level area of grass, especially in the middle of a village:
•I walked home across the green.
VILLAGE GREEN
4 [C] a smooth flat area of grass around each hole on a GOLF COURSE:
•the 18th green
5 Green [C] someone who belongs to or supports a political party which thinks the protection of the environment is very important:
•The Greens have 254 candidates in the election.[T]
1 to fill an area with growing plants in order to make it more attractive:
•Existing derelict land is needed for greening the cities.
2 to make a person or organization realize the importance of environmental problems [C]
AmE informal an American BANKNOTE[C]
a long thin green vegetable which is picked before the beans inside it grow; = French bean BrE[C,U]
an area of land around a city where building is not allowed, in order to protect fields and woods[C]
1 a document that a foreigner must have in order to work legally in the US
2 a British motor insurance document that you need when you drive abroad [U]
green leaves and plants:
•the rich greenery of grass and trees [C]
a piece of land that has never been built on before; brownfield site plural greenflies or greenfly [C]
a very small green insect that feeds on and damages young plants; = aphid [C]
a juicy greenish-yellow PLUM $ [C] especially BrE
1 someone who owns or works in a shop selling fruit and vegetables
2 greengrocer's a greengrocer's shop $ [C] informal especially AmE
someone who lacks experience of something [C]
a glass building used for growing plants that need warmth, light, and protection[singular]
the gradual warming of the air surrounding the Earth as a result of heat being trapped by POLLUTION; global warming[C]
a gas, especially CARBON DIOXIDE or METHANE, that is thought to trap heat above the Earth and cause the greenhouse effect
the greening of sb/sth when a person or organization starts to think and know more about environmental problems
slightly green[C]
1 a TRAFFIC LIGHT that shows cars they can go forward
2 give sb/sth the green light to allow a project, plan etc to begin:
•The government has given the green light to Sunday trading.[C] AmE
an onion with a small white round part and a long green stem, usually eaten raw; = spring onion BrE[C]
a document produced by the British government containing proposals to be discussed, which may later be used in making laws; white paper, bill[C]
a hollow green vegetable that you can cook or eat raw in SALADs [singular]
1 a large increase in the amount of crops, such as wheat or rice, that are produced because of improved scientific methods of farming
2 the interest in protecting the environment that has developed in many parts of the world
the green room the room in a theatre, television STUDIO etc in which performers wait when they are not on stage performing[C]
a SALAD made with LETTUCE and other raw green vegetables[U]
light-coloured tea made from leaves that have been heated with steam, especially popular in eastern Asiaabbreviation GMT [U]
the time as measured at Greenwich in London [T]
1 to say hello to someone or welcome them:
•Belinda greeted her warmly.
greet sb with sth
•Bill opened the door to Harold and greeted him with cries of welcome.
2 [usually passive] to react to something in a particular way
be greeted with/by sth
•His statement was greeted with cries of astonishment and indignation.
3 to be the first thing you see or hear when you arrive somewhere:
•Complete silence greeted us as we entered the room. $ [C]
someone who greets people politely as they enter a place, especially someone who does this as a job [C,U]
1 something you say or do when you meet someone
in greeting
•She raised her hand in greeting.
•I smiled a polite greeting, but the woman hardly acknowledged me.
•The two cousins exchanged greetings (=greeted each other).
2 birthday/Christmas etc greetings a message saying that you hope someone will be happy and healthy on their BIRTHDAY, at Christmas etc
3 greetings! old use used to say hello to someonegreeting card AmE [C] BrE
a card that you send to someone on their BIRTHDAY, at Christmas etc $
1 friendly and preferring to be with other people; = sociable; solitary
2 technical gregarious animals tend to live in a group; solitary
- gregariously adverb
- gregariousness noun [U] $ [singular]
the system of arranging the 365 days of the year in months and giving numbers to the years from the birth of Christ, used in the West since 1582 $ [C,U]
a kind of church music for voices alone [C]
an imaginary evil spirit that is blamed for problems in machinery [C]
a small bomb that can be thrown by hand or fired from a gun:
•a hand grenade $ [C]
a soldier in a famous REGIMENT of the British army [U]
a sweet liquid made from POMEGRANATEs that is used in drinks
the past tense of GROWgray AmE BrE
1 COLOUR having the colour of dark clouds, neither black nor white:
•an old lady with grey hair
•a grey sky
dark/light grey
•dark grey trousers
BATTLESHIP GREY, IRON-GREY; slate grey at SLATE^1 (3)
2 HAIR having grey hair
go/turn grey
•She was a tall thin woman who had gone grey early.
3 FACE looking pale because you are tired, frightened, or ill
[+with]
•As he listened, his face went grey with shock.
4 BORING boring and unattractive; colourful
•the grey anonymous men in government offices
•visions of a grey and empty world
5 WEATHER if the weather is grey, the sky is full of clouds and the sun is not bright; bright
•a grey day
6 OF OLD PEOPLE [only before noun] BrE connected with old people:
•the grey vote
7 grey area used to talk about a situation in which something is not clearly a particular thing, so that people are not sure how to deal with it:
•people in the grey area between loyalty and opposition to the government
- greyness noun [U]gray AmE BrE
[C,U] the colour of dark clouds, neither black nor white:
•Do you have these skirts in grey?
•dull greys and brownsgray AmE BrE
[I] if someone greys, their hair becomes grey:
•Jim was greying a little at the temples.
•a full head of greying hair [C]
a type of thin dog that can run very fast and is used in racesgraying AmE BrE
the greying of sth the situation in which the average age of a population increases, so that there are more old people than there were in the past:
•the graying of classical music audiencesgrayish AmE BrE
slightly grey:
•The stone was a greyish colour.gray market AmE [C] BrE
1 the system by which people buy and sell goods that are hard to find, in a way that is legal but not morally good or correct; black market
2 technical a situation in which people are buying and selling SHAREs just before they are officially made available to be sold for the first timegray matter AmE [U] BrE
informal your intelligence, or your brainBrE
the grey pound the money that older people have available to spend, especially after their children have grown up and left home:
•the power of the grey pound [C]
1 a metal frame with bars across it
CATTLE GRID
2 a pattern of straight lines that cross each other and form squares:
•Its streets were laid out in a grid pattern.
3 a set of numbered lines printed on a map so that the exact position of any place can be referred to:
•The pilots were just given a grid reference (=number referring to a point on a map) of the target.
4 the network of electricity supply wires that connects POWER STATIONs and provides electricity to buildings in an area:
•the national grid (=the electricity supply in a country)
5 also starting grid a set of starting positions for all the cars in a motor race[U]
a system of running a computer program using a lot of small computers that are connected together in order to do very complicated jobs [C]
a round iron plate that is used for cooking flat cakes on top of a STOVE or over a fire [C]
AmE a PANCAKE $ [C]
1 an open frame of metal bars for cooking meat or fish over a very hot fire
2 AmE a field marked in white lines for American football $ [U] especially AmE
1 a situation in which streets in a city are so full of cars that they cannot move
2 a situation in which nothing can happen, usually because people disagree strongly:
•The battle over spending led to gridlock.
- gridlocked adjective
1 [U] extreme sadness, especially because someone you love has died
[+over/at]
•The grief she felt over Helen's death was almost unbearable.
with grief
•Charles was overcome with grief.
2 [C] something that makes you feel extremely sad:
•Every change in our lives brings with it griefs.
3 good grief! spoken used when you are slightly surprised or annoyed:
•Good grief! What a mess!
4 come to grief to fail, or to be harmed or destroyed in an accident:
•candidates who come to grief in exams
5 give sb grief informal to criticize someone in an annoying way
6 [U] informal trouble or problems:
•You'll save yourself a lot of grief if you check the measurements first.
feeling very sad because of something that has happened:
•The grief-stricken widow refused to leave her dead husband's side. [C,U]
a belief that you have been treated unfairly, or an unfair situation or event that affects and upsets you

have a grievance (against sb)
legitimate/genuine grievance (=when you really have been treated unfairly)
air your grievances (=tell people you think you have been treated unfairly)
nurse a grievance (=think continuously about the fact that you have been treated unfairly)
file a grievance AmE (=officially complain)
settle a grievance (=solve one)
grievance procedure (=a system for dealing with employees' grievances)
sense of grievance

•anyone who has a legitimate grievance against the company
• a means of overcoming genuine grievances
•There must be an opportunity for both sides to air their grievances.
•The teachers' contract established a grievance procedure.
• the sense of grievance which characterized him as a young man

1 [I,T] to feel extremely sad, especially because someone you love has died
[+over/for]
•He died, and every day since then I have grieved for him.
•People need time to grieve after the death of a loved one.
•She grieved the loss of her only son.
2 [T] if something grieves you, it makes you feel very unhappy; = upset
•My aunt, it grieves me to say, gets things confused. literary
very sad and upset
[+at]
•King George V had been very grieved at the outbreak of the Great War.
formal very serious and causing great pain or suffering:
•The loss of his father was a grievous blow.
•a grievous shortage of hospital beds
- grievously adverb
•He was grievously hurt by their betrayal.[U]
BrE law serious injury caused by a criminal attack; = GBHgryphon [C]
an imaginary animal that has a lion's body and an EAGLE's wings and head $ [C]
AmE informal someone who dishonestly obtains something, especially money
- grift verb [T]
1 [I,T] if you grill something, or if it grills, you cook it by putting it on a flat metal frame with bars across it, above or below strong direct heat:
•Grill the bacon until crisp.
•swordfish grilled over charcoal
2 [T] to ask someone a lot of questions about something
grill sb about/on sth
•She never grilled her husband about his work.[C]
1 BrE a part of a COOKER in which strong heat from above cooks food on a metal shelf below; = broiler AmE
•Pop it under the grill for five minutes.
2 a flat frame with metal bars across it that can be put over a fire, so that food can be cooked on it
3 a place where you can buy and eat grilled food:
•the Tribeca Bar and Grill
MIXED GRILL
4 a grillegrill [C]
1 a frame with metal bars or wire across it that is put in front of a window or door for protection
2 the metal bars at the front of a car that protect the RADIATOR [C]
when you ask someone a lot of questions about something:
•The three party leaders each endured a 20-minute television grilling from voters.[C] BrE
a square flat pan, used under a GRILL
1 making you feel worried or unhappy; = harsh
•the grim reality of rebuilding the shattered town
•When he lost his job, his future looked grim.
•Millions of Britons face the grim prospect (=something bad that will probably happen) of dearer home loans.
•We received the grim news in silence.
2 looking or sounding very serious:
•'I'll survive,' he said with a grim smile.
•The child hung on to her arm with grim determination.
•The police officers were silent and grim-faced.
3 BrE informal very bad, ugly, or unpleasant:
•The weather forecast is pretty grim.
•They painted a grim picture of what life used to be like there.
•a grim industrial town
4 [not before noun] informal ill:
•Juliet felt grim through the early months of her pregnancy.
5 hold/hang on for/like grim death BrE informal to hold something very tightly because you are afraid
- grimly adverb
•Arnold smiled grimly.
- grimness noun [U] [I]
to twist your face in an ugly way because you do not like something, because you are feeling pain, or because you are trying to be funny
[+at]
•She grimaced at her reflection in the mirror.
•She sipped the whisky and grimaced.[C] written
an expression you make by twisting your face because you do not like something or because you are feeling pain:
•His face twisted in a grimace of pain.
•a grimace of disgust [U]
a lot of dirt; = filth
•The walls were black with grime.
covered with dirt; = filthy
•grimy windows past tense and past participle grinned, present participle grinning [I]
1 to smile widely
[+at]
•She grinned at me, her eyes sparkling.
grin broadly/widely
•He walked out of the pool, grinning widely.
[+like]
•He was grinning like an idiot (=grinning in a silly way).
grin from ear to ear (=grin very widely)
2 grin and bear it to accept an unpleasant or difficult situation without complaining, usually because you realize there is nothing you can do to make it better[C]
a wide smile:
•He came into the room with a friendly grin on his face.
wide/broad/big etc grin
•'Of course,' he agreed with a wide grin.
wipe the grin off sb's face at WIPE^1 (7) past tense and past participle ground
1 INTO SMALL PIECES [T]
a) also grind up to break something such as corn or coffee beans into small pieces or powder, either in a machine or between two hard surfaces:
• freshly ground pepper
b) AmE to cut food, especially raw meat, into very small pieces by putting it through a machine; = mince BrE
•ground beef
2 SMOOTH/SHARP [T] to make something smooth or sharp by rubbing it on a hard surface or by using a machine:
•a stone for grinding knives and scissors
•The lenses are ground to a high standard of precision.
3 PRESS
a) [T always + adv/prep] to press something onto a surface and rub it with a strong twisting movement
grind sth into sth
•He dropped a cigar butt and ground it into the carpet with his heel.
•He ground out his cigarette on the window ledge.
b) [I always + adv/prep] to press hard against something
[+against/together]
•as these plates (=large areas of land) grind against each other
4 grind your teeth to rub your upper and lower teeth together, making a noise
5 grind to a halt
a) if a vehicle grinds to a halt, it stops gradually:
•Traffic ground to a halt as it approached the accident site.
b) if a country, organization, or process grinds to a halt, its activity or the process gradually stops:
•After two days the talks had ground to a halt.

PHRASAL VERBS
grind sb <=> down phr v
to treat someone in a cruel way for such a long time that they lose all courage and hope; = oppress
•I've never let male colleagues grind me down.

grind on phr v
to continue for an unpleasantly long time:
•As the negotiations grind on, time is passing towards the deadline.

grind sth <=> out phr v
1 to produce information, writing, music etc in such large amounts that it becomes boring; = churn out
•Frank just keeps grinding out detective stories.
2 written to say something in a rough, angry, or emotional way:
•'You don't love him,' he ground out.
have an axe to grind at AXE^1 (4)
1 [singular] something that is hard work and physically or mentally tiring:
•I find the journey to work a real grind.
•workers emerging from their daily grind in the factory
2 [C] AmE informal a student who never does anything except study; = swot BrE $ [C]
a machine for crushing coffee beans, PEPPERCORNs etc into powder:
•a pepper grinder [only before noun]
1 very difficult and unpleasant, and never seeming to improve:
•a country devastated by civil war and grinding poverty
2 a grinding noise is the continuous unpleasant noise of machinery parts rubbing together $ [C]
a large round stone that turns like a wheel, and is used for making tools and knives sharp when they are rubbed against it
keep your nose to the grindstone at NOSE^1 (11) $ plural gringos [C] taboo
a very offensive word used in Latin America to refer to a foreigner, especially a white English-speaking person. Do not use this word.
1 FIRM HOLD [C usually singular] the way you hold something tightly, or your ability to do this

firm/tight/good/strong grip
iron/vice-like grip (=a very strong grip)
tighten your grip (on sth) (=hold something more tightly)
loosen/relax your grip (on sth) (=hold something less tightly)
release your grip (on sth) (=let go of something)
lose your grip (=accidentally let go of something)
get a grip (on sth) (=hold something that is hard to hold firmly)

•Hold the microphone in a firm grip and keep it still.
• She felt her wrist caught in a vice-like grip.
• Don't loosen your grip on the rope or you'll fall.
•He released his grip and stepped back.

2 POWER [singular] power and control over someone or something
have/keep a grip on sth
•Stalin's determination to keep an iron grip on Eastern Europe
tighten/loosen/relax your grip (on sth)
•By 1979 South Africa was tightening its grip on Namibia.
tight/firm/strong/iron etc grip
•The recession could be avoided if business keeps a firm grip on its costs.
3 UNDERSTANDING [singular] an understanding of something
have/get a grip on sth
•I'm just trying to get a grip on what's happening.
•She was losing her grip on reality.
4 come/get to grips with sth to understand or deal with something difficult:
•I've never really got to grips with this new technology.
5 lose your grip to become less confident and less able to deal with a situation:
•I don't know what's the matter; I think I'm losing my grip.
6 get/take a grip on yourself to start to improve your behaviour or control your emotions when you have been very upset:
•Stop being hysterical and get a grip on yourself.
7 Get a grip spoken used in order to tell someone to control their emotions:
•For God's sake get a grip!
8 be in the grip of sth to be experiencing a very unpleasant situation that cannot be controlled or stopped:
•a country in the grip of famine
9 STOP STH SLIPPING
a) [C] a special part of a handle that has a rough surface so that you can hold it firmly without it slipping:
•My racquet needs a new grip.
b) [singular, U] the ability of something to stay on a surface without slipping:
•boots which give a good grip
10 FOR HAIR [C] BrE a HAIRGRIP
11 CAMERAMAN [C] technical someone whose job is to move the cameras around while a television show or film is being made
12 BAG [C] old-fashioned a bag or case used for travellingpast tense and past participle gripped, present participle gripping
1 HOLD TIGHTLY [T] to hold something very tightly:
•I gripped the rail and tried not to look down.
grip sth tightly/firmly
•The woman moved closer to Beth, gripping her arm tightly.
2 HAVE A STRONG EFFECT [T] to have a strong effect on someone or something:
•a country gripped by economic problems
•Panic suddenly gripped me when it was my turn to speak.
3 INTEREST SB [T] to hold someone's attention and interest:
•a story that really grips you
4 NOT SLIP [I,T] if something grips a surface, it stays on it without slipping:
•Radial tires grip the road well.
GRIPPING [I] informal
to complain about something in an annoying way; = whinge
[+about ]
•Joe came in griping about how cold it was.informal
1 [C] something unimportant that you complain about; = complaint
•My main gripe was the price of refreshments.
2 the gripes old-fashioned sudden bad stomach pains[U]
BrE a liquid medicine which is given to babies when they have stomach pains
a griping pain is a sudden severe pain in your stomach
a gripping film, story etc is very exciting and interesting:
•Collins' gripping detective novel
extremely unpleasant and involving people being killed or injured:
•a series of grisly murders
(all) grist to the mill BrE (all) grist for the mill AmE something that is useful in a particular situation:
•Any publicity is good - it's all grist to the mill. [U]
the part of meat that is not soft enough to eat
- gristly adjective [U]
1 very small pieces of stone or sand:
•Make sure both surfaces are free from dust and grit.
•The council is responsible for putting grit on icy roads.
2 informal determination and courage; = guts
3 grits AmE a type of grain that is roughly crushed and cooked, and often eaten for breakfastpast tense and past participle gritted, present participle gritting [T]
1 to scatter grit on a frozen road to make it less slippery
2 grit your teeth
a) to use all your determination to continue in spite of difficulties:
•Just grit your teeth and hang on - it'll be over soon.
b) to bite your teeth together, especially when you are in pain, angry, or under pressure:
•Ben gritted his teeth, hoping Sasha wouldn't notice his fear.
•'No, that's alright,' she said through gritted teeth. $ [C] BrE
a large vehicle that puts salt or sand on the roads in winter to make them less icy; = salt truck AmE
1 showing determination and courage:
•Henin gave a typically gritty performance, coming back from 4-0 down.
•her gritty determination
2 showing a difficult or unpleasant situation as it really is:
•Billingham's pictures have a gritty realism which can be almost upsetting.
3 containing grit or covered in grit:
•Gritty soil had got under her nails. [I] BrE informal
1 if a baby or child grizzles, they cry quietly for a long time
2 to complain in an annoying way; = moan
•Ben was grizzling about being tired. literary
having grey or greyish hair
grizzled hair/head/beard etc
•a grizzled old manalso grizzly $ [C]
a very large bear that lives in the northwest of North America $
1 [I] to make a long deep sound because you are in pain, upset, or disappointed, or because something is very enjoyable; = moan
•The kids all groaned when I switched off the TV.
[+with]
•As she kissed him, Gary groaned with pleasure.
•Richard's jokes make you groan rather than laugh.
2 [I,T] to complain about something; = moan
•I'm tired of him moaning and groaning all the time.
•'It's too hot!' he groaned.
3 [T] to make a low deep sound; = moan
•The old tree groaned in the wind.
4 [I] if a table groans with food there is a very large amount of food on it[C]
1 a long deep sound that you make when you are in pain or do not want to do something; = moan
•Casey let out a groan of protest at having to go to bed.
2 literary a long low deep sound:
•The door opened with a groan. $
[C] a former British coin that had a low valuegrowbag $ [C] trademark
BrE a large plastic bag containing specially prepared earth for growing vegetables $ [C]
1 someone who owns or works in a shop that sells food and other things used in the home
2 grocer's a grocer's shop $
1 groceries [plural] food and other goods that are sold by a grocer or a SUPERMARKET
2 also grocery store [C] AmE a SUPERMARKET $ [U]
1 a strong alcoholic drink, especially RUM mixed with water
2 informal any alcoholic drink $
weak and unable to move well or think clearly because you are ill or very tired:
•I felt really groggy after 15 hours on the plane. [C]
1 the place where the tops of your legs meet the front of your body
2 a GROYNE $ [C]
1 a small metal ring that is used around a hole in cloth or leather to make it stronger
2 BrE a small piece of plastic that a doctor puts into a child's ear in order to remove liquid from it
1 [T] to clean and brush an animal, especially a horse
2 [T] to prepare someone for an important job or position in society by training them over a long period
groom sb for sth
•Tim was being groomed for a managerial position.
groom sb to do sth
•Clare's been groomed to take her father's place when he retires.
3 [T] to take care of your own appearance by keeping your hair and clothes clean and tidy:
•Her hair is always perfectly groomed.
WELL-GROOMED
4 [I,T] if an animal grooms itself or another animal, it cleans its own fur and skin or that of the other animal
- grooming noun [U]
•Long-haired dogs need a lot of grooming.[C]
1 a BRIDEGROOM
2 someone whose job is to feed, clean, and take care of horses plural groomsmen [C]
AmE a friend of a BRIDEGROOM who has special duties at a wedding; = best man BrE [C]
1 a thin line cut into a hard surface:
•The bolt slid easily into the groove.
•a shallow groove cut into the cliff
2 be stuck in a groove to do something in the same way for a long time so that it becomes boring:
•Our product range was stuck in a groove.
3 informal the beat of a piece of popular music:
•a hypnotic dub groove
having a groove or several grooves:
•a slightly grooved surface old-fashioned informal
a word meaning fashionable, modern, and fun, used especially in the 1960s $
1 [I ] to try to find something that you cannot see by feeling with your hands
[+for]
•Ginny groped for her glasses on the bedside table.
[+around]
•We groped around in the darkness.
2 [I,T] to go somewhere by feeling the way with your hands because you cannot see
grope your way along/across etc
•I was groping my way blindly through the trees.
•Ally groped steadily towards the door.
3 grope for sth to try hard to find the right words to say or the right solution to a problem but without any real idea of how to do this:
•She hesitated, seeming to grope for words.
4 [T] informal to move your hands over someone's body to get sexual pleasure, especially when they do not want you to do this[C usually singular]
informal touching someone's body to get sexual pleasure, especially when they do not want you to do this $
1 TOTAL [only before noun]
a) a gross sum of money is the total amount before any tax or costs have been taken away; net
•a gross profit of $5 million
gross income/salary/pay etc
•a family with gross earnings of just £75 per week
b) a gross weight is the total weight of something, including its wrapping
2 VERY BAD [only before noun] clearly wrong and unacceptable
gross negligence/misconduct etc
•soldiers accused of gross violations of human rights
•The company described reports of environmental disaster as gross exaggeration.
gross indecency (=the crime of doing something that is sexually offensive)
3 NASTY spoken very unpleasant to look at or think about; = disgusting
•Ooh, gross! I hate spinach!
4 FAT informal extremely fat and unattractive
- grossly adverb [+ adj/adv]
•Lambert was grossly overweight.
•Medical records were found to be grossly inadequate.
- grossness noun [U]
earn £20,000/$30,000 etc gross to earn £20,000 etc before tax has been taken away; net
•a junior executive earning $50,000 gross[T]
to gain an amount as a total profit, or earn it as a total amount, before tax has been taken away; net
•The movie has already grossed over $10 million.

PHRASAL VERBS
gross sb <=> out phr v
AmE spoken to make someone wish they had not seen or been told about something because it is so unpleasant; = disgust
•His dirty fingernails really gross me out.plural gross [C]
a quantity of 144 things
[+of]
•two gross of candles[singular]
GDP[C] technical
the difference between what something costs to produce and what it is sold for[singular]
GNP[C]
GROSS MARGIN $
1 unpleasant, shocking, and offensive:
•It's grotesque to portray peace campaigners as unpatriotic.
•By modern standards, the treatment of prisoners was grotesque.
2 extremely ugly in a strange or unnatural way:
•a grotesque figure with a huge head
- grotesquely adverb
1 [C] a picture, SCULPTURE etc of someone who is strangely ugly
2 the grotesque a grotesque style in art $ plural grottos or grottoes [C]
a small attractive CAVE $ BrE informal
1 nasty, dirty, or unpleasant; = manky
•a grotty little bar
2 ill:
•The next day I felt a bit grotty. informal
1 [C] someone who is always complaining:
•an old grouch
2 [C] something unimportant that you complain about[I] informal
to complain in a slightly angry way; = moan
[+about]
•He's always grouching about something! informal
in a bad temper, especially because you are tired; = bad-tempered
- grouchiness noun [U]
1 EARTH [U]
a) the surface of the earth
the ground
•The leaves were slowly fluttering to the ground.
•He lay on the ground and stared up at the sky.
•The ground was frozen solid.
above/below/under ground
•At night, badgers feed above ground.
•These youngsters work 70 metres below ground level.
•A raised platform stood 2 metres off the ground.
•The air raids were followed by military action on the ground (=on land).
• ground troops (=soldiers who fight on land)
b) the soil on and under the surface of the earth:
•Dig the ground over in the autumn.
•Plant the seeds 2 cm deep in the ground.
•The ground was dry, far too dry for growing corn.
2 AREA OF LAND
a) [U] an area of land without buildings, fences, woods etc:
•The landscape is a mixture of open ground and woodland.
•They were standing on the waste ground (=land in a town that is not being used) behind the car park.
b) [C] BrE also grounds [plural] especially AmE an area of land or sea that is used for a particular purpose:
•fishing grounds
parade/hunting/burial etc ground
•These fields served as a hunting ground for the local people.
•The rivers are used as dumping grounds for industrial waste.
•He is buried in sacred ground.
PLAYGROUND (1)
c) grounds [plural] the land or gardens surrounding a large building:
•We decided to take a stroll in the hotel grounds.
3 REASON grounds [ plural] a good reason for doing, believing, or saying something
grounds for (doing) sth
•Mental cruelty can be grounds for divorce.
•There are strong grounds for believing his statement.
have grounds to do sth
•Did the police have reasonable grounds to arrest him?
on moral/legal/medical etc grounds
•The proposal was rejected on environmental grounds.
on (the) grounds of sth
•Flying was ruled out on grounds of cost.
•'You're under arrest.' 'On what grounds?'
on the grounds that
•We oppose the bill, on the grounds that it discriminates against women.
4 SUBJECT [U] a subject or area of knowledge:
•At meetings, we just keep going over the same ground (=talking about the same things).
•His latest movie looks set to break new ground (=introduce new and exciting ideas).
familiar/home ground (=a subject etc that you know something about)
•In his latest book, McManus returns to more familiar ground.
5 OPINION [U] a general opinion or set of attitudes:
•Often parents and teenagers find they have little common ground (=they do not share the same attitudes etc).
the middle/centre ground (=opinions that are not extreme that most people would agree with)
•Both parties are battling to occupy the centre ground.
•Careful, Laura. You could be treading on dangerous ground (=expressing opinions etc that might offend someone).
•Each side was unwilling to give ground (=change their opinion).
6 SPORT [C] BrE the place where a particular sport is played; stadium
•a new football ground
•It's their first defeat at their home ground (=the ground that belongs to a particular team) all season.
7 hold/stand your ground
a) to stay where you are when someone threatens you, in order to show them that you are not afraid:
•The men threatened him, but he stood his ground and they fled.
b) to refuse to change your mind about something, even though people are opposing you:
•Jason vowed to stand his ground, even if it meant losing his job.
8 get off the ground to start to be successful:
•Her show never really got off the ground in the UK.
9 gain ground
a) to become more successful:
•It was feared that the extreme right might be gaining considerable ground in the election campaign.
b) if an idea, belief etc gains ground, more people start to accept it:
•His theories gradually gained ground among academics.
c) to get closer to someone or something that you are competing with
10 lose ground to become less successful compared with someone or something you are competing with:
•The Indian team seem determined to regain the ground they lost in the last game.
11 breeding/fertile/proving ground a situation in which something develops quickly or successfully:
•The region, with its widespread poverty, provided fertile ground for revolutionary activitists.
prepare/lay the ground (=to provide the situation or conditions in which something can develop successfully)
[+for]
•My task was to prepare the ground for the recruitment of support workers.
12 burn/raze sth to the ground to destroy a city, building etc completely by fire, bombs etc:
•The city of Tortona was burnt to the ground.
13 work/drive/run yourself into the ground to work so hard that you become very tired or ill:
•Kay's working herself into the ground trying to meet her deadlines.
14 on the ground in the place or situation where something important is happening, rather than somewhere else - used especially in news reports:
•While the politicians talk of peace, the situation on the ground remains tense.
15 stamping ground BrE stomping ground AmE informal someone's stamping ground is an area where they are known or have a lot of influence:
•I guess he'll try to reach his old stomping ground to drum up support.
16 ELECTRICAL [singular] AmE a wire that connects a piece of electrical equipment to the ground for safety; = earth BrE
17 grounds [plural] small pieces of solid material that sink to the bottom of a liquid:
•coffee grounds
18 go to ground BrE to make it hard for people to find you:
•The man has gone to ground since his photograph was published in a national newspaper.
19 run sb/sth to ground BrE to succeed in finding someone or something after a long search
20 BACKGROUND [C] technical the colour used as the background for a design
cut the ground from under sb's feet at CUT^1 (37)
have/keep both feet on the ground at FOOT^1 (18)
suit sb down to the ground at SUIT^2 (1)
be thin on the ground at THIN^1 (12)
hit the ground running at HIT^1 (24)

WORD CHOICE: ground, land, earth, soil, floor
The ground is the surface that you walk on when you are outdoors: There were a few flakes of snow on the ground. | an area of muddy ground
land is an area of ground that is owned or controlled by someone: They were on his land. | land set aside for housing
It is also the part of the earth's surface that is not covered in water animals that live on land
earth or soil is the soft substance that covers the ground and that plants grow in: Green shoots peeped through the earth. | fertile soil
The Earth or earth is also the planet that we live on.
The floor is the surface that you walk on when you are indoors: There's mud all over the floor!

1 AIRCRAFT [T usually passive] to stop an aircraft or pilot from flying:
•All planes are grounded until the fog clears.
2 BOAT [I,T] if you ground a boat or if it grounds, it hits the bottom of the sea so that it cannot move:
•Both boats grounded on a mud bank.
3 be grounded in/on sth to be based on something:
•Lewis' ideas were grounded in his strong Christian faith.
4 CHILD [T] informal to stop a child going out with their friends as a punishment for behaving badly:
•I got home at 2 am and Dad grounded me on the spot.
5 ELECTRICITY [T] AmE to make a piece of electrical equipment safe by connecting it to the ground with a wire; = earth BrE

PHRASAL VERBS
ground sb in sth phr v
to teach someone the basic things they should know in order to be able to do something:
•Most seven-year-olds are grounded in the basics of reading and writing.
WELL-GROUNDED[only before noun]
ground coffee or nuts have been broken up into powder or very small pieces, using a special machine
the past tense and past participle of GRIND^1[U]
food that you throw onto a river, lake etc when you are fishing in order to attract fish[U]
AmE BEEF that has been cut up into very small pieces, often used to make HAMBURGERs ; = mince BrE
groundbreaking work involves making new discoveries, using new methods etc:
•groundbreaking research[C]
AmE a piece of material that water cannot pass through, which people sleep on when they are camping; = groundsheet BrE[U]
the people on the ground who are responsible for guiding the flight of spacecraft or aircraft[C]
the group of people who work at an airport looking after the aircraft; = ground staff BrE
1 reasonable and in control of your emotions, even when this is difficult
2 someone who is grounded understands their own character and knows what is really important:
•Simmons says that her family keeps her grounded.
3 someone, especially a child, who is grounded is kept indoors as a punishment $ [C]
a ball that is hit along the ground in a game of BASEBALL
1 [C] especially BrE the floor of a building that is at ground level; = first floor AmE
•a ground floor flat
•The dining room is on the ground floor.
FLOOR^1 (3)
2 be/get in on the ground floor to become involved in a plan, business activity etc from the beginningalso ground troops [plural]
soldiers that fight on the ground rather than at sea or in the air[U]
1 glass that has been made into a powder
2 glass that has been rubbed on its surface so that you cannot see through it, but light passes through it - used for example on a camera $ [C]
a small North American animal that has thick brown fur
1 [singular] a training in the basic parts of a subject or skill
[+in]
•A basic grounding in math is essential for the economics course.
get/have a grounding in sth
•Applicants must have a good grounding in human resources management.
a good/thorough/solid etc grounding
•The aim of the course is to give students a thorough grounding in English pronunciation.
2 [C] AmE a punishment for a child's bad behaviour in which they are not allowed to go out with their friends for a period of time
3 [C,U] the process of officially stopping an aircraft from flying, especially because it is not safe to fly
4 [U] when someone knows what their own character is like and understands what is really important and what is not:
•a sense of grounding
not based on facts or reason; well-founded
•Fortunately my suspicions proved groundless.
•Mr Kay's lawyer said the accusations were groundless.[singular]
the same level as the surface of the earth, rather than above it or below it:
•The flats are set around a courtyard with shops at ground level. [C]
BrE technical a PEANUT or peanut plant[C]
1 a drawing of how a building is arranged at ground level, showing the size, position, and shape of walls, rooms etc; = floor plan
2 a plan for doing something in the future:
•documents which formed the ground plan for the welfare state[C,U]
rent that you pay to the person who owns the land that your house, office etc is built on[plural]
the basic rules or principles on which future actions or behaviour should be based
lay down/establish ground rules for sth
•Our book lays down the ground rules for building a patio successfully. [C]
BrE a piece of material that water cannot pass through which people sleep on when they are camping; = ground cloth AmE plural groundsmen [C]
especially BrE a man whose job is to take care of a large garden or sports field; = groundskeeper AmE[C]
a GOPHER[C] BrE
1 the people who take care of the grass and equipment at a sports ground
2 the group of people who work at an airport looking after the aircraft; = ground crew[C]
a way of hitting the ball after it has hit the ground in tennis and similar games
[singular] a sudden increase in a particular feeling among people
[+of]
•There is a groundswell of opinion that tougher laws are needed.
•a groundswell of support for the Prime Minister $ [U]
water that is below the ground:
•There are fears that groundwater might become contaminated. $ [U]
something that has to happen before an activity or plan can be successful:
•His speech laid the groundwork for independence.
•Much of the groundwork has already been done.[U]
the exact place where a bomb explodes:
•Buildings within 25 km of ground zero would be flattened. [C]
1 [also + plural verb BrE ] several people or things that are all together in the same place
[+of]
•a group of children
•a small group of islands
•Get into groups of four.
•He was surrounded by a group of admirers.
in groups
•Dolphins travel in small groups.
•A group of us are going to London.
2 several people or things that are connected with each other:
•a left-wing terrorist group
[+of]
•She is one of a group of women who have suffered severe side-effects from the drug.
age/ethnic/income etc group (=people of the same age, race etc)
•Minority groups are encouraged to apply.
3 several companies that all have the same owner; chain
•a giant textiles group
[+of]
•He owns a group of hotels in southern England.
4 a number of musicians or singers who perform together, playing popular music; = band
BLOOD GROUP, FOCUS GROUP, INTEREST GROUP, PLAYGROUP, PRESSURE GROUP, WORKING GROUP
1 [I,T] to come together and form a group, or to arrange things or people together in a group
group (sth) together/round/into etc
•The photo shows four men grouped round a jeep.
•Different flowers can be grouped together to make a colourful display.
•small producers who group together to sell their produce
2 [T always + adv/prep] to divide people or things into groups according to a system:
•We were grouped into six age bands.
•We've grouped the questions under three headings.[C]
a fairly high rank in the British air force, or someone who has this rank[plural]
the way in which people in a group behave towards each other when they are working together or doing an activity together [C]
a young woman who follows popular musicians or other famous people around, hoping to meet them
1 [C] a number of people, things, or organizations that do something together or have the same interests, qualities, or features
[+of]
•a grouping of eight opposition parties
political/social/economic etc grouping
•During this period the family unit becomes the natural social grouping.
•a loose grouping (=informal and not well organized) of anti-capitalist protesters
2 [U] the act of putting people or things into groups:
•the grouping of students by ability[C,U]
a group of several doctors who all work in the same building[U]
a method of treating people with emotional problems by getting them to meet and talk as a group
1 [C,U] plural grouse a small bird that is hunted and shot for food and sport, or the flesh of this bird:
•the grouse shooting season
•roast grouse
2 [C] informal a complaint:
•His main grouse is that he isn't paid enough.[I]
informal to complain about something; = moan
[+about]
•I haven't really got much to grouse about. [U]
a mixture of sand and water that you spread between TILEs when you fix them to a wall
- grout verb [I,T] $
1 [C] a piece of land with trees growing on it
[+of]
•a small grove of beech trees
olive/lemon/palm etc grove
•He owns an orange grove near Tel Aviv.
2 Grove used in the names of roads:
•Lisson Grove $ past tense and past participle grovelled, present participle grovelling BrE past tense and past participle groveled, present participle groveling AmE
1 [I] to praise someone a lot or behave with a lot of respect towards them because you think that they are important and will be able to help you in some way - used to show disapproval; = crawl
[+to]
•I had to really grovel to the bank manager to get a loan.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to move along the ground on your hands and knees:
•I saw him grovelling in the road for his hat.
- grovelling adjective
•a grovelling apology $ past tense grew , past participle grown $
1 INCREASE
a) [I] to increase in amount, size, number, or strength; shrink
•Support for Mr Thompson is growing.
[+by]
•Sales of new cars grew by 10% last year.
[+from/to]
•The number of students at the college has grown from 200 to over 500.
• A growing number of people are taking part-time jobs.
grow rapidly/slowly/steadily
•The economy has grown steadily over the last ten years.
•Fears are growing for the crew's safety.
[+in]
•a city that is still growing in size
•Skiing has really grown in popularity.
•There is growing concern about climate change.
•my growing interest in China
b) [T] to make a business or part of a business bigger and more successful:
•We want to grow the export side of the business.
2 PERSON/ANIMAL [I] to become bigger, taller etc over a period of time in the process of becoming an adult; shrink
•You've really grown since I last saw you.
•Victor seemed to grow taller every day.
grow 2 inches/5cm etc
•Stan grew two inches in six months.
3 PLANTS
a) [I] if plants grow, they exist and develop in a natural way:
•a tree which will grow well in most types of soil
•The plants grow wild (=grow without anyone looking after them) by the river.
b) [T] to make plants or crops develop and produce fruit or flowers; raise
•Many families own plots of land to grow food.
•Britain grows 6,000,000 tonnes of potatoes a year.
•The growing season is from April to September.
4 HAIR/NAILS
a) [T] if you grow your hair or nails, you do not cut them:
•I've decided to grow my hair long.
grow a beard/moustache
b) [I] when hair or nails grow, they become longer
5 BECOME
a) [I always + adj] to change and become different quite slowly:
•The sound was growing louder.
•Her tastes have changed as she's grown older.
•Donna has grown tired of being a model.
•Gradually, Fiona's eyes grew used to the darkness (=she gradually became able to see a little better).
b) [I] to gradually change your opinions and have a feeling that you did not have before
grow to like/hate/respect etc
•After a while the kids grew to like Mr Cox.
•the city he had grown to love
see box at BECOME
6 IMPROVE [I] to gradually become better, bigger etc
[+as]
•She's grown tremendously as a musician.
7 it/money doesn't grow on trees spoken used to say that you should not waste money

PHRASAL VERBS
grow apart phr v
if two people grow apart, their relationship becomes less close:
•The couple had been growing apart for years.

grow into sb/sth phr v
1 to develop over time and become a particular kind of person or thing:
•Sue grew into a lovely young woman.
•The two-part show has grown into a full-fledged series.
2 to gradually learn how to do a job or deal with a situation successfully:
•She will grow into her new role over the next few months.
3 if a child grows into clothes, he or she becomes big enough to wear them

grow on sb phr v
if something grows on you, you gradually like it more and more:
•I hated his music at first, but it grows on you.

grow out phr v
if you grow out a hair style, or if it grows out, you gradually grow your hair until the style disappears
grow sth <=> out
•I'm growing my fringe out.

grow out of sth phr v
1 if a child grows out of clothes, he or she becomes too big to wear them; = outgrow
2 if someone grows out of something, they stop doing it as they get older; = outgrow
•Mike finally seems to be growing out of his rebelliousness.
3 to develop or happen as a result of something else that happened or existed:
•His art grew out of his love of nature.
•legislation which grew out of concern over the increasing crime rate

grow up phr v
1 to develop from being a child to being an adult:
•What do you want to be when you grow up?
•I grew up in Chicago.
2 grow up! spoken used to tell someone to behave in a more responsible way, like an adult
3 to start to exist or develop gradually:
•Trading settlements grew up by the river. $
another spelling of GRO-BAG $ [C]
1 a person or company that grows fruit or vegetables in order to sell them
fruit/vegetable/tobacco etc grower
•apple growers
2 a plant that grows and develops in a particular way
fast/slow etc grower
•Bamboo is a very vigorous grower.[plural]
1 problems and difficulties that happen when an organization or system is new:
•the growing pains of a new republic
2 pain that children who are growing feel in their arms and legs
1 [I] if an animal growls, it makes a long deep angry sound; bark, snarl
[+at]
•The dog growled at me.
2 [I,T] to say something in a low angry voice; = snarl
•'Get out of my way,' he growled.
[+at]
•'Who are you?' he growled at me.
- growl noun [C]
•He heard a low growl behind him. $ [only before noun]
1 grown man/woman an adult man or woman, used especially when you think someone is not behaving as an adult should:
•Who ever heard of a grown man being scared of the dark?
2 grown children/daughter/son children etc who are now adults:
•I've got two grown daughters and a son.
the past participle of GROW
1 fully developed as an adult:
•Before you know it, the children will be grown-up and leaving home.
•I've got two grown-up sons.
2 behaving in a responsible way, like an adult; = mature; childish
•I expect more grown-up behaviour of you.[C]
an adult - used by or to children:
•If you're frightened, tell one of the grown-ups.
!! This word is mostly used by young children. Otherwise it is more usual to say adult. $
1 INCREASE [singular,U] an increase in amount, number, or size; decline
[+in/of]
•We've seen an enormous growth in the number of businesses using the Web.
•the rapid growth of world population
•the recent growth of interest in African music
2 BUSINESS/ECONOMY [singular,U] an increase in the value of goods or services produced and sold by a business or a country; decline
•measures to stimulate economic growth
strong/rapid/slow etc growth
•a period of rapid growth in the economy
•The company is preparing for zero growth (=no growth) this year.
growth area/industry
•Debt collection is a huge growth industry.
3 SIZE/STRENGTH [singular,U] the development of the physical size, strength etc of a person, animal, or plant over a period of time:
•Vitamins are essential for healthy growth.
•a means of stimulating plant growth
• a growth hormone (=substance in the body that causes you to grow)
4 IMPORTANCE [singular,U] a gradual increase in the importance or influence that something has
[+of]
•Cinemas declined with the growth of television.
5 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT [U] the development of someone's character, intelligence, or emotions:
•A loving home is essential for a child's personal growth.
emotional/intellectual/spiritual etc growth
•the journey toward spiritual growth
6 DISEASE [C] a swelling on or inside a person, animal, or plant, caused by disease; tumour
•a cancerous growth
[+on]
•a growth on his lung
7 GROWING THING [C,U] something that has grown:
•Feed the plants to encourage new growth.
•His chin bore a thick growth of stubble.groin [C]
a low wall built out into the sea to prevent the sea from removing sand and stones from the shore
1 [U] informal food:
•Let's get some grub.
2 [C] an insect when it is in the form of a small soft white wormpast tense and past participle grubbed, present participle grubbing [I always + adv/prep]
informal to look for something on the ground or just under the ground, especially by moving things around:
•Jake got on the floor and grubbed about under the desk.
[+for]
•chickens grubbing for worms

PHRASAL VERBS
grub sth <=> up/out phr v
to dig plants out of the ground:
•Farmers were encouraged to grub up hedgerows.
1 fairly dirty:
•a grubby handkerchief
•a gang of grubby kids
2 grubby behaviour or activity is morally unpleasant:
•the grubby details of his financial dealings
3 grubby hands/paws/mitts informal used to talk about someone touching something or becoming involved in it when you do not want them to:
•Keep your grubby paws to yourself!
•I bet he can't wait to get his grubby hands on my money!
- grubbiness noun [U] [U]
AmE informal an amount of money that is provided to develop a new business in return for a share of the profits [C]
1 a feeling of dislike for someone because you cannot forget that they harmed you in the past

have/bear/hold a grudge
harbour/nurse a grudge (=try to continue feeling dislike for a long time)
someone/an employee etc with a grudge
personal grudge

[+against]
• Is there anyone who might have had a grudge against her?
•Mr Gillis was not normally a man to bear grudges.
•I'm not harbouring some secret grudge against you.
•It could be the work of someone with a grudge against the company.
• You let nasty little personal grudges creep in.

2 grudge fight/match a fight or sports competition between two people who dislike each other a lot[T]
to do or give something very unwillingly
grudge doing sth
•I really grudge paying for poor service.
grudge sb sth
•I don't grudge him his success.
- grudging adjective [usually before noun]
•a grudging apology
•He looked at Nick with grudging respect.
- grudgingly adverb
•He grudgingly admitted he'd been wrong. [U]
a food made of OATS cooked in water or milk, which poor people ate in the pastgrueling AmE BrE
very difficult and tiring:
•The cast took a break from their gruelling schedule.
•a grueling journey
very unpleasant or shocking, and involving someone being killed or badly injured:
•Police described it as a particularly gruesome attack.
•Spare me the gruesome details.
- gruesomely adverb
speaking in a rough, unfriendly voice:
•His manner can be rather gruff.
•a gruff reply
•His voice became gruff.
- gruffly adverb
- gruffness noun [U]
1 [I,T] to keep complaining in an unhappy way; = moan
[+about/at]
•Farmers are always grumbling about the weather.
grumble that
•A few passengers grumbled that their cabins were too small.
•'This is boring,' Kathleen grumbled.
2 [I] to make a low continuous sound; = rumble
•Thunder grumbled overhead.
3 mustn't/can't grumble BrE spoken used to say that you are fairly healthy and happy:
•'How are you today?' 'Mustn't grumble.'
- grumble noun [C]
•the usual grumbles about pay
1 [U] also grumblings [plural] a complaint about something:
•She paid up, with some grumbling.
•Soon, the grumblings turned to open discontent.
2 [U] a low continuous sound:
•the grumbling of distant thunder
bad-tempered and easily annoyed:
•Mina's always a bit grumpy first thing in the morning.
- grumpily adverb
- grumpiness noun [U] [U]
1 a style of fashion and music popular with young people in the 1990s, involving loud electric music and dirty clothes, hair etc:
•grunge rock
2 AmE informal unpleasant dirt:
•What's all that grunge in the bathtub?
- grungy adjective
•a pair of grungy trainers
1 [I,T] to make short sounds or say a few words in a rough voice, when you do not want to talk:
•He just grunted and carried on reading his book.
2 [I] if a person or animal grunts, they make short low sounds in their throat:
•Grunting with effort, she lifted me up.[C]
1 a short low sound that a person or animal makes in their throat:
•Chris gave a grunt and went back to sleep.
2 AmE informal someone who does hard physical work for low pay:
•We get the grunts to move the crates.
3 AmE informal a soldier in the INFANTRY[U] AmE informal
the difficult and uninteresting part of a job:
•These guys do the grunt work in preparing tax returns.
another spelling of GRIFFIN $ [C] informal
the place in a woman's VAGINA where she is thought to feel the most sexual pleasure [C]
a very small piece of underwear that covers only the sexual organsalso Gt BrE [only before noun]
the written abbreviation of Great , used in names:
•Gt Britain $ [U]
a cold Mexican dish made with crushed AVOCADO $ [U]
solid waste from sea birds, put on soil to help plants grow [T]
1
a) to promise to do something or to promise that something will happen
guarantee (that)
•I guarantee you'll love this film.
guarantee sb sth
•If you send the application form in straight away, I can guarantee you an interview.
guarantee to do sth
•I cannot guarantee to work for more than a year.
•The law guarantees equal rights for men and women.
b) to make a formal written promise to repair or replace a product if it breaks within a specific period of time:
•All our products are fully guaranteed.
guarantee sth against sth
•The stereo is guaranteed against failure for a year.
2 LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE to promise that you will pay back money that someone else has borrowed, if they do not pay it back themselves:
•The bank will only lend me money if my parents guarantee the loan.
3 CERTAIN to make it certain that something will happen:
•In movies, talent by no means guarantees success.
guarantee that
•The built-in thermostat guarantees that the water remains at the same temperature all the time.
be guaranteed to do sth
•This latest incident is guaranteed to make the situation worse.
be guaranteed sth
•Even if you complete your training, you aren't guaranteed a job.[C]
1 a formal written promise to repair or replace a product if it breaks within a specific period of time; = warranty
•They offer a two-year guarantee on all their electrical goods.
come with/carry a guarantee
•Our computers come with a one year guarantee.
under guarantee
•Is your TV under guarantee (=protected by a guarantee)?
•a money-back guarantee
2 a formal promise that something will be done
[+of]
•I'm afraid there's no guarantee of success.
guarantee that
•I cannot give a guarantee that there will be no redundancies.
3
a) a promise that you will pay back money that someone else has used or borrowed, if they do not pay it themselves
b) something valuable that you give to someone to keep until you have done something you promised to do:
•The bank is holding the airline's assets as guarantees. $ [C]
law someone who promises to pay a debt if the person who should pay it does not $
1 PERSON [C]
a) someone whose job is to protect a place or person:
•There were two security guards on duty outside the building.
•We were stopped by border guards.
• Armed guards were posted by the exit.
b) someone whose job is to prevent prisoners from escaping:
•The prison guards were reasonably friendly.
2 PROTECTION [U] the act or duty of protecting places or people, or of preventing prisoners from escaping
be on guard
•Who was on guard the night the fire broke out?
keep/stand guard (over sb/sth)
•Gunmen stood guard at the camp entrance.
be under (police/armed etc) guard (=to be guarded by a group of people)
•He was taken to hospital, where he is now under police guard.
3 SOLDIERS
a) [singular] a group of soldiers who guard someone or something:
•The President has called in the National Guard.
b) the Guards BrE a group of soldiers who protect the king or queen
4 EQUIPMENT [C] something that is used to protect someone or something from damage or injury:
•a face guard
•a fire guard
5 ON A TRAIN [C] BrE a person whose job is to be in charge of a train; = conductor AmE
6 on your guard to be paying attention to what is happening in order to avoid danger, being tricked etc:
•These men are dangerous so you'll need to be on your guard.
•Something in his tone put her on her guard.
7 catch/throw sb off guard to surprise someone by doing something that they are not ready to deal with:
•Senator O'Hare was caught off guard by the question.
8 guard of honour a group of people who walk or stand together at a special occasion in order to show respect:
•Police colleagues formed a guard of honour at her funeral.
9 the old guard a group of people in an organization who want to do things in the way they were done in the past:
•the Communist old guard
10 FIGHTING [singular] the position of holding your arms or hands up in a fight in order to defend yourself:
•He swung at me and I brought my guard up.
11 SPORT [C]
a) one of two players on a BASKETBALL team who is responsible for moving the ball to help their team gain points
b) one of two players on an American football team who plays either side of the centre[T]
1 to protect a person, place, or object by staying near them and watching them:
•The Sergeant told Swift to guard the entrance.
•a lioness guarding her cubs
guard sb/sth against sth
•There is no one to guard these isolated farms against attack.
2 to watch a prisoner to prevent them from escaping
3 to protect something such as a right or a secret by preventing other people from taking it away, discovering it etc:
•chiefs who jealously guarded their independence
•a closely guarded secret
4 to prevent another sports player from gaining points, getting the ball etc

PHRASAL VERBS
guard against sth phr v
to prevent something from happening:
•Exercise can guard against a number of illnesses.
guard against doing sth
•Nurses should guard against becoming too attached to their patients.[C]
a dog that is trained to guard a place $
not giving very much information or showing your feelings about something; = cautious
•The minister was quite guarded in his comments.
•He gave the proposal a guarded welcome.
- guardedly adverb $ [C]
a building for soldiers who are guarding the entrance to a military camp $ [C]
1 someone who is legally responsible for looking after someone else's child, especially after the child's parents have died
sb's guardian
•His aunt is his legal guardian.
2 formal someone who guards or protects something
[+of]
•The US sees itself as the guardian of democracy.[C]
1 a good SPIRIT who is believed to protect a person or place
2 someone who helps or protects someone else when they are in trouble $ [U]
law the position of being legally responsible for someone else's child $ [C]
1 a bar that is intended to prevent people from falling from a bridge, cliff etc
2 AmE a bar that is intended to prevent cars from going off the road in an accident; = crash barrier BrE $ [C]
a room for soldiers who are guarding a military camp $ plural guardsmen [C]
a soldier who is a member of a GUARD[C]
BrE the part of a train where the person in charge of it travels; = caboose AmE [C]
a tropical fruit with pink flesh and a lot of seeds $ formal
relating to the position of being a GOVERNOR:
•gubernatorial elections [C]
a member of a small unofficial military group that fights in small groups
guerrilla war/warfare
•American troops found themselves fighting a guerrilla war.
•left-wing guerrillas
•a guerrilla leader
1 [I,T] to try to answer a question or form an opinion when you are not sure whether you will be correct:
•I'd say he's around 50, but I'm only guessing.
guess right/correctly/wrong
•If you guess correctly, you have another turn.
guess what/who/how etc
•You can guess what happened next.
[+at]
•We can only guess at the cause of the crash.
•What star sign are you? No, let me guess.
difficult/hard/easy etc to guess
•It's hard to guess his age because he dyes his hair.
2 [I,T] to realize that something is true even though you do not know for certain
guess (that)
•I guessed that you must be related because you look so similar.
[+from]
•I guessed from his expression that he already knew about the accident.
•Can you guess the identity of this week's special guest?
3 keep sb guessing to make someone feel excited or not sure about what will happen next:
•a thriller that keeps audiences guessing
4 I guess spoken
a) used to say that you think something is true or likely, although you are not sure:
•His light's on, so I guess he's still up.
b) used to say that you will do something even though you do not really want to:
•I'm tired, so I guess I'll stay home tonight.
5 I guess so/not spoken used to agree or disagree with a statement or question:
•'You're one lucky guy.' 'I guess so.'
•'I don't really have any choice, do I?' 'I guess not.'
6 guess what/you'll never guess who/what etc spoken used before you tell someone something that will surprise them:
•Guess what! Bradley's resigned.
•You'll never guess who I saw today.
SECOND-GUESS[C]
1 an attempt to answer a question or make a judgement when you are not sure whether you will be correct

make a guess (at sth)
have a guess (at sth) BrE
take a guess (at sth) AmE
hazard a guess (=guess something, when you feel very uncertain)
give sb three guesses (=allow someone to guess three times)
lucky guess
good guess
best guess
educated/informed guess (=one that is likely to be correct because you have enough information)
rough guess (=one that is not exact)
wild guess (=one made without much thought)
my guess is (that)
at a guess (=used to show that what you are saying is just a guess)

•If I had to make a guess, I'd say Sam was the youngest.
• Does anyone want to take a guess at what all this has to do with grammar?
•I can only hazard a guess at what it must have been like.
• I'll give you three guesses who I'm going out with tonight.
• It had been a lucky guess, that was all.
• It's a good guess, but wrong nonetheless.
• Our best guess is that the forests will not recover for a long time.
• People started making educated guesses about the outcome of the election.
• I'd say she's about 35, but that's only a rough guess.
• My guess is that there won't be many people there today.
• At a guess, she'd had an argument with her boyfriend.
see box at SUPPOSE

2 be anybody's guess to be something that no one knows:
•What she's going to do with her life now is anybody's guess.
3 your guess is as good as mine spoken used to tell someone that you do not know any more than they do about something [C] informal
an attempt to judge a quantity by guessing it; estimate
•Could you give us a guesstimate of the numbers involved?
- guesstimate verb [I,T] $ [U]
the method of trying to find the answer to something by guessing:
•There's a lot of guesswork in these calculations. [C]
1 AT AN EVENT someone who is invited to an event or special occasion:
•a banquet for 250 distinguished guests
as sb's guest
•You are here as my guests.
dinner/wedding etc guests
•Most of the wedding guests had left.
•Among the invited guests were Jerry Brown and Elihu Harris.
•The actress was guest of honour (=the most important guest) at the launch.
•I've nearly finished the guest list for the wedding.
2 IN A HOUSE someone you have invited to stay in your home for a short time:
•We have guests staying right now.
HOUSE GUEST
3 IN A HOTEL someone who is paying to stay in a hotel:
•Use of the sauna is free to guests.
4 ON A SHOW someone famous who is invited to take part in a show, concert etc, in addition to those who usually take part:
•We have some great guests for you tonight.
•Fontaine appeared as a guest on the show.
5 be my guest spoken used to give someone permission to do what they have asked to do:
•'Do you mind if I look at your notes?' 'Be my guest.'[only before noun]
1 for guests to use:
•He was still asleep in the guest bedroom.
2 a guest star, speaker etc is someone famous or important who is invited to take part in an event, in addition to the people who usually take part:
•Camfield was lucky in getting Cage and Rampling as guest stars.
•He will make a special guest appearance on next week's show.[I]
to take part in a show, concert etc as a guest
[+on]
•She guested on a comedy show last year.[C]
a book in which everyone who comes to a formal occasion or stays at a hotel signs their name [C]
a private house where people can pay to stay and have meals[C]
a bedroom for a visitor or visitors to use[C]
a worker from one country who works in another country for a short time [U]
informal remarks that are stupid and untrue; = nonsense
•I don't believe any of that guff! $ [I]
to laugh loudly:
•We guffawed at what Graham had written.
- guffaw noun [C]
•The announcement was greeted with loud guffaws. [C] technical
graphical user interface a way of showing and organizing information on a computer screen that is easy to use and understand [U]
1 help and advice that is given to someone about their work, education, or personal life
[+on/about]
•I went to a counselor for guidance on my career.
under sb's expert guidance
•I was looking forward to working under her expert guidance.
parental/spiritual etc guidance
•Children need moral guidance to make their way in the world.
2 the process of directing a MISSILE while it is flying through the air:
•a missile with a sophisticated electronic guidance system [C]
1 FOR DECIDING/JUDGING something that provides information and helps you to form an opinion or make a decision
•The polls are not a reliable guide of how people will vote.
•The figures are only a rough guide.
2 PERSON
a) someone whose job is to take tourists to a place and show them around:
•a tour guide
•an experienced mountain guide
b) someone who advises you and influences the way you live:
•my spiritual guide
3 INSTRUCTIONS
a) a book or piece of writing that provides information on a particular subject or explains how to do something
[+to]
•a guide to North American birds
•Follow our step-by-step guide.
•Details of how to use the various programs are in the user guide.
b) a guidebook
4 GIRL BrE
a) the Guides the Guides Association, which teaches girls practical skills; scout
b) a member of the Guides Association[T]
1 to take someone to a place; = lead
guide sb along/through etc
•He guided us through the narrow streets to the central mosque.
see box at DIRECT^2
2 to help someone or something to move in a particular direction
guide sb/sth into/towards etc
•He guided her firmly towards the sofa.
•Searchlights were used to guide the ship into the harbour.
3 to influence someone's behaviour or ideas:
•Teenagers need adults to guide them.
4 to show someone the right way to do something, especially something difficult or complicated
guide sb through sth
•Guide your students through the program one section at a time. [C]
a book about a city, country etc:
•travel guidebooks[C]
a MISSILE that is controlled electronically while it is flying[C]
a dog trained to guide a blind person; = seeing eye dog AmE[C]
if someone takes you on a guided tour, they show you around a place of interest and tell you all about it
[+of/around/round]
•You will be taken on a guided tour of the palace. [C usually plural]
1 rules or instructions about the best way to do something
[+for]
•a new set of guidelines for teachers
[+on]
•guidelines on the employment of children
draw up/issue guidelines
•The hospital has issued new guidelines on the treatment of mentally ill patients.
•This chapter gives you some guidelines to help you in your work.
clear/strict guidelines
•Today most planning authorities enforce fairly strict guidelines on new houses.
2 something that helps you form an opinion or make a decision:
•When starting a new business, try to follow these general guidelines.
within ... guidelines
•Teachers can choose books within certain broad guidelines.
1 guiding principle something that helps you decide what to do in a difficult situation:
•Fairness, rather than efficiency, is the guiding principle.
2 guiding light/hand/star someone whose ideas and advice people follow:
•Eddie was his hero - his guiding light.
•He really needed a guiding hand. [C]
an organization of people who do the same job or have the same interests:
•the Women's Guild $ [C]
the standard unit of money used in the Netherlands before the EURO $ [C]
a large building in which members of a guild met in the past [U] formal
the use of clever but dishonest methods to deceive someone; = cunning
•With a little guile she might get what she wanted.
- guileful adjective
behaving in an honest way, without trying to hide anything or deceive people; = open $ [C]
a black and white sea bird with a narrow beak [C]
1 a piece of equipment used to cut off the heads of criminals, especially in France in the past
2 BrE a piece of equipment used to cut large sheets of paper
3 BrE the setting of a time limit on a discussion in the British parliament:
•Opposition leaders accused the government of introducing a guillotine motion to stifle debate.[T]
1 to cut off someone's head using a guillotine
2 BrE to limit the period of time allowed for the discussion of a possible new law in the British parliament [U]
1 a strong feeling of shame and sadness because you know that you have done something wrong

feeling/sense of guilt
consumed/overwhelmed/racked with/by guilt (=feeling very guilty)
pang/twinge/stab of guilt (=a sudden feeling of guilt)
guilt complex (=when you cannot stop feeling very guilty)
burden of guilt (=a strong feeling of guilt)

•He used to buy them expensive presents, out of guilt.
[+about/at/over]
•Don't you have any feelings of guilt about leaving David?
• He felt an enormous sense of guilt when he thought about how he'd treated her.
• I was racked with guilt at my part in making her this unhappy.
• Sometimes I felt little pangs of guilt.

2 the fact that you have broken an official law or moral rule; innocence
•He made no attempt to deny his guilt.
3 responsibility and blame for something bad that has happened
[+for]
•Guilt for poorly behaved children usually lies with the parents.
4 be on a guilt trip informal to have a feeling of guilt about something when it is unreasonable
5 lay a guilt trip on sb AmE informal to make someone feel bad about something:
•I wish my parents would stop laying a guilt trip on me for not going to college.

PHRASAL VERBS
guilt sb into sth phr v AmE informal
to make someone feel guilty, so they will do what you want
guilt sb into doing sth
•Her parents guilted her into not going to the concert. formal
not responsible for a crime or for having done something wrong; = innocent
feeling so guilty about something that you cannot think about anything else
1 ASHAMED feeling very ashamed and sad because you know that you have done something wrong
[+about/at]
•I feel really guilty at forgetting her birthday again.
•She looked self-conscious and guilty.
•It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help.
2 OF A CRIME having done something that is a crime; innocent
[+of]
•The jury found her guilty of murder.
•He was found not guilty of the death of PC Jones.
•He pleaded guilty to two charges of theft.
3 responsible for behaviour that is morally or socially unacceptable
be guilty of doing sth
•Some journalists are guilty of reporting scandal in order to sell papers.
4 the guilty party formal the person who has done something illegal or wrong
- guiltily adverb [C]
a British gold coin or unit of money used in the past, worth one pound and one SHILLING (£1.05). Prices are sometimes still given in guineas when buying or selling RACEHORSEs .[C]
a grey bird that is often eaten as food[C]
1 a small furry animal with short ears and no tail, which is often kept as a pet
2 someone who is used in a scientific test to see how successful or safe a new product, system etc is [C]
formal the way someone or something appears to be, which hides the truth or is only temporary
in/under the guise of sth
•They operated a drug-smuggling business under the guise of an employment agency.
•It's the same ideas in a different guise. $ [C]
a musical instrument with six strings that you play by pulling the strings with your fingers or with a PLECTRUM (=small piece of plastic, metal etc)
an acoustic/an electric/a classical guitar [C]
someone who plays the guitar $ [C]
one of a group of prison camps in the former USSR, where conditions were very bad [C] AmE
a narrow deep valley formed in the past by flowing water, but usually dry now [C]
1 a large area of sea partly enclosed by land:
•the Gulf of Mexico
2 the Gulf the Arabian Gulf, or the countries next to it:
•the smaller Gulf states
3 a great difference and lack of understanding between two groups of people, especially in their beliefs, opinions, and way of life; = gap
[+between]
•the huge gulf between management and unions
•a growing gulf between old and young
the Gulf Stream a current of warm water that flows across the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico towards Europe [C]
a large common black and white sea bird that lives near the sea; = seagull [C]
the tube at the back of your mouth through which food goes down your throat
another spelling of gully
too ready to believe what other people tell you, so that you are easily tricked:
•Plastic replicas of the Greek pottery are sold to gullible tourists.
- gullibility noun [U] plural gullies [C]
1 a small narrow valley, usually formed by a lot of rain flowing down the side of a hill
2 a deep DITCH
1 also gulp down [T] to swallow large quantities of food or drink quickly; = bolt
•She gulped down her breakfast and ran for the bus.
2 [I] to swallow suddenly because you are surprised or nervous:
•I gulped when I saw the bill.
3 also gulp in [T] to breathe in large amounts of air quickly:
•We rushed outside and gulped in the sweet fresh air.
4 be gulping for air to breathe in large amounts of air quickly because you do not have enough air in your body

PHRASAL VERBS
gulp sth <=> back phr v
to stop yourself from expressing your feelings:
•Sandra tried to gulp back her tears.[C]
1 a large amount of something that you swallow quickly, or the action of swallowing
[+of]
•He took a huge gulp of brandy.
in one gulp/at a gulp
•Charlie drank the whisky in one gulp.
2 a large amount of air that you breathe in quickly
•gulps of fresh air
1 [C usually plural] your gums are the two areas of firm pink flesh at the top and bottom of your mouth, in which your teeth are fixed
2 [U] CHEWING GUM
3 [U] BrE a type of glue used to stick light things such as paper together
4 [U] a sticky substance found in the stems of some trees
5 [C] a GUM TREE
6 by gum! spoken old-fashioned used to express surprisepast tense and past participle gummed, present participle gumming [T always + adv/prep]
BrE old-fashioned to stick things together using glue; = glue
gum sth to sth
•A large label had been gummed to the back of the photograph.

PHRASAL VERBS
gum sth <=> up phr v informal
to prevent a machine from moving and working properly:
•Dirt had got inside the watch and gummed up the works. $ [C] AmE
CHEWING GUM in the form of a small round brightly coloured sweet $ [U]
1 a thick soup made with meat, fish, and OKRA (=a small green vegetable)
2 a word used in some parts of the US for OKRA [C] BrE old-fashioned
a tall boot made of rubber that you wear to keep your feet dry; = wellington boot $ [C]
a small sweet that you chew
1 sticky or covered in glue
2 a gummy smile shows the GUMs in someone's mouth when they have no teeth [U]
the ability and determination to decide what needs to be done and to do it:
•At least she had the gumption to phone me. [C] AmE old-fashioned
a DETECTIVE [U] AmE informal
when you try to find out information about something; = detective work[C]
1 a tall tree which produces a strong-smelling oil that is used in medicine; = eucalyptus
2 be up a gum tree BrE informal to be in a very difficult situation [C]
1 a metal weapon which shoots bullets or SHELLs
have/hold/carry a gun
•I could see he was carrying a gun.
•I've never fired a gun in my life.
•Jake was pointing a gun at the door.
•Two policemen were killed in a gun battle last night.
2 put/hold a gun to sb's head
a) to put a gun very close to someone's head to shoot them or to force them to do something:
•He put a gun to her head and told the cashier to hand over the money.
b) to force someone to do something they do not want to do:
•You chose to live here. Nobody put a gun to your head.
3 a tool that forces out small objects or a liquid by pressure:
•a paint gun
•a nail gun
FLASHGUN, SPRAY GUN
4 also starting pistol a gun which is fired into the air at the start of a race
5 AmE informal big/top gun someone who is very important within an organization:
•Jed wanted to impress a Harvard professor and some other big guns.
6 hired gun AmE informal someone who is paid to shoot someone else
7 with all guns blazing if you do something with all guns blazing, you do it with a lot of energy, determination, and noise
SON OF A GUN; stick to your guns at STICK^1; jump the gun at JUMP^1 (11); be going great guns at GREAT^1 (11); spike sb's guns at SPIKE^2 (6)past tense and past participle gunned, present participle gunning
1 be gunning for sb informal to be trying to find an opportunity to criticize or harm someone:
•Why is he gunning for me?
2 be gunning for sth informal to be trying very hard to obtain something:
•He's gunning for your job.
3 [T] AmE informal to make the engine of a car go very fast by pressing the ACCELERATOR very hard

PHRASAL VERBS
gun sb <=> down phr v [usually passive]
to shoot someone and badly injure or kill them, especially someone who cannot defend themselves:
•A policeman was gunned down as he left his house this morning. $ [C]
1 a small ship that carries several large guns
2 gunboat diplomacy the practice of threatening to use force against another country to make them agree to your demands[C]
a frame with wheels on which a large heavy gun is moved around[U] law
laws that limit the ways in which guns can be sold, owned, and used[C]
a dog that is trained to find and bring back dead birds that have been shot for sport; = bird dog AmE [C]
a fight between people using guns
- gunfighter noun [C] $ [U]
the repeated shooting of guns, or the noise made by this:
•I heard a burst of distant gunfire.
•Two men were shot in an exchange of gunfire with the police. [U] BrE informal
any substance that is dirty, sticky, or unpleasant; = gunk AmE
- gungy adjective
be gunged up with sth BrE informal to be blocked with a dirty sticky substance:
•The waste pipe is all gunged up. $ informal
very eager to do something dangerous or violent:
•The sporting opportunities here should suit the most gung-ho of tourists. [U] AmE informal
any substance that is dirty, sticky, or unpleasant; = gunge BrE
- gunky adjective
be gunked up (with sth) AmE informal to be blocked with a dirty sticky substance:
•Here's your problem. The fuel line's all gunked up. plural gunmen [C]
a criminal who uses a gun [U]
1 a dull grey-coloured metal which is a mixture of COPPER, TIN, and ZINC
2 a dull blue-grey colour [C]
a GUNWALE $ [C]
1 a soldier, sailor etc whose job is to aim or shoot a large gun
2 a soldier in the British ARTILLERY (=part of the army which uses heavy guns):
•Gunner Smith [U]
the skill of shooting with large heavy guns:
•a gunnery officer [C] AmE
a large bag made from rough material and used for storing grain, coal, potatoes etc
at gunpoint while threatening someone or being threatened with a gun:
•She was held at gunpoint for 37 hours. $ [U]
an explosive substance used in bombs and FIREWORKs [U]
the activity of taking guns into a country secretly and illegally, especially so that they can be used by people who want to fight against their government
- gun-runner noun [C] [C]
a military HELICOPTER used to protect other helicopters and to destroy enemy guns $
1 [C] the action of shooting a gun, or the sound that this makes:
•She says she heard a gunshot at about midnight.
2 [U] the bullets fired from a gun:
• gunshot wounds $ [C] AmE informal
someone who is very skilful at using guns, especially a criminal [C]
someone who makes and repairs guns[only before noun]
carrying a gun:
•gun-toting gangs on the street [C]
the upper edge of the side of a boat or small ship plural guppies [C]
a small brightly-coloured tropical fish $ [I]
1 if water gurgles, it flows along gently with a pleasant low sound; = burble
•We could hear the stream gurgling down in the valley.
2 if a baby gurgles, it makes a happy low sound in its throat[C]
1 the happy low sound that someone makes in their throat:
•a gurgle of laughter
2 the pleasant low sound of water moving along gently $ [C] AmE
a long narrow table with wheels used for moving sick people in a hospital [C]
1 informal someone who knows a lot about a particular subject, and gives advice to other people:
•a management guru
•a fashion guru
2 a Hindu religious teacher or leader
1
a) [I always + adv/prep] if a liquid gushes, it flows or pours out quickly and in large quantities; = spurt
[+out/from/down etc]
•Water gushed from the broken pipe.
•He opened the door and smoke gushed out.
b) [T] if something gushes a liquid, the liquid pours out quickly and in large quantities; = spurt
•The wound gushed blood.
2 [I,T] to express your praise, pleasure etc in a way that other people think is too strong:
•'I simply loved your book,' she gushed.
3 also gush out [I] if words or emotions gush out, you suddenly express them very strongly:
•All that pent up frustration gushed out in a torrent of abuse.
1 [C usually singular] a large quantity of something, usually a liquid, that suddenly pours out of something; = spurt
•a gush of ice-cold water
2 a gush of relief/self pity etc a sudden feeling or expression of emotion $ [C]
a place in the ground where oil or water comes out very forcefully, so that a pump is not neededalso gushy informal
expressing praise, pleasure etc in a way that other people think is too strong:
•the gushing praise of the New York critics
- gushingly adverb [C]
a piece of material that is stitched into a piece of clothing to make it stronger, wider, or more comfortable in a particular place past tense and past participle gussied, present participle gussying, third person singular gussies

PHRASAL VERBS
gussy sb/sth <=> up phr v AmE informal
to make someone look attractive by dressing them in their best clothes, or to make something look attractive by decorating it:
•All the girls will be gussied up for the party. [C]
1 a sudden strong movement of wind, air, rain etc
[+of]
•A sudden gust of wind blew the door shut.
•Gusts of up to 200 kph may be experienced.
2 gust of laughter a sound of loud laughter:
•Gusts of laughter came from the nextdoor room.[I]
if the wind gusts, it blows strongly with sudden short movements:
•winds gusting at up to 45 miles per hour $ [U]
with gusto if you do something with gusto, you do it with a lot of eagerness and energy:
•They sang hymns with great gusto.
with wind blowing in strong sudden movements:
•a cold, gusty October night
1 gut reaction/feeling/instinct informal a reaction or feeling that you are sure is right, although you cannot give a reason for it:
•He had a gut feeling that Sarah was lying.
2 COURAGE guts [plural] informal the courage and determination you need to do something difficult or unpleasant:
•It takes guts to start a new business on your own.
have the guts (to do sth)
•No-one had the guts to tell Paul what a mistake he was making.
3 INSIDE YOUR BODY
a) guts [plural] all the organs in someone's body, especially when they have come out of their body:
•There were blood and guts all over the place.
b) [C] the tube through which food passes from your stomach; = intestine
•It can take 72 hours for food to pass through the gut.
4 STOMACH [C] informal someone's stomach, especially when it is large; = belly
•He felt as if someone had just kicked him in the gut.
•Phil has a huge beer gut (=unattractive fat stomach caused by drinking too much beer).
5 STRING [U] a type of strong string made from the INTESTINE of an animal, and used for musical instruments such as VIOLINs
CATGUT
6 MACHINE/EQUIPMENT guts [plural] informal the parts inside a machine or piece of equipment
7 MOST IMPORTANT PARTS guts [plural] informal the most important or basic parts of something
[+of]
•the guts of the problem
8 at gut level if you know something at gut level, you feel sure about it, though you could not give a reason for it:
•She knew at gut level that he was guilty.
9 I'll have sb's guts for garters BrE informal used to say that you would like to punish someone severely for something they have done
BLOOD-AND-GUTS; bust a gut at BUST^1 (3); hate sb's guts at HATE^1 (2); spill your guts at SPILL^1 (4)past tense and past participle gutted, present participle gutting [T]
1 [usually passive] to completely destroy the inside of a building, especially by fire:
•The building was completely gutted by fire.
2 to remove the organs from inside a fish or animal in order to prepare it for cooking
3 to change something by removing some of the most important or central parts
GUTTED informal
lacking courage or determination; = spineless
•I should have had the support of my team, but they were really gutless. informal
1 if someone's behaviour is gutsy, it is brave and determined:
•It was a gutsy performance by McTaggart.
2 if something is gutsy, it is strong and interesting:
•a gutsy, full-bodied wine
1 seriously damaged or completely destroyed:
•We drove slowly past the gutted buildings.
2 BrE spoken very shocked or disappointed; = devastated
•I was gutted when I lost my job. $
1 [C] the low part at the edge of a road where water collects and flows away:
•The gutters were blocked and overflowing.
2 [C] an open pipe fixed to the edge of a roof to collect and carry away rain water
3 the gutter the bad social conditions of the lowest and poorest level of society:
•Men like him usually ended up in jail - or the gutter.
4 the gutter press BrE the newspapers that print shocking stories about people's personal lives - used to show disapproval; tabloid[I]
literary if a CANDLE gutters, it burns with an unsteady flame [U] BrE
the open pipes that are fixed to the edge of the roof of a house to collect and carry away rain water $ [C] old-fashioned
a dirty untidy badly-behaved child from a poor home
a guttural voice or sound is or seems to be produced deep in someone's throat; = throaty BrE spoken
used by men, as a way of talking to a male customer in a shop, taxi etc:
•Where to, guv?guv'nor $ BrE spoken old-fashioned informal
1 [C] a man who is in a position of authority over you, usually your employer:
•You'll have to speak to the guvnor about that.
2 used as a way of talking to a man of a higher social class than you [C]
1 informal a man; = bloke
•Dave's a nice guy when you get to know him.
•Jake's a real tough guy.
2 BrE a model of a man burnt every year on Guy Fawkes' Night, in Britain
3 also guy rope a rope that stretches from the top or side of a tent or pole to the ground to keep it in the right position
4 guys [plural] AmE spoken used when talking to or about a group of people, male or female:
•Hey you guys! Where are you going?
5 no more Mr Nice Guy! spoken used to say that you will stop trying to behave honestly and fairly
wise guy at WISE^1 (5) $ BrE
November 5th, when people in Britain light FIREWORKs and burn a GUY on a fire; = bonfire night [I,T] informal
1 to eat or drink a lot of something, eagerly and quickly - usually showing disapproval; scoff
•They've been guzzling beer all evening.
2 if a vehicle guzzles petrol, it uses a lot of it in a wasteful way
GAS-GUZZLER
1 [C] a special building or room that has equipment for doing physical exercise; = gymnasium
at/in a gym
•I try and work out at the local gym once a week.
•I go to the gym as often as I can.
2 [U] exercises that people do indoors for physical development and as a sport, especially at school:
•We've got gym this afternoon.
•Where's my gym kit? [C]
BrE a sporting event at which people on horses compete in races and jumping competitions [C] formal
a GYM [C]
someone who is good at gymnastics and competes against other people in gymnastic competitions [U]
1 a sport involving physical exercises and movements that need skill, strength, and control, and that are often performed in competitions:
•a gymnastics display
•We don't do gymnastics at school.
2 mental/intellectual/moral gymnastics very clever thinking
3 verbal/linguistic gymnastics using words in a very clever way
- gymnastic adjective
•The girls went through their gymnastic routine.[C]
a light shoe with a cloth top and a flat rubber bottom that children wear for games and sport at school; = plimsoll BrE [C] BrE
a type of dress without sleeves that girls wore in the past over a shirt as a part of their school uniformgynecology AmE $ [U] BrE
the study and treatment of medical conditions and illnesses that affect only women, and usually relating to a woman's ability to have babies
- gynaecologist noun [C]
- gynaecological $ adjective informal
1 give sb gyp BrE
a) to be painful:
•My bad leg is really giving me gyp today.
b) to punish someone or be angry with them because of something they have done
2 [singular] AmE
a) something that you were tricked into buying
b) a situation in which you feel you have been cheated:
•What a gyp!past tense and past participle gypped, present participle gypping [T] AmE informal
to cheat someone:
•Ten bucks? You've been gypped! [U]
a soft white substance that is used to make PLASTER OF PARISalso gipsy plural gypsies [C]
1 a member of a group of people originally from India, who traditionally live and travel around in CARAVANs , and who now live all over the world. Most gypsies prefer to be called ROMANIES; traveller
2 someone who does not like to stay in the same place for a long time $
1 [I,T] to turn around fast in circles; = spin
•The dancers gyrated wildly to the beat of the music.
2 [I] if the value of money in business gyrates, it moves up and down a lot; fluctuate
•Stock and bond markets have gyrated in recent weeks.
- gyration noun [C,U] $ [C]
a wheel that spins inside a frame and is used for keeping ships and aircraft steady. It can also be a child's toy.
- gyroscopic $ adjectiveh plural H's, h's [C,U]
the eighth letter of the English alphabet
AITCH
H-BOMB
used when you are surprised or have discovered something interesting:
•Ha! I thought it might be you hiding there! $ [U]
law a law which says that a person can only be kept in prison following a court's decision $ [C]
old-fashioned a shopkeeper who sells haberdashery $ plural haberdasheries
1 [C] BrE a shop or part of a large store where things used for making clothes are sold
2 [C] AmE old-fashioned a shop or part of a large store where men's clothes, especially hats, are sold
3 [U] the goods sold in these shops
1 USUAL/REGULAR [C,U] something that you do regularly or usually, often without thinking about it because you have done it so many times before

good/bad habit
become a habit
be in the habit of doing sth also
have a/the habit of doing sth (=do something regularly)
get into/in the habit (of doing sth) (=start doing something regularly)
get out of the habit (of doing sth) (=stop doing something regularly)
develop/form a habit
change a habit
break/kick a habit (=stop doing something which is bad for you)
change/break the habit(s) of a lifetime (=stop doing what you have done for many years)
out of habit/from habit (=because it is a habit)
(by/from) force of habit (=because it is a habit which is difficult to change)
eating/drinking habits (=the kinds of things you eat or drink regularly)
buying/spending habits (=the kinds of things you buy regularly)
viewing habits (=the kind of television shows you regularly watch)
social habits

•Regular exercise is a good habit for kids to develop.
•Thinking negatively can become a habit.
•Jeff was in the habit of taking a walk after dinner.
•She has a habit of playing with her hair when she's nervous.
• Since I stopped taking lessons, I've got out of the habit of practising my saxophone.
•Try to break the habit of adding salt to your food at the table.
• Why break the habit of a lifetime and start being cautious now?
• Some people drink alcohol as much from habit as from desire.
•'Hello, Miss Smith.' - 'I'm Mrs Jones now.' - 'Sorry, force of habit.'
• the spending habits of the average British woman

2 DRUGS [C] a strong physical need to keep taking a drug regularly:
•A lot of drug addicts get into petty crime to support their habit.
heroin/cocaine etc habit
•His cocaine habit ruined him physically and financially.
3 not make a habit of (doing) sth spoken used to say that someone does not usually do something bad or wrong, or should not do it again:
•I don't make a habit of this sort of thing.
•You're ten minutes late. I hope you're not going to make a habit of this.
4 I'm not in the habit of doing sth spoken used when you are annoyed, to say that you would not do something:
•I'm not in the habit of lying to my friends.
5 have a habit of doing sth if something has a habit of doing something, it usually or often does it - used humorously:
•Life has a habit of springing surprises.
6 old habits die hard used to say that it is difficult to make people change their attitudes or behaviour:
•She knew it probably wasn't necessary any more, but old habits die hard.
7 habit of thought/mind the way someone usually thinks about something, or their usual attitudes
8 CLOTHING [C] a long loose piece of clothing worn by people in some religious groups:
•a nun's habit
a creature of habit at CREATURE (3)

WORD CHOICE: habit, custom, tradition, practice
A habit is something that you do often, because you have done it many times before.
Do not use habit when you are talking about actions or ways of doing things that have existed among a group of people for a very long time. Use tradition or custom.
Use tradition when the thing you are referring to has existed for many years, especially when it has been passed down from parents to children: It is a tradition in his family for all first-born males to be called Peter.Use custom to refer to something that is considered normal or polite, especially when you are talking about other countries or other times: the Japanese custom of taking off your shoes when you enter someone's houseUse practice to talk about the usual way of doing something in a particular area of life: the practice of killing animals for their fur

good enough for people to live in:
•It would cost a fortune to make the place habitable. [C,U]
the natural home of a plant or animal:
•watching monkeys in their natural habitat
•The grassland is an important habitat for many wild flowers. formal
1 unfit for human habitation a building that is unfit for human habitation is not safe or healthy for people to live in
2 [U] the act of living in a place:
•There was no sign of habitation as far as the eye could see.
3 [C] a house or place to live in
a drug or activity that is habit-forming makes you want to keep taking it, keep doing it etc
1 [only before noun] doing something from habit, and unable to stop doing it
habitual criminal/offender/felon etc
habitual drinker/gambler etc
2 done as a habit that you cannot stop:
•His drinking had become habitual.
3 [only before noun] usual or typical of someone:
•James took his habitual morning walk around the garden.
- habitually adverb
•men who are habitually violent
be/become habituated to (doing) sth formal to be used to something or gradually become used to it:
•Over the centuries, these animals have become habituated to living in a dry environment. [C +of]
formal someone who regularly goes to a particular place or event; = regular [C]
a large farm in Spanish-speaking countries
1 [I,T] to cut something roughly or violently
hack (away) at sth
•She hacked away at the ice, trying to make a hole.
hack sth off/down etc
•Whole forests have been hacked down.
hack your way through/into sth
•He hacked his way through the undergrowth.
•Both men had been hacked to death (=killed using large knives).
2 [I,T] to secretly find a way of getting information from someone else's computer or changing information on it
[+into]
•Somebody hacked into the company's central database.
•He managed to hack the code.
HACKER
3 can't hack sth informal to feel that you cannot continue to do something that is difficult or boring:
•I've been doing this job for years, but I just can't hack it anymore.
4 [I always + adv/prep] BrE to ride a horse along roads or through the country
5 [I] to cough in a loud unpleasant way

PHRASAL VERBS
hack sb off phr v BrE informal
to annoy someone:
•His attitude really hacks me off! [C]
1 a writer who does a lot of low quality work, especially writing newspaper articles:
•A Sunday newspaper hack uncovered the story.
2 an unimportant politician:
•The meeting was attended by the usual old party hacks.
3 a way of using a computer to get into someone else's computer system without their permission
4 AmE informal a taxi, or a taxi driver
5 an act of hitting something roughly with a cutting tool:
•One more hack and the branch was off.
6 an old tired horse
7 a horse you can pay money to ride on
8 BrE a ride on a horse:
•a long hack across the fieldsBrE informal
extremely annoyed:
•I'm getting really hacked off about the whole thing. $ [C]
informal someone who secretly uses or changes the information in other people's computer systems:
•A hacker had managed to get into the system.
- hacking noun [U]
•Companies are increasingly worried by the threat of hacking and computer viruses.[usually singular]
a repeated painful cough with an unpleasant sound [plural]
1 sb's hackles rise if someone's hackles rise, they begin to feel very angry, because someone's behaviour or attitude offends them:
•Laura heard his remark, and felt her hackles rising.
raise sb's hackles (=make someone angry)
•His tactless remarks were enough to raise anyone's hackles.
2 the long feathers or hairs on the back of the neck of some animals and birds, which stand up straight when they are in danger [C] BrE
1 a carriage pulled by a horse, used in the past like a taxi
2 also hackney cab formal a taxi
a hackneyed phrase is boring and does not have much meaning because it has been used so often $ [C]
a cutting tool with small teeth on its blade, used especially for cutting metal strong
the past tense and past participle of HAVE plural haddock [C,U]
a common fish that lives in northern seas and is often used as food [U]
the land of the dead in the stories of ancient Greece; = hell
short for 'had not':
•If I hadn't seen it myself, I'd never have believed it.hematology AmE $ [U] BrE
the scientific study of bloodhemoglobin AmE $ [U] BrE
a red substance in the blood that contains iron and carries oxygenhemophilia AmE [U] BrE
a serious disease that prevents a person's blood from becoming thick, so that they lose a lot of blood easily if they are injuredhemophiliac AmE [C] BrE
a person who suffers from haemophiliahemorrhage AmE [C,U] BrE
1 a serious medical condition in which a person BLEEDs a lot, sometimes inside their body:
•He died of a massive brain haemorrhage.
2 when a company or country loses a lot of money or people very quickly
[+of]
•We have seen a haemorrhage of jobs from the region.hemorrhage AmE BrE
1 [I] to lose a lot of blood in a very short time
2 [T] to lose a lot of something over a short period of time, such as money or jobs:
•The once prosperous town has hemorrhaged manufacturing jobs over the last 15 years.hemorrhoids AmE [plural] BrE
painfully swollen BLOOD VESSELs near a person's ANUS $ [C]
technical a long handle on an AXE^1 or other weapon [C] old-fashioned
an ugly or unpleasant woman, especially one who is old or looks like a WITCH $
someone who looks haggard has lines on their face and dark marks around their eyes, especially because they are ill, worried, or tired:
•Sam looked tired and haggard.
•a haggard face [C,U]
a food eaten in Scotland, made from the heart and other organs of a sheep, cut up and boiled in a skin made from the sheep's stomach [I]
to argue when you are trying to agree about the price of something
[+over]
•tourists haggling over the price of souvenirs
[+with]
•Ted was haggling with the street vendors.
- haggling noun [U] $ plural hagiographies [C,U]
1 a book about the lives of SAINTs
2 a book about someone that praises them too much
another spelling of HA
1 used in writing to represent a shout of laughter
2 spoken used, sometimes angrily, to show that you do not think something is funny:
•Oh, very funny, John, ha ha. plural haiku or haikus [C]
a type of Japanese poem with three lines consisting of five, seven, and five SYLLABLEs
1 [U] frozen rain drops which fall as hard balls of ice:
•heavy showers of rain and hail
2 a hail of bullets/stones etc a large number of bullets, stones etc that are thrown or fired at someone:
•The aircraft were met by a hail of gunfire.
3 a hail of criticism/abuse etc a lot of criticism etc:
•The proposals met with a hail of criticism.
1 [T] to describe someone or something as being very good
hail sb/sth as sth
•Lang's first film was immediately hailed as a masterpiece.
be hailed sth
•The new service has been hailed a success.
•A young man is being hailed a hero tonight after rescuing two children.
2 [T] to call to someone in order to greet them or try to attract their attention:
•She leaned out of the window and hailed a passerby.
hail a cab/taxi
•The hotel doorman will hail a cab for you.
3 it hails if it hails, small balls of ice fall like rain:
•It's windy and hailing outside.

PHRASAL VERBS
hail from sth phr v old-fashioned
to have been born in a particular place:
•And where do you hail from? $ [C]
a special Roman Catholic prayer to Mary, the mother of Jesushail stone $ [C]
a small ball of frozen rain $ [C]
a storm when a lot of HAIL falls $
1 [U] the mass of things like fine threads that grows on your head

brush/comb your hair
do your hair (=arrange it in a style)
have/get your hair cut/done (=by a hairdresser)
short/long hair
shoulder-length hair
fair/blonde hair (=hair that is yellowish-white in colour)
dark hair
red/auburn hair also
ginger hair BrE (=hair that is orangey-brown in colour)
straight/curly hair
frizzy hair (=hair that is tightly curled)
wavy hair (=hair with loose curls)
fine/thick hair
lank hair (=hair that is thin, straight, and unattractive)
dark-haired/fair-haired/long-haired etc
strand of hair (=a thin piece of hair)
lock of hair (=a fairly thick piece of hair)
mop of hair (=a large amount of thick untidy hair)
be losing your hair (=be going bald)
run your fingers through your/sb's hair
ruffle/tousle sb's hair (=make it untidy by rubbing your hand through it)

•She put on her lipstick and brushed her hair.
• I must get my hair cut- it's getting very long.
•You've had your hair done differently.
• His hair was short and dark.
• a young woman with short blonde hair
•Her long wavy hair was tied back with a bow.
•He's a tall, fair-haired guy.
• He had a mop of curly black hair.
• Men are always worrying about losing their hair.
• She kissed him on the cheek and ruffled his hair.
!! When you mean 'all the hair on a person's head', hair is an uncountable noun: He has black hair (NOT He has black hairs).

2 [C] one of the long fine things like thread that grows on people's heads and on other parts of their bodies, or similar things that grow on animals:
•The cat has left white hairs all over the sofa.
•I'm starting to get a few grey hairs.
•I found a hair in my meal.
long-haired/short-haired
•long-haired cats
3 be tearing/pulling your hair out to be very worried or angry about something, especially because you do not know what to do:
•Anyone else would have been tearing their hair out trying to work it out.
4 let your hair down informal to enjoy yourself and start to relax, especially after working very hard:
•The party gave us all a chance to really let our hair down.
5 bad hair day a day when your hair does not look tidy or neat even when you try to arrange it carefully - used humorously:
•I'm having a bit of a bad hair day.
6 keep your hair on BrE spoken used to tell someone to keep calm and not get annoyed:
•All right, all right, keep your hair on! I'm sorry.
7 get in sb's hair informal to annoy someone, especially by always being near them
8 make sb's hair stand on end to make someone very frightened
9 make sb's hair curl if a story, experience etc makes your hair curl, it is very surprising, frightening, or shocking:
•tales that would make your hair curl
10 not have a hair out of place to have a very neat appearance
11 not turn a hair to remain completely calm when something bad or surprising suddenly happens
12 not harm/touch a hair of/on sb's head to not harm someone in any way
13 the hair of the dog (that bit you) alcohol that you drink to cure a headache caused by drinking too much alcohol the night before - used humorously
have a good/fine/thick etc head of hair at HEAD^1 (14)
not see hide nor hair of at HIDE^2 (5)
split hairs at SPLIT^1 (8) $ [C]
a brush you use on your hair to make it smoothhair care $ [U]
the act of washing and drying your hair and shaping it into a style:
•advice on makeup and hair care
- haircare adjective [only before noun]
•haircare products $ [U]
a type of rough material made from animal hair $ [C]
1 when you have a haircut, someone cuts your hair for you
have/get a haircut
•I haven't had a haircut for months!
•You need a haircut!
2 the style your hair is cut in:
•Do you like my new haircut? $ plural hairdos [C]
informal the style in which someone's hair is cut or shaped; = hairstyle $ [C]
1 a person who cuts, washes, and arranges people's hair in particular styles; barber
2 the hairdresser's BrE the hairdresser's shop; = salon; barber's
•an appointment at the hairdresser's
- hairdressing noun [U]hairdrier $ [C]
a machine that blows out hot air for drying hair; blow-dryer $ [C]
BrE a small thin piece of metal that a woman uses to hold her hair in place; = bobby pin AmE $
with no hair:
•Young rabbits are born blind and hairless. $ [C]
1 the line around your head, especially at the front, where your hair starts growing:
•He had put on weight, and his hairline was beginning to recede.
2 a hairline crack/fracture a very thin crack:
•a hairline fracture in a bone $ [C]
a very thin net that stretches over your hair to keep it in place $ [C]
a piece of false hair that you wear on your head to make your own hair look thicker; wig, toupée $ [C]
a pin made of wire bent into a U-shape to hold long hair in positionalso hairpin turn AmE [C]
a very sharp U-shaped curve in a road
frightening and dangerous in a way that is exciting:
•a hair-raising car chase[singular]
a very small amount or distance:
•The bullet missed me by a hair's breadth.[C]
a shirt made of rough uncomfortable cloth containing hair, worn in the past by some religious people to punish themselves[C]
BrE a small attractive metal or plastic object that a woman uses to fasten her hair in place; = barrette AmE[U]
when people pay too much attention to small differences and unimportant details, especially in an argument
split hairs at SPLIT^1 (8) $ [U]
a sticky liquid that you SPRAY on your hair to keep it in place $ [C]
the style in which someone's hair has been cut or shaped:
•Do you like my new hairstyle?[C]
a TRIGGER^1 on a gun that needs very little pressure to fire the gun[only before noun]
easily made angry:
•his hair-trigger temperament $ comparative hairier, superlative hairiest
1 a hairy person or animal has a lot of hair on their body:
•a skinny guy with hairy legs
•a hairy caterpillar
2 informal dangerous or frightening, often in a way that is exciting:
•It was pretty hairy climbing down the cliff.
•We had a few hairy moments when I thought the boat was going to sink.
- hairiness noun [U]hajj [C]
a journey to Mecca for religious reasons, that all Muslims try to make at least once in their life [C]
used as a title for a Muslim who has made a haj plural hake [C,U]
a sea fish, used as food [C]
a Muslim doctorhallal [only before noun]
halal meat is meat from an animal that has been killed in a way that is approved by Muslim law $ [C]
a type of sword that was used as a weapon in the past
halcyon days literary a time in the past when you were very happy:
•She often recalled the halcyon days of her youth.
hale and hearty someone, especially an old person, who is hale and hearty is very healthy and active:
•She's still hale and hearty at 74. $ [only before noun]
1 50% exactly or about 50% (½) of an amount, time, distance, number etc
[+of]
•Over half of the children live in one-parent families.
•Only half the guests had arrived by seven o'clock.
•If you look at our members, at least half are women.
half a mile/pound/hour etc
•half a pound of butter
•It's about half a mile down the road.
•She drank half a bottle of wine.
• half a million dollars
a half hour/mile etc
•You can't just waltz in a half hour late.
•It's about a half mile down the road.
•a half day excursion to the island
•He demanded a half share of the money.
half the price/size/length etc
•It's only half the size of a normal violin.
•They offered to pay half the cost of repairs.
2 MOST OF the largest part of something
[+of]
•We missed half of what he said because someone was talking.
•She seems to be asleep half the time.
•Getting covered in mud is half the fun.
3 TIME half (past) one/two/three etc BrE thirty minutes after the hour mentioned:
•I rang at about half six.
•I got home at about half past one.
•We'll be there by seven or half past.
4 COMBINATION if something is half one thing and half something else, it is a combination of those two things:
•He's half English, half Swiss.
5 half a dozen
a) six:
•half a dozen eggs
b) a small number of people or things:
•There were half a dozen other people in front of me.
6 half a/the chance a small opportunity to do something, especially one which someone would take eagerly:
•I'd go to university if I got half the chance.
•Many kids would sleep till noon given half a chance.
7 half an eye/ear if you have half an eye on something, or if you are listening with half an ear, you are giving only part of your attention to it:
•He listened with only half an ear and his thoughts wandered.
•The teacher kept half an eye on them all through the lesson.
8 be half the battle spoken used to say that when you have done the most difficult part of an activity, the rest is easy:
•Getting the audience to like you is half the battle.
9 half a minute/moment/second etc spoken a very short time:
•Hold on, this will only take half a second.
10 only half the story an explanation that is not complete, used especially to say that someone is trying to keep something secret:
•Journalists are convinced that she was only telling them half the story.
11 have half a mind to do sth spoken used to say that you would like to do something but you probably will not do it:
•He had half a mind to ask for his money back.
•I have half a mind to tell your mother about this.
12 half measures actions or methods that are not strong enough, and so are not effective in dealing with a difficult problem:
•This is no time for half measures.

GRAMMAR

!! You do not usually say 'the half' I've only read half of the story (NOT I've only read the half of the story). The only time you say 'the half' is when you are referring to a particular half | the first half of the book

!! Do not say 'one and half', 'two and half' etc. Say one and a half, two and a half etc: She is two and a half years old. These numbers are followed by a plural noun, not a singular one | one and a half days (NOT one and a half day)

!! Do not say 'half of hour'. Say half an hour or, especially in spoken American English, a half hour.

plural halves $ [C]
1 50% one of two equal parts of something:
•Two halves make a whole.
one/two etc and a half (=1½, 2½ etc)
•My son's three and a half now.
•an hour and a half later
•two and a half thousand people
first/second/other half (of sth)
•in the first half of the nineteenth century
•He kept the other half of the cake for himself.
top/bottom/northern etc half (of sth)
•A veil covered the lower half of her face.
•the southern half of the country
break/cut/tear etc sth in half (=into two equal parts)
•She tore the piece of paper in half.
reduce/cut sth by half (=make something 50% smaller)
•a plan to cut European forces by half
2 SPORT one of the two parts into which a sports event is divided
first/second half
•France played very well in the first half.
3 PLAYER a player who plays in the middle part of the field in sports like football, RUGBY etc:
•the 23-year-old Newcastle centre half
4 BEER BrE a half of a PINT of beer
[+of]
•Can I have a half of lager, please?
5 TICKET BrE a child's ticket, for example on a bus or train, that is cheaper than an adult's ticket:
•One and a half to Waterloo, please.
6 a ... and a half informal used when you think that something is very unusual or surprising, or very good:
•That was a meal and a half!
7 the half of it spoken used to emphasize that a situation is more difficult, complicated, or unpleasant than people realize:
•Everyone knows she's a difficult girl, but they don't know the half of it.
8 your better half/other half old-fashioned used humorously to mean your husband or wife:
•Let me introduce you to my better half.
9 not do sth by halves to do something very eagerly and using a lot of care and effort:
•I'm sure it will be a fantastic wedding. Eva never does anything by halves.
10 go halves (on sth) to share something, especially the cost of something, equally between two people:
•Do you want to go halves on a pizza?
11 too clever/rich/good etc by half BrE informal very clever, rich etc in an annoying way:
•That boy's too arrogant by half.
12 how the other half lives how people who are much richer or much poorer than you manage their lives, work, money etc
1 partly, but not completely:
•He was half in the water and half out.
•She was standing there half dressed, putting on her makeup.
•The door was only half closed.
•The jug was still half full.
•a half-empty wine bottle
•I was only half awake.
•He looked half asleep.
•I was half expecting her to say 'no'.
•I half hoped that they wouldn't come.
•I said it half jokingly.
2 used to emphasize something bad, to say that it is almost an extremely bad thing:
•The kitten looked half starved.
•He was half dead with exhaustion.
•I had been driven half out of my mind with worry.
3
a) half as much/big etc half the size, amount etc of something else:
•The new machine has all the same functions, but is only half as large.
b) half as much/big etc again larger by an amount that is equal to half the original size:
•A flat in London costs almost half as much again as a flat in Glasgow.
4 not half as/so good/interesting etc (as sb/sth) much less good, less interesting etc than someone or something else:
•The movie wasn't half as entertaining as the book.
•She can't love you half as much as I do.
5 not half BrE spoken used when you want to emphasize an opinion or statement:
•She doesn't half talk once she gets started.
6 not half bad spoken an expression meaning good, used especially when you are rather surprised that something is good:
•Actually, the party wasn't half bad.
7 half and half partly one thing and partly another:
•The group was about half and half, complete beginners and people with some experience.[U]
AmE a mixture that is half milk and half cream, used in coffee or teahalf-assed AmE $ [only before noun] BrE informal
1 doing something without making much effort:
•He made a half-arsed attempt to clean up after the party.
2 completely stupid:
•What a half-assed idea! $ [C]
1 a player in a game of football, RUGBY, HOCKEY etc who plays in the middle part of the field
2 a player in American football who, at the start of play, is behind the front line of players and next to the FULLBACKinformal
a half-baked idea, suggestion, plan etc has not been properly planned:
•He's always coming out with these half-baked ideas which will never work.half-board [U]
BrE the price of a room in a hotel that includes breakfast and dinner:
•half board accommodation
FULL BOARD[C] taboo
a very offensive word for someone whose parents are of different races, especially one white parent and one Native American parent. Do not use this word; mixed race
- half-breed adjective[C]
a brother who is the son of only one of your parents; half-sister[C] taboo
a very offensive word for someone whose parents are of different races. Do not use this word; mixed race
- half-caste adjectivealso half cock BrE
go off half cocked go off at half cock BrE to do something without enough thought or preparation, so that it is not successful
behaving in a slightly crazy, uncontrolled way
[+with]
•She was half-crazed with pain.[C]
a coin used in Britain before 1971. There were eight half crowns in a pound.BrE old-fashioned
drunkhalf-day [C]
a day when you work or go to school either in the morning or the afternoon, but not all day:
•Friday is my half day off.[only before noun]
a half-day event takes place in either the morning or the afternoon:
•half-day courses on study skills[C]
an American or Canadian coin worth 50 cents $
done without much effort and without much interest in the result:
•Congress has made half-hearted attempts at finance reform.
- half-heartedly adverb[C]
BrE old-fashioned an afternoon in which children do not have to go school; = half dayhalf hour [C]
a period of time that is 30 minutes long:
•Fay had been in her room for a good half-hour.
- half-hour adjective
•a half-hour TV showBrE
done or happening every half hour:
•Trains depart at half-hourly intervals from 10.30 am until 4.00 pm.
a half-length painting or picture shows the top half of someone's body
FULL-LENGTH^1 (1)[C]
the length of time it takes a RADIOACTIVE substance to lose half of its RADIOACTIVITY[U]
the dull grey light you see when it is almost dark but not completely dark:
•the cold half-light of the early morning
at half-mast
a) if a flag is flying at half-mast, it has been raised to the middle of the pole in order to show respect and sadness for someone who has died
b) BrE humorous if a piece of clothing is at half-mast, it is lower down the body than is usualhalf-measures [plural] BrE
actions or methods that are not effective in dealing with the whole of a difficult problem:
•Half measures will not fix the health care system.[C]
the shape of the moon when only half of it is showing
FULL MOON, NEW MOON (1) $ [C]
a way of holding your opponent's arm behind their back in the sport of WRESTLING[C]
AmE a musical note which continues for half the length of a WHOLE NOTE; = minim BrE plural halfpennies [C]
a small coin worth half of one PENNY, used in Britain in the pasthalfpipe $ [C]
1 a CONCRETE structure which has a rounded bottom and sides and is used for SKATEBOARDing
2 a structure which has a rounded bottom and sides, is made from snow, and is used for SNOWBOARDING[U]
half the usual price; full price
at half price
•Many shoes are at half price or less.
- half-price adjective
•Half-price tickets will be sold on the day.
- half price adverb
•Children aged 2-14 go half price.[C]
a sister who is the daughter of only one of your parents; half-brother[C]
AmE the difference in PITCH between any two notes that are next to each other on a piano; = semitone[C]
BrE a short holiday from school in the middle of a TERM $
a half-timbered house is usually old and shows the wooden structure of the building on the outside wallshalf time [U]
a short period of rest between two parts of a game, such as football or BASKETBALL
at half-time
•The score at half-time was 34-7.
•Another penalty from Roberts gave Gloucester a half-time lead.
FULL TIME $
1 [U] a method of printing black and white photographs that shows different shades of grey by changing the number of black DOTs in an area of the photograph
2 [C] a photograph printed by this method[C]
a statement that is only partly true, especially one that is intended to keep something secret:
•His replies were full of evasions and half-truths. $
1 at a middle point in space or time between two things; = partway
[+through/up/down/between etc]
•He chased Kevin halfway up the stairs.
•It was a terrible film - I left halfway through.
•traffic queues stretching back halfway to London
the halfway stage/mark/point
•They've just reached the halfway stage of the project.
2 be halfway there to have done something that will allow you to achieve something else:
•Establish the right relationships at work and you're halfway there.
3 be/come/go halfway to doing sth to achieve something partly but not completely:
•We're still only halfway to finishing the job.
4 halfway decent/normal/successful etc informal reasonably good, normal, successful etc:
•the only halfway decent hotel around here
meet sb halfway at MEET^1 (19)
1 [singular] BrE something which is a combination of the qualities of two different things:
•Belief is a kind of halfway house between non-belief and absolute proof.
2 [C] a place for former prisoners or people who have had problems such as mental illness, where they can live until they are ready to live on their own[C]
informal a stupid person
- #half-=witted adjective
•I'm not half-witted, you know.
done or happening every six months:
•half-yearly meetings
•The interest you earn will be paid half-yearly in June and December. plural halibut [C]
a large flat sea fish used as food $ [U] technical
a condition in which someone's breath smells very bad; = bad breath $ [C]
1 ENTRANCE the area just inside the door of a house or other building, that leads to other rooms; = hallway
in the hall
•We hung our coats in a cupboard in the hall.
•a huge tiled entrance hall
2 CORRIDOR a passage in a building or house that leads to many of the rooms; = corridor, hallway
•Each floor had ten rooms on both sides of the hall.
3 PUBLIC BUILDING a building or large room for public events such as meetings or dances
sports/exhibition/banqueting etc hall
•The school has a new sports hall.
•Five hundred people filled the lecture hall.
church/village hall (=used by people who live in a place)
•A coffee morning is to be held in the village hall.
•a concert at Carnegie Hall
CITY HALL (2), CONCERT HALL, DANCE HALL, MUSIC HALL (2), TOWN HALL
4 FOR STUDENTS especially BrE a college or university building where students live; = hall of residence; = dorm AmE
in hall
•For a brief time they had shared a room in hall.
another spelling of HALAL
used to express thanks, JOY, or praise to God
- hallelujah noun [C] $ [C]
1 an idea, method, or quality that is typical of a particular person or thing
[+of]
•These hotels still offer the sort of service which were the hallmark of the grand days of travel.
•The explosion had all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.
•Their performance did not bear the hallmark of European champions.
2 a mark put on silver, gold, or PLATINUM that shows the quality of the metal, and where and when it was made[T]
to put a hallmark on silver, gold, or PLATINUM $
an old-fashioned British spelling of HELLO[C]
in the US, a list of famous sports players or a building where their uniforms, equipment, and information about them are shown[C] BrE
a college or university building where students live; = dorm AmE $
1 holy or made holy by religious practices; sacred
•The bones will be buried in hallowed ground.
2 important and respected by a lot of people:
•the hallowed halls of government
•hallowed traditionsHallowe'en $ [U]
the night of October 31st, which is now celebrated by children, who dress in COSTUMEs and go from house to house asking for sweets, especially in the US and Canada. In the past, people believed the souls of dead people appeared on Halloween. [I]
to see or hear things that are not really there
[C,U] something which you imagine you can see or hear, but which is not really there, or the experience of this:
•The patients suffered hallucinations caused by the drug. $ formal
1 causing hallucinations or resulting from hallucinations:
•hallucinatory drugs
2 using strange images, sounds etc like those experienced in a hallucination:
•hallucinatory poetry [C]
a substance that causes hallucinations
hallucinogenic drugs make people experience hallucinations $ [C]
1 the area just inside the door of a house or other building, that leads to other rooms; = hall
2 a passage in a building or house that leads to many of the rooms; = hall, corridor $ plural halos [C]
1 a bright circle that is often shown above or around the heads of holy people in religious art
2 a circle of light or something bright
[+of]
•a halo of sunlight
•a halo of blonde curls [U]
1 a halogen light uses halogen gas to produce light
halogen bulb/lamp/light etc
2 one of a group of five simple chemical substances that make COMPOUNDs easily $ [U] technical
a COMPOUND gas that damages the OZONE LAYER $
1 [singular] a stop or pause:
•Heavy snowfalls brought traffic to a halt (=made it stop moving).
•The World Championship was brought to a temporary halt (=was stopped from continuing).
come/grind/screech etc to a halt (=stop moving or continuing)
•The whole peace process seems to have ground to a halt.
•Joe slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a halt.
•The President has called for a halt to the wave of emigration.
!! Do not say 'get to a halt'. Say 'come to a halt'.
2 call a halt (to sth) to stop an activity from continuing:
•I urge those responsible to call a halt to the violence.
3 [C] BrE a place in the countryside where a train stops to let passengers get off, but where there is no station
1 [T] to prevent someone or something from continuing - used especially in news reports; = stop
•The government has failed to halt economic decline.
•Safety concerns have led them to halt work on the dam.
2 [I] to stop moving:
•The parade halted by a busy corner.
3 halt! used as a military order to tell someone to stop moving or soldiers to stop marching:
•Company halt!
•Halt! Who goes there? $ [C]
1 a rope or leather band that fastens around a horse's head, usually used to lead the horse
2 also halter top halterneck a type of clothing for women that ties behind the neck and across the back, so that the arms and back are not covered:
•Jen was wearing black shorts and a halter. $
if your speech or movements are halting, you stop for a moment between words or movements, especially because you are not confident; = hesitant
•We carried on a rather halting conversation.
- haltingly adverb $ [T]
1 to reduce something by a half:
•Cash cuts have halved the number of places available on training courses.
2 to cut or divide something into two equal pieces:
•Halve the potatoes lengthwise. $
1 the plural of HALF
2 go halves (with sb) BrE if you go halves with someone, you divide something equally between you, especially money $ [C]
technical a rope used to raise or lower a flag or sail
1 [C,U] the upper part of a pig's leg, or the meat from this that has been preserved with salt or smoke; gammon
•a ham sandwich
•a seven-pound ham
2 [C] someone who receives and sends radio messages for fun rather than as their job
3 [C] informal an actor who performs with too much false emotionpast tense and past participle hammed, present participle hamming
ham it up informal to perform with too much false emotion when acting $
1 [C] a flat round piece of finely cut BEEF (=meat from a cow) which is cooked and eaten in a bread BUN
2 [U] AmE beef that has been cut into very small pieces; = mince BrEalso ham-handed informal
1 not at all skilful or careful in the way that you deal with people; = inept
•They made several ham-fisted attempts to spy on her.
2 not at all skilful with your hands; = clumsy [C]
a very small village $ [C]
1 TOOL
a) a tool with a heavy metal part on a long handle, used for hitting nails into wood
b) a tool like this with a wooden head used to make something flat, make a noise etc:
•an auctioneer's hammer
2 come/go under the hammer to be offered for sale at an AUCTION
3 hammer blow BrE an event that damages something very seriously
[+for]
•The decision is a hammer blow for the coal industry.
4 hammer and tongs informal
a) if people go at each other hammer and tongs, they fight or argue very loudly
b) if someone does something hammer and tongs, they do it with all their energy
5 GUN the part of a gun that hits the explosive CHARGE that fires a bullet
6 SPORT a heavy metal ball on a wire with a handle at the end, which you throw as far as possible as a sport
7 PIANO a wooden part of a PIANO that hits the strings inside to make a musical sound
1 HIT WITH A HAMMER [I,T] to hit something with a hammer in order to force it into a particular position or shape
hammer sth in/into sth
•Hammer the nails into the back of the frame.
hammer away (at sth)
•All afternoon, Martin had been hammering away in the conservatory.
•the sound of hammering and sawing
2 HIT REPEATEDLY [I] to hit something many times, especially making a loud noise; = pound, bang
[+at]
•Daniella hammered at the door.
•The rain was hammering against the window.
3 HURT WITH PROBLEMS [T] to hurt someone or something by causing them a lot of problems:
•British industry was being hammered by the recession.
4 HIT HARD [T] informal to hit or kick something very hard:
•Robinson hammered the ball into the goal.
5 CRITICIZE [T] to strongly criticize or attack someone for something they have said or done:
•The president has been hammered for his lack of leadership.
6 hammer sth home to make sure that people understand something by repeating it many times:
•The message must be hammered home that crime doesn't pay.
7 HEART [I] if your heart hammers, you feel it beating strongly and quickly; = pound
•She stood outside the door, her heart hammering.
8 DEFEAT [T] informal to defeat someone completely at a sport:
•Arsenal hammered Manchester United 5-0.

PHRASAL VERBS
hammer away phr v
1 to keep saying something because you want people to understand or accept it
[+at]
•I keep hammering away at this point because it's important.
2 to work hard and continuously at something
[+at]
•You need to keep on hammering away at achieving your goals.

hammer sth <=> in phr v also hammer sth into sb
to keep saying something until people completely understand it:
•The coach hammered his message into the team.

hammer sth <=> out phr v
to decide on an agreement, contract etc after a lot of discussion and disagreement:
•Leading oil producers tried to hammer out a deal.[singular]
1 the sign of a hammer crossing a SICKLE on a red background, used as a sign of COMMUNISM
2 the flag of the former Soviet Union $ [not before noun] informal
very drunk [singular, U]
1 take a hammering/be given a hammering to be attacked or defeated very severely:
•The city took a real hammering during the war.
2 the sound of someone hitting something with a hammer or with their hands:
•There was a loud hammering at the door. [C]
a large piece of cloth that is hung between two trees or posts so that you can sleep in it
if a performance by an actor is hammy, it is done with too much false emotion $ [T]
to make it difficult for someone to do something:
•She tried to run, but was hampered by her heavy suitcase.
•An attempt to rescue the men has been hampered by bad weather.[C]
1 BrE a basket with a lid, which is used for carrying food or sending it to someone as a present:
•a picnic hamper
•They sent us a lovely Christmas hamper.
2 AmE a large basket that you put dirty clothes in until they can be washed; = laundry basket BrE $ [C]
a small animal that looks like a mouse with no tail [C]
a TENDON behind your knee, which sometimes gets injured when you do sport:
•He pulled a hamstring in training.
hamstring injury/problem/strain etc past tense and past participle hamstrung [T]
to make someone unable to take the action they want or need to take, especially by restricting them:
•The President feels he is hamstrung by Congress.
1 PART OF BODY [C] the part of your body at the end of your arm, including your fingers and thumb, that you use to hold things

sb's left/right hand
in sb's hand
the palm of your hand (=the inside surface of your hand)
the back of your hand (=the outside surface of your hand)
wave your hand
clap your hands
hold hands (with sb)
shake sb's hand also
shake hands (with sb) (=as a greeting)
take sb by the hand (=hold someone's hand in order to take them somewhere)
join hands (=take hold of someone's hand, for example in a dance)
clasp your hands (=hold them together tightly)
fold your hands (=put them together and rest them on something)
raise your hand also
put your hand up BrE (=lift your hand in the air, especially to show that you want to answer or ask a question)
on (your) hands and knees (=in a crawling position)
with your bare hands (=without using a tool, weapon, machine etc)

•Go wash your hands.
•Steve gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands.
•He held the pencil in his right hand.
• In her hand was a tattered old photograph.
• a small book, no bigger than the palm of my hand
• She waved her hand to the crowd.
• They were laughing and cheering and clapping their hands.
•The young couple were holding hands.
•The two leaders shook hands.
• Marika took the child by the hand and led her away.
• They all joined hands in a big circle.
•Sally sat with her hands folded in her lap.
• Raise your hand if you know the answer.
• I had to get down on my hands and knees and look under the settee.
•He was capable of killing a man with his bare hands.

2 HELP a hand help with something - used in the following phrases
need/want a hand
•Do you need a hand packing?
give/lend (sb) a hand
•Can you give me a hand to lift this?
•If you get stuck, Denise is always willing to lend a hand.
I could do with a hand/use a hand (=it would be useful to have some help)
•We could certainly do with a hand.
a helping hand at HELP^1 (9)
see box at HELP^1
3 CONTROL [singular, U] control, power, or influence that someone has:
•The President has strengthened the hand of the gun lobby.
•This matter is too important to be left in the hands of (=in the control of) an inexperienced lawyer.
•a manager with a firm hand (=who controls things strictly)
4 get out of hand if a situation or person gets out of hand, they become impossible to control any longer:
•The previously peaceful demonstration seemed to be getting out of hand.
5 on the other hand also on the one hand. .. on the other hand used to give another opinion or fact that should be considered as well as the one you have just given:
•I'd like to eat out, but on the other hand I should be trying to save money.
!! Do not say 'on one hand'. Say on the one hand.
6 hands off spoken used to say that someone cannot have, take, or touch something:
•Hey! Hands off that CD! It's mine!
•Tell your little brother to keep his hands off my car.
HANDS-OFF
7 in hand
a) if something is in hand, it is being done or dealt with:
•Plans are in hand to perform 'Oz' next semester.
•Lisa seemed to have things in hand by the time he returned.
job/task/matter etc in hand
•Our officers have to concentrate 100 per cent on the task in hand.
take sb in hand (=begin to deal with someone's problems etc)
b) BrE if you work a week, a month etc in hand, you do not get paid until after you have worked two weeks, two months etc
c) BrE if you have time, money etc in hand, you have it available
•I usually have a few days' leave in hand at the end of the year.
d) BrE if a team or player has a game in hand in a competition, they still have another game to play in which they could gain more points
8 in the hands of sb/in sb's hands being dealt with or cared for by someone:
•The matter is in the hands of the police.
in good/safe/capable etc hands
•You can be sure your children are in good hands.
•The fear is that nuclear secrets could fall into the wrong hands.
!! Do not say 'in the hand of' someone. Say in the hands of someone.
a safe pair of hands at SAFE^1 (11)
9 hands up
a) with your arms straight up in the air - used especially to tell someone to do this as a sign that they will not attack you:
•Hands up! You're under arrest!
•The men emerged from the building with their hands up.
b) used to tell people to put their arm straight up in the air if they know the answer to a question or want to say something:
•Hands up if you agree with what Eric was saying.
10 at hand formal
a) likely to happen soon:
•Recent economic performance suggests that a major crisis is at hand.
b) close to you and available to be used
•Don't worry, help is at hand!
c) needing to be dealt with now:
•Peter turned his attention to the task at hand.
11 to hand BrE something that is to hand is close to you, so that you can reach it easily
12 on hand close by and ready when needed:
•Our staff are always on hand to help.
13 by hand
a) done or made by a person rather than a machine:
•We had to wash our clothes by hand.
b) delivered by someone personally, rather than being sent through the post, emailed etc
14 (at) first hand if you know or experience something first hand, you have personal experience of it:
•an opportunity to view at first hand the workings of the court
15 (at) second/third/fourth hand if you know something second, third etc hand, someone tells you about it, but you have no personal experience of it:
•Until now, information has been second or third hand, but this news comes from someone who was there.
16 at the hands of sb caused or done by a particular person - used about something bad or unpleasant that someone does:
•Anyone who suffered at the hands of care workers will be entitled to compensation.
•This is their third defeat at the hands of the world champions.
17 get your hands on sth informal to succeed in getting something:
•She's only marrying him to get her hands on his money.
18 lay your hands on sth to find or get something:
•I would read any book I could lay my hands on.
19 come to hand if something comes to hand, it is there for you to use - used especially about something that is there by chance:
•They ran, picking up whatever weapons came to hand.
20 get your hands on sb spoken to catch someone you are angry with:
•Just wait till I get my hands on you!
21 have a hand in sth to influence or be involved in something:
•He scored one goal and had a hand in two others.
22 hand in hand
a) (go) hand in hand if two things go hand in hand, they are closely connected:
•Wealth and power go hand in hand in most societies.
[+with]
•They say that genius often goes hand in hand with madness.
b) if two people walk, stand etc hand in hand, they walk, stand etc while they are holding each other's hand:
•They walked hand in hand in silence up the path.
23 have sth/sb on your hands to have a difficult job, problem, situation etc to deal with:
•I'm afraid we have a murder on our hands, Inspector.
24 be off your hands if something or someone is off your hands, you are not responsible for them any more:
•Once this problem is off our hands we can relax for a while.
take sb/sth off sb's hands
•She wants someone to take the kids off her hands occasionally.
25 try your hand at (doing) sth to try to do something you have not tried before:
•John dreamed of being a writer and had tried his hand at poetry.
26 turn your hand to (doing) sth to do something well, even if it is the first time you have tried:
•Larry's one of those men who can turn their hand to anything.
27 out of hand without even stopping to consider what someone has suggested, asked for etc
reject/dismiss/refuse etc sth out of hand
•Aromatherapy was dismissed out of hand by traditional doctors.
28 hands down easily
win (sth)/beat sb hands down
•Nigel always won hands down in any argument.
29 have your hands full to be very busy or too busy:
•Can't it wait? I already have my hands full.
30 good with your hands skilful at making things
31 on either/every hand written on both sides or in every direction:
•Thick forest stood on either hand.
32 get your hands dirty
a) informal to do hard or dirty physical work - usually used in questions or negative statements:
•It's not that the jobs aren't there, it's just that she doesn't want to get her hands dirty.
b) to get involved in the difficult, dishonest, or unpleasant side of something:
•He never talked to the media or got his hands dirty in any way.
33 keep your hand in to do something that you used to do a lot, so you do not forget how to do it:
•You should at least work part-time, just to keep your hand in.
34 hand in glove closely connected with someone, especially in a bad or illegal activity:
•Far from being independent, the government and media work hand in glove.
35 hand over fist informal if you gain or lose something hand over fist, you gain or lose it very quickly:
•Five years ago, the company was losing money hand over fist.
36 a big hand spoken used to tell the people who are watching a performance to CLAP or CHEER loudly:
•And now, a big hand for Ms Joan Rivers!
•Let's all give the girls a big hand.
37 all hands on deck also all hands to the pumps BrE informal used to say that everyone is needed to help in a particular situation:
•With only half an hour to get everything ready, it was all hands on deck.
38 WORKER [C] someone who does physical work on a farm, factory, ship etc:
•The farm hands slept in a narrow hut next to the barn.
39 CARDS [C]
a) the playing cards given to one person in a game:
•a winning hand
b) a single game of cards
40 CLOCK [C] a long thin piece of metal that points at the numbers on a clock
hour/minute/second hand
41 WRITING [singular] old-fashioned someone's HANDWRITING
42 sb's hands are tied if someone's hands are tied, they cannot help in a particular situation because of rules, laws etc:
•The bank claims its hands are tied by federal regulators.
43 tie/bind sb hand and foot
a) to tie up someone's hands and feet
b) to make it very difficult or impossible for someone to do what they think is best
44 can do sth with one hand (tied) behind your back spoken used to say that you can do something very easily
45 not do a hand's turn BrE old-fashioned informal to do no work at all
46 sb's hand (in marriage) old-fashioned permission for a man to marry a particular woman:
•He asked for her hand in marriage.
47 HORSE [C] a unit for measuring the height of a horse, equal to about 10 centimetres
CASH-IN-HAND, FREEHAND, HANDS-ON, LEFT-HAND, RIGHT-HAND; be an old hand (at sth) at OLD (17); bite the hand that feeds you at BITE^1 (15); have blood on your hands at BLOOD^1 (2); have your hands/fingers in the till at TILL^2 (3); force sb's hand at FORCE^2 (7); overplay your hand at OVERPLAY (2); shake sb's hand/shake hands with sb at SHAKE^1 (4); wash your hands of sth at WASH^1 (5)[T]
1 to give something to someone else with your hand
hand sb sth
•He handed the teacher a slip of paper.
hand sth to sb
•He lit a cigarette and handed it to her.
•This form must be handed to all employees.
2 you have to hand it to sb spoken used to say that you admire someone:
•You have to hand it to her. She's really made a success of that company.

PHRASAL VERBS
hand sth <=> around phr v also hand sth round BrE
to offer something to each person in a group:
•Willie helped hand the mugs around.

hand sth <=> back phr v
1 to give something back to the person who gave it to you, with your hand
[+to]
•Kurt examined the document and handed it back to her.
hand sb sth <=> back
•She handed him his pen back.
2 to give something back to the person who used to own it
[+to]
•The land was handed back to its original owner.
hand sb sth <=> back
•The government has promised to hand investors back their money.

hand sth <=> down phr v
1 to give or leave something to people who will live after you
[+to]
•The ring was handed down to her from her grandmother.
•stories handed down by word of mouth
HAND-ME-DOWN
2 hand down a decision/ruling/sentence etc to officially announce a decision, punishment etc

hand sth <=> in phr v
to give something to someone in authority:
•Tom has handed in his resignation.
•Did you hand your homework in on time?

hand sth <=> on phr v
to give something to someone, for example because you no longer need it:
•The clock was handed on from Kevin's father.
•He was accused of handing on government secrets.

hand sth <=> out phr v
to give something to each person in a group; = distribute
•Could you start handing these books out please?
[+to]
•He was handing out leaflets to members of the audience.
HANDOUT

hand over phr v
1 hand sth <=> over to give something to someone with your hand, especially because they have asked for it or should have it:
•The soldiers were ordered to hand over their guns.
[+to]
•He handed the phone over to me.
2 to give someone power or responsibility over something which you used to be in charge of
hand sth <=> over (to sb)
•On his retirement, he handed the business over to his son.
•Political control has been handed over to religious leaders.
[+to]
•Now she feels the time has come to hand over to someone else. [C]
a small bag in which a woman carries money and personal things; = purse AmE $
1 [U] a game in which two teams try to score points by throwing or hitting a ball with their hands
2 [U] a game in which players hit a ball against a wall with their hand
3 [C] a ball that is used to play handball
4 [C,U] the act of touching the ball with your hands in a game of football, which is not allowed:
•The referee gave a free kick for handball. [C]
a small printed notice or advertisement that is given to people:
•Students distributed handbills calling for better funding for schools. [C]
a short book that gives information or instructions about something:
•the Fiction Writer's Handbook [C]
BrE a BRAKE in a car that you pull up with your hand to stop the car from moving when it is parked; = emergency brake AmE $ [C]
AmE a small railway vehicle that people move along by pushing large handles up and down $ [C]
a small vehicle that you push or pull by hand and use for carrying goods BrE
slow handclap if people give someone a slow handclap, they hit their hands together slowly to show that they disapprove of them $
skilfully made by hand, not by machine; = handmade
•a handcrafted rocking chair [T]
to put handcuffs on someone [plural]
a pair of metal rings joined by a chain. Handcuffs are used for holding a prisoner's wrists together:
•They put handcuffs on the two men and led them away.
in handcuffs
•He was brought into the court in handcuffs.
•a pair of handcuffs[U]
the way in which your hands and eyes work together, especially in sport, so that you can throw, hit, and catch a ball
1 [C] an amount that you can hold in your hand
[+of]
•The boy picked up a handful of stones and started throwing them at us.
2 a handful of sth a very small number of people or things:
•There were only a handful of people there.
3 be a handful informal someone, especially a child, who is a handful is difficult to control:
•She's a lovely child, but she can be a bit of a handful sometimes.[C]
a small bomb that you throw [C]
a small gun that you hold in one hand when you fire it
a hand-held machine is small enough to hold in your hand when you use it:
•a hand-held camera
•hand-held video games [C]
a PDA $ [C]
a part of something that you can hold onto when climbing it [C]
1 old-fashioned if someone has a handicap, a part of their body or their mind has been permanently injured or damaged. Many people think that this word is offensive.
2 a situation that makes it difficult for someone to do what they want:
•Not speaking the language is a real handicap.
3 an advantage that is given to a weaker player in a game of GOLF:
•He's improved a lot, and his handicap has come down from 18 to 12.
4 a race for horses in which the best horses carry extra weight so that all the horses have an equal chance of winningpast tense and past participle handicapped, present participle handicapping [T]
to make it difficult for someone to do something that they want or need to do:
•The charity is handicapped by lack of funds. old-fashioned
1 if someone is handicapped, a part of their body or their mind has been permanently injured or damaged. Some people think that this word is offensive:
•a special school for mentally handicapped children
2 the handicapped [plural] people who are handicapped. Some people think that this expression is offensive;
DISABLEDalso craft $ [C usually plural]
1 an activity such as sewing or making baskets, in which you use your hands in a skilful way to make things
2 something that someone has made in a skilful way using their hands:
•a shop selling pottery and traditional handicrafts
1 something that is handily placed is in a position where it can easily be reached or used:
•She kept the key handily by the back door.
2 AmE if you win something handily, you win easily $ [U]
sb's handiwork
a) something that someone has made or done using their hands in a skilful way:
•She stood back and admired her handiwork.
b) something that someone has done or caused:
•The explosion looks like the handiwork of terrorists.[C]
informal the act of touching or rubbing a man's sex organs to give him sexual pleasure $ [C]
a piece of cloth that you use for drying your nose or eyes; = hankie
1 DO WORK [T] to do the things that are necessary to complete a job:
•I handled most of the paperwork.
•The case is being handled by a top lawyer.
•The finance department handles all the accounts.
•Computers can handle huge amounts of data.
2 DEAL WITH A SITUATION [T] to deal with a situation or problem by behaving in a particular way and making particular decisions:
•The headmaster handled the situation very well.
•I knew I had handled the matter badly.
•Leave it to me. I can handle it.
•Most customers were satisfied with the way their complaints were handled.
•Opposition leaders will be watching carefully to see how the Prime Minister handles the crisis.
3 DEAL WITH A PERSON [T] to deal with a person or behave towards them in a particular way, especially in order to keep them happy:
•Martin might be useful to us, but he would have to be handled carefully.
•Some customers are quite difficult to handle.
4 NOT BECOME UPSET [T] to not become upset in a difficult situation:
•She can't handle it when people criticize her.
•He doesn't handle stress very well.
5 HOLD [T] to touch something or pick it up and hold it in your hands:
•He had never handled a weapon before.
•We teach the children to handle the animals gently.
•He was roughly handled by the mob.
6 CONTROL A VEHICLE
a) [T] to control the movement of a vehicle or an animal:
•I didn't know if I'd be able to handle such a large vehicle.
b) [I] the way a vehicle handles is how easy it is to control
handles well/badly
•The car handles well, even on wet roads.
7 MOVE GOODS [T] to move goods from one place to another:
•The Post Office handles nearly 2 billion letters and parcels over the Christmas period.
8 BUY/SELL GOODS [T] to buy or sell goods:
•Bennet was charged with handling stolen goods.[C]
1 the part of a door that you use for opening it:
•Then he turned the handle and went in.
2 the part of an object that you use for holding it:
•a knife with a carved wooden handle
•the handle of his cup
•a broom handle
3 get a handle on sth to start to understand a situation, subject etc:
•It's difficult to get a handle on how widespread this problem is.
fly off the handle at FLY^1 (16) $ [C]
a long thick MOUSTACHE which curves upwards at both endsalso handlebar $ [plural]
the bar above the front wheel of a bicycle or MOTORCYCLE that you turn to control its direction $ [C]
1 someone who trains an animal, especially a dog:
•a police dog handler
2 someone who touches, carries, or moves things as their job:
•All food handlers should be properly trained.
•baggage handlers at the airport
3 someone who helps and advises an important person:
•She is kept well away from the press by her handlers. [U]
1 the way in which someone does a job or deals with a situation, problem, or person
[+of]
•The President has been much criticized for his handling of the crisis.
•Such a situation needs very careful handling.
2 the act of touching something:
•The equipment should be able to withstand a certain amount of rough handling.
3 the act of buying, selling, or moving goods:
•cargo handling
•A special licence is required for the manufacture or handling of any dangerous chemical.
4 the way in which a vehicle can be controlled, especially how easy it is for a driver to control it:
•It's a lovely little car - the ride is comfortable and the handling excellent.[C]
the amount that someone charges for dealing with goods or moving them from one place to another [C]
a small machine for weaving by hand[U]
the small bags that you carry with you when you are travelling on a plane
made by people using their hands, not by a machine:
•a pair of expensive handmade shoesalso handmaid [C]
1 old-fashioned a female servant
2 formal something that supports an idea, system, or way of life
[+of]
•Science must not become the handmaiden of the state.[C]
a piece of clothing which has been used by someone and then given to another person:
•She refused to wear hand-me-downs.
•hand-me-down clothes [C]
1 money or goods that are given to someone, for example because they are poor:
•people who have to live on handouts from the state
•a cash handout
2 a piece of paper with information, which is given to people who are attending a lesson, meeting etc:
•Please read the handout. $ [singular]
1 the act of giving someone else control of a place or business:
•The president will remain in office until the official handover in April.
[+of]
•United Nations troops will be in the country to ensure a smooth handover of power.
•the handover of the business
[+to]
•The handover to civilian government has been delayed.
2 the act of giving something to someone
[+of]
•They demanded the immediate handover of all relevant documents.
hand over at HAND^2
someone who is handpicked has been carefully chosen for a special purpose:
•one of his handpicked advisers [C]
a long bar that is fixed to the side of a set of stairs for people to hold while they walk up or down $ [C]
a small tool for cutting wood, which has a flat metal blade with a lot of sharp V-shaped teeth [C]
1 the part of a telephone that you hold near your ear and mouth
2 the part of a MOBILE PHONE that you hold in your hand [only before noun]
a handsfree machine is one that you can use without using your hands:
•a handsfree phone [C]
1 the act of taking someone's right hand and shaking it, which people do when they meet or leave each other or when they have made an agreement:
•He greeted me with a handshake and a glass of wine.
•Her handshake was warm and firm.
2 a special signal sent between two computers, FAX machines etc when they begin to exchange information
- handshaking noun [U]
GOLDEN HANDSHAKE[only before noun]
a hands-off way of organizing something involves letting people do what they want and make their own decisions, without telling them what to do:
•a hands-off style of management
•The government has a hands-off approach to the industry.
1
a) a man who is handsome looks attractive; = good-looking
•an extremely handsome young man
•Sam was tall, dark and handsome.
•his handsome face
see box at BEAUTIFUL
b) a woman who is handsome looks attractive in a strong healthy way
2 an animal, object, or building that is handsome looks attractive in an impressive way:
•a row of handsome Georgian houses
3 [only before noun] a handsome amount of money is large:
•He managed to make a handsome profit out of the deal.
•a handsome fee
4 [only before noun] a handsome gift or prize is worth a lot of money:
•There are some handsome prizes to be won.
5 [only before noun] a handsome victory is important and impressive:
•They won a handsome victory in the elections.
- handsomely adverb
•He was handsomely rewarded by the king.[usually before noun]
doing something yourself rather than just talking about it or telling other people to do it:
•a chance to get some hands-on experience of the job
•He has a very hands-on approach to management. [C]
a quick movement in which you put your hands on the ground, move your feet over your head, and stand up again [C]
a movement in which you put your hands on the ground and your legs in the air[only before noun]
hand-to-hand fighting is a way of fighting in which people use their hands and knives rather than guns
hand-to-hand fighting/combat etc
•There was fierce hand-to-hand fighting in the streets of the city.
•They were defeated in hand-to-hand combat.
if you have a hand-to-mouth existence, you have only just enough money and food to live[C]
a tool that does not use electricity[C]
a small piece of cloth that you use for drying your hands $ [T]
if you handwash a piece of clothing, you wash it by hand, not in a washing machine [U]
the style of someone's writing:
•I recognised her handwriting on the envelope.
•My handwriting has never been very neat.
written by hand, not printed:
•a handwritten letter comparative handier, superlative handiest
1 useful:
•It's quite a handy little tool.
• It's very handy having a light above your desk.
•Take your swimming trunks with you - they might come in handy (=be useful).
2 informal near and easy to reach:
•I always keep my gun handy just in case.
•Do you have a piece of paper handy?
[+for] BrE
•The house was in Drury Lane, very handy for the theatre.
3 good at using something, especially a tool
[+with]
•He's very handy with a screwdriver. plural handymen [C]
someone who is good at doing repairs and practical jobs in the house past tense and past participle hung
1 TOP PART FASTENED
a) also hang up [T always + adv/prep] to put something in a position so that the top part is fixed or supported, and the bottom part is free to move and does not touch the ground:
•Philip hung his coat on a hook behind the door.
•She hung the sheets on the washing line.
b) [I always + adv/prep] to be in a position where the top part is fixed or supported, and the bottom part is free to move and does not touch the ground:
•An old-fashioned gas lamp hung from the ceiling.
•Her long hair hung loose about her shoulders.
•The shirt hung down almost to his ankles.
2 PICTURE ETC
a) [T] to fix a picture, photograph etc to a wall:
•I wanted to hang the picture in the hall, by the front door.
b) [I always + adv/prep] if a picture, photograph etc is hanging somewhere, it is fixed to a wall:
•There was a large family photograph hanging on the wall.
c) be hung with sth if the walls of a room are hung with pictures or decorations, the pictures etc are on the walls:
•The entrance hall was hung with rich tapestries.
3 KILL/BE KILLED past tense and past participle hanged [I,T] to kill someone by dropping them with a rope around their neck, or to die in this way, especially as a punishment for a serious crime
be hanged for sth
•He was hanged for murder.
hang yourself
•Corey hanged himself in his prison cell.
•If he is found guilty, he will almost certainly hang.
4 PAPER [T] to fasten attractive paper to a wall in order to decorate a room:
•We spent the afternoon hanging wallpaper.
5 DOOR [T] to fasten a door in position:
•Hanging a door is quite a tricky job.
6 MIST/SMOKE/SMELL [I + adv/prep] if something such as smoke hangs in the air, it stays in the air for a long time:
•The smoke from the bonfires hung in the air.
•A thick mist hung over the town.
7 hang open if a door, someone's mouth etc hangs open, it is open
8 hang in the balance if something hangs in the balance, it is not certain what will happen to it:
•The future of the company hangs in the balance.
9 hang by a thread if something is hanging by a thread, it is in a very dangerous situation and may not continue:
•He is still in hospital, his life hanging by a thread.
10 hang (on) in there also hang tough spoken especially AmE to remain brave and determined when you are in a difficult situation:
•Don't worry. Just hang on in there.
11 hang your head to look ashamed and embarrassed:
•She hung her head, not sure how to reply.
•Daphne had hung her head in shame.
12 hang fire to wait for a short while before you do something:
•I think we should hang fire for a week.
13 leave sth hanging in the air to leave something in a situation where it has not been explained, completed, or dealt with:
•His resignation has left some important questions hanging in the air.
14 hang a right/left AmE spoken to turn right or left when driving:
•Go straight on for two blocks, then hang a left.
15 [I] AmE spoken to spend time somewhere, relaxing and enjoying yourself
[+with]
•We were just hanging with the dudes at Mike's house.
16 I'll be hanged if BrE old-fashioned used to express annoyance or to say that you will not allow something to happen:
•I'll be hanged if I'll give them any money!
17 hang it (all) BrE old-fashioned used to say that you are disappointed or annoyed about something
18 hang sth BrE old-fashioned used to say that you are not going to do something:
•Oh hang the report, let's go for a drink.

PHRASAL VERBS
hang about phr v BrE
1 spoken to move slowly or take too long doing something:
•Come on, we haven't got time to hang about!
2 hang about (sth) to spend time somewhere without any real purpose:
•There were always groups of boys hanging about in the square.
•He normally hung about the house all day.
3 hang about! spoken
a) used to ask someone to wait or stop what they are doing
b) used when you have just noticed or thought of something that is interesting or wrong:
•Hang about - that can't be right.

hang about with sb phr v BrE informal
to spend a lot of time with someone

hang around/round (sth) phr v informal
to wait or spend time somewhere, doing nothing:
•I hung around the station for an hour but he never came.

hang around with sb phr v
to spend a lot of time with someone:
•The people I used to hang around with were much older than me.

hang back phr v
1 to stay a short distance away from someone or something, and not go too near them:
•Instinctively he hung back in the shelter of a rock.
2 to not say or do something because you are shy or afraid

hang on phr v
1 to hold something tightly
[+to]
•She hung on to the side of the cart as it rattled over the stones.
•Hang on tight!
2 hang on! BrE spoken
a) used to ask or tell someone to wait; = hold on
•Hang on! I'll be back in a minute.
b) used when you have just noticed or thought of something that is interesting or wrong
3 hang on sth to depend on something:
•Everything hangs on the outcome of this meeting.
4 hang on sb's words/every word to pay close attention to everything someone is saying:
•She was watching his face, hanging on his every word.

hang on to sth phr v also hang onto sth
to keep something:
•I think I'll hang on to the documents for a bit longer.

hang out phr v
1 informal to spend a lot of time in a particular place or with particular people
[+with]
•I don't really know who she hangs out with.
•Where do the youngsters hang out?
HANGOUT
2 hang sth <=> out to hang clothes outside in order to dry them:
•My job was to hang out the washing.
• Hang the wet things out to dry.
3 let it all hang out informal to relax and do what you like

hang over sth/sb phr v
if something bad is hanging over you, you are worried or anxious about it:
•The threat of redundancy was still hanging over us.
•It's not very nice to have huge debts hanging over your head.

hang together phr v
1 if a plan, story, set of ideas etc hangs together, it is well organized and its different parts go well together:
•Her story just doesn't hang together.
2 if people hang together, they help each other

hang up phr v
1 to finish a telephone conversation:
•I said goodbye and hung up.
[+on]
•Don't hang up on me - I need to talk to you.
2 hang sth <=> up to hang clothes on a hook etc:
•She took her coat off and hung it up.
3 hang up your hat/football boots/briefcase etc informal to stop doing a particular kind of work
HANG-UP, HUNG-UP
get the hang of sth informal to learn how to do something or use something:
•It seems difficult at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it. $ [C]
a very large building in which aircraft are kept $
hangdog expression/look an expression that shows you feel sorry or ashamed about something:
•I could tell from his hangdog look that things had gone badly.also coat hanger, clothes hanger $ [C]
a curved piece of wood or metal with a hook on top, used for hanging clothes on:
•She took off her jacket and hung it on a hanger.plural hangers-on [C]
someone who spends a lot of time with a rich or important person, because they hope to get some advantage for themselves:
•He was surrounded by a crowd of friends and hangers-on.[C]
1 a large frame covered with cloth that you hold on to and fly slowly through the air on, without an engine
2 someone who flies using a hang-glider[U]
the sport of flying using a hang-glider
1 [C,U] the act of killing someone by putting a rope around their neck and dropping them, used as a punishment:
•public hangings
•people who believe that bringing back hanging will reduce the amount of crime
2 [C] a large piece of cloth that is hung on a wall as a decoration:
•a colourful wall hanging[C]
a basket with plants growing in it that is hung on the outside of a building as decoration plural hangmen [C]
someone whose job is to kill criminals by hanging them [C]
a piece of skin that has become loose near the bottom of your FINGERNAIL [C]
informal a place someone likes to go to often:
•The bar is a favourite hangout for students. $ [C]
1 a pain in your head and a feeling of sickness that you get the day after you have drunk too much alcohol:
•I had a terrible hangover the next day.
2 a hangover from sth something from the past that still exists or happens but is no longer necessary or useful:
•This feeling was a hangover from her schooldays.
•an institution which is a hangover from Victorian timeshangup [C]
informal a feeling of worry or embarrassment about something that you have although there is no real reason to feel this way:
•She had cured him of all his hang-ups.
[+about]
•She's got a real hang-up about her body.
hang up at HANG^1 [C]
an amount of wool or thread that has been wound into a loose ball $

PHRASAL VERBS
hanker after/for sth phr v
to feel strongly that you want something:
•She hankered for a new life in a different country.
•holidaymakers who hanker after the sun [singular]
a strong wish to have or do something
[+for/after]
•his hankering for adventure
a hankering to do sth
•I've always had a hankering to be a doctor.hanky [C]
informal a HANDKERCHIEF [U]
informal sexual activity - used humorouslyalso hansom cab [C]
a small vehicle pulled by a horse which was used in the past as a taxiChanukah $ [C,U]
an eight-day Jewish holiday in November or December
another spelling of HALFPENNY $
happening or done in a way that is not planned or organized
a haphazard way/manner/fashion
•I continued my studies in a rather haphazard way.
•Educational provision in the country is haphazard.
- haphazardly adverb
•bushes growing haphazardly here and there [only before noun]
literary unlucky:
•The hapless passengers were stranded at the airport for three days. [I]
1 when something happens, there is an event, especially one that is not planned; = occur
•When did the accident happen?
•It's impossible to predict what will happen next.
something/nothing/anything happens
•Something terrible has happened.
•She carried on as if nothing had happened.
•This was bound to happen sooner or later.
•This kind of thing happens all the time.
•We'll still be friends, whatever happens.
2 something/anything/what happens to sb/sth if something happens to someone or something, they are affected by an event:
•He should be here by now - something must have happened to him.
•The same thing happened to me last year.
•What's happened to your coat? It's all ripped.
•What will happen to the collection now?
3 happen to do sth if you happen to do something, you do it by chance:
•I happened to see James in town.
4 sb/sth happens to be sth used when telling someone something in an angry way:
•This happens to be my house!
5 as it happens/it just so happens used to tell someone something that is surprising, interesting, or useful:
•As it happens, I know someone who might be able to help you.
6 these things happen used to tell someone not to worry about a mistake they have made, an accident they have caused etc:
•It's not your fault - these things happen.
7 whatever happened to sb/sth? used to ask where a person or thing is now:
•Whatever happened to Steve? I haven't seen him for years.

PHRASAL VERBS
happen on/upon sb/sth phr v literary old-fashioned
to find something or meet someone by chance:
•I happened on the restaurant by chance.
accidents (will) happen at ACCIDENT (5) [C usually plural]
something that happens, especially a strange event
strange/unusual/mysterious etc happenings
•There have been reports of strange happenings in the town.informal
fashionable and exciting:
•Brighton is definitely a happening place. [C,U] literary
chance, or something that happens by chance
1 in a happy way:
•Michelle smiled happily.
•I'm a happily married man.
•So she married the prince, and they lived happily ever after (=used at the end of children's stories to say that someone was happy for the rest of their life).
2 [sentence adverb] fortunately:
•Happily, his injuries were not serious.
3 very willingly:
•I'd happily go for you.
•Most restaurants will happily accept payment by cheque. [U]
the state of being happy:
•Juliet's eyes shone with happiness.
•We want our children to have the best possible chance of happiness. comparative happier, superlative happiest
1 having feelings of pleasure, for example because something good has happened to you or you are very satisfied with your life; sad
•It's a lovely house and we've been very happy here.
•I've never felt happier in my life.
•He was a happy child who rarely cried.
•the happy faces of the children
•I loved her and thought I could make her happy.
happy to do sth
•John will be so happy to see you.
happy (that)
•I'm happy that everything worked out well in the end.
be/feel happy for sb
•What a wonderful opportunity! I'm so happy for you.
happy in your work/job etc
happy to be doing sth
•We're very happy to be taking part.
the happy couple (=a couple that have just got married or will soon get married)
2 [usually before noun] a happy time, relationship, event etc is a good one that makes you feel happy:
•This has been the happiest day of my life.
•They had a very happy marriage.
•I have lots of happy memories of the place.
•The story has a happy ending, however.
•When's the happy event (=the birth of your child)?
3 [not before noun] satisfied or not worried
[+with]
•On the whole, I'm happy with the way I look.
•People living nearby are not happy with the decision.
[+about]
•Mom wasn't happy about Tess going off travelling on her own.
•I pretended to agree with her, just to keep her happy.
happy doing sth
•I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing.
4 be happy to do sth to be very willing to do something, especially to help someone:
•Our team will be happy to help.
•I'd be happy to take you in my car.
5 Happy Birthday/New Year/Christmas etc used to wish someone happiness on a special occasion:
•Happy Birthday, Michael!
•Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
6 many happy returns used to wish someone happiness on their BIRTHDAY
7 [only before noun] fortunate or lucky:
•By a happy coincidence, James was also in town that weekend.
•I'm in the happy position of not having to work.
8 a happy medium (between sth and sth) a way of doing something that is not extreme but is somewhere between two possible choices:
•I always tried to strike a happy medium between having a home that looked like a bomb had hit it and becoming obsessively tidy.
9 [only before noun] formal suitable:
•His choice of words was not a very happy one.

WORD FOCUS: words meaning happy
cheerful behaving in a way that shows you are happy
in a good mood happy at a particular time, and therefore friendly to other people
pleased /glad happy because something good has happened
delighted /thrilled/overjoyed/ecstatic very happy because something good has happened
contented happy with your life
optimistic /positive believing that good things will happen in the future
gleeful /gloating /smug happy because something bad has happened to someone else
BrE informal
relating to a Christian church where people sing, shout, show their emotions, and encourage other people to join their church - used to show disapproval:
•happy-clappy Christians
- happy clappy noun [C]
enjoying life and not worrying about things:
•a happy-go-lucky kind of person[C,U]
a special time in a bar when alcoholic drinks are sold at lower prices [U]
a way of killing yourself by cutting open your stomach, used in the past in Japan to avoid losing honour [T]
to speak in a loud angry way, often for a long time, in order to criticize someone or to persuade them that you are right
harangue sb about sth
•He stood on the street corner, haranguing passers-by about the stupidity of the forthcoming war.
- harangue noun [C] [T]
1 to make someone's life unpleasant, for example by frequently saying offensive things to them or threatening them:
•A number of black youths have complained of being harassed by the police.
sexually/racially harass sb (=harass someone because of their sex or race)
•One woman claimed that she had been sexually harassed by a male manager.
2 to keep attacking an enemy again and again BrE
anxious and tired because you have too many problems or things to do:
•He looked pale and harassed. [U]
when someone behaves in an unpleasant or threatening way towards you:
•African-Americans have been complaining about police harassment for years.
[+of]
•Political parties are banned, and harassment of dissidents is commonplace.
sexual/racial harassment (=because of someone's sex or race)
•We need effective strategies to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. $ [C] literary formal
a sign that something is going to happen soon
[+of]
•These birds are considered to be harbingers of doom.harbor AmE $ [C] BrE
an area of water next to the land where the water is calm, so that ships are safe when they are inside it:
•as they sailed into Portsmouth Harbourharbor AmE [T] BrE
1 to keep bad thoughts, fears, or hopes in your mind for a long time:
•I think he's harbouring some sort of grudge against me.
•She began to harbour doubts over the wisdom of their journey.
2 to contain something, especially something hidden and dangerous:
•Sinks and draining boards can harbour germs.
3 to protect and hide criminals that the police are searching for[C]
the official who is in charge of a harbour $ comparative harder, superlative hardest
1 FIRM TO TOUCH firm, stiff, and difficult to press down, break, or cut; soft
•a hard wooden chair
•the hardest substance known to man
•After months without rain, the ground was too hard to plough.
2 DIFFICULT difficult to do or understand; = difficult; easy
•This year's exam was much harder than last year's.
•You'll have to make some hard decisions.
•They're a hard team to beat.
it is hard to believe/imagine/see/know etc
•It was hard to see what else we could have done.
•It's hard to believe that anyone would say something like that.
find it hard to do sth
•I was finding it hard to concentrate.
•Permanent jobs are hard to come by (=difficult to find or get).
be hard for sb
•It must be hard for her, bringing up three kids on her own.
•Telling my parents is going to be the hardest thing about it.
have a hard time doing sth (=be difficult for someone to do something)
•You'll have a hard time proving that.
•I had a hard time persuading him to accept the offer.
•Such criticism was hard to take (=difficult to accept).
3 WORK/EFFORT [usually before noun] using or involving a lot of mental or physical effort:
•To be successful in sport requires hard work and a great deal of determination.
•After a hard day at work, I just want to come home and put my feet up.
a hard day's work/walking/skiing etc
•There's a sauna where you can relax after a hard day's skiing.
•Becoming a doctor never interested him. It was too much like hard work (=it would involve too much work).
4 FULL OF PROBLEMS a situation or time that is hard is one in which you have a lot of problems, especially when you do not have enough money:
•She's had a hard life.
• Times were hard and they were forced to sell their house.
•He had clearly fallen on hard times (=did not have much money).
5 be hard on sb
a) to criticize someone in a way that is unfair, or to be too strict with them:
•Perhaps I'm too hard on her.
b) to have a bad effect on someone:
•Divorce can be very hard on children.
6 be hard on sth to have a bad effect on something:
•Standing all day is very hard on the feet.
7 do sth the hard way to learn, achieve, or do something after a bad experience or by making mistakes:
•He learned the hard way about the harsh reality of the boxing world.
•Make sure you put the baby's diaper on before you start feeding her. I learned this lesson the hard way.
•He earned his promotion the hard way.
8 USING FORCE using a lot of force:
•Jane gave the door a good hard push.
•She gave him a hard slap.
9 hard evidence/facts/information etc facts that are definitely true and can be proved:
•There is no hard evidence to support this theory.
10 UNKIND showing no sympathetic or gentle feelings:
•a hard face
•Her voice was hard and cold.
•You're a hard man, John.
11 hard going
a) difficult to do and needing a lot of effort:
•A strong wind made the race very hard going.
b) boring, or difficult to deal with, talk to etc:
•I find some of his friends pretty hard going.
12 make hard work of sth to make something you are doing seem more difficult than it really is:
•Juventus were making hard work of what should have been an easy game.
13 be hard at it/work informal to be very busy doing something:
•Sarah was hard at it on her computer.
14 WATER hard water contains a lot of minerals, and does not mix easily with soap; soft
15 hard luck
a) BrE spoken used to tell someone that you feel sorry for them because they have not succeeded in what they were trying to do:
•'I failed my driving test.' 'Oh, hard luck!'
b) when bad things happen to you that are not your fault:
•You've had your share of hard luck.
[+on]
•It was hard luck on you.
c) spoken also hard cheese BrE used to say that you do not care if someone is having problems, does not like something etc:
•If you don't like the idea then hard luck!
•'He doesn't know what to do.' 'Well that's his hard luck!'
16 give sb a hard time informal
a) to treat someone badly or cause problems for them:
•Giving you a hard time, is she?
•They reached the border where officials gave them a hard time.
b) to criticize someone a lot:
•Hostile critics have given Hartman a hard time.
17 have a hard time to have a lot of problems or bad experiences:
•I'm glad she's happy at last - she's had such a hard time.
•Vegetarians still often have a hard time of it when it comes to eating out.
18 drive/strike a hard bargain to demand a lot or refuse to give too much when you are making an agreement:
•The company is believed to have struck a hard bargain.
19 hard feelings
a) anger between people because of something that has happened:
•We'd known each other too long for hard feelings.
•I have no hard feelings towards Steve.
b) no hard feelings spoken used to tell someone that you do not want to be angry with them or for them to be angry with you:
•I'm sorry it didn't work out, but no hard feelings, eh?
20 take a (long) hard look at sth/sb to think carefully about something, especially with the result that you change your opinions or behaviour:
•You should take a long hard look at the issues before committing yourself.
•Newspaper editors should take a long hard look at themselves and clean up their act.
21 hard line a strict way of dealing with someone or something:
•The president should abandon his hard line in the region.
take/adopt a hard line (on sth)
•The school takes a very hard line on drugs.
22 hard news news stories that are about serious subjects or events:
•TV news programs seem to be more interested in gossip than in hard news.
23 NOT FRIGHTENED BrE spoken strong, ready to fight, and not afraid of anyone or anything:
•He thinks he's really hard.
•Jones was known as soccer's hard man.
24 (as) hard as nails someone who is hard as nails seems to have no feelings such as fear or sympathy
25 a hard taskmaster/master someone who makes people work too hard
26 a hard winter/frost a very cold winter or FROST; mild
27 the hard left/right people who have extreme LEFT-WING or RIGHT-WING political aims and ideas; = far left/right, extreme
•concerns about the re-emergence of the hard right in some areas
28 LIGHT especially literary hard light is bright and unpleasant; = harsh
•the hard brilliance of the moonlight
29 ALCOHOL [only before noun] informal very strong:
•hard liquor
•I never touch the hard stuff (=strong alcohol).
HARD DRUGS
30 a hard left/right a big turn to the left or right, for example when you are driving; = sharp
31 PRONUNCIATION a hard 'c' is pronounced /k/ rather than /s/; a hard 'g' is pronounced /g/ rather than /dz/; soft
- hardness noun [U]
•a material that would combine the flexibility of rubber with the hardness of glass

WORD FOCUS: hard
hard and not bending:
solid
firm
stiff
rigid
meat that is too hard:
tough
skin that is old and hard:
leathery
calloused
hard and easily broken:
brittle
comparative harder, superlative hardest
1 USING ENERGY/EFFORT using a lot of effort, energy, or attention:
•She has worked hard all her life.
•He had thought long and hard before getting involved with the project.
•She tried her hardest to ignore what he'd said.
•Ella was concentrating very hard.
•I couldn't convince him no matter how hard I tried.
•Sam stared hard at the floor.
2 WITH FORCE with a lot of force:
•You need to hit the ball hard.
•He slammed the door hard behind him.
•It was raining very hard.
3 BECOME SOLID becoming solid, stiff, or firm:
•By now the cement had set hard.
4 be hard hit/be hit hard to be badly affected by something that has happened:
•Sales were hard hit by high interest rates.
5 be hard put/pressed/pushed to do sth informal to have difficulty doing something:
•You'd be hard pressed to find anyone better for the job.
HARD-PRESSED
6 be/feel hard done by informal to be or feel unfairly treated:
•As a child I felt hard done by, living so far away from my friends.
7 take sth hard to be very upset about something, especially bad news:
•Alan took his mother's death particularly hard.
8 hard upon/on sth BrE formal soon after something:
•His second major contract followed hard upon the first.
9 laugh/cry hard to laugh, cry etc a lot:
•He laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes
HARD BY, HARD UP; (hard/hot/close) on sb's heels at HEEL^1 (7b); (hard/hot/close) on the heels of sth at HEEL^1 (7a)
play hard to get at PLAY^1 (23)[only before noun]
clear, definite, and always able to be used:
•It is impossible to give hard-and-fast rules, but here are some points to consider.also hardcover $ [C]
a book that has a strong stiff cover
in hardback
•His first novel sold over 40,000 copies in hardback.
- hardback adjective
•a hardback edition of 'The Joy of Cooking'
PAPERBACK $ [U] AmE
play hardball informal to be very determined to get what you want, especially in business or politics
not easily shocked or upset, because you have had a lot of experience:
•a hard-bitten cop $ [U]
a material made from small pieces of wood pressed together
1 a hard-boiled egg has been boiled until it becomes solid
SOFT-BOILED
2 informal
a) not showing your emotions and not influenced by your feelings; = tough
•a hard-boiled marketing executive
b) hard-boiled film/thriller/fiction etc a film etc that deals with people who do not show their emotionsBrE old use
very near:
•in a house hard by the city gate[U]
paper money and coins, not cheques or CREDIT CARDs [C,U]
information from a computer that is printed out onto paper, or the printed papers themselves[singular] BrE

a) the small group of people that are most active within a group or organization:
•the hard core of the Communist party
b) a group of people who cannot be persuaded to change their behaviour or beliefs:
•There is still a small hard core of football supporters who cause trouble whenever they can.hardcore $
1 [only before noun] having an extreme way of life or an extreme belief that is very unlikely to change:
•a hard-core drug addict
•hard-core racists
2 hard-core pornography magazines, films etc that show the details of sexual behaviour, often in an unpleasant way[C]
an area for playing tennis which has a hard surface, not grassalso hardback $ [C]
a book that has a strong stiff cover
- hardcover adjective
PAPERBACK[C,U]
money that is from a country that has a strong ECONOMY and is therefore unlikely to lose its value[C]
a stiff DISK inside a computer that is used for storing information
FLOPPY DISK[only before noun]
a hard-drinking person drinks a lot of alcohol[C]
the part of a computer where information and programs are stored, consisting of HARD DISKs and the electronic equipment that reads what is stored on them[plural]
very strong illegal drugs such as HEROIN and COCAINE
SOFT DRUG[only before noun]
earned or achieved after a lot of effort
hard-earned money/cash etc
•Don't be too quick to part with your hard-earned cash.
•a hard-earned victory
dealing with difficult subjects or criticizing someone severely in a way that may offend some people:
•a hard-edged collection of songs $ [I,T]
1 to become firm or stiff, or to make something firm or stiff; soften
•It will take about 24 hours for the glue to harden.
2 if your attitude hardens, or if something hardens it, you become more strict and determined and less sympathetic; soften
•Attitudes towards the terrorists have hardened even more since the attack.
3 written if your face or voice hardens, or if something hardens it, you look or sound less sympathetic or happy; soften
•His face hardened momentarily, then he looked away.
4 harden your heart to make yourself not feel pity or sympathy for someone $
1 hardened criminal/police officer etc a criminal, police officer etc who has had a lot of experience of things that are shocking and is therefore less affected by them
2 become hardened (to sth) to become used to something shocking because you have seen it many times
a hard-fought game, competition etc involves two opposing sides who are trying very hard to defeat each other
a hard-fought battle/contest/game etc
•one of the most hard-fought games this season
•a hard-fought battle for the presidency[C]
a protective hat, worn especially by workers in places where buildings are being built
practical and able to make difficult decisions without letting your emotions affect your judgment:
•a hard-headed business tycoon $
not caring about other people's feelings
criticizing someone or something in a strong and effective way:
•a hard-hitting reporthard labor AmE [U] BrE
punishment in prison which consists of hard physical work
having extreme political beliefs, and refusing to change them:
•a hard-line Marxist
hard line at HARD^1 (21) $ [C]
a politician who wants political problems to be dealt with in a strong and extreme wayplural hard-luck stories [C]
a story you tell someone about bad things that have happened to you, in order to get their sympathy or help $
1 almost not:
•My parents divorced when I was six, and I hardly knew my father.
•The children were so excited they could hardly speak.
•I can hardly believe it.
• Hardly anyone (=almost no one) writes to me these days.
•Dad ate hardly anything (=almost nothing).
•There was hardly any (=very little) traffic.
•She lives in Spain, so we hardly ever (=almost never) see her.
hardly a day/week/month etc goes by without/when (=used to say that something happens almost every day, week etc)
•Hardly a month goes by without another factory closing down.
see box at RARELY
2 used to mean 'not', when you are suggesting that the person you are speaking to will agree with you:
•It's hardly surprising that she won't answer his calls after the way he's treated her.
•You can hardly blame Tom for not waiting.
•My boss could hardly be described as handsome.
hardly the time/place/person etc (=a very unsuitable time, place, person)
•This is hardly the place to discuss the matter.
3 used to say that something has only just happened:
•The serious building work has hardly begun.
hardly ... when/before
•She had hardly sat down when the phone rang.

GRAMMAR
Do not use hardly with a negative word: I can hardly believe he said that (NOT I can't hardly believe he said that). | There's hardly any milk left (NOT There's hardly no milk left).
Use hardly just before the main verb: He could hardly speak (NOT He hardly could speak).
Do not use hardly at the beginning of a sentence, except in very formal writing: I had hardly got in the house when the phone rang is the usual way to say this. It is possible to say | Hardly had I got in the house when the phone rangbut this is very formal

!! Do not use hardly as the adverb of hard. The adverb of hard is hard: I tried hard to remember (NOT I tried hardly to remember). | Students have to study very hard (NOT Students have to study very hardly).

[usually before noun]
not affected by emotions, and determined to get what you want:
•a hard-nosed businessman[not before noun]
1 unable to hear very well; deaf
2 the hard of hearing [plural] people who are unable to hear very well[C] informal not polite
an ERECTION (1)[U]
magazines, films etc that show sexual behaviour in an unacceptable, sometimes violent way
SOFT PORN
having a lot of problems and not enough money or time:
•The new exams will only add to the workload of already hard-pressed teachers.
be hard pressed to do sth at HARD^2 (5)[U]
a type of ROCK MUSIC that is played loudly, has a strong beat, and uses electric instruments[singular]
1 a way of selling something in which there is a lot of pressure on you to buy; soft sell
2 AmE if an idea is a hard sell, it is difficult to get people to accept it $ [C,U]
something that makes your life difficult or unpleasant, especially a lack of money, or the condition of having a difficult life:
•an economic policy that caused great hardship for many people
•Many students are suffering severe financial hardship.
[+of]
•the hardships of war[singular] BrE
the area at the side of a big road where you are allowed to stop if you have a problem with your car; = shoulder AmE
1 if you are hard up, you do not have much money:
•I'm a bit hard up at the moment.
2 not having something that you want or need:
•'How about a date with Tom?' 'No, thanks, I'm not that hard up.'
[+for]
•The media are obviously hard up for stories. $ [U]
1 computer machinery and equipment, as opposed to the programs that make computers work
SOFTWARE
2 equipment and tools for your home and garden
3 the machinery and equipment that is needed to do something:
•tanks and other military hardwareBrE
products that are hard-wearing will remain in good condition for a long time even when they are used a lot; = long-wearing AmEtechnical
computer systems that are hard-wired are controlled by HARDWARE rather than SOFTWARE and cannot be easily changed by the user
achieved only after a of lot effort and difficulty:
•The people were not prepared to give up their hard-won independence. $
[C,U] strong heavy wood from trees such as OAK, used for making furniture
SOFTWOOD
working with a lot of effort:
•a hard-working teacher $
1 strong and healthy and able to bear difficult living conditions:
•hardy mountain goats
2 a hardy plant is able to live through the winter
- hardiness noun [U][C]
1 a hardy plant that produces flowers for several years
2 BrE an idea that is often suggested or discussed $ plural hare or hares [C]
an animal like a rabbit but larger, which can run very quickly[I always + adv/prep]
BrE informal to run or go very fast
[+off]
•He hared off down the road.
a hare-brained plan or idea is very silly or unlikely to succeed:
•his latest hare-brained scheme $ [singular] old-fashioned
an offensive word for the condition of having your top lip divided into two parts because it did not develop correctly before birth $ [C]
1 the group of wives or women who lived with a rich or powerful man in some Muslim societies in the past
2 part of a Muslim house that is separate from the rest of the house, where only women livealso haricot bean $ [C] BrE
a small white bean; = navy bean AmE $
1 hark at him/her/you! BrE old-fashioned spoken used when you think someone is saying something stupid or acting as if they are more important than they really are:
•Hark at him! I bet he couldn't do any better.
2 hark! old use used to tell someone to listen

PHRASAL VERBS
hark back phr v
to remember and talk about things that happened in the past
[+to]
•It's useless to continually hark back to the past.

hark back to sth phr v
to be similar to something in the past:
•music that harks back to the early age of jazz $
another spelling of HEARKEN $ [C]
a character in some traditional plays who wears brightly coloured clothes and plays tricks[only before noun]
a harlequin pattern is made up of DIAMOND shapes in many different colours $ [C] old use
a PROSTITUTE $ [U]
1 damage, injury, or trouble caused by someone's actions or by an event

do harm (to sth)/do sth harm
cause (sb/sth) harm
suffer harm
do more harm than good (=cause more problems rather than improving the situation)
serious harm
physical harm
psychological/emotional harm
there is no harm in (doing) sth (=used to say that something seems reasonable)
where's the harm in that? spoken (=used when you think that something seems reasonable, although other people may not)
no harm done spoken (=used to tell someone not to worry about something they have done)

•Modern farming methods have done considerable harm to the countryside.
•Socks that are too tight can cause as much harm as badly fitting shoes.
• It is a parent's responsibility to ensure that their children do not suffer any harm.
• Criticizing people's work often does more harm than good.
• This won't do his career serious harm.
• protection from physical harm
• There's no great harm in taking something to relieve a headache.
•I'm only trying to earn a bit of money. Where's the harm in that?
• It was a silly thing to do, but don't worry. No harm done.
GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM

2 come to no harm/not come to any harm to not be hurt or damaged:
•She was relieved to see the children had come to no harm.
3 mean no harm/not mean any harm to have no intention of hurting or upsetting anyone:
•She's a terrible gossip but she means no harm.
4 there's no harm in doing sth/it does no harm to do sth spoken used to suggest something to someone:
•There's no harm in trying.
•It does no harm to ask.
5 it wouldn't do sb any harm to do sth spoken used to suggest that someone should do something that may be helpful or useful to them:
•It wouldn't do you any harm to get some experience first.
6 out of harm's way
a) if someone or something is out of harm's way, they are in a place where they cannot be hurt or damaged:
•Copies of your documents should be kept in a safe place, well out of harm's way.
b) if something dangerous is out of harm's way, it is in a place where it cannot hurt anyone or damage anything:
•If you have small children, make sure that you store all medicines out of harm's way.[T]
1 to damage something:
•chemicals that harm the environment
2 to physically hurt a person or animal:
•The kidnappers didn't harm him, thank God.
3 harm sb's image/reputation to make people have a worse opinion of a person or group $
causing or likely to cause harm:
•the harmful effects of smoking
•harmful bacteria
[+to]
•chemicals that are harmful to the environment $
1 unable or unlikely to hurt anyone or cause damage:
•Her brother's a bit simple, but he's quite harmless.
2 not likely to upset or offend anyone:
•It was just a bit of harmless fun.
- harmlessly adverb
•The spear whistled harmlessly over his head.
- harmlessness noun [U] $ technical
relating to the way notes are played or sung together to give a pleasing sound:
•harmonic scales $ [C]
a small musical instrument that you play by blowing or sucking and moving it from side to side near your mouth $
1 harmonious relationships are ones in which people are friendly and helpful to one another
2 sounds that are harmonious are very pleasant
3 parts, colours etc that are harmonious look good or work well together:
•The decor is a harmonious blend of traditional and modern.
- harmoniously adverb $ [C]
a musical instrument with a KEYBOARD and metal pipes like a small ORGANalso harmonise BrE $
1 [I] if two or more things harmonize, they work well together or look good together
[+with]
•We want to make sure that the new offices harmonize with the other buildings in the area.
2 [T] to make two or more sets of rules, taxes etc the same:
•the proposal to harmonize tax levels throughout the EU
3 [I] to sing or play music in HARMONY $ plural harmonies
1 [C usually plural, U] notes of music combined together in a pleasant way
in harmony
•a choir singing in perfect harmony
•the gorgeous vocal harmonies on 'Mexicali Rose'
•three-part harmonies
2 [U] when people live or work together without fighting or disagreeing with each other:
•I do believe it is possible for different ethnic groups to live together in harmony.
peace and harmony
•an era of peace and harmony
live/work etc in harmony
3 be in harmony with sth formal to agree with another idea, feeling etc, or look good with other things:
•Your suggestions are not in harmony with the aims of this project.
4 [U] the pleasant effect made by different things that form an attractive whole:
•the harmony of sea and sky
DISCORD $ [C,U]
1 a set of leather bands used to control a horse or to attach it to a vehicle it is pulling
2 a set of bands used to hold someone in a place or to stop them from falling:
•a safety harness
3 in harness BrE doing your usual work:
•I felt glad to be back in harness.
4 in harness (with sb) BrE working closely with another person or group[T]
1 to control and use the natural force or power of something:
•We can harness the power of the wind to generate electricity.
2 to fasten two animals together, or to fasten an animal to something using a harness
3 to put a harness on a horse $ [C]
a large musical instrument with strings that are stretched across a vertical frame with three corners, and that you play with your fingers
- harpist noun [C]

PHRASAL VERBS
harp on about sth phr v harp on sth AmE BrE informal
to talk about something continuously, especially in a way that is annoying or boring:
•My grandfather harps on about the war all the time. $ [C]
a weapon used for hunting WHALEs
- harpoon verb [T] $ [C]
a musical instrument like a PIANO, used especially in the past
- harpsichordist noun [C] $ plural harpies [C]
1 literary a cruel woman
2 Harpy a cruel creature in ancient Greek stories, with the head and upper body of a woman and the wings and feet of a bird [C] old-fashioned
a bad-tempered unpleasant woman $ [C]
a farming machine with sharp metal blades, used to break up the earth before planting crops
- harrow verb [I,T] $
very frightening or shocking and making you feel very upset:
•a harrowing experience
•a harrowing story past tense and past participle harried, present participle harrying, third person singular harries [T]
1 to keep attacking an enemy
2 to keep asking someone for something in a way that is upsetting or annoying $
1 CONDITIONS harsh conditions are difficult to live in and very uncomfortable; = severe
•The hostages are being held in extremely harsh conditions.
harsh winter/weather/climate
•the harsh Canadian winters
•a vulnerable young girl suddenly exposed to the harsh realities of life
2 TREATMENT/CRITICISM severe, cruel, or unkind
harsh criticism/treatment/punishment etc
•His theory met with harsh criticism from colleagues.
•the harsh measures taken against the protestors
•'She's an idiot!' 'Aren't you being a bit harsh?'
•a harsh, authoritarian regime
•He had harsh words (=severe criticism) for the Government.
3 SOUND unpleasantly loud and rough; soft
harsh voice/laugh/tone etc
•His voice was harsh and menacing.
4 LIGHT/COLOUR unpleasantly bright; soft
•She stood outside, blinking in the harsh sunlight.
5 LINES/SHAPES ETC ugly and unpleasant to look at:
•the harsh outline of the factories against the sky
6 CLEANING SUBSTANCE too strong and likely to damage the thing you are cleaning:
•My skin is quite sensitive and I find some soaps too harsh.
- harshly adverb
•'Shut up,' Boris said harshly.
- harshness noun [U] $ [C] old use
a male DEER $
1 [C,U] the time when crops are gathered from the fields, or the act of gathering them
at harvest/at harvest time
•every year at harvest time
wheat/rice/grape etc harvest
•It rained for the potato harvest.
2 [C] the crops that have been gathered, or the amount and quality of the crops gathered
good/bumper harvest (=a lot of crops)
•Plum growers are expecting a bumper harvest this year.
poor/bad harvest (=few crops)
3 reap a harvest to get good or bad results from your actions:
•The company is now reaping the harvest of careful planning.[I,T]
to gather crops from the fields $ [C]
someone who gathers crops
combine harvester at COMBINE^2 (1)[C]
especially BrE a church service held in the autumn to thank God for the harvest
THANKSGIVING strong
the third person singular of the present tense of HAVE[C] informal
someone who was important or popular but who has now been forgotten
1 make a hash of sth informal to do something very badly:
•I made a real hash of my exams.
2 [U] informal HASHISH
3 [C,U] a dish made with cooked meat and potatoes:
• corned beef hash
4 [C,U] BrE the symbol #

PHRASAL VERBS
hash sth <=> out phr v AmE informal
to discuss something very thoroughly and carefully, especially until you reach an agreement:
•The reorganization plan was hashed out September 16.[plural]
potatoes that are cut into very small pieces, pressed together, and cooked in oil [U]
the strongest form of the drug CANNABIS
the short form of 'has not':
•Hasn't she finished yet? $ [C]
a flat piece of metal used to fasten a door, lid etc
1 [C,U] spoken something that is annoying, because it causes problems or is difficult to do:
•I don't feel like cooking tonight, it's too much hassle.
•It's such a hassle not having a washing machine.
2 [C] AmE informal an argument between two people or groups:
•hassles with the managementpast tense and past participle hassled, present participle hassling [T] informal
to annoy someone, especially by asking them many times to do something:
•Stop hassling me! I said I'll call them tomorrow. [C]
1 a small CUSHION for kneeling on in a church
2 AmE a soft round piece of furniture used as a seat or for resting your feet on; = pouf BrE
thou hast old use a way of saying 'you have' [U]
1 great speed in doing something, especially because you do not have enough time; = hurry
•I soon regretted my haste.
in your haste to do sth
•In his haste to leave, he forgot his briefcase.
2 in haste written or formal quickly or in a hurry:
•They left in haste, without even saying goodbye.
3 make haste old use to hurry or do something quickly
4 more haste less speed BrE haste makes waste AmE used to say that it is better to do something slowly, because if you do it too quickly you will make mistakes formal
1 [T] to make something happen faster or sooner:
•Their departure was hastened by an abnormally cold winter.
2 [I] to do or say something quickly or without delay; = hurry
hasten to do sth
•I hastened to assure her that there was no danger.
3 I hasten to add used when you realize that what you have said may not have been understood correctly:
•an exhausting course, which, I hasten to add, was also great fun
4 [I always + adv/prep] literary to go somewhere quickly written
quickly, perhaps too quickly; = hurriedly
•a hastily arranged news conference
•'Don't worry,' Jenny added hastily. 'I checked with Lizzie first.'
•I may have acted hastily.
1 done in a hurry, especially with bad results; = hurried
•He soon regretted his hasty decision.
•a hasty breakfast
2 be hasty to do something too soon, without careful enough thought:
•Let's not be hasty - sit down for a moment. [C]
1 a piece of clothing that you wear on your head:
•Maria was wearing a beautiful new hat.
straw/cowboy/bowler etc hat
in a hat
•a man in a fur hat
bowler-hatted/top-hatted etc (=wearing a bowler hat, top hat etc)
•a bowler-hatted gentleman
2 keep sth under your hat informal to keep something secret
3 be wearing your teacher's/salesman's etc hat also have your teacher's/salesman's etc hat on informal to be performing the duties of a teacher etc, which are not your only duties:
•I'm a manager now and only put my salesman's hat on when one of our sales reps is having real problems.
4 I take my hat off to sb also hats off to sb informal used to say you admire someone very much because of what they have done:
•I take my hat off to Ian - without him we'd have never finished this project on time.
5 be drawn/pulled/picked out of the/a hat if someone's name is drawn out of a hat, they are chosen, for example as the winner of a competition, because their name is the first one that is taken out of a container containing the names of all the people involved:
•The first correct entry out of the hat on September 2nd will win a prize.
6 pass the hat around to collect money from a group of people, especially in order to buy someone a present
HARD HAT
OLD HAT
at the drop of a hat at DROP^2 (5)
I'll eat my hat at EAT (8)
hang up your hat at HANG UP (3)
be talking through your hat at TALK^1 (29) [C]
a band of cloth or leather fastened around a hat as a decoration[C]
a special box used for carrying a hat in
1 also hatch out [I,T] if an egg hatches, or if it is hatched, it breaks, letting the young bird, insect etc come out:
•The eggs take three days to hatch.
2 also hatch out [I,T] if a young bird, insect etc hatches, or if it is hatched, it comes out of its egg:
•All the chicks have hatched out.
3 hatch a plot/plan/deal etc to form a plan etc in secret[C]
1 a hole in a ship or aircraft, usually used for loading goods, or the door that covers it
escape hatch (=a hole in an aircraft etc through which you can escape)
2 also hatchway a small hole in the wall or floor between two rooms, or the door that covers it
3 down the hatch spoken informal something you say before drinking an alcoholic drink quickly [C]
a car with a door at the back that opens upwards plural hatcheries [C]
a place for hatching eggs, especially fish eggs [C]
a small AXE with a short handle
bury the hatchet at BURY (9)
having an unpleasantly thin face with sharp features[C] BrE informal
a newspaper article, television programme etc that criticizes someone severely and unfairly
[+on]
•They were afraid I was going to do a hatchet job on them.[C] informal
someone who is employed to make unpopular changes in an organization [U]
fine lines drawn on or cut into a surface [C]
a HATCH^2 (2) [T not in progressive]
1 to dislike something very much; love
•It's the kind of movie you either love or hate.
•He hates his job.
•I hate the way I sound on tape.
hate doing sth
•Paul hates having his picture taken.
hate to do sth
•I hate to see you unhappy.
hate it when
•Pam hates it when Lee calls her at work.
hate sb doing sth
•Jenny's mother hates her staying out late.
2 to dislike someone very much and feel angry towards them; love
•Why do you hate me so much?
hate sb for (doing) sth
•She hated him for being so happy.
hate yourself
•I hated myself for feeling jealous of her.
hate sb's guts informal (=hate someone very much)
3 I'd hate (for) sb/sth to do sth spoken used to emphasize that you do not want something to happen:
•I'd hate you to go.
•I'd hate for him to think I wasn't interested.
4 I hate to think what/how/where etc spoken used when you feel sure that something would have a bad result, or when an idea is unpleasant to think about:
•I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't called the police.
•I hate to think how many women he has assaulted since then.
5 I hate to say it, but.../I hate to tell you this, but... spoken used when saying something that you do not want to say, for example because it is embarrassing:
•I hate to say it, but I was glad when he went home.
6 I hate to ask/interrupt/disturb etc spoken used to say that you are sorry that you have to ask etc:
•I hate to ask you this, but would you mind giving me a lift home?
•I hate to interrupt, but it's urgent.
- hated adjective
•the hated security police
- hater noun [C]
•I'm not a man hater.[U]
an angry unpleasant feeling that someone has when they hate someone and want to harm them; = hatred; love
•Her eyes were full of hate.
[+for]
•Mrs Williams has spoken of her hate for her husband's killers.
pet hate at PET^3 (2)[C]
a series of things that a person or group does in order to upset or harm someone they hate[C,U]
a crime that is committed against someone only because they belong to a particular race, religion etc old-fashioned
very bad, unpleasant, or unkind:
•It was all the fault of that hateful man![U]
letters that express a lot of hatred towards the person to whom they are sent:
•She complained to the police after receiving threatening phone calls and hate mail. old use
has [C]
a long pin that is used to make a woman's hat stay on her head [C,U]
an angry feeling of extreme dislike for someone or something; love
•A look of pure hatred flashed across her face.
[+of/for/towards]
•his intense hatred of all foreigners
•Abby made no secret of her hatred for her father.
passionate/intense/deep etc hatred
•Ellis was a sick young man with a deep hatred of women.
•the old hatreds and prejudices that simmered below the surface[C]
a tall pole with hooks at the top used to hang coats and hats on $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who makes or sells hats
as mad as a hatter at MAD (2)[C]
a series of three successes, especially in sports such as football when the same person scores three times:
•Saunders scored a hat trick in the final game of the series.
[+of]
•a hat trick of victories $
behaving in a proud unfriendly way; stuck up
•a haughty laugh
- haughtily adverb
- haughtiness noun [U] $ [T]
1 to pull something heavy with a continuous steady movement
haul sth off/onto/out of etc sth
•She hauled her backpack onto her back.
•the steam locomotive which hauled the train
•I hauled the door shut behind me.
2 haul yourself up/out of sth etc
a) to move somewhere with a lot of effort, especially because you are injured or tired:
•Patrick hauled himself painfully up the stairs.
b) to succeed in achieving a higher position in society, in a competition etc:
•He is confident that the club can haul themselves further up the league.
3 haul sb over the coals BrE to criticize someone severely because they have done something wrong; = rake sb over the coals AmE
4 haul off and hit/punch/kick sb AmE informal to try to hit someone very hard
5 haul ass AmE spoken not polite to hurry

PHRASAL VERBS
haul sb off phr v
to force someone to go somewhere that they do not want to go, especially to prison:
•Police handcuffed him and hauled him off to jail.

haul sb up phr v informal
to officially bring someone to a court of law to be judged
[+before/in front of]
•Campbell was hauled up in front of the magistrate.[C]
1 a large amount of illegal or stolen goods:
•The gang escaped with a haul worth hundreds of pounds.
[+of]
•A haul of stolen cars has been seized by police officers.
2 long/slow haul something that takes a lot of time and effort:
•At last we've won our freedom but it's been a long bitter haul.
3 the amount of fish caught when fishing with a net
LONG-HAUL, SHORT-HAUL $ [U]
the business of carrying goods in trucks or trains for other companies:
•the road haulage industryhauler AmE $ [C] BrE
a company that carries goods in trucks or trains for other companies $ [C]
1 haunches [plural] the part of your body that includes your bottom, your HIPs , and the tops of your legs
on your haunches
•They squatted on their haunches playing dice.
2 one of the back legs of a four-legged animal, especially when it is used as meat $ [T not in progressive]
1 if the soul of a dead person haunts a place, it appears there often:
•The pub is said to be haunted by the ghost of a former landlord.
2 to make someone worry or make them sad:
•Clare was haunted by the fear that her husband was having an affair.
3 to cause problems for someone over a long period of time:
•an error that would come back to haunt them for years to come[C]
a place that someone likes to go to often
[+of]
•The Café Vienna was a favourite haunt of journalists and actors. $
1 a haunted building is believed to be visited regularly by the soul of a dead person:
•a haunted house
2 haunted expression/look a very worried or frightened expression $
sad but also beautiful and staying in your thoughts for a long time:
•a haunting melody
- hauntingly adverb $ [U]
the business of making and selling expensive and fashionable clothes for women
- haute couturier noun [C] $ [U]
cooking of a very high standard, especially French cooking $ [U] formal
a proud, very unfriendly manner strong past tense and past participle had strong , third person singular has strong
1 used with past participles to form PERFECT tenses:
•Our guests have arrived.
•Has anyone phoned?
•We've been spending too much money.
•I hadn't seen him for fifteen years.
•'I hope you've read the instructions.' 'Yes, of course I have.'
•You haven't done much, have you?
2 sb had better/best do sth used to say that someone should do something:
•You'd better phone to say you'll be late.
•We'd better not tell Jim about our plans just yet.
3 had sb done sth formal if someone had done something:
•Had we known about it earlier, we could have warned people of the danger. [T]
1 QUALITY/FEATURE also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE used to say what someone or something looks like, what qualities or features they possess etc:
•She has dark hair and brown eyes.
•Sullivan's music does have a certain charm.
•You need to have a lot of patience to be a teacher.
•Wild rice has a very nutty flavour.
•He didn't even have the courtesy to answer my letter.
have it in you (=have the skill or special quality needed to do something)
•You should have seen the way Dad was dancing - I didn't know he had it in him!
2 INCLUDE/CONTAIN also have got [not in progressive ] especially BrE to include or contain something or a particular number of things or people:
•Japan has a population of over 120 million.
•How many pages has it got?
have sth in it/them
•Check that the tank still has water in it.
3 OWN also have got [not in progressive] spoken especially BrE used to say that someone owns something or that it is available for them to use:
•They used to have a Mercedes Benz.
•Has your secretary got a fax machine?
•Have you ever had your own business?
•He's a lovely dog - how long have you had him?
•Can I have the car tonight, Dad?
4 CARRY/HOLD also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE to be holding something or carrying it with you:
•Have you got a match?
•Look out! He's got a gun.
have sth on/with you
•Have you got any money on you?
•I'm afraid I don't have my address book with me.
5 DO STH BrE to do something
have a look/walk/sleep/talk/think etc
•We were just having a look around.
•Are you going to have a swim?
6 EAT/DRINK/SMOKE to eat, drink, or smoke something:
•She sat down and had another drink.
•Someone had been having a cigarette in the toilet.
have lunch/a meal etc
•I usually have breakfast at about seven o'clock.
7 EXPERIENCE to experience something or be affected by something:
•We've been having a lot of difficulties with our new computer system.
•I'm afraid your son has had a serious accident.
•He is in hospital having treatment for a knee injury.
•I hope you have a good holiday.
have a good/terrible etc time
•Thanks for everything - we had a great time.
have sb doing sth
•He found it quite natural to have people fussing over him.
8 IDEA/FEELING also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE to think of something or to experience a particular feeling:
•If you have any good ideas for presents, let me know.
•I have lots of happy memories of my time in Japan.
•He had an awful feeling of guilt.
9 DISEASE/INJURY/PAIN also have got [not in progressive ] especially BrE to suffer from a disease, injury, or pain:
•Sarah's got a cold.
•One of the victims had a broken leg.
10 RECEIVE also have got especially BrE to receive something:
•I had lots of phone calls.
have sth from sb
•Have you had any news yet from Graham?
•I expect he had some help from his father.
11 AMOUNT OF TIME also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE if you have a particular amount of time, it is available for you to do something:
•You have just 30 seconds to answer the question.
have time (to do sth)
•I haven't time to stop and talk just now.
12 have your hair cut/your house painted etc to pay a professional person to cut your hair etc for you:
•Where do you normally have your hair done?
•We'd only just had a new engine put in.
13 have sth stolen/broken/taken etc if you have something stolen, broken etc, someone steals, breaks etc something that belongs to you:
•She had all her jewellery stolen.
•Mullins had his nose broken in a fight.
14 have sth ready/done/finished etc to have made something ready to be used, or have finished doing something:
•I should have the car ready by Monday.
15 IN A POSITION OR STATE also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE used to say that your body or something else is in a particular position or state, because you moved or did something
have sth open/closed/on etc
•I had my eyes half-closed.
•Janice likes to have the window open.
•She had her back to the door.
have sth doing sth
•He's always got the stereo playing full blast.
16 FAMILY/FRIENDS also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE used to say that there is someone who is your relation or friend:
•She has an uncle who lives in Wisconsin.
•It was very nice for Alice to have friends of her own age.
17 JOB/DUTY also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE to be employed in a particular job or to be responsible for doing something:
•Her boyfriend has a well-paid job.
•The headteacher has responsibility for the management of the school.
have sth to do
•I can't stand here talking - I have work to do (=there is work that I must do).
18 EMPLOY/BE IN CHARGE OF also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE to employ or be in charge of a group of workers:
•Margaret Gillies currently has a team of 20 volunteers working for her.
19 GOODS/ROOMS AVAILABLE also have got [not in progressive ] especially BrE if a shop or a hotel has goods or rooms, they are available for you to buy or use:
•Do you have any single rooms?
•They didn't have any sweaters in my size.
20 have (got) sb with you if you have someone with you, they are present with you:
•Luckily I had a friend with me who spoke German.
21 HOLD SB also have got [not in progressive] especially BrE to hold someone violently by a part of their body:
•They had him by the throat.
22 VISITORS/GUESTS if you have visitors or guests, they have come to your home, office etc:
•Sorry, I didn't realize you had visitors.
•We had friends to stay over the weekend.
23 EVENT if you have an event such as a meeting, party, or concert, it happens because you have organized it:
•We're having a party on Saturday - you're very welcome to come.
24 EFFECT to cause a particular result:
•a mistake that could have disastrous results
•Cardew was having a bad influence on the other students.
25 OPPORTUNITY used to say that an opportunity or choice is available for you:
•If you have the chance, you should go and see it - it's a really good film.
•Women managers have a choice as to whether they wear trousers or a skirt.
•Last year I had the honour of meeting the Duke of Edinburgh.
26 BABY if a woman has a baby, it is born from her body:
•Anna insisted on having the baby at home.
27 MAKE SB DO STH [not in progressive]
a) to affect someone in a way that makes them start doing something
have sb laughing/crying etc
•Within minutes he had the whole audience laughing and clapping.
b) to persuade or order someone to do something
have sb doing sth
•She had me doing all kinds of jobs for her.
have sb do sth especially AmE
•I'll have Hudson show you to your room.
28 have done with sth to finish or settle an argument or a difficult situation:
•I should throw you out now and have done with it.
29 rumour/legend/word has it used when you are reporting what people say or what a story says:
•Rumour has it that Kim is not his child.
30 have (got) sth/sb (all) to yourself if you have a place, time, or person all to yourself, you do not have to share them with anyone else:
•He couldn't wait to have Beth all to himself.
•It was the first time I'd had a room to myself.
31 SEX informal to have sex with someone:
•I expect she's had lots of men.
32 have it off/away with sb BrE informal to have sex with someone
33 can/could/may I have say this to politely ask someone to give you something:
•Can I have the bill, please?
•Could we have our ball back?
34 I'll have/we'll have say this to ask for something that you have chosen in a restaurant or shop:
•I'll have a T-bone steak and chips, please.
35 OFFERING SB STH used to offer something to someone:
•Have another sandwich.
•Won't you have a drink before you go?
•Please have a seat, and the doctor will be right with you.
36 NOT ALLOW won't/can't have sth used to say that someone will not allow something to happen:
•They're trying to play tricks on me again, but I won't have it.
won't/can't have sb doing sth
•I won't have you walking home all by yourself.
•We can't have people wandering about on private land.
37 sb had (got) it coming used to say that you are not sorry that something bad has happened to someone, because they deserved it:
•I'm not surprised his wife left him - he's had it coming for years.
38 I've got it used to say you have suddenly thought of the solution to a problem or that you suddenly understand a situation
39 you have me there also you've got me there used to say that you do not know the answer to a question:
•'What makes you think women can't do that kind of work?' He scratched his head. 'Well, now, you've got me there.'
40 I'll have you know used to start to tell someone something when you are annoyed with them:
•I'll have you know you're insulting the woman I love.
41 have (got) it in for sb to want to make life difficult for someone because you dislike them:
•Dean thinks his teachers have it in for him.
42 sb/sth has had it
a) if someone has had it, they are going to fail or die, or be in serious trouble:
•Press the wrong button and you've had it.
b) if someone has had it, they are very tired or annoyed and cannot continue with something:
•I can't believe he's done it again. I've had it with him!
c) BrE if something has had it, it no longer works and cannot be repaired:
•The engine's had it.
43 be not having any (of that) to refuse to agree to something, listen to someone etc:
•I tried to explain to her, but she just wasn't having any of it.
44 sb has been had used to say that someone has been deceived, for example by being tricked into paying too much:
•You paid £200? You've been had!

PHRASAL VERBS
have (got) sth against sb/sth phr v
to dislike or be opposed to someone or something for a particular reason:
•I don't know what it is, but Roger seems to have something against women.
•I can't see what you've got against the idea.
•I have nothing against foreigners (=have no reason to dislike them).

have (got) sb in phr v BrE
if you have someone in, they are doing some work in your home, for example building work:
•We've had the builders in all week, so everything's in a mess.

have on
1 have (got) sth on to be wearing a piece of clothing or type of clothing:
•He had his best suit on.
•Jimmy had nothing on but his socks.
2 have (got) the TV/radio/washing machine etc on if you have your television, radio etc on, you have switched it on and it is working:
•Billie has the radio on all day long.
3 be having sb on especially BrE to be trying to make someone believe something that is not true, especially as a joke:
•Don't believe a word he says. He's having you on!
4 have (got) sth on BrE to have arranged to do something, go somewhere etc, especially when this means you cannot do something else:
•Sorry, I can't help you this weekend - I've got too much on already.
5 have (got) sth on sb to know about something bad that someone has done:
•What do the police have on him?
6 have (got) nothing on sb/sth informal to not be nearly as good as someone or something else:
•Rock 'n' roll has got nothing on these African rhythms.

have sth out phr v
1 to have a tooth etc removed by a medical operation
2 have it out (with sb) informal to settle a disagreement or difficult situation by talking to the person involved, especially when you are angry with them:
•I'm going round to his house to have it out with him.

have sb over phr v also have sb round especially BrE
if you have someone over, they come to your house for a meal, drink etc because you have invited them:
•We must have you over for dinner before we leave.

have sb up phr v [usually passive] BrE informal
to make someone go to a court of law because you think they have committed a crime
have sb up for sth
•Last year he was had up for drunken driving.have to do sth also have got to do sth especially BrE
1 if you have to do something, you must do it because it is necessary or because someone makes you do it:
•We don't have to rush - there's plenty of time.
•I hate having to get up early in the morning.
•If you earn more than £5000, you will have to pay tax.
•I've got to be at the hospital at 4 o'clock.
•It'll have to be on a Sunday. I'll be working every other day.
2 used to say that it is important that something happens, or that something must happen if something else is to happen:
•There has to be an end to the violence.
•You've got to believe me!
•There will have to be a complete ceasefire before the Government will agree to talks.
•You have to be good to succeed in this game.
3 used to tell someone how to do something:
•First of all you have to mix the flour and the butter.
4 used to say that you are sure that something will happen or something is true:
•House prices have to go up sooner or later.
•This has to be a mistake.
•You have got to be joking!
•No one else could have done it - it had to be Neville.
5 used to suggest that someone should do something because you think it would be enjoyable or useful:
•You'll have to come and meet my wife some time - she'd love to meet you.
6 spoken used when something annoying happens in a way that things always seem to happen:
•Of course it had to happen on today, when all the shops are shut.
7 spoken used to say that only one thing or person is good enough or right for someone:
•For Francesca it has to be the Ritz - nowhere else will do.
8 do you have to do sth? spoken used to ask someone to stop doing something that annoys you:
•Lieutenant, do you have to keep repeating everything I've just said?
9 I have to say/admit/confess spoken used to show that you are making an honest statement even though it may be embarrassing for you:
•I have to say I don't know the first thing about computers.
MUST^1 [C]
a place where people or animals can live peacefully or go to in order to be safe
[+for]
•The riverbanks are a haven for wildlife.
•St Ives, a haven for artists and hippies
a haven of peace/tranquillity/calm
•In the middle of the city, this garden is a haven of tranquillity.
SAFE HAVEN, TAX HAVEN
the have-nots the poor people in a country or society:
•a country where the have-nots far outnumber the haves
HAVES
the short form of 'have not' $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned a bag that you carry on your back; = backpack, rucksack
the haves the rich people in a country or society:
•the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots
HAVE-NOTS [U]
a situation in which there is a lot of damage or a lack of order, especially so that it is difficult for something to continue in the normal way
cause/create havoc
•A strike will cause havoc for commuters.
•policies that would wreak havoc on the country's economy
•Rain has continued to play havoc with sporting events. $
another spelling of HA (1)
hum and haw at HUM^1 (4) $ [C]
1 a large bird that hunts and eats small birds and animals
2 a politician who believes in using military force; dove
3 watch sb like a hawk to watch someone very carefully
4 have eyes like a hawk to be quick to notice things, especially small details
1 [T] to try to sell goods, usually by going from place to place and trying to persuade people to buy them
2 [I,T] to cough up PHLEGM $ [C]
someone who carries goods from place to place and tries to sell them
quick to notice small details $
supporting the use of military force in order to deal with political problems
- hawkishness noun [U] $ [C] technical
a thick rope or steel CABLE used on a ship $ [C,U]
a small tree with small white flowers, red berries, and sharp points [U]
1 long grass that has been cut and dried, often used as food for cattle
2 make hay (while the sun shines) to take the opportunity to do something now, because you may not be able to do it later
3 hit the hay informal to go to bed
a roll in the hay at ROLL^2 (10)[U]
a medical condition, like a bad COLD that is caused by breathing in POLLEN (=dust from plants) $ [C]
the top part of a farm building where hay is stored [U]
the process of cutting and drying long grass to make hay [C]
a HAYSTACK [C]
AmE a ride in a CART filled with hay, usually as part of a social eventalso hayrick [C]
a large, firmly built pile of hay
like looking for a needle in a haystack at NEEDLE^1 (7) $
go haywire informal to start working in completely the wrong way:
•My computer's gone haywire. $ [C]
1 something that may be dangerous, or cause accidents or problems
[+to/for]
•Polluted water sources are a hazard to wildlife.
•That pile of rubbish is a fire hazard (=something that is likely to cause a fire).
health/safety hazard
•the health hazard posed by lead in petrol
2 a risk that cannot be avoided
the hazards of sth
•the economic hazards of running a small farm
occupational hazard (=a danger that exists in a job)
•Divorce seems to be an occupational hazard for politicians.[T]
1 to say something that is only a suggestion or guess and that might not be correct:
•$50,000? I don't know. I'm only hazarding a guess.
2 formal to risk losing your money, property etc in an attempt to gain something[plural]
special lights on a vehicle that flash to warn other drivers of danger $
dangerous, especially to people's health or safety
[+to]
•The chemicals in paint can be hazardous to health.
•the disposal of hazardous waste [singular, U]
1 smoke, dust, or mist in the air which is difficult to see through
[+of]
•a haze of cigarette smoke
•The sun was surrounded by a golden haze.
2 the feeling of being very confused and unable to think clearly:
•a drunken haze[T]
AmE to play tricks on a new student or to make them do silly or dangerous things, as part of joining the school or a club at the school

PHRASAL VERBS
haze over phr v
to become HAZY:
•The sky hazed over.
- hazing noun [U]
•bizarre hazing rituals
1 [C,U] a small tree that produces nuts
2 [U] the green-brown colour of some people's eyes
hazel eyes are a green-brown colour [C]
the nut of the HAZEL^1 treeHazMat [U]
hazardous materials substances that are dangerous to people's health:
•Paint and other chemicals can be taken to a HazMat center for disposal.
1 air that is hazy is not clear because there is a lot of smoke, dust, or mist in it:
•hazy sunshine
2 an idea, memory etc that is hazy is not clear or exact:
•My memories of the holiday are rather hazy.
[+about]
•She was a little hazy about the details.
- hazily adverb
- haziness noun [U] $ [C] informal
HYDROGEN BOMB technical
the abbreviation of highest common factor strong [used as the subject of a verb]
1 used to refer to a man, boy, or male animal that has already been mentioned or is already known about:
•'Where's Paul?' 'He's gone to the cinema.'
•It was he who first suggested the idea.
2 used when talking about someone who may be male or female. Some people think this use is old-fashioned:
•Everyone should do what he considers best.
!!
see note at THEY
3 He used when writing about God [singular] informal
a male person or animal:
•I discovered that Mel wasn't a he, but a she.
a male animal:
•a he-goat
the written abbreviation of His/Her Excellency , used in the title of an AMBASSADOR [in nouns]
1 the top of something:
•the pithead (=the top of a coalmine)
•a letterhead (=a name and address printed at the top of a letter)
2 the place where something begins:
•a fountainhead
1 TOP OF BODY [C] the top part of your body that has your face at the front and is supported by your neck

turn your head
shake your head (=move it from side to side, especially to show disagreement)
nod your head (=move it up and down, especially to show agreement)
raise/lift your head (=look up)
bow/bend/lower your head (=look downwards)
hang your head (=look downwards, especially because you are ashamed)
cock your head (=hold your head at an angle)
scratch your head
sb's head aches
sb's head throbs (=it aches badly)
from head to foot/toe (=over your whole body)
bald head (=one with no hair on it)
the crown of your head (=the top of the back of your head)
head injury

•He kissed the top of her head.
• He turned his head and looked at me.
• The men were whispering and shaking their heads.
• 'You're pregnant?' She nodded her head.
• Let us all bow our heads in prayer.
• I had no reason to hang my head. I had nothing to be ashamed of.
• Her head was cocked to one side.
•Tommy scratched his head thoughtfully.
• My head's throbbing. I'm going to bed.
•He was shaking from head to foot.
•Brian's bald head glistened in the blazing sun.
• Wearing a helmet reduces the risk of head injury.

2 MIND [C] your mind or mental ability:
•The problem only exists inside his head.
do sth in your head (=calculate something mentally)
•I can't do those figures in my head.
• Use your head to work out the answer.
come into/pop into your head
•Jackie said the first thing that came into her head.
get sth into your head (=understand something)
•'It's over, Jake,' she said. 'Try and get that into your head.'
take/get it into your head (to do sth) (=decide to do something, especially something stupid)
•At about two in the morning, Alan took it into his head to go for a swim.
get/put sth out of your head (=stop thinking or worrying about something)
•Try to put it out of your head for the time being.
put sth into sb's head (=make someone think or believe something)
•What's put that idea into her head?
get your head round sth BrE (=be able to understand something)
•I just can't get my head round what's been going on here.
3 CALM/SENSIBLE
a) keep your head to remain calm and sensible in a difficult or frightening situation:
•We need a candidate who can keep his or her head even when clients get aggressive.
keep a clear/cool/calm head
•Get to sleep early tonight - you'll need to keep a clear head tomorrow at the trial.
b) lose your head to become unable to behave calmly or sensibly in a difficult or frightening situation:
•You'll be OK as long as you don't lose your head and forget he's the real enemy.
c) have your head screwed on (straight/right) informal to be sensible and able to deal with difficult situations:
•He wondered what Gemma thought about it all. She seemed to have her head screwed on.
4 PERSON IN CHARGE [C]
a) a leader or person in charge of a group or organization
[+of]
•You should discuss the matter with your head of department.
•A meeting of Commonwealth heads of state will be held next month.
head waiter/chef/gardener etc (=the person in charge of a group of waiters etc)
b) also head teacher BrE the person in charge of a school; = principal AmE
•From now on all violent incidents should be reported directly to the head.
CROWNED HEAD, HEAD BOY, HEAD GIRL, HEADMASTER, HEADMISTRESS
5 FRONT/LEADING POSITION [singular] the front or the most important position
(at) the head of sth
•Jenny marched proudly at the head of the procession.
• At the head of the table (=the place where the most important person sits) sat the senior partners.
at sth's/sb's head
•The band of soldiers marched into the yard, their defeated captain at their head.
6 CRAZY [C usually singular] used in particular phrases to talk about someone being crazy or very stupid:
•People going out in conditions like this need their heads examined.
be off your head BrE
•You must be off your head if you think that.
•If I walk in looking like that, they'll think I'm not right in the head.
7 a head/per head for each person:
•Dinner works out at $30 a head.
•average incomes per head
8 RIVER/VALLEY [C usually singular] the place where a river, valley etc begins
9 come to a head also bring sth to a head if a problem or difficult situation comes to a head, or something brings it to a head, it suddenly becomes worse and has to be dealt with quickly:
• Things came to a head in the summer of 1997.
10 FLOWER/PLANT [C] the top of a plant where its flowers or leaves grow:
•She was outside cutting the dead heads off the roses.
[+of]
•a head of lettuce
11 HEIGHT/DISTANCE [singular] the length of a head, used to measure height or distance:
•She saw her father, a head above the rest of the crowd.
by a (short) head (=used to say that a horse won or lost a race but only by a small amount)
12 COIN heads the side of a coin that has a picture of a person's head on it
heads or tails? BrE spoken (=used to decide something, by asking someone which side of a coin they guess will be showing when you throw it in the air and it lands)
tails at TAIL^1 (5b)
13 laugh/shout/scream etc your head off informal to laugh, shout etc very loudly:
•Fans were screaming their heads off.
14 have a good/fine/thick etc head of hair to have a lot of hair on your head
15 get/put your head down informal
a) to start working in a quiet determined way:
•It's time you got your head down and did some revision.
b) BrE to sleep
16 keep your head down to try to avoid being noticed or getting involved in something:
•Do what you're told and keep your head down.
17 as soon as your head hits the pillow if you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, you fall asleep as soon as you lie down
18 be out of/off your head informal
a) to not know what you are doing because you have taken drugs or drunk too much alcohol:
•He was off his head on various drugs.
19 go to sb's head informal
a) if alcohol goes to your head, it quickly makes you feel drunk
b) if success goes to someone's head, it makes them feel more important than they really are:
•She never let fame go to her head.
20 TOOL [C usually singular] the wide end of a long narrow tool or piece of equipment
21 put your heads together to discuss a difficult problem together:
•The next morning, we all put our heads together to decide what should be done.
22 go over sb's head
a) to be too difficult for someone to understand:
•The explanation went completely over my head.
b) to do something without discussing it with a particular person or organization first, especially when you should have discussed it with them:
•The President went over the head of Congress and called a referendum.
23 can't make head or/nor tail of sth informal to be completely unable to understand something
24 have your head in the clouds to think about something in a way that is not practical or sensible, especially when you think things are much better than they really are
25 have a (good) head for figures/facts/business etc to be naturally good at doing calculations, remembering facts etc
26 head for heights the ability to look down from high places without feeling ill or nervous
27 a big head informal the opinion that you are much better, more important, more skilful etc than you really are:
•I suppose I did do OK, but I'd be silly to get a big head about it.
28 keep your head above water to manage to continue to live on your income or keep your business working when this is difficult because of financial problems:
•For years they struggled to keep their heads above water.
29 be/stand head and shoulders above sb to be much better than other people:
•One contestant stood head and shoulders above the rest.
30 hold up your head also hold your head high to show pride or confidence, especially in a difficult situation:
•If you do this, you'll never be able to hold your head up again.
31 be (like) banging/bashing etc your head against a brick wall spoken used to say that you are making no progress at all in what you are trying hard to do:
•I've tried to talk some sense into them, but it's like banging my head against a brick wall.
32 bang/knock sb's heads together spoken used to say that two people or groups should be forced to stop arguing and start to behave sensibly
33 bite/snap sb's head off to talk to someone very angrily with no good reason:
•I offered to help her, but she just bit my head off.
34 turn/stand sth on its head to make people think about something in the opposite way to the way it was originally intended:
•The attorney quickly turned his main defense argument on its head.
35 give sb their head to give someone the freedom to do what they want to do
36 be/fall head over heels in love to love or suddenly start to love someone very much:
•Sam was head over heels in love with his new bride.
37 heads will roll spoken used to say that someone will be punished severely for something that has happened:
•Heads will roll for this!
38 the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing used to say that two parts of an organization that should be doing the same thing are each doing different things without the other knowing
39 on your own head be it spoken used to tell someone that they will be blamed if the thing they are planning to do goes wrong
40 do your head in BrE spoken informal to make you feel confused and annoyed:
•Turn that noise down - it's doing my head in!
41 be/get in over your head to be or get involved in something that is too difficult for you to deal with:
•In business, start small and don't get in over your head.
42 be over your head in debt AmE to owe so much money that there is no possibility of paying it all back
43 go head to head with sb to deal with or oppose someone in a very direct and determined way:
•Rather than go head to head with their main rivals, they decided to try a more subtle approach.
44 heads up! AmE spoken used to warn people that something is falling from above
45 BEER [C] the layer of small white BUBBLEs on the top of a glass of beer
46 ELECTRONICS [C] a piece of equipment that changes information on a recording tape, a computer HARD DISK etc into electrical messages that electronic equipment can use
47 head of cattle/sheep etc [plural] a particular number of cows, sheep etc:
•a farm with 20 head of cattle
48 head of water/steam pressure that is made when water or steam is kept in an enclosed space
49 LAND [singular] BrE a high area of land that sticks out into the sea - used in names:
•Beachy Head
50 INFECTION [C] the centre of a swollen spot on your skin
51 give (sb) head informal to perform ORAL SEX on someone
bury your head in the sand at BURY (8); knock sth on the head at KNOCK^1 (16); off the top of your head at TOP^1 (18); sb can do sth standing on their head at STAND^1 (40); turn sb's head at TURN^1 (18); two heads are better than one at TWO (8)
1 GO TOWARDS also be headed [I always + adv/prep] to go or travel towards a particular place, especially in a deliberate way
[+for/towards/back etc]
•The ship was heading for Cuba.
•It's about time we were heading home.
head north/south etc
•We headed south towards the capital.
•Where are you guys headed?
2 FUTURE be heading also be headed [I always + adv/prep] if you are heading for a particular situation, especially a bad one, it seems likely to happen
[+for]
•Forecasters predict the region's economy is heading for disaster.
•Where is your life heading?
3 BE IN CHARGE also head up [T] to be in charge of a team, government, organization etc:
•David was asked to head up the technical team.
•an interim government headed by the former Prime Minister
4 AT TOP [T]
a) to be at the top of a list or group of people or things:
•The movie heads the list of Oscar nominations.
b) be headed if a page is headed with a particular name, title, image etc, it has it on the top:
•The page was headed 'Expenses'.
•officially-headed writing paper
5 AT FRONT [T] to be at the front of a line of people:
•a procession headed by the Queen
6 FOOTBALL [I,T always + adv/prep] to hit the ball with your head, especially in football

PHRASAL VERBS
head off phr v
1 to leave to go to another place:
•I'm heading off now.
2 head sth <=> off to prevent something from happening, especially something bad:
•The President intervened to head off the conflict.
3 head sb <=> off to stop someone going somewhere by moving in front of them:
•Soldiers headed them off at the border. [C]
1 a pain in your head:
•I had a really bad headache, and couldn't go to work.
a splitting/pounding headache (=a very bad headache)
!! Do not say that you 'have headache'. Say that you have a headache.
2 informal a problem that is annoying or difficult to deal with
- headachy adjective
•a headachy feeling [C]
a band that you wear around your head to keep your hair off your face or as a decoration $ [C]
informal someone who enjoys HEAVY METAL music and moves their head around violently to the beat of the music
- headbanging noun [U]
- headbang verb [I] $ [C]
the upright board at the end of a bed where your head is[C]
the boy who is chosen in a British school each year to represent the school [T]
to deliberately hit someone with your head [C]
informal a crazy person
1 [C] the act of counting how many people are present in a particular place at one time:
•The teachers did a headcount to check that none of the kids were missing.
2 [C,U] technical the number of people working for a company [C]
something that someone wears on their head, especially for decoration on a special occasion:
•The bride wore white with a pearl headdress.
1 red-headed/curly-headed etc having red hair, curly hair etc:
•a bald-headed man (=having no hair) in a shiny suit
2 two-headed/three-headed etc having two heads etc:
•a two-headed monster
3 headed notepaper/paper BrE paper for writing letters that has your name and address printed at the top $ [C]
1 an action in football in which you hit the ball with your head
2 information at the top of a page, especially things such as numbers that appear on each page of a document
3 information at the beginning of an email message that shows when it was sent, who wrote it etc
DOUBLE-HEADERheadfirst $
1 if you fall headfirst, your head goes down first, and the rest of your body follows afterwards
dive/fall/jump/plunge head-first
•I fell head-first down the stairs.
2 if you do something head-first, you become involved in it too quickly, without having time to think about it carefully:
•a remark that sent him tumbling head-first into another controversy[C usually plural] AmE informal
if you play head games with someone, especially someone you are in a romantic relationship with, you deceive them or try to get them to behave as you want them to:
•He's obviously playing head games with you. $ [U]
informal hats and other things that you wear on your head[C]
the girl who is chosen in a British school each year to represent the school $ [C]
someone who finds people with the right skills and experience to do particular jobs, and who tries to persuade them to leave their present jobs
- headhunt verb [T] [C]
1 the title written at the beginning of a piece of writing, or at the beginning of part of a book:
•chapter headings
2 a name that is given to a group of things or people, that helps to describe them as a group:
•writers who might come under the heading of postmodern fiction writers [C usually plural]
a HEADLIGHT [C]
an area of land that sticks out from the coast into the sea
1 without a head:
•a headless corpse
2 run around like a headless chicken informal to be going from one place to another in a way that is not organized at allalso headlamp [C usually plural]
1 one of the large lights at the front of a vehicle, or the beam of light produced by this:
•Suddenly, a figure appeared in my headlights.
2 like a rabbit/deer caught in headlights so frightened or confused that you do not know what to do [C]
1 the title of a newspaper report, which is printed in large letters above the report:
•a paper carrying the front-page headline: 'Space Aliens meet with President'
2 the headlines the important points of the main news stories that are read at the beginning of a news programme on radio or television
3 make/grab (the) headlines also be in/hit the headlines to be reported in many newspapers and on radio and television:
•a scandal that grabbed the headlines for weeks
•The former MP found himself back in the headlines again.
1 [I,T] to appear as the main performer or band in a show:
•Eminem is headlining at the festival this year.
2 [T usually passive] to give a headline to an article or story
headline-grabbing news is important and reported in many newspapers and on radio and television:
•The story was headline-grabbing material in the nationals. $ [C]
the main performer or band in a concert $ [C]
a way of holding someone around their neck so that they cannot move:
•His opponent had him in a headlock. $
1 rush/plunge headlong into sth if you rush headlong into something, you start doing it too quickly without thinking carefully
2 with your head first and the rest of your body following; = headfirst
•I fell headlong into a pool of icy water.
3 very quickly, without looking where you are going:
•Mortimer almost ran headlong into a patrol.
- headlong adjective plural headmen [C]
the most important man in a village where a tribe lives; = chief $ [C] BrE
a male teacher who is in charge of a school; = head teacher; = principal AmE $ [C] BrE
a female teacher who is in charge of a school; = head teacher; = principal AmE
[C] the main office of a companyplural heads of state [C]
the main representative of a country, such as a queen, king, or president, who may not have duties in the country's government
1 crash/collide/smash etc head-on if two vehicles crash etc head-on, the front part of one vehicle hits the front part of the other
2 if someone deals with a problem head-on, they do not try to avoid it, but deal with it in a direct and determined way
face/tackle/meet sth head-on
•The police are trying to tackle car crime head-on.
3 if two people or teams meet head-on in an argument, competition etc, they compete against each other and try to win in a very determined way
- head-on adjective
•a head-on collision $ [plural]
a piece of equipment that you wear over your ears to listen to the radio, music etc without other people hearing it [C]
something you wear on your head, usually for decoration $
be headquartered to have your headquarters at a particular place:
•Many top companies are headquartered in northern California.abbreviation HQ $ plural headquarters [C]
1 the main building or offices used by a large company or organization:
•the headquarters of the United Nations
2 the place from which military operations are controlled [C]
the top part of a chair or of a seat in a car, plane etc that supports the back of your head [U]
1 the amount of space above your head, especially when you are in a car
2 BrE the amount of space above a vehicle when it is under a bridge [C]
a sudden feeling of extreme pleasure and excitement, especially one that you get soon after using an illegal drug such as ECSTASY or COCAINE $ plural headscarves $ [C]
a square piece of cloth that women wear on their heads and tie under their chins [C]
a set of HEADPHONES, often with a MICROPHONE attached [C]
1 the position of being in charge of an organization
2 BrE the job of being in charge of a school [C]
a position in which you turn your body UPSIDE DOWN, with your head and hands on the floor and your legs and feet in the air:
•Can you do a headstand?[C]
1 an advantage that helps you to be successful
give sb/get/have a head start
•Give your children a head start by sending them to nursery school.
2 a start in a race in which you begin earlier or further ahead than someone else $ [C]
a piece of stone on a GRAVE, with the name of the dead person written on it; = gravestone, tombstone $
very determined to do what you want, even when other people advise you not to do it[C]
a table at a formal meal where the most important people sit, or the people who are giving speeches[C]
BrE the teacher who is in charge of a school; = principal AmE
competing directly with another person or group:
•Courier companies are going head-to-head with the Post Office.
- head-to-head adjective
•a head-to-head contest
- head-to-head noun [C] $ [plural]
the streams that form a river
make headway
a) to make progress towards achieving something - used especially when this is difficult
[+towards/in/with etc]
•Foreign firms have made little headway in the U.S. market.
b) to move forwards - used especially when this is slow or difficult:
•Stormy weather stopped the ship from making headway. [C,U]
a wind that blows directly towards you when you are moving $ [C] technical
one of the words whose meaning is explained in a dictionary [usually before noun]
1 a heady smell, drink etc is pleasantly strong and seems to affect you strongly:
•a heady combination of wine and brandy
2 very exciting in a way that makes you feel as if you can do anything you want to:
•the heady atmosphere of the early sixties [I,T]
1 also heal up if a wound or a broken bone heals or is healed, the flesh, skin, or bone grows back together and becomes healthy again:
•It took three months for my arm to heal properly.
2 to make someone who is ill become healthy again, especially by using natural powers or prayer; cure
•a preacher who claims that he can heal the sick
3 to become mentally or emotionally strong again after a bad experience, or to help someone to do this:
•Ann says the only way to heal after rape is to talk about it.
•The trauma of divorce can often be healed by successful remarriage.
4 if an argument or disagreement between people heals or you heal it, the people stop arguing or disagreeing
heal the wounds/breach/division/rift
•Our main goal must be to heal the divisions in our society.
•The rift between the two younger men never healed.

PHRASAL VERBS
heal over phr v
if a wound or an area of broken skin heals over, new skin grows over it and it becomes healthy again $ [C]
1 someone who is believed to be able to cure people using natural powers, rather than by using medicine
faith healer at FAITH HEALING
2 something that makes a bad experience seem less painful:
•Time is a great healer. [U]
1 the treatment of illness using natural powers or prayer rather than medicine:
•The medical establishment is taking healing increasingly seriously.
FAITH HEALING
2 the process of becoming healthy and strong again:
•the healing process [U]
1 the general condition of your body and how healthy you are

damage your health
improve your health
good/excellent health
poor/ill health
failing health (=when someone is becoming more ill)
be in good/excellent/the best of health
be in poor health
be good/bad for your health
sb's state of health
mental health
health care
health problem
health benefits (of sth)
health risk/hazard (=something that could damage your health)
health warning (=a warning printed on a product that can harm you)

•I'm worried about my husband's health.
•Smoking can seriously damage your health.
• things that can be done to improve the health of older people
•I have always enjoyed good health.
•Sara had to leave her job due to ill health.
• He is 75 and in poor health.
• A low-fat diet is better for your health.
• The type of vitamin needed depends on the state of health of the individual.
• a young man with mental health problems
• the health benefits of doing yoga
•Air pollution is a serious health hazard.
!! Do not say that something is 'good for health' or 'bad for health'. Say that it is good for your health or bad for your health.

2 the work of providing medical services to keep people healthy:
•The government has promised to spend more on health and education.
•health insurance
•nurses and other health workers
PUBLIC HEALTH
3 when you have no illness or disease:
•Even if you haven't got much money, at least you've got your health.
•When we last met, he was glowing with health (=was clearly very healthy).
4 how successful something such as a business, an organization, or a country's ECONOMY is:
•The monthly trade figures are seen as an indicator of the health of the economy.
a clean bill of health at CLEAN^1 (13)[U]
an area of government and law concerned with people's health and safety, especially at work:
•health and safety regulations[U]
the service that is responsible for looking after the health of all the people in a country or an area:
•The government has promised wide-ranging health care for all.
•health care workershealth center AmE [C] BrE
a building where several doctors work, and where people can go for medical treatment[C]
a place where people who have paid to become members can go to do physical exercise[C] BrE
a place where people pay to stay so that they can do physical exercise, eat healthy food, and have beauty treatments; = health spa AmE[C,U]
food that contains only natural substances, and that is good for your health formal
likely to make you healthy:
•healthful mountain air[C]
someone such as a doctor, nurse, DENTIST etc, whose job involves people's health[C]
a public service that is responsible for providing people with medical care:
•reforms to the health service
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE[C] AmE
a place where people pay to stay so that they can do physical exercise, eat healthy food, and have beauty treatments; = health farm BrE[C]
a nurse in Britain who visits people in their homes comparative healthier, superlative healthiest
1 PERSON/ANIMAL/PLANT physically strong and not likely to become ill or weak:
•a healthy baby boy
•I've always been perfectly healthy until now.
2 GOOD FOR YOUR BODY good for your body:
•a healthy lifestyle
•a healthy diet
•the importance of healthy eating
3 SHOWING GOOD HEALTH showing that you are healthy:
•Her face had a healthy glow.
•All of our kids have healthy appetites (=they like to eat a lot).
4 BEHAVIOUR/ATTITUDE used to describe an attitude, feeling, or behaviour that is natural, normal, and sensible:
•I don't think it's healthy for her to spend so much time alone.
healthy respect/disrespect/scepticism etc
•a healthy disrespect for silly regulations
5 COMPANY/RELATIONSHIP ETC a healthy company, society, relationship, ECONOMY etc is working effectively and successfully:
•a healthy economy with a well-trained workforce
6 AMOUNT large and showing that someone is successful - used about amounts of money:
•a healthy profit
•a healthy bank balance
- healthily adverb
- healthiness noun [U] [C]
1 a large untidy pile of things:
•a rubbish heap
[+of]
•There was a heap of stones where the building used to be.
in a heap
•The envelopes for posting lay in a heap on her desk.
•We piled the branches into heaps for burning.
2 heaps informal a lot of something
[+of]
•The children have heaps of energy.
heaps better/bigger etc (=much better, bigger etc)
3 fall/collapse etc in a heap to fall down and lie without moving:
•They finally collapsed in a heap on the grass.
4 humorous an old car that is in bad condition
5 at the top/bottom of the heap high up and successful or low down and unsuccessful in an organization or in society:
•The very poor are at the bottom of the heap.
6 be struck all of a heap BrE old-fashioned informal to be suddenly very surprised or confused[T]
1 also heap up to put a lot of things on top of each other in an untidy way; = pile
[+on]
•Jean heaped logs on the fire.
2 heap sth with sth to put a lot of something on a surface; = pile
•She gave him a glass of whisky and heaped his plate with food.
3 heap praise/insults etc on sb to praise, insult etc someone a lot:
•He heaped all the blame on his secretary. BrE
heaped teaspoon/tablespoon etc an amount of something that is as much as a spoon can hold:
•Add three heaped teaspoons of sugar. $ past tense and past participle heard $
1 HEAR SOUNDS/WORDS ETC [I,T not in progressive] to know that a sound is being made, using your ears:
•Blanche heard a crash as the back door was flung open.
•Did anyone see or hear anything last night?
•Old Zeke doesn't hear too well any more.
hear sb/sth doing sth
•Jenny could hear them arguing outside.
hear sb do sth
•She heard Tom go upstairs.
hear what/who etc
•I couldn't hear what they were saying most of the time.
be heard to do sth
•She didn't want to be heard to criticize him.
!! Do not confuse hear with listen to, which means 'hear and pay attention to': You should listen to my advice (NOT You should hear my advice).
2 LISTEN TO SB/STH [T not in progressive] to listen to what someone is saying, the music they are playing etc:
•Maggie did not wait to hear an answer.
•Did you hear that programme on whales the other night?
hear what
•I want to hear what the doctor has to say.
I hear what you say/what you're saying spoken (=used to tell someone that you have listened to their opinion, but do not agree with it)
•I hear what you say, but I don't think we should rush this decision.
3 BE TOLD STH [I,T not usually in progressive] to be told or find out a piece of information:
•I heard a rumor that he was getting married soon.
hear (that)
•I'm so sorry to hear he died.
•She'll be pleased to hear that she can leave hospital tomorrow.
[+about]
•Teresa heard about the decision later.
[+of]
•I've heard of a job which would be just right for you.
•This was the first I'd heard of any trouble in the area (=I had just heard news of trouble for the first time).
•He was last heard of in Washington (=he was in Washington the last time someone had information about him).
hear anything/much of sb/sth
•We don't hear anything of him these days.
so I hear/so I've heard spoken (=used to say that you have been told something or know it already)
•There's a nasty infection going round, so I hear.
hear what/how/who etc
•Did you hear what happened to Julia?
•I've heard it said that they met in Italy.
4 IN COURT [T] to listen to all the facts in a case in a court of law in order to make a legal decision:
•The Supreme Court heard the case on Tuesday.
5 have heard of sb/sth to know that someone or something exists because they have been mentioned to you before:
•'Do you know Jill Marshall?' 'No, I've never heard of her.'
6 not hear the last of sb used to say that someone will continue to complain about something or cause problems:
•I'll sue him. He hasn't heard the last of me yet.
7 you could hear a pin drop used to emphasize how quiet a place is:
•You could have heard a pin drop in there.
8 won't/wouldn't hear of it used to say that you refuse to agree with a suggestion or proposal:
•I said we should go back, but Dennis wouldn't hear of it.
9 I/he etc will never hear the end of it used to say that someone will continue to talk about something for a long time:
•If my Mum finds out, I'll never hear the end of it.
10 be hearing things to imagine you can hear a sound when really there is no sound:
•There's no one there. I must be hearing things.
11 (do) you hear? used to emphasize that you are giving someone an order and they must obey you:
•I want you to leave right now. Do you hear?
12 you can't hear yourself think used to emphasize how noisy a place is:
•Just shut up, Tom. I can't hear myself think.
13 now hear this! AmE old use used to introduce an important official announcement
14 hear! hear! used in a discussion or meeting to say that you agree with what the speaker is saying
15 have you heard the one about... used when asking someone if they know a joke
16 I've heard that one before used when you do not believe someone's excuse or explanation

PHRASAL VERBS
hear from sb phr v [not in progressive]
1 to receive news or information from someone:
•Do you ever hear from Jack?
•Police want to hear from anyone who has any information about the attack.
•I look forward to hearing from you (=hope to receive news from you).
2 to listen to someone giving their opinion in a radio or television discussion programme:
•a chance to hear from some of the victims of violent crime

hear sb out phr v [not in passive]
to listen to all of what someone wants to tell you without interrupting them:
•Just hear me out, will you?
UNHEARD OF $ [C]
someone who hears something; = listener $
1 [U] the sense which you use to hear sounds
have good/bad etc hearing
•She has remarkable hearing for a lady of her age.
•a child with a hearing disability
HARD OF HEARING
2 [C] a meeting of a court or special committee to find out the facts about a case:
•a court hearing
•a disciplinary hearing
3 [C usually singular] an opportunity for someone to explain their actions, ideas, or opinions:
•Let's give both sides a fair hearing.
4 in/within sb's hearing if you say something in someone's hearing, you say it where they can hear you:
•There are some words we don't use in the children's hearing.[C]
a small object which fits into or behind your ear to make sounds louder, worn by people who cannot hear well

a) not able to hear well; = hard of hearing; deaf
b) the hearing-impaired people who are not able to hear wellharken $ [I + to]
literary to listen $ [U]
something that you have heard about from other people but do not know to be definitely true or correct:
•I wouldn't take any notice of it - it's just hearsay. $ [C]
a large car used to carry a dead body in a COFFIN at a funeral $
1 BODY ORGAN [C] the organ in your chest which pumps blood through your body

sb's heart beats
sb's heart pounds/thuds/thumps (=it beats very strongly)
sb's heart races (=it beats very fast)
a weak heart (=an unhealthy heart)
heart trouble/problems
a heart condition (=something wrong with your heart)
sb's heart rate (=the number of times their heart beats per minute)

•Regular exercise is good for the heart.
•Can you hear my heart beating?
• Her cheeks were hot and her heart was pounding.
• My heart raced. Were we going to land safely?
• Daniel had no history of heart problems.
• She suffers from a rare heart condition.
• His breathing and heart rate were now normal.

2 EMOTIONS/LOVE [C] the part of you that feels strong emotions and feelings:
•His heart was full of anger and grief.
•The plight of the refugees had tugged at the nation's heart.
•The doctor had an extremely kind heart.
•She could hardly speak for the ache in her heart.
•It would break Kate's heart (=make her extremely sad) to leave the lovely old house.
•He left the country with a heavy heart (=great sadness).
•Edith loved her boy with all her heart and soul.
•I was still pretty innocent then when it came to affairs of the heart (=matters relating to love and sex).
•a woman with a heart of gold (=very kind character)
•Sometimes I think he's got a heart of stone (=very cruel character).
•I'm glad I followed my heart rather than my head for once.
kind-hearted/cold-hearted/hard-hearted etc (=having a kind, unkind, cruel etc character)
•He thinks of himself as a warm-hearted and caring human being.
3 YOUR CHEST [C usually singular] the part of your chest near your heart:
•He put his hand on his heart.
4 SHAPE [C] a shape used to represent a heart
5 from the (bottom of your) heart with great sincerity and strength of feeling:
•Leonard spoke from the heart.
•I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
•She sang the songs straight from the heart.
6 in your heart (of hearts) if you know, feel, or believe something in your heart, you are secretly sure about it although you may not admit it:
•In her heart she knew she would never go.
• Deep in his heart, he wanted Laura back.
7 IMPORTANT PART OF STH [singular] the most important or central part of a problem, question etc
the heart of sth
•difficult issues at the heart of science policy
•We must get to the heart of the problem.
8 ENCOURAGEMENT [U] confidence and courage:
•This inspiring service gave us new heart.
•We mustn't lose heart when people complain.
•We've got to take a bit of heart from the fact that we won.
9 at heart if you are a particular kind of person at heart, that is the kind of person that you really are even though you may appear or behave differently:
•He may be a working class boy at heart, but his lifestyle has been transformed.
•Let's face it, we're all romantics at heart.
have sb's (best) interests at heart at INTEREST^1 (5)
young at heart at YOUNG^1 (5)
10 THE CENTRE OF AN AREA [C] the middle part of an area furthest from the edge
in the heart of sth
•You're lucky to live in a house like this in the heart of London.
at the heart of sth
•an old house at the heart of an ancient forest
11 close/dear to sb's heart very important to someone:
•The President liked to go to Williamsburg, a place close to his heart.
•Money is dear to Kathleen's heart.
12 by heart when you know something by heart, you remember all of it exactly:
•After a few days of phoning Stephanie, he knew her number by heart.
•Actors have to learn their lines by heart.
13 sb's heart sinks used to say that someone suddenly lost hope and began to feel unhappy:
•Her heart sank when she saw the number of books she had to read.
14 with all your heart with all your strength, energy, or emotion:
•He hates Los Angeles with all his heart.
•We sang the hymn with all our hearts.
15 take sth to heart to consider what someone says to you very seriously, often because it upsets you:
•Anne took his criticisms very much to heart.
•We took Stephen's warnings to heart.
16 sb's heart goes out to sb used to say that someone feels a lot of sympathy towards another person:
•My heart goes out to the families of the victims.
17 CARD GAMES
a) [C] a heart shape printed in red on a playing card
b) hearts [plural] the SUIT (=set) of playing cards that have these shapes on them:
•the ace of hearts
c) [C] one of the cards in this set:
•Have you got any hearts?
18 do sth to your heart's content to do something as much as you want:
•She had lazed around the pool to her heart's content.
•The dog can run to its heart's content out there.
19 sb's heart misses/skips a beat used to say that someone suddenly feels a moment of fear or excitement:
•His heart missed a beat as he saw the body of a small child at the water's edge.
20 set your heart on sth to want something very much:
•His father bought him the bike he had set his heart on.
•She had set her heart on becoming a hairdresser.
21 a man/woman etc after my own heart someone who likes the same things or behaves in the same way that you do:
•Geoff really is a man after my own heart.
22 cry/sing etc your heart out if you cry, sing etc your heart out, you do it with all your energy or emotion:
•He found me crying my heart out and was so kind.
eat your heart out at EAT (4); pour your heart out at POUR
23 your heart's desire/everything your heart could desire the one thing you want most, or everything that you could possibly want:
•To have a baby was her heart's desire.
24 not have the heart to do something to be unable to do something because it will make someone unhappy:
•I didn't have the heart to tell her that her beautiful vase was broken.
25 sb's heart isn't in it used to say that someone does not really want to do something:
•She's getting bored with the job and her heart's not in it.
26 do sth out of the goodness of your heart to do something out of kindness, not because you have been asked or expect a reward:
•All these people were helping us out of the goodness of their hearts.
27 take sb to your heart if people take someone to their hearts, they like them very much:
•The fans have taken Hudson to their hearts.
28 VEGETABLE [C] the firm middle part of some vegetables:
•artichoke hearts
29 give/lose your heart to sb to start to love someone very much
30 my heart was in my mouth used to say that you suddenly felt very afraid
31 sb's heart is in the right place informal used to say that someone is really a kind person and has the right feelings about something important:
•I don't think his idea will work, though his heart's in the right place.
32 it does your heart good to see/hear sth used to say that something makes you feel happy
33 sb's heart leaps literary used to say that someone suddenly feels happy and full of hope:
•'I couldn't live without you,' he said and Jane's heart leapt.
34 be in good heart formal to feel happy and confident:
•The team are in good heart and ready for the season's matches.
35 have a heart! used to tell someone not to be too strict or unkind - used humorously
36 know the way to sb's heart to know the way to please someone - used humorously
37 my heart bleeds (for sb) used to say that you do not really feel any sympathy towards someone
a broken heart at BROKEN^2 (9)
cross my heart at CROSS^1 (11)
have a change of heart at CHANGE^2 (1)
sick at heart at SICK^1 (9)
strike at the heart of sth at STRIKE^1 (7)
wear your heart on your sleeve at WEAR^1 (8)
win sb's heart at WIN^1 (3) $ [U]
a strong feeling of great sadness and anxiety[C]
1 a sudden serious medical condition in which someone's heart stops working normally, causing them great pain
have/suffer a heart attack
2 give sb/have a heart attack informal to make someone suddenly feel frightened, surprised, or shocked, or to suddenly feel this way:
•You almost gave me a heart attack there! $ [C,U]
1 the action or sound of your heart as it pumps blood through your body
2 be a heartbeat away from sth to be very close to a situation or position
3 in a heartbeat AmE very quickly, without delay:
•Things can change in a heartbeat.
4 the heartbeat of sth AmE the main origin of activity or excitement in a place or organization $ [U]
great sadness or disappointment $
making you feel extremely sad or disappointed
- heartbreakingly adverb $
extremely sad because of something that has happened $ [U]
an unpleasant burning feeling in your stomach or chest caused by acid from your stomach; indigestion[C,U]
an illness which prevents your heart from working normally $ [T usually passive]
to make someone feel happier and more hopeful; dishearten
- heartening adjective
- hearteningly adverb[U]
a serious medical condition in which someone's heart stops working properly, often resulting in death; = heart attack $
very strongly felt and sincere:
•a heartfelt apology $ [C]
1 the area of floor around a FIREPLACE in a house
2 hearth and home literary your home and family $
1 with energy and enjoyment:
•'Great to see you,' she said heartily.
•Hugh laughed heartily at the joke.
2 completely or very much:
•This is a book I heartily recommend to all hill walkers.
•Madge had become heartily sick of the city
3 eat heartily to eat a large amount $ [C]
1 the heartland the central part of a country or area of land
2 the most important part of a country or area for a particular activity, or the part where a political group has most support:
•the Democratic heartlands of the Deep South $
cruel and not feeling any pity:
•How can you be so heartless?
- heartlessly adverb
- heartlessness noun [U][C]
a machine that pumps blood and oxygen around someone's body during a medical operation $
making you feel great pity; = heartbreaking
•heartrending stories of children being taken from their parents[U]
the process of examining very carefully your feelings about something or your reasons for doing something
very exciting or frightening $ [plural]
tug/tear/pull at sb's heartstrings to make someone feel strong love or sympathy $ [C]
a famous actor, singer etc who is very attractive to women[C]
a conversation in which two people say honestly and sincerely what they really feel about something:
•Why don't you have a heart-to-heart with him and sort out your problems?
- heart-to-heart adjective
•a heart-to-heart talk $
making you feel happy because you see other people being happy or kind to each other:
•a heartwarming sight
- heartwarmingly adverb $
1 happy and friendly and usually loud:
•a hearty laugh
2 old-fashioned strong and healthy
hale and hearty at HALE
3 a hearty meal is very large
4 especially BrE with a friendly, noisy, and happy manner that is not sincere
- heartiness noun [U]
HEARTILY
1 WARMTH [U] warmth or the quality of being hot:
•Ice needs heat to melt.
•Insulating the attic is a good way to reduce heat loss.
2 the heat very hot weather or a high temperature:
•The heat was making them tired.
•Angela liked to rest during the heat of the day (=the hottest part of the day).
•Firefighters were beaten back by the intense heat and smoke.
3 IN COOKING [C usually singular, U] the level of temperature used when cooking or heating something
(a) low/medium/high heat
•Cook the chicken portions over a high heat.
turn off/down/up the heat
•When the milk comes to the boil, turn off the heat.
•Now reduce the heat and cover the pan.
4 STRONG FEELINGS [U] strong feelings, especially anger or excitement:
•Reconciliation services can take the heat out of (=reduce the anger in) the dispute.
in the heat of sth
•Quick decisions had to be made in the heat of the negotiations.
• In the heat of the moment (=when feelings were very strong) Nick threatened to resign.
5 PRESSURE [U] strong pressure on someone:
• The heat is on (=there is a lot of pressure) as schools struggle to finish their entries by the deadline.
•The team turned up the heat (=used more effort against their opponents) in the last few minutes to score two more goals.
•There was a lot of heat, and it affected our relationship.
6 SYSTEM TO HEAT BUILDING [U] AmE the system in a house or other building that keeps it warm in the winter, or the warmth from this system; = heating BrE
•Can you turn up the heat?
7 IN A RACE [C] a part of a race or competition whose winners then compete against each other in the next part:
•Bill finished second in his heat.
8 on heat BrE in heat AmE if a female animal is on heat, her body is ready to have sex with a male
DEAD HEAT, WHITE HEAT; if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen at STAND^1 (16)[T]
to make something become warm or hot; = warm up
•Heat the milk until it boils.

PHRASAL VERBS
heat up phr v
1 to become warm or hot, or to make something become warm or hot:
•The stove takes a while to heat up.
heat sth <=> up
•I heated up the remains of last night's supper.
2 if a situation heats up, it becomes dangerous or full of problems

heat sth through phr v
to heat food thoroughly
1 a heated SWIMMING POOL, room etc is made warm using a heater
2 heated argument/debate/discussion etc an argument etc that is full of angry and excited feelings
- heatedly adverb $ [C]
a machine for making air or water hotter:
•Did you turn the heater off?[U]
weakness and sickness caused by doing too much work, exercise etc in hot weather [C]
an area of open land where grass, bushes, and other small plants grow, especially in Britain old-fashioned
not connected with or belonging to the Christian religion or any of the large established religionsplural heathen [C] old-fashioned
1 someone who is not connected with the Christian religion or any of the large established religions - used to show disapproval; pagan
2 someone who refuses to believe in something - often used humorously $ [U]
a low plant with small purple, pink, or white flowers which grows on hills $ BrE
a Heath Robinson machine, system etc is very complicated in an amusing way but not at all practical [U]
especially BrE a system for making a room or building warm; = heat AmE
CENTRAL HEATING
heatproof material cannot be damaged by heat[C]
part of a machine that takes heat from one place to another[C,U]
painful or ITCHY red spots on someone's skin caused by heat
not easily damaged by heat
a heat-seeking weapon is able to find and move towards the hot gases from an aircraft or ROCKET and destroy it $ [U]
fever and weakness caused by being outside in the heat of the sun for too long
SUNSTROKE[C]
a period of unusually hot weather, especially one that continues for a long time; cold spell
1 PULL/LIFT [I,T] to pull or lift something very heavy with one great effort
heave sb/sth out of/into/onto etc sth
•Alan heaved his suitcase onto his bed.
•Mary heaved herself out of bed.
[+on/at] BrE
•He heaved on the steering wheel and swung the car into a side street.
2 THROW [T] to throw something heavy using a lot of effort:
•John heaved the metal bar over the fence.
3 heave a sigh to breathe in and then breathe out noisily and slowly once:
•Rebecca heaved a sigh of relief.
4 MOVE UP AND DOWN [I] to move up and down with very strong movements:
•Michael's shoulders heaved with silent laughter.
•The sea heaved up and down beneath the boat.
5 VOMIT [I] informal to VOMIT
6 past tense and past participle hove heave in sight/into view literary to appear, especially by getting closer from a distance:
•A few moments later a large ship hove into view.

PHRASAL VERBS
heave to phr v past tense and past participle hove to $ technical
if a ship heaves to, it stops moving
HEAVING
1 [C] a strong pulling, pushing, or lifting movement:
•He gave the door a good heave.
2 [U] literary a strong rising or falling movement
1 old-fashioned used as an encouragement to a person or group of people who are pulling something, especially on ships
2 give someone the (old) heave-ho informal to end a relationship with someone, or to make someone leave their job
1 also HeavenPLACE OF GOD [singular] the place where God is believed to live and where good people are believed to go when they die; paradise
in heaven
•He believed that he and his wife would one day be together again in heaven.
2 ENJOYABLE SITUATION [U] informal an extremely enjoyable situation or place; = paradise
•Sitting by the pool with a good book is my idea of heaven.
in heaven
•Put a baseball in his hand and he's in heaven.
•Living on the farm for Jim was heaven on earth.
a match/marriage made in heaven (=a happy and successful marriage)
3 for heaven's sake
a) used to show that you are annoyed or angry:
•Oh, for heaven's sake, Mark, do you have to make everything into a joke?
b) used to emphasize a question, request, order, or opinion:
•For heaven's sake, let's all get to sleep.
4 heaven (only) knows
a) used to emphasize that you do not know something:
•He won't tell me what he thinks. Heaven knows why.
b) used to emphasize what you are saying:
•Sue can't take a holiday yet, though heaven knows she needs a rest.
5 heaven help sb
a) used to express sympathy for someone who is in a dangerous or difficult situation:
•'The two boys are going to the dentist on Thursday.' 'Heaven help the dentist.'
b) used to say that you will be very angry with someone if they do something:
• Heaven help him if he ever comes back here again!
6 heaven forbid used to say that you very much hope something will not happen:
•What would you do financially if, heaven forbid, your husband died?
7 what/how/why etc in heaven's name used when asking a surprised and angry question:
•Where in heaven's name have you been?
8 the heavens literary the sky:
•He looked up towards the heavens.
•Just then, the heavens opened (=it started to rain heavily).
9 move heaven and earth to try very hard to achieve something:
•I would move heaven and earth to help her.
be in seventh heaven at SEVENTH^1 (2)
thank heaven(s) at THANK (2)
1 old-fashioned extremely pleasant, enjoyable, or beautiful:
•That smells heavenly.
•We found a tiny hotel in a heavenly spot with a beautiful bay.
2 [only before noun] biblical existing in or belonging to heaven:
•God's heavenly kingdom
heavenly Father (=God)
the Heavenly Host (=all the angels)
3 literary existing in or relating to the sky or stars:
• heavenly bodies (=the moon, PLANETs and stars)also Good Heavens!, Heavens above!
used to express surprise, especially when you are annoyed:
•Good Heavens, what a mess! $ literary
happening fortunately at exactly the right time:
•a heaven-sent opportunityalso heavenwards $ literary
towards the sky
1 in large amounts, to a high degree, or with great severity; = very
•I became heavily involved in politics.
•The report was heavily criticized in the press.
•a heavily populated area
•thousands of heavily armed troops
•His wife was heavily pregnant at the time.
it rains/snows heavily
•It's been raining heavily all day.
drink/smoke heavily
•Paul was drinking heavily by then.
heavily dependent/reliant/influenced
•Britain is heavily dependent on imports for its raw materials.
2 sleep heavily if you sleep heavily, you cannot be woken easily
3 breathe heavily to breathe slowly and loudly:
•Breathing heavily, I stopped and sat down to rest.
4 heavily built having a large broad body that looks strong
5 if you do or say something heavily, you do it slowly and with a lot of effort, especially because you are sad or bored:
•He was walking heavily, his head down.
•Emily sighed heavily.
•'I suppose so,' she said heavily.
6 be heavily into sth informal to do something a lot or be very interested in it:
•Sid was heavily into drugs by the time he left school. BrE informal
very busy or full of people
[+with]
•The city was heaving with shoppers. comparative heavier, superlative heaviest
1 WEIGHT weighing a lot; light
•The wardrobe was too heavy for me to move on my own.
•a heavy suitcase
•The males are seven times heavier than the females on average.
• How heavy is the parcel (=how much does it weigh?)?
2 AMOUNT/DEGREE/SEVERITY great in amount, degree, or severity

heavy traffic
heavy rain/snow
heavy fighting
heavy drinking also
heavy drinker
heavy smoking also
heavy smoker
heavy burden/demands/pressure
heavy fine
heavy casualties (=a lot of deaths or injuries)
heavy losses
heavy defeat
heavy cold
heavy use of sth

•The traffic going into London was very heavy.
• Heavy rain has caused flooding in many areas.
• Heavy fighting was reported near the border.
• Heavy drinking during pregnancy can damage your baby.
•I used to be a heavy smoker.
•the heavy burden of taxation
•If found guilty, they face heavy fines or even prison.
•There were heavy casualties on both sides.
•England's heavy defeat in yesterday's match
•She's in bed with a heavy cold.
•the film's heavy use of special effects

3 NEEDING PHYSICAL EFFORT needing a lot of physical strength and effort:
•My son does most of the heavy outdoor work.
•She has a bad back and can't do any heavy lifting.
4 NEEDING MENTAL EFFORT not easy or entertaining and needing a lot of mental effort:
•I want something to read on holiday - nothing too heavy.
5 heavy going difficult to understand or deal with:
•I found his latest novel a bit heavy going.
6 be heavy on sth informal to use a lot or too much of something:
•The car's rather heavy on oil.
7 heavy with sth literary full of something:
•The apple trees were heavy with fruit.
•The garden was heavy with the scent of summer.
•'Of course,' she said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
8 heavy schedule/timetable/day etc a time in which you have a lot to do:
•Let's go to bed. We've got a heavy day tomorrow.
9 heavy breathing breathing that is slow and loud
HEAVY BREATHER
10 make heavy weather of sth BrE to make something that you are doing seem more difficult or complicated than it really is - used to show disapproval:
•Why does he need to make such heavy weather of a simple task?
11 WEAPONS/MACHINES [only before noun] large and powerful:
•tanks and other heavy weapons
• heavy artillery (=large powerful guns)
•a company which manufactures heavy machinery
12 MATERIALS/CLOTHES ETC heavy materials, clothes, shoes, or objects are thick or solidly made:
•a heavy winter coat
•the sound of heavy boots
•Melt the butter in a heavy pan over a medium heat.
•heavy velvet curtains
13 FOOD solid and making your stomach feel full and uncomfortable; light
•a heavy meal
•heavy fruitcake
14 EYES if your eyes are heavy, it is difficult to keep them open, usually because you are tired:
•His eyes felt heavy with fatigue.
15 BODY/FACE
a) large, broad, and solid:
•his heavy features
•Kyle is a tall man with a heavy build (=a large broad body).
b) AmE used to politely describe someone who is fat; = large
16 WITH FORCE hitting something or falling with a lot of force or weight:
•the sound of heavy footsteps in the hall
•Ali caught him with a heavy blow to the jaw.
17 GROUND
a) soil that is heavy is thick and solid
b) a sports ground or race track that is heavy is muddy:
•a very heavy pitch
• The going was heavy (=it was muddy for the horse races) at Cheltenham yesterday.
18 SMELL strong and usually sweet
heavy scent/perfume etc
•the heavy scent of the lilies
19 AIR too warm and not at all fresh because there is no wind:
•Even at dusk the air was still heavy.
20 EMOTIONS informal a relationship or situation that is heavy involves serious or strong feelings:
•She didn't want things to get too heavy at such an early stage in their relationship.
21 get heavy (with sb) informal to start behaving in a threatening or strict way:
•He came round and started getting heavy about the money I owed him.
22 heavy silence/atmosphere a situation in which people do not speak and feel sad, anxious, or embarrassed:
•A heavy silence fell upon the room.
23 heavy sky/clouds clouds that look dark and grey as though it will soon rain
24 heavy sleeper someone who does not wake easily
25 heavy irony/sarcasm remarks that very clearly say the opposite of what you really feel
26 heavy seas sea with big waves:
•The ship went down in heavy seas off the coast of Scotland.
27 with a heavy heart literary feeling very sad:
•It was with a heavy heart that Kate said goodbye.
28 heavy date AmE a very important DATE (=an occasion when you meet someone you like in a romantic way) with a BOYFRIEND or GIRLFRIEND - usually used humorously
- heaviness noun [U]
1 time hangs/lies heavy on your hands if time hangs or lies heavy on your hands, it seems to pass slowly because you are bored or have nothing to do
2 be heavy into sth AmE spoken informal to be very involved in an activity, especially one that is not good for you:
•Eric was real heavy into drugs for a while.plural heavies [C]
informal a large strong man who is paid to protect someone or to threaten other people[C]
a man who telephones a woman and does not speak, but breathes loudly, in order to get sexual pleasure
- heavy breathing noun [U][U] AmE
thick cream; = double cream BrE
1 heavy-duty materials are strong and thick and not easily damaged:
•heavy-duty canvas
2 heavy-duty machines or equipment are designed to be used for very hard work
3 informal especially AmE very complicated, serious, or extreme:
•Today, she was going to do some heavy-duty cleaning.[C]
an HGV
taking too much action or extreme action, especially without thinking about other people's feelings:
•a heavy-handed style of management
- heavy-handedness noun [U] $ literary
very sad[C] AmE
1 a person or company that has a lot of power, especially in business or politics
2 a BASEBALL player who hits the ball very hard[U]
industry that produces large goods such as cars and machines, or materials such as coal, steel, or chemicals
LIGHT INDUSTRY
1 [U] a type of ROCK music with a strong beat, played very loudly on electric GUITARs
2 [C] technical a metal that has a high DENSITY, such as gold, MERCURY, or LEAD. Many heavy metals are poisonous.[U] old-fashioned
sexual activities that do not involve actually having sex
someone who is heavy-set is large and looks strong or fat [C]
1 someone or something that is very important or has a lot of influence:
•one of the heavyweights of the movie industry
2 a BOXER who weighs more than 86.18 kilograms, and who belongs to the heaviest weight class of boxers formal
connected with the Hebrew language or people:
•Hebraic literature
1 [U] the language traditionally used by the Jewish people
2 [C] a member of the Jewish people in ancient times
- Hebrew adjective informal
1 used to show that you are annoyed or to emphasize what you are saying:
•Oh heck! I've lost my keys!
•'Do you believe him?' 'Heck, no.'
2 did he heck/will it heck etc BrE used to say in a strong way that someone did not do something, something will not happen etc:
•'Did he offer to pay for it?' 'Did he heck.'[singular, U] spoken informal
1 used like 'hell' to emphasize what you are saying:
•It cost a heck of a lot of money.
where/how/who etc the heck
•Where the heck are we?
•He sure as heck didn't tell me.
2 what the heck used to say that you will do something even though you really should not do it:
•It's rather expensive, but what the heck.
3 for the heck of it for fun, or for no particular reason [I,T]
to interrupt and try to embarrass someone who is speaking or performing in public
- heckler noun [C]
- heckling noun [U]written abbreviation ha $ [C]
a unit for measuring area, equal to 10,000 square metres; acre
1 very busy or full of activity:
•I've had a pretty hectic day.
•a hectic social life
2 written if your face is a hectic colour, it is very pink:
•the hectic flush on her cheeks $ [I,T]
to speak to someone in an angry threatening way:
•a hectoring tone of voice strong
1 the short form of 'he had':
•By the time I got there he'd gone.
2 the short form for 'he would':
•I'm sure he'd help if he could. [C]
1 a row of small bushes or trees growing close together, usually dividing one field or garden from another
2 something that protects you against possible problems, especially financial loss
[+against]
•Buying a house will be a hedge against inflation.
look as if you've been dragged through a hedge backwards at DRAG^1 (13)past tense and past participle hedged, present participle hedging [I,T]
1 to avoid giving a direct answer to a question:
•You're hedging again - have you got the money or haven't you?
•'That depends on my partner,' she hedged.
2 hedge your bets to reduce your chances of failure or loss by trying several different possibilities instead of one:
•It's a good idea to hedge your bets by applying to more than one college.

PHRASAL VERBS
hedge against sth phr v
to try to protect yourself against possible problems, especially financial loss:
•Smart managers will hedge against price increases.

be hedged in phr v
1 to be surrounded or enclosed by something:
•The building was hedged in by trees.
2 if you feel hedged in by something, you feel that your freedom is restricted by it $ [C]
a small brown European animal whose body is round and covered with sharp needle-like SPINEs $ [C] BrE
a line of bushes growing along the edge of a field or road [C]
someone who believes that pleasure is the most important thing in life
- hedonism noun [U]
- hedonistic adjective [T] formal
to pay attention to someone's advice or warning:
•If she had only heeded my warnings, none of this would have happened.
pay heed to sth/take heed of sth formal to pay attention to something, especially something someone says, and seriously consider it:
•The government was taking little heed of these threats.
•Tom paid no heed to her warning.
heedless of sth literary not paying attention to something:
•O'Hara rode on, heedless of danger.
- heedlessly adverb [C]
1 OF YOUR FOOT the curved back part of your foot; toe
2 OF A SHOE the raised part on the bottom of a shoe that makes the shoe higher at the back:
•black boots with high heels
high-heeled/low-heeled/flat-heeled etc
•her low-heeled blue shoes
3 OF A SOCK the part of a sock that covers your heel
4 OF YOUR HAND the part of your hand between the bottom of your thumb and your wrist:
•Using the heel of your hand, press the dough firmly into shape.
5 heels [plural] a pair of women's shoes with high heels:
•Whenever she wore heels she was taller than the men she worked with.
6 at sb's heels if a person or animal is at your heels, they are following closely behind you:
•He could hear the dog trotting at his heels.
•Omar hurried inside with the boy at his heels.
7
a) (hard/hot/close) on the heels of sth very soon after something:
•The decision to buy Peters came hard on the heels of the club's promotion to Division One.
b) (hard/hot/close) on sb's heels following closely behind someone, especially in order to catch or attack them:
•With the enemy army hard on his heels, he crossed the Somme at Blanche-Taque.
8 bring sb to heel to force someone to behave in the way that you want them to
9 come to heel BrE
a) if a dog comes to heel, it comes back to its owner when the owner calls it
b) if someone comes to heel, they start to behave in the way that you want them to
10 take to your heels written to start running away:
•As soon as he saw me he took to his heels.
11 turn/spin on your heel written to suddenly turn away from someone, especially in an angry or rude way:
•Before anyone could say a word, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.
12 under the heel of sb/sth completely controlled by a government or group:
•a people under the heel of an increasingly dictatorial regime
13 BAD MAN old-fashioned a man who behaves badly towards other people
ACHILLES' HEEL, DOWN-AT-HEEL, WELL-HEELED; click your heels at CLICK^1 (1); cool your heels at COOL^2 (4); dig your heels in at DIG^1 (4); drag your heels at DRAG^1 (8); be/fall head over heels in love at HEAD^1 (36); kick your heels at KICK^1 (9)
1 heel! spoken used to tell your dog to walk next to you
2 [T] to put a heel on a shoe

PHRASAL VERBS
heel over phr v
if something heels over, it leans to one side as if it is going to fall:
•The ship was heeling over in the wind. [T]
1 to lift something heavy
heft sth onto/into etc sth
•He hefted his bag into the car.
2 to lift or hold something in order to judge how heavy it is:
•Quinn hefted the package in his hands. [usually before noun]
1 big and heavy:
•a tall, hefty man
•a hefty tome (=large thick book)
•hefty camera equipment
2 a hefty amount of something, especially money, is very large:
•a hefty fine
3 BrE a hefty blow, kick etc is done using a lot of force:
•He aimed a hefty kick at the door.
•a hefty shove $ [U] formal
a situation in which one state or country controls others $ [C]
a young cow that has not yet given birth to a CALF; bullock, ox, steer
1 HOW TALL [C,U] how tall someone or something is:
•Sam's about the same height as his sister now.
•State your age, height, and weight.
•buildings of different heights
6 feet/10 metres etc in height
•None of these sculptures was less than three metres in height.
a height of 6 feet/10 metres etc
•Sunflowers can grow to a height of fifteen feet.
2 DISTANCE ABOVE THE GROUND [C,U] the distance something is above the ground:
•It's a miracle she didn't break her neck falling from that height.
a height of 2500 feet/10,000 metres etc
•The aircraft was flying at a height of 10,000 metres.
gain/lose height (=move higher or lower in the sky)
•The plane was rapidly losing height.
3 HIGH PLACE
a) [C] a place or position that is a long way above the ground
from a height
•a bird that opens shellfish by dropping them from a height onto rocks
•Rachel had always been scared of heights.
have a head for heights (=not be afraid of heights)
b) heights [plural] a particular high place - used especially in place names:
•the Golan Heights
4 new/great/dizzy etc heights
a) a very high level of achievement or success
rise to/reach etc ... heights
•He reached the dizzy heights of the national finals.
•They took ice dancing to new heights.
b) a very great level or degree:
•War fever had reached new heights.
5 the height of sth the busiest or most extreme part of a period or activity; = peak
•the height of the tourist season
6 be at the height of your success/fame/powers etc to be more successful, famous etc than at any other time:
•The Beatles were at the height of their fame.
7 be the height of fashion/stupidity/luxury etc to be extremely fashionable, stupid etc:
•Flared trousers were considered to be the height of fashion in those days. [I,T]
if something heightens a feeling, effect etc, or if a feeling etc heightens, it becomes stronger or increases; = intensify; strengthen
•There are fears that the march will heighten racial tension.
•Increased levels of fat in the diet could heighten the risk of cancer.
heighten (sb's) awareness (of sth) (=make people realize something more clearly)
•The case has heightened public awareness of the problem of sexual harassment. formal
1 very shocking and immoral:
•a heinous crime
2 AmE spoken informal extremely bad:
•The food in the cafeteria is pretty heinous.
- heinousness noun [U] $ [C]
1 the person who has the legal right to receive the property or title of another person when they die
[+to]
•John was the sole heir to a vast estate.
heir to the throne (=the person who will become king or queen)
2 the person who will take over a position or job after you, or who does things or thinks in a similar way to you:
•Jonson was his political heir as leader of the Nationalist Party.plural heirs apparent [C]
1 an heir whose right to receive the family property, money, or title cannot be taken away
2 someone who seems very likely to take over a person's job, position etc when that person leaves $ [C]
a woman who will receive or has received a lot of money or property when an older member of her family dies $ [C]
a valuable object that has been owned by a family for many years and that is passed from the older members to the younger members:
•a family heirloom [C]
AmE informal an act of stealing something very valuable from a shop, bank etc; = robbery
•a jewelry heist
- heist verb [T]
the past tense and past participle of HOLD $ [C]
a type of aircraft with large metal blades on top which turn around very quickly to make it fly; = chopperalso helipad [C]
an area where helicopters can land $
[C] a garden plant with nice-smelling pale purple flowers $ [C]
a small airport for HELICOPTERs [U]
the sport of flying a HELICOPTER to a place in the mountains where you can SKI on deep snow that no one else has skied on [U]
a gas that is lighter than air and is used to make BALLOONs float. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol He plural helices [C]
technical a line that curves and rises around a central line; = spiral
DOUBLE HELIX strong
the short form of 'he will' or 'he shall':
•Don't worry, he'll be there.
1 WHEN YOU DIE also Hell [U] the place where the souls of bad people are believed to be punished after death, especially in the Christian and Muslim religions
2 SUFFERING [singular, U] a place or situation in which people suffer very much, either physically or emotionally:
•War is hell.
•My mother made my life hell.
•These past few days have been a living hell.
•She must have gone through hell every day, the way we teased her about her weight.
pure/absolute/sheer etc hell
•They described the war zone as sheer hell.
•He says his time in jail was hell on earth.
3 UNPLEASANT SITUATION [singular, U] informal a situation, experience, or place that is very unpleasant:
•The traffic was hell this morning.
pure/absolute/sheer etc hell
•'How was your exam?' 'Sheer hell!'
4 what/how/why/where etc the hell? spoken not polite used to show that you are very surprised or angry:
•What the hell are you doing, wasting my time?
•How the hell are we going to do that?
5 a/one hell of a sth spoken not polite used to emphasize the idea that something is very big, very good, very bad etc:
•I've come one hell of a long way to get here.
•Envy like yours is a hell of a good motive for murder.
6 go to hell! spoken not polite used when you are very angry with someone:
•If John doesn't like it, he can go to hell!
7 feel/look like hell spoken not polite to feel or look very ill or tired:
•I've been feeling like hell all week.
8 beat/surprise/scare the hell out of sb informal not polite to beat, surprise etc someone very much:
•We have only one aim: to beat the hell out of the opposition.
9 (just) for the hell of it spoken not polite for no serious reason, or only for fun:
•They shot people just for the hell of it.
10 what the hell! spoken not polite used to say that you will do something and not worry about any problems it causes:
•Elaine poured herself a large glass of whisky - what the hell, it was Christmas.
11 to hell with sb/sth spoken not polite used to say that you do not care about someone or something any more:
•I want to live for the present, and to hell with the consequences.
12 run/hurt/fight etc like hell informal not polite to run, fight etc very quickly or very much:
•My new shoes hurt like hell.
13 like hell/the hell spoken not polite used to say that you do not agree with what someone has said:
•'You keep out of this, Ma.' 'Like hell I will.'
14 the sth/sb from hell informal not polite something or someone that is the worst you can imagine:
•She was the flatmate from hell.
•It was the holiday from hell.
15 guilty/shy/mad/angry etc as hell spoken not polite very guilty,shy etc:
•If I had your problems, I'd be mad as hell.
16 sure as hell spoken not polite used to emphasize that something is true:
•I don't scare easily, but I was sure as hell scared.
17 give sb hell informal not polite to treat someone in an unpleasant or angry way:
•She didn't like him, and gave him hell at the slightest opportunity.
18 get the hell out (of somewhere) informal not polite to leave a place quickly and suddenly:
•Let's get the hell out of here!
19 there'll be hell to pay spoken not polite used to say that people will be very angry:
•If they find us there'll be hell to pay.
20 go to hell and back to go through a very difficult situation:
•I'd go to hell and back for that boy.
21 all hell broke loose informal not polite used to say that people suddenly become very noisy or angry:
•Journalists woke him with the news and all hell broke loose.
22 come hell or high water informal not polite in spite of any problems or difficulties:
•I decided I would get the job done by Friday, come hell or high water.
23 go to hell in a handbasket AmE informal not polite if a system or organization has gone to hell in a handbasket, it has stopped working well and is now working very badly:
•The education system in this country has gone to hell in a handbasket.
24 hell's bells spoken old-fashioned also hell's teeth BrE used to express great annoyance or surprise
25 play (merry) hell with sth BrE informal to make something stop working or happening as it should:
•The cold weather played hell with the weekend sports schedule.
26 raise hell informal not polite to protest strongly and angrily about a situation
27 run/go hell for leather informal not polite to run as fast as possible
28 hell on wheels AmE informal not polite someone who does exactly what they want and does not care what happens as a result.
29 when hell freezes over informal not polite used to say that something will never happen
30 catch hell AmE spoken not polite to be blamed or punished:
•You'll catch hell when your Mom comes home!
not a hope in hell (of doing sth) at HOPE^2 (3)not polite
1 used to express anger or annoyance:
•Oh hell! I've left my purse at home.
2 used to emphasize a statement:
•Well, hell, I don't know![not before noun]
very determined to do something, especially something that other people do not approve of
hell-bent on (doing) sth
•young people who are hell-bent on having a good time [C]
formal a Greek, especially an ancient Greek
connected with the history, society, or art of the ancient Greeks[C]
a very dirty, ugly, and unpleasant place:
•His son ran away from school, calling it a hell-hole. informal
extremely bad or difficult:
•I've had a hellish day at work.
- hellishly adverb
•a hellishly difficult examalso hallo, hullo BrE $ [C]
1 used as a greeting when you see or meet someone:
•Hello, John! How are you?
•Stanley, come and say hello to your nephew.
•Well, hello there! I haven't seen you for ages.
2 used when answering the telephone or starting a telephone conversation:
•Hello - may I speak to Anne?
3 used when calling to get someone's attention:
•Hello! Is there anybody home?
4 used when you think someone is not acting sensibly or has said something stupid:
•You didn't remember her birthday? Hello!
5 BrE used to show that you are surprised or confused by something:
•Hello! What's happened here?
6 say hello to have a quick conversation with someone:
•Promise you'll look in and say hello when you have time. spoken
used to emphasize that someone or something is very good, bad, big etc:
•He's got a helluva temper.
•He's a helluva nice guy.
1 [C] the wheel or control which guides a ship or boat
2 at the helm
a) in charge of something:
•We have a new prime minister at the helm.
b) guiding a ship or boat
3 take the helm
a) to start being in charge of something such as a business or organization:
•Wright took the helm at the food retailer in December 2001.
b) to start guiding a ship or boat [C]
a strong hard hat that soldiers, MOTORCYCLE riders, the police etc wear to protect their heads
wearing a helmet plural helmsmen [C]
someone who guides a ship or boat
1 [I,T] to make it possible or easier for someone to do something by doing part of their work or by giving them something they need:
•If there's anything I can do to help, just give me a call.
help sb (to) do sth
•I helped her to carry her cases up the stairs.
•She helped him choose some new clothes.
•herbal products that help you to relax and sleep
help (to) do sth
•She was coming to help clean the machines.
help sb with sth
•Can I help you with the washing up?
•My father said he's going to help me with the fees.
help sb on/off with sth (=help someone put on or take off a piece of clothing)
•Here, let me help you on with your coat.
help sb somewhere (=help someone get to a particular place, especially because they are old, ill, or hurt)
•She helped the old man across the road.
2 [I,T] to make a situation better, easier, or less painful:
•Crying won't help.
•If you get rid of your car you could be helping the environment.
• It helps my concentration if I listen to music while I'm working.
• It helped a lot to know that someone understood how I felt.
•Eight hours of deep sleep helped enormously.
3 help yourself (to sth)
a) to take some of what you want, without asking permission - used especially when offering food to someone:
•Please help yourself to some cake.
b) informal to steal something:
•Obviously he had been helping himself to the money.
4 Help! spoken used to call people and ask them to help you when you are in danger
5 sb can't help (doing) sth also sb can't help but do sth used to say that someone is unable to change their behaviour or feelings, or to prevent themselves from doing something:
•She couldn't help it if she was being irrational.
•'Stop biting your nails.' 'I can't help it.'
•I can't help the way I feel about you.
•Lee could not help but agree with her.
sb can't help feeling/thinking/wondering etc sth
•I can't help feeling that there has been a mistake.
•I couldn't help thinking about the past.
6 I couldn't help myself/she couldn't help herself etc to be unable to stop yourself from doing something you should not do:
•She knew she sounded just like her mother but she couldn't help herself.
7 it can't be helped spoken used to say that there is nothing you can do to change a bad situation:
•She said she had to leave him for a while; it couldn't be helped.
8 sb is helping the police with their enquiries BrE the police are interviewing someone about a crime, especially because they believe that this person may have committed the crime
9 a helping hand help and support
give/lend/offer etc sb a helping hand
•She's been giving me a helping hand with the children.
10 not if I can help it spoken used to say that you are not going to do something:
•'Are you going to watch the school play?' 'Not if I can help it.'
11 God help him/them etc spoken used to say that something bad may happen to someone:
•'Good luck.' 'God help me. I think I'm going to need it.'
12 so help me (God) used when making a serious promise, especially in a court of law

PHRASAL VERBS
help sth <=> along phr v
to make a process or activity happen more quickly or easily:
•She asked a few questions to help the conversation along.

help out phr v
to help someone because they are busy or have problems:
•Do you need anyone to help out in the shop?
help sb <=> out (with sth)
•I helped her out when Stella became ill.
•She was helping him out with his mortgage repayments.

WORD CHOICE: help, assist, give sb a hand, lend a hand, help out
Help is the most general verb meaning 'to make it possible or easier for someone to do something'.: Note that in the patterns help to do something
or help someone to do something you can leave out the 'to' and say help do something or help someone do something: Cleaner water will help prevent disease. | money to help people build new homes.
Assist is a formal word, and means to help someone by doing part of the work for them, especially the things that are not very important: Would you be kind enough to assist me in a small experiment?

!! Do not say 'assist someone to do something'. Say assist someone with something or assist someone in doing something.
!! Do not use assist to mean 'attend' or 'be present at'.
Give sb a hand, lend a hand, and help out are used in more informal English. Give sb a hand means to help someone, especially by carrying or lifting things: Can you give me a hand stacking up these boxes? Lend a hand and help out mean to help someone, especially when there are not enough people to do something: Police came from other areas to lend a hand. | Their friends helped out with the fundraising.

1 [U] things you do to make it easier or possible for someone to do something:
•Thank you for all your help.
[+with]
•Do you want any help with the washing-up?
•Old people may need help decorating their homes.
•Ask for help if necessary.
with the help of sb/with sb's help
•We manage, with the help of a nurse who comes daily.
•I get a lot of help and I'm really grateful.
•She screamed at them to go and get help.
2 [singular, U] if someone or something is a help to you, they are useful and make it easier for you to do something:
•That map isn't much help.
with the help of sth
•I managed to make myself understood with the help of a phrase book.
be of great/little/no/some etc help (to sb)
•Let me know if I can be of any help to you.
be a (great/big/tremendous/real etc) help (to sb)
•Any information would be a great help.
•You've been a real help to me, Carrie.
3 [U] advice, treatment, information, or money which is given to people who need it:
•A lot of these children need professional help.
[+with]
•You may be able to ask for help with the rent.
•We received no help from the police.
4 [U] a part of a computer program that helps someone using it by giving additional information
5 the help AmE someone's servant or servants[C]
a department of a company that people call for help, especially with computer problems $ [C]
1 someone who helps another person; = assistant
•I was a classroom helper at the local primary school.
2 AmE someone who is employed to do some of the work in someone else's home
1 providing useful help in making a situation better or easier:
•Thank you for your advice; it's been very helpful.
it is helpful (for sb) to do sth
•It is helpful to discuss your problems with your friends.
•It is helpful for family members to gain a basic understanding of the illness.
• It is helpful if we address a few key questions here.
helpful in doing sth
•We hope this leaflet has been helpful in answering your questions.
helpful advice/hints/suggestions etc
•Our sales staff are there to give you helpful advice.
2 always willing to help people:
•She's a helpful child.
•I'm only trying to be helpful.
- helpfully adverb
- helpfulness noun [U] [C]
the amount of food that someone gives you or that you take; = serving
•a double helping of pie
1 unable to look after yourself or to do anything to help yourself:
•He began to feel depressed and helpless.
•a vicious attack on a helpless victim
•Newman threw out a hand in a helpless gesture.
2 unable to control a strong feeling that you have
[+with]
•He was near to death, and I was helpless with fear.
helpless laughter/rage/tears etc
•We both collapsed into helpless giggles.
- helplessly adverb
- helplessness noun [U] [C]
a telephone number that you can ring if you need advice or informationalso helpmeet [C]
literary a helpful partner, usually a wife[C]
a screen that appears when you ask for help in using a computer program, showing extra information or advice $
done quickly, in a disorganized way:
•He ran helter-skelter down the slope.[C]
BrE a tall structure in a FAIRGROUND which you sit on at the top and slide round and round to the bottom [C]
the edge of a piece of cloth that is turned under and stitched down, especially the lower edge of a skirt, trousers etcpast tense and past participle hemmed, present participle hemming
1 [T] to turn under the edge of a piece of material or clothing and stitch it in place
2 hem and haw AmE to keep pausing before saying something, and avoid saying it directly

PHRASAL VERBS
hem sb/sth <=> in phr v
1 to surround someone or something closely:
•They were hemmed in on all sides by the soldiers and the dogs.
•The market place is hemmed in by shops and banks.
2 to make someone feel that they are not free to do what they want to do:
•They hem in the child with endless rules and restrictions.plural he-men [C]
humorous a strong man with powerful muscles $ [C]
1 a half of the earth, especially one of the halves above and below the EQUATOR:
•the Northern hemisphere
2 one of the two halves of your brain
3 half of a SPHERE (=an object which is round like a ball)
- hemispherical adjective [C]
the length of a dress, skirt etc:
•Short hemlines are in this spring. $ [C,U]
a very poisonous plant, or the poison that is made from it $ [U]
the American spelling of HAEMOGLOBIN [U]
the American spelling of HAEMOPHILIA [C]
the American spelling of HAEMOPHILIAC [C,U]
the American spelling of HAEMORRHAGE [plural]
the American spelling of HAEMORRHOIDS [U]
a type of plant that is used to make rope and sometimes to produce the drug CANNABIS [C]
1 an adult female chicken
2 a fully grown female bird formal
1 [sentence adverb] for this reason:
•The cost of transport is a major expense for an industry. Hence factory location is an important consideration.
2 ten days hence/five months hence etc ten days from now, five months from now etcalso henceforward $ formal
from this time on:
•Multiple Sclerosis (henceforth referred to as MS) plural henchmen [C]
a faithful supporter of a political leader or a criminal, who is willing to do illegal things or use violence[C]
a small building where chickens are kept [U]
a reddish-brown substance used to change the colour of hair or skin
- henna verb [T][C]
BrE informal a party for women only, that happens just before one of them gets married
STAG PARTY
a man who is henpecked is always being told what to do by his wife, and is afraid to disagree with her:
•a henpecked husband [only before noun] medical
relating to your LIVER [U]
a disease of the LIVER that causes fever and makes your skin yellow. There are several types of hepatitis: hepatitis A, which is less severe, and hepatitis B and C which are much more serious $ [C]
a shape with seven straight sides
- heptagonal adjective [singular]
a women's sports competition involving seven running, jumping, and throwing events strong $ strong [possessive form of 'she']
1 belonging to or connected with a woman, girl, or female animal that has already been mentioned:
•She looked at her watch.
•Her room was pleasant and airy.
•She makes her own clothes.
2 old-fashioned connected with a country, ship, car etc that has already been mentioned:
•Her top speed is about 110 miles an hour.[object form of 'she']
1 used to refer to a woman, girl, or female animal that has already been mentioned or is already known about:
•Jane? I don't really know her.
•Margaret wants me to go with her.
•Give her the keys.
•I think it was her, but I'm not sure.
2 old-fashioned used to refer to a country, ship, car etc that has already been mentioned:
•God bless this ship and all who sail in her. [T]
1 to be a sign of something that is going to come or happen soon:
•A flash of lightning and a peal of thunder heralded torrential rain.
•Flashing blue lights heralded the arrival of the police.
2 to say publicly that someone or something will be good or important
be heralded as sth
•When it opened, the hospital was heralded as a new way forward in nursing care.
1 [C] someone who carried messages from a ruler in the past
2 herald of sth a sign that something is soon going to happen:
•a bowl of daffodils, the first bright heralds of spring [U]
the study of COATS OF ARMS
- heraldic adjective $ [C]
a small plant that is used to improve the taste of food, or to make medicine:
•Sprinkle the dish with chopped fresh herbs. $ technical
plants that are herbaceous have soft stems rather than hard stems made of wood[C]
part of a garden where people grow plants that live for many years and do not need to be replaced $ [only before noun]
made of herbs:
•herbal remedies
•herbal tea $ [C]
someone who grows, sells, or uses HERBs , especially to treat illness
1 [U] the practice of treating illness using plants
2 [C,U] medicine made from plants $ [C,U]
technical a substance used to kill unwanted plants $ [C]
an animal that only eats plants; carnivore, omnivore
- herbivorous $ adjective $
needing great strength or determination:
•a herculean task $
1 [C] a group of animals of one kind that live and feed together; flock
[+of]
•a herd of cattle
•herds of elephants
2 the herd people generally, especially when thought of as being easily influenced by others:
•You have to be an individual; it's no use running with the herd.
•the herd instinct (=the need to behave in the same way as everyone else does)
1 [T always + adv/prep] to bring people together in a large group, especially roughly:
•The prisoners were herded together.
•I don't want to be herded around with a lot of tourists.
herd sb into sth
•The visitors were herded into two large halls.
2 [T] to make animals move together in a group:
•It was Thomas's duty to herd the cows. plural herdsmen [C]
a man who looks after a herd of animals $
1 in this place:
•What are you doing here?
•Shall we eat here?
•Come here for a minute.
•This switch here controls the lights.
•My friend here will show you the way.
up/down/in/out here
•What was she doing up here in the woods?
•Would you close the window? It's cold in here.
•Come on. I'm over here.
•Will you be back here tonight?
•There are no good pubs round here.
•I'm resigning here and now.
2 at this point in time:
•Spring is here at last.
•Here is your chance to change your life.
•Here is where the trouble starts.
3 here and there scattered around or happening in several different places:
•The house just needs a bit of paint here and there.
4 here is/are sth also here it is/here they are
a) used when you are giving something to someone, or showing something to them:
•Here's the money you lent me.
•Here are some pictures of John when he was little.
b) used when you have found something you were looking for:
•Have you seen my pen? Oh, here it is.
5 used when you are giving or offering something to someone:
•Here, have my chair. I don't mind standing.
6 here you are/here you go used when you are giving something to someone:
•Here you are, a boxful of tools.
•'Here you go.' Callum handed her a glass of orange juice.
7 at this point in a discussion:
•Here I'd like to add a note of caution.
•There is no space to discuss this issue here.
•I'm not sure what you mean here.
8 here goes! also here we go used when you are going to try to do something difficult or dangerous, and you do not know what will happen:
•I've never ridden a motorbike before, so here goes!
9 here we go used when you are starting to do something or when something is starting to happen:
•Right, here we go, the game's starting.
10 here's to sb/sth used when you are going to drink something to wish someone good luck, show your respect for them etc:
•Here's to the happy couple.
•Here's to your new job.
11 here he/she etc is also sb/sth is here used to say that someone or something has arrived:
•Here they are, late as usual.
•Ah, look - here's the postman.
•Tony's here for his messages.
12 here we are used when you have finally arrived somewhere you were travelling to:
•Here we are - home at last.
13 here comes sb/sth used when you can see something or someone arriving:
•Here comes lunch.
14 BrE used to get someone's attention or to show that you are annoyed:
•Here! Just what do you think you're doing?
15 here we go again informal used when something unpleasant is beginning to happen again:
•Most of us are peaceful and decent, but here we go again, in our fifth war of this century.
16 here to stay if something is here to stay, it has become a part of life and will continue to be so:
•Mobile phones are definitely here to stay.
17 here, there, and everywhere informal in many different places:
•I spent the weekend driving the kids here, there, and everywhere.
18 neither here nor there not important:
•You never liked him much, did you?' 'What I think about him is neither here nor there. He's your friend.'
19 the here and now the present time
in the here and now
•To be able to live fully in the here and now, one must first learn how to honour the past.
20 sb/sth is here to do sth used to say what someone or something's duty or purpose is:
•We're here to serve you.
21 here he/she etc is (doing sth) used to describe the present situation, especially one you did not expect to happen:
•I didn't think I'd ever be able to afford it, but here I am sitting in my own fitted kitchen. $
somewhere near the place where you are:
•There must be a pub hereabouts. $
1 [sentence adverb] formal from this time
2 formal after death:
•his belief in God and a life hereafter
3 law in a later part of an official or legal document:
•the Ulster Democratic Unionist Party (hereafter DUP)
the hereafter a life after death:
•Do you believe in the hereafter? $ law
as a result of this statement - used in official situations:
•I hereby agree to the conditions of this contract. $
1 a quality or illness that is hereditary is passed from a parent to a child before the child is born; genetic
2 BrE a hereditary position, rank, or title can be passed from an older to a younger person in the same family, usually when the older one dies:
•a hereditary peer [U]
the process by which mental and physical qualities are passed from a parent to a child before the child is born; genetics $ formal
in this place, situation, document etc:
•the conditions stated herein
•Herein lies a problem.
THEREIN $ law
later in this official statement, document etc:
•the Council of the Law Society (hereinafter called the Council) $ formal law
relating to or belonging to this document:
•This Agreement commences on the date of signature hereof.
THEREOF plural heresies [C,U]
1 a belief that disagrees with the official principles of a particular religion:
•He was executed for heresy.
2 a belief, statement etc that disagrees with what a group of people believe to be right:
•To come to work without a shirt and tie was considered heresy. [C]
someone who is guilty of heresy:
•Cranmer was put to death as a heretic.
- heretical adjective $ formal
to this:
•A copy of the document is hereto appended. $ formal
before this time:
•In recent years we have seen greater emphasis than heretofore on the voice of the consumer. $ formal
at or after this moment $ formal
with this letter or document:
•I enclose a copy of this report herewith for your information. law
property that is heritable can be passed from the older members of a family to the younger ones [singular, U]
the traditional beliefs, values, customs etc of a family, country, or society; inheritance
•the importance of preserving the national heritage
•beautiful old buildings which are part of our heritage
cultural/architectural/literary etc heritage
•the cultural heritage of Italy $ [C]
a living thing that has both male and female sexual organs
- hermaphrodite adjective $ technical
hermetically sealed very tightly closed so that air cannot get in or out; = airtight
- hermetic adjective $ [C]
someone who lives alone and has a simple way of life, usually for religious reasons
RECLUSE $ [C]
a place where a hermit lives or has lived in the past[C]
a kind of CRAB that lives in the empty shells of other sea creatures $ [C,U]
a medical condition in which an organ pushes through the muscles that are supposed to contain it; = rupture $ plural heroes [C]
1 a man who is admired for doing something extremely brave; heroine

national hero (=a hero in a particular country)
local hero
war hero (=a soldier who was very brave in a war)
unsung hero (=someone whose bravery was not noticed or recognized)
folk hero (=an ordinary person who does something brave and becomes a hero in a particular place)
accidental hero (=someone who becomes a hero by chance)
be hailed as a hero (=be said to be a hero)

•He had dared to speak out against injustice, and overnight he became a national hero.
•His father was a war hero, a former fighter pilot.
• the unsung heroes who drove convoys of aid to Bosnia
[+of]
•a hero of the Great War
• A man hailed as a hero for fifty years has been unmasked as a traitor.

2 the man or boy who is the main character in a book, film, play etc; heroine
[+of]
•Phileas Fogg, hero of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days
3 a man who is admired very much for a particular skill or quality; heroine
sb's hero
•When I was small, Uncle Fred was my hero.
[+of]
•Einstein is the hero of those who explore science at its deepest level.
4 AmE a long thin SANDWICH filled with meat, cheese etc $
1 extremely brave or determined, and admired by many people; = courageous
•her heroic efforts to save her family
•Lawrence's heroic struggle against his destiny.
•She portrayed him as a heroic figure.
2 a heroic story, poem etc has a hero in it, usually from ancient LEGENDs
3 on a heroic scale/of heroic proportions very large or great:
•a battle on a heroic scale
- heroically adverb[C]
a pair of lines in poetry which end with the same sound and that have five beats in each line $ [plural]
brave actions or words, often ones that are meant to seem impressive to other people:
•America's present need is not heroics, but calm diplomacy. $ [U]
a powerful and illegal drug made from MORPHINE
be on/use/take heroin
•a heroin addict $ [C]
1 a woman who is admired for doing something extremely brave; hero
[+of]
•a heroine of the French Resistance
2 the woman or girl who is the main character in a book, film, play etc; hero
[+of]
•Myra, the fictional heroine of The Women's Room
3 a woman who is admired very much for a particular skill or quality; hero, idol
sb's heroine
•Oprah is my heroine. $ [U]
very great courage:
•stories of heroism and self-sacrifice [C]
a large bird with very long legs and a long beak, that lives near water[U]
great admiration for someone who is thought to be very brave, good, skilful etc - often used to show disapproval
- hero-worship verb [T] $ [U]
a very infectious disease that causes spots on the skin, for example on the sexual organs or face plural herrings or herring [C]
a long thin silver sea fish that can be eaten
RED HERRING $ [U]
a pattern consisting of a continuous line of V shapes, used in cloth etc $ [possessive form of 'she']
used to refer to something that belongs to or is connected with a woman, girl, or female animal that has already been mentioned:
•He bent and touched his mouth to hers.
•These are my gloves. Hers are in the drawer.
•The idea was hers.
of hers
•Paul's a friend of hers. strong $ strong [reflexive form of 'she']
1 used to show that the woman or girl who does something is affected by her own action:
•She cut herself on some broken glass.
•She made herself a cup of coffee.
2
a) used to emphasize that you are talking about one particular woman or girl:
•It must be true that she's leaving because she told me so herself.
•The ornate Town Hall was opened by Queen Victoria herself.
b) used after 'like', 'as', or 'except' instead of 'her':
•She met other mothers in the same situation as herself.
3 (all) by herself
a) alone:
•Miss Bennet lives by herself.
b) without help from anyone else:
•The little girl wrote the letter all by herself.
4 not be/feel/seem herself informal if a woman or girl is not herself, she does not feel or behave as she usually does, for example because she is upset or ill:
•You must forgive her - she's not herself at present.
5 have sth (all) to herself if a woman or girl has something to herself, she does not have to share it with anyone else:
•Alice had the house to herself while her parents were away.written abbreviation Hz $ plural hertz [C]
a unit for measuring the FREQUENCY of SOUND WAVEs strong
1 the short form of 'he is':
•He's a writer.
•He's reading.
2 the short form of 'he has':
•He's bought a new car.also hesitance [U]
when someone is uncertain or slow in doing or saying something
uncertain about what to do or say because you are nervous or unwilling:
•Gail gave me a hesitant little smile.
hesitant about (doing) sth
•They seemed hesitant about coming in.
hesitant to do sth
•She is hesitant to draw conclusions until the study is over.
- hesitantly adverb
1 [I] to pause before saying or doing something because you are nervous or not sure:
•Kay hesitated for a moment and then said 'yes'.
[+about/over]
•He was still hesitating over whether to leave or not.
2 don't hesitate to do sth used to tell someone that it is correct or right for them to do something and they do not have to worry about offending anyone:
•Don't hesitate to contact me if you need any more information.
- hesitatingly adverb [C,U]
when someone hesitates:
•After some hesitation one of them began to speak.
without hesitation
•He agreed without hesitation.
have no hesitation in doing sth
•I would have no hesitation in recommending Philip for the position.
a slight/brief/momentary etc hesitation
•There was a slight hesitation in Jamie's voice. $ [U]
BrE thick rough cloth sometimes used for making SACKs ; = burlap AmE $
other; opposite; different
heterosexual (=attracted to the opposite sex) $ formal
heterodox beliefs, practices etc are not approved of by a particular group, especially a religious onealso heterogenous $ formal
consisting of parts or members that are very different from each other; homogeneous
•a heterogeneous collection of buildings
- heterogeneously adverb
- heterogeneity $ noun [U]
sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex; = straight; bisexual, homosexual [not before noun] BrE informal
anxious, upset, or slightly angry
[+about/over]
•Mike tends to get het up about silly things. formal
1 heuristic education is based on discovering and experiencing things for yourself
2 helping you in the process of learning or discovery
- heuristically adverb [U] formal
the study of how people use their experience to find answers to questions or to improve performance past tense hewed, past participle hewed also, hewn literary
[I,T] to cut something with a cutting tool:
•hewn stone
ROUGH-HEWN [C]
AmE an evil CURSE that brings trouble:
•I think he's trying to put a hex on me.
- hex verb [T]also hex technical
hexadecimal numbers are based on the number 16 and are mainly used on computers $ [C]
a shape with six sides
- hexagonal adjective $ [C] technical
a line of poetry with six main beats
1 a shout used to get someone's attention or to show surprise, interest, or annoyance:
•Hey, wait a minute!
2 informal hello:
•Hey, what's up? [C usually singular]
the time when someone or something was most popular, successful, or powerful
in sb's heyday
•a picture of Greta Garbo in her heyday $ BrE
used to say that something happens so easily that it seems to be magic; = presto AmE [C] BrE
heavy goods vehicle a large road vehicle used for moving goods; = truck informal
hello:
•Hi! How are you?
• Hi there! I haven't seen you for ages. [C usually singular]
1 formal a break or INTERRUPTion in an activity:
•Talks between the two countries have resumed after a six-year hiatus.
[+in]
•a hiatus in research
a brief/short/long hiatus
•There was a brief hiatus in the war.
2 technical a space where something is missing, especially in a piece of writing $ [I]
if an animal hibernates, it sleeps for the whole winter
- hibernation $ noun [U] [C,U]
a tropical plant with large brightly coloured flowershiccough [C]
1 [usually plural] a sudden repeated stopping of the breath, usually caused by eating or drinking too fast
get/have hiccups BrE
; get/have the hiccups AmE
•Don't drink so fast - you'll get hiccups.
2 a small problem or delay
[+in]
•a hiccup in the negotiationspast tense and past participle hiccupped, present participle hiccupping [I]
to have hiccups [C] AmE informal
someone who lives in the countryside, and is thought to be uneducated or stupid
- hick adjective
•hick towns [C]
AmE a red mark on someone's skin caused by someone else sucking it as a sexual act; = lovebite BrE plural hickories [C,U]
a North American tree that produces nuts, or the wood that comes from this tree
the past tense of HIDE
the past participle of HIDE
1 difficult to see or find:
•the use of hidden cameras
•Some areas can hold hidden dangers for dogs.
•the hidden meaning behind his words
•Be on the lookout for hidden costs in hotel bills.
2 not easy to notice or realize:
•He wants each pupil to have the chance to discover hidden talents.
3 hidden agenda the secret purpose behind a plan or activity that you do not tell other people about - used to show disapproval:
•Voters suspected a hidden political agenda.
•Was there a hidden agenda behind this decision? past tense hid , past participle hidden
1 [T] to deliberately put or keep something or someone in a place where they cannot easily be seen or found
hide sth in/under/behind etc
•Marcia hid the pictures in her desk drawer.
•She keeps a bottle of gin hidden behind a stack of books.
hide sth/sb from sb
•He was accused of trying to hide evidence from the police.
2 [T] to cover something so that it cannot be seen clearly:
•The church roof was half hidden by trees.
•Her tangled hair hid her face.
3 [I] to go or stay in a place where no one will see or find you:
•Quick, he's coming! We'd better hide.
[+in/under/behind etc]
•Harry hid under the bed.
hide from sb
•Weiss spent two years hiding from the Nazis.
4 [T] to keep someone in a place where other people will not find them:
•The old woman hid him in her cellar for three days.
hide sb from sb
•We'll have to hide him from the soldiers.
5 [T] to keep your real feelings, plans, or the truth secret, so that they cannot be known by other people
hide your disappointment/embarrassment/confusion etc
•She laughed to hide her nervousness.
•He took off his ring to hide the fact that he was married.
•He told the jury that he is innocent and has nothing to hide.
hide sth from sb
•Don't try to hide anything from me.
hide your light under a bushel at BUSHEL[C]
1 BrE a place from which you can watch animals or birds without being seen by them; = blind AmE
2 an animal's skin, especially when it has been removed to be used for leather:
•ox hide gloves
3 have/tan sb's hide spoken to punish someone severely - used humorously
4 sb's hide spoken used to talk about someone when they are in a difficult situation:
•He would say anything in court to try and save his own hide (=save himself).
5 not see hide nor hair of sb spoken to not see someone anywhere for a fairly long time:
•I haven't seen hide nor hair of him for ages.also hide-and-go-seek AmE [U]
a children's game in which one player shuts their eyes while the others hide, and then goes to look for them [C]
a place where you can go when you want to be alone
having old-fashioned attitudes and ideas - used to show disapproval:
•hidebound reactionaries
extremely unpleasant or ugly:
•a hideous dress
•hideous crimes
•Dinnertime that day was hideous.
- hideously adverb
•Her face was hideously scarred.
- hideousness noun [U] [C]
a place where someone goes because they do not want anyone to find them
1 [U] when someone stays somewhere in secret, especially because they have done something illegal or are in danger
be in/go into/come out of hiding
•He went into hiding in 1973.
2 [singular] spoken informal
a) a severe physical punishment; = beating
•You'll get a good hiding when you come home!
•You're not too big for a hiding, you know.
b) an occasion when you defeat someone in a sports game
3 be on a hiding to nothing BrE informal to be completely wasting your time trying to do something[C]
a place where you can hide or where you can hide something $
if a system, organization etc is hierarchical, people or things are divided into levels of importance
hierarchical structure/organization/system etc
•a hierarchical society
- hierarchically adverb $ plural hierarchies
1 [C,U] a system of organization in which people or things are divided into levels of importance:
•a rigid social hierarchy
•She worked her way up through the corporate hierarchy to become president.
2 [C] the most important and powerful members of an organization:
•the church hierarchy [U]
a system of writing that uses pictures to represent words
- hieroglyphic adjective
•hieroglyphic script plural hi-fis [C] old-fashioned
a piece of high quality electronic equipment for playing recorded music; = stereo
- hi-fi adjective
•hi-fi speakers
things that are higgledy-piggledy are mixed together in an untidy way
- higgledy-piggledy adverb [in adjectives]
of a particular height:
•The wall was about chest-high (=as high as your chest).
•a 7000 metre-high mountain comparative higher, superlative highest
1 FROM BOTTOM TO TOP measuring a long distance from the bottom to the top; low
•This is the highest mountain in Japan.
•The camp was surrounded by a high fence.
100 feet/30 metres etc high
•Waves of up to 40 metres high were recorded.
•a ten-foot high statue
• How high is the Eiffel Tower?
chest/waist/knee etc high (=as high as your chest etc)
•The grass was knee-high.
!! Do not use high to describe people, animals, trees, plants, and narrow things of above average height. Use tall: You're getting very tall (NOT You're getting very high). | tall buildings (NOT high buildings)
see box at BIG^1
2 ABOVE GROUND in a position that is a long way, or a longer way than usual, above the ground, floor etc; low
•The apartment had spacious rooms with high ceilings.
•a high shelf
•high altitudes
•The sun was already high in the sky.
• High up among the clouds, we saw the summit of Everest.
3 LARGE NUMBER a high amount, number, or level is large, or larger than usual; low
•Temperatures remained high for the rest of the week.
•Lower-paid workers often cannot afford the high cost of living in the capital.
high level/degree/rate etc (of sth)
•High levels of car use mean our streets are more congested than ever.
•high crime rates
•high interest rates
high price/charge/tax etc
•If you want better public services, you'll have to pay higher taxes - it's as simple as that.
•The train was approaching at high speed.
high proportion/percentage etc (of sth) (=a very large part of a number)
•A high proportion of women with children under five work full-time.
4 GOOD STANDARD a high standard, quality etc is very good; low
•a high performance computer
high quality
•a range of high quality goods at low prices
•Our aim is to provide the highest quality service to all our customers.
high standard (=very good levels of work, achievement, behaviour etc)
•The general standard of the entries was very high.
•Our guests expect us to maintain high standards.
5 CONTAINING A LOT containing a lot of a particular substance or quality; low
high in sth
•Choose foods that are high in fiber and low in calories.
a high sugar/salt/fibre etc content
•Red meat tends to have a high fat content.
6 RANK/POSITION having an important position in society or within an organization; low
•a high rank in the US Navy
•the City's highest honour
high up (=in a powerful position)
•someone high up in the CIA
high office (=an important position)
•Both of them held high office in the Anglican Church.
high society (=rich people of the highest social class)
HIGH-CLASS, HIGH-RANKING, HIGH-UP; friends in high places at FRIEND (11)
7 ADVANCED [only before noun] advanced and often complicated:
•We can offer all the benefits of the latest high technology.
•the world of high finance
the higher animals/mammals/organisms etc (=animals etc that are more intelligent or advanced than others)
8 high opinion/regard/praise etc strong approval of someone or something, or an expression of strong approval:
•I've always had a high opinion of her work.
hold sb/sth in high esteem/regard (=respect them very much)
•As an educationalist, he was held in very high esteem.
•Romsey earned high praise from his boss.
9 high priority also high on the list/agenda important and needing to be done or dealt with quickly:
•Most people feel that education needs to be given higher priority.
•Arms control is high on the agenda.
10 high hopes/expectations when someone hopes or expects that something will be very good or successful:
•My expectations of the place were never very high, but I didn't think it would be this bad.
have high hopes/expectations
•Like many young actors, I had high hopes when I first started out.
11 SOUND near or above the top of the range of sounds that humans can hear; low
•I always had difficulty reaching the high notes (=when singing).
•a high squeaky voice
HIGH-PITCHED
12 high point also high spot BrE an especially good part of an activity or event:
•The visit to the ancient capital city was one of the high points of the tour.
13 high ground
a) an area of land that is higher than the area surrounding it:
•Villagers herded the livestock to high ground to keep them safe during the floods.
b) a better, more moral, or more powerful position in an argument or competition:
•Neither side in this conflict can claim the moral high ground.
14 high spirits feelings of happiness and energy, especially when you are having fun:
•It was a bright sunny day and we set off in high spirits.
•I don't think they intended any harm - it was just high spirits.
15 HAPPY/EXCITED [not before noun] happy and excited:
•I was still high from the applause they'd given me.
16 DRUGS [not before noun] behaving in a strange and excited way as the result of taking drugs
[+on]
•Most people there were high on cocaine.
get high (=take a drug to make yourself high)
•Steve was as high as a kite (=strongly affected by drugs or alcohol).
17 SEA/RIVER having risen to a high level; low
•The river is at its highest in spring.
HIGH TIDE
18 it is high time sb did sth used to say that something should be done now:
•It's high time you got a job.
19 TIME the middle or the most important part of a particular period of time:
•high summer
high noon (=12 o'clock in the middle of the day)
HIGH SEASON
20 high wind a strong wind
21 high alert a situation in which people are told to be ready because there is a strong possibility of an attack or of something dangerous happening
put/place sb on high alert
•Troops were put on high alert.
22 high life/living the enjoyable life that rich and fashionable people have:
•We're all stuck here, while he's off living the high life in New York.
23 high drama/adventure very exciting events or situations:
•a life with moments of high drama
24 end/finish/begin etc (sth) on a high note to end, finish something etc in a successful way:
•The team finished their tour on a high note in Barbados.
25 high principles/ideals ideas about personal behaviour based on the belief that people should always behave in an honest and morally good way:
•a man of high moral principles
26 high and mighty talking or behaving as if you think you are better or more important than other people:
•Don't get high and mighty with me.
27 be/get on your high horse to give your opinion about something in a way that shows you think you are definitely right and that other people are wrong:
•If she'd get down off her high horse for a moment, she might realize there's more than one point of view here.
28 FOOD BrE cheese, meat etc that is high is not fresh and has a strong smell or taste
29 high days and holidays BrE special occasions
30 high complexion/colouring BrE a naturally pink or red face
31 in high dudgeon formal in an angry or offended way - often used humorously
32 LANGUAGE
a) high style/register BrE a very formal style of language, especially used in literature
b) high German/Dutch etc a form of a language used for formal purposes that is often different from the ordinary form used by most people
HIGHLY
stink to high heaven at STINK^1 (1)
1 ABOVE THE GROUND at or to a level high above the ground, the floor etc; low
•He kicked the ball high into the air, over the heads of the crowd.
[+above/into etc]
•Hotel Miramar is situated high above the bay.
•A ski lift whisks you high into the mountains.
2 VALUE/COST/AMOUNT at or to a high value, cost, amount etc; low
•If prices shoot up any higher, no-one be able to afford to live in the area.
•Tom scored higher than anyone else in the class.
3 SOUND with a high sound:
•A strange cry rang high into the night.
4 ACHIEVEMENT at or to a high rank or level of achievement, especially within a company; low
•It seems that the higher you rise, the less time you have to actually do your job.
•My parents always encouraged me to aim high.
5 (leave sb/sth) high and dry
a) if someone is left high and dry, they are left without any help or without the things that they need
b) if a boat, area etc is left high and dry, it is left on land because the water that surrounded it has gone down:
•The once-thriving port of Rye was left high and dry as sea levels retreated.
6 look/search high and low to try to find someone or something by looking everywhere:
•We looked high and low for Sandy but couldn't find her.
hold your head high at HOLD^1 (16)
live high on the hog at LIVE^1 (26)
be riding high at RIDE^1 (6)
run high at RUN^1 (28)[C]
1 NUMBER/AMOUNT the highest price, number, temperature etc that has ever been recorded, or that has been recorded within a particular period of time:
•Highs of 40°C were recorded in the region last summer.
a new/record/ten-year etc high
•The price of oil reached a new high this week.
2 EXCITEMENT informal a feeling of great happiness or excitement:
•They're bound to be on a high after such an incredible victory.
•the emotional highs and lows of a new romance
3 DRUGS a feeling of pleasure or excitement produced by some drugs
4 WEATHER an area of high PRESSURE that affects the weather
5 SCHOOL a short form of HIGH SCHOOL, used in the name of a school:
•Benjamin Franklin High
6 from on high from someone in a position of authority - used humorously:
•An order came from on high.
7 on high formal
a) at a high temperature as measured by an electric OVEN etc:
•Microwave on high for 8 minutes.
b) formal in a high place or heaven:
•An angel came from on high. $ [C]
especially AmE an alcoholic drink, especially WHISKY or BRANDY mixed with water or SODA[plural] AmE
lights at the front of a car that are on as brightly as possibleformal
born into the highest social class; low-born [C]
AmE a piece of tall wooden furniture with many drawers; = tallboy BrE
1 a highbrow book, film etc is very serious and may be difficult to understand
2 someone who is highbrow is interested in serious or complicated ideas and subjects; = intellectual
- highbrow noun [C]
LOWBROW, MIDDLEBROW $ [C]
a special tall chair that a young child sits in to eat[singular]
the part of the Church of England that is closest in its beliefs to the Roman Catholic Church
- High Church adjective
LOW CHURCH[usually before noun]
of good quality and style, and usually expensive; low-class
•a high-class restaurant[singular]
the most important leaders of a country's army, navy etc:
•the German High Command[C]
1 a group of people working for a government or an international organization to deal with a specific problem
2 a group of people with official duties concerning the relationship of one Commonwealth country with another
- High Commissioner noun [C][C usually singular]
a court of law that is at a higher level than ordinary courts and that can be asked to change the decisions of a lower court[only before noun]
a high-definition television or computer shows images very clearly[usually before noun] AmE
relating to products or services that are more expensive and of better quality than other products of the same type:
•high-end computer memory chips
LOW-END[U]
college or university education as opposed to school or HIGH SCHOOL[U]
different types of advanced mathematics that are studied and taught at universities[C]
informal someone who has a high rank in an organization:
•Rumour has it that the higher-ups want to push the schedule forward.[C,U]
a substance that explodes with great power and violence $ informal
highfalutin language or behaviour seems silly although it is intended to be impressive - used to show disapproval[usually before noun]
high fidelity recording equipment produces sound that is very clear
HI-FI[C]
especially AmE the action of hitting someone's open hand with your own above your heads to show that you are pleased about somethinghigh flyer [C]
someone who is extremely successful in their job or in school:
•a young businessman considered a highflyer by the media
- high-flying adjective
high-flown language sounds impressive but does not have much real meaning[only before noun]
of the best quality:
•high-grade beef
using your authority in an unreasonable way:
•She resented his high-handed manner.
•high-handed and insensitive management decisions
- high-handedly adverb
- high-handedness noun [U][plural]
women's shoes with high heelsalso hijinks AmE [plural] old-fashioned
noisy or excited behaviour when people are having fun:
•youthful high jinks
1 the high jump a sports event in which someone runs and jumps over a bar that is raised higher each time they jump
2 be (in) for the high jump BrE informal if someone is for the high jump, they will be punished for something they have done wrong
- high jumper noun [C] [only before noun]
1 also Highland relating to the Scottish Highlands or its people:
•Highland pipers
2 in or relating to an area with a lot of mountains; lowland
•the highland capital of Quito $ [C]
someone from the Scottish Highlands [plural]
1 the Highlands an area in the north of Scotland where there are a lot of mountains
2 an area of a country where there are a lot of mountains:
•forested highlands
LOWLANDS[only before noun]
1 in a powerful position or job, or involving people who are in powerful positions or jobs:
•high-level executives
high-level meetings/talks/negotiations etc
•a high-level conference on arms control
2 at a high degree or strength:
•The virus has shown high-level resistance to penicillin
3 involving very technical or complicated ideas
4 a high-level computer language is similar to human language rather than machine language
LOW-LEVEL [T]
1 to make a problem or subject easy to notice so that people pay attention to it:
•Your resume should highlight your skills and achievements.
2 to mark written words with a special coloured pen, or in a different colour on a computer:
•Use the cursor to highlight the name of the document you want to print.
3 to make some parts of your hair a lighter colour than the rest
- highlighting noun [U]
1 [C] the most important, interesting, or enjoyable part of something such as a holiday, performance, or sports competition
[+of]
•That weekend in Venice was definitely the highlight of our trip.
[+from]
•At 11.30 we'll be showing highlights from the Third Round of the FA Cup.
2 highlights [plural] areas of hair that have been made a lighter colour than the rest
3 [C] technical a light bright area on a painting or photograph $ [C]
a special light-coloured pen used for marking words in a book, article etc
1 [+ adj, adv] very
highly successful/effective/efficient
•a highly successful politician
•Tom's mother was highly critical of the school's approach.
•highly competitive industries
•a highly desirable neighborhood
highly unlikely/likely/improbable/probable
•It's highly unlikely that the project will be finished on time.
•T.S. Eliot's highly influential poem, 'The Waste Land'
•a highly controversial issue
2 [+ adj, adv] to a high level or standard
highly skilled/trained/educated
•She is a highly educated woman.
•highly paid experts
•a highly developed economy
3 highly placed in an important or powerful position:
•a highly placed government official
4 highly strung especially BrE high-strung AmE nervous and easily upset or excited:
•a highly strung child
5 if you think highly of someone or something, you think they are very good and you admire them
think/speak highly of sb
•I've always thought very highly of Michael.
•a highly regarded author[C,U]
a very formal church ceremony in the Roman Catholic Church
having very high moral standards or principles:
•a high-minded sermon on charity
- high-mindedly adverb
- high-mindedness noun [U] [C]
Your/Her/His Highness used to speak to or about a king, queen, prince etc
high-octane petrol is of a very high quality
high-performance cars/computers/tyres etc cars, computers etc that are able to go faster, do more work etc than normal ones
a high-pitched voice or sound is very high; low-pitched [usually before noun]
1 a high-powered machine, vehicle, or piece of equipment is very powerful:
•a high-powered automobile
2 very important or successful:
•a high-powered publisher[only before noun]
1 a high-pressure job or situation is one in which you need to work very hard; = stressful
2 high-pressure sales/selling methods etc very direct and often successful ways of persuading people to buy something:
•high-pressure sales techniques
3 containing or using a very high pressure or force of water, gas, air etc:
•high-pressure hoses
costing a lot of money; low-priced, inexpensive
•high-priced apartments
•high-priced lawyers[C]
1 informal someone who is famous for being the best at a type of art, music etc, and whose ideas or work change the way that other people think about and make art, music etc
[+of]
•the high priest of modern jazz
2 the most important PRIEST in some religions[C]
1 informal a woman who is famous for being the best at a type of art, music etc, and whose ideas or work change the way that other people think about and make art, music etc
2 the most important PRIESTESS in some religions
having high moral standards[only before noun]
attracting a lot of public attention, usually deliberately; low profile
•a high-profile public figure
- high profile noun [singular][only before noun]
having a high position in a government or other organization; low-ranking
•high-ranking officials[U]
1 a form of art in which figures cut in stone or wood stand out from the surface
BAS-RELIEF
2 throw sth into high relief to make something very clear and easy to notice[only before noun]
high-rise buildings are tall buildings with many levels
- high rise noun [C]
•They live in a high rise on the East Side.
LOW-RISE[only before noun]
involving a risk of death, injury, failure etc; low-risk
•high-risk investments
high-risk patients/groups etc
•cancer screening for women over 55 and other high-risk groups[C]
1 old-fashioned a main road
2 take the (moral) high road AmE to do what you believe is right according to your beliefs:
•Daley has taken the high road in his campaign.[C]
AmE informal someone who spends a lot of money carelessly or risks a lot of money on games, races etc
1 [C,U] a school in the US and Canada for children of 14 or 15 to 18 years old; junior high school
in high school
•We were friends in high school.
•high school students
•high school graduates
2 [singular] used in the names of some schools in Britain for children from 11 to 18 years old:
•Leytonstone High School for Girls
SECONDARY SCHOOL
the high seas literary the areas of ocean around the world that do not belong to any particular country[singular, U]
especially BrE the time of year when businesses make a lot of money and prices are high, especially in the tourist industry; = peak season
LOW SEASON[only before noun]
high-sounding statements, principles etc seem very impressive but are often insincere[only before noun]
1 designed to travel or operate very fast:
•a high-speed train
high-speed computer/network/modem etc
•high-speed Internet access
2 high-speed chase a situation when the police drive very fast to try to catch someone in a car
1 someone who is high-spirited has a lot of energy and enjoys fun and adventure
2 a high-spirited horse is nervous and hard to controlBrE
1 [C] the main street of a town where most of the shops and businesses are:
•Camden High Street
in/on the high street
•A new bookshop had opened in the high street.
high street banks/shops/stores etc
2 the high street used to talk about shops and the money people spend in them:
•This year was exceptionally difficult on the high street.[singular, U]
BrE the table where the most important people at a formal occasion sit; = head table
hightail it informal to leave a place quickly:
•kids hightailing it down the street on their bikes[C,U]
BrE a meal of cold food, cakes etc eaten in the early evening [usually before noun]
1 using high technology:
•high-tech industries
•a £1 million high-tech security system
•high-tech weapons
LOW-TECH
2 high-tech furniture, designs etc are made in a very modern style
- high tech noun [U][U]
the use of the most modern machines and methods in industry, business etc
high-tension wires/cables etc wires etc that have a powerful electric current going through them
1 [C,U] the point or time at which the sea reaches its highest level; low tide
•High tide is at seven in the morning.
at high tide
•The waves became much more powerful at high tide.
2 [singular] the time when something is at its best or most successful:
•the high tide in the party's fortunes[plural] AmE informal
sports shoes that cover your ANKLEs
- high-top adjective
•high-top basketball shoes[U]
the crime of putting your country in great danger, for example by giving military secrets to the enemy[C] BrE informal
someone who has a high rank in an organization; = higher-up[U]
the period of time during which the water in a river or the sea is at its highest level because of the TIDE
come hell or high water at HELL^1 (22)[singular]
1 the mark that shows the highest level that the sea or a river reaches
2 the time when someone or something is most successful
[+of]
•the high water mark of Herrera's presidency [C]
1 especially AmE a wide main road that joins one town to another:
•Interstate Highway 75
FREEWAY, EXPRESSWAY, MOTORWAY
2 the public highway BrE law a road or roads that the public has the right to use
3 highway robbery AmE informal a situation in which something costs you a lot more than it should:
•It's highway robbery, charging that much for gas![singular]
the set of official rules and laws about driving and using roads in Britain plural highwaymen [C]
someone who stopped people and carriages on the roads and robbed them, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries[singular]
the police who make sure that people obey the law on main roads in the US[C usually singular]
a tightly stretched rope or wire high above the ground that someone walks along as part of a CIRCUS performance; = tightrope [T]
1 to use violence or threats to take control of a plane, vehicle, or ship; carjack
•The airliner was hijacked by a group of terrorists.
2 to take control of something and use it for your own purposes:
•Some people think the party has been hijacked by right-wing extremists.
- hijacker noun [C][C]
BrE when a plane, vehicle etc is hijacked
1 [C,U] the use of violence or threats to take control of a plane:
•the recent series of airplane hijackings
2 [U] the act of stealing goods from vehicles [plural]
an American spelling of HIGH JINKS [C]
1 a long walk in the mountains or countryside:
•a hike in the woods
2 especially AmE informal a large increase in prices, wages, taxes etc; = rise
[+in]
•The president has proposed a hike in the minimum wage.
price/rate/tax etc hikes
•Several airlines have proposed fare hikes, effective October 1.
3 take a hike AmE spoken used to tell someone rudely to go away
1 [I,T] to take a long walk in the mountains or countryside
hike sth AmE
•His dream is to hike the Appalachian Trail.
2 also hike up [T] especially AmE to increase a price, tax etc by a large amount; = raise

hike sth <=> up especially AmE
1 to lift up a piece of your clothing:
•She hiked her skirt up to climb the stairs.
2 to increase a price, tax etc by a large amount $ [C]
someone who walks long distances in the mountains or country for pleasure [U]
the activity of taking long walks in the mountains or country; walking
•We're going to do some hiking this summer.
•Utah is a great place to go hiking. $
extremely funny:
•a hilarious story
- hilariously adverb [U]
laughter, or a feeling of fun:
•Eva joined in the hilarity as much as anyone. [C]
1 an area of land that is higher than the land around it, like a mountain but smaller; uphill, downhill

steep hill
rolling hills (=hills with long gentle slopes)
wooded hill (=one covered with trees)
green hill (=one covered with grass)
climb a hill (=walk or drive up a hill)
brow/crest of a hill (=the top part of a hill)
hills and valleys
hill farm/town
hill country (=a rural area where there are a lot of hills)

•Their house is on a hill overlooking the sea.
•the top of Sidbury Hill
•A cart was making its way up the steep hill on which the village stood.
• In the spring, the rolling hills around Yakima Valley turn white with blossom.
•the hill towns of central Italy

2 a slope on a road:
•There's a steep hill ahead.
DOWNHILL, UPHILL
3 the Hill AmE CAPITOL HILL
4 over the hill no longer young, and therefore no longer attractive or good at doing things:
•Kathleen thinks she's over the hill, but she's only 32.
5 it doesn't amount to a hill of beans AmE spoken it is not important plural hillbillies [C]
AmE an insulting word meaning an uneducated poor person who lives in the mountains [C] especially BrE
a little hill [C]
the sloping side of a hill[C]
a town in the hills in South Asia $ [C]
the top of a hill $ [U] BrE
the activity of walking on hills for pleasure
- hillwalker noun [C] comparative hillier, superlative hilliest
having a lot of hills
hilly region/area/terrain etc [C]
1 the handle of a sword or knife, where the blade is attached
2 to the hilt completely
support/defend/back sb to the hilt
•I'm backing the PM to the hilt on this. strong [object form of 'he']
1 used to refer to a man, boy, or male animal that has already been mentioned or is already known about:
•Are you in love with him?
•Why don't you ask him yourself?
•He repeated what she had told him.
•I knew it was him as soon as I heard his voice.
2 used when talking about someone who may be male or female. Some people think this use is old-fashioned:
•If you can convince a child you love him, you can teach him anything.
!!
see note at THEY strong [reflexive form of 'he']
1
a) used to show that the man or boy who does something is affected by his own action:
•In despair, the young boy had hanged himself.
•His name is James but he calls himself Jim.
•He poured himself a glass of orange juice.
b) used after words such as 'everyone', 'anyone', and 'someone' to talk about people in general being affected by their own actions:
•Everyone should learn to respect himself.
2
a) used to emphasize that you are talking about one particular man or boy:
•It was the President himself who opened the door.
•It must be true - he said so himself.
b) used after 'like', 'as', or 'except' instead of 'him':
•The other passengers were all refugees like himself.
3 (all) by himself
a) alone:
•He's lived by himself since his wife died.
•Winston was sitting all by himself.
b) without help from anyone else:
•It was the first time he felt he had achieved something by himself.
4 not be/feel/seem himself informal if a man or boy is not himself, he does not feel or behave as he usually does, for example because he is upset or ill:
•Rick hasn't seemed himself lately.
5 have sth (all) to himself if a man or boy has something to himself, he does not have to share it with anyone else:
•John at last had a bedroom all to himself. [only before noun]
relating to the back part of an animal with four legs
hind legs/feet/quarters/limbs
talk the hind legs off a donkey at TALK^1 (10)[C] BrE
a female DEER $ [T]
to make it difficult for something to develop or succeed:
•His career has been hindered by injury.
•policies that will hinder rather than help families
!! Do not confuse hinder and prevent even though they have similar meanings. Hinder means to make the progress or development of something slow down or stop. Prevent means to make it impossible for someone to do something: His poor health prevented him from going to work (NOT His poor health hindered him from going to work). [U]
an official language in India $

devil take the hindmost at DEVIL (13) $ [plural]
the back part of an animal with four legs
1 [C] something or someone that makes it difficult for you to do something
[+to]
•The floods have been a major hindrance to relief efforts.
•A degree is more of a hindrance than a help in British industry.
2 [U] formal the act of making it difficult for someone to do something:
•Visitors are allowed to wander without hindrance.
without let or hindrance at LET^2 (2) [U]
the ability to understand a situation only after it has happened; foresight
with/in hindsight
•With hindsight, I should have seen the warning signs.
the benefit/wisdom of hindsight
•With the benefit of hindsight, it's easy to criticize. plural Hindus [C]
someone whose religion is Hinduism
- Hindu adjective
•a Hindu temple [U]
the main religion in India, which includes belief in REINCARNATION [C]
a piece of metal fastened to a door, lid etc that allows it to swing open and shut
[T usually passive] to attach something, using a hinge

PHRASAL VERBS
hinge on/upon sth phr v
if a result hinges on something, it depends on it completely:
•His political future hinges on the outcome of this election.
•The case against him hinged on Lewis' evidence.
- hinged
•a hinged lid [C]
1 something that you say or do to suggest something to someone, without telling them directly

hint that
give (sb) a hint
drop a hint (=give a hint)
take/get a hint also
take/get the hint (=understand someone's hint)
broad/strong/heavy hint (=one that is very easy to understand)
subtle/vague/gentle hint (=one that is not very easy to understand)

•There have been hints that he may take up coaching.
•'Look, I can't tell you.' 'Oh, come on, give me a hint.'
[+about/as to]
•Miles had been dropping heavy hints about the cost of petrol.
• I made it clear I wasn't interested in him, but he didn't take the hint.

2 a very small amount or sign of something
[+of]
•'What time do we have to leave?' he asked with a hint of impatience.
•We shall have to turn back if there's the slightest hint of fog.
3 a useful piece of advice about how to do something; = tip
helpful/handy hints
[+on/about]
•helpful hints on looking after house plants[I,T]
to suggest something in an indirect way, but so that someone can guess your meaning
[+at]
•What are you hinting at?
hint (that)
•He hinted strongly that he might be prepared to send troops in. $ [singular]
an area of land that is far from the coast, large rivers, or the places where people live:
•the rural hinterland [C]
1 one of the two parts on each side of your body between the top of your leg and your waist:
•She stood there with her hands on her hips glaring at him.
•The old lady had fallen and broken her hip.
2 the red fruit of some kinds of ROSEs ; = rose hipinformal
1 doing things or done according to the latest fashion; = cool
•McMillan's novel gets my vote for hippest book of the year.
2 be/get hip to sth to learn about a new product, idea etc:
•More and more people are getting hip to e-banking.
hip, hip, hooray! used as a shout of approval[C]
a small container for alcoholic drinks, that fits into your pocket[U]
a kind of popular dance music with a regular heavy BEAT and spoken words; rap[U]
a type of popular CULTURE among young people in big cities, especially African Americans, which includes RAP music, dancing, and GRAFFITI arthippy [C]
someone, especially in the 1960s, who opposed violence peacefully and often wore unusual clothes, had long hair, and took drugs for pleasure $ plural hippos [C]
informal a hippopotamus[C]
a back pocket in a pair of trousers or a skirt $ [singular]
the promise made by doctors that they will obey the principles of the medical profession $ plural hippopotamuses or hippopotami [C]
a large grey African animal with a big head and mouth that lives near water; rhinoceros plural hippies [C]
another spelling of HIPPIE $
1 [C] informal someone who is considered fashionable:
•Legendary hipsters Stomp bring street theater to Boston this week.
2 hipsters [plural] BrE trousers that fit tightly over your HIPs and do not cover your waist $ [T]
1 BrE to pay money to borrow something for a short period of time; = rent AmE
•The best way to explore the island is to hire a car.
•What does it cost to hire a boat for a week?
!! Hire, lease, or rent?
see box at RENT^1
2
a) to employ someone for a short time to do a particular job:
•Employers hire skilled people on fixed-term contracts.
hire sb to do sth
•A City lawyer has been hired to handle the case.
b) AmE to employ someone:
•Businesses may only hire foreign workers where an American cannot be found.
•the power to hire and fire (=employ and dismiss people)

PHRASAL VERBS
hire sth <=> out phr v BrE
1 to allow someone to borrow something for a short time in exchange for money
[+to]
•a little company that hires out boats to tourists
2 hire yourself out to arrange to work for someone:
•They were so poor they had to hire themselves out on the farms.[U]
BrE an arrangement in which you pay a sum of money to borrow something for a short time:
•a car hire company
for hire
•boats for hire
on hire
•The crane is on hire from a local firm.
ply for hire at PLY^1 (3)[C]
someone who is employed to help on a farm $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who will work for anyone who will pay them - used to show disapproval[U]
BrE HP a way of buying expensive goods by regularly paying small amounts over a period of time; = installment plan AmE $ literary humorous
having a lot of hair on your body and face; hairy strong [possessive form of 'he']
1 used to refer to something that belongs to or is connected with a man, boy, or male animal that has already been mentioned:
•Leo took off his coat and sat down.
•I love his sense of humour, don't you?
•Even his own mother would not have recognized him.
•My eyesight is better than his.
•Lewis denies that the child is his.
•My relatives all live in the States - his are in France.
of his
•Garry introduced us to some friends of his.
•Perhaps he's ashamed of that car of his.
2 used to refer to something that belongs to or is connected with someone who may be male or female. Some people think this use is old-fashioned:
•Everyone had his own work to do.
•the obligations of a doctor to his patients
!!
see note at THEY
from or relating to countries where Spanish or Portuguese are spoken, especially ones in Latin America; Latino
•Miami's Hispanic community
•Hispanic Studies[C]
someone who comes from a country where Spanish or Portuguese is spoken, especially one in Latin America; Latino, Latina
•In California, Hispanics make up 19.2 percent of the population.
1 [I,T] to say something in a loud whisper:
•'Get out!' she hissed furiously.
[+at]
•She hissed at me to be quiet.
2 [I] to make a noise which sounds like 'ssss':
•The cat backed away, hissing.
•Snakes only hiss when they are afraid.
3 [I,T] if a crowd hisses a speaker, they interrupt them with angry sounds to show that they do not like them:
•He was booed and hissed during a stormy meeting.
- hiss noun [C]
•She heard a faint hiss as the metal struck the water.[C] informal
a sudden moment of unreasonable anger and annoyance; = tantrum
throw/have a hissy fit
•Williams threw a hissy fit when she decided her hotel room wasn't big enough. [C,U] medical
a chemical substance produced by your body during an ALLERGIC reaction; antihistamine [C] technical
a BAR CHART [C]
someone who studies history, or the history of a particular thing
art/literary/military etc historian $ [usually before noun]
1 a historic place or building is very old:
•the restoration of historic buildings
•ancient historic sites
•our historic monuments
2 a historic event or act is very important and will be recorded as part of history:
•a historic meeting of world leaders
•'It is a historic moment,' he told journalists.
3 formal having taken place or existed in the past:
•It's unlikely that the share price will exceed historic levels.
4 historic times are the periods of time whose history has been recorded; prehistoric
•Extinct volcanoes are those that have not erupted in historic times. $ [usually before noun]
1 relating to the past:
•places of historical interest
•It is important to look at the novel in its historical context.
2 connected to the study of history
historical evidence/research etc
3 historical events, facts, people etc happened or existed in the past:
•Was King Arthur a real historical figure?
4 describing or based on events in the past:
•a historical novel
- historically adverb
•How historically significant is this discovery?[singular] technical
the present tense, used in some languages to describe events in the past to make them seem more real plural histories
1 PAST EVENTS [U] all the things that happened in the past, especially the political, social, or economic development of a nation

throughout history
recent/modern history
early/ancient history
recorded history (=history since people wrote facts down)
local history
American/British etc history
human history
period in/of history
the first time in history (=the first time that something has ever happened)
change the course of history (=do something that has a lot of important effects)
steeped in history (=closely connected with important events in history)
history shows/tells (that)

• Throughout history the achievements of women have been largely ignored.
[+of]
•the post-war history of Europe
• No man in recent history has done more to rebuild the Democratic Party.
•the early history of Scotland
• Other meteor storms have occurred in recorded history.
• a museum devoted to local history
• one of the darkest episodes in American history
•an interesting period in Egyptian history
•a decision that changed the course of history
• a college steeped in history
• History shows that the usual response to violent protest is repression.

2 DEVELOPMENT OF STH [singular, U] the events that took place from the beginning and during the development of a particular place, activity, institution etc
[+of]
•the worst disaster in the history of space travel
long/brief/75-year etc history
•The 1970s were the most successful in the theater's long history.
3 SUBJECT [U] the study of past events as a subject in school or university
European/art/economic etc history
•a degree in European history
ancient/modern history
•a history lesson
4 ACCOUNT [C] an account of past events
[+of]
•a history of World War II
•a potted history (=very short) of Gielgud's life BrE
5 PAST LIFE [C,U] a record of something that has affected someone or been done by them in the past
medical/employment/career etc history
•Your doctor will ask for your medical history.
[+of]
•Is there any history of heart disease in your family?
•The defendant had a history of violent assaults on women.
6 make history to do something important that will be recorded and remembered:
•Lindbergh made history when he flew across the Atlantic.
7 sth will go down in history used to say that something is important enough to be remembered and recorded:
•This day will go down in history as the start of a new era in South Africa.
8 history repeats itself used to say that things often happen in the same way as they did before
9 the history books the record of past events:
•Mozart's genius earned him a place in the history books.
10 ... and the rest is history informal used to say that everyone knows the rest of a story you have been telling
11 that's (past/ancient) history spoken informal used to say that something is not important any more
NATURAL HISTORY, CASE HISTORY $ [plural]
very loud and emotional behaviour that is intended to get sympathy and attention - used to show disapproval
- histrionic adjective past tense and past participle hit, present participle hitting
1 TOUCH SB/STH HARD [T] to touch someone or something quickly and hard with your hand, a stick etc:
•He raised the hammer and hit the bell.
hit sb/sth with sth
•The robbers hit him over the head with a baseball bat.
2 CRASH INTO STH [T] to move into something or someone quickly and with force:
•The tanks exploded as the plane hit the ground.
•He was taken to hospital after being hit by a car.
3 HURT YOURSELF [T] to move a part of your body quickly against something accidentally, causing pain; = bang
•The ceiling's low, so be careful you don't hit your head.
hit sth on/against sth
•She slipped and hit her head on the sidewalk.
4 SPORT [T]
a) if you hit a ball or other object, you make it move forward quickly by hitting it with a BAT, stick etc; = strike
• Hit the ball as hard as you can.
b) to get points by hitting a ball in a game such as BASEBALL or CRICKET:
•Last year, Griffey hit 49 home runs.
5 PRESS [T] informal to press a part in a machine, car, etc to make it work:
•Maria hit the brakes just in time.
6 ATTACK [T] to attack something or wound someone with a bomb, bullet etc:
•Our ship was badly hit and sank within minutes.
•A second shot hit her in the back.
•The bomb failed to hit its target.
7 AFFECT BADLY [I,T] if something bad hits a place or a person, it suddenly happens and affects people badly:
•The village has been hit by a devastating drought.
•Hurricane Louis is expected to hit at the weekend.
be badly/severely/hard hit
•The company has been hard hit by the drop in consumer confidence.
•The south of the country is the worst hit by the recession.
8 HAVE PROBLEMS [T] to experience trouble, problems etc
hit a snag/problems/a bad patch etc
•My father hit a bad patch, he had to sell the house.
9 REACH A LEVEL/NUMBER [T] to reach a particular level or number:
•Sales have hit the 1 million mark.
hit a peak/an all-time high etc
•Earnings hit a peak in the early 1980s.
hit rock-bottom/an all-time low etc
•Oil prices have hit rock-bottom.
10 REALIZE [T] if a fact hits you, you suddenly realize its importance and feel surprised or shocked:
•It's impossible to pinpoint a moment when it hit me that I was 'a success'.
•He was gone before they knew what had hit them (=realized what had happened).
11 SMELL/SIGHT ETC [T] if a smell or sight hits you, you suddenly smell or see it:
•The smell of stale smoke hit him as he entered.
12 ARRIVE [T] informal to arrive at a place:
•They hit the main road two kilometres further on.
hit town AmE
•I'll look for work as soon as I hit town.
13 hit the road/trail informal to begin a journey
14 hit the shops/streets if a product hits the shops, it becomes available to buy:
•I managed to get a copy of the book before it hit the shops.
15 hit the headlines to be reported widely on television, in newspapers etc:
•The couple hit the headlines last year when their relationship broke down.
16 hit the bottle informal to start drinking too much alcohol regularly:
•After his marriage failed, he hit the bottle big time.
17 hit the dirt/the deck informal to fall to the ground in order to avoid something dangerous:
•My first instinct was to hit the dirt.
18 hit a (brick) wall informal to suddenly not be able to make any progress:
•I felt I'd hit a wall with my playing.
19 hit the buffers/skids informal if a plan, project etc hits the buffers, it fails:
•Croft's comeback hit the skids yesterday when she lost in the quarter-finals.
20 hit sb when they are down informal to upset or harm someone when they are already defeated
21 hit sb where it hurts informal to do something that you know will upset someone in the most damaging way:
•You should hit your husband where it hurts - in his wallet!
22 hit it off (with sb) informal if two people hit it off, they like each other as soon as they meet:
•I knew you'd hit it off with Mike.
23 hit the big time hit it big AmE informal to suddenly become very famous, successful, and rich:
•The 25-year-old painter hopes to hit it big in New York.
24 hit the ground running to start doing something successfully without any delay:
•Law graduates are expected to hit the ground running.
25 hit the jackpot
a) to win a lot of money
b) to have a big success:
•Owens hit the jackpot in his first professional game with the Cowboys.
26 hit the nail on the head informal used to say that what someone has said is exactly right:
•You've hit the nail on the head there, David.
27 hit home
a) if a remark, criticism etc about you hits home, you realize that it is true:
•Graham didn't reply, but she could see her words had hit home.
b) if a blow or kick hits home, it hits the thing it is aimed at
28 hit the spot informal to have exactly the good effect that you wanted, especially when you are hungry or thirsty
29 hit the roof/ceiling informal to be very angry:
•Ranieri returned, saw the mess, and hit the roof.
30 hit the sack hit the hay AmE informal to go to bed

PHRASAL VERBS
hit back phr v
to attack or criticize a person or group that has attacked or criticized you; = retaliate
[+at]
•The actress hit back at claims that she had threatened a member of staff.
[+with]
•United were a goal down, but hit back with an equalizer.
hit back by doing sth
•He hit back by calling his critics 'lazy'.

hit on sb/sth phr v
1 also hit upon sth to have an idea or discover something suddenly or unexpectedly; = come up with
•Then we hit on the idea of asking viewers to donate money over the Net.
2 AmE informal to talk to someone in a way that shows you are sexually attracted to them:
•Dave has hit on most of the women in the department.

hit out phr v
to try to hit someone:
•When he felt someone grab him, he hit out wildly.

hit out at sb/sth phr v
also hit out against sb/sth to express strong disapproval of someone or something; = attack
•The bishop hit out at the government's policy on the homeless.

hit sb with sth phr v informal
1 to tell someone something interesting, exciting, or shocking:
•The next morning, Steve hit me with the truth.
2 AmE to punish or try to harm someone by doing something that will cause problems for them:
•The next day, we found they'd hit us with a lawsuit.

hit sb up for sth phr v AmE spoken
to ask someone for money:
•Did he hit you up for cash again?
the shit hits the fan at SHIT^2 (17)
hit/strike paydirt at PAYDIRT

WORD FOCUS: hit
with your fist:
punch
thump
bash
with your open hand as a punishment:
smack
spank
slap
with a hammer:
bang
hammer
in order to get attention:
bang
knock
tap
hammer
accidentally:
bump into
crash into
strike
bang
knock
collide (with)
[C]
1 SUCCESSFUL something such as a film, play, song etc that is very popular and successful
a hit single/show/record etc
•the hit musical 'Phantom of the Opera'
a big/smash/number 1 etc hit
•the Beatles' greatest hits
•Which band had a hit with 'Bohemian Rhapsody'?
be a hit with sb (=be liked by them)
•It's hoped the new museum will be a big hit with families.
2 HIT STH an occasion when something that is aimed at something else touches it, reaches it, or damages it:
•Our ship took a direct hit and sank.
3 COMPUTER
a) an occasion when someone visits a website:
•The site had 2,000 hits in the first week.
b) a result of a computer search, especially on the Internet:
•thousands of irrelevant hits
4 informal a feeling of pleasure obtained from taking an illegal drug
5 informal a murder that has been arranged to happen
HIT MANalso hit-or-miss
done in a way that is not planned or organized; random
•The campaign was rather a hit-and-miss affair.[only before noun]
a hit-and-run accident is one in which a car driver hits someone and does not stop to help
hit-and-run driver
1 [I,T] informal to get free rides from the drivers of passing cars by standing at the side of the road and putting a hand out with the thumb raised; = hitchhike
[+across/around/to]
•He plans to hitch right round the coast of Ireland.
hitch a ride/lift (with sb)
•We hitched a ride with a trucker.
2 [T] also hitch up to move a piece of clothing you are wearing so that it is higher than it was before:
•She hitched her skirt above her knees and knelt down.
3 get hitched informal to get married:
•They got hitched without telling their parents.
4 [T] also hitch up to lift yourself into a higher position by pushing with your hands
hitch yourself (up) onto/on sth
•Gail hitched herself up onto the high stool.
5
a) [T always + adv/prep] to fasten something to something else, using a rope, chain etc
hitch sth to sth
•He hitched our pickup to his trailer.
•a goat hitched to a rickety fence
b) [T] also hitch up to fasten an animal to something with wheels so that the animal can pull it forwards:
•I hitched up the horse and drove out into the fields.[C]
1 a small problem that makes something difficult or delays it for a short time
technical/slight/last-minute hitch
•In spite of some technical hitches, the first program was a success.
•The whole show went without a hitch.
2 a type of knot:
•a half hitchalso hitch [I]
to travel to places by getting free rides from drivers of passing cars
[+around/to/across etc]
•She spent her gap year hitchhiking around the world.
- hitchhiker noun [C]
•I picked up a hitchhiker on our way back. informal
another spelling of HIGH-TECH $ old use
here:
•Coloured fish darted hither and thither (=backwards and forwards). $ formal
up to this time:
•a species of fish hitherto unknown in the West[C]
informal the names of people, organizations etc that a person or group plans to harm
on sb's hit list
•He was on a terrorist's hit list.
[+of]
•The company drew up a hit list of shops it expects to close.[C]
a criminal who is employed to kill someone
the hit parade old-fashioned a list that shows which popular records have sold the most copies[C]
a group of criminals who are employed to kill someone [U]
a type of VIRUS (=a very small living thing that causes disease) that enters the body through blood or sexual activity, and can develop into AIDS
HIV positive/negative (=having or not having HIV in your body)
1 [C] also beehive a small box where BEEs are kept, or the bees that live in this box
2 a hive of industry/activity etc BrE a place that is full of people who are very busy:
•This marketplace was once a hive of activity.
3 hives [U] a skin disease in which a person's skin becomes red and sore

PHRASAL VERBS
hive sth <=> off phr v BrE
to sell one part of a business:
•the trend for television companies to hive off their advertising departments informal
used to say hellohmm
a sound that you make to express doubt, a pause, or disagreementalso HM BrE
the abbreviation of His/Her Majesty :
•HM the Queen
His/Her Majesty's Ship used before the name of a ship in the British navy:
•HMS Belfast [C]
Higher National Certificate a British college or university examination, usually in a technical or business subject. HNCs are lower in level than HNDs [C]
Higher National Diploma a British college or university examination, usually in a technical or business subject $ [C] AmE spoken informal
1 a PROSTITUTE
2 not polite an offensive word for a woman or girl who you do not respect because she is too willing to have sex with many different people; = slut $ [C]
a collection of things that someone hides somewhere, especially so they can use them later
[+of]
•the discovery of a hoard of gold coinsalso hoard up [T]
to collect and save large amounts of food, money etc, especially when it is not necessary to do so:
•families who hoarded food during the strike
- hoarder noun [C]
•I'm a hoarder when it comes to clothes. $ [C] BrE
1 a large board fixed high on a wall outside on which large advertisements are shown; = billboard AmE
•advertising hoardings
2 a high fence around a piece of land where something is being built $ [U] formal
a thin layer of ice that forms on objects outside when it is very cold; = frost
•A light hoarfrost covered the fields. $
if you are hoarse, or if your voice is hoarse, you speak in a low rough voice, for example because your throat is sore:
•He was hoarse from laughing.
hoarse voice/whisper/groan etc
- hoarsely adverb
- hoarseness noun [U]
1 [usually before noun] a hoary joke, remark etc is so well-known that people no longer find it amusing or interesting:
•Not that hoary old chestnut (=old idea, joke, remark etc) again.
2 old-fashioned grey or white in colour, especially through age $ [C]
1 a false warning about something dangerous:
•a bomb hoax
• hoax calls (=telephone calls giving false information) to the police
2 an attempt to make people believe something that is not true:
•an elaborate hoax $ [C] BrE
the flat top of a COOKER $
1 [I always + adv/prep] to walk with difficulty, especially because your legs or feet hurt; limp
•He hobbled into the room on crutches.
2 [T usually passive] to deliberately make sure that a plan, system etc cannot work successfully:
•Many start-ups are hobbled by a lack of sufficient capital.
3 [T] to loosely fasten two of an animal's legs together, to stop it from running away $ plural hobbies [C]
an activity that you enjoy doing in your free time; interest, pastime
•What are your hobbies?
•Susan's hobbies include reading, cooking, and drama.
•Retirement gave him the time to pursue his hobbies.
- hobbyist noun [C]
•keen wine hobbyists $ [C]
1 a subject that someone has strong opinions about and that they talk about too much:
•I'm afraid safe driving isn't Jaqui's only hobbyhorse.
be on your hobbyhorse
•Vicky was on her hobbyhorse again.
2 an old-fashioned toy made of a horse's head on a stick $ [C]
a GOBLINalso hobnail $ [only before noun] especially BrE old-fashioned
hobnailed boots have large nails fastened to the bottom to make them last longer $ past tense and past participle hobnobbed, present participle hobnobbing [I]
informal to spend time talking to people who are in a higher social position than you
[+with]
•He spent the first day hobnobbing with the management. $ plural hobos [C] AmE
someone who travels around and has no home or regular job; = tramp BrE $ [U]
a situation in which there is only one thing you can do, so you do not really have any choice at all $
1 [U] BrE a German white wine:
•a glass of hock
2 in hock informal
a) in debt
be in hock to sb
•The fashion chain is still in hock to the banks.
b) something that is in hock has been sold temporarily because its owner needs some money:
•He's a musician, but his guitar is in hock.
3 [C] a piece of meat from above the foot of a pig:
•pork hocks
4 [C] the middle joint of an animal's back leg[T]
informal to sell something temporarily because you need some money; = pawn $ [U]
1 BrE a game played on grass by two teams of 11 players, with sticks and a ball; = field hockey AmE
2 AmE a game similar to hockey, but played on ice; = ice hockey BrE $ [U]
a method or belief that you think is based on false ideas:
•He thinks psychology is a load of hocus-pocus. $ [C] BrE
a box with a long handle, used for carrying bricks $ [singular] AmE informal
a lot of things mixed up together in no order; = jumble; = hotch-potch BrE $ [C]
a garden tool with a long handle, used for removing WEEDs (=unwanted plants) from the surface of the soil
- hoe verb [I,T]
•Hoe the ground in spring. $ [C]
1 especially AmE a large pig that is kept for its meat; boar, sow
2 go the whole hog informal to do something thoroughly:
•Let's go the whole hog and order champagne.
3 go hog wild AmE informal to suddenly do an activity in an uncontrolled way
4 informal someone who takes too much of something that should be shared; = pig
•You greedy hog!
ROAD HOGpast tense and past participle hogged, present participle hogging [T]
informal to keep, use, or have all of something that should be shared:
•How much longer are you going to hog the bathroom?
•He's been hogging the limelight (=having all the attention, praise etc). $ [U] BrE
New Year's Eve and the parties that take place at that time in Scotland $ [C] BrE
a large container for holding beer, or the amount that it holds $ [U] informal
stupid or untrue talk; = nonsense, rubbish
•That's a load of hogwash!
used to represent the sound of laughterinformal
used to say that you are boredalso hoick up [T] BrE informal
to lift or pull something up with a sudden movement:
•She hoicked her skirt up and began to dance. [U]
an insulting word for ordinary peoplealso hoist up [T]
1 to raise, lift, or pull up something, especially using ropes:
•The crew hurried to hoist the flag.
2 be hoist with/by your own petard formal to be harmed or embarrassed by the plans you had made to hurt other people - often used humorously
1 [C] a piece of equipment used for lifting heavy objects with ropes; crane
•a boat hoist
2 [usually singular] a movement that lifts something up:
•Give me a hoist onto your shoulders. $ AmE
expressing emotions in an old-fashioned or silly way:
•a hokey song $ [U]
informal something that seems true or impressive but that is wrong or not sincere:
•All that talk is just a bunch of hokum. $ past tense and past participle held
1 IN YOUR HAND/ARMS
a) [T] to have something in your hand, hands, or arms:
•Could you hold my bag for me?
hold sth in your hand/arms
•He was holding a knife in one hand.
•I held the baby in my arms.
hold hands (=hold each other's hands)
•They sat holding hands under a tree.
hold sb close/tightly (=with your arms around someone)
•Max held her close and wiped away her tears.
b) [T always + adv/prep] to move your hand or something in your hand in a particular direction
hold sth out/up etc
•He held out his hand to help her to her feet.
•Hold the picture up so we can see it.
2 EVENT [T] to have a meeting, party, election etc in a particular place or at a particular time:
•This year's conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel.
•A thanksgiving ceremony was held to mark the occasion.
•The funeral was held on a grey day in November.
•In April, the President held talks with Chinese leaders.
3 KEEP STH IN POSITION [T] to make something stay in a particular position
hold sth open/up etc
•We used rolled-up newspapers to hold the windows open.
•Remember to hold your head up and keep your back straight.
hold sth in place/position
•A couple of screws should hold it in place.
•Lift your head off the floor and hold this position for five seconds.
4 JOB/TITLE [T]
a) to have a particular job or position, especially an important one:
•Do you really think he's capable of holding such a responsible position?
hold the post/position/office etc (of sth)
•She was the first woman to hold the office of Australian state premier.
•The governor had held the post since 1989.
•Whoever is elected will hold office (=have an important political position) for four years.
b) to have a particular title or record, because you have won a competition, are the best at something etc:
•The programme still holds the record for the longest running TV series.
•The last Briton to hold the title was Bert Nicholson.
5 KEEP/STORE [T] to keep something to be used when it is needed:
•Further copies of the book are held in the library.
•Weapons were held at various sites.
6 KEEP STH AVAILABLE FOR SB [T] to agree not to give something such as a ticket, a place at a restaurant, a job etc to anyone except a particular person:
•We can hold the reservation for you until next Friday.
hold sth open
•You can't expect them to hold the job open for much longer - you'll have to decide whether you want it or not.
7 KEEP SB SOMEWHERE [T] to keep someone somewhere, and not allow them to leave:
•Police are holding two men in connection with the robbery.
hold sb prisoner/hostage/captive
•A senior army officer was held hostage for four months.
hold sb incommunicado (=keep someone somewhere and not allow them to communicate with anyone)
8 OPINION [T not in progressive] to have a particular opinion or belief:
•Experts hold varying opinions as to the causes of the disease.
be widely/generally/commonly held (=be the opinion of a lot of people)
•This view is not widely held.
be held to be sth
•She was held to be one of the most talented actors of her time.
hold that
•The judge held that the child's interests in this case must come first.
9 hold sb responsible/accountable/liable (for sth) to say or decide that someone should accept the responsibility for something bad that happens:
•If anything happens to her, I'll hold you personally responsible.
•He may have had a terrible childhood, but he should still be held accountable for his own actions.
10 OWN STH [T] to officially own or possess money, a document, a company etc:
•He holds shares in ICI.
•Do you hold a valid passport?
•a privately held company
11 CONTAIN PARTICULAR AMOUNT [T not in progressive] to have the space to contain a particular amount of something:
•The movie theater holds 500 people.
•The tank should hold enough to last us a few days.
12 SUPPORT [I,T] to be strong enough to support the weight of something or someone:
•Careful! I'm not sure that branch will hold you.
•The bridge didn't look as though it would hold.
13 STAY AT SAME LEVEL [I,T] to stay at a particular amount, level, or rate, or to make something do this:
•The bank is holding interest rates at 4%.
•Since then, the pound has held steady against the dollar.
hold sb's interest/attention (=make someone stay interested)
•Colourful pictures help hold the students' interest.
14 NOT CHANGE [I] to continue to be true, good, available etc:
•What I said yesterday holds.
•Does your invitation still hold?
hold true/good
•Twenty years on, his advice still holds good.
weather/luck holds (out) (=continues to be good)
•If our luck holds, we could reach the final.
15 STOP/DELAY [T] spoken used in particular phrases to tell someone to wait or not to do something:
•I'll have a tuna fish sandwich please - and hold the mayo. (=do not give me any)
hold it!
•Hold it! We're not quite ready.
hold your horses! (=used to tell someone to do something more slowly or carefully)
16 hold your head up also hold your head high to behave as if you are proud of yourself or respect yourself:
•They may have lost the game, but I still think they've earned the right to hold their heads high today.
17 hold your breath
a) to deliberately not breathe out for a short time:
•Hold your breath and count to ten.
b) to not breathe out and try not to make a sound because you do not want to be noticed:
•Julie shrank back against the wall and held her breath.
c) not hold your breath spoken used to say that you do not expect something to happen, even though someone has said it will:
•He promised he'd phone, but I'm not holding my breath.
18 hold (your) fire
a) to not shoot at someone when you were going to
b) to not criticize, attack, or oppose someone when you were going to:
•The president urged his party to hold fire on the issue a few days longer.
19 TELEPHONE [I] also hold the line spoken to wait until the person you have telephoned is ready to answer:
•Mr Stevens is busy at the moment - would you like to hold?
•Please hold the line while I transfer you.
20 ARMY [T] if an army holds a place, it controls it or defends it from attack:
•The French army held the town for three days.
21 MUSICAL NOTE [T] to make a musical note continue for a particular length of time
22 FUTURE [T] formal if the future holds something, that is what may happen:
•Thousand of workers are waiting to see what the future holds.
23 HAVE A QUALITY [T] formal to have a particular quality
hold (little) interest/appeal/promise etc
•Many church services hold little appeal for modern tastes.
24 hold your own (against sb) to successfully defend yourself or succeed in a difficult situation, competition etc:
•He was a good enough player to hold his own against the Americans.
25 not hold a candle to sb/sth to be much worse than someone or something else
26 be left holding the baby BrE be left holding the bag AmE to be left as the only person responsible for dealing with a difficult situation, especially something someone else started:
•He was left holding the financial baby when his musical partner joined another band.
27 hold sway to have a lot of influence or power:
•Among people here, traditional values still hold sway.
28 hold court to get the attention of everyone while you are talking, especially when you are trying to entertain people:
•Joey would walk into the bar and hold court all night.
29 hold your tongue spoken used to tell someone to stop talking or to not tell someone about something:
•I reckon you've just got to learn to hold your tongue.
30 hold all the cards to have all the advantages in a situation in which people are competing or arguing:
•'There's not much we can do. They seem to hold all the cards,' said Dan gloomily.
31 hold fast (to sth) to keep believing strongly in something
32 hold a conversation to have a conversation
33 hold the fort to be responsible for something while the person usually responsible for it is not there:
•She's holding the fort while the manager's on holiday.
34 hold the lead/advantage to be winning in a competition, game etc:
•Celtic held the lead in the first half.
35 there's no holding sb (back) spoken used to say that someone is so determined to do something that you cannot prevent them from doing it
36 can hold your drink/liquor/alcohol etc to be able to drink a lot of alcohol without getting drunk or ill
37 not hold water if an excuse, a statement etc does not hold water, it does not seem to be true or reasonable:
•His explanation of where the money came from just doesn't hold water.
38 hold sth/sb dear formal to care about something or someone a lot:
•We were facing the loss of everything we held dear.
39 hold the road if a car holds the road well you can drive it quickly around bends without losing control

PHRASAL VERBS
hold sth against sb phr v
to continue to dislike someone or not forgive them because of something bad they have done in the past:
•You can't still hold that against him, surely?

hold back phr v
1 hold sb/sth <=> back to make someone or something stop moving forward:
•Police in riot gear held back the demonstrators.
2 hold sth <=> back to stop yourself from feeling or showing a particular emotion:
•She struggled to hold back her tears.
•Anger flooded through her. She couldn't hold it back.
3 hold sb/sth <=> back to prevent someone or something from making progress:
•They felt the British economy was being held back by excessive government controls.
4 hold (sb) back to be unwilling to do something, especially because you are being careful, or to make someone unwilling to do something:
•In the current situation many investors are holding back.
•She wanted to tell him but pride held her back.
5 hold sth <=> back to keep something secret:
•Tell me all about it - don't hold anything back!

hold sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to make someone or something stay on something, and stop them from moving away or escaping:
•We had to hold the tent down with rocks to stop it blowing away.
•It took three strong men to hold him down.
2 to prevent the level of something such as prices from rising:
•We will aim to hold down prices.
3 hold down a job to succeed in keeping a job for a period of time:
•He's never held down a job for longer than a few weeks.
4 to keep people under control or limit their freedom:
•The people were held down for centuries by their conquerors.

hold forth phr v
to give your opinion on a subject, especially for a long time
[+on]
•The speaker was holding forth on the collapse of modern society.

hold off phr v
1 to delay doing something:
•Buyers have been holding off until the price falls.
hold off (on) doing sth
•Hold off making your decision until Monday.
2 hold sb <=> off
a) to prevent someone who is trying to attack or defeat you from succeeding:
•Not even a gun could hold him off forever.
b) to prevent someone from coming towards you or succeeding in speaking to you:
•There's already a crowd of reporters outside - I'll try to hold them off for a while.
3 if rain or bad weather holds off, it does not start, although it looked as if it would:
•The rain held off until after the game.

hold on phr v
1 spoken
a) to wait for a short time:
•Hold on, I'll just get my coat.
b) used when you have just noticed, heard, or remembered something interesting or wrong:
•Hold on a minute! Isn't that your brother's car over there?
c) used to ask someone on the telephone to wait until the person they want to talk to is available:
•Can you hold on? I'll try to find her.
2 to have your hands or arms tightly around something:
• Hold on tight!
[+to]
•Hold on to my arm.
3 to continue doing something that is very difficult to do:
•San Francisco held on to win 4-2.

hold on to sb/sth phr v
to keep something rather than losing it, selling it, or giving it to someone else:
•The soldiers held on to the bridge for three more days.
•I think I'll hold on to these old records for now.

hold out phr v
1 hold out sth to think or say that something is possible or likely to happen, especially something good
not hold out much hope/hold out little hope
•Negotiators aren't holding out much hope of a peaceful settlement.
hold out the prospect/promise of sth
•alternative methods which hold out the promise of improved health
2 if a supply of something holds out, there is still some left:
•Water supplies won't hold out much longer.
3 to continue to successfully defend a place that is being attacked:
•The rebels held out for another night but then fresh forces arrived.
4 to try to prevent yourself from doing something that someone is trying to force you to do
[+against]
•I didn't know how much longer I could hold out against their relentless questioning.

hold out for sth phr v
to not accept anything less than you have asked for:
•Transport workers are holding out for a 20% pay rise.

hold out on sb phr v informal
to not tell someone about something important:
•She must have been holding out on him all these years.

hold sth over phr v
1 [usually passive] formal to do or deal with something at a later time:
•The matter was held over for further review.
HOLDOVER
2 hold sth over sb to use something bad that you know about someone to make them do what you want:
•He knows I've been in prison and is holding it over me.
3 be held over especially AmE if a play, film, concert etc is held over, it is shown for longer than planned because it is very popular

hold to sth phr v
1 if you hold to a belief, principle, promise etc, you believe it or behave according to it:
•He admitted he did not hold to the traditional view of God.
•The Secretary of State must hold to his policy.
2 hold sb to sth to make someone do what they have promised:
•'I'll ask him tomorrow.' 'OK, but I'm going to hold you to that.'
3 hold sb to sth BrE to prevent your opponent in a sports game from getting more than a particular number of points:
•Norway held Holland to a 2-2 draw.

hold together phr v
1 if a group or organization holds together, or if something holds it together, it stays strong and does not separate into different parts or groups:
•Against all expectations, the coalition held together well.
hold sth <=> together
•In those days the Church held the community together.
2 to remain whole and good enough to use, or to make something do this:
•Incredibly, the raft held together till we reached the opposite shore.
hold sth <=> together
•I wondered how the structure was held together.

hold up phr v
1 hold sth <=> up to support something and prevent it from falling down:
•The roof is held up by massive stone pillars.
2 hold sb/sth <=> up [usually passive] to delay someone or something:
•Sorry I'm late - I was held up at work.
3 hold up sth to rob or try to rob a place or person by using violence:
•Two armed men held up a downtown liquor store last night.
HOLD-UP
4 to not become weaker:
•His physical condition has held up well.

hold sb/sth up as sth phr v
to use someone or something as a good example or as proof of something:
•The school is held up as a model for others.
•This incident will be held up as proof that tougher controls are needed.

hold with sth phr v
not hold with sth BrE used to say that someone does not approve of something:
•He says he doesn't hold with all this politically correct stuff.
not hold with doing sth
•I don't hold with hitting children in any circumstances.

WORD CHOICE: hold, take/get hold of, pick up
Hold means to have something in your hand, hands, or arms: He was holding a piece of paper.
If you want to talk about someone putting their hands or fingers around something and starting to hold it, use take/get hold of: She got hold of the knife and stabbed him.
If you want to talk about someone putting their fingers around something and taking it, especially from the floor, use pick up: I picked up all the toys from the floor.

!! Use pick not pick up when you are talking about pulling flowers off a plant: She was in the garden picking flowers (NOT She was in the garden picking up flowers).

hold a course at COURSE^1 (8)
1 HOLDING STH [singular] the action of holding something with your hands; = grip

tight/firm hold (on sth)
tighten your hold (on sth)
loosen/release your hold (on sth)
have/keep hold of sth (=be holding something)
get/take hold of sth (=start holding something)
catch/grab/seize hold of sth (=take hold of something quickly and firmly)
lose your hold (on sth) (=accidentally let go of something)

[+on]
•She released her tight hold on the dog.
• He tightened his hold, refusing to let her go.
• Make sure you keep hold of my hand when we cross the road.
• I took hold of her hand and gently led her away.
• Grab hold of the rope and pull yourself up.

2 get hold of sth also get a hold of sth AmE to find or borrow something so that you can use it:
•I need to get hold of a car.
•She managed to get a hold of a copy.
3 get hold of sb also get a hold of sb AmE to find and speak to someone about something:
•I must get hold of Vanessa to see if she can babysit.
4 CONTROL/POWER [singular] control, power, or influence over something or someone
get/keep a hold on/of sth
•He struggled to get a hold of his emotions.
•I've always kept a tight hold on our finances.
•I realized that the woman had a hold over my father.
5 on hold
a) if something is on hold, it is going to be done or dealt with at a later date rather than now:
•The plans are on hold until after the election.
•Since having the kids, my career has been put on hold.
b) if you are on hold, you are waiting to talk to someone on the telephone:
•We try not to keep people on hold for more than a couple of minutes.
•The agent put me on hold while she consulted a colleague.
6 take (a) hold to start to have a definite effect:
•The fever was beginning to take hold.
7 get hold of an idea/an impression/a story etc to learn or begin to believe something:
•Where on earth did you get hold of that idea?
8 FIGHT [C] a particular position that you hold an opponent in, in a fight or a sport such as WRESTLING
9 CLIMBING [C] somewhere you can put your hands or feet to help you climb something:
•The cliff was steep and it was difficult to find a hold.
10 SHIP [C] the part of a ship below the DECK^1 (1) where goods are stored
11 no holds barred when there are no rules or limits on what you are allowed to do:
•It seems there are no holds barred when it comes to making a profit. $ [C]
BrE a large bag used for carrying clothes and other things when you are travelling $ [C]
1 someone who owns or controls something:
•the 800m world record holder
•Season-ticket holders are furious at the rise in rail fares.
•British passport holders
[+of]
•holders of ordinary shares
2 something that is used to hold an object
candle/cigarette/test-tube etc holder $ [C]
something which a person owns, especially land or SHAREs in a company
[+in]
•The government has decided to sell its 21% holding in the firm.
land/property/currency etc holding
•companies with large property holdings[C]
a company that completely or partly owns other companies, as well as doing business itself[C usually singular]
1 the path that an aircraft flies along while it is waiting for permission to land
2 a situation in which you cannot act because you are waiting for the result of something
in a holding pattern
•My career is in a holding pattern right now. $ [C] AmE
an action, feeling, or idea that has continued from the past into the present; = hangover
[+from]
•Her terrible fear of dogs is a holdover from her childhood.
hold over at HOLD^1[C]
1 a situation that stops something from happening or making progress; = delay
•traffic hold-ups on the highway
•Despite the odd hold-up, we finished on time.
2 informal an attempt to rob a place or person by threatening them with a weapon:
•a bank hold-up
hold up at HOLD^1 $ [C]
1 SPACE IN STH SOLID an empty space in something solid
[+in]
•There was a huge hole in the road.
•I began digging a hole for the plant.
!! Do not say there is a hole on something. Say there is a hole in something.
2 SPACE STH CAN GO THROUGH a space in something solid that allows light or things to pass through
[+in]
•They climbed through a hole in the fence.
•These socks are full of holes.
•bullet holes (=made by bullets)
3 EMPTY PLACE a place where someone or something should be, but is missing
[+in]
•Their departure will leave a gaping hole in Grand Prix racing.
4 WEAK PART a weak part or fault in something such as an idea or plan:
•The theory is full of holes.
[+in]
•If you have holes in your game, work on them.
5 ANIMAL'S HOME the home of a small animal:
•a rabbit hole
6 UNPLEASANT PLACE informal an unpleasant place:
•I've got to get out of this hole.
7 GOLF
a) a hole in the ground that you try to get the ball into in the game of golf
b) one part of a GOLF COURSE with this kind of hole at one end
8 hole in one when someone hits the ball in golf from the starting place into the hole with only one hit
9 make a hole in sth informal to use a large part of an amount of money, food etc:
•Holidays can make a big hole in your savings.
10 be in a hole informal to be in a difficult situation
11 be in the hole AmE spoken to owe money:
•I was something like $16,000 in the hole already.
12 need/want sth like a hole in the head spoken used to say that you definitely do not need or want something:
•I need this conversation like a hole in the head.
ace in the hole at ACE^1 (7); BLACK HOLE; square peg in a round hole at SQUARE^1 (12); WATERING HOLE
1 [I,T] to hit the ball into a hole in golf:
•He holed the putt with ease.
2 be holed if a ship is holed, something makes a hole in it

PHRASAL VERBS
hole out phr v
to hit the ball into a hole in golf

hole up phr v also be holed up informal
to hide somewhere for a period of time
[+in/with/at]
•The gunmen are still holed up in the town.[C]
1 BrE informal a machine in or outside a bank from which you can obtain money using a special card; = ATM, cash machine
2 AmE a small dark shop or restaurant $
full of holes:
•holey sweaters $
1 [C,U] BrE also holidays a time of rest from work, school etc; = vacation AmE
•The school holidays start tomorrow.
on holiday
•I'm away on holiday until the 1st of June.
•Won't your business suffer if you take a holiday?
2 [C,U] BrE also holidays a period of time when you travel to another place for pleasure; = vacation AmE

on holiday
go on holiday also
go on your holidays
have/take a holiday
holiday abroad
summer holiday
family holiday
skiing/camping/walking etc holiday
holiday resort (=a place with many hotels where a lot of people go on their holidays)
holiday brochure (=a magazine that advertises holidays)
holiday snaps informal (=photographs taken while on holiday)
holiday romance

•We're going to Spain for our holidays.
• He caught malaria while on holiday in Africa.
•When are you going on holiday?
• I didn't have a proper holiday this year.
• This was his first holiday abroad.
• her annual summer holiday
• a popular Spanish holiday resort
• It was just a harmless holiday romance.

3 [C] a day fixed by law on which people do not have to go to work or school:
•The 4th of July is a national holiday in the US.
4 the holiday season the holidays
a) AmE the period between Thanksgiving and New Year
b) BrE the period in the summer when most people take a holiday
BANK HOLIDAY, PUBLIC HOLIDAY

GRAMMAR
British English speakers say holiday, not holidays in the structures be on holiday, go on holiday and return/come back from holiday: something to read when you are on holiday (NOT when you are on holidays) | When you come back from holiday, it's hard to work (NOT When you come back from holidays).
Holidays is usually used after the, my, your etc: Soon it will be the holidays. | Where do you want to go for your holidays?

!! Do not say 'be in (your) holidays' or 'go in (your) holidays'. Say goon holiday or goon your holidays or beon holiday or beon your holidays.

!! Do not say 'make a holiday'. Say have a holiday.

[I]
BrE to spend your holiday in a place - used especially in news reports; = vacation AmE
[+in/at]
•They're holidaying in Majorca.[C]
BrE a place where people go for their holidays and where activities are organized for them[C]
BrE a house that someone owns where they go during their holidays $ [C]
BrE someone who has travelled to a place on holiday; tourist; = vacationer AmE
showing that you think you are morally better than other people - used to show disapproval; = self-righteous $
1 [U] the quality of being pure and good in a religious way
2 Your/His Holiness used as a title for talking to or about the Pope $
1 considering a person or thing as a whole, rather than as separate parts:
•a holistic approach to design
2 holistic medicine/treatment/healing etc medical treatment based on the belief that the whole person must be treated, not just the part of their body that has a disease; alternative medicine
- holistically adverbalso hollandaise sauce $ [U]
a creamy sauce made with butter, eggs, and LEMON $ [I,T]
informal especially AmE to shout loudly; = yell
[+at]
•I heard someone hollering at me.
- holler noun [C] $
1 EMPTY INSIDE having an empty space inside:
•a hollow tree
2 hollow eyes/cheeks etc eyes etc where the skin sinks inwards:
•He was short and thin, with a sharp nose and hollow eyes.
3 SOUND a hollow sound is low and clear like the sound made when you hit something empty:
•There was a hollow thump as the cars collided.
4 NO VALUE words, events, or people that are hollow have no real worth or value:
•They won, but it was a hollow victory.
•Even as he spoke, Ivan was well aware of the hollow ring to his words.
5 hollow laugh/voice etc a hollow laugh or voice makes a weak sound and is without emotion
- hollowly adverb
•Sam laughed hollowly.
- hollowness noun [U][C]
a place in something that is at a slightly lower level than its surface; = dip
•Make a slight hollow in the middle of each cake.[T usually passive]
to make the surface of something curve inwards:
•The steps were hollowed by centuries of use.

PHRASAL VERBS
hollow sth <=> out phr v
to make a hole or empty space by removing the inside part of something $ plural hollies [C,U]
a small tree with sharp dark green leaves and red berries ( BERRY), or the leaves and berries of this tree used as a decoration at Christmas $ [C]
a tall thin garden plant with many flowers growing together $
a part of Los Angeles in California where films are made, often used to refer to the film industry in general:
•one of Hollywood's major stars $ [C]
1 a situation in which there is great destruction and a lot of people die:
•a nuclear holocaust
2 the Holocaust the killing of millions of Jews and other people by the Nazis during the Second World War $ [C]
a kind of photograph made with a LASER that looks as if it is not flat when you look at it from an angle
- holographic $ adjective
- holography $ noun [U] $ [plural]
BrE old-fashioned holidays $ [C] AmE
a black and white cow; = Friesian BrE $ [C]
a leather object for carrying a small gun, that is worn on a belt $ comparative holier, superlative holiest
1 connected with God and religion; sacred
•the holy city of Benares
2 very religious:
•a holy man
3 holy cow/mackerel etc spoken used to express feelings such as surprise or fear
4 a holy terror informal someone, especially a child, who causes problems for other people
take (holy) orders at ORDER^1 (18)
the Holy Bible the holy book of the Christian religion; = the Bible[U]
the Christian ceremony in which people eat bread and drink wine as signs of Christ's body and blood; = Communion
the Holy Family Jesus, his mother Mary, and her husband Joseph[singular]
used when speaking to or about the Pope
the Holy Ghost God in the form of a SPIRIT according to the Christian religion; = Holy Spirit
1 [singular] something that people want very much, but which is very difficult or impossible to achieve
[+of]
•Nuclear fusion is the Holy Grail of energy production.
2 the Holy Grail the cup believed to have been used by Christ before his death
the Holy Land the parts of the Middle East where most of the events mentioned in the Bible happened[singular]
1 humorous a special place where only a few people are allowed to go
2 the Holy of Holies the most holy part of a Jewish temple[singular]
God in the form of a SPIRIT according to the Christian religion; = Holy Ghost[C]
a war that is fought to defend the beliefs of a religion; crusade, jihad[U]
water that has been BLESSed by a priest[singular]
the week before Easter in the Christian church[U]
1 writing or instructions that people treat as if it were completely true in every detail:
•Lenin's word was by no means accepted as holy writ.
2 old-fashioned the Bible $ [singular]
formal something you do to show respect for someone or something you think is important:
•The film pays homage to Martin Scorsese's 'Mean Streets'. $ [C] AmE informal
a man, especially one who is strong $ [C]
a soft hat for men, with a wide BRIM (=edge) $
1 PLACE WHERE YOU LIVE [C,U] the house, apartment, or place where you live:
•They have a beautiful home in California.
•Good luck in your new home!
at home
•Last night we stayed at home and watched TV.
away from home
•He was spending more and more time away from home.
work from/at home (=do your work at home instead of at a company office)
•A family of birds made their home (=started living) under the roof.
2 FAMILY [C,U] the place where a child lived with his or her family:
•Jack left home when he was 16.
•Were you still living at home (=with your parents)?
• Carrie moved out of the family home a year ago.
3 WHERE YOU CAME FROM/BELONG [C,U] the place where you came from or where you usually live, especially when this is the place where you feel happy and comfortable:
•She was born in Italy, but she's made Charleston her home.
back home
•The folks back home don't really understand what life is like here.
4 YOUR COUNTRY [U] the country where you live, as opposed to foreign countries
at home
•auto sales at home and abroad
back home
•Even though he's been travelling around the world, he's kept up with what's going on back home.
5 be/feel at home
a) to feel comfortable in a place or with a person
[+in/with]
•I'm already feeling at home in the new apartment.
•After a while we began to feel at home with each other.
b) to feel happy or confident about doing or using something
[+with/in]
•Practise using the video until you feel quite at home with it.
6 PROPERTY [C] a house, apartment etc considered as property which you can buy or sell:
•Attractive, modern homes for sale.
7 FOR TAKING CARE OF SB [C] a place where people who are very old or sick, or children who have no family are looked after:
•an old people's home
•I could never put Dad into a home.
CHILDREN'S HOME, NURSING HOME, REST HOME
8 make yourself at home spoken used to tell someone who is visiting you that they should relax:
•Sit down and make yourself at home.
9 make sb feel at home to make someone feel relaxed by being friendly towards them:
•We like to make our customers feel at home.
10 the home of sth
a) the place where something was first discovered, made, or developed:
•America is the home of baseball.
b) the place where a plant or animal grows or lives:
•India is the home of elephants and tigers.
11 SPORTS TEAM at home if a sports team plays at home, they play at their own sports field; away
[+to]
•Birmingham Bullets are at home to Kingston.
12 home from home BrE home away from home AmE a place that you think is as pleasant and comfortable as your own house
13 home sweet home used to say how nice it is to be in your own home
14 dogs'/cats' home BrE a place where animals with no owners are looked after
15 find a home for sth BrE to find a place where something can be kept:
•Can you find a home for the piano?
16 what's that when it's at home? BrE spoken used humorously to ask what a long or unusual word means
17 GAMES [U] a place in some games or sports which a player must try to reach in order to win a point
HOME PLATE, HOME RUN
1 to or at the place where you live:
•Is Sue home from work yet?
bring/take sb/sth home
•They brought the baby home from the hospital on Friday.
•We stayed home last night.
•I'm going home now. See you tomorrow.
come/get/reach etc home (=arrive at your home)
•It was midnight by the time we got home.
•What time are you coming home?
!! Do not use a preposition (a word such as 'at' or 'to') before home when it is an adverb: I travel home by bus (NOT I travel at home by bus).He returned home (NOT He returned to home).
2 take home £120 per week/$600 a month etc to earn a certain amount of money after tax has been taken off:
•The average worker takes home around $300 a week.
3 hit/drive/hammer etc sth home
a) to make sure that someone understands what you mean by saying it in an extremely direct and determined way:
•We really need to drive this message home.
b) to hit or push something firmly into the correct position
4 bring sth home to sb/come home to sb to make you realize how serious, difficult, or dangerous something is:
•The episode has brought home to me the pointlessness of this war.
5 hit/strike home if a remark, situation, or experience hits home, it makes you realize how serious, difficult, or dangerous something is:
•She could see that her remark had hit home.
6 be home and dry BrE informal to have succeeded in doing something
7 be home free AmE informal to have succeeded in doing the most difficult part of something:
•If I last five years with no symptoms, I'll be home free.
close to home at CLOSE^2 (19)[only before noun]
1 relating to or belonging to your home or family
home address/number (=the address or telephone number of your house)
•These children need a proper home life.
2 done at home or intended for use in a home:
•good old-fashioned home cooking
•a home computer
3 played or playing at a team's own sports field, rather than an opponent's field
home team/game/crowd/club etc
•The home team took the lead after 25 minutes.
4 relating to a particular country, as opposed to foreign countries; = domestic
•The meat was destined for the home market.

PHRASAL VERBS
home in on sth phr v
1 to aim exactly at an object or place and move directly to it:
•The bat can home in on insects using a kind of 'radar'.
2 to direct your efforts or attention towards a particular fault or problem:
•He homed in on the one weak link in the argument.
1 [C, usually singular] the place that someone returns to in order to rest, learn new things, or exchange information:
•The band's home base is Seattle.
2 [C, usually singular] the main office of a company; = headquarters
3 [singular] AmE the place where you stand to hit the ball in baseball; = home plate $ plural homebodies [C]
informal someone who enjoys being at home $ [C]
AmE informal a friend or someone from the same area or GANG as you - used especially by young people[U] informal
beer made at home
- home brewed adjective $ [C]
someone who is buying a home $
1 [C] an occasion when someone comes back to their home after a long absence
2 [C,U] AmE an occasion when former students return to their high school or college[U]
the study of cooking, sewing, and other skills used at home, taught as a subject at school[singular]
the people who stay and work in their own country while others go abroad to fight in a war
on the home front
•The film is set on the home front in 1943. $ [C]
a female HOMEY $
1 made or produced in your own country, town etc:
•homegrown rock stars
2 homegrown vegetables and fruit are grown in your own garden[C]
BrE someone who helps ill or old people in their homes with cleaning, cooking etc $ [C]
1 the country where someone was born
2 a large area of land where a particular group of people can live $
1 without a home:
•Thousands of people have been made homeless.
2 the homeless [plural] people who have nowhere to live, and who often live on the streets
- homelessness noun [U][C] informal
an amount of money that you borrow in order to buy a home; = mortgage $
1 BrE simple in a way that makes you feel comfortable:
•a modern hotel with a homely atmosphere
2 BrE a homely person is warm and friendly and enjoys home life:
•Mrs Keane is a comfortable, homely person.
3 AmE not very attractive; = plain BrE $
made at home and not bought from a shop; shop-bought
•homemade cake $ [C]
especially AmE a woman who works at home cleaning and cooking etc and does not have another job; = housewife[C]
a film you make, often of a family occasion, that is intended to be shown at home; = home video
the Home Office the British government department which deals with keeping order in the country, controlling who enters the country etc[C]
a room in someone's home where that person works, which usually has equipment such as a computer, FAX machine etc; study $ [U]
a system of medicine in which a disease is treated by giving extremely small amounts of a substance that causes the disease
- homeopathic $ adjective
- homeopath $ noun [C] $ [C]
someone who owns their homehome page $ [C]
the first page of a website, which often contains LINKs to other pages on that website[singular]
the place where you stand to hit the ball in baseball and the last place the player who is running must touch in order to get a point; home base $ [C]
AmE informal a home run in baseball
- homer verb [I][C]
AmE a classroom where students have to go at the beginning of every school day[U]
the right of a country or area to have its own government and laws[C]
a long hit in BASEBALL which allows the player who hits the ball to run around all the BASEs and get a point:
•I didn't think I could hit a home run. $ [I,T]
to teach children at home instead of sending them to school:
•She and her husband homeschool their three kids.
•Why did you decide to homeschool?
•homeschooled students
- homeschooling noun [U]
•information about homeschooling
- homeschool adjective [only before noun]
•homeschool programs
•a group of homeschool families[C]
the British Government minister who is in charge of the Home Office $
feeling unhappy because you are a long way from your home
- homesickness noun [U] $
1 homespun ideas are simple and ordinary
2 homespun cloth is woven at home $ [C]
1 a farm and the area of land around it
2 AmE a piece of land, usually for farming, given to people in the past by the US government[I,T] AmE
to live and work on a homestead
- homesteader noun [C][singular]
1 also home straight BrE the last part of a race where there is a straight line to the finish
2 the last part of an activity or journey
in/into the home stretch
•as the election campaign headed into the home stretchalso hometown especially AmE $ [C] especially BrE
the place where you were born and spent your childhood
sb's home town
•He hired a car and drove up to his home town.
•She's written for her hometown newspaper.[C usually plural]
a true but unpleasant fact that someone tells you about yourself:
•It's time someone told him a few home truths.[C] BrE
a film you make, often of a family occasion, that is intended to be shown at home; = home movie AmE $
1 also homewards BrE towards home:
•She turned and made her way homeward.
2 homeward bound literary going towards home
- homeward adjective
•his homeward trip $ [U]
1 work that a student at school is asked to do at home; classwork
do/start/finish your homework
•Fiona was lying on the floor doing her homework.
biology/history/German etc homework
•I need to help Sam with his music homework.
!! Do not say 'write your homework' or 'make your homework'. Say do your homework.
2 if you do your homework, you prepare for an important activity by finding out information you need; research
•It's worth doing a bit of homework before buying a computer. $ [C]
someone who does their job in their home
- homeworking noun [U] $ especially AmE
pleasant, like home; = homely BrE
•The restaurant has a relaxed, homey atmosphere.[C] AmE informal
a friend or someone who comes from your area or GANG $
likely to murder someone:
•a homicidal maniac $
1 [C,U] especially AmE the crime of murder; manslaughter
2 [U] AmE the police department that deals with murders $ plural homilies [C]
1 formal advice about how to behave that is often unwanted
2 literary a speech given as part of a Christian church ceremony $
a bird or animal that has a homing instinct has a special ability that helps it find its way home over long distances[C usually singular]
a special part of a weapon that helps it to find its target[C]
a PIGEON that is able to find its way home over long distances $ [U]
a food made from crushed dried CORN (2) $ plural homos [C] informal not polite
a very offensive word for a HOMOSEXUAL $ formal technical
same
homosexual (=sexually attracted to people of the same sex)
homographs (=words spelt the same way) $ [C]
a British spelling of HOMEOPATH $ [U]
a British spelling of HOMEOPATHYalso ho.mo.ge.nous $
consisting of people or things that are all of the same type; heterogeneous
•a homogeneous society
- homogeneously adverbalso homogenise BrE $ [T]
to change something so that its parts become similar or the same:
•plans to homogenize the various school systemsalso homogenised BrE $
homogenized milk has had the cream on top mixed with the milk $ [C] technical
a word that is spelled the same as another, but is different in meaning, origin, grammar, or pronunciation. For example, the noun 'record' is a homograph of the verb 'record'; homonym, homophone $ [C] technical
a word that is spelt the same and sounds the same as another, but is different in meaning or origin. For example, the noun 'bear' and the verb 'bear' are homonyms; homograph, homophone $ [U]
hatred and fear of HOMOSEXUALs
- homophobic adjective $ [C] technical
a word that sounds the same as another but is different in spelling, meaning, or origin. For example, 'knew' and 'new' are homophones.; homograph, homonym $ [U] technical
the type of human being that exists now $ formal
if someone, especially a man, is homosexual, they are sexually attracted to people of the same sex; = gay
•One of Ruth's brothers was homosexual.
•homosexual men
•a homosexual relationship; bisexual, heterosexual
- homosexual noun [C]
- homosexuality $ noun [U]also Hon BrE
1 the written abbreviation of honourable :
•the Hon George Borwick
2 BrE the written abbreviation of honorary , used in official job titles:
•the Hon. Treasurer AmE spoken
a short form of HONEY, used to address someone you love:
•I'm sorry, hon. $ plural honchos [C] informal
an important person who controls something, especially a business; = boss
•the head honcho $ [T]
1 to improve your skill at doing something, especially when you are already very good at it:
•He set about honing his skills as a draughtsman.
• finely honed (=extremely well-developed) intuition
2 formal to make knives, swords etc sharp; = sharpen $
1 CHARACTER someone who is honest always tells the truth and does not cheat or steal; dishonest
•He was a hard-working, honest man.
•Ann had an honest face.
2 STATEMENT/ANSWER ETC not hiding the truth or the facts about something; = frank
•Do you want my honest opinion?
•an honest answer
• Let's be honest: the only reason she married him was for his money.
[+with]
•At least he was honest with you.
[+about]
•She was always very honest about her feelings.
3 to be honest (with you) spoken used when you tell someone what you really think:
•To be honest, I don't like him very much.
4 honest! spoken used to try to make someone believe you:
•I didn't mean to hurt him, honest!
5 honest to God spoken used to emphasize that something you say is true:
•Honest to God, I wasn't there.
6 WORK honest work is done using your own efforts and without cheating:
•I bet he's never done an honest day's work in his life!
•I'm just trying to earn an honest living.
7 ORDINARY GOOD PEOPLE honest people are not famous or special, but behave in a good, socially acceptable way:
•She came from a good, honest, working-class background.
8 make an honest woman (out) of sb old-fashioned to marry a woman because you have had a sexual relationship with her $
1 used to emphasize that what you are saying is true, even though it may seem surprising:
•I honestly don't know how old my parents are.
•I can honestly say that I never worry about him now.
2 spoken used when you are shocked or annoyed by something someone has said or done; = really
•Honestly! Do you ever listen?
3 spoken used to try to make someone believe that what you have just said is true:
•It wasn't me, honestly!
4 in an honest way; = truthfully
•Tell me honestly, Kate, what do you think of John?
•We talked openly and honestly.
•'No, I don't,' she answered honestly.[only before noun]
simple and good:
•plain honest-to-goodness home cooking $ [U]
1 the quality of being honest; dishonesty
•a politician of rare honesty and courage
2 in all honesty used when telling someone that what you are saying is what you really think:
•It was not, in all honesty, a very good start. [U]
1 a sweet sticky substance produced by BEEs , used as food
2 especially AmE spoken used to address someone you love; = love
•Hi, honey. [C]
a BEE that makes honey $ [C]
1 a structure made by BEEs , which consists of many six-sided cells in which honey is stored
2 something that is arranged or shaped in this pattern $ [+with]
filled with many holes, hollow passages etc $
1 [U] a sticky substance that some insects leave on plants
2 also honeydew melon [C] a type of MELON with yellow skin and green flesh
1 literary honeyed words or honeyed voices sound soft and pleasant, but are often insincere
2 tasting like HONEY or covered in honey [C]
1 a holiday taken by two people who have just got married
on your honeymoon
•We went to Italy on our honeymoon.
2 also honeymoon period the period of time when a new government, leader etc has just started and no one criticizes them:
•By 1987, the honeymoon was over.[I always + adv/prep]
to go somewhere for your honeymoon
- honeymooner noun [C] $ [C] BrE
something that is attractive to a lot of people; = magnet [C,U]
a climbing plant with pleasant-smelling yellow or pink flowers $ [C]
1 a loud noise made by a car horn
2 a loud noise made by a GOOSE
[I,T] if a car horn or a GOOSE honks, it makes a loud noise:
•Several drivers honked their horns and waved.honkie $ plural honkies [C] AmE taboo
a very offensive word for a white person, used by black people. Do not use this word. $ [C] AmE
a cheap bar where COUNTRY MUSIC is played
honky-tonk music/piano a type of piano music which is played in a loud cheerful way $ [C,U]
the American spelling of HONOUR $
the American spelling of HONOURABLE[C] AmE
if you leave the army with an honorable discharge, your behaviour and work have been very good; dishonorable discharge $ plural honoraria [C] formal
a sum of money offered to a professional for a piece of advice, a speech etc $
1 an honorary title, rank, or university degree is given to someone as an honour:
•Brown received an honorary doctorate from Seoul University.
2 an honorary position in an organization is held without receiving any payment
3 an honorary member of a group is treated like a member of that group but does not belong to it $ [C]
someone who receives an honour or AWARD:
•Guests clapped and cheered for the honorees. $ [C]
an expression or title that is used to show respect for the person you are speaking to[C] AmE
a list of the best students in a school or college[singular] AmE
an agreement between members of a group to obey rules, although no one checks to make sure that they are being followedhonor AmE $ BrE
1 STH THAT MAKES YOU PROUD [singular] formal something that makes you feel very proud

great honour
rare honour (=a very special honour)
dubious honour (=something that you are not sure that you should be proud of)
the honour of doing sth
have the honour of doing sth
it is an honour to do sth (=used as a polite way of saying that you are pleased to do something)
do sb the honour of doing sth (=make someone proud and happy by doing something for them)

•It is a great honour, something I never expected.
•Over 100 players competed for the honour of representing the county in the National Finals.
• Earlier this year, I had the honor of meeting the President.
• It is an honour to have you here.
• Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?

2 RESPECT [U] the respect that you, your family, your country etc receive from other people, which makes you feel proud
[+of]
•He was prepared even to die in order to defend the honour of his family.
national/family/personal etc honour
•For the French team, winning tomorrow's game is a matter of national honour.
3 in honour of sb/sth
a) in order to show how much you admire and respect someone:
•The stadium was named in honour of the club's first chairman.
in sb's honour
•A special dinner will be held in her honour.
b) to celebrate an event:
•An oak tree was planted in honour of the occasion.
4 GIVEN TO SB [C] something such as a special title or MEDAL given to someone to show how much people respect them for what they have achieved:
•Reverend Peters was nominated for the honour by colleagues at Walworth Methodist Church.
highest honour (=most important honour)
•The medal is the highest honour the association can bestow (=give).
5 MORAL PRINCIPLES [U] strong moral beliefs and standards of behaviour that make people respect and trust you:
•My father was a man of honour and great integrity.
•Her actions were always guided by a deep sense of honour (=strong desire to do what is morally right).
matter/point/question of honour (=something that you feel you must do because of your moral principles)
•It had become a point of honour not to tell him about Lori.
6 AT UNIVERSITY/SCHOOL
a) with honours BrE if you pass a university degree with honours, you pass it at a level that is higher than the most basic level
b) with honors AmE if you finish high school or college with honors, you get one of the highest grades
c) First Class/Second Class Honours BrE the highest or second highest level of degree at a British university
7 Your/His/Her Honour used when speaking to or about a judge:
•No, Your Honour.
8 place of honour the seat or place which is given to the most important guest or object:
•The vase she gave me occupies the place of honor in my living room.
9 with full military honours if someone is buried with full military honours, there is a military ceremony at their funeral
10 do the honours spoken to pour the drinks, serve food etc at a social occasion:
•Liz, would you do the honors?
11 your word of honour a very serious promise that what you are saying is true:
•I won't try to see you again. I give you my word of honour.
12 be an honour to sb/sth to bring admiration and respect to your country, school, family etc because of your behaviour or achievements:
•He's an honour to his family and his country.
13 be/feel honour bound to do sth formal to feel that it is your moral duty to do something:
•We felt honor bound to attend their wedding.
14 on your honour
a) if you swear on your honour to do something, you promise very seriously to do it
b) old-fashioned if you are on your honour to do something, you are being trusted to do it
15 SEX [U] old use if a woman loses her honour, she has sex with a man she is not married to
guest of honour at GUEST^1 (1); MAID OF HONOURhonor AmE [T] BrE
1 be/feel honoured (to do sth) to feel very proud and pleased:
•I felt very honoured to be included in the team.
2 formal to show publicly that someone is respected and admired, especially by praising them or giving them a special title
honour sb with sth
•He was honored with an award for excellence in teaching.
honour sb for sth
•Two firefighters have been honoured for their courage.
3 honour a promise/contract/agreement etc to do what you have agreed to do:
•Once again the government has failed to honour its promises.
•We pray that both sides will continue to honour their commitment to the peace agreement.
4 to treat someone with special respect:
•In a marriage, you need to honour one another.
•I was treated like an honored guest.
5 honour a cheque if your bank honours a cheque that you have given someone, it pays the money to that person
6 sb has decided to honour us with their presence used humorously when someone arrives late, or to someone who rarely comes to a meeting, class etcHonorable AmE $ BrE
1 written abbreviation Hon. used in Britain in the titles of children whose father is a lord and in the titles of judges and members of parliament
2 written abbreviation Hon. used in the US when writing to or about a judge or important person in the government
3 the Honourable Gentleman/the Honourable Lady/my Honourable Friend/the Honourable Member used by British members of parliament when talking to or about each other in the House of Commons
RIGHT HONOURABLEhonorable AmE BrE
1 an honourable action or activity deserves respect and admiration:
•My father didn't think acting was an honorable profession.
2 behaving in a way that is morally correct and shows you have high moral standards:
•a principled and honourable man
3 an honourable arrangement or agreement is fair to everyone who is involved in it
- honourably adverbhonorable mention AmE [C] BrE
a special honour in a competition for work that was of high quality but did not get a prize[C]
a British university degree that is above the basic level in one or two particular subjects
first/second/third class honours degree
joint honours degree (=a degree in two main subjects)[C]
a list of important people in Britain to whom titles are given as a sign of respecthootch [U] especially AmE informal
strong alcohol, especially alcohol that has been made illegally [in nouns]
1 used to refer to a period of time or a state:
•during his childhood (=when he was a child)
•parenthood (=the state of being a parent)
2 the people who belong to a particular group:
•the priesthood (=all the people who are priests) [C]
1
a) a part of a coat, jacket etc that you can pull up to cover your head:
•Why don't you put your hood up if you're cold?
b) a cloth bag that goes over someone's face and head so that they cannot be recognized or cannot see; balaclava
•He was abducted by four men wearing hoods.
2 AmE the metal covering over the engine on a car; = bonnet BrE
under the hood
•Check under the hood and see what that noise is.
3 a cover fitted above a COOKER to remove the smell of cooking; extractor (fan)
4 BrE a folding cover on a car or PRAM, which gives protection from the rain
5 also 'hood AmE informal a NEIGHBOURHOOD
6 AmE informal a HOODLUM
having or wearing a hood:
•a hooded cape [C] informal
a type of jacket with a HOOD [C]
a criminal, often a young person, who does violent or illegal things; = gangster [T + into]
to trick someone in a clever way so that you can get an advantage for yourself [U] AmE informal
stupid talk; = nonsense $ plural hoofs or hooves $ [C]
1 the hard foot of an animal such as a horse, cow etc
2 on the hoof BrE if you do something on the hoof, you do it quickly while doing something else at the same time
hoof it informal to run or walk quickly $ [C] informal
a dancer, especially one who works in the theatre [singular, U] BrE
noisy talk or excitement about something unimportant; = fuss
•What's all the hoo-ha about? [C]
1 HANGING THINGS a curved piece of metal or plastic that you use for hanging things on; peg
•Tom hung his coat on the hook behind the door.
2 CATCHING FISH a curved piece of thin metal with a sharp point for catching fish
3 let/get sb off the hook to allow someone or help someone to get out of a difficult situation:
•I wasn't prepared to let her off the hook that easily.
4 leave/take the phone off the hook to leave or take the telephone RECEIVER (=the part you speak into) off the part where it is usually placed so that no one can call you
5 be ringing off the hook AmE if your telephone is ringing off the hook, a lot of people are calling you
6 INTEREST something that is attractive and gets people's interest and attention; = draw
•You always need a bit of a hook to get people to go to the theatre.
7 by hook or by crook if you are going to do something by hook or by crook, you are determined to do it, whatever methods you have to use:
•The police are going to get these guys, by hook or by crook.
8 HITTING SB a way of hitting your opponent in BOXING, in which your elbow is bent; punch, jab
9 hook, line, and sinker if someone believes something hook, line, and sinker, they believe a lie completely
BOAT HOOK, CURTAIN HOOK; sling your hook at SLING^1 (4)[T]
1 FISH to catch a fish with a hook:
•I hooked a 20-pound salmon last week.
2 FASTEN [always + adv/prep] to fasten or hang something onto something else
hook sth onto/to sth
•Just hook the bucket onto the rope and lower it down.
3 BEND YOUR FINGER/ARM ETC [always + adv/prep] to bend your finger, arm, or leg, especially so that you can pull or hold something else:
•Ruth hooked her arm through Tony's.
•He tried to hook his leg over the branch.
4 INTEREST/ATTRACT informal to succeed in making someone interested in something or attracted to something:
•cigarette ads designed to hook young people
5 ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT [always + adv/prep] also hook up to connect a piece of electronic equipment to another piece of equipment or to an electricity supply; hook-up
•We've got a CD player, but it's not hooked up yet.
hook sth together
•Computers from different manufacturers can often be hooked together.
6 BALL to throw or kick a ball so that it moves in a curve

PHRASAL VERBS
hook up with sb/sth phr v informal especially AmE
1
a) to start having a sexual relationship with someone
b) to meet someone and become friendly with them; = meet up with
•Did you ever hook up with Maisy while you were there?
c) to agree to work together with another organization for a particular purpose
2 hook sb up with sth to help someone get something that they need or want; = fix up with
•Do you think you can hook me up with some tickets for tonight? [C]
a pipe for smoking drugs, that consists of a long tube and a container of water[U]
a small metal hook and ring used for fastening clothes
1 curved outwards or shaped like a hook:
•a hooked nose
2 [not before noun] informal if you are hooked on a drug, you feel a strong need for it and you cannot stop taking it; = addicted
[+on]
•I know a girl who got hooked on cocaine.
3 [not before noun] informal if you are hooked on something, you enjoy it very much and you want to do it as often as possible
[+on]
•I got hooked on TV when I was sick.
4 having one or more hooks $ [C] informal
a woman who has sex with men for money; = prostitute[C]
a temporary connection between two pieces of equipment such as computers, or between a piece of equipment and an electricity or water supply
play hooky AmE old-fashioned to stay away from school without permission; = truant BrE [C]
a noisy violent person who causes trouble by fighting etc:
•football hooligans
- hooliganism noun [U] $ [C]
1 a large ring made of wood, metal, plastic etc
2 a large ring that children used to play with in the past, or that CIRCUS animals are made to jump through
3
a) the ring that you have to throw the ball through to score points in BASKETBALL
b) hoops [plural] AmE informal the game of BASKETBALL
4 jump/go through hoops if someone makes you jump through hoops, they make you do lots of difficult or boring things before you are allowed to do what you want to do
5 also hoop earrings an EARRING that is shaped like a ring
COCK-A-HOOP, HULA HOOP BrE
in the shape of a hoop, or containing something in the shape of a hoop:
•hooped earrings $ [U]
1 especially AmE excitement about something which attracts a lot of public attention:
•all the hoopla that surrounded the trial
2 BrE a game in which prizes can be won by throwing a ring over an object from a distance
shouted when you are very glad about something
- hooray noun [C]
hip hip hooray at HIP^3 [C]
1 a shout or laugh that shows you think something is funny or stupid
hoot of laughter/derision etc
•Hoots of laughter rose from the audience.
2 a sound that an OWL makes
3 a short clear sound made by a vehicle or ship, as a warning
4 be a hoot spoken to be very funny or amusing
5 don't give a hoot/don't care two hoots spoken to not care at all about someone or something
[+about]
•It was clear that Owen didn't care two hoots about her.
1 [I,T] if a vehicle or ship hoots, it makes a loud clear noise as a warning
[+at]
•The car behind was hooting at me.
2 [I] if an OWL hoots, it makes a long 'oo' sound
3 [I,T] to laugh loudly because you think something is funny or stupid
hoot with laughter/glee/mirth etc
•He had the audience hooting with laughter. $ [C]
1 BrE a piece of equipment that makes a loud noise and is used on cars, ships, or in factories; = horn
2 BrE informal a nose
3 hooters [plural] AmE informal not polite an offensive word for a woman's breasts $ [C] trademark BrE
a VACUUM CLEANER[I,T] BrE
to clean a floor, CARPET etc using a VACUUM CLEANER (=a machine that sucks up dirt); = vacuum $
the plural of HOOF $ past tense and past participle hopped, present participle hopping
1 JUMP [I] to move by jumping on one foot:
•The little girl ran off, hopping and skipping as she went.
2 [I] if a bird, an insect, or a small animal hops, it moves by making quick short jumps
3 [I always + adv/prep] informal to move somewhere quickly or suddenly:
•Hop in - I'll drive you home.
•Patrick hopped out of bed and quickly got dressed.
4 hop a plane/bus/train etc AmE informal to get on a plane, bus, train etc, especially after suddenly deciding to do so:
•So we hopped a bus to Phoenix that night.
5 hop it! BrE old-fashioned used to rudely tell someone to go away
6 hopping mad informal very angry; = furious[C]
1 catch sb on the hop to do something when someone is not expecting it and is not ready
2 JUMP a short jump
3 PLANT
a) hops [plural] parts of dried flowers used for making beer, which give the beer a bitter taste
b) the tall plant on which these flowers grow
4 FLIGHT a single short journey by plane:
•It's just a short hop from Cleveland to Detroit.
5 DANCE old-fashioned a social event at which people dance
HIP-HOP $ [I,T]
1 to want something to happen or be true and to believe that it is possible or likely
hope (that)
•We hope that more women will decide to join the course.
•I do hope everything goes well.
•It was hoped that the job would be filled by a local person.
• Let's just hope someone finds her bag.
• I hope to God I haven't left the car window open.
hope to do sth
•Joan's hoping to study law at Harvard.
[+for]
•We were hoping for good weather.
•Liam decided to ignore the warning and just hope for the best (=hope that a situation will end well when there is a risk of things going wrong).
•I rang my parents, hoping against hope (=hoping for something that is very unlikely to happen or be true) that they hadn't left yet.
!! Do not say that you 'hope something would happen'. Say that you hope something will happen: I hope the weather will be nice (NOT I hope the weather would be nice).
2 I hope so spoken used to say that you hope something that has been mentioned happens or is true:
•'Do we get paid this week?' 'I certainly hope so!'
3 I hope not spoken used to say that you hope something that has been mentioned does not happen or is not true:
•I don't think I'm busy that day, or at least I hope not.
4 I'm hoping spoken used to say that you hope something will happen, especially because you are depending on it
I'm hoping (that)
•I'm hoping the car will be fixed by Friday.
I'm hoping to do sth
•We were hoping to see you today.
5 I hope (that) spoken used when you want to be polite and to make sure that you are not interrupting or offending someone:
•I hope I'm not interrupting you.
• I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you moving?
6 I should hope so (too)/I should hope not BrE spoken used to say that you feel very strongly that something should or should not happen:
•'They'll get their money back.' 'I should hope so too, after being treated like that.'
see box at WISH^1
1 FEELING [C,U] a feeling of wanting something to happen or be true and believing that it is possible or likely

hope that
(have) hopes of (doing) sth
be full of hope
give/offer hope to sb (=make it possible for people to have hope)
lose/give up/abandon hope (of sth) (=stop hoping)
live in hope (=keep hoping for something)
not hold out any/much hope (=have very little hope)
in the hope that (=because you hope that something will happen)
in the hope of doing sth (=because you hope that you will do it)
a vain/forlorn hope also
false hope (=when what you hope for will not happen)
glimmer/ray of hope (=a little hope, or something that gives you a little hope)
a symbol/beacon of hope (=something that makes people have hope)

•The President has expressed the hope that relations will improve.
[+for]
•She hadn't told Julie about her hopes for a reconciliation with Ross.
•Rita has hopes of eventually studying to be a nurse.
•The people are full of hope for the future.
• This new treatment offers hope to thousands of cancer patients.
• Michael's parents had almost given up hope of ever seeing him again.
•We haven't had any success yet, but we live in hope.
• We could try asking them, but I don't hold out much hope.
• Should they sell now or hang on in the hope that the shares will soon be worth serious money?
•We came to the island in the hope of finding a simpler way of life.
• Such a lie is unkind because it keeps false hope alive.
•She said the unemployment figures were a glimmer of hope.

2 STH YOU HOPE FOR [C] something that you hope will happen
sb's hope
•She told him all her secret hopes and fears.
•My hope is that by next summer I'll have saved enough money to go travelling.
3 CHANCE [C,U] a chance of succeeding or of something good happening
[+of]
•It was rush hour, and there was no hope of getting a seat.
•It was a desperate plan, with little hope of success.
hope (that)
•There's still a faint hope (=small hope) that the two sides will reach an agreement.
not a hope! spoken (=used to say that there is no chance of something happening)
not a hope in hell (of doing sth) spoken (=not even the smallest chance of success)
•They don't have a hope in hell of winning.
some hope/what a hope! BrE spoken (=used humorously to say that there is no chance that something will happen)
•'Your dad might lend you the car.' 'Some hope!'
4 have high/great hopes to be confident that someone or something will be successful
[+of]
•We have great hopes of her - she's very talented.
[+for]
•Parents often have such high hopes for their children.
5 raise (sb's) hopes to make someone feel that it is likely that what they want to happen will happen:
•It wouldn't be fair to raise her hopes of success.
6 dash/shatter (sb's) hopes to disappoint someone by making something that they want to happen seem impossible:
•The report dashes hopes of an early improvement in the economy.
7 get/build sb's hopes up to allow someone to believe that what they want to happen is likely to happen:
• Don't get your hopes up. There'll be a lot of people applying for the job.
8 be sb's last/only/best hope to be someone's last, only etc chance of getting the result they want:
•Please help me. You're my last hope.
[+of]
•Joshua's only hope of survival was a heart transplant.
9 be beyond hope if a situation is beyond hope, it is so bad that there is no chance of any improvement
[+of]
•Some of the houses were beyond hope of repair.
pin your hopes on sb/sth at PIN^2[only before noun] written
used to describe something that you want to happen and think is possible or likely:
•I was at home when the desperately hoped-for call came through. $
1 believing that what you hope for is likely to happen; = optimistic
[+about]
•Everyone's feeling pretty hopeful about the future.
hopeful (that)
•I'm hopeful that we can find a solution.
be hopeful of (doing) sth BrE
•He is still hopeful of playing in Saturday's game.
2 making you feel that what you hope for is likely to happen; = promising
•The vote is a hopeful sign that attitudes in the church are changing.
•Things might get better, but it doesn't look very hopeful right now.
- hopefulness noun [U][C] written
someone who is hoping to be successful, especially in acting, sports, politics etc:
•Thousands of young hopefuls were auditioned for the role.
•Republican presidential hopefuls $
1 [sentence adverb] a way of saying what you hope will happen, which some people think is incorrect:
•Hopefully, I'll be back home by ten o'clock.
•By then the problem will hopefully have been solved.
2 in a way that shows that you are hopeful:
•'Will there be any food left over?' he asked hopefully. $
1 if something that you try to do is hopeless, there is no possibility of it being successful:
•We tried to stop the flames from spreading, but we knew it was hopeless.
•Getting your work published often seems a hopeless task.
•I kept on struggling forward, even though I knew it was hopeless.
2 a hopeless situation is so bad that there is no chance of success or improvement:
•The situation is not as hopeless as it might seem.
•the millions who live in hopeless poverty
3 especially BrE informal very bad; = terrible
•I'm a hopeless cook.
hopeless at (doing) sth
•My brother was always pretty hopeless at ball games.
[+with]
•I'm hopeless with machinery.
•I've got a hopeless memory.
•The public transport system was absolutely hopeless.
4 feeling no hope:
•I began to feel lonely and hopeless.
5 used, often humorously, to say that someone's bad behaviour cannot be changed:
•Oh, James, you really are a hopeless case (=it seems impossible to change your behaviour)!
hopeless romantic/materialist/drunk etc
•She was a hopeless romantic, always convinced that one day she would meet the man of her dreams.
- hopelessness noun [U] $
1 used when emphasizing how bad a situation is, and saying that it will not get better:
•We found ourselves hopelessly outnumbered by the enemy.
•She felt hopelessly confused.
•I was trying to find the museum, but I got hopelessly lost.
2 be/fall hopelessly in love (with sb) to have or develop very strong feelings of love for someone
3 feeling that you have no hope:
•'When will I see you again?' he asked hopelessly.AmE informal
1 happy and excited, especially after taking drugs
2 a hopped-up car, engine etc has been made much more powerful $ [C]
a large FUNNEL^1 (1) $ [U]
a children's game in which each child has to jump from one square drawn on the ground to another $ [C]
a large crowd moving in a noisy uncontrolled way
[+of]
•There were hordes of people inside the station.
1 the horizon the line far away where the land or sea seems to meet the sky
on the horizon
•We could see a ship on the horizon.
!! Do not say 'in the horizon'. Say on the horizon.
2 horizons [plural] the limit of your ideas, knowledge, and experience
broaden/expand sb's horizons
•a course of study that will broaden your horizons
3 on the horizon to seem likely to happen in the future:
•Business is good now, but there are a few problems on the horizon. $
flat and level:
•a horizontal surface
- horizontally adverb; diagonal, vertical
1 [C] a horizontal line or surface
2 the horizontal a horizontal position:
•eleven degrees below the horizontal $ [C]
a chemical substance produced by your body that influences its growth, development, and condition
- hormonal $ adjective
•hormonal changes[U]
HRT $
1 ANIMAL
a) [C] the hard pointed thing that grows, usually in pairs, on the heads of animals such as cows and goats; antlers
b) [U] the substance that animals' horns are made of:
•a knife with a horn handle
c) [C] a part of an animal's head that sticks out like a horn, for example on a SNAIL
2 ON A CAR [C] the thing in a vehicle that you use to make a loud sound as a signal or warning
sound/toot/honk/blow your horn (=make a noise with your horn)
3 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT [C]
a) a musical instrument like a long metal tube that is wide at one end, that you play by blowing
b) informal a TRUMPET
c) a FRENCH HORN
d) a musical instrument made from an animal's horn
ENGLISH HORN
4 drinking horn/powder horn etc a container in the shape of an animal's horn, used in the past for drinking from, carrying GUNPOWDER etc
5 draw/pull in your horns to reduce the amount of money you spend
6 be on the horns of a dilemma to be in a situation in which you have to choose between two equally unpleasant or difficult situations
blow your own trumpet/horn at BLOW^1 (21)
lock horns at LOCK^1 (6)
take the bull by the horns at BULL^1 (3)

PHRASAL VERBS
horn in phr v AmE informal
to interrupt or try to take part in something when you are not wanted; = butt in
[+on]
•Don't try and horn in on our fun. $ [C]
a tropical bird with a very large beak $ [only before noun]
having horns or something that looks like horns:
•horned cattle
•a horned toad $ [C]
1 a large black and yellow flying insect that can sting; wasp
2 hornets' nest a situation in which there is a lot of trouble and quarrelling:
•The new production targets have stirred up a hornet's nest. $ [C]
a traditional dance performed by SAILORs or the music for this dance $
horn-rimmed glasses/spectacles glasses with frames made of plastic that looks like horn $
1 informal sexually excited:
•feeling horny
2 informal sexually attractive:
•I think he's horny.
3 skin that is horny is hard and rough
4 made of a hard substance like horn:
•the bird's horny beak $ [C]
a description of your character and the things that will happen to you, based on the position of the stars and PLANETs at the time of your birth; zodiac $
1 frightening and terrible; = horrific
•a horrendous experience
•She suffered horrendous injuries.
2 informal extremely unreasonable or unpleasant:
•horrendous debts
•The traffic was horrendous.
- horrendously adverb $
1 very bad - used for example about things you see, taste, or smell, or about the weather:
•The weather has been really horrible all week.
•a horrible smell
•The food looked horrible, but it tasted OK.
2 very unpleasant and often frightening, worrying, or upsetting:
•a horrible dream
• I have a horrible feeling that we're going to miss the plane.
3 rude and unfriendly:
•She's a horrible person.
•What a horrible thing to say!
be horrible to sb
•Why are you being so horrible to me?
- horribly adverb
•Her face was horribly scarred.
•The whole plan had gone horribly wrong.

WORD FOCUS: horrible
taste or smell:
nasty
not very nice
revolting
disgusting
foul
unpleasant
gross informal
experience, situation, or feeling:
nasty
not very nice
terrible
unpleasant
person:
nasty
not very nice
obnoxious
mean AmE
unpleasant
objectionable
$ especially BrE
1 informal very unpleasant; = nasty
•a horrid smell
2 old-fashioned behaving in a nasty unkind way:
•Don't be so horrid! $
extremely bad, in a way that is frightening or upsetting; = horrifying
horrific crash/accident/attack etc
•a horrific plane crash
•His injuries were horrific.
- horrifically adverb $ past tense and past participle horrified, present participle horrifying, third person singular horrifies [T]
to make someone feel very shocked and upset or afraid:
•Henry was horrified by what had happened.
horrified to see/hear/find etc
•She was horrified to discover that he loved Rose. $
extremely bad, especially in a way that is frightening or upsetting; = horrific
•murder, rape and other horrifying crimes
•It's horrifying to see how much poverty there is here.
- horrifyingly adverb $
1 [U] a strong feeling of shock and fear
in horror
•Staff watched in horror as he set himself alight.
with horror
•Many people recoil with horror when they see a big spider like this.
to sb's horror (=making someone shocked or afraid)
•To my horror, I realised my shirt was wet with blood.
•You should have seen the look of horror on his face.
2 [C usually plural] something that is very terrible, shocking, or frightening
[+of]
•the horrors of war
3 the horror of something when a situation or event is very unpleasant or shocking:
•Dense smoke surrounded them, adding to the horror of the situation.
•Only when the vehicle was lifted did the full horror of the accident become clear.
4 have a horror of sth to be afraid of something or dislike it very much:
•He has a horror of snakes.
5 little horror BrE a young child who behaves badly
6 give sb the horrors to make someone feel unreasonably frightened or nervous
7 horror of horrors BrE used to say how bad something is - often used humorously when you think something is not really very badalso horror film BrE [C] especially AmE
a film in which strange and frightening things happen[C]
1 informal a report about bad experiences, bad conditions etc:
•horror stories about patients being given the wrong drugs
2 a story in which strange and frightening things happenalso horror-stricken
suddenly very shocked and frightened $ plural hors d'oeuvres $ [C]
food that is served in small amounts before the main part of the meal; entrée, main course $
1 [C] a large strong animal that people ride and use for pulling heavy things; pony, equine, equestrian
•a horse and cart
•Lee had never ridden a horse before.
2 the horses BrE informal horse races:
•Jim likes a bet on the horses.
3 [C] a piece of sports equipment in a GYMNASIUM that people jump over
4 (straight/right) from the horse's mouth if you hear or get information straight from the horse's mouth, you are told it by someone who has direct knowledge of it
5 horses for courses BrE the process of matching people with suitable jobs or activities
6 a two/three/four etc horse race a competition or an election that only two etc competitors can win
7 a horse of a different color a horse of another color AmE something that is completely different from another thing
8 horse sense old-fashioned sensible judgement gained from experience; = common sense
9 [U] old-fashioned informal HEROIN
DARK HORSE; never/don't look a gift horse in the mouth at GIFT (7); be flogging a dead horse at FLOG (3); hold your horses at HOLD^1 (15); put the cart before the horse at CART^1 (4); STALKING HORSE, WHITE HORSES

PHRASAL VERBS
horse around/about phr v
informal to play roughly; horseplay
•Stop horsing around - you'll break something! $
on horseback riding a horse
- horseback adjective [only before noun] $ [C]
BrE a large vehicle for carrying horses, often pulled by another vehicle; = horse trailer AmE $ [C]
1 a large tree which produces shiny brown nuts and has white or pink flowers
2 a nut from this tree; = conker[only before noun]
horse-drawn vehicles are pulled by a horse $ plural horseflies [C]
a large fly that bites horses and cattle $ [U]
the hair from a horse's MANE and tail, sometimes used to fill the inside of furniture $ plural horsemen [C]
someone who rides horses $ [U]
the skill involved in riding horses $ [U] old-fashioned
rough noisy play in which people push or hit each other for funwritten abbreviation hp $ plural horsepower [C,U]
a unit for measuring the power of an engine, or the power of an engine measured like this:
•a two-hundred horsepower engine
•the superior horsepower of Volkswagen[U]
a sport in which horses with riders race against each other; flat racing, steeplechase, jockey $ [C,U]
a plant whose root has a very strong hot taste[U] BrE
the activity of riding horses; = riding $ [U] AmE informal not polite
nonsense; = bullshit $ [C]
1 a U-shaped piece of iron that is fixed onto the bottom of a horse's foot
2 an object in the shape of a horseshoe that is a sign of good luck[C]
a sports event in which people compete to show their skill in riding horses[U]
when the people, especially business people or politicians, who are involved in a discussion try hard to gain an advantage for their own side - used to show disapproval:
•There will be no horse-trading and no electoral pacts.[C]
AmE a large vehicle for carrying horses, pulled by another vehicle; = horsebox BrE $ plural horsewomen [C]
a woman who rides horseshorsy $
1 informal very interested in horses and riding
2 horsey face/smell etc a face etc that is like a horse's $ [U]
the practice or science of growing flowers, fruit and vegetables; gardening, agriculture
- horticultural $ adjective
- horticulturalist noun [C] $
1 [C] BrE a long rubber or plastic tube which can be moved and bent to put water onto fires, gardens etc; = hosepipe BrE
2 [U] TIGHTS, STOCKINGs , or socks - used especially in shops; = hosiery[T]
1 to wash or pour water over something or someone, using a hose
hose sth/sb down
•Would you hose down the car for me?
2 AmE informal to cheat or deceive someone $ [C]
BrE a long hosealso hose $ [U]
a general word for TIGHTS, STOCKINGs , or socks, used in shops and in the clothing industry $ [C]
a special hospital for people who are dying $
1 friendly, welcoming, and generous to visitors; inhospitable
•The local people were very kind and hospitable.
2 used for describing an environment in which things can grow; inhospitable
•The Sahara is one of the world's least hospitable regions.
- hospitably adverb $ [C,U]
a large building where sick or injured people receive medical treatment

in hospital BrE in the hospital AmE
go to hospital BrE
go to the hospital AmE
come/be out of hospital BrE
come/be out of the hospital AmE
leave hospital BrE
leave the hospital AmE
be taken to hospital BrE
be taken to the hospital AmE
be rushed to hospital BrE
be rushed to the hospital AmE
be airlifted/flown to hospital BrE
be airlifted/flown to the hospital AmE (=be taken to hospital in a plane)
be admitted to hospital BrE
be admitted to the hospital AmE (=be brought into a hospital for treatment)
be discharged/released from hospital BrE
be discharged/released from the hospital AmE (=be allowed to leave a hospital because you are better)
psychiatric hospital (=a hospital for people with mental illness)
maternity hospital (=a hospital where women have their babies)
hospital treatment/care
hospital stay (=the period that someone spends in hospital)

•He's in hospital recovering from an operation.
• By the time she went to the hospital, the pain was really bad.
•Your mother should be out of hospital within three days.
• She was treated by paramedics at the scene before being rushed to hospital.
•A man has been admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds.
• He is likely to be discharged from the hospital later today.
• a top-security psychiatric hospital
• More than 20 officers needed hospital treatment.
• surgical techniques which avoid the need for a hospital stay

WORD FOCUS: hospital
types of hospital:
medical center AmEa big hospital
maternity hospitalfor women who are having a baby
mental hospital /psychiatric hospitalfor people who are mentally ill
clinicfor people receiving a particular kind of treatment
hospicefor people who are dying
nursing homefor old people
parts of a hospital:
A&Ealso /casualty BrE
emergency room AmE
operating theatre BrE /operating room AmE
ward
unit
people in a hospital:
doctor
nurse
surgeon
patient
orderly
$ [U]
1 friendly behaviour towards visitors:
•Thanks for your hospitality over the past few weeks.
2 services such as food and drink that an organization provides for guests at a special event:
•the use of a yacht for corporate hospitality
•There was a reception in the hospitality suite before the game.
corporate hospitality at CORPORATE (1)also hospitalise BrE $ [T usually passive]
if someone is hospitalized, they are taken into a hospital for treatment
- hospitalization $ noun [U] $ [C]
1 AT A PARTY someone at a party, meal etc who has invited the guests and who provides the food, drink etc; hostess
•Our host greeted us at the door.
2 ON TELEVISION/RADIO someone who introduces and talks to the guests on a television or radio programme; = compère BrE
•a game show host
3 COUNTRY/CITY a country, city, or organization that provides the necessary space, equipment etc for a special event
host country/government/city etc
•the host city for the next Olympic Games
play host (to sth) (=provide the place, food etc for a special meeting or event)
•The gallery is playing host to an exhibition of sculpture.
4 a (whole) host of people/things a large number of people or things:
•A host of showbusiness celebrities have pledged their support.
5 IN CHURCH the Host technical the bread that is used in the Christian ceremony of Communion
6 ANIMAL/PLANT technical an animal or plant on which a smaller animal or plant is living as a PARASITE[T]
1 to provide the place and everything that is needed for an organized event:
•Which country is going to host the next World Cup?
2 to introduce a radio or television programme:
•Next week's show will be hosted by Sarah Cox. $ [C]
1 someone who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy so that the other side will do what the enemy demands; kidnap
•The group are holding two western tourists hostage (=keeping them as hostages).
•a family taken hostage at gunpoint yesterday
2 be (a) hostage to sth to be influenced and controlled by something, so that you are not free to do what you want:
•Our country must not be held hostage to our past.
3 a hostage to fortune something that you have promised to do which may cause you problems in the future $ [C]
1 a place where people can stay and eat fairly cheaply
2 a YOUTH HOSTEL
3 a place where people who have no homes can stay $ plural hostelries [C] old use
a PUB or hotel $ [C]
1 a woman at a party, meal etc who has invited all the guests and provides them with food, drink etc; host
2 a woman who introduces and talks to the guests on a television or radio show; host
3 a woman who shows people to seats in a restaurant in the US
4 a woman whose job is to entertain men at a NIGHTCLUB $
1 angry and deliberately unfriendly towards someone and ready to argue with them:
•Southampton fans gave their former coach a hostile reception.
•Carr wouldn't meet Feng's stare, which was openly hostile.
•his hostile attitude
[+to/towards]
•The boy feels hostile towards his father.
2 opposing a plan or idea very strongly
[+to/towards]
•Senator Lydon was hostile to our proposals.
3 belonging to an enemy:
•hostile territory
4 used to describe conditions that are difficult to live in, or that make it difficult to achieve something
hostile environment/climate/terrain etc
•a guide to surviving in even the most hostile terrain
•Sales increased last year despite the hostile economic environment.
5 hostile takeover/bid a situation in which a company tries to buy another company which does not want to be bought $
1 [U] when someone is unfriendly and full of anger towards another person
[+towards/between]
•hostility towards foreigners
[+toward] AmE
•hostility toward Jews
open/outright hostility (=hostility that is clearly shown)
•They eyed each other with open hostility.
2 [U] strong or angry opposition to something:
•The reform program was greeted with hostility by conservatives.
[+to/towards]
•There is a lot of public hostility to the tax.
•Pictures of refugees aroused popular hostility (=felt by a lot of people) towards the war.
[+toward] AmE
•Republican hostility toward slavery
3 hostilities [plural] formal fighting in a war:
•a cessation of hostilities $ [C]
the usual American spelling of OSTLER $ comparative hotter, superlative hottest
1 HIGH TEMPERATURE
a) something that is hot has a high temperature - used about weather, places, food, drink, or objects; cold
•a hot day in July
• It's so hot in here. Can I open the window?
•Be careful, the water's very hot.
•The bar serves hot and cold food.
•people who live in hot countries (=where the weather is usually hot)
boiling/broiling AmE
scorching/baking/roasting hot (=used about weather that is very hot)
•a scorching hot week in August
stifling/sweltering/unbearably hot (=used about weather that is very hot and uncomfortable)
•The office gets unbearably hot in summer.
boiling/scalding/steaming hot (=used about liquid that is extremely hot)
•The coffee was scalding hot.
piping hot (=used about food that is nice and hot)
•Serve the soup piping hot.
red hot (=used to describe an object or surface that is very hot)
•The handle was red hot.
white hot (=used to describe metal that is extremely hot)
•He held the metal in the flame until it became white hot.
b) if you feel hot, your body feels hot in a way that is uncomfortable:
•I was hot and tired after the journey.
•The wine made her feel hot.
c) if clothes are hot, they make you feel too hot in a way that is uncomfortable:
•This sweater's too hot to wear inside.
2 SPICY food that tastes hot has a burning taste because it contains strong spices; mild
•a hot curry
3 VERY POPULAR/FASHIONABLE informal something or someone that is hot is very popular or fashionable, and everyone wants to use them, see them, buy them etc:
•one of the hottest young directors in Hollywood
•Michael Owen is already one of soccer's hottest properties (=actors or sports players who are very popular).
•The movie is going to be this summer's hot ticket (=an event that is very popular or fashionable, and that everyone wants to go and see).
be the hottest thing since (sliced bread) (=used about someone or something that is very good and popular, so that everyone wants them)
•Her new book is supposed to be the hottest thing since Harry Potter.
4 GOOD informal very good, especially in a way that is exciting:
•a hot young guitar player
•a hot piece of software
•His new film is hot stuff (=very good).
be hot at doing sth
•She's pretty hot at swimming too.
not so hot/not very hot informal (=not very good)
•Some of the tracks on the record are great, but others are not so hot.
be hot shit AmE informal not polite (=used about someone or something that people think is very good)
5 SEXY
a) informal someone who is hot is very attractive sexually:
•The girls all think he's hot stuff.
b) informal a film, book, photograph etc that is hot is sexually exciting:
•his hot and steamy first novel
c) a hot date informal a meeting with someone who you feel very attracted to sexually:
•She has a hot date with Michel.
d) be hot on/for sb informal to be sexually attracted to someone
6 DIFFICULT/DANGEROUS [not before noun] informal difficult or dangerous to deal with:
•If things get too hot (=a situation becomes too difficult or dangerous to deal with), I can always leave.
•Wilkinson found his opponent a little too hot to handle (=too difficult to deal with or beat).
•The climate was too hot politically to make such radical changes.
7 a hot issue/topic etc a subject that a lot of people are discussing, especially one that causes a lot of disagreement:
•The affair was a hot topic of conversation.
•one of the hottest issues facing medical science
8 in the hot seat in an important position and responsible for making difficult decisions
9 in hot water if someone is in hot water, they are in trouble because they have done something wrong:
•The finance minister found himself in hot water over his business interests.
land/get yourself in hot water
•She got herself in hot water with the authorities.
10 ANGRY
a) get hot under the collar spoken to become angry - used especially when people get angry in an unreasonable way about something that is not important:
•I don't understand why people are getting so hot under the collar about it.
b) have a hot temper someone who has a hot temper becomes angry very easily
HOT-TEMPERED
11 hot and bothered informal upset and confused because you have too much to think about or because you are in a hurry:
•People were struggling with bags and cases, looking hot and bothered.
12 have/hold sth in your hot little hand informal used to emphasize that you have something:
•You'll have the report in your hot little hands by Monday.
13 RECENT/EXCITING NEWS hot news is about very recent events and therefore interesting or exciting:
•Do you want to hear about all the latest hot gossip?
14 be hot off the press if news or a newspaper is hot off the press, it has just recently been printed
15 CHASING SB/STH CLOSELY
a) in hot pursuit following someone quickly and closely because you want to catch them:
•The car sped away with the police in hot pursuit.
b) hot on sb's trail/tail close to and likely to catch someone you have been chasing:
•The other car was hot on his tail.
c) hot on sb's heels following very close behind someone:
•Mrs Bass's dog was already hot on his heels.
16 come/follow hot on the heels of sth to happen or be done very soon after something else:
•The news came hot on the heels of another plane crash.
17 hot on the trail of sth very close to finding something:
•journalists hot on the trail of a news story
18 blow/go hot and cold to keep changing your mind about whether you like or want to do something:
•She keeps blowing hot and cold about the wedding.
19 go hot and cold to experience a strange feeling in which your body temperature suddenly changes, because you are very frightened, worried, or shocked
20 I don't feel too hot/so hot/very hot spoken informal I feel slightly ill:
•I'm not feeling too hot today.
21 be hot on sth informal
a) to know a lot about something:
•He's pretty hot on aircraft.
b) BrE to be very strict about something; = tight
•The company is very hot on security.
22 be hot for sth informal to be ready for something and want it very much:
•Europe is hot for a product like this.
•He was hot for revenge.
23 be hot to trot informal
a) to be ready to do something or be involved with something
b) to feel sexually excited and want to have sex with someone
24 hot competition if the competition between people or companies is hot, they are all trying very hard to win or succeed:
•Competition for the best jobs is getting hotter all the time.
25 hot favourite the person, team, horse etc that people think is most likely to win:
•United are hot favourites to win the championship.
26 hot tip a good piece of advice about the likely result of a race, business deal etc:
•a hot tip on the stockmarket
27 STOLEN GOODS informal goods that are hot have been stolen
28 MUSIC informal music that is hot has a strong exciting RHYTHM
29 more sth than you've had hot dinners BrE spoken humorous used to say that someone has had a lot of experience of something and has done it many times:
•She's delivered more babies than you've had hot dinners.
30 hot money money that is frequently moved from one country to another in order to make a profit
HOTLY, HOTSpast tense and past participle hotted, present participle hotting

PHRASAL VERBS
hot up phr v BrE informal
1 if something hots up, there is more activity or excitement:
•Things generally hot up a few days before the race.
2 the pace hots up used to say that the speed of something increases[U]
things that someone says which are intended to sound impressive, but do not really mean anything or are not true:
•The theory was dismissed as a lot of hot air.[C]
a large BALLOON filled with hot air used for carrying people up into the sky $
be a hotbed of sth a place where a lot of a particular type of activity, especially bad or violent activity, happens:
•the university was a hotbed of radical protest
having very strong emotions such as anger or love, that are difficult to control; = passionatehotcake AmE $ [C] BrE
1 be selling/going like hot cakes if things are selling like hot cakes, they are very popular and people are buying a lot of them very quickly:
•Copies of the book are selling like hot cakes.
2 AmE a PANCAKE[C,U]
a hot drink made with chocolate powder and milk or waterhodgepodge AmE $ [singular] BrE informal
a number of things mixed up without sensible order or arrangement[C]
a round sweet bread roll with a mark in the shape of a cross on top, that is traditionally eaten just before Easter[C] BrE
a desk which is used by different workers on different days, instead of by the same worker every day
- hot-desking noun [U][C,U]
AmE hot food cooked and served in a deep covered dish $ [C]
a cooked SAUSAGE in a long piece of breadpast tense and past participle hot dogged, present participle hot dogging [I]
AmE informal to do dangerous and exciting tricks or movements in sports such as SKIING or SURFING $ [C]
a building where people pay to stay and eat meals
stay at/in a hotel
•We'll be staying at the Hotel Ibis.
•She watched TV in her hotel room and waited for him to call.
hotel bar/restaurant/lobby/foyer etc
•The hotel bar was closed.
check into a hotel also
book into a hotel BrE
•They checked into a cheap hotel.
check out of a hotel
•You must check out of the hotel by 10 a.m.

WORD FOCUS: hotel
types of hotel:
motel
inn
B&B BrE
guesthouse BrE
types of room:
double room=has a bed for two people
twin room=has two single beds
single room=for one person
suite=has two or more rooms
people who work at a hotel:
desk clerk=gives you your key
bellboy BrE /bellhopAmE=takes your bags up to your room
maidalso /chambermaid=cleans your room
manager
someone who is staying at a hotel:
guest
the place where you check in, check out, and pay your bill:
front desk
reception BrE
an arrangement to stay at a hotel:
reservationalso /booking BrE
hotel services:
room service
wake-up call
$ [C]
someone who owns or manages a hotelhot flash AmE $ [C] BrE
a sudden hot feeling, especially one which women have during their MENOPAUSE $
hotfoot it informal to walk or run quickly:
•I hotfooted it out of there as soon as possible.
- hot-foot adverb
•Karl arrived hot-foot from the airport. $ [C]
someone who does things too quickly without thinking
- hotheaded $ adjective $ [C]
1 a heated building, usually made of glass, where delicate plants can grow
GREENHOUSE
2 hothouse atmosphere/environment etc a situation or place where there is a lot of activity and ideas[C]
one or more keys that you can press on a computer KEYBOARD to make the computer quickly do a particular set of actionshot line $ [C]
a special telephone line for people to find out about or talk about something:
•Call our crime hotline today.[C]
a HYPERLINK which allows you to move from one place in a computer document to another, or to a particular place in a different document, especially on the Internet $
1 in an excited or angry way
hotly debated/disputed/denied etc
•The rumor has been hotly denied.
2 done with a lot of energy and effort:
•one of the most hotly contested congressional elections
•The man ran out of the store, hotly pursued (=chased closely) by security guards.[plural]
very short tight women's SHORTs $ [C]
a metal surface, usually on a COOKER, that can be heated so that you can cook a pan of food on it $ [C,U]
1 BrE a mixture of meat, potatoes, and onions, cooked slowly together; stew
2 AmE a piece of electrical equipment with a small container, used to boil water[C]
a subject or problem that no one wants to deal with, because it is difficult and any decision might make people angry:
•The issue has become a political hot potato.[C]
AmE informal an old car that has been fitted with a powerful engine to make it go faster $
have/get the hots for sb informal to be sexually attracted to someone $ [C]
informal someone who is very successful and confident:
•a hotshot lawyerhotspot [C]
1 a place where there is a lot of heat or RADIATION:
•Many microwaves heat unevenly, leading to hot spots in the milk.
•Hot spots of radioactivity were found near the power station.
2 a place that is popular for entertainment or a particular activity:
•They played regularly at legendary hot spots such as the UFO Club.
3 a place where there is likely to be fighting or a particular problem:
•The report identified eight pollution hot spots.
4 a part of a computer image on the screen that you can CLICK on to make other pictures, words etc appear
5 especially AmE a place where a fire can spread from[C]
a place where hot water comes up naturally from the ground
having a tendency to become angry easily:
•a hot-tempered young man
hot temper at HOT^1 (1b) $ [C] informal
someone who is very sexually attractive[C]
a heated bath that several people can sit in together; jacuzzi
JACUZZI[C]
a rubber container full of hot water, used to make a bed warm[T]
informal to start the engine of a vehicle using the wires of the IGNITION system, instead of a keyhoumus [U]
other spellings of HUMMUS [C]
1 a dog which is fast and has a good sense of smell, used for hunting
2 informal a dog[T]
1 to keep following someone and asking them questions in an annoying or threatening way; harass
•After the court case Lee was hounded relentlessly by the press.
2 hound sb out (of/from sth) to make things so unpleasant for someone that they are forced to leave a place, job etc; = drive out
•The family were hounded out of their home by 18 months of abuse. $ [C]
1 60 MINUTES written abbreviation hr a unit for measuring time. There are 60 minutes in one hour, and 24 hours in one day.

for an hour/two hours/three hours etc
in an hour/in an hour's time (=when an hour has passed)
an hour/two hours etc later
an hour/two hours etc ago/earlier
within hours (of sth) (=only a few hours after something)
half an hour also
a half hour AmE
(a) quarter of an hour
three quarters of an hour
an hour's work (=work that it took you an hour to do)
an hour's walk/drive
miles/kilometres per hour (=used in speeds)
£10/$5.50 etc an hour (=used to say how much someone is paid or how much you pay to use something)
pay/charge by the hour (=pay or charge someone according to the number of hours it takes to do something)

•The interview will last about two hours.
• I study for an hour every night.
• I'll be back in three hours.
• Three hours later he was back.
•Her bag was stolen within hours of her arrival.
• You weren't interested in my story a half hour ago.
•It takes about a quarter of an hour to walk into town.
[+of]
•After four hours of talks, an agreement was reached.
•The hotel is only an hour's drive from the airport.
• a top speed of 120 miles an hour
•This was freelance work, paid by the hour.
•a five- hour delay

2 BUSINESS/WORK ETC hours [plural] a fixed period of time in the day when a particular activity, business etc happens:
•hours of business 9.00-5.00
office/opening hours
•Please call during office hours.
working hours/hours of work
•the advantages of flexible working hours
visiting hours (=the time when you can visit someone in hospital)
after hours (=after the time when a business, especially a bar, is supposed to close)
3 (work) long/regular etc hours if you work long, regular etc hours, the period that you work is longer than usual, always the same etc:
•the long hours worked by hospital doctors
•Many hospital staff have to work unsocial hours (=work in the evenings so that you cannot spend time with family or friends).
work all the hours God sends (=work all the time that you can)
4 TIME OF DAY a particular period or point of time during the day or night
in the early/small hours (of the morning) (=between around midnight and two or three o'clock in the morning)
•There was a knock on the door in the early hours of the morning.
•Who can be calling at this late hour? (=used when you are surprised or annoyed by how late at night or early in the morning something is)
daylight/daytime hours
•The park is open during daylight hours.
the hours of darkness/daylight literary
•Few people dared to venture out during the hours of darkness.
unearthly/ungodly hour (=used when you are complaining about how early or late something is)
•We had to get up at some ungodly hour to catch a plane.
at all hours/at any hour (of the day or night) (=at any time)
•If you have a problem, you know you can call at any hour of the day or night.
•She's up studying till all hours (=until unreasonably late at night).
waking hours/life/day etc at WAKING
5 LONG TIME [usually plural] informal a long time or a time that seems long:
•We had to spend hours filling in forms.
for hours (on end)
•It'll keep the children amused for hours on end.
•a really boring lecture that went on for hours and hours
•She lay awake for hour after hour (=for many hours, continuously).
6 O'CLOCK the time of the day when a new hour starts, for example one o'clock, two o'clock etc
strike/chime the hour (=if a clock strikes the hour, it rings, to show that it is one o'clock, seven o'clock etc)
(every hour) on the hour (=every hour at six o'clock, seven o'clock etc)
•There are flights to Boston every hour on the hour.
10/20 etc minutes before/after the hour AmE (=used on national radio or television in order to give the time without saying which hour it is, because the broadcast may be coming from a different time zone)
•It's twelve minutes before the hour, and you're listening to the Morning Edition on NPR.
7 1300/1530/1805 etc hours used to give the time in official or military reports and orders:
•The helicopters lifted off at 0600 hours.
8 by the hour/from hour to hour if a situation is changing by the hour or from hour to hour, it is changing very quickly and very often:
•This financial crisis is growing more serious by the hour.
9 lunch/dinner hour the period in the middle of the day when people stop work for a meal:
•I usually do the crossword in my lunch hour.
10 IMPORTANT TIME [usually singular] an important moment or period in history or in your life
sb's finest/greatest/darkest hour
•This was our country's finest hour.
sb's hour of need/glory etc (=a time when someone needs help, is very successful etc)
•Don't desert me in my hour of need.
11 of the hour important at a particular time, especially the present time:
•one of the burning questions of the hour
the hero/man of the hour (=someone who does something very brave, is very successful etc at a particular time)
the eleventh hour at ELEVENTH^1 (2); HOURLY, HAPPY HOUR, RUSH HOUR, ZERO HOUR $ [C]
1 a glass container for measuring time in which sand moves slowly from the top half to the bottom in exactly one hour; egg-timer
2 hourglass figure a woman who has an hourglass figure has a narrow waist in comparison with her chest and HIPs [C]
the shorter of the two pieces on a clock or watch that show you the time; minute hand $ [only before noun]
1 happening or done every hour:
•hourly news broadcasts
•Buses run at hourly intervals.
2 hourly pay/earnings/fees etc the amount you earn or charge for every hour you work:
•They are paid an hourly rate.
- hourly adverb
•The database is updated hourly. plural houses
1 WHERE SOMEONE LIVES [C]
a) a building that someone lives in, especially one that has more than one level and is intended to be used by one family:
•a four bedroom house
in a house
•every room in the house
at sb's house
•We met at Alison's house.
•Why don't you all come over to our house for coffee?
move house BrE (=leave your house and go to live in another one)
b) the house all the people who live in a house; = household
•He gets up at six and disturbs the whole house.
2 BUILDING
a) opera/court/movie etc house a large public building used for a particular purpose
b) House BrE used in the names of large buildings, especially offices:
•the BBC television studios at Broadcasting House
c) hen house/coach house/storehouse etc a building used for a particular purpose
3 GOVERNMENT [C] a group of people who make the laws of a country:
•The President will address both houses of Congress.
the House of Commons/Lords/Representatives/Assembly
•the speaker of the house
LOWER HOUSE, UPPER HOUSE
4 COMPANY [C] a company, especially one involved in a particular area of business:
•America's oldest publishing house
•a small independent software house
•an auction house
•a famous Italian fashion house
5 THEATRE [C]
a) the part of a theatre, cinema etc where people sit; backstage
•The show has been playing to full houses.
•The house was half empty.
•The house lights went down and the music started.
b) the people who have come to watch a performance; = audience
full/packed/empty house (=a large or small audience)
•The show has been playing to packed houses since it opened.
•A cheer went round the house (=everyone cheered).
6 in house if you work in house, you work at the offices of a company or organization, not at home
IN-HOUSE
7 put/set/get your (own) house in order used to say that someone should improve the way they behave before criticizing other people
8 bring the house down to make a lot of people laugh, especially when you are acting in a theatre
9 be on the house if drinks or meals are on the house, you do not have to pay for them because they are provided free by the owner of the bar, restaurant etc
10 house wine also house red/white ordinary wine that is provided by a restaurant to be drunk with meals:
•A glass of house red, please.
11 get on/along like a house on fire BrE informal to quickly have a very friendly relationship
12 set up house to start to live in a house, especially with another person:
•The two of them set up house in Brighton.
13 keep house to regularly do all the cleaning, cooking etc in a house:
•His daughter keeps house for him.
14 SCHOOL [C] BrE in some schools, one of the groups that children of different ages are divided into to compete against each other, for example in sports competitions
15 ROYAL FAMILY [C] an important family, especially a royal family:
•the House of Windsor
16 MUSIC [U] HOUSE MUSIC
17 house of God/worship literary a church
18 this house formal used to mean the people who are voting in a formal DEBATE when you are stating the proposal that is being discussed
DOLL'S HOUSE; eat sb out of house and home at EAT (10); OPEN HOUSE, PUBLIC HOUSE
(as) safe as houses at SAFE^1 (5)

WORD FOCUS: house
types of house:
terraced house BrE /row house AmE one of several houses that are joined together
detached house BrE a house that is not joined to another house
semi-detached house BrE a house that is attached to another house on one side
cottage a small house in the country
bungalow BrE a small house with one floor
duplex AmE a house that is divided into two separate homes
apartmentalso /flat BrE a set of rooms where someone lives, which is part of a larger building
condominium /condo BrE an apartment in a large building, which is owned by the people who live there
studio apartment /studioalso /bedsit BrE an apartment with one main room and no separate bedroom
a very large house:
mansion
palace
country house BrE
stately home BrE
someone who sells houses and land:
estate agent BrE
real estate agent AmE
realtor AmE
someone who rents a house from another person:
tenant
someone who owns a house and rents it to people:
landlord
landlady
[T]
1 to provide someone with a place to live
[+in]
•The refugees are being housed in temporary accommodation.
2 if a building, place, or container houses something, it is kept there
[+in]
•The collection is currently housed in the British Museum.
•the plastic case which houses the batteries
be under house arrest to be kept as a prisoner by a government, staying inside your house rather than in a prison $ [C]
a river boat that you can live in
not able to leave your house, especially because you are ill or old [C]
old-fashioned not polite a man who is employed to do general work at someone's house $ [C]
a thief who enters someone else's house by breaking locks, windows etc; = burglar
- housebreaking noun [U] $ AmE
a pet animal that is housebroken has been trained not to make the house dirty with its URINE and FAECES; = house-trained BrE[C]
a visit that someone, especially a doctor, makes to a person in that person's home as part of their job $ [C]
a long loose coat worn at home to protect clothes while cleaning etc plural houseflies [C]
a common type of fly that lives in people's houses
a houseful of sth a large number of people or things in your house:
•He grew up in the houseful of women.[C]
a friend or relative who is staying in your house for a short time $ [C]
all the people who live together in one house; = house
•A growing number of households have at least one computer.
•Families are classified by the occupation of the head of the household (=the person who earns the most money and is most respected in a house).[only before noun]
1 relating to looking after a house and the people in it; = domestic
household goods/products/items etc
•washing powder and other household products
•household chores
2 be a household name/word to be very well known:
•Coca Cola is a household name around the world. $ [C]
formal someone who owns or is in charge of a house[C]
a husband who stays at home and does the cooking, cleaning etc; housewife $ [C]
someone who is employed to manage the cleaning, cooking etc in a house or hotel
!! Do not confuse housekeeper and housewife. A housekeeper is someone who is paid by the owners of a house to do cooking and cleaning. A housewife is a woman who looks after her house rather than going out to work. [U]
1 the work and organization of things that need to be done in a house, hotel etc, for example cooking and buying food:
•the company in charge of the catering and housekeeping at the college
2 BrE also housekeeping money an amount of money that is kept and used to pay for food and other things needed in the home
3 jobs that need to be done to keep a system working properly [C]
old-fashioned a female servant who cleans someone's house plural housemen [C] BrE
someone who has nearly finished training as a doctor and is working in a hospital; = intern AmE[C]
a small black and white European bird of the SWALLOW family $ [C]
especially BrE a male teacher who is in charge of one of the houses (=groups of children of different ages) in a school; housemistress [C] BrE
a person who you share a house with but who is not a member of your family; flatmate; = roommate AmE [C]
especially BrE a female teacher who is in charge of one of the houses (=groups of children of different ages) in a school; housemasteralso house [U]
a type of popular dance music[singular]
a plan that is so badly arranged that it is likely to fail
the House of Commons the part of the British or Canadian parliament whose members are elected by the people
the House of Lords the part of the British parliament whose members are not elected but have positions because of their rank or title
the House of Representatives the larger of the two parts of the US Congress or of the parliament of Australia or New Zealand; Senate[C]
a group of people who stay as guests in someone's house and have a party there $ [C]
a telephone that can only be used to make calls within a building, especially a hotel $ [C]
a plant that you grow inside your house for decoration; = pot plant BrE
BrE spending a lot of time on keeping your house clean and tidy [U] BrE
1 space in a house for a person or thing
2 not give sth houseroom informal used to emphasize that you do not like something and do not want itpast tense and past participle house-sat, present participle house-sitting [I]
to look after someone's house while they are away
- housesitter noun [C]
the Houses of Parliament the buildings where the British parliament meets, or the parliament itself; House of Commons, House of Lords
house-to-house inquiries/search/collection etc inquiries etc that are made by visiting each house in a particular area; door-to-door
•The abduction sparked a house-to-house search in the Willenhall area. $ [C]
the top part of a house; = rooftop
•a view over the housetopsBrE
a pet animal that is house-trained has been trained not to make the house dirty with its URINE and FAECES; = housebroken AmE
- housetrain verb [T] $ [plural]
AmE small things used in the home, for example plates, lamps etc, or the department of a large shop that sells these things[C usually singular]
a party that you give to celebrate moving into a new house:
•Are you coming to Jo's house-warming on Friday?
•a house-warming party plural housewives [C]
a married woman who works at home doing the cooking, cleaning etc, but does not have a job outside the house; = homemaker; house husband $ [U]
work that you do to take care of a house, for example washing, cleaning etc; chore
do (the) housework
•I spent all morning doing the housework.
•I don't like doing housework.
!! Do not say 'houseworks'. Housework is an uncountable noun.
1 [U] the houses or conditions that people live in:
•health problems caused by bad housing
•a scheme to provide affordable housing for local people
2 [U] the work of providing houses for people to live in:
•government housing policy
•public services such as education, housing and transport
3 [C] a protective cover for a machine:
•the engine housing[C]
an organization in Britain, formed by a group of people working together to build or buy homes for themselveshousing development AmE [C] BrE
a large number of houses that have been built together in a planned way; council house[C]
AmE a group of houses or apartments, usually built with government money, for poor families $ [I]
a past tense and past participle of HEAVE $ [C]
a small dirty place where someone lives, especially a very poor person $ [I]
1 if a bird, insect, or HELICOPTER hovers, it stays in one place in the air
[+over/above]
•flies hovering above the surface of the water
2 to stay nervously in the same place, especially because you are waiting for something or are not certain what to do:
•Her younger brother hovered in the background watching us.
[+around/about]
•I noticed several reporters hovering around outside the courtroom.
3 [always + adv/prep] if a level, price etc hovers around a certain amount, it stays close to that amount, only changing slightly up or down
[+around/between etc]
•The dollar has been hovering around the 110 yen level. $ plural hovercraft or hovercrafts [C]
a vehicle that travels just above the surface of land or water, travelling on a strong current of air that the engines produce beneath it; hydrofoil $ [C]
high-occupancy vehicle lane a LANE on main roads that can only be used by vehicles carrying three or more passengers when there is a lot of traffic
1 used to ask or talk about the way in which something happens or is done:
•How do you spell your name?
•How can I help you?
•I'd like to help in some way, but I'm not sure how.
•He explained how the system worked.
•We both used to work at the airport - that's how we met.
how to do sth
•I don't know how to get to your house.
•Alan showed me how to load the gun.
•advice on how best (=the best way) to invest your money
•They had a number of suggestions as to how the service could be improved.
•This still leaves the question of how local services should be funded.
how on earth/in the world etc (=used for emphasis when you are surprised, angry etc)
•How on earth did you find out?
2 used to ask or talk about the amount, size, degree etc of something:
•How big is the state of Louisiana?
•How many kids do they have now?
•How long have you been learning English?
•Do you know how old it is?
•They couldn't tell exactly how far away the bridge was.
•She wondered how much Angela already knew.
how much? (=used to ask the price of something)
•How much are the tickets?
•Can you tell me how much the repairs will cost?
3 spoken
a) used to ask about someone's health, especially when you meet them:
•'Hi Laurie, how are you?' 'Fine, thanks. How are you?'
•Has Ros had the baby yet? How is she?
•'How's your ankle this morning?' 'Better, thanks.'
b) used when you meet someone to ask for news about their life, work etc:
•So how's it going at work these days? Still enjoying it?
•' How are things with you?' 'Fine.'
• How are you doing?
4 used to ask someone about their opinion or experience of something:
•How was the film?
•'How's your steak?' 'Mmm, it's good.'
•How did your exams go?
•How do you feel about seeing Peter again?
•How's that? Does that feel comfortable?
5 used after certain adjectives or verbs to refer to an event or situation:
•It's amazing how they've managed to get everything finished so quickly.
•I remember how she always used to have fresh flowers in the house.
6 [+ adj/adv] used to emphasize the quality you are mentioning:
•How lovely to see you!
•'John's been in an accident.' 'Oh, how awful!'
•I didn't realize how difficult it was to get tickets.
•He was impressed at how well she could read.
7 old-fashioned or written used to say that something happens to a very great degree:
•How the crowd loved it!
8 how about...?
a) used to make a suggestion about what to do; = what about
•No, I'm busy on Monday. How about Tuesday at seven?
how about doing sth
•How about putting the sofa closer to the window?
•How about we have that game when we get back?
•How about if we tell the police where Newley is hiding?
how's about AmE
•How's about going to the beach this afternoon?
b) used to ask about another person or thing:
•'Mary and Ken are still away.' 'And how about Billy?'
•I need a long cold drink. How about you?
9 how do you mean? used to ask someone to explain something they have just said:
•'What's your family situation?' 'How do you mean?' 'Are you married?'
10 how come? informal used to ask why something has happened or why a particular situation exists, especially when you are surprised by it:
•How come Dave's home? Isn't he feeling well?
11 how do you do? formal used as a polite greeting when you meet someone for the first time
12 how can/could sb do sth? used when you are very surprised by something or disapprove strongly of something:
•William! How can you say such a thing?
•How could anyone be so cruel?
13 how you like/want BrE informal in whatever way you like or want:
•Then you can arrange it how you like.
14 how about that!/how do you like that! used when you think something is surprising, rude, impressive etc:
•He scored two goals! How about that!
15 how's that for sth? used to say that you think something is very impressive:
•I've already arranged everything. How's that for efficiency?
16 how ... is that? informal
a) used to say that an action or event has a particular quality to a great degree:
•He sent himself a card for Valentine's Day. How sad is that?
b) used to say that an action or event does not have a particular quality:
•They say they're not going to leave, but how likely is that?
17 how so? used to ask someone to explain an opinion they have given:
•'Rick's parents are a little strange, I think.' 'How so?'
18 how about if...? informal used to mention something that may happen, and ask what should be done if it does happen:
•How about if we quit now?
19 and how! old-fashioned used to say 'yes' strongly in reply to a question:
•'Was Matt drunk?' 'And how!'
how dare you at DARE^1 (2) [C]
a covered seat used for riding an ELEPHANT AmE informal
hello $
1 used when you are adding a fact or piece of information that seems surprising, or seems very different from what you have just said; = nevertheless
•This is a cheap and simple process. However there are dangers.
•an extremely unpleasant disease which is, however, easy to treat
2 used to say that it does not matter how big, good, serious etc something is because it will not change a situation in any way; = no matter how
•You should report any incident, however serious or minor it is.
•We'll have to finish the job, however long it takes.
however much/many
•I really want the car, however much it costs.
3 especially BrE used to show surprise when you ask how something happens or how someone does something:
•However did he get that job?
in whatever way:
•You can do it however you like.
•If we win the match we'll be delighted, however it happens.
•However you look at it, it was a wicked thing to do. $ [C]
a heavy gun that fires SHELLs high into the air
1 [I] if a dog, WOLF, or other animal howls, it makes a long loud sound; bark
•The dogs howled all night.
2 [I] to make a long loud cry because you are unhappy, angry, or in pain, or because you are amused or excited:
•Upstairs, one of the twins began to howl (=cry).
[+in/with]
•Somewhere, someone was howling in pain.
•He makes audiences howl with laughter.
3 [I,T] to shout or demand something angrily
[+for]
•Republicans have been howling for military intervention.
4 [I] if the wind howls, it makes a loud high sound as it blows:
•wind howling in the trees

PHRASAL VERBS
howl sb/sth <=> down phr v
to prevent someone or something from being heard by shouting loudly and angrily; = shout down[C]
1 a long loud sound made by a dog, WOLF, or other animal; bark
2 a loud cry or shout showing pain, anger, happiness
[+of]
•He let out a howl of anguish.
•There were howls of protest.
•This suggestion was greeted with howls of laughter.
3 a loud high sound made by the wind blowing $ [C]
informal a stupid mistake that makes people laugh; = blunder [only before noun]
be a howling success something that is a howling success is extremely successful [U] BrE
the abbreviation of hire purchase :
•We bought the carpets on HP.
the abbreviation of horsepower [U]
the abbreviation of headquarters hr. AmE plural hrs BrE
the written abbreviation of hour or hours
the written abbreviation of His/Her Royal Highness $ [U]
hormone replacement therapy treatment for women during and after the MENOPAUSE, in which they are given HORMONEs to replace those which are lackingalso ht BrE
the written abbreviation of height [U] technical
hypertext markup language a computer language used for producing pages of writing and pictures that can be put on the Internet:
•HTML documents technical
hypertext transfer protocol a set of standards that control how computer documents that are written in HTML connect to each other $ [U]
the chemical sign for water [C]
1 the central and most important part of an area, system, activity etc, which all the other parts are connected to; = centre
[+of]
•Birmingham is at the hub of Britain's motorway network.
•the commercial hub of the region
2 the central part of a wheel to which the AXLE is joined [singular, U]
1 a mixture of loud noises, especially the noise of a lot of people talking at the same time
2 a situation in which there is a lot of activity, excitement, or argument; commotion plural hubbies [C]
informal husband [C]
a round metal cover for the centre of a wheel on a vehicle [U]
literary too much pride $ plural huckleberries [C]
a small dark-blue North American fruit that grows on a bush $ [C]
AmE someone who tries to sell things in a way that is too forceful and not honest - used to show disapproval
- hucksterism noun [U]
1 [I,T] also huddle together/up if a group of people huddle together, they stay very close to each other, especially because they are cold or frightened:
•We lay huddled together for warmth.
[+around]
•People huddled around the radio, waiting for news.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to lie or sit with your arms and legs close to your body because you are cold or frightened:
•She huddled under the blankets.
•The snow blew against his huddled body.
3 [I] AmE to sit or stand with a small group of people in order to discuss something privately:
•The executive board huddled to discuss the issue.
4 [I] if American football players huddle, they gather around one player who tells them the plan for the next part of the game[C]
1 a group of people or things that are close together, but not arranged in any particular order, pattern, or system
[+of]
•a huddle of straw huts
•Huddles of men stood around talking.
2 a group of players in American football who gather around one player who tells them the plan for the next part of the game
3 get/go into a huddle to form a small group away from other people in order to discuss something [C] literary
1 a colour or type of colour; tint, shade
•a golden hue
2 a type of opinion, belief etc
of every hue/of all hues (=of many kinds)
•political opinions of every hue[singular] written
angry protests about something, usually from a group of people informal
1 huff and puff
a) to breathe out in a noisy way, especially when you do something that involves a lot of physical effort:
•He was huffing and puffing by the time he got to the top.
b) to show clearly that you strongly disagree with or are annoyed about something:
•After a lot of huffing and puffing, he eventually gave in to our request.
2 [T] to say something in a way that shows you are annoyed, often because someone has offended you:
•'I haven't got time for that now,' huffed Sam irritably.
in a huff feeling angry or bad-tempered, especially because someone has offended you
go off/walk off/leave etc in a huff
•She stormed out in a huff. informal
in a bad MOOD (=the way that you feel), especially because someone has offended you:
•Some customers get huffy when you ask them for their ID.
- huffily adverb past tense and past participle hugged, present participle hugging [T]
1 to put your arms around someone and hold them tightly to show love or friendship; = embrace
•We stood there crying and hugging each other.
•She went to her daughter and hugged her tightly.
2 to put your arms around yourself
hug your knees/arms/legs etc
•Sarah sat on the floor, hugging her knees.
hug yourself
•She stood close to the wall, hugging herself against the cold.
3 to move along the side, edge, top etc of something, staying very close to it:
•The small boats hugged the coast.
4 if clothes hug your body, they fit closely; close-fitting
body-/figure-hugging
•a figure-hugging dress
5 to hold something in your arms close to your chest:
•He was hugging a big pile of books.
6 hug yourself with joy/delight etc BrE to feel very pleased with yourself:
•Kate hugged herself with pleasure after receiving the award.[C]
the action of putting your arms around someone and holding them tightly to show love or friendship:
•Paul gave me a big hug.
•Nesta greeted the visitors with hugs and kisses.
BEAR HUG
1 extremely large in size, amount, or degree; = enormous
•a huge dog
•huge crowds
•Your room's huge compared to mine.
•These shoes make my feet look huge.
a huge amount/sum/quantity etc
•huge sums of money
•the huge scale of the problem
a huge loss/profit/increase etc
•a huge increase in cost
a huge range/variety/selection etc
•a huge range of issues
a huge success/disappointment etc
•The play was a huge success.
a huge difference/gap etc
•The new system has made a huge difference.
2 informal very popular or famous:
•David Hasselhoff is huge in Germany.
- hugely adverb
•hugely successful
- hugeness noun [U]
1 used to show that you have not heard or understood a question:
•'Carly, are you listening to me?' 'Huh?'
2 especially AmE used at the end of a question, often to ask for agreement:
•Not a bad little place, huh?
3 used to show disagreement or surprise, or to show that you do not find something impressive:
•'She looks nice.' 'Huh! Too much make-up, if you ask me.' [singular]
a Polynesian dance done by women using gentle movements of the HIPs [C]
a large plastic ring which you swing around your waist by moving your HIPs [C]
1 a large heavy person or thing:
•a hulk of a man
2 the main part of an old ship, vehicle etc that has decayed or been destroyed [only before noun]
very big and often awkward:
•Two hulking figures guarded the entrance of the club. [C]
1 the main part of a ship that goes in the water
wooden-hulled/steel-hulled etc (=having a wood, steel etc hull)
2 the outer covering of seeds, rice, grain etc[T]
to take off the outer part of vegetables, rice, grain etc [singular] informal
1 excited talk, newspaper stories etc, especially when something surprising or shocking is happening; = fuss
•There was a huge hullabaloo when the book was first published.
2 a lot of noise, especially made by people shouting; = commotion
•She looked up to see what all the hullabaloo was about. $ especially BrE
another spelling of HELLO past tense and past participle hummed, present participle humming
1 [I,T] to sing a tune by making a continuous sound with your lips closed
hum to yourself
•Tony was humming to himself as he drove along.
•He began to hum a tune.
2 [I] to make a low continuous sound:
•Machines hummed on the factory floor.
3 [I ] if a place hums, it is full of activity - use this to show approval; busy
•By nine o'clock, the restaurant was humming.
[+with]
•The streets were humming with life.
4 hum and haw BrE to take a long time deciding what to say or do; hesitate; = hem and haw AmE[singular]
1 a low continuous sound
[+of]
•the distant hum of traffic
2 hum of excitement/approval etc the sound of people talking because they are excited etc
1 belonging to or relating to people, especially as opposed to machines or animals

the human body
the human brain/mind
the human spirit
the human eye (=used especially when talking about how difficult something is to see)
human behaviour/activity/relationships
human experience
human life
human society
human error
for human consumption (=to be eaten by people)

• There are many different cell types in the human body.
•the power of the human mind
•The desire for joy lies deep within the human spirit.
• Infra-red light is invisible to the human eye.
•theories of human behaviour
•different areas of human experience
•respect for the absolute value of human life
•The accident was the result of human error.
•The meat was declared unfit for human consumption.

2 human weaknesses, emotions etc are those which are typical of people:
•He was also a person with very obvious human failings.
3 sb is only human used to say that someone should not be blamed for what they have done
4 having the same feelings and emotions as ordinary people:
•He's really not so bad. When you get to know him he seems quite human.
5 a/the human touch someone, especially someone in authority, who has the human touch deals with people in a kind friendly way and is able to understand their feelings and problems:
•The President has been accused of lacking the human touch.
6 human interest a quality that makes a story interesting because it is about people's feelings, lives, relationships etc:
•As a trainee reporter, she covered human interest stories.
7 the human condition the experiences, emotions, needs etc that all people share, especially considered as a situation from which it is impossible to escape
8 human chain a line of people:
•Firefighters formed a human chain to carry the brothers to safety.
9 put a human face on sth also give sth a human face to make an important event or principle understandable to ordinary people by directing their attention to the way it affects a particular person:
•Anne Frank was the girl whose diary put a human face on the Holocaust.
10 capitalism/communism/socialism etc with a human face a capitalist etc economic and political system that does not ignore people's needsalso human being [C]
a person
treating people or animals in a way that is not cruel and causes them as little suffering as possible; inhumane
•the campaign for the humane treatment of criminals
•a better, more humane world
- humanely adverb [U]
1 the belief that human problems can by solved through science rather than religion
2 Humanism the study during the Renaissance of the ideas of the ancient Greeks and Romans
- humanist noun [C]
- humanistic adjective $ [only before noun]
concerned with improving bad living conditions and preventing unfair treatment of people
humanitarian aid/assistance/relief
•Humanitarian aid is being sent to the refugees.
humanitarian grounds/reasons/purposes
•He was released from prison on humanitarian grounds.
- humanitarian noun [C]
- humanitarianism noun [U]
1 [U] people in general:
•We want a clean healthy environment for all humanity.
•crimes against humanity
2 [U] kindness, respect, and sympathy towards others; inhumanity
•a man of deep humanity
3 [U] the state of being human rather than an animal or machine
common/shared humanity
•We must never forget our common humanity.
4 (the) humanities [plural] subjects of study such as literature, history, or art, rather than science or mathematics; = (the) artsalso humanise BrE [T]
to make a place or system more pleasant or more suitable for people:
•an attempt to humanize prison conditions [U]
people in general; = mankind
humanly possible
a) used to emphasize that something is possible:
•She wanted to put as much distance as was humanly possible between herself and Adrian.
b) used to emphasize that someone did all they could:
•The doctors did everything humanly possible to save the child's life.[U]
1 the qualities or ways of behaving that are natural and common to most people
2 it's (only/just) human nature spoken used to say that a particular feeling or way of behaving is normal and natural
having a human shape and qualities:
•The robot was humanoid in appearance.
- humanoid noun [C]
the human race all people, considered together as a group; = mankind $
[U] HR the department in a company that deals with employing, training, and helping people[C usually plural]
one of the basic rights which many societies think every person should have to be treated in a fair equal way without cruelty, for example by their government, or the right to vote:
•human rights violations[C]
someone who is taken and kept as a prisoner by a criminal in order to protect the criminal from being killed, injured, or caught
1 not considering yourself or your ideas to be as important as other people's; proud ; humility
•a modest and humble man
2 having a low social class or position:
•He started his career as a humble peanut farmer.
humble background/origins etc
•Iacocca rose from humble beginnings to become boss of Ford.
3 in my humble opinion spoken used humorously to give your opinion about something
4 my humble apologies BrE spoken used humorously to say you are sorry
5 [only before noun] simple and ordinary, but useful or effective:
• The humble potato may be the key to feeding the world's population.
6 eat humble pie to admit that you were wrong about something
7 your humble servant BrE old use a formal way of ending a letter
8 sb's humble abode someone's house or apartment - used humorously:
•Welcome to our humble abode.
- humbly adverb
1 be humbled if you are humbled, you realize that you are not as important, good, kind etc as you thought you were:
•You can't help but be humbled when you enter this cathedral.
2 [T] to easily defeat someone who is much stronger than you are:
•The mighty U.S. army was humbled by a small South East Asian country.
3 humble yourself to show that you are not too proud to ask for something, admit you are wrong etc:
•I knew he had humbled himself to ask for my help.
- humbling adjective
•a humbling experience
1 [U] insincere or dishonest words or behaviour:
•He dismissed the Prime Minister's comments as 'pure humbug'.
2 [C] BrE a hard sweet made from boiled sugar, usually with a PEPPERMINT taste
3 [C] old-fashioned someone who behaves in a dishonest or insincere way, for example by pretending to be someone they are not; = imposter $
a humdinger informal a very exciting or impressive game, performance, or event:
•a real humdinger of a match
boring and ordinary, and having no variety or interest; = tedious
humdrum existence/job/life etc
•the prisoners' humdrum routine plural humeri [C] technical
the bone between your shoulder and elbow
if the weather is humid, you feel uncomfortable because the air is very wet and usually hot:
•Tokyo is extremely humid in mid-summer.
humid air/climate/atmosphere etc
!! Humid, moist, or damp?
see box at DAMP^1 $ [C]
a machine that makes the air in a room less dry past tense and past participle humidified, present participle humidifying, third person singular humidifies [T]
to add very small drops of water to the air in a room etc because the air is too dry [U]
1 the amount of water contained in the air:
•The room is kept at 72 degrees and 50% relative humidity.
2 when the air is very warm and wet:
•a day of hot sunshine and humidity [T]
to make someone feel ashamed or stupid, especially when other people are present; = embarrass
•Her boss humiliated her in front of all her colleagues.
- humiliated adjective
•I've never felt so humiliated in all my life.
making you feel ashamed, embarrassed, and angry because you have been made to look weak or stupid; = embarrassing
•a humiliating defeat
- humiliatingly adverb
1 [U] a feeling of shame and great embarrassment, because you have been made to look stupid or weak:
•the humiliation of having to ask her parents for money
2 [C] a situation that makes you feel humiliated:
•The government suffered a series of political humiliations. [U]
the quality of not being too proud about yourself - use this to show approval; = modesty; humble[C]
a very small brightly-coloured tropical bird whose wings move very quickly [C] BrE
a very small hill
another spelling of HUMUSalso humungous BrE informal
very big; = enormous
•rich people living in humongous houses $ [C]
someone, especially a writer, who tells funny stories; comedian $
funny and enjoyable:
•humorous stories
•The film has some mildly humorous moments.
- humorously adverbhumor AmE $ [U] BrE
1 the ability or tendency to think that things are funny, or funny things you say that show you have this ability

sense of humour
sb's brand of humour
black humour (=jokes, funny stories etc about the unpleasant parts of life)
schoolboy humour (=jokes, funny stories etc that are silly and rude but not offensive)
dry/deadpan humour (=when someone pretends to be serious when they are really joking)
wry humour (=when someone jokes about something bad or difficult)
a flash/trace/touch of humour (=a small amount of humour)

•his humour and charm
•Greg's feeble attempt at humour
•English humour
•It's vital to have a sense of humor in this job.
• The host puts the contestants at ease with his own brand of humour.
•He showed flashes of humor that delighted the audience.

2 the quality in something that makes it funny and makes people laugh:
•He failed to see the humour of the situation.
3 in a good/an ill/a bad humour formal in a good or bad mood:
•He was in a good humour this morning.
GOOD HUMOUR
4 out of humour BrE old-fashioned in a bad moodhumor AmE [T] BrE
to do what someone wants or to pretend to agree with them so that they do not become upset:
•'Of course,' he said, humouring her.humorless AmE $ BrE
too serious and not able to laugh at things that other people think are funny
- humourlessly adverb
1 [C] a large round shape that rises above the surface of something:
•the hump of a hill
2 speed/traffic humps BrE a series of humps in the road, designed to make traffic slow down
3 [C] a raised part on the back of a CAMEL
4 [C] a raised part on someone's back that is caused by an unusually curved SPINE; hunchback
5 be over the hump to have finished the most difficult part of something
6 give sb the hump/get the hump BrE spoken to make someone feel angry or upset, or to feel angry or upsetinformal
1 [T] BrE to carry something heavy from one place to another with difficulty; = heave, lug; drag
hump sth down/along/across etc
•I managed to hump the suitcases upstairs.
2 [I,T] not polite to have sex with someone [C]
1 a HUMPBACK WHALE
2 a HUNCHBACKalso humpback bridge [C] BrE
a short bridge with a steep slope on each sidealso humpback [C]
a large WHALE
used to show that you do not believe something or do not approve of somethinghummus [U]
a Greek food made from a soft mixture of CHICKPEAs , oil, and GARLIC [U]
soil made of decayed plants, leaves etc which is good for growing plants; compost [C]
if you have a hunch that something is true or will happen, you feel that it is true or will happen; suspicion
have a hunch (that)
•I had a hunch that something like this would happen.
sb's hunch
•My hunch is that she's his mother.
1 [I always + adv/prep] to bend down and forwards so that your back forms a curve
[+over]
•He had to hunch over the steering wheel to see anything.
2 hunch your shoulders to raise your shoulders into a rounded shape because you are cold, anxious etc
- hunched adjective
•a hunched figure sitting by the fire [C] not polite
an offensive word for someone who has a large raised part on their back because their SPINE curves in an unusual way plural hundred or hundreds
1 the number 100:
•The tree was probably a hundred years old.
two/three/four etc hundred
•I make nine hundred dollars a week.
•a journey of 15 hundred miles
hundreds of people/years/pounds etc
•Hundreds of people were reported killed or wounded.
2 a very large number of things or people
a hundred
•They've had this argument a hundred times before.
hundreds of sth
•He's had hundreds of girlfriends.
3 a/one hundred percent spoken
a) completely:
•I'm not a hundred percent sure where she lives.
b) BrE completely well:
•I'm still not really feeling a hundred per cent.
4 give a hundred percent also give a hundred and ten percent to do everything you can in order to achieve something:
•Everyone on the team gave a hundred percent.
5 [C] a piece of paper money that is worth 100 dollars or 100 pounds:
•Can you change a hundred for five twenties?
- hundredth adjective
•her hundredth birthday
- hundredth noun [C]written abbreviation cwt plural hundredweight [C]
a unit for measuring weight, equal to 112 pounds or 50.8 kilograms in Britain, and 100 pounds or 45.3 kilograms in the US
past tense and past participle of HANG $
1 [U] lack of food, especially for a long period of time, that can cause illness or death; = starvation
die of/from hunger
•Thousands of people are dying from hunger every day.
2 [U] the feeling that you need to eat; thirst
•Try to satisfy your hunger by eating some fruit.
hunger pangs (=sudden feelings of being hungry)
3 [singular, U] a strong need or desire for something
[+for]
•her hunger for knowledge
•a hunger for success

PHRASAL VERBS
hunger for/after sth phr v
literary to want something very much:
•The nation was hungering for change.[C,U]
a situation in which someone refuses to eat for a long time in order to protest about something:
•300 students occupied the building and over 50 went on hunger strike.
- hunger striker noun [C][singular]
a JURY (1) that cannot agree whether someone is guilty of a crime $
if someone is hungover, they feel ill because they drank too much alcohol the previous evening
HANGOVER[C]
BrE a parliament in which no political party has more elected representatives than the others added together
1 in a way that shows you want to eat something very much; greedily
•She hungrily ate a slice of bread.
2 literary in a way that shows you want something very much:
•He hungrily kissed her mouth. comparative hungrier, superlative hungriest
1 wanting to eat something; thirsty
•I was cold, tired and hungry.
•If you get hungry, there's some cold chicken in the fridge.
•Do you still feel hungry?
2 ill or weak as a result of not having enough to eat for a long time:
•We can't justify wasting food when half the world is hungry.
3 go hungry to not have enough to eat:
•Thousands of families go hungry every day.
4 wanting or needing something very much; = eager
[+for]
•She is hungry for success.
hungry to do sth
•Stan was hungry to learn.
5 the hungry people who do not have enough food to eat
6 power-hungry/news-hungry etc wanting power, news etc very much:
•a power-hungry politician
be hung-up about/on sth informal to be thinking or worrying too much about someone or something
HANG-UP [C]
1 a thick piece of something, especially food, that has been taken from a bigger piece
[+of]
•a hunk of bread
2 informal a sexually attractive man with a big strong body $

PHRASAL VERBS
hunker down phr v AmE
1 to bend your knees so that you are sitting on your heels very close to the ground; = squat
2 to make yourself comfortable in a safe place, especially for a long time
3 informal to prepare yourself for a difficult situation
a man who is hunky is sexually attractive and has a big strong body; macho [not before noun]
informal if a situation is hunky-dory, everyone feels happy and there are no problems; = OK
1 [I,T] to chase animals and birds in order to kill or catch them:
•the slopes where I hunted deer as a kid
•Wolves tend to hunt in packs (=hunt in groups).
2 [I] to look for someone or something very carefully; = search
[+for]
•The kids were hunting for shells on the beach.
•Detectives are busy hunting for clues.
3 [I,T] to search for and try to catch a criminal or someone who is your enemy:
•The police are still hunting the killer.
[+for]
•The FBI were called in to hunt for the spy.
4 [I,T] BrE to hunt FOXes as a sport, riding on horses and using dogs

PHRASAL VERBS
hunt sb/sth <=> down phr v
to search for a person or animal until you catch them, especially in order to punish or kill them:
•The government agency was created to hunt down war criminals.

hunt sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to search for someone or something in order to catch, kill, or destroy them:
•The plane was on a mission to hunt out enemy submarines.
2 to search for and find something that you need or want, but which is difficult to find:
•In the school library he hunted out books on politics.[C]
1 an occasion when people chase animals in order to kill or catch them
lion/rhino/stag etc hunt
2 [usually singular] a search for someone or something that is difficult to find
[+for]
•the hunt for the missing child
the hunt is on (=used to say that people have started looking for someone or something)
murder hunt (=a search for a person who has killed someone)
have a hunt around for sth BrE informal (=look for something)
•I'll have a hunt around for it in my desk.
TREASURE HUNT, WITCH-HUNT
3 a sporting event in Britain in which people ride on horses and hunt FOXes using dogs
4 in Britain, a group of people who regularly hunt FOXes together $
1 [C] a person who hunts wild animals, or an animal that hunts other animals for food
2 souvenir/autograph/bargain etc hunter someone who looks for or collects a particular type of thing
BOUNTY HUNTER[C]
a member of group of people that lives by hunting and looking for plants that can be eaten, rather than by keeping animals for food or by growing crops [U]
1 chasing and killing animals for food or sport
2 in Britain, the sport of hunting FOXes ; = foxhunting
3 job-hunting/house-hunting/flat-hunting the activity of looking for a job, house, or flat
4 go hunting to hunt for animals, especially as a sport
- hunting adjective
•a hunting rifle[C]
1 a place where animals are hunted
2 a happy/good hunting ground (for sth) a place where people who are interested in a particular thing can easily find what they want:
•Madeira used to be a happy hunting ground for antique collectors. [C]
literary a female hunter[C]
BrE member of a group that tries to stop people from hunting FOXes plural huntsmen [C] literary
1 a man who hunts animals
2 BrE someone who hunts FOXes for sport $
1 [C] a problem or difficulty that you must deal with before you can achieve something; = obstacle
•Finding enough money for the project was the first hurdle.
overcome/clear/get over etc a hurdle (=deal successfully with a problem)
2 [C] one of a series of small fences that a person or horse has to jump over during a race
clear a hurdle (=successfully jump over a hurdle)
3 the 100 metres/400 metres hurdles a race in which the runners have to jump over hurdles
1 [I,T] to jump over something while you are running:
•He hurdled the fence and ran off down the street.
2 [I] to run in hurdle races
- hurdler noun [C]
- hurdling noun [U] $ plural hurdy-gurdies [C]
a small musical instrument that you play by turning a handle; barrel organ $
1 [T always + adv/prep] to throw something with a lot of force, especially because you are angry:
•Demonstrators were hurling bricks through the windows.
•He hurled a chair across the set, smashing lamps and vases.
2 hurl abuse/insults/accusations etc (at sb) to shout at someone in a loud and angry way:
•He was accused of hurling abuse at the referee.
3 hurl yourself at/against etc sb/sth also hurl yourself down to throw yourself at someone or something with a lot of force:
•She wanted to hurl herself into his arms.
4 [I,T] AmE informal to VOMIT $ [U]
an Irish ball game played with sticks by two teams of 15 players
- hurler noun [C] $ [U]
a lot of busy noisy activity:
•the hurly-burly of city lifealso hurrah
HOORAY
hip, hip, hurray! at HIP^3 $ [C]
a storm that has very strong fast winds and that moves over water; cyclone, typhoon, tornado[C]
a lamp that has a glass cover to protect the flame inside from the wind $ [usually before noun]
done more quickly than usual; = rushed; leisurely
•a hurried meal
- hurriedly adverb $ past tense and past participle hurried, present participle hurrying, third person singular hurries
1 [I,T] to do something or go somewhere more quickly than usual, especially because there is not much time; = rush
•If we hurry, we'll get there in time.
•I hate having to hurry a meal.
•We'll have to hurry otherwise we'll miss the start.
•There's no need to hurry. We've got plenty of time.
hurry to do sth
•They were hurrying to catch their train.
[+through/along/down etc]
•She hurried down the corridor as fast as she could.
[+after]
•John hurried off after his girlfriend.
2 [T] to make someone do something more quickly; = rush
•Don't hurry me. I'm doing this as fast as I can.
hurry sb into (doing) sth
•She doesn't want to be hurried into making a decision.
3 [T always + adv/prep] to take someone or something quickly to a place; = rush
hurry sth to/through/across etc sth
•Emergency supplies have been hurried to the areas worst hit by the famine.

PHRASAL VERBS
hurry up phr v
1 hurry up! spoken used to tell someone to do something more quickly:
•Hurry up, we're late!
2 hurry sb/sth up to make someone do something more quickly or to make something happen more quickly:
•See if you can hurry things up a little.
1 in a hurry more quickly than usual; = in a rush
•Sorry, I can't stop, I'm in a hurry.
•You'll make mistakes if you do things in too much of a hurry.
be in a hurry to do sth
•Why are you in such a hurry to leave?
!! Do not say that you are 'in hurry'. Say that you are in a hurry.
2 (there's) no hurry spoken used to tell someone that they do not have to do something quickly or soon:
•Pay me back whenever you can. There's no great hurry.
3 sb will not be doing sth (again) in a hurry spoken used to say that someone does not want to do something again:
•We won't be going back there again in a hurry.
4 in your hurry to do sth while you are trying to do something too quickly:
•In his hurry to leave the room, he tripped over a chair.
5 be in no hurry/not be in any hurry (to do sth)
a) to be able to wait because you have a lot of time in which to do something:
•Take your time - I'm not in any hurry.
b) to be unwilling to do something or not want to do it soon:
•He was clearly in no hurry to reply to our letter.
6 what's (all) the hurry?/why (all) the hurry? spoken used to say that someone is doing something too quickly:
•We've got plenty of time - what's all the hurry? $ past tense and past participle hurt
1 INJURE SB [T] to injure yourself or someone else:
•Was anyone hurt in the accident?
•Put that thing down - you might hurt someone with it.
hurt your arm/leg/nose etc
•He hurt his knee playing football.
hurt yourself
•Be careful you don't fall and hurt yourself.
see box at DAMAGE^2
2 FEEL PAIN [I] to feel pain in part of your body; ache
•My back hurts.
•Where does it hurt?
•It hurts when I try to move my leg.
hurt like hell informal (=hurt very much)
•My shoulder hurts like hell.
3 CAUSE PAIN [T] to cause pain in a part of your body:
•The sun's hurting my eyes.
4 INSULT SB [I,T] to make someone feel very upset, unhappy, sad etc:
•I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
it hurts (sb) to do sth
•What really hurts is that he never even said goodbye.
•It hurt me to think that you hated me.
•The last thing I want to do is to hurt you.
5 BAD EFFECT [T] to have a bad effect on someone or something, especially by making them less successful or powerful:
•Foreign competition has hurt the company's position in the market.
6 be hurting AmE
a) informal to feel very upset or unhappy about something:
•Martha's going through a divorce and really hurting right now.
b) if a group, organization etc is hurting, they do not have something important that they need
[+for]
•The team is hurting for quarterbacks.
7 sth won't/doesn't hurt spoken said when you think someone should do something or that something is a good idea:
•The house looks pretty good, but a fresh paint job wouldn't hurt either.
it won't/doesn't hurt (sb) to do sth
•It won't hurt Julia to get up early for a change.
1 [not usually before noun] suffering pain or injury; = injured
badly/seriously hurt
•Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.
•Sometimes players get hurt in training.
2 very upset or unhappy because someone has said or done something unkind, dishonest, or unfair:
•Rachel felt hurt and betrayed.
•He's no good for you, Jenny. You'll only get hurt again.
•his hurt pride
•She wore a hurt expression on her face.
very/deeply hurt
•Alice was deeply hurt that she hadn't been invited.[C,U]
a feeling of great unhappiness because someone, especially someone you trust, has treated you badly or unfairly:
•She saw the hurt in his eyes.
•all the hurts and wrongs of the past
•All her anger and hurt melted away.; harm $
making you feel very upset or offended; = unkind
hurtful remark/comment etc
- hurtfully adverb
- hurtfulness noun [U] $ [I always + adv/prep]
if something, especially something big or heavy, hurtles somewhere, it moves or falls very fast:
•All of a sudden, a car came hurtling round the corner.
1 [C] the man that a woman is married to; wife
•Have you met my husband Roy?
2 ex-husband a man that a woman used to be married to
3 husband and wife a man and woman who are married to each other[T]
formal to be very careful in the way you use your money, supplies etc and not waste any [U]
1 technical farming:
•animal husbandry
2 old-fashioned careful management of money and supplies
1 hush spoken used to tell people to be quiet or to comfort a child who is crying or upset:
•Hush, now. Try to get to sleep.
2 [T] written to make someone stop shouting, talking, crying etc:
•Ella asked them to hush their voices.
3 [I] written to stop shouting, talking etc:
•The audience hushed as he stepped onto the stage.

PHRASAL VERBS
hush sth <=> up phr v
to prevent people from knowing about something dishonest or immoral; = cover up
•The whole affair was hushed up by the government.
1 [singular] a period of silence, especially when people are expecting something to happen:
• A sudden hush fell over the crowd.
2 a bit of hush BrE spoken used to ask people, especially noisy children, to be quiet:
• Let's have a bit of hush, please, gentlemen. [usually before noun]
quiet because people are listening, waiting to hear something, or talking quietly:
•A hushed courtroom awaited the verdict.
hushed tones/voice/whispers etc (=quiet speech)
•They spoke in hushed tones at the table. $ informal
very secret:
•Everything was very hush-hush.[U]
money that is paid to someone not to tell other people about something embarrassing
1 [C,U] the dry outer part of corn, some grains, seeds, nuts etc
2 [C] the useless outer part of something that remains after the important or useful part is gone or has been used
[+of]
•His drug addiction had turned him into a husk of his former self.[T]
to remove the husks from grains, seeds etc
1 a husky voice is deep, quiet, and attractive :
•'Come quickly,' she said in a husky whisper.
2 especially AmE a man or boy who is husky is big and strong
- huskily adverbplural huskies [C]
a dog with thick hair used in Canada and Alaska to pull SLEDGEs over the snow $ [C]
a British CAVALRY soldier plural hussies [C] old-fashioned
a woman who is sexually immoral
the hustings the process of trying to persuade people to vote for you by making speeches etc
at/on the hustings
•The senator is usually at his best on the hustings. past tense and past participle hustled, present participle hustling
1 [T] to make someone move quickly, especially by pushing them roughly
hustle sb into/out of/through etc sth
•I was hustled out of the building by a couple of security men.
hustle sb away
•He was hustled away by police officers.
2 [I] AmE to do something with a lot of energy and determination:
•Cindy's not a great player, but she really hustles.
3 [I] AmE to hurry in doing something or going somewhere:
•We need to hustle if we're going to make this flight.
4 [I,T] AmE to sell or obtain things in an illegal or dishonest way:
•thieves hustling stolen goods on the street
5 [I] AmE informal to work as a PROSTITUTE, or to be in charge of prostitutes[U]
1 busy and noisy activity:
•the hustle and bustle of the market place
2 AmE ways of getting money that involve cheating or deceiving people
3 AmE when someone does something quickly, with a lot of effort and eagerness:
•The team has a lot of talent but no hustle. $ [C]
1 especially AmE someone who tries to trick people into giving them money
2 AmE a PROSTITUTE [C]
a small simple building with only one or two rooms; shack
•a wooden hut [C]
1 a small wooden CAGE that small animals are kept in, especially rabbits
2 AmE a piece of furniture used for storing and showing dishes [C]
a garden plant with blue, pink, or white bell-shaped flowers and a sweet smell
a British spelling of HYENA [C]
1 an animal or plant produced from parents of different breeds or types; cross-breed
[+of]
•a hybrid of wheat and rye
2 something that consists of or comes from a mixture of two or more other things:
•hybrid architecture
[+of]
•a unique hybrid of blues, country, pop, and gospel musicalso hybridise BrE [I,T] technical
to form a new type of plant or animal from two existing types, so that the new type has some qualities from each of the other types
- hybridization $ noun [U] [C]
1 Hydra a snake in ancient Greek stories with many heads that grow again when they are cut off
2 formal a problem that is very difficult to get rid of because it keeps returning [C]
a FIRE HYDRANT [T usually passive]
to supply someone or something with water to keep them healthy and in good condition; dehydrate
•After you run, drink plenty of water to stay well hydrated.
- hydration noun [U][C] technical
a chemical substance that contains water $ [usually before noun]
moved or operated by the pressure of water or other liquid:
•a hydraulic pump
•hydraulic brakes
- hydraulically adverb $
1 [plural] parts of a machine or system that use the pressure of water or other liquids to move or lift things
2 [U] the study of how to use the pressure of water or other liquids to produce power $
1 relating to water, or using water:
•hydroelectricity (=produced by water power)
•hydrotherapy (=treatment of disease using water)
2 relating to HYDROGEN, or containing it:
•hydrocarbons $ [C]
technical a chemical compound that consists of HYDROGEN and CARBON, such as coal or gas $ [U]
a strong acid used especially in industry $
using water power to produce electricity:
•a huge hydroelectric power station
- hydroelectricity $ noun [U] [C]
a large boat with wing-shaped parts on the bottom that lift it above the surface of the water when it travels fast; hovercraft [U]
a colourless gas that is the lightest of all gases, forms water when it combines with oxygen, and is used to produce AMMONIA and other chemicals. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol H[C]
a very powerful NUCLEAR bomb[U]
a chemical liquid used for killing BACTERIA and for making hair and other substances lighter in colour $ [U]
1 technical RABIES
2 fear of water [C]
1 a HYDROFOIL
2 AmE a plane that can take off from and land on water[I]
1 AmE if a car hydroplanes, it slides in a way that is out of control on a wet road; = aquaplane BrE
2 if a boat hydroplanes, it travels very quickly, just touching the surface of the wateralso hyaena BrE [C]
a wild animal like a dog that makes a sound like a laugh [U]
the practice of keeping yourself and the things around you clean in order to prevent diseases:
•the importance of personal hygiene
oral/dental hygiene
•a food hygiene training course
good/poor/proper hygiene
•The Consumers' Association blames poor hygiene standards. $
clean and likely to prevent BACTERIA, infections, or disease from spreading:
•An inspector ensures that food is prepared in hygienic conditions.
- hygienically adverb [C] BrE
someone who helps a DENTIST by cleaning patients' teeth and giving advice about keeping teeth healthy; = dental hygienist AmE [C]
a piece of skin that partly covers the entrance to the VAGINA of some girls or women who have not had sex [C]
1 a song of praise to God:
•He liked to sing hymns as he worked.
2 a hymn to sth a book, film, song etc that strongly praises a person or idea:
•Their first single was a hymn to selfishness called 'Looking After Number One'.
3 be singing from the same hymn book/sheet BrE used to say that two or more people understand each other and are thinking about something in the same wayalso hymnal technical [C]
a book of hymns [U]
attempts to make people think something is good or important by talking about it a lot on television, the radio etc - used to show disapproval:
•Some experts are concerned that the new drug won't live up to all the hype.
•Despite the media hype, I found the film very disappointing.also hype up [T]
to try to make people think something is good or important by talking about it a lot on television, the radio etc; promote
•The director is just using the controversy to hype his movie.

hype sb up phr v
to make someone feel excitedinformal
very excited or nervous and unable to keep still:
•Wayne was so hyped up that we thought he was drunk. $ informal
extremely excited or nervous about something:
•No, don't give Luke any candy - it'll make him hyper. $
1 more than usual, especially too much:
•hypersensitive (=too sensitive)
•hyper-inflation
•a hyper-extended knee
2 beyond the usual size or limits:
•a hyperlink (=from one website to another)
someone, especially a child, who is hyperactive is too active, and is not able to keep still or be quiet for very long; attention deficit disorder
- hyperactivity noun [U] $ [C,U]
a way of describing something by saying it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is; = exaggeration
•It was not hyperbole to call it the worst storm in twenty years.
- hyperbolic $ adjective $
too eager to criticize other people and things, especially about small details
- hypercritically adverb [U]
a very fast rise in prices that seriously damages a country's ECONOMY $ [C]
a word or picture in a WEBSITE or computer document that will take you to another page or document if you CLICK on it:
•We should encourage hyperlinks to each other's webpages. $ [C] BrE
a very large SUPERMARKET $
1 if someone is hypersensitive to a drug, substance etc, their body reacts very badly to it; = allergic
[+to]
•I discovered I was hypersensitive to caffeine.
2 very easily offended or upset
[+to]
•She's hypersensitive to any form of criticism.
- hypersensitivity $ noun [U] $ [U] technical
a medical condition in which your BLOOD PRESSURE is too high $ [U] technical
a way of writing computer documents that makes it possible to move from one document to another by CLICKing on words or pictures, especially on the Internet $ [I]
to breathe too quickly or too deeply, so that you get too much OXYGEN and feel DIZZY
- hyperventilation $ noun [U] [C]
a short written or printed line (-) that joins words or SYLLABLEs ; dash [T]
to join words or SYLLABLEs with a HYPHEN
- hyphenated adjective
- hyphenation noun [U] $ [U]
1 a state similar to sleep, in which someone's thoughts and actions can be influenced by someone else
under hypnosis
•While under hypnosis, the victim was able to describe her attacker.
2 the act of producing this state $ [U]
the use of hypnosis to treat emotional or physical problems
- hypnotherapist noun [C] $
1 making you feel tired or unable to pay attention to anything else, especially because of a regularly repeated sound or movement:
•His voice had a smooth hypnotic effect.
•the hypnotic beat of the drum
2 [only before noun] relating to HYPNOSIS:
•a hypnotic trance
- hypnotically adverb[C] technical
a drug that helps you to sleep; = sleeping pill [T]
a British spelling of hypnotize [U]
the practice of hypnotizing people [C]
someone who hypnotizes peoplealso hypnotise BrE [T]
1 to produce a sleep-like state in someone so that you can influence their thoughts and actions
2 [usually passive] to be so interesting or exciting that people cannot think of anything else; = mesmerized
•We were completely hypnotized by her performance of the Haydn. $ plural hypos [C] informal
a HYPODERMIC $ technical
less than usual, especially too little:
•hypothermia (=condition in which your body temperature is too low)
•a hypodermic injection (=given under the skin) $ [U]
when someone continuously worries that there is something wrong with their health, even when they are not ill $ [C]
someone who always worries about their health and thinks they may be ill, even when they are really not ill
- hypochondriac adjective $ [U]
when someone pretends to have certain beliefs or opinions that they do not really have - used to show disapproval; sincerity
•It would be sheer hypocrisy to pray for success, since I've never believed in God. [C]
someone who pretends to have certain beliefs or opinions that they do not really have - used to show disapproval
behaving in a way that is different from what you claim to believe - used to show disapproval; sincere
it's hypocritical (of sb) to do sth
•It's hypocritical of these universities to call their football players student-athletes. $ [C]
an instrument with a very thin hollow needle used for putting drugs directly into the body through the skin; = syringe
used to give an INJECTION beneath the skin:
•a hypodermic needle $ [C] technical
the longest side of a TRIANGLE that has a RIGHT ANGLE $ [U]
a serious medical condition caused by extreme cold $ plural hypotheses
1 [C] an idea that is suggested as an explanation for something, but that has not yet been proved to be true; = theory
•One hypothesis is that the victim fell asleep while driving.
prove/test/support etc a hypothesis
•We hope that further research will confirm our hypothesis.
[+about]
•The authors reject the hypothesis about unemployment contributing to crime.
2 [U] ideas or guesses rather than facts; = speculation
•All this is mere hypothesis.also hypothesise BrE $ [I,T]
to suggest a possible explanation that has not yet been proved to be true
hypothesize that
•Scientists hypothesize that the dinosaurs were killed by a giant meteor.
based on a situation that is not real, but that might happen
hypothetical situation/example/question
•Brennan brought up a hypothetical case to make his point.
•The question is purely hypothetical.; imaginary
- hypothetically adverb plural hysterectomies [C,U]
a medical operation to remove a woman's UTERUS $ [U]
1 extreme excitement that makes people cry, laugh, shout etc in a way that is out of control:
•In a fit of hysteria, Silvia blamed me for causing her father's death.
2 a situation in which a lot of people feel fear, anger, or excitement, which makes them behave in an unreasonable way:
•Since the General's death, the population has been gripped by mass hysteria.
3 medical a medical condition which upsets someone's emotions and makes them suddenly feel very nervous, excited, anxious etc
1 unable to control your behaviour or emotions because you are very upset, afraid, excited etc:
•Janet became hysterical and began screaming.
•Everyone in the studio burst into hysterical laughter.
2 informal extremely funny; = hilarious
•It was absolutely hysterical! I've never laughed so much.
- hysterically adverb [plural] spoken
1 when you are unable to control your behaviour or emotions because you are very upset, afraid, excited etc:
•She went into hysterics when she heard about her husband.
have hysterics (=be extremely upset or angry) BrE
•Mum'd have hysterics if she knew what you'd done.
2 in hysterics if someone is in hysterics, they are laughing and not able to stop:
•The audience was in hysterics.
the written abbreviation of hertz plural -is
1 [in nouns] a person from a particular country or place, or their language:
•two Pakistanis
•speakers of Hindi
2 [in adjectives] of a particular place or country:
•Bengali food
•the Israeli army [used as the subject of a verb]
used by the person speaking or writing to refer to himself or herself:
•I moved to this city six years ago.
•I'm not late again, am I?
•My husband and I enjoy going to the theatre.
!! Do not say 'taller than I', 'younger than I', 'better than I' etc. Say taller than me, younger than me, better than me or taller than I am, younger than I am, better than I am etc.i plural I's, i's
1 [C,U] the ninth letter of the English alphabet
2 [C] the number one in the system of ROMAN NUMERALs
3 I-25, I-40 etc the name of an INTERSTATE (=important road between states in the US)also iambus $ [C] technical
a unit of RHYTHM in poetry, that has one short or weak beat followed by a long or strong beat, as in the word 'alive'
- iambic adjective[C,U]
a common pattern of beats in English poetry, in which each line consists of five iambs [in adjectives and nouns]
another form of the suffix -AN:
•Dickensian characters (=like those in Dickens' books)
•a librarian (=someone who works in a library)also -ana $ [in nouns]
a group or collection of objects, papers, etc that are related to someone or something:
•Victoriana
•Shakespeariana $
relating to Spain or Portugal, or its people:
•the Iberian peninsula plural ibexes or ibex [C]
a wild goat that lives in the mountains of Europe, Asia, and North Africaalso ibidem
used in formal writing to mean from the same book, writer, or article as the one that has just been mentioned [in nouns]
another form of the suffix -ABILITY:
•invincibility
•flexibility plural ibises [C]
a large bird with a long beak and long legs that is related to the STORK [in adjectives]
another form of the suffix -ABLE:
•irresistible
•visible $ [U]
a medicine that reduces pain, INFLAMMATION, and fever
1 [in adjectives] of, like, or related to a particular thing:
•photographic (=of photography)
•an alcoholic drink (=containing alcohol)
•polysyllabic (=containing several SYLLABLEs )
•pelvic (=of the pelvis)
•Byronic (=like or connected with the poet Byron)
2 [in nouns] someone who is affected by a particular unusual condition, a mental illness for example:
•an alcoholic (=someone who cannot stop drinking alcohol)
- -ically [in adverbs]
•photographically [in adjectives]
another form of the suffix -IC (1):
•historical (=of history)
•satirical
- -ically [in adverbs]
•historically [C]
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile; a MISSILE that can travel very long distances
1 [U] water that has frozen into a solid state; icy
•Would you like some ice in your drink?
•Her hands were as cold as ice.
•Spring flowers pushed through the slowly melting ice.
•The city spent $7 million to remove snow and ice from the roads.
•a cup full of crushed ice
•Linda's hair sparkled with tiny ice crystals.
2 keep/put something on ice to do nothing about a plan or suggestion for a period of time:
•I'm putting my plans for a new car on ice until I finish college.
3 be (skating) on thin ice to be in a situation in which you are likely to upset someone or cause trouble:
•You'd better not be late for work again, Hugo - you're skating on thin ice.
4 the ice a specially prepared surface of ice where you can ICE SKATE or play ICE HOCKEY:
•The two teams are ready to take to the ice.
5 [C]
a) a frozen sweet food made with fruit juice; = sorbet
b) old-fashioned especially BrE an ICE CREAM
6 [U] AmE diamonds
BLACK ICE, DRY ICE; break the ice at BREAK^1 (29); cut no ice at CUT^1 (39)[T] especially BrE
to cover a cake with ICING (=a mixture made of liquid and very fine sugar); = frost AmE

PHRASAL VERBS
ice sth <=> down phr v AmE
to cover an injured part of the body in ice to stop it from swelling:
•Make sure you ice that ankle down as soon as you get inside.

ice over/up phr v also be iced over/up
to become covered with ice:
•Schools were closed when the roads iced over.
•The plane's engines had iced up.[C]
one of the long periods of time, thousands of years ago, when ice covered many northern countries $ [C]
a very large mass of ice floating in the sea, most of which is under the surface of the water
the tip of the iceberg at TIP^1 (4)[C,U]
a firm round pale green LETTUCE
very pale blue:
•his ice-blue eyes
- ice-blue noun [U]
surrounded by ice, especially so that it is impossible to move $ [C] AmE old-fashioned
1 a REFRIGERATOR
2 a special cupboard into which people in the past put ice in order to keep food cold $ [C]
1 something that you say or do to make people less nervous when they first meet:
•This game is an effective icebreaker at the beginning of a semester.
break the ice at BREAK^1 (29)
2 a ship that cuts a passage through floating ice[C]
1 a container filled with ice to keep bottles of wine cold
2 a container in which pieces of ice are kept for putting in drinks[C]
an area of thick ice that permanently covers the North and South Poles
extremely cold:
•ice-cold drinks
•Her hands were ice-cold. $
1 [U] a frozen sweet food made of milk, cream, and sugar, with fruit, nuts, chocolate etc sometimes added to it:
•vanilla ice cream
2 [C] a small amount of this food for one person:
•Mummy, can I have an ice cream?[C]
a hard thin cooked cake shaped like a CONE, that you put ice cream in, or one of these with ice cream in it[C] AmE
a restaurant that only sells ice cream[C]
a mixture of ice cream, sweet SYRUP, and SODA WATER, served in a tall glass[C]
a small block of ice used to make drinks cold
1 iced drinks are made very cold or served with ice:
•iced water
•iced tea
•iced coffee
2 an iced cake has ICING on the top[U]
the sport of catching fish through a hole in the ice on a lake or river[C]
an area of ice floating in the sea, that has broken off from a larger mass[U]
BrE a sport played on ice, in which players try to hit a hard flat round object into the other team's GOAL with special sticks; = hockey AmEplural ice lollies [C] BrE
a piece of sweet-tasting ice on a stick, that you suck; = popsicle AmE plural icemen [C] AmE
a man who delivered ice to people's houses in the past, so that they could keep food cold[C]
1 a bag containing ice that is put on injured or painful parts of your body to keep them cold
2 a large area of crushed ice floating in the sea
PACK ICE[C]
a sharp tool used for cutting or breaking ice[C]
a specially prepared surface of ice where you can ICE-SKATE[C]
an ICE CAP[C usually plural]
a special boot with thin metal blades on the bottom, that allows you to move quickly on ice[I]
to slide on ice wearing ice skates
- ice-skater noun [C]
- ice-skating noun [U][C,U]
very cold water with pieces of ice in it, or a glass of this [in nouns]
a skilled worker who deals with a particular thing:
•a beautician (=someone who gives beauty treatments)
•a technician (=someone with technical or scientific skills) [C]
a long thin pointed piece of ice hanging from a roof or other surfacealso -cide [in nouns]
someone or something that kills a particular person or thing, or the act of killing:
•insecticide (=chemical substance for killing insects)
•suicide (=the act of killing yourself)
- -icidal suffix [in adjectives]
- -icidally suffix [in adverbs]
if you say something icily, or look at someone icily, you do it in an angry or very unfriendly way:
•'I want you to leave now,' she said icily. [U]
1 a mixture made from very fine light sugar and liquid, used to cover cakes; = frosting AmE
2 the icing on the cake something that makes a very good experience even better:
•It was a great day, but meeting her there was just the icing on the cake![U] BrE
very fine light sugar that is mixed with liquid to make icing; = powdered sugar AmE spoken
very unpleasant, especially to look at, taste, or feel; = yucky
•There was some icky black stuff between the tiles. $ [C]
1 a small sign or picture on a computer screen that is used to start a particular operation:
•To open a new file, click on the icon at the top of the screen.
2 someone famous who is admired by many people and is thought to represent an important idea:
•a 60s cultural icon
3 also ikon a picture or figure of a holy person that is used in worship in the Greek or Russian Orthodox Church
- iconic $ adjective $ [C] formal
someone who attacks established ideas and customs $ formal
iconoclastic ideas, opinions, writings etc attack established beliefs and customs:
•Wolfe's theories were revolutionary and iconoclastic.
- iconoclasm $ noun [U] $ [U]
the way that a particular people, religious or political group etc represent ideas in pictures or images:
•Native American iconography [in nouns]
1 the scientific study or use of something:
•linguistics (=the study of language)
•electronics (=the study or making of electronic equipment)
2 the actions typically done by someone with particular skills:
•athletics (=running, jumping, throwing, etc)
•acrobatics
3 used to make nouns out of words ending in -ICAL or -IC:
•the acoustics (=sound qualities) of the hall [C]
intensive care unit a department in a hospital that gives special attention and treatment to people who are very sick or badly injured
1 extremely cold; = frosty
•an icy wind
•The bath water was icy cold.
2 covered in ice:
•an icy mountain road
3 an icy remark, look etc shows that you feel annoyed with or unfriendly towards someone:
•an icy stare
ICILY
- iciness noun [U]
1 the short form of 'I had':
•I wish I'd said that.
2 the short form of 'I would':
•I'd leave now if I were you. [C,U]
a document that shows your name and date of birth, usually with a photograph; = identification
•I'll need to see some ID before I can let you in.
•a fake ID[T] spoken
to IDENTIFY a criminal or dead body:
•Police are still looking for someone who can ID the body. [U] technical
according to Freudian PSYCHOLOGY, the part of your mind that is completely unconscious but has hidden needs and desires
EGO (2), SUPEREGO $ [C]
an IDENTITY CARD [in nouns] technical
a chemical substance made up of two or more ELEMENTS:
•cyanide
•sulphide
1 PLAN/SUGGESTION [C] a plan or suggestion for a possible course of action, especially one that you think of suddenly

have an idea
get an idea
give sb an idea
come up with/hit on an idea (=think of a new idea)
the idea of (doing) sth
good/great/brilliant idea
bad/stupid/crazy idea
it is a good/bad idea to do sth
be full of ideas also
be bursting with ideas (=have a lot of ideas)
toy with an idea (=think about a plan, but not very seriously)
exchange/share ideas also
an exchange of ideas
fire ideas off each other (=discuss each other's ideas and think of good new ones)

•I've had an idea. Why don't we walk into town?
•She got the idea from an article in a fashion magazine.
• What gave you the idea of using a male actor for the part?
•Mike's always good at coming up with new ideas.
•It was my wife's idea to move house.
[+for]
• The idea for the book came from an old war movie.
• What a great idea!
• I knew it was a bad idea to leave him on his own.
•She was always very enthusiastic and bursting with ideas.
• an exchange of ideas between academic and business communities
•Lately I've been toying with the idea of going back to school.
!! Do not say 'the idea to do something'. Say the idea of doing something. However, you can say it is a good idea to do something and it was your idea to do something.

2 KNOWLEDGE [C,U] a general understanding of something, based on some knowledge about it:
•Could you give me an idea of how bad his injuries are?
•You must have some idea (=have at least a little knowledge) of what happened to the money.
•Don't worry if you don't understand it right now - you'll get the idea (=begin to understand or be able to do something).
have no idea/not have any idea
•She doesn't have any idea where they've gone.
a general/rough idea (=a not very exact idea)
•Can you give me a rough idea of how much the repairs will cost?
not have the faintest/slightest/foggiest idea spoken
•I don't have the faintest idea what to get Rachel for her birthday.
3 AIM/INTENTION [C,U] the aim, intention, or purpose of doing something:
•The idea is to teach children to save money.
[+of/behind]
•The idea behind the outing is to encourage employees to get to know each other.
•They wanted Mike to go to law school, but he had other ideas (=had different plans).
4 HOW YOU IMAGINE SOMETHING TO BE [C,U] an image in your mind of what something is like or should be like
[+of]
•Chefs differ in their idea of what makes a good dessert.
•I only have a vague idea of the kind of work I'll be doing.
•It helps if you have a clear idea of what you want.
not my idea of sth
•Chocolate milk and a piece of cake is not my idea of dinner.
• The very idea of kissing him made her feel physically sick.
5 BELIEF/OPINION [C usually plural] someone's opinion or belief about something
[+about]
•She had some rather unusual ideas about raising children.
where did you get that idea? (=used to say that what someone thinks is completely wrong)
•No, I'm not seeing Jane. Where did you get that idea?
6 PRINCIPLE [C] a principle or belief about how something is or should be
[+of]
•The whole idea of democracy was something strange and new to most people.
idea that
•It's based on the idea that all people are created equal.
7 have an idea (that) to be fairly sure that something is true, without being completely sure:
•I'm not sure where my necklace is, but I have a pretty good idea who took it.
8 get the wrong idea to think that something is true when it is not:
•Don't get the wrong idea about Dan and Helen - they're just friends.
9 have the right idea to act or think in a way that will probably lead to the correct result:
•He still makes a few mistakes but I reckon he's got the right idea.
10 that's/there's an idea spoken used to say that you like what someone has just suggested:
•'Why don't you invite Paula to come with us?' 'There's an idea.'
11 that's the idea spoken
a) used to tell someone who is learning to do something that they are doing it the right way, in order to encourage them:
•Keep your knees bent and lean forward slightly. That's the idea!
b) used to emphasize what the main point of something is, or to say that someone understands that point:
•'You're thinking of getting a new job?' 'Yeah, that's the idea.'
12 bright idea a very clever idea, often used in a joking way to mean a very stupid idea or action:
•Whose bright idea was it to leave the back door wide open?
13 give sb ideas/put ideas into sb's head to make someone think of doing something that they had not thought of doing before, especially something that they should not do:
•Nick tells me he wants a motorbike. Have you been putting ideas into his head?
14 is it sb's idea of a joke? used when you are surprised and often rather annoyed by what someone has said or done:
•'She wants you to do it by tomorrow.' 'Is that your idea of a joke?'
15 what's the big idea? spoken used when you cannot understand why someone has done something
16 you have no idea (how/what etc) spoken used when you are telling someone that something is extremely good, bad etc:
•You have no idea how worried I was.
17 the idea! old-fashioned spoken used to express surprise or disapproval when someone has said something stupid or strange
buck your ideas up at BUCK UP (4)
1 the best or most suitable that something could possibly be:
•advice on how to reach your ideal weight
•The scheme offers an ideal opportunity for youngsters to get training.
•With so much rain, conditions are far from ideal.
[+for]
•An elastic waist makes these jeans ideal for the larger woman.
•an ideal place for a pleasant walk
2 [only before noun] an ideal world, job, system etc is one that you imagine to be perfect, but that is not likely to really exist:
• In an ideal world there would be no need for a police force.[C]
1 a principle about what is morally right or a perfect standard that you hope to achieve
[+of]
•the ideal of a free and democratic society
•the long-vanished ideals of the 1950s
2 a perfect example of what something should be like
[+of]
•Are our ideals of beauty changing? [T]
a British spelling of IDEALIZE [U]
1 the belief that you should live your life according to high standards and principles, even when they are very difficult to achieve; realism
•the idealism of the younger generation
•moral and religious idealism
2 technical a way of using art or literature to show the world as a perfect place, even though it is not; realism, naturalism [C]
someone who tries to live according to high standards or principles, especially in a way that is not practical or possible; realist
believing that you should live according to high standards and principles, even if they cannot really be achieved, or showing this belief; realistic
•idealistic young doctors
•the idealistic values of the 1960s
- idealistically adverbalso idealise BrE [T]
to imagine or represent something or someone as being perfect or better than they really are:
•Society continues to idealize the two-parent family.
•an idealized view of marriage
- idealization $ noun [C,U]
1 used to describe the way you would like things to be even though this may not be possible [sentence adverb]
•Ideally, your car should have high security locks.
•Fruit and vegetables should ideally be organically grown.
2 ideally suited/placed/situated etc having the best qualities, experience, knowledge etc for a particular situation:
•He was ideally suited for the job.
•The hotel is ideally located for enjoying the beauty of Yorkshire. written
from the same book, writer etc as the one that has just been mentioned
exactly the same, or very similar:
•four identical houses
[+to/with]
•Nutritionally, infant formulas are almost identical to breast milk.
•The ingredients are identical with those of competing products.
[+in]
•The sisters were identical in appearance and character.
- identically adverb[C usually plural]
one of a pair of brothers or sisters born at the same time, who develop from the same egg and look almost exactly alike; fraternal twin
able to be recognized
[+as]
•She looked young, and was immediately identifiable as a trainee.
[+by]
•The police were identifiable by their uniform. [U]
1 ID official papers or cards, such as your PASSPORT, that prove who you are:
•Do you have any identification?
form/proof of identification
•Bring some form of identification, preferably a passport.
•fingerprinting as a means of identification.
2 when someone says officially that they know who someone else is, especially a criminal or a dead person:
•His body was taken to Brighton mortuary for identification.
3 when you recognize something or discover exactly what it is
[+of]
•the identification of customer needs
•the identification of children who need professional help
4 the act of saying that two things are very closely related
identification of sth with sth
•the identification of sexism with women's oppression
5 a strong feeling of sympathy with someone that makes you able to share their feelings
[+with]
•my identification with the heroine of the bookalso identity parade [C] BrE
a process in which someone who has seen a crime take place looks at a group of people to see if they can recognize the criminal; = line-up AmE past tense and past participle identified, present participle identifying, third person singular identifies [T]
1 to recognize and correctly name someone or something:
•He was too far away to be able to identify faces.
•The police took fingerprints and identified the body.
identify sb/sth as sb/sth
•Eye witnesses identified the gunman as an army sergeant.
•The aircraft were identified as American.
2 to recognize something or discover exactly what it is, what its nature or origin is etc:
•Scientists have identified the gene that causes abnormal growth.
•They identified a number of problem areas.
3 if a particular thing identifies someone or something, it makes them easy to recognize
identify sb as sb
•His accent identified him as a Frenchman.

PHRASAL VERBS
identify with phr v
1 identify with sb/sth to feel sympathy with someone or be able to share their feelings:
•Humans can easily identify with the emotional expressions of chimpanzees.
•He identified with our distress and despair.
2 identify sb with sth to think that someone is very closely related to or involved with something such as a political group:
•She has always been identified with the radical left.
3 identify sth with sb/sth to think that something is the same as, or closely related to, something else:
•the attempt to identify crime with poverty and social problems [C] BrE
1 a method used by the police in which a picture of a criminal is produced from descriptions given by people who have seen the crime take place; = composite AmE
•an identikit picture
2 used to describe things that are all exactly the same, with no interesting or unusual features:
•new identikit cities plural identities
1 [C,U] someone's identity is their name or who they are

sb's identity/the identity of sb
know sb's identity
disclose/reveal sb's identity
hide/conceal sb's identity
discover sb's identity
protect sb's identity (=make sure no one finds out who someone is)
false identity (=when someone pretends to be another person)
(a case of) mistaken identity (=when you think someone is a different person)
sb's true identity (=who someone really is)
proof of identity (=something that proves you are who you say you are)
identity papers/documents (=documents that show you are who you say you are)

• The identity of the killer is still unknown.
• He maintained he did not know the identity of the woman.
• Why did she need to conceal her identity?
• Police are trying to discover the identity of a baby found by the side of a road.
• They will testify behind a screen in order to protect their identities.
• She applied for a teaching job under a false identity.
•One theory was that the attack was a case of mistaken identity.
• Journalists should have to produce proof of identity.

2 [U] the qualities and attitudes that a person or group of people have, that make them different from other people:
•Children need continuity, security, and a sense of identity.
•Travelling alone can lead to a loss of identity.
national/cultural/social etc identity (=a strong feeling of belonging to a particular group, race etc)
•Our strong sense of national identity has been shaped by our history.
identity crisis/crisis of identity (=a feeling of uncertainty about who you really are and what your purpose is)
•My father experienced an identity crisis in middle age.
3 [U] formal exact SIMILARITY between two things[C]
a card with your name, date of birth, and photograph on it, that proves who you are; = ID card[C] BrE
an IDENTIFICATION PARADEalso ideograph [C]
a written sign, for example in Chinese, that represents an idea or thing rather than the sound of a word $
based on strong beliefs or ideas, especially political or economic ideas:
•The party is split by ideological differences.
- ideologically adverbalso ideologist $ [C]
someone whose actions are very much influenced by an ideology $ plural ideologies [C,U]
a set of beliefs on which a political or economic system is based, or which strongly influence the way people behave:
•the ideologies of fascism and communism
•a new ideology based on individualism plural idiocies
[C,U] something that you think is extremely silly or stupid; = stupidity
•The idiocy of his behaviour appalled her.
•He smiled calmly at the idiocies of mankind. [C,U] technical
the way in which a particular person uses language
DIALECT
1 [C] a group of words that has a special meaning that is different from the ordinary meaning of each separate word. For example, 'under the weather' is an idiom meaning 'ill'.
2 [C,U] formal or technical a style of expression in writing, speech, or music that is typical of a particular group of people:
•the new musical idiom
1 idiomatic expression/phrase an idiom
2 typical of the natural way in which someone speaks or writes when they are using their own language:
•He had the ability to write fluent, accurate, and idiomatic English.
•the idiomatic richness of the Spanish language
- idiomatically adverb plural idiosyncrasies [C]
1 an unusual habit or way of behaving that someone has:
•my uncle's idiosyncrasies
2 an unusual or unexpected feature that something has:
•one of the many idiosyncrasies of English spelling
- idiosyncratic adjective [C]
1 a stupid person or someone who has done something stupid:
•It was all your fault, you idiot.
2 old use someone who is mentally ill or has a very low level of intelligence
- idiotic $ adjective
•Stop asking such idiotic questions.
- idiotically adverb
something that is idiot-proof is so easy to use or do that even stupid people will not break it or make a mistake:
•idiot-proof instructions
1 not working or producing anything; busy
•I cannot afford to leave the land lying idle.
•The whole team stood idle, waiting for the mechanic.
•The workers have been idle for the last six months.
2 not serious, or not done with any definite intention:
•She was not a woman to make idle threats.
idle chatter/talk/gossip etc
•It was only from idle curiosity that she went into the barn.
3 lazy:
•Go and wake up that idle brother of yours.
4 it is idle to do sth it is not worth doing something, because nothing will be achieved:
•It would be idle to deny that great progress was made.
5 the idle rich rich people who do not have to work
- idleness noun [U]
- idly adverb
•They sat around, chatting idly.
•I cannot stand idly by and let him take the blame.
1 [I] if an engine idles, it runs slowly while the vehicle, machine etc is not moving:
•He flicked a switch and let the boat idle.
2 [I] to spend time doing nothing:
•Sometimes he went for a walk; sometimes he just idled.
3 [T] AmE to stop using a factory or stop providing work for your workers, especially temporarily; = shut down
•The company has reduced its workforce and indefinitely idled a number of its US plants.

PHRASAL VERBS
idle sth <=> away phr v
to spend time in a relaxed way, doing nothing:
•They idled their time away in the pub. $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who is lazy and does not work [C]
1 someone or something that you love or admire very much; = hero
[+of]
•She is the idol of countless teenagers.
•She had made an idol of her husband.
•a pop idol
2 a picture or STATUE that is worshipped as a god $ [U]
1 the practice of worshipping idols
2 when you admire someone or something too much
- idolatrous adjectivealso idolise BrE [T]
to admire and love someone so much that you think they are perfect:
•They had one child, a girl whom they idolized. $ [singular] literary
a place or experience in which everything is peaceful and everyone is perfectly happy:
•a rural idyll $
an idyllic place or time is very beautiful, happy, and peaceful, with no problems or dangers
idyllic setting/surroundings/scene etc
•If you want old-world tradition in an idyllic setting, this is the hotel for you.
- idyllically adverb
•idyllically happy [in nouns] informal
another form of the suffix -Y:
•dearie
written before a word or phrase that gives the exact meaning of something you have just written or said:
•The film is only open to adults, i.e. people over 18.
1 used when talking about something that might happen or be true, or might have happened:
•We'll stay at home if it rains.
•If you need money, I can lend you some.
•If I didn't apologize I'd feel guilty.
•If you had worked harder, you would have passed your exams.
•What would happen to your family if you were to die in an accident?
•If Dad were here, he would know what to do.
•Taste the soup and add salt and pepper if necessary.
•I want to get back by five o'clock if possible.
•I think I can fix it tomorrow. If not, you'll have to wait till Friday.
•Is the book available, and if so where?
•The missiles can be fired only if the operator types in a six-digit code.
•We'll face that problem if and when it comes along (=if it happens or when it happens).
• If by any chance you can't manage dinner tonight, perhaps we can at least have a drink together.
see box at UNLESS
2 used to mention a fact, situation, or event that someone asks about, or is not certain about:
•He stopped to ask me if I was all right.
•I don't know if what I am saying makes any sense.
•I doubt if anyone will remember me.
•I'm not sure if this is the right road or not.
3 used to mention a type of event or situation when talking about what happens on occasions of that type:
•If I go to bed late I feel dreadful in the morning.
•Plastic will melt if it gets too hot.
4 used when saying what someone's feelings are about a possible situation:
•You don't seem to care if I'm tired.
•I'm sorry if I upset you.
•It would be nice if we could spend more time together.
5 spoken used when making a polite request:
•I wonder if you could help me.
•I'd be grateful if you would send me further details.
•Would you mind if I open a window?
•If you would just wait for a moment, I'll try to find your papers.
6 used when you are adding that something may be even more, less, better, worse etc than you have just said:
•Brian rarely, if ever, goes to bed before 3 am.
•Their policies have changed little, if at all, since the last election.
•Her needs are just as important as yours, if not more so.
•The snow was now two feet deep, making it difficult, if not impossible, to get the car out.
7 even if used to emphasize that, although something may happen or may be true, it will not change a situation:
•I wouldn't tell you even if I knew.
•Even if she survives, she'll never fully recover.
8 if anything used when adding a remark that changes what you have just said or makes it stronger:
•It's warm enough here in London. A little too warm, if anything.
9 spoken used during a conversation when you are trying to make a suggestion, change the subject, or interrupt someone else:
•If I might just make a suggestion, I think that the matter could be easily settled with a little practical demonstration.
•If I could just take one example to illustrate this.
10 if I were you spoken used when giving advice and telling someone what you think they should do:
•I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.
11 if only
a) used to express a strong wish, especially when you know that what you want cannot happen:
•If only he had talked to her sooner!
•If only I weren't so tired!
b) used to give a reason for something, although you think it is not a good one:
•Media studies is regarded as a more exciting subject, if only because it's new.
12 used to say that although something may be true, it is not important:
•If he has a fault at all, it is that he is too generous.
•Her only problem, if you can call it a problem, is that she expects to be successful all the time.
13 used when adding one criticism of a person or thing that you generally like:
•The eldest son was highly intelligent, if somewhat lazy.
•Lunch was a grand if rather noisy affair.
as if at AS^2 (9)
if ever there was one at EVER (15)
what if...? at WHAT^1 (18)

GRAMMAR
When you are using if to talk about something that might happen in the future, use the present simple tense, not will or shall: if I failthe test (NOT if I will fail the test).
To refer to the present or the future after if when you are talking about something unlikely or untrue, use the past tense, not 'would' or 'should': If someone gave me the money, I'd buy a car tomorrow (NOT If someone would give me the money...)

!! In formal English or in writing, use were not was when the subject of the clause is I, he, she, it, there or a singular noun: If I were in that position, I'd get legal advice. | Imagine how you would feel if your child were killed.
In normal conversation, you can also use was: If I was ten years younger, I'd go out with him.

!! The expression if I were you is fixed. Do not say 'if I was you', even in normal conversation: If I were you, I'd have a talk with your parents.
To refer to the past when you are talking about something that did not happen, use the past perfect tense If he had married Laura, he would have been unhappy (NOT If he would have married Laura...).

[C] informal
1 ifs and buts BrE ifs, ands, or buts AmE if you do not want any ifs and buts, you want someone to do something quickly without arguing:
•No ifs and buts - just make sure the job is done by tomorrow!
2 and it's a big if used to say that something is not likely to happen:
•The team will go racing next year if - and it's a very big if - they can raise six million pounds.
3 something that may or may not happen:
•There are too many ifs in this plan of yours. informal
1 BrE not very good:
•That meat smells a bit iffy to me.
2 not certain to happen; = doubtful
•The July date is still rather iffy. $ [in adjectives] technical
having a particular shape:
•cruciform (=cross-shaped)also -fy [in verbs]
1 to make something be in a particular state or condition:
•to purify (=make or become pure)
•to clarify the situation (=make it clear)
2 to fill someone with a particular feeling:
•Spiders terrify me (=make me very afraid).
3 informal to do something in a silly or annoying way:
•to speechify (=make speeches, using important sounding words)
4 to make something or someone be like or typical of a person or group:
•Frenchified (=like the French) [C]
a house made from blocks of hard snow or ice technical
igneous rocks are formed from LAVA (=hot liquid rock)
1 [I,T] formal to start burning, or to make something start burning:
•The petrol tank suddenly ignited.
•The candle ignited the plastic and started a small fire.
2 [T] to start a dangerous situation, angry argument etc:
•events which ignited the war in Europe
1 [singular] the electrical part of a vehicle's engine that makes it start working
2 [C usually singular] the place in a car where you put in a key to start the engine
3 [U] formal the act of starting to burn or of making something start to burn $ formal
ignoble thoughts, feelings, or actions are ones that you should feel ashamed or embarrassed about:
•ignoble feelings of intense jealousy formal
making you feel ashamed or embarrassed; = humiliating
ignominious defeat/failure/retreat etc
•an ignominious end to his career
- ignominiously adverb [U] formal
an event or situation that makes you feel ashamed or embarrassed, especially in public; = humiliation
[+of]
•He feared the ignominy of being exposed as a spy. plural ignoramuses [C] old-fashioned
someone who does not know about things that most people know about [U]
1 lack of knowledge or information about something:
•Excuse my ignorance, but how does it actually work?
[+of]
•our ignorance of the true situation
in ignorance
•I would have remained in ignorance if Shaun hadn't mentioned it.
[+about]
•public fear and ignorance about AIDS
2 ignorance is bliss used to say that if you do not know about a problem, you cannot worry about it
1 not knowing facts or information that you ought to know:
•an ignorant and uneducated man
[+of]
•Political historians are often rather ignorant of economics.
[+about]
•Many school-leavers are ignorant about the range of job opportunities.
•Many people remain blissfully ignorant about the dangers of too much sun (=happy because they do not know about the dangers).
see box at IGNORE
2 caused by a lack of knowledge and understanding:
•an ignorant remark
•ignorant opinions
3 BrE spoken rude or impolite:
•ignorant behaviour
- ignorantly adverb $ [T]
1 to deliberately pay no attention to something that you have been told or that you know about:
•You can't ignore the fact that many criminals never go to prison.
•problems which we can't afford to ignore
2 to behave as if you had not heard or seen someone or something:
•The phone rang, but she ignored it.
•Sam rudely ignored the question.
completely/totally ignore sb/sth
•He had completely ignored her remark, preferring his own theory.

WORD CHOICE: ignore, be ignorant of, not know
If you ignore something, you know about it or have seen or heard it, but deliberately do not take notice of it We cannot ignore the problem.

!! Do not use ignore to mean 'not know about something'. Use not know instead: We don't know how famous people live their lives (NOT We ignore how famous people live their lives).
You can also say that you are ignorant of something, especially when you should know about it: They seem to be ignorant of the dangers involved.

[C]
a large tropical American LIZARD $
another spelling of ICON
the form used for IN- before l:
•illogical (=not logical) [singular]
a particular type; = kind
of that/his/their etc ilk
•Irving Berlin and composers of his ilk
sb and that/his/their etc ilk
•Mrs Taylor and her ilk talk absolute rubbish.
the short form of 'I will' or 'I shall':
•I'll see you tomorrow.
1 especially BrE suffering from a disease or not feeling well; = sick AmE

feel ill
become/fall/get ill also
be taken ill
make sb ill
seriously/critically/gravely ill (=very ill)
chronically ill (=always ill)
mentally ill
terminally ill (=with an illness you will die from)

•Bridget can't come - she's ill.
• I was feeling ill that day and decided to stay at home.
• She was suddenly taken ill at school.
• All these diets are making you ill.
[+with]
•Her husband has been ill with bladder trouble.
• A number of these patients are seriously ill.
• caring for mentally ill people
• a hospice for the terminally ill
see box at SICK^1

2 [only before noun] bad or harmful:
•Many people consumed the poisoned oil without ill effects.
•the neglect and ill treatment of children
•He was unable to join the army because of ill health.
3 ill at ease nervous, uncomfortable, or embarrassed:
•He always felt shy and ill at ease at parties.
4 it's an ill wind (that blows nobody any good) spoken used to say that every problem brings an advantage for someone
ILL FEELING, ILL WILL
1 sb can ill afford (to do) sth to be unable to do or have something without making the situation you are in very difficult:
•I was losing weight which I could ill afford to lose.
•Most gamblers can ill afford their habit.
2 think/speak ill of sb formal to think or say unpleasant things about someone:
•She really believes you should never speak ill of the dead.
3 bode ill formal to give you a reason to think that something bad will happen:
•The look on his face boded ill for somebody.
1 ills [plural] problems and difficulties:
•He wants to cure all the ills of the world.
2 [U] formal harm, evil, or bad luck:
•She did not like Matthew but she would never wish him ill.
badly or not enough:
•ill-concealed boredom
•ill-formed sentences
not sensible or not wise and likely to cause problems in the future
ill-advised to do sth
•You would be ill-advised to go out alone at night.
•ill-advised remarks
- ill-advisedly adverb
an ill-assorted group of people or things do not seem to belong together in a group
rude or behaving badly, especially because your parents did not teach you to behave well
not planned well and not having an aim that is likely to be achieved:
•The policy was ill-conceived and wrong-headed.
decisions, actions, ideas etc that are ill-considered have not been carefully thought about:
•The tax reforms are ill-considered.
1 not described clearly enough:
•Some jobs in the company are pretty ill-defined.
2 not clearly marked, or not having a clear shape; = indistinct
•The borders were vague and ill-defined.formal
unfriendly or unsympathetic:
•an ill-disposed character
not allowed by the law; = unlawful; legal
• illegal drugs
• illegal activities such as prostitution and gambling
it is illegal to do sth
•It is illegal to sell tobacco to someone under 16.
- illegally adverb
•They entered the country illegally.
- illegality noun [U][C] AmE spoken
an illegal immigrant:
•Illegals are still slipping through in unacceptable numbers.also illegal alien AmE [C]
someone who comes to live in another country without official permission
difficult or impossible to read; legible
•His handwriting is totally illegible.
- illegibly adverb
- illegibility noun [U]
1 born to parents who are not married; legitimate
•his illegitimate son
2 not allowed or acceptable according to rules or agreements; legitimate
•a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate trade
- illegitimately adverb
- illegitimacy noun [U]
not having the necessary equipment or skills for a particular situation or activity
ill-equipped to do sth
•The rebels were ill-equipped to cope with Western weapons and forces.
[+for]
•Their army is ill-equipped for modern warfare.literary
unlucky and leading to serious problems or death:
•an ill-fated venture[U]
angry feelings towards someone:
•'I'm sorry. No ill feeling?' 'None,' she replied.
ill-fitting clothes do not fit the person who is wearing them; well-fitting
•Many children have problems with their feet, caused by ill-fitting shoes.formal
based on something that is untrue:
•His fears proved ill-founded.
money that was obtained in an unfair or dishonest way - used humorously:
•Well, I hope you enjoy your ill-gotten gains. formal
1 not supporting people's rights to say or do what they want; liberal
•illiberal and undemocratic policies
2 not generous
- illiberally adverb
- illiberality noun [U]
not allowed by laws or rules, or strongly disapproved of by society; illegal
• illicit drugs
•the illicit trade in stolen cattle
- illicitly adverb
knowing less than you should about a particular subject
[+about]
•Some employers are ill-informed about education.
1 someone who is illiterate has not learned to read or write
2 badly written, in an uneducated way:
•It was an illiterate letter, full of mistakes.
3 economically/politically/scientifically etc illiterate knowing very little about economics, politics etc
- illiteracy noun [U][C]
someone who has not learned to read or writeformal
an action that is ill-judged has not been thought about carefully enough; well-judged
•an ill-judged choice of wordsformal
not polite and behaving badly in social situations; well-mannered
•The fellow is an ill-mannered brute. [C,U]
a disease of the body or mind, or the condition of being ill

have an illness/suffer from an illness
recover from an illness
serious illness
minor illness
short/long illness
childhood illness
acute illness (=an illness that becomes serious very quickly)
chronic illness (=an illness that lasts a long time and cannot be cured)
fatal illness (=an illness which causes death)
terminal illness (=an illness which cannot be cured and that causes death, often slowly)
mental illness
the symptoms of an illness (=the things that show that someone has it)
through illness (=because of illness)

•She had all the normal childhood illnesses.
•I'd been told I'd been suffering from various illnesses.
•Her mother was just recovering from an illness.
•Have you ever had any serious illnesses?
•He died in hospital yesterday after a short illness.
•patients with chronic illnesses
•Her husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness. (=doctors found that her husband had a terminal illness)
•Stress can cause mental illness.
•I've never missed a day's work through illness in my life.
•ways to improve your health and reduce the risk of illness

DISEASE

WORD CHOICE: illness, disease
Illness and disease are often used in the same way and are equally common in spoken English.
However, illness is more often used to refer to the length of time or state of being unwell: He died after a long illness. | if you are off school because of illness

!! Do not use illness to talk about less serious problems such as headaches or colds.
Disease is a particular kind of illness, especially one that spreads from one person to another or affects a particular part of your body: infectious diseases | heart disease

!! Disease can also be used to mean a lot of different diseases: Cigarette smoking causes death and disease.

$
not sensible or reasonable; logical
•illogical and unreasonable fear
it is illogical to do sth
•It is illogical to assume you can do the work of three people.
- illogically adverb
- illogicality $ noun [U]
not ready for something
[+for]
•The country was ill-prepared for war.[not before noun]
not helped by something or not represented well:
•The north-east of the country is ill-served by the rail network.literary
unlucky and likely to cause or experience a lot of problems or unhappiness:
•an ill-starred love affair
not useful for a particular purpose
[+to]
•a country ill-suited to wheat farmingformal
1 easily made angry or impatient; = bad-tempered
2 an ill-tempered meeting, argument etc is one in which people are angry and often rude to each other:
•Six players were sent off in an ill-tempered game.
happening, done, or said at the wrong time; well-timed
•His remarks were ill-timed.[T]
to be cruel to someone, especially to a child or animal:
•a rescue centre for ill-treated horses
- ill-treatment noun [U]also illumine $ [T]
1 to make a light shine on something, or to fill a place with light:
•A single candle illuminated his face.
•At night the canals are beautifully illuminated.
2 formal to make something much clearer and easier to understand:
•The report illuminated the difficult issues at the heart of science policy. $
1 lit up by lights:
•An illuminated sign flashed on and off.
2 illuminated manuscript/book a book of a type produced by hand in the Middle Ages, whose pages are decorated with gold paint and other bright colours $
making things much clearer and easier to understand:
•a very illuminating book $ formal
1 [U] lighting provided by a lamp, light etc:
•White candles, the only illumination, burned on the table.
•The rooms were flooded with soft illumination.
2 [C usually plural] a picture or pattern painted on a page of a book, especially in the past:
•the illuminations in a medieval manuscript
3 illuminations BrE a show of coloured lights used to make a town bright and colourful:
•the Blackpool illuminations
4 [C,U] formal a clear explanation or understanding of a particular subject $ [T]
to illuminate [C]
1 an idea or opinion that is wrong, especially about yourself; delusion
illusion that
•They suffer from the illusion that they cannot solve their problems.
•She was under no illusion that he loved her.
• It is an illusion that the Arctic is dark in winter.
•She had no illusions about her physical attractions.
•'I hate to shatter your illusions,' he said.
2 something that seems to be different from the way it really is
[+of]
•He was unlikely to be satisfied with the illusion of power.
give/create an illusion
•The mirrors in the room gave an illusion of greater space.
•Credit creates the illusion that you can own things without paying for them.
OPTICAL ILLUSION [C]
someone who does surprising tricks that make things seem to appear or happen; = magicianalso illusive formal
false but seeming to be real or true:
•First impressions can often prove illusory. [T]
1 to make the meaning of something clearer by giving examples:
•Let me give an example to illustrate the point.
•She illustrated her discussion with diagrams.
2 to be an example which shows that something is true or that a fact exists
illustrate that
•This dispute illustrates that the regime is deeply divided.
illustrate how
•The following examples illustrate how this operates in practice.
•This illustrates a fundamental weakness in the system.
3 to put pictures in a book, article etc:
•Over a hundred diagrams, tables and pictures illustrate the book.
1 [C] a picture in a book, article etc, especially one that helps you to understand it:
•The book contains 62 pages of illustrations.
2 [C,U] a story, event, action etc that shows the truth or existence of something very clearly
[+of]
•a striking illustration of 19th century attitudes to women
•For the purposes of illustration, some of the more important symptoms are listed below.
3 [U] the act or process of illustrating something $
1 helping to explain the meaning of something
[+of]
•The case is illustrative of a common pattern.
• For illustrative purposes, only a simple example is given here.
2 having pictures, especially to help you understand something:
•graphics and other illustrative material
ILLUSTRATE $ [C]
someone who draws pictures, especially for books formal
famous and admired because of what you have achieved:
•She has had an illustrious career.
•Wagner was just one of many illustrious visitors to the town.[U]
unfriendly or unkind feelings towards someone:
•He said the accusation had been made from hatred and ill will.
the short form of 'I am':
•I'm a student. [U]
instant messaging a type of service available on the Internet that allows you to quickly exchange written messages with people that you know
the form used for IN- before b, m, or p:
•immobilize
•impossible [C]
1 PUBLIC OPINION the opinion people have of a person, organization, product etc, or the way a person, organization etc seems to be to the public:
•The hotel and casino industry is working hard on improving its image.
•The party has to project the right image.
[+of]
•Attempts were made to improve the public image of the police.
2 IDEA IN MIND a picture that you have in your mind, especially about what someone or something is like or the way they look
[+of]
•He had no visual image of her, only her name.
•He had the clearest image in his mind of his mother and father.
3 PICTURE/WHAT YOU SEE
a) a picture of an object in a mirror or in the LENS of a camera:
•She peered closely at her image in the mirror.
b) a picture on the screen of a television, cinema, or computer:
•Jill Sharpe was little more than a name, a glossy image on a television screen.
c) a picture or shape of a person or thing that is copied onto paper or is cut in wood or stone:
•carved images
4 DESCRIPTION a word, phrase, or picture that describes an idea in a poem, book, film etc:
•He paints a very romantic image of working-class communities.
5 be the (very/living/spitting) image of sb to look exactly like someone or something else:
•He's the spitting image of his mother.
6 in the image of sb/sth literary in the same form or shape as someone or something else:
•According to the Bible, man was made in the image of God.
MIRROR IMAGE [U]
the use of words or pictures to describe ideas or actions in poems, books, films etc
[+of]
•the imagery of love
•Their dreams commonly involved complex stories with visual imagery.
1 used to emphasize that something is the best, worst etc that can be imagined:
•The travel brochure is full of the most wonderful resorts imaginable.
2 used to emphasize that something includes every possible example of something:
•He seems to have been influenced by every imaginable musical style. $
not real, but produced from pictures or ideas in your mind:
•As she listened, she played an imaginary piano on her knees.
•We must protect older people from harm, whether it is real or imaginary.
1 [C,U] the ability to form pictures or ideas in your mind

use your imagination
vivid/fertile/creative imagination (=when you have many pictures and ideas in your mind)
overactive imagination (=when you imagine things that are very unlikely)
lack of imagination
sth takes imagination
stretch sb's/the imagination (=make someone imagine something very unlikely)
fire sb's imagination (=make someone eager to use their imagination)
with a little imagination

•You don't have to use your imagination when you're watching television.
•Children often have very vivid imaginations.
• There is a lack of imagination in the way the furniture is displayed.
•It does not take much imagination to understand the depth of their grief.
•These ancient objects must have fired his imagination.
• With a little imagination, you can find great inexpensive Christmas gifts.

2 be (a figment of) sb's imagination to be something that someone imagines, not something that really exists or happens:
•Did you hear that noise, or was it my imagination?
•These people do exist; they're not figments of my imagination.
3 in sb's imagination only existing or happening in someone's mind, not in real life:
•For the refugees, home exists only in their imagination.
4 capture/catch sb's imagination to make people feel very interested and excited:
•American football really captured the imagination of the British public.
5 leave sth to sb's imagination to deliberately not describe something because you think someone can guess or imagine it:
•Mercifully, the writer leaves most of the physical horrors to our imagination.
6 leave little/nothing to the imagination
a) if someone's clothes leave little or nothing to the imagination, the clothes are very thin or are worn in a way that shows the person's body:
•Her black satin dress left nothing to the imagination.
b) if something sexual or violent is described in a way that leaves nothing to the imagination, it is described in too much detail
7 use your imagination spoken used to tell someone that they can easily guess the answer to a question, so you should not need to tell them
not by any stretch of the imagination at STRETCH^2 (4)
1 containing new and interesting ideas:
•an imaginative use of computer technology
•children's imaginative play
•an imaginative solution to the litter problem
2 good at thinking of new and interesting ideas:
•an imaginative child
- imaginatively adverb
•imaginatively displayed exhibits [T]
1 to form a picture or idea in your mind about what something could be like
imagine (that)
•Imagine that you have just won a million pounds.
•Imagine life without hot water.
imagine what/how/why etc
•Can you imagine what it's like when it's really hot out here in Delhi?
imagine sb doing sth
•She could imagine dark-robed figures moving silently along the stone corridors.
(just) imagine doing sth
•Imagine doing a horrible job like that!
•Just imagine going all that way for nothing!
imagine sb/sth as sth
•He didn't quite dare to imagine himself as a real artist.
imagine sb in/with/without etc sth
•Somehow I can't imagine him without a beard.
it is difficult/easy/possible/impossible etc to imagine sth
•After such a dry summer, it's difficult to imagine what rain looks like.
2 to have a false or wrong idea about something:
•Perhaps she'd never really been there at all - perhaps she'd just imagined it.
•imagined dangers
imagine (that)
•She had imagined that the doctor would be male.
•I was surprised when I saw the farm. I had imagined it would be much bigger.
imagine sth/sb to be sth
•There's nobody here. You're just imagining things.
3 [not in progressive] to think that something is true or may happen, but without being sure or having proof:
•'A very complicated subject, I imagine,' said Edwin.
imagine (that)
•You are obviously tired and I imagine that nothing would make you admit it.
4 you can/can't imagine sth BrE spoken used to emphasize how good, bad etc something is
You can/can't imagine how/what/why etc
•You can imagine how angry I was!
•You can't imagine what a terrible week we had. [U]
a technical process in which pictures of the inside of someone's body are produced, especially for medical reasons:
•New imaging technologies mean that doctors are better able to screen for breast cancer. [plural] literary
situations or ideas that you imagine, but which are not real or true:
•In my wildest imaginings, I could not have foreseen what a wonderful life lay before me.Imam [C]
a Muslim religious leader or priest [C,U]
a lack of a fair or correct balance between two things, which results in problems or unfairness; = inequality
[+in]
•The government must redress the imbalance (=put it right) in spending on black and white children.
[+between]
•the current imbalance between farming and conservation interests
•a hormonal imbalance
- imbalanced adjective
•Many pupils follow an imbalanced curriculum. $ [C]
someone who is very stupid or behaves very stupidly; = idiot
•He looked at me as if I was a total imbecile.
- imbecilic adjective
- imbecility noun [C,U]
another spelling of EMBED [I,T] formal
1 to drink something, especially alcohol - sometimes used humorously:
•Both men imbibed considerable quantities of gin.
2 to accept and be influenced by qualities, ideas, values etc:
•She had imbibed the traditions of her family. $ plural imbroglios [C]
a difficult, embarrassing, or confusing situation, especially in politics or public life:
•a political imbroglio

PHRASAL VERBS
imbue sb/sth with sth phr v formal
to make someone or something have a quality, idea, or emotion very strongly:
•His philosophical writings are imbued with religious belief.
•Hoskins imbues Iago's character with hostility and rage. [C] technical
international mobile equipment identifier a number that each MOBILE PHONE has, which it sends whenever someone uses it to make a phone call
the IMF the International Monetary Fund an international organization that tries to encourage trade between countries and to help poorer countries develop economically [T]
1 to copy the way someone behaves, speaks, moves etc, especially in order to make people laugh:
•She was a splendid mimic and loved to imitate Winston Churchill.
!! Do not use imitate when you mean to do the same thing as someone else. Use copy instead: She worries that Tom will copy his brother and leave home (NOT She worries that he will imitate his brother).
2 to copy something because you think it is good:
•vegetarian products which imitate meat
•The Japanese have no wish to imitate Western social customs and attitudes.
- imitator noun [C]
1 [C,U] when you copy someone else's actions
by imitation
•Many people think that children learn language by imitation.
•The remake of 'Casablanca' was a pale imitation (=something that is much less good than the thing it imitates) of the original movie.
2 [C] when you copy the way someone speaks or behaves, especially in order to be funny; = impression
•She acted, she danced, she did imitations.
[+of]
•his imitation of an American accent
3 [C] a copy of something
[+of]
•She wore an imitation of a sailor's hat.
imitation fur/pearls/silk/leather etc (=something that looks like an expensive material but is a copy of it)
•an imitation fur coat $ formal
copying someone or something, especially in a way that shows you do not have any ideas of your own:
•Young people might be provoked into imitative crime by the exploits they see on TV.
1 very clean and tidy; messy
•He wore an immaculate dark-blue suit.
•an immaculate kitchen
2 exactly correct or perfect in every detail:
•her immaculate stage performances
- immaculately adverb formal
1 a quality that is immanent seems to be present everywhere:
•Love is a force immanent in the world.
2 God or another spiritual power that is immanent is present everywhere
- immanence noun [U] $
1 not important in a particular situation; = irrelevant
•If you sign a document, it is wholly immaterial whether you have read it carefully or not.
2 formal not having a physical body or form:
•our immaterial soul $
1 someone who is immature behaves or thinks in a way that is typical of someone much younger - used to show disapproval; mature ; = childish
•He forgave his son's immature behaviour.
2 not fully formed or developed:
•We need measures to protect immature whales.
- immaturity noun [U]
used to emphasize that something is too big or too extreme to be measured:
•The refugee problem has now reached immeasurable proportions.
- immeasurably adverb
•Your Spanish has improved immeasurably. [U]
when something is important or urgent because it relates to a situation or event that is happening now
[+of]
•the immediacy of everyday experience
•Television brings a new immediacy to world events.
1 happening or done at once and without delay:
•Our immediate response to the attack was sheer horror.
•They promise immediate action to help the unemployed.
•If the eyes are affected, seek immediate medical attention.
2 [only before noun] existing now, and needing to be dealt with quickly:
•Let's try and solve the most immediate problem.
•There is an immediate danger of war.
3 [only before noun] happening just before or just after someone or something else:
•The most immediate effect of retirement is a dramatic reduction in living standards.
•He promised that there would be no tax increases in the immediate future.
4 [only before noun] next to, or very near to, a particular place:
•It is a thriving shopping centre for the people who live in the immediate area.
5 immediate family people who are very closely related to you, such as your parents, children, brothers, and sisters
1 without delay; = at once
•Mix in the remaining ingredients and serve immediately.
•The telephone rang, and he answered it immediately.
2 very soon before or after something
immediately after/following sth
•He retired immediately after the end of the war.
immediately before/preceding sth
•I can't remember what happened immediately before the crash.
3 immediately obvious/apparent able to be seen or understood very easily:
•The solution to this problem is not immediately obvious.
4 [+ adj/adv] very near to something
immediately behind/above/below/in front of etc sth
•the seat immediately behind the driver
5 immediately affected/concerned/involved etc very closely involved etc in a particular situation:
•Those most immediately involved in the disaster will be given support.BrE formal
as soon as:
•Immediately you begin to speak, he gives you his full attention.
starting longer ago than people can remember, or than written history shows
from/since time immemorial
•Markets have been held here since time immemorial.
extremely large; = enormous
•People who travel by rail still read an immense amount.
•Regular visits from a social worker can be of immense value to old people living alone.
very much; = extremely
•Champagne wines became immensely popular in the 18th century.
immensely powerful/strong/important etc
•Nationalism is an immensely powerful force.
•We enjoyed the play immensely. plural immensities
1 [C,U] used to emphasize the great size of something, especially something that cannot be measured
[+of]
•the immensity of outer space
2 [U] used to emphasize the great size and seriousness of something such as a problem you have to deal with or a job you have to do
[+of]
•the immensity of the problem $ [T]
1 to put someone or something deep into a liquid so that they are completely covered
immerse sb/sth in sth
•Immerse your foot in ice cold water to reduce the swelling.
2 immerse yourself in sth to become completely involved in an activity:
•He left school at 16 and immersed himself in the Labour party.
- immersed adjective
•She was far too immersed in her studies. $
1 [U] the action of immersing something in liquid, or the state of being immersed
[+in]
•his near-fatal immersion in the icy Atlantic ocean
2 [U] the fact of being completely involved in something you are doing
[+in]
•my immersion in black music and culture
3 [U] technical the language teaching method in which people are put in situations where they have to use the new language
4 [C] BrE informal an immersion heater[C] BrE
an electric water heater that provides hot water for a house [C]
someone who enters another country to live there permanently; emigrant
•an illegal immigrant
•a new wave of immigrants from the Middle East [I]
to come into a country in order to live there permanently; emigrate
•His father and mother immigrated when he was two. [U]
1 the process of entering another country in order to live there permanently; emigration
•He called for a common European policy on immigration.
2 the total number of people who immigrate:
•Immigration fell in the 1980s.
3 also immigration control the place at an airport, sea port etc where officials check the documents of everyone entering the country
an event that is imminent, especially an unpleasant one, will happen very soon
imminent danger/threat/death/disaster etc
•He was in imminent danger of dying.
•He smiled in anticipation of her imminent arrival.
•A new trade agreement is imminent.
- imminence noun [U]
•the imminence of the General Election
- imminently adverb $
1 not moving at all; = motionless
•She could see a figure sitting immobile, facing the sea.
2 unable to move or walk normally:
•Kim's illness had rendered her completely immobile.
- immobility noun [U]also immobilise BrE $ [T]
1 to prevent someone or something from moving:
•The broken limb must be immobilized immediately.
•She was immobilized with a broken leg.
2 to stop something from working:
•The car's security device will immobilize the ignition system.
- immobilization $ noun [U] $ [C] BrE
a piece of equipment that is fitted to a car to stop it moving if someone tries to steal it $ formal
not within reasonable and sensible limits; = excessive
•immoderate drinking
- immoderately adverb $
1 having a very high opinion of yourself and your abilities, and not embarrassed about telling people how clever you are; modest
•Webb was an immodest publicist of his own achievements.
2 clothes that are immodest show too much of someone's body; = revealing; modest
3 old-fashioned behaviour that is immodest shocks or embarrasses people:
•They thought it was immodest for both sexes to swim together.
- immodestly adverb
- immodesty noun [U] [T] formal
to kill someone or destroy something by burning them
- immolation noun [U] $
1 morally wrong; amoral
•Deliberately making people suffer is immoral.
• It's immoral to be rich while people are starving and homeless.
2 not following accepted standards of sexual behaviour
- immorally adverb
- immorality noun [U]
•the immorality of bombing civilians $
1 living or continuing for ever; mortal
•Plato believed that the soul is immortal.
2 an immortal line, play, song etc is so famous that it will never be forgotten:
•In the immortal words of Henry Ford, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'
- immortal noun [C] $ [U]
the state of living for ever or being remembered for ever:
•the immortality of the soulalso immortalise BrE $ [T usually passive]
to make someone or something famous for a long time, especially by writing about them, painting a picture of them etc:
•Dickens' father was immortalized as Mr Micawber in 'David Copperfield'.
1 impossible to move:
•Lock your bike to something immovable like a railing or lamp-post.
2 impossible to change or persuade:
•The president is immovable on this issue.
- immovably adverb
1 [not before noun] someone who is immune to a particular disease cannot catch it:
•Once we've had the disease, we're immune for life.
2 immune response/reaction the reaction of the body's immune system to something that is harmful:
•HIV is a progressive disease which the immune response ultimately fails to control.
3 [not before noun] not affected by something that happens or is done
[+to]
•The Labour Party is not immune to new ideas.
4 [not before noun] specially protected from something unpleasant
[+from]
•The senior members of the group appeared to be immune from arrest.[C]
the system by which your body protects itself against disease:
•This flu is a warning to me that my immune system is not as strong as it ought to be.
a British spelling of IMMUNIZE [U]
1 the state or right of being protected from particular laws or from unpleasant things
[+from]
•They were granted immunity from prosecution.
2 the state of being immune to a disease
[+to]
•immunity to infection
[+from]
•immunity from smallpoxalso immunise BrE [T]
to protect someone from a particular illness by giving them a VACCINE; = vaccinate, inoculate
immunize sb against sth
•There is still no vaccine to immunize people against the virus.
- immunization $ noun [C,U] $ [U]
the scientific study of the prevention of disease and how the body reacts to disease $ [T] formal literary
to shut someone in a place so that they cannot get out formal
never changing or impossible to change:
•This decision should not be seen as immutable.
- immutably adverb
- immutability noun [U] $ [C] trademark
a MOBILE PHONE that has a small screen which you can use for Internet and e-mail services [C]
1 a child who behaves badly, but in a way that is funny
2 a small creature in stories who has magic powers and behaves very badly
IMPISH
1 [C] the effect or influence that an event, situation etc has on someone or something
[+on/upon]
•We need to assess the impact on climate change.
major/significant/profound etc impact
•Higher mortgage rates have already had a major impact on spending.
[+of]
•an international meeting to consider the environmental impacts of global warming
!! Do not say 'cause an impact' on something. Say have an impact on something.
2 [C,U] the force of one object hitting another:
•The force of the impact knocked the breath out of her.
3 on impact at the moment when one thing hits another:
•The plane's wing was damaged on impact. [I,T] especially AmE
to have an important or noticeable effect on someone or something
[+on/upon]
•The Food Safety Act will progressively impact on the way food businesses operate.
a tooth that is impacted is growing under another tooth so that it cannot develop properly $ [T]
to damage something or make it not as good as it should be:
•The illness had impaired his ability to think and concentrate.
- impairment noun [U] $
damaged, less strong, or not as good as before:
•impaired vision
visually/hearing/mentally/physically etc impaired (=used to describe someone who cannot see, hear etc well) $ [C,U]
mental/visual/cognitive/hearing etc impairment a condition in which a part of a person's mind or body is damaged or does not work well plural impala [C]
a large African ANTELOPE [T often passive]
if someone or something is impaled, a sharp pointed object goes through them
be impaled on sth
•Their heads were impaled on Charles Bridge as a warning to others.
- impalement noun [C,U] formal
1 impossible to touch or feel physically; palpable
2 very difficult to understand
another spelling of EMPANEL $ [T] formal
1 to give a particular quality to something
impart sth to sth
•Use a piece of fresh ginger to impart a Far-Eastern flavour to simple ingredients.
2 to give information, knowledge, wisdom etc to someone:
•She had information that she couldn't wait to impart. $
not involved in a particular situation, and therefore able to give a fair opinion or piece of advice; = fair; biased
•We offer impartial advice on tax and insurance.
•an impartial inquiry into the deaths
•an impartial observer
- impartially adverb
- impartiality $ noun [U] $
a road, path, or area that is impassable is impossible to travel along or through:
•The mountains are impassable. $ [singular]
a situation in which it is impossible to continue with a discussion or plan because the people involved cannot agree
at an impasse
•The political process is at an impasse.
•Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.
full of strong feeling and emotion:
•She appeared on television to make an impassioned plea for help.
•an impassioned speech
not showing any emotion:
•Her impassive face showed no reaction at all.
- impassively adverb
•The children studied him impassively.
- impassivity noun [U] [U]
1 annoyance at having to accept delays, other people's weaknesses etc; patience
[+with]
•his impatience with the slowness of bureaucratic procedures
•A note of impatience had entered his voice.
2 great eagerness for something to happen, especially something that is going to happen soon
impatience to do sth
•She was bursting with impatience to tell Natalia what had happened.
1 annoyed because of delays, someone else's mistakes etc; patient
become/grow impatient (with sb/sth)
•We are growing impatient with the lack of results.
•He turned away with an impatient gesture.
2 [not before noun] very eager for something to happen and not wanting to wait
impatient to do sth
•Alec strode down the street, impatient to be home.
impatient for sb to do sth
•He was eager to talk to Shildon and impatient for him to return from lunch.
- impatiently adverb [T] law
if a government official is impeached, they are formally charged with a serious crime in a special government court:
•The governor was impeached for using state funds improperly.
- impeachment noun [C,U]
without any faults and impossible to criticize; = perfect
•She has taught her children impeccable manners.
•a bar with impeccable service
- impeccably adverb
•impeccably dressed formal
having very little money, especially over a long period - sometimes used humorously:
•He came from a respectable if impecunious family.
- impecuniously adverb
- impecuniousness noun [U] [singular,U]
technical a measure of the power of a piece of electrical equipment to stop the flow of an ALTERNATING CURRENT [T]
to make it difficult for someone or something to move forward or make progress:
•Storms at sea impeded our progress. [C]
1 a physical problem that makes speaking, hearing, or moving difficult:
•a speech impediment
2 a situation or event that makes it difficult or impossible for someone or something to succeed or make progress
[+to]
•War is one of the greatest impediments to human progress. [plural]
things that you think you need to have or do, but which can slow your progress - often used humourously past tense and past participle impelled, present participle impelling [T] formal
if something impels you to do something, it makes you feel very strongly that you must do it; compel
impel sb to do sth
•The lack of democracy and equality impelled the oppressed to fight for independence.
an impending event or situation, especially an unpleasant one, is going to happen very soon
impending danger/doom/death/disaster etc
•She had a sense of impending disaster.
• impending changes in government legislation
1 impossible to get through, see through, or get into:
•The trees formed a dark and impenetrable barrier.
•the impenetrable blackness of the night
2 very difficult or impossible to understand:
•impenetrable legal jargon
- impenetrably adverb
- impenetrability noun [U]
1 extremely important and needing to be done or dealt with immediately:
• It is imperative that politicians should be good communicators.
it is imperative (for sb) to do sth
•It is imperative to meet face to face with the client.
•It is imperative for us to remain on good terms.
2 technical an imperative verb is one that expresses an order, such as 'stand up'
- imperatively adverb[C]
1 something that must be done urgently:
•A broad and balanced education is an imperative for raising standards.
2 formal an idea or belief that has a strong influence on people, making them behave in a particular way:
•Sharing food is the most important moral imperative in Semai society.
3 technical the form of a verb that expresses an order. For example, in the order 'come here', 'come' is in the imperative $
almost impossible to see or notice:
•Such changes are imperceptible to even the best-trained eye.
- imperceptibly adverb
•The daylight faded almost imperceptibly into night.
- imperceptibility $ noun [U] $
not completely correct or perfect; = flawed
•the imperfect world we live in
•I got it cheap because it's slightly imperfect.
- imperfectly adverb
- imperfection $ noun [C,U]
the imperfect technical the form of a verb which is used when talking about an action in the past that is not complete. For example, 'I was eating.' $ [only before noun]
1 relating to an EMPIRE or to the person who rules it:
•Britain's imperial expansion in the 19th century
•a major imperial power
2 relating to the system of weights and measurements based on pounds, INCHes , miles etc $ [U]
1 a political system in which one country rules a lot of other countries; colonialism
•a book on the history of British imperialism
2 the way in which a rich or powerful country's way of life, culture, businesses etc influence and change a poorer country's way of life etc
cultural/economic/social etc imperialism
•Small nations resent Western cultural imperialism.
- imperialist noun [C]
- imperialist adjective past tense and past participle imperilled, present participle imperilling BrE past tense and past participle imperiled, present participle imperiling AmE [T] formal
to put something or someone in danger; = endanger
•Tax increases now might imperil economic recovery. $
giving orders and expecting to be obeyed, in a way that seems too proud:
•She raised her hand in an imperious gesture.
- imperiously adverb
- imperiousness noun [U] formal
existing or continuing for a long time or for ever:
•a set of imperishable truths $ formal
not staying the same for ever; = temporary; permanent
•single-storey structures, built from cheap and impermanent materials
- impermanence noun [U]
•His philosophy stressed the impermanence of the world. $ technical
not allowing liquids or gases to pass through; permeable
•No paint is impermeable to water vapour. $ formal
something that is impermissible cannot be allowed; permissible $
1 not showing any feelings of sympathy, friendliness etc:
•Business letters do not have to be impersonal and formal.
•Sometimes she seems a very impersonal, even unkind, mother.
2 a place or situation that is impersonal does not make people feel that they are important:
•I hate staying in hotels; they're so impersonal.
•a formal and impersonal style of management
3 technical in grammar, an impersonal sentence or verb is one where the subject is represented by 'it' or 'there', as in the sentence 'It rained all day'
- impersonally adverb $ [T]
1 to pretend to be someone else by copying their appearance, voice, and behaviour, especially in order to deceive people:
•Do you know it is a very serious offence to impersonate a police officer?
2 to copy someone's voice and behaviour, especially in order to make people laugh:
•In the film he amusingly impersonates a woman.
- impersonation $ noun [C,U]
•He's renowned for his Elvis impersonation. $ [C]
someone who copies the way that other people look, speak, and behave, as part of a performance:
•a female impersonator $
rude and not respectful, especially to someone who is older or more important; = cheeky
•He was always asking impertinent questions.
•You are an impertinent young woman.
- impertinently adverb
- impertinence noun [U] $
remaining calm and unworried in spite of problems or difficulties
- imperturbably adverb
- imperturbability $ noun [U] $ [not before noun]
1 formal not affected or influenced by something and seeming not to notice it
[+to]
•His ego was impervious to self-doubt.
2 technical not allowing anything to enter or pass through:
•impervious volcanic rock
[+to]
•materials that are impervious to water $ [U]
an infectious skin disease
tending to do things very quickly, without thinking carefully first, or showing this quality; = impulsive
•He was high-spirited and impetuous.
•She might live to regret this impetuous decision.
- impetuously adverb
- impetuousness noun [U]
- impetuosity $ noun [U] [U]
1 an influence that makes something happen or makes it happen more quickly
[+for]
•The report may provide further impetus for reform.
•The discovery gave fresh impetus to the research.
2 technical the force that makes an object start moving, or keeps it moving plural impieties formal
[C,U] lack of respect for religion or God, or an action that shows this; impious

PHRASAL VERBS
impinge on/upon sb/sth phr v formal
to have a harmful effect on someone or something:
•Personal problems experienced by students may impinge on their work.
- impingement noun [C,U] formal
lacking respect for religion or God; impiety
•an impious crime
- impiously adverb
- impiousness noun [U]
showing a lack of respect or seriousness in a way that is amusing rather than bad; = mischievous
•a little girl with dark hair and an impish grin
- impishly adverb
very determined to continue opposing someone or something:
•implacable enemies
•The government faces implacable opposition on the issue of nuclear waste.
- implacably adverb
•He remained implacably opposed to Stalin's regime.
- implacability noun [U] $
1 [T] to strongly fix an idea, feeling, attitude etc in someone's mind or character
implant sth in sth
•A deep sense of patriotism had been implanted in him by his father.
2 [T] to put something into someone's body by performing a medical operation:
•Surgeons successfully implanted an artificial hip.
implant sth in/into sth
•A donor egg fertilised by her husband's sperm will be implanted in her womb.
3 [I] medical if an egg or EMBRYO implants, it begins to develop normally:
•The fertilized egg implants and becomes a foetus.
- implantation $ noun [U] $ [C]
something artificial that is put into someone's body in a medical operation; transplant
•silicone breast implants $
difficult to believe and therefore unlikely to be true; plausible
implausible theory/idea/explanation etc
•Margaret found his excuse somewhat implausible.
•It's not entirely implausible that a galaxy could be identical to our own.
- implausibly adverb
- implausibility $ noun [U] [T]
to take action or make changes that you have officially decided should happen
implement a policy/plan/decision etc
•We have decided to implement the committee's recommendations in full.
- implementation noun [U]
•the implementation of the peace plan [C]
a tool, especially one used for outdoor physical work:
•farming implements [T]
1 to show or suggest that someone is involved in a crime or dishonest act:
•The allegations implicated Abe to such an extent he was forced to resign.
implicate sb in sth
•Three police officers are implicated in the cover-up.
2 [usually passive] formal if something is implicated in something bad or harmful, it is shown to be its cause
be implicated in sth
•Viruses are known to be implicated in the development of some cancers.
1 [C usually plural] a possible future effect or result of an action, event, decision etc
[+of]
•What are the implications of these proposals?
•This election has profound implications for the future of U.S. democracy.
consider/discuss/examine the implications
•His talk will examine the wider implications of the Internet revolution.
practical/financial/political etc implications
2 [U] a situation in which it is shown or suggested that someone or something is involved in a crime or a dishonest act; implicate
the implication of sb (in sth)
•the implication of the former Chief of Staff in a major scandal
3 [C,U] a suggestion that is not made directly but that people are expected to understand or accept; imply
•They are called 'Supertrams', the implication being that (=which is meant to suggest that) they are more advanced than earlier models.
by implication
•The law bans organized protests and, by implication, any form of opposition.
1 suggested or understood without being stated directly; explicit
implicit criticism/threat/assumption
•Her words contained an implicit threat.
•His statement is being seen as implicit criticism of the work of research laboratories.
2 formal forming a central part of something, but without being openly stated
[+in]
•Confidentiality is implicit in your relationship with a counselor.
3 complete and containing no doubts
implicit faith/trust/belief
•They had implicit faith in his powers.
- implicitly adverb
•They believed implicitly in their own superiority. $ [I]
1 technical to explode inwards; explode
•The windows on both sides of the room had imploded.
2 written if an organization or system implodes, it fails suddenly, often because of faults that it has; = collapse
•Most nations learned their lesson during the 1930s when trade imploded and incomes plunged.
- implosion $ noun [C,U] $ [I,T] formal
to ask for something in an emotional way; = beg
•'Don't go,' I implored her.
implore sb to do sth
•She implored the soldiers to save her child.
- imploring adjective
•a ragged child with imploring eyes past tense and past participle implied, present participle implying, third person singular implies [T]
1 to suggest that something is true, without saying this directly; infer, implication
imply (that)
•Cleo blushed. She had not meant to imply that he was lying.
•an implied threat
2 if a fact, event etc implies something, it shows that it is likely to be true; = suggest
imply (that)
•The high level of radiation in the rocks implies that they are volcanic in origin.
3 if one thing implies another, it proves that the second thing exists:
•Democracy implies a respect for individual liberties.
•High profits do not necessarily imply efficiency.
not polite; = rude
•an impolite remark
it is impolite (of sb) (to do sth)
•Would it be impolite of me to ask exactly where you've been?
- impolitely adverb $ formal
behaving in a way that is not careful and that could make people think you are not sensible; = unwise
•It was considered impolitic of him to spend too much time with the party radicals. $ [C usually plural] formal
something that cannot be exactly measured, judged, or calculated:
•There are too many imponderables to make an accurate prediction.
- imponderable adjective
•an imponderable question $
1 [C,U] a product that is brought from one country into another so that it can be sold there, or the business of doing this; export
•a ban on beef imports
•the abolition of import duties (=taxes)
[+from]
•cheap imports from Asia
•American demand for Japanese imports (=goods from Japan)
•the import of electrical goods
•an application for an import licence
2 [C] something new or different that is brought to a place where it did not previously exist:
•The beetle is thought to be a European import.
3 [U] formal importance or meaning:
•a matter of no great import $ [T]
1 to bring a product from one country into another so that it can be sold there; export
•In 2001, Britain exported more cars than it imported.
import sth from sth
•All the meat is imported from France.
2 to introduce something new or different in a place where it did not previously exist:
•The unusual designs were probably imported from Iran.
import sth to/into sth
•The US comedy format was gradually imported to UK screens.
3 to move information from one computer to another; export
import sth from/into sth
•You can now import graphics from other applications.
- imported adjective
•imported autos
•imported data $ [singular, U]
the quality of being important
the importance of sth
•the importance of regular exercise
•The fur trade now exceeded timber in importance.
•Hindus attach great importance to food preparation. (=it is very important to them)
great/growing/paramount etc importance
•The men were on a mission of vital importance to their country.
of primary/secondary/equal importance
•Sometimes we forget that the media coverage of a sport is actually of secondary importance to the event itself.
•I agree about the importance of these proposals (=the reasons why they are important).
•Just being in the studio gave her a sense of importance (=she felt important). $
1 an important event, decision, problem etc has a big effect or influence on people's lives or on events in the future:
•a very important meeting
•The accident taught him an important lesson.
•Happiness is more important than money.
•'What did you say?' 'Oh, nothing important.'
it is important (to do sth)
•It's important to explain the procedure to the patient.
• It's vitally important that you understand the danger.
[+for]
•It was important for the president to continue his schedule, regardless of the bomb threat.
[+to]
•Nothing could be more important to me than my family.
!! When you mean that you care or think about something a lot, say that it is important to you, not that it is 'important for' you.
2 people who are important have a lot of power or influence:
•a very important customer
•They carry guns because it makes them feel important.

WORD FOCUS: important
similar words:
main
key
chief
principal
leading
vital
crucial
essential
significant
not important:
unimportant
trivial
minor
irrelevant
insignificant
$
1 [sentence adverb] used to show that your next statement or question is more, equally etc important than what you said before
more/most/less/equally importantly
•Most importantly, you must keep a record of everything you do.
2 in a way that shows you think that what you are saying or doing is important:
•He strode importantly into the room. $
1 [C,U] formal the act of bringing something new or different to a place where it did not previously exist, or something that arrives in this way
[+of]
•restrictions on the importation of American movies
2 [U] technical the business of bringing things into a country from other countries in order to sell them; = import
[+of]
•a law prohibiting the importation of tuna $ [C]
a person, company, or country that buys goods from other countries so they can be sold in their own country; exporter $ formal
continuously asking for things in an annoying or unreasonable way:
•importunate demands
- importunity $ noun [U] $ [T] formal
to ask someone for something continuously in an annoying or unreasonable way; beg $
1 [T] if someone in authority imposes a rule, punishment, tax etc, they force people to accept it:
•The court can impose a fine or a prison sentence.
impose sth on sth/sb
•The government imposed a ban on the sale of ivory.
2 [T] to force someone to have the same ideas, beliefs etc as you
impose sth on sb
•parents who impose their own moral values on their children
3 [I] formal to expect or ask someone to do something for you when this is not convenient for them
[+on/upon]
•We could ask to stay the night, but I don't want to impose on them.
4 [T] to have a bad effect on something or someone and to cause problems for them
impose a burden/hardship etc (on sb/sth)
•Military spending imposes a huge strain on the economy. $
large, impressive, and appearing important:
•an imposing building
•He's a tall, quietly spoken, but imposing figure.
1 [U] the introduction of something such as a rule, punishment, tax etc
[+of]
•the imposition of martial law
2 [C usually singular] formal something that someone expects or asks you to do for them, which is not convenient for you:
•I know it's an imposition, but could I use your bathroom? $
1 CAN'T BE DONE something that is impossible cannot happen or be done; possible

it is impossible (for sb) to do sth
make sth impossible
find it impossible to do sth
prove impossible (=be impossible, because you have tried but not succeeded)
virtually/almost/practically/nearly impossible
well-nigh impossible (=almost impossible)
absolutely/utterly impossible
seemingly impossible (=seeming to be impossible)
physically impossible
impossible task
impossible feat (=something that is impossible to do)
impossible dream (=something you want but that will never happen)
difficult, if not impossible (=difficult, and perhaps impossible)

•'I want to speak to Mr Franks.' 'I'm afraid that's impossible.'
• It's impossible to be accurate about these things.
•The noise made sleep impossible.
• Members with young children often found it impossible to attend evening meetings.
• It is difficult to find work these days, but for blind people it is virtually impossible.
• He was faced with a seemingly impossible task.
•It was physically impossible to get the fridge through the door.
• Six months ago, peace seemed an impossible dream.
•Such mental attitudes are difficult, if not impossible, to change.

2 SITUATION a situation that is impossible is one that you cannot deal with:
•We were in an impossible situation. Whatever we decided to do would upset someone.
•Helen's refusal to cooperate put me in an impossible position.
•His attitude is making life impossible for the rest of the team.
•He was facing impossible odds.
3 PERSON behaving in a very unreasonable and annoying way:
•Oh, you're just impossible!
- impossibly adverb
•Some sales managers think selling abroad is impossibly difficult.
•He looked impossibly handsome in his formal suit.
- impossibility $ noun [C,U]
•100 percent airline security is a practical impossibility.
the impossible something that cannot be done
attempt/do/ask etc the impossible
•I just want to be able to buy healthy food at a reasonable price. Is that asking the impossible?also imposter AmE $ [C]
someone who pretends to be someone else in order to trick people:
•The nurse was soon discovered to be an impostor.
1 unable to take effective action because you do not have enough power, strength, or control:
•Emergency services seem impotent in the face of such a disaster.
•impotent rage
2 a man who is impotent is unable to have sex because he cannot get an ERECTION
- impotently adverb
- impotence noun [U]
•political impotence [T] law
if the police or law courts impound something you have or own, they keep it until it has been decided that you can have it back; = confiscate
•He sued the police after they impounded his car. $ [T]
1 to make someone very poor:
•Falling coffee prices have impoverished many Third World economies.
•families impoverished by debt
2 to make something worse in quality:
•Fast-growing trees remove nutrients and impoverish the soil.
- impoverished adjective
•an impoverished student
- impoverishment noun [U]
•spiritual impoverishment formal
impossible or very difficult to do for practical reasons:
•It was an appealing plan but quite impracticable.
- impracticably adverb
- impracticability noun [U]
1 not sensible or possible for practical reasons:
•The road toll scheme was dismissed as impractical.
•James was a foolish man, full of impractical plans.
2 not good at dealing with ordinary practical matters, such as making or repairing things:
•Sandra was hopelessly impractical around the house.
- impractically adverb
- impracticality noun [U]
•the sheer impracticality of collecting DNA from such a large population [C] literary
an offensive word or phrase, used when someone is very angry
not clear or exact; precise, exact
•vague, imprecise estimates
•Alcohol affects the brain, making speech slurred and imprecise.
- imprecisely adverb
- imprecision noun [U]
•an imprecision in the terminology formal
1 a building that is impregnable is so strong that it cannot be entered by force:
•an impregnable fortress
2 strong and impossible to change or influence:
•her impregnable obstinacy $ [T]
1 to make a substance spread completely through something, or to spread completely through something
impregnate sth with sth
•The mats have to be impregnated with disinfectant.
2 technical to make a woman or female animal PREGNANT $ plural impresarios [C]
someone who organizes performances in theatres, concert halls etc [T]
1 [not in progressive] to make someone feel admiration and respect:
•Steve borrowed his dad's sports car to impress his girlfriend.
impress sb with/by sth
•We were very impressed by the standard of work.
•One candidate in particular impressed us with her knowledge.
•She was a simple girl, easily impressed by Tom's sophistication.
•I think the chief exec was favourably impressed by your presentation.
•'He's a lawyer?' Mum looked suitably impressed (=as impressed as you would expect).
2 to make the importance of something clear to someone
impress sth on sb
•Father impressed on me the value of hard work.
3 to press something into a soft surface so that a mark or pattern appears on it
•patterns impressed in the clay
1 [C,U] the opinion or feeling you have about someone or something because of the way they seem

give/create/convey an impression
leave sb with an impression
leave an impression (on sb)
have/get the impression (that)
make an impression (on sb) (=make someone admire or remember you)
first/initial impression (=the impression you get when you see someone or something for the first time)
good/favourable impression
bad impression
false/wrong/misleading impression
lasting/indelible impression
overall/general impression
the distinct impression (that)

• Arriving late won't create a very favourable impression.
•We were left with the impression that the contract was ours if we wanted it.
• I get the distinct impression that we're not wanted here.
• It was their first meeting and Richard was determined to make an impression.
•When it comes to job interviews, first impressions are important.
•Canceling the conference will make a very bad impression.
•The final score gives a false impression of the game.
• How you greet a customer can leave a lasting impression.
• The overall impression was one of chaos.

2 be under the impression (that) to believe that something is true when it is not:
•I'm sorry, I was under the impression that you were the manager.
3 [C] when someone copies the speech or behaviour of a famous person in order to make people laugh; = imitation
•Jean does a great impression of Madonna.
4 [C] a picture or drawing of what someone or something might look like, or what something will look like in the future
impression of
•an artist's impression of the new building
5 [C] a mark left by pressing something into a soft surface:
•Some of the fallen trees had left a clear impression in the hardened mud.
6 [C] all the copies of a book printed at one time; edition
someone who is impressionable is easily influenced, especially because they are young:
•The kids are at an impressionable age.Impressionism [U]
1 a style of painting used especially in France in the 19th century which uses colour instead of details of form to produce effects of light or feeling; realism
2 a style of music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that produces feelings and images by the quality of sounds rather than by a pattern of notes [C]
1 someone who copies the speech or behaviour of famous people in order to entertain other people
2 someone who uses impressionism in the paintings or music that they produce:
•impressionist painters
based on a general feeling of what something is like, rather than on specific facts or details:
•The officers seemed to make only an impressionistic assessment.
- impressionistically adverb
something that is impressive makes you admire it because it is very good, large, important etc:
•Among the guests was an impressive array of authors and critics.
•the remains of an impressive Roman villa
- impressively adverb
•The latest version has an impressively user-friendly interface.
- impressiveness noun [U] $ [singular]
1 formal approval of something, especially from an important person
•His actions have the imprimatur of the Secretary of State.
2 technical official permission to print a book, given by the Roman Catholic Church [C]
1 the mark left by an object being pressed into or onto something
[+of]
•the imprint of her hand on the soft sand
2 technical the name of a PUBLISHER as it appears on a book
1 [T] to print or press the mark of an object on something
imprint sth with/on/in/onto sth
•One snowy morning footprints and tyre marks were imprinted in the snow.
2 literary to become fixed in your mind or memory so that you never forget
imprint sth on your mind/memory/brain etc
•The sight of Joe's dead body was imprinted on his mind forever. [T]
1 to put someone in prison or to keep them somewhere and prevent them from leaving:
•The government imprisoned all opposition leaders.
•She was imprisoned within his strong arms.
2 if a situation or feeling imprisons people, it restricts what they can do:
•Many elderly people feel imprisoned in their own homes. [U]
the state of being in prison, or the time someone spends there:
•They were sentenced to 6 years' imprisonment.
• life imprisonment $
1 not likely to happen or to be true; = unlikely; probable
•a film with an improbable plot
•It seems highly improbable that he had no knowledge of the affair.
2 surprising and slightly strange:
•improbable combinations of colours
- improbably adverb
- improbability $ noun [C,U] $
done or said without any preparation or planning
impromptu speech/party/meeting etc
•The band gave an impromptu concert on the roof of the studio.
- impromptu adverb $
1 dishonest, illegal, or morally wrong
it is improper (for sb) to do sth
•He realised that it was improper for a police officer to accept gifts.
improper behaviour/conduct/dealings etc
•allegations of improper banking practices
•improper sexual conduct
2 not sensible, right, or fair in a particular situation; = inappropriate
it is improper to do sth
•It would be improper of me to comment before the election outcome is known.
3 wrong or not correct
- improperly adverb
•If you are improperly dressed, you will not be admitted.[C] technical
a FRACTION such as 107/8 in which the top number is larger than the bottom number; proper fraction plural improprieties [C,U] formal
behaviour or an action that is wrong or unacceptable according to moral, social, or professional standards:
•Accusations of impropriety were made against the company's directors. $ [U] informal
improvisation acting, singing, performing etc without preparing what you will say first:
•comedy improv
[I,T] to make something better, or to become better:
•a course for students wishing to improve their English
•The doctors say she is improving (=after being ill).
•You could use the money for improving your home.
•Many wines improve with age (=get better as they get older).

PHRASAL VERBS
improve on/upon sth phr v
to do something better than before or make something better than before:
•Bertorelli has scored 165 points, and I don't think anyone will improve on that. [usually before noun]
better than before:
•improved performance
•Our washing powder now has a new improved formula.
1 [C,U] the act of improving something or the state of being improved
[+in/on/to]
•There's been a big improvement in the children's behaviour.
•an improvement on earlier models
•We need to carry out some improvements to the system.
dramatic/major/significant/substantial etc improvement
•a marked improvement in her condition
•It could be quite some time before we see any improvement.
•This month's sales figures show some improvement.
•Your English is much better, but there's still room for improvement (=it could be even better).
2 [C] a change or addition that improves something:
•Are you thinking of making some improvements to your home? $ formal
too careless to save any money or to plan for the future
- improvidence noun [U]
- improvidently adverb [I,T]
1 to do something without any preparation, because you are forced to do this by unexpected events:
•I forgot to bring my notes, so I had to improvise.
2 to make something by using whatever you can find because you do not have the equipment or materials that you need:
•There were no spare nappies, so we had to improvise with what we could find.
•Annie improvised a sandpit for the children to play in.
3 to invent music, words, a statement etc from your imagination, rather than planning or preparing it first:
•I just started playing, and the other guys started improvising around me.
•an improvised sketch
- improvisation $ noun [C,U] formal
not sensible or wise:
•The banks made hundreds of imprudent loans in the 1970s.
- imprudently adverb
- imprudence noun [C,U] formal old-fashioned
rude and showing no respect to other people; = cheeky
- impudence noun [U]
•He stared at me with a mixture of impudence and hostility. [T] formal
to express doubts about someone's honesty, courage, ability etc:
•I did not mean to impugn her professional abilities.
1 [C,U] a sudden strong desire to do something without thinking about whether it is a sensible thing to do; = urge
impulse to do sth
•a sudden impulse to laugh
•Marge's first impulse was to run.
•Gerry couldn't resist the impulse to kiss her.
on impulse
•On impulse, I picked up the phone and rang her.
•Most beginners buy plants on impulse and then hope for the best.
impulse buying/shopping (=when you buy things that you had not planned to buy)
2 [C] technical a short electrical signal that travels in one direction along a nerve or wire:
•The eye converts light signals to nerve impulses.
3 [C] a reason or aim that causes a particular kind of activity or behaviour:
•It is the passions which provide the main impulse of music. [singular,U] formal
a strong force or desire that causes something to happen or exist
someone who is impulsive does things without considering the possible dangers or problems first:
•Rosa was impulsive and sometimes regretted things she'd done.
•In a burst of impulsive generosity, I offered to pay.
- impulsively adverb
•'Oh, Anne, I do love you!' he said impulsively.
- impulsiveness noun [U]
do sth with impunity if someone does something bad with impunity, there is no risk that they will be punished for it:
•It's astonishing that these criminals are free to walk the streets with impunity. $
1 not pure or clean, and often consisting of a mixture of things instead of just one; pure
•drug dealers selling impure heroin
2 old-fashioned impure thoughts, feelings etc are morally bad because they are about sex - sometimes used humorously:
•He tried, without success, to rid his mind of any impure thoughts about Julia. $ plural impurities
1 [C usually plural] a substance of a low quality that is contained in or mixed with something else, making it less pure:
•All natural minerals contain impurities.
•Our oatmeal face mask absorbs impurities from your skin.
2 [U] the state of being impure

PHRASAL VERBS
impute sth to sb phr v formal
to say, often unfairly, that someone is responsible for something bad or has bad intentions:
•The police were not guilty of the violence imputed to them.
- imputation noun [C,U]
1 used with the name of a container, place, or area to say where someone or something is:
•There's some sugar in the cupboard.
•My mother was in the kitchen.
•He took us for a drive in his new car.
•I found her sitting up in bed.
•Manson spent fifteen years in prison.
•a hole in the ground
•Mr Fisher is in Boston this week.
•My parents live in New Zealand now.
see box at AT
2 into a container, place etc:
•I never went in pubs.
•He almost drowned when he fell in the river.
•You can put your pyjamas in the bottom drawer.
•Get in the car.
•She looked in her handbag, but her keys were not there.
3 used to say how something is done or happens:
•a room furnished in the modern style
•Her parents always talk to her in German.
•She shouted my name in a harsh voice.
•a short note scribbled in pencil
•The title was printed in capital letters.
•We waited in silence.
4 used with the names of months, years, seasons etc to say when something happens:
•Shaw first visited Russia in 1927.
•Bright yellow flowers appear in late summer.
•He retired in October.
5 during a period of time:
•It was amazing how much we managed to do in a day.
•the hardest decision I ever made in my life
6 at the end of a period of time:
•I'll be with you in a minute.
•The results will be announced in two weeks' time.
see box at AFTER^1
see box at BY^1
7 used with negatives or with 'first' to say how much time has passed since the last time something happened:
•I haven't enjoyed myself so much in years.
•It was the team's first win in eighteen months.
8 used to name the book, document, film etc where something or someone appears:
•You shouldn't believe everything you read in the newspapers.
•Which actress starred in the film 'Cleopatra'?
•There are a few mistakes in your essay.
•In his speech Professor Leary praised the work of the volunteers.
9 making up the whole of something or included as part of something:
•There are twelve programmes in the series.
•How many minutes are there in an hour?
•Think of a word with eight letters in it meaning 'cold'.
•Owen will be playing in the England team tomorrow.
10 doing or affecting a particular kind of job:
•a career in industry
•He's been in politics for fifteen years.
•reforms in education
11 wearing something:
•He looked very handsome in his uniform.
•She was dressed in a blue linen suit.
12 used to talk about the state or situation of something or someone:
•I hear that their marriage is in trouble.
•The engine appears to be in good condition.
•His life was in danger.
•The castle now lies in ruins.
13 used to say what activity a group of people do:
•About 4000 students took part in the protest.
•his role in the negotiations
14 used to talk about the shape, arrangement, or course of something or someone:
•I want you all to stand in a circle.
•She slept curled up in a ball.
•Can you walk in a straight line?
15 used between a smaller number and a larger number to say how common or how likely something is:
•One in 10 homes now has cable TV.
•Smokers have a one in three chance of dying from their habit.
16 used before a plural number or amount to say how many people or things are involved, or how many there are in each group:
•Eggs are still sold in half dozens.
•The children work in pairs.
in their hundreds/thousands etc (=in very large numbers)
•People flocked in their thousands to greet their new princess.
17 used between a smaller number or amount and a larger one to say what a rate is:
•Income tax stands at 23 pence in the pound.
•a hill with a gradient of one in six
18 used to say what colour something is or what it is made of:
•Do you have the same pattern in blue?
•a sculpture in white marble
19 used to say what specific thing your statement is related to:
•Milk is very rich in calcium.
•Clark had become more extreme in his opinions.
•an increase in fuel prices
•The street is about a mile in length.
20 used to refer to the weather or the physical conditions somewhere:
•I've been standing in the rain for over an hour.
•Would you prefer to sit in the shade?
21 used to say what feeling you have when you do something:
•She looked at me in horror.
•It was all done purely in fun.
22 used before the name of someone or something when you are saying how they are regarded:
•You have a very good friend in Pat.
•In Dwight D. Eisenhower the Republicans had found the ideal candidate.
23 used to say what person or thing has the quality you are mentioning:
•There was a hint of spring in the air.
•I don't think Freddy had it in him to be a killer.
•She's everything I'd want in a wife (=she has every quality I would want a wife to have).
24 used to name the substance, food, drink etc that contains something:
•Vitamin D is found in butter.
25 used to say how many parts something is divided into:
•a radio serial in four parts
in two/halves/pieces etc
•I tore the letter in two and threw the pieces in the fire.
26 while doing something or while something is happening, and as a result of this:
•In all the confusion, it is quite possible that some people got tickets without paying.
•In my excitement, I forgot all about the message.
in doing sth
•In trying to protect the queen, Howard had put his own life in danger.
27 in that used after a statement to begin to explain in what way it is true:
•I've been lucky in that I have never had to worry about money.
28 be in your 20s/30s/40s etc to be between the ages of 20 and 29, 30 and 39 etc:
•Matthews was already in his mid 40s.
in all at ALL^1 (11)
1 into or inside a container, place, vehicle etc; out
•Eric held the boat steady while the children got in.
•He went to the ticket machine and put a coin in.
•She dived in and swam out to the yacht.
2 inside or into a building, especially your home or the place where you work; out
•Come in and sit down.
•I'm afraid Mr Stewart won't be in until tomorrow morning.
•We're staying in this evening.
3 if a train, boat, or plane is in, it has arrived at a station, airport etc:
•Our train's not in yet.
•When's her flight due in?
4 given or sent to a person or organization to be dealt with by them:
•All entries must be in by next week.
•Letters have been pouring in from all over the country.
•Have you handed your essay in yet?
5 if you write, paint, or draw something in, you add it in the correct place:
•Fill in your name and address on the form provided.
•The information is typed in by trained keyboarders.
6 if a player or team is in during a game of CRICKET (2), they are BATTING
7 if a ball is in during a game, it is inside the area where the game is being played; out
•Agassi's second serve was just in.
8 if a politician or a political party is in, they have been elected:
•Labour recorded its highest vote ever, but the Tories got in again.
9 towards the centre; = inward(s)
•The map had started to curl in at the edges.
10 when the TIDE is in, the sea by the shore is at its highest level; out
•The tide was in, and the sea lapped against the harbour wall.
11 be in for sth if someone is in for something unpleasant, it is going to happen to them:
•I'm afraid he's in for a bit of a disappointment.
12 be in for it informal if someone is in for it, they are going to be punished:
•If they find out what I've done, I'll be in for it, won't I?
13 be/get in on sth to be or become involved in something that is happening:
•I think you ought to be in on this discussion, Ted.
14 be in with sb informal to have a friendly relationship with someone:
•She's in with the theatrical crowd.
•You have to be well in with the directors (=be very friendly with them) if you want to get promotion here.
15 be in at the beginning/start (of sth) to be present or involved when something starts:
•I was lucky enough to be in at the start of the project.
have (got) it in for sb at HAVE^2 (41)in. AmE plural in or ins BrE
the written abbreviation of inch or inches
informal fashionable; out
•Red is definitely the in colour this year.
•Long skirts are in at the moment.
•I joined the club because it seemed the in thing to do.
the ins and outs of sth all the facts and details of something:
•The book guides you through the ins and outs of choosing and growing garden flowers.
the opposite or lack of something; = not; un-, il-, im-, ir-
•insensitive (=not sensitive)
•incautious (=not cautious)
•inattention (=lack of attention) [singular, U]
the fact of being unable to do something
inability to do sth
•Alcoholism can result in an inability to cope.
•the government's inability to enforce the ceasefire $ law
without being present:
•He was tried and convicted in absentia.
1 difficult or impossible to reach; accessible
•In winter, the villages are inaccessible by road.
[+to]
•A long flight of stairs made the center inaccessible to disabled visitors.
2 difficult or impossible to understand or afford; accessible
•Stockhausen's music is thought to be difficult and inaccessible.
- inaccessibly adverb
- inaccessibility noun [U] plural inaccuracies
1 [C] a statement that is not completely correct:
•Jansen's review contained several inaccuracies.
2 [U] a lack of correctness:
•As a journalist you simply cannot tolerate inaccuracy.
not completely correct; accurate
•A lot of what has been written about him is inaccurate.
inaccurate information/data etc
•He was fined $300,000 for making inaccurate statements to Congress.
- inaccurately adverb [U]
the fact that someone is not doing anything:
•Several newspapers have criticized the President for inaction.
1 not doing anything, not working, or not moving; active
•The brain cells are inactive during sleep.
•Young people are becoming politically inactive.
2 not taking part in something that normally you would take part in:
•Graham's knee injury means he will be inactive for Sunday's game.
3 technical an inactive substance does not react chemically with other substances [U]
the state of not doing anything, not moving, or not working:
•Don't suddenly take up violent exercise after years of inactivity.
•The time spent between jobs should not be a period of inactivity. plural inadequacies
1 [U] a feeling that you are not as good, clever, skilled etc as other people:
•Unemployment can cause feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.
2 [U] the fact of not being good enough in quality, ability, size etc for a particular purpose
[+of]
•the inadequacy of local health care
3 [C usually plural] a fault or weakness:
•I'm quite aware of my own inadequacies.
1 not good enough, big enough, skilled enough etc for a particular purpose; adequate
•inadequate resources
[+for]
•The parking facilities are inadequate for a busy shopping centre.
totally/wholly/woefully/hopelessly etc inadequate
•The building's electrical system was completely inadequate.
•The new air conditioning system proved inadequate.
2 someone who feels inadequate thinks other people are better, more skilful, more intelligent etc than they are:
•The teacher made us feel inadequate and stupid if we made mistakes.
- inadequately adverb
•Colleges have been inadequately funded for years.
law inadmissible information is not allowed to be used in a court of law:
•The evidence issued on 12 February was ruled inadmissible.
- inadmissibly adjective
- inadmissibility noun [U] $
without realizing what you are doing; = accidentally
•Viruses can be spread inadvertently by email users.
•Robinson's name was inadvertently omitted from the list.
- inadvertent adjective
•inadvertent exposure to chemicals
- inadvertence noun [U] [not before noun]
an action that is inadvisable is not sensible; = unwise
•Changes in the patient's condition may make surgery inadvisable.
it is inadvisable to do sth
•It is inadvisable to involve more than one contractor on a project. [usually before noun] formal
an inalienable right, power etc cannot be taken from you:
•inalienable human rights [C] literary
the woman that a man loves - sometimes used humorously
very stupid or without much meaning:
•Most pop lyrics are pretty inane.
•an inane remark
- inanely adverb
•Dave smiled inanely.
- inanity noun [C,U]
not living:
•an inanimate object $
rules, statements, questions etc that are inapplicable are not suitable, correct, or able to be used in a particular situation; applicable
[+to]
•Most of the new regulations are inapplicable to us. $
not suitable or right for a particular purpose or in a particular situation; appropriate
wholly/totally/completely etc inappropriate
•His comments were wholly inappropriate on such a solemn occasion.
it is inappropriate (for sb) to do sth
•It would be inappropriate for me to comment until we know more of the facts.
[+for]
•an inappropriate gift for a child
[+to]
•marketing techniques that are totally inappropriate to education
inappropriate behaviour/response/language etc
- inappropriately adverb
•inappropriately dressed
- inappropriateness also inappropriacy noun [U] formal
an inapt phrase, statement etc is not right for a particular situation; inept
•a very inapt comment
- inaptly adverb
- inaptness noun [U] $
1 not able to express your feelings clearly or easily; articulate
•My meetings with him left me inarticulate with rage.
2 speech that is inarticulate is not clearly expressed or pronounced; articulate
•Making an inarticulate sound, he turned away.
- inarticulately adverb
- inarticulateness also inarticulacy noun [C,U] formal
used to explain the way in which, what you are saying is true:
•Ann is guilty, inasmuch as she knew what the others were planning. [U]
lack of attention:
•a moment of inattention
[+to]
•inattention to detail
not giving enough attention to someone or something; attentive
•accidents caused by inattentive or reckless drivers
- inattentively adverb
- inattentiveness noun [U] $
too quiet to be heard; audible
•The noise of the wind made her cries inaudible.
- inaudibly adverb
•'No,' she whispered, almost inaudibly.
- inaudibility $ noun [U] $ [only before noun]
1 an inaugural speech is the first given by someone who is starting an important job:
•the President's televsied inaugural address
•the inaugural lecture of the new Professor of American Literature
2 an inaugural event is the first in a planned series of similar events:
•Concorde's inaugural flight
•the inaugural match of Major League Soccer
- inaugural noun [C] AmE
•More than 200,000 people attended Carter's inaugural. $ [T]
1 to hold an official ceremony when someone starts doing an important job in government
inaugurate sb as sth
•On 8 January 1959 De Gaulle was inaugurated as First President of the Republic.
2 to open a building or start an organization, event etc for the first time:
•The Turner Prize was inaugurated in 1984.
3 formal if an event inaugurates an important change or period of time, it comes at the beginning of it:
•The International Trade Agreement inaugurated a period of high economic growth.
- inauguration $ noun [C,U]
•President Hoover's inauguration $ formal
seeming to show that success in the future is unlikely; auspicious
•an inauspicious start
- inauspiciously adverb
in the middle between two points, sizes, periods of time etc:
•She was at that in-between age, neither a girl nor a woman. $
inside a boat
inboard motor/engine
OUTBOARD MOTOR $
an inborn quality or ability is one you have had naturally since birth:
•Mammals have an inborn fear of snakes.
•Good taste is inborn and cannot be learned. AmE
an inbound flight or train is arriving at a place; outbound ; = incoming BrEAmE
if the ball is in-bounds in a sport, it is in the playing areain box $ [C]
1 the place in a computer email program where new messages arrive:
•I had 130 emails in my inbox this morning.
2 AmE a container on an office desk that is used to hold letters, documents etc that you must deal with; = in tray BrE
1 produced by inbreeding
2 having developed as a natural part of your character:
•inbred ambition [U]
when children, animals, or plants are produced from closely related members of the same family:
•He was born with a rare bone disease, probably the result of aristocratic inbreeding. [only before noun] BrE
an inbuilt quality, feature etc is part of the nature of someone or something:
•plants with inbuilt resistance to disease
•History has an inbuilt tendency to repeat itself.
the written abbreviation of incorporated ; Ltd, plc
•General Motors Inc. formal
too great to be calculated:
•Her contribution to our work is incalculable.
incalculable importance/value/worth etc
•treasures of incalculable value
incalculable harm/damage/suffering etc
•The outbreak of hostilities will cause incalculable misery. $
1 very angry:
•The Prince was said to be incandescent with rage.
2 technical producing a bright light when heated:
•the invention of the incandescent lamp
3 literary very bright:
•incandescent flowers
- incandescence noun [U] [C,U]
special words that someone uses in magic, or the act of saying these words:
•a book of spells and incantations
[not before noun] not able to do something; capable
[+of]
•He seemed incapable of understanding how she felt.
•75% of the electorate believe his party is incapable of government.
•The stroke rendered her incapable of speech.
!! Do not say 'incapable to do something'. Say incapable of doing something.
- incapability noun [U] [T] formal
1 to make you too ill or weak to live and work normally:
•Her mother has been incapacitated by a fall.
•an incapacitating injury
2 to stop a system, piece of equipment etc from working properly:
•A successful attack would incapacitate military training camps.
- incapacitation noun [U] [singular, U] formal
lack of the ability to do things or to do something:
•temporary incapacity through illness
mental/physical/intellectual etc incapacity
•Evidence of his mental incapacity was never produced in court.
incapacity to do sth
•The main problem is the author's incapacity to convey his ideas. $ [T usually passive] formal
to put or keep someone in prison; = imprison
•He spent nearly half his life incarcerated in prison.
- incarceration $ noun [U] $
1 be evil/beauty/greed etc incarnate to have an extreme amount of a particular quality:
•He is now respectability incarnate.
2 having taken human form:
•Jesus, the incarnate son of God
•The media cast him as the devil incarnate (=someone very evil). $ [T] formal
1 to represent a particular quality in a physical or human form:
•The crown incarnates national power.
2 to make something appear in a human form $
1 [C,U] the state of living in the form of a particular person or animal. According to some religions, people have several different incarnations; reincarnation
•She believes she was an Egyptian queen in a previous incarnation.
2 [C] a period of time when someone or something has a particular job, use etc:
•The building has gone through several incarnations, as a station, cafe, and most recently a club.
3 the/an incarnation of sth someone who has a lot of a particular quality, or represents it:
•She was the incarnation of wisdom.
4 [singular] the act of God coming to Earth in the human form of Christ, according to the Christian religion $
if you are incautious, you do not think about the possible bad results of your actions:
•incautious remarks
•The wine had made her incautious.
- incautiously adverb $
1 [only before noun] designed to cause a fire
incendiary bomb/device
•The explosion seems to have been caused by an incendiary device.
2 an incendiary speech, piece of writing etc is intended to make people angry:
•a hip-hop album with incendiary lyricsplural incendiaries [C]
a bomb designed to cause a fire [U]
a substance which has a pleasant smell when you burn it:
•a church filled with the smell of incense
•lighted incense sticks [T]
to make someone very angry:
•Spectators were incensed by the referee's decision. [not before noun]
very angry; = furious
•Pat was so incensed he got up and hit Jack.
[+at]
•Fans were incensed at the decision to ban the song.
incensed that
•Passengers are incensed that rail companies make huge profits while service remains poor. [C,U]
something that encourages you to work harder, start a new activity etc:
•As an added incentive, there's a bottle of champagne for the best team.
create/provide/give sb an incentive
•Awards provide an incentive for young people to improve their skills.
incentive to do sth
•Farmers lack any incentive to manage their land organically.
economic/financial/tax etc incentives
•a recycling drive backed with financial incentives [singular] formal
the start of an organization or institution:
•a CD collection covering the band from its inception in 1994 [usually before noun]
continuing without stopping; = constant
•The child's incessant talking started to irritate her.
•incessant rain
- incessantly adverb
•They quarreled incessantly. [U]
sex between people who are closely related in a family:
•Abortions would only be allowed in cases of rape or incest.
1 involving sexual activity between people who are closely related in a family:
•an incestuous relationship
2 involving a small group of people who only spend time with or help each other, not people outside the group - used to show disapproval:
•an incestuous political community [C]
1 written abbreviation in a unit for measuring length, equal to 2.54 centimetres. There are 12 inches in a foot.:
•The curtains were an inch too short.
•Rainfall here is under 15 inches a year.
a one/two/three etc inch sth
•a six inch nail
2 a very small distance:
•Derek leaned closer, his face only inches from hers.
•The bus missed us by inches.
•On several occasions they came within inches of death.
3 every inch
a) completely or in every way:
•With her designer clothes and elegant hair, she looks every inch the celebrity.
b) the whole of an area or distance
[+of]
•Every inch of space in the tiny shop was crammed with goods.
•Italy deserved to win, though Greece made them fight every inch of the way.
4 give sb an inch and they'll take a yard/mile used to say that if you allow someone a little freedom or power, they will try to take more
5 inch by inch moving very gradually and slowly:
•Inch by inch, he lowered himself from the roof.
6 not give/budge an inch to refuse to change your decision or opinion, even though people are trying to persuade you to do this:
•Neither side is prepared to give an inch in the negotiations.
7 beat/thrash etc sb to within an inch of their life to beat someone very hard and thoroughly:
•Another word out of you and I'll beat you to within an inch of your life.[I,T always + adv/prep]
to move very slowly in a particular direction, or to make something do this:
•I inched forward along the ground. $ formal
inchoate ideas, plans, attitudes etc are only just starting to develop [C usually singular] formal
the number of times something happens, especially crime, disease etc; rate
[+of]
•Why did the incidence of heroin use continue to climb?
high/low etc incidence
•Smokers had the highest incidence of colds. [C]
1 an event, especially one that is unusual, important, or violent:
•A spokesman said it was an isolated incident.
•Am I at risk because of some incident in my sexual past?
shooting/stabbing incident
•Many shooting incidents go unreported.
without incident
•The plane landed without incident.
2 a serious disagreement between two countries:
•You could have caused a major diplomatic incident.
1 happening or existing in connection with something else that is more important:
•Increased motivation is more than an incidental benefit of reward schemes.
[+to]
•companies that carry out investment business that is incidental to their main activity
2 [not before noun] naturally happening as a result of something
[+to]
•Drinking too much is almost incidental to bartending.[C usually plural]
something that you have to do, buy etc which you had not planned to:
•Carry extra cash for taxis, tips and other incidentals.
1 [sentence adverb] used to add more information to what you have just said, or to introduce a new subject that you have just thought of; = by the way
•Incidentally, where were you born?
•The wine, incidentally, goes very well with a mature cheese.
2 in a way that was not planned, but as a result of something else:
•Quite incidentally, I got some useful information at the party.[U]
music played during a play, film etc that helps produce a particular feeling[C] BrE
a room in a police station or other place where police work on solving a particular serious crime [T usually passive] formal
to burn something completely in order to destroy it:
•All the infected clothing was incinerated.
- incineration noun [U]
•an incineration plant $ [C]
a machine designed to burn things in order to destroy them [only before noun] formal
starting to happen or exist:
•a sign of incipient madness [T always + prep] formal
to cut a pattern, word etc into something, using a sharp instrument:
•an inscription incised in stone [C]
a neat cut made into something, especially during a medical operation
showing intelligence and a clear understanding of something
incisive remarks/criticism etc
•Her questions were well-formulated and incisive.
•The error was obvious to an incisive mind like his.
- incisively adverb
- incisiveness noun [U] $ [C]
one of the eight flat teeth at the front of your mouth
CANINE^2 (1), MOLAR [T]
to deliberately encourage people to fight, argue etc:
•They were charged with inciting racial hatred.
incite sb to do sth
•a person who incites others to commit an offence
incite sb to sth
•There was no evidence that he had incited members of the group to violence.
- incitement noun [C,U]
•incitement to murder plural incivilities [C,U] formal
impolite behaviour, remarks etc formal
inclement weather is unpleasantly cold, wet etc
1 [C,U] a feeling that makes you want to do something:
•My natural inclination was to say no.
inclination to do sth
•Neither of my children showed the slightest inclination to follow me into journalism.
•Teachers simply do not have the time or the inclination to investigate these matters.
2 [C,U] a tendency to think or behave in a particular way
inclination to do sth
•an inclination to see everything in political terms
[+to/towards]
•She's troubled by her son's inclination toward atheism.
by inclination
•Bart was a romantic by inclination.
3 [C] a movement made down towards the ground:
•She greeted Maggie with an inclination of the head.
4 [C,U] formal a slope or the angle at which something slopes [not in progressive]
1 [T] formal if a situation, fact etc inclines you to do or think something, it influences you towards a particular action or opinion
incline sb to do sth
•The accident inclined him to reconsider his career.
2 [I] formal to think that a particular belief or opinion is most likely to be correct
incline to do sth
•I incline to accept the official version of events.
[+to/towards]
•I incline to the opinion that this principle extends to cases of religious discrimination.
3 [I,T] to slope at a particular angle, or to make something do this:
•The telescope is inclined at an angle of 43 degrees.
4 incline your head to bend your neck so that your head is lowered [C]
a slope:
•a steep incline
1 be inclined to agree/think/believe etc to hold a particular opinion, but not very strongly:
•Arthur has some strange ideas, but on this occasion I'm inclined to agree with him.
2 be inclined to do sth/inclined to sth to be likely to do something or behave in a particular way:
•Commandos are inclined to shoot first and ask questions later.
•He was inclined to self-pity.
3 be/feel inclined (to do sth) to want to do something, but without having a strong desire:
•It was Sunday morning, and she was not inclined to get up yet.
•You can visit our chatrooms, if you feel so inclined.
4 artistically/musically/mathematically etc inclined naturally interested in or good at art, music etc:
•For the artistically inclined, the street markets are full of interest.
5 sloping or leaning in a particular direction $
another spelling of ENCLOSE $
another spelling of ENCLOSURE [T]
1 [not in progressive] if one thing includes another, the second thing is part of the first:
•Does the price include postage?
•His job includes looking after under-21 teams.
•The curriculum includes courses in computing.
2 to make someone or something part of a larger group or set; exclude
•The team is stronger now they've included Roscoe.
include sth in/on sth
•Service is included in the bill.
•Would you include a Walkman on your list of essentials?

WORD CHOICE: include, consist of, comprise, be composed of, be made up of
Use include to mention only some of the things that something has as its parts The price includes lunch.
If you want to mention all the parts that something has in it, use consist of, comprise, be composed of, or be made up of: The Romance family of languages consists of French, Spanish, Italian, and several other languages. | The house comprises two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room. | The jury was composed of nine whites, one Hispanic, and two Asian Americans. | an organization made up of 600,000 small business owners

!! Do not say that something 'is consisted of' certain things or that it 'consists' them. Say it consists of them.

!! Do not say that something 'comprises of' certain things, even though you might hear English speakers say this. Most careful users consider this to be incorrect so you should avoid using it.

!! Do not say that something 'is composed by' or 'is composed with' certain things. Say it is composed of them.

[only after noun]
including someone or something:
•Everyone has to go to the dentist, you included.
used to introduce something or someone that is part of a larger group or amount you have just mentioned; excluding
•The price is £25.50, including postage and packing.
•You'll need a variety of skills, including leadership and negotiating.
1 [U] the act of including someone or something in a larger group or set, or the fact of being included in one
[+in]
•His inclusion in the team has caused controversy.
•photos chosen for inclusion in the magazine
[+of]
•The inclusion of early recordings on the CD is a bonus.
2 [C] someone or something that has been included in a larger group:
•With the recent inclusions there will be 28 delegates in all.
1 an inclusive price or cost includes everything; exclusive
all-inclusive/fully inclusive
•The fully inclusive fare for the trip is £22.
[+of]
•The rent is £120 a week, inclusive of heating.
2 including a wide variety of people, things etc; exclusive
•Not everyone shares his vision of an inclusive America.
3 (from) April to June inclusive/15 to 20 inclusive etc used to refer to a range of months, numbers etc, including the ones that start and end the range
!! In American English, it is more usual to use the word 'through': Monday through Friday $
if a famous person does something incognito, they do it without letting people know who they are:
•That night, Lenin travelled incognito to the party headquarters. $
1 not expressed or organized clearly, and therefore difficult to understand:
•an incoherent, over-long action movie
•He called the policy 'incoherent and ill-thought out'.
2 speaking in a way that cannot be understood, because you are drunk, feeling a strong emotion etc:
•Ben, drunk and incoherent, slumped in a chair.
- incoherently adverb
•She began to mutter incoherently.
- incoherence noun [U] [C,U]
the money that you earn from your work or that you receive from INVESTMENTs , the government etc

on a ... income (=earning a particular amount)
high/low income
high-income/low-income
annual income
family/household income
disposable income (=your income after tax and necessary bills have been paid)
taxable income (=the part of your income on which you pay tax)
net income (=your income after you have paid taxes)
gross income (=your income before you have paid taxes)
investment income (=income from investments)
source of income
loss of income
supplement your income (with sth) (=increase your income by doing something)

•People on a high income should pay more tax.
• low-income families
•His annual income is £250,000.
•workers with a family income of less than $30,000
• Older people may have more disposable income because their houses are paid for.
[+from]
•income from savings and pensions
• Welfare is their only source of income.
• You should be insured against loss of income.
• He supplements his income with a part-time bar job.

see box at PAY^2 $ [C] BrE
someone who comes to live in a place:
•We've lived here for 17 years, but they still see us as incomers.[U]
money that is given by the government in Britain to people who have no income or a very low income[U]
tax paid on the money that you earn [only before noun]
1 arriving at or coming to a place; outgoing
•incoming flights
•Incoming calls were monitored.
•the incoming tide
2 an incoming president, government etc has just been elected or chosen; outgoing
•It is hoped that the incoming administration will inject some life into Capitol Hill. $
if you are incommunicado, you are in a place where other people cannot speak to you:
•He is reportedly being held incommunicado at a military prison. $
extremely good, beautiful etc, and much better than others:
•an incomparable view of San Marco
•a wine of incomparable flavour
- incomparably adverb
1 two people who are incompatible have such different characters, beliefs etc that they cannot have a friendly relationship; compatible
•I don't know why they ever got married. They're totally incompatible.
2 two things that are incompatible cannot exist or be accepted together
[+with]
•Business interests are incompatible with public office.
•Politeness and truth are often mutually incompatible.
3 two things that are incompatible are of different types and so cannot be used together; compatible
[+with]
•The laser printer is incompatible with the new computer.
•incompatible blood groups
- incompatibility noun [U]
•sexual incompatibility $ [U]
lack of the ability or skill to do a job properly; competence
managerial/professional etc incompetence
•allegations of professional incompetence
•The report blamed police incompetence for the tragedy. $
not having the ability or skill to do a job properly; competent
•an incompetent teacher
•weak, incompetent leadership
incompetent to do sth
•The Prime Minister is incompetent to govern the country.
- incompetent noun [C]
- incompetently adverb
not having everything that should be there, or not completely finished; complete
•Unfortunately I do not have the information because our records are incomplete.
•an incomplete process
•TV ads implied that a woman was incomplete without a man.
- incompletely adverb
- incompleteness noun [U][C] AmE
a GRADE given to school or college students when they have not completed all the work for a course $
difficult or impossible to understand:
•legal documents full of incomprehensible jargon
•I find your attitude quite incomprehensible.
[+to]
•His accent made his speech incomprehensible to me.
- incomprehensibly adverb
- incomprehensibility $ noun [U] $ [U]
the state of not being able to understand something:
•He spread his hands in a gesture of incomprehension.
too strange or unusual to be thought real or possible:
•A few years ago a car fuelled by solar energy would have been inconceivable.
• It is inconceivable that a man in such a powerful position could act so unwisely.
- inconceivably adverb
not leading to a clear decision or result; conclusive
•The evidence against the two men was inconclusive.
•A coalition government was formed after inconclusive elections.
- inconclusively adverb
- inconclusiveness noun [U] plural incongruities
[C,U] the fact that something is strange, unusual, or unsuitable in a particular situation:
•The incongruity of her situation struck Gina with unpleasant force.
[+between]
•He didn't see the slightest incongruity between the idealism of his plays and his own morals. $
strange, unexpected, or unsuitable in a particular situation:
•The new theatre looks utterly incongruous in its setting.
- incongruously adverb $
not important; = insignificant
•inconsequential but amusing chatter
- inconsequentially adverb
not inconsiderable formal used to emphasize that something is large or important; = considerable
•He has built up a not inconsiderable business empire.
not caring about the feelings, needs, or comfort of other people; = thoughtless; considerate
•inconsiderate motorists
it was inconsiderate (of sb) to do sth
•It was very inconsiderate of you to keep us waiting.
- inconsiderately adverb plural inconsistencies
1 [U] when someone keeps changing their behaviour, reactions etc so that other people become confused; consistency
2 [C,U] a situation in which two statements are different and cannot both be true; = contradiction
•There were several glaring inconsistencies (=very noticeable differences) in his report.
[+between]
•Defence counsel looks for inconsistency between witness statements.
1 two statements that are inconsistent cannot both be true; = contradictory; consistent
•The accounts of the witnesses are inconsistent.
[+with]
•His results are inconsistent with the data we produced.
2 not right according to a particular set of principles or standards; consistent
[+with]
•His conduct was inconsistent with what is expected of a Congressman.
3 inconsistent behaviour, work etc changes too often from good to bad; consistent
•The team's performance has been highly inconsistent this season. $
so sad that it is impossible for anyone to comfort you:
•The boy was inconsolable after the death of his dog.
- inconsolably adverb
•She wept inconsolably.
not easily seen or noticed; conspicuous
•an inconspicuous little restaurant
•She stood by the wall, trying to look inconspicuous.
- inconspicuously adverb $ literary
unfaithful in love or friendship
- inconstancy noun [U]
clearly true and impossible to disagree with; = indisputable
•We had incontestable proof of her innocence. $
unable to control the passing of liquid or solid waste from your body
- incontinence noun [U] $
definitely true and impossible to be proved false; = indisputable
•CCTV provided incontrovertible evidence that he was at the scene of the crime.
- incontrovertibly adverb
1 [U] problems caused by something which annoy or affect you:
•We apologise for the delay and any inconvenience caused.
the inconvenience of (doing) sth
•the inconvenience of having to find another buyer
2 [C] someone or something that causes problems for you:
•a minor inconvenience
[+to]
•His early arrival was clearly an inconvenience to his host.[T]
to cause problems for someone:
•I don't want to inconvenience you any further.
causing problems, often in a way that is annoying; convenient
•Monday's a bit inconvenient for me. How about Wednesday?
•Am I calling at an inconvenient time?
- inconveniently adverb $ [T]
to include something as part of a group, system, plan etc
incorporate sth into/in sth
•We've incorporated many environmentally-friendly features into the design of the building.
•Our original proposals were not incorporated in the new legislation.
- incorporation $ noun [U]
•the incorporation of the college into the universityInc $
used after the name of a company in the US to show that it has become a CORPORATION; limited $ formal
not existing in any physical form:
•Plato demonstrated the incorporeal nature of the soul.
1 not correct or true:
•The information you gave us was incorrect.
2 not following the rules of polite or fair behaviour; = impolite
•It would be incorrect of me to comment.
- incorrectly adverb
•Sorry, you answered incorrectly. $
someone who is incorrigible is bad in a way that cannot be changed or improved - often used humorously
an incorrigible liar/rogue
•Peter, you are an incorrigible flirt!
- incorrigibly adverb
1 someone who is incorruptible cannot be persuaded to do wrong or illegal things:
•A good judge must be incorruptible.
2 formal material that is incorruptible will never decay and cannot be destroyed
- incorruptibility noun [U]
[I,T] if you increase something, or if it increases, it becomes bigger in amount, number, or degree; decrease, reduce
•The population increased dramatically in the first half of the century.
•political tensions that might increase the likelihood of war
•Visits to the site have increased threefold since May.
increase in value/price/importance etc
•Investments are certain to increase in value.
increase (sth) by sth
•Food prices increased by 10% in less than a year.
increase (sth) from/to sth
•The salary is £18,600 a year, increasing to £23,000.
- increasing adjective
•the increasing difficulty of finding trained staff
•European leaders watched events unfold with increasing alarm.
- increased adjective
•Quality improvements produced increased demand for our goods.
•an increased incidence of childhood leukaemia [C,U]
a rise in amount, number, or degree; decrease

tax increase
wage/pay/salary increase
price increase
fare increase
substantial/large increase
huge/massive increase (=a very large increase)
dramatic/sharp increase (=a sudden large increase)
significant/marked increase (=a definite and noticeable increase)
slight/small/modest increase
gradual increase
threefold/fourfold/fivefold etc increase (=an increase by three, four etc times)
be on the increase (=be increasing)

[+in]
• an increase in the crime rate
• Recent tax increases have affected the poor more than the rich.
• the dramatic increase in the population aged over 65
•There has been a marked increase in the use of firearms.
•Cases of tuberculosis are on the increase.

more and more all the time:
•Marketing techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
•Increasingly, young people distrust all forms of government.
1 extremely good, large, or great; = unbelievable
•The view is just incredible.
•There was blood everywhere and the pain was incredible.
2 too strange to be believed or very difficult to believe; = unbelievable
• It's incredible that he survived the fall.
• It's incredible how much Tom has changed since he met Sally.
•I find it almost incredible that no-one noticed these errors.
1 [+adj/adv] informal extremely:
•Nicotine is incredibly addictive.
2 [sentence adverb] in a way that is hard to believe:
•The knife had pierced his heart, but incredibly he was still alive. $ [U]
a feeling that you cannot believe something; = disbelief
•When she told her family she was gay, they reacted with a mixture of shock and incredulity. $
unable or unwilling to believe something:
•'You sold the car?' she asked, incredulous.
incredulous look/expression/voice etc
•She shot him an incredulous look.
- incredulously adverb [C]
1 a regular increase in the amount of money someone is paid:
•a salary of £18,000, with annual increments of 2.5%
2 formal the amount by which a number, value, or amount increases formal
1 [usually before noun] increasing in amount or value gradually and by a regular amount:
•incremental pay scales
2 happening gradually over time:
•Mr Kennedy said that progress on reforms would be incremental.
•a process of incremental change
- incrementally adverb
•You need to make changes in your diet incrementally. [T]
to make someone seem guilty of a crime
incriminate yourself
•He refused to answer questions for fear he might incriminate himself.
- incriminating adjective
•incriminating evidence
- incrimination noun [U]
the in-crowd a small group of people in an organization who are fashionable, popular, or powerful, but who do not let many other people join them:
•I was never one of the in-crowd at school. [I,T]
1 if a bird incubates its eggs, or if the eggs incubate, they are kept warm until they HATCH (=the birds inside are born)
2 technical if a disease incubates, or if you incubate it, it develops in your body until you show physical signs of it
- incubation noun [U]
•Hepatitis has a long incubation period. $ [C]
1 a piece of hospital equipment into which very small or weak babies are put to keep them alive and warm
2 a heated container for keeping eggs warm until they HATCH (=the young birds are born)
3 an organization which helps new businesses to develop by giving them office space, services, and equipment, and providing them with business and technical advice:
•a high-tech incubator on the East coast plural incubuses or incubi [C]
1 someone or something that causes a lot of worries or problems:
•Joyce regarded his US citizenship as a moral and political incubus.
2 a male DEVIL that in the past was believed to have sex with a sleeping woman
SUCCUBUS $ [T] formal
to fix ideas, principles etc in someone's mind
inculcate sth in/into sb
•I try to inculcate a sense of responsibility in my children.
•Not all schools manage to successfully inculcate a love of learning.
- inculcation noun [U] plural incumbencies [C usually singular, U] formal
the state of holding an official position, especially in politics, or the time when someone holds an official position [C] formal
someone who has been elected to an official position, especially in politics, and who is doing that job at the present time:
•In the June elections, Morris easily defeated the incumbent, Tom Smith.formal
1 it is incumbent upon/on sb to do sth if it is incumbent upon you to do something, it is your duty or responsibility to do it:
•It is incumbent upon parents to control what their children watch on TV.
2 the incumbent president/priest/government etc the president etc at the present time $ past tense and past participle incurred, present participle incurring [T] formal
1 if you incur a cost, debt, or a fine, you have to pay money because of something you have done, or you do not make money
incur expenses/costs/losses/debts etc
•If the council loses the appeal, it will incur all the legal costs.
•the heavy losses incurred by airlines since September 11th
2 if you incur something unpleasant, it happens to you because of something you have done
incur sb's displeasure/wrath/disapproval etc
•She wondered what she'd done to incur his displeasure this time. $
1 impossible to cure; curable
incurable disease/illness/condition
•She has a rare, incurable disease.
2 impossible to change:
•My mother is an incurable optimist.
- incurably adverb
•incurably romantic $ [C] formal
1 a sudden attack into an area that belongs to other people
[+into]
•a combined British and French incursion into China in 1857
2 the sudden arrival of something or someone into a place or activity where they do not belong or have not been before, used especially to say that they are not welcome
[+into]
•The media was criticized for its thoughtless incursion into the domestic grief of the family.
•the Japanese incursion into the U.S. domestic electronics market
1 be (deeply/greatly) indebted to sb to be very grateful to someone for the help they have given you:
•We are deeply indebted to Dr Allen and the rest of the hospital staff.
2 owing money to someone:
•the 17 most heavily indebted nations
- indebtedness noun [U] plural indecencies
1 [U] law behaviour that is sexually offensive, especially INDECENT EXPOSURE
2 [C] formal an action that is shocking or offensive
1 something that is indecent is shocking and offensive, usually because it involves sex or shows parts of the body that are usually covered:
•He was found guilty of possessing indecent photographs of young boys.
•You can't go out in that dress - it's positively indecent!
2 completely unacceptable:
•The funeral formalities were performed with almost indecent haste.
- indecently adverb
•an indecently short skirt[C,U] law
the crime of making a sexual attack on someone, touching or threatening to touch them, but not RAPING them (=forcing them to have sex)[U] law
the criminal offence of deliberately showing your sex organs in a place where this is likely to offend people
impossible to read or understand:
•an indecipherable signature [U]
the state of being unable to decide what to do:
•There were weeks of indecision about who would go and when.
1 unable to make clear decisions or choices; decisive
•a weak and indecisive leader
2 not having a clear result; = inconclusive
•a confused, indecisive battle
- indecisively adverb
- indecisiveness noun [U]
1 [sentence adverb] used to emphasize a statement or answer:
•The blood tests prove that Vince is indeed the father.
•'Would it help if you had an assistant?' 'It would indeed.'
2 [sentence adverb] formal used to introduce an additional statement that emphasizes or supports what you have just said:
•I didn't mind at all. Indeed, I was pleased.
3 especially BrE used with 'very' and an adjective or adverb to emphasize a statement or description:
•Most of the essays were very good indeed.
•Thank you very much indeed.
4 spoken especially BrE used to show that you are surprised or annoyed by something that someone has just told you:
•'He said he was too busy to see you.' 'Did he, indeed?'
5 why/how/who etc indeed? spoken used when someone has asked you a question, to show that you do not know the answer and you do not think there can be a satisfactory answer:
•'Why would John have left without saying a word?' 'Why indeed?'
•'How can anyone justify such shameful behaviour?' 'How indeed?' formal
determined and never giving up:
•an indefatigable campaigner for human rights
- indefatigably adverb
1 too bad to be excused or defended:
•The law is morally indefensible and in need of reform.
2 impossible or very difficult to defend from military attack
- indefensibly adverb
an indefinable feeling, quality etc is difficult to describe or explain:
•She felt an indefinable sadness.
- indefinably adverb
1 an indefinite action or period of time has no definite end arranged for it:
•The next day the union voted to begin an indefinite strike.
•The picture has been loaned for an indefinite period to the National Gallery.
2 not clear or exact; = vague
•Teachers find the report's terminology so indefinite that it is confusing.[C] technical
the word 'a' or 'an'; definite article
1 for a period of time for which no definite end has been arranged:
•The project has been postponed indefinitely.
2 without giving clear or exact details[C] technical
a word such as 'some', 'any', or 'either' that is used instead of a noun, but does not say exactly which person or thing is meant
1 impossible to remove or forget; = permanent
•Her words left an indelible impression on me for years to come.
2 indelible ink/pencil/marker etc ink etc that makes a permanent mark which cannot be removed
- indelibly adverb
•a moment indelibly imprinted on my mind formal
likely to embarrass or shock people; = rude
•an indelicate comment
- indelicacy noun [U] past tense and past participle indemnified, present participle indemnifying, third person singular indemnifies [T] law
1 [+ against/for] to promise to pay someone if something they own is damaged or lost
2 [+ for] to pay someone money because of loss, injury, or damage that they have suffered
- indemnification noun [C,U] plural indemnities law
1 [U] protection against loss or damage, especially in the form of a promise to pay for any losses or damage:
•insurance providing indemnity against future liabilities
2 [C] a payment for the loss of money, goods etc [T]
to start a line of writing further towards the middle of the page than other lines:
•Use the Tab key to indent the first line of the paragraph. [C] especially BrE
1 an official order for goods or equipment
[+for]
•He cancelled the indent for silk scarves.
2 an indentation [C]
1 also indent a space at the beginning of a line of writing
2 also indent a cut into the surface or edge of something:
•Gently make a small indentation in the center of each cookie.
an indented edge or surface has cuts or marks in it:
•our deeply indented coastline $ plural indentures [C,U]
a formal contract, especially in the past, between an APPRENTICE and his MASTER (=employer), or the act of arranging this
- indentured adjective
•indentured servants [U]
1 political freedom from control by the government of another country
[+from]
•Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960.
•Lithuania was the first of the Soviet republics to declare independence (=officially state its independence).
2 the time when a country becomes politically independent:
•The country has made great advances since independence.
3 the freedom and ability to make your own decisions in life, without having to ask other people for permission, help, or money:
•ways of helping old people maintain their independence
•Having a job gives you financial independence.[C,U]
1 the day every year on which a country celebrates its independence from another country that controlled it in the past
2 this day in the U.S., celebrated on 4th July[C]
a politician who does not belong to a political party
1 NOT OWNED/CONTROLLED BY STH [usually before noun] an independent organization is not owned or controlled by, or does not receive money from, another organization or the government:
•There are plans to split the corporation into a number of smaller independent companies.
•an independent charity
•small independent bookshops
[+of]
•We need a central bank that is independent of the government.
independent school especially BrE (=one not owned or paid for by the government)
•schools in the independent sector
independent television/radio/broadcasting etc BrE (=not owned or paid for by the government)
•independent television companies
independent film (=one not made or produced by a large film production company)
2 FAIR [usually before noun] an independent organization or person is not involved in a particular situation, and can therefore be trusted to be fair in judging it:
•an independent panel of scientists
•An independent body (=group of people who work together) has been set up to monitor government spending.
•There were no independent witnesses to the shooting.
independent inquiry/advice/opinion etc (=carried out by or given by an independent person or organization)
•Human rights groups have called for an independent inquiry into the killings.
•the results of an independent study
3 COUNTRY an independent country is not governed or controlled by another country:
•India became independent in 1947.
4 PERSON
a) confident and able to do things by yourself in your own way, without needing help or advice from other people; dependent
•Now that my sons are becoming more independent, I have more time for myself.
•a strong-willed, independent young woman
•He's now helping other people with spinal injuries to lead an independent life.
[+of]
•By this age, the child becomes relatively independent of his mother.
b) having enough money to live without having to ask for help from other people:
•It was always very important to me to be financially independent.
[+of]
•Robert aimed to be independent of his parents by the time he was twenty.
5 independent study/learning when you study on your own rather than being taught by a teacher:
•The tapes can be used in class or for independent study.
6 woman/man etc of independent means someone who has their own income from property, INVESTMENTs etc, so that they do not have to work or depend on anyone else
7 SEPARATE if one thing is independent of another, the two are not connected, or the second thing does not influence the first
[+of]
•reports from two separate sources entirely independent of one another
•Three independent studies all arrived at the same conclusion.
8 POLITICIAN [usually before noun] an independent politician does not belong to a particular party:
• Independent candidates won three seats.
- independently adverb
•The two departments operate independently of each other.
•She had elderly parents who could no longer live independently.[C] technical
a CLAUSE which can make a sentence by itself, for example 'she went home' in the sentence 'She went home because she was tired.'; = main clause[only before noun]
thorough, complete, and considering all the details
in-depth study/research/analysis etc
•an in-depth study of patients' needs
•a series of in-depth interviews
something that is indescribable is so terrible, so good, so strange etc that you cannot describe it, or it is too difficult to describe:
•a feeling of indescribable joy
- indescribably adverb
•an indescribably awful smell
too strong to be destroyed:
•her indestructible optimism
•Gold is virtually indestructible.
- indestructibility noun [U] $
impossible to find out or calculate exactly:
•water of indeterminable depth
- indeterminably adverb $
impossible to know about definitely or exactly:
•a girl of indeterminate age
- indeterminately adverb
- indeterminacy noun [U] [C]
1 plural indexes an alphabetical list of names, subjects etc at the back of a book, with the numbers of the pages where they can be found
2 plural indexes a set of cards or a DATABASE containing information, usually arranged in alphabetical order and used especially in a library
3 plural indices a standard by which the level of something can be judged or measured
[+of]
•The changing size of an infant's head is considered an index of brain growth.
4 plural indices or indexes technical a system by which prices, costs etc can be compared to those of a previous date[T] [usually passive]
1 if documents, information etc are indexed, an index is made for them:
•The reports are indexed by subject and location.
2 to arrange for the level of wages, PENSIONs etc to increase or decrease according to the level of prices
[+to] BrE
•demands that wages be indexed to the rise in prices
[+for] AmE
•an amount indexed for inflation
- indexation noun [C,U][C]
a small card for writing on, used especially in an INDEX^1 (2)[C]
the finger next to your thumb; = forefingerBrE technical
index-linked wages, PENSIONs etc, increase or decrease according to the rise or fall of prices
1 [C] someone from India
2 [C] a member of one of the races that lived in North, South, and Central America before the Europeans arrived; = Native American
3 [singular] BrE informal a meal of Indian food, or a restaurant that sells Indian food:
•Do you fancy going out for an Indian?
1 relating to India or its people
2 relating to the Indians of North, South, and Central America[C]
1 a period of warm weather in autumn
2 a happy or successful time, especially near the end of your life or CAREER
1 [T] to show that a particular situation exists, or that something is likely to be true
indicate (that)
•Research indicates that over 81% of teachers are dissatisfied with their salary.
•Long skid marks on the pavement indicated the driver had attempted to brake.
•The study indicates a strong connection between poverty and crime.
2 [T] to say or do something to make your wishes, intentions etc clear:
•The Russians have already indicated their willingness to cooperate.
•Professor Johnson has indicated his intention to retire at the end of next year.
indicate (that)
•Ralph patted the sofa to indicate that she should join him.
•Please indicate your preference on the booking form.
3 [T] to direct someone's attention to something or someone, for example by pointing:
•'That's her,' said Toby, indicating a girl on the other side of the room.
4 [T] to represent something:
•Sales targets are indicated on the graph by a vertical dotted line.
5 [I,T] BrE to show the direction in which you intend to turn in a vehicle, using lights or your hands; = signal
•Don't forget to indicate before you pull out. [C,U]
a sign, remark, event etc that shows what is happening, what someone is thinking or feeling, or what is true
[+of]
•Dark green leaves are a good indication of healthy roots.
•He gave no indication of his own feelings at all.
•Could you give me some indication as to when I am likely to receive a reply?
indication (that)
•Taking a career history along with you will be a clear indication that you are well organized.
•Indications are that the situation hasn't improved much.
•There is every indication (=there are very clear signs) that it is true. [C,U] technical
the form of a verb that is used to make statements. For example, in the sentences 'Penny passed her test', and 'Michael likes cake', the verbs 'passed' and 'like' are in the indicative.
1 be indicative of sth to be a clear sign that a particular situation exists or that something is likely to be true:
•This behaviour is indicative of her whole attitude, I'm afraid.
2 technical an indicative verb form is used for making statements $ [C]
1 something that can be regarded as a sign of something else:
•All the main economic indicators suggest that trade is improving.
2 BrE one of the lights on a car that flash to show which way the car is turning; = turn signal AmE
3 a POINTER on a machine that shows the temperature, pressure, speed etc
a plural of INDEX [I,T] law especially AmE
to officially charge someone with a criminal offence
indict sb for sth
•He was indicted for vehicular homicide in 1987. law especially AmE
an indictable offence is one for which you can be indicted
1 be an indictment of sth to be a very clear sign that a system, method etc is very bad or very wrong:
•The fact that these children cannot read is a damning indictment of our education system.
2 [C] law especially AmE an official written statement charging someone with a criminal offence
3 [U] law especially AmE the act of officially charging someone with a criminal offence [only before noun]
used to refer to popular music that is performed by new bands or singers, and produced by small independent companies:
•indie music
•an indie band[C]
a small independent company, especially one that produces popular music [U]
lack of interest or concern
[+to]
•his apparent indifference to material luxuries
•Whether you stay or leave is a matter of total indifference to me (=I do not care).
1 not at all interested in someone or something
[+to]
•Sarah was absolutely indifferent to him, and it hurt.
2 not particularly good; = mediocre
•an indifferent cook
- indifferently adverb formal
indigenous people or things have always been in the place where they are, rather than being brought there from somewhere else; = native
[+to]
•Blueberries are indigenous to America.
•the many indigenous cultures which existed in Siberia formal
very poor
1 food that is indigestible cannot easily be broken down in the stomach into substances that the body can use
2 information that is indigestible is not easy to understand:
•indigestible statistics [U]
pain that you get when your stomach cannot break down food that you have eaten; heartburn
•Spicy food always gives me indigestion.
angry and surprised because you feel insulted or unfairly treated
[+at/about]
•Liz was indignant at the way her child had been treated.
•I got an indignant reply from Mr Norris.
- indignantly adverb
•'Of course I didn't tell her!' Sasha said indignantly. [U]
feelings of anger and surprise because you feel insulted or unfairly treated:
•To his indignation, Charles found that his name was not on the list.
with/in indignation
•Lou's voice quivered with indignation.
[+at/about/over]
•Her indignation at such rough treatment was understandable.
•He stormed into her office, full of righteous indignation. plural indignities [C,U]
a situation that makes you feel very ashamed and not respected:
•The prisoners were subjected to all sorts of indignities.
the indignity of (doing) sth
•Two of the diplomats suffered the indignity of being arrested.
the final/ultimate/crowning etc indignity $ [U]
a dark purple-blue colour
- indigo adjective
1 not directly caused by something; direct
•Losing weight is an indirect result of smoking cigarettes.
•The indirect effects of climate change may be profound.
2 an indirect way to a place is not the straightest way; direct
•They took an indirect route, avoiding the town centre.
3 not saying or showing something in a clear definite way; direct
•George's comments were an indirect way of blaming me.
- indirectly adverb
•Perhaps I was indirectly responsible for the misunderstanding.[C usually plural] technical
money that a business must spend, not directly on its products or services, but on other things such as buildings or wages[U] AmE technical
INDIRECT SPEECH[C] technical
an OBJECT of a verb that refers to the person that something is given to, said to, made for etc. For example, in the sentence 'I asked him a question', the indirect object is 'him'.indirect discourse AmE also reported speech [U] BrE technical
a way of reporting what someone said without repeating their exact words. For example, in the sentence 'Julia said that she didn't want to go', the clause 'that she didn't want to go' is indirect speech. Her actual words were 'I don't want to go'.[C]
a tax which is added to the cost of goods and services; direct tax
- #indirect tax=ation noun [U] $
very difficult to see, hear, or notice:
•The path was almost indiscernible in the mist. [U] formal
a lack of control in the behaviour of a group of people, with the result that they behave badly; discipline
•Indiscipline among the troops eventually led to a riot.
careless about what you say or do, especially by talking about things which should be kept secret; discreet
•It was very indiscreet of Colin to tell them about our plan.
[C,U] an action or remark that shows a lack of good judgment, especially one that is morally unacceptable:
•Earl describes his past links with the racist group as a youthful indiscretion.
•rumours of the former president's sexual indiscretions
an indiscriminate action is done without thinking about what harm it might cause
indiscriminate attacks/killing/violence/bombing etc
•terrorists responsible for indiscriminate killing
•the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers
•Even so-called 'tactical' nuclear weapons are indiscriminate in their effect.
- indiscriminately adverb
•Soldiers fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
someone or something that is indispensable is so important or useful that it is impossible to manage without them; = essential
[+to]
•This book is indispensable to anyone interested in space exploration.
indispensable for/in (doing) sth
•Meat is not indispensable for maintaining a healthy diet.
•Mobile phones have become an indispensable part of our lives. $ [not before noun] formal
1 ill and therefore unable to be present:
•Mrs Rawlins is temporarily indisposed.
2 indisposed to do sth not willing to do something formal
[C,U] a slight illness
an indisputable fact must be accepted because it is definitely true:
•The evidence was indisputable.
- indisputably adverb
•This novel is indisputably his finest work. $ formal
an indissoluble relationship cannot be destroyed:
•the indissoluble link between language and culture
- indissolubly adverb
an indistinct sound, image, or memory cannot be seen, heard, or remembered clearly; distinct
•She muttered something indistinct.
•My memory of what happened next is indistinct.
- indistinctly adverb
things that are indistinguishable are so similar that you cannot see any difference between them
[+from]
•an artificial material that is almost indistinguishable from real silk
1 [only before noun] considered separately from other people or things in the same group:
• Each individual leaf on the tree is different.
•the needs of the individual customer
2 [only before noun] belonging to or intended for one person rather than a group:
•Children get more individual attention in small classes.
•You can have the bathroom designed to suit your individual needs.
•individual portions of jam
3 an individual style, way of doing things etc is different from anyone else's - usually used to show approval; = distinctive
•a tennis player with a highly individual style
•a very individual way of dressing[C]
1 a person, considered separately from the rest of the group or society that they live in:
•the rights of the individual
•Each individual receives two genes, one inherited from each parent.
•Most churches were built with donations from private individuals (=ordinary people, rather than the government or companies).
2 a person of a particular kind, especially one who is unusual in some way:
•a strange-looking individual [U]
1 the belief that the rights and freedom of individual people are the most important rights in a society:
•Capitalism encourages competition and individualism.
2 the behaviour or attitude of someone who does things in their own way without being influenced by other people [C]
someone who does things in their own way and has different opinions from most other people:
•Geoff was too much of an individualist to be team captain.
- individualistic also individualist adjective
•She has a highly individualistic approach to painting. [U]
the qualities that make someone or something different from other things or people:
•We like our staff to show their individuality rather than wear a uniform.also individualised BrE
designed to fit the special needs of a particular person or thing:
•an individualized training program
- individualize verb [T]
separately, not together in a group:
•The bridegroom thanked them all individually.
•individually wrapped portions of cheese formal
1 [T] to make someone or something clearly different from others of the same kind:
•The characters in the play are beautifully individuated.
2 [I] AmE to have an idea of yourself as an independent person, separate from other people
something that is indivisible cannot be separated or divided into parts; divisible
- indivisibly adverb $ [in nouns and adjectives]
Indian and something else:
•Indo-European languages $ [T]
to train someone to accept a particular set of beliefs, especially political or religious ones, and not consider any others:
•People were indoctrinated not to question their leaders.
- indoctrination $ noun [U]
•The military in particular were subjected to intense political indoctrination.
the Indo-European group of languages includes English, French, Hindi, Russian, and most of the other languages of Europe and northern India formal
lazy
- indolence noun [U] $ formal
having great determination or courage:
•an indomitable old lady
indomitable spirit/will/courage etc
•Alice was a woman of indomitable spirit. $ [only before noun]
used or happening inside a building; outdoor
•an indoor swimming pool
•the world indoor athletics championship
•Too much central heating can harm indoor plants.
!! Do not confuse indoor and indoors. Indoor is an adjective and indoors is an adverb: I stayed indoors (NOT I stayed indoor). | indoor sports (NOT indoors sports) $
into or inside a building; outdoors
•Let's go indoors and have something to eat.
•It rained all day so we had to stay indoors. $
another spelling of ENDORSE $
indrawn breath written air that someone breathes in a way that can be heard, especially because they are shocked:
•She heard Mitch's swiftly indrawn breath. $ formal
certainly or without doubt:
•Mr Sachs is indubitably charming.
- indubitable adjective $ [T]
1 formal to persuade someone to do something, especially something that does not seem wise
induce sb to do sth
•Nothing would induce me to vote for him again.
2 medical to make a woman give birth to her baby, by giving her a special drug:
•She had to be induced because the baby was four weeks late.
•The doctor decided to induce labour.
3 formal to cause a particular physical condition:
•Patients with eating disorders may use drugs to induce vomiting.
drug-induced/stress-induced etc
•a drug-induced coma $ [C,U]
a reason for doing something, especially something that you will get as a result
inducement to do sth
•Businesses were offered inducements to move to the area.
• financial inducements to attract good job candidates [T usually passive] formal
1 to officially give someone a job or position of authority, especially at a special ceremony
induct sb to/into sth
•18 new junior ministers were inducted into the government.
2 AmE to officially introduce someone into a group or organization, especially the army
3 to officially introduce someone into an important place of honour at a special ceremony
induct sb into sth
•Barry was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. [C] AmE
someone who is joining a special group, especially the army
1 [C,U] the introduction of someone into a new job, company, official position etc, or the ceremony at which this is done
induction course/programme/period etc
•a two-day induction course
•Mrs Simpson is responsible for the induction of new library staff.
2 [C,U] medical the process of making a woman give birth to her baby by giving her a special drug
3 [U] technical the production of electricity in one object by another that already has electrical or MAGNETIC power
4 [U] technical a process of thought that uses known facts to produce general rules or principles
DEDUCTION[C] technical
a piece of electrical equipment that changes a low VOLTAGE to a higher one technical
1 using known facts to produce general principles:
•inductive reasoning
2 connected with electrical or MAGNETIC induction
1 [I,T] to let yourself do or have something that you enjoy, especially something that is considered bad for you
[+in]
•Most of us were too busy to indulge in heavy lunchtime drinking.
•Eva had never been one to indulge in self-pity.
indulge yourself
•Even if you're dieting, you can indulge yourself (=eat what you want) once in a while.
•Ray has enough money to indulge his taste for expensive wines.
2 [T] to let someone have or do whatever they want, even if it is bad for them:
•His mother spoiled him, indulging his every whim.
3 [I] to take part in an activity, especially an illegal one
[+in]
•Women do not indulge in crime to the same extent as men.
1 [U] the habit of allowing yourself to do or have whatever you want, or allowing someone else to do or have whatever they want
self-indulgence at SELF-INDULGENT
2 [C] something that you do or have for pleasure, not because you need it:
•An occasional glass of wine was his only indulgence.
3 [U] formal willingness to ignore someone's faults or weaknesses:
•a spirit of indulgence and forgiveness
4 [C] a promise of freedom from punishment by God, sold by priests in the Middle Ages
willing to allow someone, especially a child, to do or have whatever they want, even if this is not good for them:
•expensive toys bought by their indulgent grandparents
- indulgently adverb
1 relating to industry or the people working in it
industrial production/output
•Industrial production has risen by 0.5% since November.
industrial development/growth
•rapid post-war industrial development
industrial conflict/dispute/unrest (=disagreement between workers and their employers)
•Last year 1.3 million workers took part in industrial disputes.
industrial accident/injury (=happening at work)
2 having many industries
industrial countries/nations/states
•a meeting of the world's major industrial nations
industrial area/zone
•pollution in industrial areas
•By 1900 Britain was a mainly industrial society.
3 of the type used in industry:
•cleaning products that are for industrial use only (=not to be used at home)
- industrially adverb[U] BrE
an action such as a STRIKE (=stopping work) taken by workers involved in a disagreement with their employer[U]
the study of old factories, machines etc[U] AmE
a subject taught in school about how to use tools, machinery etc[U]
stealing secret information from one company in order to help another companyindustrial park AmE BrE
a piece of land, often on the edge of a town, where there are factories and businesses [U]
the system by which a society gets its wealth through industries and machinery [C]
a person who owns or runs a factory or industrial companyalso industrialisation BrE $ [U]
when a country or place develops a lot of industry
- industrialize verb [I,T]
an industrialized country or place has a lot of factories, mines etc[plural]
the relationship between workers and employers
the Industrial Revolution the period in the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe and the USA when machines were invented and the first factories were established
an industrial-strength substance is very strong - often used humorously:
•They served us industrial-strength coffee.[C] BrE
a court which judges disagreements between workers and their employers
someone who is industrious works hard; = hard-working
- industriously adverb plural industries
1 [U]
a) the large-scale production of goods or of substances such as coal and steel:
•a decline in manufacturing industry
heavy/light industry (=the production of large or small goods)
•Heavy industry was concentrated in the north of the country.
•This type of software is widely used in industry.
b) the people who work in industry:
•an agreement that will be welcomed by both sides of industry (=employers and workers)
2 [C] businesses that produce a particular type of thing or provide a particular service
coal/car/textile etc industry
•I work in the oil industry.
tourist/travel/leisure/catering etc industry
•Italy's thriving tourist industry
•new jobs in service industries (=businesses such as banking and tourism)
3 [U] formal the fact of working hard:
•Gould is a man of great industry.
4 [singular] an area of work which has grown too large - used to show disapproval:
•another book from the Shakespeare industry formal
drunk
if something is inedible, you cannot eat it because it tastes bad or is poisonous; edible
•The meat was so burnt that it was inedible. $ formal
impossible or very difficult to educate formal
too great to be described in words:
•ineffable joy
- ineffably adverb
something that is ineffective does not achieve what it is intended to achieve; effective
ineffective in doing sth
•The chemical was almost totally ineffective in killing the weeds.
[+against]
•Various drugs have proved ineffective against the virus.
•an ineffective marketing campaign
- ineffectively adverb
- ineffectiveness noun [U]
•the ineffectiveness of most diets
not having the ability, confidence, or personal authority to get things done:
•an ineffectual leader
•She remembered her ineffectual efforts to comfort him.
- ineffectually adverb
not using time, money, energy etc in the best way; efficient
•an inefficient use of resources
•Local government was inefficient.
- inefficiently adverb
- inefficiency noun [C,U]
•problems due to the inefficiency of management
not graceful or attractive; elegant
•an inelegant expression
- inelegantly adverb
- inelegance noun [U]
not allowed to have or do something because of a law or rule; eligible
[+for]
•Temporary workers are ineligible for the pension scheme.
ineligible to do sth
•People under 18 are ineligible to vote.
- ineligibility noun [U] formal
impossible to avoid
- ineluctably adverb
not good at doing something; capable, skilful
•inept leadership
•He was criticized for his inept handling of the problem.
politically/socially inept
•Blake was intellectually able but politically inept.
- ineptly adverb
INAPT $ [U] formal
lack of skill:
•the ineptitude of the people in charge $ plural inequalities [C,U]
an unfair situation, in which some groups in society have more money, opportunities, power etc than others; equality
[+in]
•There are inequalities in wealth distribution.
[+of]
•inequality of opportunity
[+between]
•inequalities between men and women
social/gender/racial etc inequality
•a policy that aims to redress racial inequalities formal
not equally fair to everyone:
•an inequitable distribution of wealth
- inequitably adverb plural inequities [C,U] formal
lack of fairness, or something that is unfair; equity
[+of]
•the inequities of the legal system
[+in]
•There are huge inequities in the distribution of research funding.
racial/social inequity
•a report on racial inequity in the UK formal
impossible to change or remove:
•ineradicable hostility
- ineradicably adverb $
1 technical not producing a chemical reaction when combined with other substances:
•inert gases
2 literary not moving, or not having the strength or power to move:
•He lay, inert, in his bed.
3 not willing to do anything:
•The government was perceived to be inert and inefficient.
- inertness noun [U] $ [U]
1 when no one wants to do anything to change a situation:
•political inertia
2 technical the force that keeps an object in the same position or keeps it moving until it is moved or stopped by another force
3 a lack of energy and a feeling that you do not want to do anything
- inertial adjective
an inescapable fact or situation is one that you cannot avoid or ignore:
•She didn't want to confront the inescapable fact that she would have to sell the house.
•The inescapable conclusion is that he was murdered by someone in his own family.
- inescapably adverb formal
not needed; = unnecessary; essential
•inessential details
- inessentials noun [plural] formal
too much or too great to be calculated:
•a painting of inestimable value [singular, U]
the fact that something is certain to happen, or something that is certain to happen
[+of]
•the inevitability of death
1 certain to happen and impossible to avoid:
•A further escalation of the crisis now seems inevitable.
it is inevitable (that)
•It's inevitable that doctors will make the occasional mistake.
inevitable consequence/result
•Disease was an inevitable consequence of poor living conditions.
2 the inevitable a situation that is certain to happen:
•One day the inevitable happened and I got a speeding ticket.
used for saying that something is certain to happen and cannot be avoided:
•The decision will inevitably lead to political tensions. [sentence adverb]
•Inevitably, the situation did not please everyone.
not exact:
•Earthquake prediction is an inexact science.
inexcusable behaviour is too bad to be excused:
•an inexcusable act of aggression
- inexcusably adverb $
something that is inexhaustible exists in such large amounts that it can never be finished or used up:
•She has an inexhaustible supply of funny stories.
•a man of inexhaustible energy formal
an inexorable process cannot be stopped:
•the inexorable decline of Britain's manufacturing industry
•the seemingly inexorable rise in crime
- inexorably adverb
- inexorability noun [U]
cheap - use this to show approval; expensive
•a good selection of inexpensive wines
•Painting is a relatively inexpensive way to enhance your home.
- inexpensively adverb $ [U]
lack of experience:
•youthful inexperience $
not having had much experience:
•inexperienced pilots $ formal
not having the skill to do something; expert
•an inexperienced and inexpert teacher
- inexpertly adverb $
too unusual or strange to be explained or understood; = incomprehensible, strange
•inexplicable behaviour
• For some inexplicable reason, he felt depressed.
- inexplicably adverb formal
an inexpressible feeling is too strong to be described in words:
•inexpressible gratitude
- inexpressibly adverb
a face that is inexpressive shows no emotion formal
1 in a very difficult situation when you need to do something very extreme
2 at the moment of death formal
two or more things that are inextricable are closely related and affect each other:
•the inextricable connection between language and culture
be inextricably linked/bound up/mixed etc if two or more things are inextricably linked etc, they are very closely related and affect each other:
•Physical health is inextricably linked to mental health.
•Economic and social history are inextricably bound up with each other.
1 always right and never making mistakes; fallible
•No expert is infallible.
•an infallible memory
2 something that is infallible always works or has the intended effect:
•He had an infallible cure for a hangover.
- infallibly adverb
- infallibility noun [U]
well known for being bad or evil:
•an infamous killer
•Los Angeles' infamous smog
[+for]
•This area is infamous for drugs and prostitution.
- infamously adverb [U]
the state of being evil or well known for evil things [U]
1 the period of a child's life before they can walk or talk
in infancy
•In the past, many children died in infancy.
2 the time when something is just starting to be developed:
•The research stretched from the infancy of radio broadcasting through to today.
•Genetic engineering is still in its infancy.
1 [C] formal a baby or very young child:
•An infant's skin is very sensitive.
SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME
2 infants [plural] children in school in Britain between the ages of four and eight[only before noun]
1 infant school/teacher/class etc a school, teacher etc for children aged between four and eight in Britain
2 intended for babies or very young children:
•infant formula milk
3 an infant company, organization etc has just started to exist or be developed:
•infant industries [U]
the crime of killing a child
1 infantile behaviour seems silly in an adult because it is typical of a child; = childish
•infantile jokes
2 [only before noun] technical relating to or affecting babies and very young children:
•infantile development[U] old-fashioned
POLIO[C]
the number of deaths of babies under one year old, expressed as the number out of every 1000 babies born alive in a year [U]
soldiers who fight on foot:
•an infantry regiment
CAVALRY plural infantrymen [C]
a soldier who fights on foot
having strong feelings of love for someone or a strong interest in something that makes you unable to think in a sensible way
[+with]
•John had become infatuated with the French teacher.
•My mother's infatuated with dieting. [C,U]
a strong feeling of love for someone or interest in something, especially a feeling that is unreasonable and does not continue for a long time
[+with]
•the current infatuation with '70s style
•Shaw's infatuation with the actress is evident in his writing. [T]
1 to give someone a disease:
•People with the virus may feel perfectly well, but they can still infect others.
[+with]
•the number of people infected with HIV
2 [usually passive] to make something contain something harmful that gives people a disease
[+with]
•Eggs known to be infected with salmonella were allowed to go on sale.
3 if a feeling or interest that you have infects other people, it makes them begin to feel the same way or have the same interest:
•Lucy's enthusiasm soon infected the rest of the class.
4 if a VIRUS infects your computer or DISKs , it changes or destroys the information in them
1 a part of your body or a wound that is infected has harmful BACTERIA in it which prevent it from HEALing ; disinfect
•an infected finger
•Clean the wound so it doesn't get infected.
2 food, water etc that is infected contains BACTERIA that spread disease
3 if a computer or DISK is infected, the information in or on it has been changed or destroyed by a computer VIRUS
1 [C] a disease that affects a particular part of your body and is caused by BACTERIA or a VIRUS:
•an ear infection
mild/slight/severe infection
•a slight infection in the bladder
2 [U] when someone is infected by a disease:
•Always sterilize the needle to prevent infection.
1 an infectious illness can be passed from one person to another, especially through the air you breathe:
•infectious diseases
•Flu is highly infectious.
2 someone who is infectious has an illness and could pass it to other people
3 infectious feelings or laughter spread quickly from one person to another:
•an infectious smile
• infectious enthusiasm
- infectiously adverb $ past tense and past participle inferred, present participle inferring [T]
to form an opinion that something is probably true because of information that you have
infer sth from sth
•A lot can be inferred from these statistics.
infer that
•From the evidence we can infer that the victim knew her killer.
1 [C] something that you think is true, based on information that you have
draw/make inferences (about/from sth)
•What inferences have you drawn from this evidence?
2 [U] when someone infers something
by inference
•He was portrayed as a hero and,by inference, Thompson as the villain.
- inferential adjective
•inferential evidence
- inferentially adverb $
1 not good, or not as good as someone or something else; superior
•I felt very inferior among all those academics.
•wine of inferior quality
•inferior goods
[+to]
•I always felt slightly inferior to her.
•Their performance was inferior to that of other teams.
!! Do not say 'inferior than' something. Say inferior to something.
2 formal lower in rank; superior
•an inferior court of law
•He refused to accept a job of inferior status.[C]
someone who has a lower position or rank than you in an organization; superior $ [U]
when someone or something is not good or not as good as someone or something else; superiority
•moral inferiority
sense/feeling of inferiority
•He had a deep-rooted feeling of inferiority.[C usually singular]
a continuous feeling that you are much less important, clever etc than other people $
1 [only before noun] old-fashioned used to express anger or annoyance about something:
•I wish the children would stop that infernal noise.
2 literary relating to HELL and evil
- infernally adverb $ plural infernos [C]
1 an extremely large and dangerous fire - used especially in news reports
raging/blazing inferno
•Within minutes the house had become a raging inferno.
2 literary when someone has very strong feelings that are difficult to control:
•She was desperately trying to calm the inferno raging within her. $
1 unable to have babies:
•infertile couples
2 infertile land or soil is not good enough to grow plants in $ [U]
when someone is unable to have a baby:
•There are many possible causes of infertility in women.
•infertility treatments [T usually passive]
1 if insects, rats etc infest a place, there are a lot of them and they usually cause damage
be infested with sth
•The kitchen was infested with cockroaches.
shark-infested/rat-infested etc
•shark-infested waters
2 if things or people you do not want infest a place, there are too many of them:
•an area infested with holiday homes
- infestation noun [C,U] [C] literary not polite
an offensive word for someone who has a different religion from you plural infidelities [C,U]
when someone has sex with a person who is not their wife, husband, or partner:
•marital infidelity [singular]
1 the part of a CRICKET field nearest to the player who hits the ball; outfield
2 the part of a baseball field inside the four bases; outfield
3 the group of players in this part of the CRICKET or baseball field
- infielder noun [C] [U]
when members of the same group or organization argue, or compete with each other in an unfriendly way:
•political infighting [U] especially BrE
1 something that is used to fill a space:
•infill panels
2 the process of filling a space, especially by building new houses:
•infill developments
- infill verb [I,T] $
1 [I always + adv/prep, T] to secretly join an organization or enter a place in order to find out information about it or harm it:
•Police attempts to infiltrate neo-Nazi groups were largely unsuccessful.
[+into]
•Rebel forces have been infiltrating into the country.
2 [T] to secretly put people into an organization or place in order to find out information or to harm it
infiltrate sb into sth
•They repeatedly tried to infiltrate assassins into the palace.
3 [T] to become a part of something - used especially to show disapproval:
•Commercialism has been infiltrating universities for the past decade.
- infiltrator noun [C]
- infiltration noun [U]
1 very great in amount or degree:
•a woman of infinite patience
an infinite number/variety of sth
•There was an infinite variety of drinks to choose from.
2 without limits in space or time; finite
•The universe is infinite.
in sb's (infinite) wisdom at WISDOM (4); NON-FINITE [+ adj/adv]
very much - used especially when comparing things:
•This school is infinitely better than the last one I went to.
•Being on your own is infinitely preferable to being in an unhappy relationship.
•someone with infinitely more experience
extremely small:
•infinitesimal changes in temperature
- infinitesimally adverb
•infinitesimally small [C] technical
in grammar, the basic form of a verb, used with 'to' in English. In the sentence 'I want to watch television.' 'to watch' is an infinitive
SPLIT INFINITIVE $ [singular, U] formal
a number or amount without limit:
•the vast infinitude of space
1 [U] a space or distance without limits or an end:
•the infinity of space
2 [singular, U] a number that is too large to be calculated:
•In the equation below, as E goes to zero, n approaches infinity.
[+of]
•There is an infinity of possible solutions. $
1 weak or ill for a long time, especially because you are old:
•Her grandmother is elderly and infirm.
2 the infirm people who are weak or ill for a long time, especially because they are old:
•The hotel is on a hill, which is not ideal for the infirm. $ plural infirmaries [C]
1 a hospital - often used in the names of hospitals in Britain
2 a room in a school or other institution where people can get medical treatment $ plural infirmities [C,U] formal
bad health or a particular illness formal
during the act of having sex, especially with someone else's husband or wife - sometimes used humorously:
•They were caught in flagrante by Donna's husband. [T]
to make someone's feelings of anger, excitement etc much stronger:
•The shooting inflamed ethnic tensions.
a part of your body that is inflamed is red and swollen, because it is injured or infected:
•an inflamed eye
1 formal inflammable materials or substances will start to burn very easily; = flammable; nonflammable
•Petrol is highly inflammable.
2 easily becoming angry or violent, or making people angry or violent:
•inflammable language [C,U]
swelling and pain in part of your body, which is often red and feels hot
[+of]
•inflammation of the colon $
1 an inflammatory speech, piece of writing etc is likely to make people feel angry:
•inflammatory remarks
2 technical an inflammatory disease or medical condition causes inflammation:
•inflammatory bowel disease
an inflatable object has to be filled with air before you can use it:
•an inflatable mattress[C]
an object that has to be filled with air before you can use it, especially a boat or toy
1 [I,T] to fill something with air or gas so it becomes larger, or to become filled with air or gas:
•It took us half an hour to inflate the dinghy.
•Her life jacket failed to inflate.
2 [T] to make something seem more important or impressive than it really is:
•The success further inflated his self-confidence.
be grossly/vastly/hugely inflated
•The numbers of people involved have been grossly inflated by the media.
3 [I,T] technical to increase in price or make something increase in price:
•Hotels often inflate prices at particular times of the year.
•Costs were inflating.
1 inflated prices, amounts etc are high and unreasonable
grossly/vastly/hugely inflated
•company directors on grossly inflated salaries
2 inflated ideas, opinions etc about someone or something make them seem better, more important etc than they really are:
•He has a very inflated opinion of himself.
3 filled with air or gas [U]
1 a continuing increase in prices, or the rate at which prices increase
inflation rate/rate of inflation
•The annual rate of inflation fell.
• Inflation is now running at over 16%.
•countries with high inflation
2 the process of filling something with air $
relating to or causing price increases:
•inflationary pressures in the economy
•A new round of wage increases could trigger an inflationary spiral (=a continuing rise in both wages and prices).
[I] technical if a word inflects, its form changes according to its meaning or use
technical an inflected language contains many words which change their form according to their meaning or useinflexion
1 [U] technical the way in which a word changes its form to show a difference in its meaning or use
2 [C] technical one of the forms of a word that changes in this way, or one of the parts that is added to it
3 [C,U] the way the sound of your voice goes up and down when you are speaking
- inflectional adjective
1 unwilling to make even the slightest change in your attitudes, plans etc; flexible
•inflexible attitudes towards change
2 inflexible rules, arrangements etc are impossible to change; flexible
•This approach is too inflexible and too costly.
3 inflexible material is stiff and will not bend; flexible
- inflexibly adverb
- inflexibility noun [U] [C,U]
another spelling of INFLECTION
1 [T] to make someone suffer something unpleasant
inflict sth on/upon sb
•The strikes inflicted serious damage on the economy.
•Detectives warned that the men could inflict serious injury.
2 inflict yourself/sb on sb to visit or be with someone when they do not want you - used humorously:
•Was it really fair to her friends to inflict her nephew on them?
- infliction noun [U]
•the deliberate infliction of pain[only before noun]
provided during a plane journey:
•in-flight entertainment $
1 [C] the movement of people, money, goods etc into a place; outflow
[+of]
•an inflow of funds from abroad
2 [singular, U] the flow of water into a place; outflow
1 [C,U] the power to affect the way someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks without using direct force or orders:
•There is no doubt that Bohr's influence was immense.
[+on/over]
•the unions' influence over local politics
under sb's influence/under the influence of sb/sth
•They had come under the influence of a strange religious sect.
have/exert/exercise influence
•The Council had considerable influence over many government decisions.
•They were accused of interfering with voters or exerting undue influence (=too much influence).
2 [C] someone or something that has an influence on other people or things
bad/good/positive etc influence (on sb)
•Gayle's mother said I was a bad influence on her daughter.
•For centuries the country remained untouched by outside influences.
3 under the influence (of alcohol/drink/drugs etc) drunk or feeling the effects of a drug[T]
to affect the way someone or something develops, behaves, thinks etc without directly forcing or ordering them:
•Marx was strongly influenced by the historian Niebuhr.
influence a decision/outcome/choice etc
•Several factors are likely to influence this decision.
influence sb to do sth
•What influenced you to take up nursing?
having a lot of influence and therefore changing the way people think and behave:
•He had influential friends.
[+in]
•Dewey was influential in shaping economic policy.
•a highly influential art magazine [U] medical
an infectious disease that is like a very bad cold; = flu [C]
the arrival of large numbers of people or large amounts of money, goods etc, especially suddenly
[+of]
•a sudden influx of cash
massive/great/huge etc influx
•a large influx of tourists in the summer $ [U] informal
information $ [C]
a long television advertisement that provides a lot of information and seems like a normal programme $ [T] formal
1 to formally or officially tell someone about something or give them information
inform sb about/of sth
•Please inform us of any change of address as soon as possible.
inform sb (that)
•We regret to inform you that your application has been rejected.
•They decided to inform the police.
2 formal to influence someone's attitude or opinion:
•Her experience as a refugee informs the content of her latest novel.

PHRASAL VERBS
inform on/against sb phr v
to tell the police or an enemy information about someone that will harm them:
•He denied that he had ever informed on his neighbours. $
1 relaxed and friendly without being restricted by rules of correct behaviour; formal
•The atmosphere at work is fairly informal.
•The two groups met for informal talks.
2 an informal style of writing or speaking is suitable for ordinary conversations or letters to friends; formal
3 informal clothes are suitable for wearing at home or in ordinary situations; = casual; formal
- informally adverb
- informality $ noun [U] $ [C]
1 someone who secretly gives the police, the army etc information about someone else; = informer
•One of the witnesses was a paid informant for the FBI.
2 technical someone who gives information about their language, social customs etc to someone who is studying them $ [U]
1 facts or details that tell you something about a situation, person, event etc:
•I need more information.
[+that]
•We have received information that Grant may have left the country.
[+about/on]
•The book contains information about a wide variety of subjects.
•The guide will provide you with information about the area.
further/additional/more etc information
•For further information, call the number below.
gather/collect information
•The survey didn't collect any information about temporary workers.
•The book is packed with useful information.
•She sent me detailed information about the project.
•I've one or two useful pieces of information to pass on to you.
my/our etc information is (=used to say what you know about a situation)
•My information is that Gary wants to stay with the club.
!! Information is an uncountable noun. Do not say 'informations' or 'an information'.
2 AmE the telephone service which provides telephone numbers to people who ask for them; = directory enquiries BrE
3 for your information spoken used when you are telling someone that they are wrong about a particular fact:
•For your information, I've worked as a journalist for six years.
4 for information only written on copies of letters and documents that are sent to someone who needs to know about them but does not have to deal with them
inside information at INSIDE^3 (2)
- informational adjective[C]
a place where you can get information about an area, event etc[U]
when someone gets too much information at one time, for example on the Internet, and becomes tired and unable to think very carefully about any of it:
•The greater the amount of data, the greater the risk of information overload.[U]
the process of finding stored information, especially on a computer[U]
the science of collecting, arranging, storing, and sending out information $
the information superhighway the Internet[U]
IT the study or use of electronic processes for gathering and storing information and making it available using computers[U] technical
the mathematical principles related to sending and storing information $
providing many useful facts or ideas:
•an informative and entertaining book
- informatively adverb $
1 having a lot of knowledge or information about a particular subject or situation:
•Informed sources said it was likely that the President would make a televised statement.
well-informed/ill-informed
•I became reasonably well-informed about the subject.
2 informed decision/choice/judgement etc a decision etc that is based on knowledge of a subject or situation:
•Good information is essential if people are to make informed choices about services.
3 keep sb informed to give someone the latest news and details about a situation:
•Please keep me fully informed of any developments. $ [C]
someone who secretly tells the police, the army etc about criminal activities, especially for money $ [U]
television programmes that deal with important subjects in a way that people can enjoy technical
below something in a range:
•the infra-red end of the spectrum
ULTRA- (2) [C,U] formal
an act of breaking a rule or law
[+of]
•minor infractions of the rules
infra-red light gives out heat but cannot be seen
ULTRAVIOLET $ [C,U]
the basic systems and structures that a country or organization needs in order to work properly, for example roads, railways, banks etc:
•Some countries lack a suitable economic infrastructure.
•a $65 billion investment package in education, health care and infrastructure
- infrastructural adjective
not happening often; = rare; frequent
•They would make infrequent visits to the house.
- infrequency noun [U]
1 not often; = rarely; frequently
•Jeremy does play cricket, but very infrequently.
2 not infrequently formal fairly often:
•The censors changed some names and dialogue and, not infrequently, banned controversial films completely. [T]
to do something that is against a law or someone's legal rights:
•A backup copy of a computer program does not infringe copyright.

PHRASAL VERBS
infringe on/upon sth phr v
to limit someone's freedom in some way:
•Some students argued that the rule infringed on their right to free speech.
- infringement noun [C,U]
•the infringement of human rights $ [T]
to make someone extremely angry:
•Her actions infuriated her mother.
• It infuriated him that Beth was with another man. $
very annoying:
•The infuriating thing is that he is always right.
- infuriatingly adverb
•an infuriatingly tricky crossword puzzle
1 [T] formal to fill something or someone with a particular feeling or quality
be infused with sth
•Her books are infused with humour and wisdom.
infuse sth into sth
•These new designers are infusing fresh interest into the New York fashion scene.
2 [I,T] if you infuse tea or HERBs , or if they infuse, you leave them in very hot water while their taste passes into the water
1 [C,U] the act of putting a new feeling or quality into something
[+of]
•Further education badly needs the infusion of more resources.
2 [C,U] medical the act of putting medicine slowly into someone's body, or the medicines themselves:
•intravenous infusions of cardiac drugs
3 [C] a drink made with HERBs in hot water that is usually taken as a medicine
1 forms the present participle of verbs:
•They're dancing.
•to go dancing
•a dancing bear
2 [in U nouns] the action or process of doing something:
•She hates swimming.
•No parking.
3 [in C nouns]
a) an example of doing something:
•to hold a meeting
b) a product or result of doing something:
•a beautiful painting
4 [in nouns] something used to do something or used for making something:
•a silk lining
•ten metres of curtaining (=cloth for curtains)
1 an ingenious plan, idea, or object works well and is the result of clever thinking and new ideas:
•Many fish have ingenious ways of protecting their eggs from predators.
•an ingenious device
2 someone who is ingenious is very good at inventing things or at thinking of new ideas
- ingeniously adverb $ [C]
a young girl, especially in a film or play, who has not had much experience of life $ [U]
skill at inventing things and thinking of new ideas
an ingenuous person is simple, trusting, and honest, especially because they have not had much experience of life; disingenuous
- ingenuously adverb
- ingenuousness noun [U] [T] technical
to take food or other substances into your body; digest
- ingestion noun [U]
DIGEST^1 (1) [C] BrE
a seat by the side of a large open FIREPLACE, or the space that it is in literary
causing shame and dishonour:
•an inglorious defeat
- ingloriously adverb [C]
a piece of pure metal, especially gold, usually shaped like a brick
1 ingrained attitudes or behaviour are firmly established and therefore difficult to change
[+in]
•The idea of doing our duty is deeply ingrained in most people.
2 ingrained dirt is under the surface of something and very difficult to remove $ [C] formal
an ungrateful person
ingratiate yourself (with sb) to try very hard to get someone's approval - used to show disapproval:
•His policy is to ingratiate himself with anyone who might be useful to him.
trying too hard to get someone's approval - used to show disapproval:
•an ingratiating smile
- ingratiatingly adverb $ [U]
the quality of not being grateful:
•I've never seen such ingratitude! [C]
1 one of the foods that you use to make a particular food or dish:
•Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.
•The food is home-cooked using fresh ingredients.
2 a quality you need to achieve something:
•John has all the ingredients of a great player.
•Investment in new product development is an essential ingredient of corporate success.
3 active ingredient the substance in a product such as a medicine that causes the product's intended result:
•Acetic acid is the chief active ingredient in vinegar. [U] literary
the right to enter a place, or the act of entering it[C]
a small group of people involved in an organization or activity who like the same things and are friendly with each other, but do not want other people to join them; = cliqueingrown AmE $ [no comparative] BrE
an ingrowing TOENAIL grows inwards, cutting into the surrounding skin [T]
if animals or people inhabit an area or place, they live there:
•The woods are inhabited by many wild animals.
•I have no idea what sort of people inhabit the area.
•inhabited islands
- inhabitable adjective [C]
one of the people who live in a particular place:
•a city of six million inhabitants [C,U]
a medicine or drug that you breathe in, for example when you have a cold [I,T]
to breathe in air, smoke, or gas; exhale
•It is dangerous to inhale ammonia fumes.
•Myra lit another cigarette and inhaled deeply (=breathed in a lot of smoke).
- inhalation noun [U]
•One man was treated for smoke inhalation (=when you breathe smoke from a fire). $ [C]
a small plastic tube containing medicine that you breathe in, in order to make breathing easier $

PHRASAL VERBS
inhere in sth phr v technical
to be a natural part of something $ formal
a quality that is inherent in something is a natural part of it and cannot be separated from it
[+in]
•I'm afraid the problems you mention are inherent in the system.
•Every business has its own inherent risks.
- inherently adverb
•Firefighting is an inherently dangerous occupation.
1 [I,T] to receive money, property etc from someone after they have died
inherit sth from sb
•He inherited a fortune from his grandmother.
•inherited wealth
2 [T] if you inherit a situation, especially one in which problems have been caused by other people, you have to deal with it:
•The present government inherited a closed, state-dominated economy.
3 [T] to have the same character or appearance as your parents
inherit sth from sb
•Mr. Grass inherited his work ethic from his father.
•I inherited my mother's curly hair.
4 [T] to get something that someone else does not want any more
inherit sth from sb
•We inherited the furniture from the previous tenants.
1 [C,U] money, property etc that you receive from someone who has died:
•Lucinda has to fight for her life and her inheritance in this gripping novel.
2 [U] physical or mental qualities that you inherit from your family:
•Our genetic inheritance cannot be changed.
3 [U] ideas, skills, literature etc from the past that influence people in the present:
•ideas that have become part of our cultural inheritance[U]
a tax that you have to pay when you receive money or property from someone who has died $ [C]
1 someone who receives money, property etc from someone who has just died
2 someone who follows in an established way of life or thinking
[+of]
•These writers are inheritors of his work. [T]
1 to prevent something from growing or developing well:
•An unhappy family life may inhibit children's learning.
2 to make someone feel embarrassed or nervous so that they cannot do or say what they want to
inhibit sb from doing sth
•Recording the meeting may inhibit people from expressing their real views.
too embarrassed or nervous to do or say what you want
[+about]
•Many people are inhibited about discussing sexual matters.
1 [C,U] a feeling of shyness or embarrassment that stops you doing or saying what you really want:
•She had no inhibitions about saying what she felt.
•People tend to lose their inhibitions when they've drunk a lot of alcohol.
2 [U] technical when something is restricted or prevented from happening or developing:
•a marked inhibition of cell growth $
1 an inhospitable place is difficult to live or stay in because the weather conditions are unpleasant or there is no shelter:
•an inhospitable climate
•He trekked across some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world.
2 an inhospitable person does not welcome visitors in a friendly way
[+to]
•Some governments are inhospitable to aid workers.
working within a company or organization:
•We have an in-house training unit.
•The keyboarding is done in-house.
1 very cruel or without any normal feelings of pity:
•The refugees had suffered degrading and inhuman treatment.
2 lacking any human qualities in a way that seems strange or frightening:
•a strange inhuman sound
- inhumanly adverb
extremely cruel and causing unacceptable suffering:
•the inhumane treatment of political prisoners
•I was shocked by the inhumane conditions.
- inhumanely adverb [U]
very cruel behaviour or actions:
•the inhumanity of some political systems formal
making it difficult for something to exist or happen:
•a cold, inimical climate
[+to]
•conditions inimical to development
too good or skilful for anyone else to copy with the same high standard; = unique
•the inimitable Billie Holliday
your own inimitable way/style etc
•He entertained us in his own inimitable style.
- inimitably adverb
IMITATE formal
very unfair and morally wrong:
•an iniquitous system of taxation plural iniquities [C,U] formal
the quality of being very unfair or evil, or something that is very unfair
[+of]
•He went on and on about the iniquities of bourgeois oppression.
•They were trying to protect their son from iniquity.
den of iniquity at DEN (6) [only before noun]
happening at the beginning; = first
•an initial investment of £5000
initial stage/phase/period
•the initial stages of the disease
•The initial response has been encouraging.[C]
1 the first letter of someone's first name:
•'Can I have your initial, Mr Davies?' 'It's G, Mr G Davies.'
2 initials [plural] the first letters of all your names in order:
•His initials are DPH: they stand for David Perry Hallworth.past tense and past participle initialled, present participle initialling BrE past tense and past participle initialed, present participle initialing AmE
[T] to write your initials on a document to make it official or to show that you agree with something; sign
•The two countries have initialled a new defence co-operation agreement.
at the beginning:
•Stan initially wanted to go to medical school.
•Initially, I thought I would only stay there a year. [T]
1 formal to arrange for something important to start, such as an official process or a new plan:
•They have decided to initiate legal proceedings against the newspaper.
•Intellectuals have initiated a debate on terrorism.
2 to tell someone about something or show them how to do something
initiate sb into sth
•Those kids were initiated into heroin use at a young age.
3 to introduce someone into an organization, club, group etc, usually with a special ceremony
initiate sb into sth
•At the age of thirteen the boys in the tribe are initiated into manhood. [C]
someone who has been allowed to join a particular organization, club, or group and has been taught its secrets [C,U]
1 the process of officially introducing someone into a club or group, or of introducing a young person to adult life, often with a special ceremony:
•The club has an initiation ceremony for new members.
initiation rite/ritual
•initiation rituals for young boys at puberty
[+into]
•rites of initiation into their religion
2 the act of starting something such as an official process, a new plan etc
[+of]
•the initiation of criminal proceedings
1 DECISIONS [U] the ability to make decisions and take action without waiting for someone to tell you what to do:
•I wish my son would show more initiative.
•Don't keep asking me for advice. Use your initiative.
•Lt. Carlos was not obeying orders. He acted on his own initiative (=he was not told what to do).
2 PLAN [C] an important new plan or process to achieve a particular aim or to solve a particular problem:
•a government initiative to help exporters
•an education initiative
[+for]
•a new initiative for peace in the Middle East
3 CONTROL the initiative if you have or take the initiative, you are in a position to control a situation and decide what to do next:
•Why don't you take the initiative and ask him out?
•Politicians need to seize the initiative from the terrorists.
•The government must not lose the initiative in the fight against terrorism.
4 LAW [C] law a process by which ordinary citizens can officially suggest a change in the law by signing a PETITION $ [C]
someone who thinks of and starts a new plan or process
[+of]
•the initiator of the proposal [T]
1 to put liquid, especially a drug, into someone's body by using a special needle
inject sth into sb/sth
•The drug is injected directly into the base of the spine.
inject sb with sth
•I have to inject myself with insulin.
2 to improve something by adding excitement, interest etc to it
inject sth into sth
•Traditional handbag makers are injecting more fun into their designs.
•A market building can inject new life into an area.
3 to provide more money, equipment etc for something
inject sth into sth
•They need to inject more money into sports facilities.
1 [C,U] an act of putting a drug into someone's body using a special needle; shot
•The nurse gave me a tetanus injection.
[+of]
•an injection of insulin
•The children hate having injections.
•The only sure treatment is antibiotics, preferably by injection.
2 [C] an addition of money to something in order to improve it
[+of]
•a massive injection of public funds
•Our local football club may fold unless it gets a cash injection.
3 [C,U] the act of forcing a liquid into something:
•a fuel injection system[C]
a joke that is only understood by a particular group of people formal
an injudicious action, remark etc is not sensible and is likely to have bad results:
•He has apologized for his injudicious remarks.
- injudiciously adverb [C]
1 law an order given by a court which tells someone not to do something
[+against]
•The family is seeking an injunction against the book's publication.
•The judge refused to grant an injunction.
•They failed to obtain an injunction.
2 formal a piece of advice or an order from someone in authority $ [T]
1 to hurt yourself or someone else, for example in an accident or an attack; wound
•Angus injured his leg playing rugby yesterday.
be badly/seriously/critically injured
•Two people have been critically injured in a road accident.
2 injure sb's pride/feelings etc to say unfair or unpleasant things that hurt someone's pride, feelings etc
!! injure, wound, hurt, or damage
see box at DAMAGE^2 $
1 having a wound or damage to part of your body; wounded
•an injured bird
•Chelsea have three injured players.
•Grandpa was badly injured in the war.
•The car accident left him seriously injured.
2 the injured the people who have been hurt; the wounded
•Many of the injured are still in a serious condition.
3 injured look/expression etc a look that shows you feel you have been treated unfairly
4 injured pride/feelings etc a feeling of being upset or offended because you think you have been unfairly treated
5 the injured party formal the person who has been unfairly treated in a particular situation $ formal
causing injury, harm, or damage
[+to]
•Smoking is injurious to health. plural injuries
1 [C,U] a wound or damage to part of your body caused by an accident or attack

serious injury
minor injury
suffer an injury
sustain an injury (=suffer an injury - used especially in newspaper reports)
escape/avoid injury (=not be injured)
through injury (=because of injury)
head/leg/shoulder etc injury
an injury to the head/the chest etc
internal injuries (=injuries inside your body)
multiple injuries (=a large number of injuries at the same time)
do yourself an injury BrE spoken (=accidentally hurt yourself - used especially when warning someone to be careful)
personal injury claim (=a legal claim made against the person or company that caused your injury)

•She was taken to hospital with serious head injuries.
•He suffered horrific injuries in the attack.
•The driver of the truck sustained only minor injuries to his legs and arms.
•Luckily she escaped injury.
•Beckham has missed several games through injury.
•The pilot was treated for suspected internal injuries.
•Don't lift that toolbox - you'll do yourself an injury!
•He's a lawyer who specializes in personal injury claims.

2 [U] law damage to someone's feelings
[+to]
•He claimed serious injury to his reputation.
add insult to injury at ADD (8)[U] BrE
playing time added on to a game such as football because of time lost when players are injured; extra time
1 [C,U] a situation in which people are treated very unfairly and not given their rights
[+of]
•the injustice of slavery
[+against]
•innumerable injustices against the black population
•The movie deals with injustices suffered by Native Americans.
•He had developed a deep sense of social injustice.
2 do sb an injustice to judge someone's character or abilities unfairly:
•To say that you are a poor cook is to do yourself an injustice.
1 [C,U] a coloured liquid that you use for writing, printing or drawing:
•Please write in black ink.
2 [U] the black liquid in sea creatures such as OCTOPUSes and SQUID[T]
1 to put ink on something
2 to make a document, agreement etc official and legal by writing your SIGNATURE on it:
•The two companies have inked a deal.

PHRASAL VERBS
ink sth <=> in phr v
to complete something done in pencil by drawing over it in ink $ [C]
an electronic PRINTER, usually connected to a small computer; dot-matrix printer, laser printer [C usually singular]
a slight idea about something; suspicion
•I had an inkling that she was pregnant.
[+of]
•She had absolutely no inkling of what was going on.[C]
a small box containing ink on a thick piece of cloth, used for putting ink onto a STAMP that is then pressed onto paper [C]
a container for ink which fits into a hole in a desk
1 literary very dark - used especially in poetry:
•I stared out into the inky blackness of the night.
2 marked with ink:
•inky fingers
1 an inlaid box, table, floor etc has little pieces of another material set into its surface for decoration
[+with]
•a wooden jewellery box inlaid with ivory
2 [+ in/into] metal, stone etc that is inlaid into the surface of another material is set into its surface as decoration [only before noun]
an inland area, city etc is not near the coast:
•the largest area of inland water in the south east
in a direction away from the coast and towards the centre of a country:
•The mountains are five miles inland.
•We set off inland.
the Inland Revenue the government department which collects national taxes in Britain[plural] informal
your relatives by marriage, especially the father and mother of your husband or wife; mother-in-law, father-in-law
•We have to spend Christmas with the in-laws.
1 [C,U] a material which has been set into the surface of furniture, floors etc for decoration, or the pattern made by this:
•a cedarwood casket with gold inlay
2 [C] a substance used by a DENTIST to fill a hole in a decayed tooth [C]
1 a narrow area of water that reaches from the sea or a lake into the land:
•There are several sheltered inlets along the coast.
2 the part of a machine through which liquid or gas flows in; outlet
•a fuel inlet[C]
a special boot for ROLLER SKATING with a single row of wheels attached under it; = Rollerblade $ formal law
having the responsibilities of a parent for someone else's child:
•As a teacher, you should regard yourself as being in loco parentis. [C]
someone who is being kept in a prison
an expression meaning 'in memory of', used especially on the stone above the place where a dead person is buried $ [only before noun]
1 your inmost feelings, desires etc are your most personal and secret ones:
•In his inmost heart, he knew he didn't love me.
2 formal furthest inside a place, and so difficult to see or find:
•Apparently there are bats in the inmost caves. [C]
1 a small hotel or PUB, especially an old one in the countryside
2 a word used in the names of some PUBs and hotels:
•We're staying at the Holiday Inn. $ [plural] informal
1 the parts inside your body, especially your stomach; = guts
2 the parts inside a machine
1 an innate quality or ability is something you are born with:
•Children have an innate ability to learn language.
2 an innate belief is something you feel strongly about and are unlikely to change:
•the innate conservatism of the farming community
- innately adverb
•the army's innately conservative values $ [only before noun]
1 on the inside or close to the centre of something; outer
•an inner room
•inner London
•the inner ear
2 inner thoughts or feelings are ones that you feel strongly but do not always show to other people:
•Yoga gives me a sense of inner calm.
•She'll need great inner strength to get over the tragedy.
•She never shared her inner thoughts with anyone.
3 relating to things which happen or exist but are not easy to see:
•I'll never understand the inner workings of the film industry.
•The inner life of a political party must be fascinating.
4 inner circle the few people in an organization, political party etc who control it or share power with its leader:
•members of the President's inner circle
5 sb's inner voice thoughts or feelings inside your head which seem to warn or advise you:
•My inner voice told me to be cautious.plural inner cities [C]
the part near the middle of a city, especially where the buildings are in a bad condition and the people are poor:
•the problems of our inner cities
- inner city adjective
•inner-city schools $ [only before noun]
1 your innermost feelings, desires etc are your most personal and secret ones:
•a man who would never share his innermost thoughts with anyone
2 formal furthest inside or nearest to the centre; outermost
•the innermost depths of the cave[C]
a rubber tube filled with air that is inside a tyre [C]
one of the nine playing periods in a game of baseball or SOFTBALL plural innings
1 [C] the period of time in a game of CRICKET when a team or player BATs
2 he/she had a good innings BrE informal used about someone who has died to say that they had a long life BrE spoken
used at the end of a statement or in reply to a statement, often to emphasize what has just been said:
•'Did you see the way Schumacher went past him?' 'Innit.' $ [C] old use
someone who owns or manages an INN [U]
1 the fact of being not guilty of a crime; guilt
•Can you prove your innocence?
protest/maintain your innocence (=say repeatedly that you are not guilty)
•The prisoners continued to protest their innocence.
2 lack of experience of life or knowledge of the bad things in the world:
•In our innocence we believed everything we were told.
•the innocence of childhood
3 in all innocence if you do or say something in all innocence, you have no intention of doing harm or of offending anyone
1 not guilty of a crime; guilty
•Nobody would believe that I was innocent.
[+of]
•He's innocent of murder.
•The court found him innocent and he was released.
2 innocent victims/ bystanders/people etc people who get hurt or killed in a war or crime although they are not directly involved in it:
•Many innocent civilians are among the casualties.
3 done or said without intending to harm or offend anyone:
•He was startled by their angry reaction to his innocent remark.
4 not having much experience of the bad things in the world, so that you are easily deceived; = naive
•I was thirteen years old and very innocent.
- innocently adverb[C]
someone who does not have much experience of the bad things in life $
not offensive, dangerous, or harmful:
•an innocuous remark
•He's a perfectly innocuous young man.
- innocuously adverb [I,T]
to start to use new ideas, methods, or inventions:
•the need for large businesses to innovate
•The company has successfully innovated new products and services.
1 [C] a new idea, method, or invention
[+in]
•recent innovations in English teaching
2 [U] the introduction of new ideas or methods:
•We must encourage innovation if the company is to remain competitive.
[+in]
•We need to encourage innovation in industry.
•Many people feel bewildered by the speed of technological innovation.also innovatory
1 an innovative idea or way of doing something is new, different, and better than those that existed before:
•an innovative approach to language teaching
•innovative schemes for recycling waste materials
2 using clever new ideas and methods:
•an innovative design team $ [C]
someone who introduces changes and new ideas $
INNOVATIVE $ plural innuendoes or innuendos [C,U]
a remark that suggests something sexual or unpleasant without saying it directly, or these remarks in general; double entendre
•His writing is full of sexual innuendoes.
•a campaign based on rumour, innuendo, and gossip $
very many, or too many to be counted; = countless
•She's served on innumerable committees. $
unable to do simple calculations or understand basic mathematics
- innumeracy noun [U] $ [T]
to protect someone against a disease by putting a weak form of the disease into their body using a needle; immunize, vaccinate
inoculate sb against sth
•All the children had been inoculated against hepatitis.
- inoculation $ noun [C,U]
unlikely to offend or upset anyone:
•Her husband was a small, inoffensive-looking man. $
1 an inoperable illness or medical condition cannot be treated by an operation:
•an inoperable brain tumour
2 something that is inoperable cannot be used:
•The bombing rendered the airfield inoperable. $ formal
1 a machine that is inoperative is not working, or is not in working condition
2 a system or a law that is inoperative does not work any more or cannot be made to work $ formal
1 an inopportune moment or time is not suitable or good for something; opportune
•I'm afraid you've called at rather an inopportune moment.
2 happening at an unsuitable or bad time:
•an inopportune visit $
far more than you would reasonably or normally expect; = excessive
•Testing is taking up an inordinate amount of teachers' time.
- inordinately adverb
•She's inordinately fond of her parrot. $
not consisting of anything that is living:
•inorganic matter
- inorganically adverb[U] technical
the part of chemistry concerning the study of substances that do not contain CARBON; organic chemistry [C]
someone who stays in a hospital while they receive treatment
OUTPATIENT
1 [U] information that is put into a computer; output
•If the input data specified it, the file will close and the process terminates.
2 [C,U] ideas, advice, money, or effort that you put into a job or activity in order to help it succeed
[+into/to]
•Farmers contributed most of the input into the survey.
[+from]
•We'll need input from community nurses.
3 [C,U] technical electrical power that is put into a machine for it to usepast tense and past participle inputted or, input, present participle inputting [T]
to put information into a computer; output
be input to sth
•The information is input to our computer system. [C]
1 a legal process to find out the cause of someone's death
[+into]
•The coroner will hold an inquest into the deaths.
•The inquest heard that she died from multiple injuries.
2 an unofficial discussion about the reasons for someone's defeat or failure to do something
[+into]
•The Tories will hold a private inquest into why they were defeated. $ [U] literary
a feeling of anxietyenquire $ [I,T] formal
to ask someone for information:
•'Why are you doing that?' the boy inquired.
[+about]
•I am writing to inquire about your advertisement in The Times.
inquire whether/why/how etc
•The waiter inquired whether we would like to sit near the window.
inquire sth of sb
•'Where's the station?' she inquired of a passer-by.
•Toby would have liked to inquire further (=ask more questions).
•I did not inquire the reason for his lateness.

PHRASAL VERBS
inquire after sb/sth phr v
to ask about someone's health, what they are doing etc:
•He called me aside to inquire after my daughter.

inquire into sth phr v
to ask questions in order to get more information about something:
•The investigation will inquire into the company's financial dealings.
- inquirer noun [C]enquiring $ [only before noun]
1 an inquiring look or expression shows that you want to ask about something:
•She raised an inquiring eyebrow towards Murray.
2 an inquiring mind someone who has an inquiring mind is very interested in finding out more about everything:
•As a child he had a lively inquiring mind.
- inquiringly adverb
•Victor looked at her inquiringly.enquiry $ plural inquiries
1 [C] a question you ask in order to get information
[+about]
•We're getting a lot of inquiries about our new London-Rio service.
[+from]
•inquiries from potential applicants
•I don't know who sent the gift, but I'll make some inquiries.
help the police with their inquiries BrE (=to answer questions about a crime)
2 [U] the act or process of asking questions in order to get information:
•On further inquiry, it emerged that Malcolm had not been involved in the incident.
•The local council set up a committee of inquiry to look into policing arrangements.
scientific/intellectual inquiry
3 [C] an official process to find out about something
[+into]
•a judicial inquiry into the deaths
launch/set up/hold an inquiry (into sth)
•The Civil Aviation Authority has agreed to hold an inquiry into the accident.
•The police have launched a murder inquiry.
•Parents have called for an independent inquiry into the accident.
line of inquiry at LINE^1 (12)
1 the Inquisition a Roman Catholic organization in the past whose aim was to find and punish people who had unacceptable religious beliefs
2 [C usually singular] a series of questions that someone asks you in a threatening or unpleasant way:
•I had to face a two-hour inquisition from my parents about where I'd been.
1 asking too many questions and trying to find out too many details about something or someone:
•I'd have asked more questions, but I didn't want to seem inquisitive.
2 interested in a lot of different things and wanting to find out more about them:
•a cheerful, inquisitive little boy
•an inquisitive mind; curious
- inquisitively adverb
•He peeped inquisitively into the drawer.
- inquisitiveness noun [U] $ [C]
1 someone who is asking you a lot of difficult questions and making you feel very uncomfortable
2 an official of the Inquisition
- inquisitorial adjective
- inquisitorially adverb $ [usually plural]
make inroads into/on sth
a) to have an important effect or influence on something, especially by taking something away from it:
•Video is making huge inroads into attendance figures at movie theaters (=taking away its customers).
•They have made significant inroads into the European market.
•The administrative workload is making massive inroads into our working day (=taking away time).
b) to make some progress towards achieving something difficult:
•We haven't made much of an inroad into the backlog of work. [C usually singular]
a sudden flow of something that enters a place:
•The inrush of fresh air filled the room.[plural]
all the exact details of a complicated situation, problem, system etc
[+of]
•I don't really know all the ins and outs of the matter.
1 informal completely stupid or crazy, often in a way that is dangerous:
•That's an insane risk.
•The whole idea sounds absolutely insane to me.
•Why did you do that? Have you gone insane?
2 someone who is insane is permanently and seriously mentally ill so that they cannot live in normal society:
•The killer was declared criminally insane.
3 the insane people who are mentally ill:
•a hospital for the insane
4 drive sb insane informal to make someone feel more and more annoyed or angry, usually over a long period of time; = drive sb mad
•My little brother's been driving me insane all weekend.
- insanely adverb
•insanely jealous
•She giggled insanely. $
insanitary conditions or places are very dirty and likely to cause disease; = unsanitary AmE [U]
1 the state of being seriously mentally ill, so that you cannot live normally in society; = madness
•The court acquitted Campbell on the grounds of temporary insanity.
2 very stupid actions that may cause you serious harm; = lunacy
•Can't they see the insanity of dumping radioactive waste in the sea?
always wanting more and more of something
insatiable appetite/desire/demand etc (for sth)
•his insatiable appetite for power
•our insatiable thirst for knowledge
- insatiably adverb [T]
to carefully cut, print, or write words on something, especially on the surface of a stone or coin:
•Inside the cover someone had inscribed the words 'To Thomas, with love'.
be inscribed in/on sth
•The team's name is inscribed on the base of the trophy.
be inscribed with sth
•The tomb was inscribed with a short poem. [C]
a piece of writing inscribed on a stone, in the front of a book etc:
•a Latin inscription on the memorial stone
someone who is inscrutable shows no emotion or reaction in the expression on their face so that it is impossible to know what they are feeling or thinking:
•He stood silent and inscrutable.
- inscrutably adverb
- inscrutability noun [U] [C]
a small creature such as a fly or ANT, that has six legs, and sometimes wings:
•an insect bite
•mosquitoes and other flying insects
•Don't forget to bring insect repellant (=a chemical to keep insects away). [U]
a chemical substance used for killing insects
PESTICIDE
- insecticidal adjective $ [C]
a creature that eats insects for food; carnivore, herbivore, omnivore
- insectivorous adjective $
1 not feeling at all confident about yourself, your abilities, or your relationships with people
[+about]
•She's very insecure about her appearance.
•She felt lonely and insecure away from her family.
2 a job, INVESTMENT etc that is insecure does not give you a feeling of safety, because it might to be taken away or lost at any time:
•Many of them work in low-paid, insecure jobs.
3 a building or structure that is insecure is not safe, because it could fall down
- insecurity noun [C,U]
•Student teachers often suffer from a great sense of insecurity.
•her deepest fears and insecurities
- insecurely adverb [T]
to put SPERM into a woman or female animal in order to make her have a baby
- insemination noun [U]
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION formal
1 not able to feel things
2 unreasonable and crazy:
•an insensate hatred of America [U]
1 formal the state of being unconscious
2 old-fashioned inability to experience feelings such as love, sympathy, anger etc formal
1 not knowing about something that could happen to you; = unaware
[+of]
•She remained insensible of the dangers that lay ahead.
2 unable to feel something or be affected by it
[+to/of]
•insensible to the cold
3 literary not conscious:
•He fell to the ground, insensible.
- insensibly adverb
1 not noticing, or not taking the care to notice, other people's feelings, and not realizing when they are upset or when something that you do will upset them:
•One insensitive official insisted on seeing her husband's death certificate.
•an insensitive remark
[+to]
•She's totally insensitive to Jack's feelings.
2 [not before noun] not paying attention to what is happening or to what people are saying, and therefore not changing your behaviour because of it
[+to]
•Companies that are insensitive to global changes will lose sales.
•The service is insensitive to the needs of local people.
3 [not before noun] not affected by physical effects or changes
[+to]
•insensitive to pain
- insensitively adverb
- insensitivity noun [U]
1 people who are inseparable are always together and are very friendly with each other:
•Jane and Sarah soon became inseparable companions.
[+from]
•Tom was inseparable from his dog, Snowy.
2 things that are inseparable cannot be separated or cannot be considered separately
[+from]
•Britain's economic fortunes are inseparable from the world situation.
- inseparably adverb
- inseparability noun [U] $ [T]
1 to put something inside or into something else
insert sth in/into/between sth
•His hand shook slightly as he inserted the key into the lock.
2 to add something to the middle of a document or piece of writing
insert sth in/into/between sth
•His manager inserted a new clause into his contract.
•Insert your comments in the space below. $ [C]
1 printed pages that are put inside a newspaper or magazine in order to advertise something:
•a six-page insert on computer software
2 something that is designed to be put inside something else:
•He wore special inserts in his shoes to make him look taller. $
1 [U] the act of putting something inside something else
2 [C] something that is added to the middle of a document or piece of writing
in-service training/courses etc training etc that you do while you are working in a job [C]
1 a small picture, map etc in the corner of a page or larger picture etc, which shows more detail or information:
•The venture earned Mr Taylor (inset) millions of dollars.
2 something which is fixed into or onto the surface of something else:
•a pendant with a diamond inset past tense and past participle inset, present participle insetting [T]
1 if something is inset with decorations or jewels, they are fixed into or on its surface
inset sth with sth
•a wooden box inset with ivory
inset sth into sth
•spotlights inset into the ceiling
2 to put a small picture, map etc on a printed page $
near, towards, or to the shore; offshore
•The fishing boats usually stay close inshore.
- inshore adjective
•inshore waters
1 CONTAINER in or into a container or other closed space so as to be completely covered or surrounded; outside
•The jewels were locked away inside the safe.
•I sent the money inside an envelope addressed to Ann.
•Carl picked up the book and stuffed it inside his jacket.
•Her car was locked and the keys were inside.
2 BUILDING/ROOM in or into a building or room; outside
•It's raining. We'll have to go inside.
•She could hear voices inside, but no-one came to the door.
•Mail was piled up just inside the doorway.
•The sound seemed to be coming from inside the house.
[+of] AmE
•There were more than 20 people packed inside of her dorm room.
3 COUNTRY/AREA in a country or area - used when you want to emphasize that something is happening there and not in other places; outside
•Very little is known of events inside this mysterious country.
•The guerrillas were said to be operating from bases inside the war zone.
4 ORGANIZATION if someone is inside a group or organization, they are part of it; outside
•women's influence inside the Party
•The information comes from sources inside the company.
•Discussions should involve local people both inside and outside the school.
5 HEAD/MIND if something happens inside you, or inside your head or mind, it is part of what you think and feel, especially when you do not express it:
•You just don't understand how I feel inside!
•Steve's a strange guy - you never know what's going on inside his head.
•Anger bubbled up deep inside her.
[+of] AmE
•Something inside of me told me not to trust him.
6 BODY in your body:
•She could feel the baby kicking inside her.
•You'll feel better once you've got a good meal inside you (=after you have eaten something).
7 TIME
a) in less than a particular amount of time:
•A full report is expected inside three months.
inside the hour/month etc (=before an hour, month etc has passed)
•We'll be back inside the hour.
[+of] especially AmE
•Our aim is to get the whole job finished inside of a week.
b) less than a particular amount of time; outside
•Jonson's time of 9.3 seconds was just inside the world record.
8 PRISON informal in prison:
•My boyfriend's been inside for a year.
1 the inside the inner part of something, which is surrounded or hidden by the outer part; the outside
on the inside
•The apple's rotten on the inside.
[+of]
•condensation on the inside of the window
•The door had been locked from the inside.
2 inside out with the usual outside parts on the inside:
•You've got that jumper inside out.
•Her umbrella blew inside out.
•I always turn my jeans inside out to wash them.
3 turn a room/building etc inside out to search a place very thoroughly by moving everything that is in it:
•The drug squad turned the apartment inside out.
4 know sth inside out BrE know sth inside and out AmE to know something in great detail:
•She knows her subject inside out.
5 on the inside someone who is on the inside is a member of a group or an organization:
•Someone on the inside must have helped with the robbery.
6 on the inside BrE if a car passes another car on the inside, it passes on the side that is away from the driver
7 sb's inside/insides informal someone's stomach:
•My insides are beginning to complain about the lack of food.
1 in or facing the inner part of something:
•the inside pages of the newspaper
•the inside pocket of his jacket
2 inside information/the inside story etc information that is available only to people who are part of a particular group or organization:
•Police believe the robbers may have had inside information.
3 the inside lane BrE the LANE that is furthest away from the middle of the road $ [C]
someone who has a special knowledge of a particular organization because they are part of it; outsider
•an insider's view of the way that a Japanese company worksalso insider dealing [U]
the crime of using secret information that you have about a company or knowledge of a situation to buy or sell SHAREs at a profit[C]
1 the part of a circular track for racing that is nearest to the centre of the circle and is therefore shorter
2 AmE a position that gives someone an advantage over the people they are competing against:
•the inside track to success in business formal
an insidious change or problem spreads gradually without being noticed, and causes serious harm:
•an insidious trend towards censorship of the press
- insidiously adverb
- insidiousness noun [U]
1 [C] a sudden clear understanding of something or part of something, especially a complicated situation or idea
[+into]
•The article gives us a real insight into the causes of the present economic crisis.
•The research provides new insights into the way we process language.
2 [U] the ability to understand and realize what people or situations are really like:
•a woman of great insight
able to understand or showing that you understand what a situation or person is really like; = perceptive
•an insightful analysis plural insignia [C]
a BADGE or sign that shows what official or military rank someone has, or which group or organization they belong to; emblem
•the royal insignia
•military insignia
too small or unimportant to consider or worry about; = trivial
•You realize that your problems are insignificant in comparison.
insignificant number/amount
- insignificantly adverb
- insignificance noun [U] $
pretending to be pleased, sympathetic etc, especially by saying nice things, but not really meaning what you say:
•an insincere smile
•an offer which she knew to be impractical and insincere
- insincerely adverb
- insincerity noun [U] [T]
1 to say something which seems to mean something unpleasant without saying it openly, especially suggesting that someone is being dishonest; = imply
insinuate that
•Are you insinuating that the money was stolen?
•What are you trying to insinuate?
2 formal to gradually gain someone's love, trust etc by pretending to be friendly and sincere:
•He managed to insinuate his way into her affections.
insinuate yourself into sth
•He insinuated himself into Mehmet's confidence.
3 formal to move yourself or a part of body into a place:
•a large cat insinuated itself through the gap
1 [C] something that someone says which seems to mean something unpleasant, but does not say this openly:
•She rejected the insinuation that she was partly to blame.
2 [U] when someone says something insinuating
1 food or drink that is insipid does not have much taste; = bland
•an insipid pasta dish
2 not interesting, exciting, or attractive:
•insipid colours
- insipidly adverb
- insipidness, insipidity noun [U] [I]
1 to say firmly and often that something is true, especially when other people think it may not be true
insist (that)
•Mike insisted that he was right.
•His friends insisted he had no connection with drugs.
[+on]
•She kept insisting on her innocence.
2 to demand that something should happen:
•Stay for supper - I insist!
insist (that)
•They insisted that everyone should come to the party.
•He insisted I should take a taxi and offered to pay for it.
•We insist on the highest standards of cleanliness in the hotel.
insist on/upon doing sth
•He insisted upon checking everything himself.
3 if you insist spoken used when agreeing to do something that you do not really want to do:
•'Why don't you call them up today?' 'Oh, if you insist!'
4 insist on doing sth to keep doing something, especially something that is inconvenient or annoying:
•She will insist on washing her hair just when I want to have a bath. [U]
when you demand that something should happen and refuse to let anyone say no
insistence that
•his insistence that they discuss the problem
[+on]
•an insistence on punctuality
at sb's insistence (=because someone insisted)
•At her father's insistence, she joined them for a drink.
1 demanding firmly and repeatedly that something should happen
insistent that
•She was insistent that they should all meet for dinner.
[+on]
•They were insistent on good manners.
2 making a continuous pattern of sounds that is difficult to ignore:
•the music's insistent rhythm
- insistently adverb
•The bell rang again insistently. $
if something remains in situ, it remains in its usual place $
in so far as at FAR^1 (20) $ [C]
the inside part of a shoe, or a piece of cloth, leather etc which is the same shape as your foot that you put inside your shoe
rude and not showing any respect:
•an insolent tone of voice
•You insolent child!
- insolently adverb
- insolence noun [U] $
1 an insoluble problem is or seems impossible to solve:
•insoluble conflicts within the department
2 an insoluble substance does not become a liquid when you put it into a liquid; soluble ; dissolve $ especially AmE
an insolvable problem is or seems impossible to solve; = insoluble
- insolvably adverb $
not having enough money to pay what you owe; = bankrupt
•The company was later declared insolvent (=officially said to be insolvent).
- insolvency noun [C,U] $ [U]
if you suffer from insomnia, you are not able to sleep $ [C]
someone who cannot sleep easily
- insomniac adjective $ formal
1 insomuch that especially AmE to such a degree that
2 another form of the word INASMUCH [U] formal
a cheerful feeling of not caring or worrying about anything; = nonchalance
•an air of insouciance
- insouciant adjective
- insouciantly adverb [T]
1 to examine something carefully in order to find out more about it or to find out what is wrong with it:
•I got out of the car to inspect the damage.
•Police inspected the scene and interviewed all the staff.
inspect sth for sth
•The police will inspect the venue for safety.
see box at CONTROL^2
2 to make an official visit to a building, organization etc to check that everything is satisfactory and that rules are being obeyed:
•The building is regularly inspected by the fire-safety officer.
•General Allenby arrived to inspect the troops. [C,U]
1 an official visit to a building or organization to check that everything is satisfactory and that rules are being obeyed
[+of]
•regular inspections of the prison
•An inspection was carried out at the school.
tour of inspection (=an official visit to inspect something)
2 a careful examination of something to find out more about it or to check for anything wrong
for inspection
•Copies of the documents are available for inspection (=people can look at them) at local libraries.
(on) close/closer inspection (=when looked at in detail)
•However, on closer inspection, a number of problems emerged.
•Close inspection of the plane's engines revealed several small defects. $ [C]
1 an official whose job is to check that something is satisfactory and that rules are being obeyed:
•ticket inspectors
•a Health and Safety inspector
•Standards of discipline at the school were strongly criticized in the inspector's report.
2 a police officer of middle rank:
•Inspector Blake
CHIEF INSPECTOR [C] BrE
the group of INSPECTORs who officially inspect schools, factories etc[C] BrE
a government official who calculates what tax each person should pay; = tax inspector [C,U]
1 a good idea about what you should do, write, say etc, especially one which you get suddenly

provide inspiration (for sth)
seek/look for inspiration
draw/take inspiration (from sb/sth) (=get inspiration from someone or something)
inspiration comes from sb/sth
have an inspiration
flash of inspiration
source of inspiration (for/to sb)
divine inspiration (=inspiration from God)
creative/poetic/artistic inspiration

•The Malvern Hills have provided inspiration for many artists and musicians over the decades.
• He raised his eyes to the altar as if seeking inspiration.
• He draws inspiration from ordinary scenes.
• Mary Quant's inspiration comes from the glam style of the 70s.
•He had a sudden flash of inspiration.
• He has always been a source of inspiration for me.

2 a person, experience, place etc that gives you new ideas for something you do:
•The seascapes of Cape Cod were her inspiration.
[+for/behind]
•He was the inspiration for Wordsworth's poem 'The Old Huntsman'.
3 be an inspiration to sb to make someone feel encouraged to be as good, successful etc as possible:
•People like Tara are an inspiration to us all.
4 under the inspiration of sb used to say who made a person or group want to do something:
•the spread of improved nursing under the inspiration of Florence Nightingale
providing encouragement or new ideas for what you should do:
•Jones proved an inspirational figure in Welsh rugby. $ [T]
1 to encourage someone by making them feel confident and eager to do something:
•We need someone who can inspire the team.
inspire sb to do sth
•He inspired many young people to take up the sport.
inspire sb to sth
•I hope this success will inspire you to greater efforts.
•Inspired by the sunny weather, I decided to explore the woods.
2 to make someone have a particular feeling or react in a particular way:
•Gandhi's quiet dignity inspired great respect.
inspire confidence (=make people feel confident because they trust your ability)
•His driving hardly inspires confidence.
•The hospital's record does not inspire confidence.
3 to give someone the idea for something, especially a story, painting, poem etc:
•The story was inspired by a chance meeting with an old Russian duke.
•a range of designs inspired by wild flowers
4 technical to breathe in $
1 having very exciting special qualities that are better than anyone or anything else:
•an inspired leader
•Wordsworth's most inspired poems
•an inspired performance
2 inspired guess/choice etc a good or successful choice, guess etc that is based on inspiration not facts:
•In an inspired move, they took on the young and relatively inexperienced Ray Unwin as director.
3 politically/religiously etc inspired started for political, religious etc reasons:
•We suspect that the violence was politically inspired. $
giving people a feeling of excitement and a desire to do something great; uninspiring
•inspiring music
•King was a great orator and an inspiring leader. plural instabilities [C,U]
1 when a situation is not certain because there is the possibility of sudden change; stability
•the instability of the market
•political instability in the region
2 mental problems that are likely to cause sudden changes of behaviour; unstable
•nervous instability $ [T]
1 to put a piece of equipment somewhere and connect it so that it is ready to be used:
•They've installed the new computer network at last.
•Security cameras have been installed in the city centre.
2 to add new software to a computer so that it is ready to be used; uninstall
•We've installed new anti-virus software.
3 to put someone in an important job or position, especially with a ceremony:
•Churchill was installed as Chancellor of the university.
4 install yourself in/at etc to settle somewhere as if you are going to stay for a long time
1 [U] when someone fits a piece of equipment somewhere:
•the installation and maintenance of alarm systems
2 [C] a piece of equipment that has been fitted in its place:
•The whole computer installation was nearly new.
3 [C] a place where industrial or military equipment, machinery etc has been put:
•nuclear installations
4 [C] a piece of modern art which can include objects, light, sound etc
5 [U] formal the ceremony of putting someone in an important job or position:
•the installation of the new bishop[singular, U] AmE
a system of paying for goods by a series of small regular payments; = hire purchase BrEalso installment AmE $ [C]
1 one of a series of regular payments that you make until you have paid all the money you owe:
•the second instalment of a loan
•They're letting me pay for the washing machine by monthly instalments.
2 one of the parts of a story that appears as a series of parts, especially in a magazine, newspaper etc:
•the first instalment of a science fiction trilogy
1 for instance for example:
•We need to rethink the way we consume energy. Take, for instance, our approach to transport.
2 [C] an example of a particular kind of situation
[+of]
•They came across many instances of discrimination.
instance where/when
•instances where safety regulations have been breached
• In this instance I think she was mistaken.
3 in the first instance at the beginning of a series of actions:
•Anyone wishing to join the society should apply in the first instance to the secretary.
4 at sb's instance formal because of someone's wish or request[T] formal
to give something as an example:
•She instanced the first chapter as proof of his skill in constructing scenes.
1 [usually before noun] happening or produced immediately; = immediate
•an instant success
•a system that provides instant access to client information
•The women took an instant dislike to one another.
•The programme brought an instant response.
2 [only before noun] instant food, coffee etc is in the form of powder and prepared by adding hot water:
•instant coffee
•instant soup[C]
1 [usually singular] a moment:
•She caught his eye for an instant.
•When the rain started, the crowd vanished in an instant (=immediately).
[+of]
•an instant of panic
•She stepped towards the door and in that very same instant, the doorbell rang.
2 the instant (that) as soon as something happens:
•The instant I saw him, I knew he was the man from the restaurant.
•Jen burst out laughing the instant she walked in.
3 this instant spoken used when telling someone, especially a child, to do something immediately; = now
•Come here this instant!
happening immediately:
•modern methods of instantaneous communication
- instantaneously adverb
immediately:
•All four victims died instantly.
•The information was instantly available.[U]
a type of service available on the Internet that allows you to quickly exchange written messages with people that you know:
•instant messaging services
- instant message noun [C][C] AmE
an important moment in a sports game on television that is shown again immediately after it happens; = action replay BrE
1 instead of sb/sth used to say what is not used, does not happen etc, when something else is used, happens etc:
•You probably picked up my keys instead of yours.
•Could I have tuna instead of ham?
•Instead of being annoyed, he seemed quite pleased.
2 used to say what is done, when you have just said that a particular thing is not done:
•Geoff didn't study law. Instead, he decided to become an actor.
•If Jo can't attend the meeting, I could go instead. [C]
1 the raised part of your foot between your toes and your ANKLE
2 the part of a shoe that covers your instep [T]
1 to make a process start, especially one relating to law or politics:
•Charles instigated a programme of reforms.
2 to persuade someone do something bad or violent:
•He accused union leaders of instigating the disturbances.
- instigator noun [C] [U]
1 at sb's instigation also at the instigation of sb formal because of someone's suggestion, request, or demand:
•an inquiry set up at the instigation of the White House
2 the act of starting somethinginstill AmE past tense and past participle instilled, present participle instilling [T] BrE
to teach someone to think, behave, or feel in a particular way over a period of time
instil confidence/fear/discipline etc into sb
•A manager's job is to instil determination into his players. [C,U]
a natural tendency to behave in a particular way or a natural ability to know something, which is not learned; intuition
[+for]
•Animals have a natural instinct for survival.
instinct to do sth
•the human instinct to form relationships
by instinct
•Birds build nests by instinct.
sexual/maternal/survival instinct
•Her instinct told her that something was wrong.
sb's first instinct (=what someone feels like doing first when something happens)
•His first instinct was to rush back to Isobel.
based on instinct and not involving thought:
•a mother's instinctive love
- instinctively adverb
•He knew instinctively that she would not forgive him. technical
instinctive $ [C]
an organization that has a particular purpose such as scientific or educational work, or the building where this organization is based; academy
•research institutes
[+of/for]
•the Institute for Space Studies[T] formal
to introduce or start a system, rule, legal process etc:
•We had no choice but to institute court proceedings against the airline. $
1 [C] a large organization that has a particular kind of work or purpose
financial/educational/research etc institution
•the Government and other political institutions
•powerful institutions such as world banks
•the Institution of Electrical Engineers
2 [C] an important system of organization in society that has existed for a long time:
• social institutions such as the family and religion
the institution of marriage/monarchy etc
•The scandal threatened to undermine the institution of the Presidency.
3 [C] a building that people are sent to when they need to be looked after, for example old people or children with no parents - often used to show disapproval:
•I was determined not to put my mother in an institution.
•a mental institution (=for the mentally ill)
4 [U] when something is started or introduced, especially something relating to the law or politics
[+of]
•the institution of divorce proceedings
5 be an institution if a person, place, event etc is an institution, they have been an important part of a place for a very long time - often used humorously:
•The British pub isn't just somewhere to drink - it's an institution. $ [usually before noun]
1 relating to an institution:
•children in institutional care
2 institutional attitudes and behaviour have existed for a long time in an organization and have become accepted as normal even though they are bad:
•accusations of institutional racism in the police forcealso institutionalise BrE $ [T]
1 old-fashioned to put someone in an institution for old people, a mental hospital etc
2 to make something a normal, accepted part of a social system or organization:
•the struggle to institutionalize equality for womenalso institutionalised BrE $
1 institutionalized attitudes and behaviour have existed for a long time in an organization and have become accepted as normal even though they are bad
institutionalized racism/sexism etc
•institutionalized corruption within the state
2 someone who has become institutionalized has lived for a long time in a prison, mental hospital etc and now cannot easily live outside one
3 forming part of a society or system:
•institutionalised democracy[only before noun]
happening within a large shop or store:
•an in-store bakery [T]
1 to officially tell someone what to do; order
instruct sb to do sth
•His secretary was instructed to cancel all his engagements.
instruct (sb) that
•The judge immediately instructed that Beattie be released.
•Eva went straight to the hotel, as instructed (=as she had been told).
instruct sb what to do
•He had instructed the slaves what to say when questioned.
2 formal to teach someone something, or show them how to do something
instruct sb in sth
•Greater effort is needed to instruct children in road safety.
instruct sb how to do sth
•Employees are instructed how to make a complaint.
3 [usually passive] BrE formal to officially tell someone about something
instruct sb that
•I was instructed that £20,000 had been paid into my account.
4 BrE law to employ a lawyer to represent you in court
1 instructions [plural] the written information that tells you how to do or use something; directions
•Install the machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.
•Press enter and follow the on-screen instructions.
[+for]
•Both products come with detailed instructions for use.
instructions on (how to do) sth
•Are there any instructions on how to plant the trees?
instruction book/manual/leaflet etc
•Read the instruction book carefully.
!! Do not say 'instructions how to do something' or 'instructions to do something'. Say instructions on how to do something.
2 [C usually plural] a statement telling someone what they must do; orders
instructions to do sth
•He had specific instructions to check everyone's identity cards.
instructions that
•Mrs Edwards gave instructions that she was not to be disturbed.
on sb's instructions (=having been told by someone to do something)
•On the landlord's instructions, the barmaid refused to serve him.
• My instructions are (=I have been told) to give the package to him personally.
•Make sure you carry out the doctor's instructions.
be under instruction to do sth (=have been told to do something)
•The police were under instruction to fire if necessary.
3 [U] formal teaching that you are given in a particular skill or subject:
•religious instruction
•driving instruction
[+in]
•The school gives instruction in First Aid.
under instruction (=being taught)
•This group of trainees is still under instruction. formal
providing instruction
instructional programmes/materials/techniques etc
•a free instructional video.
providing a lot of useful information:
•Thank you, that was very instructive.
•an instructive comparison $ [C]
1 someone who teaches a sport or practical skill:
•a driving instructor
•ski instructors
2 AmE someone who teaches in an American college or university and who has a rank below ASSISTANT PROFESSOR:
•a social studies instructor
see box at TEACHER [C]
1 TOOL a small tool used in work such as science or medicine:
•surgical instruments
2 MUSIC an object used for producing music, such as a piano or VIOLIN; = musical instrument; instrumental, instrumentalist
•electronic instruments
brass/wind/percussion/stringed etc instrument
3 FOR MEASURING a piece of equipment for measuring and showing distance, speed, temperature etc:
•a failure of the flight instruments
•sensitive earthquake-detecting instruments
4 METHOD [usually singular] something or someone that is used to get a particular result
[+of]
•Interest rates are an important instrument of economic policy.
instrument for (doing) sth
•Good management should be an instrument for innovation.
5 FOR HURTING something that is used to hit or hurt someone:
•Death was due to a blow on the head with a blunt instrument.
instrument of torture (=an object used to make people suffer pain until they give information)
6 instrument of fate/God literary someone or something that is used by a power beyond our control
1 be instrumental in (doing) sth formal to be important in making something happen:
•He was instrumental in developing links with European organizations.
2 instrumental music is for instruments, not for voices
- instrumentally adverb[C]
a piece of music in which no voices are used, only instruments [C]
someone who plays a musical instrument
VOCALIST [U]
1 the way in which a piece of music is arranged to be played by several different instruments
2 the set of instruments used to help in controlling a machine:
•aircraft instrumentation[C]
the board in front of the pilot of an aircraft, where all the instruments are; dashboard $ [U] formal
when someone refuses to obey a person who has more authority than them; = disobedience
•Howell was fired for gross insubordination.
- insubordinate $ adjective
1 formal not solid, large, strong, or definite:
•The evidence seemed very insubstantial.
•an insubstantial meal
•In the distance was the insubstantial outline of a ship.
2 literary not existing as a real object or person:
•insubstantial ghosts
extremely annoying or unpleasant; = unbearable
•an insufferable bully
•The heat was insufferable.
- insufferably adverb formal
not enough, or not great enough:
•Insufficient resources have been devoted to the health service.
[+for]
•His salary was insufficient for their needs.
insufficient (sth) to do sth
•The heating is insufficient to kill the bacteria.
•At the moment, there's insufficient evidence to arrest anyone.
- insufficiently adverb
- insufficiency noun [singular, U] $
1 interested in your own group, country, way of life etc and no others - used to show disapproval; parochial
•an insular community
•the insular world of the law
2 formal relating to or like an island
- insularity $ noun [U] $ [T]
1 to cover or protect something with a material that stops electricity, sound, heat etc from getting in or out
insulate sth from/against sth
•Pipes may need insulating against the cold.
•an insulated attic
2 to keep someone apart from particular experiences or influences, especially unpleasant ones
insulate sb from sth
•The royal family tried to insulate him from the prying eyes of the media.[U]
a type of sticky tape used for wrapping around electric wires to insulate them $ [U]
1 when something is insulated or someone insulates something:
•Good insulation can save you money on heating bills.
2 material used to insulate something, especially a building:
•glass-fibre insulation $ [C]
a material or object which does not allow electricity, heat, or sound to pass through it; conductor
•Wood is an excellent insulator. $ [U]
a substance produced naturally by your body which allows sugar to be used for energy:
•diabetic patients requiring insulin [T]
1 to offend someone by saying or doing something they think is rude:
•Nobody insults my family and gets away with it!
•I hope Andy won't be insulted if I don't come.
insult sb by doing sth
•They insult us by ignoring our complaints.
2 insult sb's intelligence to say or do something that suggests you think someone is stupid:
•I won't insult your intelligence by lying. Yes, I told him. [C]
1 a remark or action that is offensive or deliberately rude:
•She was shouting insults at her boyfriend.
•$200 for all that work? It's an insult.
•Their offer was so low I took it as an insult (=thought it was meant to be an insult).
2 be an insult to sb's intelligence to offend someone by being too simple or stupid:
•Some advertising is an insult to our intelligence.
add insult to injury at ADD (8)
very rude and offensive to someone:
•insulting remarks
[+to]
•Sexist language is insulting to women.
- insultingly adverb $ formal
an insuperable difficulty or problem is impossible to deal with:
•There were insuperable obstacles, and the plan was abandoned.
•As usual, the hero was facing insuperable odds. $ formal
extremely bad or annoying; = unbearable
•insupportable pain
•Her behaviour was insupportable. $
1 [U] an arrangement with a company in which you pay them money, especially regularly, and they pay the costs if something bad happens, for example if you become ill or your car is damaged; assurance, third party insurance
•Your father took out insurance to cover the mortgage.
health/car/travel etc insurance
[+against]
•insurance against loss of income due to unemployment
[+on/for]
•Do you have insurance on your house and its contents?
claim (for) sth on your insurance (=get an insurance company to pay for something)
•We can probably claim the damage on our insurance.
LIFE INSURANCE
2 [U] the business of providing insurance:
•My brother works in insurance.
insurance company/group etc
•the insurance industry
3 [U] BrE the money that you pay regularly to an insurance company; = insurance premium
[+on]
•How much is the insurance on your car?
4 [singular, U] protection against something bad happening
[+against]
•An extra lock on the door is an added insurance against burglars.
NATIONAL INSURANCE[C] AmE
someone who is employed by an insurance company to decide how much to pay people who have had an accident, had something stolen etc; = loss adjuster BrEalso insurance agent [C]
someone who arranges and sells insurance as their jobplural insurance policies [C]
a written agreement for insurance with an insurance company[C]
the money that you pay regularly to an insurance company $
1 [I,T] to buy insurance so that you will receive money if something bad happens to you, your family, your possessions etc:
•Have you insured the contents of your home?
insure (sth/sb) against loss/damage/theft/sickness etc
•It is wise to insure your property against storm damage.
insure sth for £1000/$2000 etc
•You should insure the painting for at least £100,000.
2 [T] to provide insurance for something or someone:
•Many companies won't insure young drivers.
3 an American spelling of ENSURE

PHRASAL VERBS
insure (yourself) against sth phr v
to protect yourself against the risk of something bad happening by planning or preparing:
•Take advice to insure yourself against being misled. $
1 if someone or something is insured, there is insurance relating to them:
•Apparently the jewellery wasn't insured.
insured to do sth
•I'm not insured to drive Anne's car.
2 the insured law the person or people who are insured $ [C]
a person or company that provides insurance $ plural insurgencies [C,U] formal
an attempt by a group of people to take control of their government using force and violence; = rebellion; counterinsurgency $ [C usually plural] formal
one of a group of people fighting against the government of their own country, or against authority; = rebel
•communist insurgents
- insurgent adjective $ formal
an insurmountable difficulty or problem is too large or difficult to deal with:
•The language difference proved an insurmountable barrier. [C,U] formal
an attempt by a large group of people within a country to take control using force and violence; = rebellion
[+against]
•an armed insurrection against the party in power
- insurrectionist noun [C] [not before noun]
not broken, damaged, or spoiled:
•Only the medieval tower had remained intact.
•His reputation survived intact. $ plural intaglios [C,U]
the art of cutting patterns into a hard substance, or the pattern that you get by doing this
1 [singular, U] the amount of food, drink etc that you take into your body
[+of]
•Try to reduce your intake of fat.
a high/low intake
•a high intake of carbohydrates
food/alcohol/calorie etc intake
•Sickness may develop from inadequate fluid intake.
2 [C,U] the number of people who join a school, profession etc at a particular time
[+of]
•an intake of around 120 students each year
3 [C] a tube, pipe, etc through which air, gas, or liquid enters a machine:
•a leak on the air intake to the carburettor
4 intake of breath a sudden act of breathing in, especially when you are shocked:
•a sharp intake of breath
1 an intangible quality or feeling is difficult to describe exactly:
•The island has an intangible quality of holiness.
2 intangible things have value but do not exist physically - used in business:
• intangible assets such as customer goodwill
- intangibly adverb
- intangible noun [C usually plural]
•intangibles like pension schemes and holidays $ [C] technical
a whole number:
•6 is an integer, but 6.4 is not.
1 forming a necessary part of something:
•Vegetables are an integral part of our diet.
[+to]
•Statistics are integral to medical research.
2 [usually before noun] provided as part of something, rather than being separate:
•a TV and integral video recorder
- integrally adverb [I,T]
1 if two or more things integrate, or if you integrate them, they combine or work together in a way that makes something more effective
integrate (sth) into/with sth
•Colourful illustrations are integrated into the text.
•Transport planning should be integrated with energy policy.
•computers of different makes that integrate with each other
2 to become part of a group or society and be accepted by them, or to help someone do this
integrate (sb) into/with sth
•We're looking for people who can integrate with a team.
•Many children with learning difficulties are integrated into ordinary schools.
3 especially AmE to end the practice of separating people of different races in schools, colleges etc; = desegregate; segregate
an integrated system, institution etc combines many different groups, ideas, or parts in a way that works well:
•an integrated public transport system
•a racially integrated community[C] technical
a very small set of electronic connections printed on a single piece of SEMICONDUCTOR material instead of being made from separate parts [U]
1 the combining of two or more things so that they work together effectively
[+of]
•the integration of data from other surveys
2 when people become part of a group or society and are accepted by them
[+into]
•The family unit is supported by its integration into a wider social network.
3 the process of getting people of different races to live and work together instead of separately:
•problems of racial integration [U]
1 the quality of being honest and strong about what you believe to be right
personal/professional/political etc integrity
•a man of great moral integrity
2 formal the state of being united as one complete thing:
•the territorial integrity of the country [C] technical
something such as a shell which covers something else
1 [C,U] the ability to understand things and to think intelligently
superior/considerable/keen etc intellect
•He combined a formidable intellect with a talent for speaking.
2 [C] someone who is very intelligent
1 relating to the ability to understand things and think intelligently; mental
intellectual development/ability/activity etc
•a job that requires considerable intellectual effort
2 an intellectual person is well-educated and interested in serious ideas and subjects such as science, literature etc; academic
•Mark's very intellectual.
3 needing serious thought in order to be understood:
•an intellectual film
- intellectually adverb
•intellectually stimulating
INTELLIGENT[C]
an intelligent, well-educated person who spends time thinking about complicated ideas and discussing them; academic
•a leading British intellectual
- intellectualism noun [U]also intellectualise BrE [I,T]
to think or talk about something in a serious, complicated way, especially rather than expressing your feelings[U] law
something which someone has invented or has the right to make or sell, especially something that cannot legally be copied by other people [U]
1
a) the ability to learn, understand, and think about things:
•To be good at the game you need a reasonable level of intelligence.
high/low intelligence
•John showed high intelligence from an early age.
b) a high level of this ability:
•a woman who had both beauty and intelligence
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
2
a) information about the secret activities of foreign governments, the military plans of an enemy etc:
•According to our intelligence, further attacks were planned.
intelligence operations/sources/reports etc
•Intelligence sources denied the reports.
b) a group of people or an organization that gathers this information for their government
intelligence agencies/services etc
•In Britain there are three main intelligence organizations.
•US Military Intelligence[C]
IQ
1 an intelligent person has a high level of mental ability and is good at understanding ideas and thinking clearly:
•a group of highly intelligent (=very intelligent) students
•Sontag was once famously described as the most intelligent woman in America.
2 an intelligent comment, question, conversation etc shows that you have thought about something carefully and understand it well:
•an intelligent question
•It's impossible to have an intelligent conversation with him.
3 an intelligent creature is able to think and understand:
•Are there intelligent beings on other planets?
•forms of intelligent life
4 an intelligent machine, system etc is able to learn and use information
- intelligently adverb

WORD FOCUS: intelligent
similar words:
clever especially BrE /smart especially AmE good at learning or understanding things quickly
bright intelligent - used especially about young people
brilliant a brilliant scientist, writer, student, historian etc is extremely intelligent and does very good work
brainy informal very intelligent and good at studying
gifted a gifted child is extremely intelligent
wise a wise person has a lot of experience and knowledge, and can give good advice
cunning /crafty good at using your intelligence to trick people
intelligent people:
genius someone who is extremely intelligent and has great ideas
intellectual someone who is well-educated and interested in art, science, or literature at a high level
intelligentsia a country's intellectuals, considered as a single group

the intelligentsia the people in a society who are most highly educated and who are most interested in new ideas, especially in art, literature, or politics
if speech, writing, or an idea is intelligible, it can be easily understood; unintelligible
•His reply was barely intelligible.
[+to]
•The report needs to be intelligible to the client.
- intelligibly adverb
- intelligibility noun [U] formal
1 intemperate language or behaviour shows a lack of control, which other people think is unacceptable:
•The judge's intemperate outburst almost caused a retrial.
2 regularly drinking too much alcohol
- intemperance noun [U] [T]
1 to have something in your mind as a plan or purpose; intention
intend to do sth
•I intend to spend the night there.
intend sb/sth to do sth
•I didn't intend her to see the painting until it was finished.
•I never intended things to turn out the way they did.
intend that
• It is intended that these meetings will become a regular event.
intend doing sth
•We intend looking at the situation again.
•I fully intend (=definitely intend) to return home next year.
2 be intended for sb/sth to be provided or designed for a particular purpose or person:
•The book is intended for children aged 5-7.
3 intended target/victim/destination etc the person, thing, result etc that an action is intended to affect or reach:
•It seems likely that General Rogers was the killer's intended victim.
1 having a very strong effect or felt very strongly:
•Young people today are under intense pressure to succeed.
•the intense heat of the desert
•The pain was so intense I couldn't sleep.
•He took an intense interest in all religious matters.
•a look of intense dislike
2 intense activity is very serious, uses a lot of effort, and often involves doing a great deal in a very short time:
•The job demands intense concentration.
•At least 3000 people were killed in a week of intense fighting.
3 someone who is intense is serious and has very strong feelings or opinions - used to show disapproval:
•She's a little too intense for me.
- intensely adverb
•He disliked Kate intensely. $ [C] technical
a word, usually an adverb, that is used to emphasize an adjective, adverb, or verb, for example the word 'absolutely' in the phrase 'that's absolutely wonderful' past tense and past participle intensified, present participle intensifying, third person singular intensifies [I,T]
to increase in degree or strength, or to make something do this:
•In June the civil war intensified.
•His mother's death intensified his loneliness.
- intensification noun [singular, U]
•an intensification of fighting in the region plural intensities
1 [U] the quality of being felt very strongly or having a strong effect:
•The intensity of the hurricane was frightening.
2 [U] the quality of being serious and having very strong feelings or opinions:
•He spoke with great intensity.
3 [C,U] technical the strength of something such as light or sound:
•an instrument which measures light intensity
1 involving a lot of activity, effort, or careful attention in a short period of time:
•a one-week intensive course in English
•a day of intensive negotiations
2 intensive farming/agriculture farming which produces a lot of food from a small area of land
3 energy-intensive/knowledge-intensive etc involving or needing a lot of energy, knowledge etc:
•a knowledge-intensive industry
CAPITAL-INTENSIVE, LABOUR-INTENSIVE
- intensively adverb[U]
a department in a hospital that treats people who are very seriously ill or badly injured, or the continuous and thorough treatment given to PATIENTs there
in intensive care
•He is still in intensive care in Bristol General Hospital.
1 be intent on/upon (doing) sth to be determined to do something or achieve something:
•She was intent on pursuing a career in business.
2 giving careful attention to something so that you think about nothing else:
•his intent gaze
[+on/upon]
•Intent upon her work, she didn't notice the cold.
- intently adverb
•Jake listened intently.[U]
1 formal what you intend to do; = intention
•She behaved foolishly but with good intent.
2 law the intention to do something illegal
with intent (to do sth)
•Jones was found guilty of wounding with intent.
•He is charged with possession of a gun with intent to commit a robbery.
3 to all intents and purposes also for all intents and purposes AmE used to say that a situation is not exactly as you describe it, but the effect is the same as if it were:
•The war was, to all intents and purposes, over. [C,U]
a plan or desire to do something; intend
have no/every intention of doing sth
•I have no intention of retiring just yet.
•They went into town with the intention of visiting the library.
intention to do sth
•It is our intention to be the number one distributor of health products.
good intentions/the best (of) intentions (=intentions to do something good or kind, especially when you do not succeed in doing it)
•He thinks the Minister is full of good intentions which won't be carried out.
WELL-INTENTIONED

GRAMMAR

!! Do not say 'have no intention to do something' or 'not have the slightest intention to do something'. Say have no intention of doing something or not have the slightest intention of doing something: He had no intention of paying me the money.

!! Do not say 'with the intention to do something'. Say with the intention of doing something: He left Manchester with the intention of finding a job in London.

done deliberately and usually intended to cause harm; = deliberate; unintentional
•I did trip him, but it wasn't intentional.
- intentionally adverb
•intentionally vague promises $ past tense and past participle interred, present participle interring [T] formal
to bury a dead person $
between or involving two or more different things, places, or people; intra-, intro-
•interdepartmental (=between or involving different departments in a company, government etc)
•an interstate (=a road that goes between states) [I]
1 if people interact with each other, they talk to each other, work together etc
[+with]
•Lucy interacts well with other children in the class.
2 if one thing interacts with another, or if they interact, they affect each other
[+with]
•The immune system interacts with both the nervous system and the hormones. [C,U]
1 a process by which two or more things affect each other
[+of]
•Price is determined through the interaction of demand and supply.
[+with/between]
•the complex interaction between mind and body
2 the activity of talking to other people, working together with them etc
[+with/between]
•the degree of interaction between teacher and student
1 an interactive computer program, television system etc allows you to communicate directly with it, and does things in reaction to your actions:
•interactive computer systems
•the museum's interactive exhibits
2 involving talking and working together:
•interactive teaching methods such as role playing
- interactively adverb
- interactivity noun [U] [only before noun]
between or involving different organizations or different departments within a government:
•interagency co-operation
•an interagency task force formal
among other things:
•The paper discussed, inter alia, political, economic, and social issues. $ past tense and past participle interbred [I + with, T]
to produce young animals from parents of different breeds or groups; crossbreed, inbreeding $ [I] formal
to speak in support of someone, especially in order to try to prevent them from being punished; intercession
[+with]
•My good friend, Senator Bowie, interceded with the authorities on my behalf. $ [T]
to stop something or someone that is going from one place to another before they get there:
•an attempt to intercept drugs being smuggled over the border
•Harker's phone calls had been intercepted.
- interception noun [C,U] $ formal
1 [U] when someone talks to a person in authority in order to prevent something bad happening to someone else; intercede
2 [C,U] a prayer asking for someone to be helped or cured $
1 [C,U] an exchange, especially of ideas or thoughts
[+of]
•the interchange of ideas between students and staff
2 [C] a point where two or more MOTORWAYs or main roads meet $ [I,T]
to put each of two things in the place of the other, or to be exchanged in this way $
things that are interchangeable can be used instead of each other:
•These two words are almost interchangeable.
•a camera with interchangeable lenses
- interchangeably adverb
- interchangeability $ noun [U] $ [only before noun]
happening between two or more cities, or going from one city to another:
•intercity rivalry
•intercity trains $ [only before noun]
intercollegiate competitions, especially sports competitions, happen between teams from different colleges
intercollegiate athletics/sports etc $ [C]
a communication system by which people in different parts of a building, aircraft etc can speak to each other:
•The pilot's voice came over the intercom. $ [I]
1 if two systems, places etc are interconnected, or if they interconnect, they are joined together:
•a series of interconnected lakes
•interconnecting rooms
•Our operating system can now interconnect with other networks.
2 if two facts, ideas, events etc are interconnected, or if they interconnect, they are related and one is affected by or caused by the other:
•In Freud's theory, the two areas of sexuality and violence are interconnected.
•a number of separate but interconnected issues
- interconnection noun [C,U]
•the interconnection between rich and poor countries $
going from one CONTINENT to another, or happening between two continents:
•an intercontinental flight
•intercontinental trade $ [U] formal
1 also sexual intercourse the act of having sex
2 an exchange of ideas, feelings etc which make people or groups understand each other better:
•social intercourse $ past tense and past participle intercut, present participle intercutting [T usually passive]
if a film is intercut with particular pictures, sounds, or music, they appear in different places during the film $
between or involving Christians from different groups $ [usually before noun]
between or involving different departments of a company, government etc:
•intense interdepartmental rivalryalso interdependency $ [C usually singular, U]
a situation in which people or things depend on each other
[+of]
•the interdependence of our body's immune and nervous systems $
depending on or necessary to each other:
•countries with interdependent economies
- interdependently adverb $ [C]
1 law an official order from a court telling someone not to do something
2 technical a punishment in the Roman Catholic Church, by which someone is not allowed to take part in church ceremonies
- interdict $ verb [T]
- interdiction noun [C,U] $
involving ideas, information, or people from different subjects or areas of study:
•an interdisciplinary research centre
1 [singular, U] if you have an interest in something or someone, you want to know or learn more about them

have an interest in sth
show interest (in sth)
express (an) interest (in sth) (=say that you are interested in something or want to buy it)
take an interest (in sth) (=be interested in something)
have no interest in sth
lose interest (in sth) (=stop being interested)
arouse/generate/attract interest (=make people interested)
pique sb's interest AmE (=make someone interested)
great/keen interest
abiding interest (=an interest you have had for a long time)
lack of interest
with interest

[+in]
•My parents encouraged my interest in science.
•I'd recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in jazz.
•Ben has shown an interest in learning French.
• My mother had never expressed any interest in the garden.
• Babies soon begin to take an interest in the world around them.
•John appeared to have no interest in girls.
•I watched the first few episodes, but soon lost interest.
• The last round of bidding aroused considerable interest.
• Our survey reveals a disturbing lack of interest in teacher training.
• I read your article with great interest.

2 [C usually plural] an activity that you enjoy doing or a subject that you enjoy studying:
•His interests include walking and golf.
•As a biologist, my main interest has been human genetics.
•Her outside interests (=interests that are not part of her work) were numerous.
3 [U] a quality or feature of something that attracts your attention or makes you want to know more about it:
•A Persian rug will add colour and interest to your hallway.
be of (no) interest (to sb) (=be interesting or not interesting to someone)
•It's a book that will be of interest to a wide range of readers.
•What you do in your private life is of no interest to me.
•art galleries, museums and other places of interest
•topics of general interest (=that everyone wants to know about)
4 [U]
a) the extra money that you must pay back when you borrow money
[+on]
•The interest on the loan is 16 % per year.
•How much are the monthly interest payments?
b) money paid to you by a bank or financial institution when you keep money in an account there:
•an account that pays higher interest
•The more you save, the more interest you'll earn.
COMPOUND INTEREST, INTEREST RATE, SIMPLE INTEREST
5 [C usually plural, U] the things that bring advantages to someone or something
protect/look after/safeguard sb's interests
•The regulations were introduced in order to safeguard the interests of local fishing communities.
be in sb's (best) interest(s) (to do sth) (=be the best thing for someone)
•The court decided that it was in the girl's best interests to remain with her grandparents.
have sb's (best) interests at heart (=care about someone and want to do what is best for them)
•He has your best interests at heart, you know.
•We've got to balance economic interests and environmental interests.
6 be in the national/public interest to be good or necessary for the safety or success of a country and its people:
•I believe it is in the public interest that these facts are made known.
7 in the interest(s) of justice/safety/efficiency etc in order to make a situation or system fair, safe etc:
•The race was postponed in the interests of safety.
8 (just) out of interest/as a matter of interest spoken used to say that you are asking a question only because you are interested and not because you need to know:
•Just out of interest, how much did they offer you?
9 [C] if you have an interest in a particular company or industry, you own shares in it:
•The company is believed to be keen to sell its extensive brewing interests.
•His business interests are spread throughout Europe.
controlling interest (=enough shares to control what decisions are taken)
•In 1986 GM acquired a controlling interest in the sports car maker Lotus.
10 [C usually plural] a group of people in the same business who share aims or ideas:
•Farming interests now dominate many of the National Park committees.
•The majority of Brazil's huge commercial interests support the measure.
•the need to reform the political system and reduce the influence of special interests (=groups who are concerned about particular subjects)
11 have no interest in doing sth to not want to do something:
•I have no interest in continuing this conversation.
12 declare an interest (in sth) to officially state that you are connected with something or someone, and so cannot be completely fair and independent when making a decision involving them
13 human interest/love interest the part of a story, film, or event which is interesting because it shows things about people's lives or romantic relationships:
•As a trainee reporter, she spent most of her time on human interest stories.
conflict of interest at CONFLICT^1 (6); SELF-INTEREST; vested interest at VESTED (1)[T]
1 to make someone want to pay attention to something and find out more about it:
•Here's an article which might interest you.
• What interests me is all the history of these places.
• It may interest you to know that a number of scholarships are available.
2 interest yourself in sth formal to give something a lot of attention because you want to find out more about it:
•He had always interested himself in foreign affairs.
3 to try to persuade someone to buy, do, or eat something
interest sb in sth
•The salesman tried to interest me in the higher-priced model.
Could I interest you in a drink/dessert etc? (=used as a polite way of offering someone a drink etc)
1 giving a lot of attention to something because you want to find out more about it or because you enjoy it; uninterested, bored
[+in]
•I've always been interested in music.
•All she's interested in is clothes.
•I wasn't sure if he was really interested or if he was just being polite.
interested to hear/know/see etc
•I'd be very interested to hear your opinion.
2 if you are interested in doing or having something, you want to do it or have it:
•I've got a spare ticket for the opera if you're interested.
interested in (doing) sth
•Sheila's interested in starting her own business.
•Would you be interested in a second-hand car?
3 interested party/group a person or group that is directly or personally concerned with a situation and is likely to be affected by its results; disinterested
•All interested parties are invited to attend the meeting.
- interestedly adverb

WORD FOCUS: interested
similar words:
intrigued
curious
absorbed
very interested:
fascinated
engrossed
enthralled
spellbound

an interest-free LOAN has no interest charged on it:
•interest-free credit[C]
a group of people who join together to try to influence the government in order to protect their own particular rights, advantages etc
if something is interesting, you give it your attention because it seems unusual or exciting or provides information that you did not know about ; uninteresting, boring
•That's an interesting question.
•a really interesting TV programme
find sth interesting
•I found his talk very interesting.
•Did you meet any interesting people?
it is interesting to see/know etc
•It will be interesting to see what happens when he gets a bit older.
• It's interesting that no one remembers seeing the car.

WORD FOCUS: interesting
similar words:
absorbing
intriguing
very interesting:
fascinating
gripping
riveting
engrossing
enthralling
spellbinding

!! Do not confuse interested, which describes a feeling, and interesting, which describes something that makes you feel interested: Are you interested in ballet? | an interesting talk on photography
1 [sentence adverb] used to introduce a fact that you think is interesting:
•Interestingly, none of their three children ever married.
• Interestingly enough, Pearson made no attempt to deny the rumour.
2 in an interesting way:
•His essay was clearly and interestingly written.[C]
the PERCENTAGE amount charged by a bank etc when you borrow money or paid to you by a bank when you keep money in an account there $ [C]
1 the way in which you see the information from a computer program on a screen, or how you type information into the program; GUI
2 technical the part of a computer system that connects two different machines
3 the way in which two subjects, events etc affect each other
[+between]
•The book deals with the interface between accountancy and law.
4 technical the surface where two things touch each other
1 [I,T + with] technical if you interface two parts of a computer system, or if they interface, you connect them
2 [I + with] if two people or groups interface with each other, they communicate with each other and work together $ [only before noun]
between or involving people of different religions:
•an interfaith Thanksgiving service $ [I]
to deliberately get involved in a situation where you are not wanted or needed; = meddle
•My daughter-in-law said that I was interfering, but I was only trying to help.
[+in]
•It's not the church's job to interfere in politics.

PHRASAL VERBS
interfere with sth/sb phr v
1 to prevent something from succeeding or from happening in the way that was planned:
•Anxiety can interfere with children's performance at school.
2 if something interferes with a radio or television broadcast, it spoils the sound or picture that you receive
3 BrE to touch a child sexually:
•He was arrested for interfering with young boys. $ [U]
1 an act of interfering
[+in ]
•I resent his interference in my work.
•Industrial relations should be free from state interference.
2 unwanted noise on the radio, television, or on the telephone, or faults in the television picture
3 especially AmE the act of blocking or touching another player in a sports game, for example by standing in front of them or holding on to them, when you are not supposed to; = obstruction BrE
4 run interference AmE
a) to protect a player who has the ball in American football by blocking players from the opposing team
b) to help someone to achieve something by dealing with people or problems that might cause them trouble $ [U]
a chemical substance that is produced by your body to fight against VIRUSes that cause disease $
between the large groups of stars in space $
between or involving people from different age groups:
•intergenerational communication $ [only before noun]
between or involving governments of different countries:
•an intergovernmental conference [only before noun]
1 intended to be used or accepted for a short time only, until something or someone final can be made or found:
•an interim report
•He received an interim payment of £10,000.
•He was appointed president until an interim government was established.
2 interim period the period of time between two events:
•During the interim period, air quality has deteriorated.
in the interim in the period of time between two events; = meanwhile
•The child will be adopted but a relative is looking after him in the interim. $
1 [C usually singular] the inner part or inside of something; exterior
•The interior of the church was dark.
•the car's warm interior
2 the interior the part of a country that is farthest away from the coast:
•The interior of the country is mainly desert.
3 Minister/Department of the Interior the government minister or department that deals with matters within a country rather than abroad[only before noun]
inside or indoors; exterior
•The interior walls are all painted white.[C]
an interior designer
- interior decorating also interior decoration noun [U][C]
someone whose job is to plan and choose the colours, materials, furniture etc for the inside of buildings, especially people's houses
- interior design noun [U] $ [I,T] formal
to interrupt what someone else is saying with a sudden remark:
•'That's absolute rubbish!' he interjected. $
1 [C] technical a word or phrase used to express a strong feeling such as shock, pain, or pleasure; = exclamation
2 [C,U] formal an interruption or the act of interrupting $
things that are interlaced are joined together, with parts of the one thing going over or around parts of the other:
•patterns of interlaced squares
- interlace verb [I,T] $ [I,T]
to connect or be connected with something else:
•a chain of interlinking loops $ [I,T]
if two or more things interlock, or if they are interlocked, they fit firmly together:
•a puzzle with 500 interlocking pieces $ [C] formal
your interlocutor is the person you are speaking to $ [C]
someone who enters a place or group where they should not be $ [C]
1 a period of time between two events or situations, during which something different happens:
•a brief interlude of peace before a return to the battlefield
2 a short period of time between the parts of a play, concert etc; = intermission
3 a short piece of music, talk etc used to fill such a period
4 a short romantic or sexual meeting or relationship:
•a romantic interlude $ past tense and past participle intermarried, present participle intermarrying, third person singular intermarries [I]
1 if people from two social, racial, or religious groups intermarry, people from one group marry people from the other
[+with]
•Over the centuries these Greeks intermarried with the natives.
2 to marry someone within your own group or family:
•It is not unusual for royal cousins to intermarry.
- intermarriage noun [C,U]
• intermarriage between ethnic groups $ plural intermediaries [C]
a person or organization that tries to help two other people or groups to agree with each other; go-between
•Jackson acted as an intermediary between the two parties.
- intermediary adjective [only before noun]
•an intermediary role in the talks $
1
a) an intermediate class, course etc is at a level of knowledge or skill that is between the basic level and the advanced level:
•a book aimed at students at the intermediate level and above
b) intermediate students, sports players etc have reached a level of knowledge or skill that is between the basic level and the advanced level:
•intermediate learners of English
2 an intermediate stage in a process of development is between two other stages:
•an intermediate stage during which the disease is dormant[C]
a student, sports player etc who has reached a level of knowledge or skill that is between the basic level and the advanced level:
•a ski resort particularly suited to beginners and intermediates[C] AmE
a JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL or MIDDLE SCHOOL $ [C,U] formal
the act of burying a dead body; = burial; inter $
very long and boring; = endless
•interminable delays
- interminably adverb
•an interminably long speech $ [I,T usually passive]
to mix together or mix something with something else:
•The pain and the anger were intermingled. $ [C] especially AmE
a short period of time between the parts of a play, concert etc; = interlude; = interval BrE $
stopping and starting often and for short periods; = sporadic
•The weather forecast is for sun, with intermittent showers.
- intermittently adverb $ [I,T]
to mix together, or mix things together $ [T]
to put someone in prison without charging them with a crime, for political reasons or during a war; internee, internment $ [C] AmE
1 someone who has nearly finished training as a doctor and is working in a hospital; = houseman BrE; internship
2 someone, especially a student, who works for a short time in a particular job in order to gain experience; internship $ [usually before noun]
1 within a particular country; = domestic; external
•We have no interest in interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.
•the threat to internal security
•internal markets
2 within a company or organization rather than outside it; external
•There's to be an internal inquiry into the whole affair.
•the internal mail
3 inside your body; external
internal organs/injuries
4 inside something rather than outside; external
•They've knocked down a couple of internal walls.
5 existing in your mind; = inner
•internal doubts
- internally adverb
•The matter will be dealt with internally.
•This medicine must not be taken internally.[C]
an engine that produces power by burning petrol, used in most carsalso internalise BrE $ [T]
if you internalize a particular belief, attitude, behaviour etc, it becomes part of your character
- internalization $ noun [U][U] AmE
a type of medical work in which doctors treat illnesses that do not need operationsalso Internal Revenue
the IRS $
relating to or involving more than one nation; national
international trade/market/competition
•the response of the international community
•the UN and other international organizations
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, INTERNATIONALLY[C]
1 an international sports game
2 BrE someone who plays for one of their country's sports teams; national[singular]
an imaginary line that goes from the NORTH POLE to the SOUTH POLE, to the east of which the date is one day later than it is to the west $ [U]
the belief that nations should work together and help each other
- internationalist noun [C]
- internationalist adjectivealso internationalise BrE $ [T]
to make something international or bring it under international control
- internationalization $ noun [U] $
in many different parts of the world; international
•These days businesses have to be able to compete internationally.
internationally famous/recognized/known etc
•an internationally famous sculptor
the IMF[plural]
the political relationships between countries, or the study of this $ [only before noun] formal
internecine fighting or struggles happen between members of the same group or nation:
•internecine warfare $ [C]
someone who is put into prison during a war or for political reasons, without having had a TRIAL; interninternet $
the Internet a computer system that allows millions of computer users around the world to exchange information
on the Internet
•You can find all kinds of information on the internet.
•More and more companies are using the internet to conduct their business.
•Do you have access to the Internet?
•an internet café (=a café with computers where people can pay to use the internet)

WORD FOCUS: internet
places on the Internet:
website /site
webpage
chatroom
things you do on the Internet: surf the netspend time looking at websites for fun
visit websites and
chatrooms,
download files from the Internet,
email people or
chat with them,
shop online or
work online. You can also
bookmark sites that you want to go back to regularly, or put them on your list of
favourites.
also online banking [U]
a service provided by banks so that people can find out information about their bank account, pay bills etc using the Internet $ [C] AmE
a doctor who has a general knowledge about all illnesses and medical conditions of organs inside your body, and who treats illnesses that do not need operations $
[U] the practice of keeping people in prison during a war or for political reasons, without charging them with a crime; intern
•an internment camp $ [C] AmE
1 a job that lasts for a short time, that someone, especially a student, does in order to gain experience; intern
2 a job that someone who has nearly finished training as a doctor does in a hospital; intern $ [I,T] formal
to spread through something or spread through each other
- interpenetration $ noun [C,U] $
relating to relationships between people:
•interpersonal skills
•interpersonal communication $ [only before noun]
between the PLANETs :
•interplanetary space missions $ [U]
the way in which two people or things affect each other
[+of]
•the interplay of ideas
[+between]
•the interplay between military and civilian populations $
an international police organization that helps national police forces to catch criminals $ [T] formal
1 to put additional words into a piece of writing; = insert
2 to interrupt someone by saying something
- interpolation $ noun [C,U] $ [T] formal
1 to put yourself or something else between two other things:
•She interposed herself between the general and his wife.
2 to say something when other people are having a conversation or argument, interrupting them:
•'That might be difficult,' interposed Regina. $
1 [I,T] to translate one language into another:
•They spoke good Spanish, and promised to interpret for me.
2 [T] to believe that something someone does or something that happens has a particular meaning
interpret sth as sth
•His refusal to work late was interpreted as a lack of commitment to the company.
3 [T] to explain the meaning of something:
•Freud's attempts to interpret the meaning of dreams
4 [T] to perform a part in a play, a piece of music etc in a way that shows your feelings about it or what you think it means $ [C,U]
1 the way in which someone explains or understands an event, information, someone's actions etc:
•One possible interpretation is that they want you to resign.
•It's difficult to put an accurate interpretation on (=explain) the survey results.
•What exactly the author meant by that statement is open to interpretation (=able to be understood or explained in different ways).
2 the way in which someone performs a play, a piece of music etc and shows what they think and feel about it:
•Laurence Olivier's brilliant interpretation of Henry Valso interpretive $
1 relating to, explaining, or understanding the meaning of something:
•Reading is an interpretative process.
2 relating to how feelings are expressed through music, dance, art etc:
•interpretive dance $ [C]
1 someone who changes spoken words from one language into another, especially as their job; translator
•Speaking through an interpreter (=using an interpreter), Ahmed said, 'I'm very worried about my wife and children'.
2 a computer program that changes an instruction into a form that can be understood directly by the computer $
interpretative
between different races of people; multiracial
•interracial marriage plural interregnums or interregna [C] formal
a period of time when a country or organization has no ruler or leader, and they are waiting for a new one [I]
if two things interrelate, they are connected and have an effect on each other:
•We will be discussing how the interests of state, parent and child interrelate.
[+with]
•Each part of the course interrelates with all the others.
things that are interrelated are connected and have an effect on each other:
•Unemployment and inflation are interrelated.
•Many interrelated factors are at work here.also interrelation [C,U]
a connection between two things that makes them affect each other [T]
to ask someone a lot of questions for a long time in order to get information, sometimes using threats:
•The police interrogated the suspect for several hours.
- interrogator noun [C]
•He refused to tell his interrogators anything.
- interrogation noun [C,U] $
1 technical an interrogative sentence, PRONOUN etc asks a question or has the form of a question. For example, 'who' and 'what' are interrogative pronouns.
2 written if someone gives you an interrogative look or uses an interrogative voice, they want to know the answer to a question; = questioning
- interrogatively adverbtechnical
1 the interrogative the form of a sentence or verb that is used for asking questions; indicative
•Put this statement into the interrogative.
2 [C] a word such as 'who' or 'what' that is used in asking questions
1 [I,T] to stop someone from continuing what they are saying or doing by suddenly speaking to them, making a noise etc:
•Will you stop interrupting me when I'm talking!
•Sorry to interrupt, but I need to ask you to come downstairs.
2 [T] to make a process or activity stop temporarily:
•My studies were interrupted by the war.
3 [T] if something interrupts a line, surface, view etc it stops it from being continuous
- interruption noun [C,U]
•Let's go somewhere where we can talk without interruption.
!! Do not use interruption to mean a short period when students or workers can stop working and relax. Use break instead: Between the two classes there is a 15 minute break. $
1 [I,T] if two lines or roads intersect, they meet or go across each other
2 [T usually passive] to divide an area with several lines, roads etc:
•The plain is intersected by a network of canals. $
1 [C] a place where roads, lines etc cross each other, especially where two roads meet; = junction BrE
2 [U] the act of intersecting something $ [T usually passive]
1 be interspersed with sth if something is interspersed with a particular kind of thing, it has a lot of them in it:
•sunny periods interspersed with showers
2 intersperse sth with sth to put something in between pieces of speech or writing, parts of a film etc $ [C] AmE
a wide road that goes between states, on which cars can travel very fast[only before noun]
involving different states, especially in the US:
•interstate commerce $ [only before noun]
happening or existing between the stars $ [C usually plural] formal
a small space or crack in something or between things $ [I,T]
1 if two situations, ideas etc are intertwined, they are closely related to each other
be closely/inextricably intertwined
•The problems of crime and unemployment are closely intertwined.
2 if two things intertwine, or if they are intertwined, they are twisted together
[+with]
•a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls $ [C]
1 the period of time between two events, activities etc:
•He left the room, returning after a short interval with a message.
[+between]
•The interval between arrest and trial can be up to six months.
2 sunny/bright intervals short periods of fine weather between cloudy, rainy weather etc
3 at weekly/20 minute etc intervals every week, 20 minutes etc:
•The trains run at half-hourly intervals.
4 at regular intervals
a) something that happens at regular intervals happens often:
•The phone rang at regular intervals all afternoon.
b) objects that are placed at regular intervals have all been placed at the same distance from each other:
•Trees had been planted at regular intervals.
5 BrE a short period of time between the parts of a play, concert etc; = intermission AmE
•We can get some drinks in the interval.
6 technical the amount of difference in PITCH between two musical notes $
1 [I] to become involved in an argument, fight, or other difficult situation in order to change what happens
[+in]
•The police don't usually like to intervene in disputes between husbands and wives.
•The army will have to intervene to prevent further fighting.
2 [I,T] to interrupt someone when they are speaking:
•'Stop shouting, Emily,' John intervened.
3 [I] if an event intervenes, it delays or interrupts something else:
•He was just establishing his career when the war intervened.
4 [I] if a period of time intervenes, it comes between two events:
•In the six years that intervened I saw them once. $
the intervening years/months/period etc time that passes between two events:
•I hadn't seen him since 1980, and he had aged a lot in the intervening years. $ [C,U]
the act of becoming involved in an argument, fight, or other difficult situation in order to change what happens:
•government intervention to regulate prices $
based on the belief of a government or organization that it should take action or spend money to influence the ECONOMY (=financial system) or what happens in other countries
interventionist approach/role/policy
•The UN adopted a more interventionist approach in the region.
- interventionism noun [U] $
1 [C,U] a formal meeting at which someone is asked questions in order to find out whether they are suitable for a job, course of study etc

have an interview
go for an interview
be called/invited for (an) interview
conduct an interview (=interview someone)
at interview BrE
job interview
first interview
second interview (=a more detailed interview after you have been successful in a previous interview)

[+for]
• He has an interview next Thursday for a job on the Los Angeles Times.
• I got a letter asking me to go for an interview the next day.
• Remember to take the phone off the hook while you are conducting the interview.
• a portfolio of work presented at interview
• I've got another job interview tomorrow.

2 [C] an occasion when a famous person is asked questions about their life, experiences, or opinions for a newspaper, magazine, television programme etc
[+with]
•an interview with the President
newspaper/radio/television interview
•Elton John gave an interview to Barbara Walters (=he answered her questions).
•an exclusive interview (=one that is given to only one newspaper, programme etc)
3 [C] an official meeting with someone who asks you questions:
•a police interview[T]
to ask someone questions during an interview
interview sb for sth
•We're interviewing six candidates for the job.
interview sb about sth
•The police want to interview you about the accident.
- interviewing noun [U]
•interviewing skills $ [C]
the person who answers the questions in an interview $ [C]
the person who asks the questions in an interview $ [only before noun]
happening or relating to the period between the First and the Second World Wars:
•the interwar years $ past tense interwove $ , past participle interwoven $ [T usually passive]
1 if two things are interwoven, they are closely related or combined in a complicated way
closely/inextricably/tightly etc interwoven
•The two themes are inextricably interwoven in the book.
be interwoven with sth
•practical help for the bereaved interwoven with emotional support
2 to weave two or more things together
be interwoven with sth
•silk interwoven with gold and silver threads law
die intestate to die without having made a WILL (=a statement about who you want to have your property after you die) [C]
the long tube in your body through which food passes after it leaves your stomach; = gut
- intestinal adjective
LARGE INTESTINE, SMALL INTESTINE
be the in-thing informal to be very fashionable at the moment
1 [U] a state of having a close personal relationship with someone
[+of]
•the intimacy of marriage
[+between]
•a close sense of intimacy between parent and child
2 intimacies [plural] things you say or do to someone you have a close personal relationship with:
•She thought back over the intimacies they'd shared and the plans they'd made.
3 [U] a situation in which you feel you are in private with someone:
•the cosy intimacy of the cafe
4 [U] formal sex - used especially by lawyers and police when they want to avoid using the word 'sex'
1 RESTAURANT/MEAL/PLACE private and friendly so that you feel comfortable:
•the intimate atmosphere of a country pub
•an intimate meal for two
•The collection has been moved from its intimate setting to the British Museum.
2 FRIENDS having an extremely close friendship:
•an intimate friend of Picasso's
•an intimate relationship
•She's on intimate terms with important people in the government.
3 intimate knowledge of sth very detailed knowledge of something as a result of careful study or a lot of experience:
•his intimate knowledge of the coal industry
4 PRIVATE relating to very private or personal matters:
•the publication of intimate details of their affair
5 SEX formal
a) relating to sex:
•The virus can only be transmitted through intimate contact.
b) be intimate with sb to have sex with someone
6 intimate link/connection etc a very close connection between two things:
•the intimate connection between physical and mental health
- intimately adverb
•The two aspects are intimately connected.
•I am intimately acquainted with the state of my bank account. [T] formal
to make people understand what you mean without saying it directly
intimate that
•He intimated, politely but firmly, that we were not welcome.
intimate sth to sb
•She had already intimated to me her wish to leave. [C] formal
a close personal friend [C,U] formal
1 an indirect or unclear sign that something may happen:
•the first intimations of the approaching conflict
2 the act of officially telling someone about something:
•Without early intimation of the dates of the training sessions, enthusiasm for training could decrease. [T]
1 to frighten or threaten someone into making them do what you want
intimidate sb into doing sth
•They tried to intimidate the young people into voting for them.
•Attempts to intimidate her failed.
2 to make someone feel worried and not confident:
•The whole idea of going to Oxford intimidated me.
- intimidation noun [U]
•She had endured years of intimidation and violence.
•the intimidation of voters [not before noun]
feeling worried and lacking confidence because of the situation you are in or the people you are with:
•I was shy, and felt intimidated by the older students.
making you feel worried and not confident:
•Some people find interview situations very intimidating. before vowels strong
1 TO THE INSIDE OF STH to the inside or inner part of a container, place, area etc:
•Come into the office.
•He thrust his hand into his coat pocket.
•There must be another way into the cave.
•Sue got back into bed and pulled the quilt over her head.
•I've got to go into town this morning and do some shopping.
•We dived into the sea and swam to the shore.
2 BECOMING INVOLVED used to say that someone becomes involved in a situation or activity, or becomes part of a group:
•At the age of 16, I went into the printing trade as an apprentice.
•They tried to drag me into their quarrel.
•a player who deserves to get back into the England team
3 CHANGING used to say that someone or something starts being in a different state or form:
•She fell into a deep sleep.
•The whole banking system was thrown into confusion.
•I screwed my wet handkerchief into a ball.
•Cut the cake into pieces.
•Neruda's poems have been translated into English.
4 HITTING STH used to say that a person or vehicle hits someone or something after moving towards them:
•He almost bumped into me as he rushed past.
•The car swerved and crashed into the wall.
5 DIRECTION in a particular direction:
•They rode off into the sunset.
•Make sure you're speaking directly into the microphone.
6 TIME at or until a certain time:
•Andy and I talked well into the night.
•John was well into his forties before he got married.
7 FINDING OUT used to say what someone is trying to find out information about:
•an investigation into the events leading up to his death
•I've been doing some research into this.
8 DIVIDING NUMBERS spoken used when you are dividing one number by another:
•Eight into twenty-four is three.
9 be into sth spoken to like and be interested in something:
•I'm really into folk music.
10 be into sb AmE informal to owe someone money:
•He's into me for $50. $
too difficult, bad, annoying etc for you to accept or deal with; tolerable
•'This is intolerable!' exclaimed Sir Rufus.
•The pain had become intolerable.
intolerable burden/strain/pressure
•Caring for an elderly relative can become an intolerable burden.
- intolerably adverb $
1 [U] unwillingness to accept ways of thinking and behaving that are different from your own; tolerance
racial/religious intolerance
2 [C,U] an inability to take particular medicines or eat particular foods without suffering bad effects; allergic
[+of]
•an intolerance of alcohol
food/glucose/lactose intolerance $
1 not willing to accept ways of thinking and behaving that are different from your own; tolerant
[+of]
•people who are intolerant of other people's political beliefs
2 not able to take particular medicines or eat particular foods without suffering bad effects
[+of]
•A number of patients were intolerant of the diet.
•She's lactose-intolerant (=unable to drink particular types of milk).
1 [C,U] the way in which the level of your voice changes in order to add meaning to what you are saying, for example by going up at the end of a question:
•intonation patterns
2 [U] technical the playing or singing of correct musical notes $ [T] formal
to say something slowly and clearly without making your voice rise and fall much as you speak:
•The priest intoned the blessing. $
as a whole; = totally
•They accepted the plan in toto. $ [C] technical
something that makes you drunk $
1 formal drunk; sober
•The driver was clearly intoxicated.
2 happy, excited, and unable to think clearly, especially as a result of love, success, power etc
[+by/with]
•He rapidly became intoxicated with his own power.
- intoxicate verb [T]
- intoxication $ noun [U] $
1 formal intoxicating drinks can make you drunk
2 making you feel happy, excited, and unable to think clearly:
•the intoxicating combination of her beauty and wit formal technical
1 inside; = within
•intra-departmental (=within a department)
2 into:
•an intravenous injection (=into a vein) formal
1 an intractable problem is very difficult to deal with or solve:
•the seemingly intractable problem of human greed
2 having a strong will and difficult to control
- intractability noun [U] $ AmE
happening within one school, or intended for the students of one school:
•an intramural softball competition
EXTRAMURAL [C]
a computer network used for exchanging or seeing information within a company; Internet, extranet formal
unwilling to change your ideas or behaviour, in a way that seems unreasonable; = stubborn
•an intransigent attitude
- intransigence noun [U]
•He accused the government of intransigence. technical
an intransitive verb has a subject but no object. For example, in the sentence 'they arrived', 'arrived' is intransitive. Intransitive verbs are marked [I] in this dictionary; transitive
- intransitively adverb $ [C]
someone who works for a large company and whose job is to develop new ideas or ways of doing business for that company; entrepreneur
- intrapreneuring noun [U] [only before noun] AmE
within one US state; interstate
•intrastate commerce [only before noun]
through or into a VEIN (=tube in the body taking blood back to the heart):
•an intravenous injection
•intravenous drug users
- intravenously adverb
•The drug was given intravenously.[C]
a container on your desk for work and letters that need to be dealt with; out tray
willing to do dangerous things or go to dangerous places - often used humorously:
•intrepid explorers plural intricacies
1 the intricacies of sth the complicated details of something:
•the intricacies of private banking
2 [U] the state of containing a large number of parts or details:
•designs of amazing intricacy and sophistication
containing many small parts or details that all work or fit together:
•intricate patterns
- intricately adverb
•intricately woven fabric
1 [T] if something intrigues you, it interests you a lot because it seems strange or mysterious:
•Other people's houses always intrigued her.
2 [I] formal to make secret plans to harm someone or make them lose their position of power
[+against]
•While King Richard was abroad, the barons had been intriguing against him.
[C,U] the making of secret plans to harm someone or make them lose their position of power, or a plan of this kind:
•It's an exciting story of political intrigue and murder.
•a web of intrigue (=complicated set of secret plans)
[+of]
•the political intrigues of the capital
very interested in something because it seems strange or mysterious
[+by/with]
•He was intrigued by her reaction.
intrigued to know/learn etc
•She was intrigued to know what he planned to do next.
something that is intriguing is very interesting because it is strange, mysterious, or unexpected:
•The magazine carries an intriguing mixture of high fashion, gossip and racing.
- intriguingly adverb
being part of the nature or character of someone or something:
•the intrinsic interest of the subject
intrinsic nature/quality/value/property of sth
•There is nothing in the intrinsic nature of the work that makes it more suitable for women.
[+to]
•Flexibility is intrinsic to creative management.
- intrinsically adverb
•Science is seen as intrinsically good. $ plural intros [C] informal
a short part at the beginning of a song, piece of writing etc; introduction
into, especially into the inside:
•introspection (=examining your own feelings) $ [T]
1 WHEN PEOPLE MEET if you introduce someone to another person, you tell them each other's names for the first time:
•Have you two been introduced? Tom, this is Greg.
introduce sb to sb
•June, let me introduce you to Bob.
introduce yourself (=formally tell someone who you are)
•May I introduce myself? My name is Meg Johnson.
2 NEW SYSTEM/PRODUCT to bring a plan, system, or product into use for the first time:
•They want to introduce a system of identity cards.
•The store have introduced a new range of food for children.
3 BRING STH TO A PLACE to bring a type of thing somewhere for the first time
introduce sth to/into sth
•The grey squirrel was introduced into Britain from North America.
4 NEW EXPERIENCE to show someone something or tell them about it for the first time
introduce sb to sth/introduce sth to sb
•Malcolm introduced me to the joys of wine-tasting.
5 PROGRAMME/PUBLIC EVENT to speak at the beginning of and sometimes during a television or radio programme, or at the beginning of a public event:
•Jim Adams will introduce tonight's programme.
6 START A CHANGE to make something new start to happen or exist in a situation:
•The peace agreement has introduced a feeling of optimism here.
7 LAW to formally present a possible new law to be discussed:
•Several senators introduced legislation aimed at sexual harassment.
8 PUT STH INTO STH technical to put something carefully into something else
introduce sth into sth
•Fuel was introduced into the jet pipe.
1 NEW SYSTEM/PRODUCT [U] the act of bringing something into use for the first time
[+of]
•the introduction of a range of new products
•With the introduction of independent taxation, a married woman's position is much clearer.
2 BRING STH TO A PLACE
a) [U] the act of bringing something somewhere for the first time
[+of]
•the introduction of Buddhism to China nearly 2000 years ago
b) [C] a type of thing that is brought somewhere for the first time:
•The potato was a sixteenth century introduction.
3 WHEN MEETING SB [C] the act of formally telling two people each other's names when they first meet:
•Pete, are you going to make the introductions?
•Our first contestant needs no introduction (=everyone already knows the person).
4 BOOK/SPEECH [C] a written or spoken explanation at the beginning of a book, speech etc:
•In the introduction he explains why he wrote the book.
•Mr Brown gave a brief introduction to the course.
5 MUSIC [C] a short part at the beginning of a song or piece of music
6 EXPLANATION [C] something that explains the basic facts of a subject
[+to]
•The book is a useful introduction to British geology.
7 NEW EXPERIENCE [C] someone's first experience of something
[+to]
•an introduction to water sports
8 LETTER [C] a letter by someone else that explains who you are, which you can give to a person you have not met before [only before noun]
1 said or written at the beginning of a book, speech etc in order to explain what it is about
introductory chapter/paragraph
•the objectives described in the introductory chapter
•as the chairman said in his introductory remarks
2 intended for people who have never done a particular activity before:
•an introductory course in data processing
3 introductory offer/price etc a special low price that is charged for a new product for a limited period of time:
•Don't miss our introductory offer! [U]
the process of thinking deeply about your own thoughts, feelings, or behaviour
tending to think deeply about your own thoughts, feelings, or behaviour:
•a shy and introspective person
- introspectively adverb $ [C]
someone who is quiet and shy, and does not enjoy being with other people; extrovert $
someone who is introverted is quiet and shy and does not enjoy being with other people; extrovert, extroverted
- introversion $ noun [U] [I]
1 to interrupt someone or become involved in their private affairs in an annoying and unwanted way:
•Would I be intruding if I came with you?
[+into/on/upon]
•Employers should not intrude into the private lives of their employees.
2 to come into a place or situation, and have an unwanted effect
[+on]
•It is to be hoped that TV cameras never intrude on this peaceful place. $ [C]
1 someone who illegally enters a building or area, usually in order to steal something:
•The police think the intruder got in through an unlocked window.
2 someone who is in a place where they are not wanted:
•At first I felt like an intruder in their family. [C,U]
1 when someone does something or something happens that affects your private life or activities in an unwanted way
[+into/on/upon]
•I resented this intrusion into my domestic affairs.
•the unwelcome intrusion of the press
2 when something comes into a place or situation and has an unwanted effect:
•the intrusion of badly designed new buildings in the historic high street
affecting someone's private life or interrupting them in an unwanted and annoying way:
•They found the television cameras too intrusive. $ [T] formal
to know or guess something because of a feeling you have, rather than because of facts you know $
1 [U] the ability to understand or know something because of a feeling rather than by considering the facts; = instinct
•feminine intuition
•Intuition told her it was unwise to argue.
2 [C] an idea about what is true in a particular situation based on a feeling rather than facts
intuition (that)
•He had an intuition there was trouble brewing.
•We should trust our intuitions. $
1 an intuitive idea is based on a feeling rather than on knowledge or facts; = instinctive
•He seemed to have an intuitive awareness of how I felt.
2 someone who is intuitive is able to understand situations without being told or having any proof about them
- intuitively adverb $
relating to the Inuit[C]
1 someone who belongs to a race of people who live in the very cold northern areas of North America; Eskimo
2 the Inuit [plural] the people who belong to this race $
another word for an Inuit [T]
1 be inundated (with/by sth) to receive so much of something that you cannot easily deal with it all; = swamp
•After the broadcast, we were inundated with requests for more information.
2 formal to cover an area with a large amount of water; = flood
•The tidal wave inundated vast areas of cropland.
- inundation noun [C,U] $

PHRASAL VERBS
inure sb to sth phr v [usually passive]
to make someone become used to something unpleasant, so that they are no longer upset by it:
•Nurses soon become inured to the sight of suffering.
1 [I,T] to enter a country, town, or area using military force, in order to take control of it:
•The Romans invaded Britain 2000 years ago.
2 [T] to go into a place in large numbers, especially when you are not wanted:
•Every summer the town is invaded by tourists.
•Fans invaded the pitch at half-time.
3 [T] to get involved in something in an unwanted and annoying way:
•What right does he have to invade my privacy?
•Patients are given the feeling that they mustn't try to invade medical territory (=try to deal with things that are not their responsibility).
INVASION $ [C]
a soldier or a group of soldiers that enters a country or town by force in order to take control of it:
•Invaders from the south ransacked the town.
1 a contract, ticket, claim etc that is invalid is not legally or officially acceptable; valid
•Without the right date stamped on it, your ticket will be invalid.
2 an argument, reason etc that is invalid is not based on true facts or clear ideas, and lacks good judgment; valid
3 if something you type into a computer is invalid, the computer does not recognize or accept it:
•Filename in invalid format. $ [C]
someone who cannot look after themselves because of illness, old age, or injury:
•I resented being treated as an invalid.
- invalid adjective [only before noun]

PHRASAL VERBS
be invalided out phr v also be invalided home BrE
to have to leave the army, navy etc because you are ill or injured [T]
1 to make a document, ticket, claim etc no longer legally or officially acceptable:
•Failure to disclose all relevant changes may invalidate your policy.
2 to show that something such as a belief or explanation is wrong:
•Later findings invalidated the theory. [U] formal
1 the state of being too ill, old, or injured to work:
•invalidity benefit
2 the state of being not legally or officially acceptable $
extremely useful
[+to/for]
•Your advice has been invaluable to us.
invaluable in/for (doing) sth
•This help was invaluable in focusing my ideas.
•The internet is an invaluable source of information. $
1 always happening in the same way, at the same time etc:
•His invariable answer was 'Wait and see.'
2 technical never changing; variable
•Mass, unlike weight, is invariable. $
if something invariably happens or is invariably true, it always happens or is true:
•It invariably rains when I go there.
•The security guards were invariably ex-servicemen.
1 [C,U] when the army of one country enters another country by force, in order to take control of it
[+of]
•the invasion of Normandy
2 [C] the arrival in a place of a lot of people or things, often where they are not wanted:
•the annual invasion of teenagers for the Glastonbury Festival
3 invasion of privacy a situation in which someone tries to find out details about another person's private affairs in a way that is upsetting and often illegal
1 invasive medical treatment involves cutting into someone's body:
•invasive surgery
2 an invasive disease spreads quickly and is difficult to stop:
•invasive bladder cancers [U] formal
rude and insulting words that someone says when they are very angry:
•He let out a stream of invective.

PHRASAL VERBS
inveigh against sb/sth phr v formal
to criticize someone or something strongly $

PHRASAL VERBS
inveigle sb into sth phr v formal
to persuade someone to do what you want, especially in a dishonest way
inveigle sb into doing sth
•She had inveigled me into taking messages to her lover. [T]
1 to make, design, or think of a new type of thing:
•Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876.
!! Do not confuse invent and discover. To discover something means to be the first person to find it or to know that it exists: Scientists have discovered a new type of bacteria.
2 to think of an idea, story etc that is not true, usually in order to deceive people:
•They invented a very convincing alibi.
1 [C] a useful machine, tool, instrument etc that has been invented:
•The dishwasher is a wonderful invention.
2 [U] the act of inventing something:
•The invention of the computer has revolutionized the business world.
3 [C,U] a story, explanation etc that is not true:
•They subsequently admitted that the story was pure invention.
4 [U] the ability to think of new and clever ideas:
•With such powers of invention he should get a job easily.
able to think of new, different, or interesting ideas; = creative
•one of the most talented and inventive drummers in modern music
- inventively adverb
- inventiveness noun [U] $ [C]
someone who has invented something, or whose job is to invent things:
•the inventor of the vacuum cleaner $ plural inventories
1 [C] a list of all the things in a place
[+of]
•We made an inventory of everything in the apartment.
2 [C,U] AmE all the goods in a shop; = stock $ [only before noun]
1 if there is an inverse relationship between two amounts, one gets bigger at the same rate as the other gets smaller:
•Clearly, the amount of money people save increases in inverse proportion to the amount they spend.
•the inverse relationship between prices and interest rates
2 technical exactly opposite
- inversely adverb[singular] technical
the complete opposite of something; reverse $ [C,U]
1 formal the act of changing something so that it is the opposite of what it was before, or of turning something upside down (=the bottom is on the top and the top is on the bottom)
2 technical a type of weather condition in which the air nearest the ground is cooler than the air above it $ [T] formal
to put something in the opposite position to the one it was in before, especially by turning it upside down (=the bottom is on the top and the top is on the bottom) $ [C]
a living creature that does not have a BACKBONE
VERTEBRATE
- invertebrate adjective[C usually plural] BrE
1 one of a pair of marks (") or (") that are put at the beginning and end of a written word, sentence etc to show that someone said it or wrote it, or when writing the title of a book, song etc; = quotation mark
PUNCTUATION MARK
2 in inverted commas spoken used to show that a word you are using to describe something is only what it is usually called, and not what you think it really is:
•Her friends, in inverted commas, all disappeared when she was in trouble.[U] BrE
the idea that everything that is typical of the upper classes must be bad
1 [I,T] to buy shares, property, or goods because you hope that the value will increase and you can make a profit:
•I've got a few thousand dollars I'm looking to invest.
invest (sth) in sth
•Oliver made a fortune by investing in antique furniture.
•Williams invested a large sum of money in Swiss stocks.
•He had invested heavily (=invested a lot of money) in the bond market.
2 [I,T] if a government, business, or organization invests in something, they spend a large amount of money to improve it or help it succeed
invest (sth) in sth
•The city has invested millions of dollars in the museum.
•The factory plans to invest in new computers.
3 [T] to use a lot of time, effort etc or spend money in order to make something succeed
invest sth in sth
•It was very difficult to leave a home we had invested so much in.

PHRASAL VERBS
invest (sth) in sth phr v
to buy something or spend money or time on something, because it will be useful for you:
•It's about time you invested in a new shirt.
•Everyone here has a lot invested in their careers.

invest sb/sth with sth phr v formal
1 to officially give someone power to do something:
•Jody has invested Alan with great power over her career.
2 to make someone or something seem to have a particular quality or character:
•Richard's heavy-rimmed glasses invested him with an air of intelligence.
1 [I,T] to try to find out the truth about or the cause of something such as a crime, accident, or scientific problem:
•The state police are investigating the incident.
•The study investigates the impact of violent TV programming on children.
•I heard a noise and went downstairs to investigate.
2 [T] to try to find out more about someone's character, actions etc, because you think they may have been involved in a crime:
•Penney was already being investigated by the police on suspicion of murder.
1 [C] an official attempt to find out the truth about or the causes of something such as a crime, accident, or scientific problem:
•The investigation continued for nearly three years.
[+into]
•The authorities are planning to launch a full-scale investigation into the crash.
[+of]
•Baker demanded an investigation of the district attorney's office.
•a criminal investigation
•A private detective was hired to conduct the investigation.
2 [U] the act of investigating something
[+of]
•the investigation of computer fraud
under investigation (=being investigated)
•The whole issue is still under investigation. $
investigative journalism/report/work work or activities that involve investigating something $ [C]
someone who investigates things, especially crimes:
•police investigators
PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR $ [only before noun]
relating to investigating something:
•the investigatory powers of the Office of Fair Trading $ [C] formal
a ceremony at which someone is given an official title
[+of]
•the investiture of the Prince of Wales
1 [C,U] the use of money to get a profit or to make a business activity successful, or the money that is used

make an investment (in sth)
return on an investment (=profit from an investment)
short-term/long-term investment (=one that will give you profit in a short time, or only after a long time)
stimulate/encourage/attract investment
investment income

•Foreign investment in Taiwan rose by 79% last year.
•A Certificate of Deposit remains one of the safest investments.
•We plan to buy some property as an investment.
[+in]
•That year, Japanese investment in American real estate totaled $13.06 billion.
[+of]
•Each of us was required to put up a minimum investment of $5,000.
•The Postal Service has made a large investment in new technology.
•Shareholders want to see a better return on their investment.
• tax cuts aimed at stimulating investment and expanding the economy

2 [C] something that you buy or do because it will be useful later
a good/sound investment
•The lessons cost me over $500, but I consider them a good investment.
3 [singular,U] when you spend a large amount of time, energy, emotion etc on something:
•a huge investment of time and effort[C]
a bank that buys and sells SECURITIES, STOCKs , or BONDs
- investment banker noun [C]
- investment banking noun [U][C]
a group of people who meet regularly to decide which invesments to buy and sell together, with money that they all put into the group:
•O'Hara belongs to an investment club in Detroit. $ [C]
someone who gives money to a company, business, or bank in order to get a profit [only before noun] written
1 inveterate liar/smoker/womanizer etc someone who lies a lot, smokes a lot etc and cannot stop
2 inveterate fondness/distrust/hatred etc an attitude or feeling that you have had for a long time and cannot change written
unpleasant, especially because it is likely to offend people or make you unpopular:
•By innocently lying to detectives, she'd put herself in an invidious position. [I,T] BrE
to watch people who are taking an examination and make sure that they do not cheat; = proctor AmE
- invigilator noun [C] [T ]
1 if something invigorates you, it makes you feel healthier, stronger and have more energy:
•At my age, the walk into town is enough to invigorate me.
•He felt invigorated after a day in the country.
2 [usually passive] to make the people in an organization or group feel excited again, so that they want to make something successful:
•Carey's hope was that the church would be renewed and invigorated.
making you feel healthy and giving you a lot of energy:
•an invigorating swim before breakfast
1 too strong to be destroyed or defeated:
•an invincible army
•Young athletes think of themselves as invincible.
2 an invincible belief, attitude etc is extremely strong and cannot be changed
- invincibility noun [U] formal
an inviolable right, law, principle etc is extremely important and should be treated with respect and not broken or removed
- inviolability noun [U ]
•the inviolability of the country's borders formal
something that is inviolate cannot be attacked, changed, or destroyed
1 something that is invisible cannot be seen; visible
•The house was surrounded by trees and invisible from the road.
[+to]
•The Stealth bomber is meant to be invisible to radar.
•Using a telescope, Galileo discovered stars that were invisible to the naked eye.
virtually/practically/almost etc invisible
2 not noticed, or not talked about:
•There's an invisible barrier that keeps women out of top jobs.
3 invisible earnings/exports/trade etc money that is made from services and TOURISM rather than from products
- invisibly adverb
- invisibility noun [U][U]
ink that cannot be seen on paper until it is heated, treated with chemicals etc, and is used for writing secret messages
1 [C] a written or spoken request to someone, inviting them to go somewhere or do something

invitation to do sth
receive/get an invitation
accept an invitation (=say yes)
refuse/turn down/decline an invitation (=say no)
issue/extend an invitation formal (=invite someone)
open/standing invitation (=an invitation to do something at any time you like)
dinner/lunch invitation
formal invitation

•Shortly afterwards, Dawson received an invitation to speak at a scientific conference.
• She accepted his invitation to join him for lunch.
[+to]
• Roger never turns down an invitation to dinner.
•I extend an invitation to the minister to visit this area.
• We've got a standing invitation. Maybe we should go tonight.

2 [U] the act of being invited or of inviting someone to go somewhere or do something
by invitation
•Attendance at the seminars is by invitation only (=only those people who have been invited can attend).
•They were always dropping by, usually without invitation.
at sb's invitation/at the invitation of sb
•Kegl traveled to Nicaragua at the invitation of the education minister.
3 [C] a card inviting someone to attend a party, wedding etc
party/wedding invitation
•We sent out more than 300 wedding invitations.
[+to]
•Did you get an invitation to Jason's party?
4 [singular, U] encouragement to do something
take sth as an invitation to do sth
•He seemed to take my silence as an invitation to talk.
5 be an open invitation for/to sb to make it very easy for someone to rob you or harm you:
•Leaving the car unlocked is just an open invitation to thieves. [T]
1 to ask someone to come to a party, wedding, meal etc
invite sb to sth
•Who should we invite to the party?
invite sb to do sth
•Gail invited me to stay with her while her husband was out of town.
invite sb for sth
•Why don't you invite her for a drink at the club one evening?
•I'm afraid I wasn't invited.
2 to politely ask someone to do something
invite sb to do sth
•Anyone interested in contributing articles is invited to contact the editor.
3 to encourage something bad to happen, especially without intending to:
•Any government that sells arms to dictators is inviting trouble.

PHRASAL VERBS
invite sb along phr v
to ask someone if they would like to come with you when you are going somewhere:
•Why don't you invite Barbara along?

invite sb back phr v
1 to ask someone to come to your home, hotel etc after you have been out somewhere together
[+for]
•Richard often used to invite me back for coffee after the show.
2 to ask someone to come to your home, your office etc again:
•If you keep arguing with Gerry, they won't invite us back.

invite sb in phr v
to ask someone to come into your home:
•After a few seconds, the door opened and Mrs Barnes invited me in.

invite sb out phr v
to ask someone to go somewhere with you, especially to a restaurant or film
[+for]
•We invited Clarissa out for ice cream.

invite sb over phr v also invite sb round BrE
to ask someone to come to your home, usually for a drink or a meal
[+for]
•Max has invited me over for dinner. [C] informal
an invitation to a party, meal etc
something that is inviting is very attractive and makes you want to be near it, try it, taste it etc:
•The log fire looked warm and inviting.
- invitingly adverb
•She smiled invitingly. $ [U] technical
a process in which a human egg is FERTILIZED outside a woman's body $
technical taking place in the body
- in vivo adverb
1 the invocation AmE a speech or prayer at the beginning of a ceremony or meeting
2 [C,U] literary a request for help, especially from a god [C]
a list of goods that have been supplied or work that has been done, showing how much you owe for them; bill[T]
to send someone an invoice $ [T] formal
1 if you invoke a law, rule etc, you say that you are doing something because the law allows or forces you to:
•The UN threatened to invoke economic sanctions if the talks were broken off.
2 to make a particular idea, image, or feeling appear in people's minds by describing an event or situation, or by talking about a person; evoke
•a painting that invokes images of the Rocky Mountains
•During his speech, he invoked the memory of Harry Truman.
3 to use a law, principle, or THEORY to support your views
4 to operate a computer program
5 to ask for help from someone more powerful than you, especially a god:
•St. Genevieve is often invoked against plagues.
6 to make spirits appear by using magic:
•invoking the spirits of their ancestors $
1 an involuntary movement, sound, reaction etc is one that you make suddenly and without intending to because you cannot control yourself:
•When Willie tapped on a window, Miguel gave an involuntary jump.
2 happening to you although you do not want it to:
•involuntary part-time workers
- involuntarily adverb $ [T]
1 if an activity or situation involves something, that thing is part of it or a result of it:
•What will the job involve?
•I didn't realize putting on a play involved so much work.
involve doing sth
•Running your own business usually involves working long hours.
2 to include or affect someone or something:
•These changes will involve everyone on the staff.
•There have been four accidents involving Forest Service planes.
3 to ask or allow someone to take part in something
involve sb in (doing) sth
•Try to involve as many children as possible in the game.
•We want to involve the workforce at all stages of the decision-making process.
4 involve yourself to take part actively in a particular activity
[+in]
•Reilly involves himself in every aspect of his company's business. $
1 be/get involved to take part in an activity or event, or be connected with it in some way
[+in]
•More than 30 software firms were involved in the project.
•I don't want to get involved in some lengthy argument about who is to blame.
•I'm afraid your son's been involved in an accident (=he is one of the people in an accident).
[+with]
•Landel has been involved with the Hercules project for years.
actively/deeply/heavily involved (=involved very much)
•Mrs. Cummings has been actively involved with the church for years.
2 work/effort etc involved in doing sth [not before noun] the amount of work, money, effort etc that is needed in order to make something succeed:
•Most people don't realize the amount of effort involved in writing a novel.
3 be involved with sb
a) to be having a romantic relationship with someone, especially a sexual one:
•The senator denied that he was romantically involved with a member of his staff.
b) to spend time with someone that you have a relationship with:
•Fathers are encouraged to be more involved with their families.
4 having so many different parts that it is difficult to understand; = complicated
•The plot was so involved that very few people knew what was going on. $
1 [U] the act of taking part in an activity or event, or the way in which you take part in it; = participation
•School officials say they welcome parental involvement.
[+in]
•His new book examines the United States' involvement in World War II.
[+with]
•The police have been looking into Harris's possible involvement with a series of robberies.
2 [C] something that you take part in or spend time doing:
•sporting involvements
•her political involvements
3 [U] the feeling of excitement and satisfaction that you get from an activity
[+in]
•Weaver admitted a strong emotional involvement in her client's case.
4 [C,U] a romantic relationship between two people, especially when they are not married to each other
[+with]
•Donna knew nothing of her husband's involvement with another woman.
someone or something that is invulnerable cannot be harmed or damaged if you attack or criticize them; vulnerable
•Gerry's confidence made him feel invulnerable.
[+to]
•We will not be satisfied until this city is safe and invulnerable to attack.
- invulnerability noun [U] $ written
1 [only before noun] felt or experienced in your own mind but not expressed to other people; outward
•a feeling of inward satisfaction
•inward panic
2 towards the inside or centre of something
- inwardly adverb
•I managed to smile, but inwardly I was furious.
an inward-looking person or group is more interested in themselves than in other people - used to show disapprovalinward AmE $ especially BrE
towards the inside of something; outwards
•A breeze blew the curtains inwards.[C]
a word that is popular at a particular time, or among a particular group of people, but that does not usually continue to be popular for long:
•the latest in-word amongst teenagersalso in-yer-face BrE informal
in-your-face behaviour is intended to be noticed and to shock or upset people $ [U]
a dark blue chemical substance that is used on wounds to prevent infection. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol I [in nouns]
the act, state, or result of doing something:
•the completion of the task (=act of finishing it)
•his election (=he was elected) to the post
•Young children demand a lot of attention. $ [C] technical
an atom which has been given a positive or negative force by adding or taking away an ELECTRON $
made in the simply decorated style of ancient Greek buildings:
•an Ionic columnalso ionise BrE [I,T]
to form ions or make them form
- ionization $ noun [U]also ioniser BrE $ [C]
a machine used to make the air in a room more healthy by producing negative IONs $
the ionosphere the part of the ATMOSPHERE which is used to help send radio waves around the Earth $
not one/an iota not even a small amount:
•It won't make an iota of difference. $ [C] informal
a note that you sign to say that you owe someone some money [U]
International Phonetic Alphabet a system of special signs, used to represent the sounds made in speech $ [C]
initial public offering; the first time that STOCK in a company is available for the public to buy on the STOCK MARKET $ formal
used to show that something is known from or proved by the facts [C]
intelligence quotient your level of intelligence, measured by a special test, with 100 being the average result:
•an IQ of 130
used instead of IN- before the letter r; = not
•irregular (=not regular)
1 the IRA the Irish Republican Army an illegal organization that wants to unite Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; Sinn Fein
2 AmE individual retirement account a special bank account in which you can save money for your RETIREMENT without paying tax on it until later written
easily becoming angry:
•an irascible old man
extremely angry, especially because you think you have been treated unfairly:
•an irate customer $ [U] written
anger
raise/arouse/draw sb's ire (=make someone angry)
•The proposal has drawn the ire of local residents. formal
showing colours that seem to change in different lights:
•small iridescent blue flies
- iridescence noun [U] [U]
a hard and very heavy metal that is combined with PLATINUM to make jewellery and is used in scientific instruments. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Ir $ [C]
1 a tall plant with long, thin leaves and large purple, yellow, or white flowers
2 the round coloured part of your eye, that surrounds the black PUPIL $
relating to Ireland or its people
the Irish [plural] people from Ireland[C,U]
coffee with cream and WHISKY $ plural Irishmen [C]
a man from Ireland[C,U]
a dish of meat, potatoes, and onions boiled together $ plural Irishwomen [C]
a woman from Ireland $ [T]
if something irks you, it makes you feel annoyed:
•Luna never told me what irked her that Sunday morning. $ formal
annoying:
•an irksome journey $
1 METAL [U] a common hard metal that is used to make steel, is MAGNETIC, and is found in very small quantities in food and blood. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Fe:
•the iron and steel industry
•a driveway with large iron gates
• iron ore (=rock that contains iron)
•the absorption of iron from food
2 FOR CLOTHES [C] a thing used for making clothes smooth, which has a heated flat metal base
3 have several irons in the fire to be involved in several different activities or have several plans all happening at the same time:
•He has several economic irons in the fire, including gold and diamond mines.
4 SPORT [C] a GOLF CLUB made of metal rather than wood:
•a 5-iron
5 CHAINS irons [plural] especially literary a chain used to prevent a prisoner from moving:
•leg irons
a will of iron/an iron will at WILL^2 (1); pump iron at PUMP^2 (8); rule sb/sth with a rod of iron at RULE^2 (5); strike while the iron's hot at STRIKE^1 (27)[T]
to make clothes smooth using an iron; = press
•Have you ironed my shirt?

PHRASAL VERBS
iron sth <=> out phr v
to solve or get rid of problems or difficulties, especially small ones:
•We need to iron out a few problems first.
IRONING[only before noun]
very firm and strong or determined:
•He runs the company with an iron fist.
the Iron Age the period of time about 3000 years ago when iron was first used for making tools, weapons etc
BRONZE AGE, STONE AGE $
1 an ironclad agreement, proof, defence etc is so strong and sure that it cannot be changed or argued against:
•an ironclad guarantee
2 old-fashioned covered with iron:
•an ironclad battleship
the Iron Curtain the name that was used for the border between the Communist countries of Eastern Europe and the rest of Europeiron-gray AmE BrE
iron-grey hair is dark greyalso ironical $
1 an ironic situation is one that is unusual or amusing because something strange happens or the opposite of what is expected happens or is true:
•Your car was stolen at the police station! How ironic!
• It's ironic that her husband smoked for thirty years, and yet she's the one who died of lung cancer.
•In an ironic twist, the most trustworthy character in the film turned out to be the thief.
2 using words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in a joking way:
•ironic comments
•When I told Lucy I loved her book, she thought I was being ironic.
SARCASTIC $
1 [sentence adverb] used when talking about a situation in which the opposite of what you expected happens or is true:
•Ironically, his cold got better on the last day of his holiday.
2 in a way that shows you really mean the opposite of what you are saying:
•'Oh, no problem!' said Terry, ironically. $ [U]
1 the activity of making clothes smooth with an iron:
•I hate doing the ironing.
2 clothes that are waiting to be ironed or have just been ironed:
•I'm tired and there's still a pile of ironing to do.[C]
a small narrow table used for ironing clothes[C]
a large machine with a metal case used to help people to breathe $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
1 someone who works in or owns a shop that sells tools and equipment for your home and garden
2 ironmonger's a shop that sells this equipment
- ironmongery noun [U][plural]
small amounts of high energy food, carried by soldiers, mountain climbers etc $ [U]
articles made of iron $ [U]
fences, gates etc made of iron bent into attractive shapes $ plural ironies
1 [C,U] a situation that is unusual or amusing because something strange happens, or the opposite of what is expected happens or is true:
•Life is full of little ironies.
tragic/cruel/bitter etc irony
• The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives.
2 [U] when you use words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusing
trace/hint/touch of irony
•Wagner calls his program 'the worst talk show in America,' without a hint of irony.
heavy irony BrE (=a lot of irony)
•'Of course Michael won't be late; you know how punctual he always is,' she said with heavy irony.
SARCASM
DRAMATIC IRONY [T usually passive]
1 technical if someone or something is irradiated, X-RAYs or RADIOACTIVE beams are passed through them
2 technical if food is irradiated, it is treated with RADIATION in order to kill BACTERIA and make it last longer:
•irradiated food
3 literary to make something look bright as if a light is shining onto it
- irradiation noun [U]
not based on clear thought or reason; = unreasonable; rational, reasonable
•an irrational fear of flying
•He's becoming increasingly irrational.
- irrationally adverb
- irrationality noun [U]
1 irreconcilable positions etc are so strongly opposed to each other that it is not possible for them to reach an agreement
irreconcilable differences/conflicts
•The differences between the landowners and the conservationists were irreconcilable from the start.
2 if two beliefs or ideas are irreconcilable, it is not possible to believe both of them
[+with]
•This belief was irreconcilable with the Church's doctrine of salvation.
3 irreconcilable differences strong disagreements between two people who are married, given as a legal reason for getting a DIVORCE formal
something that is irrecoverable is lost or has gone and you cannot get it back:
•irrecoverable loss of sight
•The insurance premium is wholly irrecoverable.
1 formal too bad to be corrected, repaired, or saved:
•Very few children are irredeemable.
2 technical irredeemable BONDs pay interest to the person who is lending money but do not have a set date saying when the money being lent must be paid back
- irredeemably adverb $ written
an irreducible sum, level etc cannot be made smaller or simpler
- irreducibly adverb $
an irrefutable statement, argument etc cannot be proved to be wrong, and must be accepted
irrefutable evidence/proof/facts
•irrefutable proof of his innocence
- irrefutably adverb $
1 having a shape, surface, pattern etc that is not even, smooth, or balanced; = uneven; regular
•a jagged, irregular coastline
•It has a highly irregular shape, covered in bumps and indentations.
2 not happening at times that are an equal distance from each other; regular
•He's receiving medication for an irregular heartbeat.
•Beamish only returned to Britain at irregular intervals.
3 not happening or done at the normal time for doing something; regular
•Funeral directors often work long, irregular hours.
4 formal not obeying the usually accepted legal or moral rules:
•It would be highly irregular (=extremely irregular) for a minister to accept payments of this kind.
5 irregular verb/plural etc a verb or a form of a word that does not follow the usual pattern of grammar, such as the verb 'catch' or the plural 'fish'; regular
6 AmE a word meaning CONSTIPATEd (=unable to easily pass food waste from your body), used in order to be polite
- irregularly adverb
- irregularity noun [C,U]
•The club were found guilty of financial irregularities.[C]
a soldier who is not an official member of a country's armyalso irrelevancy
1 [U] a lack of importance in a particular situation
2 [C] someone or something that is not important in a particular situation
[+of]
•debates on the irrelevance of the education system
not useful or not relating to a particular situation, and therefore not important; relevant
•We're focusing too much on irrelevant details.
•Students viewed Latin as boring and irrelevant.
largely/totally/completely etc irrelevant
•His age is completely irrelevant if he can do the job.
[+to]
•The defendant's lawyer argued that his past offenses were irrelevant to this case.
- irrelevantly adverb formal
opposed to religion, or not having any religious feeling formal
so bad that it is impossible to make it better written
irreparable damage, harm etc is so bad that it can never be repaired or made better:
•Extensive mining will cause irreparable damage to the area.
- irreparably adverb
too special, valuable, or unusual to be replaced by anything else:
•Works of art were lost, many of them irreplaceable. written
full of energy, confidence, and happiness so that you never seem unhappy:
•an irrepressible optimist
- irrepressibly adverb $ formal
something, such as someone's behaviour, that is irreproachable is so good that you cannot criticize it
1 so attractive, desirable etc that you cannot prevent yourself from wanting it
[+to]
•Tax-cutting proposals could prove irresistible to lawmakers.
•Men find Natalie irresistible.
2 too strong or powerful to be stopped or prevented:
•I was overcome by an irresistible urge to cry.
- irresistibly adverb formal
unable to decide what to do; = uncertain; resolute
- irresolution noun [U] formal
irrespective of sth used when saying that a particular fact has no effect on a situation and is not important:
•The course is open to anyone, irrespective of age. $
doing careless things without thinking or worrying about the possible bad results; responsible
totally/highly/completely etc irresponsible
•When it comes to money, Dan is completely irresponsible.
it is irresponsible (for sb) to do sth
•It would be irresponsible not to turn up for work without calling.
•It was highly irresponsible of him to leave the children on their own in the pool.
- irresponsibly adverb
•He was acting totally irresponsibly.
- irresponsibility $ noun [U] formal
1 an irretrievable situation cannot be made right again:
•the irretrievable breakdown of their marriage
2 irretrievable loss the loss of something that you can never get back
- irretrievably adverb
•irretrievably lost
someone that is irreverent, does not show respect for organizations, customs, beliefs etc that most other people respect - often used to show approval:
•his irreverent sense of humour
•She has an irreverent attitude towards marriage.
- irreverently adverb
- irreverence noun [U] $
1 irreversible damage, change etc is so serious or so great that you cannot change something back to how it was before; reversible
•Fossil fuels have caused irreversible damage to the environment.
2 if an illness or bad physical condition is irreversible, it will continue to exist and cannot be cured:
•Miller is in an irreversible coma.
•irreversible blindness
- irreversibly adverb
•His reputation was irreversibly damaged by the affair.
an irrevocable decision, action etc cannot be changed or stopped:
•Think about the situation carefully before you take an irrevocable step.
- irrevocably adverb
•machines that irrevocably changed the pattern of rural life [T]
1 to supply land or crops with water:
•The water in Lake Powell is used to irrigate the area.
irrigated land/farms/crops
2 technical to wash a wound with a flow of liquid
- irrigation noun [U]
•major irrigation projects
getting annoyed quickly or easily; = crabby
•Jo was tired, irritable, and depressed.
- irritably adverb
- irritability noun [U] [C]
1 formal something that keeps annoying you over a period of time:
•Low flying aircraft are a constant irritant in this area.
2 a substance that can make a part of your body painful and sore:
•a skin irritant [T]
1 to make someone feel annoyed or impatient, especially by doing something many times or for a long period of time:
• It really irritates me when he doesn't help around the house.
2 to make a part of your body painful and sore:
•This cream may irritate sensitive skin.
1 feeling annoyed and impatient about something
[+about/at/with/by]
•John was getting irritated by all her questions.
see box at NERVOUS
2 painful and sore:
•Her throat and eyes were irritated.
an irritating habit, situation etc keeps annoying you:
•He's the most irritating man I've ever met.
•He was smiling in a way I found very irritating.
irritating habit/characteristics/mannerisms
•She has an irritating habit of interrupting everything you say.
•a dry irritating cough
- irritatingly adverb
1 [U] the feeling of being annoyed about something, especially something that happens repeatedly or for a long time:
•The heavy traffic is a constant source of irritation.
[+at/with]
•The doctor's irritation at being interrupted showed.
2 [C] something that makes you annoyed:
•The children are just an irritation for him when he's trying to work.
3 [U] a painful, sore feeling on a part of your body:
•The astringent can cause irritation to sensitive skin.
•a throat irritation [C] formal
a sudden rush of people or things into a place
the IRS the Internal Revenue Service the department of the US government that collects national taxes strong
the third person singular of the present tense of BE $
a British spelling of -IZATION
International Standard Book Number a number that is given to every book that is PUBLISHed [U]
Integrated Services Digital Network a system that is used to send computer information at very high speed along an electronic wire similar to a telephone line [in verbs]
a British spelling of -IZE
1 [in nouns] the people or language of a particular country or place:
•Are the British unfriendly?
•learning to speak Turkish
•She's Swedish.
2 [in adjectives] of a particular place:
•Spanish food (=from Spain)
3 [in adjectives] typical of or like a particular type of person:
•foolish behaviour (=typical of a fool)
•Don't be so childish! (=do not behave like a child)
•snobbish
4 [in adjectives] the ending of some adjectives that show disapproval:
•selfish
5 [in adjectives] rather; = quite
•youngish (=not very young, but not old either)
•tallish
•reddish hair
6 [in adjectives] spoken APPROXIMATELY:
•We'll expect you eightish (=at about 8 o'clock).
•He's fortyish (=about 40 years old). [U]
1 the Muslim religion, which was started by Muhammad and whose holy book is the Koran
2 the people and countries that follow this religion
- Islamist noun [C]
- Islamic adjective [C]
a piece of land completely surrounded by water:
•The Cayman Islands
•the Greek island of Crete
on an island
•No cars are allowed on the island. $ [C]
someone who lives on an island [C]
a word for an island, used in poetry or in names of islands:
•the British Isles [C] literary
a very small island [in nouns]
1 a political belief or religion based on a particular principle or the ideas and beliefs of a particular person:
•socialism
•Buddhism
2 the action or process of doing something:
•his criticism of my work
3 an action or remark that has a particular quality:
•her witticisms (=funny remarks)
4 the state of being like something or someone, or having a particular quality:
•heroism (=being a HERO; bravery)
•magnetism (=being MAGNETIC)
5 illness caused by too much of something:
•alcoholism
6 the practice of treating people unfairly because of something:
•sexism (=making unfair differences between men and women)
•racism [C] informal
used to describe a set of ideas or beliefs whose name ends in 'ism', especially when you think that they are not sensible or practical
the short form of 'is not' $ technical
the same all through or in every part; = equal
•an isotherm (=line joining places of equal temperature) $ [C] technical
a line on a weather map joining places where the air pressure is the same [T]
1 to separate one person, group, or thing from other people or things:
•The town was isolated by the floods.
•The US has sought to isolate Cuba both economically and politically.
isolate sb from sb
•Presley's phenomenal early success isolated him from his friends.
isolate sb from sth
•New-born babies must be isolated from possible contamination.
2 if you isolate an idea, problem etc, you consider it separately from other things that are connected with it
isolate sth from sth
•It is impossible to isolate political responsibility from moral responsibility.
3 technical to separate a substance, disease etc from other substances so that it can be studied
isolate sth from sth
•The hepatitis B virus has been isolated from breast milk.
1 an isolated building, village etc is far away from any others; = remote
•small isolated communities
•Not many people visit this isolated spot.
2 feeling alone and unable to meet or speak to other people:
•Young mothers often feel isolated.
3 an isolated action, event, example etc happens only once, and is not likely to happen again
isolated incident/case/event
•Police say that last week's protest was an isolated incident. [U]
1 when one group, person, or thing is separate from others:
•Because of its geographical isolation, the area developed its own unique culture.
[+of]
•the isolation of rural areas
international/diplomatic/political isolation
•the country's continuing political isolation
in isolation
•The political prisoner had been held in complete isolation.
•The mansion sits in splendid isolation on top of the hill (=it is far from everything and looks impressive).
isolation hospital/ward BrE
•Scarlet fever victims had to go to the isolation hospital.
•a patient's isolation period
2 when someone feels alone and unable to meet or speak to other people:
•Retirement can often cause feelings of isolation.
•elderly people living in social isolation
3 in isolation (from sth) if something exists or is considered in isolation, it exists or is considered separately from other things that are connected with it:
•The future of health care cannot be considered in isolation from economic factors. [U]
beliefs or actions that are based on the political principle that your country should not be involved in the affairs of other countries
- isolationist adjective
•isolationist policies
- isolationist noun [C] [plural]
exercises that make your muscles stronger by pushing against each other $ [C]
a three-sided shape in which two of the sides are the same length
EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE $ [C] technical
a line on a weather map joining places where the temperature is the same $ [C] technical
one of the possible different forms of an atom of a particular ELEMENT (=simple chemical substance) [C]
Internet service provider a business that provides a connection to the Internet for people's computers
relating to Israel or its people:
•the Israeli government[C]
someone from Israel $ biblical
someone who lived in Israel in the past when it was ruled by kings, or relating to this country or its people $
1 SUBJECT/PROBLEM [C] a subject or problem that is often discussed or argued about, especially a social or political matter that affects the interests of a lot of people

the issue of sth
raise an issue (=say that an issue should be discussed)
address an issue (=discuss or deal with an issue)
resolve an issue
avoid/dodge/duck/evade an issue (=avoid discussing an issue)
confuse/cloud an issue (=make an issue more difficult by talking about things not related to it)
important/key/major/big issue
thorny/vexed issue (=difficult issue)
complex issue
sensitive issue
political/social/economic/environmental issues
sth is not the issue spoken (=used to say that something is not the important part of what you are discussing)

•Abortion is a highly controversial issue.
•We should raise the issue of discrimination with the council.
•Dillon addressed the issue of child abuse in his speech.
• How the issue is resolved is crucial.
• When asked about the bill, the senator tried to duck the issue.
•They're clouding the issue with uninformed judgements.
• The key issue is whether workers should be classified as 'employees'.
• the thorny issue of creating a single European currency
• Economic issues should get more attention.
•Unemployment is not the issue- the real problem is the decline in public morality.

2 MAGAZINE [C] a magazine or newspaper printed for a particular day, week, or month
[+of]
•the January issue of Newsweek
the current/latest issue
•Have you seen the latest issue?
3 take issue with sb/sth to disagree or argue with someone about something:
•It is difficult to take issue with his analysis.
take issue with sb over sth
•I must take issue with you over what you said yesterday.
4 make an issue (out) of sth to argue about something, especially in a way that annoys other people because they do not think it is important:
•I was upset by Eleanor's remarks, but didn't make an issue of it.
5 have issues (with sb/sth) informal
a) to have problems dealing with something because of something that happened in the past:
•There's a self-help group for people who have issues with money.
b) if you have issues with someone or something, you do not agree with or approve of them:
•I have a few issues with Marc.
6 at issue formal the problem or subject at issue is the most important part of what you are discussing or considering:
•At issue here is the extent to which exam results reflect a student's ability.
7 ACT OF GIVING STH [singular] the act of officially giving people something to use:
•the issue of identity cards to all non-residents
8 SET OF THINGS FOR SALE [C] a new set of something such as SHAREs or stamps, made available for people to buy:
•We launched the share issue on March 1.
•a new issue of bonds
9 die without issue old use to die without having any children[T]
1 to officially make a statement, give an order, warning etc:
•Silva issued a statement denying all knowledge of the affair.
•a warning issued by the Surgeon General
2 if an organization or someone in an official position issues something such as documents or equipment, they give these things to people who need them
issue a passport/permit/visa etc
•The US State department issues millions of passports each year.
issue sb with sth
•All the workers were issued with protective clothing.
issue sth to sb
•The policy document will be issued to all employees.
3 to officially produce something such as new stamps, coins, or SHAREs and make them available to buy

PHRASAL VERBS
issue forth phr v literary
if something issues forth, it comes out of a place or thing
[+from]
•A low grunt issued forth from his throat.

issue from sth phr v literary
if something issues from a place or thing, it comes out of it:
•Smoke issued from the factory chimneys.
1 [in nouns] someone who believes in a particular religion or set of principles or ideas:
•a Buddhist
•an atheist
•a Scottish Nationalist
2 [in adjectives] relating to or showing a particular political or religious belief:
•her socialist views
•rightist parties (=political parties with RIGHT-WING opinions)
3 [in nouns] someone who studies a particular subject, plays a particular instrument, or does a particular type of work:
•a linguist (=someone who studies or learns languages)
•a novelist (=someone who writes NOVELs )
•a guitarist (=someone who plays the GUITAR)
•a machinist (=someone who operates a machine)
-OLOGIST
4 [in adjectives] treating people unfairly because of something:
•a very sexist remark (=making unfair differences between men and women)
5 [in nouns] someone who treats people unfairly because of something:
•They're a bunch of racists. [C]
a narrow piece of land with water on both sides, that connects two larger areas of land:
•the Isthmus of Panama [U]
information technology the study or use of electronic processes and equipment for storing information and making it available [used as subject or object]
1 used to refer to a thing, animal, situation, idea etc that has already been mentioned or is already known about:
•'Where's your office?' 'It's on the third floor.'
•I love the spring - it's a wonderful time of the year.
•There were people crying, buildings on fire. It was terrible!
•Don't blame me. It wasn't my idea.
•This little beast is a lemur and it lives in Madagascar.
2 used to refer to the situation that someone is in now, or what is happening now:
•I can't stand it any longer. I'm resigning.
•How's it going, Bob? I haven't seen you for ages.
•And the worst of it is the car isn't even paid for yet.
•Stop it, you two. You're just being silly.
3 used as the subject or object of a verb when the real subject or object is later in the sentence:
•It worries me the way he keeps changing his mind.
•What's it like being a sailor?
•Apparently it's cheaper to fly than to go by train.
•It's a pity you couldn't come.
•It seems that we are not welcome here.
•I found it hard to concentrate.
4 used as the subject of a sentence when you are talking about the weather, the time, a distance etc:
•Is it still raining?
•It was 4 o'clock and the mail still hadn't come.
•It's my birthday today.
•It's over 200 miles from London to Manchester.
•It gets dark very early in the winter.
•It's three years since I last saw her.
5 used with the verb 'be' to emphasize that you are talking about one particular thing, person, group etc and not any other:
•It's Lawrence you should be talking to.
•It was malaria that killed him.
•It was in New Zealand that Elizabeth first met Mr Cronje.
6 used to refer to a baby when you do not know what sex the baby is:
•What will you call it if it's a boy?
7
a) used to say who a person is:
•'Who's that over there?' 'It's Robert Morley.'
b) spoken used to say who is speaking, especially on the telephone:
•Hello, it's Frank here.
•It's all right, it's only me.
8 informal used to refer to sex:
•Have you done it with him yet?
9 if it wasn't/weren't for sb/sth also if it hadn't been for sb/sth used to say who or what prevents or prevented something from happening:
•We would have arrived much earlier if it hadn't been for the snow.
10 informal a particular ability or quality that is needed in order to do something:
•In a job like advertising, you've either got it or you haven't!
11 this is it spoken used to say that something you expected to happen is actually going to happen:
•This is it, boys, the moment we've been waiting for.
12 that's it spoken
a) used to say that something is completely finished or that a situation cannot be changed:
•That's it then. There's nothing more we can do.
b) used to tell someone that they are doing something correctly:
•Slowly...slowly. Yeah, that's it.
c) also that does it used when you are angry about a situation and you do not want it to continue:
•That's it. I'm leaving.
13 think you're it informal to think you are more important than you are:
•Just because he got a higher mark he really thinks he's it.
relating to Italy, its people, or its language
1 [C] someone from Italy
2 [U] the language used in Italy
with an Italian style or appearance:
•an Italianate villaalso italicise BrE [T]
to put or print something in italics
- italicized adjective [plural]
a type of printed letters that lean to the right, often used to emphasize particular words
in italics
•This example is written in italics.
ROMAN
- italic adjective
•italic script $ [in nouns and adjectives]
Italian and something else:
•a joint Italo-German proposal
1 [I,T] if part of your body or your clothes itch, you have an unpleasant feeling on your skin that makes you want to rub it with your nails; scratch
•My feet were itching terribly.
•The label on this shirt itches me.
2 be itching to do sth be itching for sth informal to want to do something very much and as soon as possible:
•He was itching for a fight.
1 [singular] an uncomfortable feeling on your skin that makes you want to rub it with your nails:
•Scratch my back - I have an itch.
2 informal a strong desire to do or have something
[+for]
•an itch for adventure comparative itchier, superlative itchiest
1 if part of your body is itchy, it feels slightly unpleasant and you want to rub it with your nails:
•My eyes sometimes get red and itchy in the summer.
•an itchy rash
2 if clothes are itchy, they make your skin feel slightly unpleasant, so that you want to rub your skin with your nails; = scratchy
•These tights are all itchy.
3 wanting to go somewhere new or do something different:
•He's had that job now for about eight years, and he's starting to get itchy.
•I've only been back home for a few months and I've already got itchy feet (=the desire to go somewhere new).
4 itchy fingers informal someone with itchy fingers is likely to steal things:
•I tucked the bills deep into my pocket, away from itchy fingers.
- itchiness noun [U] usually spoken
the short form of 'it would' or 'it had':
•I'd do it if I thought it'd help.
1 [in nouns] a follower or supporter of a particular idea or person - often used in order to show disapproval:
•a group of Trotskyites (=followers of Trotsky's political ideas)
•the Pre-Raphaelites
2 [in adjectives] relating to a particular set of religious or political ideas, or with the ideas of a particular person:
•his Reaganite opinions
3 someone who lives in a particular place or belongs to a particular group:
•a Brooklynite (=someone from Brooklyn)
•the Israelites (=in the Bible)
1 [C] a single thing, especially one thing in a list, group, or set of things:
•He opened the cardboard box and took out each item.
•The store is having a sale on furniture and household items.
item on the agenda/list/menu
•We went on to the next item on the agenda.
item of clothing/furniture/jewellery etc (=a single piece of clothing, furniture, jewellery etc)
• luxury items such as exotic spices and perfumes
•The original 1965 bottle is now a collector's item (=one of a set of objects people like to collect because they are interesting or valuable).
2 [C] a single, usually short, piece of news in a newspaper or magazine, or on television:
•I also saw that news item in the Sunday Times.
3 be an item informal if two people are an item, they are having a romantic or sexual relationshipalso itemise BrE [T]
to make a list and give details about each thing on the list:
•an itemized bill [T]
1 if a computer iterates, it goes through a set of instructions before going through them for a second time
2 formal to say or do something again
- iteration noun [C,U]
- iterative adjective [only before noun]
•iterative processes [only before noun] formal
travelling from place to place, especially to work:
•itinerant labourers
- itinerant noun C $ plural itineraries [C]
a plan or list of the places you will visit on a journey:
•His itinerary would take him from Bordeaux to Budapest. [in nouns]
1 an illness or infection that effects a particular part of your body:
•tonsillitis (=infection of the TONSILs )
2 humorous the condition of having too much of something or liking something too much:
•televisionitis (=watching too much television) usually spoken
the short form of 'it will':
•It'll be dark before they get back.
1 the short form of 'it is':
•It's raining.
2 a short form of 'it has':
•It's been cloudy all day.
!! Do not confuse it's and its. Its (without an apostrophe) is a possessive form like my, his, their etc. [possessive form of 'it']
used to refer to something that belongs to or is connected with a thing, animal, baby etc that has already been mentioned:
•Salzburg is famous for its beautiful buildings.
•The hotel has its own pool.
!! Do not confuse its and it's. It's (with an apostrophe) means 'it is' or 'it has'. [reflexive form of 'it']
1 used to show that a thing, organization, animal, or baby that does something is affected by its own action:
•The cat lay on the sofa, washing itself.
•The machine switches itself off when the process is complete.
•a small local enterprise that has transformed itself into a highly successful company
2 used to emphasize that you are talking about one particular thing, organization etc:
•We've checked the wiring so the problem may be the television itself.
3 in/of itself considered separately from any other facts:
•There is a slight infection in the lung which in itself is not serious.
4 (all) by itself
a) alone:
•Will the dog be safe left in the car by itself?
b) without help or without a person making it work:
•The door seemed to open all by itself.
5 (all) to itself not shared with other things:
•This idea deserves a chapter to itself.also itty-bitty [only before noun] spoken
very small - used humorously
Independent Television a group of British television companies that are paid for by advertising [U]
interactive television a type of television programme that allows people who are watching at home to answer questions or find out more information by using a computer or special equipmentalso -ty [in nouns]
the state of having a particular quality, or something that has that quality:
•with great regularity (=regularly)
•such stupidities (=stupid actions or remarks) [C]
intra-uterine device a small plastic or metal object used inside a woman's UTERUS (=place where a baby develops) to prevent a baby being born; = coil [C] AmE
intravenous medical equipment that is used to put liquid directly into your blood; = drip BrE [in nouns and adjectives]
someone or something that does something or can do something:
•an explosive (=substance that can explode)
•a detective (=someone who tries to discover facts about crimes)
•the adoptive parents (=who ADOPT a child) usually spoken
the short form of 'I have':
•I've never been here before. [U]
in vitro fertilization a process in which a human egg is FERTILIZEd outside the woman's body literary
covered with ivy plural ivories
1 [U] the hard smooth yellowish-white substance from the TUSKs (=long teeth) of an ELEPHANT:
•an ivory chess set
2 [U] a yellowish white colour:
•an ivory silk wedding gown
3 [C often plural] something made of ivory, especially a small figure of a person or animal:
•a collection of Chinese ivories[C]
a place or situation where you are separated from the difficulties of ordinary life and so are unable to understand them, used especially to describe a college or university:
•an academic in an ivory tower plural ivies [C,U]
a climbing plant with dark green shiny leaves
the Ivy League a group of eight old and respected universities in the northeastern US
- Ivy League adjective
•an Ivy League collegealso -isation BrE $
makes nouns from verbs ending in -IZE:
•civilization
•crystallizationalso -ise BrE [in verbs]
1 to make something have more of a particular quality:
•We need to modernize our procedures. (=make them more modern)
•Americanized spelling (=spelling made more American)
•privatized transport (=bus or train services that are owned and operated by private companies)
2 to change something to something else, or be changed to something else:
•The liquid crystallized. (=turned into CRYSTALs )
3 to speak or think in the way mentioned:
•to soliloquize (=speak a SOLILOQUY, to yourself)
•I sat and listened to him sermonizing. (=speaking solemnly, as if in a SERMON)
4 to put into a particular place:
•She was hospitalized after the accident.
the written abbreviation of joule or joulesj plural J's, j's [C,U]
the tenth letter of the English alphabet past tense and past participle jabbed, present participle jabbing [I,T]
to push something into or towards something else with short quick movements
[+at]
•She jabbed at the elevator buttons.
•When I didn't respond, he jabbed a finger at me.
jab sb with sth
•Stop jabbing me with your elbow!
jab sth into sth
•The soldier jabbed a rifle into his ribs.[C]
1 a sudden hard hit, especially with a pointed object or your FIST (=closed hand):
•a boxer with a good left jab
2 something you say to criticize someone or something else:
•White House officials took a sharp jab at the Democrats' plan.
3 BrE informal an INJECTION given to prevent you from catching a disease; = shot
•a typhoid jab $ [I,T]
to talk quickly in an excited and unclear way - used to show disapproval:
•The tourists were jabbering away on the bus.
- jabber noun [singular, U] [C]
1 a piece of equipment used to lift a heavy weight off the ground, such as a car, and support it while it is in the air:
•a hydraulic jack
2 a card used in card games that has a man's picture on it and is worth less than a queen and more than a ten
jack of hearts/clubs etc
•a pair of jacks
3 an electronic connection for a telephone or other electric machine:
•a phone jack
4
a) jacks [plural] a children's game in which the players try to pick up small objects called jacks while BOUNCING and catching a ball
b) a small metal or plastic object that has six points, used in this game
5 a small white ball at which players aim larger balls in the game of BOWLs
6 jack (shit) AmE spoken not polite a rude expression meaning anything at all:
•He doesn't know jack shit about cars.
JUMPING JACK, UNION JACK

PHRASAL VERBS
jack sb around phr v
AmE spoken to waste someone's time by deliberately making things difficult for them:
•Stop jacking me around and make up your mind!

jack sth <=> in phr v
BrE informal to stop doing something:
•I'd love to jack in my job and go and live in the Bahamas.

jack off phr v
AmE informal not polite to MASTURBATE

jack sth <=> up phr v
1 to lift something heavy off the ground using a jack:
•Jack the car up higher - I can't get the tire off.
2 informal to increase prices, sales etc by a large amount:
•They're just interested in jacking up their profit margins. $ [C]
a wild animal like a dog that lives in Asia and Africa and eats the remaining parts of dead animals [C]
AmE spoken not polite an offensive word for an annoying stupid person [C]
a boot worn by soldiers that covers their leg up to the knee
- jackbooted adjective $ [C]
a black bird like a CROW that sometimes steals small, bright objects [C]
1 a short, light coat
a leather/denim/linen etc jacket
•a suede jacket
BOMBER JACKET, DINNER JACKET, LIFE JACKET, STRAITJACKET (1)
2 the part of a suit that covers the top part of your body:
•Gene has to wear a jacket and tie to work.
•tweed jackets
SPORTS JACKET
3 a stiff piece of folded paper that fits over the cover of a book to protect it; = dust jacket
4 AmE a stiff paper cover that protects a record; = sleeve BrE
5 a cover that surrounds and protects some types of machines[C]
BrE a potato baked with its skin on; = baked potato[singular]
a way of describing FROST as a person - used especially when talking to children $ [C]
AmE a large powerful tool used to break hard materials such as the surface of a road; = pneumatic drill BrE[C]
a children's toy shaped like a box with a figure inside that springs out when the box is openedplural jack-knives [C]
1 a knife with a blade that folds into its handle
2 a DIVE in which you bend at the waist when you are in the air[I]
if a large vehicle with two parts jack-knifes, it slides out of control and the back part swings towards the front part:
•The truck skidded on the ice and jack-knifed.
[singular] someone who can do many different types of work, but who often is not very skilled at any of them $ [C]
a PUMPKIN (1) that has a face cut into it and a CANDLE put inside to shine through the holes $ [C]
a large amount of money that you can win in a game that is decided by chance:
•a £50,000 jackpot
•jackpot winners
hit the jackpot at HIT^1 (25) [C]
a large North American HARE (=animal like a large rabbit) with very long ears $
before you can say Jack Robinson old-fashioned very quickly or suddenly[singular]
BrE spoken a young man who enjoys drinking alcohol and going out with his male friends, and who thinks he is sexually attractive
belonging to or typical of the period between 1603 and 1623 in Britain, when James I was king of England:
•Jacobean drama [C]
someone in the 17th or 18th centuries who supported King James II of England and wanted one of his DESCENDANTs to rule England
- Jacobite adjective [C]
trademark a large indoor bath that makes hot water move in strong currents around your body [U]
1 a hard, usually green stone often used to make jewellery:
•a jade necklace
2 also jade green the light green colour of jade
someone who is jaded is no longer interested in or excited by something, usually because they have experienced too much of it:
•The concert should satisfy even the most jaded critic. [C]
informal crying/shopping/talking etc jag a short period of time when you suddenly cry etc without controlling how much you do it
having a rough or pointed edge or surface:
•the broken bottle's jagged edge
•the jagged rocks of St. Saviour's Point
- jaggedly adverb $ [C]
a large South American wild cat with brown and yellow fur with black spotsalso gaol BrE [C,U]
a place where criminals are kept as part of their punishment, or where people who have been charged with a crime are kept before they are judged in a law court; = prison

in jail
go to jail
put sb in jail
send sb to jail
be/get thrown in jail (=be put in jail)
spend time/3 months/6 years etc in jail
release sb from jail
get out of jail
jail sentence (= punishment of time in jail)
jail term (=amount of time spent in jail)

•He's been in jail for three months already.
• They're going to jail for embezzlement and fraud.
• The government would put him in jail if he stayed in the country.
•Drunks were thrown in jail for a few days.
•Griffiths spent three days in jail after pushing a policeman.
• More than 30 of those arrested were released from jail for lack of evidence.
• He's serving a 7-year jail sentence.

also gaol BrE [T]
to put someone in jail
jail sb for sth
•Watson was jailed for tax evasion.
jail sb for two months/six years/life etc
•They ought to jail her killer for life.also gaolbird BrE $ [C] old-fashioned informal
someone who has spent a lot of time in prisonalso gaolbreak BrE [C]
an escape or an attempt to escape from prison, especially by several peoplealso gaoler BrE $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who is in charge of guarding a prison or prisoners [C] AmE
a building that has a jail in it $ [C]
a small, very hot green PEPPER used especially in Mexican food $ plural jalopies [C] old-fashioned
a very old car in bad condition
BANGER (2)
1 FOOD [C,U] a thick sweet substance made from boiled fruit and sugar, eaten especially on bread; jelly
•strawberry jam
•a jam sandwich
•jam jars
2 CARS/PEOPLE [C] a situation in which it is difficult or impossible to move because there are so many cars or people:
•Sorry we're late. We got stuck in a traffic jam.
3 MACHINE [C] a situation in which a machine does not work because something is stopping a part from moving:
•It caused a jam in the printer.
4 DIFFICULT SITUATION [C usually singular] informal a difficult situation
(be/get) in/out of/into a jam
•We became friends after he helped me out of a jam.
5 MUSIC [C]
a) a JAM SESSION
b) a song or piece of music, especially one by a RAP or ROCK group
6 kick out the jams AmE informal to play ROCK MUSIC loudly and with a lot of energy or emotion:
•Make no mistake - these guys know how to kick out the jams.
7 jam tomorrow BrE informal good things someone promises you, which never happen:
•There is an element of 'jam tomorrow' about some of the government's policies.past tense and past participle jammed, present participle jamming
1 PUSH HARD [T always + adv/prep] to push something somewhere using a lot of force, until it can move no further:
•He jammed his foot on the accelerator and the car sped off.
•A chair had been jammed up against the door.
2 MACHINE [I,T] also jam up if a moving part of something jams, or if you jam it, it no longer works properly because something is preventing it from moving:
•The front roller has jammed on the photocopier.
3 BLOCK [I,T] also jam up if a lot of people or vehicles jam a place, they fill it so that it is difficult to move; = cram
•Crowds jammed the entrance to the stadium.
[+into]
•They all jammed into the car.
JAMMED (2)
4 MUSIC [I] also jam out to play music in an informal way with other people
JAM SESSION
5 jam on the brakes to slow down a car suddenly by putting your foot down hard on the BRAKE
6 jam sb's/the switchboard if telephone calls jam the switchboard of an organization, so many people are phoning the organization that it cannot deal with them all:
•Viewers jammed the switchboard with complaints.
7 RADIO [T] to deliberately prevent broadcasts or other electronic signals from being received, by broadcasting signals on the same WAVELENGTH
8 sb is jamming AmE spoken used to say that someone is doing something very quickly or well

PHRASAL VERBS
jam out phr v
to dance to music [C]
a post that forms the side of a door or window [U]
a dish from the southern US, containing rice and SEAFOOD [C]
a big noisy party or event [not before noun]
1 stuck and impossible to move:
•Ben had got his finger jammed in the door.
2 full of people or things; = packed
•The place is jammed. We'll never get in.
[+with]
•The town was completely jammed with traffic.
JAM-PACKED
3 if people are jammed in a place, there are a lot of them there, so that there is no space between them:
•We were jammed together, shoulder to shoulder, in the narrow corridor. [plural]
AmE informal PYJAMAS BrE
1 [only before noun] informal lucky - used especially when someone has got something good without having to use any special effort or skill:
•The jammy devil won £1000.
2 covered in JAM or like jam[not before noun] informal
full of people or things
[+with]
•The place was jam-packed with tourists.also jam [C]
an occasion when JAZZ or ROCK musicians play music together in an informal wayalso Jan BrE
the written abbreviation of January $ [C,U] AmE
used especially by the police to refer to a woman whose name is not known
JOHN DOE [I,T]
1 if metal objects jangle, or if you jangle them, they make a sound when they hit each other:
•Her bracelets jangled on her wrist.
•Dev jangled his car keys.
2 if your nerves jangle, or if something jangles your nerves, you feel nervous or upset:
•The harsh sound jangled his nerves.
- jangle noun [singular] $ [C]
especially AmE someone whose job is to look after a school or other large building; = caretaker BrEwritten abbreviation Jan. $ plural Januaries [C,U]
the first month of the year, between December and February
next/last January
•I haven't heard from him since last January.
in January
•She started working there in January.
on January 6th
•Rosie's party was on January 6th.
on 6th January BrE
•He took office on 6th January 1999.
January 6 AmE
•The package arrived January 6. [C] taboo
a very offensive word for someone from Japan. Do not use this word.
relating to Japan, its people, or its language:
•a Japanese car
1 the Japanese [plural] people from Japan
2 [U] the language used in Japan [C] BrE old-fashioned
a trick or joke $ [C]
1 a glass container with a wide top and a lid, used for storing food such as JAM or HONEY, or the amount it contains:
•a jam jar
•half a jar of peanut butter
2 a container made of clay, stone etc used especially in the past for keeping food or drink in
3 BrE informal a glass of beer:
•We'd had a few jars down the pub.past tense and past participle jarred, present participle jarring
1 [I,T] to make someone feel annoyed or shocked:
•His enthusiasm jarred.
•His words jarred Harriet.
[+on]
•The screaming was starting to jar on my nerves.
2 [I,T] to shake or hit something in a way that damages it or makes it loose:
•Alice landed badly, jarring her ankle.
3 [I] to be different in style or appearance from something else and therefore look strange
[+with]
•There was a modern lamp that jarred with the rest of the room.
- jarring adjective $ [U]
words and expressions used in a particular profession or by a particular group of people, which are difficult for other people to understand - often used to show disapproval:
•Keep it simple and avoid the use of jargon.
technical/scientific/legal/medical etc jargon
•documents full of legal jargon
!! Jargon is an uncountable noun. Do not say jargons. [C,U]
a plant that grows up a wall, frame etc and has small, sweet-smelling white or yellow flowers $ [U]
a red, yellow, or brown stone that is not very valuable $ [U]
a medical condition in which your skin and the white part of your eyes become yellow $
1 thinking that people or things are bad, especially because you have had bad experiences in the past:
•He has a very jaundiced view of the world.
•She viewed politics and politicians with a jaundiced eye (=in a jaundiced way).
2 suffering from jaundice $ [C]
a short trip for pleasure:
•a weekend jaunt $
1 showing that you are confident and happy:
•He had a jaunty walk.
•Her hat was set at a jaunty angle.
2 jaunty music is fast and makes you feel happy:
•a jaunty tune
- jauntily adverb
- jauntiness noun [U] $ [U] AmE informal
coffee [C]
1 a long stick with a pointed end, thrown as a sport
2 the javelin a sports event in which competitors throw a javelin $
1 [C] one of the two bones that your teeth are in:
•a broken jaw
lower/upper jaw
•an animal with two rows of teeth in its lower jaw
2 [C usually singular] the lower part of your face. Its shape is sometimes thought to show your character:
•He punched him on the jaw.
•a rugged physique and a strong square jaw
•She's got a very determined jaw.
3 sb's jaw dropped used to say that someone looked surprised or shocked:
•'You're not serious, are you?' Ellen's jaw dropped.
4 jaws [plural]
a) the mouth of a person or animal, especially a dangerous animal
b) the two parts of a machine or tool that move together to hold something tightly
5 the jaws of death/defeat/despair etc literary a situation in which something unpleasant almost happens:
•She had saved him from the jaws of death.[I]
informal to talk:
•Stop jawing and let me get on with the work! $ [C]
one of the bones that your teeth are in, especially the lower bone $ [C]
AmE a round hard sweet $ [C]
the shape of the lower part of someone's face:
•a square jawline
the Jaws of Life trademark a tool used to make a hole in a car, truck etc after an accident, so that the people inside can be taken out [C]
a bird of the CROW family that is noisy and brightly-coloured $ [U]
when someone walks across a road at a place where it is dangerous to cross
- jaywalker noun [C]
- jaywalk verb [I] [U]
1 a type of music that has a strong beat and parts for performers to play alone:
•a jazz band
•a jazz club
•modern jazz
2 and all that jazz spoken and things like that:
•I'm fed up with work, meetings, and all that jazz.

PHRASAL VERBS
jazz sth <=> up phr v
informal to make something more attractive or exciting:
•Jazz up your everyday meals with our new range of seasonings. [not before noun] AmE spoken
excited informal
1 brightly coloured and modern:
•a jazzy tie
2 similar to the style of jazz music [C] BrE trademark
a vehicle used for digging and moving earth
1 feeling angry and unhappy because someone has something that you wish you had; envious
[+of]
•Why are you so jealous of his success?
•You're just jealous of her.
!! Do not say 'jealous about' someone or something or 'jealous with' someone. Say jealous of someone or something.
2 feeling angry and unhappy because someone you like or love is showing interest in another person, or another person is showing interest in them:
•She gets jealous if I even look at another woman.
•He was talking to Nina to make me jealous.
jealous husband/wife/lover etc
3 jealous of sth formal wanting to keep or protect something that you have because you are proud of it:
•a country jealous of its heritage
1 if you jealously guard or protect something, you try very hard to keep or protect it:
•a jealously guarded secret
2 if you do something jealously, you are feeling jealous when you do it:
•Ludens watched Marcus jealously. plural jealousies
[C,U] a feeling of being jealous; envy
a pang/stab/twinge of jealousy (=a sudden feeling of jealousy)
•Polly felt a sharp pang of jealousy when she saw Paul with Suzanne.
• Sexual jealousy is a common motive for murder.
•feelings of professional jealousy
•He quickly discovered the petty jealousies and gossip of village life. [plural]
trousers made of DENIM (=a strong, usually blue, cotton cloth) [C] trademark
a type of car made for travelling over rough ground $ [I,T]
to laugh at someone or shout unkind things at them in a way that shows you do not respect them:
•"You know I'm right!" she jeered.
•The President was booed and jeered by a crowd of protesters.
[+at]
•Fans jeered at the referee.
- jeer noun [C]
•There were jeers and booing from the audience.
- jeering noun [U] $ [only before noun]
a jeering remark or sound is unkind and shows that you do not respect someone:
•jeering laughter informal
used to express feelings such as surprise, anger, annoyance etc $
a name given to God in the Old Testament (=first part of the Bible)[C]
a member of a religious organization that believes the end of the world will happen soon and sends its members to people's houses to try to persuade them to join formal
1 ideas that are jejune are too simple:
•jejune political opinions
2 boring [C]
someone who is sometimes nice but at other times is unpleasant
another spelling of GEL [only before noun]
especially BrE cooked or served in jelly:
•jellied eelsjello $ [U] AmE trademark
a soft sweet food made from fruit juice and GELATIN; = jelly BrE plural jellies
1 [C,U] BrE a soft sweet food made from fruit juice and GELATIN; = Jell-O AmE
•raspberry jelly
2 [C,U] a thick sweet substance made from boiled fruit and sugar with no pieces of fruit in it, eaten especially on bread; jam
•a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
•damson jelly
3 [U] especially BrE a soft solid substance made from meat juices and GELATIN
4 [U] a substance that is solid but very soft, and moves easily when you touch it:
•frogs' eggs floating in a protective jelly
5 feel like/turn to jelly if your legs or knees feel like jelly, they start to shake because you are frightened or nervous
6 jellies [plural] BrE informal a drug that makes you feel relaxed and sleepy, which some people use illegally
7 jellies [plural] shoes made of clear coloured plastic[C]
BrE trademark a small soft sweet made in the shape of a baby in a variety of colours[C]
a small soft sweet with different tastes and colours that is shaped like a bean plural jellyfish [C]
a sea animal that has a round transparent body and can sting you[C]
AmE a long thin cake that is rolled up with JAM or cream inside; = swiss roll BrEjimmy AmE plural jemmies [C] BrE
a short strong metal bar used especially by thieves to break open locked doors, windows etc
- jemmy verb [T ] [singular]
a good quality that you cannot easily describe - often humorous:
•the je ne sais quoi that makes the village magicalalso jeopardise BrE $ [T]
to risk losing or spoiling something important:
•large-scale military offensives which could jeopardize the UN peace process $
in jeopardy in danger of being lost or harmed:
•Thousands of jobs are in jeopardy.
put/place sth in jeopardy
•The killings could put the whole peace process in jeopardy. [C] formal
a long speech or piece of writing that complains about a situation, or says that bad things will happen $
1 [I,T] to move with a quick sudden movement, or to make part of your body move in this way:
•Wilcox jerked his head to indicate that they should move on.
•'Is that the only way out of here?' he asked, jerking a thumb at the door.
[+back/up/forwards etc]
•Suddenly he jerked back in his chair.
•The sound of the phone jerked me awake.
2 [I,T] to pull something suddenly and roughly
[+at]
•Doyle jerked at the girl's hair, to make her sit down.
•She jerked open the car door and got out.

PHRASAL VERBS
jerk sb around phr v AmE informal
to waste someone's time or deliberately make things difficult for them

jerk off phr v informal not polite especially AmE
to MASTURBATE

jerk out sth phr v written
to say something quickly and nervously:
•'Don't lie,' she jerked out.[C]
1 a sudden quick movement:
•He gave a sudden jerk of his head.
with a jerk
•She started the car with a jerk and hit the bumper of the car in front.
2 informal someone, especially a man, who is stupid or who does things that annoy or hurt other people:
•I swore at him for being such a jerk. $ [C]
a short jacket that covers your body but not your arms, worn in the past $
jerky movements are rough, with many starts and stops; smooth
•His skin was dry and hot, his breathing rapid and jerky.
•The bus came to a jerky halt.
- jerkily adverb
- jerkiness noun [U][U]
AmE meat that has been cut into thin pieces and dried in the sun or with smoke
built cheaply, quickly, and badly[C]
a light brown cow that gives high quality milk $
1 [C] a shirt made of soft material, worn by players of sports such as football and RUGBY
2 [C] BrE a piece of clothing made of wool that covers the upper part of your body and your arms; = sweater
3 [U] a soft material made of cotton or wool $ [C]
an ARTICHOKE [C] formal
something you say that is intended to be funny, not serious; = joke
•I wasn't sure whether to treat her words as a jest.
in jest
•His serious face told me that he was not speaking in jest.[I] formal old use
to say things that you do not really mean in order to amuse people:
•"Do I look as if I am jesting?" she asked, her face pale and tense.
- jestingly adverb $ [C]
a man employed in the past by a ruler to entertain people with jokes, stories etc $ [C]
a man who is a member of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesusalso Jesus Christ
the man who Christians believe was the son of God, and on whose life and ideas Christianity is based
not polite used to express anger, surprise, or shock:
•Jesus! That was close!
!! Be careful about using Jesus in this way because Christians find it offensive.
1 [C] a fast plane with a jet engine
jet fighter/aircraft/airliner
•a squadron of F-6 jet fighter aircraft
•He owns a private jet.
JUMBO JET
2 [C] a narrow stream of liquid or gas that comes quickly out of a small hole, or the hole itself
[+of]
•She soaped herself beneath the refreshing jets of water.
3 [U] a hard black stone that is used for making jewellerypast tense and past participle jetted, present participle jetting [I always + adv/prep]
1 informal to travel by plane, especially to many different places
[+off]
•We're jetting off for a sunshine holiday in the Caribbean.
•business executives jetting around the world
2 if a liquid or gas jets out from somewhere, it comes quickly out of a small hole
very dark black:
•jet-black hair
- jet black noun [U][C]
an engine that pushes out a stream of hot air and gases behind it, used in aircraft[U]
the tired and confused feeling that you can get after flying a very long distance, especially because of the difference in time between the place you left and the place you arrived at:
•I'm suffering from jet lag but I'll feel better after a good night's sleep.
- jet-lagged adjective $ [C] AmE
a large aircraft, especially one that carries passengers
using a jet engine for power[U]
the use of a jet engine for power [U]
things that are thrown from a ship and float on the sea towards the shore
flotsam and jetsam at FLOTSAM
the jet set old-fashioned rich and fashionable people who travel a lot
- jet-setter noun [C][C] trademark
a small fast vehicle on which one or two people can ride over water for fun[singular]
a current of very strong winds high above the Earth's surface [T]
1 to get rid of something or decide not to do something any longer:
•The scheme was jettisoned when the government found it too costly.
2 to throw things away, especially from a moving plane or ship plural jetties [C]
a wide wall or flat area built out into the water, used for getting on and off boats; pier [C]
someone whose religion is Judaism, or who is a member of a group whose traditional religion is Judaism [C]
1 a valuable stone, such as a diamond; = gem
2 jewels [plural] jewellery or other objects made with valuable stones and used for decoration:
•She loved dressing up and wearing priceless jewels.
3 a very small stone used in the machinery of a watch
4 something or someone that is very valuable, attractive, or important:
•He introduced her to Budapest, a jewel of a city.
5 the jewel in the crown the best or most valuable part of something:
•Puddings are the jewel in the crown of British cookery.
CROWN JEWEL[C]
a plastic box for holding a CDjeweled AmE BrE
decorated with jewels:
•the famous jewelled eggs of Fabergéjeweler AmE $ [C] BrE
1 someone who buys, sells, makes, or repairs jewellery
2 jeweller's a shop selling jewellery and watchesjewelry AmE [U] BrE
small things that you wear for decoration, such as rings or NECKLACEs :
•a piece of jewellery
•She wears a lot of gold jewelry.
COSTUME JEWELLERY
relating to Jews or Judaism:
•the Jewish religion
•My husband is Jewish. [U] old use
the Jewish people [C]
old use a sexually immoral woman [C]
1 a small sail in front of the large sail on a boat; mainsail
2 the long part of a CRANEpast tense and past participle jibbed, present participle jibbing [I]
especially BrE to be unwilling to do or accept something
[+at]
•He jibbed at the price I asked for.gibe [C]
an unkind remark intended to make someone seem silly:
•She was tired of his cheap jibes.
1 [I] AmE informal if two statements, reports etc jibe with each other, the information in them matches
[+with]
•His report did not jibe with the facts.
2 [I + at] to say something that is intended to make someone seem sillyalso jiff spoken
in a jiffy very soon:
•I'll be with you in a jiffy.[C]
BrE trademark a thick soft envelope, used for posting things that might break [C]
1 a type of quick dance, or a piece of music for this dance
2 a piece of equipment for holding a tool, a piece of wood etc in positionpast tense and past participle jigged, present participle jigging [I always + adv/prep]
to dance or move up and down with quick short movements $ [C]
a unit for measuring alcohol, equal to 1.5 OUNCEs , or the small glass this is measured with $ [U]
BrE informal secret dishonest activity to make something seem what it is not:
•There's been some jiggery-pokery with the figures. [I,T]
to make something move from side to side or up and down with short quick movements, or to move like this:
•She jiggled the handle of the pram to make the baby stop crying.
•'Wake up,' he said, jiggling up and down on the bed.
get jiggy AmE informal
a) to dance with a lot of energy to popular music
b) to have sex $ [C]
1 also jigsaw puzzle a picture cut up into many pieces that you try to fit together
2 [usually singular] a very complicated situation, especially one that you are trying to understand:
•As he explained, another piece of the jigsaw fell into place.
3 a tool for cutting out shapes in thin pieces of wood [C]
a holy war fought by Muslims [T]
to suddenly end a close romantic relationship with someone:
•She jilted her fiance just before the wedding. plural jimmies [C]
the American form of the word JEMMY
- jimmy verb [T] [I,T]
to shake small metal things together so that they make a sound, or to make this sound:
•He jingled his car keys.
1 [C] a short song used in advertisements
2 [singular] the sound of small metal objects being shaken together $ [U]
a strong belief that your own country is better than others - used to show disapproval:
•a mood of warlike jingoism
- jingoistic $ adjective [I]
to change direction suddenly:
•He jinked left, then right, throwing the plane into steep and sudden turns.
HIGH JINKS [C]
a GENIE [singular]
someone or something that brings bad luck, or a period of bad luck that results from this:
•The company had suffered so many disasters that some employees feared a jinx.
often having bad luck, or making people have bad luck:
•They seem to be jinxed when it comes to playing in the UK. $ [singular]
a fast JAZZ dance popular in the 1940s $ [plural]
informal a nervous, worried feeling, especially before an important event:
•The jitters are worst in the capital, where 61% of people are fearful of a terrorist attack. informal
anxious or nervous:
•It was probably the tension that made him jittery.
1 [C,U] a very fast dance, popular especially in the 1930s and 1940s, performed to fast JAZZ music
2 [U] AmE informal statements that you do not believe are true:
•Don't give me any of that jive!
1 [I] to dance a jive
2 [T] AmE informal to try to make someone believe something that is not trueBrE
the written abbreviation of junior , used after the name of a man who has the same name as his father:
•Sammy Davis Jnr $
1 WORK [C] the regular paid work that you do for an employer

apply for a job
offer sb a job
get/find a job (as sth)
land a job informal (=get a job)
take a job (=accept a job that you are offered)
hold down a job (=keep a job when this is difficult)
lose a job
leave/quit a job
be out of a job (=not have a job)
temporary job
permanent job
part-time job
full-time job
steady job (=a job that is likely to continue)
job satisfaction (=the enjoyment you get from your job)
job security (=how permanent your job is likely to be)

•Do you enjoy your job?
•It was the first paid job I ever had.
•He's been in the job for six years.
•I'm looking for a new job.
•Your pension can be affected if you change jobs.
•I've applied for a job at the university.
• Well, Miss Taylor, we'd like to offer you the job.
• Eventually, Mary got a job as a waitress.
•I was so desperate that I took the first job that came along.
•He had never been able to hold down a job.
• At least there's no danger of you losing your job.
• Oh Rick, you didn't quit your job did you?
• If the project fails, we're all out of a job.
• It's a temporary job, but I'm hoping it will be made permanent.
• the pet shop where he had a part-time job
• I haven't had a steady job since last March.
• Levels of job satisfaction vary between departments.
• I didn't see the point of moving my family to London without any job security.
JOB DESCRIPTION

2 DUTY [singular] something that you are responsible for doing:
•Raising kids can be a difficult job.
• It's my job to make sure that the work is finished on time.
the job of sb/sth
•The job of the jury is to assess the credibility of the witness.
the job of doing sth
•I was given the job of making sure that everyone had enough to drink.
•All too often councils fall down on the job (=not do what they should) of keeping the streets clean.
3 STH YOU MUST DO [C] a particular thing you have to do, considered as work; = task
•My parents were always finding little jobs for me to do.
•Filleting fish can be quite a fiddly job.
•Tiling the bathroom is going to be a big job.
•Sam does odd jobs (=small jobs in the house or garden) for friends and neighbours.
the job of doing sth
•The job of choosing the right computer for you is made easy by this magazine.
•We need to get on with the job of finding someone to replace him.
do a good/great/marvellous etc job
•Whoever did the plastering did a brilliant job.
make a good/bad etc job of (doing) sth
•She hates doing the cleaning, but she always makes a good job of it.
4 on the job
a) while you are doing a particular job:
•Most clerical training is done on the job.
b) doing a particular job:
•We've got some of our best people on the job.
c) BrE spoken informal having sex
5 I'm only/just doing my job spoken used to say that it is not your fault if you have to do something in your work that other people do not like
6 it's more than my job's worth BrE spoken used to tell someone that you cannot do what they want because you would lose your job if you did - often used humorously
7 do the job spoken to have the effect or produce the result that you want:
•A little more glue should do the job.
8 have a job doing sth/have a job to do sth BrE spoken to have difficulty doing something:
•I think we might have a job parking in town.
9 do a job on sb/sth informal especially AmE to have a damaging effect on someone or something:
•The sun does quite a job on people's skin.
10 COMPUTER [C] an action done by a computer:
•a print job
11 CRIME [C] informal a crime in which money is stolen from a bank, company etc:
•a bank job
•Police believe it was an inside job (=done by someone who works for the company where the crime happens).
12 a nose/boob job informal an operation to improve the appearance of your nose or breasts:
•She looks completely different in this photo - she must have had a nose job.
13 just the job BrE spoken exactly what is needed for a particular purpose or situation:
•This bag is just the job for carrying your sports gear.
14 TYPE OF THING [singular] spoken used to say that something is of a particular type:
•Jack's got a new car - a red two-seater job.
15 jobs for the boys BrE when someone in an important position gives work to their friends, especially when this gives the friends an unfair advantage:
•The council chief was suspended over allegations of jobs for the boys.
16 job of work BrE something that you have to do even if you do not enjoy it
17 job lot BrE a mixed group of things that are sold together:
•a job lot of furniture
BLOW JOB, HAND JOB, HATCHET JOB; (it's a) good job at GOOD^1 (49); make the best of a bad job at BEST^3 (9)

WORD CHOICE: job, work, post, position, occupation, profession, career
Your job is the work that you do regularly in order to earn money, especially when you work for a company or public organization: My last job was with a computer firm. | He finally got a job in a supermarket.
Work is used in a more general way to talk about activities that you do to earn money, either working for a company or for yourself: Will you go back to work when you've had the baby? | I started work when I was 18.

!! Do not say 'what is your job?' or 'what is your work?'. Say what do you do? or what do you do for a living?
Post and position are more formal words for a job in a company or organization. They are used especially in job advertisements and when you are talking about someone moving to a different job: This post would suit a recent graduate. | He left last summer for a teaching position in Singapore.
Use occupation to talk about the kind of work that someone usually does, for example if they are a teacher, lawyer, driving instructor etc.Occupation is used mainly on official forms: State your name, age, and occupation in the box below.

!! Do not use occupation to talk about your own job: I am an accountant. (NOT My occupation is an accountant).
A profession is a kind of work for which you need special training and a good education, for example teaching, law, or medicine: the legal profession
Your career is the type of work that you do or hope to do for most of your life: I'm interested in a career in television. | His career is more important to him than his family.

$ [C]
especially BrE someone whose job is buying and selling STOCKs and SHAREs $ BrE
jobbing builder/gardener/printer etc someone who does small pieces of work for different people[C]
a place run by the British government where jobs are advertised and training courses are provided for people who are looking for work[U]
the process of making more paid jobs available:
•job creation schemes[C]
an official list of the work and responsibilities that you have in your job $
1 without a job; = unemployed
2 the jobless [plural] people who are jobless[C] BrE
someone who does not have a job and is looking for one[U]
an arrangement by which two people both work PART-TIME doing the same job
- jobshare $ noun [C]
- jobshare verb [I] $ [C]
BrE informal someone who follows the rules of their job too exactly without using any imagination $ [C] informal
1 AmE someone, especially a student, who plays a lot of sport and is often considered to be stupid
2 BrE someone from Scotland - sometimes used in an insulting way
3 a DISC JOCKEY $ [C]
someone who rides horses in races[I]
to compete strongly to get into the best position or situation, or to get the most power
[+for]
•photographers jockeying for position at the bar
•After the war, rival politicians began to jockey for power.[plural]
trademark a type of men's cotton underwear that fits very tightly $ [C]
a piece of men's underwear that supports their sex organs during sport $ formal
joking or humorous:
•He sounded in a jocular mood.
- jocularly adverb
- jocularity $ noun [U] $ [plural]
a special type of trousers that you wear when riding horses $
1 Joe Public/Bloggs BrE Joe Blow/Schmo AmE spoken the ordinary average person
2 Joe College/Citizen etc AmE spoken someone who is a typical example of people in a particular situation or involved in a particular activity $ past tense and past participle jogged, present participle jogging
1 [I] to run slowly and steadily, especially as a way of exercising:
•I go jogging every morning.
2 [T] to knock or push something lightly by mistake; = bump
•You jogged my elbow.
3 jog sb's memory to make someone remember something:
•Perhaps this photo will help to jog your memory.

PHRASAL VERBS
jog along phr v informal
to continue in the same way as usual:
•We were jogging along comfortably and enjoying our work.[singular]
1 a slow steady run, especially done as a way of exercising:
•He set off along the riverbank at a jog.
•Mike goes for a two-mile jog every morning.
2 a light knock or push done by accident $ [C]
someone who runs slowly and steadily as a way of exercising:
•a jogger out for his early morning run $ [U]
the activity of running slowly and steadily as a way of exercising[C]
loose thick cotton clothes that you wear when you are jogging; = sweat suit $ [I,T]
informal to shake or move up and down slightly, or to make something move in this way $ [C] AmE informal
1 a toilet
2 the customer of a PROSTITUTEold-fashioned
1 [U] England or the English people
2 [C] a typical Englishman, especially one who does not like foreigners[C,U]
AmE used especially by the police to refer to a man whose name is not known
JANE DOE $ plural johnnies [C]
1 BrE informal a CONDOM
2 old-fashioned a man [U]
a feeling of general pleasure and excitement
1 GROUP/ORGANIZATION [T] to become a member of an organization, society, or group:
•When did you join the Labour party?
•I decided to join the army.
•You can enjoy a sport without joining a club or belonging to a team.
2 ACTIVITY [T] to begin to take part in an activity that other people are involved in:
•Many sacrificed their weekend to join the hunt for the missing girl.
•the benefits of joining our pension scheme
•Church leaders have joined the campaign to end fox-hunting.
3 GO TO SB [T] to go somewhere in order to be with someone or do something with them:
•She joined her aunt in the sitting room.
•The immigrants were soon joined by their wives and children.
!! Do not say 'join with' someone. Join is followed by a direct object: Will you join me?
4 DO STH TOGETHER [I,T] to do something together with someone else, or as a group
join sb for sth
•I invited them to join us for a glass of wine.
join (with) sb in doing sth
•I'm sure you'll all join me in thanking today's speaker.
join (with) sb to do sth
•Parents have joined with health experts to produce a video for bereaved families.
join together
•Three police forces have joined together to buy a helicopter.
5 CONNECT
a) [T] to connect or fasten things together:
•Join the two pieces of wood with strong glue.
join sth to sth
•The island is joined to the mainland by a causeway.
b) [I,T] if two roads, rivers etc join, they come together and become connected at a particular point:
•Finally we arrived at Dartmouth, where the River Dart joins the sea.
•the point where the two roads join
6 join a queue to go and stand at the end of a line of people:
•He went in and joined the queue for the toilets.
7 join hands if people join hands, they hold each other's hands:
•They joined hands and danced round and round.
8 join the club spoken used to say that you and a lot of other people are in the same situation:
•'I'm having difficulty knowing what today's debate is about.' 'Join the club, Geoffrey.'
9 join battle formal to begin fighting
10 be joined in marriage/holy matrimony formal to be married

PHRASAL VERBS
join in (sth) phr v
to take part in something that a group of people are doing or that someone else does:
•In the evening there was a barbecue, with the whole village joining in the fun.
•He stared at them without joining in the conversation.
•He laughed loudly, and Mattie joined in.

join up phr v
1 to become a member of the army, navy, or air force
2 BrE to connect things, or to become connected
join sth <=> up
•The dots are joined up by a line.

join up with sb/sth phr v
to combine with or meet other people in order to do something:
•Three months ago, they joined up with another big company that sells arms.
join/combine forces at FORCE^1 (10); if you can't beat 'em, join 'em at BEAT^1 (23)[C]
a place where two parts of an object are connected or fastened together:
•It's been glued back together so well you can hardly see the join.[only before noun] BrE
1 joined-up writing has all the letters in each word connected to each other
2 BrE joined-up systems, institutions etc combine different groups, ideas, or parts in a way that works well:
• joined-up government
•the need for joined-up thinking between departments $ [C]
someone who makes wooden doors, window frames etc
CARPENTER [U]
the trade and work of a joiner
CARPENTRY [only before noun]
1 involving two or more people or groups, or owned or shared by them:
•The two ministers have issued a joint statement.
•Both companies are involved in the joint development of a new medium-sized car.
•Both parties must sign the form if the account is to be in joint names (=belong to two named people).
•The meal was a joint effort (=two or more people worked on it together).
2 joint venture a business activity begun by two or more people or companies working together
3 joint resolution law a decision or law agreed by both houses of the US Congress and signed by the President
- jointly adverb
•tenants who are jointly responsible for their rent[C]
1 a part of your body that can bend because two bones meet there
knee/neck/hip/elbow etc joint
•a permanently damaged knee joint
2 BrE a large piece of meat, usually containing a bone
[+of]
•a joint of beef
3 a place where two things or parts of an object are joined together:
•What should I use to seal the joint between a carport roof and the house wall?
4 out of joint
a) if a bone in your body is out of joint, it has been pushed out of its correct position
b) if a system, group etc is out of joint, it is not working properly:
•Something is out of joint in our society.
put sb's nose out of joint at NOSE^1 (15)
5 informal a cheap bar, club, or restaurant:
•a hamburger joint
CLIP JOINT
6 informal a cigarette containing CANNABIS; = spliff
case the joint at CASE^2 (2)[T]
to cut meat into joints
having joints and able to move and bend:
•a jointed puppet[U]
a university degree course in Britain in which two main subjects are studied; single honours[C]
AmE a company that is owned by all the people with SHAREs in it [C]
one of the beams that support a floor or ceiling $ [C]
1 something that you say or do to make people laugh, especially a funny story or trick

crack/make a joke (=say something funny)
tell a joke (=tell a funny story)
get a joke (=understand why something is funny)
play a joke (on sb) (=trick someone)
as a joke/for a joke BrE (=to make people laugh)
private joke (=a joke only a few people understand)
inside joke AmE (=a joke that only a few people with knowledge about a particular subject or event will understand)
practical joke (=a trick)
dirty joke (=a joke about sex)
sick joke (=an unpleasant joke)

•Do you know any good jokes?
[+about]
•a joke about absent-minded professors
•There's no need to make silly jokes, David.
• He was always telling jokes and making people laugh.
• She never gets my jokes.
• She wondered if the others were playing a joke on her.
• I couldn't go out with someone for a joke, could you?
•They seemed to be sharing a private joke.
• What the workers think is a practical joke, management might regard as sabotage.
!! Do not say 'say a joke'. Say tell a joke or tell someone a joke.

2 be a joke informal to be completely useless, stupid, or unreasonable:
•The whole meeting was a joke.
3 go/get/be beyond a joke a situation that has got beyond a joke has become serious and worrying:
•This rain's getting beyond a joke - let's go inside.
4 sth is no joke used to emphasize that a situation is serious or that someone really means what they say:
•The risk he's taking is no joke.
•It's no joke bringing up a child on your own.
5 sb can take a joke used to say that someone is able to laugh at jokes about themselves:
•Your problem is you just can't take a joke.
6 make a joke (out) of sth to treat something serious as if it was intended to be funny:
•He could not bring himself to apologise. Instead, he tried to make a joke of it.
7 sb's idea of a joke spoken a situation that someone else thinks is funny but you do not:
•Look, if this is your idea of a joke, I don't find it at all funny.
8 the joke's on sb used to say that something has happened to make someone seem stupid, especially when they were trying to make other people seem stupid
IN-JOKE, PRACTICAL JOKE; standing joke at STANDING^1 (3)[I]
1 to say things that are intended to be funny and that you do not really mean
[+about]
•I never joke about money.
[+with]
•As we left the hospital he joked with the staff.
joke that
•His father joked that his son was trying to put him out of business.
•Calm down, Jo, I was only joking.
2 you're joking/you must be joking also you've got to be joking spoken used to tell someone that what they are suggesting is so strange or silly that you cannot believe that they are serious:
•'Tell him.' 'You must be joking - he'd never believe me.'
3 joking apart/aside BrE used before you say something serious after you have been joking
- jokingly adverb $ [C]
1 informal someone who behaves in a way you think is stupid:
•Look at that joker - he's doing 25 miles an hour at the most.
2 a PLAYING CARD that has no fixed value and is only used in some card games
3 someone who makes a lot of jokes
4 the joker in the pack something or someone whose effect on future events cannot be knownjoky $ informal
not serious and tending to make people laugh:
•Dave was a sweet man, very jokey about everything.
- jokily adverb
- jokiness noun [U] $
get your jollies AmE spoken to get pleasure from a particular experience or activity, especially a strange activity $ [C,U] old-fashioned
fun and enjoymentalso jollities $ [U] formal
when people are happy and enjoying themselves:
•a night of riotous jollity $ especially BrE
1 happy and enjoying yourself:
•Everybody was in a very relaxed and jolly mood.
2 old-fashioned very pleasant and enjoyable:
•We had a jolly time with the family.BrE old-fashioned informal
1 very:
•Sounds like a jolly good idea to me.
•It was all jolly good fun.
2 jolly well used to emphasize an opinion or to show that you are annoyed:
•Right, I'm going to clear up, and you can jolly well help me.
3 jolly good! spoken used to say that you are pleased by what someone has just saidBrE

PHRASAL VERBS
jolly sb along phr v
to try to make someone do something faster by encouraging them:
•He jollied people along and got useful information out of them.

jolly sb into sth phr v informal
to gently persuade someone to do something:
•She jollied the children into going for a walk.

jolly sth <=> up phr v
to make an event or place more pleasant or exciting[singular]
a black flag with a picture of bones on it, used in the past by PIRATEs ; = skull and crossbones $
1 [I,T] to move suddenly and roughly, or to make someone or something move in this way; = jerk
•We jolted along rough wet roads through an endless banana plantation.
2 [T] to give someone a sudden shock or surprise:
•The phone jolted him awake.
jolt sb into/out of sth
•It jolted me into making the decision to quit.
•Her sharp words seemed to jolt him out of his depression.[C usually singular]
1 a sudden shock
[+of]
•Melanie experienced a jolt of surprise.
with a jolt
•Henry sat up with a jolt.
•The oil crisis has given the government quite a jolt.
2 a sudden rough shaking movement:
•People felt the first jolt of the earthquake at about 8 a.m. $
keep up with the Joneses at KEEP UP (4) $
[I,T] old-fashioned to talk to someone or laugh at them in a gentle joking way:
•The guys josh him and call him an egghead. $ [C]
a stick of INCENSE $
1 [I,T] to push or knock against someone in a crowd, especially so that you can get somewhere or do something before other people
[+for]
•Followers of the president jostled for position in front of the TV cameras.
2 [I] to compete for something such as attention or a reward:
•A thousand thoughts were jostling around inside my mind. $ past tense and past participle jotted, present participle jotting

PHRASAL VERBS
jot sth <=> down phr v
to write a short piece of information quickly:
•Let me jot down your number and I'll call you tomorrow.
not a jot old-fashioned not at all or none at all:
•There was not a jot of humour in the man. $ [C]
BrE a small book for writing notes in $ [plural]
informal short notes, usually written to remind yourself about something:
•her private jottingswritten abbreviation J $ [C]
a unit for measuring energy or work $ [C]
1 a serious magazine produced for professional people or those with a particular interest:
•the British Medical Journal
2 a written record that you make of the things that happen to you each day; = diary
•He decided to keep a journal. $ [U]
language that is typical of newspapers $ [U]
the job or activity of writing news reports for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio:
•a career in journalism
•The hospital has been the target of investigative journalism (=journalism that examines an event or situation in order to find out the truth). $ [C]
someone who writes news reports for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio; reporter
•a well-known journalist and broadcaster
- journalistic $ adjective [only before noun]
•journalistic skills $ [C]
1 especially BrE a time spent travelling from one place to another, especially over a long distance; = trip AmE

make a journey
go on a journey (=make a long journey)
break a journey BrE (=make a short stop in a journey)
car/train/bus journey
outward journey (=a journey to a place)
return journey (=a journey home from a place)
safe journey (=used especially to wish someone a good journey)
wasted journey (=one that did not achieve the result you wanted)
leg of a journey (=one part of a journey)

[+to/from/between]
•my journey to China
•a long slow journey from Odessa
[+through/across etc]
•our journey across Europe
•the friends they made on the journey
• I still use my car, but now I make fewer journeys.
• We are going on a journey to a strange country.
• We broke our journey to have a picnic.
• the six-hour train journey home from London
• The return journey was uneventful.
•Have a safe journey.
• To avoid a wasted journey, ring the number below to check that the event is still on.
• On Thursday we set off on the final leg of our journey.
see box at TRAVEL^2

2 literary a long and often difficult process by which someone or something changes and develops:
•our journey through life
•The novel is an account of his spiritual journey.[I always + adv/prep]
literary to travel:
•They left the town and journeyed south. $ plural journeymen [C] old-fashioned
1 a trained worker who works for someone else
2 an experienced worker whose work is acceptable but not excellent $ plural journos [C]
BrE informal a JOURNALIST [I]
1 to fight with LANCEs (=long sticks) while riding horses, as part of a formal competition in the past
2 to compete or argue with someone
[+with]
•The minister and I have often jousted with each other.
- joust noun [C] $
by Jove! BrE old-fashioned used to express surprise or to emphasize something:
•By Jove, you're right! $
friendly and happy:
•He addressed me in a jovial manner.
- jovially adverb
- joviality $ noun [U] [C usually plural]
the skin that covers your lower jaw on either side of your face:
•a man with heavy jowls (=jowls that hang down slightly)
cheek by jowl at CHEEK^1 (3)
1 [U] great happiness and pleasure:
•the look of joy on her face
with/for joy
•I leaped into the air with joy.
•She wept for joy.
•I didn't exactly jump for joy (=I was not very pleased) when I heard the news.
2 [C] something or someone that gives you happiness and pleasure
[+of]
•one of the joys of travelling alone
•The garden was his pride and joy.
be a joy to watch/drive/use etc
•The children's singing was a joy to listen to.
3 no joy/not any joy BrE spoken if you have no joy, you do not succeed in getting something:
•I phoned the pub, but no joy. The landlord didn't know where she was.[I] literary
to be happy because of something
very happy, or likely to make people very happy:
•Christmas is a joyful occasion for children.
•the joyful news
- joyfully adverb
- joyfulness noun [U]
without any happiness at all:
•a joyless marriage
- joylessly adverb literary
very happy, or likely to make people very happy:
•a joyous occasion
•Our music is a joyous celebration of life.
- joyously adverb
- joyousness noun [U] [U]
the crime of stealing a car and driving it in a fast and dangerous way for fun
- joyride verb [I]
- joyrider noun [C] [C]
an upright handle that you use to control something such as an aircraft or a computer game [C]
the abbreviation of Justice of the Peace ; = magistratealso JPG [C] technical
Joint Photographic Experts Group a type of computer FILE used on the Internet that contains pictures, photographs, or other imagesAmE
the written abbreviation of junior , used after the name of a man who has the same name as his father:
•Alan Parks, Jr.
extremely happy and pleased because of a success:
•Radicals were jubilant at getting rid of him.
•The fans were in jubilant mood as they left the stadium.
- jubilantly adverb [U]
formal happiness and pleasure because you have been successful:
•There was jubilation that a local team had come first. [C]
a date that is celebrated because it is exactly 25 years, 50 years etc after an important event
DIAMOND JUBILEE, GOLDEN JUBILEE, SILVER JUBILEE $ [U]
the Jewish religion based on the sacred books known as the Hebrew Scriptures. These writings contain many of the books that are also in the Old Testament of the Christian BIBLE.
- Judaic adjective $ [I]
if a vehicle or machine judders, it shakes violently:
•The engine juddered to life.
- judder noun [C] [C]
1 the official in control of a court who decides how criminals should be punished:
•The trial judge specifies the number of years to be spent in prison.
federal judge/high court judge etc (=a judge in a particular court)
2 someone who decides on the result of a competition:
•The panel of judges included several well-known writers.
3 a good/bad judge of sth someone whose opinion on something is usually right or wrong:
•Sandra's a very good judge of character.
4 be the judge (of sth) to be the person whose opinion on something matters or is accepted:
•No-one else can say what its value to you is - only you can be the judge of that.
5 let me be the judge of that spoken used to tell someone angrily that you do not need their advice
6 as sober as a judge someone who is as sober as a judge is not drunk at allpast tense and past participle judged, present participle judging
1 OPINION [I,T] to form or give an opinion about someone or something after thinking carefully about all the information you know about them

judge sb/sth by sth
judge that
judge sb/sth (to be) sth
judge whether/how/what etc
difficult/hard to judge
impossible to judge
judge the success/quality/merits of sth
judge sth objectively
judge it best/right/proper etc to do sth
judge sb harshly
judge it safe to do sth

•You should never judge a person by their looks.
•Judge us on the improvements we make in the economy.
•The therapist judged that Margaret had made a serious attempt to kill herself.
•pollutants that were judged hazardous to human health
•I am in no position to judge whether what she is doing is right or wrong.
•The economic results of the reforms are very difficult to judge.
• The likelihood of future bombs was impossible to judge.
• We judge the success of a product by the number of sales it brings in.
• His conduct, judged objectively by what he has done, is dishonest.
•Robert wanted to go and help him, but judged it best to stay where he was.
•Do not judge her too harshly, as she was very young at the time.

2 judging by/from sth used to say that you are making a guess based on what you have just seen, heard, or learned:
•Judging by his jovial manner he must have enjoyed his meal.
•Judging from what you say in your letter, you don't sound well.
3 COMPETITION [I,T] to decide on the result of a competition:
•I had the difficult task of judging the competition.
judge sb on sth
•Competitors will be judged on speed and accuracy.
4 CRITICIZE [I,T] to form an opinion about someone, especially in an unfair or criticizing way:
•He just accepts people for what they are and he doesn't judge them.
5 LAW [T] to decide whether someone is guilty of a crime in court
6 it's not for sb to judge used to say that you do not think someone has the right to give their opinion about something:
•Was it the right decision? It's not for us to judge.
7 as far as I can judge used to say that you think what you are saying is true, but you are not sure
8 don't judge a book by its cover used to say that you should not form an opinion based only on the way something looksalso judgement BrE
1 OPINION [C,U] an opinion that you form, especially after thinking carefully about something:
•It's too soon to make a judgment about what the outcome will be.
•In my judgment, we should accept his offer.
pass judgment (on sth) (=give your opinion, especially a negative one)
•Our aim is to help him, not to pass judgment on what he has done.
•I'd advise you to reserve judgment (=not decide your opinion before you have all the facts).
against your better judgment (=even though you do not think it is a sensible thing to do)
•I lent him the money, against my better judgment.
2 ABILITY TO DECIDE [U] the ability to make sensible decisions about what to do and when to do it:
•I've known him for years and I trust his judgment.
professional/personal etc judgment
•The minister showed a lack of political judgment.
•a decision based on sound judgment (=good judgment)
•Watch carefully and use your judgment.
error of judgment at ERROR (3)
3 LAW [C,U] an official decision given by a judge or a court of law:
•The company were fined £6 million, following a recent court judgment.
4 a judgment (on sb/sth) formal something bad that happens to someone and seems like a punishment for the things they have done wrong
5 judgment call AmE informal a decision you have to make yourself because there are no fixed rules in a situation
LAST JUDGMENT, VALUE JUDGMENT; sit in judgment at SIT (10)also judgemental BrE
criticizing people very quickly - used to show disapprovalJudgement Day also the day of judgment [singular, not with the]
the last day of the world when all people will be judged by God for what they have done, according to Christianity and some other religions $
the judicature formal judges as a group and the organization, power etc of the law
relating to the law, judges, or their decisions; legislative
•the judicial system
- judicially adverb $
the judiciary formal all the judges in a country who, as a group, form part of the system of government formal
done in a sensible and careful way:
•a judicious choice
- judiciously adverb $ [U]
a Japanese sport or method of defence in which you try to throw your opponent onto the ground [C]
1 BrE a container with a wide curved opening at the top and a handle, used especially at meals for pouring liquids; = pitcher AmE
•a milk jug
2 AmE a deep round container with a very narrow opening at the top and a handle, used for holding liquids; = pitcher BrE
3 also jugful the amount of liquid that a jug will hold
[+of]
•a jug of water
4 jugs not polite a woman's breasts $ [C]
1 BrE a very large vehicle that carries goods over long distances; = semi AmE
2 a very powerful force, organization etc whose effect or influence cannot be stopped:
•the juggernaut of industrialization
1 [I,T] to keep three or more objects moving through the air by throwing and catching them very quickly
[+with]
•One guy was juggling with five balls.
2 [I,T] to try to fit two or more jobs, activities etc into your life, especially with difficulty
juggle sth (with sth)
•It's hard trying to juggle a job with kids and the housework.
3 [T] to change things or arrange them in the way you want, or in a way that makes it possible for you to do something
juggle sth around
•If I juggle these appointments around, I can fit you in.
balancing/juggling act at ACT^1 (12) $ [C]
someone who juggles objects in the air, especially to entertain people $ [C usually singular]
1 jugular vein the large VEIN in your neck that takes blood from your head back to your heart
2 go for the jugular informal to criticize or attack someone very strongly, especially in order to harm them
1 [C,U] the liquid that comes from fruit and vegetables, or a drink that is made from this:
•a carton of orange juice
•A coke and a tomato juice, please.
2 [C usually plural] the liquid that comes out of meat when it is cooked
3 gastric/digestive juice(s) the liquid inside your stomach that helps you to DIGEST food
4 [U] informal something that produces power, such as petrol or electricity:
•Okay, turn on the juice.
stew in your own juice at STEW^2 (2)
[T] to get the juice out of fruit or vegetables

PHRASAL VERBS
juice sth <=> up phr v
AmE informal to make something more interesting or exciting [not before noun] AmE
1 also juiced up informal excited
2 old-fashioned drunk $ [C]
a kitchen tool used for getting juice out of fruit comparative juicier, superlative juiciest
1 containing a lot of juice:
•a juicy lemon
2 juicy gossip/details/stories etc informal interesting or shocking information, especially about people's sexual behaviour:
•Want to hear a juicy bit of news?
3 informal involving work that is enjoyable and satisfying:
•She's been trying to get a really juicy role for years.
4 informal involving a lot of money:
•a big juicy cheque
- juiciness noun [U] [U]
a type of fighting from Japan, in which you hold, throw, and hit your opponent $ [C]
a machine in bars, restaurants etc that plays music when you put money in itwritten abbreviation Jul. plural Julies [C,U]
the seventh month of the year, between June and August
next/last July
•Laura came over to England last July.
in July
•I plan to graduate in July.
on July 6th
•Two months later, on July 6th, he fired Owens.
on 6th July BrE
•'When's the concert?' 'On 6th July.'
July 6 AmE
•The competition ends July 6.
1 [singular] a lot of different things mixed together in an untidy way, without any order
[+of]
•a jumble of old toys
•Inside she was a jumble of emotions.
2 [U] BrE things to be sold at a jumble sale; = rummage AmEalso jumble up [T often passive]
to mix things together in an untidy way, without any order:
•The photographs were all jumbled up.
•Ben's words became jumbled.[C]
BrE a sale of used clothes, books etc in order to get money for a local church, school etc; = rummage sale AmE $ [only before noun] informal
larger than other things of the same type:
•jumbo-sized hot dogsalso jumbo [C]
a very large plane for carrying passengers
1 UPWARDS
a) [I] to push yourself up into the air, or over or away from something etc using your legs:
•How high can you jump?
jump over/across/onto etc sth
•He jumped over the wall and ran off.
•Fans were jumping up and down (=jumping repeatedly) and cheering.
jump clear (of sth) (=jump out of danger)
•We managed to jump clear of the car before it hit the wall.
b) [T] to go over or across something by jumping:
•He jumped the gate, landing on the concrete.
2 DOWNWARDS [I] to let yourself drop from a place that is above the ground:
•The cats jumped down and came to meet us.
jump from/out of/onto etc sth
•Three people saved themselves by jumping from the window.
3 MOVE FAST [I always + adv/prep] to move quickly or suddenly in a particular direction; = leap
[+up/back/in etc]
•Matt jumped up to answer the phone.
•We all jumped in a taxi.
•She jumped to her feet and left.
4 IN FEAR/SURPRISE [I] to make a quick sudden movement because you are surprised or frightened:
•Marcia jumped. 'What's that noise?'
•Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump (=surprise or frighten you).
•Don't shout. I nearly jumped out of my skin (=was very shocked or frightened)!
5 INCREASE [I] to increase or improve suddenly and by a large amount
jump (from ...) to sth
•Profits jumped to £2.6 million last year.
•Norway jumped from ninth to third place.
!! Do not say that an amount, level, price etc 'jumps up'. Say it jumps.
6 KEEP CHANGING [I,T] to change quickly and often from one idea, place, position etc to another - used to show disapproval
jump from sth to sth
•Cathy kept jumping from one topic to another.
jump about/around (sth)
•I've been jumping about the file instead of working straight through it.
7 MISS A STAGE [I,T] to move suddenly to a further part of a book, discussion, leaving out the part in between:
•I'm afraid I jumped a couple of chapters.
[+to]
•The movie suddenly jumped ahead to the future.
8 MACHINE [I] if a machine or piece of equipment jumps, it moves suddenly because something is wrong with it:
•Why does the video keep jumping like this?
9 ATTACK [T] informal to attack someone suddenly:
•Somebody jumped him in the park last night.
10 jump to conclusions to form an opinion about something before you have all the facts:
•There may be a simple explanation. Let's not jump to conclusions.
11 jump the gun to start doing something too soon, especially without thinking about it carefully
12 jump for joy to be extremely happy and pleased
13 jump down sb's throat informal to suddenly speak angrily to someone
14 jump the queue BrE to go in front of others who are already waiting in a line - used to show disapproval
QUEUE-JUMPING
15 jump through hoops to do a series of things that are difficult or annoying, but that are necessary in order to achieve something:
•We had to jump through hoops to get our visas in time.
16 jump ship
a) to leave an organization that you are working for, especially in order to join another:
•The best employees jumped ship at the first opportunity.
b) to leave a ship on which you are working as a sailor, without permission
17 jump bail to leave a town, city, or country where a court of law has ordered you to stay until your TRIAL^1 (1)
18 jump to it! spoken used to order someone to do something immediately
19 (go) jump in a lake! spoken used to rudely tell someone to go away
20 jump the rails BrE jump the tracks AmE if a train jumps the rails, it suddenly goes off the metal tracks it is moving along
21 jump a light also jump the lights to drive through red TRAFFIC LIGHTS without stopping
22 jump a train especially AmE to travel on a train, especially a FREIGHT TRAIN, without paying
23 CAR [T] AmE to JUMP-START a car
24 SEX [T] spoken not polite to have sex with someone

PHRASAL VERBS
jump at sth phr v
to eagerly accept the chance to do something:
•I jumped at the chance of a trip to Hong Kong.

jump in phr v
to interrupt someone or suddenly join a conversation:
•Lena quickly jumped in with a diverting remark.

jump on sb phr v informal
to criticize or punish someone, especially unfairly
[+for]
•He used to jump on me for every little mistake.

jump out at sb phr v
if something jumps out at you, it is extremely noticeable, often in a way you do not like:
•I don't like jewellery that jumps out at you.[C]
1 UP an act of pushing yourself suddenly up into the air using your legs; = leap
•the best jump of the competition
•a dancer famous for his impressive jumps
2 DOWN an act of letting yourself drop from a place that is above the ground
do/make a jump
•Douglas made his first 10,000 foot parachute jump yesterday.
3 INCREASE a sudden large increase in an amount or value
[+in]
•a jump in inflation rates
4 PROGRESS especially BrE a large or sudden change, especially one that improves things:
•The new law is a great jump forward for human rights.
5 with a jump BrE if you wake, sit up etc with a jump, you do it very suddenly because you are surprised or shocked:
•She woke with a jump, hearing a noise downstairs.
6 keep/stay etc a jump ahead (of sb) BrE informal to keep your advantage over the people you are competing with by always being the first to do or know something new
7 STH YOU JUMP OVER a fence, gate, or wall that a person or horse has to jump over in a race or competition:
•Her horse cleared all the jumps in the first round.
8 get a jump on sb/sth AmE informal to gain an advantage, especially by doing something earlier than usual or earlier than someone else:
•I want to get a jump on my Christmas shopping.
HIGH JUMP, LONG JUMP; take a running jump at RUNNING^2 (8); SKI JUMP, TRIPLE JUMP[C]
the act of throwing the ball up in a game of BASKETBALL, so that one player from each team can try to gain control of it[only before noun] BrE informal
a jumped-up person thinks they are more important than they really are, because they have improved their social position:
•a jumped-up little bureaucrat $ [C]
1 BrE a piece of clothing made of wool that covers the upper part of your body and arms; = sweater, pullover
2 AmE a dress without SLEEVEs usually worn over a shirt; = pinafore BrE
3 a person or animal that jumps[plural]
AmE thick wires used to connect the BATTERIES of two cars in order to start the car that has lost power[C] AmE
a jump that is done from a standing position with your arms and legs pointing out to the side[C]
a place to start from, especially at the beginning of a journey[C]
an aircraft that can take off and land by going straight up and down[plural]
BrE thick wires used to connect the BATTERIES of two cars in order to start the car that has lost power[C]
AmE a long piece of rope that children use for jumping over; = skipping rope BrE
- jump rope verb [I][C]
an action in BASKETBALL in which you throw the ball towards the basket as you jump in the air[T]
1 also jump AmE to start a car whose BATTERY has lost power by connecting it to the battery of another car
2 to help a process or activity to start or become more successful:
•Congress hopes the tax cut will jump-start the economy.
- jump start noun [C] $ [C]
a piece of clothing like a shirt and a pair of trousers joined together, worn especially by women[U]
a type of popular music from the Caribbean with a strong, regular beat, or a party, event etc where this music is played:
• jump-up kids (=young people who like this type of music)
worried or nervous especially because you are expecting something bad to happen; = anxiousalso Jun BrE
the written abbreviation of June [C]
a place where one road, track etc joins another; = intersection
•the junction of Abbot Road and Mill Street
•Junction 5 on the M40 $ [C usually singular] formal
a particular point in an activity or period of time:
• At this juncture, I suggest we take a short break.
•The talks are at a critical juncture (=very important point).written abbreviation Jun. [C,U]
the sixth month of the year, between May and July
next/last June
•I finished school last June.
in June
•My birthday is in June.
on June 6th
•We met on June 6th.
on 6th June BrE
•He resigned on 6th June.
June 6 AmE
•The first round will be held June 6.
1 [C,U] a thick tropical forest with many large plants growing very close together:
•the Amazon jungle
2 [singular] a situation in which it is difficult to become successful or get what you want, especially because a lot of people are competing with each other:
•the media jungle
3 [singular] something that is very untidy, complicated, or confusing
[+of]
•a jungle of freeways and highways
4 [U] a type of very fast dance music
CONCRETE JUNGLE; law of the jungle at LAW (8)[C]
AmE a large frame made of metal bars for children to climb on; = climbing frame BrEwritten abbreviation Jr. AmE Jnr BrE $
used after the name of a man or boy who has the same name as his father:
•John F. Kennedy, Jr.[only before noun]
1 having a low rank in an organization or profession; senior
•a junior doctor
[+to]
•There are several people junior to me (=with a lower rank than me).
2 relating to sport for young people below a particular age:
•the junior football club
3 BrE relating to a school for children below the age of 11:
•the junior classrooms
4 AmE relating to the year before the final year of HIGH SCHOOL or college:
•the second semester of my junior year
SENIOR^1
1 be two/five/ten etc years sb's junior also be sb's junior by two/five/ten etc years written to be two, five, ten etc years younger than someone:
•She married a man seven years her junior.
2 [C] a young person who takes part in sport for people below a particular age:
•The juniors use the courts on Tuesday night.
3 [C] especially BrE someone who has a low rank in an organization or profession:
•an office junior
4 [C] BrE a child who goes to a JUNIOR SCHOOL
5 [C] AmE a student in the year before the final year of HIGH SCHOOL or college
FRESHMAN, SENIOR^2 (1), SOPHOMORE
6 Junior AmE spoken a name used humorously when speaking to or about a boy or a younger man, especially your son:
•Where's Junior?[C,U]
a college in the US or Canada where students take a course of study that continues for two years; = community collegealso junior high [C,U]
a school in the US and Canada for children aged between 12 and 14 or 15
MIDDLE SCHOOL (2), SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL[C,U]
a school in Britain for children aged 7 to 11[C,U] AmE
JV a team of younger or less experienced sports players who represent a school or university; varsity $ [C,U]
a small bush that produces purple BERRIES that can be used in cooking
1 [U] old or unwanted objects that have no use or value:
•This cupboard's full of junk.
!! Do not use junk when you are talking about things such as empty packets, cans, and bottles that are left in a public place. Use litter: Don't drop litter in the street.
2 [U] JUNK FOOD
3 [C] a Chinese sailing boat[T]
to get rid of something because it is old or useless[C]
a BOND which has a high risk and is often sold to pay for a TAKEOVER
[C] informal especially AmE an expensive trip paid for by government money or by a business for people they employ - used to show disapprovalalso junk [U]
informal food that is not healthy, for example because it contains a lot of fat, sugar etcjunky [C] informal
1 someone who takes dangerous drugs and is dependent on them
2 a TV/sports etc junkie someone who likes something so much that they seem to be dependent on it - used humorously:
•a technology junkie[U]
letters, especially advertisements, that are sent by organizations to large numbers of people - used to show disapproval[C]
a shop that buys and sells old furniture, clothes etc plural junkies [C]
another spelling of JUNKIE[C]
AmE a place where old or broken furniture, cars etc can be left, or bought and sold [C]
a military government that has gained power by using force $
the PLANET that is fifth in order from the sun and is the largest in the SOLAR SYSTEM:
•a space probe on its way to Jupiter formal
relating to judges or the law $ [U]
the right to use an official power to make legal decisions, or the area where this right exists
[+over sb/sth]
•The committee has jurisdiction over all tax measures. $ [U] formal
the science or study of law $ [C] formal
someone who has a very detailed knowledge of law $ [C]
a member of a jury $ plural juries [C]
1 a group of 12 ordinary people who listen to the details of a case in court and decide whether someone is guilty or not:
•the members of the jury
•The jury found him not guilty.
•the right to trial by jury
sit/serve on a jury (=be part of a jury)
2 a group of people chosen to judge a competition
3 the jury is (still) out on sth used to say that something has not been finally decided:
•Is it good value? The jury is still out on that.
GRAND JURY[C usually singular]
the place where the jury sits in a courtjury duty AmE [U] BrE
a period of time during which you must be part of a jury strong
1 exactly:
•A good strong cup of coffee is just what I need right now.
•The house was large and roomy; just right for us.
•She looks just like her mother.
•Just what do you think you're trying to do?
just on BrE
•It's just on three o'clock.
• Just then (=exactly at that moment) Mrs Robovitch appeared at the bedroom door.
• Just as (=at the exact moment when) I opened the door, the telephone started to ring.
•A nice hot bath - just the thing (=exactly the right thing) to relax sore muscles.
2 nothing more than the thing, amount, action etc that you are mentioning; = only
•It's nothing serious - just a small cut.
•Don't be too hard on him - he's just a kid.
•Can you wait just a few minutes?
•It's not just me - there are other people involved as well.
3 only a short time ago:
•John's just told me that he's getting married.
•I've just been out shopping.
4 at this moment or at that moment:
•Wait a minute, I'm just coming.
•He was just leaving when the phone rang.
•I'm just finishing my homework - it won't take long.
•The concert was just about to start.
5 used to emphasize what you are saying:
•It just isn't true.
•I just love being in the mountains.
•It was just wonderful to see Joyce again.
•I just wish I could believe you.
6 only by a small amount, time, distance etc
just before/after/over etc
•We moved here just after our son was born.
•I saw her just before she died.
•It's just under three centimetres long.
7 used to show that something which happens almost does not happen; = barely, hardly
•He just managed to get home before dark.
•We could just see the coast of France in the distance.
•Those pants only just fit you now.
•She was earning just enough money to live on (=enough but not more than enough).
8 just about almost:
•The plums are just about ripe now.
•Just about everybody will be affected by the tax increases.
9 just as good/bad/big etc equally as good, bad, big etc:
•Brad is just as good as the others.
•I love this country just as much as you do.
10 just have to do sth used to say that someone has to do something because nothing else is possible:
•We'll just have to watch and see what happens.
•You just have to accept things and get on with your life.
11 not just any used to emphasize that you are talking about a particular thing or person that is especially good or important:
•For the best results use olive oil. Not just any olive oil, mind - only the finest quality will do.
12 would just as soon if you would just as soon do something, you would prefer to do it:
•I'd just as soon stay at home - I don't really enjoy parties.
13 may just/might just might possibly:
•You could try Renee. She might just know where they live now.
•It may just have been a coincidence.
14 not just yet not now, but probably soon:
•I can't leave just yet. I've still got a couple of letters to write.
15 just because ... it doesn't mean used to say that although one thing is true, another thing is not necessarily true:
•Just because you're older than me, it doesn't mean you can tell me what to do.
16 just a minute/second/moment
a) used to ask someone to wait for a short time while you do something:
•Just a minute, I'll see if I can find it for you.
b) used to interrupt someone in order to ask them something, disagree with them etc:
•Just a minute! How do I know you're not telling me a pack of lies?
17
a) used when politely asking something or telling someone to do something:
•Could I just say a few words before we start?
•Would you just explain to us how the system works.
b) used when firmly telling someone to do something:
•Look, just shut up for a minute!
•Now, just listen to what I'm telling you.
18 it's just that used when explaining the reason for something, especially when someone thinks there is a different reason:
•No, I do like Chinese food, it's just that I'm not hungry.
19 just now
a) a very short time ago:
•Where have my glasses gone? I had them just now.
b) especially BrE at this moment:
•We're busy just now - can you come back later?
20 just think/imagine/look used to tell someone to imagine or look at the same thing that you are imagining or looking at:
•Just think - in a week we'll be lying on a beach in the sun!
21 it's/that's just as well used to say that it is fortunate that something is true or happened because otherwise there would be problems:
•It's just as well we'd prepared everything beforehand.
22 isn't she just/aren't they just etc old-fashioned used to strongly agree with something someone has said about a person or thing:
•'He's a selfish, rude, ignorant man!' 'Isn't he just!'
23 just so
a) with everything arranged neatly and tidily:
•Her house always has to be just so.
b) old-fashioned used to say yes or agree with something:
•'You should have beaten them, shouldn't you?' 'Just so.'
just the same at SAME^2 (3); just in case at CASE^1 (7); just my luck at LUCK^1 (12); might just as well at MIGHT^1 (9)
1 morally right and fair:
•Henry sincerely believed that he was fighting a just war.
•a just settlement
•Charlemagne was respected as a just ruler.
2 deserved by someone:
•a just reward for their loyal service
•What would be a just punishment for such a crime?
•I hope that he's caught and gets his just deserts (=is punished in the way he deserves).
- justly adverb
•These men are criminals, but they must be dealt with justly.
•an achievement of which we can be justly proud
1 SYSTEM OF JUDGEMENT [U] the system by which people are judged in courts of law and criminals are punished:
•a book on the criminal justice system
•The killers will be brought to justice (=caught and punished).
•Acts of terrorism must not escape justice.
MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE
!! Do not use justice when you mean the laws of a country and the ways in which these laws operate. Use legal system: The jury plays an important role in the legal system.
2 FAIRNESS [U] fairness in the way people are treated; injustice
•Children have a strong sense of justice.
•His people came to him, demanding justice.
POETIC JUSTICE
3 BEING RIGHT [U] the quality of being right and deserving fair treatment:
•No one doubts the justice of our cause.
4 do justice to sb/sth also do sb/sth justice to treat or represent someone or something good, beautiful etc in a way that is as good as they deserve:
•The photo doesn't do her justice.
•No words can do justice to the experience.
5 do yourself justice to do something such as a test well enough to show your real ability:
•Sara panicked in the exam and didn't do herself justice.
6 justice has been done/served used to say that someone has been treated fairly or has been given a punishment they deserve
7 JUDGE [C] also Justice
a) AmE a judge in a law court
b) BrE the title of a judge in the High Court
rough justice at ROUGH^1 (16)[C]
JP someone who judges less serious cases in small law courts and, in the US, can perform marriage ceremonies
actions, reactions, decisions etc that are justifiable are acceptable because they are done for good reasons:
•justifiable anger
economically/commercially justifiable
•Are these experiments morally justifiable?
- justifiably adverb[U] law
a situation in which you are not punished for killing someone, usually because you did it to defend yourself [C,U]
1 a good and acceptable reason for doing something
justification for (doing) sth
•There is no justification for holding her in jail.
•Hoggart felt, with some justification, that his colleagues had let him down.
2 in justification (of sb/sth) in order to explain why an idea or action is right:
•He made a speech in justification of his actions.
1 having an acceptable explanation or reason:
•In the Chief Constable's view the use of force was fully justified.
justified in doing sth
•Under the circumstances, the principal was justified in expelling this student.
2 right/left justified technical used to describe a page where the words form a straight edge on the right or left side of the page past tense and past participle justified, present participle justifying, third person singular justifies [T]
1 to give an acceptable explanation for something that other people think is unreasonable:
•Ministers must appear before parliament and justify their actions.
justify doing sth
•How can we justify spending so much money on arms?
justify yourself (=prove that what you are doing is reasonable)
•I don't have to justify myself to you or anyone else.
2 to be a good and acceptable reason for something:
•Nothing justifies murdering another human being.
3 technical to arrange lines of words on a page or computer screen so that they form a straight edge on both the right and left sides[only before noun] technical
if goods are produced or bought using a just-in-time system, they are produced or bought just before they are needed so that the company does not have to store things for a long time:
•just-in-time manufacturing methodsalso jut out past tense and past participle jutted, present participle jutting
1 [I always + adv/prep] something that juts out sticks out further than the other things around it:
•Tall jagged rocks jutted out over the beach.
2 [T] if you jut your chin out, you move it so that it sticks forward:
•She jutted her chin out aggressively as she glowered back at him.
- jutting adjective
•jutting cliffs [U]
a natural substance that is used for making rope and rough cloth $
1 [only before noun] law relating to young people who are not yet adults:
•juvenile crime
•a juvenile court
2 silly and typical of a child rather than an adult - used to show disapproval; = childish
•a very juvenile sense of humour
3 technical juvenile birds or animals are young
- juvenile noun [C][C]
a child or young person who behaves in a criminal way
- juvenile delinquency noun [U] $ [T]
formal to put things together, especially things that are not normally together, in order to compare them or to make something new
juxtapose sth with sth
•a style of decor that juxtaposes antiques with modern furniture
- juxtaposition noun [C,U]
1 also k informal an abbreviation of one thousand :
•a salary of £30k a year
2 an abbreviation of kilobyte or kilobytes
3 also k a written abbreviation of kilometre or kilometres:
•a 20k international race walker
4 the abbreviation of kelvin or kelvinsk plural K's, k's [C,U]
the 11th letter of the alphabet $
an American spelling of KEBAB $ [C]
AmE an informal social situation when people drink coffee and talk $ [C]
taboo a very offensive word for a black person, used by white people in South Africa. Do not use this word. $
another spelling of CAFTAN $ [C]
a type of RIFLE (=long gun) that can fire very quickly [C,U]
a dark green vegetable with curled leaves $ [C]
1 a pattern, situation, or scene that is always changing and has many details or bright colours
[+of]
•a kaleidoscope of cultures
2 a tube with mirrors and pieces of coloured glass at one end, which shows coloured patterns when you turn it $
kaleidoscopic scenes, colours, or patterns change often and quickly [only before noun]
1 kamikaze pilot a pilot who deliberately crashes his plane on enemy camps, ships etc knowing he will be killed
2 used to describe someone who is willing to take risks, without caring about their safety:
•kamikaze lorry drivers [C]
an Australian animal that moves by jumping and carries its babies in a POUCH (=a special pocket of skin) on its stomach[C]
an unofficial court that punishes people unfairly [U]
a type of white clay used in medicine $ [U]
a very light material like cotton used for filling soft things like CUSHIONs [not before noun]
spoken broken:
•The TV's gone kaput. $
[U] an activity that people do for entertainment, in which someone sings a popular song while a karaoke machine plays the music to the song:
•a karaoke bar
an American spelling of CARAT [U]
a Japanese fighting sport, in which you use your feet and hands to hit and kick; judo $ [U]
1 the belief that all the good and bad things that you do in this life affect how good or bad your future lives will be, according to the Hindu and Buddhist religions
2 informal the feeling that you get from a person, place, or action
good/bad karma
•The house had a lot of bad karma.
- karmic adjective [C]
AmE a type of large GRASSHOPPER [C]
a type of light boat, usually for one person, that is moved using a PADDLE; canoe plural kazoos [C]
a simple musical instrument that you play by holding it to your lips and making sounds into italso Kb
a written abbreviation of kilobyte or kilobytes [C] BrE
King's Counsel the highest level of BARRISTER (=lawyer who speaks in court) in Britain when the ruler is a king; QCalso kabob AmE $
[C] small pieces of meat and vegetables cooked on a stick $ [U]
a cooked dish of fish, rice, and eggs mixed together
1 on an even keel steady, without any sudden changes
keep sth/get sth back on an even keel
•Now that the crisis is over, we must try to get things back on an even keel.
2 [C] a bar along the bottom of a boat that keeps it steady in the water

PHRASAL VERBS
keel over phr v
to fall over sideways:
•Several soldiers keeled over in the hot sun. $ [T]
1 to punish someone severely - often used humorously
2 to pull someone under the keel of a ship with a rope as a punishment
1 WANT STH especially BrE wanting to do something or wanting something to happen very much; = eager
keen to do sth
•He told Hayling that he was keen to help.
keen on doing sth
•I wasn't keen on going there on my own.
keen for sth to happen
•The government is keen for peace talks to start again soon.
keen that
•The chairman is keen that the company should expand its product range.
2 LIKE be keen on sb/sth BrE spoken to like someone or something:
•I'm not keen on cabbage.
not too/not very/not that keen on sth
•She likes Biology, but she's not too keen on Physics.
•My flatmates want to have a party, but I'm not keen on the idea.
3 HOBBY/INTEREST especially BrE someone who is keen on something is very interested in it or enjoys doing it very much:
•a keen photographer
•keen golfers
[+on]
•Daniel's very keen on tennis.
mad keen on sth (=very keen on something) spoken
•I was mad keen on dinosaurs when I was little.
•She takes a keen interest in politics and current affairs.
4 EAGER TO WORK/LEARN someone who is keen is eager to work or learn and enjoys doing it:
•keen students
•The kids in my class are all very keen.
•She was new in the job and keen as mustard (=very keen).
5 SIGHT/SMELL/HEARING a keen sense of smell or keen sight or hearing is an extremely good ability to smell etc:
•Dogs have a very keen sense of smell.
•She has a keen eye for (=is good at noticing) talent.
6 MIND someone with a keen mind is quick to understand things:
•a keen understanding of commerce
•With her keen mind and good business sense, she soon became noticed.
7 FEELING a keen feeling is one that is strong and deep:
•As she walked away, Joe felt a keen sense of loss.
8 COMPETITION used to describe a situation in which people compete strongly:
•We won the contest in the face of keen competition.
9 ATTRACTED BrE be keen on sb to be sexually attracted to someone
10 SHARP literary a keen knife or blade is extremely sharp
11 WIND old-fashioned a keen wind is cold and strong
12 PRICES BrE keen prices are low
- keenly adverb
•I was keenly aware of the dangers.
- keenness noun [U][I]
old use to sing a loud, sad song for someone who has died past tense and past participle kept
1 NOT CHANGE [linking verb, T] to stay in a particular state, condition, or position, or to make someone or something do this
keep (sb/sth) warm/safe/dry etc
•We huddled around the fire to keep warm.
keep calm/awake/sane etc
•I was struggling to keep awake.
keep sth clean/tidy
•Keep your room tidy.
keep sb busy/amused/occupied
•some toys to keep the kids amused
•You won't be able to keep it secret for ever.
•Peter cycles to work to keep fit.
•Don't keep us in suspense any longer!
keep (sb/sth) away/back/off/out etc
•The police put up barriers to keep the crowds back.
•If I were you, I'd keep away from that area at night.
•a sign saying 'Danger: Keep out'
•The little boy kept close to his mother.
keep (sb) out of sth
•Keep him out of trouble.
•You keep out of this, Mother (=do not get involved). It's no concern of yours.
•How can I cut your hair if you won't keep still!
keep left/right (=stay to the left or right of a path or road as you move)
keep sb/sth doing sth
•Jane kept the engine running.
2 CONTINUE DOING STH also keep on [I] to continue doing something or to do the same thing many times
keep (on) doing sth
•I keep thinking about Joe, all alone in that place.
•I keep telling you, but you won't listen!
•She pretended not to hear, and kept on walking.
!! Do not say 'keep up' doing something. Say keep doing something or keep on doing something.
3 NOT GIVE BACK [T] to have something and not give it back to the person who had it before:
•You can keep it. I don't need it any more.
4 NOT LOSE [T] to continue to have something and not lose it or get rid of it:
•We decided to keep our old car instead of selling it.
•I kept his letters for years.
•In spite of everything, Robyn's managed to keep her sense of humor.
5 STORE STH [T always + adv/prep] to leave something in one particular place so that you can find it easily:
•Where do you keep your tea bags?
•George kept a bottle of whiskey under his bed.
6 MAKE SB STAY IN A PLACE [T always + adv prep] to make someone stay in a place, especially a prison or hospital:
•He was kept in prison for a week without charge.
7 DELAY SB [T] to delay someone:
•He should be here by now. What's keeping him?
8 DO WHAT YOU PROMISED [T] to do what you have promised or agreed to do
keep your word/promise
•How do I know you'll keep your word?
•patients who fail to keep their appointments
9 keep a secret to not tell anyone about a secret that you know:
•Can I trust you to keep a secret?
10 keep sth quiet/keep quiet (about sth) to not say anything in order to avoid telling a secret or causing problems
11 keep a record/account/diary etc to regularly record written information somewhere
12 keep going
a) keep (sb) going to have or to give someone enough hope and emotional strength to continue living and doing things, in a bad situation:
•That woman's been through such a lot - I don't know how she keeps going.
•Her letters were the only thing that kept me going while I was in prison.
b) keep (sth) going if you keep a business, institution, regular event etc going, you keep it open or make it continue to happen:
•The library costs £5 million a year to run, and the council can't afford to keep it going.
c) keep going to continue doing something difficult:
•Persevere and keep going until you reach your ideal weight.
d) keep sb going if something keeps you going, it is enough to satisfy your need while you are waiting to get something bigger or better:
•I'll have a biscuit to keep me going until dinner time.
13 FOOD [I] if food keeps, it stays fresh enough to be eaten:
•Eat the salmon because it won't keep till tomorrow.
14 ANIMALS [T] to own and look after animals:
•We keep chickens and a couple of pigs.
15 STOP OTHER PEOPLE FROM USING STH [T] to stop other people from using something, so that it is available for someone; = save
•Will you keep a seat for me?
16 keep sb waiting to make someone wait before you meet them or see them:
• Sorry to keep you waiting- I got stuck in a meeting.
17 keep guard/watch to guard a place or watch around you all the time
18 SHOP [T] BrE old-fashioned to own a small business and work in it
19 PROVIDE SB WITH THINGS [T] to provide someone with money, food etc:
•He did not earn enough to keep a wife and children.
keep sb in sth
•There's enough money there to keep you in champagne for a year!
20 PROTECT [T] formal to guard or protect someone:
•The Lord bless you and keep you.
•His only thought was to keep the child from harm.
21 keep goal/wicket to be the player in a team whose job is to protect the GOAL or WICKET
GOALKEEPER, WICKET KEEPER
22 keep quiet used to tell someone not to say anything or make any noise:
•Keep quiet! I'm trying to watch the game.
23 how are you keeping? used to ask if someone is well:
•'Hi, Mark! How are you keeping?' 'Oh, not so bad.'
24 keep your hair/shirt on! used to tell someone to be more calm, patient etc
25 sb can keep sth used to say that you do not want or are not interested in something:
•She can keep her wild parties and posh friends - I like the quiet life.
26 it'll keep used to say that you can tell someone something or do something later:
•'I don't have time to listen now.' 'Don't worry, it'll keep.'

PHRASAL VERBS
keep at sth phr v
1 spoken to continue to do something, although it is difficult or hard work:
•I know it's hard, but keep at it! Don't give up!
2 keep sb at sth to force someone to continue to work hard and not let them stop

keep back phr v
1 keep sth back to deliberately not tell someone all that you know about something:
•I got the feeling he was keeping something back.
2 keep sth <=> back to not show your feelings, even though you want to very much:
•She was struggling to keep back the tears.
3 keep sb <=> back to prevent someone from being as successful as they could be; = hold back
•Fear and stereotypes have kept women back for centuries.
4 keep sth <=> back especially BrE to not give or pay something that you were going to give:
•They kept back some of his wages to pay for the damage.

keep sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to prevent the size, cost, or quantity of something from increasing or being too great:
•We need to keep costs down.
2 to succeed in keeping food in your stomach, instead of bringing it up again out of your mouth, when you are ill:
•I could hardly keep anything down for about three days.
3 used to ask someone to make less noise:
• Keep your voice down- she'll hear you!
•Can you keep it down- I'm trying to work.
4 to prevent a group of people from becoming as successful and powerful as the other people in a society:
•Plantation owners kept slaves down by refusing them an education.

keep from sth phr v
1 keep (sb/sth) from sth to prevent someone from doing something or prevent something from happening
keep sb from (doing) sth
•His ex-wife had kept him from seeing his children.
•I hope I haven't kept you from your work.
keep sth from doing sth
•Put the pizza in the bottom of the oven to keep the cheese from burning.
keep (yourself) from doing sth
•The play was so boring, I could hardly keep myself from falling asleep.
2 keep sth from sb to prevent someone from knowing something, by deliberately not telling them about it; = withhold
•The government had wanted to keep this information from the public.

keep sb in phr v
1 to make someone stay in hospital because they are too ill to go home:
•They kept her in overnight for observation.
2 BrE to force someone to stay inside, especially as a punishment in school

keep in with sb phr v BrE
to try to stay friendly with someone, especially because this helps you:
•It's always a good idea to keep in with the boss.

keep off phr v
1 keep sth <=> off to prevent something from touching or harming something:
•She held an old piece of cloth over them both to keep the rain off.
keep sth off sth
•How are we going to keep the flies off this food?
2 keep your hands off sb/sth used to tell someone not to touch someone or something:
•Keep your hands off me!
3 keep (sb) off sth to not eat, drink, or take something that is bad for you, or to stop someone else from eating, drinking, or taking it:
•Keep off fatty foods.
•a programme aimed at keeping teenagers off drugs
4 keep off sth especially BrE to avoid talking about a particular subject, especially so that you do not upset someone; = avoid, stay off
5 keep sth <=> off if you keep weight off, you do not get heavier again after you have lost weight
6 BrE if rain keeps off, it does not fall

keep on phr v
1 to continue doing something, or to do something many times
keep on doing sth
•You just have to keep on trying.
2 keep sb <=> on to continue to employ someone, especially for longer than you had planned:
•If you're good they might keep you on after Christmas.
3 BrE informal to talk continuously about something or repeat something many times, in a way that is annoying; = go on
[+about]
•There's no need to keep on and on about it!
[+at]
•If I didn't keep on at the children, they'd never do their homework.

keep to sth phr v
1 to stay on a particular road, course, piece of ground etc:
•It's best to keep to the paths.
2 to do what has been decided in an agreement or plan, or what is demanded by law:
•Keep to the speed limits.
3 keep to the point/subject etc to talk or write only about the subject you are supposed to be talking about
4 keep sth to sth to prevent an amount, degree, or level from becoming higher than it should:
•Costs must be kept to a minimum.
5 keep sth to yourself to not tell anyone about something:
•I'd appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.
6 keep to yourself also keep yourself to yourself BrE to live a very quiet private life and not do many things that involve other people

keep up phr v
1 keep sth <=> up to continue doing something:
•I don't think I can keep this up any longer.
keep up the good work! (=continue to work hard and well)
2 if a situation keeps up, it continues without stopping or changing; = continue
•How long can the economic boom keep up?
3 to go as quickly as someone else
[+with]
•I had to walk fast to keep up with him.
4 to manage to do as much or as well as other people; fall behind
[+with]
•Jack's having trouble keeping up with the rest of the class.
keep up with the Joneses (=try to have the same new, impressive possessions that other people have)
5 to continue to read and learn about a particular subject, so that you always know about the most recent facts, products etc
[+with]
•Employees need to keep up with the latest technical developments.
6 keep sth <=> up to make something continue at its present level or amount, instead of letting it decrease:
•NATO kept up the pressure on the Serbs to get out of Kosovo.
7 if one process keeps up with another, it increases at the same speed and by the same amount
[+with]
•Food production is not keeping up with population growth.
8 keep sth <=> up to continue to practise a skill so that you do not lose it:
•I used to speak French, but I haven't kept it up.
9 keep sb up informal to prevent someone from going to bed:
•I hope I'm not keeping you up.
10 keep your spirits/strength/morale etc up to stay happy, strong, confident etc, by making an effort:
•We sang as we marched, to keep our spirits up.
11 keep up appearances to pretend that everything in your life is normal and happy even though you are in trouble, especially financial trouble

keep up with sb phr v
to write to, telephone, or meet a friend regularly, so that you do not forget each other
1 sb's keep the cost of providing food and a home for someone
earn your keep (=do things in return for the things that are provided for you)
•It's time you got a job and started earning your keep.
2 for keeps informal for ever:
•Marriage ought to be for keeps.
3 [C] a large strong tower, usually in the centre of a castle[U]
AmE a children's game in which you try to catch a ball that is being thrown between two other people; = piggy in the middle BrE $ [C]
1 someone who looks after animals:
•a beekeeper
•Bob is head lion keeper at the zoo.
GAMEKEEPER, ZOO-KEEPER
2 someone whose job is to look after a particular place or thing:
•a lighthouse keeper
[+of]
•the keeper of Greek coins in the British Museum
3 BrE informal a GOALKEEPER
4 I am not sb's keeper spoken used to say that you are not responsible for someone else's actions
WICKET KEEPER[U]
BrE old-fashioned a class in which you do exercises to keep yourself healthy; aerobics
- keep-fit adjective
1 in keeping (with sth) matching something or suitable in a particular situation:
•In keeping with tradition, everyone wore black.
2 out of keeping (with sth) not matching something or not suitable in a particular situation:
•The cheerful cover of the book is out of keeping with the sad story told inside it.
3 in sb's keeping being looked after or guarded by someone
SAFEKEEPING [C]
a small object that you keep to remind you of someone; = memento [C]
a round wooden or metal container with a flat top and bottom, used for storing beer; barrel
keg beer/bitter BrE (=beer served from a keg)also keg party $ [C]
AmE informal a big outdoor party where beer is served from kegs $ [C]
AmE spoken your BUTTOCKs (=the part of your body that you sit on) [U]
a type of flat brown SEAWEED (=a plant that grows in the sea) [U]
K a scale of temperature in which water freezes at 273.15 K and boils at 373.15 K
- Kelvin adjective
beyond your ken if something is beyond your ken, you have no knowledge or understanding of it:
•mysteries beyond our ken [C]
1 a small building made for a dog to sleep in
2 also kennels BrE a place where dogs are kept for BREEDING or are cared for while their owners are away
boarding/quarantine kennels
•The puppy, which may have rabies, is at a quarantine kennels. $ [U]
a game played in CASINOs in which you try to win money by guessing which numbers a computer will choose
the past tense and past participle of KEEP[C]
old-fashioned a woman who is given a place to live, money, and clothes by a man who visits her for sex - often used humorouslycurb AmE $ [C] BrE
the edge of the PAVEMENT (=raised path) at the side of a road:
•His car mounted the kerb and ploughed into a bus queue.curb crawler AmE [C] BrE
a man who drives his car slowly along the road looking for a PROSTITUTE (=a women who has sex for money)
- kerb crawling noun [U]
•He was arrested for kerb crawling. $ [C]
a square piece of cloth, worn on the head or around the neck $ [singular]
BrE informal unnecessary noise and activity; = fuss $ [C]
1 the part of a nut or seed inside the shell or the part inside the stone of some fruits
2 [usually singular] one of the small yellow pieces on a corn COB
3 [usually singular] the most important part of a statement, idea, plan etc; = core
[+of]
•This evidence is the kernel of the defendants' case.
4 [usually singular] a very small part or amount of something
[+of]
•There may be a kernel of truth in what he says.kerosine [U] especially AmE AusE
a clear oil that is burnt to provide heat or light; = paraffin BrE
•a kerosene lamp [C]
a type of bird that is like a small FALCON [C]
a small sailing ship with two MASTs also catsup AmE [U]
a thick cold red sauce made from TOMATOes that you put on food:
•a bottle of tomato ketchup [C]
1 a container with a lid, a handle, and a SPOUT, used for boiling and pouring water; = teakettle AmE
•She filled the kettle and switched it on.
•The kettle's boiling (=the water in it is boiling).
• Put the kettle on (=start boiling water in a kettle) will you?
2 AmE a large pot, used for making soup
3 another/a different kettle of fish informal used to say that a situation is very different from one that you have just mentioned:
•She enjoys public speaking but being on TV is a different kettle of fish. [C]
a large metal drum with a round bottom, used in an ORCHESTRA. A set of kettledrums is called TIMPANI.also kewpie $ [C]
a type of plastic DOLL from America with a fat body and a curl of hair on its head [no comparative]
very important or necessary:
•China's support is key to the success of the coalition.
key factor/points/questions etc
•The President makes all the key decisions on foreign policy.
key role/player/figure etc (=one with a lot of influence on a result)
•The show has been hit by the departure of key personnel.
LOW-KEY[C]
1 LOCK a small specially shaped piece of metal that you put into a lock and turn in order to lock or unlock a door, start a car etc
house/car keys
•I lost my house keys.
•A bunch of keys hung from his belt.
[+to]
•I can lend you a spare key to the store until you get one cut (=made).
!! Do not say 'the key of' something. Say the key to something.
MASTER KEY
2 IMPORTANT PART the key the part of a plan, action etc, that will make it possible for it to succeed
[+to]
•Working well as a team is the key to success.
•a discovery that may hold the key to our understanding of the universe
3 COMPUTER the buttons that you press on a computer KEYBOARD to operate the computer:
•Press the ESCAPE key to exit.
hot key/shortcut key (=a special key on a computer that does specific things)
4 MUSIC
a) [usually plural] the wooden or metal parts that you press on a piano and some wind instruments in order to play them:
•piano keys
b) a scale of notes that begins with one particular note, or the quality of sound this scale has:
•a tune in the key of A minor
5 MAP/DRAWING a list of the signs, colours etc used on a map or technical drawing etc that explains what they mean
6 TEST the printed answers to a test or set of questions in a book
7 ISLAND [usually plural] a small flat island, especially one that is part of a group near the coast:
•the Florida Keys[T]
1 AmE informal if you key a win for your team, you help it win a game because you play very well:
•Abdul keyed the game with three touchdowns.
2 BrE to prepare a surface so that a covering such as paint will stick to it

PHRASAL VERBS
key sth <=> in phr v
to put information into a computer or other machine, using buttons or a keyboard:
•Key in your password and press 'Return'.

key sth to sth phr v AmE
1 to make or change a system so that it works well with something else:
•The daycare hours are keyed to the needs of working parents.
2 if the level, price, or value of something is keyed to something else, it is related to it and they rise and fall at the same time:
•Pensions are keyed to the rate of inflation.
KEYED UP $ [C]
1 a board with buttons marked with letters or numbers that are pressed to put information into a computer or other machine:
•a computer keyboard
2 the row of keys on some musical instruments that you press in order to play them
3 also keyboards [plural] an electronic musical instrument similar to a piano that can make sounds like many different instruments; synthesizer
•Chris Kelly (guitar) and Benny Hayes (keyboards and vocals)
[I,T] to put information into a computer, using a keyboard
- keyboarding noun [U]
•keyboarding errors $ [C]
someone whose job is to put information into a computer, using a keyboard $ [C]
someone who plays the keyboard[C]
a special plastic card that you put in an electronic lock to open a door etc[C]
a chain with a key ring attached, used for holding keys[not before noun]
worried or excited
[+with/about/at]
•Travis was keyed up at the thought of seeing Rosie again. $ [C]
someone is officially responsible for keeping the key to an office building, factory etc $ [C]
the hole in a lock that you put the key in:
•I peeped through the keyhole and watched them.[U]
medical operations done through a very small hole in the body $ [C]
the main point in a book, system of beliefs, activity etc that influences everything else
[+of]
•Unprecedented change has been the keynote of the electronic revolution.[only before noun]
relating to the most important part of a formal meeting, report etc
keynote speech/address/lecture etc
•He is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at an awards ceremony.
•Bill Gates is booked as the keynote speaker.[I,T]
to give the keynote speech at a formal meeting, ceremony etc:
•The event is usually keynoted by the prime minister. [C]
a small box with buttons on it, used to put information into a computer, telephone etc [C]
someone with whom you regularly exchange e-mail; penpal
•If your daughter is interested in having a keypal next year, please have her get in touch.[C]
a metal ring that you keep keys on[C]
a set of marks at the beginning of a line of written music to show which KEY it is in $
1 [C] the large central stone in an ARCH that keeps the other stones in position
2 [singular] formal the most important part of an idea, belief, or process that influences how it develops
[+of]
•The keystone of any personal injury case is medical evidence. $ [C]
the action of pressing a key on a computer or other machine $ [C]
a word that you type into a computer so that it will search for that word on the Internet:
•You can find the site by entering the keyword 'Quark'.plural kg or kgs
the written abbreviation of kilogram or kilograms $ [U]
1 a dull green-brown or yellow-brown colour
2 cloth of this colour, especially when worn by soldiers
- khaki adjective
•a khaki uniform $ [plural]
trousers made of khaki cloth [C]
another spelling of CALIPH [C]
a ruler or official in India or central Asia, or their title
the written abbreviation of kilohertz [U]
small round pieces of dried dog or cat food plural kibbutzim [C]
a type of farm in Israel where many people live and work together [I] AmE informal
1 to make unhelpful remarks while someone is doing something
2 to talk about things that everyone already knows in a boring way:
•incessant philosophical kibbitzing
- kibitzer noun [C]
•the usual crowd of kibitzersqiblah [singular]
the direction towards which Muslims turn when they pray $
put the kibosh on sth old-fashioned informal to stop a plan, idea etc from developing; = ruin [I,T]
1 to hit something with your foot
kick sth down/over/around etc
•Billy was kicking a ball around the yard.
•The police kicked the door down.
kick sb in the stomach/face/shin etc
•There was a scuffle and he kicked me in the stomach.
2 to move your legs as if you were kicking something:
•He kicked off his shoes and lay back on the bed.
•a row of dancers kicking their legs in the air
•A horse trotted past, kicking up dust from the road.
3 kick yourself spoken used to say that you are annoyed with yourself because you have done something silly, made a mistake etc:
•You'll kick yourself when I tell you the answer.
•United will be kicking themselves for missing several chances.
4 kick the habit to stop doing something that is a harmful habit, such as smoking, taking drugs etc:
•The scheme has already helped hundreds of smokers to kick the habit.
5 kick sb when they are down to criticize or attack someone who is already in a weak or difficult position:
•The media can't resist kicking a man when he's down.
6 kick sb in the teeth kick sb in the stomach/pants AmE informal to disappoint someone or treat them badly at a time when they need help:
•We all have times when life kicks us in the teeth.
7 kick sb's ass/butt AmE informal not polite to punish or defeat someone:
•We're gonna kick San Francisco's ass good tonight.
8 kick ass AmE informal not polite used to say that someone or something is very good or impressive:
•Tucson pop band Shoebomb kick some serious ass.
9 kick your heels BrE to waste time waiting for something:
•We were left kicking our heels for half the day.
10 kick up your heels to enjoy yourself a lot at a party, event etc:
•The charity ball is a chance to kick up your heels and help a good cause.
11 kick sth into touch BrE informal to stop a plan or project before it is completed:
•A hitch resulted in the deal being kicked firmly into touch.
12 kick up a fuss/stink/row informal to complain loudly about something:
•Won't he kick up a fuss when he discovers they're missing?
13 kicking and screaming protesting violently or being very unwilling to do something:
•The London Stock Exchange was dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century.
14 kick the shit out of sb informal not polite to hurt someone very badly by kicking them many times
15 kick against the pricks BrE informal to hurt or damage yourself by trying to change something that cannot be changed
16 kick sb upstairs to move someone to a new job that seems to be more important than their last one, but that actually gives them less influence
17 be kicking (it) AmE spoken to be relaxing and having a good time:
•I was just kicking with my buddies.
18 be kicking it AmE spoken to be having a romantic or sexual relationship with someone
[+with]
•My sources say that she was kicking it with Thomas while she was on tour.
19 kick over the traces BrE old-fashioned to start behaving badly by refusing to accept any control or rules
20 kick the bucket old-fashioned to die - used humorously

PHRASAL VERBS
kick (out) against sth phr v
to react strongly against something:
•She has kicked out against authority all her life.

kick around phr v
1 kick sth around to think about or discuss an idea before making a decision:
•We kicked that suggestion around and in the end decided to go ahead.
2 kick sb around to treat someone badly and unfairly:
•I have my pride, you know. They can't kick me around.
3 kick around (sth) to be in a place doing things but without any firm plans; = knock around
•He kicked around India for a few months.
4 to be left in a place untidily or forgotten:
•There's a copy of the report kicking around somewhere.

kick back phr v AmE
to relax:
•Your waitress will take your order while you kick back and enjoy the game.

kick in phr v
1 informal to start or to begin to have an effect:
•The storm is expected to kick in shortly after sunrise.
•The painkillers kicked in and he became sleepy.
2 kick in (sth) to join with others in giving money or help; = chip in
•Bill never wants to kick in.
•We were each asked to kick in 50 cents toward the cost.
3 kick sb's head/face/teeth in to injure someone badly by kicking them:
•He threatened to come round and kick my head in.
4 kick a door in to kick a locked door so hard that it breaks open:
•We had to get the police to kick the door in.

kick off phr v
1 if a meeting, event, or a football game kicks off, it starts:
•What time does the laser show kick off?
•The match kicks off at noon.
[+with]
•The series kicked off with an interview with Brando.
2 informal if you kick off a discussion, meeting, event etc, you start it:
•OK Marion, would you care to kick off?
kick sth <=> off (with sth)
•I'm going to kick off today's meeting with a few remarks about the budget.
3 kick sb off sth informal to remove someone from a team or group:
•Joe was kicked off the committee for stealing funds.
4 AmE informal to die

kick sb <=> out phr v
to make someone leave a place, job etc; = throw out
•Bernard's wife kicked him out.
[+of]
•He was kicked out of the golf club.[C]
1 a movement of your foot or leg, usually to hit something with your foot:
•Brazil scored with the last kick of the match.
•Rory aimed a kick at her leg and missed.
•kung fu kicks
•If the door won't open just give it a good kick.
2 the act of kicking the ball in a sports game such as football, or the ball that is kicked and the direction it goes in:
•Benjamin struck a post with an overhead kick.
free/penalty kick (=an opportunity, allowed by the rules, for a player in one team to kick the ball without being stopped by the other team)
•Pearce came forward to take the free kick.
3 something that you enjoy because it is exciting; = thrill
get a kick out of/from (doing) sth
•Gerald gets a kick out of dressing as a woman.
give sb a kick
•It gives her a kick to get you into trouble.
do sth (just) for kicks
•She used to steal from shops for kicks.
4 a kick up the arse/backside/pants etc informal criticism or strong encouragement to make someone do something they should have done:
•What Phil needs is a good kick up the arse.
5 a kick in the teeth informal something that is very disappointing or upsetting that happens when you need support:
•This broken promise is a real kick in the teeth for our fans.
6 a kick informal used to talk about the strong effect of a drink or drug or the strong taste that some food has:
•The wine had a real kick.AmE informal
strong, powerful, and sometimes violent:
•a kick-ass attitude [C]
informal money that someone pays secretly and dishonestly in return for someone's help; = bribe $ [U]
an American game for children, similar to baseball, in which you kick the ball $ [U]
a form of BOXING in which you kick someone as well as hitting them
- kickboxer noun [C] $
1 [C] a player in a sports team who kicks the ball to score points
2 [singular] AmE a surprising or unexpected end to an event:
•The kicker came when the reporter asked the 22-mile runner whether she was tired. $ [C usually singular]
1 the time when a football game starts, or the first kick of the game:
•Kickoff is at 3.00.
2 informal the beginning of a new activity [C]
a thin piece of metal on the bottom of a bicycle or MOTORCYCLE that supports it in an upright position when it is not moving[T]
1 to do something to help a process or activity start or develop more quickly:
•He urged further interest rate cuts in a bid to kick-start the economy.
2 to start a MOTORCYCLE using your foot
1 [C] also kick-starter the part of a MOTORCYCLE that you press with your foot to start it
2 [singular] action taken to make a plan, project etc start or develop more quickly:
•Motivation is the kick-start you need to succeed at work.
1 [C] informal a child:
•She'd always loved animals since she was a little kid.
•He's married with three kids.
•A neighbor volunteered to keep an eye on the kids (=their children or the children they are responsible for).
2 [C] informal a young person:
•college kids
3 [C usually singular] used by adults to address a person who is younger than them:
•Hey kid, come here.
4 kid's stuff also kid stuff AmE something that is too easy or boring:
•Pokemon? Oh boy, that is kid stuff!
5
a) [C] a young goat
b) [U] very soft leather made from the skin of a young goat:
•a pair of white kid boots
6 kid gloves a way of treating someone kindly and carefully because they easily become upset
treat/handle sb with kid gloves
•I want you to treat Hayley with kid gloves today. She's still upset about her father.past tense and past participle kidded, present participle kidding informal
1 [I,T] to say something that is not true, especially as a joke; = joke
just/only kidding
•Don't get mad, I was only kidding.
2 [T] to make jokes or say funny things about someone in a friendly way; = tease
kid sb about sth
•We were kidding Mom about being a grandmother.
kid sb (that)
•My friends kidded me that my gear would fill the car.
3 no kidding?/are you kidding? spoken used when you are so surprised by what someone has told you that you do not completely believe them:
•Carlotta's 39? No kidding?
4 no kidding spoken
a) used to say that you understand and agree with what someone has just said:
•'That girl has some major problems.' 'Yeah, no kidding.'
b) used to emphasize a threat or that you are telling the truth:
•If you break that thing, you'll be grounded for a week - no kidding.
•And then he saw us and - no kidding - he asked us if we wanted a ride.
5 [T] to let yourself believe something that is untrue or unlikely
kid yourself (that)
•Don't kid yourself he'll ever change.
•We thought we could change the world. Just who were we trying to kid?
6 I kid you not spoken used to emphasize that you are telling the truth

PHRASAL VERBS
kid around phr v
to behave in a silly way:
•Stop kidding around and listen.
- kidding noun [U]
kid sister/brother especially AmE informal your kid sister or brother is younger than you are; = little sister/brother BrEkiddy [C]
informal especially BrE a young child:
•a sandpit for the kiddieskiddy [only before noun]
made, involving, or intended for young children:
•a kiddie seat[C]
a camera that allows parents to see their children when the parents are somewhere else $ plural kiddos [C usually singular]
especially AmE spoken informal used by adults to address a young person:
•Come on kiddo, let's go. past tense and past participle kidnapped, present participle kidnapping also past tense and past participle kidnaped, present participle kidnaping AmE [T]
to take someone somewhere illegally by force, often in order to get money for returning them; ransom
•Police appealed for witnesses after a woman was kidnapped at gunpoint and assaulted.
- kidnapper noun [C]
•the hunt for the kidnapper
- kidnapping also kidnap noun [C,U]
•a series of kidnappings
1 [C] one of the two organs in your lower back that separate waste products from your blood and make URINE:
•a kidney transplant
2 [C,U] one or more of these organs from an animal, used as food:
•steak and kidney pie[C]
a dark red bean that is shaped like the letter C [C]
an adult who likes to play games or buy things that most people consider more suitable for children [C] taboo
a very offensive word for someone who is Jewish. Do not use this word.
1 MAKE SB/STH DIE [I,T] to make a person or animal die:
•Why did she kill her husband?
•Murray held a gun to his head and threatened to kill him.
•Four people were killed when a train plunged into a flooded river.
be killed instantly/outright (=immediately)
•The driver was killed instantly.
•Bleach kills household germs.
•Smoking kills.
2 kill yourself
a) to cause your own death:
•You're going to kill yourself on that bike.
•After her husband died, Mary tried to kill herself.
b) to work very hard to achieve something in a way that makes you ill or tired:
•It's not worth killing yourself over it.
kill yourself to do sth
•He about killed himself to make the business go.
3 MAKE STH STOP/FAIL [T] to make something stop operating or fail:
•Joe pulled in and killed the engine.
•The out-of-town shopping centre will kill local trade.
kill your speed (=drive slowly)
4 BE ANGRY WITH SB [T] informal to be very angry with someone:
•Mom will kill me if I'm late.
5 ANNOYED/SAD [T] to make someone feel annoyed, sad, concerned etc
it kills sb to do sth
•It kills me to see him working so hard.
•What happened next? The suspense is killing me.
6 would/could kill for sth also would kill to do sth to want something so much that you will do almost anything to get it or do it:
•I could kill for a smoke right now.
•In those days, actors would kill to break into film.
7 my head/back etc is killing me spoken used to say that a part of your body is hurting a lot:
•I've walked miles and my feet are killing me.
8 kill time/an hour etc to spend time doing something which is not important while you are waiting to do something important or waiting for something else to happen:
•With time to kill, he took a cab to the centre.
9 kill a beer/bottle of wine etc spoken to drink or finish drinking a beer etc quickly:
•Let's kill these beers and go.
10 MAKE SB LAUGH [T] to make someone laugh a lot
kill yourself laughing
•They weren't bothered - in fact they were killing themselves laughing.
11 it won't/wouldn't kill sb (to do something) spoken used to say that someone could easily do something, and ought to do it:
•It wouldn't kill you to help out once in a while.
12 (even) if it kills me spoken used to emphasize that you are determined to do something even though it is very difficult:
•I'm completing this course, even if it kills me.
13 kill two birds with one stone to achieve two things with one action
14 kill the goose that lays the golden egg to destroy the thing that brings you profit or success
15 kill the fatted calf to welcome someone home with a big meal etc after they have been away for a long time
16 kill sb with kindness to be too kind to someone, in a way that actually harms them
17 kill or cure used to say that something you are going to do will be either successful or fail completely

PHRASAL VERBS
kill sth <=> off phr v
1 to cause the death of a lot of living things; = destroy
•Pollution is rapidly killing off plant life.
2 to stop or remove something completely; = destroy
•These figures kill off any hope that the economy is poised for recovery.

WORD CHOICE: kill, murder, execute, put to death, kill yourself, commit suicide, slaughter, massacre, assassinate
There are many different words meaning to kill someone. Kill is the most general: He says he did not mean to kill his wife. | Thousands of Russian soldiers were killed in the war.
Use murder to talk about deliberately killing someone, especially after planning to do it: He is charged with murdering a policeman.
When you are talking about killing someone as a punishment for a crime, use execute or put someone to death: He was executed by a firing squad. | the first person to be put to death in San Quentin jail
If someone deliberately causes their own death, say that they commit suicide or that someonekills himself orherself: the feeling of hopelessness that led him to commit suicide, | It was not the first time she had tried to kill herself.
Slaughter and massacre mean to violently kill a large number of people who cannot defend themselves. These words are used mainly in writing or journalism: Hundreds of innocent civilians were slaughtered. | Soldiers massacred 900 men, women, and children in the village.
Use assassinate to talk about killing an important person, especially a politician: J.F.Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963.

dressed to kill at DRESSED (3)
1 [C usually singular] the act of killing a hunted animal:
•He raised his knife for the kill.
2 move in/close in for the kill to come closer to something in order to kill, defeat, or destroy it:
•Enemy submarines were moving in for the kill.
3 [singular] an animal that is killed by another animal:
•The cubs will share the remains of the kill. $ [C]
1 a person, animal, or thing that kills:
•Heart disease is America's number one killer.
•the hunt for her killers
•weed killer
serial killer at SERIAL^2 (1)
2 informal something or someone that is very difficult, tiring, or boring:
•The new project is a killer.
3 informal something that is very exciting or impressive:
•I'm not saying the film is a killer, but it's cool.[only before noun]
1 very harmful or dangerous:
•a killer hurricane
•a swarm of killer bees
2 informal very attractive, good, impressive etc:
•a book called 'How to Build a Killer Website'
3 killer instinct a very strong desire to succeed in a situation or activity etc that is very competitive:
•Young players these days lack the killer instinct.[C]
a black and white WHALE that eats meat [C]
1 the act of killing someone deliberately; = murder
•a series of gangland killings
•They murdered fifteen boys in a killing spree (=an occasion when a someone murders many people in a short period of time) across southern California.
2 make a killing informal to make a lot of money in a short time:
•He made a killing on the stock exchange. [C]
someone who spoils other people's pleasure [C]
a special OVEN for baking clay pots, bricks etc $ plural kilos [C]
a kilogram [in nouns]
a thousand - used with units of measurementK or KB [C]
a unit for measuring computer information, equal to 1024 BYTEs also kilogramme BrE written abbreviation kg [C]
a unit for measuring weight, equal to 1000 gramswritten abbreviation kHz $ plural kilohertz [C]
a unit for measuring the FREQUENCY of SOUND WAVEs , especially radio signals, equal to 1000 HERTZkilometer AmE written abbreviation km $ [C] BrE
a unit for measuring distance, equal to 1000 metreswritten abbreviation kW $ [C]
a unit for measuring electrical power, equal to 1000 WATTs written abbreviation kWh [C]
a unit for measuring electrical power, equal to the amount of work produced by one kilowatt in one hour [C]
a type of thick skirt made of TARTAN (=material with a pattern of lines and squares) that is traditionally worn by Scottish men
- kilted adjective $
out of kilter/off kilter not working as well as usual:
•Pollution has thrown the Earth's chemistry out of kilter. [U]
a Korean hot-tasting dish made of PICKLED cabbage and other vegetables $ plural kimonos [C]
a traditional piece of Japanese clothing like a long loose coat, worn at special ceremonies [plural]
1 informal also kinsfolk, kinfolk your family
2 next of kin formal your most closely related family:
•We'll have to notify the next of kin of his death.; kindred
KITH AND KIN
1 [C,U] one of the different types of a person or thing that belong to the same group; = sort, type

all kinds/every kind
different/various kinds
a certain/particular kind
some kind
any kind
the same kind
the right kind
the worst kind
of its/their kind
of this kind
what kind (of sth)?
that kind of thing
precisely/exactly the kind (that)

[+of]
•They sell all kinds of things.
•The flowers attract several different kinds of insects.
• Certain kinds of medical care are more expensive than others.
• Greg was working on some kind of deal in Italy.
• Get me a sandwich - any kind will do.
• You can't get in unless you're wearing the right kind of clothes.
• This is hypocrisy of the worst kind.
• It is the biggest centre of its kind.
• What kind of food do you want?
•I like yoga, aerobics, and that kind of thing.
• This is precisely the kind of sensational attitude I most deplore.
see box at TYPE^1

2 the kind used to describe a person with a particular character, feelings, opinions etc:
•Ted just isn't the marrying kind.
•Rob isn't the kind of person to worry.
3 kind of kinda AmE spoken slightly but not exactly, or in some ways; = sort of
•I'm kind of glad I didn't win.
•He's kinda dumb, isn't he?
4 a kind of (a) sth spoken used to say that your description of something is not exact:
•a kind of reddish-brown color
5 two/three etc of a kind two, three etc people or things that are very similar:
•You and Joe are two of a kind.
6 one of a kind the only one of a particular type of thing:
•Each plate is handpainted and one of a kind.
7 something of the/that kind spoken something similar to what was expected or talked about:
•Rosa was shocked by the news, although she had suspected something of the kind might happen.
8 nothing/anything of the kind spoken used to emphasize that what has been said is not true:
•I never said anything of the kind!
9 of a kind used to say that something is not as good as it should be:
•Elections of a kind are held, but there is only one party to vote for.
10 in kind reacting to something someone has done by doing the same thing:
•After recent bombings, counter-terrorist forces could retaliate in kind.
payment in kind at PAYMENT (3)comparative kinder, superlative kindest
1 saying or doing things that show that you care about other people and want to help them or make them happy; unkind ; kindly, kindness
[+to]
•They've been very kind to me.
•It wasn't a very kind thing to say.
•She's a very kind and generous person.
it's kind of sb (to do sth)
•It's kind of you to say that.
•It's really kind of them to let us use their pool.
•We thanked the priest for his kind words.
•Thank you for your help. You've been most kind (=said when thanking someone very politely).
thank you for your kind invitation/offer (=said when thanking someone very politely for their invitation or offer)
•Ms Jarvis is unable to accept your kind invitation.
•Thank you for your kind offer.
2 not causing harm or suffering
[+to]
•Life has been very kind to me.
•I need a soap that's kinder to my skin.
•Let's hope the weather's kind tomorrow.
3 would you be kind enough to do sth/be so kind as to do sth formal used to make a polite request:
•Would you be kind enough to close the door, please?
!! If you use these expressions in informal English, they can sound rude or unfriendly. Use please could you...? or would you mind...? instead.
4 kind regards written used to end a formal but fairly friendly letter

WORD FOCUS: kind
similar words:
nice
considerate
thoughtful
sympathetic
benevolent
compassionate
gentle
$ [C,U]
1 AmE a school or class for children aged five
2 BrE a school for children aged two to five; = nursery school $
kind and generous:
•a kind-hearted gesture
- kind-heartedly adverb
- kind-heartedness noun [U] [I,T]
1 if you kindle a fire, or if it kindles, it starts to burn
2 to make someone feel interested, excited, hopeful etc
kindle sth in sb
•A love of poetry was kindled in him by his mother. [U]
small sticks, leaves etc that you use to start a fire
1 in a kind way; = generously
kindly offer/agree/give etc
•Mr Nunn has kindly agreed to let us use his barn for the dance.
2 not take kindly to sth to be unwilling to accept a situation because it annoys you:
•She does not take kindly to criticism.
3 look kindly on sb/sth to approve of someone or something:
•Jimmy would probably not look too kindly on our request.
4 spoken formal a word meaning `please', which is often used when you are annoyed:
•Will you kindly put that book back?old-fashioned
kind and caring for other people:
•Mrs Gardiner was a kindly old soul.
!! It is more usual to say kind.
- kindliness noun [C]
1 [U] kind behaviour towards someone:
•I can't thank you enough for your kindness.
2 [C] a kind action
do sb a kindness
•It would be doing him a kindness to tell him the truth.
kill sb with kindness at KILL^1 (16) [U] old use
your whole family; kin[only before noun]
1 a kindred spirit someone who thinks and feels the way you do
2 formal belonging to the same group or family:
•The protest included members of Free the Streets and kindred organisations. technical
relating to movement:
•kinetic energy [U]
the science that studies movement $ [plural] AmE old-fashioned
KINSFOLK [C]
1 RULER a man who rules a country because he is from a royal family; queen
[+of]
•Henry VIII, King of England
•On 2 December Henry VI was crowned king (=made the king at an official ceremony).
2 THE BEST the king of sth someone or something that people think is the most important or best of a particular type of person or thing:
•the King of Rock 'n' Roll
•the king of Swiss cheeses
•The lion is the king of the jungle.
3 SUCCESSFUL if you live like a king, feel like a king etc, you are very successful, happy, rich etc:
•With her at my side, I felt like a king.
4 CHESS the most important piece in CHESS
5 CARDS a playing card with a picture of a king on it
6 IMPORTANT be king if something is king at a particular time, it has a big influence on people:
•back in the days when jazz was king
7 a king's ransom a very large amount of money [C]
1 a country ruled by a king or queen:
•the United Kingdom
[+of]
•the kingdom of Thailand
2 the animal/plant/mineral kingdom one of the three parts into which the natural world is divided
3 the kingdom of heaven/God also God's kingdom heaven
4 kingdom come informal a phrase used to describe the end of the world, death, or the end of time:
•He left the gas on and nearly blew us all to kingdom come. $ [C]
a small brightly-coloured bird with a blue body that catches fish in rivers formal
good enough for a king, or typical of a king:
•a kingly feast $ [C]
someone who influences the choice of people for important jobs:
•Her death thrust Newman into the position of kingmaker. [C usually singular]
1 the person or thing in a group that is the most important or that has the most power - used especially in news reports
crime/drug etc kingpin
•a mafia kingpin
2 technical a thin strong piece of metal used in HINGEs
a KCalso Queen's English
the King's English old-fashioned correct English, as it is spoken in Britain
turn King's evidence BrE to give information about other criminals in order to get a less severe punishment; queen's evidence; = state's evidence AmE [U]
the official position or condition of being a king:
•the responsibilities of kingshipalso king-sized
1 very large, and usually the largest size of something:
•a king-size bed
•king-sized cigarettes
2 informal very big, strong, or extreme:
•a king-size headache [C]
1 a twist in something that is normally straight
[+in]
•The water hose had a kink in it.
2 a small problem in a plan, system etc:
•Given the size of the task a few kinks are inevitable.
3 something strange or dangerous in someone's character[I,T]
to have or get a kink:
•Take care to avoid kinking the wire.
1 informal having or showing unusual ways of getting sexual excitement:
•kinky sex videos
2 kinky hair has a lot of small curves
- kinkiness noun [U]
- kinkily adverbalso kinfolk AmE $ [plural]
old-fashioned your family
1 [U + with] literary a family relationship:
•the ties of kinship
2 [singular, U] a strong connection between people; rapport
[+between]
•The sense of kinship between the two men is surprising.
•He felt a kinship with only other American on the base. plural kinsmen [C]
old use a male relative plural kinswomen [C]
old use a female relative $ [C]
1 a small building in the street where newspapers, sweets etc are sold
2 BrE old-fashioned a public telephone box [singular, U]
BrE informal a period of sleep:
•I've only had an hour's kip.
•We ought to get some kip.past tense and past participle kipped, present participle kipping [I] BrE informal
to sleep somewhere, especially somewhere that is not your home
[+down]
•There are rooms for drivers to kip down for the night.
[+on]
•Mum says you can kip on the sofa tonight. $ [C]
a HERRING (=type of fish) that has been preserved using smoke and salt
- kippered adjective
•kippered herring $
1 [C] a church - used in Scotland and Northern England
2 the Kirk the Church of Scotland $ [U]
a strong alcoholic drink made from CHERRY juice [U]
literary the things that will happen to you in your life; = fate
1 [I,T] to touch someone with your lips as a greeting, to show them love, or as part of a sexual relationship:
•Maggie leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
•Georgina took him in her arms and kissed him on the lips.
•As they parted, Jim and Mary kissed (=they kissed each other).
kiss sb gently/lightly
•He kissed her gently and stroked her hair.
kiss sb goodbye/goodnight etc
•Kiss Daddy goodnight.
2 [T] to touch something with your lips as a sign of respect:
•She raised the crucifix to her lips and kissed it.
3 kiss goodbye to sth/kiss sth goodbye informal to accept that you will lose something or lose an opportunity to do something:
•She knew if she concentrated on her marriage she could kiss her career goodbye.
4 kiss sth better spoken used, especially to a child, to say that you will take away the pain of something by kissing them:
•Here, let Mommy kiss it better.
5 kiss my ass AmE informal not polite an insulting expression used to show that you do not respect someone
6 kiss (sb's) ass AmE informal not polite to be too nice to someone who can give you something you want - used to show disapproval
7 [T] literary if the wind, sun etc kisses something, it gently moves or touches it

PHRASAL VERBS
kiss up to sb phr v AmE informal
to try to please someone in order to get them to do something for you - used to show disapproval; = suck up to BrE
•If you say that, it'll look like you're kissing up to me.[C]
1 an act of kissing:
•Do you remember your first kiss?
•Come and give your old Grandma a kiss.
a big/long/quick etc kiss
•a passionate kiss
2 give sb the kiss of life especially BrE to make someone start breathing again by blowing air into their lungs when they have almost DROWNed etc
3 the kiss of death informal something that spoils or ruins a plan, activity etc
FRENCH KISS; blow sb a kiss at BLOW^1 (9) [C]
another spelling of KISSOGRAM[C usually singular]
a story, article, book etc in which someone tells the public the secret details of a romantic relationship that they had with a famous person $ [C ] informal
1 [usually singular] your mouth:
•She slapped me right in the kisser.
2 a person who is kissing
a good/bad etc kisser[C]
AmE old-fashioned someone you are not closely related to, but whom you know wellkissagram [C]
a humorous greeting for your BIRTHDAY etc that is delivered by someone in a special COSTUME who delivers it and kisses you
1 [C] a set of tools, equipment etc that you use for a particular purpose or activity:
•Sally keeps her make-up kit in her bag.
•a bike repair kit
•a shaving kit
•a drum kit
2 [C] something that you buy in parts and put together yourself:
•model kits for making boats
•kit cars
3 [U] electronic equipment, especially computers and computer software:
•The new kit includes a CD-ROM and DAT drive.
4 [C,U] BrE a set of clothes and equipment that you use for a particular purpose such as playing a sport:
•sports kit
•football kits
5 [U] a set of clothes and equipment used by soldiers, SAILORs , etc:
•The soldiers are trained to jump from the planes with full kit on.
6 get your kit off BrE informal to take your clothes off
7 the whole kit and caboodle old-fashioned everything
DRUM KIT, FIRST AID KIT, TOOL KITpast tense and past participle kitted, present participle kitting

PHRASAL VERBS
kit sb/sth <=> out/up phr v [usually passive] BrE
if someone or something is kitted out with clothes or equipment, they are provided with the clothes or equipment needed for an activity
[+with/in]
•The studio is lavishly kitted out with camera equipment.
•Mark was kitted up in mountaineering skis, boots, and equipment.kitbag [C] especially BrE
a long narrow bag used by soldiers, SAILORs etc, for carrying their clothes and other possessions [C]
1 the room where you prepare and cook food:
•Sam went into the kitchen to make a pot of tea.
•She is in the kitchen making a meal.
2 everything but the kitchen sink humorous used when someone has brought too many things with them[C]
a group of people who give advice informally to the leader of the government, not officially [C]
a small room or area where you can prepare and eat food, especially in an office or FLAT[C] BrE
a part of a garden where you grow your own fruit and vegetables; = vegetable patch/plotalso kitchen towel [U] BrE
thick paper used for cleaning up small amounts of liquid, food etc[C]
BrE a serious play or film about problems that families have at home $ [U]
pots, pans, and other things used for cooking [C]
1 a light frame covered in coloured paper or plastic that you let fly in the air on the end of one or two long strings
2 a type of HAWK (=bird that eats small animals)
3 AmE informal an illegal cheque
4 fly a kite to make a suggestion to see what people will think of it
go fly a kite at FLY^1 (24); high as a kite at HIGH^1 (24)[I,T] AmE informal
1 also kite up to raise the cost of something; = hike up
•Soaring medical costs keep kiting up insurance premiums.
2 to obtain money using an illegal cheque[U]
1 the game or sport of flying a kite
2 BrE when you tell people about an idea, plan etc in order to get their opinion $ [C] trademark
a mark in the shape of a KITE which is officially put on goods in Britain to show that their quality is of a good standard[U]
the activity of moving across water on a SURFBOARD while holding a large KITE which is attached to strong strings [plural]
old-fashioned family and friends [U]
objects, films etc that are cheap and unfashionable, and which often amuse people because of this
- kitsch kitschy adjective [C]
1 a young cat
2 have kittens BrE spoken informal to be very anxious or upset about something[plural]
shoes or boots worn by women, with very thin high heels that curve under the shoes
- kitten-heel adjective [only before noun]
•kitten-heel ankle boots old-fashioned
a kittenish woman behaves in a silly way in order to attract men plural kitties [C ]
1 [usually singular] the money that people have collected for a particular purpose:
•How much money is there left in the kitty?
2 [usually singular] the money that the winner of a game of cards receives
3 a word for a cat, used especially by childrenAmE informal
on the opposite corner of a street from a particular place
[+from/to]
•The drugstore is kitty-corner from the bank. [C]
1 a New Zealand bird that has very short wings and cannot fly
2 informal someone from New Zealand[C]
a small sweet fruit with a brown skin, which is green inside plural klansmen [C]
AmE a member of the Ku Klux Klan [C] trademark
a loud horn that was fixed onto police cars and other official vehicles in the past plural Kleenex [C,U]
trademark a TISSUE:
•a box of Kleenex [U]
a mental illness in which you have a desire to steal thingsalso klepto informal [C]
someone suffering from kleptomania [C]
a computer system or program that is made or written very quickly and not very well
- kludge verb [T]clutz [C] AmE
someone who drops things and falls easily
- klutzy adjectiveplural km or kms
the written abbreviation of kilometre or kilometres informal
1 [singular] a natural skill or ability; talent
knack for doing sth
•Some people seem to have a knack for making money.
knack of doing sth
•Thomson's knack of scoring vital goals makes him important to the team.
2 have a knack of doing sth BrE to have a tendency to do something:
•He has a knack of saying the wrong thing. $ [T] BrE spoken informal
1 to become extremely tired; = exhaust
knacker yourself (out)
•Slow down - you'll knacker yourself out!
2 knacker your elbow/hand etc to hurt your elbow etc so that you cannot use it $ BrE spoken informal
1 extremely tired; = exhausted
2 too old or broken to use; = clapped-out BrE
•a knackered old bikealso knacker's [C] BrE
1 a place where horses are killed
2 ready/fit for the knacker's yard too old to be useful or to work properly [C] AmE
a bag that you carry on your shoulders; = backpack, rucksack [C]
1 BrE the playing card with a value between the ten and queen; = jack
•the knave of hearts
CARD^1 (7)
2 old-fashioned a dishonest boy or man
- knavish adjective
•cunning, knavish tricks
- knavishly adverb [U]
old use dishonest behaviour [T]
1 to press a mixture of flour and water many times with your hands:
• Knead the dough for three minutes.
2 to press someone's muscles many times to help cure pain or to help someone relax [C]
1 the joint that bends in the middle of your leg:
•Lucy had a bandage round her knee.
on your knees
•She was on her knees (=kneeling) weeding the garden.
sink/fall/drop to your knees (=move so that you are kneeling)
•Tim fell to his knees and started to pray.
•a painful knee injury
2 the part of your clothes that covers your knee:
•His jeans had holes in both knees.
3 on sb's knee on the top part of your legs when you are sitting down:
•Daddy, can I sit on your knee?
4 knees knocking (together) if your knees are knocking, you are feeling very afraid or very cold
5 on your knees in a way that shows you have no power but want or need something very much:
•Unemployment was so bad in the 1930s that they went on their knees nearly to get jobs.
6 bring sb/sth to their knees
a) to defeat a country or group of people in a war:
•The bombing was supposed to bring the country to its knees.
b) to have such a bad effect on an organization, activity etc that it cannot continue; = cripple
•The recession has brought many companies to their knees.
7 put/take sb over your knee old-fashioned to punish a child by hitting them
8 on bended knee(s) old-fashioned in a way that shows great respect for someone
knee/elbow pad at PAD^1 (1); learn/be taught sth at your mother's knee at MOTHER^1 (4); the bee's knees at BEE (5); weak at the knees at WEAK (13)[T + in]
to hit someone with your knee:
•I kneed him in the groin.[plural]
tight trousers that end at your knee, worn especially in the past[C]
the bone at the front of your knee past tense and past participle kneecapped, present participle kneecapping [T]
to shoot someone's knee caps as an unofficial punishment
1 deep enough to reach your knees
[+in]
•knee deep in mud
•knee-deep in snow
2 [not before noun] informal having a lot of something
[+in]
•knee deep in work
1 tall enough to reach your knees:
•knee-high grass
2 knee-high to a grasshopper old-fashioned used when talking about the past to say that someone was a young child then[only before noun]
a knee-jerk reaction, answer etc is what you feel or say about a situation from habit, without thinking about it; = automatic
•A victim's knee-jerk reaction to the crime is often revenge.also kneel down also kneeled AmE past tense and past participle knelt [I]
to be in or move into a position where your body is resting on your knees:
•Tom knelt down and patted the dog.
[+on]
•She knelt on the floor and put more wood on the fire.
long or tall enough to reach your knees:
•a knee-length skirt[C]
BrE informal a noisy party:
•After the wedding there was a bit of a knees-up. [C]
literary the sound of a bell being rung slowly because someone has died
DEATH KNELL
the past tense and past participle of KNEEL $
the past tense of KNOW^1 $ [plural]
short loose trousers that fit tightly at your knees, worn especially in the past $ [plural]
1 BrE a piece of women's underwear worn between the waist and the top of the legs; = panties
•a pair of frilly knickers
2 AmE KNICKERBOCKERS
3 (don't) get your knickers in a twist BrE spoken used to say that someone is upset, or to tell someone not to get upset [C]
a small object used as a decoration; = ornament
•They had various knick-knacks on the top of the bookcase. plural knives [C]
1 a metal blade fixed into a handle, used for cutting or as a weapon; scalpel
•a knife and fork
•Some young people are carrying knives to defend themselves.
•a kitchen knife
•Use a sharp knife to cut the melon into sections.
2 the knives are out (for sb) informal used to say that people are being extremely unfriendly in criticizing someone:
•The knives are out for the vice president.
3 twist/turn the knife (in the wound) to say something that makes someone more upset about a subject they are already unhappy about
4 stick/put etc the knife in/into someone BrE informal to dislike someone and be very unfriendly towards them
5 under the knife informal having a medical operation
6 you could cut the atmosphere/air/tension with a knife used to say that you felt the people in a room were angry with each other
7 like a (hot) knife through butter informal used to say that something happens or is done very easily, without any problems[T ]
to put a knife into someone's body; = stab
•She had been knifed to death.
- knifing noun [C][singular]
1 a situation in which the result is extremely uncertain
on a knife-edge
•His future in the job is balanced on a knife-edge.
•a knife-edge vote
2 a situation which makes someone very anxious
on a knife-edge
•Living with him, she is constantly on a knife-edge.
•the knife-edge of insecurity
3 something that is narrow or sharp
at knifepoint using a knife to threaten someone:
•An eighty-year-old man was robbed at knifepoint in his home. [C]
1 a man with a high rank in the past who was trained to fight while riding a horse:
•knights in armour
WHITE KNIGHT
2 a man who has received a KNIGHTHOOD and has the title ' SIR ' before his name
3 the CHESS piece with a horse's head on it
4 a knight in shining armour a brave man who saves someone, especially a woman, from a dangerous situation[T]
to give someone the rank of knight[C]
a knight in the past who travelled looking for adventure [C,U]
a British rank and title which is given to a man as an honour for achievement or for doing good things; Dame literary
relating to knights or typical of a knight, especially behaving with courage and honour:
•knightly deeds of chivalry present participle knitting [I,T]
1 past tense and past participle knitted to make clothing out of wool, using two KNITTING NEEDLEs ; crochet
•My grandmother taught me how to knit.
•She's knitting a sweater.
knit sb sth
•Emily knitted him some socks.
2 past tense and past participle knitted to use a PLAIN (=basic) knitting stitch:
•Knit one, purl one.
3 past tense and past participle knit to join people, things, or ideas more closely together, or to be joined closely together
[+together]
•In a good report, individual sentences knit together in a clear way that readers can follow.
closely/tightly etc knit (=with all the members having close relationships)
•a closely knit community
•Harold is part of a tightly knit team.
4 past tense and past participle knit a bone that knits after being broken grows into one piece again
[+together]
•The pin holds the bones in place while they knit together.
5 knit your brows to show you are worried, thinking hard etc by moving your EYEBROWs together
- knitter noun [C]
CLOSE-KNIT, TIGHT-KNIT [U]
1 something that is being knitted
2 the activity or action of knitting clothes[C]
one of the two long sticks with round ends that you use to knit something $ [U]
knitted clothing:
•a knitwear shop
the plural of KNIFE^1 $ [C]
1 a round handle or thing that you turn to open a door, turn on a television etc:
•He thought the door was locked, but he turned the knob and the door opened.
•a brass door knob
•I adjusted the volume knob and sat down.
2 a knob of sth a small piece of something; = lump
•Melt a knob of butter in the pan.
3 BrE spoken not polite a PENIS
4 with (brass) knobs on BrE spoken old-fashioned used especially by children to reply to an insult:
•'You're fat and lazy.' 'Fat and lazy to you with brass knobs on!'also knobby AmE $
with hard parts that stick out from under the surface of something:
•knobbly knees $
1 DOOR [I] to hit a door or window with your closed hand to attract the attention of the people inside:
•I knocked and knocked but nobody answered.
[+at/on]
•We knocked at the door but there was no one there.
•Wilson went up and knocked on the door.
2 HIT AND MOVE STH [T always + adv/prep] to hit something with a short quick action so that it moves or falls
knock sth out of/from sth
•As I got up, I knocked a pencil out of its holder.
•He knocked the knife from my hand.
knock sth over
•At that moment, Sally knocked over her glass of wine.
knock sth aside
•She tried to knock the gun aside but she was not fast enough.
3 HIT SB HARD [T always + adv/prep] to hit someone very hard:
•He knocked her to the ground and kicked her.
knock sb unconscious/cold/senseless (=hit someone so hard that they fall unconscious)
•Simon could knock a man unconscious with one punch to the jaw.
•Garry answered the door only to be knocked flying as two policemen came rushing in.
4 HIT PART OF YOUR BODY [T] to hit something with part of your body
knock sth against sth
•Morse knocked his shin against a large suitcase standing just inside the door.
knock sth on sth
•She knocked her head on a stone.
5 knock on doors to go to every house or apartment in an area asking the people who live there for information or support:
•Gathering that information means knocking on doors and asking people questions.
6 be knocking on the door to be wanting to join a group or team - used in news reports:
•Five countries have permanent seats on the UN Security Council but Germany and Japan, among others, are knocking on the door.
7 REMOVE WALL [T] to remove a wall or part of a building in order to make a bigger room or space
knock sth into sth
•We could make a bigger living space by knocking two rooms into one.
knock sth through
•The wall between the kitchen and the dining room has been partially knocked through.
8 knock a hole in/through sth to make a hole in something, especially a wall:
•We could knock a hole through the wall into the cupboard.
9 CRITICIZE [T] to criticize someone or their work, especially in an unfair or annoying way:
•The British press always knock British winners at any sport.
•'Designer fashion is silly.' ' Don't knock it, it's an important industry.'
10 BALL [T always + adv/prep] to kick or hit a ball somewhere:
•The aim is to knock the ball into the opposing goal.
11 knock sb for six BrE informal to shock or upset someone very much or make them physically weak:
•This flu has really knocked me for six.
12 knock the stuffing out of sb informal to make someone lose their confidence:
•Suzanne was very upset when her mother left home. It knocked the stuffing out of her.
13 knock sb sideways BrE to upset someone so much that it is difficult for them to deal with something:
•His daughter's death knocked Tom sideways.
14 knock some sense into sb/into sb's head informal to make someone learn to behave in a more sensible way:
•The struggle to build up her own business had knocked some sense into her.
15 knock (sb's) heads together informal to tell people who are arguing that they must stop and behave more sensibly:
•None of them can agree and it needs someone to knock heads together.
16 knock sth on the head BrE informal to stop something happening:
•We wanted to go for a picnic, but the rain's knocked that on the head.
17 knock sb's socks off also knock sb dead spoken to surprise and please someone by being very impressive:
•With that dress and your new haircut, you'll knock him dead.
18 knock sb off their pedestal/perch to stop admiring someone that you previously thought was perfect:
•The press were determined to knock the princess off the pedestal that they had put her on.
19 knock spots off sb/sth BrE spoken to be much better than someone or something:
•The new computer system knocks spots off the old one.
20 knock on wood AmE used to say that you hope your good luck so far will not change; = touch wood BrE
21 knock it off spoken used to tell someone to stop doing something, because it is annoying you
22 MAKE A NOISE [I] if an engine or pipes etc are knocking, they make a noise like something hard being hit, usually because something is wrong with them
23 HEART [I] if your heart is knocking, it is beating hard, especially because you are afraid; = pound
24 I'll knock your head/block off spoken used when threatening to hit someone very hard:
•If you say that again, I'll knock your head off!
25 knock the bottom out of sth informal to make something such as a market or industry fail suddenly:
•A sudden drop in supplies of certain chemicals could knock the bottom out of the engineering industry.

PHRASAL VERBS
knock around phr v also knock about BrE informal
1 HIT SB knock sb around to hit someone several times:
•My father used to knock me and my brother around.
2 RELAX knock around (sth) to spend time somewhere, without doing anything very serious or important; = hang-around
•On Saturdays I knock around with my friends.
•We spent the day just knocking around the house.
3 TRAVEL knock around sth to travel to different places; = kick around
•For a couple of years we knocked around the Mediterranean.
4 IDEAS knock sth <=> around to discuss and think about an idea, plan etc with other people:
•We've been knocking around a few ideas.
5 BALL knock sth around BrE to play a game with a ball, but not in a serious way; = kick about
6 BE SOMEWHERE BrE if something or someone is knocking around, it is somewhere but you are not sure exactly where:
•Is there a screwdriver knocking about anywhere?

knock sb/sth back phr v informal
1 knock sth <=> back to quickly drink large quantities of a drink, especially an alcoholic drink:
•Brenda knocked the brandy back quickly.
2 knock sb back sth to cost you a lot of money:
•His new car knocked him back several thousand dollars.
3 knock sb back BrE to make someone feel upset, shocked, or physically weak

knock sb/sth down phr v
1 HIT/PUSH SB knock sb <=> down to hit or push someone so that they fall to the ground:
•Something hit him from behind and knocked him down.
KNOCKDOWN^2
2 HIT SB WITH A VEHICLE knock sb <=> down to hit someone with a vehicle while you are driving, so that they are hurt or killed:
•A child was in hospital last night after being knocked down by a car.
3 DESTROY knock sth <=> down to destroy a building or part of a building; = demolish
•They want to knock the house down and rebuild it.
4 REDUCE PRICE knock sth <=> down informal to reduce the price of something by a large amount:
•The new stove we bought was knocked down from $800 to $550.
KNOCKDOWN^1
5 ASK SB TO REDUCE PRICE knock sb down to sth informal to persuade someone to reduce the price of something they are selling you:
•She's asking for £150 but I'll try to knock her down to £100.

knock sth into sb phr v
to make someone learn something:
•Parsons must knock these lessons into the team before Saturday.

knock off phr v informal
1 STOP WORK knock off (sth) to stop working and go somewhere else:
•There was no one in the office because they'd all knocked off for lunch.
•Do you want to knock off early today?
•We usually knock off work at about twelve on Saturday.
2 REDUCE A PRICE knock sth <=> off to reduce the price of something by a particular amount:
•I'll knock off £10.
knock sth off sth
•Travel agents are knocking £50 and sometimes £100 off the price of holidays.
3 REDUCE AMOUNT knock sth <=> off to reduce a total by a particular amount
knock sth off sth
•Moving house will knock an hour off Ray's journey to work.
4 PRODUCE knock sth <=> off to produce something quickly and easily:
•Roland makes a lot of money knocking off copies of famous paintings.
5 MURDER knock sb <=> off to murder someone
6 STEAL knock sth <=> off BrE to steal something

knock out phr v
1 UNCONSCIOUS knock sb <=> out to make someone become unconscious or go to sleep:
•The champion knocked Biggs out in the seventh round.
knock yourself out
•His head hit a table as he fell and he knocked himself out.
•The nurse gave me some medicine which totally knocked me out.
KNOCKOUT^1 (1)
2 DEFEAT knock sb/sth <=> out to defeat a person or team in a competition so that they can no longer take part:
•The German team were knocked out in the first round.
knock sb/sth out of sth
•He first hit the headlines when he knocked Becker out of the French Open Tournament.
KNOCKOUT^1 (3)
3 DESTROY knock sth <=> out to damage something so that it does not work:
•The air raids were planned to knock out communications on the ground.
4 ADMIRE knock sb out informal if something knocks you out, it is very impressive and surprises you because it is so good:
•She loved the movie. It knocked her out.
KNOCKOUT^1 (2)
5 PRODUCE knock sth <=> out informal to produce something easily and quickly:
•Paul has been knocking out new songs for the album.
6 knock yourself out informal to work very hard in order to do something well

knock sb/sth <=> over phr v
1 to hit someone with a vehicle while you are driving, so that they are hurt or killed:
•A woman was knocked over by a bus last year.
2 AmE informal to rob a place such as a shop or bank and threaten or attack the people who work there

knock sth <=> together phr v informal
to make something quickly, using whatever you have available:
•We should be able to knock something together with what's in the fridge (=make a meal from items of food in the fridge).

knock sb/sth <=> up phr v informal
1 to make something quickly and without using much effort:
•Michael knocked up a shed in the back garden.
2 BrE to wake someone up by knocking on their door:
•What time do you want me to knock you up in the morning?
3 informal not polite to make a woman PREGNANT
knock/beat sb/sth into a cocked hat at COCKED HAT (1); knock sb into shape at SHAPE^1 (3); knees knocking (together) at KNEE^1 (4)
1 [C] the sound of something hard hitting a hard surface:
•a loud knock at the door
•a knock in the engine
2 [C] the action of something hard hitting your body:
•He got a knock on the head when he fell.
3 take a knock informal to have some bad luck or trouble:
•Clive's taken quite a few hard knocks lately. $ [only before noun] BrE
knockabout humour involves making fun of someone or something in a rough way, or behaving in a silly way $ [C]
a refusal or REJECTION that you receive $ [only before noun] informal
a knockdown price is very cheap[C]
when a BOXER falls down when he is hit[only before noun] AmE informal
a knock-down-drag-out argument or fight is an extremely angry or violent one $ [C]
1 a piece of metal on an outside door of a house that you hit against the door to attract the attention of the people inside
DOORKNOCKER
2 knockers [plural] spoken not polite an offensive word meaning a woman's breasts
having knees that point slightly inwards; bow-legged $ [C] AmE informal
a cheap copy of something expensiveBrE
have a knock-on effect (on sth) to start a process in which everything that happens causes something else to happen:
•These price rises will have a knock-on effect on the economy. $ [C]
1 when a BOXER hits his opponent so hard that he falls down and cannot get up again:
•The fight ended in a knockout.
2 informal someone or something that is very attractive or successful:
•Her dress was a knockout.
3 a type of competition in which only the winning players or teams at each stage continue to play until there is only one winnerinformal
1 knockout punch/blow
a) a hard hit that knocks someone down so that they cannot get up again
b) an action or event that causes defeat or failure:
•High interest rates have been a knockout blow to the business.
2 relating to a type of competition in which only the winning players or teams at each stage continue to play:
•Scotland's failure to get through the knockout stage of the competition
3 knockout pills/drops etc PILLs etc that make someone unconscious[C] BrE
the time before a tennis match officially starts when the players hit the ball to each other for practice; warm-up $ [C]
a small round hill $ [C]
1 STRING/ROPE ETC
a) a part where one or more pieces of string, rope, cloth etc have been tied or twisted together

tie a knot
tie sth in a knot
undo a knot (=unfasten it)
loosen a knot
a tight knot

•Are you any good at tying knots?
• Thread the string through the hoop and tie it in a knot.

b) a part where hair, a thread etc has become accidentally twisted together:
•I can't get the knots out of my hair.
[+in]
•There's a knot in my shoelace.
2 HAIR STYLE a hair style in which your hair is arranged in a tight round shape on top of your head
3 WOOD a hard round place in a piece of wood where a branch once joined the tree
4 SHIP'S SPEED a unit for measuring the speed of ships and aircraft, equal to about 1853 metres per hour
5 PEOPLE a small group of people standing close together
[+of]
•Knots of delegates stood around outside the conference centre.
6 FEELING a tight uncomfortable feeling caused by a strong emotion such as fear or anger
[+of]
•a knot of anxiety in her stomach
•Her stomach was in knots.
7 HARD MASS a tight painful place in a muscle
GORDIAN KNOT; at a rate of knots at RATE^1 (7); tie the knot at TIE^2 (5); tie yourself (up) in knots at TIE^1 (6)past tense and past participle knotted, present participle knotting
1 [T] to tie together two ends or pieces of string, rope, cloth etc:
•A pretty scarf was loosely knotted around her neck.
2 [I] if hair, a thread etc knots, it becomes twisted together
3 [I,T] if a muscle or other part of your body knots, or is knotted, it feels tight and uncomfortable:
•Fear and anxiety knotted her stomach. $
1 TIED tied in a knot or in several knots:
•a knotted handkerchief on his head
2 MUSCLE if a muscle or other part of your body is knotted, it feels tight and uncomfortable:
•knotted shoulder muscles
3 get knotted! BrE spoken used to tell someone rudely to go away or that you do not agree with them
4 HANDS knotted hands or fingers are twisted because of old age or too much work $
1 difficult to solve:
•a knotty problem
2 knotty wood contains a lot of hard round places where branches once joined the tree $ past tense knew $ , past participle known $
1 HAVE INFORMATION [I,T not in progressive] to have information about something:
•Who knows the answer?
•There are instructions telling you everything you need to know.
•Didn't you know that?
know what/how/where etc
•Do you know what time it is?
•I don't know where to go.
know (something/nothing etc) about sth
•I need to know more about the job before I decide whether to apply for it.
•Little is known about the author's childhood.
•I know all about David and what he's been up to!
know (something/nothing etc) of sth
•I wonder if he knew of the plan?
•Do you know of any good restaurants in the area?
•You know nothing of this business.
know (that)
•We know that greenhouse gases can affect the climate.
• Let me know (=tell me) what time you're planning to arrive.
•I thought you'd want to know immediately.
• If you must know, I was with James last night (=used when you are angry because someone wants to know something).
without sb/sb's knowing
•He slipped out of the house without his parents knowing (=secretly).
• How did he know (=how did he find information about) our names?
as you/we know
•'I'm divorced, as you know,' she said briefly.
be known to do sth
•Smoking is known to increase a person's risk of developing lung cancer.
see box at IGNORE
2 BE SURE [I,T not in progressive] to be sure about something:
•'Are you seeing Jim tomorrow?' 'I don't know yet.'
know (that)
•I know I won't get the job.
•Ruth knew that she couldn't continue in the relationship for much longer.
know what/why/how etc
•I know exactly what you need!
know if/whether
•The boy stared at him uncertainly, not knowing whether to believe him.
•I don't know if I'll be able to come.
knowing (that)
•She forced herself to go out, knowing that she would feel more depressed if she stayed at home.
• How do you know (=what makes you sure) he won't do it again?
know sb/sth to be sth
•It's a story that I know to be true.
•I think he's still living in Chicago, but I don't know for sure.
• As far as I know, they're arriving on Saturday (=used when you think something is true but are not sure).
•I doubt I'll win, but you never know (=used when you cannot be sure about something, but something good might happen).
3 BE FAMILIAR WITH SB/STH [T not in progressive] to be familiar with a person, place etc:
•I've known her for twenty years.
•Are you really thinking of leaving Kevin for a guy you barely know?
•Do you know the nightclub on the corner of Maine Street?
•I don't know him very well.
•We're still getting to know each other really.
know sb from sth
•I know her from school.
know sb as sth
•Many people knew him as a local businessman.
•Hepburn is best known for (=people are most likely to be familiar with) her roles in classic films such as 'My Fair Lady'.
•The museum outlines the development of the city as we know it today.
•Does he know the way to your house (=know how to get there)?
•I grew up here; I know the place like the back of my hand (=I know it very well).
•I only know her by sight (=I often see her but have not really spoken to her).
•She didn't know me from Adam, but she was really helpful (=she did not know me at all).
knowing sb/if I know sb (=used to say that you expect someone to behave in a particular way because you know them well)
•Knowing Sumi, my note's probably still in her pocket.
•He'll be chatting up the women, if I know Ron!
4 REALIZE [I,T] to realize, find out about, or understand something:
•Hardly knowing what he was doing, Nick pulled out a cigarette.
•She knew the risks involved.
know (that)
•Suddenly she knew that something was terribly wrong.
know how/what/why etc
•I didn't know how difficult it would be.
know to do sth
•She knows not to tell anyone.
(do/if) you know what I mean? (=used to ask if someone has understood you)
•It's nice to have a change sometimes. Know what I mean?
•'I just felt so tired.' 'Yeah, I know what you mean.' (=I understand, because I have had the same experience)
•I should have known it wouldn't be easy.
•I might have known (=I am annoyed but not surprised) you would take that attitude.
know exactly/precisely
•I know exactly how you feel.
know perfectly well/full well/only too well
•He knew full well that what he was doing was dangerous.
sb will never know/no one will ever know
•Just take it, no one will ever know.
•'That's not what I mean, and you know it,' Cara protested.
if I had known/if I'd have known
•I wouldn't have come if I'd known you were so busy.
• Little did she know (=she did not know) that years later she would have her own pool and luxury apartment in Florida.
•She knew nothing of what had happened earlier that day.
5 SKILL/EXPERIENCE [T not in progressive] to have learned a lot about something or be skilful and experienced at doing something:
•I don't know enough history to make a comparison.
•I taught him everything he knows.
•I know some French.
know how to do sth
•Do you know how to change a fuse?
[+about]
•I have a friend who knows about antiques.
•Bessie knew nothing about football.
•Politicians know all about the power of language.
•I don't know the first thing about (=I know nothing about) looking after children.
•I don't really know what I'm doing (=I do not have enough skill and experience to deal with something) when it comes to cars.
•The staff are dedicated people who clearly know what they are talking about.
•She knew from experience that exams made her very nervous.
know your job/subject/stuff (=be good at and know all you should about a job or subject)
•a decent manager who knows the ropes (=has a lot of experience)
•My cousin knows a thing or two (=know a lot about) about golf.
know a song/tune/poem etc (=be able to sing a song, say a poem etc because you have learned it)
•Do you know all the words to 'As Time Goes By'?
6 KNOW SB'S QUALITIES [T not in progressive] to think that someone has particular qualities
know sb as sth
•I knew him as a hard-working, modest, and honest politician.
know sb for sth
•In fact, I knew her for a tough-minded young woman.
7 know better
a) to be wise or experienced enough not to do something:
•It's just prejudice from educated people who should know better.
•Eva knew better than to interrupt one of Mark's jokes.
b) to know or think you know more than someone else:
•Everyone thought it was an accident. Only Dan knew better.
8 not know any better used to say that someone does something bad or stupid because they have not been told or taught that it is wrong:
•Drugs are being sold to children who don't know any better.
9 know sth inside out also know sth backwards BrE know sth backwards and forwards AmE to be very familiar with something, especially because you have learned about it or because you have a lot of experience:
•Erikson know the game inside out.
10 know your way around sth
a) to be so familiar with something that you are confident and good at using it:
•She knows her way around a wine list.
b) to be familiar with a place so that you know where things are:
•I don't know my way around the city yet.
11 make yourself known (to sb) formal to introduce yourself to someone:
•After she had gone, Paul made himself known to Dr Heatherton.
12 RECOGNIZE [T] to be able to recognize someone or something:
•Honestly, it had been so long, I hardly knew her.
know sb/sth by sth
•He looked very different, but I knew him by his voice.
13 know sb/sth as sth to have a particular name:
•The main street between the castle and the palace is known as 'the Royal Mile'.
•Nitrous oxide is commonly known as laughing gas.
14 know sth from sth to understand the difference between one thing and another:
•Lloyd doesn't even know his right from his left.
•At what age do children start to know right from wrong?
15 EXPERIENCE [T] to have experience of a particular feeling or situation:
•I don't think he ever knew true happiness.
[+about]
•I know all about being poor.
•I've never known (=have never experienced) this to happen in all the time I've worked here.
•I've never known him to shout (=he never shouts).
16 sb/sth is not known to be sth or sb/sth has never been known to do sth used to say there is no information that someone or something has particular qualities:
•This species is not known to be vicious.
17 I've known sb/sth to do sth or sb/sth has been known to do sth used to say that someone does something sometimes or that something happens sometimes, even if it is unusual:
•People have been known to drive 500 miles just to visit the shop.
•This type of fish has been known to live for 10 years or more.
18 you know
a) used to emphasize a statement:
•There's no excuse, you know.
b) used to make sure that someone understands what you are saying:
•I felt very upset, you know?
c) used when you want to keep someone's attention, but cannot think of what to say next:
•Well, you know, we've got a job to do here.
d) used when you are explaining or describing something and want to give more information:
•That flower in the garden, you know, the purple one, what is it?
19 you know/do you know used to start talking about something, or make someone listen:
•You know, I sometimes feel I don't know him at all.
•Do you know, when I went out this morning that man was still there.
(do) you know what/something?
•You know what? I think he's lonely.
20 I know
a) used to agree with someone or to say that you feel the same way:
•'We have to talk about it, Rob.' 'Yeah, I know.'
b) used to say that you have suddenly had an idea, thought of a solution to a problem, etc:
•I know, let's go out for a meal on your birthday.
c) used to stop someone from interrupting because they have an opinion about what you are saying:
•It sounds silly, I know, but I will explain.
•I know, I know, I should have had the car checked out before now.
21 I don't know
a) used to say that you do not have the answer to a question:
•'When did they arrive?' 'I don't know.'
b) used when you are not sure about something:
•'How old do you think he is?' 'Oh, I don't know, sixty, seventy?'
[+what/how/whether etc]
•I don't know whether to call him.
I don't know that
•I don't know that you need a passport for travelling within the EU.
c) used to show that you disagree slightly with what has just been said:
•'I couldn't live there.' 'Oh, I don't know. It might not be so bad.'
d) BrE used to show that you are slightly annoyed:
•Oh, I don't know! You're hopeless!
22 I don't know how/why etc used to criticize someone:
•I don't know how people could keep an animal in those conditions.
23 I don't know about you but... used to give your opinion, decision, or suggestion when you are not sure that the person you are talking to will feel the same way:
•I don't know about you, but I'll be glad when Christmas is over.
24 I don't know how to thank you/repay you used to thank someone
25 wouldn't you know (it) used to say that something is not at all surprising:
•I was told in no uncertain terms that Helen, wouldn't you know it, didn't approve.
26 you don't know used to emphasize how strong your feelings are:
•You don't know how much I missed him.
27 I wouldn't know used to say that you do not know the answer to something and that you are not the person who would know
28 what does sb know? used to say angrily that someone's opinion is wrong or that it is not important:
•What does she know about relationships?
29 how should I know?/how am I to know?/how do I know? used to say that it is not reasonable to expect that you should know something:
•'When will they be back?' 'How should I know?'
30 how was I to know?/how did I know? used as an excuse when something bad has happened:
•How was I to know that the file was confidential?
31 be not to know BrE used to say that you do not mind that someone has made a mistake because they could not have avoided it:
•'Sorry, I didn't realize you had guests.' 'That's all right, you weren't to know.'
32 I ought to know used to emphasize that you know about something because you made it, experienced it etc:
•'Are you sure there's no sugar in this coffee?' 'Of course. I ought to know, I made it!'
33 for all I know used to emphasize that you do not know something and say that it is not important to you:
•I don't know where she is. She could have been kidnapped for all I know.
34 not that I know of used to say that you think the answer is 'no' but there may be facts that you do not know about:
•'Did he call earlier?' 'Not that I know of.'
35 Heaven/God/who/goodness knows!
a) used to say that you do not know the answer to a question:
•'Where do you think he's disappeared to this time?' 'God knows!'
•Goodness knows why she didn't go herself.
b) used to emphasize a statement:
•Goodness knows, I've never liked the woman, but I didn't know how bad it would be to work with her.
36 knowing my luck used to say that you expect something bad will happen because you are usually unlucky:
•Knowing my luck, the train will be late.
37 (well,) what do you know? used to express surprise:
•Well, what do you know? Look who's here!
38 if you know what's good for you used to tell someone that they should do something, or something bad will happen:
•You'll keep your mouth shut about this if you know what's good for you!
39 you know who/what used to talk about someone or something without mentioning their name:
•I saw you know who yesterday.
40 there's no knowing it is impossible to know:
•There was no knowing who might have read the letter.
41 let it be known/make it known (that) formal to make sure that people know something, especially by getting someone else to tell them:
•Farrar let it be known that he saw nothing wrong with the proposed solutions.
42 not want to know BrE informal to not be interested in someone and what they want to say:
•She'd approached several model agencies but they just didn't want to know.
43 know the score informal to understand a situation and all the good and bad features about it:
•I knew the score before I started the job.
44 not know what hit you informal to feel shocked and confused because something happens when you were not expecting it to:
•Poor man, I don't think he knew what hit him.
45 know your place used to say that someone understands that they are less important than other people - usually used humorously:
•I know my place. I'll get back to the kitchen!
46 know no bounds formal if a feeling or quality knows no bounds, it is not limited in any way:
•His enthusiasm knew no bounds.
47 sb knows best used to say that someone should be obeyed or that their way of doing things should be accepted because they are experienced:
•She always thinks she knows best.
•I have always hated the attitude that 'the doctor knows best'.
48 before you know it used to say that something happens very quickly and when you are not expecting it:
•You'll be home before you know it.
49 know different/otherwise informal to know that the opposite of something is true:
•He told people he didn't care about her, but deep down he knew different.
50 know your own mind to be confident and have firm ideas about what you want and like
51 you will be delighted/pleased etc to know (that) formal used before you give someone information that they will be pleased to hear:
•You will be pleased to know that we have accepted your offer.
the next thing I/she etc knew at NEXT^1 (6)

WORD CHOICE: know, find out, get to know
Know means to have information about something: I know where you live. | I never knew you were such a good dancer.

!! Do not use know when you mean to get information about something that you want to know. Use find out instead: I went to the window to find out what was happening outside (NOT I went to the window to know what was happening outside).
Know also means to be familiar with someone or something: Do you know Sara well? | I don't really know London.

!! Do not use know when you mean become familiar with someone or something. Use get to know instead: I'd like to get to know her better (NOT I'd like to know her better). | The best way to get to know Venice is by boat (NOT The best way to know Venice is by boat.)

in the know informal having more information about something than most people:
•People in the know say that interest rates will have to rise again soon.[C] BrE informal
someone who behaves as if they know everything - used to show disapproval; = know-it-all AmE[U] informal
knowledge, practical ability, or skill to do something:
•those who have the know-how to exploit the technology to the fullest
• the know-how needed by today's practising lawyer
•No other company had the technical know-how to deal with the disaster. $ [only before noun]
showing that you know all about something, even if it has not been discussed directly:
•He gave us a knowing look.
•She exchanged a knowing smile with her mother. $
1 in a way that shows you know about something secret or embarrassing:
•She smiled knowingly at us.
2 deliberately:
•He would never knowingly upset people.[C] informal especially AmE
someone who behaves as if they know everything - used to show disapproval; = know-all BrE $ [U]
1 the information, skills, and understanding that you have gained through learning or experience

have knowledge
acquire/gain knowledge (=learn something)
technical/scientific knowledge
in-depth knowledge
detailed knowledge
specialist knowledge (=knowledge about a particular subject)
first-hand/personal knowledge (=knowledge from experiencing something for yourself)
background knowledge (=knowledge you need to understand or do something)
general knowledge (=knowledge about a lot of different subjects)
a thirst for knowledge (=when you want very much to learn things)

•You need specialist knowledge to do this job.
[+of]
•His knowledge of ancient civilizations is unrivalled.
[+about]
•the need to increase knowledge about birth control
•Many of the students did not have much knowledge of American history.
• salesmen with good technical knowledge of what they are selling
• An in-depth knowledge of accounting is not necessary as training will be given.
• The equipment is complex and requires specialist knowledge to be repaired.
• The year studying in the US gives students personal knowledge of American culture.
• someone with a background knowledge of engineering
• a general knowledge quiz
!! Do not say that you 'learn knowledge' or 'get knowledge'. Say that you learn a lot or learn a great deal: You can learn a lot through travel.

2 when you know about a particular situation or event, or the information you have about it:
•Evans denied all knowledge of the robbery.
•I had no knowledge of this whatsoever until The Times contacted me.
(secure/safe) in the knowledge that
•Kay smiled, secure in the knowledge that she was right.
be common/public knowledge (=be known about by everyone)
•Their affair is public knowledge.
to (the best of) sb's knowledge (=used to say that someone may not know the true facts)
•To the best of my knowledge the new project will be starting in June.
•To our knowledge, this is the first time it's happened.
•'Is it true that she's leaving the company?' ' Not to my knowledge (=I do not think so).'
without sb's knowledge
•He was annoyed to find the contract had been signed without his knowledge.
•She acted with the full knowledge of her boss (=her boss knew about her action).
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE; working knowledge at WORKING^1 (9) $
knowing a lot
[+about]
•Graham's very knowledgeable about wines.
- knowledgeably adverb $
the past participle of KNOW^1
1 [only before noun] used about something that people know about or have discovered:
•a study of all the known facts
•her last known address
•Apart from vaccines, there is no known way to protect against meningitis.
2 [only before noun] a known criminal, drug dealer etc is someone who people know to be regularly involved in criminal activities or to do other things that are disapproved of:
•He was found with several other known sex offenders.
•a known liar
3 be known for sth to be famous or known about by a lot of people because of something:
•He's known for his stunning good looks.
•The region is known for its fine wines
4 well-known/little-known/lesser-known used when saying how famous someone is:
•works by lesser-known French artists [C]
1 your knuckles are the joints in your fingers, including the ones where your fingers join your hands:
•Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the gun.
2 a piece of meat around the lowest leg joint of a pig:
•a knuckle of pork
3 near the knuckle BrE informal rude, or likely to give offence:
•Some of his jokes are a bit near the knuckle.
a rap on/over the knuckles at RAP^1 (6); rap sb on/over the knuckles at RAP^2 (5)

PHRASAL VERBS
knuckle down phr v informal
to suddenly start working or studying hard; = get down to
•If he doesn't knuckle down soon, he'll never get through those exams.
[+to]
•He is clearly ready to knuckle down to the task.

knuckle under phr v informal
to accept someone's authority or orders although you do not want to[C] informal
a man who is stupid[C]
a piece of metal that covers all the knuckles of the hand, used as a weapon [C] AmE spoken
someone stupid - used when you are not very angry with them; = blockhead BrE $ [C,U]
the abbreviation of knockout past tense and past participle KO'd, third person singular KO's [T] informal
to hit someone so hard that they become unconsciousalso koala bear $ [C]
an Australian animal like a small grey bear with no tail that climbs trees and eats leaves $ [U]
a black pencil used around women's eyes to make them more attractive $ [U]
a vegetable of the CABBAGE family [C] AmE informal
someone who is silly or crazy
- kooky adjective [C]
an Australian bird whose song sounds like laughterQur'an $
the Koran the holy book of the Muslims
- Koranic adjective $ [C,U]
an Indian dish made with meat and cream:
•chicken korma $
1
a) kosher food is prepared according to Jewish law
b) kosher restaurants or shops sell food prepared in this way
2 informal something that is kosher is honest, legal, or really what it is claimed to be:
•Are you sure this offer is kosher? [I] informal
to be too eager to obey or be polite to someone in authority
[+to]
•We will not kowtow to the government. [U] AmE
work that soldiers or children at a camp have to do in a kitchen
kilometres per hour used to describe the speed of something, especially a vehicle or the wind [C]
a village in South Africa with a fence around it [C] taboo
a very offensive word for someone from Germany. Do not use this word.
the Kremlin the government of Russia and the former USSR, or its buildings in Moscow [U]
small SHELLFISH AmE
another name for SANTA CLAUS $ plural kronor $ [C]
the standard unit of money in Sweden and Iceland $ plural kroner $ [C]
the standard unit of money in Denmark and Norway [C]
a South African gold coin $ [U]
a colourless gas that is found in very small quantities in the air and is used in FLUORESCENT lights and LASERs . It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Kr
the written abbreviation of knight
the written abbreviation of knot $ [U]
the state of being admired and respected for being important or for doing something important:
•He acquired kudos just by appearing on television.
the Ku Klux Klan a secret American political organization of Protestant white men who oppose people of other races or religions $ [C]
a fruit that looks like a very small orange [U]
an ancient Chinese fighting art in which you attack people with your hands and feet $ [C]
a member of a people living in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey [I] AmE informal
to keep complaining
- kvetch noun [C]
the written abbreviation of kilowatt or kilowatts
the written abbreviation of kilowatt hour or kilowatt hours
1 the written abbreviation of large , used on clothes to show the size
2 the written abbreviation of lake , used on maps
3 the written abbreviation of learner , used on cars to show that the driver is a learner
L-PLATEl plural L's, l's
1 [C,U] the 12th letter of the English alphabet
2 [C] the number 50 in the system of ROMAN NUMERALs
1 the written abbreviation of litre or litres
2 the written abbreviation of line [U]
the sixth note in a musical SCALE, according to the SOL-FA system
the written abbreviation of Labour , in British politics [C] informal
a LABORATORY:
•the school science lab [C]
1 a piece of paper or another material that is attached to something and gives information about it:
•a luggage label
on the label
•It says 'Dry clean' on the label.
2 a word or phrase which is used to describe a person, group, or thing, but which is unfair or not correct:
•Men these days have to avoid attracting the 'sexist' label.
3 a record company:
•their new release on the Ace Sounds label
4 designer label clothes made by fashionable companies:
•Fancy designer labels tend to come with fancy price tags to match.
OWN LABELpast tense and past participle labelled, present participle labelling BrE past tense and past participle labeled, present participle labeling AmE [T]
1 to attach a label onto something or write information on something:
•Label the diagram clearly.
label sth sth
•The file was labelled `Top Secret'.
label sth with sth
•Each bag of seeds is labelled with the grower's name.
2 to use a word or phrase to describe someone or something, but often unfairly or incorrectly
label sb/sth (as) sth
•The newspapers had unjustly labelled him a troublemaker.
•The regime was inevitably labelled as 'communist'. [plural] technical
the outer parts of the female sex organ [C] technical
a speech sound made using one or both lips; bilabial
- labial adjective $
the American spelling of LABOUR $ plural laboratories [C]
a special room or building in which a scientist does tests or prepares substances:
•a research laboratory
laboratory tests/experiments/studies
•tests on laboratory animals
LANGUAGE LABORATORY[U] AmE
a public holiday in the US on the first Monday in September $
the American spelling of LABOURED $
the American spelling of LABOURER
taking a lot of time and effort
laborious process/task/business etc
•Collecting the raw materials proved a long and laborious task.
•the laborious business of drying the crops
- laboriously adverb
•A beetle began to crawl laboriously up his leg.[C] AmE
an organization that represents the ordinary workers in a particular trade or profession, especially in meetings with employers; = trade union BrE $
the British LABOUR PARTY
under Labour
•Most people will pay higher taxes under Labour.
•They always vote Labour.
•a Labour government
Labour MP/candidatelabor AmE BrE
1 WORK [U] work, especially physical work:
•The garage charges £30 an hour for labour.
•Many women do hard manual labour (=work with their hands).
•Workers withdrew their labour (=protested by stopping work) for twenty-four hours.
HARD LABOUR
2 WORKERS [U] all the people who work for a company or in a country

skilled labour (=workers who have special skills)
unskilled labour (=workers who have no special skills)
casual labour (=workers who do jobs that are not permanent)
cheap labour
child labour
slave labour
labour costs
labour shortage
labour market (=all the people available to work)

•a shortage of skilled labor
• Wages for unskilled labour are very low.
• small commercial farmers who depend on a casual labour supply
•These countries are a source of cheap labour.
•the use of child labour
• produce grown by slave labor
•We need to reduce our labour costs.
• Labour shortages have forced the Japanese into making heavy use of industrial robots.
• the changing role of mothers in the labour market
LABOUR FORCE, LABOUR MARKET

3 BABY [singular, U] the process of giving birth to a baby
in labour
•Meg was in labour for ten hours.
•Diane went into labour at 2 o'clock.
a long/short/difficult labour
•The labour pains were unbearable.
labour ward/room (=a room in a hospital where women give birth)
4 a labour of love something that is hard work but that you do because you want to
5 sb's labours formal a period of hard work:
•After several hours gardening we sat down to admire the results of our labours.labor AmE [I] BrE
1 to work hard:
•They laboured all day in the mills.
[+over]
•I've been labouring over this report all morning.
labour to do sth
•Ray had little talent but labored to acquire the skills of a writer.
2 labour under a delusion/misconception/misapprehension etc to believe something that is not true:
•She had laboured under the misconception that Bella liked her.
3 labour the point to describe or explain something in too much detail or when people have already understood it
4 [always + adv/prep] to move slowly and with difficulty:
•I could see the bus labouring up the steep, windy road.labor camp AmE [C] BrE
a prison camp where prisoners have to do hard physical worklabored AmE $ BrE
1 if someone's breathing is laboured, it is difficult for them to breathe
2 if writing or speaking is laboured, it takes a lot of effort and is not good:
•Some of the episodes are very laboured.laborer AmE $ [C] BrE
someone whose work needs physical strength, for example building work; worker
•a farm labourer[C] old-fashioned
a British government office where people went to find jobs in the past; job centrelabor force AmE [C usually singular] BrE
all the people who work for a company or in a countrylaboring AmE [only before noun] BrE
1 labouring class/family etc old-fashioned people who do hard physical work and who do not have a lot of money or power, considered as a group:
•They wanted to provide education for the labouring classes.
2 involving hard physical work:
•a labouring joblabor-intensive AmE BrE
an industry or type of work that is labour-intensive needs a lot of workers; capital intensive
•labour-intensive farming methodslabor market AmE [C] BrE
the people looking for work and the jobs that are available at that time:
•married women re-entering the labour marketlabor movement AmE BrE
the labour movement the organizations, political parties etc that represent working people[also + plural verb BrE]
the Labour Party a political party in Britain and some other countries that aims to improve social conditions for ordinary working people and poorer people; Conservative Partylabor relations AmE [plural] BrE
the relationship between employers and workers:
•a company with good labour relationslabor-saving AmE [only before noun] BrE
making it easier for you to do a particular job
labour-saving device/gadget/equipment etc $ [C]
a large dog with fairly short yellow or black hair $ [C,U]
a small tree with long hanging stems of yellow flowers and poisonous seeds [C]
1 a large network of paths or passages which cross each other, making it very difficult to find your way; = maze
[+of]
•a labyrinth of underground tunnels
2 something that is very complicated and difficult to understand
[+of]
•Decisions are frequently delayed in the labyrinth of Whitehall committees.
- labyrinthine adjective
•labyrinthine corridors
1 [U] a fine cloth made with patterns of many very small holes:
•a handkerchief trimmed with lace
•lace curtains
2 [C usually plural] a string that is pulled through special holes in shoes or clothing to pull the edges together and fasten them[T]
1 also lace up to fasten something by tying a lace; = tie
•Lace up your shoes or you'll trip over.
lace sth to sth
•The canvas was laced to a steel frame.
2 to add a small amount of alcohol or a drug to a drink
lace sth with sth
•coffee laced with Irish whiskey
3 written to weave or twist several things together
lace sth together
•Hannah laced her fingers together.

PHRASAL VERBS
lace sth with sth phr v
1 to include something all through something you write or say:
•He laces his narrative with a great deal of irrelevant information.
2 be laced with sth written to have some of a quality:
•Iris's voice was heavily laced with irony. [T]
1 to cut skin deeply with something sharp:
•His fingers were badly lacerated by the broken glass.
2 to criticize someone very strongly; = slate [C,U] technical
a cut in your skin
[+to]
•multiple lacerations to the upper arms[C usually plural] especially BrE
a shoe that is fastened with a lace
- lace-up adjective
•shiny black lace-up shoes $ [U]
lace, or something that looks like lace $ formal
often crying; = tearful [singular, U]
when there is not enough of something, or none of it; = shortage

a complete/total lack of sth
an apparent lack of sth
for lack of sth (=because something is not present or does not exist)
a distinct/marked lack of sth
no lack of sth (=plenty of something)
a relative/comparative lack of sth
no lack of sth (=plenty of something)

[+of]
•new parents suffering from lack of sleep
•Too many teachers are treated with a lack of respect.
• comments based on a total lack of information
• Does their apparent lack of progress mean they are not doing their job properly?
• tours that are cancelled for lack of bookings
•There was no lack of willing helpers.
•health problems linked to poor diet and a relative lack of exercise

1 [T] to not have something that you need, or not have enough of it:
•Alex's real problem is that he lacks confidence.
!! Do not use the verb lack before 'in' or 'of': We lack ideas (NOT We lack in/of ideas). However, you can use the phrases be lacking in and a lack: We are lacking in ideas OR We have a lack of ideas.
2 not lack for sth formal to have a lot of something:
•He does not lack for critics.
not showing enough interest in something or not putting enough effort into it:
•David has a rather lackadaisical approach to his work. [C]
someone who always does what a particular person tells them to do - used to show disapproval [not before noun]
1 not having enough of something or any of it
[+in]
•He was lacking in confidence.
•She seems to be entirely lacking in intelligence.
•The new designs have all been found lacking in some important way.
2 if something that you need or want is lacking, it does not exist:
•Financial backing for the project is still lacking.
•These qualities are sadly lacking today.lackluster AmE $ BrE
1 not exciting, impressive etc; = dull
•a lacklustre performance
2 not shining; = dull
•lacklustre hair $
using only a few words to say something
- laconically adverb
•'She left,' said Pascoe laconically. $ [U]
1 a liquid painted onto metal or wood to form a hard shiny surface; varnish
2 old-fashioned HAIRSPRAY[T]
1 to cover something with lacquer:
•a black lacquered box
2 old-fashioned to use lacquer on your hair $ [U]
a game played on a field by two teams of ten players, in which each player has a long stick with a net on the end of it and uses this to throw, catch, and carry a small ball $ [I]
if a woman or female animal lactates, she produces milk to feed her baby or babies with [U] technical
the production of milk by a woman or female animal [U]
an acid produced by muscles after exercising and found in sour milk $ [U]
a type of sugar found in milk, sometimes used as a food for babies and sick people plural lacunae or lacunas [C] formal
a place where something is missing in a piece of writing
made of LACE or looking like lace:
•lacy underwear
•a plant with delicate, lacy leaves [C] BrE
1 old-fashioned or informal a boy or young man; lass
•a young lad
•Things were different when I was a lad.
2 the lads spoken a group of male friends that a man works with or spends his free time with:
•a night out with the lads
one of the lads (=a member of your group of friends)
3 a bit of a lad spoken a man that people like even though he behaves rather badly:
•That Chris is a bit of a lad, isn't he?
4 lad culture informal the way in which some young men behave, involving typically male activities such as drinking a lot of alcohol, driving fast cars, and watching football - used to show disapproval
5 also stable lad a boy or man who works with horses; = stable boy
JACK THE LAD $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment used for climbing up to or down from high places. A ladder has two bars that are connected by RUNGs (=short bars that you use as steps):
•She climbed up the ladder.
•He hurt himself falling off a ladder.
ROPE LADDER, STEPLADDER
2 a series of levels which someone moves up and down within an organization, profession, or society
career/corporate ladder
•Stevens slowly worked his way up the corporate ladder.
•Becoming a doctor would be a step up the social ladder.
•the first step on the ladder of success
3 BrE a long thin hole in STOCKINGs or TIGHTS where some stitches have broken; = run AmE
•Yes, I know I've got a ladder in my tights.
SNAKES AND LADDERS[I,T]
BrE if STOCKINGs or TIGHTS ladder, or if you ladder them, a long thin hole is made in them because some stitches have broken; = run AmEladdy [C]
BrE informal a boy BrE
a young man who is laddish likes spending time with other men, drinking alcohol and enjoying things like sport, sex, and music; lad [U] BrE
the attitudes and behaviour of some young men in Britain, who drink a lot of alcohol, and are mainly interested in sport, sex, and music; lad
•the culture of laddism
1 literary heavily loaded with something, or containing a lot of something
[+with]
•The tables were laden with food.
fully/heavily laden
•The lorry was fully laden.
• snow-laden branches
2 having a lot of a particular quality, thing etc
[+with]
•She was laden with doubts about the affair.
•trucks laden with equipment
•a debt-laden company [C] BrE
a young woman who likes to do some things that young men typically do, such as drinking a lot of alcohol and talking about sex and sports; ladla-di-dah informal
used to describe someone's behaviour when you think they are talking and behaving as if they consider themselves better than other people; = snobbish
•a la-di-da attitudealso lady's man [singular] old-fashioned
a man who likes to spend time with women, and thinks they enjoy being with him[C] AmE
a women's toilet; = ladies BrE [U]
BILL OF LADING [C]
a large deep spoon with a long handle, used for lifting liquid food, especially soup, out of a container[T]
also ladle out to put soup or other liquid food onto plates or into bowls, especially using a ladle plural ladies [C]
1
a) a woman of a particular type or age
young/old/elderly etc lady
b) a word meaning woman, used especially to describe women's sports or products made for women
ladies' team/champion/championship etc
•the ladies' darts team
ladies' fashion/clothing/shoes etc
•ladies' underwear
c) old-fashioned a word meaning woman, used in order to be polite; gentleman
•The young lady at reception sent me up here.
•Give your coat to the lady over there.
lady doctor/lawyer etc (=a polite word, which many women find offensive, for a woman doctor, lawyer, etc)
2 a woman who is polite and behaves very well; gentleman
•She knows how to behave like a lady.
3 Lady used as the title of the wife or daughter of a British NOBLEMAN or the wife of a KNIGHT:
•Lady Spencer
4 the ladies
a) BrE a women's toilet; = ladies' room AmE; the gents'
b) a word meaning women, often used humorously:
•His boyish good looks made him a favourite with the ladies.
LADIES' MAN
5 ladies spoken formal used to speak to a group of women:
•Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?
6 a woman, especially one with a strong character - used to show approval:
•She can be a tough lady to negotiate with.
7 lady friend a woman that a man is having a romantic relationship with - often used humorously; = girlfriend
•I saw Chris with his new lady friend.
8 lady of leisure a woman who does not work and has a lot of free time - used humorously:
•So you're a lady of leisure now that the kids are at school?
9 AmE spoken used when talking directly to a woman you do not know, when you are angry with her:
•Hey lady, would you mind getting out of my way?
10 Our Lady an expression used to mean Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ
11 the lady of the house old-fashioned the most important woman in a house, usually the mother of a family
12 old-fashioned a woman born into a high social class in Britain:
•I could see the Queen, surrounded by her lords and ladies.
13 old-fashioned a man's wife:
•the captain and his lady
BAG LADY; cleaning lady at CLEANING; FIRST LADY; leading lady at LEADING^1; LOLLIPOP LADY, OLD LADY; young lady at YOUNG^1 (3)ladybug AmE $ [C] BrE
a small round BEETLE (=a type of insect) that is usually red with black spotsplural ladies-in-waiting [C]
a woman who looks after and serves a queen or PRINCESS old-fashioned
if a woman or girl is ladylike, she behaves in a polite and quiet way that was once believed to be typical of or suitable for women:
•ladylike behaviour
your/her ladyship
a) used as a way of speaking to or talking about a woman with the title of Lady; lordship
b) BrE spoken use this to talk about a woman who thinks she is very important - used humorously:
•Do you think her ladyship will be joining us?[singular]
another spelling of LADIES' MAN past tense and past participle lagged, present participle lagging
1 [I,T] to move or develop more slowly than others
[+behind]
•She stopped to wait for Ian who was lagging behind.
•Britain is lagging behind the rest of Europe.
2 [T] BrE to cover water pipes etc with a special material to prevent the water inside them from freezing or the heat from being lost:
•We've had the hot-water tank lagged.[C]
a delay or period of waiting between one event and a second event:
•a time lag
JET LAG, OLD LAG $ BrE
[C,U] a light-coloured beer, or a glass of this type of beer
can/bottle/glass etc of lager
•a pint of lager[C] BrE informal
a young man who drinks too much and then behaves violently or rudely $ [C] old-fashioned
someone or something that is very slow or late
- laggardly adjective [U] BrE
special material used to protect a water pipe or container from heat or cold [C]
1 a lake of sea water that is partly separated from the sea by rocks, sand, or CORAL:
•a coastal lagoon
2 AmE a small lake which is not very deep, near a larger lake or river
another spelling of LA-DI-DA
past tense and past participle of LAY
relaxed and seeming not to be worried about anything:
•I don't know how you can be so laid-back about your exams.
laid-back attitude/manner/approach etc
•He is famed for his laid-back attitude.
the past participle of LIE^1 $ [C]
1 the place where a wild animal hides and sleeps; = den
2 a place where you go to hide or to be alone; = den
•a smuggler's lair $ [C] BrE
a person who owns a very large area of land in Scotland; squire 1 $ BrE informal
behaving in a way that is very loud, or with too much confidence:
•He's a bit lairy, your friend Mick.laisser-faire $ [U]
1 the principle that the government should allow the ECONOMY or private businesses to develop without any state control or influence:
•the policy of laissez-faire
laissez-faire economics/capitalism
2 laissez-faire attitude/approach etc when you do not become involved in other people's personal affairs
the laity all the members of a religious group apart from the priests; layman
1 [C] a large area of water surrounded by land:
•Lake Michigan
2 wine/milk etc lake BrE a very large amount of wine, milk etc that has been produced but is not needed or used; mountain 3 [only before noun]
beside a lake:
•a lakeside restaurant
- lakeside noun [singular]
be/live in la-la land to think that a situation is much better than it really is, in a way that seems slightly stupid
on the lam AmE informal escaping or hiding from someone, especially the police:
•Brenner was recaptured after three weeks on the lam. [C]
a Buddhist priest in Tibet or Mongolia
1 [C] a young sheep
2 [U] the meat of a young sheep; mutton
•roast lamb
•a leg of lamb
lamb chop/cutlet/stew etc
3 [C] spoken used to talk to or talk about someone who is gentle and lovable, especially a child:
•Ben's asleep now, the little lamb.
4 like a lamb to the slaughter used when someone is going to do something dangerous, but they do not realize it or have no choice
5 like a lamb quietly and without any argument:
•Suzie went off to school like a lamb today.
mutton dressed as lamb at MUTTON (2)[I]
to give birth to lambs:
•The ewes are lambing this week.
- lambing noun [U]
•the lambing season $ [singular, U]
a sexy modern dance from Brazil in which two people hold each other closely and move their bodies at the same timelambaste [T] formal
to criticize someone or something very strongly, usually in public; = slate
•Democrats lambasted the President's budget plan for being 'inadequate'. [U]
soft wool from LAMBs , used for making clothes
lambswool jumper/sweater/blanket etc
1
a) unable to walk properly because your leg or foot is injured or weak:
•a lame dog
go lame (=become lame)
b) the lame [plural] people who are lame
2 a lame explanation or excuse is weak and difficult to believe
lame excuse/explanation
•She gave some lame excuse about missing the bus.
•a lame attempt to deflect criticism
LAMELY
3 informal boring or not very good; = poor
•A lot of the songs on this album are a bit lame.
•the company's lame performance
- lameness noun [U][T usually passive]
to make a person or animal unable to walk properly; = cripple
•The fall left him badly lamed. $ [U]
cloth containing gold or silver threads:
•a gold lamé dress[C]
1 a person, business etc that is having problems and needs help
2 lame duck president/governor/legislature etc informal a president, GOVERNOR etc with no real power because his or her period in office will soon end written
if you say something lamely, you do not sound confident and other people find it difficult to believe you; = weakly
•'It wasn't my responsibility,' he lamely explained. written
1 [I,T] to express feelings of great sadness about something:
•The nation lamented the death of its great war leader.
2 [T] to express annoyance or disappointment about something you think is unsatisfactory or unfair
lament that
•He lamented that people had expected too much of him too soon.
•She lamented the fact that manufacturers did not produce small packs for single-person households.
lament the lack/absence/decline etc of sth
•Steiner lamented the lack of public interest in the issue.[C]
a song, piece of music, or something that you say, that expresses a feeling of sadness:
•A lone piper played a lament.
[+for]
•a lament for the dead formal
very unsatisfactory or disappointing; = terrible
•a lamentable state of affairs
•a lamentable lack of support for the idea
• It is lamentable that the officer failed to deal with the situation.
- lamentably adverb [C,U]
formal deep sadness or something that expresses it:
•There was lamentation throughout the land at news of the defeat. [C,U]
laminated material
1 laminated material is made by joining several thin layers on top of each other:
•laminated glass
2 covered with a thin layer of plastic for protection:
•a laminated ID card
- laminate verb [T] [C]
1 an object that produces light by using electricity, oil, or gas
table/desk/bedside lamp
oil/electric/fluorescent lamp
FOG LAMP, HEADLAMP, HURRICANE LAMP, SAFETY LAMP, STANDARD LAMP
2 a piece of electrical equipment used to provide a special kind of heat, especially as a medical treatment
infrared/ultraviolet lamp
SUNLAMP, BLOWLAMP [U]
the soft light produced by a lamp:
•Her eyes shone in the lamplight. $ [C]
someone whose job was to light lamps in the street in the past [T]
to criticize someone or something in a humorous way that makes them seem stupid:
•The Prime Minister was frequently lampooned in political cartoons.
- lampoon noun [C]lamp post lamppost $ [C]
a tall pole that supports a light over a street or public area [C]
a cover fixed over a LIGHT BULB for decoration and in order to reduce or direct its light [C]
technical local area network a system that connects computers to each other within a building or organization so that people can use and work on the same information $ [C]
a long thin pointed weapon that was used in the past by soldiers riding on horses[T]
to cut a small hole in someone's flesh with a sharp instrument to let out PUS (=yellow liquid produced by infection)[C]
a low level rank in the Marines or the British army, or someone who has this rank $ [C]
1 a small very sharp pointed knife with two cutting edges, used by doctors to cut skin and flesh; = scalpel
2 lancet window/arch technical a tall narrow window or ARCH that is pointed at the top
1 GROUND [U] an area of ground, especially when used for farming or building:
•500 acres of land
•a piece of open land (=land which has not been built on)
fertile/arid/dry land
agricultural/arable land
waste/vacant/derelict land
housing/industrial etc land
•a shortage of housing land
•land prices
DOCKLAND, FARMLAND
see box at GROUND^1
2 NOT SEA [U] the solid dry part of the Earth's surface:
•After 21 days at sea, we sighted land.
by land
•Troops began an assault on the city by land and sea.
on land
•The crocodile lays its eggs on land.
land bird/animal
•The white stork is one of the biggest land birds of the region.
DRY LAND
3 COUNTRY [C] literary a country or area:
•Their journey took them to many foreign lands.
native land (=the land where you were born)
•He's fiercely proud of his native land.
•Australia represented a real land of opportunity for thousands of people.
4 NOT CITY the land the countryside thought of as a place where people grow food
live off the land (=grow or catch all the food you need)
•A third of the region's population still lives off the land.
work/farm the land (=grow crops)
•Many people were forced to give up working the land.
5 PROPERTY [U] the area of land that someone owns:
•He ordered us to get off his land.
private/public/common land
6 see/find out how the land lies spoken to try to discover what the situation really is before you make a decision
7 in the land of the living spoken awake - used humorously
8 the land of milk and honey an imaginary place where life is easy and pleasant
9 (in) the land of nod old-fashioned asleep
be/live in cloud-cuckoo-land at CLOUD^1 (7); DRY LAND, DREAMLAND, FAIRYLAND
the lie of the land at LIE^3 (3)
NEVER-NEVER LAND
PROMISED LAND
WASTELAND
WONDERLAND
1 PLANE/BIRD/INSECT
a) [I] if a plane, bird, or insect lands, it moves safely down onto the ground; take off
•Flight 846 landed five minutes ago.
•The bird landed gracefully on the water.
b) [T] to make a plane move safely down onto the ground at the end of a journey:
•The pilot managed to land the aircraft safely.
2 ARRIVE BY BOAT/PLANE [I] to arrive somewhere in a plane, boat etc
[+on/in/at etc]
•We expect to be landing in Oslo in about fifty minutes.
•In 1969, the first men landed on the moon.
3 FALL/COME DOWN [I always + adv/prep] to come down through the air onto something; = drop
[+in/on/under etc]
•A large branch landed on the hood of my car.
•Louis fell out of the tree and landed in a holly bush.
•She fell and landed heavily on the floor.
•A couple of bombs landed quite near to the village.
4 GOODS/PEOPLE [T] if a boat or aircraft lands people or goods, it brings them to a place, and the people get out or the goods are carried out:
•The troops were landed by helicopter.
5 JOB/CONTRACT ETC [T] informal to succeed in getting a job, contract etc that was difficult to get:
•He landed a job with a law firm.
land yourself sth
•Bill's just landed himself a part in a Broadway show.
6 land sb in trouble/hospital/court etc to cause someone to have serious problems or be in a difficult situation:
•Connie's going to land herself in big trouble if she keeps arriving late for work.
•She developed pneumonia which landed her in hospital.
7 land sb in it BrE spoken informal to get someone into trouble by telling other people that they did something wrong; = drop sb in it
•Geoff landed me in it by saying I should have checked that the door was locked.
8 PROBLEMS [I always + adv/prep] to arrive unexpectedly, and cause problems
[+in/on/under etc]
•Just when I thought my problems were over, this letter landed on my desk.
9 land a punch/blow etc to succeed in hitting someone
10 land on your feet to get into a good situation again, after having problems:
•She certainly landed on her feet when she got that job.
11 CATCH FISH [T] to catch a fish

PHRASAL VERBS
land up phr v BrE informal
to be in a particular place, situation, or position after a lot of things have happened to you; = end up
[+in]
•We landed up in a bar at 3 am.
•Be careful that you don't land up in serious debt.
[+with]
•I landed up with five broken ribs.

land sb with sth phr v [usually passive] informal
to give someone something unpleasant to do, because no one else wants to do it:
•Maria's been landed with all the tidying up as usual.[C] BrE
someone whose job is to look after land, cattle, farms etc that belong to someone else $ [C]
a four-wheeled carriage that is pulled by horses and has a top that folds back
placed on or living on the land:
•land-based missiles
•land-based animals [only before noun]
1 landed gentry/family/nobility a family or group that has owned a lot of land for a long time
2 including a lot of land:
•landed estates $
1 [C] a LANDSLIDE (2)
2 [C,U] literary the land that you see or arrive at after a long journey by sea or air, or the act of arriving there
1 [U] the practice of burying waste under the ground, or the waste buried in this way
2 [C] a place where waste is buried under the groundland-holding $ [C,U]
the land that is owned by someone
1 [C,U] the action of bringing an aircraft down to the ground after being in the air; take-off
•take-off and landing procedures
crash/emergency landing (=a sudden landing caused by a problem with the engine etc)
•the Apollo moon landings
SOFT LANDING
2 [C] the floor at the top of a set of stairs or between two sets of stairs:
•the first-floor landing
3 [C] the action of bringing soldiers onto land that is controlled by the enemy:
•the first landings of American Marines at Da Nang
4 [C] a LANDING STAGEplural landing craft [C]
a flat-bottomed boat that opens at one end so that soldiers and equipment can be moved directly onto the shore[U]
an aircraft's wheels and other parts that support them; = undercarriage[C] BrE
a net on a long handle used for lifting a fish out of the water after you have caught it[C] BrE
a wooden structure for moving passengers and goods to and from boats[C]
a flat piece of ground that has been prepared for aircraft to use; = airstrip plural landladies [C]
1 a woman who rents a room, building, or piece of land to someone; landlord
2 BrE a woman who owns or manages a PUB; landlord
owning no land $
a landlocked country, state etc is surrounded by other countries, states etc and has no coast $ [C]
1 a man who rents a room, building, or piece of land to someone; landlady
2 BrE a man who owns or manages a PUB; landlady $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who does not have much experience of the sea or ships $ [C]
1 something that is easy to recognize, such as a tall tree or building, and that helps you know where you are:
•One of Belfast's most famous landmarks, the Grosvenor Hall, has been demolished.
2 one of the most important events, changes, or discoveries that influences someone or something:
•The discovery of penicillin was a landmark in the history of medicine.
landmark decision/case/ruling
•The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in January 2001. [C]
technical a large area of land such as a CONTINENT [C]
a bomb hidden in the ground that explodes when someone walks or drives over it[C]
a government office in Britain that keeps records about the sale of land and who buys and sells it; = land registry BrE $ [C]
someone who owns land, especially a large amount of it:
•wealthy landowners
- landowning adjective
•Britain's landowning aristocracy
- landownership noun [U][C,U]
the political principle of sharing farm land so that more people own some of itplural land registries [C]
a government office in Britain that keeps records about the sale of land and who owns it; = land office AmE
1 [C] an area of countryside or land of a particular type, used especially when talking about its appearance:
•the beauty of the New England landscape
rural/industrial/urban etc landscape
2 [C] a picture showing an area of countryside or land:
•English landscape artists
3 the political/social landscape the general situation in which a particular activity takes place:
•Recent electoral shocks have shaken the European political landscape.
4 [U] a way of printing a document in which the long sides are horizontal and the short sides are vertical; portrait
a blot on the landscape at BLOT^2 (2)[T often passive]
to make a park, garden etc look attractive and interesting by changing its design, and by planting trees and bushes etc:
•The area around the mill pond has also been landscaped.
- landscaping noun [U][C]
someone whose job is to plan the way an area of land looks, including roads, buildings, and planted areas
- landscape architecture noun [U][U]
the profession or art of arranging gardens and parks so that they look attractive and interesting
- landscape gardener noun [C] [C]
1 [usually singular] a victory in an election in which one person or party gets a lot more votes than all the others:
•a landslide election victory
by a landslide
•The SNP candidate won by a landslide.
2 a sudden fall of a lot of earth or rocks down a hill, cliff etc [C] BrE
a small fall of earth or rocks down a hill, cliff etc, that is smaller than a landslide $
facing towards the land and away from the sea; seaward
•the landward side of the hill
- landwards adverb [C]
1 a narrow road in the countryside; path
•a quiet country lane
2 a road in a city, often used in road names:
•the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane
•a network of alleys and back lanes (=narrow unimportant roads, often behind a row of houses)
3 one of the two or three parallel areas on a road which are divided by painted lines to keep traffic apart:
•That idiot changed lanes without signalling.
the inside/middle/outside lane
•Use the outside lane for overtaking only.
the fast/slow lane
•Cars in the fast lane were travelling at over 80 miles an hour.
three-lane motorway/highway/road
BUS LANE, CYCLE LANE
4 one of the narrow parallel areas marked for each competitor in a running or swimming race
5 a line or course along which ships or aircraft regularly travel between ports or airports:
•busy shipping lanes
life in the fast lane at FAST LANE (1)
walk/trip down memory lane at MEMORY (7)
1 ENGLISH/FRENCH/ARABIC ETC [C,U] a system of communication by written or spoken words, which is used by the people of a particular country or area

speak a language
master a language (=succeed in learning a language)
language teacher/student/learner
foreign language
sb's first language/native language (=the first language someone learned)
sb's second language
sb's command of a language (=someone's ability to speak a language)
the language barrier (=the problem of communicating with people who speak a different language)
the English/Japanese/German etc language
the official language
modern languages (=languages that are still spoken)
dead language (=a language that is no longer spoken)

•How many languages do you speak?
•It took him several years to master the language.
•common problems for foreign language learners
•a book intended for language teachers
•Andrea's native language is German.
•For the majority of Tanzanians, Swahili is their second language.
•She had lived in Italy for years, and her command of the language was excellent.
•I didn't speak much Japanese, and I was worried that the language barrier might be a problem.
•one of the best known poems in the English language
•The official language of Ghana is English.
•a degree in modern languages
•a dead language such as Latin

2 COMMUNICATION [U] the use of written or spoken words to communicate:
•the origins of language
spoken/written language
3 STYLE/TYPE OF WORDS [U]
a) the words and style of writing used in poetry or writing:
•literary language
•poetic language
b) the words used in a particular activity or job
[+of]
•the language of science
legal/medical/technical etc language
ordinary/everyday language
4 COMPUTERS [C,U] technical a system of instructions for operating a computer:
•a programming language for the web
5 SWEARING [U] informal words that most people think are offensive
mind/watch your language spoken (=stop swearing)
bad/foul/abusive language
6 strong language
a) angry words used to tell people exactly what you mean
b) words that most people think are offensive; = swearing
7 SOUNDS/SIGNS/ACTIONS [C,U] signs, movements, or sounds that express ideas or feelings
[+of]
•the language of bees
•the language of dolphins
BODY LANGUAGE, SIGN LANGUAGE
speak the same language at SPEAK (11)

WORD FOCUS: language
dialect the form of a language that is spoken in a particular area
slang informal words used by people who belong to a particular group, for example young people, criminals etc
jargon words used by people who do a particular job or are interested in a particular subject, which ordinary people cannot easily understand
terminology words used in a particular subject such as science or medicine
journalese language often used in newspapers
legalese disapproving language used by lawyers or in legal documents, which is difficult for ordinary people to understand
$ plural language laboratories [C]
a room in a school or college where you can learn to speak a foreign language by listening to tapes and recording your own voice literary
1 slow or lazy and involving very little energy or activity:
•He greeted Charles with a languid wave of his hand.
•We spent a languid afternoon by the pool.
2 lazy and involving very little activity
- languidly adverb [I]
1 if someone languishes somewhere, they are forced to remain in a place where they are unhappy
[+in]
•Shaw languished in jail for fifteen years.
2 if something languishes, it fails to improve and develop or become successful; founder; flourish
•The housing market continues to languish.
•The shares are languishing at just 46p after yesterday's fall.
•West Ham United are currently languishing at the bottom of the league. $ [U] literary
1 a pleasant feeling of laziness:
•Lying there beside her, he was filled with an agreeable languor.
2 when the air is heavy and there is no wind:
•the languor of a hot afternoon
- languorous adjective
- languorously adverb
lank hair is thin, straight, and unattractive
someone who is lanky is tall and thin, and moves awkwardly; = gangling
•a lanky young man
- lankiness noun [U] [U]
an oil that is obtained from sheep's wool, and is used in skin creams $ [C]
a lamp that you can carry, consisting of a metal container with glass sides that surrounds a flame or light
CHINESE LANTERN, MAGIC LANTERN [C]
1 the upper part of your legs when you are sitting down; = knee
on sb's lap
•Shannon sat on her mother's lap.
in sb's lap
•His hands were folded in his lap.
2 a single journey around a race track:
•Rubens Barrichello finished a lap ahead of his team-mate.
lap of honour BrE
/victory lap AmE (=a lap to celebrate winning)
•The entire team took a victory lap in front of their cheering fans.
3 AmE a single journey from one end of a swimming pool to another
do/run/swim a lap
•Every morning she swims 50 laps in the pool.
4 PART OF JOURNEY a part of a long journey; = leg
[+of]
•The last lap of their journey was by ship.
5 in the lap of luxury having an easy and comfortable life with a lot of money, possessions etc:
•She wasn't used to living in the lap of luxury.
6 in the lap of the gods BrE if the result of something is in the lap of the gods, you do not know what will happen because it depends on things you cannot controlpast tense and past participle lapped, present participle lapping
1 [I,T] if water laps something or laps against something such as the shore or a boat, it moves against it or hits it in small waves
[+against/over etc]
•The waves lapped gently against the rocks.
•The tide was lapping the harbour wall.
2 also lap up [T] if an animal laps water, milk etc, it drinks it by putting its tongue into it
3 [T] to pass a competitor in a race who is one complete lap behind you:
•Erik Gomas spun off the track when trying to lap Andrew Scott.

PHRASAL VERBS
lap sth <=> up phr v
1 to enjoy something without worrying about whether it is good, true etc:
•She's lapping up all the attention she's getting.
•The humour was lapped up by an appreciative crowd.
2 if an animal laps up water, milk etc, it drinks it by putting its tongue into it:
•The cat began to lap up the milk.
- lapping noun [U]
•She could hear the soft lapping of the sea.[U]
a type of dancing in which a young woman uses sexy movements and removes her clothes while sitting on a customer's LAP in a NIGHTCLUB
- lap dancer noun [C]lapdog $ [C]
1 a small pet dog
2 someone who is completely under the control of someone else and will do anything they say - used to show disapproval [C]
the part of the front of a coat or JACKET that is joined to the collar and folded back on each side $ [only before noun]
1 formal well-written and accurate:
•the lapidary style of the poem
2 technical relating to the cutting or polishing of valuable stones or jewels $
[C,U] a valuable bright blue stone, used especially in jewellery [C]
1 a short period of time during which you fail to do something well or properly, often caused by not being careful
momentary/temporary/occasional etc lapse
•Despite the occasional lapse, this was a fine performance by the young saxophonist.
•A defensive lapse by Keown allowed Tottenham to score.
[+in]
•lapses in security
[+of]
•A single lapse of concentration cost Sampras the game.
•a lapse of judgement
•After taking the drug, several patients suffered memory lapses (=when you cannot remember something for a short time).
2 a failure to do something you should do, especially to behave correctly:
•He forgot to offer Darren a drink, but Marie did not appear to notice the lapse.
3 [usually singular] a period of time between two events:
•The usual time lapse between request and delivery is two days.
[+of]
•a lapse of about ten seconds[I]
1 to gradually come to an end or to stop for a period of time:
•The conversation lapsed.
2 if a contract, agreement etc lapses, it comes to an end, usually because an agreed time limit has passed:
•Your booking will automatically lapse unless you confirm it.
3 to stop believing in or following a religion:
•those people who have lapsed from the practice of their religion
4 formal if a period of time lapses, it passes:
•Many years had lapsed since her first visit to Wexford.

PHRASAL VERBS
lapse into sth phr v
1 lapse into unconsciousness/silence/sleep etc to go into a quiet or less active state:
•He lapsed into a coma and died two days later.
•Alison lapsed into puzzled silence.
2 to begin to behave or speak in a way that you did before:
•She lapsed back into her old ways.
•Occasionally he lapsed into his native German.
3 to get into a worse state or become worse:
•Following his death, the Empire lapsed into chaos.
•His poetry often lapses into sentimentality. [only before noun]
no longer having the beliefs you used to have, especially religious beliefs; practising
•a lapsed Catholicalso laptop computer $ [C]
a small computer that you can carry with you; desktop [C]
a small black and white European bird with raised feathers on its head; = peewit $ plural larcenies [C,U]
law the act or crime of stealing
PETTY LARCENY $ [C,U]
a tree that looks like a PINE tree but drops its leaves in winter $ [U]
white fat from pigs that is used in cooking[T]
to put small pieces of BACON onto meat before cooking it

PHRASAL VERBS
lard sth with sth phr v
to include a lot of something, especially something that is not necessary, in a speech, piece of writing, plan etc:
•a speech larded with Biblical quotations[C]
AmE spoken not polite an offensive word for someone who is fat $ [C]
a small room or large cupboard for storing food in a house; pantry $ comparative larger, superlative largest
1 big in size, amount, or number; small
•Los Angeles is the second largest city in the US.
•The T-shirt comes in Small, Medium and Large.
•a large ovenproof pan
•large sums of money
•those who drink large amounts of coffee
•A large number of students have signed up for the course.
see box at BIG^1
2 a large person is tall and often fat; small
3 be at large if a dangerous person or animal is at large, they have escaped from somewhere or have not been caught:
•The escaped prisoners are still at large.
4 the population/public/society/world etc at large people in general:
•The chemical pollution poses a threat to the population at large.
5 the larger issues/question/problem/picture more general facts, situations, or questions related to something:
•The book helps to explain the larger picture in the Middle East.
6 in large part/measure formal mostly:
•Their success was due in large part to their ability to speak Spanish.
7 (as) large as life BrE spoken used when someone has appeared or is present in a place where you did not expect to see them:
•I turned a corner and there was Joe, as large as life.
8 larger than life someone who is larger than life is very amusing or exciting in an attractive way
9 by and large used when talking generally about someone or something:
•Charities, by and large, do not pay tax.
loom large at LOOM^1 (3)
writ large at WRIT^2
large it (up) BrE informal to enjoy yourself, especially in a way that involves drinking alcohol, dancing etc:
•Here's a picture of us larging it up in Brighton last summer.[C]
the lower part of your BOWELs , where food is changed into solid waste matter; small intestine $
mostly or mainly:
•The state of Nevada is largely desert.
•It had been a tiring day, largely because of all the tedious waiting.[only before noun]
1 using or involving a lot of effort, people, supplies etc; small-scale
•a large-scale rescue operation
2 a large-scale map, model etc is drawn or made bigger than usual, so that more details can be shownlargess $ [U]
formal when someone gives money or gifts to people who have less than they do, or the money or gifts that they give; = generosity $ informal
fairly big $ technical
played or sung slowly and seriously
- largo noun [C] [C]
AmE a LASSO $ [C]
1 a small brown singing bird with long pointed wings; = skylark
2 informal something that you do to amuse yourself or as a joke
as/for a lark
•I only went along for a lark.
3 blow/sod/bugger etc that for a lark BrE spoken not polite used when you stop doing something or refuse to do something because it needs too much effort:
•Paint the whole room? Sod that for a lark!
4 BrE spoken used to describe an activity that you think is silly or difficult:
•Salad again? How long are you going to keep up this healthy eating lark?
5 be up with the lark to get up very early

PHRASAL VERBS
lark about/around phr v BrE informal
to have fun by behaving in a silly way; = mess about
•A couple of boys were larking about in the pool. $ plural larvae [C]
a young insect with a soft tube-shaped body, which will later become an insect with wings; = grub
- larval adjective [U]
an illness which makes talking difficult because your larynx and throat are swollen plural larynges or larynxes [C]
the part in your throat where your voice is producedlasagna AmE $ [C,U] BrE
a type of Italian food made with flat pieces of PASTA, meat, or vegetables, and cheese
showing strong sexual desire, or making someone feel this way:
•a lascivious wink
- lasciviously adverb
- lasciviousness noun [U] $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment that produces a powerful narrow beam of light that can be used in medical operations, to cut metals, or to make patterns of light for entertainment:
•laser surgery
2 a beam of light produced by a laser[C]
a DISK like a CD which can be read by laser light and used in computers or to watch films[C]
a small piece of equipment that produces a LASER beam, used by teachers and people who are giving talks in order to point at things on a map, board etc[C]
a machine connected to a computer system which prints by using laser light
1 TIE [T always + adv/prep] to tie something tightly to something else with a rope; = bind
lash sth to sth
•The oars were lashed to the sides of the boat.
2 WIND/RAIN/SEA [I always + adv/prep, T] if the wind, sea etc lashes something, it hits it with violent force:
•Giant waves lashed the sea wall.
[+against/down/across]
•The wind lashed violently against the door.
3 HIT [T] to hit a person or animal very hard with a whip, stick etc:
•Oliver lashed the horses to go faster.
4 TAIL [I,T] if an animal lashes its tail or its tail lashes, it moves it from side to side quickly and strongly, especially because it is angry
5 CRITICIZE [I,T] to criticize someone angrily - used especially in newspapers:
•Democrats lashed Republican plans, calling them extreme.
[+back]
•Gallins lashed back at those who accused him of corruption.

PHRASAL VERBS
lash out phr v
1 to suddenly speak angrily to someone or criticize someone angrily
[+at]
•Olson lashed out at the media.
2 to try to hit someone, with a series of violent, uncontrolled movements
[+at]
•She would suddenly lash out at other children.[C]
1 a hit with a whip, especially as a punishment:
•They were each given fifty lashes.
2 [usually plural] one of the hairs that grow around the edge of your eyes; = eyelash
3 a sudden or violent movement like that of a whip:
•With a lash of its tail, the lion sprang at its prey.
4 the thin piece of leather at the end of a whip [C]
1 a punishment in which someone is hit with a whip; = whipping
2 a rope that fastens something tightly to something else
3 lashings of sth BrE old-fashioned a large amount of food or drink:
•apple pie with lashings of creamalso lassie [C]
a girl or young woman - used especially in Scotland and the north of England; lad $ [U] formal
tiredness and lack of energy or interest; = weariness $ plural lassos or lassoes [C]
a rope with one end tied in a circle, used to catch cattle and horses, especially in the western US[T]
to catch an animal using a lasso $
1 most recent or nearest to the present time; next (12)
•I hadn't seen him since the last meeting.
last night/week/year etc
•Did you see the game on TV last night?
•The law was passed last August.
•Interest in golf has grown rapidly in the last ten years.
•Things have changed since the last time (=the most recent occasion) you were here.
2 happening or existing at the end, with no others after; first
•I didn't read the last chapter of the book.
•The next meeting will be held in the last week in June.
the last person/thing etc to do sth
•Anna was the last person to see him alive.
last but one/two etc (=last except for one other, two others etc)
•on the last but one day of his trial
3 remaining after all others have gone, been used etc:
•Can I have the last piece of cake?
every last (=used to emphasize that you mean all of something)
•All the money was gone; every last penny of it.
4 the last minute/moment the latest possible time before something happens:
•Travelers will find it hard to get a hotel room at the last minute.
•He never makes a decision until almost the last moment.
5 the last person/thing used to make a strong negative statement about someone or something:
•She's the last person I'd expect to meet in a disco (=I would not expect to meet her in a disco at all).
•Money was the last thing I cared about right now.
the last thing sb needs/wants
•The last thing she needed was for me to start crying too.
6 be the last straw to be the final thing in a series of annoying things that makes someone very angry:
•He'd broken his promise again, and it was the last straw.
7 last thing (at night) at the very end of the day:
•Take a couple of these pills last thing at night to help you sleep.
8 on your last legs informal
a) very tired:
•Sarah looks as if she's on her last legs.
b) very ill and likely to die soon
9 on its last legs informal old or in bad condition, and likely to stop working soon:
•The car's on its last legs.
10 be the last word in sth to be the best, most modern, or most comfortable example of something:
•It's the last word in luxury holidays.
last resort at RESORT^1 (2)
with your last/dying breath at BREATH (9)
LAST HURRAH
have the last laugh at LAUGH^2 (6)
the last/final word at WORD^1 (14)
1 most recently before now; next
•When I last saw her, she was working in New York.
2 after everything or everyone else; first
•Who is speaking last?
•Add the flour last.
last of all (=used when giving a final point or piece of information)
•Last of all, I'd like to thank everyone for coming
3 last but not least used when mentioning the last person or thing in a list, to emphasize that they are still important:
•Last but not least, let me introduce Jane, our new secretary.
1 the last the person or thing that comes after all the others; first
•I think this box is the last.
the last to do sth
•He was the first to arrive and the last to leave.
2 at (long) last if something happens at last, it happens after you have been hoping, waiting, or working for it a long time:
•At last it was time to leave.
•We reached the summit at last.
see box at LASTLY
3 the day/week/year etc before last the day, week etc before the one that has just finished:
•I sent the letter off the week before last.
4 the last of sth the remaining parts of something:
•John ate the last of the bread at lunchtime.
5 sb hasn't heard the last of sb/sth if you have not heard the last of someone or something, they may return and cause problems for you in the future:
•We haven't heard the last of football violence.
6 sb will never hear the last of sth if you will never hear the last of something, someone will be angry with you about it for a long time:
•If my mother sees me, I'll never hear the last of this.
7 the last I heard spoken used to tell someone the most recent news that you know about a person or situation:
•The last I heard, she was at college studying law.
8 to the last formal until the end of an event or the end of someone's life:
•He died in 1987, insisting to the last he was innocent.
1 [I always + adv/prep] to continue for a particular length of time
[+for/until/through etc]
•The hot weather lasted for the whole month of June.
last an hour/ten minutes etc
•Each lesson lasts an hour.
•The ceasefire didn't last long.
2 [I,T] to continue to exist, be effective, or remain in good condition for a long time:
•This good weather won't last.
last (sb) two days/three weeks etc
•A good coat will last you ten years.
•Cut flowers will last longer if you put flower food in the water.
3 also last out (sth) BrE [I always + adv/prep] to manage to remain in the same situation, even when this is difficult:
•They won't be able to last much longer without fresh supplies.
•If you go into the job with that attitude, you won't last long.
•She feared she might not be able to last out the afternoon in court without fainting.
4 [I,T always + adv/prep] to be enough for someone for a period of time; = do
last (sb) two days/three weeks etc
•The water supply should last another 48 hours.
•We only had $50 to last us the rest of the month.[C]
a piece of wood or metal shaped like a human foot, used by someone who makes and repairs shoes[U]
AmE the time when customers in a bar can order one more drink before the bar closes; = last orders BrE
a last-ditch attempt/effort etc a final attempt to achieve something before it is too late:
•The negotiators made a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement.[C usually singular]
AmE a final effort, event etc at the end of a long period of work, a life etc:
•He's made it clear that this Olympics, his third, will be his last hurrah. $ [usually before noun]
strong enough, well enough planned etc to continue for a very long time; = long-lasting
•The reforms will bring lasting benefits.
•Their generosity made a lasting impression on me.
•a solution that would bring lasting peace
the last judgment the time after death when everyone is judged by God for what they have done in life, according to Christianity and some other religions; = judgment day $ [sentence adverb]
used when telling someone the last thing at the end of a list or a series of statements; firstly
•Lastly, could I ask all of you to keep this information secret.

WORD CHOICE: lastly, finally, eventually, in the end, at last

!! Do not use lastly to say what happened at the end of a period of time or after several other things happened. Use one of the following expressions:
Use finally or eventually to say that something happens after a long time: Finally we managed to get the car to start. | When she eventually turned up, the food was cold.
Use eventually or in the end to say what the result or outcome of something was: They eventually got bored and went home. | In the end we decided to cancel the trip.
Use at last to say that something happens after a long period of waiting or trying, when you are glad about this: It's good to be home at last. | At last, the pizza's here!
Use lastly or finally to introduce the last point you want to make, the last action in a series of actions, or the last item in a list: Lastly, I would like to remind you that smoking is not allowed. | Load the paper, select the number of copies, and lastly press 'Print'. | You add flour, salt, and finally milk.

[only before noun]
happening or done as late as possible before something else happens:
•a few last-minute changes to the script[C]
especially AmE a SURNAME[plural]
BrE the time when customers in a bar or PUB can order one more drink before the bar closes; = last call AmE
the last post the tune played on a BUGLE at British military funerals, or to call soldiers back to camp for the night[plural]
the last rites the ceremony performed in some religions, especially the Catholic religion, for people who are dyingalso lat BrE
the written abbreviation of latitude [C]
1 a small metal or plastic object used to keep a door, gate, or window closed:
•Gwen lifted the latch and opened the gate.
2 especially BrE a type of lock for a door that you can open from the inside by turning a handle, but that you need a key to open from the outside
on the latch (=shut but not locked)
•Ray went out, leaving the door on the latch.[T]
to fasten a door, gate, or window with a latch

PHRASAL VERBS
latch on phr v
BrE informal to understand:
•He's so thick it took him ages to latch on.

latch onto sb/sth phr v also latch on to sb/sth informal
1 to become very interested in something:
•Don't just latch on to the latest management fads.
2 to follow someone and keep trying to talk to them, get their attention etc, especially when they would prefer to be left alone:
•He latched onto Sandy at the party and wouldn't go away.
3 to hold tightly to something with your hand, mouth etc:
•a baby latching on to its mother's breast [C]
1 a key that opens a lock on an outside door of a house or apartment
2 latchkey kid old-fashioned a child whose parents both work and who spends time alone in the house after school comparative later, superlative latest
1 AFTER EXPECTED TIME arriving, happening, or done after the time that was expected, agreed, or arranged; early
•Sorry I'm late - I overslept.
ten minutes/two hours etc late
•You're half an hour late.
•The train was even later than usual.
•We apologize for the late departure of flight AZ709.
•There are penalties if loan repayments are late.
[+for]
•Cheryl was late for school.
[+with]
•We've never been late with the rent.
2 NEAR THE END [only before noun] used to refer to the part near the end of a period of time; early
•a late eighteenth century building
•Paul's in his late forties.
•in the late 1980s
•By late afternoon, she had done 10 drawings.
3 be too late to arrive or do something after the time when something could or should have been done:
•He shouted a warning but it was too late.
too late to do sth
•Are we too late to get tickets?
•It was too late to turn back.
4 AFTER USUAL TIME happening or done after the usual or normal time:
•a late breakfast
•The harvest was late this year because of the rain.
•She looked tired - too many late nights (=nights when she went to bed after the normal time).
5 EVENING near the end of a day:
•the late movie
• It's late- I'd better go home.
6 DEAD [only before noun] dead
late husband/wife
•Mrs. Moore's late husband
7 late developer/bloomer
a) a child who develops socially, emotionally, or physically at later age than other children
b) someone who does not become successful until they are older
8 it's (a little/bit) late in the day (to do sth) used to show disapproval because someone has done something too late:
•It's a bit late in the day to start having objections.
9 late of sth formal used about someone who has died fairly recently:
•Billy Hicks, late of this parish
- lateness noun [U]
•penalties for lateness at work
•despite the lateness of the hourcomparative later, superlative no superlative
1 after the usual time:
•The stores are open later on Thursdays.
•Ellen has to work late tonight.
•Can you stay late?
2 after the arranged or expected time; early
ten minutes/two hours etc late
•The bus came ten minutes late.
3 too late after the time when something could or should have been done:
•The advice came too late.
4 near to the end of a period of time or an event
[+in]
•The wedding took place late in May.
•It was not a place to walk in late at night.
5 as late as sth used to express surprise that something considered old-fashioned was still happening so recently:
•Capital punishment was still used in Britain as late as the 1950s.
6 of late formal recently:
•Birth rates have gone down of late.
7 late in life if you do something late in life, you do it at an older age than most people do it
8 better late than never used to say that you are glad someone has done something, or to say that they should do something even though they are late
run late at RUN^1 (39)
late-breaking news concerns events that happen just before a news broadcast or just before a newspaper is printed $ [C]
someone who arrives late
recently:
•What have you been doing lately?
•Lately, I've had trouble sleeping.[only before noun]
happening late at night:
•late-night television
•late-night shopping
something that is latent is present but hidden, and may develop or become more noticeable in the future; dormant
[+in]
•The virus remains latent in the body for many years.
•latent aggression
- latency noun [U] $
1 after the time you are talking about or after the present time:
•I'm going out for a bit - I'll see you later.
two years/three weeks etc later
•He became Senator two years later.
later that day/morning/week etc
•The baby died later that night.
later in the day/week/year
•The dentist could fit you in later in the week.
2 later on at some time after the present time:
•I can't eat all of this - I'll finish it later on.
3 not later than sth used to say that something must be done by a particular time in the future:
•Completed entry forms should arrive not later than 31st July.[only before noun]
1 coming in the future or after something else; earlier
•The role of marketing is dealt with in a later chapter.
•The launch was postponed to a later date.
2 more recent; earlier
•The engine has been greatly improved in later models.
3 in later years/life when someone is older:
•Using a sunscreen when you are young helps you to have healthy skin in later years. formal
1 relating to the sides of something, or movement to the side:
•The wall is weak and requires lateral support.
2 relating to positions, jobs, relationships etc that are at the same level or rank:
•Employees can expect lateral moves to different departments, to gain experience.
- laterally adverb[U]
a way of thinking in which you use your imagination to see relationships between things that are not normally thought of together [only before noun]
the most recent or the newest:
•all the latest gossip
•His latest film is one of the funniest he's ever made.
1 the latest informal the most recent or newest thing
[+in]
•Wednesday's session was the latest in a series of planning meetings.
the latest in ... technology/equipment (=the most modern equipment)
•using the latest in medical technology
2 at the latest no later than the time mentioned:
•I should be back by 11 o'clock at the latest. [U]
1 a thick white liquid produced by some plants, especially the rubber tree, and used in making rubber, paint, glue etc:
•a doctor's latex gloves
2 an artificial substance similar to latex $ [C]
a long flat narrow piece of wood used in building to support PLASTER (=material used to cover walls) [C]
a machine that shapes wood or metal, by turning it around and around against a sharp tool $ [singular, U]
1 a white mass of bubbles produced by mixing soap in water
2 a white mass that forms on a horse's skin when it has been SWEATing ; = foam
3 get in a lather also work yourself into a lather informal to get very anxious or upset about something:
•By the time Alan called, Jody had worked herself into a lather.
4 in a lather very worried, upset, or excited:
•He was in a lather of anticipation.
1 [I] to produce a lather:
•This soap lathers really well.
2 [T] to cover something with lather $
1 [U] the language used in ancient Rome
2 [C] someone from Latin America
3 [C] someone from a Southern European country whose language developed from Latin, for example Spain, Portugal, or Italy
1 relating to the Latin language:
•a Latin inscription
2 from or relating to South America:
•Latin music
3 from or relating to Southern European countries whose languages developed from Latin, for example Spain, Portugal, or Italy [C]
AmE a woman in the US whose family comes from Latin America; Hispanic
relating to South or Central America, or its people $ plural Latinos [C]
AmE a man in the US whose family comes from Latin America. The plural 'Latinos' can mean a group of men and women, or just men; Hispanic
- Latino adjective
•Latino culture $
1 [C,U] the distance north or south of the EQUATOR (=the imaginary line around the middle of the world), measured in degrees; longitude
2 latitudes [plural] an area at a particular latitude:
•The birds breed in northern latitudes.
•the oceans of the lower latitude
3 [U] formal freedom to choose what you do or say
considerable/greater latitude (=a lot of freedom to choose)
•Pupils enjoy considerable latitude in deciding what they want to study.
[+in/for]
•Employees should have some latitude in organizing their work.
- latitudinal $ adjective [C]
a toilet that is outdoors in a camp or military area $ [C,U]
very strong coffee with a lot of STEAMed milk in it, or a cup of this type of coffee $
the latter formal the second of two people or things just mentioned; former
•Where unemployment and crime are high, it can be assumed that the latter is due to the former.[only before noun] formal
1 being the second of two people or things, or the last in a list just mentioned; former
•In the latter case, buyers pay a 15% commission.
2 the latter part of a period of time is nearest to the end of it:
•Celebrations are planned for the latter part of November.[only before noun]
1 a latter-day Versailles/Tsar/Robin Hood etc something or someone that exists now but is like a famous thing or person that existed in the past:
•He ruled his business empire like a latter-day Tsar.
2 relating to a recent period of time, rather than an earlier one:
•Latter-day students could never meet the college entrance standards required in the 1940s. $ BrE formal
1 recently:
•Scientists have studied the moon through telescopes, and, latterly, from satellites.
2 towards the end of a period of time; formerly
•O'Rourke retired after a 15-year career with Bisons, latterly as chief executive. [C]
1 also latticework a pattern or structure made of long pieces of wood, plastic etc that cross each other so that the spaces between them are shaped like DIAMONDs
2 technical a regular arrangement of objectsalso latticed window [C] BrE
a type of window made of many small pieces of glass shaped like DIAMONDs $ [T]
formal to praise someone or something $ formal
deserving praise, even if not completely successful; = praiseworthy
•a laudable attempt
- laudably adverb $ [U]
a substance containing the drug OPIUM, used in the past to control pain and help people to sleep $ formal
expressing praise:
•a laudatory biography $
1 [I] to make sounds with your voice, usually while you are smiling, because you think something is funny:
•Maria looked at him and laughed.
[+at/about]
•'I didn't know what I was doing,' she said, laughing at the memory.
•Tony was laughing so hard he had to steady himself on the table.
•Nora laughed so much that she nearly cried.
laugh heartily/uproariously/hysterically etc (=laugh a lot)
•The kids tumbled around on the floor, laughing hysterically.
•He couldn't help it; he burst out laughing (=suddenly started laughing).
laugh your head off
•He's one of the few writers who can make me laugh out loud.
2 [T] to say something in a voice that shows you are amused:
•'You look ridiculous!' Nick laughed.
3 not know whether to laugh or cry to feel upset or annoyed about something bad that has happened, but also able to see that there is something funny about it:
•And when I couldn't find the passports - honestly, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!
4 don't make me laugh spoken used when someone has just told you something that is completely untrue, asked for something impossible etc:
•'Can you finish this by tomorrow?' 'Don't make me laugh.'
5 no laughing matter informal something serious that should not be joked about:
•It's no laughing matter having to walk by a group of rowdy drunks every night just to get home.
6 be laughed out of court also be laughed out of town/business etc AmE if a person or idea is laughed out of court etc, the idea is not accepted because people think it is completely stupid:
•We can't propose that! We'd be laughed out of court!
7 you have to laugh spoken used to say that, even though a situation is annoying or disappointing, you can also see that there is something funny about it
8 be laughing all the way to the bank informal to make a lot of money without making much effort
9 sb will be laughing on the other side of their face spoken used to say that although someone is happy or confident now, they will be in trouble later
10 be laughing BrE spoken informal to be happy or in a good situation, for example because something has had a successful result for you:
•Well they paid me, didn't they, so I'm laughing.
11 laugh in sb's face to behave towards someone in a way that shows that you do not respect them:
•I told my sister what I thought, and she just laughed in my face.
12 laugh up your sleeve to be secretly happy, especially because you have played a trick on someone or criticized them without them knowing

PHRASAL VERBS
laugh at sb/sth phr v
1 to make unkind or funny remarks about someone, because they have done or said something you think is stupid; = tease
•I'm afraid the other kids will laugh at me because I don't understand.
2 to seem not to care about something that most people would worry about:
•Young offenders just laugh at this sort of sentence.

laugh sth <=> off phr v
to pretend that something is less serious than it really is by laughing or joking about it:
•Knox laughed off rumors that he would be running for mayor.

WORD FOCUS: words meaning laugh
giggle to laugh repeatedly in a silly way because you are amused, embarrassed, or nervous
snigger to laugh unkindly and quietly, especially at something that is not meant to be funny
chuckle to laugh quietly, especially because you are thinking about something funny
roar/howl with laughter to laugh very loudly because you think something is very funny
be in hysterics to laugh uncontrollably
crack up informal to suddenly start laughing a lot

1 [C] the act of laughing or the sound you make when you laugh:
•a nervous laugh
with a laugh
•'What a mess!' she said, with a laugh.
•At first she was silent, then she gave a nervous laugh.
•It was a nightmare at the time, but afterwards we all had a good laugh (=laughed a lot) about it.
•This scene gets one of the biggest laughs in the movie.
•Tell me - I could use a laugh (=I am upset or sad and would like to hear something funny).
2 [C] if something is a laugh, you have fun and enjoy yourself when you are doing it:
•We all went to the beach last night - it was a really good laugh.
•The other campers were nice, and we had a great laugh together.
•It was a great holiday with lots of laughs.
3 sb is a (good) laugh BrE to be amusing and fun to be with:
•I like Peter - he's a good laugh.
4 for laughs also for a laugh BrE for fun :
•We took the hot-air balloon ride, just for laughs.
5 that's a laugh spoken used to say that something is silly or unlikely:
•Me? Star in a film? That's a laugh.
6 have the last laugh to finally be successful, win an argument etc, after other people have earlier criticized you, defeated you etc:
•Men make jokes about women drivers, but women have the last laugh - their insurance rates are cheaper.
7 be a laugh a minute informal to be very funny - sometimes used humorously to mean that someone or something is not at all funny $
something that is laughable is impossible to believe or be serious about, because it is so silly or bad; = ridiculous
•The promises are so far from reality that they are laughable.
- laughably adverb[U]
informal a gas that is sometimes used to stop you feeling pain during an operation $
1 if something is laughingly called something, the name is a joke, or is not suitable:
•The news network was laughingly referred to as the 'Disaster Channel.'
2 if you do something laughingly, you are laughing while you do italso laughingstock AmE $ [C]
someone who is a laughing stock has done something so silly that people have no respect for them:
•The programme has made the U.S. a laughingstock.[plural]
the American form of LAUGHTER LINES $ [U]
when people laugh, or the sound of people laughing:
•Foster joined in the laughter.
•He looked shocked, then burst into laughter (=started laughing).
roar/scream/shriek with laughter (=laugh very loudly)
•Audiences roared with laughter.
•He shook with laughter.
peals/gales/howls etc of laughter (=loud laughs)
•The comment brought peals of laughter from her classmates.[plural]
BrE lines on your skin around your eyes, which can be seen when you laugh; = laugh lines AmE[C]
recorded laughter that is used during a television show to make it sound as if people are laughing during the performance $ [T]
1 START STH to start something, usually something big or important:
•The organization has launched a campaign to raise $150,000.
•The Canadian police plan to launch an investigation into the deal.
launch an attack/assault/offensive
•The press launched a vicious attack on the President.
•The book launched his career as a novelist.
2 PRODUCT to make a new product, book etc available for sale for the first time:
•The company hopes to launch the new drug by next October.
3 BOAT to put a boat or ship into the water
4 SKY/SPACE to send a weapon or spacecraft into the sky or into space:
•A test satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral.
5 COMPUTER to make a computer program start; = open
•Double-click on an icon to launch an application.
6 launch yourself forwards/up/from etc to jump up and forwards into the air with a lot of energy

PHRASAL VERBS
launch into sth phr v
1 to suddenly start a description or story, or suddenly start criticizing something:
•Nelson launched into a blistering criticism of greedy lawyers.
2 to suddenly start doing something:
•Don't just launch into exercise without warming up first.

launch out phr v BrE
to start something new, especially something that involves risk[C]
1 when a new product, book etc is made available or made known
[+of]
•the launch of a new women's magazine
•a new product launch
2 a large boat with a motor
3 when a weapon or spacecraft is sent into the sky or into space $ [C]
an object that is used to send a weapon or spacecraft into the sky:
•a rocket launcheralso launching pad [C]
1 a base from which a weapon or spacecraft is sent up into the sky
2 an event, group, or activity that helps someone start something
[+for]
•Ellington's band was a launching pad for many gifted jazz musicians. $ [C]
a place on the Internet that helps you start to find information about a particular subject:
•Their website is a good launchpad to other sites. $ [T]
1 to put money which has been obtained illegally into legal businesses and bank accounts, so that you can hide it or use it:
•a law designed to prevent money laundering
2 formal to wash and IRON clothes, sheets etcalso laundrette Laundromat AmE $ [C] BrE trademark
a place where you can go to wash your clothes in machines that work when you put coins in them $ plural laundries
1 [U] clothes, sheets etc that need to be washed or have just been washed:
•She did the laundry (=washed the clothes etc) and hung it out to dry.
•Ben was folding laundry.
clean/dirty laundry
•a pile of dirty laundry
2 [C] a place or business where clothes etc are washed and IRONed
air/wash your dirty laundry at DIRTY^1 (7)[C]
1 BrE a large basket that you put dirty clothes in until you wash them; = hamper AmE
2 a basket used for carrying clothes that have been or need to be washed[C] informal
a list of a lot of different things:
•a laundry list of criticisms [C]
someone who has been given an important prize or honour, especially the NOBEL PRIZE:
•Nigeria's Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka
POET LAUREATE $
1 [C,U] a small tree with smooth shiny dark green leaves that do not fall in winter
2 rest/sit on your laurels to be satisfied with what you have achieved and therefore stop trying to achieve anything new
3 look to your laurels to work hard in order not to lose the success that you have achieved
4 laurels [plural] honours that you receive for something you have achieved:
•academic laurels [C]
BrE spoken a LAVATORY [U]
hot liquid rock that flows from a VOLCANO, or this rock when it has become solid[C]
a lamp that has a coloured liquid substance inside it that moves up and down BrE
lavatorial jokes are about going to the toilet $ plural lavatories [C]
formal a toilet or the room a toilet is in $
1 [C,U] a plant that has grey-green leaves and purple flowers with a strong pleasant smell
2 [U] a pale purple colour
1 large, impressive, or expensive:
•a royal palace on a lavish scale
•a lavish lifestyle
•The food was lavish.
2 very generous
[+with/in]
•We were always lavish with financial aid in times of crisis.
•He was always lavish in his praise of my efforts.
- lavishly adverb
•their lavishly illustrated catalogue
- lavishness noun [U][T]
to give someone or something a lot of love, praise, money etc
lavish sth on/upon sb
•He lavished attention on her.
lavish sb with sth
•Hug your children and lavish them with love. $
1 SYSTEM OF RULES also the law [U] the whole system of rules that people in a particular country or area must obey

break the law (=do something illegal)
obey the law
become law (=officially be made a law)
enforce the law (=make people obey the law)
by law (=according to the law)
be against the law (=be illegal)
within the law (=legal or legally)
tax/copyright/divorce etc law (=all the laws about tax etc)
criminal law
civil law
international law
federal law AmE (=the law of the US, not of a particular state)

• Should people do what they think is right even when it means breaking the law?
•Elected officials ought to obey the law.
• The Suicide Act became law in 1961.
• By law, seatbelts must be worn by all passengers.
•In Sweden it is against the law to hit a child.
• They were fully convinced they were performing their duties within the law.
• an interesting area of criminal law
• the principles of international law
• Federal law protects workers who are disabled.

2 A RULE [C] a rule that people in a particular country or area must obey
immigration/labour/libel etc law
under a law
•Five people arrested under anti-terrorism laws were released without charge.
[+on]
•European laws on equal opportunities
[+against]
•The laws against drug use were very severe.
• laws passed by Parliament
3 law and order a situation in which people respect the law, and crime is controlled by the police, the prison system etc:
•We are concerned about the breakdown of law and order in the country.
4 POLICE the law the police:
•I think she may be in trouble with the law.
5 WHAT ALWAYS HAPPENS [C] something that always happens in nature or society, or a statement that describes this
[+of]
•the law of supply and demand
•the laws of nature
•the law of gravity
6 STUDY/PROFESSION also the law [U] law as a subject of study, or the profession of being a lawyer:
•She's studying law in London.
7 SPORT/ACTIVITY [C] one of the rules which controls a sport or activity:
•the laws of football
8 the law of the jungle
a) the idea that people should only look after themselves and not care about other people if they want to succeed
b) the principle that only the strongest creatures will stay alive
9 the law of averages the PROBABILITY that one result will happen as often as another if you try something often enough:
•The law of averages says we'll win at least once.
10 be a law unto himself/herself etc to behave in an independent way and not worry about the usual rules of behaviour or what other people do or think:
•Boys his age are a law unto themselves.
11 take the law into your own hands to do something illegal in order to put right something that you think is not fair, for example by violently punishing someone instead of telling the police:
•vigilantes who take the law into their own hands
12 go to law to go to court in order to settle a problem:
•the right of consumers to go to law if they need to
13 be above the law someone who is above the law does not have to obey the law:
•Many ministers seem to regard themselves as above the law.
14 there's no law against sth spoken used to tell someone who is criticizing you that you are not doing anything wrong
15 there ought to be a law against sth spoken used to say that you do not think something should be accepted or allowed:
•There ought to be a law against cutting off power supplies in the middle of February.
16 sb's word is law used to say that someone is always obeyed without argument
CIVIL LAW, COMMON LAW, CRIMINAL LAW, ROMAN LAW, SOD'S LAW; lay down the law at LAY DOWN (3); unwritten law at UNWRITTEN
respectful of the law and obeying it:
•a law-abiding citizen[C]
someone who does something illegal; = criminal
- law-breaking noun [U][C]
a room or building where legal cases are judged[U]
the job of making sure that the law is obeyed:
•law enforcement agencies[C]
AmE a police officer[C]
a company that provides legal services and employs many lawyers $ formal law
allowed or recognized by law; = legal
• It is not lawful to kill or injure a pet animal.
•a lawful arrest
•his lawful wife
- lawfully adverb
- lawfulness noun [U] $
not obeying the law, or not controlled by the law; law-abiding
•this increasingly lawless society
•These border areas are among the most lawless regions in the world.
- lawlessness noun [U]
the Law Lords members of the British House of Lords who hold high positions in the legal profession, and form the highest court in the British legal system $ [C]
especially AmE any elected official responsible for making laws; = legislator $ plural lawmen [C]
AmE informal any officer who is responsible for making sure that the law is obeyed $
1 [C,U] an area of ground in a garden or park that is covered with short grass:
•I spent all morning mowing the lawn (=cutting the grass).
•a carefully tended lawn
2 [U] a fine cloth made from cotton or LINEN[U]
AmE a game played on grass in which you try to roll a big ball as near as possible to a smaller ball; = bowls BrE[C] AmE
a light chair that you use outside, especially one that folds up[C]
a machine that you use to cut grass[C]
AmE a formal party held outside in the afternoon, especially in a large garden; = garden party BrE[U]
formal TENNIS[C,U]
a part of a university or a special school in the US where you study to become a lawyer after you get your BACHELOR'S DEGREE $ [C]
a problem or complaint that a person or organization brings to a court of law to be settled; = suit
[+against]
•His lawyer filed a lawsuit against the city. $ [C]
someone whose job is to advise people about laws, write formal agreements, or represent people in court

WORD CHOICE: lawyer, attorney, solicitor, barrister, counsel
Lawyer is a general word for someone who has professional training in legal work or who is an expert in the law.
In American English, the word attorney is often used instead, especially in legal or official language and especially to refer to a lawyer who represents people in court.
In British English, there is a difference between asolicitor, who gives legal advice and prepares legal documents, and a barrister, who represents people in court.
In both American and British English, someone's counsel is the lawyer or group of lawyers who represent them in court.

not strict or careful enough about standards of behaviour, work, safety etc; = slack
lax in (doing) sth
•The company has been lax in carrying out its duties.
• lax security
- laxity also laxness noun [U] [C]
a medicine or something that you eat which makes your BOWELs empty easily
- laxative adjective
the past tense of LIE^1past tense and past participle laid
1 PUT SB/STH DOWN [T always + adv/prep] to put someone or something down carefully into a flat position; = place
•He laid his hand on my shoulder.
•They laid a wreath at the place where so many people died.
• Lay the material flat on the table.
2 lay bricks/carpet/concrete/cables etc to put or fasten bricks, a CARPET etc in the correct place, especially on the ground or floor:
•The carpet was laid last week.
•The project involved laying an oil pipeline across the desert.
3 BIRD/INSECT ETC [I,T] if a bird, insect etc lays eggs, it produces them from its body:
•The flies lay their eggs on decaying meat.
•A cuckoo is able to lay in a range of different nests.
4 TABLE [T] BrE to put the cloth, plates, knives, forks etc on a table, ready for a meal; = set
•John was laying the table.
•As she spoke, she was laying him a place at the table.
5 lay the foundations/groundwork/base to provide the conditions that will make it possible for something to happen or be successful
[+for]
•Mandela helped lay the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.
•It was an invention which laid the foundations of modern radio technology.
6 GIVE INFORMATION [T] formal to make a statement, give information etc in an official or public way; = put
•Several proposals have been laid before the committee.
7 lay emphasis/stress on sth formal to emphasize something because you believe it is very important:
•a political philosophy that lays great stress on individual responsibility
8 lay a hand/finger on sb [usually in negatives] to touch someone with the intention of hurting them:
•I swear I didn't lay a finger on him.
•If you lay one hand on me, I'll scream.
9 lay bare/open sth also lay sth bare/open
a) to show what something is really like, or stop hiding facts, feelings etc:
•Every aspect of their private life has been laid bare.
b) to remove the thing that is covering or hiding something else:
•When the tide goes out, vast stretches of sand are laid bare.
10 lay sb/sth open to sth to do something that makes it possible for other people to blame you, criticize you etc
lay yourself open to sth
•By doing that, he laid himself open to ridicule.
•Not to have taken action would have laid the department open to charges of negligence.
11 lay waste sth also lay waste to sth formal to destroy or damage something, especially in a war:
•The island was laid waste and abandoned.
•an attack which laid waste to hundreds of villages
12 lay plans/a trap etc to carefully prepare all the details of something:
•We are laying plans now in order to be successful in the future.
the best-laid plans (=plans that have been made carefully)
•Bad weather can upset even the best-laid travel plans.
13 lay claim to (doing) sth to say that something belongs to you or say that you deserve something:
•The town can lay claim to having the oldest theatre in Britain.
•No one has laid claim to the property.
14 lay siege to sb/sth
a) if a group of people lay siege to a place, they try to get control by surrounding it:
•The armies laid siege to Vienna in 1529.
b) to do everything you can to get someone to talk to you or notice you:
•A group of young men were always at the stage door, trying to lay siege to the girls.
15 HAVE SEX get laid [T] informal to have sex with someone:
•All he wants to do is go out and get laid.
16 LIE [I] spoken to be in a position in which you are flat - some people consider this use to be incorrect; = lie
17 RISK MONEY [T] especially BrE to risk an amount of money on the result of a race, sports game etc; = bet
lay sth on sth
•She laid £50 on the favourite, Golden Boy.
lay money (that)
•I'd lay money that he will go on to play for England.
18 lay sb/sth on the line
a) to state something, especially a threat, demand, or criticism, in a very clear way:
• Lay it on the line and tell them what's really been happening.
b) also put sb/sth on the line to risk losing your life, your job etc, especially in order to help someone:
•I've laid myself on the line for him once already.
19 lay sth at the door of sb/sth also lay sth at sb's door to blame something or someone for something:
•The continued divisions within the party cannot be laid entirely at his door.
•Many illnesses are being laid at the door of stress.
20 lay sb low
a) [usually passive] if an illness lays someone low, they are unable to do their normal activities for a period of time
[+with]
•She's been laid low with flu for a week.
b) literary to make someone fall down, or injure them seriously
21 lay sb to rest formal to bury someone after they have died:
•She was laid to rest beside her husband.
lay/put sth to rest at REST^1 (10)
22 lay the ghost (of sth) to finally stop being worried or upset by something from the past

PHRASAL VERBS
lay about sb phr v literary or old-fashioned
to attack someone violently; = set about
[+with]
•He laid about his attackers with a stick.

lay sth <=> aside phr v
1 to stop using something and put it down, especially so you can do something else; = put aside
•Richard had laid aside his book to watch what was happening.
2 to stop behaving in a particular way, or stop having particular feelings, especially so you can achieve something; = put aside
•On the day of the wedding, all arguments between the families were laid aside.
•As a doctor, you often need to lay aside your personal feelings.
3 also lay sth <=> by to keep something, especially money, so you can use it in the future; = put by
•She'd laid aside a few pounds each week from her wages.

lay sth <=> down phr v
1 OFFICIALLY STATE to officially state something or say that rules, principles etc must be obeyed:
•He had already clearly laid down his view in his opening speech.
lay down that
•The contract laid down that the work must be completed before 2025.
2 WEAPONS if people lay down their weapons, they stop fighting:
•The terrorists were urged to lay down their arms.
3 lay down the law to tell other people what to do, how they should think etc, in a very strong or impolite way:
•I could hear him laying down the law.
4 lay down your life formal to die in order to help other people
[+for]
•He was even prepared to lay down his life for his friends.
5 KEEP to store something, especially wine, to use in the future

lay sth <=> in phr v formal especially BrE
to get and store a supply of something to use in the future:
•He likes to lay in a few special drinks for the festive season.

lay into sb/sth phr v
to attack or criticize someone or something:
•Outside the club, two men were laying into each other.

lay off phr v
1 lay sb <=> off to stop employing someone because there is no work for them to do; layoff
•The company laid off 250 workers in December.
•Millions of people have been laid off in the steel industry.
2 lay off (sth) informal to stop using or doing something:
•I think you'd better lay off alcohol for a while.
lay off doing sth
•I had to lay off running for several months.
3 lay off (sb) informal to stop annoying someone or hurting them:
•Just lay off, will you!
•I wish he'd lay off me!
4 lay sth <=> off to pass the ball to someone in your team in a game such as football - used in sports reports
lay sth off to sb
•Murphy has the ball and then lays it off to Owen.

lay sth on phr v
1 lay sth <=> on especially BrE to provide something such as food, entertainment, or transport for a group of people:
•They laid on a buffet for his farewell party.
•A bus has been laid on to take you home.
2 lay sth on sb to ask someone to do something, especially something that is difficult or something they will not want to do:
•Sorry to lay this on you, but we need someone to give a talk at the conference next week.
3 lay it on (thick) informal
a) to praise someone or something too much, especially in order to get what you want
b) to talk about something in a way that makes it seem more important, serious etc than it really is; = exaggerate

lay sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 SPREAD to spread something out:
•Lay out the map on the table and let's have a look.
2 ARRANGE to arrange or plan a building, town, garden etc; = set out
•The garden is laid out in a formal pattern.
3 EXPLAIN to describe or explain something clearly; = set out
•The financial considerations are laid out in a booklet called 'How to Borrow Money'.
4 SPEND informal to spend money, especially a lot of money; outlay
lay out sth on sth
•What's the point in laying out money on something you'll only wear once?
5 HIT informal to hit someone so hard that they fall down and become unconscious:
•One of the guards had been laid out and the other was missing.
6 BODY to prepare a dead body so that it can be buried

lay over phr v AmE
to stay somewhere for a short time before continuing your trip; layover

lay up phr v
1 be laid up (with sth) to have to stay in bed because you are ill or injured:
•I was laid up for a week with flu.
2 to stop using a boat or vehicle, especially while it is being repaired
lay sth <=> up
•Most of the yachts were laid up for the winter.
3 lay sth <=> up old-fashioned to collect and store something to use in the future:
•We started laying up firewood for the winter.

WORD CHOICElay, lie
The verb lay must have an object. It is a slightly literary way to say 'put something somewhere': She lays a silk cloth over the table.
The verb lie does not have an object. It means 'be or get into a horizontal position somewhere': Let's lie on the grass. | Lie down here for a while.

!! lay is also the past tense of lie: I lay on the couch and tried to relax. The past tense of lay is laid: He laid his hand on my shoulder.

lay your hands on sth at HAND^1 (18)
lay the blame on sb/sth at BLAME^2
put/lay your cards on the table at CARD^1 (13)[only before noun]

a) not trained or not knowing much about a particular profession or subject; layman
•lay witnesses
b) not in an official position in the church:
•a lay preacher[C]
1 the lay of the land
a) the situation that exists at a particular time:
•Get the lay of the land before you make any decisions.
b) the appearance of an area of land, for example the way it slopes
2 the lay of sth the appearance of something and where each part of it is:
•Mr. Lowe will give you the lay of the camp and tell you what we're going to be doing.
3 be a good/quick/easy etc lay informal to be a good, quick etc person to have sex with
4 literary a poem or song [C]
BrE informal a lazy person who avoids work [U]
AmE a method of buying goods in which you give the seller of the goods a small amount of money to keep the goods until you can pay the full price:
•I put the dress on layaway.
- layaway adjectiveplural lay-bys [C]
BrE a space next to a road where vehicles can stop $ [C]
1 an amount or piece of a material or substance that covers a surface or that is between two other things
[+of]
•A thick layer of dust lay on the furniture.
•The moon was shining through a thin layer of cloud.
•He pulled off layer upon layer of clothing (=many layers of clothing).
in layers
•Arrange the peppers, garlic and tomatoes in layers.
OZONE LAYER
2 one of several different levels in a complicated organization, system, set of ideas etc
[+of]
•We are operating with fewer layers of management.
•There are multiple layers of meaning in the story.
•the multi-layered nature of organizations (=they have many layers)[T]
1 to make a layer of something or put something down in layers:
•Layer the raw sliced vegetables in a shallow baking dish.
2 to cut someone's hair so that the hair on top is in shorter lengths than the lower hair:
•I have layered, shoulder-length brown hair. [C]
a complete set of clothing and other things that a new baby needs plural laymen [C]
1 someone who is not trained in a particular subject or type of work, especially when they are being compared with someone who is; expert
•To the layman (=laymen in general) all these plants look pretty similar.
•If you don't understand what the doctor says, ask to have it explained in layman's terms (=in simple language).
2 someone who is not a priest but is a member of a church[C]
an occasion when an employer ends a worker's employment for a temporary period of time because there is not enough work:
•more lay-offs in the car industry
LAY OFF [C]
1 the way in which something such as a town, garden, or building is arranged
[+of]
•the layout of the park
•All the flats in the building had the same layout.
2 the way in which writing and pictures are arranged on a page
[+of]
•the layout of a business letter
•page layout software
LAY OUT $ [C]
AmE a short stay between parts of a journey, especially a long plane journey; = stopover BrE $ plural laypersons or laypeople [C]
a LAYMAN or LAYWOMAN[C]
someone in Christian churches who is not a priest but who has been given authority to lead a religious service[C]
a throw in BASKETBALL made from very close to the basket or from under it plural laywomen [C]
1 a woman not trained in a particular subject or type of work, especially when she is being compared with someone who is; = expert
2 a woman who is not a priest but is a member of a church [I always + adv/prep]
to relax and enjoy yourself in a lazy way
[+in]
•We spent the afternoon lazing in the sun.
[+about/around]
•We lazed around, gazing at the views.
- laze noun [singular] comparative lazier, superlative laziest
1 not liking work and physical activity, or not making any effort to do anything; = idle
•the laziest boy in the class
•He felt too lazy to get out of bed.
2 a lazy period of time is spent doing nothing except relaxing:
•We spent lazy days relaxing on the beach.
- lazily adverb
- laziness noun [U] $ plural lazybones [C]
informal a lazy person - often used in a friendly way to someone you like:
•Come on, lazybones! Get out of bed.lb. AmE plural lb or lbs BrE
the written abbreviation of pound or pounds in weight
leg before wicket a way in which your INNINGS can end in CRICKET, when the ball hits your leg if it is in front of the WICKET [C]
liquid crystal display the part of a watch, CALCULATOR, or small computer where numbers or letters are shown by means of an electric current that is passed through a special liquidalso leach out [I,T]
technical if a substance leaches or is leached from a larger mass such as the soil, it is removed from it by water passing through the larger mass:
•The manufacturers say that there is no danger of the aluminium leaching into the water. past tense and past participle led
1 TAKE SB SOMEWHERE [I,T] to take someone somewhere by going in front of them while they follow, or by pulling them gently
lead sb to/into etc sth
•A nurse took her arm and led her to a chair.
•The horses were led to safety.
lead sb away/down etc
•She was led away from the courtroom in tears.
•The manager led the way through the office.
see box at DIRECT^2
2 GO IN FRONT [I,T] to go in front of a line of people or vehicles:
•A firetruck was leading the parade.
3 BE IN CHARGE [I,T] to be in charge of an organization, country, or team, or a group of people who are trying to do something:
•He has led the party for over twenty years.
•Some people say she is too old to lead the country (=be in charge of its government).
•Beckham led his team to victory.
lead an investigation/inquiry/campaign
•The investigation will be led by Inspector Scarfe.
•They are leading a campaign to warn teenagers about the dangers of drug abuse.
lead a revolt/rebellion/coup etc
•The rebellion was led by the King's brother.
lead an attack/assault
•Nelson preferred to lead the attack himself from the front.
•a man who was born to lead
•a communist-led strike
4 CAUSE STH TO HAPPEN [I,T] to cause something to happen or cause someone to do something
[+to]
•the events that led to the start of the First World War
•A degree in English could lead to a career in journalism.
lead sb into sth
•Her trusting nature often led her into trouble.
lead sb to do sth
•What led him to kill his wife?
lead to sb doing sth
•His actions could lead to him losing his job.
5 CAUSE SB TO BELIEVE STH [T] to make someone believe something, especially something that is not true
lead sb to believe/expect/understand sth
•He had led everyone to believe that his family was very wealthy.
•The hotel was terrible, and not at all what we had been led to expect.
•Our research led us to the conclusion that the present system is unfair.
6 INFLUENCE [T] to influence someone to make them do something that is wrong
lead sb into sth
•His brother led him into a life of crime.
•He's not a bad boy. He's just easily led (=it is easy for other people to persuade him to do things that he should not do).
7 BE MORE SUCCESSFUL [T] to be more successful than other people, companies, or countries in a particular activity
lead the world/market/pack/field
•US companies lead the world in biotechnology.
lead the way (=be the first to do something, and show other people how to do it)
•The Swedes have led the way in data protection.
LEADING^1 (1)
8 BE WINNING [I,T] to be winning a game, competition etc; lose
•At half-time, Brazil led 1-0.
•With 15 laps to go, Schumacher led the race.
•The polls showed Clinton leading Bush 55 percent to 34 percent.
lead by ten points/two goals etc
•Agassi was leading by two sets.
9 PATH/DOOR ETC [I,T always + adv/prep] used to say where a path, wire etc goes or what place is on the other side of a door
[+to/towards]
•The path led down to a small lake.
[+from/out of]
•the major artery leading from the heart
[+into]
•the door leading into the hallway
lead sb to/into sth
•The riverside path leads visitors to a small chapel.
10 LIFE [T] if you lead a particular kind of life, that is what your life is like
lead a normal/quiet/busy etc life
•If the operation succeeds, Carly will be able to lead a normal life.
•He has led a charmed life (=been very fortunate).
lead a life of luxury/poverty etc
lead the life of a ...
•She now leads the life of a recluse.
lead a double life (=deceive people by keeping different parts of your life separate and not letting anyone know the whole truth)
•Joe had been leading a double life, seeing an ex-model while his wife believed he was on business.
•They lead a nomadic existence.
11 DISCUSSION ETC [T always + adv/prep] to control the way a discussion, conversation etc develops:
•I tried to lead the conversation back to the subject of money.
12 lead sb up the garden path informal to deliberately deceive someone
13 lead sb astray
a) to encourage someone to do bad or immoral things, which they would not normally do
b) to make someone believe something that is not true
14 lead nowhere/not lead anywhere to not produce any useful result:
•So far police investigations seem to have led nowhere.
15 lead by example to show the people you are in charge of what you want them to do by doing it yourself:
•The best managers lead by example.
16 lead sb by the nose to influence someone so much that you can completely control everything that they do:
•Politicians think they can easily lead people by the nose.
17 this/that leads (me) to sth used to introduce a new subject that is connected to the previous one:
•That leads me to my final point. Where are we going to get the money?
18 sb has their own life to lead used to say that someone wants to be able to live their life independently, without having to do things that other people want them to do
19 lead sb a merry old dance/a right old dance BrE to cause a lot of problems or worries for someone
20 market-led/export-led etc most influenced by the market, by EXPORT s etc:
•an export-led economic recovery
21 lead the eye if a picture, view etc leads the eye in a particular direction, it makes you look in that direction:
•marble columns that lead the eye upward
22 CARD GAME [I,T] to play a particular card as your first card in one part of a card game

PHRASAL VERBS
lead off phr v
1 to start a meeting, discussion, performance etc by saying or doing something:
•I'd like to lead off by thanking Rick for coming.
[+with]
•The French team led off with two quick goals in the first five minutes.
lead sth <=> off
•Hal led the evening off with some folk songs.
2 lead off (sth) if a road, room etc leads off a place, you can go directly from that place along that road, into that room etc
lead off from sth
•He pointed down a street leading off from the square.
•a large room, with doors leading off it in all directions
3 to be the first player to try to hit the ball in an INNING (=period of play) in a game of baseball

lead sb on phr v
to deceive someone, especially to make them think you love them:
•He thought she loved him, but in fact she was just leading him on.

lead on to sth phr v also lead onto sth especially BrE
to cause something to develop or become possible at a later time:
•Alan Turing's work led onto the development of modern computers.

lead with sth phr v
1 if a newspaper or television programme leads with a particular story, that story is the main one:
•The Washington Post leads with the latest news from Israel.
2 to use a particular hand to begin an attack in BOXING, or a particular foot to begin a dance:
•Adam led with his left and punched his opponent on the jaw.

lead up to sth phr v [not in passive]
1 if a series of events or a period of time leads up to an event, it comes before it or causes it:
•the weeks that led up to her death
•the events leading up to his dismissal
2 to gradually introduce an embarrassing, upsetting, or surprising subject into a conversation:
•She had already guessed what he was leading up to.
1 the lead the first position in a race or competition:
•She was in the lead from start to finish.
•The Canadians went into the lead after only 30 seconds.
•The goal put Holland into the lead.
•The Bears took the lead for the first time this season.
2 [singular] the amount or distance by which one competitor is ahead of another:
•The Chicago Bulls had a narrow lead (=were winning by a small number of points).
[+over]
•The Socialists now have a commanding lead over their opponents.
3 [singular] if someone follows someone else's lead, they do the same as the other person has done:
•Other countries are likely to follow the U.S.'s lead.
•The Government should give industry a lead in tackling racism (=show what other people should do).
•The black population in the 1960s looked to Ali for a lead (=looked to him to show them what they should do).
4 take the lead (in doing sth) to be the first to start doing something or be most active in doing something:
•The U.S. took the lead in declaring war on terrorism.
5 [C] a piece of information that may help you to solve a crime or mystery; = clue
•The police have checked out dozens of leads, but have yet to find the killer.
6 [C] the main acting part in a play, film etc, or the main actor
play the lead/the lead role
•He will play the lead role in Hamlet.
•Powers was cast in the lead role (=he was chosen to play it).
the male/female lead
•They were having trouble casting the female lead.
•the film's romantic lead
7 lead singer/guitarist etc the main singer, GUITARIST etc in a group
[+of/with]
•the lead singer of Nirvana
8 [C] BrE a piece of rope, leather, or chain for holding or controlling a dog; = leash
on a lead
•All dogs must be kept on a lead.
9 [C] BrE a wire used to connect a piece of electrical equipment to the power supply; = cord AmE
JUMP LEADS
1 [U] a soft heavy grey metal that melts easily and is poisonous, used to cover roofs, or in the past, for water pipes. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Pb
2 [C,U] the central part of a pencil that makes the marks when you write
3 go down like a lead balloon informal if a suggestion or joke goes down like a lead balloon, people do not like it at all
4 [U] AmE old-fashioned bullets:
•They filled him full of lead.
5 leads [plural]
a) sheets of lead used for covering a roof
b) narrow pieces of lead used for holding small pieces of glass together to form a window
1 leaded petrol contains lead; unleaded
2 leaded windows have narrow pieces of lead separating small square or DIAMOND -shaped pieces of glass [plural]
BrE leaded windows
1 literary a leaden sky or sea is dark grey in colour
2 literary if your body feels leaden, you move slowly, because you are tired, unhappy etc; = heavy
•She stumbled forward, her legs leaden.
3 dull:
•a leaden joke
4 a leaden feeling is a feeling of great unhappiness or anxiety
5 made of lead $ [C]
1 IN CONTROL the person who directs or controls a group, organization, country etc; ruler
[+of]
•the leader of the local black community
party/union/government/opposition etc leader
political/military/religious leader
•the largest ever gathering of world leaders (=people who are in charge of countries)
natural/born leader (=someone who naturally has all the qualities needed to be a leader)
•His air of confidence makes him a natural leader.
2 COMPETITION the person or group that is in front of all the others in a race or competition:
•County Championship leaders of Hampshire
3 PRODUCT COMPANY the product or company that is the best or most successful
[+in]
•a world leader in defence and space electronics
•These products are firmly established as the market leaders.
4 NEWSPAPER BrE a piece of writing in a newspaper giving the paper's opinion on a subject; = editorial
•The Times leader column
5 MUSICIAN BrE the main VIOLIN player in an ORCHESTRA; = concertmaster AmE
6 MUSICAL DIRECTOR AmE someone who directs the playing of a musical group; = conductor BrE
7 TAPE technical the part at the beginning of a film or recording tape which has nothing on it
8 BRANCH technical a long thin branch that grows from the stem of a bush or tree beyond other branches $
1 [C,U] the position of being the leader of a group, organization, country etc
[+of]
•the leadership of the Conservative party
under sb's leadership
•Our prospects of winning an election will be better under his leadership.
•The United States must now take a firm leadership role.
•the Conservative leadership contest
•The next leadership election is due in November.
2 [U] the quality of being good at leading a group, organization, country etc:
•She has great faith in her own leadership qualities.
•someone with vision and leadership
3 [C also + plural verb BrE ] all the people who lead a group, organization, country etc:
•the country's military leadership
•The party leadership are in agreement on this matter.
4 [U] the position of being in front of others in an activity or competition:
•Leadership in science is important to our nation.
lead-free petrol or paint contains no LEAD; = unleaded [C]
remarks made by someone to introduce a radio or television show [only before noun]
1 best, most important, or most successful:
•The army played a leading role in organizing the attempted coup.
•the leading industrial nations
•a leading heart specialist
• leading members of the government
2 leading edge
a) technical the part of something that is at the front of it when it moves
b) the part of an activity where the most modern and advanced equipment and methods are used
[+of]
•This is the leading edge of medical technology.
LEADING-EDGE
3 leading light a respected person who leads a group or organization, or is important in a particular area of knowledge or activity:
•The two women were leading lights of the women's union.
4 leading question a question that deliberately tricks someone into giving the answer you want:
•Don't ask leading questions.
5 leading lady/man the woman or man who acts the most important female or male part in a film, play etc
LEADING ARTICLE [U] technical
LEAD used for covering roofs, for window frames etc $ [C]
BrE a piece of writing in a newspaper giving the paper's opinion on a subject; = editorial [only before noun]
leading-edge machines, systems etc are the most modern and advanced ones available:
•leading-edge technologies for military and computer applications $ [only before noun] AmE
happening or going first or before others [C]
the most important report in a newspaper or news programme, which is put first [U]
the time that it takes to make or produce something [singular]
the things that are done in the time before an important event; = run-up
•the lead-up to the election plural leaves
1 PLANT [C] one of the flat green parts of a plant that are joined to its stem or branches:
•a flowering bush with large shiny leaves
[+of]
•Add a few leaves of fresh basil to the salad.
be in leaf/come into leaf (=have or start growing leaves, at a particular time of year)
•The forest was just coming into leaf.
2 take a leaf out of sb's book to copy the way someone else behaves because you want to be like them or be as successful as they are:
•They are committing $3m to research. We could take a leaf out of their book.
3 turn over a new leaf to change the way you behave and become a better person:
•I see fatherhood as a chance to turn over a new leaf.
4 PAGE [C] formal a page of a book:
•He slipped the letter between the leaves of his notebook.
LOOSE-LEAF, OVERLEAF
5 PART OF TABLE [C] a part of the top of a table that can be taken out to make the table smaller
shake like a leaf at SHAKE^1 (2)

PHRASAL VERBS
leaf through sth phr v
to turn the pages of a book quickly, without reading it properly; = skim through
•She picked up the magazine and leafed through it.
a leafless tree or bush has no leaves on it [C]
a small book or piece of paper advertising something or giving information on a particular subject
[+on]
•a leaflet on skin cancer
hand/pass/give/send out a leaflet
•Students were handing out election leaflets at the station.[I,T]
to give leaflets to people:
•He's leafleting the neighbourhood.leaf mold AmE [U] BrE
dead decaying leaves that improve soil
1 having a lot of leaves:
•leafy green vegetables such as spinach
2 having a lot of trees and plants:
•a leafy suburb [C]
1 a group of sports teams or players who play games against each other to see who is best:
•He makes his football league debut tomorrow.
•the Rugby League Championship
be (at the) top/bottom of the league (=be the best or the worst team in a group)
2 a group of people or countries who have joined together because they have similar aims, political beliefs etc:
•the National Socialist League
3 not be in the same league (as sb/sth) also be in a different league (from sb/sth) to be not nearly as good or important as someone or something else:
•They're not in the same league as the French at making wine.
4 be out of your league to not be skilled or experienced enough to do or deal with something
5 be in league (with sb) to be working with someone secretly, especially for a bad purpose:
•Vernon was accused by his enemies of being in league with the devil.
6 an ancient unit for measuring distance, equal to 3 miles or about 4828 metres on land, and three NAUTICAL MILEs or 5556 metres at sea[C]
especially BrE a list in which people, teams, or organizations are shown in order of their success or quality:
•The government's school league tables are published today.
1 [I,T] if a container, pipe, roof etc leaks, or if it leaks gas, liquid etc, there is a small hole or crack in it that lets gas or liquid flow through:
•The roof is leaking in several places.
•A tanker is leaking oil off the coast of Scotland.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if a gas or liquid leaks somewhere, it gets through a hole in something; = seep
[+into/from/out]
•Sea water was leaking into the batteries which powered the electric motors.
3 [T] to deliberately give secret information to a newspaper, television company etc:
•The report's findings had been leaked.
leak sth to sb
•civil servants who leak information to the press

PHRASAL VERBS
leak out phr v
if secret information leaks out, a lot of people find out about it:
•No sooner had the news leaked out than my telephone started ringing.[C]
1 a small hole that lets liquid or gas flow into or out of something:
•There is a leak in the ceiling.
•The boat had sprung a leak (=a hole had appeared in it).
2 a gas/oil/water etc leak an escape of gas or liquid through a hole in something:
•A gas leak caused the explosion.
3 a situation in which secret information is deliberately given to a newspaper, television company etc:
•It became evident from the leaks that something important was going on.
4 take/have a leak informal to get rid of waste liquid from your body; = urinate [C,U]
1 when gas, water etc leaks in or out, or the amount of it that has leaked
2 the deliberate spreading of secret information:
•leakages of confidential information
a container, roof etc that is leaky has a hole or crack in it so that liquid or gas passes through it:
•The house had a leaky roof. past tense and past participle leaned or, leant especially BrE
1 [I always + adv/prep] to move or bend your body in a particular direction
[+forward/back/over etc]
•They were leaning forward, facing each other.
•Lean back and enjoy the ride.
•She leant towards him and listened.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to support yourself in a sloping position against a wall or other surface
[+against/on]
•He was leaning on the bridge, watching the boats go by.
3 [I,T always + adv/prep] to put something in a sloping position where it is supported, or to be in that position
lean (sth) against/on sth
•A huge mirror was leaning against the wall.
•He leant his bicycle against the fence.
4 [I] to slope or bend from an upright position:
•trees leaning in the wind

PHRASAL VERBS
lean on sb phr v
1 to depend on someone for support and encouragement, especially at a difficult time:
•The couple lean on each other for support.
2 informal to try to influence someone, especially by threatening them:
•They won't pay unless you lean on them.

lean towards sth phr v
to tend to support, or begin to support, a particular set of opinions, beliefs etc:
•Canada, the UK and Japan leant towards the US view.
1 thin in a healthy and attractive way:
•He was lean, tall, and muscular.
see box at THIN^1
2 lean meat does not have much fat on it; fatty
3 a lean organization, company etc uses only as much money and as many people as it needs, so that nothing is wasted
4 a lean period is a very difficult time because there is not enough money, business etc:
•His wife was a source of constant support during the lean years.
- leanness noun [U] [C]
a tendency to prefer or agree with a particular set of beliefs, opinions etc; = inclination
•his radical political leanings
[+towards]
•a leaning towards the Right
a past tense and past participle of LEAN[C]
a small roughly-made building that is built against the side of a larger building past tense and past participle leapt especially BrE , leaped especially AmE
1 JUMP
a) [I always + adv/prep] to jump high into the air or to jump in order to land in a different place:
•She leapt over the fence.
•The smaller animals can easily leap from tree to tree.
b) [T] literary to jump over something:
•Brenda leaped the gate and ran across the field.
2 MOVE FAST [I always + adv/prep] to move very quickly and with a lot of energy:
•I leapt up the stairs three at a time.
•He leapt out of bed.
•She leapt to her feet (=stood up quickly) and started shouting.
3 INCREASE [I] to increase quickly and by a large amount; tumble
[+to]
•Profits leapt to £376m.
•He leapt 27 places to second spot.
4 leap at the chance/opportunity to accept an opportunity very eagerly:
•I leapt at the chance of studying art in Paris.
5 leap to sb's defence BrE leap to sb's defense AmE to quickly defend someone:
•When her younger brother was being bullied she leapt to his defence.
6 HEART [I] literary if your heart leaps, you feel a sudden surprise, happiness, or excitement:
•My heart leaped when I saw Paul at the airport.

PHRASAL VERBS
leap out at sb phr v
if a word or phrase in a piece of writing leaps out at you, you notice it particularly, because it is interesting, important etc; = jump out at
look before you leap at LOOK^1 (12)[C]
1 a big jump; = bound
•He threw a stick into the river and the dog went after it in a flying leap.
2 a large increase or change
quantum/great/huge etc leap
•a quantum leap (=very great increase or change) in population levels
[+in]
•a 16% leap in pre-tax profits
[+forward]
•the huge leap forward that took place in the 1980s
3 by/in leaps and bounds if something increases, develops, grows etc by leaps and bounds, it does it very quickly:
•Lifeboat technology has advanced by leaps and bounds.
4 a leap of (the) imagination also an imaginative leap a mental process that is needed to understand something difficult or see the connection between two very different ideas
5 leap in the dark something you do without knowing what will happen as a result
6 leap of faith something you do even though it involves a risk, hoping that it will have a good result $ [U]
a children's game in which someone bends over and someone else jumps over thempast tense and past participle leapfrogged, present participle leapfrogging [I,T]
to suddenly become better, more advanced etc than people or organizations that were previously better than you:
•The company leapfrogged its rivals into a leading position.
a past tense and past participle of LEAP[C]
a year, which happens every fourth year, when February has 29 days instead of 28 $ past tense and past participle learned or, learnt $ especially BrE
1 SUBJECT/SKILL [I,T] to gain knowledge of a subject or skill, by experience, by studying it, or by being taught; teach
•What's the best way to learn a language?
learn (how) to do sth
•I learnt to drive when I was 17.
•Hector spent the winter learning how to cope with his blindness.
•The teacher's task is to help the pupil learn.
learn (sth) from sb
•I learned a lot from my father.
[+about]
•Kids can have fun and learn about music at the same time.
learn what
•Youngsters must learn what is dangerous and what is not to be feared.
•The student will learn from experience about the importance of planning.
!! Do not say that you 'learn someone something' or 'learn someone how to do something'. Use teach: I taught him how to send an e-mail.
2 FIND OUT [I,T] formal to find out information or news by hearing it from someone else or reading it; = discover
•I didn't tell her the truth. She would learn it for herself soon enough.
[+of/about]
•He learned about his appointment by telephone yesterday.
learn (that)
•Last week I learned that I was pregnant.
•She was surprised to learn that he was a lot older than she had thought.
learn whether/who/why
•I waited to learn whether I'd secured a college place.
•We have yet to learn who will be the new manager.
3 REMEMBER [T] to get to know something so well that you can easily remember it; = memorize
•The actors hardly had time to learn their lines before filming started.
4 CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOUR [I,T] to gradually understand a situation and start behaving in the way that you should
learn (that)
•They have to learn that they can't just do whatever they like.
learn to do sth
•Young hairdressers must learn to treat the client as a person, not a head of hair.
•I've told him a hundred times not to bully people, but he never learns.
[+from]
•You have to learn from your mistakes (=understand why what you did was wrong).
•the lessons learned in the Gulf War
5 sb has learned their lesson used to say that someone will not do something wrong or stupid again, because they suffered as a result:
•I've learned my lesson; I've now got a burglar alarm and a guard dog.
6 learn (sth) the hard way to understand a situation or develop a skill by learning from your mistakes and bad experiences
7 that'll learn sb! spoken used when something bad has just happened to someone as a result of their actions, especially when they ignored a warning
live and learn at LIVE^1 (20) $ formal
1 a learned person has a lot of knowledge because they have read and studied a lot:
•a learned professor
2 learned books/works etc books etc that are written by people who have a lot of knowledge:
•learned works on natural history
- learnedly adverb $ [C]
1 someone who is learning to do something

slow learner (=someone who learns things slowly)
quick/fast learner (=someone who learns things quickly)
adult learner
young learner
advanced learner (=someone who has been learning something for a long time)
language learner

[+of]
•a new dictionary for learners of business English
•the needs of slow learners
•attractive grammar books for adult learners

2 also learner driver BrE someone who is learning to drive a car[C]
AmE an official document that gives you permission to learn to drive; = provisional licence BrE $ [U]
knowledge gained through reading and study:
•a man of great learning[C]
the rate at which you learn a new skill:
•Everyone in the centre has been through a very steep learning curve (=they had to learn very quickly).[plural]
a mental problem that affects someone's ability to learn:
•a school for children with learning difficulties[C,U]
a mental problem that affects someone's ability to learn $
a past tense and past participle of LEARN [C]
1 a legal agreement which allows you to use a building, car etc for a period of time, in return for rent

take out a lease (=start having a lease)
renew a lease (=start having a lease again after it has finished)
a lease expires/runs out (=a lease stops)
the terms of a lease (=the legal details in a lease)
a long lease
a short lease

[+on]
•They took out a lease on a seven-acre field.
•The landlord refused to renew his lease.
• The 99-year lease expired in 1999.
•Do you understand all the terms of the lease?

2 a new lease of life especially BrE a new lease on life AmE
a) if something has a new lease of life, it is changed or repaired so that it can continue:
•Historic buildings can have a new lease of life through conversion.
b) if someone has a new lease of life, they become healthy, active, or happy again after being weak, ill, or tired:
•an operation to give her a new lease of life[T]
1 to use a building, car etc under a lease:
•I'm interested in leasing your cottage.
lease sth from sb
•They lease the site from the council.
2 also lease out to let someone use a building, car etc under a lease
lease sth to sb
•The building was leased to a health club.
see box at RENT^1 [C,U]
technical an arrangement in which you sell or give something to someone, but continue to use it by paying them rent $ especially BrE
leasehold property is property that you will own only for the period of time stated in a lease; freehold
- leasehold adverb $ [C]
someone who lives in a leasehold house, apartment etc [C] especially AmE
1 a piece of rope, leather etc fastened to a dog's collar in order to control it; = lead BrE
on/off a leash
•At her side on a leash trotted a small grey dog.
•Never leave your dog off the leash outside a store.
2 keep/have sb on a leash to control someone - used humorously:
•Marcus keeps you on a short leash, does he?[T]
AmE to put a leash on a dog
1 at least
a) not less than a particular number or amount:
•It will take you at least 20 minutes to get there.
•He had at least £100,000 in savings.
at the (very) least (=not less than and probably much more than)
•It would cost $1 million at the very least.
b) even if something better is not true or is not done:
•At least he didn't lie to me.
•I don't expect you to pay me, but you could at least cover my expenses.
•The house still needed a lot of work, but at least the kitchen was finished.
c) used when you are correcting or changing something that you have just said:
•They all knew I was on their side. At least, that's what they said.
•I made everything perfectly clear - or at least I thought I did.
2 at the (very) least used when mentioning the least extreme thing that happens, is needed etc:
•Computer viruses are at the very least annoying and often actually destructive.
3 the least
a) the smallest amount:
•Women work in those sectors of the job market which pay the least.
•Which method causes the least damage to the environment?
b) used to emphasize how small something is, especially when it hardly exists at all:
•I haven't the least idea what you are talking about.
•He used to wake at the least noise.
c) used when you are saying what someone should do in a situation, and suggesting that they should really do more:
•The least you could do is give me her phone number.
•The least they could have given her is some money towards the rent.
4 not the least/not in the least/not the least bit none at all, or not at all:
•I tried to convince them, but they weren't the least interested.
•I'm not in the least afraid of you any more.
•His voice was alert, not the least bit sleepy.
5 to say the least used to show that something is worse or more serious than you are actually saying:
•His teaching methods were strange, to say the least.
6 the least of sb's worries/problems/troubles/concerns something that someone is not worried about because there are other more important problems:
•What I looked like was the least of my problems.
7 it's the least I can do spoken used to say that you are very willing to do something or to reply to someone's thanks:
•I'll look after them - it's the least I can do.
last but not least at LAST^2 (3)
1 less than anything or anyone else; most
•The journey would impose extra expense on those least able to afford it.
•It is quite amazing what turns up when you are least expecting it.
•He's my least favourite member of staff.
2 least of all especially not a particular person or thing:
•She hardly ever lost her temper - least of all with Anne.
3 not least formal used to emphasize that something is important:
•My mother was upset about his appearance here, not least because she felt it was invading her privacy.also leastwise informal
at least; = anyway
•There's no way to cross the mountains, leastways at this time of the year. $
1 [U] animal skin that has been treated to preserve it, and is used for making shoes, bags etc:
•The inside of the bag was lined with soft leather.
•elegant leather boots
2 leathers [plural] special leather clothes worn for protection by someone riding a MOTORCYCLE
run/go hell for leather at HELL^1 (27) [U]
a cheap material made to look like leather; = naugahyde AmE
hard and stiff like leather, rather than soft or smooth:
•her leathery brown skin past tense and past participle left
1 GO AWAY [I,T] to go away from a place or a person:
•My baby gets upset when I leave the room.
•Before leaving the train, make sure you have all your belongings with you.
•Leave the motorway at Junction 7.
[+at]
•The plane leaves at 12.30.
[+for]
•I tried calling him, but he'd already left for work.
leave (sth/sb) soon/now/later etc
•If he left immediately, he'd catch the 7.30 train.
leave (sth/sb) to do sth
•Frances left work early to meet her mother.
leave sb doing sth
•Never leave children playing near water unattended.
leave sb to sth
•I'll leave you to it (=go away and let you continue with what you are doing).
•My youngest boy has not left my side (=has stayed near me) since his daddy was killed.
leave sb in peace (=go away from someone so that they can think, work etc alone)
•Just a few more questions, then we'll leave you in peace.
2 STOP [I,T] if you leave your job, home, school etc, you permanently stop doing that job, living at home etc:
•Over the past two years, 20 staffers have left.
leave home/school/college etc
•How old were you when you left home (=your parents' home)?
•My daughter got a job after she left school.
•The lawsuit will be postponed until the president leaves office.
leave a job/country/Spain etc
•Many missionaries were forced to leave the country.
•It seems that Tony has left the band for good (=permanently).
leave (sb/sth) to do sth
•Laura left her native England to live in France.
3 leave sb/sth alone
a) to stop annoying or upsetting someone:
•Oh, just leave me alone, will you?
•Leave the boy alone, he can make up his own mind.
b) to go away from someone so that they are on their own:
•Six-year-old Gemma had been left alone in the house.
c) to stop touching something:
•Leave that alone. You'll break it.
d) also leave well (enough) alone to stop being involved in or trying to change a situation:
•Why can't they just leave well alone and let us concentrate on teaching?
4 LET STH/SB STAY [T always + adv/prep] to make or allow something or someone to stay in a place when you go away
leave sth/sb in/with/behind etc
•Are you leaving the kids with Grandma on Saturday?
•As soon as I'd shut the door, I realized I'd left the keys inside.
•Did anybody leave a jacket behind last night?
•She left her son in the care of a friend.
leave sb to do sth
•He left Ruth to find her own way home.
•Students were left to their own devices (=left alone and allowed to do whatever they wanted) for long periods.
leave sb for dead
•The girl had been attacked and left for dead.
5 NOT CHANGE/MOVE STH [T] to let something remain in a particular state, position, or condition
leave sth on/off/out etc
•You've left your lights on.
•She must have left the phone off the hook.
leave sth open/empty/untidy etc
•I wish you'd stop leaving the door open.
•The trial left many questions unanswered.
leave a space/gap etc
•Leave the next two lines blank for the tutor's comments.
•Drivers should always leave room for cyclists.
leave sth doing sth
•I'll just leave the engine running while I go in.
•Don't leave tools lying about.
leave sth to do sth
•Leave the pots to soak overnight.
6 RESULT OF ACCIDENT/ILLNESS/EVENT [T] if an event, accident, illness etc leaves you in a particular condition, you are in that condition because of it:
•An explosion at a chemical plant has left one worker dead and four injured.
leave sb with sth
•Although the infection cleared up, he was left with a persistent cough.
leave sb doing sth
•The incident left her feeling confused and hurt.
•The announcement has left shareholders nursing huge losses.
7 be left also have sth left if something is left, it remains after everything else has gone, been taken away, or used:
•I've only got a few dollars left.
•There were a couple of seats left at the back.
•We don't have much time left.
•He pointed to what was left of the house (=used when very little is left).
• All that was left was a pile of bones.
[+over]
•After we've paid the bills, there's never much left over.
•They ate some bread rolls left over from the night before.
8 LETTER/MESSAGE/THING [T] to deliver a message, note, package etc for someone or put it somewhere so that they will get it later:
•She left a message on his answerphone.
leave sb sth
•Can you leave me some money for the bus?
leave sth with sb
•Ian left this note with me.
leave sth for sb
•A guy left these flowers for you.
9 DELAY [T] to not do something or to do it later than you intended:
•Leave the dishes. I'll do them later.
•So much had been left undone.
leave sth until the last minute/until last
•If you leave your preparation until the last minute, you'll reduce your chances of passing.
•I left the best bit until last.
•I want to think about it. Can I leave it for now?
•I'm afraid you've left it too late to change your ticket.
leave it at that (=used to say that you will not do any more of something, because you have done enough)
•Let's leave it at that for today.
10 LET SB DECIDE/BE RESPONSIBLE [T] to let someone else decide something or be responsible for something
leave sth to sb
• Leave it to me. I'll make sure it gets posted.
•The choice of specialist subject is left entirely to the students.
leave it (up) to sb to do sth
•I'll leave it up to you to decide.
•She leaves it to the reader to draw their own conclusions.
leave doing sth to sb
•Is it okay if I leave writing the results to you?
leave sth with sb
•Leave it with me, I'll fix it for you.
•He's not the sort to leave things to chance (=take no action and just wait to see what happens).
leave sb with no choice/option (=force someone to take a particular action)
•You leave me with no choice but to fire you.
leave sb to do sth BrE
•Clive moved to London, leaving Edward to run the Manchester office.
11 HUSBAND/WIFE ETC [I,T] to stop living with or having a relationship with your husband, partner etc:
•Martha was always threatening to leave, but I never believed her.
leave sb for sb
•Mr Rushworth left his partner of 10 years for a younger woman.
12 WHEN YOU DIE [T]
a) to arrange for someone to receive your money, property, etc after you die; = bequeath
•Aunt Alice died, leaving almost $5 million.
leave sb sth
•Hugo left me his mother's ring.
•In his will, he had left all his children a small sum of money.
leave sth to sb/sth
•Have you thought of leaving a gift to charity after you die?
b) leave a wife/children etc used when someone dies before their wife, children etc:
•PC Davis leaves a wife and three small children.
13 MARK [T] to make a mark that remains afterwards
leave a mark/stain/scar etc
•The wine had left a permanent mark on the tablecloth.
•He staggered to the door, leaving a trail of blood.
•Make sure that you don't leave any footprints.
14 NOT EAT/DRINK [T] if you leave food or drink that you have been given, you do not eat or drink it:
•'I'm really hungry now.' 'That's because you left half your lunch.'
•He rose from the table, leaving his brandy untouched.
15 leave sb/sth standing also leave sb/sth in the dust AmE informal to be much better, quicker, more successful etc than someone or something else:
•In terms of fitness, he discovered that Kate left him standing.
16 leave a lot/something/much to be desired to be very unsatisfactory:
•Inspectors say health and safety procedures at the factory leave a lot to be desired.
17 MATHEMATICS [T] in a sum, to have a particular amount remaining:
•Three from seven leaves four.
18 leave sth aside/to one side to not think about or consider one part of something for a time, so that you can consider another part of it:
• Leaving aside for a moment the question of expense, what would your view be of the suggested changes?
19 leave sb/sth be old-fashioned to not upset, speak to, or annoy someone or to not touch something
20 leave go/hold of sth BrE spoken informal to stop holding something
21 leave it to sb (to do sth) AmE spoken informal used to say that no one should be surprised that someone does something, because it is typical or expected of them:
•Leave it to you to have the whole day planned out!

PHRASAL VERBS
leave sb/sth <=> behind phr v
1 to not take someone or something with you when you leave a place:
•I think I might have left my wallet behind.
•He departed for Washington, leaving the children behind with their mother.
2 if a person, country, or organization is left behind, they do not develop as quickly or make as much progress as other people, countries etc:
•In class, a child with poor eyesight can soon get left behind.
•a fear of being left behind by better-organized rivals
3 also leave sb/sth behind you to permanently stop being involved with a place, person, or situation:
•It's time to leave the past behind.
•Although Armstrong overcame the circumstances of his birth, he never really left New Orleans behind.
4 also leave sb/sth behind you to move away from someone or something:
•They had left the city behind and were heading into open country.
•Sarah, with her long legs, soon left the rest of us far behind.
5 also leave sth behind you to produce a thing or situation that remains after you have gone:
•He drove off, leaving behind him a trail of blue smoke.
•the mess the previous government left behind

leave off phr v
1 to stop doing something
take up/pick up/continue (sth) etc where sb left off (=continue something that has stopped for a short time)
•Barry took up the story where Justine had left off.
leave off doing sth BrE informal
•'Will you leave off nagging?' he snarled.
2 leave sb/sth off (sth) to not include something such as someone's name in a list or other document:
•Why was her name left off the list?

leave sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to not include someone or something:
•She outlined the case to him, being careful not to leave anything out.
leave sb/sth out of sth
•Kidd has been left out of the team.
2 be/feel left out to feel that you are not accepted or welcome in a situation:
•New fathers often feel left out when baby arrives.
3 leave it out! BrE spoken used to tell someone to stop lying, pretending, or being annoying
sb can take it or leave it at TAKE^1 (21)
be left holding the baby/bag at HOLD^1 (26)
1 HOLIDAY [U] time that you are allowed to spend away from your work, especially in the armed forces:
•I've applied for three days' leave.
on leave
•navy officers home on leave
•Your basic annual leave is 20 days.
2 maternity/sick/compassionate leave time that you are allowed to spend away from work because you have had a baby, because you are ill, or because of a personal problem such as the death of a relative
3 leave of absence a period of time that you are allowed to spend away from work for a particular purpose:
•She's been given leave of absence to attend a computer course.
4 PERMISSION [U] formal permission to do something:
•All this was done entirely without my leave.
leave to do sth
•a petition for leave to appeal to the European court
grant/obtain/ask/seek etc leave (to do sth)
•He asked leave to speak to her in private.
5 without so much as a by your leave old-fashioned without asking permission, in a way that seems very rude:
•He marched into my office without so much as a by your leave.
6 take leave of your senses to suddenly start behaving in a strange way:
•You want to marry him? Have you taken leave of your senses?
7 take leave of sb/take your leave formal to say goodbye to someonealso leavening
1 [U] technical a substance, especially YEAST, that is added to a mixture of flour and water so that it will swell and can be baked into bread; unleavened
2 [singular, U] literary something that makes an event or situation less boring, serious, or sad[T]
formal to make something less boring, serious, or sad
the plural of LEAF[C]
literary an act of saying goodbye when you go away [plural] old-fashioned
things that are left because people do not want themletch

PHRASAL VERBS
lech after/over sb phr v BrE informal
to show sexual desire for someone in a way that is unpleasant or annoying:
•a middle-aged man leching after young girls $ [C]
a man who shows his sexual desire for women in a way that is unpleasant or annoying
a lecherous man shows his sexual desire for women in a way that is unpleasant or annoying:
•a lecherous old man
- lecherously adverb [U] old-fashioned
sexual desire or pleasure that is considered bad because it is not part of a romantic relationship:
•There was a hint of lechery in his eyes. $ [C]
an object with a sloping surface that you put an open book or notes on while you are speaking to people in public $ [C]
1 a long talk on a particular subject that someone gives to a group of people, especially to students in a university; speech
[+on/about]
•a lecture on medieval art
•a series of lectures about the British legal system
give/deliver a lecture
•He regularly gives lectures on modern French literature.
go to/attend a lecture
•Very few students ever attended his lectures.
lecture hall/theatre/room
2 an act of criticizing someone or warning them about something in a long, serious talk, in a way that they think is unfair or unnecessary
[+on/about]
•My father caught me and gave me a long lecture about the dangers of drink.
1 [T] to talk angrily or seriously to someone in order to criticize or warn them, in a way that they think is unfair or unnecessary:
•I wish you'd stop lecturing me!
lecture sb about/on sth
•He began to lecture us about making too much noise.
2 [I] to talk to a group of people on a particular subject, especially to students in a university
[+on]
•He lectures on European art at Manchester University. $ [C]

a) someone who gives lectures, especially in a university:
•She's a brilliant lecturer.
b) a teacher in a British university or college
[+in]
•a lecturer in medieval studies at Edinburgh University
see box at TEACHER $ [C]
a teaching job at a university or college in Britain, in which you give lectures to students
[+in]
•He was offered a lectureship in mathematics at Bristol University. [in adjectives]
having a particular thing as the most important cause or influence:
•an export-led economic recovery
the past tense and past participle of LEAD^1 [C]
1 a narrow flat piece of rock that sticks out on the side of a mountain or cliff:
•We crept carefully along the narrow ledge.
•He leapt onto a ledge of rock.
2 a narrow shelf:
•There's some money on the window ledge (=narrow shelf below the window). $ [C]
a book in which a business, bank etc records how much money it receives and spends[C]
a line on which you write musical notes that are too high or low to be shown on a STAVE
1 in/under the lee of sth next to something, and protected from the wind by that thing:
•We sat in the lee of a tall hedge.
2 the lees technical the thick substance that collects at the bottom of a bottle of wine [C]
1 a small soft creature that fixes itself to the skin of animals in order to drink their blood
2 someone who takes advantage of other people by taking their money, food etc:
•The family began to see him as a leech. [C]
a vegetable with a long white stem and long flat green leaves, which tastes like an onion $ [I]
to look at someone in an unpleasant way that shows that you think they are sexually attractive
[+at]
•She was sick of old men leering at her.
- leer noun [C] $ informal
careful in the way that you deal with something or someone because you do not trust them; = wary
[+of]
•I was very leery of him after I found out he had lied to Jennifer. $
1 the leeward side of something is the side that is sheltered from the wind; windward
•We camped on the leeward side of the mountain.
2 technical a leeward direction is the same direction as the wind is blowing; windward
to leeward (=in a leeward direction)
•The ship cruised slowly to leeward. [U]
1 freedom to do things in the way you want to
[+in]
•The government does not have much leeway in foreign policy.
leeway to do sth
•Try to give teenagers more leeway to make their own decisions.
2 make up leeway BrE if you have to make up leeway, you have to do extra work because you have not done as much work as you should have done:
•We've got quite a lot of leeway to make up. [only before noun]
1 your left side is the side of your body that contains your heart; right
•She held out her left hand.
•a scar on the left side of his face
2 on the same side of something as your left side; right
•Take the next left turn.
•the left bank of the river
•a pile of papers on the left side of the desk
3 have two left feet informal to move in an awkward way when you are running or doing a sport:
•a tall, clumsy-looking boy with two left feet
4 the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing used to say that one part of a group or organization does not know what the other parts are doing
towards the direction or side that is on the left; right
•Turn left just after the school.
1 the left/sb's left the side of your body that contains your heart; right
on/to the left (of sth)
•Take the next road on the left.
•Our house is just to the left of the school.
on/to sb's left
•On your left you can see the Houses of Parliament.
2 (from) left to right from the left side to the right side of something:
•The photo shows, from left to right, his daughters Molly, Fiona, and Anne.
3 the left/the Left political parties and groups that support the ideas and beliefs of SOCIALISM. They usually want large industries to be owned by the state, and to use taxes to help solve social problems; right
•He has support from the Left.
•politicians on the left of the party
•The party is moving further to the left.
4 [C] a hit made with your left hand; right
5 take a left also hang a left AmE to turn left:
•Take the next left (=turn left at the next road).
the past tense and past participle of LEAVE^1[U]
1 a position in baseball in the left side of the OUTFIELD; right field
2 out of/from left field informal something that comes out of left field is unexpected:
•People don't know how to react when a question like that comes at them out of left field.[only before noun]
on the left side of something; right-hand
•We live about halfway down the street on the left-hand side.
a left-hand drive vehicle is one in which the driver sits on the left; right-hand drive
1 a left-handed person uses their left hand for writing, throwing etc; right-handed
2 [only before noun] left-handed tools have been made for left-handed people to use:
•left-handed scissors
3 left-handed compliment AmE a statement that seems to express admiration or praise, but at the same time is insulting; = backhanded compliment BrE[C]
someone who uses their left hand for writing, throwing etc; right-hander
another spelling of LEFTY
supporting LEFT-WING ideas or groups; rightist
•a coalition of leftist parties
- leftist noun [C]
•a group of radical leftists[C]
BrE a place in a station, airport etc where you can pay to leave your bags and collect them laterleft-of-center AmE BrE
supporting ideas and aims that are between the centre and the left in politics; right-of-centre
•a modern left-of-centre party with wide appeal $ [only before noun]
remaining after all the rest has been used, taken, or eaten:
•leftover vegetables
•a few pieces of leftover carpet
1 leftovers [plural] food that has not been eaten at the end of a meal:
•Give the leftovers to the dog.
2 [singular] something from an earlier time that still remains, even though it is not really useful or important any more; = hangover
[+from]
•The headmaster was a leftover from the Victorian era.leftward AmE $ especially BrE
on or towards the left; rightwards
•Follow the path leftwards.
- leftward adjective
a left-wing person or group supports the political aims of groups such as SOCIALISTS and COMMUNISTs ; right-wing
•a left-wing newspaper
•a left-wing political organization.
•She's got very left-wing views.
- left wing noun [singular]
•the left wing of the Labour party
- left-winger noun [C]
•She is supported by left-wingers in the party.leftie plural lefties [C]
1 informal especially BrE someone who has left-wing political ideas - used to show disapproval,:
•a group of liberals and lefties
2 informal especially AmE someone who uses their left hand for writing, throwing etc
- lefty adjective
•I don't get on with his lefty friends.
1 BODY PART [C] one of the long parts of your body that your feet are joined to, or a similar part on an animal or insect:
•a young boy with skinny legs
•She fell and broke her leg.
four-legged/long-legged etc
•four-legged animals
2 MEAT [C,U] the leg of an animal when it is cooked and eaten as food:
•roast leg of lamb
3 FURNITURE [C] one of the upright parts that support a piece of furniture:
•One of the legs on the table was a bit wobbly.
•a chair leg
•a three-legged stool
4 CLOTHING [C] the part of your trousers that covers your leg:
•The legs of my jeans were covered in mud.
•He rolled up his trouser legs and waded out into the stream.
5 JOURNEY/RACE [C] one part of a long journey or race
[+of]
•the final leg of the Tour de France
6 SPORT [C] BrE one of the series of games in a football competition played between two teams:
•Leeds will have to win the second leg if they are to go forward to the finals.
7 not have a leg to stand on informal to be in a situation where you cannot prove or legally support what you say:
•If you didn't sign a contract, you won't have a leg to stand on.
8 get your leg over BrE informal not polite to have sex with someone
9 have legs AmE informal if a piece of news has legs, people continue to be interested in it and talk about it
on its last legs at LAST^1 (9); on your last legs at LAST^1 (8); pull sb's leg at PULL^1 (11); LEG-PULL, LEG-UP, PEG LEG, SEA LEGS
shake a leg at SHAKE^1 (9)
show a leg at SHOW^1 (23)
stretch your legs at STRETCH^1 (7)past tense and past participle legged, present participle legging BrE informal
leg it to run in order to escape from someone or something:
•We saw him coming, and legged it out of the house. plural legacies [C]
1 something that happens or exists as a result of things that happened at an earlier time
[+of]
•The invasion left a legacy of hatred and fear.
[+from]
•a legacy from the colonial period
2 money or property that you receive from someone after they die; = inheritance
•She received a small legacy from her aunt.
1 if something is legal, you are allowed to do it or have to do it by law; illegal
•What the company has done is perfectly legal.
•plans to make the carrying of identity cards a legal requirement
•He had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream.
•a pressure group that is campaigning to make cannabis legal.
2 [only before noun] concerned with or relating to the law:
•free legal advice
•a costly legal dispute
•the Scottish legal system
the legal profession (=lawyers)
3 legal action/proceedings the use of the legal system to settle an argument, put right an unfair situation etc:
•She threatened to take legal action against the hospital.
LEGALLY[U]
a system in which a government gives money to people who need a lawyer but cannot afford to pay for one:
•They have been granted legal aid and now intend to take their case to court. [U]
informal language used by lawyers that is difficult for most people to understand[C] AmE
an official holiday on which most government offices and banks are closed; = bank holiday BrE
a British spelling of LEGALIZE
too concerned about small legal details:
•a legalistic interpretation of the agreement
1 [U] the fact of being allowed by law
[+of]
•Several ministers have questioned the legality of the ban.
2 legalities [plural] the formal, legal parts of an agreement:
•We've sold the house and are just waiting to complete all the legalities.also legalise BrE [T]
to make something legal so that people are allowed to do it; criminalize
•Abortion was legalized in the 1960s.
- legalization $ noun [U]
•a campaign calling for the legalization of certain drugs
1 according to the law:
•They are still legally married.
•Which of them is legally responsible for the accident?
•a legally binding agreement
2 if you can do something legally, you are allowed to do it by law; illegally
•The station can now broadcast legally.[C]
a book containing sheets of yellow writing paper with lines on it, of a type sold in the US[C]
the laws and the way they work in a particular country:
•the British legal system[U]
coins or bank notes that people can officially use as money in a particular country [C]
an important official representative, especially an official representative of the POPE [C]
law someone who receives money or property from a person who has died [C]
1 a group of government officials who work in a foreign country and represent their own government in that country:
•a member of the British legation in Peking
2 the building or office where a legation works $ technical
music that is played legato is played very smoothly, so that each note connects to the next one without a pause
1 [C,U] an old, well-known story, often about brave people, adventures, or magical events; myth
[+of]
•the legend of St George and the dragon
•ancient Greek legends
according to legend
•According to legend, he escaped by leaping from the cliffs into the sea.
• Legend has it that prisoners were brought here to be executed.
2 [C] someone who is famous and admired for being extremely good at doing something
tennis/footballing/music etc legend
•We must put more money into the sport if we want to create the tennis legends of the future.
•a marvellous player who was a legend in his own lifetime.
living legend at LIVING^1 (6)
3 [C] literary words that have been written somewhere, for example on a sign:
•A sign above the door bore the legend `patience is a virtue'.
4 [C] technical the words that explain a picture or map $
1 very famous and admired:
•Lonnie Johnson, the legendary blues guitarist
•Her singing was legendary.
2 [only before noun] talked about in a legend; mythical
•The cave is the home of a legendary giant. $ [U] old-fashioned
when you deceive people cleverly:
•economic legerdemain [plural]
1 tight trousers for women, which stretch to fit the shape of your body
2 a pair of trousers that you wear over other clothes to protect your legs
1 a woman or child who is leggy has long legs:
•a leggy fifteen-year old blonde
2 a leggy plant has grown too tall very quickly and its stem cannot support its weight very well
written or printed clearly enough for you to read; illegible
•Her handwriting was so tiny it was barely legible.
- legibly adverb
- legibility noun [U] [C]
1 a large group of soldiers, especially in ancient Rome
2 literary a large number of people[not before noun]
literary very many; = numerous
•The stories of her adventures were legion. $ plural legionaries [C]
a member of a legion $ [C]
a member of a legion, especially the French Foreign Legion[U]
a serious disease that affects your lungs[plural]
metal chains that are put around a prisoner's legs [I]
1 to make a law about something
[+on]
•Only Parliament has the power to legislate on constitutional matters.
[+for/against]
•The government has promised to legislate against discrimination.
•We must legislate for equal pay.
legislate to do sth
•We must legislate to control these drugs.
2 legislate for sth to think about how something may affect what you are doing, and do something to prepare for it:
•You can't legislate for bad luck. [U]
a law or set of laws:
•This is a very important piece of legislation (=law).
[+on]
•the legislation on abortion
legislation to do sth
•new legislation to protect children
introduce/bring in legislation
•The government has promised to bring in new legislation to combat this problem.
under new/existing/current etc legislation
•Both individuals and companies can be prosecuted under the new legislation. $ [only before noun]
concerned with making laws:
•The new assemblies will have no legislative power.
legislative assembly/council/body etc (=one with the power to make laws)
•the main legislative body of the EC
•new legislative measures to stem the flow of drugs into the US
• legislative elections $ [C]
someone who has the power to make laws or belongs to an institution that makes laws $ [C]
an institution that has the power to make or change laws
state/national/federal etc legislature
•the state legislature of Virginia [not before noun] spoken informal
1 legal or allowed by official rules:
•Don't worry, the deal's strictly legit.
2 honest and not trying to deceive people:
•Are you sure he's legit?
1 fair or reasonable:
•That's a perfectly legitimate question.
•Most scientists believe it is legitimate to use animals in medical research.
2 acceptable or allowed by law:
•Their business operations are perfectly legitimate.
3 a legitimate child is born to parents who are legally married to each other; illegitimate
- legitimately adverb
•a legitimately elected government
•He complained quite legitimately about his treatment.
- legitimacy noun [U]
•Opponents have questioned the legitimacy of the ruling. [T]
the usual American form of LEGITIMIZEalso legitimise BrE [T]
1 to make something that is unfair or morally wrong seem acceptable and right:
•There is a danger that these films legitimize violence.
2 to make something official or legal:
•Acceptance by the UN would effectively legitimize the regime.
3 when parents legitimize a child, they get married so that the child becomes LEGITIMATE^1 (3)
1 [not before noun] BrE informal very drunk
2 without legs $ [U] trademark
a toy consisting of small plastic bricks that you fit together to build things[C usually singular]
BrE a joke in which you make someone believe something that is not true:
•My first reaction was that this must be a leg-pull.
pull sb's leg at PULL^1 (11)[U]
space for your legs in front of the seats in a car, theatre etc:
•There wasn't enough leg room. [C] technical
a plant such as a bean plant that has seeds in a POD (=a long thin case)
- leguminous adjective
give sb a leg-up informal
a) to help someone to get up to a high place by joining your hands together so they can use them as a step
b) BrE to help someone succeed in their job $ [U]
informal the hard boring work that has to be done in order to achieve something:
•He has a team of volunteers who do most of the legwork for him. $ [U]
1 time when you are not working or studying and can relax and do things you enjoy:
•Most people now enjoy shorter working hours and more leisure time.
•Watching television is now the nation's most popular leisure activity.
•The hotel offers various leisure facilities such as a swimming pool and sauna.
•The leisure industry (=the business of providing leisure activities) is now an important part of the economy.
2 at (your) leisure if you do something at your leisure, you do it slowly and without hurrying:
•Come round for lunch and then we can discuss it at leisure.
•Take the leaflets home and read them at your leisure.
3 gentleman/lady of leisure someone who does not have to work - used humorously[C]
BrE a place where people can do many different sports activities, exercise classes etc $ [only before noun]
1 leisured people do not have to work because they are rich:
•the leisured aristocracy
2 doing things slowly because you feel relaxed and are enjoying yourself:
•They seemed to live a very leisured life. $
if you do something in a leisurely way, you do it in a slow, relaxed way, without hurrying:
•After lunch we went for a leisurely stroll.
•working at a leisurely pace
- leisurely adverb
•He sipped leisurely at his drink. $ [U]
clothes that are made to be worn when you are relaxing or playing sportleitmotiv $ [C]
1 technical a musical phrase that is repeated several times during a long musical work and represents a particular character or idea
2 something that is seen or heard very many times and so becomes a typical feature of a place, time, or person:
•Her designs in clothing became a leitmotif of the 1970s. [C]
a small animal that looks like a rat. Lemmings are known for following each other in large numbers and killing themselves by jumping off cliffs into the sea.
1 [C,U] a fruit with a hard yellow skin and sour juice:
•a slice of lemon
•Add a few drops of lemon juice.
2 [U] BrE a drink that tastes of lemons:
•a glass of fizzy lemon
3 also lemon yellow [U] a pale yellow colour
4 [C] especially AmE informal something that is useless because it fails to work or to work properly:
•I soon realized the van was a lemon.
5 [C] BrE informal a silly person:
•He just stood there looking like a real lemon.also lemon yellow
pale yellow in colour [C,U]
1 BrE a sweet FIZZY drink that tastes of lemons:
•a glass of lemonade
•Would you like a lemonade?
2 a drink made from lemons, sugar, and water[U]
BrE a sweet food made from eggs, butter, and lemon juice that is eaten on bread[U]
a type of grass that grows in warm countries and is used in cooking[C]
a type of flat fish that is cooked and eaten[C]
a small kitchen tool that you use for getting the juice out of a lemon
smelling or tasting of lemons:
•a lovely lemony flavour $ [C]
an animal that looks like a monkey and has a long thick tail past tense and past participle lent
1
a) [T] to let someone borrow money or something that belongs to you for a short time; borrow
lend sth to sb
•I lent my CD player to Dave and I haven't got it back yet.
lend sb sth
•The hospital agreed to lend us a wheelchair.
•Can you lend me £10 until tomorrow?
b) [I,T] if a bank or financial institution lends money, it lets someone have it on condition that they pay it back later, often gradually, with an additional amount as INTEREST:
•The government is trying to encourage the banks to lend more.
lend sth to sb
•A lot of banks are unwilling to lend money to new businesses.
lend sb sth
•The building society agreed to lend us £60,000.
2 lend (sb) a hand to help someone do something, especially something that needs physical effort:
•Can you lend me a hand with this?
3 [T] formal to give a situation, event etc a particular quality
lend sth to sth
•The presence of members of the royal family lent a certain dignity to the ceremony.
4 lend an ear to listen to someone, especially in a sympathetic way:
•He's always prepared to lend a sympathetic ear.
5 lend itself to sth to be suitable for being used in a particular way:
•None of her books really lends itself to being made into a film.
6 lend (your) support (to sth) to support or help someone:
•The government has now lent its support to the campaign.
7 lend weight/support to sth to make an opinion or belief seem more likely to be correct:
•The police have new evidence which lends weight to their theory.
8 lend your name to sth to announce publicly that you support something that someone is trying to do:
•The French prime minister has now lent his name to the protest. $ [C]
a person or organization that lends money to people on condition that they pay it back:
•Several lenders are offering very attractive rates of interest at the moment.[C]
a library that lends books, records etc for people to use at home; reference library[C]
the rate of INTEREST^1 (4) that you have to pay to a bank or other financial institution when you borrow money from them; = interest rate
1 SIZE [C,U] the measurement of how long something is from one end to the other; breadth, width
•We measured the length and width of the living room.
a length of 1 metre/2 feet etc
•Some fish can grow to a length of four feet.
2 feet/10 metres etc in length
•The hotel pool is 15 metres in length.
•You'll need several pieces of string of different lengths.
2 TIME [C,U] the amount of time that you spend doing something or that something continues; duration
[+of]
•Your pension will depend on your length of employment.
•What's the average length of stay in hospital?
(not) for any length of time (=not for very long)
•He wasn't left alone for any length of time.
3 BOOKS/FILMS ETC [C,U] the amount of writing in a book, or the amount of time that a film, play etc continues
[+of]
•We had to cut the length of the book by one third.
of this length
•Films of this length (=as long as this) are pretty unusual.
4 run/stretch/walk etc the (full) length of sth to go or move from one end to the other of something:
•The wall ran the full length of the garden.
•They walked the length of the pier.
5 shoulder-length/knee-length etc reaching down as far as your shoulders etc:
•shoulder-length hair
•an ankle-length dress
6 go to some/great/any lengths (to do sth) to try very hard or to do whatever is necessary to achieve something that is important to you:
•He went to great lengths to keep their name out of the papers.
•Bella would go to any lengths to fulfil her ambition.
7 at (some/great etc) length
a) if you talk at length about something, you talk about it for a long time
speak/talk etc at length
•The young people spoke at length about their experiences.
•We've already discussed the subject at great length.
b) literary after a long time:
•'I don't agree,' she said at length.
8 the length and breadth of the area/country/land etc in or through every part of a large area:
•The police searched the length and breadth of the country.
9 PIECE [C] a piece of something long and thin
a length of rope/pipe/wire etc
10 IN RACES [C] the measurement of a horse, boat etc from one end to the other - used when saying how far the horse, boat etc is ahead of another
by a/one/two etc lengths
•The horse won by three lengths.
11 SWIMMING [C] the distance from one end of a swimming pool to the other
do/swim a length
•She does at least 20 lengths a day.
hold sth at arm's length at ARM^1 (8); keep/hold sb at arm's length at ARM^1 (9); FULL-LENGTH^1 [I,T]
to make something longer or to become longer; shorten
•Can you lengthen this skirt for me?
•The days lengthened as summer approached.also lengthways BrE
in the direction or position of the longest side:
•Lay the bricks lengthwise. comparative lengthier, superlative lengthiest [usually before noun]
1 continuing for a long time, often too long; brief
•A lengthy period of training is required.
•An accident is causing some lengthy delays.
2 a speech, piece of writing etc that is lengthy is long and often contains too many details:
•a lengthy report
not strict in the way you punish someone or in the standard you expect:
•the lenient sentences handed down by some judges
•School examiners say that marking has become more lenient in recent years.
- leniently adverb
- leniency also lenience noun [U]
•the trend towards greater leniency for most offenders [C]
1 the part of a camera through which the light travels before it reaches the film:
•a standard 50mm lens
2 a piece of curved glass or plastic which makes things look bigger, smaller, or clearer when you look through it:
•glasses with powerful lenses
•the lens of the microscope
3 the clear part inside your eye that FOCUSes so you can see things clearly
4 a CONTACT LENS[U]
the 40 days before Easter when some Christians eat less food or stop doing something that they enjoy
- Lenten adjective
the past tense and past participle of LEND [C]
a small round seed like a bean, dried and used for food $ technical
music that is played lento is played slowly $ plural Leos
1 [U] the fifth sign of the ZODIAC, represented by a lion, which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between July 24 and August 23
2 [C] someone who was born between July 24 and August 23 literary
like a lion in character or appearance $ [C]
1 a large animal of the cat family, with yellow fur and black spots, which lives in Africa and South Asia
2 a leopard can't change its spots used to say that people cannot change their character $ [C]
a tight piece of clothing that looks a little like a woman's SWIMSUIT and is worn for exercise or dancing, especially by women [only before noun] AmE technical
limited English proficient relating to someone whose first language is not English and who cannot communicate very well in English:
•The number of LEP students has risen since 1993. $ [C]
1 someone who has leprosy
2 someone that people avoid because they have done something that people disapprove of:
•They treated me as if I was a leper. $ [C]
an imaginary creature in the form of a little old man, in old Irish stories [U]
a very serious infectious disease in which the flesh and nerves are gradually destroyed
- leprous adjective [C]
a woman who is sexually attracted to other women
- lesbian adjective
- lesbianism noun [U] [C] technical
damage to someone's skin or part of their body such as their stomach or brain, caused by injury or illness:
•acute gastric lesions [in adjectives]
1 without something:
•I felt powerless.
•a childless couple
•tasteless food
2 not doing or using something:
•You're too careless.
•It's perfectly harmless.
3 not possible to treat or affect in a particular way:
•on countless occasions
•She's tireless.
1 not so much or to a smaller degree; more
•Maybe he would worry less if he understood the situation.
•In recent years she has appeared in public less frequently.
less (...) than
•Tickets were less expensive than I had expected.
much/a lot/far less
•Social class matters a lot less than it used to.
not ... any the less/no less (=not less)
•Your second point is no less important.
•It's a common problem but this doesn't make it any the less disturbing.
•I know he's done a dreadful thing, but I don't love him any the less.
be less a... than a... (=be not so much like one thing as another)
•'Will you please come with me?' It was less a request than a command.
2 less than helpful/honest/enthusiastic etc not at all helpful, honest etc:
•He was less than enthusiastic about the idea.
3 less and less used to say that a quality, situation etc gradually decreases; more and more
•As the years went by, he seemed to care less and less about his reputation.
•Smoking in the workplace is becoming less and less acceptable.
4 much/still less used to say that a greater thing is even less true, likely, or possible than the thing you have just mentioned:
•These people can scarcely afford to buy food, still less luxury goods like perfume.
•I didn't think Dave would ever read a book, much less write one himself.
1
a) a smaller amount or not as much; more
•Doctors recommend eating less salt.
•People today seem to have less time for each other.
•Most of us got £4 an hour, but some received even less.
[+of]
•The map covered less of the area than I'd thought.
•Flying is less of a risk than driving.
less (...) than
•She knows less than I do about it.
less than 10/100 etc
•a distance of less than 100 metres
much/a lot less
•It costs much less to go by bus.
b) used to mean 'fewer' or 'not as many', although many people think this use is incorrect; more
•There were less people there than we expected.
see box at FEW
2 no less
a) used to emphasize that an amount or number is large
no less than
•By 1977, the USA was importing no less than 45% of its oil.
b) used to emphasize that the person or thing you are talking about is important or impressive:
•Our awards were presented by the mayor, no less.
•The message came from no less a person than the prime minister.
3 nothing less than sth used to emphasize how important, serious, or impressive something is:
•His appearance in the show was nothing less than a sensation.
4 less and less a decreasing amount of something; more and more
•They began spending less and less time together.
[+of]
•The band was doing less and less of that kind of music.
5 in less than no time very quickly or very soon:
•In less than no time they found that they owed over $10,000.
6 less of sth BrE spoken used to tell a child to stop doing something:
•Less of that noise, please!formal
taking away or not including a particular amount:
•What is 121 less 36?
•He gave us our money back, less the $2 service charge. [C]
law someone who is allowed to use a house, building, land etc for a period of time in return for payment to the owner; lessor [I,T]
to become smaller in size, importance, or value, or make something do this; = reduce
lessen the risk/chance/possibility etc (of sth)
•Exercise lessens the risk of heart disease.
lessen the impact/effect/importance (of sth)
•The new project will lessen the effects of car pollution.
•Gradually her anxiety lessened. $ [only before noun]
1 formal not as large, as important, or as much as something else; greater
•They originally asked for $5 million, but finally settled for a lesser sum.
to a lesser extent/degree
•This was true in Madrid, and to a lesser extent, Valencia and Seville.
lesser mortals at MORTAL^2; to a greater or lesser extent at EXTENT (1)
2 the lesser of two evils also the lesser evil the less unpleasant or harmful of two unpleasant choices
3 technical used in the names of some types of animal, bird, or plant that are slightly smaller than the main type
- lesser adverb
•the lesser-known artists of the period
•one of Glasgow's lesser used venues [C]
1 LEARNING A SKILL a period of time in which someone is taught a particular skill, for example how to play a musical instrument or drive a car:
•piano lessons
have/take lessons
•She's started taking driving lessons.
[+in/on]
•lessons in First Aid
•lessons in road safety
2 IN SCHOOL BrE a period of time in which school students are taught a particular subject; = class AmE
•Lessons start at 9 o'clock.
French/physics/art etc lesson
•I've got a double maths lesson next.
[+in/on]
•Andrew gives private lessons in Spanish.
3 EXPERIENCE something that provides experience or information that you can learn from and use
learn a lesson (=gain useful experience or information)
•There were important lessons to be learned from these discoveries.
•The government has failed to learn the lessons of history.
[+to]
•The men's courage and faith is a lesson to us all.
•Now let that be a lesson to you all (=be careful to avoid having the same bad experience again).
•Her fate should be a salutary lesson (=one that teaches or warns you about something).
4 BOOK a part of a book that is used for learning a particular subject, especially in school:
•Turn to lesson 25.
5 CHURCH a short piece that is read from the Bible during a religious ceremony
sb has learned their lesson at LEARN (5)
teach sb a lesson at TEACH (6) $ [C]
law someone who allows someone else to use their house, building, land etc for a period of time for payment; lessee literary
1 in order to make sure that something will not happen:
•She turned away from the window lest anyone see them.
2 used to show that someone is afraid or worried that a particular thing might happen
worried/concerned/anxious etc lest ...
•He paused, afraid lest he say too much.
•She worried lest he should tell someone what had happened. [in nouns]
a small kind of something:
•a booklet
•a piglet past tense and past participle let, present participle letting
1 ALLOW [T not in passive] to allow someone to do something; permit
•I can't come out tonight - my dad won't let me.
let sb do sth
•Let Johnny have a go on the computer now.
•Some people seem to let their kids do whatever they like.
•Let me have a look at that letter.
let sb have sth (=give something to someone)
•I can let you have another £10, but no more.
!! Do not say 'be let to do something', because let has no passive form. Use the active form, or use be allowed to do: They let me leave OR I was allowed to leave.
2 NOT STOP STH HAPPENING [T not usually in passive] to not stop something happening, or to make it possible for it to happen
let sb/sth do sth
•Jenny let the note fall to the ground.
•Don't let anyone know it was me who told you.
•Max let the door swing open.
•Let the cookies cool down before you try them.
let yourself be beaten/persuaded/fooled etc
•I stupidly let myself be persuaded to take part in a live debate.
3 let go
a) to stop holding something or someone:
•Let go! You're hurting me.
[+of]
•The guard let go of the lead, and the dog lunged forward.
b) to accept that you cannot change something and stop thinking or worrying about it:
•Sometimes you just have to learn to let go.
4 let sb go
a) to allow someone to leave a place where they have been kept; = release
•The police had to let him go through lack of evidence.
•The hijackers were persuaded to let hostages go.
b) to make someone leave their job - used in order to avoid saying this directly:
•I'm afraid we had to let several of our staff go.
5 SUGGEST/OFFER [T not in passive] used to make a suggestion or to offer help
let's do sth
•Let's make a start, shall we?
•Let's all get together over Christmas.
• Let's not jump to conclusions - he might have been delayed.
let sb do sth
•Let me help you with those bags.
•Let me give you a piece of advice.
let's hope (that)
•Let's hope he got your message in time.
don't let's do sth BrE informal
•Don't let's argue like this.
6 let's see also let me see used when you are thinking about or trying to remember something:
•Today's date is - let me see, March 20th.
•Now, let's see, where did I put your application form?
7 let me think used to say that you need time to think about or remember something:
•What was his name, now? Let me think.
8 let him/her/them etc used to say that you do not care if someone does something they are threatening to do:
•'She says she's going to sell her story to the newspapers!' 'Well, let her!'
9 let's face it/let's be honest used to say that someone must accept an unpleasant fact or situation:
•Let's face it, no one's going to lend us any money.
10 let's just say (that) used to say that you are not going to give someone all the details about something:
•'So who did it?' 'Let's just say it wasn't anyone in this family.'
11 let yourself go
a) to relax completely and enjoy yourself:
•For goodness sake, Peter, why don't you just let yourself go for once?
b) to stop looking after yourself properly, for example by not caring about your appearance:
•Poor Dad. He's really let himself go since Mum died.
12 let sth go
a) to not punish or criticize someone for something they have done wrong:
•OK, I'll let it go this time.
b) to stop worrying or thinking too much about something:
•It's time to let the past go.
c) informal to sell something for a particular amount
let sth go for £20/$200 etc
•I couldn't let it go for less than £300.
13 WISH [T not in passive] used to say that you wish or hope that something happens, or does not happen
(not) let sb/sth do sth
•Don't let him be the one who died, she prayed.
14 let alone used after a negative statement to say that the next thing you mention is even more unlikely:
•The baby can't even sit up yet, let alone walk!
15 let sth drop/rest/lie to stop talking about or trying to deal with something:
•It seems the press are not going to let the matter rest.
16 let slip to accidentally tell someone something that should have been kept secret
[+that]
•Liz let slip that she'd seen him quite recently.
17 RENT [T] especially BrE to charge someone an amount of money for the use of a room or building; = lease; hire, rent
•Interhome has over 20,000 houses to let across Europe.
let sth to sb
•I've let my spare room to a student.
let sb sth
•Would you consider letting me the garage for a few months?
let sth out to sb
•We let the smaller studios out to local artists.
To Let written (=written on a sign outside a building to show that it is available for renting)
18 MATHEMATICS let sth be/equal/represent sth technical used in mathematics to mean that you give something a particular measurement or value in order to make a calculation:
•Let angle A equal the sum of the two opposite sides.
19 let yourself in for sth informal to do something that will cause you a lot of trouble:
•I don't think Carol realizes what she's letting herself in for.
20 never let a day/week/year etc go by without doing sth used to say that someone does a particular thing very regularly:
•They never seem to let a year go by without introducing a new version of their software.
21 let the good times roll informal used to say that it is time for people to start having fun
22 let sb have it informal to attack someone

PHRASAL VERBS
let sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to not do something that someone trusts or expects you to do:
•She had been let down badly in the past.
•The worst feeling is having let our fans down.
let the side down BrE (=disappoint a group of people that you belong to)
2 to make someone or something less successful or effective:
•McKenzie's judgement rarely lets him down.
3 to move something or someone to a lower position:
•Let down a rope so that I can climb up.
•Carefully, she let herself down into the water.
4 let your hair down informal to relax and enjoy yourself, especially after working hard:
•Visitors young and old let their hair down and enjoyed the show.
5 let your guard/defences down to relax and stop worrying about what might happen or what someone might find out about you:
•Maggie never really lets her guard down, does she?
6 let sb down lightly/gently to give someone bad news in a way that will not upset them too much:
•I get lots of offers, but I try to let them down gently.
7 BrE to allow the air to escape from something so that it loses its shape and becomes flat:
•Someone's let my tyres down!
8 to make a piece of clothing longer by unfolding a folded edge; take up

let sb in on sth phr v
to tell something that is secret or only known by a few people:
•TV chef Raymond Blanc lets us in on the secrets of his kitchen.
•Would someone mind letting me in on the joke?

let sb/sth into sth phr v
1 to tell someone something that is secret or private:
•It was time to let the rest of the family into the secret.
2 [usually passive] technical to put something such as a window or a decoration into a wall:
•Two large windows were let into the wall each side of the door.

let sb/sth off phr v
1 to not punish someone:
•I'll let you off this time, but don't do it again.
[+with]
•After checking our identities, the customs men let us off with a warning.
let sb off the hook (=allow someone to escape punishment or criticism)
•He'd decided to make Sandra wait before letting her off the hook.
let sb off lightly/easily (=give someone a less serious punishment than they deserve)
•I think young criminals are let off far too lightly.
2 let sb off (sth) if someone in authority lets you off something you should do, they give you permission not to do it:
•You've worked hard all week, so I'll let you off today.
3 let sth <=> off to make something explode:
•One boy had let off a firework in class.
let/blow off steam at STEAM^1 (4)

let on phr v informal
to tell someone something, especially something you have been keeping secret
let on (that)
•Don't let on that I told you.
let on who/why/how etc
•We never did let on how we found out.
•I'm sure he knows more than he's letting on.

let out phr v
1 let out sth to suddenly make a loud sound such as a shout or cry
let out a scream/cry/roar etc
•He let out a cry of disbelief.
2 let sth <=> out to make a piece of clothing wider or looser, especially because it is too tight
3 let sth <=> out BrE to charge someone an amount of money for the use of a room or building:
•We're letting out our son's old room to a student.
4 AmE if a school, college, film etc lets out, it ends and the people attending it can leave:
•What time does the movie let out?
let the cat out of the bag at CAT (2)

let up phr v
1 to become less severe or harmful:
•The wind had dropped and the rain gradually let up.
2 to be less severe, unkind, or violent towards someone:
•Even when the crowd had scattered, the police didn't let up.
3 to stop working as hard as you were:
•You're doing really well, but you can't afford to let up now.
let fly (sth) at FLY^1 (17); let it all hang out at HANG OUT (3); live and let live at LIVE^1 (21); let it/her rip at RIP^1 (5); let rip at RIP^1 (4)
1 [C] BrE an arrangement in which a house or flat is rented to someone:
•An agency is managing the let.
•a long-term let
2 without let or hindrance law happening freely without being prevented in any way
a LECH [singular]
informal an event, performance etc that is not as good as you expected it to be; = disappointment
•The end of the book was a real letdown.
let down at LET^1
1 causing death, or able to cause death; fatal
•a lethal dose of heroin
•a lethal weapon
•death by lethal injection
•a lethal cocktail of drink and pills
[+to]
•These chemicals are lethal to fish.
2 informal likely to be powerful or dangerous - often used humorously:
•They were all drinking lethal amounts of tequila!
•Higher taxes and higher inflation were a lethal combination. $
feeling as if you have no energy and no interest in doing anything; = lazy
•The hot weather was making us all lethargic.
- lethargically adverb $ [U]
the feeling of being lethargic:
•New mothers often complain of lethargy and mild depression.
the short form of 'let us', used especially to make suggestions:
•Let's go!

SUGGESTIONS
Use let's to make a suggestion about something you and someone else could do together. Let's... is a fairly firm way to suggest something, and is usually used when you think the other person will agree: Let's go somewhere different tonight! | Let's start by introducing ourselves.

!! Do not forget the apostrophe Let's go (NOT Lets go).

!! To make a negative suggestion, do not say 'let's don't'. Use let's not: Let's not tell anyone about this. | Let's not go out tonight.
Speakers of British English also sometimes say don't let's: Don't let's argue.

$ [C]
1 a written or printed message that is usually put in an envelope and sent by mail
[+from/to]
•I got a long letter from Melanie today.
•Bart's writing a letter to his parents.
post a letter BrE
/mail a letter AmE
•Could you post this letter for me?
a letter of thanks/introduction/complaint etc
•Julie received a letter of apology from the hospital.
•a business letter
CHAIN LETTER, COVERING LETTER, LETTER OF CREDIT, OPEN LETTER; thank-you letter at THANK-YOU (2)
2 a sign in writing or printing that represents a speech sound:
•There are 26 letters in the English alphabet.
•Fill in the form in capital letters (=written in their large form).
BLOCK LETTERS
3 to the letter paying exact attention to the details of something:
•I followed the instructions to the letter, but it still wouldn't work.
4 the letter of the law the exact words of a law or agreement rather than the intended or general meaning:
•employees who stick to the letter of the law in their contracts
the spirit of the law at SPIRIT^1 (11)
5 AmE a large cloth letter that you sew onto a jacket, given as a reward for playing in a school or college sports team:
•Mark got a letter in soccer.
6 English/American/German etc letters [plural] formal the study of the literature of a particular country or language:
•a major figure in English letters
DEAD LETTER, MAN OF LETTERS
1 [T usually passive] to write, draw, paint etc letters or words on something:
•The card was neatly lettered P.A. DUFFY.
letter sth in sth
•Several pages are lettered in gold.
2 [I] AmE to earn a LETTER^1 (5) in a sport
[+in]
•He lettered in basketball at Brandeis.[C]
a small bomb hidden in a package and sent to someone in order to kill or harm them $ [C]
1 BrE a narrow hole in a door, or a special box outside a house where letters, packages etc are delivered; = mail box AmE
2 BrE a box in a post office or street, in which letters are posted; = post box BrE; = mail box AmE $ [U]
when a film from the cinema is broadcast on television with black bands at the top and bottom of the television screen so that the film will have the same DIMENSIONs as it did on a cinema screen $ formal
well educated $
1 [C] the name and address that is printed at the top of a sheet of writing paper
2 [U] AmE paper that has the name and address of a person or business printed at the top of it:
•The letter had been written on university letterhead. [U]
1 written or drawn letters, especially of a particular type, size, colour etc:
•Chinese lettering
2 the art of writing or drawing letters or words[C]
an official letter from a bank allowing a particular person to take money from another bankAmE
correct in every detail:
•a letter-perfect productAmE
letter-size paper is 8½ INCHes wide and 11 inches long [C]
BrE a house or apartment that can be rented:
•short-term holiday lettings
a letting agent/agency (=one that arranges lettings) [C,U]
a round vegetable with thin green leaves eaten raw in SALADs also letup AmE [singular, U]
when something unpleasant stops or becomes less difficult, severe etc
no let-up/not any let-up
•The pressure at work continued without any letup.
[+in]
•Streets were flooded, but still there was no let-up in the rain.
let up at LET^1also leukaemia BrE [U]
a type of CANCER of the blood, that causes weakness and sometimes death [C]
a special wall built to stop a river flooding [C]
1 AMOUNT the amount or degree of something, compared to another amount or degree
[+of]
•Increased supplies are needed to meet the level of demand.
high/low level
•Dolphins show a high level of intelligence.
•Inflation dropped to its lowest level in 30 years.
•At the moment, public interest is at a high level.
price/income etc levels
•the high salary levels of top executives
•Special attention was paid to minimising noise levels.
•Try to reduce your stress levels.
•the downward trend in annual pollution levels
2 STANDARD a particular standard of skill or ability, for example in education or sport
at ... level
•Students at this level may have problems with basic grammar.
•What level do you think you're at?
beginner/advanced/national etc level
•Few athletes can compete at international level.
•an advanced-level coursebook
A LEVEL
3 HEIGHT the height of something in relation to the ground or to another object
at ... level
•Your arms should be at the same level as your desk.
eye/knee/shoulder etc level (=the same height as your eyes etc)
•Skirts this year are just above knee level.
water/oil etc level (=the height of the water etc from the ground or the bottom of a container)
•Check the water level in the car radiator.
GROUND LEVEL, SEA LEVEL
4 FLOOR/GROUND a floor or area of ground that is at a particular height, especially when you can go up or down to other floors or areas
on ... level
•Didn't we park the car on Level 2?
•The town is built on different levels.
•The medical center is on one level (=so that you do not have to go up or down).
SPLIT-LEVEL
5 RANK OF JOB a particular position in a system that has different ranks of importance
at ... level
•Training is offered at each level in the department.
at board/management/senior etc level
•Further talks at ministerial level were held.
HIGH-LEVEL, LOW-LEVEL
6 WAY OF UNDERSTANDING a way of considering or understanding something
on ... level
•The story can be understood on many different levels.
on a personal/practical/superficial etc level
•I agree with you, but only on a theoretical level.
7 at local/state/national etc level happening within a small area or the whole area of a state, country etc:
•These changes are taking place at regional level.
8 a level playing field a situation in which different people, companies, countries, etc can all compete fairly because no one has special advantages:
•Small businesses want to compete on a level playing field with larger ones.
9 be on the level informal to be honest and legal:
•This is all on the level, right?
10 descend/sink to sb's level to behave as badly as someone:
•If you hit him back, you'll only be descending to his level.
11 TOOL a tool used for checking that a surface is flat; = spirit-level
1 flat and not sloping in any direction:
•The floors in the old house were not completely level.
•a level surface suitable for wheelchairs
2
a) two things that are level are at the same height as each other
[+with]
•Your eyes should be level with the top of the screen.
•The curtains aren't quite level.
b) BrE two sports teams, competitors etc that are level have the same number of points
[+with]
•Before the weekend, Madrid was level with Barcelona.
•They finished level, with ten points each.
LEVEL-PEGGING
c) having the same value or position as something or someone else
[+with]
•Borrowing rates rose to over 8%, roughly level with those in America.
•He cycled along beside her, keeping level.
3 do your level best (to do sth) to try as hard as possible to do something:
•I'll do my level best to help you.
4 a level voice/look/gaze a steady voice, look etc, that shows you are calm or determined
5 level teaspoon/cup etc (of sth) an amount of a substance that fills a spoon, cup etc to the top but no more, used as a measure in cooking:
•Add one level teaspoon of salt.
heaped teaspoon etc at HEAPED
draw level at DRAW^1 (11)past tense and past participle levelled, present participle levelling BrE past tense and past participle leveled, present participle leveling AmE
1 [T] also level sth <=> off/out to make something flat and smooth:
•Workers leveled the wet concrete with a piece of wood.
•Cover with a layer of sand and level it off.
2 [T] to knock down or destroy a building or area completely:
•Bombs levelled a large part of the town.
3 [I,T] BrE to make the score in a game or competition equal:
•He slipped the ball into the net to level the score at 1/1.
•United went ahead but the visitors levelled in the 73rd minute.
4 level criticism/charges/accusations etc at/against sb to aim criticism etc at a particular person, country etc, especially publicly
•the criticism levelled at the United States
•Serious allegations were levelled against the minister.

PHRASAL VERBS
level sth at sb/sth phr v
to aim something such as a weapon at someone or something:
•Slowly he levelled his gun at the tiger.

level off/out phr v
1 to stop going up or down and continue at the same height:
•After climbing steeply, the path levelled off.
•The plane levelled out at 30,000 feet.
2 to stop rising or falling and become steady:
•Inflation has begun to level off.
3 level sth <=> off/out to make something flat and smooth

level with sb phr v informal
to speak honestly to someone, after hiding some unpleasant facts from them:
•She decided to level with him and tell him how she felt.
be on the level at LEVEL^1 (9)[C]
BrE a place where a railway crosses a road, usually protected by gates; = railroad crossing AmE
calm and sensible in making judgments or decisionsleveler AmE $ [C] BrE
something, especially death or illness, that makes people of all classes and ranks seem equal
be level-pegging BrE if competitors in a race, election etc are level-pegging, they are equal and it is difficult to know who will win $ [C]
1 a stick or handle on a machine or piece of equipment, that you move to operate it:
• Pull this lever to open the gate.
GEAR LEVER
2 a long thin piece of metal that you use to lift something heavy by putting one end under the object and pushing the other end down
3 something you use to influence a situation to get the result that you want:
•Rich countries use foreign aid as a lever to achieve political aims.[T]
1 to move something with a lever
lever sth off/up/out etc
•He levered the stone into place.
2 lever yourself up/onto/out of etc sth to move your body by pushing on something with your arms to help you:
•He slowly levered himself up.
3 to make someone leave a particular job, situation etc
lever sb out
•They're trying to lever him out of his job. $ [U]
1 influence that you can use to make people do what you want:
•diplomatic leverage by the US
2 the action, power, or use of a lever[T] AmE technical
1 to make money available to someone in order to INVEST or to buy something such as a company:
•the use of public funds to leverage private investment
2 to spread or use RESOURCEs (=money, skills, buildings etc that an organization has available), ideas etc again in several different ways or in different parts of a company, system etc
leverage sth across sth
•Reusable software is leveraged across many applications.[C] technical
when someone borrows money to buy all or most of the STOCK of a company by promising to pay the bank back by selling the company's ASSETs if they cannot pay back the money they borrowed [C] literary
1 something very large and strong:
•a leviathan of a ship
2 a very large and frightening sea animal [I,T]
to rise and float in the air by magic, or to make someone or something do this
- levitation noun [U] [U]
formal lack of respect or seriousness when you are dealing with something serious; gravity past tense and past participle levied, present participle levying, third person singular levies [T]
to officially say that people must pay a tax or charge
levy a tax/charge/fine etc (on sth)
•a new tax levied on all electrical goodsplural levies [C]
an additional sum of money, usually paid as a tax
[+on]
•He wants to impose a levy on landfill waste.
using rude words or movements that make you think of sex:
•lewd comments
- lewdly adverb
- lewdness noun [U] technical
dealing with words, or related to words $ [U]
the skill, practice, or profession of writing dictionaries
- lexicographer noun [C]
- lexicographical adjective $
1 the lexicon technical all the words and phrases used in a language or that a particular person knows
2 [C] an alphabetical list of words with their meanings, especially on a particular subject or in a particular language:
•a lexicon of geographical terms [U]
technical all the words in a language; = vocabularyalso ley line [C]
an imaginary line connecting buildings, places etc that is believed to follow an ancient track that has special power
1 [U] legal responsibility for something, especially for paying money that is owed, or for damage or injury
[+for]
•Tenants have legal liability for any damage they cause.
[+to]
•your liability to capital gains tax
liability to do sth
•The court ruled there was no liability to pay any refund.
2 liabilities [plural] technical the amount of debt that must be paid; assets
3 [singular] someone or something that is likely to cause problems for someone:
•A kid like Tom would be a liability in any classroom.
[+to]
•The outspoken minister has become a liability to the government.
4 liability to sth law the amount that something is likely to be affected by a particular kind of problem, illness etc
LIMITED LIABILITY [not before noun]
1 liable to do sth likely to do or say something or to behave in a particular way, especially because of a fault or natural tendency; = likely
•The car is liable to overheat on long trips.
•He was liable to just show up without warning.
2 legally responsible for the cost of something
[+for]
•people who are liable for income tax at a higher rate
3 likely to be affected by a particular kind of problem, illness etc; = prone
[+to]
•You're more liable to injury when you don't get regular exercise.
4 law likely to be legally punished or forced to do something by law
[+to/for]
•Anyone found trespassing is liable to a maximum fine of $100. [I]
to exchange information with someone who works in another organization or department so that you can both be more effective
[+with]
•Council officers are liaising closely with local groups.
[+between]
•The education officer liaises between students, schools and colleges. $
1 [singular, U] the regular exchange of information between groups of people, especially at work, so that each group knows what the other is doing
[+between]
•close liaison between the army and police
[+with]
•better liaison with other agencies
in liaison with sth
•The project has been set up in liaison with the art department.
2 also liaison officer [C] someone whose job is to talk to different departments or groups and to tell each of them about what the others are doing
[+to]
•Renee Ball, liaison to the State Parks Authority
3 [C] asecret sexual relationship between a man and a woman, especially a man and a woman who are married but not to each other; affair $ [C]
someone who deliberately says things which are not true:
•Are you calling me a liar?
AD-LIB, WOMEN'S LIB [C] formal
a gift of wine to a god $
women's libber see WOMEN'S LIB [C]
BrE the abbreviation of Liberal Democrat
- Lib Dem adjective [C,U]
when someone writes or prints untrue statements about someone so that other people could have a bad opinion of them; slander
for libel
•Holt sued the newspaper for libel.
a libel action/case/trial (=a court case against someone for libel)
•restrictions on press freedom, such as libel lawspast tense and past participle libelled, present participle libelling BrE past tense and past participle libeled, present participle libeling AmE [T]
to write or print a libel against someone; slanderlibelous AmE BrE
containing untrue written statements about someone which could make other people have a bad opinion of them; slanderous
•libellous gossip[C]
someone who supports or belongs to the former Liberal Party in Britain or the Liberal Party in Canada
- Liberal adjective
1 willing to understand and respect other people's ideas, opinions, and feelings:
•a more liberal attitude towards sexuality
•I had quite liberal parents.
2 supporting or allowing gradual political and social changes; conservative
•a more liberal policy on issues of crime and punishment
3 allowing people or organizations a lot of political or economic freedom
liberal state/society/democracy etc
4 generous or given in large amounts:
•a liberal supply of drinks
[+with]
•If only they were as liberal with their cash.
LIBERALLY
5 not exact:
•a liberal interpretation of the original play
6 liberal education a kind of education which encourages you to develop a large range of interests and knowledge and respect for other people's opinions[C]
someone with liberal opinions or principles; conservative [plural] especially AmE
the areas of learning which develop someone's ability to think and increase their general knowledge, rather than developing technical skills[plural]
a British political party
- Liberal Democrat adjective [U]
liberal opinions and principles, especially on social and political subjects; conservatism [U] formal
1 understanding of, and respect for, other people's opinions
2 the quality of being generousalso liberalise BrE [T]
to make a system, laws, or moral attitudes less strict
- liberalization $ noun [U]
1 using or including plenty of something, especially in a generous way:
•Apply the glue liberally to both surfaces.
•dark hair liberally sprinkled with grey
2 with liberal ideas or opinions:
•The people around here are more liberally inclined than back home.[plural]
especially BrE subjects that are taught in order to increase someone's general knowledge and their ability to write, speak, and study more effectively; liberal arts [T]
1 to free someone from feelings or conditions that make their life unhappy or difficult
liberate sb from sth
•women's freedom to pursue careers liberated from childcare
•the liberating power of education
2 to free prisoners, a city, a country etc from someone's control:
•A few days later, our armies liberated the city.
- liberation noun [U]
•liberation from oppression
•the liberation of Paris in August 1944
- liberator $ noun [C]
free to behave in the way you want, and not restricted by traditional rules of social and sexual behaviour:
•a liberated woman $ [C]
someone who believes strongly that people should be free to do and think what they want to, without any government control
- libertarian adjective $ [C] literary
someone who leads an immoral life and always looks for pleasure, especially sexual pleasure
- libertine adjective $ plural liberties
1 FREEDOM [U] the freedom and the right to do whatever you want without asking permission or being afraid of authority:
•the fight for liberty and equality
individual/personal liberty
•threats to individual liberty
religious/political/economic liberty
•struggles for political liberty
2 LEGAL RIGHT [C usually plural] a particular legal right:
•liberties such as freedom of speech
CIVIL LIBERTY
3 WITHOUT PERMISSION [singular] something you do without asking permission, especially which may offend or upset someone else
take the liberty of doing sth
•I took the liberty of cancelling your reservation.
4 be at liberty to do sth formal to have the right or permission to do something:
•I am not at liberty to discuss these matters.
5 take liberties with sb/sth
a) to make unreasonable changes in something such as a piece of writing:
•The film-makers took too many liberties with the original novel.
b) old-fashioned to treat someone without respect by being too friendly too quickly, especially in a sexual way:
•He's been taking liberties with our female staff.
6 at liberty formal if a prisoner or an animal is at liberty, they are no longer in prison or enclosed in a small place; = free $ plural libidos [C,U]
technical someone's desire to have sex
- libidinous adjective
1 [U] the seventh sign of the ZODIAC, represented by a pair of SCALEs , which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between September 24 and October 23
2 also Libran [C] someone who was born between September 24 and October 23
- Libran adjective $ [C]
someone who works in a library
- librarianship noun [U] $ plural libraries [C]
1 a room or building containing books that can be looked at or borrowed; bookshop
•a public library
school/college/university library
•a library book
• library staff
2 a group of books, CDs etc, collected by one person
3 a room in a large house where books are kept
4 a set of books, CDs, videos etc that are produced by the same company and have the same general appearance:
•a library of modern classics
5 library pictures/footage BrE film or pictures used in a television programme which are not recent [C]
someone who writes librettos $ plural librettos [C]
the words of an OPERA or musical play
the plural of LOUSE^1license AmE BrE
1 DOCUMENT [C] an official document giving you permission to own or do something for a period of time; permit

do sth without a licence
a licence to do sth
apply for a licence
grant/issue a licence
renew a licence
lose your licence (=have your licence taken away)
driving licence BrE
driver's license AmE
licence fee BrE (=the money a licence costs)
licence holder BrE (=a person who has a licence)

•The dealers applied for an export licence.
•He was arrested for driving without a license.
•The Tennessee Valley Authority applied for a license to operate the facility.
• The owner of land could grant a licence to cut and remove timber.
• I forgot to renew my licence.
• Persistent offenders face losing their licence.
DRIVING LICENCE

2 AGREEMENT [C,U] an agreement with a company or organization giving permission to make, sell or use their product
under licence
•Guinness is brewed under licence in South Africa.
single-user/10-user/site licence (=permission for computer software to be used by a certain number of people or in a certain place only)
•a licence agreement
3 FREEDOM [U] freedom to do or say what you think is best:
•Headteachers should be allowed greater licence in the exercise of their power.
4 artistic/poetic licence the way in which a painter or writer changes the facts of the real world to make their story, description, or picture of events more interesting or more beautiful
5 EXCUSE [C,U] the freedom or opportunity to behave in a way that is wrong or immoral
licence to do sth
•Police say it gives youngsters licence to break the law.
6 licence to print money an opportunity to make a lot of money without much work or effort - especially used to show disapprovalalso licence BrE [T usually passive]
to give official permission for someone to do or produce something, or for an activity to take place
be licensed to do sth
•a restaurant which is licensed to sell alcohol
•The vaccine has been licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration.also licenced BrE
1 BrE having a licence to sell alcoholic drinks:
•a licensed restaurant
2 a car, gun etc that is licensed is one that someone has official permission to own or use
3 having been given official permission to do a particular job:
•a licensed private investigator [C]
someone who has official permission to do something[C]
AmE one of the signs with numbers on it at the front and back of a car; = number plate BrE[plural]
the British laws that say when and where you can sell alcohol [C] formal
someone who has been given official permission to practise a particular art or profession formal
behaving in a sexually immoral or uncontrolled way
- licentiously adverb
- licentiousness noun [U] [C]
another spelling of LYCHEE [U]
a grey, green, or yellow plant that spreads over the surface of stones and trees; moss
1 TONGUE [T] to move your tongue across the surface of something in order to eat it, wet it, clean it etc:
•The dog jumped up and licked her face.
lick sth <=> up
•A cat licked up the drops spilt on the floor.
lick sth off sth
•He licked the drops off his upper lip.
2 SPORT [T] informal to defeat an opponent:
•I bet we could lick the best teams in Georgia.
3 FLAMES/WAVES [I,T] literary if flames or waves lick something, they touch it again and again with quick movements
[+at/against]
•Soon the flames were licking at the curtains.
4 have (got) sth licked informal to have succeeded in dealing with a difficult problem:
•Just when you think you've got it licked, it comes back.
5 lick your lips also lick your chops AmE to feel eager and excited because you are expecting to get something good:
•Scottish rugby fans are licking their lips in anticipation.
6 lick your wounds to quietly think about the defeat or disappointment you have just suffered
7 lick sb's boots to obey someone completely because you are afraid of them or want to please them
knock/lick sb/sth into shape at SHAPE^1 (3)
1 [C usually singular] when you move your tongue across the surface of something:
•Can I have a lick of your ice cream?
2 a lick of paint/colour/etc a small amount of paint etc put onto the surface of something to improve its appearance:
•It'll be okay after a lick of paint.
3 not a lick of sth AmE old-fashioned not even a small amount of something:
•Ann won't do a lick of work around the house.
4 [C] informal part of a song played on a GUITAR:
•a bluesy guitar lick
5 at a great/fair lick BrE informal very fast
6 give sth a lick and a promise
a) BrE to wash or clean something quickly and carelessly
b) AmE to do a job quickly and carelessly
7 [C] informal an act of hitting someone AmE old-fashioned
very quickly [singular] informal
1 a defeat in a sports competition or match; = hammering
•We got a real licking in the final.
2 a severe beating as a punishment [U]
the American spelling of LIQUORICE
1 COVER [C] a cover for the open part of a pot, box, or other container
dustbin/saucepan etc lid
•the name on the coffin lid
[+of]
•He carefully lifted the lid of the box.
2 EYE [C] an EYELID
3 keep a/the lid on sth to control a situation very carefully, especially so that it does not cause problems:
•keeping the lid on inflation
•Kline keeps a very tight lid on his private life.
4 put a/the lid on sth informal to do something that finally stops something or ruins or ends someone's plans or hopes:
•Let's put a lid on all these rumours.
5 take the lid off sth also lift the lid on sth to let people know the true facts about a bad or shocking situation:
•a documentary that takes the lid off the world of organized crime
1 heavy-lidded eyes eyes with large EYELIDs
2 a lidded container, pot etc has a lid $ plural lidos [C]
BrE an outdoor public area, often at a beach, lake etc, for swimming and lying in the sun past tense lay , past participle lain , present participle lying, third person singular lies
1 FLAT POSITION
a) [I] to be in a position in which your body is flat on the floor, on a bed etc
[+on/in etc]
•He was lying on the bed smoking a cigarette.
•Don't lie in the sun for too long.
lie there
•For a few minutes he just lay there.
lie still/awake etc
•She would lie awake worrying.
•The dog was lying dead on the floor.
b) also lie down [I always + adv/prep] to put yourself in a position in which your body is flat on the floor or on a bed
[+on]
•Lie flat on the floor.
[+back]
•She lay back against the pillows.
c) [I always + adv/prep] to be in a flat position on a surface
[+on/in etc]
•The papers were lying neatly on his desk.
see box at LAY^2
2 EXIST [I always + adv/prep] if a problem, an answer, blame etc lies somewhere, it is caused by, exists, or can be found in that thing, person, or situation
fault/blame/responsibility lies with sb
•Part of the blame must lie with social services.
the problem/answer etc lies with/in sth
•The difficulty lies in providing sufficient evidence.
•The strength of the book lies in the fact that the material is from classroom experience.
herein/therein lies the problem/dilemma etc
•And herein lies the key to their achievements.
3 PLACE [I always + adv/prep] if a town, village, etc lies in a particular place, it is in that place:
•The town lies in a small wooded valley.
•The Tasman Sea lies between Tasmania and Australia.
4 FUTURE [I always + adv/prep] if something lies ahead of you, lies in the future etc, it is going to happen to you in the future
[+ahead]
•How will we cope with the difficulties that lie ahead?
[+before]
•A blank and empty future lay before me.
•I was wondering what lay in store for us.
5 CONDITION [linking verb] to be in a particular state or condition
lie empty/open/hidden etc
•The book lay open on the table.
•The town now lay in ruins.
6 lie at the heart/centre/root of sth to be the most important part of something, especially the main cause of it:
•the issue that lies at the heart of the present conflict
7 lie low
a) to remain hidden because someone is trying to find you or catch you:
•We'll have to lie low until tonight.
b) to wait and try not to be noticed by anyone:
•He decided to lie low for a while after the report came out.
8 lie in wait (for sb)
a) to remain hidden in a place and wait for someone so that you can attack them:
•a giant crocodile lying in wait for its prey
b) if something bad lies in wait for you, it is going to happen to you
9 lie (in) second/third/fourth etc (place) BrE to be in second, third etc position in a competition:
•Liverpool are lying third in the football championship.
10 lie heavy on sb formal if something lies heavy on you, it makes you feel unhappy:
•The feelings of guilt lay heavy on him.
11 DEAD PERSON [I always + adv/prep] if someone lies in a particular place, they are buried there:
• Here lies Percival Smythe (=written on a gravestone).
12 lie in state if an important person who has died lies in state, their body is put in a public place so that people can go and look at the body in order to show their respect for that person

PHRASAL VERBS
lie around phr v lie about BrE
1 lie around (sth) if something is lying around, it has been left somewhere in an untidy way, rather than being in its proper place:
•If you leave your shoes lying around like that, you'll trip over them.
•Papers and books lay around the room in complete chaos.
2 if you lie around, you spend time lying down and not doing anything:
•I felt so lazy just lying around on the beach all day.

lie behind sth phr v
if something lies behind an action, it is the real reason for the action even though it may be hidden:
•She soon guessed what lay behind his question.
•Two basic assumptions lay behind the policy.

lie down phr v
1 to put yourself in a position in which your body is flat on the floor or on a bed:
•Just lie down on the bed.
2 take sth lying down informal to accept bad treatment without complaining:
•I'm not going to take this lying down!

lie in phr v BrE
to remain in bed in the morning for longer than usual
LIE-IN

lie up phr v BrE
to hide or rest somewhere for a period of time:
•The next day they lay up in a cave.
let sleeping dogs lie at SLEEP^1 (6)past tense and past participle lied, present participle lying, third person singular lies [I]
1 to deliberately tell someone something that is not true:
•I could tell from her face that she was lying.
[+to]
•I would never lie to you.
[+about]
•She lied about her age.
lie through your teeth (=say something that is completely untrue)
2 if a picture, account etc lies, it does not show the true facts or the true situation:
•Statistics can often lie.
•The camera never lies.
1 [C] something that you say or write that you know is untrue

tell (sb) a lie
a complete/outright lie
a big lie
a blatant lie (=a shocking lie)
a bald-faced lie AmE
a barefaced lie BrE (=a shocking lie)
a white lie (=a lie that is not serious, told to avoid upsetting someone)
a pack of lies (=a completely untrue set of statements)
a tissue of lies BrE (=a completely untrue set of statements)
live a lie (=pretend that a situation is satisfactory when it is not)

[+about]
•I told her a lie about what I was doing.
•I always know when he's telling lies.
•I told them I was Catholic. I used to be Catholic, so it wasn't a complete lie.
• I don't want to hear a bunch of big lies about what happened.
• It was obviously a blatant lie.
• Jones resorted to deception and barefaced lies.
• those little white lies that we all tell
• Their whole account of the event was a pack of lies.
• For years, he had been living a lie.

2 give the lie to sth formal to show that something is untrue:
•This report gives the lie to the company's claims.
3 the lie of the land/ the way the land lies the way that a situation is developing at a particular time:
•I want to see how the land lies before I decide whether or not to take the job.
4 (I) tell a lie BrE spoken used when you realize that something you have just said is not correct:
•It was £25, no, tell a lie, £35.[C]
a piece of equipment used especially by the police to check whether someone is lying, by measuring sudden changes in their heart rate:
•He was asked to take a lie detector test.[singular] BrE
a short rest, usually on a bed:
•I'm going upstairs to have a lie down. [C]
1 also liege lord a lord who was served and obeyed in the Middle Ages
2 also liegeman someone who had to serve and obey a lord in the Middle Ages[singular]
BrE an occasion when you stay in bed longer than usual in the morning:
•I always have a lie-in on a Sunday. [C + on]
law the legal right to keep something that belongs to someone who owes you money, until the debt has been paid $
in lieu (of sth) formal instead of:
•extra time off in lieu of paymentLieut. BrE
a written abbreviation of lieutenant $ [C]
1
a) a fairly low rank in the armed forces, or an officer of this rank
b) a fairly high rank in the US police force, or an officer of this rank
2 lieutenant colonel/general/Governor etc an officer or official with the rank just below COLONEL, GENERAL^2, GOVERNOR etc
3 [C] someone who does work for, or in place of, someone in a higher position; = deputy plural lives
1 TIME SB IS ALIVE [C,U] the period of time when someone is alive:
•Learning goes on throughout life.
•You have your whole life ahead of you.
in sb's life
•For the first time in my life I was happy.
•I've never been so embarrassed in my life!
•I've known John all my life (=since I was born).
•His main aim in life was to have fun.
•It was one of the best days of my life.
•The accident scarred him for life (=for the rest of his life).
•She knew she'd feel guilty for the rest of her life.
•Raj spent his life caring for others.
•Bonington spent his entire adult life in France.
•We don't know much about the poet's early life (=when he was young).
•Poor diet can lead to a whole range of diseases in later life (=when you are older).
•She married late in life (=when she was fairly old).
•He's a life member (=continuing until he dies) of the club.
2 STATE OF BEING ALIVE [C,U] the state of being alive:
•The right to life is the most basic of human rights.
•The riots presented a considerable risk to life and property.
•Danny was a cheerful little boy who loved life.
•A seatbelt could save your life.
•Two firefighters risked their lives to save the children.
•Thousands lost their lives (=died) in the earthquake.
•an explosion which claimed the lives of (=killed) at least 170 miners
•He has risked life and limb (=has done very dangerous things) to photograph some of the world's most dangerous animals.
•Cuts to the ambulance service could cost lives (=people could die).
•Misuse of the equipment could endanger the lives of staff and students.
•He owes his life to (=he is still alive because of) the prompt action of a neighbour.
take your (own) life (=deliberately kill yourself)
•There's no evidence that she intended to take her own life.
take sb's life (=kill someone)
•No-one has the right to take another's life.
be fighting for your life (=be so ill or injured that you might die)
•A resident was fighting for his life yesterday, having escaped the blaze.
give your life/lay down your life (=die in order to save other people or because of a strong belief)
•He gave his life for the cause of freedom
take your life in your (own) hands (=put yourself in a very dangerous situation)
•You take your life in your hands every time you cross this road.
3 WAY SB LIVES [C usually singular] the way you live your life, and what you do and experience during it
lead/live/have a ..... life
•The operation should enable Bobby to lead a normal life.
•She just wanted to live a quiet life.
•Having a baby changes your life completely.
•The family moved to Australia to start a new life.
•Ken's whole life revolved around surfing (=that was the main interest and purpose of his life).
•You shouldn't let your boyfriend rule your life (=control and affect everything you do).
•My grandmother had a hard life (=a life full of problems).
•She's led a very sheltered life (=a life in which you have been protected from unpleasant things).
a life of crime/poverty/misery etc
•He had been drawn into a life of crime.
4 PARTICULAR SITUATION/JOB [C,U]
a) the experiences, activities, and ways of living that are typical of being in a particular job, situation, society etc:
•Why do so few women enter political life?
•the British way of life
city/country/village etc life
•Noise has become one of the main pollutants of modern city life.
army/student/college etc life
•He missed the routine of army life.
•Are you enjoying married life?
b) the time in your life when you are doing a particular job, are in a particular situation etc
sb's life as sth
•Now a celebrity chef, he rarely talks about his life as an army cook.
•Sara admits to having affairs throughout her married life.
•Most of his working life was spent in the shipyards.
5 social/personal/sex etc life the activities in your life relating to your friends, your family, sex etc:
•I don't need advice about my love life.
•traditional views of family life
•Children need a caring and happy home life.
6 HUMAN EXISTENCE [U] human existence, considered as a variety of experiences and activities:
•My Aunt Julia had very little experience of life.
•Life has a way of changing the best of plans.
•For some people, religion gives life a meaning.
daily/everyday life
•the frustrations and disappointments of everyday life
•I try to see the funny side of life.
7 TIME WHEN STH EXISTS/WORKS [C usually singular]
a) the period of time during which something happens or exists
[+of]
•The issues will not be resolved during the life of the present parliament.
start/begin/come to life as sth
•The building began life as a monastery.
b) the period of time during which something is still good enough to use
[+of]
•What's the average life of a passenger aircraft?
•Careful use can extend the life of your washing machine.
SHELF LIFE
8 LIVING THINGS [U]
a) the quality of being alive that people, animals, plants etc have and that objects and dead things do not have:
•Ben felt her neck for a pulse or any other sign of life.
•In the springtime, everything comes to life again.
b) living things, such as people, animals, or plants:
•Is there life on other planets?
human/animal/plant/bird etc life
•The island is rich in bird life.
WILDLIFE
9 be sb's (whole) life to be the most important thing or person to someone:
•Music is Laura's whole life.
10 life and death also life or death used for emphasizing that a situation, decision etc is extremely urgent and important, especially because someone is at risk of dying:
•Don't call me unless it's a matter of life and death.
•a life or death decision
•A doctor's job involves life and death situations.
11 GAME [C] a chance in a game, especially a computer game, in which you can be defeated or do something wrong and can still continue playing:
•He's up to level five and still has three lives left.
12 ACTIVITY [U] activity or movement:
•The house was quiet and there was no sign of life.
•She was always so cheerful and full of life.
13 INTEREST/EXCITEMENT [U] a quality of being interesting or exciting:
•Try to put some life into your writing.
•The game really came to life after a magnificent goal from Beckham.
•A gifted teacher can really bring literature to life for his or her students.
14 come to life/roar into life/splutter into life etc to suddenly start working:
•Finally the car spluttered into life.
15 make life difficult/easier etc to make it difficult, easier etc to do something:
•Surely computers are supposed to make life easier, not more complicated!
[+for]
•Why make life difficult for yourself?
16 the life and soul of the party BrE the life of the party AmE someone who enjoys social occasions and is fun and exciting to be with
17 life and limb formal your life and physical health - used especially when this is threatened in some way:
•She risks life and limb every day in her job as an undercover investigator.
18 get a life! spoken used to tell someone that you think they are boring and should find more exciting things to do:
•You guys should just stop moaning and get a life!
19 that's life also such is life spoken used to say that something is disappointing but you have to accept it:
•Oh well, that's life!
20 life's a bitch spoken not polite used to say that bad things happen in life
21 this is the life spoken used when you are relaxing and doing something you enjoy:
•Ah, this is the life! Lying on the beach, sipping cool drinks.
22 the shock/surprise/game etc of sb's life the biggest shock or surprise, the best game etc that someone has ever had:
•I had the surprise of my life when I saw John standing there.
have the time of your life at TIME^1 (41)
23 how's life? spoken used to ask someone if they are well, what they have been doing etc:
•Hi Bob! How's life?
•How's life been with you?
24 life goes on spoken used to say that you must continue to live a normal life even when something sad or disappointing has happened:
•We both miss him, but life goes on.
25 a life of its own
a) if something has a life of its own, it seems to move or work by itself:
•The ball seemed to have acquired a life of its own.
b) if something has a life of its own, it exists and develops without depending on other things:
•Slowly but surely, the project is taking on a life of its own.
26 cannot for the life of me spoken used to say that you cannot remember or understand something even when you try hard:
•I couldn't for the life of me remember his name.
27 life's too short spoken used to say that you should not waste time doing something or worrying about something:
•Forget about it. Life's too short.
[+for]
•Life's too short for moping about.
life's too short to do sth
•Life's too short to bear grudges.
28 not on your life spoken used as a reply to a question or suggestion to say that you definitely will not do something:
•'Are you going to go and work for him then?' 'Not on your life!'
29 the woman/man/girl etc in your life the woman or man you are married to or are having a relationship with - used especially in advertisements:
•This is the ideal gift for the man in your life.
30 PRISON [U] also life imprisonment the punishment of being put in prison for the rest of your life
be sentenced to/get/be given life
•He was sentenced to life for the murder.
•I think she should get life.
LIFE SENTENCE, LIFER
31 ART [U] when you paint, draw etc something you are looking at, especially a person or animal:
•She's taking classes in life drawing.
STILL LIFE
32 frighten/scare the life out of sb informal to make someone feel very frightened:
•Don't do that! You scared the life out of me!
33 there's life in the old dog yet spoken used to say that although someone or something is old, they are still able to do something - used humorously
34 live/lead/have the life of Riley informal to have a very easy and comfortable life and not have to work hard:
•He spends all day lounging by the pool and living the life of Riley.
35 BOOK/FILM [U] the story of someone's life; = biography
•Boswell's Life of Johnson
36 the next life also the life to come life after death the time after death, in which some people believe life continues in another form:
•She expects to meet her dead husband in the next life.
as large as life at LARGE^1 (7)
CHANGE OF LIFE; for dear life at DEAR^3 (6); DOUBLE LIFE; high life at HIGH^1 (22); a new lease of life at LEASE^1 (2); quality of life at QUALITY^1 (5); real life at REAL^1 (3); REAL-LIFE; true to life at TRUE^1 (9); WALK OF LIFE[U]
BrE LIFE INSURANCE[C]
1 BrE a LIFE BUOY
2 AmE a special belt you wear in the water to prevent you from sinking [U]
1 the most important thing needed by an organization, relationship etc to continue to exist or develop successfully
[+of]
•Communication is the lifeblood of a good marriage.
2 literary your blood $ [C]
1 a boat that is sent out to help people who are in danger at sea
lifeboat crew/station/service
2 a small boat carried by ships in order to save people if the ship sinks[C]
a large ring made out of material that floats, which you throw to someone who has fallen in the water, to prevent them from drowning[C]
all the different levels of development that an animal or plant goes through during its life[C]
1 the length of time that a person or animal is expected to live
2 the length of time that something is expected to continue to work, be useful etc[C]
a living thing such as a plant or animal:
•life forms on other planets[C]
someone whose job at a beach or swimming pool is to help swimmers who are in danger[C]
all the events and changes that happen during the life of a living thing[U]
a type of insurance that someone makes regular payments into so that when they die their family will receive money; = life assurance[C] BrE
a piece of clothing that can be filled with air and worn around your upper body to stop you from sinking in the water; = life vest AmE
1 literary dead or appearing to be dead:
•Anton's lifeless body was found floating in the lake.
2 lacking the positive qualities that make something or someone interesting, exciting, or active; lively
•The actors' performances were lifeless.
3 not living, or not having living things on it:
•The surface of the moon is arid and lifeless.
4 lifeless hair or skin is in bad condition and does not look healthy; = dull
- lifelessly adverb
- lifelessness noun [U]
a lifelike picture, model etc looks exactly like a real person or thing:
•a very lifelike statue [C]
1 something which someone depends on completely
[+to]
•The telephone is her lifeline to the rest of the world.
[+for]
•The organization has proved to be a lifeline for thousands of needy families.
2 a rope used for saving people in danger, especially at sea $ [only before noun]
continuing or existing all through your life:
•She became a lifelong friend of ours.
•David finally realized his lifelong ambition.[C]
someone who has the rank of a British PEER (=lord or lady) but who cannot pass it on to their children[C]
AmE something such as a LIFE BELT or LIFE JACKET that can be worn in the water to prevent you from sinking $ [C]
informal someone who has been sent to prison for the rest of their life[C]
a small rubber boat that can be filled with air and used by passengers on a sinking ship $ [C]
1 someone or something that helps you avoid a difficult or unpleasant situation:
•A microwave oven can be a real lifesaver when you're pressed for time.
2 someone or something that prevents you from dying:
•The seatbelt is the biggest single lifesaver in cars.
3 a LIFE GUARDalso lifesaving [only before noun]
life-saving medical treatments or equipment are used to help save people's lives
lifesaving surgery/treatment/drugs etc
•The boy needs a life-saving transplant operation.also lifesaving [U]
the skills necessary to save a person from drowning:
•All of the staff have been trained in lifesaving.[C usually plural]
subjects such as BIOLOGY that are concerned with the study of humans, plants, and animals
EARTH SCIENCE, PHYSICAL SCIENCE[C]
the punishment of sending someone to prison for the rest of their life or for a very long time:
•Miller is serving a life sentence for murder.also life-sized
a picture or model of something or someone that is life-size is the same size as they really are:
•a life-sized statue of the president [C]
the average length of time that someone will live or that something will continue to work; lifetime
•Men have a shorter lifespan than women.
a lifespan of 5 days/10 years etc
•A TV set has an average lifespan of 11 years.[C]
the story of someone's whole life:
•She insisted on telling me her whole life story. [C]
the way a person or group of people live, including the place they live in, the things they own, the kind of job they do, and the activities they enjoy:
•Regular exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle.
lavish/comfortable/simple etc lifestyle
•They lead an extremely lavish lifestyle.[C]
1 also life support machine a piece of equipment that keeps someone alive when they are extremely ill
2 a piece of equipment that keeps people alive in conditions where they would not normally be able to live, such as in space
a life-threatening situation, illness, or injury could cause a person to die; fatal [C usually singular]
1 the period of time during which someone is alive or something exists; lifespan
during/in sb's lifetime
•During her lifetime she had witnessed two world wars.
•It's the sort of opportunity you see only once in a lifetime.
2 the chance/experience etc of a lifetime the best opportunity, experience etc that you will ever have:
•It was the holiday of a lifetime.
3 not in this lifetime spoken not at all; = never
•'Would you go out with him after he dropped you?' 'Not in this lifetime.'[C]
AmE a LIFE JACKET
1 MOVE STH UPWARDS also lift up [T] to move something or someone upwards into the air:
•Sophie lifted the phone before the second ring.
•He lifted the lid on the pot of soup.
•The lumber was lifted by crane and dropped into the truck.
lift sb/sth onto/into/out of etc sth
•They lifted Andrew onto the bed.
lift sb from sth
•The driver was lifted from the wreck.
2 PART OF THE BODY also lift up [I,T] to move part of your body up to a higher position; = raise
lift your hand/arm/leg etc
•She lifted her hand to knock on the door once again.
•Pam lifted her shoulders in a little shrug.
lift your head/eyes (=move your head or eyes up so that you can look at something)
•She lifted her head to gaze at him.
•He heard a scream and the hairs on the back of his neck began to lift.
3 CONTROLS/LAWS [T] to remove a rule or a law that says that something is not allowed
lift a restriction/an embargo/sanctions etc
•The government plans to lift its ban on cigar imports.
4 BY PLANE [T always + adv/prep] to take people or things to or from a place by aircraft:
•More troops are being lifted into the area as the fighting spreads.
5 not lift a finger (to do sth) informal to do nothing to help:
•He never lifted a finger to help me with the kids.
6 lift sb's spirits to make someone feel more cheerful and hopeful
7 CLOUDS/MIST [I] if cloud or mist lifts, it disappears
8 SAD FEELINGS [I] if feelings of sadness lift, they disappear:
•Jan's depression seemed to be lifting at last.
9 USE SB'S IDEAS/WORDS [T] to take words, ideas etc from someone else's work and use them in your work, without stating where they came from and as if they were your own words etc
lift sth from sb/sth
•The words were lifted from an article in a medical journal.
10 STEAL [T] informal to steal something
lift sth from sb/sth
•They had lifted dozens of CDs from the store.
11 VOICE also lift up [T] literary if you lift your voice, you speak, shout, or sing more loudly; = raise
12 INCREASE [T] to make prices, profit etc increase:
•The U.S. may use tax cuts to lift the economy.
13 VEGETABLES [T] to dig up vegetables that grow under the ground:
•She was lifting potatoes.

PHRASAL VERBS
lift off phr v
if an aircraft or spacecraft lifts off, it leaves the ground and rises into the air
1 IN A BUILDING [C] BrE a machine that you can ride in, that moves up and down between the floors in a tall building; = elevator AmE
•They took the lift down to the bar.
•It's on the 3rd floor. Let's use the lift.
2 IN A CAR [C] if you give someone a lift, you take them somewhere in your car; = ride
•Do you want a lift into town?
•John gave me a lift home.
•He very kindly offered me a lift.
3 give sb/sth a lift
a) to make someone feel more cheerful and more hopeful:
•The new park has given everyone in the neighbourhood a lift.
b) to make something such as a business, the economy etc operate better:
•The Bank of England's announcement gave the stock market a lift today.
4 LIFTING MOVEMENT [C,U] a movement in which something is lifted or raised up:
•She does sit-ups and leg lifts every morning.
5 WIND/AIRCRAFT [U] the pressure of air that keeps something such as an aircraft up in the air or lifts it higher
CHAIRLIFT, SKI LIFT[C,U]
the moment when a vehicle that is about to travel in space leaves the ground; take-off [C]
a band of strong material in your body, similar to muscle, that joins bones or holds an organ in its place; tendon
•He tore a ligament in his left knee.
• damaged ankle ligaments
1 NATURAL/ARTIFICIAL LIGHT
a) [U] the energy from the sun, a flame, a lamp etc that allows you to see things:
•The morning light came streaming in through the windows.
•She opened the curtains to let in the light.
•It was late afternoon and the light was beginning to fade.
•a pattern of light and shade
in/by the light of sth
•Eveything looked grey in the dim light of the oil lamp.
•We sat and talked by the light of the fire.
in/into the light
•The man moved forward into the light.
good/strong/bright light
•We'll need good light if we want to take the photographs outside.
poor/dim/fading light
•In the fading light she could just make out the shape of a tractor.
soft/warm light
•The valley was bathed in the soft light of dawn.
cold/harsh light
•the cold, harsh light of a winter afternoon
blinding/dazzling light (=extremely bright light)
•We saw a sudden flash of blinding light.
a beam/ray/shaft of light (=a thin line of light)
•The clouds parted and a beam of light fell on the field.
b) [C] a particular type of light, with its own particular colour, level of brightness etc:
•The colours look different in different lights.
2 LAMP/ELECTRIC LIGHT ETC [C]
a) an electric light:
•Ahead of us we could see the lights of the city.
•We're having a mixture of wall lights and ceiling lights in different parts of the house.
turn/switch/put on a light
•I switched on the light in the bedroom.
turn/switch/put off a light
•Don't forget to switch the lights off when you go out.
turn/switch/put out a light
•Can you turn the light out downstairs?
a light is/comes/goes on
•The lights in the office were still on.
•The street lights were just beginning to come on.
•He left a light on in the kitchen.
a light is off/out
•Make sure all the lights are off when you leave.
•Suddenly all the lights in the house went out.
•Can you turn the light down (=make it less bright) a bit?
the bright lights at BRIGHT (13)
b) something such as a lamp that you can carry to give you light:
•Shine a light over here, will you?
3 TRAFFIC CONTROL [C usually plural] one of a set of red, green, and yellow lights used for controlling traffic; = traffic lights
•We waited for the lights to change.
•Eventually the lights turned green.
•The driver had failed to stop at a red light.
GREEN LIGHT, RED-LIGHT DISTRICT
4 ON A VEHICLE [C usually plural] one of the lights on a car, bicycle etc that help you to see at night:
•He was dazzled by the lights of oncoming traffic.
•You've left your lights on.
5 first light literary the first light that appears in the morning sky:
•We set out at first light the next day.
6 be/stand in sb's light to prevent someone from getting all the light they need to see or do something:
•Could you move to the left a little - you're standing in my light.
7 FOR A CIGARETTE a light a match or something else to light a cigarette:
•Have you got a light, please?
8 IN SB'S EYES [singular] literary an expression in someone's eyes that shows an emotion or intention; = gleam
•There was a murderous light in his eyes.
9 set light to sth to make something start burning:
•The candle fell over and set light to the barn.
10 come to light be brought to light if new information comes to light, it becomes known:
•This evidence did not come to light until after the trial.
•The mistake was only brought to light some years later.
11 throw/shed/cast light on sth to provide new information that makes a difficult subject or problem easier to understand:
•Melanie was able to shed some light on the situation.
•These discoveries may throw new light on the origins of the universe.
12 in the light of sth BrE in light of sth AmE if you do or decide something in the light of something else, you do it after considering that thing:
•In light of this tragic event, we have cancelled the 4th of July celebrations.
13 in a new/different/bad etc light if someone or something is seen or shown in a particular light, people can see that particular part of their character:
•I suddenly saw my father in a new light.
•This incident will put the company in a very bad light.
14 see the light
a) to suddenly understand something:
•At last doctors have seen the light!
b) to begin to believe in a religion very strongly
15 see the light (of day)
a) if an object sees the light of day, it is taken from the place where it has been hidden, and becomes publicly known:
•Some of these documents will probably never see the light of day.
b) if a law, decision etc sees the light of day, it comes into existence for the first time
16 light at the end of the tunnel something that gives you hope for the future after a long and difficult period:
•It's been a hard few months, but we're finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
17 have your name in lights informal to be successful and famous in theatre or films
18 go/be out like a light informal to go to sleep very quickly because you are very tired:
•I went straight to bed and went out like a light.
19 a leading light in/of sth informal someone who is important in a particular organization:
•She's one of the leading lights of the local dramatic society.
20 the light of sb's life the person that someone loves more than anyone else:
•Her son was the light of her life.
21 WINDOW [C] a window in a roof or wall that allows light into a room
hide your light under a bushel at BUSHEL; be all sweetness and light at SWEETNESS (3); in the cold light of day at COLD^1 (9)comparative lighter, superlative lightest
1 COLOUR a light colour is pale and not dark:
•You look nice in light colours.
light blue/green/grey etc
•She had blue eyes and light brown hair.
•I wanted a lighter yellow paint for the walls.
2 DAYLIGHT it is/gets light if it is light, there is the natural light of day; dark
•We'll keep on looking while it's still light.
•It was seven o'clock and just starting to get light.
3 ROOMS a room that is light has plenty of light in it, especially from the sun; dark
•The kitchen was light and spacious.
•The office was a big light room at the back of the house.
4 NOT HEAVY not very heavy:
•You can carry this bag - it's fairly light.
•You should wear light, comfortable shoes.
•The truck was quite light and easy to drive.
•She was as light as a feather (=very light) to carry.
LIGHTEN, LIGHTWEIGHT^2
5 NOT GREAT if something is light, there is not very much of it or it is not very great; heavy
•Traffic is lighter before 8 a.m.
•A light rain began to fall.
•She was wearing only light make-up.
•people who have suffered only light exposure to radiation
6 CLOTHES light clothes are thin and not very warm:
•She took a light sweater in case the evening was cool.
•a light summer coat
7 WIND a light wind is blowing without much force; strong
•Leaves were blowing about in the light wind.
•There was a light easterly breeze.
8 SOUND a light sound is very quiet; loud
•There was a light tap at the door.
•Her voice was light and pleasant.
9 TOUCH a light touch is gentle and soft:
•She gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
•He felt a light tap on his shoulder.
10 WORK/EXERCISE light work is not hard or tiring:
•I found him some light work to do.
•She only has a few light duties around the house.
•The doctor has advised me to take regular light exercise.
11 FOOD
a) food or drink that is light either does not have a strong taste or does not make you feel full very quickly, for example because it does not contain very much fat, sugar, or alcohol; rich
•We had a light white wine with the fish.
•a light, refreshing dessert
•a new light cheese spread with virtually no fat
b) a light meal is a small meal; big
•I had a light lunch in town.
•a delicious light snack
c) food that is light contains a lot of air:
•a type of light, sweet bread
•Beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.
12 PUNISHMENT a light punishment is not very severe; harsh
•a fairly light sentence
13 a light smoker/drinker/eater etc someone who does not smoke etc very much
14 light sleep/doze a sleep from which you wake up easily:
•I fell into a light sleep.
15 a light sleeper someone who wakes up easily if there is any noise etc:
•She's quite a light sleeper.
16 NOT SERIOUS not serious in meaning, style, or manner, and only intended to entertain people:
•His speech gradually became lighter in tone.
•an evening of light music
•It's a really good book if you want a bit of light reading.
•The show looks at some of the lighter moments from the world of politics.
17 light relief something that is pleasant and amusing after something sad or serious:
•I'm glad you've arrived - we could all do with a little light relief!
18 make light of sth to joke about something or treat it as not being very serious, especially when it is important:
•She tried to make light of the situation, but I could tell that she was worried.
19 on a lighter note/in a lighter vein used when you are going to say something less sad or serious:
•On a lighter note, the concert raised over £300 for school funds.
20 make light work of sth to do something or deal with something quickly and easily:
•A freezer and microwave oven can make light work of cooking.
21 be light on your feet to be able to move quickly and gracefully:
•She's very agile and light on her feet.
22 a light heart literary someone who has a light heart feels happy and not worried:
•I set off for work with a light heart.
LIGHT-HEARTED
23 SOIL light soil is easy to break into small pieces; heavy
•Carrots grow well in light soils.
- lightness noun [U]
•a lightness of touchpast tense and past participle lit or, lighted
1 [I,T] to start to burn, or to make something start to burn:
•He stopped to light a cigarette.
•I lit the fire and poured a drink.
•I couldn't get the candles to light.
2 [T usually passive] to provide light for a place:
•The room was lit by one large, central light.
•The porch is always well lit at night.
•The kitchen was warm and brightly lit.
•a poorly lit car park
3 light the/sb's way to provide light for someone while they are going somewhere:
•We had only a few torches between us to light the way.

PHRASAL VERBS
light on/upon sth phr v literary
1 to notice or find something by chance:
•His eye lit on a ruby ring.
•I thought I might have lit upon an ancient manuscript.
2 if a bird or insect lights on something, it stops flying and stands on it

light out phr v AmE informal
to run away, especially because you are afraid

light up phr v
1 light sth <=> up to give light to a place or to shine light on something:
•The flames lit up the sky.
•The fountain is lit up at night.
2 to become bright with light or colour:
•At night the harbour lights up.
•As the screen lit up, he typed in his password.
3
a) if someone's face or eyes light up, they show pleasure, excitement etc
[+with]
•His eyes lit up with laughter.
•Her face lit up with pleasure.
b) light sth <=> up to make someone's face or eyes show pleasure or excitement:
•Suddenly a smile lit up her face.
•A mischievous gleam lit up her eyes.
4 informal to light a cigarette:
•I watched Paul light up again.
travel light at TRAVEL^1 (1)[C]
a small plane[U]
a type of fairly weak pale beer[C]
the glass object inside a lamp that produces light and has to be replaced regularly; = bulb
1 a lighted window, room etc is bright because there is a light on inside
2 a lighted CANDLE, match etc is burning at one end
1 [T] to reduce the amount of work, worry, debt etc that someone has; increase
lighten the load/burden/workload
•We should hire another secretary to lighten Barbara's workload.
2 [I,T] to become brighter or less dark, or to make something brighter etc; darken
•As the sky lightened, we were able to see where we were.
3 [I,T] if you lighten something such as a mood or ATMOSPHERE, or if it lightens, it becomes less sad or serious
lighten the atmosphere/mood/conversation
•Nora didn't respond to my attempts to lighten the conversation.
4 [I] if someone's face or expression lightens, they begin to look more cheerful:
•His whole face would lighten when anyone mentioned Nancy.
5 [I,T] to reduce the weight of something or become less heavy
6 lighten up spoken used to tell someone not to be so serious about something:
•You need to lighten up a bit. $ [C]
1 a small object that produces a flame for lighting cigarettes etc
2 a large, open, low boat used for loading and unloading shipsinformal
likely to steal things
unable to think clearly or move steadily, for example during a fever or after drinking alcohol; = dizzy
•The sun and the wine had made him a little light-headed.
- light-headedness noun [U] $
1 not intended to be serious:
•a light-hearted comedy
2 cheerful and not worried about anything:
•I found her in a light-hearted mood.
- light-heartedly adverb
- light-heartedness noun [U][C]
a BOXER who weighs less than 79.38 kilograms, and who is heavier than a MIDDLEWEIGHT but lighter than a CRUISERWEIGHT [C]
a tower with a powerful flashing light that guides ships away from danger[C,U]
industry that produces small goods, for example computers, in small factories using light machinery; heavy industry [U]
the lights that light a room, building, or street, or the quality of the light produced:
•Better street lighting might help to reduce crime.
fluorescent/electric lighting
•Fluorescent lighting is much cheaper to use than light bulbs.
subdued/dim/soft lighting (=lighting that is not very bright)
artificial/natural lighting[C]
a structure that holds the lights for a stage in a theatre, at an outdoor concert etc
1 with only a small amount of weight or force; = gently
•I knocked lightly on the door.
2 using or having only a small amount of something:
•a lightly greased pan
•lightly armed soldiers
3 take/treat/approach sth lightly to do something without serious thought:
•Divorce is not a matter you can afford to take lightly.
4 get off lightly also be let off lightly to be punished in a way that is less severe than you deserve:
•He got off lightly because his father was a lawyer.
5 without worrying, or without appearing to be worried:
•'Things will be fine,' he said lightly.[C]
an instrument used by a photographer to measure how much light there is [U]
1 a powerful flash of light in the sky caused by electricity and usually followed by THUNDER:
•Two farmworkers were struck by lightning (=hit by lightning).
• Lightning flashed overhead.
2 like lightning extremely quickly:
•Mitch moved like lightning and caught the little girl before she fell.
3 lightning never strikes twice something bad or unpleasant is not likely to happen to the same people or in the same place twice[only before noun]
very fast, and often without warning:
•a lightning attack
at/with lightning speed (=extremely quickly)[C]
AmE an insect with a tail that shines in the dark; = firefly[C] BrE
a metal wire or bar that is attached to the side of a building and goes from the top to the ground, used to protect the building from lightning[C] AmE
1 a LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR
2 someone or something who gets most of the criticism, blame, or public attention when there is a problem, although they may not be responsible for it
be a lightning rod for sth
•The senator has become a lightning rod for criticism.[C]
BrE a STRIKE (=act of stopping work) without any warning[C]
a piece of equipment like a pen, used to draw or write on a computer screenlight rail AmE [C] BrE
an electric railway system that uses light trains and usually carries only passengers, not goods [C]
a small ship that stays near a dangerous place at sea and guides other ships using a powerful flashing light[C]
a type of entertainment that uses a series of moving coloured lights, at a POP concert[U]
the time at night when a group of people who are in a school, the army etc must put the lights out and go to sleep [C]
1 someone who has no importance or influence, or who does not have the ability to think deeply - used to show disapproval; heavyweight
•an intellectual lightweight
2 a BOXER who weighs less than 61.24 kilograms, and who is heavier than a FEATHERWEIGHT but lighter than a WELTERWEIGHT
3 someone or something of less than average weight
1 weighing less than average; = light
•a torch made from lightweight plastic
2 lightweight clothing or material is thin, so you can wear it in warm weather:
•a lightweight jacket
3 showing a lack of serious thought - used to show disapproval:
•a lightweight novel[C]
1 the distance that light travels in one year, about 9,460,000,000,000 kilometres, used for measuring distances between stars:
•a star 3,000 light years from earth
2 light years ahead/better etc than sth informal much more advanced, much better etc than someone or something else:
•The Japanese company is light years ahead of its European competitors.
3 light years ago informal a very long time ago:
•It all seems light years ago now. [U]
a soft substance like coal, used as FUELlikeable
likable people are nice and easy to like:
•a friendly likeable little boy [in adjectives]
used after a noun to say that something is similar to or typical of the noun:
•a jelly-like substance
•childlike simplicity
•ladylike behaviour
1 SIMILAR similar to something else, or happening in the same way:
•Her hair is dark brown like mine.
•A club should be like a big family.
•He eats like a pig!
look/sound/feel/taste/seem like
•The garden looked like a jungle.
•At last he felt like a real soldier.
•My experience is very much like that described in the book.
•He's very like his brother.
•Sometimes you sound just like (=exactly like) my mum!
•He's growing more like his father every day.
•He looked nothing like (=not at all like) the man in the police photograph.
see box at AS^1
2 what is sb/sth like? spoken used when asking someone to describe or give their opinion of a person or thing:
•What's their house like inside?
•What are Dan's parents like?
3 EXAMPLE for example:
• Things like glass, paper, and plastic can all be recycled.
•Try to avoid fatty foods like cakes and biscuits.
4 TYPICAL typical of a particular person
be like sb to do sth
•It's not like Steven to be late.
•It's just like her to run away from her responsibilities!
5 like this/that/so spoken used when you are showing someone how to do something:
•You have to fold the corners back, like so.
6 just like that informal if you do something just like that, you do it without thinking about it or planning it carefully:
•You can't give up your job just like that!
7 something like not much more or less than a particular amount; = about
•The machinery alone will cost something like thirty thousand pounds.
•He's scored something like 60 goals this season.
8 nothing like BrE not at all:
•Twenty years ago travel was nothing like as easy as it is now.
•This will be nothing like enough money.
9 there's nothing like used to say that a particular thing is very enjoyable:
•There's nothing like a nice cup of tea!
10 more like used when giving an amount or number that you think is closer to being right than one that has been mentioned:
•The builders say they'll be finished in three months, but I think it'll be more like six.
11 that's more like it/this is more like it spoken used to say that something is better, more correct, or more enjoyable than something else:
•That gives us a total of 52 - that's more like it.
•She sat down by the pool and took a sip of her wine. 'This is more like it,' she said.
12 more like it BrE spoken used when you want to change something that has been said, to make it more true:
•'Poor David,' she said. 'Poor Harriet, more like it!'
13 what are you like! BrE spoken informal used in a joking, friendly way, when you are surprised by what someone has just said or done:
•'I think she's a lovely lady.' 'What are you like!'[T not usually in progressive]
1 THINK STH IS NICE to enjoy something or think that it is nice or good; love; dislike
•I like your jacket.
•I don't really like classical music.
•Do you like this colour?
•I like my coffee quite weak.
•I don't like it when you get angry.
• How do you like living in London (=how much do you like it)?
like doing sth
•I don't like talking in public.
like to do sth
•I like to see people enjoying themselves.
•In time, I got to like her (=began to like her).
•I quite like their new album.
•We really liked the film.
•The time I like best (=like most of all) is the evening when it's cool.
like sth about sb/sth
•One of the things I like about John is his sense of humour.
•I didn't like the idea of being a single parent.
2 LIKE A PERSON to think that someone is nice or enjoy being with them:
•Jessica's really nice, but I don't like her boyfriend.
•You'll like my brother.
•I really like Sam.
•She's a lovely girl and I like her very much.
3 APPROVE OF STH to approve of something and think that it is good or right:
•I don't like dishonesty.
•I don't like the way he shouts at the children.
like doing sth
•He's never liked talking about people behind their backs.
like sb doing sth
•I don't like him taking all the credit when he didn't do any of the work.
like to do sth
•She doesn't like to swear in front of the children.
4 DO STH REGULARLY to try to do something regularly or make something happen regularly
like to do sth
•I like to get up early and get a bit of work done before breakfast.
like sb to do sth
•We like our students to take part in college sports activities.
5 WANT would like
a) used to say that you want something or want to do something; love
•I'd like a cheeseburger, please.
would like to do sth
•I'd like to see that film.
•There's something I'd like to tell you.
•I'd like to apologize for my behaviour yesterday.
•I'd just like to say how grateful we are for your help.
would like sb to do sth
•He would like us all to be at the meeting.
b) used to ask someone if they want something or want to do something:
•Would you like a drink?
•What would you like to eat?
•Contact our office if you would like more information.
would sb like to do sth
•Would you like to come with us?
• How would you like (=would you like) to spend the summer in Italy?
would sb like sb to do sth
•Would you like me to pick you up in the morning?
see box at WISH^1
6 whatever/wherever/anything etc you like whatever thing you want, in whatever place you want etc:
•You can sit wherever you like.
•You can choose anything you like from the menu.
7 as long as you like/as much as you like etc as long, as much etc as you want:
•You know you're welcome to stay with us as long as you like.
•Take as many as you like.
8 (whether you) like it or not used to emphasize that something unpleasant is true or will happen and cannot be changed:
•Like it or not, people are often judged by their appearance.
9 I'd like to think/believe (that) used to say that you wish or hope something is true, when you are not sure that it is:
•I'd like to think that we offer an excellent service.
•I would like to believe that the company can be successful in the future.
10 if you like BrE
a) used to suggest or offer something to someone:
•I can give you her phone number, if you like.
•If you like, I could go with you.
b) used to agree to something, even if it is not really what you want yourself:
•'Shall we get a takeaway on the way home?' 'If you like.'
c) used to suggest one possible way of describing something or someone:
•We don't have a proper agreement, but we have an informal understanding, if you like.
11 ROMANTIC to think someone is sexually attractive; love
•Do you think Alex likes me?
12 I'd like to see you/him do sth used to say that you do not believe someone can do something:
•I'd like to see you organize a conference!
13 how would you like sth? used to ask someone to imagine how they would feel if something bad happened to them instead of to you or someone else:
•How would you like being left alone for hours in a strange place?
•How would you like it if someone treated you in that way?
14 I like that! BrE used to say that what someone has said or done is rude and unfair:
•I like that! She didn't even say thank you!
15 like it or lump it used to say that someone must accept a situation or decision they do not like because it cannot be changed
1 sb's likes and dislikes the things that someone likes and does not like:
•We all have our own likes and dislikes when it comes to food.
2 and the like/and such like and similar things:
•Soldiers, policemen, and the like were all called in to help with the emergency.
•They believe that the government does not spend enough money on health, education, and such like.
3 the likes of sb/sth spoken
a) used to talk about someone you do not like or do not approve of:
•I don't want you spending time with the likes of him.
b) used to talk about people of a particular type:
•Information is collected through the likes of the FBI, CIA, and Scotland Yard.
4 the like of sb/sth also sb's/sth's like formal something similar to someone or a particular person or thing, or of equal importance or value:
•This will be a show the like of which has never been seen before.
•The man was a genius. We shall not see his like again.spoken
1 used in speech to fill a pause while you are thinking what to say next:
•The water was, like, really cold.
•I was just, like, standing there.
2 I'm/he's/she's like...
a) used to tell the exact words someone used:
•I asked Dave if he wanted to go, and he's like, no way!
b) used to describe an event, feeling, or person, when it is difficult to describe or when you use a noise instead of words:
•She was like, huh? (=she did not understand)
3 as like as not/like enough BrE probably:
•The ambulance will be too late, as like as not.
1 in the same way as. Some people consider this use to be incorrect:
•No one else can score goals like he can!
•Don't talk to me like you talk to a child.
2 like I say/said spoken used when you are repeating something that you have already said:
•Like I said, I don't mind helping out on the day.
•I'm sorry, but, like I say, she's not here at the moment.
3 informal as if. Some people think that this use is not correct English:
•He looked at me like I was mad.
•It looks like it's going to rain.
•This meat smells like it's gone bad.[only before noun] formal
1 similar in some way:
•The second dispute was sorted out in a like manner.
•They get on well together because they are of like mind.
•Try to buy two fish of like size.
2 be like to do sth old use to be likely to do something
another spelling of LIKABLE [singular, U]
1 the degree to which something can reasonably be expected to happen; = probability
[+of]
•Using a seatbelt will reduce the likelihood of serious injury in a car accident.
little/lower/high/greater etc likelihood
•There was very little likelihood of her getting the job.
likelihood (that)
•They must face the likelihood that the newspaper might go bankrupt.
2 in all likelihood almost certainly:
•If I refused, it would in all likelihood mean I'd lose my job. comparative likelier, superlative likeliest
1 something that is likely will probably happen or is probably true; unlikely
•Snow showers are likely tomorrow.
likely outcome/effects/consequences etc
•What are the likely effects of the law going to be?
•the most likely cause of the problem
likely to do/be sth
•Children who live in the country's rural areas are very likely to be poor.
more/less/most/least likely
•Young drivers are far more likely to have accidents than older drivers.
•It is more than likely (=almost certain) the votes will have to be counted again.
•It could have been an accident, but that was hardly likely (=not very likely).
•He could offer no likely explanation when I asked him.
2 [only before noun] suitable for a particular purpose:
•the three most likely candidates for president
•One likely source of energy is windpower.
3 a likely story spoken used to tell someone you do not believe what they have just said
1 probably
most/very likely
•I'd very likely have done the same thing in your situation.
(as) likely as not spoken (=very probably)
•As likely as not, the meeting will take place in the village pub.
2 not likely! spoken especially BrE used to disagree strongly, or to say that something will not happen:
•'He said you'd be giving them a lift.' 'Not likely!'[usually before noun]
having similar interests and opinions:
•a chance to meet like-minded people
- like-mindedness noun [U]

PHRASAL VERBS
liken sb/sth to sb/sth phr v
formal to say that someone or something is similar to another person or thing; = compare
•Critics have likened the new theater to a supermarket.
1 [C,U] the quality of being similar in appearance to someone or something; = resemblance
[+to]
•Hugh's uncanny likeness to his father
•I can see the family likeness.
2 [C] a painting or photograph of a person, especially one that looks very like the person
good/perfect/true etc likeness
[+of]
•That's a remarkable likeness of Julia.
1 formal in the same way; = similarly
•Nanny put on a shawl and told the girls to do likewise. [sentence adverb]
•The clams were delicious. Likewise, the eggplant was excellent.
2 likewise spoken used to return someone's greeting or polite statement:
•'You're always welcome at our house.' 'Likewise.'
1 liking for sb/sth formal when you like someone or something:
•Jim and Keith had a liking and respect for each other.
•She's developed a liking for theatre.
2 take a liking to sb/sth to begin to like someone or something:
•He immediately took a liking to Steve.
3 to your liking formal being just what you wanted:
•I hope everything was to your liking, Sir.
1 [C] a small tree with pale purple or white flowers
2 [U] a pale purple colour; = mauve
- lilac adjective
•a lilac dress formal
extremely small compared to the normal size of things $ plural Lilos [C]
trademark BrE a rubber MATTRESS filled with air and used as a bed or for floating on water [singular]
a pleasant pattern of rising and falling sound in someone's voice or in music:
•the lilt of a Scottish accent
- lilting adjective
•a lilting melody plural lilies [C]
one of several types of plant with large bell-shaped flowers of various colours, especially white
gild the lily at GILD (3); WATER LILY $ old-fashioned
lacking courage[C]
a plant with several small white bell-shaped flowers
1 pure white:
•lily-white skin
2 informal morally perfect:
•You're not so lily-white yourself! $ [C]
a round, flat light green bean that grows in America [C]
1 out on a limb alone and without help or support:
•All the other countries signed the agreement, leaving Britain out on a limb.
•He'd gone out on a limb (=taken a risk) to help us.
2 an arm or leg
3 strong-limbed/long-limbed etc having strong, long etc arms and legs
4 a large branch of a tree
risk life and limb at RISK^2 (1); tear sb limb from limb at TEAR^2 (9) $

PHRASAL VERBS
limber up phr v
to do gentle exercises in order to prepare your muscles for a race, competition etc
able to move and bend easily $
1 [singular, U] a situation in which nothing happens or changes for a long period of time, and it is difficult to make decisions or know what to do, often because you are waiting for something else to happen first
be in limbo
•I'm in limbo now until I know whether I've got the job.
[+of]
•the limbo of his eight years in jail
2 the limbo a West Indian dance in which the dancer leans backwards and goes under a stick that is lowered gradually
1 [C] a small juicy green fruit with a sour taste, or the tree this grows on
2 [C] a tree with pleasant-smelling yellow flowers; = linden
3 [U] a white substance obtained by burning LIMESTONE, used for making cement, marking sports fields etc; = quicklime
4 [U] a light yellowish green colour[T]
technical to add lime to soil to control acid [U]
a drink made from the juice of limes[U]
a light yellowish green colour
- lime-green adjective [singular, U]
a situation in which someone receives a lot of attention, especially from newspapers, television etc
in/out of the limelight
•Tad loves being in the limelight.
•The president's wife wanted to stay out of the limelight.
•She's afraid this new actor will steal the limelight from her.
•his few moments of limelight in front of the cameras [C]
a humorous short poem that has five lines that RHYME [U] BrE
a hard white or grey substance that forms on the inside of pipes, TAPs and water containers $ [U]
a type of rock that contains CALCIUM [C]
AmE old-fashioned a slightly insulting word for someone from Britain [C]
1 GREATEST/LEAST ALLOWED the greatest or least amount, number, speed etc that is allowed

set/impose a limit
exceed a limit (=go beyond a limit)
speed limit
time limit
age limit
upper limit (=the highest point something can reach)
lower limit (=the lowest point something can reach)
above/below the limit
strict limit
legal limit

[+to/on]
•There's a limit on the time you have to take the test.
•My wife and I set a limit on how much we spend on clothes.
• The cheque must not exceed the limit set by the banker's card.
•a 55 mph speed limit
• The time limit for making claims is three months.
•There's no age limit for applicants.
• an upper limit for pollution levels
•His blood alcohol level was 50% above the legal limit.
•The public would like strict spending limits on political campaigns.

2 GREATEST AMOUNT POSSIBLE also limits the greatest possible amount of something that can exist or be obtained
[+of]
•the limits of human knowledge
•He'd reached the limit of his patience.
•Our finances are already stretched to the limit (=we do not have any extra money).
• There's no limit to what you can do if you try.
3 PLACE also limits the furthest point or edge of a place, often one that must not be passed:
•He had not been outside the limits of the prison walls for 20 years.
•The public is not allowed within a 2-mile limit of the missile site.
•Los Angeles city limits
4 off limits
a) beyond the area where someone is allowed to go:
•That area of beach was off limits to us 'city kids'.
b) beyond what you are allowed to do or have:
•His private life is off limits to the press.
5 within limits within the time, level, amount etc considered acceptable:
•You can come and go when you want - within limits.
6 be over the limit to have drunk more alcohol than is legal or safe for driving
7 know your limits informal to know what you are good at doing and what you are not good at:
•I know my limits. I'm not an administrator.
8 have your limits spoken to have a set of ideas about what is reasonable to do, and to not accept behaviour that does not follow those ideas:
•I have my limits. You will not use that kind of nasty language in class.
1 [T] to stop an amount or number from increasing beyond a particular point:
•a decision to limit imports of foreign cars
limit sth to sth
•Seating is limited to 500.
2 [T] to stop someone from doing what they want or from developing and improving beyond a particular point:
•A lack of formal education will limit your job opportunities.
limit yourself to sth
•I limit myself to two cups of coffee a day.
3 be limited to sth to exist or happen only in a particular place, group, or area of activity:
•The damage was limited to the roof.
1 [U] the act or process of controlling or reducing something
[+to]
•Any limitation to the king's power could be permanent.
•a nuclear limitation treaty
damage limitation at DAMAGE^1 (3)
2 [C usually plural] qualities that stop someone or something from being as good or as effective as you wish they could be; = weakness
[+of]
•Despite the limitations of the survey, it did suggest some general trends.
•It's a good little car, but it has its limitations.
3 [C,U] a rule or condition that stops something from increasing beyond a particular point
[+on/upon]
•a limitation on the number of hours children can work
put/place/impose limitations
•The new law imposes limitations on campaign contributions.
1 not very great in amount, number, ability etc
limited number/amount/time etc
•There are only a limited number of tickets available.
•My knowledge of the business is limited.
•The organization has very limited resources.
•So far, the education reforms have had only limited success.
(be of) limited use/value
•Unfortunately, the drug is of limited value in treating cancer.
2 Limited written abbreviation Ltd used after the name of British business companies that have LIMITED LIABILITYalso limited liability company [C]
a company in Britain whose owners only have to pay a limited amount if the company gets into debt; public limited company[C]
a small number of special copies of a book, picture etc which are produced at one time only[U]
technical the legal position of being responsible for paying only a limited amount of debt if something bad happens to yourself or your company
1 preventing any improvement or increase in something:
•A limiting factor in health care is the way resources are distributed.
2 informal preventing someone from developing and doing what they are interested in:
•The job's OK, but it's sort of limiting.
without a limit or end; = infinite
•limitless possibilities $ [C]
informal a limousine [C]
1 a very large, expensive, and comfortable car, driven by someone who is paid to drive
2 a small bus that people take to and from airports in the US
not firm or strong:
•a limp handshake
•His body suddenly went limp and he fell down on the floor.
- limply adverb
•His arms were hanging limply.
- limpness noun [U][I]
1 to walk slowly and with difficulty because one leg is hurt or injured:
•Moreno limped off the field with a foot injury.
2 [always + adv/prep] if a ship or aircraft limps somewhere, it goes there slowly, because it has been damaged
[+into]
•The damaged liner limped into New York.

PHRASAL VERBS
limp along phr v
if a company, project etc limps along, it is not successful:
•The team is limping along in fifth place.[C]
the way someone walks when they are limping:
•Young walked with a slight limp. [C]
a small sea animal with a shell, which holds tightly onto the rock where it lives literary
clear or transparent:
•limpid blue eyes
- limpidly adverb
- limpidity noun [U]
a limp-wristed man is considered to lack male qualities such as strength; sometimes used to say that a man is HOMOSEXUALlynchpin
the linchpin of sth the person or thing in a group, system etc that is most important, because everything depends on them [U]
BrE a liquid medicine used for curing coughs [C]
a LIME tree
1 ON PAPER/ON THE GROUND [C] a long thin mark on a piece of paper, the ground, or another surface:
•Draw a straight line across the top of the page.
•Sign your name on the dotted line (=line made up of a series of dots).
•The edges of the pitch are marked by white lines.
•The goalkeeper just managed to stop the ball going over the line.
•He raced towards the finishing line.
2 BETWEEN TWO AREAS [C] an imaginary line on the surface of the earth, for example showing where one country or area of land stops and another begins
county/state line AmE
•He was born in a small town just across the state line.
line of latitude/longitude
•They were still travelling along the same line of longitude.
INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE
3 OF PEOPLE/THINGS [C]
a) a row of people or things next to each other
[+of]
•There was a line of fir trees on either side of the road.
•The four men were standing in a line on the other side of the table.
•A couple of the posts were out of line (=not in a straight row).
b) especially AmE a row of people, cars etc that are waiting one behind the other; = queue BrE
•I looked in despair at the long line in front of the ticket office.
[+of]
•I joined the line of vehicles waiting to get into the car park.
•The kids were standing in line waiting for their teacher.
•The woman next in line began to mutter to herself.
•He tried to cut in line (=go in front of other people who are waiting).
4 DIRECTION [C] the direction or imaginary line along which something travels between two places:
•Light travels in a straight line.
•A boat came into my line of vision (=direction I was looking in).
line of fire/attack/movement etc (=the direction in which someone shoots, attacks, moves etc)
•I was directly in the animal's line of attack.
•They knew they needed to block their enemy's supply lines (=direction used for carrying supplies of food etc).
5 ON YOUR FACE [C] a line on the skin of someone's face; wrinkle
•She frowned, and deep lines appeared between her eyebrows.
•There were fine lines around her eyes.
•No one can avoid lines and wrinkles as they get older.
6 PHONE [C] a telephone wire or connection:
•I'm sorry, the line is busy (=someone is already using it).
•There seems to be a fault on the line.
•There was a click, then the line went dead (=suddenly stopped working completely).
•Henry is on the line (=on the phone) from New York.
•I got on the line to (=phoned) the hospital as soon as I heard about the accident.
•I wished he would just get off the line.
•I'm sorry, it's a bad line and I can't hear you.
• Hold the line (=wait on the phone), please, and I'll put you through to our sales department.
•Do you have a separate line for your modem?
7 FOR TRAINS [C] a track that a train travels along:
•We were delayed because of a problem further along the line.
•When you get to central London, take the Victoria Line to Finsbury Park.
railway line BrE;
railroad line AmE
•The trail follows a disused railroad line along the edge of the valley.
8 BETWEEN TWO TYPES OF THING [C usually singular] the point at which one type of thing can be considered to be something else or at which it becomes a particular thing
[+between]
•There is a fine line between superstition and religion.
•The dividing line between luxuries and necessities is constantly changing.
•Sometimes he found it hard to draw the line between work and pleasure.
•Her remarks did not quite cross the line into rudeness.
•Large numbers of families are living on or near the poverty line (=the point at which people are considered to be very poor).
9 SHAPE/EDGE [C usually plural] the outer shape of something long or tall:
•She was wearing a loose dress which softened the lines of her body.
•a modern building with clean, elegant lines.
10 WORDS [C]
a) a line of written words, for example in a poem or a document:
•He quoted a few lines from Shakespeare.
•Scroll down to line 29.
b) a remark:
•He liked to introduce himself with a witty opening line.
•This was one of his favourite chat-up lines (=remark for impressing someone you want to attract).
c) [usually plural] words that someone has to learn and say as part of a play or performance:
•Paul often messed up his lines.
•It always took me ages to learn my lines.
11 OPINION/ATTITUDE [singular] an opinion or attitude, especially one that someone states publicly and that influences their actions
[+on]
•I can't agree with the government's line on immigration.
•Journalists are often too willing to accept the official line (=the opinion that a government states officially).
•He found it hard to accept the party line (=the official opinion of a political party) on every issue.
take a tough/firm/hard line on sth
•The school takes a very tough line on drugs.
toe the line at TOE^2
12 WAY OF DOING STH [C] a particular way of doing something or of thinking about something
line of argument/reasoning/inquiry etc
•It seemed useless to pursue this line of questioning.
•Opposition parties soon realized they would have to try a different line of attack.
•The police are following several different lines of enquiry.
•We were both thinking along the same lines (=in the same way).
•In South Africa, the press developed along very different lines (=in a very different way).
•More groups will now be set up on these lines (=this way).
•The company's rapid success means it's definitely on the right lines (=doing something the right way).
13 SERIES OF EVENTS [C usually singular] a series of events that follow each other
[+of]
•This is the latest in a long line of political scandals.
14 IN A WAR [C] the edge of an area that is controlled by an army, where soldiers stay and try to prevent their enemy from moving forward:
•They finally broke through the German line.
•young soldiers who were sent to the front line to fight
•One regiment was trapped behind enemy lines.
•Reinforcements were available just behind the lines.
15 IN A COMPANY/ORGANIZATION [C] a series of levels of authority within an organization:
•Decisions are taken by senior officers and fed down through the line of command to the ordinary soldiers.
•There should be more direct discussion between managers and workers lower down the line.
LINE MANAGER
16 OF ROPE/WIRE [C] a piece of strong string, rope, or wire used for a particular purpose:
•She hung the clothes out on the washing line (=line for hanging wet clothes on to dry).
•The fishing line (=line for catching fish) snapped and the fish got away.
17 PRODUCT [C] a type of goods for sale in a shop:
•The company has just launched a new line of small, low-priced computers.
18 along these/those lines also along the lines of sth similar to something else:
•We usually start with general questions along the lines of,'How do you feel?'
•They're trying to organize a trip to the beach or something along those lines.
19 along religious/ethnic/party etc lines if people divide along religious, party etc lines they divide according to the religion, political party, or other group they belong to:
•The committee was split along party lines.
•The community remains divided along religious lines.
20 on line
a) using a computer to get information or to communicate with people:
•You can book tickets on line.
•Most of our sales staff now work on line.
ONLINE
b) working properly as planned:
•a new nuclear reactor which should be on line by 2005
•If there is a power failure, the emergency generators should come on line within 15 minutes.
21 drop sb a line informal to write a short letter or email to someone:
•Drop me a line and let me know how you're getting on.
22 don't give me that line spoken used to say that you do not believe someone's excuse:
•I know for a fact you weren't sick yesterday, so don't give me that line.
23 fall into line/bring sb into line informal to start to do what someone else wants you to do, or to make someone do this:
•Now that France and Germany have signed up, other countries will soon fall into line.
•The few party rebels were soon brought into line.
24 in line with sth if something changes in line with something else, it changes in the same way and at the same rate as it:
•Pensions will be increased in line with inflation.
25 bring sth into line with sth to change a system so that it works according to a particular set of rules, laws etc:
•UK immigration procedures will have to be changed to bring them into line with the latest European ruling.
26 be out of line infomal
a) to say or do something that is not acceptable in a particular situation:
•You just keep quiet! You're way out of line.
b) to not obey someone, or to do something that you should not do
get/step put of line
•Anybody who steps out of line will be in deep trouble.
27 be in line for sth/be in line to do sth to be very likely to get or be given something:
•I should be in line for promotion soon.
first/second/next etc in line for
•He must be first in line for the editor's job.
28 be first/second/next etc in line to the throne to be the person who has a right to become a future king or queen:
•As the oldest son, he was next in line to the throne.
29 be on the line if something important is on the line, there is a risk that you might lose it or something bad could happen to it:
•From now on, all our jobs are on the line.
•She knew that her whole future was on the line.
put yourself/your neck on the line (for sb) (=risk something bad happening to you)
•I've already put myself on the line for you once, and I'm not going to do it again.
30 be in sb's line informal to be the type of thing that someone is interested in or good at:
•Acting's not really in my line, I'm afraid.
31 get a line on sb/sth informal especially AmE to get information about someone or something:
•We need to get some kind of a line on these guys.
32 somewhere along the line informal at some time during an activity or period of time:
•Somewhere along the line, Errol seemed to have lost interest in her.
33 down the line informal later, after an activity or situation has been continuing for a period of time:
•There may be more costs further down the line.
•Now, three years down the line, we're beginning to see the problems with the treatment.
34 in the line of duty happening or done as part of your job:
•firefighters dying in the line of duty
35 be in the firing line/in the line of fire
a) to be one of the people who could be criticized or blamed for something:
•As one of the President's chief advisers, he's bound to be in the firing line.
b) to be in a place where a bullet etc might hit you:
•A couple of civilians were caught in the firing line.
36 PUNISHMENT lines [plural] BrE a punishment given to school children that consists of writing the same thing a lot of times:
•He got 50 lines for being cheeky to a teacher.
37 FAMILY [singular] your family, considered as the people you are related to who lived before you and the people who will live after you:
•She comes from a long line of actors.
•It looks as if Joe might be the last of the line (=the last in his family).
the male/female line
•This particular gene is passed down through the male line.
line of succession (=the system by which an important position or property is passed from a parent to their children, and then to their children etc)
•Henry the Eighth wanted a male heir to ensure the Tudor line of succession.
38 JOB [C usually singular] the type of work someone does
line of work/business
•What line of business is he in?
in the building/retail etc line
•She's keen to do something in the fashion line.
39 TRANSPORT [C] a company that provides transport for moving goods by sea, air, road etc:
•He runs a transatlantic shipping line.
40 DRUG [C] informal an amount of an illegal drug in powder form, arranged in a line so it can be breathed in through the nose
draw the line at at DRAW^1 (16); draw a line (between sth) at DRAW^1 (15); where do you draw the line? at DRAW^1 (17); draw a line under sth at DRAW^1 (18)
hard line at HARD^1 (21)
hook, line and sinker at HOOK^1 (9)
lay sth on the line at LAY^2 (18)
PICKET LINE
the poverty line/level at POVERTY (2)
read between the lines at READ^1 (14)[T]
1 to sew a piece of material onto the inside or back of another piece to make it stronger or warmer:
•Are those curtains lined?
line sth with sth
•a leather coat lined with silk
2 to form a layer over the inner surface of something:
•The birds use small leaves for lining their nests.
line sth with sth
•The cage should be lined with straw.
3 to form rows along the sides of something:
•Crowds lined the route to the palace.
be lined with sth
•The street was lined with small shops.
•a tree-lined avenue
4 line your own pockets to make yourself richer, especially by doing something dishonest - used to show disapproval

PHRASAL VERBS
line up phr v
1 if people line up, or if you line them up, they stand in a row or line, or you make them do this:
•Line up, everybody!
line sb <=> up
•He lined us all up in the corridor.
2 line sth <=> up to arrange things in a row:
•I lined the bottles up on the sideboard.
3 line sth <=> up to move one thing so that it is in the correct position in relation to something else
[+with]
•The windows should be lined up with the door frame.
4 line sb/sth <=> up to arrange for something to happen or for someone to be available for an event:
•We've lined up some excellent speakers for tonight.
•He's already got a new job lined up.
LINE-UP [C,U]
formal the way in which members of a family are DESCENDed from other members; line, ancestry
•a family of ancient lineage
formal related directly to someone who lived a long time before you:
•lineal descendants [C usually plural] formal
1 a feature of your face
2 a typical quality $
1 consisting of lines, or in the form of a straight line:
•a linear diagram
2 [only before noun] relating to length:
•linear measurements
3 involving a series of connected events, ideas etc, that move or progress from one stage to the next:
•linear thinking
- linearly adverb
- linearity noun [U]
LATERAL THINKING $ [C]
a player in American football who tries to TACKLE members of the other team
1 a coat, skirt etc that is lined has a piece of thin material covering the inside; lining
•a fleece-lined jacket
2 paper that is lined has straight lines printed or drawn across it
3 skin that is lined has WRINKLEs on it[U]
a type of dancing in which people dance in lines, all following the same series of steps[C]
a DRAWING consisting only of lines plural linemen [C] AmE
1 a player in American football who plays in the front line of a team
offensive/defensive lineman
2 someone whose job is to take care of railway lines or telephone wires[U] BrE
a system of management in which information and instructions are passed from one person to someone immediately higher or lower than them in rank[C] BrE
1 a manager in a company who is responsible for the main activities of production, sales etc
2 sb's line manager someone who is one level higher in rank than you in a company and is in charge of your work [U]
1 sheets, TABLECLOTHs etc:
•bed linen
•table linen
2 cloth made from the FLAX plant, used to make high quality clothes, home decorations etc:
•a linen jacket
3 old use underwear
wash your dirty laundry/linen at DIRTY^1 (7)[C] BrE
a cupboard in which sheets, TOWELs etc are kept; = linen closet AmE[C]
a line in American football where the ball is placed at the beginning of a period of play[C]
the way of starting play again in a RUGBY UNION game, when the ball has gone off the field[C]
a machine that prints information from a computer at a very high speed
- line printing noun [U] $
1 [C] a piece of material used inside something, especially in order to keep it clean:
•a dustbin liner
•nappy liners
2 [C] a large ship for passengers:
•an ocean liner
3 [C,U] informal EYELINER[usually plural]
printed information about the music or musicians that comes with a CD or record plural linesmen [C]
an official in a sport who decides when a ball has gone out of the playing area[C usually singular]
1 the players in a sports team who play in a particular game:
•This was his first match in the starting line-up (=the players who begin the game).
2 a group of people, especially performers, who have agreed to be involved in an event:
•The line-up included top bands Prodigy and Radiohead.
3 a number of events or programmes arranged to follow each other:
•a wonderful line-up of programmes for Christmas and the New Year
4 especially AmE a row of people who stand in front of a WITNESS to a crime, who is then asked if he or she recognizes any of them as the criminal; = identification parade BrE [in nouns]
a small, young, or less important type of something:
•a duckling
•princelings $ [I]
1 also linger on to continue to exist, be noticeable etc for longer than is usual or desirable:
•a taste that lingers in your mouth
•Unfortunately the tax will linger on until April.
2 also linger on to stay somewhere a little longer, especially because you do not want to leave
[+over]
•They lingered over coffee and missed the last bus.
•I spent a week at Kandersteg and could happily have lingered on.
3 [always + adv/prep] to continue looking at or dealing with something for longer than is usual or desirable
[+on/over]
•Mike let his eyes linger on her face.
•There's no need to linger over this stage of the interview.
4 also linger on to continue to live although you are slowly dying:
•He surprised all the doctors by lingering on for several weeks. $ [U]
women's underwear [usually before noun]
continuing to exist for longer than usual or desirable
lingering doubts/suspicions etc
•Any lingering hopes of winning the title soon disappeared.
•Mr Wilkins suffered a lingering death.
lingering smell/aroma/odour
•the lingering aroma of chocolate
- lingeringly adverb $ [C usually singular] informal
1 a language, especially a foreign one:
•I'd like to go to Greece, but I don't speak the lingo.
2 words or expressions used only by a particular group of people, or at a particular period of time:
•academic lingo [C]
a language used between people whose main languages are different:
•English is the lingua franca in many countries. [plural]
long thin flat pieces of PASTA [C]
1 someone who is good at foreign languages, especially someone who speaks several
2 someone who studies or teaches linguistics
related to language, words, or linguistics:
•a child's linguistic development
- linguistically adverb [U]
the study of language in general and of particular languages, their structure, grammar, and history
PHILOLOGY [U]
a liquid containing oil that you rub on your skin when you feel sore or stiff [C,U]
1 a piece of material that covers the inside of something, especially a piece of clothing; lined
•a jacket with a silk lining
every cloud has a silver lining at CLOUD^1 (6)
2 a substance or material that covers the inside of part of the body:
•the lining of the womb
1 be linked if two things are linked, they are related in some way:
•Police think the murders are linked.
be linked to/with sth
•Some birth defects are linked to smoking during pregnancy.
be closely/directly/strongly etc linked
•Our economy is inextricably linked with America's.
2 MAKE CONNECTION [T] to make a connection between two or more things or people:
•A love of nature links the two poets.
link sth/sb to/with sth
•Exactly how do we link words to objects?
link sb/sth together
•Strong family ties still linked them together.
3 JOIN [T] to physically join two or more things, people, or places; = connect
link sth/sb to/with sth
•The pipe must be linked to the cold water supply.
link sb/sth together
•The climbers were linked together by ropes.
link sth and sth
•A long bridge links Venice and the mainland.
•He walked with her, linking arms (=putting his arm around her arm).
4 SHOW CONNECTION [T] to show or say that there is a connection between two people, situations, or things
link sth/sb to/with sth
•He denied reports linking him to Colombian drug dealers.
5 MAKE STH DEPEND ON STH [T] to make one thing or situation depend on another thing or situation
link sth to sth
•Pay increases will now be linked to performance.
INDEX-LINKED
6 also link up [T] to connect computers, broadcast systems etc, so that electronic messages can be sent between them
link sth to/with sth
•Local terminals are linked to the central computer.

PHRASAL VERBS
link in phr v BrE
1 to connect with another idea, statement, type of work etc, especially in a way that is useful; = tie in
[+with]
•This point links in with our earlier discussion.
2 to happen at the same time as something else; = tie in
[+with]
•Hawk's visit was scheduled to link in with the meeting in Harare.

link up phr v
1 to connect with something or to make a connection between things, especially so that they can work together
[+with]
•The train links up with the ferry at Dover.
link sth <=> up (with sth)
•The next stage is to link the film up with the soundtrack.
2 to connect computers, broadcast systems etc so that electronic messages can be sent between them
link sth <=> up (to/with sth)
•All these PCs are linked up to the network.
•The Internet allows people from all over the world to link up for chat sessions.
3 to join with someone so that you can do something together
[+with]
•We linked up with the Daily Express to help run the campaign.
LINKUP[C]
1 a way in which two things or ideas are related to each other
links between sth (and sth)
•the link between drug use and crime
•There are a number of links between the two theories.
2 a relationship or connection between two or more people, countries, organizations etc
[+between]
•the close link between teacher and student
[+with]
•The company has strong links with big investors.
forge/establish links
•Organizers of the project hope that international links will be forged.
3 a person or thing that makes possible a relationship or connection with someone or something else
[+with]
•For elderly people, TV is a vital link with the outside world.
4 rail/road/telephone etc link something that makes communication or travel between two places possible:
•The office has direct computer links to over 100 firms.
5 one of the rings in a chain
6 link in the chain one of the stages involved in a process
7 the links a piece of ground near the sea where golf is played; = golf links
8 a special word or picture in an Internet document that you CLICK on to move quickly to another part of the same document or to another document; hyperlink
•Send an email to the above address to report a broken link (=a link that is not working properly).
CUFF LINK, MISSING LINK; weak/weakest link at WEAK (15)
1 [C,U] formal a LINK^2 (1)
[+between]
•the linkage between wages and prices
2 [C,U] a system of links or connections
3 [singular, U] a condition in a political or business agreement, by which one country or company agrees to do something, only if the other promises to do something in returnalso link verb [C]
a verb that connects the subject of a sentence with its COMPLEMENT, for example 'seem' in the sentence 'the house seems big'; = copula [C]
a connection between two things, especially organizations or communication systems [C]
a small brown singing bird $ [U] BrE informal
LINOLEUM $
1 [U] the art of cutting a pattern on a block of linoleum
2 [C] a picture printed from such a block $ [U]
a floor covering made from strong shiny material $ [U]
trademark a system for arranging TYPE^1 (3) in the form of solid metal lines [U]
the seed of the FLAX plant[U]
the oil from linseed, used in paints, for protecting wood surfaces etc [U]
1 especially AmE soft light pieces of thread or wool that come off cotton, wool, or other material; = fluff BrE
2 BrE soft cotton material used for protecting wounds [C]
a piece of stone or wood across the top of a window or door, forming part of the frame [C]
1 a large animal of the cat family that lives in Africa and parts of southern Asia. Lions have gold-coloured fur and the male has a MANE (=long hair around its neck); lioness
2 the lion's share (of sth) the largest part of something:
•The firm has captured the lion's share of the UK market.
3 the lion's den if you go into the lion's den, you go among people who are your enemies [C]
a female lion $ written
very brave; = courageousalso lionise BrE [T] written
to treat someone as being very important or famous
1 [C] one of the two soft parts around your mouth where your skin is redder or darker
upper/lower/top/bottom lip
•His bottom lip was swollen.
•She had big eyes and full lips (=large and round lips).
•Matt opened the door with a smile on his lips.
•Marty kissed me right on the lips!
thin-lipped/thick-lipped/full-lipped (=having lips that are thin, or large and round)
•Stephen pursed his lips with distaste (=brought them together tightly into a small circle).
TIGHT-LIPPED
2 [C] the edge of a hollow or deep place in the land
[+of]
•the old road that ran along the lip of the gorge
3 [C usually singular] the edge of something you use to hold or pour liquid; = rim
4 [U] informal talk that is not polite or respectful - used especially by adults to children; = cheek
•Don't give me any of your lip!
5 my lips are sealed spoken used to say that you will not tell anyone about a secret
6 on everyone's lips being talked about by everyone:
•an actress whose name is on everyone's lips
bite your lip at BITE^1 (1)
lick your lips at LICK^1 (5)
not pass sb's lips at PASS^1 (24)
read sb's lips at READ^1 (18)
smack your lips at SMACK^1 (3)
a stiff upper lip at STIFF^1 (10)[C,U]
a substance used to protect dry lips[C,U]
a substance used to make lips look very shiny [C]
technical one of several types of FATTY substances in living things, such as fat, oil, or WAX $ [U]
a way of removing fat from someone's body, using SUCTION [C,U] BrE informal
LIPSTICK:
•Wait a minute, I'll just put a bit of lippy on.BrE informal
not showing respect in the way that you speak to someone [I,T]
to understand what someone is saying by watching the way their lips move, because you cannot hear them
- lip-reading noun [U] [C]
a small ring that someone puts through their lip, as jewellery[C,U]
BrE a substance used to make sore lips feel better
pay lip service to sb/sth to say that you support or agree with something without doing anything to prove it:
•organizations that pay lip service to career development [C,U]
something used for adding colour to your lips, in the shape of a small stick[I]
to move your lips at the same time as a recording is being played, in order to pretend that you are singing or saying the words
- lip synch noun [U] [U]
technical the act of making something a liquid or of becoming a liquid past tense and past participle liquified, present participle liquifying, third person singular liquifies [I,T]
formal to become liquid, or make something become liquid $ [C,U]
a sweet, very strong alcoholic drink, drunk in small quantities after a meal; liquor
[C,U] a substance that is not a solid or a gas, for example water or milk:
•Add a little more liquid to the sauce.
WASHING-UP LIQUID
1 in the form of a liquid instead of a gas or solid:
•Children take antibiotics in liquid form.
•liquid soap
2 technical easily changed into money by being sold or exchanged:
•Their shares are more liquid than those of many smaller companies.
LIQUID ASSETS
3 liquid refreshment drink, especially alcoholic drink - used humorously
4 literary clear and shiny, like water:
•liquid green eyes
5 literary liquid sounds are clear and pure[plural]
technical the money that a company or person has, and the property they can exchange for money
1 [I,T] to close a business or company and sell the things that belong to it, in order to pay its debts
2 [T] technical to pay a debt:
•The stock was sold to liquidate the loan.
3 [T] informal to kill someone or destroy something that is causing a problem [C,U]
1 the act of closing a company by selling the things that belong to it, in order to pay its debts:
•Hundreds of small businesses went into liquidation (=were closed).
2 the act of paying a debt $ [C]
an official whose job is to close a company and use any money obtained to pay its debts [U] technical
1 when a business or a person has money or goods that can be sold to pay debts
2 the state of being LIQUIDalso liquidise BrE [T]
to crush fruit, vegetables etc into a thick liquidalso liquidiser BrE $ [C]
BrE a small electric machine that makes solid foods into liquids; = blender $ [U]
1 especially AmE a strong alcoholic drink such as WHISKY; = spirit
LIQUEUR
2 BrE technical any alcoholic drinklicorice AmE [U] BrE
1 a black substance produced from the root of a plant, used in medicine and sweets
2 sweets made from this substance[C]
AmE a shop where alcohol is sold; = off-licence BrE $ plural lire or liras [C]
the standard unit of money in Malta and Turkey, and used in Italy before the EURO [singular]
a fault in the way someone speaks which makes them pronounce 's' sounds as 'th':
•She speaks with a slight lisp.
- lisp verb [I,T]lissome literary
a body that is lissom is thin and graceful; = lithe [C]
1 a set of things, names, numbers etc usually written one below the other, for example so that you can remember or check them

make/draw up/write a list
compile a list formal (=make a list)
top a list (=be the most important thing or person on a list)
on a list
a long/short list
price list
shopping list (=a list of things you want to buy)
grocery list AmE (=a list of food you need to buy)
wine list (=a list of wines available in a restaurant)
waiting list (=a list of people who are waiting for something)
mailing list (=a list of people that a company sends information to)
check list (=a list of things you need to check)
guest list (=a list of people invited somewhere)

[+of]
•a list of activities planned for Saturday
• Make a list of all the things you have to do.
•The first person on my list is Mrs Gilling.
•a long list of words to learn
•Do you have an up-to-date price list?
•Mr Jones has been on the waiting list for an operation for 6 months.

2 be high/low on a list (of sth) also be at the top/bottom of a list to be considered very important or not very important:
•A good car is high on my list of priorities.
CIVIL LIST; be on the danger list at DANGER (5); HIT LIST, MAILING LIST, SHORT LIST, WAITING LIST
1 [T] to write a list, or mention things one after the other:
•The guidebook lists 1000 hotels and restaurants.
2 [T] to put someone on an official list, especially a hospital or court list
list sb in fair/stable etc condition
•Several passengers were listed in critical condition.
•The case was listed for trial in the Crown Court.
3 [I] if a ship lists, it leans to one side BrE
1 a listed building is one of historical interest in Britain, and is protected by a government order
2 a listed company is one which offers its SHAREs for sale on the STOCK EXCHANGE; = public company; = public corporation AmE [I]
1 to pay attention to what someone is saying or to a sound that you can hear:
•Listen! There's a strange noise in the engine.
[+to]
•We sat around listening to music.
listen carefully/intently/hard etc
•The whole class was listening attentively.
•Liz stood still and listened hard (=very carefully).
!! listen is never followed directly by a noun. It must be followed by to and then a noun or a clause: Listen to what I say (NOT listen what I say).
2 spoken used to tell someone to pay attention to what you are going to say:
•Listen, I want you to come with me.
3 to consider what someone says and accept their advice:
•I told him not to go, but he just wouldn't listen.
[+to]
•I wish I'd listened to Dad.
•She refused to listen to reason (=accept sensible advice).

PHRASAL VERBS
listen for sth phr v
to listen carefully so that you will notice a particular sound:
•Listen for the moment when the music changes.

listen in phr v
1 to listen to a broadcast on the radio
[+to]
•I must remember to listen in to the news.
TUNE IN (1)
2 to listen to someone's conversation when they do not want you to
[+on]
•It sounded like someone was listening in on us.

listen out phr v BrE informal
to listen carefully so that you will notice a particular sound
[+for]
•Listen out for the baby in case she wakes up.

listen up phr v spoken especially AmE
used to get people's attention so they can hear what you are going to say:
•Hey everybody, listen up!
a listen BrE informal an act of listening:
• Have a listen to this new album! informal
pleasant to listen to; watchable $ [C]
1 someone who listens to the radio; viewer
•a new programme for younger listeners
2 a good/sympathetic listener someone who listens carefully and sympathetically to other people[C]
a piece of equipment that allows you to listen secretly to other people's conversations; = bug $ [U]
a type of BACTERIA that makes you sick
1 [C] an official or public list
[+of]
•a listing of all households in the district
2 listings [plural] lists of films, plays, and other events, with the times and places at which they will happen
3 [C] if a company has a listing on the STOCK EXCHANGE, it can offer its SHAREs for sale
feeling tired and not interested in things:
•The heat was making me listless.
- listlessly adverb
- listlessness noun [U][C]
a price that is suggested for a product by the people who make it $ [C]
a computer program that allows a group of people to send and receive e-mail from each other about a particular subject
the past tense and past participle of LIGHT^2also lit BrE
the abbreviation of literature or, literary :
•French lit plural litanies [C]
1 a long list of problems, excuses etc - used to show disapproval
[+of]
•an endless litany of complaints
2 a long prayer in the Christian church in which the priest says a sentence and the people reply [usually before noun]
especially AmE used in the names of some food or drink products to mean that they have fewer CALORIEs or less fat than other similar products:
•lite beer $
the American spelling of LITRE [U]
the state of being able to read and write; illiteracy ; numeracy
•a new adult literacy campaign
COMPUTER LITERACY
1 the literal meaning of a word or expression is its basic or original meaning; figurative
literal meaning/sense/interpretation etc
•A trade war is not a war in the literal sense.
2 literal translation a translation that translates each word exactly instead of giving the general meaning in a more natural way; free
3 literal-minded not showing much imagination
- literalness noun [U]
1 according to the most basic or original meaning of a word or expression:
•The name of the cheese is Dolcelatte, literally meaning 'sweet milk'.
•I said I felt like quitting, but I didn't mean it literally (=I did not mean exactly what I said)!
2 take sb/sth literally to believe exactly what someone or something says rather than trying to understand their general meaning:
•She takes the Bible literally.
3 used to emphasize that something, especially a large number, is actually true:
•The Olympic Games were watched by literally billions of people.
4 spoken used to emphasize a strong expression or word that is not being used in its real or original meaning. Some people consider this use to be incorrect.:
•Dad was literally blazing with anger. $ [only before noun]
1 relating to literature:
•a literary prize
• literary criticism (=the study of the methods used in writing literature)
2 typical of the style of writing used in literature rather than in ordinary writing and talking:
•a literary style of writing
3 liking literature very much, and studying or producing it:
•a literary woman
1 able to read and write; illiterate ; numerate
2 computer literate/musically literate etc able to use computers, understand and play music etc
3 well educated
the literati formal a small group of people in a society who know a lot about literature $ [U]
1 books, plays, poems etc that people think are important and good:
•He has read many of the major works of literature.
•Italian literature
2 all the books, articles, etc on a particular subject
[+on]
•literature on the history of science
in the literature
•Several cases of mercury poisoning have been recorded in the literature.
3 printed information produced by people who want to sell you something or tell you about something:
•sales literature
having a body that moves easily and gracefully:
•the strong lithe bodies of gymnasts
- lithely adverb [U]
a soft silver-white metal that is the lightest known metal, is used in BATTERIES, and is often combined with other metals. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Li $ [C]
a printed picture produced by lithography $ [U]
a method of printing in which a pattern is cut into stone or metal so that ink sticks to some parts of it and not others
- lithographic adjective [C]
law someone who is making a claim against someone or defending themselves against a claim in a court of law [I,T]
law to take a claim or complaint against someone to a court of law [U]
law the process of taking claims to a court of law:
•The threat of litigation can be a deciding factor in some business decisions. formal
very willing to take disagreements to a court of law - often used to show disapproval:
•a litigious society
- litigiousness noun [U] [U]
a chemical that turns red when it touches acid, and blue when it touches an ALKALI[U]
paper containing litmus, used to test whether a chemical is an acid or an ALKALI[singular]
1 one detail that is examined in order to help you make a decision about how suitable or acceptable someone or something is
[+of/for]
•The mayoral election is regarded as the litmus test for the integrity of the electoral process.
2 a test using litmus paperliter AmE $ BrE
1 [C] written abbreviation l the basic unit for measuring liquid in the METRIC SYSTEM
[+of]
•a litre of water
litre bottle/drum/container etc
•a litre bottle of wine
2 2.6/3.5 etc litre engine a measurement that shows the size and power of a vehicle's engine; cc
•the Ford's 2.8 litre engine $
1 WASTE [U] waste paper, cans etc that people have thrown away and left on the ground in a public place; = rubbish, trash, garbage
•People who drop litter can be fined in some cities.
•a town with a litter problem
2 BABY ANIMALS [C] a group of baby animals that a mother gives birth to at the same time
[+of]
•a litter of kittens
3 FOR CAT'S TOILET [U] small grains of a dry substance that is put in a container that a cat uses as a toilet indoors:
•cat litter
•a litter tray
4 FOREST [U] leaf litter dead leaves and other decaying plants on the ground in a forest
5 a litter of sth literary a group of things that look very untidy:
•A litter of notes, papers, and textbooks were strewn on the desk.
6 FOR ANIMAL'S BED [U] a substance such as STRAW that a farm animal sleeps on
7 BED [C] a chair or bed for carrying important people, used in past times
1 also litter up [T] if things litter an area, there are a lot of them in that place, scattered in an untidy way:
•Clothes littered the floor.
litter sth with sth
•The desk was littered with papers.
2 be littered with sth if something is littered with things, there are a lot of those things in it; = be full of sth
•Recent business news has been littered with stories of companies failing.
3 [I,T] to leave waste paper, cans etc on the ground in a public place
4 [I] technical if an animal such as a dog or cat litters, it gives birth to babiesalso litter basket BrE [C] BrE
a container in a public place, for things people throw away, such as papers or cans; = rubbish bin, waste bin; = trash can AmE; = garbage can AmEalso litter lout BrE $ [C] informal
someone who drops paper, cans etc on the ground in public places
1 SIZE [usually before noun] small in size:
•a little house
•a cake decorated with little flowers
•She was cutting the meat up into little bits.
little tiny/tiny little spoken (=extremely small)
•a little tiny puppy
a little something informal (=a small present, or a small amount of food)
•I'd like to buy him a little something to thank him.
see box at SMALL^1
2 STH YOU LIKE OR DISLIKE [only before noun] used between an adjective and a noun to emphasize that you like or dislike something or someone, although they are not important, impressive etc:
•It could be a nice little business.
•a useful little gadget
•It was another of her silly little jokes.
•a boring little man
poor little thing (=used to show sympathy)
•The poor little thing had hurt its wing.
3 a little bit
a) a small amount of something
[+of]
•With a little bit of luck we should finish by five o'clock.
•I'm going to give you a little bit of advice.
•Let me tell you a little bit about myself.
b) slightly or to a small degree:
•I was a little bit disappointed.
4 TIME/DISTANCE [only before noun] short in time or distance:
•You could have a little sleep in the car.
•We walked a little way along this path.
•He arrived a little while ago.
5 YOUNG little children are young:
•We didn't have toys like this when I was little.
little boy/girl
•two little boys playing in the street
sb's little boy/girl (=someone's son or daughter who is still a child)
•Mum, I'm 17 - I'm not your little girl any longer.
sb's little brother/sister (=a younger brother or sister who is still a child)
•Her little brother and sister were fighting again.
6 SLIGHT [only before noun] done in a way that is not very noticeable:
•a little smile
•Nicolo gave a little nod of his head.
7 UNIMPORTANT [only before noun]
a) not important:
•She gets very angry over little things.
•There isn't time to discuss every little detail.
b) not important - used when you really think that something is important:
•There's just that little matter of the £5000 you owe me.
8 (just) that little bit better/easier etc better, easier etc by a small amount that will have an important effect:
•Working fewer hours will make life just that little bit easier for me.
9 the little woman old-fashioned someone's wife - often used humorously but now considered offensive by many women
a little bird told me at BIRD (4)
1 only a small amount or hardly any of something:
•There's little doubt in my mind that he's guilty.
•I paid little attention to what the others were saying.
•Little is known about the causes of the problem.
•Changes in the law have done little to improve the situation.
[+of]
•Little of their wealth now remains.
•There's very little money left.
•Many of the students speak little or no English.
•He knew little or nothing (=almost nothing) about fixing cars.
•My lawyer advised me to say as little as possible.
•He did precious little (=very little) to help.
•The laboratory tests are of little real value.
see box at FEW
2 a little a small amount:
•Fortunately I had a little time to spare.
•Susan speaks a little French.
•A little over half the class can swim.
•He walked on a little (=a short distance) and then turned back.
a little more/less
•Would you like a little more milk in your coffee?
[+of]
•The city is regaining a little of its former splendour.
3 as little as £5/3 months/10 feet etc used to emphasize how surprisingly small an amount is:
•Prices for his paintings start from as little as £100.
•The weather can change completely in as little as half an hour.
4 what little also the little (that) used to emphasize how small an amount there is, how small an amount is possible etc:
•We did what little we could to help.
•I handed over what little money I had left.
5 a little (of sth) goes a long way spoken used to say that only a small amount of something is needed or has a great effect:
•A little kindness goes a long way.
1 a little slightly or to a small degree; = a bit
•She trembled a little as she spoke.
•He was a little surprised at her request.
a little more/better/further etc
•We'll have to wait a little longer to see what happens.
2 not much or only slightly:
•The town has changed little over the years.
•The situation has improved very little.
little known/understood etc (=not known about by many people)
•a little known corner of the world
little more/better etc (than sth)
•His voice was little more than a whisper.
3 little did sb know/realize/think etc used to say that someone did not know or think that something would happen or was true:
•Little did I know that the course of my life was about to change.
4 little by little gradually:
•Little by little he became accepted by the family.
5 more than a little/not a little literary extremely:
•Graham was more than a little frightened by what he had seen.[C]
the smallest finger on your hand; pinkie
a baseball LEAGUE for children in the US[plural]
1 all the people in a country or organization who have no power:
•It's the little people who bear the brunt of taxation.
2 the little people imaginary people with magic powers, especially Irish LEPRECHAUNs [C]
technical an area near the coast
- littoral adjective $ [only before noun]
relating to church services and ceremonies
- liturgically adverb $ plural liturgies
1 [C,U] a way of praying in a religious service using a fixed order of words, prayers etc
2 the Liturgy the written form of these services
another spelling of LIVEABLE
1 IN A PLACE/HOME [I always + adv/prep] if you live in a place, you have your home there
[+in/at/near etc]
•They lived in Holland for ten years.
•He lives just across the street from me.
•We live only a few miles from the coast.
•A rather odd family came to live next door to us.
•As soon as I saw the place, I knew I didn't want to live there.
•Does Paul still live here?
•We're still looking for somewhere to live.
•They've finally found a place to live.
[+with]
•My grandmother came to live with us when I was ten.
•Most seventeen-year-olds still live at home (=live with their parents).
•I'm quite happy living alone.
•The house has 3,600 square feet of living space (=the areas of a house you live in).
•the number of young people living rough (=living outside because they have no home) BrE
2 PLANT/ANIMAL [I always + adv/prep] a plant or animal that lives in a particular place grows there or has its home there
[+in/on etc]
•These particular birds live on only one island in the Pacific.
3 AT A PARTICULAR TIME [I always + adv/prep] if you live at a particular time, you are alive then
[+before/in/at]
•He lived in the eighteenth century.
•She lived at a time when women were not expected to work.
•Gladstone lived during a period of great social change.
the best/greatest etc that/who ever lived (=the best, greatest etc who has been alive at any time)
•He's probably the best journalist who ever lived.
4 BE/STAY ALIVE [I] to be alive or be able to stay alive:
•Without light, plants couldn't live.
•He is extremely ill and not expected to live.
•The baby only lived a few hours.
•People on average are living much longer than before.
•I'll never forget this for as long as I live.
live to (be) 80/90 etc/live to the age of 80/90 etc
•My grandmother lived to 85.
•She lived to the age of 79.
have two weeks/six months etc to live
•He knows he's only got a few months to live.
•He did not live to see (=live long enough to see) the realization of his dream.
5 WAY OF LIFE [I always + adv/prep, T] to have a particular type of life, or live in a particular way
live in peace/poverty etc
•The people in this country just want to live in peace.
•People should not live in fear of crime.
•We live in hope that a cure will be found.
live peacefully/quietly/happily etc
•The two communities live peacefully alongside each other.
•She thought that she would get married and live happily ever after (=like in a children's story).
•Some people like to live dangerously.
•Most elderly people prefer to live independently if they can.
•They earn enough money to live well (=have plenty of food, clothes etc).
•I just want to live my life in my own way.
•He's not well enough to live a normal life.
live a quiet/active/healthy life
•She lives a very busy life.
•He had chosen to live the life of a monk.
•She's now in Hollywood living a life of luxury.
[+by]
•I have always tried to live by my faith (=according to my religion).
•We struggle on, living from day to day (=trying to find enough money each day to buy food etc).
•He was tired of living out of a suitcase (=spending a lot of time travelling).
6 EARN A LIVING [I] the way that someone lives is the way that they earn money to buy food etc:
•Fishing is the way their families have lived for generations.
live by doing sth
•They live by hunting and killing deer.
7 EXCITING LIFE [I] to have an exciting life:
•She wanted to get out and live a little.
•We're beginning to live at last!
8 IMAGINE STH [I always + adv/prep] to imagine that things are happening to you
[+in]
•He lives in a fantasy world.
[+through]
•She lived through her children's lives.
•You must stop living in the past (=imagining that things from the past are still happening).
9 BE KEPT SOMEWHERE [I always + adv/prep] BrE informal the place where something lives is the place where it is kept:
•Where do these cups live?
•Those big dishes live in the cupboard next to the fridge.
10 STILL EXIST/HAVE INFLUENCE [I] if an idea lives, it continues to exist and influence people:
•Democracy still lives!
•His name will live forever.
•That day will always live in my memory.
11 living quarters the part of a building where people live, especially a building that is used by many people or is used for several different purposes:
•the White House living quarters
12 living expenses the money you need to spend in order to live, for example on food or a house:
•His tuition is paid, but he'll work to cover his living expenses.
13 living arrangements the way someone organizes how and where they will live:
•Her mother disapproved of the living arrangements, saying that two girls living with four boys was bound to cause problems.
14 live it up informal to do things that you enjoy and spend a lot of money:
•Sam was living it up in London.
15 live by your wits to get money by being clever or dishonest, and not by doing an ordinary job
16 live a lie to pretend all the time that you feel or believe something when actually you do not feel that way:
•I knew that I could not continue to live a lie.
17 be living on borrowed time to be still alive after the time that you were expected to die:
•She's been living on borrowed time for the last year.
18 live in sin old-fashioned if people live in sin, they live together and have a sexual relationship without being married; live together
19 live and breathe sth to enjoy doing something so much that you spend most of your time on it:
•Politics is the stuff I live and breathe.
20 you live and learn spoken used to say that you have just learned something that you did not know before
21 live and let live used to say that you should accept other people's behaviour, even if it seems strange
22 you haven't lived (if/until...) spoken used to say that someone's life will be boring if they do not do a particular exciting thing:
•You haven't lived until you've tasted champagne.
23 sb will live to regret it used to say that someone will wish that they had not done something:
•If you marry him, you'll live to regret it.
24 live to see/fight another day to continue to live or work after a failure or after you have dealt with a difficult situation:
•Hopefully, the company will live to fight another day.
25 live life to the full to enjoy doing a lot of different things:
•She believes in living life to the full.
26 live high on the hog used to say that someone has a nice life because they have a lot of money and buy expensive things - often used to show disapproval
27 live from hand to mouth to have only just enough money to buy food:
•We lived from hand to mouth, never knowing where the next meal was coming from.
28 long live the King/Queen! etc spoken used as an expression of loyal support for a person
29 long live democracy/freedom etc used to say that you hope something continues to exist for a long time:
•Long live free education!

PHRASAL VERBS
live sth <=> down phr v
if someone does not live something down, people never forget about it and never stop laughing at them for it:
•She'll never live that down!

live for sth phr v
if you live for something, it is the thing that you enjoy or hope for most in your life:
•He lived for his art.
•She had nothing left to live for.
•She lives for the day when she can have a house of her own.

live in phr v BrE
if someone lives in, they live in the place where they work; live-in
•Sometimes it can be easier if you have a nanny who lives in.

live off sb/sth phr v
to get your income or food from a supply of money or from another person:
•Mom used to live off the interest from her savings.
•Dad lost his job and we had to live off welfare.
•Most people in the countryside live off the land (=live by growing or finding their own food).

live on phr v
1 if something lives on, it continues to exist:
•Alice's memory will live on.
2 live on sth to have a particular amount of money to buy food and other necessary things:
•I don't know how they manage to live on £55 a week.
•the number of families who live on benefits
3 live on sth to eat a lot of a particular type of food:
•They live on bread and potatoes.
•He practically lives on fish and chips!

live out phr v
1 BrE if someone lives out, they do not live in the place where they work:
•Most home helps prefer to live out.
2 live out sth to experience or do something that you have planned or hoped for; = fulfil, realize
•The money enabled them to live out their dreams.
3 live out your life to continue to live in a particular way or place until you die:
•He lived out his life in solitude.

live through sth phr v
to experience difficult or dangerous conditions; = endure
•the generation that lived through the Second World War
•It was hard to describe the nightmare she had lived through.

live together phr v
if people live together, they live in the same house and have a sexual relationship but are not married; live with
•They lived together for two years before they got married.

live up to sth phr v
if something or someone lives up to a particular standard or promise, they do as well as they were expected to, do what they promised etc:
•The bank is insolvent and will be unable to live up to its obligations.
•The film has certainly lived up to my expectations.

live with sb/sth phr v
1 to accept a difficult situation that is likely to continue for a long time; = put up with, tolerate
•You have to learn to live with stress.
•He has lived with his illness for most of his life.
2 to live in the same house as someone and have a sexual relationship with them without being married; live together
•She's living with her boyfriend now.
3 if something lives with you, it stays in your mind:
•That episode has lived with me all my life.
1 LIVING [only before noun] not dead or artificial; = living; dead
•experiments on live animals
•Protesters want to stop the export of live sheep and cattle.
•the number of live births per 1,000 population
•We were so excited to see real live elephants.
2 TV/RADIO a live television or radio programme is seen or heard on television or radio at the same time as it is actually happening; prerecorded
•a live radio phone-in show
•There will be live TV coverage of tonight's big match.
3 MUSIC/THEATRE a live performance is one in which the entertainer performs for people who are watching, rather than a film, record etc:
•A lot of the bars have live music.
•The band will be giving a live concert performance next week.
•We'll be playing you a track from his new live album (= ALBUM that was recorded from a live performance).
•It's always different when you perform in front of a live audience (=an audience watching a live performance).
4 ELECTRICITY a wire or piece of equipment that is live has electricity flowing through it:
•Be careful - those wires are live.
5 BOMBS a live bomb still has the power to explode because it has not been used:
•They came across a field of live, unexploded mines.
6 BULLETS live bullets are real ones that are made of metal and can kill people; blank
•Troops fired live ammunition to disperse the crowd.
7 ISSUE a live subject or problem is one that still interests or worries people:
•Drink-driving is still very much a live issue.
8 live coals pieces of coal that are burning:
•She threw the paper onto the live coals.
9 YOGHURT live YOGHURT contains BACTERIA that are still alive
1 if something is broadcast live, it is broadcast on television or radio as it is actually happening; prerecorded
•The ceremony will be broadcast live on television.
•The match will be shown live by the BBC.
2 if people perform live, they perform in front of people who have come to watch, rather than for a film, record etc:
•I love their music, but I've never seen them perform live.
•The band is playing live in Birmingham tonight.
•Their latest CD was recorded live (=recorded at a live performance) in New York.
3 go live when a system or project goes live, people start to use it after it has been planned and discussed for a long time:
•Their new information retrieval system went live last month.
•a new security project which will go live in Octoberlivable especially AmE especially BrE
1 a situation that is liveable is satisfactory but not good; = bearable
•Having the children had made his life more liveable.
2
a) also liveable in BrE good enough to live in; = habitable
•We need to do more to make the neighborhood more livable.
b) nice to live in:
•It's one of the most liveable cities in the US.
3 a livable wage/salary AmE a salary that is enough for you to buy the things you need, such as food, a house etc
1 lived-in places or clothes look as though they have been used or worn a lot - use this to show approval
a lived-in look/feel
•The most fashionable jeans this winter have a lived-in look.
2 someone who has a lived-in face looks fairly old and as though they have had a lot of interesting experiences [only before noun]
1 a live-in job is one in which you live with the family you work for:
•a live-in nanny
2 live-in lover/boyfriend etc someone who lives with their sexual partner but is not married to them [C,U]
the way you earn money in order to live
a means/source of livelihood
•Fishing is the main source of livelihood for many people in the area.
•It's difficult to earn a livelihood as an artist.
•Bates says he will lose his livelihood if his driving licence is taken away. $
all the livelong day old-fashioned a phrase meaning 'all day', used when this seems like a long time to you comparative livelier, superlative liveliest
1 PEOPLE someone who is lively has a lot of energy and is very active:
•a lively child
2 PLACE/SITUATION a place or situation that is lively is exciting because a lot of things are happening:
•The hotel is situated next to the lively bustling port.
•the city's lively nightlife
3 MUSIC/MOVEMENTS lively movements or music are very quick and exciting:
•a lively Spanish dance
4 DISCUSSION/DESCRIPTION ETC a lively discussion, description etc is very interesting and involves a lot of ideas:
•The book offers a lively account of her travels.
•a lively debate on environmental issues
5 MIND/THOUGHTS someone who has a lively mind is intelligent and interested in a lot of things:
•Even Paula has shown a lively interest in politics.
•Charlie has a very lively imagination (=he often invents stories, descriptions etc that are not true).
6 COLOUR very bright:
•a lively combination of colours
7 TASTE something that has a lively taste has a strong but pleasant taste:
•The wine has a lively fruity flavour.
8 Look lively! BrE spoken Step lively! AmE spoken used to tell someone to hurry
- liveliness noun [U]

PHRASAL VERBS
liven up phr v
1 to become more exciting, or to make an event become more exciting:
•The party really livened up when Mattie arrived.
liven sth <=>up
•Why don't we invite Jane? That'll liven things up!
2 liven sth <=> up to make something look, taste etc more interesting; = brighten up
•Why not liven up the room with some flowers?
3 to become more interested or excited, or to make someone feel like this:
•After a few drinks she livened up a little. $
1 [C] a large organ in your body that produces BILE and cleans your blood
2 [C,U] the liver of an animal, used as food
1 wearing LIVERY:
•a liveried servant
2 BrE painted with the colours and designs that represent a company:
•liveried aircraft BrE old-fashioned
slightly ill, especially after eating or drinking too much $ [C]
someone from the city of Liverpool in England
- Liverpudlian adjectiveliverwurst AmE [U] BrE
a cooked soft SAUSAGE made from LIVER plural liveries
1 [C,U] BrE the colours and designs used by a company on its property and vehicles
2 [C,U] a special uniform worn by servants in past times
3 [U] the business of keeping and taking care of horses, especially in past times:
•a livery stable
LIVERIED
the plural of LIFE $ [plural, U]
animals such as cows and sheep that are kept on a farm $ [C]
1 informal someone who is very active and has a lot of energy
2 a wire that has electricity passing through it
1 extremely angry; = furious
•She was absolutely livid that he had lied.
2 formal a mark on your skin that is livid is dark blue and grey:
•livid bruises
3 literary a face that is livid is very pale
1 alive now; dead
•He's one of the greatest living composers.
•The sun affects all living things (=people, animals, and plants).
•a living language (=one that people still use)
2 living proof if someone is living proof of a particular fact, they are a good example of how true it is
living proof (that)
•I'm living proof that you don't need a college degree to be successful.
[+of]
•the living proof of government economic incompetence
3 in/within living memory during the time that anyone can remember:
•It was the worst storm in living memory.
4 a living death a life that is so unpleasant that it seems better to be dead
5 a living hell a very unpleasant situation that makes you suffer for a long time:
•These past few days have been a living hell.
6 living legend someone who is famous for being extremely good at something, and who still does that activity:
•His music has made him a living legend.
scare/frighten the (living) daylights out of sb at DAYLIGHT (3); beat/knock the (living) daylights out of sb/sth at DAYLIGHT (4)
1 [C usually singular] the way that you earn money or the money that you earn:
•It's not a great job, but it's a living.
•What do you do for a living? (=what do you do as a job?)
earn/make a living
•It's hard to make a decent living as a musician.
scrape/scratch a living (=get just enough to eat or live)
2 the living all the people who are alive as opposed to dead people; the dead
3 [U] the way in which someone lives their life:
•the stresses of city living
4 [C] the position or income of a PARISH priest
COST OF LIVING, STANDARD OF LIVING
in the land of the living at LAND^1 (7)[C]
an ancient animal or plant that still exists and has not changed[C]
the main room in a house where people relax, watch television etc; = lounge[C usually plural]
the level of comfort and the amount of money that people have; = standard of living
•Living standards have improved over the last century.
•rising living standards
•There's been a decline in the living standards of old people.[singular]
a salary that is high enough to allow you to buy the things that you need to live:
•jobs that don't even pay a living wage[C]
a document explaining what medical or legal decisions someone should make if you become so ill that you cannot make those decisions yourself $ [C]
a type of REPTILE that has four legs and a long tailll
the abbreviation of lines , used in writing to refer to specific lines of a poem etc:
•ll. 24-35 [C]
a South American animal with thick hair like wool, and a long neckLL.B. AmE [C] BrE
Bachelor of Laws a first university DEGREE in lawLL.D. AmE [C] BrE
Doctor of Laws a DOCTORATE in lawLL.M. AmE [C] BrE
Master of Laws a university DEGREE in law that you can get after your first degree $
1 old use used to tell someone to look at something that is surprising
2 lo and behold spoken used before mentioning something surprising that happened - used humorously:
•We had just been talking about John when, lo and behold, he walked into the room. $ [C]
1 AMOUNT OF STH a large quantity of something that is carried by a vehicle, person etc
[+of]
•a load of wood
•The lorry had shed its load (=the load had fallen off).
•The plane was carrying a full load of fuel.
2 a load (of sth) loads (of sth) BrE informal a lot of something:
•We got a load of complaints about the loud music.
•Don't worry, there's loads of time
loads to do/see/eat etc
•There's loads to see in Paris.
3 a bus load/car load/truck load etc the largest amount of something that a vehicle can carry:
•a bus load of tourists
4 a load of crap/bull etc a load of rubbish BrE spoken not polite used to say that something is bad, untrue, or stupid:
•I thought the game was a load of crap.
5 WORK the amount of work that a person or machine has to do:
•The computer couldn't handle the load and crashed.
a light/heavy load (=not much or a lot of work)
•Hans has a heavy teaching load this semester.
•My work load has doubled since Henry left.
•They hired more staff in order to spread the load.
6 WORRY a problem or worry that is difficult to deal with:
•When someone is depressed, the extra load of having financial problems can make the situation worse.
•Knowing he was safe was a load off my mind (=I felt less worried).
•Coping with ill health was a heavy load to bear.
7 WASHING a quantity of clothes that are washed together in a washing machine:
•I've already done three loads of laundry this morning.
8 get a load of sb/sth spoken used to tell someone to look at or listen to something that is surprising or funny:
•Get a load of this! Your stars say you are going to meet someone who's rich.
9 WEIGHT the amount of weight that something is supporting:
•a load-bearing wall
•It increased the load on the wheels.
10 ELECTRICITY technical an amount of electrical power that is being produced
1 [I,T] also load up to put a large quantity of something into a vehicle or container; unload
•Have you finished loading up?
•It took an hour to load the van.
•Will you help me load the dishwasher?
load sth into/onto sth
•Emma loaded all the groceries into the car.
•He loaded the cups onto a tray.
load sth with sth
•She loaded up the car with camping gear.
2 [T] to put a necessary part into something in order to make it work, for example bullets into a gun or film into a camera
load sth with sth
•Did you load it with 200 or 400 film?
load sth into sth
•Can you load the CD into the player, please?
3 [I,T] to put a program into a computer, or to be put into a computer:
•The program takes a while to load.
•To load the file, press the 'return' key.
4 [I] also load up if a ship, aircraft etc loads, goods are put onto it:
•The first ship to load at the new port was the 'Secil Angola'.
[+with]
•The boat called at Lerwick to load up with fresh vegetables.

PHRASAL VERBS
load sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 [usually passive] to give someone more work or problems than they can deal with; = weigh down
be/feel loaded down with sth
•Jane felt loaded down with money worries.
2 to make someone carry too many things; = weigh down
be loaded down with sth
•I was loaded down with bags so I took a taxi.

load up on sth phr v AmE
to get a lot of something so that you are sure you will have enough; = stock up (on)
•People were loading up on bottled water.

load sb (up) with sth phr v
to give someone a lot of things, especially things they have to carry $
1 GUN/CAMERA containing bullets, film etc:
•a loaded pistol
2 FULL a loaded vehicle or container is full of things:
•a loaded trailer
•She came back carrying a loaded tray.
[+with]
•a truck loaded with bananas
3 RICH [not before noun] informal very rich:
•Giles can afford it - he's loaded.
4 loaded with sth informal full of a particular quality, or containing a lot of something:
•snacks loaded with fat
•paintings loaded with cultural significance
5 WORD/STATEMENT a loaded word, statement etc has more meanings than you first think and is intended to influence the way you think:
•He `deserved' it? That's a loaded word.
•There was a loaded silence.
6 a loaded question a question that is unfair because it is intended to affect your opinions and make you answer in a particular way
leading question at LEADING^1 (4)
7 DRUNK [not before noun] AmE informal very drunk:
•Greg used to come home loaded almost every night.
8 the dice/odds are loaded against sb/sth used to say that someone or something is unlikely to succeed or win
9 sth is loaded against sb/sth used to say that a system, situation, or organization is unfair and some people have a disadvantage; = biased
•The justice system is loaded against people from ethnic minorities.
10 loaded dice DICE that have weights in them so that they always fall with the same side on top, used to cheat in gamesloading dock AmE [C] BrE
an area at the side of a large shop or WAREHOUSE from which goods are taken off or put onto trucks $ plural loaves $
1 [C] bread that is shaped and baked in one piece and can be cut into SLICE s:
•a loaf of bread
white/wholemeal/granary etc loaf BrE
a sliced loaf BrE
2 [C,U] food that has been cut into very small pieces, pressed together, and baked:
•a meat loaf
3 use your loaf BrE old-fashioned used to tell someone to think more carefully about what they are doing[I]
written to spend time somewhere and not do very much; = hang around/round
[+around/about]
•They spend all day loafing around on street corners. $ [C]
1 Loafer trademark a flat leather shoe that does not need to be fastened onto your foot
2 someone who is lazy and does nothing when they should be working $ [U]
good quality soil consisting of sand, clay, and decayed plants
- loamy adjective $
1 [C] an amount of money that you borrow from a bank etc

take out a loan (=borrow money)
repay/pay off/pay back a loan (=give back money you have borrowed)
make a loan AmE (=give someone a loan)
bank loan (=money lent by a bank)
car/home loan (=a loan to buy a car etc)
personal loan (=money lent to an INDIVIDUAL)
business loan (=money lent to a business)
student loan (=money lent to students to pay for university)
interest-free loan (=a loan on which you only repay the amount you borrowed)
loan repayment

[+of]
•a loan of £60,000
•I had to take out a loan to buy my car.
•It'll be years before we've paid off the loan.
•The organization was allowed to make loans to private businesses.
• I'll get a bank loan if necessary.
• The average home loan is now almost triple what it was at the beginning of the Eighties.
• An interest-free loan fund is available for students who find themselves in unforeseen financial difficulty.
• They were unable to keep up with their loan repayments.

2 [singular] when you lend something to someone
[+of]
•Thanks for the loan of your camera.
3 on loan (from sb/sth) if something or someone is on loan, they have been borrowed:
•The book I wanted was out on loan.
•paintings on loan from the Louvre
•Cantona initially went on loan to Leeds United.[T]
1 AmE to lend someone something, especially money
loan sb sth
•Can you loan me $5?
•Jeff's loaned us his car for the weekend.
2 also loan out BrE to lend something valuable to someone:
•The National Library has loaned several manuscripts.
loan sth to sb/sth
•Two of the steam trains have been loaned to other railways.[C]
someone who lends money at very high rates of INTEREST and will often use threats or violence to get the money back $ [C]
a word taken into one language from another; = borrowingloth $
be loath to do sth formal to be unwilling to do something; = reluctant
•Sarah was loath to tell her mother what had happened. $ [T not in progressive]
to hate someone or something very much; = detest
•He loathes their politics.
loathe doing sth
•I absolutely loathe shopping. $ [singular, U]
a very strong feeling of hatred
[+for]
•her loathing for her first husband
[+of]
•a loathing of war
•The nightmare left her with a sense of fear and loathing. $
very unpleasant or cruel; = repulsive
•that loathsome little man $
the plural of LOAF $ past tense and past participle lobbed, present participle lobbing [T always + adv/prep]
1 informal to throw something somewhere, especially over a wall, fence etc:
•The kids were lobbing pine cones into the neighbor's yard.
2 to kick or hit a ball in a slow high curve, especially in a game of tennis or football:
•Sampras lobbed the ball high over Chang's head.
- lob noun [C] $ plural lobbies [C]
1 a wide passage or large hall just inside the entrance to a public building; = foyer
•a hotel lobby
•I'll meet you in the entrance lobby.
2
a) a hall in the British parliament where members of parliament and the public meet
b) one of the two passages in the British parliament where members go to vote for or against a BILL
3 [also + plural verb BrE] a group of people who try to persuade a government that a particular law or situation should be changed:
•the anti-foxhunting lobby
•a powerful environmental lobby group
4 an attempt to persuade a government to change a law, make a new law etc:
•a mass lobby of Parliament by women's organizationspast tense and past participle lobbied, present participle lobbying, third person singular lobbies [I,T]
to try to persuade the government or someone with political power that a law or situation should be changed
[+for/against]
•The group is lobbying for a reduction in defence spending.
lobby sb to do sth
•We've been lobbying our state representative to support the new health plan.
- lobbyist noun [C] $ [C]
1 the soft piece of flesh at the bottom of your ear; = earlobe
2 technical a round part of an organ in your body, especially in your brain or lungs $ plural lobotomies [C]
a medical operation to remove part of someone's brain in order to treat their mental problems
- lobotomize verb [T] $
1 [C] a sea animal with eight legs, a shell, and two large CLAWs
2 [U] the flesh of a lobster, which is eaten $ [C]
a trap shaped like a basket in which lobsters are caught $
lo-cal food or drink does not contain many CALORIES $ [usually before noun]
1 relating to the particular area you live in, or the area you are talking about:
•local hospital
•local residents
2 technical affecting or limited to one part of your body:
•a local infection
•The tooth was removed under local anaesthetic.[C]
1 [usually plural] someone who lives in the place where you are or the place that you are talking about:
•We asked one of the locals to recommend a restaurant.
2 BrE a PUB near where you live, especially one where you often drink:
•I usually have a pint or two at my local on Friday nights.
3 AmE a bus, train etc that stops at all regular stopping places; express
4 AmE a branch of a TRADE UNION[C] technical
LAN[C also + plural verb ] BrE
the group of people responsible for the government of a particular area, town, or city in the UK; = local government AmE
•Central government is trying to stop local authorities overspending.[C]
a telephone call to a place near you that does not cost much money; long-distance local color AmE [U] BrE
additional details in a story or picture that give you a better idea of what a place is really like:
•His description of the smells from the market added a touch of local color.[C also + plural verb BrE]
the group of people responsible for providing houses, schools, parks etc in a small area such as a town $ [C] formal
the place where something happens or where the action takes place in a book or a film; = setting
•people who see the countryside as a locale for recreation[C,U also + plural verb BrE ]
the government of cities, towns etc rather than of a whole country; state, national, federal[U]
the history of a particular area $ plural localities [C] formal
a small area of a country, city etc; = area
•weather reports from several different localities
in the locality
•Both sea fishing and fresh water angling are available in the locality.also localise BrE $ [T] formal
1 to find out exactly where something is:
•A mechanic is trying to localize the fault.
2 to limit the effect that something has, or the size of area it covers:
•They hoped to localize the fighting.
- localization $ noun [U]also localised BrE $ formal
happening within a small area:
•localized flooding
•a localized infection $
1 near the area where you are or the area you are talking about:
•I live locally, so it's easy to get to the office.
2 in particular small areas:
•Most of the country will be dry, but there will be some rain locally.[C]
1 a newspaper that contains mainly local news; national
2 AmE a newspaper which contains local, national, and international news[U]
a radio service that broadcasts programmes for a particular area of the country; national[C] BrE informal
a local newspaper[U]
the time of day in a particular part of the world:
•We'll arrive in Boston at 4 o'clock local time. $
1 [T] to find the exact position of something:
•We couldn't locate the source of the radio signal.
2 be located in/near etc sth to be in a particular position or place; = be situated
•The business is located right in the center of town.
3 [T] to put or build something in a particular place:
•Large retail chains are usually only prepared to locate stores in areas of high population density.
4 [I always + adv/prep] AmE to come to a place and start a business, company etc there
[+in/at etc]
•We are offering incentives for companies to locate in our city. $
1 [C] a particular place, especially in relation to other areas, buildings etc:
•His apartment is in a really good location.
•its isolated geographical location
2 [C] the position of something
[+of]
•The map shows the precise location of the crash.
see box at POSITION^1
3 [C,U] a place away from a film STUDIO where scenes are filmed:
•It was hard to find a suitable location for the desert scenes.
on location
•Most of the movie was shot on location in Africa.
4 [U] the act of finding the position of something:
•The main problem for engineers was the location of underground rivers in the area. $ [C]
a lake or a part of the sea partly enclosed by land in Scotland:
•Loch Ness $
the plural of LOCUS $
1 FASTEN SOMETHING [I,T] to fasten something, usually with a key, so that other people cannot open it. or to be fastened like this:
•Did you lock the car?
•I can't get this drawer to lock.
see box at CLOSE^1
2 KEEP IN A SAFE PLACE [T always + adv/prep] to put something in a place and fasten the door, lid etc with a key
lock sth in sth
•Lock the cat in the kitchen.
3 FIXED POSITION [I,T] to become fixed in one position and impossible to move, or to make something become fixed:
•The wheels suddenly locked.
lock sth around/round sth
•He locked his hands around the younger man's throat.
•A moment later they were locked in an embrace (=holding each other very tightly in a loving or friendly way).
•Their eyes locked together (=they could not look away from each other) for an instant.
4 FIXED SITUATION [T usually passive] if you are locked in a situation, you cannot get out of it
be locked in/into sth
•Security forces and militants are locked in a vicious cycle of killing.
•The company is locked into a three year contract with PARCO.
5 be locked in battle/combat/dispute etc to be involved in a long, serious argument or fight with someone:
•They are now locked in a bitter custody battle over the three children.
6 lock arms if people lock arms, they join their arms tightly with the arms of the people on either side:
•The police locked arms to form a barrier against the protesters.
7 lock horns (with sb) to argue or fight with someone:
•The band have now locked horns with their record company over the album.

PHRASAL VERBS
lock sb/sth <=> away phr v
1 to put something in a safe place and lock the door, lid etc; = lock up
•He locked his money away in the safe.
2 to put someone in prison; = lock up
•I hope they lock him away for years.
3 lock yourself away to keep yourself separate from other people by staying in your room, office etc

lock in phr v
1 lock sb in (sth) to prevent someone from leaving a room or building by locking the door:
•She locked herself in.
•They locked the director in his office.
2 lock sth <=> in to do something so that a price, offer, agreement etc cannot be changed:
•Sell your stocks now to lock in some of the gains of recent months.
3 lock sth <=> in to make the taste, liquid etc remain in something:
•This method of cooking locks in the flavour of the meat.

lock onto sth phr v
if a MISSILE or SATELLITE locks onto a TARGET or signal, it finds it and follows it closely

lock sb <=> out phr v
1 to keep someone out of a place by locking the door
[+of]
•I locked myself out of the house!
2 if employers lock workers out, they do not let them enter their place of work until they accept the employers' conditions for settling a disagreement
LOCKOUT

lock up phr v
1 to make a building safe by locking the doors, especially at night:
•I'll leave you to lock up.
lock sth <=> up
•Don't forget to lock up the warehouse.
2 lock sth <=> up to put something in a safe place and lock the door, lid etc; = lock away
3 lock sb <=> up to put someone in prison; = lock away
•Rapists should be locked up.
4 be locked up (in sth) if your money is locked up, you have put it into a business, INVESTMENT etc and cannot easily move it or use it
- lockable adjective
1 FASTENING [C] a thing that keeps a door, drawer etc fastened and is usually opened with a key or by moving a small metal bar:
•I'm sorry, there isn't a lock on the bathroom door.
•The key turned stiffly in the lock.
•a bike lock
2 under lock and key
a) kept safely in a box, cupboard etc that is locked:
•Dad keeps all his liquor under lock and key.
b) kept in a place such as a prison
3 lock, stock, and barrel including every part of something:
•He moved the whole company, lock, stock, and barrel, to Mexico.
4 HAIR
a) [C] a small number of hairs on your head that grow and hang together
[+of]
•He gently pushed a lock of hair from her eyes.
b) locks [plural] literary someone's hair:
•long flowing locks
5 ON A RIVER ETC [C] a part of a CANAL or river that is closed off by gates so that the water level can be raised or lowered to move boats up or down a slope
6 IN A FIGHT [C] a HOLD which WRESTLERs use to prevent their opponent from moving:
•a head lock
7 VEHICLE [C,U] BrE the degree to which a vehicle's STEERING WHEEL can be turned in order to turn the vehicle
8 RUGBY [C] a playing position in the game of RUGBY
9 a lock on sth AmE complete control of something:
•Pro football still has a lock on male viewers aged 18 to 34.
AIR LOCK, COMBINATION LOCK $ [C]
1 a small cupboard with a lock in a school, office, sports building etc, where you can leave clothes or possessions while you do something
2 AmE a very cold room used for storing food in a restaurant or factory:
•a meat locker[C]
a room in a sports building, school etc where people change their clothes and leave them in lockers $ [C]
a piece of jewellery that you wear around your neck on a chain, with a small metal case in which you can put a picture, a piece of hair etc $ [U] informal
TETANUS[C]
someone whose job is to open and close the gates of a LOCK on a CANAL $ [C]
a situation when a company does not allow workers to go back to work, especially in a factory, until they accept the employers' conditions
lock out at LOCK^1 $ [C]
someone who makes and repairs locks $
in lockstep AmE in exactly the same way or at the same rate[C]
1 a small prison where a criminal can be kept for a short time
2 also lock-up garage BrE a garage that you can rent to keep cars, goods etc in $ AmE informal
crazy
IN LOCO PARENTIS $ [U] formal technical
movement or the ability to move $ [C] especially AmE
a railway engine[only before noun] technical
relating to movement:
•an increase in locomotive power $ [C]
a plant that grows in America and makes animals ill if they eat it $ [C] BrE
a doctor or priest who does another doctor's or priest's work while they are on holiday, ill etc $ plural loci $ [C] formal
the place where something is particularly known to exist, or which is the centre of something
[+of]
•The Politburo was the locus of all power in the Soviet Union. $ [C]
an insect that lives mainly in Asia and Africa and flies in a very large group, eating and destroying crops:
•a swarm of locusts $ technical
1 [U] a style of speaking
2 [C] a phrase, especially one used in a particular area or by a particular group of people $ [C usually singular]
an amount of ORE (=metal in its natural form) found in a layer between stones
MOTHER LODE $ [singular] literary
1 a principle or fact that guides someone's actions
2 the POLE STAR, used to guide ships at sealoadstone $ [C,U] old use
a piece of iron that acts as a MAGNET $
1 lodge a complaint/protest/appeal etc BrE to make a formal or official complaint, protest etc
[+with]
•He lodged an appeal with the High Court.
[+against]
•They lodged a complaint against the doctor for negligence.
2 BECOME STUCK [I always + adv/prep, T usually passive] to become firmly stuck somewhere, or to make something become stuck; dislodge
[+in]
•The fishbone lodged in her throat.
be lodged in/between/behind etc sth
•The bullet was lodged in his spine.
3 PUT SB SOMEWHERE [T] to provide someone with a place to stay for a short time:
•a building used to lodge prisoners of war
lodge sb in/at sth
•The refugees were lodged in old army barracks.
4 PUT STH SOMEWHERE [T] BrE formal to put something important in an official place so that it is safe
lodge sth with sb
•Be sure to lodge a copy of the contract with your solicitor.
lodge sth in sth
•The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account.
5 STAY SOMEWHERE [I always + adv/prep] old-fashioned to pay to live in a room in someone's house
[+at/with etc]
•John lodged with a family in Bristol when he first started work.[C]
1 a small house on the land of a large country house, usually at the main entrance gate
2 a room or small building at the entrance to a college, institution etc for someone whose job is to watch who enters and leaves:
•the porter's lodge
3 a house or hotel in the country or mountains where people can stay when they want to go hunting, shooting etc
4 a local meeting place for some organizations, or the group of people who belong to one of these organizations:
•He was a member of a Masonic lodge.
5 a BEAVER's home
6 AmE a traditional home of Native Americans, or the group of people that live in it $ [C]
someone who pays rent for a room in someone's house; = boarder AmE
•We have decided to take in lodgers to help pay the mortgage. $
1 [U] a place to stay:
•It's £90 a week for board and lodging (=meals and a room).
2 [C usually plural] old-fashioned a room in someone's house which you live in and pay rent for:
•Paul found lodgings in the Marylebone Road.[C] BrE old-fashioned
a building where people can rent rooms to live or stay in; = boarding house $ [C]
1 UNDER A ROOF BrE a room or space under the roof of a building, usually used for storing things in; = attic
•Our neighbours have just done a loft conversion (=changed the loft into bedrooms).
2 ON A FARM a raised area in a BARN used for keeping HAY or other crops:
•a hayloft
3 PART OF A ROOM AmE a raised area above the main part of a room, usually used for sleeping
4 TYPE OF APARTMENT a space above a business, factory etc that was once used for storing goods, but has been changed into living space:
•She's just bought a loft in Manhattan.
5 FOR BIRDS a set of CAGEs used to keep PIGEONs in
6 IN A CHURCH the raised place in a church where the ORGAN or CHOIR is[T]
to hit a ball very high in GOLF or CRICKET $
1 literary lofty mountains, buildings etc are very high and impressive:
•He stayed at the ISH, from whose lofty heights he could see across New York.
2 lofty ideas, beliefs, attitudes etc show high standards or high moral qualities - use this to show approval:
•lofty ideals of equality and social justice
•He had set himself the lofty goal of reaching the world's top five.
3 seeming to think you are better than other people - used to show disapproval:
•She has such a lofty manner.
- loftily adverb
- loftiness noun [U] $ [C]
1 a thick piece of wood from a tree:
•a roaring log fire
2 an official record of events, especially on a journey in a ship or plane:
•The captain always keeps a log.
3 a LOGARITHM
it's as easy as falling off a log at FALL^1 (30)
sleep like a log/top at SLEEP^1 (1)past tense and past participle logged, present participle logging
1 [T] to make an official record of events, facts etc:
•All phone calls are logged.
2 [T] to travel a particular distance or for a particular length of time, especially in a plane or ship:
•The pilot has logged 1200 flying hours.
3 [I,T] to cut down trees

PHRASAL VERBS
log in/on phr v
to do the necessary actions on a computer system that will allow you to begin using it
[+to]
•You need to log on to your home page.

log off/out phr v
to stop using a computer system by giving it particular instructions $ plural loganberries [C]
a soft dark red fruit like a large RASPBERRY $ [C] technical
a number representing another number in a mathematical system so that complicated calculations can be done as simple addition[C]
1 BrE an official document containing details about a vehicle and the name of its owner
2 an official record of events, especially on a journey in a ship or plane[C]
a small house made of LOGs $ [C]
someone whose job is to cut down trees; = lumberjack $
be at loggerheads (with sb) if two people are at loggerheads, they disagree very strongly
[+over]
•He is at loggerheads with many of his own party over the issue of taxation. $ [C]
an open area with a floor and a roof that is built on the side of a house on the ground floor $ [U]
the work of cutting down trees in a forest $
1 [singular, U] a way of thinking about something that seems correct and reasonable, or a set of sensible reasons for doing something
[+behind]
•The logic behind this statement is faulty.
[+of]
•What's the logic of your argument?
accept/follow/see sb's logic
•It's easy to understand his logic.
•There is a certain logic in their choice of architect.
commercial/industrial/economic logic
•Commercial logic has forced the two parts of the company closer together.
2 [U] a formal method of reasoning, in which ideas are based on previous ideas
3 [U] technical a set of choices that a computer uses to solve a problem $
1 seeming reasonable and sensible; illogical
•It's a logical site for a new supermarket, with the housing development nearby.
•a logical conclusion
2 using a thinking process in which facts and ideas are connected in a correct way:
•The detective has to discover the murderer by logical deduction.
- logically adverb
•He tried to think logically. $ [C]
someone who studies or is skilled in logic [in nouns]
another form of the suffix -OLOGISTalso logistical $
relating to the logistics of doing something:
•the logistical problems of implementing the proposals
- logistically adverb $ [plural]
the practical arrangements that are needed in order to make a plan that involves a lot of people and equipment successful:
•the day-to-day logistics involved with mining
[+of]
•the logistics of travelling with small children $ [C]
1 a situation in which a lot of problems are preventing progress from being made
2 a tightly packed mass of floating LOGs on a river $ [C]
a small design that is the official sign of a company or organization $ [U] AmE informal
1 the practice in the US Congress of helping a member to pass a BILL, so that they will do the same for you later
2 the practice of praising or helping someone, so that they will do the same for you lateralso -log AmE $ [in nouns]
something that is written or spoken:
•a monologue (=a speech by one person) [in nouns]
another form of the suffix -OLOGY:
•mineralogy (=the study of minerals)
1 loins [plural] literary the part of your body below your waist and above your legs, which includes your sexual organs
2 [C,U] a piece of meat from the lower part of an animal's back:
•roast loin of pork
gird (up) your loins at GIRD (1) $ [C]
a piece of cloth that men in some hot countries wear around their waist to cover their sexual organs $ [I]
1 to stand or wait somewhere, especially in a public place, without any clear reason; = hang about, hang around
•Five or six teenagers were loitering in front of the newsagent's.
2 to move or do something slowly, or to keep stopping when you should keep moving $
1 [I always + adv/prep] to sit or lie in a very lazy and relaxed way; = lounge
[+around/about/beside etc]
•He lolled back in his chair.
2 [I,T] if your head or tongue lolls or if you loll your head, you allow it to hang in a relaxed uncontrolled way $ [C]
a hard sweet made of boiled sugar on a stick; = lolly BrElollipop man [C]
BrE someone whose job is to help children cross a road safely on their way to school $ [I always +adv/prep] written
to run with long awkward steps
[+down/up/along etc]
•The dog came lolloping up the path. $ plural lollies BrE informal
1 [C] frozen juice or ice cream on a stick; = ice lolly
2 [C] a hard sweet made of boiled sugar on a stick; = lollipop
3 [U] old-fashioned money - used humorously $ [only before noun]
1 used to talk about the only person or thing in a place, or the only person or thing that does something; = solitary
•A lone figure was standing at the bus stop.
•He was by no means a lone voice criticizing the government.
•a lone gunman
•the lone survivor of a shipwreck
2 lone mother/father/parent etc BrE someone who looks after their children on their own; = single
•a lone-parent family
3 lone wolf someone who prefers to be alone $ comparative lonelier, superlative loneliest
1 unhappy because you are alone or do not have anyone to talk to; = lonesome AmE
•a lonely old man
•Don't you get lonely being on your own all day?
!! Do not use lonely to mean 'without anyone else'. Use alone: She is afraid to travel alone (NOT travel lonely).
2 a lonely experience or situation makes you unhappy because you are alone or do not have anyone to talk to:
•a lonely journey
lonely life/existence
•He led a lonely life with few friends.
3 the lonely [plural] people who are lonely
4 a lonely place is a long way from where people live and very few people go there; = lonesome AmE; = remote, desolate
lonely place/road/spot etc
- loneliness noun [U]
lonely hearts club/column/ad BrE a club or an advertisement page of a newspaper that is used by people who want to meet someone that they can have a romantic relationship with $ [C]
someone who prefers to be alone or who has no friends:
•Ken's always been a bit of a loner. $ AmE
1 very unhappy because you are alone or have no friends; = lonely
•Beth is lonesome without the children.
2 a lonesome place is a long way from where people live and very few people go there; = lonely, remote
•a lonesome spot near the canyon
3 on/by your lonesome informal alone $ comparative longer, superlative longest
1 GREAT LENGTH measuring a great length from one end to the other; short
•a long table
• long hair
•the longest tunnel in the world
•He stretched out his long legs.
•a long line of people
2 GREAT DISTANCE continuing or travelling a great distance from one place to another; short
•a long distance
•Springfield is a long way from Chicago.
•Liz lives in Cheltenham, which is a long way away.
long journey/walk/flight/drive etc (=a journey etc over a large distance that takes a lot of time)
•It's a long walk to the shops from here.
3 LARGE AMOUNT OF TIME continuing for a large amount of time, or for a larger amount of time than usual; short
•a long period of time
•a long history of success
•He has a long memory.
(for) a long time/while
•He's been gone a long time.
•I haven't been there for a long while.
•It took a long time to get everything ready.
•She died a long time ago.
long silence/pause/delay etc
•There was a long silence before anybody spoke.
•She's recovering from a long illness.
•Doctors often work long hours (=work for more time than is usual).
the longest time AmE spoken (=a very long time)
•It took me the longest time to figure out how to open the windows.
4 PARTICULAR LENGTH/DISTANCE/TIME used to talk or ask about a particular length, distance, or time:
• How long is your garden?
•How long is the film?
•The cable is not quite long enough.
two metres/three miles etc long
•The bridge is 140 feet long.
two hours/three days etc long
•The speech was twenty minutes long.
5 WRITING containing a lot of words, letters, names, or pages; short
•a long novel
•a long list
•He has a very long name.
•He owes money to a list of people as long as your arm (=a very long list).
6 CLOTHING covering all of your arms or legs; short
•a long dress
•a long-sleeved shirt
7 TIRING/BORING spoken making you feel tired or bored:
•It's been a long day.
8 VOWEL technical a long vowel in a word is pronounced for a longer time than a short vowel with the same sound; short
9 how long is a piece of string? BrE spoken used when there is no definite answer to a question:
•'How long will it take to finish the project?' 'How long is a piece of string?'
10 the long and (the) short of it spoken used when you are telling someone the most important facts about something rather than all the details:
•The long and the short of it is that we missed the train.
11 the long arm of sb/sth written the power of someone or something that has authority, especially to catch and punish someone:
•He won't escape the long arm of the law.
12 long face a sad or disappointed expression on someone's face
13 long in the tooth informal too old - used humorously:
•I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for this sort of thing.
14 not long for this world literary likely to die or stop existing soon
15 long on sth having a lot of a quality:
•He was short on patience, but long on a sense of his own worth.
16 long odds if there are long odds against something happening, it is very unlikely that it will happen
17 in the long run/term used when talking about what will happen at a later time or when something is finished:
•All our hard work will be worth it in the long run.
18 long shot someone or something with very little chance of success:
•Chelsea are a 20-1 long shot to win the championship.
19 long time no see spoken used humorously to say hello when you have not seen someone for a long time
20 take the long view (of sth) to think about the effect that something will have in the future rather than what happens now
21 a long way very much, far, or a great amount or degree:
•We're still a long way from achieving our sales targets.
•Psychiatry has come a long way (=developed a lot) since the 1920s.
•Your contributions will go a long way towards helping children in need (=will help to reach a goal).
by a long way/shot informal also
by a long chalk BrE (=used when something is much better, quicker, cheaper etc)
•It was his best performance this year, by a long way.
not by a long way/shot informal also
not by a long chalk BrE (=not at all or not nearly)
•He had not told Rory everything, not by a long shot.
22 long weekend three or more days, including Saturday and Sunday, when you do not have to go to work or school
at (long) last at LAST^3 (2); it's a long story at STORY (10); cut/make a long story short at STORY (11); a little (of sth) goes a long way at LITTLE^2 (5); have a long way to go at WAY^1 (19)

WORD FOCUS: long
continuing for a long time:
lengthy
continuing for much too long:
interminable
marathon
endless
long-winded
long-drawn-out
protracted
continuing for a long time and not changing:
permanent
lasting
lifelong
when feelings last for a long time:
lingering
abiding
enduring
lasting

1 for a long time:
•Have you been waiting long?
•Reform of the law is long overdue.
• long established traditions
2 used to ask and talk about particular amounts of time:
• How long will it take to get there?
•Try to keep going for as long as possible.
•It took me longer than I thought it would.
3 at a time that is a long time before or after a particular time
long before/after sth
•This all happened long before you were born.
long ago/since
•He should have left her long ago.
• It wasn't long before (=soon) Lisa arrived.
4 for long [usually in questions and negatives] for a long time:
•Have you known them for long?
•I haven't seen her for so long that I've forgotten what she looks like.
5 as/so long as
a) used to say that one thing can happen or be true only if another thing happens or is true:
•You can go out to play as long as you stay in the back yard.
b) used to say that one thing will continue to happen or be true if another thing happens or is true at the same time:
•As long as we keep playing well, we'll keep winning games.
6 (for) as long as used to talk about something continuing for the amount of time that you want, need, or is possible:
•You can stay for as long as you want.
•She tried to stay awake for as long as she could.
•The fruit should be left on the tree as long as possible.
7 no longer/not any longer used when something used to happen or be true in the past but does not happen or is not true now:
•The extra workers won't be needed any longer.
•It's no longer a secret.
8 before long soon or in a short time:
•Before long a large crowd had gathered outside the building.
•It's likely that the law will be abolished before long.
9 sb/sth/it won't be long spoken used to say that someone or something will be ready, will be back, will happen etc soon:
•Wait here - I won't be long.
•Dinner won't be long.
10 all day/year/summer etc long during all of the day etc
11 so long spoken especially AmE goodbye
12 long live sb/sth used to show support for a person, idea, principle, or nation:
•Long live the King![I]
to want something very much, especially when it seems unlikely to happen soon
long to do sth
•He longed to see her again.
[+for]
•She longed for the chance to speak to him in private.
long for sb to do sth
•She longed for him to return.
LONGED-FOR, LONGING
the written abbreviation of longitude long awaited [only before noun]
a long-awaited event, moment etc is one that you have been waiting a long time for:
•the long-awaited news of his release from prison $ [C]
a large BOW made from a long thin curved piece of wood, used in the past for hunting or fighting[only before noun]
1 travelling over a long distance
long-distance runner
long-distance lorry driver
long-distance travel/journey/flight/commuting etc
2 long-distance call a telephone call to a place that is far away; local
- long-distance adverb[U]
a method of dividing one large number by anotheralso long-drawn [only before noun]
continuing for a longer time than is wanted or necessary; = protracted
•The official enquiry was a long-drawn-out process.[only before noun]
a longed-for thing or event is one that you want very much:
•the birth of her first longed-for child $ [U]
1 the amount of time that someone or something lives
[+of]
•the greater longevity of women compared with men
•The worms have a longevity of about two years.
2 long life or the long time that something lasts:
•The ancient Chinese claimed that garlic promoted longevity.
3 the amount of time that something lasts
[+of]
•the longevity of an athlete's career $ [U]
if you write something in longhand, you write it by hand using complete words, rather than TYPING it or using special short forms of words; shorthand
long-haul flight/route/destination etc a long-haul flight etc is over a very long distance; short-haul
SHORT-HAUL $ [C]
a cow with long horns $ [singular, U]
a strong feeling of wanting something or someone:
•She looked back with longing on the good old days.
[+for]
•His heart was filled with longing for Cynthia.
[+to]
•She felt a longing to throw herself into his arms. $
in a way that shows that you want someone or something very much:
•She thought longingly of returning to Paris.
look/gaze longingly at sb/sth
•He looked longingly at the tray of cakes.
- longing adjective $ informal
fairly long; shortish $ [C,U]
the distance east or west of a particular MERIDIAN (=imaginary line along the Earth's surface from the North Pole to the South Pole), measured in degrees; latitude
•The town lies at longitude 12° east. $ technical
1 relating to the development of something over a period of time
longitudinal study/survey/research etc
•a longitudinal study of unemployed workers
2 going from top to bottom, not across:
•longitudinal stripes
3 measured according to longitude
- longitudinally adverb $ [plural]
warm underwear with long legs
the long jump a sport in which each competitor tries to jump further than anyone else
- long jumper noun [C]
continuing for a long time; short-lived
•The impact of divorce on children can be long-lasting.
long-lasting effect/result
1 long-life products continue working longer than ordinary ones:
•long-life batteries
2 BrE long-life foods stay fresh longer than ordinary ones:
•long-life milk $
living or existing for a long time; short-lived
•Ostriches are long-lived birds.
•the band's long-lived appeal[only before noun]
lost or not seen for a long time:
•long-lost treasures
long-lost brother/cousin/friend etc[C]
an LP; = album; single[only before noun]
1 able to hit something that is a long way away; short-range
• long-range nuclear missiles
•He scored with a long-range shot.
2 relating to a time that continues far into the future; short-range
long-range planning/plan/forecast etc
•a long-range weather forecast
•the long-range goal of the project[only before noun]
used to talk about something that has been continuing for a long time:
•a long-running saga
long-running dispute/battle/debate/feud etc
•She was involved in a long-running legal battle.
long-running show/musical/soap opera etc[only before noun]
having a particular job or position for a long time:
•a long-serving member of the committee $ plural longshoremen [C] AmE
someone whose job is to load and unload ships at a DOCK; = docker BrEBrE
able to see objects or read things clearly only when they are far from your eyes; short-sighted ; = far-sighted AmElongstanding $
having continued or existed for a long time:
•a long-standing member of the committee
long-standing debate/dispute etc
•a long-standing feud between the two families
•the long-standing problem of keeping costs down
•I have a long-standing arrangement with the bank.[only before noun] BrE
1 relating to care or treatment over a long period of time
long-stay hospital/ward/bed etc
long-stay patient/resident
2 a long-stay car park is a place where people can leave their cars for a long period of time; short-stay [usually before noun]
patient in spite of problems or other people's annoying behaviour:
•his long-suffering wife[usually before noun]
continuing for a long period of time into the future, or relating to what will happen in the distant future; short term
•the long-term future of the fishing industry
•the long-term interests of the company
the long-term unemployed (=people who have not had a job for a long time)
•the long-term effects of alcohol on the body
long-term plan/strategy/solution
long-term loan/investment
in the long term at TERM^1 (4)longtime $ [only before noun]
having existed or continued to be a particular thing for a long time:
•a long-time supporter of civil rights
long-time friend/lover etcwritten abbreviation LW [U]
radio broadcasting or receiving on waves of 1000 metres or more in length; medium wave, short wave, FM $
1 continuing to talk for too long or using too many words in a way that is boring:
•His speeches tend to be rather long-winded.
2 if a way of doing something is long-winded, it is very complicated:
•The whole process is incredibly long-winded. plural loos [C]
BrE informal a toilet:
•I need to go to the loo (=use the toilet). [C]
a rough bath SPONGE, made from the dried inner part of a tropical fruit
1 SEE [I] to turn your eyes towards something, so that you can see it:
•We sneaked out while Jessie's mom wasn't looking.
•If you look carefully you can see that the painting represents a human figure.
•Gina covered her eyes, afraid to look.
[+at]
•'It's time we left,' Ian said, looking at his watch.
•The men all turned to look at her as she entered the room.
[+away/over/down etc]
•Dad looked up from his paper and smiled.
•'We can't go out in this weather,' said Bob, looking out of the window.
see box at SEE^1
2 SEARCH [I] to try to find something:
•I looked everywhere but Jimmy was nowhere to be found.
[+for]
•Could you help me look for my contact lens?
•If you're looking for a bargain, try the local market.
[+in/under/between etc]
•Try looking under the bed.
3 SEEM [linking verb] to seem:
•From the way things look at the moment, the Republicans are unlikely to win this election.
look good/bad etc
•The future's looking good.
it looks as if/as though/like (=it seems likely that)
•It looks as if it might rain later.
•It looks like they won't be needing us any more.
•You made me look really stupid in front of all my friends!
4 APPEARANCE [linking verb] to have a particular appearance:
•How do I look?
look tired/happy/sad etc
•You look tired. You should go to bed.
look as if/as though/like
•He looked as if he hadn't washed for a week.
•What did the man look like?
•My sister doesn't look anything like me.
look like a million dollars at MILLION (4)
see box at SEEM
5 look daggers at sb informal to look at someone with a very angry expression on your face
6 look sb up and down to look at someone carefully from their head to their feet, as if you were forming an opinion about them
7 look sb in the eye to look directly at someone when you are speaking to them, especially to show that you are not afraid of them or that you are telling the truth:
•Owen didn't dare look his father in the eye.
8 look down your nose at sb/sth to behave as if you think that someone or something is not good enough for you:
•He looks down his nose at anyone foreign.
9 look the other way to ignore something bad that is happening and not try to stop it:
•Prison guards looked the other way as the man was attacked by fellow prisoners.
10 look no further used to say that something you are offering is exactly what someone has been trying to find:
•Want a quiet country retreat for your weekend break? Then look no further!
11 FACE A DIRECTION [I always + adv/prep] if a building looks in a particular direction, it faces that direction:
•The cabin looks east, so we get the morning sun.
12 look before you leap used to say that it is sensible to think about possible dangers or difficulties of something before doing it
13 be looking to do sth informal to be planning or expecting to do something:
•We're looking to buy a new car early next year.
14 look
a) used to tell someone to look at something that you think is interesting, surprising etc:
•Look! There's a fox!
b) used to get someone's attention so that you can suggest something or tell them something:
•Look. Why don't you think about it and give me your answer tomorrow?
•Look, I've had enough of this. I'm going home.
15 look out! used to warn someone that they are in danger; = watch out
•Look out! There's a car coming.
16 look at that! used to tell someone to look at something that you think is interesting, bad etc:
•Look at that! What a horrible mess!
17 look who's here! used when someone arrives unexpectedly:
•Well, look who's here! It's Jill and Paul!
18 don't look now used to say that you have seen someone but do not want them to know you have noticed them:
•Oh no! Don't look now but here comes Tony.
19 look what you're doing/look where you're going etc used to tell someone to be careful:
•Look where you're putting your feet! There's mud all over the carpet!
20 look what you've done! used to angrily tell someone to look at the result of a mistake they have made or something bad they have done:
•Look what you've done - my jacket's ruined!
21 look here old-fashioned used to get someone's attention in order to tell them something, especially when you are annoyed with them:
•Look here, you can't say things like that to me!
22 (I'm) just looking used when you are in a shop, to say that you are only looking at things, but do not intend to buy anything now:
•'Can I help you?' 'No, thanks. I'm just looking.'

PHRASAL VERBS
look after sb/sth phr v especially BrE
1 to take care of someone by helping them, giving them what they need, or keeping them safe; = take care of
•Don't worry, I'll look after the kids tomorrow.
•Susan looked after us very well. She's an excellent cook.
•You could tell that the horse had been well looked after.
2 to be responsible for dealing with something; = take care of
•I'm leaving you here to look after the business until I get back.
3 look after yourself spoken especially BrE used when you are saying goodbye to someone in a friendly way
4 can look after yourself to not need anyone else to take care of you:
•Don't worry about Maisie - she can look after herself.

look ahead phr v
to think about and plan for what might happen in the future:
•Looking ahead, we must expect radical changes to be made in our system of government.

look around phr v also look round BrE
1 to try to find something
[+for]
•Jason's going to start looking around for a new job.
2 look around/round (sth) to look at what is in a place such as a building, shop, town etc, especially when you are walking:
•Do we have to pay to look around the castle?
•Let's look round the shops.

look at sb/sth phr v
1 to turn your eyes towards something, so that you can see it:
•The twins looked at each other and smiled.
2 to read something quickly in order to form an opinion of it:
•I really can't comment on the report - I haven't had time to look at it yet.
3 to examine something and try to find out what is wrong with it:
•You should get the doctor to look at that cut.
•Can you look at my car? There's a strange noise coming from the front wheel.
4 to study and think about something, especially in order to decide what to do:
•We need to look very carefully at ways of improving our efficiency.
5 look at sb/sth! spoken used to mention someone or something as an example:
•You don't have to be smart to be good at music - look at Gary.
6 to think about something in a particular way; = see
•I'd like to be friends again, but Richard doesn't look at it that way.
7 not much to look at informal if someone or something is not much to look at, they are not attractive

look back phr v
1 to think about something that happened in the past
[+on/to]
•When I look back on those days I realize I was desperately unhappy.
• Looking back on it, I still can't figure out what went wrong.
2 never look back to become more and more successful, especially after a particular success:
•After winning the scholarship he never looked back.

look down on sb/sth phr v
to think that you are better than someone else, for example because you are more successful, or of a higher social class than they are:
•Mr Garcia looks down on anyone who hasn't had a college education.

look for sb/sth phr v
1 to try to find something that you have lost, or someone who is not where they should be; = search for
•I'm looking for Steve - have you seen him?
•Detectives are still looking for the escaped prisoner.
SEARCH^2 (1)
2 be looking for sb/sth to be trying to find a particular kind of thing or person:
•I'm sorry, we're really looking for someone with no family commitments.
be (just) what/who you are looking for
•'Salubrious'! That's just the word I was looking for.
3 be looking for trouble informal to be behaving in a way that makes it likely that problems or violence will happen:
•They walked into a bar looking for trouble.

look forward to sth phr v
to be excited and pleased about something that is going to happen:
•I'm really looking forward to our vacation.
look forward to doing sth
•My mother says she's looking forward to meeting you.
see box at WAIT^1

look in phr v informal
to make a short visit to someone, while you are going somewhere else, especially if they are ill or need help; = drop in, call in
[+on]
•I promised to look in on Dad and see if he's feeling any better.

look into sth phr v
to try to find out the truth about a problem, crime etc in order to solve it; = investigate
•Police are looking into the disappearance of two children.

look on phr v
1 to watch something happening, without being involved in it or trying to stop it; onlooker
•Only one man tried to help us, the rest just looked on in silence.
2 look on sb/sth also look upon sb/sth to consider someone or something in a particular way, or as a particular thing
[+as]
•I look on him as a good friend.
[+with]
•Strangers to the village are looked upon with a mixture of fear and suspicion.

look sth <=> out phr v
to search for and find a particular thing among your possessions:
•I'll look out some of my old books for you.

look out for sb/sth phr v
1 to pay attention to what is happening around you, so that you will notice a particular person or thing if you see them; lookout
•Look out for your Aunt while you're at the station.
•He's looking out for a nice apartment downtown.
2 to try to make sure that someone is treated well:
•My older brother always looked out for me when we were kids.
look out for yourself/number one (=think only of the advantages you can get for yourself)

look sth/sb <=> over phr v
to examine something quickly, without paying much attention to detail:
•Do you have a few minutes to look these samples over?

look round phr v BrE
to LOOK AROUND

look through sb/sth phr v
1 to look for something among a pile of papers, in a drawer, in someone's pockets etc; = go through
•I've looked through all my papers but I still can't find the contract.
2 to not notice or pretend not to notice someone you know, even though you see them
look straight/right through sb
•I saw Fiona in the street yesterday and she looked straight through me.

look to sb/sth phr v
1 to depend on someone to provide help, advice etc
[+for]
•We look to you for support.
look to sb to do sth
•They're looking to the new manager to make the company profitable.
2 to pay attention to something, especially in order to improve it:
•We must look to our defences.

look up phr v
1 if a situation is looking up, it is improving; = improve, get better
•Now the summer's here things are looking up!
2 look sth <=>up if you look up information in a book, on a computer etc, you try to find it there:
•Look the word up in your dictionary.
•I'll just look up the train times.
3 look sb <=>up to visit someone you know, especially when you are in the place where they live for a different reason:
•Don't forget to look me up when you come to Atlanta.

look up to sb phr v
to admire or respect someone:
•I've always looked up to Bill for his courage and determination.
look kindly on sb/sth at KINDLY^1 (3)
1 LOOK AT [C usually singular] an act of looking at something
have/take a look (at sb/sth)
•Let me have a look at that - I think it's mine.
•Take a good look at the photo and see if you recognize anyone in it.
•I took one look at the coat and decided it wasn't worth £50.
have/take a look around also
have/take a look round BrE (=look at all the things in a particular place)
•I have a special interest in old houses. Do you mind if I take a look around?
2 EXPRESSION [C] an expression that you make with your eyes or face
give sb a look
•Mike gave him such a severe look he didn't dare argue.
•Why has Jake been giving me dirty looks (=unfriendly looks) all morning?
3 CONSIDER [singular] an act of examining something and thinking about it
have/take a look (at sb/sth)
•Have you had a chance to take a look at my proposal yet?
•I asked the vet to have a quick look at the puppies as well.
•It's time to take a fresh look at the old problem of low pay.
•This month, take a long hard look (=examine very carefully) at where your money is going.
4 SEARCH [singular] an attempt to find something:
•I can't find them anywhere. Have a look yourself.
•She had a good look (=searched carefully) through the files.
5 APPEARANCE [C usually singular] the appearance that someone or something has:
•The area has a very seedy look to it.
•Mr Flynn had a tired, ill look in his eyes.
not like the look of sb/sth (=think that something bad has happened or will happen because of something's appearance)
•We should turn back now. It's getting dark and I don't like the look of those rain clouds.
6 WAY STH SEEMS [C] the way something seems to be:
•The neighbours are back from holiday by the looks of it (=that is how it seems).
•I don't like the look of this new policy (=I do not like the way it seems).
7 BEAUTY looks [plural] physical attractiveness:
•Fiona's got everything - looks, money and youth.
•You get your good looks from your mother.
•When she lost her looks (=became less attractive) she found it difficult to get work.
8 FASHION [singular] a particular style in clothes, hair, furniture etc:
•The hippy look is back again.look-alike [C]
informal someone who looks very similar to someone who is famous:
•a Madonna lookalike $ [C]
informal someone who is attractive, usually a womanBrE informal
get/have a look-in [usually in negatives] to have a chance to take part in or succeed in something:
•Arsenal barely got a look-in (=were very unsuccessful) during the second half of the match.[C] old-fashioned
a MIRROR
1 be on the lookout for sb/sth to continuously watch a place or pay attention in order to find something you want or to be ready for problems or opportunities; look out for
•We're always on the lookout for new business opportunities.
•Police were on the lookout for anyone behaving suspiciously.
2 keep a lookout to keep watching carefully for something or someone, especially for danger
[+for]
•We were instructed to keep a lookout for enemy aircraft.
•When you're driving, keep a sharp lookout (=watch extra carefully) for cyclists.
3 PERSON [C] someone whose duty is to watch carefully for something, especially for danger
4 PLACE [C] a place for a lookout to watch from[singular]
informal a quick look at something [I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to appear as a large unclear shape, especially in a threatening way
[+up/out/ahead etc]
•Suddenly a mountain loomed up in front of them.
2 if a problem or difficulty looms, it is likely to happen very soon:
•An economic crisis is looming on the horizon.
3 loom large to seem important, worrying, and difficult to avoid:
•Fear of failure loomed large in his mind.[C]
a frame or machine on which thread is woven into cloth [C]
1 a large North American bird that eats fish and that makes a long high sound
2 informal a silly or strange person - used humorously plural loonies [C]
informal someone who is crazy or strange:
•Her brother's a complete loony.
informal silly, crazy, or strange:
•a loony idea[C] informal
an expression meaning a hospital for people who are mentally ill, usually considered offensive; = psychiatric hospital [C]
1 SHAPE OR LINE a shape like a curve or a circle made by a line curving back towards itself, or a piece of wire, string etc that has this shape
loop of wire/rope/string etc
•A loop of wire held the gate shut.
belt loop (=a loop of material for holding a belt on trousers etc)
2 COMPUTER a set of operations in a computer program that are continuously repeated
3 FILM/MUSIC a film or music loop contains images or sounds that are continuously repeated
4 be in the loop/be out of the loop informal to be or not be part of a group of people who make important decisions
5 knock/throw sb for a loop AmE informal to surprise and upset someone
6 ROAD/RAILWAY BrE a road or railway line that leaves the main road or track and then joins it again further on
1 [I,T] to make a loop or make something into a loop
loop sth over/around etc sth
•He looped the rope over the post.
2 [I] to move in a circular direction that forms the shape of a loop:
•The ball looped over the goalkeeper into the back of the net.
3 loop the loop to fly a plane up and around in a circle so that the plane is UPSIDE DOWN for a time $ [C]
a small mistake in a law that makes it possible to avoid doing something that the law is supposed to make you do
legal/tax loophole
[+in]
•a loophole in the law informal
1 crazy or strange
2 go loopy BrE
a) to become extremely angry
b) to become mentally ill
1 NOT FIRMLY ATTACHED not firmly fastened in place:
•a loose floorboard
•This tooth feels very loose.
•The screw has come loose (=become loose).
2 NOT ATTACHED not attached to anything else:
•loose papers
•His rear wheel spun on the loose stones.
•The potatoes are sold loose (=not packed in a container).
•The driver had forgotten to fasten the safety chain and the trailer came loose (=become unattached).
3 NOT TIED TIGHTLY not tied or fastened very tightly:
•a loose knot
4 HAIR if your hair is loose, it hangs freely rather than being tied back:
•Her hair fell loose around her shoulders.
5 CLOTHES loose clothes are big and do not fit your body tightly; = loosefitting, baggy; tight
•a loose sweatshirt
6 FREE free from being controlled or held in a cage, prison, or institution
break/get loose (=escape)
•A 34-year old inmate broke loose from the sheriff's office yesterday.
turn/let/set sth loose (=let something go free)
•Don't let your dog loose on the beach.
7 NOT EXACT [usually before noun] not exact or thoroughly done:
•a loose translation
•a loose interpretation of the law
8 NOT VERY CONTROLLED not strictly controlled or organized
loose federation/alliance/group etc
•a loose federation of political groups
•loose arrangement (=an arrangement that can easily be changed)
9 NOT SOLID not pressed tightly together in a solid mass
loose soil/earth
10 SPORT not under the control of either team in a game of football, RUGBY etc:
•Sheringham was the first player to reach the loose ball.
11 cut loose
a) to free yourself from someone or something, or their influence
cut yourself loose (from sth)
•He cut himself loose from the constraints of family life.
b) AmE informal to start enjoying yourself in a happy noisy way after a period of controlled behaviour:
•I'm ready to cut loose and enjoy the weekend.
12 let (sth <=>) loose to speak or behave in an uncontrolled way:
•She let loose a string of four-letter words.
13 let sb loose on sth to allow someone to deal with something in the way they want to, when you think they will make mistakes or do something wrong:
•Whatever you do, don't let Derek loose on the garden.
14 be at a loose end also be at loose ends AmE to have nothing to do:
•I was at a loose end so I decided to go see an old movie.
15 loose ends parts of something that have not been completed or correctly done:
•We've nearly finished, but there are still a few loose ends to be tied up (=dealt with or completed).
16 loose change coins that you have in your bag or pocket
17 loose cannon someone who cannot be trusted because they say or do things you do not want them to
18 hang/stay loose AmE spoken used to tell someone to stay calm, or not to worry about something
19 BODY WASTE having a problem in which the waste from your BOWELs has too much liquid in it:
•loose bowels
20 IMMORAL old-fashioned behaving in a way that is considered to be sexually immoral:
•a loose woman
•loose morals
21 TALK old-fashioned not careful about what you say or who is listening:
•There's been a bit of loose talk about it.
!! Do not confuse the adjective loose (=not tight, not firm etc) with the verb lose (=no longer have something, be unable to find something etc) which has a different pronunciation .
- loosely adverb
•A towel was loosely wrapped around his neck.
•The film is loosely based on the novel.
- looseness noun [U][T] literary
1 to make something unpleasant begin:
•And now the anger Maggie had feared was loosed.
2 to make something loose or to untie someone or something, especially an animal
3 to fire an ARROW, a bullet from a gun etc

PHRASAL VERBS
loose sth on/upon sb/sth phr v
literary to allow something dangerous or harmful to begin to affect a situation or other people:
•the evils loosed upon humanity in World War II
be on the loose if a criminal or dangerous animal is on the loose, they have escaped from prison or from their cage
loose-fitting clothes are big and do not fit your body closely, so that they are comfortable; = baggy; tight-fitting, tight
•a loose-fitting jacket[only before noun]
having pages that can be put in and removed easily
loose-leaf file/binder/format
1 [I,T] to make something less tight or less firmly fastened, or to become less tight or less firmly fastened; tighten
•You'll need a spanner to loosen that bolt.
•The screws have loosened.
•Harry loosened his tie.
2 [T] to make laws, rules etc less strict; = relax; tighten
•Congress has loosened the restrictions on immigration.
3 loosen your grip/hold
a) to reduce the control or power you have over someone or something
[+on]
•The government has loosened its hold on the media considerably.
b) to start holding someone or something less tightly than you were before; tighten
[+on]
•He loosened his grip on David's arm.
4 loosen sb's tongue to make someone talk more than usual, especially about things they should not talk about

PHRASAL VERBS
loosen up phr v
1 to stop worrying and become more relaxed, or to make someone do this:
•She loosened up after she'd had a drink.
loosen sb <=> up
•His welcoming smile helped loosen her up.
2 if your muscles loosen up, or if something loosens them up, they stop feeling stiff
loosen sth <=> up
•A massage will loosen up your joints. [I,T]
to steal things, especially from shops or homes that have been damaged in a war or RIOT:
•Shops were looted and burned.
- looter noun [C]
- looting noun [U][U]
1 goods taken by soldiers from a place where they have won a battle; = plunder
2 informal goods or money that have been stolen; = spoils
3 informal things that you have bought or been given in large amounts - used humorously:
•Jodie came home from the mall with bags of loot.also lop off $ past tense and past participle lopped, present participle lopping [T]
1 also lop off to cut something, especially branches from a tree, usually with a single strong movement; = chop, chop off
•Workmen have lopped off more branches in an effort to save the tree.
2 also lop off to reduce an amount, especially of money, by a particular amount:
•They lopped £16 off the price.
lop sth from sth
•Citicorp plans to lop $1.5 billion a year from its operating costs.also lope off $ [I always + adv/prep]
to run easily with long steps
[+along/across/up etc]
•He loped off down the corridor.
- lope noun [singular] $
1 having one side that is lower or heavier than the other:
•a lopsided grin
2 unequal or uneven, especially in an unfair way:
•a lopsided 8-0 victory $ formal
a loquacious person likes to talk a lot; = talkative
- loquacity $ noun [U][singular]
1
a) a title of God or Jesus Christ, used when praying:
•Thank you, Lord, for your blessings.
b) the Lord God or Jesus Christ, used when talking about God:
•The Lord helps and guides us.
2 Lord (only) knows spoken
a) used when you do not know the answer to something
Lord knows how/who/where etc
•Lord knows how old she is now.
b) used to emphasize that something is true:
•Lord only knows I tried my best to get this right.
3 (Good) Lord!/Oh Lord! spoken said when you are suddenly surprised, annoyed, or worried about something; = heavens
•Good Lord! Is that the time?
4 the title of someone who has a particular type of official job in Britain:
•Lord Mayor of London
5 the Lords BrE the House of Lords; the Commons
6 Our Lord a phrase meaning Jesus Christ $
1 [C] also Lord a man who has a rank in the ARISTOCRACY, especially in Britain, or his title; lady
•Lord Salisbury
2 [C] a man in MEDIEVAL Europe who was very powerful and owned a lot of land:
•the feudal lords
3 my lord BrE spoken used to address a judge or BISHOP, and in the past to address a lord
4 sb's lord and master someone who must be obeyed because they have power over you - used humorously
lord it over sb to behave in a way that shows you think you are better or more powerful than someone else:
•He didn't use his position on the council to lord it over people. $
1 behaving in a way that shows you think you are better or more important than other people:
•a lordly disdain for the common man
2 very big and impressive:
•a lordly feast
- lordliness noun [U] $ [C]
1 your/his lordship used when talking to or talking about a LORD, or when talking to a British judge or BISHOP (1); ladyship
2 his lordship BrE spoken a man who thinks he is very important - used humorously:
•So when will his lordship be back?
the Lord's Prayer the most important prayer of the Christian religion $ [U]
knowledge or information about a subject, for example nature or magic, that is not written down but is passed from person to person:
•According to local lore, a ghost still haunts the castle. $ plural lorries [C] BrE
1 a large vehicle for carrying heavy goods; = truck
2 it fell off the back of a lorry spoken used humorously to say that something was probably stolen past tense and past participle lost $
1 STOP HAVING ATTITUDE/QUALITY ETC [T] to stop having a particular attitude, quality, ability etc, or to gradually have less of it; loss
•I've lost my appetite.
lose confidence/interest/hope etc
•The business community has lost confidence in the government.
•Carol lost interest in ballet in her teens.
•Try not to lose heart (=become sad and hopeless)- there are plenty of other jobs.
lose face (=stop having as much respect from other people)
•A settlement was reached in which neither side lost face.
lose weight/height/speed etc
•You're looking slim. Have you lost weight?
•The plane emptied its fuel tanks as it started losing altitude.
lose your sight/hearing/voice/balance etc
•Mr Eyer may lose the sight in one eye.
•The tour was postponed when the lead singer lost his voice.
•Julian lost his balance and fell.
lose your touch (=become less skilled at doing something you used to do well)
•This latest movie proves Altman is by no means losing his touch.
•By the time the ambulance arrived, Douglas had lost consciousness.
lose all sense of time/direction/proportion etc
•When he was writing, he lost all sense of time.
lose sight of sth (=forget an important fact about a situation)
•We must never lose sight of the fact that man must work in harmony with nature.
2 NOT WIN [I,T] to not win a game, argument, election, war etc; win ; defeat
•They played so badly they deserved to lose.
•Klinger lost his seat in the election.
•Arkansas just lost three games in a row.
•He just can't bear to lose an argument.
[+to]
•The Beavers have dropped only one game since losing to Oregon in January.
lose (sth) by 1 goal/10 votes/20 points etc
•The government lost by one vote.
•The Communist candidate lost by a whisker (=a very small amount).
•Freddie died in 1982 after losing his battle against AIDS.
lose sb sth
•It was a rash decision, and it lost him the race (=caused him to lose the race).
3 CANNOT FIND STH [T] to become unable to find someone or something:
•I've lost the tickets for tonight's show.
•I followed her on foot, but lost her in the crowd.
•It was thought the manuscript had been lost forever.
be/get lost in the post BrE
be/get lost in the mail AmE
•The parcel must have got lost in the post.
lose track of sth/sb (=stop knowing where someone or something is)
•He lost track of her after her family moved away.
lose sight of sth/sb (=stop being able to see someone or something)
•Don't try to walk in a heavy snowstorm as you may lose sight of your vehicle.
LOST PROPERTY
4 STOP HAVING STH [T] if you lose something that is important or necessary, you then no longer have it, especially because it has been taken from you or destroyed; loss
•David's very upset about losing his job.
•Hundreds of people lost their homes in the floods.
•My family lost everything in the war.
•He was over the limit and will lose his licence.
•90 naval aircraft were lost and 31 damaged.
lose a chance/opportunity
•If you hesitate, you may lose the opportunity to compete altogether.
lose sth to sb/sth
•We were losing customers to cheaper rivals.
•She was about to lose her husband to a younger woman.
•California has lost 90% of its wetlands to development.
lose an arm/leg/eye etc
•He lost his leg in a motorcycle accident.
•He's lost a lot of blood but his life is not in danger.
lose sb sth
•the mistakes which lost him his kingdom (=caused him to lose his kingdom)
5 DEATH [T]
a) lose your life to die:
•a memorial to honor those who lost their lives in the war
b) if you lose a relative or friend, they die - use this when you want to avoid saying the word 'die'; loss
•One woman in Brooklyn lost a husband and two sons in the gang wars.
•Sadly, Anna lost the baby (=her baby died before it was born).
lose sb to cancer/AIDS etc
•He lost his father to cancer (=his father died of cancer) last year.
•Peter was lost at sea when his ship sank.
6 MONEY [I,T] if you lose money, you then have less money than you had before; loss
[+on]
•The company is in debt after losing an estimated $30 million on its dotcom enterprise.
•Creditors and investors stand to lose (=risk losing) vast sums after the company's collapse.
•A lot of people lost their shirts (=lost a lot of money) on Ferraris in the Eighties.
•It's a great deal - we can't lose!
lose sb sth
•The stock market crash lost the banks £70 million (=caused them to lose £70 million).
7 have nothing to lose spoken if you have nothing to lose, it is worth taking a risk because you cannot make your situation any worse:
•You might as well apply for the job - you've got nothing to lose.
have nothing to lose but your pride/reputation etc
•The working class has nothing to lose but its chains. (=disadvantages, restrictions etc).
have a lot/too much to lose (=used to say that you could make your situation much worse)
•These youngsters know they have too much to lose by protesting against the system.
8 TIME [T]
a) if you lose time, you do not make progress as quickly as you want to or should
lose time/2 days/3 hours etc
•Vital minutes were lost because the ambulance took half an hour to arrive.
•In 1978, 29 million days were lost in industrial action.
•Come on, there's no time to lose (=do not waste time).
lose no time in doing sth (=do something immediately)
•Murdock lost no time in taking out a patent for his invention.
b) if a watch, clock etc loses time, it runs too slowly and shows an earlier time than it should; gain
9 lose your way/bearings
a) to stop knowing where you are or which direction you should go in:
•I lost my way in the network of tiny alleys.
b) to become uncertain about your beliefs or what you should do:
•The company seems to have lost its way of late.
10 lose touch (with sb/sth)
a) if two people lose touch, they gradually stop communicating, for example by no longer phoning or writing to each other:
•I've lost touch with all my old school friends.
•They lost touch when Di got married and moved away.
b) if you lose touch with a situation or group, you are then no longer involved in it and so do not know about it or understand it:
•They claim the prime minister has lost touch with the party.
•It sometimes appears that the planners have lost touch with reality.
11 lose your temper/cool/rag to become angry
[+with]
•Diana was determined not to lose her temper with him.
12 lose your head to become unable to behave calmly or sensibly:
•You've all heard that Nadal lost his head over a girl?
13 lose your mind to become crazy; = go crazy, go mad
•Nicholas looked at her as if she'd lost her mind.
14 lose it spoken informal
a) to become very angry and upset:
•She completely lost it with one of the kids in class.
b) also lose the plot to become crazy or confused:
•I could see people thinking I'd totally lost the plot.
15 lose yourself in sth to be paying so much attention to something that you do not notice anything else:
•She listened intently to the music, losing herself in its beauty.
16 ESCAPE [T] if you lose someone who is chasing you, you manage to escape from them:
•There's a better chance of losing him if we take the back route.
17 CONFUSE SB [T] spoken informal to confuse someone when you are trying to explain something to them:
•Explain it again - you've lost me already.
18 REMOVE STH [T] to remove a part or feature of something that is not necessary or wanted:
•You could lose the last paragraph to make it fit on one page.
19 lose something in the translation/telling to be less good than the original form:
•The joke loses something in the translation.

PHRASAL VERBS
lose out phr v
to not get something good, valuable etc because someone else gets it instead:
•The deal will ensure that shareholders do not lose out financially.
[+to]
•He lost out to Roy Scheider for the lead role.
[+on]
•Workers who don't take up training may lose out on promotion.
LOST^2
lose count at COUNT^2 (3)
lose sleep over sth at SLEEP^2 (4) $ [C]
1 someone who is in a worse situation than they were, because of something that has happened; winner
•If the strike continues, the people of Galway will be the real losers.
2 someone who is never successful in life, work, or relationships:
•What a loser!
•The guy's a born loser.
3 someone who has lost a competition, game, election etc; winner
good/bad loser (=someone who behaves well or badly after losing) $
1 [C,U] the fact of no longer having something, or of having less of it than you used to have, or the process by which this happens

loss of earnings/income
loss of appetite
loss of interest
loss of confidence
loss of control
loss of faith
loss of memory/memory loss
blood loss/loss of blood
job losses
weight loss
hearing loss

[+of]
•The court awarded Ms Dixon £7,000 for damages and loss of earnings.
•a disease which causes fever and a loss of appetite
•This did not explain his apparent loss of interest in his wife.
•her loss of confidence in herself
•a certain feeling of loss of control
•a temporary loss of memory
•The animal was weak through loss of blood.
•The company is closing down two of its factories, leading to 430 job losses.
• Weight loss should be gradual.
•a type of hearing loss that affects language development

2 [C,U] if a business makes a loss, it spends more than it earns:
•The company made a loss of $250,000 last year.
•The magazine's losses totaled almost $5 million.
•profit and loss
run/operate etc at a loss (=to earn less money from something you sell than it costs you to produce it)
•Two of the mines are running at a loss.
•a loss-making rural railway
3 [C,U] the death of someone
[+of]
•She must be feeling very lonely after the loss of her husband.
•I'm sorry to hear of your family's sad loss (=the death of someone you love).
•US forces withdrew after suffering heavy losses (=many deaths).
•The war has led to a tragic loss of life.
4 be at a loss to be confused and uncertain about what to do or say:
•When her son finally left home, Emily felt completely at a loss.
be at a loss to do sth
•Detectives are so far at a loss to explain the reason for his death.
•He seemed, for once, at a loss for words (=unable to think what to say).
5 [U] a feeling of being sad or lonely because someone or something is not there any more:
•the deep sense of loss I felt after my divorce
6 [singular] a disadvantage caused by someone or something leaving or being removed
[+to]
•We see your going as a great loss to the company.
7 that's/it's sb's loss spoken said when you think someone is being stupid for not taking a good opportunity:
•Well, if he doesn't want to come, it's his loss.
cut your losses at CUT^1 (29)
a dead loss at DEAD^1 (10)[C] BrE
someone who is employed by an insurance company to decide how much should be paid to people who make a CLAIM; = insurance adjuster AmE[C]
a product that is sold at a very low price in order to attract customers into a shop[only before noun] especially BrE
a loss-making product or business does not make any money; profit-making, profitable
•The company has sold many of its loss-making businesses to cut debts. $ [U]
lossy compression a way of making a computer file smaller, but which involves losing some of the information in it $
the past tense and past participle of LOSE
1 CANNOT FIND YOUR WAY if you are lost, you do not know where you are and are unable to find your way somewhere:
•'Are you lost?' the driver asked.
•I got thoroughly lost on the way here.
•a lost child
2 CANNOT BE FOUND if something is lost, you had it but cannot now find now; = missing
•two boys searching for a lost ball
•The letter never arrived. It must have got lost in the post.
3 WASTED
a) lost time or opportunities have not been used in the way that would have given you the greatest advantage:
•It'll be impossible to make up the lost time.
•They didn't change the voting system when they had the chance and now the opportunity has been lost.
b) lost sales/business/earnings etc sales, business etc that you could have had but did not:
•The strike has cost the company £2 million in lost revenue.
4 feel/be lost to not feel confident about what to do or how to behave:
•It's not unusual to feel rather lost when you first start college.
•She's a great friend and I'd be lost without her.
5 Get lost! spoken used to rudely tell someone to go away or to stop annoying you
6 NOT NOTICING [not before noun] thinking so hard about something, or being so interested in something, that you do not notice what is happening around you
[+in]
•Harry just stood there, lost in thought.
•Amy lay on her bed, totally lost in her book.
7 get lost (in sth) to be forgotten or not noticed in a complicated process or in a busy time:
•It's easy for your main points to get lost in a long speech.
8 NOT UNDERSTAND be lost to be completely confused by a complicated explanation:
•'Do you understand what I mean?' 'Not really. I'm a bit lost.'
9 be lost on sb if something is lost on someone, they do not understand or want to accept it:
•The joke was completely lost on Chris.
10 be lost for words to be unable to say anything because you are very surprised, upset etc:
•For once in her life, she was lost for words.
11 NOT EXISTING [only before noun] that no longer exists or that you no longer have:
•the relics of a lost civilization
•She wept for her broken dreams and lost youth.
12 lost cause something that has no chance of succeeding:
•Trying to interest my son in classical music is a lost cause.
13 lost soul someone who does not seem to know where they are or what to do - often used humorously
give sb up for dead/lost etc at GIVE UP (7)
LONG-LOST
make up for lost time at MAKE UP FOR (4)
there is no love lost between sb and sb at LOVE^2 (10)AmE
the lost-and-found a place where things that are lost are kept until someone comes to claim them; = lost property BrE[U] BrE
1 things that people have lost or accidentally left in a public place, which are kept until someone collects them
2 also Lost Property a place where these things are kept until someone comes to claim them; = lost-and-found AmE
•Thankfully, someone had handed my bag into Lost Property. $
1 a lot also lots informal a large amount or number:
•We've spent a lot on the children's education.
•'How many CDs have you got?' 'Lots.'
[+of]
•They paid a lot of money for that house.
•I eat a lot of vegetables.
•There were lots of people at the party.
an awful lot also
a whole lot informal (=a very large amount or number)
•He spends an awful lot of time on the computer.
a lot to do/learn/say etc
•I still have a lot to learn.
•It's a great city, with lots to see and do.
2 a lot also lots informal if someone or something is a lot better, faster, easier etc, they are much better, faster etc; = much
•My headache's lots better, thanks.
•She has a lot more contact with clients these days.
•You'll get there a lot quicker if you take the motorway.
•The house is a lot tidier now Chris has left home.
3 a lot used to say that something happens to a great degree or often:
•Things have changed a lot since I was a child.
•Paul travels a lot on business.
•I've been worrying a lot about my health.
•She likes you a lot.
4 have a lot on your plate informal to have a large number of problems to deal with or a large amount of work to do
5 have a lot on your mind to have a lot of problems that you are worried about:
•'You're quiet today.' 'I've got a lot on my mind.'
6 have a lot on BrE to be very busy, with a large number of things to do in a short time:
•I can't help you now - I've got rather a lot on.
thanks a lot at THANKS^1 (1)
a fat lot of good/use at FAT^1 (5)
have a lot to answer for at ANSWER FOR (2)
1 GROUP OF PEOPLE/THINGS [C] a group of people or things considered together:
•Could you help me carry this lot upstairs?
[+of]
•The last lot of people offered £70,000.
•I did three lots of exams last summer.
•Come on, you lot, hurry up!
•His friends are a strange lot.
2 the lot especially BrE the whole of an amount or number of things, people etc:
•We'll do everything - cooking, washing, ironing - the lot.
•I can't believe you ate the whole lot.
•I think that's the lot (=everything is included).
the lot of you/them/us (=all of you, them, or us)
•Shut up, the lot of you!
3 SB'S SITUATION [singular] your lot is your work, duties, social position etc, especially when they could be better:
•She seems happy enough with her lot.
•The unions have always tried to improve the lot of their members.
4 LAND [C] especially AmE an area of land used for building on or for another purpose:
•the vacant lot (=empty land) behind the Commercial Hotel
•a used-car lot
PARKING LOT
5 FILM [C] a building and the land surrounding it where films are made; = studio
•the Universal Studios lot
6 THING TO BE SOLD [C] something, or a group of things, that is sold at an AUCTION:
•Lot 54 is a Victorian lamp.
7 CHOOSING
a) by lot if someone is chosen by lot, several people each take a piece of paper or an object from a container, and the person who is chosen is the one who gets a particular marked paper or object:
•In Athens at that time, judges were chosen by lot.
b) draw/cast lots to choose something or someone by lot:
•We drew lots to decide who should go first.
8 throw in/cast your lot with sb/sth to join or support someone or something, and accept that what happens to them will affect what happens to you:
•In 1915 Italy threw in her lot with the allies.
bad lot at BAD^1 (21)
a job lot at JOB (17) $ [not before noun]
another spelling of LOATH $ [C,U]
a liquid mixture that you put on your skin or hair to clean, SOFTEN, or protect it:
•suntan lotion $
a way of writing 'lots of' to show how it sounds when it is spoken $ plural lotteries
1 [C] a game used to make money for a state or a CHARITY in which people buy tickets with a series of numbers on them. If their number is picked by chance, they win money or a prize; raffle, draw
•a lottery ticket
•Do you really think winning the lottery would make you happy?
national/state lottery
2 [C,U] AmE a system of choosing who will get something by choosing people's names by chance
by lottery
•The State Department issues 55,000 visas each year by lottery.
3 a lottery a situation in which what happens depends on chance and is not certain to be successful:
•That's the trouble with capitalism. It's a lottery. $ [C]
a game used to make money, in which people buy tickets with a series of numbers on them. If their number is picked by chance, they win money or a prize. $ [C]
1 a white or pink flower that grows on the surface of lakes in Asia and Africa, or the shape of this flower used in decorations
2 a fruit that gives you a pleasant dreamy feeling after you eat it, according to Ancient Greek stories[singular]
a way of sitting, used especially in YOGA, in which you sit with your legs crossed and with each foot resting on the top of the opposite leg:
•monks sitting in the lotus position comparative louder, superlative loudest
1 making a lot of noise; quiet
•The book fell to the floor with a loud bang.
•The music was so loud that I had to shout.
•'Who's there?' asked David in a loud voice.
2 someone who is loud talks too loudly and confidently:
•The more Tom drank, the louder he became.
3 loud clothes are too bright or have too many bright patterns; = garish, gaudy
•a loud checked suit
4 be loud in your praise/opposition/support etc to express your approval or disapproval very strongly:
•The local business community was loud in its support for the scheme.
- loudly adverb
•Ben laughed loudly.
•She spoke more loudly than she intended.
- loudness noun [U]

WORD FOCUS: loud
similar words:
noisy
booming
raucous
rowdy
extremely loud:
deafening
earsplitting
thunderous
comparative louder, superlative loudest
1 spoken in a way that makes a lot of noise; = loudly
•Could you speak a little louder?
•You've got the telly on too loud.
2 loud and clear in a way that is very easy to understand:
•The message came through loud and clear.
3 out loud in such a way that people can hear you; = aloud
•Read it out loud, so we can all hear.
•Harriet laughed out loud in astonishment.
actions speak louder than words at ACTION^1 (13)
for crying out loud at CRY^1 (4) $ [C]
BrE a piece of equipment with a MICROPHONE, that you can hold in your hand and speak through to make your voice louder; = megaphone; = bullhorn AmE [C] not polite
someone who talks too much and says offensive or stupid things
- loudmouthed adjective
•loudmouthed sports fans $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment used to make sounds louder
from/over/through a loudspeaker
•The voice over the loudspeaker (=using the loudspeaker) said the flight was delayed.
2 a SPEAKER (3) $ [C]
in Ireland, a lake or a part of the sea almost surrounded by land:
•Lough Neagh [C]
1 a WAITING ROOM at an airport:
•the departure lounge
2 a public room in a hotel or other building, that is used by many people as a place to relax:
•the television lounge
3 BrE the main room in a house where people relax, watch television etc; = living room
4 BrE a lounge bar
5 AmE a COCKTAIL BAR
COCKTAIL LOUNGE, SUN LOUNGE[I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to stand, sit, or lie in a lazy or relaxed way:
•Nathan was lounging on the grass bank outside the cottage.
2 lounge around lounge about BrE to spend time relaxing and doing nothing, often when you should be doing something; = laze around
•James does nothing but lounge around the apartment.[C] BrE
a comfortable bar in a PUB or hotel; = saloon bar; public bar $ [C] BrE
a SUN LOUNGER[C] BrE old-fashioned
a suit that a man wears during the day, especially to work in an office [C]
1 plural lice a small insect that lives on the hair or skin of people or animals
2 plural louses informal someone who is nasty and unpleasant

PHRASAL VERBS
louse sth <=> up phr v informal
to make something worse rather than better, or to spoil something; = mess up
•That idiot loused up my chance of promotion. comparative lousier, superlative lousiest
1 especially spoken of very bad quality; = awful, terrible
•What lousy weather!
•The food was lousy.
•a lousy film
2 spoken feel lousy if you feel lousy, you feel ill
3 spoken not very good at doing something; = hopeless, terrible
[+at/with]
•I'm lousy at tennis.
•Brenda's lousy with kids.
•a lousy teacher
4 spoken small, useless, or unimportant:
•He left me a lousy fifty cent tip.
5 be lousy with sth AmE old-fashioned
a) a place that is lousy with people of a particular kind is too full of them:
•The town was lousy with tourists.
b) someone who is lousy with money has a lot more of it than they need [C]
a rude, violent man; = yob
- loutish adjective
•loutish behaviour
- loutishly adverb
- loutishness noun [U]
LAGER LOUTlouver AmE $ [C] BrE
1 a narrow piece of wood, glass etc in a door or window, that slopes towards the outside to let some light in and keep rain or strong sun out
2 louvre window/door BrE a door or window made of these pieces of wood, glass etc
- louvred adjective
•louvred shuttersloveable
friendly and attractive:
•a sweet lovable child
1 ROMANTIC ATTRACTION [T not in progressive] to have a strong feeling of AFFECTION for someone, combined with sexual attraction:
•I love you, Tracy.
•He was the only man she had ever loved.
2 CARE ABOUT [T not in progressive] to care very much about someone, especially a member of your family or a close friend:
•I love my grandad so much.
•I've always loved children.
much-loved/well-loved
•In 1941, her much-loved sister was killed in an accident.
•Many people feel guilty after the death of a loved one.
3 LIKE/ENJOY [T] to like something very much or enjoy doing something very much:
•I love carrots.
•Jeff loves his work.
•I love the way she sings that song.
•Amy had always loved New York.
love doing sth
•I love going out to restaurants.
love to do sth
•We all love to talk about ourselves.
I'd love to (do sth) spoken (=used to say that you would really like to do something)
•'Would you like to come swimming with us?' 'I'd love to.'
•I'd have loved to have stayed till the end.
•I'd love to know just why they did that.
4 LOYALTY [T not in progressive] to have a strong feeling of loyalty to your country, an institution etc:
•Dad's always loved the navy.
5 I love it! spoken used when you are amused by something, especially by someone else's mistake or bad luck:
•'And then her boyfriend walked in and saw her kissing Ray.' 'I love it!'
6 sb's going to love sth spoken
a) used to say that someone will enjoy something:
•Listen guys, you're going to love this.
b) used to say that someone will not be pleased about something:
•I'm going to love telling him we've changed our minds again.
LOVER
1 FOR FAMILY/FRIENDS [U] a strong feeling of caring about someone, especially a member of your family or a close friend; hate, hatred
•What these kids need is love and support.
[+for]
•a mother's love for her child
2 ROMANTIC [U] a strong feeling of liking someone a lot combined with sexual attraction
[+for]
•Their love for each other grew deeper every day.
be/fall in love (with sb)
•I think I'm falling in love with Tom.
very much in love/madly in love/head over heels in love
•Tara is madly in love with you.
•When Lynne met Derek, it was love at first sight (=they loved each other the first time they saw each other).
•a beautiful love song (=a song about romantic love)
•It's a love story (=a book, film etc about romantic love).
true love (=strong romantic love that remains for ever)
3 PERSON YOU LOVE [C] someone that you feel a strong romantic and sexual attraction to:
•He was her first love.
the love of your life (=the person that you feel or felt the most love for)
4 PLEASURE/ENJOYMENT
a) [singular, U] a strong feeling of pleasure and enjoyment that something gives you
[+of/for]
•my love of nature
•He had a great love of music.
•I fell in love with Amsterdam the very first time I visited the city.
b) [C] something that gives you a lot of pleasure and enjoyment:
•Sailing was her great love.
5 make love (to/with sb)
a) to have sex with someone that you love
b) old use to say LOVING things to someone, to kiss them etc
6 send/give your love (to sb) or send/give sb your love to ask someone to give your LOVING greetings to someone else when they see them, write to them etc:
•Aunt Mary sends her love.
7 love (from sb)/lots of love/all my love written used at the end of a letter to a friend, a member of your family, or someone you love:
•See you soon. Lots of love, Clare.
8 (my) love BrE spoken informal
a) a word used when you are talking to someone you love; = darling
•'Hello, love,' said her father.
b) a friendly way of talking to someone who you do not know, especially to a woman or child. Many women consider this to be impolite or offensive:
•What's your name, love?
9 be a love and ... / ... there's a love BrE spoken used when you are asking someone, especially children and members of your family, to do something:
•Give these to your sisters, there's a love.
10 there is no love lost between sb and sb if there is no love lost between two people, they dislike each other
11 TENNIS [U] an expression meaning 'no points', used in the game of tennis
12 not for love or/nor money informal if you cannot get something or do something for love or money, it is impossible to obtain or to do:
•I can't get hold of that book for love nor money.
13 love triangle a situation in which someone is having a sexual relationship with the partner of a close friend - used especially in newspapers
14 for the love of God old-fashioned spoken used to show that you are extremely angry, disappointed etc
a labour of love at LABOUR^1 (4)[C]
1 a romantic sexual relationship, usually between two people who are not married to each other
AFFAIR (3)
2 a strong enjoyment of something
[+with]
•America's love affair with the automobile $ [C]
1 lovebirds [plural] two people who show by their behaviour that they love each other very much - used humorously
2 a small brightly coloured PARROT[C] BrE
a red mark on someone's skin caused by someone else sucking it as a sexual act; = hickey AmE[C]
a child whose parents are not married - used especially in newspapersinformal
1 feeling full of romantic love for someone
2 feeling full of love towards everyone, especially as a result of using the illegal drug ECSTASY:
•loved-up clubbers having a ball[C usually singular]
if you have a love-hate relationship with someone or something, sometimes you really like or love them, and sometimes you really dislike or hate them
[+with]
•her love-hate relationship with professional golf
without love
loveless marriage/childhood/relationship etc[C]
a letter that someone writes to tell someone else how much they love them[C,U]
the part of your life that involves your romantic and sexual relationships $ literary
sad because the person you love does not love you; = lovesick comparative lovelier, superlative loveliest
1 especially BrE beautiful or attractive:
•She had a lovely face.
•What a lovely house!
•You look lovely in that dress.
•He was a lovely little boy.
•What a lovely day!
2 spoken especially BrE very pleasant, enjoyable, or good:
•Thank you for a lovely evening.
•That was a lovely cup of tea.
3 informal especially BrE friendly and pleasant:
•Richard's a lovely person.
4 BrE spoken used to say that something is not at all enjoyable or good:
•'The cat threw up all over the carpet!' 'Lovely!'
•You've made a lovely mess in here.
5 lovely and warm/fresh/clean etc BrE spoken used to emphasize how good something is:
•This bread's lovely and fresh.
6 BrE spoken used to show that you are pleased with something:
•Push it right across. That's it, lovely.
- loveliness noun [U] [U]
sexual activity, especially the act of having sex[C usually singular]
a place where two people who are having a romantic relationship live or meet each other - used humorously $ [C]
1 someone's lover is the person they are having a sexual relationship with but who they are not married to; mistress
•He killed his wife's lover.
•Nicola and I were lovers.
•a pair of young lovers
2 someone who likes something very much:
• music lovers
• animal lovers
[+of]
•lovers of the outdoors[C]
1 AmE a small SOFA for two people
2 a seat in the shape of an S for two people, designed so that they can face each other
spending all your time thinking about someone you love, especially someone who does not love you:
•a lovesick teenager [C] BrE spoken informal
a word used to address a woman or child, that many women think is offensive
LUVVIE informal
behaviour that is lovey-dovey is too romantic:
•a lovey-dovey phone call
1 [only before noun] behaving in a way that shows you love someone
loving wife/family/parents etc
•the confidence he had gained from having a warm and loving family
•What that child needs is plenty of loving care.
•He's very loving and affectionate with his sister.
2 peace-loving/fun-loving/home-loving etc thinking that peace, having fun etc is very important:
•a peace-loving nation
3 done with a lot of care and attention:
•the loving care with which the house has been restored
- lovingly adverb
•She smiled at him lovingly.
•the plane he had lovingly built $ comparative lower, superlative lowest
1 SMALL AMOUNT/LEVEL/VALUE
a) small, or smaller than usual, in amount, level, or value; high
low income/pay/wages
•families existing on very low incomes
•In May, the price of cocoa fell to its lowest level since 1975-76.
•Morale has been low since the latest round of job-cuts.
•In this sort of investment, the risks are fairly low.
•low temperatures
•the need for low-cost housing
•a low-security prison
b) low in sth having less than the usual amount of a substance or chemical; high
•food that is low in calories
low-fat/low-salt etc
•low-alcohol beer
c) in the low 20s/50s etc if a number, temperature, or level is in the low 20s, 30s etc, it is between 21 and 23, 31 and 33 etc:
•Tonight, temperatures in most areas will be in the low 50s.
2 HEIGHT
a) having a top that is not far above the ground; high
•a low wall
•a long low building
b) at a point that is not far above the ground or near the bottom of something; high
•low clouds
•The sun was low in the sky now.
•Store raw meat on the lowest shelf.
c) below the usual height; high
•a low bridge
•a low ceiling
•The river is very low today.
3 STANDARDS/QUALITY bad, or below an acceptable or usual level or quality; = poor; high
•Their safety standards seem to be pretty low.
•Cost-cutting has led to a lower quality of service.
•the children's low achievement in school
4 SUPPLY if you are low on something, or if your supply of something is low, there is not much of it left
be/get/run low (on sth)
•We're running low on gas.
•Stocks are getting low.
5 SOUND a low voice or sound is quiet or deep:
•I heard a low moaning noise.
•The volume is too low - turn it up.
•a low whisper
6 LIGHT a light that is low is not bright; = dim
•Use low lighting to give the room a romantic atmosphere.
7 HEAT if you cook something over a low heat or in a low OVEN, you cook it using only a small amount of heat; high
8 BATTERY a BATTERY that is low does not have much power left in it
9 CLOTHES a low dress, BLOUSE etc does not cover your neck and the top of your chest; low-cut
10 UNHAPPY [not before noun] unhappy and without much hope for the future; = depressed
•He was feeling a bit low, so I did my best to cheer him up.
•Terry seems to be in rather low spirits today.
be at a low ebb at EBB^1 (2)
- lowness noun [U]comparative lower, superlative lowest
1 in or to a low position or level:
•He bent low over the engine.
•She pulled her hat low down over her eyes.
•I had the radio on low.
2 near the ground or the bottom of something:
•That plane's flying too low!
•There was a hole low down in the hedge.
3 if you play or sing musical notes low, you play or sing them with deep notes:
•Sing those bars an octave lower.
4 be brought low old-fashioned to become much less rich or important
search/look high and low at HIGH^2 (6)
lay sb low at LAY^2 (20)
lie low at LIE^1 (7)[C]
1 a low price, level, or value; high
fall to/hit/reach etc a new low (=be worth less than ever before)
•The euro has fallen to a new low against the dollar.
•Public confidence in the legal system is at an all-time low (=much lower or worse than ever before).
2 a very difficult time in someone's personal or working life
highs and lows (of sth) (=good times and bad times)
•the highs and lows of an actor's life
3
a) the lowest point that the temperature reaches during a particular time; high
•The overnight low will be 8° C.
b) an area of low pressure in the air; high
•a low moving in over the Pacific
4 the lowest of the low
a) informal someone you think is completely unfair, cruel, immoral etc
b) someone from a low social class - often used humorously[I] literary
if cattle low, they make a deep sound $
lowbrow entertainment, newspapers, books etc are easy to understand and are not concerned with serious ideas about art, CULTURE etc - used to show disapproval; highbrow [U]
the part of the Church of England that believes in the importance of faith and studying the BIBLE rather than in religious ceremonies
HIGH CHURCH
1 old-fashioned WORKING CLASS; high-class
•a low-class bar
2 not good quality; high-class
a low-cut dress is shaped so that it shows a woman's neck and the top of her chest[only before noun] informal
dishonest and unkind:
•What a low-down, dirty trick. $
the lowdown (on sth/sb) informal the most important facts about something:
•Ryan gave me the lowdown on the meeting.[usually before noun] especially AmE
relating to products or services that are less expensive and of lower quality than other products of the same type; high-end
•low-end desktop computers $
1 [only before noun] below something else, especially below something of the same type; upper
•Nina chewed her lower lip anxiously.
•Ruth went down to the lower deck (=lower level on a ship).
your lower limbs (=your legs)
2 [only before noun] at or near the bottom of something; upper
•the lower slopes of the mountain
•She suffers with pain in her lower back.
3 smaller in number or amount; higher
•Temperatures will be lower over the weekend.
4 [only before noun] less important than something else of the same type; higher
•the lower levels of management
1 REDUCE [I,T] to reduce something in amount, degree, strength etc, or to become less:
•Do you think we should lower the price?
•After 20 minutes lower the temperature to 325°.
•drugs to lower blood pressure
•Helen lowered her voice (=made it quieter) as they approached.
•His voice lowered (=became quieter).
2 MOVE DOWN [T] to move something down from higher up; raise
•Very gently, he lowered the dog onto the rug by the fire.
•The flags were lowered to half-mast.
•Greg watched as the coffin was lowered.
lower yourself
•He lowered himself carefully down from the top of the wall.
3 lower your eyes/head to look down; raise
•Christina blushed and lowered her eyes.
4 lower yourself [usually in negatives] to behave in a way that makes people respect you less:
•I wouldn't lower myself to speak to her after what she's done.
5 lower the tone (of sth) to make something not as nice as it was:
•They thought an influx of students would lower the tone of the neighborhood.
•Trust you to lower the tone of the conversation (=include rude jokes etc in what you say)!
- lowered adjective
•He leaned forward and spoke in a lowered voice.also lour BrE $ [I] literary
1 when the sky or the weather lowers, it becomes dark because there is going to be a storm; = darken
•lowering clouds
2 to look threatening or annoyed; = frown
•The other driver lowered at us as we passed him.[U]
letters in their small forms, such as a, b, c etc; upper case ; capital
- lower case adjective
•lower case lettersalso lower classes [C] [plural]
old-fashioned the social class that has less money, power, or education than anyone else. This is now considered offensive; working class, middle class, upper class
- lower-class adjectivealso Lower Chamber [singular]
a group of elected representatives who make laws in a country, for example the HOUSE OF COMMONS in Britain or the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES in the US; upper houseold-fashioned
the lower orders an offensive expression for WORKING CLASS people considered as a group[C]
the classes of a school in Britain that are for younger students, usually aged 11-13[U]
1 the biggest possible number of people, including people who are very easily influenced or are willing to accept low standards:
•Television quiz shows often seem to target the lowest common denominator.
2 technical the smallest number that the bottom numbers of a group of FRACTIONs can be divided into exactly
DENOMINATOR
containing or using only a small amount of fat:
•low-fat yoghurt
•a low-fat diet
flying close to the ground:
•a low-flying aircraft[C,U]
one of a vehicle's GEARs that you use when you are driving at a slow speed
not intended to attract a lot of attention to an event, subject, or thing:
•They want the funeral to be as low-key as possible.
•a low-key military operation $ [plural]
an area of land that is lower than the land around it; highlands
•the Scottish lowlands
- lowland adjective [only before noun]
•a wild lowland landscape
•lowland farmers
- lowlander noun [C]
1 close to the ground:
•low-level bombing attacks on military targets
2 relating to people who are not in powerful positions or jobs; high-level
•routine, low-level, clerical tasks
3 at a low degree or strength; high-level
•a low-level tension headache
4 a low-level computer language is used to give instructions to a computer and is similar to the language that the computer operates in; high-level
1 [U] the life and behaviour of people who are involved in criminal or immoral activities:
•a novel about low life in Chicago in the 1930s
2 also lowlife [C] AmE informal someone who is involved in crime or who is bad:
•Pete turned out to be a real lowlife.
- lowlife $ adjective AmE informal
•Charlie may be lowlife, but he isn't stupid. $ [plural]
a dark colour that can be used to change the natural colour of some of your hair; highlights $
low in rank, importance, or social class - sometimes used humorously; = humble
•He was a lowly assistant gardener.
!! Lowly is never an adverb. Low is used as an adverb as well as an adjective.
low-lying land is not far above the level of the sea:
•Vast areas of low-lying land have been flooded.
providing or earning only a small amount of money:
•As part-time, low-paid workers, the women earned very little.
1 a low pitched musical note or sound is deep; high-pitched
•the low-pitched hum of the generator
2 low pitched roof a roof that is not steep[C ]
the worst moment of a situation or activity; high point
•The low point in my life was when I was hit by a drunk driver.[U]
a condition of the air over a large area that affects the weather; high-pressure
keep a low profile to not go to places or be careful not to do anything that will attract attention to yourself or your actions; high profile
•He's not the sort of politician to keep a low profile for long.
1 [usually before noun] not receiving or wanting any attention; high-profile
•The US took a very low-profile role in the talks.
2 [only before noun] BrE designed to be lower than other things of the same type:
•low-profile tyres
not expensive or not good quality - used to show disapproval[only before noun]
a low-rise building does not have many STOREYs ; high-rise[usually before noun]
likely to be safe or without problems; high-risk
•low-risk investments[U] BrE
the time of year when fewer people are on holiday and there is less business for hotels etc, and prices are usually lower than normal; = off-season; high season [only before noun]
low and closer to the ground than usual:
•a low-slung sports car
unhappy or DEPRESSED $
not using the most modern machines or methods in business or industry; high-tech
•He made low-tech, budget space movies.[C,U]
the time when sea water is at its lowest level; high tide
•You can walk across to the island at low tide.[U]
the time when the water in a river or the sea is at its lowest level; high water[C]
a mark showing the lowest level reached by a river or other area of water; high water mark $ [U]
especially AmE SALMON that has been treated with smoke in order to preserve it
always supporting your friends, principles, country etc; disloyal
[+to]
•The army has remained loyal to the government.
•a loyal supporter of the team
•her many years of loyal service to the company
•loyal customers
- loyally adverb
•He has always loyally defended the president. [C]
1 someone who continues to support a government or country, especially during a period of change
2 Loyalist someone from Northern Ireland who believes that Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom, and not become pare of the Republic of Ireland; Republican
- loyalist adjective plural loyalties
1 [U] the quality of remaining faithful to your friends, principles, country etc
[+to/towards]
•Elizabeth understood her husband's loyalty to his sister.
2 [C usually plural] a feeling of support for someone or something
local/regional/tribal/family etc loyalty/loyalties
•In the rural areas, family and tribal loyalties continue to be important.
•the agony of divided loyalties (=loyalty to two different or opposing people) for the children in a divorce[C]
a card given by a shop, SUPERMARKET, etc that gives customers who often buy things there advantages such as lower prices, money back on goods etc $ [C]
1 a small flat sweet, especially one that contains medicine:
•a cough lozenge
2 a shape similar to a square, with two angles of less than 90° opposite each other and two angles of more than 90° opposite each other [C]
long-playing record a record that turns 33 times per minute, and usually plays for between 20 and 25 minutes on each side; = album; single, CDalso LP gas [U]
liquefied petroleum gas a type of liquid FUEL that is burned to produce heat or power [C]
a flat white square with a red letter L on it, that must be attached to the car of someone who is learning to drive in Britain $ [U] BrE
lead replacement petrol a special type of PETROL that does not contain LEAD and is meant to be used in older cars [U]
an illegal drug that makes you see things as more beautiful, strange, frightening etc than usual, or makes you see things that do not exist; = acidalso Lt BrE
a written abbreviation of lieutenant
the written abbreviation of limited , used in the names of companies or businesses; Inc., plc
•M. Dixon & Son Ltd [C,U]
a substance such as oil that you put on surfaces that rub together, especially parts of a machine, in order to make them move smoothly and easily [T]
1 to put a lubricant on something in order to make it move more smoothly:
•Lubricate all moving parts with grease.
2 informal to help things to happen without any problems:
•Vic's working day is lubricated by endless cups of coffee.
- lubrication noun [U] formal
too interested in sex, in a way that seems unpleasant or unacceptable
- lubriciously adverb
1 expressed in a way that is clear and easy to understand:
•You must write in a clear and lucid style.
2 able to understand and think clearly, used especially about someone who is not always able to do this:
•In her more lucid moments the old lady would talk about her past.
- lucidly adverb
•He was lucidly aware of political realities.
- lucidity noun [U] $
the Devil [U]
1 SUCCESS also good luck good things that happen to you by chance

not have much/any luck
have no luck
have good luck
have more/better luck
have the luck to do sth
can't believe your luck
sheer luck (=used to emphasize something happened only by luck)
a piece of luck
a stroke of luck (=very good luck)
an element of luck (=used to say that luck is involved in something)
dumb luck AmE (=good luck that happens by chance, without you planning it at all)

•You're not having much luck today, are you?
• Owen has had no luck with job-hunting.
•He's had good luck with his roses this year.
•We had the luck to find good childcare quite quickly.
•I couldn't believe my luck when he showed an interest in me.
•It was sheer luck that we were saved from drowning.
• It was an incredible piece of luck.
• By a stroke of luck, she had spotted the book on a colleague's bookshelf.
• Often there is an element of luck in getting the right answer.
•It was just dumb luck that no one got hurt.
see box at CHANCE^1

2 bad luck the bad things that happen to someone by chance, not because of something they did:
•Bad luck seems to follow me everywhere.
•I've had nothing but bad luck since I moved to this town.
•Lend me some money; I've had a run of bad luck (=a series of bad things happened) on the horses recently,
3 CHANCE when good or bad things happen to people by chance:
•You never know who you'll get as a roommate; it's just a matter of luck.
•Roulette is a game of luck.
see box at CHANCE^1
4 with (any) luck/with a bit of luck spoken if things happen in the way that you want; = hopefully
•With a bit of luck, you might get a flight tomorrow.
5 wish sb (the best of) luck to tell someone that you hope they will be successful in something they are going to do:
•She wished me luck in the exam, then left.
6 good luck/best of luck spoken used to tell someone that you hope they will be successful in something they are going to do:
•Good luck in this enormous project you are undertaking.
7 good luck to sb spoken used to say that you do not mind what someone does, because it does not affect you:
•I say, good luck to him.
8 any luck?/no luck? spoken used to ask someone if they have succeeded in doing something:
•'Oh, there you are. Any luck?' 'No, I didn't catch a single fish.'
9 be in luck to be able to do or get something, especially when you did not expect to:
•You're in luck - it's stopped snowing.
10 be out of luck to be prevented from getting or doing something by bad luck:
•The team were out of luck again at Scarborough on Saturday.
11 do sth for luck to do something because you think it might bring you good luck:
•She crossed her fingers for luck.
12 just my luck spoken used to say that you are not surprised something bad has happened to you, because you are usually unlucky:
•I didn't get to the phone in time. Just my luck!
13 no such luck spoken used to say you are disappointed, because something good that you hoped would happen did not happen:
•'Have you Sunday off?' 'No such luck.'
14 better luck next time used to say that you hope someone will be more successful the next time they try to do something
15 as luck would have it used to say that something happened by chance:
•As luck would have it, my best friend is the most wonderful cook in the world.
16 try/chance your luck to do something because you hope you will be successful, even though you know you may not be:
•After the war my father went to Canada to try his luck at farming there.
17 be down on your luck to have no money because you have had a lot of bad luck over a long period of time:
•When someone is down on their luck, friends are very difficult to find.
18 the luck of the draw the result of chance rather than something you can control
19 some people have all the luck spoken used to say that you wish you had what someone else has
20 bad/hard/tough luck spoken especially BrE used to express sympathy when something unpleasant has happened to someone
tough luck at TOUGH^1 (7)
21 with/knowing sb's luck spoken used to say that you expect something bad to happen to someone because bad things often do happen to them:
•With my luck, I'd lose if I backed the only horse in a one horse race.
22 worse luck BrE spoken unfortunately:
•'Would your boyfriend like a drink?' 'He's not my boyfriend, worse luck!'
23 luck is on sb's side if luck is on someone's side, things go well for them:
•Luck was on my side; all the traffic lights were green.
24 (one) for luck spoken used when you take, add, or do something for no particular reason, or in order to say that you hope good things happen
HARD-LUCK STORY
push your luck at PUSH^1 (12)

WORD CHOICE: luck, lucky

!! Do not say that someone 'has luck'. Say they are lucky: I was lucky (NOT I had luck) and got to the airport just in time. | You're so lucky to live by the sea.
You can use 'have' with luck only when luck has something before it such as 'bad', 'good', 'much', 'any' 'a bit of' etc: He's had a lot of bad luck recently. | Did you have any luck finding your bag? | If we have a bit of luck, we'll see her before she leaves.
GRAMMAR

!! luck is an uncountable noun: Winning was mostly a matter of luck.
Do not say 'a luck'. To talk about one lucky event you can say a piece of luck, a bit of luck, or a stroke of luck: Seeing him at that moment was an amazing piece of luck (NOT an amazing luck).

PHRASAL VERBS
luck out phr v
AmE informal to be lucky:
•Yeah, we really lucked out and got a parking space right in front.
[sentence adverb] used to say that it is good that something happened or was done because if it had not, the situation would be unpleasant or difficult; = fortunately
•Luckily the museum was not damaged by the earthquake.
luckily for sb
•Luckily for them, he braked in time. literary
having no luck in something you are trying to do; = unfortunate
•He died in the desert like so many other luckless explorers. comparative luckier, superlative luckiest
1 having good luck; = fortunate; unlucky
be lucky to do/be sth
•The children were lucky to survive the fire which destroyed their home.
lucky enough to do sth
•those of us lucky enough to own our own homes
lucky if
•I'll be lucky if I get any of my money back.
lucky (that)
•I was tremendously lucky that I didn't die in the accident.
[+with]
•We've been very lucky with the weather.
count/consider/think yourself lucky
•Count yourself lucky you've got a husband like Jack.
see box at LUCK^1
2 resulting from good luck:
•I didn't really know your name - it was just a lucky guess.
•A middle-aged woman had a lucky escape when a tree crashed down onto her car.
it is lucky (that)
•It's lucky that no-one was hurt.
3 bringing good luck:
•a lucky charm
4 lucky you/me etc spoken used to say that someone is fortunate to be able to do something:
•'My husband's a rich man, and devoted to me.' 'Lucky you.'
5 be sb's lucky day spoken used to say that something good and often unexpected will happen to someone:
•We're going to win. I just know it's our lucky day
6 you'll/you'd be lucky spoken used to tell someone that what they want probably will not happen:
•'£50 should be enough.' 'You'll be lucky!'
7 I/you should be so lucky! spoken used to tell someone that what they want is not likely to happen, especially because it is unreasonable:
•You want three weeks holiday? You should be so lucky!
strike it lucky at STRIKE^1 (19)
thank your lucky stars at THANK (3)
third time lucky at THIRD^1 (2)BrE
1 [C] a game in which you put your hand into a container filled with small objects, and choose one without looking; = grab bag AmE
2 [singular] a situation in which what happens depends on chance; = lottery
a job or activity that is lucrative lets you earn a lot of money; = profitable
lucrative business/market/contract etc
•He inherited a lucrative business from his father. $
filthy lucre informal money or wealth - used to show disapproval [C]
someone who is opposed to using modern machines and methods; = technophobe
completely unreasonable, stupid, or wrong; = ridiculous
•It is ludicrous to suggest that I was driving under the influence of alcohol.
•The court granted him the ludicrous sum of £100 in damages.
•That's a ludicrous idea.
- ludicrously adverb
•a ludicrously inadequate army
- ludicrousness noun [U] $ [U]
BrE trademark a game played with COUNTERs (=small flat round objects) on a board past tense and past participle lugged, present participle lugging [T] informal
to pull or carry something heavy with difficulty
lug sth around/up/into/onto etc sth
•It's a huge book, not something you'd like to lug around.
•She began to lug her suitcase up the stairs.[C]
1 [usually plural] a part of something that sticks out and can be used as a handle or a support
2 BrE humorous an ear; = lughole
3 AmE a rough, stupid, or awkward person:
•You big lug! [C]
a vehicle with blades instead of wheels on which you slide down a track made of ice as a sport [U]
the cases, bags etc that you carry when you are travelling; = baggage AmE
•They searched his luggage for illegal drugs.[C]
1 a shelf in a train, bus etc for putting luggage on
2 AmE a special frame on top of a car that you tie luggage on; = roof rack BrE $ [C]
a small boat with one or more sails $ [C]
BrE humorous an ear literary
very sad and serious - sometimes used humorously; = melancholy, morose
•his lugubrious tear-stained face
- lugubriously adverb $ [C] BrE
a small WORM that lives in sand by the sea, often used to catch fish $
1 food, liquid etc that is lukewarm is slightly warm and often not as hot or cold as it should be; = tepid
•She sipped some lukewarm coffee from her mug.
2 not showing much interest or excitement:
•His idea got only a lukewarm response from the committee. [T]
1 to make someone feel calm or as if they want to sleep:
•The hum of the tyres on the road lulled her to sleep.
2 to make someone feel safe and confident so that they are completely surprised when something bad happens
lull sb into (doing) sth
•The police lulled me into believing that they did not suspect us.
•Earthquakes here are rare and this has lulled people into a false sense of security (=made people think they were safe when they were not).[C]
1 a short period of time when there is less activity or less noise than usual
[+in]
•a brief lull in the conversation
•a lull in the fighting
2 the lull before the storm a short period of time when things are calm that is followed by a lot of activity, noise, or trouble plural lullabies [C]
a slow, quiet song sung to children to make them go to sleep $ [U]
pain in the lower part of the back $ technical
relating to the lower part of the back:
•pain in the lumbar region $
1 [I always + adv/prep] to move in a slow, awkward way
[+up/towards/into/along etc]
•They lumbered along slowly.
•A blue bus lumbered past.
2 [T] informal to give someone a job or responsibility that they do not want
get/be lumbered with sth
•A career was less easy once I was lumbered with a husband and children.
3 [I] AmE to cut down trees in a large area and prepare them to be sold[U]
1 pieces of wood used for building, that have been cut to specific lengths and widths; = timber
2 BrE informal large objects that are no longer useful or wanted $ [C] old-fashioned
someone whose job is cutting down trees for wood; = logger $ plural lumbermen [C]
a person or company that cuts down large areas of trees in order to sell them for wood $ [C]
AmE a building where trees are cut up to make wood; = sawmill BrE[C]
BrE a room where old furniture, broken machines etc are kept $ [C]
AmE a place where wood is kept before it is sold $ plural luminaries [C]
someone who is very famous or highly respected for their skill at doing something or their knowledge of a particular subject:
•luminaries of Parisian society [U] technical literary
a soft shining light:
•The moonlight gave everything a strange luminescence.
- luminescent adjective
1 shining in the dark:
•luminous paint
•Her large dark eyes were almost luminous.
2 very brightly coloured, especially in green, pink, or yellow; = Day Glo
•luminous green socks
- luminously adverb
- luminosity $ noun [U] technical
•the Sun's luminosity [C]
1 a small piece of something solid, without a particular shape:
•Strain the custard to remove lumps.
[+of]
•Melt a lump of butter in your frying-pan.
2 a small hard swollen area that sticks out from someone's skin or grows in their body, usually because of an illness:
•You should never ignore a breast lump.
3 a small square block of sugar:
•One lump or two?
4 a lump in/to sb's throat a feeling that you want to cry:
•There was a lump in her throat as she gazed at the child.
5 take your lumps AmE informal to accept the bad things that happen and not let them affect you:
•According to experts, the company took its lumps but is on the road to profitability.
6 BrE spoken someone who is stupid or CLUMSY:
•He's a big fat lump.[T]
1 lump it informal to accept a situation or decision you do not like because you cannot change it:
•They've been told: take the lower interest rate, or lump it.
•It's the law so you can like it or lump it.
2 to put two or more different people or things together and consider them as a single group, sometimes wrongly
lump sth together
•You can't lump the symptoms together and blame them all on stress.
lump sb/sth in with sb
•The danger is that people who pay their bills on time will be lumped in with those that don't. plural lumpectomies [C]
an operation in which a TUMOUR is removed from someone's body, especially from a woman's breast
1 relating to the poorest and least educated people from the WORKING CLASS
2 large, heavy, and lumpy:
•Her body felt lumpen and awkward.
heavy and awkward[C]
an amount of money given in a single payment:
•When you retire you'll get a lump sum of £80,000.
covered with or containing small solid pieces:
•a lumpy mattress [U]
1 a situation or behaviour that is completely crazy; = madness
•It would be sheer lunacy to turn down a job offer like that.
2 old-fashioned mental illness $
relating to the moon or to travel to the moon:
•studies of the lunar surface
•a lunar eclipse[C]
a period of 28 or 29 days between one NEW MOON and the next [C]
1 someone who behaves in a crazy or very stupid way - often used humorously:
•This hotel is run by a lunatic!
2 old-fashioned a very offensive word for someone who is mentally ill:
•a dangerous lunatic
3 the lunatic fringe BrE the small group of people in a political group or organization who have the most extreme opinions or ideas
- lunatic adjective [only before noun]
•lunatic behaviour[C] old-fashioned
a hospital where people who are mentally ill are cared for. This word is now considered to be offensive. [C,U]
1 a meal eaten in the middle of the day

eat (your) lunch
have (your) lunch (=eat lunch)
have sth for lunch (=eat a particular food or dish at lunchtime)
go out for lunch
break for lunch (=stop doing something in order to eat lunch)
be at lunch (=not be in your place of work because you are somewhere else having lunch)
take sb (out) to lunch
working lunch (=a lunch during which you also do business)
over lunch (=while eating lunch)
packed lunch BrE
bag lunch AmE (=food such as sandwiches that you take to work, school etc)
light lunch (=a small meal at lunchtime)
hot lunch (=cooked food, rather than sandwiches)

•What's for lunch?
•She ate a small lunch before the meeting.
•Perhaps we could have lunch before you go.
• I think I'll have soup for lunch.
•The two women went out for lunch together.
•Let's break for lunch now.
•I'm afraid he's at lunch until two.
• I'll take you out to lunch next time I'm in town.
• They're having a working lunch in Mr Savil's office.
•A dozen senators met over lunch with the Chinese ambassador.
• The walk is expected to last all day so bring a packed lunch.
• a café serving light lunches and snacks
•The kids get a hot lunch at school during the winter.
see box at DINNER

2 there's no (such thing as a) free lunch used to say that you cannot get anything without working for it or paying for it
3 out to lunch informal behaving or talking in a strange or crazy wayformal
[I] to eat lunch
[+with]
•I will be lunching with a client.
[+on]
•I lunched on bread and olives.
[+at/in]
•We lunched at Maxim's. $ [C]
a box in which food is carried to school, work etc[C]
the time in the middle of the day when people at work or at school stop working to eat lunch[C] old-fashioned
a place that serves simple meals for lunch, or a small restaurant that is only open at lunchtime [C,U]
formal lunch[U]
meat that has been cooked, then pressed down, and is often sold in a can[C]
in Britain, a special ticket that can be used to pay for meals usually given to you by your employer[C]
the period of time in the middle of the day when people stop working in order to eat:
•I did the shopping during my lunch hour. [C]
AmE a large room in a school or office where people can eat [C,U]
the time in the middle of the day when people usually eat their LUNCH
at lunchtime
•Some people prefer to eat their main meal at lunchtime.
•a lunchtime drink [C]
one of the two organs in your body that you breathe with:
•Smoking can cause lung cancer.
IRON LUNG [I]
to make a sudden strong movement towards someone or something, especially to attack them
[+at/forward/towards/out etc]
•The goats lunged at each other with their horns.
•John lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat.
- lunge noun [C]
•Brad made a lunge towards his opponent, but missed. [C]
the amount of air, smoke etc that you breathe in at one time
[+of]
•Polly took in a lungful of crisp cool air. [U]
one of several diseases that affect the skin and joints $ [I]
1 to walk or move suddenly in an uncontrolled or unsteady way
[+forward/to/towards/into etc]
•Sam hit the gas and the car lurched forward.
•He lurched to his feet.
2 your heart/stomach lurches used to say that your heart or stomach seems to move suddenly because you feel shocked, frightened etc:
•Virginia's heart lurched painfully in her chest.
3 lurch from one crisis/extreme etc to another also lurch from crisis to crisis to seem to have no plan and no control over what you are doing:
•The industry lurches from crisis to crisis.[C]
1 a sudden movement:
•The train gave a violent lurch.
2 leave sb in the lurch to leave someone at a time when you should stay and help them $ [T]
1 to persuade someone to do something, especially something wrong or dangerous, by making it seem attractive or exciting
lure sb into (doing) sth
•People may be lured into buying tickets by clever advertising.
lure sb away
•Computer games are luring youngsters away from their lessons.
2 to attract customers, workers, money etc from another company or place
lure sb back/away
•The bank launched an advertising campaign to lure back its traditional customers.
•It's very difficult to lure talent away from Silicon Valley.[C]
1 [usually singular] something that attracts people, or the quality of being able to do this
[+of]
•the lure of easy money
•Malc wasn't mature enough to resist the lure of drink and drugs.
2 an object used to attract animals or fish so that they can be caught; = decoy $ [U]
trademark a type of thread that looks like metal, usually gold or silver, used in material for making clothes:
•gold lurex socks $
1 a description, story etc that is lurid is deliberately shocking and involves sex or violence; = explicit
•lurid headlines
•He told me in lurid detail what would happen to me.
2 too brightly coloured; = gaudy
•a lurid orange dress
- luridly adverb $ [I ]
1 to wait somewhere quietly and secretly, usually because you are going to do something wrong
[+in/behind/beneath/around etc]
•She didn't see the figure lurking behind the bushes.
2 if something such as danger, a feeling etc lurks somewhere, it exists, but you may not see it or know about it:
•a dark formless danger, lurking in the shadows
3 if you lurk in a CHAT ROOM on the Internet, you read what other people are writing to each other, but you do not write any messages yourself
[+in]
•I think it's sort of creepy how people lurk in chat rooms.
1 extremely good to eat or drink:
•a luscious and fragrant dessert wine
2 informal very sexually attractive:
•her luscious body
1 plants that are lush grow many leaves and look healthy and strong:
•a lush green mountainous island
•The fields were lush with grass and flowers.
2 very beautiful, comfortable, and expensive; = luxurious
•lush carpets[C]
informal an ALCOHOLIC
1 [C,U] very strong sexual desire, especially when it does not include love:
•My feelings for Lauren were pure lust.
2 [singular, U] a very strong desire to have something, usually power or money -used to show disapproval
[+for]
•Hitler's lust for power
3 (a) lust for life a strong determination to enjoy life as much as possible - used to show approval:
•the happy-go-lucky lust for life so typical of southern Italy

PHRASAL VERBS
lust after/for sb/sth phr v
1 to be strongly sexually attracted to someone, and think about having sex with them:
•She had secretely lusted after him for years.
2 to want something very much, especially something that you do not really need:
•This is a car to lust after. $ [singular, U]
the American spelling of LUSTRE
feeling or showing strong sexual desire:
•She ignored his lustful glances.
- lustfully adverbluster AmE $ [singular, U] BrE
1 an attractive shiny appearance:
•Her thick, black hair shone with lustre.
2 the quality that makes something interesting or exciting:
•There'll be a celebrity guest to add lustre to the occasion.
shining in a soft, gentle way:
•Her hair was beautifully dark and lustrous.
strong and healthy; = powerful
•the lusty cry of a new-born baby
•her strong, lusty young husband
- lustily adverb
•Her mother was singing lustily.
[C] a musical instrument like a GUITAR with a round body, played with the fingers or a PLECTRUM (=small piece of plastic, metal etc), especially in the past
- lutenist noun [C] BrE informal
an informal way of spelling LOVE:
•Come on, luv, don't cry. BrE
1 another spelling of LOVEY
2 [C] informal an actor who behaves to other people in a very friendly way that is not sincere $
1 growing strongly and thickly:
•luxuriant black hair
•luxuriant vegetation
2 beautiful and pleasant to watch or listen to:
•the film's luxuriant visuals
- luxuriantly adverb
•She yawned luxuriantly.
- luxuriance noun [U] $ [I usually + adv/prep]
to relax and enjoy something
[+in]
•He ran a hot bath and luxuriated in it for half an hour. $
very expensive, beautiful, and comfortable:
•a luxurious 30-room villa
- luxuriously adverb
•The cabin was luxuriously furnished. plural luxuries
1 [U] very great comfort and pleasure, such as you get from expensive food, beautiful houses, cars etc
in luxury
•She stole to keep her boyfriend in luxury.
•He was leading a life of luxury in Australia.
luxury hotel/car/home etc (=expensive and large)
•We stayed in a five-star luxury hotel.
•The dress is lambswool - pure luxury.
2 [C] something expensive that you do not need, but you buy for pleasure and enjoyment; necessity
•luxuries like chocolate and perfume
3 afford/have/enjoy the luxury of sth to have something that is very pleasant or convenient, that you are not always able to have:
•For the first time in three years, they actually had the luxury of a whole day together.
in the lap of luxury at LAP^1 (5)
the written abbreviation of long wave
1 [in adverbs] in a particular way:
•She smiled happily.
•He was walking slowly.
2 [in adverbs] considered in a particular way:
•Politically speaking it was a rather unwise remark.
•a financially sound proposal
3 [in adjectives and adverbs] happening at regular periods of time:
•an hourly check (=done every hour)
•They visit monthly (=once every month).
4 [in adjectives] like a particular thing in manner, nature, or appearance:
•with queenly grace
•a motherly woman (=showing the love, kindness etc of a mother) [C]
AmE old-fashioned a building used for public meetings, concerts, speeches etclitchi [C]
a small round fruit with a rough pink-brown shell outside and sweet white flesh insidelichgate [C]
a gate with a roof leading into the area surrounding a church [U]
trademark a material that stretches, used especially for making sports clothes that fit tightly
the present participle of LIE [U]
a serious illness that is caused by a bite from a TICK^1 (2) [U]
a clear liquid that is formed in your body and passes into your blood system to fight against infection
- lymphatic adjectivealso lymph gland [C]
a small rounded SWELLING in your body through which lymph passes before entering your blood system [T]
if a crowd of people lynches someone, they kill them, especially by HANGing them, without using the usual legal process
- lynching noun [C][singular]
a group of people that kills someone by HANGing them, without a legal TRIAL [C]
another spelling of LINCHPIN plural lynx or lynxes [C]
a large wild cat that has no tail and lives in forests; = bobcat AmE $ [C]
a musical instrument with strings across a U-shaped frame, played with the fingers, especially in ancient Greece [only before noun]
expressing strong personal emotions such as love, in a way that is similar to music in its sounds and RHYTHM:
•Wordsworth was one of the greatest lyric poets of his time.
1 lyrics [plural] the words of a song:
•He wrote some great music, but the lyrics weren't that good.
2 also lyric poem [C] technical a poem, usually a short one, written in a lyric style
1 beautifully expressed in words, poetry, or music:
•lyrical love poetry
2 wax lyrical to talk about and praise something in a very eager way:
•One fisherman waxed lyrical about the variety of fish in the river.
- lyrically adverb [U]
gentle or romantic emotion, expressed in writing or music:
•The lyricism of Tennyson's poetry is magnificent. [C]
someone who writes the words for songsm plural M's, m's
1 [C,U] the 13th letter of the English alphabet
2 [C] the number 1000 in the system of ROMAN NUMERALs
3 M6, M25 etc the name of a MOTORWAY in Britainalso m.
1 the written abbreviation of metre or metres
2 the written abbreviation of mile or miles
3 the written abbreviation of million
4 the written abbreviation of male
5 the written abbreviation of married
6 the written abbreviation of medium , used on clothes to mean an average sizeM.A. AmE [C] BrE
Master of Arts a university degree in a subject such as history, languages, or English literature that you can get after your first degree
[+in]
•He did an MA in graphic design at Manchester.
•Vanessa Clark, MAma [C] informal
1 mother:
•What's for dinner, Ma?
2 old-fashioned used to mean 'Mrs' in some country areas of the US:
•old Ma Harris $
1 AmE spoken used to address a woman in a polite and respectful way:
•May I help you, ma'am?
2 BrE spoken used to address the Queen or another woman in authority
1 [C] trademark informal (Apple) Macintosh a type of personal computer; PC
•Can you run this software on a Mac?
2 AmE spoken old-fashioned used to address a man whose name you do not knowmack [C] BrE
a coat which you wear to keep out the rain; = mackintosh $
very strange and unpleasant and connected with death or with people being seriously hurt:
•a macabre tale
•a macabre sense of humour [U]
a road surface made of a mixture of broken stones and TAR or ASPHALT; = tarmac BrE [C]
a sweet white nut that grows on a tropical tree, or the tree that produces this nut $ [U]
a type of PASTA in the shape of small tubes
macaroni cheese BrE
/macaroni and cheese AmE (=macaroni cooked with a cheese sauce) [C]
a small round cake made of sugar, eggs, and crushed ALMONDs or COCONUT $ [C]
a large brightly coloured bird like a PARROT, with a long tail[U] trademark
a chemical which makes your eyes and skin sting painfully. Police officers sometimes carry Mace in cans to defend themselves.
1 [U] a spice made from the dried shell of a NUTMEG
2 [C] a heavy ball with sharp points on a short metal stick, used in the past as a weapon
3 [C] a decorated stick that is carried by an official in some ceremonies as a sign of power; sceptre [I,T] technical
to make something soft by leaving it in water, or to become soft in this way $ [U]
a unit for measuring speed, especially of an aircraft, in relation to the speed of sound. Mach 1 is the speed of sound, Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound etc:
•a plane with a maximum speed of Mach 3 [C]
a large knife with a broad heavy blade, used as a weapon or a tool:
•a machete attack
using clever but immoral methods to get what you want; = devious [plural] formal
secret, clever, and often unfair methods used to achieve something - used in order to show disapproval
[+of]
•the political machinations of far right groups [C]
1 a piece of equipment with moving parts that uses power such as electricity to do a particular job
washing/sewing etc machine
•Is the washing machine working now?
•Could you get me a coffee from the drinks machine?
•The fax machine is broken.
switch/turn a machine on/off
•Turn the machine off before removing the cover.
by machine
•The letters are sorted by machine.
•Did you put my dirty shirts in the machine (=washing machine)?
•I left a message for you on your machine (=telephone answering machine).
•The machine wouldn't let me have any money (=cash machine).
ANSWERING MACHINE, CASH MACHINE, VENDING MACHINE
2 a computer:
•My machine's just crashed.
3 a group of people who control and organize something - often used to show disapproval:
•the ruthless bureaucrats of the party machine
•the government's propaganda machine
•the powerful American war machine
4 informal a vehicle, especially a MOTORBIKE:
•Riders have to learn to handle their machines in all conditions.
•That's a mean machine (=very fast and attractive vehicle) you have there.
5 a person or animal that does something very well or without having to think about it:
•In the tiger, nature has produced the perfect hunting machine.
•I'm not a golfing machine. I make mistakes just like anyone else.
6 someone who seems to behave like a machine and to have no feelings or thoughts; = automaton
7 a well-oiled machine something that works very smoothly and effectively:
•The office runs like a well-oiled machine.

WORD CHOICE: machine, device, gadget, appliance
A machine is a piece of equipment that uses power to do a particular job. It is usually large and stays in the same place: a machine that sorts mail | a washing machine
You use the words device and gadget especially when you think the equipment is very cleverly designed. A device is a piece of equipment that does a particular job, for example takes measurements or controls the operation of a machine. It may use electrical power or be used by hand: a device for detecting blood alcohol levels from breath samples | a temperature control device
A gadget is a small piece of equipment that does something useful or impressive: one of those gadgets that sorts coins | kitchen gadgets
An appliance is a piece of electrical equipment used in your home such as a washing machine or fridge. This word is used especially by the companies that produce and sell them: the world's largest producer of household appliances | domestic appliances

[T]
1 to fasten pieces of cloth together using a sewing machine
2 to make or shape something using a machinemachine language [C,U] technical
instructions in the form of numbers that are put into a computer[C]
a gun that fires a lot of bullets very quickly:
•There came the sound of men shouting and a burst of machine-gun fire.past tense and past participle machine-gunned, present participle machine-gunning [T]
to shoot at someone or something with a machine gun:
•His corporal had been machine-gunned in an ambush.[C]
a small button attached to the strings on an instrument such as a GUITAR that you turn in order to make the instrument play in tune
made using a machine; handmade
in a form that can be understood and used by a computer:
•information stored in machine-readable form [U]
1 machines, especially large ones
agricultural/industrial/factory etc machinery
•The use of heavy machinery has damaged the site.
•an expensive piece of machinery
2 a system or set of processes for doing something
[+of]
•the machinery of government
machinery for (doing) sth
•The company has no effective machinery for resolving disputes.
3 the parts inside a machine that make it work:
•Be careful not to get anything caught in the machinery.[C]
a tool for cutting and shaping metal, wood etc, usually one that uses electricity
if clothes are machine washable, it is possible to wash them in a washing machine safely [C]
someone who operates a machine, especially in a factory:
•All the women are highly-skilled machinists. $ [U]
traditional male behaviour that emphasizes how brave, strong, and sexually attractive a man is $ informal
behaving in a way that is traditionally typical of men, for example being strong or brave, or not showing your feelings - used humorously or in order to show disapproval:
•He's sick of being cast as the hard macho man in films.
•a car with a macho imagealso Apple Macintosh also Mac informal $ [C] trademark
a type of personal computer BrE
another spelling of MAC plural mackerel [C,U]
a sea fish that has oily flesh and a strong taste:
•smoked mackerel $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
a coat which you wear to keep out the rain; = mac, raincoat $ [U]
the art of tying string in patterns to make things $ plural macros [C]
a set of instructions for a computer, stored and used as a unit:
•You can run a macro to change to US spelling. $ technical
large and concerning a whole system rather than particular parts of it; micro
•macroeconomics
•macromolecular structures $
macrobiotic food consists mainly of grains and vegetables, with no added chemicals:
•a healthy macrobiotic diet $ [C]
a large, complicated system such as the whole universe or a society, considered as a single unit; microcosm $ [U]
the study of large economic systems such as those of a whole country or area of the world; microeconomics
- macroeconomic adjective comparative madder, superlative maddest
1 ANGRY [not before noun] informal especially AmE angry
[+at]
•Are you still mad at me?
•We get mad at each other sometimes, like any family.
[+about]
•There's no need to get mad about it!
•You make make me so mad!
[+with] BrE
•His wife will be really mad with him.
go mad BrE (=become very angry)
•Look at this mess! Mum will go mad!
hopping mad (=very angry)
(as) mad as hell (=a rude way of saying very angry)
2 CRAZY especially BrE crazy or very silly:
•He can't possibly get that finished in time. He must be mad!
•I'd go mad (=start to feel crazy) if I was stuck at home all day.
•He's been driving me mad recently!
•You've agreed to marry him! Are you mad?
•Surely no one would be mad enough to fly in this weather?
•My friends all think I'm stark raving mad (=completely crazy).
•It's enough to send you barking mad (=completely crazy).
as mad as a hatter/March hare (=completely crazy)
3 UNCONTROLLED especially BrE behaving in a wild uncontrolled way, without thinking about what you are doing
mad dash/rush/panic etc
•We all made a mad dash for the door.
mad with grief/fear/jealousy etc
•When she heard of her son's death, she was mad with grief.
•When Italy scored, the crowd went mad (=became very excited).
•We went a bit mad (=spent a lot of money) and ordered champagne.
4 be mad about/for/on sb/sth informal especially BrE to like someone or something very much; = crazy
•My nine-year-old is mad about Robbie Williams.
•He's mad about computer games.
•All the girls at school are mad for him.
be mad keen (on sth)
•'Did you enjoy the film?' 'I wasn't mad keen.'
be mad for it (=want to do something very much)
5 MENTALLY ILL especially BrE old-fashioned informal mentally ill; = insane
•Mr Rochester's mad wife
•He turned towards me with a mad look in his eyes.
•the cartoon figure of the mad scientist
6 like mad informal very much, very quickly, or with a lot of energy:
•I caught my thumb in the door and it hurt like mad.
•She ran like mad to catch the bus.
7 don't go mad BrE spoken used to tell someone not to work too hard, get too excited, or spend too much money:
•I know you've got a lot to do but don't go mad.
8 power-mad/money-mad/sex-mad etc only interested in having power, money etc and doing everything possible to get it:
•a power-mad dictator
1 formal used to address a woman in a polite way, especially a customer in a shop; = ma'am AmE
•Are you being served, Madam?
2 Dear Madam formal used at the beginning of a business letter to a woman, when you do not know her name
3 Madam President/Ambassador etc used to address a woman who has an important official position
4 [C] a woman who is in charge of a BROTHEL
5 a (proper) little madam BrE informal a young girl who is very confident and who expects other people to do everything she wants plural Mesdames $
used to address or refer to a French-speaking woman, especially one who is married; Mademoiselle, Monsieur
•Madame Lefevre [only before noun] old-fashioned
1 a madcap idea seems crazy and unlikely to succeed:
•a madcap scheme
2 a madcap person behaves in a crazy and often funny way:
•He plays a madcap game show host.[U] informal
BSE [T usually passive] literary
to make someone very angry or annoyed:
•The unfortunate animal was maddened with pain.
very annoying; = infuriating
•maddening delays
- maddeningly adverb
•He moved carefully and maddeningly slowly.
1 the past tense and past participle of MAKE
2 factory-made/German-made/homemade etc made in a factory, in Germany, at home etc:
•sales of Japanese-made cars
3 have (got) it made informal to have everything that you need for success or for a happy life:
•Nice house, good job, lovely family - you've got it made!
4 see/find out what sb is (really) made of informal to find out how strong, brave etc someone is or how skilful they are at doing something:
•Come on then! Let's see what you're made of.
5 I'm not made of money spoken used when someone has asked you to pay for something in order to say that you cannot afford it and that you think they are being unreasonable:
•I can't buy you shoes as well - I'm not made of money!
6 be made for each other informal to be completely suitable for each other, especially as husband and wife:
•Jacinta and Dermot were made for each other.
7 be made (for life) informal to be so rich that you will never have to work again:
•If the deal is successful, I'll be made for life. $ [U]
a strong sweet wine[C,U]
a kind of plain yellow cake plural Mesdemoiselles
used to address or refer to a young French-speaking woman who is not married; Madame, Monsieur
•Mademoiselle Dubois
made-to-measure clothes, curtains etc are specially made to fit; off-the-peg
made-to-order clothing, furniture etc is made for one particular customer:
•made-to-order curtains
1 a story, name, word etc that is made-up is not true or real:
•She used a made-up name.
2 wearing MAKE-UP on your face:
•She was heavily made-up (=wearing a lot of make-up). [C usually singular]
1 a place with a lot of people, noise, and activity:
•It's like a madhouse in here.
2 old use a PSYCHIATRIC hospital
1 extremely and in a very strong way:
•She fell madly in love with him.
•Suddenly, I felt madly jealous.
2 in a wild, uncontrolled way:
•The sign swung madly in the wind. plural madmen [C]
1 someone who behaves in a wild, uncontrolled way:
•He drives like a madman.
2 old-fashioned a man who is mentally ill[U]
AmE informal money that you have saved so that you can spend it when you see something you want [U]
1 especially BrE very stupid behaviour that could be dangerous or have a very bad effect
it is madness (for sb) to do sth
•It would be madness to drive all that way on your own.
•Cutting down the forest is sheer madness (=completely crazy).
2 serious mental illness; = insanity
•His family has a history of madness.
3 moment/fit of madness when someone does something without thinking clearly:
•In a moment of madness, I agreed to have the party at my house.
there's method in/to sb's madness at METHOD (3) [C]
a song for several singers without musical instruments, popular in the 16th century plural madwomen [C] old-fashioned
a woman who is mentally ill [C]
1 a confusing situation full of events or strong emotions that is difficult to understand or deal with; = whirlpool
[+of]
•a maelstrom of conflicting emotions
2 dust or water that moves very quickly in circles:
•A spinning maelstrom of rain swept around the mountain.
3 a violent storm $ plural maestros [C]
someone who can do something very well, especially a musician $
1 the Mafia a large organized group of criminals who control many illegal activities, especially in Italy and the US
2 [singular] a powerful group of people within an organization or profession who support and protect each other:
•the medical mafia $ plural mafiosi [C]
a member of the Mafia [C]
informal a magazine:
•music mags $ [C]
1 a large thin book with a paper cover that contains news stories, articles, photographs etc, and is sold weekly or monthly
fashion/computer/women's etc magazine
•a glossy fashion magazine
•She's the editor of a popular women's magazine.
•a magazine article
•She glanced over the magazine racks.
2 a television or radio programme which is made up of a number of reports:
•a local news magazine programme
3 the part of a gun that holds the bullets
4 the part that holds the film in a camera or PROJECTOR
5 a room or building for storing weapons, explosives etc [U]
a dark reddish purple colour
- magenta adjective [C]
a small creature like a WORM that is the young form of a FLY and lives in decaying food, flesh etc
the Magi [plural] the three wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus, according to the Christian religion [U]
1 the ability of particular people in children's stories to make impossible things happen by saying special words:
•Do you believe in magic?
BLACK MAGIC, WHITE MAGIC
2 a special, attractive, or exciting quality:
•Paris has lost some of its magic for me over the years.
[+of]
•the magic of Christmas
3 the skill of doing tricks that look like magic in order to entertain people, or the tricks that are done; = conjuring
4 like magic/as if by magic in a surprising way that seems impossible to explain:
•As if by magic the waiter suddenly appeared with a tray of drinks.
5 work/weave your magic if something or someone works or weaves their magic, they produce a good change or effect in a way that they are often able to do:
•The warm weather and the beautiful scenery began to work their magic and she started to relax.
6 work like magic to be very effective
1 [only before noun] in stories, a magic word or object has special powers that make the person using it able to do impossible things:
•a book of magic spells
•a magic sword
2 relating to the skill of doing tricks to entertain people:
•His best magic trick is sawing a lady in half.
3 magic number/word a number or word that is particularly important or desired in a particular situation:
•The magic words 'a million pounds' will get everyone's attention.
4 the magic word the word 'please' - used when speaking to children:
•What's the magic word then, Katie?
5 magic touch a special ability to make things work well or to make people happy:
•She's got a magic touch with babies.
6 magic moment a short time which seems beautiful and special:
•She didn't want to spoil this magic moment.
7 magic circle a group of powerful people who are friendly with each other and help each other:
•His outspokenness denied him access to the magic circle and he was never given high office.
8 BrE spoken very good or very enjoyable; = great
•'Did you have a good time?' 'Yeah, it was magic!'past tense and past participle magicked, present participle magicking BrE

PHRASAL VERBS
magic sb/sth away phr v
to make someone or something disappear or go somewhere by using magic:
•I wish I could magic us away to a warm beach.

magic sth <=> up phr v
to make something appear suddenly and unexpectedly
1 very enjoyable, exciting or romantic, in a strange or special way:
•that magical evening we spent together
2 relating to magic or able to do magic:
•magical powers
- magically adverb[C]
1 a drug or treatment that can cure a disease or illness quickly and easily
2 informal something that solves a difficult problem in an easy way:
•There's no magic bullet for school reform.[C]
in stories, a CARPET that can fly through the air and carry people from one place to another[C]
a PHOTOELECTRIC CELL [C]
1 a man in stories who can use magic; = sorcerer, wizard
2 an entertainer who performs magic tricks; = conjurer[C]
a piece of equipment used in the past to make pictures shine onto a wall or screen[C,U] trademark
a large pen with a thick soft point[C]
a type of MUSHROOM that has an effect like some drugs, and makes you see things that are not really there[C]
1 a stick used by a MAGICIAN
2 a way to solve problems or difficulties immediately - used humorously:
•I wish I could just wave a magic wand and make everything all right. $
1 a magisterial way of behaving or speaking shows that you think you have authority:
•his magisterial voice
2 a magisterial book is written by someone who has very great knowledge about a subject:
•his magisterial study of the First World War
3 [only before noun] connected with or done by a magistrate
- magisterially adverb [U]
1 the official position of a magistrate, or the time during which someone has this position
2 the magistracy magistrates considered together as a group [C]
someone, not usually a lawyer, who works as a judge in a local court of law, dealing with less serious crimes; = Justice of the Peace[C]
one of the courts of law in each area of England and Wales which deal with less serious crimes [U]
technical hot melted rock below the surface of the Earth $
with high honour - used to show that someone has finished American high school or college at the second of the three highest levels of achievement that students can reach; cum laude, summa cum laude
kind and generous, especially to someone that you have defeated:
•a magnanimous gesture
- magnanimously adverb
- magnanimity noun [U] [C]
a rich and powerful person in industry or business; = tycoon
steel/oil/shipping etc magnate
•a powerful media magnate

MILK OF MAGNESIA [U]
a common silver-white metal that burns with a bright white flame. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Mg [C]
1 a piece of iron or steel that can stick to metal or make other metal objects move towards itself
2 something or someone that attracts many people or things
[+for]
•The region has become a magnet for small businesses.
attract/draw sb/sth like a magnet
•She drew men to her like a magnet.
1 concerning or produced by MAGNETISM:
•magnetic forces
2 having the power of a magnet or behaving like a magnet:
3 magnetic personality/charm etc qualities that make other people feel strongly attracted to you
- magnetically adverb[C]
a DISK containing MAGNETIC TAPE that stores information to be used by a computer[C]
an area around an object that has magnetic power:
•the Earth's magnetic field[plural, U]
magnetic methods of storing information for computers, for example FLOPPY DISKs or MAGNETIC TAPE[U]
the northern direction shown by the needle on a COMPASS
TRUE NORTH[C]
1 one of the two points that are not firmly fixed but are near the North and South Poles of the Earth, towards which the needle on a COMPASS points
2 one of two points at the ends of a MAGNET where its power is strongest[U] medical
MRI the process of using strong MAGNETIC FIELDs to make an image of the inside of someone's body for medical reasons[U]
tape on which sound, pictures, or computer information can be recorded [U]
1 the physical force that makes two metal objects pull towards each other or push each other apart
2 if someone has magnetism, they have powerful exciting qualities that attract people to them:
•his personal magnetismalso magnetise BrE [T]
1 to make iron or steel able to pull other pieces of metal towards itself
2 to have a powerful effect on people so that they feel strongly attracted to you:
•His dark flashing eyes seemed to magnetize her.
- magnetization $ noun [U] $ plural magnetos [C]
a piece of equipment containing one or more MAGNETs that is used for producing electricity, especially in the engine of a car[C]
AmE a school that has more classes in a particular subject than usual, and so attracts students from a wide area
1 [U] the process of making something look bigger than it is
at high/low etc magnification
•When viewed at high magnification it is clear that the crystals are quite different.
•greater levels of magnification
under magnification
•The colour is evident even under low magnification.
2 [C] the degree to which something is able to make things look bigger:
•binoculars with a magnification of x12 (=which make things look 12 times as big)
very good or beautiful, and very impressive:
•a magnificent performance
•The twelve-mile coastline has magnificent scenery.
•She looked magnificent in a long red dress.
- magnificently adverb
- magnificence noun [U] $ [C]
an object which makes things look bigger past tense and past participle magnified, present participle magnifying, third person singular magnifies [T]
1 to make something seem bigger or louder, especially using special equipment:
•At the Sheffield arena, the speakers were magnified ten times on a giant screen.
•A public address system magnifies all the little noises and coughs.
2 to make something seem more important than it really is; = exaggerate
•The report tends to magnify the risks involved.
3 formal to make something much worse or more serious:
•The results of economic mismanagement were magnified by a series of natural disasters.[C]
a round piece of glass with a handle, used to make objects or print look bigger $
1 [U] the great size or importance of something
[+of]
•They didn't seem to appreciate the magnitude of the problem.
of such/this/similar etc magnitude
•We did not think the cuts would be of this magnitude.
•an increase of this order of magnitude (=size)
2 [C] technical the degree of brightness of a star
3 [C] technical the force of an EARTHQUAKE $
1 [C] a tree with large white, pink, yellow, or purple flowers
2 [U] a very pale cream colour
- magnolia adjective [C]
1 a large bottle containing about 1.5 litres of wine, CHAMPAGNE etc
2 a powerful type of gun that you can use with one hand:
•a .44 magnum[singular]
the most important piece of work by a writer or artist [C]
1 a bird with black and white feathers and a long tail
2 informal someone who likes collecting thingsmaharaja [C]
an Indian prince or kingmaharanee [C]
an Indian PRINCESS or queen [C]
a Hindu holy teacher $
a title used for a wise and holy man in Indiamahjongg $ [U]
a Chinese game played with small pieces of wood or bone $ plural mahoganies
1 [C,U] a type of hard reddish brown wood used for making furniture, or the tree that produces this wood
2 [U] a dark, reddish brown colour
- mahogany adjective $ [C]
someone who rides and trains ELEPHANTs [C]
1 a female servant, especially in a large house or hotel:
•a kitchen maid
2 old use a woman or girl who is not married
OLD MAID [C]
1 literary a young girl, or a woman who is not married; = damsel
2 also maiden over in CRICKET, an OVER in which no runs are scored
1 maiden flight/voyage the first journey that a plane or ship makes
2 maiden speech BrE the first speech that someone makes in parliament[C] old-fashioned
an AUNT who has never married old use
1 [U] the state of being a female VIRGIN; = virginity
2 [C] a HYMEN literary old-fashioned
used to describe the behaviour of a girl or young woman who is shy about showing her body, talking about sex etc, especially in the past:
•maidenly modesty[C]
a woman's family name before she got married and started using her husband's family name; married namemaid of honor AmE plural maids of honour [C] BrE
1 the most important BRIDESMAID at a wedding
2 an unmarried woman who works for a queen or a PRINCESS $ [C] old-fashioned
a female servant [U]
1 the letters and packages that are delivered to you:
•She's been reading my private mail.
•When he got to the office he found a mountain of mail waiting for him.
•He promised to forward my mail to my new address. (=send it from my old home or office)
•He gets sacks of fan mail. (=letters from people who admire him and are his fans)
hate mail (=letters from people saying that they hate you)
2 especially AmE the system of collecting and delivering letters and packages; = post BrE
•The mail here's really slow and unreliable.
•The product will be sold mainly through the mail.
in the mail
•I'll put the check in the mail tomorrow.
by mail
•Did you send the document by mail?
registered/express/first-class etc mail
•I sent my application by registered mail.
•Most reports are sent via internal mail (=a system of sending documents to people inside the same organization).
3 messages that are sent and received on a computer; = email
•You should always check your incoming mail (=messages that you receive) every day.
•Please read the mail message for information on the error.
4 ARMOUR made of small pieces of metal, worn by soldiers in the Middle Ages
VOICE MAIL

WORD FOCUS: mail
things that people send:
letter
postcard
packagealso /parcel BrE
junk mail
ways of sending mail:
first class/second class BrE
airmail
surface mail
special delivery
the person who delivers your mail:
postman/postwoman BrE
mailman AmE
letter carrier AmE
the place where you buy stamps, send letters and packages etc:
post office
the place where you put letters and packages:
postbox BrE /mailbox AmE
the place where you receive letters and packages:
letterbox BrE /mailbox AmE
[T] especially AmE
1 to send a letter or package to someone; = post BrE
mail sth to sb
•The weekly newsletter is mailed to women all over the country.
2 to send a document to someone using a computer; = email
mail sth to sb
•Can you mail it to me as an attachment?

PHRASAL VERBS
mail sth <=> out phr v
to send letters, packages etc to a lot of people at the same time; = send out
•The department has just mailed out 300,000 notices. [C]
1 a large, strong bag used for carrying mail on trains etc
2 AmE a bag used to deliver letters to people's houses; = postbag BrE $ [C]
a large number of email messages sent to the same computer, with the result that the computer has too much email and cannot work properly any more $ [C] AmE
1 a box, usually outside a house, where someone's letters are delivered or collected
2 a container where you post letters; = postbox BrE
3 the part of a computer's memory where email messages are stored[C]
AmE old-fashioned someone whose job is to deliver mail; = mailman[C] AmE
1 an address where someone's mail is delivered, which is not where they live
2 a box in a post office where your mail can be left $ [C]
especially AmE a container or envelope used for sending something small by post
1 [C] something that is sent to people by post, especially to advertise something:
•A catalogue and order form are included with this mailing.
•A mailing had gone out to every school in the country.
2 [C,U] the process of sending something to people by post:
•A very effective mailing of product samples was carried out last year.
•mailing costs[C]
1 a list of names and addresses kept by an organization, so that it can send information or advertising material by post
on a mailing list
•I have included you on my mailing list for new EFL software.
2 a list of names and email addresses kept on a computer so that you can send the same message to a group of people at the same time plural mailmen [C] AmE
someone who delivers letters and packages to people's houses; = postman BrE[U]
a method of buying and selling in which the buyer chooses goods at home and orders them from a company which sends them by post
by mail order
•It is available by mail order from Green Life Products.
•a mail order catalogue $ [C]
advertisements or information that a company sends to many people at one time by post:
•We're sending out a mailshot telling our customers about our new products.[C] AmE
a LETTERBOX[C]
a train that carries letters and packages [T]
to wound or injure someone very seriously and often permanently:
•Landmines still kill or maim about 300 people every month. [only before noun]
1 bigger or more important than all other things, ideas etc of the same kind:
•The main reason for living in Spain is the weather.
•What do you consider to be the main problem?
•Our main concern is that the children are safe.
•a summary of the main points of the agreement
•the main aim of the meeting
•I'll meet you outside the main entrance.
•the main bedroom
2 the main thing spoken used to say what is the most important thing in a situation:
•As long as you're not hurt, that's the main thing.
•The main thing is not to panic.
an eye for/on/to the main chance at EYE^1 (22)
1 [C] a large pipe or wire carrying the public supply of water, electricity, or gas:
•The report found that many of Yorkshire's water mains needed replacing.
•a burst gas main
2 BrE
a) the mains the place on a wall where you can connect something to a supply of electricity:
•You can run the torch off batteries or plug it into the mains.
at the mains
•Make sure that the television is turned off at the mains.
b) mains gas/water/electricity gas, water, or electricity supplied to a building through a pipe or wire:
•The heater will run off mains gas or bottled gas.
3 in the main mostly:
•Their job in the main consisted of cleaning and maintaining the building.[C]
technical a CLAUSE that can stand alone as a complete sentence; subordinate clause[C]
the main part of a meal:
•What are you going to have for your main course?
•starter, main course and dessert
the main drag AmE informal the main street in a town or city where big shops and businesses are:
•the restaurants that line the main drag [C]
a large powerful computer that can work very fast and that a lot of people can use at the same time:
•If a problem does occur, a signal is automatically sent to the mainframe.
the mainland the main area of land that forms a country, as compared to islands near it that are also part of that country:
•flights between a Greek island and the mainland
on the mainland
•terrorist attacks both in Northern Ireland and on the mainland
- mainland adjective [only before noun]
•mainland Britain[C]
an important railway that connects two cities:
•the main line to Moscow
- mainline adjective [only before noun]
•a mainline station [only before noun]
accepted by or involving most people in a society; = mainstream
•They explicitly denied that they are involved in mainline politics.[I,T] informal
to INJECT an illegal drug directly into your blood:
•By that time he was mainlining heroin.
used to mention the main part or cause of something, the main reason for something etc:
•Her illness was caused mainly by stress.
•The workforce is mainly made up of women.
•I don't go out much, mainly because I have to look after the kids.
•Increased sales during the summer were mainly due to tourism.
•We talked about various things - work, mainly. $ [C]
the largest or most important of the MASTs on a ship[C]
a large and important road:
•We live just off the main road.
[+to/from/between]
•the main road from Bern to Lausanne $ [C]
the largest and most important sail on a ship [C]
1 the mainspring of sth the most important reason or influence that makes something happen:
•Christian faith was the mainspring of Peter's life.
•Small companies are the mainspring of the British economy.
2 the most important spring in a watch or clock
the mainstay of sth
a) an important part of something that makes it possible for it to work properly or continue to exist:
•Agriculture is still the mainstay of the country's economy.
b) someone who does most of the important work for a group or organization:
•She was the mainstay of the team.
the mainstream the most usual ideas or methods, or the people who have these ideas or methods
[+of]
•Environmental ideas have been absorbed into the mainstream of European politics.
•Genet started as a rebel, but soon became part of the literary mainstream.[only before noun]
accepted by or involving most people in a society:
•Deaf children can often be included in mainstream education.
•a centre-right candidate supported by all the mainstream political parties[T]
AmE to include a child with physical or mental problems in an ordinary class
- mainstreaming noun [U]
1 the most important street, with many shops and businesses on it, in many small towns in the US; = high street BrE
2 [U] AmE ordinary people who believe in traditional American values:
•The President's new proposals won't go down too well on Main Street. [T]
1 MAKE STH CONTINUE to make something continue in the same way or at the same standard as before:
•Careers Officers maintain contact with young people when they have left school.
•Britain wants to maintain its position as a world power.
•A lot depends on building and maintaining a good relationship with your customers.
•The hotel prides itself on maintaining high standards.
•How can we maintain control of spending?
2 LEVEL/RATE to make a level or rate of activity, movement etc stay the same:
•It is important to maintain a constant temperature inside the greenhouse.
•This is the most efficient way to build up and maintain a reasonable level of physical fitness.
3 SAY to strongly express your belief that something is true; = claim
maintain (that)
•Critics maintain that these reforms will lead to a decline in educational standards.
maintain your innocence (=say that you did not commit a crime)
•He maintained his innocence and said the allegations were 'ridiculous'.
4 LOOK AFTER STH to keep a machine, building etc in good condition by checking and repairing it regularly:
•The report found that safety equipment had been very poorly maintained.
•The company is responsible for maintaining public telephone boxes.
5 PROVIDE MONEY/FOOD to provide someone with the things they need, such as money or food; = provide for
•How can you maintain a family on $900 a month? [U]
1 the repairs, painting etc that are necessary to keep something in good condition:
•the cost of repairs and maintenance
[+of]
•The caretaker is responsible for the maintenance of the school buildings.
•The theatres were closed on Saturday and Sunday for routine maintenance.
•Engineers are carrying out essential maintenance work on the main line to Cambridge.
•an evening class in car maintenance
maintenance crew/man/staff (=someone who looks after buildings and equipment for a school or company)
2 the act of making a state or situation continue
[+of]
•The purpose of the UN is the maintenance of international peace and security.
•The maintenance of a firm currency plays an important part in the battle against inflation.
3 BrE money paid by someone who is DIVORCED to their former wife or husband; = alimony
•They have to find the fathers who abandon their children and make them pay maintenance. [C]
BrE an apartment, usually on two floors, that is part of a larger housealso mâitre d'hôtel $ [singular]
someone who is in charge of a restaurant, and who welcomes guests, gives orders to the waiters etc [U] BrE
a tall plant with large yellow seeds that grow together on a COB (=long hard part), and which are cooked and eaten as a vegetable; = corn AmEalso Maj BrE
the written abbreviation of major :
•Maj. John Wright
very big, impressive, or beautiful:
•This lovely village is surrounded by majestic mountain scenery.
- majestically adverb plural majesties
1 Your/Her/His Majesty used when talking to or about a king or queen; Your/Her/His Highness
•The Prime Minister is here to see you, Your Majesty.
•His Majesty the King
2 [U] the quality that something big has of being impressive, powerful, or beautiful
[+of]
•the pure majesty of the Alps $
1 [usually before noun] having very serious or worrying results; minor
•There is a major problem with parking in London.
•The loss of their goalkeeper through injury was a major setback for the team.
•He underwent major heart surgery recently.
•It could have sparked a major confrontation.
2 [usually before noun] very large or important, when compared to other things or people of a similar kind; minor
major role/part/factor etc
•Britain played a major role in the negotiations.
•There are two major political parties in the US.
•The government's major concern is with preventing accidents on the roads.
•Smoking is one of the major causes of cancer.
•the major developments in computer technology
•a major road
3 [not before noun] AmE spoken very important:
•This is major? You got me out of bed for this?
4 a major KEY is based on a musical SCALE in which there are SEMITONEs between the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth notes; minor
•a symphony in D major[C]
1 an officer of middle rank in the British or US army or MARINES, or in the US airforce
DRUM MAJOR
2 especially AmE the main subject that a student studies at college or university:
•Her major is history.
3 AmE someone studying a particular subject as their main subject at college or university:
•She's a history major.
4 the majors [plural] the MAJOR LEAGUES

PHRASAL VERBS
major in sth phr v
especially AmE to study something as your main subject at college or university:
•He's majoring in Political Science.

major on sth phr v
especially BrE to pay particular attention to one subject or thing:
•The company is planning to major on offering the machines we need. $ plural majordomos [C] old-fashioned
someone in charge of the servants in a large house [C]
a girl who spins a BATON while marching with a band[C]
an officer of high rank in the British or US army or the US airforce $ plural majorities
1 MOST PEOPLE OR THINGS [singular also + plural verb BrE ] most of the people or things in a group; minority
[+of]
•The majority of students find it quite hard to live on the amount of money they get.
great/vast/overwhelming majority of sth (=almost all of a group)
•In the vast majority of cases the disease is fatal.
be in the majority (=form the largest group)
•In this city, Muslims are in the majority.
SILENT MAJORITY
2 MOST VOTES [C] if one person or group wins a majority in an election, they win more votes than other people or groups
majority of 50/100 etc
•He won by a majority of 500.
•The Labour Party won a huge majority at the last general election.
clear/overall/absolute majority (=a situation in which one party wins more votes in an election than all the other parties)
•The party won an absolute majority in Portugal in 1987.
small/narrow majority
•The government gained only a narrow majority, with 151 votes against 144.
Labour/Conservative etc majority
•The Labour majority was reduced to just 15 seats at the last election.
3 majority vote/decision/verdict etc a vote or decision in which more people vote for something than vote against it:
•The committee usually takes decisions by majority vote.
•The jury found him guilty by a majority verdict.
4 majority stake/shareholding etc when one person or group owns a bigger share of a company than other people or groups and so is able to control what happens to the company:
•Alex Golding held a majority shareholding in Golding plc.
5 BECOMING AN ADULT [U] BrE law the age when someone legally becomes an adult; minority
reach majority/the age of majority
•He became a partner in the family firm on reaching his majority.[C]
the person who organizes the members of the political party that has the most people elected, in the US House of Representatives or Senate; minority leader[U]
a system of government in which every person in a country has the right to vote and the group which wins the most votes has power:
•It took many years of struggle to establish majority rule in South Africa.[only before noun]
1 connected with the Major Leagues:
•a major league pitcher
2 important, large, or having a lot of influence:
•a major-league player in California politics
the Major Leagues the group of teams that make up the highest level of American professional baseball; Minor Leagues $ [+ adj/adv] informal
extremely:
•I was majorly upset, as you can imagine. past tense and past participle made
1 PRODUCE [T] to produce something, for example by putting the different parts of it together:
•I'm going to show you how to make a box for your tools.
•A family of mice had made their nest in the roof.
•She made her own wedding dress.
•The company has been making quality furniture for over 200 years.
•They met while they were making a film for Australian TV.
•Make a list of all the things you need.
make sb sth
•He made her a toy horse, using just some straw and bamboo twigs.
be made from sth
•Paper is made from wood.
be made (out) of sth
•a shirt made of silk
make sth from/out of sth
•She's very good at making things from old scraps of material.
Japanese-made/English-made etc (=produced in Japan etc)
2 DO [T] used with some nouns to say that someone does something:
•Anyone can make a mistake.
•I can't make a decision just yet.
•I need to make a quick phone call.
•You could have made more effort to talk to him.
•He made no attempt to apologize.
•Could I make a suggestion?
•There are a few points I'd like to make.
•The police were called but no arrests were made.
•I suppose we should make a start on cleaning this room.
•Stop making such a fuss!
3 COOK [T] to cook or prepare food or drink:
•When was the last time you made a cake?
•John was making breakfast in the kitchen.
•Who's going to make the tea?
make sb sth
•I'll make you some sandwiches.
4 CAUSE [T] to cause something to happen, or cause a particular state or condition:
•Its beautiful beaches make this a highly popular area with tourists.
•It was this movie which made him a star.
•His attitude made him very unpopular with colleagues.
•The photo makes her look much older than she really is.
make sb/sth do sth
•I like him because he makes me laugh.
make sth difficult/easy/possible etc
•The use of computers has made it possible for more people to work from home.
make sth the best/worst/most expensive etc
•Over 80,000 people attended, making it the biggest sporting event in the area.
•The President has made it clear that he is not going to change his mind.
5 FORCE [T] to force someone to do something
make sb do sth
•My parents always make me do my homework before I go out.
be made to do sth
•I was made to wait four hours before I was examined by a doctor.
6 MARK/HOLE ETC [T] to cause a mark, hole etc to appear
make a hole/dent/mark etc
•Make a hole in the paper.
•The cup has made a mark on the table.
7 make it
a) to succeed in getting somewhere in time for something or when this is difficult:
•If we run, we should make it.
[+to]
•With blood pouring from his leg, he made it to a nearby house.
b) to be successful at something, for example in your job:
•He came to the US and not only made it but made it big (=was extremely successful).
•So far, relatively few women have made it to the top in the business world.
[+as]
•He was told he had no talent and would never make it as a professional singer.
[+to]
•England look less likely to make it to the finals.
make it to manager/director etc
•How did anyone so stupid make it to manager?
c) spoken to be able to go to an event, meeting etc that has been arranged:
•I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to make it on Sunday after all.
•Nice to see you. I'm glad you could make it.
d) informal to continue to live after you have been seriously ill or badly injured:
•Frank was very ill, and the doctors didn't think he'd make it.
e) to manage to deal with a difficult experience
[+through]
•I couldn't have made it through those times without the support of my boyfriend.
f) used to say or ask what time it is according to your own or someone else's watch:
•What time do you make it?
•I make it ten past three.
8 make the meeting/the party/Tuesday etc spoken to be able to go to something that has been arranged for a particular date or time:
•I'm sorry, I can't make Friday after all.
•Will you be able to make the next meeting?
9 ACHIEVE STH [T] to succeed in achieving a particular position, rate etc:
•He was never good enough to make the team.
•I don't think we'll make the deadline.
10 GET MONEY [T] to earn or get money:
•The plan could cost you more than you would make.
•The business made a profit of £140 million last year.
•His one aim in life was to make money.
•She hopes to make a living (=earn the money she needs to live) from writing children's books.
•He's made a fortune (=earned a lot of money) selling computers on the Internet.
make sth out of sth
•How easy is it to make money out of gardening?
11 HAVE A QUALITY [linking verb] to have the qualities that are necessary for a particular job, use, or purpose
+ noun
•I'm sure you will make a very good teacher.
•The hall would make an ideal venue for a wedding reception.
•An old cardboard box makes a comfortable bed for a kitten.
12 make it/that sth spoken used to correct what you have just said:
•Can we have two cups of coffee, please? No, make that three.
13 make do to manage with the things that you have, even though this is not really enough:
•I hardly had any food in the house so I just had to make do.
[+with/without]
•I usually make do with a cup of coffee for breakfast.
•For many people, make do and mend (=when someone manages with the things they have and does not buy anything new) was a harsh reality.
14 make yourself heard/understood/known etc to succeed in getting someone to hear you, understand you, or know that you are there:
•I had to shout to make myself heard above the music.
15 BE A TOTAL [linking verb] to be a particular amount when added together:
•Two and two make four.
•There are nine people coming, plus me, which makes ten.
16 CALCULATE [T] used to say what you have calculated a number to be:
•I make that $150 altogether.
17 SPORTS SCORE [T] to achieve a particular score in a sports game:
•Surrey had made 92 by lunchtime.
18 make sb captain/leader etc to give someone a new job or position in a group, organization etc:
•She's now been made a full partner.
•He was made mayor in 1998.
19 make believe to pretend or imagine that something is true when it is not:
•I tried to make believe she was happy, but knew deep down it wasn't true.
MAKE-BELIEVE
20 make like informal to behave as if something is true when it is not:
•He makes like he never met me before.
21 make as if to do sth literary to seem as if you are going to do something but then not do it:
•She made as if to speak but then stopped.
22 ARRIVE [T] old-fashioned to arrive at or get to a particular place, especially when it is difficult:
•I don't think we're going to make the town before nightfall.
23 make the papers/headlines/front page etc to be interesting or important enough to be printed in a newspaper, reported on television etc:
•News of their divorce made the headlines.
24 make or break to cause something or someone either to be very successful or to fail completely :
•Critics can make or break a young performer.
MAKE-OR-BREAK
25 that makes two of us spoken used to say that you agree with someone or that something that is true of them is true of you too:
•'I haven't a clue what's going on.' 'That makes two of us.'
26 MAKE STH PERFECT [T] informal to make something complete or successful:
•The hat makes the outfit.
27 make it with sb old-fashioned informal to have sex with someone

PHRASAL VERBS
make away with sb/sth phr v
1 informal to steal something and take it away with you:
•Thieves made away with the contents of the safe.
2 old-fashioned to kill someone

make for sth phr v [not in passive]
1 to go in the direction of a particular place; = head for
•I think it's time we made for home.
2 [not in progressive] to cause a particular result or situation:
•Both teams are on good form, which should make for a great game.
made for each other at MADE (6)

make sb/sth into sth phr v
1 to change something so that it has a different form or purpose:
•We can make your room into a study.
2 to change someone's character, job, position in society etc:
•The movie made her into a star overnight.

make sth of sb/sth phr v
1 to have a particular opinion about or understanding of something or someone:
•I didn't know what to make of her.
•What do you make of the idea?
2 to use the opportunities that you have in order to become successful:
•I want to make something of my life.
make sth of yourself
•She has the ambition and talent to make something of herself.
3 make the most of sth to get as much advantage as you can from a situation while you are able to:
•We've only got one day in Paris, so we'd better make the most of it.
4 make too much of sth to treat something as if it is more important than it really is:
•It would be a mistake to make too much of these findings.
make much of sb/sth at MUCH^2 (17)
5 make a day/night/evening of it informal to spend a whole day, night etc doing something, because you have chosen to:
•We decided to take a picnic and make a day of it.
make a go of sth at GO^2 (3)
make the best of sth at BEST^3 (9)
see what sb is made of at MADE (4)

make off phr v
to leave quickly, especially in order to escape:
•The men made off as the police arrived.
[+along/across/through etc]
•The getaway car made off towards Horrocks Avenue.

make off with sth phr v [not in passive] informal
to steal something and take it away with you:
•Thieves broke into the school and made off with computer equipment worth £40,000.

make out phr v
1 SEE/HEAR make sth <=> out to be just able to see or hear something:
•He could just make out a dark shape moving towards him.
make out who/what etc
•I couldn't make out what he was saying.
2 UNDERSTAND STH make sth <=> out to understand something, especially the reason why something has happened
make out what/how/why etc
•I couldn't make out what I had done to annoy her.
• As far as I can make out, he has never been married.
3 UNDERSTAND SB make sb <=> out [usually in questions and negatives] to understand someone's character and the way they behave:
•Stuart's a strange guy - I can't make him out at all.
4 WRITE CHEQUE ETC make sth <=> out to write something such as a bill or cheque:
•She was making out a list of people to invite.
•The book gives advice on making out a will.
[+to]
•Make the cheque out to 'Spencer Cross Ltd'.
5 SAY/PRETEND make sb/sth <=> out to say that something is true when it is not:
•The situation was never as bad as the media made out.
make out (that)
•She always tried to make out that I was wrong and she was right.
make sb/sth out to be sth
•He makes me out to be some sort of idiot.
6 make out a case (for sth) to find good reasons that prove something or show why you need something:
•I'm sure we can make out a case for hiring another assistant.
7 SUCCEED especially AmE to succeed or progress in a particular way:
•How did you make out this morning?
8 SEX informal especially AmE to kiss and touch someone in a sexual way
9 make out like a bandit AmE informal to get or win a lot of money:
•The lawyers made out like bandits.

make sth out of sb/sth phr v
to change a person or thing into something else:
•The Olympics can make sporting heroes out of previously little-known athletes.

make sth/sb <=> over phr v
1 especially BrE to officially and legally give money or property to someone else
[+to]
•He made over the whole estate to his son.
2 to change someone or something so that they look different or have a different use:
•Redgrave has made herself over completely for her movie role.
MAKEOVER

make towards sth phr v BrE formal
to start moving towards something:
•She made towards the door.

make up phr v
1 FORM/BE make up sth [not in progressive] to combine together to form something; = constitute
•Women make up only a small proportion of the prison population.
be made up of sth
•The committee is made up of representatives from every state.
2 PRETEND STH IS TRUE make sth <=> up to pretend that something is true in order to deceive someone:
•I think they're making the whole thing up.
MADE-UP (1)
3 INVENT make sth <=> up to produce a new story, song, game etc by thinking:
•Nick made up a song about them.
•When you're the boss you can make up your own rules.
•I've given talks so many times that now I just make them up as I go along (=think of things to say as I am speaking).
4 PREPARE make sth <=> up to prepare something by mixing things or putting things together:
•I could make up a bed for you on the sofa.
•Can you make up a bottle of milk for the baby?
5 SB'S FACE make sb <=> up to put MAKE-UP (=special coloured substances) on someone's face in order to make them look better or different:
•They made him up as an old man for the last act of the play.
•One lucky winner will have the chance to be made up and photographed.
!! Do not use the verb make up when you are talking about putting coloured substances on your own face. Say that you wear make-up or put on make-up.
MADE-UP (2)
6 NUMBER/AMOUNT make sth <=> up especially BrE to add to an amount in order to bring it up to the level that is needed:
•I saved as much as I could, and my parents made up the rest.
•The company will be forced to pay $6 million to make up the difference.
7 TIME/WORK make sth <=> up to work at times when you do not usually work, because you have not done as much work as you should:
•I'm trying to make up the time I lost while I was sick.
•Is it OK if I make the work up next week?
8 FRIENDS also make it up informal to become friendly with someone again after you have had an argument
[+with]
•Have you made up with Patty yet?
•Oh come on! Why don't you just kiss and make up?
9 FROM CLOTH make sth <=> up to produce something from cloth by cutting and sewing:
•The dress had been made up to her exact requirements.
[+into]
•I plan on making that material up into a dress.
make up your mind at MIND^1 (3)

make up for sth phr v
1 to make a bad situation better, or replace something that has been lost:
•The team will be anxious to make up for a disappointing start to the season.
•I don't eat breakfast but I make up for it at lunch.
•The good days more than make up for the bad ones.
see box at INCLUDE
2 to have so much of one quality that it is not important that you do not have much of another one
[+in/with]
•What Jay lacked in experience, he made up for in enthusiasm.
•She doesn't have a natural talent but she makes up for it with hard work.
3 to do something to show that you are sorry for doing something that upset or annoyed someone:
•I'm sorry I was late. To make up for it, let me treat you to a meal.
4 make up for lost time
a) to work more quickly, or at times when you do not usually work, because something has prevented you from doing the work before:
•We rehearsed all day Saturday, to make up for lost time.
b) to do a lot of something in an eager way because you have not had a chance to do it before:
•Palin didn't travel much as a young man but he's certainly made up for lost time now.

make up to sb phr v
1 make (it) up to sb to do something to show that you are sorry about the problems you have caused someone:
•I'll make it up to you somehow.
•He was looking for a way to make up to her for what he had done.
2 BrE informal to say nice things to someone or be very friendly to them in order to get an advantage for yourself - used in order to show disapproval
3 be made up to captain/manager etc to be given a higher position in an organization:
•He was a security guard before he was made up to reception manager.

WORD CHOICE:made from, made of, made by
When you are talking about the materials that are used to make something, you say that it is made of or made from those materials.
Use made from when the original materials have been completely changed and cannot be recognized: Paper is made from wood.
Use made of when the original materials have not been completely changed and you can still see them: a table made of wood

!! Do not use made by when you are talking about the materials something is made from: a small purse made of leather (NOT a small purse made by leather). Made by is used to talk about the person or company that made something: All the furniture in this room was made by my grandfather.

MADE
make sb's day at DAY (19)
make friends at FRIEND (3)
make good at GOOD^1 (35)
make sense at SENSE^1 (5)
1 [C] the name of a particular product or of the company that makes it:
•What make is your car?
[+of]
•It's one of the most popular makes of satellite phone on the market.
2 be on the make informal to be trying to get money or power - used in order to show disapproval:
•He was just a salesman on the make.[U]
when you imagine or pretend that something is real or true:
•He seems to be living in a world of make-believe.
•children in the middle of a make-believe adventure
something that is make-or-break will lead to either success or failure:
•This could be a make-or-break speech for the prime minister. $ [C]
1 if you give someone a makeover, you make them look more attractive by giving them new clothes, a new hair style etc
2 if you give a place a makeover, you make it look more attractive by painting the walls, putting in new furniture etc:
•It's time we gave the kitchen a makeover. $ [C]
1 a person or company that makes a particular type of goods
car/film/shoe etc maker
•a quality furniture maker
•a leading Japanese computer maker
[+of]
•The makers of the car claim that it uses up to 50% less fuel than other similar cars.
2 a machine or piece of equipment that makes something
coffee/pasta etc maker
•Grind the beans to suit your coffee maker.
3 decision maker/policy maker/peacemaker etc someone who does something or makes something happen:
•Who's the decision maker in this department?
•healthcare administrators and policy makers
TROUBLEMAKER, HOLIDAYMAKER
4 meet your maker informal to die - used humorously
made to be used for a short time only when nothing better is available:
•The refugees slept in makeshift tents at the side of the road.makeup
1 FOR YOUR FACE [U] coloured substances that are put on your face to improve or change your appearance

wear make-up
have make-up on (=be wearing make-up)
put on/apply make-up
do your make-up (=put on your make-up)
heavy make-up (=a lot of make-up)
eye make-up
stage make-up (=make-up that actors wear in plays)
make-up artist/man/woman (=someone who helps actors put on make-up)

•I don't usually wear much make-up.
•Her hair looked untidy, and she had no make-up on.
•I'm just putting my make-up on, then I'll be ready.
•girls in heavy make-up
•Don't you ever wear eye make-up?
make up at MAKE^1

2 PEOPLE IN A GROUP [singular] the make-up of a group or team is the combination of people that are in it
[+of]
•I don't think we should change the make-up of the team.
3 CHARACTER sb's make-up the qualities that a person has, which form their character:
•Pride has always been an important part of his make-up.
sb's genetic/psychological make-up
•a possible link between genetic make-up and criminal behaviour
4 TEST [C] also make-up test AmE a test that you take in school when you were not able to take a previous test [C]
a person or thing that is not very important but is included so there is the right number of people or the right amount of something[U]
AmE work that is not important but is given to people to keep them busy [U]
1 the process of making something
[+of]
•companies involved in the making of nuclear weapons
cheese making/cider making etc
•a region famous for its cheese making
2 decision making/policy making the process of deciding something:
•people involved in decision making at the highest level
3 be the making of sb to make someone a much better or more successful person:
•You'll see - a couple of years abroad will be the making of him.
4 have the makings of sth to have the qualities or skills necessary to do a particular job:
•He has the makings of a world-class footballer.
5 be a long time/10 years etc in the making to take a long time, 10 years etc to make:
•a book that was ten years in the making
6 be of your own making problems that are of your own making have been caused by you and no one else:
•He admits that a lot of his troubles are entirely of his own making.
bad or badly:
•a malformed limb (=wrongly shaped)
•The children had been maltreated. (=treated cruelly)
a maladjusted child behaves badly and is unable to form good relationships with people because they have emotional problems [U] formal
careless or dishonest management:
•He accused the local authority of maladministration. formal
not clever or sensitive in the way you deal with people plural maladies [C]
1 formal a serious problem in society
2 old use an illness [singular, U] formal
1 a general problem that is difficult to describe in an exact way:
•a general malaise within society
2 a general feeling that you are slightly ill or not happy in your life $ [C] literary
an amusing mistake that you make when you use a word that sounds similar to the word you intended to say but means something completely different $ [U]
a disease that is common in hot countries and that you get when a type of MOSQUITO bites you
- malarial adjective
•malarial fever $ [U]
informal things which you think are silly or untrue; = nonsense
•I'm not interested in all this scientific malarkey.
•You don't believe in ghosts and all that malarkey, do you? $ [C]
formal someone who is likely to cause trouble because they are not happy with the way things are organized - used in order to show disapproval
1 typical of or relating to men or boys; female ; masculine
•a deep male voice
•traditional male values
•Until now, motor-racing has largely been a male preserve. (=something that only men have been involved with)
2 a male person or animal cannot have babies or lay eggs; female
•adult male bears
•Many women earn less than their male colleagues.
3 a male plant or flower cannot produce fruit; female
4 technical a male PLUG has parts that stick out and that fit into a hole or SOCKET; female [C]
1 a male animal; female
•The male is usually bigger and more brightly coloured than the female.
2 a man; female
•Police described her attacker as a white male aged about 25.[C]
a man who believes that men are better than women and has fixed, traditional ideas about the way men and women should behave - used to show disapproval:
•I'm afraid Bill's a bit of a male chauvinist.
male chauvinist pig (=an insulting name for a male chauvinist)
- male chauvinism noun [U] [C]
old-fashioned formal a wish that something bad will happen to someone; = curse
involving mostly men or controlled mostly by men:
•a male-dominated profession $ [C]
old-fashioned formal someone who does bad or illegal things[singular]
a period in the middle of a man's life when he sometimes feels anxious and unhappy because he is getting older - often used humorously[C]
a large group of men who sing together formal
a malevolent person wants to harm other people; = evil; benevolent
malevolent look/stare/smile etc
•He gave her a dark, malevolent look.
- malevolence noun [U]
- malevolently adverb [U]
law illegal or dishonest activity $
[C,U] technical when a part of someone's body is badly formed; = deformity
•children suffering from malformations of the legs and arms $ technical
if a part of someone's body is malformed, it is badly formed; = deformed
•malformed limbs [C]
a fault in the way a machine or part of someone's body works:
•a malfunction in one of the engines
[+of]
•a malfunction of the immune system
•an equipment malfunction
- malfunction verb [I]
•A warning light seems to have malfunctioned. [U]
1 the desire to harm someone because you hate them
with malice
•His eyes gleamed with malice.
sheer/pure malice
•She did it out of sheer malice.
•James bore her no malice (=did not feel any malice towards her).
2 with malice aforethought law with the deliberate intention of doing something that is against the law
very unkind and cruel, and deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset or hurt someone:
•a spiteful and malicious girl
malicious gossip/rumour
•I think I know who is responsible for these malicious rumours.
- maliciously adverb
- maliciousness noun [U] [T usually passive]
to say unpleasant things about someone that are untrue; = slander
•She had seen herself repeatedly maligned in the newspapers.
•a much maligned politicianformal
harmful; benign
•a malign influence plural malignancies
1 [C] medical a TUMOUR
2 [U] formal a feeling of great hatred
1 medical a malignant disease is one such as CANCER, which can develop in an uncontrolled way and is likely to cause someone's death; benign
•She developed a malignant tumour in her breast.
2 formal showing that you hate someone:
•a malignant look $ [I usually in progressive]
to avoid work by pretending to be ill:
•He accused Frank of malingering.
- malingerer noun [C] $ [C] especially AmE
a large area where there are a lot of shops, usually a covered area where cars are not allowed; = shopping centre
•Let's meet at the mall and go see a movie.
•a huge new shopping mall
STRIP MALL $ [C]
a type of wild duck
1 technical something that is malleable is easy to press or pull into a new shape:
•malleable steel
2 formal someone who is malleable can be easily influenced or changed by other people:
•a malleable child
- malleability noun [U] [C]
1 a wooden hammer with a large end
2 a wooden hammer with a long handle that you use for playing CROQUET or POLO $ [C,U]
a plant with pink or purple flowers
MARSHMALLOW $ [C usually plural] AmE informal
a young person who goes to SHOPPING MALLs a lot in order to be with their friends, not to buy things $
someone who is malnourished is ill or weak because they have not had enough good food to eat:
•malnourished children $ [U]
when someone becomes ill or weak because they have not eaten enough good food:
•refugees suffering from malnutrition $ literary
smelling unpleasant; = smelly [C,U] law
when a professional person makes a mistake or does not do their job properly and can be punished by a court:
•Her doctor was found guilty of malpractice. $
1 [U] grain, usually BARLEY, that has been kept in water for a time and then dried. It is used for making beer, WHISKY etc
2 [C] AmE a drink made from milk, malt, and ICE CREAM that usually has something else such as chocolate added:
•a cheeseburger and a chocolate malt
3 [C,U] also malt whisky a type of high quality WHISKY from Scotlandalso malted milk $ [C] AmE
a MALT (2) $ [C]
a cross with four pieces that become wider as they go out from the centre[U]
AmE a type of beer [T]
to treat a person or animal cruelly; = mistreat
•The hostages said they were hungry but had not been maltreated.
- maltreatment noun [U]
•evidence of animal maltreatment [C]
mother - used in Scotland and northern England; = mummamma also momma [C] AmE
a mother - used by or to children; = mummy
•I want my mama! [C] BrE old-fashioned
mother [C] AmE
a boy or man who lets his mother look after him and protect him too much, so that people think he is weak; = mummy's boy BrE
•You've got to stand up for yourself, stop being such a mama's boy. $ [C]
a poisonous African snake that is black or green $ plural mambos [C]
a dance, originally from Cuba, or the music for this dance
another spelling of MAMA^1 [C]
a type of animal that drinks milk from its mother's body when it is young. Humans, dogs, and whales are mammals.
- mammalian adjective [only before noun] technical
connected with or relating to the breasts:
•normal mammary tissue
•mammary cancer[C]
technical the part of a woman's breast that produces milk, or a similar part of a female animal [C]
an X-RAY picture of a woman's breasts used to check for signs of CANCER $ [U]
examination of a woman's breasts using X-RAYs to check for signs of CANCER [U] formal
money, wealth, and profit, regarded as something bad because people want or think about them too much [only before noun]
extremely large; = enormous, gigantic
•Reforming the prison system would be a mammoth task.
•a mammoth corporation[C]
an animal like a large hairy ELEPHANT that lived on Earth thousands of years ago plural mammies [C]
mother - used especially in Ireland plural men
1 MALE PERSON [C] an adult male human; woman
•There were two men and a woman in the car.
•He's a very kind man.
•a man's watch
•Don't keep Hansen waiting - he's a busy man.
2 STRONG/BRAVE [C usually singular] a man who has the qualities that people think a man should have, such as being brave, strong etc:
•Come on, be a man now. No more crying.
•He wasn't man enough (=strong or brave enough) to face up to his responsibilities.
make a man (out) of sb (=make a boy or young man start behaving in a confident way)
•Running his own business has really made a man out of Terry.
3 PERSON [C] a person, either male or female - used especially in formal situations or in the past:
•All men are equal in the eyes of the law.
•a man's right to work
4 PEOPLE [U] people as a group:
•This is one of the worst diseases known to man.
•the evolution of man
prehistoric/stone-age/modern man (=people who lived at a particular stage of human development)
5 WORKER
a) [C usually plural] a man who works for an employer:
•Why were there no protests from the men at the factory?
b) [C] a man who does a job for you, especially repairing something:
•Has the man been to fix the TV?
gas man/rent man etc
•I waited all day for the gas man.
c) the man from sth a man who works for a particular company or organization:
•Was that the man from the PR agency?
6 PARTICULAR KIND OF MAN [C]
a) a man who comes from a particular place, does a particular kind of work, or is connected with a particular organization, especially a university or company:
•I think she married a Belfast man.
•I've been a military man all my life.
•Even a Harvard man has a lot to learn about politics.
b) a man who likes, or likes doing, a particular thing:
•I'm more of a jazz man myself.
•Are you a betting man?
7 man! spoken
a) used when speaking to an adult male, especially when you are excited, angry etc:
•Stop talking nonsense, man!
b) used when speaking to someone, especially an adult male:
•You look great, man!
8 SOLDIER [C usually plural] a soldier or SAILOR who is under the authority of an officer:
•The Captain ordered his men to fire.
9 HUSBAND [C] informal a woman's husband or boyfriend
sb's man
•She spent five years waiting for her man to come out of prison.
10 the man spoken
a) used to talk about a man you dislike, a man who has done something stupid etc:
•Don't listen to him - the man's a complete idiot.
b) The Man AmE old-fashioned someone who has authority over you, especially a police officer
11 sb's your man spoken used to say that a particular man is the best person for a job, situation etc:
•If you need repairs done in the house, Brian's your man.
12 you da man! you're the man! AmE spoken used to praise someone for having done something well
13 our man spoken used by the police to refer to a man that they are watching or trying to find, especially because they think he is responsible for a crime:
•Gareth couldn't possibly be our man. He couldn't possibly be a murderer.
•Perhaps our man parked his car at the station and took the train.
14 our man in/at sth a man who is the representative of a country or organization in a particular place:
•our man in Rome
•a report on the accident from our man at the scene
15 men in (grey) suits informal the men who control businesses, organizations etc, considered as a group, especially when you think they are boring
16 a man of his word a man you can trust, who will do what he has promised to do:
•He had promised to help, and Sally knew that Dr Neil was a man of his word.
17 a man of few words a man who does not talk very much:
•Being a man of few words, his message was short and to the point.
18 be your own man to behave and think independently without worrying about what other people think:
•I'm my own man. I say what I believe.
19 the man of the moment/hour/year a man who has recently done something important:
•Olson was man of the hour when the team beat the Tigers.
20 it's every man for himself spoken used to say that people will not help each other:
•In journalism it's every man for himself.
21 the man in the street the man on the Clapham omnibus BrE old-fashioned the average man or the average person; = Joe Bloggs/Schmo
•This kind of music doesn't appeal to the man in the street.
22 a man of the people a man who understands and expresses the views and opinions of ordinary people:
•They want to demonstrate that the prime minister is a man of the people.
23 a man's man a man who enjoys being with other men and doing sports and activities with them, and is popular with men rather than women:
•He enjoyed his reputation as a man's man, but was careful never to neglect his family.
24 a ladies' man a man who is popular with women and who likes to go out with a lot of different women:
•Paul likes to think he's a bit of a ladies' man.
25 man and boy BrE if a man has done something man and boy, he has done it all his life:
•I've worked on that farm man and boy.
26 man and wife if a man and a woman are man and wife, they are married:
•I now pronounce you man and wife (=you are now officially married).
27 live as man and wife if a man and woman live as man and wife, they live together as if they are married, although they are not
28 as one man written if a group of people do something as one man, they do it together:
•The audience rose as one man to applaud the singers.
29 to a man/to the last man written used to say that all the men in a group do something or have a particular quality:
•They were socialists to a man.
30 man-about-town a rich man who goes out a lot to parties, clubs, theatres etc:
•In his designer suit and shiny shoes he looked quite the man about town.
31 man of God/man of the cloth a priest:
•You'd believe a man of the cloth, wouldn't you?
32 my (good) man BrE old-fashioned spoken used when talking to someone of a lower social class - do not use this phrase:
•My good man, I really don't think you should be here.
33 my man spoken used by some men to greet a friend:
•Jason, my man! How's it going?
34 your/yer man spoken used to talk about a particular man - used mainly in Ireland:
•I've got to go and see yer man up this afternoon.
35 SERVANT [C] old-fashioned a male servant:
•My man will drive you to the station.
36 GAME [C] one of the pieces you use in a game such as CHESS
37 every man jack old-fashioned each person in a group:
•Spies, every man jack of them, I'd bet.
38 kick/hit a man when he's down to treat someone badly when you know that they already have problems:
•Most of his rivals couldn't resist kicking a man when he was down.
39 man's best friend a dog
40 the man of the house the most important male member of a family, who is responsible for doing things such as paying bills, making important decisions etc:
•Since my father's death, my uncle was the man of the house.
BEST MAN, MAN-TO-MAN, NEW MAN, OLD MAN; be a man/woman of the world at WORLD^1 (21)past tense and past participle manned, present participle manning [T]
to work at, use, or operate a system, piece of equipment etc:
•A team of volunteers are manning the phones.
•the first manned spacecraftespecially AmE
used to emphasize what you are saying, especially when you are angry, surprised, disappointed etc:
•Man, that was a lucky escape!
• Oh, man! I can hear the bullets. [C usually plural]
an iron ring on a chain that is put around the wrist or ANKLE of a prisoner
- manacle verb [T]
- manacled adjective
1 BUSINESS [T] to direct or control a business or department and the people, equipment, and money involved in it:
•Kerry has been asked to manage a new department.
•Managing a football team is harder than you think.
•The company had been very badly managed.
•a small brewery which has been owned and managed by the same family for over 100 years
see box at CONTROL^2
2 DO STH DIFFICULT [I,T] to succeed in doing something difficult, especially after trying very hard
manage to do sth
•I finally managed to push the huge animal away.
•How do you manage to stay so slim?
•We somehow managed to persuade him.
•Juventus managed two goals in the last ten minutes.
•I don't know how I'll manage it, but I'll be there.
3 DEAL WITH PROBLEMS [I] to succeed in dealing with problems, living in a difficult situation etc:
•I don't know how she manages with seven children.
•We didn't have the proper equipment, but we managed somehow.
[+without]
•How do you manage without a washing machine?
[+with]
•I can't afford to get you a new coat - you'll have to manage with the one you've got.
4 TIME/MONEY ETC [T] to use your time, money etc sensibly, without wasting it:
•Paying a little each month can help you manage your money.
•You need to learn to manage your time more effectively.
•Consultants can help academic institutions to manage their resources more efficiently.
5 LIVE WITHOUT MUCH MONEY [I] to succeed in buying the things that you need in order to live even though you do not have very much money; = get by
•I honestly don't know how we'll manage now Keith's lost his job.
•It'll be tight, but I guess I'll just about manage.
[+on]
•People like Jim have to manage on as little as $75 a week.
6 NOT NEED HELP [I,T] spoken to be able to do something or carry something without help:
•Can you manage all right, Mum?
•You'll never manage that suitcase; let me take it.
•Thank you, but I think I can manage perfectly well on my own.
7 KEEP TIDY [T] especially BrE to succeed in keeping something neat and tidy:
•He'll never manage such a big garden on his own.
8 CONTROL [T] to control the behaviour of a person or animal, so that they do what you want:
•It's hard to manage your children and do the shopping.
•The horse was huge and vicious. Giles was the only one who could manage her.
see box at CONTROL^2
9 BE STRONG ENOUGH [T] to be able to do something because you are strong enough or healthy enough:
•He tried to walk, but managed only a few shaky steps.
10 EAT/DRINK [T] to be able to eat or drink something:
•Could you manage another drink?
11 CAUSE PROBLEMS [T] to do something that causes problems - used humorously
manage to do sth
•Andrews has managed to get himself sacked.
•I don't know how I managed to arrive so late.
12 manage a smile/a few words etc to make yourself say or do something when you do not really want to:
•Tom looked tired but still managed a smile.
manage to smile/speak/laugh etc
•'Why do you hate me so much?' he managed to say.
13 HAVE TIME FOR [T] to be able to meet someone or do something, even though you are busy:
• Can you manage dinner tonight?
•'Is there any chance you could work late?' 'I think I could manage an hour.'
easy to control or deal with; unmanageable
•Divide the task into manageable sections.
- manageability noun [U]
1 [U] the activity of controlling and organizing the work that a company or organization does
good/bad management
•good management and co-operation with staff
•a lack of management skills
•a management consultant
•management training courses
2 [singular, U also + plural verb BrE ] the people who are in charge of a company or organization:
•The management has agreed to the policy.
•The shareholders demanded a change in management.
•management decisions
•The factory is under new management.
senior/top management
•It is difficult to retain top management.
•a member of the senior management team
middle management (=the people in charge of small groups within an organization)
3 [U] the way that people control and organize different situations that happen in their lives or their work
[+of]
•careful management of the economy
•traffic management
•The successful applicant will have experience in project management.
•courses in time management
crisis management (=when you deal with an unusually difficult or dangerous situation)[C]
when a company's managers buy the company they work for[C]
someone who is paid to advise the management of a company how to improve their organization and working methods $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to manage part or all of a company or other organization
bank/sales/project etc manager
•She's now assistant marketing manager for the south east area.
•one of our regional managers
[+of]
•the general manager of Chevrolet
•a middle manager in a computer company (=someone who manages a small part of a company)
LINE MANAGER
2 someone who is in charge of training and organizing a sports team:
•the new England manager
[+of]
•the manager of Lazio
3 someone who is in charge of the business affairs of a singer, an actor etc $ [C] old-fashioned
a woman who is in charge of a business, especially a shop or restaurant $
relating to the job of a manager:
•managerial skills[C] BrE
someone who is in charge of a large company or organization; = chief executive officer
a word meaning 'tomorrow', used to talk about someone who seems too relaxed and always delays doing things:
•a mañana attitude
- mañana noun [U]plural men-at-arms [C]
old use a soldier [C]
a large sea animal with FLIPPERs and a large flat tail which eats plants [C]
someone from the city of Manchester in England
- Mancunian adjective [C]
a picture of a circle around a square, that represents the universe in the Hindu and Buddhist religions[U]
the official language of China, spoken by most educated Chinese people [C]
1 also mandarin orange a kind of small orange with skin that is easy to remove
2 BrE an important government official who people think has too much power:
•Civil Service mandarins
3 an important government official in the former Chinese EMPIRE[C]
a MANDARIN
1 [C] if a government or official has a mandate to make important decisions, they have the authority to make the decisions because they have been elected by the people to do so
mandate to do sth
•The President was elected with a clear mandate to tackle violent crime.
[+for]
•a popular mandate for election reform
[+from]
•I sought a mandate from my constituents to oppose this tax.
have/be given a mandate
•Sometimes a President thinks he has more of a mandate than he really does.
2 [C] an official instruction given to a person or organization, allowing them to do something:
•Matters debated in meetings do not become a mandate automatically.
3 [C,U] the power given to one country to govern another country [T]
1 formal to tell someone that they must do a particular thing:
•These measures were mandated by the IMF.
mandate that
•Justice mandates that we should treat all candidates equally.
2 [usually passive] to give someone the right or power to do something:
•The committee was mandated to co-ordinate measures to help Poland. [only before noun]
a mandated country has been placed under the control of another country:
•mandated territories $
if something is mandatory, the law says it must be done; = compulsory, obligatory; discretionary
[+for]
•Crash helmets are mandatory for motorcyclists.
•Murder carries a mandatory life sentence.
•The Council has made it mandatory for all nurses to attend a refresher course every three years. [C] technical
1 the jaw bone of an animal or fish, especially the lower jaw
2 the outside part of a bird's beak
3 the part of an insect's mouth that it uses for eatingmandoline [C]
a musical instrument with eight metal strings and a round back, played with a PLECTRUM (=small piece of plastic, metal etc) [C]
a poisonous plant that was once thought to have magic powers [C]
a large monkey that lives in West Africa and that has a red and blue face [C]
1 the long hair on the back of a horse's neck, or around the face and neck of a lion
2 literary a person's long thick hair:
•her mane of hair[C]
1 a wild animal that kills and eats people
2 a woman who people think is frightening because she has many sexual partners - used humorously
- man-eating adjective
•a man-eating shark $
the American spelling of MANOEUVRE
the American spelling of MANOEUVRABLE [C,U]
the American spelling of MANOEUVRING old-fashioned
in a brave, determined way:
•Joe struggled manfully with his case and rucksack. [U]
a grey-white metal that breaks easily and is used to make steel and glass. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Mn [U]
a skin disease of animals that makes them lose their fur $ [C]
a long open container that horses, cattle etc eat from $ [C] BrE
a long flat green vegetable whose outer part is eaten as well as the seeds; = snowpea AmE [T]
1 to damage or injure something badly by crushing or twisting it:
•The trap closed round her leg, badly mangling her ankle.
2 to spoil something such as a speech or piece of music, by saying or playing it badly:
•The orchestra had mangled Bach's music.
- mangled adjective [only before noun]
•the mangled remains of the aircraft[C]
a machine used in former times to remove water from washed clothes by pressing them between two ROLLERs $ plural mangoes [C]
a tropical fruit with a thin skin and sweet yellow flesh $ [C]
a tropical tree that grows in or near water and grows new roots from its branches:
•a mangrove swamp
1 suffering from MANGE:
•thin mangy dogs
2 informal dirty and in bad condition:
•a mangy-looking rug [T]
1 to push or handle someone roughly
manhandle sb into/through etc sth
•It had ended with Tony physically manhandling her out of the house.
2 to move a heavy object using force
manhandle sth into/on to/across etc sth
•We lifted it off the truck and manhandled it into the workshop. $ [C]
a hole in the surface of a road covered by a lid. It is used to examine underground pipes, wires etc
1 [U] qualities such as strength, courage, and sexual power, that people think a man should have:
•Why did he feel he had to prove his manhood in the company of women?
2 [U] the state of being a man and no longer a boy; womanhood
reach/attain manhood
•He had barely reached manhood when he married.
3 [U] literary all the men of a particular nation:
•America's manhood
4 [singular] especially literary a PENIS[C]
the amount of work done by one person in one hour:
•The main structure takes only about 40 man-hours to erect. [C]
an organized search for someone who might have committed a crime, or a prisoner who has escaped:
•Police have launched a nationwide manhunt. [C,U]
1 a strong desire for something or interest in something, especially one that affects a lot of people at the same time; = craze
[+for]
•the Victorian mania for butterfly collecting
religious/football/disco etc mania
•Keep-fit mania has hit some of the girls in the office.
2 medical a serious mental illness [C]
1 informal someone who behaves in a stupid or dangerous way; = lunatic
•He leapt into the car and drove like a maniac to the hospital.
•Suddenly this maniac ran out into the middle of the road.
2 religious/sex maniac informal someone who you think is too involved or interested in religion or sex; = freak
•The woman's a sex maniac if you ask me.
3 someone who is mentally ill
homicidal maniac (=one who kills people)
behaving as if you are crazy
- maniacally adverb
1 informal behaving in a very anxious or excited way:
•She seemed slightly manic.
•Mortimer continued to shoot, a manic grin on his face.
2 medical relating to a feeling of great happiness or excitement that is part of a mental illness[U]
a mental illness that causes someone to feel very strong emotions of happiness and sadness in a short period of time[C]
someone with manic depression $ [C,U]
a treatment for the hands that includes cutting and polishing the nails; pedicure
- manicure verb [T] $
1 manicured hands or fingers have nails that are neatly cut and polished:
•slim, perfectly manicured fingers
2 manicured gardens or LAWNs are very neat and tidy:
•The ball rolled across the immaculately manicured lawn. $ [C]
someone whose job is to cut and polish people's nails [T] formal
1 to show a feeling, attitude etc:
•The shareholders have manifested their intention to sell the shares.
manifest sth in/as/through sth
•A dog's protective instincts are manifested in increased alertness.
2 manifest itself to appear or to become easy to see:
•His illness began to manifest itself at around this time.formal
plain and easy to see; = obvious, patent
•a manifest error of judgment
be made/become manifest (=be clearly shown)
•Their devotion to God is made manifest in ritual prayer.
- manifestly adverb
•a manifestly unfair system[C]
a list of passengers or goods carried on a ship, plane or train:
•the ship's cargo manifest $ formal
1 [C] a very clear sign that a particular situation or feeling exists
[+of]
•These latest riots are a clear manifestation of growing discontent.
2 [C,U] the act of appearing or becoming clear
[+of]
•Manifestation of the disease often doesn't occur until middle age. $ plural manifestos [C]
a written statement by a political party, saying what they believe in and what they intend to do:
•the Labour Party's election manifesto
•The Tories are due to publish their manifesto tomorrow. $ formal
many and of different kinds:
•The reasons for this situation are manifold.[C] technical
an arrangement of pipes through which gases enter or leave a car enginemannikin [C]
1 a model of the human body, used for teaching art or medicine
2 literary a very small manmanilla [U]
strong brown paper used for making envelopes:
•a large manila envelope [T]
1 to make someone think and behave exactly as you want them to, by skilfully deceiving or influencing them:
•He was one of those men who manipulated people.
•You have the constant feeling you are being manipulated.
manipulate sb into (doing) sth
•The thought that any parent would manipulate their child into seeking fame just appalled me.
2 to work skilfully with information, systems etc to achieve the result that you want:
•software designed to store and manipulate data
•You can integrate text with graphics and manipulate graphic images.
3 medical to move and press bones or muscles to remove pain in them
4 to use skill in moving or handling something:
•The workmen manipulated some knobs and levers.
- manipulation noun [U]
•There were allegations of political manipulation.
•manipulation of photographic images $
1 clever at controlling or deceiving people to get what you want - used in order to show disapproval:
•She was sly, selfish, and manipulative.
2 technical relating to the ability to handle objects in a skilful way:
•Before a child can learn a musical instrument he or she first needs to acquire the necessary manipulative skills.
3 [only before noun] technical relating to the skill of moving bones and joints into the correct position $ [C]
someone who is skilful at getting what they want by cleverly controlling or deceiving other people [U]
all humans considered as a group; = humankind, man; womankind
•Since earliest times, mankind has been fascinated by fire.
•one of the most important events in the history of mankind BrE informal
looking dirty and unattractive; = mangy
•a manky old sweater
having qualities that people expect and admire in a man, such as being brave and strong; = masculine
•a deep manly voice
- manliness noun [U]
1 man-made materials and substances are not natural; = artificial; natural
•fabrics made using a combination of natural and man-made fibres
2 made by people, rather than by natural processes:
•Europe's largest man-made lake [U]
1 manna from heaven something very good that you get when you did not expect to, just when you really need it
2 the food which, according to the Bible, was provided by God for the Israelites in the desert after their escape from Egypt [C]
1 a model of the human body, used for showing clothes in shop windows
2 old-fashioned a woman whose job is to wear fashionable clothes and show them to people; = model $
1 [singular] formal the way in which something is done or happens
manner of (doing) sth
•It seemed rather an odd manner of deciding things.
•He felt some guilt over the manner of her death.
in a ... manner
•I had hoped you would behave in a more responsible manner.
•The issue will be resolved in a manner that is fair to both sides.
•criticism of the manner in which the bishop was appointed
in the usual/normal etc manner
•The matter should be submitted to the accounts committee in the usual manner.
2 [singular] the way in which someone behaves towards or talks to other people:
•She has a calm relaxed manner.
[+towards]
•Something in Beth's manner towards him had changed.
•Sophie resented his high-handed manner.
3 manners [plural] polite ways of behaving in social situations

have good/bad manners
it's good/bad manners to do sth
perfect/impeccable manners
table manners (=the polite way of eating at a table)
mind your manners (=used to tell someone to behave politely)
sb has no manners (=someone often behaves in a way that is not polite)
remember your manners (=behave politely)
forget your manners (=behave in an impolite way)
where are your manners? BrE (=used to tell a child that he or she is behaving impolitely)

•Her children all had such good manners.
• It's bad manners to talk with your mouth full (=talk and eat at the same time).
•His manners were impeccable.
•Dad gave us a lecture about our table manners.
•You mind your manners, young man!
•'Lesley just got up and left.' 'Some people have no manners.'
•Good heavens, child, where are your manners?

4 manners [plural] formal the customs of a particular group of people:
•a book about the life and manners of Victorian London
5 in a manner of speaking in some ways, though not exactly:
•'Are you his girlfriend?' Nicola asked. 'In a manner of speaking.'
6 all manner of sth formal many different kinds of things or people:
•We would discuss all manner of subjects.
•The British Isles have been conquered by all manner of people.
7 in the manner of sb/sth formal in the style that is typical of a particular person or thing:
•a painting in the manner of the early Impressionists
8 what manner of...? literary what kind of:
•What manner of son would treat his mother in such a way?
9 not by any manner of means BrE spoken formal not at all:
•I haven't lost my interest in politics by any manner of means.
10 (as) to the manner born if you do something new as to the manner born, you do it in a natural confident way, as if you have done it many times before
BEDSIDE MANNER, COMEDY OF MANNERS $
1 well-mannered/bad-mannered etc polite, impolite etc in the way you behave in social situations:
•He is the most well-mannered, well-behaved boy I know.
2 behaviour, speech, or writing that is mannered is not natural and is intended to make people admire you - used in order to show disapproval:
•Hickstone gave a very mannered performance in the lead role. [C]
a way of speaking or moving that is typical of a particular person:
•He has the same mannerisms as his father.
another spelling of MANIKIN
a woman who is mannish, or who wears mannish clothes, looks or behaves like a man - used especially when this is considered unattractive:
•She had strong, almost mannish features.
•a mannish jacket
- mannishly adverb $
with only two people involved; = one-to-one
•He finally faced up to his father, mano a mano, telling him he was going to leave college.maneuverable AmE BrE
if something, especially a vehicle, is manoeuvrable, it can be moved or turned easily:
•a ship which was surprisingly fast and manoeuvrable
- manoeuvrability noun [U]maneuver AmE $ BrE
1 [C] a skilful or careful movement that you make, for example in order to avoid something or go through a narrow space:
•A careful driver will often stop talking before carrying out a complex manoeuvre.
2 [C,U] a skilful or carefully planned action intended to gain an advantage for yourself:
•They tried by diplomatic maneuvers to obtain an agreement.
3 manoeuvres [plural] military activities, such as pretending to fight a battle, which are done as practice or training; = exercises
•Large-scale military manoeuvres are being carried out near the border.
on manoeuvres
•troops on night manoeuvres
4 room for manoeuvre/freedom of manoeuvre the possibility of changing your plans or decisions in order to achieve what you want:
•As I see it, Lisa, you don't really have a great deal of room for manoeuvre.maneuver AmE BrE
1 [I,T always + adv/prep] to move or turn skilfully or to move or turn something skilfully, especially something large and heavy:
•She managed to manoeuvre expertly into the parking space.
manoeuvre yourself into/out of sth
•Josh manoeuvred himself out of bed and hobbled to the door.
•We manoeuvred the TV in front of the sofa.
2 [I,T] to use cleverly planned and often dishonest methods to get the result that you want
manoeuvre sb into/out of sth
•It was a well-organized plan to maneuver company president John Woolford out of office.
•Businesses manoeuvred to have their industry organized to their own advantage.maneuvering AmE [C,U] BrE
the use of clever and sometimes dishonest methods to get what you want:
•diplomatic manoeuvrings
•months of political manoeuvringplural men of letters [C]
a male writer, especially one who writes NOVELs or writes about literaturealso man-o'-war $ plural men-of-war [C]
a ship with guns that was used in the past in sea battles $ [C]
1 also manor house a big old house with a large area of land around it
2 the land that belonged to an important man, under the FEUDAL system
3 BrE informal the area that a group of police officers are responsible for; = patch, turf [only before noun]
relating to a manor:
•a study based on manorial records $ [U]
all the workers available for a particular kind of work:
•a lack of trained manpower
•a scheme to increase police manpower $
artist/actor/teacher etc manqué someone who could have been successful as an artist etc, but never became onealso mansard roof $ [C] technical
a roof whose lower part slopes more steeply than its upper part [C]
the house of a Christian minister, especially in Scotland $ [C] old-fashioned
a male servant, especially a man's personal servant; = valet [in U nouns]
a particular art or skill:
•seamanship (=sailing skill)
•statesmanship (=skill at being a political or government leader) [C]
1 a very large house:
•a beautiful country mansion
2 Mansions used in Britain in the names of some apartment buildings:
•19 Carlyle Mansionsalso man-size [only before noun]
1 large and considered suitable for a man:
•a man-sized breakfast
•man-size tissues
2 about the same size as a man:
•man-sized plants $ [U]
law the crime of killing someone illegally but not deliberately; homicide, murder
•She was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.also mantel especially AmE mantelshelf BrE [C]
a wooden or stone shelf which is the top part of a frame surrounding a FIREPLACE:
•The clock on the mantelpiece struck 10. plural mantises or mantids [C]
a PRAYING MANTIS
1 take on/assume/wear the mantle of sth formal to accept or have an important duty or job:
•It is up to Europe to take on the mantle of leadership in environmental issues.
2 a mantle of snow/darkness etc literary something such as snow or darkness that covers a surface or area:
•A mantle of snow lay on the trees.
3 [C] a loose piece of outer clothing without sleeves, worn especially in former times
4 [C] a cover that is put over the flame of a gas or oil lamp to make it shine more brightly
5 [singular] technical the part of the Earth around the central CORE[T]
literary to cover the surface of something[only before noun] informal
1 if two men have a man-to-man talk, they discuss something in an honest, direct way
2 playing a sport in such a way that one person on your team tries to stay close to one person on the other team
- man-to-man adverb
•You two need to discuss this man-to-man. [C]
1 a word or sound that is repeated as a prayer or to help people MEDITATE
recite/repeat a mantra
•He closed his eyes and began to recite a Buddhist mantra.
2 a word or phrase representing a rule or principle which someone often uses, but which other people often find annoying or boring:
•The Treasury Secretary has stuck to his mantra that 'a strong dollar is in America's interest'.
3 a piece of holy writing in the Hindu religion
1 manual work involves using your hands or your physical strength rather than your mind; = blue-collar
manual job/labour/worker etc
•low-paid manual jobs
•People in manual occupations have a lower life expectancy.
2 operated or done by hand or without the help of electricity, computers etc; automatic
•a manual typewriter
•a five-speed manual gearbox
•It would take too long to do a manual search of all the data.
3 relating to how well you use your hands to make or do things:
•No great manual dexterity (=skill in using your hands) is required to perform the technique.
- manually adverb[C]
1 a book that gives instructions about how to do something, especially how to use a machine
instruction/training/reference etc manual
•Consult the computer manual if you have a problem.
•a user manual
2 on manual if a machine is on manual, it can only be operated by hand and not AUTOMATICALLY $ [T]
1 to use machines to make goods or materials, usually in large numbers or amounts:
•the company that manufactured the drug
•manufactured goods
2 to invent an untrue story, excuse etc; = fabricate
•If the media can manufacture stories like this, who are we supposed to believe?
3 technical if your body manufactures a particular useful substance, it produces it
1 [U] the process of making goods or materials using machines, usually in large numbers or amounts:
•Cost will determine the methods of manufacture.
2 manufactures [plural] technical goods that are produced in large quantities using machinery $ [C]
also manufacturers [plural] a company that makes large quantities of goods:
•Read the manufacturer's instructions before using your new dishwasher.
•The fridge was sent back to the manufacturers. [U]
the process or business of producing goods in factories:
•Thousands of jobs had been lost in manufacturing.
•the manufacturing industry $ [U]
waste matter from animals that is mixed with soil to improve the soil and help plants grow
- manure verb [T] [C]
1 a book or piece of writing before it is printed
in manuscript
•I read his novel in manuscript.
•Unfortunately, parts of the original manuscript have been lost.
2 a book or document written by hand before printing was invented:
•a fine collection of medieval manuscripts
from or relating to the Isle of Man or its people:
•the Manx government[C]
a breed of cat that has no tail or only a very short tail
1 a large number of people or things; few ; more, most, much
•Many people have to use a car to travel to work.
•I don't have many friends.
•My mother has lived in Spain for many years.
•Do you get many visitors?
•Some of the houses have bathrooms but many do not.
•His third novel is regarded by many (=a lot of people) as his best.
[+of]
•Many of our staff work part-time.
•There are plenty of cafes and bars, many of them serving excellent food.
•There are so many things we disagree about.
• Not many (=only a few) people can afford my services.
•You've been reading too many romantic novels (=more than you should).
•One job loss is one too many (=one more than is acceptable, needed etc).
the many people/things etc
•We should like to thank the many people who have written to us offering their support.
many hundreds/thousands/millions
•military equipment worth many millions of dollars
a great many/a good many/very many (=a very large number)
•Most of the young men went off to the war, and a great many never came back.
•It all happened a good many years ago.
2 how many used to ask or talk about how large a number or quantity is:
•How many sisters do you have?
•I didn't know how many tickets to buy.
3 as many a number that is equal to another number:
•They say the people of Los Angeles speak 12 languages and teach just as many in the schools.
as many (...) as
•Grandfather claimed to have as many medals as the general.
•There weren't as many people at the meeting as we had hoped.
in as many days/weeks/games etc
•A great trip! We visited five countries in as many days (=in five days).
twice/three times etc as many
•The company now employs four times as many women as men.
4 as many as 50/1000 etc used to emphasize how surprisingly large a number is:
•As many as 10,000 civilians are thought to have fled the area.
5 many a sth formal or old-fashioned a large number of people or things:
•Many a parent has had to go through this same painful process.
•I've sat here many a time (=often) and wondered what happened to her.
6 many's the time/day etc (that/when) old-fashioned used to say that a particular thing has happened often:
•Many's the time we've had to borrow money in order to get through the month.
7 have had one too many informal to be drunk:
•Don't pay any attention to him - he's had one too many.
8 many thanks written used especially in formal letters to thank someone for something
[+for]
•Many thanks for your letter of 17 March.
9 the many formal a very large group of people, especially the public in general:
•This war is another example of the few sacrificing their lives for the many.
in as many words at WORD^1

GRAMMAR
Many is used mainly in questions and negative sentences: Were there many people at the party? | There weren't many people at the party.
In other sentences, phrases like a lot of and plenty of are used instead: Slovakia has a lot of small towns (NOT Slovakia has many small towns).
However, many can be used in formal English: Many politicians expressed concern about the high level of defence spending.
Many can also be used after too, so, and as: There are too many mistakes in this work. | I didn't realize I had so many friends. | Bring as many people as you want.

!! Do not use 'and' after many and before an adjective: There are not many interesting Sunday newspapers (NOT There are not many and interesting Sunday newspapers).

[C] technical
the amount of work done by one person in a year, used as a measurement:
•The project will take five man-years to complete.
consisting of many different qualities or features:
•a complex many-sided personality
1 [C] someone who belongs to the race of people that first lived in New Zealand and now forms only a small part of the population
2 [U] the language used by the Maori people
- Maori adjective
•Maori children [C]
1 a drawing of a particular area for example a city or country, which shows its main features, such as its roads, rivers, mountains etc:
•According to the map we should turn left.
•I'll draw a map of where we live.
on a map
•I'm just trying to find Vancouver Island on the map.
[+of]
•a large-scale map of Mexico City
street/road/route map
•a full colour street map of Amsterdam
•Do you know how to read a map (=understand the information it gives)?
2 a drawing of an area showing some kind of special feature, for example the type of rocks, weather, population etc; = chart
•an archaeological map of the area
•the colour weather map in the newspaper
political map (=one showing where political parties have power, or where countries are)
3 put sth on the map to make a place famous:
•It was the Olympic Games that really put Seoul on the map.
4 off the map informal a long way from any large town:
•It's a small place in Nebraska. Right off the map.
wipe sth off the map at WIPE^1 (8)past tense and past participle mapped, present participle mapping [T]
1 to make a map of a particular area:
•He spent the next fifteen years mapping the Isle of Anglesey.
2 to discover or show information about something, especially about its shape or arrangement, or how it moves or works:
•The points at which stress and anxiety emerge can be mapped.

PHRASAL VERBS
map onto sth phr v
to match something or have a direct relationship with something

map sth <=> out phr v
to plan carefully how something will happen:
•Her own future had been mapped out for her by wealthy and adoring parents.
1 also maple tree [C] a tree which grows mainly in northern countries such as Canada. Its leaves have five points and turn red or gold in autumn.
2 [U] the wood from a maple[U]
a sweet sticky liquid obtained from some kinds of maple tree which is eaten especially on PANCAKEs [U]
the practice of using a map to find which way you should go
- map-reader noun [C]also Mar BrE
the written abbreviation of March $ past tense and past participle marred, present participle marring [T]
to make something less attractive or enjoyable; = spoil
•Their wedding was marred by the death of Jenny's mother a week earlier.
•A frown marred his handsome features.marabout [C]
a large African STORK (=a long-legged bird) $ [plural]
a pair of hollow balls with handles, filled with small objects, that you shake and use as a musical instrument $
[U] a sweet alcoholic drink made from a type of black CHERRY[C]
a CHERRY that has been kept in maraschino. Maraschino cherries are used to decorate alcoholic drinks or cakes. $ [C]
1 a long race of about 26 miles or 42 kilometres:
•the Boston Marathon
•Garcia ran the marathon in just under three hours.
2 an activity that continues for a long time and needs a lot of energy, patience, or determination:
•We finished the job but it was quite a marathon.[only before noun]
a marathon event continues for a long time and needs a lot of energy, patience, or determination:
•a marathon round of negotiationsalso marathon runner $ [C]
someone who runs in a marathon:
•an Olympic marathoner $ [only before noun] written
a marauding person or animal moves around looking for something to destroy or kill:
•marauding street gangs
- marauder noun [C] $
1 [U] a type of hard rock that becomes smooth when it is polished, and is used for making buildings, STATUEs etc:
•The columns were of white marble.
•a marble statue
2 [C] a small coloured glass ball that children roll along the ground as part of a game
3 marbles [U] a game played by children using marbles
4 lose your marbles informal to start behaving in a crazy way; = go mad
5 [C] a STATUE or SCULPTURE made of marble $
1 having an irregular pattern of lines and colours:
•a marbled book cover
•marbled meat (=with lines of fat in it)
2 made of marble:
•Footsteps rang out along the marbled hallway.written abbreviation Mar. [C,U]
the third month of the year, between February and April
next/last March
•She started work here last March.
in March
•The theatre opened in March 2001.
on March 6th
•There's a meeting on March 6th.
on 6th March BrE
•I wrote to my bank on 6th March.
March 6 AmE
•The hospital is scheduled to open March 6. $
1 [I] if soldiers or other people march somewhere, they walk there quickly with firm regular steps
[+across/along/past etc]
•On 29 August the royal army marched into Inverness.
[+on]
•He gathered his troops and prepared to march on the capital (=march to the capital in order to attack it).
Quick march! (=an order to tell people to start marching)
•We marched 50 km across the foothills.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if a large group of people march somewhere, they walk there together to express their ideas or protest about something:
•An estimated 5,000 people marched through the city to demonstrate against the factory closures.
[+on]
•Outraged citizens marched on City Hall (=marched to City Hall), demanding the police chief's resignation.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to walk somewhere quickly and with determination, often because you are angry
[+off/out etc]
•Brett marched out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
4 [T always + adv/prep] to force someone to walk somewhere with you, often pushing or pulling them roughly
march sb to/into etc sth
•Mr Carter marched us to the principal's office.
5 be given/get your marching orders BrE informal to be ordered to leave, especially because someone no longer wants you to work for them or no longer wants a relationship with you
6 time marches on used to say that as time goes by, situations change and things do not remain the same[C]
1 an organized event in which many people walk together to express their ideas or protest about something:
•In the end the police decided not to ban the march.
protest/civil rights/peace etc march
•I went on a lot of peace marches when I was a student.
2 when soldiers walk with firm regular steps from one place to another:
•From Calais the general led his forces on a long march southwards.
3 on the march
a) an army that is on the march is marching somewhere
b) a belief, idea etc that is on the march is becoming stronger and more popular:
•Fascism is on the march again in some parts of Europe.
4 a day's march/two weeks' march etc the distance a group of soldiers can march in a particular period of time:
•Lake Van was still three days' march away.
5 the march of time/history/progress etc formal the way that things happen or change over time and cannot be stopped:
•You can't control the march of science.
•She was desperate to halt the march of time upon her face and figure.
6 a piece of music for people to march to:
•military marches
•a funeral march
7 marches [plural] the area around the border between England and Wales or between England and Scotland
steal a march on at STEAL^1 (8) $ [C]
a member of a group of people that are walking somewhere in order to express their ideas or protest about something; demonstrator, protester
•civil rights marchers[C]
a group of musicians who march as they play musical instruments $ [C]
1 the wife of a MARQUIS
2 a woman who has the rank of MARQUIS[singular]
when soldiers march past an important person during a ceremony:
•300 war veterans took part in the parade and march-past. $ [U]
the day before LENT begins, or the music, dancing etc that happen on this day in some countries $ [C]
1 a female horse or DONKEY; stallion, filly
2 mare's nest
a) a discovery that seems important but is actually of no value
b) a confused situation or a very untidy place $ [U]
a yellow substance similar to butter but made from vegetable or animal fats, which you eat with bread or use for cooking $ [C]
an alcoholic drink made with TEQUILA and LEMON or LIME juice $ [U]
BrE spoken informal margarine $ [C]
1 the empty space at the side of a page:
•Someone had scribbled a note in the margin.
•Use double spacing and wide margins to leave room for comments.
2 the difference in the number of votes, points etc that exists between the winners and the losers of a competition or election
by a wide/narrow/significant etc margin
•They're a world-class team and it was no surprise that they won by such a wide margin.
by a margin of 10 points/100 votes etc
•The bill was approved by a margin of 55 votes.
3 the difference between what it costs a business to buy or produce something and what they sell it for:
•Margins are low and many companies are struggling.
•Within 10 years they had a gross profit margin of 50%.
4 [usually singular] an additional amount of something such as time, money, or space that you include in order to make sure that you are successful in achieving something:
•It'll take about 30 minutes to dry but I'd allow a safety margin of, say, another 10 minutes.
5 margin of error the degree to which a calculation might or can be wrong:
•The survey has a margin of error of 2.1%.
6 margin for error how many mistakes you can make and still be able to achieve something:
•At this late stage in the competition there is absolutely no margin for error.
7 technical or literary the edge of something, especially an area of land or water:
•the western margin of southern Africa
8 on the margin(s) a person on the margins of a situation or group has very little power, importance or influence; = on the fringes
•unemployed youths living on the margins of society $
1 a marginal change or difference is too small to be important:
•a marginal increase in the unemployment figures
•a marginal improvement in profits
2 technical relating to a change in cost, value etc when one more thing is produced, one more dollar is earned etc:
•marginal revenue
3 marginal seat/constituency BrE a SEAT in a parliament or similar institution, which can be won or lost by a small number of votes
4 marginal people or groups not are considered powerful or important; mainstream
•The album contains too many songs by marginal bands.
5 [only before noun] written in a margin:
•marginal notesalso marginalise BrE $ [T]
to make a person or a group of people unimportant and powerless in an unfair way:
•Female employees complained of being marginalized by management.
- marginalized adjective
- marginalization $ noun [U] $
not enough to make an important difference; = slightly
•Gina's grades have improved marginally since last term.
•The new system is only marginally more efficient than the old one. $ [U]
a kind of Mexican dance music $ [C]
a plant with yellow or orange flowers [U]
an illegal drug smoked like a cigarette, made from the dried leaves of the HEMP plant; = cannabis [C]
a musical instrument like a XYLOPHONE [C]
a small port or area of water where people keep boats that are used for pleasure [C,U]
a mixture of oil and spices in which meat or fish is put for a time before cookingalso marinade [I,T]
to put meat or fish in a marinade, or to be left in a marinade for some time
marinate (sth) in sth
•fish marinated in olive oil, garlic and vinegar[C]
a soldier who serves on a ship, especially a member of the Royal Marines or the US Marine Corps [only before noun]
1 relating to the sea and the creatures that live there:
•the enormous variety of marine life
•the effects of oil pollution on marine mammals
•marine biology
2 relating to ships or the navy; = maritime
the Marine Corps one of the main parts of the US armed forces, consisting of soldiers who serve on ships $ [C]
literary a SAILOR [C]
a PUPPET whose arms and legs are moved by pulling strings [only before noun]
relating to marriage:
•marital problems
•the increase in marital breakdown
marital bliss (=the state of being very happily married - used humorously)[U]
whether someone is married - used especially on official forms:
•Marital status: married/single/divorced
•questions about age, sex and marital status [only before noun]
1 relating to the sea or ships; = marine
•San Francisco has lost nearly all of its maritime industry.
2 near the sea:
•the Canadian maritime provinces $ [U]
a herb that smells sweet and is used in cooking $ [C]
1 DIRT a spot or dirty area on something that spoils its appearance:
•I can't get these marks out of my T-shirt.
•His feet left dirty marks all over the floor.
•Police said the skid marks (=marks left by a car's tyres) were over 30 feet long.
2 DAMAGED AREA a cut, hole, or other small sign of damage
burn/scratch/bite etc mark
•a burn mark on the kitchen table
•There were scratch marks all over the victim's body.
3 COLOURED AREA a small area of darker or lighter colour on a plain surface such as a person's skin or an animal's fur:
•The kitten is mainly white with black marks on her back.
BIRTHMARK
4 WRITING a shape or sign that is written or printed:
•What do those strange marks at the top mean?
• Make a mark at the bottom of the page.
5 LEVEL/NUMBER a particular level, number, amount etc
pass/reach/approach etc the ... mark
•The temperature is not expected to reach the 20 degree mark in the next few days.
•In 1976 unemployment in Britain passed the one million mark.
6 STUDENT'S WORK especially BrE a letter or number given by a teacher to show how good a student's work is; = grade AmE
good/high mark
•The highest mark was a B+.
•Her marks have been a lot lower this term.
•She always gets good marks.
pass mark (=the mark you need in order to pass an exam)
•The pass mark was 75%.
full/top marks (=the highest possible mark)
7 full/top marks for effort/trying/persistence etc BrE spoken used to praise someone for trying hard to do something, even though they did not succeed:
•I have to give you top marks for determination.
8 high/low mark approval or disapproval of something or of the way someone has done something:
•Parents gave the kit high marks.
•his low marks as transportation chief
9 make/leave your mark to become successful or famous:
•It took Hughes only two games to make his mark.
[+as]
•Dorsey made his mark as a pianist in the 1920s.
[+on/in]
•Cobb has left his mark on baseball history.
10 leave/make its mark on sb/sth to affect someone or something so that they change in a permanent or very noticeable way:
•Singers like Franklin and Redding helped gospel music make its mark on popular culture.
•Growing up during the war had left its mark on her.
11 off the mark/wide of the mark not correct; = inaccurate
•Our cost estimate was way off the mark.
12 be a mark of sth to show that someone or something is a particular thing, has a particular quality etc; = be a sign of sth
•The ability to perform well under pressure is the mark of a true champion.
13 a mark of respect/honour/affection etc something that happens or is done to show respect, honour etc
[+for]
•The plaque awarded to Grant is a mark of recognition for his years of service.
•There was a two-minute silence as a mark of respect for the dead.
14 Mark 2/6 etc also mark 2/6 etc
a) especially BrE a particular type or model of a car, machine etc:
•an old Mark 2 Ford Cortina
b) a measurement used in Britain for the temperature of a gas OVEN:
•Cook for 40 minutes at gas mark 6.
15 hit/miss the mark
a) to hit or miss the thing that you were shooting at
b) to succeed or fail to have the effect you wanted:
•Although it contains a certain amount of truth, this theory ultimately misses the mark.
16 be quick/slow/first etc off the mark informal to be quick, slow, first etc to understand things or react to situations:
•You'll have to be quick off the mark if you want to find a job around here.
17 not up to the mark BrE
a) not good enough:
•Her work just isn't up to the mark.
b) old-fashioned not well and healthy:
•I'm not feeling quite up to the mark today.
18 the halfway mark the point in a race, journey, or event that is half way between the start and the finish
19 bear the mark of sth
a) to show the physical signs of something which happened in the past:
•His face bore the marks of many missions.
b) if something bears the mark of something or someone, it has signs that show who or what made it or influenced it:
•His speech bore all the marks of his military background.
20 on your mark(s), get set, go! spoken said in order to start a race
21 MONEY the standard unit of money used in Germany before the EURO
22 SIGNATURE old use a sign in the form of a cross, used by someone who is not able to write their name
!! Do not use mark when you mean a particular type of product. Use make or brand: an expensive make of camera | a well-known brand of toothpaste
EXCLAMATION MARK
overstep the mark at OVERSTEP (2); PUNCTUATION MARK, QUESTION MARK, SPEECH MARKS
1 WRITE ON STH [T] to write or draw on something, so that someone will notice what you have written:
•I've marked the pages you need to look at.
mark sth with sth
•When you're done, put your sheet in the envelope marked with your name.
mark sth on sth
•Peter marked his name on the first page.
mark sth personal/fragile/urgent etc
•a document marked 'confidential'
mark sb present/absent (=write on an official list that someone is there or not there, especially in school)
•Any student who is more than 20 minutes late for class will be marked absent.
•All school uniform should be clearly marked with the child's name.
2 DAMAGE [I,T] to make a mark on something in a way that spoils its appearance or damages it, or to become spoiled in this way:
•Take off your shoes so you don't mark the floor.
•The disease had marked her face for life.
•The table marks easily, so please be careful.
3 CELEBRATE [T] to celebrate an important event:
•celebrations to mark Australia Day
mark sth with sth
•Carter's 90th birthday will be marked with a large party at the Savoy Hotel.
•Mrs Lawson was presented with a gold watch to mark the occasion.
4 SHOW POSITION [T] to show where something is:
•A simple wooden cross marked her grave.
•He had marked the route on the map in red.
mark sth with sth
•Troop positions were marked with colored pins.
•She placed a bookmark between the pages to mark her place.
5 YEAR/MONTH/WEEK [T] if a particular year, month, or week marks an important event, the event happened on that date during a previous year:
•This week marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Priestley.
6 SHOW A CHANGE [T] to be a sign of an important change or an important stage in the development of something:
•Her latest novel marks a turning point in her development as a writer.
•The move seemed to mark a major change in government policy.
•These elections mark the end of an era.
7 QUALITY/FEATURE [T usually passive] if something is marked by a particular quality or feature, it is a typical or important part of that thing; = characterize
•The villages of East Anglia are marked by beautiful churches with fine towers.
8 STUDENT'S WORK [T] especially BrE to read a piece of written work and put a number or letter on it to show how good it is; = grade AmE
•I've got a pile of exam papers to mark.
9 SPORT [T] especially BrE to stay close to a player of the opposite team during a game; = guard AmE
10 be marking time to spend time not doing very much except waiting for something else to happen:
•I was just marking time until a better job came up.
11 mark time if soldiers mark time, they move their legs as if they were marching, but remain in the same place
12 (you) mark my words! spoken used to tell someone that they should pay attention to what you are saying:
•They're going to regret firing me, you mark my words.
13 mark you BrE old-fashioned used to emphasize something you say; = mind you
•Her uncle's just given her a car - given, mark you, not lent.

PHRASAL VERBS
mark sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to write something down, especially in order to keep a record:
•Mark down everything you eat on your daily chart.
mark sb/sth down as sth
•The teacher marked him down as absent.
2 to reduce the price of something; mark up ; markdown
•Winter coats have been marked down from $80 to $50.
3 especially BrE to give a student a lower result in a test, paper etc because they have made mistakes:
•Students will be marked down for failing to follow directions.

mark sb/sth down as sth phr v
BrE to consider someone or something to be a particular type of person or thing:
•When I first saw Gilbert play I marked him down as a future England player.

mark sb/sth <=> off phr v
1 to make an area separate by drawing a line around it, putting a rope around it etc:
•The competitors' arena had been marked off with cones.
2 to make a mark on a list to show that something has been done or completed; = tick off, check off
•Mark off each of the names on the list as I call them out.
3 BrE to make something or someone different from other things or people of a similar type; = distinguish
[+from]
•Sara's natural flair for languages marked her off from the other students.

mark sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to show the shape or position of something by drawing lines around it:
•A volleyball court had been marked out on the grass.
2 BrE to make someone or something seem very different from or better than other similar people or things
mark sb/sth out as sth
•His stunning victory marked him out as the very best horse of his era.
mark sb out for sth
•She seemed marked out for success.

mark sth <=> up phr v
1 to increase the price of something, so that you sell it for more than you paid for it; mark down
•Compact discs may be marked up as much as 80%.
MARK-UP
2 to write notes or instructions for changes on a piece of writing, music etc:
•I have to mark up the pages and send them back to the printer.
MARKED $ [C]
a reduction in the price of something
[+of]
•a markdown of 15% $
1 [only before noun] very easy to notice; = noticeable
•a marked lack of enthusiasm
•The patient showed a marked improvement in her condition after changing medication.
•Miller's organized desk stood in marked contrast to the rest of the office.
2 marked man/woman a person who is in danger because someone wants to harm them
- markedly $ adverb
•Johnson and Rivera have markedly different leadership styles. $ [C]
1 an object, sign etc that shows the position of something:
•He buried the bodies in a single grave with a wooden cross as a marker.
2 something which shows that a quality or feature exists or is present; = mark
[+of/for]
•antibodies which are a marker of hepatitis
•the use of slang as a marker of social identity
3 also marker pen BrE a large pen with a thick point made of FELT, used for marking or drawing things
MAGIC MARKER
4 put/lay/set down a marker BrE to say or do something that clearly shows what you will do in the future[C] BrE
a MARKER (3) $
1 PLACE TO BUY THINGS [C]
a) a time when people buy and sell goods, food etc, or the place, usually outside or in a large building, where this happens:
•I usually buy all my vegetables at the market.
fish/fruit and vegetable/flower etc market
•There's a good antiques market here on Sundays.
street market (=with a lot of different people selling things from tables, STALLs etc in the street)
b) AmE a shop that sells food and things for the home; = grocery store
2 the market
a) the STOCK MARKET:
•Most analysts are forecasting a further downturn in the market.
•As soon as she graduated from college, she started to play the market (=risk money on the stock market).
• The markets (=all the stock markets in the world) are better prepared for a weakening economy than they were ten years ago.
b) the total amount of trade in a particular kind of goods:
•Honda is trying to increase its market share.
•the state of the art market
the housing/property etc market
•Investors in the property market are worried about rising inflation.
[+in]
•the world market in aluminum
BEAR MARKET, BULL MARKET
c) the system in which all prices and wages depend on what goods people want to buy, how many they buy etc:
•The president believes prices should be determined by the market, not the government.
FREE MARKET
3 on the market available for people to buy:
•The manufacturers say the device will be on the market by May.
•Handguns are freely available on the open market (=for anyone to buy).
•They knew it wasn't a good time to sell their house, but they still put it on the market (=offered it for sale).
•a revolutionary new drug that has just come onto the market
!! Do not say 'in the market'. Say on the market.
4 COUNTRY/AREA [C] a particular country or area where a company sells its goods or where a particular type of goods is sold:
•Our main overseas market is Japan.
international/home/UK etc market
•The domestic market makes up about 75% of their sales.
[+for]
•The world's largest market for illegal drugs is the United States.
5 PEOPLE WHO BUY [singular] the number of people who want to buy something, or the type of people who want to buy it
[+for]
•The market for specialist academic books is pretty small.
•He's been trying to determine if there is a market for his invention.
niche/specialist market
6 be in the market for sth to be interested in buying something:
•This is a bad time to be in the market for a new car.
7 the job/labour market the people looking for work, and the number of jobs that are available:
•The job market has been badly hit by the recession.
8 a buyer's/seller's market a time that is better for buyers because prices are low, or better for sellers because prices are high:
•I'll look for a house next year when it's more of a buyer's market.
corner the market at CORNER^2 (3)
price yourself out of the market at PRICE^2 (4)[T]
1 to try to persuade people to buy a product by advertising it in a particular way, using attractive packages etc:
•If you could ever figure out how to market this you'd make a fortune.
market sth for sb
•They plan to market the toy for children aged 2 to 6.
market sth as sth
•Electric cars are being marketed as safe for the environment.
2 to make a product available in shops:
•The turkeys are marketed ready-to-cook. $
marketable goods, skills etc can be sold easily because people want them:
•The program is designed to provide students with real, marketable skills.
- marketability $ noun [U][C,U]
BrE the day in the week when there is a market in a particular town
market-driven activities, products, developments etc are a result of public demand for a particular product, service, or skill:
•a market-driven economy[C]
an economic system in which companies are not controlled by the government but decide what they want to produce or sell, based on what they believe they can make a profit fromalso marketer $ [C]
someone who sells goods or services
- marketeering noun [U][plural]
the way that the behaviour of buyers and sellers affects the levels of prices and wages, without any influence from the government[C] BrE
an area of land where vegetables and fruit are grown so that they can be sold; = truck farm AmE
- market gardener noun [C] $ [U]
the activity of deciding how to advertise a product, what price to charge for it etc, or the type of job in which you do this:
•a clever marketing ploy
•Company sales improved dramatically following a $2 million marketing campaign.
•a career in sales and marketing
•Cushman is director of marketing for a chain of Italian restaurants.
•You should contact the company's UK marketing manager.[C]
the company that sells the most of a particular type of product, or the product that is the most successful one of its type:
•the UK market leader in sports shoesBrE
MARKET-DRIVEN $ [C] BrE technical
an organization such as a bank or a BROKER who keeps a supply of STOCKs and SHAREs available for people who want to buy them $ [C]
1 the marketplace the part of business activity that is concerned with buying and selling goods in competition with other companies:
•Some retailers worry that new regulations will hurt their ability to compete in the marketplace.
2 an open area in a town where a market is held[C]
the price of something on a MARKET at a particular time[U]
a business activity which involves collecting information about what goods people buy and why they buy them:
•They had to conduct market research, then advertise the product.[C,U]
the PERCENTAGE of sales in a MARKET that a company or product has[C]
BrE a town where there is an outdoor market, usually once or twice a week[C,U]
1 the value of a product, building etc based on the price that people are willing to pay for it, rather than the cost of producing it or building it
2 the total value of all the SHAREs on a STOCK MARKET, or the value of a particular company's shares $
1 [C usually plural, U] things painted or written on something, especially something such as an aircraft, road, vehicle etc:
•The marking on the road is unclear.
•There were strange markings on the walls of the cave.
2 [C usually plural, U] the coloured patterns and shapes on an animal's fur, on leaves etc:
•This particular dolphin is noted for its distinctive black and white markings.
•the vivid markings of the angelfish
3 [U] especially BrE the activity of checking students' written work; = grading AmE
•I have to do a lot of marking tonight.
•the setting and marking of exams $ plural markkaa [C]
the standard unit of money used in Finland before the Euro $ plural marksmen [C]
someone who can shoot a gun very well $ [U]
the ability to shoot a gun very wellmarkup AmE $ [C] BrE
an increase in the price of something, especially from the price a shop pays for something to the price it sells it for; mark up
•The retailer's mark-up is 50%. $ [U]
1 soil consisting of LIME and CLAY
2 cloth which has pale threads running through another colour:
•a jacket available in black or grey marl $ plural marlin [C]
a large sea fish with a long sharp nose, which people hunt for sport $ [U]
a JAM made from fruit such as oranges, LEMONs or GRAPEFRUIT, usually eaten at breakfast $ [C]
a type of small monkey with long hair and large eyes that lives in Central and South America $ [C]
a small European or American animal with fur and short front legs which lives under the ground [U]
a dark brownish red colour
- maroon adjective[T usually passive]
to be left in a place where there are no other people and where you cannot escape:
•The car broke down and left us marooned in the middle of nowhere. $ [C] BrE
the well-known name of a type of car or other product, especially an expensive one:
•the prestigious Ferrari marque $ [C]
1 BrE a large tent at an outdoor event or large party, used especially for eating or drinking in
2 AmE a large sign above the door of a theatre or cinema which covers the entrance and gives the name of the play or film
3 AmE marquee player, actor etc someone who people want to see because they are good or famous $ [C]
BrE a MARQUIS $ [U]
a pattern made of coloured pieces of wood laid together, or the art of making these patterns $ [C]
a man who, in the British system of NOBLE titles, has a rank between DUKE and EARL:
•the Marquis of Bath
1 [C,U] the relationship between two people who are married, or the state of being married

happy/unhappy marriage
mixed marriage (=between people of different races or religions)
arranged marriage (=your parents choose the person who you marry)
loveless marriage
a marriage breaks down (=it ends because of disagreements)
the breakdown/break-up of your marriage (=the end of your marriage)
sex before marriage/outside marriage
be born outside marriage (=be born when your parents are not married)
propose marriage formal (=ask someone to marry you)
consummate a marriage (=make your marriage complete by having sex)
annul a marriage formal (=a court or church leader officially ends a marriage)

•She has three daughters from a previous marriage.
•One in three marriages ends in divorce.
[+to]
•his marriage to Marilyn Monroe
[+between]
•In Denmark they have legalized marriage between gay couples.
•They have a very happy marriage.
•children of mixed marriages
•Women were often forced into arranged marriages.
•She felt trapped in a loveless marriage.
•She moved to London after the break-up of her marriage.
•My parents disapprove of sex before marriage.
•More than half of all births in the region are outside marriage.

2 [C] the ceremony in which two people get married; = wedding
•The marriage took place at St Bartholomew's church.
3 by marriage if you are related to someone by marriage, they are married to someone in your family, or you are married to someone in theirs:
•her cousin by marriage old-fashioned
suitable for marriage:
•a girl of marriageable age[C] BrE old-fashioned
an organization that helps people find partners to marry[C]
an official document that proves that two people are marriedmarriage counseling AmE [U] BrE
advice given to people who are having difficulties in their marriagemarriage license AmE [C] BrE
an official written document saying that two people are allowed to get married[plural] BrE old-fashioned
a MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE[C]
1 an agreement between two or more countries, businesses, or people that is only made for political or economic reasons
2 a marriage for political or economic reasons, not for love[C usually plural]
a promise that you make during the marriage ceremony
1 having a husband or a wife:
•Are you married or single?
•They've been married for eight years.
•Married men earn 70 percent more than single men.
[+to]
•Nicole is married to my brother.
•We're getting married (=marrying) next month.
married couple/man/woman
•a happily married man
•When she first came to London, she was newly married and out of work.
•So, how do you like married life?
!! Do not say 'be married with' someone or 'get married with' someone. Say be married to someone or get married to someone.
2 be married to sth to give most of your time and attention to a job or activity:
•I was married to my job.

WORD FOCUS: married
single not married
divorced if you are divorced, you have officially ended your marriage to someone
engaged if you are engaged to be married, you have formally agreed to marry someone in the future
widowed if you are widowed, your husband or wife has died
be living together to be living as a couple in the same house without being married
spouse formal the person you are married to
partner your husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend
marital status whether you are single or married - used on official forms
$
1 [U] the soft fatty substance in the hollow centre of bones; = bone marrow
•a bone marrow transplant
2 [C,U] BrE a large long dark green vegetable that grows on the ground
3 chilled/frozen/shocked etc to the marrow BrE literary very cold, shocked etc[C,U] BrE
a large bone that contains a lot of marrow past tense and past participle married, present participle marrying, third person singular marries
1 [I,T] if you marry someone, you become their husband or wife; married
•He married Bea in 1925.
•I'm going to ask her to marry me on St Valentine's Day.
•She married young (=at a young age), and was divorced when her children were tiny.
•People in higher social classes are more likely to marry late (=when they are older than is usual).
•Sophia had, in a sense, married beneath her (=married someone of a lower social class than her).
!! In spoken English, get married is more common than marry.
2 [T] to perform the ceremony at which two people get married:
•The priest who married us was really nice.
3 [T] to find a husband or wife for one of your children
marry sb to sb
•She was determined to marry all of her daughters to rich men.
4 also marry up [T] formal to combine two different ideas, designs, tastes etc together
marry sth with/to sth
•The building's design marries a traditional style with modern materials.
marry sth and sth
•He writes fiction that marries up realism and the supernatural.
5 not the marrying kind not the type of person who wants to get married:
•I'm just not the marrying kind.

PHRASAL VERBS
marry into sth phr v
to join a family or social group by marrying someone who belongs to it:
•She married into a very wealthy family.

marry sb <=> off phr v
to find a husband or wife for someone - used in order to show disapproval
[+to]
•They married her off to the first young man who came along.

WORD FOCUS: marry
wedding the ceremony at which people get married
bride the woman who is getting married
bridegroom /groom the man who is getting married
the best man a friend of the groom, who helps him and gives a speech
bridesmaid a woman or girl who helps the bride
matron of honour BrE /honor AmE a married woman who helps the bride on her wedding day
reception the meal after the wedding
honeymoon the holiday that people go on after they get married
hen night BrE /bridal shower AmE a party before the wedding for the bride
stag night BrE /bachelor party AmE a party before the wedding for the groom
propose to ask someone to marry you
get engaged to formally agree to marry each other
$
the small red PLANET that is fourth in order from the sun and is nearest the Earth; Martian
•the enormous volcanoes known to exist on Mars $
the Marseillaise the national song of France $ [C,U]
an area of low flat ground that is always wet and soft; bog, swamp
- marshy adjective
•The crane lives in marshy habitats. $ [C]
1 an officer of the highest rank in the army or air force of some countries:
•Marshal Zhukov
•the Marshal of the Royal Airforce
2 an official in charge of an important public event or ceremony:
•Heston has been named grand marshal of the parade.
3 a person who controls crowds, traffic etc at a sports event or other public event:
•I could see a marshal on the finish line waving a yellow flag.
4 federal/US marshal AmE a police officer employed by the national government to make sure people do what a COURT ORDER says they must do
5 AmE the officer in charge of a fire departmentpast tense and past participle marshalled, present participle marshalling BrE past tense and past participle marshaled, present participle marshaling AmE [T]
1 to organize your thoughts, ideas etc so that they are clear, effective, or easy to understand
marshal your thoughts/arguments etc
•Briggs paused for a moment as if to marshal his thoughts.
2 to organize all the people or things that you need in order to be ready for a battle, election etc:
•The general marshalled his forces for a major offensive.
•Senator Bryant attempted to marshal support for the measure.
3 to control or organize a large group:
•Gently, Ginny marshalled her guests in a better position.[C]
BrE a place where railway WAGONs are brought together to form trains[U]
gas formed from decaying plants under water in a MARSH; = methane $ [U]
an area of low wet ground that is always soft $ [C,U]
a very soft light white or pink sweet, made of sugar and egg WHITE $ [C]
an animal such as a KANGAROO which carries its babies in a pocket of skin on its body
- marsupial adjective $ [C]
1 AmE a place where goods are sold - used especially in the names of shops:
•the largest furniture mart in the region
•K-Mart
2 BrE a market, especially one where animals are sold $ [C]
a small animal with a long body and a tail that lives mainly in trees and that eats smaller animals:
•a pine marten $ [only before noun]
connected with war and fighting:
•martial music
COURT-MARTIAL[C usually plural]
a sport such as JUDO or KARATE, in which you fight with your hands and feet. Martial arts were developed in Eastern Asia:
•a martial arts expert[U]
a situation in which the army controls an area instead of the police, especially because of fighting against the government
impose/declare martial law
•The government may declare martial law in response to the latest violence in the region.
•In May, martial law was lifted (=ended) in most areas.
under martial law
•According to press reports, the country is now under martial law. $ [C]
an imaginary creature from the PLANET Mars
- Martian adjective $ [C]
a small bird like a SWALLOW $ [C]
formal someone who is very strict and makes people obey rules exactly; = disciplinarian
•The woman in charge was a martinet who treated us like children. $ [C,U] trademark
an alcoholic drink made by mixing GIN or VODKA with VERMOUTH:
•a dry (=not sweet) Martini $ [C]
1 someone who dies for their religious or political beliefs and is admired by people for this:
•St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr
[+to]
•He was a martyr to the cause of racial harmony.
•The army has been held back because the government is reluctant to make martyrs of the protesters.
2 someone who tries hard to get other people's sympathy by complaining about how hard their life is - used to show disapproval:
•I think she rather relishes the role of martyr.
3 be a martyr to sth BrE spoken to suffer a lot because of an illness, problem, or bad situation:
•She's a martyr to her arthritis.[T usually passive]
if someone is martyred, they are killed because of their religious beliefs:
•Becket was martyred in 1170.
be martyred for sth
•Catherine was martyred for her faith. $ [U]
death as a martyr:
•In that year, thousands of Christians suffered martyrdom for their faith. $
a martyred look/expression/air etc especially BrE an unhappy look or expression that is intended to make other people feel sorry for you:
•He did not reply, but got into the car glumly, with a martyred expression. $ past tense and past participle marvelled, present participle marvelling BrE past tense and past participle marveled, present participle marveling AmE [I,T]
to feel or express great surprise or admiration at something, especially someone's behaviour:
•'The man is a genius,' marvelled Claire.
[+at/over]
•I marvelled at my mother's ability to remain calm in a crisis.
•Visitors to Rome marvel over the beauty of the city.
marvel that
•I marvelled that anyone could be so stupid.[C]
something or someone that is extremely useful or skilful; = miracle, wonder
•an engineering marvel
•I don't know how he did it - he's an absolute marvel!
[+of]
•the marvels of modern sciencemarvelous AmE $ BrE
extremely good, enjoyable, impressive etc; = wonderful
•'How was your holiday?' 'Marvellous!'
•We had a marvellous time.
•I can't stand him, but my wife thinks he's marvellous.
• It's marvellous what they can do these days.
- marvellously adverb $ [U]
the system of political thinking invented by Karl Marx, which explains changes in history as the result of a struggle between social classes $
relating to or based on Marxism:
•a Marxist perspective[C]
someone who agrees with Marxism $ [U]
a sweet food made from ALMONDs , sugar, and eggs, used to make sweets and for covering cakesalso masc BrE
the written abbreviation of masculine $ [U]
a dark substance used to colour your EYELASHes and make them look thicker $ [C]
an animal or toy, or a person dressed as an animal, that represents a team or organization, and is thought to bring them good luck:
•the official mascot of the 2002 World Cup
•Rocky the Raccoon, the team mascot
1 having qualities considered to be typical of men or of what men do; feminine
•They're nice curtains, but I'd prefer something a little more masculine.
•She has a very masculine voice.
•Hunting was a typically masculine occupation.
2 in some languages, a masculine noun, PRONOUN etc belongs to a class of words that have different INFLECTIONs from FEMININE or NEUTER words:
•The word for 'book' is masculine in French. [U]
the features and qualities considered to be typical of men; femininity
•Children's ideas of masculinity tend to come from their fathers.
•boys trying to prove their masculinity $ [C] technical
a piece of equipment that produces a very powerful electric force; laseralso mash up [T]
to crush something, especially a food that has been cooked, until it is soft and smooth:
•Mash the bananas.
- mashed adjective
• mashed potatoes
- masher noun [C]
•a potato masher[U]
1 BrE informal potatoes that have been boiled and then crushed and mixed with milk until they are smooth:
•bangers (=sausages) and mash
2 a mixture of MALT or crushed grain and hot water, used to make beer or WHISKY
3 a mixture of grain cooked with water to make a food for animals [not before noun] BrE informal
very drunk or strongly affected by drugs:
•We got completely mashed last night. $ [C]
1 something that covers all or part of your face, to protect or to hide it:
•a surgical face mask
•He was attacked and robbed by two people wearing masks.
2 something that covers your face, and has another face painted on it, which is used for ceremonies or special occasions:
•a Halloween mask
3 [usually singular] an expression or way of behaving that hides your real emotions or character; = front
•Her sarcasm is a mask for her insecurity.
4 a substance that you put on your face and leave there for a short time to clean the skin or make it softer; = face pack
•a facial mask
DEATH MASK, GAS MASK[T]
1 if a smell, taste, sound etc is masked by a stronger one, it cannot be noticed because of the stronger one:
•Liz turned on a radio to mask the noise.
•Air-fresheners mask bad smells instead of removing them.
2 to hide your feelings or the truth about a situation:
•Men often mask their true feelings with humour.
3 to cover or hide something so that it cannot be clearly seen:
•The new accommodation block has all but masked the original building. $
wearing a mask:
•Masked gunmen opened fire on the bus.[C]
a formal dance at which everyone wears masks[U]
long narrow paper that is sticky on one side, used especially to protect the edge of an area which you are painting [U]
1 sexual behaviour in which someone gains pleasure from being hurt or punished; sadism, sado-masochism
2 behaviour that makes it seem that someone wants to suffer or have problems:
•Unconscious masochism seemed to drive her from one disaster to the next.
- masochist noun [C]
- masochistic adjective
•masochistic behavior
- masochistically adverb[C]
a FREEMASON [C]
a STONEMASON $
involved or connected with FREEMASONRY:
•a Masonic lodge[C] trademark
AmE a glass pot with a tight lid, used for preserving fruit and vegetables; = Kilner jar BrE[U]
FREEMASONRY [U]
1 the bricks or stone from which a building, wall etc has been made:
•Several people were buried under falling masonry.
2 the skill of building with stone $ [C]
a type of play popular in England in the 16th and 17th centuries that included music, dancing, and songs:
•a Court masque
1 [C] a formal dance or party where people wear MASKs and unusual clothes
2 [C,U] a way of behaving or speaking that hides your true thoughts or feelings; = pretence
•She didn't really love him, but she kept up the masquerade for the children's sake.[I]
to pretend to be something or someone different
[+as]
•A number of police officers masqueraded as demonstrators.
•Some of these breakfast foods are just candy masquerading as cereals.
[+under]
•He was masquerading under a false name.
1 LARGE AMOUNT
a) [C] a large amount of a substance which does not have a definite or regular shape:
•The food had congealed into a sticky mass.
[+of]
•a high mass of rock
b) [C usually singular] a large amount or quantity of something
[+of]
•a huge mass of data
c) masses of sth BrE informal a large amount of something, or a lot of people or things:
•Masses of books covered every surface in the room.
2 CROWD [singular] a large crowd
[+of]
•There was a mass of people around the club entrance.
•The road was blocked by a solid mass of protesters.
3 the masses all the ordinary people in society who do not have power or influence:
•The trains provided cheap travel for the masses.
4 the mass of people/the population/workers etc most of the people in a group or society; = the majority
•The war is strongly supported by the mass of the population.
5 CHURCH CEREMONY also Mass
a) [C,U] the main ceremony in some Christian churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church, which celebrates the last meal that Jesus Christ ate:
•What time do you go to mass?
morning/evening/midnight etc Mass
•Will I see you at morning Mass?
say/celebrate Mass (=perform this ceremony as a priest)
HIGH MASS
b) [C] a piece of music written to be performed at the ceremony of mass:
•Mozart's Mass in C minor
6 SCIENCE [U] technical the amount of material in something:
•The sun makes up 99.9% of the mass of our solar system.
CRITICAL MASS[only before noun]
involving or intended for a very large number of people:
•a mass protest
•weapons of mass destruction
•the problem of mass unemployment
mass marketing/entertainment etc
•a mass marketing campaign
•Email has made mass mailings possible at the touch of a button.[I,T]
to come together, or to make people or things come together, in a large group; = gather
mass (sth) behind/along/in etc sth
•Western reports say that troops have been massing in the region since December.
•grey clouds massing behind the mountains
•Both countries have massed troops along the border. $
1 [C,U] when a lot of people are killed violently, especially people who cannot defend themselves:
•the only survivor of the massacre
[+of]
•the massacre of several hundred pro-democracy demonstrators
the Boston/Peterloo/Harperville etc massacre
•the infamous Peterloo massacre of 1819
2 [C] informal a very bad defeat in a game or competition:
•United lost in a 9-0 massacre.[T]
1 to kill a lot of people or animals in a violent way, especially when they cannot defend themselves:
•The army massacred more than 150 unarmed civilians.
•Tens of thousands of dolphins and small whales are brutally massacred every year.
see box at KILL^1
2 informal to defeat someone very badly in a game, competition etc:
•The Cougars massacred the Bucs last night, 38 - 7.
3 informal to spoil part of a play, a song etc by performing it very badly:
•Unfortunately, Jones absolutely massacres the role of Ophelia. $ [C,U]
the action of pressing and rubbing someone's body with your hands, to help them relax or to reduce pain in their muscles or joints:
•Massage helps ease the pain.
•Why don't you have a massage?
•Joan gave me a gentle neck massage.
body/shoulder/foot etc massage
•A full-body massage lasts around one hour.[T]
1 to press and rub someone's body with your hands, to help them relax or to reduce pain in their muscles:
•Alex massaged Helena's aching back.
massage sth into sth
•Gently massage the lotion into your skin.
2 to change official numbers or information in order to make them seem better than they are - used in order to show disapproval; = cook the books
•Myers accused the government of deliberately massaging the unemployment figures.
3 massage sb's ego to try to make someone feel that they are important, attractive, intelligent etc:
•The portrait painter had the power to massage the king's ego or to expose his flaws.massage parlor AmE $ [C] BrE
1 a BROTHEL (=place where people pay to have sex) - used to pretend that it is not a brothel
2 a place where you pay to have a massage
EN MASSE [only before noun]
in a large group
massed ranks/forces
•I look around me at the massed ranks of reporters.
massed choir/band BrE (=several choirs or bands singing or playing together as one large group) $ [C]
someone who gives MASSAGEs $ [C]
1 a woman who gives MASSAGEs
2 a PROSTITUTE $ [C]
a group of mountains forming one large solid shape
1 very large, solid, and heavy:
•The bell is massive, weighing over 40 tons.
•the castle's massive walls
2 unusually large, powerful, or damaging:
•My phone bill is going to be massive this month.
•massive increases in the number of homeless
•Club members can get a massive discount of £50.
massive stroke/heart attack etc
•Simpkins suffered a massive stroke.
massive argument/row etc BrE
•I had a massive argument with her.
3 BrE informal extremely good:
•Listen to this. It's a massive song.
- massively adverb
•The president was massively popular.[only before noun]
designed for sale to as wide a range of people as possible
mass-market paperback/novel/film etc
•a mass-market paperback priced at $8.99
- mass market noun [C]
the mass media all the people and organizations that provide information and news for the public, including television, radio, and newspapers:
•The crime received heavy coverage in the mass media.[C]
someone who has murdered a lot of people
produced in large numbers using machinery, so that each object is the same and can be sold cheaply; mass production
•mass-produced furniture
- mass-produce verb [T][U]
when products are made in large numbers by machines so that they can be sold cheaply; mass-produced[U] technical
methods of transport by which large numbers of people can travel around a city:
•The city has virtually no mass transit. $ [C]
1 a tall pole on which the sails or flags on a ship are hung
2 BrE a tall metal tower that sends out radio and television signals:
•a radio mast
3 a tall pole on which a flag is hung
HALF-MAST plural mastectomies [C]
medical a medical operation to remove a breast $ [C]
1 SKILLED PERSON someone who is very skilled at something
[+of]
•Runyon was a master of the short story.
•a master of disguise
•Hitchcock was an acknowledged master of suspense.
master at (doing) sth
•She's a master at manipulating people.
•a work of art by a true master
2 be a past master (at sth) BrE to be very good at doing something because you have done it a lot:
•He's a past master at getting free drinks out of people.
3 MAN WITH AUTHORITY old-fashioned
a) a man who has control or authority over servants or workers; mistress
•You'll have to ask the master's permission.
b) the male owner of a dog; mistress
4 be your own master to be in control of your own life or work:
•Determined to be his own master, Simmons quit in 1998 and started working freelance.
5 be master of your own fate/destiny literary to be in complete control of what happens to you:
•Our country must be master of its own economic destiny.
6 ORIGINAL a document, record, etc from which copies are made:
•I gave him the master to copy.
7 Master of Arts/Science/Education etc a university DEGREE in an ARTs subject, a science subject etc that you can get after your first degree
MA, M.SC., MED, MPHIL
Bachelor of Arts/Science/Education etc at BACHELOR (2)
8 TEACHER
a) BrE old-fashioned a male teacher; headmaster, mistress
b) also Master a wise person whose ideas and words other people accept and follow:
•a Zen master
9 YOUNG BOY also Master old-fashioned used when speaking or referring to a young boy:
•How's young Master Toby today?
10 UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL also Master the person who is in charge of some university colleges in the UK:
•the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge
11 CAPTAIN old-fashioned someone who is in charge of a ship
GRAND MASTER, OLD MASTER, QUIZMASTER[T]
1 to learn a skill or a language so well that you have no difficulty with it:
•the skills needed to master a new language
•I never quite mastered the art of walking in high heels.
2 to manage to control a strong emotion; = overcome
•He had learned to master his fear of heights.[only before noun]
1 a master copy of a document, recording etc is the one from which copies are made
master list/copy/recording etc
•We've lost the master disk.
2 most important or main:
•the master control center at NASA
3 master craftsman/chef/plumber etc someone who is very skilled at a particular job, especially a job that involves working with your hands:
•a society of master chefs[C]
an officer with police duties on a ship[C]
the largest bedroom in a house or apartment, often with its own bathroommaster class $ [C]
a lesson, especially in music, given to very skilful students by someone famous $
1 controlling people or situations in a skilful and confident way:
•Klein handled the situation in a masterful way.
2 done with great skill and understanding; = masterly
•a masterful analysis of the text
- masterfully adverb
•Jack strode masterfully into the room.[C]
a key that will open all the door locks in a building $
done or made very skilfully; = masterful
•He gave a masterly display in round one of the World Chess Championship. $ [singular]
someone who plans and organizes a complicated operation, especially a criminal operation:
•a criminal mastermind
[+of/behind]
•He is suspected of being the mastermind behind the bombings.[T]
to think of, plan, and organize a large, important, and difficult operation:
•The project was masterminded by Morris, then aged 29.
•Ridley, as commerce secretary, masterminded the privatisation.[C]
an MA[C]
someone who introduces guests or performers at a social or public occasion; = emcee
•the master of ceremonies for the Miss World Pageant[C]
an MS or an M.SC. $ [C]
1 a work of art, a piece of writing or music etc that is of very high quality or that is the best that a particular artist, writer etc has produced; = masterwork
•Mary Shelley was just 18 when she wrote the horror masterpiece 'Frankenstein'.
2 a very good example of something
[+of]
•The shark is a masterpiece of evolution.[C usually singular]
a detailed plan for controlling everything that happens in a complicated situation:
•The job losses were part of a master plan aimed at transforming the structure of the company.
•a master plan to modernize the health care system[C]
a race of people who consider themselves better than other races, and who believe that they should rule over them $ [C] informal
a MASTER'S DEGREEalso master's informal [C]
a university DEGREE such as an MA, M.SC., or M.S., that you can get by studying for one or two years after your first degree $ [C]
a very clever, skilful, and often unexpected action that is completely successful:
•That ad campaign was an absolute masterstroke.
[+of]
•a masterstroke of diplomacy[C]
the switch that controls the supply of electricity to the whole of a building or area $ [C]
a painting, SCULPTURE, piece of music etc that is the best that someone has done; = masterpiece
•'Otello' is Verdi's riveting masterwork. $ [U]
1 thorough understanding or great skill
[+of]
•She possesses complete technical mastery of her instrument.
2 complete control or power over someone or something
[+of/over]
•humankind's mastery over the environment $ [C]
1 the name of a newspaper, magazine etc printed in a special design at the top of the first page
2 the top of a MAST on a ship [U]
a type of glue that does not crack or break when it is bent [I,T]
formal to chew food
- mastication noun [U]also bull mastiff [C]
a large, strong dog, often used to guard houses [U]
a painful swelling of the breast or UDDER (=the part of some animals that gives milk) $ [I,T]
to give yourself or another person sexual pleasure by touching or rubbing the sexual organs
- masturbation $ noun [U] [C]
1 a small piece of thick rough material which covers part of a floor:
•Wipe your feet on the mat.
2 a small flat piece of wood, cloth etc which protects a surface, especially on a table:
•She wrote her number on a beer mat (=a mat for putting a glass of beer on).
•a mouse mat (=for a computer mouse)
PLACE MAT
3 a piece of thick soft material used in some activities for people to sit on, fall onto etc:
•a yoga mat
•a prayer mat
4 go to the mat (for sb/sth) to do everything you can to solve a difficult problem, win an argument, support someone etc:
•The mayor is willing to go to the mat on this issue.
5 a thick mass of something such as hairs or leaves; matted
[+of]
•a floating mat of vegetation
MATTING
another spelling of MATT $ [C]
a man who fights and kills BULLs during a BULLFIGHT; = bullfighter
1 GAME [C] especially BrE an organized sports event between two teams or people:
•It's our last match of the season.
cricket/football/tennis etc match
•They're preparing for a big (=important) match tomorrow.
[+against/between/with]
•the match between Nigeria and Ireland
home/away match (=a match played at a team's own sports ground, or at a different ground)
•Good teams win their home matches.
•McClaire's goal earned him the title of man of the match (=the person in a team who plays best).
2 FIRE [C] a small wooden or paper stick with a special substance at the top, that you use to light a fire, cigarette etc:
•a box of matches
•Don't let your children play with matches.
strike/light a match (=rub a match against a surface to produce a flame)
•Peg struck a match and lit the candle.
•I tore up the letter and put a match to it (=made it burn, using a match).
3 COLOURS/PATTERNS [singular] something that is the same colour or pattern as something else, or looks attractive with it
[+for]
•That shirt's a perfect match for your blue skirt.
4 GOOD OPPONENT [singular] someone who is much stronger, cleverer etc than their opponents:
•Carlos was no match for the champion.
•This time you've met your match, Adam Burns! I'm not giving up without a fight!
•Guerrilla tactics proved more than a match for the Soviet military machine.
5 shouting match also slanging match BrE a loud angry argument in which two people insult each other:
•The meeting degenerated into a shouting match.
6 MARRIAGE [singular] a marriage or two people who are married:
•They're a perfect match.
a match made in heaven (=a marriage of two people who are exactly right for each other)
•Claire made a good match (=married someone suitable).
7 SUITABILITY [singular] a situation in which something is suitable for something else, so that the two things work together successfully
[+between]
•We need to establish a match between students' needs and teaching methods.
mix and match at MIX^1 (6)
1 LOOK GOOD TOGETHER [I,T] if one thing matches another, or if two things match, they look attractive together because they are a similar colour, pattern etc; matching
•We painted the cabinets green to match the rug.
•Do you think this outfit matches?
•a beech dining table with four chairs to match (=chairs that match it)
!! Do not say that one thing 'matches to' or 'matches with' another. Say that one thing matches another or that two things match.
2 LOOK THE SAME [I,T] two things that match look the same because they are a pair:
•Your socks don't match.
3 SEEM THE SAME [I,T] if two things match, or if one matches the other, there is no important difference between them:
•The suspect matched the descriptions provided by witnesses.
•Their actions do not match their words.
match exactly/closely/perfectly
•The copy closely matches the original.
4 SUITABLE [T] to be suitable for a particular person, thing, or situation; = suit
•Teaching materials should match individual students' needs.
•We'll help you find a home that will match your requirements.
well-matched/ill-matched
•a well-matched pair
5 CONNECT [T] to put two people or things together that are similar to or somehow connected with each other
match sth to/with sth
•Can you name the animals and match them to the correct countries?
•All checked-in baggage must be matched with a passenger travelling on the aircraft.
6 BE EQUAL [T] to be equal to something in value, size, or quality:
•His strength is matched by his intelligence.
•Few cities in Europe can match the cultural richness of Berlin.
•Fancy designer labels tend to come with fancy price tags to match.
evenly/equally matched
•The two candidates are fairly evenly matched.
7 MAKE EQUAL [T] to make something equal to something else
match sth to sth
•Lindsey matched her steps to those of the other girl as they walked.
•an attempt to match financial resources to need
8 GIVE MONEY [T] to give a sum of money that is equal to a sum given by someone else:
•The government has promised to match any private donations to the earthquake fund.
9 COMPETITION [T usually passive] if you are matched against someone else in a game or competition, you are competing against them
be matched against/with sb
•Agassi will be matched against Sampras in the men's final.

PHRASAL VERBS
match up phr v
1 match sb/sth <=> up to put two people or things together that are related to or suitable for each other:
•The employment agency exists to match up graduates and IT companies.
[+with]
•My mother spent her life trying to match me up with various women.
2 if two things match up, they seem the same or are connected in some way:
•Their accounts just don't match up.
[+with]
•The DNA samples found on her body did not match up with a sample taken from the accused.
3 match up to sb's hopes/expectations/ideals etc to be as good as you hoped, expected etc; = measure up to
•Unfortunately, the product's performance did not match up to the manufacturer's promise. [C]
a small folded piece of thick paper containing paper matches $ [C]
a small box containing matches[not before noun] BrE
a sports player who is match-fit is well and fit enough to play
- match-fitness noun [U]
•A question mark still hangs over Beckham's match-fitness. [only before noun]
having the same colour, style, or pattern as something else:
•a necklace with matching earrings literary
more intelligent, beautiful etc than anyone or anything else; = unparalleled
•the matchless beauty of the Parthenon $ [C]
someone who tries to find a suitable partner for someone else to marry
- matchmaking noun [U]
•Perhaps we should do a little bit of matchmaking and introduce them.[singular]
a method of scoring in golf based on the number of holes that are won, rather than the number of STROKEs needed to reach each hole
1 [U] a situation in tennis when the person who wins the next point will win the match
2 [C] the point that a player must win in order to win a tennis match; game point [C]
1 a wooden MATCH
2 matchstick men/figures BrE people in pictures who have been drawn with thin lines to represent their arms, legs, and bodies, as if by a child; = stick person AmE [U]
very small pieces of wood:
•Their boat was shattered into matchwood against the rocks and sank instantly.
1 SB YOU DO STH WITH [C] someone you work with, do an activity with, or share something with
class/team/work etc mate
•Dad's office mates are throwing a party for him.
house/flat/room mate (=someone you share a house, room etc with)
2 FRIEND [C] BrE informal
a) a friend:
•I'm going out with my mates tonight.
good/best mate
•He's good mates with John.
•Most of my school mates are black.
b) used as a friendly way to address a man:
•What's the time, mate?
3 ANIMAL [C] the sexual partner of an animal
4 HUSBAND/WIFE [C] AmE a husband or wife - used especially in magazines; = partner
•How do women choose their mates?
5 SAILOR [C] a ship's officer who is one rank below the captain
6 NAVY OFFICER [C] a US Navy PETTY OFFICER
7 builder's/plumber's/electrician's etc mate BrE someone who works with and helps a skilled worker
8 GAME [C,U] CHECKMATE in the game of CHESS
1 [I] if animals mate, they have sex to produce babies
[+with]
•It's quite common for male birds to mate with several females.
2 [T] to put animals together so that they will have sex and produce babies:
•Rabbits can be mated as early as six months old.
3 [T] to achieve the CHECKMATE of your opponent in CHESS $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned mother - now used humorously; pater
ALMA MATER $
1 [C,U] cloth used for making clothes, curtains etc; = fabric
•curtain material
•scraps of material
•a cape made of a soft material
2 [C,U] a solid substance such as wood, plastic, or metal:
•materials like wood or stone
organic/plant material
•Animals depend on plant material for food.
•harmful radioactive material
•a paper company which imports raw materials (=substances which have not been treated) from North America.
•recycled material
3 [U] also materials [plural] the things that are used for making or doing something
reading/writing etc material(s)
•Videos often make good teaching material.
•a supply of building materials
•artists' materials
4 [U] information or ideas used in books, films etc:
•His act contains a lot of new material.
[+for]
•Anita is collecting material for a novel.
•the raw material (=information that has not been carefully examined) for an article
5 officer/executive etc material someone who is good enough for a particular job or position:
•He's a good soldier, but not really officer material.[usually before noun]
1 relating to your money, possessions, living conditions etc, rather than the needs of your mind or soul; spiritual
material goods/possessions/wealth etc
•The spiritual life is more important than material possessions.
•a society that places high importance on material rewards
2 relating to the real world and physical objects, rather than religious or SPIRITUAL things:
•According to some, the material world is all that exists.
3 law important and needing to be considered when making a decision:
•material evidence
[+to]
•facts material to the investigation
4 formal important and having a noticeable effect:
•material changes to the schedule
MATERIALLY $ [U]
1 the belief that money and possessions are more important than art, religion, moral beliefs etc - used in order to show disapproval:
•a reaction to a world full of shallow materialism
2 the belief that only physical things really exist
- materialist adjective
•materialist philosophy
- materialist noun [C]
•We confess to being hopeless materialists, surrounded by our own neat stuff. $
concerned only with money and possessions rather than things of the mind such as art, religion, or moral beliefs - used in order to show disapproval:
•He's so materialistic.
•the materialistic values of American society
- materialistically adverbalso materialise BrE $ [I]
1 to happen or appear in the way that you expected:
•Problems were expected, but they never materialized.
•The money we had been promised failed to materialize.
2 to appear in an unexpected and strange way:
•The figure of a man suddenly materialized in the shadows.
- materialization $ noun [U] $
1 formal in a big enough or strong enough way to change a situation:
•This would materially affect US security.
2 [sentence adverb] in relation to possessions and money, rather than the needs of a person's mind or soul; spiritually
•Materially, we are better off than ever before. $ [U] formal
supplies of weapons used by an army $
1 typical of the way a good mother behaves or feels; paternal
•Annie was wonderfully warm and maternal.
•She seems to have a strong maternal instinct (=desire to have babies and take care of them).
2 [only before noun] relating to a mother or to being a mother; paternal
•the relationship between maternal age and infant mortality
3 maternal grandfather/aunt etc your mother's father, sister etc
- maternally adverb $ [only before noun]
relating to a woman who is PREGNANT or who has just had a baby; paternity
•a blue maternity dress
maternity benefits/pay etc (=money that the government or employers give to a woman after she has had a baby)[U]
the state of being a mother[U]
time that a mother is allowed to spend away from work when she has a baby; paternity leave
on maternity leave
•Karen will be on maternity leave next month. BrE informal
behaving as if you were someone's friend
[+with]
•She's been very matey with the boss lately.BrE informal
used by men as a very informal or disrespectful way of speaking to another man [U]
AmE mathematics; = maths BrE
•Tim's good at math and science.
•a set of simple math problems (=questions that are related to math)
•She's learning calculus in math class.
•a math test
1 relating to or using mathematics
mathematical equation/calculation/formula etc
•mathematical analysis
•the development of mathematical skills
•a mathematical genius
2 [only before noun] calculating things in a careful, exact way:
•The whole trip was planned with mathematical precision.
3 mathematical certainty something that is completely certain to happen
4 a mathematical chance (of sth) a very small chance that something will happen
- mathematically adverb [C]
someone who studies or teaches mathematics, or is a specialist in mathematics [U]
the science of numbers and of shapes, including ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY, and ARITHMETIC [U]
BrE informal mathematics; = math AmE
•the new maths teacher
•maths lessons
•She got top marks in maths and chemistry. $ [C]
1 a performance of a play or film in the afternoon
2 AusE informal sexual INTERCOURSE in the daytime $ [C] old-fashioned
an actor who is very popular with women $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
a short coat for a baby [U]
sex between animals:
•the mating seasonmattins $ [U]
the first prayers of the day in the Christian religion; = morning prayer $ [C]
a woman, especially an older woman, who controls a family or a social group; patriarch $
1 ruled or controlled by women:
•a matriarchal society
2 relating to or typical of a matriarch; patriarchal $ plural matriarchies [C,U]
1 a social system in which the oldest woman controls a family and its possessions; patriarchy
2 a society in which women hold all the power; patriarchy [U] formal
the crime of murdering your mother; parricide, patricide [I] formal
to officially begin studying at a university or, in the US, at a school or college
[+at]
•Aged only 15, he matriculated at the University of Leipzig.
• matriculated students
- matriculation noun [U] $ [U]
formal the state of being married; = marriage
•They were joined together in holy matrimony.
- matrimonial $ adjective plural matrices or matrixes [C] technical
1 an arrangement of numbers, letters, or signs in rows and COLUMNs that you consider to be one amount, and that you use in solving mathematical problems:
•a matrix table
2 a situation from which a person or society can grow and develop:
•the cultural matrix
3 a living part in which something is formed or develops, such as the substance from which your FINGERNAILs grow
4 a MOULD (=hollow container) into which melted metal, plastic, etc is poured to form a shape
5 the rock in which hard stones or jewels have formed
DOT-MATRIX PRINTER [C]
1 literary an older married woman
2 BrE old-fashioned a nurse who is in charge of the other nurses in a hospital
3 BrE a woman who works as a nurse in a private school
4 AmE a woman who is in charge of women and children in a school or prison
used to describe a woman who is fairly fat and no longer young - to avoid saying this directly:
•a matronly woman of 50matron of honor AmE plural matrons of honour [C] BrE
a married woman who helps the BRIDE on her wedding day; bridesmaidmatte BrE
matt paint, colour, or photographs have a dull surface, not shiny; gloss
•matt black
matted hair or fur is twisted or stuck together in a thick mass:
•a cat with a dirty matted coat
[+with]
•Her hair was matted with blood. $
1 SUBJECT/SITUATION [C] a subject or situation that you have to think about or deal with

a serious/important matter
a personal/private matter
a simple/easy matter (=something that is easy to do)
financial/legal/political/religious matters
a matter of importance
a matter of/for concern
a matter for discussion/negotiation/consideration etc
be a matter for sb (to decide) (=be something that a particular person should deal with)
be no laughing matter (=something very serious)
the heart/crux of the matter (=the most important part of something)
raise a matter with sb (=discuss something with someone)
let the matter rest/drop (=decide to stop worrying about something)
matters arising from/out of sth (=things that come from or are connected with a particular event)
the matter at hand/in hand (=the thing you are dealing with now)

•There are more important matters we need to discuss.
•It was a personal matter, and she had no intention of talking to any journalist about it.
•It will be a simple matter to find her.
•She held strong views on religious matters.
•He consulted Landers on all matters of importance.
•Safety standards in the industry have been a matter of concern for many years.
•The legal arrangements for the sale are matters for negotiation.
•This is a matter for the German people to decide.
•The whole situation may seem funny now, but it was no laughing matter at the time.
•Charles no longer loved her. That was the crux of the matter.
•I decided to raise the matter with my boss.
•He was too curious to let the matter drop.
•There are a number of matters arising out of this.
•We need to concentrate on the matter in hand.

2 matters [plural] a situation that you are in or have been describing:
•Maybe some of these suggestions will help to improve matters.
•Matters can be more easily sorted out once you get to the resort.
•His long absences didn't help matters (=made the situation worse).
to make matters worse (=used to say that something makes a bad situation worse)
•The team has lost the last two games and, to make matters worse, two of its best players are injured.
to complicate matters further (=used to say that something makes a complicated situation more complicated)
•To complicate matters further, the law on this issue has been changed.
3 MATERIAL [U]
a) the material that everything in the universe is made of, including solids, liquids, and gases:
•particles of matter
b) waste/solid/organic/vegetable etc matter a substance that consists of waste material, solid material etc
c) a yellow or white substance in wounds or next to your eye
4 as a matter of fact spoken used when adding more details about what you have just said:
•'Have you had many visitors yet?' 'No, as a matter of fact you're the first.'
•I knew him when we were in college - as a matter of fact we were on the same course.
MATTER-OF-FACT
5 what's the matter?/something's the matter/nothing's the matter etc spoken used to ask or talk about why someone seems worried, unhappy, or ill, why something about a situation seems wrong, or why a machine seems not to be working properly:
•What's the matter? You look as though you've been crying.
•'Is something the matter?' 'Just a headache - I'll be fine in a minute.'
•You look worried. Is there anything the matter?
•What's the matter with Bill?
•What's the matter with your eye? It looks red.
•I know something's the matter. You're frightened of something.
•Nothing's the matter, honestly, I'm fine.
•There was nothing the matter with it (=it was all right) when I lent it to him.
•She had something the matter with her back.
6 the truth/fact of the matter is (that) spoken used when saying what you think is really true concerning a situation:
•The truth of the matter is that we don't know exactly how the disease is spread.
7 for that matter used to say that what you are saying about one thing is also true about something else:
•Ben never touched beer, or any kind of alcohol for that matter.
•He's an artist who has never been as well-known here, or for that matter as well-respected, as he has been in the USA.
8 be (quite) a different matter also be (quite) another matter especially BrE used to say that a situation or action is very different from the one you have just mentioned, and may not be as easy, pleasant etc:
•She didn't mind seeing him in a group but an intimate dinner in a restaurant was another matter altogether.
9 take matters into your own hands to deal with a problem yourself because other people have failed to deal with it:
•Local people took matters into their own hands and hired their own security guards.
10 it's only/just a matter of time used to say that something will definitely happen in the future:
•It can only be a matter of time before someone is seriously injured.
11 a matter of life and/or death a situation that is extremely serious or important, especially one in which someone could die:
•The quality of the ambulance service is a matter of life and death.
•Can't it wait? It's hardly a matter of life or death, is it?
12 be a matter of opinion used to say that people have different opinions about something, especially when you yourself have a negative opinion:
•Whether or not he is any good as a manager is a matter of opinion.
13 be a matter of (personal) taste/choice/preference used to say that different people like different things:
•I can't say which wine is best - it's a matter of personal taste.
14 be a matter of principle to be something that you feel you must or must not do, because of your moral principles:
•She couldn't take the money. It was a matter of principle.
15 be a matter of doing sth used to say that an action involves doing something
be simply/largely/merely etc a matter of doing sth
•Reducing the number of road deaths is not simply a matter of improving roads.
16 a matter of seconds/weeks/hours etc only a few seconds, weeks etc:
•The ambulance arrived in a matter of minutes.
•The bullet missed his head by a matter of inches.
17 as a matter of sth because of a particular belief or quality:
•He invited her as a matter of courtesy.
•As a matter of fairness, he should be allowed to give his version of events.
18 as a matter of interest BrE spoken used when you ask or tell someone something that interests you but is not important:
•Just as a matter of interest, which school did you go to?
19 as a matter of urgency if something is done or should be done as a matter of urgency, it is done or should be done very soon:
•That procedure should be streamlined as a matter of urgency.
20 as a matter of course/routine if something is done as a matter of course or routine, it is the correct and usual thing to do in a particular situation:
•We will contact your former employer as a matter of course.
21 no matter how/whether/what etc also no matter the ... used to say that something is true or that something happens whatever the situation is:
•Feeding a baby is a messy job no matter how careful you are.
•I'm determined to visit Japan no matter what it costs.
•He visited her every day no matter the weather.
22 no matter what spoken used to say that you will definitely do something:
•I'll call you tonight, no matter what.
23 no matter spoken formal or old-fashioned used to say that something is not important and will not affect a situation:
•'I'm afraid I forgot to bring a towel.' 'No matter, I've got one you can borrow.'
24 it's a matter of fact (that) used to say that something is a fact:
•It's a matter of fact that the team have not performed as well this season.
25 the little/small matter of sth spoken something that is not important or not difficult - used when you really think something is important or difficult:
•He seemed unworried by the small matter of the war that was in progress.
•There's the small matter of tonight's game if we are to reach the finals.
26 no matter that used to say that something is not important and will not affect a situation:
•I would always be an outsider here - no matter that I spoke fluent Spanish.
27 reading/printed etc matter things that are written for people to read:
•As well as textbooks and other printed matter, courses may include video and audio cassettes.
GREY MATTER, SUBJECT MATTER
not mince matters at MINCE^1 (3)
mind over matter at MIND^1 (43)
1 [I not in progressive] to be important, especially to be important to you, or to have an effect on what happens
it doesn't etc matter if
•Will it matter if I'm a little late?
•If I have to stay late at work tonight, it won't matter because we can go out another night.
it doesn't etc matter who/why/what etc
•It doesn't matter what you wear, as long as you look neat and tidy.
•Does it matter what I think?
it doesn't etc matter that
•It does not matter that the gun was in fact unloaded.
•Do you think it matters that the cups and saucers don't match?
it doesn't matter about sth
•Just give me $5 - it doesn't matter about the rest.
[+to]
•He had lost many of the people who mattered to him.
matter a lot/a great deal
•It mattered a great deal to her what other people thought of her.
not matter much/matter little
•I don't think it matters much what you study.
•campaigning on issues that really matter
all that matters/the only thing that matters
•All that matters is that you're safe.
•Money was the only thing that mattered to him.
•I don't care what it looks like - what matters is that it works.
•At last she was with the man she loved and nothing else mattered.
•She said very little during the meal. Not that it mattered (=it was not important).
2 it doesn't matter spoken
a) used to tell someone that you are not angry or upset about something, especially something that they have done:
•'I've spilled some coffee on the carpet.' 'It doesn't matter.'
b) used to say that you do not mind which one of two things you have:
•'Red or white wine?' 'Oh, either. It doesn't matter.'
3 what does it matter? spoken used to say that something is not important:
•It all happened so long ago now, what does it matter?
•What does it matter how old I am?
showing no emotion when you are talking about something exciting, frightening, upsetting etc
[+about]
•Jan was surprisingly matter-of-fact about her divorce.
matter-of-fact voice/tone
•Use a matter-of-fact tone when disciplining your children.
- matter-of-factly adverb [U]
strong rough material, used for making MATs :
•straw matting $
another spelling of MATINS [C]
a tool used for digging, with a long handle and a metal blade [C]
the soft part of a bed that you lie on
firm/soft/hard etc mattress
•an old, lumpy mattress [U]
formal the period during which something grows and develops:
•cell maturation $
1 SENSIBLE someone, especially a child or young person, who is mature behaves in a sensible and reasonable way, as you would expect an adult to behave; immature
•Laura is very mature for her age.
•We're mature enough to disagree on this issue but still respect each other.
2 FULLY GROWN fully grown and developed:
•Mature apple trees are typically 20 feet tall.
•The new leader wants his country to be seen as a mature democracy.
•The human brain isn't fully mature until about age 25.
physically/emotionally/sexually mature
•Most girls are sexually mature by about 14 years of age.
3 WINE/CHEESE ETC BrE mature cheese, wine etc has a good strong taste which has developed during a long period of time:
•mature cheddar
4 OLDER a polite or humorous way of describing someone who is no longer young; = middle-aged
•wedding fashions for mature brides
•a respectable gentleman of mature years.
5 NOVEL/PAINTING ETC a mature piece of work by a writer or an artist is done late in their life and shows a high level of understanding or skill:
•His mature work reveals a deep sense of enjoyment of nature.
6 on mature reflection/consideration formal after thinking carefully and sensibly about something for a long time:
•On mature reflection we have decided to decline their offer.
7 FINANCIAL a mature BOND or POLICY is ready to be paid
8 mature market/industry technical a mature industry or market is one where growth is quite low and there are fewer competitors than before
- maturely adverb
•If you want us to treat you as an adult, you have to act maturely.
1 [I] to become fully grown or developed:
•As the fish matures, its colours and patternings change.
[+into]
•She has matured into a fine writer.
2 [I] to become sensible and start to behave sensibly and reasonably, like an adult:
•He has matured a lot since he left home.
•He wants to prove just how much he has matured both as a player and as a man.
3 [I] if a financial arrangement such as a BOND or an insurance POLICY matures, it becomes ready to be paid
4 [I,T] if cheese, wine etc matures, or if it is matured, it develops a good strong taste over a period of time:
•Few beers brewed in Britain are matured in the bottle.
•The olives are pulped, then left to mature for three years.[C]
BrE a student at a university or college who is over 25 years old $ [U]
1 the quality of behaving in a sensible way like an adult; immaturity
•Beth shows a maturity way beyond her 16 years.
•One day you'll have the maturity to understand.
2 the time or state when someone or something is fully grown or developed
at maturity
•The tree will reach only 5 feet at maturity.
reach/come to/grow to maturity
•These insects reach full maturity after a few weeks.
•the era when the Republic came to political maturity
sexual/emotional/physical maturity
•He lacks the emotional maturity to appreciate poetry.
3 the time when a financial arrangement such as a BOND or an insurance POLICY becomes ready to be paidmatzoh $ plural matzos [C,U]
1 a large thin piece of flat bread, eaten by Jewish people during PASSOVER
2 a type of flour used to make bread, cakes etc especially by Jewish people during PASSOVER:
•herrings dipped in matzo and fried $
1 talking or behaving in a sad, silly, and emotional way, especially when drunk
get/grow/become maudlin
•Sir Ralph was becoming maudlin after his third glass of claret.
2 a maudlin song, story, film etc tries too hard to make people feel emotions such as love or sadness and seems silly:
•a song that is tender without being maudlin $ [T]
1 if an animal mauls someone, it injures them badly by tearing their flesh:
•A mentally ill man was mauled after climbing into the lions' enclosure at London Zoo.
2 to strongly criticize something, especially a new book, play etc:
•Her latest book was absolutely mauled by the critics.
3 to touch someone in a rough sexual way which they think is unpleasant:
•What makes you think you've got the right to maul me like that?
4 informal to defeat someone very easily - used especially in sports reports:
•Stanford have looked quite good lately. They absolutely mauled Notre Dame last weekend.
- mauling noun [singular]
•Juppe got a mauling over the government's failure to fulfil its promises. $ [I] especially BrE
to talk or complain about something for a long time in a boring way
[+on/about]
•What are you maundering on about, George? $ [U]
the Thursday before Easter $ [C]
a large stone building made specially to contain the body of a dead person, or the dead bodies of an important family:
•the Lenin Mausoleum $ [U]
a pale purple colour
- mauve adjective
•mauve flowers [C]
AmE someone who knows a lot about a particular subject
food/fashion/sports etc maven
•A food maven could also be called a gourmet. [C]
an unusual person who has different ideas and ways of behaving from other people, and is often very successful:
•He's always been a bit of a maverick.
- maverick adjective [only before noun]
•a maverick detective $ [C]
1 formal something which seems to swallow or use up things completely
[+of]
•Millions of dollars were poured into the maw of defense spending.
2 literary an animal's mouth or throat $
showing too much emotion in a way that is embarrassing; = sentimental
•a mawkish love story
- mawkishly adverb
- mawkishness noun [U] [C] informal
1 the abbreviation of maximum :
•Five people will fit, but that's the max.
2 to the max to the greatest degree possible:
•We had the air conditioner turned up to the max.
- max adjective, adverb
•Let's say two hours to get there, max.

PHRASAL VERBS
max out phr v AmE informal
1 max sth <=> out to use something such as money or supplies so that there is none left:
•I maxed out my Visa.
2 to do too much, eat too much etc
[+on]
•'Want a beer?' 'Nah, I maxed out on booze this weekend.' [C]
a well-known phrase or saying, especially one that gives a rule for sensible behaviour technical
as much or as large as possible:
•the right conditions for a maximal increase in employment
- maximally adverbalso maximise BrE [T]
1 to increase something such as profit or income as much as possible; minimize
maximize profit/revenue etc
•The company's main function is to maximize profit.
2 to CLICK on a special part on a window on a computer screen so that it becomes as big as the screen; minimize
3 to use something in a way that gives you the greatest practical value or the best results:
•We need to maximize the space.
maximize opportunities/chances etc
•The career center will help you maximize your opportunities.
- maximization $ noun [U] [only before noun]
the maximum amount, quantity, speed etc is the largest that is possible or allowed; minimum
•The car has a maximum speed of 120 mph.
•They made maximum use of the resources available.
•To get the maximum benefit, do the exercises slowly.
•Display the hologram under a strong light for maximum effect.
•The plant is operating at maximum capacity.
maximum amount/number etc
•Work out the maximum amount you can afford to spend.
•The award will consist of a lump sum to a maximum value of $5000.
maximum sentence/penalty/fine etc
•She faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.[C]
the largest number or amount that is possible or is allowed
[+of]
•He faces a maximum of seven years in prison.
•The company will reimburse you up to a maximum of$1000.
•We might have a third child, but that's the absolute maximum.[C,U]
the fifth month of the year, between April and June
next/last May
•She started work here last May.
in May
•The theatre opened in May.
on May 6th
•We don't have any meetings on May 6th, do we?
on 6th May BrE
•An agreement was signed on 6th May 1977.
May 6 AmE
•Michael's getting married May 6.
1 POSSIBILITY if something may happen or may be true, there is a possibility that it will happen or be true but this is not certain; = might
•I may be late, so don't wait for me.
•Some chemicals may cause environmental damage.
•There may not be enough money to pay for the repairs.
•Well, I may have been wrong.
•They may have called while you were out.
• It may be that Minoan ships were built and repaired here.
•Your job may well involve some travelling (=it is fairly likely).
2 POSSIBLE TO DO STH if something may be done, completed etc in a particular way, that is how it is possible to do it; = can
•The problem may be solved in a number of different ways.
3 ALLOWED
a) used to say that someone is allowed to do something; = can
•Thank you. You may go now.
•There is a set of rules to show what members may and may not do.
•You may sit down or stand, just as you wish.
•No one may own more than 10% of the shares.
b) may I/we ...? spoken formal used to ask politely for permission to do something:
•May I come in and wait?
•May we use your office for a few minutes?
4 IN POLITE EXPRESSIONS spoken formal used to say, ask, or suggest something in a polite way:
•All these things, if I may say so, are entirely irrelevant.
•Who, may I ask, is Wotherspoon?
•May I suggest that you consider the matter further before taking any action.
5 ALTHOUGH used to say that even though one thing is true, something else which seems very different is also true:
•I may be slow, but at least I don't make stupid mistakes.
•Although this may sound like a simple process, great care is needed.
•Strange as it may seem, I always felt I belonged here.
6 may as well spoken used to suggest that someone should do something, because there is no good reason to do anything else; = might as well
•If there's nothing more to do, we may as well go to bed.
•You may as well tell us now - we'll find out sooner or later.
7 may sb/sth do sth formal used to express a wish or hope:
•We pray for those who died - may they rest in peace.
•It is a fine tradition and long may it continue!
8 PURPOSE formal used after 'so that' or 'in order that' to say that someone does something in order to make something else possible:
•The hero sacrifices his life so that his friend may live.
9 be that as it may formal in spite of what you have just mentioned:
•Perhaps there isn't one single system that will work for everyone. Be that as it may, we all need order in our lives.
10 may well used to say that there is a good reason for a reaction, question, or feeling:
•'What's all the noise?' 'You may well ask.'[U] BrE
the white or pink flowers of the HAWTHORN [sentence adverb]
1 used to say that something may happen or may be true but you are not certain; = perhaps
•Maybe it's all just a big misunderstanding.
•'Do you think he'll come back?' 'Maybe.'
•Maybe they're right, but maybe not.
•You have talent, maybe even genius.
•He said he'd finish the work soon - maybe tomorrow.
2 spoken used to reply to a suggestion or idea when either you are not sure if you agree with it, or you do not want to say 'yes' or 'no':
•'I think Sheila would be an excellent manager.' 'Maybe.'
3 used to show that you are not sure of an amount or number:
•The problems really started maybe two or three years ago.
•He looked like he was thirty, maybe thirty-five years old.
4 spoken used to make a suggestion you are not quite sure about:
•If the bill doesn't seem right, maybe you should give them a call.
•Maybe I can ride the bicycle and follow you.[C,U]
the first day of May, when LEFT-WING political parties in some countries celebrate, and when people traditionally celebrate the arrival of spring [singular]
a radio signal used to ask for help when a ship or plane is in serious danger; SOS
thou mayest old use you may plural mayflies [C]
a small insect that lives near water, and only lives for a short time [U]
an extremely confused situation in which people are very frightened or excited; = chaos
•There was complete mayhem after the explosion.
cause/create/wreak mayhem
•For some children, the first fall of snow is an opportunity to create mayhem. BrE old-fashioned
the short form of 'may not' $ [U]
informal mayonnaise $ [U]
a thick white sauce, made of raw egg YOLKs and oil, often eaten on sandwiches or SALAD $ [C]
1 the person who has been elected to lead the government of a town or city:
•the election of the London mayor
2 someone who is chosen or elected each year in Britain to represent a town or city at official public ceremonies
- mayoral adjective
•mayoral duties $ [U]
formal the position of mayor, or the period when someone is mayor $ [C]
BrE the wife of a mayor, or a woman who shares the work of a mayor $ [C]
a tall pole around which people danced on May Day in the past
thou mayst old use you may spoken
the short form of 'may have':
•You may've heard this story before. [C]
1 a complicated and confusing arrangement of streets, roads etc
maze of streets/paths/tunnels etc
•the maze of narrow streets
•I was led through a maze of corridors.
2 a large number of rules, instructions etc which are complicated and difficult to understand
maze of rules/regulations etc
•a maze of new laws
3 a specially designed system of paths, often in a park or public garden, which is difficult to find your way through:
•We got completely lost in the maze.
•the famous Hampton Court maze
4 a children's game on paper in which you try to draw a line through a complicated group of lines without crossing any of them $ [C]
a fast traditional Polish dance, or the music for this dancealso Mb
the written abbreviation of megabyte or megabytesalso M.B.A. AmE [C]
Master of Business Administration a university degree in the skills needed to be in charge of a business that you can get after your first degree. A person who has this degree is also called an MBA
do/have an MBA
•Rick is a 32-year-old MBA from Harvard. [C]
Member of the Order of the British Empire a special honour given to some British people for things they have done for their country [C]
1 Master of Ceremonies someone who introduces guests or performers at a social or public occasion; = emcee
2 the person in a RAP group who holds the MICROPHONE and says the words to the songs
3 Military Cross a MEDAL given to British army officers for being brave
the real McCoy informal something that is real and is not a copy, especially something valuable:
•In the movie, the two thieves try to discover whether the banknotes are fakes or the real McCoy, with hilarious results. $ [U]
mobile commerce the buying or selling of goods and services using a radio connection to the Internet, for example using a LAPTOP or MOBILE PHONE; e-commerceM.D. AmE BrE
1 [C] Doctor of Medicine a university DEGREE in medicine that you can get after your first degree
2 [C] BrE the abbreviation of managing director ; CEO
3 [U] the abbreviation of muscular dystrophy
1 [U] BrE myalgic encephalomyelitis an illness that makes you feel very tired and weak and can last for a long time:
•ME sufferers
2 [C] AmE the abbreviation of medical examiner strong [object form of 'I']
1 used by the person speaking or writing to refer to himself or herself:
•Stop, you're hurting me.
•He bought me a drink.
•Give that book to me.
•She's two years older than me.
•That's me, standing on the left.
2 me too spoken used to tell someone that you feel the same way as they do, that you are in a similar situation etc:
•'I'm hungry!' 'Me too.'
3 me neither also nor me spoken used to say that you agree with a negative statement that someone has just made:
•'I can't believe he's fifty.' 'Me neither.'
used humorously to admit that something is your fault
1 [U] an alcoholic drink made from HONEY:
•a glass of mead
2 [C] literary a meadow:
•the flowery mead $ [C]
a field with wild grass and flowers $ [C]
a brown North American bird with a yellow breastmeager AmE $ BrE
a meagre amount of food, money etc is too small and is much less than you need:
•a meagre diet of bread and beans
meagre income/earnings/wages etc
•He supplements his meager income by working on Saturdays.
•a school with meagre resources
- meagrely adverb
- meagreness noun [U]
1 [C] an occasion when you eat food, for example breakfast or dinner, or the food that you eat on that occasion

go (out) for a meal
ask sb out for a meal
take sb (out) for a meal
have/eat a meal
cook/prepare/make a meal
enjoy your meal! (=I hope you like your food)
evening/midday meal
the main meal of the day
a three/five-course meal
a decent/proper meal
a hot meal
a full meal (=a complete meal)
a square meal (=a meal with enough good food to keep you healthy)

•After the movie we went for a meal in a Chinese restaurant.
•Why don't you ask him out for a meal?
•He was always taking her out for meals in fancy restaurants.
•We must have a meal together some time.
•Mavis ate her meal in silence.
•My mom was helping me prepare the meal.
•The price includes accommodation, breakfast, and evening meals.
•Dinner is the main meal of the day for most people.
•a five-course meal in an expensive French restaurant
•All I need is a bath, a decent meal, and a good long sleep.
•The soldiers were looking forward to a hot meal.
•The cinnamon roll has as many calories as a full meal.
•You need to have three square meals a day.
!! Do not say 'take a meal'. Say have a meal.

2 [U] grain that has been crushed into a powder, for making flour or animal food
BONEMEAL
3 make a meal (out) of sth BrE informal to spend too much time or effort doing something:
•He made a real meal out of parking the car.

WORD FOCUS: meal
meals at different times of day:
breakfast
brunch
lunch
tea BrE
dinner
supper
a meal outside:
picnic
barbecuealso /barbie informal
cookout AmE
when you quickly eat a little food :
snack
a bite to eat
a very big meal for a lot of people:
banquet
feast
parts of a meal:
starter BrE
appetizer AmEthe first course
main course /entree especially AmE
side disheaten with the main course
dessertalso /pudding /sweet BrEsweet food eaten at the end of the meal
[C,U] informal
MAIZE, or a piece of maize
a service run by the government in Britain in which hot meals are taken to old or sick people in their homes[C]
1 informal something or someone that you depend on to give you money or food:
•There were times when he suspected he was just a meal ticket to her.
2 a card that you buy and then use to get meals at school or work, or at a special event:
•The meal ticket is $15 and includes three meals with beverages. [C,U]
a time during the day when you have a meal
at mealtimes
•The only time I see the boys is at mealtimes.
1 fruit or vegetables that are mealy are dry and do not taste good:
•These apples are kind of mealy.
2 containing MEAL
not brave enough or honest enough to say clearly and directly what you really think - used in order to show disapproval:
•Most people felt Mr Major fought a pretty mealy-mouthed campaign in which radical ideas were either dropped or blunted. past tense and past participle meant [T]
1 HAVE A PARTICULAR MEANING [not in progressive] to have or represent a particular meaning:
• What does'patronizing' mean?
•The red light means 'Stop'.
•The report fails to define what is meant by the term 'key issues'.
mean (that)
•This light means you're running low on fuel.
2 INTEND TO SAY STH [not in progressive] to intend a particular meaning when you say something
mean (that)
•I meant we'd have to leave early - that's all.
•It's pretty obvious what she means.
(do) you mean spoken (=used to check you have understood what someone intended to say)
•Do you mean you've changed or Chris has changed?
do/if you know/see what I mean? spoken (=used to check that someone understands you)
•I want to buy her something really special, if you know what I mean.
•We're still married but living apart in the same house, if you see what I mean.
•Oh yeah! I see what you mean. (=I understand what you are trying to say)
• What I mean is, I don't feel alone anymore' (=used to explain more about what you have said).
•'I didn't really like him.' ' I know what you mean, I didn't get on with him either (=used to say you understand and have had the same experience).
•'In three hours' time, I'll be a free man.' ' How do you mean?' (=used to ask someone to explain what they have just said)
3 INTEND TO DO STH to intend to do something or intend that someone else should do something
mean to do sth
•I've been meaning to ask you if you want to come for a meal next week.
•I didn't mean to upset you.
mean sb/sth to do sth
•I didn't mean this to happen at all.
•I never meant you to find out.
mean for sb to do sth especially AmE
•I didn't mean for her to get hurt.
•I'm sure she didn't mean it (=you did not intend to upset or hurt someone).
mean no harm/offence/disrespect (=not intend to harm, offend etc someone)
•I'm sure he didn't mean any harm.
•He may sound a bit rude at times, but he means well (=intends to be helpful or kind, even if it does not seem like that).
•I wasn't criticizing you, I really meant it for the best (=wanted to be helpful, although my actions had the wrong effect).
4 RESULT IN STH [not in progressive] to have a particular result or involve something:
•The merger will mean the eventual closure of the company's Sydney office.
•Don't let him see you. It will only mean trouble.
mean (that)
•The high cost of housing means that many young people can't afford to buy a house.
mean doing sth
•My new job will mean travelling all over the world.
•Dieting also means being careful about which foods you buy.
5 BE FAMILIAR [not in progressive] if a name, word etc means something to you, you are familiar with it or you understand it:
•He said his name was 'Randall' but it meant nothing to me (=I was not familiar with it).
• Does the name Bryce mean anything to you?
•You need to use analogies which will mean something to the reader.
6 SAY STH SERIOUSLY [not in progressive] to be serious about what you are saying or writing:
•With children, if you say 'no', you have to mean it.
•I meant what I said earlier.
•You don't really mean that, do you?
7 HOW IMPORTANT SB/STH IS [not in progressive] used for saying how important someone or something is to you
mean sth to sb
•I know how much your work means to you.
•The medal meant a lot to him.
mean the world to sb/mean everything to sb (=be very important to someone)
•He meant the world to her.
•Time meant nothing (=it was not important) to me while I was travelling.
•Of course the relationship meant something to me.
8 SHOW STH IS TRUE/WILL HAPPEN [not in progressive] to be a sign that something is true or will happen
mean (that)
•Finding a lump does not necessarily mean you have cancer.
•Clear skies mean that it will be a cold night.
•Just because he's been in prison, it doesn't mean that he's violent.
9 what do you mean ...?
a) used when you do not understand what someone is trying to say:
•'You'll be careful won't you?' 'What do you mean?'
b) used when you are very surprised or annoyed by what someone has just said:
•What do you mean, you've cancelled the trip?
•What do you mean by that?
c) used when you are very annoyed by what someone has just done:
•What do you mean by calling me at this time of night?
10 SAY WHICH PERSON/THING used to say that a particular person or thing is the one that you are talking about, pointing to etc:
•'Hey you!' 'Do you mean me?'
•I meant the pink dress, not the red one.
11 I mean
a) used when explaining or giving an example of something, or when pausing to think about what you are going to say next:
•You're more of an expert than me. I mean, you've got all that experience.
•It's just not right. I mean, it's unfair isn't it?
b) used to quickly correct something you have just said:
•She plays the violin, I mean the viola, really well.
12 see what I mean? used when something that happens proves what you said before:
•See what I mean? Every time she calls me up she wants me to do something for her.
13 that's what I mean used when someone is saying the same thing that you were trying to say earlier:
•'We might not have enough money.' 'That's what I mean, so we'd better find out the price first.'
14 I mean to say used when adding a reason or explanation for something you have just said, especially something you feel strongly about:
•Of course she wants to see the children, I mean to say, it's only natural isn't it?
15 mean business to be determined to do something:
•This decision shows the public that we mean business.
16 be meant to do sth
a) if you are meant to do something, you should do it, especially because someone has told you to or because you are responsible for it:
•Come on, Ellen, you're meant to be helping me.
•I thought the police were meant to protect people.
b) to be intended to do something:
•The diagram is meant to show the different stages of the process.
17 be meant to be good/excellent/bad etc used to say that you have heard or read that something is good, bad etc:
•The play is meant to be really good.
18 be meant for sb/sth to be intended for a particular person or purpose:
•a book meant for children
19 be meant for sb if two people are meant for each other, they are very suitable as partners for each other:
•They were meant for each other.
•She's meant for him.
20 sb was never meant for sth/to be sth used to say that someone is not at all suitable for a particular job or activity:
•I was never meant for the army.
21 sth was meant to be/happen used to say that you think a situation was certain to happen and that no one could have prevented it:
•Dan left me after a month so I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
22 know/understand what it means to be sth to have experienced a particular situation, so that you know what it is like:
•I know what it means to be alone in a foreign country.comparative meaner, superlative meanest
1 CRUEL cruel or not kind:
•That was a mean thing to do.
•I felt a bit mean asking him to help.
•It's a mean trick to play on someone.
• It was mean of him not to invite her.
[+to]
•Don't be so mean to her!
2 NOT GENEROUS BrE not wanting to spend money, or not wanting to use much of something; = stingy; = cheap AmE
•He's too mean to buy a present for his wife.
[+with]
•He's always been mean with his money.
•It was supposed to be garlic bread, but they'd been a bit mean with the garlic.
3 no mean feat/achievement/task etc something that is very difficult to do, so that someone who does it deserves to be admired:
•They sold 1 million cards in the first year of business - no mean feat, given the problems many businesses are facing.
4 be no mean performer/player etc to be very good at doing something:
•Kinnock is no mean performer on the rugby field.
5 a mean sth informal used to say that something is very good or that someone is very good at doing something:
•He plays a mean game of poker.
•They serve a mean Sunday brunch at the restaurant on Fourth Street.
6 AVERAGE [only before noun] technical average:
•The study involved 60 patients with a mean age of 58.2 years.
•The mean annual rainfall was 852 mm.
7 POOR [only before noun] literary poor or looking poor:
•She walked briskly through the mean and dirty streets.
- meanly adverb
- meanness noun [U]
1 the mean technical the average amount, figure, or value:
•The mean of 7, 9 and 14 is 10.
2 the/a mean between sth and sth a method of doing something which is between two very different methods, and better than either of them:
•It's a case of finding the mean between firmness and compassion.
MEANS $ [I]
1 if a river, stream, road etc meanders, it has a lot of bends rather than going in a straight line
[+along/across/down etc]
•The river meandered gently along the valley floor.
2 [always + adv/prep] to walk somewhere in a slow relaxed way rather than take the most direct way possible
[+along/through etc]
•Cows still meander through these villages.
3 also meander on if a conversation or piece of writing meanders on, it is too long and has no purpose or structure
- meanderings noun [plural]
•his aimless meanderings through Europe
- meander noun [C]meany [C] spoken
an unkind person used especially by children:
•Don't be such a meanie!
1 OF A WORD/SIGN ETC [C,U] the thing or idea that a word, expression, or sign represents
[+of]
•I don't know the precise meaning of the word 'gleaned'.
•The expression has two very different meanings in English.
2 IDEAS IN SPEECH/BOOK ETC [C,U] the thoughts or ideas that someone wants you to understand from what they say, do, write etc
[+of]
•The meaning of her words was clear. We'd lost our jobs.
[+behind]
•She hardly dared to understand the meaning behind his statement.
get/understand sb's meaning (=understand what they are trying to tell you)
•He's become a bit more than a friend, if you get my meaning.
3 what's the meaning of this? spoken used to demand an explanation:
•What's the meaning of this? I asked you to be here an hour ago!
4 PURPOSE/SPECIAL QUALITY [U] the quality that makes life, work etc seem to have a purpose or value:
•Life seemed to have lost its meaning since Janet's death.
•Her studies no longer seemed to have any meaning.
•For many people it is religion that gives meaning to their existence.
5 TRUE NATURE [U] the true nature and importance of something
[+of]
•We seem to have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas.
6 (not) know the meaning of sth to have, or not have, experience and understanding of a particular situation or feeling:
•Living in a warzone, the children knew the meaning of fear.
•Guilty! She doesn't know the meaning of the word!
1 having a meaning that is easy to understand and makes sense:
•Without more data we cannot make a meaningful comparison of the two systems.
•Teaching history to five-year-olds in a meaningful way can be very difficult.
[+to]
•Rules must be put in a context that is meaningful to the children.
2 meaningful look/glance/smile etc a look that clearly expresses the way someone feels, even though nothing is said:
•Sam and Barbara exchanged meaningful glances.
3 serious, important, or useful:
•They want a chance to do meaningful work.
•I want a mature and meaningful relationship.
•a meaningful conversation
- meaningfully adverb
1 having no purpose or importance and therefore not worth doing or having:
•He said a few meaningless words to his hostess and looked around the room.
•a repetitive and meaningless task
absolutely/utterly/completely meaningless
•a statistic that is absolutely meaningless
virtually/fairly/largely meaningless
2 not having a meaning that you can understand or explain:
•Chinese characters are just meaningless symbols to me.
- meaninglessness noun [U] plural means
1 METHOD [C] a way of doing or achieving something

means of transport (=a way of travelling, for example using a car, bus, bicycle etc)
means of communication
means of escape
means of identification (=an official document that shows who you are)
means of expression (=a way of expressing your feelings, opinions etc)
a means of doing sth
have no means of doing sth
use any means (=use any method, even if it is illegal or causes harm to other people)
by unlawful/illegal/unfair means
(whether) by fair means or foul (=using unfair methods if necessary)

[+of]
•For most people, the car is still their main means of transport.
•The only means of communication was sign language.
•The window was our only means of escape.
•Do you have any means of identification?
•art as a means of expression
•Homework should not be used as a means of controlling children.
•I had no means of telling him I would be late.
•Brian was prepared to use any means to get what he wanted.
•They had entered the country by unlawful means.
•the means by which performance is assessed

2 MONEY [plural] the money or income that you have
have the means to do sth
•I don't have the means to support a family.
•Paying for your children to go to a private school is beyond the means of most people (=too expensive for most people).
•Try to live within your means (=only spending what you can afford).
•His father was a man of means (=a rich man).
3 by all means! spoken used to mean 'of course' when politely allowing someone to do something or agreeing with a suggestion:
•'Can I bring Alan?' 'By all means!'
4 by no means/not by any means not at all:
•It is by no means certain that the game will take place.
•She's not a bad kid, by any means.
5 by means of sth formal using a particular method or system:
•The blocks are raised by means of pulleys.
6 a means to an end something that you do only to achieve a result, not because you want to do it or because it is important:
•For Geoff, the job was simply a means to an end.
7 the means of production the material, tools, and equipment that are used in the production of goods
ways and means at WAY^1 (1)
not generous or sympathetic[C]
an official check in order to find out whether someone is poor enough to need money from the government
- means-tested adjective
•means-tested benefits
the past tense and past participle of MEAN
1 also in the meantime in the period of time between now and a future event, or between two events in the past; = meanwhile
•The doctor will be here soon. In the meantime, try and relax.
•I didn't see her for another five years, and in the meantime she had got married and had a couple of kids.
2 for the meantime for the present time, until something happens:
•The power supply should be back soon - for the meantime we'll have to use candles. [sentence adverb]
1 while something else is happening:
•Cook the sauce over a medium heat until it thickens. Meanwhile start boiling the water for the pasta.
2 also in the meanwhile in the period of time between two events:
•The flight will be announced soon. Meanwhile, please remain seated.
•I knew I wouldn't get my exam results for several weeks, and I wasn't sure what to do in the meanwhile.
3 used to compare two things, especially if they are completely different and are happening at the same time:
•The incomes of male professionals went up by almost 80%. Meanwhile, part-time women workers saw their earnings fall. plural meanies
another spelling of MEANIEalso the measles [U]
an infectious illness in which you have a fever and small red spots on your face and body. People often have measles when they are children.
GERMAN MEASLES informal
very small and disappointing in size, quantity, or value - used to show disapproval:
•All I got was a measly £5.
1 large or important enough to have an effect that can be seen or felt; = noticeable
•The law has had little measurable effect since it was introduced two years ago.
2 able to be measured:
•measurable results
- measurably adverb
•The company is working to make its environmental performance measurably better. $
1 [T] to find the size, length, or amount of something, using standard units such as INCHes , metres etc:
•The rainfall was measured over a three-month period.
measure sb for sth (=measure someone in order to make clothes for them)
•She was being measured for her wedding dress.
measure sth in sth
•We can measure the energy that food provides in calories.
measuring jug/cup/tape (=one used for measuring)
2 [T] to judge the importance, value, or true nature of something; = assess
•Doctors say it is too early to measure the effectiveness of the drug.
measure sth by sth
•Education shouldn't be measured purely by examination results.
3 [linking verb] to be a particular size, length, or amount:
•The room measures 6x6 metres.
•The earthquake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.
4 [T] if a piece of equipment measures something, it shows or records a particular kind of measurement:
•An odometer measures the number of miles your car travels.

PHRASAL VERBS
measure sb/sth against sb/sth phr v
to judge someone or something by comparing them with another person or thing:
•Bridget did not think she had to measure herself against some ideal standard.
•Measured against our budget last year, $2.7 million seems small.

measure sth <=> off phr v
to measure a particular length or distance, and make a mark so that you can see the beginning and end:
•He measured off three yards of rope.

measure sth <=> out phr v
to take a specific amount of liquid, powder etc from a larger amount:
•Measure out 100 grams of flour.

measure up phr v
1 to be good enough to do a particular job or to reach a particular standard:
•We'll give you a week's trial in the job to see how you measure up.
[+to]
•How will the Secretary General measure up to his new responsibilities?
2 to measure something before you do something, for example before you put in new furniture, cupboards etc:
•I'd better measure up before I start laying the carpet.
measure sth <=> up
•Measure up any items that you want to keep in the kitchen.[C]
1 ACTION an action, especially an official one, that is intended to deal with a particular problem; = step
• Measures are being taken to reduce crime in the city.
drastic/tough/extreme etc measures
•drastic measures to reduce traffic problems
•New safety measures were being demanded after last night's horrific train crash.
•The new bridge was erected as a temporary measure to replace the one which was destroyed by floods.
precautionary/preventative measure (=something done to stop something bad from happening)
•He was kept in hospital overnight as a precautionary measure.
2 half measures things done to deal with a difficult situation that are not effective or firm enough:
•This was no time for half measures and compromises.
3 SIGN/PROOF be a measure of sth formal be a sign of the importance, strength etc of something, or a way of testing or judging something:
•The flowers and tears at the funeral were a measure of the people's love for her.
•Exam results are not necessarily a true measure of a student's abilities.
4 AMOUNT a measure of sth an amount of something good or something that you want, for example success or freedom:
•The new law gives local governments a significant measure of control over their own finances.
•I met a number of sportsmen who had achieved a measure of success (=some success).
5 UNIT OF MEASUREMENT
a) an amount or unit in a measuring system:
•a table of weights and measures
b) a standard amount of an alcoholic drink
6 in large measure/in some measure a lot or quite a lot - used when talking about the reason or cause of something:
•The improvements are due in large measure to his leadership.
7 in equal measure used when the amount of one thing is the same as the amount of another thing:
•I was angry and embarrassed in equal measure.
8 for good measure in addition to what you have already done, given, or included:
•Why don't you try phoning them one more time, for good measure?
9 beyond measure very much or very great - used when you want to emphasize what you are saying:
•Her work has improved beyond measure.
10 the full measure of sth formal the whole of something:
•Ralph received the full measure of his mother's devotion.
11 in full measure formal if someone gives something back in full measure, they give back as much as they received:
•They returned our hospitality in full measure.
12 have/get the measure of sth to become familiar with something, so that you can control or deal with it
13 have/get the measure of sb BrE to know what someone's strengths and weaknesses are, so that you are able to deal with them or defeat them:
•She soon got the measure of her opponent.
14 THING USED FOR MEASURING something used for measuring, for example a piece of wood or a container
TAPE MEASURE
15 MUSIC a group of notes and RESTs , separated from other groups by vertical lines, into which a piece of music is divided; = bar BrE
MADE-TO-MEASURE
give sb short measure at SHORT^1 (23) $
if you do something in a measured way, you do it in a careful and controlled way, not in an excited or sudden way:
•a measured response to the problem
•She spoke in measured tones. $ literary
too great to be measured:
•Otto had measureless charm. $
1 [C] the length, height etc of something
waist/chest/leg etc measurement
•What's your waist measurement?
take/make measurements (=measure something)
•Take measurements of the room before you buy any new furniture.
take sb's measurements (=measure someone in order to make or get clothes for them)
•The assistant took my measurements and showed me what was available in my size.
2 [U] the act of measuring something
[+of]
•the measurement of performance
• accurate measurement of body temperaturemeasuring cup AmE [C] BrE
a container used for measuring liquids in cooking[C]
a TAPE MEASURE
1 [C,U] the flesh of animals and birds eaten as food:
•I gave up eating meat a few months ago.
•raw meat
•a meat pie
•a selection of cold meats
red meat (=a dark-coloured meat such as BEEF)
white meat (=meat that is pale in colour, for example CHICKEN)
2 [U] something interesting or important in a talk, book, film etc:
•There's no meat to their arguments.
•We then got down to the real meat of the debate (=the main and most interesting part of it).
3 sb doesn't have much meat on him/her BrE need some (more) meat on your bones AmE informal used to say that someone looks very thin
4 one man's meat is another man's poison used to say that something that one person likes may not be liked by someone else
5 be easy meat BrE informal if someone is easy meat, they are easy to defeat, deceive, or hurt
[+for]
•San Marino should be easy meat for England in next week's match.
6 the meat and potatoes AmE informal the most important or basic parts of a discussion, decision, piece of work etc:
•Let's get down to the meat and potatoes. How much are you going to pay me for this?
7 be meat and drink to sb BrE to be something that someone enjoys doing or finds very easy to do because they have done it many times before:
•The first five questions in the quiz were about football, which was meat and drink to Brian. $ [C]
a small round ball made from small pieces of meat, herbs, and egg or BREADCRUMBS pressed together. Meatballs are often served with a sauce.[C]
AmE a machine that cuts meat into very small pieces by forcing it through small holes; = mincer BrE $ plural meatloaves $ [C,U]
meat, herbs, and other foods mixed and baked together in the shape of a LOAF[U]
AmE the preparation of animals that have been killed so that they can be sold as meat:
•the meat-packing industry
- meat-packer noun [C]
1 containing a lot of meat, or tasting strongly of meat:
•a delicious meaty gravy
2 informal big and fat, with a lot of flesh:
•meaty forearms
3 informal containing a lot of interesting ideas or information:
•a meaty article
•The lecture wasn't very meaty.
4 meaty role an interesting or important character that an actor is playing in a play or film:
•her first meaty role as an actress [singular]
1 a place that many people want to visit for a particular reason; = magnet
[+for]
•Florence is a mecca for students of Art History.
2 Mecca a city in Saudi Arabia which is the holiest city of Islam
1 [C] someone who is skilled at repairing motor vehicles and machinery:
•a garage mechanic
2 the mechanics of (doing) sth the way in which something works or is done:
•The mechanics of the process are quite complex.
3 mechanics [U] the science that deals with the effects of forces on objects:
•fluid mechanics
QUANTUM MECHANICS
4 mechanics [U] the study of machines:
•Steven is planning to go to college to study mechanics.
1 affecting or involving a machine:
•The flight has been cancelled due to mechanical failure.
•The plane had to make an emergency landing because of mechanical problems.
2 using power from an engine or machine to do a particular kind of work:
•a mechanical digger
•a mechanical device
3 a mechanical action, reply etc is done without thinking, and has been done many times before:
•He was asked the same question so many times that the answer became mechanical.
4 someone who is mechanical understands how machines work
5 technical relating to or produced by physical forces:
•the mechanical properties of solids
- mechanically adverb
•The actors spoke their lines mechanically, hardly caring about the meaning.
•I'm not very mechanically minded (=good at understanding how machines work and repairing them).[U]
the study of the design and production of machines and tools
- mechanical engineer noun [C][C]
AmE a pencil made of metal or plastic, with a thin piece of LEAD (=the part that you write with) inside; = propelling pencil BrE [C]
1 part of a machine or a set of parts that does a particular job:
•the brake mechanism
•a clock mechanism
2 a system that is intended to achieve something or deal with a problem
mechanism for (doing) sth
•existing mechanisms for decision making
mechanism to do sth
•The Army has set up mechanisms to help jobless ex-soldiers get work.
EXCHANGE RATE MECHANISM
3 a system or a way of behaving that helps a living thing to avoid or protect itself from something difficult or dangerous
defence/control/survival mechanism
•When a person is ill, the body's natural defence mechanisms come into operation.
4 the way that something works
[+of]
•the mechanism of the brain
tending to explain the behaviour of things in the natural world as if they were machines:
•a mechanistic view of the universe
- mechanistically adverbalso mechanised BrE
1 a mechanized system or process now uses machines instead of people or animals; = automated
•Car production is now highly mechanized.
2 a mechanized army unit uses TANKs and other ARMOURED military vehicles
- mechanize verb [T]
- mechanization $ noun [U]
•increasing mechanization of agricultureM.Ed. AmE [C] BrE
Master of Education a university DEGREE in teaching that you can get after your first degree; BEd
the Med BrE informal the Mediterranean Sea or the area surrounding it [only before noun] informal
an abbreviation of MEDICAL:
•med school
•a med student [C]
a flat piece of metal, usually shaped like a coin, that is given to someone who has won a competition or who has done something brave
gold/silver/bronze medal
•She won a gold medal at the last Olympics.
•the bronze medal winner
•The two boys were awarded medals for their bravery.past tense and past participle medalled, present participle medalling BrE past tense and past participle medaled, present participle medaling AmE [I]
to win a medal at a competition, especially at the Olympic Games
[++ in]
•Germany has the potential to medal at least four times in gymnastics this year. [C]
a piece of metal shaped like a large coin, worn as jewellery on a chain around the neck:
•a silver medallionmedalist AmE [C] BrE
someone who has won a medal in a competition:
•the Olympic gold medallist [I]
1 to deliberately try to influence or change a situation that does not concern you, or that you do not understand; = interfere
[+in]
•I don't like other people meddling in the way I run this prison.
•He accused the US of meddling in China's internal affairs.
[+with]
•I'm not the sort of newspaper owner who meddles with editorial policy.
2 BrE to touch something which you should not touch, especially in a careless way that might break it
[+with]
•You have no right to come in here meddling with my things.
- meddler noun [C]
- meddling noun [U]
- meddling adjective [only before noun]
•meddling politicians
a meddlesome person becomes involved in situations that do not concern them, in a way that annoys people; = interfering
•a meddlesome old woman
1 the media all the organizations, such as television, radio, and newspapers, that provide news and information for the public, or the people who do this work

the national/local media
the news media
media attention/coverage/interest/speculation
media hype (=when the media give something too much attention, and try to make it seem much more important or better than it really is)
media event (=an event that the media gives a lot of attention to)
media circus (=a disapproving word for all the people from the media who report events, and all the attention they give to these events)

•The scandal was widely reported in the national media.
•The role of the news media in forming public opinion is very important.
•The 11-day trial generated intense media interest.
•A great deal of media hype surrounded the release of the group's latest CD.
•There will be another war somewhere else and the whole international media circus will move on.

2 the plural of MEDIUM
MASS MEDIA, MULTIMEDIA $
another spelling of MEDIEVAL [C]
1 AmE also median strip a narrow area of land that separates the two sides of a big road in order to keep traffic travelling in different directions apart; = central reservation BrE
2 technical the middle number or measurement in a set of numbers or measurements that have been arranged in order
3 technical a line passing from one of the points of a TRIANGLE to the centre of the opposite side
1 being the middle number or measurement in a set of numbers or measurements that have been arranged in order; average
•The median age of the group is 42.
2 in or passing through the middle of something[U]
the study of how newspapers, radio, television etc work and how they affect society
1 [I,T] to try to end a quarrel between two people, groups, countries etc
[+between]
•UN officials mediated between the rebel fighters and the government.
•The former president has agreed to mediate the peace talks.
[+in]
•The court was set up to mediate in civil disputes.
2 [T usually passive] formal or technical to change the effect or influence of something, especially to make the effect less bad:
•Exercise may mediate the effects of a bad diet.
- mediation noun [U] $ [C]
a person or organization that tries to end a quarrel between two people, groups, countries etc by discussion [C]
1 BrE informal a medical doctor
2 BrE informal a medical student
3 AmE someone in the army who is trained to give medical treatment; paramedic [U]
a system in the US by which the government helps to pay the cost of medical treatment for poor people; Medicare
relating to medicine and the treatment of disease or injury:
•medical research
•medical staff
•a medical student
•a patient's medical history (=the illnesses they have had)
medical records (=which show what illnesses and treatment someone has had)
medical attention/treatment/care
•The injury required urgent medical attention.
the medical profession (=doctors, nurses, and other people who treat people who are ill)
- medically adverb
•medically qualified personnel
•medically fitalso medical examination [C] BrE
an examination of your body by a doctor to see if you are healthy; = physical AmE[C]
an official piece of paper signed by a doctor saying that you are too ill to work or that you are completely healthy; sick note[C] AmE
a doctor who examines dead people's bodies in order to find out how they died, especially if they died in a sudden or unusual way[C]
a doctor working in the armed forces[C]
BrE formal a doctor[C,U]
a college or university where people study to become doctors [C]
formal a substance used to treat a disease $ [U]
a system by which the US government helps to pay for the medical treatment of old people; Medicaid
medicated soap or SHAMPOO contains a substance to help small medical problems of your skin or hair [C,U]
medicine or drugs given to people who are ill
be on medication (for sth)
•He's on medication for high blood pressure.
1 used for treating medical problems; medical
•Garlic is believed to have medicinal properties (=contain things that can cure medical problems).
2 for medicinal purposes
a) used in a humorous way to say that you drink alcohol because it is good for your health:
•I keep a bottle of brandy handy - purely for medicinal purposes.
b) for use as a medicine:
•herbs used in medieval times for medicinal purposes
- medicinally adverb $
1 [C,U] a substance used for treating illness, especially a liquid you drink:
•Medicines should be kept out of the reach of children.
•Have you been taking your medicine?
•a medicine bottle
medicine chest/cabinet (=for keeping medicine in)
!! Do not say that you 'drink medicine'. Say that you take your medicine.
2 [U] the treatment and study of illnesses and injuries:
•She studied medicine at John Hopkins University.
•the remarkable achievements of modern medicine
complementary/alternative/folk etc medicine
• traditional Chinese medicine
3 the best medicine the best way of making you feel better when you are sad:
•Laughter is the best medicine.
4 give someone a dose/taste of their own medicine to treat someone as badly as they have treated you
5 take your medicine (like a man) to accept an unpleasant situation or a punishment that you deserve, without complainingor medicine woman [C]
a person in a Native American tribe who is considered to have the ability to cure illness and disease; shaman, witch-doctor $ plural medicos [C]
informal a MEDICmediaeval $
1 connected with the Middle Ages (=the period between about AD 1100 and 1500):
•These spices were first brought to Italy from the East in medieval times.
•a medieval castle
2 very old or old-fashioned - used in a humorous or disapproving way:
•The plumbing in this house is positively medieval! $
not very good; = second rate
•I thought the book was pretty mediocre.
•a mediocre student
- mediocrity $ noun [U]
1 [I] to think seriously and deeply about something
[+on/upon]
•She sat quietly, meditating on the day's events.
2 [I] to spend time sitting in a silent, calm state, in order to relax completely or for religious purposes:
•I try to meditate for half an hour every evening.
3 [T] formal to plan to do something, usually something unpleasant:
•Silently she meditated revenge.
1 [U] the practice of emptying your mind of thoughts and feelings, in order to relax completely or for religious reasons:
•Yoga involves breathing exercises, stretching, and meditation.
TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION
2 [C usually plural, U] the act of thinking deeply and seriously about something:
•She found him sitting alone, deep in meditation.
•Rob interrupted his father's meditations.
3 [C usually plural] serious thoughts about a particular subject
[+on]
•meditations on death and loss $
1 thinking deeply and seriously about something:
•She was in a meditative mood.
2 relating to the practice of emptying your mind of thoughts and feelings, in order to relax completely or for religious reasons:
•meditative techniques
- meditatively adverb

a) the Mediterranean the sea that is surrounded by the countries of southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East
b) the area of southern Europe that surrounds the Mediterranean Sea
relating to the Mediterranean Sea, or typical of the area of southern Europe around it:
•a Mediterranean country
•a plant normally only found in a Mediterranean climate
1 of middle size, level, or amount:
•What size shirt does he wear - small, medium or large?
(of) medium height/length/build
•She's of medium height.
•hair of medium length
•Fry the onions over a medium heat until they are golden.
• medium to large companies
!! Use average, not 'medium', when you want to say that someone's level of skill or activity is neither high nor low: Her standard is average (NOT Her standard is medium).
2 also medium rare meat that is medium or medium rare is partly cooked but still slightly pink inside; rare, well-done
3 medium dry medium dry wine is slightly sweeter than dry wine
4 medium brown/blue etc a colour which is neither light nor dark:
•His jacket's a medium brown colour.plural media or mediums [C]
1 a way of communicating information and news to people, such as newspapers, television etc; media
•Advertising is a powerful medium.
2 a way of expressing your ideas, especially as a writer or an artist
[+for]
•the novel as a medium for satire
•the visual media (=painting and films)
3 medium of instruction a language that is used for teaching:
•English is still the main medium of instruction in Nigeria.
4 medium of exchange money or other ways of paying for things
5 technical a substance or material in which things grow or exist:
•a good growing medium for tomatoes
6 technical a substance through which a force travels
MAGNETIC MEDIA
a happy medium at HAPPY (8)plural mediums [C]
someone who claims to have the power to receive messages from dead peoplealso medium-size
not small but not large either:
•a medium-sized business[singular]
the period of time a few weeks or months ahead of the present; short-term, long-term
in the medium term
•The company's prospects look good in the medium term.
•medium term investmentswritten abbreviation MW [U]
a system of radio broadcasting using radio waves between 100 and 1000 metres in length; long wave, FM [C]
1 a group of songs or tunes sung or played one after the other as a single piece of music
[+of]
•He played a medley of Beatles songs.
2 [usually singular] a mixture of different types of the same thing which produces an interesting or unusual effect
[+of]
•an exotic medley of smells
•a medley of architectural styles
3 a swimming race in which the competitors swim using four different STROKEs :
•the 400 metres individual medley
very quiet and gentle and unwilling to argue with people:
•He was always so meek and mild.
- meekly adverb
•'All right,' said Neil meekly.
- meekness noun [U] past tense and past participle met
1 SEE SB AT AN ARRANGED PLACE [I,T not in passive] to go to a place where someone will be at a particular time, according to an arrangement, so that you can talk or do something together:
•Meet me at 8.00.
•I'll meet you by the main reception desk.
meet (sb) for sth
•Why don't we meet for lunch on Friday?
•We arranged to meet outside the theatre.
2 SEE SB BY CHANCE [I,T not in passive] to see someone by chance and talk to them; = bump into
•You'll never guess who I met in town.
•I was worried I might meet Henry on the bus.
3 SEE SB FOR THE FIRST TIME [I,T not in passive] to see and talk to someone for the first time, or be introduced to them:
•We first met in Florence.
•I met my husband at university.
•Jane, come and meet my brother.
nice/pleased to meet you (=used to greet someone politely when you have just met them for the first time)
•'This is my niece, Sarah.' 'Pleased to meet you.'
(it was) nice meeting you (=used to say goodbye politely to someone you have just met for the first time)
4 SEE SB AT AN AIRPORT/STATION ETC [T] to be waiting for someone at an airport, station etc when they arrive in a plane or train:
•My dad met us at the station.
•I'll come and meet you off the plane.
5 COME TOGETHER TO DISCUSS STH [I] to come together in the same place in order to discuss something:
•The committee meets once a month.
•The two groups will meet next week to discuss the project.
6 COMPETE AGAINST SB [I,T not in passive] to play against another person or team in a competition, or to fight another army in a war:
•Manchester United will meet Blackburn Rovers in the sixth round of the Cup.
•The two armies finally met on the battlefield at Stamford Bridge.
7 JOIN OR TOUCH [I,T not in passive] if two things meet, they touch or join at a particular place:
•The two roads meet just north of Flagstaff.
•Their hands met under the table.
8 EXPERIENCE A PROBLEM OR SITUATION [T] to experience a problem, attitude, or situation; = encounter, come across
•Wherever she went she met hostility and prejudice.
9 meet a problem/challenge to deal with a problem or something difficult that you have to do:
•The new building will mean that we can meet the challenge of increasing student numbers.
10 meet a need/demand/requirement/condition etc to do something that someone wants, needs, or expects you to do or be as good as they need, expect etc:
•The company says it is unable to meet the workers' demands for higher wages.
•The service is tailored to meet your needs.
•beaches which meet European standards of cleanliness
11 meet a deadline to finish something at the time it is meant to be finished:
•We are still hoping to meet the November deadline.
12 meet a goal/target etc to achieve something that you are trying to achieve:
•It's virtually impossible to meet the weekly sales targets.
•The scheme does not meet its objectives.
13 meet a debt/cost/expense etc to make a payment that needs to be made:
•The government has promised to meet the cost of clearing up after the floods.
14 there's more to sb/sth than meets the eye used to say that someone or something is more interesting, intelligent etc than they seem to be
15 our/their eyes meet if two people's eyes meet, they look at each other:
•Our eyes met momentarily, then he looked away.
•His eyes met Nina's and she smiled.
16 meet sb's eye(s)/gaze/glance etc to look directly at someone who is looking at you:
•Ruth looked down, unable to meet his eye.
•She turned to meet his gaze.
17 meet your eye(s) if something meets your eyes, you see it:
•An extraordinary scene met our eyes as we entered the room.
18 meet your match to compete against an opponent who is stronger or more skilful than you are:
•I think he might have met his match in Simon.
19 meet sb halfway to do some of the things that someone wants, in order to reach an agreement with them
20 meet (sth) head-on
a) if two moving vehicles meet head-on, they are facing each other and hit each other suddenly and violently
b) if you meet a problem head-on, you deal with it directly without trying to avoid it
21 meet your death/end to die in a particular way:
•He met his death at the hands of enemy soldiers.
22 meet your maker to die - used humorously
23 meet your Waterloo to finally be defeated after you have been successful for a long time

PHRASAL VERBS
meet up phr v
1 to meet someone in order to do something together:
•We often meet up after work and go for a drink.
[+with]
•I've got to go now, but I'll meet up with you later.
2 if roads, paths etc meet up, they join together at a particular place
[+with]
•The path eventually meets up with the main road.

meet with sb/sth phr v
1 to have a meeting with someone:
•Representatives of EU countries will meet with senior American politicians to discuss the trade crisis.
2 also be met with sth to get a particular reaction or result
meet with opposition/disapproval etc
•His comments have met with widespread opposition.
meet with support/approval etc
•Her ideas have met with support from doctors and health professionals.
meet with success/failure (=succeed or fail)
•Our attempts at negotiation finally met with some success.
3 meet with an accident formal to be injured or killed in an accident
make ends meet at END^1 (18)[C]
1 track meet especially AmE a sports competition between people running races, jumping over bars etc
2 BrE an occasion when a group of people riding horses go out to hunt FOXes old use
right or suitable[C]
1 an event that is organized for famous musicians, writers, artists etc to meet and talk to their FANs :
•There will be a meet-and-greet after the show.
2 a service that sends people to greet and help a person or group when they arrive at an airport
3 an event in which parents go to their child's school and meet the teachers and other people who work there [C]
1 an event at which people meet to discuss and decide things

have/hold a meeting
go to/attend a meeting
be in/at a meeting
call a meeting (=decide there will be a meeting)
public meeting
emergency meeting
general meeting especially BrE (=a meeting that anyone can come to)
committee/staff/board meeting (=a meeting of a particular group of people)
summit meeting (=a meeting between leaders of governments)

•We're having a meeting next week to discuss the matter.
•Over a hundred and fifty people attended the meeting.
•Mrs Lavelle is in a meeting at the moment.
•The minister has called an emergency meeting.
[+about/on]
•There was a public meeting about the future of the gallery.
[+with]
•I've got a meeting with Mr Edwards this afternoon.
[+of]
•a meeting of senior politicians
[+between]
•a meeting between unions and management
•Are you coming to the committee meeting this evening?

2 the meeting formal all the people who are at a meeting:
•I'd like to put a few ideas before the meeting.
3 [usually singular] when people meet each other by chance or because they have arranged to do this:
•I had felt drawn to Alice ever since our first meeting.
4 a sports competition or a set of races for horses
5 meeting of minds a situation in which two people have very similar ideas and understand each other very well:
•There was a real meeting of minds between the two leaders.
6 an event at which a group of Quakers (=a Christian religious group) pray together[C]
a building where Quakers (=a Christian religious group) pray together[C]
a building or place where people meet:
•The pub is a popular meeting place for local teenagers. [C] informal
a MEGABYTE informal
very big and impressive or enjoyable:
•Their first record was a mega hit.
- mega adverb
1 [in nouns] a million - used with units of measurement:
•1000 megawatts of electricity
2 informal extremely:
•Her family is megarich!
3 very big:
•a megastore [C]
technical a million BITs [plural]
informal a very large amount of money:
•She's earning megabucks now.written abbreviation MB or Mb [C]
a unit for measuring computer information, equal to 1,024 KILOBYTEs , and used less exactly to mean one million BYTEs written abbreviation MHz $ plural megahertz [C]
a unit for measuring FREQUENCY, especially of radio signals, equal to one million HERTZ [C]
a large tall stone put in an open place by people in ancient times, possibly as a religious sign
- megalithic adjective $ [U]
when someone wants to have a lot of power for themselves and enjoys having control over other people's lives, sometimes as part of a mental illness $ [C]
someone who wants to have a lot of power for themselves and enjoys having control over other people's lives
- megalomaniac adjective $ [C]
a piece of equipment like a large horn which you talk through to make your voice sound louder, when you are speaking to a crowd $ [C]
informal a very famous singer or actor [C]
a unit for measuring the power of an explosive, equal to the power of one million TONs of TNT (=a powerful explosive):
•a five megaton atomic bombwritten abbreviation MW $ [C]
a million WATTs plural meishi [C]
a card that shows a business person's company, position, name, address etc, used in Japan; = business card [U]
a material like plastic that is used to make a hard smooth surface on tables and shelves $ [U]
old-fashioned a feeling of great sadness and lack of energy $ literary
feeling very sad $
very sad:
•The music suited her melancholy mood.[U]
formal a feeling of sadness for no particular reason:
•He sank into deep melancholy. [singular] formal
a mixture of different things
[+of]
•The population is a melange of different cultures. [U]
a natural dark brown colour in human skin, hair, and eyes $ [C]
technical a TUMOUR on a person's skin which causes CANCER $ [U]
a HORMONE that is sometimes used as a drug to help you sleep $ [U]
a type of thin dry TOAST that breaks easily [I,T]
if two things meld, or if you meld them, they combine into one thing
meld (sth) with sth
•He melded country music with blues to create rock and roll.
[+into]
•The raindrops melded into a sheet of water. $ [C usually singular]
a situation in which a lot of people rush around in a confused way:
•It's amazing that no one was hurt in the melée. formal
a mellifluous voice or piece of music sounds pleasantly smooth $
1 NOT BRIGHT a mellow colour or light looks soft, warm, and not too bright:
•the mellow golden light of early evening
2 NOT LOUD OR HARSH a mellow sound is pleasant and smooth:
•a warm, mellow voice
3 NOT STRONG IN FLAVOUR mellow wine or fruit has a smooth, pleasant taste:
•its smooth, mellow flavour
4 NOT STRICT someone who is mellow is gentle and calm and does not criticize other people, because they have a lot of experience of life
5 RELAXED if you feel mellow, you feel calm and relaxed, especially after drinking alcohol
- mellowness noun [U][I,T]
1 if someone mellows or is mellowed, they become gentler and more sympathetic:
•Paul's certainly mellowed over the years.
•Two pints of beer had mellowed my father.
2 if colours mellow or are mellowed, they begin to look warm and soft:
•The bricks had mellowed to a soft red.
3 if wine mellows or is mellowed, its taste becomes smoother

PHRASAL VERBS
mellow (sb) out phr v AmE informal
to become relaxed and calm, or to make someone like this $
1 formal something that sounds melodic sounds like music or has a pleasant tune:
•Their music is loud and not very melodic.
•a deep melodic voice
2 technical concerned with the main tune in a piece of music:
•There is very little melodic variation in the piece. $ formal
something that sounds melodious sounds like music or has a pleasant tune:
•He spoke in a quiet melodious voice.
- melodiously adverb $ [C,U]
1 a story or play in which very exciting or terrible things happen, and in which the characters and the emotions they show seem too strong to be real:
•He was behaving like a character in a Victorian melodrama.
2 a situation in which people become more angry or upset than is really necessary:
•Come on, there's no need for all this melodrama.
if you behave in a melodramatic way, you become more angry or upset than is really necessary:
•Stop being so melodramatic!
- melodramatically adverb plural melodies
[C,U] a tune:
•They played some lovely melodies.
•a haunting melody [C,U]
a large round fruit with sweet juicy flesh
1 BECOME LIQUID [I,T] if something solid melts or if heat melts it, it becomes liquid; freeze, thaw
•It was warmer now, and the snow was beginning to melt.
•Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2 DISAPPEAR [I] also melt away to gradually disappear:
•Opposition to the government melted away.
•His anger slowly melted.
3 BECOME LESS ANGRY [I] to become less angry and begin to feel more gentle and sympathetic:
•She melted under his gaze.
•My heart just melted when I saw her crying.
4 melt in your mouth if food melts in your mouth, it is soft and tastes very nice
5 melt into sb's arms/embrace literary to allow someone to hold you in their arms and feel that you love them:
•Closing her eyes, she melted into his embrace.

PHRASAL VERBS
melt away phr v
1 if a crowd of people melts away, the people gradually leave:
•The demonstrators melted away at the first sign of trouble.
2 to gradually disappear:
•Her determination to take revenge slowly melted away.

melt sth <=> down phr v
to heat a metal object until it becomes a liquid, especially so that you can use the metal again:
•A lot of the gold was melted down and used for making jewellery.

melt into sth phr v
1 to gradually change into something else:
•Her irritation melted into pity.
2 to gradually become hidden by something:
•He is trying to melt into the background.
butter wouldn't melt in sb's mouth at BUTTER^1 (2) [C,U]
1 a very dangerous situation in which the material inside a NUCLEAR REACTOR melts and burns through its container, allowing RADIOACTIVITY to escape
2 a situation in which prices fall by a very large amount or an industry or economic situation becomes much weaker:
•The stock market crash might lead to financial meltdown. [usually before noun] written
if someone gives you a melting look or speaks to you in a melting voice, it makes you feel pity or love for them
- meltingly adverb[C,U]
the temperature at which a solid substance becomes a liquid[singular]
1 a place where people from different races, countries, or social classes come to live together:
•New York has always been a great melting pot.
2 a situation or place in which many different ideas are discussed
3 in the melting pot BrE an idea or situation that is still in the melting pot is likely to change $ [C]
1 a person or country that belongs to a group or organization

committee/party/union/board etc member (=a member of a particular group)
member of staff/staff member
member of sb's family
member of the public
member of society (=a citizen)
senior/junior member
leading member (=one of the most important members)
active member
founder member (=a member of an organization who also started that organization)
member state/country/nation (=a country that belongs to a particular international organization)
card-carrying member (=a member who is very active in a group)
full member (=a member in the most complete way)
associate member (=a member who does not have all the rights of a full member)

•The majority of union members voted in favour of a strike.
[+of]
•He is a member of the local tennis club.
•We offer training to all members of staff.
•The other members of his family were against the marriage.
•Copies of the report are available to schools and members of the public.
•a problem which should concern every member of society
•a senior member of the ruling party
• leading members of the government
•In her youth she was an active member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
•He is a founder member of the Prison Reform Trust.
•a meeting of all UN member states
•a card-carrying member of the Communist Party
•Turkey is not yet a full member of the EU.

2 one of a particular group of animals or plants
[+of]
•The plant is a member of the lily family.
•Wolves and domestic dogs are members of the same species.
3 BrE a Member of Parliament
[+for]
•the member for Truro
4 formal a man's sex organ; = penisplural Members of Parliament [C]
MP someone who has been elected to represent people in a parliament $
1 [U] when someone is a member of a club, group, or organization

apply for membership
renew your membership (=apply to become a member again after your membership has ended)
union/church/party etc membership (=membership of a particular group)
full membership (=membership with all the rights that can be allowed to members)
membership card
membership fees

[+of]
•Greece first applied for membership of the EU in 1975.
[+in] AmE
•I forgot to renew my membership in the sailing club.
•You should carry your membership card with you at all times.
• Membership fees are being increased this year.

2 [singular also + plural verb BrE ] all the members of a club, group, or organization:
•The membership voted to change the rules about women members.
3 [singular] the number of people who belong to a club, group, or organization:
•We're trying to increase our membership.
•The club now has a membership of over 2,000. [C,U]
1 a very thin piece of skin that covers or connects parts of your body:
•Loud noise can damage the delicate membrane in the ear.
2 a very thin layer of material that covers something
- membranous adjective $ plural mementos [C]
a small thing that you keep to remind you of someone or something
[+of]
•I kept the bottle as a memento of my time in Spain. $ plural memos [C]
a short official note to another person in the same company or organization:
•I sent him a memo reminding him about the meeting.
[+to/from]
•a memo from the managing director to all heads of department $ [C]
1 memoirs [plural] a book by someone important and famous in which they write about their life and experiences:
•Lady Thatcher had just published her memoirs.
2 formal a short piece of writing about a person or place that you knew well, or an event that you experienced [plural]
things that you keep or collect because they are connected with a famous person, event, or time:
•a collection of war memorabilia
very good, enjoyable, or unusual, and worth remembering:
•We want to make this a truly memorable day for the children.
- memorably adverb plural memoranda or memorandums [C]
1 formal a MEMO
2 law a short legal document that contains the important details of an agreement [only before noun]
done or made in order to remind people of someone who has died
memorial service/ceremony
•A memorial service will be held at 7 pm on Saturday.
1 [C] something, especially a stone with writing on it, that reminds people of someone who has died
[+to]
•The hospital was built as a memorial to King Edward VII.
permanent/lasting memorial
•An appeal has been launched to build a lasting memorial to the composer.
2 [singular] an achievement that reminds people of someone who has died
[+to]
•The garden is a memorial to one of the finest Victorian gardeners.
WAR MEMORIALalso memorialise BrE [T]
to do something so that a person or event will be remembered by people

IN MEMORIAMalso memorise BrE [T]
to learn words, music etc so that you know them perfectly plural memories
1 ABILITY TO REMEMBER [C,U] someone's ability to remember things, places, experiences etc

have a good/excellent memory
have a bad/poor/terrible etc memory
have a memory like a sieve (=have a very bad memory)
have a long memory (=be able to remember things for a long time)
have a short memory (=only remember something for a short time, and soon forget it)
from memory (=using your memory, and not using notes or written instructions)
lose your memory (=lose your ability to remember things)
short-term memory (=your ability to remember things you have just seen, heard, or experienced)
long-term memory (=your ability to remember events that happened a long time ago)
remain/stay/be etched in your memory (=be remembered for a long time)
if my memory serves me correctly/right (=used to say that you are almost certain you have remembered correctly)

•My memory's not as good as it once was.
[+for]
•She has a terrible memory for names.
•Those of you with long memories will remember this song.
•The pianist played the whole piece from memory.
•I'm speaking from memory, but I believe it was last May.
•The first symptom of the disease is often short-term memory loss.
•The image has remained in my memory ever since.
• If my memory serves me correctly, he lived in Paris for a while.

2 STH YOU REMEMBER [C usually plural] something that you remember from the past about a person, place, or experience
[+of]
•She talked about her memories of the war.
happy/fond/bad etc memories
•He has lots of happy memories of his stay in Japan.
•My most vivid memory is not the accident itself but being in the ambulance.
•One of my earliest childhood memories is of my mother reading stories to me by the fire.
•Those old songs bring back memories.
3 COMPUTER
a) [C] the part of a computer where information can be stored:
•The data is stored in the computer's memory.
b) [U] the amount of space that can be used for storing information on a computer:
•128 Mb of memory
•Personal computers now have much increased memory capacity.
4 in/within memory during the time that people can remember:
•the worst floods in living memory (=since the earliest time that people now alive can remember)
•It's certainly the best England team in recent memory.
•The disaster was within the memory of many men still working at the station.
5 in memory of sb if something is done or made in memory of someone, it is done to remember them and remind other people of them after they have died:
•a statue in memory of those who died in the war
•She set up a charitable fund in her father's memory.
6 sb's memory the way you remember someone who has died:
•She died over 40 years ago but her memory lives on (=people still remember her).
to sb's memory
•There's a bench to his memory in the local park.
7 a walk/trip down memory lane when you spend some time remembering the past:
•She returned to her old school yesterday for a trip down memory lane.
8 sb's memory is playing tricks on them spoken used to say that someone is remembering things wrongly:
•My memory must be playing tricks on me; I'm sure I put that book on the desk.
commit sth to memory at COMMIT (9)
jog sb's memory at JOG^1 (3)
PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY
refresh sb's memory at REFRESH (2)[C]
the part of a big computer system that stores information[C] informal
1 a computer program that uses a lot of memory
2 someone who uses computer programs that use a lot of the power available, so that other people on the network have trouble using their programs
- memory-hogging adjective [only before noun] $ [C]
old-fashioned a European woman - used in India
the plural of MAN
1 [C] something or someone that is dangerous; = threat
[+of]
•It's the only way to deal with the menace of drug dealing.
[+to]
•That man's a menace to society. He should be locked away.
•the growing menace of oil pollution at sea
2 [U] a threatening quality, feeling, or way of behaving:
•There was menace in his voice.
air/sense of menace
•There was a sense of menace as the sky grew darker.
3 [C] a person, especially a child that is annoying or causes trouble; = nuisance
•My little brother's a real menace.
4 with menaces BrE law if someone asks another person for something with menaces, they use threats of violence to get what they want:
•He was charged with demanding money with menaces.[T]
formal to threaten:
•The elephants are still menaced by poachers.
making you expect something unpleasant; = threatening
•dark menacing clouds
•a low menacing laugh
•His tone grew more menacing.
- menacingly adverb
•He moved towards her menacingly. $ [C] formal
all the people who live in a particular house; = household $ [singular]
a sexual relationship involving three people who live together [C]
a group of wild animals kept privately or for the public to see
1 REPAIR [T]
a) to repair a tear or hole in a piece of clothing:
•My father used to mend our shoes.
b) BrE to repair something that is broken or not working; = fix
•When are you going to mend that light in the hall?
•Tim can mend any broken toy.
see box at REPAIR^1
2 BECOME HEALTHY [I] informal if a broken bone mends, it becomes whole again:
•His leg isn't mending as quickly as he'd expected.
3 mend your ways to improve the way you behave after behaving badly for a long time:
•If he doesn't mend his ways, he'll be asked to leave.
4 mend (your) fences to try to become friendly with someone again after you have offended them or argued with them:
•Is it too late to mend fences with your ex-wife?
5 END A QUARREL [T] to end a quarrel or difficult situation by dealing with the problem that is causing it:
•I've tried to mend matters between us, but she's still very angry.[C]
1 be on the mend to be getting better after an illness or after a difficult period:
•He's had flu, but he's on the mend.
•signs that the economy is on the mend
2 a place in something where it has been repaired formal
not truthful:
•mendacious propaganda
- mendaciously adverb [U]
formal the quality of not being truthful $ [C]
someone who repairs something [C] formal
someone who asks people for money in order to live, usually for religious reasons
- mendicant adjective [U]
clothes that need to be repaired $ [plural] old-fashioned
the men in a particular society, family etc; womenfolk
•Many women took in washing to supplement the income of their menfolk.
menial work is boring, needs no skill, and is not important:
•a menial job
•She did menial tasks about the house.[C]
someone who does menial work, especially a servant in a house [U]
a serious illness in which the outer part of the brain becomes swollen $ [singular, U]
the time when a woman stops MENSTRUATting , which usually happens around the age of 50; male menopause
•After the menopause a woman cannot bear a child.
- menopausal $ adjective [C]
a Jewish CANDLESTICK that holds seven CANDLEs [C]
AmE spoken someone that you like and admire, especially because they have done something good for you [plural]
medical the blood that flows out of a woman's body each month[C] especially AmE
the men's toilet; = gents BrE; ladies' room
relating to the time each month when a woman loses blood, or the blood that she loses:
•the menstrual cycle[C]
formal the time each month when a woman menstruates; = period [I]
when a woman menstruates, usually every month, blood flows from her body
- menstruation noun [C,U] $ [U]
clothing for men - used especially in shops:
•the menswear department [in nouns]
used to form a noun from a verb to show actions, the people who do them, or their results:
•the government (=the people who govern a country)
•the replacement of something (=the action of replacing something)
•some interesting new developments
- -mental suffix [in adjectives]
•governmental
1 [only before noun] relating to the health or state of someone's mind; psychiatric
•The centre provides help for people suffering from mental illness.
•Stress has an effect on both your physical and mental health.
2 [only before noun] relating to the mind and thinking, or happening only in the mind:
•a child's mental development
•You need to develop a positive mental attitude.
mental picture/image (=a picture that you form in your mind)
•I tried to get a mental picture of him from her description.
3 make a mental note to make a special effort to remember something:
•Sarah made a mental note to ask Janine about it later.
4 mental block a difficulty in remembering something or in understanding something:
•I got a complete mental block as soon as the interviewer asked me a question.
5 go mental BrE spoken informal
a) to get very angry
b) to start behaving in an uncontrolled or excited way
6 [not before noun] BrE informal thinking or behaving in a way that seems crazy or strange:
•He must be mental!
- mentally adverb
•She's obviously mentally ill.[C]
a measure of someone's ability to think, understand etc, expressed as the average age of a child with that level of ability:
•a 25-year-old man with a mental age of seven[U]
the act of adding numbers together, multiplying them etc in your mind, without writing them down:
•I did a quick bit of mental arithmetic.[C] old-fashioned
a hospital where people with mental illnesses are treated; = psychiatric hospital plural mentalities [C]
a particular attitude or way of thinking, especially one that you think is wrong or stupid:
•a get-rich-quick mentality
•I can't understand the mentality of the people who are behind this kind of violence.old-fashioned
a mentally handicapped person has a problem with their brain, often from the time they are born, that affects their ability to think or control their body movements $ [U]
a substance that smells and tastes of MINT, used to give cigarettes and sweets a special taste
containing menthol [T]
1 to talk or write about something or someone, usually quickly and without saying very much or giving details:
•Was my name mentioned at all?
•Some of the problems were mentioned in his report.
mention sth to sb
•I mentioned the idea to Joan, and she seemed to like it.
mention (that)
•He mentioned that he was having problems, but he didn't explain.
• It's worth mentioning (=it is important enough to mention) that they only studied a very small number of cases.
• As I mentioned earlier, there have been a lot of changes recently.
•She mentioned in passing (=mentioned in a quick unimportant way) that you had just been to Rome.
now you mention it (=used to say that you had not thought about something until the speaker mentioned it)
•Now you mention it, I haven't seen her around lately.
fail/omit/neglect to mention sth (=not mention something you should mention)
•The report failed to mention that most of the landowners do not live on their properties.
!! Do not say 'mention about' something. Mention is followed by a direct object: She didn't mention her mother.
2 don't mention it spoken used to say politely that there is no need for someone to thank you for helping them:
•'Thanks for the ride home!' 'Don't mention it.'
3 not to mention sth used to introduce an additional thing that makes a situation even more difficult, surprising, interesting etc:
•Pollution has a negative effect on the health of everyone living in the city, not to mention the damage to the environment.
•It's too far to walk, not to mention the fact that it'll probably be closed by now anyway.
4 be mentioned in dispatches BrE to have your name on an official list of people who have been brave in battle, as an honour[C usually singular, U]
when someone mentions something or someone in a conversation, piece of writing etc
[+of]
•He made no mention of his wife's illness.
at the mention of sth
•At the mention of a trip to the seaside, the children got very excited.
•They all get a mention (=they are all mentioned) in the book.
deserve/merit (a) mention
•There is one other person who deserves special mention (=is especially worth mentioning for something they have done).
HONOURABLE MENTION $ [C]
an experienced person who advises and helps a less experienced person [U]
a system where people with a lot of experience, knowledge etc advise and help other people at work or young people preparing for work [C]
1 a list of all the kinds of food that are available for a meal, especially in a restaurant:
•Could we have the menu, please?
on the menu
•Is there any fish on the menu?
•a three course set menu (=dishes which you do not choose for yourself)
2 a list of things on a computer screen which you can ask the computer to do:
•Select PRINT from the main menu.
pull-down/drop-down menu (=a list of choices which appears when you CLICK ON a place on the screen)
menu-driven (=operated by using a menu)
the usual American spelling of MIAOW [C]
Member of the European Parliament someone who has been elected as a member of the Parliament of the European Union $ [only before noun]
formal concerned with trade; = commercial
•mercantile lawalso Mercator's projection $ [singular]
the usual way a map of the world is drawn $ plural mercenaries [C]
a soldier who fights for any country or group that will pay him:
•an army of foreign mercenaries
•a mercenary soldier
only interested in the money you may be able to get from a person, job etc:
•She did it for purely mercenary reasons.
•a mercenary attitudealso mercerised BrE $ [U]
cotton that has been treated with chemicals to make it shiny and strong $ [U] formal
goods that are being sold:
•A range of official Disney merchandise was on sale.
•They inspected the merchandise carefully.[T]
to try to sell goods or services using methods such as advertising; = market
•If the product is properly merchandised, it should sell very well. $ [U]
1 toys, clothes, and other products relating to a popular film, sports team, singer etc:
•The concerts generated £3 million in ticket and merchandising sales.
2 the way in which shops and businesses try to sell their products:
•the director of merchandising $ [C]
1 wine/coal/timber etc merchant someone whose job is to buy and sell wine, coal etc or a small company that does this:
•He had a job with an Edinburgh wine merchant.
2 old-fashioned someone who buys and sells goods in large quantities:
•the son of a wealthy merchant
3 con merchant/speed merchant etc BrE informal someone who is involved in a particular activity, such as tricking people or driving very fast $
of merchantable quality law in a suitable condition to be sold[C]
a bank that provides services for businesses
- merchant banker noun [C] $ plural merchantmen [C] old-fashioned
a ship used for carrying goodsmerchant marine AmE [singular] BrE
all of a country's ships that are used for trade, not war, and the people who work on these ships:
•John worked as a chef in the merchant navy.[C]
a sailor in the merchant navy $
1 merciful death/end/release a death or end to something that seems fortunate because it ends someone's suffering:
•I think my uncle's death was a merciful release for my poor aunt.
2 being kind to people and forgiving them rather than punishing them or being cruel:
•Merciful God, save us. $
fortunately or luckily, because a situation could have been much worse
•Mercifully, I managed to stop the car just in time.
•The journey was mercifully brief. $
1 cruel and showing no kindness or forgiveness:
•a merciless attack
•a merciless killer
2 merciless heat/cold/wind etc heat, cold etc that is very great or strong and unpleasant, and does not stop:
•It brings some relief from the merciless summer heat.
- mercilessly adverb
•He teased his sister mercilessly. $
1 literary having feelings that change suddenly and without warning:
•an actor noted for his mercurial temperament
2 literary quick and clever:
•her mercurial wit
3 technical containing mercury
the PLANET that is nearest the sun:
•Temperatures on Mercury reach as high as 700 K. $ [U]
a heavy silver-white poisonous metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures, and is used in THERMOMETERs . It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Hg $
1 [U] if someone shows mercy, they choose to forgive or to be kind to someone who they have the power to hurt or punish:
•He showed no mercy to his enemies.
•God have mercy on his soul.
beg/cry/plead for mercy
•The boy was screaming and begging for mercy.
2 at the mercy of sb/sth unable to do anything to protect yourself from someone or something:
•After the boat's motor failed, they were at the mercy of the weather.
•She was completely at his mercy.
3 mercy flight/mission etc a journey taken to bring help to people:
•a mercy mission to help homeless refugees
4 leave sb to sb's (tender) mercies to let someone be dealt with by another person, who may treat them very badly or strictly - used humorously
5 throw yourself on sb's mercy to ask someone to help you or forgive you when you are in a very bad situation
6 it's a mercy (that) spoken used to say that it is lucky that a worse situation was avoided:
•It's a mercy the accident happened so near the hospital.
be thankful/grateful for small mercies at SMALL^1 (13)[C,U]
the act of killing someone who is very ill or old so that they do not have to suffer any more; = euthanasia $ superlative merest [only before noun, no comparative]
1 used to emphasize how small or unimportant something or someone is:
•She lost the election by a mere 20 votes.
•He's a mere child.
•It can't be a mere coincidence that they left at the same time.
2 used to emphasize that something which is small or not extreme has a big effect or is important:
•The merest little noise makes him nervous.
•The mere thought of food made her feel sick.
• The mere fact that the talks are continuing is a positive sign.[C]
literary a lake $
1 used to emphasize how small or unimportant something or someone is; = only
•He's merely a boy - you can't expect him to understand.
2 used to emphasize that nothing more than what you say is involved; = just
•We're merely good friends.
•He merely shrugged and walked away.
3 not merely/rather than merely used before the less important of two ideas in a sentence to emphasize the more important idea:
•It's not merely a matter of cost, but whether she's old enough to go on holiday alone.
•It's important to write these goals down, rather than merely think about them. formal
something that is meretricious seems attractive but has no real value or is not based on the truth:
•meretricious research
- meretriciousness noun [U] $
1 [I,T] to combine, or to join things together to form one thing
[+with]
•The bank announced that it was to merge with another of the high street banks.
•The company plans to merge its subsidiaries in the US.
merge sth into sth
•proposals to merge the three existing health authorities into one
[+together]
•The villages have grown and merged together over the years.
2 [I] if two things merge, or if one thing merges into another, you cannot clearly see them, hear them etc as separate things
[+into]
•She avoided reporters at the airport by merging into the crowds.
[+with]
•Memories seemed to merge with reality. $ [C]
the joining together of two or more companies or organizations to form one larger one
[+of/between]
•a proposed merger between two of the largest software companies
[+with]
•There has been a lot of talk about a merger with another leading bank.
•merger negotiations
1 [C] one of the imaginary lines from the North Pole to the South Pole, drawn on a map of the Earth
2 the meridian technical the highest point reached by the sun or another star, when seen from a point on the Earth's surface [C,U]
a light sweet food made by mixing sugar and the white part of eggs together very quickly and then baking it $ plural merinos [C,U]
a type of sheep with long wool, or cloth made from this wool
1 [C] an advantage or good feature of something
[+of]
•The film has the merit of being short.
•The merit of the report is its realistic assessment of the changes required.
•The great merit of the project is its flexibility and low cost.
•Each of these approaches to teaching has its merits.
•Tonight's meeting will weigh up the relative merits of the two candidates.
2 [U] formal a good quality that makes someone or something deserve praise:
• There is never any merit in being second best.
have (some) merit/be of merit (=be good)
•The suggestion has some merit.
on merit
•All students are selected solely on merit (=because they are good).
artistic/literary merit
•a film lacking any kind of artistic merit
3 judge/consider etc sth on its (own) merits to judge something only on what you see when you look at it rather than on what you know from other people or things:
•It's important to judge each case on its merits.[T not in progressive] formal
to be good, important, or serious enough for praise or attention; = deserve
•The results have been encouraging enough to merit further investigation.
•It's a fascinating book which merits attention. $ plural meritocracies [C]
1 a social system that gives the greatest power and highest social positions to people with the most ability
2 the meritocracy the people who have power in a meritocracy
- meritocratic adjective formal
very good and deserving praise $ [C]
in stories, a woman who has a fish's tail instead of legs and who lives in the sea
1 written in a happy way, or in a way that makes you feel happy:
•Sylvia laughed merrily.
2 literary quickly and in a pleasant way:
•The fire soon began to burn merrily.
•The clock ticked merrily in the corner.
3 not thinking about possible problems that might happen as a result of what you are doing - used to show disapproval; = blithely
•Meanwhile, the company is merrily pushing ahead with its plans. [U]
literary laughter, fun, and enjoyment:
•Her eyes sparkled with merriment.
•the sounds of merriment
1 Merry Christmas! used to say that you hope someone will have a happy time at Christmas; = Happy Christmas
2 literary happy; = cheerful, jolly
•He marched off, whistling a merry tune.
•He's a lovely man with merry eyes and a wide smile.
3 the more the merrier spoken used to say that you are happy for other people to join you in what you are doing:
•'Do you mind if I bring Tony?' 'No, of course not. The more the merrier.'
4 [not before noun] BrE informal slightly drunk; = tipsy
5 make merry old-fashioned to enjoy yourself by drinking, singing, laughing, etc:
•Christmas is a time to eat, drink and make merry.
6 old use pleasant:
•the merry month of June
- merriness noun [U]
play (merry) hell with sth at HELL^1 (25); lead sb a merry old dance at LEAD^1 (19)
1 [C] a machine that turns around and around, and has model animals or cars for children to sit on; = carousel AmE; = roundabout BrE
2 [singular] a series of similar events that happen very quickly one after another
[+of]
•the endless Washington merry-go-round of parties and socializing [U]
literary fun and enjoyment, especially drinking, dancing, and singing [C]
a hill with a flat top and steep sides, in the southwestern USmescalin [U]
a drug made from a CACTUS plant that makes people imagine that they can see things that do not really exist
1 [C,U] material made from threads or wires that have been woven together like a net, or a piece of this material:
•The windows were covered in wire mesh to keep out flies.
•a mesh fence
2 [C usually singular] literary a complicated or difficult situation or system
[+of]
•She had felt trapped by the old mesh of loyalty and shame.[I]
1 if two ideas or things mesh, they fit together very well
[+with]
•His own ideas did not mesh with the views of the party.
2 if two parts of an engine or machine mesh, they fit closely together and connect with each other
very attractive or having a very powerful effect, so that people cannot think of anything else:
•a mesmeric performance
•the mesmeric hum of the beesalso mesmerise BrE [T usually in passive]
if you are mesmerized by someone or something, you cannot stop watching them or listening to them because they are so attractive or have such a powerful effect; = captivate
•The first time I saw Diana I was mesmerized by her beauty.
- mesmerizing adjective [C,U]
an American tree or bush, or the wood from it that is used to give food a special taste when cooking on a BARBECUE
1 DIRTY/UNTIDY [singular, U] if there is a mess somewhere or a place is a mess, things there are dirty or not neatly arranged:
•What a mess!
•Sorry - the place is a bit of a mess.
•When I got home, the house was a complete mess.
in a mess BrE
•The burglars left the house in an awful mess.
•You can make cookies if you promise not to make a mess in the kitchen.
clear/clean up the mess
•Whoever is responsible for this mess can clear it up immediately!
•She hates mess.
2 PROBLEMS/DIFFICULTIES [singular, U] a situation in which there are a lot of problems and difficulties, especially as a result of mistakes or carelessness:
•My life's such a mess.
in a mess
•The economy is still in a terrible mess.
•You got us into this mess, Terry. You can get us out of it.
•All she could do was pray that, somehow, she might be able to sort out the mess she had got herself into.
3 make a mess of (doing) sth to do something badly:
•I feel I've made a real mess of my marriage.
•Many people make a mess of handling money.
4 PERSON be a mess informal if someone is a mess, they look dirty and untidy, or are in a bad emotional state
5 a mess of sth AmE informal a lot of something:
•a mess of fresh fish
6 ARMY/NAVY [C] a room in which members of the army, navy etc eat and drink together:
•We had lunch in the officers' mess.
7 WASTE SUBSTANCE [C,U] BrE informal solid waste from an animal:
•The dog's made a mess on the carpet.
1 [T] to make something look untidy or dirty:
•He scratched his head and messed his hair even more.
2 [I,T] BrE if an animal or person messes something, they use the wrong place as a toilet:
•He was so drunk that he messed the bed.
3 no messing spoken informal used to say that something was done very easily:
•Williams won very comfortably, no messing.
4 [I] to have meals in a room where members of the army, navy etc eat together

PHRASAL VERBS
mess around phr v also mess about BrE informal
1 to spend time lazily, doing things slowly and in a way that is not planned:
•He spent his vacation messing around on the farm.
2 to behave in a silly way when you should be paying attention or doing something sensible; = fool around
•Stop messing around and get ready for school.
3 mess sb around to cause a lot of problems for someone, especially by changing your mind often and not being completely honest:
•Don't mess me about - I want the money you promised me.

mess around with sb/sth phr v also mess about with sb/sth BrE informal
1 to have a sexual relationship with someone that you should not have a sexual relationship with:
•She'd been messing around with another man.
2 to spend time playing with something, repairing it etc:
•Dave likes messing around with old cars.
3 to use something and make annoying changes to it:
•Who's been messing around with my camera?

mess up phr v informal
1 mess sth <=> up to spoil or ruin something, especially something important or something that has been carefully planned:
•It took me ages to get this right - I don't want some idiot to mess it up.
•She felt she'd messed up her whole life.
2 mess sth <=> up to make something dirty or untidy:
•Who messed up the kitchen?
3 to make a mistake and do something badly:
•I think I messed up on the last question.
mess sth <=> up
•It doesn't matter if you mess it up, you can always try again.
4 mess sb <=> up to make someone have emotional or mental problems:
•I messed up my kids.
5 mess sb <=> up AmE informal to hurt someone especially by hitting them

mess with sb/sth phr v informal
1 to get involved with someone or something that may cause problems or be dangerous:
•Don't mess with drugs.
2 to deceive someone or cause trouble for them:
•You mess with me, and I'll rip your head off.
3 to try changing something, especially in a way that damages or spoils it [C]
1 a spoken or written piece of information that you send to another person or leave for them

get/receive a message
leave a message
send a message
take a message (=give a telephone message from someone to someone else)
pass on/relay a message (=give someone a message from someone else)
urgent/important message
telephone/fax message
mail/email message (=a message sent by computer)
text message (=on a mobile phone)
message of thanks/congratulations/support/sympathy etc

•Did you get my message?
[+from]
•There's a message from Karen on the answerphone.
[+for]
•I have an urgent message for you.
•He left a message saying he would probably be a little late.
•I use the internet mainly for sending email messages.
•I'm sorry, she's out right now, can I take a message?
•He wanted me to pass on a message to the police.
•The family would like to express their thanks to all those who sent messages of sympathy after Jack's tragic accident.

2 [usually singular] the main or most important idea that someone is trying to tell people about in a film, book, speech etc:
•The message of the film is that good always triumphs over evil.
•The result of this legal battle sends an important message to people in similar situations.
•It's perfectly possible to get your message across (=communicate what you want to say) without being so angry.
•They use illustrations to convey their message.
3 get the message informal to understand what someone means or what they want you to do:
•OK, I get the message - I'm going!
4 a piece of written information which appears on a computer screen to tell the user about something, especially a problem
error/warning message
•I keep getting an error message when I try to log on.
5 on/off message stating or not stating the official opinion of the political party you belong to
6 keep to the message to always emphasize your political party's most important ideas when you are trying to gain people's support:
•Don't confuse the voters. Keep to the message.[C]
a place on a website where you can read or leave messages; = electronic bulletin board [U]
the system or process of sending messages using electronic equipment:
•an electronic messaging systeminformal
someone who is messed up has emotional or mental problems because of something that has happened to them $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to deliver messages or documents, or someone who takes a message to someone else
2 blame/shoot the messenger to be angry with the person who tells you about something bad, instead of the person who caused it to happen[T]
to send a letter, package etc somewhere using a messenger[C]
someone who delivered messages to other people as a job in the past[C]
a large room where soldiers eat [singular]
1 the Messiah
a) Jesus Christ, who Christians believe has been sent by God to save the world from evil
b) a great religious leader who, according to Jewish belief, will be sent by God to save the world
2 someone who people believe will solve all their problems:
•The club was in desperate need of a new footballing messiah. formal
1 someone who has messianic beliefs wants to make very big social or political changes:
•Many young people have an admirable messianic zeal about them.
2 relating to or involving the MessiahMessrs. AmE $ BrE
the plural of MR, used especially in the names of companies:
•Messrs Ford and Dobson comparative messier, superlative messiest
1 dirty or untidy:
•a messy room
•Sorry the place is so messy, I haven't had time to clear up.
2 informal a messy situation is complicated and unpleasant to deal with:
•He's just been through a particularly messy divorce.
3 making someone or something dirty or untidy:
•messy jobs like plumbing, plastering, and tiling
- messily adverb
- messiness noun [U] $ plural mestizos [C]
someone who has one Hispanic parent and one Native American parent
the past tense and past participle of MEET
1 beyond or at a higher level:
•metaphysical (=beyond ordinary physical things)
2 relating to a change of state or position:
•metabolism (=the process of changing food into energy) $ [only before noun]
relating to your body's metabolism
(high/low) metabolic rate
•Fish normally have a high metabolic rate.
•Exercise can increase your metabolic rate.
•the metabolic activity of the brain [C,U]
the chemical processes by which food is changed into energy in your body:
•This drug speeds up your metabolism.
protein/carbohydrate/alcohol etc metabolism
•The vast majority of alcohol metabolism occurs in the liver.
[+of]
•the metabolism of fat by the liveralso metabolise BrE [T]
to change food in your body into energy and new cells, using chemical processes [plural, U]
information that describes what is contained in large computer DATABASEs , for example who wrote the information, what it is for, and in what form it is stored [C,U]
a hard, usually shiny substance such as iron, gold, or steel; metallic
•The gate is made of metal.
•a small black metal box
•They traded in gold and other precious metals (=valuable metals used especially for making jewellery).
•The old trucks were sold as scrap metal (=old metal that is melted and used again).
HEAVY METAL [C,U]
words that are used for talking about or describing language[C]
1 a machine used to find pieces of metal that are buried under the ground
2 a special frame that you walk through at an airport, used to check for weapons made of metal[U]
weakness in metal that makes it likely to break, caused for example by frequent shaking over a long period
1 a metallic noise sounds like pieces of metal hitting each other:
•The key turned in the lock with a loud metallic click.
•The pans made a metallic clatter as they crashed to the floor.
2 a metallic voice is rough, hard, and unpleasant:
•He spoke in a thin, metallic voice.
3 a metallic colour shines like metal:
•He drives a metallic red van.
4 a metallic taste is bitter and unpleasant, like metal:
•The gum left a horrible metallic taste in my mouth.
5 made of metal or containing metal:
•metallic particles $ [U]
the scientific study of metals and their uses
- metallurgist noun [C]
- metallurgical $ adjective $ [U]
1 objects made by shaping metal:
•a huge collection of antique metalwork
2 the activity or skill of making metal objects:
•Students can study woodwork or metalwork.
- metalworker noun [C] $ [I,T] formal
to change completely and become something different, or to make something change in this way
[+into]
•From an easygoing young girl, she had metamorphosed into a neurotic middle-aged woman. $ plural metamorphoses [C,U]
1 formal a process in which something changes completely into something very different; = transformation
•It took me some time to undergo the metamorphosis from teacher to lecturer.
•the metamorphosis of China under Deng's economic reforms
2 a process in which a young insect, FROG etc changes into another stage in its development:
•Beetles undergo a complete metamorphosis in their life cycle. $ [C,U]
1 a way of describing something by referring to it as something different and suggesting that it has similar qualities to that thing; simile
•She uses some wonderful images and metaphors in her writing.
•a very creative use of metaphor
2 mixed metaphor the use of two different metaphors at the same time to describe something, especially in a way that seems silly or funny
3 something that represents a general idea or quality
[+for]
•Their relationship is a metaphor for the failure of communication in the modern world. $
1 a metaphorical use of a word is not concerned with real objects or physical events, but with ideas or events of a non-physical kind:
•The word has a metaphorical as well as a literal meaning.
2 used to show that you are using a metaphor:
•his need to escape from the metaphorical chains that held him
- metaphorically adverb
•She was, literally and metaphorically, in perfect shape.
concerned with the study of metaphysics:
•A lot of scientists don't like discussing metaphysical matters. [U]
the part of PHILOSOPHY that is concerned with trying to understand and describe the nature of truth, life, and REALITY

PHRASAL VERBS
mete sth <=> out phr v formal
if you mete out a punishment, you give it to someone
[+to]
•He felt he had a right to mete out physical punishment to the children.
•Judges are meting out increasingly harsh sentences for car theft. $ [C]
a piece of rock or metal that travels through space, and makes a bright line in the night sky when it falls down towards the Earth:
•Astronomers track large meteors using radar.
•a meteor shower (=a lot of meteors that fall down towards the Earth at the same time) $
1 happening very suddenly and quickly:
•her meteoric rise from dancer to professional actress
•The company has experienced meteoric growth.
•The scandal ended his meteoric political career.
2 technical from a METEOR:
•meteoric iron
- meteorically adverb
•His career faded as meteorically as it grew. [C]
a piece of rock or metal from space that has landed on Earth $ [U]
the scientific study of weather conditions
- meteorologist noun [C]
•The storms have baffled meteorologists in the United States.
- meteorological $ adjective
•satellites that provide meteorological data to the National Weather Service $ [in nouns]
an instrument for measuring something:
•a speedometer $ [C]
1 a machine that measures and shows the amount of something you have used or the amount of money that you must pay
water/gas/electricity meter
•A man came to read the electricity meter.
•The taxi driver left the meter running while I ran in to pick up my bags.
2 a machine that measures the level of something
sound-level/light etc meter
3 also parking meter a machine which you put money into when you park your car next to it
4 the American spelling of METRE[T]
to measure how much of something is used, and how much you must pay for it, by using a meter:
•All our water is metered now.[C] AmE old-fashioned
a woman whose job is to make sure that cars are not parked illegally; = traffic warden BrE $ [U]
a drug that is often given to people who are trying to stop taking HEROIN $ [U]
a gas that you cannot see or smell, which can be burned to give heat:
•Methane is one of the principal gases contributing to the greenhouse effect. $ [U]
a type of poisonous alcohol that can be made from wood past tense methought $ [T] old use
I think:
•Methinks he is not mistaken.
1 [C] a planned way of doing something, especially one that a lot of people know about and use:
•traditional teaching methods
•I think we should try again using a different method.
method of/for (doing) sth
•Today's methods of birth control make it possible for a couple to choose whether or not to have a child.
•effective methods for the storage and retrieval of information
2 [U] formal a well-organized and well-planned way of doing something:
•There's no method in the way they do their accounts.
3 there's method in/to sb's madness used to say that even though someone seems to be behaving strangely, there is a sensible reason for what they are doing $
1 a methodical way of doing something is careful and uses an ordered system:
•He always checked every detail in a methodical way.
•a methodical approach to answering questions
2 a methodical person always does things carefully, using an ordered system:
•She's a very methodical person.
•He had a neat, methodical mind.
- methodically adverb
•He went through the papers methodically, one by one. [C]
someone who belongs to a Christian religious group that follows the ideas of John Wesley
- Methodist adjective
•a Methodist chapel
- Methodism noun [U] $ plural methodologies [C,U]
the set of methods and principles that you use when studying a particular subject or doing a particular kind of work
methodology for (doing) sth
•We've been developing a new methodology for assessing new products.
•There are some differences in methodology between the two studies.
- methodological $ adjective
•There are a few methodological issues we need to discuss.
- methodologically adverb
•The study was methodologically flawed. $
the past tense of METHINKS [U]
BrE informal METHYLATED SPIRITS $
as old as Methuselah very old $ [U] technical
a poisonous alcohol that can be made from wood; = methanol [U]
a type of alcohol that is burned in lamps, heaters etc
very careful about small details, and always making sure that everything is done correctly:
•He kept meticulous accounts.
•Their planning and preparation were meticulous.
•He cleaned the tools with meticulous care.
•The book describes his journey in meticulous detail.
[+in]
•He was meticulous in his use of words.
[+about]
•He has always been so meticulous about his appearance.
- meticulously adverb
•The attack was meticulously planned and executed. $ [C usually singular]
formal someone's metier is the type of work or activity that they enjoy doing because they have a natural ability to do it well:
•Acting is not my metier.[only before noun] informal
a me-too product is one that a company begins to sell after it has seen that other companies are successful with the same type of product - used to show disapproval-meter AmE $ [in nouns] BrE
part of a metre, or a number of metres:
•a millimetre
•a kilometermeter AmE $ BrE
1 [C] written abbreviation m the basic unit for measuring length in the METRIC SYSTEM
2 [C,U] the arrangement of sounds in poetry into patterns of strong and weak beats; rhythm
1 using or connected with the METRIC SYSTEM of weights and measures; imperial
•a metric tonne
•The parts all come in metric sizes now.
2 metrical technical
written in the form of poetry, with a pattern of strong and weak beats [U]
the change to using the METRIC SYSTEM of weights and measures:
•Most businesses are in favour of metrication.
the metric system the system of weights and measures that is based on the kilogram and the metre[C]
a unit for measuring weight, equal to 1000 kilograms $ plural metros [C]
a railway system that runs under the ground below a city:
•the Paris Metro
•It'll be quicker to go on the metro.
•a metro station $ [C]
a piece of equipment that makes a regular repeated sound like a clock, showing the speed at which music should be played $ [C]
a very large city that is the most important city in a country or area:
•The city has become a huge, bustling metropolis. $ [only before noun]
1 relating or belonging to a very large city:
•a metropolitan area of South Australia
2 technical relating to France, rather than its COLONIES:
•metropolitan France
the Metropolitan Police the police force that is responsible for the London area [U]
1 courage and determination to do something even when it is very difficult
test/show/prove your mettle
•a crisis which will test the prime minister's mettle
2 on your mettle BrE if you are on your mettle, you are ready to try as hard as possible because your abilities are being tested:
•We'll have to be on our mettle from the start.
keep/put sb on their mettle
•This was just his way of keeping me on my mettle. literary
full of energy and determination [I]
if a cat mews, it makes a soft high crying sound:
•The cat mewed at me.
- mew noun [C] [plural] BrE
a small street or area surrounded by buildings in a city, where horses used to be kept, but where people now live
relating to Mexico or its people:
•the Mexican government
•the Mexican border
•Mexican food[C]
someone from Mexico[singular] BrE
the effect that is made when all the people watching a sport stand up, move their arms up and down, and sit down again one after the other in a continuous movement that looks like a wave moving on the sea $ [C]
1 a small floor that is built between two other floors in a building:
•A young woman was sitting at a desk on the mezzanine floor.
2 AmE the lowest BALCONY in a theatre, or the first few rows of seats in that balcony $
mezzo forte/piano etc technical not too loud, softly etc - used in instructions for performing musicalso mezzo [C]
a female singing voice that is lower than a SOPRANO but higher than an ALTO, or a woman with a voice like this $ [C,U]
a picture printed from a metal plate that is polished in places to produce areas of light and shade [C]
AmE Master of Fine Arts a university DEGREE in a subject such as painting or drawingplural mg or mgs
the written abbreviation of milligram or milligrams
the written abbreviation of megahertz [U]
the third note in a musical SCALE according to the SOL-FA system
a secret British government organization whose job it is to keep Britain safe from attack by enemies inside the country, such as foreign SPIES or TERRORISTs :
•a government agent working for MI5
a secret British government organization that sends people to foreign countries to try and find out secret political and military information:
•He used to work for MI6.
•the head of MI6 [C]
AmE missing in action a soldier who has disappeared in a battle and who may still be alive:
•There are still more than 500 MIAs.meow [I]
if a cat miaows, it makes a crying sound
- miaow noun [C]
•The cat jumped away with a loud miaow. [singular] literary
1 dirty air or a thick unpleasant mist that smells bad:
•He looked up at me through a miasma of cigarette smoke.
•A foul miasma lay over the town.
2 an evil influence or feeling that seems to surround a person or place
[+of]
•The miasma of defeat hung over them. [U]
a mineral that separates easily into small flat transparent pieces of rock, often used to make electrical instruments
the plural of MOUSE [C,U]
29th September, a Christian holy day in honour of Saint Michael [C] taboo
an offensive word for someone from Ireland. Do not use this word.
take the mickey (out of sb) BrE informal to make someone look silly, often in a friendly way, for example by copying them or by pretending something is true when it is not:
•He's always taking the mickey out of me.informal
small and not at all important:
•The charity has been described as a Mickey Mouse operation.
•a Mickey Mouse job $ plural micros [C]
a small computer $ [in nouns, adjectives and adverbs]
extremely small; macro-, mini-
•microelectronics
•a micro-organism $ [C]
an extremely small living thing which you can only see if you use a MICROSCOPE. Some microbes can cause diseases $ [U]
the scientific study of very small living things such as BACTERIA
- microbiologist noun [C]
- microbiological $ adjective
•a microbiological examination of the fibres found near the body $ [C]
a type of beer that is only produced in small quantities $ plural microbreweries [C]
a small company that makes only a small amount of beer to sell, and often has a restaurant where the beer is servedalso chip $ [C]
a very small piece of SILICON containing a set of electronic parts which is used in computers and other machines:
•Japan's largest producer of microchips
•the microchip industry $ [C]
the weather patterns in one small area, which are different from the weather patterns in the surrounding area:
•The valley has its own unique microclimate. $ [C]
a small computer $ [C]
a small group, society, or place that has the same qualities as a much larger one; macrocosm
[+of]
•New York's mix of people is a microcosm of America.
in microcosm
•All the problems of society can be seen here in microcosm.
- microcosmic $ adjective
•the forces which we see at work on a microcosmic scale $ [C]
a secret photograph of something such as a document which is reduced to a very small size so that it can easily be hidden $ [U]
the study of small economic systems that are part of national or international systems; macroeconomics
- microeconomic adjective $ [U]
the practice or study of designing very small electrical CIRCUITs that are used in computers:
•the latest developments in microelectronics
- microelectronic adjective
•a new system that has been developed using microelectronic technology $ [U]
the activity of designing structures and machines that are extremely small
- microengineer noun [C] $ [C,U]
a sheet of microfilm which can only be read using a special machine, especially in a library
on microfiche
•Details of all members are now available on microfiche. $ [C,U]
a type of film on which pictures and writing can be made very small, so that large amounts can be stored easily
on microfilm
•Most of the daily newspapers are available on microfilm. $ [U]
a system that allows people in poor countries to borrow small amounts of money to help them start a small business $ [C]
a very light small plane for one or two people $ [T]
to organize and control all the details of another person's work in a way that they think is annoying
- micromanagement noun [U] $ [C]
an instrument for measuring very small distancesmicrometer AmE also micron $ [C] BrE
a unit for measuring length. There are one million micrometres in one metre. $ [C]
a living thing that is so small that it cannot be seen without a MICROSCOPE $ [C]
a piece of equipment that you speak into to record your voice or make it louder when you are speaking or performing in public:
•She spoke confidently into the microphone.
•They searched the room for hidden microphones. $ [C]
the central CHIP in a computer, which controls most of its operations[C]
a vehicle like a child's SCOOTER, but smaller and lighter. It is used as a toy, and also by adults, especially as a way of travelling short distances. $ [C]
1 a scientific instrument that makes extremely small things look larger
under/through a microscope
•Abnormalities in the cells can be seen quite clearly under a microscope.
•Each sample was examined through a microscope.
2 put sth under the microscope to examine a situation very closely and carefully:
•Our prison system is being put under the microscope after an alarming number of deaths and suicides this year. $
1 extremely small and therefore very difficult to see:
•a microscopic speck of dust
•Inspectors discovered microscopic cracks in the hull of the submarine.
2 [only before noun] using a microscope:
•The cells were identified through microscopic analysis.
- microscopically adverb
•The seeds are microscopically small. $ [C]
one millionth of a second $ [U]
medical treatment in which a part of someone's body is repaired or removed using very small instruments or LASERs [C]
1 also microwave oven a type of OVEN that cooks food very quickly using very short electric waves instead of heat:
•I'll heat it up in the microwave.
2 a very short electric wave that is used in cooking food and sending messages by radio, and in RADAR[T]
to cook something in a microwave oven:
•You can heat it up under the grill or microwave it.
- microwaveable microwavable adjective
•a new range of microwavable snacks literary
among or in the middle of
middle:
•a young woman in her mid-twenties
•The mid-sixties were a turning point in sports car design.
•in mid-July
•He stopped mid-sentence.
mid-morning/afternoon/week etc $
in midair in the air or the sky, away from the ground:
•The planes collided in midair.
- midair adjective [only before noun]
•a midair collision
the Midas touch if someone has the Midas touch, everything they do is successful and makes money for them:
•a talented young businessman with the Midas touch
1 mid Atlantic accent a way of speaking that uses a mixture of American and British English sounds and words:
•She spoke in a soft mid Atlantic accent.
2 mid-Atlantic states/region the US states that are on the Atlantic coast, approximately between New Jersey and Maryland $ [U]
the middle of the day, at or around 12 o'clock; midnight
at/around/by etc midday
•I'm meeting him at midday.
•I got there around midday.
•By midday it had begun to warm up.
•We stopped off in Colchester for our midday meal.
•the full heat of the midday sun [C]
old use a pile of animal waste or things such as food that have been thrown away
1 CENTRE PART the middle the part that is nearest the centre of something, and furthest from the sides, edges, top, bottom etc
[+of]
•We rowed out towards the middle of the lake.
in the middle (of sth)
•Jo was standing in the middle of the room.
•Those are my two brothers, and that's me in the middle.
•The meat was burnt on the outside and raw in the middle.
•a huge hole right in the middle of the lawn
through the middle (of sth)
•The new road will go right through the middle of the wood.
down the middle (of sth)
•Draw a line down the middle of the page.
2 TIME/EVENT the middle the part of an event or period of time that is between the beginning and the end
[+of]
•events which took place around the middle of the last century
in the middle (of sth)
•I'm going to stay with some friends in the middle of May.
•He gets killed in the middle of the film.
the middle of the night/day
•I got a phone call from her in the middle of the night!
the middle of the week/month/year etc
•Everything should be sorted out by the middle of next year.
3 SCALE/RANGE the middle the level or position that is between two extreme positions, for example between the best and the worst:
•There are plenty of small houses for sale, and quite a lot of very large ones, but very little in the middle.
[+of]
•In tests, I always seem to finish around the middle of the class.
4 BODY [C usually singular] the part of your body around your waist and stomach
sb's middle
•He was holding a towel around his middle.
5 be in the middle of (doing) sth to be busy doing something:
•Can I call you back - I'm in the middle of a meeting.
•I was in the middle of sorting some papers when the phone rang.
6 in the middle of sth if you are in the middle of something, it is happening to you or around you:
•At that time Britain was in the middle of a recession.
•The company is in the middle of a takeover battle.
7 in the middle of nowhere a long way from the nearest big town:
•They live miles away, in the middle of nowhere.
8 divide/split sth down the middle to divide something into equal halves or groups:
•We put all the money together and then split it down the middle.
•The voters are split down the middle on this issue.
piggy in the middle at PIGGY^1 (2)[only before noun]
1 CENTRE nearest the centre and furthest from the edge, top, end etc:
•driving in the middle lane of the motorway
•the middle drawer of the filing cabinet
2 TIME/EVENT half of the way through an event or period of time:
•They spent the middle part of their vacation in Florida.
•the middle part of the day
3 SCALE/RANGE between two extreme levels or positions, for example between the best and worst, the biggest and smallest etc:
•a car in the middle price range
•the middle ranks of the army
•a middle-income family
4 in your middle twenties/thirties etc about 25, 35 etc years old
5 middle brother/child/daughter etc the brother etc who is between the oldest and the youngest
6 middle course/way etc a way of dealing with something that is between two opposite and often extreme ways
[+between]
•The party is seeking to find a middle way between extreme right-wing and left-wing policies.
•I try to steer a middle course between keeping control of the project and giving responsibility to others.
7 Middle English/French etc an old form of English, French etc, used in the Middle Ages (=between 1100 and 1500 AD)[U]
the period of your life between the ages of about 40 and 60, when you are no longer young but are not yet old:
•Men who smoke are more likely to have heart attacks in middle age.
1 between the ages of about 40 and 60:
•a middle-aged businessman
2 someone who seems middle-aged seems rather dull and does not do exciting or dangerous things:
•Living with Henry had made her feel middle-aged.
3 middle-aged spread fat that many people develop around their waist as they grow older
the Middle Ages the period in European history between about 1100 and 1500 AD
1 the middle part of the United States, which is not on the east or west coasts
2 Americans who are neither very rich nor very poor and who have traditional ideas and beliefs
middlebrow books, television programmes etc are of fairly good quality but are not very difficult to understand; highbrow, lowbrow[U]
the musical note C, which is the middle note on a piano[C]
the social class that includes people who are educated and work in professional jobs, for example teachers or managers; lower class, upper class, working class
•This led to the creation of a new, affluent middle class.
•Home ownership was once a privilege of the middle classes.
1 typical of people who are educated and work in professional jobs:
•a middle-class family
•They lived a comfortable middle-class life.
2 middle-class attitudes and ideas are typical of middle-class people and are often concerned with the idea that people should work hard, have a good education, and try to earn enough money to live a comfortable life
the middle distance the part of a picture or view that is between the nearest part and the part that is furthest away:
•She just stood there gazing into the middle distance.[only before noun]
a middle-distance race is neither very short nor very long, for example 800 or 1500 metres[singular]
the part just inside your ear
the Middle East the area that includes Iran and Egypt and the countries which are between them; Far East
- Middle Eastern adjective[C]
the longest finger on your hand[U]
ideas that are not extreme, and that people who oppose each other can agree about:
•The negotiators could find no middle ground. plural middlemen [C]
someone who buys things in order to sell them to someone else, or who helps to arrange business deals for other people:
•He acts as a middleman for British companies seeking contracts in the Gulf.
•Buy direct from the manufacturer and cut out the middleman (=avoid using a middleman).[U]
managers who are in charge of small groups of people, but do not take important decisions that affect the whole organization
- middle manager noun [C][C]
1 the name that is between your first name and your family name
2 sth is sb's middle name informal used to say that someone has a personal quality very strongly:
•Don't worry - discretion is my middle name.
1 middle-of-the-road ideas or opinions are not extreme, and so most people are likely to agree with them:
•a party offering safe, middle-of-the-road policies
2 middle-of-the-road voters or politicians have ideas that are not extreme
3 informal ordinary and not new, different, or exciting:
•Their first album was quite good, but the second was very middle-of-the-road stuff.
having a responsible job or position, but not among the most important people in a company:
•middle-ranking officers and bureaucrats[C,U]
1 a school in Britain for children between the ages of 8 and 12
2 a school in the US for children between the ages of 11 and 14
neither very large nor very small:
•a middle-sized company [C]
a BOXER who weighs less than 72.58 kilograms, and who is heavier than a WELTERWEIGHT but lighter than a LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
the Middle West another form of the MIDWEST informal
of average size, quality, ability etc:
•a tennis player of middling talent [U]
1 the middle part of the area where a game such as football is played:
•He plays in midfield.
•an excellent midfield player
2 the members of a football team who play in the midfield:
•The midfield did very well in the first half. $ [C]
a player in a game of football who usually plays in the midfield [C]
a small flying insect that can bite people [C]
1 taboo a very offensive word for someone who is very short because their body has not grown normally. Do not use this word.; dwarf
2 BrE informal someone who is not very tall[only before noun]
very small:
•a midget submarine [U] technical
musical instrument digital interface a system that allows computers to communicate with electronic musical instruments
midi skirt/dress/coat a skirt, dress etc that comes to the middle of the lower leg; mini
the Midlands the central part of England
- Midland adjective
- Midlander noun [C]also mid-life crisis [C]
a period of worry and lack of confidence that some people experience when they are about 40 or 50 years old and begin to feel that they are getting old [U]
12 o'clock at night; midday
at midnight
•The train is due in at midnight.
after/before midnight
•We stayed there until way after midnight.
•You can't phone her now - it's gone midnight (=after midnight)!
•By the time he arrived, it was well past midnight (=after midnight).
at/on the stroke of midnight (=at exactly midnight)
•The treaty will come into force on the stroke of midnight tonight.
•He's gone for a midnight swim.
!! Do not say 'in the midnight'. If you mean 'at 12 o'clock at night' say at midnight and if you mean 'very late at night' say in the middle of the night.
burn the midnight oil at BURN^1 (20)[U]
a very dark blue colour
- midnight blue adjective
the midnight sun the sun that you can see in the middle of the night in summer in the far north or south of the world [C usually singular]
a point that is half of the way through or along something
[+of]
•At the midpoint of the study, all those taking part were interviewed again.[only before noun]
mid-range products and services are not the most expensive or the cheapest; top-of-the-range [C]
the part of the body between your chest and your waist [C usually singular]
the middle part of something or of someone's body:
•There are 24 missiles in the submarine's midsection. plural midshipmen [C]
someone who is training to become an officer in the British navy
1 in the midst of sth
a) if you are in the midst of an event or situation, it is happening around you:
•The government is in the midst of a major crisis.
b) in the middle of a place or a group of things or people:
•We were sitting in the midst of an elegant and well-dressed audience.
2 in our/their midst formal in a particular group:
•I fear we have an enemy in our midst.old use
surrounded by people or things [U]
1 in midstream when something has started and is still happening:
•They had to drop the experiment in midstream.
•He interrupted the official in midstream (=while the official was still speaking).
2 the middle part of a river
in midstream
•The boat had anchored in midstream.
- midstream adverb $ [U]
the middle of summer:
•a perfect midsummer afternoonalso Midsummer's Day [C,U]
BrE the 24th of June $
1 [U] the middle period of an elected government's time in power
2 [C] AmE a test that students take in the middle of a SEMESTER or QUARTER $ [only before noun]
1 in the middle of an elected government's time in power:
•midterm elections
2 AmE in the middle of a SEMESTER or QUARTER; half-term
•midterm tests AmE
in the area of a city that is quite near the centre but is not the main business area; downtown, uptown
- midtown noun [U] $
1 between two places, and the same distance from each of them; = halfway
[+between]
•The city is midway between Edinburgh and London.
2 when half a period of time has passed; = halfway
[+through]
•Leeds scored midway through the first half. $
on one of the middle days of the week:
•There are often discounts available for midweek travel.
- midweek noun [U]
•The match will be played in midweek.
the Midwest the central area of the United States
- Midwestern adjective plural midwives [C]
a specially trained nurse whose job is to help women when they are having a baby $ [U]
the skill or work of a midwife $ [U]
the middle of winter:
•The mountains look beautiful in midwinter. $ [U]
the middle of the year:
•Sales had improved by midyear.
- midyear adjective [only before noun]
•a midyear review [singular]
literary a person's typical expression or appearance:
•her sorrowful mien spoken
slightly annoyed or upset:
•I felt a bit miffed that no one had told me about the trip. negative short formmightn't
1 POSSIBILITY
a) if something might happen or might be true, there is a possibility that it may happen or may be true, but you are not at all certain:
•I might be a few minutes late.
•She might not want to come with us.
•I suppose he might have missed the train.
•This might well be her last public performance (=it is fairly likely).
•One of the guards might easily panic and shoot someone (=it is likely).
b) used as the past tense of 'may' when reporting that someone talked or thought about the possibility of something:
•George said he might be able to help you.
•I thought they might have gone home.
•She was worried that we might get hurt.
c) used to say that something was a possibility in the past but did not actually happen:
•It was terrifying. We might have been killed.
2 SUGGESTING used to suggest politely what someone should do:
•If you need more information, you might try the Internet.
•I thought we might go to the new Chinese restaurant on the High Street.
•It might be a good idea to put those plants in the shade.
•We're going to a concert. You might like to come with us.
3 ASKING PERMISSION
a) spoken especially BrE used to politely ask for permission to do something:
•Might I borrow your pen?
•I wonder if I might speak to your son.
b) used when reporting that someone asked for permission to do something:
•He asked if he might come in and look around.
4 SB SHOULD HAVE DONE STH used when you are annoyed because someone has not done something that you think they should do:
•You might at least say thank you.
•They might have cleaned up before they left.
5 PAST PURPOSE used after 'so that' or 'in order that' to say that someone did something in order to make something else happen or be possible:
•I asked for names and addresses so that I might pass on details to the police.
6 might I say/ask/add etc spoken especially BrE used to politely give more information, ask a question, interrupt etc:
•Might I ask how old you are?
•Might I just say how lovely it is to see everyone here today.
7 I might say/add spoken used to emphasize what you are saying:
•I was, I might say, not surprised.
8 I might have known/guessed etc spoken used to say that you are not surprised at a situation:
•I might have known it was you!
•I might have guessed I'd get no sympathy from my family.
9 might (just) as well
a) used to suggest that someone should do something, because there is no good reason to do anything else:
•I suppose we might as well go home.
b) used to say that the effect of an action or situation is the same as if it was another one:
•They might as well have a badge on them saying 'Steal me'.
•He might as well have been a million miles away.
10 ALTHOUGH used to say that even though something is perhaps true, something different or opposite is also true:
•He might be nearly seventeen but he's still very immature.
•Surprising as it might seem, some tourists actually enjoy the British weather.
•Although she might understand his beliefs, she could not accept them.
•Try as I might (=although I tried hard), I couldn't work out the answer.
11 FORMAL QUESTION used to ask a question in a formal and rather unfriendly way:
•And who might you be, young man?
12 might well used to say that there is a good reason for a reaction, question, or feeling:
•'What do they hope to achieve?' 'You might well ask.'
•a system of which we in Britain might well be envious
•This caused a few gasps, as well it might.[U]
1 great strength and power:
•two individuals who took on the might of the English legal system
•He swung the axe again with all his might.
2 might is right BrE might makes right AmE used to say that powerful people and countries are able to do whatever they want, especially when you disapprove of this[plural]
things that you wish had happened in the past but which never did
1 very:
•a mightily impressive piece of work
•I was mightily relieved when we landed at Manchester airport.
2 literary using great strength:
•We laboured mightily to rebuild the walls. informal especially BrE
the short form of 'might not' comparative mightier, superlative mightiest literary
very strong and powerful, or very big and impressive:
•the mighty Mississippi river
•a mighty army
high and mighty at HIGH^1 (26)
AmE informal very:
•You seem mighty sure of your facts.
•They got out of there mighty fast, I can tell you. $ [C,U]
an extremely bad headache, during which you feel sick and have pain behind your eyes
have/get a migraine
•I won't be coming this evening - I've got a migraine.
bad/severe migraine
•He suffers from severe migraine. [C]
1 someone who goes to live in another area or country, especially in order to find work; emigrant, immigrant
migrant worker/labourer
•A lot of factory work is done by migrant workers.
economic migrant (=someone who goes to live in another country because they are likely to find a better job there)
2 a bird or animal that travels regularly from one part of the world to another $ [I + from/to]
1 if birds or animals migrate, they travel regularly from one part of the world to another
2 if people migrate, they go to live in another area or country, especially in order to find work; emigrate [C,U]
1 when large numbers of people go to live in another area or country, especially in order to find work
2 when birds or animals travel regularly from one part of the world to another $
involved in or relating to migration:
•migratory birds [C]
informal a MICROPHONE
OPEN MIKE

PHRASAL VERBS
mike sb <=> up phr v informal
to fix a MICROPHONE to someone so that their voice can be recorded or made louder
another spelling of M'LADY comparative milder, superlative mildest
1 WEATHER fairly warm; cold
•We had an exceptionally mild winter last year.
•a mild climate
2 ILLNESS a mild illness or health problem is not serious:
•He suffered a mild heart attack.
•Sometimes the symptoms can be quite mild.
•a mild case of food poisoning
•a mild form of diabetes
3 FEELINGS a mild feeling is not very strong:
•Both men looked at her in mild surprise.
•a feeling of mild irritation
4 FOOD/TASTE not very strong or hot-tasting:
•a mild curry
•a cheese with a pleasant mild flavour
5 CRITICISM a mild criticism does not criticize strongly
6 PROBLEMS/SITUATIONS not serious enough to cause much suffering:
•The recession in Germany has been comparatively mild.
•a mild setback
7 PEOPLE a mild person has a gentle character and does not easily get angry:
•a mild, well-mannered man
•His voice was soft and mild.
8 DRUGS/CHEMICALS a mild drug or chemical does not have a very strong effect:
•a mild painkiller
•a mild herbicide
9 SOAP ETC soft and gentle to your skin:
•a mild shampoo
10 LANGUAGE mild words or language are not very rude or offensive:
•I heard him mutter a mild swear word.
- mildness noun [U]
MILDLY[U]
BrE dark beer with a slightly sweet taste; bitter $ [U]
a white or grey substance that grows on walls or other surfaces in wet, slightly warm conditions
- mildewed adjective
1 slightly:
•The drug is only mildly addictive.
•I felt mildly depressed.
2 to put it mildly spoken used to say that you could use much stronger words to describe something:
•Losing two members of staff was unfortunate, to put it mildly.
3 in a gentle way without being angry:
•'Of course I don't mind,' she answered mildly.
gentle and polite [C]
1 written abbreviation m a unit for measuring distance, equal to 1760 YARDs or about 1609 metres:
•It's forty miles from here to the Polish border.
•an area 50 miles wide and 150 miles long
•We walked about half a mile.
•He was driving at 70 miles per hour.
2 the mile a race that is a mile in length:
•the first man to run the mile in under four minutes
3 miles informal a very long distance
[+from]
•We were miles from home, and very tired.
[+away]
•You can't go to Portsmouth, it's miles away.
for miles
•You can see for miles from here.
•They lived in a little cottage miles from anywhere (=a long way from the nearest town).
4 go the extra mile to try a little harder in order to achieve something, after you have already used a lot of effort:
•The president expressed his determination to go the extra mile for peace.
5 stick out/stand out a mile informal to be very easy to see or notice:
•It sticks out a mile that you're new here.
6 can see/spot/tell sth a mile off informal if you can see something a mile off, it is very easy to notice:
•You can tell a mile off that he likes you.
7 be miles away spoken to not be paying attention to anything that is happening around you:
•'Kate!' 'Sorry, I was miles away!'
8 miles older/better/too difficult etc BrE informal very much older, better, too difficult etc; = loads
•The second film's miles better.
9 by a mile informal by a very large amount:
•He was the best player on the pitch by a mile.
10 miles out BrE informal a measurement, guess, or calculation that is miles out is completely wrong
11 join the mile high club informal to have sex in a plane
NAUTICAL MILE; run a mile at RUN^1 (38)
1 [C usually singular, U] the number of miles a vehicle has travelled since it was made:
•Always check the mileage before you buy a secondhand car.
2 [C usually singular, U] the number of miles someone travels in a vehicle in a particular period of time:
•Look for a car hire agreement that offers unlimited mileage.
3 [C usually singular, U] the number of miles a vehicle can travel using a particular amount of FUEL:
•The car's average mileage is 22.73 miles per gallon.
4 [U] the amount of use or advantage you get from something:
•The newspapers wanted to get as much mileage from the story as they could.
5 [C usually singular, U] also mileage allowance an amount of money that is paid to someone for each mile that they travel when they use their own car for work:
•Community nurses are paid a mileage allowance.
6 [U] the number of miles that is covered by a country's roads or railways:
•plans to treble the country's railway mileagemilometer $ [C] BrE
an instrument in a car that shows how many miles it has travelled; = odometer AmE $ [C] AmE
1 a post next to a road or railway that shows the distance in miles to the next town
2 a MILESTONE (1) $ [C]
a person or horse that competes in races one mile long $ [C]
1 a very important event in the development of something; = milepost AmE
[+in]
•an important milestone in South African history
•The treatment of diabetes reached a significant milestone in the 1970s.
2 a stone next to a road that shows the distance in miles to the next town $ plural milieux $ or milieus [C] formal
the things and people that surround you and influence the way you live and think:
•Proust's work reflected his own social and cultural milieu.
•She never felt happy in a student milieu.
a militant organization or person is willing to use strong or violent action in order to achieve political or social change:
•militant political activists
•a militant animal rights group
•After the assassination of Martin Luther King, black leaders became more militant.
- militant noun [C]
•right-wing militants
- militancy noun [U]
•an increase in trade union militancy
- militantly adverb
•a militantly anti-communist group [U]
the belief that a country should build up its military forces and use them to protect itself and get what it wants:
•a country emerging from 20 years of militarism and political repression
- militarist noun [C]
- militaristic adjective
•a militaristic regimealso militarised BrE
1 a militarized area is one that has a lot of soldiers and weapons in it:
•Kalinigrad is a highly militarized zone.
2 organized like an army:
•the militarized police force $
1 used by, involving, or relating to the army, navy, or airforce:
•a military helicopter
•military equipment
•The government has threatened to take military action if the rebels do not withdraw from the area.
•The United States is prepared to use military force to achieve its aims.
•a raid by European military forces (=the army, navy, or air force)
2 with military precision if you do something with military precision, you do it in a very organized and exact way:
•The trips are planned with military precision.
- militarily adverb
•Europe may have to intervene militarily if the crisis worsens.
the military [also + plural verb BrE ] the military forces of a country; = the forces
•He was never tempted to join the military.
in the military
•My brother is in the military.
•The military were sent in to break up the demonstration.[C]
1 a national college where people are trained to be officers in the military forces
2 a private school in the US that gives students military training[C]
a MEDAL given to British army officers for being brave in battle
the military police a special police force whose job is to deal with members of the army etc who break the rules[U]
the system in which every adult, or every male adult, in a country has to spend a period of time in the army, navy, or air force; draft
•More and more men are refusing to do military service.

PHRASAL VERBS
militate against sth phr v formal
to prevent something or make it less likely to happen:
•Environmental factors militate against building the power station in this area. [C]
a group of people trained as soldiers, who are not part of the permanent army:
•He joined the local militia as soon as he was 16.
•a militia leader
•a left-wing militia group plural militiamen [C]
a member of a militia
1 [U] a white liquid produced by cows or goats that is drunk by people:
•a bottle of milk
•Would you like some milk in your tea?
•a pint of semi-skimmed milk
2 [U] a white liquid produced by female animals and women for feeding their babies:
•mothers who believe that breast milk is best for their babies
•The tiny fox cubs drink nothing but their mother's milk.
3 [U] a liquid or juice produced by particular plants, especially the COCONUT
4 [C,U] a thin white liquid used to clean or protect skin; = lotion
•a mild facial cleansing milk
5 the milk of human kindness literary the kind and sympathetic behaviour of most ordinary people
EVAPORATED MILK
cry over spilt milk at CRY^1 (3)
land of milk and honey at LAND^1 (8)[T]
1 informal to get as much money or as many advantages as you can from a situation, in a very determined and sometimes dishonest way
milk sb/sth for sth
•Their landlord regularly milks them for extra money by claiming for damage to his property.
•He seems to be milking the incident for all it's worth (=getting as much from it as possible).
2 to take milk from a cow or goat:
•I helped to milk the cows.
- milking noun [U]
•They had risen at 5.30 to do the milking.[U]
chocolate that has milk added to it; plain chocolate[C]
BrE a tall round metal container with a lid, used to carry milk from farms[C]
BrE an electric vehicle that is used for delivering milk to people's houses[C]
a machine used for taking milk from cowsmilking parlor AmE [C] BrE
a building on a farm where milk is taken from cows [C]
a woman in the past whose job was to get milk from cows on a farm plural milkmen [C]
someone in Britain whose job is to deliver milk to people's houses each morning[U]
a thick white liquid medicine used for stomach problems[C usually plural]
a food such as cheese or cream that is made from milk:
•I've tried to cut down on milk products.[C] BrE
a sweet food made of rice or other grains baked with milk and sugarBrE
1 [C] the regular journey a milkman makes every day to deliver milk
2 the milk round a series of visits to universities in Britain that large companies make each year in order to find students they may want to employ[C] informal
1 BrE a familiar, easy journey that you do regularly
2 AmE a train journey or regular plane flight with stops in many places[C]
1 BrE a sweet drink made of milk with fruit or chocolate added
2 AmE a sweet drink made of milk, ICE CREAM, and fruit or chocolate $ [C] old-fashioned
a boy or man who is too gentle and weak, and who is afraid to do anything difficult or dangerousplural milk teeth [C]
BrE one of the first set of teeth that babies and young children have; = baby tooth [U]
a common North American plant that produces a bitter white substance when its stem is broken
1 containing a lot of milk:
•a cup of milky coffee
2 looking, smelling, or tasting like milk:
•a sweet, milky flavour
3 milky skin is white and smooth:
•her beautiful milky complexion
4 literary white or pale:
•His eyes were a pale milky blue.
the Milky Way the pale white band of stars that can be seen across the sky at night [C]
1 GRAIN a building containing a large machine for crushing grain into flour
2 COTTON/CLOTH/STEEL a factory that produces materials such as cotton, cloth, or steel
cotton/steel/paper etc mill
•an old Victorian cotton mill
3 coffee/pepper mill a small machine for crushing coffee or pepper
4 go through the mill to go through a time when you experience a lot of difficulties and problems:
•He's really been through the mill recently.
5 put sb through the mill to make someone answer a lot of difficult questions or do a lot of difficult things in order to test them:
•It was a three day course and they really put us through the mill.
6 MONEY AmE a unit of money equal to 1/10 of a cent, used in setting taxes and for other financial purposes
7 MILLION spoken a million:
•Are you saying they paid a quarter of a mill for that house?
RUN-OF-THE-MILL
(all) grist to the mill at GRIST[T]
1 to crush grain, pepper etc in a mill:
•All our flours are milled using traditional methods.
•Add some freshly milled black pepper.
2 to press, roll, or shape metal in a machine

PHRASAL VERBS
mill around/about (sth) phr v informal
if a lot of people mill around, they move around a place in different directions without any particular purpose:
•Crowds of students were milling around in the street.
•There were a lot of people milling around the entrance. plural millennia [C]
1 [C] a period of 1000 years:
•people who have inhabited this land for millennia
2 [usually singular] the time when a new 1000-year period begins:
•the beginning of a new millennium
•events which took place at the turn of the last millennium
- millennial adjective $ [C]
someone who owns or works in a mill which makes flour [U]
the small seeds of a plant similar to grass, used as food [in nouns]
a 1000th part of a unit:
•a millilitre (=0.001 litres) $ [C]
a unit for measuring the pressure of the ATMOSPHERE (=the mixture of gases surrounding the Earth)also milligramme BrE written abbreviation mg [C]
a unit for measuring weight. There are 1000 milligrams in one gram.milliliter AmE written abbreviation ml $ [C] BrE
a unit for measuring an amount of liquid. There are 1000 millilitres in one litre.millimeter AmE written abbreviation mm $ [C] BrE
a unit for measuring length. There are 1000 millimetres in one metre. $ [C]
someone who makes and sells women's hats $ [U] formal
1 the making and selling of women's hats
2 hats plural million or millions
1 the number 1,000,000:
•Each of the books sold more than a million copies.
two/three/four etc million
•seven million dollars
•£37 million of new investment
millions of pounds/dollars etc
•Millions of pounds were lost in Western aid.
2 an extremely large number of people or things
a million
•I've got a million ideas.
millions of sth
•She seems to have millions of friends.
3 not/never in a million years spoken used to emphasize that something is impossible or very unlikely to happen:
•She'll never believe me. Not in a million years.
4 look/feel like a million dollars/bucks informal especially AmE to look very attractive or feel very happy and healthy
5 in a million informal
a) the best of all possible people or things:
•She's a wife in a million.
•He's so generous. He's one in a million.
b) used to show how unlikely something is:
•It was a chance in a million that we'd find a fossil.
- millionth adjective
•The park has just received its millionth visitor.
- millionth noun [C] $ [C]
someone who is very rich and has at least a million pounds or dollars:
•an American millionaire
•a millionaire businessman $ [C] old-fashioned
a woman who is very rich and has at least a million pounds or dollars [C]
a long thin creature with a very large number of legs; centipede [C]
a unit for measuring time. There are 1000 milliseconds in one second. $ [C]
a very small lake that supplies water to turn the wheel of a WATERMILL $ [C]
1 one of the two large circular stones that crush grain into flour in a MILL
2 a millstone round/around sb's neck something that causes a lot of problems for someone, and that they cannot get rid of:
•Inflation is still a millstone round the neck of British businesses. [C] especially BrE
a large wheel that is turned by water flowing past it to provide power to the machinery in a WATERMILL $
another spelling of MILEOMETER
[C,U] the use of movements to express what you want to say without using words, or a play where the actors use only movements:
•The children learn through role-play, dance and mime.
•They will perform a short mime later.
•a professional mime artist[I,T]
1 to describe or express something, using movements not words:
•Stan put a finger to his mouth, miming 'shush'.
mime doing sth
•Soundlessly, she mimed picking up a phone and speaking into it.
2 to pretend to play or sing a piece of music, without making any sound
[+to]
•Singers on television often mime to pre-recorded tapes. technical
copying the movements or appearance of someone or something else past tense and past participle mimicked, present participle mimicking [T]
1 to copy the way someone speaks or behaves, especially in order to make people laugh; = imitate, take off
•He could mimic all the teachers' accents.
•'I'm so sorry,' she mimicked.
2 to behave or operate in exactly the same way as something or someone else:
•Europe should not try to mimic Japan: we have to find our own path to successful modernisation.
•The drug mimics the action of the body's own chemicals.
3 if an animal mimics something, it looks or sounds very like it:
•a fly whose size and colour exactly mimics that of the wasp
- mimicry noun [U]
•He has a gift for mimicry.[C]
a person or animal that is good at copying the movements, sound, or appearance of someone or something else; impressionist, impersonator $ [C,U]
1 a tree with small yellow flowers that grows in hot countries
2 AmE a mixture of CHAMPAGNE and orange juice, or a glass of this; = Buck's Fizz BrE
1 the written abbreviation of minimum
2 the written abbreviation of minute or minutes [C]
a tall thin tower on a MOSQUE, from which Muslims are called to prayer $ formal
threatening to hurt someone or something
1 [T] also mince sth <=> up to cut food, especially meat, into very small pieces, usually using a machine:
•minced lamb
•Mince the meat up with some onion and garlic.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to walk with very quick, short steps in a way that looks unnatural or silly:
•She was mincing about in her high-heeled shoes.
3 not mince (your) words to say exactly what you think, even if this might offend people:
•Tom didn't mince words and told me straight away that I had failed.[U] BrE
meat, especially BEEF, that has been cut into very small pieces using a special machine; = ground beef AmE [U]
1 a mixture of dried fruits that you use to make sweet dishes
2 make mincemeat of sb/sth informal to completely defeat someone in an argument, fight, or game:
•I knew that a good lawyer would make mincemeat of him if I allowed him to give evidence.[C]
a PIE filled with mincemeat, especially one that people eat at Christmas $ [C]
BrE a machine that cuts meat into very small pieces by forcing it through small holes; = meat grinder AmE
1 ABILITY TO THINK AND IMAGINE [C,U] your thoughts or your ability to think, feel, and imagine things:
•It is impossible to understand the complex nature of the human mind.
•Mind and body are closely related.
•Meditation involves focusing the mind on a single object or word.
in sb's mind
•There was no doubt in my mind that it was the right decision to make.
•Do you have a clear picture in your mind of what you want?
•A plan began to form in his mind.
•The event is still fresh in most people's minds.
independence/strength/flexibility of mind
•men who were chosen for their independence of mind
2 change your mind to change your decision, plan, or opinion about something:
•I was afraid that Liz would change her mind and take me back home.
[+about]
•If you change your mind about the colour scheme, it's easy to just paint over it.
3 make up your mind/make your mind up
a) to decide which of two or more choices you want, especially after thinking for a long time:
•I wish he'd hurry up and make his mind up.
[+about]
•He couldn't make up his mind about what to do with the money.
make up your mind whether
•Karen couldn't make up her mind whether to apply for membership or not.
b) to become very determined to do something, so that you will not change your decision:
•No more argument My mind is made up.
make up your mind to do sth
•He had clearly made up his mind to end the affair.
make up your mind that
•I made up my mind there and then that I would never get married.
c) to decide what your opinion is about someone or something
[+about]
•I could never really make my mind up about him.
•You're old enough to make your own mind up about smoking.
4 have sb/sth in mind (for sth) to have an idea about who or what you want for a particular purpose:
•It was a nice house, but it wasn't quite what we had in mind.
•Did you have anyone in mind for the job?
•Have you any particular colour in mind for the bedroom?
5 bear/keep sb/sth in mind to remember or think about someone or something when you are doing something:
•It's a good idea - I'll keep it in mind.
•You must always keep the reader in mind when writing a report.
•Floor tiles can be difficult to clean - worth keeping in mind when you choose a new floor.
bear/keep in mind that
•Bear in mind that the price does not include flights.
•More money should be given to housing, bearing in mind (=because of) the problem of homelessness.
6 with sb/sth in mind considering someone or something when doing something, and taking suitable action:
•Most gardens designed with children in mind are safe but dull.
•With these aims in mind, the school operates a broad-based curriculum.
7 on your/sb's mind
a) if something is on your mind, you keep thinking or worrying about it:
•He looked as though he had something on his mind.
•Sorry I forgot. I've got a lot on my mind (=a lot of problems to worry about) at the moment.
b) if something is on your mind, that is what you are thinking about:
•She's the type of person who just says what's on her mind.
8 get/put sb/sth out of your mind also put sb/sth to the back of your mind to stop yourself thinking about someone or something:
•I just can't seem to get her out of my mind.
•You've got to try and put him out of your mind.
•She put her disappointment to the back of her mind and concentrated on Dana.
9 cross/enter sb's mind also come into sb's mind [not in progressive] if something crosses your mind, you have a thought or idea:
• It never crossed my mind that Lisa might be lying.
•Suddenly a horrible thought came into my mind.
10 go/run/flash etc through sb's mind if something goes through your mind, you have a thought, especially for a short time:
•She knew what was going through his mind.
•All kinds of questions ran through my mind.
•After the accident, one of the things that went through my mind was whether I would be able to drive again.
11 come/spring to mind [not in progressive] if something comes or springs to mind, you suddenly or immediately think of it:
•I just used the first excuse which sprang to mind.
•A memory of last night came to mind, and he smiled.
•Fatherhood doesn't immediately spring to mind when you think of James.
!! Do not say that something 'comes to your mind' or 'springs to your mind'. Say that it comes to mind or springs to mind.
12 CHARACTER [C] used to talk about the way that someone thinks and the type of thoughts they have:
•He has a very devious mind.
•My naturally suspicious mind thought he might be lying.
13 INTELLIGENCE [C usually singular] your intelligence and ability to think, rather than your emotions:
•a mind trained to react with split-second accuracy
a brilliant/enquiring/logical etc mind
•a bright child with an enquiring mind
14 INTELLIGENT PERSON [C] someone who is very intelligent, especially in a particular subject or activity; = brain
•This is one of the issues that has most interested military minds.
•Some of the finest minds in the country are working on the project.
15 state/frame of mind the way someone is thinking and feeling at a particular time:
•What happened had a lot to do with my state of mind at the time.
in a good/positive/relaxed etc frame of mind
•She returned from lunch in a happier frame of mind.
in the right/wrong frame of mind
•You have to be in the right frame of mind to play well.
16 to/in my mind used to show you are giving your opinion about something:
•The Internet, to my mind, represents information exchange at its best.
17 go/turn over sth in your mind to keep thinking about something because you are trying to understand it or solve a problem:
•Corbett rode along, turning over in his mind what Bruce had said.
18 be the last thing on sb's mind also be the furthest thing from sb's mind to be the thing that someone is least likely to be thinking about:
•Insurance was the last thing on my mind when we set off that day.
19 take/keep/get sb's mind off sth to make someone stop thinking and worrying about something:
•Going back to work helped take my mind off my Ian's death.
•Want a game? It might take your mind off things.
20 set/put sb's mind at rest also set/put sb's mind at ease to make someone feel less worried or anxious:
•If you're worried, see a doctor to set your mind at rest.
21 it/that is a load/weight off sb's mind informal used to say that someone does not have to worry about something any more
22 prey on sb's mind also play on sb's mind if a problem preys on your mind, you cannot stop thinking about it:
•Finally, she broached the subject that had been playing on her mind for days.
23 no one in their right mind ... also who in their right mind ...? informal used to say that someone must be stupid or crazy to do something:
•Who in their right mind would want to do that job?
•No woman in her right mind would go out with a man like him.
24 be out of your mind informal to be stupid or crazy:
•He must have been out of his mind to employ her.
25 be out of your mind with worry/grief etc also be worried/bored etc out of your mind to be extremely worried, bored etc:
•It was getting late and I was out of my mind with worry.
26 go out of your mind also lose your mind informal to become mentally ill or very worried, bored etc:
•Nicole looked at him as if he'd gone out of his mind.
27 sb's mind goes blank also sb's mind is a blank informal if your mind goes blank, you suddenly cannot remember something:
•For some inexplicable reason, her mind went completely blank.
•His heart was thumping and his mind was a complete blank.
28 go (right/clean) out of sb's mind also slip sb's mind if something goes out of your mind, you forget it, especially because you are very busy:
•I'm sorry. So much has been happening, it went clean out of my mind.
• It had completely slipped her mind that Dave still had a key to the house.
29 bring/call sth to mind
a) to make you think of someone or something:
•The wine's sweet nutty taste calls to mind roasted chestnuts.
b) formal to remember something:
•The only thing I could call to mind was something my mother once said.
30 put sb in mind of sb/sth [not in progressive] formal to remind someone of someone or something:
•The girl put me in mind of my own daughter.
31 stick/stay in sb's mind if a name, fact etc sticks in your mind, you remember it for a long time:
•For some reason, the name really stuck in Joe's mind.
•One line from the poem had stayed in her mind.
32 be of one mind/of the same mind/of like mind formal to have the same opinions as someone else:
•It can be difficult to meet others of like mind.
[+on/about]
•The council and the government are of one mind on the long-term objective.
33 have a mind of your own
a) to have strong opinions about things, and make your own decisions without being influenced by other people:
•She's a woman without fear, with a mind of her own, who says what she thinks.
b) if an object has a mind of its own, it seems to control itself and does not work or move in the way you want it to:
•The bicycle seemed to have a mind of its own and I couldn't steer it straight.
34 put/set/turn your mind to sth to decide that you want to achieve something and try very hard to do it:
•I think anyone can lose weight if they set their mind to it.
35 sb's mind is not on sth if your mind is not on what you are doing, you are not thinking much about it because you are thinking or worrying about something else:
•His mind didn't seem to be on the game at all.
36 keep your mind on sth to keep paying attention to something, even though it is difficult:
•He could hardly keep his mind on what she was saying.
keep your mind on the job/task in hand
•Making notes is the best way of keeping your mind on the task at hand.
37 sb's mind wanders if your mind wanders, you no longer pay attention to something, especially because you are bored:
•Her mind was beginning to wander.
38 sb's mind is racing if your mind is racing, you are thinking very quickly and hard about something because you are excited, frightened etc:
•He tried to reassure her, but Carrie's mind was racing.
39 it's all in the mind used to tell someone that they have imagined something and it does not really exist:
•He's one of those doctors who say you're not really sick and it's all in the mind.
40 in your mind's eye if you see something in your mind's eye, you imagine or remember clearly what it looks like:
•She paused, imagining the scene in her mind's eye.
41 have it in mind formal to intend to do something
have it in mind to do sth
•For a long time I had it in mind to write a book about my experiences.
have it in mind that
•I had it in mind that one day I might move to Spain.
42 have half a mind to do sth spoken
a) also have a good mind to do sth used to say that you might do something to show that you disapprove of something someone has done:
•I've a good mind to tell him exactly what I think.
•I've half a mind to stop him seeing her altogether.
b) used to say that you may decide to do something:
•I've half a mind to come with you tomorrow.
43 mind over matter used to say that you can use your thoughts to control physical feelings or an unpleasant situation:
•I'm scared, yes, but it's a case of mind over matter.
in/at the back of your mind at BACK^2 (6)
blow sb's mind at BLOW^1 (15)
cast your mind back at CAST^1 (9)
a closed mind at CLOSED (4)
be in/at/to the forefront of sb's mind/attention at FOREFRONT (2)
give sb a piece of your mind at PIECE^1 (13)
great minds think alike at GREAT^1 (15)
know your own mind at KNOW^1 (50)
the mind boggles at BOGGLE
meeting of minds at MEETING (5)
ONE-TRACK MIND
an open mind at OPEN^1 (16)
out of sight, out of mind at SIGHT^1 (8)
peace of mind at PEACE (3); PRESENCE OF MIND
read sb's mind at READ^1 (15)
set your heart/mind/sights on (doing) sth at SET^1 (13)
be of sound mind at SOUND^3 (5)
speak your mind at SPEAK (7)
be in two minds at TWO (9)
1 FEEL ANNOYED [I,T not in progressive or passive, usually in questions and negatives] to feel annoyed or upset about something:
•I don't mind the heat, in fact I quite like it.
•The expression on Dan's face showed that he did mind, very much.
•I wouldn't have minded if she'd asked me first.
mind doing sth
•Did you mind being away from home for so long?
mind sb doing sth
•Don't your parents mind you staying out so late?
mind that
•He didn't mind that other people in the village thought him odd.
2 not mind doing sth to be willing to do something:
•I don't mind driving if you're tired.
3 NOT CARE WHICH ONE not mind [I,T not in progressive or passive] especially BrE if you do not mind what someone does or what happens, you do not have a strong opinion about it:
•'Do you want to go out now or later?' 'I don't really mind.'
not mind what/who/where etc
•I don't mind where we go.
4 mind your own business informal to not ask questions about a situation that does not involve you:
•Why don't you just mind your own business and leave me in peace?
•I wish he'd mind his own business.
5 be minding your own business to be doing something ordinary on your own when something unexpected happens to you:
•My father was just driving along, minding his own business, when suddenly a brick came through the window.
6 never mind
a) used to tell someone not to worry or be upset about something:
•'We haven't done very well, have we?' 'Never mind. At least we tried.'
[+about]
•Never mind about the car. You're safe, and that's the main thing.
b) used to say that something is not possible or likely, because even a less extreme thing is not possible or likely:
•Well, you would have hardly got a bed in that room, never mind anything else.
•I don't think I could walk that far, never mind run that far.
c) used to tell someone that it is not important to do or consider something now, often because something else is more important:
•Never mind me - what about you? What have you been doing?
•Never mind the dishes - I'll do them later.
never mind doing sth
•Never mind looking at the boys, we're supposed to be playing tennis.
never mind why/how etc
•Never mind how I got here. Tell me what happened.
7 I wouldn't mind (doing) sth used to say that you would like something:
•'Can I get you anything to drink?' 'I wouldn't mind a coffee.'
•She's gorgeous! I wouldn't mind looking like that!
8 would/do you mind...?
a) used to politely ask someone's permission
would you mind if
•Would you mind if I opened the window?
•Would you mind if I came with you?
•I'll have to leave early, do you mind?
b) used to politely ask someone to do something
would you mind doing sth?
•Would you mind waiting outside?
•'Do you want me to carry this bag for you?' 'Would you mind?'
c) used to angrily ask or tell someone to do something
would you mind doing sth?
•Would you mind telling me what you're doing in here?
•Would you mind shutting up for a minute?
9 mind you also mind BrE used when saying something that is almost the opposite of what you have just said, or that explains or emphasizes it:
•He looks very young in this photo. Mind you, it was taken years ago.
•I love hot weather, but not too hot, mind.
10 WARNING mind! BrE used to warn someone to be careful because they might hurt themselves or someone else, or damage something:
•Mind that bike, James!
• Mind you don't fall.
mind your head/fingers etc
•Mind your head - the ceiling's a bit low.
mind how/where/who etc
•It's slippery, so mind where you're walking.
11 mind how you go BrE used when saying goodbye to someone, to tell them to take care
12 mind you do sth BrE used to tell someone to do something:
•Mind you behave yourself.
13 never you mind especially BrE used to tell someone that you are not going to tell them something because it is private or secret:
•'What's that you were saying to Dad?' 'Never you mind.'
14 do you mind! used to say to someone that you are annoyed with them because of something they have just done or said:
•Do you mind! I just washed that floor!
15 if you don't mind also if you wouldn't mind
a) used to check that someone is willing to do something or let you do something:
•If you don't mind, I think I'll go to bed now.
•I'd like to stay a while longer if you don't mind.
•We'll go there together - that's if you don't mind.
b) used when you are annoyed to tell someone what to do or what you are going to do:
•Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to bed.
c) used humorously or rudely to correct something someone has said:
•The name's John, not Jonathan, if you don't mind.
d) used to refuse someone's offer politely:
•'Do you want to come for a drink?' 'I won't if you don't mind. I've got a lot of work to do.'
16 if you don't mind my saying so/if you don't mind me asking used when you are saying or asking something that you think might offend someone:
•You're looking tired, if you don't mind my saying so.
•How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?
17 I don't mind admitting/telling you/saying etc used to emphasize what you are saying, especially when it could make you seem silly:
•I don't mind admitting that I was really scared.
18 don't mind me
a) used to tell someone not to pay any attention to you:
•If you want to get on and do something, please don't mind me.
b) used when you are annoyed because someone is not paying any attention to you:
•Don't mind me! I only live here!
19 don't mind her/him etc used to say sorry for someone else's behaviour:
•Don't mind her. She doesn't mean to be hurtful.
20 (I) don't mind if I do old-fashioned used humorously to accept something such as food or drink that has been offered to you
21 TAKE CARE OF STH/SB [T] BrE
a) to be responsible for something for a short time; = watch
•Will you mind my bag while I buy my ticket?
b) to take care of a child while their parents are not there; = look after
•My sister minds the baby while I'm at yoga.
22 mind the shop BrE mind the store AmE informal to be in charge of something, while the person who is usually in charge is not there
23 mind your manners/language/p's and q's to be careful about what you say or how you behave so that you do not offend anyone:
•She gave him a frown and told him to mind his manners.
24 OBEY [T not in progressive] AmE to obey someone's instructions or advice:
•Some dogs will mind instructions better than others.

PHRASAL VERBS
mind out phr v [always in imperative or infinitive] BrE
used to warn someone to be careful:
•Mind out. The plates are hot.[usually before noun] informal
1 mind-bending drugs have a strong effect on your mind and make you have very strange feelings and experiences
2 difficult to understand:
•Infinity in space is a mind-bending concept.informal
very exciting, shocking, or strange:
•a mind-blowing experienceinformal
difficult to imagine and very big, strange, or complicated:
•a problem of mind-boggling complexity
1 serious-minded/evil-minded etc having a particular attitude or way of thinking:
•a very serious-minded girl who studies hard
•a tough-minded businessman
2 be minded to do sth formal to want or intend to do something $ [C] BrE
someone who is employed to protect another person; = bodyguard
CHILDMINDER
mindful of sth formal remembering a particular rule or fact and thinking about it when you are making decisions about what to do; = conscious of
•The school is mindful of its responsibilities towards all the children.
1 completely stupid and without any purpose; = senseless
•His drinking bouts often ended in acts of mindless violence.
2 if something is mindless, you can do it or watch it without thinking or using your mind:
•Doug was watching something mindless on television.
•the mindless routine of military discipline
3 mindless of sth not paying attention to something, especially something dangerous or unpleasant:
•After lunch we explored the city, mindless of the rain.
- mindlessly adverb[C]
someone who knows what someone else is thinking without being told [C]
someone's general attitude, and the way in which they think about things and make decisions:
•The company seems to have a very old-fashioned mindset. [possessive form of 'I']
used by the person speaking or writing to refer to something that belongs to or is connected with himself or herself:
•It was Glen's idea, not mine.
•'Is that your car?' 'No, mine is parked over the road.'
•You've got good legs - mine are too thin.
•His English is better than mine.
of mine
•I want you to meet an old friend of mine.[C]
1 a deep hole or holes in the ground that people dig so that they can remove coal, gold, TIN etc
coal/gold/copper etc mine
•one of the largest coal mines in the country
in/down a mine
•the time when children used to work down the mines
2 a type of bomb that is hidden just below the ground or under water and that explodes when it is touched:
•They learnt how to set ambushes and lay mines (=put them in place).
•The ship struck a mine and sank.
LANDMINE
3 a mine of information (about/on sth) someone or something that can give you a lot of information about a particular subject and that is therefore very useful or helpful:
•The website is a mine of information about all forms of cancer.past tense and past participle mined, present participle mining
1 [I,T usually passive] to dig large holes in the ground in order to remove coal, gold etc:
•Copper has been mined here since the sixteenth century.
•This area has been mined for over 300 years.
[+for]
•The company first started mining for salt in 1851.
2 [T usually passive] to hide bombs in the sea or under the ground:
•All the roads leading to the village had been mined.
1 [C] an area where a lot of bombs have been hidden just below the ground or under water:
•They realized they had wandered into a minefield.
2 [singular] a situation in which there are a lot of dangers and difficulties, and it is difficult to make the right decision:
•Choosing the right school can be a bit of a minefield.
[+of]
•The new Administration has to pick its way through the minefield of legislation.
legal/financial/political etc minefield
•The legalisation of cannabis is a political minefield. $ [C]
someone who works under the ground in a mine to remove coal, gold etc
coal/gold etc miner
•a strike by coal miners [C]
1 a substance that is formed naturally in the earth, such as coal, salt, stone, or gold. Minerals can be dug out of the ground and used:
•The area is very rich in minerals.
•a country with few mineral resources
2 a natural substance such as iron that is present in some foods and is important for good health:
•Fish is a rich source of vitamins and minerals. $ [U]
the scientific study of minerals
- mineralogist noun [C][C,U]
water that comes from under the ground and contains a lot of minerals:
•a glass of mineral water $ [C]
a deep narrow hole that goes into the ground to a minealso minestrone soup $ [U]
a type of soup containing vegetables and small pieces of PASTA $ [C]
a ship with special equipment for removing bombs from under water
- minesweeping noun [U] $ [C]
someone who works in a mine past tense and past participle mingled, present participle mingling
1 [I,T] if two feelings, sounds, smells etc mingle, they mix together with each other:
•Add the mint and allow the flavours to mingle.
[+with]
•Her perfume mingled with the smell of woodsmoke from the fire.
be mingled with sth
•Her excitement was mingled with a slight feeling of fear.
2 [I] if you mingle at a party, you move around the room and talk to lots of different people
[+with]
•She was eager to mingle with the other guests. BrE informal
not at all generous [C]
a MINISKIRT
very small or short, compared with others of the same kind:
•All the hotel's bedrooms have a mini-bar, telephone and radio.
•a mini-screen TV $ [only before noun]
much smaller than normal:
•miniature roses
•a miniature railway
•He looked like a miniature version of his father.
1 in miniature exactly like something or someone but much smaller:
•She's her mother in miniature.
2 [C] a very small painting, usually of a person
3 [C] a very small bottle containing an alcoholic drink:
•a miniature of whiskey[U]
AmE a type of GOLF game, played for fun, in which you hit a small ball through passages, over bridges and small hills etc; = crazy golf BrE $ [C]
someone who paints very small pictures for moneyalso miniaturise BrE $ [T]
to make something in a very small size
- miniaturized adjective
•a miniaturized listening devicealso minibar $ [C]
a small FRIDGE in a hotel bedroom, in which drinks are kept [C]
especially BrE a small bus with seats for six to twelve people [C] BrE
a taxi that you have to order by telephone, not one that you can stop in the street $ [C]
a computer that is larger than a PERSONAL COMPUTER and smaller than a MAINFRAME, used by businesses and other large organizations[C] trademark
a very small, round DISK that is used for recording music [C] BrE
a musical note that continues for the length of two CROTCHETs ; = half note AmE
very small in degree or amount, especially the smallest degree or amount possible:
•The storm caused only minimal damage
•The cost to taxpayers would be minimal.
•This is a practical course, with only a minimal amount of theory.
- minimally adverb
•Rates of truancy from school have only increased minimally. [U]
a style of art, design, music etc that uses only a very few simple ideas or patterns
- minimalist adjective
•minimalist Christmas decorations
- minimalist noun [C] $ [C]
AmE a small shop that stays open very late, selling food, cigarettes etcalso minimise BrE [T]
1 to reduce something that is difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant to the smallest possible amount or degree; maximize
•Every effort is being made to minimize civilian casualties.
•The rail company is bringing in more trains in an effort to minimize disruption to travellers.
2 to make something seem less serious or important than it really is; = play down
•We must not minimize the problem of racial discrimination.
3 to make a document or program on your computer very small when you are not using it but still want to keep it open; maximize
•Click on the top of the window to minimize it. [only before noun]
the minimum number, degree, or amount of something is the smallest or least that is possible, allowed, or needed; maximum
•The minimum number of students we need to run the course is fifteen.
•The minimum age for retirement is 55.
- minimum adverb
•You'll need two tons of cement, minimum.[singular]
1 the smallest amount of something or number of things that is possible or necessary; maximum
a minimum of two hours/£1000 etc
•The judge recommended that he should serve a minimum of 12 years.
[+of]
•He achieved enviable results with the minimum of effort.
absolute/bare minimum (=the very least amount or number)
•Prison inmates are kept in tiny cells, with the bare minimum of furniture.
keep/reduce sth to a minimum
•She had reduced her consumption of fat and sugar to an absolute minimum.
2 at a/the minimum used to say that if nothing else is done, this one thing should be done:
•At a minimum, we must recruit two new teachers.[C] AmE
a prison that does not restrict prisoners' freedom as much as ordinary prisons; = open prison BrE[singular]
the lowest amount of money that an employer can legally pay to a worker:
•Most of the junior office staff are on the minimum wage (=being paid the lowest legal amount). [U]
the work or industry of getting gold, coal etc out of the earth
coal/gold etc mining
•the coal mining industry [C usually plural]
someone's minions are the people who just obey their orders and do unskilled work - used humorously:
•I was shown into the office by one of her minions.[C]
BrE a white circle painted on the ground where several roads meet. Vehicles must drive round the circle in one direction only. $ [C]
a television film that is divided into several parts. Each part is shown on a different evening $ [C]
a very short skirt; = mini $ [C]
1 a politician who is in charge of a government department, in Britain and some other countries
[+of]
•the Minister of Agriculture
[+for]
•the Minister for Foreign Affairs
foreign/defence/finance etc minister
•a meeting of EU foreign ministers
•a senior Cabinet minister
PRIME MINISTER
2 a priest in some Christian churches; pastor, vicar
•a Baptist minister
3 someone whose job is to represent their country in another country, but who is lower in rank than an AMBASSADOR[I]
to work as a priest:
•Rev Wilson spent 20 years ministering in some of New York's poorest areas.

PHRASAL VERBS
minister to sb/sth phr v formal
to give help to someone who needs it, especially someone who is sick or old:
•She spent much time ministering to the sick.
•ministering to the needs of other people $ [only before noun]
connected with or relating to government ministers:
•a ministerial meeting
•The project was approved at ministerial level.[C]
a member of the government in Britain who has an important job in a government department but is not in charge of it [plural]
formal the giving of help to people who are ill or who need the help of a priest:
•Despite the ministrations of the surgeon poor Lucy died on the 22 July. plural ministries
1 [C] a government department that is responsible for one of the areas of government work, such as education or health
[+of]
•the Ministry of Agriculture
foreign/justice/finance etc ministry
•a Defence Ministry spokesman
2 the ministry the profession of being a church leader, especially in the Protestant church:
•Converted in his early teens, he entered the ministry (=started working as a church leader) in 1855.
3 [C usually singular] the work done by a priest or other religious person as a result of their religious beliefs:
•the ministry of Jesus [C]
AmE a large car with seats for six to eight people; = people carrier BrE plural mink or minks
1 [C,U] a small animal with soft brown fur, or the very valuable fur of this animal which is used to make coats, hats etc:
•a mink coat
2 [C] a coat or jacket made of mink $ [C]
1 a very small fish that lives in rivers and lakes
2 an organization or company that is small and unimportant:
•one of the minnows of the computer industry $
1 small and not very important or serious, especially when compared with other things; major
•We have made some minor changes to the program.
•a relatively minor error
•a minor road
•They played only a minor role in local government.
minor injury/illness/operation etc (=one that is not very serious or dangerous)
•He escaped with only minor injuries.
2 based on a particular type of musical SCALE:
•Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D minor
•a minor key[C]
1 law someone who is below the age at which they become legally responsible for their actions:
•This film contains material unsuitable for minors.
2 AmE the second main subject that you study at university for your degree; major
•I'm taking history as my minor.
3 the minors the MINOR LEAGUES

PHRASAL VERBS
minor in sth phr v
AmE to study a second main subject as part of your university degree; major
•Sid minored in political science. $ plural minorities
1 [singular also + plural verb] a small group of people or things within a much larger group; majority
•Gaelic is still spoken in Ireland by a tiny minority.
[+of]
•A small minority of young people does drink excessively.
•Only a minority of people support these new laws.
small/tiny/substantial/significant minority
•Gay men are a small but significant minority.
minority report (=a report by a minority of a group who do not agree with the others)
2 [C usually plural]
a) a group of people of a different race, religion etc from most other people in that country:
•People from ethnic minorities often face prejudice and discrimination.
•the very large Russian minorities in Ukraine and Moldova
•children from minority groups
•the teaching of minority languages in schools
minority leader/businessman/student etc AmE
•a school with a high proportion of minority students
b) AmE someone who belongs to a group like this:
•Businesses are under pressure to hire minorities and women.
3 be in the/a minority to form less than half of a group:
•Boys are very much in the minority at the dance class.
4 be in a minority of one to be the only person in a group who has a particular opinion
5 [U] law the period of time when someone is below the age at which they become legally responsible for their actions[C]
a government that does not have enough politicians in a parliament to control parliament and take decisions without the support of other parties[C]
AmE the leader of the political party that has fewer politicians in CONGRESS than the leading party; majority leader[only before noun]
1 connected with the Minor Leagues:
•a minor-league team
2 not as important, powerful, or successful as others of the same kind:
•Collins and Reynolds were just minor-league crooks.
the Minor Leagues the groups of teams that form the lower levels of American professional BASEBALL; Major Leagues $ [C] BrE
a large or important church:
•a carol service at the minster
•York Minster [C]
1 a singer or musician in the Middle Ages
2 one of a group of white singers and dancers who pretended to be black while performing in popular shows in the 1920s
1 [U] a small plant with green leaves that have a fresh smell and taste and are used in cooking:
•new potatoes sprinkled with chopped mint
•roast lamb with mint sauce
•Decorate with a sprig of mint.
2 [C] a sweet that tastes of PEPPERMINT (=a type of mint with a strong fresh taste):
•We sat in the back row, sucking mints.
•Would you like a mint?
3 in mint condition looking new and in perfect condition:
•A copy in mint condition would fetch about £2000.
4 a mint informal a large amount of money:
•She made a mint on the stock exchange last year.
5 [C] a place where coins are officially made:
•coins issued by the Royal Mint[T]
to make a coin:
•Only 2,000 of the special commemorative coins are being minted.
1 newly/freshly minted a newly minted word, phrase, idea etc has been invented or produced very recently:
•some newly minted theatrical stories
2 minted food and drinks have mint added to them:
•Serve with minted peas.[C]
AmE a drink in which alcohol and sugar are mixed with ice and mint leaves are added
tasting or smelling of mint:
•a fresh, minty flavour [C]
a slow dance of the 17th and 18th centuries, or a piece of music for this dance
1 used to show that one number or quantity is being SUBTRACTed from another; plus
•17 minus 5 is 12 (17 - 5 = 12).
•The payment will be refunded to you minus a small service charge.
2 informal without something that would normally be there, or that used to be there:
•He came back minus a couple of front teeth.[C]
1 something that is a disadvantage because it makes a situation unpleasant; = drawback; plus
•There are both pluses and minuses to living in a big city.
2 a MINUS SIGN
1 [only before noun] BrE used to talk about a disadvantage of a thing or situation; plus
•'Any minus points?' 'Well, the engine is rather noisy.'
• On the minus side, there is no free back-up service if things go wrong.
2 less than zero - used especially when talking about temperatures:
•At night temperatures sometimes fall to minus 30°.
•a minus quantity
3 A minus/B minus etc a mark used in a system of judging students' work. An 'A minus' is slightly lower than a 'A', but higher than a 'B'.; plus
extremely small; = minute
•a minuscule amount of food
•Her office is minuscule.also minus [C]
a sign (-) showing that a number is less than zero, or that the second of two numbers is to be SUBTRACTed from the first; plus sign [C]
1 TIME a unit for measuring time. There are 60 minutes in one hour:
•It takes me ten minutes to walk to work.
•The train arrived at four minutes past eight.
•He returned a few minutes later.
•I'll meet you at the car in five minutes.
a one/two/three etc minute sth
•a ten minute bus ride
2 the last minute the last possible time, just before it is too late
at the last minute
•He cancelled his trip to England at the last minute.
until the last minute
•If you leave your essay until the last minute, you'll almost certainly panic.
LAST-MINUTE
3 by the minute also every minute, minute by minute used to say that something continues quickly becoming greater, stronger etc:
•She was getting angrier by the minute.
•His voice was getting stronger every minute.
4 love/enjoy/hate etc every minute (of sth) informal if you love, enjoy etc every minute of an activity or experience, you love, enjoy etc all of it:
•I went camping for a week and enjoyed every minute of it.
5 within minutes very soon after something has happened:
•The ambulance was there within minutes.
within minutes of doing sth
•He had his car stolen within minutes of arriving at the office.
6 a minute a very short period of time; = moment
•Sam thought for a minute, then smiled at his brother.
•Can I have a quick word? It won't take a minute (=it won't take very long).
7 in a minute very soon:
•Wait here. I'll be back in a minute.
•Mr Gregson will be with you in a minute.
8 wait a minute/just a minute/hold on a minute/hang on a minute
a) used to tell someone you want them to wait for a short time while you do or say something else:
•Just a minute, Margaret, I want to introduce you to Betty.
•Wait a minute, let me see if I understand this correctly.
b) used to tell someone to stop speaking or doing something for a short time because they have said or done something wrong:
•Hold on a minute! That can't be right.
9 (at) any minute (now) used to say that something will or may happen extremely soon:
•We're expecting them any minute now.
10 have you got a minute? BrE do you have a minute? AmE used to ask someone if you may talk to them for a short time:
•Have you got a minute ? I need to ask you some questions.
11 the minute (that) sb does sth as soon as someone does something:
•Tell him I need to see him the minute he arrives.
12 not think/believe/etc for one minute used to say that you certainly do not think something, believe something etc:
•I don't think for one minute that he'll do it but I have to ask.
13 this minute immediately:
•Johnny! Get inside, this minute!
•You don't have to tell me right this minute.
14 the next minute immediately afterwards:
•I put down the phone and the next minute it rang again.
15 one minute ... the next (minute) ... used to say that a situation suddenly changes:
•One minute they're madly in love and the next they've split up again.
16 MEETING minutes [plural] an official written record of what is said and decided at a meeting:
•Will you take the minutes (=write them down)?
[+of]
•Has everyone seen the minutes of last month's meeting?
17 MATHEMATICS technical one of the sixty parts into which a degree of an angle is divided. It can be shown as a symbol after a number. For example, 78° 52' means 78 degrees 52 minutes.
UP-TO-THE-MINUTE $
1 extremely small:
•You only need a minute amount.
•Her handwriting is minute.
2 paying careful attention to the smallest details:
•a minute examination of the rock
•He explained the plan in minute detail.
- minutely adverb
•She studied the letter minutely. [T]
especially BrE to make an official note of something in the record of a meeting:
•This discussion is off the record and should not be minuted. [C]
the long thin piece of metal that points to the minutes on a clock or watch; hour hand plural minutemen [C]
AmE one of a group of men in the past who were not official soldiers but who were ready to fight at any time $ [plural]
very small and exact details
[+of]
•Most people are not interested in the minutiae of the research, just its conclusions. [C] old-fashioned
an attractive young woman who does not show respect and who is good at getting what she wants in a clever way
technical millions of instructions per second used to say how fast a computer works [C]
1 something very lucky or very good that happens which you did not expect to happen or did not think was possible:
• It's a miracle you weren't killed!
•By some miracle, we managed to catch the plane.
•the economic miracle of the 1950s.
•She's our miracle baby.
small/minor miracle (=something lucky but not very important)
•The fence's survival in these winds seems like a minor miracle.
2 an action or event believed to be caused by God, which is impossible according to the ordinary laws of nature:
•Do you believe in miracles?
3 miracle cure/drug a very effective medical treatment that cures even serious diseases:
•There is no miracle cure for diabetes.
4 work/perform miracles to have a very good effect or achieve a very good result:
•Maybe you should try yoga - it worked miracles for me.
5 a miracle of sth a very good example of something:
•The concert tour was an absolute miracle of organization.
•a miracle of modern engineering
1 very good, completely unexpected, and often very lucky:
•She made a miraculous recovery from her injuries.
•They had a miraculous escape when their car plunged into a river.
2 a miraculous action or event is believed to be caused by God, and is impossible according to the ordinary laws of nature:
•miraculous powers of healing
- miraculously adverb
•Miraculously, no one was killed. $ [C]
1 an effect caused by hot air in a desert, which makes you think that you can see objects when they are not actually there
2 a dream, hope, or wish that cannot come true; = illusion
•Perhaps we are just chasing a mirage. $ [U] literary
1 deep mud:
•The wheels got stuck in the mire.
2 the mire a bad or difficult situation that you cannot seem to escape from; = quagmire
•The Party sank deeper into the mire of conflict.
3 drag sb's name through the mire to say bad things about someone in public, so that other people have a bad opinion of them $ [not before noun] literary
1 stuck in a bad situation and unable to get out or make progress
[+in]
•a government mired in scandal and controversy
2 stuck in mud or covered in mud $ [C]
1 a piece of special glass that you can look at and see yourself in
in a mirror
•She was studying her reflection in the mirror.
•He spends hours in front of the mirror!
•When I looked in the mirror I couldn't believe it. I looked fantastic!
2 a mirror on the inside or side of a vehicle, which the driver uses to see what is behind:
•Check your rear-view mirror before you drive away.
•a wing mirror
3 a mirror of sth something that gives a clear idea of what something else is like:
•We believe the polls are an accurate mirror of public opinion.[T]
if one thing mirrors another, it is very similar to it and may seem to copy or represent it:
•Henry's sad smile mirrored that of his son.
•The economic recovery in Britain was mirrored in the US.[C]
1 an image of something in which the right side appears on the left, and the left side appears on the right
2 something that is either very similar to something else or is the complete opposite of it
[+of]
•The situation is a mirror image of the one Republicans faced 25 years ago.[C]
a website that is an exact copy of another one, but which is in a different place on the Internet $ [U]
literary happiness and laughter:
•Her body began to shake with mirth.
- mirthful adjective $
literary mirthless laughter or a mirthless smile does not seem to be caused by real amusement or happiness:
•'Now it's your turn,' he said with a mirthless grin.
- mirthlessly adverb
•He smiled mirthlessly.
1 bad or badly:
•misfortune (=bad luck)
•He's been misbehaving.
2 wrong or wrongly:
•a miscalculation
•I misunderstood you.
3 used to refer to an opposite or the lack of something:
•What caused this anger and mistrust (=lack of trust)? $
1 death by misadventure BrE law the official name for a death caused by an accident:
•A verdict of death by misadventure was recorded.
2 [C,U] literary bad luck or an accident [C]
formal a situation in which two people or organizations have agreed to work together, marry each other etc, but are not suitable for each other:
•It was a hopeless misalliance.also misanthrope [C]
formal someone who does not like other people and prefers to be alone
- misanthropic $ adjective
- misanthropy noun [U] past tense and past participle misapplied, present participle misapplying, third person singular misapplies [T usually passive]
to use something incorrectly or for a wrong purpose:
•In your case the rules have been misapplied.
- misapplication noun [U]
•a misapplication of the law [C]
formal a mistaken belief or a wrong understanding of something; = misunderstanding
under a misapprehension
•You seem to be under a misapprehension.
•I think we should clear up this misapprehension. $ [T]
formal to dishonestly take something that someone has trusted you with, especially money or goods that belong to your employer; = embezzle
•He claimed the finance manager had misappropriated company funds.
- misappropriation $ noun [U]
•the misappropriation of public funds $ [only before noun] old-fashioned
1 a misbegotten plan, idea, etc is not likely to succeed because it is badly planned or not sensible
2 a misbegotten person is completely stupid or useless:
•You misbegotten fool! [I]
also misbehave yourself to behave badly, and cause trouble or annoy people; behave
•George has been misbehaving at school.
•Students have a tendency to misbehave themselves at exam time.misbehavior AmE $ [U] BrE
bad behaviour that is not acceptable to other people; = misconduct
•Even the most minor forms of misbehaviour were punished. [I,T]
1 to make a mistake when deciding how long something will take to do, how much money you will need etc:
•We miscalculated how long it would take to get there.
2 to make a wrong judgment about a situation:
•Tim had miscalculated: Laura would never disobey her father. [C]
1 a mistake made in deciding how long something will take to do, how much money you will need etc
2 a wrong judgment about a situation [C,U]
if a woman who is going to have a baby has a miscarriage, she gives birth before the baby is properly formed and it dies; abortion, stillbirth
•She had two miscarriages before she had her first child.
•One in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage.plural miscarriages of justice [C,U]
a situation in which someone is wrongly punished by a court of law for something they did not do:
•the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice past tense and past participle miscarried, present participle miscarrying, third person singular miscarries
1 [I,T] to give birth to a baby before it is properly formed and able to live; abort
•She miscarried when she was 10 weeks pregnant.
•Many babies with serious disabilities are miscarried.
2 [I] formal if a plan miscarries, it is not successful $ past tense and past participle miscast [T usually passive]
to choose an unsuitable actor to play a particular character in a play or film; cast
•She was hopelessly miscast in her last film. $ [U]
formal when people of different races have a sexual relationship or have children together [only before noun]
a miscellaneous set of things or people includes many different things or people who do not seem to be connected with each other:
•a miscellaneous assortment of books
•They receive a grant of £1094 to cover the cost of miscellaneous expenses. $ plural miscellanies [C]
a group of different things
[+of]
•He earned his living from a miscellany of jobs. $ [C,U] formal
bad luck, or a situation that results from bad luck:
•If by some mischance the government get elected again, I think taxes will rise.
1 [U] bad behaviour, especially by children, that causes trouble or damage, but no serious harm:
•Now run along, and don't get into mischief.
•They've got enough toys to keep them out of mischief for a while.
•If you can't see Nick, you can be sure he's up to some mischief (=behaving badly and causing trouble or damage).
2 [U] the pleasure or enjoyment of playing tricks on people or embarrassing them:
•Kiki's eyes were bright with mischief.
3 make mischief informal to deliberately cause quarrels or unfriendly feelings between people
[+between]
•I didn't want to make mischief between them.
4 do yourself a mischief BrE informal to injure yourself slightly:
•If you try to lift that box, you'll do yourself a mischief.
5 [U] formal damage or harm that is done to someone or to their property:
•The jury cleared him of the charge of criminal mischief.[C]
someone who deliberately causes trouble or quarrels; = stirrer
1 someone who is mischievous likes to have fun, especially by playing tricks on people or doing things to annoy or embarrass them:
•Their sons are noisy and mischievous.
mischievous smile/look etc
•Gabby looked at him with a mischievous grin.
•There was a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
2 causing trouble or quarrels deliberately:
•a mischievous remark
- mischievously adverb
•He grinned mischievously.
- mischievousness noun [U]
a misconceived idea, plan, method etc is not a good one because it is based on a wrong understanding of something:
•His arguments are totally misconceived.
•His criticisms are misconceived and misplaced. [C,U]
an idea which is wrong or untrue, but which people believe because they do not understand the subject properly; = fallacy; preconception
popular/common misconception
•There is a popular misconception that too much exercise is bad for you.
misconception that
•Refugees have the misconception that life is great over here.
[+about]
•many people's misconceptions about the blind and deaf $ [U]
formal bad or dishonest behaviour by someone in a position of authority or trust:
•a doctor who has been accused of professional misconduct
•He was fired for serious misconduct.
•She was found guilty of gross misconduct (=very serious misconduct). [C,U]
formal an incorrect or mistaken understanding of something:
•Your ideas are open to misconstruction. [T] formal
to MISUNDERSTAND something that someone has said or done:
•His behaviour could easily be misconstrued. [I,T]
to count wrongly:
•Sorry, I miscounted - we need ten copies, not nine.
•The votes were deliberately miscounted. [C]
formal a bad person who causes trouble, hurts people etc [C]
formal a wrong or illegal action:
•He now repents of his past misdeeds.misdemeanor AmE $ [C] BrE
1 formal a bad or unacceptable action that is not very serious:
•Alfred beat his children for even the smallest misdemeanour.
2 law a crime that is not very serious; felony $ [T]
to give an incorrect explanation of an illness, a problem in a machine etc
misdiagnose sth as sth
•Her condition was misdiagnosed as arthritis. [T usually in passive]
1 formal to use your effort, energy, abilities etc on doing the wrong thing:
•Without well-defined goals, it is likely that efforts will be misdirected.
•Their criticism is misdirected.
2 if a judge misdirects a JURY (=the group of people who decide a legal case), he or she gives them incorrect information about the law
3 formal to send someone or something to the wrong place
misdirect sb/sth to sth
•Our mail was misdirected to the wrong street.
- misdirection noun [U] $ [C]
someone who is not generous and does not like spending money
1 extremely unhappy, for example because you feel lonely, cold, or badly treated:
•I've been so miserable since Patrick left me.
•I spent the weekend feeling miserable.
•Janice looks really miserable.
•Why do you make yourself miserable by taking on too much work?
as miserable as sin BrE (=very miserable)
2 especially BrE always bad-tempered, DISSATISFIED, or complaining:
•He's a miserable old devil.
3 [usually before noun] making you feel very unhappy, uncomfortable etc:
•They endured hours of backbreaking work in miserable conditions.
•Mosquito bites can make life miserable.
4 miserable weather is cold and dull, with no sun shining:
•It was a miserable grey day.
•two weeks of miserable weather
5 [only before noun] very small in amount, or very bad in quality:
•I can hardly afford the rent on my miserable income.
•The team gave a miserable performance.
6 miserable failure BrE a complete failure:
•Her attempts to learn to drive had been a miserable failure.
- miserably adverb
•I failed miserably in my duty to protect her. $
1 a miserly amount or quantity is one that is much too small; = measly, paltry
•We were offered a miserly 4% pay rise.
2 a miserly person is not generous and does not like spending money; = mean
- miserliness noun [U] plural miseries
1 [C,U] great suffering that is caused for example by being very poor or very sick:
•What we are witnessing here is human misery on a vast scale.
•the misery of unemployment
•the miseries of war
2 [C,U] great unhappiness:
•She looked away so that Tom wouldn't see her misery.
•His face was a picture of sheer misery.
•The news plunged him into abject misery.
3 make sb's life a misery BrE to cause so much trouble for someone that they cannot enjoy their life:
•Competitive mothers can make their daughters' lives a misery.
4 put sth/sb out of their misery
a) informal to make someone stop feeling worried, especially by telling them something they are waiting to hear:
•Go on, put them out of their misery and announce the winner.
b) to kill a sick or injured animal in order to end its suffering; = put down
•I think you should put the poor creature out of its misery.
5 [C] BrE spoken someone who is always complaining and never enjoys anything:
•Don't be such a misery.
•What's the matter with you, misery guts (=a name for someone like this)? [I,T]
to make a mistake in catching or throwing the ball in some ball games, such as CRICKET
- misfield noun [C] $ [I]
1 if a plan or joke misfires, it goes wrong and does not have the result that you intended; backfire
•His attempt at a joke misfired.
•I was worried that the plan might misfire.
2 if an engine misfires, the petrol mixture does not burn at the right time
3 if a gun misfires, the bullet does not come out [C]
someone who does not seem to belong in a particular group of people, and who is not accepted by that group, because they are very different from the other group members:
•I was very conscious of being a misfit at school.
•a social misfit $ [C,U]
very bad luck, or something that happens to you as a result of bad luck:
•It seems the banks always profit from farmers' misfortunes.
have the misfortune to do/of doing sth
•The French soldiers had the misfortune to be caught in the crossfire. [C,U]
a feeling of doubt or fear about what might happen or about whether something is right
[+about]
•Despite her misgivings about leaving the baby, she decided to accompany her husband.
grave/serious/deep misgivings
•Some politicians have expressed grave misgivings about the scheme.
•Opponents of nuclear energy have deep misgivings about its safety.
•She eyed the distant shoreline with misgiving.
1 intended to be helpful but in fact making a situation worse:
•He described the government's economic policy as misguided.
•a misguided attempt to bring her parents back together
2 a misguided idea or opinion is wrong because it is based on a wrong understanding of a situation:
•His parents still clung to the misguided belief that his common sense would keep him out of serious trouble.
- misguidedly adverb
•The company misguidedly thought that expansion was the best way to survive. [T]
1 to deal with a situation badly, because of a lack of skill or care:
•The prime minister admitted that the crisis had been mishandled.
2 to treat something roughly, often causing damage:
•Some of the goods had been mishandled and damaged. [C,U]
a small accident or mistake that does not have very serious results:
•I had a slight mishap with one of the glasses.
•a series of mishaps
without mishap
•Only one horse finished the course without mishap. $ past tense and past participle misheard $ [I,T]
to not hear properly what someone says, so that you think they said something different:
•It seemed a strange question.; I wondered if I had misheard.
•You must have misheard him. past tense and past participle mishit, present participle mishitting [T]
to hit a ball badly in a game or sport:
•He completely mishit his shot.
- mishit noun [C] [singular]
informal a mixture of a lot of very different things that are put together in a way that is not organized; = hodge-podge
[+of]
•The magazine is a jumbled mishmash of jokes, stories, and serious news. $ [T usually passive]
to give someone information that is incorrect:
•I am afraid you've been misinformed. $ [U]
incorrect information, especially when deliberately intended to deceive people; disinformation $ [T]
to not understand the correct meaning of something that someone says or does, or of facts that you are considering; = misread, misconstrue
•Some parts of the report could be misinterpreted.
misinterpret sth as sth
•She had misinterpreted his silence as anger.
- misinterpretation $ noun [C,U]
•a misinterpretation of the test results [T]
1 to form a wrong or unfair opinion about a person or a situation:
•The government misjudged the mood of the electorate.
•I think you've misjudged her.
2 to guess an amount or distance wrongly:
•I misjudged the speed of the car coming towards me.
- misjudgment also misjudgement BrE noun [C,U]
•He accused the government of a serious foreign policy misjudgement. past tense and past participle mislaid [T]
to put something somewhere, then forget where you put it; = lose, misplace
•I've mislaid my glasses again.
•Sometimes students' work does get lost or mislaid. past tense and past participle misled [T]
to make someone believe something that is not true by giving them information that is false or not complete
mislead sb about/over sth
•Politicians have misled the public over the dangers of these chemicals.
•Don't be misled by appearances, he's a good worker.
mislead sb into believing/thinking etc sth
•Don't be misled into thinking that scientific research is easy.
likely to make someone believe something that is not true:
•The article was misleading, and the newspaper has apologized.
seriously/highly/grossly etc misleading
•These figures are highly misleading.
- misleadingly adverb
•The diagrams are misleadingly simple. [T]
if someone mismanages something they are in charge of, they deal with or manage it badly:
•The nation's finances had been badly mismanaged.
- mismanagement noun [U]
•the government's mismanagement of the crisis [C]
a combination of things or people that do not work well together or are not suitable for each other
[+between]
•the mismatch between the demand for health care and the supply
- mismatched adjective
•a mismatched couple [T]
to give something a name that is wrong or not suitable:
•a dreary little place that was misnamed the Grand Hotel $ [C]
a wrong or unsuitable name:
•'Silent movie' is a misnomer since the movies usually had a musical accompaniment. $ [C] formal
a man who hates women
- misogynist misogynistic adjective
•deeply misogynist attitudes
- misogyny noun [U] [T]
to lose something for a short time by putting it in the wrong place; = mislay
•Oh dear, I seem to have misplaced the letter.
misplaced feelings of trust, love etc are wrong and unsuitable, because the person that you have these feelings for does not deserve them:
•I realized that my trust in him was misplaced.
•She stuck with him through a misplaced sense of loyalty. [C]
a small mistake, especially a spelling mistake, in a book, magazine etc [T]
to pronounce a word or name wrongly
- mispronunciation noun [C,U] [T]
to make a mistake in reporting what someone else has said:
•Dr Hall said he had been misquoted in the press.
- misquotation $ noun [C,U] past tense and past participle misread [T]
1 to make a wrong judgment about a person or situation; = misinterpret
•I think she misread the situation.
•He may be misreading her intentions.
2 to read something incorrectly:
•The doctor must have misread the notes.
- misreading noun [C,U]
•a misreading of the situation $ [T usually passive]
to give an incorrect or untrue account of an event or situation:
•The facts of the story have been misreported. [T]
to deliberately give a wrong description of someone's opinions or of a situation:
•These statistics grossly misrepresent the reality.
- misrepresentation noun [C,U]
•a misrepresentation of the truth [U]
formal bad government:
•The country has suffered years of misrule by a weak and corrupt government.
1 NOT DO STH/FAIL TO DO STH [T] to not go somewhere or do something, especially when you want to but cannot:
•I'm absolutely starving - I missed lunch.
•He missed 20 games after breaking a bone in his wrist.
•She was upset at missing all the excitement.
miss doing sth
•He had missed being elected by a single vote.
2 NOT HIT/CATCH [I,T] to fail to hit or catch an object that is close to you, or to fail to hit a distant object that you are aiming at:
•Every time she missed the ball she became more angry.
•He fired, missed and loaded again.
•The bullet narrowly missed her heart.
3 FEEL SAD ABOUT SB [T] to feel sad because someone you love is not with you:
•She missed her family badly.
•Will you miss me?
•John will be sorely missed by his family and friends.
4 FEEL SAD ABOUT STH [T] to feel sad because you do not have something or cannot do something you had or did before:
•I miss the car, but the bus system is good.
miss doing sth
•Ben knew he would miss working with Sabrina.
5 TOO LATE [T] to be too late for something:
•We got there late and missed the beginning of the movie.
miss the train/bus etc
•I overslept and missed the train.
6 miss a chance/opportunity to fail to use an opportunity to do something:
•He certainly wasn't going to miss the chance of making some extra money.
•Don't miss the chance to see the breathtaking Dolomite Mountains.
•The opportunity was too good to miss so we left immediately.
7 NOT SEE/HEAR [T] to not see, hear, or notice something, especially when it is difficult to notice:
•Maeve's sharp eyes missed nothing.
•Perhaps there's something the police have missed.
•It's a huge hotel on the corner. You can't miss it (=it is very easy to notice or recognize).
• You don't miss much, do you (=you are good at noticing things)?
•John didn't miss a trick (=noticed every opportunity to get an advantage) when it came to cutting costs.
8 miss the point to not understand the main point of what someone is saying
9 sth is not to be missed used to say that someone should do something while they have the opportunity:
•A journey on one of the steam trains is certainly not to be missed!
10 AVOID STH [T] to avoid something bad or unpleasant:
•If we leave now we should miss the traffic.
miss doing sth
•As he crossed the street, a bus just missed hitting him.
•They narrowly missed being killed in the fire.
11 I wouldn't miss it for the world spoken used to say that you really want to go to an event, see something etc:
•'Come to the party.' 'I will. I wouldn't miss it for the world.'
12 NOTICE STH ISN'T THERE [T] to notice that something or someone is not in the place you expect them to be:
•I didn't miss my wallet till it came to paying the bill.
13 miss the mark to not achieve something you were trying to do:
•Their efforts to improve quality have somewhat missed the mark.
14 miss the boat informal to fail to take an opportunity that will give you an advantage:
•You'll miss the boat if you don't buy shares now.
15 without missing a beat if you do something without missing a beat, you do it without showing that you are surprised or shocked:
•She handled all of their questions without missing a beat.
16 sb's heart misses a beat used to say that someone is very excited, surprised, or frightened:
•Glancing up at Rick's face, she felt her heart miss a beat.
17 ENGINE [I] if an engine misses, it stops working for a very short time and then starts again

PHRASAL VERBS
miss out phr v
1 to not have the chance to do something that you enjoy and that would be good for you:
•Some children miss out because their parents can't afford to pay for school trips.
[+on]
•Prepare food in advance to ensure you don't miss out on the fun!
2 miss sb/sth <=> out BrE to not include someone or something:
•Make sure you don't miss any details out.
1 Miss used in front of the family name of a woman who is not married to address her politely, to write to her, or to talk about her; Mrs, Ms, Mr
•I'd like to make an appointment with Miss Taylor.
!! Some unmarried women prefer to be addressed as Ms because it does not draw attention to whether or not they are married.
see also note at MR
2 Miss Italy/Ohio/World etc used to refer to a woman who represents a country, city etc in a beauty competition
3 YOUNG WOMAN spoken used as a polite way of speaking to a young woman when you do not know her name; madam, sir
•Excuse me, miss, you've dropped your umbrella.
4 TEACHER BrE spoken used by children when speaking to a female teacher, whether she is married or not; sir
•I know the answer, Miss.
5 give sth a miss BrE informal to decide not to do something:
•I'd better give the coffee a miss. I'm due at a meeting in half an hour.
6 NOT HIT/CATCH [C] an occasion when you fail to hit, catch, or hold something:
•Will he score a goal this time? No, no it's a miss.
7 YOUNG GIRL [C] BrE spoken a young girl, especially one who has been bad or rude:
•She's a cheeky little miss.
HIT-AND-MISS; near miss at NEAR^2 (6) [C]
a book containing all the prayers said during each Mass for a whole year in the Roman Catholic church
not the normal or natural shape:
•an old woman struggling to walk on misshapen feet
•misshapen carrots $ [C]
1 a weapon that can fly over long distances and that explodes when it hits the thing it has been aimed at:
•a nuclear missile
•a missile attack
2 an object that is thrown at someone in order to hurt them:
•Demonstrators threw missiles at the police.
BALLISTIC MISSILE, CRUISE MISSILE, GUIDED MISSILE
1 something that is missing is not in its usual place, so that you cannot find it:
•We found the missing piece of the jigsaw under the chair.
•The keys have been missing for ages.
[+from]
•Two bottles were missing from the drugs cupboard.
go missing BrE
•The scissors have gone missing again.
2 if part of something is missing, it is no longer attached or has been destroyed:
•Two of her front teeth were missing.
•The last page of the diary was missing.
[+from]
•There's a button missing from your shirt.
3 someone who is missing has disappeared, and no one knows if they are alive or dead:
•Two crew members survived, but two are still missing.
go missing BrE
•Nearly 100,000 young people go missing in Britain each year.
•When Lily did not come home, her parents called the police to report her missing.
4 not present or not included in something
[+from]
•Why is my name missing from the list?
•Something was missing from her life.
5 missing in action a soldier who is missing in action has not returned after a battle and their body has not been found[C]
1 a piece of information that you need in order to solve a problem:
•Could this be the missing link in the search for a cure for cancer?
2 the missing link an animal which was a stage in the development of humans from APEs , whose bones have not yet been foundplural missing persons [C]
someone who has disappeared and whose family has asked the police to try to find them [C]
1 AIR FORCE/ARMY ETC an important job that involves travelling somewhere, done by a member of the airforce, army etc, or by a spacecraft:
•He was sent on over 200 missions before being killed in action.
[+to]
•the first manned space mission to Mars
•US troops taking part in the peacekeeping mission
2 JOB an important job that someone has been given to do, especially when they are sent to another place:
•Her mission was to improve staff morale and output.
on a mission
•scientists on a mission to the rainforest, to study possible medicinal uses of plants
rescue/diplomatic/fact-finding etc mission
•a group of US congressmen on a fact-finding mission to Northern Ireland
3 DUTY something that you feel you must do because it is your duty; = calling, vocation
•Momich's mission was to help young people in his local community.
•His main mission in life is to earn as much money as possible.
4 PURPOSE the purpose or the most important aim of an organization:
•The mission of International House is to enable students of different cultures to live together and build life-long friendships.
MISSION STATEMENT
5 GOVERNMENT a group of important people who are sent by their government to another country to discuss something or collect information; = delegation
•a British trade mission to Moscow
6 RELIGION
a) religious work that involves going to a foreign country in order to teach people about Christianity or help poor people
b) a building where this kind of work is done, or the people who work there
7 mission accomplished used when you have successfully achieved something that you were trying to do
8 woman/man with a mission someone who is very determined to achieve what they are trying to do - often used humorously $ plural missionaries [C]
someone who has been sent to a foreign country to teach people about Christianity and persuade them to become Christians[only before noun]
1 relating to the work of missionaries:
•missionary work
•a missionary hospital
2 missionary zeal if you do something with missionary zeal, you do it with great eagerness, because you believe strongly that it is a good thing to do:
•a young English teacher, who taught poetry with missionary zeal
the missionary position the sexual position in which the woman lies on her back with the man on top of her and facing her[U]
the people on earth who communicate with and guide a spacecraft[U] AmE
a series of gradual changes in the aim of a group of people, with the result that they do something different from what they planned to do at the beginning[C]
1 an official statement about the aims of a company or organization
2 personal mission statement a clear statement about what you want to achieve with your life:
•Use a personal mission statement to chart your career course.
another spelling of MISSUS [C] literary
a letter - often used humorously:
•An anonymous missive had been pushed under her door. past tense and past participle misspelt or, misspelled [T]
to spell a word wrongly
- misspelling noun [C,U] past tense and past participle misspent [T]
1 misspent youth someone who had a misspent youth wasted their time or behaved badly when they were young - often used humorously
2 to use time or money badly or wrongly:
•Carey admitted misspending company funds. [C] AmE
a mistake, especially one that is caused by not understanding a situation correctly:
•A misstep here could cost millions of dollars.missis [singular] spoken informal
1 a man's wife, or girlfriend who lives with him:
•How's the missus?
2 BrE used when speaking to a woman whose name you do not know:
•Hey, missus, are these your kids?
1 [C,U] a light cloud low over the ground that makes it difficult for you to see very far; fog
•We could just see the outline of the house through the mist.
•Next morning, the whole town was shrouded in mist (=covered in mist).
2 lost in the mists of time if something such as a fact or secret is lost in the mists of time, no one remembers it because it happened so long ago:
•The real reasons for the war are now lost in the mists of time.
3 see sth through a mist of tears literary to see something while you are crying
[T] to cover something with very small drops of liquid in order to keep it wet:
•The plant has to be misted every day.

PHRASAL VERBS
mist over phr v
1 if someone's eyes mist over, they become filled with tears:
•His eyes misted over at the memory of his wife.
2 to mist up

mist up phr v
if a piece of glass mists up, or if something mists it up, it becomes covered with very small drops of water so that you cannot see through it
mist sth <=> up
•I can't see where I'm going, with the windows all misted up like this.
1 [C] something that has been done in the wrong way, or an opinion or statement that is incorrect; error

make a mistake
be full of mistakes/be littered with mistakes (=have a lot of mistakes in it )
spelling mistake
silly mistake
common mistake
honest mistake (=something not done deliberately)
admit your mistake (=admit that you have made a mistake)
correct a mistake
it is a mistake to think/assume/imagine etc that
there must be some mistake (=used when you think someone has made a mistake)

[+in]
•We may have made a mistake in our calculations.
•a mistake in the law
•Ivan's work is always full of mistakes.
•The article was littered with spelling mistakes.
•One silly mistake cost them the match.
•The most common mistake is to plant them too deep.
•Please believe me. It was an honest mistake.
•Did he admit his mistake?
•He warned that correcting the mistakes of the present administration would not be easy.
• It is a mistake to think that violence can bring a solution to our problems.
• There must be some mistake with the bill.
!! Do not say 'do a mistake'. Say make a mistake.
see box at FAULT^1

2 [C] something you do that is not sensible or has a bad result:
•Buying the house seemed a great idea at the time, but now I can see it was a mistake.
•It's your decision, but I warn you - you're making a mistake.
make the mistake of doing sth
•I stupidly made the mistake of giving them my phone number.
big/terrible/ghastly etc mistake
•Marrying him was the biggest mistake she ever made.
•It proved to be a costly mistake.
•She only realized her mistake when it was too late.
•Some of our decisions were wrong, but you have to learn from your mistakes.
make the same mistake (again/twice)
•I don't intend to make the same mistake again.
3 by mistake if you do something by mistake, you do it without intending to; = accidentally; deliberately, on purpose
•Someone must have left the door open by mistake.
•I'm sorry, this letter is addressed to you - I opened it by mistake.
4 we all make mistakes spoken used to tell someone not to be worried because they have made a mistake
5 make no mistake (about it) spoken used to emphasize that what you are saying is true, especially when you are warning about something serious or dangerous:
•Make no mistake, this is the most serious threat our industry has ever seen.
6 and no mistake BrE spoken informal used to emphasize the description you have just given:
•Miles was a heartbreaker, and no mistake!past tense mistook , past participle mistaken [T]
1 to understand something wrongly:
•She mistook my meaning entirely.
•Ken mistook her concern, thinking she was interested in him for another reason.
2 you can't mistake sb/sth used to say that someone or something is very easy to recognize:
•You can't mistake her. She's the one with the long red hair.
3 there is no mistaking sb/sth used to say that you are certain about something:
•There's no mistaking whose children they are - they all look just like Joe.

PHRASAL VERBS
mistake sb/sth for sb/sth phr v
to wrongly think that one person or thing is someone or something else:
•A woman mistook him for a well-known actor, and asked him for his autograph.
•The doctor mistook the symptoms for blood poisoning.
1 be mistaken if you are mistaken, you are wrong about something that you thought you knew or saw:
•It can't have been my car. You must be mistaken.
•I thought he said 12 o'clock, but I might have been mistaken.
•We bought the rug in Turkey, if I'm not mistaken.
2 mistaken belief/idea/impression/view etc a mistaken belief etc is not correct:
•Marijuana has few withdrawal effects, and this has given rise to the mistaken belief that it is not addictive.
- mistakenly adverb[U]
a situation in which someone believes that they have seen a particular person when in fact it was someone else - used especially in relation to crimes:
•The police arrested someone, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. $
1 Mister the full form of MR
!! In people's names, Mister is always written Mr.
2 spoken especially AmE used to address a man whose name you do not know:
•Thanks, mister. [T]
to do something at not quite the right time.:
•He mistimed his kick and missed the ball. $ [U]
a plant with small white berries, which grows on trees. It is traditional to kiss people under a piece of mistletoe at Christmas.
the past tense of MISTAKE [T]
to treat a person or animal badly, especially in a cruel way; = ill-treat, maltreat
•Security forces are accused of mistreating prisoners.
- mistreatment noun [U] [C]
1 a woman that a man has a sexual relationship with, even though he is married to someone else:
•The Prince had shocked society by living openly with his mistress.
2 BrE old-fashioned a female teacher; master
•the new English mistress
3 the female owner of a dog, horse etc; master
4 old-fashioned the female employer of a servant; master
•The maid looked nervously at her mistress.
5 be (a/the) mistress of sth if a woman is a mistress of something, she is in control of it, highly skilled at it etc; master
•She appeared to be very much the mistress of the situation.
6 Mistress old use used with a woman's family name as a polite way of speaking to her; master [C]
a TRIAL in a court of law which is unfair, so that a new trial has to be held:
•The defense attorney argued that the judge should declare a mistrial. [U]
the feeling that you cannot trust someone, especially because you think they may treat you unfairly or dishonestly; = suspicion, distrust
[+of]
•He had a deep mistrust of the legal profession.[T]
to not trust someone, especially because you think they may treat you unfairly or dishonestly; = distrust
•As a very small child she had learned to mistrust adults.
- mistrustful adjective
•Some people are very mistrustful of computerised banking.
1 misty weather is weather with a lot of mist:
•a cold, misty morning
2 literary if your eyes are misty, they are full of tears, especially because you are remembering a time in the past:
•He paused, his eyes growing misty.
•Whenever Maria sees a picture of her mother, she gets misty-eyed.
3 not clear or bright:
•Without my glasses everything is just a misty blur. $ past tense and past participle misunderstood [I,T]
to fail to understand someone or something correctly:
•Rachel, you must have misunderstood her! Ellie would never say something like that.
•Don't misunderstand me. She's a very nice person when you get to know her. $
1 [C,U] a problem caused by someone not understanding a question, situation, or instruction correctly:
•There must have been some misunderstanding. I didn't order all these books.
2 [C] an argument or disagreement that is not very serious - often used humorously:
•Terry had a little misunderstanding with the police last night. $
used to describe someone who is not liked by other people in a way that is unfair, because they do not understand him or her:
•Rodman claims that he is misunderstood, and that the media has always portrayed him unfairly. [T]
1 to use something for the wrong purpose, or in the wrong way, often with harmful results:
•Even harmless drugs can be misused.
•The term 'schizophrenia' is often misused.
•There is concern that the judges might misuse their power.
2 to treat someone badly or unfairly [C,U]
the use of something in the wrong way or for the wrong purpose; = abuse
•a system designed to prevent credit card misuse
drug/alcohol misuse
•Children who begin smoking when young are at greater risk from drugs misuse.
[+of]
•a scandalous misuse of public funds [C]
1 a very small creature that lives in plants, CARPETs etc
2 spoken a small child, especially one that you feel sorry for:
•Poor mite! You must be starving!
3 a mite slightly; = a bit
•She's a mite shy.
•It's a mite too big for the box.
4 a mite of sth old-fashioned a small amount of something $
the American spelling of MITRE [T] formal
to make a situation or the effects of something less unpleasant, harmful, or serious; = alleviate
•Measures need to be taken to mitigate the environmental effects of burning more coal.
mitigating circumstances/factors facts about a situation that make a crime or bad mistake seem less serious:
•Judges often give reduced sentences where there are mitigating circumstances. [U]
1 in mitigation law if you say something in mitigation, you try to make someone's crime or mistake seem less serious or show that they were not completely responsible:
•The captain added, in mitigation, that the engines may have been faulty.
2 formal a reduction in how unpleasant, harmful, or serious a situation is:
•His marriage had brought a slight mitigation of the monotony of his existence.miter AmE $ [C] BrE
1 a tall pointed hat worn by BISHOPs and ARCHBISHOPs
2 also mitre joint a joint between two pieces of wood, in which each piece is cut at an angle [C]
1 a type of GLOVE that does not have separate parts for each finger; = mitten
•ski mitts
•an oven mitt (=a thick glove used to protect your hand when you hold hot pans)
2 a type of leather GLOVE used to catch a ball in BASEBALL
3 informal especially BrE someone's hand:
•Robert's put his sticky mitts all over it. [C]
a type of GLOVE that does not have separate parts for each finger
1 [I,T] if you mix two or more substances or if they mix, they combine to become a single substance, and they cannot be easily separated:
•Oil and water don't mix.
mix (sth) with sth
•Shake the bottle well so that the oil mixes with the vinegar.
•The powder is mixed with cold water to form a paste.
•Mix the soured cream with ketchup and tomatoes.
mix sth together
•First mix the butter and sugar together, then add the milk.
mix sth in
•Mix in 75g of butter.
mix sth into sth
•Mix the herbs into the sauce.
2 [T] to combine two or more different activities, ideas, groups of things etc:
•Their musical style mixes elements of Eastern culture and Western pop.
mix sth with sth
•His books mix historical fact with fantasy.
•I don't like to mix business with pleasure (=combine business and social activities at the same time).
3 [I] to meet, talk, and spend time with other people, especially people you do not know very well; = socialize
[+with]
•Charlie doesn't mix well with the other children.
4 not mix if two different ideas, activities etc do not mix, there are problems when they are combined:
•Smoking and babies don't mix.
5 [T] also mix up to prepare something, especially food or drink, by mixing things together:
•Will you mix us some martinis, Bill?
6 mix and match to choose to put different things together from a range of possibilities:
•They can mix and match their uniform, wearing either a sweatshirt or blouse with trousers or a skirt.
7 [T] technical to control the balance of sounds in a record or film
8 mix it (up) informal to get involved in a fight with someone:
•You don't want to mix it with him. He's been drinking since noon.

PHRASAL VERBS
mix sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to make the mistake of thinking that someone or something is another person or thing; = confuse, muddle up
[+with]
•I always mix him up with his brother. They look so much alike.
•I think you might be mixing up Wetherall and Newton.
•I must have got the times mixed up.
2 to change the way things have been arranged, often by mistake, so that they are no longer in the same order:
•My papers got all mixed up.
•Books on Scottish history were mixed up with books on volcanoes.
3 to make someone feel confused:
•They kept trying to mix me up.
4 to prepare something by mixing things together:
•It was hard work mixing up four tonnes of cement.
MIXED UP, MIX-UP
1 [singular] the particular combination of things or people in a group or thing
[+of]
•a good mix of people
•We felt that between us we had the right mix of skills.
•a complicated mix of colours and textures
•the region's rich ethnic mix (=people of different races)
2 [C,U] a combination of substances that you mix together to make something such as a cake; = mixture
cake/soup etc mix
•Add water to the cake mix and bake at 375°F.
3 [C] a particular arrangement of sounds, voices, or different pieces of music used on a POP record:
•the dance mix
1 [only before noun] consisting of several different types of things or people:
•a very mixed group of women
•a mixed salad
2 mixed feelings/emotions if you have mixed feelings or emotions about something, you are not sure whether you like, agree with or feel happy about it
[+about]
•I had mixed feelings about meeting Laura again.
•He watched with mixed emotions.
3 mixed reaction/response/reviews etc if something gets a mixed reaction etc, some people say they like it or agree with it, but others dislike it or disagree with it:
•The film has had mixed reviews from the critics.
•Media coverage of the event was mixed.
4 especially BrE for both males and females:
•a mixed school
5 a mixed blessing something that is good in some ways but bad in others:
•Having your parents living nearby is a mixed blessing.
6 a mixed bag
a) a group of things or people that are all very different from each other
[+of]
•The concert was a mixed bag of classical and modern music.
•Club-goers are a mixed bag these days, and so are the places they go clubbing.
b) something that includes both good and bad parts:
•The meat was very good, but the vegetables were rather a mixed bag.
7 (of) mixed race having parents of different races:
•children of mixed race
8 in mixed company when you are with people of both sexes:
•It's not the sort of joke you tell in mixed company.
mixed metaphor at METAPHOR (2)[only before noun]
a mixed ability school or class teaches all children of the same age together, even if they have different levels of ability:
•a mixed ability group
•mixed ability teaching[U]
a game in a sport such as tennis in which a man and a woman play against another man and woman[C]
an economic system in which some industries are owned by the government and some are owned by private companies[U]
a system of farming in which you grow crops and keep animals[C]
BrE a dish consisting of meats such as SAUSAGE, BACON, LIVER etc which have all been GRILLed [C,U]
a marriage between two people from different races or religions[U]
a combination of substances or materials that are used in a painting, SCULPTURE etc
1 be/get mixed up in sth to be involved in an illegal or dishonest activity:
•He's the last person I'd expect to be mixed up in something like this.
•I'd have to be crazy to get mixed up in that kind of thing.
2 be/get mixed up with sb to be involved with someone who has a bad influence on you:
•When he left college he got mixed up with the wrong people.
3 [not before noun] confused, for example because you have too many different details to remember or think about:
•I get all mixed up over the money whenever I travel abroad.
4 also mixed-up informal confused and suffering from emotional problems; = screwed up
•She's just a crazy mixed-up kid.
mix up at MIX^1; MIX-UP $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment used to mix things together:
•an electric food mixer
•a cement mixer
•a shower mixer
2 a piece of equipment or computer software which is used to control the sound levels or picture quality of a recording or film, or a person whose job is to use this equipment:
•an audio mixer
3 a drink that can be mixed with alcohol, especially to make a COCKTAIL:
•We can use tonic water or orange juice as mixers.
4 good mixer someone who finds it easy to talk to people they do not know:
•Media people need to be good mixers and good talkers.
5 AmE old-fashioned a party held so that people who have just met can get to know each other better:
•Are you going to the freshman mixer?[C] BrE
a TAP which both hot and cold water come through together[C]
a large bowl used for mixing things such as flour and sugar for making cakes [C]
a piece of music that is produced by mixing different voices or musical instruments that have already been recorded:
•All types of electronic dance music mixtapes for sale.
•mixtape CDs $
1 [C] a combination of two or more different things, feelings, or types of people
[+of]
•The town is a mixture of the old and the new.
•the mixture of different people living in the city
•She felt a strange mixture of excitement and fear.
•a mixture of emotions
2 [C,U] a liquid or other substance made by mixing several substances together, especially in cooking; compound
[+of]
•Fill the bread with a mixture of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
•Pour the mixture into four small dishes.
3 [C] technical a combination of substances that are put together but do not mix with each other[C]
informal a mistake that causes confusion about details or arrangements
[+in]
•Geoffrey rushed in late pleading a mix-up in his diary.
[+between]
•A council official blamed a mix-up between departments.
[+over]
•There was a mix-up over the hotel booking. [C]
1 also mizzen mast the MAST behind the main mast on a sailing ship
2 also mizzen sail the main sail on a mizzen on a sailing ship
the written abbreviation of mark plural ml or mls
the written abbreviation of millilitre or millilitresmilady old use
used by a servant to address a woman who belongs to a NOBLE family:
•Will that be all, m'lady?M.Litt. [C] BrE
Master of Letters a university degree that you can get at some British universities by studying for two years after your first degree $
1 used to address a judge
2 old use used by a servant to address a man who belongs to a NOBLE family
used to address a judge in a British court of law (=short for 'my lord')
the written abbreviation of millimetre or millimetres
used when someone else is speaking and you want to show that you are listening, that you agree with them, or that you are thinking about what they have said:
•'That's okay, isn't it?' 'Mm yeah.'
•Mm, I see what you mean. $ [C]
something such as a poem or a sentence that you use to help you remember a rule, a name etc
- mnemonic adjective $ [singular]
BrE spoken a very short period of time; = moment
•Wait a mo!
•I'll be back in a mo.AmE
the written abbreviation of month also MO BrE $
1 [singular] modus operandi a way of doing something that is typical of a particular person or group
2 [C] especially BrE medical officer an army doctor $
1 [I,T] informal to complain in an annoying way, especially in an unhappy voice and without good reason:
•'I feel seasick already,' she moaned.
[+about]
•A lot of people moaned about the parking problems.
[+at] BrE
•My mum never stops moaning at me.
moan that
•He's always moaning that we use too much electricity.
•He moaned and groaned all the way there.
2 [I] to make a long low sound expressing pain, unhappiness, or sexual pleasure; = groan
•She moaned and cried out in pain.
3 [I] literary if the wind moans, it makes a long low sound:
•They could hear the wind moaning in the trees.
- moaner noun [C] BrE
•Dad's a gloomy old moaner.[C]
1 a long low sound expressing pain, unhappiness, or sexual pleasure
[+of]
•There was a moan of pain from the injured man.
•She gave a little moan of pleasure.
•a low moan
2 have a moan (about sth) BrE informal to complain about something:
•We were just having a moan about work.
3 literary a low sound made by the wind $ [C]
1 a deep wide hole, usually filled with water, dug around a castle as a defence
2 a deep wide hole dug around an area used for animals in a ZOO to stop them from escaping
- moated adjective $ [C]
1 a large noisy crowd, especially one that is angry and violent
[+of]
•a mob of a few hundred demonstrators
•They were immediately surrounded by the mob.
•The leadership had been criticized for giving in to mob rule (=when a mob controls the situation rather than the government or the law).
2 informal a group of people of the same type; = gang
[+of]
•The usual mob of teenagers were standing on the corner.
the heavy mob BrE (=group of strong violent men)
•What happens if they send the heavy mob round to find him?
3 the Mob the MAFIA (=a powerful organization of criminals)
4 the mob old use an insulting expression meaning all the poorest and least educated people in society
5 mob of sheep/cattle AusE a large group of sheep or cattlepast tense and past participle mobbed, present participle mobbing [T]
1 if people mob a famous person, they rush to get close to them and form a crowd around them:
•Fans ran onto the pitch and mobbed the batsman.
2 if a group of birds or animals mob another bird or animal, they all attack it[C]
a light cotton hat with a decorative edge, worn by women in the 18th and 19th centuries $
1 not fixed in one position, and easy to move and use in different places:
•mobile air-conditioners
2 moving or able to move from one job, area, or social class to another:
•a more mobile workforce
•People these days are much more socially mobile.
•an upwardly mobile (=moving to a higher social scale) professional
3 able to move or travel easily; immobile
•She's more mobile now that she has her own car.
4 mobile library/shop/clinic etc BrE a shop etc that is kept in a vehicle and driven from place to place:
•Two mobile units provide healthcare in rural villages.
5 mobile mouth/face/features written features that can change their expression quickly:
•His mobile features registered amusement. $ [C]
1 BrE a MOBILE PHONE; = cellphone AmE
•Give me a call on my mobile.
•Have you got my mobile number?
2 a decoration made of small objects tied to wires or string which is hung up so that the objects move when air blows around them[C]
1 AmE a type of house made of metal, that can be pulled by a vehicle and moved to another place
2 BrE a large CARAVAN which always stays in the same place and is used as a house; = trailer AmE[C]
a telephone that you can carry with you and use in any place; = cellular phone AmE
•mobile phone users $ [U]
1 the ability to move easily from one job, area, or social class to another:
• social mobility
[+of]
•There is greater mobility of labour (=movement of workers) between jobs and areas.
upward/downward mobility
•jobs and opportunities for upward mobility
2 the ability to move easily:
•It improves the strength and mobility of joints.
•The key to the army's effectiveness is its increased mobility.
mobility allowance BrE (=money paid to sick or disabled people to help pay for transport)also mobilise BrE $
1 [T] to encourage people to support something in an active way:
•an attempt to mobilize popular opinion
•a campaign to mobilize support for the strike
2 [T] to start to use the things or people you have available in order to achieve something:
•They failed to mobilize their resources effectively.
3 [I,T] if a country mobilizes or mobilizes its army, it prepares to fight a war; demobilize
4 [T] to help something to move more easily:
•The physiotherapist mobilizes the patient's shoulder.
- mobilization $ noun [C,U]
•the mobilization of public opinion $ [C]
especially AmE a member of an organized criminal group; = gangster $ [C]
a flat comfortable shoe made of soft leather $ [U]
1 a type of coffee
2 a combination of coffee and chocolate $ plural mochaccinos [C,U]
a drink made of strong coffee, chocolate or COCOA, and hot milk $
1 [I,T] formal to laugh at someone or something and try to make them look stupid by saying unkind things about them or by copying them; = make fun of
•Opposition MPs mocked the government's decision.
•'Running away?' he mocked.
•It's easy for you to mock, but we put a lot of work into this play.
2 [T] formal to make something seem completely useless:
•Violent attacks like this mock the peace process.

PHRASAL VERBS
mock sth <=> up phr v
to make a FULL-SIZE model of something so that it looks real
MOCK-UP
- mocking adjective
•Her tone was mocking.
- mockingly adverb
•His lips twisted mockingly.
- mocker noun [C][only before noun]
1 not real, but intended to be very similar to a real situation, substance etc:
•war games with mock battles
•a mock interview
•mock marble floors
2 mock surprise/horror/indignation etc surprise etc that you pretend to feel, especially as a joke:
•She threw her hands up in mock horror.
1 mocks [plural] BrE school examinations taken as practice before official examinations:
•I'm revising for my mocks.
2 make mock of sb literary to mock someone $
1 used to show that an attitude or feeling is pretended, not real:
•a mock-serious expression
•His frown was mock-severe.
2 copying a particular style, especially of building:
•a mock-Tudor fireplace $
put the mockers on sth BrE informal to spoil an event or someone's plans, or to bring someone bad luck:
•Without wishing to put the mockers on things, I'd like to know where the money is going to come from. $
1 make a mockery of sth to make something such as a plan or system seem completely useless or ineffective:
•This building plan makes a mockery of the government's environmental policy.
2 [U] when someone laughs at someone or something or shows that they think they are stupid:
•There was a hint of mockery in his voice.
3 [singular] something that is completely useless or ineffective:
•She said that the trial had been a mockery. $ [C]
an American bird that copies the songs of other birds[C]
AmE a type of TURTLENECK SWEATER[C]
a full size model of something, made before the real thing is built, or made for a film, show etc
[+of]
•a mock-up of the system
•a mock-up of a submarine
mock up at MOCK^1 $ [C]
a modal verbtechnical
1 [only before noun] modal meanings are concerned with the attitude of the speaker to the hearer or to what is being said
2 related to or written in a musical MODE (5)
- modality $ noun [U][C]
a modal verbalso modal [C] technical
one of these verb forms: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, used to, need, had better, and DARE. They are all used with other verbs to express ideas such as possibility, permission, or intention; auxiliary verb $
all mod cons BrE informal all the things that are fitted in modern houses to make life easy and comfortable:
•a property with many interesting features and all mod cons $ [C]
1 formal a particular way or style of behaving, living or doing something
[+of]
•the most efficient mode of transport
•They have a relaxed mode of life that suits them well.
•Western modes of thought
2 technical a particular way in which a machine or piece of equipment can operate:
•Set the monitor to 256 colour mode.
•To get out of the 'auto' mode on the camera, turn the knob to 'M'.
3 be in work mode/holiday mode etc informal to have a particular feeling or way of thinking or behaving, because of the situation you are in:
•With only minutes to go, we were now in panic mode.
4 be the mode formal to be fashionable at a particular time:
•Long skirts were then the mode.
5 technical one of various systems of arranging notes in music, such as MAJOR and MINOR in Western music
à LA MODE, MODISH $ [C]
1 SMALL COPY a small copy of a building, vehicle, machine etc, especially one that can be put together from separate parts
[+of]
•They showed us a model of the building.
•a working model (=one with parts which move) of a steam engine
2 FASHION someone whose job is to show clothes, hair styles etc by wearing them at fashion shows or for photographs:
•a top fashion model
•a male model
3 TYPE OF CAR ETC a particular type or design of a vehicle or machine:
•Renault are introducing three new models at the show.
•Our dishwasher is the latest model (=newest design).
•the 2.8 litre V6 model
4 DESCRIPTION a computer representation or scientific description of something
[+of]
•Scientists are building computer models of the ocean currents.
5 SB/STH TO COPY someone or something which people want to copy because they are successful or have good qualities
[+for]
•It served as a model for other cities.
•He used English medieval architecture as his model.
role model (=someone that you try to copy because they have qualities you would like to have)
•Good teachers can act as positive role models.
6 model of efficiency/virtue etc someone or something that has a lot of a good quality:
•She was a model of honesty and decency.
7 ART someone who is employed by an artist or photographer to be painted or photographed
1 model aircraft/train/car etc a small copy of an aircraft, train etc, especially one that a child can play with or put together from separate parts:
•He spent hours playing with his model railway.
•She builds model aeroplanes in her spare time.
2 model wife/employee/student etc a wife, EMPLOYEE (=worker) etc who is considered to be good because they do everything they should; = exemplary
•His lawyers tried to show him as a model husband and father.
3 model prison/farm/school etc a prison etc that has been specially designed or organized to be as good as possiblepast tense and past participle modelled, present participle modelling BrE past tense and past participle modeled, present participle modeling AmE
1 [I,T] to wear clothes at a fashion show or in magazine photographs in order to show them to people:
•She's modeling Donna Karan's fall collection.
•Claire modelled for a few years when she was in her twenties.
2 model yourself on sb BrE model yourself after sb AmE to try to be like someone else because you admire them:
•Jim had always modelled himself on his great hero, Martin Luther King.
3 be modelled on sth to be designed in a way that copies another system or way of doing something:
•Their education system is modelled on the French one.
4 [T] to do a computer representation or scientific description of a situation or event:
•They used a computer to model the possible effects of global warming.
5 [T] to make something by shaping clay, wood etc
- modeller noun [C]modeling AmE $ [U] BrE
1 the work of a fashion model:
•a career in modelling
2 the process of making a scientific or computer model of something to show how it works or to understand it better
[+of]
• computer modelling of the system
•economic modelling
3 the activity of making models of objects $ [C]
a piece of electronic equipment that allows information from one computer to be sent along telephone wires to another computer $
1 not very large or very small, very hot or very cold, very fast or very slow etc:
•Even moderate amounts of alcohol can be dangerous.
•a moderate degree of success
•a student of only moderate ability
•Moderate exercise, such as walking or swimming, is recommended.
•Bake the pie for 30 minutes in a moderate oven.
•moderate to strong winds
2 having opinions or beliefs, especially about politics, that are not extreme and that most people consider reasonable; extreme
•the more moderate members of the party
•a moderate politician
3 staying within reasonable or sensible limits; immoderate
•a moderate smoker
•moderate wage demands
MODERATELY $ [I,T]
1 formal to make something less extreme or violent, or to become less extreme or violent:
•The students moderated their demands.
•He learnt to moderate his anger.
2 BrE to do the work of a MODERATOR $ [C]
someone whose opinions or beliefs, especially about politics, are not extreme and are considered reasonable by most people; extremist, hardliner
•He's coming under pressure from moderates in the party. $
1 fairly, but not very; = reasonably
•a moderately successful film
•He did moderately well in the exams.
2 in a way which is not extreme or stays within reasonable limits:
•He drinks moderately.
3 moderately priced neither cheap nor expensive:
•Both hotels are moderately priced. $ [U]
1 in moderation if you do something in moderation, such as drinking alcohol or eating certain foods, you do not do it too much; to excess
•Some people think drinking in moderation can prevent heart disease.
2 formal control of your behaviour, so that you keep your actions, feelings, habits etc within reasonable limits
[+in]
•Moderation in diet is the way to good health.
•He encouraged moderation and toleration on religious issues.
3 formal reduction in force, degree, speed etc $
at an average speed - used as an instruction on how fast to play a piece of music $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to control a discussion or an argument between people
2 BrE someone who makes sure that an examination is fair, and that the marks given are fair and correct
3 a religious leader who is in charge of the council of the Presbyterian and United Reformed Churches $
1 [only before noun] belonging to the present time or most recent time; = contemporary
•Such companies must change if they are to compete in the modern world.
•They are the youngest children in modern times to face murder charges.
•Smaller families are a feature of modern society.
•Computers are an essential part of modern life.
•a book about modern history
•The original supermarkets were small by modern standards.
Modern Greek/Hebrew etc (=the form of the language used today)
2 made or done using the most recent designs or methods; = up-to-date
•A lot of progress has been made with the use of modern technology.
•advances in modern medicine
•modern surgical techniques
3 [only before noun] modern art, music, literature etc uses styles that have been recently developed and are very different from traditional styles; = contemporary
•an exhibition of modern art
•modern dance
4 having very recent attitudes or ways of behaving; = progressive; traditional
•The school is very modern in its approach to sex education.
SECONDARY MODERN[only before noun]
existing in the present time - used when comparing someone or something to a person or thing in the past; = present-day, contemporary
•She's a modern-day Joan of Arc.
•The modern-day diet has too little fiber in it. $ [U]
a style of art, building etc that was popular especially from the 1940s to the 1960s, in which artists used simple shapes and modern artificial materials; post-modernism
•the rise of modernism in Paris
- modernist adjective, noun [C]
•the modernist school $
designed in a way that looks very modern and very different from previous styles; traditional
•a modernistic office building $ [U]
formal the quality of being modern:
•a conflict between tradition and modernityalso modernise BrE $
1 [T] to make something such as a system or building more modern:
•They need more funds to modernize the country's telephone system.
•a tastefully modernized old farmhouse
2 [I] to start using more modern methods and equipment:
•The business will lose money if it doesn't modernize.
- modernizer noun [C]
•the conflict between the modernizers and the conservatives
- modernization $ noun [C,U]
•the modernization of the railway system[C]
BrE a language which is used now, especially a European language such as French or Italian, studied as a subject at school or university:
•a degree in modern languages[singular]
a sports competition that involves running, swimming, riding horses, FENCING, and shooting guns $
1 NOT PROUD someone who is modest does not want to talk about their abilities or achievements; immodest, boastful
[+about]
•He was always modest about his role in the Everest expedition.
•You're too modest! You've been a huge help to us.
2 NOT BIG not very great, big, or expensive:
•a modest increase in costs
•She had saved a modest amount of money.
•The new service proved a modest success.
•a modest house with a small garden
•his modest ambitions
3 SHY shy about showing your body or attracting sexual interest, because you are easily embarrassed; immodest
•She was a modest girl, always keeping covered, even in summer.
4 CLOTHES old-fashioned modest clothing covers the body in a way that does not attract sexual interest:
•a modest knee-length dress
- modestly adverb
•'I was just lucky,' he said modestly.
•modestly priced meals $ [U]
1 a modest way of behaving or talking:
•'Anyone else would have done the same thing,' he said with typical modesty.
2 unwillingness to show your body or do anything that may attract sexual interest
3 in all modesty spoken used when you want to talk about something good you have done, but you do not want to seem too proud:
•I think in all modesty that I can take some small credit for the team's success.
4 modesty forbids spoken used when saying jokingly that you do not want to talk about your achievements
false modesty at FALSE (4) $
a modicum of sth formal a small amount of something, especially a good quality:
•a modicum of common sense $
1 [C] a small change made in something such as a design, plan, or system
[+to]
•We've made one or two modifications to the original design.
•They have used the same process for almost 50 years with only minor modifications.
2 [C,U] the act of modifying something, or the process of being modified
[+of]
•The review resulted in the modification of our security procedures.
[+in]
•Knowledge of the ill effects of tobacco has led to a modification in smoking behaviour. $ [C]
technical a word or group of words that gives additional information about another word. Modifiers can be adjectives (such as 'fierce' in 'the fierce dog'), adverbs (such as 'loudly' in 'the dog barked loudly'), or phrases (such as 'with a short tail' in 'the dog with a short tail'). $ past tense and past participle modified, present participle modifying, third person singular modifies [T]
1 to make small changes to something in order to improve it and make it more suitable or effective; = adapt
•The feedback will be used to modify the course for next year.
•The regulations can only be modified by a special committee.
modify sth to do sth
•The seats can be modified to fit other types of vehicle.
2 technical if an adjective, adverb etc modifies another word, it describes something or limits the word's meaning. In the phrase 'walk slowly', the adverb 'slowly' modifies the verb 'walk'. $
old-fashioned modish ideas, designs etc are modern and fashionable
- modishly adverb $
consisting of separate parts or units which can be put together to form something, often in different combinations:
•a modular course in business studies
•Most colleges now use the modular system of teaching.
•modular furniture $
1 [T] formal to change the sound of your voice
2 [T] to change a process or activity to make it more controlled, slower, less strong etc:
•These drugs modulate the disease process.
3 [I + from/to] technical to move from one KEY to another in a piece of music using a series of related CHORDs
4 [T] technical to change the form of a radio signal so that it can be broadcast more effectively
- modulation $ noun [C,U] $ [C]
1 especially BrE one of the separate units that a course of study has been divided into. Usually students choose a number of modules to study:
•a module in mathematics
•You choose five modules in the first year.
2 technical one of several parts of a piece of computer software that does a particular job
3 a part of a spacecraft that can be separated from the main part and used for a particular purpose
4 one of several separate parts that can be combined to form a larger object, such as a machine or building $ [singular]
formal M.O. a way of doing something that is typical of a particular person or group $ [singular]
formal an arrangement between people with very different opinions or habits that allows them to live or work together without quarrellingmoggie $ plural moggies [C]
BrE informal a cat $ [C]
movie/media/gambling etc mogul a BUSINESSMAN or BUSINESSWOMAN who has great power and influence in a particular industry $ [U]
expensive wool made from the hair of the ANGORA goat:
•a mohair sweaterMohawk AmE $ [C] BrE
a hairstyle in which the hair is cut off the sides of the head, and the hair on top of the head is made to stick up and is sometimes brightly coloured
- Mohican adjective
•a Mohican haircut spoken
me - used humorously to disagree with a negative description of yourself:
•Difficult, moi? plural moieties [C]
law or literary a half share $ [U]
a type of silk with a pattern that looks like waves
slightly wet, especially in a way that is pleasant or suitable:
•Make sure the soil is moist before planting the seeds.
•a rich, moist chocolate cake
•warm moist air
•Her eyes were moist (=she was almost crying).
- moistness noun [U] [T]
to make something slightly wet:
•Moisten the clay if it seems too dry.
•She moistened her lips (=made her lips wet with her tongue). $ [U]
small amounts of water that are present in the air, in a substance, or on a surface:
•Plants use their roots to absorb moisture from the soil.
•Your skin's moisture content varies according to weather conditions.also moisturise BrE [I,T]
1 to make your skin less dry by using special cream:
•You should cleanse, tone and moisturize every day for healthy looking skin.
2 moisturizing cream/lotion/oil etc cream, oil etc which you put on your skin or hair to make it less dryalso moisturiser BrE $ [C,U]
cream that you put on your skin to make it less dry $ [C]
one of the large teeth at the back of the mouth that are used for breaking up food; incisor
- molar adjective [U] AmE
a thick dark sweet liquid that is obtained from raw sugar plants when they are being made into sugar; = treacle BrE $
the American spelling of MOULD
- molding noun $
the American spelling of MOULDER $
the American spelling of MOULDY $ [C]
1 a small dark furry animal which is almost blind. Moles usually live under the ground.
2 a small dark brown mark on the skin that is slightly higher than the skin around it
3 someone who works for an organization while secretly giving information to its enemies $ [C]
the smallest unit into which any substance can be divided without losing its own chemical nature, usually consisting of two or more atoms:
•The molecules of oxygen gas contain just two atoms.
- molecular $ adjective
•molecular structure $ [C]
a small pile of earth made by a MOLE
make a mountain out of a molehill at MOUNTAIN (4) $ [U]
1 thick cotton cloth with a soft surface:
•moleskin trousers
2 the skin of a MOLE [T]
1 to attack or harm someone, especially a child, by touching them in a sexual way or by trying to have sex with them; = abuse
•men who molest young boys
2 old-fashioned to attack and physically harm someone:
•a dog that was molesting sheep
- molester noun [C]
- molestation $ noun [U]
•sexual molestation
CHILD MOLESTER $ [C]
especially AmE old-fashioned informal a criminal's girlfriend:
•a gangster's moll $ past tense and past participle mollified, present participle mollifying, third person singular mollifies [T] formal
to make someone feel less angry and upset about something; = placate
•A policewoman attempted to mollify her.
•Nature reserves were set up around new power stations to mollify local conservationists.mollusk AmE $ [C] BrE
a type of sea or land animal that has a soft body covered by a hard shell:
•snails and other molluscs
- molluscan adjective
•molluscan prey $ [T]
to treat someone too kindly and to protect them too much from anything unpleasant:
•He had been mollycoddled as a young boy. $ [C]
a simple bomb consisting of a bottle filled with petrol with a piece of cloth in the end $
the American spelling of MOULT $ [usually before noun]
molten metal or rock has been made into a liquid by being heated to a very high temperature:
•molten iron
molten lava (=liquid rock from a VOLCANO) $
very - used in musical instructions
molto allegro (=very fast) [U]
a hard silver-white metal that is used to make steel stronger. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Mo $ [C] AmE informal
mother; = mum BrE
•Mom, can I go over to Lisa's house?
•My mom says I have to stay home tonight.[only before noun]
AmE a mom-and-pop business is owned and managed by a family or a husband and wife:
•a real mom-and-pop restaurant $ [C]
1 POINT IN TIME a particular point in time:
•It was one of the most exciting moments in his life.
at this/that moment (=used for emphasis)
•Just at that moment there was a knock on the door.
•She may be in trouble at this very moment and trying to call you.
•I remember the moment when I first saw him after the operation.
•Quinn always seems to be in the right place at the crucial moment.
•I just this moment (=only a very short time ago) arrived and already Dan wants to know when I'm leaving.
• At this moment in time it would be inappropriate to comment on the situation.
• From that moment on (=after that time) we were the best of friends.
!! Do not say in that moment when you mean 'at that particular time'. Say at that moment: At that moment, everything stopped.
2 SHORT TIME a very short period of time:
•He was here a moment ago.
•Can you spare a few moments to answer some questions?
in a moment (=very soon)
•I'll come back to that point in a moment.
for a moment
•It was quiet for a moment, then Rae spoke.
after a moment
•'I don't understand,' said Louise after a moment.
•A moment later we heard a splash.
wait/just a moment (=used when you want someone to wait a short time while you do or say something)
•Just a moment; let me put these away first.
•We have to be ready to leave at a moment's notice (=very quickly).
3 at the moment BrE especially spoken , AmE formal now:
•Julia's on holiday in Spain at the moment.
•At the moment, the situation in Haiti is very tense.
4 for the moment used to say that something is happening or is true now but will probably change in the future:
•Well, for the moment we're just friends.
•For the moment the rain had stopped.
5 the moment (that) sb does sth as soon as someone does something:
•He said he'd phone you the moment he got home.
6 the last moment if you do something at the last moment or if something happens at the last moment, it happens at the last possible time
at the last moment
•The operation was cancelled at the last moment.
•She always leaves everything to the last moment.
7 (at) any moment extremely soon:
•The plumber should be here any moment now.
•The roof could collapse at any moment.
8 OPPORTUNITY [usually singular] a particular time when you have a chance to do something:
•His wife Denise was there to share his big moment (=opportunity to do something great).
choose/pick your moment (=try to choose the best time to do something)
•He picked his moment carefully to tell them the news.
•This was her moment and she knew she had to take it.
9 moment of madness/weakness/panic etc a short period of time when you do not feel or behave as normal and often do or say something which you later wish you had not done or said
in a moment of sth
•In a moment of madness I agreed to go with him.
•He experienced a brief moment of panic.
10 one moment ... the next/from one moment to the next used to say that a situation changes very suddenly, often in a way which you do not expect or cannot explain:
•One moment she's kissing me, the next she doesn't want to see me again.
•You never know what's going to happen from one moment to the next.
11 not believe/think/do sth for a/one moment especially spoken used to say that you did not believe, expect etc something at all:
•He didn't fool me for a moment.
•She had never for one moment imagined that it could happen to her.
12 of the moment the person, idea, word etc of the moment is the one that is most important or popular at the present time:
•They interview personalities on a topic of the moment.
•the mood of the moment
13 have its/your moments to have periods of being good or interesting:
•a movie that had its moments
14 not a moment too soon almost too late:
•The ambulance finally arrived, and not a moment too soon.
15 the moment of truth the time when you will find out if something will work properly, be successful etc
16 of great moment old-fashioned important $
1 for a very short time; = briefly
•She was momentarily lost for words.
•Jimmy paused momentarily.
2 AmE very soon:
•Mr Johnson will be with you momentarily. $
continuing for a very short time; = brief
•There was a momentary pause. $
a momentous event, change, or decision is very important because it will have a great influence on the future:
•a momentous decision
• Momentous events are taking place in the US.
•His colleagues all recognized that this was a momentous occasion.
•one of the most momentous days in British sport $ [U]
1 the ability to keep increasing, developing, or being more successful
gain/gather momentum
•The campaign for reform should start to gather momentum in the new year.
•incentives to maintain the momentum of European integration
•Governments often lose momentum in their second term of office.
[+of]
•the momentum of increasing immigration
[+towards]
•the momentum towards economic union
2 the force that makes a moving object keep moving
gain/gather momentum (=move faster)
•The wheel was allowed to roll down the slope, gathering momentum as it went.
•Pratt, without losing any momentum at all, passed them both and won the race.
3 technical the force or power that is contained in a moving object and is calculated by multiplying its weight by its speed
[+of]
•the momentum of a particle $
AmE another spelling of MAMA^1 $ plural mommies [C]
AmE mother - used by or to young children; = mummy BrE[C] AmE informal
a situation in which women with children have less opportunity to make large amounts of money or become very successful at their jobs, for example because they are not able to work as many hours as other peoplealso Mon BrE
the written abbreviation of Monday $ [C]
a king or queen
- monarchic $ also monarchical adjective
•the old monarchical system $ [C]
someone who supports the idea that their country should be ruled by a king or queen $ plural monarchies
1 [U] the system in which a country is ruled by a king or queen:
•the abolition of the monarchy
2 [C] a country that is ruled by a king or queen; republic
3 the monarchy the king or queen of a country, and his or her family:
•People are going to be questioning the role of the monarchy more and more. $ plural monasteries [C]
a place where MONKs live; convent, nunnery
1 relating to MONKs or life in a monastery:
•the monastic life
•a monastic community
•Roman Catholic monastic orders (=groups of monks)
2 similar to a MONK's way of living, for example quiet, simple, or not having sex:
• He led a rather monastic lifestyle.
- monasticism noun [U]
•early medieval monasticismwritten abbreviation Mon. [C,U]
the day between Sunday and Tuesday
on Monday
•It was raining on Monday.
•The president announced Monday that he would cancel the debt. AmE
Monday morning/afternoon etc
•Let's go out for a meal on Monday night.
last Monday
•Kelly arrived last Monday.
this Monday
•The UK office will open for business this Monday.
next Monday (=Monday of next week)
•Shall we meet next Monday?
a Monday (=one of the Mondays in the year)
•My birthday's on a Monday this year. $ [U]
the belief that the best way to manage a country's ECONOMY is for the government to control and limit the amount of money that is available and being used:
•the monetarism of the 1980s
- monetarist adjective, noun [C]
•a monetarist view of the economy $ [only before noun]
relating to money, especially all the money in a particular country:
•the government's tight monetary policy
•objects of little monetary valuealso monetise BrE $ [T] technical
to change government BONDs and debts into money [U]
1 what you earn by working and can use to buy things. Money can be in the form of notes and coins or cheques, and can be kept in a bank

spend money
make/earn money
make money (=make a profit)
lose money (=not make a profit, so that a business owes more than it earns)
cost money/cost a lot of money
save money
lend/borrow/owe money
waste money (on sth)
be a waste of money
charge (sb) money
raise money
pay money (for sth)
give sb their money back/refund sb's money
a sum/an amount of money
get/earn good money (=be paid good wages)

•Don't spend all your money on the first day of your holiday!
•She doesn't earn very much money.
•He's working for a finance company now, and making loads of money.
•At last the business is starting to make money.
•The company is losing money and may have to close down.
•The repairs will cost quite a lot of money.
•We're not going on holiday this year because we're trying to save money.
•Could you lend me some money?
•I don't want to borrow money from the bank unless I really have to.
•They charge huge amounts of money for their services.
•We're trying to raise money to help children with cancer.
•If you are not completely satisfied with our products, we will give you your money back.
•He was left a large sum of money.
•You can earn good money as a computer programmer.

2 money in the form of coins or notes that you can carry around with you; = cash
•You'll find some money in my purse.
•I didn't have any money on me (=I was not carrying any money).
Swiss/Japanese/Turkish etc money
•Don't forget to get some Swiss money before you leave.
•We can change some money at the airport (=change it into the money of another country).
3 someone's wealth, including all the property and other things they own:
•The family made their money in the woollen trade.
•He had lost all his money gambling.
4 the money informal the amount of money that you earn for doing a job:
•It sounds quite an interesting job, but I don't know what the money's like yet.
•You have to work long hours and the money's terrible!
5 pay good money for sth spoken to spend a lot of money on something:
•Don't let the children jump around on the sofa. I paid good money for that.
6 put/pump/pour money into sth to give money to a company or business so that it will become successful and you will earn money from it in the future:
•No one's going to put money into the company while the market is so unstable.
7 there's money (to be made) in sth spoken used to say that you can earn a lot of money from doing a particular job or type of business:
•There's a lot of money in sport these days.
•Teaching can be very rewarding, but there's no money in it.
8 I'm not made of money spoken used to say that you cannot afford something when someone asks you to pay for it.
9 have money to burn to have more money than you need, so that you spend it on unnecessary things:
•Unless you've got money to burn, these expensive guitars are probably not for you.
10 get your money's worth to get something worth the price that you paid:
•At that price, you want to make sure you get your money's worth.
11 be in the money informal to have a lot of money suddenly, or when you did not expect to
12 money is no object informal used to say that someone can spend as much money as they want to on something
13 for my money spoken used when giving your opinion about something to emphasize that you believe it strongly:
•For my money, he's one of the best TV comedians ever.
14 put (your) money on sth to risk money on the result of a race or competition
15 I'd put (my) money on sth spoken used to say that you feel sure that something will happen
16 my money's on sb/sth also the smart money's on sb/sth spoken used to say that you feel sure someone will win a race or competition, or that something will happen
17 money for old rope BrE spoken money that you earn very easily by doing a job that is not difficult
18 put your money where your mouth is informal to show by your actions that you really believe what you say
19 money talks spoken used to say that people with money have power and can get what they want
20 be (right) on the money AmE spoken to be completely correct or right:
•You were right on the money when you said that he would have to resign.
21 marry (into) money to marry someone whose family is rich
MONIES, BLOOD MONEY, HUSH MONEY, POCKET MONEY; give sb a (good) run for their money at RUN^2 (11); have a (good) run for your money at RUN^2 (12); throw money at sth at THROW^1 (19)

WORD CHOICE: money, cash, change, currency
Money is the most general word for the notes and coins that you use for buying things: Can I borrow some money? | Put the money straight in your purse.
Use cash when you want to emphasize that you mean notes and coins, and not cheques, credit cards etc: You have to pay in cash - they don't accept cheques.

!! Do not say 'pay by cash'. Say pay in cash.
Use change when you mean money in the form of coins, or the money you get back when you pay for something with more money than it cost: I need some change for the phone. | He left the shop without waiting for his change.
Use currency to refer to the money of a particular country: You'll need about £500 worth of Japanese currency.

[singular]
informal someone who has a lot of money - used humorously[C]
a special belt that you can carry money in while you are travelling $ [C] especially BrE
a box in which children put their money to save itmonied [only before noun]
old-fashioned formal rich:
•the monied classesalso moneygrubbing [only before noun] informal
determined to get a lot of money, even by unfair or dishonest methods:
•people who are exploited by moneygrabbing employers
- moneygrabber, moneygrubber noun [C][U]
when money that has been obtained illegally is put into legal businesses or bank accounts in different countries, so that it is difficult for people to discover where it came from:
•The country is a major centre for money laundering.
•He will now face trial on money laundering charges. $ [C]
someone whose business is to lend money to people, especially someone who makes people pay back a lot more money than they have borrowed
- moneylending noun [U]
•Most of his fortune came from moneylending. $ [C]
a product or business that earns a lot of money; = money-spinner BrE
- money-making adjective [only before noun]
•money-making schemes[C]
all the banks and other institutions that buy, sell, lend, or borrow money, especially foreign money, for profit[C]
an official document that you buy in a post office or a bank and send to someone so that they can exchange it for money in a bank; postal order[C] BrE
a MONEYMAKER:
•We're hoping the show will be a real money-spinner.[singular]
technical all the money that exists in a country's economic system at a particular time:
•his policy of controlling the money supply and cutting public spending $ [in nouns]
1 someone who sells a particular thing:
•a fishmonger
2 rumour-monger/gloom-monger/doom-monger etc someone who says unpleasant things:
•The rumour-mongers have been busy again.
•the economic gloom-mongers
WARMONGER $ [C] taboo old-fashioned
a very offensive word for someone with DOWN'S SYNDROME. Do not use this word.
- mongolism noun [U] $ plural mongooses [C]
a small furry tropical animal that kills snakes and rats $ [C]
a dog that is a mix of several different breeds
another spelling of MONEYEDmoneys [plural]
law money:
•If we are no longer able to provide the holiday you booked, we will return to you all monies paid. $ [C] informal
a name, especially one that you choose for yourself or give something - used humorously $ [T]
1 to carefully watch and check a situation in order to see how it changes over a period of time:
•Patients who are given the new drug will be asked to monitor their progress.
•The government is monitoring the situation very closely.
•The temperature is carefully monitored.
monitor what/how etc
•We need a better system for monitoring what is going on.
see box at CONTROL^2
2 to secretly listen to other people's telephone calls, foreign radio broadcasts etc:
•He suspected that his phone calls were being monitored.[C]
1 SCREEN a television or part of a computer with a screen, on which you can see pictures or information
television/TV/computer monitor
•She was staring at her computer monitor.
on a monitor
•We could watch what was happening on the TV monitor.
2 PIECE OF EQUIPMENT FOR MEASURING a piece of equipment that measures and shows the level, speed, temperature etc of something:
•a heart monitor
•The noise monitor recorded 98 decibels.
3 SB WHO WATCHES AN ACTIVITY someone whose job is to watch an activity or a situation to see how it changes or develops, or to make sure that it is fair and legal:
•UN monitors will remain in the country to supervise the elections.
peace/human rights etc monitors
•The UN is sending peace monitors to the area.
4 CHILD a child who has been chosen to help a teacher in some way in class
5 SB WHO LISTENS TO RADIO someone whose job is to listen to news or messages on a radio and report on them [C]
a member of an all-male religious group that lives apart from other people in a MONASTERY; nun
- monkish adjective [C]
1 a small brown animal with a long tail, which uses its hands to climb trees and lives in hot countries
2 informal a small child who is very active and likes to play tricks:
•Stop that, you little monkey!
3 monkey business informal bad or dishonest behaviour
4 not give a monkey's BrE spoken informal to not care at all about something:
•To be honest I don't give a monkey's what they do.
5 make a monkey (out) of sb to make someone seem stupid
6 a monkey on your back AmE informal a serious problem that makes your life very difficult, especially being dependent on drugs

PHRASAL VERBS
monkey around phr v also monkey about BrE informal
to behave in a stupid or careless way:
•Stop monkeying around and listen to me![plural]
AmE a structure of bars for children to climb and play on; = climbing frame BrE[C]
BrE informal a PEANUT in its shell [plural]
AmE old-fashioned informal silly tricks or jokes[C] especially AmE
1 a tool that is used to hold or turn things of different widths; = adjustable spanner BrE
2 throw a monkey wrench in the works AmE informal to do something that will cause problems or spoil someone's plans; = throw/put a spanner in the works BrE $ [U] informal
1 AmE an infectious illness that makes your LYMPH NODEs swell and makes you feel weak and tired for a long time afterwards; = glandular fever BrE
2 a system of recording or broadcasting sound, in which the sound comes from only one direction; stereo
using a system of recording or broadcasting sound in which all the sound comes from only one direction; stereo
•an old mono recording $
one:
•a monoplane (=a plane with only one wing on each side)
•a monolingual dictionary (=dealing with only one language) $
1 in shades of only one colour, especially shades of grey:
•We looked out over the grey, monochrome landscape.
2 a monochrome picture or screen uses only the colours black, white, and grey; colour
•a monochrome computer monitor
- monochromatic $ adjective $ [C]
a round piece of glass that you put in front of one eye to help you see better $ [U]
1 the custom of being married to only one husband or wife; bigamy, polygamy
2 when a person or animal has a sexual relationship with only one partner:
•Monogamy is rare in most animal groups, but is common among birds.
- monogamous adjective
•We live in a monogamous society.
- monogamously adverb $ [C]
a design that is made using the first letters of someone's names and is put on pieces of clothing or other possessions
- monogrammed adjective $ [C]
an article or short book that discusses a subject in detail $
speaking or using only one language; bilingual, multilingual
•a monolingual dictionary $ [C]
1 a large, powerful organization that cannot change quickly and does not consider the ideas or feelings of the people it affects:
•It is misleading to see the legal system as a monolith.
2 a large tall block of stone, especially one that was put in place in ancient times, possibly for religious reasons $
1 a monolithic building is very large, solid, and impressive
2 a monolithic organization, political system etc is very large and powerful and difficult to change:
•a monolithic movie companyalso monolog AmE $ [C]
a long speech by one person; soliloquy, dialogue
•Henry looked up, then continued his monologue. $ [U] formal
a very strong interest in one particular idea or subject which prevents you from thinking about anything else:
•an obsession with food that verged on monomania
- monomaniac noun [C] $ [U] medical
MONO^1 (1) $ [C]
a plane with only one wing on each side; biplane $
controlling or trying to control an industry or business activity completely:
•The company wants to maintain its monopolistic position.also monopolise BrE $ [T]
1 to have complete control over something so that other people cannot share it or take part in it:
•The company has monopolized the soft drinks market.
•He monopolized the conversation all evening.
2 to use a lot of someone's time or attention:
•Virtually all her time and energy is now monopolized by the children.
- monopolist noun [C] $ plural monopolies
1 [C] if a company or government has a monopoly of a business or political activity, it has complete control of it so that other organizations cannot compete with it
[+of]
•They are demanding an end to the Communist Party's monopoly of power.
•the state monopoly of television
[+on/in]
•For years Bell Telephone had a monopoly on telephone services in the US.
•a monopoly in copper trading
2 [C] a large company that controls all or most of a business activity:
•The company will become a state-owned monopoly.
3 [singular] if someone has a monopoly on something, that thing belongs to them, and no one else can share it:
•Teachers do not have a monopoly on educational debate. $
1 [C,U] a railway system that uses a single RAIL, usually high above the ground
2 [C] a train on a monorail system $ [U]
MSG $
1 someone who speaks in a monosyllabic way does not say very much and does not try to be friendly:
•He made monosyllabic replies to my questions.
2 technical a monosyllabic word has only one SYLLABLE $ [C]
technical a word with one SYLLABLE $ [U]
the belief that there is only one God; polytheism
- monotheist noun [C]
- monotheistic $ adjective
•monotheistic religions $ [singular]
a sound or way of speaking or singing that continues on the same note without getting any louder or softer, and therefore sounds very boring:
•He answered all the lawyer's questions in a dull monotone. $
boring because of always being the same:
•a monotonous diet
•a little boy who wet his bed with monotonous regularity
- monotonously adverb
•The rain poured monotonously out of the grey sky. $ [U]
the quality of being always the same, which makes something boring, especially someone's life or work
[+of]
•She wanted to escape the monotony of her everyday life.
relieve/break the monotony
•He suggested a card game to relieve the monotony of the journey. $
CARBON MONOXIDE $ plural Messieurs $
used when speaking to or about a French-speaking man; Madame, Mademoiselle
•Monsieur Lacombe $
used when speaking to or about a priest of high rank in the Roman Catholic Church:
•Monsignor Delgard $ [C]
1 [usually singular] the season, from about April to October, when it rains a lot in India and other southern Asian countries
2 the heavy rain that falls during the monsoon, or the wind that brings the rain $ [C]
1 IN STORIES an imaginary or ancient creature that is large, ugly, and frightening:
•the remains of a prehistoric monster
•the search for the Loch Ness Monster
2 CRUEL PERSON someone who is very cruel and evil:
•Only a monster could kill all those women.
3 CHILD a small child, especially one who is behaving badly - used humorously:
•I've got to get home and feed this little monster.
4 STH LARGE informal an object, animal etc that is unusually large:
•Did you see the fish Dad caught? It was a monster!
•There's a monster of a spider in the bath!
5 DANGEROUS PROBLEM a dangerous or threatening problem, especially one that develops gradually and is difficult to manage[only before noun]
informal unusually large; = giant
•a monster cat
•The song was a monster hit. $ plural monstrosities [C]
something large and ugly, especially a building:
•a concrete monstrosity $
1 very wrong, immoral, or unfair:
• It's monstrous to charge that much for a hotel room.
•Such monstrous injustice is hard to understand.
2 unusually large:
•a monstrous nose
3 unnatural or ugly and frightening; = hideous
•a monstrous shadow on the stairs
- monstrously adverb
•He was ugly and monstrously fat.
•It was monstrously unfair. $
1 [U] the process of making a whole picture, film, or piece of music or writing by combining parts of different pictures, films etc in an interesting and unusual way
2 [C] something made by combining parts of different pictures, films etc in an interesting and unusual way
[+of]
•a montage of flowers
•a photo montage [C]
1 one of the 12 named periods of time that a year is divided into
this/last/next month
•Phil is coming home for a visit next month.
•She'll be thirteen this month.
•I hope I'll have finished the work by the end of the month.
•She earns about £350 a month (=each month).
•We update the schedule at least once a month.
the month of May/June etc
•It snowed heavily during the month of January.
2 a period of about four weeks:
•She has an eight-month-old daughter.
•He'll be away for two months.
•The symptoms she suffered varied from month to month (=every few weeks she had different medical problems).
•a month-long transport strike
3 months a long time, especially several months:
•Redecorating the kitchen took months.
for/in months
•I haven't seen him for months.
4 month after month used to emphasize that something happens regularly or continuously for a period of time:
•I felt I was doing the same old thing week after week, month after month.
5 month by month used when you are talking about a situation that develops slowly and steadily over a period of time:
•Unemployment figures are rising month by month.
6 never/not in a month of Sundays especially BrE spoken used to emphasize that something will definitely never happen:
•You won't find someone to do that job in a month of Sundays. [only before noun]
1 happening once a month:
•The mortgage is payable in monthly instalments.
•a monthly publication
2 used to talk about the total amount of something that is received, paid, measured, or calculated in a month:
•a monthly salary of $850
•a monthly rainfall of four inches
3 a monthly ticket, PASS etc can be used for a period of one month
- monthly adverb
•They meet monthly to discuss progress.plural monthlies [C]
a magazine that appears once a month:
•a leading women's monthly $
the full monty informal something that includes everything possible $ [C]
1 a building, STATUE, or other large structure that is built to remind people of an important event or famous person; memorial
•He erected a monument on the spot where his daughter was killed.
[+to]
•a fitting monument to the men who died in the battle
2 a very old building or place that is important historically:
• Ancient monuments are protected by law.
3 be a monument to sb/sth to show clearly the result of someone's qualities, beliefs, or actions:
•The company is a monument to Sir Peter's energy and vision.
NATIONAL MONUMENT $
1 [usually before noun] a monumental achievement, piece of work, etc is very important and is usually based on many years of work:
•a monumental contribution to the field of medicine
•Charles Darwin's monumental study, 'The Origin of Species'
2 [only before noun] extremely large, bad, good, impressive etc:
•Banks and building societies were yesterday accused of monumental incompetence.
•a monumental task
•There was a monumental traffic jam on the freeway.
3 [only before noun] relating to a monument or built as a monument:
•a monumental arch $
extremely - usually used of negative qualities:
•It was a monumentally stupid thing to do. [I]
if a cow moos, it makes a long low sound
- moo noun [C] [T]
AmE informal to get something by asking someone to give you it, instead of paying for it; = scrounge BrE
mooch sth off sb
•He tried to mooch a drink off me.

PHRASAL VERBS
mooch around/about phr v BrE informal
to move around slowly without any purpose and doing very little:
•Beth was happy to mooch around for hours in her nightdress.
1 WAY YOU FEEL [C] the way you feel at a particular time

in a good mood (=happy)
in a bad mood (=angry)
in a foul mood (=in a very bad mood)
in a confident/optimistic mood
in a holiday/party/festive mood
put sb in a good/bad etc mood (=make someone feel happy, angry etc)
get into the mood (=start to feel that you are ready and want to do something)
mood of confidence/optimism/despair/gloom etc
the general mood (=among a group of people)
the mood of the time/moment
sb's mood changes
mood swings (=sudden big changes in someone's mood)
lighten sb's mood (=make someone happier)
reflect/capture sb's mood (=show what someone is feeling)

•You're in a good mood this morning!
•The manager was in a foul mood and was shouting at everyone.
• The players are all in a confident mood.
•What kind of mood is she in today?
•The good weather put him in an excellent mood for breakfast.
•It usually takes me a couple of days to get into the holiday mood.
•The mood of the crowd was unpredictable.
•the growing mood of confidence in East-West relations
•the general mood of depression in the office
• Why had her mood changed so dramatically?
• a mental disorder characterized by severe mood swings
•The weather did little to lighten their mood.
•The movie accurately reflects the mood of the time.

2 be in a mood to feel unhappy, impatient, or angry and to refuse to speak normally to other people:
•He's been in a real mood all day.
•Don't talk to her. She's in one of her moods (=used about someone who is often unhappy, angry etc).
3 be/feel in the mood for sth to feel that you would like to do something:
•We really felt in the mood for a party.
•I don't want to talk about it now. I'm not in the mood.
4 be in no mood for sth/to do sth to not want to do something, or be determined not to do something:
•I was in no mood for a joke.
•George was in no mood to be sociable.
5 WAY A PLACE OR EVENT FEELS [singular] the way that a place, event, book, film etc seems or makes you feel:
•The opening shot of dark, rainy streets sets the mood for the whole film.
6 GRAMMAR [C] technical one of the sets of verb forms in grammar: the INDICATIVE (=expressing a fact or action), the IMPERATIVE (=expressing a command), the INTERROGATIVE (=expressing a question) or the SUBJUNCTIVE (=expressing a doubt or wish)[only before noun]
mood-altering drugs or substances affect your mind and change the way you think or feel[U]
music that is supposed to make you have particular feelings, especially romantic ones
1 annoyed or unhappy:
•Keith had seemed moody all morning.
2 often changing quickly from being in a good temper to being in a bad temper; = temperamental
•a moody teenager
•Lewis was aggressive, eccentric, moody, and brilliantly clever.
3 moody places, films, pictures, and music make you feel slightly sad, lonely, or perhaps frightened:
•the moody grey sea in the dawn light
- moodily adverb
•She was staring moodily into the fire.
- moodiness noun [U]moolah [U]
AmE informal money
1 the moon/the Moon the round object that you can see shining in the sky at night, and that moves around the Earth every 28 days:
•The Americans landed on the moon in 1969.
•the craters on the surface of the moon
2 [C usually singular] the appearance or shape of the moon at a particular time:
•a clear night with a bright moon
•a thin crescent moon
•It was raining and there was no moon (=the moon could not be seen).
FULL MOON, HALF MOON, NEW MOON
3 [C] a round object that moves around a PLANET other than Earth:
•the moons of Saturn
4 ask for the moon also cry for the moon BrE informal to ask for something that is difficult or impossible to obtain:
•There's no point in crying for the moon.
5 over the moon BrE informal very happy:
•She's over the moon about her new job.
6 many moons ago literary a long time ago:
•It all happened many moons ago.
once in a blue moon at ONCE^1 (15); promise sb the moon at PROMISE^1 (3)[I,T]
informal to bend over and show your BUTTOCKs as a joke or a way of insulting someone

PHRASAL VERBS
moon about/around phr v
BrE informal to spend your time lazily, moving around with no real purpose:
•I wish you'd stop mooning about and do something useful!

moon over sb/sth phr v
old-fashioned to spend your time thinking about someone that you are in love with:
•She sits mooning over his photograph for hours. [C]
a shining line of light from the moon[C]
a thick warm boot made of cloth or plastic, worn in snow and cold weather
a moonless sky or night is dark because the moon cannot be seen:
•a cloudy, moonless night [U]
1 the light of the moon
in the moonlight
•The water looked silver in the moonlight.
pale/silver moonlight
•The hills were bathed in pale moonlight.
by moonlight
•We dined by moonlight.
2 do a moonlight (flit) BrE to leave a place secretly in the middle of the night in order to avoid paying money that you owe:
•They did moonlight flits from one awful apartment to another.[I] informal
1 to have a second job in addition to your main job, especially without the knowledge of the government tax department:
•She's been moonlighting as a waitress in the evenings.
2 BrE to do paid work although you are getting money from the government because you do not officially have a job
- moonlighter noun [C]
- moonlighting noun [U]
•He's been doing some moonlighting for another company. [only before noun]
lit by the moon:
•a moonlit garden [singular]
an area of land with no plants that looks like the surface of the moon [U] informal
1 especially AmE strong alcoholic drink that is produced illegally
2 BrE an idea or statement that is silly or wrong and does not deserve serious attention; = nonsense
•He regarded her plans as romantic moonshine. $ [C,U]
a milky-white stone used in making jewellery:
•a moonstone necklace informal
slightly crazy, especially because you are in love[C]
one of the Muslim people from North Africa who entered Spain in the 8th century and ruled the southern part of the country until 1492 $ [C usually plural]
especially BrE a wild open area of high land, covered with rough grass or low bushes and HEATHER, that is not farmed because the soil is not good enough:
•They went grouse shooting up on the moors.
•the Yorkshire moors[I,T]
to fasten a ship or boat to the land or to the bottom of the sea using ropes or an ANCHOR:
•Two or three fishing boats were moored alongside the pier. $ [C] BrE
a black bird that lives beside streams and lakes $ [C]
1 moorings [plural] the ropes, chains, ANCHORs etc used to fasten a ship or boat to the land or the bottom of the sea
break free of/slip its moorings
•The great ship slipped her moorings and slid out into the Atlantic.
2 the place where a ship or boat is moored:
•a temporary mooring $
relating to the Moors:
•Moorish architecturealso moorlands $ [U] [plural]
especially BrE wild open countryside covered with rough grass and low bushes:
•large areas of open moorland
- moorland adjective
•a bleak moorland road plural moose [C]
a large brown animal like a DEER that has very large flat ANTLERs (=horns that grow like branches) and lives in North America, northern Europe, and parts of Asia
1 a moot point/question something that has not yet been decided or agreed, and about which people have different opinions:
•Whether these controls will really reduce violent crime is a moot point.
2 AmE a situation or possible action that is moot is no longer likely to happen or exist:
•The fear that airstrikes could endanger troops is moot now that the army is withdrawing.
be mooted to be suggested for people to consider:
•The question of changing the membership rules was mooted at the last meeting.[C]
AmE a court in which law students practise holding TRIALs $ [C]
1 a thing used for washing floors, consisting of a long stick with threads of thick string or a piece of SPONGE fastened to one end:
•a mop and bucket
2 a thing used for cleaning dishes, consisting of a short stick with a piece of SPONGE fastened to one end
3 [usually singular] informal a large amount of thick, often untidy hair
[+of]
•He ran a hand through his mop of fair hair.past tense and past participle mopped, present participle mopping
1 [I,T] to wash a floor with a wet mop:
•She carried on mopping the floor.
2 [T] to dry your face by rubbing it with a cloth or something soft; = wipe
•It was so hot he had to keep stopping to mop his face.
•The doctor mopped his brow (=removed sweat from his forehead) with a handkerchief.
3 [I,T] to remove liquid from a surface by rubbing it with a cloth or something soft
mop sth from sth
•She gently mopped the blood from the wound.
•He mopped the sweat from his face.
mop sth away
•She mopped the tears away with a lacy handkerchief.
4 mop the floor with sb AmE to completely defeat someone, for example in a game or argument; = wipe the floor with sb BrE
•We mopped the floor with the team from Pomona High.

PHRASAL VERBS
mop sth/sb <=> up phr v
1 to remove liquid with a mop, a cloth, or something soft, especially in order to clean a surface; = wipe up
•Mop the sauce up with your bread.
•He mopped up the spilt milk.
2 to remove or deal with something which you think is undesirable or dangerous, so that it is no longer a problem:
•The usual solution is to send in infantry to mop up any remaining opposition.
•The rebellion has been crushed, but mopping-up operations may take several weeks. $ [I]
to feel sorry for yourself, without making any effort to do anything or be more happy:
•Don't lie there moping on a lovely morning like this!
•The week he died, we all sat around and moped.

PHRASAL VERBS
mope around/about (sth) phr v BrE
to move around a place in a sad, slow way, especially because you feel unhappy about the situation you are in:
•She spends her days moping around the house.
•Stephen didn't expect her to mope about while he was away on business. $ [C]
a small two-wheeled vehicle with an engine; motorcycle $ [C] informal
a small child $ [U]
a thick soft material used for covering furniture:
•a moquette armchair [C]
technical a mass of earth or pieces of rock moved along by a GLACIER and left in a line at the bottom of it $
1 [only before noun] relating to the principles of what is right and wrong behaviour, and with the difference between good and evil; morally, ethical
•It is easy to have an opinion on a moral issue like the death penalty for murder.
• moral philosophy
moral standards/values/principles
•I think you can run a business to the highest moral standards.
•If we accept that certain babies should be allowed to die, we place doctors in a moral dilemma.
•Man is gifted with a moral sense by which he distinguishes good from evil.
2 [only before noun] based on your ideas about what is right, rather than on what is legal or practical:
•The book places a high moral value on marriage and the family unit.
•The UN feels that it has the moral authority (=influence because people accept that its beliefs are right) to send troops to the area.
moral duty/obligation/responsibility
•A man has a moral duty to obey the law.
•It isn't just lack of moral fibre (=lack of the emotional strength to do what you believe is right) which leads to a rising divorce rate.
3 moral support encouragement that you give by expressing approval or interest, rather than by giving practical help:
•Dad came along to give me some moral support.
4 moral victory a situation in which you show that your beliefs are right and fair, even if you do not win:
•Through Joan of Arc, France won a great moral victory.
5 always behaving in a way that is based on strong principles about what is right and wrong; immoral, amoral
•a moral man of high integrity
6 take/claim/seize the moral high ground to claim that you are the only person who does what is morally right in a situation, with the intention of being noticed and considered to be good by the public[C]
1 morals [plural] principles or standards of good behaviour, especially in matters of sex; ethics
•the morals and customs of the Victorian period
•Values and morals are independent of religious faith.
•the corruption of public morals (=the standards of behaviour, especially sexual behaviour, expected by society)
•a young woman of loose morals (=low standards of sexual behaviour - often used humorously)
2 a practical lesson about what to do or how to behave, which you learn from a story or from something that happens to you; message
[+of]
•The moral of the film was that crime does not pay. $ [U]
the level of confidence and positive feelings that people have, especially people who work together, who belong to the same team etc:
•A win is always good for morale.
low/high morale
•low staff morale
•The failed coup caused a dramatic loss of morale within the army.
boost/raise/improve/build morale
•There is a need to raise morale in the teaching profession.
•the Prince's morale-boosting (=intended to raise morale) mission to the war-torn country
maintain/keep up/restore morale
•The media feels pressure to keep the morale of the country up in war time. $ [C]
1 someone who has very strong beliefs about what is right and wrong and how people should behave - used to show disapproval:
•a narrow-minded moralist
2 a teacher of moral principles $
with very strong beliefs about what is right and wrong, especially when this makes you judge other people's behaviour:
•It's difficult to talk to teenagers about drugs without sounding too moralistic. [U]
1 beliefs or ideas about what is right and wrong and about how people should behave:
• sexual morality
public/private/personal morality
•the decline in standards of personal morality
•The authorities are protectors of public morality.
conventional/traditional morality
•a lack of concern for conventional morality
2 the degree to which something is right or acceptable
[+of]
•a discussion on the morality of abortionalso moralise BrE $ [I]
to tell other people your ideas about right and wrong behaviour, especially when they have not asked for your opinion; = preach
•politicians moralizing about people's sexual behaviour $
1 according to moral principles about what is right and wrong:
•What you did wasn't illegal, but it was morally wrong.
•There is a belief that village life is somehow morally superior to city life.
•Such hypocrisy is morally indefensible.
•The Constitution is not morally neutral but is based on certain central values.
2 morally certain old-fashioned certain about something that cannot be proved:
•I am morally certain that he is incapable of deliberately harming anyone.
the moral majority the group of people in a society who have strong moral beliefs and think they are always right. In the US there is an organized group called the Moral Majority, who have strong Christian principles:
•Smokers today are often made to feel like social outcasts by the moral majority.
1 [singular] a complicated and confusing situation that is very difficult to get out of:
•We're trying to drag the country out of its economic morass.
[+of]
•They were stuck in a morass of paperwork.
2 [C] literary a dangerous area of soft wet ground; = marsh $ plural moratoriums or moratoria [C usually singular]
1 an official stopping of an activity for a period of time
[+on]
•a moratorium on nuclear testing
2 a law or an agreement that gives people more time to pay their debts:
•a two-year moratorium on interest payments $
1 with a strong and unhealthy interest in unpleasant subjects, especially death
morbid fascination/curiosity
•a morbid fascination with instruments of torture
•The trip was made all the worse by Frankie's morbid fear of flying.
•His head was full of morbid thoughts.
2 medical relating to or caused by a disease:
•a morbid gene
- morbidly adverb
- morbidity $ noun [U] $
mordant wit/satire/humour formal unkind and insulting humour etc that is also funny; = biting
•The play's mordant comedy makes for compelling viewing. $
1 [used before an adjective or adverb to form the comparative] having a particular quality to a greater degree; less
•You'll have to be more careful next time.
•Can't it be done more quickly?
much/a lot/far more
•Children generally feel much more confident working in groups.
more ... than
•It was a lot more expensive than I had expected.
•Your health is more important than anything else.
•Children can often do these puzzles more easily than adults.
•Selling goods abroad is no more difficult (=not more difficult) than selling to the home market.
!! Do not use more with the -er form of an adjective or adverb: I'll be smarter than before (NOT I'll be more smarter than before).
2 used to say that something happens a greater number of times or for longer; less
•I promised Mum that I'd help more with the housework.
•You need to get out of the house more.
more than
•Children are using the library more than they used to.
•He travels around a lot more now that he has a car.
3 used to say that something happens to a greater degree; less
•She cares a lot more for her dogs than she does for me.
more than
•It's his manner I dislike, more than anything else.
4 more and more used to say that a quality, situation etc gradually increases; = increasingly
•More and more, we are finding that people want to continue working beyond 60.
•As the disease worsened, he found walking more and more difficult.
5 more or less almost:
•a place where the ground was more or less flat
•They've settled here more or less permanently.
•He more or less accused me of lying.
6 once more
a) again, and often for the last time:
•May I thank you all once more for making this occasion such a big success.
•Once more the soldiers attacked and once more they were defeated.
b) used to say that someone or something returns to the situation they were in before:
•Within a year, England was once more at war with France.
7 not any more also no more literary if something does not happen any more, it used to happen but does not happen now:
•Sarah doesn't live here any more.
8 more than happy/welcome/likely etc very happy, welcome, likely etc - used to emphasize what you are saying:
•The store is more than happy to deliver goods to your home.
•The police are more than likely to ban the match.
9 the more ..., the more/less ... used to say that if a particular activity increases, another change happens as a result:
•The more I thought about it, the less I liked the idea.
10 be more sth than sth to be one thing rather than another:
•It was more a worry than a pleasure.
11 more than a little formal fairly:
•The lectures were more than a little disappointing.
12 no more does/has/will etc sb spoken old-fashioned used to say that a negative statement is also true about someone else; = nor, neither
•'She didn't know the reason for his leaving.' 'No more do I (=neither do I).'
13 no more ... than used to emphasize that someone or something does not have a particular quality or would not do something:
•He's no more fit to be a priest than I am!
more often than not at OFTEN (5)
more fool you/him etc at FOOL^1 (7)
that's more like it/this is more like it at LIKE^1 (11)[comparative of 'many' and 'much']
1 a greater amount or number; less, fewer
•We should spend more on health and education.
more (...) than
•More people are buying new cars than ever before.
much/a lot/far more
•Diane earns a lot more than I do.
more than 10/100 etc
•Our plane took off more than two hours late.
•More than a quarter of the students never finished their courses.
[+of]
•Viewers want better television, and more of it.
•Perhaps next year more of us will be able to afford holidays abroad.
2 an additional number or amount; less
•I really am interested. Tell me more.
•We need five more chairs.
a little/many/some/any more
•Can I have a little more time to finish?
•Are there any more sandwiches?
•I have no more questions.
[+of]
•You'd better take some more of your medicine.
•Don't waste any more of my time.
3 more and more an increasing number or amount; less and less
•More and more people are moving to the cities.
4 not/no more than sth used to emphasize that a particular number, amount, distance etc is not large:
•It's a beautiful cottage not more than five minutes from the nearest beach.
•Opinion polls show that no more than 30% of people trust the government.
5 the more ..., the more/less ... used to say that if an amount of something increases, another change happens as a result:
•It always seems like the more I earn, the more I spend.
6 be more of sth than sth to be one thing rather than another:
•It was more of a holiday than a training exercise.
7 no more than
a) used to say that something is not too much, but exactly right or suitable:
•It's no more than you deserve.
•Eline felt it was no more than her duty to look after her husband.
b) also little more than used to say that someone or something is not very great or important:
•He's no more than a glorified accountant.
•He left school with little more than a basic education.
8 (and) what's more used to add more information that emphasizes what you are saying:
•I've been fortunate to find a career that I love and, what is more, I get well paid for it.
9 no more sth used to say that something will or should no longer happen:
•No more dreary winters - we're moving to Florida.
more's the pity at PITY^1 (4) BrE spoken
food or drink that is moreish tastes very good, and makes you want to have more of it $ [sentence adverb] formal
in addition - used to introduce information that adds to or supports what has previously been said:
•The rent is reasonable and, moreover, the location is perfect.
•The source of the information is irrelevant. Moreover, the information need not be confidential.
!! Moreover is very formal and not common in spoken English. Use besides or also instead. [plural]
formal the customs, social behaviour, and moral values of a particular group:
•contemporary social and sexual mores $ [C]
1 a building or room, usually in a hospital, where dead bodies are kept until they are buried or CREMATEd ; = mortuary
2 a place that has become very quiet and dull - used humorously:
•This place is like a morgue. $
1 a moribund organization, industry, etc is no longer active or effective and may be coming to an end:
•The region's heavy industry is still inefficient and moribund.
•A cut in interest rates will help the country's moribund housing market.
2 literary slowly dying:
•The patient was moribund by the time the doctor arrived. $ [C]
a member of a religious organization formed in 1830 in the US, officially called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints
- Mormon adjective
- Mormonism noun [U] $ [C usually singular] literary
morning $ [C,U]
1 the early part of the day, from when the sun rises until 12 o'clock in the middle of the day

in the morning(s)
on Monday/Friday/Saturday etc morning
tomorrow morning
yesterday morning
this morning (=today in the morning)
(the) next morning
late morning
early morning
morning sun/light/mist

•It was a nice sunny morning.
•I hated those cold winter mornings.
•Classes start in the morning and go through the whole day.
• He stayed in bed late on Sunday morning.
• I'll see you tomorrow morning.
• I only met her yesterday morning.
•I'm not feeling too good this morning.
• Next morning I went to the bank.
• It was still only late morning.
•He took the early morning train.
•a copy of the morning paper

2 the part of the day from 12 o'clock at night until 12 o'clock in the middle of the day
two/four o'clock in the morning
•The phone rang at three in the morning.
•It's four o'clock in the morning.
•I woke up in the small hours of the morning (=very early, before dawn).
3 in the morning if something will happen in the morning, it will happen during the morning of the following day:
•I'll deal with that in the morning.
4 mornings during the morning of each day:
•She works mornings at the local school.
5 morning, noon, and night used to emphasize that something happens a lot or continuously:
•I was on duty morning, noon, and night.
COFFEE MORNING
used to greet someone in the morning:
•Morning, Dave. How are you?[C]
a drug that a woman can take a few hours after having sex to prevent her from becoming PREGNANT[C]
a formal black coat with a long back that is worn as part of morning dress[U]
especially BrE men's formal clothes that include a morning coat, trousers, and a TOP HAT, worn at daytime ceremonies such as weddings $ [C,U]
a plant that has white, blue, or pink flowers that open in the morning and close in late afternoon[U]
a morning church service in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the US; = matins[C]
old-fashioned a comfortable room that is used in the morning, usually in a large house[U]
a feeling of sickness that some women have during the morning when they are PREGNANT, usually in the early months[singular]
a bright PLANET, usually Venus, that you can see in the eastern sky when the sun rises[C]
a man's suit that is worn at formal ceremonies during the day, especially weddings $ [U]
fine soft leather used especially for covering books $ [C]
1 informal not polite a very offensive word for someone who you think is very stupid; = idiot
•Don't leave it there, you moron!
2 technical old-fashioned someone whose intelligence has not developed to the normal level
- moronic $ adjective
•a moronic grin $
bad-tempered, unhappy, and silent:
•Daniel seems very morose and gloomy.
- morosely adverb
•He stared morosely at the floor.
- moroseness noun [U] $ [I,T]
to develop a new appearance or change into something else, or to make something do this
[+into]
•The river flooded its banks and morphed into a giant sea that swamped the town. $ [C]
technical the smallest unit of meaning in a language. The words 'so', 'the' and 'boy' consist of one morpheme. 'Boys' consists of two morphemes, 'boy' and 's'.:
•the past tense morpheme
•the plural morpheme $
in the arms of Morpheus literary asleep $ [U] old-fashioned
morphine $ [U]
a powerful and ADDICTIVE drug used for stopping pain and making people calmer $ [U]
a computer method that is used to make one image gradually change into a different one $ plural morphologies technical
1 [U] the study of the MORPHEMEs of a language and of the way in which they are joined together to make words; syntax
2 [U] the scientific study of the form and structure of animals and plants
3 [C,U] the structure of an object or system or the way it was formed
- morphological $ adjective
•the morphological features of cells
- morphologically adverb $ [U]
traditional English country dancing performed by men wearing white clothes decorated with small bells
- morris dancer noun [C] $
1 the morrow old use
a) the next day; = tomorrow
on the morrow
•They were to arrive on the morrow.
b) the future:
• Take no thought for the morrow (=do not worry about the future).
2 on the morrow of sth literary immediately after a particular event:
•on the morrow of victory
3 good morrow old use GOOD MORNING $ [U]
a system of sending messages in which the alphabet is represented by signals made of DOTs (=short signals) and DASHes (=long signals) in sound or light
in Morse code
•a message in Morse code $ [C]
a very small amount of something, especially a small piece of food; = scrap
[+of]
•a morsel of bread
•a morsel of scandal
•birds searching for tasty morsels $
1 not able to live for ever; immortal
•Her father's death reminded her that she was mortal.
2 mortal blow/danger/wound etc
a) something very serious, that may cause the end of something:
•The computer has dealt a mortal blow to traditional printing methods.
•Our health service is in mortal danger.
b) something that causes death or may cause death; lethal
•Near the end of the battle, he received a mortal wound.
•the screams of men in mortal combat (=fighting until one person kills the other)
3 mortal enemy/foe an enemy that you hate very much and will always hate:
•He glared at Claudia as if she were his mortal enemy.
4 mortal fear/dread/terror extreme fear:
•She lives in mortal fear of her husband's anger.
5 sb's mortal remains formal someone's body, after they have died:
•the churchyard where his mortal remains lie (=where his body is buried)
6 literary human - used especially when comparing humans with gods, SPIRITs etc:
•Both gods and mortal men found her captivating.
7 mortal coil literary life or the state of being alive:
•when Hubbard shuffled off this mortal coil (=died)[C]
1 lesser/ordinary/mere mortals ordinary people, as compared with people who are more important, more powerful, or more skilled - used humorously:
•She dines in the executive suite, while we lesser mortals use the staff cafeteria.
2 literary a human - used especially when comparing humans with gods, SPIRITs etc $ plural mortalities
1 [U] also mortality rate the number of deaths during a particular period of time among a particular type or group of people:
•Mortality from heart disease varies widely across the world.
infant/child/maternal/adult mortality
•an appallingly high infant mortality rate (=number of babies who die)
2 [U] the condition of being human and having to die; immortality
•My mother's death forced me to face the fact of my own mortality.
3 [C] technical a death:
•mortalities from cancer $
1 in a way that will cause death; = fatally
•He regarded the mortally wounded man with no pity in his heart.
2 extremely or greatly:
•He was mortally afraid of upsetting her.
•I tried to be tactful, but he seemed to be mortally offended.[C,U]
something that you do that is so bad, according to the Roman Catholic Church, that your soul will be punished for ever after death unless you ask to be forgiven $
1 [U] a mixture of CEMENT or LIME, and sand and water, used in building for holding bricks or stones together
2 [C] a heavy gun that fires bombs or SHELLs in a high curve:
•A cameraman was killed when his vehicle came under mortar fire.
•a mortar attack
3 [C] a stone bowl in which substances are crushed with a PESTLE (=tool with a heavy round end):
•You'll need a pestle and mortar to grind the spices.
bricks and mortar at BRICK^1 (2) $ [C]
a black cap with a flat square top worn by members of some universities on formal occasions $ [C]
1 a legal arrangement by which you borrow money from a bank or similar organization in order to buy a house, and pay back the money over a period of years:
•Your building society or bank will help arrange a mortgage.
•They've taken out a 30 year mortgage (=they will pay for their house over a period of 30 years).
•We decided to use Fred's redundancy money to pay off the mortgage (=pay back all the money we borrowed for a mortgage).
• Mortgage rates are set to rise again in the spring.
•She was having trouble meeting her mortgage payments.
2 the amount of money you borrow in the form of a mortgage:
•If you earn £20,000 per year, then you may be able to get a mortgage of £60,000.[T]
1 if you mortgage your home, land, or property, you borrow money, usually from a bank, and if you cannot pay back the money within a particular period of time, the bank has the right to sell your property in order to get the money you owe it:
•We mortgaged our house to start Paul's business.
2 mortgage the/sb's future to borrow money or do something that is likely to cause problems in the future, that other people will have to deal with:
•The report explains how governments are mortgaging their nations' futures. $ [C]
a person or organization that lends money to people to buy property $ [C]
a person who borrows money from a bank or other organization in order to buy property $ [C] AmE
someone whose job is to arrange funerals and prepare bodies to be buried; = undertaker BrE $
extremely offended, ashamed, or embarrassed
mortified to hear/find etc
•Nora was mortified to discover that her daughter had been out drinking.
- mortification $ noun [U] $ past tense and past participle mortified, present participle mortifying, third person singular mortifies [T]
1 to cause someone to feel extremely embarrassed or ashamed
2 mortify the flesh/yourself formal to try to control your natural physical desires and needs by making your body suffer pain
- mortifying adjectivemortice $ [C]
technical a hole cut in a piece of wood or stone so that the shaped end of another piece will fit there firmly; tenon[C] BrE
a strong lock that fits into a hole cut in the edge of a door; = dead bolt AmE $ plural mortuaries [C]
1 BrE a building or room, for example in a hospital, where dead bodies are kept before they are buried or CREMATEd ; = morgue
2 AmE the place where a body is kept before a funeral and where the funeral is sometimes held[only before noun]
formal connected with death or funerals:
•a mortuary urn
relating to Moses, the great leader of the Jewish people in ancient times:
•the Mosaic law $
1 [C,U] a pattern or picture made by fitting together small pieces of coloured stone, glass etc:
•rooms decorated with wall paintings and mosaics
•a 3rd century Roman mosaic floor
2 [C usually singular] a group of different things that exist next to each other or together
[+of]
•The forest floor was a mosaic of autumn colours.
•the complex mosaic of world cultures $ [C]
BrE a large basket with handles, in which a baby can sleep and be carried $ [I always + adv/prep] AmE informal
1 to walk somewhere in a slow relaxed way - used humorously:
•I guess I'll mosey on down to the store now.
2 I'd better mosey along/be moseying along I should leave now:
•I'd better mosey along - it's getting late.
- mosey noun [singular] $ [I] informal
to dance very violently at a concert with loud ROCK or PUNK music[C] informal
an area in front of the stage at a ROCK or PUNK concert where people dance with a lot of energy, often hitting their bodies against other people $ [C]
another spelling of MUSLIM
- Moslem adjective $ [C]
a building in which Muslims worship $ plural mosquitoes or mosquitos [C]
a small flying insect that sucks the blood of people and animals, sometimes spreading the disease MALARIA[C]
a net placed over a bed as a protection against mosquitoes $ [C,U]
a very small green plant that grows in a thick soft furry mass on wet soil, trees, or rocks
- mossy adjective
•a high, mossy wall $ [in adjectives]
nearest to something:
•the northernmost town in Sweden (=the town that is furthest to the north)
•the topmost branches of the tree $
1 [used before an adjective or adverb to form the superlative] having the greatest amount of a particular quality; least
•She's one of the most experienced teachers in the district.
•The most important thing is to stay calm.
•A recent study showed that gardening is easily the most popular activity among the over 50s.
•We shall find out which system works most effectively.
•It is the kind of tea most often served in Chinese restaurants.
2 to a greater degree or more times than anything else:
•What annoyed him most was the way she wouldn't even listen.
•I guess the food I eat most is pasta.
• Most of all, I just felt sad that it was over.
3 [+adj/adv] formal very:
•Thank you for a most interesting evening.
•I was most surprised to hear of your engagement.
4 AmE informal almost:
•He plays poker most every evening.

GRAMMAR
When you mean 'nearly all' use most, not the most: Most pupils wanted to go to university (NOT The most pupils wanted to go to university).
Use the most when you are comparing one person or thing with all others: It was the most terrifying experience of my life.
In spoken English, you can also use the most when you are talking about just two people or things: Who's the most talented - Will or Gareth? but some users of English think that this use is incorrect and use the more instead: Who is the more talented - Will or Gareth?

!! Do not use most with the -est form of an adjective or adverb: one of the hardest things to do (NOT one of the most hardest things to do)

[the superlative of 'many' and 'much']
1 nearly all of the people or things in a group, or nearly all of something; = the majority
•Like most people, I try to take a vacation every year.
•Most research in this field has been carried out by the Russians.
[+of]
•It was Sunday and most of the shops were shut.
•Most of what Hannah told me wasn't true.
•Some were barefoot, most were in rags.
most of the time/most days etc (=usually)
•Most of the time it's very quiet here.
•Most evenings we just stay in and watch TV.
2 a larger amount or number than anyone or anything else
the most
•The team that scores the most points wins.
•Which class has the most children in it?
•It's unfair that you should have to pay the most when you earn so little.
•The animal that caused most trouble was a little black puppy.
3 the largest number or amount possible:
•The aim is to help patients to obtain most benefit from their treatment.
the most
•The most you can hope to achieve is just to get him to listen to your ideas.
4 at (the) most used to say that you think an amount cannot be larger than the amount you are mentioning:
•It'll take 20 minutes at the most.
•There were at most 50 people in the audience.
•The boy looked nine at the very most (=he was probably younger).
5 for the most part used to say that something is generally true but not completely true:
•For the most part, people seemed pretty friendly.
6 make the most of sth/get the most out of sth to gain the greatest possible advantage from something:
•Charming and friendly, she will help you make the most of your visit.
•advice on how to get the most out of your computer $
used to talk about most members of a group, most occasions, most parts of something etc; = mainly
•Green teas are mostly from China or Japan.
•There were about fifteen people in the lounge, mostly women.
•He blamed his parents. Mostly he blamed his dad.also MOT test $ [C]
a test in Britain that all cars more than three years old must pass every year in order to show that they are still safe to be driven:
•My car's just failed its MOT.
•an MOT certificate $ [C]
old-fashioned a very small piece of dust $ [C]
a hotel for people who are travelling by car, where you can park your car outside your room $ [C]
a piece of music on a religious subject $ [C]
an insect related to the BUTTERFLY that flies mainly at night and is attracted to lights. Some moths eat holes in cloth $ [C usually plural]
1 a small ball made of a strong-smelling chemical, used for keeping moths away from clothes
2 in/into mothballs kept but not used for a long time:
•With the end of the Cold War, several warships were put into mothballs.[T]
to stop using a factory, equipment etc or to not continue with a plan, temporarily but possibly for a long time:
•The hospital manager said the project would be mothballed until funding became available.
1 cloth that is moth-eaten has had holes eaten in it by moths:
•a moth-eaten sweater
2 old and in bad condition:
•a moth-eaten old sofa $ [C]
1 a female parent of a child or animal:
•His mother and father are both doctors.
mother of two/three etc (=mother of two/three etc children)
•Janet is a full-time teacher and a mother of two.
•the relationship between mother and child
•Goodnight, Mother.
•Mother said they'd met at university.
•If food is scarce, the mother will feed the smaller, weaker chicks.
mother cat/bird/hen etc (=an animal that is a mother)
2 be (like) a mother to sb to care for someone as if you were their mother:
•She's like a mother to them. If they need anything she always helps out.
3 like a mother hen if someone behaves like a mother hen, they try to protect their children too much and worry about them all the time
4 learn/be taught sth at your mother's knee to learn something when you are a very young child:
•the prayers which he had been taught at his mother's knee
5 the mother of sth
a) the origin or cause of something:
•Westminster is known as 'the mother of parliaments'.
•Necessity is the mother of invention (=people have good ideas when the situation makes it necessary).
b) informal a very severe or extreme type of something, usually something bad:
•I woke up with the mother of all hangovers.
6 spoken especially AmE something very large and usually very good:
•a real mother of a car
7 AmE taboo spoken MOTHERFUCKER
8 Mother
a) used to address the woman who is in charge of a CONVENT[T]
to look after and protect someone as if you were their mother, especially by being too kind and doing everything for them:
•I don't like being mothered! $ [C]
technical a board where all the CIRCUITs of a computer are placed[C usually singular]
1 someone's mother country is the country where they or their family were born and to which they feel a very strong emotional connection, even if they are no longer living there; = motherland
2 a powerful country that controls or used to control a less powerful country:
•The bond between the mother country and her former colonies grew stronger.
the world, considered as the place or thing from which all life comes $ [C]
AmE taboo spoken a very offensive word for someone that you dislike very much or that you are very angry with. Do not use this word.
- motherfucking adjective $ [U]
the state of being a mother:
•the challenge of combining a career with motherhood
•teenagers who are unprepared for motherhood [U]
the process of caring for children in the way that a mother does:
•mothering skills
•Babies and young children need mothering.[C,U] BrE old-fashioned
MOTHER'S DAYplural mothers-in-law [C]
the mother of your wife or husband $ [C usually singular]
someone's motherland is the country where they were born and to which they feel a strong emotional connection; = mother country, fatherland
•They are willing to die for the motherland. $
a motherless child is one whose mother has died:
•homes for children who had been left motherlessmotherlode $ [C usually singular] AmE
1 a mine that is full of gold, silver etc
2 a place where you can find a lot of a particular type of object
[+of]
•The Sharper Image catalog is a mother lode of men's gadgets and toys. $
a motherly woman is loving and kind, like a good mother; maternal
•her motherly instincts
•She was a plump, motherly woman in her fifties.
- motherliness noun [U]
used to talk about nature, especially when it is thought of as a force that affects people and the world:
•How could Mother Nature have dealt such a savage blow?
a title for Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, used in the Roman Catholic Church[U]
a pale-coloured hard smooth shiny substance that forms the inside of some SHELLFISH, and is used for making buttons, jewellery etcBrE
a man or boy who allows his mother to protect him too much and is considered weak; = mama's boy AmE[C,U]
a day on which people give cards and presents to their mothers[C]
a large ship or spacecraft from which smaller boats or spacecraft are sent out[C usually singular]
the woman who is in charge of a CONVENTplural mothers-to-be
[C] a woman who is going to have a baby[C] especially BrE
your mother tongue is the first and main language that you learnt when you were a child; = native language/tongue
•children for whom English is not their mother tongue $ [C]
1 an idea, subject, or image that is regularly repeated and developed in a book, film, work of art etc:
•The theme of creation is a recurrent motif in Celtic mythology.
2 a small picture or pattern used to decorate something plain:
•a white T-shirt with a blue fish motif
3 an arrangement of notes that is often repeated in a musical work $
1 MOVEMENT [U] the process of moving or the way that someone or something moves
[+of]
•the motion of the planets
•The rocking motion of the boat made Sylvia feel sick.
•Newton's first law of motion
2 MOVING YOUR HEAD OR HAND [C] a single movement of your hand or head, especially one made in order to communicate something; = gesture
[+of]
•He summoned the waiter with a motion of his hand.
•Doyle glanced back at Bodie, and made a slight motion with his head.
3 SUGGESTION AT A MEETING [C] a proposal that is made formally at a meeting, and then is usually decided on by voting:
•The motion was defeated by 201 votes to 159.
motion to do sth/motion that
•We will now vote on the motion that membership charges should rise by 15%.
pass/carry/approve a motion (=accept it by voting)
•The motion was carried unanimously.
•I urge you to support this motion.
propose/put forward/table a motion (=make a proposal)
•I'd like to propose a motion to move the weekly meetings to Thursdays.
•The motion was seconded (=formally supported) by Mr. Levin.
•The attorneys filed a motion (=made a proposal in a court) for a temporary restraining order.
4 in motion formal moving from one place or position to another:
•The end doors are not to be used when the train is in motion.
5 set/put sth in motion to start a process or series of events that will continue for some time:
•The Church voted to set in motion the process allowing women to be priests.
•Once the house had been sold, Jane set the wheels in motion (=started the process) to find somewhere smaller to live.
6 go through the motions (of doing sth) to do something because you have to do it, without being very interested in it:
•I feel so bored at work, like I'm just going through the motions.
7 BODY WASTE [C] solid waste material that comes out when you empty your BOWELs - used especially by doctors and nurses
SLOW MOTION, TIME AND MOTION STUDY[I,T]
to give someone directions or instructions by moving your hand or head; = signal
motion (for) sb to do sth
•The police officer motioned for me to pull over.
motion to sb to do sth
•He motioned to the barman to refill their glasses.
motion sb forward/away etc
•His father motioned him forward.
motion sb into/to sth
•I saw her motioning me into the room. $
not moving at all; = still
stand/sit/lay motionless
•The men stood motionless as Weir held his finger to his lips.
•Graham remained motionless.
- motionlessly adverb[C] especially AmE formal
a film made for the cinema; = movie
•the motion picture industry[U] especially AmE
a feeling of illness that some people get when travelling by car, boat, plane etc; = travel sickness, carsickness; = seasickness BrE $ [T]
1 to be the reason why someone does something; = drive
•Would you say that he was motivated solely by a desire for power?
motivate sb to do sth
•We may never know what motivated him to kill his wife.
2 to make someone want to achieve something and make them willing to work hard in order to do this:
•A good teacher has to be able to motivate her students.
motivate sb to do sth
•The profit-sharing plan is designed to motivate the staff to work hard. $
1 very keen to do something or achieve something, especially because you find it interesting or exciting:
•The students are all highly motivated.
•The key to a successful modern economy is a well-educated and motivated workforce.
2 politically/economically/financially etc motivated done for political, economic etc reasons:
•a politically-motivated decision
•Police believe the attack was racially motivated. $
1 [U] eagerness and willingness to do something without needing to be told or forced to do it
sb's motivation
•efforts to improve employees' motivation
•Jack is an intelligent pupil, but he lacks motivation.
•a high level of motivation
2 [C] the reason why you want to do something
motivation for (doing) sth
•What was your motivation for becoming a teacher?
•Escape can be a strong motivation for travel.
[+behind]
•There is suspicion about the motivation behind the changes we are debating.
- motivational adjective
•motivational speeches $ [C]
something or someone that makes you want to do or achieve something; incentive
•Money is a good motivator. $ [C]
1 the reason that makes someone do something, especially when this reason is kept hidden:
•What do you suppose the killer's motive was?
motive for (doing) sth
•The police believe the motive for this murder was jealousy.
[+behind]
•The motives behind the decision remain obscure.
•The violence was clearly prompted by political motives.
•It's not the kind of thing he'd do unless he had an ulterior motive (=a reason he kept hidden).
2 a MOTIF
- motiveless adjective
•an apparently motiveless killing[only before noun]
technical the motive power or force for a machine, vehicle etc makes it move:
•Water provided the motive power for the mill. $ plural mots justes (same pronunciation) [C] formal
the/le mot juste exactly the right word or phrase:
•She paused, searching for the mot juste. $ [only before noun]
a motley collection/crew/assortment etc a group of people or things that are very different from each other and do not seem to belong together:
•I looked at the motley bunch we were sailing with and began to feel uneasy about the trip.
•His pockets contained a motley collection of coins, movie ticket stubs, and old candies. $ [U]
the sport of racing MOTORCYCLEs over rough land, up hills, through streams etc $ [C]
1 the part of a machine that makes it work or move, by changing power, especially electrical power, into movement:
•an electric motor
!! Motor is not generally used to refer to the part of a vehicle which produces the power for it to move. Use engine: My car needs a completely new engine.
2 BrE old-fashioned or informal a car:
•That's a nice motor you've got, Dave.
OUTBOARD MOTOR[only before noun]
1 especially BrE relating to cars or other vehicles with engines:
•the motor industry
•a motor accident
•motor insurance
2 having an engine:
•a motor scooter
3 technical relating to nerves that make muscles move:
•impaired motor function[I always + adv/prep]
BrE old-fashioned to travel by car:
•Bertie is motoring down from London. $ [C]
especially BrE a small fast two-wheeled vehicle with an engine; = motorcycle $ [C]
a small fast boat with an engine $ [C]
a line of official cars, including a car carrying an important person, that is travelling somewhere:
•the President's motorcade[C]
BrE formal or old-fashioned a car $ [C]
a fast two-wheeled vehicle with an engine; = motorbike
- motorcycling noun [U]
- motorcyclist noun [C][C]
a large vehicle with beds, a kitchen, a toilet etc, used for travelling and holidays $ [U] BrE
the activity of driving a car:
•These magazines cover all kinds of popular subjects such as motoring, gardening, photography and sports.
•He was found guilty of 14 motoring offences.
•Police and motoring organizations urged drivers to keep their speed down.
•the sharp rise in motoring costs [C]
someone who drives a car; = driver; pedestrian
•12,000 motorists were stopped for speeding in the police crackdown.also motorised BrE $ [only before noun]
1 having an engine - used especially when something does not usually have an engine:
•a motorized wheelchair
2 BrE a motorized group of soldiers is one that uses motor vehicles
motorized division/unit/battalion $ [C]
informal someone who talks too much and too loudly $ [U]
a serious disease that causes a gradual loss of control over the muscles and nerves of the body, resulting in death[C] AmE
a group of cars, trucks, and other vehicles that are available for people in a particular part of the government or army to use[U]
the sport of racing fast cars on a special track[C]
a SCOOTER[C] formal
any vehicle which has an engine, such as a car, bus, or truck:
•This road is closed to motor vehicles. $ [C]
BrE a very wide road for travelling fast over long distances, especially between cities; expressway, freeway, highway, interstate $
covered with spots or coloured areas
[+with]
•The book's pages were mottled with brown stains.
•His red, mottled face showed the effect of too much whisky. $ plural mottos or mottoes [C]
a short sentence or phrase giving a rule on how to behave, which expresses the aims or beliefs of a person, school, or institution:
•'Be prepared' is the motto of the boy scouts.mold AmE $ BrE
1 SHAPED CONTAINER [C] a hollow container that you pour a liquid or soft substance into, so that when it becomes solid, it takes the shape of the container:
•Another method, used especially for figures, was to pour the clay into a mould.
•lime jell-o in a mould
2 TYPE OF PERSON [singular] if someone is in a particular mould, or fits into a particular mould, they have all the attitudes and qualities typical of a type of person
fit (into) a mould
•She didn't quite fit into the standard 'high-flying businesswoman' mould.
in the same mould (as sb/sth)/in the mould of sb/sth
•a socialist intellectual in the mould of Anthony Crossland
3 break the mould to change a situation completely, by doing something that has not been done before:
•an attempt to break the mould of British politics
4 GROWING SUBSTANCE [U] a soft green, grey, or black substance that grows on food which has been kept too long, and on objects that are in warm, wet air:
•The chemical was used to kill a mold that grows on peanuts.
•The walls were black with mould.
LEAF MOULDmold AmE BrE
1 [T] to shape a soft substance by pressing or rolling it or by putting it into a mould
mould sth into sth
•Mould the sausage meat into little balls.
•moulded plastic chairs
2 [T] to influence the way someone's character or attitudes develop
mould sth/sb into sth
•I try to take young athletes and mold them into team players.
•an attempt to mold public opinion
3 [I,T] to fit closely to the shape of something, or to make something fit closely
mould (sth) to sth
•The lining of the boot molds itself to the shape of your foot.
•Her wet dress was moulded to her body.molder AmE also moulder away $ [I] BrE
to decay gradually:
•old papers mouldering away in the atticmolding AmE $ BrE
1 [C,U] a thin decorative line of PLASTER, wood etc around the edge of a wall, a piece of furniture, a picture frame etc
2 [C] an object produced from a mouldmoldy AmE $ BrE
covered with MOULD:
•mouldy cheese
go mouldy BrE (=become mouldy)
•The bread's gone mouldy.molt AmE $ [I] BrE
when a bird or animal moults, it loses feathers or hair so that new ones can grow
- moult noun [C,U] [C]
1 a pile of earth or stones that looks like a small hill:
•an ancient burial mound
[+of]
•a small mound of dirt
2 a large pile of something
[+of]
•There's a mound of papers on my desk.
•The waiter appeared with a huge mound of spaghetti.
3 also pitcher's mound the small hill that the PITCHER stands on in the game of baseball
1 ORGANIZE [T] to plan, organize, and begin an event or a course of action:
•The National Gallery mounted an exhibition of Danish painting.
mount a campaign/challenge/search etc
•Friends of the Earth are mounting a campaign to monitor the illegal logging of trees.
mount an assault/attack
•Guerrillas have mounted an attack on the capital.
2 INCREASE [I usually in progressive] to increase gradually in amount or degree:
• Tension here is mounting, as we await the final result.
•Casualties on both sides of the battle have continued to mount.
3 HORSE/BICYCLE [I,T] formal to get on a horse or bicycle; dismount
•He mounted his horse and rode on.
4 GO UP [T] formal to go up a step or stairs:
•He mounted the stairs and looked around him slowly.
•A car suddenly mounted the pavement to avoid a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.
5 PICTURE [T] to fix a picture to a larger piece of stiff paper so that it looks more attractive
mount sth on/onto sth
•Entries to the photography competition should be mounted on white paper.
6 SEX [T] technical if a male animal mounts a female animal, he gets up onto her back to have sex
MOUNTED

PHRASAL VERBS
mount up phr v
to gradually increase in amount:
•At £6 a ticket, the cost quickly mounts up.[C]
1 Mount Mt used as part of the name of a mountain:
•Mount Everest
2 formal a horse that you ride on
3 stiff paper that is put behind or around a picture so that it looks more attractive
4 literary a mountain $ [C]
1 a very high hill:
•the highest mountain in Austria
•the Rocky Mountains
•a steep mountain road
•magnificent mountain ranges (=lines of mountains)
•snow-capped mountain peaks (=tops of mountains)
•a mountain rescue team (=a group of experienced climbers who help people to safety from a mountain)
•She was the first British woman to climb the mountain.
2 a mountain of sth/mountains of sth a very large pile or amount of something:
•I've got mountains of paperwork to deal with.
•Her husband went off with another woman and left her facing a mountain of debt.
3 food/butter etc mountain a very large amount of food, butter etc that has been produced but is not needed or used; lake
4 make a mountain out of a molehill to treat a problem as if it was very serious when in fact it is not
5 (have) a mountain to climb BrE used to say that someone has a lot of work to do to achieve their aim, especially when you believe it will be difficult[C]
a type of tree with red or orange-red berries[C]
a strong bicycle with a lot of GEARs and wide tyres, specially designed for riding up hills and on rough groundalso all-terrain board [C]
a long wide board made of plastic or wood, with four rubber wheels, which people use to travel down the sides of mountains for sport
- mountain boarding noun [U]
- mountain boarder noun [C] $ [C]
someone who climbs mountains as a sport $ [U]
the sport of climbing mountains[C]
an animal with thick white fur which looks like a goat and lives in the western mountains of North America[C]
a COUGAR $
1 a mountainous area has a lot of mountains:
•the mountainous coast of Wales
•a mountainous region
2 very large in amount or size:
•They were struggling with mountainous debts. $ [C]
the side of a mountain:
•Great rocks rolled down the mountainside. $ [C]
the top part of a mountain [C] literary
a dishonest person who tricks and deceives people
1 riding on a horse:
•the mounted police
•Jean was mounted on a grey mare.
2 fixed firmly to a larger thing:
•The statue was mounted on a marble base.
•music blasting from wall-mounted speakers [C] informal
a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [only before noun]
gradually increasing - often used about things that cause problems or trouble :
•There was mounting pressure on him to resign.
•The government has come under mounting criticism in the press.
•They faced mounting debts.
•There's mounting evidence of a link between obesity and some forms of cancer.[C]
an object to which other things, especially parts of a machine, are fastened to keep them in place:
•The engine is supported by four rubberized mountings. $ [I,T]
1 to feel very sad and to miss someone after they have died; = grieve for
•Hundreds of people gathered to mourn the slain president.
[+for]
•They mourned for their children, killed in the war.
mourn sb's death/loss/passing
•She still mourns the death of her husband.
2 to feel very sad because something no longer exists or is no longer as good as it used to be:
•The old steam trains were much-loved, and we all mourn their passing. $ [C]
someone who attends a funeral $
very sad:
•Durant was thin, mournful and silent.
•the slow, mournful music of the bagpipes
- mournfully adverb $ [U]
1 great sadness because someone has died:
•The Armenian authorities declared May 29 a national day of mourning.
in mourning (=feeling great sadness)
•It was the custom to visit those in mourning and sit quietly with them.
2 black clothes worn to show that you are very sad that someone has died:
•She was recently widowed and wearing mourning. [C]
1 plural mice a small furry animal with a pointed nose and a long tail that lives in people's houses or in fields:
•The cat laid a dead mouse at my feet.
•a field mouse
2 plural mouses a small object connected to a computer by a wire, which you move with your hand to give instructions to the computer:
•Select the printer icon and then click the left mouse button.
3 plural mice informal a quiet, nervous person
play cat and mouse at CAT (4); quiet as a mouse at QUIET^1 (1)also mouse pad AmE [C]
a small piece of flat material with a special surface which you move a computer mouse on [C]
a trap for catching mice [C,U]
a Greek dish made from meat, cheese, and AUBERGINEs [C,U]
1
a) a sweet food made from a mixture of cream, eggs, and fruit or chocolate which is eaten when it is cold:
•chocolate mousse
•raspberry mousse
b) a food that is mixed and cooked with cream or eggs so that it is very light:
•salmon mousse
2 a substance full of small bubbles that you put in your hair to make it look thicker or to hold its style in placealso mustache AmE $ [C]
hair that grows on a man's upper lip; beard
•He's shaved off his moustache.also mustached AmE $ [usually before noun]
having a moustache:
•a young, moustached British officer $
another spelling of MUSTACHIOEDmousey
1 mousy hair is a dull brown colour
2 a mousy woman is quiet and unattractive plural mouths [C]
1 FACE the part of your face which you put food into, or which you use for speaking:
•He lifted his glass to his mouth.
•The old man had a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.
•Liam was fast asleep with his mouth wide open.
•She put her hand to her lips , trying not to laugh with her mouth full (=with food in her mouth).
•She kissed him full on the mouth (=directly on the mouth).
•I burnt the roof of my mouth (=the top inside part) on some hot soup.
•She stared at him open-mouthed (=looking very surprised or shocked).
•Karen felt dry-mouthed and sick.
2 keep your mouth shut informal
a) to not tell other people about a secret:
•He demanded £2000 to keep his mouth shut.
b) to not say something even if you think it:
•I wished that I'd kept my mouth shut.
3 open your mouth to prepare to speak:
•'I'll go,' Travis said quickly before she could open her mouth.
open your mouth to say/speak/protest etc
•Julia opened her mouth to reply, but they were interrupted.
4 (you) watch your mouth spoken informal used to tell someone not to speak in such a rude way
5 ENTRANCE the entrance to a large hole or CAVE:
•As the train entered the mouth of the tunnel, the lights came on.
6 RIVER the part of a river where it joins the sea:
•the mouth of the River Tees
7 BOTTLE/CONTAINER the open part at the top of a bottle or container
8 big mouth informal if someone has a big mouth, they say too much or tell another person's secrets
9 me and my big mouth/you and your big mouth etc spoken used to criticize yourself or another person for saying something that should not have been said:
•Oops, I shouldn't have said that. Me and my big mouth.
10 mouth to feed/hungry mouth someone who you must provide food for, especially one of your children:
•To these parents, a new baby is just another hungry mouth.
11 make your mouth water if food makes your mouth water, it smells or looks so good you want to eat it immediately:
•The smell of the cooked fish made her mouth water.
MOUTH-WATERING
12 down in the mouth informal unhappy:
•Tim's looking very down in the mouth.
13 out of the mouths of babes (and sucklings) used humorously when a small child has just said something clever or interesting
14 be all mouth BrE spoken if someone is all mouth, they talk a lot about what they will do but are not brave enough to actually do it
be born with a silver spoon in your mouth at BORN^2 (8)
by word of mouth at WORD^1 (13)
be foaming at the mouth at FOAM^2 (2)
put your foot in your mouth at FOOT^1 (15)
put your money where your mouth is at MONEY (18)
put words into sb's mouth at WORD^1 (21)
shut your mouth at SHUT^1 (2)
shoot your mouth off at SHOOT^1 (12)
FOUL-MOUTHED, MEALY-MOUTHED [T]
1 to move your lips in the same way you do when you are saying words, but without making any sound:
•She silently mouthed the words 'Good luck'.
•Philip mouthed something through the glass which she did not hear.
2 to say things that you do not really believe or that you do not understand:
•The players mouthed clichés about what they hoped to do at the World Cup.
•They mouthed the usual platitudes.

PHRASAL VERBS
mouth off phr v informal
to complain angrily and noisily about something, or talk as if you know more than anyone else
[+at/to]
•You should have heard Pete mouthing off at Joe.
[+about]
•Morris was mouthing off about his former team. [C]
1 an amount of food or drink that you put into your mouth at one time:
•Michael told his story between mouthfuls.
[+of]
•Betty drank a mouthful of beer.
•He took a mouthful of his pudding.
2 (a bit of) a mouthful informal a long word or phrase that is difficult to say:
•Her real name is a bit of a mouthful, so we just call her Dee.
3 give sb a mouthful informal especially BrE to speak angrily to someone, often swearing at them
4 say a mouthful AmE informal to say a lot of true and important things about something in a few words[C]
a small musical instrument that you play by blowing or sucking and moving it from side to side near your mouth; = harmonica [C]
1 the part of a musical instrument, telephone etc that you put in your mouth or next to your mouth:
•Ben put his hand over the mouthpiece and shouted to me.
2 [usually singular] a person, newspaper etc that expresses the opinions of a government or a political organization
[+of]
•The newspaper was the mouthpiece of the National Democratic Party.also mouth-to-mouth [U]
a method used to make someone start breathing again by blowing air into their mouth; CPRcanker sore AmE [C] BrE
a sore area in the mouth of people or animals, caused by illness or a disease $ [C,U]
a liquid used to make your mouth smell fresh or to get rid of infection in your mouth
food that is mouth-watering looks or smells extremely good:
•a mouth-watering aroma coming from the kitchen informal
someone who is mouthy talks a lot and says what they think even if it is rudemoveable
able to be moved and not fixed in one place or position:
•a teddy bear with movable arms and legsmoveable [C usually plural] law
a personal possession such as a piece of furniture[C] BrE
1 informal something that happens at different times, so that you are not sure exactly when it will happen
2 a special religious day, such as Easter, the date of which changes
1 CHANGE PLACE [I,T] to change from one place or position to another, or to make something do this:
•Please keep the doors closed while the train is moving.
•'Come on,' Sue said. No one moved.
•Could you move your car, please? It's blocking the road.
move quickly/slowly/steadily etc
•The plane moved slowly along the runway, then stopped.
[+away/out/to/towards etc]
•He moved closer to her.
•Becca moved down the steps and into the yard.
[+about/around]
•I could hear someone moving around upstairs.
•The bar was so crowded you could hardly move.
•At Christmas, you couldn't move for toys in this house (=there were a lot of toys).
•Paul couldn't move a muscle (=could not move at all) he was so scared.
2 NEW HOUSE/OFFICE [I,T] if a person or company moves, or if you move them, they go to live or work in a different place:
•We've moved seven or eight times in the last five years.
[+to/into/from]
•When are you moving to Memphis?
•They've moved into bigger offices in London.
move sb to/into/from etc sth
•He had to move his mother into a nursing home.
•The company is moving its sales center downtown.
move house/home BrE (=go to live in a different house)
•My parents kept moving house because of my dad's job.
3 CHANGE OPINION ETC
a) [I] to change from one opinion or way of thinking to another; = shift
•Neither side is willing to move on the issue of territory.
[+towards/away from]
•The two political parties have moved closer towards each other in recent months.
•At this stage, children move further away from the influence of their parents, and depend more on their friends.
b) [T] to persuade someone to change their opinion:
•She won't be moved - it doesn't matter what you say to her.
4 PROGRESS [I] to make progress in a particular way or at a particular rate:
•Things moved quickly once the contract was signed.
•The negotiations seem to be moving in the right direction.
get/keep things moving
•The plan should boost employment and get things moving in the economy.
5 TAKE ACTION [I] to start taking action, especially in order to achieve something or deal with a problem
[+on/against]
•The governor has yet to move on any of the recommendations in the report.
move fast/quickly/swiftly
•You'll have to move fast if you want to get a place on the course.
6 CHANGE JOB/CLASS ETC [I,T] to change to a different job, class etc, or to make someone change to a different job, class etc; = transfer
move sb to/into/from sth
•Several students were moved from the beginners' class into the intermediate one.
•He spent five years at KLP, before moving to IMed as a manager.
7 EMOTION [T] to make someone feel strong emotions, especially of sadness or sympathy
be deeply/genuinely/profoundly moved
•Russell was deeply moved by what he heard.
•His speech moved the audience to tears.
MOVING (1)
8 CAUSE SB TO DO STH [T] to cause someone to do something
move sb to do sth
•Seeing her there had moved him to think about the time they had together.
be/feel moved to do sth
•I have never before felt moved to write, but I feel I must protest.
9 TIME/ORDER [T] to change the time or order of something
move sth to/from sth
•Could we move the meeting to Thursday?
10 CHANGE SUBJECT [I] to start talking or writing about a different subject
[+away from/off/to etc]
•We seem to be moving away from the main point of the discussion.
MOVE ON (4)
11 get moving also move it spoken used to tell someone to hurry:
•Come on, get moving or you'll be late for school.
12 it's time I was moving/we ought to get moving etc spoken used to say that you need to leave or go somewhere:
•I think it's time we were moving.
•I ought to get moving - I have to be up early tomorrow.
13 GAMES [I,T] to change the position of one of the objects used to play a game such as CHESS
14 AT A MEETING [I,T] formal to officially make a proposal at a meeting
move that
•The chairman moves that the meeting be adjourned.
move to do sth
•I move to approve the minutes as read.
move an amendment BrE (=suggest a change)
•They want to move an amendment to the bill.
15 GO FAST [I] informal to travel very fast:
•This car can really move!
16 BE BOUGHT [I] if things of a particular kind are moving, they are being bought, especially at a particular rate:
•The highest-priced homes are still moving slowly.
17 move with the times to change the way you think and behave, as society changes:
•If the resorts want to keep attracting tourists, they need to move with the times.
18 move in ... circles/society/world to spend a lot of time with a particular type of people and know them well:
•She spent time in England, where she moved in high society.

PHRASAL VERBS
move along phr v
1 if a process or situation is moving along, or if you move it along, it continues and makes progress:
•Construction of the bridge is moving along.
move sth along
•I hope we can move things along and get the negotiations going again.
2 move sb <=>along to officially order someone to leave a public place:
•A queue formed by the gates, and a policeman tried to move people along.

move around phr v
to change where you live very frequently, especially so that you live in many different parts of a country:
•My dad was in the army, so we moved around a lot.

move away phr v
to go to live in a different area:
•My best friend moved away when I was ten.

move down (sth) phr v
to change to a lower group, rank, or level:
•Interest rates have moved down.
•A drop in wages has meant that these families have moved down the social and economic scale.

move in phr v
1 also move into sth to start living in a new home; move out
•When are you moving in?
•Mom and Dad had always planned to move into a smaller house when we grew up.
2 to start living with someone in the same home
[+with]
•Steve's going to move in with her.
3 to start being involved in and controlling a situation that someone else controlled previously:
•The big multinationals moved in and started pushing up prices.
[+on]
•Investors moved in on a group of car enthusiasts and took over the market.
4 to go towards a place or group of people, in order to attack them or take control of them
[+on]
•Police moved in on the demonstrators in the square.

move off phr v especially BrE
if a vehicle or group of people moves off, it starts to leave:
•Always check behind the car before you move off.

move on phr v
1 CHANGE JOB/CLASS to leave your present job, class, or activity and start doing another one:
•I enjoyed my job, but it was time to move on.
[+to]
•When you finish, move on to the next exercise.
move on to higher/better things (=get a better job or social position - used humorously)
•Jeremy's leaving the company to move on to higher things.
2 CHANGE/DEVELOP
a) to develop in your life, and change your relationships, interests, activities etc:
•I've moved on since high school, and now I don't have much in common with some of my old friends.
[+from]
•She has long since moved on from the roles of her youth.
b) to change, progress, improve, or become more modern as time passes:
•By the time the software was ready, the market had moved on.
3 move sb on BrE to order someone to leave a particular place - used especially about police:
•The police arrived on the scene and began moving the protesters on.
4 CHANGE SUBJECT to start talking about a new subject in a discussion, book etc:
•Before we move on, does anyone have any questions?
5 CONTINUE JOURNEY to leave the place where you have been staying and continue to another place:
•After three days we decided it was time to move on.
[+to]
•The exhibition has now moved on to Edinburgh.
6 TIME if time, the year etc moves on, the time passes:
•As time moves on, I'd like the children to play more challenging music.
7 time is moving on BrE spoken used to say that you must leave soon or do something soon, because it is getting late:
•Time's moving on - we'd better get back to the car.

move out phr v
1 to leave the house where you are living now in order to go and live somewhere else; move in
•He moved out, and a year later they were divorced.
[+of]
•They moved out of London when he was little.
2 if a group of soldiers moves out, they leave a place
3 AmE spoken to leave:
•Are you ready to move out?

move over phr v
1 to change position so that there is more space for someone else:
•Move over a little, so I can get in.
2 to start using a different system, doing a different type of work etc
[+to]
•Most companies have moved over to computer-aided design systems.
3 to change jobs, especially within the same organization or industry
[+from]
•The company's new publisher just moved over from Villard Books.
4 move over Madonna/Walt Disney/CD-ROMs etc used when saying that something new is becoming more popular than something older - used humorously:
•Move over, Armani, there's a new designer taking the fashion scene by storm.

move up phr v
1 to get a better job in a company, or change to a more advanced group, higher rank, or higher level:
•To move up, you'll need the right training.
•Share prices moved up this month.
[+to]
•The kids learn fast, and can't wait to move up to the junior team.
•He was moving up the ladder (=getting higher and higher positions), getting experience of command.
•He's moved up in the world (=got a better job or social position) in the last few years, and his new flat shows it.
2 especially BrE to change position in order to make more space for other people or things or be near someone else:
•There's room for one more if everyone moves up a bit.
move the goalposts at GOALPOST (2); move in for the kill at KILL^2 (2); move heaven and earth at HEAVEN (9); when the spirit moves you at SPIRIT^1 (15)[C]
1 DECISION/ACTION something that you decide to do in order to achieve something:
•She's still thinking about her next move.
move to do sth
•the Board's recent moves to cut interest rates
•Most of the council members are reluctant to make such a drastic move.
•The authorities have made no move to resolve the conflict.
a good/wise/smart etc move
•She decided to learn as much about it as she could, which seemed like a wise move.
•Taking the position was a good career move (=a decision that will improve the type of jobs you can do).
there are moves afoot (to do sth) BrE (=there are plans, especially secret ones)
•It seems there could be moves afoot to close the centre.
2 MOVEMENT [usually singular] when someone moves for a short time in a particular direction:
•Good gymnasts rehearse their moves mentally before a competition.
•He made no move to come any nearer.
•Martin made a move towards the door.
watch/follow sb's every move
•His green eyes followed Cissy's every move.
•One false move (=move in the wrong direction) and I'll shoot.
3 PROGRESS/CHANGE a change, especially one which improves a situation
[+towards/from/against/to]
•the country's move towards democracy
•a move away from traditional industries such as coal mining
•Much more research is being done, which is a move in the right direction.
4 be on the move
a) to be travelling from one place to another:
•The rebel army is on the move.
b) to be busy and active:
•Roy is constantly on the move.
c) to be changing and developing a lot, especially in a way that improves things:
•Museums are on the move, adding exhibits that entertain and educate.
5 get a move on spoken used to tell someone to hurry
6 make the first move to do something first, especially in order to end a quarrel or start a relationship:
•Men say they like it when women make the first move.
7 GAMES when you change the position of one of the objects in a game such as CHESS:
•Several moves later, Ron took his king.
•It's your move, Janet (=it is your turn to move an object).
8 make a move BrE informal to leave a place:
•It's getting late - we ought to make a move.
9 GOING TO A NEW PLACE [usually singular] when you leave one house, office etc, and go to live or work in a different one:
•The move to a larger office building is long overdue.
another spelling of MOVABLE
1 PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER [C] a group of people who share the same ideas or beliefs and who work together to achieve a particular aim
civil rights/feminist/peace etc movement
•the civil rights movement of the 1960s
movement to do sth
•Mendes led a movement to stop destruction of the rain forest.
[+for]
•the movement for independence
2 POSITION/PLACE [C,U]
a) when someone or something changes position or moves from one place to another:
•the dancer's graceful movements
[+of]
•A slight movement of the curtains showed where she was hiding.
•the movement of goods across the border
•He motioned to the door with a movement of his head.
b) a planned change in the position of a group of soldiers:
•reports of troop movements in the area
3 CHANGE/DEVELOPMENT [U] a gradual change or development in a situation or in people's attitudes or opinions:
•There's been no movement in the peace talks since Thursday.
[+towards/away from]
•a movement towards equality with men in the workplace
4 sb's movements the places where someone goes and the things they do during a certain period:
•Police are trying to trace Carter's movements since Tuesday.
5 MUSIC [C] one of the main parts into which a piece of music is divided, especially a SYMPHONY
6 CLOCK/WATCH [C usually singular] the moving parts of a piece of machinery, especially a clock or watch
7 BODY WASTE [C] formal when you get rid of waste matter from your BOWELs $ [C]
1 mover and shaker informal an important person who has power and influence over what happens in a situation:
•He's one of the movers and shakers in Florida politics.
2 someone or something that moves in a particular way:
•Hummingbirds are quick movers.
3 especially AmE someone whose job is to move furniture, boxes etc from one house to another when someone changes where they live
4 something that moves things from one place to another:
•an earth mover
5 a STOCK or SHARE that people are buying and selling a lot of
6 someone who makes a formal proposal at a meeting:
•the mover of the motion
PRIME MOVER [C] especially AmE
1 a film made to be shown at the cinema or on television

watch/see a movie
go to a movie also
take in a movie informal
appear in/be in/star in a movie
make/shoot a movie
show/screen a movie
horror/action/sci-fi etc movie
silent movie
big-budget/low-budget movie
hit movie (=very successful movie)
movie star (=a famous movie actor)
movie director/producer

•Do you want to see a movie tonight?
•Maybe we'll go to a movie.
•It was like one of those old John Wayne movies.
•She starred with Humphrey Bogart in the movie'Casablanca'.
•They don't make movies like that any more.
•The movie was shot entirely on location in India.
•Many people were shocked when the movie was first shown.
•She once played the innocent victim in a horror movie.
•Spielberg's latest hit movie
[+about]
•a movie about two gay teenagers who fall in love
•a big Hollywood movie star

2 the movies
a) the cinema:
•We took the kids to the movies.
•In those days, we went to the movies every week.
at the movies
•Why were you at the movies all by yourself?
b) films in general, and the events in them
in (the) movies
•He couldn't believe his luck. It was the sort of thing that only happened in the movies.
c) the business of producing films:
•a career in the movies $ [C] especially AmE
someone who goes to see films at the cinema, especially regularly; = cinemagoer BrE $ [C] especially AmE
a FILM-MAKER[C] especially AmE
a famous film actor or actress; = film star[C] AmE
a building where you go in order to watch films; = cinema BrE
1 making you feel strong emotions, especially sadness or sympathy
deeply/very/profoundly moving
•Bayman's book about his illness is deeply moving.
moving account/story etc
•a moving account of his childhood in Ireland
•Attending the memorial service was a moving experience.
2 [only before noun] changing from one position to another:
•a moving stage
fast/slow moving etc
•Be careful when changing lanes in fast-moving traffic.
•an archer learning to hit a moving target
3 a moving target something that is changing continuously, so that it is very difficult to criticize it or compete against it:
•The company is constantly improving the system, making it a moving target.
4 the moving spirit formal someone who makes something start to happen:
•Mr Arkwright was the moving spirit behind the founding of the union.
- movingly adverb
•She spoke movingly about her father's last days.[C] old-fashioned especially AmE
a film made to be shown at the cinema[C] old-fashioned
an ESCALATOR[C] AmE
a large vehicle used for moving furniture from one house to another; = removal van BrE $ past tense mowed, past participle mown $ [I,T]
1 to cut grass using a machine:
•It's time to mow the lawn again.
2 new-mown hay/grass etc recently cut grass etc

PHRASAL VERBS
mow sb <=> down phr v informal
1 to kill large numbers of people at the same time, especially by shooting them:
•The soldiers were mown down by machine gun fire.
2 to kill someone by driving into them fast:
•He was sentenced to two years in prison for mowing down a nine-year old girl. $ [C]
1 a machine used for cutting grass; = lawnmower
2 old use someone who mows $ [U] AmE informal
courage and determination:
•He's a small kid, but he has plenty of moxie. $ [U]
a white Italian cheese that is often used on PIZZA [C]
1 Member of Parliament someone who has been elected to a parliament to represent people from a particular area of the country:
•Ken Newton, MP
•a Labour MP
[+for]
•She's the MP for Liverpool North.
2 informal a member of the MILITARY POLICE [C] trademark
a recording of music that can be DOWNLOADed from the Internet[C]
a machine or computer program that plays music which has been DOWNLOADed from the Internet [C] technical
Moving Picture Experts Group a type of computer FILE used on the Internet that contains sound and video material; JPEG
miles per gallon used to describe the amount of petrol used by a car
do 30/40 etc mpg BrE;
get 30/40 etc mpg AmE
•a car that does 35 mpg
miles per hour used to describe the speed of something, especially a vehicle or the wind:
•high winds of up to 140 mphM.Phil. [C] BrE
Master of Philosophy a university degree in a subject such as history, languages, or English literature, that you can get after your first degree; PhD [C] BrE
multi-purpose vehicle a large car for up to eight people; = minivan AmEMr. AmE $ BrE
1 used before a man's family name to be polite when you are speaking to him, writing to him, or talking about him:
•Mr Smith is the headteacher.
•Mr. John Smith
•Mr and Mrs Smith
2 used when speaking to a man in an official position:
•Mr Chairman
•Mr. President
MADAM (3)
3 Mr Right a man who would be the perfect husband for a particular woman:
•She's finally found Mr. Right.
4 Mr Big informal the leader or most important person in a group, especially a criminal group
5 Mr Clean informal someone who is honest and always obeys the law
6 Mr Sarcasm/Mr Messy/Mr Forgetful etc spoken used humorously to say that someone has a particular quality or behaves in a particular way:
•I don't think we need any comments from Mr Sarcasm here.
no more Mr Nice Guy! at GUY (5) medical
1 [U] magnetic resonance imaging the process of using strong MAGNETIC FIELDs to make a picture of the inside of someone's body for medical reasons; CTscan, X-ray
2 [C] a picture of the inside of someone's body produced with MRI equipment:
•Brian had an MRI taken Sunday.Mrs. AmE BrE
1 used before a married woman's family name to be polite when you are speaking to her, writing to her, or talking about her; miss, Mrs
•Mrs. Smith
•Mrs Meddeman heads the fund-raising committee.
•Mr and Mrs David Smith
!! Some married women prefer to be addressed as Ms because it does not draw attention to whether or not they are married.
see also note at MR
2 Mrs Tidy/Mrs Efficient/Mrs Nosy etc spoken used humorously to say that a woman has a particular quality or behaves in a particular way:
•Mrs Superefficient has already taken care of it. [U]
multiple sclerosis a serious illness that gradually destroys the nerves, causing weakness and inability to moveMs. AmE BrE
used before a woman's family name when she does not want to be called 'Mrs' or 'Miss', or when you do not know whether she is married or not; miss, Mrs
•Dear Ms Johnson, ...plural mss [C]
the written abbreviation of manuscript [C] AmE
Master of Science a university degree in a science subject that you can get after your first degreealso MSc BrE [C]
Master of Science a university degree in a science subject that you can get after your first degree
1 [U] monosodium glutamate a chemical that is added to food to make it taste better
2 also msg [C] message used especially in TEXT MESSAGEs sent or received on a MOBILE PHONEalso Mt BrE
the written abbreviation of mount :
•Mt. Everest
1 by a great amount
much better/greater/easier etc
•Henry's room is much bigger than mine.
•These shoes are much more comfortable.
•I'm feeling very much better, thank you.
much too big/old etc
•He was driving much too fast.
much the best/most interesting etc BrE
•It's much the best way to do it.
2
a) used to ask or talk about the degree of a difference
how much older/smaller etc
•She kept weighing herself to see how much heavier she was getting.
b) used to ask or talk about how big an additional amount of something is
how much more/longer/further
•How much longer do we have to wait?
•How much further is it?
c) used to emphasize the difference you are mentioning
how much better/nicer/easier etc
•I was surprised to see how much better she was looking.
•How much better life would be if we returned to the values of the past!
3 used to talk about a strong feeling or something that is done often
how/however much
•You know how much I care about you.
•I think you have to accept the pain, however much it hurts.
•He talks too much.
•We're looking forward to your visit so much.
•Thank you very much!
much loved/admired/discussed etc
•The money will buy much needed books for the school.
4 not ... much
a) only a little or hardly at all:
•'Did you enjoy it?' 'No, not much.'
•She isn't much younger than me.
•Tony hasn't changed much in the last ten years.
b) used to say that something does not often happen:
•We don't go to the theatre much any more.
•Kids don't play outside as much as they used to.
LITTLE^3 (2)
5 much like sth/much as also much the same (as sth) used to say that something is very similar to something else:
•The house was very much as I'd remembered it.
•The taste is much like butter.
•Plants are classified in much the same way as animals.
6 much to sb's surprise/embarrassment etc formal used to say that someone feels very surprised, embarrassed etc when something happens:
•Much to my relief, the conversation turned to another topic.
7 much less used to say that a greater thing is even less true, likely, or possible than the thing you have just mentioned:
•The shelves were lined with books which neither Hugo nor Sally would ever open, much less read.
8 much as although:
•Much as I like Bob, I wouldn't want to live with him.
9 not so much...as... used to say that one description of someone or something is less suitable or correct than another:
•She was not so much nervous as impatient for the journey to be over.
so much the better at BETTER^3 (2)
1 [in informal English 'much' is used mainly in questions and negatives] a large amount of something:
•I don't have much money with me.
•Was there much traffic?
•He didn't say much about his trip.
•Do you get much chance to travel in your job?
•After much consideration we have finally arrived at a decision.
[+of]
•Much of the city was destroyed in the attack.
(far/much/rather/a little) too much
•There was too much work for one person.
•It would cost far too much to have the thing repaired.
•It was such a small thing to have caused so much trouble.
2 how much used to ask or talk about the amount or cost of something:
•How much is that dress?
•How much flour should I use in the sauce?
•I know how much hard work goes into looking after a baby.
3 as much an amount that is equal and not less
as much (...) as
•I hope you have as much fun as I did.
•Just do as much as you can.
4 as much as 10/100 etc used to emphasize how surprisingly large an amount is:
•Some machines cost as much as £20,000.
5 used in negative expressions to say that something is not important, interesting, good etc
not/nothing much
•'What are you doing?' 'Oh, not much, really.'
•There's nothing much we can do to help.
•I don't think much of that idea (=I do not think it is good).
•The car may not be much to look at (=it does not look good) but it's very reliable.
•It's the best book he's written, but that's not saying much (=none of his books are very good).
6 not be much of a sth to not be a good example of something or not be very good at something:
•I'm not much of a dancer, I'm afraid.
•It wasn't really much of a storm.
7 be too much for sb to be too difficult for someone to do or bear:
•The effort of climbing the stairs had been too much for the old man.
•The shock had been too much for her - she never recovered.
8 not be up to much BrE spoken to be fairly bad:
•The restaurant's very grand but the food isn't up to much.
9 there is not much in it informal used to say that there is little difference between two things or amounts:
•'Isn't the woollen carpet more expensive?' 'A little, perhaps, but there's not much in it.'
10 think/say etc as much to think or say the thing that has just been mentioned:
•Carson strongly disapproved of the plan and said as much at the meeting.
•'Max was lying all the time.' ' I thought as much.'
11 it was as much as sb could do to do sth used to say that someone only succeeded in doing something with great difficulty:
•He looked so stupid, it was as much as I could do to stop myself from laughing.
12 not/without so much as sth used when you are surprised or annoyed that someone did not do something:
•They left without so much as saying goodbye.
•He'd received not so much as a thank you from Tiffany.
13 so much for sth used to say that a particular action, idea, statement etc was not useful or did not produce the result that was hoped for:
•He's late again. So much for good intentions.
14 I'll say this/that much for sb/sth used when saying one good thing about someone or something when they are being criticized a lot:
•Well, he does admit it when he's wrong, I'll say that much for him.
15 as much again an additional amount that is equal:
•The car only cost me £1500 but it cost as much again to get it insured.
16 be a bit much/be too much BrE spoken used to say that someone's behaviour is unacceptable or impolite:
•It's a bit much expecting you to pay for it all.
17 make much of sb/sth formal to treat a person or thing as though you think they are very important or special:
•The press made much of the discovery.
•They've always made much of their nephews and nieces.

GRAMMAR
When much is a quantifier, it is used mainly in questions and negative sentences: Was there much mess? | I don't have much time.In sentences which are not questions or negative sentences, phrases like 'a lot of' and 'plenty of' are used instead | Kurama has a lot of snow (NOT Kurama has much snow).
Much can also be used after too, so, and as: We've wasted too much time. | She cried so much her head ached. | Drink as much wine as you want.

!! Do not use much before countable nouns. Use many or a lot of: There are too many advertisements on television (NOT There are too much advertisements on television).
When much is an adverb, it is mainly used before comparative adjectives: He looks much older than 35. | Some people are much more fortunate than others.
Much can also be used before some adjectives in questions and negative questions : She doesn't look much different with her new hairstyle.

!! Do not use much before adjectives in sentences that are not questions or negative sentences. Use very: Tea and coffee taste very different (NOT Tea and coffee taste much different).
Much can also be used before some past participles acting as adjectives: Education is a much discussed government service. | a much admired writer This use is mainly found in formal and literary English.

[only before noun]
a much-heralded event, product etc has been talked about a lot before it happens or becomes available:
•Ford's much-heralded new sports car
be much of a muchness BrE informal to be very similar in standard, quality etc:
•It was hard to choose between the candidates - they were all much of a muchness.[only before noun]
a much-vaunted plan, achievement etc is one that people say is very good or important, especially when this may not be true:
•the president's much-vaunted health care plan [U] informal
1 dirt, mud, or another sticky substance that makes something dirty:
•Come on, let's wipe that muck off your face.
2 BrE waste matter from animals, sometimes put on land to make plants grow better; = manure
•special machinery for spreading muck onto the fields
•dog muck
3 BrE something that is unpleasant or of very bad quality:
•How can you eat that muck? It looks disgusting.
•I'm not surprised she left. He treated her like muck (=very badly).
4 make a muck of sth BrE informal to do something very badly and make a lot of mistakes; = muck up
•I really made a muck of the exam.
5 as common as muck BrE informal very common or of a low social class

PHRASAL VERBS
muck about/around phr v BrE informal
1 to behave in a silly way, especially when you should be working or paying attention to something; = mess around
•Stop mucking about and listen!
•Some of the boys were mucking around on bikes in the middle of the road.
2 muck sb about/around to cause trouble for someone, especially by changing your mind a lot or not doing what you promised to do; = mess sb around
•The company kept mucking us around and changing the price.

muck in phr v BrE informal
1 to do your share of the work that is necessary in order to get a job done:
•If we all muck in, we could get the whole house painted by the end of the week.
2 to share space with other people
[+with]
•There are only three bedrooms. Do you mind mucking in with the other boys?

muck sth <=> out phr v BrE
to clean the place where a farm animal lives:
•You have to muck out the stables every day in the winter.

muck sth <=> up phr v informal
1 BrE to do something badly, so that you fail to achieve something; = mess up
•I really mucked up my driving test first time.
2 to spoil something, especially an arrangement or plan; = mess up
•The bad weather mucked up our plans for a picnic.
3 BrE to make something dirty; = mess up
•Who's mucked up the carpet in here? [C] BrE
a pile of MANURE (=animal waste matter) on farm land [U]
the practice of telling or writing unpleasant and perhaps untrue stories about people's private lives, especially famous people:
•Two of the candidates complained of unfair muckraking during the election campaign.
- muckraking adjective
- muckraker noun [C] informal
1 dirty:
•Your hands are all mucky.
•Don't come in here with those mucky boots on.
2 BrE a mucky joke or story etc is slightly rude and about sex; = dirty [C]
the thin layer of skin that covers some inner parts of the body, such as the inside of the nose, and produces mucus [U]
a thick liquid produced in parts of your body such as your nose
- mucous adjective [only before noun] [U]
1 wet earth that has become soft and sticky:
•By the end of the game, all the kids were covered in mud.
•The path beside the river was slippery with mud.
•Many villages in Mali consist of mud huts.
•boots caked with mud (=covered in mud)
•It was impossible to move the car - its wheels had got stuck in the mud.
2 here's mud in your eye spoken old-fashioned used for expressing good wishes when having an alcoholic drink with someone; = cheers BrE
as clear as mud at CLEAR^1 (18); drag sb's name through the mud at DRAG^1 (10); sb's name is mud at NAME^1 (15) $
1 [singular] a large area of mud:
•Thousands of young people arriving for the festival soon turned the fields into a mudbath.
2 [C] a health treatment in which heated mud is put onto your body, especially to reduce pain
1 be in a muddle/get into a muddle BrE
a) to be confused:
•I'm in such a muddle, I'd completely forgotten you were coming today.
[+over/about]
•My grandmother tends to get into a muddle over names.
b) to be untidy or in a disorganized state:
•Sorry about the mess - we're in a bit of a muddle at the moment.
•All my files have got into a muddle somehow.
2 [C usually singular, U] when there is confusion about something, and things are done wrong as a result:
•Our accountant finally managed to sort out the muddle.
[+over/about]
•There was a bit of a muddle over our hotel reservations.also muddle up [T] especially BrE
1 to put things in the wrong order:
•Someone's muddled up all the papers on my desk.
•Recently the government seems to have lost its way and muddled its priorities.
2 to confuse one person or thing with another, and make a mistake; = mix up
•The twins are so alike that it's easy to muddle them up.
•Spanish and Italian are very similar and I sometimes get them muddled up.
muddle sth with sth
•Be careful not to muddle the files you've already worked on with the others.
3 to confuse someone, especially so that they make a mistake:
•Don't muddle her with all the extra details at the moment.
•Could you just repeat those figures - I've got a bit muddled up.

PHRASAL VERBS
muddle along/on phr v
to continue doing something without having any clear plan or purpose, or without having enough help or support:
•There's no point in muddling on in the same old job for ever.
•Many of the students complained that they were left to muddle along on their own.

muddle through (sth) phr v especially BrE
to succeed in doing something with difficulty, or not in a very satisfactory way:
•There were some difficult questions but I managed to muddle through.
•The team managed to muddle through another season.
confused:
•muddled thinking
•The situation today is very muddled.BrE
confused or not able to think clearly:
•I like her but she's a bit muddle-headed.
1 covered with mud or containing mud:
•Take your boots off outside if they're muddy.
•the muddy waters of the lake
2 confused and not clear:
•On the issue of education, the difference between the two parties is muddy.
3 colours that are muddy are dull:
•The carpet was an unpleasant muddy brown.
4 sounds that are muddy are not clearpast tense and past participle muddied, present participle muddying, third person singular muddies [T]
1 to make something dirty with mud:
•Lizzy walked around the edge of the field, taking care not to muddy her new shoes.
2 muddy the waters/the issue to make a situation more complicated or confusing than it was before - used to show disapproval [C]
a piece of rubber that hangs behind the wheel of a vehicle to prevent mud from getting on the vehicle [C usually plural]
1 an area of muddy land that is covered by the sea when it comes up at HIGH TIDE and uncovered when it goes down at LOW TIDE
2 AmE the muddy bottom of a dry lake $ [C] BrE
a curved piece of metal or plastic that covers the wheel of a bicycle and prevents mud from getting on the bicycle and rider; = fender AmE [C]
a soft mixture containing clay that you spread over your face and leave there for a short time to improve your skin[C]
1 a little ball of wet mud made by children as a game
2 AmE a DESSERT made of ice cream and chocolate [C]
when a lot of wet earth suddenly falls down the side of a hill:
•Torrential rains caused a massive mudslide. [U]
when someone says bad and often untrue things about someone in order to make other people have a low opinion of them:
•There has been a lot of political mudslinging in the battle for votes.
- mudslinger noun [C] [U]
a mixture of grains, nuts, and dried fruit that is eaten with milk for breakfast; = granola AmE [C]
a man who calls Muslims to prayer from a MOSQUE [C]
a short tube of thick cloth or fur that you can put your hands into to keep them warm in cold weather; earmuffs[T] informal
1 also muff sth <=> up to spoil a chance to do something well or achieve something:
•You'll probably only get one chance to take a photo, so don't muff it!
2 to fail to catch a ball or kick it properly in a game or sport:
•With only the goalkeeper to beat, he completely muffed his shot.
3 muff your lines BrE if you muff your lines in a play you are acting in, you forget them or say them wrongly [C]
1 a small, usually sweet cake that sometimes has small pieces of fruit in it:
•blueberry muffins
2 BrE a small thick round kind of bread, usually eaten hot with butter; = English muffin AmE [T]
1 to make a sound less loud and clear, especially by covering something
•The falling snow muffled the sound of our footsteps.
•Her voice was muffled by the pillow in which she had hidden her face.
2 also muffle sb up [usually passive] to cover yourself or another person with something thick and warm
be muffled (up) in sth
•Penelope arrived, muffled up in a thick coat.
muffled sounds cannot be heard clearly, for example because they come from behind a door or wall:
•I could hear muffled voices in the next room.
•There was the muffled sound of organ practice coming from the chapel. $ [C]
1 a long piece of thick cloth that you wear to keep your neck warm; = scarf
2 AmE a piece of equipment on a vehicle that makes the noise from the engine quieter; = silencer BrE
1 [C] a Muslim who officially explains Islamic law
2 in mufti BrE old-fashioned wearing ordinary clothes instead of a uniform:
•soldiers in mufti [C]
1 a tall cup used for drinking tea, coffee etc:
•a coffee mug
2 a large glass with a handle, used especially for drinking beer:
•a beer mug
3 mug/mugful of sth a mug and the liquid inside it:
•Two mugs of tea, please.
4 BrE spoken informal someone who is stupid and easy to deceive:
•Only a mug would pay that much for a meal.
5 be a mug's game BrE spoken to be something that only stupid people do because it is not likely to be successful or to bring you money:
•Gambling is a mug's game.
6 spoken informal a face:
•Something scared him. Probably your ugly mug!past tense and past participle mugged, present participle mugging
1 [T] to attack someone and rob them in a public place:
•A lot of people won't go out alone at night because they're afraid of being mugged.
2 [I] AmE informal to make silly expressions with your face or behave in a silly way, especially for a photograph or in a play
[+for]
•All the kids were mugging for the camera.

PHRASAL VERBS
mug up phr v BrE
informal to try to learn something in a short time, especially for an examination; = swot up
[+on]
•Jeannie can't come. She's busy mugging up on science for her exam.
mug sth <=> up
•Mug up as much as you can about the country before your trip. $ [C]
someone who attacks people in a public place and robs them [C,U]
an attack on someone in which they are robbed in a public place:
•Crime is on the increase, especially mugging and burglary.
•Dudley was the victim of a violent mugging. BrE spoken informal
used humorously to mean yourself, when you feel stupid because you have let other people treat you unfairly:
•Everyone disappeared after supper, leaving muggins here to do the washing-up.
informal muggy weather is unpleasantly warm and the air seems wet; = humid $ [C] informal
a photograph of someone's face, especially a criminal's, or one taken for official purposes:
•I was shocked to see his mugshot on the front page of the paper. [plural]
Muslim soldiers with strong religious beliefs [plural] AmE
boots with a thick bottom, made of animal skin and used for walking in snow $ plural mulattos [C] old-fashioned
a word for someone with one black parent and one white parent, which is now usually considered offensive; mixed race
MIXED (7) $ plural mulberries
1 [C] a dark purple fruit that can be eaten, or the tree on which this fruit grows
2 [U] a dark purple colour [C usually singular, U]
a substance such as decaying leaves that you put on the soil to improve its quality, to protect the roots of plants, or to stop WEEDs growing[I,T]
to cover the ground with mulch [C]
1 an animal that has a DONKEY and a horse as parents
stubborn as a mule at STUBBORN (1)
2 informal someone who brings illegal drugs into a country by hiding them on or in their body
3 [usually plural] a woman's shoe or SLIPPER that covers the front part of the foot but has no material around the heel written
refusing to do something or agree to something, in an unreasonable way; = stubborn
•a mulish look [T]
usually mull sth <=>over to think about a problem, plan etc for a long time before making a decision:
•He's mulling over the proposals before making any changes.
•The company is mulling over a share offer.[C]
an area of land that sticks out into the sea - used in Scotland:
•the Mull of Kintyre [C]
a Muslim teacher of law and religion[U]
wine that has been heated with sugar and spices [C]
1 a fairly small sea fish that can be eaten
2 a hairstyle for men in which the hair on the sides and top of the head is short and the hair on the back of the head is long $ [U]
a type of spicy soup [C] technical
a vertical piece of stone, metal, or wood between two pieces of glass in a window
- mullioned adjective
more than one; = many
•multicoloured
•a multistorey office blockmulticolored AmE $ BrE
having many different colours:
•a multicoloured sweatshirt
involving or including people or ideas from many different countries, races, or religions; multiethnic
•a multicultural society [U]
the belief that it is important and good to include people or ideas from many different countries, races, or religions
- multiculturalist noun [C] $
involving people with different jobs or from different areas of study:
•a multidisciplinary team of nurses, social workers, and GPs
1 involving or including people of several different ETHNIC groups; multicultural
•multi-ethnic Britain
2 AmE a multi-ethnic person has parents who come from different ETHNIC groups
having many parts or sides:
•a multifaceted campaign to reduce teen pregnancy[only before noun]
including or involving people from several different religious groups:
•a multi-faith gathering $ formal
of many different kinds:
•multifarious business activitiesalso multifunctional [only before noun]
a multifunction machine, piece of equipment, building etc is designed to have several different uses
involving several different countries or groups; bilateral, unilateral
•a multilateral arms treaty
using, speaking, or written in several different languages; bilingual, monolingual
•the problems of a multilingual classroom
•a multilingual phrasebook
- multilingualism noun [U] [only before noun]
1 involving computers and computer programs that use a mixture of sound, pictures, video, and writing to give information:
•multimedia game programs
•multimedia equipment
2 using several different methods of giving information, for example using television, newspapers, books, and computers:
•a multimedia exhibition on nuclear power
- multimedia noun [U][U]
a form of sending and receiving written messages to and from MOBILE PHONEs that makes it possible to combine the written message with pictures, video, and sound
multimillion-pound/multimillion-dollar etc worth or costing many millions of pounds, dollars etc:
•a multimillion-dollar lawsuit $ [C]
someone who has many millions of pounds or dollars
1 a multinational company has factories, offices, and business activities in many different countries:
•a multinational media corporation
2 involving people from several countries:
•the UN's multinational peace-keeping force[C]
a large company that has offices, factories etc in many different countries:
•Multinationals have made large investments in Thailand. $ [only before noun]
involving or including more than one political party:
•a multiparty democracy[U]
the playing of computer games on the Internet by more than one person at the same time, using different computers [only before noun]
many, or involving many things, people, events etc:
•Baxter was rushed to the hospital with multiple stab wounds.
•Having multiple partners increases your risk of sexual diseases.
•His new album includes multiple versions of the same songs.[C]
1 a number that contains a smaller number an exact number of times
[+of]
•20 is a multiple of 5.
2 BrE technical a MULTIPLE STORE[C]
when more than one baby is born to the same mother at the same time:
•The number of multiple births has risen sharply.
a multiple choice examination or question shows several possible answers, and you have to choose the correct one[C]
if someone has a multiple personality, they are mentally ill because they have two or more completely separate PERSONALITIES that each behave differently:
•multiple personality disorder[U] medical
MS a serious illness that gradually destroys your nerves, making you weak and unable to walk[C] BrE technical
a CHAIN STOREalso multiplex cinema BrE [C]
a cinema that has several different rooms in which it can show filmstechnical
having many different parts $ [C] technical
a piece of computer equipment that is used to send several electrical signals using only one connection, especially with a MODEM
- multiplexing noun [U] [U]
1 a method of calculating in which you add a number to itself a particular number of times; division
2 formal a large increase in the size, amount, or number of something:
•a multiplication of the number of forms to fill out[C]
a sign (x) showing that one number is multiplied by another[C]
a list, used especially by children in school, that shows the results when each number between one and twelve is multiplied by each number between one and twelve [singular, U] formal
a large number or great variety of things
[+of]
•the multiplicity of courses available to language students past tense and past participle multiplied, present participle multiplying, third person singular multiplies
1 [I,T] to do a calculation in which you add a number to itself a particular number of times; divide
•Children will learn to multiply in the second grade.
multiply sth by sth
•Multiply the total by 12.
2 [I,T] to increase by a large amount or number, or to make something do this:
•The amount of information available has multiplied.
•Smoking multiplies the risk of heart attacks and other health problems.
3 [I] to breed:
•Bacteria multiply quickly in warm food. $ [usually before noun]
able to be used for many different purposes:
•a multipurpose building
•a multipurpose tool
including or involving several different races of people; multicultural
•a multiracial society [U]
when someone is trained to do several different jobs within the same company[only before noun] BrE
a multi-storey building has many levels or floors[C] BrE spoken
a multi-storey CAR PARK $ [I]
to do several things at the same time:
•The successful applicant for this job must be able to multitask.
- multitasker noun [C] $ [U]
1 a computer's ability to do more than one job at a time
2 when a person does more than one thing at a time:
•Women are traditionally supposed to be good at multitasking. $ [C]
1 a multitude of sb/sth formal or literary a very large number of people or things:
•I had never seen such a multitude of stars before.
•a multitude of possible interpretations
2 the multitude(s) ordinary people, especially when they are thought of as not being very well educated:
•Political power has been placed in the hands of the multitude.
3 literary or biblical a large crowd of people:
•Clamoring multitudes demanded a view of the Pope.
4 cover/hide a multitude of sins to make faults or problems seem less clear or noticeable - used humorously:
•Patterned carpet can hide a multitude of sins (=the carpet is dirty, but the pattern hides it). $ formal
very many:
•language in all its multitudinous forms $ [C]
a PILL or liquid containing many different VITAMINs [C]
1 BrE mother; = mom AmE
2 mum's the word spoken used to tell someone that they must not tell other people about a secret
keep mum informal to not tell anyone about a secret [I,T]
to say something too quietly or not clearly enough, so that other people cannot understand you; mutter
•He bumped into someone and mumbled an apology.
•Stop mumbling!
mumble to yourself
•A woman on the corner was mumbling to herself.
- mumble noun [C] $ [U] informal
technical language that is difficult to understand and seems to have no sense:
•a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo $ [C]
an actor in a simple traditional play that does not have words
- mumming noun [U] past tense and past participle mummified, present participle mummifying, third person singular mummifies [T]
to preserve a dead body by putting special oils on it and wrapping it with cloth
- mummification noun [U] plural mummies [C]
1 BrE mother - used especially by young children or when you are talking to young children; = mommy AmE
•Mummy, can I play outside?
2 a dead body that has been preserved by wrapping it in cloth, especially in ancient Egypt[singular] BrE informal
a MOTHER'S BOYalso the mumps [U]
an infectious illness which makes your neck swell and become painfulplural mums-to-be [C] BrE informal
a MOTHER-TO-BE [I,T]
to eat something noisily
[+on/at]
•Barry sat munching on an apple.
•They'd munched their way through (=eaten all of) three packets of biscuits. [plural] informal
1 the munchies a feeling of wanting to eat something, especially food that is not healthy for you
have/get the munchies
•Get me a packet of crisps - I have the munchies.
2 AmE foods that are easy to pick up and eat, especially foods served at a party
1 ordinary and not interesting or exciting; = boring
•Initially, the work was pretty mundane.
•The mundane task of setting the table can be fun on holidays.
2 literary concerned with ordinary daily life rather than religious matters; = worldly [C, usually plural]
a small green bean, usually eaten as a BEANSPROUT $
relating to or belonging to the government of a town or city:
•the municipal waste dump
•municipal elections
- municipally adverb $ plural municipalities [C]
a town, city, or other small area, which has its own government to make decisions about local affairs, or the officials in that government:
•the municipality of Berkeley
•an elected municipality $ formal
very generous:
•a munificent gift
- munificence noun [U]
•the munificence of the museum's benefactors $ [plural]
military supplies such as bombs and guns:
•a munitions factory
- munition adjective [only before noun] $ [C]
a painting that is painted on a wall, either inside or outside a building; fresco
- mural adjective [only before noun] $
1 [C,U] the crime of deliberately killing someone; manslaughter

commit (a) murder
investigate a murder
accuse sb of murder/charge sb with murder
a brutal murder
attempted murder (=the crime of trying to kill someone)
first-degree murder AmE (=the most serious type of murder under US law)
mass murder (=of a large number of people)
murder victim
murder weapon
murder investigation/inquiry
murder case/trial
murder charge

•On the night the murder was committed, he was out of the country.
• The man accused of her murder will appear in court today.
[+of]
•the brutal murder of a young child
• He was found guilty of attempted murder.
•She was charged with two counts of first degree murder.
• The mother of the murder victim wept in court.
• Police are still searching for the murder weapon.
•Detectives have launched a murder investigation.

2 get away with murder informal to do anything you want, even things that are wrong, without being punished:
•She lets those kids get away with murder.
3 be murder spoken to be very difficult or unpleasant:
•It's murder doing the shopping on Saturdays.
•The traffic was murder this morning.
4 be murder on sth spoken to harm or damage something else:
•These new shoes are murder on my feet.
scream blue murder at SCREAM^1 (1)[T]
1 to kill someone deliberately and illegally:
•He was convicted of murdering a policeman.
•Thousands of civilians were brutally murdered during the civil war.
•the murdered man
see box at KILL^1
2 informal to spoil a song, play etc by performing it very badly:
•It's a good song, but they murdered it.
3 sb will murder you spoken used to tell someone that another person will be very angry with them:
•Your dad'll murder you when he hears about it.
4 I could murder a beer/pizza etc BrE spoken used to say that you are very hungry or thirsty and want a particular food or drink
5 informal to defeat someone completely:
•They murdered us in the final. $ [C]
someone who murders another person:
•a convicted murderer
•his brother's murderer $ [C] old-fashioned
a woman who murders another person $
1 very dangerous and likely to kill people:
•a murderous attack
•murderous drug dealers
2 murderous look/expression/glare etc an expression or look which shows that someone is very angry
- murderously adverb $ [U] literary
darkness caused by smoke, dirt, or clouds; = gloom $
1 dark and difficult to see through:
•murky water
2 complicated and difficult to understand; = obscure
•The laws on intellectual property are murky.
•the murky waters (=complicated subject) of sexuality and jealousy
3 involving dishonest or illegal activities that are kept secret; = shady
•a murky world of fraud and secret deals
•a politician with a murky past
- murkiness noun [U] $
1 [I,T] to say something in a soft quiet voice that is difficult to hear clearly:
•'Well done,' murmured George.
•The girl murmured something polite, and smiled.
•Julie turned over and murmured in her sleep.
2 [I] to make a soft, low sound:
•The wind murmured through the trees.
3 [I + against] literary especially BrE to complain to friends and people you work with, but not officially
- murmuring noun [C,U]
•murmurings of discontent[C]
1 a soft low sound made by people speaking quietly or a long way away
[+of]
•the murmur of voices in the other room
•She replied in a low murmur.
murmur of agreement/surprise/regret etc (=one that expresses a particular feeling)
•There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd.
2 a complaint, but not a strong or official complaint
[+of]
•There have been murmurs of discontent over the new rules.
3 do sth without a murmur to do something without complaining, especially when this is surprising:
•They signed the form without a murmur.
4 the soft low sound made by water, the wind etc:
•the murmur of the little brook
5 heart murmur an unusual sound made by the heart, which shows that there may be something wrong with it $ [U] informal especially AmE
a tendency for bad things to happen whenever it is possible for them to do so - used humorously; = sod's law BrE
1 [C,U] one of the pieces of flesh inside your body that you use in order to move, and that connect your bones together

arm/leg/neck/stomach etc muscles
the muscles in your leg/arm/stomach etc
strengthen/build up your muscles
pull/strain a muscle (=injure a muscle)
flex your muscles (=bend your arm muscles so that people can see how strong you are)
muscle tissue/fibres (=the material that muscles are made of)
muscle tone (=the firmness of your muscles )

•Relax your stomach muscles, then stretch again.
•Regular exercise will help to strengthen your muscles.
•Beckham has pulled a muscle in his thigh and won't play tomorrow.

2 not move a muscle to stay completely still:
•The soldier stood without moving a muscle.
3 [U] power or influence
military/economic/political etc muscle
•The unions have a lot of political muscle.
•The agreement will give the UN some muscle to enforce human rights.
4 [U] physical strength and power:
•It took muscle to work in an old-fashioned kitchen.
put some muscle into it (=used to tell someone to work harder)
flex your muscles at FLEX^1 (2)
muscle your way into/through etc sth to use your strength to go somewhere:
•Joe and Tony muscled their way through the crowd.

PHRASAL VERBS
muscle in phr v
to use your power to get involved in or take control of something that someone else was doing, especially in business - used to show disapproval
[+on]
•Banks are muscling in on the insurance business.
having large stiff muscles because of too much physical exercise:
•musclebound weight-lifters
having large muscles; = muscular
•He had a good body, tanned and well-muscled. plural musclemen [C]
1 a man who has developed big strong muscles by doing exercises
2 a strong man who is employed to protect someone, usually a criminal [C]
someone from the city of Moscow in Russia
- Muscovite adjective $
1 having large, strong muscles:
•She was fast and strong, with a slender, muscular body.
•He's very muscular.
2 concerning or affecting the muscles:
•muscular injuries
- muscularity noun [U] $ [U]
a serious illness in which the muscles become weaker over a period of time $ [singular, U] medical
all the muscles in the body, considered as a group
1 [T] to say something in a way that shows you are thinking about it carefully:
•'Somewhere,' he mused, 'I've heard your name before.'
2 [I] to think about something for a long time
[+on/over/about/upon]
•He mused on how different his life would have been, had he not met Louisa.
- musing noun [C,U]
•her gloomy musings
- musingly adverb[C]
1 someone's muse is the force or person that makes them want to write, paint, or make music, and helps them to have good ideas; = inspiration
•Rossetti's wife and creative muse
2 also Muse one of the nine ancient Greek goddesses who each represented a particular art or science:
•the Muse of History $ [C]
a building where important CULTURAL, historical, or scientific objects are kept and shown to the public:
•the Museum of Modern Art
•The museum has an extensive collection of early photographs.[C]
1 something or someone that is very old-fashioned - often used humorously:
•Some of the weapons used by the rebels are museum pieces.
2 an object that is so valuable or interesting that it should be in a museum
1 [singular, U] an unpleasant soft substance, especially food, which is partly liquid and partly solid:
•The boiled vegetables had turned to mush.
•She trudged through the mush of fallen leaves.
2 turn/go to mush if your brains, heart etc turn to mush, you cannot think clearly or sensibly:
•If you watch too much TV, your brains will turn to mush.
3 [U] AmE a thick PORRIDGE made from CORNMEAL
4 [U] a book, film etc that is about love and is SENTIMENTAL:
•poetry and mush like that BrE spoken
used to speak to someone in an angry way:
•Oi, mush! Get your hands off my car!
used to tell a team of dogs that pull a SLEDGE over snow to start moving [C]
one of several kinds of FUNGUS with stems and round tops, some of which can be eaten; toadstool
•mushroom soup[I]
to grow and develop very quickly:
•New housing developments mushroomed on the edge of town.[C usually singular]
a large cloud shaped like a mushroom, which is caused by a NUCLEAR explosion
1 soft, wet, and unpleasant:
•Cook for two minutes until soft but not mushy.
2 expressing or describing love in a silly way:
•mushy romance novels[plural] BrE
soft cooked PEAs , eaten especially in the north of England [U]
1 a series of sounds made by instruments or voices in a way that is pleasant or exciting

listen to music
play music
write/compose music
pop/rock/jazz/classical/country music
live music (=music that is played by musicians on stage)
recorded music
background music
piece of music
music lover

•I often listen to music when I'm in the car.
•What's your favourite kind of music?
•a record featuring the music of George Harrison
•The band was playing music from the show 'South Pacific'.
•Nyman writes the music for most of Peter Greenaway's films.
•a country music radio station
•A lot of the bars round here have live music at weekends.
•A new piece of music was specially written for the occasion.
•He was a keen music lover.

2 the art of writing or playing music:
•Peter's studying music at college.
•music lessons
music business/industry etc
•a career in the music business
3 a set of written marks representing music, or paper with the written marks on it:
•I left my music at home.
•McCartney never learned to read music.
SHEET MUSIC
4 be music to your ears if someone's words are music to your ears, they make you very happy or pleased
5 set/put sth to music to write music so that the words of a poem, play etc can be sung
face the music at FACE^2 (7)

GRAMMAR

!! Do not say 'musics' or 'a music'. Music is an uncountable noun: I love listening to music.

!! Do not say 'music band' or 'music group'. Say band or group: Why don't we form a band? | My favourite group is S Club 7. You can also use a word that describes a type of music before band or group: a jazz band | a rock group

!! Do not say 'music concert'. Say concert: It was the first time I'd been to a concert. You can also use a word that describes a type of music before concert: pop concerts | a classical music concert

1 [only before noun] relating to music or consisting of music:
•a musical version of the fairy tale 'Cinderella'
•When he began his musical career, King played only for black audiences.
2 good at or interested in playing or singing music:
•She's very musical and loves to sing.
3 having a pleasant sound like music:
•a sweet musical voice
MUSICALLY[C]
a play or film that includes singing and dancing:
•Webber had three musicals playing in London at one time.
Broadway/West End musical (=one that is performed in New York's or London's important theatres)
•Carroll appeared in a number of Broadway musicals.[U]
1 a children's game in which all the players must sit down on a chair when the music stops, but there is always one chair less than the number of people playing
2 a situation in which people change jobs for no good reason or with no useful result:
•Scott is now the finance director, after a long game of musical chairs among top management.[C] old-fashioned
a musical, especially one from the early 20th century[C]
something that you use for playing music, such as a piano or GUITAR; = instrument
1 in a way that is related to music:
•It's not as good a show, musically, as 'The Most Happy Fella'.
2 in a way that sounds like music:
•A small fountain splashed musically in the courtyard.[C]
a box that plays a musical tune when you open itBrE
1 [U] a type of entertainment in the theatre in the 19th and early 20th century consisting of performances by singers, dancers, and people telling jokes; = vaudeville
2 [C] a theatre used for music hall shows $ [C]
someone who plays a musical instrument, especially very well or as a job:
•a talented young musician $ [U]
skill in playing music $ [U]
the study of music, especially the history of different types of music
- musicologist noun [C][C]
a metal frame for holding written music, so that you can read it while playing an instrument or singing [U]
1 a substance with a strong smell that is used to make PERFUME
2 written a strong smell, especially the way a person smells:
•the musk of sweat and muscle
- musky adjective [C]
a type of gun used in the past $ [C]
a soldier in the past who used a musket [C]
a type of sweet MELON; = cantaloupeplural musk oxen [C]
a large animal with long brown or black hair and curved horns, which lives in northern Canada and Greenland [C]
an animal which lives in water in North America [C]
someone whose religion is Islam
- Muslim adjective [U]
a very thin cotton cloth used for making dresses and curtains, especially in the past $ plural musos [C] BrE informal
someone who plays popular music or knows a lot about italso muss up [T] informal especially AmE
to make something untidy, especially someone's hair:
•Briscoe reached down and mussed the boy's hair.
no muss, no fuss used to say that something can be done easily and without problems - used humorously:
•It works every time, no muss, no fuss. [C]
a small sea animal, with a soft body that can be eaten and a black shell that is divided into two parts strong negative short formmustn't
1 past tense had to to have to do something because it is necessary or important, or because of a law or order; have, oblige
•All passengers must wear seat belts.
•It's getting late. I really must go.
•You must work hard.
•We must all be patient.
•Must I pay now?
•For the engine to work, the green lever must be in the 'up' position.
•Accidents must be reported to the safety officer.
2 used in negative sentences to say that something should not happen, because of a rule or law or because of the situation:
•You mustn't talk to your mother like that.
•This book must not be removed from the library.
•We must never forget how much we owe to these brave men.
•No one must disturb him while he's sleeping.
3 used to say you think something is very likely to be true or very likely to have happened:
•Sam must be nearly 90 years old now.
•His new car must have cost around £20,000.
•You must have been really upset.
•There must be something wrong with the engine.
•Karl must've seen 'Star Wars' six or seven times.
4 especially BrE spoken used to suggest that someone should do something, especially because you think they will enjoy it or you think it is a good idea:
•You must come and stay with us in London sometime.
•'We must do this again,' he said. 'I've enjoyed it thoroughly.'
5 especially BrE spoken used to say that you intend or want to do something:
•I must call her tonight.
6 I must admit/say/confess spoken used to emphasize what you are saying:
•I must say, it gave me quite a shock.
7 (why) must you...? spoken used to tell someone that their behaviour upsets or annoys you:
•Must you spoil everything?
•Why must you always be so suspicious?
8 a must-have/must-see/must-read etc informal something that is so good, exciting, or interesting that you think people should have it, see it etc:
•The exhibit is a must-see for anyone interested in Japanese art.
•a must-read novel
9 if you must (do sth) spoken used to tell someone that they are allowed to do something, but that you do not approve of it or agree with it:
•All right, come along, if you must.
•If you must smoke, please go outside.
10 if you must know spoken used when you answer a question that you think someone should not have asked, because it is slightly impolite:
•Well, if you must know, I'm thirty-six.
you must be joking at JOKE^2 (2) [C usually singular]
something that you must do or must have:
•Warm clothes are a must in the mountains. $
the usual American spelling of MOUSTACHEmoustachioed $
having a MOUSTACHE, especially a large one [C]
a small wild horse in North America $ [U]
1 a yellow sauce with a strong taste, eaten especially with meat
2 a plant with yellow flowers and seeds that are used to make mustard sauce
3 a yellow-brown colour
4 cut the mustard informal to be good enough to do something:
•Other magazines have tried to copy ZAPP, but have never quite cut the mustard.
keen as mustard at KEEN^1 (4)[U]
a poisonous gas that burns the skin, first used during the First World War $
1 [T] also muster up sth to get enough courage, confidence, support etc to do something, especially with difficulty; = summon (up)
muster (up) the courage/confidence/energy etc to do sth
•Finally I mustered up the courage to ask her out.
•Senator Newbolt has been trying to muster support for his proposals.
•'It's going to be fine,' replied David, with as much confidence as he could muster.
2 [I,T] if soldiers muster, or if someone musters them, they come together in a group; = gather
•In April 1185, he began to muster an army.
1 pass muster (as sth) to be accepted as good enough for something:
•I wasn't sure that our clothing would pass muster at the club door.
2 [C] literary a gathering together of soldiers so that they can be counted, checked etc
the short form of 'must not':
•You mustn't tell Jerry what I've bought.
a musty room, house, or object has an unpleasant smell, because it is old and has not had any fresh air for a long time:
•the musty smell of old books formal
able or likely to change; immutable
- mutability noun [U] [C]
1 an animal or plant that is different in some way from others of the same kind, because of a change in its GENETIC structure
2 something that is very different from others of the same type, in a way that is strange or bad - often used humorously
- mutant adjective [only before noun] $ [I]
1 if an animal or plant mutates, it becomes different from others of the same kind, because of a change in its GENETIC structure:
•Simple organisms like bacteria mutate rapidly.
2 to change and develop a new form:
•Technology continues to mutate at an alarming rate. [C,U]
1 a change in the GENETIC structure of an animal or plant that makes it different from others of the same kind
2 technical a change in a speech sound, especially a vowel, because of the sound of the one next to it
1 written someone who is mute does not speak, or refuses to speak; = silent
•Billy continued to stand there, mute and defiant.
2 old-fashioned someone who is mute is unable to speak
- mutely adverb[T]
1 formal to make the sound of something quieter, or make it disappear completely:
•Excess noise can be reduced by muting alarms and telephones.
2 to make a musical instrument sound softer
3 formal to reduce the level of criticism, protest, discussion etc that is happening:
•The incident so shocked all the students that it muted further protest.[C]
1 a small piece of metal, rubber etc that you place over or into a musical instrument to make it sound softer
2 old-fashioned someone who cannot speak
DEAF MUTE [usually before noun]
1 muted sounds, voices etc are quieter than usual; = subdued
•Everyone was sitting round discussing the accident in muted voices.
2 a muted reaction to something is not expressed strongly:
•There was muted agreement from most of the people in the room.
•The speech received only a muted response from the unions.
3 a muted colour or light is soft and gentle, not bright:
•muted pinks and blues
4 a muted musical instrument has been made to sound softer [T]
1 to severely and violently damage someone's body, especially by cutting or removing part of it:
•The prisoners had been tortured and mutilated.
•extra protection for mental patients who might mutilate themselves
2 to damage or change something so much that it is completely spoiled:
•The sculpture was badly mutilated in the late eighteenth century.
- mutilation noun [C,U] $ [C]
someone who is involved in a mutiny $
1 written showing by your behaviour or appearance that you do not want to obey someone; = rebellious
•There was a mutinous look in Rosie's eyes.
2 involved in a mutiny
- mutinously adverb $ plural mutinies [C,U]
when soldiers, SAILORs , etc refuse to obey the person who is in charge of them, and try to take control for themselves
[+against]
•He led a mutiny against the captain.
- mutiny verb [I]
•The soldiers had mutinied over the non-payment of wages. [C] informal
a dog that does not belong to any particular breed; = mongrel $
1 [I,T] to speak in a low voice, especially because you are annoyed about something, or you do not want people to hear you
mutter to yourself
•'I never want to come here again,' he muttered to himself.
•Elsie muttered something I couldn't catch and walked off.
•'He's such an unpleasant man,' Alyssia muttered under her breath.
[+about]
•What are you two muttering about?
2 [I] to complain about something or express doubts about it, but without saying clearly and openly what you think
[+about]
•Some senators muttered darkly about the threat to national security.
- mutter noun [singular]
•His voice subsided to a mutter.
- muttering noun [C,U]
•The mutterings about his leadership continued to grow. [U]
1 the meat from a sheep; lamb
2 mutton dressed as lamb BrE used to describe, in a disapproving way, someone who is wearing clothes that are usually worn by younger people[plural]
hair that a man allows to grow on the sides of his cheeks
1 mutual feelings such as respect, trust, or hatred are feelings that two or more people have for each other; reciprocal
mutual respect/trust/understanding etc
•Mutual respect is necessary for any partnership to work.
•European nations can live together in a spirit of mutual trust.
•I didn't like Dev, and the feeling seemed to be mutual.
•The two men were a mutual admiration society, gushing about how much they were learning from each other.
2 [only before noun] mutual support, help etc is support that two or more people give each other:
•MAMA puts new mothers in touch with each other, for mutual support and friendship.
3 mutual agreement/consent when two or more people both agree to something:
•In the end the relationship was ended by mutual agreement.
4 mutual friend/interest a friend or interest that two people both have:
•We discovered a mutual interest in drama.[C] AmE
an arrangement managed by a company, in which you can buy SHAREs in many different businesses; = unit trust BrE
1 mutually acceptable/beneficial/convenient etc something that is mutually acceptable etc is acceptable etc to both or all the people involved:
•We eventually arrived at a figure that was mutually acceptable.
2 mutually exclusive two ideas or beliefs that are mutually exclusive cannot both exist or be true at the same time [C] AmE
a long loose dress [U] trademark
recorded music that is played continuously in airports, shops etc [C]
1 the nose and mouth of an animal, especially a dog or horse
2 a cover that you put over a dog's mouth to stop it from biting people
3 the open end of a gun, where the bullets come out[T]
1 to prevent someone from saying what they think in public; = gag
•an attempt by the government to muzzle the country's media
2 to put a muzzle over a dog's mouth so that it cannot bite people BrE
unable to think clearly, especially because you are ill, sleepy, or drunk:
•Juliet's head felt muzzy, and she hoped she hadn't a cold coming on.
1 the written abbreviation of medium wave
2 the written abbreviation of megawatt or megawatts [possessive form of 'I']
1 used by the person who is speaking to show that something belongs to or is connected with himself or herself:
•Have you seen my car keys?
•My mother phoned last night.
•I'm sure you don't want to listen to all my problems.
•Even my own family wouldn't believe me.
•an apartment of my own
2 my goodness/my God etc used when you are surprised or shocked about something:
•Oh my God! I've missed the train.
3 my dear/darling/love etc used when talking or writing to someone that you love or like a lot:
•Happy Birthday, my love.
used when you are surprised, IMPRESSed , or upset:
•My! Look at the size of that tree!
•'It's 3:30.' ' Oh my, I'm going to be late!' $ [U]
the study of different types of FUNGUSalso mynah $ [C]
a large dark Asian bird that can copy human speech $ [U]
1 when someone does not think about the future, especially about the possible results of a particular action - used in order to show disapproval; = short-sightedness
2 medical the inability to see clearly things that are far away; = short-sightedness BrE; = nearsightedness AmE $
1 unwilling or unable to think about the future, especially about the possible results of a particular action - used in order to show disapproval; = short-sighted
•the government's myopic attitude to environmental issues
2 medical unable to see things clearly that are far away; = short-sighted BrE; = near-sighted AmE
- myopically adverb [usually before noun] written
very many:
•the myriad causes of homelessness
a myriad
•We were plagued by a myriad tiny flies.
a myriad of sth/myriads of sth a very large number of things:
•We're still studying a myriad of options. $ [U]
a substance that comes from trees and is used for making PERFUME and INCENSE $ [C]
a small tree with shiny green leaves and white flowers that smell nice [reflexive form of 'I']
1 used by the person speaking or writing to show that they are affected by their own action:
•I blame myself for what has happened.
•I can look after myself.
•I'm making myself a sandwich.
2
a) used to emphasize 'I' or 'me':
•Why do I always have to do everything myself?
•They say it's a beautiful place, but I myself have never been there.
b) used after 'like', 'as', or 'except' instead of 'me':
•No one is to blame except myself.
3 (all) by myself
a) alone:
•I'd like to be by myself for a while.
b) without help from anyone else:
•I painted the house all by myself.
4 not feel/be myself informal used when the person speaking does not feel well, or is not able to behave normally, for example because he or she is upset or ill:
•I haven't been feeling myself lately.
•Sorry, I'm not myself today. I've had some bad news.
5 have sth (all) to myself to not have to share something with anyone else:
•Everyone else had gone out and I had the apartment all to myself. $
1 mysterious events or situations are difficult to explain or understand:
•The police are investigating the mysterious deaths of children at the hospital.
•Benson later disappeared in mysterious circumstances.
•There's something mysterious going on.
2 a mysterious person is someone who you know very little about and who seems strange or interesting; = enigmatic
•I decided to find out more about my mysterious new neighbour.
•a mysterious stranger
3 someone who behaves in a mysterious way says very little about what they are doing, in a way that makes you want to know more; = secretive
[+about]
•Helen's being very mysterious about her plans.
•She hid her thoughts behind a mysterious smile.
- mysteriously adverb
•Jackson had mysteriously disappeared. plural mysteries
1 [C usually singular] an event, situation etc that people do not understand or cannot explain because they do not know enough about it

remain a mystery
be a mystery (to sb)
it's a mystery
solve/unravel a mystery (=find an explanation for it)
the mystery deepens (=it becomes more difficult to understand)
a complete mystery
an unsolved mystery
be one of life's (little) mysteries (=be something that you will never understand - used humorously)

•Twenty years after the event, his death remains a mystery.
•The way her mind worked was always a mystery to him.
•'Why did he do it?' 'I don't know. It's a complete mystery.'
•The police never solved the mystery of Gray's disappearance.
•But why would anyone want to kill Jack? The mystery deepened.
•What happened to the paintings after that is an unsolved mystery.
•I don't know how he got the job - it's one of life's little mysteries.
•How life began on Earth is one of the great mysteries of science.

2 [U] the quality that something or someone has when they seem strange, secret, or difficult to understand or explain
•Her dark glasses gave her an air of mystery.
•Annie knew that there was some mystery surrounding her birth.
be shrouded/veiled in mystery
•The circumstances of his death were veiled in mystery.
3 [C usually plural] a subject, activity etc that is very complicated, secret, or difficult to understand, and that people want to learn about
the mysteries of sth
•his introduction to the mysteries of the perfume business
4 [C] also murder mystery a story, film, or play about a murder, in which you are not told who the murderer is until the end:
•an Agatha Christie mystery[only before noun]
used to describe someone or something that people do not recognize or know anything about, especially when this causes great interest
mystery man/woman
•Who was the mystery woman spotted on board the yacht with the prince?
•a mystery virus[C]
a religious play from the Middle Ages, based on a story from the Bible[C] BrE
a trip, usually by bus, in which people do not know exactly where they will be taken [C]
someone who practises MYSTICISM
another word for MYSTICALalso mystic [usually before noun]
1 involving religious, SPIRITUAL, or magical powers that people cannot understand:
•music's spiritual and mystical powers
2 relating to mysticism:
•a mystic ritual
- mystically adverb [U]
a religious practice in which people try to get knowledge of truth and to become united with God through prayer and MEDITATION past tense and past participle mystified, present participle mystifying, third person singular mystifies [T]
if something mystifies you, it is so strange or confusing that you cannot understand or explain it; = baffle
•Her disappearance has mystified her friends and neighbors.
- mystifying adjective
•Snake charming is always fascinating and at times mystifying. [U]
a quality that makes someone or something seem mysterious, exciting, or special:
•Some of the mystique surrounding the presidency has gone forever. [C,U]
1 an idea or story that many people believe, but which is not true; = fallacy
[+of]
•the myth of male superiority
myth that
•the myth that wisdom accompanies old age
•Contrary to popular myth, the majority of accidents are not caused by speeding or drunkenness.
explode/dispel a myth (=show that it is not true)
•It was important to dispel the myth that Aids was a gay disease.
2 an ancient story, especially one invented in order to explain natural or historical events
[+of]
•the myth of Orpheus
•the giants of myth and fairytale
URBAN MYTHalso mythical [usually before noun]
1 very great or famous:
•He became a mythic figure in publishing.
2 mythic proportions very great size or importance:
•a feat of mythic proportionsalso mythic [usually before noun]
1 existing only in an ancient story:
•a mythical creature like the Minotaur
2 imagined or invented:
•all these mythical job prospects he keeps talking about $ plural mythologies [C,U]
1 set of ancient myths:
•characters from classical mythology
[+of]
•the mythology of the Persians
2 ideas or opinions that many people have, but that are wrong or not true:
•According to popular mythology, school days are the best days of your life.
- mythological $ adjective
•The walls are painted with mythological scenes. $ [U]
a disease that kills rabbits written informal
a short form of 'and':
•rock 'n' roll
•fish 'n' chips
the written abbreviation of north or, northern n plural N's, n's [C,U]
1 the 14th letter of the English alphabet
2 used in mathematics to represent a number whose value is not known:
•The value of n is less than 10.also n BrE
the written abbreviation of noun
not applicable written on a form to show that you do not need to answer a question
another spelling of NAN^2 past tense and past participle nabbed, present participle nabbing [T] informal
1 to catch or ARREST someone who is doing something wrong:
•The police nabbed him for speeding.
2 to get something or someone quickly, especially before anyone else can get them:
•See if you can nab a seat. $ [plural]
Mexican food consisting of small pieces of TORTILLAs covered with cheese, beans etc $ [U]
MOTHER-OF-PEARL $ [singular] written
the time when a situation is at its worst:
•By 1932, the depression had reached its nadir. [plural] AmE spoken informal
TESTICLEs BrE informal
something that is naff seems silly, especially because it is unfashionable or shows a lack of good taste; tacky
•a really naff film
•Babur says the uniform makes him look naff.

PHRASAL VERBS
naff off phr v BrE spoken informal
used to tell someone rudely to go away past tense and past participle nagged, present participle nagging [I,T]
1 to keep asking someone to do something, or to keep complaining to someone about their behaviour, in an annoying way; pester
•I wish you'd stop nagging!
nag sb to do sth
•Nadia's been nagging me to fix the lamp.
nag sb about sth
•She keeps nagging me about my weight.
[+at]
•He's always nagging at Paula for wearing too much makeup.
2 to make someone feel continuously worried or uncomfortable
[+at]
•a problem that had been nagging at him for days
•One question still nagged me.[C] informal
1 a person who keeps complaining or asking someone to do something, in an annoying way:
•Don't be such a nag!
2 old-fashioned a horse, especially one that is old or in bad condition [only before noun]
1 making you worry or feel pain slightly all the time
nagging feeling/doubt/suspicion etc
•There was still a nagging doubt in the back of her mind.
•Lee had a nagging pain in her back.
2 always complaining:
•a nagging wife informal
no [C]
1 a thin pointed piece of metal with a flat top, which you hit into a surface with a hammer, for example to join things together or to hang something on:
•The key was hanging on a nail by the door.
hammer/bang/hit a nail into sth
•She hammered a nail into the wall.
2 your nails are the hard smooth layers on the ends of your fingers and toes:
•I've broken my nail.
•Stop biting your nails!
•She sat painting her nails (=putting a coloured substance on them).
•He still had dirt under his nails.
FINGERNAIL, TOENAIL
3 nail in sb's/sth's coffin one of several bad things which help to destroy someone's success or hopes:
•Observers fear that this strike will be another nail in the coffin of the industry.
•the final nail in his coffin
4 as hard/tough as nails very TOUGH and not easily frightened, or not caring about the effects of your actions on other people
5 on the nail
a) BrE if you pay money on the nail, you pay it immediately
b) especially AmE completely correct:
•They got it absolutely on the nail.
hit the nail on the head at HIT^1 (26)[T]
1 [always + adv/prep] to fasten something to something else with nails
nail sth to sth
•A sign saying 'No Fishing' had been nailed to the tree.
nail sth down
•The lid was firmly nailed down.
nail sth up (=permanently close a window or door by fixing something across it using nails)
•The windows had been nailed up.
2 informal to catch someone and prove that they are guilty of a crime or something bad:
•It took us 10 years to nail the guy who killed our daughter.
nail sb for sth
•The state police finally nailed him for fraud.
3 informal if you nail something, you succeed in getting it, after a lot of time or effort:
•She finally nailed her dream job.
4 nail a lie/myth BrE informal to prove that what someone has said is completely untrue
5 nail your colours to the mast BrE to say clearly and publicly which ideas or which people you support
6 nail sb to the wall/cross especially AmE to punish someone severely

PHRASAL VERBS
nail sb/sth <=> down phr v informal
1 to reach a final and definite agreement or decision about something:
•Two days isn't enough time to nail down the details of an agreement.
2 to force someone to say clearly what they want or what they intend to do
[+to]
•Before they repair the car, nail them down to a price.[C] informal
a very exciting story, film etc[only before noun]
extremely exciting because you do not know what is going to happen next:
•The match went all the way to a nail-biting finish.
•some nail-biting moments near the end of the movie [C]
a small stiff brush for cleaning your fingernails[plural]
a special tool for cutting your nails neatly[C]
a thin piece of metal with a rough surface used for making your nails a nice shapealso nail varnish BrE [U]
coloured or transparent liquid which you paint on your nails to make them look attractive:
•pink nail polish[plural]
a small pair of scissors for cutting your nails
not having much experience of how complicated life is, so that you trust people too much and believe that good things will always happen; innocent
•a naive young girl
•Jim can be so naive sometimes.
it is naive to think/suppose/assume etc
•It would be naive to think that this could solve all the area's problems straight away.
- naively adverb
•I had naively imagined that he was in love with me.
- naivety also naiveté noun [U]
•dangerous political naivety
1 not wearing any clothes or not covered by clothes; = nude; bare
•The children ran naked through the yard.
•a picture of a naked man
•They found the body lying half naked in the grass.
•The governor ordered the prisoner to be stripped naked and whipped.
stark naked also
buck naked/naked as a jaybird AmE (=completely naked)
2 the naked eye if you can see something with the naked eye, you can see it without using anything to help you, such as a TELESCOPE
visible to/with the naked eye
•The mite is just visible to the naked eye.
•Through his telescope he could see millions of stars that were invisible to the naked eye.
3 weak and unable to protect yourself:
•Standing in front on his first day of teaching, Brad felt completely naked.
4 naked truth/self-interest/aggression etc truth, SELF-INTEREST, AGGRESSION etc that is not hidden and is shocking:
•The President condemned the invasion as an act of naked aggression.
5 naked light/flame/sword etc a light, flame etc that is not enclosed by a cover:
•A naked light bulb dangled from the ceiling.
- nakedly adverb
- nakedness noun [U] informal
too weak and gentle and not strict or TOUGH enough:
•For some people soccer has a reputation as a rather namby-pamby sport.
- namby-pamby noun [C]
1 OF A PERSON [C] what someone is called:
•Her name is Mandy Wilson.
•What's your name?
•Can I have your last name?
•She called him by his first name (=she used his first name when talking to him).
•Please leave your full name (=complete name) and address with reception.
•She didn't give (=say) her name.
•I heard someone call (=say or shout) my name.
• Sign your name (=write it) on the dotted line.
•Can you put my name on the list?
•It's a big school but the principal knows everyone by name (=can recognize everyone and address them by their name).
•I knew him by name only (=I knew his name, but didn't know what he looked like).
under the name (of) sth (=using a different name from your real name)
•HH Munro wrote under the name Saki.
(go) by the name of sth (=used to say that someone has or uses a particular name)
•a young politician who went by the name of Tony Blair
2 OF A THING OR PLACE [C] what a thing, organization, or place is called
[+of]
•What's the name of the street?
•The name of the company has changed.
[+for]
•Edo was the ancient name for Tokyo.
•The flower's common name (=name that is used by ordinary people, not its scientific name) is forget-me-not.
3 REPUTATION [singular] the opinion that people have about a person or organization; = reputation
•He didn't want to do anything to damage the good name of the company.
•The restaurant got a bad name for slow service.
•They give the rest of the fans a bad name.
•The company has a name for reliability.
make your name/make a name for yourself (=become famous for something)
•He quickly made a name for himself in the Parisian art world.
clear your name (=prove that you did not do something bad or illegal)
4 FAMOUS PERSON/COMPANY/PRODUCT [C] informal a person, company, or product that is very famous or is known by many people
big/famous/household name
•some of the biggest names in show business
•It made the company into a household name (=a very well known person or thing).
5 call sb names to use unpleasant words to describe someone in order to insult or upset them:
•The other kids used to call me names.
call sb all the names under the sun (=use many unpleasant words to describe someone)
6 in sb's name/in the name of sb
a) if something is in someone's name, it officially belongs to them or is for them to use:
•The house is in my husband's name.
•I've booked a table in the name of Steinmann.
b) formal as someone else's official representative:
•I claim this land in the name of the King!
7 sth has sb's name on it something that seems to be appropriate for or deserved by a particular person:
•The match had England's name on it (=they will win it).
8 in the name of religion/freedom/science etc using religion, freedom etc as the reason why something is done - used especially when you disapprove of what someone is doing:
•cruel experiments on animals carried out in the name of science
•the things people do in the name of love
9 have sth to your name informal to have or own something - used to emphasize that someone has very little or a lot of something:
•He died without a penny to his name (=very poor).
•He didn't have a qualification to his name.
10 the name of the game informal the most important thing in a particular activity or situation:
•Quality, that's the name of the game.
11 cannot put a name to sth spoken used to say that someone is not able to say what something is called:
•I know the tune but I can't put a name to it.
12 take sb's name in vain to talk about someone without showing respect for them:
•How dare you take the Lord's name in vain (=swear using a word such as 'God' or 'Jesus')?
13 in name only/alone if a situation exists in name only, it does not really exist even though officially people say it does:
•a democracy in name only
•He was president in name only.
14 in all/everything but name if something is true in all but name, it is really true, even though people do not officially say that it is true:
•She was his wife in all but name.
15 sb's name is mud informal used to say that people are angry with someone because of something he or she has done - used especially humorously:
•If anything goes wrong, your name will be mud.
drag sb's name through the mud at DRAG^1 (10); PEN NAME

WORD FOCUS: name
someone's first name:
first name
given name especially AmE
Christian name
someone's family name:
family name
last name
surname
maiden namea woman's family name before she gets married
the name between your first and last name:
middle name
all of the words of someone's name:
full name
when someone writes their name:
signature
autographof a famous person
a name used instead of someone's real name:
nickname a short name used by someone's friends or family
pen name /pseudonym a name used by a writer
stage name the name used by an actor
false name
alias a name used especially by a criminal
under an assumed name using a false name in order to hide your identity
the name of a thing:
title the name of a book, film, picture etc
common name the name for a plant, animal, substance etc used by ordinary people
scientific name the name used by scientists
term a word or phrase used in technical contexts
[T]
1 GIVE SB A NAME to give someone or something a particular name; call
name sb John/Ann etc
•We named our daughter Sarah.
name sb/sth after sb/sth (=give someone or something the same name as another person or thing)
•He was named after his father.
•The street is named after the famous South African leader, Nelson Mandela.
name sth for sb/sth AmE (=give something the same name as a person or thing)
•The college is named for George Washington.
a man/woman etc named sth (=someone with a particular name)
•some guy named Bob Dylan
!! To talk about the name of a person or thing, it is more usual to say called rather than 'named': He had a friend called Mick.
2 SAY SB'S OR STH'S NAME to say what the name of someone or something is, especially officially:
•The two murder victims have yet to be named.
name sb as sth
•The woman who was shot has been named as Mary Radcliff.
•She has secret information and is threatening to name names (=name the people who were involved in something, especially something bad or illegal).
•They're a lot better than some airlines I could name.
name and shame BrE (=say publicly who is responsible for something illegal that has happened, or who has not achieved a particular standard)
3 CHOOSE SB to officially choose someone or something, especially for an important job or prize
name sb/sth (as) sth
•The film was named best foreign film.
•Quinn has been named as the new team manager.
name sb to sth AmE
•Fitzgerald was named to the committee by the chairman.
4 to name but a few/a handful/three etc used after a short list of things or people to say that there are many more you could mention
5 you name it (they've got it)! spoken used after a list of things to mean that there are many more you could mention:
•Clothes, books - you name it, they sell it!
6 name the day/date to decide on a date for your wedding
7 name your price spoken to say how much you are willing to pay for something or sell something for[C] AmE
a popular and well-known product name
- name-brand adjective [only before noun]
•name-brand climbing gear
BRAND NAME[U]
when people use unpleasant words to describe someone in order to insult or upset them:
•playground teasing including name-calling[T]
to mention a particular product, person, business etc in something such as an advertisement or speech, or to mention them in order to thank them
- namechecking noun [U][C]
the day each year when people of some Christian religions celebrate the particular SAINT (=holy person) whose name they have been given[U]
when someone mentions the name of a famous person they have met or have some connection with, in order to seem impressive to other people - used humorously or to show disapproval:
•I didn't want to be accused of name-dropping.
- name-drop verb [I]
- name-dropper noun [C]
1 who shall remain nameless spoken used when you want to say that someone has done something wrong but without mentioning their name, especially to criticize them in a friendly way:
•A certain person, who shall remain nameless, forgot to lock the front door.
2 [only before noun] a nameless person is someone whose name is not known:
•the work of some nameless 13th century writer
3 [only before noun] a nameless thing does not have a name:
•He lay still in his nameless grave.
4 [only before noun] literary nameless emotions are very strong and difficult to describe in words:
•He managed to calm her nameless fears.
5 [only before noun] literary too terrible to name or describe:
•nameless horrors formal written
used when saying the names of the people or things you are referring to:
•Three students were mentioned, namely John, Sarah and Sylvia. [C]
a piece of metal or plastic fastened to something, showing the name of the owner or maker, or the person who lives or works in a place
sb's namesake another person, especially a more famous person, who has the same name as someone:
•Like his famous namesake, young Washington had a brave, adventurous spirit.[C]
a small sign with your name on it that you wear[C] BrE
a small piece of cloth with your name on it that is sewn onto clothes, especially school children's clothes; = label AmEalso nanna [C] BrE informal
grandmother - used by children; = nannynaan also nan bread [U]
a type of bread made without YEAST and eaten with Indian food plural nannies [C]
1 a woman whose job is to take care of the children in a family, usually in the family's own home:
•She found a job as a nanny with a wealthy Italian family.
2 BrE informal grandmother - used by children; = nan
3 the nanny state especially BrE a government which tries to control the lives of its citizens too much[C]
a female goat; billy goat $ [in nouns]
one BILLIONth part of a unit:
•nanometre (=a billionth of a metre) $ [C]
a unit for measuring time. There are a BILLION nanoseconds in a second. $ [U] technical
a science which involves developing and making extremely small but very powerful machines
1 [C] a short sleep, especially during the day
have/take a nap
•I usually take a nap after lunch.
•an afternoon nap
2 [singular] the soft surface on some cloth and leather, made by brushing the short fine threads or hairs in one direction
PILE^1 (7)past tense and past participle napped, present participle napping [I]
1 be caught napping informal to not be ready to deal with something when it happens, although you should be ready for it:
•The German team were caught napping and Beckham scored the winning goal.
2 to sleep for a short time during the day $ [U]
a substance made from petrol that was used in bombs by US forces to burn fields and villages during the Vietnam war [singular] literary
the bottom part of the back of your neck, where the hair ends:
• the soft warm nape of her neckalso naphtha [U]
a type of oil used for FUEL or for making chemicals [C]
1 a square piece of cloth or paper used for protecting your clothes and for cleaning your hands and lips during a meal; = serviette
2 a SANITARY PAD[C]
a small ring which a napkin can be kept in plural nappies [C] BrE
a piece of soft cloth or paper worn by a baby between its legs and fastened around its waist to hold its liquid and solid waste; = diaper AmE
•Excuse me while I change the baby's nappy.
•a dirty nappy
disposable nappies (=nappies which are made to be used once and thrown away)
nappy rash (=sore skin caused by wet nappies) $ [C] AmE informal
a police officer who deals with the problem of illegal drugs[I + on] AmE informal
to secretly tell the police about someone else's criminal activities, especially activities involving illegal drugs $ [U]
when someone is too concerned about their appearance or abilities or spends too much time admiring them - used to show disapproval:
•He went to the gym every day, driven purely by narcissism.
- narcissist noun [C]
- narcissistic $ adjective $ plural narcissi [C]
a yellow or white spring flower, such as the DAFFODIL $ [C]
1 narcotics [plural] especially AmE strong illegal drugs such as HEROIN or COCAINE:
•the narcotics trade
narcotics agent (=a police officer who deals with the problems of narcotics)
2 a type of drug which makes you sleep and reduces pain
1 [only before noun] especially AmE relating to illegal drugs:
•narcotic addiction
2 a narcotic drug takes away pain or makes you sleep $ [C] informal especially BrE
someone who is friendly with criminals and who secretly tells the police about their activities; = informeralso narky $ [not before noun] BrE informal
angry about something someone has done:
•There's no need to get narked about it! $ [T] formal
1 to explain what is happening in a film or television programme as part of the film or programme:
•a wildlife film narrated by David Attenborough
2 to tell a story by describing all the events in order, for example in a book:
•The main character narrates the story. $ [C,U]
1 a spoken description or explanation which is given during a film, play etc
2 formal the act of telling a story formal
1 [C] a description of events in a story, especially in a NOVEL:
•At several points in the narrative the two stories cross.
2 [U] the process or skill of telling a story
- narrative adjective
•a narrative poem
•narrative structure $ [C]
1 the person who tells the story in a book or a play
2 the person who describes or explains what is happening in a film or television programme but who is not seen $
1 NOT WIDE measuring only a small distance from one side to the other, especially in relation to the length; wide ; broad
narrow street/road/path etc
•a long narrow road
•the narrow passage between the cottage and the house
•his narrow bed
•The stairs were very narrow.
•a long, narrow band of cloud
2 narrow escape a situation in which you only just avoid danger, difficulties, or trouble:
•A woman had a narrow escape yesterday when her car left the road.
•He was shaken by his narrow escape from death.
3 narrow victory/defeat/majority/margin etc a win etc that is only just achieved or happens by only a small amount; slim
•The president won a narrow victory in the election.
•He persuaded a narrow majority of the party to support the government.
•Scotland eventually won the match by the narrow margin of 5-4.
4 IDEAS/ATTITUDES a narrow attitude or way of looking at a situation is too limited and does not consider enough possibilities:
•You've got a very narrow view of life.
•Some teachers have a narrow vision of what art is.
NARROW-MINDED
5 narrow sense/definition a meaning of a word that is exact or limited:
•I use the word 'neighbour' in its more precise or narrower sense.
6 LIMITED limited in range or number of things:
•The company offered only a narrow range of financial services.
- narrowness noun [U]
NARROWLY, NARROWS; the straight and narrow at STRAIGHT^3 (2)[I,T]
1 to make something narrower or to become narrower:
•He narrowed his eyes and gazed at the horizon.
•The track divided into two and narrowed.
2 if a range, difference etc narrows, or if something narrows it, it becomes less:
•The choice of goods available is narrowing.
•The economic gap between the two halves of the country was beginning to narrow.

PHRASAL VERBS
narrow sth <=> down phr v
to reduce the number of things included in a range:
•The police have narrowed down their list of suspects.
[+to]
•I've narrowed it down to one of two people (=there are now only two people to choose between).[C] BrE
a long, narrow boat for use on CANALs [C,U]
a size of railway track of less than standard width:
•a narrow gauge railway $
1 by only a small amount:
•He was narrowly defeated in the election.
•One bullet struck his car, narrowly missing him.
•A man narrowly escaped death when a fire broke out in his home on Sunday morning.
2 in a limited way:
•The law is being interpreted too narrowly.
•These big general issues should be broken down into more narrowly focused questions. $
unwilling to accept or understand new or different ideas, opinions, or customs; = prejudiced; broadminded
•His attitude is narrow-minded and insensitive.
•narrow-minded nationalism
- narrow-mindedness noun [U] $ [plural]
1 a narrow area of water between two pieces of land which connects two larger areas of water:
•There are really three lakes, joined by narrows.
2 AmE a narrow part of a river, lake etc $ old-fashioned
nary a sth not one:
•They said nary a word.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration a US government organization that controls space travel and the scientific study of space
1 [only before noun] related to the nose:
•the nasal passage
2 a sound or voice that is nasal comes mainly through your nose:
•He spoke in a high nasal voice.
3 [only before noun] technical a nasal CONSONANT or vowel such as /n/ or /m/ is one that is produced completely or partly through your nose
- nasally adverb[C] technical
a particular speech sound such as /m/, /n/, or // that is made through your nose [usually before noun] formal
coming into existence or starting to develop:
•the country's nascent democracy
•their nascent manufacturing industries $ [C]
a garden plant with orange, yellow, or red flowers and circular leaves $ comparative nastier, superlative nastiest
1 BEHAVIOUR nasty behaviour or remarks are extremely unkind and unpleasant:
•a nasty temper
•the nasty things that were being written about her
•There's a nasty streak in her character.
•Drivers often have a nasty habit of driving too close to cyclists.
[+to]
•Don't be so nasty to your mum (=do not treat her unkindly).
get/turn nasty especially BrE (=suddenly start behaving in a threatening way)
•When Harry refused, Don turned nasty and went for him with both fists.
2 PERSON someone who is nasty behaves in an unkind and unpleasant way:
•I went to school with him - he was nasty then and he's nasty now.
•You're a nasty little brute!
3 EXPERIENCE/SITUATION a nasty experience, feeling, or situation is unpleasant
nasty shock/surprise
•It gave me a nasty shock.
nasty feeling/suspicion
•I had a nasty feeling that a tragedy was going to happen.
•Life has a nasty habit of repeating itself.
•He had a nasty accident while riding in the forest.
•When you feel you've been cheated, it always leaves a nasty taste in the mouth (=makes you feel upset or angry afterwards).
•The weather turned nasty towards the evening.
4 SIGHT/SMELL ETC having a bad appearance, smell, taste etc:
•What's that nasty smell?
•They were cheap and nasty watches, the kind you see on special offer in petrol stations.
5 INJURY/ILLNESS severe or very painful:
•a nasty cut
•He was carried off the field with a nasty injury.
6 SUBSTANCE a nasty substance is dangerous:
•nasty chemicals
7 a nasty piece of work BrE someone who is dishonest, violent, or likely to cause trouble
- nastily adverb
- nastiness noun [U]
VIDEO NASTY technical
relating to birth:
•Green turtles return to their natal island to breed. [sentence adverb] spoken informal
used to say that something is exactly as you would expect; = naturally
•'What does he drive?' 'A BMW, natch.' [C]
1 a country, considered especially in relation to its people and its social or economic structure:
•the President's radio broadcast to the nation
•an independent nation
•the world's leading industrial nations
!! In most situations, it is more usual to say country: I've been to countries all over the world. | Do you like this country?
2 a large group of people of the same race and language:
•the Cherokee nation
1 related to a whole nation as opposed to any of its parts; local
•Religion matters very much at a national level.
•Between 1929 and 1933 America's national income fell by more than half.
•There are strong indications that the Prime Minister will call national elections in May.
2 relating to one particular nation as opposed to other nations; international
•We refuse to sign any treaty that is against our national interests.
3 [only before noun] owned or controlled by the central government of a country:
•the National Institute for Space Research
•the country's national airline
NATIONALLY[C]
someone who is a citizen of a particular country but is living in another country; alien, citizen, subject
• Foreign nationals were advised to leave the country.
French/EU/Japanese etc national
•Turkish nationals who are living in the UK[C]
the official song of a nation that is sung or played on public occasions[C,U]
special clothing traditionally worn by the people of a particular country:
•folk dancers in national costume
the National Curriculum the course of study that most students follow in England and Wales between the ages of five and 16[C usually singular]
the total amount of money owed by the government of a country:
•The government taxed fuel highly in order to finance the national debt.[U]
NATIONAL COSTUME
the National Grid the system of electricity lines across Britain
the National Guard a military force in each state of the US which can be used when it is needed by the state or the US government
the National Health Service the NHS the state system for providing health care in Britain, paid for by taxes[U]
a system of insurance organized by the British government into which workers and employers make regular payments, and which provides money for people who are unemployed, old, or ill BrE
another spelling of NATIONALIZE [U]
1 the desire by a group of people of the same race, origin, language etc to form an independent country:
•Scottish nationalism
2 love for your own country and the belief that it is better than any other country; patriotism
•Under his leadership, a strong sense of nationalism emerged. [only before noun]
1 a nationalist organization, party etc wants to gain or keep political independence for their country and people:
•the Scottish Nationalist Party
•the rise of the nationalist movement
2 a nationalist organization or party believes that their country is the most important or the best[C]
1 someone who is involved in trying to gain or keep political independence for their country and people:
•Welsh nationalists
2 someone who believes their country is best
someone who is nationalistic believes that their country is better than other countries; patriotic
•They were encouraging nationalistic sentiment among the students. plural nationalities
1 [C,U] the state of being legally a citizen of a particular country; citizenship
•people of the same nationality
French/Brazilian etc nationality
•He has British nationality.
dual nationality (=the state of being a citizen of two countries)
2 [C] a large group of people with the same race, origin, language etc:
•the different nationalities within the former USSRalso nationalise BrE [T]
if a government nationalizes a very large industry such as water, gas, or the railways, it buys it or takes control of it; privatize
•The British government nationalized the railways in 1948.
•a nationalised industry
- nationalization $ noun [C,U]
by or to everyone in the nation:
•a nationally recognised qualification
•The programme will be broadcast nationally.[C]
a building, special feature of the land etc that is kept and protected by a government for people to visit[C]
land which is protected by a government because of its natural beauty or historical or scientific interest, and which people can visit:
•Yosemite National Park[U]
the idea that a country must keep its secrets safe and its army strong in order to protect its citizens:
•The number of people who join the army is so low that it is beginning to threaten national security.[U]
the system of making all adults spend a period of time in the army, navy, or air force
the National Trust a British organization which owns and takes care of many beautiful old buildings and areas of countryside in England and Wales [U]
the state of being a nation[C]
a nation that is a politically independent country:
•European union is seen as a threat to the sovereignty of the nation state. [usually before noun]
happening or existing in every part of the country:
•a nationwide search for a missing British tourist
•nationwide television
- nationwide adverb
•We have 350 sales outlets nationwide.
1 COUNTRY [only before noun] your native country, town etc is the place where you were born; home
•They never saw their native land again.
•He spent most of his professional life outside his native Poland.
2 native New Yorker/population/inhabitants etc a person or people who come from or have always lived in a particular place
3 native language/tongue the language you spoke when you first learned to speak; = first language
•English is not the native language for almost half of our overseas visitors.
4 PLANT/ANIMAL growing, living, produced etc in one particular place; = indigenous
•Singapore has many native species of palm.
[+to]
•These fish are native to North America.
5 ART/CUSTOM [only before noun] native customs, traditions etc are related to people who lived in a particular country before European people arrived there:
•the native traditions of Peru
•stalls selling native jewelry
•native folklore
6 NATURAL [only before noun] a native ability is one that you have naturally from birth:
•her native wit
7 go native to behave, dress, or speak like the people who live in the country where you have come to stay or work - used humorously:
•Austen has been living in New Guinea so long he's gone native.[C]
1 a person who was born in a particular place
[+of]
•a native of Switzerland
2 someone who lives in a place all the time or has lived there a long time
[+of]
•He has become a native of Glasgow.
3 [usually plural] not polite a word used by white people in the past to refer to the people who lived in America, Africa, southern Asia etc before European people arrived, now considered offensive:
•He was not certain whether the natives were friendly.
4 a plant or animal that grows or lives naturally in a place
[+of]
•The bear was once a native of Britain.[C]
someone who belongs to one of the races that lived in North America before Europeans arrived[C]
someone who has learned a particular language as their first language, rather than as a foreign language; non-native speaker
•For the spoken language, students are taught by native speakers.
[+of]
•a native speaker of English plural Nativities
1 the Nativity the birth of Jesus Christ
2 [C] a picture or model of the baby Jesus Christ and his parents in the place where he was born:
•a Nativity scene with all the animals[C]
a play telling the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, performed by children at Christmas:
•the school's Nativity play $
North Atlantic Treaty Organization a group of countries including the US and several European countries, which give military help to each other:
•our allies in NATO
•a NATO country $ [I] BrE informal
to talk for a long time about unimportant things; = chat
[+to/with]
•Sometimes she would pick up the telephone and natter to Charles.
[+about]
•Lynne's been nattering on about the wedding for weeks.[singular] BrE informal
the act of talking about unimportant things; = chat
•We sat down and had a natter and a cup of tea. informal
neat and fashionable in appearance:
•a natty suit
•He was a natty dresser.
- nattily adverb
1 NATURE existing in nature and not caused, made, or controlled by people; artificial, man-made
•the study of the natural world (=trees, rivers, animals, plants etc)
•an area of spectacular natural beauty
• natural disasters (=things such as floods or EARTHQUAKEs )
•death from natural causes
•the need for natural light in offices
2 NORMAL normal and as you would expect; unnatural, abnormal
•At the time, accepting his offer had seemed the most natural thing in the world.
it is natural (for sb) to do sth
•It's not natural for a child of his age to be so quiet.
• It's only natural that he should be interested in what happens.
•It was a perfectly natural (=not surprising) mistake to make.
3 BEHAVIOUR a natural tendency or type of behaviour is part of your character when you are born, rather than one that you learn later:
•Babies have a natural fear of falling.
4 ABILITY having a particular quality or skill without needing to be taught and without needing to try hard:
•a natural musician
•Cheryl has a natural elegance about her.
•his natural ability with figures
5 RELAXED behaving in a way that is normal and shows you are relaxed and not trying to pretend:
•Be cool, be natural.
6 PARENT/CHILD [only before noun]
a) someone's natural parent or child is their real parent or child, who is BIOLOGICALly related to them:
•An adopted young person has the right to trace his natural parents.
b) old-fashioned if someone is the natural child of someone, their parents were not married to each other:
•He was rumoured to be the natural son of a duke.
7 REAL not connected with gods, magic, or SPIRITs ; supernatural
•I'm sure there's a perfectly natural explanation.
8 natural justice/law justice that is based on human reason alone
9 FOOD with nothing added to change the taste:
•natural yoghurt
10 MUSIC technical a musical note that is natural has been raised from a FLAT by one SEMITONE or lowered from a SHARP by one semitone; sharp, flat
- naturalness noun [U]
•Manufacturers now choose to emphasize the naturalness of the ingredients used in their products.[C]
1 be a natural to be good at doing something without having to try hard or practise:
•People think I am a natural, but I've had to work at it.
2 technical
a) a musical note that has been changed from a FLAT to be a SEMITONE higher, or from a SHARP to be a semitone lower
b) the sign in written music that shows this kind of musical note
natural-born singer/story-teller etc someone who has always had a particular quality or skill without having to learn it[U]
a method of giving birth to a baby in which a woman chooses not to be given drugs to reduce the pain[U]
gas used for heating and lighting, taken from under the earth or under the sea[U]
the study of plants, animals, and minerals:
•the Natural History Museum [U]
a style of art or literature which tries to show the world and people exactly as they are [C]
someone who studies plants or animalsalso naturalist
painted, written etc according to the ideas of naturalism
- naturalistically adverbalso naturalise BrE
be naturalized if someone who was born outside a particular country is naturalized, they become a citizen of that country
- naturalization $ noun [U] $
1 [sentence adverb] use this to say that something is normal and not surprising:
•Naturally, you'll want to discuss this with your wife.
• Naturally enough, she wanted her child to grow up fit and strong.
2 spoken use this to say 'yes' when you agree with someone or when you think the person who asked the question should know that your reply will be 'yes':
•'Am I allowed in?' 'Naturally.'
3 in a way that is the result of nature, not of someone's actions:
•My hair is naturally curly.
come naturally (to sb) (=be easy for you to do because you have a natural ability)
•Speaking in public seems to come quite naturally to her.
4 in a relaxed manner without trying to look or sound different from usual:
•Just speak naturally and pretend the microphone isn't there.
see box at SURELY[U] old use
science $ [C usually plural]
things that exist in nature and can be used by people, for example oil, trees etc:
•a country with abundant natural resources[C,U]
chemistry, biology, and physics, considered together as subjects for study, or one of these subjects[U] technical
the process by which only plants and animals that are naturally suitable for life in their environment will continue to live and breed, while all others will die out; evolution
survival of the fittest at SURVIVAL (2)[U]
a reduction in the number of people employed by an organization, which happens when people leave their jobs and the jobs are not given to anyone else $
1 PLANTS/ANIMALS ETC also Nature [U] everything in the physical world that is not controlled by humans, such as wild plants and animals, earth and rocks, and the weather:
•We grew up in the countryside, surrounded by the beauties of nature.
•nature conservation
the laws/forces of nature
•The inhabitants of the island fight a constant battle against the forces of nature.
in nature
•All these materials are found in nature.
•Disease is nature's way of keeping the population down.
2 SB'S CHARACTER [C,U] someone's character:
•a child with a happy, easy-going nature
sb's nature
• It's just not in Jane's nature to lie.
by nature
•She was by nature a very affectionate person.
•I tried appealing to his better nature (=his feelings of kindness) but he wouldn't agree to help us.
•Of course she's jealous - it's only human nature (=the feelings and ways of behaving that all people have).
3 QUALITIES OF STH [singular, U] the qualities or features that something has
[+of]
•They asked a lot of questions about the nature of our democracy.
•He examined the nature of the relationship between the two communities.
exact/precise/true nature
•The exact nature of the problem is not well understood.
different/political/temporary etc in nature
•Any government funding would be temporary in nature.
•Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable.
4 TYPE [singular] a particular kind of thing
of a personal/political/difficult etc nature
•The support being given is of a practical nature.
of this/that nature
•I never trouble myself with questions of that nature.
5 in the nature of things according to the natural way things happen:
•In the nature of things, there is bound to be the occasional accident.
6 be in the nature of sth formal to be similar to a type of thing:
•The enquiry will be more in the nature of a public meeting than a formal hearing.
7 let nature take its course to allow events to happen without doing anything to change the results:
•Sometimes the best cure for an illness is just to let nature take its course.
8 back to nature a style of living in which people try to live simply and not use modern machines:
•city workers who want to get back to nature in their holidays
be/become second nature (to sb) at SECOND^1 (10)
the call of nature at CALL^2 (12)[C]
an area of land in which animals and plants are protected[C]
a path through the countryside that is designed so that you can see interesting plants, animals etc along the way [C]
someone who enjoys not wearing any clothes because they believe it is natural and healthy to do this; = nudist
- naturism noun [U] [C]
someone who tries to cure illness using natural things such as plants, rather than drugs
- naturopathy $ noun [U]
- naturopathic adjective $ old use
nothing:
•All their plans came to naught (=failed). $
1 DISOBEDIENT a naughty child does not obey adults and behaves badly; good
•You're a very naughty boy! Look what you've done!
2 SLIGHTLY BAD BrE if an adult does something naughty, they do something that is not right or good, but is not very serious:
•I felt a bit naughty going off on my own, leaving the children behind.
3 INVOLVING SEX naughty jokes/magazines/films etc BrE old-fashioned naughty jokes, magazines, films etc deal with sex, especially in a humorous way; rude, blue
- naughtily adverb
- naughtiness noun [U] $ [U] formal
the feeling that you have when you think you are going to VOMIT (=bring food up from your stomach through your mouth); = sick
feeling/wave of nausea
•A feeling of nausea suddenly came over me.
AD NAUSEAM $ [T]
to make someone feel that they are going to VOMIT:
•The thought of food nauseated me.
•She felt dizzy and nauseated. $
1 making you feel that you are going to VOMIT; = sickening
•the nauseating smell of rotting fish
2 making you feel annoyed or offended; = disgusting
•his nauseating remarks
- nauseatingly adverb $
1 especially AmE feeling that you are going to VOMIT; = sick
•I felt slightly nauseous.
•The taste made me nauseous.
2 formal making you feel that you are going to VOMIT:
•a nauseous smell $
relating to ships, boats, or sailing:
•All the waiters were dressed in nautical attire.[C]
a unit for measuring distance at sea, equal to about 1.15 miles or 1852 metres [only before noun]
relating to the navy or used by the navy:
•a naval officer
•naval battles [C]
the long central part of a church [C]
1 the small hollow or raised place in the middle of your stomach; = belly button, tummy button
2 gaze at/contemplate your navel to spend too much time thinking about your own problems - used humorously
a river, lake etc that is navigable is deep and wide enough for ships to travel on
- navigability noun [U]
1 [I,T] to find which way you need to go when you are travelling from one place to another:
•I'll drive, you take the map and navigate.
•Early explorers used to navigate by the stars.
navigate your way through/to/around sth
•We managed to navigate our way through the forest.
2 [I,T] to understand or deal with something complicated:
•A solicitor will help you navigate the complex legal system.
[+through]
•I am currently trying to navigate through a whole stack of information on the subject.
3 [T] to sail along a river or other area of water:
•The river is too dangerous to navigate.
4 [I,T] to find your way around on a particular website, or to move from one website to another:
•The magazine's website is easy to navigate. [U]
1 the science or job of planning which way you need to go when you are travelling from one place to another:
•compasses and other instruments of navigation
2 when someone sails a ship along a river or other area of water:
•Navigation becomes more difficult further up the river.
3 when you CLICK on words, pictures etc in order to move between documents that are connected on the Internet
- navigational adjective [only before noun] $ [C]
an officer on a ship or aircraft who plans which way it should go when it is travelling from one place to another plural navvies [C] BrE
an unskilled worker who does physical work, such as building roads plural navies
1 [C] the part of a country's military forces that fights at sea:
•the British Navy
in the navy
•Is your brother still in the navy?
•He joined the navy during the war.
2 [U] a very dark blue colour:
•The jacket is available in navy, green, or brown.
- navy adjective[C] AmE
a small white bean which is cooked and eaten, especially in BAKED BEANSalso navy
very dark blue:
•a navy blue sweater
- navy blue noun [U]
1 [sentence adverb] literary used when you are adding something to emphasize what you have just said:
•a bright - nay, a blinding light
2 old use used to say no:
•Nay, lad. It's not that bad.[C]
a 'no' - used when voting [C]
1 a member of the National Socialist Party of Adolf Hitler which controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945
2 someone who uses their authority over others in a very strict or cruel way:
•Some of the supervisors are real Nazis.
- Nazi adjective
- Nazism noun [U]also NB BrE written
nota bene used to make a reader pay attention to an important piece of information
the NBA the National Basketball Association the American organization which arranges professional BASKETBALL games
National Broadcasting Company one of the main American television companies $ [C]
non-commissioned officer an officer of low rank in the British army
used for forming written ORDINAL numbers with 2:
•the 2nd (=second) of March
•her 22nd birthday
the written abbreviation of northeast or, northeastern $ [C]
1 also Neanderthal an early type of human being
2 a man who is big, ugly, and stupid
3 someone who has old-fashioned ideas and opposes change
- neanderthal adjective
•his neanderthal attitude towards women[U]
an early type of human being who lived in Europe during the STONE AGE $
neapolitan ICE CREAM has layers of different colours and tastes [C]
a very small rise and fall of the level of the sea at the times of the first and third quarters of the moon; spring tide $
1 SHORT DISTANCE AWAY only a short distance from a person or thing; close, nearby
•They live near London.
•I'm sure they live somewhere near here.
•They moved house to be nearer the school.
[+to] especially BrE
•a hotel near to the beach
•She told the children not to go near the canal.
•I'm warning you - don't come any nearer!
•We heard voices as we drew near the village.
2 SHORT TIME BEFORE soon before a particular time or event:
•I didn't remember to phone until near the end of the week.
[+to] especially BrE
•I'll give you a ring a bit nearer to Christmas.
•They should send us more details nearer the time of the concert.
3 ALMOST DOING STH almost doing something or almost in a particular state:
•The work is now near completion.
•A lot of the women were near tears.
•We are no nearer an agreement than we were six months ago.
[+to]
•He was near to panic as he scrambled out of the building.
•She was near to crying.
•He seemed to know that he was near to death.
4 AMOUNT OR LEVEL almost at a particular amount or level:
•Inflation is now near 10%.
•He looked nearer fifty than forty.
[+to]
•Unemployment is now near to its all-time low.
•Strawberries must come near the top of the list.
5 SIMILAR if something is near something else, it is similar to it:
•His story was near enough the truth for people to believe it.
[+to]
•They say that love is very near to hate.
•It may not be an exact replica but it's pretty damn near.
6 near perfect/impossible etc almost perfect, impossible etc:
•a near impossible task
7 draw near if an event is drawing near, it is nearly time for it to happen:
•The day of his interview was drawing near.
8 (as) near as damn it BrE spoken used to say that something is very nearly true or correct:
•The repairs will cost us £1000, as near as damn it.
9 near enough BrE used to say that something is nearly true or correct:
•It's eleven o'clock, near enough.
•All three car parks were full, near enough.
10 nowhere near/not anywhere near used before an adjective or adverb to say that something is definitely not true:
•That's nowhere near enough money!
•The job wasn't anywhere near finished.
11 not come near sb/sth if one person or thing does not come near another one, it is not at all as good as the other one:
•None of the other wordprocessing programs comes near this one.
12 sb will not go near sb/sth if someone will not go near a person or thing, they dislike or are frightened of them and will not speak to the person or use the thing:
•He refused to go near a doctor.
•He made up his mind never to go near a motorcycle again.
1 only a short distance away from someone or something; close, nearby
•It's a beautiful house but it's 20 miles away from the nearest town.
•We can meet at the pub or in the restaurant, whichever's nearer for you.
2 a near disaster/collapse etc almost a DISASTER, COLLAPSE etc:
•The election was a near disaster for the Conservative party.
3 the nearest thing/equivalent to sth the thing you have that is most like a particular type of thing:
•He's the nearest thing to a father I've got.
4 in the near future soon:
•They promised to contact us again in the near future.
5 be a near thing BrE
a) if something you succeed in doing is a near thing, you manage to succeed but you nearly failed:
•They won the championship, but it was a near thing.
b) used to say that you just managed to avoid a dangerous or unpleasant situation:
•That was a near thing - that truck was heading straight for us.
6 near miss
a) when a bomb, plane, car etc nearly hits something but does not:
•a near miss between two passenger aircraft over the airport
b) a situation in which something almost happens, or someone almost achieves something
7 to the nearest £10/hundred etc an amount to the nearest £10, hundred etc is the number nearest to it that can be divided by £10, a hundred etc:
•Give me the car mileage to the nearest thousand.
8
a) near relative/relation a relative who is very closely related to you such as a parent:
•The death of a near relative is a terrible trauma for a child.
b) sb's nearest and dearest someone's family - used humorously
9 [only before noun, no comparative]
a) used to describe the side of something that is closest to where you are:
•the near bank of the river
b) BrE used when talking about the parts of a vehicle to mean the one that is closest to the side of the road when you drive; off
•The headlight on the near side isn't working.
NEARLY; nowhere near at NOWHERE (4)
- nearness noun [U]written
1 [T] to come closer to a place; = approach
•She began to feel nervous as she neared the house.
•The ship was nearing the harbour.
2 [T] to come closer to being in a particular state:
•The work is nearing completion.
•He's 55 now, and nearing retirement.
3 [T] to come closer to a particular time:
•He was nearing the end of his stay in India.
4 [I] if a time nears, it gets closer and will come soon:
•He got more and more nervous as the day of his departure neared. $ [only before noun]
not far away:
•Lucy was staying in the nearby town of Hamilton.
- nearby $ adverb
•Dan found work on one of the farms nearby.
•Do you live nearby?
the Near East the Middle East
- Near Eastern adjective
•Ancient Near Eastern literature $
1 especially BrE almost, but not quite or not completely; = almost
•It took nearly two hours to get here.
•Michelle's nearly twenty.
•Is the job nearly finished?
•Louise is nearly as tall as her mother.
•I nearly always go home for lunch.
•He very nearly died.
2 not nearly not at all:
•He's not nearly as good-looking as his brother.
•We've saved some money, but it's not nearly enough. $ [only before noun] BrE
on the side of a vehicle that is closest to the side of the road when you drive; offside
•a scratch on the nearside front wing of the car
- nearside noun [singular] $ especially AmE
unable to see things clearly unless they are close to you; far-sighted; = shortsighted BrE
- nearsightedness noun [U] comparative neater, superlative neatest
1 TIDY tidy and carefully arranged:
•neat handwriting
•His clothes were always neat and clean.
•Everything in the house was neat and tidy.
•She arranged the books in a nice neat pile.
2 LIKING THINGS TIDY someone who is neat likes to keep things tidy:
•I've always been quite neat.
3 GOOD AmE spoken very good, pleasant, or enjoyable:
•That's a really neat idea.
•I liked working for him - he was a neat guy.
4 SMALL something that is neat is small and attractive:
•her small, neat features
5 CLEVER formal a neat way of doing or saying something is simple but clever and effective:
•In the end we found a very neat solution to the problem.
•a neat summary of the main issues
6 DRINKS especially BrE a neat alcoholic drink has no ice or water or any other liquid added; = straight
•I can't drink brandy neat.
•drinking neat whisky
- neatly adverb
•He wrote his name neatly at the bottom of the page.
•The problem was neatly summed up by one of the teachers.
- neatness noun [U] literary
beneath:
•neath the stars plural nebulae [C]
1 a mass of gas and dust among the stars, which often appears as a bright cloud in the sky at night
2 a GALAXY (=mass of stars) which appears as a bright cloud in the sky at night
- nebular adjective formal
1 an idea that is nebulous is not at all clear or exact; = vague
•'Normality' is a rather nebulous concept.
2 a shape that is nebulous is unclear and has no definite edges:
•a nebulous ghostly figure $
1 not necessarily possibly, but not certainly:
•That is not necessarily true.
•Expensive restaurants aren't necessarily the best.
•Having this disease does not necessarily mean that you will die young.
•'So the school will have to close down, then.' 'Not necessarily.'
2 formal in a way that cannot be different or be avoided; = inevitably
•The care of old people necessarily involves quite a lot of heavy lifting. $
1 something that is necessary is what you need to have or need to do; essential
•The booklet provides all the necessary information about the college.
•No further changes were considered necessary.
absolutely/really necessary
•The police are advising motorists to travel only if their journey is absolutely necessary.
it is necessary (for sb) to do sth
•It's not necessary to wear a tie.
•The doctor says it may be necessary for me to have an operation.
make it necessary (for sb) to do sth
•Falling profits made it necessary to restructure the business.
necessary for (doing) sth
•A good diet is necessary for maintaining a healthy body.
if/when/where necessary
•I'll stay up all night, if necessary, to get it finished.
2 necessary connection/consequence etc a connection, result etc that must exist and cannot be avoided:
•The closure of the factory was a necessary consequence of increased competition from abroad.
3 a necessary evil something bad or unpleasant that you have to accept in order to achieve what you want:
•Mr Hurst regarded work as a necessary evil.
1 necessaries [plural] things such as food or basic clothes that you need in order to live
2 do the necessary BrE spoken to do what is necessary:
•Leave it to me - I'll do the necessary. [T] formal
to make it necessary for you to do something:
•Lack of money necessitated a change of plan.
necessitate doing sth
•This would necessitate interviewing all members of staff. plural necessities
1 [C] something that you need to have in order to live; luxury
•She saw books as a necessity, not a luxury.
•A car is an absolute necessity if you live in the country.
the basic/bare necessities
•A lot of families cannot even afford to buy the basic necessities of life.
2 [U] when something is necessary
[+for]
•He emphasized the necessity for good planning and management.
the necessity of (doing) sth
•This illustrates the necessity of keeping accurate records of your work.
•Many teachers are now questioning the necessity of formal exams.
through/out of necessity
•He only remained with the group out of necessity.
economic/practical/political etc necessity
•I'm afraid it's become a matter of economic necessity.
3 [C] something that must happen, even if it is unpleasant:
•Taxes are a regrettable necessity.
4 of necessity formal used when something happens in a particular way because that is the only possible way it can happen:
•Many of the jobs are, of necessity, temporary.
5 necessity is the mother of invention used to say that if someone really needs to do something, they will find a way of doing it [C]
1 PART OF THE BODY the part of your body that joins your head to your shoulders, or the same part of an animal or bird
around sb's neck
•Jean wore a string of pearls around her neck.
•Mike rubbed the back of his neck.
•You have a lot of tension in your neck muscles.
•He patted his horse's neck.
•She had a mass of golden hair , which she wore in a coil at the nape (=back) of her neck.
•The dog picked up the puppy and carried it by the scruff (=back) of the neck into the house.
2 CLOTHING the part of a piece of clothing that goes around your neck
[+of]
•The neck of his shirt was open.
•The sweater has a round neck and long sleeves.
V-necked/open-necked etc
•a navy V-necked sweater
crew neck, polo neck, scoop neck, turtleneck, V-neck
3 NARROW PART the narrow part of something, usually at the top
[+of]
•Lara put the cork back in the neck of the bottle.
•a crack in the neck of the violin
4 be up to your neck in sth
a) to be very busy with something:
•She's up to her neck in work.
b) to be in a difficult situation that is hard to escape from:
•Jim's up to his neck in debt.
5 neck and neck (with sb) informal if two competitors or groups are neck and neck in a competition or race, they are level with each other:
•Opinion polls show the two main parties are running neck and neck.
6 in this/sb's neck of the woods informal in a particular area or part of the country:
•I haven't been in this neck of the woods for years.
7 get it in the neck BrE spoken to be punished or criticized:
•If we don't make some changes we'll all get it in the neck.
8 by a neck informal if a race, especially a horse race, is won by a neck, the winner is only a very short distance in front:
•Our horse won by a neck.
9 LAND a narrow piece of land that comes out of a wider part:
•a neck of land between a lake and the sea
10 (hang) around your neck if something hangs around your neck, it keeps causing you problems
be breathing down sb's neck at BREATHE (5); I'll wring sb's neck at WRING (6); pain in the neck at PAIN^1 (3); risk your neck at RISK^2 (1); save sb's neck at SAVE^1 (11); stick your neck out at STICK OUT (3)[I usually in progressive] informal
if two people are necking, they kiss for a long time in a sexual way
- necking noun [U] [C]
a narrow piece of material around the neck of a piece of clothing $ [C]
a square piece of cloth that is folded and worn tied around the neck [C]
a string of jewels, BEADs etc or a thin gold or silver chain to wear around the neck
pearl/gold/diamond etc necklace
•She was wearing a coral necklace. [C]
a short necklace [C usually singular]
the shape made by the upper edge of a piece of woman's clothing around or below the neck:
•a square neckline
low/plunging neckline (=leaving part of the chest uncovered)
•Her evening gown had a plunging neckline. [C] AmE formal
a man's tie [U]
1 magic, especially evil magic
2 literary the practice of claiming to talk with the dead
- necromancer noun [C] $ [U]
sexual interest in dead bodies $ [C]
an area of land where dead people are buried, especially a large ancient one; = cemetery
•the extensive necropolis which served the Etruscan city of Caere $ [U]
1 the sweet liquid that BEEs collect from flowers
2 thick juice made from particular fruit:
•mango nectar
3 the drink of the gods, in the stories of ancient Greece $ [C]
a type of fruit like a PEACH that has a smooth skin, or the tree that produces this fruit
used to say what a married woman's family name was when she was born. 'Née' is put after her married name and before her old name; maiden name
•Mrs Elizabeth Davis, née Williams
1 [T not in progressive] to have to have something or someone, because you cannot do something without them, or because you cannot continue or cannot exist without them; = require
•You don't really need a car.
•Plants need light in order to survive.
•The camcorder needs a new battery.
•Are you sure that you have everything you need?
need sth for sth
•I need glasses for reading.
need sb to do sth
•I need you to help me with the cooking.
need sth desperately/badly/urgently
•More blood donors are urgently needed.
much needed/badly needed
•a much needed boost to the local economy
2 [T not in progressive] to feel that you want something very much:
•I need a drink.
•If you need anything, just say.
need to do sth
•She said she needed to go out for a walk.
3 need to do sth used when saying that someone should do something or has to do something:
•He needs to see a doctor straightaway.
•I need to catch up on my office work.
•You need to let me know by Monday if you want to take part.
4 [modal] BrE used in negative sentences when saying that something is not necessary or not always true; have to
need not/needn't
•You needn't stay long.
•Going to the dentist need not necessarily be a painful experience.
need not have done sth/need not do sth
•You needn't have spent all that money.
•I needn't have worried.
need I/we etc do sth BrE old-fashioned
•Need we leave so soon?
sb need never do sth
•Jim need never find out what I said.
5 [T] used when saying that something should have something done to it, or has to have something done to it
sth needs doing
•The house needed painting.
•Does this shirt need ironing?
sth needs to be checked/cleaned/done etc
•The engine will need to be completely checked.
•The pie doesn't need to be refrigerated.
need a (good) wash/clean/cut etc (=ought to be washed, cleaned etc)
•His hair needs a wash.
6 [T] if a job needs a quality or skill, you must have that quality or skill in order to do it well :
•The job needs a lot of patience.
•Being a teacher needs a high level of motivation.
7 I need hardly say/tell/remind etc BrE used when you think people should already know what you are going to say:
•I need hardly remind you that this information is confidential.
8 you need only do sth/all you need do is ... BrE used when saying that you only have to do something in order to do something else :
•We need only look at the building to see how much money it will take to repair.
•All we need do is threaten them.
9 need I ask/need I say more/ need I go on etc? BrE used to say that it is not necessary to say more or ask about something, because the rest is clear:
•She's lazy, slow, and stubborn. Need I say more?
10 that's all I need/that's just what I didn't need spoken used when saying that you did not want something to happen, especially when it seems annoying:
•'There's a customer for you on the phone.' 'That's all I need!'
11 need sth like a hole in the head informal used when saying that you definitely do not need something
12 who needs it/them? spoken
a) used to say you are not interested in something:
•Make-up, who needs it?
b) used to say that someone or something is actually very important to you:
•Kids? Who needs them!

GRAMMAR
Verb patterns
You can say that you need to do something: I need to clean (NOT I need clean) the house.
If someone else is going to do something for you, you can say that you need something done or need something doing: I need my car fixed urgently. | You need your head examining!
When you are talking about the object that is going to have something done to it, you can say that it needs something doing or needs something to be done: My hair needs cutting. | That box needs to be moved (NOT needs moved).
Negatives
You can say that you don't need to do something or needn't do something: I don't need to leave (NOT don't need leave) until 10. | You needn't apologize (NOT needn't to apologize).

!! need not means that it is not necessary to do something. Do not use it to mean must not (=are not allowed to): You needn't take any money. | You mustn't take any sharp objects on the plane.

!! needn't have means that it was not necessary for someone to do something that they in fact did. Do not use it to mean didn't need to or didn't have to (= something was not necessary): We needn't have ordered so much food. | I didn't need OR didn't have to tell him who I was - he already knew.
Noun patterns
The most common noun patterns are a need for something and a need to do something: her need for friendship | a need to preserve the environment

!! Say there is a need, not 'it is a need'. Say a need for, not 'a need of': There is a desperate need for cash.
You can also use the expression be in need of something: We are in need of funds (NOT We have a need of funds).

1 [singular] a situation in which something is necessary, especially something that is not happening yet or is not yet available
[+for]
•Managers should explain the need for change.
•There's an urgent need for more nurses.
•There's a growing need for new housing in many rural areas.
a need to do sth
•We fully recognize the need to improve communications.
stress/emphasize/underline etc the need (for sth)
•She stressed the need for regular meetings.
•Training courses are held in London and in other centres as the need arises (=whenever it is necessary).
•I'll work all night if need be (=if it is necessary).
2 [singular, U] a strong feeling that you want something, want to do something, or that you must have something
[+for]
•the need for job satisfaction
feel the need (to do sth)
•Jack did not feel the need to boast about his success.
•You're welcome to come back and talk any time, if ever you feel the need.
3 [C usually plural] what someone needs to have in order to live a normal healthy comfortable life:
•She works to provide for her family's basic needs.
sb's needs
•Environmentalists argue that the organization fails to address the needs of third world farmers.
meet/satisfy a need (=provide something that people want or need)
•The charity exists to meet the needs of elderly people.
•Schools must satisfy the needs of their pupils.
•We have loans to meet your every need.
4 there's no need (for sb) to do sth
a) used to say that someone does not have to do something:
•There's no need for you to come if you don't want to.
•There's no need to feel sorry for him.
b) spoken used to tell someone to stop doing something:
•There's no need to shout!
5 be in need of sth
a) to need help, advice, money etc, because you are in a difficult situation:
•This project is in urgent need of funding.
•He is homeless and in desperate need of help.
b) to need to be cleaned, repaired, or given attention in some way:
•The church was in dire (=very great) need of repair.
6 have no need of sth to not need something:
•She believes him and has no need of further proof.
7 [U] when you do not have enough food or money:
•cases of severe need in the inner cities
in need
•We must care for those in need.
8 in your hour of need when you are in trouble and need someone to help you:
•How could she abandon her father now, in his hour of need?
SPECIAL NEEDS old use
necessary:
•needful expenditure [C]
1 SEWING
a) a small thin piece of steel, with a point at one end and a hole in the other, used for sewing; pin
•a needle and thread
•a tapestry needle
b) a KNITTING NEEDLE
2 DRUGS a very thin, pointed steel tube at the end of a SYRINGE, which is pushed into your skin to put a drug or medicine into your body or to take out blood:
•She carried hypodermic needles and syringes in her bag.
•Drug users are at risk when they share needles.
3 POINTER a long thin piece of metal on a scientific instrument that moves backwards and forwards and points to numbers or directions:
•a compass needle
4 MEDICAL TREATMENT a long, very thin piece of metal used in ACUPUNCTURE (=a kind of medical treatment originally used in China)
5 LEAF a small needle-shaped leaf, especially from a PINE tree:
•pine needles
6 RECORDS the very small, pointed part in a RECORD PLAYER that touches the record in order to play it
7 like looking for a needle in a haystack informal used to say that something is almost impossible to find:
•Finding out which file you want can be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
PINS AND NEEDLES[T] informal
to deliberately annoy someone by making unkind remarks or jokes about them; = rib, tease
•I just said that to Charlie to needle him. [U]
pictures made by covering a piece of material with small stitches; embroidery
1 needless to say used when you are telling someone something that they probably know or expect:
•Needless to say, any contributions of money will be gratefully received.
2 needless troubles, suffering, loss etc are unnecessary because they could easily have been avoided; = unnecessary
•The report caused needless anxiety to women who have attended the clinic.
•We need to bring to an end these needless deaths.
•Charles hates needless waste.
- needlessly adverb
•Over 2,600 Australians are dying needlessly every year of heart attacks. plural needlewomen [C]
a woman who is good at sewing $ [U]
the activity or art of sewing, or things made by sewing especially BrE
the short form of 'need not':
•I needn't have put on this thick coat.
on a need-to-know basis if information is given to people on a need-to-know basis, they are given only the details that they need at the time when they need them:
•Access to the manufacturing process is on a strictly need-to-know basis.
1
a) having very little food or money:
•a needy family
b) the needy needy people:
•money to help the needy
2 needing and wanting a lot of love and attention $ literary
never[C] old use
a lazy useless person $ formal
evil or criminal:
•nefarious activities such as drug trafficking and fraudalso neg BrE
the written abbreviation of negative [T] formal
1 to prevent something from having any effect:
•Efforts to expand the tourist industry could be negated by reports that the sea is highly polluted.
2 to state that something does not exist or is untrue; = deny
1 [singular, U] when something is made to have no effect or be the opposite of what it should be:
•Much of what passes for Christianity is a negation of Christ's teachings.
2 [U] when someone says no or disagrees:
•He shook his head in silent negation.
1 BAD harmful, unpleasant, or not wanted; positive
•My drinking was starting to have a negative effect on my work.
•the negative aspects of ageing
• On the negative side, it will cost a lot.
2 NOT LIKING SB/STH considering only the bad qualities of a situation, person etc and not the good ones; positive
•students with a negative attitude to school
•They have a uniformly negative image of the police.
•Jean rarely sounded so negative about her mother.
3 NO/NOT
a) saying or meaning 'no'
negative answer/reply/response
•He gave a negative answer without any explanation.
b) containing one of the words 'no', 'not', 'nothing', 'never' etc; affirmative
4 SCIENTIFIC TEST not showing any sign of the chemical or medical condition that was being looked for; positive
•The pregnancy test was negative.
•A person can be recently infected by HIV and have a negative result.
5 ELECTRICITY technical a negative CHARGE is carried by ELECTRONs ; positive
6 NUMBER/QUANTITY less than zero; = minus; positive
•negative numbers
•a negative return on our investment (=a loss)
7 BLOOD technical used in the names of blood types, meaning not having RHESUS FACTOR; positive
- negatively adverb[C]
1 an image on a photographic film that shows dark areas as light and light areas as dark, from which the final picture is printed:
•black and white photographic negatives
2 a statement or expression that means 'no'; affirmative
answer/reply in the negative formal (=say 'no')
•The majority of people, when asked whether or not they are creative, will reply in the negative.
3 something bad or harmful:
•The negatives outweigh the positives on this issue.
4 a negative result from a chemical or scientific test:
•The test will give a proportion of false negatives.[T] formal
1 to refuse to accept a proposal or request
2 to prove something to be untrue[U] BrE
a situation in which someone owes more money on a MORTGAGE (=arrangement to borrow money to pay for a house) than they would receive if they sold their house [U]
an attitude in which someone considers only the bad qualities of a situation, person etc, not the good ones [T]
1 to fail to look after someone or something properly:
•She smoked and drank, neglected the children, and left the clothes unmended.
•a neglected garden
•The building has been badly neglected.
2 to pay too little attention to something:
•Many of these ideas have been neglected by modern historians.
•The police officer was accused of neglecting his duty (=not doing everything he should).
3 neglect to do sth formal to not do something:
•You neglected to mention that they had a second album released during 1991.[U]
1 failure to look after something or someone, or the condition of not being looked after
[+of]
•Tenants are complaining about the landlord's neglect of the property.
years/decades/centuries etc of neglect
•After years of neglect, the roads were full of potholes.
•The whole district had an air of abandonment and neglect.
2 failure to pay proper attention to something
[+of]
•Five officers were court-martialled for cowardice or neglect of duty. formal
not looking after something properly, or not giving it enough attention
[+of]
•She became more and more neglectful of her responsibilities.
- neglectfully adverb $ [C]
a very thin, pretty coat, worn over a NIGHTDRESS [U]
failure to take enough care over something that you are responsible for:
•negligence in carrying out safety procedures
•The bridge's architect was sued for criminal negligence.
1 not taking enough care over something that you are responsible for, with the result that serious mistakes are made; = irresponsible; responsible
negligent in (doing) sth
•The report stated that Dr Brady had been negligent in not giving the patient a full examination.
•Mr Brown was found guilty of negligent driving.
2 literary a negligent manner or way of dressing is careless, but in a pleasantly relaxed way:
•He gave a negligent shrug.
- negligently adverb
too slight or unimportant to have any effect; = insignificant
•The damage done to his property was negligible. $
1 an offer, price, contract etc that is negotiable can be discussed and changed before being agreed on; non-negotiable
•Part-time barman required. Hours and salary negotiable.
•The price is not negotiable.
2 a road, path etc that is negotiable can be travelled along:
•The road is only negotiable in the dry season.
3 technical a cheque that is negotiable can be exchanged for money $
1 [I,T] to discuss something in order to reach an agreement, especially in business or politics
[+with]
•The government refuses to negotiate with terrorists.
negotiate an agreement/contract etc
•Union leaders have negotiated an agreement for a shorter working week.
•His first aim is to get the warring parties back to the negotiating table (=used to refer to official discussions).
2 [T] to succeed in getting past or over a difficult place on a path, road etc:
•Guido swung the steering-wheel round to negotiate a corner. $ [C usually plural, U]
official discussions between the representatives of opposing groups who are trying to reach an agreement, especially in business or politics
[+with]
•The negotiations with the company had reached a crucial stage.
[+between]
•This follows private negotiations between the landowner, and the leisure centre.
[+on/over]
•He is trying to involve community leaders in negotiations on reform.
open/enter into negotiations (with sb) (=start official discussions)
•The government opened negotiations with the IMF for another loan.
•the next round of arms negotiations
•The price is generally open to negotiation (=is not fixed and can be discussed). $ [C]
someone who takes part in official discussions, especially in business or politics, in order to try and reach an agreement:
•the chief union negotiator [C] old-fashioned
a word for a black woman, which is now usually considered offensive $ plural Negroes [C] old-fashioned
a word for a black person, which is now usually considered offensive
- negro adjective[C]
a SPIRITUAL^2 [I]
if a horse neighs, it makes a long loud noise
- neigh noun [C]neighbor AmE $ [C] BrE
1 someone who lives next to you or near you:
•One of the neighbors complained about the noise from the party.
•FBI agents were interviewing all their friends and neighbors.
•Our next-door neighbours (=the people who live in the house next to us) say they'll look after our cat for us while we're away.
2 a country that is next to another one; bordering
•Israel and its Arab neighbours
3 someone or something that is next to another person or thing of the same type:
•The teacher saw Phil passing a note to his neighbour.
•The garden was divided from its neighbour by a high wall.neighborhood AmE $ [C] BrE
1 an area of a town or city:
•She grew up in a quiet neighborhood of Boston.
•The hotel is situated in a peaceful residential neighbourhood (=area where there are houses rather than factories or shops).
•a neighbourhood school
2 the neighbourhood the area around you or around a particular place, or the people who live there:
•Be quiet! You'll wake up the whole neighbourhood!
in the neighbourhood
•Is there a good Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood?
3 (something) in the neighbourhood of £500/30% etc a little more or a little less than a particular number or amount; = approximately
•The painting is worth something in the neighborhood of $3000.neighborhood watch AmE [U] BrE
a system, organized by a group of neighbours, in which members of the group regularly watch each other's houses in order to prevent crimeneighboring AmE [only before noun] BrE
near the place where you are or the place you are talking about; = nearby; bordering
•The fair attracted hundreds of people from the neighbouring towns and villages.neighborly AmE $ BrE
behaving in a friendly and helpful way towards the people who live next to you or towards the countries that are next to you:
•the importance of good neighbourly relations between the two countries
- neighbourliness noun [U] $
not one or the other of two people or things; either
•'Would you like tea or coffee?' 'Neither, thanks.'
•It was a game in which neither team deserved to win.
[+of]
•Neither of them can cook.
•Thompson had two strategies, neither of which seems to have worked very well.
•We asked both John and Jerry, but neither one could offer a satisfactory explanation.
see box at NONE^1
used to show that a negative statement is also true about another person or thing; either
neither does/can/will etc sb
•'I don't have any money.' 'Neither do I.'
•Tom didn't believe a word she said, and neither did the police.
•'I don't like horror movies.' ' Me neither.'
1 neither ... nor ... used when mentioning two things that are not true or possible:
•Neither Oleg's mother nor his father spoke English.
•The equipment is neither accurate nor safe.
!! Do not say 'neither ...or ...'. Say not ...or ... or neither ...nor ...: We don't know or care where he is. | Neither he nor his wife eats meat.
2 be neither here nor there spoken used to say that something is not important because it does not affect a fact or situation; = irrelevant
•The fact that she needed the money for her children is neither here nor there - it's still stealing.
3 be neither one thing nor the other spoken used to say that something or someone cannot be described as either one of two types of thing or person, but is somewhere in the middle of the two:
•The New York Times is neither one thing nor the other. It's not really a city newspaper and it's not really a national newspaper either.
4 formal used to add another negative statement about someone or something; = nor
•The authorities were not sympathetic to the students' demands, neither would they tolerate any disruption.nellie
not on your nelly BrE spoken old-fashioned used to tell someone humorously or rudely that you are definitely not going to do something [singular]
1 an opponent or enemy that is likely to be impossible for you to defeat, or a situation that is likely to be impossible for you to deal with
meet/face your nemesis
•In the final he will meet his old nemesis, Pete Sampras.
2 literary a punishment that is deserved and cannot be avoided $ [in nouns and adjectives]
based on a style, set of ideas, or political system that existed in the past; = new
•neo-Georgian architecture
•neo-fascists $
neoclassical art or ARCHITECTURE copies the style of ancient Greece or Rome:
•a palace built in a neoclassical style $ [U]
when a powerful country uses its economic and political influence to control another country
- neocolonialist adjectiveneolithic
relating to the last period of the STONE AGE, about 10,000 years ago, when people began to live together in small groups and make stone tools and weapons:
•a Neolithic burial ground $ [C] formal
a new word or expression, or a word used with a new meaning; = coinage $ [U]
a colourless gas that is found in small quantities in the air and is used in glass tubes to produce a bright light in electric advertising signs. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Ne
neon lights/signs (=ones that use neon)
•the neon lights of Las Vegas
•A neon sign flashed on and off above the door. $ [only before noun] technical
relating to babies that have just been born; antenatal, postnatal
•neonatal care
•nurses working in neonatal units[C]
someone who believes that white people are better than people of other races, and who often behaves violently [C] formal
1 someone who has just started to learn a particular skill, art, job etc
2 a new member of a religious group $ [C]
the son of your brother or sister, or the son of your husband's or wife's brother or sister; niece, uncle, aunt [U]
the practice of unfairly giving the best jobs to members of your family when you are in a position of power:
•allegations of nepotism and corruption
- nepotistic adjective
CRONYISM
jobs for the boys at JOB (15) $
the PLANET that is eighth in order from the sun:
•the discovery of Neptune in 1846 $ [C] informal
1 someone who seems only interested in computers and other technical things - used to show disapproval; = geek
•a computer nerd
2 someone who seems very boring and unfashionable, and is not good at communicating with other people in social situations
- nerdy adjective
•nerdy glasses $
1 WORRIED FEELINGS nerves [plural]
a) used to talk about someone being worried or frightened
sb's nerves are on edge/in tatters/frayed (=someone feels very worried or frightened)
calm/steady your nerves (=stop yourself feeling worried or frightened)
•Sean drank a large glass of brandy to calm his nerves.
be a bundle/bag of nerves (=be extremely worried or frightened)
•I remember you were a bundle of nerves on your wedding day.
b) the feeling of being worried or a little frightened:
•A lot of people suffer from nerves before they go on stage.
•'What's wrong with Rachel?' 'It's just nerves. She's got her driving test tomorrow.'
exam/first-night etc nerves
2 BODY PART [C] nerves are parts inside your body which look like threads and carry messages between the brain and other parts of the body:
•a condition which affects the nerves in the back
trapped nerve BrE
/pinched nerve AmE (=a nerve that has been crushed between two muscles etc, causing a lot of pain)
3 COURAGE [U] courage and confidence in a dangerous, difficult, or frightening situation
the nerve to do sth
•Not many people have the nerve to stand up and speak in front of a large audience.
•She finally found the nerve to tell him she wanted a divorce.
• It takes a lot of nerve to report a colleague for sexual harassment.
lose your nerve (=suddenly become very nervous so that you cannot do what you intended to do)
•Jensen would've won if he hadn't lost his nerve.
hold/keep your nerve (=remain calm in a difficult situation)
•It's hard to keep your nerve when people keep interrupting you.
4 get on sb's nerves informal if someone gets on your nerves, they annoy you, especially by doing something all the time:
•She's always moaning. It really gets on my nerves.
5 LACK OF RESPECT [singular] spoken if you say someone has a nerve, you mean that they have done something unsuitable or impolite, without seeming to be embarrassed about behaving in this way; = cheek
•He's got a nerve asking for more money.
•'She didn't say sorry or anything.' ' What a nerve!'
have the nerve to do sth
•She lets me do all the work, and then she has the nerve to criticize my cooking.
6 touch/hit a (raw) nerve to mention something that makes someone upset, angry, or embarrassed, especially accidentally:
•Without realizing, he had touched a raw nerve.
7 nerves of steel the ability to be brave and calm in a dangerous or difficult situation:
•The job requires nerves of steel.
strain every nerve at STRAIN^2 (6)
nerve yourself to do sth/for sth to force yourself to be brave enough to do something difficult or dangerous:
•The parachutist nerved himself for the jump.[C]
a NEURONnerve center AmE [C] BrE
the place from which a system, activity, organization etc is controlled:
•the ship's nerve center[U]
a poisonous gas that is used in war to kill or PARALYSE people $ written
used to describe someone's fingers when they cannot hold something firmly, especially because they have had a shock:
•The key fell from her suddenly nerveless fingers.nerve-wracking
a nerve-racking situation makes you feel very nervous or worried:
•Speaking in public can be a nerve-wracking experience.
•Fran faced a nerve-racking wait for her test results. $
1 worried or frightened about something, and unable to relax; anxious
[+about]
•She was so nervous about her exams that she couldn't sleep.
•I wish you'd stop looking at me like that. You're making me nervous.
feel/get nervous
•Paul always gets nervous whenever he has to give a presentation.
nervous smile/laugh/look/glance
•'Don't be silly,' she said with a nervous laugh. 'There's no such thing as ghosts.'
•By the time I got into the interview I was a nervous wreck (=was extremely nervous).
[+of]
•We were all a bit nervous of him at first (=frightened of him).
2 often becoming worried or frightened, and easily upset:
•She's a nervous, sensitive child.
•The film is unsuitable for people of a nervous disposition (=who are easily frightened).
3 [only before noun] related to the nerves in your body
nervous condition/illness/disorder
•She was suffering from a nervous condition.
•He had a nervous twitch (=his body made small, uncontrolled movements).
4 nervous exhaustion/strain a mental condition in which you feel very tired, usually caused by working too hard or by a difficult emotional problem
- nervously adverb
•She smiled nervously.
- nervousness noun [U]
•Mike's nervousness showed in his voice.

WORD CHOICE: nervous, anxious, annoyed, irritated
If you are nervous, you cannot relax because you are worried about something that you have to do: I was nervous about my job interview. | He sounded really nervous when he first started speaking.
If you are anxious, you are very worried about something that may happen or may have happened, over which you feel you have no control: When she didn't come home from school her parents began to get anxious.
Do not use nervous to talk about angry feelings. Use annoyed or irritated.
If you are annoyed, you feel slightly angry with someone because of what they have done: I was annoyed that he kept me waiting.
If you are irritated, you are made slightly angry by something that keeps happening: Irritated by their giggling, he told them to be quiet.

!! If someone is irritating you, you can say that they get on your nerves (NOT 'on your nervous'): His fidgeting is getting on my nerves.

[C]
a mental illness in which someone becomes extremely anxious and tired and cannot deal with the things they usually do:
•Colin came close to having a nervous breakdown last year.[C]
your nerves, brain, and SPINAL CORD, with which your body feels pain, heat etc and your movements are controlled $ informal
1 nervous and easily frightened:
•She was all tired and nervy.
2 AmE brave and confident [in nouns]
used to form nouns from adjectives:
•loudness
•sadness [C]
1 BIRDS a place made or chosen by a bird to lay its eggs in and to live in:
•a bird's nest
•In May the females build a nest and lay their eggs.
•Young eagles are ready to leave the nest after only two months.
2 INSECTS/ANIMALS a place where insects or small animals live:
•a field mouse's nest
3 leave/fly the nest to leave your parents' home and start living somewhere else when you are an adult:
•Both daughters were of an age where they wanted to fly the nest.
4 nest of spies/thieves/intrigue etc a place where people are secretly doing a lot of illegal or dishonest things
5 nest of tables/boxes etc a set of tables etc that fit inside each other
feather your nest at FEATHER^2 (1); mare's nest at MARE (2); LOVE NEST
1 [I] to build or use a nest:
•They say eagles used to nest in those rocks.
2 [T] to organize information, especially in a computer program, so that some of the information is recognized as separate but is included or contained in a larger part of the information:
•Phrases are nested in the dictionary entry for the first major word.[C]
an amount of money that you have saved so that you can use it for something special in the future:
•They had to use part of their retirement nest egg to pay for their son's college fees.
1 [I,T always + adv/prep] to move into a comfortable position, pressing your head or body against someone or against something soft:
•Sarah lay there peacefully, the child nestling by her side.
•He nestled his head against her shoulder.
2 [I always + adv/prep] literary to be surrounded by something, especially hills or countryside:
•a tiny village nestling among the foothills of the French Alps [C]
a very young bird that cannot leave its nest because it is not yet able to fly
1 INTERNET the Net also the net the system that allows millions of computer users around the world to exchange information; = the web
•Bruce spends most evenings surfing the Net (=looking at information in different places on the Internet).
on the Net
•You might find something on the Net.
2 FOR FISHING/CATCHING THINGS [C] something used for catching fish, insects, or animals which is made of threads or wires woven across each other with regular spaces between them:
•a fishing net
•a butterfly net
3 FOR SPORTS [C]
a) the thing that players must hit the ball over in games such as tennis
b) the thing behind the posts that players try to kick or hit the ball into in games such as football or HOCKEY; goal
•Henry kicked the ball into the back of the net.
4 FOR KEEPING THINGS OUT [C] something used for keeping things out, for example insects or birds, which is made of threads woven across each other with regular spaces between them:
•a mosquito net
5 MATERIAL [U] very thin material made from fine threads woven together, with small spaces between:
• net curtains
6 slip through the net if criminals slip through the net, they avoid attempts by the police etc to catch them
7 fall/slip through the net if someone or something falls or slips through the net, a system which was designed to help or check them has not succeeded in doing this:
•In a class of 30 children it is easy for some to slip through the net and learn nothing.
8 cast/spread your net wide to consider or try as many things as possible in order to find what you want:
•Record companies are casting their nets wide in search of new talent.
FISHNET STOCKINGS, HAIRNET, SAFETY NET, NETTINGalso nett BrE [only before noun]
1 the net amount is the final amount that remains after all the other amounts have been taken away; gross
•The net profit (=after taxes, costs etc) was up 16.3% last month.
•The company reported a net loss of $56 million last year.
•Vernon estimates the company's net worth at over $8 billion.
•The United States is a net importer of beef (=it imports more than it exports).
2 net result/effect the final result or effect of something:
•The net result will be higher costs to the consumer.
3 net weight the weight of something without its container
- net adverb
•He earns $40,000 net.
•jars of coffee weighing 450 grams netpast tense and past participle netted, present participle netting
1 [T] informal to earn a particular amount of money as a profit after tax has been paid:
•I was netting around $64,000 a year.
2 [T] to succeed in getting something, especially by using your skill:
•The company has recently netted several large contracts.
•An undercover sweep netted 22 suspects in one evening.
3 [I,T] informal to hit or kick the ball into the net in sport; score
•Sheringham has netted nine goals for United so far this season.
4 [T] to catch a fish in a net:
•We netted three fish in under an hour. $ [U]
a game similar to BASKETBALL played in Britain, especially by girls $ [only before noun] literary
lower down - often used humorously:
•exploring the nether regions of East Sussex [U] informal
the commonly accepted rules for polite behaviour when communicating with other people on the Internet [C] informal
someone who uses the Internet, especially someone who uses it in a responsible way:
•China and India will soon have far larger numbers of netizens than any Western nation.also netrepreneur $ [C] informal
someone who has started an Internet business [U]
the expressions, technical words, SLANG etc commonly used on the Internet:
•a glossary of netspeak terms
a British spelling of NET^2 [U]
material consisting of string, wire etc that has been woven into a net; mesh
•a fence of wire nettingalso stinging nettle [C]
a wild plant with rough leaves that sting you
grasp the nettle at GRASP^1 (4); STINGING NETTLE
be nettled (by sth) informal to be annoyed by what someone says or does:
•She was nettled by Holman's remark.[C,U] BrE
a medical condition that causes areas of red spots on your skin $ [C]
1 a system of lines, tubes, wires, roads etc that cross each other and are connected to each other:
•Hungary's telephone network
•a high-speed European rail network
[+of]
•an elaborate network of canals
•the network of blood vessels in the body
2 a group of radio or television stations, which broadcast many of the same programmes, but in different parts of the same country:
•the four biggest TV networks
•You're listening to the American Armed Forces Network.
3 a set of computers that are connected to each other so that they can share information
4 a group of people, organizations etc that are connected or that work together
[+of]
•It's important to build up a network of professional contacts.
the old-boy network at OLD BOY (2)
1 [I,T] to connect several computers together so that they can share information
2 [I] to meet and talk with people who have similar jobs to yours, especially because they may be useful for your work
3 [I,T] to broadcast a radio or television programme on several different CHANNELs at the same time $ [U]
the practice of meeting other people involved in the same kind of work, to share information, support each other etc:
•I'm hoping to do some networking at the conference. $ technical
relating to a nerve or the NERVOUS SYSTEM:
•signs of neural activity[C]
a computer that is designed to operate in a way similar to the human brain
- neural computing noun [U] $ [U] medical
a sharp pain along the length of a nerve
- neuralgic adjectivealso neural net [C]
a set of computers that are connected to each other, which share information and operate in a way that is supposed to be similar to the human brain:
•By 1989, they were using neural networks to assess credit risks.also neur- $ technical
relating to the nerves:
•a neurosurgeon $ [U]
a scientific study which combines NEUROSCIENCE (=the study of the brain) and INFORMATION SCIENCE (=the collecting, storing, and arranging of information, especially using powerful computers) $ [U] medical
the scientific study of the NERVOUS SYSTEM and its diseases
- neurologist noun [C]
- neurological $ adjective
•a neurological diseasealso neurone $ [C]
a type of cell that makes up the NERVOUS SYSTEM and sends messages to other parts of the body or the brain; = nerve cell $ [U]
the scientific study of the brain $ plural neuroses [C,U] medical
a mental illness that makes someone unreasonably worried or frightened $
1 unreasonably anxious or afraid:
•He seemed a neurotic, self-obsessed man.
2 technical relating to or affected by neurosis:
•neurotic disorders
- neurotic noun [C]
•She accused him of being a neurotic.
- neurotically adverb $ technical
a neuter noun, PRONOUN etc belongs to a class of words that have different INFLECTIONs from MASCULINE or FEMININE words; gender[T]
1 to remove part of the sex organs of an animal so that it cannot produce babies; spay
•a neutered tomcat
2 to remove power from something or to stop something from being effective - used to show disapproval:
•Plans to reform local government are designed to neuter local democracy. $
1 IN AN ARGUMENT ETC not supporting any of the people or groups involved in an argument or disagreement:
•I always tried to remain neutral when they started arguing.
•Clive decided to adopt a neutral position.
•The British government acted as a neutral observer during the talks.
2 IN A WAR a country that is neutral does not support any of the countries involved in a war:
•During World War II, Sweden was neutral.
neutral territory/waters (=land or sea that is not controlled by any of the countries involved in a war)
3 on neutral ground/territory in a place that is not connected with either of the people, groups, or countries that are involved in a discussion, argument, war, or competition:
•The talks will be held on neutral ground.
4 LANGUAGE language, words etc that are neutral are deliberately chosen to avoid expressing any strong opinion or feeling:
•the neutral language of an official news report
5 VOICE/EXPRESSION if someone says something in a neutral voice, or if they have a neutral expression on their face, they do not show how they are feeling:
•Bragg said in a neutral voice, 'The investigation has been closed down.'
6 COLOUR a neutral colour is a colour such as grey, light brown, or cream:
•Neutral tones give the room a feeling of space.
7 WIRE a neutral wire, for example in a PLUG, has no electrical CHARGE^1 (7)
8 CHEMICAL a neutral substance is neither acid nor ALKALINE:
•The plant prefers a neutral or slightly acidic soil.
•a neutral pH of 7.0
- neutrally adverb
1 [U] the position of the GEARs of a car or machine when no power is being sent from the engine to the wheels or other moving parts
in/into neutral
•When you start the engine, make sure the car's in neutral.
•Put the car into neutral.
2 [C] a country, person, or group that is not involved in an argument or disagreement
3 [C usually plural] a neutral colour $ [U]
the state of not supporting either side in an argument or war
- neutralist $ adjective, noun [C]also neutralise BrE $ [T]
1 to prevent something from having any effect:
•Rising prices neutralize increased wages.
2 technical to make a substance chemically NEUTRAL:
•a medicine that neutralizes the acid in the stomach
3 to make an area NEUTRAL in a war
4 to destroy something that is dangerous to you during a war
- neutralization $ noun [U] $ plural neutrinos [C] technical
something that is smaller than an atom and has no electrical charge $ [C] technical
a part of an atom that has no electrical charge[C]
a type of NUCLEAR bomb that kills people but is not intended to cause much damage to buildings, roads etc $
1 not at any time, or not once:
•He's never been to Australia.
•I'm never going back there again, not as long as I live.
• It is never too late to give up smoking.
Never had/did/was etc
•Never had she been so confused.
never ever (=used to emphasize what you are saying)
•I'll never ever forgive him for leaving me.
• Never again (=never after a particular time) would he return to Naples.
never in all my life (=used to emphasize how bad something was)
•Never in all my life have I felt so humiliated.
never for one moment (=used to emphasize that you never thought something)
•She had never for one moment imagined that it could happen to her.
sb/sth has never been known to do sth (=used to say that something is strange because it has never happened before)
•Max had never been known to leave home without telling anyone.
!! Do not use another negative word (e.g. 'not') with never. Use ever with not: I've never seen her. | I haven't ever seen her.
2 you never know spoken used to say that something which seems unlikely may happen:
•Try it! You never know, you might be lucky.
3 I never knew (that) spoken used to mean that you did not know something until now:
•I never knew you played the guitar!
4 never so much as used to emphasize that someone did not do something, especially when this seems surprising:
•I do everything for him, and he's never so much as made me a cup of coffee.
5 that would/will never do spoken used to say that you would not want something to happen:
•Someone might discover our secret and that would never do.
6 never! BrE spoken used when you are very surprised by something:
•'They're getting married next month.' 'Never!'
•He's never going to cycle all the way to Manchester!
• Well I never! I wouldn't have thought she was that old!
7 (no) I never! BrE spoken used to say that you did not do something bad that someone has said you did. Many teachers think this is not correct English:
•'You cheated, didn't you?' 'No, I never.'
8 never say never informal used to say that you should not say that you will never do something, because there is always a small possibility that you might do it
9 never say die used to encourage someone not to give up
10 never fear spoken old-fashioned used to tell someone not to worry:
•She'll be back, never fear.
never the twain shall meet at TWAIN (2)
seeming to continue for a very long time; = endless
•Keeping the house neat and clean is a never-ending battle. $ literary
never again
on the never-never BrE old-fashioned informal if you buy something on the never-never, you buy it by making small regular payments over a long period; = on hire purchase[U]
an imaginary place where everything is perfect $ formal
in spite of a fact that you have just mentioned; = nonetheless
•What you said was true. It was, nevertheless, a little unkind. $
1 RECENTLY MADE recently made, built, invented, written, designed etc; old
•the city's new hospital
•the new issue of 'Time' magazine
•new products on the market
•The hardest part of this job is understanding the new technology.
•a new range of drugs
2 RECENTLY BOUGHT recently bought:
•Do you like my new dress?
•They've just moved into their new home.
3 NOT THERE BEFORE having just developed:
•new leaves on the trees
•a young man with new ideas
•a new generation of women writers
new hope/confidence/optimism etc (=hope etc that you have only just started to feel)
•a medical breakthrough that offers new hope to cancer patients
4 NOT USED BEFORE not used or owned by anyone before; used, second hand
•New and second hand books for sale.
•I got a used video camera for £300 - it would have cost £1000 if I'd bought it new.
•Someone had driven into the back of his brand new (=completely new) car.
•a spanking new (=completely new) conference centre
5 like new/as good as new in excellent condition:
•Your watch just needs cleaning and it'll be as good as new.
6 UNFAMILIAR not experienced before:
•Learning a new language is always a challenge.
•Living in the city was a new experience for Philip.
[+to]
•This idea was new to him.
that's a new one on me spoken (=used to say that you have never heard something before)
•'The office is going to be closed for six weeks this summer.' 'Really? That's a new one on me.'
7 RECENTLY ARRIVED having recently arrived in a place, joined an organization, or started a new job:
•You're new here, aren't you?
[+to/at]
•Don't worry if you make mistakes. You're still new to the job.
new member/employee/student etc
•training for new employees
new kid on the block informal (=the newest person in a job, school etc)
•It's not always easy being the new kid on the block.
the new boy/girl BrE (=the newest person in a job, organization etc - used humorously)
8 RECENTLY CHANGED recently replaced or different from the previous one; old
•Have you met Keith's new girlfriend?
•I'll let you have my new phone number.
•the new regime in Beijing
9 RECENTLY DISCOVERED recently discovered:
•the discovery of a new planet
•new oilfields in Alaska
•important new evidence that may prove her innocence
10 MODERN modern:
•the new breed of politicians
11 VEGETABLES [only before noun] new potatoes, CARROTs etc are grown early in the season and eaten when young
12 new life/day/era a period that is just beginning, especially one that seems to offer better opportunities:
•They went to Australia to start a new life there.
13 be/feel like a new man/woman to feel much healthier and have a lot more energy than before, or to have a different attitude:
•I lost 19 pounds and felt like a new man.
14 new arrival
a) someone who has recently arrived or started work somewhere
b) a new baby:
•The children are thrilled with the new arrival.
15 new blood new members of a group or organization who will bring new ideas and be full of energy:
•What we need in this company is some new blood.
16 new broom someone who has just started work in a high position in an organization and who is expected to make a lot of changes:
•The company seems set to make a fresh start under a new broom.
17 what's new? spoken especially AmE used as a friendly greeting to mean 'how are you?'
18 the new new ideas, styles etc:
•This charming hotel is a delightful blend of the old and the new.
19 sth ... is the new ... BrE used to say that something is thought to be the new fashion that will replace an existing thing:
•Don't you know that vodka is the new water, my dear?
20 new-made/new-formed/new-laid etc recently made, formed etc
a new lease of life at LEASE^1 (2); turn over a new leaf at LEAF^1 (3)
- newness noun [U]
relating to SPIRITUAL beliefs, types of medicine, and ways of living that are not traditional Western ones:
•the New Age movement
(the) New Age New Age beliefs and ways of living[C usually plural]
a member of a group of people in Britain who refuse to live the way other people live in ordinary society, and go from place to place living in vehicles $ [C] informal
someone who has just started doing something, especially using the Internet or computers $
newborn child/baby/son etc a child that has just been born
- newborn noun [C] $ [C]
1 someone who has only recently arrived somewhere or only recently started a particular activity; novice
[+to]
•I'm a relative newcomer to the retail business.
•a special award for the most promising newcomer
2 something that did not exist before
[+to]
•The most glamorous newcomer to the Volkswagen Golf range is the revamped GTi 16 valve.[singular]
an economic system that is based on computers and modern technology, and is therefore dependent on educated workers:
•As we move into a new economy, trade unions will have to reinvent themselves to stay relevant.
- new economy adjective
•new economy methods $ [only before noun]
recently designed or produced - usually used to show disapproval or distrust:
•newfangled ideas about children's education[only before noun]
recently obtained, found, or achieved:
•He enjoyed his new-found freedom.
•the children's new-found friends[only before noun]
different from before, especially more modern or more attractive:
•the new-look Labour party
•the new-look Brazilian football team $
newly elected/formed/arrived etc elected etc very recently:
•the newly appointed director
•newly fallen snow $ [plural]
a man and a woman who have recently married
- newlywed adjectiveplural New Men [C]
a man who is considered to be very modern because he shares the work of looking after his children, cooking, cleaning the home etc[U]
things such as the internet, DVDs etc that use very modern technology[U]
1 people who have become rich by working, rather than by getting money from their families
2 money that makes someone rich and that is recently earned, rather than from their families
1 [C usually singular] the moon when it first appears in the sky as a thin CRESCENT
2 [U] the time of the month at which the moon is first seen; full moon, half moonplural new potatoes [C]
a small potato that is taken from the ground early, and that has a very good taste
the new rich [plural] AmE people who have recently or suddenly become very rich, as opposed to people whose families have always been rich
- new rich adjective $ [U]
1 information about something that has happened recently

good/bad news
great/wonderful/terrible etc news
news that
welcome news (=good news)
the latest news
a piece/bit of news
have some news (for sb)
tell sb some news
hear some news
break the news (to sb) (=tell someone about something for the first time)
welcome the news (=be happy about something)
greet the news with sth
news spreads

•I'm not sure how he's going to react to the news.
•The good news is that tomorrow will be fine and sunny.
•You seem upset - not bad news, I hope?
•We are delighted at the news that our daughter is expecting a baby.
• The fall in house prices will be welcome news for first time buyers.
[+on]
• What's the latest news on your university application?
• David's just told me an interesting piece of news.
• Do you have any news for me?
[+of/about]
•Everyone is shocked by the news of the arrests.
•Sit down and tell me all your news.
• Have you heard the news? We're going to get married.
• How would he break the news to Mary that he'd been lying to her?
• People living near a disused factory have welcomed the news that it is to be demolished.
• Friday's news was greeted with enthusiasm in Denmark.
• News of the tragedy spread quickly around the town.

2 reports of recent events in the newspapers or on the radio or television:
•a late evening news broadcast
•We've got the news headlines coming up at half past twelve.
•a news and current affairs programme
•Here's the sports news from Jane Murray.
•the latest news from the Olympic stadium
[+about/on/of]
•news on the latest developments in the talks
news that
•Several evening papers carried the news that a cabinet minister was about to resign.
local/regional/national/international news
•Twenty years ago environmental issues rarely made the news (=were considered important enough to be in the news).
be in the news
•Hong Kong is in the news this morning.
•His resignation was front page news (=was important news).
news story/report/item
•Never before has a news story triggered such sensational sales of the newspaper.
3 the news a regular television or radio programme that gives you reports of recent events:
•the ten o'clock news
•Let's watch the news.
•Be quiet. I want to listen to the news.
on the news
•It must be true - I heard it on the news last night.
switch/turn/put on the news (=turn the television or radio on so that you can watch or hear the news)
4 be good/bad news for sb if the facts about something are good or bad news for someone, they are likely to make life better or worse for them:
•There is no legal market for African ivory, which is good news for the elephants.
5 he's/she's bad news informal used to say that someone is likely to cause trouble:
•Stay away from that guy, he's bad news.
6 be news if someone or something is news, people are interested in them at the moment and want to know about them:
•European fashions are big news right now in the States.
7 that's news to me! spoken used when you are surprised or annoyed because you have not been told something earlier:
•'The meeting's been cancelled.' 'That's news to me!'
8 I've got news for you spoken used to say that you are going to tell someone the facts about something, which they will probably not like to hear:
•You may think I'm finished, but I've got news for you - I'll be back.
9 no news is good news spoken used when you have not received any news about someone and you hope this means that nothing bad has happened
!! News is an uncountable noun. Use singular forms with it, not plural: The news was good (NOT were good). | I was surprised by this news (NOT these news).[C]
an organization that collects news stories and supplies them to newspapers, radio, and television $ [C] BrE
1 someone who owns or works in a shop that sells newspapers, magazines, sweets and cigarettes
2 newsagent's a shop which sells newspapers, magazines, sweets and cigarettes[C]
a period of time when news about a particular event is not allowed to be reported:
•The Indian government has imposed a news blackout in Srinigar.[C]
1 BrE a short news programme on radio or television, reporting only the most important information
2 AmE a very short news programme on radio or television, broadcast suddenly in the middle of another programme when something very important has happened; = newsflash BrE $ [C] AmE
a news programme on radio or television $ [C] especially AmE
someone who reads the news on radio or television; = newsreader BrEnew-school [only before noun] informal
using new ideas in a type of music or art:
•new school hip hop artists[C]
a meeting at which someone, especially someone famous or important, speaks to people who work for newspapers or news programmes; = press conference
•The chairman told a news conference that some members of staff would lose their jobs.
at/in a news conference
•At a news conference yesterday, the two men described their ordeal. $ [C] especially BrE
a very short news programme on radio or television, broadcast suddenly in the middle of another programme when something very important has happened; = news bulletin AmE
•We interrupt this programme to bring you a newsflash. $ [C]
a discussion group on the Internet, with a place where people with a shared interest can exchange messages $ [C] informal
someone who collects information for a newspaper or news programme; journalist $ [C]
a short written report of news about a club, organization, place etc that is sent regularly to people who are interested:
•The society publishes a newsletter three times a year. $ plural newsmen [C]
someone who writes or reports news for a newspaper, radio, or television $
1 [C] a set of large folded sheets of printed paper containing news, articles, pictures, advertisements etc which is sold daily or weekly; = paper

in the newspaper
local/national newspaper
daily/weekly/Sunday newspaper
newspaper article/report
newspaper reporter/editor/columnist
newspaper cutting/clipping (=an article that has been cut out of a newspaper)

•She had read about it in the newspapers.
•I saw an interesting article in the local newspaper.
•I always buy a daily newspaper.
•a series of newspaper articles about life in Cuba
•The case attracted newspaper reporters from all over the world.
•He was looking through a pile of old newspaper clippings.

2 [U] sheets of paper from old newspapers:
•Wrap the plates in newspaper to stop them from breaking.
•Bella laid the flowers out carefully on a sheet of newspaper.
3 [C] a company that produces a newspaper:
•He works for a local newspaper.

WORD FOCUS: newspaper
the press newspapers in general
the media newspaper, TV, and radio
tabloid a newspaper that does not contain much serious news, and mainly has short articles and photographs
broadsheet BrE /quality paper AmE a newspaper that mostly contains reports about serious news
journalist /reporter someone whose job is writing articles for newspapers
headline the title of a newspaper report, written in big letters
article a piece of writing about something in a newspaper
column an article that appears regularly in a newspaper, in which someone writes about their opinions
editorial a piece of writing in which the newspaper gives its comments on recent events
the front pagewhich has the main news stories
the back pagewhich has the less important news, and news about sport
the sports/television/fashion/arts etc page
$ plural newspapermen [C]
someone who writes or reports news for a newspaper[C]
a NEWSSTAND $ [U]
cheap paper used mostly for printing newspapers on $ [C] BrE
someone who reads the news on television or radio $ [C]
a short film of news that was shown in cinemas in the past[C]
an official statement giving information to the newspapers, radio, and television; = press release
•The University has issued a news release announcing the results of their experiments. $ [C]
the office in a newspaper or broadcasting company where news is received and news reports are written[C]
a small newspaper with only a few pages $ [C]
a place on a street where newspapers and magazines are sold $ plural newswomen [C]
a woman who writes or reports for a newspaper, radio, or television $
important or interesting enough to be reported in newspapers, on the radio, or on television:
•newsworthy events $ informal
a newsy letter is from a friend or relative and contains a lot of interesting news $ [C]
a small animal with a long body, four short legs, and a tail, which lives partly in water and partly on land
the New Testament the part of the Bible which describes the life of Jesus Christ and what he taught, and the life of the first Christians; Gospel, Old Testament $
relating to the laws of physics that were discovered by the scientist Isaac Newton:
•Newtonian mechanics[C]
one of several complete towns built in Britain since 1946[U]
a brain disease that kills people, which may be caused by eating BEEF that is affected by BSE; mad cow disease
1 [C] a group of people who try to introduce new ideas in music, films, art, politics etc
[+of]
•a new wave of feminism in the sixties and early seventies
2 [U] also New Wave a type of music that was popular in the 1970s and early 1980s, which uses SYNTHESIZERs and a strong beat, and in which the words are sung without much emotion
the New World
a) North, Central, and South America; Old World
•Christopher Columbus's voyage of discovery to the New World
b) wines from the New World are from non-European countries such as South Africa, New Zealand, and the United States
- New World adjectivenew year [U]
1 also the New Year the time when people celebrate the beginning of a new year:
•We're going to spend Christmas and the New Year with my parents.
•The business will be closed over New Year.
Happy New Year (=used as a greeting)
•Our neighbours invited us round to see in the new year (=celebrate the beginning of the year).
2 the new year the first few weeks of the year:
•Prices are expected to go up in the new year.New Year's resolution [C]
a decision to do something better or to stop doing something bad in the new year:
•I haven't made any New Year resolutions- I never stick to them anyway.[singular, U]
1st January, the first day of the year[singular, U]
31st December, the last day of the year $
relating to New Zealand or its people $ [C]
someone from New Zealand
1 the next event, day, time etc is the one that happens after the present one, or the previous one:
•I just missed my flight to Chicago. When's the next one?
•We'll look at the proposals at the next meeting.
•Over the next couple of months, try to relax more and get more exercise.
next week/year/Monday etc
•We're hoping to open the factory some time next year.
the next day/week etc (=on or during the following day, week etc)
•She called me and we arranged to meet the next day.
(the) next time
•Next time I go skiing, I'll wear warmer clothes.
2 the next house, room, place etc is the one that is nearest to where you are now:
•Turn left at the next corner.
•We could hear them arguing in the next room.
NEXT TO
3 the next person or thing in a list, series etc comes after the one that you are dealing with now:
•Read the next two chapters before Friday.
•Do they have the next size up (=a slightly bigger size)?
4 next biggest/most common etc almost as big, more common etc than the one you are talking about:
•Cancer-related diseases are the next biggest killers.
5 the next best thing the thing or situation that is almost as good as the one you really want:
•If I can't be home for Christmas, phoning you on the day is the next best thing.
6 the next thing I/she etc knew informal used when something surprising happens very suddenly:
•The next thing I knew, I was lying face down on the pavement.
7 as the next man/person as any other man or person:
•I am as keen to do well as the next man.
1 immediately afterwards:
•With John here, you never know what will happen next.
•Next, put it in the oven for 20 minutes.
2 the next time:
•When I next saw her she completely ignored me.
1 the person or thing in a list, series etc that comes after the person or thing you are dealing with now:
•What's next on the shopping list?
the next to do sth
•Who will be the next to go?
2 the day/week etc after next the day, week etc that follows the next one:
•Have you remembered it's Susie's birthday the week after next?
3 the next to last the one before the last one:
•the next to last day of their visit
4 next (please) used to tell someone that it is now their turn to speak or their turn to do something
5 be next in line to be the next person, especially to have a job or position
1 in the house, room etc next to yours or someone else's:
•the boy next door
•Her office is just next door.
2 next door to sth next to another building, room etc:
•They live next door to the fish and chip shop.[U] BrE informal
the people living in the house or apartment next to yours; = neighbour
•Have you seen next door's new car?[only before noun]
1 next-door neighbour the person who lives in the house or apartment next to yours
2 next-door apartment/office etc the apartment etc that is next to yours[plural, U]
your closest living relative or relatives:
•May I have your name, address and next of kin, please?
1 very close to someone or something, with nothing in between; = beside
•There was a little girl sitting next to him.
2 next to nothing very little:
•He knows next to nothing about antiques.
3 used to give a list of things you like, hate etc in order to say what is first on the list:
•Next to soccer, I like playing tennis best.
4 in comparison with someone or something:
•Next to her, I'm a very poor cook.
5 the next to last the one before the last one:
•We'll need to buy some more wine. This is the next to last bottle.
6 next to impossible/useless etc almost impossible, useless etc:
•This crossword puzzle is next to impossible. [singular] formal
a connection or network of connections between a number of people, things, or ideas
[+of]
•a nexus of social relationships $ [C]
non-governmental organization an organization which helps people, protects the environment etc and which is not run by a government
the NHS the National Health Service the British system that provides free medical treatment for everyone, and is paid for by taxes:
•NHS hospitals
on the NHS (=free from the NHS)
•Can I get my glasses on the NHS? [U]
a type of VITAMIN that is good for your skin and your NERVOUS SYSTEM [C]
1 the pointed metal part at the end of a pen
2 his/her nibs old-fashioned informal someone in authority or someone who thinks they are important:
•And how's his nibs this morning?
1 [I,T] to eat small amounts of food by taking very small bites:
•He nibbled the biscuit cautiously.
[+at]
•There's a fish nibbling at my bait.
[+on]
•He nibbled on a piece of raw carrot.
2 [T] to gently bite someone in a loving way:
•He began to nibble her ear affectionately.

PHRASAL VERBS
nibble away at sth phr v
to take away small amounts of something so that the total amount is gradually reduced:
•All these expenses are nibbling away at our savings.
•The Scottish National Party is at last beginning to nibble away at Labour's huge majority.[C]
1 a small bite of something
[+of]
•She took a nibble of her cookie.
2 nibbles [plural] informal small things to eat, like CRISPs and PEANUTs , especially at a party
3 a small amount of interest in something:
•We've had the house on the market for a month and not even had a nibble yet. [C] trademark
nickel-cadmium a type of BATTERY that can be RECHARGEd , and that is used in cameras and small electronic equipment
1 GOOD pleasant, attractive, or enjoyable:
•They've got a very nice house.
•Did you have a nice time?
•It's such a nice day (=good weather), why not go for a swim?
•What a nice surprise!
look/taste/smell nice
•You look nice in that suit.
•Mm, something smells nice!
nice big/new/long etc
•a nice long holiday
•a nice new car
nice and warm/clean/easy/quiet etc
•The house seemed nice and tidy.
• One of the nice things about Christmas is having all the family together.
!! You can use nice and followed by another adjective after be The weather was nice and warm. But before a noun you must leave out 'and' a nice hot (NOT nice and hot) drink
2 FRIENDLY friendly, kind, or polite:
•Dave's a really nice guy.
•That's not a very nice thing to say about your sister!
[+about]
•Tim spilt wine all over the sofa, but Martha was very nice about it.
[+to]
•They were very nice to me while I was ill.
it is nice of sb (to do sth)
•It was nice of you to help.
•He told me, in the nicest possible way, that I was interfering too much.
3 STH YOU WANT used to say what you like or what you think would be good or useful:
•It's quite nice to live so close to work.
it is nice to do sth
•It would be nice to have a break.
that'd be nice (=used to accept an offer or agree with a suggestion)
•'Would you like a cup of coffee?' 'Yes, that'd be nice.'
•I thought it would be a nice idea to send them some flowers.
• It would be nice if you could let us know in advance.
4 it's nice to know (that) used to mean that you feel happier when you know something:
•I still haven't heard any news - it would be nice to know what's happening.
•It's nice to know that there's someone nearby if she needs help.
5 have a nice day! AmE used to say goodbye to someone, especially to customers in shops and restaurants when they are leaving
6 nice to meet you used as a friendly greeting when you meet someone for the first time:
•Hello. It's nice to meet you at last.
7 (it's been) nice meeting/talking to you used when you say goodbye to someone you have met for the first time
8 NOT NICE BrE used in a humorous or angry way when you really think that something or someone is not at all good or pleasant:
•That's a nice way to treat a friend, I must say!
•Well, we're in a nice mess now.
9 nice try used when someone has made a guess or suggestion, or has attempted to do something, to say that it is good, but not quite correct or successful:
•'We could phone Mark to come and pick us up.' 'Nice try, Clive, but we haven't got his number.'
10 nice one! BrE used when someone has just said or done something clever, amusing, or helpful:
•'Dad said he'd help pay for it.' 'Nice one!'
11 be (as) nice as pie BrE if someone is as nice as pie, they are not angry with you when you were expecting them to be
12 nice work if you can get it BrE used humorously to say that someone has a very easy or enjoyable job, especially one which you would like to do
13 DETAIL formal involving a very small difference or detail:
•a nice point of law
14 RESPECTABLE old-fashioned having high standards of moral and social behaviour:
•What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?
15 nice ... shame about the ... BrE used when saying that part of something is good or well done, but a more important part is bad or badly done:
•Nice video, shame about the song.
- niceness noun [U]
•The first thing you noticed about him was his niceness.
no more Mr Nice Guy! at GUY (5)

WORD FOCUS: nice
person:
lovely
pleasant
charming
sweet
adorable
thing/place/activity/time:
lovely
pleasant
delightful

attractive; good-looking
•a nice-looking young man
•a nice-looking car
1 WELL in a satisfactory, pleasant, or attractive way:
•He was handsome and nicely dressed.
•The table fits in nicely with the rest of the furniture.
•The wound healed up nicely.
•The garden's coming along very nicely now (=it is growing well).
2 IN A FRIENDLY/PLEASANT WAY in a pleasant, polite, or friendly way:
•I'm sure he'll help if you ask him nicely.
3 be doing nicely BrE to be successful and be earning a lot of money:
•The business is doing quite nicely.
•I've heard Malcolm's doing very nicely for himself out in Japan.
4 that will do nicely BrE spoken used when saying that something is very suitable and is just what you want:
•'Will cheese sandwiches be okay?' 'Yes, that'll do nicely.'
5 EXACTLY formal exactly or carefully:
•a nicely calculated distance plural niceties
1 [C usually plural] a small detail or point of difference, especially one that is usually considered to be part of the correct way of doing something:
•social niceties
•legal niceties
[+of]
•the niceties of political diplomacy
2 to a nicety formal exactly $
1 [C] if you find your niche, you find a job or activity that is very suitable for you:
•Amanda soon found her niche at the club.
•He's managed to create a niche for himself in local politics.
2 [singular] an opportunity to sell a product or service to a particular group of people who have similar needs, interests etc
[+in]
•He spotted a niche in the market.
3 [C] a hollow place in a wall, often made to hold a STATUE[only before noun]
relating to selling goods to a particular small group of people who have similar needs, interests etc:
•niche marketing
•a niche market
•a niche product
1 in the nick of time just before it is too late, or just before something bad happens:
•Luckily, help arrived in the nick of time.
2 in good nick/in bad nick etc BrE informal in good condition or in bad condition:
•It's an old car but it's still in good nick.
3 [C] a very small cut made on the edge or surface of something
4 the nick BrE informal a POLICE STATION[T]
1 BrE informal to steal something; = pinch, steal
•Someone's nicked my wallet.
nick sth from sb/sth
•You nicked those pens from my desk.
2 to make a small cut in the surface or edge of something, usually by accident:
•He nicked his hand on some broken glass.
3 BrE informal if the police nick you, they catch you and charge you with a crime; = arrest
•You're nicked!
1 [U] a hard silver-white metal that is often combined with other metals, for example to make steel. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Ni
2 [C] a coin in the US or Canada that is worth five cents[T] AmE informal
to not give enough attention or money to something, with the result that it is not dealt with effectively[only before noun] AmE
unimportant or involving little money [C]
a name given to someone, especially by their friends or family, that is not their real name and is often connected with what they look like or something they have done
[+for]
•We had nicknames for all the teachers.
•Stephen earned himself the nickname Hawkeye.
- nickname verb [T]
•She was nicknamed Sunny because of her happy nature. [U]
a substance in tobacco which makes it difficult for people to stop smoking[C]
a small piece of material containing nicotine which you stick on your skin to help you stop smoking [C]
the daughter of your brother or sister, or the daughter of your wife's or husband's brother or sister; nephew, aunt, uncle informal
something that is nifty is good because it is clever, skilful, or effective:
•a nifty little gadget for squeezing oranges $ old-fashioned
1 a niggardly gift, amount, salary etc is much too small and is given unwillingly:
•niggardly wages
•a niggardly 2% increase
2 unwilling to spend money or be generous; = stingy
•a niggardly person $ [C] taboo
a very offensive word for a black person. Do not use this word.
1 [T] if something niggles you, you keep worrying about it or feeling annoyed about it and you cannot forget it; bug
•Something's been niggling her all day.
• It niggles me that we can't go home yet and get warm.
2 [I] to argue or make criticisms about small unimportant details:
•She niggled over every detail of the bill.[C]
1 a slight feeling:
•a niggle of doubt
2 a slight criticism or complaint
3 a slight physical pain:
•a niggle in his knee
1 niggling doubt/worry/suspicion etc a slight doubt etc that you cannot stop thinking about; = nagging
2 a niggling injury or problem is a slight one that does not go away
1 nigh on old-fashioned almost:
•There were nigh on 40 people there.
2 literary near or soon:
•Winter draws nigh (=will start soon).
WELL-NIGH [C,U]
1 WHEN IT IS DARK the dark part of each 24-hour period when the sun cannot be seen and when most people sleep; day

last night
at night (=when it is night)
in/during the night (=at a particular point in the night)
in the middle of the night
all night (long)
by night (=at night, rather than in the day)
at this time of night (=used when you are surprised)
in/at the dead of night literary (=in the middle of the night when it is quiet)
spend/stay a night somewhere
stay the night (=sleep at the house of someone you are visiting)
night train/bus/flight
night falls written (=it starts to become dark)
the night air
the night sky

•It was a cold moonlit night.
•I didn't sleep too well last night.
• At night the temperature drops below zero.
•He woke up twice during the night.
•The party went on all night.
•Many animals hunt by night.
•Who could be calling at this time of night?
•an attack in the dead of night
•We spent the first two nights of our vacation in a cheap motel.
•If you miss the last bus home, you can always stay the night.
•We took the night train to Glasgow.
• Night was beginning to fall.
•the cold night air

2 EVENING the time during the evening until you go to bed:
•We had a really good meal last night.
•They stay in and watch television every night.
•She recognised him from the night before (=the previous evening).
•My parents are coming for dinner tomorrow night.
Friday/Saturday etc night
•There's a party at Ben's place on Saturday night.
•We were on our way back from a night out (=an evening when you go to a party, restaurant, theatre etc) at the theatre.
•Anna doesn't like him walking home late at night.
quiz night/student night etc (=an evening when a particular event happens, especially at a bar, club etc)
3 nights if you do something nights, you do it regularly or often at night:
•I work nights, so I'm usually asleep during the day.
4 night! spoken used to say goodbye to someone when it is late in the evening or when they are going to bed; = good night
•Night! See you tomorrow!
5 night night! spoken used to say goodbye to someone, especially a child, when they are going to bed
6 night and day/day and night all the time:
•The store is guarded day and night.
•We had to work night and day to get it finished.
7 night or day/day or night at any time:
•You can call me any time, night or day.
8 night after night every night for a long period:
•He's out drinking night after night.
9 first night/opening night the first performance of a play or show; premiere
•We saw 'Riverdance' on its opening night.
10 spend the night with sb/spend the night together to sleep with someone and have sex with them:
•And you thought we spent the night together?
11 a good night's sleep a night when you sleep well:
•You'll feel better after a good night's sleep.
12 (have a) late/early night to go to bed later or earlier than usual:
•I think I'll have an early night.
LATE-NIGHT
13 last thing at night at the end of the day, just before you go to bed:
•You should water plants either first thing in the morning or last thing at night.
NIGHTLY [C]
1 an alcoholic drink that you have at the end of the evening, just before you go to bed
2 a soft hat that people used to wear in bed[C]
a class which takes place during the evening for people who work during the day $ [plural]
clothes that you wear in bed [C]
a place where people go to dance and drink which is open late at night[C] AmE
a special hole in the outside wall of a bank into which a customer can put money or documents safely when the bank is closed; = night safe BrE [C]
a piece of clothing, like a thin dress, that a woman wears in bed[U]
work that is done during the night
on night duty
•She is on night duty at the hospital. $ [U] old-fashioned
the time when it begins to get dark in the evening; = dusk
•Don't worry, we'll be back by nightfall. [C] old-fashioned
a nightdress $ [C] AmE informal
someone who enjoys staying awake all night; = night owl [C] informal
a NIGHTDRESS [C]
a small bird that sings very beautifully, especially at night [U]
entertainment in the evening:
•The hotel is only a five minute walk from both the beach and the nightlife. [C]
a small electric light that you put in a child's room at night
happening every night:
•the nightly talk show
- nightly adverb
•The band plays twice nightly in the bar. $ [C]
1 a very frightening dream
[+about]
•Years after the accident I still have nightmares about it.
•a recurring nightmare (=one which you have again and again)
2 [usually singular] a very difficult, unpleasant, or frightening experience or situation:
•Traffic was a nightmare.
[+for]
•This has been an absolute nightmare for me and my family.
nightmare of (doing) sth
•the nightmare of going through divorce
•It was every teacher's worst nightmare (=the worst thing which could have happened).
•a nightmare journey
3 something terrible that you fear may happen in the future
[+of]
•the nightmare of a nuclear war
nightmare scenario (=the worst or most frightening situation that you can imagine)
- nightmarish adjective[C] informal
someone who enjoys staying awake all night[C] BrE
someone who works at the main entrance of a hotel during the night[C] BrE
a special hole in the outside wall of a bank into which a customer can put money or documents safely when the bank is closed; = night depository AmE[U]
classes that take place in the evening for people who work during the day[C]
1 a period of time at night when people regularly work, especially in a factory
on the night shift
•She's on the night shift this week.
2 the group of people who work on the night shift:
•The night shift was just arriving. $ [C]
a long loose shirt that someone, especially a man, wears in bed[C]
a place people go to at night for entertainment:
•my favourite New York night spot [C] AmE
a small table beside a bed; = bedside table BrE [C] AmE
a short thick stick carried as a weapon by police officers; = truncheon BrE [U]
the time during the night; daytime
at nighttime
•animals that hunt at nighttime[C]
someone whose job is to guard a building at night
- night watch noun [U] $ [U]
clothes that you wear in bed at night $ [C] BrE taboo old-fashioned
a very offensive word for a black person. Do not use this word. [U]
1 the belief that nothing has any meaning or value
2 the idea that all social and political institutions should be destroyed
- nihilist noun [C]
- nihilistic adjective [in nouns]
someone who is connected with a particular activity or set of beliefs:
•a peacenik (=someone who supports peace) [U]
1 nothing; = zero
•The new machine reduced labour costs to almost nil.
2 BrE the number zero, used in sports results:
•Our team won by two goals to nil.
1 able to move quickly and easily with light neat movements; = agile
•nimble fingers
•a nimble climber
2 a nimble mind/brain/wit an ability to think quickly or understand things easily
- nimbly adverb
- nimbleness noun [U] plural nimbuses or nimbi
1 [C,U] technical a dark cloud that may bring rain or snow
2 [C] a HALO plural nimbies [C]
not in my backyard someone who does not want a particular activity or building near their home - used to show disapproval
- nimby adjective [C]
nickel-metal hydride a type of BATTERY that can be RECHARGEd and that is used in cameras and small electronic equipment [C] old-fashioned
a stupid person
1 the number 9:
•He's only been in this job for nine months.
•We open at nine (=nine o'clock).
•Kay was taught by her mother till she was nine (=nine years old).
2 nine times out of ten almost always:
•Nine times out of ten we can solve the problem over the phone.
3 a nine days' wonder a thing or event that makes people very excited for a short time
4 have nine lives to make lucky escapes from dangerous situations
dressed up to the nines at DRESSED (4); be on cloud nine at CLOUD^1 (5) [U] especially AmE
September 11, 2001, when TERRORISTS used planes to attack New York and Washington:
•the terrifying events of 9/11
•a 9/11 disaster relief fund [U]
1 a game in which you roll a ball at nine bottle-shaped objects to try to hit them so that they fall
2 drop/go down like ninepins if people or things drop like ninepins, many of them fall down or become ill or injured suddenly all at the same time:
•It's just three weeks into the season and players are dropping like ninepins.
1 the number 19:
•It was nineteen minutes past seven.
•I was only nineteen (=19 years old).
2 nineteen to the dozen if you talk nineteen to the dozen, you talk very quickly and without stopping
- nineteenth adjective, pron
•in the nineteenth century
•her nineteenth birthday
•I'm planning to leave on the nineteenth (=the 19th day of the month).
the nineteenth hole an expression used humorously by GOLF players meaning the bar where they drink after playing
between nine o'clock and five o'clock, the normal working hours of an office worker:
•She didn't like working nine to five.
- nine-to-five adjective
•a nine-to-five job
1 the number 90
2 the nineties [plural] also the '90s, the 1990s the years from 1990 to 1999:
•America was far richer in the nineties.
the early/mid/late nineties
•The industry received a lot of bad publicity in the early nineties.
3 be in your nineties to be aged between 90 and 99
early/mid/late nineties
•My grandfather was in his early nineties when he died.
4 in the nineties if the temperature is in the nineties, it is between 90 degrees and 99 degrees
in the low/mid/high nineties
•Temperatures were still in the high nineties.
- ninetieth adjective
•her ninetieth birthday [C]
in the past, a Japanese fighter with special skills plural ninnies [C] old-fashioned
a silly person
coming after eight other things in a series:
•in the ninth century
•her ninth birthday
- ninth pron
•I'm planning to leave on the ninth (=ninth day of the month).[C]
one of nine equal parts of something past tense and past participle nipped, present participle nipping
1 [I always + adv/prep] BrE informal to go somewhere quickly or for a short time; = pop
•Have we time to nip down the pub for a quick drink?
•Another car nipped in (=moved quickly into a space) in front of me.
•I've got to nip home and change my clothes.
2 [I,T] to bite someone or something lightly:
•She gently nipped the lobe of his ear.
[+at]
•The fish swam all around her and nipped at her legs.
3 nip sth in the bud to prevent something from becoming a problem by stopping it as soon as it starts:
•Try to nip this kind of bad behaviour in the bud.
4 [T] BrE to suddenly and quickly press something tightly between two fingers, edges, or surfaces; pinch
•Sally nipped her cheeks to make them look less pale.
•He nipped his finger in the door.
5 [I,T] written if cold weather or the wind nips at part of your body or at a plant, it hurts or damages it
[+at]
•The frost nipped at our fingers.

PHRASAL VERBS
nip sth <=> off phr v
to remove a small part of something, especially a plant, by pressing it tightly between your finger and thumb:
•She nipped off a dead flower.[C]
1 the act or result of biting something lightly or pressing something between two fingers, edges, or surfaces:
•His dog gave me a painful nip on the leg.
2 a small amount of strong alcoholic drink
[+of]
•a nip of brandy
3 a nip in the air coldness in the air
4 nip and tuck AmE informal
a) equally likely to happen or not happen:
•We made it to the airport, but it was nip and tuck.
b) if two competitors are nip and tuck in a race or competition, they are doing equally well; = neck and neck
•The fourth quarter was nip and tuck, but the Bulls won 92-90. $ [C] BrE informal
a child [C]
1 the small dark circular part of a woman's breast. Babies suck milk through their mother's nipples.
2 one of the two small dark circular parts on a man's chest
3 AmE the rubber part on a baby's bottle that a baby sucks milk through; = teat BrE
4 a part in an engine or machine made of rubber or plastic and shaped like a nipple. It has a hole in it which liquid can flow or be poured through. informal
1 weather that is nippy is slightly cold; = chilly
•It's a bit nippy out there.
2 BrE moving quickly or able to move quickly:
•a nippy little car $ [U]
1 the final state of complete knowledge and understanding that is the aim of believers in Buddhism
2 a condition of great happiness and a feeling of peace
DECREE NISI [C]
1 an egg of a LOUSE (=a small insect that sucks blood), that is sometimes found in people's hair
2 BrE informal a silly person[U] informal
when someone argues about small unimportant details or tries to find small mistakes in something:
•Soames was getting impatient with his daughter's constant nitpicking.
- nitpicking adjective
- nitpicker noun [C] [C,U]
used in the name of substances containing NITROGEN and OXYGEN. Nitrates are often used to improve soil:
•potassium nitrate
•high levels of nitrates in drinking water [U]
a powerful acid that is used in explosives and other chemical products [U]
a gas that has no colour or smell, and that forms most of the Earth's air. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Nnitroglycerin $ [U]
a chemical used to make a powerful liquid explosive and also in some medicines $ [U]
a type of gas used by DENTISTs to reduce pain; = laughing gas informal
the nitty-gritty the basic and practical facts of a subject or activity:
•Let's get down to the nitty-gritty and work out the costs. [C] informal
a silly person [T] AmE informal
to answer no to something or say that you will not allow something:
•They nixed the idea of filming in Ireland.AmE old-fashioned
noalso no. plural Nos
the written abbreviation of number :
•Mozart's piano concerto no. 27 $
1 used to give a negative reply to a question, offer, or request; yes
•'Are you Italian?' 'No, I'm Spanish.'
•'Do you want any more?' ' No thanks.'
•'Could you help me write this?' 'No, sorry, I haven't got time at the moment.'
•He wanted to take me to a disco but I said no.
•Sixty percent of people voted no.
•If you're asking whether I feel the same way about her, the answer is no.
2 used to say that you disagree with a statement:
•'You're always complaining about work.' 'No, I'm not!'
3 used to say that you agree with a negative statement:
•'They shouldn't drive so fast.' 'No, it's really dangerous.'
4 used to tell someone not to do something:
•No, Jimmy, don't touch that switch.
5 used to show that you are shocked, surprised, annoyed, or disappointed by what someone has just told you, or by what has just happened:
•'She's nearly fifty.' 'No, you're kidding!'
• Oh no, I've lost my wallet!
6 used to correct what you have just said:
•He's the director, no, the assistant director, of the company.
7 won't take no for an answer if someone won't take no for an answer, they are determined that you should agree to do something:
•He insists on taking us all out to dinner and he won't take no for an answer.
8 used before COMPARATIVES to mean 'not even a small amount':
•I'll pay you $75 and no more.
•You're no better than the rest of them.
no longer at LONG^2 (7)
1 not one or not any:
•There's no food left in the fridge.
•No trains will be affected by this incident.
•a house with no central heating
•There's no excuse for that kind of behaviour.
2 used on signs to say that something is not allowed:
•No parking
•No smoking
3 in no time informal very soon or very quickly:
•We'll be home in no time.
4 there's no doing sth spoken used to emphasize that it is not possible to do something:
• There's no knowing what this lunatic will do next.
• There is no denying the suffering of these families (=they are definitely suffering).
5 used to emphasize that the opposite of a particular description is true:
•That girl's no fool (=she is intelligent).
•Larry's no friend of mine.
•If he has to do it all himself, it will be no bad thing (=a good thing).
•a question of no great importanceplural noes
1 [singular] a negative answer or decision:
•The answer was a definite no.
2 [C] a vote against a proposal in parliamentalso no-count [only before noun] AmE old-fashioned informal
a no-account person does not achieve very much because they are so lazy:
•a no-account drifter who died of drink $
in the Bible, the large boat built by Noah to save his family and the animals from a flood that covered the earth $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
a rich person with a high social position[C]
an act of BOWLing the ball in the game of CRICKET in a way that is not allowed by the rules $ [T] BrE informal
1 to make someone do what you want by illegally offering them money or threatening them; bribe
•The jury had been nobbled and the case had to be reheard.
2 to prevent a horse from winning a race, especially by giving it drugs
3 to get someone's attention, especially in order to persuade them to do something:
•I was nobbled by my deaf old aunt and couldn't get away. $
1 the nobility the group of people in some countries who belong to the highest social class and have titles such as 'Duke' or 'Countess'; = the aristocracy
2 [U] the quality of being noble:
•the nobility of his intentions $
1 morally good or generous in a way that is admired:
•It's very noble of you to spend all your weekends helping the old folk.
•noble ideals
2 [only before noun] belonging to the nobility
noble family/blood/birth etc
•a member of an ancient noble family
•The Marquis would have to marry a woman of noble blood.
3 something that is noble is very impressive and beautiful:
•the old church with its noble tower
4 noble gas/metal technical a noble gas or metal is not affected chemically by other substances
BASE METAL
5 noble savage literary someone who comes from a society that is less developed or interested in money than western countries, making them morally better than people than people who live in western countries[C]
a member of the highest social class with a title such as 'Duke' or 'Countess'
COMMONER $ plural noblemen [C]
a man who is a member of the highest social class and has a title such as 'Duke' $ [U]
the idea that people who belong to a high social class should behave in a kind and generous way towards people of a lower social class $ plural noblewomen [C]
a woman who is a member of the highest social class and has a title such as 'Duchess' $
1 in a morally good or generous way that should be admired:
•They chose to die nobly rather than to betray their king.
2 nobly born literary having parents who are members of the NOBILITY $
1 no one:
•I knocked on the door but nobody answered.
!! Do not spell this as two words, or the meaning changes: There was nobody there (=no person). There was no body there (=not a dead body).
2 like nobody's business very much, very well, or very fast:
•We get along like nobody's business.
be nobody's fool at FOOL^1 (5)plural nobodies [C]
someone who is not important and has no influence:
•I was a nothing and a nobody with everything to prove.[singular]
a decision that is easy, and that you do not need to think about, used when you want to emphasize that it is really very easy:
•Joining the savings plan is a no-brainer. Just do it.[C]
in Britain, a reduction in the amount that you have to pay for car insurance, because you have not claimed any money during a particular period[U]
vote of no-confidence/no-confidence vote/motion of no-confidence etc an official vote where people can say if they no longer think someone or something is good enough:
•fears that he may lose a vote of no-confidence in parliament
•The chairman has survived four no-confidence motions.
another form of NO-ACCOUNT $
1 an animal that is nocturnal is active at night:
•Hamsters are nocturnal creatures.
2 formal happening at night:
•Rebecca paid a nocturnal visit to the flat. $ [C]
a piece of music, especially a soft beautiful piece of piano music $ past tense and past participle nodded, present participle nodding [I,T]
1 to move your head up and down, especially in order to show agreement or understanding; shake
•I asked her if she was ready to go, and she nodded.
•Mom nodded her head sympathetically.
nod your approval/agreement etc (=show your approval etc by nodding)
•Corbett nodded his acceptance.
2 to move your head down and up again once in order to greet someone or give someone a sign to do something
[+at]
•The judge nodded at the foreman to proceed.
[+to]
•She nodded to us as she walked by.
3 have a nodding acquaintance (with sth) to know a little about a subject but not a lot:
•Students will need to have a nodding acquaintance with at least three languages.
4 have a nodding acquaintance (with sb) also be on nodding terms (with sb) BrE to know someone but not very well

PHRASAL VERBS
nod off phr v
to begin to sleep, usually when you do not intend to and are sitting somewhere:
•I missed the movie because I kept nodding off.
1 [C] an act of nodding:
•The woman greeted us with a nod of the head.
•I showed the doorman my card and he gave a friendly nod.
2 give sb the nod/get the nod from sb informal to give or be given permission to do something:
•We're waiting for the boss to give us the nod on this one.
3 on the nod BrE informal by general agreement and without people discussing it:
•The chairman's proposals are usually passed on the nod.
4 a nod's as good as a wink BrE used to tell someone that you have understood something, although it was said in an indirect way
the land of nod at LAND^1 (9) $ [only before noun] technical
being or connected with a node:
•the nodal point of the transport system $ [C] BrE old-fashioned informal
your head or brain:
•It's easy enough to do if you just use your noddle (=think). $ [C] technical
1 the place on the stem of a plant from which a leaf or branch grows
2 a place where lines in a network cross or join
3 a part of a computer network where messages can be received or sent
4 a LYMPH NODE $ [C]
a small round raised part, especially a small swelling on a plant or someone's body
- nodular adjective $ [U]
CHRISTMAS - used especially in songs and on cards $
the plural of NO^3[only before noun] law
1 a no-fault DIVORCE is one in which both people agree not to be married any longer and do not have to say whose fault this is
2 no-fault car insurance will pay for the damage done in an accident, even if you caused the accident[C]
an area that only particular aircraft are allowed to enter, and in which other aircraft could be attacked[only before noun]
a no-frills product or service includes only basic features and is not of the highest possible quality:
•no-frills accommodation $ [C] old-fashioned
1 a small amount of an alcoholic drink
2 informal your head or brain:
• Use your noggin (=think).[C]
1 an area that people should not go to because it is very dangerous:
•This part of the city was a no-go area for the police.
2 a subject that cannot be discussed because it is private or because it may offend people:
•She made it clear that her private life was a no-go area.[only before noun]
a no-holds-barred discussion, situation etc is one in which there are no rules or limits:
•Viewers had been promised a no-holds-barred interview with the former mayor.[C] BrE
a person or animal who you think has no chance of winning something or of being successful:
•a bunch of complete no-hopers $ AmE informal
not in any way or in any situation - usually used humorously:
•I never liked her nohow.
FILM NOIR
1 [C,U] a sound, especially one that is loud, unpleasant, or frightening; = sound
•What's that noise?
[+of]
•the noise of the traffic
•Try not to make a noise when you go upstairs.
gurgling/banging/crackling etc noise
•There was a strange whistling noise in his ears.
•There was a lot of noise outside.
• Noise levels have been reduced by 20%.
traffic/engine/background etc noise
•the problem of aircraft noise near airports
2 (make) encouraging/optimistic etc noises (about sth) BrE to say things which suggest what your opinion or attitude is, without saying it directly:
•Both sides were making hopeful noises about the hostages.
3 make (all) the right noises (about sth) to say the things that other people want or expect to hear:
•The health minister seems to be making all the right noises.
4 make noises about doing sth to say that you are considering doing something:
•He is now making noises about starting his own business.
5 make a (lot of) noise about sth BrE to talk about something a lot, so that people will notice it - used in order to show disapproval:
•modern men who make a noise about the fact that they know how to look good
6 [U] technical unwanted signals produced by an electrical CIRCUIT
7 [U] technical pieces of unwanted information that can prevent a computer from working effectively
8 noises off the sounds, voices etc that come from actors who are not on the stage at the time
BIG NOISE
be noised abroad/about/around old-fashioned especially BrE if news or information is noised abroad, people are talking about it:
•Rumours of an election are being noised abroad. written
without making any sound; = silently
•We crept noiselessly down the hall.
- noiseless adjective
•his noiseless footsteps[U]
very loud or continuous noise which is considered unpleasant and harmful to people literary
very unpleasant:
•noisome smells comparative noisier, superlative noisiest
1 someone or something that is noisy makes a lot of noise; quiet
•The kids have been really noisy today.
•a noisy engine
2 a place that is noisy is full of noise:
•The bar was very noisy.
- noisily adverb
•He blew his nose noisily. $ [C]
a member of a tribe that travels from place to place instead of living in one place all the time, usually in order to find grass for their animals $
1 nomadic people are nomads:
•nomadic herdsmen
2 if someone leads a nomadic life, they travel from place to place and do not live in any one place for very long:
•The son of an airforce pilot, he had a somewhat nomadic childhood.[singular, U]
1 an area of land that no one owns or controls, especially an area between two borders or opposing armies
2 a situation or type of activity that is not either of two things or is a combination of two things
[+between]
•the no-man's land between art and science $ plural noms de guerre [C] formal
a name that someone uses instead of their real name, especially someone who is fighting in a war $ plural noms de plume [C] formal
a name used by a writer instead of their real name; = pen name $ [U] formal
a system of naming things, especially in science
[+of]
•the nomenclature of science
•zoological nomenclature $
1 nominal sum/charge/fee etc a very small sum of money, especially when compared with what something would usually cost or what it is worth:
•A nominal charge is made for use of the tennis courts.
2 officially described as being something, when this is not really true:
•the nominal head of the rebellion
•Their conversion to Christianity was only nominal.
3 nominal value/rate/income etc technical a nominal value etc does not show what something is really worth or really costs, because it does not take into account changes in the price of other goods and services; real
•If prices rise and the nominal wage remains constant, the real wage falls.
4 technical relating to nouns or used as a noun:
•the nominal use of the present participle $
officially described as being something, when this is not really true:
•a nominally Christian country
•He was nominally in charge of his father's printing company. $ [T]
1 to officially suggest someone or something for an important position, duty, or prize
nominate sb/sth for sth
•Ferraro was the first woman to be nominated for the job of vice president.
nominate sb/sth as sth
•She has been nominated as Best Actress for her part in the film 'Forever Together'.
nominate sb to do sth
•I nominate John to represent us at the meeting.
2 to give someone a particular job
nominate sb as sth
•Next year Mr Jenks will retire and Mr Broadbent will be nominated as his replacement.
nominate sb to sth
•She was nominated to the legislative council. $
1 [C,U] the act of officially suggesting someone or something for a position, duty, or prize, or the fact of being suggested for it
[+for]
•Who will get the Republican nomination for president?
•All the committee's nominations were approved.
2 [C] the name of a book, film, actor etc that has been suggested to receive an honour or prize:
•The nominations for the Academy Awards were announced Tuesday.
3 [C,U] the act of giving someone a particular job, or the fact of being given that job
[+as]
•O'Neil's nomination as chief executive $ [C] technical
a particular form of a noun in some languages, such as Latin and German, which shows that the noun is the SUBJECT of a verb
- nominative adjective $ [C]
someone who has been officially suggested for an important position, duty, or prize:
•the Democratic Party presidential nominee
[+for]
•a nominee for the post of vice president $
1 [in adjectives, nouns, and adverbs] used to say that someone or something is not a particular thing, or does not do a particular thing:
•non-British visitors
•a non-smoker (=someone who does not smoke)
•a non-stop flight (=one in which a plane flies from one place to another without stopping on the way)
2 [in nouns] used to refer to a situation where a particular action did not happen or will not happen:
•non-payment of taxes
•They were very disappointed at his non-appearance (=the fact that he did not go to an event where he was expected). $ [C]
someone between 90 and 99 years old[U]
a situation in which two countries do not attack or fight each other:
•Both sides are now committed to non-aggression.
non-aggression pact/treaty/agreement etc
•The countries will come together next week to sign a new non-aggression treaty.
non-alcoholic drinks do not contain alcohol:
•non-alcoholic wine
•Do you have anything non-alcoholic?
a non-aligned country does not support, or is not dependent on, any of the powerful countries in the world:
•the non-aligned countries of Europe
- non-alignment noun [U][only before noun]
no-name products are not made by a well-known company and so do not have a well-known name:
•a no-name personal computer[U] formal
failure to go to a place or event where you are supposed to go:
•He was taken into care because of his non-attendance at school.
a non-binding agreement or decision does not have to be obeyed:
•The industry has signed a non-binding agreement to reduce pollution. $ [only before noun] technical
a nonce word or phrase has been invented for a particular occasion and is only used once $
behaving calmly and not seeming interested in anything or worried about anything:
•'Has he got a girlfriend?' Jill asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
- nonchalance noun [U]
- nonchalantly adverb
•He walked nonchalantly to the door. $ [C]
1 someone who is in the army, navy etc during a war but who does not actually fight, for example an army doctor
2 someone who is not in the army, navy etc during a war; = civilian
- non-combatant adjective
•non-combatant military advisers[C]
an NCO
deliberately not expressing your opinion or intentions clearly
[+about]
•The doctor was non-committal about my mother's chances of recovery.
•The driver mumbled a non-committal reply.[U] formal
failure or refusal to do something that you are officially supposed to do
[+with]
•Companies can be prosecuted for non-compliance with the law.nonconformist
relating to one of the Protestant Christian churches that have separated from the Church of England
- Nonconformist noun [C]
- Nonconformism noun [U] $ [C]
someone who does not accept the ways of thinking or behaving accepted by most other people in their society or group
- nonconformist adjective
- nonconformity noun [U] $
a noncontributory PENSION or insurance plan is paid for by your employer only, and not by you
not likely to cause any arguments or disagreements:
•Most of the proposals are fairly non-controversial.[U]
the refusal to do something that someone in authority tells you to do, especially as a protest $
a noncount noun is UNCOUNTABLE $ law
1 noncustodial sentence/punishment etc BrE a form of punishment which does not involve being sent to prison
2 noncustodial parent/father/mother a parent who does not have their child living with them after a DIVORCE or SEPARATION, because of a court's decision
non-dairy foods are not made with milk, butter, cream etc:
•non-dairy ice cream
not relating to one particular religion or religious group:
•a non-denominational school $
someone or something that is nondescript looks very ordinary and is not at all interesting or unusual:
•a rather nondescript suburban house
1 not any amount of something or not one of a group of people or things:
•I wish I could offer you some cake but there's none left.
•Although these were good students, none had a score above 60.
•She waited for a reply, but none came.
•Even an old car is better than none.
[+of]
•Despite her illness, she had lost none of her enthusiasm for life.
•I know what people are saying - but none of it is true.
•None of my friends phone me any more.
none at all/none whatsoever
•'Was there any mail?' 'No, none at all.'
2 will/would have none of sth also be having none of sth used to say that someone refuses to allow someone to do something or to behave in a particular way:
•We offered to pay our half of the cost but Charles would have none of it.
3 none but sb literary only a particular person or type of person:
•a task that none but a man of genius could accomplish
4 none other than sb used to emphasize that the person involved in something is famous, impressive, or surprising:
•The mystery guest turned out to be none other than Cher herself.
NONETHELESS; second to none at SECOND^1 (5); bar none at BAR^3 (2)

WORD CHOICE: none, neither
Use none to talk about a group of three or more things or people: None of my friends came.
To talk about two things or people, use neither: Neither of my parents wanted me to marry him.
GRAMMAR
none of can be followed by a plural noun or an uncountable noun: None of these diets worked. | None of the money was missing.
neither of is followed by a plural noun: Neither of the rooms was free.
After the plural noun, you can use a plural or singular verb. You should use a singular verb in formal writing None of us care OR cares what happens to him. | None of us is able to escape the consequences of our actions.

!! Do not use another negative word (eg 'not') with none: We got 3 points and they got none (NOT they didn't get none). | I didn't want any of them (NOT I didn't want none of them).

1 none the worse/better etc (for sth) not any worse, better etc than before:
•She seems none the worse for her experience.
2 none the wiser not having any more understanding or knowledge about something than you had before:
•I was none the wiser after his explanation.
3 none too not at all:
•I was none too pleased to have to take the exam again. $ plural nonentities [C]
someone who has no importance or power and who is not special in any way; = nobody
•She treated him as a nonentity.
not completely necessary:
•All non-essential travel was cancelled. [sentence adverb] formal
in spite of the fact that has just been mentioned; = nevertheless
•The region was extremely beautiful. Nonetheless Gerard could not imagine spending the rest of his life there.
•The paintings are complex, but have plenty of appeal nonetheless.[C usually singular]
an event that is disappointing because it is much less interesting, exciting, or important than you expected:
•In the end, the match turned out to be a non-event.[C]
one of the DIRECTORs of a company who gives advice, but who does not make decisions about how the company is run $
something that is nonexistent does not exist at all, or is not present in a particular place
almost/virtually/practically etc nonexistent
•On a Sunday morning traffic was almost nonexistent.
- non-existence noun [U]non-fat
having all the fat removed:
•nonfat milk[U]
books or writing about real facts or events, not imagined ones; fiction
•I read a lot of non-fiction.
- non-fiction adjectivetechnical
a non-finite verb does not show a particular tense or subject, and is either the INFINITIVE or the PARTICIPLE form of the verb, for example 'go' in the sentence 'Do you want to go home?'; finite $
materials or substances that are nonflammable do not burn easily or do not burn at all; flammable ; inflammable[only before noun]
a non-governmental organization is independent and not controlled by a government:
•Emergency aid is being provided by non-governmental relief organizations.[U]
the practice by a government of not getting involved in the affairs of other countries:
•The British government may have to abandon its policy of non-intervention.
- non-interventionist adjective
•a non-interventionist policyBrE
non-iron material does not need to be IRONed after it has been washedalso non-judgemental BrE
not criticizing people:
•A counsellor should always be sympathetic and non-judgmental.[C]
someone who is not a member of a particular club or organization:
•The price will be £30 for members, £33 for non-members.
[+of]
•non-members of the Labour Party
non-member state/country
•imports from non-member countries
1 a non-negotiable principle or belief is one that you refuse to discuss or change:
•He emphasized that the government's anti-nuclear position was non-negotiable.
2 a cheque, BOND etc that is non-negotiable can only be exchanged for money by the person whose name is on it[singular] informal
something that you must not do because it is considered to be unacceptable behaviour:
•Colouring your hair was a no-no at that time.[only before noun]
very practical and direct, without wasting time on unnecessary and unimportant things:
•his no-nonsense attitude to business $
1 nonpareils [plural] AmE very small pieces of coloured sugar used to decorate cakes
2 [C] AmE a piece of chocolate covered with nonpareils
3 [singular] literary someone or something that is much better than all the others:
•reviews by film critic nonpareil Pauline Kael $
not supporting the ideas of any political party or group:
•a non-partisan research group[U]
when you do not pay the money that you owe in tax, rent etc
[+of]
•She was finally evicted in April for non-payment of rent.also nonplused AmE $ [not before noun]
so surprised by something that you do not know what to say or do
[+by/at]
•Billy was completely nonplussed by Elliot's refusal.[only before noun]
a non-prescription drug is one that you can buy in a shop without a written order from a doctor; = over-the-counteralso non-profitmaking BrE
a non-profit organization uses the money it earns to help people instead of making a profit:
•a non-profit educational institution[U]
the limiting of the number of NUCLEAR or chemical weapons in the world, especially by stopping countries that do not yet have them from developing them:
•Over 20 countries have now signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
a non-refundable amount of money cannot be paid back to you:
•There is a £40 deposit, which is non-refundable.
non-renewable types of energy such as coal or gas cannot be replaced after they have been used:
•All countries are being asked to cut down on their use of non-renewable resources.[C]
1 someone who does not live permanently in a particular country or area:
•A lot of houses in the area are being bought by non-residents.
2 BrE someone who is not staying in a particular hotel:
•The hotel restaurant is open to non-residents.
- non-resident adjective
1 BrE if a course, activity etc is non-residential, you are not provided with a place to stay while you are doing it
2 non-residential areas or buildings are not places where people livetechnical
a non-restrictive RELATIVE CLAUSE gives additional information about a particular person or thing rather than saying which person or thing is being mentioned. For example, in the sentence 'Perry, who is 22, was arrested yesterday', the phrase 'who is 22' is a non-restrictive clause.
1 a non-returnable amount of money cannot be paid back to you:
•Please send this form back with a non-returnable deposit of £60.
2 things that are non-returnable cannot be taken back to a shop and used again:
•non-returnable bottles
not using scientific methods to collect information and form opinions:
•The report is based on non-scientific data. $ [U]
1 STUPID/UNTRUE ideas, opinions, statements etc that are not true or that seem very stupid; = rubbish BrE
•'I'm a prisoner in my own home.' 'Nonsense!'
absolute/utter/complete nonsense
•'Nobody cares about me.' 'That's absolute nonsense, Mary!'
[+about]
•all this nonsense about health foods
•If you ask me, these modern teaching methods are a load of nonsense (=a lot of nonsense).
•He was talking utter nonsense as usual.
be a nonsense BrE
•The government's housing policy is a nonsense.
•By 1832 the idea had become an economic nonsense.
it is (a) nonsense to do sth
•It is nonsense to say that mistakes are never made.
2 ANNOYING BEHAVIOUR behaviour that is stupid and annoying:
•You're to stop that nonsense, do you hear me?
not stand/put up with/take any nonsense (=not accept such behaviour)
•She won't stand any nonsense from the kids in her class.
3 WITHOUT MEANING speech or writing that has no meaning or cannot be understood:
•Computer programs look like complete nonsense to me.
4 make (a) nonsense of sth BrE to make an action, system, or plan useless or ineffective:
•Having the army still in power makes a nonsense of last year's elections.
5 nonsense poems/verse/rhymes poetry that is humorous because it does not have a normal sensible meaning $
ideas, actions, or statements that are nonsensical are not reasonable or sensible:
•This is a nonsensical argument. $ [C]
a statement which does not seem to be connected in a reasonable or sensible way with what was said before
a non-slip surface prevents you from slipping and falling:
•a non-slip bath mat[C]
someone who does not smoke:
•an area reserved for non-smokers
1 a non-smoking area is one where you are not allowed to smoke:
•a non-smoking restaurant
2 [only before noun] used to describe someone who does not smoke:
•a non-drinking, non-smoking fitness fanatic
1 [only before noun] a non-specific medical condition could have one of several causes:
•children with non-specific abdominal pain
2 not exact or detailed, or not relating to one particular thing; vague
•The description was deliberately non-specific.
1 non-standard ways of speaking are not usually considered to be correct by educated speakers of a language:
•Non-standard dialects of English are regional dialects.
2 not the usual size or type:
•a non-standard disk size $ [C usually singular]
informal an idea, a plan, or a person that has no chance of success:
•In its present form the scheme is a non-starter.
a non-stick cooking pan has a special inside surface which prevents food from sticking to it $ [usually before noun]
without any stops or pauses; continuous
•a nonstop flight to Los Angeles
- nonstop adverb
•She talked nonstop for over an hour.
not making someone feel afraid or worried:
•It is important to create a safe, non-threatening environment for children.
not poisonous or harmful to your health:
•non-toxic paint[only before noun]
different from the way something happened or from what was considered typical in the past:
•older, non-traditional university students
•non-traditional workdaysalso non-unionized
1 [usually before noun] non-union workers do not belong to a TRADE UNION (=official organization for workers)
2 businesses or organizations that are non-union do not officially accept TRADE UNIONs , or do not employ their members $
not using words:
•nonverbal forms of communication
- nonverbally adverb[U]
the practice of opposing a government without using violence, for example by not obeying laws; passivity
•She was committed to non-violence.
•a policy of non-violence
not using or not involving violence; peaceful
•a non-violent protest against the government
•an increase in the amount of violent and non-violent crime[C]
someone who does not belong to a white race
- non-white adjective
[usually plural] a long thin piece of food made from a mixture of flour, water, and eggs, usually cooked in soup or boiling water:
•Serve the meat with rice or noodles. [C]
1 literary a small quiet place which is sheltered by a rock, a big tree etc:
•a shady nook
2 a small space in a corner of a room:
•the table in the breakfast nook
3 every nook and cranny every part of a place:
•We searched every nook and cranny.nooky [U] informal
the activity of having sex - used humorously [U]
12 o'clock in the daytime; = midday
at/before/by noon
•We left home at noon.
•He rarely gets up before noon.
•We met at 12 noon.
morning, noon, and night at MORNING^1 (5) [only before noun] literary
happening or appearing at noon; = midday
•It was impossible to work in the heat of the noonday sun.no-one
not anyone; = nobody
•No one likes being criticized.
•There's no one else I really want to invite apart from you.
•Has no one phoned about the car?
•No one can say I didn't warn you.
!! Do not use another negative word (e.g. 'not') with no one. Use anyone with not: No one came. | Didn't anyone come?
[C] a ring formed by the end of a piece of rope, which closes more tightly as it is pulled, used especially for killing someone by hanging them $ spoken informal
used to say 'no' when you answer someone:
•'Hungry?' 'Nope, I just ate.'informal especially AmE
nowhere:
•There's no place left to hide. $
1 neither ... nor ... used when mentioning two things that are not true or do not happen:
•He can neither read nor write. (=he cannot read or write)
•Hilary was neither shocked nor surprised by the news.
•Neither Matt nor Julie said anything (=Matt did not say anything and Julie did not say anything).
2 formal used after a negative statement in order to introduce another negative statement containing a similar kind of information:
•I don't expect children to be rude, nor do I expect to be disobeyed.
•It was not my fault, nor his.
3 BrE used after a negative statement to say that the negative statement is also true for someone or something else:
•'I don't want to go.' 'Nor do I.'
•They couldn't understand it at the time, and nor could we.
NEITHER^3 $
a PREFIX meaning 'north', used especially by sailors:
•nor'east
•nor'west $
relating to the Northern European countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland, or to their people; Scandinavian
•the Nordic countries $ [C]
1 the usual or normal situation, way of doing something etc
be/become the norm
•Short term contracts are now the norm with some big companies.
•Joyce's style of writing was a striking departure from the literary norm.
2 norms [plural] generally accepted standards of social behaviour:
•terrorists who violate the norms of civilized society
social/cultural etc norms
3 the norm the normal or average standard
above/below the norm
•28% of children tested below the norm. $
1 usual, typical, or expected:
•A normal working week is 40 hours.
it is normal (for sb) to do sth
•It's normal to feel nervous before an exam.
quite/perfectly etc normal
•Her room was untidy, but that was quite normal.
•She was assessed in the normal way, and placed on the waiting list.
•All I want is to lead a normal life.
2 someone who is normal is mentally and physically healthy and does not behave strangely; abnormal
•He seems a perfectly normal little boy.
•They can't be normal to do something like that.[U]
the usual state, level, or amount:
•Thankfully, train services are now back to normal.
•Slowly her heartbeat returned to normal.
above/below normal
•Car sales are still below normal for the time of year.
higher/larger/less etc than normal
•The journey took longer than normal.also normalcy AmE $ [U]
a situation in which things happen in the usual or expected way:
•We're hoping for a return to normality as soon as possible.
•We'll soon get back to some semblance of normality.also normalise BrE $ [I,T]
1 if you normalize a situation, or if it normalizes, it becomes normal again:
•Journalists are reporting that the situation has now normalized.
2 if two countries normalize relations, or if relations normalize, the two countries behave in a normal way towards each other again:
• Relations between the countries were formally normalized in 1997.
- normalization $ noun [U] $
1 usually:
•The journey normally takes about two hours. [sentence adverb]
•Normally, I park behind the theatre.
2 in a normal way; abnormally
•The system seems to be working normally now. $
1 built in the style that was popular during the 11th and 12th centuries in Europe:
•a Norman church
2 relating to the Normans, the northern French people who took control of England in the 11th century $ formal
describing or establishing a set of rules or standards of behaviour:
•normative guidelines for senators $ [only before noun]
relating to the people of ancient Scandinavia or their language:
•Norse legends[U]
the language that was spoken by the people of ancient Scandinavia $ plural Norsemen [C] literary
a VIKINGNorth written abbreviation N $ [singular, U]
1 the direction that is at the top of a map of the world, above the Equator. It is on the left if you are facing the rising sun:
•Which way is north?
from/towards the north
•winds blowing from the north
to the north (of sth)
•Cheshunt is a few miles to the north of London.
2 the north
a) the northern part of a country or area:
•The North will be dry and bright.
[+of]
•the north of England
b) the richer countries of the world, especially Europe and North AmericaNorth written abbreviation N [only before noun]
1 in the north or facing the north:
•The north side of the building doesn't get much sun.
•He lives in North Wales.
2 a north wind comes from the northwritten abbreviation N
1 towards the north:
•The birds fly north in summer.
[+of]
•Chicago is four hours north of Indianapolis.
•a north-facing window
2 up north informal to or in the north of the country:
•They've moved up north. $
travelling or leading towards the north:
•a northbound bus
•the northbound lane of the A1
in or from the north of England:
•a low north-country voiceNortheast written abbreviation NE $ [U]
1 the direction that is exactly between north and east
2 the northeast the northeastern part of a country
- northeast adverb
•He headed northeast across the open sea.Northeast written abbreviation NE
1 a northeast wind comes from the northeast
2 in the northeast of a place:
•the northeast outskirts of Las Vegas $ [C]
a strong wind or storm coming from the northeast $
1 towards or in the northeast:
•They set off in a northeasterly direction.
2 a northeasterly wind comes from the northeastwritten abbreviation NE $
in or from the northeast part of a country or area:
•the northeastern states of the USalso northeastward $
towards the northeast
- northeastward adjective $
1 towards or in the north:
•We set off in a northerly direction.
2 a northerly wind comes from the northNorthern written abbreviation N $
in or from the north of a country or area:
•a man with a northern accent
•Northern Europealso Northerner $ [C]
someone from the northern part of a countryNorthern Hemisphere
the northern hemisphere the half of the world that is north of the Equator
the Northern Lights bands of coloured light that are seen in the night sky in the most northern parts of the world; = aurora borealis $
furthest north:
•the northernmost tip of the island
the North Pole the most northern point on the surface of the Earth
MAGNETIC POLE, SOUTH POLEalso northward $
towards the north:
•We sailed northwards.
- northward adjective
•the northward journeyNorthwest written abbreviation NW $ [U]
1 the direction that is exactly between north and west
2 the northwest the northwestern part of a country
- northwest adverb
•She rode northwest toward Boulder.Northwest written abbreviation NW
1 a northwest wind comes from the northwest
2 in the northwest of a place:
•the northwest suburbs of the city $ [C]
a strong wind or storm coming from the northwest $
1 towards or in the northwest:
•We headed off in a northwesterly direction.
2 a northwesterly wind comes from the northwestwritten abbreviation NW $
in or from the northwest part of a country or area:
•a town in northwestern Canadaalso northwestward $
towards the northwest
- northwestward adjectivealso Nos.
the written abbreviation of numbers :
•nos. 17-33 $
1 ON YOUR FACE [C] the part of a person's or animal's face used for smelling or breathing; nasal, nostril

big/long nose
hooked nose/Roman nose (=a nose that curves out near the top)
snub nose (=a small nose that curves up at the end)
blow your nose (=clear your nose by blowing strongly into a piece of cloth)
wipe your nose
pick your nose (=remove dirt from your nose with your finger)
punch sb on the nose
break your nose
your nose is running (=liquid is coming out of your nose)
runny nose (=when liquid is coming out of your nose)
blocked nose (=you cannot breathe easily through your nose)
wrinkle your nose
the bridge of your nose (=the upper part, between your eyes)

•He's got a really big nose.
•He took out a tissue and blew his nose.
•Stop picking your nose!
•Someone punched him on the nose.
•He broke his nose playing football.
•Rachel had a sore throat and runny nose all day yesterday.
•Tina wrinkled her nose as if she was smelling bad meat.

2 (right) under sb's nose
a) if something bad or illegal happens under someone's nose, they do not notice it even though it is happening very close to them and they should have noticed it:
•The drugs were smuggled in right under the noses of the security guards.
b) if something is right under someone's nose, they cannot see it even though it is very close to them:
•The key was right under my nose all the time.
3 stick/poke your nose into sth to become involved in something that does not concern you, in a way that annoys people; nosy
•She always has to stick her nose into matters that do not concern her.
4 keep your nose out (of sth) spoken to avoid becoming involved in something that does not concern you:
•I wish he'd keep his nose out of my business!
5 turn your nose up (at sth) informal to refuse to accept something because you do not think it is good enough for you:
•My children turn their noses up at home cooking.
6 with your nose in the air behaving as if you are more important than other people and not talking to them:
•She just walked past with her nose in the air.
7 have a (good) nose for sth to be naturally good at finding and recognizing something:
•a reporter with a good nose for a story
8 get (right) up sb's nose BrE spoken to annoy someone very much:
•I wish he wouldn't keep interrupting. It really gets up my nose.
9 keep your nose clean spoken to make sure you do not get into trouble, or do anything wrong or illegal:
•Sid's got to keep his nose clean or he'll end up back in prison.
10 on the nose AmE spoken exactly:
•He gets up at 6 a.m. on the nose every morning.
11 keep your nose to the grindstone informal to work very hard, without stopping to rest:
•Jim had decided he was going to keep his nose to the grindstone.
12 have your nose in a book/magazine/newspaper to be reading a book etc, especially with a lot of interest:
•She always had her nose in a book.
13 by a nose if a horse wins a race by a nose, it only just wins
14 have a nose around BrE spoken to look around a place in order to try to find something, when there is no one else there
15 put sb's nose out of joint informal to annoy someone, especially by attracting everyone's attention away from them:
•His nose has been a bit out of joint ever since Marion got here.
16 nose to tail especially BrE cars, buses etc that are nose to tail are in a line without much space between them:
•Traffic was nose to tail for three miles.
17 PLANE [C] the pointed front end of a plane, ROCKET etc
18 SMELL [singular] the smell of a wine or tobacco; = bouquet
HARD-NOSED, BROWN-NOSE; cut off your nose to spite your face at CUT OFF (10); NOSE JOB; lead sb by the nose at LEAD^1 (16); look down your nose at sb/sth at LOOK^1 (8); pay through the nose at PAY^1 (16); as plain as the nose on your face at PLAIN^1 (1); poke your nose into sth at POKE^1 (7); powder your nose at POWDER^2 (2); rub sb's nose in it/in the dirt at RUB^1 (9); thumb your nose at sb/sth at THUMB^2 (2)
[always + adv/prep I, T] if a vehicle, boat etc noses forward, or if you nose it forward, it moves forward slowly; = edge
nose its way along/through etc sth
•The bus nosed its way along the street.
•She carefully nosed the car forward through the traffic.

PHRASAL VERBS
nose around (sth) phr v also nose about (sth) BrE informal
to look around a place in order to try to find something, when there is no one else there:
•What were you doing nosing around in my office?

nose into sth phr v informal
to try to find out private information about someone or something, especially in a way that is annoying

nose sth <=> out phr v informal
1 to discover some information that someone else does not want you to discover:
•The media always manage to nose out some interesting facts about a politician's past life.
2 to defeat someone by a very small amount in a race, competition etc $ [C] BrE
a bag that holds food and is hung around a horse's head $ [C]
if you have a nosebleed, blood suddenly starts flowing from your nose $ [C]
the pointed front part of an aircraft, MISSILE, or ROCKET $ [C]
1 a sudden very large fall in the price, value, or condition of something:
•The pound took a nosedive on the foreign exchange market today.
•The economy went into a nosedive.
2 a sudden steep drop made by a plane with its front end pointing towards the ground:
•Everyone screamed as the plane suddenly went into a nosedive.[I]
1 if a price, value, or condition of something nosedives, it suddenly goes down or gets much worse; = plummet
•Sales have nosedived since January.
2 if a plane nosedives, it drops suddenly and steeply with its front end pointing towards the ground $ [C] old-fashioned
a small arrangement of flowers[C] informal
a medical operation on someone's nose to improve its appearance; plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery $
another spelling of NOSY $ [U] informal
1 BrE food
2 AmE a small amount of food eaten between meals; = snack[I] informal
to eat[C]
someone who does not arrive or appear somewhere they were expected to be, for example at a restaurant or a meeting:
•The bad weather meant there were a lot of no-shows at the game.[singular] BrE informal
a big meal
NON-SMOKING $ [U]
a feeling that a time in the past was good, or the activity of remembering a good time in the past and wishing that things had not changed
[+for]
•nostalgia for the good old days
•He looked back on his university days with a certain amount of nostalgia.
•a wave of nostalgia for how great life was in the 1960s $
if you feel nostalgic about a time in the past, you feel happy when you remember it, and in some ways you wish that things had not changed:
•Seeing those old school photographs has made me feel quite nostalgic.
•a nostalgic look back at the 1950s
[+about]
•He remained nostalgic about his days as a young actor.
- nostalgically adverb
•Tim spoke nostalgically of his first visit to Peru. $ [C]
one of the two holes at the end of your nose, through which you breathe and smell things:
•The smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils.
•the horse's flaring nostrils (=widened nostrils) $ [C] formal
an idea that someone thinks will solve a problem easily, but will probably not help at all:
•an economic nostrumnosey $ comparative nosier, superlative nosiest
always wanting to find out things that do not concern you, especially other people's private affairs:
•Don't be so nosy! It's none of your business.
•a nosy neighbor
- nosiness noun [U]
- nosily adverbBrE informal
a nosy a thorough look around a place, especially somewhere that belongs to someone else and is private:
•I'd love to have a good old nosy in Josey's room![C] BrE informal
someone who is too interested in finding out about other people's affairs - used to show disapproval $
1 used to make a word, statement, or question negative:
•Most of the stores do not open until 10am.
•She's not a very nice person.
•You were wrong not to inform the police.
•'Can we go to the park?' 'No, not today, dear.'
not at all/not ... at all (=used to emphasize what you are saying)
•The changes were not at all surprising.
•I do not like his attitude at all.
NO^1
N'T
2 used in order to make a word or expression have the opposite meaning:
•Edinburgh isn't far now.
•The food is not very good there.
not a lot/much/many etc (=only a few, only a little etc)
•Not much is known about the disease.
•Not many people have read the report.
•Most of the hotels are not that cheap (=they are fairly expensive).
3 used instead of a whole phrase, to mean the opposite of what has been mentioned before it:
•No one knows if the story is true or not.
•I hope to see you tomorrow, but if not, leave me a message.
•'Is Mark still sick?' 'I hope not.'
SO^1 (4)
4 not only in addition to being or doing something
not only ... (but) also ...
•Shakespeare was not only a writer but also an actor.
not only do/will/can etc
•Not only do the nurses want a pay increase, they want reduced hours as well.
5 not a/not one not any person or thing:
•Not one of the students knew the answer.
•There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
• Not a single person said thank you.
6 not that ... used before a sentence or phrase to mean the opposite of what follows it, and to make the previous sentence seem less important:
•Sarah has a new boyfriend - not that I care (=I do not care).
•Janice had lost some weight, not that it mattered (=it did not matter).
7 not at all spoken especially BrE used to be polite when someone has thanked you or asked you to do something:
•'Would you mind helping me with my suitcase?' 'Not at all.'
8 - not! spoken used, especially by young people, to say that you really mean the opposite of what you have just said:
•I really enjoy spending my day working here - not!
!! Do not use another negative word (no, nothing, nobody, never etc) with not. Use any, anything, anybody, ever etc: I haven't got any (NOT haven't got no) money. | I didn't know anybody (NOT didn't know nobody).
not half at HALF^3 (5); not to say at SAY^1 (44) $ [usually before noun]
important, interesting, excellent, or unusual enough to be noticed or mentioned
notable feature/example
•A notable feature of the church is its unusual bell tower.
notable achievement/success/victory
•Every country in the world signed the treaty, with one notable exception- the United States.
[+for]
•The town is notable for its busy open-air market. $ [plural]
important or famous people:
•local notables
1 used to say that a person or thing is a typical example or the most important example of something; = especially, in particular
•Some early doctors, notably Hippocrates, thought that diet was important.
2 formal in a way that is clearly different, important, or unusual:
•Emigration has notably increased over the past five years.
•Notably absent from his statement was any hint of an apology.also notarised BrE $ law
signed by a NOTARYalso notary public $ plural notaries [C]
someone, especially a lawyer, who has the legal power to make a signed statement or document official $ [C,U]
a system of written marks or signs used to represent something such as music, mathematics, or scientific ideas $ [C]
1 a level on a scale that measures something, for example quality or achievement:
•Her new book is several notches above anything else she has written.
•Jackson raised his voice by a notch.
•The Spartans turned it up a notch in the second half.
2 a V-shaped cut or hole in a surface or edge:
•Cut a notch near one end of the stick.
3 AmE a passage between two mountains or hills
TOP-NOTCH[T]
1 to cut a V-shaped mark into something, especially as a way of showing the number of times something has been done
2 AmE to notch something up

PHRASAL VERBS
notch sth <=> up phr v
to achieve something, especially a victory or a particular total or score:
•The Houston Astros have notched up another win. $
1 TO REMIND YOU
a) [C] something that you write down to remind you of something:
•Dave made a note of her address and phone number.
• Keep a careful note of any problems you have with the software.
b) make a (mental) note to do sth to decide that you must remember to do some later:
•He made a mental note to arrange a time to meet her.
2 FOR STUDYING notes [plural] information that a student writes down during a lesson, from a book etc:
•Can I borrow your lecture notes?
take/make notes (=write notes)
•I read the first chapter and took notes.
3 SHORT LETTER [C] a short informal letter:
•I was going to write Kathy a note, but I decided to call her instead.
•This is just a quick note to let you know that I won't be in the office tomorrow.
•a suicide note (=a note telling someone that you are going to kill yourself)
•a thank you note (=a note to say thank you for something)
4 OFFICIAL LETTER [C] an official letter or document
sick note BrE (=a note saying that you are too ill to go to work or school)
delivery note (=a document showing that goods have been delivered)
diplomatic note (=a formal letter from one government to another)
CREDIT NOTE, PROMISSORY NOTE
5 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION [C] a short piece of writing at the bottom of a page or at the end of a book or document which gives more information about something written in the main part:
•The notes are at the back of the book.
explanatory/guidance notes
•A set of guidance notes is provided to assist applicants in completing the form.
FOOTNOTE (1)
6 MUSIC [C] a particular musical sound, or a symbol representing this sound
high/low note
•She has a good voice but has trouble hitting the high notes.
7 MONEY [C] BrE also bank note a piece of paper money worth a particular amount of money; = bill AmE; coin
•a ten-pound note
8 FEELING OR QUALITY [singular] a type of feeling or quality when someone speaks or does something
[+of]
•There was a note of doubt in her voice.
•He brought a note of realism into the debate.
on a ... note (=speaking in a particular way)
•She ended her speech on a personal note.
•On a more serious note, I'd like to thank everyone for all their support.
9 hit/strike the right/wrong note to succeed or not succeed in being right and suitable for a particular occasion:
•Bush is hoping to hit the right note again with voters.
10 take note (of sth) to pay attention to something; = notice
•People were beginning to take note of her talents as a writer.
•His first album made the music world stand up and take note.
11 sb/sth of note formal important, interesting, or famous:
•The college has produced several architects of note.
•The village has a number of buildings of note.
12 worthy/deserving of note important or interesting and deserving particular attention; noteworthy
•three recent novels that are especially worthy of note
compare notes at COMPARE^1 (5)[T] formal
1 to notice or pay careful attention to something:
•He carefully noted the time when they left the building.
note (that)
•Please note that the bill must be paid within ten days.
•It should be noted that parking without a permit attracts a charge of £5.
note how
•Note how she is holding her racket.
2 to mention something because it is important or interesting
note that
•The judge noted that Miller had no previous criminal record.

PHRASAL VERBS
note sth <=> down phr v
to write something down so that you will remember it:
•Note down the main points you want to include in your essay. $ [C]
1 a book made of plain paper on which you can write notes
2 also notebook computer a small computer that you can carry with you; laptop[C] AmE
a small folded piece of paper with a picture on it, for writing a short letter; = notelet BrE $
well known or famous, especially because of some special quality or ability; renowned
•a noted author
[+for]
•The city is noted for its 18th-century architecture. $ [C] BrE
a small folded piece of paper with a picture on it, for writing a short letter; = note card AmE $ [C]
a group of sheets of paper fastened together at the top, used for writing notes $ [U]
paper used for writing letters or notes; writing paper
headed notepaper (=with the sender's address printed on it) $
important or interesting enough to deserve your attention:
•a noteworthy achievement[only before noun] especially AmE
NON-PROFIT
1 not anything or no thing

nothing else/nothing more
know nothing (about sb/sth)
do/say/hear nothing
absolutely nothing
nothing at all/nothing whatsoever
virtually/practically nothing
nothing wrong
nothing new
nothing untoward (=nothing unusual or bad)

•Nothing ever happens in this town.
•There's nothing in this box.
•There was nothing else the doctors could do.
•He had nothing more to say.
•We know nothing about her family.
•I couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
•I promised to say nothing about it to anyone.
•We've heard nothing from her for weeks.
•There's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
•'Do you know much about business?' ' Nothing at all.'
•She had eaten virtually nothing at supper.
•There's nothing wrong with the data.
•There's nothing new about this.
•A brief search was made but they found nothing untoward.

2 nothing but only:
•She'd had nothing but bad luck.
3 have nothing against sb/sth if you have nothing against someone or something, they do not annoy or offend you:
•I have nothing against him personally.
4 something which is considered unimportant, not interesting, or not worth worrying about:
•'What have you been doing?' 'Nothing. Just sitting here.'
•There's nothing on television tonight.
•'What did you do last weekend?' 'Oh, nothing much.'
•Politics meant nothing (=was not important) to me for years.
•The meal was nothing special (=it was not unusual or interesting)- just fish with a cheese sauce.
5 especially AmE zero; = nil BrE
•We beat them ten to nothing.
6 have/be nothing to do with sb/sth if you have nothing to do with someone or something, or if someone or something has nothing to do with you, you are not involved or connected with it:
•He said that he had nothing to do with the decision.
•As I said, it's nothing to do with me.
•That's got nothing to do with you.
•I want nothing to do with (=do not want to be involved) the whole thing.
•My staff had nothing whatsoever to do with this.
7 for nothing
a) without paying for something or being paid for something:
•Why pay a plumber when my brother will do it for nothing?
b) if you do something for nothing, you make an effort but do not get the result you expected and wanted:
•We went all that way for nothing.
8 no money or payment at all:
•This service will cost you nothing.
•When a car has done that many miles, it's worth nothing.
9 there's nothing like sth used to say that something is very good:
•There's nothing like a long hot bath after a day's climbing.
10 there's nothing in/to sth used to say that what people are saying about someone or something is not true:
•It seems there's nothing in the rumours that she's pregnant.
11 if nothing else used to emphasize one good quality or feature that someone or something has, while suggesting that it might be the only good one:
•If nothing else, the report points out the need for better math education.
12 come to nothing if a plan or action comes to nothing, it does not continue or does not achieve anything
13 be nothing if not sth used to emphasize a particular quality that someone or something has:
•You've got to admit - he's nothing if not persistent.
14 nothing doing spoken used to refuse to do something
15 (there's) nothing to it spoken used to say that something is easy to do:
•Anyone can use a computer. There's nothing to it!
16 it was nothing/think nothing of it spoken used when someone has thanked you a lot for something you have done for them:
•'Thank you so much.' 'Oh, it was nothing.'
17 nothing of the sort/kind spoken used to say strongly or angrily that something is not true or will not happen:
•'I'll pay.' 'You'll do nothing of the sort!'
18 have nothing on sb informal if someone has nothing on you, they are not better than you at something:
•She's got nothing on you when it comes to writing.
19 there's nothing for it but to do sth BrE used when there is only one thing you can do in a particular situation:
•There was nothing for it but to go back the way we came.
!! Do not use another negative word (e.g. 'not') with nothing. Use anything with not: Nothing happened. | Didn't anything happen?
sweet nothings at SWEET^1 (13); to say nothing of at SAY^1 (46); nothing on earth at EARTH^1 (9)
1 be/seem/look nothing like sb/sth to have no qualities or features that are similar to someone or something else:
•She's nothing like her brother.
•She looked nothing like her photograph.
2 be nothing less than sth also be nothing short of sth used to emphasize that something or someone has a particular quality or seems to be something:
•His behaviour was nothing short of rudeness. [U]
1 empty space or the complete absence of everything:
•Natalie found him looking into nothingness.
2 the state of not existing:
•Is there only nothingness after death? $ [I,T not in progressive]
1 if you notice something or someone, you realize that they exist, especially because you can see, hear, or feel them:
•He noticed a woman in a black dress sitting across from him.
•I didn't notice any smoke.
•Have you noticed any change in him?
notice (that)
•I noticed that her hands were shaking.
•He never seems to notice when people take advantage of him.
notice who/what/how etc
•She hadn't noticed before quite how grey his hair was.
notice sb/sth doing sth
•Did you notice him leaving the party early?
2 be noticed/get (sb) noticed to get attention, or to make someone get attention:
•These clothes will get you noticed and enhance your image.
3 sb can't help noticing sth also sb can't help but notice sth if someone can't help noticing something, they realize that it exists or is happening even though they are not deliberately trying to pay attention to it:
•I couldn't help noticing the bruises on her arm.
1 ATTENTION [U] when you notice or pay attention to someone or something:
•I waved but they took no notice.
not take any/much notice (of sth)
•I did not take much notice of her suggestions.
•I hope you'll take notice of what I'm going to tell you.
•This problem may have escaped your notice so far (=you may not have noticed it).
•This never came to my notice (=I never knew about this).
•There are several important matters that I'd like to bring to your notice (=that I would like you to know about).
2 ON PAPER [C] a written or printed statement that gives information or a warning to people; sign
•The notice on the wall said 'No smoking'.
•I'll put up a notice about the meeting.
• obituary notices (=about people who have just died) in the newspaper
3 TIME TO PREPARE [U] information or a warning about something that is going to happen; warning
without notice
•These rules are subject to change without notice.
sufficient/reasonable notice
•They didn't give me sufficient notice.
advance/prior notice
•When you're on the mailing list, you'll receive advance notice of upcoming events.
ten days'/three months' etc notice (=a warning ten days etc before)
•They closed the factory, giving the workers only a week's notice.
•Firefighters were prepared to rush out at a moment's notice.
[+of]
•his failure to give notice of his intention to alter the property
notice to do sth
•I've been given notice to quit my flat (=I have been told that I must leave by a certain date).
•Union members served strike notice (=warned that they would go on strike) late last night.
4 until further notice from now until another change is announced:
•The office is closed until further notice.
5 hand in your notice/give (your) notice to tell your employer that you will be leaving your job soon; = resign
•Jim gave notice on Thursday.
6 at short notice BrE on short notice AmE if you do something at short notice, you do not have very much time to prepare for it:
•The trip was planned on short notice.
•Thanks for agreeing to see me at such short notice.
•a cancellation at very short notice
7 BOOK/PLAY ETC [C usually plural] a statement of opinion, especially one written for a newspaper or magazine, about a new play, book, film etc; = review
•The new play got mixed notices (=some good, some bad) in the newspapers.
sit up (and take notice) at SIT UP (5) $
easy to notice:
•Alcohol has a noticeable effect on the body.
• It was noticeable that many of them avoided answering the question.
noticeable difference/change/increase etc
•a noticeable improvement in air quality
- noticeably adverb
•She has become noticeably more confident.
•The children were noticeably affected by the divorce. $ [C] BrE
a special board on a wall which notices can be fastened to; = bulletin board $ BrE technical
a notifiable disease or crime is one that by law must be reported to the government or to the police $ [C,U] formal
official information about something
prior/advance notification
•I was given no prior notification.
[+of]
•You should receive notification of the results within a week.
official/written/formal notification
•We received official notification that Harry was missing. $ past tense and past participle notified, present participle notifying, third person singular notifies [T]
to formally or officially tell someone about something; = inform
notify sb of sth
•You will be notified of any changes in the system.
notify sb that
•In August we were notified that our article had been rejected. $ [C]
1 an idea, belief, or opinion
[+of]
•misguided notions of male superiority
•The traditional notion of marriage goes back thousands of years.
•She had only a vague notion of what she wanted to do.
notion that
•the notion that human beings are basically good
•She had no notion what he meant.
accept/challenge/reject etc a notion
•They reject the notion of group guilt.
2 notions [plural] AmE small things such as thread and buttons that are used for sewing $ [usually before noun]
existing only as an idea or plan, and not existing in reality:
•Their calculations were based on a notional minimum wage. $ [U]
the state of being famous or well-known for something that is bad or that people do not approve of
of notoriety
•John is already a writer of some notoriety.
gain/win/achieve notoriety (for sth)
•The local church has gained notoriety for being different. $
famous or well-known for something bad; = infamous
•a notorious computer hacker
•notorious cases of human rights abuses
[+for]
•a judge notorious for his cruelty and corruption
- notoriously adverb
•Statistics can be notoriously unreliable.
•The program is notoriously difficult to learn. $ formal
in spite of something:
•Notwithstanding differences, there are clear similarities in all of the world's religions.
•Fame and fortune notwithstanding, Donna never forgot her hometown. $ [U]
a type of sticky soft sweet with nuts and sometimes fruit $
1 BrE the number 0; = zero
•A billion is 1 with 9 noughts after it.
nought point one/two/three etc (=0.1, 0.2 etc)
2 old use used in some expressions to mean nothing:
•Peace negotiations came to nought (=were not successful).[U] BrE
a game in which two players write 0 or X in a pattern of nine squares, trying to win with a row of three 0s or three Xs; = tick-tack-toe AmE [C]
a word or group of words that represent a person (such as 'Michael', 'teacher' or 'police officer'), a place (such as 'France' or 'school'), a thing or activity (such as 'coffee' or 'football'), or a quality or idea (such as 'danger' or 'happiness'). Nouns can be used as the subject or object of a verb (as in 'The teacher arrived' or 'We like the teacher') or as the object of a PREPOSITION (as in 'good at football').
COMMON NOUN, COUNT NOUN, PROPER NOUN $ [T]
1 to give a person or other living thing the food and other substances they need in order to live, grow, and stay healthy:
•The cream contains vitamin A to nourish the skin.
•a well nourished baby
2 formal to keep a feeling, idea, or belief strong or help it to grow stronger:
•We need to nourish our hopes and dreams. $
food that is nourishing makes you strong and healthy $ [U] formal
1 the food and other substances that people and other living things need to live, grow, and stay healthy:
•lack of proper nourishment
•The soil provides nourishment for plant roots.
2 something that helps a feeling, idea, or belief to grow stronger
emotional/intellectual/spiritual nourishment
•a child starved for emotional nourishment $ [U] BrE informal
intelligence and the ability to make good practical decisions; = common sense
•At least she had the nous to ring. $
having only recently become rich and spending a lot of money - used to show disapproval; = new rich
- nouveaux riches noun [plural] [U]
a style of cooking from France where simple and healthy food is served in an attractive way, usually in small amounts on a big platealso Nov BrE
the written abbreviation of November $ plural novas or novae [C]
a star which explodes and suddenly becomes much brighter for a short time
SUPERNOVA $ [C]
a long written story in which the characters and events are usually imaginary; fiction
•a novel by Jane Austen
•It took Vikram Seth three years to write his 1,349-page novel 'A Suitable Boy'.
detective/romantic/historical etc novel
•a newly published science fiction novel[usually before noun]
not like anything known before, and unusual or interesting
novel idea/approach/method etc
•What a novel idea! $ [C]
someone who writes novels; authoralso novelisation BrE $ [C]
the story that was told in a film or television series, written afterwards as a book:
•the novelization of Terminator 2 $ [C]
a story that is shorter than a novel, but longer than a SHORT STORY $ plural novelties
1 [U] the quality of being new, unusual, and interesting
[+of]
•the novelty of the ideas
•Many toys have no attraction beyond their novelty value.
•It was fun for a while, but the novelty wore off (=it became boring).
2 [C] something new and unusual which attracts people's attention and interest:
•Then the Internet was still something of a novelty.
3 [C] an unusual, small, cheap object, often given as a present:
•a selection of novelties and t-shirts
•a novelty key-ringwritten abbreviation Nov. $ [C,U]
the 11th month of the year, between October and December
next/last November
•He started work here last November.
in November
•It snowed in early November.
on November 6th
•The final will be played on Sunday November 6th.
on 6th November BrE
•Five weeks later, on 6th November, they were secretly married.
November 6 AmE
•There will be no performance November 6. $ [C]
1 someone who has no experience in a skill, subject, or activity; = beginner
•The computer course is ideal for novices.
[+at]
•I'm still a complete novice at the sport.
•This trail is not recommended for novice bikers.
2 someone who has recently joined a religious group to become a MONK or NUNnoviciate $ [C]
the period of being a novice
1 at the present time:
•They now live in the city centre.
•There's nothing I can do about this right now (=exactly now).
by now
•Sonia should have been home by now. Do you think she's OK?
up to now/until now
•Until now, doctors have been able to do very little to treat this disease.
•Please try to be more careful from now on (=starting from now).
for now (=for a short time)
•Just leave your shoes on the back porch for now.
just now especially BrE (=at the present time)
•There are a lot of bargains in the shops just now.
2 immediately:
•The bell has rung - stop writing now.
•If we leave now we'll be there before dark.
3 used when you know or understand something because of something you have just seen, just been told etc:
•Having met the rest of the family, she now saw where he got his temper from.
4 3 weeks/2 years etc now used to say how long ago something started:
•They've been going out together for a long time now.
•It's been over five years now since I started working here.
•It's now a month since we bought the car and it's broken down three times already.
5 (every) now and then/now and again sometimes:
•I hear from him every now and then.
6
a) used when getting someone's attention before continuing what you are saying or changing the subject:
•Now, let's move on to the question of payment.
b) used at the beginning of a sentence when asking for information:
•Now what did you say your name was?
c) used when pausing when you are thinking what to say next:
•Now, let's see, oh yes - they wanted to know what time you'll be back on Friday.
d) used to say that if the situation was different, something different would happen:
•Now if I'd been in charge there's no way I'd have let them use the van.
e) used to make someone calm or comfort them when they are angry, upset etc:
•Come on now, don't cry.
f) used when telling or reminding someone to do something:
•Now hurry up! I haven't got all day.
•Don't forget now, you have a dental appointment Thursday afternoon.
7 any day/minute etc now very soon:
•The guests will arrive any minute now.
8 just now
a) a moment ago:
•Was that you singing just now?
9 now then used to get someone's attention before telling them to do something or asking them a question:
•Now then, what seems to be the problem here?
•Now then, try to sit up and have some of this soup.
10 well now used when giving an opinion or asking someone to tell you something:
•Well now, what's all this I hear about you getting married?
11 now for sth used when saying what you are going to do next:
•Thanks, Norma, and now for a look at tomorrow's weather.
12 and now used when introducing the next activity, performer etc:
•And now, live from New York, it's David Letterman!
13 now now
a) used to make someone calm or comfort them when they are angry, upset etc:
•Now now, don't worry. Everything will be okay.
b) especially BrE used when telling someone not to behave badly:
•Now now, leave your sister alone.
14 not now used to tell someone that you do not want to talk to them or do something now, because you are busy, tired etc:
•'Tell me a story.' 'Not now, Daddy's working.'
15 now what? used when an attempt to do something has failed and you do not know what to do next:
•Kate tried each of the keys, but none of them fit. 'Now what?' she thought.
16 now you're talking used to tell someone that you agree very much with what they are saying:
•'Feel like going out for a beer?' 'Now you're talking.'
17 it's now or never used to say that if someone does not do something now, they will not get another chance to do it:
•Quite suddenly, her mind was made up. It was now or never.
18 now's the time (for sb) to do sth used to say that someone should do something now, because it is the right time to do it:
•Now's the time to buy a car, while the interest rates are low.
19 what is it now?/now what? used when you are annoyed because someone keeps interrupting you or asking you things:
•'Mom, can you come here for a minute?' 'What is it now?'
20 now you tell me! used when you are annoyed or amused because someone has just told you something they should have told you before:
•'You didn't need to make anything for dinner - Dad's bringing home pizza.' 'Oh, now you tell me!'
21 now...now... literary used to say that at one moment someone or something does one thing and immediately after, they do something else:
•The eagle glided through the sky, now rising, now falling.also now that
because of something or as a result of something:
•Now that we know each other a little better, we get along fine.
•I'm going to relax now the school year is over.
•Now that I think of it, I acted the same way when I was his age.
now, compared with what happened in the past:
•Nowadays people are rarely shocked by the sex they see on television.
•Most people nowadays are aware of the importance of a healthy diet.spoken
used to emphasize that you will not agree or be able to do something:
•'Are you going to offer to work over the weekend?' 'No way!'
•No way will we be finished by five o'clock.
• There's no way I'm going to pay £300 just for a weekend in Paris. $
1 not in any place or to any place
nowhere to go/live/sit etc
•I have no job and nowhere to live.
•Nowhere is drug abuse more of a problem than in the US.
2 get/go nowhere to have no success or make no progress:
•The proposal went nowhere in the Senate.
get nowhere with sb/sth
•He was getting nowhere with the Bentley case.
get sb nowhere
•A negative attitude will get you nowhere.
•I soon realized that being tough was getting me nowhere fast (=was not helping me achieve anything).
3 be nowhere to be seen/found also be nowhere in sight to not be in a place, or not be seen or found there:
•Typical - another street crime and the police are nowhere to be seen.
4 nowhere near
a) a long way from a particular place:
•He swore he was nowhere near her house on the night she died.
b) not at all
nowhere near ready/full/finished etc
•The building's nowhere near finished.
•She's nowhere near as pretty as you are.
5 out of/from nowhere happening or appearing suddenly and without warning:
•In the last few seconds, Gunnell came from nowhere to win another gold medal.
•From out of nowhere he asks me to marry him!
!! Do not use another negative word (e.g. 'not') with nowhere. Use anywhere with not: We had nowhere to go. | We didn't have anywhere to go.[only before noun]
relating to a situation in which whatever you choose to do it will have a bad result:
•If my child is sick and I leave work, I'm a bad employee. If I don't, I'm a bad mother. It's a no-win situation.
WIN-WIN BrE informal
nothing - used especially in the North of England:
•I've had nowt to eat since yesterday. $ formal
harmful or poisonous; = toxic
•noxious fumes $ [C]
a short tube fitted to the end of a HOSE, pipe etc to direct and control the stream of liquid or gas pouring outBrE
the written abbreviation of near , used in addresses:
•Sheffield Park Garden, nr Uckfield, East Sussex [U] medical
non-specific urethritis an infection of the URETHRA
the short form of 'not':
•hadn't
•didn't
•wouldn't
•isn't
1 to the nth degree informal extremely, or as much as possible:
•It was boring to the nth degree.
2 [only before noun] informal the most recent of a long series of similar things that have happened:
•Even after I'd reminded him for the nth time, he forgot. $ informal
new:
•cool nu stuff $ [C]
a very slight, hardly noticeable difference in manner, colour, meaning etc; subtlety
•He was aware of every nuance in her voice.
[+of]
•the painting's delicate nuances of color, tone, and texture
• subtle nuances of meaning
- nuanced adjective
•a skilful and nuanced performance
1 the nub of the problem/matter/argument etc the main point of a problem etc:
•The real nub of the matter is money.
2 [C] a small rounded piece of something, especially a piece that is left after the rest has been eaten, used etc $ formal
a woman who is nubile is young and sexually attractive - sometimes used humorously $ [usually before noun]
1 relating to or involving the NUCLEUS (=central part) of an atom, or the energy produced when the nucleus of an atom is either split or joined with the nucleus of another atom:
•France's reliance on nuclear energy
•a nuclear power station
•a nuclear-powered submarine
2 relating to or involving the use of weapons that use nuclear energy; anti-nuclear
nuclear bomb/weapon/missile etc
•the threat of nuclear attack
•concern about the country's nuclear weapons program
•With the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the possibility of a nuclear holocaust (=a nuclear war that destroys much of the Earth) was greatly reduced.
•a nuclear testing area[C]
a very powerful bomb that uses NUCLEAR energy to kill a lot of people and destroy large areas[U]
the threat of using NUCLEAR weapons as a way to stop an enemy from attacking[U]
the process or activity of getting rid of NUCLEAR weapons[C]
a family unit that consists only of a husband, wife and children; extended family[U]
the splitting of the NUCLEUS (=central part) of an atom which results in a lot of power being produced[usually before noun]
places that are nuclear-free do not allow NUCLEAR materials to be carried, stored, or used in that area:
•a nuclear-free zone[U]
a NUCLEAR reaction in which the NUCLEI (=central parts) of atoms join together, which produces power without producing any waste[U]
the area of physics which is concerned with the structure and features of the NUCLEUS (=central part) of atoms[C]
a large machine that produces NUCLEAR energy, especially as a means of producing electricity[U]
waste material from NUCLEAR REACTORs , which is RADIOACTIVE:
•the problems of nuclear waste disposal $ [C,U]
one of the two acids, DNA and RNA, that exist in the cells of all living things $ plural nuclei [C]
1 the central part of an atom, made up of NEUTRONs , PROTONs , and other ELEMENTARY PARTICLEs
2 the central part of almost all the cells of living things
3 a small, important group at the centre of a larger group or organization
[+of]
•the nucleus of an effective team
•Marantz and Grohl form the nucleus of the Atlanta operation. $
1 not wearing any clothes; = naked
•I did some work as a nude model when I was in college.
•Have you ever posed nude (=been photographed or painted while nude)?
2 done by or involving people who are not wearing any clothes:
•There are several nude scenes in the film.
•I have no desire to go to a nude beach (=a beach where people wear no clothes).
1 [C] a painting, STATUE etc of someone not wearing clothes
2 in the nude not wearing any clothes:
•He was standing there in the nude.
1 [T] to push someone gently, usually with your elbow, in order to get their attention:
•Jill nudged him in the ribs.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to move something or someone a short distance by gently pushing:
•She nudged the glass towards me.
•David nudged me out of the way.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to move forward slowly by pushing gently
nudge your way to/through etc (sth)
•I started to nudge my way to the front of the crowd.
4 [T always + adv/prep] to gently persuade or encourage someone to take a particular decision or action
nudge sb into/towards sth
•We're trying to nudge them towards a practical solution.
5 [T] to almost reach a particular level or amount:
•Outside the temperature was nudging 30 degrees Celsius.
- nudge noun [C]
•Hannah gave me a gentle nudge. $ [C]
someone who enjoys not wearing any clothes because they believe it is natural and healthy; = naturist
- nudism noun [U] $ [U]
the state of not wearing any clothes:
•The play contains scenes of nudity. $ formal
having no value [C]
1 a small rough piece of a valuable metal found in the earth:
•a gold nugget
2 a small, round piece of food:
•chicken nuggets
3 nugget of information/wisdom etc a piece of valuable information, advice etc:
•It took months to extract that nugget of information from them. $
1 [C usually singular] a person, thing, or situation that annoys you or causes problems
a real/awful/terrible etc nuisance
•The dogs next door are a real nuisance.
What a nuisance! BrE
•What a nuisance! I've forgotten my ticket.
I hate to be a nuisance.../Sorry to be a nuisance...
•I hate to be a nuisance, but could you move your car to the other side of the street?
•Stop making a nuisance of yourself (=annoying other people with your behaviour)!
• It's a nuisance having to get up that early on a Sunday morning.
2 [C,U] law the use of a place or property in a way that causes public annoyance:
•The nightclub has been declared a public nuisance. $ [T] informal
1 to attack a place using NUCLEAR weapons
2 to cook food in a MICROWAVE OVEN:
•Nuke it for two minutes.[C] informal
a NUCLEAR weapon
null and void law an agreement, contract etc that is null and void has no legal force; = invalid
•The contract was declared null and void. past tense and past participle nullified, present participle nullifying, third person singular nullifies [T]
1 law to officially state that something has no legal force:
•The election results were nullified because of voter fraud.
2 formal to make something lose its effect or value:
•Recent inflation could nullify the economic growth of the last several years.
- nullification noun [U] [U] law
the fact that a marriage or contract no longer has any legal force:
•a decree of nullity
1 a part of your body that is numb is unable to feel anything, for example because you are very cold:
•My fingers were so numb I could hardly write.
•The anaesthetic made his whole face go numb.
2 unable to think, feel, or react in a normal way
numb with shock/fear/terror etc
•I just sat there, numb with fear.
- numbly adverb
•She watched numbly as Matt walked away.
- numbness noun [U]
•It caused some numbness in my hand.[T]
1 to make someone unable to feel pain or feel things they are touching:
•The cold had numbed her fingers.
•the numbing effect of the drug
2 to make someone unable to think, feel, or react in a normal way:
•He was numbed by the shock of his wife's death. $
1 NUMBER [C] a word or sign that represents an amount or a quantity; numeral, figure
•They wrote various numbers on a large sheet of paper.
•Five was her lucky number.
•an even number (=2, 4, 6, 8, 10 etc)
•an odd number (=1, 3, 5, 7, 9 etc)
round number (=a number ending in 0)
•A million pounds seemed a suitably round number.
be good/bad/no good with numbers informal (=to be good, bad etc at calculating things using numbers)
CARDINAL NUMBER, ORDINAL NUMBER, PRIME NUMBER, WHOLE NUMBER
2 PHONE [C] a phone number:
•My new number is 502-6155.
sb's home/office/work number
•I gave him my home number.
mobile/fax number
•What's your mobile number?
•Sorry, you have the wrong number.
3 IN A SET/LIST [C] a number used to show the position of something in an ordered set or list:
•Answer question number 4.
•a number 17 bus
E NUMBER, NO. 10, NUMBER ONE^1
4 FOR RECOGNIZING SB/STH [C] a set of numbers used to name or recognize someone or something
model/account etc number
•What is your account number, please?
•Press 1 to change the printer number.
•Did you get the number (= REGISTRATION number) of the car? BrE
BOX NUMBER, PIN, SERIAL NUMBER
5 AMOUNT [C,U] an amount of something that can be counted; = quantity
the number of sth
•The number of cars on our roads rose dramatically last year.
a number of sth
•We have been friends for a number of years.
a large/small/significant/growing etc number of sth
•Doctors believe only a tiny number of people are at risk.
•The lake produces a good number of (=a lot of) salmon each season.
•There was an unusually high number of entries in the competition.
•They were printed in limited numbers.
•Young people have been leaving the countryside in large numbers for urban areas.
•Today's case brings the number of successful prosecutions in the region to (=makes the number rise to) thirty-four.
•There could be any number of (=many) reasons why she's late.
•The condors have dwindled to an estimated sixty in number.
6 numbers [plural] how many people there are, especially people attending an event or doing an activity together:
•Can you give me some idea of numbers?
student/client etc numbers
•Visitor numbers increase in the summer.
•The sheer weight of numbers (=large number of people) on stage made the performance more impressive.
7 MUSIC [C] a piece of popular music that forms part of a longer performance:
•Madonna sang several numbers from her latest album.
PRODUCTION NUMBER
8 MAGAZINE [C] BrE a copy of a magazine or newspaper printed on a particular date; = issue
[+of]
•I was reading the latest number of 'Surfing'.
• back numbers (=old copies) of The Times
9 have sb's number informal to understand something about someone that helps you deal with them:
•Judy had always had his number.
10 black/elegant etc (little) number informal a black, ELEGANT etc dress or suit, especially a woman's:
•She was wearing a chic little number.
11 sb's number comes up someone has the winning number in a competition
12 sb's number is up also sb's number has come up informal
a) used to say that someone will stop being lucky or successful
b) used to say that someone will die - used humorously:
•She told her husband she didn't mind going when her number was up.
13 the numbers
a) information about something that is shown using numbers:
•Chris, have you got the numbers yet?
b) an illegal game in the US in which people risk money on the appearance of a combination of numbers in a newspaper:
• playing the numbers
14 by numbers if you do something by numbers, you do it in a basic way by following a set of simple instructions - used to show disapproval:
•The last thing we want is teaching by numbers.
15 do a number on sb/sth informal to hurt or damage someone or something badly:
•Tod really did a number on the old house. I don't envy the new tenants.
16 beyond/without number literary if things are beyond number, there are so many of them that no one could count them all
17 GROUP OF PEOPLE [U] formal a group of people
one/two/several etc of our/their number
•Only three of our number could speak Italian.
•They wanted to choose a leader from among their own number.
18 GRAMMAR [U] technical the form of a word, depending on whether one thing or more than one thing is being talked about:
•'Horses' is plural in number, while 'horse' is singular.
1 [T] to give a number to something that is part of an ordered set or list:
•They haven't numbered the pages of the report.
•All the seats in the theatre are numbered.
•Each check is numbered consecutively.
•a numbering system
number sth (from) 1 to 10/100 etc
•Number the questions 1 to 25.
2 [linking verb] if people or things number a particular amount, that is how many there are:
•The population of the town numbered about 5,000.
•The men on strike now number 5% of the workforce.
3 sb's/sth's days are numbered used to say that someone or something cannot live or continue for much longer:
•I knew my days were numbered at that firm.
4 number among sth/be numbered among sth formal to be included as one of a particular group:
•He was a successful corporate lawyer who numbered among his clients J.P. Morgan and Standard Oil.
5 [T] literary to count something:
•Who can number the stars?

PHRASAL VERBS
number off phr v BrE
if soldiers number off, each one calls out their number when their turn comes; = count off AmE[C] informal
someone whose job involves working with numbers, such as an ACCOUNTANT[U] informal
the process of working with a lot of numbers and calculating results
- number-crunching adjective $ literary
too many to be counted; = countless
•numberless fish
1 [U] the best, most important, or most successful person or thing in a group:
•Until his marriage, his job was number one in his life.
•Shearson is number one in the market this year.
2 [C,U] the musical record that is the most popular at a particular time:
•number one in the charts
•They've had three number ones.
3 look out for number one also look after number one spoken to look after yourself and not worry about other people, in a way that may seem SELFISH
4 [singular, U] spoken informal a word meaning URINE, used especially with children to avoid saying this directly
1 most important or successful in a particular situation:
•The University of Maine has the number one hockey team in the country.
•Sweden's number one model
2 first on a list of several things to be considered, done etc:
•item number one on the agenda
•This has got to be our number one task.[C] BrE
one of the signs with numbers and letters on it at the front and back of a car; registration number; = license plate AmE
Number Ten Downing Street the address of the official home of the British Prime Minister[singular, U] spoken informal
a word meaning solid waste from your BOWELs , used especially with children to avoid saying this directly; number onenumskull [C] informal
a very stupid person; = idiot
•Look what you've done now, you numbskull! $ [U]
the ability to do calculations and understand simple mathematics; literacy
•The report suggests that students need to improve their numeracy skills. $ [C]
a written sign such as 1, 2, or 3 that represents a number; figure
- numeral adjective $
able to do calculations and understand simple mathematics; literate $ [C,U] technical
a system of counting or the process of counting $ [C] technical
the number above the line in a FRACTION, for example 5 is the numerator in 5/6; denominator $
expressed or considered in numbers:
•a numerical code
•The home team tried to utilize their numerical advantage (=the fact that they had more players than the other team).
•Make sure the files are organized in numerical order.
- numerically adverb $
many:
•Numerous attempts have been made to hide the truth.
•The two leaders have worked together on numerous occasions.
too numerous to mention/list
•The individuals who have contributed to this book are far too numerous to mention. $ literary
having a mysterious and holy quality, which makes you feel that God is present $ [U]
the activity of collecting and studying coins and MEDALs $ [C]
someone who collects and studies coins and MEDALs [C]
someone who is a member of a group of religious women that live together in a CONVENT; monk $ plural nuncios [C]
a representative of the Pope in a foreign country plural nunneries [C] old use
a CONVENT [only before noun] formal
relating to marriage or the marriage ceremony; wedding
•a nuptial mass
•nuptial bliss [plural] formal
a wedding $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to look after people who are ill or injured, usually in a hospital:
•The nurse is coming to give you an injection.
•The school nurse sent Sara home.
•a male nurse
•a senior nurse
•a student nurse (=someone who is learning to be a nurse)
•a psychiatric nurse (=a nurse for people who are mentally ill)
•a community nurse
2 old-fashioned a woman employed to look after a young child; = nanny
NURSERY NURSE, WET NURSE
1 SICK PEOPLE
a) [T] to look after someone who is ill or injured:
•He's been nursing an elderly relative.
•After Ray's operation, Mrs Stallard nursed him back to health.
b) [I usually in progressive] to work as a nurse:
•She spent several years nursing in a military hospital.
2 REST [T not in passive] to rest when you have an illness or injury so that it will get better:
•Shaw has been nursing a sore ankle, and is not expected to play on Sunday.
3 FEED A BABY
a) [I,T] old-fashioned if a woman nurses a baby, she feeds it with milk from her breasts; = breastfeed
•information on nutrition for nursing mothers
b) [I] if a baby nurses, it sucks milk from its mother's breast
4 YOUR FEELINGS [T not in passive] to keep a feeling or idea in your mind for a long time, especially an angry feeling
nurse a grudge/grievance/ambition etc
•For years he had nursed a grievance against his former employer.
5 TAKE CARE OF STH [T] to take special care of something, especially during a difficult situation
nurse sth through/along etc
•He bought the hotel in 1927 and managed to nurse it through the Depression.
6 DRINK [T] informal if you nurse a drink, especially an alcoholic one, you drink it very slowly:
•Oliver sat at the bar, nursing a bottle of beer.
7 HOLD [T] literary to hold something carefully in your hands or arms close to your body:
•a child nursing a kitten $ [C] old-fashioned
a woman employed to look after young children[C]
a nurse who is trained to do some of the work that is usually done by a doctor $ plural nurseries [C]
1 a place where young children are taken care of during the day while their parents are at work
2 a place where plants and trees are grown and sold
3 nursery education/unit/teacher etc BrE education etc for young children from three to five years old
NURSERY SCHOOL
4 a room in a hospital where babies that have just been born are looked after
5 old-fashioned a baby's BEDROOM or a room in a house where young children play $ plural nurserymen [C] BrE
someone who grows plants and trees in a nursery[C] BrE
someone who has been trained to look after young children[C]
a short traditional poem or song for children[C]
a school for children who are between three and five years old; = kindergarten[C] BrE
a slope that is not very steep, where people are taught to SKI $ [U]
the job or skill of looking after people who are ill, injured, or old:
•I'd love to go into nursing.
•the nursing profession
•psychiatric nursing[C]
a place where people who are old and ill can live and be looked after; = old people's home $ [U] formal
loving care and attention that you give to someone $ [T usually passive] formal
1 to help a plan, idea, feeling etc to develop:
•European union is an ideal that has been nurtured since the post-war years.
•a hatred of foreigners nurtured by the media
2 to feed and take care of a child or a plant while it is growing:
•plants nurtured in the greenhouse[U] formal
the education and care that you are given as a child, and the way it affects your later development and attitudes [C]
1 FOOD a dry brown fruit inside a hard shell, that grows on a tree:
•a pine nut
•roasted nuts
•We were sitting round the fire cracking nuts (=opening them).
2 TOOL a small piece of metal with a hole through the middle which is screwed onto a BOLT to fasten things together:
•Use a wrench to loosen the nut.
3 CRAZY PERSON informal someone who is crazy or behaves strangely:
•My dad is such a nut.
•What are you, some kind of nut?
4 golf/opera etc nut informal someone who is very interested in golf etc; fanatic
•You don't have to be a sports nut to enjoy skiing.
5 SEX ORGAN nuts [plural] informal a man's TESTICLEs
6 the nuts and bolts of sth informal the practical details of a subject or job:
•the nuts and bolts of government
7 tough/hard nut informal someone who is difficult to deal with:
•He may have softened a bit in his old age but he's still a tough nut.
8 a hard/tough nut to crack a difficult problem or situation:
•Celtic have lost only once this season and will be a tough nut to crack.
9 be off your nut BrE spoken informal to be crazy:
•You must be off your nut!
10 do your nut BrE spoken to become very angry or worried:
•I didn't get home till three - my mum did her nut!
11 HEAD BrE spoken old-fashioned your head or brain
sb's nut
•Oh come on, use your nut!past tense and past participle nutted, present participle nutting [T] BrE spoken
to hit someone with your head; = headbutt
•He just turned round and nutted me!
dark brown in colour [C] informal
someone who behaves in a crazy way; = idiot
•He's a complete nutcase.also nutcrackers BrE $ [C]
a tool for cracking the shells of nuts [C]
1 informal a place that is loud, unpleasant, and not organized:
•I don't want to spend another night in this nuthouse.
2 old-fashioned informal a PSYCHIATRIC hospital
[U] a brown powder made from the seed of a tropical tree, which is used as a spice $ [plural]
foods that are designed to improve health and lower the risk of disease, for example by increasing the amount of VITAMINs in them, or removing some of the FAT; = functional foods $ [C]
a chemical or food that provides what is needed for plants or animals to live and grow:
•The plant absorbs nutrients from the soil.
- nutrient adjective $ [U] formal
a substance that gives plants and animals what they need in order to live and grow; = nourishment $ [U]
1 the process of giving or getting the right type of food for good health and growth; malnutrition
•Nutrition and exercise are essential to fitness and health.
•a nutrition expert
poor/good nutrition
•Poor nutrition can cause heart disease in later life.
2 the science that deals with the effects of food, VITAMINs etc on people's health $
relating to the substances in food that help you to stay healthy:
•Cooking vegetables for too long lessens their nutritional value.
•the nutritional requirements of pregnant women
•nutritional deficiencies
- nutritionally adverb $ [C]
someone who has a special knowledge of nutrition $
food that is nutritious is full of the natural substances that your body needs to stay healthy or to grow properly:
•Wholemeal bread is more nutritious than white bread.
•Nuts and fruit make nutritious snacks.
•The cookbook contains many simple yet highly nutritious meals. $
1 relating to nutrition
2 formal nutritious [not before noun] informal
1 crazy:
•Are you nuts?
•I'm going to go nuts (=become crazy) if I don't find a new job soon.
•Turn that radio off. It's driving me nuts (=annoying me very much).
2 go nuts spoken
a) to become very excited because something good has just happened:
•The crowd went nuts after the third touchdown.
b) to become very angry about something:
•Mom's going to go nuts if you don't clean this mess up.
3 be nuts about/over sb/sth to like someone or something very much:
•My wife is nuts about kids.AmE old-fashioned
1 used to emphasize that something bad or annoying has happened:
•Nuts! Now we're going to be late for the movie.
2 nuts to sb/sth used when you are angrily refusing to listen to someone or do something:
•'Nuts to that,' he sneered, and left. [C]
1 in a nutshell used when you are stating the main facts about something in a short, clear way:
•Okay, that's our proposal in a nutshell. Any questions?
2 the hard outer part of a nut $ [C] BrE informal
a crazy person; = idiot
•an absolute nutter
1 informal crazy:
•It's another of his nutty ideas.
•She's nutty as a fruitcake (=completely crazy).
2 tasting like, or containing, nuts:
•This coffee has a rich nutty flavour.
•a nutty cakealso nuzzle up [I always + adv/prep, T]
to gently rub or press your nose or head against someone to show you like them:
•Evan leaned forward and began nuzzling her shoulder.
[+against]
•The horses were nuzzling up against each other. [C]
National Vocational Qualification an examination relating to the skills and knowledge involved in a particular type of work. NVQs are taken in Britain, usually by people who are already working.
the written abbreviation of northwest or, northwestern also N word $
the N-word used when you are talking about the word 'nigger' but do not want to say it because it is offensive; f-word $
1 [U] a strong artificial material that is used to make plastics, clothes, rope etc:
•nylon fabric
•The tent was made of nylon.
2 nylons [plural] old-fashioned women's STOCKINGs that are made of nylon [C]
1 one of the SPIRITs of nature who, according to ancient Greek and Roman stories, appeared as young girls living in trees, mountains, streams etc
2 literary a beautiful girl or young woman $ [C]
a young girl who is very sexually attractivealso nympho informal [C]
a woman who wants to have sex often, usually with a lot of different men; = sex maniac
- nymphomania noun [U]
the written abbreviation of New Zealand $
1 used when praying to a god or, in the past, when speaking to someone in great authority:
•O Lord, in you I put my trust.
2 another form of OHo $ plural O's, o's
1 [C,U] the 15th letter of the English alphabet
2 [U] spoken zero:
•My phone number is six o four double two (=60422).
3 [U] a common type of blood
'of' written as people sometimes say it informally:
•a drop o' whisky
O'CLOCK $ [C]
someone who is stupid or awkward, especially a man
- oafish adjective $ [C,U]
a large tree that is common in northern countries, or the hard wood of this tree:
•an oak door $ [only before noun] literary
made of oak:
•an oaken chest $ [U]
small pieces of old rope used for filling up small holes in the sides of wooden ships $ [C] BrE
old age pensioner a person who is old enough to receive a PENSION from the state:
•special rates for OAPs $ [C]
1 a long pole with a wide flat blade at one end, used for rowing a boat; paddle
2 put/stick/get your oar in BrE informal to get involved in a conversation or situation when the other people do not want you to:
•We were getting along fine until you stuck your oar in. $ [C] AmE
one of the small pieces of metal on a rowing boat that holds the oars $ plural oarsmen [C]
someone who rows a boat, especially in races; rower $ plural oarswomen
[C] a woman who rows a boat, especially in races $ plural oases [C]
1 a place with water and trees in a desert
2 a peaceful or pleasant place that is very different from everything around it
an oasis of calm/serenity/tranquillity etc
•The park was an oasis of peace. $ [C] BrE
a round building with a pointed top, built for drying HOPs $ [only before noun]
made of OATS:
•oat biscuits[C] BrE
a BISCUIT made of oatmeal $ $ plural oaths [C]
1 a formal and very serious promise
oath of loyalty/allegiance/obedience etc (to sb)
•an oath of allegiance to the Queen
swear/take an oath
•Servicemen have to swear an oath of loyalty to their country.
•The president took the oath of office (=promised to do a government job well before beginning it).
2 law a formal promise to tell the truth in a court of law
on/under oath
•The evidence was given under oath.
•Witnesses are required to take the oath (=make this promise).
3 written an offensive word or phrase that expresses anger, surprise, shock etc:
•He was shouting out oaths as they led him away. $ [U]
1 BrE crushed OATs used in cooking, especially for making BISCUITs or PORRIDGE
2 AmE a soft breakfast food made by boiling crushed OATs ; = porridge BrE
3 a light brown colour $ [plural]
the grain from which flour or oatmeal is made and that is used in cooking, or in food for animals
sow your wild oats at SOW^1 (3) $ formal
very determined not to change your beliefs, actions, or feelings, in a way that seems unreasonable; = stubborn
•They argued, but he remained obdurate.
- obduracy noun [U]
- obdurately adverb [U]
when someone does what they are told to do, or what a law, rule etc says they must do; disobedience
[+to]
•obedience to God
in obedience to sth
•He lived in obedience to the church's teachings.
blind/unquestioning/complete obedience (=complete obedience without any thought)
•With blind obedience, I allowed my father to organize my life.
•obedience classes for dogs and their owners
1 always doing what you are told to do, or what the law, a rule etc says you must do; disobedient
•an obedient child
[+to]
•citizens who are obedient to the law
2 your obedient servant old use a phrase used to end a very formal letter
- obediently adverb $ [C,U] literary
respect and obedience to someone or something, often shown by bending your head or the upper part of your body
make/pay obeisance (to sb/sth)
•They made obeisance to the sultan. $ [C]
a tall pointed stone PILLAR, built to remind people of an event or of someone who has died $
very fat in a way that is unhealthy
see box at FAT^1 $ [U]
when someone is very fat in a way that is unhealthy $ [I,T]
to do what someone in authority tells you to do, or what a law or rule says you must do; disobey
•The little boy made no effort to obey.
•'Sit!' he said, and the dog obeyed him instantly.
obey an order/command
•Soldiers are expected to obey orders without questioning them.
obey the law/rules
•Failure to obey the law can lead to a large fine.
!! Do not say 'obey to' someone or something. Obey must be followed directly by a noun: He refused to obey their orders (NOT He refused to obey to their orders). $ [T] formal
to deliberately make something unclear or difficult to understand
- obfuscation $ noun [U] $ informal especially AmE
1 [U] the part of medical science that deals with OBSTETRICS and GYNAECOLOGY
2 [C] a doctor who works in this part of medical science $ [C] informal
an obituary $ plural obituaries [C]
an article in a newspaper about the life of someone who has just died $
1 THING [C] a solid thing that you can hold, touch, or see but that is not alive:
•an everyday object such as a spoon
•a small metal object
•scientists studying plants, animals, or inanimate objects (=things that are not alive)
UFO
2 AIM [singular] the purpose of a plan, action, or activity; goal, aim
[+of]
•The object of the game is to improve children's math skills.
•My object was to explain the decision simply.
•The customer will benefit most, and that is the object of the exercise (=the purpose of what you are doing).
!! Do not use object to mean 'the thing you are working towards and hope to achieve'. Use objective: We have not yet achieved our objective (NOT our object).
3 an object of pity/desire/ridicule etc someone or something that is pitied, wanted etc:
•She feared becoming an object of ridicule.
•sports cars and other objects of desire
•an object of study
SEX OBJECT
4 money/expense is no object used to say that you are willing to spend a lot of money to get something:
•Money's no object; I want the best.
5 object lesson an event or story that shows you the right or wrong way of doing something
[+in]
•The way ants work is an object lesson in order and organization.
6 GRAMMAR [C]
a) a noun or pronoun representing the person or thing that something is done to, for example 'the house' in 'We built the house.'; = direct object
b) a noun or pronoun representing the person or thing that is joined by a PREPOSITION to another word or phrase, for example 'the table' in 'He sat on the table.'
c) the person who is involved in the result of an action, for example 'her' in 'I gave her the book.'; = indirect object; subject
7 COMPUTER [C] a combination of written information on a computer and instructions that act on the information, for example in the form of a document or a picture:
•multimedia data objects
1 [I] to feel or say that you oppose or disapprove of something:
•If no one objects, I would like Mrs Harrison to be present.
object to (doing) sth
•Robson strongly objected to the terms of the contract.
•I objected to having to rewrite the article.
I object (=used in formal arguments, for example in a court of law)
•Mr. Chairman, I object. That is an unfair allegation.
2 [T] to state a fact or opinion as a reason for opposing or disapproving of something
object that
•The group objected that the policy would prevent patients from receiving the best treatment.
•'My name's not Sonny,' the child objected.
OBJECTOR[U]
MACHINE CODE past tense and past participle objectified, present participle objectifying, third person singular objectifies [T] formal
to treat a person or idea as a physical object:
•a culture that objectifies women
- objectification noun [U]
1 [C,U] a reason that you have for opposing or disapproving of something, or something you say that expresses this

raise/voice/make an objection (to sth)
have no objection (to sth)
strong objection
moral objection
religious objection
do sth over the objections of sb (=do something despite someone's objections)

•Her objection was that he was too young.
[+to]
•Lawyers raised no objections to the plan.
•Normally he would have no objection to the whole world knowing his business.
•Local residents raised strong objections to the building application.
•He had moral objections to killing animals for food.
•the religious objections of some parents
•The bill was passed over the objections of many Democrats.

2 objection! spoken formal said by lawyers to a judge in a court when they think that what another lawyer has just said should not be allowed formal
unpleasant and likely to offend people; = offensive
•objectionable odours
•This programme contains scenes some viewers may find objectionable.
- objectionably adverb [C]
1 something that you are trying hard to achieve, especially in business or politics; = goal

achieve/meet an objective
accomplish an objective (=achieve an objective)
have an objective
set an objective (=decide what your objective is)
main/primary/principal objective
clear/specific objective
career objectives
business objectives

•He vowed to achieve certain objectives before the end of his presidency.
•the best way to accomplish your objectives
•The degree program has two main objectives.
•Managers should set specific performance objectives for their teams.
•The main objective was to improve children's knowledge of geography.
•A clear objective was set and adhered to.
•One of your first business objectives should be to get your own office.

2 a place that you are trying to reach, especially in a military attack:
•The 4th Division's objective was a town twenty miles to the east.
1 based on facts, or making a decision that is based on facts rather than on your feelings or beliefs; subjective
objective assessment/measurement/description etc
•It's hard to give an objective opinion about your own children.
•Scientists need to be objective when doing research.
purely/totally/completely objective
•the importance of a completely objective, independent press
2 formal existing outside the mind as something real, not only as an idea:
•The world has an objective reality.
- objectivity $ noun [U]
if you consider something objectively, you try to think about the facts, and not be influenced by your own feelings or opinions:
•Look at your skills objectively when deciding on a career change. $ [C]
someone who states or shows that they oppose something
[+to]
•objectors to the new motorway
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR
object-oriented computer programming languages are based on objects that are arranged in a HIERARCHY:
•object-oriented programming
•object-oriented languages $ plural objets d'art (same pronunciation) [C]
a small object used for decoration, with some value as art [C,U] formal
a gift that is offered to God or a god, or the act of offering the gift $ [T usually passive] especially AmE
1 to make someone have to do something, because it is the law, their duty, or the right thing to do; = oblige
obligate sb to do sth
•Tenants are obligated to pay their rent on time.
2 be/feel obligated to feel that you must do something because it is right or because someone has done something for you; = be/feel obliged
be/feel obligated to do sth
•Ava felt obligated to help her mother, even if it meant leaving college.
be/feel obligated to sb
•Watson felt obligated to him for the loan.
OBLIGE $ [C,U]
a moral or legal duty to do something

have an obligation (to do sth)
be under an obligation (to do sth) (=have an obligation)
be under no obligation (to do sth)
meet/fulfil an obligation (=do something that is your duty)
honour an obligation formal (=meet an obligation)
impose an obligation formal (=make someone have an obligation)
owe sb an obligation formal (=feel that you must do something for someone)
moral/legal/social obligation
contractual obligation (=something that a contract says you must do)
a sense of obligation

[+to]
•America's obligation to its allies
•Employers have an obligation to treat all employees equally.
•Parents are under a legal obligation to educate their children.
•You are under no obligation to buy any more books.
•Greater resources are needed to meet these obligations.
•the rights and obligations imposed on them by treaties
•The government must pay for health care for war veterans - it is an obligation we owe to them.
•a moral obligation to help the poor
•He stayed with the team out of a sense of obligation.

$
1 formal something that is obligatory must be done because of a law, rule etc; = compulsory, mandatory
it is obligatory for sb (to do sth)
•It is obligatory for companies to provide details of their industrial processes.
2 [only before noun] used humorously to describe something that is always done or included in a particular situation:
•She offered him the obligatory cup of tea. formal
1 [T usually passive] if you are obliged to do something, you have to do it because the situation, the law, a duty etc makes it necessary
oblige sb to do sth
•The minister was obliged to report at least once every six months.
•Circumstances had obliged him to sell the business.
feel obliged to do sth (=feel that you have a duty to do something)
•Many parents feel obliged to pay for at least part of the wedding.
!! Do not use oblige when you are talking about making someone do something they do not want to do. Use force or make: No one can force (NOT oblige) you to stay in a job that you hate.
2 [I,T] to do something that someone has asked you to do:
•It's always a good idea to oblige important clients.
happy/glad/ready etc to oblige
•If you need a ride home, I'd be happy to oblige.
3 I'd be obliged if spoken formal used to make a polite request:
•I'd be obliged if you'd treat this matter as strictly confidential.
4 (I'm) much obliged (to you) spoken old-fashioned used to thank someone very politely
willing and eager to help:
•The shop assistant was very obliging.
- obligingly adverb
1 not expressed in a direct way; = indirect
•an oblique reference to his drinking problem
2 not looking, pointing etc directly at something:
•an oblique glance
3 oblique line/stroke etc a sloping line etc
4 oblique angle technical an angle that is not 90 degrees
- obliquely adverb[C] BrE
a mark ( / ) used for writing FRACTIONs or for separating numbers, letters, words etc; = slash [T]
1 to destroy something completely so that nothing remains:
•Hiroshima was nearly obliterated by the atomic bomb.
2 to remove a thought, feeling, or memory from someone's mind:
•Nothing could obliterate the memory of those tragic events.
3 to cover something completely so that it cannot be seen:
•Then the fog came down, obliterating everything.
- obliteration noun [U] [U]
1 when something is completely forgotten or no longer important
sink/slip/pass etc into oblivion
•Wind power presents too many advantages to be allowed to sink into oblivion.
•The loser's name has been consigned to oblivion (=completely forgotten).
2 the state of being unconscious or of not noticing what is happening:
•the oblivion of sleep
•He had drunk himself into oblivion. [not before noun]
not knowing about or not noticing something that is happening around you; = unaware
[+of/to]
•He seemed oblivious to the fact that he had hurt her.
seemingly/apparently oblivious
•Congress was seemingly oblivious to these events.
- obliviousness noun [U] $
1 BrE an oblong shape has four straight sides at 90 degrees to each other, two of which are longer than the other two; = rectangular
•an oblong table
2 AmE an oblong shape is much longer than it is wide:
•an oblong leaf
- oblong noun [C] $ [U] formal
1 very strong, offensive criticism
2 loss of respect and honour $
very offensive, unpleasant, or rude:
•She's really obnoxious.
•an obnoxious idea
•obnoxious odours
- obnoxiously adverb
- obnoxiousness noun [U] $ [C]
a wooden musical instrument like a narrow tube, which you play by blowing air through a REED
- oboist noun [C]
1 relating to sex in a way that is shocking and offensive; rude
•Bradford made an obscene gesture.
• obscene phone calls (=calls from an unknown person saying obscene things)
•obscene photographs
2 extremely unfair, immoral, or unpleasant, especially in a way that makes you angry:
•Some players earn obscene amounts of money.
•an obscene act of cruelty
- obscenely adverb plural obscenities
1 [U] sexually offensive language or behaviour, especially in a book, play, film etc:
•laws against obscenity
2 [C usually plural] a sexually offensive word or action; swear
•drunken youths screaming obscenities $ [U] formal
the practice of deliberately stopping ideas and facts from being known
- obscurantist adjective $
1 not well known and usually not very important:
•an obscure poet
•The details of his life remain obscure.
2 difficult to understand:
•obscure legal phrases
• For some obscure reason, the group is very popular.
- obscurely adverb[T]
1 to make something difficult to know or understand:
•Recent successes have obscured the fact that the company is still in trouble.
2 to prevent something from being seen or heard clearly:
•The view was obscured by mist. $ plural obscurities
1 [U] the state of not being known or remembered
fade/slide/sink etc into obscurity
•The group produced two albums before disappearing into obscurity.
live/work/remain etc in obscurity
•O'Brien died in obscurity.
from obscurity to sth
•She rose from obscurity to stardom.
2 [C,U] something that is difficult to understand, or the quality of being difficult to understand:
•obscurities in the text $ [plural] formal
a funeral ceremony
very eager to please or agree with people who are powerful - used in order to show disapproval; = servile
•an obsequious smile
- obsequiously adverb
- obsequiousness noun [U] $
something that is observable can be seen or noticed; noticeable
•an observable change in behaviour
- observably adverb $
1 [U] when someone obeys a law or does something because it is part of a religion, custom, or ceremony
[+of]
•the observance of a peace agreement
•the strict observance of Islam
•the Memorial Day observance
2 [C] something you do as part of a ceremony, especially a religious ceremony:
•religious observances $
1 good or quick at noticing things:
•a quiet and observant person
•Supervisors are trained to be observant.
•the writer's observant eye for detail
2 obeying laws, religious rules etc:
•observant Jews $
1 [C,U] the process of watching something or someone carefully for a period of time

be under observation (=being watched carefully)
keep sb under observation
sb's powers of observation (=someone's ability to notice things)
close/careful/detailed observation
direct observation
personal observation

[+of]
•Bloomfield's approach to linguistics was based on observation of the language.
•He spent two nights under under close observation in hospital.
•His orders were to keep the men under observation.
•Art classes help develop children's powers of observation.
• Careful observation suggests that this is not the case.
• Detailed observations were carried out on the behaviour of the students.
•From their direct observations, children absorb a model of marriage.

2 [C] something that you notice when watching something or someone:
•Some interesting observations emerged from this research.
3 [C] a spoken or written remark about something you have noticed
[+on]
•Darwin's observations on the habits of certain birds
[+about]
•Paz makes some observations about the role of the critic.
4 [U] the act of obeying a law etc; = observance
- observational adjective[C]
a position from which an enemy can be watched[C]
a tall structure built so that you can see a long way, used to watch prisoners, look for forest fires etc $ plural observatories [C]
a special building from which scientists watch the moon, stars, weather etc $
1 [T not in progressive] formal to see and notice something:
•Scientists have observed a drop in ozone levels over the Antarctic.
observe that
•It was observed that 40 percent of patients had high blood pressure.
observe sb doing sth
•Officers observed him driving at 90 miles per hour.
•Predators have been observed to avoid attacking brightly coloured species.
2 [I,T] to watch something or someone carefully:
•The police have been observing his movements.
•One student performs the experiment, while his partner observes.
observe what/how/where
•Observe how the people in the group interact.
3 [T] formal to say or write what you have noticed about a situation:
•'Sid looks ill,' Doherty observed.
observe that
•Keynes observed that humans fall into two classes.
4 [T] to do what you are supposed to do according to a law or agreement; = obey
•So far the ceasefire has been observed by both sides.
5 [T] to do things and obey laws that are part of a religion or custom $ [C]
1 someone who regularly watches or pays attention to particular things, events, situations etc
[+of]
•an observer of nature
•political observers
•Observers are predicting a fall in interest rates.
2 someone who attends meetings, classes, events etc to check what is happening:
•The UN sent observers to the peace talks.
•Independent observers monitored the elections.
3 someone who sees or looks at something:
•reports from observers at sea and on dry land
casual observer (=someone looking at something but not very carefully)
•A casual observer would have guessed his age at 70.
1 [T usually passive] if something or someone obsesses you, you think or worry about them all the time and you cannot think about anything else - used to show disapproval
be obsessed by/with sth/sb
•A lot of young girls are obsessed by their weight.
•Jody's been obsessed with some lifeguard for months.
2 be obsessing about/over sth/sb informal to think about something or someone much more than is necessary or sensible:
•Stop obsessing about your hair. It's fine. [C,U]
an extreme unhealthy interest in something or worry about something, which stops you from thinking about anything else

become an obsession
unhealthy/dangerous obsession
sexual obsession
national/American/British etc obsession
to the point of obsession
border on/upon obsession (=be almost as bad as an obsession)

•Gambling became an obsession, and he eventually lost everything.
[+with]
•an unhealthy obsession with being thin
•The current obsession with exam results is actually harming children's education.
•The game pachinko became a national obsession.
•He has an enthusiasm for art, to the point of obsession in my opinion.
•She looked after him with a devotion bordering on obsession.

- obsessional adjective
thinking or worrying about something all the time, so that you do not think about other things enough - used to show disapproval:
•an obsessive concern with cleanliness and order
obsessive about (doing) sth
•I try to stay fit, but I'm not obsessive about it.
- obsessively adverb[C] BrE technical
someone whose behaviour is obsessivetechnical
someone who is obsessive-compulsive tends to repeat particular actions in a way that is not necessary, because they have strong anxious feelings:
•obsessive-compulsive behaviour [U]
a type of rock that looks like black glass $ [U]
1 when something becomes old-fashioned and no longer useful, because something newer and better has been invented
2 planned/built-in obsolescence when a product is designed so that it will soon become unfashionable or impossible to use and will need replacing:
•the planned obsolescence of some software $ formal
becoming obsolete $
no longer useful, because something newer and better has been invented; out-of-date
•obsolete weapons
•computer hardware that quickly became obsolete
•Will computers render (=make) books obsolete? $ [C]
1 something that makes it difficult to achieve something

put/place obstacles in the way (of sth)
overcome an obstacle
remove an obstacle
main/biggest/greatest obstacle
major/serious obstacle
insuperable obstacle (=one that makes it impossible to achieve something)
formidable obstacle (=a very difficult obstacle)
legal obstacle
political obstacle

[+to]
•Fear of change is an obstacle to progress.
•The tax puts obstacles in the way of companies trying to develop trade overseas.
•Women still have to overcome many obstacles to gain equality.
•We want to remove all obstacles to travel between the two countries.
•the single biggest obstacle to a Conservative victory in the next election
•There are formidable obstacles on the road to peace.

2 an object which blocks your way, so that you must try to go around it[C]
1 a line of objects which people have to jump over, climb through etc in a race
2 a series of difficulties which must be dealt with to achieve a particular aim
3 an area of land with special equipment that soldiers must run through, climb over etc, as part of their training; = assault course BrE[C] BrE
a type of race in which runners have to jump over or climb through various objects $ [C]
a doctor who has special training in obstetrics [U]
the part of medical science that deals with the birth of children
- obstetric adjective $
1 determined not to change your ideas, behaviour, opinions etc, even when other people think you are being unreasonable; = stubborn
•He was the most obstinate man I've ever met.
•Don't be so obstinate!
•an obstinate refusal to obey
2 [only before noun] BrE difficult to deal with or get rid of:
•obstinate stains
•a complex and obstinate issue
- obstinately adverb
- obstinacy noun [U] formal
noisy and refusing to do what someone asks; awkward
- obstreperously adverb [T]
1 to block a road, passage etc; = block
•A small aircraft was obstructing the runway.
•The column obstructed our view of the stage.
2 to prevent someone from doing something or something from happening, by making it difficult; = block
•The group is trying to obstruct the peace process.
•He was fined for obstructing the work of the police.
1 [C,U] when something blocks a road, passage, tube etc, or the thing that blocks it; = blockage
•an operation to remove an obstruction from her throat
•Police can remove a vehicle that is causing an obstruction.
[+of]
•an unlawful obstruction of the highway
2 [U] when someone or something prevents or delays a legal or political process
[+of]
•the obstruction of vital legislation
•He was found guilty of obstruction of justice.
3 [U] an offence in football, HOCKEY etc in which a player gets between an opponent and the ball [U] formal
when someone tries to prevent or delay a legal or political process
- obstructionist noun [C]
1 trying to prevent someone from doing something, by deliberately making it difficult for them:
•an obstructive official
•obstructive tactics
2 medical relating to a blocked tube, passage etc in the body:
•obstructive symptoms formal
1 [T] to get something that you want, especially through your own effort, skill, or work; = get
obtain sth from sb/sth
•Further information can be obtained from head office.
•You will need to obtain permission from the principal.
obtain sth through sth
•the results obtained through these surveys
2 [I not in progressive] if a situation, system, or rule obtains, it continues to exist:
•These conditions no longer obtain. formal
able to be obtained:
•The form is obtainable at your local post office. [I,T] formal
if something obtrudes, or you obtrude something, it becomes noticeable where it is not wanted
INTRUDE
noticeable in an unpleasant or annoying way; unobtrusive
•obtrusive TV antennas
•The waiters were friendly and not obtrusive. $ formal
slow to understand things, in a way that is annoying:
•'But why?' said Charles, being deliberately obtuse.
- obtuseness noun [U][C] technical
an angle between 90 and 180 degrees; acute angle $ [singular]
1 formal the opposite of a particular situation or feeling; = opposite
[+of]
•The obverse of victory is defeat.
2 the obverse technical the front side of a coin or MEDAL; reverse $ [T]
formal to prevent or avoid a problem or the need to do something; = eliminate
•The new treatment obviates the need for surgery. $
1 easy to notice or understand:
•The obvious way of reducing pollution is to use cars less.
•For obvious reasons the police cannot give any more details about the case.
•The most obvious example of an information source is a dictionary.
•The obvious question is - does his invention work?
•The quality of his cooking is immediately obvious.
it is obvious (that)
•It was obvious that Gina was lying.
[+to]
•It might be obvious to you, but it isn't to me.
2 behaving in a way that shows you want something very badly, when other people think this behaviour is not suitable:
•I know you really like him, but you don't have to be so obvious about it.
3 the/an obvious choice the person or thing that you would expect everyone to choose:
•Teaching is an obvious choice of career if you like working with children.
4 the obvious thing (to do) what clearly seems the best thing to do:
•The obvious thing is to speak to her before you make a decision.
5 state the obvious to say something that is already obvious so it is not necessary to say it:
•It is stating the obvious, but regular measurement of blood pressure is essential in older people.
- obviousness noun [U] $
used to mean that a fact can easily be noticed or understood:
•We're obviously going to need more help.
•Your research has obviously been very thorough.
•Obviously, this is going to take some time.
•Cost is obviously important.
•She frowned and was obviously puzzled.
1 TIME
a) [C] a time when something happens
on ... occasion
•I've seen Jana with them on several occasions.
•On this occasion we were sitting in a park in Madrid.
•She had met Zahid on two separate occasions.
b) [singular] a suitable or favourable time
[+for]
•This was the occasion for expressions of friendship by the two presidents.
!! Do not use occasion when you mean 'a time when it is possible for you to do what you want to do'. Use opportunity or chance: Do not waste this opportunity (NOT this occasion).
2 SPECIAL EVENT [C] an important social event or ceremony:
•I'm saving this bottle of champagne for a special occasion.
•They presented him with a gift to mark the occasion (=celebrate it).
[+of]
•His funeral was a great occasion of public mourning.
3 CAUSE/REASON [U] formal a cause or reason:
•His remark was the occasion of a bitter quarrel.
•I had occasion to call on him last year.
4 if (the) occasion arises formal if a particular action ever becomes necessary:
•If ever the occasion arises when I want advice, you're the first person I'll come to.
5 on occasion sometimes but not often:
•On occasion prisoners were allowed visits from their families.
6 on the occasion of sth formal at the time of an important event:
•on the occasion of his second wedding
rise to the occasion at RISE^1 (9); a sense of occasion at SENSE^1 (1)[T] formal
to cause something:
•She had a long career break occasioned by her husband's job being moved to Paris.
occasion sb sth
•Your behaviour has occasioned us a great deal of anxiety. [only before noun]
happening sometimes but not often or regularly:
•He made occasional visits to London.
•They had an occasional coffee together after shopping.
•He only has occasional use of a car.
•We should have enough money left for the occasional trip.
sometimes, but not regularly and not often:
•Occasionally Alice would look up from her books.
•We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely).
FREQUENCY[C]
a small light table that can be easily moved $
the Occident literary the western part of the world, especially Europe and the Americas; Orient $ [C] old-fashioned
someone from the western part of the world
- occidental adjective $
the occult mysterious practices and powers involving magic and SPIRITs :
•He was a strange man who dabbled in the occult.
- occultist noun [C][only before noun]
magical and mysterious:
•occult practices
•the occult powers $ [U] formal
1 the number of people who stay, work, or live in a room or building at the same time
single/multiple occupancy
•single occupancy room rates
•Hotels in Tokyo enjoy over 90% occupancy.
2 someone's use of a building, hotel, or other space, for living or working in, or the period during which they live or work there:
•The day for changing from one occupancy to the next was on a Saturday. $ [C]
1 someone who lives in a house, room etc; resident
•The furniture had been left by the previous occupants.
[+of]
•Police are still trying to trace the occupants of the house which was destroyed by fire.
2 someone who is in a room, vehicle etc at a particular time:
•Neither of the car's two occupants was injured. $
1 [C] a job or profession:
•Please state your name, address and occupation.
•professional and managerial occupations
•manual occupations
see box at JOB
2 [U] when a large group of people enter a place and take control of it, especially by military force
[+of]
•the German occupation of France
under occupation
•The area is under occupation (=controlled by a foreign army).
3 [C] a way of spending your time; = pastime
•One of my childhood occupations was collecting stamps.
4 [U] when someone lives or stays in a building or place:
•When the first scientists came to the region they found little evidence of human occupation. $ [only before noun]
relating to, or caused by your job:
•occupational pension schemes
•an occupational health centre
•occupational disease
•Getting injured is an occupational hazard (=a risk that always exists in a particular job or activity) of the sport.
- occupationally adverb[C]
someone whose job is to help people get better after an illness by giving them activities to do[U]
the job of an occupational therapist $
1 [not before noun] busy doing something
[+with]
•His time was occupied with the children.
•She's fully occupied with work.
•The museum has enough exhibits to keep anyone occupied for an hour or two.
•I kept myself occupied by watching television.
2 [not before noun] a bed, chair, room etc that is occupied is being used:
•Sorry, this seat is occupied.
3 an occupied place is controlled by an army from another country:
•occupied territories $ [C] especially BrE
1 someone who lives in or uses a particular house, piece of land etc; resident
•A large proportion of occupiers now own their homes.
2 a member of an army that has occupied a city or country by force
owner-occupier at OWNER-OCCUPIED $ past tense and past participle occupied, present participle occupying, third person singular occupies [T]
1 STAY IN A PLACE to live or stay in a place:
•He occupies the house without paying any rent.
•The building was purchased and occupied by its new owners last year.
2 FILL TIME if something occupies you or your time, you are busy doing it:
•Football occupies most of my leisure time.
occupy sb with (doing) sth
•Only six percent of police time is occupied with criminal incidents.
3 CONTROL BY FORCE to enter a place in a large group and keep control of it, especially by military force; invade
•an occupying army
•Students occupied Sofia university on Monday.
4 FILL SPACE to fill a particular amount of space:
•Family photos occupied almost the entire wall.
5 occupy sb's mind/thoughts/attention if something occupies your mind etc, you think about that thing more than anything else; preoccupy
•Work will occupy your mind and help you forget about him.
6 USE to use something such as a room, seat, or bed:
•Many patients who are occupying hospital beds could be transferred to other places.
7 OFFICIAL POSITION to have an official position or job:
•Before becoming prime minister, he had already occupied several cabinet posts.
OCCUPIED $ past tense and past participle occurred, present participle occurring [I] formal
1 to happen:
•A third of accidental deaths occur in the home.
•The explosion occurred at 5.30 a.m.
2 [always + adv/prep] to happen or exist in a particular place or situation
[+in/among etc]
•Whooping cough occurs mainly in young children.
•The highest rates of unemployment occur in the inner urban areas.

PHRASAL VERBS
occur to sb phr v
if an idea or thought occurs to you, it suddenly comes into your mind
it occurs to sb to do sth
•I suppose it didn't occur to you to phone the police?
•It never seems to occur to my children to contact me.
it occurs to sb (that)
•It had never occurred to him that he might be falling in love with her. $
1 [C] something that happens; occurrence
frequent/rare/common occurrence
•Laughter was a rare occurrence in his classroom.
•Flooding in the area is a common occurrence.
2 [singular] the fact of something happening
[+of]
•The frequent occurrence of earthquakes in the area means that the buildings must be specifically designed to withstand the force. $ [U] medical
obsessive-compulsive disorder a form of mental illness in which a person does the same thing again and again and cannot stop doing it, for example washing their hands many times a day $
1 the ocean especially AmE the great mass of salt water that covers most of the Earth's surface; = the sea
•She stood on the beach, gazing at the ocean.
•I like to swim in the ocean when it's warm enough.
2 [C] one of the very large areas of sea on the Earth's surface:
•the Pacific Ocean
3 oceans of sth informal a lot of something, especially a liquid:
•oceans of champagne
a drop in the ocean at DROP^2 (8) $ [only before noun] AmE
on the land along the edge of an ocean; = seafront BrE
•oceanfront houses $ [only before noun]
an oceangoing ship is designed to sail across the sea rather than a river or lake:
•an oceangoing tanker $ [usually before noun]
relating to the ocean:
•an oceanic island
•oceanic waters $ [U]
the scientific study of the ocean
- oceanographer noun [C] $ [C]
a large American wild cat that has a pattern of spots on its back $
used in Scotland and parts of Ireland to express surprise or to emphasize a remarkocher AmE $ [U] BrE
1 a type of reddish-yellow earth used in paints
2 the reddish-yellow colour of ochre
- ochre adjective $ [C]
an Australian man - used in Australia and New Zealand:
•G'day Ocker! $
one o'clock/two o'clock etc one of the times when the clock shows the exact hour as a number from 1 to 12:
•It's already 9 o'clock.
•The meeting is at 10 o'clock.

O'clock
Do not use o'clock for times that include minutes or parts of an hour: ten past nine (NOT ten past nine o'clock) | I get up at 6.30 (NOT 6.30 o'clock)
Do not use o'clock when the time is written in the form 1.00, 2.00, 3.00 etc. Write 1 o'clock, 2 am, or simply 3.00.

$ [U] technical
optical character recognition computer software that recognizes numbers and letters of the alphabet which are written on paper, so that information from paper documents can be SCANned into a computeralso -cracy $ [in nouns]
government by a particular sort of people or according to a particular principle:
•democracy (=government by the people)
•meritocracy (=government by people with the most ability)also -crat [in nouns]
1 someone who believes in a particular principle of government:
•a democrat (=someone who believes in government by the people)
2 a member of a powerful or governing social class or group:
•a technocrat (=a scientist who controls an organization or country)
- -ocratic suffix , suffixalso Oct BrE
the written abbreviation of October $ [C]
a flat shape with eight sides and eight angles
- octagonal $ adjective
•an octagonal tower $ [U]
a type of HYDROCARBON that is in FUEL and is used as a measure of its quality:
•low octane petrol
•high octane fuel $ [C]

a) the range of musical notes between the first note of a SCALE and the last one
b) the first and last notes of a musical SCALE played together $ [C]
1 eight singers or musicians performing together
2 a piece of music for an octet $
eight, or having eight:
•octagon (=a shape with eight sides)
•octopus (=a sea creature with eight arms)written abbreviation Oct. $ [C,U]
the tenth month of the year, between September and November
next/last October
•We moved in last October.
in October
•You're going to be busy in October.
on October 6th
•We begin on October 6th.
on 6th October BrE
•They were arrested on 6th October.
October 6 AmE
•The baby was baptized Monday, October 6. $ [C]
someone who is between 80 and 89 years old $ plural octopuses or octopi [C]
a sea creature with eight TENTACLEs (=arms) $ medical
relating to your eyes or your ability to see:
•ocular muscles $ [C] old-fashioned
a doctor who examines and treats people's eyes $ past tense and past participle OD'd, present participle OD'ing, third person singular OD's [I] informal
1 overdose to take too much of a drug so that it is dangerous
[+on]
•He OD'd on sleeping tablets.
2 to see, hear, eat etc too much of something
[+on]
•children who OD on video games
- OD noun [C] $ [C] literary
a beautiful female slave in former times $ comparative odder, superlative oddest
1 STRANGE different from what is normal or expected, especially in a way that you disapprove of or cannot understand:
•It was an odd thing to say.
•an odd way to behave
•They're an odd couple.
•There was something odd about him.
•What she did was unforgivable, but the odd thing was he didn't seem to mind.
•She was holding an extremely odd-looking weapon.
it is/seems odd (that)
•It seemed odd that he wanted a picture of me.
see box at UNUSUAL
2 the odd occasion/day/moment/drink etc especially BrE a few occasions, days etc that happen at various times but not often and not regularly; = occasional
•Lack of sleep doesn't matter on the odd occasion.
•I take the odd day off work.
•I like the odd glass of wine with my dinner.
•Jo smokes the odd cigarette.
3 VARIOUS [only before noun] not specially chosen or collected:
•Any odd scrap of paper will do.
4 NOT IN A PAIR/SET [only before noun] separated from a pair or set:
•an odd shoe
odd socks/gloves etc (=not a matching pair of socks etc)
•He was wearing odd socks.
5 odd number a number that cannot be divided exactly by two, for example 1, 3, 5, 7 etc; even number
6 20-odd/30-odd etc spoken a little more than 20 etc:
•I have another 20-odd years to work before I retire.
7 the odd man/one out BrE someone or something that is different from the rest of the group or not included in it:
•Which shape is the odd one out?
•I was always the odd one out at school.
- oddness noun [U]
ODDLY $ [C] informal
someone who behaves in a strange or unusual way
- oddball adjective
•a rather oddball sense of humour $ plural oddities
1 [C] a strange or unusual person or thing:
•In a class of 120 students there were four women including myself, and I still felt rather an oddity.
2 [C,U] a strange quality in someone or something:
•60s fashions that are remembered for their oddity[C] BrE
a man who does various jobs in people's houses or gardens[plural]
small jobs of different types:
•I've got a few odd jobs to do this weekend. $
1 in a strange or unusual way:
•She's been behaving oddly this week.
2 also oddly enough [sentence adverb] used to say that something seems strange or surprising:
•Oddly enough, someone asked me the same question only yesterday. $ [plural]
small things of no value, or pieces of a material that were not used when something was made:
•You can make a patchwork quilt from oddments of silk and cotton. $ [plural]
1 PROBABILITY the odds how likely it is that something will or will not happen:
• The odds are (=it is likely) that he will commit the same crime again.
[+of]
•You can narrow the odds of a nasty accident happening in your home by being more safety-conscious.
[+against]
•The odds against a plane crash are around a million to one.
•I'm afraid that the odds are heavily against her winning (=it is not likely).
•The odds are in favour of a Russian victory (=it is likely).
• What are the odds (=how likely is it) that they will mess up?
•a new company that has beaten the odds and succeeded (=it was not likely to succeed, but it did)
2 DIFFICULTIES difficulties which make a good result seem very unlikely

against (all) the odds (=although there are great difficulties)
overcome the odds (=succeed although there are great difficulties)
battle against the odds
the odds are stacked against sb (=there are great difficulties)
impossible odds
enormous/heavy/overwhelming odds

• Against all the odds, he recovered from his terrible injuries.
•The South Africans overcame the odds to beat Australia.
•The hospital's director has been battling against the odds to improve patient care.
• The odds are stacked against the young birds, especially in winter.
•Their job was to hold on despite impossible odds, in order to give the rest of the army time to strike.
•a little company that battled its way, despite enormous odds, to success

3 be at odds
a) to disagree
[+with]
•Briggs found himself at odds with his colleagues.
[+over/on]
•The two politicians were at odds over what was the truth.
b) if two statements, descriptions, actions etc are at odds with each other, they are different although they should be the same
[+with]
•Mark's account of what happened is at odds with Dan's.
•She gave him a sweet smile, totally at odds with the look of dislike in her eyes.
4 HORSE RACING ETC the numbers that show how much money you will win if you BET on the winner of a horse race or other competition:
•The odds are 6-1.
[+of]
•At odds of 10-1 he bet a hundred pounds.
(at) long/short odds (=high or low numbers, that show a high or low risk of losing)
•Everyone was surprised when Desert Zone won the race, at very long odds.
lay/offer (sb) odds BrE
•They are laying odds of 8-1 that the Conservatives will win the next election.
5 it makes no odds BrE spoken used to say that what someone does or what happens is not important:
•Pay me now or later - it makes no odds.
6 pay over the odds BrE informal to pay a higher price than is usual or reasonable:
•Most residents live in tiny apartments and pay over the odds for them too.also odds and sods BrE informal [plural]
small things of various kinds without much value:
•He didn't keep much in his desk - just a few odds and ends.
1 odds-on favourite the person, horse etc that is most likely to win a race or other competition
2 BrE informal very likely
it's odds on (that)
•It's odds on that she won't come.
be odds-on to do sth
•They must have felt they were odds-on to win. $ [C]
a poem or song written in order to praise a person or thing
[+to]
•Keats' 'Ode to a Nightingale' $ formal
extremely unpleasant:
•an odious little man
- odiously adverb $ [U] formal
a strong feeling of hatred that a lot of people have for someone because of something they have done:
•Internationally Reagan attracted odium for his militarism. $ [C]
an instrument in a vehicle that shows how many miles or kilometres the vehicle has travelled; = milometer BrE $
the American spelling of ODOUR $ old-fashioned
ODOROUS $
the American spelling of ODOURLESS $ literary technical
having a smell:
•odorous gasesodor AmE $ [C,U] BrE
a smell, especially an unpleasant one
[+of]
•the faint odour of damp
strong/unpleasant/pungent/offensive etc odour
•obnoxious odours from a factory
BODY ODOURodorless AmE $ BrE
having no smell:
•a colorless, odorless liquid $ [C] literary
1 a series of experiences that teach you something about yourself or about life:
•a spiritual odyssey
2 a long journey with a lot of adventures or difficulties
on an odyssey
•They departed Texas on a three-year odyssey that took them as far as Japan. $
the OECD the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development a group of rich countries who work together to develop trade and economic growth $ [usually before noun]
related to an Oedipus complex $
according to Freudian PSYCHOLOGY, when a son unconsciously feels sexual desire for his mother, combined with a hatred for his father $ literary
over - used especially in poetryesophagus AmE $ plural oesophaguses or oesophagi [C] BrE
the tube which food passes down from your mouth to your stomach
digestive system at DIGESTIVEestrogen AmE $ [U] BrE
a substance that is produced in a woman's OVARIES that causes changes in her body and prepares it for having babies $ [C usually singular] formal
all the works of an artist or writer:
•the oeuvre of Van Gogh strong $ strong $
1 used to show what a part belongs to or comes from:
•the back of the house
•the last scene of the movie
•the end of the day
2 used to show who something or someone belongs to or has a connection with:
•a friend of Mark's
•Avocado salad is a favourite of mine.
•Product inspection is the responsibility of the employees themselves.
3 used when talking about a feature or quality that something has:
•the cost of the meal
•the beauty of the scenery
•the length of the swimming-pool
4 used to show what group one or more things or people belong to:
•some of the students
•'Sunflowers' is one of his best-known paintings.
•Two of the guests are vegetarian.
•a member of the baseball team
5 used to show what type of substance or thing you are referring to, when talking about an amount:
•two kilos of sugar
•millions of dollars
•a bar of chocolate
6 used to say what something contains:
•a cup of coffee
•several packets of cigarettes
•truckloads of refugees
7 used to say what type of things or people are in a group:
•a herd of elephants
•his circle of friends
•a bunch of bananas
8
a) used to state specifically which thing of the general type mentioned you are referring to:
•the city of New York
•the art of painting
•the problem of unemployment
b) used to state specifically what a particular number, amount, age etc is:
•at the age of 52
•an increase of 3%
9 used to talk about things produced by a famous or skilled writer, artist etc:
•the plays of Shakespeare
•the paintings of Picasso
•the work of a great architect
10 used to say what a story, some news etc is about, or what a picture, map etc shows:
•a story of love and loss
•news of his arrest
•a photo of Elizabeth
•a map of Indonesia
11
a) used after nouns that refer to actions, or to people who do something, in order to show who or what the action is done to:
•the cancellation of the meeting
•the killing of innocent children
•supporters of the project
b) used after nouns that refer to actions in order to show who or what does the action:
•the ringing of the phone
•the arrival of a visitor
12 used after some adjectives that describe feelings, to show who or what the feeling is directed towards:
•He's always been frightened of spiders.
•Most children want their parents to feel proud of them.
13 used when referring to the day, moment etc when something happened:
•the day of the accident
•the week of the festival
•I was at home at the time of the murder.
14 used to say where something is in relation to a place or thing
north/south etc of sth
•a historic seaside town 99 km south of London
to the left/right of sth
•To the left of the sofa is a table.
•I live within a mile of here.
15 used to describe a person or thing by saying what their main qualities or features are:
•Albright was seen as a woman of great determination.
•It's an area of considerable historical interest.
16 used to say what someone's age is:
•He has two children, a boy of twelve and a girl of fifteen.
17 it is kind/stupid/careless etc of sb (to do sth) used to say that someone's action shows a particular quality:
•It was kind of you to remember my birthday.
18 used to say where someone comes from:
•the people of China
•Jesus of Nazareth
19 used to show the country, organization, or group in which someone has a particular position:
•King Philip II of Spain
•the secretary of the tennis club
20 used in dates before the name of the month:
•the 27th of July
21 used to say when something happened:
•the presidential election of 1825
•one of the biggest upsets of recent years
22 AmE spoken used in giving the time, to mean 'before'; = to BrE
•It's a quarter of seven (=6.45).
23 used to show the cause of someone's death:
•He died of cancer.
24 literary used to say what material has been used to make something:
•a dress of pure silk
25 of an evening/of a weekend etc BrE in the evenings, at WEEKENDs etc:
•We often used to walk by the river of an evening.

GRAMMAR
To refer to someone or something that belongs to or is connected with someone, it is usual to use -'s or -s' (NOT of) with short noun phrases: Dad's car (NOT the car of Dad) | a child's bike (NOT the bike of a child) | my sister's boyfriend (NOT the boyfriend of my sister) | the miners' strike (NOT the strike of the miners)
When referring to one of several people or things belonging to or connected with someone, or when using 'this' or 'that', use of + mine/yours/his/hers/ours/theirs: a friend of mine (NOT a friend of me) | a relation of ours (NOT a relation of us) | that car of yours (NOT that car of you)
To talk about the person who sang, wrote, painted, or composed a particular work, use by not of: a song by Mariah Carey (NOT of Mariah Carey)

1 used to show that other people probably already know what you are saying is true, or expect to hear it:
•Well, she won, of course.
•You should of course keep copies of all your correspondence.
•Of course there will be some difficult times ahead.
2 spoken also course informal used to emphasize that you are saying 'yes' when someone asks your permission to do something:
•'Can I ring you back in a minute?' 'Yes, of course.'
•'Is it OK if I have another cup of coffee?' 'Course, help yourself.'
3 spoken also course informal used to emphasize that what you are saying to someone is true or correct:
•'Do you really believe her?' 'Of course I do!'
•'I hope this idea of yours works.' 'Course it'll work.'
4 spoken used to show that you accept or agree with what someone has just said:
•'Don't get angry. She's only thirteen.' 'Of course.'
•'The correct answer is 83.' 'Oh, yes, of course.'
5 of course not/course not spoken used to emphasize that you are saying 'no' to something:
•'Have you been reading my e-mail?' 'Of course not!'
•'Do you mind if I bring a friend?' 'No, of course not.'

POLITENESS
Use of course as a polite and friendly way of agreeing to something: 'Can I borrow your pen?'- 'Of course'. | Of course I'll help you. | 'Do you mind if I smoke?' - 'Of course not'.
Do not use of course as a reply when someone asks you for information, because this can sound rude and unfriendly. If, for example, you asked someone : 'Is this the Swallow Hotel?' and they said | 'Of course it is' it would sound as though they thought the answer was obvious and that you were stupid to ask them.

$
1 away from a place:
•He got into his car and drove off.
•Suddenly they turned off and parked in a side road.
•Once we were off the main freeway, the trip felt more like a vacation.
•Her husband was off on a business trip somewhere.
•Are you ready? Off we go.
•I must be off now (=I must leave).
•They were off to Italy (=leaving to go to Italy) and wanted to make an early start.
2 not on something, or removed from something:
•Keep off the grass.
•As he leaned forward, his hat fell off.
•Someone had taken the mirror off the wall.
•Take your coat off.
•I was trying to scrape the mud off my boots.
!! Do not say 'off of' something. Say off something: Get off the bus at the airport (NOT Get off of the bus at the airport).
3 out of a bus, train, plane etc; on
•I'll get off at the next stop.
•Everyone got off the train at Winnipeg.
4 a machine, piece of equipment etc that is off is not working or operating; on
•Will someone switch the radio off?
•Make sure all the lights are off.
5 not at work, school etc because you are ill or on holiday; absent
•My secretary's been off with flu for the past week.
•Clare had to stay off school because her mother was ill.
•You look tired. Why don't you take tomorrow off?
•He needs more time off duty for relaxation and rest.
•'Going to work today, mum?' 'No. It 's my day off today.'
6 informal from someone:
•My brother once borrowed some money off him.
•I got this necklace off a woman outside the market.
7
a) used to say how far away something is:
•We could see the cliffs of Shetland about two miles off.
•Kara's home was a long way off across the sea.
b) used to say how much time there is between now and a future event:
•With the exams now only a week off, I had to study hard.
•Christmas seemed a long way off.
c) used to say how likely or unlikely something is:
•Any kind of peace agreement still seems a long way off.
8
a) only a short distance away from a place:
•Our hotel was just off the main street.
•an island off the coast of France
b) connected to a particular room, area, road etc:
•There's a small bathroom off the main bedroom.
•a narrow street leading off the corner of the square
9 used to say that a price is reduced by a particular amount:
•If you buy more than ten, they knock 10% off.
10 if an event which has been arranged is off, it will not now take place; cancelled, postponed
•The wedding's off.
•The race may have to be called off if the bad weather continues.
11 BrE informal behaviour that is off is rude or is not acceptable:
•She walked out before the end of your lecture, which I thought was a bit off.
•Look, I know when someone's being off with me.
12 used to say how much of something someone has
be well/badly off for sth
•The school's fairly well off for books these days.
• How are you off for sports equipment? (=do you have enough?)
WELL-OFF, BADLY OFF, BETTER OFF
13 off and on also on and off for short periods but not regularly, over a long period of time:
•We've been going out together for five years, off and on.
14 no longer wanting or liking something:
•Toby's been off his food for a few days.
go off sth/sb BrE
•I used to enjoy tennis, but I've gone off it a bit now.
•She seems to have gone off Mark since he's grown a beard.
15 no longer taking something such as a drug or medicine; on
•The operation was a success, and she's off the morphine.
16
a) food that is off is no longer fresh enough to eat; rotten, sour
•Ugh! The milk's off.
•Do you think the meat's gone off?
b) used to say that a particular kind of food is not available in a restaurant although it is on the MENU:
•I'm sorry, the fish pie is off today, sir.
17 AmE not as good as usual:
•Sales figures for last year were a little off compared with those of the previous year.
18 AmE not correct or not right:
•Our calculations were off.
•Guess again. You're way off (=very far from being correct).
right off, at RIGHT^3 (2); straight off, at STRAIGHT^1 (7); off the top of your head, at TOP^1 (18); noises off at NOISE^1 (8)[only before noun]
1 off day/week etc a day, week etc when you are not doing something as well as you usually do:
•Brian never usually loses his temper - he must be having an off day.
2 off period/season etc a period or season which is not as busy as other times of the year:
•In the off season, there's hardly anyone staying at the hotel.
3 BrE used to talk about a pair of things such as wheels on a car, to mean the one on the right; near BrE
1 the off the start of a race or a journey:
•The horses were in line, ready for the off.
2 from the off from the beginning of something:
•She was doubtful about the interview from the off.[T] AmE informal
to kill someone:
•The guy who did this ought to be offed.[only before noun]
not being broadcast on the radio or television at the present moment; on air
•off-air television recordings $ [U] BrE
the inside parts of an animal, for example the heart, LIVER, and KIDNEYs used as foodoff balance [not before noun]
1 in an unsteady position and likely to fall
throw/knock/push etc sb off-balance
•The sudden movement of the ship knocked them both off balance.
2 catch/throw sb off-balance to surprise or shock someone because they are not prepared for something that happens:
•I was thrown off-balance by some of the more difficult questions I was asked. $ informal
unusual and not what people normally expect, especially in an interesting way:
•offbeat humour
•She's a little offbeat, but she's a wonderful actress.
an off-Broadway play is one that is performed outside the Broadway entertainment area in New York City and does not involve as much money as the famous plays on Broadwayoff-center AmE [not before noun] BrE
not exactly in the centre of something:
•Place the photo slightly off-centre, so that there is more space on the page.off chance
on the off-chance if you do something on the off-chance that something will happen, you do it hoping that it will happen although it is unlikely:
•I just came to see you on the off-chance that Pippa might be here.off-color AmE BrE
1 sexually offensive:
•off-color jokes
2 [not before noun] BrE slightly ill:
•She's been feeling a bit off-colour lately.[C] especially BrE
a piece of wood, paper etc that is left after the main piece has been cut and removed
if someone such as a policeman, nurse, or soldier is off-duty, they are not working:
•an off-duty guard
•I shall be off-duty on Thursday.offense AmE BrE
1 [C] an illegal action or a crime

criminal offence
serious/minor offence
first offence (=the first illegal thing that someone has done)
commit an offence
capital offence (=a crime for which death is the punishment)
federal offense AmE (=a very serious offence against the law of the US, rather than against state law)
driving/parking etc offence
it is an offence to do sth
make sth an offence/make it an offence to do sth
a punishable offence
an offence punishable by/with sth

•The possession of stolen property is a criminal offence.
•Punishment for a first offence is a fine.
•His solicitor said he committed the offence because he was heavily in debt.
•The bill makes it an offence to carry a knife.
[+against]
•sexual offences against children

2 [U] when you offend or upset someone by something you do or say
cause/give offence
•The problem was how to say 'no' to her without causing offence.
•Don't be upset by what he said; he meant no offence (=did not intend to offend anyone).
3 no offence spoken used to tell someone that you hope that what you are going to say or do will not offend them:
•No offense, but this cheese tastes like rubber.
4 take offence (at sth) to feel offended because of something someone says or does:
•I think he took offence at my lack of enthusiasm.
5 [U] formal the act of attacking:
•the weapon of offence used during the attack
1 [I,T] to make someone angry or upset by doing or saying something that they think is rude, unkind etc:
•His remarks deeply offended many Scottish people.
be offended by/at sth
•Liddy was offended by such a personal question.
•The careful language is designed not to offend.
2 [T] to seem bad or unacceptable to someone:
•A solution must be found that doesn't offend too many people.
•Some of these new buildings really offend the eye (=look very ugly).
3 [I] formal to commit a crime or crimes:
•Many of the young men here are likely to offend again.
4 [I,T] formal to be against people's feelings of what is morally acceptable
[+against]
•Broadcasters have a responsibility not to offend against good taste and decency.
someone who is offended is angry and upset by someone's behaviour or remarks
feel/look/sound offended
•Stella was beginning to feel a little offended.
•I knew that Piers would be deeply offended.
•I get very offended when he talks to me like that.
•radio listeners who are easily offended $ [C]
1 someone who is guilty of a crime:
•Community punishment is used for less serious offenders.
•At 16, Scott was already a persistent offender (=someone who has been caught several times for committing crimes).
FIRST OFFENDER, SEX OFFENDER, YOUNG OFFENDER
2 someone or something that is the cause of something bad:
•Among causes of air pollution, car exhaust fumes may be the worst offender. [only before noun]
1 the offending ... the thing that is causing a problem - often used humorously:
•I decided to have the offending tooth removed.
2 relating to or guilty of an illegal offence:
•offending behaviour
•the offending vehicle
3 making people feel angry or insulted:
•his offending remarks
the usual American spelling of OFFENCE $ [U] AmE
the part of a game such as American football, which is concerned with getting points and winning, or the group of players who do this; defense
•The Bears are going to have work on their offense this season.
1 very rude or insulting and likely to upset people; inoffensive
•I found her remarks deeply offensive.
[+to]
•crude jokes that are offensive to women
•offensive behaviour
2 formal very unpleasant:
•an offensive smell
3 [only before noun] for attacking
DEFENSIVE^1 (1)
•Jan was convicted of possessing an offensive weapon.
•The troops took up offensive positions.
4 AmE relating to getting points and winning a game, rather than stopping the other team from getting points; defensive
•the Jets' offensive strategy
- offensively adverb
•Rick's remarks were offensively racist.
- offensiveness noun [U][C]
1 a planned military attack involving large forces over a long period:
•a military offensive
•A major offensive was launched on August 22.
2 go on the offensive also take the offensive to start attacking or criticizing someone before they start attacking or criticizing you:
•Republicans went on the offensive over soaring gasoline prices.
•The international coalition was ready to take the offensive.
3 charm/diplomatic offensive a planned set of actions intended to influence a lot of people $
1 [T] to ask someone if they would like to have something, or to hold something out to them so that they can take it
offer sb sth
• Can I offer you something to drink?
•They offered him a very good job, but he turned it down.
offer sth to sb
•Maureen lit a cigarette and offered one to Lucy.
•The drama school offers places to students who can show talent.
2 [I,T] to say that you are willing to do something:
•I don't need any help, but it was nice of you to offer.
offer to do sth
•My dad has offered to pick us up.
•The newspaper offered to apologise for the article.
3 [T] to provide something that people need or want
offer advice/help/support etc
•Your doctor should be able to offer advice on diet.
offer an opportunity/chance/possibility
•The course offers the opportunity to specialize in the final year.
•A number of groups offer their services free of charge.
•The Centre offers a wide range of sports facilities.
offer sth to sb
•I did what I could to offer comfort to the family.
4 have sth to offer (sb) to have qualities, opportunities etc that people are likely to want or enjoy:
•Canada has much to offer in terms of location and climate.
•He felt he had nothing to offer her that she wanted.
5 [T] to say that you are willing to pay a particular amount of money for something
offer (sb) sth for sth
•They've offered us £75,000 for the house.
•The police are offering a reward for any information.
6 offer (up) a prayer/sacrifice etc to pray to God or give something to God
7 offer itself formal if an opportunity to do something offers itself, it becomes available to you:
•I'll raise the subject when a suitable occasion offers itself.
8 offer your hand (to sb) to hold out your hand in order to shake hands with someone[C]
1 a statement saying that you are willing to do something for someone or give them something
offer of help/support/friendship etc
•Thank you for your offer of help.
•The company withdrew their offer of employment.
•Have you had any job offers?
accept/take up an offer (=say yes to an offer)
•She accepted their offer of rent-free accommodation.
turn down/refuse/decline an offer (=say no to an offer)
•I can't turn down the offer of a free trip to Milan!
offer to do sth
•His offer to resign will be accepted.
2 an amount of money that you are willing to pay for something:
•Will you accept their offer?
make (sb) an offer (for/on sth) (=offer a particular amount of money for something)
•Within 20 minutes they were prepared to make us an offer.
•The company made an offer of$5 million for the site.
a generous/good offer
•'I'll be interested if Newcastle make me a good offer,' said the 25-year-old striker.
be open to offers (=be ready to consider people's offers and lower your original price)
•We're asking £2500, but we're open to offers.
O.N.O.
3 a reduction of the price of something in a shop for a short time; discount
•All special offers advertised in this brochure are subject to availability.
[+on]
•There's a free offer on orders over £45.
•To take advantage of this offer (=buy something at the reduced price), complete the attached forms.
4 on offer
a) available to be bought, chosen, or used:
•Activities on offer include sailing, rowing, and canoeing.
•I was impressed with the designs on offer.
b) BrE for sale for a short time at a cheaper price than usual:
•Lean minced beef is on offer this week.
5 under offer BrE if a house that is for sale is under offer, someone has offered to buy it for a particular price $ [C]
1 a book, play, piece of music etc that someone has written recently:
•the latest offering from Nancy Griffith
2 something that is given to God
3 something that is given as a present to please someone
burnt offering at BURNT^2 (2); PEACE OFFERING $ plural offertories [C] formal
1 the money people give during a religious ceremony in church; = collection
2 the offering of the bread and wine to God at a Christian church service[not before noun]
catch/take sb off-guard to surprise someone by happening when they are not expecting something or prepared for it:
•The sudden snow storm caught us all off-guard. $
1 BrE not very friendly towards someone when you are talking to them:
•She said you were a bit offhand with her this afternoon.
•an offhand tone of voice
2 said or done without thinking or planning:
•an offhand remark
- offhandedly adverb
- offhandedness noun [U]
immediately, without time to think about it or find out about something:
•I can't remember offhand where the file is. $
1 BUILDING [C] a building that belongs to a company or organization, with rooms where people can work at desks:
•The department occupies an office just a mile from the White House.
main/head office (=the most important office)
•The head office is in Edinburgh.
•Did you go to the office (=the office where you work) today?
at the office
•Have a nice day at the office.
local/regional office
•The agency has a network of regional offices.
office staff/workers/equipment etc
•Office staff need well-designed desks and chairs.
•the increased demand for office space
2 ROOM [C] a room where someone has a desk and works, on their own or with other people:
•the manager's office
•Sorry, Ann's not in her office right now.
•Dan shares an office with Lisa.
3 office hours
a) the time between about 9:00 in the morning and 5:00 in the afternoon, when people in offices are working:
•Can you phone again during office hours?
b) AmE the time during the day or week when students can meet with their teacher in the teacher's office:
•Professor Lee's office hours are from 2 to 4 on Mondays and Thursdays.
4 JOB [C,U] an important job or position with power, especially in government:
•the office of President
in office
•She was celebrating ten years in office.
•A provisional military government took office (=started in an important job or position).
hold office (=have a particular important job or position)
•Trujillo held office as finance minister.
•a five year term of office (=period of time working in an important job)
5 Office used in the names of some government departments:
•the Foreign Office
•the Office of the District Attorney
6 PLACE FOR INFORMATION [C] a room or building where people go to ask for information, buy tickets etc
information/ticket etc office
•the tourist office
•Is there a lost property office?
BOX OFFICE, POST OFFICE, REGISTRY OFFICE
7 DOCTOR [C] AmE the place where a doctor or DENTIST examines or treats people; = surgery BrE
8 sb's good offices/the good offices of sb formal help given by someone who has authority or can influence people
through the good offices of sb
•I managed to obtain a visa through the good offices of a friend in the Service.[C] old-fashioned
a boy or young man who does simple jobs in an officealso office block BrE [C]
a large building with many offices in it, especially ones that belong to different companies[C]
someone who has an official position, especially in the government[C]
a party, especially one held before Christmas, in the office of a company, government department etc for the people who work there $ [C]
1 someone who is in a position of authority in the army, navy etc
an army/naval/military etc officer
•a commanding officer of the SAS
2 someone who is in a position in an organization or the government:
•a prison officer
•the chief medical officer
•a former Cabinet officer
•the public information officer
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER; press officer at PRESS OFFICE; PROBATION OFFICER, RETURNING OFFICER
3 a member of the police; = police officer, policeman, policewoman
•a request for 400 more officers
4 Officer AmE a title for a policeman or policewoman:
•Officer Murdoch [C]
someone who is in a position of authority in an organization:
•a government official
•senior administration officials
1 approved of or done by someone in authority, especially the government:
•an official investigation into the causes of the explosion
•the official policy on education
•official statistics about illegal drug use
•You will have to get official permission first.
•Finally the letter of appointment came, making it all official.
2 relating to or done as part of an important job or position
an official visit/engagement etc
•The President was leaving for a four-day official tour of Mexico.
•the Queen's performance of official duties
•They dined in an official capacity with other European leaders.
•the Lord Mayor's official residence
3 an official explanation, account etc is one that is given formally and publicly, but may not be true:
•Many doubted the official version of events.
•The official line (=what is said publicly by people in authority) was that the troops were there to protect the King.
4 chosen to represent someone or an organization, or do something for them:
•the company's official logo
•the official representative from the American administration
5 an official event is a formal, public event:
•The official opening of the institute was in May. [U]
government departments or the people who work in them - used when you think they are not helpful; bureaucracy [U] informal
a way of talking or writing used by government officials, that is unnecessarily difficult to understand
1 publicly or formally:
•The new church was officially opened on July 5th.
•Nothing has yet been officially announced.
•The scheme was officially launched in May.
•Has the company officially confirmed the appointment?
•the number of officially recognized political parties
2 [sentence adverb] according to what someone says publicly, even though this may not be true:
•Officially, the talks never took place.[C] BrE
someone whose job is to take care of the financial affairs of a company or a person that is BANKRUPT [I]
to perform official duties, especially at a religious ceremony
too eager to tell people what to do - used to show disapproval:
•an officious traffic warden
- officiously adverb
- officiousness noun [U] $
be in the offing to be likely to happen soon:
•Big changes were in the offing.
music that is off-key sounds unpleasant because it is played slightly above or below the correct PITCH; in tune
•The band sounded slightly off-key.
- off-key adverb
•Someone upstairs was singing off-key.
1 not completely straight or correctly balanced:
•The paintings were slightly off-kilter.
2 unusual in a strange or interesting way:
•her off-kilter sense of humour[C] BrE
a shop that sells wine, beer, and other alcoholic drinks, in bottles or cans; = liquor store AmE
be off limits
a) if a place is off limits, you are not allowed to go there; = out of bounds
[+to/for]
•Footpaths are, of course, off limits to bikers.
b) if a subject is off limits, you are not allowed to talk about it:
•Unlike most group discussions, nothing was off limits. $
1 with your computer not connected to the Internet; online
•I work offline most of the day.
2 if computer equipment is offline, it is not directly connected to the computer; online
•The printer was offline all morning.
- offline adjective
•offline storage $
1 [T] to get rid of something that you do not want by giving it or selling it to someone else
offload sth onto sb
•The dealer had offloaded some of the shares onto a willing client.
2 offload your worries/emotions/problems etc BrE to tell someone about your worries etc in order to make yourself feel better
3 [T] to take something off a truck or ship:
•The men offloaded their cargo.
a politician who is off-message says things that are different from the ideas of the political party they belong to; on-message especially BrE
1 off-peak hours or periods are times that are less busy because fewer people want to do or use something:
•Telephone charges are lower during off-peak periods.
2 off-peak travel, electricity etc is cheaper because it is done or used at less busy times
- off-peak adverb
not on the usual SKI slopes:
•off-piste skiing
- off-piste adverb $ [C] technical
an article from a magazine that is printed and sold separatelyBrE
if someone's behaviour or the appearance of something is off-putting, you do not like it or you think it is unattractive:
•Some women found the competitive style of the discussions off-putting.
- off-puttingly adverb
put sb/sth off at PUT[C] AmE
a road for driving off a FREEWAY; = slip road BrE[usually before noun]
1 designed to be used on rough ground as well as on roads:
•an off-road vehicle
2 going over rough ground:
•off-road cycling
•off-road tracks
- off-road adverb
when a film actor is not acting; on-screen
•What's he like off-screen?
- off-screen adjective
•off-screen romances
the off-season
a) the time of year when not many people are taking holidays; = low season; high season
in the off-season
•Most hotels are closed in the off-season.
b) AmE the time of year when a sport is not usually played; = close season BrE
- #off-=season adjective, adverb
•Take advantage of our special off-season fares. $ past tense and past participle offset, present participle offsetting [T]
1 if the cost or amount of something offsets another cost or amount, the two things have an opposite effect so that the situation remains the same:
•Cuts in prices for milk, butter, and cheese will be offset by direct payments to farmers.
offset sth against sth
•He was able to offset his travel expenses against tax.
2 to make something look better by being close to it and different:
•His blonde hair offset a deep tan. $
relating to a method of printing in which ink is put onto ROLLERs and the paper then passes between the rollers
- offset noun [U] $ [C]
1 something such as an organization which has developed from a larger or earlier one
[+of]
•The company was originally an offshoot of Bell Telephones.
•the Mafia and its offshoots
2 a new stem or branch on a plant $
1 in or under the sea and not far from the coast; inshore, onshore
•offshore oil fields
•an offshore island
2 offshore banks/companies/investments etc banks etc that are based abroad in a country where you pay less tax than in your home country:
•offshore financial centres
3 offshore wind/current etc a wind etc that is blowing or moving away from the land; onshore
- offshore adverb
•a boat anchored offshore $
in a position, usually ahead of the ball, where you are not allowed to play the ball in sports such as SOCCER and HOCKEY; onside $
the offside BrE the side of a car that is nearest to the middle of the road when you are driving it; nearside
- offside adjective
•the offside headlight
happening away from a particular place, especially a place of work; on-site
•the off-site disposal of harmful waste
•A small team worked off-site on the project. $ plural offspring [C]
1 someone's child or children - often used humorously:
•a young mother trying to control her offspring
2 an animal's baby or babies:
•a lion and its offspring $
1 just behind or to the side of a stage in a theatre, where the people watching a play cannot see; onstage
•There was a loud crash offstage.
2 when an actor is not acting:
•Offstage, Peter seemed a shy sort of person.
- offstage adjective
•offstage noises
off-street parking places for parking that are not on public streets[usually before noun]
an off-the-cuff remark, reply etc is one that you make without thinking about it first; = spontaneous
- off-the-cuff adverboff the rack AmE BrE
off-the-peg clothes are made in standard sizes, not made especially to fit one person; made-to-measure
- off-the-peg off the rack adverb
•It was only a cheap suit, bought off-the-peg.off the record
an off-the-record remark is unofficial and is not supposed to be made public:
•The Prime Minister's remarks were strictly off the record.
- off the record adverb
already made and available in shops rather than being designed especially for a customer:
•off-the-shelf database softwareinformal
very strange or unusual, often in an amusing way:
•an off-the-wall concept $ AmE
away from a place where horses race:
•Few states allow offtrack betting.[U]
a white colour that has some yellow or grey in it
- off-white adjective
•an off-white blouse[C usually singular]
1 a year when something is not as successful as usual
[+for]
•an off-year for car sales
2 AmE a year in which no national political elections happen $ literary
often
oft-repeated/quoted etc
•oft-repeated advice $
1 if something happens often, it happens regularly or many times; = frequently
•She often works at the weekend.
•If you wash your hair too often, it can get too dry.
• How often do you see your parents?
quite/very often
•I quite often go to Paris on business.
•Robin is a difficult child; you've said so yourself often enough (=a lot of times).
it is not often (that)
•It's not often that a government minister will admit to being wrong.
2 if something happens often, it happens in many situations or cases:
•It's often difficult to translate poetry.
very/quite often
•Very often children who behave badly at school have problems at home.
3 all too often also only too often used to say that something sad, disappointing, or annoying happens too much:
•All too often doctors are too busy to explain the treatment to their patients.
•This type of accident happens only too often.
4 every so often sometimes:
•An inspector comes round every so often to check the safety equipment.
5 as often as not also more often than not spoken usually:
•More often than not the train is late. $ AmE informal
often:
•Oftentimes I have to wait more than twenty minutes for a bus. $ [I,T]
to look at someone in a way that shows you think they are sexually attractive - used in order to show disapproval:
•I didn't like the way he was ogling me. $ [C]
outgoing message the message that you record on your telephone and that people will hear if they telephone you and you do not answer the call $ [C,U]
an examination in a particular subject which children take in schools in Scotland, usually at the age of 16; higher
O LEVEL $ [C]
1 a large imaginary person in children's stories who eats people
2 someone who seems cruel and frightening:
•Her father sounded like a real ogre. $
1 used when you want to get someone's attention or continue what you are saying:
•Oh, look, I think that's Harry over there.
•Milk, cereal, juice - oh, and put lettuce on the list too.
2 used when you are giving an answer to a question:
•'Have you met his wife?' ' Oh, yes, I know her quite well.'
•'I hope Jenny won't be angry.' ' Oh, no, don't worry about that.'
oh, okay/all right
•'Can you lend me ten pounds?' 'Oh, all right, but only until tomorrow.'
3 used to make a slight pause when you are speaking:
•I met your friend in town, oh, what's her name?
4 used to show that you are very happy, angry, disappointed etc about something:
•Oh, aren't those flowers gorgeous!
•Oh, how awful!
• Oh, no! I've left my keys in the car!
oh, good/great
•Oh, good, you're still here.
oh, God/oh, dear etc
•Oh, God, I forgot all about it!
• Oh, well, never mind.
5 used to show that you are surprised about something:
•'Frances has left her husband, you know.' 'Oh, has she?'
•Oh, I didn't know that. $ [C]
a unit for measuring electrical RESISTANCE $ old-fashioned
used to show that you are surprised or happy about something $ [C] BrE
the abbreviation of overhead projector BrE spoken
used to call someone or attract their attention in a way that is not very polite:
•Oi, you, come over here a minute! [C] BrE informal not polite
an offensive word for someone who you think is not intelligent or well educated, and who speaks or behaves in a rough way
- oikish adjective
1 FUEL [U] a smooth thick liquid that is used to make machines run easily or is burned to produce heat:
•Check the oil level in your car every week.
•The heating system runs on oil.
2 NATURAL SUBSTANCE UNDER THE GROUND [U] the thick, dark liquid from under the ground from which petrol is produced; crude
•a rise in the price of oil
oil industry/company/production etc
•the importance of protecting our oil supplies
•an oil refinery (=factory where oil is made purer)
3 LIQUID FROM PLANTS [C,U] a smooth, thick liquid made from plants or some animals, used especially in cooking or for making beauty products:
•cooking oil
olive/vegetable/sunflower etc oil
•coconut oil shampoo
•Fish oils are supposed to help relieve arthritis.
CASTOR OIL, COD-LIVER OIL, LINSEED OIL
4 PAINT oils [plural] paints that contain oil; = oil paints
in oils
•I usually paint in oils (=using oils).
burn the midnight oil at BURN^1 (20); pour oil on troubled waters at POUR (8)[T]
1 to put oil onto part of a machine or part of something that moves, to help it to move or work more smoothly:
•The bicycle chain needs oiling.
2 to put oil or cream onto your skin, for example to protect you from the sun:
•I asked Simon to oil my back for me.
3 oil the wheels BrE to help something to be done in business or politics successfully and easily
made with oil as the main substance:
•oil-based paints
oil-bearing rock contains oil [U] BrE
a metal container for oil with a long thin tube for pouring the oil out $ [U]
special cloth that has had oil put on it so that it has a smooth surface and water cannot go through it
covered with a layer of oil:
•Place the sausages on an oiled baking tray.
WELL-OILED [C]
an area of land or sea under which there is oil
an oil-fired heating system burns oil to produce heat
an oil-free liquid, skin treatment etc contains no oil:
•an oil-free sun lotion[C]
a lamp that works by burning oil plural oilmen [C]
someone who owns an oil company or works in the oil industry[C,U]
paint that contains oil
1 [C] a picture painted with oil paint
2 [U] the art of painting with oil paint
3 he's/she's no oil painting BrE used humorously to say that someone is not very attractive[C] AmE
a part of an engine that contains the supply of oil; = sump BrE[only before noun] BrE
an oil-rich country has plenty of natural oil under the ground from which it is able to make a lot of money:
•the oil-rich Gulf Statesalso oil platform [C]
a large structure on the land or in the sea, which has equipment for getting oil from under the ground [U]
RAPE^2 (3)
1 [U] special cloth that has had oil put on it so that it has a smooth surface and water cannot go through it
oilskin coat/jacket/trousers etc
2 oilskins [plural] a coat and trousers made of oilskin and worn together
3 [C] a coat made of oilskin[C]
a large area of oil floating on the surface of the sea or a river; = slick[C]
a large ship that carries oil[C]
a hole that is dug in the ground so that oil can be taken out
1 covered with oil:
•He wiped his hands on an oily rag.
2 similar to oil:
•an oily liquid
3 oily hair or skin contains more natural oil than is usual or desirable; = greasy
•a shampoo for oily hair
4 oily food contains a lot of oil or fat:
•oily fish
5 someone who is oily is very polite, in a way that other people think is unpleasant and not sincere
- oiliness noun [U]
used to represent the sound that a pig makes
- oink noun [C] [C,U]
a soft cream that you rub into your skin, especially as a medical treatment
fly in the ointment at FLY^3 (5) $ [C,U] AmE spoken
orange juiceokay $
1 used to show that you agree with something or give permission for someone to do something:
•'Can I take the car today?' 'Okay.'
•OK, if that's what you prefer.
2 used to ask someone if they agree with you or will give permission for you to do something:
•I'll see you at seven, OK?
3 used when you start talking about something new, or when you pause before continuing:
•OK, let's move on to the next point.
•Okay, any questions so far?
4 used to tell someone to stop arguing with you or criticizing you:
•OK, OK, so I made a mistake.
•Look, I'm doing my best, okay?okay spoken
1 [not before noun] if you are OK, you are not ill, injured, or unhappy; = all right
•Are you OK?
•Do you feel OK now?
•Mum's doing OK now.
2 [not before noun] something that is OK is acceptable and will not cause any problems; = all right
•Will half past eight be OK?
•Does my hair look OK?
that's/it's OK
•'Sorry I'm late.' 'That's OK.'
• Is it OK if I leave my bags here?
•Yeah, the TV 's working OK.
it is okay (for sb) to do sth
•It's okay for you to go home now.
it is okay with/by sb
•I'll pay you the rest tomorrow, if that's OK with you.
3 [not before noun] satisfactory but not extremely good:
•'How was the film?' 'It was okay, but not brilliant.'
•I think I did okay in the exam.
4 someone who is OK is nice, pleasant, etc:
•I've met Jim once, and he seems OK.
•He's an OK guy.okay past tense and past participle OK'd, present participle OK'ing, third person singular OK's or past tense and past participle okayed, present participle okaying, third person singular okays [T] informal
to say officially that you will agree to something or allow it to happen:
•The plans have been okayed, so let's get started as soon as possible.okay
give (sb) the OK/get the OK informal to give or get permission to do something:
•Did you get the OK from head office? $ plural okapi or okapis [C]
an African animal like a GIRAFFE, but with a shorter neckalso okey-dokey $
used to show that you agree with someone or give permission for someone to do something $ [U]
a green vegetable used in cooking, especially in Asia and the southern US $ comparative older, superlative oldest
1 NOT NEW something that is old has existed or been used for a long time; new
•a pair of old shoes
•Some of the houses around here are very old.
•one of our oldest traditions
•The car's getting old now, and things are starting to go wrong with it.
•That story's as old as the hills (=extremely old).
2 NOT YOUNG
a) someone who is old has lived for a very long time; young
•an old man
•a home for old people
get /grow old
•I can't run around like I used to - I must be getting old.
b) the old [plural] people who are old:
•the care of the old and sick
3 AGE used to talk about how long a person or thing has lived or existed
5/10/50 etc years old
•I can't believe you're nearly forty years old!
•a house that's 300 years old
• How old are you?
•Are you older than Sally?
•You're old enough to get your own breakfast now.
•I'm not coming skating. I'm too old for that now.
5-year-old/10-year-old etc sb/sth
•a six-week-old baby
•a five-hundred-year old sword
sb is old enough to know better (=used to say that you think someone should behave more sensibly)
sb is old enough to be his/her/your mother/father (=used to say that someone is too old to be having a sexual relationship with someone else)
4 THAT YOU USED TO HAVE [only before noun] your old house, job, girlfriend etc is one that you used to have; = former
•I met up with one of my old girlfriends at the weekend.
•My old car was always breaking down.
•That happened when we were still in the old house.
•My old boss was awful!
old flame (=someone with whom you used to have a romantic relationship)
5 FAMILIAR [only before noun] old things are things that are familiar to you because you have seen them or experienced them many times before:
•It's good to get back into the old routine.
•I enjoyed seeing all the old familiar faces.
•He comes out with the same old excuses every time!
it's the same old story at STORY (9)
6 VERY WELL KNOWN [only before noun] an old friend, enemy etc is someone you have known for a long time:
•Bob's an old friend of mine.
•an old colleague
•They're old rivals.
7 the old days times in the past
in the old days
•In the old days people used to fetch water from the pump.
8 the good old days/the bad old days an earlier time in your life, or in history, when things seemed better or worse than now:
•We like to chat about the good old days.
9 be/feel/look like your old self to feel or look better again after you have been ill or very unhappy:
•It's good to see you looking more like your old self again.
10 any old thing/place/time etc spoken used to say that it does not matter which thing, place etc you choose:
•Oh, just wear any old thing.
•Phone any old time - I'm always here.
11 any old how/way spoken in an untidy or careless way:
•The papers had been dumped on my desk any old how.
12 good/poor/silly old etc sb spoken used to talk about someone you like:
•Good old Keith!
•You poor old thing!
13 a good old sth also a right old sth BrE spoken used to talk about something you enjoy:
•We had a good old talk.
14 old devil/rascal etc spoken used to talk about someone you like and admire:
•You old devil! You were planning this all along!
15 old fool/bastard/bat etc spoken not polite used to talk very rudely about someone you do not like:
•the stupid old cow
16 the old guard a group of people within an organization or club who do not like changes or new ideas:
•He'll never manage to persuade the old guard.
17 be an old hand (at sth) to have a lot of experience of something:
•I'm an old hand at this game.
18 be old before your time to look or behave like someone much older than you, especially because of difficulties in your life
19 for old times' sake if you do something for old times' sake, you do it to remind yourself of a happy time in the past
20 the old country especially AmE the country that you were born in, but that you no longer live in, used especially to mean Europe
21 an old head on young shoulders BrE a young person who seems to think and behave like an older person
22 pay/settle an old score to punish someone for something wrong that they did to you in the past
23 of/from the old school old-fashioned and believing in old ideas and customs:
•a doctor of the old school
24 old wives' tale a belief based on old ideas that are now considered to be untrue
25 of old literary from a long time ago in the past:
•the knights of old
26 Old English/Old Icelandic etc an early form of English, Icelandic etc

WORD FOCUS: old
PEOPLE:
elderly a polite word used to describe someone who is old
middle-aged aged between about 50 and 60 years old
senior citizen /senior AmE /pensioner BrE /retiree AmE someone over 60 who has stopped working
senile old and mentally ill
ancient /geriatric /be getting on /be past it /be over the hill /be no spring chicken informal words and expressionsused to describe someone who is old, often used humorously
geriatric geriatric medicine, care, hospitals etc are for old people
THINGS/PLACES:
ancient ancient civilizations, cities, buildings, traditions etc existed many hundreds of years ago
prehistoric existing many thousands of years ago
antique antique furniture, jewellery etc is old and often valuable
[U]
the part of your life when you are old:
•You need to start putting money away for your old age.
in (sb's) old age
•My mother had a very lively mind, even in her old age.[C,U] BrE
money that is paid regularly by the state to old people who do not work any more; = social security AmE[C] BrE
OAP someone who does not work any more and who receives an old age pension
the Old Bill BrE informal the police[C]
1 BrE a man who used to be a student at a school:
•an old boys' reunion
2 the old-boy network the system by which men who went to the same school, belong to the same club etc use their influence to help each other
3 BrE spoken an old man:
•He's a nice old boy.
4 BrE old-fashioned used when speaking to a male friend:
•How are you, old boy?
OLD GIRL $
an old-fashioned spelling of 'old', used in the names of shops, products etc to make them seem traditional and attractive:
• ye olde tea shopalso the Old Economy [singular]
an economic system that is based on older types of industry such as steel, energy, and machinery:
•Is the Old Economy really dead?
- old economy adjective [only before noun]
•old economy practices $
in (the) olden days also in olden times a long time ago:
•People didn't travel so much in the olden days.[C]
a large dog with long thick grey and white hair[only before noun]
having existed, been in business etc for a long time:
•old-established merchant banks $ BrE informal
a place that is olde-worlde has been decorated so that it looks old-fashioned:
•an olde-worlde pub
1 not considered to be modern or fashionable any more:
•She wears really old-fashioned clothes!
•old-fashioned farming methods
•The idea seems rather old-fashioned now.
2 someone who is old-fashioned has ideas, attitudes etc that were more usual in the past than now:
•He's very old-fashioned when it comes to music. $ [C] informal
someone who is boring and has old-fashioned ideas about things, especially someone oldalso old folks especially AmE [plural] BrE
old people - an expression used when talking about old people in a kind way[C] informal
a place where old people live and are looked after when they are unable to look after themselves; = old people's home, nursing home[C] BrE
1 a woman who is a former student of a school:
•an old girls' reunion
2 spoken an old woman:
•She's a nice old girl!
OLD BOY[U] AmE informal
the flag of the US[only before noun]
old-growth forests/rainforest/timber etc forests etc that have been growing in a place for a long time, rather than ones planted more recently[not before noun]
if something is old hat, a lot of people have said or done the same thing before and it is therefore not new or interesting:
•Most of this is probably old hat to you, isn't it? $ [C] informal
someone or something that is old, especially an old film or song
GOLDEN OLDIE $
fairly old:
•an oldish woman
sb's old lady old-fashioned informal someone's wife, mother, or girlfriend:
•Where's your old lady?[C] BrE old-fashioned
someone who has been in prison many times[C] old-fashioned not polite
an offensive word for a woman who has never married and is not young any more; = spinster[C]
1 old-fashioned informal someone's husband, father, or boyfriend:
•I heard her old man beats her.
2 BrE old-fashioned used when speaking to a male friend:
•Could I have a word with you, old man?Old Master [C]
a famous painter, especially from the 15th to 18th century, or a painting by one of these painters:
•a priceless collection of old masters[U]
people who come from families that have had a lot of money for a long time, which gives them a high social position:
•He invited both the smart set and Perth's old money.BrE old-fashioned
the Devil[C] BrE
a place where old people live and are cared for when they are too old to live by themselves; = nursing home[C] old-fashioned
a SAILOR who has had a lot of experience of sailing[only before noun]
old-fashioned, or relating to ideas from the past:
•He was one of the last old-school comics.
the old school tie BrE the situation that exists when people who went to the same private school use their influence to help each other get work or other advantages:
•a system based on social class and the old school tie $ [C] informal
an old person[only before noun]
similar to the type of something that existed in the past:
•old-style communism
the Old Testament the first part of the Christian Bible containing ancient Hebrew writings about the time before the birth of Christ; New Testament[only before noun]
typical of what used to exist, be done etc in the past:
•old-time remedies[C]
1 someone who has been doing a job or living in a place for a long time and knows a lot about it
2 especially AmE an old man[C] BrE old-fashioned informal
1 sb's old woman someone's wife or mother
2 a man who pays too much attention to small, unimportant details
- old womanish adjective
the Old World the Eastern HEMISPHERE, especially Europe, Asia, and Africa; New World
•the civilizations of the Old World[only before noun]
an old-world place or quality is attractive because it is old or reminds you of the past:
•The town has retained much of its old-world charm. $ [only before noun] written
used to represent the way some people say 'old':
•my ole man $ technical
containing, producing, or like oil $ [C,U]
a green bush with white, pink, or purple flowers $ [C,U]
Ordinary level an examination in a range of subjects, done by students in schools in England and Wales, usually at the age of 15 or 16. In 1988, O levels were replaced by GCSEs; GCSE, A Level $ [only before noun] technical
connected with the sense of smell:
•the olfactory cells in the nose $ [C]
a member of a small group of people who run a country or organization
- oligarchic $ adjective $ plural oligarchies
1 [C usually singular] a small group of people who run a country or organization, or a country that is run by a small group of people
2 [U] when a country or organization is run by a small group of people:
•Eventually oligarchy took over from democracy. $ plural oligopolies [C] technical
the control of all or most of a business activity by very few companies, so that other organizations cannot easily compete with them $
1 [C] a small, bitter, egg-shaped black or green fruit, used as food and for making oil
2 [C] also olive tree a tree that produces olives, grown especially in Mediterranean countries:
•an olive grove
3 [U] also olive green a deep yellowish green colour
4 olive skin/complexion skin colour that is typical of people from countries such as Greece, Italy, or Turkey
5 extend/offer/hold out etc an olive branch (to sb) to do or say something in order to show that you want to end an argument with someone
- olive adjective
•an olive sweatshirt[C,U]
a pale yellow or green oil obtained from olives and used in cookingalso -logist $ [in nouns]
a person who studies or has knowledge of a particular kind of science:
•a biologistalso -logy $ [in nouns]
1 the study of something, especially something scientific:
•geology (=the study of rocks and the Earth)
•climatology (=the study of climate)
•Egyptology (=the study of ancient Egypt)
2 the things studied by a particular science:
•The geology (=structure of the rocks etc) of north Devon is particularly interesting.
- -ological $ suffix [in adjectives]
- -ologically $ suffix [in adverbs]
•geologically interesting [C] formal
a particular occasion of the modern Olympic Games:
•the 25th Olympiad [only before noun]
1 like a god, especially by being calm and not concerned about ordinary things:
•He viewed the world with Olympian detachment.
2 relating to the ancient Greek gods:
•Olympian mythology[C]
someone who is taking part in, or who has taken part in, the Olympic Games - used especially in news reports:
•the American Olympians [only before noun]
relating to the Olympic Games:
•an Olympic gold medalalso Olympics [plural]
the Olympic Games/the Olympics an international sports event held every four years in different countries:
•the 1976 Olympic Games $ [C]
Order of Merit a special HONOUR given to someone by the Queen of England $ plural ombudsmen [C]
someone who deals with complaints made by ordinary people against the government, banks, insurance companies etc $
the last letter of the Greek alphabetalso omelet AmE $ [C]
1 eggs mixed together and cooked in hot fat, sometimes with other foods added:
•a cheese omelette
2 you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs used to say that it is impossible to achieve anything important without causing a few problems $ [C]
a sign of what will happen in the future:
•The car won't start. Do you think it's an omen?
a good/bad/ill omen
•The mist seemed like a bad omen and Sara's heart sank a little.
[+of]
•He will regard your presence as an omen of good fortune.
[+for]
•It's a good omen for the future. $
making you feel that something bad is going to happen:
•'How long will she be ill?' he asked. There was an ominous silence.
•The car is making an ominous rattling sound.
- ominously adverb
•The sky looked ominously dark. $
1 [U] when you do not include or do not do something
[+of]
•The omission of her name was not a deliberate act.
[+from]
•his omission from the team
2 [C] something that has been omitted:
•Copies of the lists were posted so that omissions could be corrected.
serious/notable/major omission
•Your failing to note her mistakes is a serious omission.
a glaring omission (=one that is very bad and easily noticed) $ past tense and past participle omitted, present participle omitting [T]
1 to not include someone or something, either deliberately or because you forget to do it; = leave out
•Please don't omit any details, no matter how trivial they may seem.
omit sth from sth
•Lisa's name had been omitted from the list of honor students.
2 omit to do sth formal to not do something, either because you forgot or deliberately
omit to mention/say/tell etc
•Oliver omitted to mention that he was married. $ [in nouns and adjectives]
everything or everywhere; all
•an omnivore (=an animal that eats all kinds of food) $ [C]
1 BrE a radio or television programme consisting of several programmes that have previously been broadcast separately:
•the Saturday omnibus edition of 'Brookside'
2 a book containing several stories, especially by one writer, that have already been printed separately:
• Omnibus editions of novels tend to be too heavy to be read with comfort.
3 BrE old-fashioned a bus[only before noun]
AmE an omnibus law contains several different laws collected together:
•an omnibus civil rights bill $ formal
able to do everything; = all-powerful
- omnipotence noun [U] $ formal
present everywhere at all times
- omnipresence noun [U]
•the omnipresence of God $ formal
knowing everything:
•the book's omniscient narrator
- omniscience noun [U] $ [C]
an animal that eats both meat and plants; carnivore, herbivore $
1 an animal that is omnivorous eats both meat and plants; carnivorous, herbivorous
2 formal interested in everything, especially in all books:
•an omnivorous reader $
1 ON A SURFACE
a) touching a surface or being supported by a surface:
•Leave your things on the table over there.
•People were sunbathing on the grass.
•The little girl was sitting on her father's shoulders.
see box at AT
b) used to say that someone or something moves so that they are then touching or supported by a surface:
•snow falling on the mountainsides
•He threw himself on the bed.
2 SUPPORTING YOUR BODY used to say what part of someone's body is touching the ground or another surface and supporting their weight:
•She was on her feet in no time.
•He was on his hands and knees searching for something.
•Can you stand on your head?
3 PART HIT/TOUCHED used to say what part of someone or something is hit or touched:
•I wanted to punch him on the nose.
•Matt kissed her on the cheek.
4 WRITTEN/SHOWN used to say where something is written or shown:
•There's a diagram on page 25.
•He wrote his phone number on a piece of paper.
5 ATTACHED attached to or hanging from something:
•She hung her coat on a hook.
•Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times.
6 PLACE in a particular place:
•The town is right on the border.
•Is there a water supply on the island?
•He grew up on a ranch in California.
•a store on Fifth Avenue
7 POSITION in a particular position in relation to something else:
•You'll see the school on your left.
•They live on the opposite side of the town.
8 LOOKING/POINTING looking or pointing towards something or someone:
•His eyes were on the stranger standing in the doorway.
•She trained her binoculars on the house.
9 DAY/DATE during a particular day:
•They'll be here on Tuesday.
•I was born on July 1st.
•We'll see you on Christmas Eve.
10 AFFECTING/RELATING TO affecting or relating to someone or something:
•a tax on cigarettes
•his influence on young people
•There will be new restrictions on the sale of weapons.
•What effect will these changes have on the tourist industry?
11 ABOUT about a particular subject:
•Do you have any books on India?
•You can get information on local services by calling this number.
•an international conference on global warming
12 ORDERS/ADVICE as a result of someone's order, request, or advice:
•He was killed on the king's orders.
•I accepted the offer on the advice of my lawyer.
13 EAT/DRINK used to talk about what someone usually eats or drinks:
•They live mainly on beans, lentils and rice.
•Is your baby on solid food yet?
14 TRANSPORT
a) in or into a bus, train, plane etc; off
•Did you manage to sleep on the plane?
•Tommy should be on the six o'clock train.
•She got on the first bus that came along.
b) riding something:
•a statue of the king on horseback
•I'll probably come on my bike.
15 MONEY receiving money for a job or as a regular payment:
•He's on quite a good salary now.
•She must be on at least £50,000 a year.
•the difficulties faced by families on low incomes
16 FUEL using a particular type of FUEL or power:
•Most buses run on diesel.
•Does it work on mains electricity?
17 MEDICINE/DRUGS taking a particular drug or medicine regularly; off
•Are you still on antibiotics?
•The doctor put her on Prozac.
•A lot of these kids are on heroin by the age of twelve.
18 what's sb on? spoken used to say that someone is behaving in a very strange way, as if they are taking an illegal drug
19 USING EQUIPMENT using a machine or piece of equipment:
•He's been on the computer all afternoon.
•Is Rachel still on the phone?
20 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS playing a musical instrument:
•He played a short piece on the piano.
•The album features Rick Wakeman on keyboards.
21 RADIO/TELEVISION being broadcast by radio or television:
•What's on TV tonight?
•Did you hear that programme on the radio last night?
22 RECORDED used to say in what form information is stored or music, films etc are recorded:
•The movie is now available on video and DVD.
•I always keep a backup copy on disk.
23 ACTIVITY/JOURNEY taking part in an activity or travelling somewhere:
•She's on a course all this week.
•I met him on vacation in Canada.
•My girlfriend is often away on business trips.
24 INCLUDED included in a group or team of people or in a list:
•Are you still on the management committee?
•Mr Edwards is no longer on the staff here.
•Whose team are you on?
•There was no steak on the menu.
•What's the next item on the agenda?
25 WHEN STH HAPPENS formal as soon as someone has done something or as soon as something has happened:
•Couples are presented with a bottle of wine on their arrival at the hotel.
•All patients are examined on admission to the hospital.
on doing sth
•What was your reaction on seeing him?
26 COMPARED WITH STH compared with another person or thing:
•This essay is a definite improvement on your last one.
•Sales are 10% up on last year.
27 CARRYING STH informal if you have something on you, you have it in your pocket, your bag etc:
•I don't have any money on me.
28 PAY be on sb spoken used to say who is going to pay for something:
•The drinks are on me!
•Each table will get a bottle of champagne on the house (=paid for by the restaurant, hotel etc).
29 TELEPHONE NUMBER used to say what number you should use in order to telephone someone; = at AmE
•You can contact me on this number.
30 CAUSING SB PROBLEMS used when something bad happens to you, for example when something you are using suddenly stops working, or someone you have a relationship with suddenly leaves you:
•Suddenly the telephone went dead on me.
•Dorothy's first husband walked out on her.[not before noun]
1 CONTINUING used to say that someone continues to do something or something continues to happen, without stopping:
•We decided to play on even though it was snowing.
•He went on and on (=talked for a very long time) about his job all evening.
2 FURTHER if you move, walk etc on, you move forward or further towards something:
•If you walk on a little, you can see the coast.
•We drove on towards Manchester.
3 LATER later than or after a particular time:
•Now, forty years on, this is one of the most successful theatres in the country.
•From that moment on I never believed a word she said.
4 WEARING STH if you have something on, you are wearing it:
•All he had on was a pair of tattered shorts.
• Put your coat on. It's freezing outside.
5 ATTACHED used to say that something is attached to something else, especially when it is in the correct position; off
•Is the cover on properly?
•Remember to put the lid back on.
6 WRITTEN used to say that something is written somewhere:
•He was wearing a badge with his name on.
7 TRANSPORT in or into a bus, train etc; off
•The train stopped and two people got on.
8 LIGHT/MACHINE if a machine, light etc is on, it is operating; off
•Who left all the lights on?
•The TV's on, but nobody seems to be watching it.
•He sat down at the desk and switched on the computer.
9 BEING BROADCAST if a radio or television programme etc is on, it is being broadcast:
•What time is 'Star Trek' on?
10 EVENTS if an event is on, it has been arranged and is happening or will happen; off
•The transport union has confirmed that the strike is definitely on.
•I'd avoid the city centre - there's some kind of procession on.
•Is the party still on tonight or have they cancelled it?
11 PERFORMING/SPEAKING performing or speaking in public:
•You're on in two minutes.
12 WORKING if you are on at a particular time, you are doing your job at that time:
•I'm not on again until 2 o'clock tomorrow.
13 have sth on informal if you have something on, there is something that you must do:
•I haven't got anything on tomorrow, so I could see you then.
•We've got a lot on at the moment.
14 on and off also off and on for short periods but not regularly over a long period of time:
•He's been smoking for 10 years now, on and off.
15 be/go/keep on at sb informal to keep complaining to someone or asking someone to do something, especially when this annoys them:
•I've been on at him to fix that cupboard for weeks now.
•I wish you wouldn't go on at me the whole time!
16 be/go/keep on about sth BrE informal to keep talking about something, in a way that is boring or annoying:
•He's always going on about money.
•I don't know what you're on about!
17 be not on BrE spoken if something is not on, it is not acceptable or reasonable:
•I'm sorry, what you're suggesting is just not on!
18 be on for sth spoken to be ready or willing to do something that someone has suggested:
•Right, how many of you are on for a drink after work?
19 you're on spoken used tell someone that you accept a BET or an invitation to compete against them:
•'I bet you £20 he won't turn up.' 'You're on!'
ONTOBrE
or near/nearest offer used in advertisements to show that you are willing to sell something for slightly less money than you have said in the advertisement:
•Bicycle for sale: £60 o.n.o.[only before noun]
broadcast while actually happening; off-air
•an on-air interview[only before noun]
carried on a ship, plane, car etc:
•an on-board computer
1 on one occasion only:
•I've only met her once.
•Paul's been to Wexford once before.
(just) the once BrE spoken
•Mrs Peterson came in to see Ruth just the once.
2 once a week/once every three months etc one time every week etc, as a regular activity or event:
•Staff meetings take place once a week.
•They took separate holidays at least once every two years.
3 at some time in the past, but not now:
•Sonya and Ida had once been close friends.
•She and her husband had once owned a house like this.
once-great/proud etc
•It was sad to see the once-great man looking so frail.
•the once-mighty steel industry
4 in the past, at a time that is not stated:
•I once ran 21 miles.
•Marx once described religion as the 'opium of the people'.
5 at once
a) immediately or without delay:
•Now, go upstairs at once and clean your room!
•When I saw him I recognized him at once.
b) together, at the same time:
•I can't do two things at once!
•Don't all talk at once.
6 once more/once again
a) again, after happening several times before:
•I looked at myself in the mirror once more.
•Once again she's refusing to help.
b) used to say that a situation changes back to its previous state:
•The crowds had all gone home and the street was quiet once more.
c) formal used before you repeat something that you said before:
•Once again, it must be stressed that the pilot was not to blame.
7 all at once
a) if something happens all at once, it happens suddenly when you are not expecting it:
•All at once there was a loud banging on the door.
b) together, at the same time:
•A lot of practical details needed to be attended to all at once.
8 (every) once in a while sometimes, although not often:
•I do get a little anxious once in a while.
•I saw her in the shop every once in a while.
9 never once/not once used to emphasize that something has never happened:
•I never once saw him get angry or upset.
•Not once did they finish a job properly.
10 (just) for once used to say that something unusual happens, especially when you wish it would happen more often:
•Be honest for once.
•Just for once, let me make my own decision.
•For once Colin was speechless.
11 once and for all
a) if you deal with something once and for all, you deal with it completely and finally:
•Let's settle this matter once and for all.
b) BrE spoken used to emphasize your impatience when you ask or say something that you have asked or said many times before:
•Once and for all, will you switch off that television!
12 once or twice a few times:
•I wrote to him once or twice, but he didn't answer.
13 (just) this once spoken used to emphasize that this is the only time you are allowing something, asking for something etc, and it will not happen again:
•Go on, lend me the car, just this once.
•I'll make an exception this once.
14 once upon a time
a) spoken at a time in the past that you think was much better than now:
•Once upon a time you used to be able to leave your front door unlocked.
b) a long time ago - used at the beginning of children's stories
15 once in a blue moon informal very rarely:
•It only happens like this once in a blue moon.
16 do sth once too often to repeat a bad, stupid, or dangerous action with the result that you get punished or cause trouble for yourself:
•He tried that trick once too often and in the end they caught him.
17 once a ..., always a ... spoken used to say that people stay the same and cannot change the way they behave and think:
•Once a thief, always a thief.
18 once is/was enough spoken used to say that after you have done something one time you do not need or want to do it again
19 once bitten, twice shy used to say that people will not do something again if it has been a bad experience
from the time when something happens:
•Once I get him a job, he'll be fine.
•Once in bed, the children usually stay there.
give sth the/a once-over
a) to look at someone or something quickly to check what they are like
b) to clean or tidy something quickly $ [U]
the part of medical science that deals with CANCER and TUMOURs
- oncologist noun [C] $
oncoming car/traffic etc a car etc that is coming towards you:
•He crashed into an oncoming car.
1 the number 1:
•They had one daughter.
•one hundred and twenty-one pounds
•Come back at one (=one o'clock).
•Katie's almost one (=one year old).
2 one or two a small number of people or things; = a few
•There are one or two things to sort out before I leave.
[+of]
•One or two of us knew him quite well.
3 in ones and twos BrE alone or in pairs, rather than in large numbers or groups:
•Guests arrived in ones and twos.plural ones
1 used to mean someone or something of a type that has already been mentioned or is known about:
•'Have you got a camera?' 'No.' 'You should buy one' (=buy a camera).
•The train was crowded so we decided to catch a later one (=catch a later train).
the one(s) (that/who/which)
•The only jokes I tell are the ones that I hear from you.
this one/that one/these ones/those ones
•I like all the pictures except this one.
2 used to mean someone or something from a group that has been mentioned or is about to be mentioned:
•The children seemed upset. One was crying.
[+of]
•This is one of my favourite books.
3 used to talk about a particular person or thing in comparison with other similar people or things
[+of]
• One of the men sounded furious, the other frightened.
•She has two daughters. One is a primary school teacher, the other a musician.
4 the one(s) who/that the person or people who:
•I was the one who had been attacked, not Richard.
• The only ones who will benefit are the shareholders.
5 one by one used when one person or thing in a group does something, then the next, then the next, especially in a regular way:
•One by one each soldier approached the coffin and gave a final salute.
6 one after another/one after the other if events happen one after the other, they happen without much time between them:
•One after another, tropical storms battered the Pacific coastline.
7 (all) in one if someone or something is many different things all in one, they are all those things:
•It's a TV, radio and VCR all in one.
8 formal used to mean people in general, including yourself:
•One can never be too careful.
•Great pictures make one think.
!! This is a very formal use. People usually say or write you instead of 'one': You can never be too careful.
9 I, for one, ... used to emphasize that you believe something, will do something etc and hope others will do the same:
•I, for one, am proud of the team's effort.
10 ... for one used to give an example of someone or something:
•There were several other people absent that afternoon, weren't there? Mr Ashton for one.
11 be one up (on sb)/get one up on sb to have or get an advantage over someone
ONE-UPMANSHIP
12 put one over on sb informal to trick someone:
•No one's going to put one over on me!
13 be at one with sb/sth
a) to feel very calm or relaxed in the situation or environment you are in:
•She felt as she always did in these mountains: peaceful, without care, at one with nature.
b) formal to agree with someone about something:
•He was at one with Wheatley on the need to abandon free trade.
14 informal used in particular phrases to mean 'an alcoholic drink':
•How about a quick one at the pub?
have had one too many (=have drunk too much alcohol)
(have) one for the road (=have one last alcoholic drink before you leave a place)
15 the one about ... spoken a joke or humorous story:
• Have you heard the one about the chicken who tried to cross the road?
16 as one written if many people do something as one, they all do it at the same time:
•The whole team stood up as one.
17 a difficult/hard/good etc one a particular kind of problem, question, story etc:
•'What do you attribute your long life to?' 'Oh that's a difficult one'.
18 one and the same the same person or thing:
•Muhammad Ali and Cassius Clay are one and the same.
19 not/never be one to do sth informal to never do a particular thing, because it is not part of your character to do it:
•Tom is not one to show his emotions.
20 not/never be (a great) one for (doing) sth informal to not enjoy a particular activity, subject etc:
•I've never been a great one for watersports.
21 one of us spoken used to say that someone belongs to the same group as you, or has the same ideas, beliefs etc:
•You can talk in front of Terry - he's one of us.
22 one and all old-fashioned or formal everyone:
•Apologies to one and all.
23 got it in one! BrE spoken used to say that someone has correctly guessed or understood something immediately:
•'You're not painting the house again are you?' 'Got it in one!'
24 little/young ones spoken used by some people to mean 'children', especially young children:
•She's got four little ones.
25 you are/he is a one BrE old-fashioned used to say that someone's behaviour is amusing, strange or surprising:
•You are a one!
ONE-TO-ONE
1 used to emphasize a particular person or thing:
•One person I find very difficult is Bob.
•If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people who bite their nails.
2 one day/morning/year etc
a) on a particular day, morning etc in the past:
•One morning I was sitting at my desk when a policeman knocked at my door.
b) used to talk about a day, morning etc in the future which is not yet exactly known or decided:
•We should go out for a drink one evening.
•One day she hopes to move to the South Coast.
3 used to talk about a particular person or thing in comparison with other similar people or things:
•Why does my card work in one cash machine and not in another?
4 It's one thing to ... it's (quite) another to used to say that the second thing mentioned is very different from the first, and is often much more difficult to do:
•It's one thing to say we have a goal; it's another to actually act on it.
5 for one thing used to introduce a reason for what you have just said:
•He couldn't bring himself to say what he thought. For one thing, she seldom stopped to listen. For another, he doubted that he could make himself clear.
6 be one crazy woman/be one interesting job etc spoken especially AmE to be a very crazy woman, be a very interesting job etc:
•You're one lucky guy.
7 formal used before the name of someone you do not know or have not heard of before; = a certain
•He was accused of stealing a horse from one Peter Wright.[only before noun]
1 only:
•Her one concern was to get to the door without being seen.
•Claire is the one person I can trust.
2 one and only
a) used to emphasize that someone is very famous:
• the one and only Frank Sinatra
b) used to emphasize that something is the only one of its kind:
•I even tried my one and only French joke on them.[C usually plural] AmE
a piece of paper money worth one dollar:
•I don't have any ones.
each other:
•Liz and I have known one another for years.
•They often stay at one another's houses.[C]
a machine with a long handle, into which you put money in order to try to win more money; = slot machine; = fruit machine BrE
simple and not considering or showing all the parts of something - used to show disapproval:
•the novel's one-dimensional characters
1 one-horse town informal a small and boring town
2 one-horse race a race, competition etc which a particular person or thing looks likely to win easily[C]
a very short joke or humorous remark[only before noun]
performed, operated, controlled etc by one person:
•He does a one-man show in Las Vegas.
•a one-man business[C]
1 informal an organization or activity in which one person does everything:
•The company is really a one-man band.
2 a street musician who plays several instruments at the same time [U]
a peaceful feeling of being part of a whole
[+with]
•a sense of oneness with nature[C]
1 informal
a) an occasion when two people have sex, but do not meet each other again:
•I'm not into one-night stands.
b) a person that you have sex with once and do not see again
2 a performance of music or a play that is given only once in a particular place[only before noun] BrE
happening or done only once, not as part of a regular series; = one-shot AmE
•It's yours for a one-off payment of only £200.[C] BrE
1 something that is done or made only once:
•The deal was a one-off.
2 informal someone who is completely different from anyone else
between only two people:
•Virtually all instruction is in small groups or one-on-one.
- one-on-one adverb
•Often, the employer just called in the drivers and bargained with them directly, one-on-one.[C]
a family in which there is only one parent who lives with the children; = single parent family[only before noun]
consisting of only one piece, not separate parts:
•a one-piece bathing suit $ formal
work or a responsibility that is onerous is difficult and worrying or makes you tired:
•an onerous task formal
the REFLEXIVE form of ONE^3 (2):
•It is only through study that one really begins to know oneself.[only before noun] AmE
happening or done only once; = one-off BrE
•This is a one-shot deal. If it doesn't work, it's over.
1 considering or showing only one side of a question, subject etc in a way that is unfair; biased, balanced
•The newspapers give a very one-sided account of the war.
2 an activity or competition that is one-sided is one in which one person or side is much stronger or does much more than the other:
•a very boring, one-sided game
•The conversation was very one-sided.
- one-sidedly adverb
- one-sidedness noun [U][only before noun]
1 a one-size-fits-all attitude, method, plan etc is designed to please everyone or be suitable for every situation, often with the result that it is not successful:
•a one-size-fits-all public education program
2 one-size-fits-all clothes are designed so that people of any size can wear them[only before noun]
a one-star hotel, restaurant etc has been judged to be not of a very high standard
one-stop shop/store etc a shop where you can buy many different things[only before noun]
former:
•Neil McMurtry, a one-time bus driver, is the lead singer.
1 between only two people:
•tuition on a one-to-one basis
2 matching each other exactly:
•a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds
- one-to-one adverb
•I need to discuss it with him one-to-one.
have a one-track mind to be continuously thinking about one particular thing, especially sex[C]
a movement in which a BOXER hits his opponent with one hand and then quickly with the other:
•Ali gives his opponent the old one-two, and it's all over. [U]
attempts to make yourself seem better than other people, no matter what they do[usually before noun]
1 a one-way street is one in which vehicles are only allowed to travel in one direction:
•the town's one-way system
2 especially AmE a one-way ticket is for travelling from one place to another but not back again; round-trip ; = single BrE
3 a one-way process, relationship etc is one in which only one person makes any effort or provides anything[C]
a mirror which can be used as a window by people secretly watching from the other side of it[only before noun]
performed, operated, controlled etc by only one woman:
•a one-woman show $
continuing, or continuing to develop:
•their ongoing search for a new director
•ongoing negotiations
•The discussions are still ongoing.
go on at GO^1 [C,U]
a round white vegetable with a brown, red, or white skin and many layers. Onions have a strong taste and smell:
•Chop the onions finely.
•red onions
•home-made onion soup [U] AmE
very thin light paper, used in the past especially for writing letters $
1 connected to other computers through the Internet, or available through the Internet; offline
•All the city's schools will be online by the end of the year.
2 directly connected to or controlled by a computer; off-line
•an online printer
- online adverb
•The reports are not available online yet.[C]
a type of website in which you can sell things to the person who offers you the highest pricealso Internet banking [U]
a service provided by banks so that people can find out information about their bank account, pay bills etc using the Internet $ [C]
someone who watches something happening without being involved in it:
•A crowd of onlookers had gathered at the scene of the accident.
look on at LOOK^1 $
1 not more than a particular number, age etc:
•Naomi was only 17 when she got married.
•There are only a few cars on the island.
•It's only eight o'clock.
2 used to say that something or someone is not very important, serious etc:
•It was only a joke.
•It's an interesting job, but it's only temporary.
•They're only small cuts, nothing life-threatening.
3 nothing or no one except a particular person or thing:
•Only the president can authorize a nuclear attack.
•We use only the best ingredients.
women/men/residents etc only
•The car park is for staff only.
4 used to say that something happens or is possible in one particular situation or place and no others, or for one particular reason:
•I'll tell you, but only if you don't tell anyone else.
•I ate the food, but only because I was starving.
•The transfer takes place only when the data is complete.
5 no earlier than a particular time
only yesterday/last week/recently
•'When did you e-mail her?' 'Only yesterday.'
only then did/would/could etc sb do sth (=at that moment and not before)
•Only then did she tell him about the attack.
6 only just BrE
a) a very short time ago ago:
•She's only just got up.
b) almost not; = barely
•I only just finished my essay in time.
7 can only hope/wait etc used to say that it is not possible to do more than hope etc:
•We can only hope it won't rain on the day.
8 I can only think/suppose/assume (that) spoken used when you are giving a reason for something, to say that you do not know something for certain but think that this is the only possible reason:
•I can only assume that it was a mistake.
9 I only wish/hope spoken used to express a strong wish or hope:
•'What's happening?' 'I only wish I knew.'
10 if only spoken used to express a strong wish:
•If only he'd call!
11 you'll only spoken used to tell someone that what they want to do will have a bad effect:
•Don't interfere - you'll only make things worse.
12 you only have to read/look at/listen to etc sth spoken used to say that it is easy to know that something is true because you can see or hear things that prove it:
•You only have to look at the statistics to see that things are getting worse.
13 only to used to say that someone did something, with a disappointing or surprising result:
•I arrived only to find that the others had already left.
14 only too very:
•Prices have risen sharply, as we know only too well.
•Mark was only too happy to agree with her.
not only ... but (also) at NOT (4); only have eyes for sb at EYE^1 (32); for sb's eyes only at EYE^1 (25)[only before noun]
1 used to say that there is one person, thing, or group in a particular situation and no others:
•I was the only woman there.
•He is our only child.
•I was the only one who disagreed.
•Cutting costs is the only solution.
•She's the only person for this job.
2 the only thing/problem is ... spoken used when you are going to mention a problem or disadvantage:
•I could take you. The only thing is Dan might need the car.
3 an only child a child who has no brothers or sisters
the one and only at ONE^4 (2); (only) time will tell at TIME^1 (36)spoken
used like 'but' to give the reason why something is not possible:
•I'd offer to help, only I'm really busy just now.[not before noun]
a politician who is on-message says things that are in agreement with the ideas of his or her political party, especially when it appears that he or she is not thinking enough about these ideas; off-message [only before noun]
1 happening sometimes and not at other times:
•an on-off relationship
•She had an on-off obsession with Mikey.
2 an on-off switch is the thing you press to make a piece of electrical equipment start and stop working $ [U] technical
the use of words that sound like the thing that they are describing, for example 'hiss' or 'boom'
- onomatopoeic adjective[C] AmE
a road for driving onto a FREEWAY; = slip road BrE $ [singular]
a strong fast movement forward, or the sudden development of something
[+of]
•the first onrush of the epidemic
- onrushing adjective
•the onrushing tideonscreen
appearing on a computer screen, or on a television or cinema screen:
•An on-screen tutorial is included in the price of the software.
•onscreen violence $
the onset of sth the beginning of something, especially something bad:
•the onset of winter $ [only before noun]
1 on the land, not in the sea; offshore, inshore
•onshore oil production
2 onshore winds are moving from the sea towards the land; offshore $
in a position where you are allowed to play the ball in sports such as football; offside [only before noun]
at the place or on the area of land that you are talking about; off-site
•on-site car parking
•Accommodation is provided on-site. $ [C]
1 a large violent attack by an army
[+on/against]
•In December they launched a full-scale onslaught on the capital.
2 strong criticism of someone
[+on/against]
•his public onslaught on the Conservatives
under the onslaught of sth
•He praised his wife for her dignity under the onslaught of the tabloid press.
3 the onslaught of sth the effect of something that is unpleasant and could cause damage:
•plants that will survive the onslaught of winter $
on the stage in a theatre; offstage
•Even today I get nervous before I go onstage.on-stream
come/be on stream if something new comes on stream, it starts to be used or done:
•Costs should fall as new technology comes on-stream.[only before noun]
while working, or at work; in-service, in-house
•on-the-job training[only before noun]
done immediately while you are at a particular place:
•Doctors can often give on-the-spot treatment.
on the spot at SPOT^1 (5)also on to before vowels $
1 used to say that someone or something moves to a position on a surface, area, or object:
•She watched him walk onto the platform.
•Don't jump onto (=into) the bus while it's moving.
•Pour the syrup on to the egg mixture.
•The car rolled over onto its side.
down/out/up etc onto sth
•Let's get back onto the highway.
2 used to say that a room, door, or window faces towards something or allows movement into another place:
•The dining room looks out onto a pretty garden.
•a gate leading on to a broad track
3 be onto sb informal
a) also get onto sb especially BrE to speak to someone in order to tell them or ask them something:
•A number of people have been onto me complaining about the noise.
•Get onto the Press Office and find out what's happening.
b) to know that a particular person did something wrong or committed a crime:
•The police are onto him.
4 be onto sth informal
a) to have discovered or produced something new and interesting:
•With the new show, we were onto something big.
be onto a good thing/a winner
•I think she's onto a real winner with this song.
b) also get onto sth to be dealing with something or start dealing with something:
•I'll get onto it right away. $ [U]
a subject of study in PHILOSOPHY that is concerned with the nature of existence
- ontological $ adjective $ [singular] formal
the responsibility for something
the onus is on sb to do sth
•The onus is on the prosecution to provide proof of guilt. $ [only before noun]
moving forward or continuing:
•The company offers flights to Amsterdam with onward travel to The Hague.
•the onward march of scienceusually onward AmE $
1 from ... onwards beginning at a particular time or age and continuing after that:
•from the 1980s onwards
2 literary forwards:
•He walked onwards to the head of the lake.
3 onwards and upwards used to say that the development, increase, or progress of something continues:
•With exports strong, the business is moving onwards and upwards. $ [U]
a stone with lines of different colours in it, often used in jewellery
oodles of sth informal a large amount of something:
•They've got oodles of money.
a sound that you make when you have been hit, especially in the stomach
said when you think something is very beautiful, unpleasant, surprising etc:
•Ooh, that's nice!
said when you think that something or someone is surprising, unusual, or sexually attractive - used humorously [U] informal
a quality that makes something attractive and exciting and that shows energy:
•It's not a bad song, but it needs more oomph.
said when someone falls or makes a small mistake:
•Oops, I've spelt that wrong.
said when a child falls [I always + adv/prep, T]
1 if a thick liquid oozes from something or if something oozes a thick liquid, that liquid flows from it very slowly
[+from/out of/through]
•The ice cream was melting and oozing out of its wrapper.
•A cut on his cheek was still oozing blood.
2 to show a lot of a particular quality or feeling:
•Andrew laughed gently, oozing charm.
1 [U] very soft mud, especially at the bottom of a lake or sea
2 [singular] a very slow flow of liquid informal
soft and wet like mud:
•a black, oozy mess $ [C] BrE informal
a medical operation; = operation
•He's had a minor heart op. $ [U]
1 the quality that something has when it is difficult to see through; opaque
2 the quality that something has when it is difficult to understand $ [C,U]
a type of white stone with changing colours in it, often used in jewellery $
literary having colours that shine and seem to change:
•an opalescent sky $ [usually before noun]
1 opaque glass or liquid is difficult to see through and often thick; transparent
•a shower with an opaque glass door
2 formal difficult to understand:
•an opaque style of writing
- opaqueness noun [U][U]
art that uses patterns which seem to move or to produce other shapes as you look at them $
an abbreviation used in formal writing to refer to a book that has been mentioned before $
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries an organization of countries that produce and sell oilAmE
op-ed page/article a page in a newspaper that has articles containing opinions on various subjects, or one of these articles $
1 DOOR/CONTAINER ETC not closed, so that things, people, air etc can go in and out or be put in and out; closed, shut
•He threw the door open and ran down the stairs.
•an open window
•The gates swung silently open.
•The bar door flew open and a noisy group burst in.
•All the windows were wide open (=completely open).
•She looked at the open suitcase with surprise.
•There was an open bottle of wine on the table.
2 EYES/MOUTH not closed, so that your EYELIDs or your lips are apart:
•I was so sleepy, I couldn't keep my eyes open.
•He was fast asleep with his mouth wide open.
3 NOT ENCLOSED [only before noun] not enclosed, or with no buildings, walls, trees etc:
•There was open ground at the end of the lane.
• open spaces such as parks and gardens
open countryside/country
•At weekends people want to leave the town for open countryside.
•A shoal of fish swam past heading for the open sea (=part of the sea away from land).
•The car's performance is good, especially going fast on the open road (=a road without traffic where you can drive fast).
4 NOT COVERED without a roof or cover:
•The president was riding with his wife in an open car.
•Martin was struggling with the sails on the open deck.
•an open drain
open to the sky/air/elements
•Many of the tombs had been robbed and left open to the sky.
5 the open air outdoors
in the open air
•The dancing was outside, in the open air.
•Jane wanted to rush to the door and get out into the open air.
OPEN-AIR
6 BUSINESS/BUILDING ETC [not before noun] ready for business and allowing customers, visitors etc to enter; closed, shut
•The museum is open daily in the summer months.
•The offices are also open at weekends.
•After the security alert, most of the firms affected were open for business on Monday morning.
•The villagers are anxious that their local school is kept open.
•I declare this exhibition open (=officially say that it is now open).
7 NOT RESTRICTED allowing everyone, or everyone in a group, to take part in something, know about something, or have a chance to win something
[+to]
•The competition is open to all readers in the UK.
•In many schools, governors' meetings are not open to the public.
•The discussion was then thrown open for the audience's questions.
•an open meeting
•The men's race appears wide open (=anyone could win it).
•The painting would fetch several hundred dollars on the open market (=a market in which anyone can buy or sell).
8 OPPORTUNITY [not before noun] if an opportunity, possible action, job etc is open to you, you have the chance to do it:
•The job is being kept open for her.
[+to]
•The 1960s was a period when greater opportunities were open to women.
•So what other options are open to us?
•There is only one course of action open to the local authority.
9 NOT SECRET [only before noun] actions, feelings, intentions etc that are open are not hidden or secret:
•Her father watched her with open admiration.
•open hostility between the two nations
•The party was calling for more open government (=when the government makes information freely available).
•The case will be tried in open court (=in a court where everything is public).
•It is an open secret (=it is supposed to be secret, but most people know about it) that she is having an affair with another man.
10 HONEST honest and not wanting to hide any facts from other people
[+with]
•The couple are quite open with each other about their feelings.
[+about]
•She was quite open about her ambitions.
•his friendly, open manner
11 CLOTHES not fastened:
•the open neck of his shirt
•She was wearing an open jacket.
12 NOT YET DECIDED needing more discussion or thought before a decision can be made:
•The matter remains an open question.
[+to]
•The new rates of pay are open to negotiation.
•The test results are open to interpretation.
keep/leave your options open
•Officers investigating her death are keeping their options open.
13 open to sth
a) likely to suffer from something or be affected by something:
•The magazine's editor is open to criticism in allowing the article to be printed.
•The regulations are open to abuse by companies.
•He has left himself open to accusations of dishonesty.
b) willing to consider something new or to accept something new:
•Teachers need to be open to children's ideas.
•The committee is open to suggestions.
•The owners of the building want to sell and are open to offers.
14 NOT BLOCKED if a road or line of communication is open, it is not blocked and can be used:
•We try to keep the mountain roads open all through the winter.
15 SPREAD APART spread apart instead of closed, curled over, etc:
•At night the flowers were open.
•Johnson raised an open hand.
•He was sitting in bed with a book lying open (=with its pages apart so it can be read) on his knees.
16 an open mind if you have an open mind, you deliberately do not make a decision or form a definite opinion about something:
•It's important to keep an open mind as you study the topic.
17 be open to question/doubt if something is open to question, there are doubts about it:
•Whether the new situation is an improvement is open to question.
18 welcome/greet sb/sth with open arms to be very pleased to see someone or something:
•Mike will be welcomed back into the team with open arms.
19 an open invitation
a) an invitation to visit someone whenever you like
b) something that makes it easier for criminals to steal, cheat etc
[+to]
•The lack of security measures provides an open invitation to crime.
20 be an open book to be something that you know and understand very well:
•The natural world was an open book to him.
21 the door is open there is an opportunity for someone to do something
[+to]
•Schoolgirls are being told that the door is open to them to pursue careers in science.
22 keep your eyes/ears open to keep looking or listening so that you will notice anything that is important, dangerous etc
23 open weave/texture cloth with an open weave or texture has wide spaces between the threads
keep an eye open (for sth) at EYE^1 (14); with your eyes open at EYE^1 (19); OPEN-EYED
1 DOOR/WINDOW ETC [I,T] to move a door, window etc so that people, things, air etc can pass through, or to be moved in this way:
•Jack opened the window.
•He opened the drawer of the desk.
•She heard a door open and then close.
2 CONTAINER/PACKAGE [T] to unfasten or remove the lid, top, or cover of a container, package etc:
•Louise opened a bottle of wine.
•He opened the letter and began to read it.
•The children were opening their presents.
•Mark was about to open a beer when the doorbell rang.
3 EYES [I,T] to raise your EYELIDs so that you can see, or to be raised in this way:
•Barry was awake long before he opened his eyes.
•Carrie smelled coffee and her eyes opened reluctantly.
4 MOUTH [I,T] to move your lips apart, or to be moved in this way:
•He opened his mouth but couldn't think what to say.
5 START OPERATING [I,T] also open up if a place such as an office, shop, restaurant etc opens or is opened, it starts operating or providing a service:
•Sarah had recently opened an office in Genoa.
•French and Scandinavian offices are due to open in the autumn.
•The Forestry Commission has opened a plant centre selling rare plants.
•The centre has been a great success since it opened its doors a year ago.
6 SHOP/RESTAURANT ETC [I] also open up to start business, letting in customers or visitors, at a particular time:
•What time do the banks open?
•The bakery opens early.
7 START AN ACTIVITY [T] to start an activity, event, or set of actions:
•The US attorney's office has opened an investigation into the matter.
•An inquest into the deaths will be opened next week.
8 COMPUTER [T] to make a document or computer program ready to use:
•Click on this icon to open the File Manager.
9 MEETING/EVENT [I,T] if a meeting etc opens or is opened in a particular way, it starts in that way:
•Hughes, opening the Conference, made a dramatic plea for peace.
[+with]
•The concert opens with Beethoven's Egmont Overture.
10 OFFICIAL CEREMONY [T] to perform a ceremony in which you officially state that a building is ready to be used:
•The new County Hall building was officially opened by the King.
11 SPREAD/UNFOLD [I,T] to spread something out or unfold something, or to become spread out or unfolded:
•She opened her umbrella.
•John opened his hand to show her he wasn't holding anything.
•The flowers only open during bright weather.
•I sat down and opened my book.
•She opened the curtains (=pulled the two curtains apart).
•Dave opened his arms (=stretched his arms wide apart) to give her a hug.
12 MAKE A WAY THROUGH [T] to make it possible for cars, goods etc to pass through a place:
•They were clearing away snow to open the tunnel.
•The peace treaty promises an end to war and opens the borders between the two countries.
13 FILM/PLAY ETC [I] to start being shown to the public:
•Paula and Rachael star as mother and daughter in the play, which opens tonight.
•The film opened yesterday to excellent reviews.
14 open an account to start an account at a bank or other financial organization by putting money into it:
•Mary was in the bank to ask about opening a current account.
15 open fire (on sth) to start shooting at someone or something:
•Troops opened fire on the rioters.
16 open the door/way to sth also open doors to make an opportunity for something to happen:
•Research on genes should open the door to exciting new medical treatments.
•If the record is successful, it could open doors for my career.
17 open sb's eyes (to sth) to make someone realize something that they had not realized before:
•The purpose of the training is to open managers' eyes to the consequences of their own behaviour.
18 open your mind (to sth) to be ready to consider or accept new ideas
19 open your heart (to sb) to tell someone your real thoughts and feelings because you trust them
20 the heavens opened literary it started to rain heavily

PHRASAL VERBS
open onto/into sth phr v
if a room, door etc opens onto or into another place, you can enter that other place directly through it:
•The door opens onto a long balcony.

open out phr v
1 if a road, path, or passage opens out, it becomes wider
[+into]
•Beyond the forest the path opened out into a track.
2 BrE if someone opens out, they become less shy

open up phr v
1 OPPORTUNITY if opportunities open up, or a new situation opens them up, they become available or possible:
•With a microscope, a whole new world of investigation opens up.
open sth <=> up
•The new international agreement opens up the possibility of much greater co-operation against terrorism.
2 LAND open sth <=> up if someone opens up an area of land, they make it easier to reach and ready for development:
•The new road will open up 300 acres of prime development land.
3 DOOR/CONTAINER ETC to open something that is closed, locked, or covered:
•Open up, this is the police!
open sth <=> up
•He opened up his case and took out a clean sweater.
4 SHOP/OFFICE ETC
a) if a shop, office etc opens up or is opened up, someone starts it
b) if a shop, office etc opens up at a particular time, it starts business at that time
5 DISAGREEMENT/DISCUSSION open sth <=> up to start a discussion or argument:
•The article was written with the intention of opening up a public debate.
6 COMPETITION/RACE if someone opens up a lead in a competition or race, they increase the distance or number of points by which they are winning
7 TALK to stop being shy and say what you really think:
•Last night was the first time that Ken had opened up about his feelings.
8 WITH A GUN to start shooting
9 HOLE/CRACK ETC if a hole, crack etc opens up or is opened up, it appears and becomes wider
open the floodgates at FLOODGATE
1 in the open outdoors:
•In the summer, we camped in the open.
2 (out) in the open information that is out in the open is not hidden or secret:
•By now the whole affair was in the open.
•She never let her dislike for him come out into the open.
•All these concerns need to be brought out into the open.[usually before noun]
happening or existing outdoors; = outdoor
•open-air concerts
•an open-air swimming pool[C usually singular]
a legal case or other matter that is easy to prove or decide because the facts are very clear[C] AmE
a bar at an occasion such as a wedding, where drinks are served free $ [usually before noun] BrE
an opencast mine is one where coal is taken out of holes in the ground near the surface, not from deep under the ground:
•opencast mining[C] BrE
a day when a school or an organization invites the public to come in and see the work that is done there[C]
1 the principle of allowing people and goods to move into a country freely:
•They're pushing forward economic reform and an open-door policy.
2 the principle of allowing anyone to come to a place at any time, for example in order to discuss something
1 something that is open-ended does not have a definite answer or definite rules about how it must be done:
•an open-ended question
•These interviews are fairly open-ended.
2 without a particular ending time:
•an open-ended agreement $ [C]
1 a tool that is used to open cans, bottles etc:
•a can opener
•a bottle opener
2 the first of a series of games in a sports competition:
•They are hoping to win tomorrow's opener against New Zealand.
3 for openers
a) BrE as a beginning or first stage:
•For openers, the band played a couple of old Beatles songs.
b) AmE used to give one reason, explanation etc for something, although there are others you might mention later too:
•It's tough being a reporter. For openers, there are the long hours.
awake, or with your eyes open:
•She lay there open-eyed.also open-face sandwich [C] AmE
a single piece of bread with meat, cheese etc on top; = open sandwich BrE
1 generous and friendly:
•an open-handed offer of help
2 done with your hand open:
•an open-handed slap $
kind, sympathetic, and friendly:
•They gave us an open-hearted welcome.[U]
a medical operation in which doctors operate on someone's heart, while a machine keeps the PATIENT's blood flowing
1 [C] AmE a day when a school or organization invites the public to come in and see the work that is done there:
•Parents are invited to attend the open house next Thursday.
2 [U] BrE if it is open house at someone's home, people are always welcome to visit at any time:
•He kept open house for a wide range of artists and writers.
3 [C] a party at someone's house that you can come to at any time during a particular period:
•We're having an open house Sunday, noon to 5pm.
4 [C] AmE an occasion when someone who is selling their house lets everyone who is interested in buying it come to see it $
1 [C] the time when a new building, road etc is used for the first time, or when a public event begins, especially when it involves a special ceremony
[+of]
•the official opening of the new theatre
•the opening of the Cannes film festival
2 [C] a hole or space in something
[+in]
•a narrow opening in the fence
3 [C usually singular] the beginning or first part of something
[+of]
•at the opening of the trial
4 [C] a job that is available:
•There are very few openings in scientific research.
5 [C] a chance for someone to do or say something
[+for]
•His question left an opening for me to say exactly what I thought.
6 [U] when something opens, or is opened
[+of]
•I was startled by the sudden opening of the door.[only before noun]
first or beginning:
•the opening match of the season
•the opening chapter of the book
•the chairman's opening remarks[plural] BrE
the hours when a shop, bank, bar etc is open to the public[C,U]
the first night that a new play, film etc is shown to the public; = first night[C,U]
the time that a business opens to the public; closing time
•We arrived at the pub just before opening time.
the opening up of sth when something is made less restricted and more available to people:
•the opening up of opportunities for women
•the opening up of new areas to cultivation[C]
the price you pay to travel on a plane, train etc when this includes travel to a place and travel back from a different place[C]
a letter to an important person, which is printed in a newspaper or magazine, usually in order to protest about something $
in a way that does not hide your feelings, opinions, or the facts:
•Sarah talked openly about her problems.
•He was openly critical of his colleagues.
1 on the open market goods that are bought and sold on the open market are sold publicly rather than privately:
•The painting would fetch millions of dollars if it was sold on the open market.
2 [C usually singular] a system which makes it easy to buy and sell goods with other countries, because there are few restrictions:
•There is now an open market within the European Community.[C]
a marriage in which both partners accept that they will have sex with other people[U] AmE
a time when anyone is allowed to tell jokes, sing etc in a bar or club
willing to consider and accept other people's ideas and opinions; narrow-minded
[+about/towards]
•She's quite open-minded about sex.
- openmindedness noun [U]
with your mouth wide open, because you are very surprised or shocked:
•We stared open-mouthed as the plane came down.
an open-necked shirt is worn with the top button undone $ [U]
1 the quality of being honest and willing to talk about things
[+of]
•the openness of American society
[+about]
•her openness about her problems
2 the quality of being willing to accept new ideas or people
[+to/towards]
•the importance of openness to change
3 the quality of not being enclosed
[+of]
•the vast openness of the African plainsBrE
an open-plan office, school etc does not have walls dividing it into separate rooms[C]
a PRIMARY ELECTION in the US in which any voter may vote for someone from any party[C] BrE
a prison that does not restrict the freedom of prisoners as much as ordinary prisons[C] BrE
a single piece of bread with meat, cheese etc on top; = open-faced sandwich AmE[singular,U]
1 BrE the time each year when it is legal to kill particular animals, birds, or fish as a sport; close season
[+for]
•the open season for deer
2 open season (on sb) a time when a lot of people criticize someone, or a group of people:
•It seems to be open season on politicians just now.[singular] BrE
an easy way to achieve something that is usually very difficult
[+to]
•A university degree isn't always an open sesame to a good job.[C] technical
a computer system that can be connected with similar computer systems made by other companies
open-toed sandals/shoes shoes that do not cover the end of your toes[C]
an official decision in a British court saying that the exact cause of someone's death is not known:
•The jury returned an open verdict.
•He said there was some doubt over the way Grant had died, and recorded an open verdict.[C] technical
a vowel such as /a/ that is pronounced with your tongue flat on the bottom of your mouth $ [only before noun]
an openwork object has a pattern of open spaces between the material that it is made from:
•an openwork stone screen $
1 [C] a musical play in which all of the words are sung; operetta
•We go to the opera (=go to a performance of opera) regularly.
•an opera singer
2 [U] these plays considered as a form of art
- operatic $ adjective
•operatic performances
- operatically adverb
GRAND OPERA, SOAP OPERA $
1 a system which is operable is working; inoperable
•Less than half the rail network was operable.
2 a medical condition that is operable can be treated by an operation; inoperable [C]
a theatre where operas are performed:
•the Sydney Opera House $
1 MACHINE
a) [T] to use and control a machine or equipment:
•The Lewis family operated a number of boats on the canal.
•Clive was experienced in operating the computers.
b) [I always + adv/prep] if a machine operates in a particular way, it works in that way
[+in/at]
•Check that the equipment is operating in a safe manner.
•The bus is designed to operate in all weather conditions.
•Most freezers operate at below -18°C.
2 BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION
a) [I] if a business or organization operates in a particular place or way, it works in that place or way
[+in/within/from]
•a design company operating from offices in Seattle.
•A playgroup operates on the campus.
•They were trying to reduce operating costs.
b) [T] to control a business or organization:
•Nuns are operating an emergency hospital.
3 SYSTEM/PROCESS/SERVICE [I,T] if a system, process, or service operates, or if you operate it, it works:
•The whole tax system is now operating more efficiently.
•The new law doesn't operate in our favour.
•The car parks operate a pay-as-you-leave system.
•The bus company operates a Monday to Saturday service.
4 MEDICAL [I] to cut into someone's body in order to repair or remove a part that is damaged:
•Doctors had to operate to remove the bullet.
[+on]
•the surgeon who operated on Taylor's knee
!! A surgeon does not 'operate' a part of a person's body. He or she operates on it: They need to operate on her stomach (NOT operate her stomach).
5 WORK [I] to do your job or try to achieve things in a particular way:
•Most people just can't operate in noisy, crowded conditions.
•Older children often like to operate independently.
6 SOLDIERS/POLICE [I] if soldiers or police officers are operating in an area, they are working in that area
[+in]
•Security patrols now operate in some of the most dangerous parts of the city.
•enemy submarines operating in the Mediterranean
7 operate as sth to have a particular purpose:
•The foam operates as a very effective filter.
•The car's service manual is designed to operate as a guide for owners.
8 LAWS/PRINCIPLES [I] to have an effect on something:
•the laws of evolution operating on each species[C] AmE
an OPERATING THEATRE[C]
a system in a computer that helps all the programs in it to work together[C]
a special table in an operating theatre which a person lies on when they are having an operation[C] BrE
a room in a hospital where operations are done; = operating room AmE $
1 MEDICAL [C] the process of cutting into someone's body to repair or remove a part that is damaged

have an operation
undergo an operation formal (=have an operation)
perform an operation
major/minor operation
emergency operation
routine operation (=an operation that is often performed)
life-saving operation

•a heart bypass operation
[+on/for]
•She's going to need an operation on her ankle.
•He had an operation to reduce the swelling in his brain.
•She underwent a minor operation on her elbow in the summer.
•the surgeon who performed the operation
•The poor man had two major operations in two weeks.
•an emergency operation to save his sight
•a routine knee operation
•The first indications were that the life-saving operation had gone well.
!! Do not say that someone 'takes an operation'. Say that they have an operation.

2 BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION [C] a business, company, or organization:
•The firm set up its own property development operation.
•a microchip manufacturing operation
•Nolan and Barnes were both involved in the operation.
3 WORK/ACTIVITIES [C,U] the work or activities done by a business or organization, or the process of doing this work:
•Many small businesses fail in the first year of operation.
•The Education Business Partnership has been in operation since 1989.
4 ACTIONS [C] a set of planned actions or activities for a particular purpose:
•The UN rescue operation started shortly after dawn.
5 MACHINE/SYSTEM [U] the way the parts of a machine or system work together, or the process of making a machine or system work:
•The aircraft's engine operation was normal.
in operation
•Protective clothing must be worn when the machine is in operation.
•The device has a single button, allowing for easy operation.
•Careful checks must be made before the factory commences operation.
•The new investment system came into operation in 1999.
6 PRINCIPLE/LAW/PLAN ETC [U] the way something such as a principle or law works or has an effect
in operation
•a clear example of the law of gravity in operation
come/go into operation (=begin to have an effect)
•The new rule comes into operation on February 1.
put/bring sth into operation (=make something start to work)
•A scheme is being brought into operation to see how these changes would work.
7 MILITARY/POLICE ACTION [C] a planned military or police action, especially one that involves a lot of people:
•Britain will carry out a joint military operation with the US.
8 COMPUTERS [C] an action done by a computer $
1 [not before noun] working and ready to be used:
•The boat should be operational by this afternoon.
•The new system became operational in March.
•Our main offices are now fully operational.
OPERATIVE^1 (1)
2 [only before noun] relating to the operation of a business, government etc:
•Patco accepted full responsibility for operational management.
- operationally adverboperations research [U]
the study of the best ways to build and use machines or plan organizations $
1 working and able to be used; inoperative
•Only one runway is operative.
•the steps to be taken before the scheme can become operative
OPERATIONAL (1)
2 the operative word used when you repeat a word from a previous sentence to draw attention to its importance:
•The new system offers fast solutions. Fast being the operative word.
3 relating to a medical operation:
•patients undergoing operative procedures[C]
1 a worker, especially a factory worker - used in business:
•the company's overseas operatives
2 someone who does work that is secret in some way, especially for a government organization
CIA/FBI/intelligence etc operatives $ [C]
1 someone who works on a telephone SWITCHBOARD, who you can call for help:
•Hello, operator? Could you put me through to Room 31?
2 someone who operates a machine or piece of equipment
machine/computer/radio etc operator
•computers which can be used by untrained operators
3 a person or company that operates a particular business:
•new regulations affecting taxi operators
•Julian travelled with Caribbean Connection, the UK 's leading Caribbean tour operator (=company that arranges holidays).
•a private operator running regular passenger services
4 someone who is good at achieving things by persuading people to help or agree with them:
•Monsieur Valentin was a formidable political operator.
•He may not look it, but Newman is a smooth operator (=someone who is good at persuading people but who you feel you cannot trust). $ [C]
a funny or romantic musical play in which some of the words are spoken and some are sung; opera $ [only before noun] medical
relating to the eyes and the illnesses that affect them:
•an ophthalmic surgeon $ [U] medical
the study of the eyes and diseases that affect them
- ophthalmologist noun [C] $ [C]
1 a drug that contains OPIUM. Opiates can be used to reduce severe pain and help people to sleep.
2 something that makes people stop thinking about the problems in their lives so that they stop trying to make their lives better - used to show disapproval:
•Hollywood movies were seen as an opiate for the people. $ [T] formal
to say what your opinion is about something
opine that
•The headmistress opined that the trip would make a nice change.
1 [C,U] your ideas or beliefs about a particular subject

in sb's opinion
general/popular opinion (=what most people think about something)
public opinion (=what ordinary people think about something)
sb's personal opinion
difference of opinion
a matter of opinion
ask (for) sb's opinion
express/give/state an opinion
strong opinion
keep your opinions to yourself (=not say what you really think)
contrary to popular opinion (=despite what most people think)

[+about]
•The two women had very different opinions about drugs.
[+of]
•What's your opinion of Cathy?
[+on]
•He asked his wife's opinion on every important decision.
•It's a terrible shame, in my opinion, that the building was knocked down.
•The general opinion is that the new law is a good thing.
•Politicians should listen to popular opinion.
•These are just my own personal opinions.
•Whether or not this is useful is a matter of opinion.
•Everyone has the right to express an opinion.
• Contrary to popular opinion, chocolate is quite good for you.
•Jody is a person with very strong opinions.
!! Do not say 'according to someone's opinion'. Say either according to someone or in someone's opinion.
VIEW^1 (1); in my humble opinion at HUMBLE^1 (3)

2 [C] judgement or advice from a professional person about something:
•When choosing an insurance policy it's best to get an independent opinion.
•My doctor says I need an operation, but I've asked for a second opinion (=advice from a second doctor to make sure that the first advice is right).
•They took the painting to get an expert opinion (=an opinion from someone who knows a lot).
3 have a high/low/good/bad etc opinion of sb/sth to think that someone or something is very good or very bad:
•They have a very high opinion of Paula's work.
4 be of the opinion (that) to think that something is true:
•I was firmly of the opinion that we should not give Jackson any more money.
a difference of opinion at DIFFERENCE (6); be a matter of opinion at MATTER^1 (12); PUBLIC OPINION
expressing very strong opinions about things:
•I found him very arrogant and opinionated.[plural]
people such as politicians or JOURNALISTs who have a lot of influence on the way other people think[C]
the process of asking a large group of people the same questions in order to find out what most people think about something:
•An opinion poll showed that 70% of adults were against legalizing drugs. $ [U]
a powerful illegal drug made from POPPY seeds. Drugs made from opium are used to reduce severe pain; heroinalso possum $ [C]
one of various small animals from America and Australia that have fur and climb trees
the written abbreviation of opposite $ [C]
1 someone who you try to defeat in a competition, game, fight, or argument:
•Graf's opponent in today's final will be Sukova.
leading/main/chief opponent
•During the primary elections, McCain was Bush's leading opponent.
formidable/worthy opponent
•In debate he was a formidable opponent.
•He is admired even by his political opponents.
2 someone who disagrees with a plan, idea, or system and wants to try to stop or change it
[+of]
•Rodgers was not an opponent of the new airport.
bitter/vocal/outspoken opponent
•an outspoken opponent of gun control $ formal
1 an opportune moment/time a time that is suitable for doing something:
•I waited, hoping for an opportune moment to discuss the possibility of a raise.
2 done at a very suitable time; inopportune
•an opportune remark
•The law reforms were opportune and important.
- opportunely adverb $ [U]
using every opportunity to gain power, money, or unfair advantages - used to show disapproval:
•He accused the diary's publishers of blatant opportunism. $ [C]
1 someone who uses every opportunity to gain power, money, or unfair advantages - used to show disapproval:
•Voters dislike opportunists - politicians who change their policies according to opinion polls.
2 someone who commits a crime because they have a chance to, and not because they planned to:
•Most burglars are opportunists.
•an opportunist crime
- opportunist adjective
•the opportunist policies of wartime leaders
- opportunistic $ adjective
•opportunistic thefts from cars $ plural opportunities
1 [C,U] a chance to do something or an occasion when it is easy for you to do something

opportunity to do sth
ideal/perfect opportunity
rare/unique opportunity
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
ample opportunity
golden opportunity (=a very good opportunity)
wasted/lost/missed opportunity (=one you do not use)
take/seize/use an opportunity
provide/present/open up an opportunity
an opportunity comes (along/up)
an opportunity arises
take the/this opportunity to do sth (=use a chance to say something you want to say)
at the first/earliest opportunity (=as soon as possible)
at every (possible) opportunity (=whenever possible)
land of opportunity (=a country where you have a lot of good opportunities)
window of opportunity (=a time when you can do something)

•This is an ideal opportunity to save money on a holiday to Crete.
[+for]
•Games and songs provide the perfect opportunity for classroom interaction and language development.
• It was a rare opportunity to see how ordinary people lived.
• For many athletes, the Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
• I saw it as a golden opportunity - the chance I'd been waiting for all along.
• a classic example of missed opportunity
• an event that would provide an opportunity for meaningful debate
•When the opportunity for promotion came, I wanted to be ready.
• I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your hard work.
• 53% of students leave school at the earliest opportunity.
• He likes to make his opinions known at every opportunity.
• the view of America as a land of opportunity
• Our window of opportunity for winning the championship is the next couple of seasons.

2 [C] a chance to get a job or improve your situation at work:
•There are fewer opportunities for new graduates this year.
equal opportunities at EQUAL^1 (2) $ [T]
1 to disagree with something such as a plan or idea and try to prevent it from happening or succeeding:
•Congress is continuing to oppose the President's healthcare budget.
2 to fight or compete against another person or group in a battle, competition, or election:
•He is opposed by two other candidates. $ [not before noun]
1 be opposed to sth to disagree with something such as a plan or system:
•Most of us are opposed to the death penalty.
2 two ideas that are opposed to each other are completely different from each other:
•The principles of capitalism and socialism are diametrically opposed (=completely opposite).
3 as opposed to sth used to compare two things and show that they are different from each other:
•Students discuss ideas, as opposed to just copying from books. $ [only before noun]
1 opposing teams, groups, or forces are competing, arguing, or fighting against each other:
•The opposing armies were preparing for war.
•The Socialist Party has split into two opposing camps.
2 opposing ideas, opinions etc are completely different from each other:
•Throughout the negotiations Hurst and Jevons took opposing views. $
1 especially BrE if one thing or person is opposite another, they are facing each other:
•The people sitting opposite us looked very familiar.
•on the wall opposite the door
!! Do not say that one thing is 'opposite to' or 'opposite of' another. Say that one thing is opposite another: There's a car park opposite the hotel.
see box at FRONT^1
2 play/star/appear etc opposite sb to act with someone in a film, especially as the two main characters:
•a comedy in which he stars opposite Julia Roberts[only before noun]
1 as different as possible from something else:
•I thought the medicine would make him sleep, but it had the opposite effect.
at the opposite end of the scale/spectrum
•two parties at opposite ends of the political spectrum
• At the opposite extreme, Ashworth's style is very simple and modern.
•Bob was quicker than Ed? It's usually the opposite way round.
[+to]
•a political philosophy that was opposite to everything she believed in
2 the opposite direction, way etc is directly away from someone or something:
•She turned and walked off in the opposite direction.
•But the sign was pointing the opposite way.
3 the opposite side, corner, edge etc of something is on the other side of the same area, often facing it:
•The store was on the opposite side of the street.
•the drawing on the opposite page
•They work at opposite ends of the country (=a long distance apart), so only see each other at weekends.
4 the opposite sex the other sex. If you are a man, women are the opposite sex:
•members of the opposite sex
5 sb's opposite number someone who has the same job in another similar organization:
•a meeting with her opposite number at the Department of Health[C]
1 a person or thing that is as different as possible from someone or something else
[+of]
•What's the opposite of 'optimistic'?
•She's quite shy, the exact opposite of Becky.
•The two men were complete opposites- Simon tall and fair, Clive short and dark.
•If anything, the opposite was true.
•Is it sensible to think of masculine/feminine as polar opposites (=exactly or completely opposite)?
2 not ... just/quite the opposite used to say that something is completely different from what has just been said:
•I didn't feel sleepy at all - just the opposite, in fact.
3 opposites attract used to say that often people who have completely different characters become friends or are attracted to each otherespecially BrE
in a position on the other side of the same area:
•Hannah lives just opposite. $
1 [U] strong disagreement with, or protest against, something such as a plan, law, or system

face/meet with opposition
overcome opposition
arouse opposition/arouse the opposition of sb (=make someone feel disagreement)
strong/fierce/intense/stiff opposition
public opposition
in opposition to sth

[+to]
•There was a great deal of opposition to the war.
[+from]
•They face opposition from local residents as well as from environmentalists.
•He is confident in his ability to overcome all opposition with his personal charm.
•The proposals have aroused the opposition of teachers.
• Strong opposition resulted in rejection of the bill.
•Plans to turn the site into a £600 million leisure complex have met with stiff opposition.
•Much public opposition to the new law remained.
•Workers found themselves in opposition to local interests.

2 the opposition in some countries such as Britain, the main political party in the parliament that is not part of the government:
•the leader of the Opposition
•the three main opposition parties
3 in opposition in some countries such as Britain, a political party that is in opposition is in parliament, but is not part of the government:
•The Socialists were elected to power after 10 years in opposition.
4 [C,U also + plural verb BrE ] the people who you are competing against:
•They played well against good opposition.
5 [C,U] formal when two things are completely opposite
[+between]
•the opposition between capitalism and socialism [T often passive]
1 to treat a group of people unfairly or cruelly, and prevent them from having the same rights that other people in society have:
•native tribes oppressed by the authorities
2 to make someone feel unhappy, worried, or uncomfortable:
•The gloom in the chapel oppressed her.
1 a group of people who are oppressed are treated unfairly or cruelly and are prevented from having the same rights as other people have:
•oppressed minorities
the oppressed (=people who are oppressed)
2 someone who is oppressed feels unhappy, worried, or uncomfortable [U]
when someone treats a group of people unfairly or cruelly and prevents them from having the same rights as other people have
political/racial/sexual etc oppression
•They suffered years of political oppression.
•the struggle against oppression
1 powerful, cruel, and unfair:
•an oppressive military regime
2 weather that is oppressive is unpleasantly hot with no movement of air:
•the oppressive heat of the afternoon
3 a situation that is oppressive makes you unhappy, worried, or uncomfortable:
•an oppressive silence
•an oppressive atmosphere
- oppressively adverb $ [C]
a person or group that treats people unfairly or cruelly, and prevents them from having the same rights that other people in society have $ [U] formal
strong criticism or disapproval, especially expressed publicly $ [I]
to choose one thing or do one thing instead of another
[+for]
•We finally opted for the wood finish.
opt to do sth
•Many young people are opting to go on to college.

PHRASAL VERBS
opt in phr v
to decide to join a group or system
[+to]
•Employees have the choice to opt in to the scheme.

opt out phr v
1 to avoid doing a duty
[+of]
•You can't just opt out of all responsibility for the child!
2 to decide not to be part of a group or system
[+of]
•Britain wants to opt out of the new European regulations.
3 if a school or hospital in Britain opts out, it decides to control the money that it is given by the government, instead of being controlled by local government $ [only before noun]
relating to the eyes:
•the optic nerve $
relating to machines or processes which are concerned with light, images, or the way we see things:
•microscopes and other optical instruments
- optically adverb[U] technical
computer software that recognizes numbers and letters of the alphabet which are written on paper, so that information from paper documents can be SCANned into a computeroptical fiber AmE [C,U] BrE
a long thin thread of glass or plastic along which information can be sent through a phone or computer system, using light[C]
a picture or image that tricks your eyes and makes you see something that is not actually there $ [C]
1 BrE someone who tests people's eyes and sells GLASSes in a shop; = optometrist AmE
2 AmE someone who makes LENSes for GLASSes $ [U]
the scientific study of light and the way we see $ formal
the best or most suitable; = optimum $ [U]
a tendency to believe that good things will always happen; pessimism
grounds/cause/reason for optimism
•Recent results must give some cause for optimism.
•There are grounds for cautious optimism.
mood/sense of optimism
•a new sense of optimism in the country
optimism (that)
•There was optimism that an agreement could be reached.
[+about]
•I don't share his optimism about our chances of success. $ [C]
someone who believes that good things will happen; pessimist
•He's an eternal optimist (=he always believes that good things will happen). $
1 believing that good things will happen in the future; pessimistic
[+about]
•Bankers are cautiously optimistic about the country's economic future.
optimistic (that)
•We are still relatively optimistic that the factory can be saved.
•Andrew took a more optimistic view.
2 thinking that things will be better, easier, or more successful than is actually possible:
•an optimistic estimate
over-optimistic BrE
•somewhat over-optimistic expectationsalso optimise BrE $ [T]
to improve the way that something is done or used so that it is as effective as possible:
•They need to optimize the use of available resources. $ [only before noun]
the best or most suitable for a particular purpose or in a particular situation:
•optimum conditions for growth
•This design makes the optimum use of the available space.
- optimum noun [singular] $
1 CHOICE [C] a choice you can make in a particular situation:
•There are a number of options available.
•He had two options.
•This was not the only option open to him.
[+for]
•a range of options for cutting costs
one/another option is to do sth
•Another option is to rent somewhere for six months.
option of doing sth
•She had the option of staying for an extra year.
•Teenage mothers often have no option but to (=have no other choice except to) live with their parents.
2 keep/leave your options open to wait before making a decision:
•I'm keeping all my options open for the moment.
3 COMPUTERS [C] one of the possible choices you can make when using computer software:
•Select an option from the main menu.
•a list of options
4 easy option also soft option BrE the choice which will be the least difficult, least strict, or need the least effort, which someone might choose because they are lazy:
•Is community service just a soft option for criminals?
5 RIGHT TO BUY/SELL [C] formal the right to buy or sell something in the future
[+on]
•The government has agreed to buy 20 planes, with an option on a further 10.
•Connor now owns 302,000 shares and options.
6 AT SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY [C] BrE one of the subjects that you can choose to study at school for an examination, or as part of a course at a college or university:
•advice on choosing your options
7 STH ADDITIONAL [C] something that is offered in addition to the standard equipment when you buy something new, especially a car
8 first option the chance to buy or get something before anyone else
[+on]
•They've agreed to give us the first option on their apartment. $
if something is optional, you do not have to do it or use it, but you can choose to if you want to; compulsory
•three optional courses
•The other excursions are optional.
optional extra BrE
•Leather seats are an optional extra. $ [C] AmE
someone who tests people's eyes and orders GLASSes for them; = optician BrE[C] BrE
1 when a person or group chooses not to join a system or accept an agreement:
•an opt-out clause
[+on/from]
•the government's opt-out on the euro
2 when a school or hospital in Britain chooses to control its own money, instead of being controlled by local government:
•an opt-out school $ formal
1 very beautiful, with a lot of decoration, and made from expensive materials; = luxurious
•evening dresses in opulent fabrics
2 very rich and spending a lot of money:
•Europe's opulent elite
- opulence noun [U]
•the size and opulence of the rooms $ plural opuses or opera $ [usually singular]
1 a piece of music by a great musician, numbered according to when it was written:
•Beethoven's Opus 95
2 formal an important work of art by a famous writer, painter etc
MAGNUM OPUS $ [in nouns]
1 someone who does something or is doing something:
•an actor (=someone who acts)
•an inventor
•a translator
2 something that does something:
•a calculator (=a machine which calculates)
•a word processor
-ER^2, -AR strong $ strong
1 POSSIBILITIES/CHOICES used between two words or phrases to show that either of two things is possible, or used before the last in a list of possibilities or choices:
•Shall we go out to the cinema or stay at home?
•You can have ham, cheese or tuna.
... or anything/something spoken (=or something of the same kind)
•Would you like a coffee or something?
•She wasn't involved in drugs or anything like that.
•Grapes are usually either green or red.
•He's going to do it whether we like it or not.
•You must do the job yourself or else employ someone else to do it.
EITHER^1
2 AND NOT used after a negative verb when you mean not one thing and also not another thing:
•He doesn't have a television or a video.
•Sonia never cleans or even offers to wash the dishes.
3 AVOIDING BAD RESULT used to say that something bad could happen if someone does not do a particular thing:
•Wear your coat or you'll catch cold.
•Hurry up or we'll be late.
•I had to defend myself or else he'd have killed me.
•You'd better hand over the money, or else (=used to threaten someone).
4 CORRECTION used to correct something that you have said or to give more specific information:
•It's going to snow tomorrow, or that's what the forecast says.
•John picked us up in his car, or rather his dad's car which he'd borrowed.
•We've cleaned it all up, or at least most of it.
5 PROOF used to prove that something must be true, by saying that the situation would be different if it was not true:
•He must be at home, or his car wouldn't be here.
•It's obviously not urgent or else they would have called us straight away.
6 UNCERTAIN AMOUNTS used to show that you are guessing at an amount or number because you cannot be exact:
•The boy was three or four years of age.
•I saw Donald leaving a minute or two ago.
•There's a motel a mile or so down the road (=about a mile or possibly a little more). $ [C]
1 someone who the ancient Greeks believed could communicate with the gods, who gave advice to people or told them what would happen
2 a message given by an oracle
3 a person or book that gives advice and information - used humorously $ formal
from or like an oracle
1 spoken, not written:
•oral history
•an oral agreement
2 relating to or involving the mouth:
•oral hygiene
- orally adverb
•The drug should be taken orally.
•The statement may be given orally or in writing.also oral exam [C]
1 especially BrE a spoken test, especially in a foreign language:
•I've got my French oral tomorrow.
2 AmE a spoken test for a university degree[C]
a drug that a woman takes by mouth, so that she can have sex without having a baby; = pill[U]
the activity of touching someone's sex organs with the lips and tongue, to give sexual pleasure[C]
a DENTIST who performs operations in the mouth $
1 [C] a round fruit that has a thick orange skin and is divided into parts inside:
•orange juice
•orange peel
• Peel the oranges and divide them into segments.
•orange groves (=where orange trees grow)
2 [U] a colour that is between red and yellow:
•a bright shade of orange
- orange adjective
•an orange shirt $ [C,U]
a drink that tastes like oranges $ plural orangeries [C] old-fashioned
a place, usually next to a large expensive house, where orange trees are grownalso orang-utan $ [C]
a large APE with long arms and long orange-brown hair [C]
a formal public speech $ [C] formal
someone who is good at making speeches and persuading people $ plural oratorios [C]
a long piece of music in which a large group of people sing $ plural oratories
1 [U] the skill of making powerful speeches
2 [C] a small building or part of a church where people can go to pray
- oratorical $ adjective $ [C]
1 literary a bright ball-shaped object, especially the sun or the moon:
•the red orb of the sun
2 a ball decorated with gold, carried by a king or queen on formal occasions as a sign of power $ [I,T]
to travel in a curved path around a much larger object such as the Earth, the sun etc:
•The satellite orbits the Earth every 48 hours.[C]
1 the curved path travelled by an object which is moving around another much larger object such as the Earth, the sun etc
[+around]
•the Moon's orbit around the Earth
in/into orbit
•The Space Shuttle is now in orbit.
•The telecommunications satellite went into orbit at the end of last year.
2 formal the area of power and influence of a person, organization etc
within the orbit of sth
•countries within the orbit of the British commonwealth $
1 relating to the orbit of one object around another:
•the Earth's orbital path
2 BrE an orbital road goes around a large city:
•the M25, London's orbital motorway[C] BrE
a road that goes around a large city to keep the traffic away from the centre; = ring road $ [C]
a place where fruit trees are grown:
•a cherry orchard $
1 [C also + plural verb BrE ] a large group of musicians playing many different kinds of instruments and led by a CONDUCTOR:
•the Berlin Symphony Orchestra
•the school orchestra
2 orchestra section/seats AmE the area of seats in a theatre close to and on the same level as the stage $
relating to or written for an orchestra:
•orchestral music[C]
the space below the stage in a theatre where the musicians sit $ [T]
1 written to organize an important event or a complicated plan, especially secretly:
•The riots were orchestrated by anti-government forces.
•a carefully orchestrated promotional campaign
2 to arrange a piece of music so that it can be played by an orchestra
- orchestration $ noun [C,U] $ [C]
a plant that has flowers which are brightly coloured and unusually shaped $ [T]
1 to officially make someone a priest or religious leader; ordination
•Desmond Tutu was ordained in 1960.
ordain sb (as) sth
•The church voted to allow women to be ordained as priests.
2 formal to order that something should happen
ordain that
•The King ordained that deer should not be hunted without a royal licence. $ [C]
a terrible or painful experience that continues for a period of time

go though an ordeal
face an ordeal
survive an ordeal
recover from an ordeal
spare sb the ordeal of doing sth (=not make someone have to do something)
terrible/dreadful ordeal
terrifying ordeal

[+of]
•She then had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence.
• She was forced to face the ordeal of withdrawal symptoms.
• He was beginning to wonder if he would survive the ordeal.
• Teresa had a transplant in 1989 and was just recovering from that ordeal when she suffered a brain hemorrhage.
• Soon the whole terrifying ordeal would be over.

$
1 FOR A PURPOSE
a) in order to do sth for the purpose of doing something:
•Samuel trained every day in order to improve his performance.
•In order to understand how the human body works, you need to have some knowledge of chemistry.
b) in order for/that formal so that something can happen or so that someone can do something:
•Sunlight is needed in order for the process of photosynthesis to take place in plants.
2 ARRANGEMENT [C,U] the way that things or events are arranged in relation to each other, for example showing whether something is first, second, third etc; = sequence
in ( ... ) order
•The photographs can be viewed in any order.
•Make a list of what you have to do, and put them in order with the most important at the top.
in order of importance/priority/preference etc
•Students learn the verbs in order of difficulty.
do sth in order (=do things one after another, according to a plan)
•Then they call out our names in order and we answer yes or no.
•Your paragraphs are not arranged in a logical order.
•My files are in alphabetical order.
in the right/correct order
•Replace all the pieces in the correct order.
out of order/in the wrong order
•Be careful not to get the cards in the wrong order.
•He always shaves his face in the same order, right side, then left.
in reverse order (=in the opposite order to what is usual)
in descending/ascending order (=starting with the highest or lowest number)
•The leaflet gives details of all the hotels in the area in descending order of price.
3 INSTRUCTION [C usually plural] an instruction to do something that is given by someone in authority

an/the order to do sth
give/issue an order
follow/obey orders
take orders from sb
receive an order
have (strict) orders to do sth/be under (strict) orders to do sth (=have been told to do something)
court order
doctor's orders (=when the doctor says you must do something)
by order of sb/on the orders of sb

•The captain had to give the order to abandon ship.
•I followed your orders to the letter (=I did exactly what you ordered).
•I'm not taking orders from him!
•He received a direct order from the President.
•She is under strict orders to have a complete rest.
•The government obtained a court order requiring the editor to reveal his source.
•I've got to take it easy - doctor's orders.
•The company cannot be identified by order of the court.

4 CONTROLLED SITUATION [U] a situation in which rules are obeyed and authority is respected:
•the breakdown of law and order
•The riots are a threat to public order.
keep order/keep sb in order (=stop people from behaving badly)
•The physics teacher couldn't keep order in any class.
•She had trouble keeping her teenage sons in order.
•The army was called in to restore order.
5 WELL-ORGANIZED STATE [U] a situation in which everything is controlled, well organized, and correctly arranged:
•Let's have some order in here.
•You need to put your financial affairs in order.
•She keeps her room in good order.
6 FOR FOOD OR DRINK [C]
a) a request for food or drink in a restaurant or bar:
•The waiter took our orders.
last orders BrE (=the last time you can order a drink before a bar closes)
•Last orders now please!
b) the food or drink you have asked for in a restaurant or bar:
•When our order finally arrived we were very hungry indeed.
SIDE ORDER
7 FOR GOODS [C]
a) a request by a customer for a company to supply goods:
•Goods will be sent within 24 hours of receiving your order.
•You can always cancel your order if you change your mind.
•The government has placed an order for (=asked a company to supply) new weapons.
•Please complete the enclosed order form.
on order (=asked for, but not yet received)
•My bicycle is on order.
make/supply sth to order (=produce something especially for a particular customer)
•They make hand-made shoes to order.
b) goods that you have ordered from a company:
•Your order has arrived - you can collect it from the store any time.
MAIL ORDER
8 be out of order
a) if a machine or piece of equipment is out of order, it is not working:
•The phone is out of order again.
b) BrE informal if someone's behaviour is out of order, it is unacceptable; = out of line AmE
c) to be breaking the rules in a committee, court, parliament etc:
•The MP's remarks were ruled out of order.
9 be in order
a) if something is in order, it is correct or right:
•Everything is in order.
b) to be a suitable thing to do or say on a particular occasion:
•I hear congratulations are in order.
c) if an official document is in order, it is legal and correct:
•Is your passport in order?
d) if something that you do is in order, it is allowed by the rules in a committee, court, parliament etc
10 be in (good) working/running order in good condition or working well:
•She keeps her bicycle in good working order.
11 SOCIAL/ECONOMIC SITUATION [singular] the political, social, or economic situation at a particular time
social/political order
•He called the rioters a threat to the social order.
•The people of South Africa wanted a new order.
•He dared to challenge the established (=traditional) order.
12 be the order of the day
a) to be suitable for a particular occasion or situation:
•Casual clothes are the order of the day.
b) to be very common at a particular time - used especially when you disapprove of something:
•Sexual explicitness is the order of the day.
13 the order of things the way that life and the world are organized and intended to be:
•People accepted the class system as part of the natural order of things.
14 of a high order/of the highest order also of the first order of a very good kind or of the best kind:
•an achievement of the highest order
15 withdraw/retreat in good order to move away from the enemy in war in an organized way
16 in the order of sth/of the order of sth also on the order of sth AmE a little more or a little less than a particular amount, especially a high amount; = approximately
•a figure in the order of $7 million
17 RELIGIOUS GROUP [C] a society of MONKs or NUNs (=people who live a holy life according to religious rules):
•the Benedictine Order
[+of]
•the order of Jesuits
18 take (holy) orders to become a priest
19 SECRET SOCIETY [C] an organization or society whose members meet for secret ceremonies
20 OFFICIAL HONOUR [C] a group of people who have received a special official reward from a king, president etc for their services or achievements:
•the Order of the Garter
21 MONEY [C] an official piece of paper that can be exchanged for money
MONEY ORDER, POSTAL ORDER
22 the lower orders BrE old-fashioned people who belong to the lowest social class
23 ANIMALS/PLANTS [C] technical a group of animals or plants that are considered together because they EVOLVEd from the same plant or animal
CLASS^1 (5), SPECIES
24 COMPUTER [C] AmE a list of jobs that a computer has to do in a particular order; = queue BrE
25 Order! Order! spoken used to ask people to stop talking in a meeting or parliament
PECKING ORDER, POINT OF ORDER, STANDING ORDER
call sb/sth to order at CALL^1 (16); set/put your own house in order at HOUSE^1 (7); be given/get your marching orders at MARCH^1 (5); in short order at SHORT^1 (22); under starter's orders at STARTER; tall order at TALL
1 ASK FOR FOOD/DRINK [I,T] to ask for food or a drink in a restaurant, bar etc:
•Anne ordered another glass of wine.
•Are you ready to order?
•He sat down and ordered a meal.
2 ASK FOR GOODS [I,T] to ask for goods or services to be supplied:
•I've ordered a new computer from the supplier.
order sb sth
•I'll order you a taxi.
3 TELL SB TO DO STH [T] to tell someone that they must do something, especially using your official power or authority:
•The court ordered his release from prison.
•'Stay right there,' she ordered.
order sb to do sth
•Tom was ordered to pay £300 as compensation.
•Her doctor had ordered her to rest for a week.
be ordered back to sth
•The soldiers were ordered back to their units.
order that
•He ordered that the house be sold.
4 ARRANGE [T] to arrange something in an order:
•The list is ordered alphabetically.

PHRASAL VERBS
order sb around phr v also order sb about BrE
to give someone orders in an annoying or threatening way:
•How dare he order her about like that?

order sb <=> out phr v
to order soldiers or police to go somewhere to stop violent behaviour by a crowd:
•The governor decided to order out the National Guard.[C usually plural] especially BrE
a record of how many goods or services a company has been asked to provide, which shows how successful it is financially:
•Our order books are full at the moment.also well-ordered $
well arranged or controlled:
•an ordered existence
•a well-ordered household
DISORDERED $ [C,U]
the way in which something is arranged, or the act of arranging something:
•a different ordering $
1 arranged or organized in a sensible or neat way; disorderly
in (an) orderly sth
•The tools were arranged in orderly rows.
•She needs to organize her ideas in a more orderly way.
2 peaceful or well-behaved; disorderly
in (an) orderly sth
•The elections were conducted in an orderly fashion.
•They waited in a dignified and orderly manner outside the church.
- orderliness noun [U]plural orderlies [C]
1 someone who does unskilled jobs in a hospital
2 a soldier who does unskilled jobsplural orders of magnitude [C]
1 if something is an order of magnitude greater or smaller than something else, it is ten times greater or smaller in size or amount
2 the scale of the size of something:
•That was a problem but this crisis is of a different order of magnitude.[C]
a list of subjects to be discussed in the British Parliamentalso ordinal $ [C]
one of the numbers such as first, second, third etc which show the order of things
CARDINAL NUMBER $ [C]
1 AmE a law, usually of a city or town, that forbids or restricts an activity:
•a city ordinance that says parks must be closed at 11 p.m.
2 an order given by a ruler or governing organization:
•a Royal ordinance $ [C]
a person who is preparing to become a priest $
1 [sentence adverb] usually:
•Ordinarily, he didn't like to go to the movies.
•This is not the price at which the CD is ordinarily sold.
2 in an ordinary or normal way $
1 average, common, or usual, not different or special:
•It's just an ordinary camera.
•The book is about ordinary people.
•Art should be part of ordinary life.
•It is good because it is written in friendly, ordinary language.
out of the ordinary (=unusual or unexpected)
•Anything out of the ordinary made her nervous.
in the ordinary way BrE (=as normal)
•The money is taxed as income in the ordinary way.
sb/sth is no ordinary ... (=used to say someone or something is very special)
•This is no ordinary car.
•Ruiz is no ordinary prisoner.
2 not particularly good or impressive:
•I thought the paintings were pretty ordinary.
- ordinariness noun [U][C,U]
O LEVEL[C]
a low rank in the British Navy[plural] technical
the largest part of a company's CAPITAL, which is owned by people who have the right to vote at meetings and to receive part of the company's profits $ [C,U]
the act or ceremony in which someone is made a priest; ordain
•the ordination of women $ [U]
1 large guns with wheels; = artillery
2 weapons, explosives, and vehicles used in fighting[C] BrE
a map which shows all the roads, paths, hills etc of an area in detail $ [U] formal
dirt, especially waste matter from the body $ [C,U]
rock or earth from which metal can be obtained:
•iron ore
•veins of rich ore $ [U]
a plant used in cooking, especially in Italian cooking $ [C]
1 BODY PART
a) a part of the body, such as the heart or lungs, that has a particular purpose

internal organs
vital organs (=most important organs for life, for example the heart and brain)
sexual/reproductive/sex organs
organ transplant (=an operation to put an organ from one person's body into another's)
organ donor (=someone who gives an organ for an organ transplant)

•the liver, heart, and other internal organs
•loss of blood flow to his vital organs
•Extra doses of the hormone caused the animals' reproductive organs to develop sooner than usual.
•In Arizona, 480 people are waiting for organ transplants.
•dying people who have agreed to be organ donors

b) a PENIS - used because you want to avoid saying this directly
2 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
a) also pipe organ a large musical instrument used especially in churches, with KEYs like a piano and large pipes that air passes through to produce the sound
b) an electronic musical instrument that produces music similar to a pipe organ, but that does not have pipes:
•an electronic organ
3 ORGANIZATION formal an organization that is part of, or works for, a larger organization or group
[+of]
•The courts are organs of government.
•the decision-making organs
4 NEWSPAPER/MAGAZINE formal a newspaper or magazine which gives information, news etc for an organization or group
[+of]
•the official organ of the Communist Partyalso organdy AmE $ [U]
very thin stiff cotton cloth, used as dress material[C]
a musician who plays a BARREL ORGAN in the street $
1 FARMING relating to farming or gardening methods of growing food without using artificial chemicals, or produced or grown by these methods:
• Organic farming is better for the environment.
•organic gardening
organic food/vegetables/milk etc
•The shop sells organic food.
•organic wine
2 DEVELOPMENT change or development which is organic happens in a natural way, without anyone planning it or forcing it to happen:
•The company's path to success was by means of organic growth.
3 LIVING THINGS living, or produced by or from living things; inorganic
•Adding organic matter such as manure can improve the soil.
•Bacteria act on organic waste.
4 PART OF STH
a) an organic system or relationship is one in which the parts or people fit well and in a comfortable way with each other:
•an organic relationship between the individual and his community
•They believe in the organic unity of the universe.
5 BODY ORGANS relating to the organs of the body:
•organic diseases
- organically adverb
•organically produced cheese
•A writer's style must develop organically.[U]
the study of substances containing CARBON; inorganic chemistry $ [C]
1 an animal, plant, human, or any other living thing:
•All living organisms have to adapt to changes in environmental conditions.
•Genes operate together in determining the characteristics of an individual organism.
2 a system made up of parts that are dependent on each other:
•A society is essentially an organism. $ [C]
someone who plays the ORGAN:
•a church organistalso organisation BrE $
1 [C] a group such as a club or business that has formed for a particular purpose:
•The public expect high standards from any large organization.
•the World Trade Organization
•a voluntary organization which helps disabled people with their transport needs
•an illegal terrorist organization
• international organizations such as the UN
2 [U] planning and arranging something so that it is successful or effective:
•Putting on a show of this kind involves considerable organisation.
[+of]
•The college has helped Anne with the organization of the event.
3 [U] the way in which the different parts of a system are arranged and work together
[+of]
•There needs to be a change in the organization of the health service.
- organizational adjective
•organizational skillsalso organise BrE $
1 [T] to make the necessary arrangements so that an activity can happen effectively:
•The course was organized by a training company.
•Students need to learn how to organize their work.
2 [T] to manage a group of people who are doing something:
•The lawyer helped to organize a group of parents who took action for their children.
organize yourself
•The scientists need to organize themselves and work as a team.
3 [T] to arrange something so that it is more ordered or happens in a more sensible way:
•He doesn't need you to organize his life for him.
•Organize yourself to arrive at places on time.
4 [T] to arrange things in a particular order or pattern:
•We are learning about how genes are organized.
5 [I,T] to form a TRADE UNION or persuade people to join one:
•The law gives workers the right to organize and bargain collectively.also organised BrE $
1 involving people working together in an effective and well planned way; disorganized
•Organized groups of citizens are more successful at changing the government's mind.
•Organized networks of thieves are stealing cattle.
organized religion (=a religion that has lasted for a long time with leaders and many followers)
2 well/badly/carefully etc organized arranged or ordered well, badly, carefully etc:
•a carefully organized campaign
•I want to work with a well organized team.
•a highly organized (=well organized) social system
3 achieving your aims in an effective, ordered, and sensible way:
•It will take me a few days to get organized.[U]
a large and powerful organization of criminals:
•Organized crime is involved in drug trafficking.also organiser BrE $ [C]
someone who makes the arrangements for something that is planned to happen:
•The organizers had expected about 50,000 people to attend the concert. $ [C]
a drawing that shows the different ranks of the people working in an organization $ [C,U]
the greatest point of sexual pleasure:
•women who have never had an orgasm $
1 informal extremely exciting or enjoyable:
•an orgasmic experience
2 relating to orgasm $ plural orgies [C]
1 a wild party with a lot of eating, drinking, and sexual activity:
•the drunken orgies of their youth
2 sexual activity in a group
3 an orgy of sth used to emphasize that people suddenly do a lot of a particular activity, especially far too much of it:
•an orgy of spending
•an orgy of violence
- orgiastic $ adjectivealso orientate BrE $
1 be oriented to/towards/around sth/sb to give a lot of attention to one type of activity or one type of person:
•a course that is oriented towards the needs of businessmen
•A lot of the training is orientated around communications skills.
•The organization is strongly oriented towards research
2 orient yourself
a) to find exactly where you are by looking around you or using a map; disorient, disorientated
•She looked at the street names, trying to orient herself.
b) to become familiar with a new situation
[+to]
•It takes new students a while to orientate themselves to college life. $
the Orient old-fashioned the eastern part of the world, especially China and Japan
the East at EAST (1a); OCCIDENT $
relating to or from the eastern part of the world, especially China and Japan:
•a beautiful oriental rug
•oriental artalso Oriental [C] old-fashioned not polite
a word for someone from the eastern part of the world, especially China or Japan, now considered offensive
OCCIDENTAL $ [C]
someone who studies the languages and culture of oriental countries $
a British word for ORIENT^1; disorientate $
a British word for ORIENTED $ formal
1 [C,U] the type of activity or subject that a person or organization seems most interested in and gives most attention to
[+towards/to]
•The company needs to develop a stronger orientation towards marketing its products.
•How can we get students to adopt a serious orientation to learning?
[+of]
•He was unhappy with the commercial orientation of the organization.
2 [C,U] the political opinions or religious beliefs that someone has
political/religious orientation
•The meeting is open to everyone, whatever their political or religious orientation.
•The party has a broadly socialist orientation.
3 sexual orientation the fact that someone is HETEROSEXUAL or HOMOSEXUAL:
•Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is still far too widespread.
4 [U] a period of time during which people are trained and prepared for a new job or course of study:
•This is orientation week for all the new students.
5 [C] the angle or position of an object, or the direction in which it is facingalso orientated BrE $
giving a lot of time, effort, or attention to one particular thing:
•A lot of the younger students don't seem to be politically oriented at all.
•She's very career orientated.
•The country's economy is export oriented. $ [U]
a sport in which people have to find their way quickly across an area in the countryside that they do not know, using a map and a COMPASS $ [C] formal
1 one of the holes in your body, such as your mouth, nose etc:
•various bodily orifices
2 a hole or entrance $ [U]
the Japanese art of folding paper to make attractive objects $ [C,U]
1 also origins [plural] the place or situation in which something begins to exist
[+of]
•a new theory to explain the origins of the universe
in origin
•Most coughs are viral in origin.
•The word is French in origin.
•The tradition has its origins in the Middle Ages.
•old folk tales of unknown origin
country/place of origin (=where something came from)
•All meat should be clearly labelled with its country of origin.
2 also origins [plural] the country, race, or type of family which someone comes from; extraction
of French/German/Asian etc origin
•Two thirds of the pupils are of Asian origin.
•The form asks for information about the person's ethnic origin.
•Immigrants rarely return to their country of origin.
•She never forgot her humble origins (=low class or social position).
1 FIRST [only before noun] existing or happening first, before other people or things:
•The land was returned to its original owner.
•The kitchen still has many original features (=parts that were there when the house was first built).
•the original meaning of the word
•The original plan was to fly out to New York.
2 NEW completely new and different from anything that anyone has thought of before:
•I don't think George is capable of having original ideas!
•That's not a very original suggestion.
•a highly original design
•His work is truly original.
3 A WORK OF ART [only before noun] an original work of art is the one that was made by the artist and is not a copy:
•The original painting is now in the National Gallery in London.
•an original Holbein drawing[C]
1 a work of art or a document that is not a copy, but is the one produced by the writer or artist:
•The colours are much more striking in the original.
•I'll keep a copy of the contract, and give you the original.
2 in the original in the language that a book, play etc was first written in, before it was translated:
•I'd prefer to read it in the original.
3 informal someone whose behaviour, clothing etc is unusual and amusing [U]
when something is completely new and different from anything that anyone has thought of before
[+of]
•I was impressed by the originality of the plan.
•Her earlier work shows a lot of originality.
•A lot of his designs lack originality.
•a young writer of great originality
in the beginning, before other things happened or before things changed:
•The family originally came from France.
•The building was originally used as a prison.
•We originally intended to stay for just a few days. [sentence adverb]
•Originally, we had planned a tour of Scotland but we didn't go in the end.[U]
the tendency to behave in bad or evil ways, which is in all people according to the Christian religion
1 [I always + adv/prep, not in progressive] formal to come from a particular place or start in a particular situation:
•How did the plan originate?
[+from]
•A lot of our medicines originate from tropical plants.
[+in]
•Many Christmas traditions originated in Germany.
[+with]
•The idea originated with the ancient Greek philosophers.
[+as]
•The town originated as a small fishing port.
2 [T] to have the idea for something and start it:
•The technique was originated by an Italian artist. $ [C]
the person who first has the idea for something and starts it
[+of]
•Professor Adams was the originator of the project. $ [C]
1 a North American bird that is black with a red and yellow STRIPE on its wing
2 a European bird with black wings and a yellow body $ [U]
a gold-coloured mixture of metals that does not contain real gold:
•an ormolu clock $
1 [C] a small object that you keep in your house because it is beautiful rather than useful:
•a shelf covered with books and ornaments
•china ornaments
2 [U] decoration that is added to something:
•The building style is plain, with very little ornament.
for ornament
•The coins were only ever used for ornament, not as currency. $
be ornamented with sth to be decorated with something:
•a silver goblet ornamented with pearls
richly/exquisitely/lavishly etc ornamented
•a table richly ornamented with carvings $
designed to make something look attractive rather than to be used for a particular purpose:
•ornamental gardens
•The pillars in the centre are purely ornamental. $ [U]
decoration on an object that makes it look attractive:
•a bronze plate with gold ornamentation $
covered with a lot of decoration:
•an ornate gold mirror
- ornately adverb
•an ornately carved chair $ AmE
behaving in an unreasonable and often angry way, especially by doing the opposite of what people want you to do:
•an ornery kid $ [C]
someone who studies birds $ [U]
the scientific study of birds
- ornithological $ adjective $ [C]
a child whose parents are both dead:
•The war has left thousands of children as orphans.
orphan girl/boy/child
•a poor little orphan girl
be orphaned to become an orphan:
•She was orphaned when her parents died in a plane crash. $ [C]
a large house where children who are orphans live and are taken care of:
•He was raised in an orphanage. $ [U]
the skill or job of helping teeth to grow straight when they have not been growing correctly
- orthodontic adjective
•orthodontic treatment $ [C]
a DENTIST whose job is to help teeth to grow straight when they have not been growing correctly $
1 orthodox ideas, methods, or behaviour are accepted by most people to be correct and right; = conventional
•orthodox medical treatments
•He challenged the orthodox views on education.
2 someone who is orthodox has the opinions and beliefs that are generally accepted as being right, and does not have new or different ideas:
•Orthodox economists believe that a recession is now inevitable.
•an orthodox Marxist
3 believing in all the traditional beliefs, laws, and practices of a religion:
•an orthodox Jew[C,U]
one of the Christian churches in Greece, eastern Europe, and parts of Asia $ plural orthodoxies
[C,U] an idea or set of ideas that is accepted by most people to be correct and right:
•He challenged the political orthodoxy of his time.
•These ideas have now become part of educational orthodoxy. $ [U] technical
the way in which words are spelled
- orthographic $ adjective
- orthographically adverbalso orthopaedic BrE $
1 relating to the medical treatment of problems that affect a people's bones or muscles:
•an orthopaedic surgeon
•the orthopedic ward in the hospital
2 orthopedic bed/chair/shoe etc one that is designed to help treat medical problems that affect people's bones or muscles
- orthopedically adverbalso orthopaedics BrE $ [U]
the part of medicine that treats illnesses or injuries that affect people's bones or musclesalso orthopaedist BrE $ [C]
a doctor with special training in orthopedics $ [in nouns]
a place or thing that is used for doing something:
•an observatory (=a place from where people watch something, especially the stars)[in adjectives]
describes something that does a particular thing:
•an explanatory note (=that gives an explanation)
•a congratulatory telegram (=that congratulates someone) $ [C]
a prize that is given each year in the US for the best film, actor etc in the film industry
[+for]
•Who got the Oscar (=won it) for best actress?
•The film won five Oscars. $ [I]
1 formal to keep changing between two extreme amounts or limits:
•The stock market is oscillating wildly at the moment.
[+between]
•His income oscillated between £1500 and £2000 a month.
2 formal to keep changing between one feeling or attitude and another
[+between]
•Her attitude towards me oscillated between friendship and hostility.
3 to move backwards and forwards in a regular way:
•The needle on the dial began to oscillate.
4 technical if an electric current oscillates, it changes direction very regularly and very frequently $ [C,U]
1 formal oscillations are frequent changes between two extreme amounts or limits
[+in/of]
•oscillations in the value of the dollar
[+between]
•oscillating between growth and decline
2 formal oscillations are frequent changes between one feeling or attitude and another:
•The drug causes oscillations of mood in some people.
3 technical a regular movement of something from side to side:
•the oscillations of a pendulum
4 technical a regular change in direction of an electrical current $ [C]
technical a machine that produces electrical oscillations $
the plural form of the suffix -OSIS $ [C]
a WILLOW tree whose branches are used for making baskets $ plural -oses $ [in nouns]
1 a diseased condition:
•silicosis (=a lung disease)
•neuroses (=medical conditions that affect the mind)
2 a condition or process:
•a metamorphosis (=change from one state to another)
- -otic $ suffix [in adjectives]
•neurotic
•hypnotic
- -otically $ suffix [in adverbs] $ [U]
1 if you learn facts or understand ideas by osmosis, you gradually learn them by hearing them often
by osmosis
•Children learn new languages by osmosis.
•He seems to absorb information through a process of osmosis.
2 technical the gradual process of liquid passing through a MEMBRANE
- osmotic $ adjective $ [C]
a type of large bird that kills and eats fish $ past tense and past participle ossified, present participle ossifying, third person singular ossifies
1 [I] formal to become unwilling to consider new ideas or change your behaviour
2 [I,T] technical to change into bone or to make something change into bone
- ossification $ noun [U] $
seeming to be the reason for or the purpose of something, but usually hiding the real reason or purpose
ostensible reason/purpose/aim
•The ostensible reason for his resignation was ill health. $
if something is ostensibly true, people say that it is true but it is not really true:
•She stayed behind at the office, ostensibly to work. $ [U] formal
when you deliberately try to show people how rich or clever you are, in order to make them admire you:
•Her lifestyle was remarkably free from ostentation. $
1 something that is ostentatious looks very expensive and is designed to make people think that its owner must be very rich:
•She carried her car keys on an ostentatious gold key ring.
•an ostentatious display of wealth
2 someone who is ostentatious likes to show everyone how rich they are:
•He was vain and ostentatious.
- ostentatiously adverb $ technical
relating to bones $ [U]
a medical condition which makes your knees and other joints stiff and painful $ [C]
someone who is trained to treat people using osteopathy
CHIROPRACTOR $ [U]
a way of treating medical problems such as back pain by moving and pressing the muscles and bones $ [U]
a medical condition in which your bones become weak and break easily:
•the risk of developing osteoporosisalso hostler AmE $ [C]
a man who took care of guests' horses at a hotel in the pastalso ostracise BrE $ [T]
if a group of people ostracize someone, they refuse to accept them as a member of the group:
•She was afraid that if she spoke up her colleagues would ostracize her.
•He was ostracized by the other students.
- ostracism noun [U]
•He suffered years of ostracism. $ [C]
1 a large African bird with long legs, that runs very quickly but cannot fly
2 informal someone who does not deal with difficult problems but tries to pretend that they do not exist $
the abbreviation of over-the-counter $ BrE
on target earnings used in advertisements for jobs to say that the EMPLOYEE will receive the complete pay only if they succeed in doing as much work or selling as many things as the employer wants them to, and will get less pay if they do not succeed $
1 THE SECOND OF TWO used to refer to the second of two people or things, which is not the one you already have or the one you have already mentioned
the/your other
•I can't find my other shoe.
•One man was arrested, but the other one got away.
•He kept shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other.
•She took it for granted that each knew who the other was.
2 THE REST used to refer to all the people or things in a group apart from the one you have already mentioned or the one that is already known about
the/your other
•The other hotels are all full.
•She's much brighter than all the other children in her class.
•I chose this coat in the end because the other ones were all too expensive.
the/your others
•I can see Julie, but where have all the others gone?
3 ADDITIONAL used to refer to additional people or things of the same kind:
•There are one or two other problems I'd like to discuss.
•I've got some other friends I'd like to invite.
•Have you any other questions?
among others (=used when mentioning one or more examples)
•The guests included, among others, Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson.
4 DIFFERENT used to refer to a different person or thing from the one you have already mentioned or the one that is already known about:
•David and Jessica were playing with two other children.
•You'd better change into some other clothes.
•Do you envy other women who seem to manage their lives better?
•Can we discuss this some other time?
•There is no other job I would rather do.
•Saudi Arabia produces more oil than any other country.
•I hope you will learn to show more respect for others (=other people).
some ... others
•Some people are at greater risk than others.
5 OPPOSITE used to refer to the thing that is opposite you, furthest from you, or moving away from you
the other side/end/direction etc
•You can park on the other side of the street.
•He lives at the other end of the road.
•She drove off in the other direction.
6 other than apart from a particular person or thing; = except
•The truth was known to no one other than herself.
•He doesn't eat pork, but other than that he'll eat just about anything.
7 none other than sb used to emphasize that the person involved in something is famous, impressive, or surprising:
•Johnson's defence lawyer was none other than Joe Beltrami.
8 the other way around/round the opposite of what you have just mentioned:
•I always thought that rugby was a rougher game than football, but in fact it's the other way round.
•Students practise translating from French to English and the other way around.
9 the other day/morning/week etc used to say that something happened recently, without saying exactly when:
•I saw Rufus the other day.
10 something/someone/somewhere etc or other used when you are not being specific about which thing, person, place etc you mean:
•It'll be here somewhere or other.
•We'll get the money somehow or other.
11 in other words used when you are expressing an idea or opinion again in a different and usually simpler way:
•The tax only affects people on incomes of over $200,000 - in other words, the very rich.
•So he is a fraud, a common thief in other words.
12 the other woman used to refer to a woman with whom a man is having a sexual relationship, even though he already has a wife or partner:
•He left his wife and child and moved in with the other woman.
!! When other is used before a noun, it never has an 's': We visited other places (NOT others places).
ANOTHER
EACH OTHER
every other at EVERY (5)
on the one hand ... on the other hand at HAND^1 (5) $ [U]
when something is strange and different $
1 [sentence adverb] used when saying what bad thing will happen if something is not done:
•You'll have to go now, otherwise you'll miss your bus.
•Put your coat on, otherwise you'll get cold.
2 [sentence adverb] used when saying what would have happened or might have happened if something else had not happened:
•We were delayed at the airport. Otherwise we would have been here by lunch time.
•They got two free tickets to Canada, otherwise they'd never have been able to afford to go.
3 say/think/decide etc otherwise to say, think, or decide something different:
•The government claims that the economy is improving, but this survey suggests otherwise.
•A lot of people think otherwise.
4 except for what has just been mentioned:
•He was tired but otherwise in good health. [sentence adverb]
•I could hear the distant noise of traffic. Otherwise all was still. [+ adj/adv]
•This spoiled an otherwise excellent piece of work.
•Their arrival livened up an otherwise dull afternoon.
5 or otherwise especially BrE used to refer to the opposite of what has just been mentioned:
•We welcome any comments from viewers, favourable or otherwise.
•The truth or otherwise of this diagnosis would be revealed in the future.
6 otherwise engaged formal busy doing something else:
•I'm afraid I will be otherwise engaged that day.
7 otherwise known as also called:
•Albert DeSalvo, otherwise known as the Boston Strangler
8 formal in a different way:
•people who smoke or otherwise abuse their bodies
9 it cannot be otherwise/how can it be otherwise? formal used to say that it is impossible for something to be different from the way it is:
•Life in the military is hard - how can it be otherwise? $
relating to religious thoughts and ideas rather than with normal daily life $ formal
unnecessary $ BrE informal
over-the-top remarks, behaviour etc that are OTT are so extreme or unreasonable that they seem stupid or offensive $ [C]
an animal with smooth brown fur that swims in rivers and eats fish $ [C]
a piece of furniture like a large box with a soft top, used as a seat, for resting your feet on when you are sitting, or for storing things [C]
a small room in an old castle where prisoners were kept for a long time
a sound that you make when you feel sudden pain:
•Ouch! That hurt! $ informal
a way of saying 'ought to' - used especially in writing to show how it is pronounced by some people:
•You oughta tell your mom. $
the short form of 'ought not':
•You oughtn't to drive if you're tired. $
1 used to say that someone should do something because it is the best or most sensible thing to do; = should
•You really ought to quit smoking.
•The company ought to be making changes in its marketing strategy.
•What sort of crimes ought the police to concentrate on?
•You were out enjoying yourself when you ought to have been studying.
2 used to make a suggestion about something you think is a good idea, especially in a social situation; = should
•We ought to get together some time soon.
•You ought to meet him; he's really nice.
•We ought to get her some flowers for her birthday.
•I ought to call Brian.
3 used to say that someone should do something or something should happen, because it is morally right or fair; = should
•You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
•The courts ought to treat black and white defendants in exactly the same way.
•Many people felt that America ought not to take part in the war.
4 used to say that you think something will probably happen, is probably true etc; = should
•He left two hours ago, so he ought to be there by now.
•They ought to win - they've trained hard enough.
•That ought to be enough potatoes for eight people.
•New technology ought to make this easier. $ [C] trademark
a board with letters and signs on it, which some people believe can be used to receive messages from dead peoplewritten abbreviation oz [C]
1 a unit for measuring weight, equal to 28.35 grams. There are 16 ounces in a pound.
FLUID OUNCE
2 an ounce of sense/truth/decency etc any sense, truth etc at all:
•If you had an ounce of sense you wouldn't believe him!
3 every (last) ounce of courage/energy/strength etc all the courage, energy etc that you have:
•Every ounce of attention was focused on our common goal.
4 an ounce of prevention (is worth a pound of cure) used to say that it is better to prevent a problem before it happens than to try to solve it after it has happened
5 not an ounce of fat (on sb) if there is not an ounce of fat on someone, they are thin and usually look healthy $ [possessive form of 'we']
1 belonging to or connected with us:
•a picture of our grandchildren
•You can stay at our house.
•We must preserve our natural environment.
•We must each take responsibility for our own actions.
2 spoken used to show that the person mentioned is your child, brother, or sister - used in northern England:
•Our Sharon did really well in her exams. $ [possessive form of 'we']
used to refer to something that belongs to or is connected with us:
•I'll show you to your room. Ours is next door.
•The main difference between our brains and those of monkeys is that ours are bigger.
•No, that's not ours.
of ours
•The Thackers are friends of ours. $
1 used by the person speaking to show that they and one or more other people are affected by their own action:
•We prepared ourselves for the long journey ahead.
•It was strange seeing ourselves on television.
2
a) used to emphasize 'we' or 'us':
•We built the house ourselves.
•As parents ourselves, we understand the problem
b) used after 'as', 'like', or 'except' instead of 'us':
•More help is needed for people like ourselves.
3 (all) by ourselves
a) alone:
•We weren't supposed to play by ourselves near the pond.
b) without help from anyone else:
•I knew that Tim and I wouldn't be able to do the whole job by ourselves.
4 (all) to ourselves without having to share something with any other people:
•We had the house to ourselves. [in adjectives]
describes something that has a particular quality:
•dangerous (=full of danger)
•spacious (=with a lot of space) [T]
to force someone out of a position of power, especially so that you can take their place
oust sb from sth
•The Communists were finally ousted from power. $ [U] AmE
when someone is removed from a position of power or from a competition - used in news reports
sb's ouster/the ouster of sb
•the ouster of the brutal dictatorship
1 FROM INSIDE from inside an object, container, building, or place; in
•She opened her suitcase and took out a pair of shoes.
•Lock the door on your way out.
•Charlotte went to the window and looked out.
•Out you go! (=used to order someone to leave a room)
[+of]
•The keys must have fallen out of my pocket.
•Get out of here!
•Someone had torn several pages out of her diary.
•I don't think I'd have the courage to jump out of a plane.
•All the roads out of the city were snowbound.
out came/jumped etc
•The egg cracked open and out came a baby chick.
2 OUTSIDE not inside a building; = outside
•Many of the homeless have been sleeping out for years.
•Children were out playing in the snow.
•Brrr, it's cold out there.
3 NOT AT HOME
a) away from your home, office etc, especially for a short time; in
•Did anyone call while I was out?
•My parents are both out at the moment.
•He went out at 11 o'clock.
b) to or in a place that is not your home, in order to enjoy yourself:
•You should get out and meet people.
•Let's eat out tonight (=eat in a restaurant).
•At first he was too shy to ask her out.
be/get out and about (=go to places where you can meet people)
•Most teenagers would rather be out and about with their friends.
4 DISTANT PLACE
a) in or to a place that is far away or difficult to get to:
•He went out to New Zealand.
•They've rented a farmhouse right out in the country.
b) used to say how far away something is:
•The Astra Satellite is travelling some 23,000 miles out in space.
[+of]
•a little village about five miles out of Birmingham
5 GIVEN TO MANY PEOPLE used to say that something is given to many people:
•The examination will start when all the question papers have been handed out.
•Have you sent out the invitations yet?
6 GET RID OF STH used to say that someone gets rid of something or makes it disappear:
•Have you thrown out yesterday's paper?
•Mother used washing soda to get the stains out.
7 NOT BURNING/SHINING a fire or light that is out is no longer burning or shining:
•Turn the lights out when you go to bed.
•The firefighters arrived, and within minutes the fire was out.
8 SUN/MOON ETC if the sun, moon, or stars are out, they have appeared in the sky:
•When the sun came out, a rainbow formed in the sky.
9 FLOWERS if the flowers on a plant are out, they have opened:
•It's still February and already the primroses are out.
10 COMPLETELY/CAREFULLY used to say that something is done carefully or completely:
•I spent all morning cleaning out the kitchen cupboards.
•In the summer months the soil dries out quickly.
11 NOT INCLUDED not included in a team, group, competition etc:
•The Welsh team was surprisingly knocked out in the semi finals.
[+of]
•Daniels will be out of the team until he recovers from his injury.
12 COME FROM STH used to say where something comes from or is taken from
[+of]
•A lot of good music came out of the hippy culture in the 1960s.
•The money is automatically taken out of your bank account every month.
13 AWAY FROM THE EDGE OF STH away from the main part or edge of something:
•I swam out into the middle of the lake.
•A long peninsula juts out into the sea.
[+of]
•She stuck her head out of the window to see what was happening.
14 NOT WORKING especially AmE if a machine, piece of equipment etc is out, it is not working:
•I don't believe it - the elevator's out again!
out of order at ORDER^1 (8)
15 PRODUCT used to say that a product is available to be bought:
•Is the new Harry Potter book out yet?
•Sony have brought out a new portable music system.
16 NOT IN A SITUATION no longer in a particular state or situation
[+of]
•She's not completely cured, but at least she's out of danger.
•This whole situation is getting out of control.
•How long have you been out of work now?
•Karen waved until the car was out of sight (=too far away to be seen).
17 HAVING LEFT AN INSTITUTION
a) having left the institution where you were
[+of]
•a kid just out of college
•His wife isn't out of hospital yet.
b) no longer in prison:
•Once he was out, he returned to a life of crime.
18 NOT FASHIONABLE no longer fashionable; in
•You can't wear that - maxi skirts have been out for years.
19 NOT SECRET no longer a secret:
•Her secret was out.
•The word's out that Mel Gibson is in town.
•Eventually the truth came out.
20 read/shout etc sth out (loud) to say something in a voice that is loud enough for others to hear:
•Someone called out my name.
•We all listened as he read the statement out loud.
21 UNCONSCIOUS not conscious:
•She fainted - she was out for about ten minutes.
•How hard did you hit him? He's out cold.
22 NONE LEFT used to say that there is none of something left because you have used it all, sold it all etc:
•The album was sold out within minutes.
[+of]
•We're out of milk.
•They've run out of ideas.
23 before the day/year etc is out before the day, year etc has ended:
•Don't cry, I'll be back before the week's out.
24 NOT CORRECT if a measurement, result etc is out, it is wrong because the numbers have not been calculated correctly:
•He was out in his calculations, so there was a lot of carpet left over.
•The bill was out by over £10.
•Their forecast was way out.
not far off/out/wrong at FAR^1 (2)
25 be out for sth/be out to do sth informal to have a particular intention:
•Andrew's just out for a good time.
•I was convinced he was out to cheat me.
26 NOT IN POWER used to say that someone, especially a political party, no longer has power or authority; in
•It's time we voted the Republicans out.
[+of]
•The party has been out of office for a long time.
27 ON STRIKE BrE used to say that someone has stopped working as a way of protesting about something:
•The railway workers have come out in sympathy with the miners.
28 HOMOSEXUAL if a HOMOSEXUAL is out, they have told people that they are homosexual
29 NOT POSSIBLE spoken if a particular suggestion or activity is out, it is not possible:
•We don't have enough money to rent a car, so that's out.
30 SEA when the TIDE is out, the sea by the shore is at its lowest level; in
•You can walk across the sands when the tide is out.
31 SPORT
a) a player or team that is out in a game such as CRICKET or baseball is no longer allowed to BAT:
•Sussex were all out for 365.
b) a ball that is out in a game such as tennis or BASKETBALL is not in the area of play; in
32 out with it! spoken used to tell someone to say something which they have been unwilling to say or have difficulty saying:
•OK, out with it! What really happened?
33 REASON because of a particular feeling that you have
[+of]
•They obeyed him out of fear rather than respect.
•Just out of curiosity, why did you take that job?
34 MADE OF STH used to say what substance or materials a particular thing is made of
[+of]
•a tombstone carved out of black marble
•toy boats made out of old tin cans
35 HOW MANY OF A GROUP used to say how common something is, or how large a part of a group you are talking about
9 out of 10/three out of four etc
•Nine out of ten students pass the test first time.
•Apparently they've lost three games out of seven already.
36 out of it informal
a) slightly unhappy because you feel different from the rest of a group of people and cannot share their fun, conversation etc:
•I felt a bit out of it because I was the only one who couldn't speak French.
b) unable to think clearly because you are tired or drunk, or have taken drugs:
•You were really out of it last night. What were you drinking?
37 out there
a) in a place that could be anywhere except here:
•My real father is out there and one day I plan to find him.
b) where someone or something can be noticed by many people:
•Jerry Lewis is out there all the time raising money for disabled kids.
38 out front especially AmE
a) in front of something, especially a building, where everyone can see you:
•There's a blue car out front.
b) taking a leading position:
•As a civil rights leader, he was always out front.
c) informal very honest and direct:
•Molly is very out front in talking about her mistakes.
out of your mind at MIND^1 (24); out of the blue at BLUE^2 (4); out of luck at LUCK^1 (10); out of this world at WORLD^1 (15); be out of the question at QUESTION^1 (9); out front at FRONT^1 (8); out back at BACK^2 (2); out of sorts at SORT^1 (10)

word choiceout, outside, outdoors, out of doors
If you are out, you are away from a building, especially the place where you live or spend a lot of time: Debbie's out. She'll be back later. | Why don't we go out for the day?
If you are outside a room or building, you are not in it but are close to it: Meet me outside the library. | I sat on a chair outside his office. | You'll have to wait outside in the corridor.
When outside is an adverb, it can also mean 'not inside any building': It's cold outside.
Outdoors or out of doors always mean 'not inside any building': We usually spend summers outdoors. | I like weddings that are held out of doors.

!! Do not confuse outdoors (with an -s) and outdoor (without an -s). Outdoors is an adverb: I like playing outdoors. Outdoor is an adjective that can only be used before a noun: outdoor activities

informal especially AmE from the inside to the outside of something - many teachers of British English consider it incorrect to use 'out' as a PREPOSITION:
•Karen looked out the window at the back yard.
•Get out the car and push with the rest of us!
1 [T usually passive] to publicly say that someone is HOMOSEXUAL when that person would prefer to keep it secret:
•Several gay politicians have been outed in recent months.
2 murder/the truth etc will out! used to say that it is difficult to hide a murder, the truth etc
1 [singular] an excuse to avoid doing an activity or to avoid being blamed for something:
•I'm busy on Sunday, so that gives me an out.
2 [C] an act of making a player in baseball lose the chance to score a point
3 on the outs (with sb) AmE informal arguing or not agreeing with someone:
•Wilson is on the outs with his family because of his relationship with that woman.
INS AND OUTS[not before noun]
1 no longer fashionable; in
•You can't wear that - maxi skirts have been out for years.
2 especially AmE if a machine, piece of equipment etc is out, it is not working:
•I don't believe it the elevator's out again!
be out of order at ORDER^1 (8)
1 used to form nouns and adjectives from verbs that are followed by 'out':
•an outbreak of flu (=from 'break out')
•outspoken comments (=from 'speak out')
2 [in nouns and adjectives] outside or beyond something:
•an outbuilding (=small building away from the main building)
•outlying areas (=far from the centre)
3 [in verbs] being or becoming bigger, further, greater etc than someone or something else:
•He's outgrown his clothes (=become too big for them).
•She outlived her brother (=he died before her).
4 [in verbs] doing better than someone, so that you defeat them:
•I can out-argue you any day.
•She outran him. [C] AmE
a period of time during which a service such as the electricity supply cannot be provided; = power cut BrE
•a power outage[only before noun]
used to emphasize that someone is definitely a particular kind of person or thing; = complete
•an out-and-out liar
the outback the Australian countryside far away from cities, where few people live past tense and past participle outbid, present participle outbidding [T]
to offer a higher price than someone else, especially at an AUCTION $ [C]
a motor attached to the back end of a small boat
moving away from you or away from a town, country etc; inbound
•outbound traffic
•the outbound flightout box $ [C]
1 the place in a computer email program where messages that you have not sent yet are stored
INBOX
2 AmE a container on an office desk that is used to hold letters, documents etc that have been dealt with and are ready to be taken away by someone such as a secretary; = out tray BrE [C]
if there is an outbreak of fighting or disease in an area, it suddenly starts to happen:
•a cholera outbreak
[+of]
•outbreaks of fighting
•the outbreak of World War II
break out at BREAK^1 [C]
a building near a main building, for example a BARN or SHED $ [C]
1 something you say suddenly that expresses a strong emotion, especially anger:
•He later apologized for his outburst.
emotional/violent/angry outburst
•his father's violent outbursts of temper
[+of]
•an outburst of anger
2 a sudden short increase in an activity
[+of]
•an outburst of creative energy
•outbursts of violence $ [C]
someone who is not accepted by the people they live among, or who has been forced out of their home:
•Smokers are often treated as social outcasts.
- outcast adjective $ [T]
to be or do something much better than someone or something else:
•He won his next race, completely outclassing his rivals. [C]
the final result of a meeting, discussion, war etc - used especially when no one knows what it will be until it actually happens; = result
[+of]
•the outcome of the election
•People who had heard the evidence at the trial were surprised at the outcome.also outcropping AmE $ [C]
a rock or group of rocks above the surface of the ground [C usually singular, U]
an angry protest by a lot of ordinary people:
•The closure of the local hospital has caused a huge public outcry.
[+against/about/over]
•a national outcry about the lack of gun control laws
[+from]
•The proposed changes caused an angry outcry from residents.
1 if something is outdated, it is no longer considered useful or effective, because something more modern exists; old-fashioned
•outdated teaching methods
•a factory with outdated equipment
•His writing style is now boring and outdated.
2 outdated information is not recent and may no longer be correct:
•This estimate was made on the basis of outdated figures.
the past tense of OUTDO [T]
to run, ride etc faster than other people, especially in a race, so that you are far ahead:
•Lewis quickly outdistanced the other runners. past tense outdid , past participle outdone , third person singular outdoes [T]
1 to be better or more successful than someone else at doing something:
•When it comes to speed of response, a small firm can outdo a big company.
outdo sb in sth
•skaters trying to outdo each other in grace and speed
2 not to be outdone in order not to let someone else do better or seem better than you:
•Not to be outdone, other computer manufacturers are also donating machines to schools. $
1 [only before noun] existing, happening, or used outside, not inside a building; indoor
•a huge outdoor market
•outdoor recreational activities
•outdoor clothing
•a healthy outdoor life
2 outdoor type someone who enjoys camping, walking in the countryside etc $
outside, not in a building; = out of doors; indoors
•It's warm enough to eat outdoors tonight.
•He wants a job that will let him work outdoors.
see box at OUT^1
the (great) outdoors the countryside far away from buildings and cities:
•a woman with a taste for adventure in the great outdoors $ informal
an outdoorsy person enjoys outdoor activities $ [only before noun]
1 on the outside of something; inner
•Remove the tough outer leaves before cooking.
2 further from the centre of something; inner
•the outer suburbs
3 relating to objects, activities etc that are part of the world, as opposed to your own thoughts and feelings; inner
•His inner conflict is related to struggles in the outer world. $ [only before noun]
furthest from the middle; innermost
•the outermost stars[U]
the space outside the Earth's air, where the PLANETs and stars are:
•creatures from outer space (=from another planet) $ [U]
clothes such as coats that are worn over other clothes [T] formal
to deal bravely with a difficult situation or opponent [C]
a place where water flows out, especially from a DRAIN or river:
•a sewage outfall
the outfield
a) the part of a CRICKET or baseball field furthest from the player who is BATting ; infield
b) the players in this part of the field; infield
- outfielder noun [C] [C]
1 a set of clothes worn together, especially for a special occasion:
•She bought a new outfit for the party.
•a cowboy outfit
2 informal a group of people who work together as a team or organization:
•My outfit was sent to Italy during the war.
•a small advertising outfit in San Diego
3 BrE a set of equipment that you need for a particular purpose or job; = kit
•a tyre repair outfitpast tense and past participle outfitted, present participle outfitting [T]
to provide someone or something with a set of clothes or equipment, especially ones that are needed for a particular purpose
outfit sb/sth with sth
•a car outfitted with dual controls for driver training
outfit sb in sth
•Members outfit themselves in Civil War clothing. $ [C]
1 BrE old-fashioned a shop that sells men's clothes
2 AmE a shop that sells equipment for outdoor activities such as camping [T]
1 to gain an advantage over an opponent, especially in politics:
•The Tories found themselves outflanked by Labour on the issue of law and order.
2 to go around the side of a group of enemies during a battle and attack them from behind $ [C]
1 when money, goods etc leave a bank, country etc
[+of]
•the outflow of capital from the developed countries
2 the flow of water or air from something
[+of]
•an outflow of gas escaping from the main duct
•the outflow valve $ [T]
to gain an advantage over someone by using your intelligence; = outsmart $
1 someone who is outgoing likes to meet and talk to new people:
•We're looking for someone with an outgoing personality.
2 outgoing president/chancellor etc someone who will soon finish their time as president etc
3 [only before noun] going out or leaving a place; incoming
•the tray for outgoing mail
•outgoing phone calls $ [plural] BrE
the money that you have to spend regularly, for example on rent or food:
•List all your outgoings for a month. $ past tense outgrew , past participle outgrown $ [T]
1 to grow too big for something; = grow out of
•They outgrow their clothes so quickly.
•Harry outgrew his cot when he was about two.
2 to no longer do or enjoy something that you used to do, because you have grown older and changed:
•Most children eventually outgrow a tendency toward travel sickness.
3 if a business outgrows a building, it begins to have too many people or too much work to fit into the building:
•His furniture-making business soon outgrew his garage.
4 to grow or increase faster than someone or something else:
•a population outgrowing its resources $ [C]
1 something that develops from something else, as a natural result of it
[+of]
•Crime is often an outgrowth of poverty.
2 technical something that grows out of something else [C]
1 BrE a small building which is near to and belongs to a larger main building; = outbuilding
2 AmE a small building over a hole in the ground that is used as a toilet, in a camping area or, in the past, behind a house; = privy BrE
1 [C] a short trip that a group of people take for pleasure
a family/school etc outing
•a class outing to the ballet
[+to]
•an outing to the beach
on an outing
•They had gone on an outing to the pool for Robert's birthday.
2 [C,U] when someone publicly says that someone else is HOMOSEXUAL, when that person does not want anyone to know
strange and unusual:
•outlandish clothes
•Her story seemed so outlandish. $ [T]
to continue to exist or be effective for a longer time than something else:
•Smith outlasted his rivals in the council to become leader in 1996.
•A leather sofa will usually outlast a cloth one.
OUTLIVE $ [T]
to completely stop something by making it illegal:
•The bill would have outlawed several types of guns.[C]
someone who has done something illegal, and who is hiding in order to avoid punishment - used especially about criminals in the past [C,U]
the amount of money that you have to spend in order to start a new business, activity etc; expense, cost
small/modest/considerable/large etc outlay
•For a relatively small outlay, you can start a home hairdressing business.
[+on]
•House buyers usually have a large initial outlay on carpets and furniture. [C]
1 a way of expressing or getting rid of strong feelings
[+for]
•Is football a good outlet for men's aggression?
•an outlet for creativity
2
a) formal a shop, company, or organization through which products are sold:
•Benetton has retail outlets in every major European city.
•a fast-food outlet
b) a shop that sells things for less than the usual price, especially things from a particular company or things of a particular type
3 AmE a place on a wall where you can connect electrical equipment to the supply of electricity; = power point BrE
4 a pipe or hole through which something such as a liquid or gas can flow out:
•a waste water outlet[C] AmE
a SHOPPING MALL where clothes are sold for less than the usual price, often because they are no longer fashionable or are slightly damaged
1 [C,U] the main ideas or facts about something, without the details:
•a research proposal outline
[+of]
•an outline of world history
broad/rough/general outline
•a broad outline of the committee's plans
in outline
•A debt reduction scheme was agreed in outline (=people agreed on its main points)
•.
2 [C,U] a line around the edge of something which shows its shape
[+of]
•The outlines of animals were cut into the rock.
•an outline map of Europe
in outline
•figures drawn in outline
3 [C] a plan for a piece of writing in which each new idea or fact is separately written down:
•Always write an outline for your essays.[T]
1 to describe something in a general way, giving the main points but not the details:
•The new president outlined plans to deal with crime, drugs, and education.
2 [usually passive] to show the edge of something, or draw around its edge, so that its shape is clear:
•a map with our property outlined in red
•trees outlined against the sky [T]
1 to remain alive after someone else has died:
•She outlived her husband by twenty years.
2 to continue to exist after something else has ended or disappeared; outlast
•Good books have a way of outliving those who want to ban them.
3 outlive its/your usefulness to become no longer useful:
•The docks have outlived their usefulness. [C]
1 your general attitude to life and the world
[+on]
•He's got a good outlook on life.
•Exercise will improve your looks and your outlook.
positive/optimistic outlook
•She still has an optimistic outlook for the future.
2 [usually singular] what is expected to happen in the future
[+for]
•The outlook for the weekend is unsettled, with periods of heavy rain.
•The outlook for sufferers from this disease is bleak.
economic/financial/political etc outlook
•a gloomy economic outlook in Western Europe
3 a view from a particular place:
•a very pleasing outlook from the bedroom window [only before noun]
far from the centre of a city, town etc or from a main building:
•one of the outlying suburbsoutmaneuver AmE $ [T] BrE
to gain an advantage over someone by using cleverer or more skilful plans or methods:
•He believed he could outmanoeuvre and trap the English king. $
no longer fashionable or useful; = outdated
•outmoded ideas $ [T]
to be more in number than another group:
•Flats outnumber houses in this area.
•His troops were hopelessly outnumbered.
outnumber sb/sth by sth
•In nursing, women still outnumber men by four to one.
vastly/greatly/heavily outnumber
•Men in prison vastly outnumber women.[C]
the feeling that you are outside your body and looking down on it from above, which people sometimes have when they are close to death[C]
an agreement to end a legal argument, in which one side agrees to pay money to the other so that the problem is not brought to court
settle sth out of court at COURT^1 (1)
1 if information is out-of-date, it is not recent and may no longer be correct; = outdated
•The information in the tourist guide is already out-of-date.
2 if something is out-of-date, it is no longer considered useful or effective, because something more modern exists:
•Their manufacturing methods are hopelessly out-of-date.
3 an official document that is out-of-date cannot be used because the period of time for which it was effective has finished:
•an out-of-date passport
outside, not in a building; = outdoors; indoors
•The kids spent all their time out of doors.
see box at OUT^1[plural]
small amounts of money that you have to spend as part of your job, and get back from your employerAmE
to, from, or in another state:
•an out-of-state driver's licenseout of the way
1 an out-of-the-way place is in an area where there are few people; remote
•an out-of-the-way spot for a picnic
•It's a great little pub, but a bit out of the way.
2 BrE unusual or strange:
•Her taste in music is a bit out-of-the-way.[only before noun]
1 to, from, or in another town:
•out-of-town visitors
2 BrE on the edge of a town:
•out-of-town shopping centresout-of-work
unemployed:
•out-of-work actors
•He's been out of work for six months. [T]
to go faster, do better, or develop more quickly than someone or something else:
•Job openings were outpacing the supply of qualified workers. [C]
someone who goes to a hospital for treatment but does not stay for the night; inpatient
•an outpatient clinic
•a routine examination in outpatients (=the outpatient department of a hospital) $ [T]
to be more successful than someone or something else:
•Stocks generally outperform other investments. [C,U]
a service that a company provides to help its workers find new jobs when it cannot continue to employ them [T]
to beat an opponent in a game by playing with more skill than they do [T]
to defeat an opponent in BOXING by gaining more points $ [C]
a group of buildings in a place far from cities or towns, usually established as a military camp or a place for trade:
•a remote outpost of the empire [C]
1 an expression of strong feelings
[+of]
•an outpouring of grief
2 a lot of something that is produced suddenly
[+of]
•an outpouring of creative energy [C,U]
1 the amount of goods or work produced by a person, machine, factory etc; production
•Output is up 30% on last year.
manufacturing/industrial/agricultural etc output
•Korea's agricultural output
[+of]
•the world's output of carbon dioxide
2 the information produced by a computer; input
3 technical the amount of electricity produced by a GENERATORpast tense and past participle output, present participle outputting [T]
if a computer outputs information, it produces it
1 [U] a feeling of great anger and shock:
•The response to the jury's verdict was one of outrage.
•a sense of moral outrage
[+at/over]
•environmentalists' outrage at plans to develop the coastline
public/popular outrage
•The case generated public outrage.
2 [C] an event that produces great anger and shock, especially because it is cruel or violent:
•bomb outrages in London
•This is an outrage![T usually passive]
to make someone feel very angry and shocked:
•Customers were outraged by the price increases.
1 very shocking and extremely unfair or offensive:
•outrageous prices
•an outrageous attack on his policies
it is outrageous (that)
•It's outrageous that the poor should pay such high taxes.
2 extremely unusual and slightly amusing or shocking:
•an outrageous hairstyle
•He says the most outrageous things.
- outrageously adverb
the past tense of OUTRUN [T]
1 to have a higher rank than someone else in the same group
2 to be more important than something else $ literary
strange, unusual, and slightly shocking [U]
when help, advice, or other services are provided for people who would not otherwise get these services easily
outreach program/service/center etc
•outreach centers for drug addicts past tense outrode $ , past participle outridden [T]
to ride faster or further than someone else $ [C]
a guard or police officer who rides on a MOTORCYCLE or horse beside or in front of a vehicle in which an important person is travelling $ [C]
1 a long piece of wood that is attached to the side of a boat, especially a CANOE, to prevent it from turning over in the water
2 a boat with an outrigger [only before noun]
1 clear and direct:
•an outright refusal
•an outright attack on his actions
2 complete and total:
•an outright victory
•an outright ban on the sale of tobacco
3 the outright winner/victor someone who has definitely and easily won
1 clearly and directly, without trying to hide your feelings or intentions:
•If she asked me outright, I'd tell her.
2 clearly and completely:
•She won outright.
•They rejected the deal outright.
3 buy/own sth outright to own something such as a house completely because you have paid the full price with your own money
4 immediately and without any delay:
•The passenger was killed outright.
•They fired her outright. $
the past tense of OUTRIDE past tense outran , past participle outrun, present participle outrunning [T]
1 to run faster or further than someone else
2 to develop more quickly than something else:
•The company's spending was outrunning its income. past tense and past participle outsold $ [T]
1 to be sold in larger quantities than something else:
•It may outsell his previous novels.
2 to sell more goods or products than a competitor:
•Australia now outsells the US in wines.
at/from the outset at or from the beginning of an event or process; set out
•It was clear from the outset that there were going to be problems.
•It's better to get something in writing right at the outset.
[+of]
•A person with higher qualifications can get a better paid job at the outset of their career. past tense and past participle outshone $ [T]
to be better or more impressive than someone or something else:
•Several new players outshone the veterans.
1
a) not inside a building; = outdoors; inside
•When we got up, it was still dark outside.
•Go and play outside.
see box at OUT^1
b) not inside a building or room but close to it:
•Could you wait outside please.
•I'll meet you outside the theatre at 2 o'clock.
[+of] AmE
•Several people were standing in the hallway outside of his room.
c) out of a building or room:
•We went outside to see what was happening.
•I opened the door and looked outside.
2
a) not in a particular city, country etc:
•She often travels outside the UK.
b) close to a place, city etc but not in it:
•We camped a few miles outside the town.
•Bolton is a mill town just outside Manchester.
[+of] AmE
•Maritza, 19, lives in Everett, outside of Boston.
3 beyond the limits or range of a situation, activity etc; within ; beyond
•It's outside my experience, I'm afraid.
[+of] especially AmE
•children born outside of marriage
4 if someone is outside a group of people, an organization etc, they do not belong to it:
•Few people outside the government realized what was happening.
from outside (sth)
•The university administrators ignored criticism from outside.
•Management consultants were brought in from outside the company.
5 outside of sb/sth informal especially AmE apart from a particular person or thing; = except
•Outside of love, the best thing you can give a child is attention.
•I'm taking one big trip this summer, but outside of that I'll be around.
6 if the time that someone takes to do something, especially finish a race, is outside a particular time, it is greater than that time:
•He finished in 10 minutes 22.4 seconds, 4 seconds outside the record. [only before noun]
1 not inside a building; inside
•We turned off the outside lights and went to bed.
•The house will need a lot of outside repairs before we can sell it.
2 involving people who do not belong to the same group or organization as you:
•Outside observers said the election was free and fair.
•Consultants were brought in to provide some outside advice.
3 the outside world the rest of the world:
•The city is largely cut off from the outside world.
•computers linked by modems to the outside world
4 outside interests/experiences etc interests, experiences etc that are not part of your work or studying:
•Children should be encouraged to take up outside interests, such as music or sport.
5 an outside chance a very small possibility that something will happen:
•Ireland still have an outside chance of winning.
6 outside line/call etc a telephone line or telephone call which is to or from someone who is not inside a particular building or organization:
•Dial '9' before the number when making outside calls.
7 an outside figure/estimate etc a number or amount that is the largest something could possibly be
8 the outside lane BrE the LANE that is nearest the middle of the road; = fast lane; the inside lane
1 the outside
a) the part or surface of something that is furthest from the centre; inside
[+of]
•The outside of the house was painted white.
b) the area around something such as a building, vehicle etc; inside
from the outside
•From the outside, it looked like any other big warehouse.
c) someone who is on or from the outside is not involved in an activity or does not belong to a particular group, organization etc; inside
from the outside
•Influences from the outside can undermine the values you want to teach your children.
on the outside
•To anyone on the outside, our marriage seemed perfect.
2 on the outside
a) used to describe the way someone appears to be or to behave:
•Ken was furious, but forced himself to appear calm on the outside.
b) not in prison:
•Life on the outside was not as easy as he'd first thought.
c) BrE if a car passes another car on the outside, it passes on the driver's side
3 at the (very) outside used to say that a particular number or amount is the largest something could possibly be, and it might be less; = at the most
•It's only a 20-minute walk, half an hour at the outside. $ [C]
1 someone who is not accepted as a member of a particular social group; insider
•I'm an outsider, the only foreign woman in the group.
to an outsider
•To an outsider, the system seems complex and confusing.
2 someone who does not belong to a particular company or organization or who is not involved in a particular activity; insider
•a political outsider who is running for governor
3 someone who does not seem to have much chance of winning a race or competition
rank outsider BrE
•Last year he was a rank outsider for the title.also outsized
1 larger than normal:
•a woman in outsize glasses
2 made for people who are very large or fat:
•outsize clothes $ [plural]
the parts of a town or city that are furthest from the centre
on the outskirts (of sth)
•They live on the outskirts of Paris. $ [T]
to gain an advantage over someone using tricks or your intelligence; = outwit
•The older kids outsmart the young ones when trading cards. $
the past tense and past participle of OUTSELL $ [U]
when a company uses workers from outside the company to do a job:
•the outsourcing of the marketing to a specialist firm
- outsource verb [T] past tense and past participle outspent [T]
to spend more money than another person or organization:
•In the Senate race, the Republican outspent his rival by nearly $2 million. $
expressing your opinions honestly and directly, even when doing this might annoy some people:
•an outspoken critic of the education reforms
- outspokenly adverb
- outspokenness noun [U]
spread out flat or completely:
•He was lying on the beach with arms outspread.
•a bird with its wings outspread
1 extremely good:
•an outstanding example of a 13th century castle
•an outstanding success
•His performance was outstanding.
2 not yet done, solved, or paid:
•We've got quite a few debts still outstanding.
•an outstanding issue
3 very great or clear:
•The question of who is in charge is of outstanding importance.
extremely well:
•He played outstandingly.
•She performed outstandingly well in her examinations.
•an outstandingly talented musician [T]
to stay somewhere longer than someone else
outstay your welcome at WELCOME^3 (3)
stretched out to full length
outstretched arms/hands/fingers
•She ran to meet them with outstretched arms. past tense and past participle outstripped, present participle outstripping [T]
1 to do something better than someone else or be more successful:
•We outstripped all our competitors in sales last year.
2 to be greater in quantity than something else:
•Demand for new aircraft production is outstripping supply.
3 to run or move faster than someone or something else:
•Speeding at 90 mph, Denny outstripped police cars for an hour. AmE informal
used in writing to represent the spoken form 'out of':
•I've got to get outta here.also outtake AmE [C]
a piece of a film or television show that is removed before it is broadcast, especially because it contains a mistake[C]
a box on an office desk where you put work and letters which are ready to be posted or put away; in tray $ [T usually passive]
to defeat a person by winning more votes than them:
•France was outvoted on that issue. $
1 [only before noun] relating to how a person or situation seems to be, rather than how it really is; inward
•The economy and outward appearance of the area have changed considerably.
•His clenched fist was the only outward sign of his anger.
2 outward journey/voyage etc a journey in which you are travelling away from home
3 [only before noun] directed towards the outside or away from a place:
•the outward flow of oil $
according to the way people or things seem; inwardly
•Calvin remained outwardly calm, but inside he was very angry.
•Outwardly, at least, he was an optimist.also outward AmE $
towards the outside or away from the centre of something; inwards
•The door opens outwards.
facing/looking/spreading etc outwards
•Stand with your elbows pointing outwards. [T]
to be more important or valuable than something else:
•The benefits of the scheme outweigh the disadvantages. past tense and past participle outwitted, present participle outwitting [T]
to gain an advantage over someone using tricks or clever plans:
•a wolf that had outwitted hunters for years $ [U]
work for a business that is done by people at home
- outworker noun [C] $ [only before noun]
old-fashioned, and no longer useful or important; worn out
•outworn traditions $ [U]
a Greek alcoholic drink that is drunk with water $
the plural form of OVUM $ [C]
a shape like a circle, but wider in one direction than the other
- oval adjective
•an oval mirror
the Oval Office the office of the US president, in the White House in Washington DC $
relating to the ovary:
•ovarian cancer $ plural ovaries [C]
1 the part of a female that produces eggs
2 the part of a female plant that produces seeds $ [C] formal
if a group of people give someone an ovation, they CLAP to show approval:
•The Chancellor's entrance was greeted with a standing ovation (=everyone stood up).
•Fans gave the rock group a thunderous ovation. [C]
1 a piece of equipment that food is cooked inside, shaped like a metal box with a door on the front; cooker, stove
•Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
•Press the mixture onto the bread and bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes.
2 like an oven informal uncomfortably hot
have a bun in the oven at BUN (5)
ovenproof dishes, plates etc will not be harmed by the high temperatures in an ovenBrE
oven-ready food is already prepared when you buy it, so you only have to cook it:
•a five-pound oven-ready turkey $ [U]
cooking pots that can be put in a hot oven without cracking $
1 ABOVE above or higher than something, without touching it; under
•A lamp hung over the table.
•She leaned over the desk to answer the phone.
•The sign over the door said 'Mind your head'.
•We watched a helicopter flying low over the harbour.
2 COVERING on something or covering it; under
•Over the body lay a thin white sheet.
•She wore a large jacket over her sweater.
•Mind you don't spill coffee over my best tablecloth.
3 ACROSS from one side of something to the other side of it:
•Somehow the sheep had jumped over the fence.
•The road over the mountains is steep and dangerous.
•a bridge over the River Thames
•Their house has a magnificent view over the bay.
4 ON THE OTHER SIDE on the opposite side of something from where you already are:
•There's a bus stop just over the road.
•They live over the river in Richmond.
5 DOWN FROM STH down from the edge of something:
•The car plunged over a cliff.
6 IN MANY PARTS OF STH in or to many parts of a particular place, organization, or thing:
•He used to wander over the moors, losing all track of time.
all over (sth) (=in every part)
•They said they had cleaned up but there were bottles all over the place.
•Scientists from all over the world gather here.
7 NO LONGER AFFECTED if you are over an illness or a bad experience or situation, you are no longer affected by it; recover
•I think we're over the worst of the crisis now.
•He had a fever last night, but he seems to be over it now.
•Sybil has never got over the shock of her mother's death.
•I'm over him now (=I am no longer in love with him).
8 MORE THAN more than a particular number, amount, or level; under
•The Japanese were producing over 100 million tons of steel.
•toys suitable for children over the age of three
•drivers who go over the speed limit
the over-30s/50s etc (=people who are more than a particular age)
•a social club for the over-60s
9 DURING during:
•Will you be home over the summer vacation?
•Over a period of ten years he stole a million pounds from the company.
•Can we talk about this over dinner?
see box at SINCE
10 CONCERNING about a particular subject, person or thing:
•He's having problems over his income tax.
•a row over public expenditure
•There is concern over the bad image of the legal profession.
11 CONTROLLING in control of or influencing someone or something:
•Genghiz ruled over an empire that stretched from Persia across to China.
•She had great personal influence and power over her followers.
12 BETTER used to say that someone or something is more successful or better than someone or something else:
•Ipswich's 3-1 win over Manchester City
•Can Labour maintain its lead over the Conservatives?
•It has one great advantage over its rivals.
13 BY TELEPHONE/RADIO using something such as a telephone or radio:
•I don't want to talk about this over the telephone.
•I heard the news over the radio.
14 over and above in addition to something:
•He gets a travel allowance over and above his existing salary.
15 LOUDER THAN STH making a sound louder than another sound:
•'What?' he yelled over the noise of the engine and the wind.
16 PREFERRING if you choose one thing over another, you choose that thing rather than the other:
•What is your main reason for choosing one restaurant over another?
1 FALLING DOWN from an upright position into a position of lying on a surface:
•He was so drunk he fell over in the road.
•Mind you don't knock the candle over.
•Engineers are working to prevent the tower from toppling over.
2 BENDING/FOLDING so that someone or something is no longer straight or flat, but is bent or folded in the middle:
•As Sheila bent over, a sudden pain shot up her back.
•He folded the paper over and put it in his pocket.
3 ACROSS
a) from one side of an object, space, or area to the other side:
•There are only three canoes so some people will have to swim over.
•The wall was crumbling where children had climbed over.
•I went over (=crossed the room, street etc) to say hello, but Vincent didn't recognize me.
[+to]
•We flew over to the US to visit my Aunt Polly.
[+from]
•One of my cousins is coming over from France with his wife and daughter.
•Come over here and see what I've found.
b) in a place that is on the other side of a space or area:
•Bill lives over on the other side of town.
•She was standing over by the window.
•Do you see that building over there?
4 IN OR TO A PLACE in or to a particular house, city etc:
•You really should come over and see our new house.
•I spent the whole day over at Gabby's place.
•We could drive over to Oxford this afternoon.
5 FINISHED if an event or period of time is over, it has finished:
•Is the meeting over yet?
over (and done) with (=used about something unpleasant)
•I'm so glad the mid-term exams are over and done with.
•You'd better give them the bad news. Do it now - get it over with.
6 TO THE SIDE towards one side:
•The bus pulled over to the side of the road.
•Would you move over, so I can sit next to you.
7 GIVING from one person or group to another:
•The attacker was ordered to hand over his weapon.
•Most of the money has been signed over to his children.
8 CHANGING from one position or system to another:
•The guards change over at midnight.
•We switched over from electricity to gas because it was cheaper.
9 TURNING so that the bottom or the other side of something can now be seen:
•Turn the box over and open it at that end.
•Josh rolled over and went back to sleep.
10 MORE THAN more than or higher than a particular number, amount, or level; under
•Almost 40% of women are size 14 or over.
•People earning £33,000 and over will pay the higher rate of tax.
11 VERY/TOO used before an adjective or adverb to mean 'very' or 'too':
•She didn't seem over pleased when I asked her to wait.
•Perhaps we were all over enthusiastic about the project.
12 REMAINING an amount of something that is over is what remains after some of it has been used:
•There should be some money over when I've paid all the bills.
•There was a little food left over from the party.
13 COVERED used to show that something is completely covered with a substance or material:
•Most of the windows have been boarded over.
•Parts of the river were iced over.
[+with]
•The door had been painted over with a bright red varnish.
14 ABOVE above someone or something:
•We stood on the roof watching the planes fly over.
15 TALKING/THINKING/READING in a detailed and careful way:
•After talking it over with my wife, I've decided to retire.
•I'll need time to read the contract over before I sign.
•Think it over carefully before you make a decision.
16 AGAIN AmE if you start or do something over, you do it again:
•I got mixed up and had to start over.
17 over and over (again) many times:
•The way to learn the script is to say it to yourself over and over again.
18 twice over/three times over etc
a) used to say how many times the same thing happens:
•He sings each song twice over.
•The pattern is repeated many times over.
b) used to say by how much an amount is multiplied:
•Trade between the two countries has increased five times over.
19 all over again used to emphasize that you do the whole of something again from the beginning, or that the same thing happens again:
•Their first plan had gone wrong, so they had to start all over again.
•We had quarrelled about the money before, and now it was happening all over again.
20 over to sb used to say that it is now someone else's turn to do something, to speak etc:
•I've done my best. Now it's over to the professionals.
21 RADIO MESSAGE spoken used when communicating by radio to show that you have finished speaking:
•Are you hearing me loud and clear? Over.
22 over against sth formal used to say what something is compared to or preferred to:
•The Celtic Church maintained the Greek calendar over against that of Rome.[C]
the period of time in the game of CRICKET during which six or eight balls are thrown by the same BOWLER in one direction $
1 too much:
•overpopulation
•overcooked vegetables
•overweight
2 above; beyond; across:
•overhanging branches
•overhead telephone wires
•the overland route (=not by sea or air)
3 outer:
•an overcoat
4 additional:
•We were working overtime. (=working beyond the usual time)[C]
someone who works very hard to be successful, and is very unhappy if they do not achieve everything they want to; underachiever $ [I]
to act in a play with too much emotion or movement - used to show disapproval
- overacting noun [U] $
too active, in a way that produces a bad result; underactive
•an overactive thyroid gland
•Such fears are nothing more than the product of an overactive imagination.
too old for a particular purpose or activity; under-age
•Leyton was over-age for recruitment into the army. $ [only before noun]
considering or including everything:
•The overall cost of the exhibition was £400,000.
•The overall result is an increase in population.
•An overall winner and a runner-up were chosen.
•We don't want all the details now, just the overall picture.
!! Do not say 'in the overall' or 'on the overall'. Say on the whole: In spite of the film's many faults, on the whole it's worth seeing.
1 considering or including everything:
•Williams came fifth overall.
•What will it cost, overall?
2 [sentence adverb] generally:
•Overall, prices are still rising. $
1 [C] BrE a loose-fitting piece of clothing like a coat, that is worn over clothes to protect them
2 overalls [plural] AmE heavy cotton trousers with a piece covering your chest, held up by pieces of cloth that go over your shoulders; = dungarees BrE
3 overalls [plural] BrE a piece of clothing like a shirt and trousers in one piece that is worn over other clothes to protect them; = coveralls AmE[C] BrE
1 more votes than all the other political parties together:
•The Conservatives had a huge overall majority in the House of Commons.
2 the difference between the number of votes gained by the winning party and the total votes gained by all the other parties:
•an overall majority of 28 $ [only before noun]
including or influencing every part of something:
•The crisis gave an overarching justification to the government's policy. $ especially BrE
an overarm throw in a sport is when you throw the ball with your arm high above your shoulder; underarm $ [T usually passive]
to make someone feel respect or fear, so that they are nervous or unable to say or do anything:
•He was totally overawed by his father.
- overawed adjective $ [I,T]
1 BrE to fall over or nearly fall over because you lose balance
2 AmE OUTWEIGH $ past tense overbore $ , past participle overborne $ [T usually passive]
to defeat someone or something:
•She is independent-minded enough not to be easily overborne by her husband. $
always trying to control other people without considering their wishes or feelings; = domineering
•a bossy, overbearing wife $ past tense and past participle overbid, present participle overbidding
1 [I + for] to offer too high a price for something, especially at an AUCTION
2 [I,T] to offer more than the value of your cards in a card game such as BRIDGE $ [C]
a condition in which someone's upper teeth are too far in front of their lower teeth $
made to seem greater or more impressive than something really is; = exaggerated
•He's not really a scientist; he's just an overblown technician. $
1 over the side of a ship or boat into the water:
•One of the crew fell overboard and drowned.
•Man overboard! (=said when someone falls off a boat)
2 go overboard to do or say something that is too extreme for a particular situation:
•I hope politicians will not go overboard in trying to control the press.
3 throw sth overboard to get rid of an idea, system etc that is considered to be useless or unnecessary $ [I,T]
to sell more tickets for a theatre, plane etc than there are seats available:
•overbooked hotels $ [T usually passive]
to give an organization, person, or system more work or problems than they can deal with:
•Health services have been overburdened and are unable to care for many older people.
•a manager overburdened with work $
the past tense of OVERCOME $ [singular,U]
the situation in which an industry or factory cannot sell as much as it produces $
dark with clouds:
•a chilly overcast day
•The sky was overcast and a light rain began to fall. $
1 [I,T] to charge someone too much money for something; undercharge
•They were being overcharged for cheap beer.
2 [T] to put too much power into a BATTERY or electrical system $
[I] full of emotion or excitement:
•the stadium's overcharged atmosphere $ [C]
a long thick warm coat $ past tense overcame , past participle overcome [T]
1 to successfully control a feeling or problem that prevents you from achieving something:
•He struggled to overcome his shyness.
•Her financial problems could no longer be overcome.
2 [usually passive] if smoke or gas overcomes someone, they become extremely sick or unconscious because they breathe it:
•The engineer was working on the freezer when he was overcome by gas.
3 if an emotion overcomes someone, they cannot behave normally because they feel the emotion so strongly
[+with]
•Charles was overcome with grief.
4 to fight and win against someone or something:
•Australia overcame the Netherlands 2-1. $ [I]
to try to correct a weakness or mistake by doing too much of the opposite thing
[+for]
•Zoe overcompensates for her shyness by talking a lot.
- overcompensation $ noun [U] $ [T]
to cook food for too long; undercook
•overcooked chicken $
filled with too many people or things:
•Staff had to work in overcrowded conditions.
•overcrowded housing $ [U]
when there are too many people or things in one place
relieve/ease/reduce overcrowding
•There are plans to relieve overcrowding in the village.
•the prison's chronic overcrowding problem $
1 if a city or area is overdeveloped, too many houses, buildings, roads etc have been built there:
•an overdeveloped country
2 too great or large:
•You have an overdeveloped sense of duty. $ past tense overdid , past participle overdone , third person singular overdoes [T]
1 to do something more than is suitable or natural:
•Analysts believe that worries about the economy are overdone.
•Use a few drawings and photographs, but don't overdo it.
2 overdo it to work too hard or be too active so that you become tired:
•You mustn't overdo it - if you' re tired, just sit down and start again.
3 to use too much of something:
•I think I overdid the salt. $
cooked too much; underdone
•The beef was overdone. $ [C]
1 too much of a drug taken at one time
[+of]
•a massive overdose of heroin
•She took an overdose and died two days later.
2 too much of something, especially something harmful
[+of]
•an overdose of sun $ [I]
OD to take too much of a drug at one time, so that it harms you or kills you
[+on]
•She overdosed on sleeping pills. $ [C] BrE
the amount of money you owe to a bank when you have spent more money than you had in your account:
•a £250 overdraft
•Many students have a free overdraft facility (=agreement with their bank to have an overdraft up to a particular limit). $ [not before noun]
if you or your bank account is overdrawn, you have spent more than you had in your account and so you owe the bank money:
•I try not to go overdrawn if possible.
[+by]
•My account is overdrawn by £300. $
dressed in clothes that are too formal for the occasion; underdressed
•She felt overdressed in her smart suit.
- overdress verb [I] $ [U]
1 an additional GEAR which allows a car to go fast while its engine produces the least power necessary
2 go into overdrive/be in overdrive to start being very active or working very hard:
•Her career has gone into overdrive. $
1 not done, paid, returned etc by the time expected:
•an overdue gas bill
•The library books are overdue.
•The baby was a week overdue (=it was expected to be born a week ago).
2 something that is overdue should have happened or been done a long time ago
[+for]
•He was overdue for a shave.
•We welcome this announcement and think it's long overdue. $ past tense overate $ , past participle overeaten [I]
to eat too much, or eat more than is healthy $
overegg the pudding BrE informal to do more than is necessary, or add something that is not neededalso overemphasise BrE $ [T]
to give something more importance than it deserves or than is suitable:
•In the past the exam had been overemphasized.
•The importance of adequate preparation cannot be overemphasized (=used to say that something is very important).
- overemphasis noun [singular]
•There has been an overemphasis on content rather than methodology. $ [T]
1 to think something is better, more important etc than it really is; underestimate
•He tends to overestimate his own abilities.
•The importance of training in health and safety cannot be overestimated (=is extremely important).
2 to guess an amount or value that is too high; underestimate
•Most patients overestimated how long they had had to wait to see a doctor. $ [C]
a calculation, judgement, or guess that is too large:
•The figure of 30% is clearly an overestimate. $
someone who is overexcited is very excited and not behaving sensibly:
•Some of the boys became overexcited. $ [T]
1 to allow too much light to reach the film when taking or developing a photograph; underexpose
2 be overexposed to appear too many times on television, in the newspapers etc, so that people lose interest in you and you become less popular[U]
1 when too much light, RADIATION etc reaches someone's skin, a photographic film etc and is harmful
2 when someone receives too much attention from television, the newspapers etc $ [T]
1 to try to do or use too much of something, causing problems, illness, or damage
overextend yourself
•Be careful not to overextend yourself. You've been very ill.
2 to spend more money than you actually have:
•Jackson's company became overextended financially.
- overextended adjective $ past tense and past participle overfed [T]
to give someone too much food $ [T]
to put too much of something into a container:
•He had overfilled the jug. $ [U]
the process of taking too many fish from the sea, a river etc, so that the number of fish in it becomes too low $ [I,T]
1 if a river, lake, or container overflows, it is so full that the liquid or material inside flows over its edges:
•The drains flooded and water overflowed down the main street.
•The river had overflowed its banks.
[+with]
•wastebins overflowing with plastic cups
2 to have a lot of something
[+with]
•The garden overflows with colour.
•He was overflowing with good ideas.
3 if a place overflows with people or people overflow into a place, there are too many of them to fit into it
[+with]
•Hospitals were reported to be overflowing with dead and wounded.
[+into]
•The house was full and people were overflowing into the street.
4 to have a very strong feeling
[+with]
•My heart was overflowing with gratitude.
5 be filled to overflowing (with sth) to be completely full:
•One wall was filled to overflowing with books. $
1 [singular] the amount of something or the number of people that cannot be contained in a place because it is already full:
•The overflow will be accommodated in another hotel.
[+of]
•the overflow of water from the lake
2 [C] a pipe through which water flows out of a container when it becomes too full $ past tense overflew , past participle overflown $ , present participle overflying, third person singular overflies [T]
to fly over an area or country in an aircraft $ [only before noun]
used to describe a train system that runs on the surface of the ground rather than below it; underground
•an overground railway $
1 covered with plants that have grown in an uncontrolled way
[+with]
•The garden will be overgrown with weeds by the time we get back.
2 when grass or plants are overgrown, they have grown in an uncontrolled way:
•a lawn with overgrown grass
3 overgrown schoolboy/child an adult who behaves like a child - used to show disapproval:
•Stop acting like an overgrown schoolboy. $ [U]
plants and branches of trees growing above your head, usually in a forest $ AmE
an overhand throw in a sport is when you throw the ball with your arm above the level of your shoulder; underhand $ past tense and past participle overhung [I,T]
to hang over something or stick out above it $ [C,usually singular]
1 a rock, roof etc that hangs over something else:
•We stood under the overhang while it rained.
2 the amount by which something hangs over something else:
•a five-foot overhang $ [T]
1 to repair or change the necessary parts in a machine, system etc that is not working correctly:
•A mechanic is coming to overhaul the engine.
2 to change a system or method in order to improve it:
•All the community's decision-making institutions need to be overhauled. $ [C]
1 necessary changes or repairs made to a machine or system:
•The car needs a complete overhaul.
2 when a system or method is changed in order to improve it
[+of]
•an overhaul of the tax system $
above your head or in the sky:
•Bullets whizzed overhead.
•A plane flew overhead.
- overhead adjective
•overhead wires $
1 [U] AmE overheads [plural] BrE money spent regularly on rent, insurance, electricity, and other things that are needed to keep a business operating:
•Their offices are in London so the overheads are very high.
2 [C] a piece of transparent material used with an overhead projector to show words, pictures etc[C]
OHP a piece of electrical equipment used when giving a talk, which shows words or pictures on a wall or large screen so that many people can see them $ past tense and past participle overheard $ [T]
to accidentally hear what other people are saying, when they do not know that you have heard:
•I overheard part of their conversation.
overhear sb saying sth
•She overheard the management discussing pay rises.
overhear sb say (that)
•We overheard the teacher say there would be a pop quiz today.
•I couldn't help overhearing your argument.
EAVESDROP $ [I,T]
1 to become too hot, or to make something too hot:
•I think the engine's overheating again.
•Try not to overheat the sauce.
2 if a country's ECONOMY overheats, or if something overheats it, it grows too fast and this leads to increases in prices, salaries, interest rates etc $
1 too hot:
•an overheated waiting room
2 an overheated ECONOMY grows too fast, leading to increases in prices, salaries, interest rates etc
3 too full of anger or excitement:
•her overheated imagination $
the past tense and past participle of OVERHANG^1 $
1 [I] to eat or drink too much:
•It's hard not to overindulge at Christmas.
2 [T] to let someone have everything they want, or always let them do what they want:
•Penny was overindulged by her parents.
- overindulgence noun [U] $ [not before noun]
extremely pleased or happy
overjoyed to hear/find/see etc sth
•He was overjoyed to see his mother again.
[+at]
•She wasn't exactly overjoyed at the prospect of looking after two small boys.
overjoyed (that)
•Her parents were overjoyed that she'd been found alive. $ [U]
more of something than is necessary or desirable:
•More television coverage of the election would be overkill. $
filled with too many people or things:
•overladen buses $
the past tense and past participle of OVERLAY $
across land, not by sea or air:
•They plan to travel overland to China.
- overland adjective
•an overland route $ past tense and past participle overlapped, present participle overlapping [I,T]
1 if two or more things overlap, part of one thing covers part of another thing:
•One of Jilly's front teeth overlaps the other.
•The tiles on the roof overlap.
2 if two subjects, ideas etc overlap, they include some but not all of the same things:
•Maxwell's responsibilities overlap yours, so you will be sharing some of the work.
[+with]
•The study of sociology overlaps with the study of economics.
•two great men with overlapping interests
3 if two activities or periods of time overlap, the second one starts before the first one has finished:
•The second phase of development overlaps the first.
[+with]
•My vacation overlaps with yours. $ [C,U]
the amount by which two activities, ideas, things etc overlap
[+between]
•There is considerable overlap between the girls' and boys' test results.
[+of]
•an overlap of about two centimetres
•a large degree of overlap $ past tense and past participle overlaid [T]
1 to cover or be on top of something
be overlaid with sth
•The wood is overlaid with silver.
2 if one quality, sound etc overlays another, it is added to it and is often stronger or more noticeable:
•The roar of the engines was overlaid by a loud banging. $ [C]
1 something which covers something else:
•the brass fire surround with its decorative overlay
2 a transparent sheet with a picture or drawing on it which is put on top of another picture to change it
3 an additional quality or feeling:
•sad stories with an overlay of humour $
on the other side of the page:
•See the diagram overleaf. $ past tense overlay , past participle overlain , present participle overlying [T] technical
to lie over something:
•Clay overlies chalk in the southern mountains. $ past participle overloaded or, overladen [T]
1 to put too many things or people on or into something:
•Be careful not to overload the washing machine.
be/become overloaded with sth
•The bus was overloaded with tourists and their luggage.
2 to put too much electricity through an electrical system or piece of equipment:
•Don't overload the lighting circuit.
3 to give someone too much work or information to deal with
be/become overloaded with sth
•All the staff are overloaded with work.
- overload $ noun [C,U]
•the modern day information overload
•an overload of urgent daily business $
continuing for too long:
•an overlong performance $ [T]
1 to not notice something, or not see how important it is; = miss
•It is easy to overlook a small detail like that.
•Nobody could overlook the fact that box office sales were down.
2 to forgive someone's mistake, bad behaviour etc and take no action:
•She found him entertaining enough to overlook his faults.
3 if a house, room etc overlooks something, it has a view of it, usually from above:
•Our room overlooks the ocean. $ [C]
someone with great power over a large number of people, especially in the past $
too or very:
•Your views on economics are overly simplistic.
•I'm not overly fond of cats. $ [U]
a situation in which a company, industry etc has more workers than are needed; = overstaffing
- overmanned adjective $ literary
too much or very much:
•At his age, he didn't care overmuch about impressing people. $
1 for or during the night:
•Pam's staying overnight at my house.
2 suddenly or surprisingly quickly:
•He became a millionaire overnight.
happen/appear/change overnight
•Reputations are not changed overnight.
!! Do not talk about 'an overnight' because overnight is never a noun. It is either an adverb or an adjective. $
1 happening during the night or for the night:
•an overnight flight to Chicago
•overnight accommodation in London
2 happening surprisingly quickly:
•The show was an overnight success.
•his overnight decision to become a vegetarian[C]
a bag containing everything you need for a night away from home:
•He packed an overnight bag and left.
expecting that things will be better than is possible or likely:
•over-optimistic forecasts of economic growth $
given more money for a job than you deserve; underpaid
•grossly overpaid football players $ [C] AmE
a structure like a bridge that allows one road to go over another road $ past tense and past participle overpaid
1 [T] to pay someone more money than they deserve; underpay
•Most big companies continue to overpay their top executives.
2 [I,T] to pay too much money for something; underpay
•Try to recover any tax you have overpaid.
- overpayment noun [C,U] $ [T]
1 to make something seem more important than it is; underplay
•His role in the group's success has been overplayed.
2 overplay your hand to behave too confidently because you think you are in a stronger position than you actually are:
•The unions overplayed their hand in the end and failed to get the pay rise they wanted. $ [U]
when there are too many people living in a particular place:
•efforts to reduce overpopulation
- overpopulated $ adjective
•our overpopulated cities $ [T]
1 to take control of someone physically because you are stronger:
•The security guards soon overpowered the man.
2 if a smell, taste, or emotion overpowers you, it affects you very strongly:
•Her scent overpowered his senses.
•She was overpowered by grief. $
1 very strong; intense
•an overpowering smell of rotten flesh
•He felt an overpowering desire to slap her.
2 someone who is overpowering has such a strong character that they make other people feel uncomfortable or afraid; = overbearing
- overpoweringly adverb $
something that is overpriced is more expensive than it should be $ [T]
to print additional words over a document, stamp etc that already has printing on it $ [U]
the act of producing more of something than people want or need:
•the systematic overproduction of food $
so anxious to protect someone from harm that you restrict their freedom:
•overprotective parents $
if you are overqualified for a particular job, you have more experience or training than is needed; underqualified
•I'm having trouble finding another job - everyone says I'm overqualified. $
the past tense of OVERRUN $
not as good or important as some people think or say; underrated
•a vastly overrated film
- overrate verb [T] $
overreach yourself to try to do more than you have the power, ability, or money to do:
•The company overreached itself financially. $ [I]
to react to something with too much emotion, or by doing something that is unnecessary
[+to]
•You always overreact to criticism.
•Many investors overreacted to the stock market crash.
- overreaction noun [singular,U]
•Their response was an overreaction. $ past tense overrode $ , past participle overridden [T]
1 to use your power or authority to change someone else's decision:
•The EU commission exercised its power to override British policy.
2 to be regarded as more important than something else:
•The needs of the mother should not override the needs of the child.
3 to stop a machine doing something that it does by itself:
•Can you override the automatic locking system?
- override $ noun [C]
•a manual override $ [only before noun]
more important than anything else:
•a question of overriding importance
•Their overriding concern is with efficient crime control. $
overripe fruit and vegetables are past the point of being ready to eat and are too soft:
•overripe bananas $ [T]
to change an order or decision that you think is wrong, using your official power:
•The House of Lords overruled the decision of the Court of Appeal.
•They have the power to overrule the local council. $ past tense overran , past participle overrun, present participle overrunning
1 [T usually passive] if unwanted things or people overrun a place, they spread over it in great numbers
be overrun by/with sth
•a tiny island overrun by tourists
•The house was overrun with mice.
2 [I,T] to take more time or money than intended:
•The final speaker overran by at least half an hour.
3 [T usually passive] if soldiers overrun a place, they take control of it:
•Poland was overrun by the Russian army. $ [C]
an amount of time or money that is larger than was planned or intended:
•cost overruns of £2 billion $
to or in a foreign country that is across the sea; abroad
•Chris is going to work overseas.
•Most applications came from overseas. $ [only before noun]
coming from, existing in, or happening in a foreign country that is across the sea; home
•overseas students
•overseas investment $ past tense oversaw $ , past participle overseen [T]
to be in charge of a group of workers and check that a piece of work is done satisfactorily; = supervise
•A team leader was appointed to oversee the project. $ [C]
someone who is in charge of a project, group of workers etc, and who makes sure that the job is done properly; = supervisor $ past tense and past participle oversold $ [T]
1 to praise someone or something too much:
•Tourism on the island is oversold.
2 to sell more of something than is actually available $
easily upset or offended:
•Don't you think you're being a bit oversensitive? $
having more interest in or desire for sex than is usual $ [T]
1 to make someone or something else seem less important:
•Her interest in politics began to overshadow her desire to be a poet.
•The achievement of the men's team was overshadowed by the continuing success of the women's team.
2 to make an occasion or period of time less enjoyable by making people feel sad or worried:
•The threat of war overshadowed the summer of 1939.
3 if a tall building, mountain etc overshadows a place, it is very close to it and much taller than it:
•a dark valley overshadowed by towering peaks $ [C]
a rubber shoe that you wear over an ordinary shoe to keep your feet dry $ past tense and past participle overshot $ [I,T]
1 to accidentally go a little further than you intended:
•The plane overshot the runway and plunged into a ditch.
2 to spend more money than you had intended:
•The school has overshot its cash limit.
- overshoot $ noun [C] $ [C,U]
1 a mistake in which you forget something or do not notice something:
•I assure you that this was purely an oversight on my part.
2 have oversight of sth to be in charge of something:
•He has general oversight of all training courses. $ past tense and past participle oversimplified, present participle oversimplifying, third person singular oversimplifies [I,T]
to describe something in a way that is too simple and ignores many facts:
•To describe all these people as refugees is to oversimplify the situation.
- oversimplification $ noun [C,U]also oversize $
bigger than usual or too big:
•an oversized jacket $ past tense and past participle overslept [I]
to sleep for longer than you intended:
•Sorry I'm late. I overslept.
sleep in at SLEEP^1 $ past tense and past participle overspent [I,T]
to spend more money than you can afford:
•The hospital has overspent its budget by £70,000.
- overspend $ noun [C]
•an overspend of £200,000 $ [singular,U] BrE
people who move out of a big city because there are too many people living there, and go to live in new houses outside the city:
•an overspill of workers from London $
an overstaffed company, organization etc has more workers than it needs; understaffed $ [T]
to talk about something in a way that makes it seem more important, serious etc than it really is; = exaggerate; understate
•To say that all motorists speed in residential areas is overstating the case.
•The importance of a child's early years cannot be overstated (=is very important).
- overstatement noun [C,U]
•It's an overstatement to say that the man's a fool. $ [T]
to stay somewhere longer than you are allowed to; = outstay
•They overstayed their visas and were arrested.
overstay your welcome at WELCOME^3 (3) $ past tense and past participle overstepped, present participle overstepping [T]
1 overstep the limits/bounds/boundaries to do something that is not acceptable or allowed:
•He has overstepped the bounds of acceptable behaviour.
2 overstep the mark to offend someone by doing or saying things that you should not do or say:
•She overstepped the mark and lost her job. $ [I,T]
to obtain more of something than is needed
- overstock $ noun [C] $ [T]
to try to do more than you are able to, or to use more money, supplies etc than you have:
•an overstretched social services department
overstretch yourself
•Problems only arise when people overstretch themselves. $
if something is oversubscribed, too many people have said that they want to use it or have it:
•All good schools are oversubscribed. $ plural oversupplies [C,U]
the state of having more of something than you need or can sell:
•an oversupply of computers $
overt actions are done publicly, without trying to hide anything; covert
•an overt attempt to silence their political opponents
•Overt race discrimination is illegal.
- overtly adverb
•an overtly political message $ past tense overtook , past participle overtaken
1 [I,T] to go past a moving vehicle or person because you are going faster than them and want to get in front of them:
•He pulled out to overtake the van.
•Never try to overtake on a bend.
2 [T] to develop or increase more quickly than someone or something else and become more successful, more important, or more advanced than them:
•Television soon overtook the cinema as the most popular form of entertainment.
•Hingis has now overtaken her in the world tennis rankings.
3 [T] if something bad, especially a feeling, overtakes you, it happens to you suddenly and has a strong effect on you; overcome
be overtaken by sth
•She was overtaken by emotion and started to cry.
•A terrible sense of panic overtook him.
4 be overtaken by events if you are overtaken by events, the situation changes, so that your plans or ideas are not useful any more:
•The diplomatic negotiations were soon overtaken by events. $ [T]
1 to make someone do more than they are really able to do, so that they become very tired
overtax yourself
•Be careful you don't overtax yourself.
2 to make people pay too much tax[only before noun]
1 over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a PRESCRIPTION (=a written order) from a doctor
2 AmE OTC over-the-counter business shares are ones that do not appear on an official STOCK EXCHANGE listBrE informal
OTT remarks, behaviour etc that are over-the-top are so extreme or unreasonable that they seem stupid or offensive:
•It's a bit over-the-top to call him a fascist. $ past tense overthrew , past participle overthrown $ [T]
1 to remove a leader or government from power, especially by force; = oust
•Rebels were already making plans to overthrow the government.
2 to get rid of the rules, ideas, or systems of a society $ [U]
the defeat and removal from power of a leader or government, especially by force
[+of]
•The organization was dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism.
•the overthrow of Mussolini $ [U]
1 time that you spend working in your job in addition to your normal working hours

work/do overtime
paid/unpaid overtime
overtime payment/pay
on overtime

•six hours' overtime
•They're working overtime to get the job finished.
•He's been doing a lot of overtime recently.
•Many employees work countless hours of unpaid overtime.
•Many of our offices will be working on overtime until the end of the year.

2 the money that you are paid for working more hours than usual:
•He earns £450 a week, including overtime.
3 be working overtime informal to be very active:
•As she put down the phone, her brain was working overtime.
•His senses were working overtime.
4 AmE a period of time added to the end of a sports game to give one of the two teams a chance to win; = extra time BrE
in overtime
•Steve Smith scored all nine of the Hawks' points in overtime. $
very tired, so that you cannot think or do things normally and become annoyed easily $
1 overtones [plural] signs of an emotion or attitude that is not expressed directly; undertone
[+of]
•There were overtones of anger in his voice.
racial/sexual etc overtones
•football songs with violent overtones
political/religious overtones (=having a connection to politics or religion that is not directly expressed)
•The decision may have political overtones.
2 [C] technical a higher musical note that sounds together with the main note $
the past tense of OVERTAKE $ past tense and past participle overtopped, present participle overtopping [T] formal
to be higher or more important than something $
1 [C] a short piece of music written as an introduction to a long piece of music, especially an OPERA
2 overtures [plural] an attempt to begin a friendly relationship with a person, country etc:
•They began making overtures to the Irish government.
•She had rejected his overtures.
3 be an overture if an event is an overture to a more important event, it happens just before it and makes you expect it $
1 [I,T] if you overturn something, or if it overturns, it turns upside down or falls over on its side:
•Leslie jumped to her feet, overturning her chair.
•His car overturned, trapping him inside.
2 overturn a decision/verdict etc to change a decision or result so that it becomes the opposite of what it was before:
•His conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
3 [T] to suddenly remove a government from power, especially by using violence; = overthrow $ [T]
to use something too much, especially so that it is not effective any more or it is damaged:
•Students tend to overuse certain words.
- overuse noun [U]
•the overuse of natural resources $ [T]
to believe or say that something is more valuable or more important than it really is
- overvaluation $ noun [U] $ [C]
a short description of a subject or situation that gives the main ideas without explaining all the details
[+of]
•an overview of the issues involved
provide/give an overview
•The document provides a general overview of the bank's policies.
broad/general overview
•This chapter gives a broad overview of the main concerns facing employers. $ formal
too proud and confident - used to show disapproval; = arrogant
•overweening ambition
- overweeningly adverb $
1 someone who is overweight is too heavy and fat; underweight
10 kilos/20 lbs etc overweight
•Sally was fifty pounds overweight.
•He is slightly overweight.
see box at FAT^1
2 something such as a package that is overweight weighs more than it is supposed to weigh; underweight
•My luggage was overweight by five kilos. $ [T usually passive]
1 EMOTION if someone is overwhelmed by an emotion, they feel it so strongly that they cannot think clearly
be overwhelmed by sth
•Harriet was overwhelmed by a feeling of homesickness.
be overwhelmed with sth
•The children were overwhelmed with excitement.
•Grief overwhelmed me.
2 TOO MUCH if work or a problem overwhelms someone, it is too much or too difficult to deal with
be overwhelmed by sth
•We were overwhelmed by the number of applications.
overwhelm sb with sth
•They would be overwhelmed with paperwork.
3 SURPRISE SB to surprise someone very much, so that they do not know how to react
be overwhelmed by sth
•I was completely overwhelmed by his generosity.
•We were overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place.
4 DEFEAT SB to defeat an army completely:
•In 1532 the Spaniards finally overwhelmed the armies of Peru.
5 WATER literary if water overwhelms an area of land, it covers it completely and suddenly $
1 having such a great effect on you that you feel confused and do not know how to react:
•an overwhelming sense of guilt
•She felt an overwhelming desire to hit him.
•She found the city quite overwhelming when she first arrived.
2 very large or greater, more important etc than any other:
•There is overwhelming evidence that smoking damages your health.
•An overwhelming majority of the members were against the idea.
•The proposal has been given overwhelming support.
•The British Air Force succeeded despite overwhelming odds against them.
- overwhelmingly adverb
•Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill. $ [I,T]
to live through the winter, or to make it possible for something to live through the winter:
•These birds generally overwinter in tropical regions. $ [I,T]
to work too much or to make someone work too much:
•You've been overworking - why don't you take a week off?
•Have they been overworking you again?[U]
too much hard work:
•a heart attack brought on by overwork $
1 made to work too hard:
•an overworked doctor
•They're overworked and understaffed.
2 a word or phrase that is overworked is used too much and has become less effective:
•overworked metaphors $
very upset, nervous, and worried:
•Clara was tired and overwrought after all the problems of the last few days. $
too eager about something you believe in strongly:
•overzealous fans $ [C] technical
one of the two tubes in a woman or female animal through which eggs pass to the WOMB $ technical
an animal, fish, bird etc that is oviparous produces eggs that develop outside its body $ formal
shaped like an egg
- ovoid noun [C] $ [I]
when a woman or female animal ovulates, she produces eggs inside her body
- ovulation $ noun [U] $ plural ova [C] technical
an egg, especially one that develops inside the mother's body
used to express sudden pain:
•'Ow, that hurts!' $ [T]
1 MONEY to need to pay someone for something that they have done for you or sold to you, or to need to give someone back money that they have lent you; borrow, lend
owe sb money/£10 etc
•I owe my brother $50.
owe sb for sth
•I still owe you for the taxi.
•How much do I owe you (=often used to show that you want to pay for something)?
owe sth to sb
•the money owed to credit card companies
2 STH DONE/GIVEN to feel that you should do something for someone or give someone something, because they have done something for you or given something to you:
•He asked for help from a colleague who owed him a favour.
owe sb a drink/letter etc
•I owe Shaun a letter; I must write soon.
•Thanks a lot for being so understanding about all this - I owe you one (=used to thank someone who has helped you, and to say that you are willing to help them in the future)!
owe sb (=be in a position in which someone has helped you, so that you should help them)
•Let's go and see Joe - he owes me!
3 owe sb an explanation/apology to feel that you should give someone an explanation of why you did something, or say you are sorry:
•You owe him an apology.
4 HELP TO ACHIEVE STH
a) to have something or achieve something because of what someone else has done
owe sth to sb
•He probably owes his life to her prompt action.
b) to know that someone's help has been important to you in achieving something
owe sb a lot/owe sb a great deal
•'I owe my parents a lot,' he admitted.
•He owes a great deal to his publishers.
owe it all to sb/owe everything to sb
•I owe it all to you.
owe sb a debt (of gratitude)
•the debt that we owe to our teachers
5 GOOD EFFECT to be successful because of the good effect or influence of something or someone
[+to]
•Their success owes more to good luck than to careful management.
•Pearson's work owed much to the research of his friend, Hugh Kingsmill.
6 owe it to sb to do sth to feel you should do something for someone, because they have helped you or given you support:
•You owe it to your supporters not to give up now.
7 owe it to yourself to do sth to feel you should try to achieve something because it is what you deserve:
•You owe it to yourself to take some time off.
8 owe loyalty/allegiance etc to sb to have a duty to obey someone:
•provinces owing allegiance to the Emperor
9 think that the world owes you a living to be unwilling to work in order to get things, and expect them to be provided for you - used to show disapproval $
[not before noun] especially BrE if money is owing, it has not yet been paid to the person who should receive it; outstanding
•You need to pay the amount owing, plus the interest.
formal because of something:
•Owing to a lack of funds, the project will not continue next year.
•Flight BA213 has been delayed owing to fog.

WORD CHOICE:owing to, due to, because of, thanks to
Owing to and due to are slightly formal. They are often used in official notices and public statements: Owing to bad weather, this morning's flight will be delayed. | He is retiring due to ill health.

!! Owing to and due to are prepositions (they come immediately before a noun). They are not conjunctions (they cannot connect two parts of a sentence): I had to wait hours because the plane was delayed (NOT I had to wait hours owing to the plane was delayed).
In spoken English, it is more usual to use because of than owing to or due to: All my clothes got wet because of the storm (NOT owing to the storm).
Thanks to is used to explain why something good has happened: Thanks to the success of his first album, he is now a wealthy man.

[C]
a bird with large eyes that hunts at night [C]
a young owl
looking like an owl and seeming serious and clever:
•He was an owlish man, with little round glasses.
- owlishly adverb $ [always after a possessive]
1 used to emphasize that something belongs to or is connected with a particular person or thing and not any other:
•Bring your own equipment.
•Every dance has its own rhythm.
•The yacht was intended for the king's own personal use.
•His face was only a few inches from her own.
of your own
•We have problems of our own.
•I'd like to have a place of my own (=my own home).
your very own (=used to add more emphasis)
•One day I want to have a horse of my very own.
sth to call your own/which you can call your own (=something that belongs to you)
•She just wanted a place to call her own.
2 used to emphasize that someone did or made something without the help or involvement of anyone else:
•She makes a lot of her own clothes.
•We encourage students to develop their own ideas.
•It's your own fault for leaving the window open.
3 (all) on your own
a) alone:
•I've been living on my own for four years now.
•He didn't want to be left on his own.
b) without anyone's help:
•You can't expect him to do it all on his own.
•I can manage on my own, thanks.
4 for your own good/safety/benefit etc if you do something for someone's own good etc, you do it to help them even though they might not like it or want it:
•I'm only telling you this for your own good.
•He was kept away from the other prisoners for his own safety.
5 too nice/clever etc for your own good used to say that someone has too much of a good quality so that it may be a disadvantage:
•Stephen can be too generous for his own good.
6 get your own back (on sb) informal to do something bad to someone who has harmed you, as a way of punishing them; revenge
•She wanted to get her own back on Liz for ruining her party.
7 be your own man/woman to have strong opinions and intentions that are not influenced by other people:
•Hilary's very much her own woman.
8 make sth your own to change or deal with something in a way that makes it seem to belong to you:
•Great singers can take an old song and make it their own.
!! Use own only after possessive words like my, John's, the company's etc
come into your own at COME^1 (6); hold your own at HOLD^1 (24)[T not in progressive]
1 to have something which belongs to you, especially because you have bought it, been given it etc and it is legally yours; possess
•The building is owned by the local council.
•You need to get permission from the farmer who owns the land.
•Many more people now own their own homes.
•the cost of owning a car
publicly/privately owned BrE (=belonging to the government or a private organization)
•a privately owned company
2 as if/as though/like you own the place informal to behave in a way that is too confident and upsets other people:
•She acts like she owns the place!
•They walked in as if they owned the place.
3 old-fashioned to admit that something is true
own (that)
•I own that I judged her harshly at first.
[+to]
•I must own to a feeling of anxiety.

PHRASAL VERBS
own up phr v
to admit that you have done something wrong, especially something that is not serious:
•Come on, own up. Who broke it?
own up to (doing) sth
•No one owned up to breaking the window.
•He was too frightened to own up to his mistake.
•He still wouldn't own up to the fact that he'd lied.BrE
own brand goods are specially produced and sold by particular shops and have the name of the shop on them; = store brand AmE
•Tesco's own brand tomato sauce $ [C]
someone who owns something
[+of]
•I met the owner of the local hotel.
original/previous/new owner
•the club's new owners
•He was now the proud owner of a bright red sports car.
car-owner/dog-owner etc
•Dog-owners have been warned to keep their animals under control.
home-owner (=someone who owns their house)
houses, apartments etc that are owner-occupied are lived in by the people who own them:
•Most of these properties are owner-occupied.
- owner-occupier noun [C] $ [U]
the fact of owning something
[+of]
•a dispute over the ownership of the land
public/private/state ownership
•The company was returned to private ownership in mid-1987.
•The price of home ownership is increasing.[C] BrE
1 a GOAL that you accidentally score against your own team without intending to in a game of football, HOCKEY etc
2 informal an action or remark that has the opposite effect from what you intended:
•The minister's admission turned out to be a spectacular own goal.[U] BrE
OWN BRAND $ plural oxen $ [C]
1 a BULL whose sex organs have been removed, often used for working on farms
2 a large cow or BULL $ [U]
the universities of Oxford and Cambridge; redbrick $ [C]
a vehicle pulled by oxen that was used in the past[C]
a yellow flower like a DAISY $ AmE
1 oxfords [plural] a type of leather shoes that fasten with SHOELACEs
2 [C] a type of shirt made of thick cotton $ [C,U]
a substance which is produced when a substance is combined with oxygen:
•iron oxidealso oxidise BrE $ [I,T] technical
to combine with oxygen, or make something combine with oxygen, especially in a way that causes RUST
- oxidation $ also oxidization noun [U] $ [U]
the meat from the tails of cattle, used especially in soup $ [U] technical
a mixture of oxygen and ACETYLENE that produces a hot white flame that can cut steel $ [U]
a gas that has no colour or smell, is present in air, and is necessary for most animals and plants to live. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol O $ [T] technical
to add oxygen to something
- oxygenation $ noun [U][C]
a bar where you pay to breathe pure oxygen, or oxygen that has a pleasant smell, so that you can relax and have more energy[C]
a piece of equipment that fits over someone's mouth and nose to provide them with oxygen[C]
a piece of equipment shaped like a tent that is put around people who are very ill in hospital, to provide them with oxygen $ [C] technical
a deliberate combination of two words that seem to mean the opposite of each other, such as 'cruel kindness' $
a word used by law officials or by TOWN CRIERs in the past to get people's attention $ [C]
1 a type of SHELLFISH that can be eaten cooked or uncooked, and that produces a jewel called a PEARL
2 the world is your oyster used to tell someone that they can achieve whatever they want[C]
an area at the bottom of the sea where oysters live $ BrE AusE informal
a short way of saying Australiaoz. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of ounce or ounces $ [U]
1 technical a poisonous blue gas that is a type of oxygen
2 informal air near the sea, thought to be fresher and healthier
not containing chemicals that damage the ozone layer:
•an ozone-friendly aerosol[singular]
a layer of gases in the sky that prevents harmful RADIATION from the sun from reaching the Earth:
•the hole in the ozone layerBrE
the written abbreviation of provisional , used on cars to show that the driver is a learner and has a PROVISIONAL LICENCE
P-PLATEp plural P's, p's [C,U]
the 16th letter of the English alphabet
mind your p's and q's at MIND^2 (23)also p BrE
1 the written abbreviation of page
PP.
2 BrE the abbreviation of penny or, pence :
•The bus fare was only 50p.
3 used in written music to show that a part should be played or sung quietly
BrE the written abbreviation of postage and packing :
•Please send 80p to cover p & p. [C]
1 [usually singular] public address system electronic equipment that makes someone's voice loud enough to be heard by large groups of people
2 BrE personal assistant someone who works as a secretary for one person [C]
old-fashioned informal father - used by children or when speaking to children
the written abbreviation of per annum [C] AmE
the abbreviation of political action committee
1 SPEED OF EVENTS/CHANGES [singular] the speed at which something happens or is done

pace of change/reform/growth
pace of life
at your own pace (=at the pace that suits you)
at a rapid/slow/steady etc pace
at breakneck pace (=extremely fast)
gather pace (=happen more quickly)
keep up the pace (=continue to do something or happen as quickly as before)
at a snail's pace (=very slowly)

•The pace of change in our lives is becoming faster and faster.
•Here in Bermuda, the pace of life is very slow.
•Public spending continues to rise at a steady pace.
•Children learn best by studying at their own pace.
•The company had been growing at breakneck pace until last year.
•Support for European unity began to gather pace.
•If they can keep up the pace, they should have finished by early next week.
•Things are changing, but at a snail's pace.
!! Do not say 'in your own pace' or 'on your own pace'. Say at your own pace.

2 WALK/RUN [singular] the speed at which someone walks, runs, or moves
[+of]
•You need to step up the pace of your exercises.
at a slow/leisurely/brisk etc pace
•Lucy set off at a leisurely pace back to the hotel.
•He quickened his pace, longing to be home.
•Traffic slowed to a walking pace.
3 STEP [C] a single step when you are running or walking, or the distance you move in one step
[+backwards/towards/forwards etc]
•He took a pace towards the door.
•Rebecca walked a few paces behind her mum.
4 keep pace (with sth/sb) to change or increase as fast as something else, or to move as fast as someone else:
•Salaries have not always kept pace with inflation.
•The supply of materials cannot keep pace with demand.
•Slow down! I can't keep pace with you.
5 go through your paces also show your paces to show how well you can do something
6 put sb/sth through their paces to make a person, vehicle, animal etc show how well they can do something:
•The test driver puts all the cars through their paces.
7 set the pace
a) if a company sets the pace, it does something before its competitors or to a better standard
[+in]
•Japanese firms have been setting the pace in electronic engineering.
b) also set a brisk/cracking etc pace BrE to go faster than the other competitors in a race, who then try to achieve the same speed:
•The Italians set the pace for the first eight laps.
8 force the pace to make something happen or develop more quickly than it would do normally
[+on]
•measures designed to force the pace on alternative energy policies
9 be able to stand the pace to be able to deal with situations where you are very busy and have to think and act very quickly:
•If you can stand the pace, working in advertising pays well.
1 [I always + adv/prep, T] to walk first in one direction and then in another many times, especially because you are nervous:
•I found Mark at the hospital, pacing restlessly up and down.
pace the floor/room
•Sam stood up and paced the floor, deep in thought.
2 pace yourself
a) to control the speed that you move at in a race, so that you still have energy left near the end:
•Nicky paced herself and came through the ranks to win.
b) to organize your life and activities so that you do not have too much to do:
•You need to pace yourself and decide which tasks are the most important.
3 [T] also pace sth <=> off pace sth <=> out to measure a distance by walking across it with steps of equal length:
•The director paced out the length of the stage. $ [C]
1 a small machine that is placed inside someone's chest in order to help their heart beat regularly
2 also pacesetter a person or horse who goes to the front in a race and sets the speed that the others must try to achievealso pacemaker $ [C]
1 a person or team that is winning in a competition, and that others have to try to defeat:
•That left him three strokes behind the pacesetter, Parry.
2 a person or company that is considered to be a leader in a particular area of activity:
•a new company, now seen as the industry's pacesetter
3 PACEMAKER (2) $ [U]
a game that is popular in Japan, in which you can win money or prizes by making balls fall into particular places in a special machine $ [C]
technical an animal with thick skin, such as an ELEPHANT literary
peaceful and loving or wanting peace:
•a normally pacific community
the Pacific Rim (countries) the countries around the Pacific Ocean, such as Japan, Australia, and the west coast of the US, considered as an economic group $ [C]
1 AmE a rubber object that you give a baby to suck so that it does not cry; = dummy BrE
2 something that makes people calm [U]
the belief that war and violence are always wrong [C]
someone who believes that wars are wrong and who refuses to use violence
- pacifist adjective [only before noun]
•the pacifist movement past tense and past participle pacified, present participle pacifying, third person singular pacifies [T]
1 to make someone calm, quiet, and satisfied after they have been angry or upset:
•'You're right,' Rita said, in order to pacify him.
2 to stop groups of people from fighting or protesting, often by using force:
•Economic reforms are needed to pacify and modernize the country.
1 CLOTHES [I,T] also pack up to put things into cases, bags etc ready for a trip somewhere:
•I forgot to pack my razor.
•Have you finished packing yet?
pack your things/belongings
•Kelly packed her things before breakfast.
pack a bag/case
•You'd better pack your bags. We're leaving in an hour.
pack sb sth
•Shall I pack us a picnic?
2 GOODS [T] also pack up to put something into a box or other container, so that it can be moved, sold, or stored
pack sth in/into sth
•Now wild mushrooms are available all year, packed in handy 25g boxes.
3 CROWD [I always + adv/prep, T] to go in large numbers into a space, or to make people or animals do this, until the space is too full
[+into/in/onto]
•50,000 fans packed into the stadium.
•The sheep had been packed into a truck and transported without food or water.
4 PROTECT STH [T] to cover or fill an object with soft material so that it does not get damaged
[+in/with]
•Glass must be packed in several layers of paper.
5 SNOW/SOIL ETC to press snow, soil, sand etc down so that it becomes hard and firm
pack sth down
•Pack the soil down firmly.
6 pack your bags informal to leave a place and not return, especially because of a disagreement
7 pack a gun AmE informal to carry a gun
8 pack a (hard/hefty/strong etc) punch also pack a wallop informal to have a very strong or impressive effect:
•The Spanish wine, with the flavour of honey, packed quite a punch.

PHRASAL VERBS
pack sth <=> away phr v
to put something back in a box, case etc where it is usually kept:
•Christmas was over and the decorations packed away.

pack in phr v
1 pack sth <=> in also pack sth into sth to do a lot in a limited period of time, or fit a lot of information, ideas etc into a limited space:
•We packed a lot of sightseeing into two weeks.
•In an essay of 2000 words, you can pack a lot in.
2 pack sb <=> in informal if a film, play etc packs people in, it attracts large numbers to come and see it:
•Any film starring Tom Cruise always packs them in.
3 pack sth <=> in BrE informal to stop doing a job or activity that you are not enjoying:
•After one year, I packed in university.
•Sometimes I feel like packing it all in and going off travelling.
4 pack it in BrE spoken used to tell someone to stop doing something that is annoying you
5 BrE informal if a machine packs in, it stops working because there is something wrong with it; = pack up
•Halfway to the airport, the engine packed in.

pack sb/sth off phr v informal
to send someone to stay somewhere for a period of time
[+to]
•My parents used to pack us off to camp every summer.

pack up phr v
1 to put things into cases, bags etc ready for a trip somewhere:
•Most of the holidaymakers had packed up and gone.
pack sth <=> up
•I gave her a hand packing up her clothes and stuff.
2 pack sth <=> up to put something into a box or other container, so that it can be moved, sold, or stored:
•Don't worry. The removal men will pack everything up.
3 informal to finish work at the end of the day:
•'What time do you pack up?' 'Oh, about six.'
4 BrE informal if a machine packs up, it stops working because there is something wrong with it; = pack in
•The photocopier's packed up again.
5 pack sth <=> up BrE informal to stop doing something, especially a job:
•He packed up his teaching job after only three months.
send sb packing at SEND (11)[C]
1 THINGS WRAPPED TOGETHER something wrapped in paper or packed in a box and then sent by post or taken somewhere
[+of]
•a pack of three T-shirts
•Send away for your free information pack today.
SIX-PACK (1)
2 SMALL CONTAINER especially AmE a small container, usually made of paper, that something is sold in; = packet BrE
[+of]
•a pack of cigarettes
•a 10 oz. pack of frozen peas
see box at PACKAGE^1
3 BAG especially BrE a bag that you carry on your back, especially when climbing or walking, used to carry equipment, clothes etc; = rucksack BrE; = backpack
4 CARDS also pack of cards a complete set of PLAYING CARDs ; = deck
5 ANIMALS a group of wild animals that hunt together, or a group of dogs trained to hunt together:
•a wolf pack
[+of]
•a pack of hounds
6 GROUP OF PEOPLE a group of the same type of people, especially a group who you do not approve of
[+of]
•A pack of reporters were waiting outside.
7 pack of lies informal something you are told that is completely untrue:
•Don't believe what it says in the paper - it's a pack of lies.
8 Cub/Brownie pack a group of children who belong to a particular children's organization
CUB SCOUT, BROWNIE, GIRL SCOUT
9 ON A WOUND a thick soft piece of cloth that you press on a wound to stop the flow of blood; = compress
ICE PACK [C]
1 something wrapped in paper, packed in a box and then sent by mail or delivered; = parcel BrE
•There's a package here for a Miami Lakes address.
2 AmE the paper or plastic container that food or other goods are sold in; = packet BrE
[+of]
•a package of meat
3 a set of ideas or services that are suggested or offered all together as a group
package of measures/proposals/incentives etc
•The government has announced a package of measures to assist affected areas.
aid/financial/benefits etc package
•Many banks are offering financial packages for students.
4 a set of related programs sold together for use on a computer
software/word-processing/graphics etc package

WORD CHOICE: package, packet, packaging, packing, pack

!! Do not confuse these similar words.
A package is a parcel, usually sent by post: A package containing a bomb was delivered to her home.
In American English, a package is also a paper or plastic container that food etc is sold in: a package of cookies
In British English, a packet is a box, bag, or some other container that things are sold in: a packet of biscuits | a packet of crisps. A packet can also sometimes be called a pack: a pack of cigarettes. This meaning of pack is also used in American English.
In American English, a packet is a small flat paper or plastic container for something such as tomato ketchup or sugar. The British word for this is sachet.
Packaging is material that is put round things that are sold, to protect them or to encourage people to buy them: It's the same old stuff in better packaging.
Packing is material that is put around things to protect them, especially from getting damaged in the post: Carefully remove the computer from its foam packing.

[T usually passive]
1 also package up to put food or other goods into a bag, box etc ready to be sold or sent:
•The code informs us where and when a product was packaged.
•The videos were packaged up, ready for distribution.
2 to prepare something for sale, especially by making it attractive or interesting to a particular group of people:
•books that are packaged for mass readership[C]
1 also package holiday BrE a holiday organized by a company at a fixed price that includes the cost of travel, hotel etc:
•a cheap package deal to Tenerife
2 an offer or agreement which includes several things that you must buy or accept together:
•The Commission attempted to bring all three proposals into one package deal.[C]
a PACKAGE DEAL (1) [U]
1 the container or material that a product is sold in:
•plastic packaging
see box at PACKAGE^1
2 the process of wrapping something for sale:
•the date of packaging
3 a way of making something seem attractive and interesting to people:
•the packaging of the company image[C]
an animal used for carrying heavy loads, for example a horse
1 extremely full of people:
•a packed courtroom
[+with]
•The island was packed with tourists.
2 packed with/full of sth containing a lot of a particular type of thing:
•a new magazine packed with exciting recipes
3 [not before noun] if you are packed, you have put everything you need into cases ready to go somewhere
4 tightly/loosely/densely packed pressed, arranged etc closely or not closely together:
•houses tightly packed in rows[C]
BrE food such as sandwiches and fruit that you take with you to work, school etc for LUNCH[not before noun] BrE informal
a cinema, restaurant etc that is packed out is completely full of people $ [C]
someone who works in a factory, putting things into containers [C]
1
a) BrE a container made of paper, plastic, or CARDBOARD that something is sold in
[+of]
•a packet of envelopes
•a packet of cigarettes
•a cereal packet
2 especially BrE a small flat package that is sent by post or delivered to someone:
•Paul tore open the packet as soon as it arrived.
PAY PACKET
3 cost a packet BrE informal to cost a lot of money:
•I bet that car cost him a packet.
4 technical a quantity of information that is sent as a single unit from one computer to another on a network or on the Internet[C]
old-fashioned a boat that carries letters, packages etc and usually passengers at regular times[C]
a method of sending information stored on a computer, usually across the Internet. Long messages are broken into pieces and put together again when they are received.[C]
a horse used for carrying heavy loads[U]
a mass of ice floating in the sea [U]
1 when you put things into cases or boxes so that you can send or take them somewhere:
•I can do my packing the night before we leave.
2 the material used for packing things so that they can be sent somewhere:
•Use plenty of packing.
see box at PACKAGE^1[C]
a large strong wooden box in which things are packed to be sent somewhere[C]
AmE informal someone who collects and stores things that they do not really need[C]
AmE a trip through the countryside on horses, for fun or as a sport; = pony-trekking BrE [C]
a formal agreement between two groups, countries, or people, especially to help each other or to stop fighting:
•the Warsaw pact
make/sign a pact
•The two countries signed a non-aggression pact.
[+with]
•a defence pact with the USA
[+between]
•a peace pact between the rebels and the government
SUICIDE PACT [C]
1 SOFT MATERIAL a thick flat object made of cloth or rubber, used to protect or clean something, or to make something more comfortable
[+of]
•Press on the wound with a large pad of cotton wool.
•Use an abrasive pad for stubborn stains.
knee/elbow/shin/shoulder pad (=a pad that you wear to protect a part of your body when you are playing a sport)
2 PAPER several sheets of paper fastened together, used for writing or drawing
writing/sketch/memo/legal etc pad
•a box of paints and a sketch pad
•Keep a telephone pad and a pen to hand.
•a pad of paper
3 FLAT GROUND a piece of flat ground where small aircraft can land
launch/landing/helicopter pad
•The hospital has built a helicopter pad.
4 ANIMAL'S FOOT the flesh on the bottom of the foot of a cat, dog, etc
5 APARTMENT old-fashioned informal someone's apartment or the room where they live
6 WATER PLANT the leaf of a WATER LILY
LAUNCH PAD, HELICOPTER PADpast tense and past participle padded, present participle padding
1 [I always + adv/prep] to walk softly and quietly
[+across/through/along etc]
•The cat came padding silently back to its home.
•She padded barefoot down the stairs.
2 [T] also pad (sth) out BrE to fill or cover something with a soft material in order to protect it or make it more comfortable
pad sth with sth
•jackets padded out with a soft cotton filling
3 [T] AmE to dishonestly make bills more expensive than they should be:
• padding the bills of Medicare patients
4 [T] also pad (sth) out to make a speech or piece of writing longer by adding unnecessary words or details:
•Don't pad out your answer to make it seem impressive.
[+with]
•His autobiography is padded with boring anecdotes.
filled or covered with a soft material to make it thicker or more comfortable:
•The shoes are padded to protect the foot.
•a padded headrest[C]
a special room in a hospital for people who are mentally ill. The room has thick soft material on the walls so that the person in it cannot get hurt. [U]
1 soft material used to fill or cover something:
•a helmet with protective padding
2 unnecessary and uninteresting details or words that are added to make a sentence, speech etc longer - used to show disapproval
1 [C] a short pole that is wide and flat at the end, used for moving a small boat in water; oar
2 [singular] BrE when you walk for pleasure without shoes or socks in water that is not very deep:
•If it's not too cold, we can go for a paddle.
3 [C] AmE a small round flat BAT with a short handle, used for hitting the ball in TABLE TENNIS:
•a ping-pong paddle
4 [C] a tool like a flat spoon, used for mixing food
DOG PADDLEpast tense and past participle paddled, present participle paddling
1 [I,T] to move a small light boat through water, using one or more paddles
[+along/upstream/towards etc]
•I desperately tried to paddle for the shore.
•She and her husband paddled a canoe down the Mississippi.
ROW^3
2 [I] BrE to walk for pleasure without shoes or socks in water that is not very deep; = wade AmE
•children paddling in the sea
3 [I] to swim with short, quick movements:
•The dog was paddling furiously after the ducks.
4 [T] AmE informal to hit a child with a piece of wood as a punishment
5 paddle your own canoe BrE informal to do things yourself, without help from anyone elsealso paddle boat [C]
BrE a large old-fashioned boat that moves by using steam to drive a large wheel attached to the side[C] BrE
a small pool or plastic container of water which is not very deep, for children to play in; = wading pool AmE [C]
1 especially BrE a small field in which horses are kept
2 a piece of ground where horses are brought together before a race so that people can look at themplural Paddies [C] taboo
an offensive word for someone from Ireland. Do not use this word.also paddy field plural paddies [C]
a field in which rice is grown in water; = rice paddy[C]
AmE informal a police vehicle used to carry prisoners $ [C]
a lock that you can put on a gate, door, bicycle etc:
•He undid the padlock and eased back the lid.
- padlock verb [T] [C]
informal a priest, especially one in the army [C]
literary a happy song of praise, thanks, or victorypederast AmE [C] BrE formal
a man who has sex with a young boy
- paederasty noun [U]pediatrician AmE [C] BrE
a doctor who deals with children and their illnessespediatrics AmE [U] BrE
the area of medicine that deals with children and their illnesses
- paediatric adjective
•a pediatric hospitalpedophile AmE [C] BrE
someone who is sexually attracted to children $ [U]
a Spanish dish made with rice, pieces of meat, fish, and vegetables
pagan religious beliefs and customs do not belong to any of the main religions of the world, and may come from a time before these religions:
•ancient pagan temples[C]
1 also Pagan someone who believes in a pagan religion
2 someone with few or no religious beliefs - used humorously
- paganism noun [U] [C]
1 PAPER one side of a piece of paper in a book, newspaper, document etc, or the sheet of paper itself

(on) page 5/20/360 etc
the top/bottom of the page
the front/back page (=of a newspaper)
the opposite/facing page
over the page BrE (=on the next left-hand page)
the sports/fashion/financial etc pages (=pages about sports, fashion, money etc in a newspaper)
full/half page
turn a page
flick through the pages (of sth) (=turn the pages without reading carefully)
see/turn to/go to page 22, 49 etc
jump/leap off the page (=be very easy to notice)
a blank/new/clean/fresh page (=a page that you have not written on yet)

•The address is given on page 15.
•You'll find the answers at the bottom of the page.
•Her picture appeared on the front page of a local newspaper.
•Complete the booking form on the opposite page.
•The answers are over the page.
•I never read the business pages.
•a full page article
•a half-page ad
•a 400 page novel
•She waited, idly turning the pages of a magazine.
•He took out a notebook, and flicked through the pages.
•For full details see page 99.
•One name seemed to leap off the page from the list of candidates.
•Start each section of your essay on a new page.

2 COMPUTER all the writing etc that you can see at one time on a computer screen:
•a web page (=a single screen of writing, pictures etc on a website)
3 YOUNG PERSON AmE a student, usually a student, who works as a helper to a member of the US Congress
4 on the same page if a group of people are on the same page, they are working well together and have the same aims:
•We need to get environmentalists and businesses on the same page to improve things.
5 BOY
a) a boy who served a KNIGHT during the Middle Ages as part of his training
b) a PAGEBOY (2)
6 SERVANT a boy who in the past served a person of high rank
7 a page in history an important event or period of time[T]
1 to call someone's name out in a public place, especially using a LOUDSPEAKER, in order to find them:
•She hurried to the reception desk and asked the girl to page her husband.
2 to send a message to someone's PAGER asking them to go somewhere or telephone someone:
•He was constantly being paged during meetings.
•the paging network

PHRASAL VERBS
page down phr v
to press a special key on a computer that makes the screen show the page after the one you are reading:
•It's not there, so page down and see if you can find it.

page through sth phr v AmE
to look at a book, magazine etc by turning the pages quickly

page up phr v
to press a special key on a computer that makes the screen show the page before the one you are reading [C]
1 an organized public show, often performed outdoors, where people dress in decorated or unusual clothes:
•a colourful pageant of Scotland's past
2 AmE a public competition for young women in which their appearance, and sometimes other qualities, are compared and judged; = beauty contest
3 the pageant of sth literary a series of historical events that are interesting and important:
•the pageant of African history [U]
impressive ceremonies or events, involving many people wearing special clothes
[+of]
•the pageantry of a military ceremony [C]
1 BrE a boy who helps the BRIDE as part of a wedding ceremony; bridesmaid
2 old-fashioned a young man who works in a hotel, club etc, delivering messages, carrying bags etc
3 a woman's HAIRSTYLE in which very straight hair is cut shorter at the front than at the back, and turned under at the ends $ [C]
a small machine you can carry in your pocket that can receive signals from a telephone. It tells you when someone has sent you a message, or wants you to telephone them, for example by making a noise; = beeper[U] technical
the number of people who read a page in a magazine, newspaper etc [U]
technical the process of giving a number to each page of a book, magazine etc
- paginate verb [T] $ [C]
a Buddhist TEMPLE (=religious building) that has several levels with a decorated roof at each level BrE
used to show that you disapprove strongly of something
the past tense and past participle of PAY
put paid to sth at PUT (15)BrE informal
1 a fully paid-up member of sth if someone is a fully paid-up member of a particular group, they strongly support what that group likes or believes in:
•a fully paid-up member of the celebrity circuit
2 paid-up member someone who has paid the money needed to be a member of a club, political party etc:
•The competition is open to all paid-up members of the Women's Institute. [C] especially AmE
1 a metal or wooden container with a handle, used for carrying liquids; = bucket
•a milk pail
[+of]
•a pail of water
2 also pailful the amount of liquid a pail will hold
1 [C,U] the feeling you have when part of your body hurts

have a pain in your stomach/leg/side etc
be in pain
chest pain/back pain/neck pain etc
severe/terrible/chronic pain
sharp pain (=a short but severe pain)
excruciating pain (=very severe pain)
dull pain (=one that is not severe but continues for a long time)
nagging pain (=one that continues for a long time and keeps BOTHERing you)
shooting pain (=a severe pain that starts in one place then quickly moves to another)
ease/relieve/kill pain
pain relief/control
inflict pain (on sb)
labour pains (=pain felt by a woman who is starting to have a baby)
aches and pains (=slight feelings of pain that are not very serious)

[+in]
•The pain in her jaw had come back.
•I had a nasty pain in my leg.
•Greg was in a lot of pain.
•If you suffer from back pain, consult your doctor before attempting this exercise.
•The patient complained of severe chest pains.
•She felt a sharp pain in her stomach
•Morphine is used to relieve pain.
•drugs for pain relief
•She hated the thought of anyone inflicting pain on an animal.
•a few minor aches and pains
GROWING PAINS (2)

2 [C,U] the feeling of unhappiness you have when you are sad, upset, etc:
•the pain and grief of bereavement
cause (sb) pain/inflict pain on sb
•She hated to say the words, for fear of causing pain.
3 be a pain (in the neck) spoken also be a pain in the ass/arse/backside/butt not polite to be very annoying:
•There were times when Joe could be a real pain in the neck.
•It's a pain, having to go upstairs to make the coffee every time.
4 take/go to (great) pains to do sth also take pains with/over sth to make a special effort to do something:
•He's taken great pains to improve his image.
5 be at pains to do sth to be especially careful to make sure people understand what you are saying or what you plan to do:
•Roy was at pains to point out that English was the only exam he'd ever failed.
6 for your pains as a reward for something you worked to achieve - used especially when this is disappointing:
•I fetched the file, and all I got for my pains was a dirty look from Simon.
7 on/under pain of death at the risk of being killed as punishment, if you do not obey:
•Communist activity was prohibited on pain of death.

WORD FOCUS: pain
pain in different parts of your body:
headache
backache
toothache
earache
stomach ache
my leg/arm/neck etc hurts
to feel a lot of pain:
be in agony
what you say when something hurts:
ouch
[T]
it pains sb to do sth formal used to say that it is very difficult and upsetting for someone to have to do something
the pain barrier in sport, the point that you reach when you continue trying to do something, even though you are in pain, very tired, or injured:
•Iona reached the final, but she had to go through the pain barrier to get there.
pained expression/look/voice etc someone's expression, voice etc that shows they are worried, upset, or slightly annoyed:
•He sat stiffly, with a pained expression on his face.
1 making you feel very upset, or very difficult and unpleasant for you; painless
painful memories/experience etc
•He sobbed as he recalled the painful memory.
•Venice was a painful reminder of her marriage.
•He and his wife took the painful decision to switch off their son's life support machine.
•the long and painful process of growing up
painful to do sth
•It can be painful to leave the house in which you were born.
[+for/to]
•The divorce was painful for both of us.
•Even hearing his name was painful to her.
2 if a part of your body is painful, it hurts:
•stiff, painful joints
•Is your arm very painful?
•The neck becomes swollen and painful to the touch (=hurts when you touch it).
3 causing physical pain:
•a painful blow on the head
excruciatingly/extremely painful
•an excruciatingly painful death
painful to do sth
•He was finding it painful to breathe.
4 if someone's behaviour or a performance is painful, it is so bad that it embarrasses people
painful to watch/listen/hear to etc
•It's painful to watch her making the best of a terrible script.
!! Do not use painful to mean 'feeling pain': He didn't feel much pain (NOT feel very painful) at first!
1 very - used to emphasize a bad or harmful quality that someone or something has:
•painfully thin arms
•As a teenager, I was painfully shy.
•The road to peace is a painfully slow process.
•We are only too painfully aware of the damage his actions have caused.
painfully obvious/clear/evident/apparent
•It was painfully obvious he'd rather not see her again.
2 with pain or causing pain:
•Robyn swallowed painfully.
3 needing a lot of effort:
•all the knowledge that he had so painfully acquired $ [C]
a medicine which reduces or removes pain:
•an overdose of painkillers [only before noun]
able to reduce or remove pain:
•painkilling drugs
1 causing no pain:
•a painless death
2 not difficult or unpleasant to do:
•The train is a quick and painless way to travel.
•The interview was relatively painless.
- painlessly adverb [usually before noun]
very careful and thorough:
•The work had been done with painstaking attention to detail.
•Chris described in painstaking detail what had happened.
- painstakingly adverb
•The old painting was painstakingly restored. [U]
1 a liquid that you put on a surface, using a brush to make the surface a particular colour:
•a can of blue paint
•Wet paint (=used as a warning on signs when something has just been painted)
•The whole house could do with a fresh coat of paint.
peeling/flaking paint (=old paint that is starting to come off the surface)
•All this room needs is a lick of paint (=paint used to make a place more attractive).
2 paints tubes or dry blocks of a coloured substance, used for painting pictures:
•acrylic and oil paints
1 [I,T] to put paint on a surface:
•The ceiling needs painting.
• brightly painted houses
paint sth (in) blue/red/green etc
•We painted the door blue.
•Paint the walls in a contrasting colour.
•The living room was painted in pastel shades of pink and blue.
2 [I,T] to make a picture, design etc using paint:
•A white cross was painted on the door.
•Turner is famous for painting landscapes.
paint in oils/watercolours etc (=paint using a particular type of paint)
•He paints mainly in acrylics.
3 [T] to put a coloured substance on part of your face or body to make it different or more attractive:
•The children's faces were painted to look like animals.
•She'd painted her toenails with red nail polish.
4 [T] to describe someone or something in a particular way
paint sb/sth as sth
•She's often been painted as a tough businesswoman.
paint a grim/rosy/gloomy picture of sb/sth
•Dickens painted a grim picture of Victorian life.
•The article painted him in a bad light (=described him in a way that made him seem bad).
5 paint the town (red) informal to go out to bars, clubs etc to enjoy yourself

PHRASAL VERBS
paint sth <=> out phr v
to cover part of a picture or sign with paint so that it can no longer be seen:
•The name of the firm had been partially painted out.

paint over sth phr v
to cover a picture or surface with new paint:
•Much of the original decoration was painted over.
not be as black as you are painted at BLACK^1 (10) $ [U]
a game in which you shoot small containers of paint at people $ [C]
a small box containing dry paint that you mix with water [C]
a brush for spreading paint on a surface $ [C]
1 someone who paints pictures; = artist
•Gerry's ambition was to become a portrait painter.
2 someone whose job is painting houses or other buildings
painter and decorator BrE $ written
typical of painters or painting:
•painterly images
1 [C] a painted picture that you put on a wall for people to see:
•a collection of valuable paintings
[+of]
•There was a large painting of his father on the wall.
•Can you help me hang this painting (=put it on a wall)?
OIL PAINTING
2 [U] the act or skill of making a picture, using paints:
•Degas' style of painting
•the Cubist school of painting (=a particular style used by a group of people)
3 [U] the work of covering a wall, house etc with paint
painting and decorating BrE [singular]
informal if a car has a paint job, it is painted again:
•old cars that are given a quick paint job before being sold[U]
a powerful chemical substance used to remove paint from walls, doors etc $ [U]
paint on a car, house etc:
•She noticed the peeling paintwork. $ plural pairs or pair [C]
1 JOINED TOGETHER an object that is made from two similar parts that are joined together
pair of trousers/scissors/glasses etc
•two pairs of jeans
•a pair of black tights
2 BELONGING TOGETHER two things of the same type that are used together
[+of]
•a new pair of sandals
pair of hands/eyes/legs etc
•She felt as if every pair of eyes in the room was on her.
•earrings, £5 a pair
•a pair of skis
•We have five pairs of free tickets to give away.
3 in pairs in groups of two:
•We worked in pairs for the role-play exercise.
•The leaves of the tree are arranged in pairs.
4 TWO PEOPLE two people who are standing or doing something together, or who have some type of connection with each other; couple
•The pair are looking for sponsorship from local businesses.
[+of]
•a pair of dancers
!! Do not use pair to talk about a husband and wife (or two people in a similar relationship). Use couple: They're such a nice couple (NOT pair).
5 the pair of you/them BrE spoken used when you are angry or annoyed with two people:
•Oh, get out, the pair of you.
6 TWO ANIMALS
a) a male and a female animal that come together in order to BREED
[+of]
•a pair of doves
•a breeding pair
b) old use two horses that work together
7 I've only got one pair of hands spoken used to say that you are busy and cannot do any more than you are already doing
8 an extra pair of hands someone who helps you do something when you are busy:
•Having an extra pair of hands during busy periods can take the pressure off.
9 a safe pair of hands someone you can trust and depend on because they are sensible - used especially in news reports:
•Colleagues regard him as a safe pair of hands.
1 [I,T usually passive] to put people or things into groups of two, or to form groups of two
be paired with sb
•We were each paired with a newcomer to help with training.
2 also pair up [I] if animals pair, they come together in order to BREED

PHRASAL VERBS
pair off phr v
to come together or bring two people together to have a romantic relationship:
•All the others were pairing off and I was left on my own.
pair sb off with sb
•My aunt was forever pairing me off with unsuitable men.

pair up phr v
1 BrE to become friends and start to have a relationship:
•We learned later that he and Tanya had paired up.
2 to work together to do something or to put two people together to do something:
•They first paired up in the screen adaptation of 'Grease'.
pair sb <=> up
•They have paired up writers and artists, and commissioned linked works.
3 if animals pair up, they come together in order to BREED [U]
a pattern consisting of curved shapes used on cloth:
•a paisley shawl $ [plural]
the American spelling of PYJAMASbok choy AmE $ [U] BrE
a green vegetable similar to CABBAGE that is used in Chinese cooking [C]
BrE taboo a very offensive word for someone from Pakistan or India. Do not use this word. $
relating to Pakistan or its people[C]
someone from Pakistan:
•a 20-year-old Pakistani [C]
1 informal a close friend; mate
•We've been pals since we were at school.
•an old pal (=a friend you have had for a long time)
2 spoken used to speak to a man in an unfriendly way:
•Look, pal, I don't want you hanging around.past tense and past participle palled, present participle palling

PHRASAL VERBS
pal around phr v
AmE if you pal around with someone, you do things together as friends
[+with]
•It was nice having someone to pal around with.

pal up phr v
BrE to become someone's friend
[+with]
•She palled up with Neil while travelling round Europe. [C]
1 the official home of a person of very high rank, especially a king or queen - often used in names:
•Buckingham Palace
2 the Palace especially BrE the people who live in a palace - used in news reports:
•The Palace has announced that the Duke and Duchess are to separate.
3 a large, beautifully decorated house:
•the splendid palaces of Florencealso palace coup [C]
a situation in which the people who work for a leader take control and remove that leader's power:
•He deposed his father in a palace coup. [C]
a KNIGHT (=a soldier of high rank) in the Middle Ages who was very brave and loyal $
another spelling of PALEO- $
a British spelling of PALEOLITHIC $ [U]
a British spelling of PALEONTOLOGY
1 palatable food or drink has a pleasant or acceptable taste; unpalatable
•a very palatable wine
2 an idea, suggestion etc that is palatable is acceptable; unpalatable
[+to]
•They changed the wording of the advertisement to make it more palatable to women.
•The truth, as always, is slightly less palatable.
1 [C] the ROOF (=top inside part) of your mouth
CLEFT PALATE, SOFT PALATE
2 [C,U] the sense of taste, and especially your ability to enjoy or judge food:
•It tasted very strange, at least to my untrained palate.
•a collection of dishes to tempt your palate
a palatial building etc is large and beautifully decorated:
•a palatial country residence [C]
in the past, an area which was controlled by someone who represented the ruler $ [singular, U] especially BrE
informal unnecessary trouble and anxiety that makes something seem more important than it really is:
•We could have done without all this palaver.
• What a palaver over nothing!
1 having a skin colour that is very white, or whiter than it usually is:
•He looked very pale and drawn.
turn/go pale
•He suddenly went pale.
•Sharon went deathly pale and looked as if she might faint.
•an elderly, pale-faced woman
2 a pale colour has more white in it than usual; deep; = light
•pale blue curtains
3 pale light is not bright:
•the pale gray dawn
4 pale imitation (of sth) something that is similar to, but not as good as, something else:
•The cheese is a pale imitation of real Parmesan.[I]
1 literary if your face pales, it becomes whiter than usual because you have had a shock:
•Kent's face paled when he saw that Rob had a knife.
2 pale into insignificance to seem much less important when compared to something bigger, worse, more serious etc:
•The amounts of money involved pale into insignificance when compared with the sums spent each year on research.
3 pale in/by comparison to seem small or unimportant compared to something else
[+to/with]
•Today's economic problems pale in comparison with those of the 1930s.
beyond the pale offensive or unacceptable:
•His opinions are entirely beyond the pale.[C,U]
BrE old-fashioned a type of light-coloured beer that is sold in bottlespalaeo- $ technical
relating to very ancient timesalso palaeolithic BrE often Paleolithic $
relating to the STONE AGE (=the period of time thousands of years ago when people used stone tools and weapons):
•a paleolithic axe
NEOLITHICpalaeontology $ [U]
the study of FOSSILs (=ancient bones, plants etc that have been preserved in rock)
- paleontologist noun [C] [C]
1 a thin, curved board that an artist uses to mix paints, holding it by putting his or her thumb through a hole at the edge
2 [usually singular] the colours that a particular artist uses or the colours in a particular painting
3 the choice of colours or shapes that are available in a computer program[C]
a knife that bends easily and is not sharp, used for spreading a substance, for example in cooking or painting $ [U]
especially AmE an amount of money that a law court orders someone to pay regularly to a former partner that they were living with but were not married to [C] technical
an ancient document on which the original writing has been covered over with new writing $ [C]
a word or phrase such as 'deed' or 'level', which is the same when you spell it backwards [C,U]
a wooden or metal post that is pointed at the top, or a fence made of these posts:
•A new paling had been erected around the yard.
•iron palings [C]
1 a strong fence made of pointed posts
2 also palisades AmE a line of high straight cliffs, especially beside water $ [I not in progressive] literary
if something palls, it becomes less interesting or enjoyable because you have experienced it before:
•Gradually, the novelty of city life began to pall.[C]
1 [usually singular] a thick, dark cloud of smoke, dust etc
pall of smoke/dust/ash etc
•A pall of thick grey smoke hung over the buildings.
2 a pall of sth literary an unpleasant quality that seems to be in a place or situation:
•The area is enveloped in a pall of neglect.
3 a cloth used to cover a COFFIN (=a box containing a dead body) [U]
a soft silver-white metal that is often combined with gold and silver, and used to cover an object with a very thin layer of metal. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Pd $ [C]
someone who helps to carry a COFFIN at a funeral [C]
1 a large frame, used for storing or carrying heavy things:
•wooden pallets
2 a rough cloth bag filled with STRAW, used in the past for sleeping on [T] formal
to reduce the effects of illness, pain etc without curing them:
•Chosen carefully, the oils may not only palliate but also cure the condition. $ [C]
1 formal something done to make a bad situation seem better, but which does not solve the problem:
•short-term economic palliatives
2 medical a medical treatment that will not cure an illness but will reduce the pain
- palliative adjective [usually before noun]
•palliative care
1 very pale, especially in a way that looks weak or unhealthy:
•pallid cheeks
2 not very interesting:
•a pallid performance $ [singular, U]
when someone's skin is very pale in a way that makes them look weak or unhealthy:
•A sleepless night had added to her pallor. [not before noun]
BrE informal very friendly with someone:
•She's pally with Steven. $ [C]
1 PART OF HAND the inside surface of your hand, in which you hold things
in sb's palm
•She looked at the coins in her palm.
•He held the pebble in the palm of his hand.
2 TREE also palm tree a tropical tree which grows near beaches or in deserts, with a long straight trunk and large pointed leaves at the top:
•coconut palms
3 hold/have sb in the palm of your hand to have a strong influence on someone, so that they do what you want them to do
4 read sb's palm to tell someone what is going to happen to them in the future by looking at the lines on their hand
cross sb's palm (with silver) at CROSS^1 (18); grease sb's palm at GREASE^2 (2)[T]
to hide something in the palm of your hand, especially when you are performing a magic trick or stealing something

PHRASAL VERBS
palm sth <=> off phr v
to persuade someone to accept or buy something that is not of good quality or is not the thing that they really want
[+on/onto]
•He tried to palm off his old books onto me.
[+as]
•Dealers sometimes palm off fakes as genuine works of art.

palm sb off with sth phr v
to give someone an explanation that is not true but that you hope they will accept $ [C]
BrE someone who claims they can tell what will happen to a person by looking at the lines on the palm of their hand $ [U]
the art of looking at the palm of a person's hand to tell what will happen to them in the future[U]
the oil obtained from the nut of an African PALM TREE[C]
a PALMIST
palm-sized computer/PC/PDA a palm-sized computer, PC etc is small enough to fit in your hand
the Sunday before Easter in the Christian Church $ [C]
a very small computer that you can hold in your hand; laptop, notebookalso palm [C]
a tropical tree which grows near beaches or in deserts, with a long straight trunk and large pointed leaves at the top $ plural palominos [C]
a horse that is a golden or cream colour, with a white MANE and tail formal
1 a feeling that is palpable is so strong that other people notice it and can feel it around them; impalpable
•There was a palpable sense of relief among the crowd.
2 [only before noun] complete:
•What he said is palpable nonsense.
- palpably adverb
•This was palpably untrue. $ [T] medical
to touch part of someone's body in order to examine it [I]
if your heart palpitates, it beats quickly in an irregular way [plural]
if you have palpitations, your heart beats quickly in an irregular way $ [U]
1 an illness that makes your arms and legs shake because you cannot control your muscles
2 old use PARALYSIS
CEREBRAL PALSY BrE spoken
very friendly with someone - used especially when you disapprove of this $
1 a paltry amount of something is too small to be useful or important:
• paltry sum of money
•He received only a paltry £25 a day.
2 formal unimportant or worthless:
•paltry issues
the pampas the large flat areas of land covered with grass in some parts of South America[U]
a type of tall grass with silver-white feathery flowers $ [T]
to look after someone very kindly, for example by giving them the things that they want and making them feel warm and comfortable:
•She spent her childhood as the pampered daughter of a wealthy family.
pamper yourself
•Pamper yourself with a stay in one of our luxury hotels. [C]
a very thin book with paper covers, that gives information about something; leaflet
•a political pamphlet $ [C]
someone who writes pamphlets giving political opinions [C]
1 FOR COOKING a round metal container that you use for cooking, usually with one long handle and a lid; = saucepan
•a frying pan
•pots and pans
•Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water.
2 FOR BAKING CAKES ETC AmE a metal container for baking things in; = tin BrE
•a cake pan
3 OPEN CONTAINER AmE a wide, usually round, open container with low sides, used for holding liquids
4 TOILET BrE the bowl of a toilet
5 go down the pan BrE informal to be wasted or become useless or ruined:
•The business is rapidly going down the pan.
WARMING PAN
a flash in the pan at FLASH^2 (5)past tense and past participle panned, present participle panning
1 CRITICIZE [T] informal to strongly criticize a film, play etc in a newspaper or on television or radio:
•The movie was panned by the critics.
2 CAMERA
a) [I always + adv/prep] if a film or television camera pans in a particular direction, it moves in that direction and follows the thing that is being filmed:
•The camera panned slowly across the crowd.
b) [I,T] to move a camera in this way
3 GOLD [I,T] to wash soil in a metal container in order to separate gold from other substances
[+for]
•panning for gold in Alaska

PHRASAL VERBS
pan out phr v
to happen or develop in a particular way:
•We'll have to see how things pan out.Pan-
including all people:
•pan-African unity [C]
something that people think will make everything better and solve all their problems; = cure-all
[+for]
•There is no panacea for the country's economic problems. [U]
a way of doing things that makes them seem easy and exciting, and makes other people admire you; style
with panache
•They played and sang with great panache.also panama [C]
a light hat for men, made from STRAW
1 [C] a thin flat round cake made from flour, milk, and eggs, that has been cooked in a flat pan and is eaten hot; crêpe
2 [U] very thick MAKE-UP for your face, that is worn especially by actorsPancake Tuesday [C,U]
BrE SHROVE TUESDAY, when people in Britain traditionally eat pancakes [C]
a GLAND inside your body, near your stomach, that produces INSULIN and a liquid that helps your body to use the food that you eat
- pancreatic adjective [C]
1 a large black and white animal that looks like a bear and lives in the mountains of China
2 a small animal with red-brown fur and a long tail that lives in the south-eastern Himalayas[C] BrE informal
a small black and white police car [C]
technical a disease that affects people over a very large area or the whole world; endemic, epidemic
•the AIDS pandemic
- pandemic adjective $ [U]
a situation in which there is a lot of noise because people are angry, confused or frightened; = chaos
• There was complete pandemonium in the kitchen.
•When the verdict was read pandemonium broke out in the courtroom. $

PHRASAL VERBS
pander to sb/sth phr v
to give someone anything they want in order to please them, even if it seems unreasonable or unnecessary - used to show disapproval:
•Some newspapers feel they have to pander to the prejudices of their readers.
•Highly trained staff will pander to your every whim. $
open a Pandora's box to do or start something that will cause a lot of other problems:
•The report could open up a Pandora's box of claims from similar cases. [C]
a piece of glass used in a window or door:
•a window pane
•a pane of glass
WINDOWPANE [C]
old-fashioned formal a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something a lot [C]
1 GROUP OF PEOPLE [also + plural verb BrE ]
a) a group of people with skills or SPECIALIST knowledge who have been chosen to give advice or opinions on a particular subject
[+of]
•A panel of experts has looked at the proposal.
on a panel
•There will be at least three senior doctors on the panel.
b) a group of well-known people who answer questions on a radio or television programme; panellist
on a panel
•We have two senior politicians on our panel tonight.
c) AmE a group of people who are chosen to listen to a case in a court of law and to decide the result; = jury
•The panel spent 14 hours going over the evidence.
2 PIECE OF SOMETHING
a) a flat piece of wood, glass etc with straight sides, which forms part of a door, wall, fence etc:
•a stained glass panel
•There were a few panels missing from the fence.
b) a piece of metal that forms part of the outer structure of a vehicle:
•One of the door panels was badly damaged and had to be replaced.
c) a piece of material that forms part of a piece of clothing:
•a skirt made in six panels
3 instrument/control panel a board in a car, plane, boat etc that has the controls on it
4 PICTURE a thin board with a picture painted on it
SOLAR PANELpaneled AmE BrE
covered or decorated with flat pieces of wood
[+with/in]
•The walls were panelled with oak.paneling AmE [U] BrE
long or square pieces of wood that are used to cover and decorate wallspanelist AmE [C] BrE
one of a group of well-known people who answer questions on a radio or television programme[C] BrE
a short, thin nail that is used for fastening thin pieces of wood together[C] AmE
a small motor vehicle used for delivering goods [C]
a sudden feeling of pain, sadness etc
pang of jealousy/guilt/remorse/regret
•She felt a sudden pang of guilt.
• hunger pangs [C] AmE
a long, thin area of land that sticks out from a larger area:
•the Texas panhandle[I] especially AmE informal
to ask for money in the streets; = beg
•homeless people panhandling in the subway
- panhandler noun [C]
1 [C usually singular, U] a sudden strong feeling of fear or nervousness that makes you unable to think clearly or behave sensibly
in (a) panic
•The children fled in panic.
•a feeling of sheer panic (=complete panic)
•She got into a panic when she couldn't find the tickets.
•The whole nation is in a state of panic following the attacks.
•She suffers from terrible panic attacks.
2 [C usually singular, U] a situation in which people are suddenly made very anxious, and make quick decisions without thinking carefully
[+over/about]
•the recent panic over the safety of baby milk
panic buying/selling
•a wave of panic selling in Hong Kong
3 [singular] especially BrE a situation in which you have a lot to do and not much time to do it in; rush
•the usual last minute panic just before the deadline
4 panic stations BrE a situation in which everyone is busy and anxious because something needs to be done urgently:
•It was panic stations here on Friday.past tense and past participle panicked, present participle panicking [I,T]
to suddenly feel so frightened that you cannot think clearly or behave sensibly, or to make someone do this:
•He started to panic when he saw the gun.
• Don't panic! We'll soon get you out of there.
panic sb into doing sth
•The protests became more violent and many people were panicked into leaving the country.[C]
1 a button that you can press to call for help if you are being attacked
2 press/push the panic button BrE to do something quickly without thinking enough about it, because something unexpected or dangerous has suddenly happened informal
very nervous and anxious:
•By 10 o'clock she was starting to get a bit panicky.
so frightened that you cannot think clearly or behave sensibly:
•Lucy suddenly looked panic-stricken. $ [C]
1 one of a pair of baskets or bags that you carry one on each side of an animal or a bicycle; saddlebag
2 a basket in which someone carries a load on their back [singular] formal
1 an impressive show of special clothes, decorations etc, especially at an important ceremony
[+of]
•a glorious panoply of colours
2 a large number of people or things
[+of]
•a panoply of men in grey suits
full/entire/whole panoply of sth (=the whole range of something) $ [C usually singular]
1 an impressive view of a wide area of land
[+of]
•The tower offers a panorama of the city.
•a breathtaking panorama of mountains
2 a description or series of pictures that shows all the features of a subject, historical period etc
[+of]
•a panorama of life in England 400 years ago
- panoramic adjective
•a panoramic view of the valley [plural]
a simple musical instrument made of short wooden pipes of different lengths, that you play by blowing across their open ends plural pansies [C]
1 a small garden plant with brightly coloured flowers
2 informal not polite an offensive word for a man who seems weak and too much like a woman
1 [I] to breathe quickly with short noisy breaths, for example because you have been running or because it is very hot:
•He came in panting after running up the steps.
•He was panting for breath.
•The dog lay panting on the doorstep.
2 [T] to say something while you are panting:
•'I can't run any farther,' she panted.

PHRASAL VERBS
pant for sth phr v
to want something very much:
•He came in panting for a cup of tea.
- pant noun [C] [plural] old-fashioned
long trousers with wide legs, that become tight at the bottom of your legs $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned a REMOVAL VAN [U]
the religious idea that God and the universe are one thing and that God is present in all natural things
- pantheist noun [C]
- pantheistic adjective $ [C]
1 all the gods of a particular people or nation:
•the Roman pantheon
2 literary a group of famous and important people
[+of]
•a leading figure in the pantheon of 20th century artists
3 a religious building that is built in honour of all gods $ [C]
1 a large wild animal that is black and a member of the cat family
2 AmE a COUGAR [plural]
especially AmE a piece of women's underwear that covers the area between their waist and the top of their legs; = knickers BrE
•a pair of lacy panties $ [plural]
AmE another spelling of PANTYHOSE [C usually plural] BrE
a curved TILE used for covering a roof $ plural pantos [C,U]
BrE informal pantomime $ [C] technical
1 an instrument used to make a smaller or larger exact copy of a drawing, plan etc
2 a thing on top of an electric train which takes electric power from an electric power line above it
1 [C,U] a type of play for children that is performed in Britain around Christmas, in which traditional stories are performed with jokes, music, and songs
2 [C,U] a method of performing using only actions and not words, or a play performed using this method; = mime
3 [C] BrE a situation or behaviour that is silly plural pantries [C]
a very small room in a house where food is kept; = larder [plural]
1 especially AmE a piece of clothing that covers you from your waist to your feet and has a separate part for each leg; = trousers BrE
•She was wearing dark blue pants and a white sweater.
2 BrE a piece of underwear that covers the area between your waist and the top of your legs; = underpants AmE; knickers, briefs, boxer shorts
3 bore/scare etc the pants off sb informal spoken to make someone feel very bored, very frightened etc:
•She always bores the pants off me.
4 beat the pants off sb AmE spoken to defeat someone very easily in a game or competition; = thrash
5 sb puts his pants on one leg at a time AmE spoken used to say that someone is just like everyone else:
•Go on, ask him for his autograph - he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like you do.
6 (since sb was) in short pants BrE informal since someone was a very young boy:
•I've known Eric since he was in short pants.
do sth by the seat of your pants at SEAT^1 (10)
catch sb with their pants down at CATCH^1 (6)
wear the pants/trousers at WEAR^1 (7)[not before noun] BrE spoken informal
very bad:
•The concert was pants. $ [C]
AmE a woman's suit consisting of a jacket and matching trouserspantihose $ [plural] AmE
a very thin piece of women's clothing that covers their legs from the toes to the waist and is usually worn with dresses or skirts; = tights BrE $ [C]
a very thin SANITARY PAD [U]
1 films, programmes, books etc that are badly made or badly written, are intended for entertainment only, and have no serious value:
•Hollywood produces a lot of pap.
2 especially BrE very soft food that does not have a strong taste, like the food that babies eat
PAP SMEAR $ [C]
old-fashioned a way of talking to or about your father:
•Good morning, Papa!
1 the papacy the position and authority of the Pope
2 [U] the time during which a Pope is in power $
another spelling of POPPADOM [only before noun]
relating to the Pope:
•a challenge to papal authority $ [plural]
photographers who follow famous people in order to take photographs they can sell to newspapers [C]
the large yellow-green fruit of a tropical tree $
1 FOR WRITING/WRAPPING [U] material in the form of thin sheets that is used for writing on, wrapping things etc
piece/sheet of paper
•Write it down on a piece of paper.
scrap/slip of paper (=a small piece of paper)
•recycled paper
•a box wrapped in plain brown paper
•flowers made from tissue paper (=very light thin paper)
writing/wrapping paper
•sheets of writing paper
!! When paper refers to the material that you write on, it is an uncountable noun. Do not say that something is written on 'a paper'. Say that it is written on a piece of paper.
2 NEWSPAPER [C] a newspaper:
•Have you seen today's paper?
•You'll read about it in tomorrow's papers.
Sunday/evening/daily paper
•The story was all over the Sunday papers.
local/national/trade paper
•Why don't you put an ad in the local paper?
3 DOCUMENTS/LETTERS papers [plural]
a) pieces of paper with writing on them that you use in your work, at meetings etc:
•I left some important papers in my briefcase.
b) documents and letters concerning someone's private or public life:
•While I was organizing Simon's papers I came across his diaries.
c) divorce papers documents concerning a DIVORCE
d) official documents such as your PASSPORT, IDENTITY CARD etc:
•My papers are all in order (=they are legal and correct).
WHITE PAPER, GREEN PAPER, ORDER PAPER
4 on paper
a) if you put ideas or information on paper, you write them down
put/get sth down on paper
•You need to get some of these thoughts down on paper.
b) if something seems true on paper, it seems to be true as an idea, but may not be true in a real situation; = in theory
•It's a nice idea on paper, but you'll never get it to work.
5 EXAMINATION [C] BrE a set of printed questions used as an examination in a particular subject, and the answers people write:
•an exam paper
•I have a stack of papers to mark.
history/French etc paper
•The geography paper was really easy.
6 SPEECH/PIECE OF WRITING [C] a piece of writing or a talk on a particular subject by someone who has made a study of it:
•a scientific paper
[+on]
•a paper on psychology
•Professor Usborne gave a paper on recent developments in his field.
7 PIECE OF SCHOOLWORK [C] especially AmE a piece of writing that is done as part of a course at school or university; = essay
[+on]
•a paper on the Civil War
8 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION [C] a report prepared by a government or committee on a question they have been considering or a proposal for changes in the law:
•We will publish a discussion paper on the future of the BBC.
[+on]
•the 1998 White Paper on political reform
•a working paper (=a report that is not final) on funding the Health Service
9 FOR WALLS [C,U] paper for covering and decorating the walls of a room; = wallpaper
•a floral paper
10 FINANCIAL [C,U] STOCKs and SHAREs that can be bought and sold on a financial market
11 TOILET [U] soft thin paper used for cleaning yourself after you have used the toilet; = toilet paper, toilet roll
12 not worth the paper it is written on/printed on if something such as a contract is not worth the paper it is written on, it has no value because whatever is promised in it will not happen
put/set pen to paper at PEN^1 (3); WASTE PAPER[only before noun]
1 made of paper:
•a paper bag
2 written or printed on paper:
•The brochure is available in electronic and paper versions.
3 paper qualifications an expression meaning documents showing that you have passed particular examinations, used specially when you think that experience and knowledge are more important:
•Paper qualifications are no guide to ability.
4 existing only as an idea but not having any real value:
•paper profits (=a record of the value of something, that is not real until the thing is sold)
•paper promises[T]
1 to decorate the walls of a room by covering them with special paper; = wallpaper
2 paper over the cracks to try to hide disagreements or difficulties:
•We need to discuss disagreements honestly without papering over the cracks. $ [C]
a book with a stiff paper cover; hardback
•a shelf full of paperbacks
in paperback
•Her first novel sold over 20,000 copies in paperback. $ [C]
a boy who delivers newspapers to people's houses[C] informal
an official process that prevents you from doing something quickly because it involves writing or reading a lot of documents; bureaucracy, red tape $ [C]
a small piece of curved wire used for holding sheets of paper together[C]
BrE a small metal object like a button used to hold several pieces of paper together[C]
a girl who delivers newspapers to people's houses[C]
BrE a knife for opening envelopes[U]
money made of paper, not coins; note[C]
someone whose job is doing unimportant office work; = pen pusher BrE; = pencil pusher AmEpaper route AmE [C] BrE
the job of delivering newspapers to a group of houses[C]
BrE a shop that sells newspapers and magazines, and also things such as tobacco, sweets, and cards; = newsagent BrE
very thin:
•paper-thin walls[C]
an enemy or opponent who seems powerful but actually is not[C]
a sheet of soft thick paper that you use to dry your hands or to clean up small amounts of liquid, food etc $ [C]
a small heavy object used to hold pieces of paper in place $ [U]
1 work such as writing letters or reports, which must be done but is not very interesting:
•Police work involves so much paperwork these days.
2 the documents that you need for a business deal, a journey etc:
•I'm leaving the solicitors to sort out the paperwork.
something such as skin or leaves that is papery is very dry and thin and a little stiffalso paper-mâché AmE $ [U]
a soft substance made from a mixture of paper, water, and glue, which becomes hard when it dries and is used for making pots and other objects [C]
an insulting word for a member of the Roman Catholic Church, used especially by Protestants $ [C]
1 BrE a type of bag attached to a frame, which you use to carry a baby on your back
2 old use a Native American baby or young child $ [U]
a red powder made from a type of sweet PEPPER, used for giving a slightly hot taste to meat and other food[C]
AmE a medical test that takes cells from a woman's CERVIX and examines them for signs of CANCER; = smear test BrE plural papyruses or papyri
1 [U] a plant like grass that grows in water
2 [C,U] a type of paper made from papyrus and used in ancient Egypt, or a piece of this paper $ [U]
1 be on a par (with sth) to be at the same level or standard:
•The wages of clerks were on a par with those of manual workers.
•We will have Christmas decorations on a par with anything on show at the MetroCentre.
2 be below/under par
a) to feel a little ill or lacking in energy:
•I've been feeling a little under par the last couple of weeks.
b) also not be up to par to be less good than usual or below the proper standard:
•None of the people who'd auditioned were really up to par.
•The champion was playing well below par.
3 be par for the course to be what you would normally expect to happen - used to show disapproval:
•Long hours and tough working conditions are often par for the course in catering.
4 the number of STROKEs a good player should take to hit the ball into a hole in the game of GOLF:
•The last hole is a par five.
5 also par value technical the value of a STOCK or BOND that is printed on it when it is first sold:
•bonds sold at 97% of their par value
at/above/below/under par
•The notes are currently trading at 10% above par.
PAR EXCELLENCE [C] BrE informal
a PARATROOPERalso par
the written abbreviation of paragraph
1 beyond:
•the paranormal (=strange unnatural events, beyond normal experience)
2 very similar to something:
•terrorists wearing paramilitary uniforms
3 relating to a profession and helping more highly trained people:
•a paramedic (=someone who helps a doctor)
•a paralegal (=someone who helps a lawyer)
4 relating to PARACHUTEs :
•a paratrooper
•paragliding [C]
a short simple story that teaches a moral or religious lesson, especially one of the stories told by Jesus in the Bible [C]
technical a curve in the shape of the imaginary line an object makes when it is thrown high in the air and comes down a little distance away
- parabolic $ adjective $ plural paracetamol or paracetamols [C,U]
BrE a common drug used to reduce pain, which does not contain ASPIRIN [C]
a piece of equipment fastened to the back of people who jump out of planes, which makes them fall slowly and safely to the ground:
•a parachute jump
1 [I always + adv/prep] to jump from a plane using a parachute
[+into]
•They parachuted into Vietnam in 1968.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to drop something from a plane with a parachute
parachute sth to/into sth
•Supplies have been parachuted into the area. [C]
someone who jumps from a plane with a parachute [C]
1 a public celebration when musical bands, brightly decorated vehicles etc move down the street:
•a victory parade
•the St Patrick's Day parade
2 a military ceremony in which soldiers stand or march together so that important people can examine them:
•a military parade
on parade (=be standing or marching in a parade)
•troops on parade
3 a line of people moving along so that other people can watch them:
•a fashion parade
4 a series of people, events etc that seems to never end
[+of]
•She had a constant parade of young men coming to visit her.
5 BrE a street with a row of small shops
IDENTIFICATION PARADE, HIT PARADE
1 PROTEST/CELEBRATE [I always + adv/prep] to walk or march together to celebrate or protest about something
[+around/past etc]
•The marchers paraded peacefully through the capital.
2 SHOW STH [T] if you parade your skills, knowledge, possessions etc, you show them publicly in order to make people admire you; = show off
•Young athletes will get a chance to parade their skills.
3 WALK AROUND [I always + adv/prep] to walk around, especially in a way that shows that you want people to notice and admire you
[+around/past etc]
•A trio of girls in extremely tight shorts paraded up and down.
4 SHOW SB [T always + adv/prep] if prisoners are paraded on television or through the streets, they are shown to the public, in order to prove that the people holding them are important or powerful:
•The prisoners were paraded in front of the TV cameras.
5 PROUDLY SHOW [T] to proudly show something or someone to other people, because you want to look impressive to them; = show off
•She paraded her new team.
•war medals paraded for public admiration
6 SOLDIERS [I,T] if soldiers parade, or if an officer parades them, they march together so that an important person can watch them
7 parade as sth/be paraded as sth if something parades as something else that is better, someone is pretending that it is the other better thing - used to show disapproval:
•It's just self-interest parading as concern for your welfare.[C]
a place where soldiers practise marching or standing together in rows [C]
1 technical a model or example that shows how something works or is produced
[+of]
•the basic paradigm of the family tree
2 formal a very clear or typical example of something
[+of]
•Pius XII remained the paradigm of what a pope should be.
- paradigmatic adjective
- paradigmatically adverb[C]
an important change in which the usual way of thinking or doing something is replaced by another way of thinking or doing something
1 [U] a place or situation that is extremely pleasant, beautiful, or enjoyable:
•a beautiful tropical paradise
•The hotel felt like paradise after two weeks of camping.
•A home near the sea is my idea of paradise.
2 [singular] a place that has everything you need for doing a particular activity:
•The market is a shopper's paradise.
[+for]
•Hawaii is a paradise for surfers.
3 Paradise [singular]
a) in some religions, a perfect place where people are believed to go after they die, if they have led good lives; heaven
b) according to the Bible, the garden where the first humans, Adam and Eve, lived
BIRD OF PARADISE
be living in a fool's paradise at FOOL^1 (9) $
1 [C] a situation that seems strange because it involves two ideas or qualities that are very different:
•It's a paradox that in such a rich country there can be so much poverty.
2 [C] a statement that seems impossible because it contains two opposing ideas that are both true:
•The paradox is that fishermen would catch more fish if they fished less.
3 [U] the use of statements that are a paradox in writing or speech
- paradoxical $ adjective $
in a way that is surprising because it is the opposite of what you would expect:
•Paradoxically, the prohibition of liquor caused an increase in alcoholism. [U]
1 BrE a kind of oil used for heating and in lamps, made from PETROLEUM or coal; = kerosene AmE
2 also paraffin wax BrE a soft white substance used for making CANDLEs , made from PETROLEUM or coal [U]
a sport in which you jump off a hill or out of a plane and use a PARACHUTE to fly for long distances before floating back down to the ground $ [C]
someone who is perfect or is extremely brave, good etc - often used humorously
[+of]
•a paragon of virtue $ [C]
part of a piece of writing which starts on a new line and contains at least one sentence:
•the opening paragraphs of the novel
- paragraph verb [T] [C]
a small brightly coloured bird with a long tail [C]
AmE someone whose job is to help lawyers do their work [C]
1 a relationship or similarity between two things, especially things that exist or happen in different places or at different times
[+with]
•Entering the world of fine art, she found many parallels with the world of fashion.
[+between]
•There are many parallels between Yeats and the Romantic poets.
•books that attempt to draw parallels between brains and computers
2 in parallel with sb/sth together with and at the same time as something else:
•She wanted to pursue her own career in parallel with her husband's.
3 have no parallel/be without parallel be greater, better, worse etc than anything else:
•The poverty of hill farmers had no parallel.
4 an imaginary line drawn on a map of the Earth, that is parallel to the EQUATOR:
•the 38th parallel
1 two lines, paths etc that are parallel to each other are the same distance apart along their whole length:
•Lines AB and CD are parallel.
•two parallel roads
[+to]
•She was travelling parallel to her previous route.
[+with]
•The railway is parallel with the canal.
•Take the road running parallel to the main road just after the village.
2 formal similar and happening at the same time:
•Social changes in Britain are matched by parallel trends in some other countries.past tense and past participle paralleled, present participle paralleling also, parallelled, parallelling BrE [T] written
if one thing parallels another, they happen at the same time or are similar, and seem to be related:
•The rise in greenhouse gases parallels the reduction in the ozone layer.
•His career parallels that of his father.[plural]
two wooden bars that are held parallel to each other on four posts, used in GYMNASTICS [singular, U] written
the state of being PARALLEL with something:
•There is a parallelism between fatigue and the ability to sleep. [C]
a flat shape with four sides in which each side is the same length as the side opposite it and parallel to it; rectangle[U]
technical when several computers work on a single problem at one time, or the process by which a single computer can perform several operations at the same timeparalyze AmE [T] BrE
1 if something paralyses you, it makes you lose the ability to move part or all of your body, or to feel it:
•Her legs were partly paralysed in the crash.
2 to make something unable to operate normally:
•Fear of unemployment is paralysing the economy.
•Motor traffic was paralysed in much of the city.paralyzed AmE BrE
1 unable to move part or all of your body or feel it:
•The accident left him permanently paralysed.
paralysed from the neck/chest/waist down
2 unable to think clearly or deal with a situation
[+by/with]
•paralysed by fear
•paralyzed with shock
•He stood paralysed for a moment, and then ran away. [U]
1 the loss of the ability to move all or part of your body or feel things in it:
•paralysis of the lower body
•The snake's poison causes paralysis.
2 a state of being unable to take action, make decisions, or operate normally:
•a period of political paralysis
INFANTILE PARALYSIS
1 [not before noun] BrE informal very drunk
2 [only before noun] suffering from paralysis
- paralytically adverb[C] old-fashioned
someone who is PARALYSED
the American spelling of PARALYSE [C]
someone who has been trained to help people who are hurt or to do medical work, but who is not a doctor or nurse
- paramedical adjective [usually before noun] $ [C usually plural]
a set of fixed limits that control the way that something should be done:
•The inquiry has to stay within the parameters laid down by Congress. $ [usually before noun]
1 a paramilitary organization is an illegal group that is organized like an army:
•extremist paramilitary groups
2 relating to, or helping a military organization:
•the paramilitary police
- paramilitary noun [C] formal
more important than anything else:
•During a war the interests of the state are paramount, and those of the individual come last.
•Women's role as mothers is of paramount importance to society.
- paramountcy noun [U] $ [C]
literary someone who you have a romantic or sexual relationship with, but who you are not married to [U]
1 an unreasonable belief that you cannot trust other people, or that they are trying to harm you or have a bad opinion of you
2 medical a mental illness that makes someone believe that they are very important and that people hate them and are trying to harm them
paranoid
- paranoiac noun [C]
1 believing unreasonably that you cannot trust other people, or that they are trying to harm you or have a bad opinion of you
be/become/get paranoid
•Malcolm got really paranoid, deciding that there was a conspiracy out to get him.
[+about]
•He has always been paranoid about his personal security.
2 medical suffering from a mental illness that makes you believe that other people are trying to harm you:
•a patient suffering from paranoid schizophrenia $
1 paranormal events cannot be explained by science and seem strange and mysterious; supernatural
•ghosts and other paranormal phenomena
2 the paranormal strange and mysterious events in general:
•researchers investigating the paranormal [C]
1 a low wall at the edge of a high roof, bridge etc
2 a protective wall of earth or stone built in front of a TRENCH in a war
3 put/stick your head above the parapet BrE to take a risk $ [U]
1 a lot of small things that belong to someone, or are needed for a particular activity:
•an electric kettle and all the paraphernalia for making tea and coffee
•travelling paraphernalia
2 the things and events that are connected with a particular activity, especially those which you think are unnecessary:
•all the usual paraphernalia of bureaucracy [T]
to express in a shorter, clearer, or different way what someone has said or written:
•To paraphrase Finkelstein, mathematics is a language, like English.[C]
a statement that expresses in a shorter, clearer, or different way what someone has said or written [U]
inability to move your legs and the lower part of your body; paralysis [C]
someone who is unable to move the lower part of their body, including their legs; paralysed
- paraplegic adjective $ [U]
the scientific study of mysterious abilities that some people claim to have, such as knowing what will happen in the future $ [U] trademark
a strong poison used to kill WEEDs ; weed killer [U]
a sport in which you wear a PARACHUTE and are pulled behind a motor boat so that you fly through the air [U]
a sport in which you wear a PARACHUTE, and are pulled along by a car so that you go up into the sky and float back down to the ground [C]
1 a plant or animal that lives on or in another plant or animal and gets food from it
2 informal a lazy person who does not work but depends on other people - used to show disapprovalalso parasitical
1 living in or on another plant or animal and getting food from them:
•parasitic fungi
2 a parasitic person is lazy, does no work, and depends on other people
3 a parasitic disease is caused by parasites
- parasitically adverb $ [U]
a type of UMBRELLA used to provide shade from the sun $ [C]
a soldier who is trained to jump out of a plane using a PARACHUTE [plural]
a group of paratroopers that fights together as a military unit $ [T]
to boil something until it is partly cooked $ [C]
1 especially BrE an object that has been wrapped in paper or put in a special envelope, especially so that it can be sent by post; = package
•The parcel was delivered last week.
•He sends regular food parcels to his family in Libya.
[+of]
•a parcel of clothes and blankets
2 an area of land that is part of a larger area which has been divided up
[+of]
•a parcel of farmland
3 BrE a small quantity of food that has been wrapped up, usually in PASTRY
be part and parcel of sth at PART^1 (28)past tense and past participle parcelled, present participle parcelling BrE past tense and past participle parceled, present participle parceling AmE

PHRASAL VERBS
parcel sth <=> off phr v AmE
to divide something into small parts so that it can be sold:
•The new owner has parceled off many of the company's assets.

parcel sth <=> out phr v
to divide or share something among several people:
•They didn't want the federal government parceling out food supplies.

parcel sth <=> up phr v BrE
1 to make something into a parcel by wrapping it up:
•She parcelled up the photos.
2 to divide something into small parts, especially so that it is easier to deal with:
•University education is often parcelled up into specialist teaching units.[C] BrE
a bomb which is wrapped like a parcel and sent by post, and is intended to explode when it is opened[U]
the slowest and cheapest system of sending parcels by post in the US $ [T]
if the sun or wind parches something, it makes it very dry $
1 very dry, especially because of hot weather:
•the parched African landscape
•He raised the water bottle to his parched lips.
2 be parched informal to be very thirsty $ [U]
AmE trademark a children's game in which you move a small piece of plastic around a board after throwing DICE $
1 [U] a material used in the past for writing on, made from the skin of a sheep or a goat
2 [U] thick yellow-white writing paper, sometimes used for official documents
3 [C] a document written on parchment $ AmE spoken
used humorously when speaking to someone you know well:
•Howdy, pardner!also pardon me $
1 used when you want someone to repeat something because you did not hear it:
•'Hurry up Jonathan!' 'Pardon?' 'I said hurry up!'
see box at EXCUSE^1
2 BrE used to say 'sorry' after you have made an impolite sound such as a BURP; = excuse me[T]
1 to officially allow someone who has been found guilty of a crime to go free without being punished:
•The two spies were pardoned yesterday by the President.
2 [not in progressive] formal to forgive someone for behaving badly; = forgive
pardon sb for sth
•He could never pardon her for the things she had said.
3 sb may be pardoned for doing sth used to say that it is easy to understand why someone has done something or why they think something:
•Anyone reading the advertisement might be pardoned for thinking that the offer was genuine.
4 pardon me spoken
a) used to say 'sorry' politely when you have accidentally pushed someone or interrupted them:
•Oh, pardon me, I didn't mean to disturb you.
b) used to say 'sorry' politely after you have made an impolite sound such as a BURP
c) used before you politely correct someone or disagree with them:
•James, if you'll pardon me, you've got it all wrong.
d) used to politely get someone's attention in order to ask them a question; = excuse me
•Pardon me, can you direct me to City Hall?
5 pardon me for interrupting/asking/saying spoken used to politely ask if you can interrupt someone, ask them a question, or tell them something:
•Pardon me for saying so, but you don't look well.
6 pardon my ignorance/rudeness etc spoken used when you want to say something which you think may make you seem not to know enough or not to be polite enough:
•Pardon my ignorance, but what does OPEC stand for?
7 if you'll pardon the expression spoken used when you are saying that you are sorry for using an impolite phrase:
•It was a bit of a cock-up, if you'll pardon the expression.
8 pardon my French spoken used humorously to say that you are sorry for using a swear word
9 pardon me for breathing/living spoken used when you are annoyed because you think someone has answered you angrily for no good reason:
•'Shut up, Callum!' 'Well, pardon me for breathing.'[C]
1 an official order allowing someone who has been found guilty of a crime to go free without being punished
grant/give sb a pardon
•Tyler was convicted but was granted a royal pardon (=one given by a king or queen).
2 ask/beg sb's pardon (for sth) old-fashioned to ask someone to forgive you:
•Walter begged her pardon for all the pain he had caused her.
I beg your pardon at BEG (4) $ formal
pardonable mistakes are not very bad and can be forgiven; = forgivable
•He had made the pardonable mistake of trusting the wrong person.
- pardonably adverb $ [T]
1 to cut off the outer layer of something, using a sharp knife:
•Pare the rind from the fruit.
2 to reduce the amount, number, or size of something as much as you can:
•The firm has not been able to pare costs fast enough to match competitors.
•The country's defences have been pared to the bone (=reduced as far as possible).

PHRASAL VERBS
pare sth <=> down phr v
to reduce something, especially by making a lot of small reductions:
•The list was pared down for the final interviews.
- pared-down adjective
•Even in its pared-down form, the contract was unacceptable. $ [C]
1 the father or mother of a person or animal:
•Children under fourteen should be accompanied by a parent.
•The eggs are guarded by both parents.
•Melissa's spending the weekend at her parents' house.
BIRTH PARENT; foster parents at FOSTER^2 (3); lone parent at LONE (2); ONE-PARENT FAMILY, SINGLE PARENT
2 something that produces other things of the same type:
•New shoots appear near the parent plant.
3 a company which owns a smaller company or organization:
•Land Rover's new parent $ [U]
someone's parents and the country and social class they are from:
•an English-born man with Irish parentage
•He was born in France in 1670 of unknown parentage (=nobody knows who his parents were).
relating to being a parent and especially to being responsible for a child's safety and development:
•parental responsibility
•Opening a new school will increase parental choice.
•Parental consent is required before the operation can take place.[U]
time that a parent is allowed to spend away from work with his or her baby[C]
a company that controls a smaller company or organization plural parentheses [C usually plural]
1 a round BRACKET
in parentheses
•The figures in parentheses refer to page numbers.
2 in parenthesis BrE in parentheses AmE if you say something in parenthesis, you say it while you are talking about something else in order to add information or explain something:
•In parenthesis, I should add that the results have not yet been proven.
PUNCTUATION MARKalso parenthetic formal
said or written while you are talking or writing about something else in order to explain something or add information:
•parenthetical references to his childhood
- parenthetically adverb $ [U]
the state of being a parent:
•Story-reading should be one of the great joys of parenthood. $ [U]
the skill or activity of looking after your own children:
•The program aims to teach young men parenting skills.[plural]
the parents of your husband or wife[C]
a PTA $ [only after noun]
the very best of a particular thing:
•Auguste Escoffier, masterchef par excellence $ [U]
AmE a sweet food made of layers of ICE CREAM and fruit [C]
someone who everyone hates and avoids; = outcast
1 [U] a system in which the money that people have risked on a horse race is shared between the people who have won:
•parimutuel betting
2 [C] AmE a machine used to calculate the amount of money that people can win when they risk it on horse races $ [plural] especially BrE
thin narrow pieces of something that have been cut off; pare
•nail parings
•cheese parings [C]
1 the area that a priest in some Christian churches is responsible for:
•Father Doyle moved to a new parish.
2 BrE a small area, especially a village, that has its own local government
•elections to the parish council[C] BrE
the main Christian church in a particular area[C] BrE
an official who works for a Christian church in a particular town or area $ [C]
someone who lives in a parish, especially someone who regularly goes to a Christian church there[only before noun]
BrE old-fashioned concerned only with what happens in a small local area:
•parish pump politics[C] BrE
an official record of the births, deaths, and marriages in a parish $ [C]
someone from the city of Paris in France
- Parisian adjective [U]
1 the state of being equal, especially having equal pay, rights, or power; = equality
[+with]
•Women workers are demanding parity with their male colleagues.
2 technical equality between the units of money from two different countries $ [C]
1 a large open area with grass and trees, especially in a town, where people can walk, play games etc:
•Let's go for a walk in the park.
•a park bench
•a flat overlooking Hyde Park
2 a large area of land in the country which has been kept in its natural state to protect the plants and animals there
national/state/county park
•the Lake District National Park
3 BrE a large enclosed area of land, with grass and trees, around a big house in the countryside
4 the park BrE informal the field where a game of football or RUGBY is played; = the pitch
•He was easily the best player on the park.
5 AmE informal the field where a game of baseball is played
AMUSEMENT PARK, BALL PARK (1), CAR PARK, NATIONAL PARK, SAFARI PARK, SCIENCE PARK, THEME PARK, TRAILER PARK
1 [I,T] to put a car or other vehicle in a particular place for a period of time:
•You can't park here - it's private property.
•I couldn't find anywhere to park.
•She parked the car on the drive.
•a line of parked cars
2 [T] spoken to put something in a particular place for a period of time, especially in a way that annoys someone
park sth on/in etc sth
•He parked a load of papers on my desk.
3 park yourself informal to sit down in a particular place, especially with the intention of staying a long time
[+on/in etc]
•Connie parked herself on the sofa. $ [C]
a thick warm jacket with a HOOD[U]
a system in which you leave your car outside a busy town and then take a special bus to the centre of the town $ [U]
1 the act of parking a car or other vehicle:
•No Parking
•a £45 parking fine
parking space/place/spot
•I couldn't find a parking space near the shops.
2 spaces in which you can leave a car or other vehicle:
•Free parking is available at the hotel.

WORD CHOICE:parking, parking space/place, car park, parking lot

!! Parking is an uncountable noun: Ample parking will be available. | a hotel with free parking Do not say 'a parking' or 'parkings'.
Use parking space or parking place when you mean 'a place in a street, car park etc where a vehicle can be left': There's a parking space (NOT a parking) in front of that house.
Use car park in British English or parking lot in American English when you mean 'an area or building where vehicles can be left': large car parks (NOT parkings) near train stations

[C] AmE
a piece of equipment in a car which prevents it from moving when it is parked; = handbrake BrE $ [C] AmE
a building with open sides in a public place where cars can be parked[C] AmE
one of two small lights next to each of the main lights at the front of a car[C]
AmE an open area for cars to park in; = car park BrE[C]
a machine at the side of a road which you have to put money into if you park your car next to it[C]
an official notice fixed to a vehicle, saying that you have to pay money because you have parked your car in the wrong place or for too longalso Parkinson's $ [U]
a serious illness in which your muscles become very weak and your arms and legs shake[U]
the idea that the amount of work you have to do increases to fill the amount of time you have to do it in - used humorously[C]
someone whose job is to look after a public park in British towns $ [U]
1 BrE an area of land with grass and trees, surrounding a big house in the countryside:
•The hotel is set in ten acres of parkland.
2 land with grass and trees which is used as a park:
•a narrow strip of parkland[C]
AmE a RANGER (1) $ [C]
1 AmE a wide road with an area of grass and trees in the middle or along the sides
2 BrE used to talk about railway stations that have large areas for cars to park $ BrE informal
cold; = chilly
•It's a bit parky outside today. $
1 in medical/advertising etc parlance expressed in the words that a particular group of people would use:
•In military parlance this is known as a fast retreat.
2 in common parlance expressed in the words that most people use:
•These schemes are known in common parlance as 'private pensions'. $ [T]
AmE to use advantages that you already have, such as your skills, experience, or money, and increase their value by using all your opportunities well
parlay sth into sth
•He owned five movie theaters, which he eventually parlayed into hotels. $ [C] old-fashioned
a discussion in which enemies try to achieve peace
- parley verb [I] $
1 [C] [also + plural verb BrE ] the group of people who are elected to make a country's laws and discuss important national affairs; government, MP
•They demanded a free parliament and press.
2 Parliament [singular also + plural verb BrE ] the main law-making institution in the UK, which consists of the HOUSE OF COMMONS and the HOUSE OF LORDS:
•The bill was passed by Parliament in April.
enter/get into Parliament (=be elected as a member of Parliament)
in Parliament
•He failed to win a seat in Parliament.
before Parliament
•The new laws will be placed before Parliament.
HUNG PARLIAMENT
3 [C] the period during which the British Parliament meets:
•We expect to get these laws passed during the present parliament. $ [C]
a member of a parliament, especially one who is very experienced; MP $
relating to, or governed by a parliament:
•the world's oldest parliamentary democracy $ [C]
the American spelling of PARLOURparlor AmE $ [C] BrE
1 ice cream/funeral/tattoo parlour a shop or type of business that provides a particular service
2 old-fashioned a room in a house which has comfortable chairs and is used for meeting guests
MILKING PARLOUR[C] BrE old-fashioned
a game that can be played indoors, such as a guessing game or a word game[C] BrE
a female servant who was employed in large houses in the past to clean the rooms and serve guests $ formal
in a very bad or dangerous condition:
•The country's police force was in a parlous state in 1990.also Parmesan cheese $ [U]
a hard Italian cheese $
1 only interested in things that affect your local area - used in order to show disapproval:
•Local newspapers tend to be very parochial.
2 [only before noun] relating to a particular church and the area around it:
•the parochial church council
- parochialism noun [U][C]
AmE a private school which is run by or connected with a church plural parodies
1 [C,U] a piece of writing, music etc or an action that copies someone or something in an amusing way
[+of]
•a brilliant parody of classical dance
in a parody of sth
•He swung the door wide open in a parody of welcome.
•Her performance contains a strong element of self-parody (=when someone makes fun of their own style).
2 [C] something that is not a correct or acceptable example of something
[+of]
•Although his comment was a parody of the truth, Diana was upset by it.
•The trial was a parody of justice (=very unfair).past tense and past participle parodied, present participle parodying, third person singular parodies [T]
to copy someone or something in a way that makes people laugh:
•His style has often been parodied.
- parodist noun [C] $ [U]
permission for someone to leave prison, on the condition that they promise to behave well
on parole
•He was released on parole after serving two years.
•She will become eligible for parole in 19 months.[T]
to allow someone to leave prison on the condition that they promise to behave well[C]
the people who decide if a prisoner should get permission to leave prison [C]
1 a sudden expression of strong feeling that you cannot control
[+of]
•Had she cut her wrists in a paroxysm of guilt?
2 a sudden, short attack of pain, coughing, shaking etc $ [U]
small flat blocks of wood fitted together in a pattern that cover the floor of a room:
•a parquet floor
[U] formal the crime of killing your father, mother, or any other close relative; matricide, patricide [C]
1 a tropical bird with a curved beak and brightly coloured feathers that can be taught to copy human speech
2 parrot fashion BrE if you learn something parrot fashion, you repeat what someone has just said without understanding it; by heart
•We recited poems parrot fashion.
sick as a parrot at SICK^1 (10)[T]
to repeat someone else's words or ideas without really understanding what you are saying - used to show disapproval:
•He just parroted his father's opinions. past tense and past participle parried, present participle parrying, third person singular parries
1 [I,T] to defend yourself against someone who is attacking you by pushing their weapon or hand to one side; = deflect
•It is far easier to parry a direct blow than to stop it forcibly.
2 [T] to avoid answering a question that is difficult to answer or that someone does not want to answer:
•He parried all her questions about his work.
- parry noun [C] $ [T]
technical to describe the grammar of a word when it is in a particular sentence, or the grammar of the whole sentence
- parser noun [C]Parsi $ [C]
a member of an ancient Persian religious group in India
- Parsee adjective $ formal
extremely unwilling to spend money
- parsimoniously adverb
- parsimony $ noun [U] $ [U]
a herb with curly leaves, used in cooking or as decoration on food $ [C,U]
a vegetable with a thick white or yellowish root $ [C] old-fashioned
a Christian priest or minister $ [C]
the house where a parson lives[C]
BrE informal the piece of flesh at the tail end of a bird, usually a chicken, that has been cooked; = pope's nose AmE $
1 PIECE [C] a piece or feature of something such as an object, area, event, or period of time
[+of]
•The front part of the car was damaged.
•In parts of Canada, French is the first language.
•For part of the day, you will be outside doing practical work.
•The cost of living is becoming unbearable for retired people in our part of the world (=where we live).
•More heat is lost through the head than any other part of the body.
the early/later/latter/last part
•in the early part of the nineteenth century
the best/worst part
•The best part of the holiday was the food.
the first/final/last part etc
•You can see the final part of that series on Tuesday.
part two/three etc
•I shall be explaining this further in Part Two.
the hard/easy part
•Getting Dad to agree will be the hard part.
different parts/all parts of sth
•The jobs attracted people from all parts of the world.
integral/vital/important part
•the traditions that are an integral part of Jewish life
in parts
•The film is very violent in parts.
!! Do not say 'most part of'. Say most of: We spent most of (NOT most part of) the morning shopping.
2 MACHINE/OBJECT [C] one of the separate pieces that something such as a machine or piece of equipment is made of:
•Lay all the parts out before you start assembling the model.
•engine parts
spare parts (=kept for when a part breaks, needs replacing etc)
3 NOT ALL part of sth some, but not all, of a particular thing:
•Part of the money will be spent on a new playground.
•Part of the castle was destroyed by fire.
part of me/him etc
•Part of me hates him (=I partly hate him).
(only) part of the story/problem/explanation etc
•Poor working conditions are only part of the problem.
4 INVOLVEMENT play a part if something or someone plays a part in something else, they are involved in it
[+in]
•Health education will play a part in preparing us for old age.
•Britain should play its full part in the negotiations.
play a big/important part in sth
•Pictures play an important part in publishing.
5 have a part to play (in sth) to have a particular job or be responsible for something:
•The church used to have a more important part to play in the community.
6 take part to be involved in an activity, sport, event etc with other people
[+in]
•About 400 students took part in the protest.
•She wanted to take part but she was too ill.
take an active/leading part
•At college I took an active part in student politics.
!! Do not say 'take a part in' something. Say take part in something.
7 take/have/play no part in sth to not be involved in something:
•She took no part in the fighting.
8 want no part of sth to not want to be involved in something:
•There was a plan to change the production style, and he wanted no part of it.
9 the best/better part of sth nearly all of something:
•We waited for the best part of an hour.
10 a good/large part of sth a lot or more than half of something:
•A large part of the budget will be spent on advertising.
11 the greater/major part of sth most of something:
•They controlled the greater part of North Africa.
12 in part to some degree, but not completely; = partly
•His reluctance to help could, in part, be explained by his poor eyesight.
13 in large part/for the most part mostly, or in most places:
•Success was due in large part to good teamwork.
•For the most part he worked patiently.
14 be (a) part of sth to be included or involved in something:
•Falling over is part of learning how to ski.
•If you decide to work for our organisation, you will be part of a great team.
15 form (a) part of sth to be one of the things that make up something larger or more important:
•Practical work forms an integral part of the course.
16 HAIR [C usually singular] AmE a PARTING
17 ACTING [C] the words and actions of a particular character in a play or film; = role
•Could someone take the part of Romeo, please?
•Katharine's playing the part of Mary in the school play.
18 MUSIC [C] the music that one type of instrument or voice within a group plays or sings:
•The violin part is difficult.
•The choir sings in four-part harmony.
19 QUANTITY [C] used to say how much of each substance there is or should be in a mixture:
•Prepare the glue with one part powder to three parts water.
•The sulphur dioxide level in the air was 32 parts per billion.
20 look the part
a) to look like a typical person of a particular type:
•In his smart suit, he certainly looked the part.
b) to perform well and seem likely to be successful - used in sports reports:
•He's beginning to look the part on the soccer field.
21 dress the part to wear suitable clothes for something:
•She's got a new high-powered job, and she's certainly dressing the part.
22 sb's part in sth what a particular person did in an activity that was shared by several people, especially something bad:
•He was imprisoned for six years for his part in the murder.
23 in/round these parts in the particular area that you are in:
•We don't get many tourists in these parts.
24 take sb's part BrE formal to support someone in a quarrel or argument; = take sb's side
•Dad always takes my brother's part when we argue.
25 for my/his part etc formal used when saying what a particular person thinks or does, as opposed to other people:
•For my part, I prefer living in the country.
26 on sb's part/on the part of sb used when describing a particular person's feelings or actions:
•It was probably just a mistake on her part.
•There has never been any jealousy on my part.
27 take sth in good part old-fashioned to accept jokes or criticism about you without being upset
28 be part and parcel of sth to be a necessary feature of something:
•Working irregular hours is all part and parcel of being a journalist.
29 man/woman of many parts someone who is able to do many different things:
•He was a man of many parts: writer, literary critic and historian.
1 [I,T] written to move the two sides of something apart, or to move apart, making a space in the middle:
•When he parted the curtains, the sunlight flooded into the room.
•The crowd parted to let him through.
•Ralph's lips parted in a delighted smile.
2 [I] written to separate from someone, or end a relationship with them:
•They parted on amicable terms.
[+from]
•He has parted from his wife.
3 be parted (from sb) to be prevented from being with someone:
•They were hardly ever parted in thirty years of marriage.
•He hates being parted from the children.
4 part company (with sb)
a) to go in different directions after having gone in the same direction:
•The two women parted company outside their rooms.
b) to end a relationship with someone:
•George parted company with the band in 1996.
c) to disagree with someone about something:
•He parted company with Lloyd George over post-war diplomacy.
5 [T] if you part your hair, you comb some of your hair in one direction and the rest in the other direction

PHRASAL VERBS
part with sth phr v
to give something to someone else, although you do not want to:
•I'm reluctant to part with any of the kittens, but we need the money.
1 part sth, part sth if something is part one thing, part another, it consists of both of those things:
•The exams are part written, part practical.
•The room is part sitting room, part bedroom.
2 not completely; = partly
•The project is part funded by the council.
•The object was part hidden by the grass.
1 part payment payment of only a part of something, not all of it:
•I gave them £10 in part payment.
2 part owner someone who is one of the people who own something $ past tense partook past participle partaken [I] formal
1 to eat or drink something
[+of]
•Grandmother likes to partake of a small glass of sherry before lunch.
2 to take part in an activity or event; = participate
[+in]
•a woman's fundamental right to partake in club affairs

PHRASAL VERBS
partake of sth phr v formal
to have a certain amount of a particular quality $ [C] formal
a part of a garden with areas of flowers surrounded by low HEDGEs in a formal pattern[C,U]
BrE a way of buying a new car, television etc in which you give your old car, television etc as part of the payment; = trade in AmE
•The company takes the buyer's property in part exchange. $ [U]
technical the production of a new plant or animal from a female without the sexual involvement of the male $
1 not complete:
•The exhibition was only a partial success.
•a partial solution to traffic congestion in Oxford
2 be partial to sth formal to like something very much:
•I'm very partial to cream cakes.
3 unfairly supporting one person or one group against another; impartial $ [U]
1 unfair support of one person or one group against another; = bias
•the problem of partiality in news reporting
2 partiality for sth formal a special liking for something:
•a partiality for Moorish architecture $ formal
not completely; = partly
•The operation was only partially successful.
•Remember that you are partially responsible for their unhappiness.
unable to see well; blind
•Reading aids have been provided for partially sighted pupils. $ [C]
someone who is taking part in an activity or event
[+in]
•an active participant in the negotiations $ [I]
formal to take part in an activity or event:
•Some members refused to participate.
[+in]
•Everyone in the class is expected to participate actively in these discussions.
•They welcomed the opportunity to participate fully in the life of the village.
!! Participate is never followed directly by a noun. Say that you participate in something: Everyone can participate in an election (NOT Everyone can participate an election). $ [U]
the act of taking part in an activity or event:
•Thank you for your participation.
[+in]
•We want more participation in the decision-making.
•entertainment with plenty of audience participation $ [usually before noun] formal
a participatory way of organizing something, making decisions etc is one that involves everyone who will be affected:
•a participatory democracy $ technical
using a participle, or having the form of a participle $ [C]
technical one of the forms of a verb that are used to make tenses. In English, PRESENT PARTICIPLEs end in -ing and PAST PARTICIPLEs usually end in -ed or -en. $ [C]
1 a very small piece of something:
•dust particles
[+of]
•tiny particles of soil
2 not a particle of truth/evidence etc no truth etc at all:
•There's not a particle of truth in what he says.
3 one of the very small pieces of matter that an atom consists of
4 technical an adverb or PREPOSITION that can combine with a verb to form a PHRASAL VERB[C]
a machine used in scientific studies which makes the very small pieces of matter that atoms are made of move at high speeds[U]
the study of the way that parts of atoms develop and behave $
1 [only before noun] a particular thing or person is the one that you are talking about, and not any other; certain, specific
•In this particular case, no one else was involved.
•Most students choose one particular area for research.
•a particular type of food
2 special or great:
•You should pay particular attention to spelling.
•For no particular reason, he quit the job.
of particular interest/concern/importance etc
•Of particular concern is the rising cost of transportation.
anything/nothing/something particular
•I had nothing particular planned.
3 very careful about choosing exactly what you like and not easily satisfied; = fussy
[+about]
•Marty's very particular about his food.
1 in particular especially:
•It was a good concert - I enjoyed the last song in particular.
anything/anyone/anywhere in particular
•Was there anything in particular that you wanted to talk about?
nothing/no one/nowhere in particular
•'What did you want?' 'Oh, nothing in particular.'
2 particulars [plural] the facts and details about a job, property, legal case etc
[+of]
•You may be required to give particulars of the change in your financial position.
•For further particulars, contact the College secretary.
•Send your particulars (=details such as your name, address, profession etc) to the address above.
3 in every particular/in all particulars formal in every detail:
•The documents were identical in almost every particular. $ plural particularities formal
1 [U] a quality that makes something different from all others:
•the particularity of her style of writing
2 [U] the quality of being exact and paying attention to details
3 [C] a detailalso particularise BrE $ [I,T] formal
to give the details of something; = itemize $
1 more than usual or more than others; = especially
•Steve was in a particularly bad mood when he got back.
•The restaurant is particularly popular with young people.
•We are hoping to expand our business, particularly in Europe.
•British farmers, particularly those producing lamb, are very worried.
2 not particularly
a) not very:
•I'm not particularly impressed with their performance.
b) spoken not very much:
•'Do you want to come to the party?' 'Not particularly.' $ [plural]
harmful dust in the air, especially produced by car engines $
1 [C,U] an occasion when two people leave each other:
•an emotional parting at the airport
•the moment of parting
on parting
•He gave her a light kiss on parting.
2 [C] BrE the line on your head made by dividing your hair with a comb; = part AmE
•a centre parting
3 parting of the ways the point at which two people or organizations decide to separate
1 a parting kiss/gift/glance etc a kiss etc that you give someone as you leave
2 parting shot an unpleasant remark that you make just as you are leaving, especially at the end of an argument:
•As her parting shot, she told me never to phone her again. $
1 strongly supporting a particular political party, plan or leader, usually without considering the other choices carefully:
•British newspapers are highly partisan.
2 relating to the fighting of an armed group against an enemy that has taken control of its country:
•the nature of partisan warfare[C]
1 someone who strongly supports a political party, plan, or leader:
•a media campaign to represent Democrats as angry partisans
2 a member of an armed group that fights against an enemy that has taken control of its country
- partisanship noun [U] $
1 [C] a thin wall that separates one part of a room from another
2 [U] the action of separating a country into two or more independent countries
[+of]
•the partition of India[T + into]
to divide a country, building, or room into two or more parts

PHRASAL VERBS
partition sth <=> off phr v
to divide part of a room from the rest by using a partition:
•They partitioned off part of the living room to make a study. $ [C] technical
a word which comes before a noun and shows that only part of something is being described, for example the word 'some' in the phrase 'some of the cake'
- partitive adjective $
to some degree, but not completely:
•The poor weather was partly responsible for the crash.
•The company's problems are partly due to bad management.
•It is partly because of her sick mother that she hasn't taken the job abroad.
•The group is funded partly by the government. $ [C]
1 MARRIAGE ETC one of two people who are married, or who live together and have a sexual relationship; husband, wife
•Discuss your worries with your partner.
•Only 29% of lone parents receive financial support from their former partners.
•a sexual partner
2 BUSINESS one of the owners of a business:
•She's a partner in a law firm.
•The senior partner has retired.
SLEEPING PARTNER
3 DANCING/GAMES ETC someone you do a particular activity with, for example dancing or playing a game against two other people:
•Clare's my tennis partner.
• Take your partners for the next dance.
4 COUNTRY/ORGANIZATION a country or organization that another country or organization has an agreement with:
•Nigeria is our principal trading partner in Africa.
•The group is a junior partner (=less important group) in the PLO's governing coalition.
5 partners in crime two people who have planned and done something together, especially something that slightly annoys other people - used humorously
SPARRING PARTNER[T]
to be someone's partner in a dance, game etc:
•I used to partner him in tennis matches. $
1 [U] the state of being a partner in business
be/work in partnership (with sb)
•I've been in partnership with her for five years.
•She's gone into partnership with two local doctors.
2 [C] a business owned by two or more people:
•It's one of the most successful partnerships in the country.
3 [C,U] a relationship between two people, organizations, or countries:
•Several youth charities have formed a partnership to help these homeless teenagers.
[+between]
•The close partnership between Britain and the US will continue.plural parts of speech [C]
technical one of the types into which words are divided in grammar according to their use, such as noun, verb, or adjective $
the past tense of PARTAKE $ [C]
a fat brown bird with a short tail which is shot for sport and food[C] technical
a song that consists of several voice parts, usually singing without a piano etc[only before noun]
someone who has a part-time job works for only part of each day or week:
•a part-time job
•women wishing to return to work on a part-time basis
- part-time adverb
•She wants to work part-time after she's had the baby.
- part-timer noun [C]
FULL-TIME (1) $ informal
for some of the distance or after some of the time has passed; halfway
•I got the bus partway.
[+through/along/down]
•She left partway through the two year contract. $ plural parties [C]
1 FOR FUN a social event when a lot of people meet together to enjoy themselves by eating, drinking, dancing etc:
•We're having a party on Saturday. Would you like to come?
throw/give a party
•The university threw a party to welcome them.
•She's giving a small informal party this evening.
go/come to a party
•Are you going to the party tonight?
•a child's birthday party
•the office Christmas party
at a party
•I met him at a party a couple of months ago.
•I have never enjoyed party games.
tea/costume/Halloween etc party (=a particular type of party)
•a dinner party at a chic New York restaurant
•the party spirit (=the way someone feels when they are really enjoying a party)
HEN PARTY, HOUSE PARTY, STAG PARTY, PARTY ANIMAL
2 IN POLITICS [also + plural verb BrE ] a political organization with particular beliefs and aims, which you can vote for in elections:
•the three main political parties in Britain
the Labour/Communist/Democratic etc Party
•She was greeted by a large crowd of Labour Party supporters.
•The conference is open to all party members.
•the party leader
•There were many people in the ruling party (=the party in power) who were unhappy with his policies.
•The new regulations have been attacked by opposition parties (=parties who are not in power and oppose the government).
•Her speech went down very well with the party faithful (=strong supporters of the party).
PARTY LINE
3 GROUP OF PEOPLE [also + plural verb BrE ] a group of people who go somewhere together or do a job together
[+of]
•a party of tourists
•There were several students in our party.
•A search party was sent out to look for the missing climbers.
•a rescue party
•Admission is free for school parties.
WORKING PARTY
4 IN AN ARGUMENT/LAW law or formal one of the people or groups who are involved in a legal argument or agreement:
•helping the two parties to reach an agreement
guilty/innocent party
•He sees himself as the innocent party in this dispute.
THIRD PARTY^1
5 be (a) party to sth formal to be involved in an activity or decision:
•I was not a party to this discussion.past tense and past participle partied, present participle partying, third person singular parties [I]
informal to enjoy yourself with a group of other people by drinking alcohol, eating, dancing etc:
•Let's party![C] informal
someone who enjoys going to parties and drinking a lot of alcohol, and behaving in a loud and often rude way[C]
AmE a small gift that people give to children at a party $ [C]
someone who is at a party:
•young partygoers[singular]
the official opinion of a political party or other organization, which its members are expected to agree with and support
follow/toe the party line (=to support the official opinion)
•He refused to toe the party line.[C] BrE
a song, dance etc that you often perform to entertain people at parties[only before noun]
BrE relating to activities in which people try to get support for one political party in a country:
•a party political broadcast on television
•party political propaganda[U]
activities that are concerned with getting support for one political party in a country:
•The decision was influenced by party politics. $ [C]
informal someone who spoils other people's fun[C]
a dividing wall between two houses, apartments etc $ [C]
formal old-fashioned an insulting word for someone from a low social position who has suddenly become rich and powerful $ plural pas de deux same pronunciation [C]
a dance in BALLET performed by a man and a woman [C]
a piece of soft cloth that is worn by women around their shoulders; shawl $
1 GO PAST [I,T] to come up to a particular place, person, or object and go past them:
•The crowd parted to let the truck pass.
•He gave me a smile as he passed.
•We passed a group of students outside the theatre.
•I pass the sports centre on the way to work.
2 MOVE/GO [I always + adv/prep] to go or travel along or through a place:
•He passed along the corridor to a small room at the back of the building.
•We passed through the gates into a courtyard behind.
•We were just passing through (=travelling through a place) and thought we'd drop in to see you.
3 PUT [T always + adv/prep] to put something around, through, or across something else:
•He passed the rope carefully around the post.
4 ROAD/RIVER ETC [I always + adv/prep, T] a road, river, or railway line that passes a place goes through or near the place:
•The road passes right through the town centre.
•The main railway line passes just north of Manchester.
5 GIVE [T] to hold something in your hand and give it to someone else:
•Pass the salt, please.
pass sb sth
•Can you pass me that bag by your feet?
pass sth to sb
•She passed a cup of tea to the headmaster.
•I passed the note back to her.
pass around
6 GIVE INFORMATION [T always + adv/prep] to give information or a job to another person so that they can deal with it
pass sth (on/over/back) to sb
•I'll pass the information on to our sales department.
•They've passed the enquiry over to the police.
7 TIME
a) [I] if time passes, it goes by:
•The days passed slowly.
•She became more ambitious as the years passed.
•They sat in silence while the minutes passed.
• Hardly a day passes without more bad news about the economy (=there is bad news almost every day).
b) [T] if you pass time or pass your life in a particular way, you spend it in that way:
•We passed the winter pleasantly enough.
•We played cards to pass the time (=to help us stop feeling bored).
!! It is more usual to say that you spend time doing something than you 'pass time' doing something: I spent (NOT passed) the whole day watching TV.
8 EXAM/TEST
a) [I,T] to succeed in an examination or test; fail
•Did you pass all your exams?
•He hasn't passed his driving test yet.
•She passed with flying colours (=got very high marks).
b) [T] to officially decide that someone has succeeded in an examination or test; fail
•The examiners will only pass you if they feel that you have done the work properly.
9 LAW/PROPOSAL
a) [T] to officially accept a law or proposal, especially by voting:
•Plans to extend the hotel have now been passed.
•The motion was passed by 16 votes to 11.
pass a law/bill/act
•The first Transport Act was passed in 1907.
•The government has passed new legislation to protect consumers.
•The United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution asking the two countries to resume peace negotiations.
b) [I,T] especially AmE if a law or proposal passes an official group, it is officially accepted by that group:
•The bill failed to pass the House of Representatives.
10 HAPPEN [I always + adv/prep] written if something passes between people, they speak to each other or do something together
[+between]
•A glance of recognition passed between them.
•Please say nothing of what has passed here today.
11 SAY pass a remark/comment to say something that gives your opinion:
•I'm afraid I can't pass any comment on this matter.
•He passed some remark about doctors being paid too much.
12 let sth pass to deliberately not say anything when someone says or does something that you do not like:
•Carla made some comment about my work but I decided to let it pass.
13 END [I] to end or stop:
•After a couple of hours the storm passed.
•The feeling of sickness soon passed.
14 SPORT [I,T] to kick, throw, or hit a ball to a member of your own team during a game
[+to]
•He passed to Beckham on the edge of the penalty area.
pass sth to sb
•Are you allowed to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper?
15 MORE THAN [T] to become more than a particular number or amount:
•The number of unemployed has passed the two million mark for the first time.
16 pass unnoticed to happen without anyone noticing or saying anything:
•His resignation passed largely unnoticed.
17 pass the time of day (with sb) to talk to someone for a short time in order to be friendly
18 CHANGE CONTROL [I always + prep] formal to change from being controlled or owned by one person to being controlled or owned by someone else
[+to]
•The land will pass to my son when I die.
•Control of these services has now passed into the hands of the local authorities.
19 CHANGE [I always + prep] formal to change from one state or condition into another
[+from/to]
•The chemical passes from a liquid to a solid state during the cooling process.
20 pass (a) sentence (on sb) to officially decide how a criminal will be punished, and to announce what the punishment will be:
•Judges no longer have the power to pass the death sentence.
21 pass judgment (on sb) to give your opinion about someone's behaviour:
•I don't want to pass judgment on my colleagues.
22 GIVE NO ANSWER [I] to give no answer to a question because you do not know the answer:
•'Who won the World Cup in 1998?' 'Pass.'
23 NOT ACCEPT [I] to not accept an invitation or offer
[+on]
•I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that offer of coffee.
24 not pass sb's lips humorous
a) used to say that someone does not talk about something that is secret:
•Don't worry. Not a word of this will pass my lips.
b) used to say that someone does not eat or drink a particular thing:
•Not a drop of liquor has passed my lips.
25 WASTE MATTER [T] medical to let out a waste substance from your BLADDER or BOWEL s:
•See your doctor immediately if you pass any blood.
•He was having difficulty passing water (=letting out URINE).
26 come to pass literary or biblical to happen

PHRASAL VERBS
pass as sb/sth phr v
if someone or something can pass as someone or something, they are similar enough to be accepted as that type of person or thing:
•His French is so good that he can pass as a Frenchman.

pass sth <=> around phr v also pass sth <=> round BrE
to offer or show something to each person in a group:
•Pass the cookies around, would you?
pass the hat round/around at HAT (6)

pass away phr v
to die - use this when you want to avoid saying the word 'die'

pass by phr v
1 pass by (sb/sth) to go past a person, place, vehicle etc:
•They all waved as they passed by.
•Will you be passing by the supermarket on your way home?
PASSERBY
2 pass sb by if something passes you by, it happens but you are not involved in it:
•She felt that life was passing her by.

pass sth <=> down phr v [usually passive]
to give or teach something to people who are younger than you or live after you
pass sth down (from sb) to sb
•The tradition has been passed down from father to son for generations.

pass for sb/sth phr v
if something passes for another thing, it is so similar to that thing that people think that is what it is:
•With my hair cut short, I could have passed for a boy.

pass off phr v
1 pass off well/badly etc if an event passes off well, badly etc, it happens in that way:
•The visit passed off without any serious incidents.
2 pass sb/sth off as sth to make people think that someone or something is another thing:
•They bought up pieces of old furniture and passed them off as valuable antiques.
•He passed himself off as a doctor.

pass on phr v
1 pass sth <=> on to give someone a piece of information that someone else has given to you
[+to]
•She said she'd pass the message on to the other students.
2 pass sth <=> on
a) to give something, especially a disease, to your children through your GENE s
b) to give a slight illness to someone else
[+to]
•One catches the virus and they pass it on to the rest.
3 pass sth <=> on to make someone else pay the cost of something
[+to]
•Any increase in our costs will have to be passed on to the consumer.
4 to die - use this when you want to avoid saying the word 'die'

pass out phr v
1 to become unconscious:
•I nearly passed out when I saw all the blood.
2 especially BrE to finish a course of study at a military school or police college
3 pass sth <=> out to give something, such as books or papers, to everyone in a group; = hand out, distribute

pass over phr v
1 pass sb <=> over [usually in passive] if you pass someone over for a job, you choose someone else who is younger or lower in the organization than them:
•This is the second time I've been passed over for promotion (=someone else has been given a higher job instead of me).
2 pass over sth if you pass over a remark or subject, you do not spend any time discussing it:
•I want to pass over this quite quickly.
•I think we'd better pass over that last remark.

pass sth <=> up phr v
to not make use of a chance to do something
pass up a chance/opportunity/offer
•I don't think you should pass up the opportunity to go to university.
pass muster at MUSTER^2 (1)
pass the buck at BUCK^1 (3)[C]
1 DOCUMENT an official piece of paper which shows that you are allowed to enter a building or travel on something without paying:
•The guard checked our passes.
•They issued us with free passes to the theatre.
•You can buy a cheap one-day bus pass.
2 EXAM/TEST a successful result in an examination; fail
•You will need at least three passes to get onto the course.
[+in]
•Did you get a pass in English?
•The pass mark (=the mark you need to be successful) is 55%.
3 SPORT when you kick, throw, or hit a ball to another member of your team during a game:
•That was a brilliant pass by Holden.
4 make a pass at sb informal to try to kiss or touch another person with the intention of starting a sexual relationship with them
5 ROAD/PATH a high road or path that goes between mountains to the other side:
•a narrow, winding mountain pass
6 STAGE one part of a process that involves dealing with the whole of a group or thing several times:
•On the first pass we eliminated all the candidates who didn't have the right experience.
7 AIRCRAFT a movement in which an aircraft flies once over a place which it is attacking
8 come to a pretty/sorry pass old-fashioned informal if things have come to a pretty or sorry pass, a situation has become very bad $
1 formal fairly good, but not excellent:
•The food was excellent and the wine was passable.
•He can do a passable imitation of the maths teacher.
2 a road or river that is passable is not blocked, so you can travel along it or across it; impassable $
in a way that is fairly good, but not excellent:
•There were one or two passably funny jokes but it was mostly dull.
1 IN A BUILDING [C] a long narrow area with walls on either side which connects one room or place to another; corridor
•My office is just along the passage.
•We walked down a narrow passage to the back of the building.
•an underground passage
2 FROM A BOOK ETC [C] a short part of a book, poem, speech, piece of music etc
[+from/of]
•He read out a short passage from the Bible.
3 MOVEMENT [U] formal the movement of people or vehicles along a road or across an area of land
[+of]
•The bridge isn't strong enough to allow the passage of heavy vehicles.
•Both sides agreed to allow the free passage of medical supplies into the area.
•He was guaranteed safe passage out of the country.
4 OF A LAW [U] when a new law is discussed and accepted by a parliament or Congress
[+through]
•The bill was amended several times during its passage through Congress.
•They are expecting the new legislation to have quite a rough passage (=be discussed and criticized a lot) through parliament.
5 JOURNEY [C] old-fashioned a journey on a ship
[+to]
•My parents couldn't afford the passage to America.
6 INSIDE SB'S BODY [C] a tube in your body that air or liquid can pass through:
•the nasal passages
7 WAY THROUGH [singular] a way through something
[+through]
•The police forced a passage through the crowd.
8 the passage of time the passing of time:
•With the passage of time, things began to look more hopeful.
rite of passage at RITE (2) [C]
a PASSAGE (1):
•He led me down a narrow passageway. $ [C]
a book in which a record is kept of the money you put into and take out of a bank account $ formal
no longer modern or fashionable [C]
AmE old-fashioned a group of people or things
[+of]
•a whole passel of kids $ [C]
1 someone who is travelling in a vehicle, plane, boat etc, but is not driving it or working on it:
•Neither the driver nor the passengers were hurt.
passenger train/plane/ship
•a crash involving a passenger train
bus/rail/airline passengers
•Rail passengers now face even longer delays.
2 BrE someone in a group who does not do their share of the group's work:
•The company can't afford to carry any passengers.[C]
the seat in the front of a vehicle next to the driver $ plural passersby [C]
someone who is walking past a place by chance:
•They sell drinks to passersby. formal
used to show that a person or subject is referred to many times in a book or article $ [U]
1 the passing of time/the years the process of time going by:
•Most of the old traditions have died out with the passing of time.
•The passing of the years had done nothing to improve his temper.
2 mention/note sth in passing if you say something in passing, you mention it while you are mainly talking about something else:
•He did mention his brother's wife, but only in passing.
3 the passing of something is the fact that it has ended:
•The old regime was defeated, and few people mourned its passing.
4 the passing of a person is their death - use this when you want to avoid using the word 'death':
•Nothing could fill the gap in her life left by his passing.[only before noun]
1 going past a place or person:
•Michael watched the passing cars.
•A passing motorist stopped to help.
2 passing days/weeks/years etc literary the days, weeks, years etc that pass:
•Her grief became less intense with the passing years.
•With each passing day she grew stronger.
3 a passing thought or feeling is short and not very serious:
•He had only ever shown a passing interest in sport.
4 a passing remark is one that you make while you are talking about something else:
•He made only a passing reference to her achievements.
the Passion the suffering and death of Jesus Christ
1 [C,U] a very strong feeling of sexual love; desire
•His eyes were burning with passion.
[+for]
•her passion for a married man
2 [C,U] a very strong belief or feeling about something
with passion
•He spoke with considerable passion about the importance of art and literature.
•The issue arouses strong passions.
3 [C] a very strong liking for something
[+for]
•his passion for football
•Gardening was her great passion.
4 fly into a passion literary to suddenly become very angry
crime of passion at CRIME (5)
1 showing or involving very strong feelings of sexual love:
•He had a brief but passionate love affair with an older woman.
•a very passionate young man
•a passionate lover
•a passionate kiss
2 someone who has a passionate belief believes something very strongly:
•a passionate supporter of women's rights
•He had a passionate belief in justice.
3 if you are passionate about something, you like it a lot:
•She developed a passionate interest in wild flowers.
[+about]
•I've always been passionate about football.
- passionately adverb
•He kissed her passionately.
•Peter is passionately involved in environmental issues. $ [C]
a climbing plant with large attractive flowers[C,U]
a small fruit which has a brown skin and many seeds
with no strong feelings of love:
•a dull, passionless marriage[C]
a play that tells the story of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ
1 someone who is passive tends to accept things that happen to them or things that people say to them, without taking any action; impassive
•Kathy seems to take a very passive role in the relationship.
•their passive acceptance of their fate
2 technical a passive verb or sentence has as its subject the person or thing to which an action is done, as in 'His father was killed in a car accident.'
ACTIVE^1 (6)
- passively adverb
•He listened passively as his sentence was read out.
- passivity noun [U]
the passive technical the passive form of a verb, for example 'was destroyed' in the sentence 'The building was destroyed during the war.'
ACTIVE^2[U]
a way of protesting against something or opposing a government without using violence:
•They tried to achieve their aims by passive resistance.[U] especially BrE
the act of breathing in smoke that is in the air around you when someone else is smoking cigarettes[singular]
the PASSIVE^2also passivise BrE [I,T]
technical to make a verb PASSIVE, or to become passive $ [C]
a key that will open several different locks in a buildingalso the Passover $ [U]
a Jewish religious holiday when people remember the escape of the Jews from Egypt $ [C]
1 a small official document that you get from your government, that proves who you are, and which you need in order to leave your country and enter other countries
British/French/American etc passport
•She was born in New York and has an American passport.
have/hold a passport
•Do you hold a British passport?
•All people entering the country will need a valid passport.
•He got into Europe with a false passport.
•I need to check that your passport is in order.
2 passport to success/health/romance etc something that makes it easy for you to achieve success, good health etc:
•She saw a good diet as a passport to good health.
•Don't assume that winning a talent contest is a passport to success.[U]
the place where your passport is checked when you leave or enter a country; immigration
•It took us ages to get through passport control. $ [C]
1 a secret group of letters or numbers that you must type into a computer before you can use a system or program:
•Enter your password, then click on the 'proceed' icon.
•Give your user name and password.
2 a secret word or phrase that someone has to say before they are allowed to enter a place such as a military camp $
1 PREVIOUS [only before noun] done, used, or experienced before now:
•Judging by her past performance, Jane should do very well.
•From past experience she knew that it was no use arguing with him.
•Study some past exam papers to get an idea of the questions.
2 RECENT [only before noun] used to refer to a period up until now:
•the events of the past year
•During the past two weeks twelve people have died of the disease.
•She has been feeling tired for the past few days.
3 FINISHED finished or having come to an end:
•Winter is past and spring has come at last.
•writers from past centuries
•a tradition rooted in times long past
4 FORMER [only before noun] having held a particular position in the past or achieved a particular honour in the past
past president/member/winner etc
•a past president of the golf club
•a celebration for past and present employees of the newspaper
•Bruce Jenner, a past Olympic champion
5 GRAMMAR [only before noun] relating to the PAST TENSE
1 later than a particular time:
•It's ten past nine.
•I should be finished by half past (=30 minutes after the hour).
•It was past midnight when the party ended.
•Come on Annie, it's long past your bedtime.
2 further than a particular place:
•The hospital's just up this road, about a mile past the school.
•There are parking spaces over there, just past (=a little further than) the garage.
3 up to and beyond a person or place, without stopping:
•She waved as she drove past.
•Will you be going past my house on your way home?
straight/right past (=used to emphasize that someone passes close to you and does not stop)
•Monica hurried straight past me and down the steps.
4 if a period of time goes past, it passes:
•Weeks went past without any news.
•The hours seemed to fly past.
5 beyond or no longer at a particular point or stage:
•The roses were already past their best.
•Reid never really got past the stage of copying other artists.
•a pot of yoghurt well past its sell-by date
•an Italian singer who was then past her prime (=no longer strong and active)
•I'm past caring about my appearance (=I do not care about it any more).
6 I wouldn't put it past sb (to do sth) spoken used to say that you would not be surprised if someone did something bad or unusual because it is typical of them to do that type of thing:
•I wouldn't put it past Colin to cheat.
7 past it BrE spoken too old to be able to do what you used to do, or too old to be useful:
•People seem to think that just because I'm retired, I'm past it.
8 be past due AmE something that is past due has not been paid or done by the time it should have been
1 the past
a) the time that existed before the present
in the past
•The lake was smaller in the past.
•Good manners have become a thing of the past (=something that does not exist any more).
•It's time she stopped living in the past (=thinking only about the past) and began to think about her future.
the recent/immediate/distant past
•She allowed her mind to drift towards the recent past.
•I did a law degree some time in the dim and distant past (=a long time ago).
b) the PAST TENSE
2 all in the past spoken used to say that an unpleasant experience has ended and can be forgotten:
•You mustn't think about it. It's all in the past now.
3 [singular] the past life or existence of someone or something:
•At some time in its past the church was rebuilt.
•The woman who ran the bar had a very shady past (=events in her past which might be considered bad). $ [U]
an Italian food made from flour, eggs, and water and cut into various shapes, usually eaten with a sauce:
•I eat a lot of pasta.
1 meat/fish/tomato etc paste a soft smooth food, made by crushing meat, fish etc
2 [C,U] a soft thick mixture that can easily be shaped or spread:
•Mix the powder with enough water to make a smooth paste.
3 [C,U] a type of glue that is used for sticking paper onto things:
•wallpaper paste
4 [U] pieces of glass that are used in jewellery to look like valuable stones
1 [T always + adv/prep] to stick something to something else using glue:
•A notice had been pasted to the door.
2 [I,T] to make words that you have removed or copied appear in a new place on a computer screen; copy, cut
•Data can be pasted into word processing documents.
PASTE-UP, PASTING $ [U]
flat stiff CARDBOARD made by sticking sheets of paper together $
1
a) [C,U] a small coloured stick for drawing pictures with, made of a substance like CHALK
b) [C] a picture drawn with pastels
2 [C usually plural] a light colour such as pale blue or pink:
•a room beautifully furnished in soft pastels[only before noun]
1 pastel colours are light and pale:
•pastel blue
•The walls were painted in pastel shades.
2 drawn using pastels:
•a set of four small pastel drawings[C]
a piece of paper with writing and pictures stuck on it that shows what a page will look like when a book or magazine is producedalso pasteurised BrE $
a liquid, usually milk, that is pasteurized has been heated using a special process in order to kill any harmful BACTERIA in it
- pasteurize verb [T]
- pasteurization $ noun [U]
1 [C] a piece of writing, music, film etc that is deliberately made in the style of someone or something else; parody
[+of]
•The film is a pastiche of the Hollywood Wild West.
2 [C] a work of art that consists of a variety of different styles put together
3 [U] the practice of making a piece of writing, music, film etc using the style of something else or using a variety of different styles [C] especially BrE
a small round sweet, sometimes containing medicine for a sore throat; = lozenge
•fruit pastilles $ [C]
something that you do because you think it is enjoyable or interesting; hobby
•Reading was her favourite pastime.
1 [U] the activity of moving words from one place to another on a computer screen:
•cutting and pasting
2 [singular] informal an easy defeat of someone in a game or competition
3 [singular] BrE informal a severe beating[C]
someone who is very skilled at doing something and has done it many times before; = expert
past master at (doing) sth
•She's a past master at exploiting other people. $ [C]
a Christian priest in some Protestant churches:
•the pastor of Carr's Lane Congregational church
•Pastor Martin Niemoller $
1 relating to the duties of a priest, minister etc towards the members of their religious group:
•his pastoral work among the congregation
2 literary typical of the simple peaceful life in the country:
•a charming pastoral scene
3 relating to the duties of a teacher in advising students about their personal needs rather than their schoolwork:
•pastoral care at the school[C] technical
the form of a verb used with the verb 'to have' in PERFECT tenses (for example 'eaten' in 'I have eaten'), or with the verb 'to be' in the PASSIVE (for example 'changed' in 'it was changed'), or sometimes as an adjective (for example 'broken' in 'a broken leg')[singular] technical
the form of a verb that shows that the action described by the verb was completed before a particular time in the past, formed in English with 'had' and a past participle
- past perfect adjective [U]
smoked BEEF that contains a lot of spices plural pastries
1 [U] a mixture of flour, butter, and milk or water, used to make the outer part of baked foods such as PIEs
2 [C] a small sweet cake, made using pastry:
•a Danish pastry[C]
a form of a verb that shows that something happened or existed before the present time, typically a form such as 'walked', as in 'I walked away' $ [U]
pasture $ [C,U]
1 land or a field that is covered with grass and is used for cattle, sheep etc to feed on:
•large areas of rough upland pasture
•the lush pastures of the southern counties
2 put sth/sb out to pasture
a) to move cattle, horses etc into a field to feed on the grass
b) informal to make someone leave their job because you think they are too old to do it well
3 pastures new/greener pastures a new and exciting or better job, place, or activity - used humorously:
•I'd like to say goodbye to Paul who leaves us for pastures new.
1 [T] to put animals outside in a field to feed on the grass
2 [I + on] if animals pasture on a particular area of land, they eat the grass that is growing there $ [U]
pasture
a pasty face looks very pale and unhealthy plural pasties [C] BrE
a small PASTRY case filled with meat, vegetables etc and baked:
•a Cornish pasty
having a very pale face that looks unhealthy past tense and past participle patted, present participle patting [T]
1 to lightly touch someone or something several times with your hand flat, especially to give comfort; stroke
•He patted the dog affectionately.
2 pat sb/yourself on the back to praise someone or yourself for doing something well:
•You can pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.[C]
1 a friendly act of touching someone with your hand flat:
•Mrs Dodd gave the child a pat on the head.
2 pat of butter a small flat amount of butter
3 a pat on the back informal praise for something that you have done well:
•Alex deserves a pat on the back for all his hard work.
COWPAT[usually before noun]
a pat answer or explanation seems too quick and too simple and sounds as if it has been used before:
•There are no pat answers to these questions.
1 have sth off pat BrE have sth down pat AmE to know something thoroughly so that you can say it, perform it etc immediately without thinking about it; off by heart
2 stand pat AmE to refuse to change your opinion or decision [C]
1 PART OF AN AREA a small area of something that is different from the area around it
[+of]
•We finally found a patch of grass to sit down on.
•Belinda watched a patch of sunlight move slowly across the wall.
•Look out for icy patches on the road.
•a cat with a white patch on its chest
•He combs his hair over his bald patch.
2 OVER A HOLE a small piece of material that is sewn on something to cover a hole in it:
•a jacket with leather patches at the elbows
3 FOR GROWING STH a small area of ground for growing fruit or vegetables:
•a strawberry patch
4 COMPUTER a small computer program that is added to software to solve problems
5 EYE a piece of material that you wear over your eye to protect it when it has been hurt:
•He had a black patch over one eye.
6 DECORATION AmE a small piece of cloth with words or pictures on it that you can sew onto clothes; = badge BrE
7 a bad/difficult/sticky/rough patch informal a period of time when you are having a lot of difficulty:
•Gemma's going through a bad patch right now.
8 sb's patch BrE informal an area that someone knows very well because they work or live there; = turf
•Policemen know what's going on in their home patch.
9 not be a patch on sb/sth BrE informal to be much less attractive, good etc than something or someone else:
•The second film isn't a patch on the first.also patch up [T + with]
to repair a hole in something by putting a piece of something else over it

PHRASAL VERBS
patch sth <=> together phr v
to make something quickly or carelessly from a number of different pieces or ideas:
•A new plan was quickly patched together.

patch sth/sb <=> up phr v
1 to end an argument because you want to stay friendly with someone:
•Try to patch up your differences before he leaves.
patch it/things up (with sb)
•He went back to patch things up with his wife.
2 to repair a hole in something by putting a piece of something else over it:
•We'll have to patch up the hole in the roof.
3 to give quick and basic medical treatment to someone who is hurt:
•We patched up the wounded as best we could. [U]
a type of PERFUME made from the leaves of a SE Asian bush $
1 [U] a type of sewing in which many coloured squares of cloth are stitched together to make one large piece:
•a patchwork quilt
2 [singular] something that is made up of a lot of different things
[+of]
•a patchwork of woods and fields, typical of the English countryside
•The area was a patchwork of local industries.
1 happening or existing in some areas but not in others:
•patchy fog
2 not complete enough to be useful:
•His knowledge of French remained pretty patchy.
•There is only patchy evidence of the animal's existence.
3 especially BrE good in some parts but bad in others:
•I thought the performance was patchy.
- patchiness noun [U] [C] old use
the top of your head:
•his bald pate $ [C,U]
a soft food made from meat or fish, that you can spread on bread [C] technical
your KNEECAP $
[C,U] a special document that gives you the right to make or sell a new INVENTION or product that no one else is allowed to copy
[+on/for]
•He applied for a patent for a new method of removing paint.
•He wants to take out a patent on his new type of dustbin.
•The drugs are protected by patent.[only before noun]
1 protected by a patent:
•a patent lock
2 patent lie/nonsense/impossibility etc formal used to emphasize that something is clearly a lie etc; = obvious
PATENTLY[T]
to obtain a special document giving you the right to make or sell a new INVENTION or product $ [U]
thin shiny leather, usually black:
•patent leather shoes $ formal
very clearly:
•The treatment is patently not working.
patently false/untrue
•To say that the proposal has no disadvantages at all is patently untrue.
•It's patently obvious that you're in love with her. $ [C]
a medicine which can be bought without a PRESCRIPTION (=a written order from your doctor); = over-the-counter $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
father $ [C] formal
a father or a man who is the head of a family $
1 paternal feelings or behaviour are like those of a kind father towards his children:
•Dan took a paternal interest in my work.
2 paternal grandmother/uncle etc your father's mother, brother etc
- paternally adverb
MATERNAL $ [U]
when people in charge of an organization or society protect the members and give them what they need but do not allow them any freedom or responsibility
- paternalistic $ also paternalist adjective $ [U] law
the fact of being the father of a particular child, or the question of who the child's father is:
•The paternity of the child is in dispute.[U]
a period of time that the father of a new baby is allowed away from work; maternity leave, parental leave[C]
a legal action in which a mother asks a court of law to find proof that a particular man is the father of her child, usually in order to claim financial support from him $ plural paths $ [C]
1 TRACK a track that has been made deliberately or made by many people walking over the same ground:
•I walked nervously up the garden path towards the front door.
•a well-worn path across the grass
• Follow the path along the river to the bridge.
•a path leading to the summer house
2 WAY THROUGH STH the space ahead of you as you move along
[+through]
•Police cleared a path through the protesters.
•Damian blocked their path.
3 DIRECTION the direction or line along which something or someone is moving
in sth's/sb's path
•The tornado destroyed everything in its path.
into the path of sth
•She walked into the path of an oncoming vehicle.
4 PLAN a plan or series of actions that will help you achieve something, especially over a long period of time:
•a career path
path to freedom/success/independence etc
•She saw a college degree as her path to success.
the same/a different path
•I hope you will choose a different path.
5 sb's paths cross if two people's paths cross, they meet by chance:
•Our paths did not cross again.
beat a path (to sb's door) at BEAT^1 (16)
off the beaten path at BEATEN (1)
FLIGHT PATH
lead sb up the garden path at LEAD^1 (12)
stand in sb's path at STAND^1 (30)
1 something or someone that is pathetic is so useless, unsuccessful, or weak that they annoy you:
•You're pathetic! Here, let me do it.
•I know it sounds pathetic now, but at the time I was frightened.
•Vic made a pathetic attempt to apologise.
2 making you feel pity or sympathy:
•The child looked a pathetic sight.
- pathetically adverb
•She whimpered pathetically.[U] technical
the idea of describing the sea, rocks, weather etc in literature as if they were human $ [C] especially AmE
1 someone who goes ahead of a group and finds the best way through unknown land
2 a person who discovers new ways of doing things; = trailblazer [C] technical
something that causes disease in your body
- pathogenic adjective $
1 pathological behaviour or feelings happen regularly, and are strong, unreasonable, and impossible to control:
•a pathological hatred of women
•a pathological liar
2 a mental or physical condition that is pathological is caused by disease:
• pathological conditions such as cancer
3 relating to pathology
- pathologically adverb
•Stephen was almost pathologically jealous of his brother. $ [U]
the study of the causes and effects of illnesses
- pathologist noun [C] $ [U]
the quality that a person, situation, film, or play has that makes you feel pity and sadness:
•the pathos of the woman trying to keep her lover $ [C]
1 a path
2 a series of nerves that pass information to each other [U]
1 the ability to continue waiting or doing something for a long time without becoming angry or anxious; impatience
•I wouldn't have the patience to sit sewing all day.
infinite/unlimited/endless patience
•a good listener who has infinite patience
2 the ability to accept trouble and other people's annoying behaviour without complaining or becoming angry:
•You'll need patience and understanding if you're going to be a teacher.
have little/no patience with sb
•She has no patience with time-wasters.
lose/run out of patience (with sb) (=stop being patient and get angry)
•I'm beginning to lose patience with you people.
•It will take time and patience to get these changed accepted.
•Celia's patience suddenly snapped and she told them to shut up.
the patience of Job/the patience of a saint (=very great patience when someone is annoying you)
•Henry's negative attitude is beginning to try my patience (=make me lose my patience).
3 (have) patience used to tell someone to wait calmly:
•Patience, my dear. Some things take time.
4 BrE a card game for one player; = solitaire AmE [C]
someone who is receiving medical treatment from a doctor or in a hospital
able to wait calmly for a long time or to accept difficulties, people's annoying behaviour etc without becoming angry; impatient
•You'll just have to be patient and wait till I'm off the phone.
[+with]
•Louise was very patient with me.
- patiently adverb
•He waited patiently for Katherine to speak. $ [singular]
1 a greenish layer that forms naturally on the surface of COPPER or BRONZE
2 a smooth, shiny surface that gradually develops on wood, leather etc
3 a patina of wealth/success etc the appearance of being wealthy, successful etc $ plural patios [C]
a flat hard area near a house, where people sit outside[plural] especially BrE
glass doors that open from a living room onto a patio [C]
a shop that sells cakes and PIEs , especially French cakes, or the cakes it sells plural patois [C,U]
a spoken form of a language used by the people of a small area and different from the national or standard language $ [C]
1 an old man who is respected as the head of a family or tribe
MATRIARCH
2 a BISHOP in the early Christian church
3 a BISHOP of the Orthodox Christian churches who is very high in rank $
1 ruled or controlled only by men:
•a patriarchal society
2 relating to being a patriarch, or typical of a patriarch; matriarchal $ plural patriarchies [C,U]
1 a social system in which men have all the power
2 a social system in which the oldest man rules his family and passes power and possessions on to his sons
MATRIARCHY
1 typical of a member of the highest class in society:
•a patrician manner
2 belonging to the high class of people that governed in ancient Rome
- patrician noun [C]
PLEBEIAN [U]
the crime of murdering your father; matricide, parricide $ [singular, U] formal
property given to you after the death of your father, which was given to him by your grandfather etc; = inheritance $ [C]
someone who loves their country and is willing to defend it - used to show approval $
having or expressing a great love of your country; nationalistic
•patriotic songs
•I'm not very patriotic.
- patriotism $ noun [U] $ past tense and past participle patrolled, present participle patrolling [T]
1 to go around the different parts of an area or building at regular times to check that there is no trouble or danger:
•Armed guards patrolled the grounds.
•an area patrolled by special police units
2 to drive or walk around an area in a threatening way:
•Gangs of youths patrolled the streets at night.
1 [C,U] when someone goes around different parts of an area at regular times to check that there is no trouble or danger
on patrol
•police on patrol in the city centre
•The security forces increased their patrols in the area.
2 [C] a group of police, soldiers, vehicles, planes etc sent out to search a particular area:
•a US border patrol
patrol boat/car (=used by the army or police)
3 [C] a small group of BOY SCOUTs or GUIDEs
HIGHWAY PATROL[C]
a police car that drives around the streets of a city $ plural patrolmen [C]
1 AmE a police officer who regularly walks or drives around a particular area to try to prevent crime
2 someone employed by a car owners' association in Britain who goes to give help to drivers by the road [C]
1 someone who supports the activities of an organization, for example by giving money:
•a wealthy patron
[+of]
•a patron of the arts
2 a famous person who is officially involved with an organization, such as a CHARITY, and whose name is used to help advertise it
3 formal someone who uses a particular shop, restaurant, or hotel:
•facilities for disabled patrons
see box at CUSTOMER $ [U]
1 the support, especially financial support, that is given to an organization or activity by a patron
2 AmE formal the support that you give a particular shop, restaurant etc by buying their goods or using their services; = custom BrE
•Thank you for your patronage.
3 a system by which someone in a powerful position gives people help or important jobs in return for their support [C]
a woman who supports the activities of a person or organization, by giving money or using their name in advertising; patron $ [T]
1 to talk to someone in a way which seems friendly but shows that you think they are not as intelligent or do not know as much as you:
•Don't patronize me!
•The program focuses on kids' interests without patronizing them.
2 formal to use or visit a shop, restaurant etc
3 to support or give money to an organization or activity $
someone who is patronizing talks to you in a way that shows they think you are less intelligent or important than them:
•a patronizing attitude
•a patronizing tone
•I don't mean to sound patronizing.
- patronizingly adverb[C]
a Christian SAINT who people believe gives special protection to a particular place, activity, or person
[+of]
•St. Christopher, the patron saint of travellers plural patsies [C] especially AmE informal
someone who is easily tricked or deceived, especially so that they take the blame for someone else's crime $ [I]
if something, especially water, patters, it makes quiet sounds as it keeps hitting a surface lightly and quickly
[+on]
•rain pattering on the window panes
1 [singular] the sound made by something as it keeps hitting a surface lightly and quickly
[+of]
•the patter of footsteps
•the pitter patter of raindrops
2 [singular, U] fast, continuous, and usually amusing talk, used by someone telling jokes or trying to sell something:
•It's difficult to look at the cars without getting the sales patter.
3 the patter of tiny feet used humorously to mean that someone is going to have a baby:
•Are we going to hear the patter of tiny feet? $ [C]
1 the regular way in which something happens, develops, or is done:
•Weather patterns have changed in recent years.
[+of]
•changing patterns of behaviour among students
•The child showed a normal pattern of development.
[+in]
•They noticed patterns in the data.
•A general pattern began to emerge.
•Their descriptions seemed to follow a set pattern (=always develop in the same way).
•His behavior fits a pattern of violent acts.
2
a) a regularly repeated arrangement of shapes, colours, or lines on a surface, usually as decoration:
•a black and white striped pattern
[+of]
•a pattern of dots
b) a regularly repeated arrangement of sounds or words:
•A sonnet has a fixed rhyming pattern.
3 [usually singular] a thing, idea, or person that is an example to copy:
•The book set the pattern for over 40 similar historical romances.
4 a shape used as a guide for making something, especially a thin piece of paper used when cutting material to make clothes:
•a dress pattern
5 a small piece of cloth, paper etc that shows what a larger piece will look like; = sample[T]
1 be patterned on/after sth to be designed or made in a way that is copied from something else:
•The exam system is patterned after the one used in Japan.
2 literary to form a pattern on something:
•Tiny white flowers patterned the ground like confetti. $
decorated with a pattern:
•a patterned carpet
•a brightly patterned dress
[+with]
•wallpaper patterned with roses $ [U]
1 technical the development of particular ways of behaving, thinking, doing things etc that are the result of copying and repeating actions, language etc:
•cultural patterning
[+of]
•the patterning of parent-child relationships
2 patterns of a particular kind, especially on an animal's skin plural patties [C]
small, flat pieces of cooked meat or other food:
•a beef patty $ [singular] formal
less than is needed of something; = lack
[+of]
•a paucity of information $ [C]
a man's fat stomach
- paunchy adjective $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who is very poor $
1 [I] to stop speaking or doing something for a short time before starting again
[+for]
•She paused for a moment.
•He paused for breath, then continued up the hill.
•'No,' he replied, without pausing for thought.
pause to do sth
•Joe paused to consider his answer.
2 [I,T] to push a button on a tape player, CD player, computer etc in order to make a tape, CD etc stop playing for a short time[C]
1 a short time during which someone stops speaking or doing something before starting again:
•There was a pause while Alice changed the tape.
•After a long pause, she went on.
[+in]
•an awkward pause in the conversation
2 also pause button a control which allows you to stop a CD PLAYER, VIDEO RECORDER etc for a short time and start it again
3 a mark ( ) over a musical note, showing that the note is to be played or sung longer than usual
4 give sb pause (for thought) to make someone stop and consider carefully what they are doing:
•an avoidable accident that should give us all pause for thought [T usually passive]
1 to cover a path, road, area etc with a hard level surface such as blocks of stone or CONCRETE
[+with]
•The city centre streets are paved with dark local stone.
•a paved courtyard
2 pave the way for sth to make a later event or development possible by producing the right conditions:
•The Supreme Court decision paved the way for further legislation on civil rights.
3 the streets are paved with gold used to say that it is easy to become rich quickly in a particular place
1 [C] BrE a hard level surface or path at the side of a road for people to walk on; = sidewalk AmE
•A small group of journalists waited on the pavement outside her house.
•a pavement café
2 [U] AmE the hard surface of a road:
•As she fell off the bike, her head hit the pavement.
3 [C,U] any paved surface or area; = paving
4 pound/hit the pavement to work very hard to get something, especially a job, by going to a lot of different places:
•He spent the next six months pounding the pavement in search of a job. [C]
1 a temporary building or tent which is used for public entertainment or EXHIBITIONs and is often large with a lot of space and light:
•the German pavilion at the World Trade Fair
2 BrE a building beside a sports field, especially a CRICKET field, used by the players and people watching the game
3 AmE a very large building with big open areas used for sports and other public events:
•victory before a home crowd at Maples Pavilion
1 [U] material used to form a hard level surface on a path, road, area etc:
•brick paving
2 [U] an area covered in a hard level surface such as blocks of stone or CONCRETE
3 [C] a paving stonealso paving slab BrE [C]
one of the flat pieces of stone that are used to make a hard surface to walk on $ [C,U] BrE
a light cake made of MERINGUE, cream, and fruit $ [C]
1 an animal's foot that has nails or CLAWs :
•a lion's paw
2 informal someone's hand - used when you are annoyed or angry:
•Keep your filthy paws off me![I,T]
1 if an animal paws a surface, it touches or rubs one place several times with its paw
[+at]
•The dog's pawing at the door again - let him out.
•His horse pawed the ground.
2 informal to feel or touch someone in a rough or sexual way that is offensive:
•He'd had too much to drink and started pawing me. $ [C]
1 one of the eight smallest and least valuable pieces which each player has in the game of CHESS
2 someone who is used by a more powerful person or group and has no control of the situation
[+in]
•They became pawns in the political battle.[T]
to leave something valuable with a pawnbroker in order to borrow money from them

PHRASAL VERBS
pawn sth <=> off phr v AmE
1 informal to persuade someone to buy or accept something that you want to get rid of, especially something of low quality
[+on]
•Don't let him pawn off an old bike on you - get a new one.
2 pawn sb/sth <=> off as sth to present something in a dishonest way:
•The tabloids often pawn off gossip and trivia as real news. $ [C]
someone whose business is to lend people money in exchange for valuable objects. If the money is not paid back, the pawnbroker can sell the object. $ [C]
a pawnbroker's shop $ [C] especially BrE
the large yellow-green fruit of a tall tropical tree; = papaya past tense and past participle paid
1 GIVE MONEY [I,T] to give someone money for something you buy or for a service:
•How would you like to pay?
[+for]
•Mum paid for my driving lessons.
pay (in) cash
•You'd get a discount for paying cash.
pay by cheque/credit card
•Can I pay by credit card?
pay sb for sth
•He didn't even offer to pay me for the ticket.
pay sb to do sth
•Ray paid some kids to wash the car.
pay sb sth
•I paid him $5 to cut the grass.
pay (sb) in dollars/euros etc
•He wanted to be paid in dollars.
2 BILL/TAX/RENT [T] to pay money that you owe to a person, company etc:
•I forgot to pay the gas bill!
•You pay tax at the basic rate.
•Is it okay if I pay you what I owe you next week?
3 WAGE/SALARY [I,T] to give someone money for the job they do:
•How much do they pay you?
pay sb $100 a day/£200 a week etc
•They're only paid about £4 an hour.
•Some lawyers get paid over $400 an hour.
be paid weekly/monthly also
get paid weekly/monthly
•We get paid weekly on Fridays.
well/badly/poorly paid
•Many of the workers are very badly paid.
4 pay attention (to sb/sth) to watch, listen to, or think about someone or something carefully:
•I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to what you were saying.
•They paid no attention to (=ignored) him.
5 LEGAL COST [T] to give money to someone because you are ordered to by a court as part of a legal case:
•She had to pay a £35 fine for speeding.
pay (sth in) compensation/damages (=give someone money because you have done something against them)
•The company were forced to pay£5000 in compensation.
•Martins was ordered to pay court costs of £1500.
6 SAY STH GOOD [T] to say something good or polite about or to someone:
•The minister paid tribute to the work of the emergency services.
•I came by to pay my respects (=visit or send a polite greeting to someone) to Mrs Owens.
•I was just trying to pay her a compliment.
7 GOOD RESULT [I] if a particular action pays, it brings a good result or advantage for you:
•Crime doesn't pay.
• It pays to get some professional advice before you make a decision.
• It would pay you to ask if there are any jobs going at the London office.
•Getting some qualifications now will pay dividends (=bring a lot of advantages) in the long term.
8 PROFIT [I] if a shop or business pays, it makes a profit:
•If the pub doesn't start to pay, we'll have to sell it.
•The farm just manages to pay its way (=make as much profit as it costs to run).
9 pay the penalty/price to experience something unpleasant because you have done something wrong, made a mistake etc
pay the penalty/price for (doing) sth
•Williams is now paying the price for his early mistakes.
10 pay a call/visit pay sb a call/visit to visit a person or place:
•I decided to pay my folks a visit.
[+to]
•If you have time, pay a visit to the City Art Gallery.
11 put paid to sth BrE to stop something from happening or spoil plans for something:
•Bad exam results put paid to his hopes of a university place.
12 BE PUNISHED [I] to suffer or be punished for something you have done wrong:
•I'll make him pay!
[+for]
•They paid dearly for their mistakes.
13 pay your way to pay for everything that you want without having to depend on anyone else for money:
•Sofia worked to pay her way through college.
14 pay for itself if something you buy pays for itself, the money it saves over a period of time is as much as the product cost to buy:
•A new boiler would pay for itself within two years.
15 the devil/hell to pay used to say that someone will be in a lot of trouble about something:
•If the boss finds out you were late again, there's going to be hell to pay.
16 pay through the nose (for sth) spoken to pay much more for something than it is really worth
17 sb has paid their debt to society used to say that someone who has done something illegal has been fully punished for it
18 'pay court (to sb) old-fashioned to treat someone, especially a woman, carefully and with respect, so that they will like you or help you
19 he who pays the piper calls the tune old-fashioned used to say that the person who gives the money for something can decide how it will be used

PHRASAL VERBS
pay sb/sth <=> back phr v
1 to give someone the money that you owe them; = repay
•I'll pay you back on Friday.
•We're paying back the loan over 15 years.
2 to make someone suffer for doing something wrong or unpleasant
pay sb back for sth
•I'll pay Jenny back for what she did to me!

pay sth <=> in phr v also pay sth into sth
to put money in your bank account etc:
•Did you remember to pay that cheque in?
•I've paid $250 into my account.

pay off phr v
1 pay sth <=> off to give someone all the money you owe them:
•I'll pay off all my debts first.
•He finally paid his overdraft off.
2 if something you do pays off, it is successful or has a good result:
•Teamwork paid off.
3 pay sb <=> off BrE to pay someone their wages and tell them they no longer have a job:
•Two hundred workers have been paid off.
4 pay sb <=> off to pay someone not to say anything about something illegal or dishonest
PAYOFF (2)

pay out phr v
1 pay out (sth) to pay a lot of money for something:
•Why is it always me who has to pay out?
[+for]
•Altogether he had paid out almost £5000 for the improvements.
2 pay out (sth) if a company or organization pays out, it gives someone money as a result of an insurance claim, INVESTMENT, competition etc:
•Insurance companies were slow paying out on claims for flood damage.
3 pay sth <=> out to let a piece of rope unwind
PAYOUT

pay sth <=> over phr v
to make an official payment of money
[+to]
•Clancy's share of the inheritance was paid over to him.

pay up phr v
to pay money that you owe, especially when you do not want to or you are late:
•She refused to pay up.
PAID-UP

GRAMMAR
The verb pay is followed directly by a noun when you are talking about paying a person: I'll pay you tomorrow. | I haven't paid my accountant yet.
Pay is also followed directly by a noun when you are talking about the amount of money you pay: I've already paid £700.

!! Do not use pay followed directly by a noun referring to the thing you are buying. Use pay (an amount of money) for something: When I paid for my tickets (NOT paid my tickets) the man told me there was no discount. | I paid £100 for this jacket.
When you are talking about whether you pay for something using a cheque, a credit card etc, use pay by: If you pay by credit card, you get free insurance.
When you are talking about the type of money you use to pay something, use pay in: You can only pay in euros.

pay lip service to at LIP SERVICE
pay your dues at DUE^2 (2)[U]
1 money that you are given for doing your job

low pay
equal pay
rate of pay
pay and conditions
basic pay BrE
base pay AmE (=not including OVERTIME pay or BONUSes )
overtime pay (=for extra hours that you work)
take-home pay (=after tax etc has been taken away)
holiday pay BrE
vacation pay AmE (=when you are on holiday)
sick pay (=when you are ill)
maternity pay (=when a woman is having a baby)
pay increase
pay rise BrE
pay raise AmE
pay cut
on full pay (=being paid a whole salary)

•Nurses often work long hours for low pay.
•The idea of equal pay for women is a recent phenomenon.
•Miners have traditionally enjoyed high rates of pay.
•a minimum rate of pay
•Unions are pushing for better pay and conditions.
•Teachers were awarded a 6% pay rise.
•They were asked to accept a 4% pay cut.
•He was suspended on full pay until the hearing.

2 in the pay of sb written someone who is in someone else's pay is working for them, often secretly:
•an informer in the pay of the police

WORD CHOICEpay, salary, wages, wage, income, fee
Pay is the money that you earn by working: The pay is much better in the private sector. | people on low pay | pay negotiations
Someone's salary is the money they are paid every month by their employer, especially someone in a profession, such as a teacher or a lawyer: Some managers earn annual salaries of over £80,000.
Use wages to refer to the money that someone is paid every week by their employer, especially someone who works in a factory or a shop: Some companies pay higher wages than others.

!! Do not use wages before a noun. Use wage: wage earners
Someone's income is all the money that they receive regularly, for work or for any other reason: families on low incomes | Rent from the old farm was their only source of income.
Use fee to refer to the money paid to a lawyer, doctor, or similar qualified worker for a piece of work they have done: Your accountant's fees are too high. | legal fees

[not before noun]
1 a bill, debt etc that is payable must be paid
[+on]
•Tax is payable on the interest.
[+by]
•a fee of £49, payable by the tenant
[+to]
•State pensions become payable to women at age 60.
•The rent is payable in advance.
2 payable to sb a cheque etc that is payable to someone has that person's name written on it and should be paid to them:
•Cheques should be made payable to the National Trust.[only before noun]
a pay-as-you-go MOBILE PHONE or Internet service is one that you must pay for before you can use it
1 [C] the money or advantage you gain from a business, project, or something you have done:
•The immediate payback for them is publicity.
2 [U] AmE informal when you do something to make someone suffer because of something they have done to harm you; revenge
•I guess it's payback time.
3 payback period
a) the period of time in which you will make a profit on an INVESTMENT
b) the period of time over which you must pay back money you have borrowed, paycheck AmE [C] BrE
1 a cheque that someone receives as payment for their wages:
•a weekly paycheque
2 especially AmE the amount of wages someone earns; = pay packet BrE
•a nice fat paycheck [U]
the day on which you get your wages $ [U]
hit/strike paydirt AmE informal to make a valuable or useful discovery, especially one that makes you rich or successful [U] BrE
pay as you earn a system for paying tax in which tax is taken from workers' wages and paid directly to the government [C]
the person or organization to whom money, especially a cheque, must be paid $ [C]
someone who pays someone or something:
•tax payers[C] BrE
a book containing forms that you use when you put money into your bank account[C] BrE
a form that you use when you put money into your bank account; = deposit slip AmE $
1 [C,U] the amount of goods or passengers that can be carried by a vehicle, or the goods that a vehicle is carrying; cargo
[+of]
•The helicopter is designed to carry a payload of 2640 pounds.
2 [C] the amount of explosive that a MISSILE can carry $ [C]
1 a powerful person or organization that secretly pays and controls another person or organization:
•The assassin's paymasters were never identified.
2 someone who is responsible for giving people their wages that they are owed, for example an official in a factory or the army
1 [C] an amount of money that has been or must be paid

make a payment
receive a payment
meet the payments on sth (=afford to pay something)
monthly payment
cash payment
down payment (=a small payment for something you are buying, when you will pay the rest later)
interest payment
mortgage payment

•You can make a payment in any bank.
•Employees may occasionally receive bonus payments.
•The country cannot meet the payments on its £80 billion foreign debt.
•She agreed to repay the loan in monthly payments of £125.
•Discounts are offered for cash payments.
•the interest payments on your credit card bill
•They fell behind on their mortgage payments.

2 [U] the act of paying for something
[+of]
•There are severe penalties for late payment of taxes.
[+in]
•Most hotels here accept payment in dollars.
• Payment can be made by cheque or credit card.
•We do accept payment in instalments (=paying in small amounts over a period of time).
•She demanded payment in advance.
in payment for sth (=in order to pay for something)
•cheques received in payment for goods supplied
on payment of sth (=when an amount has been paid)
•Any item can be reserved on payment of a deposit.
3 payment in kind a way of paying for something with goods or services instead of money $ [C]
1 an advantage or profit that you get as a result of doing something:
•With electric cars there is a big environmental payoff.
2 a payment that is made to someone, often illegally, in order to stop them from causing you trouble; bribe
•Union leaders allegedly received huge payoffs from the company's bosses.
3 a payment made to someone when they are forced to leave their job; redundancy
•The average payoff to staff was about £2000. $ [U] informal especially AmE
1 the illegal practice of paying someone to use their influence to make people buy what your company is selling
2 the money that is paid to someone to use their influence [C]
a large payment of money to someone, for example from an insurance claim or from winning a competition:
•There should be a big payout on this month's lottery.
•Some of the victims have been offered massive cash payouts.[C] BrE
1 the amount of money someone earns
2 an envelope containing someone's wages[only before noun]
a pay-per-view television CHANNEL makes people pay for each programme they watch; pay TV
- pay-per-view noun [U][C]
a public telephone that you can use when you put in a coin or a CREDIT CARDpay raise AmE [C] BrE
an increase in the amount of money you are paid for doing your job:
•Some company directors have awarded themselves huge pay rises.
•a 4% pay raise $
1 on the payroll if someone is on the payroll of a company, they are employed by that company:
•The company now has 350 people on the payroll.
2 [U] the activity of managing salary payments for workers in a company:
•the payroll department
•a computerized payroll system
3 [C,U] the total amount of wages paid to all the people working in a particular company or industry:
•the annual payroll was $88 million[C,U]
a tax that is taken from someone's wages and given directly to the government; income taxpay stub AmE [C] BrE
a piece of paper that an employed person gets every time they are paid, showing the amount they have been paid and the amount that has been taken away for taxalso pay television [U]
television CHANNELs that you must pay to watch; pay-per-view [C]
1 personal computer a computer that is used by one person at a time, either at home or at work:
•People can use their PC's to do their banking from home.
2 BrE police constable a police officer of the lowest rank
politically correct used to describe language, behaviour, and attitudes that are carefully chosen so that they do not offend or insult anyone:
•It's not PC to describe people as disabled.[C] trademark
personal computer card a small flat object which stores information that can be added to some computers
per calendar month used in writing when stating the amount of rent to be paid each month [C] AmE
primary care physician a doctor you go to when you are ill, who may treat you or advise you to see a SPECIALIST (=a doctor who deals with a particular part of the body) [C]
personal digital assistant a very small light computer that you can carry with you, and that you use to store information such as telephone numbers, addresses, and APPOINTMENTs . Some PDAs can send and receive email, and connect to the Internet [U] technical
portable document format a way of storing computer FILEs so that they can be easily read when they are moved from one computer to another informal
pretty damn quick used to say that something should be done immediately
the abbreviation of pacific daylight time P.E. AmE [U] BrE
physical education sport and physical activity taught as a school subject:
•a PE teacher [C]
1 a round green seed that is cooked and eaten as a vegetable, or the plant on which these seeds grow:
•roast chicken with peas and carrots
2 like two peas in a pod informal exactly the same in appearance, behaviour etcinformal
stupid:
•a pea-brained idiot
1 NO WAR [singular, U] a situation in which there is no war or fighting

be at peace (with sb) (=not be involved in a war)
make peace (=agree to stop fighting)
live in peace (=live without fighting)
bring peace to somewhere
world peace
lasting peace
uneasy peace
peace talks/negotiations/conference
peace treaty/agreement/accord
peace movement/march/campaigner/protester
the peace process

•The country is at peace with its neighbours for the first time in years.
•By the end of the century, France had made peace with Britain.
•a city where people of different religions have lived together in peace for centuries
•efforts to bring peace to the region
•a dangerous situation which threatens world peace
[+between]
•a lasting peace between the two sides
•An uneasy peace continued until 1939.
•the Northern Ireland peace talks
•an international peace conference
•the peace treaty that ended the First World War
•the Middle East peace process

2 NO NOISE/INTERRUPTIONS [U] a very quiet and pleasant situation in which you are not interrupted
in peace
•I'll leave you now and let you get dressed in peace.
•I wish she would just leave me in peace.
•All I want is some peace and quiet.
3 CALM/NOT WORRIED [U] a feeling of being calm, happy, and not worried:
•the search for inner peace
•Having household insurance is supposed to give you peace of mind.
•Lynn seems to be more at peace with herself these days (=calm, satisfied, no longer worried about anything).
4 make (your) peace with sb to end a quarrel with a person or group, especially by telling them you are sorry:
•Ann wanted to make her peace with her father before he died.
5 keep the peace to stop people from fighting, arguing, or causing trouble:
•The US is sending troops overseas in order to keep the peace.
6 hold/keep your peace formal old-fashioned to keep quiet even though you would like to say something
7 disturb the peace law to behave in a noisy or violent way:
•Macklin was charged with disturbing the peace.
breach of the peace at BREACH^1 (5)
8 rest in peace words that are said during a funeral service for someone who has died, or written on a GRAVESTONE; RIP literary
1 someone who is peaceable does not like fighting or arguing; pacifist; violent, aggressive
•He's always been a very peaceable man.
2 a peaceable situation or way of doing something is calm, without any violence or fighting:
•We are now hoping for a peaceable end to this dispute.
- peaceably adverb
•The two communities live together quite peaceably.[singular]
the money that is saved on weapons and is available for other purposes, when a government reduces its military strength because the risk of war has been reduced
1 QUIET/CALM a peaceful time, place, or situation is quiet and calm without any worry or excitement:
•We had a peaceful afternoon without the children.
•It's very peaceful out here in the woods.
2 NO WAR not involving war, fighting, or violence
peaceful protest/demonstration
•There was a large but peaceful demonstration outside the US Embassy.
peaceful solution/conclusion/settlement
•We must try to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
peaceful means/way/manner/method
•a political change achieved by peaceful and democratic means
•the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes
•The countries in Europe have established a peaceful co-existence (=they exist together without fighting).
3 NOT LIKING VIOLENCE peaceful people do not like violence and do not behave in a violent way; non-violent
•a noisy but peaceful group of demonstrators
- peacefully adverb
•She was sleeping peacefully.
- peacefulness noun [U] [only before noun]
peacekeeping force/troops etc a group of soldiers who are sent to a place in order to stop two opposing groups from fighting each other:
•The United Nations has decided to send a peacekeeping force into the area.
- peacekeeper noun [C]
•a group of UN peacekeepers
believing strongly in peace rather than war:
•a peace-loving nation $ [C]
someone who tries to persuade other people or countries to stop fighting:
•The US sees itself as a peacemaker in the region.[C]
something you give to someone to show them that you are sorry and want to be friendly, after you have annoyed or upset them[C]
a pipe which Native Americans use to smoke tobacco, which is shared in a ceremony as a sign of peace; = pipe of peace [U]
a period of time when a country is not fighting a war; wartime
in peacetime
•the highest military award given in peacetime
1 [C] a round juicy fruit that has a soft yellow or red skin and a large, hard seed in the centre, or the tree that this fruit grows on
2 [U] a pale pinkish-orange colour
3 [singular] old-fashioned something or someone that you think is very good:
•Anderton scored a peach of a goal.
•Jan's a real peach.
4 peaches and cream used to describe skin that is an attractive pink colour:
•a peaches and cream complexion
pinkish-orange in colour:
•peach curtains [C,U]
half a peach served with ice cream and RASPBERRY juice
1 tasting or looking like a peach:
•a delicious peachy flavour
2 AmE informal very good or pleasant $ [C]
a large bird, the male of which has long blue and green tail feathers that it can lift up and spread out [C]
a peacock or peahen[U]
a light green colour
- pea green adjective [C]
a female PEACOCK [C]
1 TIME [usually singular] the time when something or someone is best, greatest, highest, most successful etc
at sth's peak
•The British Empire was at its peak in the mid 19th century.
•Sales this month have reached a new peak.
•Most athletes reach their peak in their mid 20s.
•He's past his peak as a tennis player.
•Oil production is down from its peak of two years ago.
at the peak of sth
•Hotel rooms are difficult to find at the peak of the holiday season.
•the peaks and troughs of the US economy (=high and low points)
2 MOUNTAIN
a) the sharply pointed top of a mountain:
•snow-capped mountain peaks
•jagged peaks
b) a mountain; summit
•Mount McKinley is Alaska's highest peak.
3 POINT a part that forms a point above a surface or at the top of something:
•Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
4 HAT especially BrE the flat curved part of a cap that sticks out in front above your eyes; = visor AmE[I]
to reach the highest point or level:
•Sales peaked in August, then fell sharply.
[+at]
•Wind speeds peaked at 105 mph yesterday.[only before noun]
1 used to talk about the best, highest, or greatest level or amount of something:
•Gasoline prices are 14% below the peak level they hit in November.
•a shampoo designed to keep your hair in peak condition
•If you phone during the day you pay the peak rate for calls.
•periods of peak demand for electricity
2 BrE the peak time or period is when the greatest number of people are doing the same thing, using the same service etc:
•Extra buses run at peak times.
•Hotel prices rise during the peak season.
AmE looking pale and ill; = peaky BrE
•You're looking a little peaked this morning. BrE
a peaked cap or hat has a flat curved part at the front above the eyes informal BrE
looking pale and ill; = peaked AmE
•He's looking a bit peaky today. [C]
1 a sudden loud sound of laughter
[+of]
•We could hear peals of laughter coming from the hall.
2 a loud sound of thunder; = clap
[+of]
•A loud peal of thunder crashed directly overhead.
3 the loud ringing sound made by a bell:
•A sudden peal of bells broke the silence.
4 technical a musical pattern made by ringing a number of bells one after the other[I]
1 also peal out if bells peal, they ring loudly:
•The bells pealed out on Christmas Day.
2 literary to make a loud sound:
•Lightning flashed and thunder pealed.
1 [C] a pale brown nut in a thin shell which grows under the ground; = groundnut
•a packet of roasted peanuts
2 peanuts informal a very small amount of money:
•The hotel workers get paid peanuts.
•I'm tired of working for peanuts. $ [U]
a soft food made from crushed peanuts, which is eaten on bread or used in cooking $ [C]
a sweet juicy fruit that has a round base and is thinner near the top, or the tree that produces this fruit $
1 JEWEL [C] a small round white object that forms inside an OYSTER, and is a valuable jewel:
•a pearl necklace
•a string of pearls (=a NECKLACE made of pearls)
2 HARD SUBSTANCE [U] a hard shiny substance of various colours formed inside some SHELLFISH, which is used for making buttons or to make objects look attractive; = mother-of-pearl
3 pearls of wisdom wise remarks - used especially when you really think that someone's remarks are slightly stupid:
•Thank you for those pearls of wisdom, Emma.
4 cast/throw pearls before swine formal to give something valuable to someone who does not understand its value
5 LIQUID [C] literary a small round drop of liquid:
•the pearls of the morning dew
6 EXCELLENT THING/PERSON [C usually singular] old-fashioned someone or something that is especially good or valuable
[+among]
•She's a pearl among women.[U]
small grains of BARLEY that are used in cooking $
pale in colour and shiny, like a pearl:
•pearly white teeth
•a pearly grey jacket
the pearly gates [plural] the entrance to heaven - often used humorously
1 go pear-shaped BrE informal if an activity or situation goes pear-shaped, it goes wrong:
•The whole thing went pear-shaped.
2 someone who is pear-shaped has wide HIPs and a fairly small chest [C]
1 a poor farmer who owns or rents a small amount of land, either in past times or in poor countries:
•Most villagers are peasant farmers.
2 old-fashioned informal an insulting word for someone who does not behave politely in social situations or is not well-educated
the peasantry all the peasants of a country [U]
BrE a dish made of dried PEAs , boiled with HAM to make a thick yellow substance that is eaten hot or cold $ [C]
a small tube used by children to blow small objects, especially dried PEAs , at someone or something $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
a very thick FOG
[U] a black substance formed from decaying plants under the surface of the ground in some areas, which can be burned as a FUEL, or mixed with soil to help plants grow well
- peaty adjective
•a rich, peaty soil [C]
a small smooth stone found especially on a beach or on the bottom of a river:
•The beach was covered with smooth white pebbles.
- pebbly adjective
•a pebbly beach [U]
BrE a surface for the outside walls of houses, made of CEMENT with a lot of very small round stones in it $ [C]
a long thin sweet nut with a dark red shell, or the tree that it grows on $ plural peccadilloes or pecadillos [C]
something bad which someone does, especially involving sex, which is not regarded as very serious or important:
•The public is willing to forgive him for his peccadillos. plural peccaries [C]
a wild animal like a pig that lives in Central and South America
1 [I,T] if a bird pecks something or pecks at something, it makes quick repeated movements with its beak to try to eat part of it, make a hole in it etc
[+at]
•birds pecking at breadcrumbs on the pavement
2 peck sb on the cheek/forehead etc to kiss someone quickly and lightly:
•She pecked her father lightly on the cheek.

PHRASAL VERBS
peck at sth phr v
to eat only a little bit of a meal because you are not interested in it or not hungry:
•She pecked at her food in silence.[C]
1 a quick light kiss:
•He gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
2 an action in which a bird pecks someone or something with its beak $ [C]
1 keep your pecker up BrE old-fashioned informal used to tell someone to stay cheerful even when it is difficult to do so
2 AmE informal PENIS[singular]
a social system within a group of people or animals in which each member knows who has a higher or lower rank than themselves:
•Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the pecking order. BrE informal
slightly hungry:
•She was feeling a bit peckish. [plural] informal
PECTORALS [U]
a chemical substance that is found in some fruits and is sometimes added to JAM and JELLY to make it less liquid [plural]
your chest muscles
- pectoral adjective
•pectoral muscles $
1 strange, unfamiliar, or a little surprising:
•There was a peculiar smell in the kitchen.
•Something peculiar is going on.
• It seems very peculiar that no one noticed Kay had gone.
2 be peculiar to sb/sth if something is peculiar to a particular person, place, or situation, it is a feature that only belongs to that person or only exists in that place or situation:
•The problem of racism is not peculiar to this country.
3 behaving in a strange and slightly crazy way:
•He's been a little peculiar lately.
•She's a very peculiar child.
4 feel peculiar/come over all peculiar BrE informal to feel slightly ill plural peculiarities
1 [C] something that is a feature of only one particular place, person, situation etc
[+of]
•The lack of a written constitution is a peculiarity of the British political system.
2 [C] a strange or unusual habit, quality etc:
•Margaret regarded her mother's peculiarities with a fond tolerance.
3 [U] the quality of being strange or unfamiliar
[+of]
•She was well aware of the peculiarity of her own situation. $
1 peculiarly British/female/middle-class etc something that is peculiarly British etc is a typical feature only of British people etc:
•a peculiarly American idea
2 in a strange or unusual way:
•Theo had been behaving peculiarly.
3 especially:
•a peculiarly difficult question $ formal
relating to or consisting of money; financial
•He was trying to get a pecuniary advantage for himself.also pedagogic $ formal
relating to teaching methods or the practice of teaching
- pedagogically adverb $ [C]
formal a teacher, especially one who thinks they know a lot and is strict in the way they teach $ [U]
formal the practice of teaching or the study of teaching [C]
1 also bicycle pedal one of the two parts of a bicycle that you push round with your feet to make the bicycle go forward
2 a part in a car or on a machine that you press with your foot to control it:
•She put her foot down on the accelerator pedal.
3 a part on a piano or organ that you press with your foot to change the quality of the sound
4 put/press/push the pedal to the metal AmE
a) to drive a car, truck etc very fast
b) to work harder or faster, especially so that you can win a gamepast tense and past participle pedalled, present participle pedalling BrE past tense and past participle pedaled, present participle pedaling AmE [I,T]
1 [always + adv/prep] to ride a bicycle; cycle, ride
[+up/along/down etc]
•Andrew pedalled up the road towards the town centre.
2 to turn or push the pedals on a bicycle or other machine with your feet:
•She was pedalling furiously (=very fast).[C] BrE
a container for waste that has a lid which is opened by pressing part of it with your foot $ plural pedalos [C] BrE
a small boat that you move forward by pushing pedals round with your feet [C]
someone who pays too much attention to rules or to small unimportant details, especially someone who criticizes other people in an extremely annoying way:
•'That's not exactly what it means.' 'Pedant.'
- pedantry noun [U]
paying too much attention to rules or to small unimportant details
[+about]
•Some people can be very pedantic about punctuation.
- pedantically adverb [T]
1 to sell goods to people, especially goods that people disapprove of because they are illegal, harmful, or of not very high quality; push, deal
•They were accused of peddling drugs.
•people who peddle cigarettes to young children
2 to try to sell things to people, especially by going from place to place:
•Farmers come to Seoul to peddle rice.
•a door-to-door salesman peddling his wares (=selling his goods)
3 to try to persuade people to accept an opinion or idea which is wrong or false:
•politicians peddling instant solutions to long-standing problems $ [C]
1 the American spelling of PEDLAR
2 old-fashioned someone who sells illegal drugs; pusher, dealer [C] formal
a man who has sex with a young boy
- pederasty noun [U] [C]
1 the base on which a PILLAR or STATUE stands:
•a Grecian bust on a pedestal
2 a solid vertical post that supports something such as a table:
•the pedestal of the dentist's chair
pedestal basin BrE (=a bowl to wash your hands in, supported by a pedestal)
3 put/place sb on a pedestal to admire someone so much that you treat them or talk about them as though they are perfect:
•Women are both put on a pedestal and treated like second-class citizens. [C]
someone who is walking, especially along a street or other place used by cars
1 ordinary and uninteresting and without any imagination:
•a painting that is pedestrian and unimaginative
•a rather pedestrian student
2 [only before noun] relating to pedestrians or used by pedestrians:
•pedestrian traffic
•a pedestrian walkway[C] BrE
a specially marked place for people to walk across the road; = crosswalk AmE
PELICAN CROSSING
ZEBRA CROSSINGalso pedestrianise BrE [T]
to change a street or shopping area so that cars and trucks are no longer allowed
- pedestrianization $ noun [U]pedestrian mall AmE [C] BrE
a shopping area in the centre of a town where cars, trucks etc cannot go
the American spelling of PAEDIATRICIAN
the American spelling of PAEDIATRICS $ [C]
a treatment for feet and toenails, to make them more comfortable or beautiful
- pedicurist noun [C]
MANICURE [C,U]
1 the parents and other past family members of an animal or person, or an official written record of this
2 the history and achievements of something or someone, especially when they are good and should be admired; background
•Founded in 1781, the school has an excellent pedigree.
•a scientist's academic pedigreepedigreed AmE [only before noun] BrE
a pedigree animal comes from a family that has been recorded for a long time and is considered to be of a very good BREED:
•a pedigree greyhound
PUREBRED, THOROUGHBRED [C]
a three-sided part above the entrance to a building, especially on the buildings of ancient Greece $ [C]
BrE someone who, in the past, walked from place to place selling small things; = peddler AmE $ [C]
an instrument that measures how far you walk
the American spelling of PAEDOPHILE [I]
informal to pass liquid waste from your body; = urinateinformal
1 [U] liquid waste passed from your body; = urine
2 [singular] an act of passing liquid waste from your body
go for a pee/have a pee BrE
take a pee AmE not polite
•Have I got time to go for a pee before we leave? [I]
1 to look quickly at something, or to look at something from behind something else, especially something that you are not supposed to see; peep
[+at/through/into etc]
•Carefully he peeked through the glass window in the door.
•Paula opened the box and peeked inside.
•Shut your eyes and don't peek!
2 [always + adv/prep] if something peeks from somewhere, you can just see a small amount of it:
•The moon peeked out from behind the clouds.
- peek noun [C]
•Diane took a quick peek at herself in the mirror. $ [U]
a game you play to amuse young children, in which you hide your face and then show it again, or the word you say when you play this game:
•Peekaboo! I see you!
1 [T] to remove the skin from fruit or vegetables:
•Peel and dice the potatoes.
2 [I] if skin, paper, or paint peels, it comes off, usually in small pieces
[+from/off]
•The paper was peeling from the wall.
•New skin grows, and the damaged skin peels off.
3 [I] to lose an outer layer or surface:
•The walls were peeling from the damp.
4 [T always + adv/prep] to remove the outer layer from something
peel sth away/off/back
•Peel away the waxed paper from the bottom of the cake.

PHRASAL VERBS
peel off phr v
1 peel sth <=> off to take your clothes off:
•Tom peeled off his wet t-shirt and shorts.
2 peel off $20/fifty pounds etc informal to take a piece of paper money from the top of a pile of paper money:
•Manville peeled off a twenty, and pressed it into the man's hand.
3 to leave a moving group of vehicles, aircraft etc and go in a different direction:
•Two motorcycles peeled off from the line.
keep your eyes peeled at EYE^1 (18)[C,U]
the skin of some fruits and vegetables, especially the thick skin of fruits such as oranges, which you do not eat; rind, zest
•orange peel $ [C]
a special type of knife for removing the skin from fruit or vegetables [plural]
pieces of skin that have been removed from fruit or vegetables:
•Put the potato peelings on the compost heap.
1 [I] to look at something quickly and secretly, especially through a hole or opening; = peek; peer
[+into/through/out etc]
•The door was ajar and Helen peeped in.
•Henry peeped through the window into the kitchen.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if something peeps from somewhere, you can just see a small amount of it
[+through/from/out etc]
•I could see her toes peeping out from under the sheet.
3 [T] informal to look at something because it is interesting or attractive:
•On our website you can peep our video interview with R&B's newest supergroup.[C]
1 a quick or secret look at something
[+at/into]
•Jon took a peep at his watch.
2 a peep informal a sound that someone makes, or something that they say, especially a complaint:
•There has not been a peep out of them since bedtime.
•a peep of protest
3 a short high sound, like the sound a mouse or a young bird makes:
•the peep of a chick
•loud peeps from the smoke alarm
4 also peeps informal a word meaning 'people', used in magazines $ [U]
PEEKABOO $ [C]
a small hole in a door or wall that you can see through; spy hole $ [C]
someone who secretly watches people, especially people who are taking off their clothes, having sex etc $ [C]
1 a type of show in which a man pays for a woman to take her clothes off while he watches through a window
2 a box containing moving pictures that you look at through a small hole $ [C]
1 [usually plural] formal your peers are the people who are the same age as you, or who have the same type of job, social class etc:
•American children did less well in math than their peers in Japan.
•Staff members are trained by their peers.
PEER GROUP, PEER PRESSURE
2 a member of the British NOBILITY; House of Lords, peerage
LIFE PEER[I always + adv/prep]
to look very carefully at something, especially because you are having difficulty seeing it:
•He was peering through the wet windscreen at the cars ahead.
•Philippa peered into the darkness. $
1 the peerage all the British peers considered as a group
2 [C] the rank of a British peer $ [C]
a woman who is a member of the British NOBILITY[C]
a group of people, especially people who are the same age, social class etc as yourself:
•the TV shows that are popular with his peer group $
written better than any other:
•the peerless blues musician B.B. King[U]
a strong feeling that you must do the same things as other people of your age if you want them to like you:
•Teenagers often start smoking because of peer pressure.also P2P
peer-to-peer architecture/network/technology etc a computer system etc in which all of the computers are connected to each other and they do not need a SERVER (=a main computer that controls all the others):
•How will peer-to-peer technology be important to the average Internet user?
pet hate/pet peeve at PET^3 (2) informal
annoyed
[+at]
•Peeved at his silence, she left.
easily annoyed by small and unimportant things; bad-tempered
•The kids were peevish after so long in the car.
- peevishly adverb
- peevishness noun [U] [C]
a LAPWING [C]
1 SHORT STICK a short piece of wood, metal, or plastic that is attached to a wall or fits into a hole, used especially to hang things on or to fasten things together:
•Sarah hung her coat on the peg.
•a table fitted together with pegs
•a pattern made with coloured pegs on a board
2 HANGING WET CLOTHES BrE a small plastic or wooden object used to fasten wet clothes to a thin rope to dry; = clothespeg; = clothespin AmE
3 TENT a pointed piece of wood or metal that you push into the ground in order to keep a tent in the correct position
4 take/bring sb down a peg (or two) to make someone realize that they are not as important or skilled as they think they are:
•Evans is an arrogant bully who needs taking down a peg or two.
5 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT a wooden screw used to make the strings of a VIOLIN, GUITAR etc tighter or looser; = tuning peg
6 a peg to hang sth on BrE something that is used as a reason for doing, discussing, or believing something:
•As a peg to hang it on, the tournament had the 100th anniversary of Nehru's birth.
7 DRINK BrE old-fashioned a small amount of strong alcoholic drink, especially WHISKY or BRANDY
square peg in a round hole at SQUARE^1 (12)past tense and past participle pegged, present participle pegging [T]
1 to set prices, wages etc at a particular level, or set them in relation to something else
peg sth at sth
•The dividend was pegged at 6.1p.
peg sth to sth
•a currency pegged to the American dollar
2 to fasten something somewhere with a peg:
•The tent flap was pegged open.
•Outside, a woman was pegging sheets to a washing line.

PHRASAL VERBS
peg sb/sth as sth phr v
to believe or say that someone has a particular type of character, or that a situation has particular qualities:
•I'd had him pegged as a troublemaker.

peg away phr v BrE informal
to work hard and with determination
[+at]
•She pegged away at her essay.

peg sb/sth <=> back phr v BrE
to stop someone from winning in a sport or from increasing the amount by which they are winning - used in news reports:
•They were pegged back by an equaliser from Jameson.

peg out phr v
1 BrE informal to die, or to fall down because you are tired
2 peg sth <=> out BrE to fasten wet clothes to a washing line to dry
3 peg sth <=> out to mark a piece of ground with wooden stickspeg board $ [C,U]
thin board with holes in it, into which you can put pegs or hooks to hang things on[C] informal
an artificial leg, especially a wooden one $ formal
a word or expression that is pejorative is used to show disapproval or to insult someone:
•For hard-line Republicans, the word 'liberal' had become a pejorative term.
- pejoratively adverb [C] informal
a Pekinese dogPekingese plural Pekinese , Pekingese [C]
a very small dog with a short flat nose and long silky hair technical
relating to or living in the deep sea, far from shore:
•pelagic fish [C]
a large water bird that catches fish for food and stores them in a deep bag of skin under its beak[C]
a place on some roads in Britain where someone who wants to cross the road can stop the traffic by pushing a button that changes the TRAFFIC LIGHTS
ZEBRA CROSSING [U]
a disease that makes you feel tired and that causes problems with your skin and CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, caused by a lack of a type of B VITAMIN [C]
1 a small ball of a substance:
•food pellets for rabbits
2 a small ball of metal made to be fired from a gun:
•shotgun pellets old-fashioned
quickly and in an uncontrolled way:
•The children ran pell-mell out of school. literary
very clear; = transparent
•a pellucid stream [C] BrE
a narrow piece of wood or cloth above a window that hides the rod that the curtains hang on; = valance AmE
1 [T] to attack someone by throwing a lot of things at them
pelt sb with sth
•The marchers were pelted with rocks and bottles.
2 [I,T] to be raining very heavily; pour
•Rain pelted the windows.
• It's pelting down out there.
•the cold wind and pelting rain
3 [I always + adv/prep] informal to run somewhere very fast:
•Three huge dogs came pelting into the street.[C]
1 the skin of a dead animal, especially with the fur or hair still on it; hide
2 the fur or hair of a living animal
3 (at) full pelt BrE moving as fast as possible:
•Nancy ran at full pelt to the school.
in or relating to the pelvis [C]
the set of large wide curved bones at the base of your SPINE, to which your legs are joined [U]
dried meat, beaten into small pieces and pressed into flat round shapes
1 [C,U] an instrument for writing or drawing with ink; pencil, biro
•a ballpoint pen
•a felt-tip pen
in pen
•Please fill out the form in pen.
•a pen and ink drawing
2 [C] a small piece of land enclosed by a fence to keep farm animals in:
•a sheep pen
PLAYPEN
3 put/set pen to paper to begin to write
4 [C] AmE informal a short form of PENITENTIARYpast tense and past participle penned, present participle penning [T]
literary to write something such as a letter, a book etc, especially using a pen:
•a song penned by George Clinton

PHRASAL VERBS
pen sb/sth <=> up/in phr v
1 to shut an animal in a small enclosed area
2 be penned up/in to be restricted or forced to remain in a small place:
•Norma felt restless and penned in.
1 [only before noun] relating to the legal punishment of criminals, especially in prisons:
•the penal system
penal colony/settlement (=a special area of land where prisoners are kept)
2 penal servitude law when someone is punished by being kept in prison and made to do hard physical work
3 BrE very severe:
•penal rates of interest[C]
a set of laws and the punishments for not obeying those lawsalso penalise BrE $ [T]
1 to punish someone or treat them unfairly
penalize sb for (doing) sth
•Two students were penalized very differently for the same offence.
•Women feel professionally penalized for taking time off to raise children.
2 to punish a team or player in sports by giving an advantage to the other team:
•The team was penalized for wasting time. plural penalties [C]
1 a punishment for breaking a law, rule, or legal agreement:
•No littering. Penalty $500.
•Withdrawing the money early will result in a 10% penalty.
[+for]
•The penalty for a first offense is a fine.
severe/stiff/heavy penalty
•Drug dealers face severe penalties.
•If he is convicted, he could receive the death penalty (=be killed as a punishment).
2 something bad that happens to you because of something you have done or because of the situation you are in
penalty of (doing) sth
•One of the penalties of being famous is the loss of privacy.
•If you don't do the job right, you will pay the penalty.
3 a disadvantage in sports given to a player or team for breaking a rule:
•Woodson received a penalty.
4 a chance to kick the ball or hit the PUCK into the GOAL in a game of football, RUGBY, or ICE HOCKEY, given because the other team has broken a rule:
•Townsend kicked a penalty (=in a rugby game) in the last minute.
•Leeds were awarded a penalty.[C]
the area in front of the GOAL in football. The team opposing you is given a PENALTY if you break a rule there.[C]
1 an area off the ice where a player in ICE HOCKEY must wait after not obeying a rule
2 a penalty area[C]
the part of a contract which says what someone will have to pay or do if they do not obey the agreement, for example if they do not complete work on time[C]
a PENALTY (4)[C]
BrE a note made on a driver's LICENCE to show that they have done something wrong while they were driving. If someone gets 12 penalty points they are no longer allowed to drive a car.[C]
an occasion when each team in a football match takes penalty kicks until one team misses the GOAL - used as a way of deciding which team will win when the ordinary part of the match has ended in a DRAW
1 [C usually singular, U] something that you must do to show that you are sorry for something you have done wrong, especially in some religions
do/perform penance
•We prayed and did penance together.
[+for]
•as a penance for his sins
2 [singular] something that you have to do but do not enjoy doing:
•Working in the garden was a kind of penance. BrE
p a plural of PENNY:
•a few pence
•a 20 pence stamp $
a/sb's penchant for sth if you have a penchant for something, you like that thing very much and try to do it or have it often:
•a penchant for fast cars [C,U]
an instrument that you use for writing or drawing, consisting of a wooden stick with a thin piece of a black or coloured substance in the middle:
•a sharp pencil
•a blue pencil
in pencil
•a note written in pencil
•a pencil sketchpast tense and past participle pencilled, present participle pencilling BrE past tense and past participle penciled, present participle penciling AmE [T]
to write something or make a mark with a pencil:
•a name pencilled on the envelope

PHRASAL VERBS
pencil sb/sth <=> in phr v
to make an arrangement for a meeting or other event, knowing that it might have to be changed later:
•Pickford has been pencilled in as Robson's replacement.pencil box [C]
a bag or box to carry pens and pencils in[C] AmE
someone who has a boring, unimportant job in an office[C]
a small instrument with a blade inside, used to make pencils sharp[C]
a long narrow straight skirt [C]
a jewel, stone etc that hangs from a thin chain that you wear around your neck; necklace
•a ruby pendant literary technical
hanging from something:
•a pendent lamp formal
while waiting for something, or until something happens:
•Sales of the drug have been stopped, pending further research.
1 formal not yet decided or settled:
•Many trade disputes are pending, awaiting the outcome of the talks.
2 formal something that is pending is going to happen soon:
•the pending election
3 pending file/tray BrE a container for keeping papers, letters etc that have not yet been dealt with; in-tray, out-tray $ literary
hanging down loosely and swinging freely:
•pendulous breasts $ [C]
1 a long metal stick with a weight at the bottom that swings regularly from side to side to control the working of a clock
2 the pendulum used to talk about the tendency of ideas, beliefs etc to change regularly to the opposite:
•After several years of Republican government, the pendulum will undoubtedly swing back and voters will elect a Democrat.
[+of]
•the pendulum of fashion
1 GO THROUGH [I,T] to enter something and pass or spread through it, especially when this is difficult; pierce
•bullets that penetrate thick armour plating
•Sunlight barely penetrated the dirty windows.
[+into]
•Explorers penetrated deep into unknown regions.
2 BUSINESS [T] to start to sell things to an area or country, or to have an influence there:
•Few U.S. companies have successfully penetrated the Japanese electronics market.
3 ORGANIZATION [T] to succeed in becoming accepted into a group or an organization, sometimes in order to find out their secrets:
•KGB agents had penetrated most of their intelligence services.
4 UNDERSTAND formal
a) [T] to succeed in understanding something:
•Science has penetrated the mysteries of nature.
b) [I,T] to be understood, with difficulty:
•What could I say that would penetrate his thick skull?
5 SEX [T] if a man penetrates someone, he puts his PENIS into a woman's VAGINA or into someone's ANUS when having sex
6 SEE THROUGH [T] to see into or through something when this is difficult:
•My eyes couldn't penetrate the gloom.
1 penetrating look/eyes/gaze etc a look etc which makes you feel uncomfortable and seems to see inside your mind:
•a pair of penetrating dark eyes
•He gave her a penetrating stare.
2 showing an ability to understand things quickly and completely:
•questions that are intelligent and penetrating
•a penetrating analysis of the issue
3 spreading and reaching everywhere:
•the penetrating cold
4 a penetrating sound is loud, clear, and often unpleasant:
•a high, penetrating voice
- penetratingly adverb
1 [C,U] when something or someone enters or passes through something, especially when this is difficult:
•Cover the entire device to prevent water penetration.
[+of]
•The attack failed to lead to any deep penetration of enemy territory.
2 [C,U] the degree to which a product is available or sold in an area
[+of]
•the rise in import penetration of the domestic market
3 [U] when a system of beliefs enters a society and becomes accepted
[+of]
•the penetration of Marxism into Latin America
4 [U] when someone joins and gets accepted by an organization, business etc in order to find out secret information
[+of]
•foreign penetration of the British secret service
5 [U] when a man puts his PENIS into a woman's VAGINA or into someone's ANUS
6 [U] a special ability to understand things very clearly and completely $
1 penetrative sex sex in which a man puts his PENIS into a woman's VAGINA or into someone's ANUS
2 able to get into or through something easily:
•penetrative missiles
3 showing an ability to understand things quickly and completely:
•penetrative observationspenfriend [C] BrE
someone you write friendly letters to, especially someone in another country who you have never met; = pen pal [C]
a large black and white Antarctic sea bird, which cannot fly but uses its wings for swimming [U]
a type of medicine that is used to treat infections caused by BACTERIA medical
relating to the PENIS $ [C]
a piece of land almost completely surrounded by water but joined to a large area of land:
•the Korean peninsula
- peninsular adjective [C]
the outer sex organ of men and male animals, which is used for sex and through which waste water comes out of the body formal
feeling sorry because you have done something wrong, and are intending not to do it again; = repentant
•a penitent expression
- penitently adverb
- penitence noun [U][C]
someone who is doing PENANCE formal
relating to being sorry for having done something wrong:
•penitential journeys to famous shrines plural penitentiaries [C] AmE
a prison - used especially in the names of prisons:
•the North Carolina state penitentiary plural penknives [C]
a small knife with blades that fold into the handle, usually carried in your pocket; = jackknife [C]
an electric light that you can carry in your hand and that is almost as small as a pen
FLASHLIGHT
TORCH^1 (1) [U]
formal the art of writing by hand, or skill in this art:
•children practicing their penmanship[C]
a name used by a writer instead of their real name; = pseudonym [C]
1 a long narrow pointed flag used on ships or by schools, sports teams etc
2 the pennant the prize given to the best team in the American and National League baseball competitions
a plural of PENNY
someone who is penniless has no money; broke
•Uncle Charlie was jobless and penniless. [C]
a long narrow pointed flag, especially one carried on the end of a long pole by soldiers on horses in the Middle Ages $ [singular] BrE old-fashioned
a PENNYWORTH [C]
1
a) plural pence abbreviation p a small unit of money in Britain. There are 100 pence in one pound:
•The bus fare is 80 pence.
•a 50p piece (=coin)
•A loaf of bread costs 70p.
b) plural pennies a coin worth one penny:
•I've only got a few pennies left.
2 plural pennies a coin that is worth one CENT in the US or Canada. One hundred pennies are equal to $1.
3 plural pennies or pence written abbreviation d a British unit of money or coin used until 1971. There were 12 pennies in one SHILLING
twopence/threepence etc
•a book costing only sixpence
fourpenny/sixpenny etc
•a fourpenny cigar
•a threepenny bit (=coin)
4 not a penny used to emphasize that someone has no money or that something did not cost any money:
•I haven't got a penny on me.
•It didn't cost me a penny.
•He died without a penny to his name.
5 every penny all of an amount of money:
•The hotel was expensive but it was worth every penny.
[+of]
•He was determined to go to Australia even if it took every penny of his savings.
6 every penny counts used to say that money is needed and even a small amount is important:
•Every penny counts in the battle to save the rainforests.
7 the/your last penny the only money that is left:
•She's down to her last penny.
8 a penny for your thoughts/a penny for them spoken used to ask someone who is silent what they are thinking about
9 in for a penny, in for a pound spoken used to say that because you are already involved in something, you will complete it whatever time, money, or effort is needed:
•Oh well, it's done now. In for a penny, in for a pound.
10 the penny (has) dropped BrE informal used to say that someone has finally understood something that they had not understood before
11 be two/ten a penny BrE to be very common and easy to get, or cheap - used to show disapproval:
•Rings like these are ten a penny.
12 turn up like a bad penny BrE if someone you dislike turns up like a bad penny, they appear when they are not wanted
HALFPENNY; spend a penny at SPEND (5); cost a pretty penny at PRETTY^2 (6)AmE informal
involving very small amounts of money, and not important:
•penny ante schemes to make money[C]
BrE a bicycle with a very large front wheel and a very small back wheel, used in the late 19th century
unwilling to spend or give money; mean
•penny-pinching governments
- penny pinching noun [U][C]
a musical instrument like a small pipe with six holes, that you play by blowing; = tin whistle $ [singular] old-fashioned
the amount of something that you could buy with a penny in the past
[+of]
•a pennyworth of sweets $ [U]
the study of prisons and the punishment of criminals
- penologist noun [C][C]
someone you make friends with by writing letters, especially someone who lives in another country and who you have never met; = pen friend BrE[C]
BrE informal someone who has a boring unimportant job in an office [C]
an amount of money paid regularly by the government or company to someone who does not work any more, for example because they have reached the age when people stop working or because they are ill

retirement pension
get/receive/draw/collect a pension
pay into a pension (=pay money regularly now so that you can have a pension when you are older)
take out a pension (=make the arrangements to be able to have a pension later)
state pension/old age pension BrE
public pension AmE (=one that the government pays)
company/corporate/occupational pension (=one that your employer pays)
private/personal pension (=one that is run by a private pension company, not by the government or your employer)
pension fund/plan/scheme

•At what age can you start drawing your pension?
•If you are self-employed, you should think about taking out a private pension.
•Many people find it hard to live on a basic state pension.
•She pays a quarter of her salary into a pension plan.

BrE

pension sb/sth <=> off
1 to make someone leave their job when they are old or ill, and pay them a pension:
•Not everyone wants to be pensioned off at 65.
2 informal to get rid of something because it is old or not useful any more:
•Many of the old ships have been pensioned off. $ [C]
a small cheap hotel in France and some other European countries BrE
1 giving someone the right to receive a pension:
•36% of the population were of pensionable age.
2 pensionable pay/salary etc pay from which money is regularly taken for a pension:
•The employee's contribution is 5% of pensionable salary.[C]
a book that the British government gives to pensioners, which allows them to collect their pensions $ [C]
someone who receives a pension; = senior citizen; = OAP BrE; retire
•old age pensioners[C]
a large amount of money that a company INVESTs and uses to pay PENSIONs also pension scheme BrE [C]
an arrangement in which you pay money regularly into a pension fund while you are working, so that you will receive a PENSION[C] BrE
a PENSION PLAN
thinking a lot about something, especially because you are worried or sad; thoughtful
•Jan looked pensive.
- pensively adverb[C]
a flat shape with five sides and five angles
- pentagonal adjective [C]
a shape like a star with five points, often used as a magic sign $ [C,U]
a line of poetry with five beats, or the beat of a poem like this
IAMBIC PENTAMETER [singular, U]
a sports event involving five different sports $ [C,U]
1 also Whitsun BrE the seventh Sunday after Easter, when Christians celebrate the appearance of the Holy Spirit to the APOSTLEs
2 a Jewish religious holiday 50 days after Passoveralso Pentecostalist $
relating to a group of Christian churches that believe in the Holy Spirit's power, such as the power to cure diseases
- Pentecostalist noun [C] [C]
a very expensive and comfortable apartment or set of rooms on the top floor of a building:
•a £7 million London penthouse
penthouse apartment/flat/suite
pent-up feelings or energy have not been expressed or used for a long time:
•years of pent-up anger and frustration [only before noun]
not the last, but immediately before the last; = last but one; ultimate
•the penultimate chapter [C]
technical an area of slight darkness [U]
formal the state of being very poor; = poverty
•He died in penury in 1644.
- penurious $ adjective [C] AmE
1 informal someone who does boring or physically hard work for low pay - used humorously
2 someone in Mexico or South America who works as a type of slave to pay back debts plural peonies [C]
a garden plant with large round flowers that are dark red, white, or pink
1 PERSONS [plural] used as the plural of 'person' to refer to men, women, and children:
•How many people were at the meeting?
•At least 40 people were killed.
•the people who live next door
!!
see note at PERSON
2 PEOPLE IN GENERAL [plural] people in general, or people other than yourself:
•I don't care what people think.
•People can be really mean sometimes.
theatre/business etc people (=people who work or are involved in the theatre etc)
•The hotel was full of business people.
3 COUNTRY/RACE [C also + plural verb] the people who belong to a particular country, race, or area
the British/American etc people
•He pledged that he would never lie to the American people.
[+of]
•the Basques, a people of north western Spain
•the peoples of Europe
4 the people [plural]
a) all the ordinary people in a country or a state, not the government or ruling class:
•The people rebelled.
•Rice formed the staple food of the common people.
•The party try to portray the prime minister as a man of the people (=someone in power who understands or is like ordinary people).
the people's party/army etc (=belonging to or popular with the ordinary people)
•the People's Liberation Army
•Diana - the people's princess
b) AmE used in court cases to represent the government of the US or of a particular state:
•The People vs. Romero
5 sb's people [plural]
a) the people that a king or leader rules or leads:
•The king ordered his people to prepare for war.
b) the people who work for a person or organization:
•A manager's job is to make his or her people feel part of the system.
c) old-fashioned your relatives, especially your parents, grandparents etc:
•Do your people live round here?
6 of all people spoken used to say that someone is the person you would least or most expect to do something:
•Why should he, of all people, get a promotion?
•You of all people should have known better.
7 TO GET ATTENTION [plural] AmE spoken informal used to get the attention of a group of people:
•Listen up, people!
LITTLE PEOPLE[T usually passive] formal
1 if a country or area is peopled by people of a particular type, they live there; = inhabit
be peopled by/with sb
•an island peopled by hardy seafolk
2 if a story or someone's imagination is peopled by people of a particular type, it is full of them
be peopled by/with sb
•Her world was peopled with imaginary friends.also people mover [C]
a large car with about eight seats, used especially by people with families; = mini-van AmE past tense and past participle pepped, present participle pepping

PHRASAL VERBS
pep sb/sth <=> up phr v
informal to make something or someone more active or interesting:
•The team needs a few new players to pep it up.[U]
informal physical energy:
•an enthusiastic player, full of pep
PEP TALK $
1 [U] a powder that is used to add a hot taste to food:
•salt and pepper
BLACK PEPPER, WHITE PEPPER
2 [C] a hollow red, green, or yellow vegetable, eaten either raw or cooked with other food; = bell pepper AmE
SWEET PEPPER, CAYENNE PEPPER, RED PEPPER[T]
1 [usually passive] if something is peppered with things, it has a lot of those things in it or on it
be peppered with sth
•a speech peppered with amusing stories
•The surface of the moon is peppered with craters.
2 if bullets pepper something, they hit it several times:
•Machine gun fire peppered the front of the building.
3 pepper sb with questions AmE to ask someone a lot of questions, one after the other:
•Reporters peppered him with questions.
4 to add pepper to food:
•Pepper the steak well.
•peppered salamialso salt-and-pepper
pepper-and-salt hair is starting to become grey $ [C]
the small dried fruit that is crushed to make pepper[C]
BrE a very low rent[C]
a piece of kitchen equipment used to crush peppercorns to make pepper $
1 [U] a plant with a strong taste and smell, often used in sweets
2 [C] a sweet with the taste of peppermint $ [C,U]
an Italian SAUSAGE with a strong tastepepper shaker AmE [C] BrE
a small container with little holes in the top, used for shaking pepper onto food[C,U]
a substance used especially by the police for controlling people. It contains red pepper and is SPRAYed into people's eyes to make them blind for a short time
1 tasting or smelling of pepper
2 informal becoming annoyed easily; = irritable[C]
informal a PILL containing a drug that gives you more energy or makes you feel happier for a short time[C]
AmE a meeting at a school before a sports event, when CHEERLEADERs lead the students in encouraging their team to win [U] technical
a liquid in your stomach that changes food into a form that your body can use[C] AmE
a group of CHEERLEADERs who perform at school sports events or pep rallies[C]
informal a short speech intended to encourage someone to work harder, win a game etc:
•Alam gave the Pakistani team a pep talk. $ [C]
a painful ULCER inside someone's stomach strong $ strong
1 per hour/day/week etc during each hour etc:
•The park attracts 4 million visitors per year.
miles/kilometres per hour (=used for measuring speed)
•a speed limit of 40 miles per hour
2 for each:
•How much does it cost per kilo?
•rooms costing £40 per night
•Admission is £9.95 per adult.
•My car does 12 miles per litre (=for each litre of petrol).
•The meal cost $25 per head (=for or by each person).
3 as per sth formal according to something:
•The work was carried out as per your instructions.
4 as per usual/normal spoken used when something annoying happens which has often happened before:
•Jenny was late, as per usual.
PER ANNUM, PER CAPITA [C] old fashioned
a walk around a place, especially a slow walk for pleasure
- perambulate verb [I,T] $ [C] BrE old-fashioned
a PRAMwritten abbreviation p.a.
formal for each year:
•a salary of $40,000 per annum $ [C,U]
a type of cotton cloth, used especially for making sheets $ formal
used to describe the average amount of something in a particular place, calculated according to the number of people who live there:
•the country's per capita income
•the number of crimes that occur per capita $ [T not in progressive]
1 written to understand or think of something or someone in a particular way; perception
perceive sth/sb as sth
•Even as a young woman she had been perceived as a future chief executive.
perceive sth/sb to be sth
•Often what is perceived to be aggression is simply fear.
•Children who do badly in school tests often perceive themselves to be failures.
2 formal to notice, see, or recognize something; perceptive
•That morning, he perceived a change in Franca's mood.
•Cats are not able to perceive colour.
perceive that
•He perceived that there was no other way out of the crisis.also per cent BrE $
1 5 percent (5%)/10 percent (10%) etc equal to five, ten etc parts out of a total of 100 parts:
•a 10% increase in house prices
•a company with a forty percent stake in the project
!! Use percent only with a number (30 percent, 9 percent etc). If you mean 'an amount expressed as part of a total' use percentage: A high percentage (NOT percent) of the population was illiterate.
2 a/one hundred percent completely:
•I agree with you a hundred percent.also per cent BrE
5 percent (5%)/10 percent (10%) etc an amount equal to five, ten etc parts out of a total of 100 parts:
•The bank charges interest at 14%.
[+of]
•80 percent of the population voted. $
1 [C,U] an amount expressed as if it is part of a total which is 100
[+of]
•The percentage of school leavers that go to university is about five per cent.
•Tax is paid as a percentage of total income.
high/low/small percentage
•A high percentage of married women have part-time jobs.
•Interest rates fell by six percentage points (=6%).
•The numbers are small in percentage terms (=when calculated as a percentage).
percentage change/increase etc
•Crime figures showed significant percentage increases.
!! If the noun that follows a percentage of is plural, use a plural verb: Only a small percentage of people are interested in politics.
2 [C usually singular] a share of the profits:
•She gets a percentage for every record sold.
3 there is no percentage in doing sth BrE informal used to say that doing something is not going to help or be useful:
•There's no percentage in worrying. $ [C] technical
one of 100 equal-sized parts that a group of people can be divided into - used especially when comparing people's scores in a test or levels of health $ formal
something that is perceptible can be noticed, although it is very small; imperceptible
•a small but perceptible change
•The sound was barely perceptible.
- perceptibly adverb
•the light dimmed perceptibly $
1 [C,U] the way you think about something and your idea of what it is like
[+of]
•children's perceptions of the world
•the public perception of the government's performance
2 [U] the way that you notice things with your senses of sight, hearing etc:
•drugs that alter perception
•visual perception
3 [U] the natural ability to understand or notice things quickly:
•Ross shows unusual perception for a boy of his age. $
someone who is perceptive notices things quickly and understands situations, people's feelings etc well - used to show approval:
•a perceptive young man
•highly perceptive comments
•You're right. That's very perceptive of you.
- perceptively adverb
- perceptiveness noun [U] $ [C]
1 a branch or stick where a bird sits
2 informal a high place or position, especially one where you can sit and watch something:
•She watched the parade from her perch on her father's shoulders.
3 a type of fish that lives in lakes and rivers
1 be perched on/above etc sth to be in a position on top of something or on the edge of something:
•a house perched on a cliff above the town
2 perch (yourself) on sth to sit on top of something or on the edge of something:
•Bobby had perched himself on a tall wooden stool.
3 [I + on] if a bird perches on something, it flies down and sits on it $ old use literary
1 perhaps:
•One day perchance I shall tell you.
2 by chance:
•Leave now, lest perchance he find you. $ formal
quick to notice and understand things; = perceptive
- percipience noun [U] $
1 [I] if an idea, feeling, or piece of information percolates through a group, it gradually spreads
[+through/down]
•The message has begun to percolate through the organization.
•These ideas were slow to percolate.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if liquid, light, or air percolates somewhere, it passes slowly through a material that has very small holes in it
[+through/down/into]
•Rainwater percolates down through the rock.
3 [I,T] also perk if coffee percolates, or if you percolate it, you make it in a special pot in which hot water goes up through a tube and then passes down through crushed coffee beans
- percolation $ noun [C,U] $ [C]
a special pot in which coffee is percolated $ [U]
1 musical instruments such as drums, bells etc which you play by hitting them:
•Tonight we have Paul Duke on percussion (=playing a percussion instrument).
•a range of percussion instruments
BRASS (2), STRINGED INSTRUMENT, WIND INSTRUMENT, WOODWIND
2 the percussion (section) the people in an ORCHESTRA or band that play musical instruments such as drums, bells etc
3 formal the sound or effect of two things hitting each other with great force
- percussionist noun [C] $ [usually before noun]
relating to or sounding like percussion instruments:
•On the piano such chords have a fine percussive effect. $ [C] AmE
1 an amount of money that an employer pays a worker for each day that is worked
2 an amount of money that a worker is allowed to spend when doing his or her job, for example on a business trip:
•a per diem allowanceAmE formal
for each day or on each day:
•workers who are paid per diem $ [U] old use
1 punishment after death
2 complete destruction or failure:
•an alcoholic on the road to perdition [C] literary
a long journey:
•His peregrinations took him to India.also peregrine $ [C]
a hunting bird with a black and white spotted front formal
peremptory behaviour, speech etc is not polite or friendly and shows that the person speaking expects to be obeyed immediately:
•a peremptory demand for silence
- peremptorily adverb
1 continuing or existing for a long time, or happening again and again:
•Lack of resources has been a perennial problem since the beginning.
•Teddy bears are a perennial favorite with children.
2 a plant that is perennial lives for more than two years; annual
- perennially adverb[C]
a plant that lives for more than two years
HARDY PERENNIAL (1) [U]
a Russian word meaning 'rebuilding', used to describe the social, political, and economic changes that happened in the former USSR in the 1980s, just before the end of the Communist government; glasnost $
1 not having any mistakes, faults, or damage; imperfect
•His English was perfect.
•The car was in perfect condition.
•You're very lucky to have perfect teeth.
•a perfect performance
• In a perfect world, we wouldn't need an army.
2 as good as possible, or the best of its kind:
•The weather was perfect the whole week.
•a perfect example of Gothic architecture
•The clothes were a perfect fit.
•a perfect solution to the problem
•Ronnie was in perfect health.
perfect timing (=used when something happens at exactly the right time)
•Good, you're home. Perfect timing - dinner's on the table.
3 exactly what is needed for a particular purpose, situation, or person; = ideal
•That's perfect! Just the way I wanted it to look.
•Crusty bread is the perfect accompaniment to this soup.
[+for]
•The land is perfect for sheep farming.
perfect way/place/time etc to do sth
•She thought she'd found the perfect place to live.
perfect day/place/person etc for sth
•a perfect day for a picnic
•the perfect actor for the part
4 nobody's perfect spoken said when you are answering someone who has criticized you or someone else:
•So I made a mistake! Nobody's perfect.
5 have a perfect right to do sth used to emphasize that it is reasonable for someone to do something:
•He has a perfect right to know what's happening.
6 perfect stranger/fool/angel etc used to emphasize that someone has a particular quality completely; = complete, total
•I felt a perfect idiot.
PERFECTLY
practice makes perfect at PRACTICE (9); PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT $ [T]
to make something as good as you are able to:
•Mock trials help students perfect their legal skills. $
the perfect technical the form of a verb which is used when talking about a period of time up to and including the present. In English it is formed with 'have' and the past participle; = present perfect
PAST PERFECT $
able to be improved or made perfect
- perfectibility $ noun [U] $ [U]
1 the state of being perfect:
•My father expected perfection from all of us.
•the search for technical perfection
to perfection (=perfectly)
•The beef was cooked to perfection.
2 the process of making something perfect
[+of]
•the perfection of his golf swing
3 be perfection to be perfect:
•Her performance was pure perfection. $ [C]
someone who is not satisfied with anything unless it is completely perfect:
•Many top athletes are perfectionists who drive themselves to excel.
- perfectionist adjective
- perfectionism noun [U] $
1 completely - used to emphasize what you are saying:
•It's perfectly normal to be nervous before a performance.
•The sale was perfectly legal.
•You can get a perfectly good coat at Sears for a lot less money.
2 in a perfect way:
•The plan worked perfectly.
•The steaks were perfectly cooked.[C]
the PAST PARTICIPLE[U]
the ability to correctly name any musical note that you hear, or to sing any note at the correct PITCH without the help of an instrument $ literary
someone who is perfidious is not loyal and cannot be trusted; = treacherous $ [U] literary
when someone is not loyal to another person who trusts them; = treachery $ [T]
to make a hole or holes in something:
•A broken rib had perforated her lung. $
something that is perforated has a hole or holes cut or torn in it:
•a perforated eardrum
•perforated coupons $ formal
1 [C usually plural] a small hole in something, especially one of a line of holes made in a piece of paper so that it can be torn easily:
•the perforations in a sheet of stamps
2 [U] when something makes a hole or holes $ literary
because it is necessary $
1 [I,T] to do something to entertain people, for example by acting a play or playing a piece of music:
•Chenier and the band are performing at the Silver Palace tomorrow.
•The children perform two plays each school year.
!! To talk about playing a particular part in a play, film etc, use play not perform: John Wayne played (NOT performed) a Roman soldier in the film.
2 [T] to do something, especially something difficult or useful; = carry out
•Surgeons performed an emergency operation.
•The official opening ceremony was performed by Princess Margaret.
perform a study/experiment/analysis etc
•An analysis of the survey data was performed.
perform a task/job/duty
•She was fired for not performing the duties outlined in her contract.
perform a function/role
•software that performs a specific function
•The leadership cannot be expected to perform miracles (=improve a situation in a way that seems impossible).
3 perform well/badly etc
a) to work or do something well, badly etc; underperform
•Many religious schools perform well academically.
•The team performed poorly on Saturday.
b) if a product, business etc performs well or badly, it makes a lot of money or very little money:
•The economy is performing well. $
1 [C]
a) when someone performs a play or a piece of music
[+of]
•Stern's performance of the Bruch concerto
•The orchestra will give two more performances this week.
•This evening's performance will begin at 8.00 pm.
memorable/brilliant/inspired etc performance
•Franklin gave a memorable performance at last year's festival.
•a live performance by the local band Indigo
2 [C,U] how well or badly a person, company etc does a particular job or activity:
•a training program to improve employees' performance
•Sean's performance at school has greatly improved.
•the country's economic performance
poor/good performance
•an employee's chances of being fired for poor performance
•Exam results are used as performance indicators (=things that show how well something is done) for schools.
3 [U] the act of doing a piece of work, duty etc
[+of]
•the performance of his official duties
4 [U] how well a car or other machine works:
•The car's performance on mountain roads was impressive.
•an imaging system using high-performance (=very effective) technology
5 a performance BrE spoken a process that takes a lot of unnecessary time and effort:
•Shopping at the markets turned out to be quite a performance.[U]
a type of art that can combine acting, dance, painting, film etc to express an idea
- performance artist noun [C]
performance-enhancing drug/product/supplement etc a drug or product that is used illegally by people competing in sports events to improve their performance[U]
money that you earn for your work, which is increased if you do your work very well $ [C]
1 an actor, musician etc who performs to entertain people:
•circus performers
•He was a better songwriter than performer.
2 good/top/poor etc performer
a) someone who does a particular job or activity well or badly:
•Star performers are rewarded with bonuses.
b) a product, business etc that makes a lot of money, or that makes very little money:
•Newcastle Brown Ale is an outstanding performer in the British beer market.
the performing arts arts such as dance, music, or DRAMA $ [C,U]
1 a liquid with a strong pleasant smell that women put on their skin or clothing to make themselves smell nice; = scent
•She was wearing the perfume that he'd bought her.
2 a sweet or pleasant smell; = scent
•It had the delicate perfume of roses.
- perfumed adjective
•perfumed soap $ [T]
1 literary to make a place have a sweet, pleasant smell:
•Lilacs perfumed the air.
2 to put perfume on something $ plural perfumeries old-fashioned
1 [C] a place where perfumes are made or sold
2 [U] the process of making perfumes $ formal
a perfunctory action is done quickly, and is only done because people expect it:
•She gave him a perfunctory smile.
•The applause was perfunctory.
- perfunctorily adverb $ [C]
a structure made of posts built for plants to grow over in a garden $
1 used to say that something may be true, but you are not sure; = maybe
•Perhaps she's next door.
•Perhaps it will snow tomorrow.
•It won't take so long next time, perhaps.
•'I don't think you understand.' 'Well, perhaps not.'
!! May or might usually sounds more natural than perhaps ... will: You may be a little surprised when you receive this letter.
2 used to give your opinion, when you do not want to be too definite; = maybe
•This is perhaps her finest novel yet.
•The industrial revolution was, perhaps, the most important event in history.
3 used to say that a number is only a guess; = maybe
•The room was large, perhaps twenty feet square.
•Perhaps 200 people were there.
4 spoken used to politely ask or suggest something, or say what you are going to do; = maybe
•I thought perhaps we'd have lunch in the garden.
1 [U] literary or formal great danger, especially of being harmed or killed
in peril
•They put their own lives in peril to rescue their friends.
great/grave/serious peril
•The economy is now in grave peril.
•a voyage that was fraught with peril (=full of danger)
2 [C usually plural] literary or formal a danger or problem in a particular activity or situation:
•the perils posed by mountaineering
[+of]
•the perils of the sea
3 do sth at your peril used to say that what someone is intending to do is dangerous or could cause them problems:
•Politicians ignore this issue at their peril. literary formal
very dangerous:
•a perilous journey across the mountains literary formal
in a way that is dangerous and likely to result in something bad soon; = dangerously
•Karpov, the champion, came perilously close to losing. $ [C]
1 the border around an enclosed area such as a military camp
[+of]
•the perimeter of the airfield
perimeter fence/wall
•A mine blew a hole in the perimeter wall.
2 the whole length of the border around an area or shape
[+of]
•Calculate the perimeter of the rectangle.
CIRCUMFERENCE technical
at or around the time of birth; antenatal, post natal
•a high rate of perinatal mortality $ [C]
1 LENGTH OF TIME a particular length of time with a beginning and an end:
•Tomorrow's weather will be dry with sunny periods.
[+of]
•His playing improved in a very short period of time.
•a brief period of silence
•The drug was tested over a five-week period.
•They adopted the system for a trial period (=time in which something is tested to see if it works well).
2 LIFE/HISTORY a particular time in someone's life or in history:
•the conflict of the Cold War period
•Van Gogh's early period
•the Jurassic period
•the behaviour of children during the period of adolescence
3 BLOOD the flow of blood that comes from a woman's body each month; menstrual period
•I was twelve years old when I started my periods.
4 MARK AmE the mark (.), used in of writing to show the end of a sentence or of an ABBREVIATION; = full stop BrE
5 SCHOOL one of the equal parts that the school day is divided into; = lesson BrE
•What class do you have first period?
[+of]
•a double period of Science
6 SPORTS one of the equal parts that a game is divided into in a sport such as ICE HOCKEY:
•The Bruins scored twice in the first period.
7 FOR EMPHASIS period! AmE spoken used to emphasize that you have made a decision and that you do not want to discuss the subject any more; = full stop!
•I'm not going, period!
period costume/furniture etc clothes, furniture etc in the style of a particular time in history:
•actors dressed in period costumealso periodical $ [only before noun]
happening a number of times, usually at regular times:
•periodic home visits by nurses
- periodically adverb
•Teachers meet periodically to discuss progress. $ [C]
a magazine, especially one about a serious or technical subject
the periodic table a list of ELEMENTs (=simple chemical substances) arranged according to their atomic structure $ technical
relating to the part of the mouth at the base of the teeth:
•periodontal disease[C,U] especially BrE
pain that a woman gets when she has her PERIOD; = cramps AmE[C]
1 an old piece of furniture or work of art:
•a house furnished with period pieces
2 a film, play, book etc whose story takes place during a particular period in history:
•a period piece based on a book by E.M. Forster formal
travelling from place to place, especially in order to do your job:
•a peripatetic music teacher
1 formal not as important as other things or people in a particular activity, idea, or situation:
•a diplomat who had a peripheral role in the negotiations
•Her involvement in the case was peripheral.
[+to]
•The romance is peripheral to the main plot of the movie.
2 formal in the outer area of something, or relating to this area:
•the city's peripheral suburbs
•the peripheral nervous system
3 peripheral vision your ability to see things to the side of you when you look straight ahead
4 technical peripheral equipment can be connected to a computer and used with it
- peripherally adverb[C] technical
a piece of equipment that is connected to a computer and used with it, for example a PRINTER plural peripheries formal
1 [C usually singular] the edge of an area
[+of]
•the periphery of the crowd
on/at the periphery
•a residential area on the periphery of the city
OUTSKIRTS
2 on/at the periphery (of sth) a person or thing that is on the periphery of something is not one of the main people or things involved in it:
•extremists on the periphery of the animal rights movement
•Homeopathy is on the periphery of medical practice. plural periphrases [C,U]
1 formal when someone uses long words or phrases that are not necessary
2 technical the use of AUXILIARY words instead of INFLECTed forms
- periphrastic adjective $ [C]
a long tube with mirrors fitted in it, used to look over the top of something, especially to see out of a SUBMARINE
1 [I] formal or literary to die, especially in a terrible or sudden way:
•Hundreds perished when the ship went down.
2 [I,T] especially BrE if rubber or leather perishes, it decays
3 perish the thought! spoken old-fashioned used to say that you hope what someone has suggested will never happen:
•If we lose, perish the thought, Watford will take first place.
food that is perishable is likely to decay quickly:
•perishable goods such as butter, milk, fruit and fish
- perishables noun [plural] BrE spoken
feeling very cold:
•I wish I'd brought a jacket - I'm perished! $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned informal a child that behaves badly BrE spoken
1 very cold:
•It was perishing in the tent.
•Let's go indoors. I'm perishing!
2 old-fashioned informal [only before noun] used to describe someone or something that is annoying you:
•Tell those perishing kids to shut up!
- perishingly adverb [C] technical
a row of PILLARs around an open space in a building, or the open space itself $ [U] technical
a serious condition in which the inside wall of someone's ABDOMEN (=part around and below your stomach) becomes infected and painful
1 [C] a small plant with light blue or white flowers that grows close to the ground
2 [C] a small sea animal that lives in a shell and can be eaten; = winkle $
perjure yourself law to tell a lie after promising to tell the truth in a court of law
- perjured adjective
•perjured evidence
- perjurer noun [C] $ [U] law
the crime of telling a lie after promising to tell the truth in a court of law, or a lie told in this way:
•Hall was found guilty of perjury. $ [C usually plural]
something that you get legally from your work in addition to your wages, such as goods, meals, or a car:
•theatre tickets and other perks
[+of]
•the perks of working at a large law firm
•I only eat here because it's free - one of the perks of the job.[I,T]
informal to PERCOLATE (3)

PHRASAL VERBS
perk up phr v informal
1 to become more cheerful, active, and interested in what is happening around you, or to make someone feel this way:
•She seemed kind of tired, but she perked up when Helen came over.
perk sb <=> up
•There's no doubt coffee perks you up.
2 to become more active, more interesting, more attractive etc, or to make something do this
perk sth <=> up
•A little chili will perk up the sauce. $ informal
confident, happy, and active:
•a perky salesgirl
- perkily adverb
- perkiness noun [U] $ [C]
a process in which you make straight hair curly by using chemicals, or hair that has been treated in this way; = permanent AmE
•a very curly perm[T]
1 to make straight hair curly by using chemicals:
•I'm going to have my hair permed.
•her blonde permed hair
2 BrE to choose and combine a number of football games from the list given in the FOOTBALL POOLS in order to try to win money
- perming noun [U]
•a home perming kit $ [U]
a layer of soil that is always frozen in countries where it is very cold $
continuing to exist for a long time or for all the time in the future; temporary
•He gave up a permanent job in order to freelance.
•a permanent change in your eating habits
•The blindness that the disease causes will be permanent.
•Miller soon became a permanent fixture (=someone or something that is always there) on the team.
- permanence also permanency noun [U]
•the permanence of parental love
•our desire for some sense of permanence[C]
AmE a PERM^1 $
always, or for a very long time:
•The accident left him permanently disabled.[U]
a process used to treat cloth so that it does not WRINKLE easily, or cloth that has been treated in this way[C] old-fashioned
a PERM^1 $ technical
material that is permeable allows water, gas etc to pass through it; impermeable
•the permeable cell membrane
- permeability $ noun [U] $
1 [I always + adv/prep, T] if liquid, gas etc permeates something, it enters it and spreads through every part of it:
•The smell of diesel oil permeated the air.
[+through/into]
•Rain permeates through the ground to add to ground water levels.
2 [T] if ideas, beliefs, emotions etc permeate something, they are present in every part of it:
•Racism continues to permeate our society.
•An emotional intensity permeates every one of O'Connor's songs. $ formal
allowed by law or by the rules; = allowable; impermissible
•the maximum permissible level of radiation $ [U]
when someone is officially allowed to do something

ask/request/apply for permission
give/grant permission
get/obtain/receive permission
have permission (to do sth)
refuse/deny (sb) permission
with/without (sb's) permission
special/written permission
by kind permission of sb formal (=used for saying who allowed something)

•You must ask permission before taking any photographs inside the church.
•They didn't have permission to cross the frontier.
•Who gave him permission to leave class early?
[+from]
•He obtained permission from his boss before talking to the press.
[+for]
•the Council's decision to refuse permission for the development
•Pages should not be copied without the permission of the publisher.
• With your permission, I should like to visit Mrs Thorne myself.
•The paintings are reproduced by kind permission of the National Gallery.
!! Permission is an uncountable noun. Do not say 'a permission' or 'the permission'.

PLANNING PERMISSION $
not strict, and allowing behaviour that many other people would disapprove of:
•parents who are too permissive
•a permissive society
- permissiveness noun [U]
•permissiveness in education $ past tense and past participle permitted, present participle permitting formal
1 [T] to allow something to happen, especially by an official decision, rule, or law:
•Smoking is only permitted in the public lounge.
permit sb to do sth
•As a punishment, she was not permitted to attend any school activities.
permit sth in/near etc sth
•Dogs are not permitted inside the shop.
permit sb sth
•The bill would permit workers twelve weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies.
•He had more than the permitted level of alcohol in his blood.
2 [I,T] to make it possible for something to happen:
•The large windows permit a clear view of the lake.
permit sb to do sth
•The moon permitted me to see a little way into the distance.
•I'll see you after the meeting, if time permits (=if it finishes early enough).
•We'll have a picnic at the beach, weather permitting (=if the weather is good enough). $ [C]
an official written statement giving you the right to do something
[+for]
•A permit is required for fishing in the canal.
travel/parking/export etc permit
•Hikers need a camping permit for overnight stays in the park.
WORK PERMIT $ [C]
one of the different ways in which a number of things can be arranged:
•a sandwich shop that sells every possible permutation of meat and bread
COMBINATION $ formal
very harmful or evil, often in a way that you do not notice easily:
•the pernicious effects of poverty
•the media's pernicious influence
- perniciously adverb[U] medical
a severe form of ANAEMIA (=too few red blood cells in the blood) $ BrE informal
worrying too much about small and unimportant things; = fussy [C]
1 technical the last part of a speech, in which the main points are repeated
2 formal a long speech that sounds impressive but does not have much meaning $ [U]
a liquid chemical used to make hair light in colour or to kill BACTERIA:
•her waist-length peroxide blonde hair (=hair made light yellow using peroxide) $
1 not leaning to one side or the other but exactly vertical; vertical, horizontal
•a perpendicular line
•a perpendicular wall of rock
2 be perpendicular to sth if one line is perpendicular to another line, they form an angle of 90 degrees; = at right angles to
•a road perpendicular to the highway
3 Perpendicular in the style of 14th and 15th century English churches, which are decorated with straight, upright lines
- perpendicularly adverb[singular]
an exactly vertical position or line $ [T] formal
to do something that is morally wrong or illegal; commit
•Who could have perpetrated such a dreadful crime?
- perpetration $ noun [U] $ [C] formal
someone who does something morally wrong or illegal; culprit
•The perpetrators were never caught.
[+of]
•The perpetrators of racially motivated violence must be punished. $ [usually before noun]
1 continuing all the time without changing or stopping; = continuous
•the perpetual noise of the machines
•a little girl with a perpetual smile
2 repeated many times in a way that annoys you; = continual
•my mother's perpetual nagging
3 literary permanent:
•the perpetual snows of the mountaintops
- perpetually adverb[U]
the ability of a machine to always continue moving without getting energy from anywhere else, which is not considered possible $ [T]
to make a situation, attitude etc, especially a bad one, continue to exist for a long time:
•an education system that perpetuates the divisions in our society
- perpetuation $ noun [U] $
in perpetuity law for all future time; = forever
•The land had been promised to the Indian tribes in perpetuity. $ [T]
if something perplexes you, it makes you feel confused and worried because it is difficult to understand; = puzzle
•Shea's symptoms perplexed the doctors.
- perplexing adjective
•a perplexing problem $
confused and worried by something that you do not understand; = puzzled
•The student looked at him, perplexed.
•Perplexed investors tried to work out what the deal meant.
- perplexedly $ adverb $ plural perplexities
1 [U] the feeling of being confused or worried by something you cannot understand
2 [C usually plural] something that is complicated or difficult to understand:
•moral perplexities $ [C] formal
a PERK^1 [U]
especially BrE an alcoholic drink made from PEARs $ formal
used to say that something is being considered alone, not with other connected things:
•The color of the shell per se does not affect the quality of the egg. $ [T]
1 to treat someone cruelly or unfairly over a period of time, especially because of their religious or political beliefs:
•The Puritans left England to escape being persecuted.
2 to deliberately cause difficulties for someone by annoying them often; = harass
•Like many celebrities, she complained of being persecuted by the press.
- persecutor noun [C]
- persecution $ noun [C,U]
•the persecution of writers who criticize the government[C]
a mental illness in which someone believes that other people are trying to harm them $ [U]
determination to keep trying to achieve something in spite of difficulties - use this to show approval:
•It took perseverance to overcome his reading problems. $ [I]
to continue trying to do something in a very determined way in spite of difficulties - use this to show approval:
•It can be tricky at first, but persevere.
[+with]
•He persevered with his task until he had succeeded in collecting an armful of firewood.
persevere in (doing) sth
•She had persevered in her claim for compensation.
- persevering adjective $
relating to Iran, its people, or its language, especially in the time when it was called Persia:
•the Persian Empire
•a Persian carpet
1 [C] someone from Iran, especially in the time when it was called Persia
2 [U] the language used in Iran; = Farsi[C]
a cat with long silky hair $ [C]
a soft orange-coloured fruit that grows in hot countries $
1 [I,T] to continue to do something, although this is difficult, or other people oppose it
persist in (doing) sth
•He persisted in his refusal to admit responsibility.
[+with]
•She persisted with her studies in spite of financial problems.
•'I don't think it's right,' John persisted.
2 [I] if something bad persists, it continues to exist or happen:
•If the pain persists, you must see a doctor. $ [U]
1 determination to do something even though it is difficult or other people oppose it:
•Her persistence paid off when she was offered the job of manager.
•'Why can't I come?' repeated Will with dogged persistence.
2 when something continues to exist or happen, especially for longer than is usual or desirable
[+of]
•the persistence of high unemployment in the post-war years $
1 [usually before noun] continuing to exist or happen, especially for longer than is usual or desirable:
•persistent rumours
•persistent headaches
•a persistent problem
•persistent rain
2 continuing to do something, although this is difficult, or other people warn you not to do it:
•If she hadn't been so persistent she might not have gotten the job.
•persistent efforts
• Persistent offenders (=people who often break the law) face a prison sentence.
- persistently adverb
•persistently low rainfall[C] medical
a condition in which someone's brain is so damaged that they cannot move or talk, and their condition is unlikely to improve $ AmE
worrying too much about details that are not important - used to show disapproval $ [C]
1 plural people a human being, especially considered as someone with their own particular character:
•He was a very nice person, always pleasant and friendly.
•The only person who really said anything helpful was Jack.
kind/type/sort of person
•David was not the sort of person who found it easy to talk about his feelings.
•I like her as a person, but not as a boss.
•I still know quite a lot of people in the village.
•a group of young people
city/cat/night etc person (=someone who likes a particular kind of thing)
•I'm not a morning person.
2 in person if you do something in person, you go somewhere and do it yourself, instead of doing something by letter, asking someone else to do it etc:
•You have to sign for it in person.
3 businessperson/salesperson etc someone who works in business, who sells things etc
CHAIRPERSON, SPOKESPERSON
4 plural persons formal or law someone who is not known or not named:
•The police are appealing for any person who was in the area at this time to contact them.
•murder by person or persons unknown
•All 115 persons on board were killed.
5 on/about your person formal if you have something on or about your person, you have it in your pockets or attached to you:
•Customs officers found a gun concealed about his person.
6 in the person of sb formal used before the name of someone who you have just mentioned in a more general way:
•I was met by the police in the person of Sergeant Black.
FIRST PERSON, MISSING PERSON, PERSON-TO-PERSON, SECOND PERSON, THIRD PERSON

GRAMMAR
The plural of person is usually people: Sixty four people (NOT persons) died in the fire.
Persons is also used, but only in public notices and other formal contexts: All persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States.
People meaning 'more than one person' is already plural and cannot form a plural with 's': A lot of British people (NOT peoples) are employed by foreign firms.
People meaning 'race' or 'nation' is countable and you can add 's' to form a plural in the normal way: African peoples

$ plural personae or personas [C]
the way you behave when you are with other people or in a particular situation, which gives people a particular idea about your character:
•Joel has a cheerful public persona but in private he's different. $
someone who is personable is attractive and pleasant $ [C] formal
a person, usually someone famous or important:
•a royal personage $
1 [only before noun] belonging or relating to one particular person, rather than to other people or to people in general

sb's (own) personal view/opinion
personal taste/preference
personal possessions/property/belongings
personal effects (=small possessions, clothing, documents etc)
(know sth from) personal experience
personal qualities
take a personal interest (in sth)
for personal use
on a personal level (=used for giving your own opinion, rather than that of an organization etc you represent)
personal trainer/bodyguard/assistant (=someone who works for you and only you)

•My personal view is that we shouldn't offer him the job.
•Style and colour are a matter of personal taste.
•She took full personal responsibility for all the arrangements.
•When I went to her room all her personal belongings had gone.
•After Alan's death, his mother received his personal effects.
•I know from personal experience that you can't trust Ralph.
•the personal qualities needed to be successful in business
•The car is for personal use only.
• On a personal level he felt sympathy for them, but he had a job to do.
•celebrities with their own personal trainer

2 relating to the private areas of your life:
•I don't answer questions about my personal life.
•May I ask you a personal question?
•the records will include other personal details such as nationality, date of birth and address
•He's got a few personal problems at the moment.
•The envelope was marked 'Personal and Confidential'.
•We're not allowed to make personal phone calls at work.
3 involving rude or upsetting criticism of someone:
•It's unprofessional to make such personal remarks.
•a bitter personal attack on the president
•There's no need to get personal!
(it's) nothing personal (=used to tell someone that you are not criticizing them)
•It's nothing personal, I just have to go home now.
4 if you give something your personal care or attention, you deal with it yourself instead of asking someone else to do it:
•Small companies can devote more personal attention to each project.
•As you get promoted in a firm you lose that personal contact (=meeting and dealing with people yourself).
5 personal friend someone who you know well, especially a famous or important person
[+of]
•Apparently the director is a personal friend of hers.
6 [only before noun] relating to your body or the way you look:
•Grant was always fussy about his personal appearance.
•the importance of personal hygiene
7 personal touch something you do to make something special, or that makes someone feel special:
•It's those extra personal touches that make our service better.
8 personal best the fastest time, most points etc that a SPORTSMAN or SPORTSWOMAN has ever achieved:
•I ran 20.51 seconds for a personal best.
9 personal development improvements in your character and skills[C]
a short advertisement put in a newspaper or magazine by someone who wants a friend or LOVER[C]
BrE the amount of money that you can earn each year before you must pay INCOME TAXPA [C]
1 someone who works for one person and helps them do their job
2 BrE someone who works as a secretary for one person[C] BrE
a part of a newspaper in which people can have private or personal messages printed[C]
a small computer that you can carry with you and use to send, store, and receive FAXes , or spoken or written messages[C]
a PC[C]
a PDA[C]
a PDA[C]
a piece of electronic equipment, such as a LAPTOP computer or a MOBILE PHONE, that is small and easy to carry[C] AmE
the amount of money that you can earn each year before you must pay INCOME TAX[C]
a PIN $ plural personalities
1 [C,U] someone's character, especially the way they behave towards other people:
•He was an ambitious man with a strong personality.
•Despite their different personalities, they became the best of friends.
•a disease which causes changes in behaviour and personality
• personality traits (=typical ways of behaving) such as calmness or enthusiasm
•He clearly has some kind of personality disorder (=a mental illness).
•He said he left the company because of a personality clash with the director (=they could not work together because they were so different).
SPLIT PERSONALITY
2 [C] someone who is very famous and often appears in the newspapers, on television etc, especially an entertainer or sports person; celebrity
TV/radio/sports personality
•one of the most well-liked TV personalities
3 [U] the qualities of character that make someone interesting or enjoyable to be with:
•He's honest but he lacks personality.
4 [C usually singular] someone who has a very strong character and is very different from other people:
•He was a dynamic personality in the business world.
5 [C usually singular] the qualities which make a place or thing different and interesting:
•It's partly the architecture which gives the town its personality.also cult of personality [C]
a situation in which people are encouraged to admire and praise a famous person, especially a political leader - used to show disapprovalalso personalise BrE $ [T]
1 to put your name or INITIALs on something, or to decorate it in your own way, to show that it belongs to you:
•Why not do something to personalize your office?
2 to design or change something so that it is suitable for a particular person:
•All the products can be personalized to the client's exact requirements.
3 to discuss a subject by talking about or criticizing the people who are involved in it, rather than talking about it in a more general way:
•the mass media's tendency to personalize politics
- personalized adjective
•a personalized number plate $
1 [sentence adverb] spoken used to emphasize that you are only giving your own opinion about something:
•Personally, I don't think much of the idea.
•I personally think it's too cold to go out.
2 if you do something personally, you do it yourself rather than getting someone else to do it; = in person
•The managing director wrote personally to thank me.
•All important work is personally approved by him.
•I'll see to it personally.
3 used to show that one particular person is involved, rather than a group of people:
•I'm holding you personally responsible for this mess!
•She clearly blamed me personally for the difficulties she'd been having.
4 take sth personally to get upset by the things other people say or do, because you think that their remarks or behaviour are directed at you in particular:
•Don't take it personally; she's rude to everyone.
5 as a friend, or as someone you have met:
•I don't know her personally, but I like her work.
6 in a way that criticizes someone's character or appearance:
•Members of the Senate rarely attack each other personally.
7 in relation to someone's private life, rather than to their work, business, or official duties:
•She had a lasting impact on his life both personally and professionally.[C]
a small book with loose sheets of paper, or a very small computer, for recording information, addresses, meetings etc[C]
technical a PRONOUN such as 'I', 'you', or 'they' $ AmE
the personals the part of a newspaper in which people can have private or personal messages printed[C]
someone whose job is to help people decide what to buy, or to go shopping for them[U]
the distance that you like to keep between you and other people in order to feel comfortable, for example when you are talking to someone or travelling on a bus or train:
•She objected to this invasion of her personal space.[C]
a small CASSETTE PLAYER, CD PLAYER, or radio which you carry around with you and listen to through small HEADPHONES; walkman[C]
someone whose job is to help people decide what type of exercise is best for them and show them how to do it $
formal be/become/be declared persona non grata to be not welcome in a particular place because of something that you have done - used especially when a foreign government orders you to go home $
1 the personification of sth someone who is a perfect example of a quality because they have a lot of it:
•He became the personification of the financial excess of the 1980s.
2 [C,U] the representation of a thing or a quality as a person, in literature or art
[+of]
•the personification of rivers in fifth-century art $ past tense and past participle personified, present participle personifying, third person singular personifies [T]
1 to have a lot of a particular quality or be a typical example of something:
•Carter personifies the values of self-reliance and hard work.
kindness/generosity etc personified
•Bertha was kindness personified.
2 to think of or represent a quality or thing as a person
personify sth as sb
•Time is often personified as an old man. $
1 [plural] the people who work in a company, organization, or military force; staff
military/medical/technical etc personnel
•senior military personnel
•doctors and other medical personnel
•All personnel are to receive security badges.
2 [U] the department in a company that chooses people for jobs and deals with their complaints, problems etc; = human resources
•A copy should then be sent to Personnel for our files.
•the personnel department[C]
a vehicle for carrying soldiers[only before noun]
involving communication between people:
•E-mail provides a way of sending person-to-person messages almost instantaneously. $
1 [C] a way of thinking about something, especially one which is influenced by the type of person you are or by your experiences; viewpoint
[+on]
•His father's death gave him a whole new perspective on life.
from sb's perspective
•The novel is written from a child's perspective.
from a feminist/Christian/global etc perspective
•We have to look at everything from an international perspective.
•a much-needed historical perspective
wider/broader perspective
•Our work in Uganda and Romania adds a wider perspective.
2 [U] a sensible way of judging and comparing situations so that you do not imagine that something is more serious than it really is:
•I think Viv's lost all sense of perspective.
•The figures have to be put into perspective.
get/keep sth in perspective (=judge the importance of something correctly)
3 [U] a method of drawing a picture that makes objects look solid and shows distance and depth, or the effect this method produces in a picture:
•the artist's use of perspective
4 [C] formal a view, especially one in which you can see a long way into the distance $ [U] trademark BrE
a strong type of plastic that can be used instead of glass $ formal
good at judging and understanding people and situations; = perceptive
- perspicaciously adverb
- perspicacity noun [U] $ [U] formal
liquid that appears on your skin when you are hot or nervous; = sweat; antiperspirant
•He wiped the beads of perspiration (=drops) from his brow. $ [I] formal
if you perspire, parts of your body become wet, especially because you are hot or have been doing hard work; = sweat
•Willie was perspiring heavily. $ [T]
1 to make someone decide to do something, especially by giving them reasons why they should do it, or asking them many times to do it
persuade sb to do sth
•I finally managed to persuade her to go out for a drink with me.
persuade sb into doing sth
•Don't let yourself be persuaded into buying things you don't want.
try/manage/fail to persuade sb
•I'm trying to persuade your dad to buy some shares.
attempt/effort to persuade sb
•Leo wouldn't agree, despite our efforts to persuade him.
little/a lot of/no persuading
•He took a lot of persuading to come out of retirement (=it was hard to persuade him).
•He was fairly easily persuaded.
2 to make someone believe something or feel sure about something; = convince
•I am not persuaded by these arguments.
persuade sb (that)
•She'll only take me back if I can persuade her that I've changed.
persuade sb of sth
•McFadden must persuade the jury of her innocence. $
1 [U] the act of persuading someone to do something:
•After a little gentle persuasion, Debbie agreed to let us in.
•It had taken a great deal of persuasion to get him to accept.
•She used all her powers of persuasion (=skill at persuading people) to convince Tilly that it was the right thing to do.
2 [C] formal a particular type of belief, especially a political or religious one
political/religious persuasion
•We need people with talent, whatever their political persuasions.
•politicians of all persuasions
3 of the ... persuasion formal of a particular type - often used humorously:
•an ancient bed of the iron persuasion $
able to make other people believe something or do what you ask:
•Trevor can be very persuasive.
persuasive argument/evidence
•a persuasive argument against capital punishment
- persuasively adverb
- persuasiveness noun [U] $
1 a girl or woman who is pert is amusing, but slightly disrespectful:
•Angie gave him one of her pert little glances.
2 a pert part of the body is small, firm, and attractive:
•a pert bottom
- pertly adverb
- pertness noun [U] $

PHRASAL VERBS
pertain to sth phr v
formal to relate directly to something:
•legislation pertaining to employment rights $ formal
continuing to believe something or to do something in a very determined way; = tenacious
- pertinaciously adverb
- pertinacity noun [U] $ formal
directly relating to something that is being considered; = relevant
•He asked me a lot of very pertinent questions.
[+to]
•The last point is particularly pertinent to today's discussion.
- pertinently adverb
- pertinence noun [U] $
1 [C,U] technical a small change in the movement, quality, or behaviour of something:
•climatic perturbations
2 [U] formal worry about something that has happened or will happen $ formal
worried about something that has happened or will happen:
•William looked a little perturbed.
[+by/at/about]
•He didn't seem perturbed by the noises outside.
perturbed that
•He was perturbed that she didn't look happy.
- perturb verb [T]
•My unexpected arrival didn't perturb him in the least. [T]
formal to read something, especially in a careful way:
•She leant forward to peruse the document more closely.
- perusal noun [C,U] $ [C]
BrE spoken informal a PERVERT
- pervy adjective $ [T] formal
if a feeling, idea, or smell pervades a place, it is present in every part of it:
•A spirit of hopelessness pervaded the country. $
existing everywhere:
•the pervasive influence of television
•the all-pervasive mood of apathy
- pervasiveness noun [U] $
behaving in an unreasonable way, especially by deliberately doing the opposite of what people want you to do:
•He gets perverse satisfaction from embarrassing people.
- perversely adverb
•Perversely, she was irritated by his kindness. $ [C,U]
1 a type of sexual behaviour that is considered unnatural and unacceptable
2 the process of changing something that is natural and good into something that is unnatural and wrong, or the result of such a change
[+of]
•a perversion of the true meaning of democracy $ [U]
the quality of being perverse:
•Max refused the money out of sheer perversity. $ [T]
1 to change something in an unnatural and often harmful way:
•Genetic scientists are often accused of perverting nature.
2 to influence someone so that they begin to think or behave in an immoral way; = corrupt
•TV violence perverts the minds of young children.
3 pervert the course of justice law to deliberately prevent a fair examination of the facts about a crime $ [C]
someone whose sexual behaviour is considered unnatural and unacceptable $
1 morally wrong:
•He derives a perverted pleasure from hurting other people.
•the perverted logic of terrorism
2 sexually unacceptable or unnatural [C]
the standard unit of money used in Spain before the EURO [only before noun] informal especially AmE
annoying:
•Those pesky kids! $ plural pesos [C]
the standard unit of money in the Philippines and in various Latin American countries including Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia plural pessaries [C]
1 a small block of medicine which a woman puts into her VAGINA in order to cure an infection or to stop herself becoming PREGNANT
2 an instrument put into a woman's VAGINA to support her WOMB [U]
a tendency to believe that bad things will happen; optimism
[+about/over]
•There is deep pessimism about the future. [C]
someone who always expects that bad things will happen; optimist
•Don't be such a pessimist!
expecting that bad things will happen in the future or that something will have a bad result; optimistic
•a pessimistic view of life
[+about]
•He remains deeply pessimistic about the peace process.
- pessimistically adverb [C]
1 a small animal or insect that destroys crops or food supplies; vermin
•a chemical used in pest control
2 informal an annoying person, especially a child $ [I,T]
to annoy someone, especially by asking them many times to do something:
•She'd been pestered by reporters for days.
pester sb for sth
•I can't even walk down the street without being continually pestered for money.
pester sb to do sth
•The kids have been pestering me to buy them new trainers.[U]
the ability that children have to make their parents buy things or do things for them by asking them again and again [C,U]
a chemical substance used to kill insects and small animals that destroy crops; herbicide [C,U]
literary a disease that spreads quickly and kills a lot of peoplealso pestilent
1 literary extremely unpleasant and annoying
2 old use causing disease [C]
a short stick with a heavy round end, used for crushing things in a MORTAR (=a special bowl) $ [U]
a sauce made from BASIL, GARLIC, PINE NUTs , OLIVE OIL, and cheese
1 [C] an animal such as a cat or a dog which you keep and care for at home:
•Rabbits can make very good pets.
pet dog/cat/bird etc
•He was bitten by his pet dog.
•pet food
•a pet shop
TEACHER'S PET
2 BrE spoken used when speaking to someone you like or love:
•Don't cry, pet.past tense and past participle petted, present participle petting [T]
to touch and move your hand gently over someone, especially an animal or a child; stroke
•Our cat loves being petted.
PETTING
1 pet project/theory/subject a plan, idea, or subject that you particularly like or are interested in
2 pet hate BrE pet peeve AmE something that you strongly dislike because it always annoys you:
•TV game shows are one of my pet hates.
PET NAME $ [C usually plural]
a unit that measures how fast a computer works. One petaflop is one million BILLION operations every second [C]
one of the coloured parts of a flower that are shaped like leaves:
•rose petals
•The flower has seven petals. $
be hoist with/by your own petard at HOIST^1 (2)
rob Peter to pay Paul at ROB (2) $

PHRASAL VERBS
peter out phr v
to gradually become smaller, less, weaker etc and then come to an end:
•The road became narrower and eventually petered out.
•Public interest in the environment is in danger of petering out. [U]
a drug used to reduce severe pain, given especially to women who are giving birth $
another spelling of PETTY BOURGEOIS
a woman who is petite is short and attractively thin $ plural petits fours [C]
a small sweet cake or BISCUIT served with coffee [C]
1 a written request signed by a lot of people, asking someone in authority to do something or change something
[+for/against]
•a petition against the new road
•They wanted me to sign a petition against experiments on animals.
•Local residents have drawn up a petition to protest the hospital closure.
• petition drive AmE (=an attempt to get a lot of people to sign a petition)
2 law an official letter to a law court, asking for a legal case to be considered
[+for]
•She is threatening to file a petition for divorce.
3 formal a formal prayer or request to someone in authority or to God[I,T]
1 to ask the government or an organization to do something by sending them a petition
petition sb to do sth
•Villagers petitioned the local authority to provide better bus services.
[+against/for]
•Residents are petitioning against the new road.
2 law or formal to make a formal request to someone in authority, to a court of law, or to God
[+for]
•More and more couples are petitioning for divorce. $ [C]
1 someone who writes or signs a petition
2 law someone who asks for a legal case to be considered in a court of law [U]
medical a form of EPILEPSY which is not very serious
GRAND MAL[C]
a special name you call someone who you like very much [C]
a black and white sea bird [C]
a small clear dish with a cover which is used by scientists, especially for growing BACTERIA
1 extremely frightened, especially so frightened that you cannot move or think
[+of]
•I'm petrified of spiders.
petrified with fright/fear
•He was petrified with fear when he saw the gun.
2 petrified wood/trees etc wood, trees etc that have changed into stone over a long period of time
- petrify verb [T] $ [C]
any chemical substance obtained from PETROLEUM or natural gas:
•the petrochemical industry $ [plural]
money earned by the sale of oil:
•the flow of petrodollars into the American economy [U]
BrE a liquid obtained from PETROLEUM that is used to supply power to the engine of cars and other vehicles; = gasoline AmE
•unleaded petrol
•petrol prices
•The petrol tank is leaking.[C]
BrE a simple bomb consisting of a bottle filled with petrol and a lighted cloth; = molotov cocktail $ [U]
oil that is obtained from below the surface of the Earth and is used to make petrol, PARAFFIN, and various chemical substances:
•petroleum-based products[U]
VASELINE[C]
BrE a place where you can take your car and fill it with petrol; = gas station AmE [C] medical
positron emission tomography scan a type of medical test that can produce a picture of areas in your body where cells are very active, for example the brain or where a TUMOUR is growing $ [C]
BrE a piece of women's underwear like a thin skirt or dress that is worn under a skirt or dress; = slip $ BrE old-fashioned
too concerned with small details [U]
1 the activity of kissing and touching someone as part of a sexual activity
HEAVY PETTING
2 the action of touching and moving your hand gently over an animal
PET^2[C] AmE
part of a ZOO which has animals in it for children to touch
PETULANT
- pettishly adverb
1 a petty problem, detail etc is small and unimportant; = trivial
•petty squabbles
•petty restrictions
2 unkind and caring too much about small unimportant things:
•How can she be so petty?
•petty jealousy and spitefulness
3 petty crime a crime that is not serious, for example stealing things that are not very valuable
4 petty criminal/thief etc a criminal whose crimes are not very serious
5 a petty official is not important - used especially when they use their power as if they were important:
•Some petty bureaucrat wanted all the documents in triplicate.
- pettiness noun [U]
•the pettiness of Hollywoodalso petit bourgeois $
1 paying too much attention to things such as social position, money, and possessions - used to show disapproval
2 belonging to the group of lower MIDDLE CLASS people
- petty bourgeois noun [C][U]
a small amount of money that is kept in an office for making small payments[U]
law the crime of stealing things that are worth only a small amount of money[C]
an officer of low rank in the Navy
behaving in an unreasonably impatient and angry way, like a child
- petulantly adverb
•'Which one?' he demanded petulantly.
- petulance noun [U] $ [C]
a garden plant which has pink, purple, or white TRUMPET -shaped flowers [C]
1 a long wooden seat in a church
2 take a pew BrE spoken used humorously to invite someone to sit downAmE spoken
used when something smells very bad $ [U]
a grey metal made by mixing LEAD and TIN:
•a pewter plate [singular, U] BrE
parental guidance used to show that a film includes parts that parents may feel are not suitable for young children [C]
Postgraduate Certificate of Education BrE a course and examination in teaching done by someone who already has a university degree:
•I came to Birmingham to do a PGCE.also pH value [singular]
a number on a scale of 0 to 14 which shows how acid or ALKALINE a substance is
[+of]
•soil with a pH of 3.1 $ plural phalanxes [C] formal
a large group of people or things standing close together so that it is difficult to go through them
[+of]
•A solid phalanx of policemen blocked the road.
like or relating to a phallus:
•phallic symbols [C]
1 a model of the male sex organ, used to represent sexual power
2 the male sex organ; = penis [C,U]
literary something that exists only in your imagination; = illusion $ [C]
literary a confused, changing, strange scene, like something from a dream
- phantasmagorical $ adjective
an old spelling of FANTASY [C] literary
1 the image of a dead person or strange thing that someone thinks they see; = ghost
2 something that exists only in your imagination[only before noun]
1 literary seeming to appear to someone:
•a phantom ship
2 not real, but seeming real to the person affected:
•a phantom pregnancy
3 made to seem real in order to deceive people:
•Phantom contracts were used to make the company seem more successful than it was.
4 used humorously to describe an unknown person that you blame for something annoying:
•The phantom pen stealer strikes again!, pharaoh $ [C]
a ruler of ancient Egypt
1 the Pharisees [plural] a group of Jews who lived at the time of Christ and who believed in strictly obeying religious laws
2 [C] someone who pretends to be religious or morally good, but who is not sincere
- Pharisaic adjective $ [only before noun]
relating to the production of drugs and medicines:
•the pharmaceutical industry
•pharmaceutical products $ [plural] technical
drugs and medicines $ [C]
someone whose job is to prepare medicines in a shop or hospital

WORD CHOICE:pharmacist, pharmacy, chemist, chemist's, drugstore
A pharmacist is someone who prepares and sells medicines. This is the usual word in American English, but in British English pharmacist is slightly technical and it is more usual to use the word chemist.
The place where a pharmacist works is a pharmacy. This can be a shop, part of a shop, or part of a hospital. Pharmacy is the usual word in American English. In British English, you usually refer to the part of a hospital that prepares and gives out medicines as a pharmacy, but the usual word for a shop where medicines are prepared and sold is a chemist or a chemist's.
In Britain chemists usually also sell other things, such as beauty and baby products. A shop like this in the United States is called a drugstore.

$ [U]
the scientific study of drugs and medicines
- pharmacologist noun [C]
- pharmacological $ adjective $ [C]
technical an official book giving information about medicines $ plural pharmacies
1 [C] a shop or a part of a shop where medicines are prepared and sold; = chemist
•an all-night pharmacy
2 [C] the place where medicines are prepared in a hospital
3 [U] the study or practice of preparing drugs and medicines [U]
a medical condition in which you have a sore swollen pharynx plural pharynges [C]
the tube that goes from the back of your mouth to the place where the tube divides for food and air [C]
1 one of the stages of a process of development or change:
•a new drug that is in the experimental phase
[+of]
•The first phase of renovations should be finished by January.
in phases
•The work will be carried out in phases.
•It's just a phase he's going through.
2 out of phase (with sth) BrE not happening together in the right way:
•Nizan's views were out of phase with the political climate of the time.
3 in phase (with sth) BrE happening together in the right way:
•The electrical work will be carried out in phase with the other renovations.
4 technical one of a fixed number of changes in the appearance of the moon or a PLANET when it is seen from the Earth[T usually passive]
to make something happen gradually in a planned way:
•The closure of the regional offices was phased over an 18-month period.
•a phased withdrawal of military forces

PHRASAL VERBS
phase sth <=> in phr v
to gradually start using a new system, law, process etc:
•The new tests will be phased in over the next two years.

phase sth <=> out phr v
to gradually stop using or providing something:
•The subsidy for company cars is to be phased out next year.also phat-ass AmE informal
fashionable, attractive, or desirable - used by young people:
•a phat song
•These shoes are just so phat.Ph.D. AmE [C] BrE
Doctor of Philosophy a university degree of a very high level, which involves doing advanced RESEARCH
[+in]
•He's got a PhD in Biochemistry.
•Jacqueline Hope, PhD
do/start/finish a PhD [C,U]
a large bird with a long tail, often shot for food, or the meat of this bird $ [C] AmE informal
a PHENOMENON (2):
•a 16-year old guitar phenom $
very great or impressive:
•the phenomenal success of computer games in recent years
phenomenal growth/rise/increase
•California had experienced a phenomenal growth in population.
•He has learned a phenomenal amount in the last two years.
•The results have been phenomenal.
- phenomenally adverb
•The group have been phenomenally successful in Europe. $ [U]
the part of PHILOSOPHY that deals with people's feelings, thoughts, and experiences $ plural phenomena [C]
1 something that happens or exists in society, science, or nature, especially something that is studied because it is difficult to understand
[+of]
•the growing phenomenon of telecommuting
•Homelessness is not a new phenomenon.
natural/historical/social etc phenomenon
•Language is a social and cultural phenomenon.
2 something or someone that is very unusual because of a rare quality or ability that they have $ [C usually plural]
a chemical that is produced by people's and animals' bodies and is thought to influence the behaviour of other people or animals
used when you feel tired, hot, or RELIEVED:
•Phew! We finally did it. [C]
a small bottle, especially for liquid medicines; = vial
[+of]
•a phial of morphine $
an American society for university and college students who have done well in their studies
another form of the suffix -PHILE $ [C] old-fashioned
a man who has sex with many women, without intending to have any serious relationships
- philandering adjective
- philandering noun [U] $
a philanthropic person or institution gives money and help to people who are poor or in trouble
- philanthropically adverb [C]
a rich person who gives a lot of money to help poor people [U]
the practice of giving money and help to people who are poor or in trouble [U]
the activity of collecting stamps for pleasure
- philatelic adjective
- philatelist noun [C]also -phil [in nouns]
someone who likes something:
•a bibliophile (=someone who likes books)
•an Anglophile (=someone who likes English or British things) $ [C]
used in the names of ORCHESTRAs :
•the Berlin Philharmonic [in nouns]
1 technical a tendency to feel sexually attracted in a way that is not approved of or not normal:
•necrophilia (=a sexual attraction to dead bodies)
2 a love of something:
•Francophilia (=a love of French things) [in nouns] technical
someone who feels sexually attracted in a way that is not approved of:
•a necrophiliac [C] literary
a strong angry speech publicly attacking someone $ [C]
someone who does not like or understand art, literature, music etc:
•When it comes to art, the man's a philistine.
- philistine adjective
- philistinism noun [U] $ [U] old-fashioned
the study of words and of the way words and languages develop
- philologist noun [C]
- philological $ adjective
LINGUISTICS $ [C]
1 someone who studies and develops ideas about the nature and meaning of existence, truth, good and evil etc:
•Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek philosophers
2 someone who thinks deeply about the world, life etc[singular]
an imaginary substance that was thought in the past to have the power to change any other metal into goldalso philosophic $
1 relating to philosophy:
•the philosophical problem of whether there is free will
•a philosophical argument
2 calmly accepting a difficult or unpleasant situation which cannot be changed
[+about]
•Some old people are philosophical about death.
•He was by nature a philosophical person.
- philosophically adverbalso philosophise BrE $ [I]
to talk about serious subjects in detail or for a long time $ plural philosophies
1 [U] the study of the nature and meaning of existence, truth, good and evil, etc:
•Emma studies philosophy at university.
[+of]
•the philosophy of science
2 [C] the views of a particular philosopher or group of philosophers
[+of]
•the philosophy of Aristotle
3 [C] the attitude or set of ideas that guides the behaviour of a person or organization:
•The company explained their management philosophy.
•The idea that you should treat others as you would like them to treat you is a fine philosophy of life.
NATURAL PHILOSOPHYalso philter AmE $ [C] literary
a magic drink that makes someone fall in love [U] medical
a condition in which there is swelling and roughness on the inside surface of a VEIN (=tube that carries blood through your body) [U]
1 the thick yellowish substance produced in your nose and throat, especially when you have a cold; = mucus
2 unusual calmness in worrying, frightening, or exciting situations
calm and not easily excited or worried:
•The taxi driver, a phlegmatic man in middle age, showed no surprise at this request.
- phlegmatically adverb $ [C,U]
1 a tall garden plant with pink, purple, or white flowers
2 AmE a low, spreading plant with pink or white flowers $ [in nouns]
someone who dislikes or hates something:
•a xenophobe (=someone who hates foreigners)
•a technophobe (=someone who dislikes and fears modern technology such as computers) $ [in nouns]
1 technical a strong unreasonable dislike or fear of something, which may be part of a mental illness:
•claustrophobia (=fear of being in a small enclosed space)
•aquaphobia (=fear of water)
2 a dislike or hatred of something:
•Anglophobia (=a dislike of English or British things) $ [C,U]
a strong unreasonable fear of something
[+about]
•Owen has a phobia about snakes.
•Some children suffer from school phobia.
- phobic adjective $ technical
1 [in nouns] someone who has a strong unreasonable fear of something:
•He's a claustrophobic (=he fears small enclosed places).
2 [in adjectives] suffering from or connected with a strong unreasonable fear of something:
•I'm a bit agoraphobic (=I am afraid of crowds and open places). [C]
1 a magic bird that is born from a fire, according to ancient stories
2 rise like a phoenix from the ashes to become successful again after seeming to have failed completely $
another form of the prefix PHONO- $
1 [in nouns] an instrument or machine relating to sound or hearing, especially a musical instrument:
•earphones (=for listening to a radio etc)
•a saxophone
2 [in nouns] technical someone who speaks a particular language:
•a Francophone (=someone who speaks French)
3 [in adjectives] speaking a particular language:
•Francophone nations (=nations where French is spoken) $ [C]
1 a telephone

answer the phone
come to the phone
phone number
the phone rings
the phone goes dead (=you can no longer hear the person you were speaking to on the telephone)
phone conversation
by phone/over the phone (=using the telephone)
on the phone (=speaking on the telephone)
off the phone (=no longer using the telephone)
phone company
mobile phone/mobile BrE
cellphone/cellular phone especially AmE

•Louise got up to answer the phone.
•She's too busy to come to the phone right now. Can you call back later?
•What's your phone number?
•The phone rang. It was Pam.
•Before he could answer, the phone went dead.
•a secret tape of Diana's phone conversations
•Much of his work is done by phone.
•Who was that on the phone?
•I wish Amy would get off the phone.
CELLPHONE
MOBILE PHONE
PAY PHONE

2 the part of a telephone into which you speak; = receiver
•She picked up the phone and dialled.
•Jean put the phone down (=after she had finished her conversation) and burst out laughing.
•He put the phone down on me (=before I had finished speaking).also phone up [I,T]
to speak to someone by telephone; = telephone
•I'll phone you this evening.
•Why didn't they phone the police?
•For information phone 01279-623772.
•Stevie phoned to say that he was going to be late.
•I kept phoning her up, asking to meet her.
•Tell him to phone back (=telephone again at a later time) tomorrow.
!! You do not 'phone to' someone or 'phone to' a number. Phone is followed immediately by a noun: She phoned her friend Judy. | Just phone 01279-623772 and I'll come and get you.
see box at CALL^1

PHRASAL VERBS
phone in phr v
1 to telephone the place where you work, especially in order to report something:
•I'll phone in and let them know.
phone sth <=> in
•I'll phone the report in tomorrow morning.
•She phoned in sick (=telephoned to say that she was ill and could not come to work).
2 to telephone a radio or television show to give your opinion or ask a question:
•There's still time to phone in before the end of the programme.
PHONE-IN[C]
a book that contains an alphabetical list of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all the people who have a telephone in a particular area; = telephone directory[C]
a small structure that is partly or completely enclosed, containing a public telephone[C] BrE
a small structure that is partly or completely enclosed, containing a public telephone[C]
when you speak to someone on the telephone; = call, telephone call
•I need to make a quick phone call.
•I got a phone call from someone called Mike.
•obscene phone calls $ [C]
a plastic card that can be used in some public telephones instead of money[C]
a radio or television programme in which you hear ordinary people expressing opinions or asking questions over the telephone $ [C] technical
the smallest unit of speech that can be used to make one word different from another word, such as the 'b' and the 'p' in 'big' and 'pig'
- phonemic adjective
- phonemically adverb [U] technical
the study and description of the phonemes of languages[U]
the activity of talking with someone on the telephone about sex in order to become sexually excited:
•She claimed the relationship consisted mainly of him calling her up to have phone sex.[U]
the activity of listening secretly to other people's telephone conversations using special electronic equipment technical
1 relating to the sounds of human speech
2 using special signs, often different from ordinary letters, to represent the sounds of speech:
•a phonetic alphabet
•phonetic symbols [U]
the science and study of speech sounds
- phonetician $ noun [C][C] informal
a list of all the telephone numbers of the people in an organization, showing who should call who if there is important information that everyone should knowalso phony AmE $ informal
1 false or not real, and intended to deceive someone; = fake
•a phoney American accent
2 someone who is phoney is insincere and pretends to be something they are not
- phoney noun [C]
•He's a complete phoney!
- phoniness noun [U][singular]
a period during which a state of war officially exists but there is no actual fighting $ technical
1 relating to sound
2 relating to speech sounds $ [U]
a method of teaching people to read in which they are taught to recognize the sounds that letters representalso phon- $ technical
1 relating to the voice or speech:
•phonetics (=the science of speech sounds)
2 relating to sound:
•a phonoreceptor (=a hearing organ) $ [C] AmE old-fashioned
a RECORD PLAYER $ [U] technical
the study of the system of speech sounds in a language, or the system of sounds itself
- phonologist noun [C]
- phonological $ adjective
- phonologically adverb $
the usual American spelling of PHONEY
used to express strong disbelief or disappointment $ [U]
a poisonous gas used in war and in industry $ [C,U]
1 one of the various forms of a SALT of PHOSPHORUS, often used in industry
2 [usually plural] a substance containing a phosphate used for making plants grow better $ [U]
a slight steady light that can only be noticed in the dark $
shining slightly in the dark but producing little or no heat:
•a strange phosphorescent light $ [U]
a poisonous yellowish chemical substance that starts to burn when it is in the air, and shines in the dark. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol P
- phosphoric $ adjective
• phosphoric acid $ plural photos [C] informal
a photograph
[+of]
•I'll send Mom a photo of Sammy.
•Can you take a photo of me and Rachel? $ technical
1 relating to light:
•photosensitive paper (=paper that changes when light touches it)
2 relating to photography:
•photo-journalism (=the use of photographs in reporting news)[C]
a small structure in which you can sit to have photographs taken by a machine $ [C]
an occasion during which a professional photographer takes pictures of a famous person or group of people $ [C]
a machine that makes photographic copies of documents $ plural photocopies [C]
a photographic copy, especially of something printed, written, or drawn:
•I sent him the original document, not a photocopy.past tense and past participle photocopied, present participle photocopying, third person singular photocopies [T]
to make a photographic copy of something:
•Leave the papers with me and I'll get them photocopied.
- photocopying noun [U]
•Could you do some photocopying for me tomorrow? $
using an electrical current that is controlled by light[C]
1 an electronic instrument that changes light into electricity
2 an electronic instrument that uses light to start an electrical effect, often used in BURGLAR ALARMs [C]
the end of a race in which the leading runners finish so close together that a photograph of it has to be examined to decide which is the winner $ [U] trademark BrE
a way of making a picture of a face using photographs of parts of different faces, used to help the police catch a criminal $
always looking attractive in photographs:
•Helen is very photogenic.also photo informal $ [C]
a picture obtained by using a camera and film that is sensitive to light:
•a colour photograph
•a black and white photograph
[+of]
•I wish I had a photograph of Thomas.
•He took a photograph of the hotel.
•Tim was looking through an old photograph album (=book in which you put photographs).
•Did you see Leo's photograph (=a photograph of Leo) in the newspaper?
1 [T] to take a photograph of someone or something:
•Kate agreed to let me photograph her.
•He stood by the tree to be photographed.
2 photograph well to look attractive in photographs:
•Cilla does not photograph well. $ [C]
someone who takes photographs, especially as a professional or as an artist:
•a fashion photographer $
relating to photographs, using photographs, or used in producing photographs:
•photographic film
•photographic equipment
•The software allows you to scan photographic images on your personal computer.
- photographically adverb[C]
if you have a photographic memory, you can remember exactly every detail of something you have seen $ [U]
the art, profession, or method of producing photographs or the scenes in films:
•He did fashion photography for Vogue magazine.
•the National Museum of Photography $ [U]
the job or activity of reporting news stories in newspapers and magazines using mainly photographs instead of words $ [C] technical
a unit of ENERGY that carries light and has zero MASS[C]
a chance for someone such as a politician to be photographed for a newspaper in a way that will make them look good $
reacting to light, for example by changing colour or producing an electrical current:
•photosensitive paperalso photosensitise BrE $ [T]
to make something photosensitive[C]
an occasion during which a professional photographer takes pictures of a fashion model or an actor for advertisements $ [C] trademark
a photographic copy of a document, or a type of machine used for making one
- Photostat verb [T] $ [U] technical
the production by a green plant of special substances like sugar that it uses as food, caused by the action of sunlight on CHLOROPHYLL (=the green substance in leaves)
- photosynthesize verb [I,T]
consisting of or relating to a phrase or phrases[C]
a group of words that is used like a verb and consists of a verb with an adverb or PREPOSITION after it, for example 'set off' or 'look after'. In this dictionary, phrasal verbs are marked 'phr v'. [C]
1 a group of words that together have a particular meaning, especially when they express the meaning well in a few words:
•She used the phrase 'survival of the fittest'.
•Edward Heath's famous phrase, 'the unacceptable face of capitalism'
2 technical a group of words without a FINITE verb, especially when they are used to form part of a sentence, such as 'walking along the road' and 'a bar of soap'
CLAUSE (2), SENTENCE^1 (1)
3 a short group of musical notes that is part of a longer piece
to coin a phrase at COIN^2 (2)
a turn of phrase at TURN^2 (11)
turn a phrase at TURN^1 (20)

WORD FOCUS: phrase
similar words:
expression
idiom
cliche
metaphor
saying
turn of phrase
[T]
1 to express something in a particular way:
•Polly tried to think how to phrase the question.
•Sorry, I phrased that badly.
2 to perform music in order to produce the full effect of separate musical phrases [C]
a book that explains phrases of a foreign language, for people to use when they travel to other countries $ [U]
the way that words and phrases are chosen and used in a particular language or subject [U]
1 the way that something is said:
•I don't remember her exact phrasing.
2 a way of playing music, reading poetry etc that separates the notes, words, or lines into phrases $ [U]
the study of the shape of people's heads as a way of finding out what their characters and abilities are, which was popular in the 19th century
- phrenologist noun [C]
go phut BrE informal if a machine goes phut, it stops working completely:
•The microwave's gone phut. BrE informal
used to show that you think someone is sexually attractive:
•Phwoar! Look at her! $ [U]
another spelling of FILO plural phyla [C]
technical one of the large groups into which scientists divide plants, animals, and languages
another form of PHYSIO-
1 BODY NOT MIND related to someone's body rather than their mind or emotions; mental, emotional
•She was in constant physical pain.
•the physical and emotional needs of young adults
•people with severe physical disabilities
•Don't be put off by his physical appearance.
•He was obsessed with physical fitness.
2 SEX a physical relationship involves sex rather than just friendship:
•My attraction to him was totally physical.
•Their physical relationship had never been very good.
3 PERSON informal someone who is physical likes touching people a lot:
•She's a very physical person.
4 VIOLENT involving touching someone in a rough or violent way:
•Football can be a very physical game.
•I was a bit worried that the argument might become physical.
5 REAL/SOLID relating to real objects that you can touch, see, or feel:
•the physical world around us
•the physical environment
•They were kept in appalling physical conditions.
6 NATURAL relating to or following natural laws:
•a physical explanation for this phenomenon
7 SCIENCE [only before noun] a physical science is an area of scientific study that is related to PHYSICS:
•physical chemistry
- physicality noun [U]
•the physicality of sport
PHYSICALLYalso physical examination [C]
a thorough examination of someone's body by a doctor, in order to discover whether they are healthy or have any illnesses or medical problems[U]
PE sport and physical exercise that are taught as a school subject[U]
the study of the Earth's surface and of its rivers, mountains etc
1 in relation to your body rather than your mind or emotions; mentally, emotionally
•She is young and physically fit.
•Do you find him physically attractive?
•I felt physically sick at the thought.
•children who have been physically abused
2 physically possible/impossible possible or not possible according to the laws of nature:
•It would be physically impossible to carry everything at once.AmE
someone who is physically challenged has a problem with their body that makes it difficult for them to do things that other people can do easilyalso the physical sciences [U] [plural]
the sciences, for example CHEMISTRY and PHYSICS, that are concerned with studying things that are not living[C] AmE
someone whose job is to give physical therapy; = physiotherapist BrE[U] AmE
a treatment that uses special exercises, rubbing, heat etc to treat medical conditions and problems with muscles; = physiotherapy BrE [C]
formal especially AmE a doctor [C]
a scientist who has special knowledge and training in PHYSICS [U]
the science concerned with the study of physical objects and substances, and of natural forces such as light, heat, and movement $ plural physios
1 [C] informal a PHYSIOTHERAPIST
2 [U] PHYSIOTHERAPYalso physi- $
1 relating to nature and living things:
•physiology (=study of how the body works)
2 physical:
•physiotherapy (=treatment using exercises etc) $ plural physiognomies [C]
technical the general appearance of a person's face $ [U]
1 the science that studies the way in which the bodies of living things work:
•a book on biochemistry and physiology
2 the way the body of a person or an animal works; anatomy
•the physiology of the brain $ [C]
someone whose job is to give physiotherapy; = physical therapist AmE $ [U]
a treatment that uses special exercises, rubbing, heat etc to treat medical conditions and problems with muscles; = physical therapy AmE [C]
the size and appearance of someone's body:
•She didn't have the physique to be a dancer.
•He had good health and a strong physique. [U]
technical a number that is represented by the Greek letter (π) and is equal to the distance around a circle, divided by its width $ technical
played or sung very quietly $ [C]
someone who plays the piano $ plural pianos [C]
a large musical instrument that has a long row of black and white KEYs . You play the piano by sitting in front of it and pressing the keys:
•Jean accompanied her on the piano.
a piano lesson/teacher etc
•a wonderful piano playertechnical
played or sung quietly[C] BrE
an ACCORDION[C]
a bar where someone plays the piano for entertainment $ [C] old-fashioned
a piano $ [C] trademark
a piano that is played by machinery inside it. A long roll of paper with holes cut in it gradually turns and works the machinery, pressing down the KEYs on the piano to produce music; = player piano[C]
a small seat that you sit on while you play the piano $ [C]
a large square open area between the houses in a town or city, where people often meet or sit together [C] informal
a picture or film $ [C]
a man in a BULLFIGHT who rides a horse, and annoys and weakens the BULL by sticking a long spear into it
a picaresque story tells the amusing and unlikely adventures of a character who travels to a lot of different places AmE written
small and unimportant:
•A few cuts and bruises are picayune compared to what might have happened. [U] BrE
a hot-tasting sauce that is made with small pieces of vegetables and eaten with cold meat $ plural piccolos [C]
a musical instrument that looks like a small FLUTE [T]
1 CHOOSE STH to choose a person or thing, for example because they are the best or most suitable:
•Students have to pick three courses from a list of 15.
•I don't know which colour to pick.
•Who's going to pick the team for the match on Saturday?
pick sb/sth for sth
•I wasn't picked for the hockey team.
pick sb/sth as sth
•The hotel was picked as the best small hotel in the area.
pick sb to do sth
•He was picked to run in the 100 metres.
•Russell spoke slowly, picking his words (=choosing what to say) very carefully.
PICKED
2 FLOWERS/FRUIT ETC to remove a flower, fruit, nut etc from a plant or tree:
•We picked some blackberries to eat on the way.
•Amy picked a small bunch of wild flowers.
•a dish of freshly picked peas
3 REMOVE STH [always + adv/prep] to remove something carefully from a place, especially something small
pick sth from sth
•Ahmed picked the melon pips from his teeth.
pick sth off (sth)
•She was nervously picking bits of fluff off her sweater.
pick sth out of sth
•The goalkeeper spent a lot of his time picking the ball out of the back of the net.
4 pick your way through/across/among etc sth to walk in a slow careful way, choosing exactly where to put your feet down:
•She picked her way between the puddles.
•He picked his way down the narrow staircase.
5 pick your nose to remove MUCUS from your nose with your finger:
•Don't pick your nose!
6 pick your teeth to remove bits of food from between your teeth with your finger or a small pointed object
7 pick sb's brains to ask someone who knows a lot about something for information and advice about it:
•Have you got a minute? I need to pick your brains.
8 pick a quarrel/fight (with sb) to deliberately start a quarrel or fight with someone:
•I could see he was trying to pick a fight with me.
9 pick and choose to choose only the best people or things, or only the ones that you really like:
•Come on, you haven't got time to pick and choose.
10 pick a lock to use something that is not a key to unlock a door, drawer etc:
•It's quite easy to pick the lock on a car door.
11 pick a hole in sth to make a hole in something by pulling it with your fingers:
•He had picked a hole in his jumper.
12 pick holes in sth informal to criticize an idea or a plan by saying what its weak points are:
•It's easy to pick holes in her argument.
13 pick sth clean to remove all the meat from a bone when you are eating
14 pick sb's pocket to quietly steal something from someone's pocket; pickpocket
15 pick a winner informal to choose someone or something very good
16 pick sth to pieces informal to criticize something very severely and in a very detailed way:
•I'm fed up with having my work picked to pieces.
17 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AmE to play a musical instrument by pulling at its strings with your fingers; = pluck

PHRASAL VERBS
pick at sth phr v
1 to eat only small amounts of food because you do not feel hungry or do not like the food:
•Paige could only pick at her meal, forcing down a mouthful or two.
2 to touch something many times with your fingers, pulling it slightly:
•She was picking at her skirt.

pick sb/sth <=> off phr v
to point a weapon carefully at one person or animal in a group, and then shoot them:
•There were gunmen in some of the buildings who picked off our men as they went past.

pick on sb/sth phr v spoken
1 to behave in an unfair way to someone, for example by blaming them or criticizing them unfairly:
•Why don't you pick on someone else for a change?
2 BrE to choose a particular person or thing:
•Just pick on one job and try to get that finished.

pick sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 CHOOSE to choose someone or something from a group:
•She picked out a navy blue dress.
•His story was picked out as the best by the judges.
2 RECOGNIZE to recognize someone or something in a group of people or things:
•She was able to pick out her father at the other side of the room.
•I picked out Valerie's voice from among the general conversation.
3 SEE if you can pick something out, you can see it but not very clearly:
•I could just pick out some letters carved into the stone.
4 SHOWN CLEARLY [usually passive] if something is picked out, it is in a different colour or material from the background, so that it can be clearly seen:
•His name was picked out in gold lettering.
5 PLAY A TUNE to play a tune on a musical instrument slowly or with difficulty:
•He sat at the piano and picked out a simple tune.

pick over sth phr v
to examine a group of things very carefully in order to choose the ones you want:
•She was sitting at the kitchen table picking over a pile of mushrooms.

pick through sth phr v
to search through a pile of things to find things that you want:
•Police are still picking through the rubble looking for clues to the cause of the explosion.

pick up phr v
1 LIFT STH/SB UP pick sth/sb <=> up to lift something or someone up:
•He picked up the letter and read it.
•The phone rang and I picked it up.
•Mummy, can you pick me up?
see box at HOLD^1
2 pick yourself up to get up from the ground after you have fallen:
•Carol picked herself up and brushed the dirt off her coat.
3 TIDY STH pick sth <=> up AmE to make a room or building tidy:
•Pick up your room before you go to bed.
4 GET STH pick sth <=> up informal
a) to get or win something:
•He's already picked up three major prizes this year.
b) to buy something or get it from a shop etc:
•I picked up an evening paper on the way home.
•For more details, pick up a leaflet in your local post office.
c) to get an illness:
•I picked up a virus while I was in America.
5 COLLECT pick sth <=> up to collect something from a place:
•I'll pick my things up later.
•She just dropped by to pick up her mail.
6 LET SB INTO A VEHICLE pick sb <=> up to let someone get into your car, boat etc and take them somewhere:
•I'll pick you up at the station.
•The survivors were picked up by fishing boats from nearby villages.
7 LEARN pick sth <=> up to learn something by watching or listening to other people:
•I picked up a few words of Greek when I was there last year.
•Mary watched the other dancers to see if she could pick up any tips.
8 NOTICE pick sth <=> up to notice something that is not easy to notice, such as a slight smell or a sign of something:
•I picked up a faint smell of coffee.
•The dogs picked up the scent and raced off.
•We picked up their tracks again on the other side of the river.
9 RADIO/SIGNALS pick sth <=> up if a machine picks up a sound, movement, or signal, it is able to notice it or receive it:
•The sensors pick up faint vibrations in the Earth.
•I managed to pick up an American news broadcast.
10 SEX pick sb <=> up to become friendly with someone you have just met because you want to have sex with them:
•young women sitting around in bars waiting to be picked up
11 START AGAIN
a) if you pick up where you stopped or were interrupted, you start again from that point:
•We'll meet again in the morning and we can pick up where we left off.
b) pick sth <=> up if you pick up an idea that has been mentioned, you return to it and develop it further:
•I'd like to pick up what you said earlier.
•This same theme is picked up in his later works.
12 IMPROVE
a) if a situation picks up, it improves:
•Her social life was picking up at last.
•The economy is finally beginning to pick up again.
•We've been through a bit of a bad patch, but things are picking up again now.
b) pick sb up if a medicine or drink picks you up, it makes you feel better; pick-me-up
13 ROAD pick sth <=> up if you pick up a road, you go onto it and start driving along it:
•We take the A14 to Birmingham and then pick up the M5.
14 TRAIN/BUS pick sth <=> up if you pick up a train, bus etc you get onto it and travel on it
15 pick up speed/steam to go faster:
•The train was gradually picking up speed.
16 pick up the bill/tab (for sth) informal to pay for something:
•Why should the taxpayer pick up the tab for mistakes made by a private company?
17 WIND if the wind picks up, it increases or grows stronger
18 COLOUR pick sth <=> up if one thing picks up a colour in something else, it has an amount of the same colour in it so that the two things look nice together:
•I like the way the curtains pick up the red in the rug.
19 CRIMINAL pick sb <=> up if the police pick someone up, they take them somewhere to answer questions or to be locked up:
•He was picked up by police as he was trying to leave the country.
20 pick up the pieces (of sth) to try to make your life normal again after something very bad has happened to you:
•Thousands of victims of the earthquake are now faced with the task of picking up the pieces of their lives.
21 pick up the threads (of sth) if you pick up the threads of something that you were doing, you try to return to it and start doing it again after it stopped or was changed:
•Now that the war was over they could pick up the threads of their lives again.
22 pick your feet up spoken used to tell someone to walk properly or more quickly

pick up after sb phr v informal
to tidy things that someone else has left untidy:
•I'm tired of picking up after you!

pick up on sth phr v
1 to notice something about the way someone is behaving or feeling, even though they are trying not to show it:
•Children pick up on our worries and anxieties.
2 to return to a point or an idea that has been mentioned and discuss it more:
•I'd like to pick up on a point that Steven made earlier.
3 pick sb up on sth to criticize someone slightly for something they have said:
•I knew he was lying and I should have picked him up on it.
have a bone to pick with sb at BONE^1 (10)
1 [U] if you can have your pick or take your pick of different things, you can choose which one you want:
•Have a look at the menu and take your pick.
•He knew he could take his pick of any of the girls in the office.
•Sarah could have her pick of any university in the country.
have/get first pick (of sth)
•She always gets first pick of the videos.
2 the pick of sth informal the best things in a group:
•In tonight's programme we'll be discussing the pick of this month's new movies.
•There were fifteen candidates for the job, and he was the pick of the bunch (=the best one).
3 [C] informal your pick is the person or thing that you have chosen from a group; = choice
•There are a lot of good horses in the race, but Archimedes would be my pick.
4 [C] a PICKAXE
5 [C] informal a small, flat object that you use for pulling at the strings of a musical instrument such as a GUITAR; = plectrum
ICE PICKBrE
if something is pick-and-mix, you are free to choose the things or parts that you want and not choose the rest:
•Students can select parts of the course on a pick-and-mix basis.pickax AmE [C] BrE
a large tool that you use for breaking up the ground. It consists of a curved iron bar with a sharp point on each end and a long handle [only before noun]
picked people have been specially chosen because they are very suitable for a particular job; handpicked $ [C]
cotton picker/fruit picker etc a person or machine that picks fruit or vegetables [C]
1
a) when a group of people stand or march in front of a shop, factory, government building etc to protest about something or to stop people from going in during a STRIKE:
•There was a mass picket (=one involving a lot of people) by students outside the main office of the university.
[+of]
•They organized a picket of the power station.
b) a person or the group of people involved in a picket:
•The pickets persuaded some drivers not to enter the factory.
FLYING PICKET
2 a soldier or a group of soldiers with the special duty of guarding a military camp:
•He's on picket duty tonight.
1 [I,T] to stand or march in front of a shop, factory, government building etc to protest about something or to stop people from going in during a STRIKE:
•Protesters are still picketing outside the White House gates.
•a group of picketing miners
2 [T] to place soldiers around or near a place as guards
- picketing noun [U]
•The new law will still allow peaceful picketing.[C]
AmE a fence made up of a line of strong pointed sticks that are fixed in the ground[C]
a group of people who stand outside a factory and try to prevent people from going in or coming out during a STRIKE
on a picket line
•So far, there has been very little violence on the picket line.
•Very few workers were willing to cross the picket line. [plural] informal
money or profits that you can get easily from a situation:
•There were rich pickings (=a lot of money) to be had from the stock market.
•There are easy pickings for thieves at these big outdoor concerts.
slim/lean/meagre pickings
•Companies are put off investing in poor areas because of the meagre pickings to be had.
1 [C,U] BrE a thick cold sauce that is made from pieces of vegetables preserved in VINEGAR. It is usually eaten with cold meat or cheese:
•cheese and pickle sandwiches
•a selection of cold meats and pickles
2 [C] AmE a CUCUMBER preserved in VINEGAR or salt water, or a piece of this; = gherkin BrE
3 be in a (pretty) pickle old-fashioned to be in a very difficult situation and not know what to do[T]
to preserve food in VINEGAR or salt water
1 pickled vegetables or fruits have been preserved in VINEGAR or salt water:
•pickled onions
2 old-fashioned informal drunk[C]
informal a drink or medicine that makes you feel happier and gives you more energy $ [C]
someone who steals things from people's pockets, especially in a crowd
1 VEHICLE [C] especially AmE a small truck with low sides that is used for carrying goods
2 IMPROVEMENT [C] an improvement in something which will be good for economic success
[+in]
•There are signs of a pick-up in high street spending.
3 COLLECTION [C,U] an occasion when someone or something is collected from a place:
•The price includes travel from your local pick-up point in the UK to your hotel in Paris.
•trash pick-up
4 PERSON [C] informal a stranger that you meet in a bar, at a party etc and have sex with
5 MUSIC [C] an electronic part on a musical instrument, especially an electric GUITAR, that makes the sound louder
6 SPEED [U] AmE the rate at which a vehicle can increase its speed; = acceleration
•It was a small car, but it had good pick-up.[C]
AmE a PICK-UP (1) informal
someone who is picky only likes particular things and not others, and so is not easy to please:
•He's a very picky eater. [C]
1 if you have a picnic, you take food and eat it outdoors, especially in the country:
•We decided to have a picnic down by the lake.
go on/for a picnic
•We could go on a picnic today.
•a picnic table
•There is free parking for visitors, as well as a restaurant and picnic area (=a special area with tables where people can have a picnic).
picnic site/spot/place (=a place that is suitable or pleasant for a picnic)
•We found a lovely picnic spot by the river.
picnic basket/hamper (=a container in which you can carry food for a picnic)
!! Do not say 'do a picnic' or 'make a picnic'. Say have a picnic.
2 BrE the food that you take to eat outdoors on a picnic:
•We'll take a picnic with us.
picnic lunch/tea/supper
•We ate our picnic lunch by the river.
3 be no picnic informal if something is no picnic, it is very difficult and needs a lot of effort or hard work:
•Bringing up six children is no picnic!past tense and past participle picnicked, present participle picnicking [I]
to have a picnic:
•We picnicked on the beach.
- picnicker noun [C]
•The area is very popular with picnickers. [C]
1 a picture that represents a word or phrase
2 a mathematical drawing that shows numbers or amounts in the form of pictures
using or relating to paintings, drawings, or photographs:
•a pictorial record of their journey $
1 PAINTING/DRAWING [C] shapes, lines etc painted or drawn on a surface, showing what someone or something looks like:
•The room had several pictures on the walls.
•a book with pictures in it
[+of]
•I like that picture of the two horses.
draw/paint a/sb's picture
•Draw a picture of your house.
•He asked her permission to paint her picture (=paint a picture of her).
2 PHOTOGRAPH [C] a photograph
[+of]
•That's a great picture of you, Dad!
take sb's picture/take a picture of sb
•I asked the waiter if he'd mind taking our picture.
wedding/holiday etc pictures
•Would you like to see the wedding pictures?
3 TELEVISION [C] an image that appears on a television or cinema screen
[+of]
•upsetting pictures of the famine in Africa
•satellite pictures from space
4 DESCRIPTION/IDEA [C usually singular] a description or idea of what something is like
[+of]
•Once the research is complete, we'll have a clearer picture of the outcome.
•an overall picture of the country's health needs
•What sort of picture is starting to emerge?
paint a bleak/happy/rosy etc picture (=describe something in a particular way)
•The film paints a bleak picture of life in the inner city.
•The article gives a vivid picture of the way artists at the studio collaborated.
•Detectives are trying to build up a picture of the kidnapper.
5 SITUATION [singular] the general situation in a place, organization etc:
•The worldwide picture for tribal people remains grim.
•the wider political picture
•Checks throughout the region revealed a similar picture everywhere.
big/bigger/wider picture
•We were so caught up with the details, we lost sight of the big picture (= the situation considered as a whole).
6 MENTAL IMAGE [C usually singular] an image or memory that you have in your mind:
•Sarah had a mental picture of Lisbon.
•He had a vivid picture in his mind.
7 put/keep sb in the picture to give someone all the information they need to understand a situation, especially one that is changing quickly:
•I'm just going now, but Keith will put you in the picture.
8 get the picture informal to understand a situation:
•You've said enough. I get the picture.
9 out of the picture if someone is out of the picture, they are no longer involved in a situation:
•Injury has effectively put Woods out of the picture as far as international matches are concerned.
10 FILM
a) [C] a film:
•It was voted the year's best picture.
b) the pictures [plural] BrE the cinema:
•Would you like to go to the pictures?
11 be the picture of health/innocence/despair etc to look very healthy etc:
•Head bowed and sobbing, she was the picture of misery.
pretty as a picture at PRETTY^2 (7)[T]
1 to imagine something by making an image in your mind:
•Tom, picturing the scene, smiled.
picture sb/sth as sth
•Rob had pictured her as serious, but she wasn't like that.
picture sb doing sth
•I can't picture him skiing. He's so clumsy!
picture what/how
•Picture what it would be like after a nuclear attack.
2 [usually passive] to show someone or something in a photograph, painting, or drawing:
•She is pictured with her mum Christine and sister Kelly.
3 [usually passive] to describe something in a particular way
be pictured as sth
•She's been pictured as a difficult, demanding woman.[C]
a book for children with many pictures in it[C] BrE
a COURT CARDAmE
exactly right in appearance or quality:
•The bride looked picture-perfect.[C]
a POSTCARD with a photograph or picture on it[only before noun]
a picture-postcard place is very pretty:
•picture-postcard villages[C] BrE
a long narrow piece of wood fixed high on a wall, used for hanging pictures from
1 a picturesque place is pretty and interesting in an old-fashioned way:
•a quiet fishing village with a picturesque harbour
2 picturesque language uses unusual, interesting, or sometimes rude words to describe something:
•a picturesque account of his trip to New York[C]
a large window made of a single piece of glass [I] informal
to URINATE

PHRASAL VERBS
piddle around phr v
to waste time doing things that are not important informal
small and unimportant [C,U]
1 a language that is a mixture of two other languages, which people who do not speak each other's languages well use to talk to each other
2 pidgin English/French etc English, French etc that is mixed with the words or grammar of another language [C,U]
1 fruit baked inside a PASTRY covering
slice/piece of pie
•Would you like another piece of apple pie?
2 BrE meat or vegetables baked inside a PASTRY or potato covering:
•I had steak and kidney pie with chips.
3 slice/share/piece of the pie a share of something such as money, profits etc:
•The smaller companies want a bigger share of the pie.
4 pie in the sky something good that someone says will happen, but which you think is impossible or unlikely:
•Hope of a cure is just pie in the sky.
MUD PIE, PIE CHART
easy as pie at EASY^1 (1)
eat humble pie at HUMBLE^1 (6)
have a finger in every pie at FINGER^1 (7)
be as nice as pie at NICE (11) $
a piebald animal has black and white areas on its body:
•a piebald horse [C]
1 AMOUNT an amount of something that has been separated from the main part
[+of]
•He broke off a piece of bread and gave it her.
•Cut off a piece of wood 5 cm in length.
•His trousers were held up with a piece of string.
•Would you like a small or a large piece?
cut/divide etc sth into pieces
•She cut the cake into four equal pieces.
•Chop the potato into bite-sized pieces.
2 PART one of the parts that something divides or breaks into
[+of]
•a piece of broken glass
•Individual pieces of text can be cut and pasted to their correct position.
in pieces
•The china dish lay in pieces on the floor.
•jigsaw pieces
•His father had taught him how to take a gun to pieces.
•The shelving comes to pieces (=divides into separate parts) for easy transport.
•The shower head just came to pieces (=broke into separate parts) in my hand.
•The fireplace was carefully dismantled piece by piece (=one part at a time).
3 SINGLE ITEM a single thing of a particular type, or something that is one of several similar things
[+of]
•Pass me another piece of paper.
•You should eat three pieces of fruit a day.
•She was wearing a single piece of jewellery.
•You need to examine every piece of evidence first.
•an excellent piece of work
•a major piece of legislation
•a piece of equipment
four-piece/60-piece etc (=consisting of four, 60 etc separate parts)
•a five-piece band
•a three-piece suite (=two chairs and a SOFA)
4 SMALL AMOUNT [usually singular] a small amount of something that is interesting, useful, or unusual in some way
piece of advice/information/gossip etc
•Let me give you a piece of advice.
•We're witnessing a piece of history in the making.
piece of luck/good fortune
•It really was an extraordinary piece of luck.
5 LAND an area of land
[+of]
•a piece of waste ground
•a dispute about a piece of land
6 fall to pieces
a) to become old and in bad condition:
•All my clothes are falling to pieces.
•They've let that lovely old house fall to pieces around them.
b) to no longer be successful or working well:
•The economy is falling to pieces.
7 go to pieces if a person or what they do goes to pieces, they are so upset or nervous that they cannot live, work, or perform as they should:
•He just went to pieces after his wife died.
•Her performance goes to pieces when her father is watching.
8 smash/rip/tear sth to pieces to damage something badly by breaking it into many parts:
•His arm was ripped to pieces by a shark.
•Wear thick gloves, otherwise you'll tear your fingers to pieces.
9 pull/rip/tear sb/sth to pieces to criticize someone or their ideas very severely:
•Donna could tear your work to pieces, and frequently did.
10 ART/MUSIC ETC something that has been produced by an artist, musician, or writer
piece of music/writing/sculpture etc
•some unusual pieces of sculpture
•The LSO will perform a much-loved concert piece.
11 NEWS ITEM a short ARTICLE in a newspaper or magazine or part of a television or radio programme that is about a particular subject
[+about/on]
•Did you read that piece in the Observer about censorship?
•Robert wrote a short piece on the earthquake.
12 in one piece informal if you arrive somewhere in one piece, you are not injured:
•Cheer up. At least you're still in one piece.
•Ring mum and let her know we got here in one piece.
13 give sb a piece of your mind informal to tell someone that you are very angry with them:
•After the game he gave the players a piece of his mind.
14 be a piece of cake informal to be very easy to do:
•Landing this type of aircraft is a piece of cake for an experienced pilot.
15 be a piece of piss BrE spoken not polite to be very easy to do
16 a piece of the action informal a share of the money from a business activity:
•And will foreign firms get a piece of the action?
17 be (all) of a piece
a) if the things someone says or does are all of a piece, they are part of the typical behaviour of that person
[+with]
•Sexist language is all of a piece with the way some men treat women.
b) to be the same or similar in all parts:
•The architecture here is all of a piece.
18 MONEY
a) a coin of a particular value
ten pence/fifty-cent etc piece
•Have you change for a 50-cent piece?
b) old use a coin:
•Robert slipped two gold pieces into the man's hand.
19 GAMES a small object used in a game such as CHESS
20 GUN AmE informal a small gun
21 be a piece of shit/crap spoken not polite used to show that you do not respect someone or something they say
22 piece of ass AmE informal not polite an offensive expression for a woman. Do not use this expression.
how long is a piece of string? at LONG^1 (9)

PHRASAL VERBS
piece sth <=> together phr v
1 to use all the information you have about a situation in order to discover the truth about it:
•Police are trying to piece together his movements before the murder.
•Her early life has been pieced together from several different sources.
2 to put all the separate parts of an object into the correct order or position:
•He slowly pieced together the torn fragments of a letter. [C]
the best or most important thing in a series, which comes after everything else:
•The pièce de résistance was a stunning goal in the last minute of the match.
a process that is piecemeal happens slowly and in stages that are not regular or planned properly:
•The buildings have been adapted in a piecemeal fashion.
•a piecemeal approach to the problem
- piecemeal adverb
•The new fire regulations have been introduced piecemeal. $ [U]
work for which you are paid according to the number of things you produce rather than the number of hours that you spend working:
•bargaining over piecework rates[C]
a circle divided into parts by lines coming from the centre to show how big the different parts of a total amount are [only before noun]
used in the names of birds that are black and white:
•a pied wagtail $ [C]
a small apartment or house, often in the centre of a city or town, that is not your main home but which you own and stay in sometimes:
•They kept a pied-à-terre in London for theatre evenings.old-fashioned informal
very drunk $ [C]
1 a structure that is built over and into the water so that boats can stop next to it or people can walk along it:
•a yacht moored at a pier
•strolling along Brighton Pier
2 a thick stone, wooden, or metal post that is used to support something $
1 [T] to make a small hole in or through something, using an object with a sharp point:
•Steam the corn until it can easily be pierced with a fork.
•Rose underwent emergency surgery after a bullet pierced her lung.
pierce a hole in/through sth
•Pierce small holes in the base of the pot with a hot needle.
2 have your ears/nose etc pierced to have a small hole made in your ears, nose etc so that you can wear jewellery through the hole:
•I had my belly-button pierced.
•pierced ears
3 [I,T always + adv/prep] literary if sound or light pierces something, you suddenly hear or see it:
•The darkness was pierced by the beam from the lighthouse.
•A sudden scream pierced the silence.
[+through]
•The men's lanterns pierced through the dense mist.
4 pierce sb's heart to make someone feel a strong emotion such as pain, sadness, or love:
•Her memories sometimes pierced her heart.
5 [T] to force a way through something:
•Leicester rarely threatened to pierce the Manchester United defence. $
1 EYES/LOOK literary someone with piercing eyes is looking at you and seems to know what you are thinking:
•There was mockery now in those piercing blue eyes.
•She felt foolish and unsure under his piercing gaze.
•He gave her a piercing look.
2 SOUND a sound that is piercing is high, sharp, and unpleasant:
•He grinned and let out a piercing whistle.
•a piercing scream
3 WIND a piercing wind is very cold
4 PAIN causing a lot of pain:
•She felt a piercing sensation in her arm.
5 EMOTION [only before noun] affecting your feelings very deeply in a sad way:
•a piercing moment of regret
- piercingly adverb
•It was piercingly cold.
•She looked at him piercingly.[C,U]
a hole made through part of your body so that you can put jewellery there, or the process of making these holes [U]
when you behave in a way that shows respect for your religion; pious
•an act of Christian piety [U] old-fashioned informal
nonsense BrE old-fashioned informal
piffling amounts are very small and therefore useless [C]
1 ANIMAL a farm animal with short legs, a fat body, and a curved tail. Pigs are kept for their meat, which includes PORK, BACON and HAM; = hog AmE
•He kept pigs and poultry.
2 PERSON spoken
a) someone who eats too much or eats more than their share:
•You greedy pig, you ate all the candy!
•I made a bit of a pig of myself (=ate too much) at dinner.
b) someone who is unpleasant in some way, for example unkind or very untidy:
•They live like pigs in that house over the road.
•You can tell him from me he's an ignorant pig.
(male) chauvinist pig (=a man who thinks women are not equal to men)
3 POLICE taboo informal an offensive word for a police officer. Do not use this word.
4 a pig (of a sth) BrE spoken something that is very difficult or unpleasant to do:
•They're improving, and they're a pig of a team to beat.
5 make a pig's ear of sth BrE spoken to do something very badly:
•Someone's made a right pig's ear of these repairs.
6 in a pig's eye AmE spoken informal used to show that you do not believe what someone is saying
7 pig in a poke spoken something you bought without seeing it first and that is not as good or valuable as you expected:
•What if the car you buy turns out to be a pig in a poke?
8 pigs might fly spoken used to say that you do not think something will happen:
•'Someone might have handed in your pass.' 'Yes, and pigs might fly.'past tense and past participle pigged, present participle pigging

PHRASAL VERBS
pig out phr v
informal to eat a lot of food all at once
[+on]
•I found Sam in front of the TV, pigging out on pizza and fries.
[C] a grey bird with short legs that is common in cities
someone who is pigeon-chested has a very narrow chest that sticks out $ [C]
one of a set of small open boxes fixed to a wall. You leave letters, messages etc for particular people in the boxes.[T]
to unfairly consider a person, activity etc as belonging to a particular type or group
pigeonhole sb/sth as sth
•Patsy was pigeonholed as a Country and Western singer, but that's too simple.
someone who is pigeon-toed has feet that turn towards each other as they walk plural piggeries [C] BrE
a pig farm, or the place on a farm where pigs are kept plural piggies [C]
1 a pig - used by children or when you are talking to children
2 piggy in the middle BrE
a) informal someone who is involved in an argument between two opposing sides, but does not know who they should support:
•What have I got myself into? I'm piggy in the middle between Guido and Silvia!
b) a game in which two people throw a ball backwards and forwards between them, while a third person in the middle tries to catch it; = keep-away AmE
piggy eyes small unattractive eyes:
•His little piggy eyes were red with hatred.also piggyback ride [C]
if you give someone, especially a child, a piggyback, you carry them high on your shoulders, supporting them with your hands under their legs
- piggyback adverb[I] informal
to use something that is bigger, better, or more successful in order to help another product or project succeed
[+on/onto]
•videos that piggyback onto the success of proven TV programs[C]
a small container, usually in the shape of a pig, in which children can save coins
determined to do things the way you want and refusing to change your mind, even when there are good reasons to do so; = stubborn
•Never have I met a woman so obstinate, so pigheaded!
- pigheadedness noun [U]
•It was just sheer pigheadedness on his part.[U]
a form of iron that is not pure [C]
a young pig [C,U]
a natural substance that makes skin, hair, plants etc a particular colour:
•Melanin is the dark brown pigment of the hair, skin and eyes.
•The artist Sandy Lee uses natural pigments in her work. [U] technical
the natural colour of living things:
•The dark pigmentation gives protection from the sun's rays. plural pigmies
another spelling of PYGMY [C] AmE
1 a building where pigs are kept; = pigsty
2 informal a very dirty or untidy place; = pigsty
1 [U] leather made from the skin of a pig:
•a pigskin suitcase
2 [singular] AmE informal the ball used in American football:
•We started tossing the pigskin around. plural pigsties [C]
1 a building where pigs are kept; = pigpen AmE
2 informal a very dirty or untidy place; = pigpen AmE
•The house was a pigsty, as usual. [U] BrE
waste food that is fed to pigs [C]
lengths of hair that have been twisted together into a PLAIT
in pigtails
•She wore her hair in pigtails. [C]
1 plural pike a large fish that eats other fish and lives in rivers and lakes
2 a long-handled weapon with a sharp blade, used in the past
3 come down the pike AmE to happen or become known:
•The world is being turned upside down by the string of multimedia technologies coming down the pike.
4 AmE spoken a TURNPIKE $ [C]
AusE someone who avoids difficult situations, especially ones involving money $
as plain as a pikestaff BrE old-fashioned very clear and easy to understand:
•None of us worked it out, though it was as plain as a pikestaff when you thought about it.pilaf $ [C,U]
a pilau $ [C]
a flat square COLUMN attached to the wall of a building for decoration [U]
a type of exercise based on YOGA and dance that you do with special equipment which makes you push, pull, and stretch, so that your body moves more easily and becomes stronger $ [C,U] BrE
a dish made of rice, vegetables, and sometimes meat:
•mushroom pilau $ [C] BrE
a small fish that lives in the sea and that can be eaten
1 ARRANGEMENT OF THINGS [C] a group of several things of the same type that are put on top of each other; = stack
[+of]
•His mother came in carrying a pile of ironing in her arms.
•Flora shuffled through a pile of magazines.
put sth in/into a pile
•She tidied up the books and put them in neat piles.
•He balanced the plate on the top of a pile of books.
2 LARGE AMOUNT [C] a large amount of something arranged in a shape that looks like a small hill
[+of]
•piles of melting snow
•All that remained of the old house was a pile of rubble.
•Sophie stooped to throw another branch on the pile.
•He began to sweep the pieces of glass into a pile.
3 a pile of sth also piles of sth informal a lot of something:
•We've had piles of letters from viewers.
•another pile of directives from the EU
4 the bottom of the pile BrE the weakest or least important position in a society or organization:
•I soon discovered I was at the bottom of the pile in the office hierarchy.
•She always puts her own needs to the bottom of the pile.
5 the top of the pile BrE the best or highest position in a society or organization:
•It's been 20 years since a British tennis player was at the top of the pile.
6 HOUSE [C] a very large old house:
•They've just bought an 18th-century pile in Surrey.
7 MATERIAL [C,U] the soft surface of short threads on a CARPET or some types of cloth
thick/deep pile
•Her feet sank into the thick pile of the rug.
•a deep pile carpet
NAP^1 (2)
8 POST [C] technical a heavy wooden, stone, or metal post, used to support something heavy
9 make a/your pile informal to make a lot of money:
•He had made his pile in the wholesale business.
10 piles [plural] painfully swollen BLOOD VESSELs near a person's ANUS[T]
1 [always + adv/prep] to fill a place or container or cover a surface with a large amount of things
pile sth into/onto etc sth
•He piled bread and milk into his basket.
•Melissa piled spaghetti onto her plate.
be piled with sth
•a chair piled with velvet cushions
•The room was piled high with boxes (=filled with a lot of boxes).
2 also pile up to arrange things in a pile:
•Ma stacked the cups and piled the plates.
pile sth on/onto sth
•She brushed her hair and piled it carefully on top of her head.

PHRASAL VERBS
pile in phr v also pile into sth
if people pile in, they get into a vehicle very quickly:
•Pierre came to pick them up, and they all piled in.

pile sth <=> on phr v informal
1 pile it on/pile on the drama to talk about something in a way that makes it seem much worse than it really is; = exaggerate
•I know I'm piling it on a bit, but there is a serious point to be made.
2 pile on the pressure/agony to show that you are much better than your opponent in a game:
•England piled on the pressure from the start.
3 pile on the pounds to gain a lot of body weight:
•She slimmed down a couple of years ago but has piled on the pounds again.

pile out phr v
if people pile out, they leave a place or get out of a vehicle quickly and in a disorganized way:
•Edward parked by the river and we all piled out.

pile up phr v
1 to increase in quantity or amount, in a way that is difficult to manage:
•It wasn't long before the debts were piling up.
•The traffic starts piling up around this time.
•The work has a tendency to pile up if I'm not careful.
2 pile sth <=> up to arrange things in a pile:
•tiny doughnuts piled up in a dish
PILE-UP[C]
1 a machine for pushing heavy posts into the ground
2 BrE informal a very hard hit[C]
a traffic accident involving many vehicles:
•a motorway pile-up $ [I,T]
to steal things that are not worth much, especially from the place where you work
[+from]
•She was sacked after being caught pilfering from the till.
- pilferer noun [C]
•an office pilferer
- pilfering noun [U] [C]
a religious person who travels a long way to a holy place:
•pilgrims visiting a holy shrine [C,U]
1 a journey to a holy place for religious reasons
make a pilgrimage/go on (a) pilgrimage
•the chance to go on pilgrimage to Mecca
2 a journey to a place connected with someone or something famous:
•Presley's home has become a place of pilgrimage.
1 [C] a small solid piece of medicine that you swallow whole:
•He has to take pills to control his blood pressure.
• sleeping pills
•a bottle of vitamin pills
2 the Pill/the pill a pill taken regularly by some women in order to prevent them having babies
on the Pill
•My doctor advised me to go on the pill (=start taking it regularly).
3 sugar/sweeten the pill to do something to make an unpleasant job or situation less unpleasant for the person who has to accept it
4 be a pill AmE informal if someone, especially a child, is a pill, they are annoying:
•Luke can be a real pill sometimes.
a bitter pill (to swallow) at BITTER^1 (7); MORNING-AFTER PILL[I] AmE
if a piece of clothing pills, especially a SWEATER, it forms little balls on the surface of the cloth after it has been worn or washed [I,T]
if soldiers pillage a place in a war, they steal a lot of things and do a lot of damage; = plunder
- pillage noun [U]
- pillager noun [C] $ [C]
1
a) a tall upright round post used as a support for a roof or bridge:
•Eight massive stone pillars supported the roof.
b) a tall upright round post, usually made of stone, put up to remind people of an important person or event
2 pillar of society/the community/the church etc somebody who is an important and respected member of a group, and is involved in many public activities:
•Mr Fitzwilliam had been seen as a pillar of the community.
3 a very important part of a system of beliefs or ideas
[+of]
•One of the pillars of a civilized society must be that everyone has equal access to the legal system.
4 be driven/pushed from pillar to post to have to go from one person or situation to another without achieving much or being able to settle:
•The poor kid has been pushed from pillar to post.
5 be a pillar of strength if someone is a pillar of strength, they are there to give you help and support at a difficult time:
•Christine's been a pillar of strength to me.
6 pillar of dust/smoke/flame etc a tall upright mass of dust, smoke, flame etc
[C] BrE old-fashioned a large red tube-shaped box for posting letters that stands on streets in Britain; = postbox; letterbox[U] BrE
a very bright red colour
- pillar-box red adjective $ [C]
1 a small round box for holding PILLs
2 a small, strong, usually circular shelter with a gun inside it, built as a defence
3 also pillbox hat a small round hat for a woman [singular] BrE
the seat behind the driver of a MOTORCYCLE:
•a pillion passenger
- pillion adverb
•Tom had never ridden pillion before. [C]
BrE informal a very stupid person past tense and past participle pilloried, present participle pillorying, third person singular pillories [T usually passive]
if someone is pilloried, they are publicly criticized by a lot of people, especially in newspapers etc:
•The education secretary was pilloried by the press for his latest proposals.plural pillories [C]
a wooden frame with holes for someone's head and hands to be locked into, used in the past as a way of publicly punishing someone
the stocks at STOCK^1 (9) $ [C]
1 a cloth bag filled with soft material that you put your head on when you are sleeping:
•I'll be asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
2 pillow fight a game in which children hit each other with pillows
3 pillow talk informal conversation between lovers in bed[T always + adv/prep] literary
to rest your head somewhere:
•His head was pillowed on his arm.pillow case $ [C]
a cloth cover for a pillow [C]
1 someone who operates the controls of an aircraft or spacecraft:
•an airline pilot
•a fighter pilot
•The official report into the accident says that it was caused by pilot error (=a mistake by the pilot).
2 someone with a special knowledge of a particular area of water, who is employed to guide ships across it:
•a harbour pilot
3 pilot study/project/scheme etc a small study, project etc which is carried out as a test to see if an idea, product etc will be successful:
•a pilot scheme which could be extended to other areas
4 a television programme that is made in order to test whether people like it and would watch it:
•a pilot for a new sitcom
AUTOMATIC PILOT[T]
1 to guide an aircraft, spacecraft, or ship as its pilot
2 to test a new idea, product etc on people to find out whether it will be successful:
•The new exams are currently being piloted in a number of areas.
3 literary to help someone to go to a place
4 BrE to be responsible for making sure that a new law or plan is officially approved
pilot sth through sth
•The Bill was piloted through Parliament by the health minister.[C]
a small gas flame that burns all the time and is used for lighting larger gas burners[C]
a middle rank in the Royal Air Force, or someone who has this rank[C]
a small WHALE with black skinalso pimiento $ plural pimentos [C,U]
a small red PEPPER which does not have a very strong taste [C]
a man who makes money by controlling PROSTITUTEs
- pimp verb [I] $ [C]
a small wild plant with flowers in various colours, especially red [C]
a small raised red spot on your skin, especially on your face
- pimply adjective
•a pimply eighteen-year-old
GOOSE PIMPLESalso PIN number [C]
personal identification number a number that you use when you get money from a machine using a plastic card [C]
1 FOR JOINING/FASTENING
a) a short thin piece of metal with a sharp point at one end, used especially for fastening together pieces of cloth while making clothes
b) a thin piece of metal used to fasten things together, especially broken bones
2 JEWELLERY AmE a piece of metal, sometimes containing jewels, that you fasten to your clothes to wear as a decoration; = brooch BrE
3 ELECTRICAL BrE one of the pieces of metal that sticks out of an electric PLUG:
•a three-pin plug
4 BOWLING one of the bottle-shaped objects that you try to knock down in a game of BOWLING
5 you could hear a pin drop spoken used to say that it is very quiet and no one is speaking
6 PART OF BOMB a short piece of metal which you pull out of a HAND GRENADE to make it explode a short time later
7 GOLF a metal stick with a flag at the top which marks the holes on a GOLF COURSE
8 for two pins I'd ... BrE old-fashioned used to say that you would like to do something to someone because they have annoyed you:
•For two pins, I'd just send them all home.
9 pins [plural] BrE informal legs
DRAWING PIN, PIN MONEY, PINS AND NEEDLES (1), ROLLING PIN, SAFETY PINpast tense and past participle pinned, present participle pinning [T always + adv/prep]
1 to fasten something somewhere, or to join two things together, using a pin
pin sth to/on sth
•Can you pin this to the notice board?
•He pinned the name tag on his jacket.
pin sth up
•She had photos of her kids pinned up next to her desk.
2 to make someone unable to move by putting a lot of pressure or weight on them
pin sb/sth to sth
•He pinned her arms to her sides.
pin sb against sth
•Albert got him pinned against the wall.
pin sb down
•They managed to pin him down until the police arrived.
be pinned under/beneath sth
•Her body was pinned under the weight of the car.

PHRASAL VERBS
pin sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to make someone give clear details or make a definite decision about something
[+to]
•Did you manage to pin him down to a definite date?
•He's impossible to pin down.
2 to understand something clearly or be able to describe it exactly
hard/difficult to pin down
•The flavour was hard to pin down.
3 if soldiers etc involved in fighting are pinned down, they cannot move from their position because someone is shooting at them:
•The rebels have been pinned down in a camp to the south of the river.

pin sth on sb/sth phr v
1 to blame someone for something, often unfairly:
•Don't try to pin the blame on me!
•They're trying to pin the murder on the boyfriend.
2 pin your hopes/faith on sth/sb to hope that something will happen or someone will help you, because all your plans depend on this:
•Chris is pinning his hopes on getting into Yale. [C,U]
an alcoholic drink made from COCONUT juice, PINEAPPLE juice, and RUM $ [C]
1 also pinafore dress BrE a dress that does not cover your arms and under which you wear a shirt or BLOUSE; = jumper AmE
2 also pinny BrE informal a loose piece of clothing that does not cover your arms, worn over your clothes to keep them clean $ [U]
a game played on a machine with a sloping board which a ball rolls down while the player tries to prevent it reaching the bottom [plural]
glasses worn in the past that were held in position on the nose by a spring, instead of by pieces fitting round the ears $
1 [C usually plural] one of the pair of CLAWs that some SHELLFISH and insects have, used for holding and cutting food, and for fighting
2 pincers [plural] a tool made of two crossed pieces of metal used for holding things tightly[C]
a military attack in which two groups of soldiers come from opposite directions in order to trap the enemy between them
1 [T] to press a part of someone's skin very tightly between your finger and thumb, especially so that it hurts:
•We have to stop her pinching her baby brother.
•He pinched her cheek.
2 [T] BrE informal to steal something, especially something small or not very valuable:
•Someone's pinched my coat!
3 [T] to press something between your finger and thumb:
•Pinch the edges of the pastry together to seal it.
4 [I,T] if something you are wearing pinches you, it presses painfully on part of your body, because it is too tight:
•Her new shoes were pinching.
5 sb has to pinch themselves used when a situation is so surprising that the person involved needs to make sure that they are not imagining it:
•Sometimes she had to pinch herself to make sure it was not all a dream.
6 [T usually passive] BrE old-fashioned to ARREST someone

PHRASAL VERBS
pinch sth <=> out phr v
to remove a small part of a plant with your fingers:
•Pinch out any side shoots to make the plant grow upwards.[C]
1 pinch of salt/pepper etc a small amount of salt, pepper etc that you can hold between your finger and thumb:
•Add a pinch of salt to taste.
2 when you press someone's skin between your finger and thumb:
•She gave him a playful pinch.
3 at a pinch BrE in a pinch AmE used to say that you could do something if necessary in a difficult or urgent situation:
•There's space for three people. Four at a pinch.
•If you're in a pinch, I'm sure they'd look after Jenny for a while.
4 take sth with a pinch of salt used to say that you should not always completely believe what a particular person says:
•You have to take what he says with a pinch of salt.
5 feel the pinch to have financial difficulties, especially because you are not making as much money as you used to make:
•Local stores and businesses are beginning to feel the pinch.
a pinched face looks thin and unhealthy, for example because the person is ill, cold, or tired:
•She had a small pinched face with sad eyes.[I + for] AmE
1 to do something for someone else because they are suddenly not able to do it
2 to HIT for someone else in baseball
- pinch-hitter noun [C] [C]
a soft filled bag for sticking pins in until you need to use them
1 [C,U] also pine tree a tall tree with long hard sharp leaves that do not fall off in winter:
•an ancient pine forest
2 [U] the pale wood of pine trees, used to make furniture, floors etc:
•a pine table[I]
to become sad and not continue your life as normal because someone has died or gone away:
•Six months after he left, she was still pining.

PHRASAL VERBS
pine away phr v
to become less active, weaker and often ill, especially because you miss someone who has died or gone away

pine for sb/sth phr v
1 if you pine for a place or for something, you miss it a lot and wish you could be there or have it again:
•After two months in France I was pining for home.
2 if you pine for someone, you feel very unhappy because they are not with you:
•Karen had been pining for her friends back home in Colorado. [C,U]
a large yellow-brown tropical fruit or its sweet juicy yellow flesh:
•pineapple chunks
•pineapple juice[C]
a small thin furry animal that lives in forests in Europe[C]
a leaf of the PINE tree, which is thin and sharp like a needle[C]
a small seed that grows on some PINE trees and is eaten as food[C]
a tall tree with long hard sharp leaves that do not fall off in winter; = pine
1 [C] a forest of pine trees
2 [U] the wood from a pine tree [C]
a short high ringing sound:
•The microwave goes ping when the food's ready.
[I] to make a short high ringing sound[U] trademark
an indoor game played on a table by two people with a small plastic ball and two BATs ; = table tennis [C]
the small round part at one end of a pin $ [C]
a very small hole in something, especially one made by a pin
[T always + adv/prep] to hold or tie someone's arms or legs very tightly, so that they cannot move freely:
•My arms were pinioned behind me by the policemen.
[C] a small wheel, with teeth on its outer edge, that fits into a larger wheel and turns it or is turned by it
1 pale red:
• bright pink lipstick
•Hannah's face went pink.
SHOCKING PINK
2 [only before noun] BrE relating to people who are HOMOSEXUAL
be tickled pink at TICKLE^1 (3)
1 [C,U] a pale red colour:
•Her room was decorated in bright pinks and purples.
•She had arrived dressed in pink.
2 [C] a garden plant with pink, white, or red flowers
3 in the pink old-fashioned in very good health
pink-collar jobs/workers/industries etc especially AmE low-paid jobs done mainly by women, for example in offices and restaurants, or the women who do these jobs
WHITE-COLLAR, BLUE-COLLAR[C,U]
a pink alcoholic drink made of GIN and a strong bitter liquidpinky [C]
especially AmE your smallest finger; = little fingeralso pinking scissors [plural]
a special type of scissors with blades that have V-shaped teeth, used for cutting cloth
slightly pink:
•the pinkish glow of the fire $ plural pinkos [C]
1 AmE an insulting word for a SOCIALIST or COMMUNIST
2 BrE someone who has slightly LEFT-WING ideas, but is not a strong believer in SOCIALISM; red
- pinko adjective
•pinko liberals[singular] BrE
the money that people who are HOMOSEXUAL have available to spend:
•Companies are trying to attract the pink pound.[C] AmE informal
1 an official document that proves that you own a particular car
2 a written warning you get when your job is going to end because there is not enough work [C]
a PINKIE[U]
BrE a small amount of extra money which someone earns to spend on things which they want but do not really need:
•She helped her uncle out sometimes just to earn a bit of pin money.
1 [singular] the most successful, powerful, exciting etc part of something:
•the pinnacle of academic achievement
[+of]
•She had reached the pinnacle of her political career.
2 [C] literary a high mountain top
3 [C] a pointed stone decoration, like a small tower, on a building such as a church or castle plural pinnies [C]
BrE informal a PINAFORE (2) [U]
an American card game [T]
1 to discover or explain exactly the real facts about something or the cause of a problem:
•It's difficult to pinpoint the cause of the accident.
pinpoint what/how/why etc
•They need to pinpoint exactly what skills are necessary.
2 to find or show the exact position of something:
•Rescue teams have now pinpointed the location of the ship.
at the pinnacle of sth
•The bank then was at the pinnacle of England's financial system.[C]
1 a very small area or DOT of something
[+of]
•tiny pinpoints of light
2 with pinpoint accuracy very exactly:
•The missiles can hit targets with pinpoint accuracy. [C]
1 a very small area or DOT of something
[+of]
•a pinprick of light
2 a very small hole in something, similar to one made by a pin
3 something that slightly annoys you:
•These problems were pinpricks compared with what was to come.[U]
1 an uncomfortable feeling, often in your foot or your leg, which you get especially when you have not moved part of your body for a long time, and the supply of blood has stopped flowing properly:
•I'll have to move because I'm starting to get pins and needles in my foot.
2 be on pins and needles AmE to be very nervous and unable to relax, especially because you are waiting for something important; = be on tenterhooks [C]
1 one of the thin pale lines that form a pattern on cloth against a darker background
2 pinstripe suit a suit made from cloth with a pinstripe pattern, worn especially by business people:
•a navy-blue pinstripe suit
- =pin-striped adjective [C]
1 written abbreviation pt a unit for measuring an amount of liquid, especially beer or milk. In Britain a pint is equal to 0.568 litres, and in the US it is equal to 0.473 litres
[+of]
•Add two pints of water to the mixture.
•half a pint of milk
•a pint glass (=a glass which will hold a pint of liquid)
2 BrE a pint of beer, especially one that you drink in a bar; half
•He's gone down the pub for a quick pint. $ plural pintos [C]
AmE a horse with irregular patterns of two or more colours; = piebald BrE[C]
a small light brown bean[only before noun]
small - usually used humorously:
•the pint-sized child star[C]
1 a picture of an attractive person, often not wearing many clothes, that is put up on a wall to be looked at and admired:
•a pin-up of her favourite boy band
2 someone who appears in pin-up pictures or who is considered attractive by a particular group of people:
•He's becoming the thinking woman's pin-up. [C]
AmE a toy consisting of a stick with curved pieces of plastic at the end which turn around when they are blown; = windmill BrE $ [C]
1 someone who is important in the early development of something, and whose work or ideas are later developed by other people
[+of]
•John Whitney was a pioneer of computer animation.
•He was a pioneer in the field of biotechnology.
2 one of the first people to travel to a new country or area and begin living there, farming etc:
•the early pioneers of the Dakota territory[T]
to be the first person to do, invent or use something:
•The new cancer treatment was pioneered in the early eighties by Dr Sylvia Bannerjee. $ [only before noun]
introducing new and better methods or ideas for the first time
pioneering work/research/efforts etc
•the pioneering work of NASA scientists
•She played a pioneering role in opening higher education to women.
1 having strong religious beliefs, and showing this in the way you behave; piety
•He was a quiet, pious man.
2 if you describe what someone says as pious talk, words etc, you mean that they are trying to sound good or moral but you do not believe that they are sincere or will really do what they say:
•pious speeches by politicians about 'family values'
3 pious hope/wish something that you want to be true or to happen, but that is very unlikely:
•All these agreements and ideas remain little more than pious hopes in the present climate.
- piously adverb [C] BrE
1 a small seed from a fruit such as an apple or orange:
•an apple pip
•Have these oranges got pips in?
2 a high note that is part of a series of short sounds, used for example on the radio to show the time, or on a public telephone line to show that your money has almost finished; = beep AmE
•The pips are going so I'd better say goodbye.
3 old-fashioned one of the stars on the shoulders of the coats of army officers that shows their rankpast tense and past participle pipped, present participle pipping [T] BrE informal
1 pip sb at the post to beat someone at the last moment in a race, competition etc, when they were expecting to win:
•The Maclaren team were narrowly pipped at the post by Ferrari.
2 to beat someone in a race, competition etc, by only a small amount
pip sb to/for sth
•Jackson just pipped him for the gold. [C]
1 TUBE a tube through which a liquid or gas flows:
•a water pipe
•a frozen waste pipe
•copper pipes
•A pipe had burst in the kitchen and flooded the floor.
DRAINPIPE; exhaust pipe at EXHAUST^2 (2); WINDPIPE
2 FOR SMOKING a thing used for smoking tobacco, consisting of a small tube with a container shaped like a bowl at one end:
•Dad was there, smoking his pipe.
•pipe tobacco
3 MUSIC
a) a simple musical instrument like a tube, that you play by blowing
PANPIPES
b) one of the metal tubes that air passes through when you play an ORGAN
c) the pipes BAGPIPES
4 pipe dream a hope, idea, plan etc that is impossible or will probably never happen:
•In many parts of the country, democratic elections are simply a pipe dream.
5 put/stick that in your pipe and smoke it spoken used to say that someone must accept what you have just said, even though they do not like it
1 SEND LIQUID/GAS [T usually passive] to send a liquid or gas through a pipe to another place
pipe sth into/from/out of etc sth
•Eighty per cent of sewage is piped directly into the sea.
pipe sth in/out/up etc
•A lot of oil is piped in from Alaska.
•villages with no piped water
2 MAKE MUSIC [I,T] to make a musical sound, using a pipe
3 FOOD [T] to decorate food, especially a cake, with lines of ICING or cream
4 SPEAK [T] literary to speak or sing something in a high voice:
•'Morning!' piped a cheery voice.

PHRASAL VERBS
pipe down phr v spoken
to stop talking or making a noise, and become calmer and less excited:
•Everybody pipe down. There's no need to shout.

pipe sth <=> in phr v also pipe sth into sth
to send radio signals or recorded music into a room or building:
•tunes piped in over an acoustic system

pipe up phr v informal
to suddenly say something, especially when you have been quiet until then:
•Mum suddenly piped up 'No!'[C]
a length of wire covered with soft material, used to clean the inside of a tobacco pipe[U]
quiet recorded music played continuously in shops, hotels, restaurants etc[C]
someone who puts in and repairs pipes for water, gas etc [C]
1 a line of connecting pipes, often under the ground, used for sending gas, oil etc over long distances
2 be in the pipeline if a plan, idea, or event is in the pipeline, it is being prepared and it will happen or be completed soon:
•More job losses are in the pipeline.[C]
a PEACE PIPE[C]
an ORGAN $ [C]
someone who plays a PIPE or the BAGPIPES $ [C]
a thin glass tube for sucking up exact amounts of liquid, used especially in chemistry $ [U]
the pipes that are part of a building, machine, or structure:
•The houses all have lead pipework. [U]
1 a thin tube of cloth, usually with string inside, sewn onto clothing, furniture etc as decoration
2 several pipes, or a system of pipes, used to send liquid or gas in or out of a building
piping hot piping hot liquid or food is very hot:
•piping hot coffee [C]
a small brown or grey singing bird [C]
a small sweet apple [C] old-fashioned
someone that you think is not worth respecting or paying attention to, especially because they are small or young
1 having a pleasantly spicy taste:
•a piquant wild mushroom sauce
2 interesting and exciting
- piquantly adverb
- piquancy noun [U]
•The production retains its original piquancy. [U]
1 a feeling of being annoyed or upset, especially because someone has ignored you or insulted you:
•He stormed out in a fit of pique.
2 also piqué a type of material made of cotton, silk, or RAYON
1 [T usually passive] to make someone feel annoyed or upset, especially by ignoring them or making them look stupid:
•Privately, Zarich was piqued that his offer was rejected.
2 pique your interest/curiosity especially AmE to make you feel interested in something or someone:
•She was hostile to him, which piqued his curiosity. $ [U]
1 the crime of illegally copying and selling books, tapes, videos, computer programs etc; pirate
•software piracy
2 the crime of attacking and stealing from ships at sea
3 the crime of making illegal television or radio broadcasts $ [C]
a South American fish with sharp teeth that lives in rivers and eats flesh $ [C]
1 someone who sails on the seas, attacking other boats and stealing things from them; piracy
2 someone who dishonestly copies and sells another person's work; piracy
•Computer game pirates cost the industry twenty million pounds a year.
pirate videos/CDs/software etc
3 pirate radio/TV (station) illegal radio or television broadcasts, or the station sending them out
- piratical adjective literary [T]
to illegally copy and sell another person's work such as a book, video, or computer program:
•pirated video tapes [C]
a dance movement in which the dancer turns very quickly, standing on one toe or the front part of one foot
- pirouette verb [I] formal
relating to fishing or people who go fishing
1 [U] the 12th sign of the ZODIAC, represented by two fish, which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between February 20 and March 20
2 [C] also Piscean someone who was born between February 20 and March 20
- Piscean adjective [I] spoken not polite
1 to URINATE
2 piss in the wind to waste time or effort trying to do something that is impossible
3 it is pissing down (with rain) BrE used to say that it is raining very heavily
4 piss yourself (laughing) BrE to laugh a lot, especially when you cannot stop laughing:
•They were all copying my accent and pissing themselves laughing.
5 piss all over sb BrE to thoroughly defeat a person or a team
6 not have a pot to piss in to be extremely poor
7 go piss up a rope! AmE used to tell someone to go away

PHRASAL VERBS
piss about/around phr v BrE spoken not polite
1 to waste time doing stupid things with no purpose or plan; = mess about/around
•Stop pissing about and get some work done!
2 piss sb about/around to treat someone badly by not doing what you have promised to do, or by not being honest with them; = mess sb about/around
•I wish he'd say yes or no - he's been pissing me around for weeks.

piss sth <=> away phr v spoken not polite
to waste something in a very stupid way:
•I was earning quite a lot but I pissed it all away.

piss off phr v spoken not polite
1 piss sb <=> off to annoy someone very much:
•The way she treats me really pisses me off.
2 BrE to go away - used especially to tell someone to go away:
•Now piss off and leave me alone!
•He pissed off before we got there.
3 BrE used to say no or to refuse to do somethingspoken not polite
1 [singular] an act of URINATING
go for/have/take a piss
•I need to have a piss.
2 [U] URINE
3 take the piss (out of sb/sth) BrE to annoy someone by laughing at them or making them seem stupid; piss-take
•The kids always take the piss out of some teachers.
4 be on the piss BrE to be at a PUB or club, drinking a lot of alcohol:
•'Where's Jo?' 'Out on the piss somewhere.'
5 be full of piss and vinegar AmE to be full of energy
be a piece of piss at PIECE^1 (15)pissant [C] AmE informal not polite
an offensive word for an annoying person with a weak character[C]
BrE informal not polite a very offensive word for someone who drinks a lot of alcohol [not before noun] informal
1 BrE drunk:
•They rolled in pissed at three in the morning.
pissed as a newt/pissed out of your head (=extremely drunk)
2 AmE PISSED OFFalso pissed AmE [not before noun] informal
annoyed, disappointed, or unhappy:
•You get really pissed off applying for jobs all the time.
[+with/at]
•I was pissed off with the way some people were behaving.
•Judy's pissed at Carol. $ [C] informal not polite
an offensive word for a difficult job or activity, or a bad or annoying situation:
•The real pisser was investing so much time and effort for zero return. [C]
BrE informal not polite a very offensive word for someone who drinks a lot of alcoholinformal not polite
very bad in quality:
•All the local beers were piss-poor imitations.[C usually singular] BrE informal not polite
something you do to make people laugh at someone, especially by copying them in a funny way:
•The record is a piss-take of people who have a high opinion of themselves.
take the piss out of sb/sth at PISS^2 (3)[C] BrE informal not polite
an occasion when people drink a lot of alcohol together:
•We had a good piss-up on my birthday. [not before noun] spoken not polite
1 angry or annoyed and treating people badly:
•Stacey gets pissy if we tease her.
2 small or unimportant and annoying $ plural pistachios [C]
a small green nut:
•pistachio ice cream [C] BrE
a snow-covered slope which has been prepared for people to SKI down
OFF-PISTE [C]
technical the female part of a flower that produces seeds [C]
a small gun you can use with one hand; handgun, revolverpast tense and past participle pistol-whipped, present participle pistol-whipping [T]
to hit someone many times with a pistol [C]
a part of an engine consisting of a short solid piece of metal inside a tube, which moves up and down to make the other parts of the engine move[C]
a circular metal spring used to stop gas or liquid escaping from between a piston and the tube that it moves in [C]
1 HOLE
a) a hole in the ground, especially one made by digging:
•The female digs a pit in which to lay the eggs.
•a five-foot deep pit
SANDPIT
b) a large hole in the ground from which stones or minerals are obtained by digging
gravel/sand/chalk pit
2 MINE especially BrE a coal mine:
•Dad first went down the pit (=worked in a coal mine) when he was 15 years old.
•a national strike against pit closures (=when a coal mine is closed permanently)
3 MARK a small hollow mark in the surface of something, especially on your skin as the result of a disease:
•the deep pits left by smallpox
4 UNTIDY PLACE [usually singular] spoken a house or room that is dirty, untidy, or in bad condition
5 be the pits spoken informal to be extremely bad:
•The company refused to pay - I think it's the pits.
6 in/at the pit of your stomach if you have a feeling in the pit of your stomach, you have a sick or tight feeling in your stomach, usually because you are nervous or afraid:
•I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something terrible was going to happen.
7 CAR RACING the pits the place beside the track in a car race where cars can come in for petrol, new tyres etc
PIT STOP
8 IN A THEATRE an ORCHESTRA PIT
9 IN A GARAGE a hole in the floor of a garage that lets you get under a car to repair it:
•an inspection pit
10 a/the pit of sth literary a situation which makes you feel very bad:
•Just thinking about the future plunged her into a pit of despair.
11 IN FRUIT especially AmE the single large hard seed in some fruits; = stone BrE
•a peach pit
12 BODY PART informal an ARMPIT
13 BUSINESS AmE the area of a STOCK EXCHANGE where people buy and sell shares; = floor BrEpast tense and past participle pitted, present participle pitting
1 [T usually passive] to put small marks or holes in the surface of something
be pitted with sth
•The whole street was pitted with potholes.
2 [T] especially AmE to take out the single hard seed inside some fruits; = stone
•Peel and pit two avocados.
3 [I] AmE to stop in a car race to get petrol or have your car repaired

PHRASAL VERBS
pit sb/sth against sb/sth phr v
to test someone's strength, ability, power etc in a competition or fight against someone or something else:
•We'll be pitting our team against the champions.
pit your wits against sb (=compete against someone using your intelligence or knowledge)
•Pit your wits against family or friends!
pit yourself against sth/sb
•The men had to pit themselves against the forces of nature.

pit out phr v AmE informal
to SWEAT so much that your clothes become wet under your arms
PITTED $
the American spelling of PITTA BREADinformal
PITTER-PATTERalso pit bull [C]
a small but extremely strong and sometimes violent fighting dog
1 SPORTS FIELD [C] BrE a marked out area of ground on which a sport is played; = field
football/cricket/rugby etc pitch
•the world-famous Wembley football pitch
•He ran the length of the pitch and scored.
on the pitch (=playing a sport)
•Jack was on the pitch for his school in the Senior Cup Final.
2 STRONG FEELINGS/ACTIVITY [singular, U] a strong level of feeling about something or a high level of an activity or a quality:
•The controversy reached such a pitch (=become so strong) that the paper devoted a whole page to it.
a pitch of excitement/excellence/perfection etc (=a high level of excitement etc)
•He screamed at her in a pitch of fury.
•The goal roused the crowd to fever pitch (=a very excited level).
3 MUSIC
a) [singular, U] how high or low a note or other sound is:
•Ultrasonic waves are at a higher pitch than the human ear can hear.
b) [U] the ability of a musician to play or sing a note at exactly the correct level:
•She's got perfect pitch.
4 PERSUADING [C] informal the things someone says to persuade people to buy something, do something, or accept an idea:
•an aggressive salesman with a fast-talking sales pitch
make a/sb's pitch (for sth) (=try to persuade people to do something)
•He made his strongest pitch yet for standardized testing in schools.
5 BASEBALL [C] a throw of the ball, or a way in which it can be thrown:
•His first pitch was high and wide.
6 BLACK SUBSTANCE [U] a black, sticky substance that is used on roofs, the bottoms of ships etc to stop water coming through:
•The night was as black as pitch (=very dark).
PITCH-BLACK, PITCH-DARK
7 SHIP/AIRCRAFT [U] an up and down movement of a ship or an aircraft; roll
•the pitch and roll of the ship
8 SLOPE [singular, U] the degree to which a roof slopes or the sloping part of a roof:
•the steep pitch of the roof
9 STREET/MARKET [C] BrE a place in a public area where someone who sells things to people goes to sell things or where an entertainer goes to sell things or perform:
•We found the boy at his usual pitch at the bottom of the Acropolis.
queer sb's pitch/queer the pitch for sb at QUEER^3
1 THROW [T always + adv/prep] to throw something with a lot of force, often aiming carefully:
•She crumpled up the page and pitched it into the fire.
2 BALL GAMES
a) [I,T] to aim and throw a ball in baseball
[+to]
•Stanton pitched to two batters in the ninth inning.
b) [I] if a ball pitches in CRICKET or golf, it hits the ground
c) [T] to hit the ball in a high curve in golf
d) [T] to make the ball hit the ground when you are BOWLing in CRICKET
3 FALL [I,T always + adv/prep] to fall or be moved suddenly in a particular direction, or to make someone or something do this
pitch (sb/sth) forward/backward/over etc
•She slipped and pitched forward onto the ground.
pitch sb/sth into/onto/through etc sth
•Without a seatbelt, you can easily be pitched right through the windscreen.
4 SHIP/PLANE [I] if a ship or an aircraft pitches, it moves up and down in an uncontrolled way with the movement of the water or air
ROLL^2 (4), YAW
5 SET A LEVEL [T usually passive]
a) to set a speech, examination, explanation etc at a particular level of difficulty
pitch sth at a high level/the right level etc
•The projects were pitched at a number of different levels.
•Some questions were pitched too high for intermediate students.
b) BrE to set prices at a particular level
pitch sth at sth
•Room rates are pitched at £69 for a single.
6 AIM PRODUCT [T usually passive] to aim a product at a particular type of organization, group of people etc, or to describe it in a particular way, in order to sell it
pitch sth at sb/sth
•The new machine will be pitched at users in the hotel and air reservation business.
pitch sth as sth
•It is pitched as a cheaper alternative to other workstations.
7 BUSINESS DEALS [I,T] informal to try to persuade someone to do business with you, buy something etc
pitch for business/contracts/custom etc
•Booksellers are keen to pitch for school business.
[+to]
•For many companies, pitching to investors has become almost a full-time job.
•sales reps pitching new gadgets
8 VOICE/MUSIC [T always + adv/prep] if you pitch your voice or another sound at a particular level, the sound is produced at that level
pitch sth high/low etc
•Her voice is pitched a little too high.
HIGH-PITCHED, LOW-PITCHED
9 pitch a tent/pitch camp to set up a tent or a camp for a short time:
•Try and pitch your tent on level ground.
10 SLOPE [I always + adv/prep] to slope down
pitch gently/steeply etc
•The roof pitches sharply to the rear of the house.
PITCHED
11 pitch sb a line AmE informal to tell someone a story or give them an excuse that is difficult to believe:
•She pitched me some line about a bomb scare on the metro.

PHRASAL VERBS
pitch in phr v informal
1 to join others and help with an activity:
•If we all pitch in, we'll have it finished in no time.
[+with]
•Everyone pitched in with efforts to entertain the children.
2 to join others and pay part of the money towards something:
•They all pitched in and the money was collected within a few days.
3 BrE to start to eat hungrily:
•Pitch in - there's plenty.

pitch into sb/sth phr v BrE informal
1 to suddenly start criticizing someone or hitting them:
•She pitched into me as soon as I started to speak.
2 to start doing something, especially quickly and eagerly:
•Rick pitched into decorating the house at once.

pitch up phr v BrE spoken
to arrive somewhere; = turn up
•Wait a bit longer - Bill hasn't pitched up yet.[U]
BrE a game of golf played on a very small course
completely black or dark:
•The lights were off and it was pitch-black.
- pitch-black noun [U] [U]
a dark shiny substance dug from the earth, from which URANIUM and RADIUM are obtained
completely dark:
•Outside it was pitch-dark and pouring with rain.
a pitched roof is sloping rather than flat[C]
1 a big battle between armies or large groups of people:
•a pitched battle between the rival groups
2 an angry and usually long argument:
•She wanted to avoid another pitched battle with her son.
SKIRMISH $ [C]
1 the player in baseball who throws the ball
2 AmE a container for holding and pouring a liquid, with a handle and a shaped part to help the liquid flow out; = jug BrE
•a pitcher of water
3 BrE a large clay container with two handles, used in the past for holding and pouring a liquid $ [C]
a farm tool with a long handle and two long curved metal points, used especially for lifting HAY (=dried grass)[T] BrE
to put someone suddenly into a situation for which they are not properly prepared
pitchfork sb into sth
•She was pitchforked into power by the early death of her husband James V. [C]
a ball in baseball that the PITCHER deliberately throws too far to the side for it to be hit[C,U]
a type of PINE tree that grows in North America, or the wood from this tree literary
expressing suffering and sadness in a way that makes you feel pity:
•She gave a long piteous cry.
- piteously adverb $ [C usually plural]
a problem or difficulty that is likely to happen in a particular job, course of action, or activity
[+of]
•He gave me advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of the legal process.
•the pitfalls associated with the purchase of a used car [U]
1 a white substance just under the outside skin of oranges and similar fruit:
•Peel the oranges with a sharp knife to remove all pith.
2 a soft white substance that fills the stems of some plants [C] BrE
the entrance to a coal mine and the buildings around it[C]
a large light hat worn especially in the past in hot countries, to protect your head from the sun
if something that is said or written is pithy, it is intelligent and strongly stated, without wasting any words:
•Press releases must be short and pithy.
•a series of pithy quotations
- pithily adverb formal
making you feel pity:
•the pitiable victims of war
- pitiably adverb
1 someone who is pitiful looks or sounds so sad and unfortunate that you feel very sorry for them; pity
•The refugees were a pitiful sight.
2 a pitiful amount is very small:
•The fee was pitiful - only about £60.
3 very bad in quality:
•His performance was pitiful - five goals flew past him.
- pitifully adverb
•The dog was pitifully thin.
1 showing no pity and not caring if people suffer; = cruel
•a pitiless tyrant
•the pitiless bombing of Guernica
2 literary pitiless wind, rain, or sun is very severe and shows no sign of changing:
•a night of pitiless rain
- pitilessly adverb $ [C]
a piece of metal used in ROCK CLIMBING that you attach onto a rock to hold the rope[C]
a small horse that was used in the past for moving coal in a mine in Britain[C]
1 a time when a driver in a car race stops in the PITs to get more petrol or have repairs done
2 make a pit stop AmE informal to stop when driving on a long journey, for food, petrol, or to go to the toiletpita bread AmE $ [C,U] BrE
a type of bread which is flat and hollow. It can be cut open and filled with food [singular]
a very small amount of money, especially wages, that is less than someone needs or deserves
earn/be paid a pittance
•The musicians earn a pittance.
work/be sold for a pittance
•The crop was sold for a pittance.
•She raised three children on a pittance.
1 covered with small marks or holes on the surface:
•a red-faced man with pitted cheeks
[+with]
•The desert roads are pitted with potholes.
2 a pitted fruit has had the single hard seed removed from it:
•pitted olives $ literary
with quick light beats or steps:
•Anna's heart went pitter-patter as she opened the letter.
- pitter-patter noun [singular ]
•the pitter-patter of small feet running up the stairsalso pituitary gland $ plural pituitaries [C]
the small organ at the base of your brain which produces HORMONEs that control the growth and development of your body
- pituitary adjective
1 a pity spoken used to show that you are disappointed about something and you wish things could happen differently; = shame
(it's a) pity (that)
•It's a pity that he didn't accept the job.
•It's a great pity Joyce wasn't invited.
•I like Charlie. Pity he had to marry that awful woman.
•A pity we can't find the guy who did it.
what/that's a pity
•'Are you married?' 'No.' 'What a pity.'
it's a pity to do sth
•It would be a pity to give up now - you've nearly finished.
2 [U] sympathy for a person or animal who is suffering or unhappy; piteous, pitiable, pitiful, pitiless
[+for]
•He looked exhausted, but Marie felt no pity for him.
•I listened to Jason's story with pity.
•I hated the thought of being an object of pity (=someone who other people feel sorry for).
take/have pity on sb (=feel sorry for someone and treat them with sympathy)
•He sounded so upset that Leah started to take pity on him.
3 for pity's sake BrE spoken used to show that you are very annoyed and impatient:
•For pity's sake just shut up and let me drive!
4 more's the pity spoken especially BrE used after describing a situation, to show that you wish it was not true:
•Sue's not coming, more's the pity.past tense and past participle pitied, present participle pitying, third person singular pities [T not usually in progressive]
to feel sorry for someone because they are in a very bad situation:
•I pity anyone who has to feed a family on such a low income.
•Sam pitied his grandmother there alone, never going out.
•Pity the poor teachers who have to deal with these kids.
pitying look/smile/glance a look or smile that shows you feel pity for someone:
•Ellen gave me a pitying look. [C]
1 a central point or pin on which something balances or turns
2 [usually singular] also pivot point the most important thing in a situation, system etc, which other things depend or are based on
the pivot on/around which sth turns/revolves
•Iago's lie is the pivot on which the play turns.
[+of]
•West Africa was the pivot of the chocolate trade.
1 [I,T] to turn or balance on a central point, or to make something do this
[+on]
•The table-top pivots on two metal pins.
2 [I] to turn quickly on your feet so that you face in the opposite direction:
•Magee pivoted and threw the ball to first base.

PHRASAL VERBS
pivot on/around sth phr v
to depend on or be based on one important thing, event, or idea:
•His argument will pivot on the growing cost of legal fees.
more important than anything else in a situation, system etc:
•The Bank of England has a pivotal role in the London money market.
[+to]
•The talks are pivotal to the success of the country. [plural]
informal pictures or photographs [C]
technical the smallest unit of an image on a computer screenpixellated technical
consisting of pixels, especially large pixels that produce an unclear image:
•pixelated photographspixy [C]
an imaginary creature that looks like a very small human being, has magical powers, and likes to play tricks on people [C,U]
a food made of thin flat round bread, baked with tomato, cheese, and sometimes vegetables or meat on top:
•a slice of pizza[C] AmE
a restaurant that serves pizza; = pizzeria [U]
informal something that has pizzazz is exciting and has a strong interesting style:
•Their new album has plenty of pizzazz. [C]
a restaurant that serves pizza $ [U]
musical notes played by pulling on the strings of an instrument
- pizzicato adverb, adjectivePJ's [plural]
informal the abbreviation of pyjamas Pk. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of park AmE
the written abbreviation of package
the written abbreviation of packet also Pl BrE
the written abbreviation of Place , used in addresses:
•3 Palmerston Pl., Edinburghalso pl BrE
the written abbreviation of plural $ [C]
a large notice or advertisement on a piece of card, which is put up or carried in a public place:
•a huge placard saying 'Welcome to Derbyville' $ [T] formal
to make someone stop feeling angry; = appease
•These changes did little to placate the unions.
- placatory $ adjective
•a placatory smile [C]
1 AREA/SPACE/BUILDING ETC a space or area, for example a particular point on a surface or a room, building, town, city etc:
•Make sure you keep the key in a safe place.
•I've spent the day dashing about from place to place.
•The place was full of screaming children.
•He was threatening to burn the place down.
•She had never been back to the place where the accident happened.
•The theatre bar was our usual meeting place.
•We were living then in a place called Alberiga.
•The wall was quite damp in places (=in some places).
[+for]
•This is a great place for a holiday.
a place to do sth
•I couldn't find a place to park.
•Did the accident happen at your place of work (=the place where you work)?
•The Great Mosque has been a place of worship for Muslims for centuries.
see box at POSITION^1
2 HOME informal a house or apartment where someone lives:
•They've got quite a big place on the outskirts of Leeds.
sb's place
•Do you want to come back to my place for coffee?
•It took us ages to find a place to live.
•He's staying with us until he can find a place of his own.
3 take place to happen, especially after being planned or arranged:
•The next meeting will take place on Thursday.
•Talks between the two sides are still taking place.
•Major changes are taking place in society.
4 SPACE TO SIT OR PUT STH a space where someone can sit, or a space where you can put something:
•I might arrive a bit late, so could you save me a place?
•There are still a few places left on the coach.
•Make sure you put everything back in its proper place.
[+for]
•Can you find a good place for this vase?
5 POINT IN BOOK/SPEECH a point that you have reached in a book or a speech:
•This would be a good place to stop and answer any questions that people have.
•I used a bookmark so that I wouldn't lose my place (=forget the point that I had reached).
6 OPPORTUNITY TO DO STH if someone has a place somewhere, they have the opportunity to go there or join in an activity
[+in]
•If you don't come to training you might lose your place in the team.
•We've been trying to find her a place in a residential home.
[+on]
•He was offered a place on the management committee.
•There are still a couple of places left on the course.
[+at]
•I've been offered a place at York University.
7 ROLE/POSITION the ROLE or important position that someone or something has in a situation or in society
sb's place
•the old idea that a woman's place is in the home
[+in]
•He finally reached the summit of Everest and secured his place in history.
•Working has a very important place in all our lives.
8 in place
a) in the correct position:
•The chairs for the concert were nearly all in place.
•The glass was held in place by a few pieces of sellotape.
b) existing and ready to be used:
•Funding arrangements are already in place.
9 in place of sb/sth also in sb's/sth's place instead of someone or something else:
•In place of our advertised programme, we will have live coverage of the special memorial service.
•The company flag had been taken down and in its place hung the Union Jack.
•If I refused to go, they would send someone else in my place.
10 take the place of sb/sth also take sb's/sth's place to exist or be used instead of someone or something else; = replace
•Natural methods of pest control are now taking the place of chemicals.
•I had to find someone to take Jenny's place.
11 in sb's place used to talk about what you would do if you were in someone else's situation:
•What would you do in my place?
•Try to put yourself in my place and think how you would feel.
12 be no place for sb to be a completely unsuitable place for someone:
•This is no place for a child.
13 first/second/third etc place first, second etc position in a race or competition:
•He took second place in the long jump.
in first/second etc place
•I finished in third place.
14 in the first place
a) used to introduce a series of points in an argument, discussion etc:
•In the first place, I'm too busy, and in the second I don't really want to go.
b) used to talk about what someone did or should have done at the start of a situation:
•I wish I'd never got involved in the first place!
15 take second place (to sb/sth) to be less important than someone or something else:
•She wasn't prepared to take second place in his life.
16 take your places used to tell people to go to the correct place or position that they need to be in for an activity:
•If you would like to take your places, the food will be served shortly.
17 all over the place informal
a) everywhere:
•There was blood all over the place.
b) in a very untidy state:
•She came in with her hair all over the place.
18 put sb in their place to show someone that they are not as clever or important as they think they are:
•I soon put him in his place.
19 out of place
a) not suitable for a particular situation or occasion:
•He never seemed to feel out of place at social functions.
•The paintings looked strangely out of place.
b) not in the correct or usual position:
•The kitchen was spotlessly clean, with nothing out of place.
20 it is not sb's place (to do sth) if it is not your place to do something, you do not have the duty or right to do it:
•It's not your place to criticize me!
21 have no place formal to be completely unacceptable
[+in]
•Capital punishment has no place in a modern society.
22 fall into place
a) if things fall into place in your mind, you suddenly realize and understand what is really happening:
•Things were beginning to fall into place in my mind.
•Everything suddenly fell into place.
b) if plans or events fall into place, they start to happen in the way that you hoped they would:
•Eventually I got a job, and my life began to fall into place.
23 be going places informal to start becoming successful in your life:
•William is a young man who is definitely going places.
have/take pride of place at PRIDE^1 (6)
1 POSITION [T always + adv/prep] to put something somewhere, especially with care; = put
•She poured the doctor a cup of tea and placed it on the table.
•He carefully placed the folder back in his desk drawer.
2 SITUATION [T always + adv/prep] to put someone or something in a particular situation; = put
•The government is being placed under pressure to give financial help to farmers.
•Children must not be placed at risk.
•Some areas of the city have been placed under curfew.
•This places me in a very difficult position.
3 IN A JOB/HOME [T] formal to find a suitable job or home for someone:
•Some unemployed people can be very difficult to place.
•He was later placed with a foster family.
4 ARRANGE STH [T] to arrange for something to be done:
•He placed an advertisement in the local paper.
•You can place orders by telephone.
•I had no idea which horse I should place a bet on.
5 HOW GOOD/IMPORTANT [T always + adv/prep] to say how good or important you think someone or something is:
•I would place health quite high on my list of priorities.
places sb/sth above/before sb/sth
•Some museums seem to place profit above education.
6 place value/importance/emphasis etc on sth to decide that something is important:
•Most people place too much value on money.
•The company places a lot of emphasis on training.
7 can't place sb to recognize someone, but be unable to remember where you have met them before:
•I've seen her somewhere before, but I can't quite place her.
8 be well/ideally etc placed
a) to be in a good situation where you have the ability or opportunity to do something
be well/ideally placed to do sth
•The company is now well placed to compete in Europe.
b) BrE to be in a good place or position
[+for]
•The hotel is well placed for most of London's theatres.
9 RACES be placed first/second etc to be first, second etc in a race or competition $ plural placebos [C]
1 a harmless substance given to a sick person instead of medicine, without telling them it is not real. Placebos are often used in tests in which some people take real medicine and others take a placebo, so that doctors can compare the results to see if the real medicine works properly.
2 placebo effect when someone feels better after taking a placebo, even though it has not had any effect on their body[C]
a small card with someone's name on it, which is put on a table to show where they are going to sit[C]
in RUGBY or AMERICAN FOOTBALL, an occasion when the ball is kicked after it has been placed or held on the ground[C]
a board or piece of cloth that you put on a table for each person who is eating there, so that the table is protected from the plates, knives etc [C,U]
1 the act of finding a place for someone to live or work:
•The centre provides a job placement service.
[+of]
•the placement of children in foster homes
•They lived on campus, but this was just a temporary placement.
2 BrE a job, usually as part of a course of study, which gives you experience of a particular type of work
on placement
•Students are sent out on placement for training.
•a forty-five day placement in a factory
3 when something is placed somewhere or when you decide where something should go
[+of]
•the placement of fire hydrants along the city's streets[C]
the name of a particular place, such as a town, mountain etc:
•Many of the place names are Scottish in origin. [C]
an organ that forms inside a woman's UTERUS to feed an unborn baby
- placental adjective [only before noun]
•placental blood[C]
an arrangement on a table of knives, forks, glasses etc to be used by one person
1 a placid person does not often get angry or upset and does not usually mind doing what other people want them to:
•a large, placid baby
•She sat still, placid and waiting.
2 calm and peaceful:
•The lake was placid and still under the moonlight.
- placidly adverb
•Dobbs stood at the entrance, placidly smoking his pipe.
- placidity noun [U] [C] BrE
the position of someone or something in a competition or ordered list:
•Hancock and Smith took the top two placings.
1 [U] when someone uses another person's words, ideas, or work and pretends they are their own:
•The journal accused the professor of plagiarism.
2 [C] an idea, phrase, or story that has been copied from another person's work, without stating where it came from:
•claims that there are plagiarisms in the new software
- plagiarist noun [C]also plagiarise BrE [I,T]
to take words or ideas from another person's work and use them in your work, without stating that they are not your own:
•He accused other scientists of plagiarizing his research.
1 [C] a disease that causes death and spreads quickly to a large number of people:
•drops in population levels due to plagues and famines
2 [U] also the plague a very infectious disease that produces high fever and swollen places on the body, and often leads to death, especially BUBONIC PLAGUE; Black Death
•The plague caused 100,000 deaths in London alone in the 1600s.
3 a plague of rats/locusts etc an uncontrolled and harmful increase in the numbers of a particular animal or insect:
•A plague of squirrels is threatening our forests.
avoid sb/sth like the plague at AVOID (2)[T]
1 [usually passive] to cause pain, suffering, or trouble to someone, especially for a long period of time
be plagued by/with sth
•He was plagued by eye troubles.
•Financial problems continued to plague the company.
2 to annoy someone, especially by asking for something many times or asking them many questions
plague sb with sth
•The kids have been plaguing me with questions. plural plaice [C,U]
a flat sea fish that is eaten
1 [U] a pattern of crossed lines and squares, used especially on cloth; = tartan BrE
•a plaid shirt
2 [C] a piece of plaid cloth worn over the shoulder and across the chest by people from Scotland as part of their NATIONAL COSTUME
1 CLEAR very clear, and easy to understand or recognize; = obvious
it is plain (that)
•It was plain that Giles was not going to agree.
•The advantages were plain to see.
•You have made your feelings plain enough.
•Let me make it plain (=state it clearly). We do not want you here.
make yourself plain (=make what you are saying clear)
•If you do that again you will be severely punished. Do I make myself plain?
as plain as day/the nose on your face (=very clear)
2 in plain English/language in clear and simple words, without using technical language:
•The document, written in plain English, tells you about your new policy.
3 SIMPLE without anything added or without decoration; = simple
•a plain white blouse
•a plain wooden table
•plain yoghurt
•a plain gold wedding ring
•Your essay should be written on plain paper (=paper with no lines on it).
4 HONEST showing clearly and honestly what is true or what you think about something; = frank, candid
•Let's have some plain, truthful answers.
•I don't know, and that's the plain truth.
• The plain fact is people still buy books.
5 EMPHASIS [only before noun] spoken used to emphasize that a particular type of behaviour, attitude etc is involved, usually a bad one:
•His motive was plain greed.
•When you told him his house was too cold that was just plain bad manners.
6 NOT BEAUTIFUL not beautiful or attractive - often used because you want to avoid saying this directly:
•Mrs Cookson was a rather plain woman.
plain Jane (=used to talk about a woman who is not beautiful)
7 in plain clothes police officers in plain clothes are not wearing uniform
PLAIN-CLOTHES
8 (just) plain Mr/Mrs etc spoken used to show that someone does not have or use a special title:
•I don't call him Uncle - just plain Bill.
9 be plain sailing to be very easy to do or achieve:
•If you can answer the first question, the rest of the test should be plain sailing.
10 in plain sight AmE if something is in plain sight, it is easy to see or notice, especially when it should be hidden:
•Don't leave your valuables in plain sight.
- plainness noun [U]
1 also plains [C] a large area of flat dry land; prairie
•The grassy plain gave way to an extensive swamp.
•the vast plains of central China
2 [U] the ordinary stitch in KNITTING
informal used to emphasize an adjective, usually one referring to a bad quality:
•It's just plain crazy to spend all your pay as soon as you get it. $ [U]
PLAINSONG[U]
BrE chocolate made without milk and with very little sugar; = dark chocolate[only before noun]
plain-clothes police are police who wear ordinary clothes so that they can work without being recognized[U]
BrE flour that contains no BAKING POWDER; self-raising flour
1 in a way that is easy to understand or recognize:
•Mrs Gorman was plainly delighted.
•The first part of that argument is plainly true.
•We could hear Tom's voice plainly over the noise of the crowd. [sentence adverb]
•Plainly the laws are not effective.
2 speaking honestly, and without trying to hide the truth:
•She told him plainly that she had no intention of marrying him.
3 simply or without decoration:
•a plainly dressed young girl
•The room was very plainly furnished.also plainchant $ [U]
a type of old Christian church music in which people sing a simple tune without musical instruments $
saying exactly what you think, especially in a way that people think is honest rather than rude:
•a straightforward, plainspoken man [C]
someone who brings a legal action against another person in a court of law; = complainant BrE; defendant
a plaintive sound is high, like someone crying, and sounds sad
plaintive cry/voice/sound etc
•the plaintive cry of the seagull
- plaintively adverb $ [T]
BrE to twist three long pieces of hair or rope over and under each other to make one long piece; = braid AmE
•She plaited her hair hurriedly.
•a plaited leather belt[C]
BrE a length of something, usually hair, that has been plaited; = braid AmE
in plaits
•Jenni wore her hair in plaits. [C]
1 INTENTION something you have decided to do:
•His plan is to get a degree in economics and then work abroad for a year.
•There's been a change of plan- we're not going to Ibiza after all.
•We don't have any plans for the weekend - why don't you come over?
•Julia's been busy making plans for (=preparing for) her wedding.
sb's best plan BrE (=the best course of action)
•Your best plan would be to catch a taxi.
2 METHOD/ARRANGEMENT a set of actions for achieving something in the future, especially a set of actions that has been considered carefully and in detail:
•an ambitious economic recovery plan
[+for]
•Managers denied there are any plans for a merger.
plan to do sth
•plans to turn the site of the factory into a park
keep/stick to a plan
•If we keep to the plan the work should be completed in two weeks.
work out/draw up/devise a plan
•They devised a plan to reduce costs.
•If everything goes according to plan (=happens in the way that was arranged) the first stage will be completed by December.
•Jane explained her plan of action.
3 MAP a drawing similar to a map, showing roads, towns, and buildings
[+of]
•a street plan of London
4 DRAWING
a) technical a drawing of a building, room, or machine as it would be seen from above, showing the shape, size, and position of the walls, windows, and doors
ELEVATION (4), SECTION^1 (7), GROUND PLAN (1)
b) a drawing that shows exactly how something will be arranged:
•I have to organise a seating plan for the dinner.
5 plan A Plan A your first plan, which you will use if things happen the way you expect:
•We're going to find a restaurant and buy a meal. That's Plan A.
6 plan B Plan B your second plan, which you can use if things do not happen the way you expect:
•It's time to put Plan B into action.past tense and past participle planned, present participle planning
1 [I,T] to think carefully about something you want to do, and decide how and when you will do it:
•He immediately began planning his escape.
•Talks are planned for next week.
•The wedding was fine and everything went as planned (=happened the way it had been planned).
plan to do sth
•Maria didn't plan to kill Fiona. It was an accident.
plan ahead/plan for the future
•Now that you're pregnant you'll have to plan ahead.
2 [T] to intend to do something
plan to do sth
•He said he planned to write his essay tonight.
plan on doing sth
•When do you plan on going to Geneva?
•The former president is planning a return to politics.
3 [T] to think about something you are going to make, and decide what it will be like; = design
•Planning a small garden is often difficult.
•The system needs to be planned carefully.

PHRASAL VERBS
plan sth <=> out phr v
to plan something carefully, considering all the possible problems:
•I'll get the maps so we can plan out our route.
PLANNING [C]
1 AIRCRAFT a vehicle that flies in the air and has wings and at least one engine

a plane takes off (=it goes into the air from the ground)
a plane lands/touches down (=it arrives on the ground from the air)
by plane
a plane taxies (=it moves on the ground)
get on/board a plane
on a plane
get off a plane
catch a plane
fly a plane (=be the pilot of a plane)
plane crash

•The plane will take off in twenty minutes.
•Our plane landed at O'Hare airport in Chicago.
•It's much quicker to go by plane.
•The plane taxied along the runway.
•Matt boarded a plane for San Diego.
•She slept on the plane.
•Over 40 people died in the plane crash.

2 LEVEL a level or standard of thought, conversation etc:
•The two newspapers are on completely different intellectual planes.
3 TOOL a tool that has a flat bottom with a sharp blade in it, used for making wooden surfaces smooth
4 TREE a PLANE TREE
5 SURFACE technical a completely flat surface in GEOMETRY

WORD FOCUS: plane
similar words:
airplanealso /aeroplane BrE
aircraft
planes that carry people:
passenger plane
airliner
jumbo
a military plane:
warplane
bomber
fighter
people on a plane:
pilot
co-pilot
captain
flight crew
cabin crew
passenger
flight attendant
steward
air hostess
the place where a plane lands or takes off:
runway
the tarmac
airport
aerodrome BrE old-fashioned
[T]
if you plane a piece of wood, you make it smoother or smaller, using a plane:
•He planed the edge of the door.[only before noun]
technical completely flat and smooth:
•a plane surface[U]
the study of lines, shapes etc that are TWO-DIMENSIONAL (=with measurements in only two directions, not three) $ [C]
the number of people or amount of something that an aircraft will hold:
•planeloads of food aid $ [C]
an electric tool with a flat bottom and a sharp blade, used for making wooden surfaces smooth [C]
1 a very large round object in space that moves around the sun or another star:
•Mercury is the smallest of all the planets.
•Is there life on other planets?
•the future of Planet Earth
!! Do not say 'in a planet'. Say on a planet.
2 sb is (living) on another planet what planet is sb on? spoken used humorously to say that someone's ideas are not at all practical or sensible:
•He thinks motherhood is glamorous - what planet is he on?
3 the planet the world - used especially when talking about the environment:
•a safer future for the planet
- planetary adjective [only before noun]
•the planetary system $ [C]
a building where lights on a curved ceiling show the movements of planets and stars[C]
a large tree with broad leaves that is often planted along streets [usually before noun] literary
a plangent sound is loud and deep and sounds sad:
•the plangent sound of the violin
- plangently adverb
- plangency noun [U] [C]
1 a long narrow piece of wooden board, used especially for making structures to walk on:
•a long plank of wood
•a bridge made of planks
2 one of the main features or principles of an argument etc; platform
plank of an argument/policy/campaign etc
•the main plank of their argument
•a central plank of our policy
•a five-plank campaign including raising the minimum wage
walk the plank at WALK^1 (13); as thick as two short planks at THICK^1 (7) [U]
BrE wood that has been cut into planks, especially when it is used to make a floor, bridge, or fence [U]
the very small forms of plant and animal life that live in water, especially the sea, and are eaten by fish[U]
when a product is deliberately made so that it will soon be replaced by something more fashionable or more technically advanced. This is done so that people will want to buy new things more often. $ [C]
someone who plans and makes important decisions about something, especially someone whose job is to plan the way towns grow and develop
urban/city planner
•City planners are looking for ways to ease traffic.
•Many financial planners will help you shop for insurance. [U]
the process of thinking about and deciding on a plan for achieving or making something
good/bad/careful etc planning
•A little careful planning is important in gardening.
•'How did you manage to be so late?' 'Just bad planning.'
•A little forward planning (=thinking about how to do something before doing it) can save you a lot of expense.
•Good financial planning is vital to business success.
TOWN PLANNING, FAMILY PLANNING[U] BrE
official permission to build a new building or change an existing one $
1 LIVING THING [C] a living thing that has leaves and roots and grows in earth, especially one that is smaller than a tree:
•Don't forget to water the plants.
•a potato plant
•the forest's plant life (=plants)
HOUSEPLANT
2 FACTORY [C] a factory or building where an industrial process happens:
•a huge chemical plant
POWER PLANT
3 MACHINERY [U] BrE heavy machinery that is used in industrial processes:
•a plant hire business
4 STH HIDDEN [C usually singular] something illegal or stolen that is hidden in someone's clothes or possessions to make them seem guilty of a crime
5 PERSON [C] someone who is put somewhere or sent somewhere secretly to find out information[T]
1 PLANTS/SEEDS to put plants or seeds in the ground to grow:
•Residents have helped us plant trees.
•We've planted tomatoes and carrots in the garden.
plant a field/garden/area etc (with sth)
•a hillside planted with fir trees
2 PUT STH SOMEWHERE [always + adv/prep] informal to put something firmly in or on something else
plant sth in/on etc sth
•He came up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek.
•She planted her feet firmly to the spot and refused to move.
3 HIDE ILLEGAL GOODS informal to hide stolen or illegal goods in someone's clothes, bags, room etc in order to make them seem guilty of a crime
plant sth on sb
•She claims that the police planted the drugs on her.
4 BOMB plant a bomb to put a bomb somewhere:
•Two men are accused of planting a bomb on the plane.
5 PERSON to put or send someone somewhere, especially secretly, so that they can find out information:
•The police had planted undercover detectives at every entrance.
6 plant an idea/doubt/suspicion (in sb's mind) to make someone begin to have an idea, especially so that they do not realize that you gave them the idea:
•Someone must have planted the idea of suicide in his mind.

PHRASAL VERBS
plant sth <=> out phr v
to put a young plant into the soil outdoors, so that it has enough room to grow:
•The seedlings should be planted out in May.
1 [C,U] a kind of BANANA that is cooked before it is eaten, or the plant on which it grows
2 [C] a common wild plant with small green flowers and wide leaves $ [C]
1 a large area of land in a hot country, where crops such as tea, cotton, and sugar are grown:
•a rubber plantation
2 a large group of trees grown to produce wood $ [C]
1 an attractive, usually large, container for growing plants in
2 someone who owns or is in charge of a plantation:
•a tea planter
3 a machine used for planting $
1 [C] a piece of flat metal, wood, or stone with writing on it, used as a prize in a competition or attached to a building to remind people of an event or person:
•The team's coach was given a plaque.
commemorative plaque (=a plaque to help people remember something important)
2 [U] a harmful substance which forms on your teeth, which BACTERIA can live and breed in [U]
1 the yellowish liquid part of blood that contains the blood cells
2 technical the living substance inside a cell; = protoplasm
3 technical a gas that contains about the same numbers of positive and negative electric CHARGEs and is found in the sun and most stars[C]
a type of television or computer screen that is wider and taller than most regular screens, but that shows pictures using a different type of technology which makes it possible for the screen to be thinner than other types of screens $
1 [U] a substance used to cover walls and ceilings with a smooth, even surface. It consists of LIME, water, and sand.
2 [U] PLASTER OF PARIS
3 [C,U] BrE a piece of thin material that is stuck on to the skin to cover a small wound; = bandaid AmE
4 in plaster BrE if you have a leg or arm in plaster, you have a PLASTER CAST around it because a bone is broken and needs to be kept in place while it mends[T]
1 [usually passive] to put a wet, usually sticky substance all over a surface so that it is thickly covered
plaster sth with sth
•Her face was plastered with make-up.
2 [usually passive] to completely cover a surface with something, especially large pieces of paper, pictures etc
plaster sth with sth
•The windows were plastered with notices.
•The news of the wedding was plastered all over the papers (=was the main story in the newspapers).
3 to put wet plaster on a wall or ceiling
4 [usually passive] to make your hair lie flat or stick to your head
plaster sth to sth
•His hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat.
plaster sth down/back
•The rain had plastered her hair down.

PHRASAL VERBS
plaster sth <=> over phr v
to cover a hole or an old surface by spreading plaster over it:
•The original brickwork has been plastered over. $ [U] BrE
board made of large sheets of thick paper held together with plaster, used to cover walls and ceilings inside a house; = drywall AmE[C]
1 a cover made from PLASTER OF PARIS, put around an arm, leg etc to keep a broken bone in place while it mends; = cast
2 a copy of something that is made of PLASTER OF PARIS $ [not before noun]
informal very drunk:
•Chris was plastered after five beers. $ [C] BrE
someone whose job is to cover walls and ceilings with PLASTER $ [U]
a mixture of a white powder and water that dries fairly quickly and is used for making plaster casts and to decorate buildings
1 [C,U] a light strong material that is produced by a chemical process, and which can be made into different shapes when it is soft:
•children's toys made of plastic
•the plastics industry
2 [U] informal small plastic cards that are used to pay for things instead of money; = credit cards
•'I haven't got any cash.' 'Don't worry, I'll stick it on the plastic (=pay for it using a credit card).'
•Do they take plastic? (=can you pay using a credit card?)
1 made of plastic:
•a plastic spoon
•plastic bags
2 technical a plastic substance can be formed into many different shapes and keeps the shape it is formed into until someone changes it
3 something that is plastic looks or tastes artificial or not natural:
•plastic food
•I hate that plastic smile of hers.[C]
a large bullet made of hard plastic that is intended to injure but not kill[C,U]
an explosive substance that can be shaped using your hands, or a small bomb made from this [U]
trademark BrE a soft substance like clay, that comes in many different colours and is used by children for making models [U]
technical the quality of being easily made into any shape, and of staying in that shape until someone changes it[U]
the medical practice of changing the appearance of people's faces or bodies, either to improve their appearance or to repair injuries
- #plastic =surgeon noun [C][U]
AmE thin transparent plastic used to cover food to keep it fresh; = clingfilm BrE $ plural plats du jour [C] BrE
a dish that a restaurant prepares specially on a particular day in addition to its usual food
1 FOOD [C]
a) a flat and usually round dish that you eat from or serve food on:
•The plates were piled high with rice.
•a dinner plate
b) also plateful the amount of food that is on a plate
[+of]
•He's eaten a whole plate of french fries.
!! Do not use plate when you mean 'food cooked in a particular way as a meal'. Use dish: a restaurant where you can eat the most delicious dishes (NOT plates) you can imagine
2 SIGN [C] a flat piece of metal with words or numbers on it, for example on a door or a car:
•The brass plate on the door said 'Dr Rackman'.
number/license/registration plate (=on a car)
•Did anyone see the car's license plate?
L-PLATE, NAMEPLATE
3 have a lot/enough on your plate informal to have a lot of problems to deal with or problems to worry about
4 PROTECTIVE COVERING [C]
a) technical one of the thin sheets of bone, horn etc that covers and protects the outside of some animals
b) a thin sheet of metal used to protect something
metal/steel/iron plates
•The shoes had metal plates attached to the heels.
5 EARTH'S SURFACE [C] technical one of the very large sheets of rock that form the surface of the Earth
PLATE TECTONICS
6 GOLD/SILVER
a) gold/silver plate ordinary metal with a thin covering of gold or silver
b) [U] things such as plates, cups, forks, or knives made of gold or silver
7 hand/give/offer sb sth on a plate to let someone get or achieve something easily, without much effort from them:
•I worked hard for what I've got. It wasn't handed to me on a plate.
8 PICTURES/PHOTOS [C]
a) a sheet of metal that has been cut or treated in a special way so that words or pictures can be printed from its surface:
•copper printing plates
b) a picture in a book, printed on good-quality paper and usually coloured
c) a thin sheet of glass used especially in the past in photography, with chemicals on it that are sensitive to light
9 BASEBALL [C usually singular] the place where the person hitting the ball stands
10 COMPETITION the ... Plate used in the names of sports competitions or races in which the winner gets a silver plate:
•This horse won the Galway Plate.
11 TEETH [C]
a) a thin piece of plastic shaped to fit inside a person's mouth, into which FALSE TEETH are fixed
b) BrE a thin piece of plastic with wires fixed to it, that some people wear in their mouth to make their teeth straight; = brace BrE
HOTPLATE[T]
be plated with sth
a) to be covered with a thin covering of gold or silver:
•a beautiful necklace, plated with 22 carat gold
gold-plated/silver-plated
•a gold-plated watch
b) to be covered in sheets of a hard material such as metal:
•The ship had been heavily plated with protective sheets. $ plural plateaus or plateaux $ [C]
1 a large area of flat land that is higher than the land around it
2 a period during which the level of something does not change, especially after a period when it was increasing:
•Inflation rates have reached a plateau.[I]
if something plateaus, it reaches and then stays at a particular level:
•The athletic footwear market has not yet plateaued. [C]
all the food that is on a plate
[+of]
•a plateful of toast[U]
big pieces of glass made in large thick sheets, used especially in shop windows [C]
one of the very small flat round cells in your blood that help it become solid when you bleed, so that you stop bleeding[U] technical
the study of the forming and movement of the large sheets of rock that form the surface of the Earth $ [C]
1 TRAIN especially BrE the raised place beside a railway track where you get on and off a train in a station:
•The Edinburgh train will depart from platform six.
2 FOR SPEECHES a stage for people to stand on when they are making a speech, performing etc:
•a small raised platform at one end of the room
3 POLITICS
a) [usually singular] the main ideas and aims of a political party, especially the ones that they state just before an election; plank
•a strong women's rights platform
•the Labour party platform
b) a chance for someone to express their opinions, especially their political opinions
[+for]
•The conference provides a platform for people on the left wing of the party.
4 STRUCTURE a tall structure built so that people can stand or work above the surrounding area:
•an oil exploration platform
5 COMPUTERS the type of computer system or software that someone uses:
•the UNIX platform
•a multimedia platform
6 EXPRESS IDEAS an opportunity to express your ideas to a large number of people
[+for]
•We mustn't give these groups a platform for their propaganda.
7 BUS BrE the open part at the back of some DOUBLE-DECKER buses, where passengers get on and off
8 SHOES platforms also platform shoes [plural] shoes that have a thick layer of wood, leather etc under the front part and the heel[C] technical
a computer game in which the action happens against a background that does not move [U]
a thin layer of metal that covers another metal surface:
•gold plating [U]
1 a silver-grey metal that does not change colour or lose its brightness, and is used in making expensive jewellery and in industry. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Pt:
•a platinum ring
2 if a music recording goes platinum, at least a million copies of it have been sold:
•Eight of Denver's albums went platinum.
•a platinum disc[C] informal
a woman whose hair is a silver-white colour, especially because it has been coloured with chemicals
- platinum blonde adjective $ [C] formal
a statement that has been made many times before and is not interesting or clever - used to show disapproval:
•His excuse was the platitude 'boys will be boys.'
- platitudinous $ adjective $
a relationship that is platonic is just friendly and is not a sexual relationship:
•a platonic friendship [C]
a small group of soldiers which is part of a COMPANY and is led by a LIEUTENANT $ [C]
1 especially AmE a large plate from which food is served:
•a serving platter
[+of]
•a platter of turkey and vegetables
2 chicken/seafood etc platter chicken, fish etc with vegetables or other foods on a large plate, served in a restaurant [C]
a small furry Australian animal that has a beak and feet like a duck, lays eggs, and produces milk for its young $ [plural]
formal praise and admiration
win/draw/receive etc plaudits
•Her performance won plaudits from the critics. $
1 reasonable and likely to be true or successful; implausible
•His story certainly sounds plausible.
•a plausible explanation
2 someone who is plausible is good at talking in a way that sounds reasonable and truthful, although they may in fact be lying:
•a plausible liar
- plausibly adverb
- plausibility $ noun [U]
1 CHILDREN [I,T] when children play, they do things that they enjoy, often with other people or with toys:
•Kids were playing and chasing each other.
play catch/house/tag/school etc
•Outside, the children were playing cowboys and Indians.
[+with]
•Did you like to play with dolls when you were little?
•Parents need to spend time just playing with their children.
2 SPORTS/GAMES
a) [I,T] to take part or compete in a game or sport:
•Karen began playing basketball when she was six.
•If you feel any pain, you shouldn't play.
•Men were sitting in the park, playing cards.
[+against]
•Bristol will play against Coventry next week.
•She's playing Helen Evans in the semi-final. (=playing against her)
[+for]
•Moxon played for England in ten test matches.
b) [T] to use a particular piece, card, person etc in a game or sport:
•Harrison played a ten of spades.
•The Regents played Eddie at center (=used him as a player in that position) in the game against Arizona.
c) [I,T] to take a particular position on a team:
•Garvey played first base for the Dodgers.
d) [T] to hit a ball in a particular way or to a particular place in a game or sport:
•She played the ball low, just over the net.
3 MUSIC [I,T]
a) to perform a piece of music on a musical instrument:
•He's learning to play the piano.
•She played a Bach prelude.
•Haden has played with many jazz greats.
•A small orchestra was playing.
4 RADIO/CD ETC [I,T] if a radio, CD etc plays, or if you play it, it produces sound, especially music:
•The bedside radio played softly.
play a record/CD/tape etc
•DJs playing the latest house and techno tracks
5 THEATRE/FILM
a) [T] to perform the actions and say the words of a particular character in a theatre performance, film etc:
•Streep plays a shy, nervous woman.
play a role/part/character etc
•Playing a character so different from herself was a challenge.
b) [I] if a play or film is playing at a particular theatre, it is being performed or shown there:
•'Macbeth' is playing at the Theatre Royal in York.
c) [T] if actors play a theatre, they perform there in a play
6 play a part/role to have an effect or influence on something
[+in]
•A good diet and fitness play a large part in helping people live longer.
7 play ball
a) to throw, kick, hit, or catch a ball as a game or activity:
•Jim and Karl were playing ball in the backyard.
b) to do what someone wants you to do:
•So far, the company has refused to play ball, preferring to remain independent.
8 PRETEND [linking verb] to behave as if you are a particular kind of person or have a particular feeling or quality, even though it is not true:
•the accusation that scientists are playing God
•Some snakes fool predators by playing dead.
•'What do you mean?' 'Don't play dumb.' (=pretend you do not know something)
play the idiot/the teacher etc
•Susan felt she had to play the good wife.
•He played the fool (=behaved in a silly way) at school instead of working.
9 BEHAVE [T always + adv/prep] to behave in a particular way in a situation, in order to achieve the result or effect that you want:
•How do you want to play this meeting?
• Play it safe (=avoid risks) and make sure the eggs are thoroughly cooked.
play it carefully/cool etc
•If you like him, play it cool, or you might scare him off.
10 play games to hide your real feelings or wishes in order to achieve something in a clever or secret way - used to show disapproval:
•Stop playing games, Luke, and tell me what you want.
11 play sth by ear
a) to decide what to do according to the way a situation develops, without making plans before that time:
•We'll see what the weather's like and play it by ear.
b) if someone can play a musical instrument by ear, they can play a tune without looking at written music
12 play a joke/trick/prank on sb to do something to someone as a joke or trick
13 play the game
a) to do things in the way you are expected to do them or in a way that is usual in a particular situation:
•If you want a promotion, you've got to play the game.
b) BrE to behave in a fair and honest way
14 play the race/nationalist/environmentalist etc card to use a particular subject in politics in order to gain an advantage:
•a leader who is skillfully playing the nationalist card to keep power
15 play your cards right to say or do things in a situation in such a way that you gain as much as possible from it:
•Who knows? If you play your cards right, maybe he'll marry you.
16 play your cards close to your chest to keep secret what you are doing in a situation
17 play into sb's hands to do what someone you are competing with wants you to do, without realizing it:
•If we respond with violence, we'll be playing into their hands, giving them an excuse for a fight.
18 play for time to try to delay something so that you have more time to prepare for it or prevent it from happening:
•The rebels may be playing for time while they try to get more weapons.
19 play tricks (on you) if your mind, memory, sight etc plays tricks on you, you feel confused and not sure about what is happening:
•It happened a long time ago, and my memory might be playing tricks on me.
20 play the market to risk money on the STOCK MARKET as a way of trying to earn more money
21 play the system to use the rules of a system in a clever way, to gain advantage for yourself:
•Accountants know how to play the tax system.
22 play second fiddle (to sb) to be in a lower position or rank than someone else
23 play hard to get to pretend that you are not sexually interested in someone so that they will become more interested in you
24 SMILE [I always + adv/prep] written if a smile plays about someone's lips, they smile slightly
25 play hooky AmE play truant BrE to stay away from school without permission
26 play with fire to do something that could have a very dangerous or harmful result:
•Dating the boss's daughter is playing with fire.
27 LIGHT [I always + adv/prep] written if light plays on something, it shines on it and moves on it:
•the sunlight playing on the water
28 WATER [I] written if a FOUNTAIN plays, water comes from it
29 play the field to have sexual relationships with a lot of different people
30 play fast and loose with sth to not be careful about what you do, especially by not obeying the law or a rule:
•They played fast and loose with investors' money.
31 play a hose/light on sth to point a HOSE or light towards something so that water or light goes onto it

PHRASAL VERBS
play around phr v also play about BrE
1 to have a sexual relationship with someone who is not your usual partner
[+with]
•Wasn't she playing around with another man?
•It was years before I realized he'd been playing around.
2 to try doing something in different ways, to see what would be best, especially when this is fun
[+with]
•Play around with the ingredients if you like.
3 to behave in a silly way or waste time, when you should be doing something more serious; = fool around
•When the teacher wasn't looking, we used to play about a lot.

play around with sth phr v also play about with sth BrE
to keep moving or making changes to something in your hands; = fiddle with
•Will you stop playing around with the remote control!

play along phr v
1 to pretend to agree to do what someone wants, in order to avoid annoying them or to get an advantage:
•She felt she had to play along or risk losing her job.
2 play sb along BrE to tell someone something that is not true because you need their help in some way

play at sth phr v
1 What is sb playing at? BrE spoken used when you do not understand what someone is doing or why they are doing it, and you are surprised or annoyed:
•What do you think you're playing at?
2 if you play at doing something, you do not do it properly or seriously
play at doing sth
•He's still playing at being an artist.
3 BrE if children play at doctors, soldiers etc, they pretend to be doctors, soldiers etc
play at being sth
•a fourteen-year-old playing at being a grown woman

play sth <=> back phr v
to play something that has been recorded on a machine so that you can listen to it or watch it:
•He played back his answering machine messages.

play sth <=> down phr v
to try to make something seem less important or less likely than it really is:
•Management has been playing down the possibility of job losses.
play down the importance/seriousness/significance of sth
•The White House spokeswoman sought to play down the significance of the event.

play off phr v
1 BrE if people or teams play off, they play the last game in a sports competition, in order to decide who is the winner:
•The top two teams will play off at Twickenham for the county title.
2 play off sb/sth AmE to deliberately use a fact, action, idea etc in order to make what you are doing better or to get an advantage:
•The two musicians played off each other in a piece of inspired improvisation.

play sb off against sb phr v
to encourage one person or group to compete or argue with another, in order to get some advantage for yourself:
•The house seller may try to play one buyer off against another, to raise the price.

play on/upon sth phr v
to use a feeling, fact, or idea in order to get what you want, often in an unfair way:
•The ad plays on our emotions, showing a doctor holding a newborn baby.

play sth <=> out phr v
1 if an event or situation is played out or plays itself out, it happens:
•It will be interesting to see how the election plays itself out.
2 if people play out their dreams, feelings etc, they express them by pretending that a particular situation is really happening:
•The weekend gives you a chance to play out your fantasies.

play up phr v
1 play sth <=> up to emphasize something, sometimes making it seem more important than it really is:
•Play up your strongest arguments in the opening paragraph.
2 play (sb) up BrE informal if children play up, they behave badly:
•Jordan's been playing up in school.
•I hope the kids don't play you up.
3 play (sb) up BrE informal to hurt you or cause problems for you:
•My knee's been playing me up this week.
•The car's playing up again.

play up to sb phr v
to behave in a very polite or kind way to someone because you want something from them:
•Connie always plays up to her parents when she wants money.

play with sb/sth phr v
1 to keep touching something or moving it:
•Stop playing with the light switch!
2 to try doing something in different ways to decide what works best:
•Play with the design onscreen, moving text and pictures until you get a pleasing arrangement.
3 to consider an idea or possibility, but not always very seriously; = toy with
•After university, I played with the idea of teaching English in China.
4 money/time/space etc to play with money, time etc that is available to be used:
•The budget is very tight, so there isn't much money to play with.
5 play with yourself to touch your own sex organs for pleasure; = masturbate
6 play with words/language to use words in a clever or amusing way
1 THEATRE [C] a story that is written to be performed by actors, especially in a theatre:
•a play by Chekhov
•Eliot wrote plays as well as poetry.
[+about]
•Edward Bond's play about class war
put on/perform a play
•The children put on a play adapted from a Russian folk tale.
2 AMUSEMENT [U] things that people, especially children, do for amusement rather than as work:
•Play is very important to a child's development.
•a play area
through play
•The program aims to teach road safety through play.
at play
•the happy shouts of children at play
3 EFFECT [U] the effect or influence of something:
•the free play of competition in the building industry
at play
•There are a number of factors at play (=having an effect) in the current recession.
bring/put sth into play (=use something or make it have an effect)
•A complex system of muscles is brought into play for each body movement.
•Political considerations do come into play (=have an effect) when making policy.
4 ACTION IN A GAME OR SPORT
a) [U] the actions of the people who are playing a game or sport:
•Rain stopped play after only an hour.
b) [C] one particular action or set of actions during a game:
•On the next play, Johnson ran fifteen yards for a touchdown.
5 in play/out of play if a ball is in play or out of play, it is inside or outside the area in which the rules of the game allow you to hit, kick, catch etc the ball:
•He kicked the ball out of play.
6 play on words a use of a word that is interesting or amusing because it can be understood as having two very different meanings; = pun
7 play of light patterns made by light as it moves over a surface:
•the play of light on the water
8 make a play for sth to make an attempt to gain something:
•He made a play for the leadership last year.
9 make a play for sb to try to begin a romantic or sexual relationship with someone:
•It's obvious he was making a play for her.
10 LOOSENESS [U] if there is some play in something, it is loose and can be moved:
•There's too much play in the rope.
FAIR PLAY
FOUL PLAYalso player [C] spoken informal
a man who is good at meeting women and persuading them to have sex with him
1 a piece of ground used for sports that is playable is in good condition and suitable for playing on:
•Despite the frost, the pitch was playable.
2 something that is playable can be played
[+on]
•The disks are playable on home computers.
•an old guitar that is still playable[U]
behaviour in which someone pretends to be serious or sincere, but is not
- play-act verb [I]
1 [C usually singular, U] the playback of a tape that you have recorded is when you play it on a machine in order to watch or listen to it:
•the playback button on an answering machine
2 [C] BrE an action in a sports game that is shown again, so that people can see exactly what happened; = replay [C]
a printed piece of paper advertising a play [C]
a rich man who does not work and who spends his time enjoying himself with beautiful women, fast cars etc:
•a middle-aged playboy[C usually singular] AmE
a report on what is happening in a sports game, given at the same time as the game is being played[C] AmE
a time that is arranged for children to meet together to play[U]
a soft coloured substance similar to clay, that children use for making models or shapes
an idea, situation etc that is played out is finished or no longer has influence
play out at PLAY^1 $ [C]
1 someone who takes part in a game or sport:
•a basketball player
2 one of the important people, companies, countries etc that is involved in and influences a situation, especially one involving competition
a major/dominant/key etc player
•a firm that is a dominant player on Wall Street
[+in/on]
•a key player in world affairs
3 a CD/record/video etc player a machine that is used to play CDs, videos etc
4 someone who plays a musical instrument:
•a guitar player
5 a man who has sexual relationships with many different women
6 old-fashioned an actor
key mover/player at KEY^2[C]
a piano that is played by machinery inside it. A long roll of paper with holes cut in it gradually turns and works the machinery, pressing down the KEYs on the piano to produce music; = pianola
1 very active, happy, and wanting to have fun:
•a playful little dog
•Babies are playful and alert when they first wake up.
2 intended to be fun rather than serious, or showing that you are having fun:
•a playful kiss on the cheek
- playfully adverb
- playfulness noun [U] $ [C]
someone who often goes to see plays [C]
1 an area for children to play, especially at a school or in a park, that often has special equipment for climbing on, riding on etc:
•children shouting and running in the playground
2 a place where a particular group of people go to enjoy themselves
[+of]
•the playground of the richplay group [C,U]
1 BrE a type of school where children between two and four years old meet to learn and play; = preschool AmE
•a playgroup at the community centre
2 AmE a group of children, usually between two and four years old, whose parents meet each week so that the children can play together [C]
1 a theatre - used in the name of theatres:
•the Oxford Playhouse
2 a small structure like a little house for children to play in[C] formal
a CARD^1 (7a)[C]
a large piece of ground with areas marked out for playing football, CRICKET etc
level playing field at LEVEL^1 (8) [C]
a friend that a child plays with[C]
1 BrE a game played to decide who will win after a previous game has ended with two teams or players having equal points
2 [usually plural] AmE a game, usually one of a series of games, played by the best teams or players in a competition in order to decide the final winner:
•The Lakers will meet the Bulls in the playoffs. [C]
an enclosed area in which a very small child can play safely, that is like an open box with sides made of bars or a net [C]
a room for children to play inplay school [C,U]
BrE a PLAYGROUP [C]
1 formal a toy
2 someone that you use for your own amusement or advantage, without caring about them:
•men who treat women as playthings [U]
1 a period of time during which a child can play:
•Don't let TV take up too much of your child's playtime.
2 BrE a period of time at a school when children can go outside and play; = recess AmE [C]
someone who writes plays $ [C]
1 a public square or market place surrounded by buildings, especially in towns in Spanish-speaking countries
2 a group of shops and other business buildings in a town, usually with outdoor areas between them
MALLPLC [C] BrE
public limited company a large company in Britain which has shares that the public can buy:
•Marks & Spencer plc
1 [C] a request that is urgent or full of emotion
[+for]
•a plea for help
•Caldwell made a plea for donations.
[+to]
•The parents made an emotional plea to their child's kidnappers.
2 [C usually singular] a statement by someone in a court of law saying whether they are guilty or not:
•a guilty plea
make/enter a plea
•Adams entered a plea of 'not guilty'.
3 [singular] an excuse for something:
•He refused the appointment on a plea of illness.[U]
when someone agrees to admit in court that they are guilty of one crime, in exchange for not being charged with a more serious crime
- plea bargain verb [I,T]
- plea bargain noun [C]
1 [I,T] to ask for something that you want very much, in a sincere and emotional way; = beg
•'Don't go!' Robert pleaded.
[+for]
•Civil rights groups pleaded for government help.
plead with sb (to do sth)
•Moira pleaded with him to stay.
2 past tense and past participle pleaded or, pled especially AmE [I,T not in passive] law to state in a court of law whether or not you are guilty of a crime
plead guilty/not guilty/innocent
•Henderson pled guilty to burglary.
3 past tense and past participle pleaded also, pled AmE plead ignorance/illness/insanity etc formal to give a particular excuse for your actions:
•She stayed home from work, pleading illness.
4 [T] written to give reasons why you think something is true or why something should be done
plead that
•Managers pleaded that there was not enough time to make the changes.
•Residents successfully pleaded their case at a council meeting. written
in an emotional way that shows you very much want someone to do something:
•Kathleen looked at him pleadingly.
1 enjoyable or attractive and making you feel happy; = nice; pleasure
•It had been a pleasant evening.
•the pleasant climate of Southern California
•The restaurant was large and pleasant.
•Kate! What a pleasant surprise!
it is pleasant to do sth
•It was pleasant to sit in a sidewalk cafe and watch people pass.
2 friendly, polite, and easy to talk to:
•Nick seemed very pleasant on the phone.
•a pleasant-looking woman
[+to]
•He's always been very pleasant to me.
- pleasantly adverb
•He smiled pleasantly. plural pleasantries [C usually plural] formal
things that you say to someone in order to be polite, but which are not very important:
•Stephen and Mr Illing exchanged pleasantries.
1 used to be polite when asking someone to do something:
•Could you please clean up the living room?
•Sit down, please.
•Please be quiet!
2 used to be polite when asking for something:
•I'd like a cup of coffee, please.
•Please can I go to Rebecca's house?
3 said in order to politely accept something that someone offers you:
•'More wine?' 'Yes, please.'
4 Please! informal
a) said when you think what someone has just said or asked is not possible or reasonable:
•Oh, please, he'd never do that.
b) used to ask someone to stop behaving badly:
•Alison! Please!
5 please Sir/Mrs Towers etc BrE spoken used by children to get an adult's attention
1 [I,T not in progressive] to make someone happy or satisfied:
•a business that wants to please its customers
•She did everything she could to please him.
•Most children are eager to please.
be hard/easy/impossible etc to please
•She's hard to please. Everything has to be perfect.
2 [I not in progressive] used in some phrases to show that someone can do or have what they want:
•She does what she pleases.
however/whatever etc you please
•You can spend the money however you please.
•With the Explorer pass, you can get on and off the bus as you please.
3 please yourself spoken used when telling someone to do whatever they like, even though really you think they are making the wrong choice:
•'I don't think I'll go.' 'Okay, please yourself.'
4 if you please old-fashioned
a) formal used to politely ask someone to do something:
•Close the door, if you please.
b) BrE used to show that you are surprised, angry, or annoyed about something:
•He asked me, in my own house if you please, to leave the room!
5 bold/calm/cool etc as you please BrE spoken very BOLD, calm etc, in a way that is surprising:
•He just walked in and sat down, as bold as you please.
6 please God used to express a very strong hope or wish:
•Everything will be all right, please God.
1 happy or satisfied:
•Your Dad will be so pleased.
•She seemed pleased by the compliment.
[+about]
•I could tell she was pleased about something.
[+with]
•Gwinn was pleased with the results.
[+for]
•That's wonderful! I'm really pleased for you.
pleased (that)
•Her mother was pleased that she chose a college close to home.
pleased to hear/see/report etc
•I'm pleased to tell you that you've got the job.
2 (I'm) pleased to meet you spoken formal used as a polite greeting when you meet someone for the first time
3 pleased to help/assist very willing or happy to help:
•If there's anything we can do, we'd be pleased to help.
4 pleased with yourself feeling proud or satisfied because you think you have done something clever, often in a way that annoys other people:
•Miranda, pleased with herself for getting it right, sat down. $
crowd-pleaser/audience-pleaser etc someone or something that people like a lot:
•A chocolate dessert is a sure crowd-pleaser. formal
giving pleasure, enjoyment, or satisfaction:
•a pleasing sound
[+to]
•a design that is pleasing to the eye
- pleasingly adverb
•a pleasingly relaxed atmosphere formal
enjoyable:
•a pleasurable experience
- pleasurably adverb $
1 [U] the feeling of happiness, enjoyment, or satisfaction that you get from an experience; pleasant
with pleasure
•She sipped her drink with obvious pleasure.
for pleasure
•a book to read for pleasure
•The garden has given pleasure to many people.
take pleasure in (doing) sth
•I shall take great pleasure in telling everyone the truth.
2 [C] an activity or experience that you enjoy very much; pleasant
•the simple pleasures of life
be a pleasure to read/work with/watch etc
•Carol was a pleasure to work with.
3 (it's) my pleasure spoken used when someone has thanked you for doing something and you want to say that you were glad to do it
4 [singular] spoken formal used to be polite when you are meeting someone, asking for something, agreeing to do something etc
have the pleasure of (doing) sth
•May I have the pleasure of seeing you again?
• It's been a pleasure to meet you.
It'll be a pleasure/With pleasure (=used to respond to a request)
•'Give the kids a hug for me.' 'With pleasure.'
5 at your pleasure formal if you can do something at your pleasure, you can do it when you want to and in the way you want to
6 at his/her Majesty's pleasure BrE law if someone is put in prison at his or her Majesty's pleasure, there is no fixed limit to the time they have to spend therealso pleasure craft [C]
a boat that someone uses for fun rather than for business[C] written
someone who does things just for enjoyment without considering other people [C usually plural]
a flat narrow fold in a skirt, a pair of trousers, a dress etc
a pleated skirt, dress etc has a lot of flat narrow folds $ [U]
an artificial material that looks like leather and is used to make clothes:
•a pleather jean jacket [C usually plural] BrE informal
an insulting word meaning someone who is from a low social class - often used humorously:
•Plebs like me could never have such perfect manners.
- plebby adjective [C] AmE informal
a student in their first year at a military college
relating to ordinary people and what they like, rather than to people from a high social class - used to show disapproval:
•a man with plebeian tastes[C]
1 an insulting word for someone who is from a low social class
2 an ordinary person who had no special rank in ancient Rome; patrician $ [C,U] formal
a system by which everyone in a country or area votes on an important decision that affects the whole country or area
[+on]
•a plebiscite on independence; referendum [C] especially BrE
a small thin piece of plastic, metal, or wood that you use for playing some musical instruments with strings, such as a GUITAR; = pick AmE
a past tense and past participle of PLEAD [C]
1 PROMISE formal a serious promise or agreement, especially one made publicly or officially
[+of]
•a pledge of support for the plan
pledge to do sth
•the government's pledge to make no deals with terrorists
make/take/give a pledge
•Parents make a pledge to take their children to rehearsals.
keep/fulfil/honour a pledge
•Eisenhower fulfilled his election pledge to end the war in Korea.
2 MONEY a promise to give money to an organization:
•Donors have made pledges totaling nearly $4 million.
[+of]
•a pledge of $200 to the public TV station
3 SOMETHING VALUABLE something valuable that you leave with someone else as proof that you will do what you have agreed to do
4 US COLLEGES someone who has promised to become a member of a FRATERNITY or SORORITY at an American university[T]
1 PROMISE to make a formal, usually public, promise that you will do something
pledge sth to sth/sb
•Moore pledged $100,000 to the orchestra at the fund-raising dinner.
pledge to do sth
•The new governor pledged to reduce crime.
pledge that
•Herrera pledged that his company will give aid to schools.
pledge (your) support/loyalty/solidarity etc
•He pledged his cooperation.
pledge yourself to (do) sth
•Trade unions pledged themselves to resist the government plans.
2 MAKE SB PROMISE to make someone formally promise something:
•Employees were pledged to secrecy.
3 LEAVE STH to leave something with someone as a PLEDGE^1 (3)
4 US COLLEGES to promise to become a member of a FRATERNITY or SORORITY at an American university
belonging to the period in the Earth's history that started about two million years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago, when much of the Earth was covered with ice [only before noun] formal
1 involving all the members of a committee, organization etc:
•The conference ended with a plenary debate.
2 plenary powers are complete powers with no limit:
•He was given plenary powers to negotiate with the rebels.
- plenary noun [C] $ plural plenipotentiaries [C] formal or technical
someone who has full power to take action or make decisions, especially as a representative of their government in a foreign country
- plenipotentiary adjective $ [U] literary
1 a plenitude of sth a large amount of something:
•a plenitude of wealth
2 completeness or fullness literary
plentiful
more than enough in quantity:
•a plentiful supply of food
- plentifully adverb
a large quantity that is enough or more than enough
[+of]
•Make sure she gets plenty of fresh air.
•No need to hurry - you've got plenty of time.
•There's plenty to do and see in New York.
•There are plenty more chairs in the next room.informal
1 plenty big/fast/warm etc enough used to emphasize that something is more than big enough, fast enough etc:
•This apartment's plenty big enough for two.
2 AmE a lot or very:
•I'd practiced plenty.
•I was plenty nervous.[U] formal
1 a situation in which there is a lot of food and goods available for people:
•a land of plenty
2 in plenty in large supply or more than enough:
•There was food and wine in plenty.
a plethora of sth formal a very large number of something, usually more than you need:
•a plethora of suggestions $ [U]
a serious illness which affects your lungs, causing severe pain in your chest, plexiglass $ [U] AmE trademark
a strong clear type of plastic that can be used instead of glass; = Perspex BrE
SOLAR PLEXUS
1 able to bend without breaking or cracking:
•a shoe made of soft, pliable leather
2 easily influenced and controlled by other people:
•Senior officials would have preferred a more pliable government.
- pliability noun [U]
1 soft and moving easily in the way that you want:
•Isabel was pliant in his arms.
•her pliant lips
2 easily influenced and controlled by other people:
•Pliant judges have been a problem in the past.
- pliantly adverb
- pliancy noun [U] $ [plural]
a small tool made of two crossed pieces of metal, used to hold small things or to bend and cut wire:
•a pair of pliers [usually singular]
a very bad situation that someone is in
[+of]
•the desperate plight of the flood victims
•the country's economic plight
plight your troth old use to promise someone that you will marry them $ [C] BrE
a cotton shoe with a flat rubber SOLE; = sneaker AmEalso Plimsoll mark [C] BrE
a line painted on the outside of a ship, showing how low in the water it can safely be when it is loaded [C] especially BrE
a square block, usually made of stone, that is used as the base for a PILLAR or STATUE
belonging to the period in the Earth's history that started about 13 million years ago and continued about 12 million years $ past tense and past participle plodded, present participle plodding
[I always + adv/prep] to walk along slowly, especially when this is difficult
[+through/up/across etc]
•The horse plodded up the hill.
[+on/along/back]
•Jake kept plodding on.

PHRASAL VERBS
plod on/along phr v
to work slowly or make slow progress, especially in a way that is boring:
•For years he had plodded along in a series of boring office jobs. $ [C] informal
1 BrE someone who works slowly and is not very clever
2 someone who walks or does something slowly $
slow or thorough and not exciting:
•plodding research $ [T always + adv/prep] especially BrE informal
1 also plonk sth down to put something down somewhere, especially in a noisy and careless way; = plunk AmE
•You can plonk those bags down anywhere in my room.
plonk sth on/onto/beside etc sth/sb
•He plonked a couple of glasses on the table.
2 plonk yourself (down) to sit down heavily and then relax:
•We plonked ourselves down in front of the telly and opened a couple of beers.[U]
BrE informal cheap wine $ [C] BrE informal not polite
an offensive word for a stupid person $ [C]
the sound made by something when it falls or is dropped into liquid
with a plop
•The soap fell into the bath with a loud plop.past tense and past participle plopped, present participle plopping
1 [I always + adv/prep] to fall somewhere, making a sound like something dropping into water
[+into/out of/onto etc]
•The frog plopped back into the pond.
2 [T] to drop something, especially into a liquid, so that it makes a sound
plop sth into sth
•I plopped a couple of ice cubes into the drink.
3 plop (yourself) down to sit down or lie down heavily:
•She plopped down on the sofa beside me. $ [C]
technical a CONSONANT sound that is made by completely stopping the flow of air out of your mouth and then suddenly letting it out, as when saying /b/ or /t/
- plosive adjective $ [C]
1 PLAN a secret plan by a group of people, to do something harmful or illegal
plot to do sth
•a plot to bomb the UN headquarters
[+against]
•a plot against the king
•The court heard how she and her lover hatched a plot (=planned a plot) to kill her husband.
•The plot to overthrow the military government was foiled (=prevented from being successful).
•an assassination plot
2 STORY/FILM the events that form the main story of a book, film, or play:
•The plot was a little confusing.
•We discover that Jack isn't as innocent as he seems, as the plot unfolds (=gradually becomes clearer).
3 the plot thickens used to say that events seem to be becoming more complicated - often used humorously
4 PIECE OF LAND
a) a small piece of land for building or growing things on:
•a two acre plot of land
•a vegetable plot
b) a piece of land that a particular family owns in a CEMETERY, in which members of the family are buried when they die
•a burial plot
5 DRAWING AmE a drawing that shows the plan of a building at ground level; = ground plan
lose the plot at LOSE (14)past tense and past participle plotted, present participle plotting
1 [I,T] to make a secret plan to harm a person or organization, especially a political leader or government
plot to do sth
•They had plotted to blow up the White House.
[+against]
•He suspected that the military were secretly plotting against him.
•The minister was found guilty of plotting the downfall of the government.
•the story of a woman who plots revenge
2 [T] also plot out to draw marks or a line to represent facts, numbers etc:
•We plotted a graph to show the increase in sales figures this year.
plot sth on sth
•You can plot all these numbers on one diagram for comparison.
3 [T] also plot out to mark, calculate, or follow the path of an aircraft or ship, for example on a map:
•We plotted a course across the Pacific. $ [C]
1 someone who makes a secret plan to harm a person or organization, especially a political leader or government:
•The plotters were caught and executed.
2 a computer program that turns facts, numbers etc into a GRAPH or CHART BrE
the Plough the group of seven bright stars that can be seen only from the northern part of the world; = the Big Dipper AmEalso plow AmE [C]
1 a piece of farm equipment used to turn over the earth so that seeds can be planted
2 under the plough BrE formal land that is under the plough is used for growing crops
SNOW PLOUGH (1)also plow AmE
1 [I,T] to turn over the earth using a plough so that seeds can be planted:
•In those days the land was plowed by oxen.
•a ploughed field
2 [I always + adv/prep] to move with a lot of effort or force
[+through/up/across etc]
•We ploughed through the thick mud.
3 plough a lonely/lone furrow BrE literary to do a job or activity that is different from those done by other people, or to do it alone

PHRASAL VERBS
plough ahead phr v
to continue to do something in spite of opposition or difficulties
[+with]
•The government will plough ahead with tests this year, despite a boycott from teachers.

plough sth <=> back phr v
to use money that you have earned from a business to make the business bigger and more successful
[+into]
•Companies can plough back their profits into new equipment.

plough into sb/sth phr v
to crash into something or someone, especially while driving, because you are unable to stop quickly enough:
•I plowed into the car in front.

plough on phr v
to continue doing something that is difficult or boring
[+with]
•Julia ploughed on with the endless exam papers.
•He looked displeased but she ploughed on regardless.

plough through sth phr v
to read all of something, even though it is boring and takes a long time:
•Most staff will never want to plough through the manuals that come with the software.

plough sth <=> up phr v
to break up the surface of the ground by travelling over it many times:
•Horses plough up the paths and make them muddy for walkers. [C] BrE
old use a boy who led a horse that pulled a plough plural ploughmen [C] BrE
old use a man whose job was to guide a plough that was being pulled by a horse[C]
BrE a simple meal that people eat especially in PUBs , consisting of bread, cheese, SALAD and PICKLEplowshare AmE $ [C] BrE
1 the broad curved metal blade of a PLOUGH, which turns over the soil
2 turn/beat swords into ploughshares to stop fighting and start living in peace $ [C]
a small bird that lives near the sea
the usual American spelling of PLOUGH [C]
a clever and dishonest way of tricking someone so that you can get an advantage:
•His usual ploy is to pretend he's ill.
ploy to do sth
•a smart ploy to win votespls
the written abbreviation of please , used in email or TEXT MESSAGEs
1 PULL STH [T] written to pull something quickly in order to remove it
pluck sth from/off etc sth
•He plucked a couple of plastic bags from the roll.
•Reaching up, she plucked an apple off the tree.
2 pluck your eyebrows to make your EYEBROWs the shape you want, by pulling out some of the hairs
3 TAKE SB/STH AWAY [T always + adv/prep] to take someone away from a place or situation that is dangerous or unpleasant in a quick and unexpected way
pluck sb/sth from/out of sth
•Some refugee children were plucked out of the country in a number of mercy missions.
•She was plucked from obscurity (=made suddenly famous) by a Hollywood film producer.
•Three survivors were plucked to safety after being in the sea for 7 hours.
4 CHICKEN [T] to pull the feathers off a dead chicken or other bird before cooking it
5 pluck up (the) courage (to do sth) to force yourself to be brave and do something you are afraid of doing:
•He finally plucked up enough courage to ask her out.
6 MUSIC [I,T] to pull the strings of a musical instrument
[+at]
•Someone was plucking at the strings of an old guitar.
7 pluck sth out of the air also pluck something out of thin air to say or suggest a number, name etc that you have just thought of, without thinking about it carefully:
•I'm plucking a figure out of the air here, but let's say it'll cost about $15,000.

PHRASAL VERBS
pluck at sth phr v
to pull something quickly several times with your fingers, especially because you are nervous or to attract attention:
•Kitty's hands plucked at her black cotton skirt.
•The little boy plucked at her sleeve.[U]
old-fashioned courage and determination:
•It takes a lot of pluck to stand up to a bully.
informal brave and determined - often used in newspapers:
•Plucky Denise saved her younger sister's life. [C]
1 ELECTRICITY
a) a small object at the end of a wire that is used for connecting a piece of electrical equipment to the main supply of electricity:
•The plug on my iron needs changing.
•an electric plug
b) informal especially BrE a place on a wall where electrical equipment can be connected to the main electricity supply; = socket; = outlet AmE
2 BATH a round flat piece of rubber used for stopping the water flowing out of a bath or SINK:
•the bath plug
3 ADVERTISEMENT informal a way of advertising a book, film etc by mentioning it publicly, especially on television or radio
put/get in a plug (for sth)
•During the show she managed to put in a plug for her new book.
4 IN AN ENGINE informal the part of a petrol engine that makes a SPARK, which makes the petrol start burning; = spark plug
•Change the plugs every 10,000 miles.
5 pull the plug (on sth) informal to prevent a plan, business etc from being able to continue, especially by deciding not to give it any more money:
•The Swiss entrepreneur has pulled the plug on any further investment in the firm.
6 TO FILL A HOLE an object or substance that is used to fill or block a hole, tube etc
[+of]
•You can fill any holes with plugs of matching wood.
EARPLUG
7 FOR HOLDING SCREWS BrE a small plastic tube put in a hole to hold a screw tightly
8 A PIECE OF STH a piece of something pressed tightly together:
•a plug of tobaccopast tense and past participle plugged, present participle plugging [T]
1 also plug up to fill or block a small hole:
•We used mud to plug up the holes in the roof.
2 to advertise a book, film etc by mentioning it on television or radio:
•Arnie was on the show to plug his new movie.
3 plug the gap to provide something that is needed, because there is not enough:
•With so few trained doctors, paramedics were brought in to plug the gap.
4 AmE old-fashioned to shoot someone

PHRASAL VERBS
plug away phr v
to keep working hard at something
[+at]
•If you keep plugging away at it, your English will improve.

plug sth <=> in phr v
to connect a piece of electrical equipment to the main supply of electricity, or to another piece of electrical equipment:
•'Is your printer working?' 'Wait a minute - it's not plugged in.'

plug into sth phr v
1 plug (sth) into sth to connect one piece of electrical equipment to another, or to be connected:
•Your phone can be plugged into the cigarette lighter socket in your car.
•Games consoles plug into the back of the TV.
2 informal to realize that something is available to be used and use it:
•A lot of students don't plug into all the research facilities we have.[U] technical
the ability of a computer and a new piece of equipment to be used together as soon as they are connected $ [C] BrE
1 the hole in a bath or SINK that the water flows out of, and which you can put a plug into; = drain AmE
2 go down the plughole informal
a) if work or effort goes down the plughole, it is completely wasted:
•Two years of hard work went right down the plughole.
b) if a business goes down the plughole, it fails and has to close[only before noun]
able to be connected to the electricity supply, or to another piece of electrical equipment:
•a plug-in microphoneplugin [C] technical
a piece of computer software that can be used in addition to existing software in order to make particular programs work properly
1 [C] a small round juicy fruit which is dark red, purple, or yellow and has a single hard seed, or the tree that produces this fruit:
•juicy ripe plums
2 [U] a dark purple-red colour
3 [C] informal something very good that other people wish they had, such as a good job or a part in a play:
•The first job I had was a real plum.
PLUM PUDDING
1 plum job/role/assignment etc informal a good job etc that other people wish they had:
•He landed a plum role in a TV mini-series.
2 having a dark purple-red colour [U]
the feathers covering a bird's body:
•the parrot's brilliant blue plumage [T]
1 plumb the depths (of despair/misery/bad taste etc) to feel an unpleasant emotion in a very extreme way, or to behave in a way that is extremely unpleasant or morally bad:
•When his wife left him, Matt plumbed the very depths of despair.
•That night they plumbed the depths of treachery and horror, and murdered the king as he slept.
2 to succeed in understanding something completely; = fathom
•Psychologists try to plumb the deepest mysteries of the human psyche.

PHRASAL VERBS
plumb sth <=> in phr v
to connect a piece of equipment such as a washing machine to the water supply
1 [always + adv/prep] informal exactly:
•The bullet hit him plumb between the eyes.
2 AmE informal completely - often used humorously:
•The whole idea sounds plumb crazy to me.technical
1 exactly upright or level
2 out of plumb not exactly upright or level $ [C]
someone whose job is to repair water pipes, baths, toilets etc [U]
1 the pipes that water flows through in a building:
•We keep having problems with the plumbing.
2 the work of fitting and repairing water pipes, baths, toilets etc[C]
a piece of string with a small heavy object tied to one end, used for measuring the depth of water, or for checking whether something such as a wall is built exactly upright [C]
1 a cloud of smoke, dust etc which rises up into the air
plume of smoke/dust/gas/spray etc
•A black plume of smoke rose above the city.
2 a large feather or bunch of feathers, especially one that is used as a decoration on a hat
NOM DE PLUME
[I] literary to rise or come out in a cloud:
•No smoke plumed out of the factory's great chimneys. [only before noun]
decorated with feathers:
•a knight with a plumed helmetalso plummet down [I]
1 to suddenly and quickly decrease in value or amount; = plunge
plummet from sth to sth
•Profits plummeted from £49 million to £11 million.
•House prices have plummeted down.
2 to fall suddenly and quickly from a very high place; = plunge
•The plane plummeted towards the earth.
1 BrE informal a plummy voice sounds very UPPER-CLASS
2 like a PLUM in taste, colour etc:
•a plummy wine
1 slightly fat in a fairly pleasant way - used especially about women or children, often to avoid saying the word fat:
•The nurse was a cheerful plump woman.
•The baby's nice and plump.
see box at FAT^1
2 round and full in a way that looks attractive:
•plump, soft pillows
•plump juicy tomatoes
- plumpness noun [U]
1 also plump up [T] to make CUSHIONs, PILLOWs etc rounder and softer by shaking or hitting them
2 plump (yourself) down to sit down suddenly and heavily; = plonk
3 [T always + adv/prep] to put something down suddenly and carelessly; = plonk
•Plump the bags down anywhere you like.
4 also plump up [I,T] if dried fruit plumps up, or if you plump it up, it becomes fatter and softer when in liquid:
•Soak the apricots and raisins until the fruit plumps up.

PHRASAL VERBS
plump for sth/sb phr v BrE informal
to choose something or someone after thinking carefully about it:
•Finally we plumped for a bottle of champagne.[C,U]
BrE CHRISTMAS PUDDING[C]
a type of tomato shaped like a PLUM, often used in cooking $ written
1 [I,T] to steal large amounts of money or property from somewhere, especially while fighting in a war:
•The rich provinces of Asia Minor were plundered by the invaders.
2 [T] to use up all or most of the supplies of something in a careless way:
•Unlicensed fishermen have plundered tuna stocks.
•the egotism of man as he plunders our planet
- plunderer noun [C][U] written
1 things that have been stolen during a violent attack, especially during a war:
•Henry's army returned loaded down with plunder.
2 the act of plundering:
•fear of invasion and plunder
1 [I,T always + adv/prep] to move, fall, or be thrown suddenly forwards or downwards
[+off/into etc]
•Her car swerved and plunged off the cliff.
•Both the climbers had plunged to their deaths.
2 [I] if a price, rate etc plunges, it suddenly decreases by a large amount:
•The unemployment rate plunged sharply.
[+to]
•Oil prices have plunged to a new low.
•In the recession, the company's profits plunged 60%.
3 [I] literary if a ship plunges, it moves violently up and down because of big waves

PHRASAL VERBS
plunge in phr v also plunge into sth
1 to start talking or doing something quickly and confidently, especially without thinking about it first:
•It's a difficult situation. You can't just plunge in and put everything right.
•'I don't agree,' she said, plunging into the conversation.
2 to jump or DIVE into water:
•He stripped off and plunged into the sea.
3 plunge sth <=> in also plunge sth into sth to push something firmly and deeply into something else:
•He open the bag and plunged his hand in.
•Plunge the pasta into boiling water.
•Repeatedly she plunged the knife into his chest.

plunge (sb/sth) into sth phr v
to suddenly experience a difficult or unpleasant situation, or to make someone or something do this:
•A strike would plunge the country into chaos.
•The house was suddenly plunged into darkness.
•After the war, the family plunged into debt.
1 take the plunge to decide to do something important or risky, especially after thinking about it for a long time:
•We took the plunge and set up our own business.
2 [C] a sudden large decrease in the price, value etc of something
[+in]
•a dramatic plunge in house prices
3 [C usually singular] a sudden movement down or forwards:
•The plane began a headlong plunge towards the Earth.
4 [C usually singular] when someone suddenly becomes involved in something new
[+into]
•his sudden plunge into marriage
5 [C usually singular] a jump or DIVE into water, or a quick swim
[+in/into]
•a quick plunge in the lake $ [C]
1 a tool for clearing waste that is blocking a kitchen or bathroom pipe. It consists of a straight handle with a rubber cup on the end.
2 technical a part of a machine that moves up and down[C]
if a woman's dress or shirt has a plunging neckline, the top part at the front is very low [T always + adv/prep] AmE informal
1 also plunk sth down to put or place something somewhere, especially in a noisy, sudden, or careless way; = plonk BrE
plunk sth in/on etc sth
•plans to plunk a theme park on the island
2 plunk (yourself) down to sit down suddenly or heavily and then relax; = plonk BrE
•Why don't you plunk yourself down with a good book?

PHRASAL VERBS
plunk sth <=> down phr v
to spend an amount of money on something:
•She plunked down $250 for a silver necklace. $
the pluperfect technical the PAST PERFECT tense of a verb $ [C]
a form of a word that shows you are talking about more than one thing, person etc. For example, 'dogs' is the plural of 'dog'
in the plural
•'Sheep' remains the same in the plural.
[+of]
•What's the plural of 'mouse'?
1 a plural word or form shows you are talking about more than one thing, person etc. For example 'we' is a plural PRONOUN
2 formal a plural society, system, or culture is one with people from many different religions, races etc:
•Britain has developed into a plural society. $ [U] formal
when people of many different races, religions, and political beliefs live together in the same society, or the belief that this can happen successfully:
•a nation characterized by cultural pluralism
- pluralist noun [C]
- pluralistic $ adjective
•a pluralist society plural pluralities
1 [C usually singular] formal a large number of different things
[+of]
•the plurality of factors affecting the election
2 [C,U] especially AmE technical if one person or party receives a plurality in an election, they receive more votes than any of the other people or parties, but fewer votes than the total number of votes that all the others receive together:
•The Democrats won only a plurality of the votes cast.
3 [U] technical when a noun is plural
1 used to show that one number or amount is added to another; minus
•Three plus six equals nine. (3 + 6 = 9)
•The total cost was $10, 000, plus 14% interest.
2 and also:
•There are numerous clubs, plus a casino.
3 plus or minus used to say that a number may be more or less by a certain amount:
•There may be a variation of plus or minus 5% in the prices that are quoted.[C]
1 informal something that is an advantage
major/definite/big etc plus
•Some knowledge of Spanish is a definite plus in this job.
2 a PLUS SIGN; minus
1 [only before noun] used to talk about an advantage or good feature of a thing or situation; minus
•Another of the Beach Club's plus points is that it's right in the middle of town.
•This is not an exciting car to drive, but on the plus side it is extremely reliable.
2 used after a number to mean an amount which is more than that number:
•an income of $50,000 plus
•Most children start school when they're five plus.
3 more than zero - used especially when talking about temperatures; minus
•Daytime temperatures barely reached plus 5°.
4 A plus/B plus etc a mark used in a system of judging students' work. An 'A plus' is slightly higher than an 'A'.informal
used to add more information:
•He's been studying hard for exams. Plus he's been working in a bar at night.[plural]
short loose trousers that are fastened just below the knee. Men wore them in the past, especially when playing golf. informal
very comfortable, expensive, and of good quality:
•a plush hotel
•Their casino is the plushest in town.[U]
a silk or cotton material with a thick soft surface:
•plush curtainsalso plus [C] especially BrE
the sign (+), showing that you should add two or more numbers together, or that a number is more than zero $
the PLANET that is furthest from the sun and is the smallest in the SOLAR SYSTEM:
•the discovery of Pluto in 1930 $ plural plutocracies [C]
a ruling class or government that consists of rich people, or a country that is governed by rich people [C]
someone who has power because they are rich - used to show disapproval:
•champagne-drinking plutocrats
- plutocratic adjective $ [U]
a RADIOACTIVE metal that is used in the production of NUCLEAR power, and in nuclear weapons. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Pu past tense and past participle plied, present participle plying, third person singular plies
1 ply your trade literary to work at your business, especially buying and selling things on the street:
•In some areas, drug dealers openly ply their trade on street corners.
2 [I,T always + adv/prep] written if a ship, bus etc plies between two places or across a place, it does that journey regularly
[+between/across etc]
•Two ferries ply between Tripoli and Malta every day.
3 ply for hire/trade BrE to try and get customers or passengers, in order to do business:
•Continental airlines ply for trade in the UK.
4 [T] old use or literary to use a tool skilfully

PHRASAL VERBS
ply sb with sth phr v
1 to keep giving someone large quantities of food or drink:
•The local people plied me with beer, until I could barely move.
2 ply sb with questions to keep asking someone questionsplural ply [C]
a unit for measuring the thickness of thread, rope, plywood etc, based on the number of threads or layers that it has:
•a sweater in 4-ply yarn [U]
a material made of several thin layers of wood that are stuck together to form a strong board [C]
BrE informal the PRIME MINISTER:
•a meeting with the PMalso pm BrE
used after numbers expressing the time, to show that it is between NOON and MIDNIGHT; a.m.
•The meeting starts at 2.30 pm. [U]
premenstrual syndrome the unpleasant physical and emotional feelings that many women have before their PERIOD starts [U] BrE
premenstrual tension the unpleasant physical and emotional feelings that many women have before their PERIOD starts $ [usually before noun]
1 technical filled with air:
•pneumatic tyres
2 worked by air pressure:
•a pneumatic pump[C]
especially BrE a large powerful tool worked by air pressure and used for breaking up hard materials, especially road surfaces; = jackhammer AmE $ [U]
a serious illness that affects your lungs and makes it difficult for you to breathe:
•She was taken to hospital, suffering from pneumonia.P.O. AmE BrE
1 the written abbreviation of post office
PO BOX
2 BrE the written abbreviation of postal order $ AmE spoken
very annoyed:
•She was really p.o.'d when she didn't get the job. $
1 COOK [T]
a) to cook an egg in or over gently boiling water, without its shell:
•poached eggs on toast
b) to gently cook food, especially fish, in a small amount of boiling water, milk etc:
•Poach the salmon in white wine and water.
2 ANIMALS [I,T] to illegally catch or shoot animals, birds, or fish, especially on private land without permission:
•Deer have been poached here for years.
3 PEOPLE [T] to persuade someone who belongs to another organization, team etc to leave it and join yours, especially in a secret or dishonest way:
•That company's always poaching our staff.
[+from]
•Several of their reporters were poached from other papers.
4 STEAL IDEAS [T] to take and use someone else's ideas unfairly or illegally
[+from]
•characters poached from Shakespeare
5 poach on sb's territory/preserve BrE to do something that is someone else's responsibility, especially when they do not want you to do it
- poaching noun [U]
•the poaching of elephants for their ivory tusks $ [C]
1 someone who illegally catches or shoots animals, birds, or fish, especially on private land without permission
2 poacher turned gamekeeper BrE someone who used to do illegal things or have a bad attitude to authority, and who has now changed completely - used especially of someone who is now in a position of authority
3 BrE a pan with small containers shaped like cups used for poaching eggsP.O. Box AmE $ [C] BrE
post office box used before a number as an address at a post office where letters to you can be sent:
•Write to P.O. Box 714, Key Largo, Florida. $
covered with small holes or marks; = pockmarked
[+with]
•His face was pocked with scars. $ [C]
1 IN CLOTHES a type of small bag in or on a coat, trousers etc that you can put money, keys etc in:
•Luke came in with his hands in his pockets.
jacket/trouser etc pocket
•The keys are in my trouser pocket.
[+of]
•the inside pocket of his jacket
•The policeman told me to turn out my pockets (=take everything out of them).
2 MONEY the amount of money that you have to spend:
•There are eight hotels, with a price range to suit every pocket.
from/out of/into your own pocket
•Dan had to pay for the repairs out of his own pocket.
•He was accused of diverting some of the firm's money into his own pocket.
•The deepening recession has hit people's pockets.
•For investors with deep pockets (=a lot of money), the Berlin property market is attractive.
3 SMALL CONTAINER a small bag or piece of material fastened to something so that you can put things into it:
•Please read the air safety card in the pocket of the seat in front.
4 SMALL AREA/AMOUNT a small area or amount of something that is different from what surrounds it
[+of]
•In some parts, there are still pockets of violence and unrest.
•pockets of air inside the hull of the ship
5 be in sb's pocket to be controlled or strongly influenced by someone in authority, and willing to do whatever they want:
•The judge was in the defense lawyer's pocket.
6 have sth in your pocket to be certain to win something such as a competition or election:
•The Democrats had the election in their pocket.
7 out of pocket especially BrE informal if you are out of pocket, you have less money than you should have, especially as a result of making a mistake or being unlucky:
•If he loses the deal, he'll be badly out of pocket.
8 be/live in each other's pockets BrE informal if two people are in each other's pockets, they are together too much
9 GAME a small net on a POOL, SNOOKER, or BILLIARD table, which you try to hit balls into
AIR POCKET
burn a hole in your pocket at BURN^1 (17)
line your own pockets at LINE^2 (4)
pick sb's pocket at PICK^1 (14)[T]
1 to put something into your pocket:
•Maggie locked the door and pocketed the keys.
2 to steal money, especially money that you are responsible for:
•One inspector had pocketed up to $500,000 in bribes.
3 to get a large amount of money, win a prize etc, especially in a way that seems very easy or slightly dishonest:
•Johnston pocketed $2,500 in prize money.
4 to hit a ball into a pocket in the game of POOL, SNOOKER and BILLIARDS; = pot[only before noun]
small enough to be carried in your pocket:
•a pocket dictionary[C]
a fairly small fighting ship $ [C]
1 AmE the amount of money that you have, or your ability to pay for things; = pocket BrE
•The aim was to provide a car for every age and pocketbook.
•Older voters are most concerned about pocketbook issues (=that concern money).
2 AmE old-fashioned a HANDBAG
3 AmE old-fashioned a WALLET
4 BrE old-fashioned a NOTEBOOK[C]
a small piece of electronic equipment that you use to do calculations[U] AmE
1 a small or unimportant amount of money:
•The money is nothing - pocket change to them.
2 coins that you carry in your pocket $ [C]
the amount that can fit in a pocket
[+of]
•a pocketful of coins[C] old-fashioned
a HANDKERCHIEF[only before noun] BrE informal
a pocket-handkerchief garden or area of land is very small and usually squareplural pocket knives [C]
a small knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle; = penknife[U]
1 BrE a small amount of money that parents give regularly to their children, usually every week or month; = allowance AmE
•How much pocket money do you get?
2 informal a small amount of extra money that you earn in order to spend it on things you want:
•I give a few private lessons too, for pocket money.also pocket-size [usually before noun] BrE
small enough to fit into your pocket or be carried easily:
•pocket-sized dictionaries[C]
a method used by the US President to stop a BILL (=proposal for a new law). The President keeps the proposal without signing it until Congress is not working any more. $ [C]
a hollow mark on someone's skin or on the surface of something $
covered with hollow marks or holes:
•a pockmarked skin $ [C]
1 a long narrow seed container that grows on various plants, especially PEAs and beans:
•a pea pod
like two peas in a pod at PEA (2)
2 a part of a space vehicle that can be separated from the main part:
•a space pod
3 a long narrow container for petrol or other substances, especially one carried under an aircraft wing
4 a group of sea animals, such as WHALEs or DOLPHINs , that swim together
5 a container which holds the eggs of some types of insects $ BrE
another form of PUDGY [C]
especially AmE a doctor who takes care of people's feet and treats foot diseases; = chiropodist BrE
- podiatry noun [U] $ [C]
1 a small raised area for a performer, speaker, or musical CONDUCTOR to stand on
2 AmE a high sloping surface for putting an open book or notes on while you are giving a speech to a lot of people - some people think that this use is incorrect; = lectern
•Several speakers took the podium (=spoke from it) that night. $ AmE informal
a podunk place is small and unimportant:
•Bob's from some podunk town in Iowa. $ [C]
a piece of writing that expresses emotions, experiences, and ideas, especially in short lines using words that RHYME (=end with the same sound); poet, poetry
[+about]
•I decided to write a poem about how I felt. $ [C]
someone who writes poems; poem, poetry $ [C] old-fashioned
a female poetalso poetical $
1 relating to poetry, or typical of poetry:
•poetic expression
2 having qualities of deep feeling or graceful expression:
•poetic language
- poetically adverb[U]
a situation in which someone suffers, and you think they deserve it because they did something bad:
•After the way she treated Sam, it's only poetic justice that Dave left her.poetic license AmE [U] BrE
the freedom that poets and other artists have to change facts, ignore grammar rules etc, because what they are making is poetry or artplural poets laureate [C]
a poet who is chosen by a king, queen, president etc to write poems on important national occasions $ [U]
1 poems in general, or the art of writing them; poem, poet
•He reads a lot of poetry.
•a poetry magazine
modern/lyric/love etc poetry
•a selection of religious poetry
2 a quality of beauty, gracefulness, and deep feeling
pure/sheer poetry
•The way she moves on the court is sheer poetry.
•His golf swing is poetry in motion. $ BrE informal
having an unfriendly disapproving expression on your face $ [C]
a toy used for jumping, that consists of a pole with a spring near the bottom, a bar across the pole that you stand on, and a handle at the top $ [C]
a planned killing of large numbers of people, usually done for reasons of race or religion
making you feel sad or full of pity
poignant reminder/image/moment etc
•a poignant reminder of our nation's great sacrifices
- poignancy noun [U]
- poignantly adverb
•a poignantly expressed tribute to his father [C]
a tropical plant with groups of large red or white leaves that look like flowers
1 IDEA [C] a single fact, idea, or opinion that is part of an argument or discussion:
•That's a very interesting point.
•That's a good point.
•There are three important points we must bear in mind.
•This brings me to my next point.
[+about]
•I agree with John's point about keeping the costs down.
•I'd like to make one final point before I stop.
•Some simple examples will illustrate the point.
•He showed me some of the original documents to prove his point.
•I can see your point (=I understand it) and in general I agree with you.
•You have a point there (=I agree with your idea or opinion).
•I take your point (=understand it) about waiting until the spring.
•OK, Sam, point taken (=I understand your idea or opinion).
•They spent the evening discussing the finer points of (=the small details of) world politics.
2 MAIN MEANING/IDEA the point the most important fact or idea:
• The point is, at least we're all safely back home.
•Nobody knows exactly how it works. That's the whole point.
•He may not have stolen the money himself, but that's not the point.
•I wish you'd get to the point (=talk about the most important thing).
•I'll come straight to the point (=talk about the most important thing first).
•I need to find out who killed Alf, and more to the point (=what is more important) I need to do it before anyone else gets killed.
•We all like him, but that's beside the point (=not the most important thing).
•I think you've missed the point (=you have not understood the most important thing).
3 PURPOSE [U] the purpose or aim of something:
•I suppose we could save one or two of the trees, but what's the point?
[+of]
•What's the point of this meeting anyway?
• The whole point of this legislation is to protect children.
• There's no point in worrying.
•We're going to lose anyway, so I can't see the point of playing.
•I didn't see the point in moving to London.
4 PLACE [C] a particular place or position:
•The accident happened at the point where the A15 joins the M1.
•No cars are allowed beyond this point.
•a border crossing point
•Cairo is a convenient departure point for tours.
•Dover is a point of entry into Britain.
5 IN TIME/DEVELOPMENT [C] an exact moment, time, or stage in the development of something:
•I had reached a point in my career where I needed to decide which way to go.
•She had got to the point where she felt that she could not take any more.
•Their win over old rivals Manchester United was the high point (=best part) in their season.
•Sales reached a low point in 1996.
•We will take last week's riots as a starting point for our discussion.
• At one point, I thought he was going to burst into tears.
•Maybe at this point we should move onto some of the practical experiments.
• At that point, I was still living at home and had no job.
•You will probably sell the car at some point in the future.
•It is impossible to give a definite answer at this point in time.
•Some children are bullied to the point of suicide (=until they reach this stage).
6 QUALITY/FEATURE [C usually plural] a particular quality or feature that something or someone has
sb's/sth's good/bad points
•Sometimes she had to remind herself of his good points.
[+of]
•They would spend hours discussing the finer points (=small details about qualities and features) of various cars.
•The low price is one of its main selling points (=features that will help to sell it).
•Driving was not one of Baxter's strong points.
•One of the club's plus points is that it is central.
•There were some weak points in his argument.
7 GAMES/SPORT [C] one of the marks or numbers that shows your score in a game or sport:
•He is three points behind the leader.
•Leeds United are now six points clear at the top of the table.
•She had to win this point.
•You get three points for a win and one point for a draw.
•You lose a point if you do not complete the puzzle on time.
•The fight went the full fifteen rounds, and in the end the American won on points.
8 SHARP END [C] a sharp end of something:
•the sharp point of a spear
9 boiling point/freezing point/melting point etc the temperature at which something boils, freezes, melts etc:
•Heat the water until it reaches boiling point.
10 the point of no return a stage in a process or activity when it becomes impossible to stop it or do something different
reach/pass the point of no return
•I was aware that we had passed the point of no return.
11 point of departure an idea which you use to start a discussion:
•He takes the idea of personal freedom as his point of departure.
12 be on the point of (doing) sth to be going to do something very soon:
•I was on the point of giving up the search when something caught my eye in the bushes.
•The country's economy is on the point of collapse.
13 up to a point partly, but not completely:
•I agree with you up to a point.
•That is true, but only up to a point.
14 to the point dealing only with the important subject or idea, and not including any unnecessary discussions:
•Her comments were brief and to the point.
15 make a point of doing sth to do something deliberately, even when it involves making a special effort:
•He made a point of spending Saturdays with his children.
•I always make a point of being early.
16 when/if it comes to the point BrE used to talk about what happens when someone is in a difficult situation and has to make a difficult decision:
•I'm sure that if it came to the point, he would do what is expected of him.
17 in point of fact formal used when saying that something is true, although it may seem unlikely:
•We were assured that the prisoners were being well treated, when in point of fact they were living in terrible conditions.
18 not to put too fine a point on it especially BrE used when you are saying something in a very direct way:
•She's lying, not to put too fine a point on it.
19 NUMBERS [C] a sign (. ) used to separate a whole number from any DECIMALs that follow it
20 MEASURE ON A SCALE [C] a mark or measure on a scale:
•The stock market has fallen by over 200 points in the last week.
21 SMALL SPOT [C] a very small spot of light or colour:
•The stars shone like points of light in the sky.
22 DIRECTION [C] one of the marks on a COMPASS that shows direction:
•Soldiers were advancing on us from all points of the compass.
23 PIECE OF LAND [C] a long thin piece of land that stretches out into the sea:
•We sailed round the point into a small, sheltered bay.
24 ELECTRICITY [C] BrE a piece of plastic with holes in it which is attached to a wall and to which electrical equipment can be connected:
•a telephone point
•an electrical point
25 RAILWAYS points [plural] BrE a piece of railway track that can be moved to allow a train to cross over from one track to another:
•The train rattled over the points.
POINTE
1 SHOW STH WITH YOUR FINGER [I,T] to show something to someone by holding up one of your fingers or a thin object towards it:
•'Look!' she said and pointed.
[+at]
•I could see him pointing at me and telling the other guests what I had said.
[+to/towards]
•She was pointing to a small boat that was approaching the shore.
[+with]
•The driver pointed with his whip.
•She pointed in the direction of the car park.
•He stood up and pointed his finger at me.
2 AIM STH [T always + adv/prep] to hold something so that it is aimed towards a person or thing
point sth at sb/sth
•He stood up and pointed his gun at the prisoner.
•She produced a camera and pointed it at me.
3 FACE IN ONE DIRECTION [I always + adv/prep] to face or be aimed in a particular direction:
•The arrow always points north.
•There were flashlights all around us, pointing in all directions.
[+at]
•There were TV cameras pointing at us.
[+to/towards]
•The hands of the clock pointed to a quarter past one.
•We found footprints pointing towards the back door.
4 SHOW SB WHERE TO GO [T always + adv/prep] to show someone which direction they should go in:
•She pointed me towards an armchair.
•Could you point me in the direction of the bathroom, please?
5 SUGGEST WHAT SB SHOULD DO [T always + adv/prep] to suggest what someone should do:
•My teachers were all pointing me towards university.
•A financial adviser should be able to point you in the right direction.
6 SUGGEST THAT STH IS TRUE [I always + adv/prep] to suggest that something is true:
•Everything seemed to point in one direction.
[+to/towards]
•All the evidence pointed towards Blake as the murderer.
•Everything points to her having died from a drugs overdose.
7 WALLS/BUILDINGS [T] BrE to put new CEMENT between the bricks of a wall
8 point your toes to stretch the ends of your feet downwards
9 point the/a finger at sb to blame someone or say that they have done something wrong:
•I knew that they would point the finger at me.
•I don't want to point a finger of blame at anyone.
10 point the way
a) to show the direction that something is in
[+to/towards]
•An old-fashioned signpost pointed the way to the restaurant.
b) to show how something could change or develop successfully
[+forward/forwards]
•This report points the way forward for the water industry.
[+to/towards]
•a government paper which points the way towards reform

PHRASAL VERBS
point sth <=> out phr v
1 to tell someone something that they did not already know or had not thought about:
•He was always very keen to point out my mistakes.
•The murder was obviously well planned, as the inspector had pointed out.
point out that
•Some economists have pointed out that low inflation is not necessarily a good thing.
point sth out to sb
•Thank you for pointing this out to me.
2 to show something to someone by pointing at it:
•Luke pointed out two large birds by the water's edge.
point sb/sth out to sb
•I'll point him out to you if we see him.

point to sth phr v
to mention something because you think it is important:
•Many politicians have pointed to the need for a written constitution.

point sth <=> up phr v formal
to make something seem more important or more noticeable:
•These cases point up the complete incompetence of some government departments.
1 if you say or refuse something point-blank, you do it directly and without trying to explain your reasons:
•He refused point-blank to identify his accomplices.
•I told him point-blank that I didn't want to get involved.
2 a gun fired point-blank is fired very close to the person or thing it is aimed at:
•The victim was shot point-blank in the chest.
- point-blank adjective
•a point-blank refusal
•The bullet was fired at point-blank range.also pointes $ [U]
if BALLET dancers are on pointe, they are dancing on the ends of their toes with their feet in a vertical position [usually before noun]
1 having a point at the end:
•a pointed beard
2 a pointed question/look/remark a direct question, look etc that deliberately shows that you are annoyed, bored, or disapprove of something:
•a pointed remark about my being late
in a way that is deliberately meant to show that you are annoyed, bored, or disapprove of something:
•She looked pointedly at the clock on the kitchen wall.
say/add/ask etc pointedly
•'I thought you were leaving,' she said pointedly. $ [C]
1 ADVICE a useful piece of advice or information that helps you to do or understand something; = tip
[+on]
•Ralph gave me some pointers on my golf swing.
practical/useful/helpful pointers
•a few useful pointers about using the technique
2 SIGN BrE something that shows how a situation is developing, or is a sign of what might happen in the future; = indicator
[+to]
•an encouraging pointer to an improvement in the economy
•The local elections were seen as a pointer to teh general elections.
3 COMPUTER the small symbol, usually an ARROW, that you move using a computer's MOUSE to point to the place on the screen where you want to work, start a program etc:
•Position the mouse pointer and click.
4 STICK a long stick used to point at things on a map, board etc
5 SHOWS NUMBER/DIRECTION ETC a thin piece of metal that points to a number or direction on a piece of equipment, for example on a measuring instrument:
•The pointer was between 35 and 40 pounds.
6 DOG a hunting dog that stands very still and points with its nose to where birds or animals are hiding [U]
a style of painting popular in the late 19th century that uses small spots of colour all over the painting, rather than brush strokes
- pointillist adjective
- pointillist noun [C] [U] BrE
the substance that is put in the spaces between the bricks or stones in a wall, or the way that this substance is put in the spaces
worthless or not likely to have any useful result:
•Life just seemed pointless to me.
•a pointless quarrel
it is pointless doing sth
•It's pointless telling her to clean her room - she'll never do it.
it is pointless to do sth
•I think it would be pointless to discuss this issue again.
- pointlessly adverb
- pointlessness noun [U]AmE
1 [singular] someone with a very important job or a lot of responsibility for a particular subject in a company or organization
[+on]
•the administration's point man on health care
2 [C] a soldier who goes ahead of a group to see if there is any dangerplural points of order [C] formal
a rule used to organize an official meeting
on a point of order (=according to a rule)
•One MP raised an objection on a point of order.plural points of reference [C]
something you already know about that helps you understand a situationalso point of purchase [singular]
the place or shop where a product is sold:
•Under the new law, cigarette advertising will only be allowed at the point of sale.plural points of view [C]
1 a particular way of thinking about or judging a situation
scientific/technical/business etc point of view
• From an economic point of view, the new development will benefit the town greatly.
2 someone's own personal opinion or attitude about something:
•I respect your point of view, but I'm not sure I agree with you.
from sb's point of view
•From my point of view, there is no way they can win. informal
POINTED (1) [U]
1 a calm, confident way of behaving, combined with an ability to control your feelings or reactions in difficult situations:
•Louisa seems to have much more poise and confidence.
2 a graceful way of moving or standing, so that your body seems balanced and not awkward:
•the poise of a dancer
•She's pretty, but lacks poise.[T always + adv/prep]
to put or hold something in a carefully balanced position, especially above something else
poise sth over/above sth
•He poised the bottle over her glass. 'More wine?'
1 [not before noun] not moving, but ready to move or do something at any moment
[+for]
•She waited by the door like a small animal poised for flight.
[+on]
•His finger was poised on the camera's shutter release.
poised to do sth
•He stood on the edge of the roof, poised to jump.
2 [not before noun] completely ready to do something or for something to happen, when it is likely to happen soon
poised to do sth
•Spain was poised to become the dominant power in Europe.
poised on the brink/edge of sth
•The economy is poised on the edge of collapse.
3 poised between sth and sth to be in a position or situation in which two things have an equally strong influence:
•The world stood poised between peace and war.
4 behaving in a calm, confident way, and able to control your feelings and reactions:
•Abigail walked to the microphone, poised and confident.
1 [C,U] a substance that can cause death or serious illness if you eat it, drink it etc:
•Belladonna and red arsenic are deadly poisons.
•a box of rat poison (=poison to kill rats)
•He swallowed some type of poison.
2 [C] something such as an emotion or idea that makes you behave badly or become very unhappy:
•Hatred is a poison that will destroy your life.
3 what's your poison? old fashioned spoken a humorous way of asking which alcoholic drink someone would like
one man's meat is another man's poison at MEAT (4)[T]
1 to give someone poison, especially by adding it to their food or drink, in order to harm or kill them:
•She was accused in 1974 of poisoning her second husband, Charles.
•He killed several people by poisoning their tea.
poison sb with sth
•Helms attempted to poison his whole family with strychnine.
2 if a substance poisons someone, it makes them sick or kills them:
•Thousands of children were poisoned by radiation.
3 to make land, rivers, air etc dirty and dangerous, especially by the use of harmful chemicals:
•Pesticides are poisoning our rivers.
4 to have very harmful and unpleasant effects on someone's mind, emotions, or a situation:
•Her childhood had been poisoned by an abusive stepfather.
•The law will only serve to poison relations between the US and Mexico.
•Television violence is poisoning the minds of young people.
- poisoner noun [C][U]
gas that causes death or serious injury, used especially against an enemy in a war:
•There are reports that poison gas is being used against the rebels. [C,U]
1 illness caused by swallowing, touching, or breathing in a poisonous substance
alcohol/lead/radiation etc poisoning (=caused by a particular substance)
•a case of alcohol poisoning
2 the act of giving poison to someone:
•An autopsy revealed no evidence of poisoning.
FOOD POISONING[U]
a North American plant that has an oily substance on its leaves that makes your skin hurt and ITCH if you touch it[U]
a North American plant with leaves similar to an OAK tree's, that makes your skin hurt and ITCH if you touch it
1 containing poison or producing poison:
•Some mushrooms are extremely poisonous.
•poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulfide
•poisonous substances
•She was bitten on the ankle by a poisonous snake.
[+to]
•The berries are poisonous to birds.
2 full of bad and unfriendly feelings:
•the poisonous atmosphere of the office
3 BrE someone who is poisonous seems to get pleasure from causing arguments, unhappiness etc:
•That poisonous bastard Lucett told Morris I was seeing his wife.
- poisonously adverb[C]
a letter that is not signed and that says bad things about the person it has been sent to[C] technical informal
something in a company's financial or legal structure that is intended to make it difficult for another company to take control of it $
1 WITH A FINGER/STICK ETC [I,T] to quickly push your finger or some other pointed object into something or someone
poke sb/sth with sth
•Andy poked the fish with his finger to see if it was still alive.
poke sb in the eye/arm/ribs etc
•Be careful with that umbrella or you'll poke someone in the eye.
[+at]
•He was poking at the dust with a stick, making little patterns.
2 THROUGH A SPACE/HOLE [T always + adv/prep] to move or push something through a space or opening
poke sth in/into/through sth
•He poked a hand into one of his pockets.
•One of the nurses poked her head around the door.
3 BE SEEN [I always + adv/prep] if something is poking through or out of something else, you can see part of it but not all of it
[+out]
•Ella looked at the tiny face poking out of the blanket.
[+through]
•Weeds had started poking through the cracks in the patio.
4 poke a hole to make a hole or hollow area in something by pushing something pointed into or through it
[+into/in/through]
•Poke a hole in the dough, and then form it into a rounded shape.
5 poke holes in sth to find mistakes or problems in a plan or in what someone has said:
•Defense attorneys tried to poke holes in Rodger's story.
6 poke fun at sb to make fun of someone in an unkind way:
•Some of the kids were poking fun at Judy because of the way she was dressed.
7 poke your nose into sth informal to take an interest or get involved in someone else's private affairs, in a way that annoys them:
•I'm sick of your mother poking her nose into our marriage.
8 poke the fire to move coal or wood in a fire with a stick to make it burn better
9 SEX [T] spoken not polite to have sex with a woman

PHRASAL VERBS
poke along phr v AmE informal
to move very slowly:
•He kept the car in the slow lane, poking along at about 40 miles an hour.

poke around phr v also poke about BrE informal
1 to look for something, especially by moving a lot of things around
[+in]
•James began poking about in the cupboard, looking for the sugar.
2 to try to find out information about other people's private lives, business etc, in a way that annoys them
[+in]
•Stop poking around in my business!
3 poke around (sth) to spend time in shops, markets etc looking at nothing in particular; = browse
•I spent Sunday afternoon poking around an old bookshop.

poke into sth phr v informal
to try to find out information about other people's private lives, business etc, in a way that annoys them[C]
1 give sb/sth a poke to quickly push your fingers, a stick etc into something or someone:
•Vanessa gave me a playful poke in the ribs.
2 AmE informal a criticism of someone or something:
•Bennett took a poke at the President's refusal to sign the bill. $
1 [U] a card game that people usually play for money:
•Can you play poker?
2 [C] a metal stick used to move coal or wood in a fire to make it burn better
showing no expression on your face:
•a poker-faced officer
- poker face noun [singular] $ [U]
pictures or patterns burned onto the surface of wood or leather with hot tools, or the art of making these pictures $ [C] AmE old-fashioned informal
a prisonpokey $ informal
1 BrE too small and not very pleasant or comfortable:
•The whole family was crammed into two poky little rooms.
2 AmE doing things very slowly, especially in a way that is annoying:
•I got behind some poky driver on the freeway. $ [C] AmE informal
a politician - used in newspapers:
•He's just another Washington pol., Polak $ [C] AmE taboo
a very offensive word for someone from Poland. Do not use this word. $
1 close to or relating to the North Pole or the South Pole:
•As our climate warms up, the polar ice caps will begin to melt.
2 polar opposite/extreme something that is the complete or exact opposite of something else:
•Ortega's cheerful landscapes are the polar opposites of Miller's dark, troubled portraits.
3 technical relating to one of the POLEs of a MAGNET $ [C]
a large white bear that lives near the North Pole $
a British spelling of POLARIZE plural polarities [C,U]
1 formal a state in which people, opinions, or ideas are completely different or opposite to each other
[+between]
•the polarity between the intellect and the emotions
2 technical the state of having either a positive or negative electric chargealso polarise BrE $ [I,T] formal
to divide into clearly separate groups with opposite beliefs, ideas, or opinions, or to make people do this:
•The issue has polarized the country.
- polarization $ noun [U] $ [C] trademark
1 a camera that uses a special film to produce a photograph very quickly
2 a photograph taken with a Polaroid camera:
•Why don't you send us a few Polaroids of the new house?[C]
someone from Poland $ [C]
1 STICK/POST a long stick or post usually made of wood or metal, often set upright in the ground to support something:
•a telephone pole
2 the most northern or most southern point on a PLANET, especially the Earth:
•the distance from pole to equator
the North/South Pole
•Amundsen's expedition was the first to reach the South Pole.
3 be poles apart two people or things that are poles apart are as different from each other as it is possible to be:
•Both are brilliant pianists, though they're poles apart in style.
4 OPPOSITE IDEAS/BELIEFS one of two situations, ideas, or opinions that are the complete opposite of each other
at a/one/opposite poles
•We have enormous wealth at one pole, and poverty and misery at the other.
•Washington and Beijing are at opposite poles (=think in two completely different ways) on this issue.
5 ELECTRICAL
a) one of two points at the ends of a MAGNET where its power is the strongest
b) one of the two points at which wires can be attached to a BATTERY in order to use its electricity[I,T] BrE
to push a boat along in the water using a pole $ [not before noun] especially BrE
1 informal very surprised and shocked:
•I was poleaxed when I heard I'd passed the exam.
2 unable to stand because something has hit you very hard:
•He staggered and collapsed as if poleaxed. $ [C]
1 a small dark brown wild animal that lives in northern Europe and can defend itself by producing a bad smell
2 AmE informal a SKUNK formal
1 [C] a written or spoken statement that strongly criticizes or defends a particular idea, opinion, or person:
•Before long, the dispute degenerated into fierce polemics.
2 [U] also polemics the practice or skill of making written or spoken statements that strongly criticize or defend a particular idea, opinion, or personalso polemic formal
using strong arguments to criticize or defend a particular idea, opinion, or person:
•The reforms were attacked in a highly polemical piece in the 'New Yorker'.
- polemically adverb[C,U]
the front position at the beginning of a car or bicycle race
the Pole Star a star that is almost directly over the North Pole and that can be seen from the northern part of the world
the pole vault the sport of jumping over a high bar using a long pole
- pole vaulter noun [C]
- pole vaulting noun [U] [plural]
1 the people who work for an official organization whose job is to catch criminals and make sure that people obey the law:
•Police surrounded the courthouse.
•Several police were injured during the rioting.
• Armed police stormed the building.
2 the police the official organization whose job is to catch criminals and make sure that people obey the law:
•Quick! Call the police!
•Did you report the robbery to the police?
•He was arrested by the police for dangerous driving.
•a police car
!! Police is a plural noun. Do not say 'a police'. Say a police officer, a policeman, or a policewoman: The police were called. | A police officer came.
MILITARY POLICE, SECRET POLICE

WORD FOCUS: police
people in the police force:
police officer
policeman
policewoman
detective
cop informal
the building where the police work:
police station
what the police do: investigate crimes, find/collect
evidence
arrest people who they think are guilty of a crime,
question /interrogate people about crimes,
hold /detain people
in custody
charge people with crimes,
release people if they are innocent
[T]
1 to keep control over a particular area in order to make sure that laws are obeyed and that people and property are protected, using a police or military force:
•The army was brought in to police the city centre.
2 to control a particular activity or industry by making sure that people follow the correct rules for what they do:
•The agency was set up to police the nuclear power industry.
POLICING[C] BrE formal
PC a police officer of the lowest rank[C] AmE
the official police organization in a particular area or city[C]
a dog trained by the police to find hidden drugs or catch criminals[C]
the official police organization in a country or area:
•Jones joined the police force in 1983. plural policemen [C]
a male police officer[C]
a member of the police[C]
a country where the government strictly controls people's freedom to meet, write, or speak about politics, travel etc[C]
the local office of the police in a town, part of a city etc plural policewomen [C]
a female police officer [U]
1 the way that the police are used to keep control over a particular area and to protect people and property:
•The community is demanding a less aggressive style of policing.
[+of]
•the policing of the city
2 the way that an industry or activity etc is controlled in order to make sure that people obey the rules:
•In the last twenty years the industry has had no oversight or policing.
POLICE $ plural policies
1 [C,U] a way of doing something that has been officially agreed and chosen by a political party, business, or other organization
foreign/economic/public etc policy
•a foreign policy adviser
•The company has adopted a strict no-smoking policy.
[+on/towards]
•government policy on higher education
•US policy towards China
it is (sb's) policy to do sth
•It is hospital policy to screen all mothers with certain risk factors.
2 [C] a contract with an insurance company, or an official written statement giving all the details of such a contract:
•an insurance policy
•There's a clause in the policy that I'd like to discuss.
•I've just renewed the policy (=arranged for it to continue).
•Does the policy cover theft and fire?
•You can take out a policy (=buy one) for as little as $11.00 a month.
3 [C] a particular principle that you believe in and that influences the way you behave
it is sb's policy to do sth
•It's always been my policy not to gossip. $ [C]
someone who has bought insurance for something $ [C]
someone who decides what an organization's or government's policies will bealso poliomyelitis technical $ [U]
a serious infectious disease of the nerves in the SPINE, that often results in someone being permanently unable to move particular muscles $ [U] AmE informal
the abbreviation of political science $
relating to Poland, its people, or its language
1 the Polish [plural] people from Poland
2 [U] the language used in Poland $ [T]
1 to make something smooth, bright, and shiny by rubbing it:
•I spent all afternoon polishing the silver.
polish sth with sth
•Polish the lenses with a piece of tissue.
2 to improve a piece of writing, a speech etc by making slight changes to it before it is completely finished:
•Your essay is good, you just need to polish it a bit.

PHRASAL VERBS
polish sb/sth <=> off phr v informal

a) to finish food, work etc quickly or easily:
•Sam polished off the rest of the pizza.
b) AmE to kill or defeat a person or animal when they are weak or wounded:
•He was polished off with a shotgun blast to the face.

polish sth <=> up phr v
1 also polish up on sth to improve a skill or an ability by practising it:
•You should polish up your Spanish before you go to Chile.
2 to make something seem better or more attractive to other people:
•The company needs to polish up its image.
3 to polish something
- polishing noun [U]
1 [C,U] a liquid, powder, or other substance that you rub into a surface to make it smooth and shiny
furniture/shoe/floor etc polish
FRENCH POLISH
2 [singular] especially BrE an act of polishing a surface to make it smooth and shiny:
•An occasional polish will keep wall tiles looking good.
3 [U] a high level of skill or style in the way someone performs, writes, or behaves:
•Carla's writing has potential, but it lacks polish.
4 [singular] the smooth shiny appearance of something produced by polishing
spit and polish at SPIT^2 (5) $
1 shiny because of being rubbed, usually with polish:
•highly polished boots
2 done with great skill and style:
•a polished performance
•a polished piece of writing
3 polite, confident, and graceful:
•a polished and confident man $ [C]
a machine used to polish something:
•an electric floor polisher $ plural politburos [C]
the most important decision-making committee of a Communist party or Communist government
1 behaving or speaking in a way that is correct for the social situation you are in, and showing that you are careful to consider other people's needs and feelings; rude, impolite
•She's always very polite.
•polite, well-behaved children
•a clear but polite request
it is polite (of sb) to do sth
•We left the party as soon as it was polite to do so.
•It's not polite to talk with your mouth full.
2 you make polite conversation, remarks etc because it is considered socially correct to do this, but not necessarily because you believe what you are saying
polite remarks/conversation/interest etc
•While they ate, they made polite conversation about the weather.
•Jan expressed polite interest in Edward's stamp collection.
•I know Ian said he liked her singing, but he was only being polite.
3 in polite society/circles/company among people who are considered to have a good education and correct social behaviour - often used humorously:
•You can't use words like that in polite company.
- politely adverb
•'Can I help you?' she asked politely.
- politeness noun [U] $ formal
sensible and likely to gain you an advantage; = prudent
it is politic to do sth
•It would not be politic to ignore the reporters.
POLITICS, BODY POLITIC
1 relating to the government, politics, and public affairs of a country; politically
•Education is now a major political issue.
•a time of political and social change
political party/system/institutions
•The U.S. has two main political parties.
•The UN is seeking a political solution rather than a military one.
•political jokes
•the workers' struggle for political power
2 relating to the ways that different people have power within a group, organization etc:
•a purely political decision
•The appointment was given to Wellington, mainly for political reasons.
3 [not before noun] interested in or active in politics:
•Most students aren't very political.
4 political football a difficult problem which opposing politicians argue about or which each side deals with in a way that will bring them advantage:
•Funding of the health service has become a political football.[C]
AmE PAC an organization formed by a business, UNION, or INTEREST GROUP to help raise money for politicians who support their ideas[U]
the right to stay in another country if you cannot live safely in your own country because of the political situation there:
•Refugees were seeking political asylum in Britain.
•No country would grant (=give) him political asylum.[U]
language, behaviour, and attitudes that are carefully chosen so that they do not offend or insult anyone - used especially when you think someone is too careful in what they say or how they behave; PC, politically correct
•Political correctness has had an impact on the language people use to describe women.[U]
the study of the way nations organize the production and use of wealth[U]
the study of the way the Earth's surface is divided up into different countries, rather than the way it is marked by rivers, mountains etc; physical geography
in a political way:
•Women were becoming more politically active.
•a politically sensitive issue [sentence adverb]
•Politically, raising the minimum wage is good for the Democrats.
PC language, behaviour, and attitudes that are politically correct are carefully chosen so that they do not offend or insult anyone; politically incorrect
•politically correct textbooks
language, behaviour, or attitudes that are politically incorrect might offend or insult someone:
•politically incorrect jokes[singular]
AmE the system used by people with the same political interests to make sure that political decisions give advantages to themselves or to their group:
•the Chicago mayor's political machine[C]
someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country[U]
the study of politics and government
- political scientist noun [C] $ [C]
1 someone who works in politics, especially an elected member of the government:
•politicians who are trying to get the minority vote
•a British Labour politician
2 someone who is skilled at dealing with people or using the situation within an organization to gain an advantage:
•the office politicianalso politicise BrE [T]
1 to make a subject or a situation more political:
•The Olympic Games should not be politicized.
2 to make someone become more involved in political activities:
•He became politicised during his years in prison.
- politicized adjective
•Abortion is a highly politicized issue.
- politicization $ noun [U] $ [U]
political activity, usually done to gain support for yourself or your political group:
•the politicking at the party conference $ [C]
a politician or someone who is active in politics - usually used to show disapproval:
•a slick politico $ [used in adjectives]
relating to both politics and something else:
•politico-economic factors $
1 [U also + plural verb BrE ] ideas and activities relating to gaining and using power in a country, city etc; political, politician
•a good understanding of politics in China
•modern American politics
•Politics have always interested Anita.
national/local etc politics
•Brooke's been involved in city politics since college.
•The president should stand above party politics (=working only for your political PARTY).
2 [U] the profession of being a politician:
•Flynn retired from politics in 1986.
•Her father's trying to enter politics.
•Smith went into politics in his early twenties.
3 [plural] the activities of people who are concerned with gaining personal advantage within a group, organization etc:
•I'm tired of dealing with all of the office politics.
•Her art examines sexual politics (=how power is shared between men and women).
[+of]
•the politics of race and class at American universities
4 [plural] someone's political beliefs and opinions:
•I assume her politics must be fairly conservative.
5 [U] especially BrE the study of political power and systems of government; = political science
•Tom is studying for a degree in politics. $ plural polities [C,U]
formal a particular form of political or government organization, or a condition of society in which political organization exists $ [C]
a very quick, simple dance for people dancing in pairs, or a piece of music for this dance
- polka verb [I][C]
one of a number of round spots that form a pattern, especially on cloth used for clothing:
•a white scarf with red polka dots
- polka-dot adjective
•a polka-dot dress $
1 [C] the process of finding out what people think about something by asking many people the same question, or the record of the result; = opinion poll, survey
•A recent poll found that 80% of Californians support the governor.
•Polls indicate that education is the top issue with voters.
•Labour is ahead in the polls.
•The latest public opinion poll showed that 25% of us consider ourselves superstitious.
conduct/carry out/do a poll
•a poll conducted by USA Today
[+on]
•a poll on eating habits
[+of]
•a poll of 1000 people
2 go to the polls to vote in an election:
•10 million voters went to the polls.
3 [singular] BrE the process of voting in an election, or the number of votes recorded:
•Labour won the election with 40% of the poll.
•The result of the poll won't be known until around midnight.
4 the polls the place where you can go to vote in an election:
•The polls will close in an hour.[T]
1 to ask a lot of people the same questions in order to find out what they think about a subject:
•18% of the women we polled said their husbands had a drinking problem.
2 to get a particular number of votes in an election:
•Labour polled just 4% of the vote. $ [T usually passive] BrE
to cut the top off a tree in order to make the lower branches grow more thickly $ [U]
a fine powder produced by flowers, which is carried by the wind or by insects to other flowers of the same type, making them produce seeds[C]
a measure of the amount of pollen in the air, usually given as a guide for people who are made ill by it:
•The pollen count was high yesterday. $ [T]
to give a flower or plant pollen so that it can produce seeds:
•flowers pollinated by bees
- pollination $ noun [U] $ [U]
1 when people vote in a political election:
•Polling started at 8.00 this morning.
heavy/light polling (=with many or few people voting)
2 when a person or an organization asks a lot of people the same questions in order to find out what they think about a subject[C]
BrE a small partly enclosed place in a polling station where you can vote secretly in an election[C]
BrE the day on which people vote in an electionpolling place AmE [C] BrE
the place where people go to vote in an election $ [C]
someone who works for a company that prepares and asks questions to find out what people think about a particular subject
[C] a tax of a particular amount that is collected from every citizen of a country [C]
a substance that makes air, water, soil etc dangerously dirty, and is caused by cars, factories etc
air/environmental/water etc pollutants
•New regulations will reduce hazardous air pollutants.
•a dumping ground for toxic pollutants
chemical/industrial etc pollutants
•industrial pollutants in the lake [T]
1 to make air, water, soil etc dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use:
•beaches polluted by raw sewage
•The factory pollutes the air and water.
heavily/severely/badly etc polluted
•The island has been seriously polluted by a copper mine.
pollute sth with sth
•The rivers had been polluted with aluminium.
2 to spoil or ruin something that used to be good:
•an artist spiritually polluted by money and fame
3 pollute sb's mind to give someone immoral thoughts and spoil their character:
•Violence on television is polluting the minds of our children.
dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use:
•one of the most polluted areas in the world
polluted air/water/rivers etc
•The project's aim is to clean up polluted land.
heavily/seriously/severely polluted
•The lake is seriously polluted. $ [C]
a person or organization that causes pollution:
•The polluter should pay for the cost of the clean-up.
big/major/main etc polluter
•a list of Canada's worst polluters [U]
1 the process of making air, water, soil etc dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use, or the state of being dangerously dirty:
•California's tough anti-pollution laws
air/water/soil pollution
•air pollution from traffic fumes
pollution prevention/standards/control
•The costs of pollution control must be considered.
2 substances that make air, water, soil etc dangerously dirty:
•a plan to reduce pollution
industrial/chemical etc pollution
•the effects of industrial pollution on the population
•The chemicals have been identified as a source of pollution. $ [C usually singular]
someone who is always happy and always thinks something good is going to happen $ [U]
a game played between two teams of players who ride on horses and hit a small ball with long-handled wooden hammers
WATER POLO[C]
BrE a shirt or SWEATER that has a high collar that folds down and fits closely around the neck; = turtleneck AmE
•a polo-neck sweater[C]
a shirt that has a collar, a few buttons near the neck, and is pulled on over the head $ [C]
a GHOST that makes objects move around and causes strange noises $ plural polys [C]
BrE informal a POLYTECHNIC $
many:
•polysyllabic (=with three or more SYLLABLEs ) $ [U]
an artificial material used to make cloth:
•a blue polyester shirt $ [U]
AmE a strong light plastic used to make bags, sheets for covering food, small containers etc; = polythene BrE [U]
the practice of having more than one husband or wife at the same time; bigamy, monogamy
- polygamous adjective
•polygamous societies $ formal
speaking or using many languages; = multilingual
•a polyglot population
- polyglot noun [C] $ [C]
technical a flat shape with three or more sides
- polygonal adjective $ [C]
a piece of equipment that is used by the police to find out whether someone is telling the truth; = lie detector
•The suspect was given a polygraph test. $ [C] technical
a solid shape with many sides $ [C]
formal someone who has a lot of knowledge about many different subjects $ [C]
a chemical COMPOUND that has a simple structure of large MOLECULEs also polymorphic $ technical
having many forms, styles etc during the stages of development $ [C] technical
an statement in ALGEBRA that contains several different numbers and signs which are equal to a specific amount:
•polynomial equations $ [C]
1 a small lump that grows inside your body because of an illness, but is not likely to harm you
2 a very simple sea animal that has a body like a tube:
•a coral polyp [U]
a type of music in which several different tunes or notes are sung or played together at the same time
- polyphonic $ adjective $ [U]
a hard light plastic material $ technical
a polysemous word has two or more different meanings
- polysemy $ noun [U] $ [U]
BrE a soft light plastic material that prevents heat or cold from passing through it, used especially for making containers; = Styrofoam $
technical a polysyllabic word has three or more SYLLABLEs
- polysyllable $ noun [C] $ [C]
1 a type of British college similar to a university, which provided training and degrees in many subjects, and existed until 1993
2 a word used in the names of high schools or colleges in the US, where you can study technical or scientific subjects:
•Baltimore Polytechnic Institute $ [U]
the belief that there is more than one god; monotheism
- polytheistic $ adjective $ [U]
BrE a strong light plastic used to make bags, sheets for covering food, small containers etc; = polyethylene AmE $
polyunsaturated fats or oils come from vegetables and plants, and are considered to be better for your health than animal fats; saturated fat
- polyunsaturate noun [C] $ [U]
a plastic used to make paints and VARNISHalso pommy or pommie $ [C] not polite
an offensive word for someone from Britain, used in Australia and New Zealand $ [U]
a sweet-smelling oily substance men used to rub on their hair to make it smooth, especially in the past $ [C]
a box or ball that contains dried flowers and HERBs and is used to make clothes or a room smell pleasant $ [C]
a round fruit that has a lot of small juicy red seeds that you can eat and a thick reddish skin [C]
1 the high, rounded part at the front of a horse's SADDLE
2 the round end of a sword handle[C]
a piece of equipment used in GYMNASTICS that has two handles on top, which you hold on to when you jump or swing over itpommie $ plural pommies [C]
a POM $ [U]
formal all the impressive clothes, decorations, music etc that are traditional for an important official or public ceremony:
•The queen's birthday was celebrated with great pomp and ceremony.
•all the pomp and circumstance (=an impressive ceremony) of a treaty signingalso pompon $ [C]
1 a small soft ball used as a decoration on clothing, especially hats
2 a large round ball of loose plastic strings connected to a handle, used by CHEERLEADERs $
someone who is pompous thinks that they are important, and shows this by being very formal and using long words - used to show disapproval:
•He seems rather pompous.
•the book's pompous style
- pompously adverb
- pomposity $ also pompousness noun [U] $ [C] BrE informal
1 taboo an offensive word for a man who dresses or behaves in a way that is typical of women or who people think is a HOMOSEXUAL. Do not use this word.
2 a PIMP

PHRASAL VERBS
ponce about/around phr v BrE informal
to waste time doing silly things:
•He's been poncing about all day. $ plural ponchos [C]
a type of coat consisting of one large piece of cloth, with a hole in the middle for your headponcey $ BrE informal not polite
an offensive word used about people or things that seem typical of HOMOSEXUAL men:
•a poncy suit $ [C]
1 a small area of fresh water that is smaller than a lake, that is either natural or artificially made
2 across the pond also on the other side of the pond informal on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in the US or in Britain:
•my cousins from across the pond $ [I,T]
formal to spend time thinking carefully and seriously about a problem, a difficult question, or something that has happened; = consider
•He continued to ponder the problem as he walked home.
[+on/over/about]
•The university board is still pondering over the matter.
ponder how/what/whether
•Jay stood still for a moment, pondering whether to go or not. $
1 slow or awkward because of being very big and heavy:
•an elephant's ponderous walk
2 boring, very serious, and seeming to progress very slowly:
•a ponderous and difficult book
•The system, though ponderous, works.
- ponderously adverb
- ponderousness noun [U][U]
1 AmE informal someone that you do not like, respect, or trust:
•He's lower than pond scum.
2 ALGAE $ [C usually singular]
BrE informal an unpleasant smell:
•an awful pong in the fridge
- pong verb [I] $ [C]
formal the Pope $ formal
1 relating to the Pope
2 speaking as if you think your judgment or opinion is always right $ [I]
to give your opinion about something in a way that shows you think you are always right
[+about/on]
•Politicians are always pontificating about education. $ [C]
the position or period of being Pope $
1 [C] one of several metal containers or boats that are fastened together to support a floating bridge
2 [C] one of two hollow metal containers fastened to the bottom of a plane so that it can come down onto water and float
3 [U] BrE a card game, usually played for money; = blackjack AmE[C]
a floating bridge which is supported by several pontoons $ plural ponies [C]
a small horse
PIT PONY, SHETLAND PONYpast tense and past participle ponied, present participle ponying, third person singular ponies

PHRASAL VERBS
pony up (sth) phr v AmE informal
to find or produce a particular amount of money:
•All investors had to pony up a minimum of $5000. $ [C]
hair tied together at the back of your head and falling like a horse's tail[U]
BrE the activity of riding through the countryside on ponies informal
1 [C,U] solid waste from the BOWELs ; = poop AmE
2 [C usually singular] the act of passing waste from the BOWELs ; = poop AmE
- poo verb [I,T] informal [C] informal
a dog - often used humorously [C]
1 a dog with thick curly hair
2 be sb's poodle BrE informal if someone is another person's poodle, they always do what the other person tells them to doalso poofter [C]
BrE taboo informal a very offensive word for a HOMOSEXUAL man. Do not use this word.
used when talking about something that happened suddenly:
•Then poof! She was gone.
1 AmE poofy hair or clothes look big and soft or filled with air:
•a blouse with big poofy sleeves
2 BrE informal not polite an offensive word meaning typical of a HOMOSEXUAL man
1 BrE used when there is a very unpleasant smell; = pew AmE
2 old-fashioned used when you think an idea, suggestion, effort etc is stupid or not very good:
•Pooh! You can't finish that paper by tomorrow. [C] informal
someone who is important or powerful - used to show that you do not respect them very much:
•the pooh-bahs of the technology industry[T]
informal to say that you think that an idea, suggestion, effort etc is silly or not very good:
•He pooh-poohed herbal remedies at first.
1 FOR SWIMMING [C] a hole or container that has been specially made and filled with water so that people can swim or play in it; = swimming pool
•They have a nice pool in their backyard.
•a shallow pool suitable for children
2 AREA OF WATER [C] a small area of still water in a hollow place:
•pools of water with tiny fish in them
•Mosquitoes breed in stagnant pools of water.
3 pool of water/blood/light etc a small area of liquid or light on a surface:
•A guard found him lying in a pool of blood.
•a pool of light formed by the street lamp above
4 GAME [U] a game in which you use a stick to hit numbered balls into holes around a table, which is often played in bars
shoot/play pool
•We went to the pub and played pool.
5 GROUP OF PEOPLE [C] a group of people who are available to work or to do an activity when they are needed
[+of]
•a pool of talented applicants to choose from
•The region has a large and talented labour pool.
6 SHARED MONEY/THINGS [C usually singular] a number of things or an amount of money that is shared by a group of people:
•Both partners put money into a common pool.
7 the pools a system in Britain in which people try to win money each week by guessing the results of football games:
•I do the pools sometimes.
•Dad won£40 on the pools.
8 SPORTS [C] AmE a game in which people try to win money by guessing the result of a sports game, or the money that is collected from these people for this:
•the office basketball pool[T]
to combine your money, ideas, skills etc with those of other people so that you can all use them:
•Investors agreed to pool their resources to develop the property.
•The students worked together, pooling their knowledge.[C]
AmE a building where people go to play pool[C]
a room used for playing pool, especially in a bar [C] old-fashioned
a pool hall [only before noun]
near or on the side of a swimming pool:
•a poolside bar
- poolside noun [singular]
•We met down at the poolside.
1 [U] AmE informal solid waste from the BOWELs ; = poo BrE
2 [singular] AmE informal the act of passing waste from the BOWELs ; = poo BrE[I] AmE informal
to pass solid waste from the BOWELs ; = poo

PHRASAL VERBS
poop out phr v AmE informal
1 to stop trying to do something because you are tired, bored etc:
•Dan pooped out about halfway through the race.
2 to decide not to do something you have already said you would do, because you are tired or not interested
[+on]
•'Is Bill coming along?' 'Nah, he's pooping out on us.'
3 if a machine or piece of equipment poops out, it stops working:
•The laptop's battery pooped out after only two hours.
PARTY POOPER[C]
the floor on the raised part at the back of an old sailing shipalso pooped out [not before noun]
AmE informal very tired; = exhausted
•I was really pooped by the end of the day. $ [C]
informal a small SPADE and a container, used by dog owners for removing their dogs' solid waste from the streets[C,U] informal
POO[C]
AmE informal written official instructions or information $ comparative poorer, superlative poorest
1 NO MONEY
a) having very little money and not many possessions; rich
•Her family were so poor they couldn't afford to buy her new clothes.
•an area where poor people lived
•one of the poorest countries in the world
•a poor part of Chicago (=where a lot of poor people live)
•My grandparents grew up dirt poor (=very poor).
desperately/extremely poor
•Many of the families are desperately poor.
b) the poor [plural] people who are poor:
•It's the government's responsibility to help the poor.
the rural/urban/working poor
•tax relief for the working poor
2 NOT GOOD not as good as it could be or should be:
•The soil in this area is very poor.
•poor rates of pay
•He blames himself for the team's poor performance.
of poor quality (=not made well or not made of good materials)
•The jacket was of very poor quality.
poor hearing/eyesight/memory
•Her hearing is poor, so speak fairly loudly.
make/do a poor job of doing sth
•The builders did a really poor job of fixing our roof.
3 SYMPATHY [only before noun] spoken used to show sympathy for someone because they are so unlucky, unhappy etc:
•Poor kid, he's had a rough day.
•You poor thing, you've had a hard time of it, haven't you?
• Poor old Ted was sick for weeks.
4 NOT GOOD AT STH not good at doing something:
•a poor public speaker
[+at]
•He's poor at sports.
5 HEALTH someone whose health is poor is ill or weak for a long period of time:
•My parents are both in rather poor health.
6 poor in sth lacking something that is needed:
•The country is poor in natural resources.
7 a poor second/third etc the act of finishing a race, competition etc a long way behind the person ahead of you:
•McLean won easily, and Benson was a poor second.
come (in) a poor second/third etc BrE
•The Socialists came a poor second with 26.5% of the vote.
8 the poor man's sb used to say that someone is like a very famous performer, writer etc but is not as good as they are:
•He was the poor man's Elvis Presley.
9 the poor man's sth used to say that something can be used for the same purpose as something else, and is much cheaper:
•Herring is the poor man's salmon.
10 poor relation BrE someone or something that is not treated as well as other members of a group or is much less successful than they are
[+of]
•Theatre musicians tend to be the poor relations of the musical profession.
be in bad/poor taste at TASTE^1 (6); POORLY

WORD FOCUS: words meaning poor
be hard up /be brokealso /be skint BrE informal to have very little money at the present time and be unable to buy the things that you want
destitute having no money and nowhere to live, especially because something terrible has happened
poverty-stricken very poor
also po' boy [C] AmE
a sandwich made with a long bread roll - used especially in the southern US; = submarine sandwich $ [C]
1 the state of not having any money:
•If Jimmy keeps spending like this, he's going to end up in the poorhouse.
2 a building where very poor people in the past could live and be fed, which was paid for with public money; = workhouse $
badly:
•Jana's doing poorly in school.
•poorly educated workers
•The article was poorly written.BrE informal
ill:
•Matt's wife's been very poorly.[not before noun] BrE
someone who is poorly off does not have very much money; well off [I + about/around] BrE spoken
to spend time pleasantly, doing things that are not very important $ past tense and past participle popped, present participle popping
1 COME OUT/OFF [I always + adv/prep] to come suddenly or unexpectedly out of or away from something
[+out/off/up etc]
•The top button popped off my shirt.
•The ball popped out of Smith's hands and onto the ground.
out/up popped sth
•The egg cracked open and out popped a tiny head.
•The lid popped open and juice spilled all over the floor.
2 GO QUICKLY [I always + adv/prep] especially BrE spoken to go somewhere quickly, suddenly, or in a way that you did not expect
[+in/out/by etc]
•Why don't you pop by the next time you're in town?
•I need to pop into the drugstore for a second.
[+round] BrE
•Could you pop round to the shop for some bread?
3 QUICKLY PUT STH [T always + adv/prep] especially BrE informal to quickly put something somewhere, usually for a short time
pop sth in/around/over etc
•I'll just pop these cakes into the oven.
pop sth round sth BrE
•Barry popped his head round the door to say hello.
4 SHORT SOUND [I,T] to make a short sound like a small explosion, or to make something do this:
•The wood sizzled and popped in the fire.
5 BURST [I,T] to burst, or to make something burst, with a short explosive sound:
•A balloon popped.
6 EARS [I] if your ears pop, you feel the pressure in them suddenly change, for example when you go up or down quickly in a plane
7 sb's eyes popped (out of their head) especially BrE spoken used to say that someone looked extremely surprised or excited
8 pop into your head/mind to suddenly think of something:
•All at once an idea popped into her head.
9 pop the question informal to ask someone to marry you:
•Hasn't Bill popped the question yet?
10 pop pills informal to take PILLs too often, or to take too many at one time
11 HIT [T] AmE spoken to hit someone:
•If you say that again, I'll pop you one.
12 POPCORN [I,T] to cook POPCORN until it swells and bursts open, or to be cooked in this way
13 pop your clogs BrE humorous to die

PHRASAL VERBS
pop off phr v informal
to die suddenly

pop sth <=> on phr v BrE spoken
1 to quickly put on a piece of clothing:
•Here, pop on your pyjamas and then we'll read a story.
2 to quickly turn on a piece of electrical equipment:
•Pop the kettle on, would you?

pop out phr v informal
if words pop out, you suddenly say them without thinking first:
•I didn't mean to say it like that - it just popped out.

pop up phr v
to appear, sometimes unexpectedly:
•Click here, and a list of files will pop up.
•Her name keeps popping up in the newspapers.
POP-UP
1 MUSIC [U] modern music that is popular, especially with young people, and usually consists of simple tunes with a strong beat; pop music
•a new pop record
•a pop star
•a pop festival
2 SOUND [C] a sudden short sound like a small explosion:
•the pop of a champagne cork
•The balloon went pop (=made a sudden short sound).
3 DRINK [C,U] informal a sweet drink with bubbles but no alcohol, or a glass or can of this drink; = soda
•a bottle of pop
•Can you get me a pop while you're up?
4 take a pop at sb BrE informal to criticize someone in public:
•When you're a professional footballer, you expect people to take a pop at you now and again.
5 $7/$50/25¢ etc a pop AmE spoken used when each of something costs a particular amount of money:
•Tickets for the show are a hundred bucks a pop.
6 FATHER [C] also Pops AmE old-fashioned father - used especially when you are talking to your father
7 pops AmE CLASSICAL music that most people know, especially people who do not usually like this type of music:
•a pops concert
•the Boston Pops Orchestra
the written abbreviation of population [U]
a type of art that was popular in the 1960s, which shows ordinary objects, such as advertisements, or things you see in people's homes $ [U]
a kind of corn that swells and bursts open when heated, and is usually eaten warm with salt or sugar as a SNACK[U]
music, films, products etc in a particular society that are familiar to and popular with most ordinary people in that society $ [C]
1 the leader of the Roman Catholic church; papal
•The Pope will visit El Salvador this year.
•Pope John XXIII
2 Is the Pope (a) Catholic? informal used to say that something is clearly true or certain - used humorously:
•'Do you think they'll win?' 'Is the Pope Catholic?' $ [U] taboo especially BrE
an offensive word for the Roman Catholic religion. Do not use this word.informal
1 having your eyes wide open, because you are surprised, excited, or angry
2 having eyes that stick out slightly[C]
a type of hit in baseball in which the ball is hit straight up into the air[C] especially BrE
a group of people who sing and perform POP MUSIC[C]
a toy gun that fires small objects, such as CORKs , with a loud noise $ taboo especially BrE
an offensive word for something that is related to the Roman Catholic religion. Do not use this word. $ [C]
a very tall straight thin tree that grows very fast $ [U]
a strong shiny cotton cloth[U]
modern music that is popular, especially with young people, and usually consists of simple tunes with a strong beat $ [C] AmE
a light, hollow MUFFIN (=small cake) made with eggs, milk, and flour $ AmE
another spelling of PAPApoppadum $ [C]
a large circular piece of very thin flat Indian bread cooked in oil $
1 [C] BrE informal a small metal thing that is used to fasten clothes, which works when you press its two parts together; = snap AmE
2 poppers [plural] informal an illegal drug in the form of a liquid, which people take for pleasure by breathing it in $ [C] BrE spoken
used to talk to or about a child or animal you like very much:
•Come here, poppet.[U]
ways of dealing with personal problems that are made popular on television or in books, but are not considered scientific $ plural poppies [C]
a plant that has brightly coloured, usually red, flowers and small black seeds $ [U] old-fashioned
nonsense $ [U]
the small black seeds of the poppy plant, used in cakes, bread etc[C] AmE
a short test that a teacher gives without any warning, in order to check whether students have been studying $ [C] AmE trademark
a food made of juice that is frozen onto sticks; = ice lolly BrE[C]
a famous and successful entertainer who plays or sings POP MUSIC $ [singular also + plural verb BrE ] formal
the people who live in a country:
•the effects of the war on the local populace $
1 liked by a lot of people; unpopular
•Hilary was popular at school.
•a popular holiday resort
•Coffee is probably the most popular drink in the world.
hugely/enormously/immensely etc popular
•Guerrero's music is hugely popular in Latin America.
[+with/among]
•The President is very popular with Jewish voters.
2 [only before noun] done by a lot of people in a society, group etc:
•the closest popular vote in U.S. presidential history
•The government has little popular support among women voters.
•Kaplan's latest recording has received considerable popular acclaim (=it is liked by a lot of people).
popular belief/opinion/view (=a belief, opinion etc that a lot of people have)
•a survey of Hispanic-American popular opinion
• Contrary to popular belief (=in spite of what many people believe), gorillas are basically shy, gentle creatures.
•a popular movement for democracy
3 [only before noun] relating to ordinary people, or intended for ordinary people:
•Wintour's writing is full of references to American popular culture.
•Steele was ridiculed by the popular press.
POP MUSIC $ [U]
when something or someone is liked or supported by a lot of people
[+of]
•The popularity of the Internet has soared.
•The president's popularity has declined considerably.
gain/grow/increase in popularity (=start to be liked by many people)
•Country music is growing in popularity.also popularise BrE $ [T]
1 to make something well known and liked:
•Bob Marley popularized reggae music in the 1970s.
2 to make a difficult subject or idea able to be easily understood by ordinary people who have no special knowledge about it:
•Skinner was the psychologist who popularized behavior modification.
- popularization $ noun [U] $
by most or many people:
•The President of Korea is popularly elected every five years.
popularly believed/thought/called etc
•Vitamin C is popularly believed to prevent colds.
•The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is popularly known as the Mormon Church. $ [T usually passive]
if an area is populated by a particular group of people, they live there:
•The highlands are populated mainly by peasant farmers.
densely/heavily/highly/thickly populated (=with a lot of people)
•one of the most densely populated areas in the world
sparsely/thinly/lightly populated (=with very few people) $
1 [C] the number of people living in a particular area, country etc
[+of]
•India has a population of more than 1 billion.
population explosion/boom (=a quick increase in the population of an area)
2 [C usually singular] all of the people who live in a particular area:
•Most of the world's population doesn't get enough to eat.
white/French/urban etc population (=part of the group of people who live in a particular area who are white, French etc)
•South Florida has a large Jewish population.
3 centre of population/population centre a city, town etc:
•Cromer is the main centre of population in this area. $
relating to or representing ordinary people, rather than rich or very highly educated people:
•a populist campaign
- populist noun [C]
- populism noun [U] $ formal
a populous area has a large population in relation to its size:
•Hong Kong is one of the most populous areas in the world.
1 pop-up book/card etc a book,card etc with a picture that stands up when you open the pages
2 pop-up menu/window a MENU or WINDOW that can appear suddenly on a computer screen while you are using it[C]
a WINDOW, often containing an advertisement, that suddenly appears on a computer screen, especially when you are looking at a website $ [U]
1 a hard shiny white substance that is used for making expensive plates, cups etc; china
•a porcelain vase
2 plates, cups etc made of this $ [C]
1 BrE an entrance covered by a roof outside the front door of a house or church
2 AmE a structure built onto the front or back entrance of a house, with a floor and a roof but no walls $ formal
looking like or relating to pigs $ [C]
an animal with long, sharp parts growing all over its back and sides $ [C]
one of the small holes in your skin that liquid, especially SWEAT, can pass through, or a similar hole in the surface of a plant

PHRASAL VERBS
pore over sth phr v
to read or look at something very carefully for a long time:
•She was poring over a book.
!! Do not confuse pore with the verb pour, which has the same pronunciation but means 'to make liquid flow'. $ [U]
1 the meat from pigs:
•pork chops
2 AmE informal government money spent in a particular area in order to get political advantages - used to show disapproval:
•a bill filled with pork projects[singular, U] AmE informal
a government plan to increase the amount of money spent in a particular area, done in order to gain a political advantage - used to show disapproval:
•pork-barrel spending $ [C]
1 a young pig that is made fat before being killed for food
2 informal a fat person - often used humorously[C] BrE
a small round PIE which contains pieces of cooked pork[plural] AmE
small pieces of pig fat that have been cooked in hot oil and are eaten as a SNACK $ informal
fat - often used humorouslyalso porky pie plural porkies [C] BrE informal
a lie:
•Was he telling porkies again?also porno $ [U] informal
pornography:
•the porn industry
•a porno movie
HARD PORN, SOFT PORN $ [U]
magazines, films etc that show sexual acts and images in a way that is intended to make people feel sexually excited
- pornographer noun [C]
- pornographic $ adjective
•pornographic websites
1 allowing liquid, air etc to pass slowly through many very small holes:
•porous material
2 easy to pass through or get into something:
•the porous border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic $ [C]
a sea animal that looks similar to a DOLPHIN and breathes air $ [U]
1 OATS that are cooked with milk or water and served hot for breakfast; = oatmeal AmE
2 BrE informal a period of time spent in prison
do porridge (=spend time in prison) $
1 WHERE SHIPS STOP [C,U] a place where ships can be loaded and unloaded
be in port
•We'll have two days ashore while the ship is in port.
come into port/leave port
•The ferry was about to leave port.
2 TOWN [C] a town or city with a HARBOUR or DOCKs where ships can be loaded or unloaded:
•Britain's largest port
3 COMPUTER [C] a part of a computer where you can connect another piece of equipment, such as a PRINTER
4 WINE [U] strong sweet Portuguese wine that is usually drunk after a meal:
•a glass of port
5 SIDE OF SHIP [U] the left side of a ship or aircraft when you are looking towards the front; starboard
•on the port side
to port
•The plane tilted to port.
6 any port in a storm spoken used to say that you should take whatever help you can when you are in trouble, even if it has some disadvantages
PORT OF CALL[T]
to move software from one computer system to another
port sth from/to sth
•Can Windows applications be ported to Unix?
- porting noun [U] $
1 able to be carried or moved easily:
•a portable radio
2 a portable computer program can be used on different computer systems
3 portable benefits AmE health insurance, PENSION PLANs etc that workers can keep when they move from one job to another
- portability $ noun [U][C]
a piece of electronic equipment that can be easily carried or moved:
•Get a portable, not a big TV. $ [U]
when people carry small boats over land from one river to another $ [C] BrE trademark
a very small building that can be used as a temporary office, CLASSROOM etc, and can be moved by truck $ [C]
1 a website that helps you find other websites
2 [usually plural] literary a tall and impressive gate or entrance to a buildingporta-potty $ [C] AmE trademark
a toilet that is in a small plastic building that can be moved $ [C]
a strong iron gate that can be lowered over the entrance of a castle $ [T] literary
to be a sign that something is going to happen, especially something bad:
•strange events that portend disaster $ [C] literary
a sign or warning that something is going to happen; = omen
[+of]
•Some people believe the raven is a portent of death. $
1 literary showing that something important is going to happen, especially something bad:
•Recent developments are as portentous as the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
2 trying to appear important and serious:
•a portentous film $
1 [C] someone whose job is to carry people's bags at railway stations, airports etc
2 [C] BrE someone in charge of the entrance to a hotel, hospital etc
3 [C] BrE someone whose job is to carry heavy goods at markets
4 [C] AmE someone whose job is to look after the part of a train where people sleep
5 [C] AmE someone whose job is to look after a building by cleaning it, repairing things etc
6 [U] old-fashioned a dark brown bitter beer $ [C,U]
a thick, flat piece of high quality BEEF $ plural portfolios [C]
1 a large flat case used especially for carrying pictures, documents etc
2 a set of pictures or other pieces of work that an artist, photographer etc has done:
•You'll need to prepare a portfolio of your work.
3 a group of STOCKs owned by a particular person or company:
•an investment portfolio
4 BrE the work that a particular government official is responsible for:
•the foreign affairs portfolio $ [C]
a small round window on the side of a ship or plane $ plural porticoes or porticos [C]
a covered entrance to a building, consisting of a roof supported by PILLARs $
1 [C] a part of something larger, especially a part that is different from the other parts
[+of]
•The front portion of the rocket breaks off.
•The rent on his portion of the apartment was $500 a month.
significant/substantial/major/good portion
•The main character's childhood takes up a good portion of the film.
2 [C] an amount of food for one person, especially when served in a restaurant; = serving, helping
•Do you have any children's portions?
[+of]
•a huge portion of roast beef
•He served generous portions (=large portions) of soup from a black pot.
3 [usually singular] a share of something, such as responsibility, blame, or a duty, that is divided between a small number of people
[+of]
•The other driver must bear a portion of the blame for the accident.

PHRASAL VERBS
portion sth <=> out phr v BrE
to divide something into parts and give it to several people
[+among]
•The money was portioned out among them. $ written
someone who is portly, especially an old man, is fat and round:
•a portly old gentleman $ plural portmanteaus or portmanteaux $ [C] old-fashioned
a very large SUITCASE that opens into two parts[C] technical
a portmanteau word is made by combining the sound and meaning of two other words, for example 'edutainment' combines 'education' and 'entertainment'plural ports of call [C usually singular]
1 informal one of a series of places that you visit:
•My first port of call will be the post office.
2 a port where a ship stops on a journey from one place to anotherplural ports of entry [C]
a place, such as a port or airport, where people or goods can enter a country $ [C]
1 a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person:
•a family portrait
[+of]
•the artist's portrait of his mother
•She's been commissioned to paint Jackson's portrait.
2 a description or representation of something
[+of]
•a portrait of working life in America
SELF-PORTRAIT
if a piece of paper, a page, a photograph etc is in a portrait position, it is placed on a surface or hung on a wall with its longer edges at the sides; landscape $ [U] formal
the art of painting or drawing pictures of people $ [T]
1 portray sb/sth as sth to describe or show someone or something in a particular way, according to your opinion of them; = depict
•Romantic artists portrayed nature as wild and powerful.
•The President likes to portray himself as a friend of working people.
2 to describe or represent something or someone; = depict
•His most famous painting portrayed the death of Nelson.
•Religion was portrayed in a negative way.
3 to act the part of a character in a play, film, or television programme; = play
•She portrays a dancer in the hit film. $ [C,U]
the way someone or something is described or shown in a book, film, play etc
[+of]
•the newspapers' portrayal of Islamic culture
accurate/realistic etc portrayal
•The film is not an accurate portrayal (=correct portrayal) of his life. $
relating to Portugal, its people, or its language
1 the Portuguese [plural] people from Portugal
2 [U] the language used in Portugal, Brazil, and some other countries[C]
a very large, poisonous JELLYFISH $
1 CAUSE PROBLEM [T] to exist in a way that may cause a problem, danger, difficulty etc
pose a threat/danger/risk
•Officials claim the chemical poses no real threat.
pose sth to/for sb/sth
•The events pose a challenge to the church's leadership.
•Rising unemployment is posing serious problems for the administration.
2 PICTURE [I] to sit or stand in a particular position in order to be photographed or painted, or to make someone do this
[+for]
•We posed for photographs.
3 pose a question to ask a question, especially one that needs to be carefully thought about:
•In her book she poses the question,'How much do we need to be happy?'
4 pose as sb to pretend to be someone else, in order to deceive people:
•Bryce was caught posing as a lawyer.
5 TO IMPRESS PEOPLE [I] to dress or behave like a rich and fashionable person in order to make other people notice you or admire you[C]
1 the position in which someone stands or sits, especially in a painting, photograph etc
in a pose
•a painting of the Duchess in a dramatic pose
•Ann struck a pose (=stood or sat in a particular position) and smiled for the camera.
2 behaviour in which someone pretends to have a quality or social position they do not really have, usually in order to make other people notice them or admire them:
•Her confidence was merely a pose to hide her uncertainty. $ [C] informal
1 BrE also poseur someone who pretends to have a quality or social position they do not really have, usually in order to make people notice or admire them:
•You meet a lot of posers in this job.
2 a difficult question:
•That's a real poser. $ informal
1 a posh restaurant, hotel, car etc is expensive and looks as if it is used or owned by rich people:
•a posh private school
2 BrE upper class:
•Her parents are terribly posh.BrE informal
talk posh to talk in an upper class way $ [T]
formal to suggest that a particular idea should be accepted as a fact
posit that
•He posited that each planet moved in a perfect circle.
1 WAY OF STANDING/SITTING ETC [C] the way someone is standing, sitting, or lying:
•Lie in a comfortable position.
•Frankie shifted his position so that his knees would not become cramped.
sitting/kneeling/standing position
•I struggled up into a sitting position.
2 SITUATION [C usually singular] the situation that someone is in, especially when this affects what they can and cannot do

in sb's position
in the same/a similar position
in a good/strong position (to do sth)
in an enviable position (=in a situation that other people would like to be in)
in a difficult/awkward/impossible position
a position of strength (=a situation in which you can get what you want)
financial/legal position
strengthen/weaken sb's position (=put someone in a better or worse situation)

•I'm not sure what I would do if I were in your position.
• We're in a strong position, but we mustn't take victory for granted.
• Next week we will be in a much better position to comment.
• She is in the enviable position of having three job offers.
• You're putting me in rather a difficult position.
• We must negotiate from a position of strength.
• the company's precarious financial position

3 PLACE WHERE SB/STH IS [C] the place where someone or something is, especially in relation to other objects and places
[+of]
•the position of the sun in the sky
•Our hotel was in a superb central position near St Mark's Square.
•the strategic position (=useful or important position) of Egypt in relation to the Arabian peninsula
4 CORRECT PLACE [C,U] the place where someone or something is needed or supposed to be
into position
•He pulled the ladder into position.
in/out of position
•All parking signs have now been placed in position.
5 DIRECTION [C] the direction in which an object is pointing
vertical/upright/horizontal position
•Make sure the container remains in an upright position.
•She turned the switch to the 'on' position.
6 OPINION [C] an opinion or judgment on a particular subject, especially the official opinion of a government, a political party, or someone in authority; = attitude
[+on]
•What's the party's position on tax reform?
•The principal took the position that the students didn't need music classes.
•I hope you'll reconsider your position.
7 JOB [C] formal a job
sb's position as sth
•Bill took up his new position as Works Director in October.
[+of]
•She has held the position of Chief Financial Officer since 1992.
•Bruce is thinking of applying for the position.
•I'm sorry, the position has been filled (=someone has been found to do the job).
see box at JOB
8 LEVEL/RANK [C,U] someone's or something's level, authority, or importance in a society or organization
the position of sb
•the position of women in society
position of power/authority/influence etc
•Many of his supporters used their positions of power for personal advantage.
•As a priest, he was in a position of trust.
abuse your position as sth (=use your authority wrongly)
9 be in a position to do sth to be able to do something because you have the ability, money, or power to do it:
•When I know all the facts, I'll be in a position to advise you.
10 be in no position to do sth to be unable to do something because you do not have the ability, money, or power to do it:
•You're unemployed and in no position to support a family.
•Ned says I'm always late? He's in no position to talk (=should not criticize because he does the same thing).
11 RACE/COMPETITION [C,U] the place of someone or something in a race or competition in relation to the other people or things
(in) 2nd/3rd/4th etc position
•Alesi finished in third position.
12 SPORTS [C] the area where someone plays in a sport, or the type of actions they are responsible for doing:
•What position do you play?
13 jockey/manoeuvre/jostle for position to try to get an advantage over other people who are all trying to succeed in doing the same thing:
•Firms adopt different strategies as they jockey for position.
14 ARMY [C usually plural] a place where an army has put soldiers, guns etc:
•an attack on the enemy positions

WORD CHOICE: position, place, location, where, there
Place is a very general word for talking about where something or someone is: the place where they live | Put this in a safe place.
Position can be used to talk about the place where something is in relation to other things or places: the position of the table in the room
Location is used mainly in formal or business English to talk about where a building is: a house in a central location | the location of the new headquarters
In ordinary spoken English, it is more usual to use words like where, there, somewhere, anywhere to talk about the place where something or someone is: This is where (NOT the place where) I live. | My shoes were in the hall but they're not there (NOT in that place) now. | Let's have lunch somewhere different (NOT in a different place) today.

[T always + adv/prep]
to carefully put something in a particular position:
•Position the cursor before the letter you want to delete.
position yourself
•I positioned myself where I could see the door. [only before noun]
relating to the position or job of someone or something:
•positional power or authority[C]
a written statement that shows how a department, organization etc intends to deal with something $
1 ATTITUDE if you are positive about things, you are hopeful and confident, and think about what is good in a situation rather than what is bad; negative
[+about]
•You've got to be more positive about your work.
positive attitude/approach/outlook etc
•She's got a really positive attitude to life.
•the power of positive thinking
•' Think positive!' she advised herself.
2 GOOD THING good or useful; negative

something positive
positive thing/aspect
positive effect/result/outcome
positive experience
be/have a positive influence (on sb)
positive role model (=someone good or successful that people want to be like)
make a positive contribution (=do something good in a situation)
on the positive side/on a positive note (=used when saying what is good about a situation)
in a positive light (=showing the good things about something)

•At least something positive has come out of the situation.
• Write down all the positive things about your life.
• The rural environment was having a positive effect on the children's health.
• It's been a very positive experience for her.
•TV can be a positive influence.
• the positive contribution to the community made by many older people
•It's been a difficult time but, on the positive side, I feel physically fine.
• Women should be portrayed in a more positive light.

3 ACTION if you take positive action, you do something definite in order to try and achieve something:
•We need to take positive steps to improve the situation of families in poverty.
• Positive action was required.
•It's a relief to know that something positive is being done.
4 SUPPORT expressing support, agreement, or approval; negative
positive response/reaction
•The response we've had from the public has been very positive.
•We've had a lot of positive feedback from the people of this city.
[+about]
•Most people have been very positive about the show.
5 SURE [not before noun] very sure, with no doubt at all that something is right or true; = certain
positive (that)
•Are you absolutely positive you locked the door?
•'Are you sure about that?' 'Positive.'
6 SIGN showing that something is likely to succeed or improve:
•The fact that he's breathing on his own again is a positive sign.
7 PROOF positive proof/evidence/identification etc proof etc that shows that there is no doubt that something is true:
•The witness made a positive identification.
8 SCIENTIFIC TEST showing signs of the medical condition or chemical that is being looked for; negative
•The test results came back positive.
•athletes who had tested positive for banned substances
•children who are HIV positive
9 EMPHASIS [only before noun] spoken used to emphasize how good or bad something is; = total
•The journey was a positive nightmare.
10 NUMBER technical a positive number is more than zero; negative
11 ELECTRICITY technical having the type of electrical charge that is carried by PROTONs ; negative
•a positive charge[C]
a quality or feature that is good or useful; negative
•You can find positives in any situation.
•Always emphasise the positive.
FALSE POSITIVE[U] BrE
the practice of giving a particular number of jobs, places at university etc to people who are often treated unfairly because of their race, sex etc; = affirmative action AmE $
1 used to emphasize that something is true, especially when this seems surprising:
•Some holiday destinations are positively dangerous.
2 in a way that shows you agree with something or want it to succeed; negatively
•It is hoped that the industry will respond positively to this new initiative.
3 in a way that shows you are thinking about what is good in a situation rather than what is bad:
•They're encouraged to think positively about themselves and their future.
•Change should be accepted and be viewed positively.
4 in a way that leaves no doubt:
•'You certainly won't!' Katherine said positively.
•The blood was never positively identified as the victim's.
5 spoken used to emphasize that you really mean what you are saying; = definitely
•This is positively the last time you'll hear me say this.
6 positively charged technical having the type of electrical charge that is carried by PROTONs $ [U]
a type of PHILOSOPHY based only on facts which can be scientifically proved, rather than on ideas
- positivist adj, n [C] $ [C] technical
a very small piece of matter that has the same mass as an ELECTRON but has a positive electrical CHARGE $ BrE informal
1 if poss if possible:
•Please send a photo if poss.
2 as soon as poss as soon as possible:
•I need them back as soon as poss. $ [C]
1 informal a group of the same kind of people
[+of]
•I was surrounded by a posse of photographers.
2 a group of men gathered together by a SHERIFF (=local law officer) in the US in past times to help catch a criminal
3 AmE informal
a) someone's group of friends - used especially by young people
b) a group of friends from a particular place who share an interest in RAP, HIP-HOP, or HOUSE music; = massive BrE [T not in progressive]
1 formal to have a particular quality or ability:
•Different workers possess different skills.
•He no longer possessed the power to frighten her.
!! In spoken English it is much more usual to use have or have got: He has a lot of talent.
2 formal or law to have or own something:
•Neither of them possessed a credit card.
•Campbell was found guilty of possessing heroin.
3 what possessed sb (to do sth)? spoken used to say that you cannot understand why someone did something stupid:
•What on earth possessed her to do it?
4 literary if a feeling possesses you, you suddenly feel it very strongly and it affects your behaviour:
•A mad rage possessed her.
1 if someone is possessed, their mind is controlled by something evil:
•She was convinced he was possessed by the devil.
like a man/woman possessed literary (=with a lot of energy or violence)
2 be possessed of sth literary to have a particular quality, ability etc:
•She was possessed of a fine and original mind.
SELF-POSSESSED
1 HAVING STH [U] formal if something is in your possession, you own it, or you have obtained it from somewhere
in sb's possession
•The house has been in the family's possession since the 1500s.
•That information is not in our possession.
in possession of sth
•She was found in possession of stolen goods.
•How did the painting come into your possession (=how did you get it)?
•The finance company now has possession of the house.
•We didn't take possession of (=get and start using) the car until a few days after the auction.
2 STH YOU OWN [C usually plural] something that you own or have with you at a particular time; = belongings
•He had sold all his possessions and left the country.
•I packed my remaining possessions into the trunk.
treasured/prized/precious possession (=one that is very important to you)
•This old violin had been her father's most treasured possession.
•Prisoners were allowed no personal possessions.
3 CRIME [U] law the crime of having illegal drugs or weapons with you or in your home
[+of]
•He was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine.
4 SPORT [U] when a person or team has control of the ball in some sports
win/lose/gain etc possession
•Pittsburgh got possession and scored.
5 COUNTRY [C usually plural] a country controlled or governed by another country:
•France's former colonial possessions
6 EVIL SPIRITS [U] a situation in which someone's mind is being controlled by something evil:
•Was it a case of demonic possession?
7 in (full) possession of your faculties/senses able to think in a clear and intelligent way, and not crazy or affected by old age
8 possession is nine-tenths of the law used to say that if you have something, you are likely to be able to keep it, even if it is not yours
1 wanting someone to have feelings of love or friendship for you and no one else
[+of/about]
•She was terribly possessive of our eldest son.
2 unwilling to let other people use something you own
[+of/about]
•He's so possessive about his new car.
3 technical used in grammar to show that something belongs to someone or something
possessive pronoun/form/case etc
•the possessive pronouns 'ours' and 'mine'
- possessively adverb
- possessiveness noun [U][C]
technical an adjective, PRONOUN, or form of a word that shows that something belongs to someone or something $ [C]
formal someone who owns or has something - often used humorously
[+of]
•He's now the proud possessor of two satellite dishes. $ plural possibilities
1 [C,U] if there is a possibility that something is true or that something will happen, it might be true or it might happen

possibility (that)
possibility of (doing) sth
a strong/real/distinct possiblity (=something that is quite likely to happen)
a remote/faint possiblity (=something that is very unlikely to happen)
not beyond the bounds/realms of possibility (=not impossible, but unlikely)
within the bounds/realms of possibility (=possible)
raise the possibility (=say or show that something may be possible)

•There's always a possibility that he might go back to Seattle.
•the possibility of an enemy attack
•There was no possibility of changing the voting procedure.
•A peace settlement now looks like a real possibility.
•Tomorrow, there's a remote possibility of snow on high ground.
•They might get married - it's not beyond the bounds of possibility.
•The study raises the possibility that dieting is bad for your health.

2 [C usually plural] an opportunity to do something, or something that can be done or tried
possibilities for/of (doing) sth
•exciting possibilities for reducing costs
•Archer began to explore the possibilities of opening a club in the city.
•The US has not yet exhausted all diplomatic possibilities (=tried everything possible).
•the range of possibilities offered to students
3 have possibilities if something has possibilities, it could be made into something much better; = have potential
•The house has great possibilities.
!! Possibility or opportunity?
see note at OPPORTUNITY $
1 if something is possible, it can be done or achieved; impossible

it is possible (for sb) to do sth
make it possible (for sb) to do sth
if (at all) possible (= if it is possible to do it)
where/whenever/wherever possible (=every time you have an opportunity)
do everything possible
(in) every way possible
technically possible (=possible using the scientific knowledge available)
theoretically possible (=possible but difficult and unlikely to be done)
humanly possible (=possible for anyone)

• Is it possible to get tickets for the game?
• It might be possible for the documents to be sent over.
•Computer technology makes it possible for many people to work from home.
• I want to avoid the rush hour traffic if possible.
•I walk or use public transport whenever possible.
• We are doing everything possible to track down the killer.
•Our staff will help you in every way possible.
•Even if it were technically possible, we do not have the money to do it.
•She decided to stay as far away from him as was humanly possible.

2 as soon/quickly/much etc as possible as soon, quickly etc as you can:
•I need the money as soon as possible.
•Sharon always does as little work as possible.
•The original features of the house have been preserved as far as possible (=as much as possible).
3 a possible answer, cause etc might be true:
•There seem to be only two possible explanations.
•the possible causes of a child's learning difficulties
it is possible (that)
•It's possible that the letter got lost in the post.
4 a possible event or thing might happen or exist:
•Heavy rain is possible later in the day.
•the possible effect on the health of local people
•You need to look at the possible consequences of your actions.
•In Hollywood, anything is possible (=anything can happen, even though it may seem very unlikely).
5 the best/biggest/fastest etc possible the best etc that can exist or be achieved:
•Try to get the best possible price.
•What is the worst possible thing that could happen?
6 would it be possible (for sb) to do sth? spoken used when asking politely if you can do or have something:
•Would it be possible to speak to Oliver?[C]
someone or something that might be suitable or acceptable for a particular purpose:
•Frank's a possible for the job. $
1 used when saying that something may be true or likely, although you are not completely certain; = perhaps, maybe
•This last task is possibly the most difficult.
•It will take three weeks, possibly longer.
•'Will you be here tomorrow?' 'Possibly.'
•'Was it murder?' ' Quite possibly (=it is very likely).'
2 spoken used to emphasize that you are very surprised or shocked by something, or you cannot understand it:
• How could anyone possibly do such a thing?
3 could/can you possibly spoken used when making a polite request:
•Could you possibly close that window?
4 used to emphasize that someone will do or has done everything they can to help or to achieve something:
•We shall be contributing as much as we possibly can to the campaign.
•Doctors did everything they possibly could to save his life.
5 used to emphasize that you cannot do something, or that something cannot or could not happen or be done
can't/couldn't possibly
•I can't possibly allow you to go home in this weather.
•She couldn't possibly have heard what was said.also opossum $ [C]
1 one of various types of small furry animals that climb trees and live in America or Australia
2 play possum informal to pretend to be asleep or dead so that someone will not annoy or hurt you $
1 JOB [C] formal a job, especially an important one in a large organization; = position

apply for a post
offer sb a post
appoint sb to a post
take up a post (=start a new job)
hold a post (=have a job)
fill a post
resign (from) a post/leave a post
senior/junior post
teaching/administrative/government post

•I applied for the post and was asked to attend an interview.
•She was offered the post of ambassador to India.
•He will take up his post as Head of Modern Languages in September.
•Goddard has held the post since 1998.
•Unfortunately they were unable to find a suitable person to fill the post.
•Mr Thomson resigned his £50,000 a year post in April.
•She now holds a senior post in the Department of Education.
•the creation of 4000 new teaching posts
see box at JOB

2 POSTAL SYSTEM the post BrE the official system for carrying letters, packages etc from one place to another; = mail
by post
•The winners will be notified by post.
in the post
•Your letter must have got lost in the post.
•I'll put a copy of the book in the post (=send it).
through the post
•A parcel arrived through the post.
3 LETTERS [U] BrE letters, packages etc that are sent and delivered; = mail
•Was there any post for me today?
•Emma was opening her post.
4 COLLECTION/DELIVERY [singular,U] BrE when letters are collected or delivered; = mail
•What time does the post go (=get collected)?
(the) first/second/last post (=the first, second etc collection or delivery of letters each day)
•Applications must arrive by first post on September 23.
catch/miss the post (=post your letter in time for it to be collected, or not in time)
by return (of post) at RETURN^2 (11)
5 PIECE OF WOOD/METAL [C] a strong upright piece of wood, metal etc that is fixed into the ground, especially to support something:
•a fence post
BEDPOST, GATEPOST (1), LAMP-POST, SIGNPOST^1 (1)
6 FOOTBALL/HOCKEY ETC [C] one of the two upright pieces of wood between which players try to kick or hit the ball in football, HOCKEY etc; = goalpost
•The ball hit the post and bounced off.
7 NEWSPAPER [singular] used in the names of some newspapers:
•the Washington Post
8 SOLDIER/GUARD ETC sb's post the place where a soldier, guard etc is expected to be in order to do their job
at sb's post
•By 5 am the soldiers were already at their posts.
•No one was allowed to leave their post.
9 border/military/customs/police post a place, especially one on a border, where soldiers or police are guarding, checking etc something
10 RACE the post also the finishing post the place where a race finishes, especially a horse race:
•Mr Magic was first past the post.
11 INTERNET MESSAGE [C] also posting a message sent to an Internet discussion group so that all members of the group can read it:
•There was post after post criticizing the Minister.
as deaf as a post at DEAF (1)
be driven/passed from pillar to post at PILLAR (4)
pip sb at the post at PIP^2 (1)
FIRST-PAST-THE-POST[T]
1 LETTER BrE to send a letter, package etc by post; = mail
•She's just gone to post a letter.
post sth (off) to sb
•Did you remember to post the card to my parents?
post sb sth
•I posted Barry the cheque last Friday.
2 post sth through sb's door/letter box BrE to push something through someone's LETTERBOX:
•I'll post the key through your letterbox when I leave.
3 JOB [usually passive] if you are posted somewhere, your employer sends you to work there, usually for several years
post sb to France/London etc
•He joined the British Army and was posted to Germany.
post sb abroad/overseas
4 PUBLIC NOTICE also post up to put up a public notice about something on a wall or notice board:
•The exam results were posted on the bulletin board yesterday.
5 GUARD to make someone be in a particular place in order to guard a building, check who enters or leaves a place, watch something etc; = station
•Guards were to be posted around nuclear power stations.
6 keep sb posted spoken to regularly tell someone the most recent news about something
[+on]
•I'll keep you posted on his progress.
7 PROFIT/LOSS ETC especially AmE to officially record and announce information about a company's financial situation or a country's economic situation:
•Cisco Systems posted record profits and sales for the third fiscal quarter.
8 INTERNET MESSAGE to put a message or computer document on the Internet so that other people can see it:
•Could you post those new flyers on David's website?
9 be posted missing BrE if a soldier is posted missing, it is announced officially that they have disappeared
10 post bail law especially AmE to pay a specific amount of money in order to be allowed to leave prison before your TRIAL $
later than or after something:
•the postwar years (=the years after a particular war)
•the post-1979 Conservative government $ [U]
the money charged for sending a letter, package etc by post:
•How much is the postage for a postcard?
postage and packing BrE
/postage and handling AmE (=the charge for packing and sending something you have bought)
•It's yours for £13.99, including postage and packing.[C]
AmE a machine used by businesses which puts a mark on letters and packages to show that postage has been paid; = franking machine BrE[C]
formal a stamp $ [only before noun]
1 relating to the official system which takes letters from one place to another:
•the U.S. postal service
• postal workers
•an increase in postal charges
2 relating to sending things by post:
•Candidates are chosen by a postal ballot of all party members.
postal vote BrE
•Housebound voters should register early for a postal vote.
3 go postal AmE informal to become very angry and behave in a violent way[C]
BrE an official document that you buy in a post office and send to someone so that they can then exchange it for money; = money order AmE $ BrE
1 [singular] all the letters received by an important person, television programme etc on a particular occasion:
•We've had an enormous postbag on the recent programme changes.
2 [C] a bag for carrying letters, used by the person who delivers them; = mailbag AmE $ [C] BrE
a box in a public place, into which you put letters that you want to send; = letter box BrE; = mailbox AmE $ [C]
a card that can be sent in the post without an envelope, especially one with a picture on it:
•Don't forget to send us a postcard! $ [C]
BrE a group of numbers and letters that you write at the end of an address on an envelope, package etc. The postcode shows the exact area where someone lives and helps the post office deliver the post more quickly; = zip code AmE $ [T]
1 if you postdate a cheque, you write it with a date that is later than the actual date, so that it will not become effective until that time; backdate
2 to happen, live, or be made later in history than something else; predate
•Some of the mosaics postdate this period.[only before noun]
relating to study done after a PHD:
•post doctoral research $ [C]
a large printed notice, picture, or photograph, used to advertise something or as a decoration:
•A team of volunteers were putting up posters.
•a poster campaign for the election
[+for]
•the poster for the exhibition
[+of]
•posters of old movie stars[C usually singular] AmE
1 a child with a particular illness or physical problem whose picture appears on a poster advertising the work of an organization that helps children with that problem
2 someone or something that represents a particular quality, idea etc - often used humorously:
•Dillon is the poster child for wasted talent. $ [U]
BrE a post office department which keeps letters for people who are travelling, until they arrive to collect them $ [only before noun]
technical near or at the back of something; anterior
•the posterior part of the brain[C]
the part of the body you sit on - used humorously; = buttocks, bottom $ [U] formal
all the people in the future who will be alive after you are dead
preserve/record/keep etc sth for posterity
•a priceless work of art that must be kept for posterity[C,U]
brightly coloured paint that contains no oil, used especially by children to paint pictures $ [only before noun] AmE
happening after a sports game:
•postgame celebrations[C] BrE
informal a postgraduate
- post-grad adjective $ [C] especially BrE
someone who is studying at a university to get a MASTER'S DEGREE or a PHD; = graduate student AmE[only before noun]
1 especially BrE relating to studies done at a university after completing a first degree; = graduate AmE
•postgraduate degrees
2 AmE relating to studies done after completing a PHD; = post doctoralliterary
very quickly:
•He departed post-haste for Verdun. $
happening, printed etc after someone's death:
•a posthumous collection of his articles
- posthumously adverb
•He was posthumously awarded the Military Cross. $ [C]
BrE informal a POSTMAN
relating to the period in the late 20th century when the older types of industry became less important, and computers became more important:
•the post-industrial information-based society $ [C]
1 if a soldier, a representative of a country etc gets a posting somewhere, they are sent there to do their job
[+to]
•shortly before his posting to South Africa
•a diplomatic posting
2 also post a message sent to an Internet discussion group so that all members of the group can read it
3 AmE a public notice, especially one advertising a job:
•job postingsalso Post-it note [C]
trademark a small piece of coloured paper that sticks to things, used for leaving notes for people $ plural postmen [C]
BrE someone whose job is to collect and deliver letters; = mailman AmE $ [C]
an official mark made on a letter, package etc to show when and where it was posted
- postmark verb [T]
•The letter was postmarked Iowa. $ [C]
someone who is in charge of a post office $
a postmenopausal woman has gone through the MENOPAUSE (=when she stops having her monthly flow of blood) $ [C] old-fashioned
a woman who is in charge of a post office $
1 relating to or influenced by postmodernism:
•postmodern architecture
2 used to describe styles, attitudes etc that are typical of the social life that is found in many western countries now, in which television, video, the buying of goods and services etc are very important:
•postmodern culture $ [U]
a style of building, painting, writing etc, developed in the late 20th century, that uses a mixture of old and new styles as a reaction against MODERNISM
- postmodernist adjective
•postmodernist fiction
- postmodernist noun [C], postmortem $ [C]
1 also postmortem examination an examination of a dead body to discover why the person died; = autopsy
[+on]
•A post-mortem on the body revealed that the victim had been strangled.
do/carry out/conduct a post-mortem
2 especially BrE an examination of a plan or event that failed, done to discover why it failed
[+on]
•a post-mortem on the company's poor results $ [only before noun]
relating to the time after a baby is born:
•postnatal care
• postnatal depression (=an illness in which a woman feels very unhappy and tired after her baby is born)
1 [C] a place where you can buy stamps, send letters and packages etc
2 the Post Office the national organization which is responsible for collecting and delivering letters[C]
formal a PO BOX[only before noun]
relating to the time after someone has had a medical operation:
•post-operative care $
costing nothing to send because the amount has already been paid:
•The kit costs $33.95 postpaid. $ technical
relating to the time immediately after a woman has a baby; = postnatal $ [T]
to change the date or time of a planned event or action to a later one; = put back; bring forward
•The match had to be postponed until next week.
postpone doing sth
•They've decided to postpone having a family for a while.
•His trial has been postponed indefinitely (=no one knows when it will happen).
- postponement noun [C,U] $ [only before noun] formal especially BrE
happening immediately after a meal - often used humorously:
•a postprandial napPS $ [C]
1 a message written at the end of a letter after you have signed your name
2 extra details or information that you add after a story or account
[+to]
•There's an interesting postscript to this tale. $ [only before noun] AmE
relating to the time after the usual sports season is over; preseason
•a postseason game
- postseason noun [singular] $
relating to schools or education after you have finished HIGH SCHOOL[U]
medical PTSD a mental illness which can develop after a very bad experience such as a plane crash $ [T]
formal to suggest that something might have happened or be true
postulate that
•It has been postulated that the condition is inherited.
- postulation $ noun [C,U] $ [C]
formal something believed to be true, on which an argument or scientific discussion is based
[+of]
•the basic postulates of Marxism $ [only before noun] formal
relating to the way you sit or stand:
•postural problems $
1 [C,U] the way you position your body when sitting or standing
good/bad etc posture
•Poor posture can lead to muscular problems.
•her upright posture
2 [singular] the way you behave or think in a particular situation
[+towards]
•He tends to adopt a defensive posture towards new ideas. $ [C,U] formal
1 when someone pretends to have a particular opinion or attitude:
•He dismissed the Senator's comments as ' political posturing'.
2 when someone stands or moves in a way that they hope will make other people notice and admire them
- posture verb [I][only before noun]
happening or existing after a war, especially the Second World War; pre-war
•post-war Britain
post-war period/years/era
•food rationing in the immediate post-war years
- post-war adverb $ plural posies [C]
a small BUNCH of flowers $
1 COOKING [C] a container used for cooking which is round, deep, and usually made of metal:
• pots and pans
[+of]
•There was a big pot of soup on the stove.
2 FOR A PLANT [C] a container for a plant, usually made of plastic or baked clay:
•herbs growing in pots
3 TEA/COFFEE [C] a container with a handle and a small tube for pouring, used to make tea or coffee:
•Is there any tea left in the pot?
[+of]
•I'll make a pot of coffee.
COFFEE POT, TEAPOT
4 FOR FOOD, PAINT ETC [C] BrE a round container for storing foods such as JAM that are slightly liquid, or for substances such as glue or paint
[+of]
•a pot of blue paint
jam/paint/yoghurt etc pot
5 BOWL/DISH ETC [C] a dish, bowl, plate, or other container that is made by shaping clay and then baking it; pottery
•an earthenware pot
6 go to pot informal if something such as a place or an organization goes to pot, it becomes much worse or fails because no one is taking care of it:
•The government has let the whole country go to pot.
7 pots of money BrE informal a lot of money:
•They've got pots of money in the bank.
•He's hoping to make pots of money from the deal.
8 MONEY the pot
a) money that is available to do something, especially money that people have collected
in the pot
•So far we've got £150 in the pot.
b) all the money that people have risked in a card game, and which can be won
in the pot
•There was $1000 in the pot.
9 DRUG [U] old-fashioned informal MARIJUANA:
•Michael was smoking pot with some friends.
10 (a case of) the pot calling the kettle black informal used humorously to say that you should not criticize someone for something, because you have done the same thing or have the same fault
11 STOMACH [C] a POTBELLY
12 HIT A BALL [C] BrE the act of hitting a ball into one of the POCKETs (=holes at the edge of the table) in games such as BILLIARDS, POOL, and SNOOKER
13 TOILET [C] informal a toilet
CHAMBER POT, CHIMNEY POT, FLOWERPOT, LOBSTERPOT, MELTING POTpast tense and past participle potted, present participle potting [T]
1 PLANTS also pot up BrE to put a plant into a pot filled with soil:
•Pot the seedlings after 2-3 weeks.
2 BALL BrE to hit a ball into one of the POCKETs (=holes at the edge of the table) in games such as BILLIARDS, POOL, and SNOOKER; = pocket $ formal
potable water is safe to drink $ [U]
a type of potassium used especially in farming to make the soil better [U]
a common soft silver-white metal that usually exists in combination with other substances, used for example in farming. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol K $ plural potatoes
1 [C,U] a round white vegetable with a brown, red, or pale yellow skin, that grows under the ground
roast/fried/boiled/mashed potato
jacket potato (=cooked in its skin)
•Marie stood at the sink, peeling potatoes (=cutting off the skin).
2 [C] a plant that produces potatoespotato chip AmE [C] BrE
a very thin round piece of potato cooked in oil and eaten cold, sold in packages[C]
a small tool like a knife, used for removing the skin of a potato[C] AmE
a small round metal STOVE that you burn wood or coal in for heating or cooking, used especially in the past $ plural potbellies [C]
a large round unattractive stomach that sticks out
- potbellied [adj] $ [C]
a book or film that is produced quickly to make money and which is not of very high quality, especially one that is exciting or romantic $ BrE
a plant that is potbound cannot grow any more because its roots have grown to fill the pot it is in [U]
Irish WHISKY made secretly and illegally to avoid paying tax $ [singular,U]
1 the power that something has to influence people
[+of]
•the potency of his arguments
•The myth of male superiority was losing its potency.
2 the strength of something, especially a drug, on your mind or body
[+of]
•the potency of the drug
3 also sexual potency the ability of a man to have sex:
•loss of potency after age 40 $
1 having a very powerful effect or influence on your body or mind; = powerful
•potent drugs
•a potent symbol of oppression
•Advertising is a potent force in showing smoking as a socially acceptable habit.
•A good company pension scheme remains a potent weapon for attracting staff.
2 powerful and effective:
•The treaty requires them to get rid of their most potent weapons.
3 a man who is potent is able to have sex or able to make a woman PREGNANT; impotent
- potently adverb $ [C]
literary a ruler in the past, who had great power over his people [only before noun]
likely to develop into a particular type of person or thing in the future; = possible
potential customer/buyer/client
•new ways of attracting potential customers
potential benefit/problem
•the potential benefits of the new system
potential danger/threat/risk
•the potential risks to health associated with the drug[U]
1 the possibility that something will develop in a particular way, or have a particular effect
[+for]
•The company certainly has the potential for growth.
[+of]
•the potential of the Internet to create jobs
2 if people or things have potential, they have a natural ability or quality that could develop to make them very good
have/show potential
•She has the potential to become a champion.
with potential
•a young player with great potential
achieve/fulfil/realize your (full) potential (=succeed as well as you possibly can)
3 technical the difference in VOLTAGE between two points on an electrical CIRCUIT plural potentialities [C]
formal an ability or quality that could develop in the future [+ adj/adv]
something that is potentially dangerous, useful etc is not dangerous etc now, but may become so in the future:
•a potentially dangerous situation $ [C]
the amount a pot can contain $ [C]
a piece of thick material that you use to protect your hands when you pick up a hot cooking pan $ [C]
1 a large hole in the surface of a road, caused by traffic and bad weather, which makes driving difficult or dangerous
2 BrE a long hole that goes deep under the ground, formed by natural processes
- potholed adjective $ [U] BrE
the sport of climbing down POTHOLEs and underground CAVEs ; = caving
- potholer noun [C] $ [C]
1 literary a drink intended to have a special or magical effect on the person who drinks it, or which is intended to poison them:
•a magic potion
•a love potion
2 a medicine, especially one that seems strange or old-fashionedpotluck AmE $ BrE
1 take pot luck
a) to choose something without knowing very much about it, and hope that it will be what you want:
•We hadn't booked a hotel so we had to take pot luck.
b) to have a meal at someone's home in which you eat whatever they have available, rather than food which has been specially bought for the occasion:
•I'm not sure what there is in the fridge - you'll have to take pot luck.
2 [C] AmE a meal in which everyone who is invited brings something to eat:
•Can you bring a salad? It's a potluck.
potluck meal/dinner etc
•a potluck supper at the church[C] AmE
meat and vegetables covered with PASTRY and baked in a deep dish[C]
BrE a plant that is grown indoors in a pot $
1 [U] a mixture of pieces of dried flowers and leaves kept in a bowl to make a room smell pleasant
2 [singular] a mixture of things that are not usually put together, for example different pieces of music or writing
[+of]
•a potpourri of literary styles[C]
a dish that consists of a piece of meat cooked slowly in a pan with potatoes and other vegetables
take a pot shot at sb/sth
a) to shoot at someone or something without aiming very carefully:
•The boy took a pot shot at a pigeon with his air gun.
b) to criticize someone or something unfairly without thinking carefully about it:
•He enjoys taking pot shots at the government whenever the opportunity arises. $ [only before noun]
1 growing indoors in a pot:
•a potted plant
2 potted history/biography/version BrE a short and simple explanation or description that gives only the most important facts about someone or something
3 BrE potted meat or fish has been cooked and stored in a container, usually in the form of a PASTE for spreading on bread $ [C]
someone who makes pots, dishes etc out of clayalso potter about/around [I] BrE
to spend time doing pleasant things that are not important without hurrying; = putter AmE
•I spent the morning pottering about in the garden.
- potterer noun [C][C]
a piece of equipment that turns around, onto which wet clay is placed so that it can be shaped by hand into a pot $ plural potteries
1 [U] objects made out of baked clay:
•Native American pottery
2 [U] clay that has been shaped and baked in order to make pots, dishes etc:
•a pottery bowl
3 [U] the activity of making pots, dishes etc out of clay:
•a pottery class
4 [C] a factory where pottery objects are made[C] BrE
a small building, usually made of wood, where garden tools, seeds etc are kept $ BrE informal
1 crazy or silly:
•What a potty idea!
•You must be potty!
2 drive sb potty if something or someone is driving you potty, they are annoying you, especially if they are making it difficult for you to continue what you are doing
3 be potty about sb/sth to like someone very much, or be very interested in something:
•She's potty about riding.
- pottiness noun [U]plural potties [C]
1 a container used by very young children as a toilet
2 go potty AmE to use the toilet - used by young children or when speaking to them:
•Do you need to go potty?
3 potty mouth AmE spoken someone who has or is a potty mouth uses offensive words
4 potty break AmE informal a time when you stop what you are doing, especially when driving a car, so that you can use the toilet - used humorously[U]
the process of teaching a very young child to use a potty or toilet
- potty-train verb [T]
- potty-trained adjective [C]
1 a small leather, cloth, or plastic bag that you can keep things in, and which is sometimes attached to a belt
[+of]
•a leather pouch of tobacco
•a money pouch
2 especially AmE a large bag for carrying letters or papers:
•a mail pouch
3 a pocket in the side of a bag such as a RUCKSACK
4 a pocket of skin on the stomach which MARSUPIALs such as KANGAROOs use for carrying their babies
5 a fold of skin like a bag which animals such as HAMSTERs or SQUIRRELs have inside each cheek to carry and store food, pouf [C] BrE
a soft piece of furniture like a large CUSHION, which you can sit on or rest your feet on $ [C]
something that is put on someone's skin to make it less swollen or painful, often made of a wet cloth with milk, herbs, or clay on it $
1 [plural] birds such as chickens and ducks that are kept on farms in order to produce eggs and meat
2 [U] meat from birds such as chickens and ducks [I]
to suddenly move forward and attack someone or something, after waiting to attack them:
•The cat was hiding in the bushes, ready to pounce.
[+on]
•Kevin pounced on Liam and started hitting him.

PHRASAL VERBS
pounce on sb/sth phr v
1 to criticize someone's mistakes or ideas very quickly and eagerly:
•Teachers are quick to pounce on students' grammatical errors.
2 to eagerly take an opportunity as soon as it becomes available:
•When they offered O'Leary the chance to become manager, he pounced on it.
- pounce noun [C]
1 WEIGHT [C] written abbreviation lb a unit for measuring weight, equal to 16 OUNCEs or 0.454 kilograms
[+of]
•a pound of apples
•Moira weighs about 130 pounds.
•The grapes cost$2 a pound.
2 MONEY also pound sterling [C]
a) £ the standard unit of money in Britain, which is divided into 100 pence:
•They spent over a thousand pounds.
•a multi-million pound business
•a five pound note
b) the (British) pound the value of British money compared with the value of the money of other countries:
•The pound was up against the dollar.
c) the standard unit of money in various other countries, such as Egypt and the Sudan
3 FOR DOGS AND CATS [C usually singular] a place where dogs and cats that have been found on the street are kept until their owners come to get them
4 FOR CARS [C] a place where cars that have been illegally parked are kept until their owners pay money to get them back
5 get/take/demand etc your pound of flesh to get the full amount of work, money etc that someone owes you, even though it makes them suffer and you do not really need it
6 TELEPHONE [U] AmE the POUND KEY
1 HIT [I,T] to hit something very hard several times and make a lot of noise, damage it, break it into smaller pieces etc:
•He began pounding the keyboard of his computer.
[+against/on]
•Thomas pounded on the door with his fist.
•Waves pounded against the pier.
pound sth against/on sth
•Green pounded his fist on the counter.
2 HEART [I] if your heart or blood is pounding, your heart is beating very hard and quickly
[+with]
•Patrick rushed to the door, his heart pounding with excitement.
•She ran, her heart pounding in her chest.
3 HEAD [I] if your head is pounding, it feels painful, especially because you have a headache or you have been using a lot of effort
4 MOVE [I always + adv/prep, T] to walk or run quickly with heavy loud steps
[+along/through/down etc]
•I could hear him pounding up the stairs.
•a policeman pounding his beat
•Runners will be pounding the pavement this weekend during the London Marathon.
5 ATTACK WITH BOMBS [T] to attack a place continuously for a long time with bombs:
•Enemy forces have been pounding the city for over two months.

PHRASAL VERBS
pound sth <=> out phr v
to play music loudly:
•The Rolling Stones were pounding out one of their old numbers. [U]
1 technical an amount charged for every pound in weight, or for every British £1 in value
2 informal weight[C]
a heavy cake made from flour, sugar, and butter $
a 3-pounder/24-pounder/185-pounder etc
a) an animal, fish, or person that weighs 3 pounds, 24 pounds etc
b) a gun that fires a SHELL that weighs 3 pounds, 24 pounds etc
1 [singular,U] the action or the sound of something hitting a surface very hard many times
[+of]
•the pounding of the waves on the rocks below
2 [singular,U] the action or sound of your heart beating
3 take a pounding
a) to be completely defeated:
•Manchester United took a real pounding.
b) to be hit or attacked many times and often badly damaged:
•The ship had taken a pounding on the rocks.[C] AmE
the button on a telephone that has the SYMBOL (#) on it[C]
1 BrE the SYMBOL (£), used for a pound in British money
2 AmE the SYMBOL (#), used especially on a telephone; = hash BrE[singular]
the standard unit of money in Britain, which is divided into 100 pence $
1 LIQUID [T] to make a liquid or other substance flow out of or into a container by holding it at an angle:
•She poured coffee for everyone.
pour sth into/out/down etc (sth)
•Pour the oil into a frying pan and heat.
pour sth away (=get rid of something)
•The wine was so bad I just poured it away.
pour sb sth
•Why don't you pour yourself another drink?
2 LIQUID/SMOKE [I always + adv/prep] if a lot of liquid or smoke pours out, it comes out from somewhere in very large amounts
[+from/down/out]
•Smoke was pouring out of the upstairs windows.
•Blood was pouring from his nose.
3 RAIN also pour down [I] to rain heavily without stopping:
• It's pouring now.
• It poured all night.
it's pouring with rain/it poured with rain BrE
•It was pouring down with rain at three o'clock.
4 PEOPLE OR THINGS [I always + adv/prep] if lot of people or things pour into or out of a place, a lot of them arrive or leave at the same time
[+into/out of/from etc]
•The crowds began pouring out of the stadium.
•Offers of help poured in from all over the country.
5 LIGHT [I always + adv/prep] if light is pouring into or out of a place, a lot of light is coming in or out
[+into/out of]
•Light was pouring into the courtyard.
6 pour cold water over/on sth to criticize someone's plan, idea, or desire to do something so much that they no longer feel excited about it
7 pour scorn on sb/sth to say that something or someone is stupid and not worth considering
8 pour oil on troubled waters to try to stop a quarrel, for example by talking to people and making them calmer
9 pour it on
a) to behave or talk in a particular way in order to make people like you or feel sorry for you
b) AmE informal to try very hard in order to do something, especially in order to win a game:
•The Raiders really poured it on in the second quarter.
10 pour on the charm to behave in a very nice and polite way, in order to make someone like you

PHRASAL VERBS
pour sth into sth phr v
if people pour money into something, they provide a lot of money for it over a period of time, in order to make it successful:
•They've poured thousands of pounds into developing the business.

pour sth <=> out phr v
if you pour out your thoughts, feelings etc, you tell someone all about them, especially because you feel very unhappy:
•She poured out all her troubles to him.
pour out your heart/soul (=tell someone all your feelings, including your most secret ones)
pouring rain is very heavy rain [I,T]
to push out your lower lip because you are annoyed or unhappy, or in order to look sexually attractive:
•He sounded like a pouting child.
•Her full lips pouted slightly.
- pout noun [C]
- pouty adjective $
1 [U] the situation or experience of being poor; poor, impoverished

live/grow up/die in poverty
fight/combat poverty (=try to end poverty)
alleviate/relieve poverty (=improve poverty)
extreme/severe poverty
abject/grinding/dire poverty (=extreme poverty)
urban/rural poverty (=poverty of people in cities or the countryside)

•Millions of elderly people live in poverty.
• We need an effective strategy to fight poverty.
• continued efforts to alleviate poverty and raise living standards
•scenes of abject poverty
•the causes of urban poverty

2 the poverty line also the poverty level AmE the income below which a person or a family is officially considered to be very poor and in need of help:
•20% of the population now live below the poverty line.
3 the poverty trap a situation in which a poor person without a job cannot afford to take a low paying job because they would lose the money they receive from the government
4 [singular,U] formal a lack of a particular quality
[+of]
•The novel shows a surprising poverty of imagination.
extremely poor:
•poverty-stricken families $ [C]
a PRISONER OF WAR
used to represent the sound of a gun firing, an explosion, or someone hitting another person hard, especially in children's COMICs $
1 [C,U] a dry substance in the form of very small grains:
•curry powder
•talcum powder
• Grind the sugar into a powder.
•The paint is supplied in powder form.
milk/custard etc powder (=a powder that you add water to in order to change it into a liquid)
2 [U] also face powder a type of powder that you put on your face in order to make it look smoother and to give it more colour
3 a powder keg a dangerous situation or place where violence or trouble could suddenly start:
•Since the riot, the city has been a powder keg waiting to explode.
4 [U] also powder snow dry light snow:
•There's a foot of powder on the slopes.
5 [U] GUNPOWDER
6 keep your powder dry to wait calmly until you see how a situation develops before deciding what to do
1 [T] to put powder on something, especially your skin:
•She was powdering her face.
2 powder your nose an expression meaning to go to the TOILET, used by women to avoid saying this directly:
•She's just gone to powder her nose.[U]
a pale blue colour
- powder blue [adj] $
1 produced or sold in the form of a powder:
•powdered milk
2 covered with powder[U] AmE
sugar in a powder form; = icing sugar BrE[C]
a small round piece of soft material used by women to spread POWDER on their face or body[C]
a room with a toilet for women, especially in a public place - used to avoid saying this directly
1 like powder or easily broken into powder:
•powdery snow
2 covered with powder $
1 CONTROL [U] the ability or right to control people or events; powerful, powerless
•We all felt that the chairman had too much power.
[+over]
•People should have more power over the decisions that affect their lives.
•the enormous economic power of the US
•Workers had little political power.
•the balance of power between management and unions
•He was engaged in a bitter power struggle with the director (=a situation in which groups or leaders try to get control).
•Nothing will change until there are more women in positions of power.
power-mad/power-crazy/power-hungry
•power-hungry politicians
•The bishops had almost absolute power.
•the power wielded by unelected civil servants (=which they have and use)
2 GOVERNMENT [U] the position of having political control of a country or government
in power
•The dictator had been in power for seven years.
•the party in power
come/rise to power (=start having political control)
•De Gaulle came to power in 1958.
•They seized power in a military coup.
3 INFLUENCE [U] the ability to influence people or give them strong feelings; powerful, powerless
[+of]
•the power of his writing
•the immense power of television
•the pulling power (=ability to attract people or attention) of major celebrities
student/black/consumer etc power (=the political or social influence a particular group has)
4 RIGHT/AUTHORITY [C,U] the right or authority to do something:
•The police have been given special powers to help them in the fight against terrorism.
power to do sth
•The committee has the power to order an enquiry.
power of arrest/veto etc
•The chairman has the power of veto on all decisions.
5 ABILITY [C,U] a natural or special ability to do something:
•After the accident she lost the power of speech (=ability to speak).
powers of observation/concentration/persuasion
•a writer's powers of observation
•your mental powers
•a stone with magical powers
6 ENERGY [U] energy that can be used to make a machine work or to make electricity
nuclear/wind/solar etc power
•Many people are opposed to the use of nuclear power.
•the search for renewable sources of power
under power
•The ship was able to leave port under its own power (=without help from another machine, ship etc).
7 earning/purchasing/bargaining etc power the ability to earn money, buy things etc:
•Property in the city is beyond the purchasing power of most people.
•your bargaining power in pay negotiations
8 STRENGTH [U] the physical strength or effect of something; powerful
•the power of a cheetah's long legs
•The power of the explosion smashed windows across the street.
9 ELECTRICITY [U] electricity that is used in houses, factories etc:
•Make sure the power is switched off first.
power cut/failure/outage (=a short time when the electricity supply is not working)
•Parts of the country have had power cuts because of the storms.
•The power came back on.
10 air/sea power the number of planes or ships that a country has available to use in a war
11 STRONG COUNTRY [C] a country that is strong and important and can influence events, or that has a lot of military strength; powerful, powerless
•Egypt is still a major power in the Middle East.
world power (=a country that can influence events in different parts of the world)
12 be in/within sb's power (to do sth) if it is in someone's power to do something, they have the authority or ability to do it:
•I wish it was within my power to change the decision.
do everything/all in your power
•The ambassador promised to do everything in his power to get the hostages released.
13 be beyond sb's power (to do sth) if it is beyond someone's power to do something, they do not have the authority or ability to do it:
•It's beyond the power of the court to make such a decision.
14 be in sb's power literary to be in a situation in which someone has complete control over you
15 do sb a power of good BrE informal to make someone feel more healthy, happy, and hopeful about the future:
•It looks as if your holiday has done you a power of good.
16 MATHEMATICS [C] if a number is increased to the power of three, four, five etc, it is multiplied by itself three, four, five etc times
17 the powers that be the unknown people who have important positions of authority and power, and whose decisions affect your life:
•The powers that be don't want the media to get hold of the story.
18 LENS [U] technical the ability of a LENS, for example in a pair of GLASSes or a MICROSCOPE, to make things look bigger
19 the powers of good/evil/darkness unknown or magical forces that people believe can influence events in a good or evil way
20 a power in the land old-fashioned someone who has a lot of power and influence in a country
21 the power behind the throne someone who secretly controls and influences decisions made by the leader or government of a country, but who does not have an official government position
22 power trip informal if you are on a power trip, you are enjoying your power or authority in a way that other people think is unpleasant
STAYING POWER, BALANCE OF POWER, HIGH-POWERED
1 [T usually passive] to supply power to a vehicle or machine:
•It's powered by a Ferrari V12 engine.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to move with a lot of force and speed:
•His strong body powered through the water.

PHRASAL VERBS
power sth <=> up phr v
to make a machine start working:
•Never move a computer while it is powered up.
HIGH-POWERED[only before noun]
1 driven by an electric motor:
•power tools
•power shower
2 power breakfast/lunch etc informal a meal at which people meet to discuss business
3 power suit informal clothes which you wear at work to make you look important or confident[U]
POWER STEERING[C]
an area or group of people whose support makes a politician or leader powerful:
•the party's traditional power base $ [C]
a powerful MOTORBOAT that is used for racingpower-broker [C]
someone who controls or influences which people get political power in an area
- power-broking noun [U][C] BrE
a period of time when there is no electricity supply; = power failure; = power outage AmE[U]
when you wear a particular style of clothes in order to emphasize how important or powerful you are, especially at work[C]
a tool for making holes that works by electricity $
working or moving using a means of power such as electricity, a motor etc:
•a powered wheelchair
battery-powered/nuclear-powered/mains powered
•a nuclear-powered submarine
high-powered/low-powered
•a high-powered engine
HIGH-POWERED[C]
a period of time when there is no electricity supply $
1 IMPORTANT a powerful person, organization, group etc is able to control and influence events and other people's actions; powerless
•He was one of the most powerful men in Bohemia.
•a very influential and powerful family
•rich and powerful nations
2 SPEECH/FILM ETC having a strong effect on someone's feelings or opinions:
•a powerful speech
powerful reasons/arguments (=reasons that make you think that something must be true)
•Good teamwork is a powerful tool (=very effective method) for effective management.
3 FEELING/EFFECT a powerful feeling or effect is very strong or great:
•Immigrants have had a powerful influence on the local culture.
•a powerful sense of tradition
4 MACHINE/WEAPON ETC a powerful machine, engine, weapon etc is very effective and can do a lot:
•a new generation of more powerful PCs
•a machine that is immensely powerful
•a powerful 24 valve engine
•a powerful telescope
5 PHYSICALLY STRONG physically strong:
•Jed was a powerful, well-built man.
•The females are smaller and less powerful than the males.
6 A LOT OF FORCE a powerful blow, explosion etc has a lot of force:
•an explosion ten times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb
•a powerful right-foot shot on goal
•winds powerful enough to uproot trees
7 MEDICINE a powerful medicine or drug has a very strong effect on your body
8 TEAM/ARMY ETC a powerful team, army etc is very strong and can easily defeat other teams or armies:
•a powerful fighting force
9 QUALITY very strong, bright, loud etc:
•a powerful singing voice
•the powerful headlights
- powerfully adverb
•Christie is very powerfully built.
ALL-POWERFUL $ [C] informal
1 an organization or place where there is a lot of activity or where a lot of things are produced:
•Europe's industrial powerhouse
2 someone who is very strong or has a lot of energy:
•a powerhouse of a man $
unable to stop or control something because you do not have the power, strength, or legal right to do so; powerful
•He felt so powerless.
powerless to do sth
•Local police were powerless to stop them doing it again.
[+against]
•The villagers were powerless against the rising flood water.
- powerlessly adverb
- powerlessness noun [U]
•a sense of frustration and powerlessness[C]
a large wire carrying electricity above or under the ground:
•overhead power lines[C]
a short sleep in the middle of the day that helps you to have more energy, do your job better, and make better decisionsplural powers of attorney [C,U]
law the legal right to make financial decisions, sign documents etc for another person[C] AmE
a period of time when there is no electricity supply; = power failure; = power cut BrE[C]
something that is easily carried from which a piece of electrical equipment can get power, for example a BATTERY[C]
1 a building where electricity is produced to supply a large area; = power station
2 the machine or engine that supplies power to a factory, plane, car etc[C]
BrE a place on a wall where electrical equipment can be connected to the electricity supply; = socket[U]
when a country or person attempts to get power and influence by using or threatening to use force or other actions, especially against another country[U]
an arrangement in which different groups, such as political parties, share the power to make decisions:
•proposals for power-sharing between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland[C]
especially BrE a building where electricity is produced to supply a large area:
•Chernobyl nuclear power station
coal-fired/gas-fired power stationalso power assisted steering [U]
a system for STEERing a vehicle which uses power from the vehicle's engine and so needs less effort from the driver:
•Most new cars now have power steering.[C]
the way in which the group of people who control a country, society, or organization are organized:
•There have been significant changes in the power structure of the company.[C]
a tool that works by electricity[C]
1 a meeting or discussion - used humorously
2 a meeting or council of Native Americans $ old use
1 the pox
a) the disease SYPHILIS
b) the disease SMALLPOX
2 a pox on sb used to show that you were angry or annoyed with someone
CHICKEN POX $ BrE informal
used to show that you do not like something, or do not think it is big or important:
•We've had such poxy weather lately.
•a poxy little roomalso pp BrE
1 the written abbreviation of pages :
•See pp 15 - 17.
2 written before the name of another person when you are signing a letter instead of them [C]
a flat white square with a green letter P on it, that is attached to the car of someone in Britain who has passed their driving test but who is not very experienced [U]
public-private partnership a system of providing money for transport systems, hospitals, schools etc where the government pays some money and private INVESTORs provide the rest of it [C]
1 also P.P.S. AmE a note added after a PS in a letter or message
2 Parliamentary Private Secretary a member of the British parliament whose job is to help a minister $ [U]
1 public relations the work of explaining to the public what an organization does, so that they will understand it and approve of it
PR agency/firm/consultant
•a large PR firm
•The band have been getting a lot of good PR recently.
•Many say it was no more than a PR exercise (=something done to make people think something is good).
2 BrE the abbreviation of proportional representation
a practicable way of doing something is possible in a particular situation:
•The only practicable course of action is to sell the company.
•It is their duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the equipment is safe.
it is practicable (for sb) to do sth
•It may not always be practicable to follow exactly the recommendations.
- practicably adverb
- practicability noun [U]
1 REAL relating to real situations and events rather than ideas, emotions etc; theoretical
•Candidates should have training and practical experience in basic electronics.
•the practical problems of old age
•They provide financial and practical help for disabled students.
•a combination of theoretical and practical training
•They haven't thought about the practical consequences of the new regulations.
• In practical terms, this means spending more time with each student.
2 EFFECTIVE practical plans, methods etc are likely to succeed or be effective in a situation; impractical
•It doesn't sound like a very practical solution.
•a practical way of achieving greater efficiency
•Unfortunately, there's no practical alternative to driving.
•a practical guide to buying and selling a house
3 CLEAR THINKING a practical person is good at dealing with problems and making decisions based on what is possible and what will really work; impractical
•She's a very practical person.
•I was very shocked, but tried to be practical and think what to do.
4 SUITABLE useful or suitable for a particular purpose or situation; impractical
•Skirts aren't very practical in my kind of work.
5 USING YOUR HANDS good at repairing or making things:
•I'm not very practical - I can't even change a light bulb.
6 for/to all practical purposes used to say what the real effect of a situation is:
•The time you spend on it doesn't, for all practical purposes, affect the final result.
7 practical certainty/disaster/sell-out etc something that is almost certain, almost a DISASTER etc:
•Sampras looks a practical certainty to win Wimbledon this year.[C]
BrE a lesson or examination in science, cooking etc in which you have to do or make something yourself rather than write or read about it:
•a chemistry practical
1 practicalities [plural] the real facts of a situation rather than ideas about how it might be
[+of]
•the practicalities of everyday life for someone in a wheelchair
2 [U] how suitable something is, or whether it will work:
•doubts about the practicality of your suggestion
•You need to think about comfort and practicality when choosing walking shoes.
3 [U] the quality of being sensible and basing your plans on what you know will work[C]
a trick that is intended to give someone a surprise or shock, or to make them look stupid
- practical joker noun [C]
1 especially spoken almost:
•I've read practically all of his books.
•She sees him practically every day.
•It's practically impossible to predict what will happen.
•The two designs were practically identical.
2 in a sensible way which takes account of problems:
•'But how can we pay for it?' said John practically.[C] AmE
someone who has been trained and is allowed to do some of the same work as a nurse, but who has less training than a REGISTERED NURSE
1 A SKILL [C,U] when you do a particular thing, often regularly, in order to improve your skill at it:
•It takes hours of practice to learn to play the guitar.
•With a little more practice you should be able to pass your test.
•We have choir practice on Tuesday evening.
in practice for sth
•Schumacher crashed out in practice for the Australian grand prix.
football/rugby/basketball etc practice
•John's at baseball practice.
!! In British English the verb is always spelled practise (>see separate entry). In American English both noun and verb are spelled practice.
2 in practice used when saying what really happens rather than what should happen or what people think happens:
•In practice women receive much lower wages than their male colleagues.
•The journey should only take about 30 minutes, but in practice it usually takes more like an hour.
3 STH DONE OFTEN [C,U] something that people do often, especially a particular way of doing something or a social or religious custom:
•religious beliefs and practices
•dangerous working practices
the practice of doing sth
•the practice of dumping waste into the sea
see box at HABIT
4 DOCTOR/LAWYER [C] the work of a doctor or lawyer, or the place where they work
medical/legal practice
•Mary Beth had a busy legal practice in Los Angeles.
GENERAL PRACTICE, PRIVATE PRACTICE
5 be common/standard/normal practice to be the usual and accepted way of doing something:
• It's common practice in many countries for pupils to repeat a year if their grades are low.
• It's standard practice to seek parents' permission wherever possible.
6 good/best/bad practice an example of a good or bad way of doing something, especially in a particular job:
•It's not considered good practice to reveal clients' names.
7 put sth into practice if you put an idea, plan etc into practice, you start to use it and see if it is effective:
•It gave him the chance to put his ideas into practice.
8 be out of practice to have not done something for a long time, so that you are not able to do it well
9 practice makes perfect used to say that if you do an activity regularly, you will become very good at itpractice AmE BrE
1 [I,T] to do an activity, often regularly, in order to improve your skill or to prepare for a test:
•They moved the furniture back to practise their dance routine.
•It gives students the opportunity to practice their speaking skills.
practise doing sth
•Today we're going to practise parking.
[+for]
•She's practicing for her piano recital.
practise sth on sb
•Everybody wants to practise their English on me.
2 [T] to use a particular method or custom:
•a technique not widely practised in Europe
3 [I,T] to work as a doctor or lawyer:
•medical graduates who intend to practise in the UK
[+as]
•Gemma is now practising as a dentist.
4 [T] if you practise a religion, system of ideas etc, you live your life according to its rules:
•They are free to practice their religion openly.
5 practise what you preach to do the things that you advise other people to do:
•She didn't always practise what she preached.practiced AmE BrE
1 someone who is practised in a particular job or skill is good at it because they have done it many times before:
•a practised performer
practised in (doing) sth
•He was already well practiced in giving acceptance speeches.
to the practised eye (=to someone who has seen something many times and knows a lot about it)
2 [only before noun] a practised action has been done so often that it now seems very easy:
•He faced the television cameras with practised ease.practicing AmE BrE
1 a practising Catholic/Muslim/Jew etc someone who follows the rules and customs of a particular religion; lapsed
2 a practising doctor/lawyer/teacher etc someone who is working as a doctor, lawyer etc:
•Few practicing teachers have time for such research. $ [C]
1 someone who works as a doctor or a lawyer
medical/legal practitioner
•a practitioner of alternative medicine
GENERAL PRACTITIONER
2 someone who regularly does a particular activity:
•one of golf's most experienced practitioners
[+of]
•a practitioner of Taoist philosophy
another spelling of PRESIDIUM
dealing with problems in a sensible, practical way instead of strictly following a set of ideas; dogmatic
•Williams took a more pragmatic approach to management problems.
- pragmatically adverb [U]
technical the study of how words and phrases are used with special meanings in particular situations [U]
a way of dealing with problems in a sensible, practical way instead of following a set of ideas:
•a politician known for his pragmatism
- pragmatist noun [C] $ [C]
a wide open area of fairly flat land in North America which is covered in grass or wheat[C]
a small animal with a short tail, which lives in holes on the prairies [T]
1 to say that you admire and approve of someone or something, especially publicly; criticize
•Jane was praised by her teacher.
praise sb/sth for (doing) sth
•The Mayor praised the rescue teams for their courage.
•a highly praised novel
praise sb/sth to the skies (=praise someone or something very much)
2 to give thanks to God and show your respect to Him, especially by singing in a church
3 God/Heaven be praised also Praise the Lord used to say that you are pleased something has happened and thank God for it

WORD FOCUS: praise
similar words:
compliment v, n
say good things about
to praise someone a lot:
rave about
gush
sing sb's praises
to praise someone in an insincere way:
flatter
butter up
[U]
1 words that you say or write in order to praise someone or something; criticism
• Give plenty of praise and encouragement.
•Mrs. George was full of praise for her nurses (=she praised them a lot).
•His first novel received high praise.
in praise of sb/sth
•a poem in praise of his hero
•Gregory was singled out for special praise.
•There were words of praise for the girls.
•The film has won praise from audiences and critics alike.
2 the expression of respect and thanks to God:
•Let us give praise unto the Lord.
•songs of praise
3 praise be! old-fashioned used when you are very pleased about something that has happened
sing sb's praises at SING (4) $
something that is praiseworthy deserves praise, even though it may not have been completely successful:
•the council's praiseworthy attempts to improve efficiency
- praiseworthiness noun [U] [C,U]
a sweet food made of nuts cooked in boiling sugar [C]
BrE a small vehicle with four wheels in which a baby can lie down while it is being pushed; = baby carriage AmE; buggy
•a young woman pushing a pram $ [I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to walk or dance with high steps or large movements, especially in a confident way
[+around]
•We used to prance around our bedroom pretending to be pop stars.
2 if a horse prances, it moves with high steps [T]
BrE informal to damage a vehicle in an accident
- prang noun [C] [C]
a trick, especially one which is played on someone to make them look silly:
•a childish prank $ [C]
someone who plays tricks on people to make them look silly [I]
old use to talk in a meaningless, boring way about something $ [C]
1 an embarrassing accident or mistake:
•another one of the Vice-President's pratfalls
2 an act of falling down, especially when this is funny or embarrassing [I]
to talk continuously about silly and unimportant things
[+away/on]
•What's Sarah prattling on about?
- prattle noun [U]
- prattler noun [C] $ [C] especially BrE
a small pink SHELLFISH that can be eaten; = shrimp AmE
•a prawn sandwich
•prawn cocktail (=a small dish of prawns in a sauce with some salad) [I,T]
1 to speak to God in order to ask for help or give thanks; prayer
•They went to the mosque to pray.
[+for]
•Let us pray for peace.
[+to]
•Martha prayed to God for help.
pray (that)
•He prayed that his sight might be restored.
2 to wish or hope very strongly that something will happen or is true
pray (that)
•Paul was praying that no one had noticed his absence.
•I hope and pray that this is a misunderstanding.
[+for]
•We're praying for good weather tomorrow.[sentence adverb]
old-fashioned used when politely asking a question or telling someone to do something; = please
•Pray be seated.
•And who, pray tell, is this? $
1 [C] words that you say when praying to God or gods:
•Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.
•The children said their prayers and got into bed.
•God has answered your prayer.
[+for]
•a prayer for the dead
LORD'S PRAYER
2 [U] when someone prays, or the regular habit of praying:
•the power of prayer
•a prayer meeting
in prayer
•The congregation knelt in prayer.
3 [C] a wish or hope that something will happen:
•Her prayer was that she would pass her exams.
4 prayers [plural] a regular religious meeting in a church, school etc, at which people pray together:
•Prayers are at 8 o'clock.
5 not have a prayer (of doing sth) informal to have no chance of succeeding:
•He tried hard, but he didn't have a prayer.
•They don't have a prayer of winning.
6 an/the answer to sb's prayers informal something that someone wants or needs very much:
•The job was an answer to my prayers.
on a wing and a prayer at WING^1 (10)[C]
a book containing prayers that is used in some Christian church servicesalso prayer rug [C]
a small cloth on which Muslims kneel when praying[C]
a drum-shaped object with prayers on it or inside it, which Tibetan Buddhists turn on a pole as a way of prayingalso mantis [C]
a large insect that eats other insects
1 before someone or something; ante-
•prewar (=before a war)
2 in preparation:
•a prearranged signal
•Preset the video.
1 [I,T] to talk about a religious subject in a public place, especially in a church during a service
[+to]
•Christ began preaching to large crowds.
[+on/about]
•The vicar preached a sermon about the prodigal son.
•He traveled the southern states, preaching the gospel.
2 [T] to talk about how good or important something is and try to persuade other people about this:
•Alexander has been preaching patience.
preach the virtues/merits/benefits of sth
•a politician preaching the virtues of a free market
3 [I] to give someone advice, especially about their behaviour, in a way that they think is boring or annoying
[+about]
•grown-ups preaching about the evils of drugs
4 preach to the converted/choir to talk about what you think is right or important to people who already have the same opinions as you
practise what you preach at PRACTISE (5) $ [C]
someone who talks about a religious subject in a public place, especially at a church informal
trying too much to persuade people to accept a particular opinion - used to show disapproval:
•a preachy TV show $ [C,U]
formal a statement at the beginning of a book, document, or talk, explaining what it is about
[+to]
•the preamble to the American Constitution
•Harding gave him the news without preamble (=without saying anything else before it).
planned or decided before:
•At a prearranged signal, everyone stood up.
- prearrangement noun [U] [C]
a statement that a politician makes saying that a criticism of them is false or unfair, before the criticism has been made; rebuttal
•Wiggins issued a prebuttal against his opponent's speech, even before the text was delivered to reporters. $
1 a precarious situation or state is one which may very easily or quickly become worse:
•Her health remained precarious, despite the treatment.
•the company's precarious financial position
2 likely to fall, or likely to cause someone to fall:
•a precarious mountain trail
- precariously adverb
•a cup of tea balanced precariously on her knee
- precariousness noun [U] $
precast CONCRETE is already formed into the shapes needed to build something $ [C usually plural]
something you do in order to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening:
•Fire precautions were neglected.
as a precaution
•The traffic barriers were put there as a safety precaution.
[+against]
•Save your work often as a precaution against computer failure.
wise/sensible precaution
•The trails are well marked, but carrying a map is a wise precaution.
•Vets took precautions to prevent the spread of the disease.
take the precaution of doing sth
•I took the precaution of insuring my camera. $
done in order to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening:
•More troops were sent to the area as a precautionary measure. [T] formal
1 to happen or exist before something or someone, or to come before something else in a series; preceding
•a type of cloud that precedes rain
•Lunch will be preceded by a short speech from the chairman.
2 to go somewhere before someone else:
•The guard preceded them down the corridor. [U]
when someone or something is considered to be more important than someone or something else, and therefore comes first or must be dealt with first; = priority
[+over]
•Do we want a society where appearance takes precedence over skill or virtue?
•Guests were seated in order of precedence.
•Safety must be given precedence.
1 [C] an action or official decision that can be used to give support to later actions or decisions:
•a legal precedent
set/create a precedent
•UN involvement in the country's affairs would set a dangerous precedent.
[+for]
•precedents for what courts will accept as 'fair'
2 [C,U] something of the same type that has happened or existed before
[+for]
•There's not much precedent for men taking leave when their baby is born.
without precedent
•An epidemic on this scale is without precedent.
3 [U] the way that things have always been done
break with precedent (=do something in a new way) [only before noun]
formal happening or coming before the time, place, or part mentioned; = previous; following
preceding days/weeks/months/years
•income tax paid in preceding years
preceding chapter/paragraph/page etc
•the diagram in the preceding chapter [C]
formal a rule on which a way of thinking or behaving is based:
•basic moral precepts
1 [C] shopping/pedestrian precinct BrE an area of a town where people can walk and shop, and where cars are not allowed
2 [C] AmE one of the areas that a town or city is divided into, so that elections or police work can be organized more easily
3 [C] AmE the main police station in a particular area of a town or city
4 precincts [plural] the area that surrounds an important building:
•the precincts of the cathedral
1 something that is precious is valuable and important and should not be wasted or used without care
precious seconds/minutes/hours/time
•We cannot afford to waste precious time.
•planes delivering precious supplies of medicine and food
•our planet's precious resources
2 rare and worth a lot of money
precious gem/stone/jewel
•a statue covered with precious jewels
3 precious memories or possessions are important to you because they remind you of people you like or events in your life
[+to]
•The doll is cracked and worn, but it's precious to me because it was my mother's.
4 [only before noun] spoken used to show that you are annoyed that someone seems to care too much about something:
•I never touched your precious car!
5 spoken used to speak to someone you love, especially a baby or small child:
•Come sit by me, precious.
6 AmE spoken used in order to describe someone or something that is small and pretty; = cute
•The kids gave me that ornament. Isn't it precious?
7 formal too concerned about style or detail in your writing or speech, so that it does not seem natural:
•His early work is rather precious and juvenile.
- preciously adverb
- preciousness noun [U]informal
precious little/few very little or very few:
•I had precious little time for reading.[C,U]
a rare and valuable metal such as gold or silver[C]
a rare and valuable jewel such as a DIAMOND or an EMERALD; semi-precious [C]
1 a very steep side of a high rock, mountain or cliff:
•A loose rock tumbled over the precipice.
2 a dangerous situation in which something very bad could happen:
•The stock market is on the edge of a precipice.
1 [T] formal to make something serious happen suddenly or more quickly than was expected; = hasten
•The riot was precipitated when four black men were arrested.
2 [I,T + out] technical to separate a solid substance from a liquid by chemical action, or to be separated in this way

PHRASAL VERBS
precipitate sb into sth phr v formal
to force someone or something into a particular state or condition:
•The drug treatment precipitated him into a depression. [C]
technical a solid substance that has been chemically separated from a liquidformal
happening or done too quickly, and not thought about carefully; = hasty
•a precipitate decision
- precipitately adverb
1 [U] technical rain, snow etc that falls on the ground, or the amount of rain, snow etc that falls
2 [C,U] technical a chemical process in which a solid substance is separated from a liquid
3 [U] formal the act of doing something too quickly in a way that is not sensible
1 very sudden:
•a precipitous decline in stock prices
2 dangerously high or steep:
•a precipitous path
3 formal happening or done too quickly, and not thought about carefully:
•a precipitous marriage
- precipitously adverb $ $ plural précis [C]
especially BrE a statement which gives the main idea of a piece of writing, speech etc; = summary; = abstract AmE
•a précis of the report
- précis verb [T]
1 precise information, details etc are exact, clear, and correct; = exact
•precise sales figures
•It was difficult to get precise information.
•'She's a lot older than you, isn't she?' 'Fifteen years, to be precise.'
2 [only before noun] used to emphasize that you are referring to an exact thing; = exact
•At that precise moment, her husband walked in.
•The precise cause of the disease is unknown.
•the precise location of the ship
•the precise nature of their agreement
3 someone who is precise is very careful about small details or about the way they behave:
•a precise, careful woman
•with precise movements of his hands
1 exactly and correctly; = exactly
•Temperature can be measured precisely.
•He arrived at precisely 4 o'clock.
precisely what/how/where etc
•It is difficult to know precisely how much impact the changes will have.
•What, precisely, does that mean?
•Lathes make wheels, or, more precisely, they make cylindrical objects.
2 used to emphasize that a particular thing is completely true or correct:
•Women in these jobs are paid less precisely because most of the jobs are held by women rather than men.
•She's precisely the kind of person we're looking for.
3 spoken formal used to say that you agree completely with someone:
•'It needs to be dealt with now.' 'Precisely, before it gets any worse.' [U]
the quality of being very exact or correct
with precision
•The work was carried out with military precision (=the work was done in a carefully planned and exact way).[only before noun]
1 made or done in a very exact way:
•precision engineering
•precision bombing
2 precision tool/instrument a precision tool or instrument is used for making or measuring something in a very exact way [T]
formal to prevent something or make something impossible:
•rules that preclude experimentation in teaching methods
preclude sb from doing something
•Age alone will not preclude him from standing as a candidate. $
a precocious child shows intelligence or skill at a very young age, or behaves in an adult way - sometimes used to show disapproval in British English:
•a precocious child who walked and talked early
- precociously adverb
- precociousness also precocity $ noun [U] $ [U]
formal the knowledge that something will happen before it actually does [only before noun]
preconceived ideas, opinions etc are formed before you really have enough knowledge or experience:
•preconceived notions about art
•We started from scratch with no preconceived ideas. [C]
a belief or opinion that you have already formed before you know the actual facts, and that may be wrong
[+about/of]
•I had the same preconceptions about life in South Africa that many people have. [C]
something that must happen or exist before something else can happen
[+of/for]
•A ceasefire is a precondition for talks.
precooked food has been partly or completely cooked before it is sold so that it can be quickly heated up later
- precook verb [T] $ [C]
formal something that happened or existed before something else and influenced its development
[+of/to]
•a precursor of modern jazz [T]
to happen or exist earlier in history than something else:
•The kingdom predates other African cultures by over 3,000 years. [U]
technical when an animal kills and eats another animal $ [C]
1 an animal that kills and eats other animals; prey
2 someone who tries to use another person's weakness to get advantages:
•a sexual predator $
1 a predatory animal kills and eats other animals for food
2 trying to use someone's weakness to get advantages for yourself - used to show disapproval:
•predatory pricing $ [C]
1 someone who had your job before you started doing it; successor
•Kennedy's predecessor as president was the war hero Dwight Eisenhower.
2 a machine, system etc that existed before another one in a process of development; successor
•The new BMW has a more powerful engine than its predecessor. [U]
the belief that God has decided everything that will happen and that people cannot change this
something that is predestined is certain to happen because it has been decided by God or FATE
predestined to do sth
•They believed that kings were predestined to rule. $ formal
decided or arranged before something happens, so that it does not happen by chance
predetermined level/limit/amount etc
•a predetermined level of spending
- predetermine verb [T]
•The colour of your eyes is predetermined by the colours of your parents' eyes.
- predetermination $ noun [U] $ [C]
technical a word that is used before a DETERMINER (=a word such as 'the', 'that', 'his' etc). In the phrases 'all the boys' and 'both his parents', the words 'all' and 'both' are predeterminers. [C]
a difficult or unpleasant situation in which you do not know what to do, or in which you have to make a difficult choice:
•the country's economic predicament
•She went to the office to explain her predicament.
in a predicament
•Other married couples are in a similar predicament. [C]
technical the part of a sentence that makes a statement about the subject, such as 'swim' in 'Fish swim' and 'is an artist' in 'She is an artist'; subject
be predicated on/upon sth formal if an action or event is predicated on a belief or situation, it is based on it or depends on it:
•The company's expansion was predicated on the assumption that sales would rise. $
technical a predicative adjective or phrase comes after a verb, for example 'happy' in the sentence 'She is happy.'
- predicatively adverb [T]
to say that something will happen, before it happens; prediction
•Sales were five percent lower than predicted.
predict (that)
•Newspapers predicted that Davis would be re-elected.
predict whether/what/how etc
•It is difficult to predict what the long-term effects of the accident will be.
• As Liz had predicted, the rumours were soon forgotten.
be predicted to do sth
•Unemployment is predicted to increase to 700,000 by the end of the year.
if something or someone is predictable, you know what will happen or what they will do - sometimes used to show disapproval:
•The snow had a predictable effect on traffic.
•an entertaining but predictable film
•Logan's reaction was predictable.
- predictably adverb [sentence adverb]
•Predictably, no one was home when I called.
- predictability noun [U] [C,U]
a statement about what you think is going to happen, or the act of making this statement
[+of]
•predictions of a Republican victory
•The data can be used to make useful economic predictions. [usually before noun]
formal relating to the ability to show what is going to happen in the future:
•Dreams, even vivid ones, have little predictive value. $ [C]
formal something that shows what will happen in the future
[+of]
•High blood pressure is a strong predictor of heart attacks. $ [C]
formal if you have a predilection for something, especially something unusual, you like it very much
[+for]
•Mrs Lane's predilection for gossip $ [T]
1 to make someone more likely to suffer from a particular health problem
predispose sb to sth
•Diabetes predisposes patients to infections.
2 to make someone more likely to behave or think in a particular way
predispose sb to sth
•Parents who smoke predispose children to smoking.
- predisposed adjective
•genetically predisposed to gain weight [C]
a tendency to behave in a particular way or suffer from a particular illness
[+to/towards]
•a predisposition towards alcoholism $
1 [singular] if there is a predominance of one type of person or thing in a group, there are more of that type than of any other type
[+of]
•a predominance of boys in the class
2 [U] someone or something that has predominance has the most power or importance in a particular group or area:
•Britain's naval predominance $
more powerful, more common, or more easily noticed than others:
•the predominant group in society
•In this painting, the predominant colour is black. $
mostly or mainly:
•The city's population is predominantly Irish. $ [I] formal
1 if one type of person or thing predominates in a group or area, there are more of this type than any other:
•Pine trees predominate in this area of forest.
2 to have the most importance or influence, or to be most easily noticed:
•In this type of case, the rights of the parent predominate. [C]
AmE informal a PREMATURE babypreeminent
much more important, more powerful, or better than any others of its kind:
•his pre-eminent position in society
- pre-eminently adverb
- pre-eminence noun [U]preempt [T]
1 to make what someone has planned to do or say unnecessary or ineffective by saying or doing something first:
•The deal pre-empted a strike by rail workers.
2 AmE to replace a television show with a special programme or report:
•Regular programming was preempted by a report on the war.
- pre-emption noun [U]preemptive
a pre-emptive action is done to prevent something from happening, especially something that will harm you
pre-emptive strike/attack
•a series of pre-emptive strikes on guerilla bases [I,T]
1 if a bird preens or preens itself, it cleans itself and makes its feathers smooth using its beak
2 to spend time making yourself look tidier and more attractive
preen yourself
•a girl preening herself in the mirror
3 to look proud and feel pleased because of something you have done
preen yourself
•He enjoyed the applause, preening himself like a pop star.preexisting [only before noun]
formal existing before a particular time or event:
•Inform your doctor of any pre-existing medical condition. $ [C]
informal a small prefabricated building
built from parts which are made in standard sizes so that they can be put together anywhere:
•a prefabricated house
- prefabrication noun [U] [C]
an introduction at the beginning of a book or speech[T]
formal to say or do something before the main part of what you are going to say:
•The book is prefaced by a quotation from Faulkner. $ [only before noun] formal
forming a preface or introduction:
•a few prefatory remarks [C]
1 an older student in some British schools, who has special duties and helps to control younger students
2 a public official in some countries etc who is responsible for a particular area $ [C]
a large area which has its own local government in some countries:
•Saitama prefecture $ past tense and past participle preferred, present participle preferring [T not in progressive]
1 to like someone or something more than someone or something else, so that you would choose it if you could; preference
•This type of owl prefers a desert habitat.
•She prefers her coffee black.
•the government's preferred option
prefer sb/sth to sb/sth
•a child that prefers his imaginary world to reality
•Employees said they would prefer more flexible working hours.
prefer to do sth
•I prefer to wear clothes made of natural fibers.
•Or, if you prefer, you can email us.
prefer doing sth
•Chantal prefers travelling by train.
prefer that
•We prefer that our teachers have a degree in early childhood education.
2 I would prefer it if spoken
a) used to say that you wish a situation was different:
•Sales have gone down, and obviously we'd prefer it if that didn't happen.
b) used when telling someone politely not to do something:
•I'd prefer it if you didn't smoke in front of the children.
3 prefer charges BrE law to make an official statement that someone has done something illegal
better or more suitable:
•For this dish, fresh herbs and garlic are preferable.
•In warm weather, clothes made of natural fabrics are infinitely preferable (=much better).
preferable to (doing) sth
•Being taught in a small group is far preferable to being in a large, noisy classroom.
used in order to show which person, thing, place, or idea you think would be the best choice:
•Students must take two years of a foreign language, preferably Spanish.
1 [C,U] if you have a preference for something, you like it more than another thing and will choose it if you can; prefer
•Do you have a colour preference?
[+for]
•a cultural preference for boy babies
•Parents may be able to express a preference as to the school their child will attend.
•The amount of sugar you add will depend on personal preference.
•Many elderly people expressed a strong preference to live in their own homes.
in preference to sth (=rather than something)
•Use clear English in preference to technical language.
2 [C,U] when someone is treated more favourably than other people, often when he or she has been treated unfairly in the past:
•Racial preferences are a way to make up for years of discrimination against minorities.
give/show preference (to sb)
•In allocating housing, preference is given to families with young children.
3 sexual preference someone's sexual preference is whether they want to have sex with men or women [only before noun]
preferential treatment, rates etc are deliberately different in order to give an advantage to particular people:
•preferential credit terms for reliable borrowers
- preferentially adverb $ [U]
formal when someone is given a more important job $ [T]
formal to be a sign that something will happen later [C]
1 technical a group of letters that is added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning and make a new word, such as 'un' in 'untie' or 'mis' in 'misunderstand'; affix, suffix
2 a number or letter that comes before other numbers or letters, especially a group of numbers that comes before a telephone number when you are calling someone in a different area
3 old-fashioned a title such as 'Ms' or 'Dr' used before someone's name; = title[T]
1 to add a prefix to a word, name, or set of numbers
2 formal to say something before the main part of what you have to say plural pregnancies [C,U]
when a woman is pregnant (=has a baby growing inside her body):
•This drug should not be taken during pregnancy.
•her third pregnancy
•teenage pregnancies
•a pregnancy test
1 if a woman or female animal is pregnant, she has an unborn baby growing inside her body; pregnancy
•medical care for pregnant women
•I knew right away that I was pregnant.
•I thought I was too old to get pregnant.
twenty weeks/three months etc pregnant
•She's about five months pregnant.
[+with]
•Maria was pregnant with her second child.
•I didn't mean to get her pregnant (=make her pregnant).
•His wife was heavily pregnant (=almost ready to give birth).
2 pregnant pause/silence a pause or silence which is full of meaning or emotion:
•He stopped, and there was a pregnant pause.
3 pregnant with sth formal containing a lot of a quality:
•Every phrase in this poem is pregnant with meaning. [T]
to heat an OVEN to a particular temperature before it is used to cook something:
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. $ technical
a prehensile tail, foot etc can curl around things and hold on to them $
1 relating to the time in history before anything was written down:
•prehistoric burial grounds
•prehistoric animals
2 very old-fashioned - used humorously:
•a prehistoric attitude towards women [U]
the time in history before anything was written down [T]
to form an opinion about someone or something before you know or have considered all the facts - used to show disapproval:
•Shepherd's case was prejudged by the media before her trial.
- prejudgment noun [C,U]
1 [C,U] an unreasonable dislike and distrust of people who are different from you in some way, especially because of their race, sex, religion etc - used to show disapproval:
•Women still face prejudice in the workplace.
•It takes a long time to overcome these kinds of prejudices.
[+against]
•a cultural prejudice against fat people
racial/sexual prejudice
•Asian pupils complained of racial prejudice at the school.
2 without prejudice (to sth) law without harming or affecting something:
•He was able to turn down the promotion without prejudice, and applied again several years later.
3 to the prejudice of sth formal in a way that has a harmful effect or influence on something[T]
1 to influence someone so that they have an unfair or unreasonable opinion about someone or something:
•There was concern that reports in the media would prejudice the jury.
prejudice sb against sth
•My own schooldays prejudiced me against all formal education.
2 to have a bad effect on the future success or situation of someone or something:
•A criminal record will prejudice your chances of getting a job.
•He refused to comment, saying he did not wish to prejudice the outcome of the talks.
1 having an unreasonable dislike of someone or something, especially a dislike of a group of people who belong to a different race, sex, or religion - used to show disapproval:
•Some officers were racially prejudiced.
•an intolerant and prejudiced man
[+against]
•The early Christian church was prejudiced against the Jews.
•Environmentalists are prejudiced against the dam.
2 seriously affected by a bad situation:
•The council must provide housing for young people whose welfare is seriously prejudiced. formal
having a bad effect on something:
•prejudicial testimony [C]
a BISHOP, CARDINAL, or other important priest in the Christian church $ [only before noun]
happening before something that is more important, often in order to prepare for it:
•the preliminary stages of the competition
•a preliminary draft
[+to]
•The discussions were preliminary to preparing a policy paper.plural preliminaries [C usually plural]
1 something that is said or done first, to introduce or prepare for something else
[+to]
•Pilot studies are a useful preliminary to large research projects.
•After the usual preliminaries, the chairman made his announcement.
2 one of the games in the first part of a competition, when it is decided who will go on to the main competition:
•Four teams will be eliminated in the preliminaries.
a society that is preliterate has not developed a written language; illiterate
a pre-loved house, pet etc has already been owned by someone else - used especially in advertisements to suggest the previous owner cared strongly about the object, animal etc [C]
1 a prelude to sth if an event is a prelude to a more important event, it happens just before it and makes people expect it:
•Living together as a prelude to marriage is now considered acceptable in many countries.
2 a short piece of music, especially one played at the beginning of a longer musical piece or before a church ceremony:
•Chopin's preludes
•an organ prelude
happening or existing before marriage:
•premarital sex $
1 happening before the natural or proper time:
•his premature death due to cancer
•premature ageing of the skin
2 a premature baby is born before the usual time of birth:
•a premature birth
•The baby was six weeks premature.
3 done too early or too soon:
•a premature order to attack
•Any talk of a deal is premature.
it is premature (for sb) to do sth
•It would be premature to accuse anyone until the investigation is complete.
- prematurely adverb
•The baby was born prematurely.pre-med AmE
relating to classes that prepare a student for medical school, or to the students who are taking these classes:
•a premed student
- premed, pre-med noun [U] $
a premeditated crime or attack is planned in advance and done deliberately:
•premeditated murder $ [U]
the act of thinking about something and planning it before you actually do it
happening or relating to the time just before a woman's PERIOD (=the time each month when blood flows from her body)[U]
PMS the tiredness, headache, bad temper etc experienced by some women in the days before their PERIOD; = premenstrual tension BrE[U] BrE
PMT the tiredness, headache, bad temper etc experienced by some women in the days before their PERIOD $ [C]
a PRIME MINISTER - used in news reports:
•the Irish Premier[only before noun] formal
best or most important:
•one of Dublin's premier hotelspremière $ [C]
the first public performance of a film, play, or piece of music:
•Rossini's work had its premiere at the Paris Opera.
•a movie premiere
•the play's world premiere (=the first performance in the world)
- premiere verb [I,T]
•The movie premiered on December 21, 1937. $ [C,U]
the period when someone is PRIME MINISTER
1 premises [plural] the buildings and land that a shop, restaurant, company etc uses:
•Schools may earn extra money by renting out their premises.
•business premises
off the premises
•The manager escorted him off the premises.
on the premises
•The wonderful desserts are made on the premises.
2 [C] also premiss BrE a statement or idea that you accept as true and use as a base for developing other ideas:
•The idea that there is life on other planets is the central premise of the novel.
premise that
•the premise that an accused person is innocent until they are proved guilty
be premised on/upon sth to be based on a particular idea or belief:
•The program is premised on the idea that drug addiction can be cured.
1 [C] the cost of insurance, especially the amount that you pay each year:
•insurance premiums
2 [C] an additional amount of money, above a standard rate or amount:
•Consumers are prepared to pay a premium for organically grown vegetables.
•Top quality cigars are being sold at a premium.
3 be at a premium if something is at a premium, people need it or want it, but there is little of it available or it is difficult to get:
•During the Olympic Games, accommodation will be at a premium.
space/time is at a premium
•Foldaway furniture is the answer where space is at a premium.
4 put/place a premium on sth to consider one quality or type of thing as being much more important than others:
•Modern economies place a premium on educated workers.
5 [U] especially AmE good quality petrol
1 of very high quality:
•premium ice cream
•the current consumer trend for premium products
• premium quality British potatoes
2 premium price/rate premium prices and rates are higher than usual ones:
•People are prepared to pay premium prices for quality products.
•Calls are charged at the premium rate of 60p per minute.[C]
a document that you buy from the government in Britain, which gives you the chance to win a large amount of money each monthBrE
premium rate number/line/service a telephone connection to a particular service or company that costs a lot more than the usual rate when you call it because the company you are calling takes some of the money that you pay [C]
a strange feeling that something, especially something bad, is going to happen
[+of]
•a premonition of death
premonition that
•When Anne didn't arrive, Paul had a premonition that she was in danger. $ formal
giving a warning that something unpleasant is going to happen:
•premonitory symptoms of the disease [only before noun]
relating to unborn babies and the care of PREGNANT women; = antenatal BrE
•prenatal care
•prenatal screening
- prenatally adverbalso pre-nup informal [C]
a legal document that is written before a man and a woman get married, in which they agree things such as how much money each will get if they DIVORCE $
1 [singular,U] when someone thinks or worries about something a lot, with the result that they do not pay attention to other things
[+with]
•the current preoccupation with sex and scandal
•The management's preoccupation with costs and profits resulted in a drop in quality and customer service.
2 [C] something that you give all your attention to
main/chief/central etc preoccupation
•Their main preoccupation was how to feed their families. $
thinking about something a lot, with the result that you do not pay attention to other things:
•What's wrong with Cindy? She seems a little preoccupied.
[+with]
•He's completely preoccupied with all the wedding preparations at the moment. $ past tense and past participle preoccupied, present participle preoccupying, third person singular preoccupies [T]
formal if something preoccupies someone, they think or worry about it a lot $ medical
relating to the time before a medical operation; postoperative
•the patient's preoperative assessment $
formal if something is preordained, it is certain to happen in the future because God or FATE has decided it:
•Is everything we do preordained? $
if something that is for sale is pre-owned, it has been owned and used by someone else before - used especially in advertisements to make something not sound old; = second-hand BrE; = used AmE
•pre-owned cars [U]
BrE informal work that is done by students on their own, after classes have finished - used in private schools; = homeworkpast participle prepped, present participle prepping AmE informal
1 [T] to prepare someone for an operation or an examination
2 [T] to prepare food for cooking in a restaurant
3 [I] to prepare for something that you are going to do:
•I have to prep for my afternoon class.also prep BrE
the written abbreviation of preposition
prepackaged foods have already been prepared when you buy them, so that they are ready to eat, or only have to be heated:
•prepackaged microwave meals
prepacked food or other goods are wrapped before they are sent to the shop where they are sold:
•prepacked vegetables
if something is prepaid, it is paid for before it is needed or used:
•The shipping charges are prepaid.
•a prepaid envelope
1 [U] the process of preparing something:
•This dish is good for dinner parties because much of the preparation can be done ahead of time.
[+for]
•Business training is a good preparation for any career.
[+of]
•the preparation of the budget
do sth in preparation for sth (=in order to prepare for something)
•He is practising every day, in preparation for the ice-skating championship.
•Plans for the new school are now in preparation.
•a course in food service and food preparation
2 preparations [plural] arrangements for something that is going to happen
[+for]
•Preparations for the upcoming Olympic Games are nearing completion.
• Preparations are being made for the President's visit.
•The festival was a great success, and preparations are underway (=have started) for another one next summer.
3 [C] formal a mixture that has been prepared and that is used for a particular purpose, especially as a medicine or to make your skin more attractive:
•a new preparation for cleansing the skin $
1 [only before noun] done in order to get ready for something:
•preparatory talks to clear the way for a peace settlement
•preparatory drawings
•A lot of preparatory work still needs to be done.
2 preparatory to sth formal before something else and in order to prepare for it:
•The partners held several meetings preparatory to signing the agreement.[C]
1 a private school in Britain for children between the ages of 8 and 13
2 a private school in the US that prepares students for college $
1 MAKE STH [T]
a) to make a meal or a substance:
•Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking.
•When we got home, Stephano was busy preparing dinner.
!! It is fairly formal to say that someone prepares a meal. It is more usual to say that they make or cook a meal: Bella was making dinner.
b) to write a document, make a programme etc:
•Health and safety officers will investigate the site and prepare a report.
•Green set himself the task of preparing a map of this remote area.
2 MAKE PLANS/ARRANGEMENTS [I,T] to make plans or arrangements for something that will happen in the future; = get ready
[+for]
•The 45 year-old explorer has been preparing for his latest expedition to the Arctic.
prepare to do sth
•Her parents were busy preparing to go on holiday.
•The prosecution wanted more time to prepare their case.
3 MAKE STH READY [T] to make something ready to be used:
•Prepare the soil, then plant the seedlings 8 inches apart.
prepare sth for sb/sth
•Coulthard's team were up all night preparing the car for the race.
4 MAKE YOURSELF READY [T] to make yourself mentally or physically ready for something that you expect to happen soon
prepare yourself (for sth)
•The letter arrived, and we prepared ourselves for bad news.
•Can you just give me a couple more moments to prepare myself?
prepare yourself for a race/fight etc
•The Chicago Bears are busy preparing themselves for the big game.
prepare to do sth
•Buy the album, and prepare to be amazed.
5 MAKE SB READY [T] to provide someone with the training, skills, experience etc that they will need to do a job or to deal with a situation
prepare sb for sth
•a course that prepares students for English examinations
•Schools should do more to prepare children for the world of work.
•What does a coach do to prepare his team for the Superbowl?
6 prepare the way/ground for sb/sth to make it possible for something to be achieved, or for someone to succeed in doing something:
•Curie's research prepared the way for the work of modern nuclear scientists. $
1 be prepared to do sth to be willing to do something, especially something difficult or something that you do not usually do:
•You have to be prepared to take risks in this kind of work.
•How much is she prepared to pay?
2 READY TO DEAL WITH STH [not before noun] ready to do something or deal with a situation
[+for]
•I wasn't prepared for all their questions.
well/fully/inadequately etc prepared
•Luckily, we were well prepared for the storm.
ill-prepared (=not ready to deal with a difficult situation)
•The country was ill-prepared to fight another war.
•There was no news and we were prepared for the worst (=expected something very bad).
3 I'm not prepared to do sth spoken used when saying strongly that you refuse to do something:
•I'm not prepared to sit here and listen to this rubbish!
4 MADE EARLIER planned, made, or written at an earlier time, so that it is ready when it is needed:
•The president read out a prepared statement. $ [U] formal
1 when someone is ready for something:
•the country's lack of military preparedness
2 when someone is willing to do something:
•their preparedness to break the law [only before noun]
pre-pay MOBILE PHONE systems make you pay before you use the service, rather than sending you a demand for money after you have been using it past tense and past participle prepaid [I,T]
to pay for something before you need it or use it
- prepayment noun [C,U] $ formal
1 a preponderance of sth if there is a preponderance of people or things of a particular type in a group, there are more of that type than of any other:
•There is a preponderance of female students in the music department.
2 a preponderance of the evidence law most of the EVIDENCE in a law case $ formal
main, most important, or most frequent
- preponderantly adverb
•the preponderantly female staff at the factory $ [I]
formal to be more important or frequent than something else [C]
a word that is used before a noun, PRONOUN, or GERUND to show place, time, direction etc. In the phrase 'the trees in the park', 'in' is a preposition
- prepositional adjective[C]
technical a phrase beginning with a preposition, such as 'in bed' or 'at war' formal
looking attractive or pleasant:
•a prepossessing smile $ formal
completely unreasonable or silly; = absurd
•The whole idea sounds absolutely preposterous!
- preposterously adverb
- preposterousness noun [U] AmE informal
preppy clothes or styles are very neat, in a way that is typical of students who go to expensive private schools in the US[C,U]
informal a PREPARATORY SCHOOL formal
relating to the time just before a child reaches PUBERTY [C]
a book, film etc that tells you what happened before the story told in a previous popular book or film; sequel
[+to]
•'The Phantom Menace' is a prequel to 'Star Wars'. $
1 relating to the members of a group of late 19th century English painters and artists:
•a Pre-Raphaelite painting
2 used to describe a woman's hair that is long and curly
- Pre-Raphaelite noun [C] $ [T]
to record music, a radio programme etc on a machine so that it can be used later:
•a prerecorded interview
- prerecording noun [C,U] [C]
formal something that is necessary before something else can happen or be done
[+for/of/to]
•A reasonable proficiency in English is a prerequisite for the course. $ [C usually singular]
a right that someone has, especially because of their importance or social position
[+of]
•Education was once the prerogative of the elite.
•Arriving late is a woman's prerogative.
• the royal prerogative (=the rights of kings and queens)also pres BrE
1 the written abbreviation of present
2 the written abbreviation of president [T]
formal to be a sign that something is going to happen, especially something bad:
•The large number of moderate earthquakes that have occurred recently could presage a larger quake soon.
- presage noun [C]
•a presage of doom $ [C]
a member of a Protestant church, which is one of the largest churches in the US, and is the national church of Scotland
- Presbyterian adjective
- Presbyterianism noun [U] $ plural presbyteries [C]
1 a local court or council of the Presbyterian church or the area controlled by that church
2 a house in which a Roman Catholic priest lives
3 the eastern part of a church, behind the area where the CHOIR (=singers) sitspre-school
relating to the time in a child's life before they are old enough to go to school:
•preschool children[C,U] AmE
a school for children between two and five years of age; = kindergarten BrE $ [C]
AmE a child who does not yet go to school, or who goes to preschool $ formal
able to imagine or know what will happen in the future
- prescience noun [U] [T]
1 to say what medicine or treatment a sick person should have; prescription
prescribe sb sth
•If these don't work I may have to prescribe you something stronger.
prescribe sth for sth
•the drugs prescribed for his stomach pains
2 formal to state officially what should be done in a particular situation:
•What punishment does the law prescribe for this crime?
decided by a rule:
•All schools must follow the prescribed curriculum. [C]
formal an official order or rule [C]
1 a piece of paper on which a doctor writes what medicine a sick person should have, so that they can get it from a PHARMACIST; prescribe
[+for]
•a prescription for sleeping pills
•We are trying to cut the price of prescription drugs.
•a repeat prescription (=one that you have regularly)
fill a prescription AmE (=get the drugs a doctor has written that you need)
•I got the prescription filled on the way home.
2 a particular medicine or treatment ordered by a doctor for a sick person:
•If you're pregnant, you can get free prescriptions.
3 on prescription BrE by prescription AmE a drug that you get on prescription can only be obtained with a written order from the doctor; over the counter
4 an idea or suggestion about how you should behave, or how to make a situation, activity etc successful
[+for]
•The party's main prescription for educational problems was to give schools more money.
1 saying how something should or must be done, or what should be done:
•prescriptive teaching methods
2 stating how a language should be used, rather than describing how it is used; descriptive
•prescriptive grammar
3 prescriptive right BrE law a right that has existed for so long that it is as effective as a law
- prescriptively adverb [only before noun]
preseason matches, training etc happen in the time immediately before a sport's normal SEASON:
•preseason training
1 [U] when someone or something is present in a particular place; absence
•Your presence is requested at the club meeting on Friday.
[+of]
•Tests revealed the presence of poison in the blood.
2 in the presence of sb also in sb's presence formal with someone or in the same place as them:
•He was determined not to complain in the presence of the nurse.
•I asked you not to smoke in my presence.
3 APPEARANCE/MANNER [U] the ability to appear impressive to people because of your appearance or the way you behave:
•a man of great presence
4 OFFICIAL GROUP [singular] a group of people, especially soldiers, who are in a place to control what is happening:
•We will increase police presence in local communities.
•Soldiers still maintain a military presence in the area.
5 BUSINESS [C usually singular] the ability to gain sales because your business is strong or noticeable:
•a company with a strong presence in all major world markets
6 SPIRIT [C usually singular] a spirit or influence that cannot be seen but is felt to be near:
•They felt a strange presence in the deserted house.
7 make your presence felt to have a strong and noticeable effect on the people around you or the situation you are in:
•She was a very pretty girl and made her presence felt almost at once.[U]
the ability to deal with a dangerous situation calmly and quickly
have the presence of mind to do sth
•I'm glad she had the presence of mind to take down the car's registration number.
1 PLACE [not before noun] in a particular place; absent
[+at/in]
•Foreign observers were present at the elections.
•the gases present in the earth's atmosphere
2 MEMORY [not before noun] to be felt strongly or remembered for a long time
[+in]
•The memory of her brother's death is still present in her mind.
3 TIME [only before noun] happening or existing now:
•the present situation of the millions of people who are suffering poverty and disease
• At the present time we have no explanation for this.
4 the present day also the present in the time now, or modern times:
•The practice has continued from medieval times to the present day.
5 the present also the present tense technical the form of the verb that shows an existing state or action:
•the present tense of the verb 'to be'
6 all present and correct BrE all present and accounted for AmE used to say that everyone who is supposed to be in a place, at a meeting etc is now here
7 present company excepted spoken used when you are criticizing a group of people and you want to tell the people you are with that they are not included in the criticism:
•Women are never satisfied with anything! Present company excepted, of course.
PRESENTLY
1 GIVE [T] to give something to someone, for example at a formal or official occasion
present sb with sth
•He was presented with a bottle of champagne.
•She was presented with an award.
present sth to sb/sth
•The computer centre presented a cheque for £500 to cancer research.
2 CAUSE STH TO HAPPEN [T] to cause something to happen or exist
present sb with sth
•I knew I had presented her with an impossible task.
present a problem/difficulty
•Large classes present great problems to many teachers.
3 present yourself to talk and behave in a particular way when you meet people:
•He presents himself well.
4 DESCRIPTION [T] to show or describe someone or something:
•The artist was determined to present an accurate picture.
•We'll present the information using a chart.
present sb as sth
•Shakespeare presents the hero as a noble man doomed to make mistakes.
present yourself as sth
•The government presents itself as being sensitive to environmental issues.
5 SPEECH [T] to give a speech in which you offer an idea, plan etc to be considered or accepted:
•Our manager is due to present the report at the end of the month.
present sth to sb
•On January 3 the company will present its plans to the bank.
6 DOCUMENT/TICKET [T] to show something such as an official document or ticket to someone in an official position:
•You must present your passport to the customs officer.
7 THEATRE/CINEMA [T] to give a performance in a theatre, cinema etc, or broadcast a programme on television or radio:
•Edinburgh Theatre Company presents 'The Wind in the Willows'
8 TELEVISION/RADIO [T] BrE if you present a television or radio programme, you introduce its different parts; = host AmE
•Thursday's The Late Show was presented by Cynthia Rose.
9 APPEARANCE [T] to give something or someone a particular appearance or style:
•The restaurant likes to present food with style.
10 sth presents itself if a situation, opportunity etc presents itself, it suddenly happens or exists:
•I'll tell her as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
11 FORMALLY INTRODUCE SB [T] to formally introduce someone to another person, especially to someone of a very high rank:
•I was presented to the Queen in 1964.
12 present your apologies/compliments etc formal used to greet someone, say sorry to them etc very politely:
•Mrs. Gottlieb presents her apologies and regrets she will not be able to attend.
13 ILLNESS [I,T] medical to show an illness by having a particular SYMPTOM (=sign of an illness):
•The doctor asked whether any of the children had been presenting any unusual symptoms.
•Three of the five patients presented with fever and severe headaches.
1 [C] something you give someone on a special occasion or to thank them for something; = gift
•I was searching for a present for Mark.
birthday/Christmas present
•I gave her a very special present for her birthday.
2 the present
a) the time that is happening now:
•Stop worrying about the past and live in the present.
•The film is set sometime between 1995 and the present.
•'When do you want to start?' 'Well, there's no time like the present (=used to say that if you are going to do something at all, you should do it now).'
b) technical the form of the verb that shows what exists or is happening now; = the present tense
3 at present at this time; = now
•The item you want is not available at present.
•At present, the airport handles 110 flights a day.
4 for the present something that exists or will be done for the present exists now and will continue for a while, though it may change in the future:
•The company is still in business, at least for the present.
tidy and attractive enough to be seen or shown to someone:
•She's a presentable young woman.
•Let's tidy up and make the house a bit more presentable.
•I must go and make myself presentable.
- presentably adverb $
1 GIVE PRIZE [C] the act of giving someone a prize or present at a formal ceremony:
•the presentation ceremony
•Dr Evans thanked him for coming to make the presentations.
[+of]
•the presentation of prizes
2 TALK [C] an event at which you describe or explain a new product or idea:
•We will begin a series of presentations to help the public fully understand our system.
make/give a presentation
•I'm going to ask each of you to make a short presentation.
3 WAY OF SAYING/SHOWING [U] the way in which something is said, offered, shown, or explained to others
[+of]
•desktop devices for the presentation of information
•the presentation of evidence
4 PROOF [U] when you show something to someone so that it can be checked or considered
[+of]
•the presentation of the identity documents
on presentation of sth
•Club members will be admitted on presentation of their membership cards.
5 PERFORMANCE [C] the act of performing a play
[+of]
•I went to see the National Theatre's presentation of Arthur Miller's 'The Last Yankee'.
6 BABY [C,U] medical the position in which a baby is lying in its mother's body just before it is born:
•a breech presentation
7 presentation copy a book that is given to someone, especially by the writer or PUBLISHER
- presentational adjective[only before noun]
modern or existing now:
•present-day Sicily [U]
a situation when people spend a lot of time at work, even if they are ill or could take a holiday, because they want their employers to see that they are working very hard; absenteeism $ [C]
BrE someone who introduces the different parts of a television or radio show; = host AmE
•the presenter of BBC 2's Newsnight [C]
formal a strange feeling that something is going to happen, especially something bad; = premonition
[+of]
•a presentiment of disaster formal
1 in a short time; = soon
•The doctor will be here presently.
•Presently, I fell asleep.
2 especially AmE at the present time; = now
•The range of courses presently available has grown.
•Your case is presently being investigated.[C] technical
a PARTICIPLE that is formed in English by adding 'ing' to the verb, as in 'sleeping'. It can be used in COMPOUND forms of the verb to show CONTINUOUS tenses, as in 'she's sleeping', or as an adjective, as in 'the sleeping child'.
the present perfect the form of a verb that shows what happened during a period of time up to and including the present, formed in English with the present tense of the verb 'have' and a PAST PARTICIPLE, as in 'he has gone'
the present tense technical the form of the verb that shows what exists or is happening now; = the present $ [U]
1 when something is kept in its original state or in good condition; preserve
[+of]
•Eliot campaigned for the preservation of London's churches.
•We are working for the preservation of the environment.
•the preservation of our cultural heritage
•methods of food preservation
2 the act of making sure that a situation continues without changing
[+of]
•the preservation of peace in the region
3 the degree to which something has remained unchanged or unharmed by weather, age etc:
•The arena is in an exceptionally fine state of preservation.
SELF-PRESERVATION $ [C]
someone who works to prevent historical places, buildings etc from being destroyed[C]
in Britain, an official order that something, especially an area of countryside or an old building, must be preserved and not damaged:
•a tree preservation order $ [C,U]
a chemical substance that is used to prevent things from decaying, for example food or wood:
•food that contains no artificial preservatives $ [T]
1 to save something or someone from being harmed or destroyed; preservation
•We must encourage the planting of new trees and preserve our existing woodlands.
2 to make something continue without changing:
•the responsibility of the police to preserve the peace
•Norma tried to preserve a normal family life in difficult circumstances.
3 to store food for a long time after treating it so that it will not decay:
•black olives preserved in brine
- preservable adjective
- preserver noun [C]
WELL-PRESERVED
1 [C usually plural] a substance made from boiling fruit or vegetables with sugar, salt, or VINEGAR:
•homemade fruit preserves
2 [singular] an activity that is only suitable or allowed for a particular group of people:
•Banking used to be a male preserve.
[+of]
•The civil service became the preserve of the educated middle class.
3 [C] an area of land or water that is kept for private hunting or fishing [usually before noun]
decided or set at an earlier time:
•The heating automatically switches on and off at pre-set temperatures.
pre-shrunk clothes are sold after they have been made smaller by being washed; shrink
•pre-shrunk jeans [I]
to be in charge of a formal event, organization, ceremony etc:
•I shall be pleased to preside at your meetings.
•Mr Justice Waller, presiding judge for the north east

PHRASAL VERBS
preside over sth phr v
1 to be in a position of authority at a time when important things are happening:
•The government seemed to be presiding over large-scale unemployment.
2 to be the head of a company or organization:
•Finch presided over the company for 30 years.
3 to be in charge of a meeting or activity:
•The chairman will preside over an audience of architects and developers. plural presidencies [C]
the position of being the president of a country or organization, or the period of time during which someone is president:
•Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the US.
•There were few real improvements during his presidency. [C]
1 the official leader of a country that does not have a king or queen
[+of]
•the President of France
•President Bush
2 the person who has the highest position in a company or organization
[+of]
•the president of General Motors[singular]
someone who has been elected as a new president, but who has not yet started the job [usually before noun]
relating to a president:
•a presidential election
•the party's presidential candidatepraesidium plural presidia [C]
a committee chosen to represent a large political organization, especially in a COMMUNIST country
1 NEWS
a) the press [also + plural verb BrE ] people who write reports for newspapers, radio, or television:
•the freedom of the press
•The press have been very nasty about him.
b) reports in newspapers and on radio and television:
•To judge from the press, the concert was a great success.
• press reports
•The band has received good press coverage (=the reports written about something in newspapers).
local/national etc press
•The story was widely covered in the national press.
tabloid/popular etc press
2 get/be given a bad press to be criticized in the newspapers or on radio or television:
•The government 's policy on mental health care is getting an increasingly bad press.
3 get/have a good press to be praised in the newspapers or on radio or television:
•Our recycling policy is getting a good press.
4 PRINTING [C]
a) a business that prints and sometimes also sells books:
•the Clarendon Press
b) also printing press a machine that prints books, newspapers, or magazines
5 MACHINE [C] a piece of equipment used to put weight on something in order to make it flat or to force liquid out of it:
•a trouser press
•a flower press
6 PUSH [C, usually singular] especially BrE a light steady push against something small:
•Give the button another press.
7 go to press if a newspaper, magazine, or book goes to press, it begins to be printed:
•All information was correct at the time we went to press.
8 CROWD [singular + of] especially BrE a crowd of people pushing against each other
1 AGAINST STH [T always + adv/prep] to push something firmly against a surface; = push
•Manville kept his back pressed flat against the wall.
•She pressed the gas pedal and the car leapt forwards.
•He pressed a card into her hand before leaving.
2 BUTTON [T] to push a button, switch etc to make a machine start, a bell ring etc; = push
•Lily pressed the switch and plunged the room into darkness.
•Press control, alt, delete to log on to the computer.
3 CLOTHES [T] to make clothes smooth using a hot iron; = iron
•I'll need to press my suit.
4 CROWD [I always + adv/prep] to move in a particular direction by pushing:
•The car rocked as the crowd pressed hard against it.
5 PERSUADE [I,T] to try hard to persuade someone to do something, especially by asking them many times:
•I felt that if I had pressed him he would have lent me the money.
press sb to do sth
•The police pressed her to remember all the details.
press sb for sth
•The manufacturers are pressing the government for action.
[+for]
•We must continue to press for full equality.
•I was pressing my claim for custody of the child.
6 HEAVY WEIGHT [T] to put pressure or a weight on something to make it flat, crush it etc:
•pressed flowers
•At this stage the grapes have to be pressed.
7 HOLD SB/STH CLOSE [T] to hold someone or something close to you
press sb/sth to you
•He reached out and pressed her to him.
8 press sb's hand/arm to hold someone's hand or arm tightly for a short time, to show friendship, sympathy etc:
•Sometimes he was too ill to speak, and just pressed my hand.
9 press charges to say officially that someone has done something illegal and must go to court
10 be pressed for time/cash etc to not have enough time, money etc:
•a government department that is pressed for both time and money
11 GIVE [T] to offer something to someone and try to make them take it
press sth on sb
•I pressed money on him, but he refused to take it.
12 EXERCISE [T] to push a weight up from your chest using only your arms, without moving your legs or feet
13 press sb/sth into service to persuade someone to help you, or to use something to help you do something because of an unexpected problem or need:
•The army was pressed into service to fight the fires.
14 press the flesh to shake hands with a lot of people - used humorously:
•The President reached into the crowd to press the flesh.
15 press sth home
a) to push something into its place:
•Jane slammed the door and pressed the bolt home.
b) to repeat or emphasize something, so that people remember it:
•He decided it was the time to press his point home.
16 press home your advantage to try to succeed completely, using an advantage that you have gained
17 RECORD [T] to make a copy of a record, CD etc

PHRASAL VERBS
press on phr v
also press ahead to continue doing something, especially working, in a determined way:
•We'll talk about your suggestion later - now let's just press on.
[+with]
•Shall we press ahead with the minutes of the last meeting?
be hard pressed to do sth at HARD^2 (5)[C]
an organization that gets news from a country and supplies it to newspapers, television news etc all over the world[C]
someone whose job is to supply photographs or information about a particular actor, musician etc to newspapers, radio, or television[C] BrE
someone who owns and controls one or more important national newspapers[C]
an area at a sports STADIUM where people from newspapers, radio, or television sit[C]
a meeting held by a person or group at which they answer questions from people who write or present news reports:
•The Green Party held a press conference the next day.[C]
a group of news REPORTERs working at the place where something important is happening:
•the White House press corpsalso press clipping [C]
a short piece of writing or a picture, cut out from a newspaper or magazine
be pressed for time/money etc to not have enough time, money etc[C]
an area above or at the back of a hall, used by news REPORTERs [T]
1 press-gang sb into doing sth informal to force someone to do something:
•I don't want to press-gang you into doing something you're not happy with.
2 to force men to work on a ship, by taking them from the streets - done in the past[C]
a group of people in the past who took young men away using force in order to make them come to work on a shipprezzie [C]
BrE spoken a present
needing to be discussed or dealt with very soon; = urgent
pressing problem/matter/need etc
•Poverty is a more pressing problem than pollution.
1 [C] a thing or group of things, especially records or CDs, that have been made by pressing plastic or metal into shape:
•The CD, released in October, sold out a first pressing of 1,500 in just four months.
2 [C,U] the act of pressing something:
•The olives are heat treated during the second pressing. plural pressmen [C]
BrE informal someone who writes news reports[C]
the office of an organization or government department which gives information to the newspapers, radio, or television
- press officer noun [C][C]
an official statement giving information to the newspapers, radio, or television[C]
a secretary to an important organization or person, who gives information about them to the newspapers, radio, or television[C]
BrE a type of exercise in which you lie facing the ground, and push your body up with your arms; = push-up AmE $
1 PERSUADE [U] an attempt to persuade someone by using influence, arguments, or threats:
•They are putting pressure on people to vote yes.
be/come under pressure to do sth
•The minister was under pressure to resign.
be/come under pressure from sb (to do sth)
•I was under pressure from my parents to become a teacher.
•The Labour government came under pressure from the trade unions.
[+for]
•Pressure for change has become urgent.
[+on]
•the pressure on all of us to keep slim
•He exerts pressure on his kids to get them to do as he wants.
•You must never give in to pressure.
2 ANXIETY/OVERWORK [C,U] a way of working or living that causes you a lot of anxiety, especially because you feel you have too many things to do
[+of]
•I feel I'm not able to cope well with the pressures of life.
[+on]
•The pressure on doctors is increasing steadily.
under pressure
•I'm under constant pressure at work.
•The pressures of work can make you ill.
•a high pressure job
•athletes who show grace under pressure (=who behave well when they are anxious)
3 CAUSING CHANGE [C,U] events or conditions that cause changes and affect the way a situation develops, especially in ECONOMICS or politics:
•inflationary pressures
•Analysts expect the pound to come under pressure.
relieve/reduce pressure (on sb/sth)
•Slowing the arms race relieved pressure on the Soviet economic system.
•The 1990s brought increased economic pressure to bear on all business activities.
4 WEIGHT [U] the force or weight that is being put on to something
[+of]
•The pressure of the water turns the wheel.
•the pressure of his hand on my arm
5 GAS/LIQUID [C,U] the force produced by the quantity of gas or liquid in a place or container:
•The gas containers burst at high pressure.
6 WEATHER [C,U] a condition of the air in the Earth's ATMOSPHERE, which affects the weather
high/low pressure
•A ridge of high pressure is building up strongly over the Atlantic.
PEER PRESSURE[T]
especially AmE to try to make someone do something by making them feel it is their duty to do it; = pressurize BrE
pressure sb into doing sth
•You want to enjoy food, not to be pressured into eating the right things.
pressure sb to do sth
•Don't feel we are pressuring you to give what you can't afford.[C]
1 a tightly-covered cooking pot in which food is cooked very quickly by the pressure of hot steam
2 a situation or place that causes anxiety or difficulties:
•the pressure cooker of soccer management $
feeling worried, or making you feel worried, because of the number of things you have to do; = pressurized BrE
•a highly pressured job[C]
a group or organization that tries to influence the opinions of ordinary people and persuade the government to do something; interest group
•environmental pressure groups[C]
1 a place or situation where there may be trouble:
•a pressure point for racial tension
2 a place on the body that can be pressed, either to stop bleeding or to help make you feel betteralso pressurise BrE [T]
to persuade someone to do something by making them feel it is their duty to do it; = pressure
pressurize sb into doing sth
•It is not a good idea to pressurize children into playing a musical instrument.
pressurize sb to do sth
•Everyone is being pressurized to vote.also pressurised BrE
1 if a container or space is pressurized, the air, gas, or liquid inside it is kept at a controlled pressure:
•a pressurized aircraft cabin
•a pressurized water reactor
2 BrE feeling worried, or making you feel worried, because of the number of things you have to do; = pressured
•I feel very pressurized at the moment. [U]
the respect and admiration that someone or something gets because of their success or important position in society
[+of]
•the prestige of having your work shown at a top London gallery
•The king wanted to enhance his prestige through war.
•This little-known British firm has now gained considerable prestige.
•the personal prestige attached to owning a large property[only before noun]
a prestige project, product etc is one of high quality that people respect you for having or being involved in:
•tiny roles in prestige films
•a prestige car $
admired as one of the best and most important:
•a prestigious literary award
•a highly prestigious university $ technical
played or sung very quicklyplural prestos [C]
technical a piece of music, or part of one, that is played or sung very quicklyAmE
said when something happens suddenly in a way that seems unbelievable or magical; = hey presto BrE
•You just press a button and presto! A drink appears.
pre-stressed CONCRETE has been made stronger by having wires put inside it $
used to say that you think something is probably true:
•It's raining, which presumably means that your football match will be cancelled. [sentence adverb]
•He's dead now, presumably? $
1 [T] to think that something is true, although you are not certain; = assume
•Each of you will make a speech, I presume?
•'Are his parents still alive?' 'I presume so.'
presume that
•I presume we'll be there by six o'clock.
presume sb/sth to be sb/sth
•From the way he talked, I presumed him to be your boss.
be presumed to do sth
•The temple is presumed to date from the first century BC.
2 [T] to accept something as true until it is shown to not be true, especially in law; = assume
•We must presume innocence until we have evidence of guilt.
be presumed dead/innocent etc
•Their nephew was missing, presumed dead.
3 [I] formal to behave without respect or politeness by doing something that you have no right to do
presume to do something
•I would never presume to tell you what to do.
4 [T usually in present tense] formal to accept something as being true and base something else on it; = presuppose
•The Ancient History course presumes some knowledge of Greek.
presume that
•I presume that someone will be there to meet us when we arrive.
5 presume on/upon sb's friendship/generosity etc to unfairly ask someone for more than you should, because they are your friend, are generous etc:
•It would be presuming on his generosity to ask him for money.
1 [C] something that you think is true because it is very likely
presumption that
•the presumption that their wealth is the result of crime
on the presumption that
•On the presumption that the doctor knows best, I took the medicine.
2 [C,U] law the act of thinking something is true, bad, or good until it is shown to not be true, bad, or good
[+of]
•the presumption of innocence
[+against/in favour of]
•a strong presumption against development in national parks
3 [U] formal behaviour that seems rude and too confident:
•She was enraged by his presumption. formal technical
based on a reasonable belief about what is likely to be true:
•a presumptive diagnosis
- presumptively adverb formal
doing something that you have no right to do and that seems rude
is it presumptuous (of sb) to do sth
•Would it be presumptuous of me to ask why you are so miserable?
- presumptuously adverb
- presumptuousness noun [U] $ [T] formal
1 to depend on something that is believed to exist or to be true; = assume
•The idea of heaven presupposes the existence of God.
presuppose that
•Your argument presupposes that Dickens was a social reformer.
2 to have to happen if something is true:
•Without struggle there can be no progress, and struggle presupposes winners and losers. formal
1 [C] something that you think is true, although you have no proof; = assumption
presupposition that
•Hick's presupposition is that all religions believe in the same God.
2 [U] when you think something is true even though you have no proof
pre-tax profits or losses are the profits or losses of a company before tax has been taken away:
• Pre-tax profits fell 26.6% to £3.1 million.
- pre-tax adverb
relating to or made for children who are 11 or 12 years old:
•preteen clothing
- preteen noun [C]pretense AmE $ [singular,U] BrE
1 a way of behaving which is intended to make people believe something that is not true
pretence that
•the pretence that the old system could be made to work
pretence of/at (being/doing) sth
•a pretence at seriousness
•Tollitt made no pretense of being surprised.
•How long are you going to keep up the pretence of being ill?
abandon/give up/drop a pretence
•Abandoning any pretense at politeness, they ran for the door.
under the pretence of (doing) sth
•John waited for her under the pretence of tying his shoelaces.
•It was all an elaborate pretence.
2 under/on false pretences without telling the truth about yourself or your intentions:
•You brought me here under false pretences!
1 [I,T] to behave as if something is true when in fact you know it is not, in order to deceive people or for fun
pretend (that)
•We can't go on pretending that everything is OK.
•Let's pretend we're on the moon.
pretend to do sth
•She pretended not to notice.
•He's not asleep - he's just pretending.
•To pretend ignorance of the situation would be irresponsible.
•I can't marry her and to pretend otherwise would be wrong.
2 [T usually in negatives] to claim that something is true, when it is not
pretend (that)
•I can't pretend I understand these technical terms. (=I admit I do not understand them)
pretend to do/be sth
•The book doesn't pretend to be for beginners.
imaginary or not real - used especially by children:
•We sang songs around a pretend campfire.
something that is pretended appears to be real but is not:
•Her eyes widened in pretended astonishment. $ [C]
someone who claims to have a right to be king, leader etc, when this is not accepted by many people
[+to]
•the pretender to the English throne $
the American spelling of PRETENCE [C usually plural, U]
1 an attempt to seem more important, more intelligent, or of a higher class than you really are
[+to]
•Lilith resented Adam's pretensions to superiority.
•the humbleness and lack of pretension of Jordan's cafe
2 a claim to be or do something
pretension(s) to be sth
•The group don't have any pretensions to be pop stars.
[+to]
•a large village with pretensions to the status of a small town
if someone or something is pretentious, they try to seem more important, intelligent, or high class than they really are in order to be impressive; unpretentious
•a pretentious film
- pretentiously adverb
- pretentiousness noun [U]also preterit AmE
the preterite technical the tense or verb form that expresses a past action or condition
- preterite adjective $ formal
1 beyond what is usual or normal:
•He felt possessed of a preternatural strength and fearlessness.
2 strange, mysterious, and unnatural:
•the preternatural green light
- preternaturally adverb
•The town was preternaturally quiet. [C]
a false reason given for an action, in order to hide the real reason
[+for]
•The incident provided the pretext for war.
on/under the pretext of doing sth
•Tom called at her apartment on the pretext of asking for a book.
on/under the pretext that
•He left immediately on the pretext that he had a train to catch.
•He'll phone on some pretext or other. past tense and past participle prettified, present participle prettifying, third person singular prettifies [T]
to change something with the intention of making it more attractive, but often with the effect of spoiling it:
•attempts to prettify the harbour [+ adj/adv] spoken
1 fairly or more than a little:
•I'm pretty sure he'll say yes.
•She still looks pretty miserable.
see box at RATHER
2 very:
•Dinner at Luigi's sounds pretty good to me.
3 pretty well/much almost completely:
•He hit the ball pretty well exactly where he wanted it.
•The guard left us pretty much alone.
•They're all pretty much the same.
4 pretty nearly also pretty near AmE almost:
•The shock of Pat's death pretty near killed Roy.
be sitting pretty at SIT (9)comparative prettier, superlative prettiest
1 a woman or child who is pretty has a nice, attractive face:
•a pretty little girl
•Maria looks much prettier with her hair cut short.
see box at BEAUTIFUL
2 something that is pretty is pleasant to look at or listen to but is not impressive:
•a pretty dress
•The tune is pretty.
•What a pretty little garden!
3 not a pretty sight very unpleasant to look at - sometimes used humorously:
•After a night's drinking, Al was not a pretty sight.
4 not just a pretty face spoken used humorously to say that someone is intelligent, when people think this is surprising:
•I'm not just a pretty face, you know!
5 come to a pretty pass old-fashioned used to say that a very bad situation has developed:
• Things have come to a pretty pass, if you can't say what you think without causing a fight.
6 cost a pretty penny old-fashioned to cost a lot of money
7 pretty as a picture old-fashioned very pretty
- prettily adverb
•Charlotte sang very prettily.
- prettiness noun [U] [C]
a hard salty type of bread baked in the shape of a stick or a loose knot [I not in progressive] formal
1 if a belief, custom, situation etc prevails, it exists among a group of people at a certain time
[+in/among etc]
•the economic conditions which prevail in England and Wales
•I admired the creativity which prevailed among the young writers.
2 if a person, idea, or principle prevails in a fight, argument etc, they are successful in the end:
•Justice will prevail.
common sense prevails/reason prevails (=a sensible decision is made)
•He considered lying, but then common sense prevailed.
[+over/against]
•Your inner strength will enable you to prevail over life's obstacles.

PHRASAL VERBS
prevail on/upon sb phr v formal
to persuade someone
prevail on/upon sb to do sth
•She prevailed upon her father to say nothing. [only before noun]
1 existing or accepted in a particular place or at a particular time; = current
•The prevailing mood of public opinion remained hostile.
•the prevailing economic conditions in Northern Ireland
2 prevailing wind a wind that blows over a particular area most of the time
common at a particular time, in a particular place, or among a particular group of people
[+in/among etc]
•Solvent abuse is especially prevalent among younger teenagers.
•the prevalent belief in astrology
- prevalence noun [singular,U]
•the prevalence of deafness in older age groups [I,T] formal
to try to hide the truth by not answering questions directly:
•'I'm not sure,' he prevaricated.
- prevarication noun [C,U] [T]
to stop something from happening, or stop someone from doing something:
•The rules are intended to prevent accidents.
prevent sb/sth (from) doing sth
•His back injury may prevent him from playing in tomorrow's game.
•We were prevented from entering the site.
•Wrap small ornaments in paper to prevent them being damaged.
- preventable adjective
•preventable diseases
•Every one of these deaths is preventable.
PREVENTIVE:
•preventative measures
- preventatively adverb [U]
when something bad is stopped from happening
[+of]
•Educating new drivers is important for the prevention of accidents.
crime/accident/fire etc prevention
•Effective crime prevention must be our main goal.
•a fire prevention officer
•You know what they say, prevention is better than cure (=it is better to stop something bad from happening than to remove the problem once it has happened).also preventative [only before noun]
intended to stop something you do not want to happen, such as illness, from happening:
•preventive health programs
preventive action/measure
•While travelling abroad, take preventive measures to avoid illness.
- preventively adverb[U]
BrE law a system in which people who are guilty of many crimes are kept in prison for a long time[U]
medical treatment, advice, and health education that is designed to prevent disease happening rather than cure it $ [only before noun] technical
happening before a child has learned to speak:
•the pre-verbal stages [C]
1 an occasion when you can see a film, play, painting etc before it is shown to the public
[+of]
•a sneak preview of the new fashions for autumn
•the press preview of the show (=when people who write for newspapers, television etc could see it)
2 a description of a film, television programme, show etc that people will be able to see soon[T]
1 to see or describe something before it is shown to the public:
•Journalists will be able to preview the exhibition tomorrow.
2 to show or perform something before it is shown to the public:
•The band will preview their new album on 2nd March.
1 [only before noun] having happened or existed before the event, time, or thing that you are talking about now:
•I've met him before on two previous occasions.
•She has two children from a previous marriage.
•Do you have any previous experience of this type of work?
•The lawyer told the judge that Kennedy had no previous convictions.
2 the previous day/chapter/owner etc the one that came immediately before the one you are talking about now:
•I had met them the previous day.
•as we said in the previous chapter
•The trees had been planted by the previous owner.
3 previous to sth formal before a particular time or event:
•There were almost no women MPs previous to 1945.
before now or before a particular time:
•Almost half the group had previously been heavy smokers.
two days/three years etc previously (=two days, three years etc before)
•Six months previously he had smashed up his car.
see box at AGO $ [usually before noun]
happening or existing before a war, especially the Second World War; post-war
•pre-war Britain
1 [singular,U] an animal, bird etc that is hunted and eaten by another animal; = predator
•a tiger stalking its prey
2 bird/beast of prey a bird or animal which lives by killing and eating other animals
3 be/fall prey to sb/sth if someone falls prey to someone or something bad, they are harmed or affected by them:
•Street children in this part of the world often fall prey to drug dealers.
•They are prey to nameless fears.
4 easy prey
a) someone who can easily be deceived or harmed:
•He was easy prey for the two conmen who called at his house.
b) an animal which is easily caught by another:
•Fish at the surface of the water are easy prey for eagles.

PHRASAL VERBS
prey on sb/sth phr v
1 if an animal or bird preys on another animal or bird, it hunts and eats it; predator
•Cats prey on birds and mice.
2 to try to deceive or harm weaker people:
•religious cults that specialize in preying on young people
3 prey on sb's mind to make someone worry continuously:
•The accident has been preying on my mind all week. [C]
BrE spoken a present
1 [C,U] the amount of money you have to pay for something

high/low price
prices go up/rise/increase/soar
prices go down/fall/drop
prices fluctuate (=prices go up and down)
a price rise/increase
a reduction/fall/drop in prices
put up/increase/raise prices
cut/lower/slash prices (=make them lower)
agree (on) a price/fix a price
price freeze (=when prices are kept at the same level)
price war (=when shops try to have the lowest prices)

•People are prepared to pay high prices for designer clothes.
[+of]
•The price of fuel keeps going up.
•House prices in this area are falling.
•Oil prices fluctuated significantly during October.
•fears of massive electricity price increases
•a sharp rise in food prices
•a drop in the price of coal
•They have cut the price of their products by almost 30 per cent.
[+for]
•We agreed on a price for the bike.
•Tesco is selling two bottles of champagne for the price of one!
see box at COST^1
ASKING PRICE, COST PRICE, LIST PRICE, MARKET PRICE

2 [singular] the unpleasant things that you must suffer in order to be successful, free etc
[+of]
•He's never at home, but that's the price of success.
•The awful boat journey was a small price to pay for freedom.
•They may pay a high price for their few years of glory.
•She was finally made senior executive, but at what price!
3 half/full price used to talk about half the usual price of something, or the actual usual price:
•I bought these jeans at half price in the sale.
4 at a price for a lot of money:
•You can get goat's cheese at the local delicatessen - at a price!
5 at any price whatever the cost and difficulties may be:
•She was determined to have a child at any price.
6 not at any price used to say that you would not do something, even for a lot of money:
•Sorry, that painting's not for sale at any price.
7 put a price on sth to give something a financial value:
•You can't put a price on what a mother does for her children.
8 What price fame/glory etc? usually spoken used to suggest that something was not worth achieving because too many bad things have happened as a result:
•What price progress?
9 be beyond price to be extremely valuable or important
10 price on sb's head a reward for catching or killing someone
11 everyone has their price used to say that you can persuade people to do anything if you give them what they want
cheap at the price at CHEAP^1 (8)
name your price at NAME^2 (7)
pay the price at PAY^1 (9)[T]
1 [usually in passive] to decide the price of something that is for sale:
•a reasonably priced apartment
be priced at sth
•Tickets are priced at £75 each.
2 to put the price on goods to show how much they cost
3 to compare the prices of things:
•We spent Saturday morning pricing microwaves.
4 price yourself out of the market to demand too much money for the services or goods that you are selling[C,U]
a system in which the government decides the prices of things[U]
1 a system in which the government decides the prices of things; = price control
2 an agreement between producers and sellers of a product to set its price at a high level[C]
a list of particular goods and services and how much their prices change each month
RETAIL PRICE INDEX
1 extremely valuable:
•priceless antiques
2 a quality or skill that is priceless is extremely important or useful:
•The ability to motivate people is a priceless asset.
3 informal extremely funny or silly:
•The look on his face was priceless.[C]
a list of prices for things being sold[U]
a system in which the government keeps the price of a product at a particular level by giving the producer money or buying the product itself[C]
1 a piece of paper with a price on it that is attached to something in a shop
2 the amount that something costs:
•It's difficult to put a price tag on such a project (=say how much it costs).[C]
a situation in which several companies reduce the prices of what they sell, because they are all trying to get the most customerspricy
informal expensive:
•The clothes are beautiful but very pricey. [U]
the act of deciding the price of something that you sell:
•a competitive pricing policy
1 [T] to make a small hole in something using something sharp:
•Prick the sausages before you grill them.
prick yourself/prick your finger (=accidentally make a hole in your skin)
•She had pricked her finger on a rose thorn.
2 [I,T] if something pricks a part of your body, or if it pricks, you feel small sharp pains; prickle
•Angry tears pricked her eyes.
•a curious pricking sensation
3 prick sb's conscience if something pricks someone's conscience or their conscience pricks them, they feel guilty or ashamed:
•Her conscience pricked her as she told the lie.
4 prick (up) its ears if an animal pricks up its ears, it raises them to listen to a sound:
•The rabbit stopped suddenly, pricking up its ears.
5 prick (up) your ears if you prick up your ears or your ears prick up, you listen carefully because you have heard something interesting:
•Jay pricked up his ears when I mentioned a vacation.

PHRASAL VERBS
prick sth<=> out phr v BrE
to place young plants in soil after you have grown them from seed[C]
1 PERSON spoken not polite a very offensive word for a stupid unpleasant man
2 SEX ORGAN informal not polite a PENIS
3 POINT ENTERING
a) a slight pain you get when something sharp goes into your skin:
•I didn't feel the prick of the needle.
b) BrE an act of pricking something:
•Give the sausages a prick.
PINPRICK
4 EMOTION a sudden slight feeling you get when you are unhappy about something
[+of]
•She felt a prick of resentment when she saw them together.
5 prick of conscience an uncomfortable feeling that you have done something wrong [C]
1 a long thin sharp point on the skin of some animals or the surface of some plants
2 if you feel a prickle of fear, anger, or excitement, you feel slightly afraid, angry, or excited in a way that makes your skin feel slightly cold and uncomfortable
[+of]
•She felt a prickle of fear as she realized that she was alone.
1 [I,T] if something prickles your skin, it makes it sting slightly:
•A cold breeze prickled his face.
•His hair prickled my neck.
[+on]
•He felt sweat prickle on his forehead.
2 [I] if your skin prickles, it begins to sting slightly:
•Her skin was prickling uncomfortably.
3 [I] BrE if your eyes prickle, they sting slightly because you are going to cry:
•She felt her eyes prickle. 'It was awful,' she whispered.
•My eyes prickled with tears.
4 [I] if you prickle, you feel slightly angry, excited, or afraid
[+with]
•The thought of meeting him made her prickle with excitement.
[+at]
•She felt herself prickle (=become angry) at his tone of voice.
1 covered with thin sharp points:
•a plant with prickly leaves
2 if your skin feels prickly, it stings slightly:
•His skin felt painful and prickly.
•The base of my neck was prickly with sweat.
3 something that is prickly makes your skin sting slightly:
•a prickly woollen sweater
4 informal someone who is prickly gets annoyed or offended easily:
•She was prickly and sharp with me.
•As she got older, she became more prickly and forgetful.
5 a prickly subject causes a lot of disagreements and difficulties:
•We finally turned to the prickly question of who was going to pay.
- prickliness noun [U][U]
a skin condition in which you get uncomfortable red spots on your skin. Prickly heat is caused by too much strong sun on your skin.[C,U]
a type of CACTUS that has yellow flowers and red fruit. The fruit is also called a prickly pear.
another spelling of PRICEY
1 FEELING OF PLEASURE [U] a feeling that you are proud of something that you or someone connected with you has achieved; proud

with pride
great/immense pride
take pride in sth (=feel proud of something)
a sense of pride
glow with pride/feel a glow of pride/your heart swells with pride (=feel very proud)
national pride (=a feeling that you are proud of your country)
civic pride (=a feeling that you are proud of your town or city)

•He wore his medals with pride.
[+in]
•He takes great pride in his children's achievements.
•The people have a sense of pride in their community.
•His heart swelled with pride when his daughter came in.
•She felt a glow of pride when her name was announced for the prize.
•Success in sport is a source of national pride.

2 RESPECT [U] a feeling that you like and respect yourself and that you deserve to be respected by other people; proud
sb's pride
•It hurt his pride when his wife left him.
•I think that getting a job would give him his pride back.
•She didn't try to hide her anger and injured pride.
• It's a matter of pride for some men that their wives don't have to work.
3 TOO MUCH PRIDE [U] a belief that you are better than other people and do not need their help or support; proud
sb's pride
•His pride wouldn't allow him to ask for help.
•She ought to swallow her pride (=ignore or forget her feelings of pride) and call him.
4 take pride in your work/appearance etc to do something very carefully and well, in a way that gives you a lot of satisfaction:
•Your should take more pride in your work.
•She took great pride in her appearance.
5 sb's pride and joy a person or thing that someone is very proud of:
•His garden is his pride and joy.
6 the pride of sth
a) the thing or person that the people in a particular place are most proud of:
•Wigan's rugby team was the pride of the town.
b) the best thing in a group:
•a beautiful Japanese sword that is the pride of our collection
7 have/take pride of place if something has or takes pride of place, it is put in the best place for people to see because it is the thing you are most proud of:
•A large photograph of the children had pride of place on the sitting room wall.
8 LIONS [C] a group of lions:
•A young lion had strayed some distance from the pride.
pride yourself on (doing) sth to be especially proud of something that you do well, or of a good quality that you have:
•a restaurant that prides itself on speed of service
•She prides herself on being a good listener. [C]
1 someone who is specially trained to perform religious duties and ceremonies in the Christian church
2 a man with religious duties and responsibilities in some non-Christian religions [C]
a woman with religious duties and responsibilities in some non-Christian religions
1 the priesthood if someone is in the priesthood, they are a Christian priest:
•He is celebrating 30 years in the priesthood.
•There has been a decline in the number of people joining the priesthood.
2 [C usually singular, U] all the priests of a particular religion or country:
•an attempt to reduce the influence of the priesthood in the country [usually before noun]
like a priest, or relating to a priest:
•priestly robes [C]
someone who behaves in a morally good way and shows that they disapprove of the way other people behave - used to show disapproval:
•Don't be such a prig! It's only a bit of harmless fun!
- priggish adjective
•a rather priggish, old-fashioned man
- priggishness noun [U]
1 very formal and careful in the way you speak and behave, and easily shocked by anything rude:
•She looked prim and nervous in her best hat and coat.
•a very prim and proper young lady
2 prim clothes are neat and formal:
•a prim suit
- primly adverb [C]
the main woman dancer in a group of BALLET dancers [singular,U]
formal if someone or something has primacy, they are the best or most important person or thing
[+of]
•the primacy of the family
•We must give primacy to education. $ [C]
1 the most important woman singer in an OPERA company
2 someone who thinks that they are very good at what they do, and demands a lot of attention and praise from other people:
•In my view, football players are a bunch of over-paid prima donnas.
a British spelling of PRIMEVAL $ [only before noun] law
based on what seems to be true when you first consider a situation, even though it may later be proved to be untrue:
•prima facie evidence
•a prima facie case of professional misconduct [only before noun] formal
primal feelings or actions seem to belong to a part of people's character that is ancient and animal-like:
•a primal fear of the unknown $
mainly:
•The advertisement is aimed primarily at children. $
1 [usually before noun] most important; = main
•Our primary concern is to provide the refugees with food and healthcare.
•Many of the villagers rely on fishing as their primary source of income.
primary purpose/aim/objective
•Their primary objective is to make money.
•Personal safety is of primary importance.
2 [only before noun] especially BrE relating to the education of children between five and eleven years old; = elementary AmE; secondary
•a primary teacher
•primary education
•teaching at primary level
3 happening or developing before other things:
•a primary tumour
•Counselling was given as a primary therapy for depression.plural primaries [C]
1 a primary election
2 BrE a primary school[U]
basic medical treatment that you receive from a doctor who is not a SPECIALIST:
•a primary care physician (=a doctor who provides primary care)[C]
one of the three colours red, yellow, and blue, which you can mix together to make any of the other colours[C]
an election in the US at which people vote to decide who will be a party's CANDIDATE for a political position in the main electionalso primary care [U]
the medical care that someone receives first when they become ill or have an accident[C]
BrE a school for children between five and 11 years old in England and Wales; = elementary school AmE[C]
a document, book etc that contains information that has been obtained by people's experiences and not taken from other documents, books etc; secondary source[C,U]
technical the strongest force that is put on a part of a long word when you say it, like the force given to 'pri' in 'primary'. It is shown in this dictionary by the mark ( ' ). [C]
the most important priest in a country, especially in the Church of England; = archbishop [C]
a member of the group of animals that includes humans and monkeys [only before noun]
1 most important; = main
•Smoking is the prime cause of lung disease.
•Our prime concern is providing jobs for all young school leavers.
•He was named as the prime suspect in the murder investigation.
•Good management is of prime importance in business.
2 of the very best quality or kind:
•prime rib of beef
•prime agricultural land
•The hotel is in a prime location overlooking the valley.
3 be a prime candidate/target (for sth) to be the person or thing that is most suitable or most likely to be chosen for a particular purpose:
•The school is a prime candidate for closure.
•Old people are a prime target for thieves.
4 prime example a very typical example of something:
•Blakey Hall is a prime example of a 19th century building.[singular]
the time in your life when you are strongest and most active
in your prime
•She's now forty and still in her prime.
•He is now past his prime.
•a man in the prime of life
•a young singer who was tragically cut off in her prime (=died while she was in her prime)[T]
1 PREPARE SB to prepare someone for a situation so that they know what to do
prime sb with sth
•Did you prime her with what to say?
prime sb for sth
•He had a shower and primed himself for action.
prime sb to do sth
•He had been primed to say nothing about it.
2 A GUN to prepare a gun or bomb so that it can fire or explode
3 PAINT to put a special layer of paint on a surface, in order to prepare it for the next layer:
•All metal surfaces will have to be primed.
4 prime the pump informal to encourage a business, industry, or activity to develop by putting money or effort into it
5 WATER to pour water into a water pump in order to make it ready to workprime minister abbreviation PM [C]
the most important minister and leader of the government in some countries which have a parliament:
•the British Prime Minister
•He first became prime minister in 1982.
[+of]
•the Prime Minister of Turkey[C]
1 someone who helps to make something happen and has great influence in the way it develops
[+in/of/behind]
•He was a prime mover in the bid to get better pay for West Indian cricketers.
•She was a prime mover of social change in the nineteenth century.
2 Prime Mover a way of referring to God[C]
a number that can be divided only by itself and the number one. For example, three and seven are prime numbers. $
1 [C,U] paint that you put on the surface of wood, metal etc before you put on the main layer of paint
2 [C] a tube that contains explosive and is used to fire a gun or explode a bomb
3 [C] AmE a book that contains basic information about something
[+on/of]
•a primer on Italian wines
•a primer of good management techniques
4 [C] old-fashioned a school book that contains very basic facts about a subject[C]
the lowest rate of interest at which companies can borrow money from a bank; base rate[U]
the time in the evening when the largest number of people are watching television:
•a prime time entertainment programme
•prime time television
•prime time audiences
•a speech that was broadcast live during prime timealso primaeval BrE
1 belonging to the earliest time in the existence of the universe or the Earth:
•Primeval clouds of gas formed themselves into stars.
2 very ancient:
•primeval forests
3 primeval feelings are very strong and seem to come from a part of people's character that is ancient and animal-like:
•the primeval urge to reproduce
1 WAY OF LIFE belonging to a simple way of life that existed in the past and does not have modern industries and machines; advanced, modern
•a primitive society
•a primitive nomadic tribe
•the tools used by primitive man
•primitive art
2 NOT MODERN something that is primitive is very simple and does not have the extra modern parts that would make it faster, better, more comfortable etc; advanced, modern
•The first station buildings were quite primitive.
•The local hospital care is primitive and unreliable.
•Conditions at the camp are very primitive.
•a primitive steam engine
3 ANIMALS/PLANTS a primitive animal or plant has a simple structure or body:
•primitive life-forms that live deep in the ocean
•a primitive single-celled creature
4 FEELINGS primitive feelings are not based on reason, and seem to come from a part of people's character that is ancient and animal-like:
•the primitive instinct of survival
•primitive desires
- primitively adverb
- primitiveness noun [U][C]
an artist who paints simple pictures like those of a child $ [U] law
the system by which property that is owned by a man goes to his oldest son after his death $ formal
1 existing at the beginning of time or the beginning of the Earth:
•the primordial seas
2 primordial feelings are very strong and seem to come from the part of people's character that is ancient and animal-like:
•He was driven on by a primordial terror.
3 the primordial soup the mixture of gases and other substances that people believe existed before the beginning of life on Earth [I,T] old-fashioned
to make yourself look attractive by arranging your hair, putting on MAKE-UP etc:
•She spends hours primping in front of the mirror. $
1 [C] a small wild plant with pale yellow flowers, or the flower from this plant:
•a bunch of primroses
2 also primrose yellow [U] a pale yellow colour
3 the primrose path literary a way of life that is full of pleasure but causes you harm after a period of time [C]
a small wild or garden plant with brightly coloured flowersalso Primus stove [C]
trademark BrE a small STOVE (=a piece of equipment for cooking) that burns oil and can be easily carried around, used especially when camping [C]
1 the son of a king, queen, or prince; princess
•Prince William
2 a male ruler of a small country or state:
•Prince Rainier of Monaco
3 the prince of sth/a prince among sth literary the man who is best at something:
•the prince of sculptors[C]
informal a perfect man who a young woman might dream about meeting - often used humorously:
•She is still waiting to find her Prince Charming.[C]
a title that is sometimes given to the husband of a ruling queen [only before noun]
1 a princely amount of money is very large - often used humorously to mean a very small amount of money:
•My savings had now reached the princely sum of£30.
•a far from princely salary
2 formal impressive or generous:
•princely buildings
•A princely welcome awaited them.
3 belonging or relating to a prince:
•a princely state
the Prince of Wales a title given to the first son of a British king or queen $ [C]
1 a close female relation of a king and queen, especially a daughter; prince
•Princess Anne
2 the wife of a prince [only before noun]
most important; = main
•His principal reason for making the journey was to visit his family.
•Teaching is her principal source of income.
•the principal character in the book
PRINCIPALLY
1 SCHOOL [C] AmE someone who is in charge of a school; = headteacher BrE
•a small school with just three teachers and the principal
2 UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE [C] BrE someone who is in charge of a university or college
3 BUSINESS [C] AmE the main person in a business or organization, who can make important business decisions and is legally responsible for them:
•The principal of the business has an office in New York.
4 PERFORMER [C] the main performer in a play or in a group of musicians, dancers etc:
•She later became a principal with the Royal Ballet.
5 MONEY [singular] technical the original amount of money that is lent to someone, not including any of the INTEREST[C]
BrE the main male character in a PANTOMIME, usually played by a young woman plural principalities [C]
1 a country that is ruled by a prince
2 the Principality BrE Wales
mainly:
•The money is principally invested in stocks and shares.
•He was principally a landscape painter.
•We met principally to discuss the future of the school.
1 MORAL RULE [C,U] a moral rule or belief about what is right and wrong, that influences how you behave:
•Schools try to teach children a set of principles.
•He prided himself on his high moral principles (=strong ideas about how it is right or wrong to behave)
•He's got no principles at all!
•He refused to give me any more money as a matter of principle.
against sb's principles
•It's against my principles to accept gifts from clients.
man/woman of principle (=a man or woman with strong moral ideas)
•He considered himself to be a man of principle.
2 IDEA BEHIND STH [C] the basic idea that a plan or system is based on:
•The general principle is that education should be available to all children up to the age of 16.
basic/fundamental/guiding principle
•the basic principles of business management
[+of]
•the principles of French law
principle that
•Reflexology is based on the principle that specific areas on the feet correspond to different parts of the body.
on a principle
•The project worked on the principle that each person's experience was equally valuable.
[+behind]
•the principles behind government policies
•He called for a return to first principles (=the most important ideas) of road safety for children.
•Similar principles apply in the case of older children (=the principles are the same as others that have been mentioned).
3 in principle
a) if something is possible in principle, there is no good reason why it should not happen, but it has not actually happened yet:
•In principle, the new software should make the accounting system a lot simpler.
b) if you agree to something in principle, you agree about a general plan or idea but have not yet considered the details:
•They have accepted the idea in principle.
•The government has agreed in principle to a referendum.
4 RULES OF A PROCESS [C] a rule which explains the way something such as a machine works, or which explains a natural force in the universe:
•Archimedes' principle
[+of]
•the basic principles of physics
!! Do not confuse the noun principle (=a basic rule) with the noun and adjective principal, which have the same pronunciation but different meanings. formal
1 someone who is principled has strong opinions about what is morally right and wrong
principled stand/opposition/objection etc
•He took a principled stand against the legislation.
2 based on clear and definite ideas:
•an attempt to reduce prison sentences in a principled way
1 WORDS
a) [I,T] to produce words, numbers, or pictures on paper, using a machine which puts ink onto the surface:
•I need to make a few changes before I print the document.
•The company's name was printed in bold letters across the top of the page.
•a printed letter
•The printer's switched on but it won't print.
•As a newspaper publisher he understood the power of the printed word (=words that are printed on paper).
b) [I] when a computer document prints, a printed copy of it is produced:
•Press return, then the document should print.
2 BOOKS/NEWSPAPERS [T] to produce many printed copies of a book, newspaper etc:
•Over five million copies of the paper are printed every day.
•When the book was first written no publisher would print it.
3 IN A NEWSPAPER [T] to print a report of something or a letter, speech etc in a newspaper or magazine; = publish
•The Express was the first paper to print the story.
•The Telegraph has printed numerous articles on this subject over the last three years.
•I wrote to the newspaper but my letter wasn't printed.
4 PHOTOGRAPH [T] to produce a photograph from a photographic film:
•It usually takes a couple of hours for the pictures to be developed and printed.
5 CLOTH [T] to decorate cloth with a pattern that is put all over its surface by a machine:
•a skirt printed with brightly coloured flowers
•a printed silk shirt
6 WRITE [I,T] to write words by hand without joining the letters:
•Please print your name clearly in the top right hand corner of the page.
7 MAKE A MARK [T] to make a mark on a surface or in a soft substance by pressing something on to it
print sth on/in sth
•The mark of the man's shoe was printed in the mud.

PHRASAL VERBS
print sth <=> off/out phr v
to produce a printed copy of a computer document:
•Could you print a copy off for me?
•I'll print the file out and then we can look at it.
a licence to print money at LICENCE (6)
1 BOOKS/NEWSPAPERS [U] writing that has been printed, for example in books or newspapers:
•There was no print at all on the backs of the tickets.
in print (=printed in a book, newspaper etc)
•It must be really exciting to see your work in print.
•the pleasure of seeing my name in print
•Very little of his poetry actually got into print (=was printed).
2 be in print if a book is in print, new copies of it are still being printed:
•After fifty years, the book is still in print.
3 be out of print if a book is out of print, it is no longer being printed and you cannot buy new copies
4 LETTERS [U] the letters in which something is printed:
•The book is also available in large print.
•The print quality of the new printer is excellent.
5 the small/fine print the details of a legal document, which are often printed in very small writing:
•Always read the small print before signing anything.
6 MARK [C] a mark that is made on a surface by something that has been pressed onto it:
•His feet left deep prints in the soft soil.
7 prints [plural] the marks that are made by the pattern of lines on the ends of your fingers; = fingerprints
•The police found a set of prints on the car door.
8 CLOTH [C,U] cloth, especially cotton, on which a coloured pattern has been printed:
•a lovely selection of floral prints
•She was wearing a cotton print dress.
9 PHOTOGRAPH [C] a photograph that has been produced from a film:
•Why don't you order an extra set of prints?
•a colour print
10 PICTURE [C]
a) a picture that is made by cutting lines onto a piece of metal or wood and then printing it onto paper
b) a copy of a painting that is produced by taking a photograph of it and printing it onto paper
suitable to be printed and read by everyone; unprintable
•Her remarks were scarcely printable (=were very rude).[C]
a set of connections in a piece of electrical equipment consisting of thin lines of metal on a board[U]
printed articles - used especially about advertisements that can be sent by post at a cheap rate $ [C]
1 a machine which is connected to a computer and can make a printed record of computer information:
•a laser printer
•a colour printer
2 someone who is employed in the trade of printing
1 [U] the act or process of making a book, magazine, etc using a machine that puts ink onto paper:
•the invention of printing
•the printing industry
•a printing error
2 [C] an act of printing a number of copies of a book:
•The first printing of her book was 10,000 copies.
3 [U] a method of writing when you write each letter separately rather than joining the letters of a word[U]
a type of ink that dries very quickly and is used in printing books and newspapers etcalso printing machine [C]
a machine that prints newspapers, books etc; = press [C,U]
a sheet or length of paper with printed information on it, produced by a computer[C]
the number of books or magazines that are printed at the same time $ [C]
a very small piece of PROTEIN that is thought to cause some brain diseases such as BSE $
1 existing or arranged before something else or before the present situation; = previous
•You do not need any prior knowledge of the subject.
•Changes may not be made without the prior approval of the council.
•Vegetarian meals are provided by prior agreement.
•Some prior experience with the software is needed.
2 prior warning/notice a warning or announcement made before something happens:
•The society must give customers prior notice before changing the cost.
•The bomb exploded without any prior warning.
3 prior to sth formal before:
•All the arrangements should be completed prior to your departure.
4 prior claim a person's right to something which is considered more important than another person's right to the same thing:
•His own children have a prior claim to the business.[C]
1 the man in charge of a PRIORY
2 the priest next in rank to the person in charge of an ABBEY
3 informal a previous occasion when someone was found guilty of a crime:
•two priors for homicide [C]
the woman in charge of a PRIORYalso prioritise BrE $ [T]
1 to put several things, problems etc in order of importance, so that you can deal with the most important ones first:
•You need to prioritize your tasks.
2 to deal with one thing first, because it is the most important:
•The public wants to see the fight against crime prioritized.
- prioritization $ noun [U] $ plural priorities
1 [C,U] the thing that you think is most important and that needs attention before anything else:
•The club's priority is to win the League.
first/top/main priority
•The children are our first priority.
•After several burglaries in the area, security is now a high priority (=very important and needing attention soon).
•With so little money available, repairs must remain a low priority (=not important and not needing attention soon).
•The customer is high on our list of priorities.
•List your tasks in order of priority (=most important first).
2 [U] the right to be given attention first and before other people or things
[+over]
•Buses should have priority over other road users.
•A young person who has finished the course will be given priority over one who has not.
•I want to start work on the garden but the house must take priority.
3 get your priorities right also get your priorities straight AmE to know what is most important and needs attention first:
•We need to get our priorities right.
before other people or things:
•Members receive priority bookings and reduced ticket prices to all concerts. plural priories [C]
a building where a group of MONKs or NUNs , (=men or women living a religious life) live which is smaller and less important than an ABBEYprize AmE [T always + adv/prep] BrE
to move or lift something by pushing it away from something else:
•I tried to prise the lid off.

PHRASAL VERBS
prise sth out of sb phr v also prise sth from sb
to get something such as information or money from someone when they do not want to give it to you:
•I more or less had to prise it out of him. [C]
1 a transparent block of glass that breaks up white light into different colours
2 technical a solid object with matching ends and several sides which are the same width all the way up
1 using or containing a PRISM:
•a prismatic compass
2 a prismatic colour is very clear and bright
1 [C,U] a building where people are kept as a punishment for a crime, or while they are waiting to go to court for their TRIAL; = jail; prisoner, imprison

in prison
out of prison
put sb in prison/send sb to prison
release sb from prison/let sb out of prison
get out of prison
escape from prison
go to prison
prison sentence (=a punishment which consists of a period of time in prison)
prison officer/warder (=someone who works in a prison and guards the prisoners)
prison cell (=a prisoner's room in a jail)

•He visits his Dad in prison every week.
•Ricky has been out of prison for 3 years now.
•They'll probably put him in prison for a long time.
•Helen was sent to prison for attacking a man with a knife.
•The two men were arrested only a week after they were released from prison.
•Three terrorists escaped from Brixton Prison.
•an increase in the number of women going to prison
•Mr Gunn received a ten year prison sentence.
!! Do not say 'the prison' unless you are referring to a particular building: She was sent to prison. | He spent five years in prison. | They live opposite the prison.

2 [U] the system that deals with keeping people in a prison:
•the prison service
•Does prison deter criminals from offending again?
3 [C] an unpleasant place or situation which it is difficult to escape from:
•The farm felt like a prison for her.[C]
a special prison in which prisoners of war are kept $ [C]
1 someone who is kept in a prison as a legal punishment for a crime or while they are waiting for their TRIAL; guard, imprison
•Relationships between the staff and the prisoners are good.
•Prisoners here only serve short sentences.
remand prisoner BrE (=someone who is in prison waiting for their trial)
•The organization is arguing for the release of political prisoners (=people in prison because of their political opinions).
2 someone who is taken by force and kept somewhere; = captive
hold/keep sb prisoner
•The guerillas kept her prisoner for three months.
•He was being held prisoner.
•Our pilot was taken prisoner.
•The army advanced, taking 200,000 prisoners.
3 someone who is in a place or situation from which they cannot escape:
•He is a prisoner of his own past.[C]
someone who is put in prison because of their political ideas[C]
a soldier, member of the navy etc who is caught by the enemy during a war and kept as a prisoner[C]
someone who visits prisoners in Britain to help them informal
behaving very correctly and easily shocked by anything rude - used to show disapproval
- prissily adverb
- prissiness noun [U]
1 extremely fresh or clean:
•a pristine white shirt
2 something that is pristine is in the same condition as when it was first made:
•The car has been restored to pristine condition.
3 not spoiled or damaged in any way:
•pristine African rainforest old use
please $ [U]
1 the state of being able to be alone, and not seen or heard by other people:
•With seven people squashed in one house, you don't get much privacy.
2 the state of being free from public attention:
•each individual's right to privacy
1 NOT FOR THE PUBLIC for use by one person or group, not for everyone; public
•Morris has a private jet.
•He made some notes for his private use.
•Many communists objected to any form of private property.
2 NOT GOVERNMENT [only before noun] not related to, owned by, or paid for by the government; public
•a private hospital
•There is private ownership of property in a market economy.
•private education
go private BrE (=pay for medical treatment instead of getting it free at a public hospital)
3 FOR ONLY A FEW a private meeting, conversation etc involves only two people or a small number of people, and is not for other people to know about:
•I need to have a private discussion with you.
•Are you alone? I just wanted a private word.
4 SECRET private feelings, information, or opinions are personal or secret and not for other people to know about:
•Jack's private opinion was that she was selfish.
•Don't read that - it's private.
5 NOT PUBLICLY KNOWN used about someone who is not known to the public or not working for the government or another organization:
•a private citizen
•The painting was sold to a private collector.
•Seven police and three private individuals needed medical attention.
6 NOT WORK separate from and not related to your work or your official position:
•The president is paying a private visit to Europe.
•He enjoys everything he does in both his professional and his private life.
7 QUIET PLACE quiet and without a lot of people:
•Why don't we go upstairs where it's more private?
8 PERSON [only before noun] a private person is one who likes being alone, and does not talk much about their thoughts or feelings:
•He's a very private man.
9 private joke a joke made between friends, family members etc that other people do not understand; privately
1 in private without other people being present:
•I need to speak to you in private.
2 [C] a soldier of the lowest rank
3 privates [plural] informal PRIVATE PARTS[C]
someone who can be employed to look for information or missing people, or to follow people and report on what they do[U]
education which parents pay for, rather than free education provided by the government
[U] the economic system in which private businesses are allowed to compete freely with each other, and the government does not control industry; private sector $ [C]
1 an armed ship in the past that was not in the navy but attacked and robbed enemy ships carrying goods
2 someone who sailed on a privateer[C]
informal a PRIVATE DETECTIVE[C,U]
money that someone gets regularly, not from working but because they own part of a business or have money which earns INTEREST[C]
a PRIVATE DETECTIVE[U]
law the part of the law relating to ordinary people, private property, and relationships[C]
a company whose shares are not bought and sold on the STOCK MARKET and can only pass to another person with the agreement of other SHAREHOLDERs
1 with no one else present; = in private
•I must talk to you privately.
2 if you feel or think something privately, you do not tell anyone about it:
•Laura praised the pictures, though she privately thought they were rather ordinary. [sentence adverb]
•Privately, Harriet had to agree.
3 not publicly or as part of your work [sentence adverb]
•Privately, senior officials agreed that not many people had voted.
4 especially BrE using or involving private rather than government institutions:
•Both children are privately educated.
•a privately-owned company[U]
BrE the system in which medical treatment and advice is not provided by the government but is paid for by the patient or their insurance company; NHS[C] BrE
a member of parliament who is not a minister in the government[C]
a law introduced to the British parliament by a member of parliament who is not a minister in the government[plural]
the sex organs - used when you want to avoid naming them directly[C]
BrE someone who pays for medical treatment or advice, rather than receiving it free through the government's system[C,U]
1 the business of a professional person that is independent of a bigger or government-controlled organization:
•Richard set up in private practice.
2 AmE the business of a professional person, especially a doctor, who works alone rather than with others[C]
a school that is not supported by government money, where education must be paid for by the children's parents; public school, state school[C]
1 a secretary who is employed to help one person, especially with personal business
2 BrE a CIVIL SERVANT whose job is to help a government minister:
•a parliamentary private secretary
the private sector the industries and services in a country that are owned and run by private companies, and not by the government; public sector
•pay increases in the private sector[C]
BrE formal a soldier of the lowest rank; = privatealso private viewing [C]
an occasion when a few people are invited to see a show of paintings before the rest of the public [C,U]
formal a lack or loss of the things that everyone needs, such as food, warmth, and shelter:
•the privations of wartimealso privatisation BrE $ [C,U]
the act of privatizing somethingalso privatise BrE [T]
if a government privatizes an organization, industry, or service that it owns or controls, it sells it; nationalize [U]
a bush with leaves that stay green all year, often grown to form a HEDGE
1 [C] a special advantage that is given only to one person or group of people:
•He had no special privileges and was treated just like every other prisoner.
[+of]
•the privilege of a good education
2 [singular] something that you are lucky to have the chance to do, and that you enjoy very much
the privilege of doing sth
•Today, we have the privilege of listening to two very unusual men.
the privilege to do sth
•I had the great privilege to play for Yorkshire.
•It is a privilege to hear her play.
3 [U] a situation in which people who are rich or of a high social class have many more advantages than other people:
•wealth and privilege
4 [U] a situation in which doctors, lawyers etc are allowed to keep information about their discussions with their patients or CLIENTs secret from other people
5 [C,U] the right to do or say something unacceptable without being punished, especially in parliament
breach of privilege (=a breaking of the rules about what a member of parliament can do or say)[T] formal
to treat some people or things better than others
1
a) having advantages because of your wealth, social position etc; underprivileged
•Students from a privileged background have an advantage at university.
•Only the privileged few can afford private education.
b) the privileged [plural] people who are privileged
2 having a special advantage or a chance to do something that most people cannot do:
•Kylie feels fortunate to be in such a privileged position because of her successful TV career.
be privileged to do sth
•I was privileged to lead the team.
3 law privileged information is private and is not allowed to be made public by law
1 be privy to sth sharing in the knowledge of facts that are secret:
•Colby was privy to the committee's decisions.
2 old use secret and private
- privily adverbplural privies [C]
a toilet, especially one outside a house in a small separate building
the Privy Council a group of important people in Britain who advise the king or queen on political affairs
- Privy Councillor noun [C], Privy Purse
the privy purse money given by the British government to the king or queen for their personal use AmE
a prix fixe meal is a complete meal served for a fixed price [C]
1 something that is given to someone who is successful in a competition, race, game of chance etc:
•In this month's competition you could win a prize worth £3000.
•The first prize has gone to Dr John Gentle.
[+for]
•The prize for best photography has been won by a young Dutch photographer.
•Scientists from Oxford shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945.
•The prizes are awarded (=given) every year to students who have shown original thinking in their work.
2 something that is very valuable to you or that it is very important to have:
•Fame was the prize.
3 no prizes for guessing sth spoken used to say that it is very easy to guess something:
•No prizes for guessing what she was wearing.[only before noun]
1 good enough to win a prize or having won a prize:
•He has spent months cultivating what he hopes are prize flowers.
PRIZE-WINNING
2 very good or important:
•The Picasso painting is a prize exhibit in the museum.
3 prize money money that is given to the person who wins a competition, race etc
4 a prize idiot/fool informal a complete idiot, fool etc[T]
1 to think that someone or something is very important or valuable:
•He is someone who prizes truth and decency above all things.
•The company's shoes are highly prized by fashion conscious youngsters.
2 the American spelling of PRISE
extremely important or valuable to someone:
•The child held the bag as tightly as if it were her most prized possession.[C]
BrE an occasion at a school, usually once a year, when prizes are given to children who have done well in particular subjects [C]
1 BrE a public BOXING match in which two men fight each other without boxing gloves, in order to win money
2 AmE a professional BOXING match
- prizefighter noun [C]
- prizefighting noun [U][C] BrE
a ceremony at which people are given prizes, especially at a school:
•the annual school prize-giving
•a glittering prize-giving ceremony[only before noun]
a prize-winning thing or person has won a prize:
•a prize-winning novel
•a prize-winning pianist
- prize winner noun [C] $ plural pros [C]
1 someone who is paid to do something, especially play a sport, that other people do for pleasure; = professional; amateur
•a tennis pro
•the small gap between top amateurs and pros in golf
2 informal also old pro someone who has had a lot of experience with a particular type of situation:
•Cathy's an old pro at organizing raffles.
3 pros and cons the advantages and disadvantages of something
the pros and cons of (doing) sth
•We discussed the pros and cons of going to university.
4 BrE old-fashioned informal a PROSTITUTE
PRO FORMA, PRO RATAinformal
1 paid to do something, especially play a sport, that other people do for pleasure; = professional
turn/go pro
•Most young talented players are determined to turn pro.
2 AmE played or done by people who are paid for what they do:
•pro basketball
if you are pro an idea, suggestion etc, you support it:
•As a party, they had always been pro family. $
1 supporting or approving of something; anti-
•pro-American
•the pro-choice lobby
2 technical doing a job instead of someone:
•the pro-vice-chancellor $
making things happen or change rather than reacting to events:
•a proactive approach to staffing requirements $ [C]
a competition, especially in golf, for PROFESSIONALs (=people who play for money) and AMATEURs (=people who play just for pleasure)
- pro-am adjective $
1 [C,U] how likely something is, sometimes calculated in a mathematical way; = likelihood, chance
the probability of (doing) sth
•The probability of winning the lottery is really very low.
•There's a high probability that the children will follow a different career.
probability that
•There is a 95% probability that she will not have the disease.
•You must decide whether, on the balance of probabilities, he committed the crime.
2 [singular] what is likely or something that is likely:
•The probability is that smaller businesses will not have to pay the tax.
•A peace agreement now seems a probability rather than a possibility.
high/strong probability
•projects that have a high probability of making profits
3 in all probability very probably:
•Mistakes could and, in all probability, would occur. $
likely to exist, happen, or be true:
•The probable cause of the fire was faulty wiring.
•Success is highly probable.
it is probable (that)
•It seems probable that the accident has damaged her brain.
probable outcome/consequence/result
•The probable result of global warming will be a rise in sea levels.[C]
someone who is likely to be chosen for a team, to win a race etc $
used to say that something is likely to happen, likely to be true etc:
•It will probably take about a week.
•This would probably be a good time to take a break.
•It's probably the best movie I have ever seen. [sentence adverb]
•'Are you going to be able to do this?' 'Yes, probably.'
•'Is she going to send it back?' ' Probably not, no.'
very/most probably
•The building will be replaced, most probably by a modern sports centre. $ [U]
law the legal process of deciding that someone's WILL has been properly made[T]
AmE law to prove that a WILL is legal $ [U]
1 a system that allows some criminals not to go to prison or to leave prison, if they behave well and see a probation officer regularly, for a particular period of time:
•The judge sentenced Jennings to three years' probation.
(put/place sb) on probation
•He pleaded guilty and was placed on probation.
2 a period of time, during which an employer can see if a new worker is suitable:
•a three month probation period
on probation
•Some people are appointed on probation.
3 AmE a period of time in which you must improve your work or behave well so that you will not have to leave your job:
•I'm afraid I have no choice but to put you on probation.
- probationary adjective
•a probationary period $ [C]
1 someone who has recently started a job, especially nursing or teaching, and who is being tested to see whether they are suitable for it
2 someone who has broken the law, and has been put on probation[C]
someone whose job is to watch, advise, and help people who have broken the law and are on probation $ [I,T]
1 to ask questions in order to find things out, especially things that other people do not want you to know
[+into]
•I don't want to probe too deeply into your personal affairs.
•Police probed claims that he had sold drugs.
2 to look for something or examine something, using a long thin object:
•Jules probed the mud gingerly with a stick.[C]
1 a long thin metal instrument that doctors and scientists use to examine parts of the body
2 a SPACE PROBE
3 an INVESTIGATION in which many questions are asked to discover the truth about something:
•a police corruption probe $
1 designed to find things out, especially things that other people do not want you to know:
•probing questions
2 watching carefully and intelligently:
•his probing eyes
- probingly adverb $ [C,U]
a food or other substance that contains BACTERIA and is used in a positive way to improve health, or the use of this type of food to improve health:
•Probiotics have been reported to enhance digestion.
•probiotic yoghurt $ [U]
formal complete honesty:
•I have always found Bentner to be a model of probity in our dealings. $ [C]
1 DIFFICULTY a situation that causes difficulties

have a problem
big/serious/major problem
cause a problem
deal with/sort out a problem
solve/fix/overcome a problem
address/tackle a problem
pose/present a probem
a problem arises/occurs/comes up (=it happens)
economic/financial problems
personal problem (=a problem in someone's private life)
money/family problems
drink/drug problem (=when someone drinks too much alcohol or takes too many drugs)
thorny/knotty problem (=a difficult problem)

[+of]
•the problem of race relations
[+with]
•I've been having a few problems with my car.
•She was older than me, but that wasn't a problem.
•new ways of dealing with the problem of street crime
•Does this mean that all our problems are solved?
•They still have some serious problems to overcome.
•new measures aimed at tackling the drug problem
•The shortage of teachers poses a major problem.
•The country has huge economic problems.
•He had to take some time off work due to personal problems.
•The marriage ended because of her husband's drink problem.
•We still haven't sorted out the thorny problem of where exactly the money is going to come from.
see box at TROUBLE^1

2 something wrong with your health or with part of your body
health problem/problem with your health
•Does she have any long-term health problems?
back/heart/kidney etc problem
•If you have back problems you should avoid lifting heavy objects.
hearing problem
•Many people with hearing problems try to hide their condition.
weight problem
•She refuses to admit to herself that she has a weight problem.
emotional/psychological problem
•Is this a sign of some kind of deeper psychological problem?
3 QUESTION a question for which you have to find the right answer, using mathematics or careful thought:
•She gave us 20 mathematical problems to solve.
4 no problem spoken
a) used to say that you are happy to do something or for someone else to do something:
•'Can I bring a friend?' 'Sure, no problem.'
b) used after someone has said thank you or said that they are sorry:
•'Thanks for all your help.' 'No problem!'
5 the (only) problem is (that) ... spoken used before saying what the main difficulty in a situation is:
•The problem is, there isn't enough time.
6 that's your/his etc problem spoken used to say rudely that someone else is responsible for dealing with a situation, not you:
•If you miss the train, that's your problem.
7 it's/that's not my problem spoken used to say rudely that you are not responsible for dealing with a particular problem and are not willing to help:
•'We've got a serious staffing shortage.' 'That's not my problem.'
8 What's your/his etc problem? spoken informal used when you think that someone is behaving in a way that is unreasonable
9 Do you have a problem with that? spoken informal used to ask someone why they seem to disagree with you, in a way that shows that you are annoyed
10 problem child/family/drinker etc a child etc whose behaviour causes problems for other people

GRAMMAR
You can say that you have a problem or have problems: We have a slight problem. | Are you having problems with your parents?

!! You can have problems doing something. Do not use 'to do': I'm having a problem finishing (NOT a problem to finish) this. | He had problems finding (NOT problems to find) a job.

!! Do not say 'the problem why'. To explain why there is a problem, use the reason why: The reason why people don't shop there is that it costs too much.

!! Do not say 'problems happen'. Use the verbs arise or occur: Problems start to arise (NOT start to happen) when people don't keep up their payments.

$
involving problems and difficult to deal with:
•The reforms could turn out be highly problematic.[C] BrE
a page in a magazine where letters are printed about people's personal problems, and answers are suggested[U]
when you find ways of doing things, or answers to problems:
•tasks that involve problem-solving
•employees with good problem-solving skills $
used to describe work that someone, especially a lawyer, does without getting paid $ plural probosces or proboscises [C]
1 a long thin tube that forms part of the mouth of some insects and WORMs
2 the long thin nose of some animals such as an ELEPHANT $
no probs BrE spoken informal used to say that you will be able to do something easily and with no problems:
•It'll be ready by six - no probs. [only before noun] formal
connected with a procedure, especially in a law court:
•procedural rules $ [C,U]
1 a way of doing something, especially the correct or usual way; process
[+for]
•What's the procedure for applying for a visa?
correct/proper/normal etc procedure
•This is standard procedure for getting rid of toxic waste.
legal/court/parliamentary etc procedures
•All schools have disciplinary procedures they must follow.
•On board, we were given the usual talk on safety procedures (=what to do if an accident happens, or to prevent an accident).
2 a medical treatment or operation:
•Liposuction is a minor surgical procedure. [I]
1 formal to continue to do something that has already been planned or started; proceeds
[+with]
•The government was determined to proceed with the election.
•Before proceeding further, we must define our terms.
2 formal to continue:
•Work is proceeding according to plan.
3 proceed to do sth to do something after doing something else first - used sometimes to express surprise or annoyance:
•Sammy took off his coat and proceeded to undo his boots.
4 [always +adv/prep] formal to move in a particular direction
[+to/towards/into etc]
•Passengers for Miami should proceed to gate 25.

PHRASAL VERBS
proceed against sb phr v law
to begin a legal case against someone

proceed from sth phr v formal
to happen or exist as a result of something:
•ideas that proceed from a disturbed state of mind

proceed to sth phr v formal
if you proceed to the next part of an activity, job etc, you do or take part in the next part of it; = go on to
•players who proceed to the finals of the competition
!! Do not confuse proceed and precede, which have different meanings and slightly different pronunciations.
1 the proceedings also the proceeding an event or a series of things that happen:
•We watched the proceedings in the street below.
•At this point in the proceedings, my doctor offered me a choice.
2 [C usually plural] when someone uses a court of law to deal with a legal case
begin/open/take proceedings (against sb)
•She has begun divorce proceedings.
•John is taking legal proceedings against his ex-partner.
3 the proceedings formal the official written records of a meeting, society etc
[+of]
•the proceedings of the conference $ [plural] formal
the money that is obtained from doing something or selling something:
•We sold the business and bought a villa in Spain with the proceeds.
[+of/from]
•The proceeds of the concert will go to charity. $ [C]
1 a series of actions that are done in order to achieve a particular result:
•the Israeli-Egyptian peace process
•Repetition can help the learning process.
[+of]
•the process of economic change
slow/lengthy/laborious etc process
•Getting fit again has been a long slow process.
•the mental processes involved in decision-making
2 a series of things that happen naturally and result in gradual change
[+of]
•the natural process of evolution
•Coal forms by a slow process of chemical change.
•the digestive process
3 be in the process of (doing) sth to have started doing something and not yet be finished:
•The company is in the process of moving to new offices.
4 be in process if something is in process, it is happening now:
•There was an armed revolt in process.
5 in the process while you are doing something or something is happening:
•I spilt the coffee, burning myself in the process.
6 process of elimination a way of finding the right answer, the truth etc by gradually deciding that none of the other answers etc are possible
by (a) process of elimination
•I solved the problem by a process of elimination.
7 a method of making or producing goods:
•the car production process
•Recycling is an industrial process.
DUE PROCESS[T]
1 to make food, materials, or goods ready to be used or sold, for example by preserving or improving them in some way:
•Goats' cheese may be processed in many ways.
•Two million workers are employed processing goods for electronic firms.
2 to deal with an official document, request etc in the usual way
process an application/claim/transaction etc
•All university applications are processed through this system.
3 to deal with information using a computer:
•The new network will enable data to be processed more speedily.
4 to print a picture from a photographic film
DATA PROCESSING, WORD PROCESSOR [I always + adv/prep]
formal to walk or move along in a very slow and serious way, especially as part of a group $ [only before noun]
processed food has substances added to it before it is sold, in order to preserve it, improve its colour etc
processed cheese/meat/fish etc
•the artificial colourings and flavourings in processed foods
1 [C,U] a line of people or vehicles moving slowly as part of a ceremony; parade
funeral/wedding/carnival etc procession
•They marched in procession to the Capitol building.
2 [C] several people or things of the same type, appearing or happening one after the other
[+of]
•an endless procession of visitors [only before noun]
relating to or used in a procession $ [C]
1 the central part of a computer that deals with the commands and information it is given; = central processing unit
2 a machine or person that processes food or other materials before they are sold or used:
•US tuna processors
FOOD PROCESSOR
someone who is pro-choice believes that women have a right to have an ABORTION; pro-life
•the pro-choice lobby $ [T] formal
1 to say publicly or officially that something important is true or exists; proclamation
•The President proclaimed the republic's independence.
proclaim that
•Protesters proclaimed that the girl was innocent.
proclaim sb sth
•His son was immediately proclaimed king.
2 to show something clearly or be a sign of something:
•The stripes on her uniform proclaimed her seniority. $
[C,U] an official public statement about something that is important, or when someone makes such a statement; proclaim
•The authorities issued a proclamation forbidding public meetings.
[+of]
•the proclamation of Lithuania's independence $ plural proclivities [C]
formal a tendency to behave in a particular way, or to like a particular thing - used especially about something bad
[+to/towards/for]
•The child showed no proclivity towards aggression.
•his sexual proclivities $ [C]
someone who governed a part of the ancient Roman Empirealso proconsulship $ [C]
the rank of a proconsul, or the time when someone was a proconsul [I]
formal to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it; = put off
•People often procrastinate when it comes to paperwork.
- procrastination noun [U] $ [I,T]
formal to produce children or baby animals; = reproduce
- procreation $ noun [U] $ [C]
AmE someone who watches students in an examination to make sure that they do not cheat; = invigilator BrE
- proctor verb [T] $ [C]
1 an official with legal powers, especially in the former Soviet Union, the Roman Catholic Church or the ancient Roman Empire:
•the Procurator General of the Ukraine
2 procurator fiscal an official in Scotland who decides whether someone should be sent to court for a TRIAL $ [T] formal
1 to obtain something, especially something that is difficult to get
procure sth for sb
•He was accused of procuring weapons for terrorists.
2 to provide a PROSTITUTE for someone
- procurable adjective
- procurement noun [U]
•the procurement of raw materials from abroad
- procurer noun [C] $ past tense and past participle prodded, present participle prodding [I,T]
1 to quickly push something or someone with your finger or a pointed object; = poke
•'Don't go to sleep,' she said, prodding me in the ribs.
[+at]
•Theo prodded at the dead snake.
2 to make someone do something by persuading or reminding them that it is necessary, especially when they are lazy or unwilling
prod sb into (doing) sth
•It had prodded Ben into doing something about it.
•The strike may prod the government into action.
- prodding noun [U]
•He's a bright kid, but he needs prodding.[C usually singular]
1 especially BrE a quick pushing movement, using your finger or a pointed object; = poke
•'Go on,' he whispered, giving me a prod in the back.
2 BrE when you persuade or remind someone to do something:
•Why don't you ring the shop and give them a prod?
3 a pointed instrument used for pushing animals, to make them move:
•a cattle prod $ [usually before noun] formal
1 prodigal son/daughter someone who leaves their family and home without the approval of their family, but who is sorry later and returns
2 spending money, wasting time etc in a careless way; = extravagant
•a prodigal lifestyle[C] literary
someone who spends money carelessly and wastes their time - used humorously [usually before noun]
very large or great in a surprising or impressive way
prodigious amounts/quantities of sth
•Some galaxies seem to release prodigious amounts of energy.
•the artist's prodigious output
- prodigiously adverb $ plural prodigies [C]
a young person who has a great natural ability in a subject or skill
child/infant prodigy
•Mozart was a musical prodigy. $ [T]
1 CAUSE to cause a particular result or effect; product
•New drugs are producing remarkable results.
•a rise in sea-level produced by climatic change
•As a policy, it did not produce the desired effect.
see box at PRODUCE^2
2 CREATE/MAKE to make, write etc something to be bought, used, or enjoyed by people; product, production
•The factory produces an incredible 100 cars per hour.
•How did you manage to produce a meal so quickly?
MASS-PRODUCED
3 MAKE NATURALLY to grow something or make it naturally; product, production
•This region produces the grapes used in champagne.
•Plants produce oxygen.
4 SHOW if you produce an object, you bring it out or present it, so that people can see or consider it:
•When challenged, he produced a gun.
•They were unable to produce any statistics to verify their claims.
5 PLAY/FILM if someone produces a film or play, they find the money for it and control the way it is made; producer
•Costner produced and directed the film.
6 BABY to give birth to a baby or young animals:
•An adult cat may produce kittens three times a year. $ [U]
food or other things that have been grown or produced on a farm to be sold
agricultural/organic etc produce
• fresh local produce
dairy produce BrE (=milk, butter, cheese etc)

WORD CHOICE: produce (v), produce (n), product
The verb produce is pronounced $ . The nounproduce is pronounced $ and is used to mean 'food that has been grown to be sold' We sell tinned goods and fresh produce (=fruit and vegetables).
The usual noun used to mean 'something that is produced to be sold' is product: Their latest product is a games console. | the packaging of food products

$ [C]
1 someone whose job is to control the preparation of a play, film, or broadcast, but who does not direct the actors
television/film/theatre producer
•Hollywood producers and movie stars
2 also record producer someone whose job is to organize and direct the recording and production of a record
3 a person, company, or country that makes or grows goods, foods, or materials; consumer
[+of]
•South Carolina is the fourth largest producer of tobacco.
coffee/wine/car etc producer
•leading oil producers $
1 [C,U] something that is grown or made in a factory in large quantities, usually in order to be sold; produce, production
agricultural/dairy/software etc products
•consumer products such as VCRs
•The London factory assembles the finished product.
•He works in marketing and product development.
see box at PRODUCE^2
2 the product of sth
a) if someone is the product of a particular background or experience, their character is typical of that background or the result of that experience:
•Paula was the product of a sheltered middle-class home.
b) if something is the product of a particular situation, process etc, it is the result of that situation or process:
•The report was the product of four years' hard work.
3 [C] technical the number you get by multiplying two or more numbers in MATHEMATICS
4 [C] something that is produced through a natural or chemical process:
•Hemoglobin is a product of red blood cells.
1 [U] the process of making or growing things to be sold, especially in large quantities; produce, product
[+of]
•the production of consumer goods
food/oil/milk etc production
•agricultural production and distribution
production costs/facilities/processes etc
•high-tech production methods
be in production (=being produced)
•By September, the new motors were in production.
go into/out of production (=begin to be produced in large numbers, or stop being produced)
•The new model will go into production next year.
2 [U] the amount of goods that are made or grown
increase/rise/fall etc in production
•a drop in oil and gas production
production levels/targets etc
3 [U] when something is produced through a natural process
[+of]
•the skin's natural production of oil
4 [C,U] a play, film, broadcast etc that is produced for the public, or the process of producing it:
•the new Shakespeare production at the Arts Theatre
•In 1992, Green moved into video production.
5 on/upon (the) production of sth formal when you show something:
•Entrance is only permitted on production of a ticket.[C]
a line of machines and workers in a factory, each doing one job in the process of making of a product before passing it to the next machine or worker; = assembly line[C]
a scene in a MUSICAL with a lot of people singing and dancing
1 producing or achieving a lot; unproductive
•Most of us are more productive in the morning.
•a highly productive meeting
2 [only before noun] relating to the production of goods, crops, or wealth:
•the economy's productive capacity
3 productive of sth formal causing or resulting in something:
•The meeting was productive of several good ideas.
- productively adverb $ [U]
the rate at which goods are produced, and the amount produced, especially in relation to the work, time, and money needed to produce them
increase/improve/raise productivity
•ways of increasing productivity
• high productivity levels in manufacturing
•It cost the country $4 million in lost productivity.[U]
a form of advertising in which a company arranges for one or more of its products to appear in a television programme or film $ [C]
1 informal a PROFESSOR
2 Prof. the written abbreviation of professor , used in front of names formal
1 showing a lack of respect for God or holy things:
•profane language
2 related to ordinary life, not religion or holy things; = secular; sacred
•sacred and profane art[T]
formal to treat something holy with a lack of respect plural profanities
1 [C usually plural] offensive words or religious words used in a way that shows you do not respect God or holy things
2 [U] formal behaviour that shows you do not respect God or holy things [T] formal
1 to say that you do, are etc something, especially when it is not really true
profess to do/be sth
•The government professes to care about the poor.
•He professed to be an expert on Islamic art.
2 profess your innocence to say that you did not do something bad, especially a crime:
•In court, the man was still professing his innocence.
3 to state a personal feeling or belief openly:
•He finally made up his mind to profess his love for her.
profess yourself (to be) sth
•He professed himself satisfied with the results.
4 to have a religion or belief:
•Matt professed no religion. [only before noun] formal
1 used to describe a belief that someone has stated openly:
•a professed atheist
2 used to describe a feeling or attitude that someone says they have, but which may not be true:
•Their professed aim is to encourage democracy.
1 [C] a job that needs a high level of education and training
the legal/medical/teaching etc profession
•members of the teaching profession
enter/go into/join a profession
•Some students enter other professions such as arts administration.
•people who work in the professions (=doctors, lawyers etc)
by profession
•Johnson was a barrister by profession.
•nurses, social workers, and other people in the caring professions (=ones that involve looking after people)
see box at JOB
2 [singular, also + plural verb BrE ] all the people who work in a particular profession
•the medical profession
3 [C] formal a statement of your belief, opinion, or feeling
[+of]
•a profession of faith
4 the oldest profession the job of being a PROSTITUTE - used humorously
1 JOB [only before noun]
a) relating to a job that needs special education and training:
•What professional qualifications does he have?
•It is essential to get good professional advice.
•You may need to seek professional help.
b) relating to your job or work and not to your private life:
•professional contacts
2 WELL TRAINED showing that someone has been well trained and is good at their work:
•This business plan looks very professional.
•a more professional approach to work
3 PAID doing a job, sport, or activity for money, rather than just for fun; amateur
•a professional tennis player
•a professional army
turn/go professional (=start to do something as a job)
4 TEAM/EVENT done by or relating to people who are paid to do a sport or activity; amateur
•a professional hockey team
•The golf tournament is a professional event.
5 professional person/man/woman etc someone who works in a profession, or who has an important position in a company or business:
•We'd prefer to rent the house to a professional couple.
6 professional liar/complainer etc someone who lies or complains too much - used humorously
- professionalization $ n [U]
•the increasing professionalization of childcare services
- professionalize verb [T][C]
1 someone who earns money by doing a job, sport, or activity that many other people do just for fun; amateur
•Hurd signed as a professional in 1998.
•top snooker professionals
2 someone who works in a job that needs special education and training, such as a doctor, lawyer, or ARCHITECT:
• health professionals (=doctors, nurses etc)
3 someone who has a lot of experience and does something very skillfully:
•You sing like a real professional.
4 tennis/golf/swimming etc professional someone who is very good at a sport and is employed by a private club to teach its members[C]
in football, if someone commits a professional foul, they deliberately do something that is against the rules in order to prevent another player from scoring [U]
1 the skill and high standards of behaviour expected of a professional person:
•the dedication and professionalism of our staff
2 BrE the practice of using professional players in sports:
•Professionalism has raised the standard of rugby immensely.
1 as part of your work:
•Do you need to use English professionally?
2 in a way that shows high standards and good training:
•The magazine wasn't very professionally designed.
3 as a paid job rather than just for fun:
•a chance to play football professionally
4 by someone who has the necessary skills and training:
•The carpet should be professionally fitted.[U]
a form of entertainment in which people, usually men, fight each other in a way that has been planned before the event
- professional wrestler noun [C] $ [C]
1 BrE a teacher of the highest rank in a university department:
•Professor Barclay
professor of Chinese/economics/religion etc
•She's been named the professor of English.
2 AmE a teacher at a university or college:
•Ted's a college professor.
biology/history/French etc professor
•Who's your chemistry professor?
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
see box at TEACHER $
relating to the job of a professor, or considered typical of a professor:
•a new professorial chair
•His beard gives him a very professorial look.
- professorially adverb $ [C]
the job or position of a university or college professor:
•a professorship in Japanese $ [T] formal
1 to offer something to someone, especially by holding it out in your hands:
•Sarah took the glass proffered by the attendant.
proffer sb sth
•Poirot proffered him a cigarette.
2 to give someone advice, an explanation etc:
•the proffered invitation [U]
a good standard of ability and skill
[+in/with/at]
•a high level of proficiency in English
•Nick's proficiency with computers is well-known.
able to do something well or skilfully
[+in/at]
•Martha's proficient in Swedish.
•There's only one way to become proficient at anything - practice!
•a proficient typist
- proficiently adverb $ [C]
1 HEAD a side view of someone's head:
•Dani has a lovely profile.
in profile
•I only saw her face in profile.
2 DESCRIPTION a short description that gives important details about a person, a group of people, or a place:
•a job profile
[+of]
•a short profile of the actor
3 high profile something that is high profile is noticed by many people or gets a lot of attention:
•Jack runs a department with a high public profile.
•The star has a high profile in Britain.
4 keep a low profile to behave quietly and avoid doing things that will make people notice you
5 raise sb's profile if a person or an organization raises its profile, it gets more attention from the public:
•an advertising campaign designed to raise the bank's profile
6 SHAPE an edge or shape of something seen against a background:
•the sharp profile of the western foothills against the sky[T]
to write or give a short description of someone or something:
•The new Chief Executive was profiled in yesterday's newspaper. $ [U]
1 offender profiling BrE the process of studying a crime, especially a murder, and making judgments about the character of the person who committed it
2 AmE when people who belong to a particular race or group are stopped and searched, for example by the police or at airports, because the police think that they are more likely to commit crimes:
•racial profiling
3 when companies collect information about people that they wish to sell something to $
1 [C,U] money that you gain by selling things or doing business, after your costs have been paid; loss ; revenue

at a profit
make/earn/turn a profit
big/huge/healthy/substantial/handsome/hefty profit (=a large profit)
profits are up/down
profits rise/increase/grow
profits soar/leap (=profits increase by a lot)
profits fall/drop
profits slump/plunge (=profits fall by a lot)
boost profits (=make them increase)
maximize profits (=get as much profit as possible)
net profit (=after tax and costs are paid)
gross profit (=before tax and costs are paid)
pre-tax profit (=before tax is paid)
trading/operating profit

•Our daily profit is usually around $500.
•She sold the business and bought a farm with the profits.
•They sold their house at a healthy profit.
•Few independent movies turn a profit.
•The property company made a huge profit on the deal.
• Profits are up by a third.
•Marston's profits rose last year to $17 million.
•The group's pre-tax profits slumped to £25.5m.
•They were able to report a small trading profit.

2 [U] formal an advantage that you gain from doing something:
•There's no profit in letting meetings drag on.
NON-PROFIT[I,T]
1 formal to be useful or helpful to someone
profit sb to do sth
•It might profit you to learn about the company before your interview.
[+by/from]
•There are lessons in these stories that all children can profit by.
2 to get money from doing something
[+by/from]
•Some industries, such as shipbuilding, clearly profited from the war. $ [U]
when a business or an activity makes a profit, or the amount of profit it makes:
•a decline in company profitability $
producing a profit or a useful result; unprofitable
•The advertising campaign proved very profitable.
•a highly profitable business
•a profitable afternoon
- profitably adverb[C] BrE
a financial statement showing a company's income, spending, and profit over a particular period $ [U]
the process of making unfairly large profits, especially by selling things that are very difficult to get at very high prices
- profiteer noun [C]
•black market profiteers
- profiteer verb [I] $ [C]
BrE a small round PASTRY with a sweet filling and chocolate on the top $ formal
not making a profit, or not useful to do
- profitlessly adverb[usually before noun]
a profit-making organization or business makes a profit[C]
the difference between the cost of producing something and the price at which you sell it[U]
a system by which all the people who work for a company receive part of its profits[C] BrE technical
an occasion when a company announces that its profit for a particular period of time will be less than expected $ formal
1 wasting money or other things in a careless way; = wasteful
•profligate spending
•the profligate use of energy resources
2 behaving in an immoral way and not caring that your behaviour is bad
- profligacy noun [U]
- profligate noun [C] $ formal
if something is approved, accepted etc pro forma, this is part of the usual way of doing things and does not involve any actual choice or decision:
•pro forma approval[C] BrE
a document like a bill that is sent to the customer to show what a price would be if he or she made an order; = quotation
1 having a strong influence or effect
profound effect/influence/impact/consequence etc
•Tolstoy's experiences of war had a profound effect on his work.
•The mother's behaviour has a profound impact on the developing child.
•profound changes in society
2 showing strong, serious feelings; = deep
•a profound sense of guilt
3 showing great knowledge and understanding; = deep
•a profound question
•Jenner is a profound thinker.
4 literary deep or far below the surface of something; = deep
•Her work touches something profound in the human psyche.
5 complete:
•profound deafness
- profoundly adverb
•profoundly disturbing news plural profundities formal
1 [U] when someone or something shows great knowledge and understanding, or strong, serious feelings; = depth
•The cartoon version lacks the profundity of the original text.
2 [C usually plural] something that someone says that shows great knowledge and understanding:
•the profundities of her speech
produced or existing in large quantities:
•He made profuse apologies.
•Profuse sweating is one of the symptoms of heat exhaustion.
- profusely adverb
•The wound was bleeding profusely.
- profuseness noun [U] [singular,U] formal
a very large amount of something
[+of]
•The house was overflowing with a profusion of strange ornaments.
in profusion
•Cornflowers grow in profusion in the fields. $ [C]
1 formal someone who first thought of an idea
[+of]
•a progenitor of cubism
2 technical a person or animal that lived in the past, to whom someone or something living now is related; = ancestor $ [U]
1 formal the babies of animals or plants; = offspring
2 someone's children - used humorously; = offspring
•Sarah with her numerous progeny
3 something that develops from something else
[+of]
•Connolly's book is the progeny of an earlier TV series. $ [U]
a female sex HORMONE which prepares the body for having a baby, and which is also used in CONTRACEPTIVE drugs $ technical
having a jaw that sticks out more than the rest of the face $ plural prognoses [C]
1 a doctor's opinion of how an illness or disease will develop; diagnosis
good/poor prognosis
•Doctors said Blake's long-term prognosis is good.
2 formal a judgment about the future, based on information or experience
[+of]
•a hopeful prognosis of the country's future development $ [C,U] formal
a statement about what you think will happen in the future; = forecast
•gloomy prognostications
- prognosticate $ verb [T] $ [C]
1 a set of instructions given to a computer to make it perform an operation:
•a word processing program
2 the American spelling of PROGRAMMEpast tense and past participle programmed, present participle programming [T]
1 to give a computer a set of instructions that it can use to perform a particular operation
program sth to do sth
•attempts to program computers to produce and understand speech
•Any large high-speed computer can be programmed to learn.
2 the American spelling of programme
PROGRAMMER $
able to be controlled by a computer or electronic program:
•a programmable heating systemprogram AmE $ [C] BrE
1 PLAN a series of actions which are designed to achieve something important:
•the US space program
programme to do sth
•a United Nations programme to control the spread of AIDS
[+of]
•a programme of economic reforms
2 TELEVISION/RADIO something that you watch on television or listen to on the radio:
•What's your favourite television programme?
•news and current affairs programmes
[+about/on]
•There's a programme about killer whales next.
see/watch a programme
3 EDUCATION AmE a course of study:
•Stanford University's MBA program
•a research program
4 IMPROVEMENTS actions that have been planned to keep something in good condition or improve something:
•a new fitness programme
5 PLAY/CONCERT a small book or piece of paper that gives information about a play, concert etc and who the performers are:
•a theatre programme
6 LIST OF EVENTS a series of planned activities or events, or a list showing what order they will come in
[+for]
•What's the programme for tomorrow?
[+of]
•a programme of exhibitions throughout the year
7 MACHINE a series of actions done in a particular order by a machine such as a washing machine:
•The light goes off when it finishes the programme.
PROGRAM^1program AmE [T] BrE
1 to set a machine to operate in a particular way
programme sth to do sth
•I've programmed the video to come on at ten.
PROGRAM^2
2 be programmed if a person or animal is programmed socially or biologically to do something, they do it without thinking
be programmed to do sth
•All birds of this species are programmed to build their nests in the same way.
3 to arrange for something to happen as part of a series of planned events or activities:
•What's programmed for this afternoon?also programmed instruction [U]
a method of learning in which the subject to be learned is divided into small parts, and you have to get one part right before you can go on to the next $ [C]
someone whose job is to write computer programs $ [U]
1 the activity of writing programs for computers, or something written by a programmer:
•a course in computer programming
2 television or radio programmes, or the planning of these broadcasts:
•The Winter Olympics received over 160 hours of television programming. $ [U]
1 the process of getting better at doing something, or getting closer to finishing or achieving something

make progress
progress in (doing) sth
slow/steady progress
good/significant/substantial/rapid progress
follow/chart/monitor/keep track of sb's progress
hinder sb/sth's progress (=make it slower)
economic/technological/scientific progress

•I'm afraid we're not making much progress.
[+of]
•the slow progress of the investigation
•There has been significant progress in in understanding the HIV infection.
[+towards]
•They say they are making steady progress towards a peace settlement.
[+on]
•Little progress has been made on human rights issues.
•tests designed to monitor the student's progress
•At school his academic progress was hindered by a series of health problems.
•The country has made huge economic progress in recent years.

2 slow or steady movement somewhere:
•We made good progress despite the snow.
[+through]
•They watched the ship's slow progress through the heavy seas.
3 change which is thought to lead to a better society, because of developments in science or fairer methods of social organization:
•Mankind is destroying the planet, all in the name of progress (=because people want progress).
•Under communism, nothing was allowed to get in the way of the great march of progress.
4 in progress formal happening now, and not yet finished:
•A lecture was in progress in the main hall.
work/research in progress
•They looked in periodically to check the work in progress.
!! progress is an uncountable noun. Do not say 'a progress' or 'progresses'.
1 [I] to improve, develop, or achieve things so that you are then at a more advanced stage; regress
•I asked the nurse how my son was progressing.
[+to]
•She started with a cleaning job, and progressed to running the company.
[+towards]
•We must progress towards full integration of Catholic and Protestant pupils in Ireland.
[+beyond]
•Last year the team didn't progress beyond the opening round.
2 [I,T] if an activity such as work or a project progresses, or you progress it, it continues:
•Work on the ship progressed quickly.
•We're hoping to progress the Lane project more quickly next week.
3 [I] if time or an event progresses, time passes:
•As the meeting progressed, Nina grew more and more bored.
•Time is progressing, so I'll be brief.
4 [I] to move forward slowly:
•Our taxi seemed to be progressing very slowly.
1 [singular,U] a gradual process of change or development
[+of]
•the natural progression of the disease
[+through]
•his career progression through the organization
[+from/to]
•the logical progression from accountant to financial controller
[+towards]
•Europe's progression towards economic and monetary union
2 [C] a number of things coming one after the other
ARITHMETIC PROGRESSION, GEOMETRIC PROGRESSION
1 supporting new or modern ideas and methods, especially in politics and education:
•a progressive administration
•progressive and forward-looking policies
2 happening or developing gradually over a period of time
progressive decline/reduction/increase etc
•the progressive increase in population
•Britain's progressive decline as a world power
3 technical the progressive form of a verb is used to show that an action or activity is continuing to happen. In English it consists of the verb 'be' followed by the PRESENT PARTICIPLE, as in 'I was waiting for the bus.'; = continuous
- progressively adverb
•The situation became progressively worse.
- progressiveness noun [U]
- progressivism noun [U][C]
someone with modern ideas who wants to change things[singular]
a tax that takes more money from people with higher incomes than from people with lower incomes; regressive tax [C]
a statement about how something, especially work, is developing $ [T]
1 [usually passive] to say that an action is illegal or not allowed; = ban, forbid
•Smoking is strictly prohibited inside the factory.
prohibit sb from doing sth
•They are prohibited from revealing details about the candidates.
2 formal to make something impossible or prevent it from happening
the period from 1919 to 1933 in the US when the production and sale of alcoholic drinks was illegal $
1 [U] the act of saying that something is illegal
[+of]
•the prohibition of the sale of firearms
2 [C] an order stopping something
[+on/against]
•a prohibition on Sunday trading $ [C]
someone who supported Prohibition $
1 prohibitive costs are so high that they prevent people from buying or doing something:
•The cost of land in Tokyo is prohibitive.
2 a prohibitive rule prevents people from doing things:
•prohibitive regulations
- prohibitively adverb
•Moving house would be prohibitively expensive. $ formal
intended to stop something $ [C]
1 a carefully planned piece of work to get information about something, to build something, to improve something etc:
•The project aims to provide an analysis of children's emotions.
•a three-year research project
•The scheme will now be extended after a successful pilot project (=a small trial to test if an idea will be successful).
project to do sth
•a project to develop a substitute for oil
•The project is funded by Wellcome plc.
•a project manager
2 a part of a school or college course that involves careful study of a particular subject over a period of time
[+on]
•We're doing a project on pollution.
•a geography project
3 also the projects informal AmE a HOUSING PROJECT
1 CALCULATE [T] to calculate what something will be in the future, using the information you have now:
•The company projected an annual growth rate of 3%.
•projected sales figures
be projected to do sth
•Total expenditure is projected to rise by 25%.
2 STICK OUT [I] to stick out beyond an edge or surface; = protrude
[+out/from/through etc]
•Four towers projected from the main building.
•projecting teeth
3 FILM [T] to make the picture of a film, photograph etc appear in a larger form on a screen or flat surface
project sth onto sth
•She projected the slide onto the wall.
4 YOURSELF [T] to try to make other people have a particular idea about you:
•I hope the team will project a smart, professional image.
project yourself (as sth)
•his attempts to project himself as a potential leader
5 PLAN be projected to be planned to happen in the future:
•the projected closure of the hospital
6 project your voice to speak clearly and loudly so that you can be heard by everyone in a big room
7 SEND [T] to make something move up or forwards with great force:
•The plants projects its seeds over a wide area.
8 SUCCESS [T] to make someone quickly have success or a much better job
project sb into/onto etc sth
•His success projected him onto Channel 4's comedy series 'Packet of Three.'
9 FEELING [T] to imagine that someone else is feeling the same emotions as you
project sth on/onto sb
•You're projecting your insecurity onto me. $ [C] formal
1 an object that is thrown at someone or is fired from a gun or other weapon, such as a bullet, stone, or SHELL
2 projectile vomiting informal when someone VOMITs with a lot of force, especially because they have drunk too much alcohol - used humorously
1 CALCULATION [C] a statement or calculation about what something will be in the future or was in the past, based on information available now
[+of]
•projections of declining natural gas production
[+for]
•population projections for the next 25 years
•He declined to make projections about fourth quarter earnings.
•Early projections show a three point lead for the Socialists.
2 STH STICKING OUT [C] formal something that sticks out from a surface:
•small projections of weathered rock on the hillside
3 FILM [U] the act of projecting a film or picture onto a screen:
•projection equipment
4 FEELING [U] technical the act of imagining that someone else is feeling the same emotions as you
5 PICTURE [C] technical a representation of something solid on a flat surface:
•a map projection
6 IMAGINED QUALITIES [C] something that you imagine to have particular qualities because of your wishes or feelings
[+of]
•The Devil is a projection of our fears and insecurities.
MERCATOR PROJECTION [C]
someone whose job is to show films by operating a projector $ [C]
a piece of equipment that makes a film or picture appear on a screen or flat surface $ [C]
medical the slipping of an inner part of your body, such as the WOMB, from its usual position $ [C] BrE old-fashioned not polite
an offensive word for a working class person $
the proletariat [+ singular or plural verb] the class of workers who own no property and work for wages, especially in factories, building things etc - used in SOCIALIST writings
- proletarian adjective
- proletarian noun [C]
someone who is pro-life is opposed to ABORTION and uses this word to describe their opinion; pro-choice
•a pro-life activist [I]
if something proliferates, it increases quickly and spreads to many different places:
•Computer courses continue to proliferate.
1 [singular,U] a sudden increase in the amount or number of something
[+of]
•the proliferation of global media networks
2 [U] the very fast growth of new parts of a living thing, such as cells
1 a prolific artist, writer etc produces many works of art, books etc:
•Handel's prolific output of opera
2 a prolific sports player produces a lot of runs, GOALs etc:
•the most prolific goalscorer this decade
3 an animal or plant that is prolific produces many babies or many other plants
4 existing in large numbers:
•the prolific bird life
- prolifically adverb $ formal
a prolix piece of writing has too many words and is boring $ [C usually singular]
1 the introduction to a play, a long poem etc; epilogue
2 literary an act or event that leads to a more important event
[+to]
•a prologue to the final abandonment of trams in London $ [T]
1 to deliberately make something such as a feeling or activity last longer; = lengthen
•I was trying to think of some way to prolong the conversation.
2 prolong the agony informal to make an unpleasant or anxious time last longer, especially when people are waiting for news:
•There's no point in prolonging the agony any longer. $
1 [singular,U] the act of making something last longer
[+of]
•the prolongation of life
2 [C] something added to another thing which makes it longer $
continuing for a long time:
•prolonged exposure to the sun
•a prolonged period of time $ [C]
1 AmE a formal dance party for HIGH SCHOOL students, often held at the end of a school year
2 BrE informal a PROMENADE (1)
3 BrE informal a PROMENADE CONCERT $ [C]
1 BrE a wide road next to the beach, where people can walk for pleasure
2 old-fashioned a walk for pleasure in a public place:
•an evening promenade[C]
BrE a concert at which many of the people who are listening stand rather than sit[C]
the upper level of a ship, where people can walk for pleasure $
1 [U] the fact of being important and well-known
[+of]
•the prominence of pressure groups as political forces
come to/rise to/achieve prominence (as sth)
•She first came to prominence as an artist in 1989.
2 give sth prominence/give prominence to sth to treat something as specially important:
•Every newspaper gave prominence to the success of England's cricketers.
3 [C] formal a part or place that is higher than what is around it $
1 important:
•a prominent Russian scientist
play a prominent part/role (in sth)
•Mandela played a prominent role in the early years of the ANC.
•The World Cup will have a prominent place on the agenda.
2 something that is in a prominent place is easily seen
prominent place/position
•The statue was in a prominent position outside the railway station.
3 something that is prominent is large and sticks out:
•a prominent nose
- prominently adverb
•Her photo was prominently displayed on his desk.
1 having many sexual partners:
•the risks of promiscuous sexual behaviour
2 old use involving a wide range of different things
- promiscuously adverb
- promiscuity $ noun [U]
•sexual promiscuity $
1 [I,T] to tell someone that you will definitely do or provide something or that something will happen:
•Last night the headmaster promised a full investigation.
promise to do sth
•She's promised to do all she can to help.
promise (that)
•Hurry up - we promised we wouldn't be late.
promise sb (that)
•You promised me the car would be ready on Monday.
•'Promise me you won't do anything stupid.' 'I promise.'
promise sth to sb
•I've promised that book to Ian, I'm afraid.
promise sb sth
•The company promised us a bonus this year.
•'I'll be back by 1.00.' ' Promise?' 'Yes! Don't worry.'
•He reappeared two hours later, as promised.
2 [T] to show signs of something
promise to be sth
•Tonight's meeting promises to be a difficult one.
•dark clouds promising showers later
3 promise sb the moon/the earth to promise to give someone something that is impossible for you to give
4 I can't promise (anything) spoken used to tell someone that you will try to do what they want, but may not be able to:
•I'll try my best to get tickets, but I can't promise anything.
5 I promise you spoken used to emphasize a promise, warning, or statement:
•I promise you, it does work!
1 [C] a statement that you will definitely do or provide something or that something will definitely happen
[+of]
•a promise of help
[+to]
•his promise to his father
promise to do sth
•She made a promise to visit them once a month.
promise that
•his promise that the job would be mine
keep/break a promise (=to do or fail to do something you promised)
•Don't make promises you can't keep.
•I might have to break my promise.
•I'll never lie to you again. You have my solemn promise.
2 [U] signs that something or someone will be good or successful:
•a young man full of promise
•Bill shows great promise as a goalkeeper.
•She didn't fulfil her early promise.
3 [singular,U] a sign that something, usually something good, may happen
[+of]
•the promise of spring
•The letter gave a promise of greater happiness.
the Promised Land
a) the land of Canaan, which was promised by God to Abraham and his people in the Bible
b) a situation or place which people have been wanting to be in because they will be safe and happy $
showing signs of being successful or good in the future:
•a promising career in law
•a promising young actor
•a promising start
- promisingly adverb $ [C] technical
a document promising to pay money before a particular date $ plural promos [C]
informal a short film that advertises an event or product:
•a promo video $ plural promontories [C]
a long narrow piece of land which sticks out into the sea:
•a rocky promontory $ [T]
1 ENCOURAGE to help something to develop or increase:
•a meeting to promote trade between Taiwan and the U.K.
•Fertilizer promotes leaf growth.
2 BETTER JOB [usually passive] to give someone a better, more responsible job in a company; demote
promote sb to sth
•Helen was promoted to senior manager.
3 SELL to help sell a new product, film etc by offering it at a reduced price or by advertising it:
•She's in London to promote her new book.
4 SPORT [usually passive] BrE if a sports team is promoted, they play in a better group of teams the next year; relegate
promote sb to sth
•They have been promoted to the First Division.
5 PERSUADE to try to persuade people to support or use something:
•John Major promoted the idea of a classless society.
6 ARRANGE to be responsible for arranging a large public event such as a concert or a sports game $ [C]
1 someone who arranges and advertises concerts or sports events:
•a boxing promoter
2 someone who tries to persuade people to support or use something:
•promoters of solar energy $
1 [C,U] a move to a more important job or position in a company or organization:
•I want a job with good prospects for promotion.
[+to]
•Your promotion to Senior Editor is now official.
2 [C,U] an activity intended to help sell a product, or the product that is being promoted:
•a winter sales promotion
3 [U] the activity of persuading people to support something
[+of]
•the promotion of energy conservation
4 [U] the activity of helping something to develop or increase
[+of]
•the promotion of international environmental cooperation
5 [U] BrE when a sports team moves into a better group of teams; relegation $
promotional films, events etc advertise something:
•a promotional video $
1 [T] to make someone decide to do something
prompt sb to do sth
•What prompted you to buy that suit?
2 [T] to make people say or do something as a reaction:
•The decision prompted an outcry among prominent US campaigners.
3 [T] to help a speaker who pauses, by suggesting how to continue:
•'I can't decide.' said Beatrice. 'Decide what?' prompted Marlon.
4 [T] to ask someone to do something on a computer:
•A message will appear which will prompt you for certain information.
5 [I,T] to remind an actor of the next words in a speech
1 done quickly, immediately, or at the right time:
•Prompt action must be taken.
•Prompt payment is requested.
•a prompt response
2 [not before noun] someone who is prompt arrives or does something at the right time and is not late:
•Lunch is at two. Try to be prompt.
- promptness noun [U]BrE informal
at the time mentioned and no later; = sharp AmE
•The bus will leave at 8 o'clock prompt.[C]
1 a word or words said to an actor in a play, to help them remember what to say
2 a sign on a computer screen which shows that the computer has finished one operation and is ready to begin the next $ [C]
someone who tells actors in a play what words to say when they forget $
1 at the right time without being late; = on time
•She arrived promptly.
2 immediately:
•She turned off the alarm and promptly went back to sleep.
3 without delay:
•A reply came very promptly. $ [T] formal
1 to spread an idea or belief to as many people as possible
2 to make a new law come into effect by announcing it officially
- promulgator noun [C]
- promulgation $ noun [U]also pron BrE
the written abbreviation of pronoun $
1 likely to do something or suffer from something, especially something bad or harmful
[+to]
•Some plants are very prone to disease.
prone to do sth
•Kids are all prone to eat junk food.
accident-prone/injury-prone etc
•He's always been accident-prone.
2 formal lying down with the front of your body facing down; = prostrate
•His eyes shifted to the prone body on the floor.
- proneness noun [U]
- prone adverb
•Jack lay prone on his bed. $ [C]
1 a thin sharp point of something such as a fork that has several points:
•sticking out like the prongs of a garden fork
2 one of two or three ways of achieving something which are used at the same time
[+of]
•the second prong of the attack
- pronged adjective
•a two-pronged fork $ technical
related to or used like a PRONOUN
- pronominally adverb $ [C]
a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase, such as 'he' instead of 'Peter' or 'the man'
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN, PERSONAL PRONOUN
1 [T] to make the sound of a letter, word etc, especially in the correct way; pronunciation
•How do you pronounce your name?
2 [T] to officially state that something is true
pronounce sb/sth sth
•The victim was pronounced dead on arrival.
•I now pronounce you man and wife.
3 [I,T] to give a judgment or opinion:
•The scheme was pronounced a failure.
[+on/upon]
•He used to pronounce on matters he knew nothing about.
4 [I,T ] law to give a legal judgment
pronounce sentence (=tell a court of law what punishment a criminal will have)
a word, name etc that is pronounceable is easy to say
very great or noticeable:
•a pronounced Polish accent
•This disability is more pronounced in men.
- pronouncedly adverb [C]
formal an official public statement
[+on]
•the Pope's last pronouncement on birth control $ spoken informal
quickly or immediately:
•You'd better get back here pronto.
1 [C,U] the way in which a language or a particular word is pronounced
[+of]
•Do you know the correct pronunciation of these Gaelic names?
2 [singular] a particular person's way of pronouncing a word or words
1 [in adjectives] used to describe something which a particular thing cannot harm or pass through, or which protects people against that thing:
•a bulletproof car
•a waterproof jacket
•an ovenproof dish (=that cannot be harmed by heat)
2 [in adjectives] used to describe something which cannot easily be affected or damaged by someone or something:
•a childproof container
•vandal-proof
3 [in verbs] to treat or make something so that a particular thing cannot harm it or pass through it, or so that it gives protection against it:
•soundproof a room (=so that sound cannot get into or out of it)
1 EVIDENCE [C,U] facts, information, documents etc that prove something is true
[+of]
•proof of the existence of life on other planets
•This latest interview was further proof of how good at her job Cara was.
proof of purchase/ownership/identity
•Do you have any proof of purchase? (=something to prove that you bought and paid for something)
•You'll need your passport as proof of identity.
proof (that)
•Do you have any proof that this man stole your bag?
•There is no proof that the document is authentic.
•Laboratory tests gave conclusive proof that the meat presents no risk to human health.
•He's living proof (=his experience or life shows it is true) that footballers can still play at the highest level into their late thirties.
proof positive (=definite proof that cannot be doubted)
•We received 800 applications last year, proof positive that the college is highly regarded by parents and students.
burden/onus of proof law (=used to say who has to show that something is true or not in a legal case)
•The burden of proof lies on the defendant.
2 COPY [C usually plural] technical a copy of a piece of writing or a photograph that is checked carefully before the final printing is done:
•Can you check these proofs?
3 MATHEMATICS [C]
a) a test in mathematics of whether a calculation is correct
b) a list of reasons that shows a THEOREM (=statement) in GEOMETRY to be true
4 the proof of the pudding (is in the eating) used to say that you can only know whether something is good or bad after you have tried it
5 ALCOHOL [U] a measurement of the strength of some types of alcoholic drink, especially SPIRITs :
•70% proof vodka (=that contains 70% pure alcohol) BrE
•70 proof vodka (=that contains 35% pure alcohol) AmE
be proof against sth literary to be too strong or good to be affected by something bad:
•Their defences are proof against most weapons.[T] BrE
1 [usually passive] to treat a material with a substance in order to protect it against water, oil etc
proof sth against sth
•climbing gear proofed against water
2 to proofread somethingalso proof past tense and past participle proofread [I,T]
to read through something that is written or printed in order to correct any mistakes in it
- proofreader noun [C]
- proofreading noun [U]
•a proofreading job $ past tense and past participle propped, present participle propping [T always + adv/prep]
to support something by leaning it against something, or by putting something else under, next to, or behind it
prop sth against/on sth
•He propped his bike against a tree.
•Can we prop the window open with something?

PHRASAL VERBS
prop sth <=> up phr v
1 to prevent something from falling by putting something against it or under it:
•The builders are trying to prop up the crumbling walls of the church.
[+against]
•paintings propped up against the wall
2 to help an ECONOMY, industry, or government so that it can continue to exist, especially by giving money:
•The government introduced measures to prop up the stock market.
3 prop yourself up to hold your body up by leaning against something
[+on/against/with]
•She propped herself up on one elbow.[C]
1 an object placed under or against something to hold it in a particular position
2 [usually plural] a small object such as a book, weapon etc, used by actors in a play or film:
•Anna looks after costumes and props.
•stage props
3 something or someone that helps you to feel strong:
•She was becoming an emotional prop for him.
4 informal a PROPELLER
5 also prop forward one of the players in a RUGBY team, who is large and strong and holds up the SCRUM $ [U]
information which is false or which emphasizes just one part of a situation, used by a government or political group to make people agree with them:
•the spreading of political propaganda
Nazi/Communist etc propaganda
propaganda exercise/campaign (=something done to show one political opinion)
•They have mounted a propaganda campaign against Western governments.
•the government propaganda machine (=people who produce propaganda)
- propagandize also -ise BrE verb [I,T]
- propagandist noun [C] $ formal
1 [T] formal to spread an idea, belief etc to many people:
•The group launched a website to propagate its ideas.
2 [I,T] if you propagate plants, or if they propagate, they start to grow from a parent plant to produce new plants:
•Propagate your plants in fresh soil.
3 [T] if an animal, insect, etc propagates itself or is propagated, it increases in number; = reproduce
- propagation $ noun [U] $ [C]
1 someone who spreads ideas, beliefs etc
2 a covered box of soil in which young plants or seeds are placed so that they can grow $ [U]
a colourless gas used for cooking and heating past tense and past participle propelled, present participle propelling [T]
1 to move, drive, or push something forward; propulsion
•a boat propelled by a small motor
•One of our students was unable to propel her wheelchair up the ramp.
propel yourself along/through etc
•She used the sticks to propel herself along.
2 written to make someone move in a particular direction, especially by pushing them:
•He took her arm and propelled her towards the door.
3 to move someone into a new situation or make them do something
propel sb to/into sth
•The film propelled her to stardom.
•Company directors were propelled into action. [C,U]
1 an explosive for firing a bullet or ROCKET
2 gas which is used in an AEROSOL to SPRAY out a liquid
- propellant adjective $ [C]
a piece of equipment consisting of two or more blades that spin around, which makes an aircraft or ship move[C]
BrE a pencil made of plastic or metal, in which the LEAD (=the part used for making marks) can be pushed out as it is used; = mechanical pencil AmE plural propensities [C usually singular]
formal a natural tendency to behave in a particular way
propensity to do sth
•the male propensity to fight
[+for]
•He seems to have a propensity for breaking things. $
1 [only before noun] right, suitable, or correct:
•Everything was in its proper place (=where it should be).
•the proper way to clean your teeth
•The proper name for Matthew's condition is hyperkinetic syndrome.
2 socially or legally correct and acceptable; improper
it is proper (for sb) to do sth
•I don't feel that it would be proper for me to give you that information.
• It is only right and proper that an independent inquiry should take place.
3 [only before noun] BrE spoken real, or of a good and generally accepted standard; = decent, real AmE
•When are you going to settle down and get a proper job?
•Try to eat proper meals instead of fast-food takeaways.
4 [only after noun] the real or main part of something, not other parts before, after or near to it:
•The friendly chat which comes before the interview proper is intended to relax the candidate.
•the city centre proper
5 proper to sth formal
a) belonging to one particular type of thing:
•the reasoning abilities proper to our species
b) suitable for something:
•dressed in a way that was proper to the occasion
6 [only before noun] BrE spoken complete; = real
•He's made a proper fool of himself this time!
7 very polite, and careful to do what is socially correct:
•She was very formal and proper.
PROPERLYBrE spoken
1 good and proper completely:
•We beat 'em good and proper.
2 used by some people to mean PROPERLY, although most people think that this is incorrect[C]
a FRACTION such as ¾, in which the number above the line is smaller than the one below it; improper fraction $
1 especially BrE correctly, or in a way that is considered right; = right AmE
•The brakes don't seem to be working properly.
•Then he's not doing his job properly.
•Parents should teach their children to behave properly in public.
•properly trained staff
2 especially BrE completely or fully; = thoroughly
•Is the chicken properly defrosted?
•The allegations were never properly investigated.
3 formal really:
•Documents properly belonging to the family were taken away.
properly speaking BrE (=really)
•It isn't, properly speaking, a real science.
4 used to say that someone is right to do something; = rightly
quite/very/perfectly properly
•People are, quite properly, proud of their homes.also proper name especially BrE [C]
a noun such as 'James', 'New York', or 'China' that is the name of one particular thing and is written with a CAPITAL letter; noun $ [only before noun] formal
owning a lot of property or land:
•the propertied classes $ plural properties
1 [U] the thing or things that someone owns:
•The hotel is not responsible for any loss or damage to guests' personal property.
•Some of the stolen property was found in Mason's house.
2 [C,U] a building, a piece of land, or both together:
• Property prices have shot up recently.
•the property market
•a sign saying ' Private Property. Keep Out'
•property taxes
commercial/residential property
3 [C usually plural] a quality or power that a substance, plant etc has; = quality, characteristic
•a herb with healing properties
physical/chemical etc properties
•the chemical properties of a substance
LOST PROPERTY, REAL PROPERTY, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY[C]
someone who makes money by buying land and building on it $ plural prophecies
1 [C] a statement that something will happen in the future, especially one made by someone with religious or magic powers; prophet
prophecy (that)
•The prophecy that David would become king was fulfilled.
[+of]
•the prophecy of Isaiah
2 [U] the power or act of making statements about what will happen in the future:
•She had the gift of prophecy.
self-fulfilling prophecy at SELF-FULFILLING $ past tense and past participle prophesied, present participle prophesying, third person singular prophesies [I,T]
to say what will happen in the future, especially using religious or magical knowledge; = foretell
prophesy that
•He prophesied that a flood would cover the earth.
•There was a great war between the countries, just as the elders had prophesied. $ [C]
1 a man who people in the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim religion believe has been sent by God to lead them and teach them their religion:
•the prophet Elijah
2 the Prophet Muhammad, who began the Muslim religion:
•followers of the Prophet
3 the Prophets the Jewish holy men whose writings form part of the Old Testament (=first part of the Bible), or the writings themselves
4 someone who claims that they know what will happen in the future
prophet of doom/disaster (=someone who says that bad things will happen)
false prophet (=someone whose claims about the future are not true)
5 someone who introduces and spreads a new idea
[+of]
•Gandhi was the prophet of non-violent protest. $ [C] old use
a woman who people believe has been sent by God to lead them
correctly saying what will happen in the future:
•It turned out to be a prophetic piece of journalism.
•Lundgren's warnings proved prophetic.
- prophetically adverb literary
like a prophet, or related to the things a prophet says or does $ technical
intended to prevent disease:
•prophylactic antibiotics[C]
1 technical something used to prevent disease
2 AmE formal a CONDOM - often used humorously $ [C,U]
technical a treatment for preventing disease [U + of/to]
formal the fact of being near someone or something, or of being related to someone; = proximity [T]
formal to make someone who has been unfriendly or angry with you feel more friendly by doing something to please them; = appease
- propitiation noun [U] $ formal
intended to please someone and make them feel less angry and more friendly:
•a propitiatory gift of flowers formal
good and likely to bring good results:
•a propitious moment
[+for]
•Conditions after the 1905 revolution were propitious for stable development.
- propitiously adverb $ [C]
someone who supports something or persuades people to do something; = advocate; opponent
[+of]
•Steinem has always been a strong proponent of women's rights.
leading/main/major proponent
•Dr George is one of the leading proponents of this view. $
1 [C usually singular also + plural verb BrE ]PART OF STH a part of a number or amount, considered in relation to the whole
[+of]
•The proportion of women graduates has increased in recent years.
•Every parent is asked to contribute a proportion of the total cost.
high/large/small etc proportion
•The decision affects a significant proportion of the population.
•Although the majority of offenders are men, a small proportion - about 5 percent - are women.
2 RELATIONSHIP [C,U] the relationship between two things in size, amount, importance etc
the proportion of sth to sth
•What's the proportion of boys to girls in your class?
in proportion to sth
•The rewards you get in this job are in direct proportion to the effort you put in.
3 CORRECT SCALE [U] the correct or most suitable relationship between the size, shape, or position of the different parts of something:
•Builders must learn about scale and proportion.
in proportion
•Reduce the drawing so that all the elements stay in proportion.
in proportion to sth
•Her feet are small in proportion to her height.
out of proportion with sth
•The porch is out of proportion with (=too big or too small when compared with) the rest of the house.
4 proportions [plural]
a) the size or importance of something:
•Try to reduce your tasks to more manageable proportions.
of immense/huge/massive etc proportions
•an ecological tragedy of enormous proportions
of epic/heroic/mythic proportions
•For most of us, Scott was a hero of mythic proportions.
crisis/epidemic proportions
•The flu outbreak has reached epidemic proportions.
b) the relative sizes of the different parts of a building, object etc
of grand/gigantic/generous etc proportions
•a building of classic proportions
•the elegant proportions of the living room
5 out of (all) proportion too big, great, or strong in relation to something
[+to/with]
•The fear of violent crime has now risen out of all proportion to the actual risk.
get/blow sth out of proportion (=treat something as more serious than it really is)
•Aren't you getting things rather out of proportion?
•The whole issue has been blown out of all proportion.
6 keep sth in proportion to react to a situation sensibly, and not think that it is worse or more serious than it really is; perspective
•Let's keep things in proportion.
7 sense of proportion the ability to judge what is most important in a situation
have/keep/lose a sense of proportion
•You can protest by all means, but keep a sense of proportion.
8 MATHEMATICS [U] technical equality in the mathematical relationship between two sets of numbers, as in the statement '8 is to 6 as 32 is to 24'; ratio[T usually passive] formal
to put something in a particular relationship with something else according to their relative size, amount, position etc
proportion sth to sth
•The amount of damages awarded are proportioned to the degree of injury caused. $
something that is proportional to something else is in the correct or most suitable relationship to it in size, amount, importance etc; disproportionate
[+to]
•The punishment should be proportional to the crime.
•The fee charged by the realtor is directly proportional to the price of the property.
•a proportional increase in costs
- proportionally adverb[U]
especially BrE PR a system of voting in elections by which all political parties are represented in the government according to the number of votes they receive in the whole country $ formal
PROPORTIONAL
- proportionately adverb $
used to talk about how correct, attractive, suitable etc something is in its size or shape
well/badly/beautifully etc proportioned
•Arnold's perfectly proportioned body
•a beautifully proportioned room $ [C]
1 a plan or suggestion which is made formally to an official person or group, or the act of making it; propose
[+for]
•the government's proposals for regulation of the industry
proposal to do sth
•The committee put forward a proposal to reduce the time limit.
approve/reject a proposal
•The French government has approved proposals for a new waste law.
•The original proposals were changed after over 500 objections were lodged.
proposal that
•proposals that the President should be directly elected
2 when you ask someone to marry you
marriage proposal/proposal of marriage
•She politely declined his proposal of marriage. $
1 SUGGEST [T] formal to suggest something as a plan or course of action; proposal
•the changes currently proposed by the local planning authorities
•the proposed budget cuts
propose that
•In his speech he proposed that the UN should set up an emergency centre for the environment.
propose doing sth
•The report also proposes extending the motorway.
!! You propose something to someone: He proposed a possible solution to me (NOT He proposed me a possible solution). Note that in spoken English, people do not usually use 'propose' to make suggestions. They usually use let's
see note at LET'S
2 MEETING [T] to formally suggest a course of action at a meeting and ask people to vote on it
propose a motion/amendment/resolution etc
•The resolution was proposed by the chairman of the International Committee.
propose sb for sth
•Mr Leesom proposed Mrs Banks for the position of Treasurer (=he suggested formally that she should be the treasurer).
3 THEORY [T] to suggest an idea, method etc as an answer to a scientific question or as a better way of doing something:
•A number of theories have been proposed to explain the phenomenon.
4 INTEND [T] formal to intend to do something
propose to do sth
•How does he propose to deal with the situation?
propose doing sth
•We still don't know how the company proposes raising the money.
5 MARRIAGE
a) [I] to ask someone to marry you, especially in a formal way
[+to]
•Shaun proposed to me only six months after we met.
b) propose marriage formal to ask someone to marry you
6 propose a toast (to sb) to formally ask a group of people at a social event to join you in wishing someone success, happiness, etc as they raise and drink a glass of wine:
•I'd like to propose a toast to the bride and groom. $ [only before noun]
a proposed change, plan, development etc is one that has been formally suggested to an official person or group:
•The document supplies details of the proposed changes.
•The government is set to vote on the proposed reforms tomorrow. $ [C] formal
a person who formally suggests a plan, course of action etc at a meeting for people to vote on; seconder $ [C]
1 STATEMENT a statement that consists of a carefully considered opinion or judgment
proposition that
•Most people accept the proposition that we have a duty to protect endangered animals.
•The theory is founded on two basic propositions.
2 SUGGESTION an offer or suggestion, especially in business or politics:
•He telephoned Stuart with a proposition.
attractive/interesting/practical etc proposition
•The offer of two tickets for the price of one makes it a very attractive proposition.
•It doesn't sound like a very viable proposition to me.
•I've got a proposition to put to you.
3 LAW also Proposition a suggested change or addition to the law of a state of the US, which citizens vote on:
•Proposition 147
4 MATHEMATICS technical something that must be proved, or a question to which the answer must be found - used in GEOMETRY
- propositional adjective[T] formal
to suggest to someone that they have sex with you:
•Here, prostitutes constantly proposition tourists. [T]
formal to suggest an idea, explanation etc for other people to consider:
•The theory of natural selection was first propounded by Charles Darwin. $ AusE
unable to walk or run well; = lame $ formal
1 especially BrE a proprietary product is one that is sold under a TRADE NAME; generic
•a proprietary brand of insecticide
•proprietary software products
2 relating to who owns something:
•They have proprietary rights to the data.
•He has no proprietary interest in the farm (=he does not own any part of it).
3 proprietary behaviour makes it seem that you think you own something or someone $ [C]
formal an owner of a business
[+of]
•the proprietor of a small hotel and restaurant
newspaper/garage/cafe etc proprietor
behaving or feeling as if you own something or someone
[+about]
•She felt proprietorial about the valley.
- proprietorially adverb [C] old-fashioned
a woman who owns a business formal
1 [singular,U] correctness of social or moral behaviour; impropriety
[+of]
•They discussed the propriety of treating ill children against the wishes of the parents.
with propriety
•They conducted themselves with propriety.
2 the proprieties especially BrE the accepted rules of correct social behaviour:
•strict in observing the proprieties $ informal
used when you want to say publicly that someone has done something good
props to sb for (doing) sth
•Props to Chris for all of his volunteer work. [U] technical
the force that drives a vehicle forward; propel
rocket/wind/nuclear/jet propulsion
•research into liquid hydrogen as a means of propulsion
- propulsive adjective $ [only before noun] especially BrE
a payment or share that is pro rata is calculated according to how much of something is used, how much work is done, etc:
•Fees are calculated on a pro rata basis.
- pro rata adverb $ [T usually passive]
AmE to calculate a charge, price, etc according to the actual amount of service received rather than by a standard sum $
boring or ordinary:
•a prosaic writing style
•The reality, however, is probably more prosaic.
- prosaically adverb $ [C] technical
the part of a theatre stage that is in front of the curtain:
•the proscenium arch (=the arch over the stage where the curtain can be attached) $ [T]
formal to officially say that something is not allowed to exist or be done; = forbid, prohibit
•The Act proscribes discrimination on the grounds of race.
- proscription noun [C,U] $ [U]
written language in its usual form, as opposed to poetry $
1 [I,T] to charge someone with a crime and try to show that they are guilty of it in a court of law:
•Shoplifters will be prosecuted.
prosecute sb for (doing) sth
•Buxton is being prosecuted for assault.
prosecute sb under a law/Act etc
•The company is to be prosecuted under the Health and Safety Act.
2 [I,T] if a lawyer prosecutes a case, he or she tries to prove that the person charged with a crime is guilty; defend
•Mrs Lynn Smith, prosecuting, said the offence took place on January 27.
3 [T] formal to continue doing something:
•We cannot prosecute the investigation further. $
1 [C,U] when a charge is made against someone for a crime, or when someone is judged for a crime in a court of law:
•a criminal prosecution
[+for]
•Walters could face prosecution for his role in the robbery.
[+of]
•the prosecution of war criminals
•The evidence is not sufficient to bring a prosecution against him.
2 the prosecution the lawyers who try to prove in a court of law that someone is guilty of a crime; defence
•the chief witness for the prosecution
3 [U] formal when you do something that is your job:
•the prosecution of her duties $ [C]
a lawyer who is trying to prove in a court of law that someone is guilty of a crimealso proselytise BrE $ [I,T]
formal to try to persuade someone to join a religious group, political party etc - used especially when you disapprove of this
- proselytizer noun [C]
- proselytizing noun [U] $ [U] technical
the patterns of sound and RHYTHM in poetry and spoken language, or the rules for arranging these patterns
- prosodic $ adjective $
1 [C,U] the possibility that something will happen
prospect of doing sth
•I see no prospect of things improving here.
•There is every prospect (=a strong possibility) of the weather remaining dry this week.
[+for]
•There are good prospects for growth in the retail sector.
prospect that
•There's a real prospect that England will not qualify for the World Cup.
2 [singular] a particular event which will probably or definitely happen in the future - used especially when you want to talk about how you feel about it
[+of]
•The prospect of marriage terrified Alice.
•Greeks face the prospect of new general elections next month.
•He relishes the prospect of a fight.
daunting/exciting etc prospect
be excited/alarmed/concerned etc at the prospect (of sth)
•She wasn't exactly overjoyed at the prospect of looking after her niece.
3 prospects [plural] chances of future success:
•I had no job, no education, and no prospects.
job/career prospects
•Job prospects for graduates don't look good.
4 [C] a person, job, plan etc that has a good chance of success in the future
5 in prospect formal likely to happen in the near future:
•A new round of trade talks is in prospect.
6 [C usually singular] formal a view of a wide area of land, especially from a high place $ [I]
1 to examine an area of land or water, in order to find gold, silver, oil etc
[+for]
•The company is prospecting for gold in Alaska.
2 to look for something, especially business opportunities
[+for]
•salesmen prospecting for new customers [only before noun]
1 prospective employee/candidate/buyer etc someone who is likely to do a particular thing or achieve a particular position
2 likely to happen:
•the prospective costs of providing pensions $ [C]
someone who looks for gold, minerals, oil etc [C]
1 especially BrE a small book that advertises a school, college, new business etc
2 a document produced by a company that wants the public to buy its shares $
[I] if people or businesses prosper, they grow and develop in a successful way, especially by becoming rich or making a large profit:
•Businesses across the state are prospering. $ [U]
when people have money and everything that is needed for a good life:
•a time of economic prosperity
[+of]
•the future prosperity of the country $ formal
rich and successful:
•a prosperous landowner
see box at RICHalso prostate gland $ [C]
an organ in the body of male MAMMALs that is near the BLADDER and that produces a liquid in which SPERM are carried $ plural prostheses [C]
medical an artificial leg, tooth, or other part of the body which takes the place of a missing part
- prosthetic adjective $ [C]
someone, especially a woman, who earns money by having sex with people
1 [T] if someone prostitutes a skill, ability, important principle etc, they use it in a way that does not show its true value, usually to earn money:
•Friends from the theater criticized him for prostituting his talent in the movies.
2 prostitute yourself to work as a prostitute $ [U]
the work of prostitutes $
1 lying on your front with your face towards the ground:
•They found him lying prostrate on the floor.
prostrate body/figure/form
2 too shocked, upset, weak etc to be able to do anything
[+with]
•Julie was prostrate with grief after her father's death.
- prostration $ noun [C,U] $
1 prostrate yourself to lie on your front with your face towards the ground, especially as an act of religious WORSHIP or as a sign of your willingness to obey someone
2 [T usually passive] to make someone too shocked, upset, or weak to be able to do anything $ [C] formal
1 the most important character in a play, film, or story; = main character
2 one of the most important people taking part in a competition, battle, or struggle:
•the main protagonists in the conflict
3 one of the most important supporters of a social or political idea
[+of]
•a protagonist of educational reform $ literary
able to keep changing or to do many things
1 [I,T] to keep someone or something safe from harm, damage, or illness; protection, protective
•Are we doing enough to protect the environment?
protect sb/sth from sth
•The cover protects the machine from dust.
protect sb/sth against sth
•Physical exercise can protect you against heart disease.
[+against]
•Waxing your car will help protect against rust.
2 [T usually passive] if an insurance company protects your home, car, life, etc, it agrees to pay you money if things are stolen or damaged or you are hurt or killed; = cover
•Unemployment insurance means that you are partially protected if you lose your job.
3 [T] to help the industry and trade of your own country by taxing or restricting foreign goods
a protected animal, plant, area, or building is one that it is illegal to harm or damage:
•Spotted owls are a protected species.
1 [U] when someone or something is protected
[+of]
•the protection of the environment
[+against/from]
•evidence that vitamin C gives protection against cancer
[+for]
•This law provides protection for threatened animals and plants.
for protection
•The police were issued with body armour for extra protection.
2 [C,U] something that protects
as (a) protection (against sth)
•Magee pulled up his collar as protection against the breeze.
3 [U] the promise of payment from an insurance company if something bad happens; = coverage
4 [U] CONTRACEPTION:
•Do you have any protection?
5 [U] when criminals threaten to damage your property or hurt you unless you pay them money:
•protection money
•a protection racket (=the illegal activity of demanding money for protection) [U]
when a government tries to help industries in its own country by taxing or restricting foreign goods
- protectionist adjective
- protectionist noun [C]
1 [only before noun] used or intended for protection:
•protective clothing
•Sunscreen provides a protective layer against the sun's harmful rays.
2 wanting to protect someone from harm or danger
[+towards]
•I can't help feeling protective towards my kids.
[+of]
•He's very protective of his younger brother.
3 intended to give an advantage to your own country's industry:
•protective tariffs
- protectively adverb
- protectiveness noun [U][U]
a situation in which the police make you stay somewhere to protect you from people who could harm you
in/into protective custody
•The children were taken into protective custody. $ [C]
someone or something that protects someone or something else [C]
a country that is protected and controlled by a more powerful country $ [C]
someone, especially a young person, who is taught and helped by someone who has influence, power, or more experience:
•She attempted to encourage her young protégé. $ [C,U]
one of several natural substances that exist in food such as meat, eggs, and beans, and which your body needs in order to grow and remain strong and healthyalso pro tempore $ [only after noun] formal
happening or existing now, but only for a short time:
•the president pro tem of the Senate $
1 [C,U] something that you do to show publicly that you think that something is wrong and unfair, for example taking part in big public meetings, refusing to work, or refusing to buy a company's products

protest march/rally
hold/stage/mount a protest
in protest (at sth)
peaceful protest
violent/angry protest
public protest
street protest
protest group/movement

[+against]
•protests against the Vietnam war
• protest marches against the government's policy on immigration
•A small group of demonstrators staged a peaceful protest outside the UN Headquarters.
•5000 employees came out on strike in protest at the poor working conditions.
•Three people died yesterday in violent street protests.
•the protest movements of the 1960s

2 [C] words or actions that show that you do not want someone to do something or that you dislike something very much
[+from]
•I turned off the TV, despite loud protests from the kids.
without protest
•He accepted his punishment without protest.
•She ignored his protests and walked away.
•The programme caused a storm of protest (=a lot of angry protest).
•The announcement was met with howls of protest.
3 do sth under protest to do something while making it clear that you do not want to do it:
•The bill was eventually paid under protest.
!! The noun protest is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable $ . The verb is pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable .
1 [I,T] to come together to publicly express disapproval or opposition to something
[+against/at/about]
•Thousands of people blocked the street, protesting against the new legislation.
protest sth AmE
•Students protested the decision.
2 [I,T] to say that you strongly disagree with or are angry about something because you think it is wrong or unfair:
•'I don't see why I should take the blame for this!' she protested.
protest that
•Clive protested that he hadn't been given enough time to do everything.
3 [T] to state very firmly that something is true, when other people do not believe you
protest (that)
•Sarah protested that she wasn't Mick's girlfriend.
•Years later, he is still protesting his innocence. $ [C]
a member of a part of the Christian church that separated from the Roman Catholic church in the 16th century
- Protestant adjective
- Protestantism noun [U] $ [C] formal
a strong statement saying that something is true or not true, when other people believe the opposite
[+of]
•protestations of innocence $ [C]
someone who takes part in a public activity such as a DEMONSTRATION in order to show their opposition to something $
technical existing or coming before other things of the same type:
•a proto-fascist group
•a prototype $
1 [U] a system of rules about the correct way to behave on an official occasion:
•a breach of diplomatic protocol
2 [C] formal
a) an international agreement between two or more countries:
•the Montreal protocol on the protection of the ozone layer
b) a written record of a formal or international agreement, or an early form of an agreement
3 [C] technical an established method for connecting computers so that they can exchange information
4 [C] technical a set of rules that are followed when doing a scientific EXPERIMENT or giving someone medical treatment $ [C]
a very small piece of matter with a positive electrical CHARGE that is in the central part of an atom; electron, neutron $ [U]
technical the colourless substance that forms the cells of plants and animals $ [C]
1 the first form that a new design of a car, machine etc has, or a model of it used to test the design before it is produced
[+of/for]
•a working prototype of the new car
2 someone or something that is one of the first and most typical examples of a group or situation $
very typical of a group or type:
•prototypical behaviour, protozoon $ plural protozoa $ or protozoans [C]
a very small living thing that has only one cell
- protozoan adjective
used to describe something that continues for a long time, especially if it takes longer than usual, necessary, or expected; = lengthy
protracted negotiations/discussions/debate etc
•the expense of a protracted legal battle $ [C]
a piece of plastic in the shape of a half-circle, which is used for measuring and drawing angles $ [I] written
to stick out from somewhere
[+from]
•The envelope was protruding from her bag. $ [C]
formal something that sticks out $ [C]
formal something that sticks out:
•This dinosaur is recognizable by the protuberance on the top of its head.
- protuberant adjective comparative prouder, superlative proudest
1 PLEASED feeling pleased about something that you have done or something that you own, or about someone or something you are involved with or related to; pride; ashamed
[+of]
•Her parents are very proud of her.
•You should be proud of yourself.
•His past record is certainly something to be proud of.
be justly/rightly proud of sth (=have good reasons for being proud)
•The company is justly proud of its achievements.
proud to do/be sth
•Seven-year-old Ian is proud to have earned his red belt in karate.
proud (that)
•She was proud that the magazine had agreed to publish one of her stories.
•Seth was the proud owner of a new sports car.
2 proudest moment/achievement/possession the moment etc that makes you feel most proud:
•His proudest moment was winning the European Cup final.
3 TOO HIGH OPINION thinking that you are more important, skilful etc than you really are - used to show disapproval; pride
•a proud man who would not admit his mistakes
4 GREAT SELF-RESPECT having respect for yourself, so that you are embarrassed to ask for help when you are in a difficult situation; pride
•Some farmers were too proud to ask for government help.
5 do sb proud
a) informal to make people feel proud of you by doing something well:
•I tried to do my country proud.
b) old-fashioned to treat someone well by providing them with good food or entertainment
6 IMPRESSIVE literary tall and impressive
- proudly adverb

WORD CHOICE: proud, arrogant, conceited, big-headed, vain
Proud is a fairly general word used to say that someone is pleased with themselves, pleased with what they have achieved, or pleased with something or someone connected with them such as their school or their family: His proud parents watched the presentation. | I'm very proud of my students. | She was proud to be in the team.
Proud is usually neither approving nor disapproving, although you can say someone is too proud, meaning that they will not admit they are wrong or need help.
Arrogant is a disapproving word meaning that someone thinks they are better than other people: He was so arrogant he thought he could not possibly lose. | the arrogant way she dismisses my opinions
Conceited and big-headed are disapproving words meaning that someone thinks they or their achievements are better than they really are. Conceited is fairly formal and big-headed is informal.
Vain is a disapproving word meaning that someone thinks they are very special, especially because they are very proud of the way they look.

past tense proved, past participle proved or, proven especially AmE
1 SHOW STH IS TRUE [T] to show that something is true by providing facts, information etc; proof
•You're wrong, and I can prove it.
prove (that)
•Tests have proved that the system works.
prove sth to sb
•I knew he had done it, but there was no way I could prove it to Eddie.
prove sb's guilt/innocence
•He claims the police destroyed records that could prove the officer's guilt.
prove sb wrong/innocent etc
•They say I'm too old, but I'm going to prove them all wrong.
•To prove his point (=show that he was right), he mentioned several other experiments which had produced similar results.
!! You prove something to someone: I will prove to you (NOT prove you) that I'm right.
2 BE [linking verb] if someone or something proves difficult, helpful, a problem etc, they are difficult, helpful, a problem etc:
•The recent revelations may prove embarrassing to the President.
prove to be sth
•The design proved to be a success.
3 prove yourself/prove something (to sb) to show how good you are at doing something:
•When I first started this job, I felt I had to prove myself.
4 prove yourself (to be) sth to show other people that you are a particular type of person:
•She's proved herself to be a very reliable worker.
5 what is sb trying to prove? spoken said when you are annoyed by someone's actions and do not understand them
6 prove a point if someone does something to prove a point, they do it to show that they are right or that they can do something:
•I'm not going to run the marathon just to prove a point.
7 BREAD [I] if DOUGH (=unbaked bread mixture) proves, it rises and becomes light because of the YEAST in it
8 LAW [T] law to show that a WILL has been made in the correct way
!! Do not use 'prove' to mean 'make something better.' Use improve: a chance to improve your English
- provable adjective $
[usually before noun] tested and shown to be true or good, or shown to exist:
•a player of proven ability
•a telephone system with a proven track record (=past performance showing how good it is) of reliability especially AmE
a past participle of PROVE $ [U]
formal the place where something originally came from:
•The provenance of the paintings is unknown.
(of) dubious/doubtful provenance (=used to suggest that something may have been stolen)
•artworks of doubtful provenance $ [C]
a short well-known statement that gives advice or expresses something that is generally true. 'A penny saved is a penny earned' is an example of a proverb; saying $
1 the proverbial sth used when you describe something using part of a well-known expression:
•The store had everything including the proverbial kitchen sink.
2 relating to a proverb:
•a proverbial expression
3 well-known by a lot of people:
•His modesty is proverbial.
- proverbially adverb [T]
1 to give something to someone or make it available to them, because they need it or want it; provision
•Tea and biscuits will be provided.
provide sth for sb
•The hotel provides a shoe-cleaning service for guests.
provide sb with sth
•The project is designed to provide young people with work.
2 to produce something useful as a result:
•We are hoping the enquiry will provide an explanation for the accident.
provide sb with sth
•The search provided the police with several vital clues.
3 provide that formal if a law or rule provides that something must happen, it states that it must happen

PHRASAL VERBS
provide against sth phr v formal
to make plans in order to deal with a bad situation that might happen:
•Health insurance will provide against loss of income if you become ill.

provide for sb/sth phr v
1 to give someone the things they need to live, such as money, food etc:
•Without work, how can I provide for my children?
2 formal if a law, rule, or plan provides for something, it states that something will be done and makes it possible for it to be done:
•The new constitution provides for a 650-seat legislature.
3 formal to make plans in order to deal with something that might happen in the future:
•Commanders failed to provide for an attack by sea.

GRAMMAR
Someone can provide something but they cannot 'provide someone': Will they provide a car?
You can say that you provide someone with something or provide something for someone: He provided me with everything (NOT provided me everything) I needed. | They did not provide enough paper for everyone (NOT to everyone).
Toprovide for someone means to support them by giving them the things they need to live: She has to provide for her four children (NOT provide her four children).

also provided that
used to say that something will only be possible if something else happens or is done; = providing
•He can come with us, provided he pays for his own meals.providence $ [U] literary
a force which is believed by some people to control what happens in our lives and to protect us:
•divine providence $ formal
careful and sensible in the way you plan things, especially by saving money for the future $ formal
a providential event is a lucky one
- providentially adverb $ [C]
1 a company or person that provides a service:
•an Internet service provider
2 someone who supports a family:
•A widow, she is the sole provider (=the only one) for her family.also providing that
used to say that something will only be possible if something else happens or is done; = provided
•You can borrow the car, providing I can have it back by six o'clock. $
1 also Province [C] one of the large areas into which some countries are divided, and which usually has its own local government:
•a Chinese province
2 the provinces the parts of a country that are not near the capital
3 [singular] formal a subject that someone knows a lot about or something that only they are responsible for
[+of]
•Computers were once the exclusive province of scientists and mathematicians.
1 [only before noun] relating to or coming from a province:
•a provincial election
•the provincial government of Quebec
2 relating to or coming from the parts of a country that are not near the capital:
•a provincial town
3 old-fashioned and not interested in anything new or different - used to show disapproval:
•provincial attitudes[C]
someone who comes from a part of a country that is not near the capital, especially someone who is not interested in anything new or different - often used to show disapproval [U]
provincial attitudes[C]
1 a place or situation in which something new is tried or tested
[+for]
•High-crime areas are proving grounds for new police officers.
2 technical an area for scientific testing, especially of vehicles
1 [C usually singular, U] when you provide something that someone needs now or in the future
[+of]
•the provision of childcare facilities
[+for]
•provision for people with disabilities
•He made provisions for his wife and his children in his will.
2 provisions [plural] food, drink, and other supplies, especially for a journey:
•We had enough provisions for two weeks.
3 [C] a condition in an agreement or law:
•The agreement includes a provision for each side to check the other side's weapons.
under the provisions of sth
•Under the provisions of the Act, employers must supply safety equipment.[T] formal
to provide someone or something with a lot of food and supplies, especially for a journey formal
likely or able to be changed in the future:
•a provisional government
•We accept provisional bookings by phone.
- provisionally adverb
•The meeting has been provisionally arranged for the end of May.[C] BrE
an official document that you must have when you are learning to drive; = learner's permit AmE $ plural provisos [C] formal
a condition that you ask for before you will agree to something
with the proviso that
•The money was given to the museum with the proviso that it is spent on operating costs. $ [C,U]
an action or event that makes someone angry or upset, or is intended to do this; provoke
without provocation
•She claims that Graham attacked her without any provocation.
•He was accused of deliberate provocation.
•Julie has a tendency to burst into tears at the slightest provocation. $
1 provocative behaviour, remarks etc are intended to make people angry or upset, or to cause a lot of discussion
provocative comment/remark/statement
•The minister's provocative remarks were widely reported in the press.
•a provocative act by a terrorist group
•She was accused of being deliberately provocative.
2 provocative clothes, movements, pictures etc are intended to make someone sexually excited:
• provocative images of young girls
- provocatively adverb $ [T]
1 to cause a reaction or feeling, especially a sudden one; provocation
provoke a protest/an outcry/criticism etc
•The proposal provoked widespread criticism.
•The decision to invade provoked storms of protest.
provoke debate/discussion
•The novel has provoked fierce debate in the US.
provoke sb into (doing) sth
•She hopes her editorial will provoke readers into thinking seriously about the issue.
provoke sb to do sth
•Emma, though still at school, was provoked to help too.
2 to make someone angry, especially deliberately:
•The dog would not have attacked if it hadn't been provoked.
provoke sb into (doing) sth
•Paul tried to provoke Fletch into a fight., provost $ [C]
1 the person in charge of a college in some British universities, especially at Oxford or Cambridge
2 an important official at a university in the US
3 old use the leader of the council in some Scottish towns and cities [C]
especially literary the front part of a ship or boat [U]
formal great skill at doing something:
•his physical prowess
•military prowess [I,T]
1 if an animal prowls, it moves around an area quietly, especially because it is hunting another animal
2 if someone prowls, they move around an area slowly and quietly, especially because they are involved in a criminal activity or because they are looking for something:
•gangs of teenagers prowling the streets
[+around/about] BrE
•Irene prowled restlessly around the room.
be/go on the prowl (for sth/sb)
a) if an animal is on the prowl, it is hunting
b) if someone is on the prowl, they are moving around different places, looking for an opportunity to do something:
•local men out on the prowl (=looking for people to have a sexual relationship with) in the city's bars and nightclubs
•She's always on the prowl for bargains. $ [C]
a person who follows someone or hides near their house, especially at night, in order to frighten or harm them or to steal something:
•The police were called after a prowler was spotted near their home. $ formal
1 a proximate cause is a direct one
2 nearest in time, order, or family relationship; = close $ [U]
formal nearness in distance or time
[+to]
•We chose the house for its proximity to the school.
[+of]
•the proximity of the Bahamas to the States
•Here the rich and the poor live in close proximity (=very near to each other). $ plural proxies
1 by proxy if you do something by proxy, you arrange for someone else to do it for you:
•You can vote by proxy.
2 [C,U] someone who you choose to represent you, especially to vote for you
[+for]
•a husband acting as proxy for his wife
3 [C + for] formal something used to represent something else that you want to measure[only before noun]
involving the use of a proxy:
•a proxy vote [C]
someone who is very easily shocked by anything relating to sex - used to show disapproval [U]
a sensible and careful attitude that makes you avoid unnecessary risks:
•financial prudence
sensible and careful, especially by trying to avoid unnecessary risks:
•prudent house buyers
it is prudent (for sb) to do sth
•It might be prudent to get a virus detector for the network. old-fashioned
PRUDENT [U]
the behaviour or attitude of people who are too easily shocked by things relating to sex - used to show disapproval
very easily shocked by things relating to sex - used to show disapproval:
•American culture is in many ways still fairly prudish.
- prudery noun [U]
- prudishly adverb
- prudishness noun [U] [T]
1 also prune sth <=> back to cut off some of the branches of a tree or bush to make it grow better:
•The roses need pruning.
2 especially BrE to make something smaller by removing parts that you do not need or want:
•The company is pruning staff in order to reduce costs.
•The original version of the text has been pruned quite a bit.[C]
a dried PLUM, often cooked before it is eaten:
•stewed prunes $ formal
having or showing too much interest in sex - used to show disapproval:
•prurient interests
- pruriently adverb
- prurience noun [U] [U]
a very poisonous acid past tense and past participle pried, present participle prying, third person singular pries
1 [I] to try to find out details about someone else's private life in an impolite way:
•I don't want to pry, but I need to ask you one or two questions.
[+into]
•reporters prying into the affairs of celebrities
2 [T always + adv/prep] especially AmE to force something open, or force it away from something else; = prize BrE
pry sth open/away/off etc
•We finally managed to pry the door open with a screwdriver.
3 away from prying eyes in private, where people cannot see what you are doing

PHRASAL VERBS
pry sth out of sb/sth phr v AmE
to get money or information from someone with a lot of difficulty:
•If you want to know his name, you have to pry it out of her.also P.S. AmE [C]
postscript a note written at the end of a letter, adding more information:
•She added a PS to say 'hi' to my brother.
•Best wishes, Julie. PS Maggie sends her love. $ [C]
a song or poem praising God, especially in the Bible $ [C]
someone who has written a psalm $ [C]
a book containing the psalms from the Bible $ plural psalteries [C]
an ancient musical instrument with strings stretched over a board $ [U] BrE technical
the study of how people vote in elections
- psephologist noun [C] $ [C] BrE
a person who pretends to know a lot about a subject and talks about it in a complicated way in order to make other people admire them - used to show disapproval $
false or not real:
•pseudo-intellectuals (=people who pretend to be clever)
•She dismisses astrology as pseudo-science. $ [C]
an invented name that a writer, artist etc uses instead of their real name
under a pseudonym
•He wrote under the pseudonym 'Silchester'.
- pseudonymous $ adjective
•He was the pseudonymous author.
- pseudonymously adverb [U]
a skin disease that causes rough red areas where the skin comes off in small pieces
a sound people make when they want to attract someone's attention without other people noticing:
•Psst! Guess what?
the abbreviation of Pacific Standard Time

PHRASAL VERBS
psych sb <=> out phr v
informal to do or say things that will make your opponent in a game or competition feel nervous or confused, so that it is easier for you to win

psych sb up phr v informal
if you psych yourself up or if someone psychs you up, you get mentally prepared before doing something so that you feel confident
psych yourself up (for sth)
•We both knew we had to psych ourselves up for the race. spoken informal
1 [U] a short form of PSYCHOLOGY:
•I'm a psych major now.
2 [C] a short form of PSYCHIATRIST [C usually singular] technical formal
someone's mind, or their deepest feelings, which control their attitudes and behaviour:
•Freud's account of the human psyche
•A characteristic of the feminine psyche is to seek approval from others. [usually before noun]
1 psychedelic drugs such as LSD make you HALLUCINATE (=see things that do not exist)
2 having or using bright colours or strange sounds, and representing the experiences people have when they use drugs such as LSD:
•a psychedelic light show
•Fashion designers look back to the 1960s with dazzling psychedelic prints.
- psychedelically adverb
- psychedelia noun [U]
•Sixties psychedelia
relating to the study and treatment of mental illness:
•a psychiatric hospital
•a psychiatric nurse
•Charles was suffering from a psychiatric disorder (=mental illness).
- psychiatrically adverb $ [C]
a doctor trained in the treatment of mental illness; psychologist $ [U]
the study and treatment of mental illnesses; psychology [no comparative]
1 also psychical relating to the power of the human mind to do strange or surprising things that cannot be explained by reason:
•a spiritual healer with psychic powers
•a documentary on psychic phenomena
2 someone who is psychic has the ability to know what other people are thinking or what will happen in the future; clairvoyant
•You don't have to be psychic to know what Maggie is thinking.
3 also psychical affecting the mind rather than the body:
•psychic disorders (=illnesses)
- psychically adverb[C]
someone who has mysterious powers, especially the ability to receive messages from dead people or to know what will happen in the future $ plural psychos [C]
informal someone who is mentally ill and who may behave in a violent or strange way
- psycho adjective $
also psych- technical relating to the mind and the mental processes, rather than the body:
•a psychoanalyst $
psychoactive drugs have an effect on your mind $ [U]
medical treatment that involves talking to someone about their life, feelings etc in order to find out the hidden causes of their problems
- psychoanalytic $ adjective
•psychoanalytic theory
- psychoanalytical adjective
- psychoanalytically adverb $ [C]
someone who treats patients using psychoanalysisalso -yse BrE $ [T]
to treat someone using psychoanalysis $ [U]
informal language that sounds scientific but is not really, that some people use when talking about their emotional problems - used in order to show disapproval $ [U]
the study of the body in relation to the mind $
1 [C,U] a way of treating mental illness in which people are asked to act in a situation together to help them understand their emotions
2 [C] a serious film, play etc that examines the minds and feelings of the characters, rather than what happens $ [U]
the moving of solid objects using only the power of the mind, which some people believe is possible
- psychokinetic $ adjective
- psychokinetically adverb $
1 relating to the way that your mind works and the way that this affects your behaviour:
•Sleep disorders are a serious psychological problem.
•Freud's psychological theories
•What was the patient's psychological state?
2 relating to what is in someone's mind rather than what is real:
•Max says he's ill, but I'm sure it's psychological.
3 psychological warfare behaviour intended to make your opponents lose confidence or feel afraid
4 the psychological moment BrE informal the exact time in a situation when you have the best chance to achieve what you want
- psychologically adverb
•psychologically disturbed patients $ [C]
someone who is trained in psychology; psychiatrist
•a clinical psychologist $ plural psychologies
1 [U] the study of the mind and how it influences people's behaviour
educational/social etc psychology
•experts in the field of developmental psychology
2 [U] the mental processes involved in believing in something or doing a certain activity
[+of]
•research into the psychology of racism
3 [C,U] what someone thinks or believes, and how this affects what they do:
•the psychology of three-year-olds
•mob psychology
•You have to use psychology to get people to stop smoking. $
relating to the measurement of mental abilities and qualities:
•psychometric tests [C]
someone who has a serious and permanent mental illness that makes them behave in a violent or criminal way; sociopath
- psychopathic adjective
•a psychopathic personality
- psychopathically adverb $ plural psychoses [C,U]
a serious mental illness that can change your character and make you unable to behave in a normal way; psychotic $ medical
1 a psychosomatic illness is caused by fear or anxiety rather than by a physical problem
psychosomatic illness/symptoms/disorder etc
•Children are just as susceptible to psychosomatic conditions as adults.
2 relating to the relationship between the mind and physical illness
- psychosomatically adverb $ [U]
the treatment of mental illness, for example DEPRESSION, by talking to someone and discussing their problems rather than giving them drugs
- psychotherapist noun [C] $
suffering from or caused by psychosis:
•psychotic patients
•psychotic illness
- psychotic noun [C]
•Like most psychotics, she was very dependent on others.
- psychotically adverb $
psychotropic drugs have an effect on your mind [U]
BrE physical training activities involving organized games, exercises etc at school:
•a PT instructor
•PT lessons at schoolP/T
the written abbreviation of part-time ; FTalso pt BrE
1 the written abbreviation of part
2 BrE the written abbreviation of payment
3 the written abbreviation of pint or pints
4 also Pt the written abbreviation of point
5 also Pt the written abbreviation of port :
•Pt Moresby [C] especially BrE
parent-teacher association an organization of parents and teachers that tries to help and improve a particular school; = PTO AmE
•an active member of the PTABrE
a written abbreviation of private , the lowest military rank in the army $ [C]
a large flying animal that lived many millions of years ago $
please turn over written at the bottom of a page to tell the reader to look at the next page[C]
AmE Parent-Teacher Organization an organization of parents and teachers that tries to help and improve a particular school; = PTA BrE $ [C,U]
a poisonous substance formed by BACTERIA in decaying food [U]
the abbreviation of post-traumatic stress disorder
the written abbreviation of proprietary , used in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa after the name of a business company:
•Australian Wine Growers Pty [C]
a building in Britain where alcohol can be bought and drunk, and where meals are often served; bar
•Do you fancy going to the pub?
•a pub lunch
•the pub landlord[C]
BrE informal a visit to several pubs, one after the other, during which you have a drink in each pub:
•a Saturday night pub-crawl $ [U]
the stage of physical development during which you change from a child to an adult and are able to have children:
•Fourteen is a fairly normal age for a girl to reach puberty. [plural] informal
PUBIC hair (=hair around the sexual organs) [usually before noun]
a pubescent boy or girl is going through puberty [only before noun]
related to or near the sexual organs:
•pubic hair
1 ORDINARY PEOPLE [only before noun] relating to all the ordinary people in a country, who are not members of the government or do not have important jobs:
•We have to show that publishing this story is in the public interest (=helpful or useful to ordinary people).
• Public opinion is gradually shifting in favor of the imprisoned men.
•There was a public outcry (=display of anger by a lot of people) about the shooting.
2 FOR ANYONE [only before noun] available for anyone to use; private
•a public telephone
•a public footpath
•proposals to ban smoking in public places
•a public library
•full public access to information
public transport BrE
/public transportation AmE (=buses, trains etc)
3 GOVERNMENT [only before noun] relating to the government and the services it provides for people; private
•the Government's public spending plans
•We do not believe he is fit for public office (=a job in the government).
•efforts to control public expenditure
•public funding for the arts
PUBLIC SERVICE
4 KNOWN ABOUT known about by most people:
•Details of the highly sensitive information have not been made public.
•It is a job that brings him constantly into the public eye (=seen or heard a lot on television, radio etc).
•Although not a public figure (=famous person), he was a man of great influence.
5 NOT HIDDEN intended for anyone to know, see, or hear; private
•Today the school finds itself in the midst of a very public debate.
public display of grief/affection etc (=showing your emotions so that everyone can see)
•She was acutely embarrassed by his public display of temper.
•There will be a public inquiry into the sinking of the oil tanker.
•a fear of public speaking
6 PLACE WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE a public place usually has a lot of people in it; private
•Let's go somewhere less public where we can talk.
7 public life work that you do, especially for the government, that makes you well-known to many people:
•Howard seems to have retired from public life.
8 public image the public image of a famous person or organization is the character or attitudes that most people think they have
[+of]
•attempts to improve the public image of the police
9 go public
a) to tell everyone about something that was secret
[+on/with]
•The planners are almost ready to go public on the road-building scheme.
b) to become a PUBLIC COMPANY:
•Many partnerships went public in the 1980s to secure extra capital.
10 public appearance a visit by a famous person in order to make a speech, advertise something etc:
•She is paid £10,000 for the briefest of public appearances.
11 public property
a) something that is provided for anyone to use, and is usually owned by the government:
•The army was called out to protect public property.
b) something that everyone has a right to know about:
•Our lives seem to have become public property.
12 public enemy number one the criminal, problem etc that is considered the most serious threat to people's safety:
•Drugs have become public enemy number one.
1 the public [also + plural verb BrE ] ordinary people who do not work for the government or have any special position in society:
•The meeting will be open to the general public.
•Police warned members of the public not to approach the man, who may be armed.
•On the whole, the public are conservative about education.
2 in public if you do something in public, you do it where anyone can see; in private
•Her husband was always nice to her in public.
wash/air your dirty linen/laundry (in public) at DIRTY^1 (7)
3 [singular, U also + plural verb BrE ] the people who like a particular singer, writer etc:
•He is adored by his public.
•The theatre-going public are very demanding.[C]
a television CHANNEL provided by CABLE television companies in the US on which anyone can broadcast a programme[C]
a PA[plural]
events and questions, especially political ones, which have an effect on most people:
•He took an active part in public affairs. [C]
BrE formal someone who is in charge of a PUB
1 [U] the process of printing a book, magazine etc and offering it for sale; publish
[+of]
•She was in England for the publication of her new book.
for publication (=intended to be published)
•He spent his holiday writing reviews for publication.
2 [C] a book, magazine etc:
•He was the author of 70 major scientific publications.
•a weekly publication
3 [U] when information is printed in a book, magazine etc so that the public can read it; publish
[+of]
•the publication of the company's annual results[C]
in PUBs in Britain , a room with plain furniture where you can buy drinks more cheaply than in the other rooms; lounge bar[C]
a company that offers its SHAREs for sale on the STOCK EXCHANGE; = public corporation AmE[C] formal
BrE a toilet in a public place[C]
1 AmE a PUBLIC COMPANY
2 BrE a business that is run by the government[C]
AmE a lawyer who is paid by the government to defend people in court, because they cannot pay for a lawyer themselves; district attorney[singular] law
something that is in the public domain is available for anyone to have or use:
•The information is not currently in the public domain.
•Public domain software is sometimes called shareware.[U]
1 in Britain, health care provided by the government, including medical care and public cleaning services
2 the health of all the people in an area:
•a danger to public health[C]
a special day when people do not go to work and shops do not open; = holiday AmE[C]
BrE formal a PUB[U]
in the US, houses or apartments built by the government for poor people [C]
someone whose job is to make sure that people know about a new product, film, book etc or what a famous person is doing [U]
1 the attention that someone or something gets from newspapers, television etc:
•Standards in education have received much publicity over the last few years.
bad/good/unwelcome etc publicity
•It's important to gain good publicity for the school.
•The adverse publicity had damaged sales.
2 the business of making sure that people know about a new product, film etc or what a particular famous person is doing:
•Who's going to do the show's publicity?
•The Government has launched a publicity campaign.
•Is their much-reported romance just a publicity stunt (=something that is only done to get publicity)?also publicise BrE [T]
to give information about something to the public, so that they know about it:
•television's failure to publicize the unemployment issue
well/widely/highly publicized (=receiving a lot of attention)
•His visit was highly publicized.[C]
plc a British company owned by at least two people and whose SHAREs can be bought by everyone
1 in a way that is intended for anyone to know, see, or hear:
•She and her family agreed never to discuss the matter publicly.
2 done or controlled by the government:
•a publicly funded health service
3 a company that is publicly owned has sold its SHAREs in it to people who are not part of the company
4 involving the ordinary people in a country or city:
•publicly elected bodies[C]
1 law an action that is harmful to everyone
2 someone who does things that annoy a lot of people[U]
the opinions or beliefs that ordinary people have about a particular subject:
•Public opinion is shifting in favor of the new law.
•the pressure of public opinion[U]
businesses, property etc in public ownership are owned by the government:
•The Opposition intends to bring the industry back into public ownership.[C] BrE
a lawyer who works for the government, and tries to prove in a court of law that someone has done something illegal; = district attorney AmE
1 [U] the work of explaining to the public what an organization does, so that they will understand it and approve of it:
•They ran their own successful public relations business in London.
2 [plural] the relationship between an organization and the public:
•The project has been disastrous for the bank in terms of public relations.
•a public relations exercise (=done in order to improve the relationship between the public and an organization).[C]
1 in Britain, a private school for children aged between 13 and 18, whose parents pay for their education. The children often live at the school while they are studying; state school
2 a free local school, especially in the US and Scotland, controlled and paid for by the government; private school
the public sector the industries and services in a country that are owned and run by the government; the private sector
in the public sector
•a job in the public sector
•public sector workers
•public sector housing[C]
someone who works for the government, especially someone who is elected
1 [C usually plural] a service, such as transport or health care, that a government provides:
•efforts to improve quality in public services
2 [C,U] a service provided to people because it will help them, and not for profit:
•Local TV stations ran the ads as a public service.
3 [singular,U] the government or its departments:
•staff cuts in the public service
•He left the public service and embarked on a career in the City.
willing to do things that are helpful for everyone in society:
•Any public-spirited citizen would have done the same.[U]
a television service or programme in the US which is paid for by the government, large companies, and the publicpublic transportation AmE [U] BrE
buses, trains etc that are available for everyone to use[C]
a private company that is allowed by the government to provide important services such as gas, electricity, water etc[plural]
buildings such as hospitals, roads, hospitals PORTs etc that are built and paid for by the government:
•the public works department
1 [T] to arrange for a book, magazine etc to be written, printed, and sold; publication
•The first edition was published in 1765.
•They are publishing the dictionary on CD-ROM.
2 [T] if a newspaper or magazine publishes a letter, article etc, it prints it for people to read; publication
•We love reading your letters and we try to publish as many as possible.
3 [T usually passive] to make official information such as a report available for everyone to read; publication
•The latest unemployment figures will be published tomorrow.
4 [I,T] if a writer, musician etc publishes their work, they arrange for it to be printed and sold:
•University teachers must publish regularly to gain promotion.
5 publish and be damned BrE used to say that you should take a risk in saying what you think is true, although the result may be harmful to you $ [C]
a person or company whose business is to arrange the writing, production, and sale of books, newspapers etc [U]
the business of producing books and magazines:
•Tony wants to get a job in publishing.
•a new publishing house (=publishing company)
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
dark brownish purple in colour
- puce noun [U] [C]
a hard flat circular piece of rubber that you hit with the stick in the game of ICE HOCKEYalso pucker up $
1 [I,T] if part of your face puckers, or if you pucker it, it becomes tight or stretched, for example because you are going to cry or kiss someone:
•Her mouth puckered, and she started to cry.
2 [I] if cloth puckers, it gets lines or folds in it and is no longer flat
- pucker noun [C]
- puckered adjective [usually before noun] literary
showing that you are amused by other people, and like to make jokes about them:
•a puckish grin
- puckishly adverb [C,U]
BrE informal a PUDDING:
•What's for pud? [C,U]
1 especially BrE a hot sweet dish, made from cake, rice, bread etc with fruit, milk or other sweet things added
2 especially AmE a thick sweet creamy dish, usually made with milk, eggs, sugar, and flour, and served cold:
•chocolate pudding
3 BrE a sweet dish served at the end of a meal
for pudding
•There's ice-cream for pudding.
DESSERT
4 BrE a hot dish made of a mixture of flour, fat etc, with meat or vegetables inside:
• steak and kidney pudding
BLACK PUDDING, CHRISTMAS PUDDING, MILK PUDDING, PLUM PUDDING, YORKSHIRE PUDDING
the proof of the pudding is in the eating at PROOF^1 (4)[C] BrE
a deep round dish in which puddings are cooked [C]
a small pool of liquid, especially rain water:
•Children splashed through the puddles.
[+of]
•He had fallen asleep, his head resting in a puddle of beer.
- puddle verb [I] literary
•Rain trickled down the glass, puddling on the window sills. plural pudenda [C] technical
the sexual organs on the outside of the body, especially a woman's
fairly fat:
•the baby's pudgy little legs
- pudginess noun [U] $ plural pueblos [C]
a small town, especially in the south west U.S. $ formal
silly and stupid; = childish
•a puerile joke
- puerility noun [U]
1 [I] to breathe quickly and with difficulty after the effort of running, carrying something heavy etc:
•George puffed and panted and he tried to keep up.
[+along/up etc]
•An old man puffed up to them.
•He caught up with Gary, puffing for breath.
huff and puff at HUFF^1 (1)
2 [I,T] also puff away to breathe in and out while smoking a cigarette or PIPE
[+at/on]
•Kinane sat in silence, puffing thoughtfully at his pipe.
3 [I always + adv/prep, T] if smoke, steam etc puffs from somewhere, or if something puffs it, it comes out in little clouds:
•Steam puffed out of the chimney.
•The boiler was puffing thick black smoke.
•Don't puff smoke into my face.
4 [I always + adv/prep] to move in a particular direction, sending out little clouds of steam or smoke:
•The train puffed steadily across the bridge.

PHRASAL VERBS
puff sth <=> out phr v
puff out your cheeks/chest to make your cheeks or chest bigger by filling them with air:
•Henry puffed out his chest proudly.

puff up phr v
1 to become bigger by increasing the amount of air inside, or to make something bigger in this way:
•The pastry will puff up while it bakes.
puff sth <=> up
•Birds puff up their feathers to keep warm.
2 if a part of your body puffs up, it swells painfully because of injury or infection:
•My eye had puffed up because of a mosquito bite.
1 [C] the action of taking the smoke from a cigarette, PIPE etc into your LUNGs
[+on/at]
•He laughed and took a puff on his cigar.
2 [C] a sudden small movement of wind, air, or smoke
puff of smoke/wind/air/steam etc
•The dragon disappeared in a puff of smoke.
3 cheese/jam/cream etc puff a piece of light PASTRY with a soft mixture inside
4 [U] BrE informal your breath:
•I was out of puff (=had difficulty breathing).
5 [C] also puff piece a piece of writing or a speech that praises someone too much - used to show disapproval $ [C]
a type of round white FUNGUS that bursts to send out its seeds [not before noun]
BrE informal breathing quickly because you have been using a lot of energy:
•I'm too puffed to dance any more.[not before noun]
behaving in a way that shows you are too pleased with yourself and your achievements - used to show disapproval:
•I was so puffed up with my own importance in those days. $ [C]
1 BrE informal a small piece of equipment containing medicine which you breathe in through your mouth, to help you breathe more easily; = inhaler
•Asthma can be made worse by using puffers too often.
2 a type of tropical fish that can fill itself with air so that it looks almost round [C]
a North Atlantic sea bird with a black and white body and a large brightly coloured beak[U]
a type of very light PASTRY made of many thin layers
1 if a part of your body is puffy, it is swollen:
•Her eyes were puffy from crying.
2 soft and full of air:
•puffy white clouds
- puffiness noun [U] [C]
a small short-haired dog with a wide flat face, a very short nose, and a curly tail [C]
old-fashioned formal a BOXER
- pugilism noun [U]
- pugilistic adjective formal
very eager to argue or fight with people:
•The professor had been pugnacious and irritable.
- pugnaciously adverb
- pugnacity noun [U]also puke up [I,T] informal
1 to bring food back up from your stomach through your mouth; = vomit
•He puked all over the carpet.
2 make you (want to) puke informal to make you feel very angry:
•That kind of greed makes me puke![U]
informal food brought back up from your stomach through your mouth; = vomitpuky informal
very unpleasant or unattractive, pukha BrE informal
real or properly made and of good quality:
•pukka food $ [U]
formal physical beauty
1 MOVE STH TOWARDS YOU [I,T] to use your hands to make something or someone move towards you or in the direction that your hands are moving; push
•Mom! Davey's pulling my hair!
pull sb/sth into/away from/over etc sth
•He pulled her down into her seat.
pull sth open/shut
•She pulled open the door and hurried inside.
2 REMOVE [T] to use force to take something from the place where it is fixed or held:
•She has to have two teeth pulled.
pull sth out/off/away etc
•Vicky had pulled the arm off her doll.
3 MAKE STH FOLLOW YOU [T] to be attached to something or hold something and make it move behind you in the direction you are going:
•a tractor pulling a trailer
4 TAKE STH OUT [T always + adv/prep] to take something out of a bag, pocket etc with your hand:
•He pulled out his wallet and said 'let me pay'.
•Ben pulled a pen from his pocket.
pull a gun/knife (on sb) (=take one out, ready to use it)
5 CLOTHING [T always + adv/prep] to put on or take off a piece of clothing, usually quickly
[+on/off/up/down etc]
•He pulled off his damp shirt.
6 MOVE YOUR BODY
a) [I,T always + adv/prep] to move your body or part of your body away from someone or something
pull sth away/free
•She tried to pull her hand free, but it was held fast.
pull sth out of/from sth
•She struggled fiercely, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp.
[+away/back]
•She pulled away from him.
b) pull yourself up/to your feet etc to hold onto something and use your strength to move your body towards it:
•Benny pulled himself up from the floor with difficulty.
7 MUSCLE [T] to injure one of your muscles by stretching it too much during physical activity; = strain
•Paul pulled a muscle trying to lift the freezer.
8 pull strings to secretly use your influence with important people in order to get what you want or to help someone else:
•Francis pulled strings to get him out of trouble.
9 pull the/sb's strings to control something or someone, especially when you are not the person who is supposed to be controlling them:
•It was widely believed that Montagu was secretly pulling the strings behind the prime minister.
10 TRICK/CRIME [T] informal to succeed in doing something illegal or dishonest or in playing a trick on someone:
•The gang have pulled another bank robbery.
•He was trying to pull a fast one (=deceive you) when he told you he'd paid.
pull a stunt/trick/joke
•Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again!
11 pull sb's leg to tell someone something that is not true, as a joke:
•I haven't won, have I? You're pulling my leg.
12 pull the other one (it's got bells on) BrE spoken used to tell someone that you think they are joking or not telling the truth:
•Your dad's a racing driver? Pull the other one!
13 SWITCH [T] to move a control such as a switch, LEVER, or TRIGGER towards you to make a piece of equipment work:
•She raised the gun, and pulled the trigger.
14 pull the curtains/blinds to open or close curtains or BLINDs :
•It was already getting dark so he pulled the curtains.
15 CROWD/VOTES ETC [T] if an event, performer etc pulls crowds or a politician pulls a lot of votes, a lot of people come to see them or vote for them:
•Muhammad Ali can still pull the crowds.
16 ATTRACT/INFLUENCE [T] to attract or influence someone or their thoughts or feelings:
•The city's reputation for a clean environment has pulled new residents from other states.
17 SEXUALLY ATTRACT [I,T] BrE spoken to attract someone in order to have sex with them or spend the evening with them:
•He knew he could pull any girl he wanted.
18 STOP EVENT [T] to stop a planned event from taking place:
•They pulled the concert.
19 pull sb's licence informal to take away someone's LICENCE to do something, especially to drive a car, because they have done something wrong
20 STOP A VEHICLE [I,T] to drive a vehicle somewhere and stop; to stop somewhere
pull sth into/towards/down etc sth
•She pulled the car into a side street.
•The bus pulled to a halt.
21 CAR [I] if a car pulls to the left or right as you are driving, it moves in that direction because of a problem with its machinery
22 sth is like pulling teeth used to say that it is very difficult or unpleasant to persuade someone to do something:
•Getting him to do his homework is like pulling teeth.
23 BEER [T] BrE to get beer out of a BARREL by pulling a handle:
•The barman laughed and began to pull a couple of pints.
24 pull a punch to deliberately hit someone with less force than you could do, so that it hurts less
not pull any punches at PUNCH^2 (6)
25 CRICKET/GOLF/BASEBALL [I,T] to hit the ball in CRICKET, golf, or baseball so that it does not go straight but moves to one side
26 ROW A BOAT [I,T] to make a boat move by using OARs

PHRASAL VERBS
pull ahead phr v
if one vehicle pulls ahead of another, it gets in front of it by moving faster:
•Schumacher pulled ahead of Montoya as the two drivers approached the first corner of the race.

pull apart phr v
1 pull sth <=> apart to separate something into pieces:
•Pull the meat apart with two forks.
2 pull sb <=> apart to make the relationships between people in a group bad or difficult:
•His drinking pulled the family apart.
3 pull sth <=> apart to carefully examine or criticize something:
•The selection committee pulled each proposal apart.
4 pull sb/sth <=> apart to separate people or animals when they are fighting:
•The fight ended only when the referee pulled the two players apart.
5 if something pulls apart, it breaks into pieces when you pull on it

pull at/on sth phr v
1 to take hold of something and pull it several times:
•Mary was pulling nervously at her hair.
2 to take smoke from a pipe or cigarette into your lungs:
•He pulled hard on the cigarette.
3 to take a long drink from a bottle or glass

pull away phr v
1 to start to drive away from a place where you had stopped:
•He waved as he pulled away.
2 to move ahead of a competitor by going faster or being more successful
[+from]
•Nkoku is pulling away from the other runners.

pull back phr v
1 to decide not to do or become involved in something
[+from]
•In the end, he pulled back from financing the film.
2 to get out of a bad situation or dangerous place, or to make someone else do this
[+from]
•Many banks are pulling back from international markets.
pull sb <=> back
•They are preparing to pull back their forces.
3 pull sth <=> back BrE if a team that is losing pulls back a GOAL or some points, it succeeds in scoring a goal or some points:
•Our play improved and we pulled back two goals.

pull down phr v
1 pull sth <=> down to destroy something or make it stop existing:
•My old school was pulled down.
2 pull down sth to earn a particular amount of money:
•Real estate stocks pulled down total returns of 35.7 percent.
3 pull sb down to make someone less successful, happy, or healthy:
•Her problems have really pulled her down.
4 pull down a menu to make a computer program show you a list of the things it can do

pull for sb/sth phr v
informal to encourage a person or team to succeed:
•The crowd were pulling for me to do well.

pull in phr v
1 if a driver pulls in, they move to the side of the road and stop:
•She pulled in to let the ambulance pass.
2 if a train pulls in, it arrives at a station; pull out
3 pull sb/sth <=> in to attract business, money, people etc:
•a publicity stunt to pull in the crowds
4 pull in sth informal if you pull in a lot of money, you earn it
5 pull sb <=> in if a police officer pulls someone in, they take them to a police station because they think that person may have done something wrong

pull off phr v
1 pull sth <=> off informal to succeed in doing something difficult:
•The goalkeeper pulled off six terrific saves.
2 pull off (sth) to drive a car off a road in order to stop, or to turn into a smaller road:
•We pulled off the road to get some food.

pull on sth phr v
to PULL AT something

pull out phr v
1
a) to drive onto a road from another road or from where you have stopped:
•Don't pull out! There's something coming.
b) to drive over to a different part of the road in order to get past a vehicle in front of you:
•I pulled out to overtake a bus.
2 if a train pulls out, it leaves a station; pull in
3 to stop doing or being involved in something, or to make someone do this:
•McDermott pulled out with an injury at the last minute.
[+of]
•They are trying to pull out of the agreement.
pull sb out of sth
•He threatened to pull his son out of the team.
4 to get out of a bad situation or dangerous place, or to make someone or something do this:
•Jim saw that the firm was going to be ruined, so he pulled out.
pull sb/sth <=> out
•Most of the troops have been pulled out.
[+of]
•when the country was still pulling out of a recession
pull out all the stops at STOP^2 (7)

pull over phr v
to drive to the side of the road and stop your car, or to make someone else do this:
•The policeman signalled to him to pull over.
pull sb/sth <=> over
•He pulled the car over.
•A cop pulled him over and gave him a speeding ticket.

pull (sb) through phr v
1 to stay alive after you have been very ill or badly injured, or to help someone do this:
•His injuries are severe but he's expected to pull through.
bring (sb) through at BRING
2 to succeed in doing something very difficult, or to help someone to do this:
•He relied on his experience to pull him through.

pull together phr v
1 if a group of people pull together, they all work hard to achieve something:
•If we all pull together, we'll finish on time.
2 pull yourself together to force yourself to stop behaving in a nervous, frightened, or uncontrolled way:
•With an effort Mary pulled herself together.
3 pull sth together to improve something by organizing it more effectively:
•We need an experienced manager to pull the department together.

pull up phr v
1 to stop the vehicle that you are driving:
•He pulled up in front of the gates.
2 pull up a chair/stool etc to get a chair, etc and sit down next to someone who is already sitting
3 pull sb up especially BrE to stop someone who is doing something wrong and tell them you do not approve
[+on]
•I felt I had to pull her up on her lateness.
pull sb up short at SHORT^2 (7)
pull/make a face at FACE^1 (2); pull your finger out at FINGER^1 (12); pull rank (on sb) at RANK^1 (5); pull the rug (out) from under sb's feet at RUG (3); pull the plug (on sth) at PLUG^1 (5)
pull your socks up at SOCK^1 (3)
pull your weight at WEIGHT^1 (12)
pull the wool over sb's eyes at WOOL (4)
1 ACT OF MOVING STH [C] an act of using force to move something towards you or in the same direction that you are moving; push
•He gave her a sharp pull forward.
2 FORCE [C usually singular] a strong physical force that makes things move in a particular direction:
•the gravitational pull of the moon
3 ATTRACTION [C usually singular] the ability to attract someone or have a powerful effect on them
[+of]
•After about a year I gave in to the pull of fatherhood.
4 INFLUENCE [singular,U] informal special influence or power over other people:
•His family's name gives him a lot of pull in this town.
5 CLIMB [singular] BrE a difficult climb up a steep road:
•It was a long pull up the hill.
6 MUSCLE [C usually singular] an injury to one of your muscles, caused by stretching it too much during exercise:
•a groin pull
7 SMOKE/DRINK [C] an act of taking the smoke from a cigarette, pipe etc into your LUNGs or of taking a long drink of something
[+on/at]
•She took a long pull on her cigarette.
8 HANDLE [C] a rope or handle that you use to pull something:
•He popped the ring pull on another can of lager.
9 CRICKET/GOLF/BASEBALL [C] a way of hitting the ball in CRICKET, golf, or baseball so that it does not go straight, but moves to one side [C]
1 the act of moving soldiers away from the area where they were fighting
[+from]
•The government is planning to implement a second pullback from the area.
2 a reduction in the value, amount, or level of something:
•a significant pullback in the stock market[C]
a list of things a computer program can do. You make a pull-down menu appear on the computer screen by CLICKing on a special word with a MOUSE [C]
a young chicken that is in its first year of laying eggs [C]
a piece of equipment consisting of a wheel over which a rope or chain is pulled to lift heavy things[U] BrE
the ability of someone or something to attract people:
•Madonna's pulling power filled the Arena for 10 nights. [C]
a very comfortable train carriage, or a train made up of these carriages[only before noun]
pull-on clothes or shoes do not have any buttons, ZIPs etc, so you just pull them on to wear thempullout [C]
1 the act of an army, business etc leaving a particular place:
•The pull-out of troops will begin soon.
2 part of a book or magazine that is designed to be removed and read separately:
•a pull-out on home PCs $ [C]
a piece of WOOLLEN clothing without buttons that you wear on the top half of your body; = sweater[C] AmE
a small piece of metal attached to a can of food, drink etc that you pull in order to open it; = ring-pull BrE[C] BrE
an exercise in which you use your arms to pull yourself up towards a bar above your head; = chin-up AmE $ [only before noun] medical
relating to the lungs, or having an effect on the lungs
1 SOFT SUBSTANCE [singular,U] a very soft substance that is almost liquid, made by crushing plants, wood, vegetables etc:
• Mash the bananas to a pulp.
•timber grown for wood pulp (=used for making paper)
•a soft pulp of leaves and mud
2 FRUIT/VEGETABLE [U] the soft inside part of a fruit or vegetable:
•Halve the melon and scoop out the pulp.
3 BOOKS/FILM ETC [U] AmE books, magazines, films etc that are badly written and that contain lots of sex, violence etc:
•an ad in a pulp magazine
• pulp fiction
4 beat sb to a pulp informal to seriously injure someone by hitting them many times
5 TOOTH [U] part of the inside of a tooth
- pulpy adjective
•Cook slowly until soft and pulpy.[T]
1 to beat or crush something until it becomes very soft and almost liquid:
•pulped apples
2 [usually passive] to beat or hit someone's face or body very badly:
•His body was pulped by the impact of the train.
3 to make wood or old books and newspapers into paper:
•wood pulping techniques
•Unsold novels are sent to be pulped. [C usually singular]
a raised structure inside a church at the front that a priest or minister stands on when they speak to the people
in/from the pulpit
•Rev. Dawson addressed the congregation from the pulpit. $ [C]
an object like a star that is far away in space and produces RADIATION and RADIO WAVEs ; quasar $ [I]
1 to make sounds or movements that are strong and regular like a heart beating:
•I could see the veins in his neck pulsating.
•pulsating music
2 literary to be strongly affected by a powerful emotion or feeling
[+with]
•The whole city seemed to pulsate with excitement. [C,U] technical
a beat of the heart or any regular movement that can be measured:
•the pulsations of the baby's heart
•muscular pulsation
1 HEART [C usually singular]
a) the regular beat that can be felt, for example at your wrist, as your heart pumps blood around your body; heartbeat
•The doctor listened to his breathing and checked his pulse.
•His breathing was shallow and his pulse was weak.
find/detect a pulse (=check that someone is alive by trying to feel the beat of their pulse)
•In an emergency it can be difficult to find a pulse.
•She felt his neck. There was no pulse.
b) also pulse rate the number of heart beats per minute
take/feel sb's pulse (=count how many times someone's heart beats in a minute, usually by feeling their wrist)
•Her pulse raced (=beat very quickly) with excitement.
2 MUSIC [C,U] a strong regular beat in music:
•the distant pulse of a steel band
3 SOUND/LIGHT/ELECTRICITY [C] an amount of sound, light, or electricity that continues for a very short time
4 FEELINGS/OPINIONS [U] the ideas, feelings, or opinions that are most important to a particular group of people or have the greatest influence on them at a particular time:
•Clinton had an uncanny ability to sense the pulse of the nation.
5 FOOD pulses [plural] seeds such as beans, PEAs , and LENTILs that you can eat
have/keep your finger on the pulse at FINGER^1 (6)
1 [I] to move or flow with a steady quick beat or sound:
•She felt the blood pulsing through her veins.
•Colored lights pulsed in time to the music.
2 [I] if a feeling or emotion pulses through someone, they feel it very strongly
[+through]
•Excitement pulsed through the crowd.
3 [I,T] to push a button on a FOOD PROCESSOR to make the machine go on and off regularly, rather than work continuously:
•Pulse several times until the mixture looks like oatmeal.also pulverise BrE [T usually passive]
1 to crush something into a powder:
•The seeds can be used whole or pulverized into flour.
2 informal to completely defeat someone:
•Stewart completely pulverized the opposition.
- pulverized adjective
•pulverized coal
- pulverization $ noun [U] [C]
a COUGARalso pumice stone
1 [U] very light grey rock from a VOLCANO that is crushed to a powder and used for cleaning
2 [C] a piece of pumice stone that you rub on your skin to clean it or make it soft past tense and past participle pummelled, present participle pummelling BrE past tense and past participle pummeled, present participle pummeling AmE [T]
1 to hit someone or something many times quickly, especially using your FISTs (=closed hands); = beat
•Diane leaned over and pummeled the pillows.
pummel sth with sth
•She flew at him, pummelling his chest with her fists.
[+at]
•The cook pummelled at the dough.
•The platoon was pummeled by heavy machine-gun fire.
2 informal to completely defeat someone at a sport
1 [C] a machine for forcing liquid or gas into or out of something
water/air/beer etc pump (=for moving water, air etc)
hand/foot pump (=operated by your hand or foot)
petrol pump/gas pump (=for putting petrol into cars)
stomach pump (=for removing the contents of someone's stomach)
2 [C usually plural]
a) BrE a flat light shoe for dancing, exercise, sport etc
b) AmE a woman's plain shoe with no LACEs , BUCKLEs etc:
•a pair of leather pumps
3 [C] an act of pumping
HEAT PUMP
all hands to the pumps at HAND^1 (38)
prime the pump at PRIME^3 (4); PARISH PUMP
1 MOVE IN A DIRECTION [T always + adv/prep] to make liquid or gas move in a particular direction, using a pump
pump sth into/out of/through sth
•The fire department is still pumping floodwater out of the cellars.
2 MOVE FROM UNDER GROUND [T] to bring a supply of water, oil etc to the surface from under the ground:
•We were able to pump clean water from several of the wells.
pump gas AmE (=put gasoline into a car)
•He got a job pumping gas for the hotel guests.
3 MOVE IN AND OUT [I] also pump away to move very quickly in and out or up and down:
•My heart was pumping fast.
4 USE A PUMP [I] also pump away to operate a pump
[+at]
•The furnace man's job was to pump away furiously at the bellows.
5 COME OUT [I always + adv/prep] if a liquid pumps from somewhere, it comes out suddenly in small amounts
[+from/out of]
•Blood pumped from the wound.
6 ASK QUESTIONS [T] informal to ask someone a lot of questions in order to get information from them
pump sb for sth
•I tried to pump him for information about their other contacts.
7 DRUGS pump sb full of sth informal to put a lot of drugs into someone's body:
•athletes pumped full of steroids
8 EXERCISE pump iron informal to do exercises by lifting heavy weights
9 MEDICAL TREATMENT have your stomach pumped to have a medical treatment to remove things you have swallowed, using a pump

PHRASAL VERBS
pump sth into sb/sth phr v
1 pump bullets into sb/sth informal to shoot someone several times
2 pump money into sth to put a lot of money in a project, INVESTMENT etc

pump out phr v
1 if something such as music, information, or a supply of products pumps out, or if someone pumps it out, a lot of it is produced:
•Music pumped out from the loudspeakers.
pump sth <=> out
•propaganda pumped out by the food industry
2 pump sth <=> out to remove liquid from something, using a pump:
•You'll have to pump the boat out.

pump sth/sb <=> up phr v
1 to fill a tyre, AIRBED etc with air until it is full; = inflate
2 informal to increase the value, amount, or level of something:
•The US was able to pump up exports.
•Come on, pump up the volume! (=play music louder)
3 to increase someone's excitement, interest etc[only before noun]
a pump-action piece of equipment is operated by pulling or pressing a part in or out so that the contents come out in short bursts
pump-action shotgun/rifle $ [U]
a heavy dark brown bread
1 [C,U] a very large orange fruit that grows on the ground, or the inside of this fruit:
•pumpkin pie
2 AmE used when speaking to someone you love[U]
the process of trying to help a business, industry, or country to develop by giving it money [C]
an amusing use of a word or phrase that has two meanings, or of words that have the same sound but different meanings; = play on words
forgive/excuse/pardon the pun (=used to show you know you are making a pun)
no pun intended (=used to show you do not mean to make a joke about something)
•The clergy prey (no pun intended) on bereaved families.past tense and past participle punned, present participle punning [I]
to make a pun
[+on]
•In this line, Hamlet puns on the meaning of 'saw'. [T]
1 HIT to hit someone or something hard with your FIST (=closed hand):
•He punched me and knocked my teeth out.
punch sb on/in sth
•He punched Jack in the face.
2 MAKE HOLES to make a hole in something, using a metal tool or other sharp object:
•The guard punched my ticket and I got on.
•These bullets can punch a hole through 20 mm steel plate.
3 PUSH BUTTONS to push a button or key on a machine:
•Just punch the button to select a track.
4 punch holes in sb's argument/idea/plans etc to criticize someone's views, idea, plans etc by showing why they are wrong
5 punch the air to make a movement like a punch towards the sky, to show that you are very pleased:
•He punched the air in triumph.
6 punch sb's lights out informal to hit someone hard in the face
7 punch the clock AmE informal to record the time that you start or finish work by putting a card into a special machine
8 CATTLE AmE old-fashioned to move cattle from one place to another

PHRASAL VERBS
punch in phr v
1 AmE to record the time that you arrive at work, by putting a card into a special machine; = clock in BrE
2 punch sth <=> in to put information into a computer by pressing buttons or keys

punch out phr v AmE
1 to record the time that you leave work, by putting a card into a special machine; = clock out BrE
2 punch sb out to hit someone so hard that they become unconscious
1 [C] a quick strong hit made with your FIST (=closed hand)
[+in/on]
•a punch in the kidneys
•I managed to land a punch on his chin.
•The two men started throwing punches (=trying to hit each other).
2 [singular,U] a strong effective way of expressing things that makes people interested:
•30 years after it was written, Orton's 'Entertaining Mr Sloane' still packs a punch.
3 [C,U] a drink made from fruit juice, sugar, water, and usually some alcohol:
•a glass of hot punch
4 [C] a metal tool for cutting holes or for pushing something into a small hole
5 a one-two punch two bad events that happen close together:
•A meteorite collided with Earth at the same time, delivering a one-two punch to the magnetic field.
6 not pull any/your punches to express disapproval or criticism clearly, without trying to hide anything:
•The inquiry report doesn't pull any punches in apportioning blame.
7 beat sb/sth to the punch informal to do or get something before anyone else does:
•Hitachi has beaten its competitors to the punch with its new palmtop.
8 as pleased as punch old-fashioned very happy:
•He's as pleased as punch about the baby.
pack a (hard) punch at PACK^1 (8) $ [C]
a traditional type of entertainment for children, especially at British SEASIDE towns, that uses PUPPETs punching bag AmE [C] BrE
1 a heavy leather bag hung from a rope, that is punched for exercise or training
2 a person who is hit, criticized strongly, or blamed, even though they have done nothing wrong:
•a young wife whose husband used her as a punching bag[C]
a large bowl in which punch (=a mixed drink) is served
1 informal very confused, especially because you have had a lot of bad luck or have been treated badly
2 a BOXER who is punch-drunk is suffering brain damage from being hit on the headalso punch card [C]
a card with a pattern of holes in it that was used in the past for putting information into a computerpunch line [C usually singular]
the last few words of a joke or story, that make it funny or surprising[C]
BrE informal a fight
a punchy piece of writing or speech is short but very clear and effective
- punchiness noun [U] formal
very careful to behave correctly and follow rules
[+about]
•Joe was always punctilious about repaying loans.
- punctiliously adverb
- punctiliousness noun [U] formal
arriving, happening, or being done at exactly the time that has been arranged; = on time
•She's always very punctual for appointments.
•the punctual payment of invoices
- punctually adverb
- punctuality noun [U]
1 [T] to divide written work into sentences, phrases, etc using COMMAs , FULL STOPs etc
2 [T usually passive] literary to be interrupted by something, especially when this is repeated:
•The silence was occasionally punctuated by laughter. [U]
the marks used to divide a piece of writing into sentences, phrases etc[C]
a sign, such as a COMMA or QUESTION MARK, used to divide a piece of writing into sentences, phrases, etc $ [C]
1 BrE a small hole made accidentally in a tyre; = flat AmE
•She was cycling home when she had a puncture.
slow puncture (=one that lets air out very slowly)
2 a small hole made by a sharp point, especially in someone's body:
•puncture wounds
1 [I,T] if a tyre punctures, or if you puncture it, a small hole appears in it:
•A piece of glass punctured the back tyre.
2 [T] to make a small hole in something:
•One bullet punctured his lung.
•Pressurized container - do not puncture.
3 [T] to interrupt a period of silence by making a noise:
•There was a stunned silence, punctured by shrill laughter.
4 [T] to suddenly destroy someone's hopes or beliefs, making them feel unhappy, embarrassed, or confused:
•He wasn't hurt, but his dignity was punctured. [C]
someone who is often asked to give their opinion publicly of a situation or subject
political/media/TV etc pundits
•If you believe the fashion pundits, we'll all be wearing pink this year.
1 having a strong taste or smell
pungent smell/aroma/odour etc
•the pungent odour of garlic
2 formal pungent speech or writing is clever and direct, and usually criticizes someone or something strongly:
•He expressed some fairly pungent criticisms.
- pungently adverb
- pungency noun [U] [T]
1 to make someone suffer because they have done something wrong or broken the law; punishment, punitive
•Smacking is not an acceptable way of punishing a child.
•He promised to punish severely any officials found guilty of electoral fraud.
punish sb for (doing) sth
•It's unfair to punish a whole class for the actions of one or two students.
•They deserve to be punished for putting passengers at risk.
•I felt I was being punished for what my mother had done.
punish sb by doing sth
•My parents decided to punish me by withdrawing financial support.
punish sb with sth
•The House voted to punish the senator with a formal reprimand.
2 [usually passive] if a crime is punished in a particular way, anyone who is guilty of it is made to suffer in that way; punishment, punitive
[+by/with]
•In some societies, theft is punished by death.
3 punish yourself to make yourself feel guilty or bad for something you have done:
•If you fail, don't punish yourself.
in law, a punishable act can be punished:
•a punishable offence
[+by/with]
•a crime punishable by death [usually before noun]
difficult, tiring, or extreme:
•He set himself a punishing schedule of conferences.
•a series of punishing defeats
•a punishing exercise regime
1 [C,U] something that is done in order to punish someone, or the act of punishing them; punitive
•The Court decides what punishment to impose.
[+for]
•the punishment for treason
[+by]
•punishment by whipping
as (a) punishment
•I was sent to bed as a punishment.
•The gunmen will not escape punishment.
harsh/severe punishment
•He got a six-year jail sentence, a harsh punishment for a first offense.
2 [U] informal rough physical treatment:
•tough plants that can take any amount of punishment
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT [usually before noun]
1 intended to punish someone
punitive action/measures etc
•The agency sent a letter, but took no punitive action.
•The jury awarded punitive damages (=money paid to someone who is the victim of a crime).
•The government is expected to take punitive steps against offenders.
2 punitive taxes/price increases etc taxes etc that are so high that it is difficult for people to pay them:
•The US could impose punitive tariffs on exports.
1 [U] the language used in the Punjab
2 [C] someone from the Punjab
- Punjabi adjective
1 [U] also punk rock a type of loud music popular in the late 1970s and 1980s
2 [C] also punk rocker someone who likes punk music and wears things that are typical of it, such as torn clothes, metal chains, and coloured hair:
•punk hairstyles
3 [C] AmE informal a young man who fights and breaks the law
4 [U] AmE a substance that burns without a flame that is used to light FIREWORKs etc [C]
in the past, a large FAN that was hung across a room and was swung backwards and forwards by hand [C]
BrE a small square box used to hold soft fruits such as STRAWBERRIES
1 BOAT [C] a long thin boat with a flat bottom that you move by pushing a long pole against the bottom of the river
2 a punt the activity of travelling in a punt:
•a punt down the river
3 KICK [C usually singular] in RUGBY or American football, the action of kicking the ball after dropping it from your hands:
•a 45-yard punt
4 MONEY [C] the standard unit of money used in the Republic of Ireland before the EURO
1 [I,T] to go on a river in a punt
[+along/down/past etc]
•Pete punted us back to the boatyard.
2 [T]
a) in RUGBY or American football, to drop the ball from your hands and kick it:
•He punted the ball 40 yards.
b) to kick a ball hard so that it goes a long way $ [C]
1 BrE informal someone who buys a product or service; = customer
average/typical/ordinary punter
•The technical details mean nothing to the average punter.
•You need something to pull in the punters (=attract them).
2 BrE informal someone who BETs on the result of a horse race etc
3 the player who punts the ball in American football
1 a puny person is small, thin, and weak:
•a puny little guy
•puny arms
2 not effective or impressive
puny effort/attempt
•a puny attempt at humour
•Our efforts look puny beside Fred's.
3 a puny amount of money is too small:
•She was awarded a puny £1,000 in compensation. [C]
1 a young dog; = puppy
•a spaniel pup
•a litter of pups (=several pups born to the same mother at the same time)
2 a young SEAL or OTTER
3 old-fashioned a young man who is rude or too confident
4 be sold a pup/buy a pup BrE old-fashioned to be tricked into buying something that is not worth what you paid for it plural pupae also pupas AmE [C]
an insect at the stage before it becomes adult, when it is protected by a special cover:
•moth pupae
- pupal adjective [only before noun]
•the pupal stage $ [I] technical
to become a pupa [C]
1 especially BrE someone who is being taught, especially a child:
•About 20 pupils study music here.
•staff and pupils
•a star pupil (=a very good one)
•a third-grade pupil
see box at STUDENT
2 the small black round area in the middle of your eye; iris [C]
1 a model of a person or animal that you move by pulling wires or strings, or by putting your hand inside it
puppet show/theatre/play
•a 20-minute puppet show
glove/hand/finger puppet
2 a person or organization that allows other people to control them and make their decisions
[+of]
•The government is in danger of becoming a mere puppet of the military.
puppet government/regime/state (=a government etc controlled by a more powerful country or organization) $ [C]
someone who performs with puppets [U]
the art of performing with puppets plural puppies [C]
1 a young dog:
•a six-month-old puppy
2 this/that puppy AmE spoken informal used instead of the name of a thing, especially when you do not know the name:
•How do you turn this puppy off?[U]
BrE informal fat on a child's body, that disappears as they get older; = baby fat AmE
•Carol had shed her puppy fat and was now very elegant.[U]
a young person's romantic love for someone, which other people do not think is serious:
•a bad case of puppy love[C] AmE
a small TENT for two people $ [T]
formal to buy something:
•You can purchase insurance on-line.
•the growing demand to purchase goods on credit
•Where did you purchase the car?
[+from]
•Tickets may be purchased in advance from the box office.
- purchasable adjective
- purchaser noun [C]
•France was the No. 1 purchaser of Iraqi oil.
1 [C,U] formal something you buy, or the act of buying it:
•She paid for her purchases and left.
day/date/time of purchase
•This product should be consumed on the day of purchase.
•I enclose my receipt as proof of purchase.
[+of]
•a loan towards the purchase of a new car
•She made two purchases from my stall.
HIRE PURCHASE, PURCHASE PRICE
2 [singular] formal a firm hold on something
gain/get a purchase on sth
•The ice made it impossible to get a purchase on the road.[singular]
formal the price that has to be paid for something, especially a house:
•We borrowed 80% of the purchase price.[U]
1 the amount of money that a person or group has available to spend:
•increases in purchasing power
2 the amount that a unit of money can buy:
•The purchasing power of the local currency has halved. $ [U]
1 the custom in some Muslim and Hindu societies in which women stay indoors or cover their faces so that men cannot see them
in purdah
•The bride remains in purdah until the wedding.
2 a period of being alone, especially to keep something secret:
•18 months of self-imposed purdah $
1 NOT MIXED [usually before noun] a pure substance or material is not mixed with anything; impure
pure silk/cotton/wool etc
•pure wool blankets
•rings made of pure gold
•Our beef patties are 100% pure.
2 COMPLETE [only before noun] complete and total; = sheer
•a work of pure genius
•a smile of pure joy
•My mother's life was pure hell.
pure chance/luck/coincidence etc
•By pure chance, I met Sir Malcolm that morning.
•The chairman dismissed the report as pure speculation.
3 CLEAN clean and not containing anything harmful; impure
•We had trouble finding a pure water supply.
•Up here the air was purer.
4 pure and simple used to emphasize that there is only one thing involved or worth considering:
•He wanted revenge, pure and simple.
5 MORALLY GOOD literary without any sexual experience or evil thoughts; impure
•a pure young girl
•They're too pure and innocent to know what's really going on.
6 COLOUR OR SOUND very clear and beautiful:
•a cloudless sky of the purest blue
•Her voice, clear and pure, soared up to the roof.
7 TYPICAL [only before noun] typical of a particular style:
•His music is pure New York.
8 BREED/RACE bred from only one group or race:
•My husband is pure Japanese and traces his family back 800 years.
•The Highland is the oldest and purest breed of cattle in Britain.
9 ART OR STUDY [usually before noun] done according to an accepted standard or pattern:
•Gothic architecture in its purest form
10 pure science/maths etc work in science etc that increases our knowledge of the subject rather than using it for practical purposes
11 be as pure as the driven snow to be morally perfect - used humorously to say someone is not like this at all
PURELY $
a purebred animal has parents that are both the same breed; = pedigree; thoroughbred
•purebred Irish wolfhounds
- purebred noun [C]purée $ [T]
if you purée food, you crush it so that it is almost liquid:
•Use a processor to puree the apricots.
•puréed potatoes
- puree, purée noun [C,U]
•tomato purée $
completely and only:
•a decision made for purely political reasons
•The building was closed purely on the grounds of safety.
•It happened purely by chance.
•I do it purely and simply for the money. $ [C] old-fashioned
a substance that makes your BOWELs empty $
1 [U] something that makes you suffer - used humorously:
•Sewing is relaxation for some, purgatory for others.
2 Purgatory in Roman Catholic belief, a place where the souls of dead people suffer until they are pure enough to enter heaven
- purgatorial $ adjective $
1 [T] to force people to leave a place or organization because the people in power do not like them
purge sth of sb/sth
•He sought to purge the Democrat party of conservatives.
purge sb/sth from sth
•plans to purge ethnic minorities from rebel-controlled areas
2 [T] to remove something that is thought to be harmful or unacceptable
purge sth of sb/sth
•an initiative to purge the PC market of software pirates
•Local languages were purged of Russian words.
purge sb/sth from sth
•It's hard to imagine now that Lawrence's novels were purged from public libraries.
3 [T] to destroy something that is no longer needed:
•The system automatically purges unread emails after two weeks.
4 [T] literary to remove bad feelings
purge sb/sth of sth
•We have to begin by purging our minds of prejudice.
•Any doubts about his leadership were purged by the courage of his performance.
5 [T] to take a substance that makes your BOWELs empty:
•Anorexics may overeat before purging themselves or vomiting.
6 [I] to force yourself to bring food up from your stomach and out of your mouth, especially because you have BULIMIA[C]
1 an action to remove your opponents or the people who disagree with you from an organization or place:
•the Stalinist purges
[+of/on]
•a purge of military commanders
•a purge on tax dodgers
2 a substance used to make you empty your BOWELs $ [C]
something used to remove dirty or harmful substances
air/water purifier $ past tense and past participle purified, present participle purifying, third person singular purifies [T]
1 to remove dirty or harmful substances from something:
•chemicals used to purify the water
2 to make someone pure by removing evil from their soul:
•They prayed to God to purify them.
- purification $ noun [U]
• water purification tablets $ [C]
someone who believes that something should be done in the correct or traditional way, especially in the areas of art, sport, music, and language:
• The purists won't like it, but opera on TV certainly brings in the audiences.
•Architects with purist views were suspicious of his work. $ [C]
1 someone with strict moral views who thinks that pleasure is unnecessary and wrong
2 Puritan a member of a Protestant religious group in the 16th and 17th centuries, who wanted to make religion simpler
- puritan adjective
•the Puritan work ethic $
very strict about moral matters, especially sex - used in order to show disapproval:
•a puritanical father who wouldn't let his children watch television
•The atmosphere at the school was oppressively puritanical. $ [U]
strict religious and moral attitudes - used in order to show disapproval:
•a harsh and repressive sexual puritanism $ [U]
the quality or state of being pure:
•the purity of tapwater
• spiritual purity
IMPURITY $ [U]
a type of stitch that you use when you KNIT (=make clothes from wool)
- purl verb [I,T] $ [plural]
literary the area in and around a place $ [T]
formal to obtain something without permission - often used humorously:
•He must have purloined a key from somewhere. $ [U]
a dark colour that is a mixture of red and blue
1 having a dark colour that is a mixture of red and blue
2 purple with rage/purple in the face etc with a face that is dark red, caused by anger:
•His face turned purple with rage.
3 purple patch a time when you are very successful - used especially in news reports:
•Steve's purple patch continued with a second victory on Tuesday.
4 purple prose/passage writing that uses difficult or unusual words - used in order to show disapproval[C]
a MEDAL given to US soldiers who have been wounded $
slightly purple $ [I,T]
formal to claim to be or do something, even if this is not true
purport to do sth
•Two undercover officers purporting to be dealers infiltrated the gang.
be purported to be sth
•The document is purported to be 300 years old.
- purportedly adverb
•a portrait purportedly of Shakespeare $ [U]
formal the general meaning of what someone says $
1 [C usually singular] the purpose of something is what it is intended to achieve
[+of]
•The purpose of this meeting is to elect a new chairman.
•What is the purpose of your visit?
the purpose of doing sth
•The purpose of conducting a business is to make money.
for/with the purpose of doing sth
•Troops were sent solely for the purpose of assisting refugees.
•He came here with the purpose of carrying out the attack.
sole/primary/main etc purpose
•The protection of children is the primary purpose of this legislation.
2 purposes [plural] the reasons that explain why something is needed or why it is considered in a particular way
•Several of the items had religious purposes.
for medical/political/decorative etc purposes
•It should be legitimate to use cannabis for medical purposes.
•For tax purposes, you will be treated as a married couple.
•The details are, for the present purposes, irrelevant.
for the purposes of sth
•For the purposes of this book, America is taken to include the continent north of Mexico.
3 [C] a plan or aim:
•Nick had no particular purpose in mind when he started.
sb's purpose in doing sth
•Attending the race was not my purpose in coming to Indianapolis.
serve a purpose (=achieve a particular aim)
•It would serve no useful purpose to re-open the investigation.
4 on purpose deliberately
do sth on purpose
•You make it sound as if I did it on purpose!
5 FEELING [U] a feeling of determination to achieve things in life:
•It's so important to have a sense of purpose that underlies human happiness
•My football career was over and I had no purpose in life.
•He possessed great strength of purpose.
6 for all practical purposes also to all intents and purposes used to say that something is so close to the truth that it can be considered to be the truth:
•The war, to all intents and purposes, was over.
•We have a Secretary of State for Scotland who is for all practical purposes a Scottish Prime Minister.
7 serve its purpose if something has served its purpose, it has done what you needed it to do:
•We delete the data once it has served its purpose.
8 defeat the purpose to fail to achieve the result you want:
•Anxiety will cause tension, which defeats the purpose of the exercise (=the activity or plan).
9 to no purpose formal without any useful results:
•She called after them, but to no purpose.
10 to the purpose old-fashioned useful or helpful
PURPOSELY, CROSS-PURPOSESBrE
designed and made for a particular purpose:
•purpose-built toilets for disabled people $
having a clear aim or purpose; = determined
•a purposeful and consistent foreign policy
•a purposeful movement
- purposefully adverb
•He walked purposefully to his desk.
- purposefulness noun [U] $
not having a clear aim or purpose:
•hours of purposeless activity
- purposelessly adverb
- purposelessness noun [U] $
deliberately; = on purpose
•A clause in the contract had been left purposely vague. $
1 [I] if a cat purrs, it makes a soft low sound in its throat to show that it is pleased
2 [I] if the engine of a vehicle or machine purrs, it works perfectly and makes a quiet smooth sound:
•The big Bentley purred along the road.
3 [I,T] to speak in a soft low SEXY voice:
•'That feels good,' she purred.
- purr noun [C] $
1 [C]
a) especially BrE a small bag in which women keep paper money, coins, cards etc; = wallet AmE
•Julie opened her handbag and took out her purse.
b) also change purse, coin purse AmE a small bag used to hold coins, used especially by women
2 [C] AmE a bag in which a woman carries her money and personal things; = handbag BrE
•I locked the door and dropped the keys in my purse.
3 [singular] formal the amount of money that a person, organization, or country has available to spend:
•Election expenses are met from the public purse (=money controlled by the government).
•A visit to the new county museum will set the family purse back by around £12.
4 [C] the amount of money given to someone who wins a sports event, such as a BOXING match or a car race:
•They will compete for a $100,000 purse.
5 the purse strings used to refer to the control of spending in a family, company, country etc
hold/control the purse strings
•It all comes down to who holds the purse strings.
•She keeps tight control over the purse strings.[T]
if you purse your lips, you bring them together tightly into a small circle, especially to show disapproval or doubt:
•Mrs Biddell pursed her lips and shook her head. $ [C]
an officer on a ship who is responsible for money and the passengers' rooms, comfort etc $
in pursuance of sth formal with the aim of doing or achieving something, or while doing something:
•In pursuance of this objective, 8000 letters were sent. $
formal pursuant to sth done according to a particular law, rule, contract etc:
•The boy was provided with an interpreter, pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Act. $ [T]
1 to continue doing an activity or trying to achieve something over a long period of time; pursuit
•She plans to pursue a career in politics.
•Students should pursue their own interests, as well as do their school work.
pursue a goal/aim/objective etc
•companies that pursue the traditional goal of profits
•a campaign promise to pursue policies that will help the poor
2 pursue the matter/argument/question etc to continue trying to find out about or persuade someone about a particular subject:
•Janet did not dare pursue the matter further.
•The defence pursued the question of Dr Carrington's state of mind.
3 to chase or follow someone or something, in order to catch them, attack them etc; pursuit
•Briggs ran across the field with one officer pursuing him.
4 to keep trying to persuade someone to have a relationship with you:
•I was pleased, but somewhat embarrassed, when she pursued me. $ [C]
someone who is chasing you:
•They managed to escape their pursuers. $
1 [U] when someone tries to get, achieve, or find something in a determined way; persue
[+of]
•the pursuit of liberty and happiness
•the pursuit of war criminals
in (the) pursuit of sth
•People are having to move to other areas in pursuit of work.
2 [U] when someone chases or follows someone else; pursue
in pursuit
•There were four police cars in pursuit.
•The quarterback sprinted toward the end zone with Jansen in hot pursuit (=following closely behind).
3 [C usually plural] formal an activity such as a sport or HOBBY, which you spend a lot of time doing:
•pursuits such as swimming and tennis $ technical
containing or producing PUS
- purulence noun [U] $ [T]
formal to supply goods, services, information etc to people:
•DJ Dominic purveys a unique brand of music. $ [C usually plural]
formal a business that supplies goods, services, or information:
•purveyors of farmyard fresh poultry $
within/outside the purview of sb/sth formal within or outside the limits of someone's job, activity, or knowledge:
•This matter comes within the purview of the Department of Health. [U]
a thick yellowish liquid produced in an infected part of your body:
•a wound oozing pus
1 MOVE [I,T] to make someone or something move by pressing them with your hands, arms etc; pull
•It didn't move, so she pushed harder.
•I promised to push him on the swings for as long as he wanted.
•shoppers pushing their grocery carts
push sb/sth away/back/aside etc
•She pushed him away.
•Maria pushed her hair back from her forehead.
push sb/sth towards/into etc sth
•Philip pushed him towards the door.
push sth open/shut
•I slowly pushed the door open.
2 BUTTON/SWITCH [I,T] to press a button, switch etc in order to make a piece of equipment start or stop working; = press
•I got in and pushed the button for the fourth floor.
•Push the green button to start the engine.
3 TRY TO GET PAST [I] to use your hands, arms etc to make people or things move, so that you can get past them:
•Don't push. Everyone will get a turn.
push (your way) past/through/into etc
•A fat man pushed past me in his rush to leave.
•She pushed her way to the front.
4 ENCOURAGE [T] to encourage or force someone to do something or to work hard:
•Encourage your kids to try new things, but try not to push them too hard.
•athletes who push their bodies to the limit
push yourself
•He's been pushing himself too hard, working 12-hour days.
push sb into (doing) sth
•My husband pushed me into leaving the job.
push sb to do sth
•The teachers pushed the students to achieve.
5 PERSUADE [I,T] to try to persuade people to accept your ideas, opinions etc in order to achieve something:
•The president is trying to push his agenda in Congress.
[+for]
•He was pushing hard for welfare reform.
push to do sth
•Company representatives are pushing to open foreign markets to their products.
push sth on sb
•We don't try to push our religion on anyone.
6 CHANGE [T always + adv/prep] to change someone's situation, or to make a situation change, especially when some people do not want it to change:
•The law would push even more children into poverty.
•attempts to push the peace process forward
7 INCREASE/DECREASE [T always + adv/prep] to increase or decrease an amount, value, or number
push sth up/down
•Slow sales have pushed down orders.
push sth higher/lower
•New technology has pushed the cost of health care even higher.
8 ARMY [I always + adv/prep] if an army pushes somewhere, it moves in that direction:
•The army was pushing north.
•We pushed deep into enemy territory.
9 ADVERTISE [T] informal to try to sell more of a product by advertising it a lot:
•Sports stars earn big bucks for pushing everything from shoes to soft drinks.
10 DRUGS [T] informal to sell illegal drugs
PUSHER
11 be pushing 40/50 etc informal to be nearly 40, 50 etc years old
12 push your luck/push it informal to do something or ask for something, especially something you have done or asked for before, when this is likely to annoy someone or involves a risk:
•If she doesn't want to go, don't push it.
•It's 26 miles, so you're pushing your luck if you try to hike it in a day.
13 push sth out of your mind also push sth to the back of your mind to try not to think about something, especially something bad or worrying:
•He pushed the thought out of his mind and tried to concentrate.
14 push (sb's) buttons informal to make someone feel strong emotions:
•Movies shouldn't be afraid to push a few buttons.
15 push the boat out BrE informal to spend more money than you usually do, on something special:
•Push the boat out and get tickets to the theatre or ballet.
16 push the point to keep trying to make someone accept your opinion in a way that they think is annoying
17 push the envelope AmE to do something that is new and that goes beyond the limits of what has already been done in a particular area of activity
[+of/on]
•ideas that push the envelope of design and construction
18 be pushing up (the) daisies informal to be dead - used humorously

PHRASAL VERBS
push ahead phr v
to continue with a plan or activity, especially in a determined way
[+with]
•Quinlan decided to push ahead with the deal.

push along phr v
must/should etc be pushing along BrE spoken used to say that you think it is time for you to leave a place:
•It's getting late - I think we should be pushing along.

push sb around phr v also push sb about BrE
to tell someone what to do in an impolite or threatening way:
•Europeans sometimes feel the Americans are trying to push them around.

push sb/sth aside phr v
1 push sth <=> aside to try to forget about something, especially something unpleasant, so that you can give your attention to what you are doing:
•She pushed aside her anger, forcing herself to focus on her work.
2 to force someone out of their job or position, taking the job in their place:
•Primakov was pushed aside but later became head of Intelligence.

push yourself forward phr v
BrE to try to make other people notice you:
•Rupert was a quiet type, not one to push himself forward.

push in phr v
BrE informal to go in front of other people who are already waiting in a line for something, instead of going to the back of the line:
•A couple of boys pushed in at the head of the queue.

push off phr v
1 to start moving in a boat, on a bicycle, or when swimming or jumping, by pushing against something with your arms, legs etc:
•Dad pushed off and jumped into the rowboat.
2 BrE spoken used to tell someone rudely to go away

push on phr v
1 to continue travelling somewhere, especially after you have had a rest:
•We decided to push on a little further.
2 to continue doing an activity
[+with]
•Nixon pushed on with the weapons development program.

push sb/sth <=> over phr v
to make someone or something fall to the ground by pushing them:
•He went wild, pushing over tables and chairs.

push sth <=> through phr v also push sth through sth
to get a plan, law etc officially accepted, especially quickly:
•The planning application was pushed through as quickly as possible.
PUSHED, PUSHING
1 PUSHING MOVEMENT [C] when someone pushes something; pull
•Jodi had stopped swinging. 'Want a push?' her dad asked.
•If the door's stuck, just give it a push.
at/with the push of a button (=used to emphasize how easy a machine is to use)
•Files can be attached to your email at the push of a button.
2 EFFORT [C] when someone, especially a business, tries to get or achieve something:
•the pre-Christmas advertising push
[+into]
•The company has recently made a big push into the Japanese market.
[+for]
•the push for improved productivity
push to do sth
•a push to attract new members
3 ENCOURAGEMENT [singular] if someone gives someone else a push, they encourage or persuade them to try something:
•She just needed a gentle push to get her to join in.
4 ARMY [C] a planned military movement into the area where the enemy is
[+into]
•The army has made another big push into enemy territory.
5 give sb the push/get the push BrE informal
a) if your employer gives you the push, they make you leave your job:
•I was scared I'd get the push.
b) if someone you are having a romantic relationship with gives you the push, they tell you that they no longer want to continue the relationship
6 when/if push comes to shove also if it comes to the push BrE spoken if a situation becomes very difficult or action needs to be taken:
•If push comes to shove, you can always sell the car.
7 at a push informal BrE if you can do something at a push, it will be difficult, but you will be able to do it:
•We have room for five people, maybe six at a push.
8 it'll be a push BrE spoken used to say that something will be difficult because you do not have enough time to do it:
•I'll do my best, but it'll be a bit of a push.[C]
BrE informal a BICYCLE[only before noun]
operated by pressing a button with your finger:
•a push-button telephone $ [C]
a large flat container like a box with wheels, used especially by people who sell goods in the street $ [C]
BrE a small seat on wheels, in which a young child sits and is pushed along; = stroller AmE [not before noun] BrE informal
1 be pushed for time/money etc to not have much time, money etc; = pressed
•I'm a bit pushed for time today.
2 too busy:
•I'd love to help, but I'm a bit pushed at the moment.
3 be (hard) pushed to do sth to have a lot of difficulty doing something:
•I was hard pushed to keep my mind on my work. $ [C]
informal someone who sells illegal drugs
be pushing 40/60 etc spoken to be nearly 40, 60 etc years old - used only about older people:
•Sheila must be pushing 40 by now. $ informal
be a pushover
a) to be easy to persuade, influence, or defeat:
•They aren't the best team in the league, but they're no pushover, either.
[+for]
•Tony's a pushover for blondes.
b) BrE to be very easy to do or win:
•The exam was a pushover.[T]
to push a vehicle in order to make the engine start
- push-start noun [C][C usually plural] AmE
an exercise in which you lie on the floor on your chest and push yourself up with your arms; = press-up BrE
someone who is pushy does everything they can to get what they want from other people - used in order to show disapproval:
•a pushy salesman
- pushiness noun [U] formal
frightened of taking even small risks; = cowardly
- pusillanimity noun [U] BrE spoken
used to talk to or call a cat; = kitty AmE
•Come here, puss, puss, puss! plural pussies [C] informal
1 BrE a cat - used especially by or to children
2 taboo a very offensive word meaning a woman's sex organs. Do not use this word.
3 AmE not polite an offensive word for a man who is weak or not brave [C]
1 a cat - used especially by or to children
2 [usually singular] someone who is very nice and gentle - used especially when they do not seem this way:
•Greg? He's a pussycat, really.also pussyfoot around/about [I]
informal to be too careful and frightened to do something, such as making firm decisions or telling someone exactly what you think:
•You can't pussyfoot around when it comes to keeping kids safe.[C,U]
a tree with white flowers that are soft like fur $ [C]
medical a small raised spot on your skin containing PUS past tense and past participle put, present participle putting [T]
1 MOVE TO PLACE [always + adv/prep] to move something to a particular place or position, especially using your hands; = place
•He put the coffee on the table.
•Where did you put the programmes?
2 CHANGE SB'S SITUATION/FEELINGS [always + adv/prep] to change someone's situation or the way they feel:
•Don't put yourself into a situation you can't handle.
put sb in a good/bad etc mood (=make them feel happy/annoyed etc)
•The long delay had put us all in a bad mood.
•I don't want to put you in danger.
•Pit closures have put thousands of miners out of a job (=made them lose their job).
put sb in control/command/charge etc (=give someone authority over a group, activity, or organization)
•His boss resigned and Murphy was put in charge.
•Politics puts me to sleep.
•A knee injury put him out of action for three months.
3 WRITE/PRINT STH to write or print something or to make a mark with a pen or pencil
put sth in/on/under etc sth
•Put your name at the top of each answer sheet.
put sth to sth
•He put his signature to the contract (=he signed it to show he agreed with it).
4 EXPRESS [always + adv/prep] to say or write something using words in a particular way
put sth well/cleverly/simply etc
•The question was well put.
•So it was an accident, an 'act of God' if you want to put it like that.
•When women joined the organization, it 'took on a new look,' as news reports put it.
•It is hard to put into words (=express) how I feel now.
•He's not very musical, to put it mildly (=he's not musical at all).
•We get on each other's nerves, to put it bluntly (=to say exactly what I mean).
•It's fairly risky. Or to put it another way (=say it in different words), don't try this at home.
•The subject matter makes the painting a little, how shall I put it (=how can I say it politely?), undesirable for public display.
5 put a stop/an end to sth to stop an activity that is harmful or unacceptable:
•We must put an end to their threats.
6 put sth into action/effect/practice to start using a plan, idea, knowledge etc:
•James was keen to put some of the things he had learned into practice.
7 ASK/SUGGEST to ask a question or make a suggestion, especially to get someone's opinion or agreement
put a proposition/proposal/case etc to sb
•He put the proposal to his wife.
put sth before sb
•The budget was put before the board of directors.
•Can I put a question to you?
•I put it to you that this proposal has to be considered.
8 put sth right to make a situation better, especially after someone has made a mistake or behaved badly:
•He has a chance to put things right by admitting a mistake was made.
9 put sb straight/right also set sb straight/right to tell someone the true facts when they have made a mistake that annoys you:
•A young man was in here asking for 'Miss' Whalby, but I put him right on that one.
10 put sth straight to make something look clean and tidy:
•It took us all weekend to put the garden straight.
11 MAKE SB/STH DO STH to make someone or something work or do something, or to use it:
•a scheme to put unemployed people to work on government construction projects
•If you have a spare room, put it to work for you - take in a lodger.
•Computer games are being put to use in the classroom.
•We put 15 rain jackets to the test (=we tested them).
12 HAVE IMPORTANCE/QUALITY [always + adv/prep] to consider something as having a particular level of importance or quality
put sb as/among/in etc sth
•A recent poll put Doctor Martens among the world's top thirty designer labels.
put sb/sth before sb/sth
•Some companies put profit before safety.
put sb/sth first/second etc
•The job's important to him, but he puts his family first.
13 SEND SB SOMEWHERE [always + adv/prep] to arrange for someone to go to a place, or to make them go there
put sb in (sth)
•The company is putting in new management.
•Pneumonia put him in the hospital for a week.
• Put the boys to bed around eight o'clock.
14 put sb on a train/plane etc to take someone to a plane, train etc to start a journey:
•I put her on the plane for London.
15 put paid to sth BrE to spoil and end your hopes or plans completely:
•A car accident put paid to his chances of taking part in the race.
16 I wouldn't put it past sb (to do sth) spoken used to say that you think someone could easily do something wrong or illegal:
•I wouldn't put it past him to use force.
17 put sb to trouble/inconvenience especially BrE to make extra work or cause problems for someone
18 put it there spoken used to tell someone to put their hand in yours, either as a greeting or after making an agreement with them:
•$500? OK, it's a deal. Put it there!
19 THROW to throw a SHOT (=a heavy metal ball) in a sports competition

PHRASAL VERBS
put about phr v
1 put sth about BrE informal to give other people news or information, especially when it is unpleasant or untrue:
•After he was fired, he put it about that he was fed up with working for such a large company.
2 put (sth) about technical if a ship puts about or if you put it about, it changes direction
3 put yourself about BrE informal to have sexual relationships with a lot of different people

put sth <=> across phr v
1 to explain your ideas, beliefs etc in a way that people can understand:
•He was trying to put across a serious point.
2 put yourself across BrE to explain your ideas and opinions clearly so that people understand them and realize what sort of person you are:
•Sue's never been very good at putting herself across at interviews.
3 to sing, play music, or act in a film or play in a clear, effective way:
•She can really put a song across.

put sth <=> aside phr v
1 to try to stop thinking about a problem, argument, or disagreement, because you want to achieve something:
•You must put aside your pride and apologise to him.
2 to save money regularly, usually for a particular purpose:
•She put at least £30 a week aside for food.
3 to put down something you are reading or working with, in order to start doing something else:
•He glanced at the note, put it aside and went on with the meeting.
4 to keep a period of time free in order to be able to do something:
•If you're planning a trip to the museum, be sure to put aside at least an hour and a half.

put sth at sth phr v
to calculate or guess an amount, number, age etc, without being very exact:
•Her fortune was put at £5.5 million.

put sb/sth away phr v
1 put sth <=> away to put something in the place where it is usually kept:
•He put his toys away every night.
2 put sth <=> away to save money:
•We're putting some money away for expenses.
3 put sb away informal to put someone in a prison or in a mental hospital:
•If you are found guilty, the judge is going to put you away for life.
4 put sth <=> away informal to eat or drink a lot:
•It's amazing the amount that child can put away.
5 put sth <=> away informal to score a GOAL, especially after other failed attempts:
•He seized the opportunity to put the ball away.
6 put sth <=> away AmE informal to defeat your opponent in a sports competition:
•Two plays later, Smith scored to put the game away.

put sth back phr v
1 put sb/sth <=> back to put people or things in the place or situation they were in before:
•She put the saucepan back on the stove.
•Our win today put us back into third place in the league.
2 put sth <=> back to arrange for an event to start at a later time or date; = postpone
[+to]
•The meeting has been put back to next Thursday.
3 put sth <=> back to delay a process or activity by a number of weeks, months etc:
•This fire could put back the opening date by several weeks.
4 to make someone or something have something that they used to have before:
•The win put a smile back on his face.
5 put a clock/watch back BrE to make a clock or watch show an earlier time; = set back AmE
put the clock back at CLOCK^1 (3)

put sth behind you phr v
to try to forget about an unpleasant event or experience and think about the future:
•She had dealt with the guilt years ago and put it behind her.

put sth <=> by phr v
to save money regularly in order to use it later:
•We're trying to put a little by each month for a new car.

put down phr v
1 PLACE put sth/sb <=> down to put something or someone that you are holding or carrying onto a surface:
•Put those heavy bags down for a minute.
2 CRITICIZE put sb <=> down to criticize someone and make them feel silly or stupid; = belittle
•I hate the way Dave puts me down the whole time.
put yourself down
•Stop putting yourself down.
3 WRITE put sth <=> down to write something, especially a name or number, on a piece of paper or on a list; = write down
•Put down your name and address.
4 put down a revolution/revolt/rebellion etc to stop a REVOLUTION etc by using force:
•The uprising was put down by the police and the army.
5 PAY put sth <=> down to pay part of the total cost of something, so that you can pay the rest later
[+on]
•They put down a deposit on the goods until Christmas.
6 BABY put sb down to put a baby in its bed:
•We try to put Amy down at six every evening.
7 put the phone down to put the RECEIVER back onto the telephone when you have finished speaking to someone; = hang up
[+on]
•She put the phone down on me (=suddenly ended the conversation).
8 KILL put sth <=> down to kill an animal without causing it pain, usually because it is old or sick; = put sth to sleep
•We had to have the dog put down.
9 I couldn't put it down spoken used to say that you found a book, game etc extremely interesting:
•Once I'd started reading it I just couldn't put it down.
10 AIRCRAFT put (sth) down if an aircraft puts down or if a pilot puts it down, it lands, especially because of an EMERGENCY:
•The engine failed and the plane put down in the sea.
11 put down a motion/an amendment to suggest a subject, plan, change in the law etc for a parliament or committee to consider
12 LEAVE PASSENGER put sb down BrE to stop a vehicle so that passengers can get off at a particular place:
•He asked the taxi to put him down at the end of the road.

put sb down as sth phr v
to guess what someone is like or what they do, without having much information about them:
•I didn't think he was unfriendly. I put him down as shy.

put sb down for sth phr v
1 to put someone's name on a list so that they can take part in an activity, join an organization etc:
•They put themselves down for a training course.
2 put sb down for £5/£20 etc especially BrE to write someone's name on a list with an amount of money that they have promised to give

put sth down to sth phr v
1 to think that something is caused by something else:
•I was having difficulty reading, which I put down to the poor light.
2 put it down to experience to try not to feel too upset about failure, especially when you learn something useful from it:
•Everyone gets rejected from time to time; put it down to experience.

put forth sth phr v
1 to suggest an idea, explanation etc, especially one that other people later consider and discuss; = submit
•Arguments were put forth for changing some of the rules of the game.
2 put forth leaves/shoots/roots etc formal if a tree or bush puts forth leaves etc, it begins to grow them

put sb/sth <=> forward phr v
1 to suggest a plan, proposal etc, for other people to consider or discuss; = propose
•They put forward a number of suggestions.
2 to suggest formally that you or someone else should be considered for a particular job, membership of an organization etc:
•Her name was put forward for the lead role in the play.
3 to arrange for an event to start at an earlier time or date
[+to]
•The men's final has been put forward to 1:30.
4 put a clock/watch forward BrE to make a clock or watch show a later time; = set forward AmE

put in phr v
1 put sth <=> in to fix a piece of equipment somewhere and connect it so that it is ready to be used; = instal
•We decided to have a new bathroom put in.
2 put sth <=> in to spend time or use energy working or practising something:
•Dorothy had put in a lot of hard work during her six years as chairperson.
3 put in sth written to interrupt someone in order to say something:
•'How old are you?' 'Sixteen.' 'I'm sixteen too,' put in Dixie.
4 put sth <=> in to ask for something in an official way:
•She put in an insurance claim.
•We must put in an order by tonight.
put in for sth
•I put in for a pay increase.
5 put your faith/trust/confidence in sb/sth to trust someone or something or believe that they can do something:
•I'm putting my faith in the appeal judges.
6 put in sth to do something in a particular way, especially a performance in a play, film, race etc:
•He put in a brilliant performance in the British Grand Prix.
7 put in an appearance to go to a social event, meeting etc for a short time:
•There was an hour yet before she needed to put in an appearance at the restaurant.
8 if a ship puts in, it enters a port

put sth into sth phr v
1 to make money available to be used for a particular purpose:
•The government appears to be putting more money into education.
2 to use a lot of energy etc when you are doing an activity:
•Candidates put a lot of time and effort into gaining qualifications.
3 to add a quality to something:
•These simple recipes put more fun into eating.

put sb/sth off phr v
1 put sth <=> off to delay doing something or to arrange to do something at a later time or date, especially because there is a problem or you do not want to do it now; = delay, procrastinate
•The match has been put off until tomorrow because of bad weather.
put off doing sth
•I put off going to the doctor but I wish I hadn't.
2 put sb <=> off BrE to make you dislike something or not want to do something:
•Don't let the restaurant's decor put you off - the food is really good.
put sb off (doing) sth
•Don't let your failures put you off trying harder.
3 put sb off to make someone wait because you do not want to meet them, pay them etc until later; = stall
•When he calls, put him off as long as you can.
4 put sb off (sth) BrE to make it difficult for someone to pay attention to what they are doing by talking, making a noise, moving etc:
•It puts me off when you watch me all the time.
5 put sb off (sth) BrE to let someone leave a vehicle at a particular place:
•I'll put you off at the supermarket.

put sb/sth on phr v
1 CLOTHES put sth <=> on to put a piece of clothing on your body; take off
•He took off his uniform and put on a sweater and trousers.
•I'll have to put my glasses on; I can't read the sign from here.
2 ON SKIN put sth <=> on to put MAKE-UP, cream etc on your skin:
•I've got to put this cream on twice a day.
3 AFFECT/INFLUENCE STH put sth on sth to do something that affects or influences someone or something else:
•The government put a limit on imports of textiles.
•Pat was putting pressure on him to leave his wife.
4 START EQUIPMENT put sth <=> on to make a light or a piece of equipment start working by pressing or turning a button or switch; = switch on, turn on
•He got up and put on the light.
•Shall I put the kettle on?
5 MUSIC put sth <=> on to put a record, tape, or CD into a machine and start playing it:
•She put on some music while they ate.
6 PRETEND put sth <=> on to pretend to have a particular feeling, opinion, way of speaking etc especially in order to get attention:
•Sheila's not really that upset; she's just putting it on.
•Leaving the court, the families all tried to put on a brave face (=not show that they were sad or worried).
7 put on weight/12 lbs/4 kg etc to become fatter and heavier; = gain
•Rosie's put on five kilos since she quit smoking.
8 EVENT/CONCERT/PLAY ETC put sth <=> on to arrange for a concert, play etc to take place, or to perform in it:
•One summer the children put on a play.
9 SHOW WHAT YOU CAN DO put sth <=> on to show what you are able to do or what power you have:
•The team need to put on another world-class performance.
10 COOK put sth <=> on to start cooking something:
•Shall I put the pasta on now?
11 PROVIDE STH put sth <=> on BrE to provide a service for people, especially a special one:
•BA is putting on extra flights to cover the Christmas rush.
12 you're putting me on! spoken especially AmE used to tell someone that you think they are joking:
•He wouldn't do that - you're putting me on.
13 RISK MONEY put sth on sth to risk an amount of money on the result of a game, race etc; = bet
•We put £50 on Brazil to win the Cup.
14 ADD put sth on sth to add an amount of money or tax onto the cost of something:
•Can smokers really complain if more tax is put on cigarettes?
15 TELEPHONE put sb <=> on to give someone the telephone so that they can talk to someone who is telephoning:
•Can you put Janet on?

put sb onto sb/sth phr v
BrE informal to give someone information about something interesting or useful that they did not know about:
•Jo put us onto this fantastic French restaurant.

put out phr v
1 FIRE/CIGARETTE ETC put sth <=> out to make a fire etc stop burning; = extinguish
•The rescue services are still trying to put out the fires.
2 LIGHT put sth <=> out to make a light stop working by pressing or turning a button or switch; = switch off
3 MAKE AVAILABLE put sth <=> out to put things where people can find and use them:
•The girls helped her to put out the cups and plates.
4 feel/be put out to feel upset or offended:
•We were a little put out at not being invited to the wedding.
5 MAKE EXTRA WORK put sb out to make extra work or cause problems for someone:
•Mary can't come to dinner tonight. She hopes it won't put you out.
6 put yourself out to make an effort to do something that will help someone:
•They had put themselves out to entertain her during her visit.
7 TAKE OUTSIDE put sth <=> out to take something outside your house and leave it there:
•Remember to put the cat out before you go to bed.
put the rubbish/garbage etc out (=put unwanted things outside your house to be taken away)
put the washing out (=put clothes outside to dry)
8 put your tongue out to push your tongue out of your mouth, especially as a rude sign to someone
9 put your hand/foot/arm out to move your hand etc forward and away from your body:
•He put out his hand toward her.
10 MAKE UNCONSCIOUS put sb out to make someone unconscious before a medical operation
11 put your back out to injure your back
12 PRODUCE STH put sth <=> out to broadcast or produce something for people to read or listen to:
•They put out a half-hour programme on young refugees.
13 put out feelers to try to discover information or opinions by listening to people or watching what is happening:
•He had already put out feelers with local employers but they hadn't been interested.
14 SHIP if a ship puts out, it starts to sail
15 HAVE SEX AmE informal if a woman puts out, she has sex with a man
16 BASEBALL put sb out to prevent a baseball player from running around the BASEs , for example, by catching the ball that they have hit

put sth <=> over phr v
1 BrE to succeed in telling other people your ideas, opinions, feelings, etc:
•The advert puts over the message clearly and simply: nuclear power is clean.
2 put one/sth over on sb informal to deceive someone into believing something that is not true or that is useless:
•Nobody could put one over on him.

put through phr v
1 put sb/sth <=> through to connect someone to someone else on the telephone
[+to]
•Could you put me through to Eddie?
2 put sb through school/college/university to pay for someone to study at school, college etc:
•She worked as a waitress and put herself through school.
3 put sb through sth to make someone do or experience something difficult or unpleasant:
•The soldiers were put through eight weeks of basic training.
•They really put me through it at the interview.
4 put sth <=> through to do what is necessary in order to get a plan or suggestion accepted or approved:
•Production will start up again when these changes have been put through.

put sth <=> together phr v
1 to prepare or produce something by collecting pieces of information, ideas etc:
•It took all morning to put the proposal together.
2 to form people or things into a group:
•We are currently putting together a sales and marketing team.
3 to make a machine, model etc by joining all the different parts; = assemble
•I can't work out how to put this table together.
4 more ... than the rest/the others/everything else put together used to say that one amount is greater than the total of a set of amounts:
•Paul seemed to have more money than the rest of us put together.

put sth towards sth phr v
to use some money in order to pay part of the cost of something:
•Alec put the money towards a trip to Australia.

put sb under phr v
if a doctor puts you under, they give you drugs to make you unconscious before SURGERY

put up phr v
1 BUILD put sth <=> up to build something such as a wall, fence, building etc; = erect
•They're putting up several new office blocks in the centre of town.
2 FOR PEOPLE TO SEE put sth <=> up to put a picture, notice etc on a wall so that people can see it:
•Can I put up some posters?
•The shops have started to put up Christmas decorations.
3 ATTACH STH put sth <=> up to attach a shelf, cupboard etc to a wall:
•My Dad put up five shelves.
4 INCREASE put sth <=> up BrE to increase the cost or value of something; = raise
•Most big stores admit they daren't put prices up for fear of losing their customers.
5 RAISE put sth <=> up to raise something to a higher position:
•I put up my hand and asked to leave the room.
•Philip put his hood up because it was raining.
6 LET SB STAY put sb up to let someone stay in your house and give them meals:
•I was hoping Kenny could put me up for a few days.
7 STAY SOMEWHERE BrE to stay in a place for a short time
[+at/in/with]
•We can put up at a hotel for the night.
8 put up a fight/struggle/resistance to show great determination to oppose something or get out of a difficult situation:
•Gina put up a real fight to overcome the disease.
•The rebels have put up fierce resistance.
9 put up sth to give an amount of money for a particular purpose:
•The paper put up a reward for information on the murder.
10 MAKE AVAILABLE put sth up to make something or someone available for a particular purpose
[+for]
•They put their house up for sale.
•The baby was put up for adoption.
11 put up a proposal/argument/case etc to explain a suggestion or idea so that other people can think about it or discuss it:
•If you can put up a good enough case, the board will provide the finance.
12 ELECTIONS put sb <=> up to suggest someone as a suitable person to be elected to a position:
•I was put up for the committee.
13 put up or shut up spoken informal used to tell someone that they should either do what needs to be done or stop talking about it

put sb up to sth phr v
to encourage someone to do something stupid or dangerous:
•'Did Shirley put you up to this?' 'No, it was my own idea.'

put up with sb/sth phr v
to accept an unpleasant situation or person without complaining:
•She put up with his violent temper.
put your finger on sth at FINGER^1 (4)
put your foot down at FOOT^1 (13)
put your foot in it at FOOT^1 (15)
put the record straight at RECORD^1 (10)
put sth to (good) use at USE^2 (4)
put your back into it at BACK^2 (19) [only before noun] formal
believed or accepted by most people:
•the putative father of her child[C usually singular]
something you say that is intended to make someone feel stupid or unimportant; = snub
•She was tired of his put-downs.[C usually singular]
AmE informal something you say or do to try to make someone believe something that is not true[not before noun] BrE
upset or offended:
•She felt put out that she hadn't been consulted. past tense and past participle putrefied, present participle putrefying, third person singular putrefies [I]
formal if a dead animal or plant putrefies, it decays and smells very bad
- putrefaction noun [U]
1 dead animals, plants etc that are putrid are decaying and smell very bad:
•the putrid smells from the slaughterhouses
2 informal very unpleasant:
•a putrid green colour [C]
a secretly planned attempt to remove a government by force:
•the communist putsch [I,T]
to hit a golf ball lightly a short distance along the ground towards the hole
- putt noun [C]
- putting noun [U]
•I was practising my putting. $ [C usually plural]
a long piece of cloth that soldiers wrapped around each leg from the knee down, as part of their uniform in the past $ [C]
a type of GOLF CLUB (=stick), used to hit the ball a short distance towards or into the hole[I always + adv/prep]
1 AmE also putter around to spend time doing things that are not very important in a relaxed way; = potter BrE
•I puttered around for a while, cleaning up the kitchen.
2 AmE to walk or move slowly and without hurrying:
•A little boy puttered along the sidewalk.
3 BrE informal to make the low sound that a vehicle makes when it is moving slowly:
•A motor boat puttered by.[C]
1 also green one of the smooth areas of grass on a GOLF COURSE where you hit the ball along the ground into the hole
2 BrE a smooth area of grass with special holes in it for playing a simple type of golf [U]
1 a soft whitish substance that becomes hard when it dries and that is used to fix glass into window frames
2 be putty in sb's hands to be easily controlled or influenced by someone[C usually singular] informal
an event that seems real but has actually been arranged in order to deceive someone:
•It's been suggested the kidnapping was a put-up job.
informal someone who feels put-upon thinks that other people are treating them unfairly by expecting them to do too much [C] AmE informal not polite
1 an offensive word for someone, especially a man, who is stupid, annoying, and unpleasant
2 a PENIS

PHRASAL VERBS
putz around phr v AmE informal
to spend time doing very little, or not doing anything important:
•I've just been putzing around this morning. [C]
1 a game or toy that has a lot of pieces that you have to fit together; jigsaw
•a child's wooden puzzle
2 a game in which you have to think hard to solve a difficult question or problem:
•a crossword puzzle
3 [usually singular] something that is difficult to understand or explain
[+of]
•the puzzle of how the sun works
•The meaning of the poem has always been a puzzle.
•He thought he had solved the puzzle.
4 piece of the puzzle a piece of information that helps you to understand part of a difficult question, mystery etc[T]
to confuse someone or make them feel slightly anxious because they do not understand something:
•a question that continues to puzzle scientists
•He was puzzled by the reactions to his remark.
•What puzzles me is why his books are so popular.

PHRASAL VERBS
puzzle sth <=> out phr v
to solve a confusing or difficult problem by thinking about it carefully:
•He lay looking at the ceiling, trying to puzzle things out.

puzzle over sth phr v
to think for a long time about something because you cannot understand or solve it:
•The class puzzled over a poem by Shakespeare.
confused and unable to understand something:
•'Dinner?' Sam asked, looking puzzled.
[+about/as to/at]
•John seemed puzzled about what the question meant.
puzzled that
•Harry was puzzled that Nicholas didn't seem to recognize him.
puzzled look/expression/frown etc
•Alice read the letter with a puzzled expression on her face. [U]
formal a feeling of being confused and unable to understand something $ [C]
informal something that is difficult to understand or explain
confusing and difficult to understand or explain:
•a puzzling fact
•Gary found her reaction puzzling. [U]
a type of plastic, used to make pipes, window frames, clothes etcAmE
a written abbreviation of private , the lowest military rank in the armyBrE
per week used in writing to show that something happens, is paid etc each week:
•Rent is £55 p.w. [C]
a shop selling food and other supplies on a US military base, pigmy plural pygmies [C]
1 also Pygmy someone who belongs to a race of very small people, especially one of the tribes of central Africa
2 someone who is not as good, intelligent, strong etc as other people in the same group - used in order to show disapproval:
•a literary pygmy[only before noun]
used to describe a type of animal or plant that is much smaller than other similar types:
•a pygmy elephantpajamas AmE $ [plural] BrE
1 a soft pair of trousers and a top that you wear in bed:
•striped pyjamas
2 loose trousers that are tied around the waist, worn by Muslim men or women
- pyjama adjective [only before noun]
•pyjama bottoms
the cat's pyjamas at CAT (5) $ [C]
1 a tall metal structure that supports wires carrying electricity
2 AmE one of a set of plastic CONEs placed on a road to control traffic and protect people working thereBrE written
the abbreviation of pick your own , used by farms that let people pick fruit and vegetables to buy [C]
1 a large stone building with four TRIANGULAR (=three-sided) walls that slope in to a point at the top, especially in Egypt and Central America
2 [usually singular] a system, society, company etc that is organized in different levels, so that there is a small number of people at the top and a much larger number of people at the bottom:
•different levels of the management pyramid
•At the bottom of the pyramid are the poor.
3 a pile of objects that have been put into the shape of a pyramid
[+of]
•a pyramid of oranges
4 an object shaped like a pyramid
- pyramidal adjectivealso Ponzi scheme $ [C]
a dishonest and often illegal way of selling INVESTMENTs , in which money from people who INVEST later is used to pay people in the system who have already invested[U]
a business activity in which the main income comes from people who buy the right to sell products, rather than from the sale of the products themselves. Pyramid selling is illegal in many places. $ [C]
a high pile of wood on which a dead body is placed to be burned in a funeral ceremony:
•a funeral pyre [U]
trademark a special type of strong glass that does not break when it gets very hot and that is used to make cooking dishes, plates etc $ [U]
a mix of SULPHUR with a type of metal, usually iron, or iron and COPPER; fool's gold
•iron pyrites $ [C]
medical someone who suffers from a mental illness that gives them a strong desire to start fires
- pyromania noun [U] $
1 [plural] formal or technical a public show of FIREWORKs
2 [U] technical the skill or business of making FIREWORKs
3 [plural] an impressive show of someone's skill as a public performer, musician etc:
•the guitar pyrotechnics of Eric Clapton
- pyrotechnic adjective
•a pyrotechnic display [C]
a victory in which the person who wins suffers so much that the victory was hardly worth winning $ [C]
a large tropical snake that kills animals for food by winding itself around them and crushing themq plural Q's, q's [C,U]
the 17th letter of the English alphabet
mind your p's and q's at MIND^2 (23)
Q-TIPq. also Q q BrE
the written abbreviation of question :
•a Q and A session (=a time when people can ask questions and get answers)
FAQAmE
the written abbreviation of quarterback [C]
Queen's Counsel a BARRISTER of high rank in the British legal system; KC
the abbreviation of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum , used to say that a fact or event proves that what you say is trueqt. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of quart or quarts
on the q.t. old-fashioned secretly [C]
trademark AmE a short stick with cotton at each end, used especially for cleaning your ears
the written abbreviation of quarter $ formal
used to show you are talking about the basic nature or job of someone or something:
•Money, qua money, cannot provide happiness.
SINE QUA NON [I]
to make the sound that ducks make[C]
1 the sound a duck makes
2 someone who pretends to be a doctor - used in order to show disapproval:
•quacks selling weight-loss drugs
3 BrE informal a doctor:
•You'd better go and see the quack with that burn.[only before noun]
relating to the activities or medicines of someone who pretends to be a doctor:
•a quack remedy [U]
the activities of someone who pretends be a doctor $ [C]
1 informal a square open area with buildings all around it, especially in a school or college
2 informal a QUADRUPLET
3 quads [plural] informal QUADRICEPS[C] BrE
a small vehicle, similar to a MOTORCYCLE but with four wide wheels, usually ridden on rough paths or fields; = four wheeler AmE $
another form of QUADRI- $ [C]
1 formal a square open area with buildings all around it, especially at a school or college; = quad
2 technical a flat shape that has four straight sides $ [C]
1 a quarter of a circle
2 an instrument for measuring angles, used when sailing or looking at the starsquadrophonic $
using a system of sound recording, broadcasting etc in which sound comes from four different SPEAKERs at the same time; mono, stereo $ [C]
technical an EQUATION such ax²+by+c = z, which includes numbers or quantities multiplied by themselvesalso quadru- quadr- $
four or four times:
•a quadrilateral (=shape with four straight sides)
•a quadruped (=animal with four legs) $ plural quadriceps [C]
the large muscle at the front of your THIGH $ [C] technical
a flat shape with four straight sides
- quadrilateral adjective $ [C]
a dance, popular especially in the 19th century, in which the dancers form a square $
1 the number one followed by 15 zeros
2 BrE old use the number one followed by 24 zeros $ [C]
someone who is permanently unable to move any part of their body below their neck; paraplegic
•A car accident left him a quadriplegic.
- quadriplegia noun [U]
- quadriplegic adjective $
another spelling of QUADRAPHONIC $
another form of QUADRI- $ [C] technical
an animal that has four legs; biped $ [I,T]
to increase and become four times as big or as high, or to make something increase in this way; double, triple
•Food prices quadrupled during the war.
•The company has quadrupled its profits in just three years.
1 four times as big or as many; double, triple
•The subjects were given quadruple the normal dosage of the drug.
2 involving four things of the same kind:
•a quadruple murder $ [C]
one of four babies born at the same time to the same mother; = quad $ [T] literary
to drink a lot of something quickly; = knock back
•Wedding guests quaffed champagne. $ [C usually singular]
1 an area of soft wet muddy ground:
•In the rainy season the roads become a quagmire.
2 a difficult or complicated situation:
•The Balkan situation became a political and military quagmire. [C,U]
a small fat bird with a short tail that is hunted for food or sport, or the meat from this bird[I]
literary to be afraid and show it by shaking a little bit or moving back slightly; = shrink
[+at]
•She quailed visibly at the sight of the prison walls.
unusual and attractive, especially in an old-fashioned way:
•a quaint little village in Yorkshire [I]
1 to shake or tremble, usually because you are very frightened
quake with fear/fright/anger etc
•Richmond was quaking with fury.
2 quake in your boots informal to feel very afraid - used humorously
3 if the earth, a building etc quakes, it shakes violently:
•The explosion made the whole house quake.[C]
an EARTHQUAKE $ [C]
a member of the Society of Friends, a Christian religious group that meets without any formal ceremony or priests and that is opposed to violence
- Quaker adjective $
1 [C usually plural] if you have a qualification, you have passed an examination or course to show you have a particular level of skill or knowledge in a subject
academic/vocational/professional/educational etc qualifications
•the academic qualifications needed for university entrance
technical/secretarial/medical etc qualifications
•jobs that require technical qualifications
•Applicants should have an EFL qualification and a year's teaching experience.
[+in]
•She gained a qualification in marketing.
•40 percent of the prisoners lack any qualifications.
paper qualifications BrE (=official qualifications rather than experience or personal qualities)
2 [C usually plural] a skill, personal quality, or type of experience that makes you suitable for a particular job or position
[+for]
•health and fitness qualifications for membership in the Territorial Army
qualification to do sth
•There have been questions about his qualifications to lead the company.
•Does he have the right qualifications to become a Supreme Court Justice?
3 [U] when a person or team reaches a necessary standard, for example by passing an examination or defeating another team:
•Upon qualification, you can expect to find work abroad fairly easily.
[+for]
•the US qualification for the World Cup
4 [C,U] something that you add to a statement to limit its effect or meaning; = reservation
•I welcome without qualification the Minister's proposal.

GRAMMAR
Qualification is usually plural. Qualifications are all the examination passes and skills you need to do a particular job: Academic qualifications (NOT qualification) are not necessary to do this job.
When qualification is used in the singular form in British English, it means 'a degree, a certificate, a diploma etc': a qualification in business studies. Speakers of American English usually mention the specific name of the degree, diploma etc they are talking about, e.g.high school diploma, college degree, teaching certificate etc.

!! Do not say 'study a qualification'. Say study for a qualification.

$
1 having suitable knowledge, experience, or skills, especially for a particular job
well/suitably/highly qualified
•Dawn is well qualified for her new role.
qualified to do sth
•The guides are qualified to lead groups into the mountains.
•If you don't speak German, you're not qualified to comment.
2 having passed a professional examination
qualified doctor/teacher/accountant etc
•There are qualified instructors on hand to advise you.
highly/fully qualified
•a fully qualified nurse
•a professionally qualified social worker
•Are you medically qualified?
qualified to do sth
•He's qualified to teach biology at high school level.
3 [usually before noun] limited in some way; partial
qualified approval/support
•The proposal received qualified approval.
•The program was considered a qualified success.
•Is it worth the money? The answer is a qualified yes. $ [C]
1 someone who has reached the necessary standard for entering a competition, especially by defeating other competitors:
•He's among the qualifiers for the Lancome Trophy at Paris.
2 a game that you have to win in order to be able to take part in a competition:
•the World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands
3 technical a word or phrase that limits or adds to the meaning of another word or phrase $ past tense and past participle qualified, present participle qualifying, third person singular qualifies
1 HAVE A RIGHT [I,T] to have the right to have or do something, or to give someone this right:
•Free school lunches are given to children who qualify.
[+for]
•You may qualify for unemployment benefit.
qualify sb/sth for sth
•Membership qualifies you for a discount on purchases.
2 PASS EXAM [I] to pass an examination or finish a course of study that you need in order to do something
[+as]
•I finally qualified as a pilot.
•After qualifying, doctors spend at least two years working in hospitals.
3 BE CONSIDERED STH [I] to have all the necessary qualities to be considered to be a particular thing
[+as]
•It doesn't qualify as a date if you bring your children with you.
4 GIVE SB SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE [T] if something qualifies you to do something, you have the necessary skills, knowledge, ability etc to do it
qualify sb for sth
•Fluency in three languages qualifies her for work in the European Parliament.
qualify sb to do sth
•The certificate qualifies you to work as a dental assistant.
5 SPORT [I] to reach the necessary standard to enter or continue in a competition or sports event
[+for]
•She qualified for a spot on the U.S. Olympic speed skating team.
6 ADD SOMETHING [T] to add to something that has already been said, in order to limit its effect or meaning:
•Could I just qualify that last statement?
7 GRAMMAR [T] if a word or phrase qualifies another word or phrase, it limits or adds to the meaning of it $ formal
relating to the quality or standard of something rather than the quantity
a qualitative analysis/study/research
•a qualitative study of educational services
- qualitatively adverb
•Women's experiences are qualitatively different from men's.; quantitative $ plural qualities
1 [C,U] how good or bad something is
air/water etc quality
•The recent hot, humid weather is affecting air quality.
[+of]
•the quality of research into the disease
be of poor/good/high etc quality
•Much of the land was of poor quality.
•Use only high quality ingredients.
2 [C usually plural] something that people may have as part of their character, for example courage or intelligence; characteristic
•He shows strong leadership qualities.
•the personal qualities necessary to be a successful salesman
[+of]
•the qualities of honesty and independence
3 [C] something that is typical of one thing and makes it different from other things, for example size, colour etc:
•the drug's addictive quality
[+of]
•the physical and chemical qualities of the rock
4 [U] a high standard:
•his pride in the quality of his craftsmanship
•wines of quality
5 quality of life how good or bad your life is, shown for example by whether or not you are happy, healthy, able to do what you want etc:
•drugs that improve the quality of life for very ill patients[only before noun]
1 [no comparative] very good - used especially by people who are trying to sell something:
•quality child-care at prices people can afford
•quality double glazing
2 quality newspapers/press etc BrE newspapers etc intended for educated readers[U]
the practice of checking the quality of goods or services that a company sells, so that the standard continues to be good[U]
the practice of checking goods as they are produced to be sure that their quality is good enough
- quality controller noun [C][U]
the time that you spend giving someone your full attention, especially time that you spend with your children when you are not busy:
•Do you spend enough quality time with your children? $ [C usually plural]
a feeling of slight worry or doubt because you are not sure that what you are doing is right:
•Despite my qualms, I took the job.
•The manager has no qualms about dropping players who do not perform well. $ plural quandaries [C]
a difficult situation or problem, especially one in which you cannot decide what to do
in a quandary
•Kate was in a quandary over whether to go or not. $ plural quangos [C]
an independent organization in Britain, started by the government but with its own legal powers $
the plural of QUANTUM $ [C]
technical a word or phrase such as 'much', 'few', or 'a lot of' that is used with a noun to show quantity $ past tense and past participle quantified, present participle quantifying, third person singular quantifies [T]
to calculate the value of something and express it as a number or an amount:
•an attempt to quantify the region's social and economic decline
difficult/impossible to quantify
•The damage caused to the tourist industry is difficult to quantify.
- quantifiable adjective
•The cost of unemployment to the government is quite easily quantifiable. $ formal
relating to amounts rather than to the quality or standard of something
quantitative analysis/methods/data etc
•We need to do a proper quantitative analysis of this problem.; qualitative
- quantitatively adverb $ plural quantities
1 [C,U] an amount of something that can be counted or measured
[+of]
•The police also found a quantity of ammunition in the flat.
•Add 50 grams of butter, and the same quantity of sugar.
a large/small/vast etc quantity of sth
•He had consumed a large quantity of alcohol.
•Huge quantities of oil were spilling into the sea.
in large/small/sufficient etc quantities
•Buy vegetables in small quantities, for your immediate use.
•Your work has improved in quantity and quality this term.
!! Do not say 'a big quantity'. Say a large quantity.
2 [U] the large amount of something:
•The sheer quantity of text meant that people did not read the whole of their newspaper.
3 in quantity in large amounts:
•It's a lot cheaper if you buy it in quantity.
be an unknown quantity at UNKNOWN^1 (4)[C]
BrE someone whose job is to calculate the amount of materials needed to build something, how long it will take to build, and how much it will cost $ plural quanta [C] technical
a unit of energy in NUCLEAR PHYSICSalso quantum jump [C]
a very large and important development or improvement
[+in]
•There has been a quantum leap in the range of the wines sold in the UK.
•The treatment of breast cancer has taken a quantum leap forward.[U]
the scientific study of the way that atoms and smaller parts of things behave[U]
the idea that energy, especially light, travels in separate pieces and not in a continuous form $ [U]
a period of time when a person or animal is kept apart from others in case they are carrying a disease
in quarantine
•The monkeys were kept in quarantine for 31 days.[T]
to keep a person or animal apart from others for a period of time in case they are carrying a disease $ [C]
technical a very small part of something, which is smaller than an atom $ [C] especially BrE
1 an angry argument or disagreement:
•I think they've had a quarrel.
[+with]
•Jacob left after a quarrel with his wife.
[+about/over]
•They had a quarrel about some girl.
[+between]
•Had there been any quarrel between you?
•Are you trying to pick a quarrel (=deliberately start one)?
2 a reason to disagree with something or argue with someone
[+with]
•My only quarrel with this plan is that it's going to take far too long.
•I have no quarrel with the court's verdict.past tense and past participle quarrelled, present participle quarrelling BrE past tense and past participle quarreled, present participle quarreling AmE [I]
to have an argument:
•I wish you two would stop quarreling.
[+with]
•I always seem to be quarrelling with my parents.
[+about]
•We're not going to quarrel about a few dollars.

PHRASAL VERBS
quarrel with sth phr v
to disagree with something or complain about something:
•Nobody could quarrel with the report's conclusions. $ especially BrE
someone who is quarrelsome quarrels a lot with people; = argumentative
•He became quarrelsome after drinking too much. $ plural quarries
1 [C] a place where large amounts of stone or sand are dug out of the ground:
•a slate quarry
2 [singular] the person or animal that you are hunting or chasing:
•Briefly, the hunter and his quarry glared at each other.past tense and past participle quarried, present participle quarrying, third person singular quarries [T]
to dig stone or sand from a quarry
quarry sth for sth
•The rock here is quarried for building stones.
quarry sth from sth
•Chalk is quarried from the surrounding area.
- quarrying noun [U][C usually plural]
a clay TILE that has not been GLAZEd . Quarry tiles are used to cover floors.written abbreviation qt $ [C]
a unit for measuring liquid, equal to two PINTs . In Britain this is 1.14 litres, and in the US it is 0.95 litres. $ [C]
1 AMOUNT one of four equal parts into which something can be divided; half, third
a/one quarter (of sth)
•a quarter of a mile
•roughly one quarter of the city's population
•It's about a page and a quarter.
three quarters (of sth) (=75%)
•three quarters of a million pounds
the first/second etc quarter
•in the last quarter of the 19th century
• Cut the cake into quarters.
!! Say a quarter of something, not 'quarter of' something.
2 PART OF AN HOUR a period of 15 minutes:
•I'll meet you in a quarter of an hour.
•She arrived three quarters of an hour (=45 minutes) late.
(a) quarter to (sth) also
(a) quarter of (sth) AmE (=15 minutes before the hour)
•It's a quarter of two.
(a) quarter past (sth) BrE also
(a) quarter after (sth) AmE (=15 minutes after the hour)
•I'll meet you at a quarter past ten.
3 MONEY a coin used in the US and Canada worth 25 cents
4 THREE MONTHS a period of three months, used especially when discussing business and financial matters
the first/second/third/fourth quarter
•The company's profits rose by 11% in the first quarter of the year.
•Our database is updated every quarter.
QUARTERLY (1)
5 SPORT one of the four equal periods of time into which games of some sports are divided
the first/second/third/fourth quarter
•The home side took the lead in the second quarter.
6 PART OF A CITY [usually singular] an area of a town:
•I found a small flat in the student quarter.
•Granada's ancient Arab quarter
•a historic quarter of the city
7 HOME quarters [plural] the rooms that are given to someone to live in as part of their job, especially servants or soldiers:
•The top floor provided living quarters for the kitchen staff.
•Most of the officers live in married quarters (=houses where soldiers live with their wives).
8 COLLEGE AmE one of the four periods into which a year at school or college is divided, continuing for 10 to 12 weeks; semester
•What classes are you taking this quarter?
9 MOON the period of time twice a month when you can see a quarter of the moon's surface
10 in/from ... quarters among or from different groups of people:
•Offers of financial help came from several quarters.
•Doubts were expressed in many quarters.
11 all quarters of the Earth/globe literary everywhere in the world
12 give/receive no quarter literary if someone gives no quarter, they do not show any pity or gentleness when dealing with someone, especially an enemy:
•It was a fight to the death, with no quarter given.
at close quarters at CLOSE^2 (20)[T]
1 to cut or divide something into four parts; halve
•Quarter the tomatoes and place them round the dish.
2 [usually passive] formal to provide someone with a place to sleep and eat, especially soldiers:
•Our troops were quartered in Boston until June. $ [C]
1 the player in American football who directs the team's attacking play and passes the ball to the other players at the start of each attack
2 Monday morning quarterback AmE informal someone who gives advice about something only after it has happenedAmE
1 [I] to play in the position of quarterback in American football
2 [T] informal to organize or direct an activity, event etc:
•She quarterbacked the new sales campaign.[C] technical
BrE a day which officially begins a three-month period of the year, and on which payments are made, for example at the STOCK EXCHANGE $ [C]
the back part of the upper level of a ship, which is used mainly by officersquarterÊŒfiÊŒnal AmE $ [C] BrE
one of the four games near the end of a competition, whose winners play in the two SEMI-FINALs $
produced or happening four times a year; monthly, annually
•We publish a quarterly journal.
•The rent is payable quarterly.plural quarterlies [C]
a magazine that is produced four times a year $ [C]
1 a military officer in charge of providing food, uniforms etc
2 a ship's officer in charge of signals and guiding the ship on the right course[C]
AmE a musical note which continues for a quarter of the length of a WHOLE NOTE; = crotchet BrE[plural]
an English law court that was held in the past once every three months $ [C]
a long wooden pole that was used as a weapon in the past $ [C]
1 four singers or musicians who sing or play together:
•a string quartet (=four people playing musical instruments with strings, such as violins)
2 a piece of music written for four performers
3 four people or things of the same type
[+of]
•a quartet of short films set in the 1920s; quintet, trio $ plural quartos [C] technical
the size of paper made by folding a normal large sheet of paper twice to produce four sheets $ [U]
a hard mineral substance that is used in making electronic watches and clocks:
•quartz crystals
•a quartz watch $ [C]
technical an object in space that is similar to a star and that shines very brightly $ [T] formal
1 to officially say that a legal judgment or decision is no longer acceptable or correct; = overturn
•The High Court later quashed his conviction for murder.
•The decision was quashed by the House of Lords.
2 to say or do something to stop something from continuing:
•A hospital chief executive has quashed rumours that people will lose their jobs.
•The government immediately moved to quash the revolt.
like something else or trying to be something else:
•a quasi-scientific approach
•a quasi-governmental organization $ plural quatercentenaries [C]
the day or year exactly 400 years after a particular event
[+of]
•the quatercentenary of Shakespeare's birth $ [C] technical
a group of four lines in a poem $ [I,T]
if your voice quavers, it shakes as you speak, especially because you are nervous or upset:
•'It's not true,' she said, in a quavering voice.
•'No,' he quavered.
- quavery adjective[C]
1 BrE a musical note which continues for an eighth of the length of a SEMIBREVE; = eighth note AmE
2 a shaking sound in your voice $ [C]
a place in a town or village where boats can be tied up or can stop to load and unload goods [C]
the area next to a quay:
•people strolling along the quayside
•a quayside restaurant
1 feeling that you are going to VOMIT:
•The sea got rougher, and I began to feel queasy.
2 AmE feeling uncomfortable because an action seems morally wrong
[+about]
•Many Democrats felt queasy about the issue. [C]
1 RULER also Queen
a) the female ruler of a country; king
[+of]
•Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt
•Queen Elizabeth
•At eighteen, Victoria was crowned queen (=officially became ruler).
b) the wife of a king:
•the future queen
2 CARD a playing card with a picture of a queen on it:
•the queen of diamonds
3 the queen of sth the woman or place that is considered the best in a particular area or activity:
•With 42 albums, she was the queen of pop.
•Paris, the queen of fashion
4 COMPETITION AmE the woman who wins a beauty competition, or who is chosen to represent a school, area etc:
•the carnival queen
5 INSECT a large female BEE, ANT etc, which lays the eggs for a whole group
6 queen bee a woman who behaves as if she is the most important person in a place
7 HOMOSEXUAL taboo informal an offensive word for a male HOMOSEXUAL who behaves very like a woman. Do not use this word.
8 CHESS the most powerful piece in the game of CHESS
BEAUTY QUEEN, DRAG QUEEN[T]
1 technical to change a PAWN into a queen in the game of CHESS
2 queen it over sb BrE informal if a woman queens it over other people, she behaves as if she is more important than them, in an annoying way
like a queen or suitable for a queen:
•She gave a queenly wave as she rode past.[singular]
the mother of the ruling king or queen
a QCBrE
speak the Queen's English to speak very correctly and in a way that is typical of people who belong to the highest social class
KING'S ENGLISHBrE
turn Queen's evidence if a criminal turns Queen's evidence, they agree to help the police and law courts to catch other criminals by giving them information
KING'S EVIDENCE, STATE'S EVIDENCE
a queen-size bed, sheet etc is a bed for two people that is larger than the standard size
DOUBLE BED, KING-SIZE (1), SINGLE^1 (6) $
1 taboo an offensive word used to describe someone who is HOMOSEXUAL, especially a man. Do not use this word.
2 old-fashioned strange or difficult to explain:
•She gave a queer laugh.
•Hank was beginning to feel a little queer.
3 queer in the head old-fashioned slightly crazy
- queerly adverb
•Sue looked at him queerly.[C]
taboo an offensive word for a HOMOSEXUAL person, especially a man. Do not use this word.
queer sb's pitch/queer the pitch for sb BrE informal to make it difficult for someone to do something that they had planned to do[U] informal
physical violence against people because they are HOMOSEXUAL [T] formal
1 to end a situation in which people are behaving violently or protesting, especially by using force; = put down
quell the violence/disturbance/riot etc
•Police used live ammunition to quell the disturbances.
2 literary to reduce or stop unpleasant feelings such as fear, doubt, or worry:
•'Jerry?' she called, trying to quell the panic inside her. [T] formal
1 quench your thirst to stop yourself feeling thirsty, by drinking something:
•We stopped at a small bar to quench our thirst.
2 quench a fire/flames to stop a fire from burning:
•a desperate bid to quench the raging flames formal
someone who is querulous complains about things in an annoying way:
•'But why can't I go?' he said in a querulous voice.
- querulously adverb $ plural queries [C]
a question that you ask to get information, or to check that something is true or correct
[+about]
•Give us a ring if you have any queries about the contract.
•Staff are always available to answer your queries.past tense and past participle queried, present participle querying, third person singular queries [T]
1 to express doubt about whether something is true or correct:
•Both players queried the umpire's decision.
query whether
•Many people are querying whether the tests are accurate.
2 to ask a question:
•'What time are we leaving?' Maggie queried. [C] literary
1 a long search for something that is difficult to find
[+for]
•his long quest for truth
•the quest for human happiness
•World leaders are now united in their quest for peace.
2 in quest of sth trying to find or get something:
•They journeyed to the distant Molucca islands in quest of spices.
1 ASKING FOR INFORMATION [C] a sentence or phrase that is used to ask for information or to test someone's knowledge; answer

ask (sb) a question
answer a question
have a question (=want to ask a question)
put a question to sb (=ask someone a question in a formal situation)
difficult/awkward/tricky question
avoid/evade/sidestep a question (=avoid giving a clear direct answer)
set a question (=invent a question for a test)
exam/test question
pose a question formal (=ask a question)
searching/probing question (=one that tries to get a full and thoughtful answer from someone)
bombard sb with questions (=ask someone a lot of questions)
rephrase a question (=ask it in a different way)
rhetorical question (=one you ask without expecting an answer, as a way of making a point in a discussion)
in answer to your question (=used for referring back to a question you are going to answer)

•Can I ask you a question?
•I'm afraid I can't answer that question.
•Did you answer all the questions in the test?
[+about/on]
•They asked me quite a lot of difficult questions about my job.
•The survey included questions on age and smoking habits.
•Does anyone have any questions?
•The audience was invited to put questions to both the speakers.
•Stop trying to avoid the question!
•The exam questions are set by a team of experts.
•the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this chapter
•Journalists bombarded the couple with questions.
• Perhaps I should rephrase the question.
• In answer to your last question, 'Yes'.

2 SUBJECT/PROBLEM [C] a subject or problem that needs to be discussed or dealt with; = issue
[+of]
•We discussed the question of confidentiality.
•This raises the question of government funding.
•an urgent need to address the question of crime
•Several questions have still not been resolved.
• The question is should I take the job in Japan, or should I stay here?
•Some important questions remain unanswered (=still have not been dealt with or explained).
3 DOUBT [U] if there is some question about something, there is doubt about it, or people feel uncertain about it:
•The exact cause of death is still open to question (=not certain).
call/bring/throw sth into question (=make people doubt something)
•This has called into question people's right to retire at 60.
•He's by far the best candidate, there's no question about it (=it is completely certain).
• There is no question that (=it is completely certain that) the government knew about the deal.
beyond question (=completely certain or definite)
•Her efficiency and intelligence are beyond question.
4 without question
a) used to emphasize that what you are saying is true or correct:
•Marilyn was, without question, a very beautiful woman.
b) if you accept or obey something without question, you do it without expressing any doubt about whether it is correct or necessary:
•Clara accepted his decision without question.
5 there is no question of sth happening/sb doing sth used to say that there is no possibility of something happening:
•There is no question of the project being postponed.
6 in question
a) the things, people etc in question are the ones that are being discussed:
•Where were you during the evening in question?
b) if something is in question, there is doubt about it:
•I'm afraid his honesty is now in question.
7 be a question of sth used to say what the most important fact, part, or feature of something is:
•Dance is a question of control and creative expression.
•I would love to come, but it's a question of time.
8 it's just/only/simply a question of doing sth spoken used to say that what needs doing is easy or not complicated:
•It's just a question of putting in a couple of screws.
9 be out of the question if something is out of the question, it is definitely not possible or not allowed:
•You can't go in that old shirt - it's out of the question.
10 (that's a) good question! spoken used to admit that you do not know the answer to a question:
•'How can we afford this?' 'Good question!'
11 pop the question informal to ask someone to marry you - used humorously
leading question at LEADING^1 (4); rhetorical question at RHETORICAL (1); beg the question at BEG (6)[T]
1 to ask someone questions in order to get information about something, especially about a crime; interrogate
•Two men have been arrested and questioned.
question sb about sth
•She hates being questioned about her past.
•Joseph questioned the doctors closely (=asked them a lot of questions).
2 to have or express doubts about whether something is true, good, necessary etc
question what/how/when etc
•Are you questioning what I'm saying?
•No one dared to question his decisions.
question whether
•One questions whether he's telling the truth.
1 not likely to be true or correct:
•The statistics are highly questionable.
it is questionable whether
•It is questionable whether the taxpayer receives value for money.
2 not likely to be good, honest, or useful:
•I suspected that his motives for helping us were questionable.
•He was a man of questionable character. $ [C]
someone who is asking a question, for example in a public discussion
a questioning look or expression shows that you have doubts about something or need some information:
•Mrs Carson gave Ruth a questioning look.
- questioningly adverb[C]
1 the mark (?) that is used at the end of a question
2 there is a question mark over sth/a question mark hangs over sth used to say that there is a possibility that something will not be successful or will not continue to exist:
•A big question mark hangs over the company's future.[C]
BrE the person who asks the questions in a QUIZ game on television or radio; = quizmaster $ [C]
a written set of questions which you give to a large number of people in order to collect information
fill in/fill out/complete a questionnaire (=answer all the questions in it)
•All staff were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their jobs.
!! Do not use questionnaire to mean 'a study in which many people are asked questions to find out their opinions or behaviour'. Use survey: We conducted a survey (NOT a questionnaire) to find out what students think about sport.[C]
technical a phrase such as 'isn't it?', 'won't it?', or 'does she?' that you add to the end of a statement to make it a question or to check that someone agrees with you, as in the sentence: 'You're from Hamburg, aren't you?' [C]
1 BrE a line of people waiting to enter a building, buy something etc, or a line of vehicles waiting to move; = line AmE
be/stand/wait in a queue
•We stood in a queue for half an hour.
•You'll have to join the queue.
[+of]
•a queue of people waiting for the bus
[+for]
•the queue for the toilets
queue to do sth
•There was a long queue to get into the cinema.
the front/head/back/end of a queue
•At last we got to the front of the queue.
2 BrE all the people who are waiting to have or get something:
•You'll have to join the housing queue.
[+for]
•the queue for kidney transplant operations
•It is possible to jump the queue (=get something before people who have been waiting longer) if you are prepared to pay for your treatment.
3 technical a list of jobs that a computer has to do in a particular order:
•the print queue
4 a number of telephone calls to a particular number that are waiting to be answered
the dole queue at DOLE^1 (2)also queue up [I] BrE
1 to form or join a line of people or vehicles waiting to do something or go somewhere; = line up AmE
[+for]
•Some of the people queuing for tickets had been there since dawn.
queue (up) to do sth
•We had to queue up for ages to get served.
2 if people are queueing up to do something, they all want to do it very much
queue up to do sth
•The school is one of the best, and parents are queueing up to send their children there.
queue up for sth
•Actresses are queuing up for the part.[U] BrE
when someone unfairly gets something before other people who have been waiting longer
- queue-jump verb [I] [I]
to argue about small unimportant details
[+about/over]
•Let's not quibble over minor details.[C]
a small complaint or criticism about something unimportant:
•I've just got a few minor quibbles. [C,U]
a PIE without a top, filled with a mixture of eggs, cheese, vegetables etc comparative quicker, superlative quickest
1 SHORT TIME lasting for or taking only a short time:
•That was quick! I thought you'd be another hour.
•It's probably quicker by train.
•Have we got time for a quick drink?
•What's the quickest way to the station?
•We stopped to have a quick look at the church.
•Three bombs went off in quick succession (=quickly, one after the other).
2 FAST moving or doing something fast:
•She walked with short, quick steps.
•They were great people to work with - very quick, very efficient.
3 NO DELAY happening very soon, without any delay; = speedy
•I had to make a quick decision.
•We've put the house on the market and we're hoping for a quick sale.
•We need a quick response from the government.
•Robertson's quick thinking had saved the little girl's life.
4 CLEVER able to learn and understand things fast:
•Jane's very witty and very quick.
•She's a quick learner.
•He's a good interviewer, tough and quick on the uptake (=able to understand quickly what someone is saying).
5 be quick used to tell someone to hurry:
•If you want to come with me you'll have to be quick - I'm leaving in ten minutes.
•'Can I just finish this first?' 'OK, but be quick about it.'
6 be quick to do sth to react quickly to what someone says or does:
•The government was quick to deny any involvement in the attacks.
7 quick fix informal a solution to a problem that can be done quickly, but is not a good or permanent solution:
•There's no quick fix for stopping pollution.
•Congress is trying to avoid quick-fix solutions.
8 have a quick temper to get angry very easily
9 be quick on the draw
a) to be able to pull a gun out quickly in order to shoot
b) AmE informal to be good at reacting quickly and intelligently to difficult questions or in difficult situations
- quickness noun [U]
QUICKLY
used to tell someone to hurry or come quickly:
•Quick! We'll miss the bus!
quickly - many teachers think this is not correct English; = fast
•Come quick! Larry's on TV!
•It all happened pretty quick.
• Quick as a flash (=very quickly) she replied, 'That's not what I've heard!'
1 the quick the sensitive flesh under your fingernails and toenails:
•Her nails were bitten to the quick.
2 cut/sting/pierce sb to the quick if a remark or criticism cuts you to the quick, it makes you feel extremely upset:
•She was cut to the quick by the accusation.
3 the quick and the dead biblical all people, including those who are alive and those who are dead [I,T]
1 written to become quicker or make something quicker:
•Ray glanced at his watch and quickened his pace (=began to walk faster).
•Companies are finding it hard to cope with the quickening pace of technological change.
your heart/pulse/breathing quickens (=your heart beats faster because you are afraid, excited etc)
•She caught sight of Rob and felt her heart quicken.
2 formal if a feeling quickens, or if something quickens it, it becomes stronger or more active; = increase
•This policy served only to quicken anti-government feeling. [U]
the first movements of a baby that has not been born yet $ [only before noun]
done very quickly, one after the other:
•Contestants have to answer a series of quickfire questions. [C] informal
1 something that you can do quickly and easily:
•I've got a question for you - it's just a quickie.
2 a sexual act that you do quickly - used humorously
- quickie adjective [only before noun]
•a quickie divorce [U]
a white powder that is made by heating LIMESTONE
1 fast:
•We need to get this finished as quickly as possible.
•Kids grow up so quickly these days.
2 after only a very short time; = soon
•I realized fairly quickly that this wasn't going to be easy.
3 for a short time:
•I'll just quickly nip into that shop.
•'Have you talked to Vera about it yet?' 'Just quickly.' [C,U]
1 wet sand that is dangerous because you sink down into it if you try to walk on it
2 a bad situation that keeps getting worse, and that you cannot escape from $ [U]
1 old use the metal MERCURY
2 literary something that is like quicksilver changes or moves quickly in a way that you do not expect:
•His mood changed like quicksilver.
- quicksilver adjective
•his quicksilver temperament [C]
a dance with fast movements of the feet, or music for this dance
someone who is quick-tempered becomes angry very easily; = bad-tempered
able to think and understand things quickly; slow-witted
•Toby was quick-witted and entertaining.
•a quick-witted reply plural quid [C] BrE informal
1 one pound in money:
•She earns at least 600 quid a week.
2 be quids in to make a good profit:
•If this deal comes off, we'll be quids in. $ plural quid pro quos [C]
something that you give or do in exchange for something else, especially when this arrangement is not official
[+for]
•There's a quid pro quo for everything in politics - you'll soon learn that. formal
not developing or doing anything, especially when this is only a temporary state comparative quieter, superlative quietest
1 NO NOISE not making much noise, or making no noise at all:
•We'll have to be quiet so as not to wake the baby.
•It's a nice car. The engine's really quiet.
•I'll be as quiet as a mouse (=very quiet).
2 NOT SPEAKING
a) not saying much or not saying anything:
•You're very quiet, Mom - is anything the matter?
•I didn't know anything about it so I just kept quiet.
quiet confidence/satisfaction/desperation (=having a particular feeling but not talking about it)
•a woman whose life of quiet desperation threatens to overwhelm her
quiet authority/dignity (=not saying much but making other people have a particular feeling about you)
•Jack's air of quiet authority
b) someone who is quiet does not usually talk very much:
•a strange, quiet girl
3 (be) quiet! spoken used to tell someone to stop talking or making a noise:
•Tanya, be quiet! I'm on the phone.
•Quiet, you lot!
4 keep sth quiet/keep quiet about sth to keep information secret:
•You're getting married? You kept that quiet!
5 NO ACTIVITY/PEOPLE without much activity or without many people:
•It was a Sunday, about three o'clock, and the streets were quiet.
•I'd love to go on holiday somewhere where it's nice and quiet.
•I'm going to have a quiet night in (=an evening when you stay at home and relax).
•Anthony met her in the bar, and they found a quiet corner where they could talk.
6 BUSINESS if business is quiet, there are not many customers; = slack
•August is a quiet time of year for the retail trade.
7 keep sb quiet to stop someone from talking, complaining, or causing trouble:
•Give the kids some crayons - that will keep them quiet for a while.
8 have a quiet word (with sb) especially BrE to talk to someone privately when you want to criticize them or tell them about something serious:
•Brian's just not keeping up with the workload. Can you have a quiet word?
!! Do not confuse quiet (=with little noise) and quite (=fairly) even though they have similar spellings.
- quietness noun [U]
QUIETLY

WORD FOCUS: quiet
voice, sound:
low
soft
muffled
hushed
subdued
place:
peaceful
calm
sleepy
tranquil
completely quiet:
silent
you could hear a pin drop
what you say when you want someone to be quiet:
sh
shut up not polite
be quiet
keep it down BrE informal
[U]
1 the state of being quiet, calm, and peaceful:
•We were enjoying the quiet of the forest.
•I've had an awful day - now I just want some peace and quiet.
2 silence:
•Can I have some quiet, please?
3 on the quiet BrE informal secretly:
•We found out he'd been doing some freelance work on the quiet.quiet AmE BrE
1 [I,T] also quieten down BrE to become calmer and less noisy or active, or to make someone or something do this:
•Javed Miandad appealed for calm, but he failed to quieten the protesters.
•Quiet down and get ready for bed!
•Things tend to quieten down after Christmas.
2 [T] to reduce a feeling such as fear or worry:
•I managed to quieten her fears. [U]
formal when you accept situations and do not try to change them
1 without making much noise:
•Rosa shut the door quietly.
•'I'm sorry,' she said quietly.
•a quietly-spoken man (=one who always speaks quietly)
2 in a way that does not attract attention:
•The mayor had been aiming to quietly turn over control of the city's water to private business interests.
•The government hoped that their early mishandling of the crisis could be quietly forgotten.
3 without protesting, complaining, or fighting:
•Now are you gonna come quietly, or do I have to use force?
•Speculation is growing that Grogan will be replaced at the end of the season, and he is unlikely to go quietly.
4 quietly confident especially BrE fairly confident of success, but without talking proudly about it:
•Adam came out of the interview feeling quietly confident. $ [U]
formal calmness, peace, and quiet; = calm $ [singular] formal
1 the death of a person
2 the end of something [C]
BrE a part of a man's hair style where the hair stands up at the front above his forehead [C]
1 also quill pen a pen made from a large bird's feather, used in the past
2 a stiff bird's feather
3 one of the long pointed things that grow on the back of a PORCUPINE [C]
a warm thick cover for a bed, made by sewing two layers of cloth together, with feathers or a thick material in between them; duvet
quilted cloth consists of layers held together by lines of stitches that cross each other:
•a quilted bath robe [U]
the work of making a quilt, or the material and stitches that you use [C]
BrE informal a QUINTUPLET [C,U]
a hard yellow fruit like a large apple, used in cooking $ [U]
a drug used for treating fevers, especially MALARIA [C]
AmE informal a QUINTUPLET
the quintessence of sth formal a perfect example of something:
•John is the quintessence of good manners.
being a perfect example of a particular type of person or thing; = typical
•'Guys and Dolls' is the quintessential American musical.
- quintessentially adverb
•a place that is quintessentially English [C]
1 five singers or musicians who perform together
2 a piece of music written for five performers; quartet, sextet, trio $ [C]
one of five babies born to the same mother at the same time; quadruplet, sextuplet past tense and past participle quipped, present participle quipping [T]
to say something clever and amusing:
•'Giving up smoking is easy,' he quipped. 'I've done it hundreds of times.'
- quip noun [C]
•an amusing quip $ [C]
technical 24 sheets of paper $ [C]
1 something strange that happens by chance
[+of]
•Years later, by a strange quirk of fate, she found herself sitting next to him on a plane.
2 a strange habit or feature of someone's character, or a strange feature of something:
•Like every computer, this one has its little quirks. $
unusual, especially in an interesting way:
•I like his quirky sense of humour.
- quirkily adverb
- quirkiness noun [U] [C] old-fashioned
someone who helps an enemy country that has taken control of their own countryalso quitted BrE past tense and past participle quit present participle quitting
1 [I,T] informal to leave a job, school etc, especially without finishing it completely:
•He quit his job after an argument with a colleague.
•I quit school at 16.
•She has decided to quit show business.
•People are now calling on the chairman to quit.
2 [I,T] especially AmE to stop doing something, especially something that is bad or annoying; give up
•The majority of smokers say that they would like to quit the habit.
•Quit it, Robby, or I'll tell mom!
•We've done what we can. Let's quit.
quit doing sth
•Doctors have given him six months to live if he doesn't quit drinking.
•I wish you'd all quit complaining.
3 [I,T] BrE law to leave a house or apartment that you have been renting:
•The landlord gave them notice to quit the premises within seven days.
4 be quit of sth BrE formal to no longer have to suffer or be involved with something bad:
•The people now long to be quit of war.
5 [T] formal to leave a place:
•It was fourteen years since he had quit Russia.
1 fairly or very, but not extremely; pretty
•The food in the canteen is usually quite good.
•He seems quite upset about it all.
•I'm quite willing to help.
•Amy's at university now and doing quite well.
•I got a letter from Sylvia quite recently.
quite a sth
•He's quite a good soccer player.
quite like/enjoy BrE
•I quite like Chinese food.
!! Quite goes before, not after, a or an: quite a short time (NOT a quite short time)
see box at RATHER
2 quite a lot/bit/few a fairly large number or amount:
•He's got quite a lot of friends.
•Quite a few towns are now banning cars from their shopping centres.
3 [+ adj/adv] BrE completely:
•I'm sorry. That's quite impossible.
•What she's suggesting is quite ridiculous!
•I think you've had quite enough to drink already!
•That's quite a different matter.
4 not quite not completely:
•They weren't quite ready so we waited in the car.
•I'm not quite sure where she lives.
•Dinner's almost ready, but not quite.
5 not quite why/what/where etc not exactly why, what, where etc:
•I must admit, the play wasn't quite what we expected.
6 quite a sth/quite some sth BrE used before a noun to emphasize that something is very good, large, interesting etc:
•That was quite a party you had last night.
•The engines make quite a noise.
•It's quite some distance away.
7 quite a/some time especially BrE a fairly long time:
•We've been waiting for quite some time now.
8 quite right BrE used to show that you agree strongly with someone:
•'I refused to do any more work until I'd been paid.' 'Quite right. They can't expect you to work for nothing.'
9 that's quite all right BrE used to reply to someone that you are not angry about something they have done:
•'I'm sorry we're so late.' 'That's quite all right.'
10 quite/quite so BrE formal used to show that you agree with what someone is saying; = exactly
•'They really should have thought of this before.' 'Yes, quite.'
11 quite something especially BrE used to say that someone or something is very impressive:
• It's quite something to walk out on stage in front of 20,000 people. informal
1 be quits BrE if two people are quits, neither one owes anything to the other; = straight
•I'll give you £10, and then we're quits.
2 call it quits
a) to agree that a debt or argument is settled:
•Just give me $20 and we'll call it quits.
b) to stop doing something:
•After twenty-five years as a teacher, he's decided to call it quits. $ [C]
informal someone who does not have the determination or courage to finish something that is difficult $ [I]
to shake slightly because you are cold, or because you feel very afraid, angry, excited etc; = tremble
•The child was quivering in her arms.
•Her mouth quivered slightly as she turned away.
quiver with indignation/anger etc
•I lay there quivering with fear.
•His voice was quivering with rage.[C]
1 a slight trembling
quiver of fear/anxiety/anticipation etc
•I felt a quiver of excitement run through me.
2 a long case for carrying ARROWs $
quixotic ideas or plans are not practical and are based on unreasonable hopes of improving the world:
•This is a vast, exciting, and perhaps quixotic project. plural quizzes [C]
1 a competition or game in which people have to answer questions:
•a love quiz in a magazine
•a general knowledge quiz
quiz show especially BrE
•I get fed up with television quiz shows.
quiz night BrE
•a quiz night held in the local pub
2 AmE a short test that a teacher gives to a class:
•a biology quiz
POP QUIZpast tense and past participle quizzed, present participle quizzing [T]
to ask someone a lot of questions; = question
quiz sb about sth
•Four men have been quizzed about the murder, but no one has yet been charged.
quiz sb on/over sth
•They quizzed me on my involvement in the scheme. $ [C] BrE
someone who asks people questions during a quiz; = question master
a quizzical expression is one that shows that you do not understand something and perhaps think it is slightly amusing
a quizzical look/expression/smile
•He sat and watched her, a quizzical look on his face.
- quizzically adverb $

QUID PRO QUO, STATUS QUO
1 quoits [U] a game in which you throw rings over a small upright post
2 [C] the ring that you throw in this game
3 [C] a small circle made of large vertical stones in ancient times $ [C]
AmE trademark a long metal building with a curved roof where soldiers live or things are stored $ [U]
BrE trademark a vegetable substance that you can use in cooking instead of meat [singular]
the smallest number of people who must be present at a meeting so that official decisions can be made:
•We need a quorum of seven. $ [C]
1 an official limit on the number or amount of something that is allowed in a particular period

impose/introduce a quota (=officially start a quota)
set a quota (=say what the quota for something will be)
lift/end/scrap a quota
import/export quota
strict quota

[+on]
•The government has imposed quotas on the export of timber.
•The government has decided to scrap quotas on car imports.
[+for]
•Several countries have now set quotas for cod fishing.
•There are plans to introduce strict immigration quotas.

2 an amount of something that someone is expected to do or achieve
[+of]
•Each person was given a quota of tickets to sell.
[+for]
•In the 1990s the Navy couldn't fill its quota for new recruits.
meet/make/achieve a quota
•Workers only get paid if they make their quota.
sales/production quota
•They're worried that they won't achieve this year's sales quota.
3 an amount of something that you think is fair, right, or normal; = fair share
[+of]
•The committee has had more than its quota of problems.
•I think I've had my quota of coffee for the day.
4 BrE a particular number of votes that someone needs to get to be elected in an election $
a quotable remark or statement is interesting, clever, or amusing:
•a speech full of witty, quotable phrases $
1 [C] a sentence or phrase from a book, speech etc which you repeat in a speech or piece of writing because it is interesting or amusing; = quote
[+from]
•a quotation from the Bible
•The following quotation is taken from a nineteenth century travel diary.
•a dictionary of quotations
2 [C] a written statement of exactly how much money something will cost; estimate
[+for]
•Ask the builder to give you a written quotation for the job.
•a quotation for car insurance
• Get a couple of quotations from different companies before you decide which one to use.
3 [U] the act of quoting something that someone else has written or said[C usually plural]
one of a pair of marks (' ') or (" ") that are used in writing to show that you are recording what someone has said; = inverted comma BrE $
1 [I,T] to repeat exactly what someone else has said or written
[+from]
•She quoted from a newspaper article.
•He quoted a short passage from the Bible.
•A military spokesman was quoted as saying that the border area is now safe.
quote sb on sth
•Can I quote you on that?
2 [T] to give a piece of information that is written down somewhere:
•You can order by phoning our hotline and quoting your credit card number.
•He quoted a figure of 220 deaths each year from accidents in the home.
3 [T] to give something as an example to support what you are saying; = cite
•Mr Jackson quoted the case of an elderly man who had been evicted from his home.
quote sth as sth
•He quoted the example of France as a country with an excellent rail service.
•The nurses' union was quoted as an example of a responsible trade union.
4 [T] to tell a customer the price you will charge them for a service or product:
•They quoted a price of £15,000.
quote sth for sth
•The firm originally quoted £6,000 for the whole job.
5 [T] to give the price of a share or CURRENCY:
•The pound was quoted this morning at just under $1.46.
•The company is now quoted on the stock exchange (=people can buy and sell shares in it).
6 (I) quote spoken used when you are going to repeat what someone else has said, to emphasize that it is exactly the way they said it:
•The minister said, quote: 'There will be no more tax increases this year.'
7 Quote ... unquote spoken used at the beginning and end of a word or phrase that someone else has said or written, to emphasize that you are repeating it exactly[C]
1 a sentence or phrase from a book, speech etc which you repeat in a speech or piece of writing because it is interesting or amusing; = quotation
[+from]
•a quote from the minister's speech
2 in quotes words that are in quotes are written with QUOTATION MARKs around them to show that someone said those words
3 a statement of how much it will probably cost to build or repair something; = estimate
•Always get a quote before proceeding with repair work. $ [T] old use
quoth I/he/she etc a way of saying 'I said', 'he said' etc $ literary
ordinary, and happening every day $ [C]
1 the amount or degree of a quality, feeling etc in a person, thing, or situation:
•Is all this healthy food supposed to increase my happiness quotient?
2 technical the number which is obtained when one number is divided by another $
the Qur'an another spelling of KORAN (=the holy book of Islam)
quod vide used to tell readers to look in another place in the same book for a piece of information $ especially BrE
a qwerty KEYBOARD on a computer or TYPEWRITER has the keys arranged in the usual way for English-speaking countries, with Q,W,E,R,T, and Y on the top row
1 AmE the written abbreviation of Republican , used after a politician's name to show that he or she belongs to the Republican Party in the US; D
•Steve Gunderson (R)
2 BrE the written abbreviation of regina (=queen), used after the name of the queen of the United Kingdom:
•Elizabeth R
3 also R. the written abbreviation of river, used especially on maps
R & B, R & D, R & Rr $ plural R's, r's
1 [C,U] the 18th letter of the English alphabet
2 [singular, U] AmE used to describe a film that has been officially approved as only suitable for people over 17
THREE R'S [U]
rhythm and blues a style of popular music that is a mixture of BLUES and JAZZ [U]
research and development the part of a business concerned with studying new ideas and planning new products $ [U]
especially AmE rest and relaxation a holiday, especially one given to people in the army, navy etc after a long period of hard work or during a war:
•He was enjoying a few hard-earned days of R and R. [C]
a Jewish priest
the rabbinate rabbis considered together as a group
relating to the writings or teaching of rabbis
1 [C] a small animal with long ears and soft fur, that lives in a hole in the ground
2 [U] the fur or meat of a rabbit

PHRASAL VERBS
rabbit on phr v BrE informal
to talk for a long time in an uninteresting or annoying way; = go on
[+about]
•He kept rabbiting on about the environment.[C] BrE
a quick hit on the back of the neck, done with the side of your hand[C]
1 an area under the ground where a lot of wild rabbits live; = warren; burrow
2 a building with a lot of narrow passages, or a place with a lot of narrow streets, where you can easily get lost; = warren [singular]
a noisy crowd of people
[+of]
•a rabble of angry youths[U]
when someone deliberately makes a crowd of people angry and violent, especially in order to achieve political aims:
•He accused union leaders of rabble-rousing.
- rabble-rousing adjective
•a rabble-rousing speech
- rabble-rouser noun [C]
1 having very extreme and unreasonable opinions:
•a group of rabid right-wing fanatics
2 a rabid animal is suffering from rabies [U]
a very dangerous disease that affects dogs and other animals, and that you can catch if you are bitten by an infected animalracoon $
1 [C] a small North American animal with black fur around its eyes and black and grey rings on its tail
2 [U] the skin and thick fur of a raccoon:
•a raccoon coat
1 SPORT [C] a competition in which people or animals compete to run, drive etc fastest and finish first
in a race
•He will be the youngest runner in the race.
•She finished second in the race.
[+between]
•the annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities
•Over 80 cars will take part in the race.
•She has won her last four races.
•There are only three days to go until the big race (=important race).
2 PEOPLE
a) [C,U] one of the main groups that humans can be divided into according to the colour of their skin and other physical features; ethnic group
•The school welcomes children of all races.
•a person of mixed race
•The law forbids discrimination on the grounds of race or religion.
HUMAN RACE
b) [singular] informal a group of people who are similar in some way
[+of]
•The 1960s produced a new race of young novelists.
•Are schools breeding (=producing) a race of children incapable of making decisions for themselves?
3 GET/DO STH FIRST [singular] a situation in which one group of people tries to obtain or achieve something before another group does
the race to do sth
•More and more drug companies are joining the race to beat cancer.
• The race is on to develop more environmentally friendly forms of energy.
ARMS RACE, RAT RACE
4 DO STH QUICKLY [singular] a situation in which you have to do something very quickly because you have very little time available
a race to do sth
•It is now a race to find the killer.
race against time/against the clock
•The pilot then began a desperate race against time to land the plane before it ran out of fuel.
5 PRIZE/POWER [singular] a situation in which people are competing with each other to win a prize or obtain a position of power
[+for]
•Mr Bird has now officially joined the race for the White House.
•He is no longer in the race for academic awards.
race to do sth
•the race to host the next Olympic Games
6 HORSE RACE the races an occasion when horse races are held
at the races
•We spent a day at the races.
play the race card at PLAY^1 (14)
1 SPORT
a) [I,T] to compete against someone or something in a race
[+against]
•She'll be racing against some of the world's top athletes.
[+in]
•Stevens will not be racing in the final due to a knee injury.
race sb up/down sth etc
•I'll race you to the end of the road.
b) [T] to use an animal or a vehicle to compete in a race:
•He will be racing a Ferrari in this year's Formula One championships.
2 MOVE QUICKLY [I,T always + adv/prep] to move very quickly or take someone or something to a place very quickly:
•He raced into the village on his bike.
•I had to race home for my bag.
race sb to sth etc
•She was raced to hospital.
race to do sth
•He raced to meet her.
3 DO STH QUICKLY [I] to try to do something very quickly because you want to be the first to do it, or because there is very little time available
race to do sth
•Investors are racing to buy shares in the new hi-tech companies.
race against time/the clock
•The astronauts are racing against time to repair the spaceship.
4 HEART/MIND [I] if your heart or mind races, it works harder and faster than usual, for example because you are afraid or excited:
•My heart was racing and my knees shook uncontrollably.
•My mind was racing, trying to think where I had seen him before.
5 ENGINE [I] if an engine races, it runs too fast[C]
AmE a RACING CAR $ [C] BrE
a list of the races that will happen at a horse racing event, and the horses that will take part in each race $ [C]
BrE a grass track on which horses race; = racetrack AmE $ [C] BrE
someone who goes regularly to watch horse races $ [C]
a horse specially bred and trained for racing[C]
BrE an occasion when horse races are held at a particular place $ [C]
someone who competes in a race[plural]
the relationship that exists between people from different countries, religions etc who are now living in the same place:
•We need to do more to promote good race relations.
•Community leaders are working to improve race relations in the city.[C]
violent fighting between people of different countries, religions etc who now live in the same country [C]
1 a track on which runners or cars race
2 AmE a grass track on which horses race; = racecourse BrE
1 [only before noun] relating to the relationships between different races of people who now live in the same country or area

racial discrimination/prejudice/harassment/hatred
racial attack/violence/abuse
racial segregation (=when people of different races are kept apart)
racial equality/harmony
racial tension

•a victim of racial discrimination
•This part of the community needs to be protected from racial prejudice.
•evidence of racial harassment
•the campaign for racial equality
•the need for tolerance and racial harmony

2 relating to the various races that humans can be divided into; ethnic
•a broad range of racial and ethnic groups
•people of different racial origin
- racially adverb
•They live in a racially mixed area.
•Police officers believe the attack was racially motivated. [U] BrE old-fashioned
RACISM
- racialist noun, adjective [U]
1 the sport of racing horses; = horse racing
•watching the racing on television
•today's racing results
FLAT RACING
2 car/bike/greyhound etc racing the sport of racing cars etc[only before noun]
designed or bred to go very fast and be used for racing:
•racing pigeons
•a racing yacht[C]
a very fast car that is specially designed for races [U]
1 unfair treatment of people, or violence against them, because they belong to a different race from your own:
•The government has promised to continue the fight against racism.
•the problem of racism in schools
2 the belief that different races of people have different characters and abilities, and that your own race is the best [C]
someone who believes that people of their own race are better than others, and who treats people from other races unfairly and sometimes violently - used to show disapproval:
•He denied being a racist.
- racist adjective
•the victim of a racist attack
•racist violence
•racist remarks [C]
1 a frame or shelf that has bars or hooks on which you can put things:
•a wine rack
•a magazine rack
LUGGAGE RACK, ROOF-RACK
2 the rack a piece of equipment that was used in the past to make people suffer severe pain by stretching their bodies:
•Thousands of people were tortured on the rack.
3 on the rack BrE informal in a very difficult situation:
•The company is now well and truly on the rack.
4 go to rack and ruin if a building goes to rack and ruin, it gradually gets into a very bad condition because no one has looked after it:
•The house had been left to go to rack and ruin.
5 AmE a three-sided frame used for arranging the balls at the start of a game of SNOOKER or POOL
6 a rack of lamb/pork a fairly large piece of meat from the side of an animal, that contains several RIB bones
7 off the rack AmE if you can buy something off the rack, you can buy it in a shop rather than having it specially made; = off the peg BrE
•A lot of designer clothes are now available off the rack.
1 [T usually passive] to make someone suffer great mental or physical pain:
•Great sobs racked her body.
be racked by/with sth
•Her face was racked with pain.
•Liza was racked by guilt.
2 rack your brains to try very hard to remember or think of something:
•I racked my brains, trying to remember his name.

PHRASAL VERBS
rack sth <=> up phr v informal
to get a number or amount of something, especially a number of points in a competition:
•He racked up 41 points.
1 [singular] informal a loud noise:
•The old machine used to make an awful racket.
2 [C] informal a dishonest way of obtaining money, such as by threatening people or selling them illegal goods
drugs/gambling/smuggling etc racket
•Police believe he is involved in an international smuggling racket.
protection racket at PROTECTION (5)
3 [C] also racquet a specially shaped piece of wood or metal that you use for hitting the ball in games such as tennis, that has a circle filled with tight strings at one end; bat
•a tennis racket $ [C]
someone who earns money through crime and illegal activities $ [U]
when someone earns money through crime and illegal activities:
•people involved in smuggling and racketeering
•He has been arrested on racketeering charges. $ [C] formal
someone who is good at telling stories in an interesting and amusing way $
another spelling of RACCOON [C]
another spelling of RACKET (3) $ [U]
an indoor game in which two or four players hit a small ball against the four walls of the court; squash
racy writing is exciting and entertaining and often about sex:
•a racy novel informal
exciting or interesting:
•Have you guys seen Wendy's new place? It's so rad. $ [C,U]
a piece of equipment that uses radio waves to find the position of things and watch their movement; sonar
•The coastline can now be monitored by radar.
•We could see the plane quite clearly on the radar screen.[C]
a set of equipment that uses radar to catch drivers who are going faster than the legal speed limit; speed trap
BrE someone who looks raddled looks old or tired:
•her raddled face
arranged in a circular shape with bars or lines coming from the centre:
•radial roads leading out of the city centreradial tire AmE [C] BrE
a car tyre with wires inside the rubber that go completely around the wheel to make it stronger and safer [U] literary
1 great happiness that shows in someone's face and makes them look attractive:
•a young face full of radiance
2 a soft gentle light:
•the moon's radiance
1 full of happiness and love, in a way that shows in your face and makes you look attractive:
•She looked radiant in a white silk dress.
•a radiant smile
[+with]
•They were both radiant with happiness.
2 [only before noun] literary very bright:
•a lovely day with clear blue skies and radiant sun
3 [only before noun] technical radiant heat or energy is sent out in the form of waves
- radiantly adverb
•She looked radiantly beautiful.
1 [I,T] if someone radiates a feeling, or if it radiates from them, it is very easy to see that this is how they feel:
•He radiated calm confidence.
[+from]
•Kindness radiated from her.
2 [I always + adv/prep, T] if something radiates light or heat, or if light or heat radiates from something, the light or heat is sent out in all directions:
•The log fire radiated a warm cosy glow.
[+from]
•Heat radiated from the glowing coals.
3 [I always + adv/prep] if things radiate from a central point, they spread out in different directions from that point
[+out/from]
•There were tiny lines radiating from the corners of her eyes. [U]
1 a form of energy that comes especially from NUCLEAR reactions, which in large amounts is very harmful to living things:
•An accident at the power station could result in large amounts of radiation being released.
•a lethal dose of radiation
2 energy in the form of heat or light that is sent out as waves that you cannot see:
•Sun creams work by blocking harmful ultraviolet radiation.[U]
an illness that is caused when your body receives too much radiation $ [C]
1 a thin metal container that is fastened to a wall and through which hot water passes to provide heat for a room
2 the part of a car or aircraft which stops the engine from getting too hot
1 CHANGE/DIFFERENCE a radical change or difference is very big and important:
•They are proposing radical changes to the way the company is run.
•a radical reform of the tax system
•There are radical differences between the two organizations.
2 OPINIONS radical ideas are very new and different, and are against what most people think or believe; conservative
•He has put forward some very radical ideas.
•I was shocked by her radical views.
•a radical approach to education
3 PEOPLE someone who is radical has ideas that are very new and different, and against what most people think or believe:
•a radical left-wing politician
•a radical feminist
4 GOOD AmE informal very good or enjoyable:
•That was one radical party last night!
- radically adverb
•a radically different method of production
•a radically new approach to the problem[C]
someone who has new and different ideas, especially someone who wants complete social and political change; conservative
•radicals on the extreme left wing of the party
- radicalism noun [U]also radicalise BrE [T]
to make people accept new and different ideas, especially ideas about complete social and political change $ [U]
a type of plant used in SALADs that is red and has a bitter taste
the plural of RADIUS $
1
a) [C] a piece of electronic equipment which you use to listen to programmes that are broadcast, such as music and news
turn/switch the radio on/off
•I sat down and turned on the radio.
b) [U] programmes that are broadcast on the radio:
•I don't really listen to the radio very much.
on the radio
•Did you hear the interview with the Prime Minister on the radio this morning?
radio programme/show
•He's got his own radio show now.
local/national radio
•She works for a local radio station.
2
a) [C] a piece of electronic equipment, for example on a plane or ship, which can send and receive spoken messages
over the radio
•We received a call for help over the ship's radio.
b) [U] when messages are sent or received in this way
by radio
•We should be able to reach them by radio.
•We've lost radio contact with the plane.[I,T]
to send a message using a radio
[+for]
•The ship radioed for help.
radio sb for sth
•We radioed London for permission to land. $
technical using radio waves:
•radiopaging (=calling people by radio) $
a radioactive substance is dangerous because it contains RADIATION (=a form of energy that can harm living things):
•the problem of how to dispose of radioactive waste
•a consignment of highly radioactive plutonium[U] AmE
a scientific method of calculating the age of a very old object by measuring the amount of a certain substance in it; = carbon dating BrE[U]
harmful radioactive substances that remain after energy has been produced in a NUCLEAR REACTOR $ [U]
the sending out of RADIATION (=a form of energy) when the NUCLEUS (=central part) of an atom has broken apart:
•the discovery of radioactivity
•high levels of radioactivity[C]
a tower that sends out radio signals to help aircraft stay on the correct course $ [U] formal
CARBON DATING[C]
a piece of equipment that contains both a radio and a CASSETTE PLAYER
controlled from far away using radio signals:
•a radio-controlled toy car $ [C]
BrE a piece of furniture, popular in the 1950s, which contained a radio and a record player $ [C]
someone whose job is to take X-RAY photographs of the inside of people's bodies, or who treats people for illnesses using an X-ray machine $ [U]
the taking of X-RAY photographs of the inside of people's bodies for medical purposes $ [C]
a hospital doctor who is trained in the use of RADIATION to treat people $ [U]
the study and medical use of RADIATION[C]
a telephone that works by sending and receiving radio signals and can be used in a car, boat etc[C]
a piece of equipment that collects RADIO WAVEs from space and is used to find stars and other objects in space $ [U]
the treatment of illnesses using RADIATION; radiation therapy
- radiotherapist noun [C][C usually plural]
a form of electric energy that can move through air or space [C]
a small vegetable whose red or white root is eaten raw and has a strong spicy taste [U]
a white metal that is RADIOACTIVE and is used in the treatment of diseases such as CANCER. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Ra plural radii [C]
1 the distance from the centre to the edge of a circle, or a line drawn from the centre to the edge; diameter
2 an area that covers a particular distance in all directions from a central point:
•The shock of the explosion was felt over a radius of forty miles.
within a 10-mile/200-metre etc radius
•There are more than a dozen golf courses within a 15-mile radius of St Andrews.
3 technical the outer bone of the lower part of your arm $ [U]
a RADIOACTIVE gas that is used in the treatment of diseases such as CANCER. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Rn [U] AmE
RADIOACTIVE WASTE
the RAF the Royal Air Force the British AIR FORCE [U]
a soft substance like string that comes from the leaves of a PALM tree and is used for making baskets, hats, MATs etc literary
behaving or dressing in way which is not respected by many people but which is still confident and attractive:
•an interesting character with a raffish air
- raffishly adverb
- raffishness noun [U] [C]
a competition or game in which people buy numbered tickets and can win prizes:
•a woman selling raffle ticketsalso raffle off [T]
to offer something as a prize in a raffle $ [C]
1 a flat floating structure, usually made of pieces of wood tied together, used as a boat
2 a raft of sth a large number of things:
•The company has launched a whole raft of new software products.
3 a flat floating structure that you can sit on, jump from etc when you are swimming
4 a small flat rubber boat filled with air, used for example if a boat sinks $ [C usually plural]
one of the large sloping pieces of wood that form the structure of a roof:
•The club was packed to the rafters (=very full). $ [U]
the activity of travelling on a raft, especially as a sport:
•white-water rafting
1 CLOTH [C,U] a small piece of old cloth, for example one used for cleaning things:
•He wiped his boots dry with an old rag.
•an oily rag
2 NEWSPAPER [C] informal a newspaper, especially one that you think is not particularly important or of good quality:
•He writes for the local rag.
3 in rags wearing old torn clothes:
•Children in rags begged money from the tourists.
4 from rags to riches becoming very rich after starting your life very poor:
•He likes to tell people of his rise from rags to riches.
RAGS-TO-RICHES
5 MUSIC [C] a piece of RAGTIME music
6 STUDENTS' EVENT [C] BrE an event organized by students every year in order to make money for people who are poor, sick etc:
•rag week
glad rags at GLAD (7)
like a red rag to a bull at RED^1 (5)
lose your rag at LOSE (11)past tense and past participle ragged, present participle ragging [T]
BrE old-fashioned to laugh at someone or play tricks on them; = tease [C]
1 a piece of Indian music based on an ancient pattern of notes
2 one of the ancient patterns of notes that are used in Indian music [C]
literary a dirty young child wearing torn clothesplural rag-and-bone-men [C]
BrE a man who goes around the streets buying and collecting old clothes and other things that people no longer want [singular] BrE
a mixture of very different things that do not seem to fit together well
[+of]
•a ragbag of leftover bits of food $ [C]
a soft DOLL made of cloth [in nouns]
road-rage/air-rage etc when someone becomes extremely angry and violent while they are driving, on a plane etc:
•He was attacked in a road-rage incident. [C,U]
1 a strong feeling of uncontrollable anger:
•Sobbing with rage, Carol was taken to the hospital.
in a rage
•Sam became quite frightening when he was in a rage.
cry/scream/roar etc of rage
•Just then, she heard Mr Evan's bellow of rage.
red/dark/purple with rage
•His face was red with rage.
trembling/shaking with rage
•Forester stared at his car, trembling with rage.
seething/incandescent with rage (=as angry as a person can possibly be)
•Animal rights supporters were incandescent with rage.
•Richens was 17 when he flew into a rage and stabbed another teenager.
2 be all the rage informal to be very popular or fashionable:
•DiCaprio became all the rage after starring in the film 'Titanic'.
3 rage for sth a situation in which something is very popular or fashionable:
•the rage for mobile phones
1 [I,T] written to feel very angry about something and show this in the way you behave or speak
[+at/against]
•He was sorry he had raged at her earlier.
•'How was I to know!' Jenny raged.
2 [I] if something such as a battle, a disagreement, or a storm rages, it continues with great violence or strong emotions:
•Civil war has been raging in the country for years.
•A debate is raging about what form pensions should take.
•Outside, a storm was raging.
[+on]
•The battle raged on (=continued).
3 [I] if a fire or illness rages, it spreads fast and is hard to control:
•The fire raged for twelve hours and fifteen people died.
•A great cholera epidemic raged across Europe in 1831.
4 [I] informal to have fun with a group of people in a wild and uncontrolled way:
•We couldn't wait to go out and rage. [U]
a form of popular music from the West Indies
1 CLOTHES ETC also raggedy especially AmE torn and in bad condition:
•the ragged blankets on the bed
•a raggedy hat
2 PEOPLE wearing clothes that are old and torn:
•Crowds of ragged children played among the rocks.
3 UNEVEN also raggedy having a rough uneven edge or surface:
•The old photograph looked a little ragged at the edges.
•a ragged hole
•raggedy hair
4 NOT REGULAR not regular or together:
•The crowd gave a ragged cheer.
•ragged breathing
5 TIRED informal tired after using a lot of effort:
•He looked ragged, so I told him to go to bed.
•He ran United's defence ragged (=made them do a lot of work).
6 be on the ragged edge AmE informal to be feeling very tired or upset
- raggedly adverb
•raggedly dressed
•She was breathing raggedly.
- raggedness noun [U] [only before noun]
1 very great and hard to control:
•a raging appetite
•I was in a raging temper.
2 continuing strongly and showing no signs of ending:
•a raging debate
•raging inflation
•The show was a raging success.
3 a raging headache etc is very painful:
•Richard developed a raging headache and had to lie down.
•a raging fever (=a very high body temperature)
4 continuing or moving with great natural force:
•a raging storm
•a raging sea
•The fire had become a raging blaze.
if a coat, SWEATER etc has raglan sleeves, the sleeves are joined with a sloping line from the arm to the neck $ [C,U]
a mixture of vegetables and meat boiled together; = stew[only before noun]
a rags-to-riches story is about someone who becomes very rich after starting life very poor [only before noun]
informal a ragtag group is not tidy or properly organized:
•a ragtag fighting force [U]
a type of music and dancing that has a strong beat and was popular in the US in the early part of the 20th century
the rag trade BrE informal the business of making and selling clothes, especially women's clothes; = the fashion industry [U]
a North American plant that produces a substance which causes HAY FEVER $ [U]
a common plant with yellow flowers, and leaves with uneven edges [C]
1 a short attack on a place by soldiers, planes, or ships, intended to cause damage but not take control:
•a bombing raid
•an air raid warning siren
[+on/against]
•The colonel led a successful raid against a rebel base.
launch/carry out/stage a raid
•The army launched several cross-border raids last night.
AIR RAID
2 a surprise visit made to a place by the police to search for something illegal:
•a police raid
•an FBI raid
[+on]
•Four people were arrested during a raid on a house in London.
•a dawn raid (=one made very early in the morning)
3 an attack by criminals on a building where they believe they can steal money or drugs:
•a bank raid
[+on]
•an armed raid on a shop in Glasgow
RAM-RAIDING
4 technical an attempt by a company to buy enough SHAREs in another company to take control of it[T]
1 if police raid a place, they make a surprise visit to search for something illegal:
•Police found illegal weapons when they raided five homes yesterday.
2 to make a sudden military attack on a place:
•air bases on the mainland from which the island could be raided
raiding party (=a group taking part in an attack)
3 to go into a place and steal things:
•A gang of thieves raided three homes in the area.
4 to go to a place that has supplies of food or drink and take some because you are hungry:
•Peter went into the kitchen to raid the fridge. $ [C]
someone who goes into a place and steals things:
•an armed raider
•Masked raiders carried out a bank robbery today.
1 [U] the railway system; train
•the American rail system
•a high-speed rail network
•Passengers want a better rail service.
•the Channel Tunnel and its rail links with London
by rail
•We continued our journey by rail.
•I need to buy a rail ticket.
•cheap rail fares
2 [C] one of the two long metal tracks fastened to the ground that trains move along
3 [C] a bar that is fastened along or around something, especially to stop you from going somewhere or from falling:
•Several passengers were leaning against the ship's rail.
GUARDRAIL, HANDRAIL
4 [C] a bar that you use to hang things on:
•a towel rail
•a curtain rail
5 go off the rails informal to start behaving in a strange or socially unacceptable way:
•At 17 he suddenly went off the rails and started stealing.
6 back on the rails happening or functioning normally again:
•The coach was credited with putting the team back on the rails.
1 [T] to enclose or separate an area with rails; cordon off
rail sth off/in
•The police railed off the area where the accident happened.
2 [I,T] formal to complain angrily about something, especially something that you think is very unfair
[+against/at]
•Consumers rail against the way companies fix prices. $ [C] BrE
a small card that allows you to travel by train at a lower price than the usual price:
•a student railcard [C]
the end of a railway line [C]
1 also railings [plural] a metal fence that is made of a series of upright bars:
•a small park surrounded by railings
2 one of the bars in some railings [U]
formal friendly joking about someone:
•affectionate raillery $ [C] AmE
a railway or the railway:
•The supplies were sent on the railroad.
•a railroad station[T]
to force or persuade someone do something without giving them enough time to think about it
railroad sb into doing sth
•The workers were railroaded into signing the agreement.[C] AmE
a LEVEL CROSSING[C] AmE
a path that used to be a railway track but that has been covered with a hard surface for people to walk, run, or ride bicycles on [C] BrE
a system of tracks along which trains run, or a system of trains; = railroad AmE
•a railway company[C] BrE
1 one of the two metal tracks fixed to the ground that trains move along; = railroad track, train track AmE
2 a part of the railway system that connects two places; = railroad line AmE
•an old disused railway line plural railwaymen [C] BrE
someone who works on a train or railway[C]
BrE a place where trains stop for passengers to get on and off; = train station; = railroad station AmE
•I'll meet you outside the main railway station. [U]
literary clothes
1 [U] water that falls in small drops from clouds in the sky:
•a night of wind and rain
in the rain
•I left my bicycle out in the rain.
heavy/torrential/pouring rain (=a lot of rain)
•There will be heavy rain in most parts of the country.
•The light rain had stopped.
•a heavy shower of rain
•An inch of rain fell in an hour.
•As the first drops of rain fell, they ran for cover.
• It was pouring with rain (=it was raining very hard) and Laura only had a thin dress on.
• It looks like rain (=there are dark rain clouds), so let's go inside.
ACID RAIN, RAIN DROP, RAINY
2 the rains heavy rain that falls during a particular period in the year in tropical countries; = monsoon
•Last year, the rains came on time in April.
3 rain of sth a large number of things falling or moving through the air together:
•The archers sent a rain of arrows towards the enemy.
4 (come) rain or shine spoken whatever happens or whatever the weather is like:
•Don't worry. We'll be there - rain or shine.
- rainless adjective
right as rain at RIGHT^1 (9)
1 it rains if it rains, drops of water fall from clouds in the sky:
•Outside it was still raining.
•It's starting to rain.
rain heavily/hard
•It must have rained quite hard last night.
it's raining cats and dogs spoken (=it is raining very hard)
2 rain (down) blows/blows rain down if you rain blows onto someone, you hit them many times:
•She attacked the man, raining blows on his head and shoulders.
3 it never rains but it pours spoken used to say that as soon as one thing goes wrong, a lot of other things go wrong as well

PHRASAL VERBS
rain down phr v
to fall in large quantities
[+on]
•Bombs rained down on the city.

be rained off phr v be rained out AmE BrE
if an event or activity is rained off or rained out, it has to stop because there is too much rain:
•The match was rained off. $ [C]
a large curve of different colours that can appear in the sky when there is both sun and rain[C]
1 take a rain check (on sth) informal especially AmE used to say that you will do something in the future but not now:
•'Care for a drink?' 'I'll take a rain check, thanks.'
2 AmE a ticket for an outdoor event, such as a sports game, that you can use again if it rains and the action stops $ [C]
a coat that you wear to protect yourself from rainraindrop $ [C]
a single drop of rain $ [C,U]
the amount of rain that falls on an area in a particular period of time:
•We've had a long period of low rainfall.
•The city has received only half its average rainfall of four inches.rainforest $ [C,U]
a tropical forest with tall trees that are very close together, growing in an area where it rains a lot:
•the destruction of the rain forest[C]
an instrument that is used for measuring the amount of rain that falls somewhere
able to keep rain out; waterproof
•a rainproof jacket $ [C]
a sudden heavy fall of rain; = downpour $ [U]
water that has fallen as rain
1 a rainy period of time is one when it rains a lot:
•a cold rainy day in October
•I hate rainy weather.
•the rainy season
2 save sth for a rainy day to save something, especially money, for a time when you will need it [T]
1 MOVE HIGHER to move or lift something to a higher position, place, or level:
•Can you raise the torch so I can see?
•William raised his hat and smiled at her.
• Raise your hand if you know the right answer.
2 INCREASE to increase an amount, number, or level; lower
•Many shops have raised their prices.
•The university is working to raise the number of students from state schools.
•a campaign to raise awareness of meningitis
•Dr Hayward intends to raise the museum's profile (=make it more well-known).
3 COLLECT MONEY to collect money that you can use to do a particular job or help people:
•The Trust hopes to raise $1 million to buy land.
•They are raising funds to help needy youngsters.
•a concert to raise money for charity
FUNDRAISING
4 IMPROVE to improve the quality or standard of something:
•Changing the law cannot raise standards.
•The team need to raise their game.
5 START A SUBJECT to begin to talk or write about a subject that you want to be considered or a question that you think should be answered; = bring up
•He did not raise the subject again.
•I'd like to raise the issue of publicity.
•Betty raised the important question of who will be in charge.
6 CAUSE A REACTION to cause a particular emotion or reaction:
•This attack raises fears of increased violence against foreigners.
•The way the research was carried out raises doubts about the results.
7 MOVE EYES OR FACE to move your eyes, head, or face so that you are looking up; lower
•Albert raised his eyes and stared at Ruth.
•'No,' he said without raising his head.
8 MOVE UPRIGHT also raise up to move or lift yourself into an upright position; lower
raise yourself
•Adele raised herself from the pillows.
•He raised himself up on one elbow to watch.
9 CHILDREN especially AmE to look after your children and help them grow; = bring up BrE
•Stan's dad died, leaving his mother to raise three sons alone.
•It was time for Dean to settle down and raise a family.
•Anne married a Jew, despite being raised a Catholic.
•The new generation was the first to be raised on processed food.
•Camus was born and raised in Algeria.
10 raise a smile to smile when you are not feeling happy, or to make someone smile when they are not feeling happy:
•I couldn't raise a smile.
11 ANIMALS OR PLANTS to look after animals or grow plants so that they can be sold or used as food:
•He raised cattle in Nebraska when he was young.
•Jim retired to raise raspberries.
12 COLLECT PEOPLE to collect together a large group of people, especially soldiers:
•The rebels quickly raised an army.
13 raise your eyebrows to show surprise, doubt, disapproval etc by moving your EYEBROWs upwards:
•Blanche raised her eyebrows in surprise.
14 raise eyebrows if something raises eyebrows, it surprises people:
•The band's new sound will raise some eyebrows.
15 raise your voice to speak loudly or shout because you are angry:
•He's never raised his voice to me.
•I could hear raised voices in the next room.
16 raise your glass spoken to celebrate someone's happiness or success by holding up your glass and drinking from it:
•Ladies and gentlemen, will you raise your glasses to the bride and groom.
17 raise the alarm BrE to warn people about a danger so that they can take action:
•Sam stayed with his injured friend while a passing motorist raised the alarm.
18 raise the spectre of sth literary to make people feel afraid that something frightening might soon happen:
•The violence has raised the spectre of civil war.
19 raise its (ugly) head if a question or problem raises its head, it appears and has to be dealt with:
•Another problem then raised its ugly head.
20 CARD GAME to make a higher BID than an opponent in a card game:
•I'll raise you $100.
21 raise hell informal to complain in a very angry way about something you think is not acceptable:
•I'll raise hell with whoever is responsible for this mess.
22 raise hell/Cain especially AmE to behave in a wild, noisy way that upsets other people:
•The kids next door were raising hell last night.
23 raise the roof to make a very loud noise when singing, celebrating etc
24 SPEAK TO SB to speak to someone on a piece of radio equipment; = contact, get
•They finally managed to raise him at Miller's sheep farm.
25 WAKE SB literary to wake someone who is difficult to wake:
•Try as he might he could not raise her.
26 DEAD PERSON old use to make someone who has died live again:
•Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave.
27 raise a siege/embargo formal to allow goods to go in and out of a place again after they have been stopped by force or by a law
28 BUILD formal to build something such as a MONUMENT; = erect
29 raise 2/4/10 etc to the power of 2/3/4 etc technical to multiply a number by itself a particular number of times:
•2 raised to the power of 3 is 8.

WORD CHOICE: raise, rise
When raise is a verb, it must have an object. It is a fairly formal way to say 'lift something up' or 'move something up': Raise your right hand. | He raised the box above his head.
It is not formal when it means 'make something increase' We will have to raise our fees.
When rise is a verb, it does not have an object. It is a fairly formal way to say 'move up': Smoke rose into the sky.It is also a formal way to say 'get up' or 'stand up', used mainly in literary writing | He rose to greet me.
It is not formal when it means 'increase' Prices are rising rapidly.
In British English, raise is never a noun. Use rise: He asked for a pay rise. | There has been a rise in unemployment.
In American English, a raise is an increase in pay: She offered me a raise.

[C]
AmE an increase in the money you earn; = rise BrE
higher than the surrounding area or surface:
•a raised platform [C]
a dried GRAPE $ [singular]
the reason why something exists, why someone does something etc:
•Commerce was the town's raison d'être.
the (British) Raj the rule of the British government in India before India became independent in 1947raja [C]
the king or ruler of an Indian state
1 [C] a gardening tool with a row of metal teeth at the end of a long handle, used for making soil level, gathering up dead leaves etc:
•a garden rake
2 [C] old-fashioned a man who has many sexual relationships, drinks too much alcohol etc
3 [singular] the angle of a slope:
•the rake of the stage
1 [I,T] to move a rake across a surface in order to make the soil level, gather dead leaves etc
rake sth over/up
•She raked the soil over to loosen the weeds.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to search a place very carefully for something
[+through/around]
•I've been raking through my drawers looking for those tickets.
3 [T] to point something such as a gun, camera, or strong light, and keep moving across an area; = sweep
•The searchlight raked the open ground around the prison.
rake sth with sth
•They raked the room with gunfire.
4 [T] to push a stick backwards and forwards in a fire in order to remove ASHes
5 rake over the past/old coals to keep talking about something that happened in the past that people would prefer you not to mention
6 rake your fingers (through sth) to pull your fingers through something or across a surface:
•Ken raked his fingers through his hair.

PHRASAL VERBS
rake sth <=> in phr v informal
to earn a lot of money without trying very hard:
•Lou's been raking in the dollars since he opened his business.
•If someone opened a burger bar, they'd really rake it in.

rake sth <=> up phr v informal
1 to talk about something from the past that people would prefer you not to mention; = dredge up
•It upsets Dad when that story is raked up again.
2 also rake sth <=> together to collect things or people together for a purpose, but with difficulty:
•They could only rake up $300.[C]
informal a dishonest share of profits; cut
•The taxi driver gets a rake-off from the hotel.
1 if a man looks rakish, or wears rakish clothes, he dresses nicely and looks confident and relaxed; = stylish
•a rakish uniform
2 at a rakish angle if you wear a hat at a rakish angle, you do not wear it straight, and this makes you look relaxed and confident
3 old-fashioned a rakish man has a lot of sexual relationships, wastes money, and drinks too much alcohol
- rakishly adverb plural rallies [C]
1 a large public meeting, especially one that is held outdoors to support a political idea, protest etc:
•About 1,000 people attended the rally in Hyde Park.
•We decided to hold a rally to put pressure on the government.
•a mass rally (=large rally) in support of the pay claim
political/election/peace etc rally
•He was shot dead while addressing an election rally.
PEP RALLY
2 a car race on public roads:
•a rally driver
3 an occasion when something, especially the value of shares, becomes stronger again after a period of weakness or defeat:
•a late rally in the Tokyo stock market
4 a continuous series of hits of the ball between players in a game such as tennispast tense and past participle rallied, present participle rallying, third person singular rallies
1 [I,T] to come together, or to bring people together, to support an idea, a political party etc
[+to]
•Fellow Republicans rallied to the President's defense.
rally to do sth
•Surely the local business community could have rallied to raise the cash.
•an attempt to rally support for the party
2 [I] to become stronger again after a period of weakness or defeat; recover
•After a shaky start, he rallied and won the title in style.
•The Tokyo stock market rallied later in the day.

PHRASAL VERBS
rally around (sb) phr v also rally round (sb) BrE informal
if a group of people rally round, they all try to help you when you are in a difficult situation:
•Her friends all rallied round when she was ill.[singular]
a word or phrase used to unite people in support of an idea:
•'Land and Liberty' was the rallying cry of revolutionary Mexico.[singular]
an idea, event, person etc that makes people come together to support something they believe in
[+for]
•a rallying point for the struggle against apartheid [U] technical
random access memory the part of a computer that acts as a temporary store for information so that it can be used immediately; ROM
•a model with 128 MB of RAM past tense and past participle rammed, present participle ramming
1 [I,T] to run or drive into something very hard:
•In the latest raid, thieves used his van to ram a police car.
[+into]
•He lost control of his truck and rammed into a van, killing two people.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to push something into a position, using great force:
•First, you'll have to ram the posts into the ground.
•I rammed my foot down on the brake.
3 ram sth down sb's throat to try to make someone accept an idea or opinion by repeating it many times, especially when they are not interested
4 ram sth home to make sure someone fully understands something by emphasizing it and by providing a lot of examples, proof etc:
•a police video ramming home the dangers of driving fast in fog[C]
1 an adult male sheep; ewe
2 a BATTERING RAM
3 a machine that hits something again and again to force it into a position [U]
the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which Muslims do not eat or drink anything during the day while it is light [I]
1 to talk for a long time in a way that does not seem clearly organized, so that other people find it difficult to understand you:
•She's getting old and she tends to ramble a bit.
2 [always + adv/prep] BrE to go on a walk in the countryside for pleasure; hike
•There's plenty to discover as you ramble around this little island.
3 a plant that rambles grows in all directions

PHRASAL VERBS
ramble on phr v BrE
to talk or write for a long time in a way that other people find boring; = go on
[+about]
•My father kept rambling on about the war.[C] BrE
1 a walk in the countryside for pleasure; hike
•I quite like the idea of going for a ramble one weekend.
2 a speech or piece of writing that is very long and does not seem to be clearly organized:
•In a ten-page ramble, Barre explains why he wrote the book. $ [C]
1 BrE someone who goes for walks in the countryside for pleasure
2 a plant, especially a rose, that grows in all directions [usually before noun]
1 a rambling building has an irregular shape and covers a large area:
•a rambling old farmhouse
2 rambling speech or writing is very long and does not seem to have any clear organization or purpose:
•a long rambling letter[U] BrE
the activity of going for walks in the countryside for pleasure [plural]
speech or writing that goes on for a long time and does not seem to have any clear organization or purpose:
•He refused to listen to their mad ramblings. AmE
noisy, full of energy, and behaving in a way that cannot be controlled:
•three rambunctious kids [C]
a small dish in which food for one person can be baked and served [C usually plural] formal
an additional result of something you do, which may not have been clear when you first decided to do it; implications
•an agreement which was to have significant ramifications for British politics
[+of]
•the practical ramifications of taking on a new job
legal/political/economic etc ramifications
•the environmental ramifications of the road-building program [C]
1 a slope that has been built to connect two places that are at different levels:
•Ramps are needed at exits and entrances for wheelchair users.
2 AmE a road for driving onto or off a large main road; = slip road BrE
•Take the Lake Drive ramp at Charles Street.
off-/on-ramp
•They missed the off-ramp to Manhattan.

PHRASAL VERBS
ramp sth <=> up phr v
1 to try to persuade people that a company's SHAREs are worth more than they really are:
•To ramp up a share price during a takeover bid is unacceptable.
2 if a company ramps up an activity, it increases it:
•Producers can quickly ramp up production.
- ramp-up noun [C usually singular] [I]
to rush about in groups, acting in a wild or violent way
[+through]
•Drunken football fans rampaged through the streets.
on the rampage rushing about in a wild and violent way, often causing damage:
•gangs of youths on the rampage
•Rioters went on the rampage through the town.
1 if something bad, such as crime or disease, is rampant, there is a lot of it and it is very difficult to control; rife, widespread
•Pickpocketing is rampant in the downtown area.
•The country has high unemployment and rampant inflation.
2 a plant that is rampant grows and spreads quickly, in a way that is difficult to control
- rampantly adverb $ [C usually plural]
a wide pile of earth or a stone wall built to protect a castle or city in the past[U]
BrE informal the crime of driving a car into a shop window in order to steal goods from the shop
- ram-raid noun [C]
•a ram-raid on a jeweller's shop
- ram-raider noun [C] $ [C]
1 straight/stiff as a ramrod sitting or standing with your back straight and your body stiff
2 a stick for cleaning a gun or pushing GUNPOWDER into an old-fashioned gun
a ramshackle building or vehicle is in bad condition and in need of repair; = tumbledown
•a ramshackle old cottage
the past tense of RUN $ [C]
1 a very large farm in the western US and Canada where sheep, cattle, or horses are bred
2 a RANCH HOUSE $ [C]
someone who owns or works on a ranch[C]
1 AmE a house built on one level, usually with a roof that does not slope very much; bungalow
2 a house on a ranch in which the rancher lives $ [U]
the activity or business of operating a ranch:
•cattle ranching
oily or fatty food that is rancid smells or tastes unpleasant because it is no longer fresh:
•rancid butterrancor AmE $ [U] BrE
formal a feeling of hatred and anger towards someone you cannot forgive because they harmed you in the past; resentment
without rancour
•He spoke openly about the war without a trace of rancour. plural rand [C]
the standard unit of money in South Africa
1 happening or chosen without any definite plan, aim, or pattern:
•The company has introduced random drug testing of its employees.
•A few random shots were fired.
•We looked at a random sample of 120 families.
•a random selection of women who were in the shop
2 at random without any definite plan, aim, or pattern
choose/select/pick sth at random
•The gang picked their victims at random.
- randomly adverb
•seven randomly chosen numbers
- randomness noun [U][U] technical
RAMalso randomise BrE [T] technical
to choose things in a way that is not carefully controlled or planned in order to do a scientific test:
•The numbers have been randomized.
•a randomized trial of a new drug BrE informal
full of sexual desire; = horny
•She was feeling very randy.
the past tense of RING
1 VARIETY OF THINGS/PEOPLE [C usually singular] a number of people or things that are all different, but are all of the same general type
[+of]
•a range of services
•The drug is effective against a range of bacteria.
wide/broad/whole/full range of sth
•students from a wide range of backgrounds
•They give advice on a whole range of subjects.
narrow/limited range of sth
•A fairly narrow range of people are responsible for key decisions.
2 LIMITS [C] the limits within which amounts, quantities, ages etc vary
age/price/temperature etc range
•toys suitable for children in the pre-school age range
•a temperature range of 72-85°
in/within a ... range
•Your blood pressure's well within the normal range.
in the range (of) sth to sth
•a salary in the range of $25,000 to $30,000
•Even the cheapest property was out of our price range (=too expensive for us).
3 PRODUCTS [C] a set of similar products made by a particular company or available in a particular shop
[+of]
•a new range of kitchenware
•A company from Darlington has just launched its latest range of fashion jewellery.
•The watches in this range are priced at £24.50.
•We have a very large product range.
MID-RANGE, TOP-OF-THE-RANGE
4 DISTANCE
a) [C,U] the distance over which a particular weapon can hit things
[+of]
•missiles with a range of 3000 km
within range (of sth)
•We waited until the enemy was within range.
out of/beyond range (of sth)
•I ducked down to get out of range of the gunshots.
at close/short/point-blank range (=from very close)
•Both men had been shot at point-blank range.
LONG-RANGE, SHORT-RANGE
b) [C,U] the distance within which something can be seen or heard
within range (of sth)
•a handsome man who drew admiring glances from any female within range
•any spot within range of your radio signal
out of/beyond range (of sth)
•Joan hoped that the others were out of range of her mother's voice.
•One way to see birds at close range is to attract them into your own garden.
c) [C] the distance which a vehicle such as an aircraft can travel before it needs more FUEL etc
[+of]
•The plane has a range of 3,600 miles.
5 MUSIC [C usually singular] all the musical notes that a particular singer or musical instrument can make:
•His vocal range is amazing.
6 MOUNTAINS/HILLS [C] a group of mountains or hills, usually in a line:
•a land of high mountain ranges and deep valleys
range of mountains/hills
•the longest range of hills in the Lake District
7 PLACE FOR SHOOTING [C] an area of land where you can practise shooting or where weapons can be tested:
•a rifle range
•the police shooting range
8 ABILITY [C,U] the number of different things that someone, especially an actor or actress, does well:
•an actor of extraordinary range and intensity
9 LAND [C,U] AmE a large area of land covered with grass, on which cattle are kept
10 COOKING [C]
a) AmE a COOKER
b) BrE a large piece of kitchen equipment in which you make a fire and use this heat to cook food; stove
•a coal-fired kitchen range
FREE-RANGE
1 INCLUDE [I always + adv/prep]
a) to include a variety of different things or people in addition to those mentioned
range from sth to sth
•The show had a massive audience, ranging from children to grandparents.
b) if prices, levels, temperatures etc range from one amount to another, they include both those amounts and anything in between
range from sth to sth
•There were 120 students whose ages ranged from 10 to 18.
range between sth and sth
•The population of these cities ranges between 3 and 5 million.
range in age/size/price etc
•The shoes range in price from $25 to $100.
2 DEAL WITH MANY SUBJECTS [I] to deal with a wide range of subjects or ideas in a book, speech, conversation etc
[+over]
•The conversation had ranged over a variety of topics, from sport to current affairs.
•The discussion ranged widely.
3 MOVE AROUND [I always + adv/prep] to move around in an area without aiming for a particular place; = wander
[+over/through]
•Cattle ranged over the pastures in search of food.
4 range yourself with/against sb/sth formal to publicly state your agreement with, or opposition to, a particular group's beliefs and ideas:
•individuals who had ranged themselves against the authorities
5 ARRANGE BrE [T always + adv/prep] formal to put things in a particular order or position:
•In the dining room, team photographs were ranged along the wall. $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to look after a forest or area of countryside:
•a park ranger
2 also ranger guide a girl who belongs to a part of the Guide Association in Britain, for girls between the ages of 14 and 19
with long thin strong legs:
•a tall, rangy boy
1 POSITION IN ARMY/ORGANIZATION [C,U] the position or level that someone holds in an organization, especially in the police or the army, navy etc
[+of]
•officers below the rank of Colonel
•He held (=had) the rank of Chief Inspector.
rise to/be promoted to/attain the rank of sth
•During the war Harold had risen to the rank of major.
high/senior/low/junior rank
•an officer of junior rank
•He was sentenced to prison and stripped of his rank (=had his rank taken from him).
2 the ranks
a) the people who belong to a particular organization or group
in/within ... ranks
•There were splits in the party ranks on this issue.
•The Democrats now face opposition from within their own ranks.
[+of]
•Most are recruited from the ranks of people who studied Latin and Greek at university.
•That summer I left school and joined the ranks of (=became one of) the unemployed.
b) all the members of the army, navy etc who are not officers:
•He rose from the ranks to become a Field Marshal (=he became an officer after starting as an ordinary soldier).
3 break ranks to behave in a way which is different from other members of a group, especially when they expect your support
[+with]
•He was the first to break ranks with Ceausescu and publicly criticise his policies.
4 LINE [C] a rank of people or things is a line or row of them
[+of]
•Silently, ranks of police edged closer to the crowds.
•Everyone lines up in ranks, all facing the instructor.
rank after rank/rank upon rank (=a lot of things or people in a row)
•On the shelves were rank after rank of liquor bottles.
5 pull rank (on sb) informal to use your authority over someone to make them do what you want, especially unfairly:
•You may just have to pull rank and tell them.
6 QUALITY [singular] the degree to which something or someone is of high quality:
•While none of these pictures is of the first rank (=of the highest quality), some are of interest.
7 SOCIAL CLASS [C,U] someone's position in society:
•people of all ranks in society
•He came from a family of rank (=one from a high social class).
8 TAXI [C] also taxi rank a place where taxis wait in a line to be hired:
•I called a taxi from the rank outside.
close ranks at CLOSE^1 (17)
1
a) [I always + adv/prep, not in progressive] to have a particular position in a list of people or things that have been put in order of quality or importance
[+as/among]
•Today's match ranks as one of the most exciting games that these two have ever played.
•We rank among the safest countries in the world.
[+with/alongside] (=be of the same importance or quality)
•Cuvier wanted to turn natural history into a science that would rank with physics and chemistry.
rank high/low
•He ranked high among the pioneers of 20th century chemical technology.
b) [T] to decide the position of someone or something on a list based on quality or importance
be ranked fourth/number one etc
•Agassi was at that time ranked sixth in the world.
•It is not always easy to rank the students in order of ability.
2 [T] AmE to have a higher rank than someone else; = outrank
•A general ranks a captain.
3 [T] to arrange objects in a line or row:
•There were several pairs of riding boots ranked neatly in the hall.
1 if something is rank, it has a very strong unpleasant smell
rank smell/odour
•the rank odour of sweat and urine
2 [only before noun] used to emphasize a bad or undesirable quality; = total
•an example of this government's rank stupidity
•They make us look like rank amateurs (=not at all good or professional).
3 rank plants are too thick and have spread everywhere:
•rank grass and weeds
the rank and file the ordinary members of an organization rather than the leaders:
•The rank and file of the party had lost confidence in the leadership.
- rank-and-file adjective [only before noun]
•the rank-and-file members of the trade union
used to say where someone or something is on a scale that shows how good they are, or what position they have, compared with other people or things
high/top/low/middle-ranking
•a top-ranking tennis player [C]
a position on a scale that shows how good someone or something is when compared with others:
•She is now fifth in the world rankings.[only before noun] especially AmE
a ranking person has a high, or the highest, position in an organization or is one of the best at an activity:
•the panel's ranking Democrat, William Clay
•He's the ship's ranking officer (=the one with the highest rank). [I,T]
if something rankles, you still remember it angrily because it upset you or annoyed you a lot:
•His comments still rankled. [T]
1 to go through a place, stealing things and causing damage:
•The whole flat had been ransacked.
2 to search a place very thoroughly, often making it untidy
ransack sth for sth
•She ransacked the wardrobe for something to wear. [C]
1 an amount of money that is paid to free someone who is held as a prisoner:
•The kidnappers were demanding a ransom of $250,000.
•The government refused to pay the ransom.
ransom demand/note
•There has still been no ransom demand.
•He's got the ransom money.
2 hold sb for ransom also hold sb to ransom BrE to keep someone prisoner until money is paid:
•His daughter was kidnapped and held for ransom.
3 hold sb to ransom BrE to put someone in a situation where they have no choice and are forced to agree to your demands:
•He has accused the nurses of holding the government to ransom by threatening to strike.[T]
to pay an amount of money so that someone who is being held as a prisoner is set free:
•They were all ransomed and returned unharmed. [I,T]
to talk or complain in a loud excited and rather confused way because you feel strongly about something
[+about]
•She was still ranting about the unfairness of it all.
•Why don't you stop ranting and raving for a minute and listen?
- rant noun [C]
•a 15-minute rant about the evils of modern society [plural]
a long speech in which someone complains about something in a loud excited and rather confused way
1 MUSIC [C,U] also rap music a type of popular music in which the words of a song are not sung, but spoken in time to music with a steady beat:
•a popular rap song
2 KNOCK [C] a series of quick sharp hits or knocks; tap
•She was woken by a sharp rap on the door.
3 CRIME [C] AmE informal a statement by the police saying that someone is responsible for a serious crime; = charge
murder/robbery etc rap
•The kid's been cited twice on drunk-driving raps.
RAP SHEET
4 take the rap (for sth) to be blamed or punished for a mistake or crime, especially unfairly:
•Bo was left to take the rap for Victor's murder.
5 beat the rap AmE informal to avoid being punished for a crime
6 a rap on/over the knuckles
a) informal a punishment or criticism that is not very severe:
•The New York Post received an official rap over the knuckles for the way it reported the story.
b) if someone gives a child a rap on the knuckles, they hit them on the back of their hand as a punishment
7 a bum/bad rap especially AmE informal unfair treatment or punishment:
•Cleveland always gets a bum rap in the press.past tense and past participle rapped, present participle rapping
1 HIT [I,T] to hit or knock something quickly several times; tap
•She rapped the table with her pen.
[+on/at]
•Angrily she rapped on his window.
2 MUSIC [I] to say the words of a rap song
3 CRITICIZE [T] to criticize someone angrily - used especially in news reports; = slam
•a film rapped by critics for its excessive violence
4 SAY also rap out [T] to say something loudly, suddenly, and in a way that sounds angry:
•'Come on,' he rapped impatiently.
5 rap sb on/over the knuckles also rap sb's knuckles
a) to punish or criticize someone for something, but not very severely:
•He had his knuckles rapped sharply for meddling in foreign policy.
b) to punish a child by hitting them on the back of their hand formal
always wanting more money, goods etc than you need or have a right to; = greedy
•rapacious landlords
- rapaciously adverb
- rapacity noun [U] [T]
to force someone to have sex, especially by using violence:
•She had been raped and stabbed.
1 [C,U] the crime of forcing someone to have sex, especially by using violence:
•Police are investigating a series of violent rapes in the town.
•He was arrested and charged with rape.
•He always denied that he was guilty of rape.
•a rape victim
•the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl
•He was convicted of attempted rape.
2 [U] also oilseed rape BrE a European plant with yellow flowers, grown as animal food and for its oil; = canola AmE
3 the rape of sth the unnecessary destruction of something, especially the environment:
•companies which profit from the rape of the Earth
happening or done very quickly and in a very short time; fast, quick
•The patient made a rapid recovery.
rapid growth/expansion/development/increase
•rapid population growth
•a period of rapid decline
•He fired three times in rapid succession (=one after another).
- rapidity noun [U]
•Their debts mounted with alarming rapidity.[only before noun]
1 rapid-fire questions, jokes etc are said quickly, one after another
2 a rapid-fire gun fires shots quickly, one after another
very quickly and in a very short time:
•The disease was spreading more rapidly than expected.
rapidly growing/changing/expanding etc
•the rapidly changing world of technology[only before noun]
1 relating to a person or group of people whose job is to react quickly to a dangerous or important situation, such as a military attack, and find a solution to the problem
rapid-response forces/team/unit etc
2 relating to something which allows someone to react quickly to information they have received:
•a rapid-response system
- rapid response noun [U] [plural]
part of a river where the water looks white because it is moving very fast over rocksalso rapid transit [C] AmE
a system for moving people quickly around a city using trains $ [C]
a long thin sword with two sharp edges [C]
a person who has RAPEd someone (=forced them to have sex, especially using violence):
•She later found out that he was a convicted rapist. past tense and past participle rappelled, present participle rappelling [I] AmE
to go down a cliff or rock by sliding down a rope and touching the rock or cliff with your feet; = abseil BrE
- rappel noun [C] $ [C]
someone who speaks the words of a RAP song $ [singular, U]
friendly agreement and understanding between people; relationship
[+with/between]
•He had an excellent rapport with his patients.
establish/build up/develop (a) rapport
•He always found he could build up a good rapport with children. $ [singular, U] formal
the establishment of a good relationship between two countries or groups of people, after a period of unfriendly relations
[+between/with]
•I hope for a rapprochement between our two countries.[C] AmE informal
a list kept by the police of someone's criminal activities written
so interested in something that you do not notice anything else:
•They listened with rapt attention.
•the rapt expression on his face $ [U]
1 literary great excitement and happiness:
•The boys gazed up at him in rapture.
2 be in raptures/go into raptures BrE formal to express or feel great pleasure and happiness about something
[+over/about/at]
•She went into raptures about the climate, the food, the spring flowers. [usually before noun]
expressing great happiness or admiration - used especially in news reports:
•She was greeted with rapturous applause.
rapturous reception/welcome
•He was given a rapturous welcome.
- rapturously adverb $ comparative rarer, superlative rarest
1 not seen or found very often, or not happening very often; common ; unusual
•This species of plant is becoming increasingly rare.
•I only saw Helen on the rare occasions when I went into her shop.
it is rare (for sb/sth) to do sth
•It is rare to find such an interesting group of people.
•It is very rare for her to miss a day at school.
2 meat that is rare has only been cooked for a short time and is still red; underdone, well-done
•I like my steak rare.
3 [only before noun] BrE old-fashioned very good or surprising:
•We had a rare old time at the party. $ [usually before noun]
1 a rarefied place, organization, or type of activity is only available to or understood by a small group of people - used to show disapproval:
•the rarefied atmosphere of academia
2 rarefied air is the air in high places, which has less oxygen than usual $
not often; frequently
•She very rarely complains.
•This method is rarely used in modern laboratories.

WORD CHOICE: rarely, seldom, hardly, scarcely
Rarely and seldom both mean 'not often'. Seldom is more formal or literary: People rarely ask questions. | She was seldom seen in public. | The disease is rarely fatal.
Hardly and scarcely both mean 'almost not' or 'only just'. For example, if you hardly had time to do something, you almost did not have time. Scarcely is more formal or literary: I hardly had time to ask her name. | We had scarcely arrived when he asked us to leave.
Hardly and scarcely can also be used with 'ever' to mean 'not often, almost never', with 'any' to mean 'very few, almost none' etc: I've got hardly any money left. | Hardly anyone agreed with her.
In speech, it is usual to say that you hardly ever do something, rather than that you rarely do it: I hardly ever go to the cinema.

$ informal
1 raring to go very eager to start an activity:
•They woke up early and were raring to go.
2 raring to do sth BrE very eager to do something:
•The children were raring to get outdoors. $ plural rarities
1 be a rarity to not happen or exist very often:
•Visitors were a rarity in the village.
2 [C] something that is valuable or interesting because it is rare:
•Some of these plants are national rarities.
3 [U] the quality of being rare:
•Such stamps are expensive because of their rarity. $ [C]
1 a child who behaves badly but whom you still like
2 old-fashioned a dishonest man; = scoundrel
if you are rash, you do things too quickly, without thinking carefully about whether they are sensible or not; foolish
•Please Jessie, don't do anything rash.
•Don't go making any rash decisions about your future!
• It was rather rash of you to lend them your car.
- rashly adverb
•I rashly agreed to look after the children.
- rashness noun [U][C]
1 a lot of red spots on someone's skin, caused by an illness:
•She had a nasty rash on her arm.
come/break out in a rash (=get a rash)
•My mother comes out in a rash if she eats seafood.
nappy BrE
/diaper AmE
rash
•Most babies get nappy rash at some stage.
•a heat rash (=a rash caused by heat)
2 rash of sth informal a large number of unpleasant events, changes etc within a short time; = spate of sth
•There's been a rash of car thefts in the city centre. $ [C] BrE
a thin piece of BACON or HAM
[+of]
•a rasher of bacon $
1 [I,T] to make a rough unpleasant sound:
•my father's rasping voice
•'Stop!' he rasped.
2 [T] to rub a surface with something rough
1 [singular] a rough unpleasant sound
[+of]
•the harsh rasp of her breathing
2 [C] a metal tool with a rough surface that is used for shaping wood or metal $ plural raspberries [C]
1 a soft sweet red berry, or the bush that this berry grows on:
•a bowl of fresh raspberries
•raspberry jam
2 informal a rude sound that you make by putting your tongue out and blowing
blow a raspberry also
give a raspberry AmE
•She blew a raspberry at him as he drove off. [C]
informal a Rastafarian $ [C]
someone who believes in a religion that is popular in Jamaica, which has Haile Selassie as its religious leader, and has the belief that one day black people will return to Africa
- Rastafarian adjective
- Rastafarianism noun [U] plural Rastamen [C]
informal a male Rastafarian [C]
1 an animal that looks like a large mouse with a long tail
2 spoken someone who has been disloyal to you or deceived you:
•But you promised to help us, you rat!
3 look like a drowned rat to look very wet and uncomfortable
4 (like) rats leaving the sinking ship used to describe people who leave a company, organization etc when it is in trouble
RAT RACE, RATS
smell a rat at SMELL^2 (7)past tense and past participle ratted, present participle ratting [I] informal
1 if someone rats on you, they tell someone in authority about something wrong that you have done; = grass on
[+on]
•They'll kill you if they find out you've ratted on them!
2 BrE to not do what you had promised to do; = go back on, renege on
[+on]
•He accused the government of ratting on its promises to the disabled.

rat sb <=> out AmE informal
if someone rats you out, they are disloyal to you, especially by telling someone in authority about something wrong that you have done:
•You can't rat out your teammates.BrE informal
extremely drunkalso rat-a-tat-tat [singular]
the sound of knocking, especially on a door [C]
BrE informal an unpleasant person [C]
a machine part consisting of a wheel or bar with teeth on it, which allows movement in only one direction

PHRASAL VERBS
ratchet up phr v
to increase something by a small amount, especially after a series of increases, or to increase in this way
ratchet sth <=> up
•Raising the minimum wage would ratchet up real incomes in general.
•The debate will ratchet up a notch on Wednesday when the Commission publishes its report. [C]
1 NUMBER the number of times something happens, or the number of examples of something within a certain period
birth/unemployment/crime etc rate
•Australia's unemployment rate rose to 6.5% in February.
•a rapid increase in the divorce rate
high/low rate of sth
•areas with high rates of crime
success/failure rate (=the number of times that something succeeds or fails)
•It's a new technique and the failure rate is quite high.
•Immediately his heart rate (=the number of beats per minute) increased.
at a rate of sth
•Asylum seekers were entering Britain at a rate of 1,600 per day.
BIRTHRATE, DEATH RATE
2 MONEY a charge or payment that is set according to a standard scale
at (a) ... rate
•people who pay tax at the highest rate
at a rate of sth
•They only pay tax at a rate of 5%.
interest/exchange/mortgage etc rate
•another reduction in the mortgage rate
rate of pay/tax/interest etc
•Nurses are demanding higher rates of pay.
special/reduced/lower rate
•Some hotels offer special rates for children.
hourly/weekly rate (=the amount someone is paid per hour or week)
•What's the hourly rate for cleaning?
•$20 an hour is the going rate (=the usual amount paid) for private tuition.
BASE RATE; cut-rate at CUT-PRICE; EXCHANGE RATE, INTEREST RATE, PRIME RATE
3 SPEED the speed at which something happens over a period of time
[+of]
•an attempt to slow down the rate of economic growth
at (a) ... rate
•Children learn at different rates.
•Our money was running out at an alarming rate.
at a rate of sth
•Iceland is getting wider at a rate of about 0.5 cm per year.
4 at any rate spoken
a) used when you are stating one definite fact in a situation that is uncertain or unsatisfactory; = anyway
•They've had technical problems - at any rate that's what they told me.
b) used to introduce a statement that is more important than what was said before; = anyway
•Well, at any rate, the next meeting will be on Wednesday.
5 at this rate spoken used to say what will happen if things continue to happen in the same way as now:
•At this rate we won't ever be able to afford a holiday.
6 first-rate/second-rate/third-rate of good, bad, or very bad quality:
•a cheap third-rate motel
7 at a rate of knots BrE informal very quickly:
•Jack's getting through the ironing at a rate of knots!
8 rates [plural] a local tax, paid before 1990 by owners of buildings in Britain
1
a) [T] to think that someone or something has a particular quality, value, or standard:
•The company seems to rate him very highly (=think he is very good).
be rated (as) sth
•Rhodes is currently rated the top junior player in the country.
b) [I] to be considered as having a particular quality, value, or standard
[+as]
•That rates as one of the best meals I've ever had.
2 [T] BrE informal if you rate someone or something, you think they are very good:
•I never rated him.
3 rate sb's chances (of doing sth) BrE spoken if you do not rate someone's chances of achieving something, you do not think that it is likely that they will achieve it:
•I don't rate your chances of getting a ticket for the Leeds game.
•How do you rate your chances tomorrow (=do you think you will be successful?)?
4 [T] informal especially AmE to deserve something:
•They rate a big thank-you for all their hard work.
•a local incident that didn't rate a mention in the national press
5 be rated G/U/PG/X etc if a film is rated G, U etc, it is officially judged to be suitable or unsuitable for people of a particular age to see
X-RATED[C]
the EXCHANGE RATE[singular]
a company's profit for a year, expressed as a PERCENTAGE of the money that the company has spent during the year $ [C] BrE
someone who pays taxes that are used to provide local services $
1 fairly or to some degree:
•I was rather surprised to see him with his ex-wife.
•He was limping rather badly.
•My own position is rather different.
•Abigail's always been rather a difficult child. BrE
•Isn't it rather late (=a little too late) to start changing all the arrangements?
•Actually I rather like the new style of architecture. BrE
•It was a nice house, but rather too small for a family of four. BrE
•The task proved to be rather more difficult than I had expected. BrE
2 would rather used to say that you would prefer to do or have something:
•I'd rather have a quiet night in front of the TV.
•We could eat later if you would rather do that.
•'I think you'd better ask her.' ' I'd rather not (=I do not want to).'
would rather ... than ...
•I'd rather die than apologize to Helen.
•I'd rather you didn't go out alone (=I do not want you to go).
3 rather than instead of:
•I think you'd call it a lecture rather than a talk.
•Rather than go straight on to university why not get some work experience first?
•Bryson decided to quit rather than accept the new rules.
4 or rather used before correcting something that you have said, or giving more specific information:
•We all went in Vic's car, or rather his father's.
5 not ... but rather ... used to say that one thing is not true but a different thing is true:
•The problem is not their lack of funding, but rather their lack of planning.
6 rather you/him/her/them than me spoken used to say that you are glad that you are not going to be doing something that someone else will be doing
7 Rather! BrE spoken old-fashioned used to agree with someone

WORD CHOICE: rather, fairly, quite, pretty
Rather, fairly, quite, and pretty are all used to say that something is true to some degree, but not completely or extremely: She's rather shy. | You should find the test fairly easy. | It took quite a long time (NOT a quite long time). | His English is pretty good.
Rather is fairly formal but can be used in spoken English, especially British English. In American English it is more usual to use pretty. In both American and British English, pretty is more usual in speech than in writing.
Quite can also be used in front of an adjective or adverb, and in British English a verb, to mean 'completely'. This is a fairly formal use: You are quite wrong. | I quite understand your feelings.

past tense and past participle ratified, present participle ratifying, third person singular ratifies [T]
to make a written agreement official by signing it
ratify a treaty/an agreement/a decision etc
•We hope that the republics will be willing to ratify the treaty.
- ratification noun [U]
•an attempt to delay ratification of the treaty
1 [C] a level on a scale that shows how good, important, popular etc someone or something is:
•By the end of the year the Prime Minister's approval rating (=how many people agreed with his policies) had fallen as low as 12 percent.
CREDIT RATING
2 the ratings a list that shows which films, television programmes etc are the most popular:
•CBS will end the series if it continues to drop in the ratings.
3 [singular] a letter that shows whether or not a film is suitable for children:
•'The Godfather' had an X-rating when it was first shown.
4 [C] BrE a SAILOR in the navy who is not an officer $ plural ratios [C]
a relationship between two amounts, represented by a pair of numbers showing how much bigger one amount is than the other; proportion
the ratio of sth to sth
•The ratio of nursing staff to doctors is 2:1.
[+between]
•the ratio between profits and incomes $
1 [C,U] a fixed amount of something that people are allowed to have when there is not enough, for example during a war
food/clothes/meat etc ration
•the weekly meat ration
•a coal ration of 4 kg a month
on ration
•Even wool was on ration in the war.
2 rations [plural] a fixed amount of food given to a soldier or member of a group:
•emergency food rations
•The prisoners were queuing for their meagre rations (=small rations).
•We were on short rations (=given a smaller amount than usual).
3 [singular] an amount of something that you think is reasonable or normal
[+of]
•holidaymakers who like a generous ration of open-air activity[T]
1 [usually passive] to control the supply of something because there is not enough:
•Fuel was rationed during the war.
2 to allow someone only a small amount of something:
•the need to ration health care resources
•diets which ration fat
ration sb/sth to sth
•He rationed himself to 4 cigarettes a day.
•I try to ration the children's television viewing to an hour a day.
1 rational thoughts, decisions etc are based on reasons rather than emotions; irrational
•Parents need to be fully informed so they can make a rational decision.
•I'm sure there's a rational explanation for all this.
•It's impossible to have a rational conversation with him.
2 a rational person is able to think calmly and sensibly; irrational
•Culley was quite rational at the time of her baby's death.
3 formal able to make sensible judgments:
•Man is a rational animal.
- rationally adverb
•We were too shocked to think rationally.
- rationality noun [U] $ [C usually singular]
formal the reasons for a decision, belief etc
[+behind/for/of]
•The rationale behind the changes is not at all evident.
•The rationale for using this teaching method is to encourage student confidence. [U]
technical the belief that your actions should be based on scientific thinking rather than emotions or religious beliefs:
•philosophers who accept scientific rationalism [C]
someone who bases their actions on rationalism
- rationalist rationalistic adjectivealso rationalise BrE [I,T]
1 if you rationalize behaviour that is wrong, you invent an explanation for it so that it does not seem as bad:
•When he fouls up, Glen always finds a way to rationalize what he's done.
2 BrE to make a business more effective by removing unnecessary workers, equipment etc:
•Our systems will be rationalized over the coming months.
- rationalization $ noun [C,U]
•a major rationalization of the aircraft industry [U]
when the amount of food, petrol etc that people are allowed to have is limited by the government
fuel/clothes/food etc rationing
•News of bread rationing created panic buying.
the rat race the unpleasant situation experienced by people working in big cities, when they continuously compete for success and have a lot of STRESS in their lives
get out of/quit the rat race
•the story of a couple who quit the rat race[C] BrE
a quiet street that drivers use as a quick way of getting to a place, rather than using a main road:
•The road has become a rat run for traffic avoiding the town centre. informal
used to show annoyance:
•Rats! I forgot to buy any bread.BrE
in rats' tails if your hair is in rats' tails, it hangs down in separate pieces because it is wet or dirty [U]
the plant used to make WICKER furniture:
•rattan chairs
1 [I,T] if you rattle something, or if it rattles, it shakes and makes a quick series of short sounds:
•Dan banged on her door and rattled the handle.
•The window rattled in the wind.
•Bottles rattled as he stacked the beer crates.
see box at SHAKE^1
2 [I] if a vehicle rattles somewhere, it travels there while making a rattling sound
[+along/past/over etc]
•The cart rattled along the stony road.
•An old blue van rattled into view.
3 [T] informal to make someone lose confidence or become nervous:
•His mocking smile rattled her more than his anger.
•It was hard not to get rattled when the work piled up.
•His confidence was rattled by the accident.
4 rattle sb's cage spoken informal to annoy someone - used humorously:
•Who rattled your cage?

PHRASAL VERBS
rattle around phr v BrE
to live in a building that is much too big for you
[+in]
•Dad and I rattled around miserably in the house after Mum died.

rattle sth <=> off phr v
to say several pieces of information or a list quickly and easily from memory:
•An officer rattled off some statistics about the aid program.

rattle on phr v BrE informal
to talk quickly for a long time about boring things; = go on
[+about]
•Nancy would rattle on for hours about her grandchildren.

rattle through sth phr v BrE informal
to do something quickly because you want to finish it

rattle up sth phr v BrE
if a sports player rattles up a number of points, they get that number of points very quickly:
•The West Indies had rattled up 411 for 5 when rain stopped play.
1 [C,U] a short repeated sound, made when something shakes:
•They listened anxiously to every rattle and creak in the house.
[+of]
•the rattle of chains
•the faint rattle of distant gunfire
DEATH RATTLE
2 [C] a baby's toy that makes a noise when it is shaken
3 [C] BrE an object that people shake to make a loud noise and show excitement or encouragement, for example at ceremonies or sports games $ [C]
informal a rattlesnake [C]
a poisonous American snake that shakes its tail to make a noise when it is angry [only before noun] AmE
a rattletrap vehicle is old and in bad condition
a rattling good yarn/story/read BrE old-fashioned a good exciting story
1 BrE informal becoming annoyed quickly or easily; = irritable
•I feel guilty about getting ratty with the children.
2 AmE informal dirty and in bad condition; shabby
•a ratty old sofa
•ratty hair $
1 sounding unpleasantly loud:
•He burst into raucous laughter.
•raucous cheers
2 impolite, noisy, and violent:
•A group of raucous students spilled out of the bar.
•The atmosphere became increasingly raucous.
- raucously adverb $ informal
intended to be sexually exciting, in a way that seems immoral or shocking; sexy
•a raunchy magazine
•The show was quite raunchy. [T usually passive]
to damage something very badly:
•a country ravaged by civil war
•His health was gradually ravaged by drink and drugs. literary
the ravages of sth the damage caused by something:
•a building that has survived the ravages of time
•the ravages of war [I]
1 rave about/over sth to talk about something you enjoy or admire in an excited way; = enthuse
•Now I understand why travelers rave about Lapland.
•The customers were raving over our homemade chili.
2 to talk in an angry, uncontrolled, or crazy way
[+at]
•He started raving at me
[+on] BrE
•Lisa raved on about how awful it all was.
•He was still ranting and raving the next morning.[C]
1 a big event where people dance to loud music with a strong beat and often take drugs:
•an all-night rave
•rave music
•rave parties
RAVER
2 strong praise for a new play, book etc:
•The play got raves from the critics.
rave reviews/notices/reports strong praise for a new play, book etc, especially in a newspaper or magazine
win/receive/earn rave reviews
•The performance earned them rave reviews from critics. [C]
a large shiny black bird[only before noun] literary
raven hair is black and shiny literary
ravening animals are hungry and dangerous:
•a pack of ravening wolves
very hungry; starving
•I'm absolutely ravenous.
•a ravenous appetite
- ravenously adverb
•I was ravenously hungry. $ [C] BrE informal
1 someone who goes to a RAVE:
•Police believe many of the ravers were on drugs.
2 someone who has an exciting social life and goes to a lot of parties [C]
a deep narrow valley with steep sides; = gorge [only before noun] informal
1 talking or behaving in a crazy way:
•a raving lunatic
2 especially BrE used to emphasize that someone or something has a lot of a particular quality:
•She was no raving beauty, but at least she looked smart.
(stark) raving mad/bonkers informal completely crazy [plural]
crazy things that someone says
[+of]
•the ravings of a demented man $ [U]
small PASTA squares filled with meat or cheese [T] literary
1 to force a woman to have sex; = rape
2 to badly harm something:
•a landscape ravished by drought literary
very beautiful; = stunning
•She looked ravishing.
•a ravishing smile
- ravishingly adverb $
1 FOOD not cooked:
•raw meat
•grated raw carrots
•Cabbage can be eaten raw.
2 SUBSTANCES raw substances are in a natural state and not treated or prepared for use; refined
•raw silk
•In its raw state, cocoa is very bitter.
•Raw sewage had been dumped in the river.
•The cost of our raw materials has risen significantly.
3 INFORMATION raw information is collected but not organized, examined, or developed:
•software to convert raw data into usable information
•His time here provided the raw material for his novel.
•Warhol used everyday items as the raw ingredients of his art.
4 EMOTIONS raw feelings are strong and natural, but not fully controlled:
•raw passion
•Linda didn't want to see Roy while her emotions were still raw.
•It took raw courage to admit she was wrong.
5 BODY if a part of your body is raw, the skin there is red and painful:
•The skin on my feet was rubbed raw.
6 INEXPERIENCED not experienced or not fully trained:
•Most of our soldiers are raw recruits.
7 touch/hit a raw nerve to upset someone by something you say:
•Seeing his face, Joanne realized she'd touched a raw nerve.
8 raw deal unfair treatment:
•Customers are getting a raw deal and are rightly angry.
9 WEATHER very cold:
•She shivered in the raw morning air.
10 ART music, art, language etc that is raw is simple, direct, and powerful, but not fully developed:
•Her voice has a raw poetic beauty.
•His early sketches are raw and unpretentious.
11 raw talent someone with raw talent is naturally good at something, but has not developed their ability yet:
•He has the raw talent to become a star.
12 raw edge the edge of a piece of material before it has been sewn:
•Turn over the raw edges and stitch.
- rawness noun [U]
1 in the raw
a) seen in a way that does not hide cruelty and violence:
•He went on the streets to experience life in the raw.
•It was my first exposure to India in the raw.
b) informal not wearing any clothes; = in the nude
•sunbathing in the raw
2 catch/touch sb on the raw BrE to say or do something that upsets someone:
•She flinched, caught on the raw by his question. $ [U]
leather that is in its natural state [C]
1 a straight narrow beam of light from the sun or moon:
•The room darkened as a cloud hid the sun's rays.
[+of]
•Rays of light filtered through the trees.
2 a beam of heat, electricity, or other form of energy
COSMIC RAY, GAMMA RAY, X-RAY^1
3 a ray of hope/light etc something that provides a small amount of hope or happiness in a difficult situation:
•a treatment that offers a ray of hope for cancer sufferers
4 a ray of sunshine someone who is happy and makes a difficult situation seem better
5 catch some/a few rays informal to sit or lie in the sun:
•Let's go out and catch a few rays.
6 a large flat sea fish with a long pointed tail $ [U]
a smooth artificial cloth used for making clothes:
•a rayon shirt [T usually passive]
to completely destroy a town or building:
•In 1162 Milan was razed to the ground by imperial troops. $ [C]
1 a tool with a sharp blade, used to remove hair from your skin; shaver
•an electric razor
•a disposable razor
2 be on a razor/razor's edge BrE to be in a difficult position where a mistake could be dangerous:
•Politically we are on a razor edge.[C]
a small flat blade with a very sharp edge, used in a razor
1 very sharp:
•razor-sharp teeth
2 intelligent and able to think quickly:
•He has a razor-sharp mind.AmE
razor-thin victory/margin in an election, a razor-thin victory is won by only a small number of votes[U]
strong wire with sharp edges, used to keep people out of a building, area of land etc [T]
AmE informal to make jokes that insult or embarrass someone; = tease
•Eddie was razzed by his teammates after the game.
be/go (out) on the razzle BrE spoken informal to go somewhere such as a party, bar etc to enjoy yourselfalso razzamatazz also razzle-dazzle [U]
noisy exciting activity that is intended to attract people's attention:
•the razzmatazz of showbusiness
the written abbreviation of Roman Catholic $
used with ORDINAL numbers ending in 3, except 13:
•the 3rd (=third) of June
•his 53rd birthdayalso Rd BrE
the written abbreviation of Road , used in addresses $ [U]
AmE rural delivery the postal system for country areas $ [singular]
recommended daily allowance the amount of substances such as VITAMINs that you should have every day $
the short form of 'are' [U] BrE
Religious Education a subject taught in schools written formal
used in business letters to introduce the subject:
•re your enquiry of the 19th October [singular]
the second note in a musical SCALE
SOL-FA
1 again:
•They're rebroadcasting the play.
2 again in a better way:
•She asked me to redo the essay.
3 back to a former state:
•After years of separation they were finally reunited.
1 DEVELOPMENT [T] if someone or something reaches a particular point in their development, they get to that point
reach the point/level/stage etc
•I had reached the point where I was earning a good salary.
•The kids have reached the age when they can care for themselves.
2 RATE/AMOUNT [T] if something reaches a particular rate, amount etc, it increases until it is at that rate or amount:
•By 2008, that figure is expected to reach 7 million.
•wind speeds reaching up to 180 mph
•Prices rose steadily to reach record levels.
3 SUCCEED [T] to successfully agree on something with other people
reach a decision/agreement etc
•The theatre has reached an agreement with striking actors.
•It took the jury three days to reach a verdict.
•The talks will continue until a conclusion is reached.
4 TOUCH
a) [I,T always + adv/prep] to move your arm in order to touch or lift something with your hand:
•She reached into her bag and produced a business card.
•He reached down to help her to her feet.
[+for]
•Kelly reached for his gun.
•Luisa reached out her hand to stroke the cat.
b) [I,T not in progressive] to touch something by stretching out your arm:
•It's no good - I can't reach.
•She's too small to reach the table.
c) [T] to get something from a high place by stretching up your arm
reach sth down
•She fell while reaching down a vase from the top shelf.
5 LENGTH/HEIGHT [I always + adv/prep, T not in progressive] to be big enough, long enough etc to get to a particular point:
•The phone lead isn't long enough to reach the bedroom.
•a skirt that reaches halfway down her legs
reach as far as sth/reach down to sth
•Her hair reaches down to her waist.
6 ARRIVE [T] to arrive at a place:
•We reached London late at night.
•The pyramids can be reached by public transport.
7 SPEAK TO SB [T] if you reach someone, you succeed in speaking to them on the telephone; = contact
•I can probably reach him on his mobile.
8 BE SEEN/HEARD [T] if a message, television programme etc reaches a lot of people, they hear it or see it:
•Cable TV reaches a huge audience.
9 INFORMATION [T] if information reaches you, you hear about it:
•The news reached us in Lahore.
10 COMMUNICATE [T] to succeed in making someone understand or accept what you tell them; = get through to
•I just can't seem to reach Ed anymore.
11 reach for the stars to aim for something that is very difficult to achieve

PHRASAL VERBS
reach out to sb phr v
to show people that you are interested in them and want to listen to them:
•So far, his administration has failed to reach out to hardline Republicans.
1 [singular,U] the distance that you can stretch out your arm to touch something
out of/beyond (sb's) reach
•Keep chemicals out of the reach of children.
within reach (of sb)
•Keep a glass of water within reach.
2 [singular,U] within (easy) reach of sth close to a place:
•The tourist attractions are within easy reach of the hotel.
3 the limit of someone's power or ability to do something
beyond the reach of sb
•He lives in Paraguay, well beyond the reach of the British authorities.
4 reaches [plural]
a) the parts of a place that are furthest from the centre
the further/outer reaches of sth
•the further reaches of the jungle
b) the straight part of a river between two bends:
•the upper reaches of the Nile
5 the higher/lower reaches of sth the high or low levels of an organization or system:
•They lingered in the lower reaches of the Football League. [I]
1 BEHAVIOUR/FEELINGS to behave in a particular way or show a particular emotion because of something that has happened or been said; respond
[+to]
•How did Wilson react to your idea?
•He reacted angrily to the suggestion that he had lied.
•She reacted very badly (=was very upset) when her parents split up.
•You have to react quickly to circumstances.
react by doing sth
•The government reacted by declaring all strikes illegal.
OVERREACT
2 CHEMICALS technical if a chemical substance reacts, it changes when it is mixed with another chemical substance
[+with]
•The calcium reacts with sulphur in the atmosphere.
3 PRICES if prices or financial markets react to something that happens, they increase or decrease in value because of it
[+to]
•Oil prices reacted sharply (=reacted a lot) to news of the crisis in the Middle East.
•The market reacted favourably to the announcement.
4 BECOME ILL to become ill when a chemical or drug goes into your body, or when you eat a particular kind of food; respond
[+to]
•Quite a lot of children react badly to antibiotics.

PHRASAL VERBS
react against sth phr v
to show that you dislike someone else's ideas or ways of doing something, by deliberately doing the opposite:
•He reacted strongly against his religious upbringing.
1 TO A SITUATION/EVENT [C,U] something that you feel or do because of something that has happened or been said; response
•What was Jeff's reaction when you told him about the job?
[+to]
•the government's reaction to the fuel crisis
bring/provoke/produce a reaction
•The news brought an angry reaction from unions.
sb's first/immediate reaction
•His first reaction was to deny everything.
instinctive/gut reaction (=what you immediately feel before you have time to think)
•My gut reaction was not to trust him.
•There were mixed reactions (=different people reacting in different ways) to the strike.
in reaction to sth
•An emergency fund was set up in reaction to the famine.
2 MOVING QUICKLY reactions [plural] your ability to move quickly when something dangerous happens suddenly:
•a skilled driver with very quick reactions
3 TO FOOD/DRUGS [C] if you have a reaction to a drug or to something you have eaten, it makes you ill
[+to]
•a reaction to the immunization
have/suffer a reaction
•She had a severe allergic reaction to the drug.
cause/bring on/trigger a reaction
•Certain foods are more likely than others to cause allergic reactions.
4 SCIENCE [C,U]
a) a chemical change that happens when two or more substances are mixed together:
•a chemical reaction in the soil
b) a physical force that is the result of an equally strong physical force in the opposite direction
5 CHANGE [singular] a change in people's attitudes, behaviour, fashions etc that happens because they disapprove of the way in which things were done in the past
[+against]
•a reaction against the traditional values of the nineteenth century
6 AGAINST CHANGE [U] formal strong and unreasonable opposition to all social and political changes:
•The revolutionary movement was crushed by the forces of reaction.
CHAIN REACTION $
very strongly opposed to any social or political change - used to show disapproval:
•reactionary attitudesplural reactionaries [C]
someone who strongly opposes any social or political change - used to show disapproval [T]
to make something start working again
1 reacting to events or situations rather than starting or doing new things yourself:
•a reactive foreign policy
2 technical a reactive substance changes when it is mixed with another substance:
•a highly reactive chemical $ [C]
a NUCLEAR REACTOR past tense and past participle read
1 WORDS/BOOKS [I,T] to look at written words and understand what they mean:
•I can't read your writing.
•She picked up the letter and read it.
•Read the instructions carefully before you start.
•children who are just learning to read and write
•Her books are quite widely read (=read by a lot of people).
•When I was young, I read every one of his books from cover to cover. (=read all of something because you are very interested )
2 FIND INFORMATION [I,T not in progressive] to find out information from books, newspapers etc:
•You can't believe everything you read in the papers.
[+about]
•Did you read about what happened to that guy in Florida?
[+of]
•I was shocked when I read of his death.
read (that)
•I read last week that the disease is on the increase.
3 READ AND SPEAK [I,T] to say the words in a book, newspaper etc so that people can hear them
read sb sth
•Daddy, will you read me a story?
read (sth) to sb
•Our mother reads to us every evening.
•Teachers should read more poetry to children.
•He glanced at the letter and began to read it aloud.
4 MUSIC/MAPS ETC [T] to look at signs or pictures and understand what they mean:
•He plays the violin very well but can't actually read music.
•Are you any good at map reading?
5 COMPUTER [T] technical if a computer can read a DISK, it can take the information that is on the disk and put it into its memory
6 UNDERSTAND STH IN A PARTICULAR WAY [T always + adv/prep] to understand a situation, remark etc in one of several possible ways; = interpret
•I wasn't sure how to read his silence.
read sth as sth
•She shook her head, and I read this as a refusal.
•The poem can be read as a protest against war.
read sth well/accurately (=understand something correctly)
•He had accurately read the mood of the nation.
7 HAVE WORDS ON [T not in progressive] used to say what words are on a sign, in a letter etc; = say
•A sign on the outer door read: 'No Entry'.
8 STYLE OF WRITING [I] if something reads well, badly etc, it has been written well, badly etc:
•I think in general the report reads well.
9 read sth as/for sth to replace one word or number with another one, usually with the correct one:
•Please read £50 as £15.
•For 'November' (=instead of November) on line 6, read 'September'.
10 MEASURING [T]
a) to look at the number or amount shown on a measuring instrument:
•Someone should be coming to read the gas meter.
b) if a measuring instrument reads a particular number, it shows that number:
•The thermometer read 46 degrees.
11 AT UNIVERSITY [I,T] BrE to study a subject at a university:
•I read history at Cambridge.
[+for]
•He wants to read for a law degree.
12 take it as read (that) especially BrE to feel certain that something is true although no one has told you it is true; = assume
•You can take it as read that we will support the project.
13 take sth as read to accept that a report or statement is correct without reading it or discussing it:
•We'll take the secretary's report as read.
14 read between the lines to guess someone's real feelings from something they say or write, when they do not tell you directly:
•Reading between the lines, I'd say Robert's not very happy.
15 read sb's mind/thoughts to guess what someone else is thinking:
•'Want some coffee?' 'You read my mind.'
16 can read sb like a book if you can read someone like a book, you know them so well that you immediately know what they are thinking or feeling
17 read sb's palm to look carefully at someone's hand, in order to find out about their future
18 read sb's lips to understand what someone is saying by watching the way their lips move. People who cannot hear do this.
LIP-READ
19 read my lips spoken used to tell someone that you really mean what you are saying:
•Read my lips: I will not let you down.
20 do you read me? spoken used to ask someone whether they can hear you when you are speaking to them by radio
21 well-read/widely-read someone who is well-read has read a lot of books and knows a lot about many subjects:
•She is intelligent and extremely well-read.

PHRASAL VERBS
read sth <=> back phr v
to read out loud something that you have just written down
[+to]
•Can you read that last bit back to me?

read for sth phr v
to say some of the words that are said by a particular character in a play, as a test of your ability to act

read sth into sth phr v
to think that a situation, action etc has a meaning or importance that it does not really have:
•It was only a casual remark. I think you're reading too much into it.

read sth <=> out phr v
to read and say words that are written down, so that people can hear:
•Why don't you read out the name of the winner?
[+to]
•He read the last few sentences out to me.

read sth <=> through/over phr v
to read something carefully from beginning to end in order to check details or find mistakes; = check over/through
•Read the contract over carefully before you sign it.
•Spend a couple of minutes just reading through your essay.

read up on sth phr v also read sth <=> up BrE
to read a lot about something because you will need to know about it:
•You'll enjoy traveling more if you read up on the history of the countries you'll be visiting.
READING
read (sb) the riot act at RIOT^1 (4)

WORD FOCUS: read
to read parts of something:
dip into
flick/leaf through
browse through
to read something quickly:
skim
scan
to read something carefully:
pore over
scrutinize
to read something long and boring:
plough through BrE /plow through AmE
wade through
clear enough to read:
legible
not clear enough to read:
illegible
someone who is unable to read:
illiterate
someone who likes reading very much:
bookworm
[singular] informal
1 BrE if you have a read, you spend time reading:
•I sat down to have a nice quiet read.
[+of]
•I had a quick read of the report before I left.
2 a good read something that you enjoy reading:
•I thought his last book was a really good read.
1 interesting and enjoyable to read, and easy to understand; unreadable
very/highly/eminently readable
•The book is informative and highly readable.
2 writing or print that is readable is clear and easy to read; = legible
- readability noun [U]
MACHINE-READABLE $ [C]
1 SB WHO READS someone who reads books, or who reads in a particular way:
•The book will appeal to young readers.
•I've always been an avid reader (=someone who reads a lot).
[+of]
•He's a great reader of crime fiction.
a fast/slow reader
2 OF A NEWSPAPER/MAGAZINE someone who reads a particular newspaper or magazine regularly:
•The newspaper gradually lost readers during the 1980s.
3 BOOK an easy book for children who are learning to read or for people who are learning a foreign language
4 TEACHER Reader an important teacher in a British university
[+in]
•a Reader in Sociology at Bristol University
MIND READER, NEWSREADER $ [C,U]
1 all the people who read a particular newspaper or magazine regularly
[+of]
•a magazine with a readership of 60,000
•They are hoping that the paper will have quite a wide readership.
2 the job that a Reader has in a British university:
•a readership in linguistics
1 quickly and easily:
•Boats are readily available to visitors.
•The information is readily accessible on the Internet.
2 quickly, willingly, and without complaining:
•Jack readily agreed to help.
1 [U] when you are prepared for something, or when something is ready to be used
in readiness (for sth)
•They stacked the firewood in readiness for the evening campfire.
2 [singular, U] willingness to do something
readiness to do sth
•He stressed the government's readiness to take tough action against terrorists.
1 ACTIVITY/SKILL [U] the activity or skill of understanding written words:
•She loves reading.
•Reading is taught using a combination of several methods.
2 BOOKS [U] books and other things that you can read:
•Her main reading seems to be mystery novels.
•a bit of light reading (=things that are easy and enjoyable to read) for my holiday
•There's a list of further reading (=other things you can read) at the end of each chapter.
•a supply of interesting reading material
3 ACT OF READING [singular] when you read something:
•The book is quite difficult on first reading.
•a close reading of the text (=when you read it very carefully)
4 UNDERSTANDING [C] your way of understanding what a particular statement, situation, event etc means; = interpretation
[+of]
•What's your reading of the government's response to this crisis?
5 TO A GROUP [C]
a) an occasion when a piece of literature is read to a group of people:
•a poetry reading at the bookstore
b) a piece of writing, especially from the Bible, that is read to a group of people:
•The first reading is from Corinthians I, Chapter 3.
6 make (for) interesting/fascinating/compelling etc reading to be interesting etc to read:
•Your report made fascinating reading.
7 MEASUREMENT [C] a number or amount shown on a measuring instrument:
•We take temperature readings every two hours.
8 IN PARLIAMENT [C] one of the occasions in the British Parliament or the US Congress when a suggested new law is discussed:
•the second reading of the Industrial Relations Bill
1 [I] to get used to a new situation, job, or way of life:
•It takes time to readjust after a divorce.
[+to]
•Former soldiers often struggle to readjust to life outside the army.
2 [T] to make a small change to something or to its position:
•He readjusted his glasses.
•We may need to readjust these figures slightly.
- readjustment noun [C,U][U] technical
ROM[C]
information that is produced by a computer and shown on a screen; printout
•a read-out of all the sales figures
1 PREPARED [not before noun] if you are ready, you are prepared for what you are going to do:
•Come on. Aren't you ready yet?
•When the doorbell rang he was ready and waiting.
ready to do sth
•Everything's packed, and we're ready to leave.
[+for]
•I don't feel that I'm ready for my driving test yet.
•I felt strong, fit, and ready for anything.
[+with]
•At the end of the lecture, I was ready with questions.
•Why does it take you so long to get ready to go out?
make ready (=prepare to start doing something)
•We made ready for our journey home.
when you're ready (=said to tell someone that you are ready for them to start doing something)
ready when you are (=said to tell someone that you are ready to do what you have arranged to do together)
PREPARE
2 FOR IMMEDIATE USE [not before noun] if something is ready, someone has prepared it and you can use it immediately:
•When will supper be ready?
ready to use/eat etc
•The computer is now set up and ready to use.
[+for]
•Is everything ready for the exhibition?
•I've got to get a room ready for our guests.
3 have sth ready to have something near you so that you can use it if you need to:
•I had my calculator ready.
4 be/feel ready for sth spoken to need or want something as soon as possible:
•I'm really ready for a vacation.
5 be ready to do sth informal to be likely to do something soon:
•She looked ready to burst into tears.
6 WILLING [not before noun] very willing to do something
ready to do sth
•He was always ready to help us.
•She was ready and willing to work hard.
7 QUICK [only before noun] available or coming without delay:
•They need to have ready access to police files.
•a ready supply of drink
•I had no ready answer to his question.
•an intelligent man with a ready wit
8 ready money/cash money that you can spend immediately:
•The company is short of ready cash.
9 ready, steady, go! BrE get ready, get set, go! AmE spoken used to tell people to start a race
READILY, READINESS
rough and ready at ROUGH^1 (15)past tense and past participle readied, present participle readying, third person singular readies [T]
formal to make something or someone ready for something; = prepare
ready sb/sth for sth
•I tried to ready him for the bad news.
1 at the ready available to be used immediately:
•Soldiers stood around with weapons at the ready.
2 the readies BrE informal money that you can use immediately:
•I'm getting a new car as soon as I can scrape together the readies.
ready cooked/prepared etc already cooked, prepared etc by someone else:
•They seem to live on ready cooked meals.[only before noun]
1 ready-made food or goods are already prepared or made, and ready for you to use immediately:
•a ready-made spaghetti sauce
2 ready-made ideas or reasons are provided for you, so that you do not have to think of them yourself:
•The rain gave us a ready-made excuse to stay at home.[C] BrE
a meal that has already been cooked and is sold ready to eatold-fashioned
ready-to-wear clothes are made in standard sizes, not made specially to fit one person $ [T]
to formally state an opinion, belief, or intention again, especially when someone has questioned you or expressed a doubt; = reiterate
•The party reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear disarmament.
reaffirm that
•The government has reaffirmed that education is a top priority.
- reaffirmation $ noun [C,U] $ [U] BrE technical
REFORESTATION [C] technical
a substance that shows that another substance in a COMPOUND exists, by causing a chemical REACTION
1 IMPORTANT something that is real exists and is important:
•There is a real danger that the disease might spread.
•We need to tackle the real problems of unemployment and poverty.
•There is no real reason to worry.
2 NOT ARTIFICIAL something that is real is actually what it seems to be and not false or artificial; fake
•a coat made of real fur
•She had never seen a real live elephant before.
•Artificial flowers can sometimes look better than the real thing.
3 NOT IMAGINARY something that is real actually exists and is not just imagined:
•The children know that Santa Claus isn't a real person.
•Dreams can sometimes seem very real.
•Things don't happen quite that easily in real life.
4 the real world used to talk about the difficult experience of living and working with other people, rather than being protected at home, at school, or at college:
•the shock of leaving university and going out into the real world
5 TRUE [only before noun] actual and true, not invented:
•That's not her real name.
•What was the real reason you quit your job?
6 FEELINGS a real feeling or emotion is one that you actually experience and is strong; = genuine
•There was a look of real hatred in her eyes.
•I got a real sense of achievement when my work was first published.
7 RIGHT QUALITIES [only before noun] a real thing has all the qualities you expect something of that type to have:
•I remember my first real job.
•Simon was her first real boyfriend.
8 FOR EMPHASIS [only before noun] used to emphasize how stupid, beautiful, terrible etc someone or something is:
•Thanks - you've been a real help.
•The house was a real mess.
9 for real seriously, not just pretending:
•After two trial runs we did it for real.
10 are you for real? AmE used when you are very surprised or shocked by what someone has done or said
11 get real! used to tell someone that they are being very silly or unreasonable
12 keep it real to behave in an honest way and not pretend to be different from how you really are
13 MONEY [only before noun] a real increase or decrease in an amount of money is one you calculate by including the general decrease in the value of money over a period of time:
•a real increase of 6% in average wages
•The average value of salaries has fallen in real terms (=calculated in this way).AmE spoken
very:
•He's real cute.
•It was real nice to see you again.[C,U] BrE
beer that has been made in the traditional way, not in a large factory[U] especially AmE
1 property in the form of land or houses:
•a fall in the value of real estate
2 the business of selling houses or land[C] AmE
someone whose job is to sell houses or land for other people; = estate agent BrE [T]
1 to change the way in which something is organized; = reorganize
•The company is planning to realign its sales operations.
2 realign yourself with sb to begin to support and work together with someone again:
•They have tried to realign themselves with the communists.
3 to change the position of something slightly so that it is in the correct position in relation to something else:
•You'll have to realign your text columns. [C,U]
1 when something is changed and organized in a different way; = reorganization
[+of]
•a realignment of the company's management structure
2 when people stop supporting one group and start to support and work together with a different group
[+of]
•There is now a need for a realignment of political parties.
3 when the parts of something are arranged so that they return to their correct positions in relation to each other:
•the realignment of several major roads [U]
1 the ability to accept and deal with difficult situations in a practical way, based on what is possible rather than what you would like to happen:
•He has hope, but also a scientist's sense of realism.
2 the quality of being or seeming real:
•the realism of the horses on the carousel
3 also Realism the style of art and literature in which things, especially unpleasant things, are shown or described as they really are in life; idealism, romanticism
•the tough realism of his early works [C]
1 someone who accepts that things are not always perfect, and deals with problems or difficult situations in a practical way:
•She had always been a realist, not a dreamer.
2 a writer, painter etc who shows or describes things, especially unpleasant things, as they really are in life
1 judging and dealing with situations in a practical way according to what is actually possible rather than what you would like to happen; unrealistic
it is not realistic to do sth
•It's just not realistic to expect a promotion so soon.
[+about]
•You need to be realistic about the amount you can do in a day.
2 a realistic aim or hope is one that it is possible to achieve; unrealistic
•Is this a realistic target?
•I don't think they have a realistic chance of winning.
3 realistic pictures or stories show things as they are in real life:
•a realistic portrayal of life in Victorian Britain
1 if you think about something realistically, you think about it in a practical way and according to what is actually possible:
•You can't realistically expect to win the whole competition. [sentence adverb]
•Realistically, we're not going to get this finished this week.
2 if you describe or show something realistically, you describe or show it as it is in real life:
•realistically painted toy soldiers
•The novel realistically depicts immigrant life at the beginning of the last century plural realities
1 [C,U] what actually happens or is true, not what is imagined or thought:
•the distinction between fantasy and reality
•TV is used as an escape from reality.
•I think the government has lost touch with reality (=no longer understands what is real or true).
•political realities
harsh/grim/stark reality
•Millions of people live with the harsh realities of unemployment.
the reality is that
•The reality is that young people will not go into teaching until salaries are higher.
•The paperless office may one day become a reality.
2 in reality used to say that something is different from what people think:
•In reality, violent crimes are still extremely rare.
3 [U] the fact that something exists or is happening:
•She had never accepted the reality of her pregnancy.
VIRTUAL REALITY[C usually singular] informal
an occasion when you consider the facts of a situation, as opposed to what you would like or what you have imagined:
•It's time for a reality check. The Bears aren't as good a team as you think.also realisable BrE
1 possible to achieve; = achievable
•Is this a realizable goal?
2 in a form that can be changed into money easily:
•the company's realizable assetsalso realisation BrE $ [singular, U]
1 when you understand something that you had not understood before
[+of]
•I was shocked by the realization of what I had done.
realization that
•the realization that she might never recover from her illness
•There is a growing realization that we must manage the earth's resources more carefully.
2 formal when you achieve something that you had planned or hoped for; = achievement
[+of]
•the realization of his dreams
3 technical when you change something into money by selling it:
•the realization of assetsalso realise BrE [T not usually in progressive]
1 UNDERSTAND to know and understand something, or suddenly begin to understand it
realize (that)
•I suddenly realized that the boy was crying.
•Do you realize you're an hour late?
realize who/what/how etc
•I'm sorry, I didn't realize who you were.
•It took us a while to realize the extent of the tragedy.
•It was only later that I realized my mistake.
2 ACHIEVE formal to achieve something that you were hoping to achieve:
•She never realized her ambition of winning an Olympic gold medal.
•a young singer who has not yet realized her full potential (=achieved as much as she can achieve)
3 sb's worst fears were realized used to say that the thing that you were most afraid of has actually happened:
•His worst fears were realized when he heard that Chris had been arrested.
4 MONEY
a) formal to obtain or earn an amount of money:
•The campaign realized $5000.
•We realized a small profit on the sale of the house.
b) realize an asset technical to change something that you own into money by selling it

WORD CHOICE: realize, recognize
If you realize a fact, you know and understand it, or begin to understand it: Do you realize how dangerous this is? | I realized that the job was going to take longer than I thought.
If you recognize a fact or problem, you accept that it exists: We recognize that many students need extra help. | The government does not recognize the need for more funding.

!! Realize is not followed by 'about' or 'of': She already had a boyfriend, but I didn't realize this (NOT didn't realize about this).

[only before noun]
actually happening in life, not invented in a book:
•a real-life drama
•real-life problems
1 VERY very; = extremely
•a really good film
•It was really cold last night.
•He walks really slowly.
•I'm really, really sorry.
2 THE REAL SITUATION used when you are talking about what actually happened or is true, rather than what people might wrongly think:
•Why don't you tell us what really happened?
•Oliver's not really her brother.
•I never know what he's really thinking.
•She seems unfriendly at first, but she's really very nice.
3 DEFINITELY used to emphasize something you are saying:
•We really need that extra money.
•I really don't mind.
•I'm absolutely fine, Dad - really.
4 NOT TRUE used in questions when you are asking someone if something is true and suggesting that you think it is not true; = honestly
•Do you really think she's doing this for your benefit?
•Do you really expect me to believe that?
5
a) really? used to show that you are surprised by what someone has said:
•'He's Canadian.' 'Really?'
b) really? used in conversation to show that you are listening to or interested in what the other person is saying:
•'We had a great time in Florida.' 'Really? How lovely.'
c) AmE used to show that you agree with someone:
•'Glen can be such a jerk.' 'Yeah, really!'
d) especially BrE used to show that you are angry or disapprove of something:
•Really, Larry, you might have told me!
6 not really used to say 'no' or 'not' in a less strong way:
•'Do you want to come along?' 'Not really.'
•I don't really know what he's doing now.
7 should/ought really used to say what someone should do, especially when they are probably not going to do it:
•You should really go and see a doctor.
8 really and truly also really, truly AmE used to emphasize a statement or opinion:
•He was really and truly a brilliant comedian. [C]
1 written a general area of knowledge, activity, or thought:
•the spiritual realm
[+of]
•an idea that belongs in the realm of science fiction
2 within the realms of possibility also not beyond the realm(s) of possibility used, often humorously, to say that something is possible even though you think it is not very likely:
•I suppose it's not beyond the realms of possibility.
3 literary a country ruled by a king or queen $ [U]
politics based on practical situations and needs rather than on moral principles or ideas[U]
law REAL ESTATE (1)[only before noun]
technical a real-time computer system deals with information as fast as it receives it:
•a real-time operating system
- real time noun [U]
•The images are created in real time.realtor $ [C] trademark AmE
a REAL ESTATE AGENT [U] AmE
REAL ESTATE [C]
1 reams [plural] informal a large amount of writing on paper
[+of]
•reams of notes
2 technical a standard amount of paper, 500 pieces in the US or 480 pieces in Britain[T]
AmE informal to treat someone badly, especially by cheating [T]
formal to give new strength to someone or something or the energy to start again
1 [T] to get something, especially something good, as a result of what you have done
reap the benefit/reward/profit (of sth)
•Those who do take risks often reap the rewards.
2 you reap what you sow used to say that if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you, and if you do good things, good things will happen to you
3 [I,T] old-fashioned to cut and collect a crop of grain; harvest
- reaper noun [C]
GRIM REAPER $ [I]
to appear again after not being seen for some time:
•In March, his cancer reappeared.
•Many of these ideas reappear in his later books.
- reappearance noun [C,U] [T]
to examine something again in order to consider whether you should change it or your opinion of it; = reassess
•People began to reappraise their values.
- reappraisal noun [C,U] $
1 formal the rear the back part of an object, vehicle, or building, or a position at the back of an object or area; front
at/to the rear (of sth)
•a garden at the rear of the house
•The hotel overlooks the river to the rear.
in the rear (of sth)
•a passenger travelling in the rear of a car
2 [C] also rear end informal the part of your body which you sit on; = bottom
3 bring up the rear to be at the back of a line of people or in a race:
•Carole was left to bring up the rear.
1 [T] to look after a person or animal until they are fully grown; = raise
•It's a good place to rear young children.
•The birds have been successfully reared in captivity.
2 also rear up [I] if an animal rears, it rises up to stand on its back legs; buck
•The horse reared and threw me off.
3 also rear up [I] if something rears up, it appears in front of you and often seems to be leaning over you in a threatening way:
•A large rock, almost 200 feet high, reared up in front of them.
4 be reared on sth to be given a particular kind of food, books, entertainment etc regularly while you are a child:
•children reared on TV and video games
5 rear its ugly head if a problem or difficult situation rears its ugly head, it appears and is impossible to ignore:
•The problem of drug-taking in sport has reared its ugly head again.[only before noun]
at or near the back of something, especially a vehicle; front
•the rear door of the car
•Knock at the rear entrance.[C]
a high rank in the navy $
1 fight a rearguard action
a) to make a determined effort to prevent a change that you think is bad, although it seems too late to stop it:
•They have been fighting a rearguard action to stop a supermarket being built on the land.
b) if an army fights a rearguard action, it defends itself at the back against an enemy that is chasing it
2 [singular] the group of soldiers who defend the back of an army against an enemy that is chasing it $ [I,T]
to obtain weapons again or provide someone else with new weapons:
•They returned to base to rearm.
- rearmament noun [U] $ [only before noun]
furthest back; = last
•the rearmost seats [T]
1 to change the position or order of things:
•She set about rearranging the furniture in the living room.
2 to change the time of a meeting etc:
•My secretary will phone to rearrange the appointment.
- rearrangement noun [C,U] $ [C]
a mirror inside a car etc that lets the driver see the area behind the car $
in or towards the back of something
- rearwards also rearward adverb
1 CAUSE [C] why someone decides to do something, or the cause or explanation for something that happens

reason (that)
reason why
reason for (doing) sth
reason to do sth
a good reason
a compelling reason (=a reason that persuades you)
give a reason (for sth)
for some reason (or other/or another) (=for a reason that you do not know)
for personal reasons
for sentimental reasons (=because of your feelings, not for practical reasons)
for the simple reason (that)
for obvious reasons
for reasons of sth
for reasons best known to himself/themselves etc (=used when someone does something surprising)
no/any reason whatsoever
have your reasons (=have a secret reason for doing something)
see no reason why/to do sth
by reason of sth formal (=because of something)

•The reason I called was to ask about the plans for Saturday.
•We'd like to know the reason why she didn't accept the job.
•People give many different reasons for wanting to change jobs.
•They must have had a good reason to do it.
[+behind]
•He explained the reasons behind the decision.
•He wouldn't give the reasons for his decision.
• For some reason or other, he couldn't come that day.
•She wants to change her job for purely personal reasons.
•I kept the photos for sentimental reasons.
•She didn't answer for the simple reason that she couldn't think of anything to say.
• For obvious reasons, we've changed all the names.
•The tower is closed for reasons of safety.
• For reasons best known to herself, she's sold the house and left the country.
•There is no reason whatsoever to doubt her story.
•'Why did you tell him?' 'Oh, I had my reasons.'
•I see no reason why it shouldn't work.
see box at CAUSE^1

2 GOOD OR FAIR [U] a fact that makes it right or fair for someone to do something
(no) reason to do sth
•There is no reason to panic.
•She has reason to feel guilty.
•We have reason to believe that the goods were stolen.
•I know I'm late, but that's no reason to shout at me.
•Under the circumstances, we had every reason (=had very good reasons) to be suspicious.
with (good) reason (=based on something sensible)
•Natalie was alarmed by the news, and with reason.
3 all the more reason why/to do sth spoken used to say that what has just been mentioned is an additional reason for doing what you have suggested:
•But surely that's all the more reason to act quickly.
4 GOOD JUDGMENT [U] sensible judgment and understanding; = sense
•There's reason in what he says.
•They're not prepared to listen to reason (=be persuaded by someone's sensible advice).
•There's no way of making my father see reason (=accept advice and make a sensible decision).
5 within reason within sensible limits:
•You can go anywhere you want, within reason.
6 go/be beyond (all) reason to be more than is acceptable or reasonable:
•Their demands go beyond all reason.
7 ABILITY TO THINK [U] the ability to think, understand, and form judgments that are based on facts:
•the human power of reason
lose your reason old-fashioned (=become mentally ill)
8 no reason spoken used when someone asks you why you are doing something and you do not want to tell them:
•'Why d'you want to go that way?' 'Oh, no reason.'
no rhyme or reason at RHYME^1 (4)
it stands to reason at STAND^1 (32)

GRAMMAR

!! Reason is never followed by of or because.
You can talk about the reason for something, the reason that something happens , or the reason why something happens: Can you explain the reasons for (NOT reasons of) your decision? | The main reason why/that (NOT reason because) I'm writing is to invite you to stay.
You can also leave out why or that: I like children, and that's the reason I became a teacher.

!! Reason is not usually followed by against. When you are giving reasons why something is bad, useargument against: An important argument against (NOT reason against) capital punishment is the possibility of error.

1 [T] to form a particular judgment about a situation after carefully considering the facts
reason (that)
•They reasoned that other businesses would soon copy the idea.
2 [I] to think and make judgments:
•the ability to reason

PHRASAL VERBS
reason sth <=> out phr v
to find an explanation or solution to a problem, by thinking of all the possibilities; = work out

reason with sb phr v
to talk to someone in an attempt to persuade them to be more sensible:
•I tried to reason with her.
1 fair and sensible; unreasonable
•a reasonable request
• Be reasonable- you can't expect her to do all the work on her own!
•I thought it was a perfectly reasonable (=completely reasonable) question.
it is reasonable to do sth
•It seems reasonable to assume they've been tested.
•He had reasonable grounds (=good reasons but no proof) for believing the law had been broken.
a reasonable explanation/excuse
•It sounded like a reasonable enough excuse to me.
2 fairly good, but not especially good; = average
•She has a reasonable chance of doing well in the exam.
3 a reasonable amount is fairly large:
•I've got a reasonable amount of money saved.
4 reasonable prices are not too high; = fair
•good food at a reasonable price
5 beyond (a) reasonable doubt law if something is proved beyond reasonable doubt, it is shown to be almost certainly true
- reasonableness noun [U]
1 [+ adj/adv] quite or to a satisfactory degree, but not completely:
•The car is in reasonably good condition.
•He's doing reasonably well at school.
2 in a way that is right or fair:
•He can't reasonably be expected to have known that.
3 in a sensible way:
•Despite her anger, she had behaved very reasonably. [only before noun]
based on careful thought, and therefore sensible; = logical
•reasoned argument [U]
a process of thinking carefully about something in order to make a judgment
scientific/logical/legal reasoning
[+behind]
•What is the reasoning behind this decision?
1 [T] to bring together the different parts of something to make a whole again, after they have been separated:
•The equipment had to be dismantled and reassembled at each new location.
2 [I] if a group of people reassemble, they meet together again after a period apart:
•Parliament reassembled after a seven-week break. $ [T]
1 reassert your authority/power/control to do or say something to make your position stronger after a period when it seemed weak:
•The Prime Minister aimed to reassert his authority.
2 to state a fact or opinion again, often more strongly or more clearly:
•He used the opportunity to reassert his position on energy policy.
3 reassert itself if something reasserts itself, it returns or becomes stronger after a period when it was missing or weak:
•At last, common sense had reasserted itself. [T]
to think about something again carefully in order to decide whether to change your opinion or judgment about it; = reappraise
•This has caused us to reassess the way we approach our planning.
- reassessment noun [C,U] $
[C,U] something that is said or done which makes someone feel calmer and less worried or frightened about a problem:
•Parents are looking for reassurance about their children's safety.
give/offer/provide reassurance
•They are offering practical help and reassurance.
reassurance that
•We have been given reassurances that the water is safe to drink. $ [T]
to make someone feel calmer and less worried or frightened about a problem or situation:
•Teachers reassured anxious parents.
reassure sb (that)
•He tried to reassure me that my mother would be okay. $
making you feel less worried or frightened:
•a reassuring smile
it is reassuring (for sb) to do sth
•It's reassuring to know that problems are rare.
- reassuringly adverb [C]
an amount of money that is paid back to you when you have paid too much tax, rent etc:
•You may be entitled to a tax rebate. [C]
1 someone who opposes or fights against people in authority:
•Anti-government rebels attacked the town.
rebel forces/soldiers
•the rebel leader
2 someone who refuses to do things in the normal way, or in the way that other people want them to:
•Alex has always been a bit of a rebel. past tense and past participle rebelled, present participle rebelling [I]
1 to oppose or fight against someone in authority or against an idea or situation which you do not agree with
[+against]
•teenage boys rebelling against their parents
2 written if your stomach, legs, mind etc rebel, you cannot do or believe something you think you should:
•He knew he ought to eat, but his stomach rebelled. [C,U]
1 an organized attempt to change the government or leader of a country, using violence; coup, revolution
•an armed rebellion
[+against]
•a rebellion against the military regime
in rebellion
•The Bretons rose in rebellion against the King.
suppress/crush a rebellion (=use violence to stop it)
2 when someone opposes or fights against people in authority or ideas which they do not agree with:
•a rebellion by right-wing members of the party
[+against]
•rebellion against traditional values
1 deliberately not obeying people in authority or rules of behaviour:
•rebellious teenagers
•He's always had a rebellious streak (=a tendency to rebel).
2 fighting against the government of your own country:
•rebellious minorities
- rebelliously adverb
- rebelliousness noun [U] $
1 [singular] formal when an important idea, feeling, or organization becomes strong or popular again
[+of]
•a rebirth of nationalism in the region
2 [U] when something or someone becomes alive again after dying:
•the cycle of birth, death and rebirth [I,T]
if you reboot a computer, or if it reboots, you start it up again $ literary
be reborn
a) to become active or popular again:
•In the past decade, the city has been reborn.
b) to be born again, especially according to some beliefs, ancient stories etc
1 [I] if a ball or other moving object rebounds, it moves quickly back away from something it has just hit; ricochet
[+off]
•His shot on goal rebounded off the post.
2 [I] if prices, values etc rebound, they increase again after decreasing; = recover
•Share prices rebounded today after last week's losses.
3 [I,T] to catch a BASKETBALL after a player has tried but failed to get a point

PHRASAL VERBS
rebound on/upon sb phr v
if something bad or unpleasant you have done rebounds on you, it has a bad effect on you; = backfire
1 on the rebound
a) someone who is on the rebound is upset or confused because their romantic relationship has just ended:
•He first met me when I was on the rebound, after splitting up with Mark.
b) a ball that is on the rebound has just hit something and is moving back through the air:
•I caught the ball on the rebound.
c) something that is on the rebound is starting to increase or improve again:
•The market seems to be on the rebound.
2 [C] technical an act of catching a BASKETBALL after a player has tried but failed to get a point [C]
formal an unkind or unfriendly answer to a friendly suggestion or offer of help; = snub
•He received a humiliating rebuff from his manager.
- rebuff verb [T]
•He rebuffed all her suggestions. past tense and past participle rebuilt [T]
1 to build something again, after it has been damaged or destroyed:
•The church was completely rebuilt in the last century.
2 to make something strong and successful again:
•The first priority is to rebuild the area's manufacturing industry.
•We try to help them rebuild their lives (=live normally again after something bad has happened). [T]
formal to speak to someone severely about something they have done wrong; = reprimand
rebuke sb for doing sth
•Members of the jury were sharply rebuked for speaking to the press.
- rebuke noun [C,U]
•a rebuke from the President past tense and past participle rebutted, present participle rebutting [T]
formal to prove that a statement or a charge made against you is false; = refute
- rebuttal noun [C,U]
•his firm rebuttal of the accusations formal
refusing to do what you are told to do, even after you have been punished; = unruly
•a recalcitrant pupil
- recalcitrance noun [U] $
1 REMEMBER STH [I,T not in progressive] to remember a particular fact, event, or situation from the past:
•You don't happen to recall his name, do you?
recall (that)
•I seem to recall I've met him before somewhere.
recall doing sth
•I don't recall seeing any cars parked outside.
recall what/how/where etc
•I can't recall who gave me the information.
• As I recall, it was you who suggested this idea in the first place.
2 PERSON [T] to officially tell someone to come back to a place or group
recall sb to sth
•Cole was recalled to the squad to replace the injured Quinn.
recall sb from sth
•The Ambassador was recalled from Washington.
3 PRODUCT [T] if a company recalls one of its products, it asks people who have bought it to return it because there may be something wrong with it:
•The cars had to be recalled due to an engine fault.
4 COMPUTER [T] to bring information back onto the screen of a computer
5 BE SIMILAR TO STH [T] if something recalls something else, it makes you think of it because it is very similar:
•The furnishings recall the 1960s.
6 POLITICS [T] AmE to vote to remove someone from their political position $
1 MEMORY [U] the ability to remember something that you have learned or experienced:
•A child's recall is usually accurate.
•He had total recall (=remembered everything) of every play in the game.
2 ORDER TO RETURN [singular, U] an official order telling someone to return to a place, especially before they expected to
[+of]
•the recall of their ambassador
3 beyond recall impossible to bring back or remember
4 PRODUCT [C] when a company asks people to return a product they have bought because there may be something wrong with it
5 POLITICS [singular, U] AmE a vote to remove someone from their political position, or the act of being removed by a vote
[+of]
•the recall of four city council members [I,T]
formal to say publicly that you no longer have a political or religious belief that you had before
- recantation noun [C,U] past tense and past participle recapped, present participle recapping [I,T]
to repeat the main points of something that has just been said:
•Let me just recap what's been discussed so far.
[+on]
•to recap on the previous lecture
- recap noun [C] [I,T]
formal to repeat the main points of something that has just been said; = recap
- recapitulation noun [C,U] $ [T]
1 to bring back the same feelings or qualities that you experienced in the past:
•The film really recaptures the atmosphere of those days.
2 to catch a prisoner or animal that has escaped:
•He was recaptured after nearly two weeks on the run.
3 to take control of a place again by fighting for it; = retake
•an attempt to recapture the city
- recapture noun [U] $ past tense and past participle recast [T]
1 to give something a new shape or a new form of organization:
•an attempt to recast the statement in less formal language
2 to give parts in a play or film to different actors
- recasting noun [C,U] [C,U] BrE
informal RECONNAISSANCE:
•a quick recce of the area
- recce verb [I,T]also recd BrE
the written abbreviation of received [I]
1 if something you can see or hear recedes, it gets further and further away until it disappears
[+into]
•footsteps receding into the distance
2 if a memory, feeling, or possibility recedes, it gradually goes away:
•The pain in his head gradually receded.
3 if water recedes, it moves back from an area that it was covering:
•The flood waters finally began to recede in November.
4 if your hair recedes, you gradually lose the hair at the front of your head:
•He was in his mid-forties, with a receding hairline.
5 receding chin a chin that slopes backwards
1 [C] a piece of paper that you are given which shows that you have paid for something:
•Keep your receipt in case you want to bring it back.
[+for]
•Make sure you get receipts for everything.
•Can you give me a receipt?
2 [U] formal when someone receives something
[+of]
•the closing date for receipt of applications
on/upon receipt of sth
•The booking will be made on receipt of a deposit.
be in receipt of sth (=to have received something)
3 receipts [plural] technical the money that a business, bank, or government receives:
•total revenue receipts of $18.4 million
needing or waiting to be paid:
•the company's accounts receivable (=sales that have been made but not yet paid for) [plural]
amounts of money that are owed to a company [T]
1 BE GIVEN STH to be given something; = get
•All the children will receive a small gift.
receive sth from sb
•She received an honorary degree from Harvard.
receive attention/affection/support
•She received no support from her parents.
receive payment/money/a pension etc
•They will be entitled to receive unemployment benefit.
receive a prize/award/gift etc
•He went up to receive his award from the mayor.
receive education/training
•16- to 18-year-olds receiving full-time education
•Lee received 324 votes (=324 people voted for him).
!! In spoken English it is more usual to use get.
2 BE SENT STH formal to get a letter, message, or telephone call, or something which someone has sent you
receive sth from sb
•He received a letter from his insurance company.
•If you would like to receive further information, return the attached form.
•We have received numerous complaints about the noise.
3 TREATMENT formal if you receive a particular type of medical treatment, it is done to you:
•He received hospital treatment for a cut over his eye.
4 REACTION TO STH [usually passive] to react in a particular way to a suggestion, idea, performance etc; reception
•The film was well received by critics (=they said it was good).
•He received the news in silence.
5 be on/at the receiving end (of sth) to be the person who is affected by someone else's actions, usually in an unpleasant way:
•She found herself on the receiving end of racist abuse.
6 receive an injury/blow formal to be injured or hit
7 PEOPLE formal to officially accept someone as a guest or member of a group
receive guests/visitors
•She isn't well enough to receive visitors yet.
receive sb into sth
•She was later received into the Church.
8 BY RADIO
a) if a radio or television receives radio waves or other signals, it makes them become sounds or pictures
b) to be able to hear a radio message that someone is sending:
•Receiving you loud and clear!' [only before noun]
formal accepted or considered to be correct by most people
received opinion/wisdom etc (=the opinion most people have)
•The received wisdom is that he will retire within the next year.[U]
RP $ [C]
1 TELEPHONE the part of a telephone that you hold next to your mouth and ear; handset
pick up/lift the receiver
•She picked up the receiver and dialled his number.
put down/replace the receiver
2 BUSINESS BrE someone who is officially in charge of a business or company that is BANKRUPT
an official/administrative receiver
•The business is in the hands of the receivers.
3 STOLEN PROPERTY someone who buys and sells stolen property
4 RADIO formal a radio or television, or other equipment which receives signals:
•a satellite receiver
5 AMERICAN FOOTBALL a player in American football who is in a position to catch the ball $ [U]
if a business is in receivership, it is controlled by an official receiver because it has no money:
•The company went into receivership with massive debts. [U] BrE
the crime of buying and selling stolen goods
having happened or started only a short time ago:
•Irving's most recent book
•recent research into the causes of cancer
in recent years/months/times etc
•The situation has improved in recent years.
•the recent past
not long ago:
•He has recently been promoted to Assistant Manager.
•a recently published biography
•Jerry lived in Cairo until quite recently.
• More recently, he's appeared in a number of British films. [C] formal
a container for putting things in:
•a trash receptacle
1 WELCOME/REACTION [C usually singular] a particular type of welcome for someone, or a particular type of reaction to their ideas, work etc; receive
•She was unsure of her reception after everything that had happened.
a warm/good/enthusiastic reception
•The delegates gave him a warm reception.
a hostile/cool/frosty reception
•His ideas met with a hostile reception.
receive/have/get/meet with a ... reception
•He got a great reception from the crowd.
•The plans received a mixed reception from unions (=some people liked it, others did not).
2 HOTEL/OFFICE [U]
a) the desk or office where visitors arriving in a hotel or large organization go first:
•Please leave your key at the reception desk.
•I asked the man at reception.
b) BrE the area around or in front of this desk or office; = lobby
•I'll wait for you in reception.
•the reception area
3 PARTY [C] a large formal party to celebrate an event or to welcome someone:
•It's an ideal location for a wedding reception.
•The occasion was marked by a civic reception.
4 SIGNALS [U] the act of receiving radio, television, or other signals, or the quality of signals you receive:
•listeners complaining about poor reception
5 FOOTBALL [C] the act of catching the ball in American football[C] BrE
a place where people who have no home, especially people who have had to leave their homes, can go for food, help etc and to stay for a short time[C] BrE
the first class of a PRIMARY SCHOOL, which children go to aged 4 or 5 [C]
someone whose job is to welcome and deal with people arriving in a hotel or office building, visiting a doctor etc[C]
BrE a room in a private house that is not a kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom - used by people who sell houses
willing to consider new ideas or listen to someone else's opinions:
•You might find them in a more receptive mood tomorrow.
•a receptive audience
[+to]
•a workforce that is receptive to new ideas
- receptiveness also receptivity noun [U] $ [C]
a nerve ending which receives information about changes in light, heat etc and causes the body to react in particular ways $
1 [C,U] a time during the day or year when no work is done, especially in parliament, law courts etc:
•Parliament's summer recess
2 [U] AmE a short period of time between lessons at a school when children can go outdoors and play; = break BrE
•Her favorite things at school are music and recess.
3 [C] a space in the wall of a room, especially for shelves, cupboards etc; = alcove
4 the recesses of sth the inner hidden parts of something:
•the deep recesses of the cave
•fears hidden away in the darker recesses of her mind $ [I]
especially AmE if a government, law court etc recesses, it officially stops work for a period of time $
fitted into a part of a wall that is further back than the rest of the wall:
•a recessed bookshelf [C,U]
a difficult time when there is less trade, business activity etc in a country than usual:
•the economic recession of the early 1980s
•There is deep recession in the UK.
into/out of recession
•attempts to pull the country out of recession $
relating to a recession or likely to cause one:
•recessionary pressures technical
a recessive GENE is passed to children from their parents only if both parents have the gene; dominant $ [T]
1 to put a new supply of electricity into a BATTERY
2 recharge your batteries informal to get back your strength and energy again:
•I'm going to spend a week in the mountains to recharge my batteries.
- rechargeable adjective
• rechargeable batteries $ [C]
a machine that recharges a BATTERY $ formal
a recherché subject, idea, word etc is uncommon and has been chosen to make people admire your knowledge past tense and past participle re-chipped, present participle re-chipping [T]
to put a new computer CHIP into a piece of electronic equipment such as a MOBILE PHONE or a computer games machine so that you can use software that you are not supposed to use, or use a service that you have not paid for [C] technical
a criminal who starts doing illegal things again, even after he or she has been punished
- recidivism noun [U] [C]
1 a set of instructions for cooking a particular type of food
[+for]
•a recipe for tomato soup
•a recipe book
2 be a recipe for sth to be likely to cause a particular result, often a bad one:
•She said that five small boys on skis was a recipe for disaster, not a holiday. [C] formal
someone who receives something
[+of]
•the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize formal
a reciprocal arrangement or relationship is one in which two people or groups do or give the same things to each other; mutual
•He spoke of the necessity for a reciprocal relationship that would be useful for all sides.
•Such treaties provide reciprocal rights and obligations.
- reciprocally adverb
1 [I,T] formal to do or give something, because something similar has been done or given to you:
•When he spoke I was expected to reciprocate with some remark of my own.
2 [T] to feel the same about someone as they feel about you:
•It was a hopeless love that could not possibly be reciprocated.
- reciprocation noun [U] $ [U] formal
a situation in which two people, groups, or countries give each other similar kinds of help or special rights [C]
1 a performance of music or poetry, usually given by one performer:
•a piano recital
[+of]
•a recital of classical favourites
2 formal a spoken description of a series of events
[+of]
•a long recital of her adventures [C,U]
1 an act of saying a poem, piece of literature etc that you have learned, for people to listen to:
•recitations from the great poets
2 a spoken description of an event or a series of events
[+of]
•He went into a recitation of his life from the earliest years. [C,U]
technical a speech set to music that is sung by one person and continues the story of an OPERA (=musical play) between the songs
1 [I,T] to say a poem, piece of literature etc that you have learned, for people to listen to:
•She recited a poem that she had learnt at school.
2 [T] to tell someone a series or list of things:
•Len recited the breakfast menu - cereal, bacon and eggs, and toast.
- reciter noun [C]
not caring or worrying about the possible bad or dangerous results of your actions:
•He was accused of causing death by reckless driving.
•a reckless disregard for safety
•He dashed into the burning house with reckless abandon (=without caring about the danger).
- recklessly adverb
- recklessness noun [U] [T not in progressive]
1 spoken especially BrE to think or suppose something
reckon (that)
•Do you reckon he'll agree to see us?
•The police reckon that whoever killed Dad was with him earlier that day.
•'There's nothing we can do about it.' 'You reckon (=used to express doubt or disagreement)?'
2 to guess a number or amount, without calculating it exactly
reckon (that)
•We reckon that sitting in traffic jams costs us around $9 billion a year in lost output.
reckon sth to be sth
•The average selling price for flats in the area was reckoned to be around £11,000.
3 [usually passive] to think that someone or something is a particular kind of person or thing
be reckoned to be sth
•The Lowsons were reckoned to be very good farmers.
•Moving house is reckoned to be nearly as stressful as divorce.
be reckoned as sth
•An earthquake of magnitude 7 is reckoned as a major quake.
4 formal to calculate an amount:
•The expression 'full moon' means the fourteenth day of the moon reckoned from its first appearance.

PHRASAL VERBS
reckon on sth phr v BrE
to expect something to happen, when you are making plans:
•We were reckoning on a profit of about half a million a year.
reckon on doing sth
•I was reckoning on getting at least 60% of the votes.

reckon sth <=> up phr v BrE old-fashioned
to add up amounts, costs etc in order to get a total; = calculate
•Pat was reckoning up the cost of everything in her mind.

reckon with sb/sth phr v
1 sb/sth to be reckoned with someone or something that is powerful and must be regarded seriously as a possible opponent, competitor, danger etc:
•Barcelona will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
•The principal was certainly a woman to be reckoned with.
2 not reckon with sb/sth to not consider a possible problem when you are making plans:
•I had not reckoned with the excitement in the popular press.
3 have sb/sth to reckon with to have to deal with someone or something powerful:
•Any invader would have the military might of NATO to reckon with.

reckon without sb/sth phr v BrE
if you are reckoning without something, you do not expect it and are not prepared for it:
•They doubted that Fiona could finish the course, but they reckoned without her determination.
1 [U] calculation that is based on a careful guess rather than on exact knowledge
by sb's reckoning
•By my reckoning, we have 12,000 clients.
2 [C usually singular, U] a time when you are judged or punished for your actions, or when they have results that affect you:
•We know that you will not forget their crimes when their day of reckoning comes.
•In the final reckoning, the president failed to achieve his major goals.
3 in/into/out of the reckoning BrE among or not among those who are likely to win or be successful, especially in sport:
•He had a knee injury, which put him out of the reckoning.
DEAD RECKONING [T]
1 to get back an amount of money that you have paid; = claim back
•You may be entitled to reclaim some tax.
2 to make an area of desert, wet land etc suitable for farming or building:
•Large areas of land will be reclaimed for a new airport.
3 to get back something that you have lost or that has been taken away from you:
•I want to reclaim the championship that I lost in 1999.
4 to obtain useful products from waste material; recycle
•You can reclaim old boards and use them as shelves.
- reclamation noun [U]
•land reclamation
1 [I] formal to lie or lean back in a relaxed way
[+in/on]
•I spent Sunday reclining in a deck chair.
•A solitary figure was reclining on the grass.
2 [I,T] if you recline a seat, or if it reclines, you lower the back of the seat so that you can lean back in it
reclining seat/chair $ [C] especially AmE
a chair in which you can lean back at different angles $ [C]
someone who chooses to live alone, and does not like seeing or talking to other people:
•She became a recluse after her two sons were murdered.
- reclusive adjective
1 [singular, U] the act of realizing and accepting that something is true or important
[+of]
•Don's recognition of the importance of Suzy in his life
recognition that
•There is general recognition that the study techniques of many students are weak.
formal/official recognition
•official recognition of the need for jail reform
2 [singular, U] public respect and thanks for someone's work or achievements:
•He has achieved recognition and respect as a scientist.
•The importance of voluntary organizations in the economy still needs to be given recognition.
in recognition of sth
•He was presented with a gold watch in recognition of his service to the company.
3 [U] the act of knowing someone or something because you have known or learned about them in the past:
•He stared at her, but there was no sign of recognition.
change beyond/out of all recognition (=change completely)
•The bakery business has changed beyond all recognition in the last 10 years.
4 [U] the act of officially accepting that an organization, government, person etc has legal or official authority
[+of]
•the recognition of Latvia as an independent state
international/diplomatic recognition
•the government's failure to achieve international recognition
5 speech recognition the ability of a computer to recognize speech:
•speech recognition systemsalso recognise BrE [T]
1 [not in progressive] to know who someone is or what something is, because you have seen, heard, experienced, or learned about them in the past:
•I didn't recognize you in your uniform.
•It was malaria, but Dr Lee hadn't recognized the symptoms.
see box at REALIZE
2 to officially accept that an organization, government, document etc has legal or official authority:
•British medical qualifications are recognized in Canada.
recognize sth as sth
•The World Health Organization has recognized alcoholism as a disease since 1951.
3 to accept or admit that something is true
recognize (that)
•One must recognise that homesickness is natural.
recognize what/how/who etc
•It is important to recognize how little we know about this disease.
see box at REALIZE
4 [usually in passive] if something is recognized by people, they realize that it is important or very good:
•Alexander tried to get his work recognized by the medical profession.
be recognized as sth
•Lawrence's novel was eventually recognized as a work of genius.
•a recognized authority on Roman pottery
5 to officially and publicly thank someone for something they have done, by giving them a special honour:
•He was recognized for having saved many lives.
- recognizable adjective
•His face was instantly recognizable.
- recognizably adverb [I]
1 to move back suddenly and quickly from something you do not like or are afraid of
[+from/at]
•She recoiled from his touch as if she had been slapped.
2 to feel such a strong dislike of a particular situation that you want to avoid it
[+from/at]
•He recoils from everything in life that demands hard work.
•We recoil in horror from the thought of subjecting someone to extreme pain.
3 if a gun recoils, it moves backwards very quickly after it has been fired
- recoil noun [singular, U]
•The recoil of the gun sent him flying backwards. [T]
to be able to remember something:
•All I recollect is a grey sky.
recollect that
•She recollected sadly that she and Ben used to laugh a lot.
recollect how/when/what etc
•Can you recollect how your brother reacted?
recollect doing sth
•I recollect seeing Ryder some years ago in Bonn. formal
1 [C] something from the past that you remember:
•My earliest recollections are of my mother bending over my cot.
2 [U] an act of remembering something
have no recollection (of sth) (=not remember)
•I have no recollection of how I found my way there in the dark.
to (the best of) my recollection (=used when you are unsure if you remember correctly)
•To the best of my recollection, she drives a Mercedes.
•Noone, to my recollection, gave a second thought to the risks involved. [I,T]
to begin something again after it has stopped [T]
1 to advise someone to do something, especially because you have special knowledge of a situation or subject
recommend (that)
•I recommend that you get some professional advice.
•Doctors strongly recommend that fathers should be present at their baby's birth.
recommend doing sth
•I would never recommend using a sunbed on a regular basis.
•Sleeping tablets are not recommended in this case.
•It is dangerous to exceed the recommended dose.
2 to say that something or someone is good, or suggest them for a particular purpose or job:
•I recommend the butter chicken - it's delicious.
•Can you recommend a good lawyer?
recommend sth to sb
•I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in chemistry.
recommend sth for sth/sb
•Which type of oil do you recommend for my car?
recommend sb for sth
•I have decided to recommend you for the directorship.
highly/thoroughly recommend
•The hotel is highly recommended.
3 sth has much/little/nothing to recommend it used to say that something has many, few, or no good qualities:
•The town itself has little to recommend it.

GRAMMAR

!! You do not say 'recommend someone something' What wine do you recommend (NOT recommend us)?
You can recommend something to someone: I bought this album after a friend recommended it to me.
You can recommend that someone do something or recommend doing something: I recommend that you see your doctor. | If you go to London, we recommend visiting (NOT recommend you visiting) Tate Modern.

1 [C] official advice given to someone, especially about what to do:
•We will review the case and make a recommendation to the client.
[+for]
•recommendations for school reform
[+of]
•the main recommendations of the report
recommendation that
•We are making no recommendation that children should use Standard English.
recommendation to do sth
•a recommendation to replace the existing system
2 [U] a suggestion to someone that they should choose a particular thing or person that you think is very good
on sb's recommendation
•Academic staff are appointed on the recommendation of a committee.
3 [C] also letter of recommendation especially AmE a formal letter or statement saying that someone would be a suitable person to do a job, take a course of study etc:
•Try to get letters of recommendation from bosses and colleagues. [T]
formal to give someone a payment for trouble or losses that you have caused them, or a reward for their efforts to help you; = compensate
recompense sb for sth
•The charge recompenses the bank for the costs involved.[singular, U]
formal something that you give to someone for trouble or losses that you have caused them, or as a reward for their help; = compensation
[+for]
•financial recompense for the victims of violence $ [C,U] AmE informal
RECONNAISSANCE
1 [T] if you reconcile two ideas, situations, or facts, you find a way in which they can both be true or acceptable:
•The possibility remains that the two theories may be reconciled.
reconcile sth with sth
•Bevan tried to reconcile British socialism with a wider international vision.
2 be reconciled (with sb) to have a good relationship again with someone after you have quarrelled with them:
•Jonah and his youngest son were, on the surface at least, reconciled.

PHRASAL VERBS
reconcile sb to sth phr v
to make someone able to accept a difficult or unpleasant situation:
•He tried to reconcile his father to the idea of the wedding.
reconcile yourself to sth
•Henry had more or less reconciled himself to Don's death. [singular, U]
1 a situation in which two people, countries etc become friendly with each other again after quarrelling:
•Her ex-husband had always hoped for a reconciliation.
[+between/with]
•The meeting failed to achieve a reconciliation between the two groups.
•his reconciliation with his brother
•The change of government has brought a new spirit of reconciliation on both sides.
•The leadership announced a programme of national reconciliation (=an attempt by all sides to end a war or trouble in a country).
2 the process of finding a way that two beliefs, facts etc that are opposed to each other can both be true or successful
[+between]
•a reconciliation between environment and development $
formal recondite facts or subjects are not known about or understood by many people; = obscure [T]
to repair something, especially an old machine, so that it works like a new one:
•a reconditioned engine $ [C,U]
the military activity of sending soldiers and aircraft to find out about the enemy's forces:
•reconnaissance aircraft
•a reconnaissance mission
•wartime roles such as observation and reconnaissancereconnoiter AmE $ [I,T] BrE
1 to try to find out the position and size of your enemy's army, for example by flying planes over land where their soldiers are
2 to find out information about an area:
•All morning, the world's top cyclists have been reconnoitring the course. $ [I,T]
to think again about something in order to decide if you should change your opinion or do something different:
•He should reconsider his decision to resign.
•We want you to come. Please reconsider.
- reconsideration noun [U] $ [T]
1 to form an organization or a group again in a different way:
•The committees will be reconstituted after the election.
reconstitute sth as sth
•In 1832 the firm was reconstituted as Mills and Co.
2 to change dried food back to its original form by adding water to it:
•reconstituted milk
- reconstitution $ noun [U] [T]
1 to produce a complete description or copy of an event by collecting together pieces of information:
•Police were reconstructing the movements of the murdered couple.
2 to build something again after it has been destroyed or damaged:
•The task ahead is to reconstruct the building.
1 [U] the work that is done to repair the damage to a city, industry etc, especially after a war
[+of]
•the reconstruction of Western Europe after the war
2 [C usually singular] a description or copy of an event or a place, which you produce by collecting information about it
[+of]
•Detectives want to stage a reconstruction of events.
•a reconstruction of a Roman villa [only before noun]
a reconstructive operation is one done to make a part of someone's body the right shape, for example after a bad injury or a previous operation:
•He's recovering well from reconstructive surgery on his nose. [I,T]
if a meeting, a court etc reconvenes, or if you reconvene it, it meets again after a break $
1 INFORMATION [C] information about something that is written down or stored on computer, film etc so that it can be looked at in the future

keep a record
medical/dental records
school records
historical records
a written record
record keeping (=the activity of keeping records)
the biggest/lowest/highest etc on record
place/put sth on record (=include something in the official records)
be on record (=when something you have said is written down)
go on record (=say something to be written down)
access to records (=the right to see a record)
a record shows sth (=something is written in a record)

[+of]
• Keep a record of everything you spend.
•The fact that they have had the test will be noted on their medical records.
• historical records going back almost 80 years
•He had no written records to draw upon.
•This month has been the wettest on record.
•Only employees have access to bank records.
•a politician who has gone on record as opposing the bill

2 HIGHEST/BEST EVER [C] the fastest speed, longest distance, highest or lowest level etc that has ever been achieved or reached, especially in sport

break/beat a record
hold a record
set a record
smash a record (=beat a record easily)
equal a record
tie a record AmE (=equal a record)
an all-time record
a world record
an Olympic record
a record number/level/time
a record high

•As a student, he broke the Scottish record for the 100 metres.
• The Americans set a new world record in the sprint relay.
•Lewis equalled the old world record of 9.93 seconds.
• British exports in 1991 were at an all-time record.
• A record number of people have been thrown out of their homes.

3 MUSIC [C] a round flat piece of plastic with a hole in the middle that music and sound are stored on; vinyl
•I spent a lot of time listening to records.
•My dad's got a huge record collection.
•a major British record company
RECORD PLAYER
4 PAST ACTIVITIES [singular] the facts about how successful, good, bad etc someone or something has been in the past
record of/in (doing) sth
•Chemistry graduates have a good record in finding employment.
•the company's track record in improving conditions
[+on]
•Mr Davis defended the government's record on unemployment (=what they have done about unemployment).
5 criminal record a list made by the police of someone's crimes:
•a criminal record that included convictions involving drugs
6 in record time very quickly:
•She was out of bed and ready for school in record time that morning.
7 off the record if you say something off the record, you do not want people to repeat what you say, for example in newspapers or meetings:
•May I talk to you, strictly off the record?
8 be/go on (the) record as saying (that) to say something publicly or officially, so that it may be written down and repeated:
•She is on record as saying that teachers are under too much pressure.
9 for the record spoken used to tell someone that what you are saying should be remembered or written down:
•For the record, the police never charged me.
10 set/put the record straight to tell people the truth about something, because you want to be sure that they understand what the truth really is:
•I would like to set the record straight on a few points. $
1 [T] to write information down or store it in a computer or on film so that it can be looked at in the future:
•Her husband made her record every penny she spent.
record that
•He recorded that the operation was successful.
•In 1892 it is recorded that the weather became so cold that the river froze over.
•The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.
2 [I,T] to store music, sound, television programmes etc on tape or DISCs so that people can listen to them or watch them again:
•The group has just recorded a new album.
•Is the machine still recording?
•I'll record the film and we can all watch it later.
3 [T] if an instrument records the size, speed, temperature etc of something, it measures it and keeps that information:
•Wind speeds of up to 100 mph have been recorded.[only before noun]
a record-breaking number, level, performance, or person is the highest, lowest, biggest, best etc of its type that has ever happened or existed:
•his record-breaking flight across the Atlantic
- record-breaker noun [C][U] BrE
if you send a letter or package by recorded delivery, you send it using a service which records that it has been sent and delivered; = certified mail AmE $ [C]
1 cassette recorder/tape recorder/video recorder etc a piece of electrical equipment that records music, films etc
FLIGHT RECORDER
2 a simple wooden or plastic musical instrument like a tube with holes in it, which you play by blowing into it and covering different holes with your fingers to change the notes
3 a judge in a city court, in some areas of Britain and the US[C]
the person who has achieved the fastest speed, the longest distance etc in a sport:
•the world long-jump record-holder $
1 [C] music, speech, or images that have been stored on tape or DISCs
[+of]
•Have you heard the new recording of Mozart's Requiem?
•a video recording of the interview
2 [U] the act of storing sound or images on tape or DISC s
recording studio/equipment etc (=a studio etc used for recording music)[C]
a piece of equipment for playing records [T]
formal to tell someone a story or describe a series of events
recount how/what
•Alan recounted how he and Joyce had met. [C]
a second count of votes that happens in an election because the result was very close
- recount verb [T] [T]
to get back an amount of money you have lost or spent; = recover
•The movie will have to be a huge hit to recoup its cost.
•He was desperate to try and recoup his losses. $ [singular, U] formal
something that you do to achieve something or deal with a situation, or the act of doing it:
•We may conclude that he never had recourse to this simple experiment.
without recourse to sth (=without using or doing something)
•a way of solving disputes without recourse to courts of law
•Surgery may be the only recourse. $
1 [I] to get better after an illness, accident, shock etc:
•After a few days of fever, she began to recover.
[+from]
•He's in hospital, recovering from a heart attack.
2 [I] to return to a normal condition after a period of trouble or difficulty:
•The tourist industry is recovering to pre-war levels.
[+from]
•Yesterday morning shares seemed to recover from Monday's collapse.
3 [T] to get back something that was taken from you, lost, or almost destroyed:
•Four paintings stolen from the gallery have been recovered.
recover sth from sth
•Two bodies were recovered from the wreckage.
4 [T] to get back an amount of money that you have spent or lost; = recoup
•He was entitled to recover damages from the defendants.
5 [T] to get back an ability, a sense, or control over your feelings, movements etc after a period without it; = regain
•It was some hours before she recovered consciousness.
•Once she stumbled, but somehow she recovered her balance and carried on running.
recover yourself
•He recovered himself enough to speak calmly.
- recoverable adjective
1 [singular, U] the process of getting better after an illness, injury etc
make a full/good/remarkable etc recovery
•Doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
[+from]
•Ann made a quick recovery from her operation.
2 [singular, U] the process of returning to a normal condition after a period of trouble or difficulty:
•Hopes of economic recovery are fading.
3 [U] when you get something back that has been taken or lost
[+of]
•the recovery of the stolen money[C]
AmE a course of treatment for people who are ADDICTED to drugs or alcohol[C]
a room in a hospital where people first wake up after an operation [T]
to make something from the past exist again in a new form or be experienced again; = recapture
•You can never recreate the feeling of winning for the first time. [C,U]
an activity that you do for pleasure or amusement; hobby, pastime, leisure
•His only recreations are drinking beer and watching football.
•the provision of recreation facilities (=places or equipment for people to use to enjoy themselves)
recreation ground/area/room
•a recreation area for children to play in
- recreational adjective
•recreational activities[C] AmE
an RV[C] BrE
an area of public land used for sports and games; = playing field[C]
1 a public room, for example in a hospital, used for social activities or games
2 AmE a room in a private house, where you can relax, play games etc; = games room BrE [C usually plural, U]
when you blame or criticize someone for something that has happened:
•Bitter accusations and recriminations followed the disaster. [C] AmE informal
a RECREATION ROOM
1 [I,T] to find new people to work in a company, join an organization, do a job etc:
•We're having difficulty recruiting enough qualified staff.
•Many government officials were recruited from private industry.
2 [I,T] to get people to join the army, navy etc; conscript
•Most of the men in the village were recruited that day.
3 [T] to persuade someone to do something for you
recruit sb to do sth
•I recruited three of my friends to help me move.
- recruiter noun [C]
- recruitment noun [U][C]
1 someone who has just joined the army, navy, or AIR FORCE; conscript
new/raw/fresh recruit (=one who is completely untrained)
•Drill sergeants have eight weeks to turn fresh recruits into soldiers.
2 someone who has recently joined an organization, team, group of people etc:
•New recruits are sent to the Atlanta office for training. medical
relating to the RECTUM [C]
a shape that has four straight sides, two of which are usually longer than the other two, and four 90° angles at the corners; square $
having the shape of a rectangle past tense and past participle rectified, present participle rectifying, third person singular rectifies [T]
formal to correct something that is wrong; = put right
•I did my best to rectify the situation, but the damage was already done.
- rectification noun [C,U] $ technical
consisting of straight lines $ [U] formal
behaviour that is honest and morally correct $ [C]
1 a priest in some Christian churches who is responsible for a particular area, group etc; vicar
2 the person in charge of certain colleges and schools plural rectories [C]
a house where the priest of the local church lives; vicarage plural rectums or recta [C] medical
the lowest part of your BOWELs formal
lying down on your back or side
1 [I] to get better again after an illness or injury; = recover
[+from]
•Coles is recuperating from a sprained ankle.
2 [T] especially BrE to get back money that you have spent or lost in business; = recoup, recover
•We've recuperated our losses.
3 [I] to return to a more normal condition after a difficult time; = recover
•Winston proposed several ways for the industry to recuperate.
- recuperation noun [U] $ [only before noun]
recuperative powers, abilities etc help someone or something get better again, especially after an illness:
•a recuperative vacation $ past tense and past participle recurred, present participle recurring [I]
1 if something, especially something bad or unpleasant, recurs, it happens again:
•There is a danger that the disease may recur.
•Love is a recurring theme in the book.
recurring dream/nightmare
2 technical if a number or numbers after a DECIMAL POINT recur, they are repeated for ever in the same order $ [C usually singular, U] formal
an occasion when something that has happened before happens again
[+of]
•after the recurrence of a back problem
•Measures must be taken to stop a recurrence of last night's violence. $
happening or appearing several times:
•recurrent minor illnesses
•Political revolution is a recurrent theme in Riley's books.
- recurrently adverb
used materials or substances that are recyclable can be recycled:
•recyclable cardboard packaging
- recyclable noun [C usually plural] AmE
1 [I,T] to put used objects or materials through a special process so that they can be used again:
•We take all our bottles to be recycled.
•packaging made of recycled paper
2 [T] to use something such as an idea, writing etc again instead of developing something new:
•The fashion world just keeps recycling old ideas.
1 [U] the process of treating used objects or materials so that they can be used again:
•Recycling is important to help protect our environment.
2 [singular] AmE informal things that are to be recycled:
•Don't forget to take out the recycling. comparative redder, superlative reddest
1 COLOUR having the colour of blood:
•We painted the door bright red.
•a red balloon
BLOOD-RED; cherry red at CHERRY (3); SCARLET
2 HAIR hair that is red has an orange-brown colour
3 FACE if you go red, your face becomes a bright pink colour, especially because you are embarrassed or angry
go/turn red
•Every time you mention his name, she goes bright red.
4 WINE red wine is a red or purple colour; white
5 like a red rag to a bull BrE also like waving a red flag in front of a bull AmE very likely to make someone angry or upset:
•Just mentioning his ex-wife's name was like a red rag to a bull.
6 roll out the red carpet/give sb the red carpet treatment to give special treatment to an important visitor
7 not one red cent AmE informal used to emphasize that you mean no money at all:
•I wouldn't give him one red cent for that car.
8 POLITICS informal COMMUNIST or extremely LEFT-WING political views - used to show disapproval
- redness noun [U]
paint the town red at PAINT^2 (5)
1 [C,U] the colour of blood:
•I like the way the artist uses red in this painting.
•the reds and yellows of the trees
•The corrections were marked in red (=in red ink).
2 [C,U] red wine; white
•a nice bottle of red
3 be in the red informal to owe more money than you have; be in the black ; overdrawn
•This is the airline's fourth straight year in the red.
4 [C] informal someone who has COMMUNIST or very LEFT-WING political opinions - used especially in the past to show disapproval
see red at SEE^1 (35)[C usually singular, U]
a warning that there is very great danger
be (put/placed) on red alert
•All the hospitals are on red alert.also red corpuscle [C]
one of the cells in your blood that carry oxygen to every part of your body; white blood cell
red-blooded male/Englishman/American etc used to emphasize that someone has all of the qualities that a typical man, Englishman etc is supposed to have - used humorously
a redbrick university is one of the British universities built in the late 19th or early 20th century, rather than an older university; Oxbridge[C]
a red card held up by the REFEREE in a football match, to show that a player has done something against the rules and will not be allowed to play for the rest of the game; yellow card $ [C]
a British soldier during the 18th and 19th centuries
the Red Crescent an organization in Muslim countries that helps people who are suffering as a result of war, floods, disease etc
the Red Cross an international organization that helps people who are suffering as a result of war, floods, disease etc $ [C]
a very small red fruit that grows on bushes in northern Europe [I,T] written
to become red, or to make something red:
•Sue's face reddened.
slightly red:
•reddish-brown lipstick [I,T]
to change the way a room looks by painting it, changing the curtains etc
- redecoration noun [U] [T] formal
1 IMPROVE STH to make something less bad; = make up for
•Olivier's performance redeemed an otherwise second-rate play.
redeeming quality/feature etc (=the one good thing about an unpleasant person or thing)
•The hotel had a single redeeming feature - it was cheap.
2 redeem yourself to do something that will improve what other people think of you, after you have behaved badly or failed:
•He spent the rest of the game trying to redeem himself after a first-minute mistake.
3 GET MONEY FOR STH to exchange a piece of paper representing an amount of money for that amount of money or for goods equal in cost to that amount of money:
•You can redeem the coupon at any store.
4 RELIGION to free someone from the power of evil, especially in the Christian religion
REDEEMER
5 redeem a promise/pledge formal to do what you promised to do:
•The government found itself unable to redeem its election pledges.
6 GET STH BACK to buy back something which you left with someone you borrowed money from
redeem sth from sth
•He finally redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker.
able to be exchanged for money or goods:
•Stamps are redeemable for merchandise or cash. $ literary
the Redeemer Jesus Christ [U]
1 the state of being freed from the power of evil, believed by Christians to be made possible by Jesus Christ
2 the act of exchanging a piece of paper worth a particular amount of money for money, goods, or services
3 past/beyond redemption too bad to be saved, repaired, or improved
4 technical the exchange of SHAREs , BONDs etc for money
- redemptive adjective [T]
to move someone or something to a different place or job:
•There are plans to redeploy 200 employees in the next six months.
- redeployment noun [U] [T]
to make an area more modern by putting in new buildings or changing or repairing the old ones:
•The old docks are being redeveloped as a business park. [C,U]
the act of redeveloping an area, especially in a city:
•redevelopment of the city's downtown area
take the red eye AmE informal to take a journey in a plane that continues all night:
•I took the red eye to LA.
embarrassed or ashamed:
•Red-faced officials ordered an investigation into the cause of the accident.[C]
AmE something that shows or warns you that something might be wrong, illegal etc[C]
a large star that is near the middle of its life and shines with a reddish light
catch sb red-handed to catch someone at the moment when they are doing something wrong:
•Earl was caught red-handed taking the money. [C]
someone who has red hair[C]
a fact or idea that is not important but is introduced to take your attention away from the points that are important
1
a) metal or rock that is red-hot is so hot that it shines red:
•The poker glowed red-hot in the fire.
b) informal very hot:
•Be careful with those plates - they're red-hot.
2 informal extremely active, exciting, or interesting:
•a red-hot news story
•The Braves have been red-hot in the last few games.
3 a red-hot feeling is very strong:
•red-hot anger
4 red-hot favourite BrE the team or person who most people believe will win a competition past tense and past participle redialled, present participle redialling BrE past tense and past participle redialed, present participle redialing AmE [I,T]
to DIAL a telephone number again [T]
1 to use something for a different purpose:
•She was good at redirecting the children's energy into something useful.
2 to send something in a different direction:
•The flight was redirected to Cleveland.
3 BrE to send someone's letters to their new address from an address that they have left; = forward
- redirection noun [U] [T]
to give something to each member of a group so that it is divided up in a different way from before
redistribute income/wealth/resources etc
•a programme to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor [U]
the act of redistributing something, especially money or land
[+of]
•a major redistribution of land[C]
informal a day that you will always remember because something special happened that made you very happy[C]
the area of a town or city where there are many PROSTITUTEs [U]
dark coloured meat such as BEEF or LAMB; white meat [C] AmE informal
a person who lives in a country area of the US, is uneducated, and has strong unreasonable opinions - used in order to show disapproval:
•a redneck bar past tense redid , past participle redone , third person singular redoes [T]
1 to do something again:
•You'll have to redo this piece of work.
2 to change the way a room is decorated:
•We're having the kitchen redone.
1 formal making you think of something; = reminiscent
[+of]
•a style redolent of the sixties
2 literary smelling strongly of something
[+of/with]
•The bar was redolent with the smell of stale cigarette smoke.
redouble your efforts to greatly increase your effort as you try to do something:
•Both sides redoubled their efforts to end the war. [C] formal
a small hidden place, for example where soldiers hide themselves when they are fighting literary
someone who is redoubtable is a person you respect or fear:
•He had never met a more redoubtable fighter.
redound to sb's credit/honour etc formal to improve people's opinion of someone
1 [C] a red vegetable which you can eat raw or use in cooking:
•stuffed red peppers
2 [U] a spicy red powder used in cooking; = cayenne pepper [T] formal
to correct something that is wrong or unfair:
•Little could be done to redress the situation.
•Affirmative action was meant to redress the balance (=make the situation fair) for minorities. $ [U] formal
money that someone pays you because they have caused you harm or damaged your property; = compensation
•The only hope of redress is in a lawsuit.[U]
official rules that seem unnecessary and prevent things from being done quickly and easily:
•a procedure surrounded by bureaucracy and red tape
•The new rules should help cut the red tape for farmers.[C] BrE informal
a British newspaper that has its name in red at the top of the front page. Red-tops have a lot of readers, but are not considered to be as serious as other newspapers.; tabloid $
1 [T] to make something smaller or less in size, amount, or price; = cut; reduction
•The governor announced a new plan to reduce crime.
•The helmet law should reduce injuries in motorcycle accidents.
•Small businesses will need to reduce costs in order to survive.
reduce sth by sth
•The workforce has been reduced by half.
reduce sth (from sth) to sth
•All the shirts were reduced to £10.
•The new bridge should reduce travelling time from 50 minutes to 15 minutes.
2 [I,T] if you reduce a liquid, or if it reduces, you boil it so that there is less of it
3 [I] especially AmE to become thinner by losing weight; diet
4 be in reduced circumstances old-fashioned to be poorer than you were before

PHRASAL VERBS
reduce sb/sth to sth phr v
1 reduce sb to tears/silence etc to make someone cry, be silent etc:
•She was reduced to tears in front of her students.
2 reduce sb to doing sth to make someone do something they would rather not do, especially when it involves behaving or living in a way that is not as good as before:
•Eventually Charlotte was reduced to begging on the streets.
3 reduce sth to ashes/rubble/ruins to destroy something, especially a building, completely:
•A massive earthquake reduced the city to rubble.
4 to change something into a shorter simpler form:
•Many jobs can be reduced to a few simple points. $ [not before noun] formal
able to be considered simply as something
[+to]
•Things do not happen according to plan, and they are not reducible to tidy models.
[C,U] a decrease in the size, price, or amount of something, or the act of decreasing something:
•strategies for noise reduction
[+in]
•a slight reduction in the price of oil
[+of]
•the reduction of interest rates
[+on]
•substantial reductions on children's clothes
•The company promised they would make no staff reductions for at least two years. [U] formal
when someone tries to explain complicated ideas or systems in very simple terms - often used to show disapproval
- reductionist adjective plural redundancies
1 [C,U] BrE a situation in which someone has to leave their job, because they are no longer needed; = layoff
•The closure of the export department resulted in over 100 redundancies.
•Two thousand workers now face redundancy.
•An employee is not eligible for a redundancy payment unless he has been with the company for two years.
voluntary/compulsory redundancy
•We were offered a £3,000 cash bonus to take voluntary redundancy.
2 [U] when something is not used because something similar or the same already exists[U] BrE
money you get from your employer when you are made redundant; = severance pay AmE
1 BrE if you are redundant, your employer no longer has a job for you:
•Seventy factory workers were made redundant in the resulting cuts.
make a job/position etc redundant
•As the economy weakens, more and more jobs will be made redundant.
2 not necessary because something else means or does the same thing:
•the removal of redundant information [C,U]
a very tall tree that grows in California and Oregon, or the wood from this tree
1 [C,U] a type of tall plant like grass that grows in wet places:
•Reeds grew in clumps all along the river bank.
2 [C] a thin piece of wood that is attached to a musical instrument such as an OBOE or CLARINET, and that produces a sound when you blow over it $ [T]
to teach someone to think or behave in a different way:
•Young criminals must be re-educated.
- re-education $ noun [U]
1 a voice that is reedy is high and unpleasant to listen to
2 a place that is reedy has a lot of reeds growing there [C]
a line of sharp rocks, often made of CORAL, or a raised area of sand near the surface of the sea:
•a proposal to protect several miles of thousand-year-old coral reefalso reef in [T] technical
to tie up part of a sail in order to make it smaller $ [C] old-fashioned
a cigarette containing the drug MARIJUANA; = joint[C] especially BrE
a double knot that cannot come undone easily; = square knot AmE [I]
to have a strong bad smell; = stink
•This room absolutely reeks.
[+of]
•He reeked of sweat.

PHRASAL VERBS
reek of sth phr v
to seem very clearly to have a particular quality or be connected with something bad:
•The whole business reeks of dishonesty.
- reek noun [singular]
•the reek of cigarettes and beer [I]
1 to be confused or shocked by a situation:
•Norman's brain was reeling, but he did his best to appear calm.
[+from]
•The party is still reeling from its recent election defeat.
2 also reel back to step backwards suddenly and almost fall over, especially after being hit or getting a shock:
•Diane reeled back in amazement.
•The force of the punch sent him reeling against the wall.
3 [always + adv/prep] to walk in an unsteady way and almost fall over, as if you are drunk:
•Andy reeled away from the bar and knocked over his stool.
4 to seem to go around and around:
•The room reeled before my eyes and I fainted.

PHRASAL VERBS
reel sb/sth <=> in phr v
1 to wind the reel on a fishing rod so that a fish caught on the line comes towards you:
•It took almost an hour to reel the fish in.
2 to get or attract a large number of people or things; = pull in
•The programme reels in more than 13 million viewers a show.

reel sth <=> off phr v
1 to repeat a lot of information quickly and easily:
•Jack reeled off a list of names.
2 informal to do something again and again:
•The Yankees reeled off 14 straight wins.[C]
1
a) a round object onto which film, wire, a special string for fishing etc can be wound:
•a cotton reel
•a fishing rod and reel
b) the amount that one of these objects will hold:
•a reel of film
2 one of the parts of a cinema film that is contained on a reel:
•the final reel
3 a quick FOLK dance, especially one from Scotland or Ireland, or the music for this [T]
to elect someone again:
•Morris was re-elected for a third term.
- re-election noun [C,U]
•Barnes is seeking re-election. [T]
to perform the actions of a story, crime etc that happened in the past:
•At the church, children re-enacted the Christmas story.
- re-enactment noun [C]
•a re-enactment of the crimealso re-engineer $ [T]
1 to change the structure of an activity, organization etc so that it performs better:
•They reengineered the department, and cut nearly 400 jobs.
2 to improve the design of a product:
•Radio networks are being reengineered to give digital operation.
- reengineering noun [U] plural re-entries [C,U]
1 when someone starts being involved in something again or enters a place again
[+into]
•America's successful re-entry into the Japanese auto market
2 when a spacecraft enters the earth's ATMOSPHERE again:
•The satellite burned up on re-entry.
- re-enter verb [I,T] [C]
1 the official who is in charge of the town governments in some Canadian PROVINCEs
2 an English law officer in the past [C] informal
a REFEREEalso ref BrE
the written abbreviation of reference plural refectories [C] BrE
a large room in a school, college etc where meals are served and eaten; = cafeteria AmE $ past tense and past participle referred, present participle referring

PHRASAL VERBS
refer to sb/sth phr v
1 to mention or speak about someone or something:
•We agreed never to refer to the matter again.
•Although she didn't mention any names, everyone knew who she was referring to.
[+as]
•He likes to be referred to as 'Doctor Khee'.
[+by]
•The hospital now refers to patients by name, not case number.
2 to look at a book, map, piece of paper etc for information:
•He gave the speech without referring to his notes.
3 if a statement, number, report etc refers to someone or something, it is about that person or thing:
•The figures refer to our sales in Europe.
4 refer sb/sth to sb to send someone or something to a person or organization to be helped or dealt with:
•My doctor is referring me to a dermatologist.
•My complaint was referred to the manufacturers.
5 refer sb to sth formal to tell someone where to find information:
•Readers are referred to the bibliography for further information. [+ to] formal
something that is referable to something else can be related to it [C]
1 someone who makes sure that the rules of a sport such as football, BASKETBALL, or BOXING, are followed; umpire
2 BrE someone who provides information about you when you are trying to get a job:
•His headmaster agreed to act as his referee.
3 someone who is asked to settle a disagreement
4 someone who judges an article or RESEARCH idea before it is PUBLISHed or money is provided for itpast tense and past participle refereed, present participle refereeing [I,T]
to be the referee of a game
1 [C,U] part of something you say or write in which you mention a person or thing
[+to]
•There is no direct reference to her own childhood in the novel.
•The article made no reference to previous research on the subject.
•The governor made only a passing reference to the problem of unemployment (=he mentioned it quickly).
2 [U] the act of looking at something for information
for easy/quick reference
•A vocabulary index is included for easy reference.
•Keep their price list on file for future reference (=so that it can be looked at in the future).
•The book will become a standard work of reference (=a book that people look at for information).
3 reference point also point/frame of reference
a) an idea, fact, event etc that you already know, which helps you understand or make a judgment about another situation:
•Lee's case will be the reference point for lawyers in tomorrow's trial.
•She used her work experience as a frame of reference for her teaching.
b) something that you can see that helps you to know where you are when you are travelling in an area
4 in/with reference to sth formal used to say what you are writing or talking about, especially in business letters:
•I am writing to you in reference to the job opening in your department.
5 [C]
a) also letter of reference a letter containing information about you that is written by someone who knows you well, and is usually intended for a new employer:
•We will need references from your former employers.
b) a person who provides information about your character and abilities; = referee
•Ask your teacher to act as one of your references.
6 [C] a book, article etc from which information has been obtained:
•a comprehensive list of references
7 [C] a number that tells you where you can find the information you want in a book, on a map etc:
•a list of towns, each with a map reference
CROSS-REFERENCE
terms of reference at TERM^1 (10)[T] written
to mention another book, article etc that contains information connected with the subject you are writing about:
•The book does not reference anything written in the last 10 years.[C]
a book such as a dictionary or ENCYCLOPEDIA that you look at to find information[C]
a public library or a room in a library, that contains books that you can read but not take away; lending library plural referenda or referendums [C,U]
when people vote in order to make a decision about a particular subject, rather than voting for a person
[+on]
•a referendum on independence
•The city council agreed to hold a referendum on the issue in November. [C,U] formal
when someone sends someone or something to another person to be helped or dealt with
[+to]
•The doctor will give you a referral to a specialist in your area.
•Only 39 percent of patients were seen within four weeks of referral. [T]
to fill something again:
•The waitress refilled our coffee cups.
- refillable adjective
•a refillable lighter [C]
1 a container filled with a particular substance, such as ink or petrol, that you use to fill or replace an empty container, or the substance itself:
•a refill for his pen
2 another drink of the same kind:
•Would you like a refill?
•a free refill [T]
1 to improve a method, plan, system etc by gradually making slight changes to it:
•Car makers are constantly refining their designs.
2 to make a substance purer using an industrial process:
•oil refining
1 [usually before noun] a substance that is refined has been made pure by an industrial process; raw, crude; unrefined
refined sugar/oil/petroleum
2 someone who is refined is polite and seems to be well-educated or to belong to a high social class - sometimes used humorously:
•a refined way of speaking
3 a method or process that is refined has been improved to make it more effective; sophisticated
•Laser surgery has become much more refined over the last decade.
1 [C] an improvement, usually a small one, to something:
•The new model has a number of refinements.
2 [C] something which is an improved VERSION of an existing product, system etc
[+of]
•The new theory is a refinement of Corbin's theory of personality development.
3 [U] the process of improving something:
•Some further refinement is needed.
4 [U] the process of making a substance more pure:
•sugar refinement
[+of]
•the refinement of cocaine
5 [U] the quality of being polite and well-educated, in a way that is typical of someone from a high social class:
•a woman of great refinement plural refineries [C]
a factory where something such as oil or sugar is made purer
oil/petroleum/sugar refinery past tense and past participle refitted, present participle refitting [I,T]
to make a ship, aircraft, building etc ready to be used again, by doing repairs and putting in new machinery:
•The ship was completely refitted five years ago.
- refit noun [C,U] [U]
technical the process of increasing the amount of money being used in a country in order to increase trade; inflation, deflation
- reflate verb [I,T]
- reflationary adjective
1 IMAGE [T usually passive] if a person or a thing is reflected in a mirror, glass, or water, you can see an image of the person or thing on the surface of the mirror, glass, or water
be reflected in sth
•She could see her face reflected in the car's windshield.
2 BE A SIGN OF STH [T not usually in progressive] to show or be a sign of a particular situation or feeling:
•The drop in consumer spending reflects concern about the economy.
be reflected in sth
•The increasing racial diversity of the US is reflected in the latest census statistics.
reflect who/what/how etc
•How much you're paid reflects how important you are to the company you work for.
3 LIGHT/HEAT/SOUND
a) [T] if a surface reflects light, heat, or sound, it sends back the light etc that reaches it:
•Wear something white - it reflects the heat.
b) [I always + adv/prep] if light, heat, or sound reflects off something it reaches, it comes back from it
4 THINK ABOUT STH [I,T] to think carefully about something, or to say something that you have been thinking about
[+on]
•He had time to reflect on his successes and failures.
reflect that
•Moe reflected that he had never seen Sherry so happy.

PHRASAL VERBS
reflect on/upon sb/sth phr v
to influence people's opinion of someone or something, especially in a bad way:
•If my children are rude, that reflects on me as a parent.[U]
respect or admiration that is given to someone, not because of what they are or what they have done, but because of what someone they know has done:
•I certainly don't want to bask in any reflected glory.
1 [C] an image that you can see in a mirror, glass, or water:
•Can you see your reflection in the glass?
2 [C,U] careful thought, or an idea or opinion based on this:
• A moment's reflection will show the stupidity of this argument.
on/upon reflection
•At first I disagreed, but on reflection (=after thinking carefully about it), I realized she was right.
3 [C] something that shows what something else is like, or that is a sign of a particular situation
[+of]
•His speech was an accurate reflection of the public mood.
be a reflection on sb/sth (=show how good or bad someone or something is)
•On some level, a student's grades are a reflection on the teacher.
4 [U] the action or process of light, heat, or sound being thrown back from a surface
1 a reflective surface reflects light:
•Stick reflective tape on your school bag.
2 thinking quietly about something:
•She was in a reflective mood.
3 showing that something is true about a situation
[+of]
•TV is reflective of society's more liberal views on sex. $ [C]
1 a small piece of plastic that is fastened to a bicycle or to a piece of clothing, so that it can be seen more easily at night. All bikes sold in the UK must be fitted with reflectors.
2 a surface that reflects light [C]
1 reflexes [plural]
a) the natural ability to react quickly and well to sudden situations
have good/quick/slow reflexes
•A tennis player needs to have very quick reflexes.
b) a sudden uncontrolled movement that your muscles make as a natural reaction to a physical effect:
•Doctor Mulholland tested Jennifer's reflexes (=especially by hitting her knee with a special rubber hammer).
2 reflex action something that you do without thinking, as a reaction to a situation technical
a reflexive verb or PRONOUN shows that the action in a sentence affects the person or thing that does the action. In the sentence 'I enjoyed myself', 'myself' is reflexive
- reflexive noun [C]
- reflexively adverb $ [U]
a type of ALTERNATIVE medicine in which areas of the feet are touched or rubbed in order to cure medical problems in other parts of the body $ [U]
the practice of planting trees in an area where they were previously cut down, in order to grow them for industrial use or to improve the environment; deforestation $ [I,T]
to start to exist again or to make something start to exist again:
•At the end of the year, the company re-formed. $
1 [T] to improve a system, law, organization etc by making a lot of changes to it, so that it operates in a fairer or more effective way:
•plans to radically reform the tax system
2 [I,T] to change your behaviour and become a better person, or to make someone do this:
•Greeley says he's a genuinely reformed character.
•a reformed criminal[C,U]
a change or changes made to a system or organization in order to improve it
[+of]
•a reform of the legal system
economic/political/educational reform
•The government announced a much-needed programme of economic reform.
• Reforms were made to revive the economy.
far-reaching/sweeping/radical reforms
•The Prime Minister is calling for sweeping reforms of the NHS. $ past tense and past participle reformatted, present participle reformatting [T]
if you reformat a document, you change the way it is organized or arranged, for example the amount of space between lines:
•The first seven books will all be condensed and reformatted for electronic reading. $
1 [C,U] formal when something is completely changed in order to improve it
2 the Reformation the religious changes in Europe in the 16th century, that resulted in the Protestant churches being established $ plural reformatories [C] AmE old use
a REFORM SCHOOL $ [C]
someone who works to improve a social or political system:
•a great social reformer $
wanting to change systems or situations, especially in politics:
•the reformist wing of the party
- reformist noun [C][C]
AmE a special school where young people who have broken the law are sent:
•If you're not careful, you'll end up in reform school. [T]
technical if glass or water refracts light, the light changes direction when it passes through the glass or water
- refraction noun [U]
1 formal deliberately not obeying someone in authority and being difficult to deal with or control; = unruly
2 medical a refractory disease or illness is hard to treat or cure [I] formal
to not do something that you want to do; abstain
refrain from (doing) sth
•Please refrain from smoking in this area.[C]
1 part of a song or poem that is repeated, especially at the end of each VERSE; chorus
2 formal a remark or idea that is often repeated:
•Our proposal met with the constant refrain that the company could not afford it.
1 [T] to make someone feel less tired or less hot:
•A shower will refresh you.
refresh yourself (with sth)
•He refreshed himself with a glass of iced tea.
2 refresh sb's memory to make someone remember something:
•I looked at the map to refresh my memory of the route.
3 refresh sb's drink AmE to add more of an alcoholic drink to someone's glass; = top sb up BrE
•Can I refresh your drink?
4 [I,T] technical if you refresh your computer screen while you are connected to the Internet, you make the screen show any new information that has arrived since you first began looking at it; = update
- refreshed adjective
•Jen returned from vacation feeling relaxed and refreshed.also refresher [C]
a training course, usually a short one, that teaches you about new developments in a particular subject or skill, especially one that you need for your job
1 making you feel less tired or less hot:
•a refreshing drink
•The breeze felt refreshing.
2 pleasantly different from what is familiar and boring:
•It made a refreshing change to talk to someone new.
- refreshingly adverb formal
1 refreshments [plural] small amounts of food and drink that are provided at a meeting, sports event etc:
•Refreshments will be served after the meeting.
2 [U] food and drink in general:
•We worked all day without refreshment.
liquid refreshment (=alcoholic drink - used humorously)
•I was in need of some liquid refreshment.
3 [U] the experience of being made to feel less tired or hot [plural]
a Mexican dish in which beans that have already been cooked are crushed and then FRIED with spices [T]
to make something such as food or liquid cold in a refrigerator in order to preserve it:
•Refrigerate the mixture overnight.
- refrigeration noun [U] $ [C]
BrE formal or AmE a large piece of electrical kitchen equipment, shaped like a cupboard, used for keeping food and drink cool; = fridge; freezer past tense and past participle refuelled, present participle refuelling BrE past tense and past participle refueled, present participle refueling AmE
1 [I,T] to fill a plane or vehicle with FUEL before continuing a journey:
•The plane was refuelled in Dubai.
2 [T] to make feelings, emotions, or ideas stronger:
•The attack refuelled fears of war.
1 [U] shelter or protection from someone or something
take/seek refuge (in sth)
•During the frequent air-raids, people took refuge in their cellars.
2 [C] a place that provides shelter, or protection from danger:
•a wildlife refuge
[+from]
•A huge oak tree provided a refuge from the storm.
[+for]
•a refuge for battered wives [C]
someone who has been forced to leave their country, especially during a war, or for political or religious reasons:
•Refugees were streaming across the border.
• refugee camps [C]
1 an amount of money that is given back to you if you are not satisfied with the goods or services that you have paid for:
•They refused to give me a refund.
•Return your purchase within 14 days for a full refund.
•You should go down there and demand a refund.
2 tax refund money that you get back from the government when it has taken too much money in taxes from your salary [T]
to give someone their money back, especially because they are not satisfied with the goods or services they have paid for; reimburse
•I took the radio back, and they refunded my money. $ [T] especially BrE
1 to decorate and repair something such as a building or office in order to improve its appearance; renovate
•The Grand Hotel has been completely refurbished.
2 to change and improve a plan, idea, or skill
- refurbishment noun [C,U] [C,U]
when you say firmly that you will not do, give, or accept something
refusal to do sth
•His refusal to pay the fine got him into even more trouble.
flat/blunt/point-blank refusal (=an immediate direct refusal)
•His request was met with a blunt refusal.
[+of]
•They couldn't understand her refusal of a scholarship to Yale.
1 [I] to say firmly that you will not do something that someone has asked you to do:
•She asked him to leave, but he refused.
refuse to do sth
•I absolutely refuse to take part in anything that's illegal.
flatly refuse/refuse point-blank (to do sth) (=refuse immediately and directly without giving a reason)
•Mom flatly refused to go back into the hospital.
•When he offered all that money, I could hardly refuse (=could not refuse), could I?
2 [I,T] to say no to something that you have been offered; = turn down
•She refused a second piece of cake.
•The offer seemed too good to refuse.
3 [T] to not give or allow someone something that they want, especially when they have asked for it officially
refuse sb sth
•She was refused a work permit. [U] formal
waste material that has been thrown away; = rubbish BrE; = trash, garbage AmE
•a refuse dump
household/domestic refuse
•refuse collection [T] formal
1 to prove that a statement or idea is not correct; = rebut
refute a hypothesis/a claim/an idea etc
•an attempt to refute Darwin's theories
2 to say that a statement is wrong or unfair; = deny
refute an allegation/a suggestion etc
•She refuted any allegations of malpractice.
- refutable adjective
- refutation noun [C,U]also reg BrE
1 the written abbreviation of registration
2 L reg./M reg. etc BrE used to show what year a car was first REGISTERed , based on the first letter of its NUMBER PLATE:
•a Y reg. BMW [T]
1 to get something back, especially an ability or quality, that you have lost; = recover
•The family never quite regained its former influence.
•He somehow managed to regain his balance.
•Government forces have regained control of the city.
•When she regained consciousness (=woke up after being unconscious), she was lying on the floor.
•He looked stunned, but he soon regained his composure (=became calm again).
•The doctors don't know if he will ever regain the use of his legs.
2 literary to reach a place again formal
typical of a king or queen, suitable for a king or queen, or similar to a king or queen in behaviour, looks etc:
•a ceremony of regal splendour
•James watched with regal detachment.
- regally adverb

PHRASAL VERBS
regale sb with sth phr v written
to entertain someone by telling them about something:
•Bailey regaled the customers with tales of our exploits. [U]
traditional clothes and decorations, used at official ceremonies:
•the royal regalia (=worn by a king or queen)
•a pipe band in full regalia (=wearing all their traditional clothes, decorations etc) $
1 ADMIRATION/RESPECT [U] respect and admiration for someone or something
[+for]
•Jan's regard for his great talent
•Burt had high regard for his old law professor, Dr. Finch (=he respected him a lot).
•The voters hold her in high regard (=respect or admire her).
•Teachers are held in low regard in this society (=are not respected or admired).
2 ATTENTION/CONSIDERATION [U] formal attention or consideration that is shown towards someone or something
[+for]
•She has no regard for other people's feelings.
pay/show regard
•One must show proper regard for the law.
little/no/scant regard (for sb/sth)
•The present administration has demonstrated little regard for environmental issues.
•All students must have access to quality education without regard to wealth or class.
3 with/in regard to sth formal relating to a particular subject:
•US foreign policy with regard to Cuba
4 in this/that regard formal relating to something you have just mentioned:
•The company's problems, in this regard, are certainly not unique.
5 regards [plural] good wishes - used when sending your good wishes to someone or when ending a short letter or message:
•My husband sends his regards.
•Hope to see you soon. Regards, Chris
(with) kind/best regards (=used to end a letter in a friendly but rather formal way)
6 [singular] literary a long look without moving your eyes[T]
1 [not in progressive] to think about someone or something in a particular way
regard sb/sth as sth
•Paul seemed to regard sex as sinful and immoral.
•Edith was widely regarded as (=considered by many people to be) eccentric.
•His work is highly regarded (=regarded as very good) by art experts.
2 formal to look at someone or something, in a particular way:
•She stood back and regarded him coldly.
3 as regards sth formal relating to a particular subject - use this when you want to talk or write about a particular subject:
•As regards a cure for the disease, very few advances have been made. $ formal
a word used especially in letters or speeches to introduce the subject you are writing or talking about; = concerning, with regard to
•Regarding your recent inquiry, I have enclosed a copy of our new brochure. $
1 without being affected or influenced by something
[+of]
•The law requires equal treatment for all, regardless of race, religion, or sex.
2 if you continue doing something regardless, you do it in spite of difficulties or other people telling you not to
carry on/go on regardless BrE (=continue what you are doing)
•You get a lot of criticism, but you just have to carry on regardless. [C]
a sports event at which there are races for rowing boats or sailing boats
Regency buildings, furniture etc are from or in the style of the period 1811-1820 in Britain plural regencies [C,U]
a period of government by a REGENT (=person who governs instead of a king or queen)
1 [T] formal to make something develop and grow strong again:
•efforts to regenerate the US economy
•The Marshall Plan sought to regenerate the shattered Europe of 1947.
2 [I,T] technical to grow again, or make something grow again:
•Small nodules form as the liver cells regenerate.
- regenerative adjective
•a regenerative process
- regeneration noun [U]
•a new strategy for urban regeneration [C]
someone who governs instead of a king or queen, because the king or queen is ill, absent, or still a child
- regent adjective [only after noun]
•the Prince Regent [U]
a kind of popular music originally from Jamaica, with a strong regular beat formal
1 [U] the crime of killing a king or queen
2 [C] someone who kills a king or queen [C]
1 a government, especially one that was not elected fairly or that you disapprove of for some other reason:
•The regime got rid of most of its opponents.
military/totalitarian/fascist regime
brutal/oppressive/corrupt regime
2 a particular system - used especially when talking about a previous system, or one that has just been introduced
under a regime
•Under the new regime, all sheep and cattle will be regularly tested for disease.
3 a special plan of food, exercise etc that is intended to improve your health; = regimen
•a dietary regime [C]
formal a special plan of food, exercise etc that is intended to improve your health; = regime
[+of]
•a regimen of morning stretching exercises
•Patients maintain a strict dietary regimen. [C]
1 a large group of soldiers, usually consisting of several BATTALIONs
2 a large number of people, animals, or things
[+of]
•a regiment of ants
- regimental adjective
•the regimental commander [T usually passive]
to organize and control people firmly and usually too strictly:
•the regimented routine of boarding school
- regimentation noun [U] [C]
1 a large area of a country or of the world, usually without exact limits; = area
•efforts to bring peace to the region
[+of]
•the Choco region of Columbia
coastal/border/central etc region
•Flooding is likely in some coastal regions of the Northeast during the early part of the week.
2 a particular part of someone's body; = area
•the lower back region
[+of]
•a region of the brain
3 (somewhere) in the region of sth used to describe an amount of time, money etc without being exact:
•a grant somewhere in the region of £2,500
4 the regions BrE the parts of a country that are away from the capital city:
•a government policy to relocate jobs from the capital to the regions [usually before noun]
relating to a particular region or area; local
•local and regional government
•regional variations in farming practice
•a slight regional accent
- regionally adverb
•goods sold locally and regionally [U]
loyalty to a particular region of a country and the desire for it to be more independent politically $
1 OFFICIAL LIST [C] an official list of names of people, companies etc, or a book that has this list
[+of]
•the official register of births, deaths, and marriages
•Have you signed the hotel register?
•Police want a national register of DNA samples.
the electoral register (=official list of voters)
call/take the register BrE old-fashioned (=say the names of the students in a class, to check who is there)
2 LANGUAGE STYLE [C,U] technical the words, style, and grammar used by speakers and writers in a particular situation or in a particular type of writing
formal/informal register
•letters written in a formal register
3 MUSIC [C] technical the range of musical notes that someone's voice or a musical instrument can reach
the upper/middle/lower register
•the upper register of the cello
4 MACHINE [C] a CASH REGISTER
5 HEATING CONTROL [C] AmE a movable metal plate that controls the flow of air in a HEATING or COOLING SYSTEM; = vent
1 ON A LIST [I,T] to put someone's or something's name on an official list:
•The tanker is registered in Rotterdam.
[+for]
•How many students have registered for English classes?
[+with]
•You must bring your insurance card with you when you register with a dentist or doctor.
register a birth/death/marriage
•The baby's birth was registered this morning.
be registered (as) unemployed/disabled etc BrE (=be on an official list of a particular group)
2 STATE YOUR OPINION [T] formal to officially state your opinion about something so that everyone knows what you think or feel:
•The delegation registered a formal protest with US embassy officials Wednesday.
3 REALIZE [I usually in negatives, T] if something registers, or if you register it, you realize or notice it, and then remember it:
•She had told me her name before, but I guess it didn't register.
•I'd been standing there for several minutes before he registered my presence.
4 MEASUREMENT [I,T] if an instrument registers an amount or if something registers on it, the instrument shows that amount:
•The thermometer registered 98.6°.
•The earthquake registered 7.2 on the Richter scale.
5 SHOW A FEELING [T] formal to show or express a feeling:
•Her face registered shock and anger.
6 MAIL [T] BrE to send a package, letter etc by REGISTERED POST:
•Did you register the parcel?also RN [C]
someone who has been trained and is officially allowed to work as a nurse[C]
the office of a company in Britain, to which all letters and official documents must be sent[U]
BrE a way of insuring something that you send by post in case it gets lost or damaged; = certified mail AmE[C] BrE
a REGISTRY OFFICE $ [C]
1 someone who is in charge of official records of births, marriages, and deaths
2 an official of a college or university who deals with the running of the college
3 BrE a hospital doctor who has finished his or her training but is of a lower rank than a CONSULTANT
1 [U] the act of recording names and details on an official list
[+of]
•the registration of motor vehicles
•Student registration (=for a course of study) starts the first week in September.
•The registration fee is $75.
2 [C] AmE an official piece of paper containing details about a motor vehicle and the name of its owner:
•May I see your license and registration, ma'am?[C]
BrE the official set of numbers and letters shown on the front and back of a vehicle on the NUMBER PLATE plural registries [C]
1 a place where information used by an organization is kept, especially official records or lists
2 BrE technical used when saying where something, especially a ship, is officially REGISTERed :
•the registry of the vessel[C]
a local government building in Britain where you can get married, and where births, marriages, and deaths are officially recorded [I]
technical to go back to an earlier and worse condition, or to a less developed way of behaving; progress
•The patient had regressed to a state of childish dependency. [C,U]
1 the act of returning to an earlier condition that is worse or less developed; progression
2 technical the act of thinking or behaving as you did at an earlier time of your life, such as when you were a child
returning to an earlier, less advanced state, or causing something to do this - used to show disapproval; progressive
•Many considered the changes to the welfare laws a regressive step.[C]
a tax that has less effect on the rich than on the poor past tense and past participle regretted, present participle regretting [T]
1 to feel sorry about something you have done and wish you had not done it:
•I've never regretted the decision.
•Don't do anything you might regret.
regret doing sth
•I now regret leaving school so young.
regret (that)
•He was beginning to regret that he'd come along.
bitterly/deeply/greatly regret
•It was a stupid thing to do and I bitterly regret it.
•If we don't act now, we'll live to regret it (=we'll regret it in the future).
2 [not in progressive] formal used in official letters or statements when saying that you are sorry or sad about something:
•We regret any inconvenience caused to our customers.
regret (that)
•I regret that I will be unable to attend.
regret to say/inform/tell
•I regret to inform you that your contract will not be renewed.

WORD CHOICE: regret, be sorry
Regret is very formal when it is used to apologize: I deeply regret causing you offence.
It is more usual to say you are sorry: I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.
If you regret doing something, you wish you had not done it: Do you regret resigning from your job? | I asked him to join us, then regretted it.
You can say you are sorry about something that you wish you had not done, or something that is not your fault: I was sorry that she decided not to come back.
You can say that you are sorry to say something or regret to say something before giving bad news: I am sorry to tell you that you failed the test. | We regret to inform you that no trains will run today.

1 [C usually plural, U] sadness that you feel about something, especially because you wish it had not happened
[+about]
•I have no regrets about leaving.
great/deep regret
•She has already expressed deep regret for what happened.
with regret
•I decided with some regret that it was time to move on.
•It is with great regret that I must decline your offer.
to sb's regret
•I lost touch with her, much to my regret.
2 give/send your regrets formal to say that you are unable to go to a meeting, accept an invitation etc:
•My father was ill and had to send his regrets.
someone who is regretful feels sorry or disappointed:
•She apologized and sounded genuinely regretful.
1 feeling sad because you do not want to do what you are doing:
•'I must go,' he said regretfully.
2 [sentence adverb] formal used to talk about a situation that you wish was different or that you are sorry about; = regrettably
•Regretfully, we do not have time to continue this discussion now.
something that is regrettable is unpleasant, and you wish things could be different; = unfortunate
•This was a very regrettable error.
it is regrettable that
•It's regrettable that classical music receives so little attention.
used to talk about a situation that you wish was different or that you are sorry about; = regretfully [sentence adverb]
•Regrettably, he will not be able to come.
1 [I,T] to form a group again in order to be more effective, or to make people do this:
•The Allies regrouped and launched a new attack.
•The Russians retreated, needing to regroup their forces.
2 [I] AmE to stop and think about something, so that you can start to do something again in a better way:
•I paused for a minute to regroup. $
1 EVERY HOUR/DAY/WEEK ETC happening every hour, every week, every month etc, usually with the same amount of time in between; irregular
•The company holds regular meetings with employees.
•His breathing was slow and regular.
•Trains will run at regular intervals from 11am to 4pm.
•We hear from him on a regular basis.
•He phones us every Sunday at six, regular as clockwork (=always at the same time).
•a regular job (=a job that you do during normal working hours)
2 OFTEN [only before noun] happening or doing something very often; irregular
•a regular occurrence
•Regular exercise helps keep your weight down.
regular customer/visitor
•He's one of the bar's regular customers.
•Penn Station was in regular use (=people used it often) until the 1960s.
3 USUAL [only before noun] especially AmE normal or usual:
•He has returned to his regular duties.
•Our regular opening hours are 10 am to 7pm.
4 EQUAL DISTANCE with the same amount of space between each thing and the next; irregular
•The pipes were placed at regular intervals.
•a carpet with a regular pattern of flowers
5 ORDINARY especially AmE ordinary, without any special feature or qualities:
•a regular type of guy
6 NORMAL SIZE [only before noun] especially AmE of a normal or standard size:
•a regular Coke
7 SHAPE evenly shaped with parts or sides of equal size:
•a regular hexagon
•He's very handsome, with strong regular features (=an evenly shaped face).
8 GRAMMAR technical a regular verb changes its forms in the same way as most verbs, for example its past tense and past participle end in 'ed'. The verb 'dance' is regular, but the verb 'be' is not; irregular
9 EMPHASIZING [only before noun] BrE informal used to emphasize what you think someone is like; = real
•He's a regular little dictator!
10 regular army/troops/soldier a regular army etc is permanent, and exists whether there is a war or not
11 be/keep regular informal
a) to get rid of waste from your BOWELs often enough to be healthy
b) a woman who is regular has her MENSTRUAL PERIOD at the same time each month
1 [C] informal someone who often goes to the same bar, restaurant etc or who takes part in an activity very often:
•The barman knows all the regulars by name.
2 [C] a soldier whose permanent job is in the army
3 [U] AmE petrol that contains LEAD plural regularities
1 [U] when the same thing keeps happening often, especially with the same amount of time between each occasion when it happens:
•Climate change is disrupting the regularity of the seasons.
with alarming/increasing etc regularity
•Our team kept losing with monotonous regularity (=in a way that seems boring or annoying).
2 [C,U] when something is arranged in an even way:
•the regularity of his featuresalso regularise BrE [T]
to make a situation that has existed for some time legal or official
- regularization $ noun [U] $
1 at the same time each day, week, month etc:
•We meet regularly, once a month.
2 often:
•I see them pretty regularly.
•It's important to exercise regularly.
3 evenly arranged or shaped:
•The plants are regularly spaced.
•regularly shaped crystals [T]
1 to control an activity or process, especially by rules:
•strict rules regulating the use of chemicals in food
2 to make a machine or your body work at a particular speed, temperature etc:
•People sweat to regulate their body heat.
1 [C] an official rule or order:
•There seem to be so many rules and regulations these days.
[+on]
•new regulations on imports
•regulations governing the safety of toys
building/planning/fire/health regulations
•The local authority is introducing new planning regulations.
•All companies must comply with the regulations.
under ... regulations
•Under the new regulations, all staff must have safety training.
2 [U] control over something, especially by rules
[+of]
•the regulation of public spending[only before noun]
used or worn because of official rules:
•The girls were all wearing regulation shoes. $ [C]
1 an instrument for controlling the temperature, speed etc of something:
•a heat regulator
2 someone who makes sure that a system operates properly or fairly:
•traffic safety regulators $ formal
a regulatory authority has the official power to control an activity and to make sure that it is done in a satisfactory way
regulatory body/authority/agency
•New drugs have been approved by the regulatory authority. $ [T] formal
1 to bring food that you have already swallowed, back into your mouth; vomit
•Some birds and animals regurgitate food to feed their young.
2 to repeat facts, ideas etc that you have read or heard without thinking about them yourself - used to show disapproval:
•She tries to get students to think critically, not just regurgitate facts.
- regurgitation $ noun [U] [U]
the process of curing someone who has an alcohol or drugs problem:
•a rehab program
in rehab
•I spent three months in rehab. [T]
1 to help someone to live a healthy, useful, or active life again after they have been seriously ill or in prison:
•a special unit for rehabilitating stroke patients
2 to make people think that someone or something is good again after a period when people had a bad opinion of them:
•The Prime Minister seems to be trying to rehabilitate the former defence secretary.
3 to improve a building or area so that it returns to the good condition it was in before; renovate
•A lot of the older houses have now been rehabilitated.
- rehabilitation noun [U]
•the rehabilitation of mentally ill patients [T]
1 to use the same ideas again in a new form that is not really different or better - used to show disapproval:
•He simply rehashed the same story.
2 to repeat something that was discussed earlier, especially in an annoying way:
•This issue has been rehashed so many times already.
- rehash noun [C]
•It was just a rehash of last year's show. $
1 [C,U] a time when all the people in a play, concert etc practise before a public performance
[+for/of]
•a rehearsal for 'Romeo and Juliet'
in rehearsal
•The dialogue was worked out by actors in rehearsal.
DRESS REHEARSAL
2 [C] a time when all the people involved in a big event practise it together before it happens:
•a wedding rehearsal $
1 [I,T] to practise or make people practise something such as a play or concert in order to prepare for a public performance:
•I think we need to rehearse the first scene again.
[+for]
•The band was rehearsing for their world tour.
2 [T] to practise something that you plan to say to someone:
•She had carefully rehearsed her resignation speech.
3 [T] formal to repeat an opinion that has often been expressed before [T]
to make a meal or drink hot again:
•I reheated some soup for lunch. $ [T]
to arrange for a pet to have a new owner and home, especially a pet that has been looked after in a SHELTER:
•The kittens have been rehomed. [T]
to put someone in a new or better home:
•All flood victims will be rehoused as soon as possible. [C]
1 the period when someone is king, queen, or EMPEROR
[+of]
•changes that took place during Charlemagne's reign
•the reign of James I
2 the period when someone is in charge of an organization, team etc:
•during his reign at the Education Department
3 a period during which something is the most powerful or most important feature of a place
[+of]
•the reign of Stalinism in Russia
4 reign of terror a period when a ruler or a government kills many of their political opponents[I]
1 to rule a nation or group of nations as their king, queen, or EMPEROR:
•George VI reigned from 1936 to 1952.
[+over]
•Pharaohs reigned over Egypt for centuries.
2 literary if a feeling or quality reigns, it exists strongly for a period of time:
•For several minutes confusion reigned.
• Silence reigned while we waited for news.
3 reigning champion the most recent winner of a competition:
•Can he defeat the reigning Wimbledon champion?
4 reign supreme if someone or something reigns supreme, they are the most important part of a situation or time:
•It was a time when romance reigned supreme. $ [T]
formal to pay money back to someone when their money has been spent or lost
reimburse sb for sth
•The company will reimburse you for travel expenses.
- reimbursement noun [C,U]
1 [C usually plural] a long narrow band of leather that is fastened around a horse's head in order to control it; bridle
2 give (full/free) rein to sth to allow an emotion or feeling to be expressed freely:
•He gave free rein to his imagination.
3 give sb (a) free rein to give someone complete freedom to do a job in whatever way they choose
4 keep a tight rein on sb/sth to control something strictly:
•The finance director keeps a tight rein on spending.
5 take/hand over the reins to take or give someone control over an organization or country:
•Owens will officially take over the reins in a few weeks.

PHRASAL VERBS
rein sth <=> in phr v also rein sth <=> back BrE
1 to start to control a situation more strictly:
•The government is reigning in public expenditure.
2 to make a horse go more slowly by pulling on the reins $
be reincarnated to be born again in another body after you have died $
1 [U] the belief that after someone dies their soul lives again in another body
2 [C] the person or animal that contains the soul of a dead person or animal
[+of]
•She thinks she is a reincarnation of Cleopatra. $ plural reindeer [C]
a large DEER with long wide ANTLERs (=horns), that lives in cold northern areas $ [T]
1 to give support to an opinion, idea, or feeling, and make it stronger:
•The film reinforces the idea that women should be pretty and dumb.
2 to make part of a building, structure, piece of clothing etc stronger
3 to make a group of people, especially an army, stronger by adding people, equipment etc[U]
CONCRETE with metal bars in it to make it stronger $
1 reinforcements [plural] more soldiers, police etc who are sent to a battle, fight etc to make their group stronger:
•The police called for reinforcements.
2 positive/negative reinforcement positive reinforcement is when you give someone praise or rewards for their behaviour or work, so they want to continue doing well. Negative reinforcement is when you give someone punishments or criticism when their behaviour or work is bad, so that they want to improve to avoid punishments again:
•We need to give students plenty of positive reinforcement.
3 [U] the act of making something stronger:
•The bridge needs some structural reinforcement. [T]
1 if someone is reinstated, they are officially given back their job after it was taken away
2 to make something such as a law, system, or rule exist again:
•California reinstated the death penalty in 1977.
- reinstatement noun [C,U] $ [T] technical
to share the insurance of something between two or more companies, so that there is less risk for each
- reinsurance noun [U]
- reinsurer noun [C] $ [T]
to start using something again or bring something back to an area after it had not been used or had not existed there for some time; = bring back
•plans to reintroduce a capital-gains tax on securities
- reintroduction noun [U] [T]
1 to make changes to an idea, method, system etc in order to improve it or make it more modern; = reform
•plans to reinvent the American educational system
2 reinvent yourself to do something differently from before, especially in order to improve or change the way people think of you:
•Bowie has constantly reinvented himself during his long career.
3 reinvent the wheel informal to waste time trying to find a way to do something when someone else has already discovered the best way to do it [I,T]
to use money you have earned from INVESTMENTs to buy additional investments
reinvest sth in sth
•She reinvested the dividends in mutual funds.
- reinvestment noun [U] $ [T]
to produce a record, book etc again, after it has not been available for some time:
•an early jazz record reissued on CD
- reissue noun [C] [T]
formal to repeat a statement or opinion in order to make your meaning as clear as possible; = restate
•Let me reiterate the most important points.
reiterate that
•Lawyers reiterated that there was no direct evidence against Mr Evans.
- reiteration noun [C,U]
•a reiteration of his previous statement [T]
1 OFFER/SUGGESTION/IDEA to refuse to accept, believe in, or agree with something; accept
•Sarah rejected her brother's offer of help.
reject sth as sth
•Gibson rejected the idea as 'absurd'.
•Dexter flatly rejected (=completely rejected) calls for his resignation.
•His proposal was rejected outright (=completely rejected).
2 NOT CHOOSE SB to not choose someone for a job, course of study etc; accept
•It's obvious why his application was rejected.
3 PRODUCT to throw away something that has just been made, because its quality is not good enough:
•If inspectors find a defective can, the batch is rejected.
4 NOT LOVE SB to refuse to give someone any love or attention:
•Children feel abandoned or rejected if they don't see their parents regularly.
5 ORGAN if your body rejects an organ, after a TRANSPLANT operation, it does not accept that organ [C]
1 a product that has been rejected because there is something wrong with it:
•a shop selling cheap rejects
2 someone who is not accepted or liked by another person, or by other people:
•They felt that they were society's rejects.
1 [C,U] the act of not accepting, believing in, or agreeing with something; acceptance
[+of]
•What are the reasons for his rejection of the theory?
2 [C,U] the act of not accepting someone for a job, school etc; acceptance
•They sent me a rejection letter.
3 [U] a situation in which someone stops giving you love or attention:
•He was left with a feeling of rejection and loss.rejigger AmE past tense and past participle rejigged, present participle rejigging [T] BrE informal
to arrange or organize something in a different way; = reorganize
•plans to rejig the schedule [I]
1 literary to feel or show that you are very happy
[+at/over/in]
•His family rejoiced at the news.
•We rejoiced in our good fortune.
2 rejoice in the name/title (of) sth BrE to have a name or title that is silly or amusing:
•He rejoices in the name of Pigg.also rejoicings [U] [plural]
literary a situation in which a lot of people are very happy because they have had good news
[+at/over]
•There was great rejoicing at the victory. [T]
to go back to a group of people, organization etc that you were with before:
•She rejoined her friends in the lounge.
•In 1938 he rejoined the Socialists. [T] literary
to say something in reply, especially rudely or angrily; = retort
•'I don't care!' she rejoined. $ [C]
formal a reply, especially a rude one:
•He tried to think of a snappy rejoinder. [T]
1 to make something work much better or become much better again:
•plans to rejuvenate the inner city areas
2 [usually passive] to make someone look or feel young and strong again:
•I came back from holiday feeling rejuvenated.
- rejuvenation noun [singular, U] [T]
to make someone have a particular feeling, thought etc again; = reawaken
•The trial has rekindled painful memories of the war.
the past tense and past participle of RELAY^3 [I]
1 to become ill again after you have seemed to improve
[+into]
•We were afraid he might relapse into a coma.
2 to start to behave badly again
[+into]
•Clara soon relapsed into her old ways. $ [C,U]
when someone becomes ill again after having seemed to improve:
•She had a relapse and died soon after.
1 [I] if two things relate, they are connected in some way; = connect
•I don't understand how the two ideas relate.
[+to]
•The charges of fraud relate to events that took place over ten years ago.
2 [T] if you relate two different things, you show how they are connected
relate sth to sth
•The report seeks to relate the rise in crime to an increase in unemployment.
3 [T] formal to tell someone about events that have happened to you or to someone else
relate sth to sb
•He later related the whole story to me.
4 [I] to feel that you understand someone's problem, situation etc
[+to]
•Laurie finds it difficult to relate to children.
•I know he feels upset, and I can relate to that.
1 things that are related are connected in some way:
•Police now believe that the three crimes could be related.
•the problem of drug abuse and other related issues
[+to]
•He suffers with memory loss related to his disease.
closely/directly/strongly etc related
•Education levels are strongly related to income.
drug-/pollution-/stress-related etc
•people suffering from tobacco-related illnesses
2 [not before noun] connected by a family relationship:
•Are you two related?
[+to]
•I might be related to him.
3 animals, plants, languages etc that are related belong to the same group:
•Dolphins and porpoises are closely related.
about or concerning:
•documents relating to immigration laws
1 BETWEEN PEOPLE/COUNTRIES relations [plural]
a) official connections between countries, companies, organizations etc:
•Relations between the two countries have improved recently.
diplomatic/international etc relations
•Canada and Britain have established diplomatic relations with North Korea.
[+with]
•Britain threatened to break off diplomatic relations with the regime.
•The union has close relations with the Labour Party.
b) the way in which people or groups of people behave towards each other
[+between]
•Relations between workers and management are generally good.
•measures to improve race relations (=relations between people of different races)
PUBLIC RELATIONS, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, RACE RELATIONS
2 in relation to sth formal
a) used to talk about something that is connected with or compared with the thing you are talking about:
•Women's earnings are still low in relation to men's.
b) formal concerning:
•latest developments in relation to the disease
3 CONNECTION [C,U] a connection between two or more things; = relationship
[+between]
•the relation between prices and wages
•The price the meat is sold for bears no relation to (=is not connected to) the price the farmer receives.
4 FAMILY [C] a member of your family; = relative
•We have relations in Canada and Scotland.
[+of/to]
•What relation are you to Jessica?
close/distant relation
•Steve is a distant relation of my wife.
BLOOD RELATION
poor relation at POOR (11)
5 have (sexual) relations (with sb) old-fashioned to have sex with someone
1 [C] the way in which two people or two groups feel about each other and behave towards each other
[+with]
•I have quite a good relationship with my parents.
•She has a close relationship with her daughter.
[+between]
•the special relationship between Britain and the US
personal/family/social etc relationships
•a study of doctor-patient relationships
•They've established a better working relationship.
•I had a sort of love-hate relationship with my brother (=we loved and hated each other at the same time).
2 [C,U] the way in which two or more things are connected and affect each other
[+between]
•the relationship between poor housing and health problems
[+to]
•He's studying politics and its relationship to the media.
•The lessons bear little relationship (=they are not connected) to the children's actual needs.
3 [C] a situation in which two people spend time together or live together, and have romantic or sexual feelings for each other:
•He's never had a sexual relationship before.
[+with]
•She doesn't really want a relationship with me.
in a relationship
•Are you in a relationship right now?
4 [U] the way in which you are related to someone in your family
[+to]
•'What's your relationship to Sue?' 'She's my cousin.' [C]
a member of your family; = relation
•a gathering of friends and relatives
a close/distant relative
•Her boyfriend is a distant relative of mine.
1 having a particular quality when compared with something else:
•The relative merits of both approaches have to be considered.
•her opponent's relative lack of experience
•You may think you're poor, but it's all relative (=you are not poor compared to some people).
2 relative to sth formal connected with a particular subject:
•facts relative to this issue[C]
technical a part of a sentence that has a verb in it, and is joined to the rest of the sentence by 'who', 'which', 'where' etc, for example the phrase 'who lives next door' in the sentence 'The man who lives next door is a doctor.'
1 something that is relatively small, easy etc is fairly small, easy etc compared to other things:
•The system is relatively easy to use.
•E-commerce is a relatively recent phenomenon.
2 relatively speaking used when comparing something with all similar things:
•Relatively speaking, land prices are still pretty cheap here.[C]
technical a PRONOUN such as 'who', 'which', or 'that' by which a relative clause is connected to the rest of the sentence [U] technical
the belief in PHILOSOPHY that nothing is absolutely true and that things can only be judged in comparison with one another [U]
the relationship in PHYSICS between time, space, and movement according to Einstein's THEORY $ [C]
a new effort to sell a product that is already on sale
- relaunch $ verb [T]
•The product is being relaunched with a new name.
1 REST [I,T] to rest or do something that is enjoyable, especially after you have been working:
•I just want to sit down and relax.
•What Robyn needed was a drink to relax her.
•A hot bath should help to relax you.
2 BECOME CALM [I,T] to become quiet and calm after you have been upset or nervous, or to make someone do this:
•Once out of danger, he started to relax.
•Relax! Everything's fine.
3 MUSCLE [I,T] if you relax a part of your body or it relaxes, it becomes less stiff or less tight:
•Gentle exercise can relax stiff shoulder muscles.
4 RULES/LAWS [T] to make a rule or law less strict
relax rules/regulations/controls
•Hughes believes that immigration controls should not be relaxed.
5 relax your hold/grip
a) to hold something less tightly than before
[+on]
•He relaxed his grip on my arm.
b) to become less strict in the way you control something
[+on]
•The party has no intention of relaxing its hold on the country.
6 relax your concentration/vigilance etc to reduce the amount of attention you give to something
1 [C,U] a way of resting and enjoying yourself:
•I play the piano for relaxation.
•Meditation allows you to enter a state of deep relaxation.
2 [U] the process of making rules on the control of something less strict
[+of]
•a relaxation of government regulations
1 feeling calm, comfortable, and not worried or annoyed:
•Gail was lying in the sun looking very relaxed and happy.
[+about]
•I feel more relaxed about my career than I used to.
2 a situation that is relaxed is comfortable and informal:
•There's a very relaxed atmosphere in the school.
3 not strict, or not feeling that you have to do something in the way that other people think you should do it
a relaxed attitude/manner/style etc
•She has a fairly relaxed approach to housework.
making you feel relaxed:
•a relaxing evening at home
1 in relays if people do something in relays, several small groups of them do it, one group after another, so that the activity is continuous
2 [C] a relay race:
•the 100 metres relay
3 [C,U] a piece of electrical equipment that receives radio or television signals and sends them on $ past tense and past participle relayed [T]
1 to pass a message from one person or place to another; = pass on
relay sth to sb
•He quickly relayed this news to the other members of staff.
2 if radio or television signals are relayed, they are received and sent, especially so that they can be heard on the radio or seen on television:
•The broadcasts were relayed by satellite. past tense and past participle relaid [T]
to lay something on the ground again because it was not done well enough before:
•The carpet will have to be relaid.[C]
a running or swimming race between two or more teams in which each member of the team takes part one after another [T]
1 LET SB GO to let someone go free, after having kept them somewhere; free, discharge
•Police arrested several men, who were later released.
•The bears are eventually released into the wild.
release sb from sth
•He was released from the hospital yesterday.
2 MAKE PUBLIC to let news or official information be known and printed; = publish
•The new trade figures have just been released.
3 FILM/RECORD to make a CD, video, film etc available for people to buy or see:
•A version of the game for Mac computers will be released in February.
4 STOP HOLDING/DROP to stop holding or drop something:
•Thousands of bombs were released over Dresden.
release your grip/hold (on sb/sth)
•The sudden noise made him release his hold on her arm.
5 FEELINGS to express or get rid of feelings such as anger or worry:
•Physical exercise is a good way of releasing stress.
6 CHEMICAL to let a substance flow out
release sth into sth
•Oil was released into the sea.
7 FROM A DUTY to allow someone not to do their duty or work:
•Because of rising costs, the company released 10% of their workforce.
release sb from sth
•Williams asked to be released from her contract.
8 MACHINERY to allow part of a piece of machinery or equipment to move from the position in which it is fastened or held:
•Release the handbrake first.
1 FROM PRISON [singular, U] when someone is officially allowed to go free, after being kept somewhere:
•Before release, the sea lions are fitted with electronic tracking devices.
[+from]
•Simon has obtained early release from prison.
2 RECORD/FILM
a) [C] a new CD, video, film etc that is available to buy or see:
•the band's latest release
b) be on (general) release if a film is on release, you can go see it in a cinema:
•The film is on general release.
3 FEELINGS [singular, U]
a) freedom to show or express your feelings:
•Playing an instrument can be a form of emotional release.
b) a feeling that you are free from the worry or pain that you have been suffering:
•treatment that will bring a release from pain
4 CHEMICALS [U] when a chemical, gas etc is allowed to flow out of its usual container
[+into]
•the release of toxic waste into the rivers
5 OFFICIAL STATEMENT [C,U] an official statement, report etc that is made available to be printed or broadcast, or the act of making it available; = publication
•October 22nd is the date set for the report's release.
PRESS RELEASE
6 MACHINE [C] a handle, button etc that can be pressed to allow part of a machine to move [T]
1 formal to give someone or something a less important position than before
relegate sb/sth to sth
•Women tended to be relegated to typing and filing jobs.
2 BrE if a sports team is relegated, it is moved into a lower DIVISION; promote
relegate sth/sb to sth
•We were relegated to the Fourth Division last year.
- relegation noun [U] [I] formal
to change your attitude and become less strict or cruel towards someone; = give in
•At last her father relented and came to visit her.
1 strict, cruel, or determined, without ever stopping:
•her relentless determination to succeed
•a regime that was relentless in its persecution of dissidents
2 something bad that is relentless continues without ever stopping or getting less severe; = endless
•the relentless crying of a small baby
•a family facing relentless financial problems
- relentlessly adverb
•He questioned her relentlessly.
directly relating to the subject or problem being discussed or considered; irrelevant
•Relevant documents were presented in court.
•We received all the relevant information.
[+to]
•What experience do you have that is relevant to this position?
- relevance also relevancy noun [U]
- relevantly adverb
someone or something that is reliable can be trusted or depended on; = dependable; rely
•a birth control method that is cheap and reliable
•Miller was a quiet and reliable man.
- reliably adverb
- reliability noun [U]
[singular, U] when someone or something is dependent on someone or something else; = dependence
[+on/upon]
•the country's reliance on imported oil
•the country's heavy reliance on trade
dependent on someone or something
[+on/upon]
•Most companies are now reliant on computer technology.
SELF-RELIANT [C]
1 an old object or custom that reminds people of the past or that has lived on from a past time:
•Roman relics found in a field
[+of]
•the books and photos, relics of Rob's university days
•Everything in the house seemed old and untouched, like relics of an ancient time.
2 a part of the body or clothing of a holy person which is kept after their death because it is thought to be holy
1 COMFORT [singular, U] a feeling of comfort when something frightening, worrying, or painful has ended or has not happened; relieve
•I felt a huge surge of relief and happiness.
with relief
•He watched with relief as the girl nodded.
in relief
•He laughed in relief.
•No one was hurt, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
it is a relief to see/have/know etc sth
•I hate to say it, but it was a relief to have him out of the house.
to sb's relief
•To my relief, they spoke English.
what a relief/that's a relief
•The doctor said it was just the flu. What a relief!
2 REDUCTION OF PAIN [U] when something reduces someone's pain or unhappy feelings:
•Marijuana can provide pain relief for some cancer patients.
[+of]
•the relief of suffering
[+from]
•The cool room provided relief from the terrible heat outdoors.
3 HELP [U] money, food, clothes etc given to people who are poor or hungry:
•money raised for the relief effort
disaster/famine/flood etc relief
•famine relief for victims of the drought
4 REPLACEMENT [U] a person or group of people that replaces another one and does their work after they have finished:
•the relief for the military guard
•a relief driver
5 DECORATION [C,U] a way of decorating wood, stone etc with a shape or figure that is raised above the surface, or the decoration itself; bas relief
in relief
•figures carved in relief
6 bring/throw sth into relief also stand out in relief to make something very noticeable, or to be very noticeable
sharp/stark relief
•The tree stood out in stark relief against the snow.
•The article throws into sharp relief the differences between the two theories.
7 light/comic relief a funny moment during a serious film, book, or situation:
•a moment of comic relief
8 MONEY [U] old-fashioned especially AmE money given by the government to help people who are poor, old, unemployed etc; = welfare
on relief
•families on relief during the Depression
9 WAR [U] formal the act of freeing a town when it has been surrounded by an enemy
[+of]
•the relief of Mafeking
10 MAP in relief if you show a part of the Earth's surface in relief, you show the differences in height between different parts of it
TAX RELIEF[C]
a map that shows the different heights of mountains, valleys etc by printing them in a different colour or by raising some parts[C] BrE
a road that vehicles use to avoid heavy traffic, usually built for this purpose:
•an eastern relief road for city traffic [T]
1 PAIN to reduce someone's pain or unpleasant feelings; relief
•Drugs helped to relieve the pain.
relieve tension/pressure/stress etc
•Some people eat for comfort, to relieve their anxieties.
2 PROBLEM to make a problem less difficult or serious:
•programs aimed at relieving unemployment
3 REPLACE SB to replace someone when they have completed their duty or when they need a rest:
•The guard will be relieved at midnight.
4 relieve yourself a polite expression meaning to URINATE - often used humorously
5 BORING to make something less dull and boring:
•a plain wall relieved by flecks of blue and yellow
relieve the boredom/monotony
•The books helped relieve the boredom of waiting.
6 WAR formal to free a town which an enemy has surrounded

PHRASAL VERBS
relieve sb of sth phr v
1 formal to help someone by taking something from them, especially a job they do not want to do or something heavy that they are carrying:
•A secretary was hired to relieve her of some of the administrative work.
•He rose and relieved her of her bags.
2 relieve sb of their post/duties/command etc formal to take away someone's job because they have done something wrong:
•After the defeat General Meyer was relieved of his command.
3 to steal something from someone - used humorously:
•A couple of guys relieved him of his wallet.
feeling happy because you are no longer worried about something; relief
greatly/immensely/extremely etc relieved
•She looked immensely relieved when she heard the news.
relieved to see/hear/know sth
•His mother was relieved to see him happy again.
relieved (that)
•I felt relieved that Ben would be there.
•A relieved smile spread over his face.
1 [U] a belief in one or more gods:
•The U.S. Constitution promises freedom of religion.
•a course on philosophy and religion
2 [C] a particular system of this belief and all the ceremonies and duties that are related to it:
•people of different religions
•the Islamic religion
•The tribe practised a religion that mixed native beliefs and Christianity.
3 find/get religion to suddenly become interested in religion in a way that seems strange to other people:
•Miller found religion in prison.
4 sth is (like) a religion used when saying that something is very important to someone and they are extremely interested in it and spend a lot of time doing it, watching it etc:
•Football was a religion in my family.

WORD FOCUS: religion
faith one of the world's main religions, for example Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, or Christianity
church a Christian religious group, for example the Catholic Church
sect a religious group that is part of a larger religious group but has slightly different beliefs, for example a Buddhist sect
cult an extreme religious group that is not part of an established religion
faith community a group of people living in the same area, who have a particular religion
secular not relating to religion or any religious group

1 relating to religion in general or to a particular religion:
•I don't share her religious beliefs.
•a religious school
•the dates of major religious observances such as Easter or Christmas
2 believing strongly in your religion and obeying its rules carefully:
•a deeply religious person
- religiosity $ noun [U]
1 if you do something religiously, you are always very careful to do it:
•He exercises religiously every morning.
2 in a way that is related to religion:
•a religiously diverse country [T]
formal to let someone else have your position, power, or rights, especially unwillingly; = give up
•No one wants to relinquish power once they have it.
relinquish sth to sb
•Stultz relinquished control to his subordinate. $ plural reliquaries [C] technical
a container for religious objects that are related to holy people [T]
to enjoy an experience or the thought of something that is going to happen
relish the prospect/thought/idea
•I don't relish the thought of you walking home alone.
relish the chance/opportunity
•He relishes the chance to play Hamlet.
1 [U] great enjoyment of something
with relish
•I ate with great relish, enjoying every bite.
2 [C,U] a thick spicy sauce made from fruits or vegetables, and usually eaten with meat:
•a hot dog with mustard and relish [T]
to remember or imagine something that happened in the past so clearly that you experience the same emotions again:
•The girls watch the tape, eager to relive their victory against UCLA. $ [I,T]
1 to put something into a container again, especially bullets into a gun
2 if you reload a page on the Internet, you ask for the information shown on that page to be sent to your computer again, usually because there has been a problem or because you want the information to be as new as possible $ [I,T]
if a person or business relocates, or if they are relocated, they move to a different place
[+to]
•A lot of firms are relocating to the North of England.
[+in]
•businesses that relocate in depressed areas
relocate sb/sth to sth
•The residents were relocated to temporary accommodation while the work was being done.
- relocation $ noun [U] [singular, U]
when someone is unwilling to do something, or when they do something slowly to show that they are not very willing:
•Wells finally agreed, but with reluctance.
reluctance to do sth
•a reluctance to share information
slow and unwilling:
•She gave a reluctant smile.
reluctant to do sth
•Maddox was reluctant to talk about it.
- reluctantly adverb
•Reluctantly, he agreed. past tense and past participle relied, present participle relying, third person singular relies

PHRASAL VERBS
rely on/upon sb/sth phr v
1 to trust or depend on someone or something to do what you need or expect them to do; reliable, reliance
•I knew I could rely on David.
rely on sb/sth to do sth
•Many working women rely on relatives to help take care of their children.
[+for]
•Many people now rely on the Internet for news.
2 to depend on something in order to continue to live or exist:
•For its income, the company relies heavily on only a few contracts.
[+for]
•They have to rely on the river for their water.
1 [I always + adv/prep, linking verb] to continue to be in the same state or condition:
•Please remain seated until all the lights are on.
•We remained friends.
•The boy remained silent.
[+as]
•Despite the job losses, Parker remained as manager.
remain unclear/unchanged/unanswered etc
•Many scientists remain unconvinced by the current evidence.
2 [I] formal to stay in the same place without moving away; = stay
[+at/in/with etc]
•She was too ill to remain at home.
•The refugees were allowed to remain in the UK.
!! In spoken English it is more usual to use stay.
3 [I] to continue to exist or be left after others have gone, been used, or been destroyed:
•Little of the original building remains.
•The score is tied, with fifteen minutes remaining.
• What remains of his original art collection is now in the city museum.
4 [I] to be left after other things have been dealt with
remain to be done
•Several points remain to be settled.
• There remained a few jobs still to be finished.
• The fact remains that racism is still a considerable problem.
5 it remains to be seen used to say that it is still uncertain whether something will happen or is true:
•It remains to be seen whether the operation was successful. $
1 the remainder the part of something that is left after everything else has gone or been dealt with; = the rest
•The remainder must be paid by the end of June.
[+of]
•He spent the remainder of his police career behind a desk.
2 [C]
a) the number you get when you subtract one number from another number
b) the number that is left when you divide one number by another number:
•Fifteen divided by four gives you a remainder of 3. [only before noun]
the remaining people or things are those that are left when the others have gone, been used, or been dealt with:
•The few remaining guests were in the kitchen.
•Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.
•The only remaining question is whether we can raise the money. [plural]
1 the parts of something that are left after the rest has been destroyed or has disappeared
[+of]
•On the table were the remains of the evening meal.
•extensive Roman remains (=of ancient buildings) at Arles
2 the body of someone who has died:
•Her remains are buried in Westminster. [C]
a record or film that has the same music or story as one that was made before
[+of]
•a remake of 'Cape Fear' past tense and past participle remade [T]
1 to film a story or record a piece of music again:
•It was remade as a musical.
2 to build or make something again:
•She remade her wedding dress to fit her daughter. $ [T usually passive] law
1 BrE to send someone back from a court of law, to wait for their TRIAL:
•Smith was remanded in custody (=kept in prison) until Tuesday.
•He's been remanded on bail for a month (=allowed to leave the law court and go home to wait for trial).
2 AmE to send a case to be dealt with in another court:
•The court remanded the case for trial.[U] BrE
the period of time that someone spends in prison before their TRIAL
on remand
•Evans committed suicide while on remand in Parkhurst prison.
•remand prisoners[C]
BrE a place like a prison where people are kept while waiting for a TRIAL[C]
BrE a place like a prison where young people are kept while waiting for a TRIAL $
1 [C] something that you say when you express an opinion or say what you have noticed; = comment
•The Senator denied making the remark.
a sexist/critical/personal etc remark
•He was fired for making racist remarks during an interview.
2 remarks [plural] the things you say in a formal speech
introductory/opening/concluding remarks
•the chairman's introductory remarks
in sb's remarks
•Caldwell, in his remarks, emphasized the need for cooperation.[T]
to say something, especially about something you have just noticed:
•'This house must be very old,' he remarked.
remark that
•Anderson left the table, remarking that he had some work to do.
[+on/upon]
•He remarked on the difference in security measures at the two airports. $
unusual or surprising and therefore deserving attention or praise:
•She has made remarkable progress.
•a remarkable coincidence
remarkable feat/achievement/accomplishment
•It's a remarkable achievement for the company.
it is remarkable that
•It is remarkable that women did not have the vote until that time.
[+for]
•His drawings are remarkable for their accuracy.
•He's a remarkable man.
see box at UNUSUAL $
in an amount or to a degree that is unusual or surprising; = surprisingly [+ adj/adv]
•She plays the violin remarkably well. [sentence adverb]
•Remarkably, all of the passengers survived the crash. past tense and past participle remarried, present participle remarrying, third person singular remarries [I,T]
to marry again:
•Widowed in 1949, Mrs Hayes never remarried.
- remarriage noun [C] $ [T]
technical to make a musical recording sound better or a film look better by using a computer to improve the original:
•an album with 15 digitally remastered songs [C usually singular]
when two teams or people compete against each other a second time, especially when there was no clear winner in the first competition; = replay
•Both teams are preparing for the rematch. formal
able to be corrected or cured:
•remediable problems
1 remedial course/class/teacher etc a special course etc that helps students who have difficulty learning something
2 intended to improve something that is wrong:
•Some remedial work needs to be done on the foundations.
3 intended to cure a problem with someone's health:
•remedial mental health therapies plural remedies [C]
1 a way of dealing with a problem or making a bad situation better; = solution
•The problems in our schools do not have a simple remedy.
[+for]
•The program is one remedy for discrimination.
2 a medicine to cure an illness or pain that is not very serious; = cure
cold/cough remedy
[+for]
•a remedy for colds
herbal/natural remedy
•a natural remedy that helps insomnia
•a home remedy (=one that you make at home) for sore throats
•The herb is used as a folk remedy (=a traditional medicine, rather than one a doctor gives you) for a baby's teething pains.
3 beyond/without remedy formal if a situation is beyond remedy, nothing can be done to make it better:
•She felt as if her marital problems were beyond remedy.past tense and past participle remedied, present participle remedying, third person singular remedies [T]
to deal with a problem or improve a bad situation; = put right
•To remedy the situation, the water must be chemically treated. $
1 THE PAST [I,T] to have a picture or idea in your mind of people, events, places etc from the past; forget

can/can't remember
remember (that)
remember (sb) doing sth
remember sth well
distinctly/vividly/clearly remember (=remember something well)
vaguely/dimly/barely remember (=not remember something well)
remember sth rightly/correctly
for as long as sb can remember (=for a very long time)
as far as sb can remember (=used for telling someone what you remember of a situation)

•Do you remember Rosa Davies?
•I can't remember her exact words.
•I remember you two couldn't stand each other at first!
•I remember my father bringing home a huge Christmas tree.
•I remember meeting her at a party once.
•I remember it well; I'd never seen my mother so angry.
•She clearly remembers the excitement as they boarded the train.
•I vaguely remember reading something about it in the paper.
•They had three children, if I remember rightly.
•They've lived here for as long as I can remember.
•No one got drunk as far as I can remember.

2 INFORMATION/FACTS [I,T] to bring information or facts that you know into your mind; forget
•You left your keys on the table, remember?
•I can't remember her phone number.
remember that
•I suddenly remembered that I'd left the stove on.
remember what/how/why etc
•I called the office, but I don't remember who I spoke to.
3 TO DO/GET STH [I,T] to not forget something that you must do, get, or bring:
•I hope he remembers the wine.
remember to do sth
•Remember to take your P.E. clothes to school.
4 KEEP STH IN MIND [T] to keep a particular fact about a situation in your mind:
•Remember, processed food is usually full of salt and sugar.
remember that
•Remember that not everyone has as much money as you.
it should/must be remembered (that)
•It should be remembered that a lot of work went into this event.
5 HONOUR THE DEAD [T] to think with respect about someone who has died, often in a ceremony:
•On this day we remember the dead of two world wars.
6 be remembered for/as sth to be famous for something important that you did in the past:
•He is best remembered for his travel books.
•Johnson wanted to be remembered as 'the education president.'
7 GIVE SB A PRESENT [T] to give someone a present on a particular occasion:
•Lilian always remembers me at Christmas.
remember sb in your will (=arrange for someone to have something of yours after you die)
8 remember me to sb spoken used to ask someone to give a greeting from you to someone else

WORD CHOICE: remember, remind
You remember someone or something from a time in the past: I remember playing there when I was little. | Hello, do you remember me?
You also remember information or things that you must do: I can't remember what time he's arriving. | We must remember to close that window.
You remind someone about something when you tell them to remember it: Remind me to call Kim tomorrow. | Thomas reminded us that Dad was still waiting.
If something or someone reminds you of a person or thing, they make you think of them because they are similar: Being on the farm reminded me of my childhood. | She reminds me of my first girlfriend.

!! You can remind yourself of something, but you cannot remember yourself of something: I reminded myself of my promise. | He remembered his promise (NOT He remembered him/himself (of) his promise).

1 [singular, U] when people remember and give honour to someone who has died
in remembrance of sth
•a service in remembrance of those killed in the war
•a Holocaust remembrance
2 [C,U] formal a memory that you have of a person or event
[+of]
•Trillin's remembrances of his childhoodalso Remembrance Sunday
the Sunday nearest to November 11th, when a ceremony is held in Britain to remember people who were killed in the two world wars [T]
1 to make someone remember something that they must do:
•Yes, I'll be there. Thanks for reminding me.
remind sb about sth
•The girls constantly had to be reminded about their chores.
remind sb to do sth
•Remind me to buy some milk tonight.
remind sb (that)
•Mrs Welland reminded her son that they still had several people to see.
that reminds me (=used when something has just made you remember something you were going to say or do)
•Oh, that reminds me, I saw Jenny in town today.
remind yourself
•I reminded myself to watch them closely.
•He made a few notes to remind himself of what he wanted to say.
see box at REMEMBER
2 to make someone remember someone that they know or something that happened in the past
remind sb of sth
•That song always reminds me of our first date.
remind sb (of) what/how etc
•I was reminded how lucky I was.
see box at REMEMBER
3 don't remind me spoken used in a joking way when someone has mentioned something that embarrasses or annoys you:
•'We've got a test tomorrow.' 'Don't remind me!'
4 let me remind you/may I remind you (that) spoken formal used to emphasize a warning or criticism:
•Let me remind you that you are expected to arrive on time.

PHRASAL VERBS
remind sb of sb/sth phr v [not in progressive]
to seem similar to someone or something else:
•The landscape reminded her of Scotland.
•Corinne reminds me of myself when I was her age. $ [C]
1 something that makes you notice, remember, or think about something
[+of]
•a reminder of the dangers of drinking and driving
reminder that
•Occasional bursts of gunfire are a reminder that the rebels are still active.
constant/painful/vivid etc reminder
•The damaged church was preserved as a stark reminder of the horrors of war.
•The drop in stock prices serves as a reminder (=is a reminder) that investing is a form of gambling.
2 something, for example a letter, that reminds you to do something which you might have forgotten:
•a reminder from the dentist for your check-up [I]
to talk or think about pleasant events in your past
[+about]
•a group of former students reminiscing about their college days [C,U often plural]
a spoken or written story about events that you remember; memoir
[+of/about]
•reminiscences of the war
1 reminiscent of sth reminding you of something:
•a style strongly reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's novels
2 literary thinking about the past:
•Her face wore a reminiscent smile. [not before noun] formal
careless because you did not do something that you ought to have done; = negligent
[+in]
•parents who are remiss in their duties
it was remiss of sb to do sth
•It was remiss of the social services not to notify the police.
1 [C,U] a period when a serious illness improves for a time
in remission
•The chemotherapy was successful, and she is now in remission.
•The cancer has gone into remission.
2 [C,U] BrE a reduction of the time that someone has to spend in prison:
•He was given six months' remission for good behaviour.
3 [U] formal when you allow someone to keep the money they owe you:
•remission of debts
4 the remission of sins formal forgiveness from God for the bad things that you have done past tense and past participle remitted, present participle remitting formal
1 [I,T] to send a payment:
•Please remit payment by cheque.
2 [T] to free someone from a debt or punishment; unremitting

PHRASAL VERBS
remit sth to sb/sth phr v formal
to send a proposal, plan, or problem back to someone for them to make a decision about:
•The court remitted the matter to the agency for reconsideration. $ [singular, U]
BrE formal the particular piece of work that someone has been officially asked to deal with:
•the remit of a senior member of staff
be within/outside sb's remit
•Marketing is outside our remit.
1 [C] formal an amount of money that you send to pay for something
2 [U] when you send money
on remittance of sth
•We will forward the goods on remittance of £10. [C]
a different VERSION of a popular song, in which someone has added to or changed the original recording:
•a disco remix
- remix verb [T]
- remixer noun [C] [C]
1 [usually plural] a small part of something that remains after the rest of it has been used, destroyed, or eaten
[+of]
•The remnants of a meal stood on the table.
2 a small piece of cloth left from a larger piece and sold cheaply $ past tense and past participle remodelled, present participle remodelling BrE past tense and past participle remodeled, present participle remodeling AmE [I,T]
to change the shape, structure, or appearance of something, especially a building:
•The airport terminals have been extensively remodelled.
- remodelling noun [U] $ [T] formal
the American spelling of REMOULD $ [C,U]
formal a complaint or protest:
•angry remonstrances $ [I] formal
to tell someone that you strongly disapprove of something they have said or done
[+with]
•The Everton manager remonstrated angrily with the referee.
- remonstrative $ adjective
- remonstration noun [C,U] $ [U]
a strong feeling of being sorry that you have done something very bad; regret
•Throughout the trial, he had shown no remorse.
[+for]
•She felt a pang of remorse for what she had done.
be full of remorse/be filled with remorse
•Filled with remorse, Dillon decided to resign.
- remorseful adjective
- remorsefully adverb $
1 something bad or threatening that is remorseless continues to happen and seems impossible to stop; = relentless
•the remorseless winter winds
2 cruel, and not caring how much other people are hurt; = merciless
•a remorseless murderer
- remorselessly adverb $ [T]
to borrow money by having a second MORTGAGE on your house, or increasing the one you have:
•We may have to remortgage the house. $
1 FAR AWAY far from towns or other places where people live; = isolated
•a remote border town
•a fire in a remote mountain area
2 NOT LIKELY if a chance or possibility of something happening is remote, it is not very likely to happen; = slight
remote chance/possibility
•There's a remote chance that you can catch him before he leaves.
•The prospect of peace seems remote.
3 TIME far away in time; = distant
•the remote time when dinosaurs walked the earth
a remote ancestor (=someone related to you, who lived a long time ago)
4 DIFFERENT very different from something
[+from]
•The Heights was quiet and clean and remote from the busy daily life of the city.
5 PERSON unfriendly, and not interested in people; = distant
•His father was a remote, quiet man.
6 not have the remotest idea/interest/intention etc especially BrE used to emphasize that you do not know something, are not interested in something, do not intend to do something etc:
•He hasn't the remotest interest in sport.
[+what/where/who etc]
•I haven't the remotest idea what you mean.
- remoteness noun [U][C]
a REMOTE CONTROL:
•Give me the remote.[U]
a system that allows you to use information on a computer that is far away from your computer
1 [C] a thing you use for controlling a piece of electrical or electronic equipment without having to touch it, for example for turning a television on or off; = zapper
2 [U] the process of controlling equipment from a distance, using radio or electronic signals:
•a missile guided by remote control
3 [U] a type of computer software that lets you use a particular computer by connecting it to another one that is far away
- remote-controlled adjective[U]
the process of calling your own telephone when you are away from your home or office so that you can listen to messages that people have left on your ANSWERING MACHINE $
1 by only a small amount; = slightly
•The brew tasted only remotely of beer.
2 not remotely interested/funny/possible etc used to emphasize that someone or something is not at all interested, funny etc:
•There was nothing remotely new in this idea.
3 from far away:
•remotely operated vehicles[U]
the use of SATELLITEs to obtain pictures and information about the Earth[U]
when people do their work at home, using a computer that is connected to the computer system in an office; = homeworkingremold AmE $ [T] BrE
formal to change an idea, system, way of thinking etc:
•Mergers have forced organizations to remould themselves. $ [C] BrE
an old tyre with a new surface, that you can use again [I,T]
to get onto a horse, bicycle etc again
easy to remove:
•a sofa with removable cloth covers [C,U]
1 when something is taken away from, out of, or off the place where it is; remove
[+of]
•the removal of rubbish
2 when you get rid of something so that it does not exist any longer:
•stain removal
3 when someone is forced out of an important position or dismissed from a job
[+from]
•the mayor's removal from office
4 BrE the process of taking furniture from your old house to your new one
removal company/man etc
•The removal men have been in and out all day.[C]
BrE a large vehicle used for moving furniture and other things from one house to another [T]
1 TAKE AWAY to take something away from, out of, or off the place where it is:
•Remove the old wallpaper and fill any holes in the walls.
remove sth from sth
•Reference books may not be removed from the library.
2 GET RID OF to get rid of something so that it does not exist any longer:
•a cleaner that will remove wine stains
•The college removed rules that prevented women from enrolling.
3 FROM A JOB to force someone out of an important position or dismiss them from a job
remove sb from sth
•Congress could remove the President from office.
4 CLOTHES formal to take off a piece of clothing:
•He removed his hat and gloves.
5 be far removed from sth to be very different from something:
•The events in the newspaper article were far removed from reality.
6 cousin once/twice etc removed the child, GRANDCHILD etc of your COUSIN, or your cousin's father, grandfather etc[C,U] especially BrE formal
a distance or amount by which two things are separated
at a remove
•The X-ray operator works at a safe remove in a separate room. $ [C,U]
paint/nail varnish/stain etc remover a substance that removes paint marks etc [U] technical
rapid eye movement sleep a period during sleep when your eyes move quickly, when you are dreaming [C,U]
formal the pay you give someone for something they have done for you:
•high rates of remuneration
- remunerate verb [T] $ formal
making a lot of money
1 the Renaissance the period of time in Europe between 14th and 17th centuries, when art, literature, PHILOSOPHY, and scientific ideas became very important and a lot of new art etc was produced
2 Renaissance art/furniture/architecture etc art, furniture etc belonging to the Renaissance period $ [singular]
a new interest in something, especially a particular form of art, music etc, that has not been popular for a long period
[+in]
•a renaissance in wood carving over the last few yearsRenaissance woman $ [C]
a man or woman who can do many things well, such as writing and painting, and who knows a lot about many different subjects [only before noun]
technical relating to the KIDNEYs :
•acute renal failure [T usually passive]
to give something a new name
rename sth sth
•Myddleton Way was renamed Allende Avenue. [only before noun]
formal becoming popular, strong, or important again:
•Voters have come back to a renascent Labour Party. past tense and past participle rent [T] literary
to tear or break something violently into pieces $ [T]
1 to cause someone or something to be in a particular condition
render sb/sth impossible/harmless/unconscious etc
•He was rendered almost speechless by the news.
•The blow to his head was strong enough to render him unconscious.
2 formal to give something to someone or do something, because it is your duty or because someone expects you to:
•an obligation to render assistance to those in need
render a decision/opinion/judgment etc
•It is unlikely that the court will render an opinion before November 5.
•a bill of $3200 for services rendered (=for something you have done)
3 to express or present something in a particular way
render sth as sth
•She made a sound that in print is rendered as 'harrumph.'
render sth sth
•Infrared film renders blue skies a deep black.
render sth in sth
•a sculpture rendered in bronze
4 render sth into English/Russian/Chinese etc formal to translate something into English, Russian etc
5 technical to spread PLASTER or CEMENT on the surface of a wall:
•a brick wall that has been rendered and whitewashed
6 to melt the fat of an animal as you cook it:
•Steam the goose to render some of the fat.
1 [C] someone's performance of a play, piece of music etc; = rendition
[+of]
•a spirited rendering of the national anthem
2 [C] the way an expression, piece of writing etc is translated or explained, or the way an event, situation etc is described
accurate/literal etc rendering of sth
•a faithful rendering of historical events
3 [C,U] BrE a material made of CEMENT and sand, used on the outside walls of buildings $ plural rendezvous
1 [C] an arrangement to meet someone at a particular time and place, often secretly
[+with]
•He made a rendezvous with her in Times Square.
•plans for a secret rendezvous
2 [C usually singular] a place where two or more people have arranged to meet:
•Boats picked us up at pre-arranged rendezvous.
3 [C] a bar, restaurant etc where people like to meet:
•a popular rendezvous for media people[I]
1 to meet someone at a time or place that was arranged earlier; = meet up
[+with]
•We'll rendezvous with James in Nicosia.
2 if two spacecraft, aircraft, or military vehicles rendezvous, they meet, for example to move supplies from one to the other
1 [C usually singular, U] someone's performance of a play, piece of music etc:
•He gave a moving rendition of Lennon's 'Imagine'.
2 [C] a translation of a piece of writing
[+of]
•an English rendition of a Greek poem [C] literary
someone who leaves one side in a war, politics etc in order to join the opposing side - used to show disapproval:
•a renegade army unit $ [I]
formal renege on an agreement/deal/promise etc to not do something you have promised or agreed to do; = go back on
•The fighters had reneged on a pledge to release foreign prisoners. $ [T]
1 to arrange for an agreement or official document to continue for a further period of time
renew sb's contract/licence/membership etc
•I need to renew my passport this year.
2 formal to begin doing something again after a period of not doing it; = resume
•Local people have renewed their efforts to save the school.
•Police renewed their appeal for witnesses.
renew a friendship/acquaintance etc (=become friendly with someone again)
3 to remove something that is old or broken and put a new one in its place; = replace
•The window frames need to be renewed.
4 renew a book to arrange to borrow a library book for a further period of time $
1 if an agreement or official document is renewable, you can make it continue for a further period of time after it ends; non-renewable
•It's a six-month lease but it's renewable.
•a renewable visa
2 [usually before noun] renewable energy replaces itself naturally, or is easily replaced because there is a large supply of it:
• renewable energy such as solar power
•an industry based on renewable resources $ [singular, U]
1 when an activity, situation, or process begins again after a period when it had stopped
[+of]
•a renewal of the recent conflict
•Spring is a time of renewal.
2 when you make an agreement or official document continue for a further period of time after it ends
[+of]
•the renewal of our annual licence
•Mark's contract comes up for renewal at the end of this year.
3 inner city/urban renewal when the poor areas of towns are improved by making new jobs, industries, homes etc $
1 [only before noun] starting again, especially with increased interest or strength
renewed interest/confidence/enthusiasm etc
•renewed concern about farming methods
•The festival went ahead, despite renewed protests.
2 [not before noun] feeling healthy and relaxed again, after feeling ill or tired [U]
a substance used for making milk thicker in order to make cheese [T]
1 if you renounce an official position, title, right etc, you publicly say that you will not keep it any more; = give up
•Edward renounced his claim to the French throne.
•She renounced her citizenship.
2 to publicly say or show that you no longer believe in something, or will no longer behave in a particular way; = reject
•These groups must renounce violence if there is to be progress towards peace.
•Young people renounced capitalism in favour of peace and love. [T]
to repair a building or old furniture so that it is in good condition again:
•The hotel has been renovated and redecorated.
- renovation noun [C,U] [U] formal
when you are famous and a lot of people admire you for a special skill, achievement, or quality; = acclaim
international/public etc renown
•He has won world renown for his films.
•He achieved some renown as a football player.
known and admired by a lot of people, especially for a special skill, achievement, or quality; = famous
[+for]
•an island renowned for its beauty
[+as]
•He's renowned as a brilliant speaker.
renowned author/actor/photographer etc
•a world renowned expert in the field
1 [I,T] to regularly pay money to live in a house or room that belongs to someone else, or to use something that belongs to someone else:
•Most students rent rooms in their second year.
•I'd rather have my own house than rent.
rent sth from sb
•Some farmers rent their land from the council.
2 also rent out [T] to let someone live in a house, room etc that you own, or use your land, in return for money; = let BrE
rent sth (out) to sb
•She rents out two rooms to students.
3 [T] especially AmE to pay money for the use of something for a short period of time; = hire BrE
•Will you rent a car while you're in Spain?

PHRASAL VERBS
rent at/for sth phr v
if a house rents at or for an amount of money, that is how much you must pay to use it:
•Houses here rent for at least $2,500 a week.

WORD CHOICE: rent, hire, lease
Rent is used to talk about paying to live in or use a building that is owned by someone else: We rented an apartment together.
In American English, you also rent a car or electrical equipment: The TV is rented.
In British English, you can use rent or hire, but it is more usual to say that you hire a car: You can hire a car at the airport.
Lease is used to talk about renting buildings, cars, or equipment over a long period of time, especially for business use: If you upgrade computers regularly, it may work out cheaper to lease them.

1 [C,U] the money that someone pays regularly to use a room, house etc that belongs to someone else:
•I pay the rent at the beginning of every month.
high/low/reasonable etc rent
•Shop rents are extremely high.
[+of]
•an annual rent of £8,000
2 [C,U] especially AmE an amount of money that you pay to use a car, boat etc that belongs to someone else:
•The rent was only $20 an hour.
3 for rent available to be rented:
•Luxury villas for rent.
4 [C] formal a large tear in something made of cloth:
•huge rents in the curtains
the past tense and past participle of REND
1 [C usually singular, U] the money that you pay to use a car, television, or other machine over a period of time
car/television/telephone etc rental
•The price includes accommodation and car rental.
•Video rental is usually £3.
line rental BrE (=the money that you pay to use a telephone line)
2 [C,U] an arrangement to rent something for a period of time, or the act of doing this
rental contract/scheme/service etc
•Could you sign the rental agreement?
3 [C] especially AmE something that you rent, especially a house or car:
•companies that provide rentals[C]
BrE informal a young man who has sex with other men in return for money[U]
when a city or a state uses laws to control the cost of renting houses and apartments
rented accommodation/housing/apartment etc houses etc that people pay rent for
without payment of rent:
•rent-free accommodation
•He lives there rent-free.[C] BrE
money that some people get from the local government to help them pay their rent[C]
an occasion when all the people living in a group of houses or apartments refuse to pay their rent, as a protest against something [C,U]
formal when someone makes a formal decision to no longer believe in something, live in a particular way etc; renounce
[+of]
•Eastern Europe's renunciation of Communism $ [I,T]
1 if a theatre, restaurant etc reopens, or if it is reopened, it opens again after a period when it was closed:
•The swimming pool will reopen in May.
2 if you reopen a discussion, law case etc, or if it reopens, you begin it again after it had stopped
reopen a case/question/debate etc
•attempts to reopen the issue of the power station's future
3 if a government reopens the border of their country, or if the border reopens, people are allowed to pass through it again after it had been closed $ [I,T]
1 to order a product to be supplied again:
•Could you reorder more of this fabric?
2 to change the way that things are ordered or arranged:
•The whole system needs reordering.also reorganise BrE $ [I,T]
to arrange or organize something in a new way:
•Our office is being completely reorganized.
- reorganization $ noun [C,U]
•a major reorganization of child care services
1 the written abbreviation of Representative , used before names:
•Rep. Bud Shuster
2 the written abbreviation of Republican
1 [C] informal a SALES REPRESENTATIVE
2 [C] someone who speaks officially for a company, organization, or group of people; = representative
staff/union/company etc rep
•You need to speak to the students' rep.
• Safety reps have the right to stop the job when workers are in danger.
3 [C] AmE a REPRESENTATIVE
4 [C,U] REPERTORY, or a repertory theatre or company:
•Most actors start off in rep.
5 [C] AmE spoken a REPUTATION
6 [C] one exercise that you do in a series of exercises; = repetition
•Do 15 reps of each exercise.
the past tense and past participle of REPAY $ [T]
1 to fix something that is damaged, broken, split, or not working properly; = mend BrE
•Dad was up the ladder, repairing the roof.
•Where can I get my shoes repaired?
2 formal to do something to remove harm that you have caused; = mend BrE
•Neil tried to repair the damage that his statements had caused.

PHRASAL VERBS
repair to sth phr v
old-fashioned to go to a place:
•Shall we repair to the drawing room?
- repairer noun [C]

WORD CHOICE: repair, fix, mend
Repair is slightly more formal than fix or mend. You canrepair anything that is broken or damaged, or has a hole in it: He repairs old furniture. | It cost too much to get the car repaired. | The roof needs repairing in a few places.
In British English, fix and mend have the same meaning, but people more often use fix to talk about repairing a machine, vehicle etc and mend to talk about repairing holes in clothes, roads, roofs, and fences.
In American English, mend is usually only used to talk about repairing things with holes in them, especially clothes and shoes.

IRREPARABLE
1 [C,U] something that you do to fix a thing that is damaged, broken, or not working
[+to]
•repairs to the roads
make/carry out/do repairs
•His job is to make minor repairs on all the machines.
•The church tower is in need of repair.
structural/housing/motorway etc repairs
•an extensive programme of building repairs
beyond repair
•Many of the paintings were beyond repair (=so damaged that they cannot be mended).
under repair (=being repaired)
•Is the bridge still under repair?
•They did a good repair job on the roof.
2 in good/poor etc repair in good or bad condition:
•Garden tools should be kept in good repair. $ [not before noun]
able to be fixed $ plural repairmen [C]
someone whose job is to repair things:
•the TV repairman formal
1 reparations [plural] money paid by a defeated country after a war, for all the deaths, damage etc it has caused:
•The government agreed to pay reparations to victims.
2 [C,U] when you give something to someone or do something for them because you have done something wrong to them in the past
make reparation (to sb) for sth
•Offenders must make reparation for their crimes through community service. $ [U]
conversation which is fast and full of intelligent and amusing remarks and replies:
•witty repartee $ [C]
formal a meal $ [T]
1 to send someone back to their own country; deport
•After the war, prisoners were repatriated.
2 to send profits or money you have earned back to your own country past tense and past participle repaid [T]
1 to pay back money that you have borrowed
repay a loan/debt etc
•Your mortgage will be repaid over 25 years.
repay sb sth
•I'll repay you the money you lent me next week.
2 to do something for someone, or give them something, in return for helping you
repay sb for sth
•How can we repay him for everything he's done?
•I'd like to buy them something to repay all their kindness.
3 if something repays your time, effort etc, it is worth the time or effort you have spent [not before noun]
money that is repayable at a particular time has to be paid back by that time
[+over]
•The loan is repayable over 10 years.
1 [U] when you pay back money that you have borrowed
[+of]
•the repayment of debt
2 [C usually plural] an amount of money that you pay regularly until you do not owe any more:
•monthly mortgage repayments of £330
•Do you worry about meeting (=paying) your loan repayments? [T]
if a government repeals a law, it officially ends that law
- repeal noun [U] [T]
1 SAY AGAIN to say or write something again:
•Can you repeat your question?
•Sorry - could you repeat that?
repeat that
•Nick patiently repeated that he had to work that day.
•It is not, I repeat not, my fault.
•'I promise,' she repeated.
repeat yourself (=say something that you have said before, usually by mistake)
•Elderly people tend to repeat themselves.
2 DO AGAIN to do something again:
•Repeat the exercises twice a day.
•We must not repeat the mistakes of the past.
repeat a class/grade/year (=do the same class at school again the following year)
•The team are hoping to repeat their success (=achieve the same good result) of last season.
3 LEARN to say something that someone else has just said, especially in order to learn it
repeat (sth) after sb
•Repeat after me: amo, amas, amat ...
4 TELL to tell someone something that you have heard, especially something secret:
•Here's what happened, but don't repeat it.
5 BROADCAST to broadcast a television or radio programme again:
•The series will be repeated in the autumn.
6 sth doesn't bear repeating used to say that you do not want to repeat what someone has said, especially because it is rude:
•Her comments don't bear repeating!

PHRASAL VERBS
repeat on sb phr v BrE
if food repeats on you, its taste keeps coming back into your mouth after you have eaten it
history repeats itself at HISTORY (8)[C]
1 [usually singular] an event that is very like something that happened before
[+of]
•The match was basically a repeat of last year's game at Wembley.
•It was a terrible journey - I hope we don't have a repeat performance (=have the same thing happen again) on the way home.
2 a television or radio programme that has been broadcast before:
•'Is it a repeat?' 'No, it's a new series.'
3 repeat order/prescription BrE an order of goods or a PRESCRIPTION of medicine that is the same as one you had before
4 technical the sign that tells a performer to play a piece of music again, or the music that is played again [not usually before noun]
1 not repeatable too rude to repeat - used about something someone says; = unrepeatable
2 able to be repeated:
•I hope these results are repeatable. [only before noun]
done or happening again and again:
•repeated calls for change
•repeated attempts to kill him
many times:
•Graham was repeatedly warned not to work so hard. $ [C]
technical a gun that you can fire several times before you have to load it again past tense and past participle repelled, present participle repelling
1 [T] if something repels you, it is so unpleasant that you do not want to be near it, or it makes you feel ill; repulsive
•The smell repelled him.
2 [T] to make someone who is attacking you go away, by fighting them:
•The army was ready to repel an attack.
3 [T] to keep something or someone away from you:
•a lotion that repels mosquitoes
4 [I,T] technical if two things repel each other, they push each other away with an electrical force; attract
•Two positive charges repel each other.
very unpleasant; repulsive
•She found him physically repellent.
[+to]
•The sight of blood is repellent to some people.repellant [C,U]
a substance that keeps insects away
insect/mosquito/bug etc repellent [I,T] formal
to be sorry for something and wish you had not done it - used especially when considering your actions in a religious way
[+of]
•He repented of his sins before he died. [U]
when you are sorry for something you have done formal
sorry for something wrong that you have done; unrepentant $ [C usually plural]
the effects of an action or event, especially bad effects that continue for some time; consequence
[+for]
•The collapse of the company had repercussions for the whole industry.
[+on]
•There were serious repercussions on his career.
[+of]
•the repercussions of the crisis
political/social/economic etc repercussions $ [C usually singular]
1 all the plays, pieces of music etc that a performer or group knows and can perform
in sb's repertoire
•The group include some techno in their repertoire.
[+of]
•a wide repertoire of songs
2 the total number of things that someone or something is able to do:
•the behavioral repertoire of infants $ plural repertories
1 [U] a type of theatre work in which actors perform different plays on different days, instead of doing the same play for a long time:
•a repertory company
2 [C] formal a repertoire
1 [U] doing or saying the same thing many times
[+of]
•The job involved the constant repetition of the same movements.
•Children used to learn by repetition.
2 [C,U] something that happens again, especially something bad
[+of]
•a repetition of the same problem
involving the same actions or using the same words many times, in a way that is boring:
•repetitious work
done many times in the same way, and boring
repetitive work/tasks/jobs
•repetitive tasks like washing and ironing
•The song was dreary and repetitive.
- repetitively adverb[U]
medical RSI pains in your hands, arms etc caused by doing the same hand movements many times, especially by using a computer KEYBOARD or MOUSE [T]
to say or write something again using different words to express what you mean in a way that is clearer or more acceptable:
•OK. Let me rephrase the question. [T]
1 to start doing something instead of another person, or start being used instead of another thing:
•I'm replacing Sue on the team.
•Lectures have replaced the old tutorial system.
2 to remove someone from their job or something from its place, and put a new person or thing there:
•Two of the tyres had to be replaced.
replace sth with sth
•They replaced the permanent staff with part-timers.
3 if you replace something that has been broken, stolen etc, you get a new one; irreplaceable
•I'll replace the vase I broke as soon as possible.
4 to put something back where it was before:
•He replaced the book on the shelf.
- replaceable adjective
1 [U] when you get something that is newer or better than the one you had before:
•Our old car is badly in need of replacement.
•replacement windows
2 knee/hip/joint replacement an artificial knee etc that replaces a damaged one, given to people in a medical operation
3 [C] someone or something that replaces another person or thing
[+for]
•It was difficult to find a replacement for Ted. $ BrE
be replatformed if a train is replatformed, passengers have to get on it in a different part of the station from the one they were originally told to go to:
•The replatformed 19:47 to Leeds will now leave from platform six. [T]
1 [usually passive] to play a game again because neither team won the first time:
•The match will be replayed on Wednesday.
2 to show again on television something that has been recorded:
•Highlights of the race were replayed on the news. [C]
1 a game that is played again because neither team won the first time:
•Milan won the semi-final replay 3-0.
2 a part of a game of sport that has been recorded on video tape or film, and that is shown again, especially in order to examine it more clearly:
•You can see on the replay that the goalkeeper was fouled.
ACTION REPLAY
3 informal something that is done exactly as it was before
[+of]
•a replay of the same old mistakes [T]
formal to put new supplies into something, or to fill something again:
•More vaccines are needed to replenish our stocks.
- replenishment noun [U] [not before noun]
1 formal full of something
[+with]
•Literature is replete with tales of power.
2 old-fashioned very full of food or drink [C]
an exact copy of something, especially a building, a gun, or a work of art
[+of]
•an exact replica of the Taj Mahal
•replica guns
1 [T] formal if you replicate someone's work, a scientific study etc, you do it again, or try to get the same result again:
•There is a need for further research to replicate these findings.
2 [I,T] technical if a VIRUS or a MOLECULE replicates, or if it replicates itself, it divides and produces exact copies of itself:
•the ability of DNA to replicate itself
- replication noun [C,U] past tense and past participle replied, present participle replying, third person singular replies
1 [I,T] to answer someone by saying or writing something:
•I asked Clive where he was going, but he didn't reply.
•Sorry it took me so long to reply.
•'Did you see Simon today?' 'Of course,' Nathalie replied with a smile.
[+to]
•Has Ian replied to your letter yet?
reply that
•Mills replied that he was staying at his parents' flat.
2 [I] to react to an action by doing something else
reply (to sth) with sth
•The rebel troops replied to government threats with increased violence.plural replies [C]
1 something that is said, written, or done as a way of replying; = answer
•I tried calling, but there was no reply.
[+to]
•We still haven't received a reply to our letter.
•Stephen made no reply.
2 in reply (to sth) formal as a way of replying to something:
•I am writing in reply to your letter of 1st June.
3 without reply BrE if a sports team gets a number of points or GOALs without reply, their opponents do not scoreBrE
a reply-paid envelope is one which you can send back to an organization without a stamp because they have already paid for this $ [C] AmE
informal someone whose job is to REPOSSESS (=take away) cars that have not been paid for $ [C]
1 a written or spoken description of a situation or event, giving people the information they need; account
[+of/on/about]
•Martens gave a report on his sales trip to Korea.
2 a piece of writing in a newspaper about something that is happening, or part of a news programme; reporter
•According to recent news reports, two of the victims are Americans.
[+on/of]
•media reports of the food shortages
3 an official document that carefully considers a particular subject
[+on]
•a recent report on child abuse
4 information that something has happened, which may or may not be true
[+of]
•Police received reports of a bomb threat at the airport at 11:28 p.m.
report that
•a report that he had been killed
5 BrE a written statement by teachers about a child's work at school, which is sent to his or her parents; = report card AmE
6 BrE someone who works for a particular manager:
•Only Gordon's direct reports are attending the course.
7 formal the noise of an explosion or shot:
•a loud report
1 NEWS [I,T] to give people information about recent events, especially in newspapers and on television and radio; reporter
•This is Gavin Williams, reporting from the United Nations in New York.
•We aim to report the news as fairly as possible.
•The incident was widely reported in the national press.
[+on]
•The Times sent her to Bangladesh to report on the floods.
report that
•Journalists in Cairo reported that seven people had been shot.
report doing sth
•Witnesses reported seeing three people flee the scene.
2 be reported to be/do sth used to say that a statement has been made about someone or something, but you do not know if it is true; allege
•The stolen necklace is reported to be worth $57,000.
3 JOB/WORK [I,T] to tell someone about what has been happening, or what you are doing as part of your job
report (to sb) on sth
•I've asked him to come back next week and report on his progress.
4 PUBLIC STATEMENT [T] to officially give information to the public:
•Doctors have reported a 13% increase in the number of people with heart disease.
5 CRIME/ACCIDENT [T] to tell the police or someone in authority that an accident or crime has happened:
•I'd like to report a theft.
report sth to sb
•All accidents must be reported to the safety officer.
report sb/sth missing/injured/killed
•The plane was reported missing.
6 COMPLAIN [T] to complain about someone to people in authority
report sb for sth
•Polish referee Ryszard Wojoik reported two Leeds United players for violent conduct.
report sb to sb
•Hadley's drinking problem led co-workers to report him to the supervisor.
7 ARRIVAL [I] to go somewhere and officially state that you have arrived
[+to]
•All visitors must report to the site office.
•All soldiers were required to report for duty (=arrive and be ready for work) on Friday.
8 report sick to officially tell your employers that you cannot come to work because you are ill

PHRASAL VERBS
report back phr v
to give someone information about something that they asked you to find out about
[+to]
•The committee has 60 days to report back to Congress.
[+on]
•Students were asked to report back on their results.

report to sb phr v
to be responsible to someone at work and be managed by them:
•He will report to Greg Carr, Boston Technology's chief executive. $ [U] formal
the reporting or describing of events in newspapers, on television, or on the radio; reporting[C] AmE
a written statement by teachers about a child's work at school, which is sent to his or her parents; = report BrE $ [sentence adverb]
according to what some people say:
•Her husband's assets are reportedly worth over $15 million.[U] technical
in grammar, words that are used to tell what someone says without repeating their actual words. 'She said she didn't feel well' is an example of reported speech; = indirect speech; direct speech $ [C]
someone whose job is to write about news events for a newspaper, or to tell people about them on television or on the radio; correspondent, journalist
•a news reporter $ [U]
the activity of writing about news events for a newspaper or telling people about them on television or on the radio; reportage
•news reporting $ [U]
formal or literary a state of calm or comfortable rest
in repose
•His face looked less hard in repose.[I always + adv/prep] formal literary
1 if something reposes somewhere, it has been put there
2 if someone reposes somewhere, they rest there
3 repose your trust/hope etc in sb to trust someone to help you $ plural repositories [C] formal
1 a place or container in which large quantities of something are stored; = store
[+of/for]
•a fire-proof repository for government papers
2 a person or book that has a lot of information
[+of/for]
•Bob is a repository of football statistics. [T]
to take back cars, furniture, or property from people who had arranged to pay for them over a long time, but cannot now continue to pay for them; bailiff, repo man
•Eventually the bailiffs came to repossess the flat.
- repossession noun [C,U] formal
reprehensible behaviour is very bad and deserves criticism:
•I find their behaviour morally reprehensible. [T]
to give, offer, or send something again, especially an official document:
•The phone company re-presented the bill for payment.
1 SPEAK FOR SB [T] to officially speak or take action for another person or group of people:
•Mr Kobayashi was chosen to represent the company at the conference.
2 IN COURT [T] to speak officially for someone in a court of law
represent yourself
•She decided to represent herself (=speak for herself without a lawyer) during the trial.
3 BE STH [linking verb] to form or be something; amount to
•European orders represented 30 percent of our sales last year.
represent a change/an advance/an increase etc
•This treatment represents a significant advance in the field of cancer research.
4 GOVERNMENT [T] to have been elected to a parliament, council etc by the people in a particular area:
•He represents the Congressional District of Illinois.
5 SIGN [T] to be a sign or mark that means something; = stand for
•Brown areas represent deserts on the map.
6 SYMBOL [T] to be a symbol of something; = symbolize
•He hated the school and everything it represented.
7 SPORTS [T] if you represent your country, school, town etc in a sport, you take part in a sports event for that country etc:
•Her greatest ambition was to represent her country at the Olympics.
8 be represented if a group, organization, area etc is represented at an event, people from it are at the event:
•All the local clubs were represented in the parade.
9 DESCRIBE [T] to describe someone or something in a particular way, especially in a way that is not true; = portray; depict
represent sb/sth as sth
•The article represents the millionaire as a simple family man.
•He had represented himself as an employee in order to gain access to the files.
10 ART [T] if a painting, STATUE, piece of music etc represents something or someone, it shows them:
•Paintings representing religious themes were common in medieval times.
1 [U] when you have someone to speak, vote, or make decisions for you:
•Minority groups need more effective parliamentary representation.
•There has been a decline in union representation in the auto industry.
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
2 [C] a painting, sign, description etc that shows something
[+of]
•The clock in the painting is a symbolic representation of the passage of time.
3 [U] the act of representing someone or something
[+of]
•She received praise for her effective representation of Garcia during the trial.
4 [C usually plural] formal especially BrE a formal complaint or statement
[+about]
•A group of students made representations to the college about the poor standard of the accommodation.
5 make false representations law to describe or explain something in a way that you know is not true
a representational painting or style of art shows things as they actually appear in real life; = figurative
1 typical of a particular group or thing
[+of]
•The latest incident is representative of a wider trend.
2 including examples of all the different types of something in a group:
•The pollsters asked a representative sample of New York residents for their opinions.
3 a representative system of government allows people to vote for other people to represent them in the government:
•a representative democracy[C]
1 someone who has been chosen to speak, vote, or make decisions for someone else; = delegate
•a union representative
[+of]
•an elected representative of the people
2 Representative a member of the House of Representatives, the Lower House of Congress in the United States [T]
1 to stop yourself from doing something you want to do:
•Brenda repressed the urge to shout at him.
•I repressed a smile.
2 if someone represses upsetting feelings, memories etc, they do not allow themselves to express or think about them:
•He had long ago repressed the painful memories of his childhood.
3 to control a group of people by force; suppress, oppress
•The police were widely criticized for their role in repressing the protest movement.
1 having feelings or desires that you do not allow yourself to express or think about, especially sexual feelings; = frustrated
•a repressed middle-aged woman
2 repressed feelings or desires are ones which you do not allow yourself to express or think about:
•repressed anger [C,U]
1 when someone does not allow themselves to express feelings or desires which they are ashamed of, especially sexual ones - used when you think someone should express these feelings:
• sexual repression
[+of]
•the repression of desire
2 cruel and severe control of a large group of people; suppression, oppression
[+of]
•brutal repression of members of the Communist party
1 a repressive government or law controls people in a cruel and severe way; = oppressive
•a repressive regime
•repressive measures
2 not allowing the expression of feelings or desires, especially sexual ones
- repressively adverb
- repressiveness noun [U] [C]
1 a delay before something bad happens or continues to happen; respite
[+from]
•Shoppers will get a temporary reprieve from the new sales tax.
2 an official order stopping the killing of a prisoner as a punishment
give/grant sb a reprieve
•The US Supreme Court voted against granting Smith a reprieve (=against giving him one).[T usually passive]
1 to officially stop a prisoner from being killed as a punishment
2 to change a decision to close a factory, school etc or get rid of something $ [T]
to tell someone officially that something they have done is very wrong; scold, tell off
reprimand sb for (doing) sth
•The military court reprimanded him for failing to do his duty.
- reprimand noun [C]
•a severe reprimand [T]
to print a book, story, newspaper article etc again [C]
1 an occasion when more copies of a book are printed because all the copies of it have been sold
2 a book that is printed again [C,U]
something violent or harmful which you do to punish someone for something bad they have done to you; revenge, retaliation
•They didn't tell the police for fear of reprisal.
[+against]
•There were reprisals against unarmed civilians.
in reprisal (for sth)
•Alfred was shot in reprisal for the killing of a rival gang member. [C]
when all or part of something, especially a piece of music, is repeated[T]
to act the same part again, play the same tune again etc $ formal
1 [U] criticism, blame, or disapproval:
•'You don't need me,' she said quietly, without reproach.
2 [C] a remark that expresses criticism, blame, or disapproval:
•He argued that the reproaches were unfair.
3 above/beyond reproach impossible to criticize; = perfect
•His behaviour throughout this affair has been beyond reproach.
4 a reproach to sb/sth something that should make a person, society etc feel bad or ashamed:
•These derelict houses are a reproach to the city.[T]
1 formal to blame or criticize someone in a way that shows you are disappointed at what they have done
reproach sb for/with sth
•He publicly reproached his son for his behavior.
2 reproach yourself to feel guilty about something that you think you are responsible for
[+for/with]
•You've got nothing to reproach yourself for - it was his own decision. $
a reproachful look, remark etc shows that you are criticizing someone or blaming them:
•She gave her daughter a reproachful glance.
- reproachfully adverb [C]
formal someone who behaves in an immoral way - often used humorously
- reprobate adjective $ [T]
to treat a waste substance so that it can be used again $
1 [I,T] if an animal or plant reproduces, or reproduces itself, it produces young plants or animals:
•The turtles return to the coast to reproduce.
2 [T] to make a photograph or printed copy of something:
•Klimt's artwork is reproduced in this exquisite collector's book.
3 [T] to make something happen in the same way as it happened before; = repeat; copy
•British scientists have so far been unable to reproduce these results.
4 [T] to make something that is just like something else; copy
•With a good set of speakers, you can reproduce the orchestra's sound in your own home.
- reproducible adjective
1 [U] the act or process of producing babies, young animals, or plants:
•Scientists studied the reproduction, diet, and health of the dolphins.
• sexual reproduction
2 [U] the act of producing a copy of a book, picture, piece of music etc
[+of]
•Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is strictly forbidden.
3 [C] a copy of a work of art, piece of furniture etc
[+of]
•a reproduction of Vincent Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'
reproduction furniture/chairs etc
•a reproduction Louis XIV table [only before noun]
1 relating to the process of producing babies, young animals, or plants:
•the human reproductive system
•reproductive organs
2 relating to the copying of books, pictures, music etc formal
1 [U] blame or disapproval:
•She greeted me with a look of cold reproof.
2 [C] a remark that blames or criticizes someone:
•a mild reproof [T]
formal to criticize someone for something that they have done; = tell off
reprove sb for (doing) sth
•Employees were reproved for smoking in the building's restrooms. formal
expressing criticism of something that someone has done
- reprovingly adverb $ [C]
1 a type of animal, such as a snake or LIZARD, whose body temperature changes according to the temperature around it, and that usually lays eggs to have babies
2 informal someone who is unpleasant or cannot be trusted
- reptilian adjectiveRepublic [C]
a country governed by elected representatives of the people, and led by a president, not a king or queen; democracy, monarchy
•the former Federal Republic of Germany
•Nine republics took part in the referendum. [C]
1 someone who believes in government by elected representatives only, with no king or queen
2 Republican a member or supporter of the Republican Party in the US; Democrat
3 Republican someone from Northern Ireland who believes that Northern Ireland should become part of the Republic of Ireland, not the United Kingdom; loyalist
- republicanism noun [U]
relating to or supporting a system of government that is not led by a king or queen; democratic
the Republican Party one of the two main political parties in the US; Democratic Party [T] formal
1 to refuse to accept or continue with something; = reject
•He repudiated all offers of friendship.
2 to state or show that something is not true or correct:
•The book repudiates the racist stereotypes about black women.
- repudiation noun [U] [U]
formal a strong feeling of dislike for something; = disgust formal
very unpleasant and offensive; = repellent
deeply/utterly/wholly etc repugnant
•I find his political ideas totally repugnant.
[+to]
•Animal experiments are morally repugnant to many people. [T] formal
1 if something or someone repulses you, you think that they are extremely unpleasant; = disgust
•The very thought of his cold clammy hands repulsed me.
2 to fight someone and successfully stop their attack on you:
•Government troops repulsed an attack by rebel forces.
3 to refuse an offer of friendship or help in a way that is rude
- repulse noun [singular]
1 [singular,U] a feeling that you want to avoid something or move away from it, because it is extremely unpleasant; = revulsion
•I felt a mixture of amazement and repulsion.
2 [U] technical the electric or MAGNETIC force by which one object pushes another one away from it
1 extremely unpleasant, in a way that almost makes you feel sick; = revolting, disgusting
•Many people find slugs repulsive.
2 technical repulsive forces push objects away from each other
- repulsively adverb
- repulsiveness noun [U] $ [T]
if something such as equipment, a building, or a document is repurposed, it is used in a new way that is different from its original use, without having to be changed very much; adapt
•We put a lot of material up on our website simply by repurposing our existing catalog.
respected for being honest or for doing good work; = reliable; disreputable
reputable firm/company
•If you have a burglar alarm fitted, make sure it is done by a reputable company. [C]
the opinion that people have about someone or something because of what has happened in the past
[+for]
•Judge Kelso has a reputation for being strict but fair.
[+as]
•In her last job she acquired a reputation as a troublemaker.
earn/gain/establish a reputation as sth
•His approach had won him a reputation as a tough manager.
a good/bad reputation
•a hotel with a good reputation for its food
•The service at Heron Lodge failed to live up to its reputation (=be as good or bad as people say it is). [U] formal
reputation
of good/high/international etc repute
•a man of high repute
of (some) repute (=having a good reputation)
•a hotel of some repute
according to what some people say, but not definitely
be reputed to be/do sth
•She is reputed to be extremely wealthy.
•the reputed leader of the Crips gang
•The painting was sold for a reputed $3 million. [sentence adverb]
according to what some people say; = reportedly; allegedly
•The committee had reputedly spent over $3000 on 'business entertainment'. [C]
1 a polite or formal demand for something
[+for]
•They have made an urgent request for international aid.
request that
•Anderson repeated his request that we postpone the meeting.
at sb's request (=because someone asked for it to be done)
•The study was done at the request of the Chairman.
on request (=if you ask for it)
•Further details will be sent on request.
by request
•There were no flowers at the funeral, by request.
2 a piece of music that is played on the radio because someone has asked for it[T]
formal to ask for something in a polite or formal way:
•To request more information, please call our toll free number.
•You have to request permission if you want to take any photographs.
request that
•The prosecution has requested that all charges against Hodgkins are dropped.
request sb to do sth
•All club members are requested to attend the annual meeting.
request sth from sb
•The Police Committee requested a grant from the Government to cover the extra expense.also requiem mass [C]
1 a Christian ceremony in which prayers are said for someone who has died
2 a piece of music written for a requiem $ [T not in progressive]
1 to need something:
•Campbell's broken leg will probably require surgery.
•What's required is a complete reorganization of the system.
•Most house plants require regular watering.
2 if you are required to do or have something, a law or rule says you must do it or have it
be required to do sth
•You are required by law to wear a seat belt.
require that
•Regulations require that students attend at least 90% of the lectures.
•The bill failed to get the required number of votes. $ [C usually plural]
1 something that someone needs or asks for:
•The refugees' main requirements are food and shelter.
[+of]
•Potatoes can provide one-third of our daily requirement of vitamin C.
meet/fulfil/satisfy a requirement (=have or do what is necessary)
•The new computer system will meet all our requirements.
surplus to requirements BrE (=more than is needed)
•The increase in gas-fired power stations means traditional coal ones are becoming surplus to requirements.
2 something that must be done because of a law or rule:
•If you are installing a new bathroom, it has to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations.
•Two measures have been introduced as legal requirements.
3 something, especially good examination results, that a college, employer etc says you must have in order to do something
[+for]
•English 4 is a requirement for English majors.
•To find out about entry requirements for students, write to the college admissions board.
•The minimum requirement for the post was a degree in engineering. [only before noun] formal
needed for a particular purpose; = necessary, required
•He lacks the requisite qualifications.[C usually plural]
formal something that is needed for a particular purpose
[+of/for]
•He lacked the moral requisites for marriage.
PREREQUISITE [T]
if someone in authority, especially the army, requisitions a building, vehicle, or food, they officially demand to have it during an EMERGENCY such as a war; = commandeer
•The building was requisitioned as a military hospital for the duration of the war.
- requisition noun [C,U] [T]
formal to give or do something in return for something done or given to you [T]
if a CD, record, or film is re-released, it is produced and sold or shown for a second time, usually with small changes
- re-release noun [C] $ [T]
to send vehicles, planes, telephone calls etc to a different place from the one where they were originally going; = redirect [C]
1 a film or television programme that is being shown again on television; = repeat
•We watched a rerun of 'I Love Lucy.'
2 something that happens in the same way as something that happened before; = repeat
•The government wants to avoid a rerun of last year's crisis. past tense reran , past participle rerun, present participle rerunning [T]
1 to show a film or television programme again on television; = repeat
2 to do something in the same way as before; = repeat
3 to arrange for a race or competition to be held again; = repeat [U]
the activity of selling goods that you have bought from someone else; resell $ [T]
1 to arrange for something to happen at a different time from the one that was previously planned
reschedule sth for sth
•The press conference had to be rescheduled for March 19.
2 technical to arrange for a debt to be paid back later than was previously agreed
- rescheduling noun [singular,U] [T]
to officially end a law, or change a decision or agreement [T]
to save someone or something from a situation of danger or harm:
•Survivors of the crash were rescued by helicopter.
rescue sb/sth from sb/sth
•She died trying to rescue her children from the blaze.
- rescuer noun [C][C,U]
1 when someone or something is rescued from danger:
•a daring rescue at sea
[+of]
•Storms delayed the rescue of the crash victims.
•Rescue workers arrived at the scene two hours later.
rescue mission/operation
•The rescue operation proved successful.
2 come to the/sb's rescue
a) to save someone who is in a dangerous situation:
•A lifeboat came to the yachtsman's rescue.
b) to help someone who is having problems or difficulties:
•Carol's brother came to the rescue and sent her $1000. $ alsoplural researches formal [U]
1 serious study of a subject, in order to discover new facts or test new ideas
[+into/on]
•research into the causes of cancer
scientific/medical/historical etc research
•a research team
do/conduct/undertake research
•I'm still doing research for my thesis.
•Gould was helped in his researches by local naturalists.
2 the activity of finding information about something that you are interested in or need to know about:
•It's a good idea to do some research before you buy a house.; investigation
MARKET RESEARCH $ [I,T]
1 to study a subject in detail, especially in order to discover new facts or test new ideas; investigate
•He's been researching material for a documentary.
[+into]
•Ten years ago I began researching into the role of women in trade unions.
2 to get all the necessary facts and information for something:
•This book has been very well researched.
- researcher noun [C][U]
R & D past tense and past participle resold $ [T]
to sell something that you have bought; resale
•The retailer resells the goods at a higher price. [C,U]
if there is a resemblance between two people or things, they are similar, especially in the way they look; similarity
[+between]
•The resemblance between Susan and her sister was remarkable.
bear a (close/striking/uncanny etc) resemblance to sb/sth (=look like)
•Tina bears a striking resemblance to her mother.
bear little/no resemblance to sb/sth
•What happens in the film bears little resemblance to what actually happened. [T not in progressive or passive]
to look like or be similar to someone or something:
•It's amazing how closely Brian and Steve resemble each other.
•He grew up to resemble his father. [T]
to feel angry or upset about a situation or about something that someone has done, especially because you think that it is not fair
resent (sb) doing sth
•I resented having to work such long hours.
bitterly/deeply/strongly resent
•She bitterly resented his mother's influence over him.
•Paul resented the fact that Carol didn't trust him.
feeling angry and upset about something that you think is unfair; = bitter
[+of/about/at etc]
•She felt resentful at not being promoted.
- resentfully adverb
- resentfulness noun [U] [U]
a feeling of anger because something has happened that you think is unfair; = bitterness
[+at/against/of etc]
•She was filled with deep resentment at being passed over for promotion.
feel/harbour/bear resentment
•He felt considerable resentment towards Sheila for making him work late. $
1 [C] an arrangement which you make so that a place in a hotel, restaurant, plane etc is kept for you at a particular time in the future; booking
•a dinner reservation
•Customers are advised to make seat reservations well in advance.
2 [C,U] a feeling of doubt because you do not agree completely with a plan, idea, or suggestion
have/express reservations (about sth)
•I had serious reservations about his appointment as captain.
•We condemn their actions without reservation (=completely).
3 [C] an area of land in the US kept separate for Native Americans to live on:
•a Navajo reservation
4 [C] AmE an area of land where wild animals can live without being hunted; = reserve; = preserve AmE
•a wildlife reservation $ [T]
1 to arrange for a place in a hotel, restaurant, plane etc to be kept for you to use at a particular time in the future; book
reserve sth for sb/sth
•I'd like to reserve a table for two.
•Do you have to reserve tickets in advance?
2 to keep something so that it can be used by a particular person or for a particular purpose; = set aside
reserve sth for sb/sth
•A separate room is reserved for smokers.
•reserved parking spaces
3 especially written to keep part of something for use at a later time during a process - used especially when describing how to cook something; = keep, save
•Reserve a little of the mixture to sprinkle over the top of the pie.
4 to use or show something only in one particular situation
reserve sth for sb/sth
•She spoke in a tone of voice she usually reserved for dealing with officials.
5 reserve the right to do sth formal if you reserve the right to do something, you will do it if you think it is necessary - used especially in notices or official documents:
•The management reserves the right to refuse admission.
6 reserve (your) judgment (on sth) spoken to not give your opinion about something until a later time when you have more information
1 SUPPLY [C usually plural] a supply of something kept to be used if it is needed:
•$10 million in cash reserves
•oil reserves
[+of]
•Somehow Debbie maintained an inner reserve of strength.
2 in reserve ready to be used if needed:
•We always keep some money in reserve, just in case.
3 PERSONAL QUALITY [U] a quality in someone's character that makes them not like expressing their emotions or talking about their problems; shyness
•She overcame her own natural reserve.
4 PLAYER [C] an extra player who plays in a team if one of the other players is injured or ill; substitute
5 TEAM the reserves BrE a team that plays when the usual team cannot do so
6 MILITARY the reserve also the reserves an extra military force that a country has in addition to its usual army, navy etc which can be used if needed; reservist
7 FOR ANIMALS/PLANTS [C] BrE an area of land where wild animals and plants are protected; = reservation AmE; = preserve AmE
•a wildlife reserve
NATURE RESERVE
8 FOR NATIVE AMERICANS [C] a RESERVATION
9 PRICE [C] also reserve price a price below which something will not be sold, especially in an AUCTION $
unwilling to express your emotions or talk about your problems; shy
•Ellen was a shy, reserved girl. $ [C]
someone in the RESERVE $ [C]
1 a lake, especially an artificial one, where water is stored before it is supplied to people's houses
2 a large amount of something that is available and has not yet been used
[+of]
•She found she had reservoirs of unexpected strength.
3 technical a part of a machine or engine where a liquid is kept before it is used past tense and past participle reset, present participle resetting [T]
1 to change a clock, control, machine etc so that it shows a different time or number, or is ready to be used again
2 to put a broken bone back into its correct place so that it grows back together correctly
3 to restart a computer without switching the power off; reboot
4 to put a jewel into a new piece of jewellery
- reset noun [C,U]
reset button/switch a control that is used to make a machine or instrument ready to work again
1 [I,T] to go to live in a new country or area, or to help people do this:
•The tribesmen were forcibly resettled by the government.
2 [T] to start using an area again as a place to live:
•The area was resettled in the latter half of the century.
- resettlement noun [U] [C] especially BrE
when the jobs of people who work in an organization are changed around, especially in a government; = reorganize
•a Cabinet reshuffle
- reshuffle verb [T] [I always + adv/prep]
formal to live in a particular place:
•He spent most of his time in Rutherglen, where his family resided.

PHRASAL VERBS
reside in sth/sb phr v formal
1 to be present in or consist of something:
•Joe's talent resides in his storytelling abilities.
2 also reside within sth/sb if a power, right etc resides in something or someone, it belongs to them:
•Executive power resides in the President.
1 [C] formal a house, especially a large or official one:
•the ambassador's official residence
2 [U] legal permission to live in a country for a certain period of time; = residency
•a residence permit
permanent/temporary residence
•Jeff has permanent residence in Canada, but is still a US citizen.
3 [U] formal the state of living in a place; = residency
•Rome was his main place of residence.
4 artist/writer etc in residence an artist etc who has been officially chosen by a college or other institution to work there
5 take up residence formal to start living in a place:
•He took up residence in Chicago.
6 in residence
a) formal living in a place at a particular time
•The emperor was in residence at his summer palace.[C] AmE
a large building where many students live at a university; = dormitory AmE; = hall of residence BrE plural residencies
1 [U] legal permission to live in a country for a certain period of time; = residence
2 [C,U] when an artist, writer, musician etc does work at a college or other institution for a period of time; = residence
3 [U] the state of living in a place; = residence
4 [U] especially AmE a period of time when a doctor receives special training in a particular type of medicine, especially at a hospital [C]
1 someone who lives or stays in a particular place:
•the residents of Westville
2 AmE a doctor working at a hospital where he or she is being trained; = registrar BrE
1 formal living in a place
[+in]
•Many retired British people are now resident in Spain.
2 [only before noun] living or working in a particular place or institution:
•a resident tutor
•The resident population of mental hospitals has fallen by 20%.
3 [only before noun] belonging to a particular group of people - used humorously:
•He's our resident expert on computer games.
1 a residential part of a town consists of private houses, with no offices or factories; suburban
•a quiet residential neighbourhood
2 relating to homes rather than offices or businesses; domestic
•telephone services for residential customers
3 residential course/school etc especially BrE if you are on a residential course, you are living in the institution where you are studying[U]
a system in which people who are old or ill live together in a special house and are looked after by professionals[C]
a special house in which old or ill people live and are looked after by professionals; = nursing homealso residential treatment center [C] formal especially AmE
a place that gives treatment to people with mental problems or problems with drugs or alcohol[C] AmE
a RESIDENT^1 (2)[C] BrE
a group of people who meet to discuss the problems and needs of the area where they live [only before noun]
formal remaining after a process, event etc is finished:
•the residual effects of drug treatment
residual income (=the money left from what you earn after you have paid your taxes) [plural]
money that is paid to an actor, writer etc when their work is broadcast again $ [only before noun] BrE law
relating to all the money and property that remains after a person has died, and after any bills have been paid $
1 [C,U] a substance that remains on a surface, in a container etc and cannot be removed easily, or that remains after a chemical process
[+from]
•residue from sewage treatment plants
•The flies leave a sticky residue on crops.
•Rinse off any soap residue.
2 [C] formal the part of something that is left after the rest has gone or been taken away
[+of]
•The residue of the stock was sold. [I,T]
1 to officially announce that you have decided to leave your job or an organization; quit
[+from]
•She resigned from the government last week.
[+as]
•He resigned as Governor of Punjab in August.
resign your post/seat/position etc
•Tom has since resigned his membership of the golf club.
2 resign yourself to (doing) sth to make yourself accept something that is bad but cannot be changed; resigned
•Josh resigned himself to the long walk home.
•At sixteen, I resigned myself to the fact that I'd never be a dancer.
1 [C,U] when you officially announce that you have decided to leave your job or an organization, or a written statement that says you will be leaving; notice
•The governor refused to accept Cox's resignation.
•a letter of resignation
hand in/tender your resignation (=officially say that you want to resign)
2 [U] when someone calmly accepts a situation that cannot be changed, even though it is bad:
•She gave a sigh of resignation.
with resignation
•He accepted her decision with resignation.
1 be resigned to (doing) sth to calmly accept a situation that is bad, but cannot be changed:
•She's resigned to spending Christmas on her own.
•Sam was resigned to the fact that he would never be promoted.
2 a resigned look, voice etc shows that you are making yourself accept something that you do not like:
•'We'll have to leave,' she said with a resigned sigh.
- resignedly adverbalso resiliency [U]
1 the ability to become strong, happy, or successful again after a difficult situation or event; toughness
[+of]
•the resilience of youth
•People showed remarkable resilience during the war.
2 the ability of a substance such as rubber to return to its original shape after it has been pressed or bent
1 able to become strong, happy, or successful again after a difficult situation or event; tough
•Children are often very resilient.
•The company proved remarkably resilient during the recession.
2 strong and not easily damaged by being pulled, pressed etc:
•boots with tough resilient soles
•Any chemical treatment will leave hair less resilient than before.
- resiliently adverb
1 [U] a thick sticky liquid that comes out of some trees; sap
2 [C,U] a type of plastic
- resinous adjective
1 [I,T usually in negatives] to stop yourself from having something that you like very much or doing something that you want to do
cannot resist (doing) sth
•I just can't resist chocolate.
•She can never resist buying new shoes.
it is hard/difficult/impossible to resist sth
•It's hard to resist an invitation like that.
resist the temptation/urge to do sth
•She resisted the temptation to laugh.
•They only wanted 3 dollars for it, so how could I resist?
2 [T] to try to prevent a change from happening, or prevent yourself from being forced to do something:
•He resisted pressure to resign.
resist doing sth
•For months the company has resisted changing its accounts system.
strongly/fiercely/vigorously etc resist
•The proposal was strongly resisted by the police.
3 [I,T] to use force to stop something from happening
strongly/fiercely/firmly etc resist
•Demonstrators violently resisted attempts to remove them from the building.
•He was charged with trying to resist arrest.
4 [T] to not be changed or harmed by something:
•your ability to resist infection
1 AGAINST CHANGE [singular,U] a refusal to accept new ideas or changes
[+to]
•people's resistance to change
[+from]
•The no-smoking policy was introduced with little resistance from staff.
2 FIGHTING [singular,U] fighting against someone who is attacking you
put up/offer resistance
•Rebel gunmen have put up strong resistance.
3 AGAINST INFECTION/ILLNESS [singular,U] the natural ability of a person, animal, or plant to stop diseases or difficult conditions from harming them
[+to]
•the body's resistance to infection
•disease resistance
4 wind/air/water resistance the way in which wind, air, or water can cause a moving object such as a car, plane, or boat to slow down
5 ELECTRICITY [U] the ability of a substance to stop the flow of an electric current through it
6 the resistance also the Resistance an organization that secretly fights against an enemy that controls their country
7 the line/path of least resistance if you follow the path of least resistance, you avoid making difficult decisions and choose the easiest solution to a problem - often used to show disapproval:
•Many people don't make changes because they're following the path of least resistance.
•Kirk always just takes the line of least resistance.
PASSIVE RESISTANCE
1 not damaged or affected by something; proof
[+to]
•an infection that's resistant to antibiotics
heat-resistant/stain-resistant/fire-resistant etc
•shock-resistant rubber
2 opposed to something and wanting to prevent it from happening
[+to]
•Many managers are resistant to change. $ [C]
a piece of wire or other material used for increasing electrical resistance past tense and past participle resat , present participle resitting [T] BrE
to take an examination again, because you failed it or did not do well enough; = retake
- resit noun [C] [U]
BrE the practice of teaching people new skills, to help them find a new job
doing something in a very determined way because you have very strong beliefs, aims etc; irresolute
•resolute opposition
•resolute leadership
•She remained resolute in her belief that the situation would improve.
- resolutely adverb
•Mia resolutely refused to talk about her illness.
1 DECISION [C] a formal decision or statement agreed on by a group of people, especially after a vote
pass/adopt/approve a resolution
•The resolution was passed by a two-thirds majority.
•a resolution calling for a ban on dumping nuclear waste
•They have failed to comply with the resolution.
2 SOLUTION [singular,U] when someone solves a problem, argument, or difficult situation
[+of]
•a forum for the resolution of commercial disputes
3 PROMISE [C] a promise to yourself to do something; resolve
resolution to do sth
•Carol made a resolution to work harder at school.
New Year's resolution (=a resolution made on January 1st)
4 DETERMINATION [U] strong belief and determination:
•Then, with sudden resolution, she stood up.
5 CLEAR PICTURE [C,U] the power of a television, camera, MICROSCOPE etc to give a clear picture
high/low resolution (=how clear or unclear the picture is) $ [T]
1 to find a satisfactory way of dealing with a problem or difficulty; = solve; settle
resolve a dispute/conflict/problem etc
•The crisis was resolved by negotiations.
•Barnet was desperate for money to resolve his financial problems.
2 formal to make a definite decision to do something
resolve to do sth
•After the divorce she resolved never to marry again.
resolve that
•Mary resolved that she would stop smoking.
3 to make a formal decision, especially by voting
resolve to do sth
•The Senate resolved to accept the President's proposals.
4 technical to separate something into its different parts:
•DNA samples were extracted and resolved.

PHRASAL VERBS
resolve (sth) into sth phr v
1 technical to separate into parts, or to separate something:
•This mixture will resolve into two separate compounds.
2 resolve (itself) into sth formal to gradually change into something else; = become
•The argument resolved itself into an uneasy truce.[U]
formal strong determination to succeed in doing something:
•Recent events strengthened her resolve to find out the truth.
1 [U] the resonance of a sound is its quality of being deep and loud and continuing for a long time
2 [C,U] formal the special meaning or importance that something has for you because it relates to your own experiences:
•a tradition that has little resonance in the 21st century
•His words will have resonance for many musicians.
3 [C,U] technical sound that is produced or increased in one object by sound waves from another object
1 a resonant sound is deep, loud, and clear, and continues for a long time:
•the violin's smooth, resonant tone
2 resonant with sth literary filled with a particular meaning, quality, or sound:
•prints resonant with traditions of Russian folk art
3 technical resonant materials increase any sound produced inside them
- resonantly adverb [I]
1 if something such as an event or a message resonates, it seems important or good to people, or continues to do this
[+with]
•an idea that resonates with many voters
2 to make a deep loud clear sound that continues for a long time; resound
•The music resonated through the streets.
3 to make a sound that is produced as a reaction to another sound

PHRASAL VERBS
resonate with sth phr v
1 formal to be full of a particular meaning or quality:
•literature that resonates with biblical imagery
2 to be full of a particular sound:
•a hall resonating with laughter $ [C]
a piece of equipment that makes the sound of a musical instrument louder $ [C]
1 a place where a lot of people go for holidays
seaside/beach/ski etc resort
•Aspen, a ski resort in Colorado
•Lagoon Reef is one of the best resort hotels.
2 last/final resort what you will do if everything else fails
as a last resort
•Drug treatment should only be used as a last resort.
of last resort
•a weapon of last resort
in the last resort BrE
•Economic sanctions will be used only in the last resort.
3 first resort what you will do first before you try other things:
•In the past, your family was the first resort when looking for a job.
4 resort to sth formal when you must use or depend on something because nothing better is available
without resort to sth
•We hope they will be able to resolve the situation without resort to force.

PHRASAL VERBS
resort to sth phr v
to do something bad, extreme, or difficult because you cannot think of any other way to deal with a problem:
•Officials fear that extremists may resort to violence.
resort to doing sth
•Vets have had to resort to killing the animals. [I]
1 if a place resounds with a sound, it is full of that sound
[+with]
•The stadium resounded with cheers.
[+to]
•By now, the whole room was resounding to the sound of the team's chants.
2 if a sound such as a musical note resounds, it continues loudly and clearly for quite a long time; resonate
[+through/around etc]
•a horn resounding through the forest
3 formal to be mentioned or talked about a lot:
•The war still resounds in the country's folklore.
1 resounding success/victory/defeat etc a very great or complete success, victory etc:
•The show was a resounding success.
2 [only before noun] a resounding noise is so loud that it seems to continue for a few seconds:
•a resounding thud
- resoundingly adverb $
1 LAND/OIL/COAL ETC [C usually plural] something such as useful land, or minerals such as oil or coal, that exists in a country and can be used to increase its wealth:
•Canada's vast mineral resources
•a country rich in natural resources
2 MONEY/PROPERTY ETC resources [plural] all the money, property, skills etc that you have available to use when you need them:
•She had no financial resources.
•Only limited resources are available to the police.
pool your resources (=put together all the resources that each of you can provide)
HUMAN RESOURCES
3 PERSONAL QUALITIES resources [plural] personal qualities, such as courage and determination, that you need to deal with a difficult situation:
•He proved that he has considerable inner resources.
4 EDUCATIONAL [C] something such as a book, film, or picture used by teachers or students to provide information:
•resources for learning
•a valuable new computer resource
resource room/centre
5 PRACTICAL ABILITY [U] formal the ability to deal with practical problems; = resourcefulness
•a man of great resource $ [T usually passive]
to provide money or other resources for something:
•The program wasn't adequately resourced. $
good at finding ways of dealing with practical problems:
•a woman who is energetic and resourceful
- resourcefully adverb
- resourcefulness noun [U] $ [I,T]
if a character in a computer game respawns or is respawned, they are born again after being killed
1 ADMIRATION [U] when you admire someone, especially because of their personal qualities, knowledge, or skills; admiration
[+for]
•I have the greatest respect for Jane's work.
win/earn/gain the respect of sb
•She has earned the respect of her fellow athletes.
•He commands (=has and deserves) the respect of everyone in the profession.
2 CONSIDERATION [U] when you regard something or someone as important and are careful not to harm them, treat them rudely etc; disrespect
[+for]
•Out of respect for the wishes of her family, the affair was not reported in the media.
•The boys showed a complete lack of respect for authority.
with respect
•Old people deserve to be treated with respect.
3 with (the greatest) respect/with (all) due respect spoken formal say this before disagreeing with someone when you want to be polite:
•With respect, I think you're wrong.
4 FOR DANGER [singular,U] a careful attitude towards something or someone that could be dangerous
[+for]
•My fear turned into a respect for the sea.
•People should have a healthy respect for alcohol (=a sensible careful attitude towards it).
5 in one respect/in some respects etc used to say that something is true in one way, in some ways etc:
•In many respects the new version is not as good as the old one.
•Mum is very stubborn, and Kim takes after her in that respect.
see box at CASE^1
6 GREETINGS respects [plural] formal polite greetings
give/send your respects (to sb)
•Give my respects to your wife.
pay your respects (to sb) BrE (=make a polite visit)
•I've come to pay my respects to Mrs O'Hara.
7 pay your last respects (to sb) to go to someone's funeral
8 in respect of sth formal concerning or in relation to something:
•This is especially true in respect of the UK.
9 with respect to sth formal
a) concerning or in relation to something:
•the freedom of a property owner to make a contract with respect to his property
b) used to introduce a new subject, or to return to one that has already been mentioned:
•With respect to your request, I am not yet able to agree.
SELF-RESPECT[T]
1 [not in progressive] to admire someone because they have high standards and good qualities such as fairness and honesty; admire
respect sb for (doing) sth
•She respected him for his honesty.
•I respect his views, although I do not agree with them.
2 to be careful not to do anything against someone's wishes, rights etc:
•She said she wanted to leave, and her father respected her wishes.
•I would like you to respect my privacy.
•the need to respect human rights
3 to not break a rule or law:
•The President is expected to respect the constitution.
1 someone who is respectable behaves in a way that is considered socially acceptable:
•hard-working, respectable people
•a respectable family
•Put a tie on - it'll make you look more respectable.
2 good or satisfactory; = decent
•a respectable income
•Her exam results were respectable enough.
- respectably adverb
- respectability noun [U]
admired by many people because of your good work or achievements:
•He's one of the most respected managers in the game.
highly/well/widely/greatly respected
•a highly respected journalist $
1 be no respecter of persons formal to affect all people in the same way, whether or not they are rich or powerful:
•Disease is no respecter of persons.
2 be a respecter of sth to have respect for something such as a law or organization:
•She is a respecter of the rights of all religious groups.
feeling or showing respect; disrespectful
•They listened in respectful silence.
[+of]
•He was always respectful of my independence.
- respectfully adverb
- respectfulness noun [U] formal
about or relating to something:
•A discussion took place respecting the provision of science teaching. [only before noun]
used before a plural noun to refer to the different things that belong to each separate person or thing mentioned:
•We all went back to our respective homes to wait for news.
•the respective roles of teachers and students
in the same order as the things you have just mentioned:
•The cups and saucers cost £5 and £3 respectively. [U]
technical the process of breathing
ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment that pumps air in and out of someone's lungs if they are too ill or weak to breathe; = ventilator
•The baby was immediately put on a respirator.
2 a piece of equipment that you wear over your nose and mouth to help you breathe in a place where there is harmful gas, smoke etc; gas mask $ formal technical
relating to breathing or your lungs:
•respiratory disease $ [I]
technical to breathe $ [singular,U]
1 a short time when something bad stops happening, so that the situation is temporarily better
[+from]
•The trip was a welcome respite from the pressures of work.
•a brief respite from persecution
without respite
•The pain went on without respite.
2 a short period of time before you have to do something that you do not like:
•We have a few days' respite before we have to pay them.[U]
temporary care for people who are too old or ill to look after themselves, which allows the people who usually look after them to rest formal
very beautiful, bright, and impressive in appearance
[+in]
•She looked resplendent in a silk dress.
- resplendently adverb $
1 [I] to do something as a reaction to something that has been said or done; = react
[+to]
•Responding to the news, Mr Watt appealed for calm.
respond by doing sth
•The US responded by sending troops into Laos.
[+with]
•Villagers responded with offers of help.
2 [I,T] to say or write something as a reply
respond that
•He responded that he didn't want to see anyone.
[+to]
•Dave didn't respond to any of her emails.
3 [I] to improve as a result of a particular kind of treatment
[+to]
•She has responded well to treatment.
•Colds do not respond to antibiotics. $ [C]
1 formal someone who answers questions, especially in a SURVEY:
•Only 62 percent of respondents said they were satisfied.
2 law someone who has to defend their own case in a law court, especially in a DIVORCE case $
1 [C,U] something that is done as a reaction to something that has happened or been said
[+to]
•the public's response to our appeal for help
in response to sth
•The law was passed in response to public pressure.
positive/favourable/negative etc response
•The exhibition has received a positive response from visitors.
an emotional/angry response
•The decision provoked an angry response from residents.
•His immediate response was one of disbelief.
•Emmett's new exhibition has met with a favourable response from critics.
2 [C] something that is said or written as a reply
[+to]
•'Sure, why not?' was his response to all of Billie's suggestions.
•Carl made no response, and carried on with his meal.
in response (to sth)
•I am writing in response to your letter of June 12.
•Ronni merely groaned in response.
RAPID-RESPONSE $ plural responsibilities
1 [U] a duty to be in charge of someone or something, so that you make decisions and can be blamed if something bad happens:
•Kelly's promotion means more money and more responsibility.
responsibility for (doing) sth
•The Minister will have responsibility for coordinating childcare policy.
with responsibility for sth
•a manager with responsibility for over 100 staff
it is sb's responsibility to do sth
•It's your responsibility to inform us of any changes.
•The Health Minister has overall responsibility for Britain's hospitals.
take responsibility for (doing) sth (=agree to be in charge of something or someone)
•Who do you trust to take responsibility for Britain's defence?
•Be careful you don't take on too much responsibility.
2 [U] blame for something bad that has happened
[+for]
•By resigning he is trying to avoid responsibility for the political crisis.
•The management accepts no responsibility for cars left in the car park.
•The Chairman of the airline accepted full responsibility for the accident.
claim responsibility (for sth) (=say you are responsible)
•No one has yet claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombing.
3 [C] something that you must do as part of your job or duty:
•My responsibilities include answering the phone and dealing with customer enquiries.
family/professional/parental etc responsibilities
•a single parent struggling to balance work and family responsibilities
4 [C] something that you ought to do because it is morally or socially right; = duty
a responsibility to do sth
•We all have a responsibility to protect the environment.
•Parents need to encourage a sense of responsibility in their children (=the ability to behave sensibly in a way that will not harm themselves or other people).
moral/social/legal etc responsibility
•The company saw it as part of its social responsibility to provide education for its workers.
5 responsibility to sb a duty to help someone because of your work or position in society:
•A doctor's first responsibility is to her patients.
6 do sth on your own responsibility formal to do something without being told to do it or officially allowed to do it
DIMINISHED RESPONSIBILITY $
1 GUILTY [not before noun] if someone is responsible for an accident, mistake, crime etc, it is their fault or they can be blamed
[+for]
•Police believe that the same man is responsible for three other murders in the area.
•We are determined to bring the people responsible to justice.
hold sb responsible (for sth)
•If anything goes wrong, I will hold you personally responsible.
2 IN CHARGE OF [not before noun] having a duty to be in charge of or to look after someone or something
[+for]
•Mills is responsible for a budget of over $5 million.
•The airline is legally responsible for the safety of its passengers.
responsible for doing sth
•He is responsible for recruiting and training new staff.
3 SENSIBLE sensible and able to make good judgments, so that you can be trusted; irresponsible ; reliable
•You can leave the children with Billy - he's very responsible.
responsible adult/citizen
•It's time you started acting like a responsible adult.
4 CAUSE [not before noun] if something is responsible for a change, problem, event etc, it causes it
[+for]
•The floods were responsible for the deaths of over a hundred people.
5 responsible job/position a job in which the ability to make good judgments and decisions is needed
6 be responsible to sb if you are responsible to someone, that person is in charge of your work and you must explain what you have done to them:
•Cabinet members are directly responsible to the President.

GRAMMAR

!! Responsible is always an adjective, never a noun.
Tobe responsible for (doing) something can mean to have done something wrong: Who is responsible for this mess?
It can also mean to have to do or take care of something You're responsible for taking people's coats. | Our department is responsible for marketing.
The person/company etc responsible is the person etc who has done something wrong: Police are determined to catch the man responsible (NOT the responsible).
Aresponsible person, or someone who isresponsible, is sensible: Children should be in the care of a responsible adult. | He's a very responsible young man.

$
in a sensible way which makes people trust you; irresponsibly
act/behave responsibly
•Can I rely on you to behave responsibly while I'm away? $
1 reacting quickly, in a positive way:
•a car with highly responsive steering
[+to]
•We try to be responsive to the needs of the customer.
•Her condition is not responsive to drug therapy.
2 eager to communicate with people, and to react to them in a positive way:
•I tried to get him talking, but he wasn't very responsive.
- responsively adverb
- responsiveness noun [U] [T] BrE
to change the colour of a car by putting new paint on it
- respray noun [C]
1 the rest what is left after everything or everyone else has gone, been used, dealt with, or mentioned; remainder, leftovers
•You carry these two bags, and I'll bring the rest.
•Two of the attackers were killed, and the rest escaped.
[+of]
•Does anyone want the rest of this pizza?
•He'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
2 RELAXING [C,U] a period of time when you are not doing anything tiring and you can relax or sleep:
•I need to get some rest.
have/take a rest
•You look exhausted! Why don't you take a rest?
•We stopped for a well-earned rest (=one that we deserved because we had been working hard).
a rest day/period
•We have classes until 12.30, and then we have a rest period.
3 put/set sb's mind at rest to make someone feel less anxious or worried:
•Why don't you talk to him, and put his mind at rest.
4 come to rest
a) to stop moving:
•The aircraft skidded across the runway and finally came to rest in a cornfield.
b) if your eyes come to rest on something, you stop looking around and look at that one thing
[+on]
•My eyes came to rest on a photograph of a young man.
5 give it a rest spoken especially BrE used to tell someone to stop talking about something because they are annoying you:
•Give it a rest, Jack!
6 give sth a rest spoken to stop doing an activity:
•I gave the acting a rest for a while.
7 at rest
a) an expression meaning dead, and free from pain and problems
b) technical not moving
8 and all the rest of it BrE spoken used at the end of a short list to mean other things of a similar type:
•It was me who was paying the rent and the bills and all the rest of it.
9 and the rest BrE spoken used to emphasize in a humorous way that a number or amount is really much higher than someone thinks:
•'I'd say she's about 40.' 'Yeah, and the rest!'
10 lay/put sth to rest formal to stop people from worrying about or believing something:
•The minister resigned, and the government hoped that the scandal would finally be laid to rest.
11 lay sb to rest an expression meaning to bury someone, used when you want to avoid saying this directly:
•She was laid to rest beside her husband.
12 MUSIC [C]
a) a period of silence of a particular length in a piece of music
b) a written sign that shows how long the period of silence should be
HEADREST, FOOTREST, BACKREST
and the rest is history at HISTORY (10)
1 RELAX [I] to stop working or doing an activity for a time and sit down or lie down to relax:
•If you're tired, we'll stop and rest for a while.
2 SUPPORT STH [I,T always + adv/prep] to support an object or part of your body by putting it on or against something, or to be supported in this way; lean
rest (sth) against/on sth
•Rest your head on my shoulder.
•Brassard rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward.
•Their bikes were resting against the wall.
3 rest your feet/legs/eyes etc to stop using a part of your body because it is feeling sore or tired:
•I need to sit down and rest my legs.
4 let the matter rest also let it rest to stop discussing or dealing with something:
•The man apologized, but Aunt Matilda refused to let the matter rest.
5 rest assured (that) formal used to tell someone not to worry, because what you say about a situation is true:
•You may rest assured that it will be ready on time.
6 sb will not rest until... if you will not rest until something happens, you will not be satisfied until it happens:
•We will not rest until the murderer is found.
7 DEAD PERSON [I always + adv/prep] literary if a dead person rests somewhere, they are buried there:
•My mother rests beside my father in the family graveyard.
sb's last/final resting place (=the place where someone is buried)
rest in peace (=often written on a grave)
8 rest on your laurels to be satisfied with what you have done, so that you do not make any further effort
9 I rest my case spoken
a) formal used by a lawyer when they have finished trying to prove something in a court of law
b) used when something happens or is said which proves that you were right - used humorously
10 rest easy to relax and stop worrying:
•I can rest easy, knowing everything's under control.

PHRASAL VERBS
rest on/upon sth phr v [not in progressive]
1 formal to depend on something:
•Success in management ultimately rests on good judgment.
2 formal to be based on a particular idea or set of facts:
•The case against my client rests entirely on circumstantial evidence.
3 if your eyes rest on something, you notice it and look at it:
•His eyes rested on a small figure in the distance.

rest with sb phr v [not in progressive]
if a decision rests with someone, they are responsible for it:
•The final decision rests with the President.[C]
especially AmE a place near a road where you can stop and rest, go to the toilet etc $ [I,T]
to start something such as a machine, process etc again after it has stopped:
•attempts to restart the peace process
- restart $ noun [C usually singular] [T]
to say something again in a different way, so that it is clearer or more strongly expressed:
•He is not changing the rules; he is simply restating the policy that was established last year.
- restatement noun [C,U] $ [C]
a place where you can buy and eat a meal
Chinese/French/Mexican etc restaurant
•We went to a little Italian restaurant near Leicester Square.
•He took her out for a five-course dinner in a fancy restaurant.
•The company runs a chain of restaurants.
•A new restaurant has just opened across the road.

WORD FOCUS: restaurant
the person who serves you in a restaurant:
waiter
waitress
server AmE
waitperson AmE
the person who cooks your food:
chef
the person who welcomes the guests:
maitre d'
host/hostess AmE
a list of the food:
menualso /bill of fare formal
a list of wines and alcoholic drinks:
wine listalso /drink list AmE
a piece of paper that shows the amount you have to pay for your meal:
bill BrE /check AmE
extra money you leave for the waiter or waitress:
tip /gratuity formal
money that the restaurant charges for service:
service charge
cover charge
corkage
[C]
a carriage on a train where meals are served; = dining caralso restauranteur $ [C]
someone who owns and manages a restaurant [not before noun]
feeling healthier, stronger, or calmer because you have had time to relax:
•We came back from holiday feeling rested and relaxed.
peaceful and quiet, making you feel relaxed:
•restful music
- restfully adverb[C]
a place where old or sick people can live and be taken care of; = nursing home $ [U]
formal the act of giving back something that was lost or stolen to its owner, or of paying for damage; compensation
[+of]
•the restitution of art treasures missing since World War II
•The offender must make restitution for the hurt that he or she has caused. written
dissatisfied or bored with your situation, and impatient for it to change:
•Communist leaders struggled to rule over increasingly restive populations.
- restively adverb
- restiveness noun [U]
1 unwilling to keep still or stay where you are, especially because you are nervous or bored; = fidgety
become/grow/get restless
•The children had been indoors all day, and were getting restless.
2 unwilling to stay in one place, and always wanting new experiences:
•After a few weeks in Marseille, I grew restless and decided to move on.
3 restless night a night during which you cannot sleep or rest
- restlessly adverb
- restlessness noun [U] $ [I,T]
to bring in more supplies to replace those that have been used [C,U]
1 when you repair something such as an old building or a piece of furniture, so that it looks the same as when it was first built or made
[+of]
•a fund for the restoration of historic buildings
•Major restoration work will begin in May.
2 the act of bringing back a law, tax, or system of government
[+of]
•They're fighting for the restoration of democratic rights.
•the restoration of the monarchy in Spain
3 the Restoration the return of Charles II as King of England in 1660, and the period afterwards
Restoration comedy/drama (=plays written during this time in England)
4 the act of officially giving something back to its former owner; = return
[+of]
•an attempt to secure the restoration of their lands formal
making you feel healthier or stronger:
•the restorative power of sleep $ [T]
1 FORMER SITUATION to make something return to its former state or condition
restore sth to sth
•The government promises to restore the economy to full strength.
•She was hoping that the Mediterranean climate would restore her to full health.
•The National Guard was called in to restore order (=make people stop fighting and breaking the law) when riots broke out.
•initiatives to restore peace in the Middle East
restore (diplomatic) relations with sb
•Vietnam restored diplomatic relations with South Korea on December 22.
restore sb's sight/hearing (=make someone who cannot hear or who is blind, hear or see again)
2 POSITIVE FEELING to bring back a positive feeling that a person or a group of people felt before:
•measures aimed at restoring public confidence in the education system
•a man whose kindness and sincerity really restored my faith in human nature (=helped me to believe that people can be good)
3 REPAIR to repair an old building, piece of furniture, or painting etc so that it is in its original condition:
•The church was carefully restored after the war.
•a Victorian fireplace restored to its former glory
4 GIVE STH BACK formal to give back to someone something that was lost or taken from them; = return
restore sth to sb
•The treaty restored Okinawa to Japan.
5 BRING BACK A LAW to bring back a law, tax, right etc:
•a campaign to restore the death penalty
6 restore sb to power/the throne formal make someone king, queen, or president again, after a period when they have not been in power $ [not before noun]
feeling better and stronger:
•After a cup of tea, she felt quite restored. $ [C]
1 a person whose job is repairing old things:
•an art restorer
2 someone who brings back something that existed before:
•He was described as a restorer of peace and order. [T]
1 to stop someone from doing something, often by using physical force
restrain sb from doing sth
•I had to restrain her from running out into the street.
•He had to be restrained from using violence.
2 to control your own emotions or behaviour:
•Renwick restrained a feeling of annoyance.
restrain yourself (from doing something)
•She could barely restrain herself from hitting him.
3 to control or limit something that is increasing too much:
•Price rises should restrain consumer spending.
1 behaviour that is restrained is calm and controlled:
•a restrained and cool-headed response to their criticisms
2 not too brightly coloured or decorated:
•The interior decoration is quite restrained.[C]
an official legal document that prevents someone from doing something
1 [U] calm sensible controlled behaviour, especially in a situation when it is difficult to stay calm:
•The police were praised for their restraint in handling the demonstrators.
show/exercise restraint
•He urged the millions of protesters to exercise restraint.
2 [C usually plural, U] a rule or principle that limits what people can do
[+on]
•Opposition politicians have called for restraints on public spending.
•The government has imposed restraints on corporate mergers.
3 [U] formal physical force that is used to hold someone back, especially because they are likely to be violent:
•Sometimes police officers have to use physical restraint to control dangerous prisoners.
4 [C] something that prevents someone from moving freely, such as a rope or a SEAT BELT [T]
1 to limit or control the size, amount, or range of something:
•The new law restricts the sale of hand guns.
•You may need to restrict access to certain files (=limit the number of people who can read them).
•The agreement will restrict competition.
restrict sth to sth
•In future we will restrict class sizes to 20 students.
2 to limit someone's actions or movements:
•The cramped living conditions severely restricted the children's freedom to play.
3 restrict yourself/sb to (doing) sth to allow yourself to have or do only a particular thing or amount of something:
•I'm restricting myself to two cigarettes a day.
1 small or limited in size, area, or amount:
•It's difficult trying to work in such a restricted space.
2 limited or controlled, especially by laws or rules:
•Press freedom is severely restricted.
[+to]
•The sale of alcohol is restricted to people over the age of 18.
•There is restricted access to this information (=only certain people can have it).
3 limited in your movements or in what you are able to do:
•The accident left her with restricted movement in her right leg.
•In those days women led very restricted lives.
4 a restricted area, document, or information can only be seen or used by a particular group of people because it is secret or dangerous:
•No Entry - restricted area for army personnel only.
5 be restricted to sb/sth to only affect a limited area, group etc:
•The damage is restricted to the left side of the brain.
•Eligibility for five weeks' holiday is restricted to senior management.
1 [C] a rule or law that limits or controls what people can do
[+on]
•restrictions on immigration
•a 50 mph speed restriction
trade/travel restrictions
impose/place restrictions on sth
•The law imposed new financial restrictions on private companies.
strict/tough/tight restriction
•tougher restrictions on alcohol advertising
lift/remove a restriction
•Restrictions on trade were lifted.
2 [U] when you restrict the size, amount, or range of something
something that is restrictive stops people doing what they want to do; = limiting
•Many members thought the rules were too restrictive.
•a restrictive policy on admission to the collegealso restrictive relative clause [C]
technical a part of a sentence that says which particular person or thing you are talking about. For example in 'the man who came to dinner', the phrase 'who came to dinner' is a restrictive clause; non-restrictive clause [plural]
1 unreasonable rules that are used by a TRADE UNION to limit the kind of work that members of other trade unions are allowed to do for a company
2 an unfair trade agreement between companies that limits the amount of competition there is[C]
AmE a room with a toilet in a place such as a restaurant or cinema; = toilet BrE $ [T]
to change the way in which something such as a government, business, or system is organized:
•proposals to radically restructure Britain's electronics industry
- restructuring noun [C,U]
•the major restructuring of our armed forces[C]
a place near a road where you can stop and rest, use the toilet etc
1 HAPPENING BECAUSE OF STH [C,U] something that happens or exists because of something that happened before; consequence
[+of]
•Accidents are the inevitable result of driving too fast.
•High unemployment is a direct result of the recession.
end/final/net result (=the result at the end of a long process)
•The net result of all these changes is that schools should be able to deliver a better service to pupils.
•Growing plants from seed can produce disappointing results.
•With a little effort you should achieve the desired result.
as a result (of sth)
•As a result of the pilots' strike, all flights have had to be cancelled.
with the result that
•Sara wasn't at school last week, with the result that she missed an important test.
2 SPORTS/ELECTIONS [C] the final number of points, votes etc at the end of a competition, game, or election:
•The election results will be announced at midnight.
•the football results
[+of]
•A lot depends on the result of this match.
3 SCIENTIFIC TESTS [C] the answers that are produced by a scientific study or test:
•Results suggest that diet is very important.
[+of]
•Police are awaiting the results of a forensic examination.
positive/negative/inconclusive results
•The experiments gave positive results in all cases.
4 EXAMINATIONS [C] BrE the mark you get in an examination; = grade AmE
•When do we get our exam results?
5 SUCCESS [C] the achievement of something:
•She certainly knows how to get results.
• For best results, always use fresh ingredients when you are cooking.
6 BUSINESS results [plural] the accounts of a business that show how successful it has been over a period of time, usually a year:
•British Airways has announced disappointing results for the first half of the year.
7 get a result BrE informal to win a victory in a sports match:
•They were lucky to get a result on Saturday.[I]
if something results from something else, it is caused by it
[+from]
•We are still dealing with problems resulting from errors made in the past.
•How would you cope with unemployment and the resulting loss of income?

PHRASAL VERBS
result in sth phr v
to make something happen; = cause
•an accident that resulted in the death of two passengersinformal
Result! said when you have just done something successfully [only before noun]
formal happening or existing because of something:
•She is still trying to get over the attack and the resultant injuries. $ formal
1 [T] to start doing something again after stopping or being interrupted:
•She hopes to resume work after the baby is born.
•The rebels have resumed hostilities against government troops.
resume doing sth
•He will resume training as soon as the injury is better.
2 [I] if an activity or process resumes, it starts again after a pause:
•Peace talks will resume tomorrow.
3 resume your seat/place/position to go back to the seat, place, or position where you were before:
•Will the delegates please resume their seats?résumé $ [C]
1 a short account of something such as an article or speech which gives the main points but no details; = summary
•a brief résumé of the day's events
2 AmE a short written account of your education and your previous jobs that you send to an employer when you are looking for a new job; = CV BrE [singular,U]
formal the act of starting an activity again after stopping or being interrupted
[+of]
•Both countries are now hoping for a quick resumption of diplomatic relations. $
1 [I] to appear again after being lost or missing:
•One of the missing paintings suddenly resurfaced.
2 [I] if an idea or problem resurfaces, it becomes important again:
•Nationalist tensions have resurfaced here.
3 [T] to put a new surface on a road
4 [I] to come back up to the surface of the water $ [singular,U]
the reappearance and growth of something that was common in the past
[+of]
•There has been a resurgence of interest in religion over the last ten years.
[+in]
•a resurgence in the popularity of 60s music $ [usually before noun]
growing and becoming more popular, after a period of quietness:
•resurgent fascism [T]
to bring back an old activity, belief, idea etc that has not existed for a long time:
•The Home Office have resurrected plans to build a new prison just outside London.
•another failed attempt to resurrect his career [singular]
1 the Resurrection the return of Jesus Christ to life after his death on the cross, which is one of the main beliefs of the Christian religion
2 formal a situation in which something old or forgotten returns or becomes important again:
•a resurrection of old jealousies [T]
to make someone breathe again or become conscious after they have almost died; revive
•Doctors managed to resuscitate him.
- resuscitation noun [U]
• mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (=when you breathe air into someone's mouth to make them breathe) [U]
the sale of goods in shops to customers, for their own use and not for selling to anyone else; wholesale
the retail trade/business
•a manager with twenty years' experience in the retail business
retail outlet/shop/store/chain
•We are looking for more retail outlets for our products.
•a retail price of £8.99
•The retail value would be around $500.
• Retail sales fell by 1.3% in January.
1 [I] technical to be sold for a particular price in a shop
[+at/for]
•The wine retails at £6.95 a bottle.
•The decoder is expected to retail for under $300.
2 [T] technical to sell goods in shops:
•Their products are retailed all over Britain and Europe.
3 [T] formal to give other people private information about someone or something
if you buy or sell something retail, you buy or sell it in a shop:
•We only deal with wholesalers - we don't sell any of our goods retail. $ [C]
a person or business that sells goods to customers in a shop [U]
the business of selling goods to customers in shops:
•There may be many job losses in retailing.[C]
BrE an area outside a town with many large shops and space for cars to parkabbreviation RPI
the retail price index a list of certain goods and services and how much their prices change each month[U]
the act of buying things that you do not need when you are unhappy because you think it will make you feel better - often used humorously; shopaholic
•What you need is a bit of retail therapy! [T] formal
1 to keep something or continue to have something:
•You have the right to retain possession of the goods.
•The state wants to retain control of food imports.
2 to store or keep something inside something else:
•A lot of information can be retained in your computer.
•Limestone is known to retain moisture.
3 to remember information:
•I find it very difficult to retain facts.
4 if you retain a lawyer or other specialist, you pay them to work for you now and in the future:
•He has retained a lawyer to challenge the court's decision.
•We had to pay a retaining fee (=an amount of money to keep someone working for you).
5 if a company retains workers, it continues to employ them for a long time:
•It's increasingly difficult to recruit and retain good staff. $ [C]
1 an amount of money paid to someone, especially a lawyer, so that they will continue to work for you in the future
2 BrE a reduced amount of rent that you pay for a room, flat etc when you are not there, so that it will still be available when you return
3 AmE a plastic and wire object that you wear in your mouth to make your teeth stay straight; = brace BrE
4 old use a servant[C]
a wall that is built to prevent land from slipping or moving past tense retook , past participle retaken [T]
1 to get control of an area again in a war; = recapture
•an attempt to retake the city
2 to take an examination again because you have previously failed it; = resit BrE [C]
1 an act of filming or photographing something again:
•They had to do several retakes before the director was satisfied.
2 BrE an examination or test that you take again because you failed it [I]
to do something bad to someone because they have done something bad to you; hit back
retaliate by doing sth
•The British government retaliated by breaking off diplomatic relations.
[+against]
•The army began to retaliate against the civilian population. [U]
action against someone who has done something bad to you; revenge
in retaliation (for sth)
•This action was undoubtedly in retaliation for last week's bomb attack.
[+against]
•the threat of massive retaliation against British troops $ [usually before noun] formal
done against someone because they have harmed you:
•a retaliatory attack $ [T]
formal to delay the development of something, or to make something happen more slowly than expected; = slow down
•Cold weather retards the growth of many plants. $ [C]
spoken not polite an offensive word for a stupid person $ old-fashioned
less mentally developed than other people of the same age. Many people think that this use is rude and offensive. [I]
to try to VOMIT; = gag
•The smell made her retch. past tense and past participle retold $ [T]
to tell a story again, often in a different way or in a different language [U]
1 formal the act of keeping something
[+of]
•The UN will vote on the retention of sanctions against Iraq.
2 technical the ability or tendency of something to hold liquid, heat etc within itself:
•Many people with heart problems suffer from fluid retention.
3 the ability to keep something in your memory:
•I have a real problem with retention of information.
a retentive memory or mind is able to hold facts and remember them
ANAL (2)
- retentiveness noun [U] past tense and past participle rethought $ [I,T]
to think about a plan or idea again in order to decide if any changes should be made; = reconsider
•an opportunity to rethink our policy on advertising
- rethink noun [singular]
•It's time for a complete rethink of the way we farm our countryside.
unwilling to talk about what you feel or what you know; = reserved
[+about]
•She's strangely reticent about her son.
- reticence noun [U] technical
forming or covered with a pattern of squares and lines that looks like a net [C]
the area at the back of your eye that receives light and sends an image of what you see to your brain $ [C]
a group of people who travel with someone important to help and support them
[+of]
•He travelled with a huge retinue of servants. $
1 WORK
a) [I] to stop working, usually because you have reached a certain age:
•Most people retire at 65.
•He was forced to retire early because of poor health.
[+from]
•I retired from teaching three years ago.
•her decision to retire from her position as librarian of the law society
•Her drink problem has forced her to retire from public life.
[+as]
•He retired as a GP last year.
b) [T usually passive] to ask someone to stop doing their job, usually because of ill health:
•He became ill and was retired early.
2 QUIET PLACE [I] formal to go away to a quiet place
[+to]
•I retired to my room to think.
3 JURY [I] when a JURY in a law court retires, they go away to consider whether someone is guilty or not
4 GAME/RACE [I] to stop competing in a game or race because you are losing or injured:
•He had to retire with a neck injury in the second half.
5 BED [I] literary to go to bed
6 ARMY [I] to move back from a battle after being defeated $
having stopped working, usually because of your age:
•a retired teacher
•Both my parents are retired now. $ [C]
AmE someone who has stopped working, usually because of their age; pensioner $
1 [C,U] when you stop working, usually because of your age
[+from]
•He became a keen golfer after his retirement from politics.
[+as]
•He announced his retirement as chief executive of the company.
•She took early retirement (=retired at an earlier age than usual) last year.
•Dad's approaching retirement age.
2 [singular,U] the period after you have stopped work:
•I hope you enjoy a long and happy retirement.
in retirement
•Will you be able to support yourself in retirement?
•a retirement pension[C]
an OLD PEOPLE'S HOME[C]
AmE a system for saving money for when you stop work, done either through your employer or arranged by you $
1 someone who is retiring does not want to be with other people, especially people they do not know; = shy
•As a child, Elizabeth was very shy and retiring.
2 the retiring president/manager/director etc a president etc who is soon going to leave their job
1 [T] AmE informal to organize something in a new way:
•The College Board has retooled the admission exams.
2 [I,T] to change or replace the machines or tools in a factory $ [T]
to reply quickly, in an angry or humorous way:
•'It's all your fault!' he retorted.[C]
1 a short angry or humorous reply:
•He was about to make a sharp retort.
2 a bottle with a long narrow bent neck, used for heating chemicals [T]
to improve a picture or photograph by painting over marks or making other small changes; airbrush
•postcards that have been retouched to cover the grey skies [T]
1 retrace your steps/path/route etc to go back exactly the way you have come:
•After a few minutes, he turned around and began to retrace his steps.
2 to repeat exactly the same journey that someone else has made:
•We shall be retracing the route taken by Marco Polo.
3 to find out where someone went:
•an investigation to retrace the dead man's last known movements formal
1 [T] if you retract something that you said or agreed, you say that you did not mean it; = withdraw
•He confessed to the murder but later retracted his statement.
2 [I,T] if part of a machine or an animal's body retracts or is retracted, it moves back into the main part:
•The sea otter can retract the claws on its front feet.
a retractable part of something can be pulled back into the main part:
•a knife with a retractable blade formal
1 [C] an official statement that something which you said previously is not true
[+of]
•The newspaper was forced to publish a retraction of its allegations.
2 [U] the act of pulling one part of something back inside the main part [I,T]
to learn or to teach someone the skills that are needed to do a different job:
•One solution is to retrain the long-term unemployed.
[+as]
•She's hoping to retrain as a teacher.
- retraining noun [U] [C]
1 a old tyre which is given a new rubber surface; = remould
2 AmE informal something that is made or done again, with a few changes added - used to show disapproval:
•retreads of old TV shows
3 AmE informal someone who has been trained to do work which is different from what they did before [I]
1 ARMY to move away from the enemy after being defeated in battle; advance
•The rebels retreated to the mountains.
•They were attacked and forced to retreat.
2 MOVE BACK written
a) to move away from someone or something:
•He saw her and retreated, too shy to speak to her.
[+to/from/into etc]
•Perry lit the fuse and retreated to a safe distance.
•It was not a conscious choice to retreat from public life.
b) if an area of water, snow, or land retreats, it gradually gets smaller:
•The flood waters are slowly retreating.
3 CHANGE YOUR MIND written to decide not to do something you were planning to do, because it was unpopular or too difficult
[+from]
•The Canadian government has retreated from a plan to kill 300 wolves.
4 QUIET PLACE to go away to a place that is quiet or safe
[+from/into/to]
•After the noise of the city he was glad to retreat to his hotel room.
5 retreat into yourself/your shell/fantasy etc to ignore what is happening around you and give all your attention to your private thoughts
6 FINANCE technical if shares etc retreat, their value falls to a lower level
1 OF AN ARMY [C,U] a movement away from the enemy after a defeat in battle; advance
•Napoleon's retreat from Moscow
•The rebel forces are in full retreat (=retreating very fast).
•The bugler sounded the retreat (=gave a loud signal for retreat).
2 MOVEMENT BACK [singular,U] a movement away from someone or something
[+from]
•Ten thousand years ago the ice began its retreat from Scotland.
3 beat a retreat informal to leave a place quickly:
•I saw my aunt coming and beat a hasty retreat.
4 CHANGE OF INTENTION [singular,U] when you change your mind about something because your idea was unpopular or too difficult
[+from]
•a retreat from hard-line policies
5 PLACE [C] a place you can go to that is quiet or safe:
•a country retreat
6 THOUGHT AND PRAYER [C,U] a period of time that you spend praying or studying religion in a quiet place
on (a) retreat
•I spent three weeks on retreat in Scotland.
7 FINANCE [singular,U] technical a situation in which the value of shares etc falls to a lower level [I] formal
if a government or organization retrenches, it spends less money; = economize
- retrenchment noun [C,U]
•a government policy of retrenchment $ [C]
a process of judging a law case in court again; retry
•The jury was dismissed and the judge ordered a retrial. [singular,U]
severe punishment for something very serious
[+for]
•Victims are demanding retribution for the terrorist attacks.
• divine retribution (=punishment by God) [U]
1 technical the process of getting back information stored on a computer system:
•a new system that should speed up information retrieval
2 the act of getting back something you have lost or left somewhere
3 be beyond/past retrieval if a situation is beyond retrieval, it has become so bad that it cannot be made right again [T]
1 formal to find something and bring it back; recover
•She bent down to retrieve her earring.
retrieve sth from sth
•It took four days to retrieve all the bodies from the crash.
2 technical to get back information that has been stored in the memory of a computer:
•The new version of the software automatically retrieves digital information.
3 retrieve a situation BrE to make a situation satisfactory again after there has been a serious mistake or problem:
•The general made one last desperate effort to retrieve the situation.
- retrievable adjective $ [C]
a type of dog that can be trained to find and bring back birds that its owner has shot $
based on styles of fashion and design from the recent past:
•retro '60s fashionsplural retros [C]
AmE informal a RETROSPECTIVE $
back towards the past or an earlier state:
•retroactive legislation (=laws which have an effect on things already done)
•a retrograde step (=returning to a worse state) $ formal
a law or decision that is retroactive is effective from a particular date in the past; = retrospective
•a retroactive pay increase
[+to]
•The legislation is retroactive to 1st June.
- retroactively adverb $ past tense and past participle retrofitted, present participle retrofitting [T]
to improve a machine, piece of equipment, building etc by putting new and better parts in it after it has been used for some time:
•plans to retrofit oil boilers
- retrofit noun [C]
- retrofitting noun [U] technical
a retroflex speech sound is made with the end of your tongue pointing backwards and upwards
1 formal involving a return to an earlier and worse situation; = backward
•The closure of the factories is seen as a retrograde step.
2 technical moving backwards; = backward formal
returning to an earlier and worse situation; = regressive
•retrogressive legislation
- retrogress verb [I]
- retrogression noun [singular,U]
in retrospect thinking back to a time in the past, especially with the advantage of knowing more now than you did then:
•In retrospect, I wonder if we should have done more. [U]
formal thinking about the past [usually before noun]
1 related to or thinking about the past:
•a retrospective study of 110 patients
2 BrE a law or decision that is retrospective is effective from a particular date in the past; = retroactive
•retrospective legislation
•Teachers settled for a 4.2% pay rise with retrospective effect from 1 April.
- retrospectively adverb
•The new rule will be applied retrospectively.[C]
a show of the work of an ARTIST, actor, FILM-MAKER etc that includes examples of all the kinds of work they have done:
•a Hitchcock retrospective
[+of]
•a retrospective of painter Hans Hofmann $ [C] technical
a VIRUS of a type that includes some CANCER viruses and the AIDS virus, but that also has a quality that makes it useful for GENETIC ENGINEERING past tense and past participle retried, present participle retrying, third person singular retries [T]
1 to judge a person or a law case again in court; retrial
2 to do an action on a computer again after it has failed [U]
a Greek wine that tastes of the RESIN (=juice) of certain trees $
1 GO BACK [I] to go or come back to a place where you were before; = go back, come back
•It was forty five minutes before she returned.
[+to]
•Are you planning to return to Spain?
[+from]
•I have just returned from five months in Zimbabwe.
•Alison decided to return home.
•He left his country, never to return.
!! In spoken English it is more usual to use go/come back.
2 GIVE BACK [T] to give or send something back, or to put something back in its place; = give back, put back
return sth to sth/sb
•Carson returned the notebook to his pocket.
•I returned the books to the library unread.
•Please complete the enclosed application form and return it in the envelope attached.
!! In spoken English it is more usual to use take/bring/give back.
3 FEELING/SITUATION [I] if a feeling, situation etc returns, it starts to exist or happen again; = come back
•If the pain returns, take two of the tablets with some water.
•David could feel his anger returning.
[+to]
•when peace finally returns to this country
4 DO THE SAME [T] to do something to someone because they have done the same thing to you:
•He smiled at her warmly and she returned his smile.
•I phoned him twice on Friday and left messages, but he never returned my call (=he didn't phone me).
•Thanks very much. I'll return the favour (=do something to help you) some day.
•The police did not return fire (=shoot back at someone who shot at them).
5 ANSWER [T] written to answer someone:
•'Yes,' he returned. 'I'm a lucky man.'
6 BALL [T] to hit the ball back to your opponent in a game such as tennis
7 ELECT [T usually passive] BrE to elect someone to a political position, especially to represent you in parliament
return sb to sth
•Durrant was returned to Parliament with an increased majority.
return sb as sth
•At the last election she was again returned as MP for Brighton.
8 return a verdict when a JURY return their VERDICT, they say whether someone is guilty or not
9 PROFIT [T] to make a profit:
•The group returned increased profits last year.

PHRASAL VERBS
return to sth phr v
1 to change back to a previous state or situation, or to change something back:
•David waited for a moment to let his breathing return to normal.
return sth to sth
•The new chairman made the cuts necessary to return the company to profitability.
2 to start doing an activity, job etc that you were doing before you stopped or were interrupted; = go back
•Nicholas looked up, grinned, then returned to his newspaper.
•The children return to school next week.
•Ellie needed to return to work soon after the birth.
3 formal to start discussing or dealing with a subject that you have already mentioned:
•I will return to this problem in a moment.
1 COMING BACK [singular] the act of returning from somewhere, or your arrival back in a place:
•We're all looking forward to your return!
[+from]
•I need to know the date of her return from Europe.
[+to]
•Malcolm decided to delay his return to York.
on/upon sb's return
•On his return from Canada, he joined the army.
2 GIVING BACK [singular] the act of giving, putting, or sending something back
[+of]
•A mother is appealing for the safe return of her baby son.
•Police have arranged for the return of the stolen goods.
3 CHANGING BACK [singular] a change back to a previous state or situation
[+to]
•The United States called for a return to democracy.
•a return to normal
4 STARTING AGAIN [singular] when someone starts an activity again after they had stopped
[+to]
•Rose's return to the teaching profession
•Jean is well enough now to consider her return to work.
5 PROFIT [C,U] the amount of profit that you get from something:
•The markets are showing extremely poor returns.
[+on]
•How can you get the best return on your investment?
[+from]
•The returns from farming are declining.
•The average rates of return were 15%.
6 in return (for sth) as payment or reward for something:
•He is always helping people without expecting anything in return.
•We offer an excellent all-round education to our students. In return, we expect students to work hard.
•Liz agreed to look after the baby in return for a free room.
7 FEELING/SITUATION [singular] when a feeling, situation etc starts to exist or happen again
[+of]
•She felt a return of her old anxiety.
•David had noticed the return of worrying symptoms in the last few days.
8 COMPUTER [U] the key that you press on a computer at the end of an instruction or to move to a new line; = enter
•Key in the file name and press return.
9 STATEMENT [C] a statement giving written information in reply to official questions:
•an analysis of the 1851 census returns
TAX RETURN
10 VOTE [C] technical a vote in an election:
•What are the returns from last night's voting?
11 by return (of post) BrE if you reply to a letter by return, you send your reply almost immediately
12 TICKET [C] BrE a ticket for a journey from one place to another and back again; single ; = round trip AmE
DAY RETURN
the point of no return at POINT^1 (10)[only before noun]
used or paid for a journey from one place to another and back again; single; = round trip AmE
•a return ticket
•a return fare $
1 something that is returnable can be taken back to a shop and used again; non-returnable
2 an amount of money that is returnable will be given back to you later; = refundable; non-returnable
•a returnable deposit of £50 $ [C]
the address of the person who is sending a letter or package, that is written on the envelope or package $ [C]
a person who returns to their own country after living in another country $ [C]
BrE someone who goes back to work after a long time away, especially a woman who left work to look after her children[C]
the official in each town or area of Britain who arranges an election to Parliament and announces the result[C] BrE
the second of two matches that are played by the same teams or players[C]
a visit to someone who has visited you, or to a place where you have been before past tense and past participle reunified, present participle reunifying, third person singular reunifies [T]
to join the parts of something together again, especially a country that was divided
- reunification noun [U]
•German reunification
REUNITE
1 [C] a social meeting of people who have not met for a long time, especially people who were at school or college together:
•an annual reunion
•a family reunion
•a high-school reunion
2 [U] when people are brought together again after a period of being separated
[+with]
•Joseph's eventual reunion with his brother [I,T usually passive]
to come together again or to bring people, parts of an organization, political party, or country together again
be reunited with sb
•The children were finally reunited with their families.
•The band will reunite for a US tour. [T]
to use something again:
•The bottles are designed to be reused up to 20 times.
- reusable adjective
•reusable containers
- reuse noun [U]
•to purify water for reuseRev. AmE also Revd BrE BrE
Reverend a title used before the name of a minister of the Christian church:
•Rev D Macleod past tense and past participle revved, present participle revving [I,T]
also rev up if you rev an engine, or if an engine revs, you make it work faster

PHRASAL VERBS
rev up phr v informal
if you rev up a system or organization, or if it revs up, it becomes more active
[+for]
•They are revving up for one of the biggest fund-raising events ever organized.
rev sth <=> up
•Investors keep putting money in U.S. companies, revving up the economy even more.[C]
informal a complete turn of a wheel or engine part, used as a unit for measuring the speed of an engine; = revolution [T usually passive]
1 to examine something again in order to calculate its present value:
•The company's land has been revalued at £16.9m.
2 to increase the value of a country's money in relation to that of other countries; devalue
•The dollar has just been revalued.
- revaluation noun [C,U] [T]
informal to change something in order to improve it and make it seem more modern:
•Many older companies are revamping their image.
- revamp also revamping noun [C]
a British form of REV [T]
1 to make known something that was previously secret or unknown; conceal
•He may be prosecuted for revealing secrets about the security agency.
•a test that can reveal a teacher's hidden skills
reveal (that)
•He revealed that he had been in prison twice before.
reveal yourself (as/to be sth)
•The violinist revealed himself as a talented interpreter of classical music.
2 to show something that was previously hidden; conceal
•The curtain opened to reveal the grand prize.
1 a remark or event that is revealing shows you something interesting or surprising about a situation or someone's character:
•a revealing insight into her life
2 revealing clothes allow parts of your body to be seen which are usually kept covered; low-cut
•a very revealing dress
- revealingly adverb $ [singular,U]
a special tune played as a signal to wake soldiers in the morning, or the time at which it is played past tense and past participle revelled, present participle revelling BrE past tense and past participle reveled, present participle reveling AmE [I] old use
to spend time dancing, eating, drinking etc, especially at a party

PHRASAL VERBS
revel in sth phr v
to enjoy something very much:
•He revelled in his new-found fame.
- revel noun [C usually plural]
1 [C] a surprising fact about someone or something that was previously secret and is now made known
[+about/concerning]
•He resigned after revelations about his affair.
• startling revelations about his background
revelation that
•revelations that two senior officers had lied in court
2 [U] the act of suddenly making known a surprising fact that had previously been secret
[+of]
•the revelation of previously unknown facts
3 [C] informal something that is surprisingly good, enjoyable, or useful
[+to]
•Alice Walker's novel was a real revelation to me.
4 [C,U] an event, experience etc that is considered to be a message from God
- revelatory $ adjective
•His playing has many moments of revelatory insights.reveler AmE $ [C usually plural] BrE
someone who is having fun singing, dancing etc in a noisy wayalso revelries [U] [plural]
wild noisy dancing, eating, drinking etc, usually to celebrate something; celebration [U]
1 something you do in order to punish someone who has harmed or offended you
get/have/take (your) revenge (on sb)
•He took revenge on his employers by setting fire to the factory.
[+for]
•She is seeking revenge for the murder of her husband.
in revenge for sth
•a bomb attack in revenge for the imprisonment of the terrorists
•The murder was an act of revenge for the earlier killings.
• revenge attacks on British troops
2 the defeat of someone who has previously defeated you in a sport
[+for]
•The Australians took revenge for their defeat here last time.
•a revenge match
- revengeful adjective[T]
formal to punish someone who has done something to harm you or someone else
revenge yourself on sb
•The terrorist group is still looking to revenge itself on its attackers.
•The poor murdered girl must be revenged.also revenues $ [U]
1 money that a business or organization receives over a period of time, especially from selling goods or services; income
•advertising revenue
•Strikes have cost £20 million in lost revenues.
2 money that the government receives from tax:
•an increase in tax revenues of 8.4%
INLAND REVENUE, INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE $ [I]
1 if a loud sound reverberates, it is heard many times as it is sent back from different surfaces; = echo
[+through/around etc]
•The bang reverberated through the house.
2 if a room, building etc reverberates, it seems to shake because of a loud sound
[+with]
•The room reverberated with laughter.
3 if an event, action, or idea reverberates, it has a strong effect over a wide area and for a long time
[+through/around etc]
•The traumas of the last week will reverberate through history. $
1 [C usually plural] a severe effect that is caused by a particular event and continues for a long time; = repercussion
•the scandal's political reverberations
2 [C,U] a loud sound that is heard again and again as it is sent back from different surfaces; echo $ [T usually passive]
formal to respect and admire someone or something very much
be revered as sth
•He is revered as a national hero.
[U] formal great respect and admiration for someone or something
[+for]
•reverence for tradition
a title of respect used before the name of a minister in the Christian church [C]
a minister of a Christian church
a title of respect for the woman in charge of a CONVENT; = Mother Superior formal
showing a lot of respect and admiration; irreverent
•a hushed reverent voice
- reverently adverb formal
showing a lot of respect and admiration:
•He spoke in reverential tones.
- reverentially adverb [C,U]
a state of imagining or thinking about pleasant things, that is like dreaming; daydream
•She was startled out of her reverie by a loud crash. $
1 [C,U] a change to an opposite arrangement, process, or way of doing something; turnaround
[+of/in]
•a sudden reversal of government policy
dramatic/sudden/complete reversal
•a dramatic reversal in population decline
•Some Internet firms have suffered a painful reversal of fortune (=they were successful but now they are not).
•Some carers and dependants find it difficult to adapt to a role reversal.
2 [C] a failure or other problem that prevents you from being able to do what you want:
•In spite of setbacks and reversals, his business was at last making money. $
1 OPPOSITE [T] to change something, such as a decision, judgment, or process so that it is the opposite of what it was before
reverse a decision/verdict/policy etc
•The decision was reversed on appeal.
reverse a trend/process/decline etc
•More changes are required to reverse the trend towards centralised power.
2 CAR [I,T] especially BrE if a vehicle or its driver reverses, they go backwards; = back up AmE
[+out of/into etc]
•Bob reversed into a parking space.
reverse sth into/out of sth
•I reversed the car into a side road.
3 CHANGE POSITION/PURPOSE [T] to change around the usual order of the parts of something, or the usual things two people do
reverse roles/positions
•Our roles as child and guardian had now been reversed.
4 TURN STH OVER [T] to turn something over or around, in order to show the back of it:
•Reverse the paper in the printer.
5 reverse yourself AmE to change your opinion or position in an argument:
•Suddenly, he reversed himself completely.
6 reverse the charges BrE to make a telephone call which is paid for by the person you are telephoning; = call collect AmE
1 OPPOSITE the reverse the exact opposite of what has just been mentioned
quite/just/precisely/exactly the opposite
•I didn't mean to insult her - quite the reverse (=in fact, I meant to praise her).
•I owe you nothing. If anything, the reverse is true (=you owe me).
2 in reverse in the opposite way to normal or to the previous situation; vice versa
•US video recorders cannot play European tapes, and the same applies in reverse.
3 go into reverse/put sth into reverse to start to happen or to make something happen in the opposite way:
•The incident threatened to put the peace process into reverse.
4 CAR [U] the position of the GEARs in a vehicle that makes it go backwards
into/in reverse
•Put the car into reverse.
5 DEFEAT [C] formal a defeat or a problem that delays your plans; = setback
•Losing the Senate vote was a serious reverse for the President.
6 OTHER SIDE [singular] the less important side or the back of an object that has two sides
on the reverse
•The British ten-pence coin has a lion on the reverse.[only before noun]
1 reverse order/situation/process etc the opposite order etc to what is usual or to what has just been stated:
•The results were read out in reverse order (=with the worst first and the best last).
2 the reverse side the back of something[U]
the practice of giving unfair treatment to a group of people who usually have advantages, in order to be fair to the group of people who were unfairly treated in the past; positive discrimination[U] technical
a situation in which a product is examined to see how it is made, so that it can be copied
- reverse engineer verb [T][C,U]
the position of the GEARs in a vehicle that makes it go backwards $
1 a change that is reversible can be changed back to how it was before; irreversible
•A lot of chemical reactions are reversible.
2 a piece of clothing or material that is reversible can be worn with either side showing on the outside:
•a reversible jacket[C] BrE
a light on the back of a car which comes on when the car is going backwards; tail-light $ [singular,U] formal
1 a return to a former condition or habit
[+to]
•the country's reversion to a traditional monarchy
2 law the return of property to a former owner $

PHRASAL VERBS
revert to sb/sth phr v
1 to change back to a situation that existed in the past; = go back to
•The city reverted to its former name of St Petersburg.
•After a few weeks, everything reverted to normal.
2 formal to return to an earlier subject of conversation; = go back to
•To revert to the question of exams, I'd like to explain further.
3 law if land or a building reverts to its former owner, it becomes their property again [C]
technical a surface of stone or other building material added for strength to a wall that holds back loose earth, water etc
1 [C,U] a careful examination of a situation or process; evaluation, analysis
[+of]
•She sent us her review of the research.
carry out/conduct/undertake a review
•The company hired Bob to conduct an independent review of their workplace procedures.
review body/committee/panel/board
•the Teachers' Pay Review Body
under review
•We're keeping this policy under review (=we are continuing to examine it).
•The policy comes up for review (=will be reviewed) in April.
•All fees are subject to review (=may be reviewed).
•Mr Crowther asked for judicial review of the decision (=an examination of the decision by a judge).
2 [C] an article in a newspaper or magazine that gives an opinion about a new book, play, film etc:
•a film review
[+of]
•The paper published a review of her book.
good/bad/mixed review
•The band's new album has had very good reviews.
•The film opened to rave reviews (=reviews that praised it a lot).
see box at CRITIC
3 [U] the work of writing reviews for a newspaper or magazine
for review
•The book was sent to the press for review in September.
•The journal receives review copies (=free copies to review) of most new software products.
4 [C] a report on a series of events or a period of time, that mentions the most important parts
[+of]
•a review of the year
5 [C] an official show of the army, navy etc so that a king, president, or officer of high rank can see them:
•a naval review[T]
1 to examine, consider, and judge a situation or process carefully in order to see if changes are necessary; evaluate, analyse
•We will review your situation and decide how we can help you.
•The decision will be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
•The team manager's position will be reviewed at the end of the season.
2 to write a short article describing and judging a new book, play, film etc:
•Bradman will review the best of the new children's books.
3 AmE to look again at something you have studied, such as notes, reports etc; = revise BrE
4 to examine and describe the most important parts of a series of events or period of time:
•a journalist who will review the events of the past six months
5 to officially watch a group of soldiers, ships etc at a military show:
•The President will review the soldiers on parade. $ [C]
someone who writes about new books, plays, films etc in a newspaper or magazine; = critic [T] written
to express hatred of someone or something; = hate
•The President was now reviled by the same party he had helped to lead.
1 [T] to change something because of new information or ideas:
•The college has revised its plans because of local objections.
•We have revised our estimates of population growth.
revise sth upwards/downwards
•Forecasts of economic growth are being revised downwards.
2 [I,T] BrE to study facts again, in order to learn them before an examination; = review, study AmE
•I've got to revise my geography.
[+for]
•She's revising for her history exam.
3 [T] to change a piece of writing by adding new information, making improvements, or correcting mistakes; amend
•A couple of sections of the book will need to be revised.
1 [C,U] the process of changing something in order to improve it by correcting it or including new information or ideas; amendment
[+of]
•The judge wants to see a revision of the procedures.
[+to]
•I'm making some revisions to the book for the new edition.
2 [C] a piece of writing that has been improved and corrected
3 [U] BrE the work of studying facts again in order to learn them:
•I know I haven't done enough revision for tomorrow's exam. [U]
ideas which are changing away from the main beliefs of a political system, especially a Marxist system
- revisionist adjective
•revisionist writings
- revisionist noun [C] [T]
1 written to return to a place you once knew well:
•Ten years later, I revisited the school to find out what had changed.
2 formal to consider or discuss something again:
•We need to revisit this proposal as soon as the budget is clearer.also revitalise BrE [T]
to put new strength or power into something; revive
•They hope to revitalize the neighborhood by providing better housing.
•a revitalizing massage
- revitalization $ noun [U]
1 [C,U] a process in which something becomes active or strong again:
•The US and the UK have expectations of economic revival.
[+of]
•A revival of the timber industry is needed.
•There has been a revival of interest in Picasso's work.
2 [C,U] when something becomes popular again
[+of/in]
•the recent revival in medieval music
•a revival of organized religion
•Traditional English food seems to be enjoying a revival at the moment.
3 [C] a new production of a play that has not been performed for a long time:
•Neeson was excellent in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's 'Anna Christie'.
4 [C] a REVIVAL MEETING [U]
organized attempts to make a religion more popular
- revivalist adjective[C]
a public religious meeting with music, famous speakers etc, which is intended to make people interested in Christianity
1 [T] to bring something back after it has not been used or has not existed for a period of time:
•Local people have decided to revive this centuries-old tradition.
2 [I,T] to become healthy and strong again, or to make someone or something healthy and strong again; recover
•The economy is beginning to revive.
•an attempt to revive the steel industry
•The doctors revived her with injections of glucose.
3 [T] to produce a play again after it has not been performed for a long time:
•A London theatre has decided to revive the 1950s musical 'In Town'. past tense and past participle revivified, present participle revivifying, third person singular revivifies [T]
formal to give new life and health to someone or something:
•The aim was to strengthen and revivify the Labour Party. [C,U] formal
the act of revoking a law, decision, or agreement; revoke $ [T]
to officially state that a law, decision, or agreement is no longer effective; revocation
•Their work permits have been revoked. $ [C,U]
1 a refusal to accept someone's authority or obey rules or laws; = rebellion
•The prime minister is now facing a revolt by members of his own party.
[+against]
•a revolt against authority
[+over]
•a revolt over the proposed spending cuts
in revolt
•French farmers are in revolt over cheap imports.
2 strong and often violent action by a lot of people against their ruler or government; = rebellion; revolution
•the Polish revolt of 1863
[+against]
•a revolt against the central government
[+of]
•the successful revolt of the American colonies
put down/crush a revolt (=use military force to stop it)
•Troops loyal to the President crushed the revolt.
1 [I] if people revolt, they take strong and often violent action against the government, usually with the aim of taking power away from them; = rebel; revolution
[+against]
•It was feared that the army would revolt against the government.
2 [I] to refuse to accept someone's authority or obey rules or laws; = rebel
[+against]
•Some members of the government may revolt against this proposed legislation.
3 [T usually passive] if something revolts you, it is so unpleasant that it makes you feel sick and shocked; revulsion
•He was revolted by the smell. $
extremely unpleasant; = disgusting
•The food was revolting!
•What a revolting colour!
- revoltingly adverb
1 CHANGE [C] a complete change in ways of thinking, methods of working etc
[+in]
•In the last ten years there has been a revolution in education.
social/cultural/sexual etc revolution
•the biggest social revolution we have had in this country
•the sexual revolution of the 1960s
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
2 POLITICAL CHANGE [C,U] a time when people change a ruler or political system by using force or violence; revolt, rebellion
•the French Revolution of 1789
•The role of women has changed since the revolution.
•The country seems to be heading towards revolution.
COUNTER-REVOLUTION
3 CIRCULAR MOVEMENT
a) [C,U] a circular movement around something; revolve
[+around]
•the planets' revolution around the sun
b) [C] one complete circular spinning movement, made by something such as a wheel attached to a central point; revolve
•a speed of 100 revolutions per minute $
1 completely new and different, especially in a way that leads to great improvements:
•The new cancer drug is a revolutionary breakthrough.
•a revolutionary new drug
2 [only before noun] relating to a political or social revolution:
•a revolutionary leaderplural revolutionaries [C]
someone who joins in or supports a political or social revolution; rebel
•a band of young revolutionariesalso revolutionise BrE [T]
to completely change the way people do something or think about something:
•New technology is going to revolutionize everything we do.
•His work revolutionized the treatment of this disease. $ [I,T]
to move around like a wheel, or to make something move around like a wheel; revolution, turn
•The wheel began to revolve.
•The restaurant slowly revolves, giving excellent views of the city.
•Using graphics software, you can revolve the image on the screen.

PHRASAL VERBS
revolve around sb/sth phr v also revolve round sb/sth BrE
1 [not in progressive] to have something as a main subject or purpose:
•Jane's life revolves around her children.
•The argument revolved around costs.
•She seems to think that the world revolves around her (=that she is the only important person).
2 to move in circles around something:
•The moon revolves around the Earth. $ [C]
a type of small gun. The bullets are in a case which turns around as you fire the gun, so that when you fire one bullet the next bullet is ready to be fired; handgun, pistol $
a revolving object is designed so that it turns with a circular movement:
•The theatre has a revolving stage.
1 [C] a type of door in the entrance of a large building, which goes around and around as people go through it
2 [singular] used to say that the people involved in a situation, organization etc change often:
•The park director position has been a revolving door for seven appointees.
3 [singular] used to say that people return to a situation, position etc often, but usually for a different reason:
•This could mean that we end up with a revolving door Congress, in which former members return as lobbyists. [C]
a show in a theatre that includes songs, dances, and jokes about recent events [U]
a strong feeling of shock and very strong dislike; = disgust; revolt
•News of the atrocities produced a wave of anger and revulsion. $
1 [C,U] something that you get because you have done something good or helpful or have worked hard; prize, benefit
•The school has a system of rewards and punishments to encourage good behaviour.
reward for (doing) sth
•Several of the parents were giving their children rewards for passing exams.
economic/financial reward
•The job is difficult, but the financial rewards are great.
•She began to reap (=get) the rewards of all her hard work.
•Success brings its own rewards.
2 [C,U] money that is offered to people for helping the police to solve a crime or catch a criminal
[+of]
•A reward of $20,000 has been offered.
[+for]
•a reward for information leading to the capture of the murderers[T]
1 to give something to someone because they have done something good or helpful or have worked for it; award
reward sb with sth
•The club's directors rewarded him with a free season ticket.
reward sb for (doing) sth
•She wanted to reward the cleaners for their efforts.
•He gave the children some chocolate to reward them for behaving well.
2 be rewarded (with sth) to achieve something through hard work and effort:
•The team have worked hard and their efforts have been rewarded with success.
•Finally, Molly's patience was rewarded. $
making you feel happy and satisfied because you feel you are doing something useful or important, even if you do not earn much money; satisfying, worthwhile
•Teaching can be a very rewarding career. past tense and past participle rewound [T]
to make a CASSETTE tape or VIDEO go backwards in order to see or hear it again; fast forward $ [T]
to put new electric wires in a building, machine, light etc $ [T]
to say or write something again in different words, in order to make it easier to understand or more suitable; = rephrase
•Let me reword my question. $ [T]
to make changes in something such as music or a piece of writing; = revise
•I plan to rework the whole song. past tense rewrote $ past participle rewritten [T]
to change something that has been written, especially in order to improve it, or because new information is available; = revise
•I'll have to rewrite most of the essay.
- rewrite noun [C]
•Software packages may need complete rewrites to match new hardware. BrE
1 a title used in official writing after the name of a king, when the king's name has been written in Latin:
•Henricus Rex (=King Henry)
2 law a word meaning the state, used in the names of law cases in Britain when a king is ruling; regina
•Rex v Jonesalso rhapsodise BrE [I] formal
to talk about something in an eager, excited, and approving way; = enthuse
[+about/over]
•I could hear Sophie rhapsodizing about her new job. plural rhapsodies [C]
1 a piece of music that is written to express emotion, and does not have a regular form:
•Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
2 formal an expression of eager and excited approval:
•The performance was greeted with rhapsodies of praise. $ [singular]
a substance that some people have in their blood [C]
a small monkey from northern India that is often used in medical tests [U]
1 language that is used to persuade or influence people, especially language that sounds impressive but is not actually sincere or useful:
•The speech was dismissed by some people as merely political rhetoric.
[+of]
•the rhetoric of socialism
2 the art of speaking or writing to persuade or influence people $
1 rhetorical question a question that you ask as a way of making a statement, without expecting an answer
2 using speech or writing in special ways in order to persuade people or to produce an impressive effect:
•a speech full of rhetorical phrases
- rhetorically adverb [C]
formal someone who is trained or skilful in the art of persuading or influencing people through speech or writing; orator
1 relating to rheumatism:
•a rheumatic disease
•rheumatic pain
2 old-fashioned suffering from rheumatism:
•He's old and rheumatic and can't manage the stairs any longer.[U]
a serious infectious disease that causes fever, swelling in your joints, and sometimes damage to your heart [U]
a disease that makes your joints or muscles painful and stiff; arthritis $ [U]
a disease that continues for many years and makes your joints painful and stiff, and often makes them lose their proper shape $ [singular]
the RHESUS FACTOR $ [C,U]
a jewel made from glass or a transparent rock that is intended to look like a diamond $ plural rhinos [C]
informal a rhinoceros $ plural rhinoceros or rhinoceroses [C]
a large heavy African or Asian animal with thick skin and either one or two horns on its nose; hippopotamus $ [U] medical
PLASTIC SURGERY on your nose; nose job $ [C]
technical the thick stem of some plants, which lies under the ground and has roots and leaves growing out of it $ [C]
a bush with bright flowers which keeps its leaves in winter $ [C] technical
a shape with four sides whose opposite sides are equal in length; = parallelogramalso rhomboidal $ technical
shaped like a rhombus $ [C]
technical a shape with four equal straight sides, especially one that is not a square $ [U]
1 a plant with broad leaves. It has thick red stems that can be cooked and eaten.
2 spoken a word repeated by actors to make a sound like many people talking
1 [C] a short poem or song, especially for children, using words that rhyme:
•a collection of traditional rhymes with illustrations
NURSERY RHYME
2 [C] a word that rhymes with another word
[+for]
•Can you think of a rhyme for 'bicycle'?
3 [U] words or lines of poetry that rhyme:
•I love his use of rhyme and rhythm.
in rhyme
•The whole story is written in rhyme.
4 no rhyme or reason no sensible reason or organization:
•There seems to be no rhyme or reason for the school's behaviour.[not in progressive]
1 [I] if two words or lines of poetry rhyme, they end with the same sound, including a vowel
[+with]
•'Hat' rhymes with 'cat'.
•The song has rhyming couplets (=pairs of lines that end in words that rhyme).
2 [T] to put two or more words together to make them rhyme
rhyme sth with sth
•You can't rhyme 'box' with 'backs'.[U] BrE
a way of talking, used especially by COCKNEYs (=people from east London), in which you use words or phrases that rhyme with the words you mean, instead of using the normal words. For example, 'plates of meat' is rhyming slang for 'feet'. [C,U]
1 a regular repeated pattern of sounds or movements; metre
•Drums are basic to African rhythm.
•complicated dance rhythms
[+of]
•She started moving to the rhythm of the music.
•the steady rhythm of her heartbeat
2 a regular pattern of changes:
•the body's natural rhythms
[+of]
•Jim liked the rhythm of agricultural life.[U]
R & B (=a type of popular music)also rhythmical
having a strong rhythm:
•the rhythmic thud of the bass drum
- rhythmically adverb[singular]
a method of BIRTH CONTROL which depends on having sex only at a time when the woman is not likely to become PREGNANT[C]
the part of a band that provides a strong RHYTHM with drums and other similar instruments; percussionriyal $ [C]
the standard unit of money in Saudi Arabia and some other Arab countries [C]
1 one of the 12 pairs of curved bones that surround your chest:
•She was taken to hospital with a broken arm and ribs.
•He was punched and kicked in the ribs.
2 a piece of meat that includes an animal's rib:
•a rib of beef
•barbecued ribs
SPARE RIBS
3 a curved piece of wood, metal etc that is used as part of the structure of something such as a boat or buildingpast tense and past participle ribbed, present participle ribbing [T]
informal to make jokes and laugh at someone so that you embarrass them, but in a friendly way; = tease
ribald remarks or jokes are humorous, rude, and about sex:
•a ribald remark
•ribald humour [U]
ribald remarks or jokes
something that is ribbed has raised lines on it:
•a ribbed woollen sweater [U]
1 friendly jokes and laughter about someone:
•He took a lot of ribbing from other members of the crew.
2 raised lines, especially on a piece of woollen clothing
1 PIECE OF CLOTH [C,U] a narrow piece of attractive cloth that you use, for example, to tie your hair or hold things together; bow
•little girls with ribbons in their hair
•a bundle of letters tied with pale blue ribbon
•The ribbon was cut and the new station was officially open.
2 MILITARY HONOUR [C] a piece of ribbon with a special pattern on it that you wear to show that you have received a military honour
3 PRIZE [C] AmE a length of coloured ribbon, sometimes arranged in the form of a flat flower, that is given as a prize in a competition; = rosette BrE
•For the second time she won the blue ribbon (=first prize).
4 STH NARROW [singular] written something that is long and narrow
[+of]
•a winding ribbon of water
5 be cut/torn to ribbons to be cut or torn in a lot of places:
•Her legs were bruised and her feet were cut to ribbons.
6 INK [C] a long narrow piece of cloth or plastic with ink on it that is used in a TYPEWRITER[C,U]
BrE long lines of houses along the sides of a main road leading out of a town or city[C]
the structure of RIBs in your chest $ [U] technical
VITAMIN B2, a substance that exists in meat, milk, and some vegetables, and that is important for your health [U]
1 a food that consists of small white or brown grains that you boil in water until they become soft enough to eat; risotto, pilau
•a tasty sauce served with rice or pasta
•a plate of brown rice
•Serve with plain boiled rice.
•a few grains of rice
2 the plant that produces rice:
•Rice is the main crop grown in the area.
•rice fieldsplural rice paddies [C]
a field in which rice is grown[U]
1 a type of thin paper that is made especially in China and used by painters there
2 a type of thin paper that can be eaten and is used in cooking[U]
a sweet dish made of rice, milk, and sugar cooked together comparative richer, superlative richest
1 WEALTHY
a) someone who is rich has a lot of money and valuable possessions; poor
•one of the richest women in America
•She found herself a rich husband.
•He thought this was the easiest way to get rich.
•the rich nations of the world
fabulously rich BrE
•She was both beautiful and fabulously rich.
•His brother's stinking rich (=very rich, in a way that you do not approve of).
b) the rich [plural] people who are rich:
•houses belonging to the rich and famous
2 LARGE AMOUNT containing a lot of something
[+in]
•Citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C.
oxygen-rich/nutrient-rich/protein-rich etc
•Pregnant women should eat protein-rich foods.
•Rich mineral deposits have been found in the sea bed.
•Red meat is a rich source of iron.
3 FULL OF INTEREST full of interesting or important facts, events, or ideas:
•the rich literary tradition of England
•The area has a very rich history.
[+in]
•a story that was rich in detail
4 FOOD rich food contains a lot of butter, cream, or eggs, which make you feel full very quickly; light
•a rich fruit cake
•The sauce was very rich.
5 SMELL/FLAVOUR a rich smell or flavour is strong and pleasant:
•the rich scent of the pine trees
•meat with a wonderfully rich flavour
•a rich, fruity wine
6 COLOUR a rich colour is strong and attractive:
•a rich dark brown colour
7 SOUND a rich sound is low and pleasant:
•the rich tone of a cello
•He laughed with a rich, throaty chuckle.
8 SOIL rich soil is good for growing plants in; poor
•Vegetables grow well in the rich, black soil.
9 CLOTH rich cloth is expensive and beautiful:
•She stroked the rich velvet of the dress enviously.
10 that's rich (coming from him/you etc) BrE spoken used to say that what someone has said is unreasonable and that they are criticizing you for doing something that they do themselves:
•He accused me of being dishonest, which was a bit rich coming from him.

WORD CHOICE: rich, well-off, wealthy, affluent, prosperous
Rich is a very direct way of saying that someone has a lot of money and possessions: one of the richest women in America
Well-off means fairly rich, so you can buy most things. People are more likely to describe themselves as 'well-off' than 'rich': My parents were pretty well-off.
Wealthy is a slightly more formal word meaning rich, especially over a long period of time: He came from a wealthy family.
Affluent and prosperous are fairly formal words, often used to describe societies where the economy is successful and the standard of living is good.
Affluent means rich enough to have things like expensive cars and holidays: People are becoming increasingly affluent.
Prosperous means rich and successful: the more prosperous regions of the country

[plural]
literary expensive possessions and large amounts of money; = wealth
•He was enjoying his new-found riches.
•the story of her rise from rags to riches (=from being poor to being rich)
1 if something is richly decorated, it is decorated a lot, in a way that is beautiful:
•a richly carved ceiling
•a cloak richly embroidered with gold thread
2 if someone is richly dressed, they are dressed in expensive clothes
3 richly coloured having beautiful strong colours:
•the richly coloured mosaic
4 richly flavoured/scented having a strong pleasant taste or smell:
•richly scented flowers
5 richly deserve to completely deserve something such as success or punishment:
•They got the punishment they so richly deserved.
6 containing large amounts of something:
•a richly wooded valley
•an area that is richly endowed with wildlife
7 richly rewarding giving you a strong feeling of pleasure:
•It was a richly rewarding relationship. [U]
1 if something has richness, it contains a lot of interesting things
[+of]
•the richness and diversity of the Amazonian rainforests
•a literary work of remarkable richness and vitality
2 the richness of a colour, taste, smell, or sound is the quality that makes it rich
[+of]
•the richness of the autumn colours $
the Richter scale a system of numbers used for measuring how powerful an EARTHQUAKE is:
•a severe earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale [C]
a large pile of STRAW or grass that is kept in a field until it is needed; = haystack[T]
BrE rick your back/neck to twist and slightly injure your back or neck; = wrench AmE
•I ricked my back moving the furniture around. [U]
a disease that children get in which their bones become soft and bent, caused by a lack of VITAMIN D
a rickety structure or piece of furniture is in very bad condition, and likely to break easily:
•a rickety old wooden chair
•a rickety bridge $ [C]
a small vehicle used in South East Asia for carrying one or two passengers. It is pulled by someone walking or riding a bicycle. [I]
if a bullet, stone, or other object ricochets, it changes direction when it hits a surface at an angle
[+off]
•Bullets ricocheted off the boulders around him.[C]
something such as a bullet or a stone that has ricocheted:
•He was hit in the arm by a ricochet. $ [U]
a type of soft white Italian cheese
1 get rid of sb/sth
a) to throw away or destroy something you do not want any more:
•It's time we got rid of all these old toys.
•Governments should be encouraged to get rid of all nuclear weapons.
b) to take action so that you no longer have something unpleasant that you do not want:
•I can't get rid of this cough.
•He opened the windows to get rid of the smell.
c) to make someone leave because you do not like them or because they are causing problems:
•Are you trying to get rid of me?
•It can be difficult for schools to get rid of poor teachers.
2 be rid of sb/sth to have taken action so that something or someone is no longer there to worry or annoy you:
•The clerical part of his job was tedious, and he was glad to be rid of it.
•He was a bully, and we're well rid of him (=it is good that he has gone).
3 want rid of sb/sth to want to get rid of someone or something that is annoying you:
•I could tell that he wanted rid of me.past tense and past participle rid, present participle ridding

PHRASAL VERBS
rid sb/sth of sth phr v written
to take action so that a person, place etc is no longer affected by something bad or no longer has it; overcome
•a promise to rid the country of nuclear weapons
•Will science finally rid us of this disease?
rid yourself of sth
•He struggled to rid himself of his fears.
good riddance (to sb) spoken a rude way of saying you are glad someone has left:
•She was awful. Good riddance to her, I say! [in adjectives]
very full of something unpleasant:
•mosquito-ridden swamps
•disease-ridden slums [C]
1 a question that is deliberately very confusing and has a humorous or clever answer; puzzle
•See if you can solve this riddle.
2 something that you do not understand and cannot explain; = puzzle, mystery
[+of]
•The police have been unable to solve the riddle of her disappearance.
3 talk/speak in riddles to say things in a mysterious way that other people cannot understand:
•Stop talking in riddles and explain what's going on!
4 a wire container with holes in it that is used to separate earth from stones[T]
1 to make a lot of small holes in something:
•Two gunmen riddled the bus with gunfire.
2 to shake the coal or wood in a fire, in order to remove ASHes
1 riddled with sth very full of something bad or unpleasant:
•The whole house was riddled with damp.
•By this time her body was riddled with cancer.
2 riddled with holes full of small holes:
•The wall of the fort was riddled with bullet holes. past tense rode $ past participle ridden
1 ANIMAL [I,T] to sit on an animal, especially a horse, and make it move along:
•She learned to ride when she was seven.
•He was riding a large grey mare.
[+on]
•She arrived riding on a white horse.
[+away/across/through etc]
•He rode away across the marshes.
2 BICYCLE/MOTORBIKE [I,T always + adv/prep] to travel on a bicycle or MOTORBIKE:
•He had never learned to ride a bicycle.
•They mounted their bikes and rode off.
3 VEHICLE [I always + adv/prep, T] especially AmE to travel in a bus, car, or other vehicle that you are not driving:
•We got onto the bus and rode into San Francisco.
[+in]
•The kids were riding in the back.
ride a bus AmE
•Ann rides the bus to work.
!! To talk about someone controlling a car or other vehicle, use drive not ride: Lizzy drove the van and we kids rode in the back.
4 IN A LIFT [I always + adv/prep, T] AmE to travel up or down in a LIFT
[+up/down]
•He rode the elevator down to the first floor.
•I rode up to the tenth floor.
5 WATER/AIR
a) [I always + adv/prep] to be floating in water or in the air:
•The smaller boat was lighter and rode higher in the water.
•The moon was riding high in the sky.
•There was a large ship riding at anchor in the bay.
b) ride a wave to float on a wave and move forward with it:
•surfboarders riding the waves
6 be riding high to feel very happy and confident:
•They were still riding high after their election victory.
7 let sth ride spoken to take no action about something that is wrong or unpleasant:
•What he had said was wrong, and I knew I shouldn't just let it ride.
8 ride roughshod over sth to ignore someone else's feelings or ideas because you have the power or authority to do this:
•The planning authorities should not ride roughshod over the wishes of local people.
9 ANNOY SB [T] AmE spoken to annoy someone by often criticizing them or asking them to do things:
•Why are you riding her so hard?
10 ride on sb's shoulders/back if a child rides on someone's shoulders or back, they are carried in that way
11 ride a punch/blow to move back slightly when someone hits you, so that you are not hit with so much force:
•He managed to ride the punch.
12 be riding for a fall informal to be doing something unwise which could result in failure:
•I had a feeling he was riding for a fall, and tried to tell him so.

PHRASAL VERBS
ride on sth phr v
if one thing is riding on another, it depends on it:
•He knew he had to win - his reputation was riding on it.
•There's a lot riding on this match.

ride sth <=> out phr v
1 if a ship rides out a storm, it manages to keep floating until the storm has ended
2 if you ride out a difficult situation, you are not badly harmed by it:
•Most large companies should be able to ride out the recession.

ride up phr v
if a piece of clothing rides up, it moves upwards so that it is no longer covering your body properly[C]
1 CAR/TRAIN ETC a journey in a vehicle, when you are not driving; lift
[+in]
•He invited me to go for a ride in his new car.
•Can you give me a ride back to town?
•Sammy had promised to take me for a ride in his truck.
•I managed to get a ride down to the station.
•We hitched a ride (=got a free ride from a passing vehicle) into town.
car/bus/train etc ride
•A fifteen minute taxi ride will take you to the airport.
a smooth/comfortable/bumpy etc ride
•The new model offers a lovely smooth, comfortable ride.
2 HORSE/BICYCLE a journey on a bicycle, a horse, or a similar animal
[+on]
•Can I have a ride on your bike?
a bike/bicycle ride
•Shall we go for a bike ride this afternoon?
3 a rough/easy ride informal if people give someone, especially someone in authority, a rough or an easy ride, they make a situation difficult or easy for them:
•Journalists gave the Prime Minister a rough ride at the press conference.
•The chairman will face a rough ride from shareholders.
•The President will not have an easy ride when he gives his account of events.
4 a bumpy ride informal if something has a bumpy ride, it experiences a lot of problems:
•Shares had a bumpy ride yesterday, falling by an average of 15%.
•The new bill could be in for a bumpy ride when it is put before parliament.
5 take sb for a ride spoken to trick someone, especially in order to get money from them:
•I'd just begun to realise he was taking me for a ride.
6 come/go along for the ride spoken to join what other people are doing just for pleasure, not because you are seriously interested in it:
•A couple of friends had come along for the ride.
7 MACHINE a large machine that people ride on for fun at a FAIR:
•We went on loads of rides.
8 PATH literary a path for riding on a horse in the countryside:
•a grassy ride $ [C]
1 someone who rides a horse, bicycle etc; cyclist
•a horse and rider
2 an extra or more detailed piece of information that is added to an official document and changes it slightly [C]
1 a long area of high land, especially at the top of a mountain:
•We made our way carefully along the ridge.
2
a) something long and thin that is raised above the things around it:
•A small ridge of sand separated the field from the beach.
•The ridges on the soles give the shoes a better grip.
b) the part at the top of a roof, where the two sides meet
3 ridge of high pressure technical a long area of high air pressure in the ATMOSPHERE, which has an effect on the weather
something that is ridged has ridges on its surface:
•the ridged sand of the river bottom [U]
unkind laughter or remarks that are intended to make someone or something seem stupid:
•the ridicule of his peers
•The government's proposals were held up to ridicule (=suffered ridicule) by opposition ministers.
•He had become an object of ridicule among the other teachers.[T]
to laugh at a person, idea etc and say that they are stupid:
•At the time, his ideas were ridiculed.
very silly or unreasonable:
•That's a ridiculous idea!
•Don't be ridiculous!
•I'd look ridiculous in a dress like that.
absolutely/totally/utterly ridiculous
•It's an absolutely ridiculous decision.
it is ridiculous that
•It's ridiculous that we have to wait six weeks.
- ridiculously adverb
•a ridiculously expensive jacket
•ridiculously low prices
- ridiculousness noun [U] [U]
the sport or activity of riding horses:
•horse riding
•Shall we go riding on Saturday?
riding school/stables (=place where people learn to ride horses)
1 [not before noun] if something bad or unpleasant is rife, it is very common:
•Violent crime is rife in our inner cities.
2 rife with sth full of something bad or unpleasant:
•The crowded factories are rife with disease.
3 run rife to spread quickly in an uncontrolled way:
•No one knew exactly what he had done, but speculation ran rife. [C]
a repeated series of notes in popular or JAZZ music:
•a guitar riffalso riffle through [T]
to move and quickly look at pieces of paper or the pages of a book, magazine etc; flip through
•He riffled through the papers on his desk. [plural]
an insulting word for people who are noisy, badly-behaved, or of low social class:
•We charge high prices to keep the riff-raff out. [C]
a long gun which you hold up to your shoulder to shoot; pistolalso rifle through [T]
to search a place or container quickly because you are looking for something, especially something to steal:
•Sally rifled through her wardrobe looking for a dress.
•The killer had rifled his wallet and stolen £200. plural riflemen [C]
a man who uses a rifle [C]
a place where people practise shooting with rifles [C]
1 a situation in which two people or groups have had a serious disagreement and begun to dislike and not trust each other; = split
[+between/with]
•Party officials have denied that there is any rift between ministers.
[+over]
•Today's announcement could lead to a further rift over public spending.
•He set out to heal the rifts in the party.
2 a crack or narrow opening in a large mass of rock, cloud etc[C]
a valley with very steep sides, formed by the cracking and moving of the Earth's surface past tense and past participle rigged, present participle rigging [T]
1 to dishonestly arrange the result of an election or competition before it happens; = fix
•Some international observers have claimed the election was rigged.
2 if people rig prices or rig financial markets, they unfairly agree with each other the prices that will be charged; = fix; cartel
•Two of the largest oil companies have been accused of rigging prices.
•Some investors feel that the market is rigged.
3 [usually passive] to put ropes, sails etc on a ship:
•The ship was fully rigged and ready to sail.

PHRASAL VERBS
rig sb <=> out phr v BrE informal
to dress someone in special or unusual clothes:
•young children who are rigged out in designer clothes

rig sth <=> up phr v informal
to make a piece of equipment, furniture etc quickly from objects that you find around you:
•We rigged up a simple shower at the back of the cabin.[C]
1 a large structure that is used for getting oil from the ground under the sea
2 AmE informal a large truck:
•We drove the rig down to Baltimore.
3 the way in which a ship's sails are arranged $
an American spelling of RIGMAROLE $ [U]
a type of PASTA in the shape of short tubes [U]
all the ropes, posts, and chains that hold up a ship's sails
1 TRUE/CORRECT
a) a statement or piece of information that is right is correct and based on true facts; = correct; wrong
•Yes, that's the right answer.
•Is that the right time?
•I got most of the questions right.
•His ideas have now been proved right.
b) [not before noun] if you are right, you have said something that is correct and based on true facts; wrong
•I think you're right. We should have set out earlier.
[+about]
•You were right about the hotel being too crowded.
•I think the Prime Minister is only half right.
•Am I right in thinking that you two have met before?
2 SUITABLE the right thing, person, method etc is the one that is most suitable or effective; wrong
•I think you've made the right decision.
•I think she's definitely the right person for the job.
[+for]
•A huge development like this isn't right for such a small village.
3 SIDE [only before noun]
a) your right side is the side with the hand that most people write with; left
•He had a knife in his right hand.
•a scar on the right side of her face
b) on the same side of something as your right side; left
•Take the next right turn.
•the right bank of the river
4 PROBLEMS something that is not right is not in the state it should be in:
•The engine's not quite right.
•This cheese doesn't smell right.
•Things haven't been right between me and James for some time.
put/set sth right (=correct something)
•It didn't take long to find the fault and put it right.
5 MORALLY if someone is right to do something, their action is morally correct or sensible; wrong
right to do sth
•Do you think I was right to report them to the police?
•It can't be right to keep lying to your family.
it is right that
•I think it's right that the people who work hardest should earn the most.
•It's only right (=completely right) that he should get his share of the money.
•The company wants to do the right thing and offer compensation to all the injured workers.
6 that's right spoken
a) used to agree with what someone says or to answer 'yes' to a question:
•'I gather you work in the sales department?' 'That's right.'
•'Some people find it very difficult to work quickly.' 'That's right, and they often find exams very stressful.'
b) used when you are telling someone that you are angry about what they are doing:
•That's right! Just blame me for everything, as usual!
7 right you are BrE spoken used to say 'yes' to a request, order, or suggestion
8 EMPHASIS [only before noun] BrE spoken used to emphasize how bad someone or something is; = total, complete
•He sounds like a right idiot!
•The house was in a right mess when we got back.
9 HEALTH spoken if you are not feeling right, you are not feeling completely well:
•I haven't been feeling right all day.
•A few days in bed will soon put you right.
•You'll soon be as right as rain (=completely healthy).
put sb right/straight at PUT (9)
10 SOCIALLY the right people, places, schools etc are considered to be the best or most important:
•Sonia's always careful to be seen with the right people.
11 be in the right place at the right time to be in the place where something useful becomes available or is being offered:
•Being a news photographer is all about being in the right place at the right time.
- rightness noun [U]
•He was convinced of the rightness of his cause.
put sth right at PUT (8)
1 used to show that you have understood or agree with what someone has just said:
•'You need to be there by ten o'clock.' 'Right.'
2 BrE used to get someone's attention before starting to say or do something:
•Right, open your books on page 16.
•Right, is everyone listening?
•Right, I think we're ready to go.
3 used to check if what you have said is correct:
•So we're meeting in the pub, right?
4 used to check that the person you are speaking to is listening and understands what you are saying:
•So I handed him the camera, right, and asked him to take a photograph of us.
1 EXACTLY exactly in a particular position or place
right in/in front of/by etc sth
•She was standing right in the middle of the room.
•There's the house, right in front of you.
right here/there
•I left my bags right here.
2 IMMEDIATELY immediately and without any delay; = straight
•It's on right after the six o'clock news.
•I'll phone him right away (=immediately).
•I could tell right off that something was wrong.
right off the bat AmE (=immediately, without having to think carefully)
•Kay answered right off the bat.
3 CORRECTLY correctly:
•We guessed right; they'd gone.
•'I thought you'd be cross.' 'You thought right!'
4 WELL informal in a way that is good or satisfactory:
•Everything's going right for him at the moment.
•It'll work out right in the end.
5 DIRECTION/SIDE towards the direction or side that is on the right; left
•Turn right at the crossroads.
6 right now now, or immediately:
•Do you need me right now?
•We need to deal with this problem right now.
7 right along/through/around etc all the way along, through etc:
•Go right to the end of the road.
•We don't have to go right into town.
•I slept soundly right through the night.
8 be right behind sb spoken to completely support someone in their ideas or in what they are trying to achieve:
•We're all right behind you.
9 I'll be right with you/right there/right back spoken used to ask someone to wait because you are coming or returning very soon:
•'Lunch is ready!' 'I'll be right there.'
•Don't go away; I'll be right back.
10 be right up there (with sb/sth) informal to be as good or as important as the very best:
•He's definitely right up there with all the world-class footballers.
11 right, left, and centre BrE right and left AmE everywhere or in every way:
•The company's losing money right, left and centre.
1 ALLOWED [C] something that you are morally, legally, or officially allowed to do or have:
•people who are fighting for basic rights
[+of]
•a new charter which establishes the rights and duties of citizens
•the struggle for women's rights
•a demonstration of people demanding equal rights for gay men
[+to]
•Everyone should have the right to freedom of expression.
right to do sth
•You have the right to consult a lawyer.
right of appeal/access/reply etc
•Convicted criminals have no automatic right of appeal.
•They claim that the government is denying them their rights.
within your rights (=legally or morally allowed)
•You would be within your rights to sue the company for negligence.
by right
•The money is yours by right.
CIVIL RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHT
2 have a right to be angry/concerned/suspicious etc to have a good reason for being angry, concerned etc:
•I think you have a right to feel very disappointed.
•You had every right to be angry with them.
3 have no right to do sth used to say that someone's action is completely unreasonable or unfair:
•You had no right to take money from my purse!
•He has no right to speak to me like that!
4 SIDE the right/sb's right the side of your body that has the hand that most people write with, or this side of anything else; left
on/to the right (of sth)
•Our car is just to the right of that white van.
•Take the first turning on the right.
on/to sb's right
•The school is on your right as you come into the village.
5 POLITICS the right/the Right political parties or groups that support the ideas and beliefs of CAPITALISM. They usually want low taxes and to encourage private business rather than businesses owned by the state; left ; right-wing
•The campaign is being supported by the Right.
•The Conservative Party seems to be moving even further to the right.
extreme/far right
•politicians on the extreme right
6 CORRECT BEHAVIOUR [U] behaviour that is morally good and correct:
•Some kids don't seem to know the difference between right and wrong.
•The protesters believe that they have right on their side.
7 BOOKS/TV ETC rights [plural] if someone has the rights to a book, film, television programme etc, they are allowed to sell it or show it; copyright
[+to]
•The studio bought the rights to his new book.
•The company paid £2 million for film rights to the book.
•the television rights to the Olympic Games
8 be in the right to have the best reasons, arguments etc in a disagreement with someone else:
•Both sides are convinced that they are in the right.
9 by rights spoken used to describe what should happen if things are done fairly or correctly:
•By rights, the house should be mine now.
10 in your own right used to say that you have something or achieve something on your own, without depending on other people:
•She's a very wealthy woman in her own right.
11 put sth to rights to make a place or situation return to normal again:
•It took ages to put the room to rights again.
12 the rights and wrongs of sth the subject of what or who is right or wrong in a situation:
•I don't want to spend ages discussing the rights and wrongs of all this.
13 [C] a hit made with your right hand; left [T]
1 right a wrong to do something to prevent a bad situation from continuing:
•He seems to think he can right all the wrongs of the world.
2 to put something back into the state or situation that it should be in:
•We must try to right the balance between taxation and government spending.
3 to put something, especially a boat, back into its correct upright position:
•I finally managed to right the canoe.
•She righted herself and picked up her bag.[C]
1 an angle of 90°, like the angles at the corners of a square
2 at right angles (to sth) if two things are at right angles, they make a 90° angle where they touch:
•Hold the brush at right angles to the surface.
- right-angled adjective
•a right-angled bend[I]
to press the right-hand button on a computer MOUSE to make the computer do something
[+on]
•Right-click on the image to save it.
1 righteous indignation/anger etc strong feelings of anger when you think a situation is not morally right or fair:
•He was full of righteous indignation about the attack.
2 formal morally good and fair:
•a righteous God
- righteously adverb
- righteousness noun [U]
SELF-RIGHTEOUS [only before noun]
formal according to what is correct or what should be done legally or morally:
•George sat at the head of the table, in his rightful place as their leader.
•I'll return the money to its rightful owner.
•the rightful heir to the throne
- rightfully adverb
•I'm only claiming what is rightfully mine.[only before noun]
on the right side of something; left-hand
•the right-hand side of the body
top/bottom right-hand corner
•the bottom right-hand corner of the page[only before noun] BrE
a right-hand drive vehicle is one in which the driver sits on the right; left-hand drive
a right-handed person uses their right hand for writing, throwing etc; left-handed [C]
1 someone who uses their right hand for writing, throwing etc; left-hander
•He was the only right-hander among his team's top six batsmen.
2 a hit using your right hand[singular]
the person who supports and helps you the most, especially in your job:
•John is Bill's right-hand man and has put a lot of time into the team.BrE
used when formally announcing or talking about a British member of Parliament:
•the Right Honourable Giles Williams MP
supporting RIGHT-WING ideas or groups; leftist
•rightist demonstrators
- rightist noun [C]
1 correctly, or for a good reason; wrongly
•I was, as you rightly said, the smallest boy in the class.
•As you so rightly pointed out, things are getting worse.
•They have been treated badly, and they are rightly upset.
quite rightly BrE
•There's a lot of talk, quite rightly, about the dangers of smoking.
•This photo was taken in Paris, if I remember rightly.
2 rightly or wrongly used to emphasize that someone else thinks that something they did was right, but you think it was wrong:
•The prime minister was widely judged, rightly or wrongly, to be an honest man.
3 and rightly so spoken used to say that a decision or action you have just described is fair and morally right, in your opinion:
•A lot of people round here were furious, and rightly so.
4 I can't rightly say/don't rightly know spoken used to say that you are not sure whether something is correct or not
a right-minded person has opinions, principles, or standards of behaviour that you approve of; = right-thinking
•All right-minded people will support us.also right oh $ BrE informal
used to show that you agree with a suggestion that someone has made; = OK
•Righto, I'll see you at six.plural rights of appeal [C]
law the legal right to ask for a court's decision to be changed
supporting ideas and aims that are between the centre and the right in politics; left-of-centre plural rights of way
1 [U] BrE the right of way AmE the right to drive into or across a road before other vehicles:
•I never know who has right of way at this junction.
•The law here says that pedestrians always have the right of way.
2 [C] BrE
a) the right to walk across someone else's land:
•Walkers are often quite aggressive about their rights of way.
b) a path that people have the right to use:
•The path is not a public right of way.informal
1 BrE someone who is right on supports social justice, equal rights, the protection of the environment etc - often used to show disapproval because someone does this in an extreme way; PC, politically correct
•It's one of those annoyingly right-on magazines about the environment.
2 AmE someone is right on when they say something that is correct or that you completely agree with:
•Parker's column on teenage sexuality is right on.
3 AmE spoken old-fashioned used to emphasize that you agree with what someone says or does:
•'Power to the people!' 'Yeah, right on.'[C]
BrE technical an offer of company SHAREs at a cheaper price than usual, to people who own some already [I,T]
if a company or organization rightsizes, or if it rightsizes its operations, it reduces the number of people it employs in order to reduce costs - used especially by companies to make the reduction in the number of workers sound good and sensible; downsize
•They have been given one year to rightsize their workforce.
- rightsizing noun [U]
•Many workers lost their jobs as a result of rightsizing.
a right-thinking person has opinions, principles, or standards of behaviour that you approve of; = right-minded
•I condemn this killing, as all right-thinking people must.[only before noun]
supporting the right of people who are extremely ill, injured, or unconscious to refuse to use machines or methods that would keep them alive; euthanasia
•the growing right-to-die lobby within the USA[singular]
if you talk about a baby's right to life, you mean that a baby has the right to be born, even if there are problems; pro-life
•Every unborn child has a right to life. $ [only before noun]
on or towards the right; leftward
•a rightward glanceusually rightward AmE $ especially BrE
on or towards the right; leftwards
•The plane's course was veering rightwards.
a right-wing person or group supports the ideas and beliefs of CAPITALISM; left-wing
•right-wing parties
•The organization is very right-wing.
- right wing noun [C]
•the right wing of the Conservative party
- right-winger noun [C]
•a prominent right-winger in the party
1 rigid methods, systems etc are very strict and difficult to change; flexible
•rigid and authoritarian methods of education
2 someone who behaves in a rigid way is very unwilling to change their ideas or behaviour; flexible
•rigid adherence to old-fashioned ideas
•She maintained rigid control over her emotional and sexual life.
3 stiff and not moving or bending; flexible
•rigid plastic
4 used to describe someone who cannot move, especially because they are very frightened, shocked, or angry
[+with]
•I heard a noise and woke up rigid with terror.
- rigidly adverb
•rigidly opposed to all new ideas
- rigidity noun [U]also rigamarole AmE $ [singular,U]
a long confusing process or description:
•I don't want to go through the rigmarole of taking him to court. $
the American spelling of RIGOUR $ [U]
the condition in which someone's body becomes stiff after they die
1 careful, thorough, and exact:
•a rigorous analysis of defence needs
•the rigorous standards required by the college
2 very severe or strict:
•rigorous army training
- rigorously adverbrigor AmE $ BrE
1 the rigours of sth the problems and difficulties of a situation:
•all the rigors of a Canadian winter
•the stresses and rigours of modern life
2 [U] great care and thoroughness in making sure that something is correct:
•Their research seems to me to be lacking in rigour. [T]
informal to make someone extremely angry:
•He was the calmest guy I ever knew - nothing ever riled him.
•That class gets me so riled up. [C]
1 the outside edge of something circular
[+of]
•the rim of a glass
•plates with a gold band around the rim
2 gold-rimmed/red-rimmed etc with a gold, red etc rim:
•gold-rimmed spectacles
•red-rimmed eyes
- rimless adjective
•rimless glassespast tense and past participle rimmed, present participle rimming [T] literary
to be around the edge of something:
•His eyes were rimmed with fatigue. [U] literary
FROST (=powdery ice) [C,U]
1 the thick outer skin of some types of fruit, such as oranges; peel, zest
•grated lemon rind
2 the thick outer skin of some foods, such as BACON or cheese [C]
1 JEWELLERY a piece of jewellery that you wear on your finger:
•a diamond ring
•a plain silver ring
2 CIRCLE
a) an object in the shape of a circle:
•a rubber ring for children to go swimming with
•onion rings
•a key ring
NAPKIN RING
b) a circular line or mark
[+around]
•She left a dirty ring around the bath.
[+round] BrE
•a ring round the moon
c) a group of people or things arranged in a circle
[+of]
•A ring of armed troops surrounded the building.
•The city was overlooked by a ring of high-rise buildings.
3 give sb a ring BrE informal to make a telephone call to someone:
•I'll give you a ring later in the week.
4 BELLS the sound made by a bell or the act of making this sound:
•a ring at the doorbell
5 CRIMINALS a group of people who illegally control a business or criminal activity:
•Are you aware that a drugs ring is being operated in the club?
•Secret files reveal an Oxford spy ring.
6 have the/a ring of sth if a statement or argument has a ring of truth, confidence etc, it seems as if it has this quality:
•His explanation has the ring of truth.
7 have a familiar ring if something has a familiar ring, you feel that you have heard it before:
•His voice had a strangely familiar ring.
8 run rings around sb informal to be able to do something much better than someone else can:
•I'm sure you can run rings round him.
9 COOKING BrE one of the circular areas on top of a COOKER that is heated by gas or electricity; hob; = burner AmE
•a gas ring
10 SPORT
a) a small square area surrounded by ropes, where people BOX or WRESTLE
RINGSIDE
b) the ring the sport of BOXING:
•He retired from the ring at 34.
11 ENTERTAINMENT a large circular area surrounded by seats at a CIRCUS past tense rang past participle rung
1 BELL
a) [I,T] to make a bell make a sound, especially to call someone's attention to you or to call someone to help you:
•I rang the doorbell but no one came.
[+for]
•The sign said, 'Ring for service'.
•Instead of ringing for the maid, she made the tea herself.
b) [I] if a bell rings, it makes a noise:
•The bell rang for the end of break.
2 TELEPHONE
a) [I,T] BrE to make a telephone call to someone; = call, phone
•I was going to ring you but I don't have your number.
[+for]
•Sally rang for a taxi.
see box at CALL^1
b) [I] if a telephone rings, it makes a sound to show that someone is telephoning you:
•The phone hasn't stopped ringing all day.
3 SOUNDS [I]
a) if your ears ring, they make a continuous sound that only you can hear, after you have been somewhere very noisy or heard a loud sound:
•The explosion made our ears ring.
b) literary if a place rings with a sound, it is full of that sound
[+with]
•The whole room rang with their laughter.
4 ring a bell informal if something rings a bell, it reminds you of something, but you cannot remember exactly what it is:
•Her name rings a bell but I can't remember her face.
5 not ring true if something does not ring true, you do not believe it, even though you are not sure why:
•It was a possible explanation, but it didn't quite ring true.
6 ring the changes BrE to make changes to something, not because it needs changing but just in order to make it more interesting, more attractive etc:
•Choose a variety of foods and ring the changes with meals.
7 ring hollow if something that someone says rings hollow, you do not feel that it is true or sincere:
•Assurances that things have changed ring hollow in many ears.
8 ring in your ears if a sound or remark rings in your ears, you continue to remember it very clearly, exactly as it sounded, after it has finished:
•He left Washington with the president's praises ringing in his ears.

PHRASAL VERBS
ring (sb) back phr v BrE
to telephone someone again, or to telephone someone because you were not available when they telephoned you; = call (sb) back
•I'll ring back as soon as I find out anything.
•John rang, and he wants you to ring him back.

ring in phr v
1 BrE to telephone the place where you work:
•Jane's rung in to say she'll be late.
•He rang in sick (=telephoned to say he was ill) every morning for a week.
2 ring in the New Year to celebrate the beginning of the New Year

ring off phr v BrE
to end a telephone call; hang up
•He rang off without giving his name.

ring out phr v
1 a voice, bell etc that rings out is loud and clear:
•The sound of a shot rang out.
2 ring out the Old Year to celebrate the end of the year

ring round (sb) phr v BrE
to make telephone calls to a group of people, in order to organize something, find out information etc:
•I'll ring round to see whether anyone's interested in coming with us.
•She rang round all the agencies.

ring up phr v
1 BrE to telephone someone; = call (sb) up
ring sb <=> up
•I'll ring the manager up tomorrow.
•I rang up and made an appointment.
2 ring sth <=> up to press buttons on a CASH REGISTER to record how much money is being put inside:
•The cashier rang up £300 by mistake.past tense and past participle ringed [T]
1 to surround something:
•Thousands of people ringed the court building to demand the release of Mr Cox.
be ringed with sth
•Her eyes were ringed with stiff black lashes.
2 BrE to draw a circular mark around something; = circle
•Ring the mistakes in red.[C] BrE
a FILE for holding papers, in which metal rings go through the edges of the pages, holding them in place $ [C]
1 someone who rings church bells or hand bells
2 a piece of equipment that makes a ringing noise:
•Turn down the ringer on your phone.
3 someone who pretends not to have a skill that they really have, in order to play on a team, enter a competition etc
DEAD RINGER [T] BrE
to decide officially that something, especially money, can only be used for a particular purpose:
•OK, so this £20,000 is ringfenced as the training budget.[C]
the finger, next to the smallest finger on your hand, that you traditionally wear your WEDDING RING on; index finger
1 a ringing sound or voice is loud and clear:
•She pronounced her final words in ringing tones.
2 a ringing endorsement a statement that is made with a lot of force in support of something:
•a ringing endorsement of the proposals $ [C]
someone who leads a group that is doing something illegal or wrong:
•the ringleader of a new international drugs ring [C usually plural]
a long curl of hair that hangs down $ [C]
the person who introduces the performers and animals in a CIRCUS[C] BrE
the ring on the top of a can of drink that you pull to open it[C]
BrE a road that goes around a large town to keep the traffic away from the centre; bypass [singular]
1 the area nearest to the performance in a CIRCUS, a BOXING match etc; ring
2 ringside seat a seat very near to the performers in a CIRCUS, a BOXING match etc; ring $ [C]
the sound made by a telephone, especially a MOBILE PHONE, when someone is calling it $ [U]
a skin infection that causes red rings, especially on your head [C]
1 a specially prepared area of ice that you can SKATE on
2 a special area with a smooth surface where you can go around on ROLLER SKATEs [T]
1 to wash clothes, dishes, vegetables etc quickly with water, especially running water, and without soap:
•Let me just rinse my hands.
•Rinse the vegetables under a cold tap.
rinse sth out
•Don't forget to rinse out your swimsuit.
2 to remove soap, dirt etc from something by washing it quickly with water
rinse sth off/out/away etc
•Leave the shampoo for two minutes, then rinse it off with warm water.
•I rinsed the mud out under the tap.
•The cream rinses off easily.
3 to put colour into your hair; = dye
4 if you rinse your mouth, or rinse your mouth out, you wash it by filling it with water and then SPITting the water out; gargle
1 [C] when you rinse something:
•I gave my hands a quick rinse.
2 [C,U] a product you use to change the colour of your hair or to make it more shiny; = dye
•a blue rinse for grey hair
1 [C] a situation in which a large crowd of people are behaving in a violent and uncontrolled way, especially when they are protesting about something:
•urban riots
•prison riots
•His murder triggered vicious race riots (=caused by a problem between different races).
•police wearing riot gear (=the special clothing and equipment worn by police officers during a riot)
•police in bullet-proof vests and carrying riot shields (=a piece of very hard plastic which police officers stand behind to protect them)
2 run riot
a) if your imagination, emotions, thoughts etc run riot, you cannot or do not control them:
•Manufacturers have let their imaginations run riot to create new computer games.
b) if people run riot, they behave in a violent, noisy, and uncontrolled way:
•Some people let their children run riot.
c) if a plant runs riot, it grows very quickly
3 a riot of colour something with many different bright colours:
•The garden is a riot of colour in spring.
4 read (sb) the riot act to give someone a strong warning that they must stop causing trouble - used humorously:
•If the kids don't settle down soon, I'll go up and read them the riot act.[I]
if a crowd of people riot, they behave in a violent and uncontrolled way, for example by fighting the police and damaging cars or buildings:
•University students rioted in protest at tuition fees.
- rioting noun [U]
- rioter noun [C] [usually before noun] formal
1 noisy, exciting, and enjoyable in an uncontrolled way; = wild
•a riotous party
2 noisy or violent, especially in a public place:
•Their riotous behaviour led to their arrest.
- riotously adverb[plural]
police whose job is to stop riots:
•Riot police fired tear gas into the crowd.
the abbreviation of Rest in Peace , written on a GRAVESTONE past tense and past participle ripped, present participle ripping
1 [I,T] to tear something or be torn quickly and violently:
•Her clothes had all been ripped.
•The sails ripped under the force of the wind.
•Impatiently, Sue ripped the letter open.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to remove something quickly and violently, using your hands
rip sth out/off/away/down
•Gilly ripped out a sheet of paper from her notebook.
•The buttons had been ripped off.
3 rip sth/sb to shreds
a) to destroy something or damage it badly by tearing it in many places:
•Jill's kitten is ripping her sofa to shreds.
b) informal to strongly criticize someone, or criticize their opinions, remarks, behaviour etc:
•I expected to have my argument ripped to shreds.
4 let rip informal to speak or behave violently or emotionally:
•Fran took a slow deep breath, then let rip, yelling and shouting at him.
5 let it/her rip informal to make a car, boat etc go as fast as it can:
•Put your foot on the gas and let her rip!

PHRASAL VERBS
rip sth <=> apart phr v
to tear or pull something to pieces:
•He was ripped apart by savage beasts in the forest.

rip sb/sth <=> off phr v informal
1 to charge someone too much money for something; = overcharge
•The agency really ripped us off.
2 to steal something:
•Somebody had come in and ripped off the TV and stereo.
3 to take words, ideas etc from someone else's work and use them in your own work as if they were your own ideas; = plagiarize
RIP-OFF (2)

rip through sth phr v
to move through a place quickly and with violent force:
•A wave of bombings ripped through the capital's business district.

rip sth <=> up phr v
to tear something into pieces:
•Sue ripped his photo up into tiny bits.[C]
a long tear or cut:
•a green leather jacket with a rip in the sleeve $ [C]
the string that you pull to open a PARACHUTE comparative riper, superlative ripest
1 ripe fruit or crops are fully grown and ready to eat; unripe
•Those tomatoes aren't ripe yet.
2 be ripe for sth to be ready for a change to happen, especially when it should have happened sooner:
•The police forces are ripe for reform.
•The former dock area is ripe for development.
3 the time is ripe (for sth) used to say it is a very suitable time for something to happen, especially when it should have happened sooner:
•The time is ripe for a review of progress up to now.
4 ripe old age
a) if you live to a ripe old age, you are very old when you die:
•Eat less and exercise more if you want to live to a ripe old age.
b) used to show that you find it surprising or impressive that someone is doing something or has achieved something at a very young age - used humorously:
•She was put in charge at the ripe old age of twenty-nine.
5 ripe cheese has developed a strong taste and is ready to eat; = mature
6 especially BrE a ripe smell is strong and unpleasant - used humorously:
•We were pretty ripe after a week of walking.
- ripeness noun [U] [I,T]
to become ripe or to make something ripe:
•The apples were ripening on the trees.[C]
1 informal something that is unreasonably expensive:
•The meal was a rip-off and the service was appalling.
2 music, art, films etc that are rip-offs copy something else without admitting that they are copies
[+of]
•a rip-off of a hit movie
rip off at RIP (1) $ [C]
formal a quick, clever reply to something that someone has said:
•a suitably witty riposte
1 [I,T] to move in small waves, or to make something move in this way:
•fields of grain rippling in the soft wind
•I could see the muscles rippling under his shirt.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to pass from one person to another like a wave
[+through]
•Panic rippled through Hollywood as the murders were discovered.
[+around]
•Enthusiastic applause rippled around the tables.
3 [I always + adv/prep] if a feeling ripples through you, you feel it strongly
[+through]
•Anger was rippling through him so fiercely that his whole body shook.
4 [I] to make a noise like water that is flowing gently:
•The water rippled over the stones.
•a rippling brook[C]
1 a small low wave on the surface of a liquid:
•ripples on the surface of the pond
•She dived into the pool, making scarcely a ripple.
2 a sound that gets gradually louder and softer:
•A ripple of laughter ran through the audience.
•a ripple of applause
3 a feeling that spreads through a person or a group because of something that has happened:
•A ripple of excitement went through the crowd as came on stage.
4 a shape or pattern that looks like a wave:
•ripples on the sand
5 raspberry ripple/chocolate ripple etc a type of ICE CREAM that has different coloured bands of fruit, chocolate etc in it
6 ripple effect a situation in which one action causes another, which then causes a third etc; = domino effect
•The increase had a ripple effect through the whole financial market.informal
exciting and full of energy:
•Micky had a rip-roaring time spending his first wage packet. past tense rose $ past participle risen [I]
1 INCREASE to increase in number, amount, or value; = go up; fall
[+by]
•Sales rose by 20% over the Christmas period.
[+from/to]
•The research budget rose from £175,000 in 1999 to £22.5 million in 2001.
[+above]
•Temperatures rarely rise above freezing.
rise dramatically/sharply/rapidly/steeply etc
•The number of people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom has risen sharply.
•The divorce rate has risen steadily since the 1950s.
rising crime/unemployment/inflation etc
•The country now faces economic recession and rising unemployment.
•The police seem unable to cope with the rising tide of (=large increase in) car crime.
see box at RAISE^1
2 GO UPWARDS to go upwards; fall
•The floodwaters began to rise again.
•She watched the bubbles rise to the surface.
•the problems caused by climate change and rising sea levels
[+from]
•Smoke rose from the chimney.
•The road rises steeply from the village.
•The waves rose and fell.
3 STAND formal to stand up:
•Then she picked up her bag and rose to leave.
rise from the table/your chair etc
•The chairman rose from his chair and came forward to greet her.
•He put down his glass and rose to his feet.
4 BECOME SUCCESSFUL to become important, powerful, successful, or rich; fall
[+to]
•He rose to the rank of major.
rise to prominence/fame/power
•He had swiftly risen to prominence during the 1950s.
•Mussolini rose to power in Italy in 1922.
•people who rise to the top in their chosen professions
rise to do sth
•He rose to become chairman of the company.
•She had joined the company as a secretary and risen through the ranks (=made progress from a low position to a high position) to become a senior sales director.
5 BE TALL also rise up to be very tall
[+above]
•The cliffs rose above them.
[+from]
•huge rocks rising from the sea
•The bridge rose majestically into the air.
6 VOICE/SOUND
a) to be loud enough to be heard
[+from]
•The sound of traffic rose from the street below.
[+above]
•Her voice rose above the shouts of the children.
b) to become louder or higher:
•His voice rose in frustration.
7 SUN/MOON/STAR to appear in the sky; set
•The sun rises in the east.
8 EMOTION if a feeling or emotion rises, you feel it more and more strongly:
•She could sense her temper rising again.
•There was an atmosphere of rising excitement in the school.
•The doctor sounded optimistic and John's hopes rose.
9 rise to the occasion/challenge to deal successfully with a difficult situation or problem, especially by working harder or performing better than usual:
•a young athlete who can certainly rise to the occasion
•The team rose to the challenge.
10 AGAINST A GOVERNMENT/ARMY also rise up if a large group of people rise, they try to defeat the government, army etc that is controlling them:
•They rose up and overthrew the government.
[+against]
•The prisoners rose against the guards and escaped.
rise in revolt/rebellion
•They rose in rebellion against the king.
11 BREAD/CAKES ETC if bread, cakes etc rise, they become bigger because there is air inside them
12 BED literary to get out of bed in the morning
13 ALIVE AGAIN to come alive after having died; resurrection
rise from the dead/grave
•On the third day Jesus rose from the dead.
14 COURT/PARLIAMENT if a court or parliament rises, that particular meeting is formally finished
15 WIND formal if the wind rises, it becomes stronger:
•The wind had risen again and it was starting to rain.
16 RIVER literary if a river rises somewhere, it begins there:
•The Rhine rises in Switzerland.
17 rise and shine spoken used humorously to tell someone to wake up and get out of bed

PHRASAL VERBS
rise above sth phr v
if someone rises above a bad situation or bad influences, they do not let these things affect them because they are mentally strong or have strong moral principles:
•You expect a certain amount of criticism, but you have to rise above it.
•I try to rise above such prejudices.

rise to sth phr v
if you rise to a remark, you reply to it rather than ignoring it, especially because it has made you angry:
•You shouldn't rise to his comments.
•He refused to rise to the bait (=react in the way someone wanted him to).
1 INCREASE [C] an increase in number, amount, or value; = increase; fall
[+in]
•We are expecting a sharp rise in interest rates.
•an alarming rise in unemployment
•There's been a rise in the number of arrests for drug offences.
[+of]
•Profits went up to £24 million, a rise of 16%.
rent/price rise
•Tenants face a 20% rent rise.
2 WAGES [C] BrE an increase in wages; = raise AmE
•He's been promised a rise next year.
•The railworkers were offered a 3% pay rise.
3 SUCCESS/POWER [singular] the achievement of importance, success or power; fall
[+of]
•the rise of fascism
•the rise of Napoleon
[+to]
•Thatcher's rise to power in the late 70s
•The band's sudden rise to fame took everyone by surprise.
•his swift rise to prominence
•the rise and fall of the Roman Empire
4 give rise to sth formal to be the reason why something happens, especially something bad or unpleasant; provoke
•His speech gave rise to a bitter argument.
•The President's absence has given rise to speculation about his health.
5 MOVEMENT UP [singular] a movement upwards; fall
[+in]
•a sudden rise in sea levels
•She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest.
6 SLOPE [C] an upward slope or a hill:
•There's a slight rise in the road.
•They topped the rise (=reached the top of the hill) and began a slow descent towards the town.
7 get a rise out of sb informal to make someone become annoyed or embarrassed by making a joke about them; make fun of sb
•She enjoys getting a rise out of you. $ [C]
1 early/late riser someone who usually gets out of bed very early or very late
2 technical the upright part of a step on a set of stairs
3 risers [plural] AmE a set of wooden or metal steps that can be moved from place to place, used for a group of people to stand on:
•The school choir stood on risers behind the orchestra. formal
something that is risible is so stupid that it deserves to be laughed at:
•a risible suggestion
- risibility noun [U]
1 [only before noun] becoming more important or famous:
•Francesca was a rising star in the cinema.
2 the rising generation BrE young people who will soon be old enough to vote, have jobs etc:
•The rising generation of students are optimistic about the future.[C] BrE
a sudden attempt by a large group of people to violently remove a government or ruler; = uprising, rebellion[U]
BrE a condition where water comes up from the ground and gets into the walls of a building
1 [C,U] the possibility that something bad, unpleasant, or dangerous may happen; = danger; gamble, chance

risk (that)
reduce/minimize the risk of sth
increase the risk of sth
carry/pose a risk
not be worth the risk
high/low risk
increased/reduced risk (=a higher or lower risk than usual)
a real risk
a calculated risk (=a risk you think will have a good result)
an element of risk (=some risk, but not much)
the risks involved in/associated with sth
risk factor
the benefits outweigh the risks

[+of]
•the risk of serious injury
•There is a risk that the crisis may spread further.
[+to]
•There is no risk to public health.
•Healthy eating can help reduce the risk of heart disease.
•The birds could pose a serious health risk for people who eat them.
•I never walk home alone at night - it's not worth the risk.
•Building work has a high risk of accident.
• a low-risk group for lung cancer
• an increased risk of skin cancer
• things that pose a real risk to the future of mankind
• It was a calculated risk to appoint a man without management experience to such a senior post.
• There's an element of risk in any kind of investment.
• the risks associated with drug use
• the risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome
• The benefits to patients who are taking the drug far outweigh the risks.

2 take a risk to decide to do something even though you know it may have bad results:
•Isn't he taking a bit of a risk in coming here?
take the risk of doing sth
•I couldn't take the risk of leaving him alone even for a short time.
•Many people are willing to take that risk in order to protect their families.
3 [C] something or someone that is likely to cause harm or danger
[+to]
•Polluted water supplies are a risk to public health.
•They didn't pose a significant risk to safety.
•Meat from the infected animals is regarded as a serious health risk (=something likely to harm people's health).
•The tyre dump is a major fire risk (=something that could cause a dangerous fire).
•She's becoming a security risk (=someone who may tell important secrets to an enemy).
4 at risk in a situation where you may be harmed:
•We must stop these rumours; the firm's reputation is at risk.
[+from]
•Women are more at risk from the harmful effects of alcohol than men.
[+of]
•Their children are also at high risk of developing the disease.
•That would mean putting other children at risk.
5 run a risk to be in a situation where there is a possibility that something bad could happen to you
run the risk of doing sth
•Anyone travelling without a passport runs the risk of being arrested.
6 at the risk of doing sth used when you think that what you are going to say or do may have a bad result, may offend or annoy people etc:
•At the risk of sounding stupid, can I ask a question?
•Will they go ahead with their plans, even at the risk of offending the Americans?
7 at your own risk if you do something at your own risk, you do it when you understand the possible dangers and have been warned about them:
•You can use it, but it's at your own risk.
•All personal belongings are left at the owner's risk.
8 [C] a person or business judged according to the danger involved in giving them insurance or lending them money
good/bad/poor risk
•Drivers under 21 are regarded as poor risks by insurance companies.[T]
1 to put something in a situation in which it could be lost, destroyed, or harmed; gamble
•When children start smoking, they don't realize that they're risking their health.
risk sth to do sth
•He's prepared to risk everything to avoid this war.
risk sth on sth
•You'd be crazy to risk your money on an investment like that!
•He risked his life helping others to escape.
•I'm not going to risk my neck (=risk my life) just to save a common criminal.
•Why risk life and limb (=risk your life and health) jumping out of a plane just to raise money for charity?
2 to get into a situation where something unpleasant may happen to you; endanger
risk doing sth
•They may even risk losing their homes.
risk defeat/death etc
•He would prefer not to risk another embarrassing defeat.
•Some people are prepared to risk imprisonment for what they believe.
risk being seen/caught/arrested etc
•Workers who broke the strike risked being attacked when they left the factory.
3 to do something that you know may have dangerous or unpleasant results
risk doing sth
•Are you prepared to risk traveling without an armed guard?
•She risked a glance back over her shoulder.
•You could slip out of school between classes, but I wouldn't risk it.[U]
1 a system to prevent or reduce dangerous accidents or mistakes
2 technical the practice of managing INVESTMENTs in ways that produce as much profit as possible while limiting the danger of losses[U]
when people do things that involve risks in order to achieve something
- risk-taker noun [C]
involving a risk that something bad will happen; = dangerous
•Doctors say it's too risky to try and operate.
•Buying a secondhand car is a risky business.
- riskiness noun [U] $ plural risottos [C,U]
a hot meal made from rice mixed with cheese, vegetables, or pieces of meat $
a joke, remark etc that is risqué is slightly shocking, because it is about sex $ [C] BrE
cooked meat cut into very small pieces, mixed with potato or bread, and cooked in hot fat [C]
1 a ceremony that is always performed in the same way, usually for religious purposes; ritual
•funeral rites
•ancient fertility rites
•These traditional rites are performed only by the women of the village.
2 rite of passage a special ceremony or action that is a sign of a new stage in someone's life, especially when a boy starts to become a man; coming of age
3 last rites final prayers or religious ceremonies for someone who is dying:
•A priest came to give him the last rites. [C,U]
1 a ceremony that is always performed in the same way, in order to mark an important religious or social occasion; rite
•ancient pagan rituals
•the importance of religion and ritual in our lives
•The lady of the house performs the sacred ritual of lighting two candles.
2 something that you do regularly and in the same way each time; routine
[+of]
•the daily ritual of mealtimes
•He went through the ritual of lighting his cigar.[only before noun]
1 done as part of a rite or ritual:
•ritual dances
2 done in a fixed and expected way, but without real meaning or sincerity:
•The police issued the usual ritual apology.
- ritually adverb
•Animals are brought in and ritually slaughtered.
ritualistic words or behaviour always follow the same pattern, especially because they form part of a ritual:
•a ritualistic procession
•the ritualistic marking of birth, marriage and death
- ritualistically adverb informal
fashionable and expensive; = fancy
•a ritzy restaurant [C]
1 a person, group, or organization that you compete with in sport, business, a fight etc; = competitor
•This gives the company a competitive advantage over its rivals.
[+for]
•his chief rival for the job
•He finished 39 seconds ahead of his main rival.
•She was 2 minutes faster than her nearest rival.
•a game against their old rivals, Manchester United
•They still remain bitter rivals (=hate each other).
•Their sales have now overtaken those of their arch-rival (=main or strongest rival).
rival company/firm/team etc
•Sheena left her job and went to work for a rival company.
2 one of a group of things that people can choose between:
•The newest model has several advantages over its rivals.past tense and past participle rivalled, present participle rivalling BrE past tense and past participle rivaled, present participle rivaling AmE
[T] to be as good or important as someone or something else; unrivalled
•The college's facilities rival those of Harvard and Yale.
•a stadium to rival any in the world plural rivalries [C,U]
a situation in which two or more people, teams, or companies are competing for something, especially over a long period of time, and the feeling of competition between them; competition
[+between]
•There has always been intense rivalry between New Zealand and Australia.
•The two players have developed a friendly rivalry.
•She had never overcome her feelings of sibling rivalry (=rivalry between brothers and sisters). formal
1 if a group of people are riven, they are divided by disagreements, especially in a violent way
[+by/with]
•a community riven by religious differences
2 if an object is riven, it is divided into two or more parts $ [C]
1 a natural and continuous flow of water in a long line across a country into the sea; stream
•the Mississippi River
•the River Thames
on a river
•a boat on the river
along a river
•We went for a walk along the river.
up/down (a) river
•a ship sailing up river
•They drifted slowly down river.
across a river
•a bridge across the river
•on the south bank of the river (=the land on one side of a river)
•trees on the river bank (=the land next to a river)
•The River Elbe flows through the Czech Republic.
•at the mouth of the river (=where a river joins the sea)
2 a large amount of moving liquid
[+of]
•a river of hot lava flowing from the volcano
sell sb down the river at SELL^1 (10)[C]
an area from which all the water flows into the same river[C]
the ground at the bottom of a river; sea bed $
the riverside the land along the sides of a river:
•We had a picnic by the riverside.
- riverside adjective
•a riverside inn
1 be riveted on/to/by sth if your attention is riveted on something, you are so interested or so frightened that you keep looking at it:
•All eyes were riveted on her in horror.
2 be riveted to the spot to be so shocked or frightened that you cannot move
3 [T] to fasten something with rivets[C]
a metal pin used to fasten pieces of metal together; bolt
something that is riveting is so interesting or exciting that you cannot stop watching it or listening to it; = fascinating
•a riveting performance
•His story makes riveting listening. $
the French/Italian/English Riviera a warm coast that is popular with people who are on holiday, especially the Mediterranean coast of France [C] written
a very small stream of water or liquid
[+of]
•rivulets of rain running down the window $
another spelling of RIAL
1 the abbreviation of registered nurse
2 BrE the abbreviation of Royal Navy :
•Captain Anstruther, RN [U]
an important chemical that exists in all living cells; DNA $ [C]
1 AmE informal a COCKROACH
2 a type of European fish
3 informal the end part of a MARIJUANA cigarette that has been smoked $
1 [C,U] a specially prepared hard surface for cars, buses, bicycles etc to travel on; street, motorway, freeway

along/up/down a road
on/in a road
on the other side of the road
in the middle of the road
by the side of the road
by road (=driving)
on the roads
cross a road
run (out) into a road
side/back road (=a small road that is not used much)
busy road (=one with a lot of traffic)
road sense (=knowledge about how to behave sensibly near traffic)
road safety

•I was driving along the road when a kid suddenly stepped out in front of me.
•You'll see the library a bit further up the road.
•I ran down the road to see what was happening.
•There were loads of cars parked on the road.
•Protesters sat down in the road to stop the lorries.
• I saw Nigel on the other side of the road.
• Someone was standing in the middle of the road.
•There wasn't much traffic on the roads.
•I ran across the road to meet him.
• We stopped and had something to eat by the side of the road.
•The college is easily accessible by road.
•There are far more cars on the roads now than there used to be.
• I turned a corner to find the road ahead severely flooded.
• Be careful crossing the road.
• A dog ran out into the road.
• We turned down a side road.
• Beyond the garden was a fairly busy road.
• Kids of that age have no road sense.
• fatal road accidents
• a road safety campaign

2 Road written abbreviation Rd. used in addresses after the names of roads and streets:
•65 Maple Road
•He lives on Dudley Road.
3 on the road
a) travelling in a car, especially for long distances:
•I've been on the road since 5:00 a.m. this morning.
b) if a group of actors or musicians are on the road, they are travelling from place to place giving performances:
•They're on the road for six months out of every year.
c) if your car is on the road, you have paid for the repairs, tax etc necessary for you to drive it legally:
•It would cost too much to put it back on the road.
4 the road to sth if you are on the road to something, you will achieve it soon, or it will happen to you soon:
•The doctor says she's well on the road to recovery.
•It was this deal that set him on the road to his first million.
•the first step along the road to democracy
5 go down a/this road to choose a particular course of action:
•Is there any scope for going down that road in the future?
•It depends which road you want to go down.
6 along/down the road in the future, especially at a later stage in a process:
•You can always upgrade a bit further down the road if you want.
•Somewhere down the road, they're going to clash.
7 one for the road spoken a last alcoholic drink before you leave a party, PUB etc
the end of the road at END^1 (17)
hit the road at HIT^1 (13)

WORD FOCUS: road
a big road:
main road
highway
motorway BrE
freeway AmE
expressway
turnpike AmE
interstate AmE
A-road BrE
a road in a town:
street
avenue
boulevard
a road in the countryside:
country road
lane
track
a road you pay to use:
toll road
parts of a road:
fast lane
slow lane
hard shoulder BrE /shoulder AmE
central reservation BrE /median stripAmE
pavement BrE /sidewalk AmE
plural road atlases [C]
a map that shows the roads in a particular country or area:
•a road atlas of Europe $ [C]
1 a place where the police are stopping traffic; check point
•The police have set up roadblocks to try and catch the two men.
2 AmE something that stops the progress of a plan:
•mental roadblocks that get in the way of success[C]
informal someone who drives badly or too fast without thinking about other people's safety $ [C]
AmE a restaurant or bar on a main road outside a city $ [C]
informal someone whose job is moving equipment for rock musicians $ [U] AmE informal
animals that have been killed by cars on the road[C]
someone who makes arrangements for entertainers when they are travelling[U]
a system in which drivers have to pay to use the roads at particular times; toll road
•road pricing schemes for congested cities[U]
violence and angry behaviour by car drivers towards other car drivers:
•Road rage seems to be on the increase.
•a road rage attack $ [C]
a small bird that runs very fast and lives mainly in deserts $ [C]
a group of people who travel around the country entertaining the public, advertising, or providing a service $
the roadside the edge of the road
on/by/at the roadside
•a van parked by the roadside
- roadside adjective
•a roadside snack bar[C]
a sign next to a road that gives information to drivers[U]
a tax in Britain that the owner of a vehicle must pay in order to drive it legally; tax disc[C]
a test to check that a vehicle is in good condition and safe to drive; MOT
- roadtest $ verb [T]
•All our vehicles are roadtested before they are sold.[C] AmE
a long trip that you take in a car, usually with friends[C] informal
someone who uses computers, MOBILE PHONEs , PAGERs etc in a place other than their home or office $ [C]
the part of the road used by vehicles $ [plural] BrE
repairs that are being done to a road:
•There were roadworks on the motorway. $
a vehicle that is roadworthy is in good condition and safe enough to drive
- roadworthiness noun [U] $
1 [I,T] to walk or travel, usually for a long time, with no clear purpose or direction; wander
[+over/around/about etc]
•The dogs are allowed to roam around.
•Chickens and geese roam freely in the back yard.
•You shouldn't let your children roam the streets.
roam the countryside/desert/forests etc
•Wild sheep roam the hills.
2 [I always + adv/prep, T] if your eyes roam over something, you look slowly at all parts of it:
•Her eyes roamed the room.
[+over]
•His eyes roamed over the bookshelves. $ [U]
the process that a MOBILE PHONE uses when it is in a different country or area from usual, and has to connect to a different network $ [C]
a horse with some white hairs, giving it a light colour
- roan adjective $
1 [I] to make a deep, very loud noise; growl
•We heard a lion roar.
•The engines roared.
2 [I,T] to shout something in a deep powerful voice:
•'Get out of my house!' he roared.
•The crowd roared in delight.
3 [I] to laugh loudly and continuously:
•By this time, Michael was roaring with laughter.
4 [I always + adv/prep] if a vehicle roars somewhere, it moves very quickly and noisily:
•The car roared off down the road.

PHRASAL VERBS
roar back phr v
if a competitor or team that was losing roars back, they start performing much better - used in sports reports:
•In the second half Leeds came roaring back with two goals in five minutes.[C]
1 a deep, loud noise made by an animal such as a lion, or by someone's voice; growl
•the roar of the crowd
•He let out a roar of laughter.
2 a continuous loud noise, especially made by a machine or a strong wind:
•the roar of the traffic
1 [only before noun] making a deep, very loud, continuous noise:
•the roaring wind and waves
2 roaring fire a fire that burns with a lot of flames and heat
3 do a roaring trade (in sth) BrE informal to sell a lot of something very quickly:
•The stallholders were doing a roaring trade in burgers.
4 be a roaring success BrE informal to be extremely successful:
•The new musical has been a roaring success.
5 roaring drunk BrE informal very drunk and noisy $ [I,T]
1 to cook something, such as meat, in an OVEN or over a fire, or to cook in this way; grill, bake
•Are you going to roast the chicken?
•the delicious smell of meat roasting
•We caught a rabbit and roasted it over an open fire.
2 to heat nuts, coffee beans etc quickly in order to dry them and give them a particular taste:
•dry-roasted peanuts[C]
1 a large piece of roasted meat:
•a traditional Sunday roast
2 hot dog roast/oyster roast etc AmE an outdoor party at which food is cooked on an open fire
3 AmE an occasion at which people celebrate a special event in someone's life by telling funny stories or giving speeches about them:
•a celebrity roast[only before noun]
roasted:
•roast chicken $
1 also roasting hot informal very hot, especially so that you feel uncomfortable:
•a roasting hot day
•I'm absolutely roasting in this suit.
2 [only before noun] used for roasting food:
•a roasting dish
give sb/get a roasting BrE informal if you give someone a roasting, you tell them angrily that you disapprove of their behaviour:
•He got a roasting from angry fans. $ past tense and past participle robbed, present participle robbing [T]
1 to steal money or property from a person, bank etc; steal, burgle
•They killed four policemen while robbing a bank.
•A 77-year-old woman was robbed at knifepoint.
rob sb of sth
•They threatened to shoot him and robbed him of all his possessions.
!! Someone can rob a person or place, but you cannot say that they rob an object or amount of money. Use steal: He robbed a bank, stealing cash and valuables worth $500,000.
2 rob Peter to pay Paul to take money away from someone or something that needs it in order to pay someone else or use it for something else:
•Taking money out of the hospital's budget for this is simply robbing Peter to pay Paul.
3 rob sb blind informal to steal everything someone has:
•The minute your back's turned, they'll rob you blind.
4 I/we was robbed! BrE spoken used when you think that you were beaten unfairly in a sport
5 rob the cradle AmE to have a sexual relationship with someone who is a lot younger than you - used humorously; = cradle-snatch BrE

PHRASAL VERBS
rob sb/sth of sth phr v literary
to take away an important quality, ability etc from someone or something:
•The illness robbed him of a normal childhood. $ [C]
someone who steals money or property; thief, burglar
•Armed robbers broke into the shop and demanded money from the till.
•a bank robber[C]
a powerful person who uses their money and influence to get more money, business, land etc in a way that is slightly dishonest $ plural robberies [C,U]
the crime of stealing money or things from a bank, shop etc, especially using violence; theft, burglary
•Police are investigating a series of bank robberies in South Wales.
•He received a 10 year prison sentence for armed robbery (=robbery using a gun).
•He admitted attempted robbery and was given a suspended sentence.
daylight robbery at DAYLIGHT (5); highway robbery at HIGHWAY (3) $ [C]
1 also robes a long loose piece of clothing, especially one worn for official ceremonies:
•a priest's robes
2 especially AmE a long loose piece of clothing that you wear over your night clothes or after a bath; = bathrobe; = dressing gown BrE $ formal
wearing long loose clothing:
•a robed figure
[+in]
•a man robed in black $ [C]
1 a small European bird with a red breast and brown back
2 a North American bird like a European robin, but larger $ [C]
a machine that can move and do some of the work of a person, and is usually controlled by a computer:
•cars built by robots $
1 [only before noun] robotic equipment etc is related to robots or is part of a robot:
•the space shuttle's robotic arm
2 someone who is robotic acts like a robot by making stiff movements, not showing any human feelings etc $ [U]
the study of how robots are made and used $
1 a robust person is strong and healthy:
•a robust man of six feet four
2 a robust system, organization etc is strong and not likely to have problems:
•The formerly robust economy has begun to weaken.
3 a robust object is strong and not likely to break; = sturdy
•a robust metal cabinet
4 showing determination or strong opinions:
•a typically robust performance by the Prime Minister
5 robust food or FLAVOURs have a good strong taste:
•a robust cheese
- robustly adverb
- robustness noun [U] $
1 STONE
a) [U] the hard substance that forms the main surface of the Earth; stone
•To build the tunnel, they had to cut through 500 feet of solid rock.
•Most of the country is desert and bare rock.
•massive rock formations (=shapes made naturally from rock)
•ancient dark volcanic rock
b) [C] a piece of rock, especially a large one that sticks up from the ground:
•Jack stood on a rock for a better view.
•During the storm a ship had been driven onto the rocks (=a line of rocks under or next to the sea).
2 MUSIC [U] also rock music a type of popular modern music with a strong loud beat, played using GUITARs and drums
rock band/group
•Komuro formed a rock band with some friends while in college.
•the late rock star, Freddie Mercury
•The stadium has hosted numerous rock concerts.
HARD ROCK; punk rock at PUNK (1)
3 (as) solid/steady as a rock
a) very strongly built or well supported and not likely to break or fall:
•a large sofa, solid as a rock
b) someone who is as solid or steady as a rock is very strong and calm in difficult situations and you can depend on them
ROCK-SOLID
4 be on the rocks informal a relationship or business that is on the rocks is having a lot of problems and is likely to fail soon; = in trouble
•I'm afraid Tim's marriage is on the rocks.
5 scotch/vodka etc on the rocks informal an alcoholic drink that is served with ice but no water
6 SWEET FOOD [U] BrE a hard sweet made in long round pieces:
•a stick of rock
7 DRUG
a) [U] a very pure form of the illegal drug COCAINE that some people use for pleasure
b) [C] a small amount of this drug
8 be (stuck) between a rock and a hard place to have a choice between two things, both of which are unpleasant or dangerous
9 get your rocks off informal not polite if a man gets his rocks off, he has sex
10 JEWEL [C usually plural] old-fashioned informal a DIAMOND or other jewel
1 [I,T] to move gently backwards and forwards or from side to side, or to make something do this; sway
•She covered her face, rocking to and fro in her grief.
•The waves rocked the boat from side to side.
•Paul sat gently rocking the child in his arms.
•Jim rocked with laughter when he heard what had happened.
2 [T]
a) to make the people in a place or organization feel very shocked - used in news reports; = shake
•The scandal rocked the nation.
b) to make the future of something seem less certain or steady than it was before, especially because of problems or changes; = shake
•Another financial blow has rocked the industry.
•The theory rocked the foundations of social and moral life.
3 rock the boat informal to cause problems for other members of a group by criticizing something or trying to change the way something is done:
•He kept his feelings to himself, not wanting to rock the boat.
4 [T] if an explosion or EARTHQUAKE rocks an area, it makes it shake:
•Residents had only a few minutes to escape before the blast rocked their houses.
5 sb/sth rocks spoken informal said to show that you strongly approve of someone or something
6 rock sb's world informal to cause someone to think about something or someone in a completely new way $ [U]
a type of music that combines rock music and traditional country music[U]
ROCK 'N' ROLL
hit/reach rock bottom informal to become as unhappy, unpleasant, or unsuccessful as it is possible to be:
•My personal life had hit rock bottom.[only before noun]
a rock-bottom price is as low as it can possibly be:
•bargain holidays at rock-bottom prices[U]
the sport of climbing up very steep rock surfaces such as the sides of mountains
- rock climber noun [C] $ [C]
1 AmE a ROCKING CHAIR
2 one of the curved pieces of wood fixed to the bottom of a ROCKING CHAIR, that allows it to move backwards and forwards if you push it
3 be off your rocker spoken informal to be crazy
4 a member of a group of young people in Britain in the 1960s who wore leather jackets, rode MOTORCYCLEs , and listened to ROCK 'N' ROLL music; mod, greaser
5 a musician who plays ROCK 'N' ROLL music, or someone who likes this kind of music:
•ageing rockers $ plural rockeries [C] BrE
part of a garden where there are rocks with small plants growing between them $
1 [C] a vehicle used for travelling or carrying things into space, which is shaped like a big tube; spacecraft
•The rocket was launched from a space research base.
•a space rocket
2 [C] a weapon shaped like a big tube that is fired at things; missile
•anti-tank rockets
3 [C] a FIREWORK that goes high into the air before exploding into coloured lights
4 [U] BrE a plant with green leaves and a strong taste, eaten raw in SALADs ; = arugula AmE[I]
1 also rocket up if a price or amount rockets, it increases quickly and suddenly:
•Interest rates rocketed up.
rocket (from sth) to sth
•Car sales rocketed from 180 to 2000 a year.
2 [always + adv/prep] to move somewhere very fast; = shoot
•The train rocketed through the tunnel.
•Larsson's shot rocketed into the back of the net.
3 [always + adv/prep] to achieve a successful position very quickly; = shoot
[+to]
•Their new album rocketed to number one in the charts.
•Beatty rocketed to stardom after his first film.
sth is not rocket science informal used to say that something is not difficult to do or understand:
•Designing a website may be a lot of work but it's not rocket science.[C]
1 it doesn't take a rocket scientist (to do sth) informal used humorously to emphasize that something is easy to do or understand:
•It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that doubling productivity will improve profits.
2 someone who is extremely clever
3 a scientist whose work is related to rockets[C]
a very steep surface of rock on the side of a mountain $ [C]
a pile of rocks that are falling or have fallen[C]
a ROCKERY
1 extremely hard:
•The bread was stale and rock-hard.
2 BrE strong and not afraid of anyone - used humorously[C]
a chair that has two curved pieces of wood fixed under its legs, so that it moves backwards and forwards smoothly[C]
a wooden horse for children that moves backwards and forwards when you sit on it[U]
a type of popular modern music with a strong loud beat, played using GUITARs and drums $ [U]
1 a style of music with a strong loud beat played on GUITARs and drums, which first became popular in the 1950s:
•Elvis, the king of rock 'n' roll
2 sth is the new rock 'n' roll BrE used to say that a particular activity has become very popular and fashionable and is being discussed a lot on television, in newspapers etc:
•Hadn't Mark heard that cooking was the new rock 'n' roll?[C]
BrE a small pool of water between rocks by the sea; = tide pool AmE[U]
a type of salt which is obtained from under the groundrock solid
1 rock-solid things can be depended on and trusted not to change:
•a rock-solid guarantee
2 very hard and not likely to break $
1 covered with rocks or made of rock:
•a rocky cliff
•They hurried over the rough rocky ground.
2 informal a relationship or situation that is rocky is difficult and may not continue or be successful:
•Rangers got off to a rocky start this season.
•The company faces a rocky road ahead. $
rococo buildings and furniture have a lot of curly decoration and were fashionable in Europe in the 18th century $ [C]
1 a long thin pole or bar
steel/iron/wooden etc rod
•The walls are reinforced with steel rods.
•a measuring rod
2 a long thin pole used with a line and hook for catching fish; = fishing rod
HOT ROD, LIGHTNING ROD
rule sb/sth with a rod of iron at RULE^2 (5) $
the past tense of RIDE $ [C]
any small animal of the type that has long sharp front teeth, such as a rat or a rabbit $ plural rodeos [C]
a type of entertainment in which COWBOYs ride wild horses, catch cattle with ropes, and ride in races $ [C,U]
fish eggs eaten as a food; caviarplural roe deer [C]
a small European and Asian DEER that lives in forests $
used in radio conversations to say that a message has been understood[T]
BrE informal not polite to have sex with someone $ [C]
1 a man or boy who behaves badly, but who you like in spite of this - often used humorously:
•What's the old rogue done now, I wonder?
•a lovable rogue
2 BrE old-fashioned a man who is dishonest and has a bad character[only before noun]
1 not behaving in the usual or accepted way and often causing trouble:
•rogue moneylenders
•Officials are concerned about rogue regimes that may have nuclear weapons.
2 a rogue wild animal lives apart from the main group and is often dangerous $
someone with a roguish expression or smile looks amused, especially because they have done something slightly dishonest or wrong
- roguishly adverb $ [C]
1 the way in which someone or something is involved in an activity or situation, and how much influence they have on it

have/play a role in (doing) sth
an important/key/vital/crucial role
a leading/major/central role
an active role
a dual role (=two functions)
take a role

[+in]
•the role of diet in the prevention of disease
•Everyone had a role in the show's success.
•Scientists can also play a role in improving energy efficiency in their laboratories.
• Parents play an important role in their child's learning.
• His interest in education was reflected in his active role in founding University College, Liverpool.
• The state has a dual role: to support business on the one hand and to be the guardian of social welfare on the other.
•a student who has taken a leadership role in battling racism on campus

2 the character played by an actor in a play or film; = part
•Matthews plays the role of a young doctor suspected of murder.
a minor/major role
•Costner only plays a minor role in the movie.
the lead/leading/starring role (=the most important role)
•Rigby was cast in the leading role.
title role (=the role of the character whose name is in the title of a film or play)
•'Martin Chuzzlewit' features Paul Scofield in the title role.
3 role reversal a situation in which two people, especially a man and a woman, each do what is traditionally expected of the other[C]
someone whose behaviour, attitudes etc people try to copy because they admire them:
•I want to be a positive role model for my sister.[C,U]
an exercise in which you pretend to be in a particular situation, especially to help you learn a language or deal with problems:
•Language teachers often use role-play in the classroom.
- role-play verb [I,T] $
1 ROUND OBJECT [I always + adv/prep, T] if something rolls, especially something round, or if you roll it, it moves along a surface by turning over and over
[+down/into/through etc]
•The ball rolled into the street.
•One of the eggs rolled off the counter.
roll sth along/in/onto etc sth
•Roll the chicken breasts in flour.
2 PERSON/ANIMAL also roll over [I,T always + adv/prep] to turn your body over one or more times while lying down, or to turn someone else's body over
[+down/onto/off etc]
•The children rolled down the hill, laughing.
•Ralph rolled onto his stomach.
roll sb onto/off sth
•I tried to roll him onto his side.
3 SHAPE OF TUBE/BALL also roll up [T] to make something into the shape of a tube or ball
roll sth into a ball/tube
•Roll the dough into small balls.
•Would you like the paper rolled or folded?
4 MAKE STH FLAT [T] to make something flat by rolling something heavy over it; rolling pin
•Pizza dough should be rolled thinly.
5 CLOTHES [T] also roll up to fold the sleeves or legs of something that you are wearing upwards, so that they are shorter:
•His sleeves were rolled above his elbows.
6 STH WITH WHEELS [I,T always + adv/prep] to move on wheels, or make something that has wheels move
[+into/forwards/past etc]
•Her car was slowly rolling away from the curb.
roll sth to/around etc sth
•The waitress rolled the dessert trolley over to our table.
7 DROP OF LIQUID [I always + adv/prep] to move over a surface smoothly without stopping
[+down/onto etc]
•Tears rolled down her cheeks.
8 WAVES/CLOUDS [I always + adv/prep] to move continuously in a particular direction
[+into/towards etc]
•Mist rolled in from the sea.
•We watched the waves rolling onto the beach.
9 GAME [I,T] if you roll DICE, you throw them as part of a game
10 SOUND [I] if drums or THUNDER roll, they make a long low series of sounds:
•Thunder rolled in the distance.
11 MACHINE/CAMERA [I] if a machine such as a film camera or a PRINTING PRESS rolls, it operates:
•There was silence as the cameras started to roll.
12 SHIP/PLANE [I] if a ship or plane rolls, it leans one way and then another with the movement of the water or air
13 CIGARETTE [T] to make your own cigarette, using tobacco or MARIJUANA and special paper; roll-up
•Ben rolled a joint (=a cigarette containing marijuana) and lit it.
•It's cheaper to roll your own (=make your own cigarettes).
14 SHOULDERS [T] to move your shoulders forward, up, and back down:
•He rolled his shoulders back.
15 EYES [T] to move your eyes around and up, especially in order to show that you are annoyed or think something is silly:
•Lucy rolled her eyes as Tom sat down beside her.
16 ATTACK [T] AmE informal to rob someone, especially when they are drunk and asleep:
•Kids on the streets rolled drunks for small change.
17 (all) rolled into one if someone or something is several different things rolled into one, they include or do the work of all those things:
•Mum was cook, chauffeur, nurse, and entertainer all rolled into one.
18 get (sth) rolling to start happening or make something start happening in a smooth and successful way:
•The business didn't really get rolling until 1975.
•Have a good breakfast to get your day rolling.
19 be rolling in money/dough/cash/it to have or earn a lot of money:
•'He's rolling in it,' said the girl, pointing at Lewis.
20 be rolling in the aisles if people in a theatre, cinema etc are rolling in the aisles, they are laughing a lot
21 be ready to roll spoken to be ready to start doing something:
•The car was packed and we were ready to roll.
22 let's roll spoken used to suggest to a group of people that you all begin doing something or go somewhere
23 roll with the punches to deal with problems or difficulties by doing whatever you need to do, rather than by trying only one method:
•Strong industries were able to roll with the punches during the recession.
24 roll on sth BrE spoken used to say that you wish a time or event would come quickly:
•Roll on the weekend!
25 roll your r's to pronounce the sound /r/ using your tongue in a way that makes the sound very long
26 a rolling stone gathers no moss used to say that someone who often changes jobs, moves to different places etc is not able to have any permanent relationships or duties

PHRASAL VERBS
roll around phr v also roll round BrE
if a time, event etc that happens regularly rolls around, it arrives or takes place again:
• By the time Wednesday rolled around, I still hadn't finished.

roll sth <=> back phr v
1 to reduce the influence or power of a law, system, government etc:
•a threat to roll back the legislation of the past 12 years
2 especially AmE to reduce a price, cost etc:
•the administration's promise to roll back taxes
ROLLBACK
3 to force your opponents in a war to move back from their position
4 roll back the years BrE to make someone remember something from the past:
•Looking at those old photos really rolled back the years.

roll sth <=> down phr v
1 roll a window down to open a car window
2 to unfold the ends of your sleeves or trouser legs so that they are their usual length:
•He rolled down his sleeves and buttoned the cuffs.

roll in phr v
1 to happen or arrive in large numbers or quantities:
•As the result of our appeal, the money came rolling in.
2 to arrive, especially later than usual or expected:
•Chris finally rolled in at about 4:00 am.
3 if mist, clouds etc roll in, they begin to cover an area of the sky or land:
•Fog rolled in from the sea.

roll out phr v
1 roll sth<=> out to make food that you are preparing flat and thin by pushing a ROLLING PIN over it:
•Roll out the dough on a floured surface.
2 roll sth<=>out to make a new product available for people to buy or use; = launch
•The company expects to roll out the new software in September.
ROLL-OUT
3 to leave a place, especially later than expected
[+of]
•We used to hear people rolling out of the pubs at closing time.
•He finally rolled out of bed at noon.
4 roll sth<=> out to put something flat on the ground or a surface, when it was previously rolled into a tube shape:
•We rolled out our sleeping bags under the stars.
5 roll out the red carpet to make special preparations for an important visitor

roll (sb) over phr v
to turn your body over once so that you are lying in a different position, or to turn someone's body over:
•Ben rolled over and kissed her.
[+onto]
•The guards rolled him over onto his front.

roll up phr v
1 to make something into the shape of a tube or ball, or to become this shape
roll sth <=> up
•Painters arrived and rolled up the carpet.
[+into]
•Many animals roll up into a ball for warmth.
2 roll your sleeves/trousers etc up to turn the ends of your sleeves or trouser legs over several times so that they are shorter
3 roll your sleeves up to start doing a job even though it is difficult or you do not want to do it:
•It's time to roll up our sleeves and get some work done on the basics.
4 roll a window up to close the window of a car
5 to arrive somewhere, especially late or when you were not expected:
•Max rolled up just after 9 o'clock.
6 roll up! BrE spoken used to call people to come and watch or buy things at a CIRCUS or FAIR
set/start/keep the ball rolling at BALL^1 (5)
heads will roll at HEAD^1 (36)
let the good times roll at LET^1 (20)[C]
1 PAPER/FILM/MONEY ETC a piece of paper, camera film, money etc that has been rolled into the shape of a tube
[+of]
•I used up three rolls of film on holiday.
•There's a new roll of silver foil in there.
•wallpaper costing £3 a roll
KITCHEN ROLL, TOILET ROLL
2 BREAD a small round LOAF of bread for one person; bun
•hot soup served with crusty rolls
• bread rolls with butter
ham/cheese etc roll BrE (=one that is filled with ham, cheese etc)
3 LIST OF NAMES an official list of names; = register
on the roll BrE
•a school with 300 pupils on the roll
call/take the roll (=say the list of names to check who is there)
•The teacher called the roll.
•Three senators missed the roll call.
the electoral roll BrE
; the (voter) rolls AmE (=a list of the people who are allowed to vote)
welfare rolls AmE (=a list of people without jobs who claim money from the state)
•Thompson said he had cut welfare rolls by 39%.
ROLL OF HONOUR, HONOR ROLL
4 be on a roll informal to be having a lot of success with what you are trying to do:
•Midvale High was on a roll, having won their last six basketball games.
5 GAME the action of throwing DICE as part of a game:
•If you get a 7 or 11 on your first roll, you win.
6 SKIN/FAT a thick layer of skin or fat, usually just below your waist
[+of]
•the rolls of fat on her stomach
7 PHYSICAL MOVEMENT
a) BrE a movement in which you roll forward or back in a controlled way with your body curled so that your head is near your feet, often done as part of a sport; = somersault
•a forward roll
•gymnasts doing rolls and handsprings
b) especially BrE the action of turning your body over one or more times while lying down:
•a young horse having a roll in the field
8 DRUMS/GUNS/THUNDER a long low fairly loud sound made by drums etc:
•There was a roll of thunder, and the rain started pelting down.
•a drum roll
9 SHIP/PLANE the movement of a ship or plane when it leans from side to side with the movement of the water or air
10 a roll in the hay old-fashioned informal when you have sex with someone - used humorously
ROCK 'N' ROLL, SAUSAGE ROLL, SPRING ROLL, SWISS ROLL $ [C,U] especially AmE
an occasion when a tax, price, law etc is reduced to a previous level or changed so that it is the way it used to be
roll back at ROLL^1[C,U]
the act of reading out an official list of names to check who is there $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment consisting of a tube-shaped piece of wood, metal etc that rolls over and over, used for painting, crushing, making things smoother etc:
•a paint roller
•a garden roller
STEAMROLLER^1 (1)
2 [usually plural] a tube-shaped piece of metal or wood, used for moving heavy things that have no wheels:
•The boats are taken down to the sea on rollers.
3 a small plastic or metal tube used for making hair curl; = curler
4 a long powerful wave:
•great Atlantic rollers $ [C] trademark
a special boot with a single row of wheels fixed under it, used for SKATING on hard surfaces
ROLLER SKATE, IN-LINE SKATE[C]
BrE a piece of cloth or other material that can be rolled up and down to cover a window; venetian blind[C]
1 a track with very steep slopes and curves, which people ride on in small carriages at FAIRs and AMUSEMENT PARKs
2 a situation that changes often:
•Their relationship was an emotional roller coaster.[C]
a special boot with four wheels fixed under it, used for SKATING on hard surfaces
- roller-skate verb [I]
- roller skating noun [U] $ [only before noun] old-fashioned
noisy and cheerful:
•a rollicking song
give sb a rollicking BrE informal to criticize someone angrily for something they have done $ [only before noun]
1 rolling hills have many long gentle slopes
2 done or happening regularly over a period of time, not all at once:
•We recommend a rolling programme of machine upgrading.[C]
a long tube-shaped piece of wood used for making PASTRY flat and thin before you cook it[U]
all the trains, carriages etc that are used on a railway[C]
BrE a list of people who are officially praised, especially because they were brave in battle; = honor roll AmE
•the roll of honour on the war memorialalso roll-on deodorant [C]
a bottle which contains liquid that you rub under your arms in order to stop your SWEAT from smelling unpleasant[only before noun]
BrE a roll-on roll-off ship is one that vehicles can drive straight on and off:
•a roll-on roll-off car ferry[C,U]
an occasion when a new product is made available for people to buy or use; = launch
•Sun had to cancel the intended roll-out of the 514 model. $
1
a) [C] when money is moved from one bank account or INVESTMENT to another without any tax or other FEEs having to be paid:
•Many CD rollovers happen in October.
b) [C,U] the action of making a bank account, INVESTMENT etc do this
[+of]
•The law allows a rollover of retirement money from a company pension to an IRA.
2 [C] BrE if there is a rollover in a competition or LOTTERY, nobody wins the biggest prize that week, and the money is added to the prize that can be won the following week
3 [C] an accident in which a car turns over onto its roof
4 [U] technical a way of making the images change whenever someone using a MOUSE moves it over a particular word or picture on a computer screen $ trademark
1 [C] a very expensive and comfortable car made by a British company
2 the Rolls-Royce of sth BrE informal something that is regarded as the highest quality example of a particular type of product:
•the Rolls-Royce of beers[C] BrE informal
a cigarette that you make yourself $ informal
a roly-poly person is round and fatplural roly-polies [C,U]
a British sweet food made of JAM that is rolled up inside PASTRY $ [U] technical
read-only memory the part of a computer where permanent instructions and information are stored; RAM $ [U] AmE
a type of bitter-tasting LETTUCE with long leaves[usually before noun]
1 relating to ancient Rome or the Roman Empire:
•an old Roman road
•the Roman occupation of Britain
2 relating to the city of Rome
- Roman noun [C] $ [U]
technical the ordinary style of printing that uses small upright letters, like the style used for printing these words; font, italics
the Roman alphabet the alphabet used in English and many other European languages, which begins with the letters A, B, C
RC belonging or relating to the part of the Christian religion whose leader is the Pope; = Catholic
•a Roman Catholic priest
- Roman Catholic noun [C]
- #Roman Ca=tholicism noun [U] $
1 [C] an exciting and often short relationship between two people who love each other; affair
[+with]
•Hemingway's romance with his nurse inspired him to write 'A Farewell to Arms'.
•Michelle married him after a whirlwind romance (=one that happens very suddenly and quickly).
holiday romance BrE
summer romance AmE (=one that happens during a holiday)
•a short holiday romance
2 [U] love, or a feeling of being in love:
•The romance had gone out of their relationship.
3 [U] the feeling of excitement and adventure that is related to a particular place, activity etc
[+of]
•the romance of Hollywood
4 [C] a story about the love between two people:
•romance novels
5 [C] a story that has brave characters and exciting events:
•a Medieval romance
1 [I] to describe things that have happened in a way that makes them seem more important, interesting etc than they really were
[+about]
•an old man romancing about the past
2 [T] old-fashioned to try to persuade someone to love you[C]
a language that comes from Latin, for example French or Spanish $
in the style of building that was popular in Western Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries, and had many round ARCHes and thick PILLARs [U] law
CIVIL LAW[C]
a nose that curves out near the top[C]
a number in a system first used in ancient Rome that uses combinations of the letters I, V, X, L, C, D, and M to represent numbers; Arabic numeral $ [in nouns and adjectives]
ancient Roman and something else:
•Romano-British society $
1 SHOWING LOVE showing strong feelings of love:
•'Tom always sends me red roses on my birthday.' 'How romantic!'
2 RELATING TO LOVE relating to feelings of love or a loving relationship:
•After dinner, they took a romantic stroll by the sea.
•real old-fashioned romantic love
•I'm not ready for a romantic relationship.
3 STORY/FILM a romantic story or film is about love:
•a romantic comedy
4 BEAUTIFUL beautiful in a way that affects your emotions and makes you think of love or adventure:
•romantic music
•The castle is set in one of England's most romantic landscapes.
5 NOT PRACTICAL romantic ideas are not practical or not based on reality; realistic
romantic notion/view/idea etc
•romantic notions about becoming a famous actress
•Like many New Yorkers, he had a romantic image of country life.
6 Romantic art/literature etc art or literature that is based on the ideas of romanticism
- romantically adverb[C]
1 someone who shows strong feelings of love and likes doing things that are related to love such as buying flowers, presents etc
2 someone who is not practical, and bases their ideas too much on an imagined idea of the world; realist
•a romantic who longed for adventure
3 also Romantic a writer, painter etc whose work is based on romanticism $ [U]
1 also Romanticism a way of writing or painting that was popular in the late 18th and early 19th century, in which feelings, imagination, and wild natural beauty were considered more important than anything else
2 ideas which are not practical or not based on reality; realism also romanticise BrE $ [T]
to talk or think about things in a way that makes them seem more romantic or attractive than they really are:
•a romanticized image of life during the war $ plural Romanies
1 [C] a GYPSY
2 [U] the language traditionally used by the GYPSY people
- Romany adjectiveRomeo $ plural romeos [C]
a man who tries to attract all the women he meets in a ROMANTIC or sexual way - often used humorously; Casanova $ [I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to play in a noisy way, especially by running, jumping etc
[+around/about]
•They could hear the children romping around upstairs.
2 to win a race, competition, election etc very easily
romp to a win/victory
•The women's team romped to a 132-81 win over Ireland.
•In 1906 the Liberal Party romped back to power.
romp home BrE
•The favourite horse, Badawi, romped home in the first race.

PHRASAL VERBS
romp through sth phr v BrE
informal to succeed in doing or finishing something quickly and easily[C]
1 informal a piece of amusing entertainment which has a lot of exciting scenes:
•'A Royal Scandal' is an hour-long romp that pokes fun at British royal marriages.
2 BrE informal a period of sexual activity - used humorously, especially in newspapers
3 when one sports team defeats another one very easily - used in newspapers
[+over]
•the Yankees' 12-1 romp over the Red Sox $ plural rondos [C]
a piece of music in which the main tune is repeated several times[C] technical
a decorated wooden or stone wall in a Christian church which divides the part where the CHOIR sit from the part where other people sit $ [C]
1 the structure that covers or forms the top of a building, vehicle, tent etc:
•They finally found the cat up on the roof.
[+of]
•We can probably strap the cases to the roof of her car.
slate/tiled/thatched etc roof
•a flat roof
•a pitched roof (=sloping roof)
red-roofed/metal-roofed etc
•a wooden-roofed theatre
2 the top of a passage under the ground:
•Suddenly, the whole tunnel roof caved in.
3 a roof over your head somewhere to live:
•I may not have a job, but at least I've got a roof over my head.
4 go through the roof informal
a) also hit the roof to suddenly become very angry:
•Put that back before Dad sees you and hits the roof!
b) if a price, cost etc goes through the roof, it increases to a very high level
5 the roof of sb's mouth the hard upper part of the inside of your mouth
6 under the same roof/under one roof in the same building or home:
•If we're going to live under the same roof, we need to get along.
•Here you can buy food, clothes, and electrical goods all under one roof.
7 under sb's roof spoken in your home:
•As long as you live under my roof, you'll do as I say.
8 the roof falls/caves in informal especially AmE if the roof falls in or caves in, something bad suddenly happens to you when you do not expect it
raise the roof at RAISE^1 (23); SUNROOF[T usually passive]
to put a roof on a building
be roofed with sth
•a cottage roofed with the local slate

PHRASAL VERBS
roof sth <=> in/over phr v BrE
to cover an open space by putting a roof over it:
•We're going to roof in the yard to make a garage. $ [plural] informal
an illegal drug that is sometimes used to make someone unconscious so they can be RAPEd $ [U]
1 material used for making or covering roofs
2 the job of building or repairing roofs[C] BrE
a metal frame fixed on top of a car and used for carrying bags, cases etc; = luggage rack AmE $ [C]
the upper surface of a roof:
•Spectators stood on rooftops to watch the parade.
shout sth from the rooftops at SHOUT^1 (3) [C]
1 a large black European bird like a CROW
2 one of the pieces in a game of CHESS; = castle [C]
1 especially AmE someone who has just started doing a job and has little experience:
•rookie cops
2 AmE someone who is in their first year of playing a professional sport
1 IN A BUILDING [C] a part of the inside of a building that has its own walls, floor, and ceiling:
•I looked around the room.
•She nodded toward a man who was standing across the room (=on the other side of the room).
•Someone was laughing in the next room (=the one beside the one you are in).
sb's room (=someone's bedroom)
•Beth, it's time to clean up your room.
bathroom/dining room/meeting room etc
•the doctor's waiting room
one-room(ed)/two-room(ed) etc
•a three-room apartment
single/double room (=a room in a hotel for one person or for two)
•I'd like to book a double room for two nights.
•Here's your key - room 348.
FRONT ROOM, LIVING ROOM, SITTING ROOM
2 SPACE [U] space somewhere for a particular thing, person, or activity
[+in]
•I hope there's going to be enough room in the fridge.
[+for]
•My suitcase was so full I didn't have room for anything else.
room to do sth
•The museum doesn't have enough room to show everything in their collection.
plenty of room/enough room
•There's plenty of room in the boot for your luggage.
•I'm trying to make room for a vegetable garden in the backyard.
•Step back, leave room for people to get past.
•The old wardrobe took up too much room.
leg-room/head-room (=space for your legs or head in a vehicle)
elbow-room at ELBOW^1 (5)
3 OPPORTUNITY/POSSIBILITY [U] the chance to do something, or the possibility that something exists or can happen
[+for]
• There's little room for innovation.
room for doubt/debate/argument etc
•The evidence was clear, and there was little room for doubt.
room for manoeuvre BrE
/room for maneuver AmE (=the possibility of changing what you do or decide)
•Teachers feel they have little room for manoeuvre when the curriculum is so demanding.
room to do sth
•Children need to have room to develop their natural creativity.
• Make room in your day for exercise.
4 there's room for improvement used to say that something is not perfect and needs to be improved:
•The report shows that there is room for improvement.
5 there's not enough room to swing a cat used humorously to say that an area or room is not very big
6 APARTMENT rooms [plural] old-fashioned especially BrE two or more rooms that you rent in a building, or stay in at a college
7 PEOPLE [singular] all the people in a room:
• The whole room started singing 'Happy Birthday'.[I] AmE
to rent and live in a room somewhere

PHRASAL VERBS
room with sb phr v
to share a room or house with someone, especially at college:
•I roomed with Al at UCSD.[U]
a room to sleep in, with food provided:
•You'll receive free room and board with the job. $ [C]
AmE someone who pays rent to live in a house with its owner; = lodger BrE [C]
a large number of things or people that are all together in one room
[+of]
•a roomful of reporters[C] AmE
a house where people can rent a room to live inroom-mate BrE [C]
1 someone who you share a room with, especially at college:
•one of my college roommates
2 AmE someone you share an apartment or house with; = flatmate BrE[U]
a service provided by a hotel, by which food and drinks can be sent to a guest's room[U]
the normal temperature inside a house:
•The wine should be served at room temperature.
a house, car etc that is roomy is large and has a lot of space inside it; = spacious [C]
a place where birds rest and sleep
rule the roost at RULE^2 (4)[I]
1 if a bird roosts, it rests or sleeps somewhere
2 sb's chickens come home to roost also sth comes home to roost used to say that someone's past mistakes are causing problems for them now:
•After years of overspending, the chickens have come home to roost. $ [C]
a male chicken; = cock BrE [C]
1 PLANT the part of a plant or tree that grows under the ground and gets water from the soil:
•tree roots
•These plants produce a number of thin roots.
2 CAUSE OF A PROBLEM the main cause of a problem
be/lie at the root of sth (=be the cause of something)
•Allergies are at the root of a lot of health problems.
•The love of money is the root of all evil.
•A competent mechanic should be able to get to the root of the problem (=find out the cause of a problem).
•the root causes of crime
3 ORIGIN/MAIN PART the origin or main part of something such as a custom, law, activity etc, from which other things have developed
[+in]
•a legal system with roots in English common law
•Jazz has its roots in the folk songs of the southern states of the US.
be/lie at the root of sth
•the liberal economic policies which lie at the root of American power
4 FAMILY CONNECTION sb's roots your relation to a place because you were born there, or your family used to live there:
•immigrants keeping in touch with their cultural roots
•Alex Haley's story about his search for his roots became a bestseller.
5 put down roots if you put down roots somewhere, you start to feel that a place is your home and to have relationships with the people there:
•Because of her husband's job, they'd moved too often to put down roots anywhere.
6 TOOTH/HAIR ETC the part of a tooth, hair etc that connects it to the rest of your body:
•She'd pulled some of Kelly's hair out by the roots.
7 take root
a) if an idea, method, activity etc takes root, people begin to accept or believe it, or it begins to have an effect:
•Economists believe that economic recovery will begin to take root next year.
b) if a plant takes root, it starts to grow where you have planted it
8 have a (good) root round BrE informal to search for something by moving other things around
9 LANGUAGE technical the basic part of a word which shows its main meaning, to which other parts can be added. For example, the word 'coldness' is formed from the root 'cold' and the SUFFIX 'ness'; stem
10 MATHEMATICS technical a number that, when multiplied by itself a certain number of times, equals the number that you have:
•2 is the fourth root of 16.
11 root and branch if you destroy or change something root and branch, you get rid of it or change it completely and permanently because it is bad:
•a root and branch reform of the electoral system
CUBE ROOT, SQUARE ROOT, GRASS ROOTS
1 PLANT
a) [I] to grow roots:
•New shrubs will root easily in summer.
b) [T usually passive] if a plant is rooted somewhere, it is held in the ground firmly by its roots:
•a bush firmly rooted in the hard ground
root itself
•Clumps of thyme had rooted themselves between the rocks.
2 be rooted in sth to have developed from something and be strongly influenced by it:
•The country's economic troubles are rooted in a string of global crises.
•This feeling of rejection is often deeply rooted in childhood.
3 SEARCH [I always + adv/prep] to search for something by moving things around; = rummage
root through/in/amongst sth (for sth)
•Leila rooted through her handbag for a pen.
4 PIGS [I usually + adv/prep] if a pig roots somewhere, it looks for food under the ground
[+for]
•pigs rooting for truffles
5 rooted to the spot/floor/ground etc so shocked, surprised, or frightened that you cannot move:
•She stood rooted to the spot, staring at him.

PHRASAL VERBS
root for sb phr v informal
1 to want someone to succeed in a competition, test, or difficult situation:
•You can do it - I'm rooting for you.
2 especially AmE to support a sports team or player by shouting and cheering:
•the Los Angeles fans rooting for the Lakers

root sth <=> out phr v
1 to find out where a particular kind of problem exists and get rid of it:
•Action is being taken to root out corruption in the police force.
2 to find something by searching for it:
•I'll try and root out something for you to wear.

root sth <=> up phr v
to dig or pull a plant up with its roots[C,U]
a sweet brown non-alcoholic drink made from the roots of some plants, drunk especially in the US[C]
a treatment in which a DENTIST removes a diseased area in the root of a tooth[C]
a vegetable or plant that is grown so that its roots can be soldalso rootle around/about [I]
BrE informal to search for something by moving many other things around
- rootle noun [singular]
having nowhere that you feel is really your home:
•rootless people
- rootlessness noun [U][C]
a vegetable such as a potato or CARROT that grows under the ground $
1 [C,U] very strong thick string, made by twisting together many thinner strings:
•They tied a rope around my waist and pulled me up.
•The man was coiling a length of rope.
2 the ropes [plural]
a) all the things someone needs to know to do a job or deal with a system:
•I spent the first month just learning the ropes.
•He works repairing streets, and knows the ropes when it comes to safety.
•Miss McGinley will show you the ropes and answer any questions.
b) the rope fence that surrounds an area used for BOXING or WRESTLING
3 be on the ropes informal to be in a very bad situation, in which you are likely to be defeated:
•The army says the rebels are on the ropes.
4 be at/near etc the end of your rope especially AmE to have no more PATIENCE or strength left to deal with a problem or a difficult situation:
•My son is causing endless problems, and I'm close to the end of my rope.
5 give sb some/enough etc rope to give someone a lot of freedom to do something in the way they want to do it:
•Managers have to decide how much rope to give their subordinates.
6 give sb enough rope to hang themselves to give someone freedom to do what they want to do, because you think they will cause problems for themselves and you want them to look stupid
7 a rope of pearls PEARLs on a string, worn around your neck as jewellery
JUMP ROPE, SKIPPING ROPE, TIGHTROPE, TOWROPE
money for old rope at MONEY (17)[T]
1 [always + adv/prep] to tie things together using rope
rope sth to sth
•Suitcases were roped to the top of the car.
rope sb/sth together
•Mountaineers rope themselves together for safety.
2 AmE to catch an animal using a circle of rope:
•The calves are roped and branded.

PHRASAL VERBS
rope sb into sth phr v also rope sb <=> in BrE informal
to persuade someone to help you in a job or join in an activity, especially when they do not want to
rope sb into doing sth
•Denise roped me into selling tickets.
rope sb in to do sth
•Anyone who could sing was roped in to help.
•Have you been roped in too?

rope sth <=> off phr v
to surround an area with ropes, especially in order to separate it from another area:
•The stairs were roped off.[C]
a LADDER made of two long ropes connected by wooden pieces that you stand onropy $ comparative ropier, superlative ropiest BrE informal
1 in bad condition or of bad quality:
•ropey old furniture
2 [not before noun] slightly ill:
•I'm feeling a bit ropey this morning. $ plural ro-ros [C]
BrE informal a ROLL-ON ROLL-OFF ship $ [C]
a method of testing someone's character, by making them say what they think spots of ink with various shapes look like $ plural rosaries [C]
1 a string of BEADs used by Roman Catholics for counting prayers
2 the rosary/the Rosary the set of prayers that are said by Roman Catholics while counting rosary BEADs
say/recite the rosary
•Three nuns knelt there, reciting the rosary. $
1 FLOWER [C] a flower that often has a pleasant smell, and is usually red, pink, white, or yellow, or the bush that this flower grows on:
•a dozen red roses
•A large bouquet of roses arrived on her desk.
• rose bushes
2 COLOUR [U] a pink colour
3 sth is not a bed of roses also sth is not all roses BrE informal if a job or situation is not a bed of roses, it is not always pleasant and there are difficult things to deal with:
•It's no bed of roses teaching in a secondary school.
4 put the roses back in sb's cheeks BrE informal to make someone look healthy again
5 be coming up roses informal to be happening or developing in the best possible way
6 come out of sth/come up smelling of roses informal to do well or get an advantage from a situation, when you could have been blamed, criticized, or harmed by it:
•She managed to come out of the deal smelling of roses.
7 FOR WATER [C] BrE a circular piece of metal with holes in it that is attached to the end of a pipe or WATERING CAN so that liquid comes out in several thin streams
the past tense of RISE
pink in colour:
•rose velvet curtains $ [C,U]
pink wine $ literary
pink:
•the roseate glow of the evening sun $ [C]
1 the flower of a rose before it opens
2 rosebud mouth/lips a mouth or lips that have a small round shape and are very redrose-colored AmE BrE
1 pink
2 rose-coloured glasses also rose-coloured spectacles BrE if you see or view something through rose-coloured glasses, you think it is better than it really is[C]
the small red fruit produced by some kinds of rose bushes, used in medicines and juices $ [U]
the narrow leaves of a bush, used as a herb, or the bush that these leaves come fromBrE
ROSE-COLOURED $ [C]
1 BrE a circular BADGE made of coloured RIBBON that is given to the winner of a competition, or that people in Britain wear to show support for a particular football team or political party
2 a shape like a round flat flower that has been made in stone or wood $ [U]
a liquid made from roses which has a pleasant smell[C]
a circular window in a church, especially one with coloured glass in it $ [U]
a hard dark red wood, used for making expensive furniture $ [U]
a solid slightly sticky substance that you rub on the BOW of a VIOLIN etc, to help it move smoothly on the strings
- rosin verb [T] $ [C]
1 a list of the names of people on a sports team, in an organization etc
on a roster
•The club has outstanding players on the roster.
[+of]
•The campaign has a roster of 500 volunteers.
2 a list that shows when each person in a group must do a particular job; = rota BrE
•duty roster[T]
to put someone's name on a roster $ [C]
a small PLATFORM that you stand on when you are making a speech or CONDUCTing musicians; = podium $ comparative rosier, superlative rosiest
1 seeming to offer hope of success or happiness:
•a company that sees a rosy future for itself
•Letters to relatives in Europe painted a rosy picture of life in the United States.
2 pink:
•the kids' rosy cheeks $ past tense and past participle rotted, present participle rotting
1 [I,T] to decay by a gradual natural process, or to make something do this:
•Candy will rot your teeth.
•The trees were cut and left to rot.
[+away]
•All the woodwork was rotting away.
2 rot in hell/jail to suffer or be punished for a long time - used especially when you are angry with someone:
•I hope the people who did this rot in hell.
1 [U] the natural process of decaying, or the part of something that has decayed:
•the smell of rot
•wood that is soft with rot
DRY ROT
2 [singular,U] a state in which something becomes bad or does not work as well as it should:
•He criticized the talk shows as 'cultural rot'.
stop the rot BrE (=stop a bad situation getting worse)
•The team has enough good players to stop the rot.
the rot set in BrE (=a situation started to get worse)
•It was after he left the company that the rot set in.
3 [U] BrE old-fashioned nonsense:
•You do talk rot! $ [C]
BrE a list that shows when each person in a group must do a particular job; = roster
•a cleaning rota $ [only before noun]
1 turning in a circle around a fixed point, like a wheel:
•the rotary movement of the helicopter blades
2 having a main part that turns like a wheel:
•a rotary engineplural rotaries [C]
AmE a ROUNDABOUT
the Rotary Club an organization of business people in a town who work together to raise money for people who are poor or sick $
1 [I,T] to turn with a circular movement around a central point, or to make something do this; = revolve; spin
•The Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours.
•Rotate the pan halfway through the baking time.
2 [I,T] if a job rotates, or if people rotate jobs, they each do a particular job for a particular period of time:
•The chairmanship of the committee rotates annually.
•Employers may rotate duties to give staff wider experience.
3 [I,T] to change the places of things or people, or to change places, especially in a circular direction:
•Rotating the tyres every few months helps them last longer.
4 [T] technical to regularly change the crops grown on a piece of land, in order to preserve the quality of the soil; crop rotation $
1 [U] when something turns with a circular movement around a central point
[+of]
•the rotation of the Earth on its axis
[+about/around]
•the planet's rotation around the sun
2 [C] one complete circular turn around a central point; = revolution
•The blades spin at 100 rotations per minute.
3 [U] the practice of regularly changing the thing that is being used or done, or the person who does a particular job:
•job rotation
in rotation
•Three plays will be performed in rotation during the drama festival.
4 [C] AmE a period of time spent doing a particular job, when you will soon change to a different job for the same employer:
•a young doctor on a rotation in the children's ward
5 [C] AmE the people who each take a turn to do a particular job in a regular order:
•The rotation included two rookies, Hernandez and Saunders.
- rotational adjective $ [U]
formal when you learn something by repeating it many times, without thinking about it carefully or without understanding it:
•In old-fashioned schools, much learning was by rote.
•the rote learning of factsrotfl
the written abbreviation of rolling on the floor laughing , used by people communicating in CHAT ROOMs on the Internet to say that they are very amused by something that someone else has written $ [U]
informal strong cheap low-quality alcohol $ [C]
a piece of equipment for cooking meat by turning it around and around on a metal rod over heat; grill $ [C] technical
1 a part of a machine that turns around on a central point
2 also rotor blade the long flat part that turns around and around on top of a HELICOPTER $
1 badly decayed and no longer good to use:
•the smell of rotten eggs
•Some of the wood was completely rotten.
•The apples went rotten very quickly.
2 informal very bad; = terrible
•What rotten luck!
•a rotten idea
•The service was rotten.
•He's a rotten driver.
3 informal if someone is rotten, they are unpleasant, unkind, or dishonest:
•Why are you being so rotten?
•a rotten little brat
4 feel rotten
a) to feel ill
b) to feel unhappy and guilty about something:
•I felt rotten about lying to him.
5 [only before noun] spoken used when you are angry:
•I don't want your rotten money!
6 rotten to the core extremely dishonest:
•The whole government is rotten to the core.
7 a rotten apple one bad person who has a bad effect on all the others in a group
- rottenness noun [U]informal
1 spoil sb rotten to treat someone too well or too kindly, especially a child, so that they think they should always have what they want:
•He was the favorite, and his mother spoiled him rotten.
2 fancy sb rotten BrE to be extremely attracted to someone in a sexual way - used humorously $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned an unpleasant person who treats other people badly $ [C]
a type of strong and dangerous dog, often used as a guard dog $
having a fat round body - used humorously; = stout
- rotundity noun [U] $ [C]
a round building or hall, especially one with a DOMEruble AmE [C] BrE
the standard unit of money in Russia and Belarus $ [C] literary
a man who believes that pleasure is the most important thing in life - used to show disapproval [U] old-fashioned
pink or red powder or cream that women put on their cheeks; = blusher
- rouge verb [T]
•heavily rouged cheeks comparative rougher, superlative roughest
1 NOT SMOOTH having an uneven surface; smooth
•Her hands were rough from hard work.
•the rough terrain at the base of the mountains
•We were bumping over the rough ground.
2 NOT EXACT [usually before noun] not exact, not containing many details, or not in a final form; = approximate
•a rough sketch of the house
•a rough translation
•Could you give me a rough idea what time you'll be home?
•a rough estimate of the cost
•First do a rough draft of your essay.
3 PROBLEMS/DIFFICULTIES a rough period is one in which you have a lot of problems or difficulties; = tough

a rough day/week etc
rough times
hit a rough patch/spot
go through a rough patch/spot
have a rough time (of it)
be in for/face a rough ride (=be going to have a difficult time)
rough going (=a period when you have a lot of difficulties)

•The first year was rough, but things have gotten better.
•Sounds like you had a rough day.
•We've been through some rough times together.
•My boyfriend and I were going through a rough patch.
•The bill is in for a rough ride in the Senate.
•It's been rough going, but we've almost finished now.

4 NOT GENTLE using force, anger, or violence; gentle
•Rugby is a very rough sport.
•Don't be too rough - she's only little.
•Paul gave her a rough shake.
•equipment capable of withstanding rough treatment
•The referee won't allow any rough stuff (=violent behaviour).
be rough on sb (=treat someone unkindly or criticize them in an angry way)
•Don't you think you were a little rough on her?
5 TOWN/AREA ETC a rough area is a place where there is a lot of violence or crime:
•a rough part of town
6 WEATHER/SEA with strong wind or storms; calm
•The ship went down in rough seas.
7 VOICE/SOUND
a) not sounding soft or gentle, and often rather unpleasant or angry:
•Barton's deep, rough voice
b) having an unpleasant sound, especially because there is something wrong with a machine:
•The clutch sounds rough - better get it checked.
8 SIMPLE/NOT WELL MADE simple and often not very well made:
•a rough wooden table
9 NOT COMFORTABLE uncomfortable, and with difficult conditions:
•The journey was long and rough.
10 have rough edges also be rough around the edges
a) to have some parts that are not as good as they should be, but that are not a serious problem:
•The team has a few rough edges, but they're winning more games.
b) if a person is rough around the edges, they are not very polite, educated etc
11 rough night a night when you did not sleep well:
•Mickey had a rough night last night.
12 a rough deal something that happens to you that is unfair or unpleasant:
•He's had a rough deal with his wife leaving him like that.
13 feel rough BrE informal to feel ill
14 look rough BrE informal to look untidy, dirty, or unhealthy:
•After travelling for two days we must have looked pretty rough.
15 rough and ready not perfect, but good enough for a particular purpose:
•The tests are only a rough and ready guide to a pupil's future development.
16 rough justice punishment that is not decided in a court in the usual legal way, and that is often severe or unfair:
•Gangs practise a kind of rough justice on their members.
- roughness noun [U]
ROUGH DIAMOND, ROUGH PAPER, ROUGHLY
1 the rough uneven ground with long grass on an area where people play golf; green
2 take the rough with the smooth to accept the bad things in life as well as the good ones:
•You have to learn to take the rough with the smooth.
3 [C] a picture drawn very quickly, not showing all the details; = sketch
•a rough of the proposed housing development
4 in rough BrE if you write or draw something in rough, you do it without paying attention to details or tidiness, because you are going to do it again later:
•It's best to work in rough first, and then write it out neatly.
5 a bit of rough BrE informal someone from a lower social class than you, with whom you have a sexual relationship
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
rough it informal to live for a short time in conditions that are not very comfortable:
•I don't mind roughing it for a while.

PHRASAL VERBS
rough sth <=> out phr v BrE
to draw or write something without including all the details:
•a diagram the engineer had roughed out on his notepad

rough sb <=> up phr v
informal to attack someone and hurt them by hitting them
1 sleep rough BrE to sleep outside with nothing to protect you from the weather, especially because you have no home to live in:
•the number of people sleeping rough on the street
2 play rough to play in a fairly violent way
cut up rough at CUT^1 (6) [U]
a substance contained in some vegetables, fruits, and grains that helps your BOWELs to work; = fibre
1 [U] a situation in which people compete with each other, often in a cruel way
[+of]
•the rough and tumble of public life
2 [singular,U] noisy rough behaviour when playing or fighting, especially by children
- rough-and-tumble adjective [only before noun]
•Most boys enjoy rough-and-tumble play. $ [U]
a rough surface on the outside of a building, made of PLASTER mixed with little stones or broken shells
- roughcast adjective[C]
BrE informal someone who seems rude, rough, or unfriendly, but is actually nice and generous; = diamond in the rough AmE [I,T]
to become rough, or to make something rough:
•hands roughened by work
rough-hewn wood or stone has been cut without much care and its surface is not yet smooth [I]
AmE to play roughly or pretend to fight:
•Okay, guys, slow down. No more roughhousing.
1 not exactly; = about, approximately
•There were roughly 200 people there.
•Azaleas flower at roughly the same time each year.
roughly equal/comparable/equivalent
•two rocks of roughly equal size
roughly speaking (=used when saying something without giving exact details or information)
•Roughly speaking, I'd say we need about $500.
2 not gently or carefully:
•He grabbed her roughly. [C] informal especially AmE
1 someone who works on an OIL WELL
2 a man who usually behaves in a rough, rude, or angry way[U]
BrE paper that is used for writing or drawing things that will later be changed or copied more neatly $
ride roughshod over sb/sth especially BrE ; run roughshod over sb/sth AmE to behave in a way that ignores other people's feelings or opinions:
•We cannot ride roughshod over the concerns of the local community. [U]
a game in which a small ball is spun around on a moving wheel, and people try to win money by guessing which hole the ball will fall intoalso around especially BrE
1 surrounding or on all sides of something or someone:
•We sat round the table playing cards.
•Gather round! I have an important announcement to make.
•He put his arm gently round her waist.
•I kept the key on a chain round my neck.
•The ballroom's huge, with windows all the way round.
•There was a lovely courtyard with tables all round.
2 used to say that someone or something turns so that they face in the opposite direction:
•When he turned round I recognised him immediately.
•Graham glanced round, startled by the voice behind him.
3 in or to many places or parts of an area:
•Reggie went round making sure all the lights were off.
•Leah showed me round on my first day at the office.
•A guide took us round the palace and gardens.
•He spent a whole year travelling round Europe.
•She looked round the room as though leaving it for the last time.
•changes that are affecting the weather all round the world
4 moving in a circle:
•She watched the clock hands go round.
•An aeroplane was circling round far overhead.
•Until the 16th century people believed that the sun went round the earth.
•He stared at the washing machine, just watching the clothes go round and round.
•a shoal of tiny fish swimming round in circles
5 informal if you go round to someone's house, you go to their house, usually to visit them:
•I might go round to Nigel's this evening.
•He's invited us round for dinner.
•We'll be round (=will arrive) at seven.
6 to other people or positions:
•A big box of chocolates was handed round.
•He'd moved his furniture round.
7 on the other side of something, or to the other side of it without going through it or over it:
•He ran round to open Kate's door for her.
•There must be another entrance round the back.
•I watched the two boys disappear round the corner.
[+to]
•She came round to his side of the desk.
8 in the area near a particular place:
•Much of the countryside round Hinkley Point is given over to agriculture.
•Do you live round here?
•He owned all the land round about (=in the surrounding area).
9 round about spoken informal also round used when guessing a number, amount, time etc without being exact; = approximately
•We got there round about half past nine.
•He's round about the same age as my son.
•It must have been round midnight when I saw him.
10 used to show that someone spends time in a place without doing anything useful:
•People were just standing round and not doing anything to help.
11 if something is organized round a particular person or thing, it is organized according to their needs, wishes, ideas etc:
•Working from home, she could arrange her hours round her children.
•He had built his whole existence round her.
12 a way round a difficult situation or problem is a way to solve it or avoid it:
•She's going to have to buy a car. I can't see any other way round it.
•strategies to get round (=solve) the problem
13 used to show the length of a line surrounding something:
•The park was about five miles round.
ALL ROUND
go round in circles at CIRCLE^1 (5)
(a)round the clock at CLOCK^1 (2)
(just) around/round the corner at CORNER^1 (9)
first/second time round at TIME^1 (3)
way round at WAY^1 (24)
1 shaped like a circle:
•a big round table
•Jamie's eyes grew round with delight.
2 shaped like a ball:
•small round berries
3 fat and curved:
•round chubby cheeks
4 [only before noun] a round number or figure is a whole number, often ending in 0:
•Let's make it a round figure: say £50?
in round figures (=expressed as the nearest 10, 100, 1000 etc)
•Altogether, in round figures, there are about three thousand students here.
a round hundred/dozen etc (=a complete hundred etc)
a square peg in a round hole at SQUARE^1 (12)
- roundness noun [U][C]
1 SERIES a round of events is a series of related events, which are part of a longer process
[+of]
•a third round of peace talks
•the Government's latest round of expenditure cuts
2 COMPETITION one of the parts of a competition that you have to finish or win before you can go on to the next part; heat, stage
the first/final/next/qualifying etc round
•I got beaten in the first round.
•Two of their candidates made it through to the next round.
[+of]
•the final round of the championship
3 REGULAR ACTIVITIES round of sth a round of activities is a regular series of activities, especially activities that are not very exciting:
•an endless round of meetings and interviews
•He continued with his usual round of private and business engagements.
•the daily round of commuting and shopping
4 VISITS rounds [plural] the usual visits that someone, especially a doctor, regularly makes as part of their job
be (out) on your rounds
•I'm sorry. The doctor is out on her rounds.
5 round of applause when people CLAP for a short time to show that they enjoyed something or approve of something:
•She got a big round of applause.
•The passengers gave the pilot a round of applause.
6 GOLF a complete game of golf:
•I played a round of golf on Sunday morning.
7 BOXING/WRESTLING one of the periods of fighting in a BOXING or WRESTLING match
8 DRINKS if you buy a round of drinks in a bar, you buy drinks for all the people in your group
it's my/your etc round (=used to say whose turn it is to buy drinks for all the people in your group)
•What are you having? It's my round.
9 do the rounds BrE informal make the rounds AmE also go the rounds BrE if a story, idea, or illness does the rounds, it is passed on from one person to another:
•a joke doing the rounds
10 do the rounds of sth BrE make the rounds of sth AmE to go around from one place to another, especially looking for work or advertising something:
•Ryan is making the rounds of talk shows to promote her new movie.
11 GUN SHOT a single shot from a gun, or a bullet for one shot:
•I've only got ten rounds of ammunition left.
•Richards fired a few rounds.
12 CIRCLE something that has a circular shape:
•Slice the potatoes into rounds.
13 FOOD/NEWSPAPERS/LETTERS ETC BrE a regular visit to a number of houses, offices etc to deliver or sell things
paper/milk round (=a job in which you deliver newspapers, milk etc to people's houses)
•I used to do a paper round.
14 SONG a song for three or four singers, in which each one sings the same tune, starting at a different time
15 round of sandwiches BrE SANDWICHes made from two whole pieces of bread
16 round of toast BrE one whole piece of bread that has been TOASTed
17 in the round a play that is performed in the round is performed on a central stage surrounded by the people watching it
1 [T] to go round something such as a bend or the corner of a building:
•As they rounded the bend and came in sight of the river, Philip took her hand.
•The tide was coming in as he rounded the rocks.
2 [T] to make something into a round shape:
•The stones were then rounded, polished and engraved.
3 [I] written if your eyes round, you open them wide because you are shocked, frightened etc:
•Barbara's eyes rounded in surprise.

PHRASAL VERBS
round sth <=> down phr v
to reduce an exact figure to the nearest whole number; round up
•For the 1841 census it was decided to round down ages over fifteen to the nearest five.

round sth <=> off phr v
1 to do something as a way of ending an event, performance etc in a suitable or satisfactory way; = finish
[+with]
•You can round off the evening with a visit to the nightclub.
•She rounded off the meal with some cheese.
•It was the perfect way to round off the season.
2 to take the sharp or rough edges off something:
•Round off the corners with a pair of scissors.
3 to change an exact figure to the nearest whole number
[+to]
•Prices are rounded off to the nearest dollar.

round on sb phr v BrE
to suddenly turn and attack someone when they do not expect it, either with words or physically:
•When the door closed, Crabb rounded on Edwards. 'You stupid idiot!'

round sth <=> out phr v
to make an experience more thorough or complete:
•African percussion and Native American flute round out the show.

round sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 if police or soldiers round up a particular group of people, they find them and force them to go to prison:
•Thousands of men were rounded up and jailed.
2 to find and gather together a group of people, animals, or things:
•See if you can round up a few friends to help you!
•His dog Nell started to round up the sheep.
3 to increase an exact figure to the next highest whole number; round down
ROUNDED, WELL-ROUNDED [C] BrE
1 a raised circular area where three or more roads join together and which cars must drive around; = traffic circle AmE
•Turn left at the first roundabout.
MINI-ROUNDABOUT
2 a round structure for children to play on in a park. Children sit on it while someone pushes it around and around; = merry-go-round AmE
3 a MERRY-GO-ROUND
swings and roundabouts at SWING^2 (9)[only before noun]
1 a roundabout way of saying something is not clear, direct, or simple; = indirect; direct
roundabout way/fashion
•It was a roundabout way of telling us to leave.
2 a roundabout way of getting somewhere is longer and more complicated than necessary:
•The bus took a very long and roundabout route.
1 having a round shape; = curved
2 having a wide range of qualities that make someone or something pleasant, balanced, and complete:
•Psychology tests found me to be thoroughly rounded in skills and attitudes.
ROUND^2, WELL-ROUNDED [C]
a circular design, for example one used to make a military aircraft recognizable $ [U]
a British ball game, similar to baseball, in which players hit the ball and then run around the edge of an area
having eyes which are wide open because of shock, fear etc
roundly condemn/criticize etc to CONDEMN, criticize etc someone strongly and severely:
•All the major political parties roundly condemned the attack.[C]
a competition in which every player or team plays against every other player or team:
•a round robin tournament
someone who is round-shouldered has shoulders that are bent forwards or slope downwards[only before noun]
a round-table discussion is one in which everyone can talk about things in an equal way
round-table discussion/meeting/talks[only before noun]
happening all the time, both day and night:
•round-the-clock medical care
round the clock at CLOCK^1 (6)[C]
a journey to a place and back again:
•a round-trip ticket from Los Angeles to New York
30 mile/360 kilometre/2 hour etc round trip
•A coachload of supporters made the 700-mile round trip to South Devon.
[+of]
•It's a round trip of 90 miles.[only before noun] AmE
a round-trip ticket includes the journey to a place and back again; = return BrE
- round trip adverb[C]
1 a short description of the main parts of the news, on the radio or on television; = summary
[+of]
•First, with a round-up of the day's local news, here's Paul Kirby.
news/sports round-up
•our Friday sports round-up
2 when people or animals of a particular type are all brought together, often using force
[+of]
•a round-up of suspected drug-dealers
•the annual cattle round-up
round up at ROUND^4 $ [C]
a small round PARASITE that lives in the bodies of animals and sometimes humans; tapeworm, worm [T]
1 formal to wake someone who is sleeping deeply:
•His banging roused the neighbours.
rouse sb from sleep/dreams etc
•A persistent ringing roused Christina from a pleasant dream.
2 to make someone start doing something, especially when they have been too tired or unwilling to do it
rouse yourself
•She roused herself stiffly from her chair.
rouse sb to sth/to do sth
•a campaign designed to rouse the younger generation to action
3 to make someone feel a particular emotion, such as anger or fear; arouse
•We don't want to rouse any suspicions.
rouse sb to sth
•Paul strode forward, roused to anger. [not before noun]
angry:
• When roused, he could be violent. [only before noun]
a rousing song, speech etc makes people feel excited and eager to do something:
•a rousing chorus of 'Happy Birthday' [T]
AmE to make someone move from a place:
•We rousted him out of bed. [C]
especially AmE a man who does work for which he needs to be strong but not skilled, especially in a port, an OILFIELD, or a CIRCUS [T]
to defeat someone completely in a battle, competition, or election[C usually singular, U]
a complete defeat in a battle, competition, or election:
•The battle turned into a rout.
put sb to rout (=defeat sb completely) $ [C]
1 a way from one place to another
[+to/from]
•What's the best route to Cambridge?
take/follow a route (=use a route)
•We weren't sure about which route we should take.
•the most direct route home
2 a way between two places that buses, planes, ships etc regularly travel
bus/air/shipping etc route
•Is your office on a bus route?
cycle route (=a way between two places that only people on bicycles can use)
3 a way of doing something or achieving a particular result
[+to]
•the surest route to disaster
•Kennedy arrived at the same conclusion by a different route.
4 Route 66/54 etc used to show the number of a main road in the US
paper route[T]
to send something somewhere using a particular route
route sth through/via sth
•They had to route the goods through Germany.
RE-ROUTE[C]
a long march done by soldiers when they are training $ [C] technical
a piece of electronic equipment that makes sending messages between different computers or between different networks easier and faster
1 [C,U] the usual order in which you do things, or the things you regularly do:
•John's departure had upset their daily routine.
•Try to get into a routine (=develop a fixed order of doing things).
•my daily exercise routine
•Dressing is a task which we do every day as a matter of routine (=done regularly and not unusual).
2 [C] a set of movements, jokes etc that form part of a performance:
•a dance routine
3 [C] technical a set of instructions given to a computer so that it will do a particular operation
- routinize verb [T] AmE
1 happening as a normal part of a job or process:
•You mustn't worry. These are just routine enquiries.
•routine maintenance work
•a routine operation
2 ordinary and boring
routine jobs/tasks
•routine tasks such as washing up
if something is routinely done, it is done as a normal part of a process or job; = regularly
•This vaccine is already routinely used. plural roux [C,U]
a mixture of flour, butter, and milk that is used for making sauces $
1 [I,T] written to travel from one place to another; = roam
•a salesman roving the country
2 roving reporter someone who works for a newspaper or television company and moves from place to place
3 [I] if someone's eyes rove, they look continuously from one part of something to another
[+over/around]
•Benedict's eyes roved boldly over her sleeping body.
4 have a roving eye old-fashioned to always be looking for a chance to have romantic relationships - often used humorously $ [C]
1 a line of things or people next to each other; column
[+of]
•a row of houses
•rows of trees
in a row
•The children were asked to stand in a row.
• row upon row (=many rows) of shelves stacked with books
2 a line of seats in a theatre or cinema:
•We sat in the front row.
3 in a row happening a number of times, one after the other; = consecutively
4 nights/3 weeks etc in a row
•She's been out four nights in a row.
•I've beaten her three times in a row.
4 used in the name of some roads:
•22 Church Row
5 a hard/tough row to hoe used to say that a particular situation is difficult BrE
1 [C] a short angry argument, especially between people who know each other well; = quarrel
[+with]
•He had just had a row with his wife.
[+about]
•What was the row about?
•a family row
•a blazing row (=a very angry argument)
2 [C] a situation in which people disagree strongly about important public matters; = controversy
[+about/over]
•a new row over government secrecy
3 [singular] a loud unpleasant noise that continues for a long time; = racket
•Stop that row - I'm trying to get to sleep! $
[I,T] to make a boat move across water using OARs
[+away/towards/across]
•She rowed across the lake.
•Jenny used to row at college (=as a sport).
- row noun [singular]
•Why don't we go for a row?
- rower noun [C] [I]
BrE to argue in an angry way
[+about]
•They rowed about money all the time. $ [C]
a small tree with red berries $ [C]
AmE a small boat that you move through the water with OARs ; = rowing boat BrE
behaving in a noisy rough way that is likely to cause arguments and fighting:
•gangs of rowdy youths
- rowdily adverb
- rowdiness noun [U]
- rowdyism noun [U]plural rowdies [C usually plural]
old-fashioned someone who behaves in a rough noisy way $ [C]
AmE a house that is part of a line of houses that are joined to each other; = terraced house BrE $ [U]
the sport or activity of making a boat move through water with OARs $ [C]
BrE a small boat that you move through the water with OARs (=long poles that are flat at the end); = row boat AmE[C]
a piece of exercise equipment on which you perform the action of rowing a boat $ [C] BrE
one of the U-shaped pieces of metal that holds the OARs of a rowing boat [only before noun]
1 relating to or belonging to a king or queen; regal
•the royal palace
•the royal family
2 used in the names of organizations that serve or are supported by a king or queen:
•the Royal Navy
•the Royal College of Music
3 very impressive, as if done for a king or queen:
•a royal welcome
4 the royal 'we' BrE the use of the word 'we' instead of 'I' by the Queen or King
- royally adverb[C]
informal a member of a royal family; commoner [U]
a bright deep blue colour
- royal blue adjective[C]
a group of people chosen by the British government to make suggestions about a subject that the government thinks may need new laws[C usually singular]
a set of cards that someone has in a card game, which are the five most important cards in a SUIT (=one of the four different types of card)[C]
your/his/her Royal Highness used when speaking about or to a royal person, especially a prince or princess [C]
someone who supports their country's king or queen, or believes that a country should be ruled by kings or queens; republican
- royalist adjective plural royalties
1 [U] members of a royal family:
•At school the other children treated them like royalty.
2 [C usually plural] a payment made to the writer of a book or piece of music depending on how many books etc are sold, or to someone whose idea, invention etc is used by someone else to make money:
•the royalties from his latest book
•royalty payments $ [U]
Received Pronunciation the form of British pronunciation that many educated people in Britain use, and that is thought of as the standard form $
revolutions per minute used to describe the speed at which something turns, especially an engine or a RECORD PLAYERR.R. $
rural route used in addresses in country areas of the US, to show which postal delivery area a letter should go to [U] medical
repetitive strain injury pains in your hands, arms etc caused by doing the same movements many times, especially by using a computer KEYBOARD or MOUSE
used on invitations to ask someone to reply $ [U] technical
rich text format a system used to arrange and show the information in computer documentsBrE
the written abbreviation of Right Honourable past tense and past participle rubbed, present participle rubbing
1 [I,T] to move your hand, or something such as a cloth, backwards and forwards over a surface while pressing firmly; stroke
rub your nose/chin/eyes/forehead etc
•She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
rub sth with sth
•She began rubbing her hair with a towel.
•You'll have to rub harder if you want to get it clean.
•I hurriedly rubbed myself dry.
2 [I,T] to make something press against something else and move it around
rub sth against/on sth
•She stood by the oven, rubbing one bare foot against the other.
[+against]
•The cat purred loudly, rubbing against her legs.
rub sth together
•We tried to make a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together.
•He rubbed his hands together with embarrassment.
3 [I,T] if shoes, clothes, or parts of a machine rub, they move around while pressing against another surface, often causing pain or damage:
•Badly fitting shoes are bound to rub.
[+against/on]
•The front left fender was smashed and rubbing against the wheel.
•The skin under my sock was rubbed raw (=the skin had come off).
4 [T always + adv/prep] to put a substance into or onto a surface by pressing it and moving it about with your fingers or something such as a cloth:
•Can you rub some sun cream on my back for me?
5 rub shoulders with sb informal also rub elbows with sb AmE to meet and spend time with people, especially rich and famous people:
•As a reporter he gets to rub shoulders with all the big names in politics.
6 rub salt into the wound informal to make a bad situation even worse for someone
7 rub sb up the wrong way BrE informal rub sb the wrong way AmE informal to annoy someone by the things you say or do, usually without intending to
8 be rubbing your hands informal to be pleased because something has happened which gives you an advantage, especially because something bad has happened to someone else
9 rub sb's nose in it/in the dirt informal to keep reminding someone about something they did wrong or failed to do, especially in order to punish them
10 not have two pennies/halfpennies/beans to rub together BrE old-fashioned to not have any money

PHRASAL VERBS
rub along phr v BrE informal
to have a friendly relationship with someone; = get along
•We rub along well most of the time.
[+with/together]
•By and large the Poles and Germans of the city had shown that they could rub along together.

rub sth/sb <=> down phr v
1 to make a surface smooth by rubbing it with SANDPAPER:
•That door needs rubbing down before you paint it.
2 to dry a person or animal by rubbing them with a cloth, TOWEL etc:
•The groom rubbed down the horses.
3 to MASSAGE someone, especially after exercise

rub sth <=> in phr v informal
to remind someone about something they want to forget, especially because they are embarrassed about it:
•Was he trying to rub in the fact that he didn't think much of me?
•I know I should have been more careful, but there's no need to keep rubbing it in.

rub off phr v
1 to remove something from a surface by rubbing it, or to come off a surface because of being rubbed
rub sth off sth
•Jack rubbed the mud off his face.
rub sth <=> off
•She rubbed off her lipstick and eye shadow.
•Some of the gold paint had begun to rub off.
2 if a feeling, quality, or habit rubs off on you, you start to have it because you are with another person who has it
[+on]
•She refused to give up, and her confidence rubbed off on the others.

rub sth/sb <=> out phr v
1 BrE to remove writing, a picture etc from a surface by rubbing it with a piece of rubber, a cloth etc; = erase
•Draw the outline lightly with a soft pencil. This can be rubbed out later.
2 AmE old-fashioned informal to murder someone
1 give sb/sth a rub to rub something or MASSAGE someone for a short time:
•Give the table a good rub with a damp cloth.
2 there's/here's the rub literary used when saying that a particular problem is the reason why a situation is so difficult - often used humorously $
1 [U] a substance used to make tyres, boots etc, which is made from the juice of a tropical tree or artificially:
•a rubber ball
2 [C] BrE
a) a small piece of rubber or similar material used for removing pencil marks from paper; = eraser AmE
b) an object used for cleaning marks from a BLACKBOARD; = eraser AmE
3 [C] AmE informal a CONDOM
4 rubbers [plural] AmE old-fashioned rubber shoes or boots that you wear over ordinary shoes when it rains or snows; = galoshes
5 [C] a series of games of BRIDGE or CRICKET
6 [C] the piece of white rubber where the PITCHER (=person who throws the ball) stands in a baseball game[C]
a thin circular piece of rubber used for fastening things together; = elastic band BrE[C]
AmE a tall boot made of rubber that keeps your feet and the lower part of your legs dry; = wellington boot BrE[C]
a bullet made of rubber that is not intended to seriously hurt or kill people, but is used to control violent crowds; plastic bullet[C]
a small rubber boat that is filled with air $ [I]
informal to look around at something, especially something such as an accident while you are driving past - used to show disapproval:
•People rubbernecking in the southbound lane caused a second accident.
- rubbernecker noun [C][C]
a plant with large shiny dark green leaves that is often grown indoors[C]
a small piece of rubber with a handle, used for printing dates or names on paper[T]
to give official approval to something without really thinking about it - used to show disapproval:
•The committee has already rubber-stamped the scheme.
1 looking or feeling like rubber:
•rubbery eggs
•rubbery lips
2 if your legs or knees are rubbery, they feel weak or unsteady [C]
a copy of a shape or pattern made by rubbing WAX, CHALK etc onto a piece of paper laid over it:
•a brass rubbing[U]
AmE a type of alcohol used for cleaning wounds or skin; = surgical spirit BrE [U] especially BrE
1 food, paper etc that is no longer needed and has been thrown away; = garbage AmE; = trash AmE
•a rubbish bin
• household rubbish
rubbish tip/dump (=a place to take rubbish)
2 informal objects, papers etc that you no longer use and should throw away:
•I've got so much rubbish on my desk it's unbelievable.
3 informal an idea, statement, etc that is rubbish is silly or wrong and does not deserve serious attention; = nonsense; = garbage AmE
•You do talk rubbish sometimes.
•That's a load of rubbish.
•The suggestion is absolute rubbish.
rubbish! spoken (=used to tell someone that what they have just said is completely wrong)
4 informal a film, book etc that is rubbish is very bad:
•the usual Hollywood rubbish[T]
BrE to say something is bad or uselessBrE informal
not skilful at a particular activity:
•a rubbish team BrE informal
silly or of a very low quality; = trashy
•rubbishy magazines [U]
broken stones or bricks from a building or wall that has been destroyed [C]
1 especially AmE if you give someone a rubdown, you rub their body to make them relaxed, especially after exercise; = massage
2 if you give a surface a rubdown, you rub it to make it smooth or clean
rub down at RUB^1 [C]
AmE informal someone, usually from the country, who has no experience of other places and thinks in a simple way - used to show disapproval [U]
medical an infectious disease that causes red spots on your body, and can damage an unborn child; = German measles $
cross the Rubicon to do something that will have extremely important effects in the future and that you cannot change literary
someone who is rubicund is fat and has a red face
the American spelling of ROUBLE [C]
1 formal a set of instructions or an explanation in a book, examination paper etc
2 a title under which particular things are mentioned or discussed:
•The names were listed under the rubric 'Contributors'. plural rubies
1 [C] a red jewel
2 also ruby red [U] a dark red colour
- ruby adjective
a ruched curtain or piece of clothing has parts of it gathered together so that it has folds in it
1 [C] a group of RUGBY players trying to get the ball when it is lying on the ground
2 the ruck formal ordinary events or people, which seem rather boring compared to the lives of rich or famous people:
•Obtaining a good education was seen as a way out of the ruck.
3 [singular] a group of people standing very closely together or fighting
4 [C] BrE informal a fight

PHRASAL VERBS
ruck up phr v
if a piece of cloth rucks up, or if you ruck it up, it forms folds in an untidy way
ruck sth <=> up
•Your coat's all rucked up at the back. [C]
especially BrE a bag used for carrying things on your back, especially by people on long walks; = backpack [singular]
informal especially AmE a noisy argument or confused situation; = rumpus [plural]
informal especially BrE angry talk and complaints because many people are annoyed about a situation $ [C]
a flat part at the back of a ship or aircraft that can be turned in order to control the direction in which it moves $
without someone to lead you or give you an aim or direction:
•a company left rudderless by the resignation of its CEO
1 a ruddy face looks pink and healthy; sallow
•a ruddy complexion
•ruddy cheeks
2 literary red:
•The fire cast a ruddy glow over the room.
3 [only before noun] BrE informal used to emphasize what you are saying, especially when you are annoyed with someone or something; = bloody, damn
•I wish that ruddy dog would stop barking!
- ruddiness noun [U]
- ruddy adverb comparative ruder, superlative rudest
1 speaking or behaving in a way that is not polite and is likely to offend or annoy people; = impolite; polite
•a rude remark
•I didn't mean to be rude, but I had to leave early.
[+to]
•Why are you so rude to her?
it is rude to do sth
•It's rude to stare.
2 rude jokes, words, songs etc are about sex; = dirty AmE
3 rude awakening/shock a situation in which you suddenly realize something unpleasant:
•If they expect the match to be friendly, then they are in for a rude awakening.
4 in rude health BrE old-fashioned very healthy
5 literary made in a simple basic way:
•a rude wooden hut
- rudely adverb
•We were rudely awakened by the storm.
•He answered me very rudely.
- rudeness noun [U]
1 a rudimentary knowledge or understanding of a subject is very simple and basic; sophisticated
•Gradually, I acquired a rudimentary knowledge of music.
•my rudimentary German
2 rudimentary equipment, methods, systems etc are very basic and not advanced:
•subsistence farming in its most rudimentary form
•The classroom equipment is pretty rudimentary. [plural]
formal the most basic parts of a subject, which you learn first; = basics
[+of]
•the rudiments of windsurfing [T]
literary to wish that you had not done something; = regret
•She learned to rue the day she had met Henri.
feeling or showing that you wish you had not done something:
•a rueful smile
- ruefully adverb
•He smiled ruefully. [C]
1 a stiff circular white collar, worn in the 16th century
2 a circle of feathers or fur around the neck of an animal or bird [C]
old-fashioned a violent man, involved in crime:
•a gang of ruffians
- ruffianly adjective [T]
1 also ruffle sth <=> up to make a smooth surface uneven:
•He ruffled her hair affectionately.
•A light wind ruffled the water.
2 to offend or upset someone slightly:
•Louise's sharp comments had ruffled his pride.
ruffle sb's feathers (=offend someone)[C]
a band of thin cloth sewn in folds as a decoration around the edge of something such as a collar [C]
1 a piece of thick cloth or wool that covers part of a floor, used for warmth or as a decoration; mat, carpet
2 BrE a large piece of material that you can wrap around yourself, especially when you are travelling
3 pull the rug (out) from under sb/sb's feet informal to suddenly take away something that someone was depending on to achieve what they wanted
4 a TOUPéE - used humorouslyalso rugby football [U]
an outdoor game played by two teams with an OVAL (=egg-shaped) ball that you kick or carry[U]
a type of rugby played by teams of 13 players[U]
a type of rugby played by teams of 15 players
1 land that is rugged is rough and uneven:
•a rugged coastline
•the rugged beauty of the Highlands
2 a man who is rugged is good-looking and has strong features which are often not perfect:
•his rugged good looks
3 a vehicle or piece of equipment that is rugged is strongly built and not likely to break easily; = sturdy
4 rugged behaviour is confident and determined but not always polite:
•rugged individualism
- ruggedly adverb, noun [U] $ [U]
BrE informal Rugby Union [T]
1 to spoil or destroy something completely:
•This illness has ruined my life.
•His career would be ruined.
•All this mud's going to ruin my shoes.
see box at DESTROY
2 to make someone lose all their money:
•Jefferson was ruined by the lawsuit.
RUINED
1 [U] a situation in which you have lost all your money, your social position, or the good opinion that people had about you:
•small businesses facing financial ruin
be on the road to ruin (=be doing something that will make you lose your money, position etc)
2 [C] also ruins the part of a building that is left after the rest has been destroyed:
•an interesting old ruin
•the ruins of a bombed-out office block
3 the ruins of sth the parts of something such as an organization, system, or set of ideas that remain after the rest have been destroyed:
•the ruins of a government that once held so much promise
4 be/lie in ruins
a) if a building is in ruins, it has fallen down or been badly damaged
b) if someone's life, a country's ECONOMY etc is in ruins, it is affected by very great problems:
•Her marriage was in ruins.
5 fall into ruin also go to ruin if something goes to ruin, it gets damaged or destroyed because no one is taking care of it:
•He had let the farm go to ruin.
6 be the ruin of sb to make someone lose all their money, their good health, the good opinion that other people have of them etc:
•Drinking was the ruin of him.
go to rack and ruin at RACK^1 (4) [U] old-fashioned
a process in which someone or something is ruined, or the cause of this - often used humorously [only before noun]
a ruined building has been almost completely destroyed:
•a ruined castle
RUIN^2
1 causing a lot of damage or problems:
•a ruinous civil war
2 costing much more than you can afford:
•ruinous rates of interest
3 formal a building that is ruinous has been almost completely destroyed; = ruined
•an old ruinous chapel
ruinous state/condition
•the ruinous state of the city walls
- ruinously adverb
•ruinously expensive
1 INSTRUCTION [C] an official instruction that says how things must be done or what is allowed, especially in a game, organization, or job; law, regulation

strict rule
unwritten/unspoken rule (=an unofficial rule that everyone knows about)
break a rule (=not obey a rule)
follow/obey/observe the rules
comply with the rules (=obey the rules)
bend/stretch the rules (=do something that is not normally allowed)
play by the rules (=do what is expected and agreed)
against the rules (=not allowed)
under the rules (of sth) (=according to a particular set of rules)
breach of the rules (=when someone does not obey the rules)
rules are rules (=used when you are saying that a rule cannot be broken)
rules and regulations

[+of]
•The rules of the game are quite simple.
• The rules are less strict in the local county court.
•If you break the rules, it just spoils the whole game.
• You have to follow the rules precisely in order to lose weight fast.
• her refusal to comply with the club rules
• We might be able to bend the rules just this one time.
• The point of having the European Union is to make everybody play by the rules.
•Is it against the rules to talk?
• Under the rules of the International Cycling union, an eight day delay is allowed.
•It is not a crime, though it is a breach of stock market rules.
• Rules are rules and it's my duty to enforce them.
• I'm sick of all their petty rules and regulations.
•School rules required all girls to tie back their hair.

2 ADVICE [C] what you should do in a particular situation, or a statement about this:
•There are no hard and fast rules (=clear and definite rules) about what to wear to classes.
[+of]
•There are two basic rules of survival.
•widespread acceptance of certain rules of conduct
•One of these unwritten rules is that parents should play with their children.
• The rule is: if you feel any pain you should stop exercising immediately.
3 NORMAL/USUAL [singular] something that is normal or usually true
as a (general) rule
•As a general rule most students finish their coursework by the end of May.
•Early marriage used to be the rule in that part of the world.
•A series of payments used to be the exception rather than the rule.
•Unfortunately there is an exception to every rule.
4 GOVERNMENT [U] the government of a country or area by a particular group of people or using a particular system
under ... rule
•people living under communist rule
•the end of colonial rule
•a period of military rule
• direct rule from Westminster
•the restoration of majority rule (=government by the party that most people have voted for) to Northern Ireland
5 GRAMMAR/SCIENCE ETC [C] a statement about what is usually allowed in a particular system, such as the grammar of a language, or a science
[+of]
•the rules of English punctuation
6 the rule of law a situation in which the laws of a country are obeyed:
•We are here to uphold the rule of law.
7 the rules of natural justice what people believe to be right and fair:
•The governor failed to observe the rules of natural justice.
8 rule of thumb a rough figure or method of calculation, based on practical experience:
•As a general rule of thumb, children this age should not spend more than one hour on homework.
9 make it a rule (to do sth) to try to make sure that you always do something:
•I make it a rule never to mix business with pleasure.
10 FOR MEASURING [C] old-fashioned a RULER
GOLDEN RULE, GROUND RULES, HOME RULE, SLIDE RULE
work to rule at WORK^1 (32)
1 GOVERNMENT [I,T] to have the official power to control a country and the people who live there; govern
•Queen Victoria ruled England for 64 years.
•African tribal societies were traditionally ruled by a council of elders.
[+over]
•Alexander the Great ruled over a huge empire.
•He announced that henceforth he would rule by decree (=make all the important decisions himself).
2 CONTROL/INFLUENCE [T] if a feeling or desire rules someone, it has a powerful and controlling influence on their actions:
•the passion for power and success which rules her life
3 COURT/LAW [I always + adv/prep, T] to make an official decision about something, especially a legal problem; decree
rule that
•The judge ruled that she should have custody of the children.
[+on]
•The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the case.
rule in favour of/against sb/sth
•The tribunal ruled in her favour.
be ruled illegal/unlawful etc
•This part of the bill was ruled unconstitutional.
RULING^1
4 rule the roost informal to be the most powerful person in a group:
•It's his wife who rules the roost in their house.
5 rule sb/sth with a rod of iron also rule sb with an iron fist/hand to control a group of people in a very severe way:
•Although he was a fair man, he ruled us with an iron fist.
6 sb/sth rules informal used to say that the team, school, place etc mentioned is better than any other:
•Arsenal rules OK. BrE
•graffiti saying 'Poheny High rules'
7 DRAW A LINE [T] to draw a line using a ruler or other straight edge:
•Rule a line under each answer.

PHRASAL VERBS
rule sth/sb <=> out phr v
1 to decide that something is not possible or suitable:
•The police have ruled out suicide.
•She has refused to rule out the possibility of singing again.
2 to make it impossible for something to happen:
•The mountainous terrain rules out most forms of agriculture.
3 to state that someone will not be able to take part in a sports event
[+of]
•He has been ruled out of the match with a knee injury.
OVERRULE; let your heart rule your head at HEART (2)
1 go by the rulebook informal to obey exactly the rules about how something should be done:
•If I went by the rulebook, I'd have to report this conversation.
2 [C] a book of rules, especially one that is given to workers in a job
ruled paper has parallel lines printed across it; = lined $ [C]
1 someone such as a king or queen who has official power over a country or area
2 a long flat straight piece of plastic, metal, or wood that you use for measuring things or drawing straight lines:
•a 12-inch ruler [C]
an official decision, especially one made by a court
[+on]
•the recent Supreme Court ruling on defendants' rights[only before noun]
1 the ruling group in a country or organization is the group that controls it:
•A ruling class clearly existed.
•the ruling body of American golf
2 a ruling interest or emotion interests someone more than anything else:
•Football remains the ruling passion of many men. [C,U]
a strong alcoholic drink made from sugar, or a glass of this drinkold-fashioned
unusual or strange [C,U]
a popular dance from Cuba, or music for this dance
1 [I] to make a series of long low sounds, especially a long distance away from you:
•We could hear thunder rumbling in the distance.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to move slowly along while making a series of long low sounds:
•We watched the tanks rumbling past the window.
3 [I] if your stomach rumbles, it makes a noise, especially because you are hungry
4 [T] BrE informal to find out what someone is secretly intending to do:
•How did you rumble them?
5 [I,T] AmE old-fashioned to fight with someone

PHRASAL VERBS
rumble on phr v
if a disagreement rumbles on, it continues for a long time:
•The row about pay is still rumbling on.[singular]
a series of long low sounds
[+of]
•the low rumble of traffic in the distance
•the distant rumble of gunfire[C]
a number of raised lines across a road which make a loud noise when you drive over them to warn you to slow down
1 rumblings [plural] remarks that show that people are starting to become annoyed, or that a difficult situation is developing:
•rumblings of discontent
•There have been rumblings about the need for better computers.
2 [C usually singular] a series of long low sounds:
•We heard a rumbling behind us.
full of energy, fun, and noise; = rambunctious AmE
•rumbustious football fans [C]
technical an animal such as a cow that has several stomachs and eats grass [I]
1 formal to think carefully and deeply about something
[+on/over]
•He sat alone, ruminating on the injustice of the world.
2 technical if animals such as cows ruminate, they bring food back into their mouths from their stomachs and CHEW it again
- rumination noun [C,U] $ formal
thinking deeply and carefully about something:
•a typically ruminative speech
- ruminatively adverb [I always + adv/prep]
also rummage around/about to search for something by moving things around in a careless or hurried way
[+in/through etc]
•Looks like someone's been rummaging around in my desk.
1 [C usually singular] informal a careless or hurried search for something:
• Have a rummage in my jewellery box and see if you can find something you like.
2 [U] especially AmE old clothes, toys etc that you no longer want; = jumble BrE[C]
AmE an event at which old clothes, toys etc are sold as a way of getting money, for example to help a school or church; = jumble sale BrE [U]
a simple card game in which players try to collect series of cardsrumor AmE $ [C,U] BrE
1 information or a story that is passed from one person to another and which may or may not be true
[+about/of]
•I've heard all sorts of rumours about him and his secretary.
rumour that
•There's an unsubstantiated rumour that Eddie's bankrupt.
• Rumour has it that Jean's getting married again.
•Where did the rumour start?
a rumour spreads/goes around
•A malicious rumour went round that Philip had something to do with the murder.
2 the rumour mill the people, considered as a group, who discuss something and pass rumours to each other:
•His name has come up in the rumour mill as a possible director for the project.rumored AmE $ BrE
be rumoured if something is rumoured to be true, people are saying secretly or unofficially that it may be true; alleged
it is rumoured that
•It was rumoured that Johnson had been poisoned.
be rumoured to be sth
•She was rumoured to be a millionaire.
•a young man widely rumoured to be her loverrumormonger AmE $ [C] BrE
someone who tells other people rumours - used to show disapproval
1 [C] the part of an animal's back that is just above its legs
2 rump steak good quality meat that comes from the rump of a cow
3 [C] the part of your body that you sit on - used humorously; = bottom
4 [singular] BrE the part of a group or government that remains after most of the other members have left [T]
to make hair, clothes etc less tidy:
•He rumpled her hair playfully.
- rumpled adjective
•the slightly rumpled bed
•a rumpled linen suit [singular]
informal a lot of noise, especially made by people quarrelling:
•There's a real rumpus going on upstairs.[C]
AmE a room in a house that is used by the family for games, parties etc [U]
BrE sexual activity - used humorously past tense ran past participle run present participle running
1 MOVE QUICKLY USING YOUR LEGS
a) [I] to move very quickly, by moving your legs more quickly than when you walk
[+down/up/to/towards etc]
•I ran down the stairs as fast as I could.
•He was running towards the door.
•She turned and ran away.
•The boys ran off into the crowd.
run to do sth
•Several people ran to help her when she fell.
•The children came running out of the house.
•Women ran screaming, with children in their arms.
•Jane struggled free and ran for her life (=ran in order to avoid being killed).
•Hurry! Run for it (=run as quickly as possible in order to escape)!
•He picked up the child and ran like hell. not polite (=ran very quickly, especially in order to escape)
b) [T] to run a particular distance:
•Firefighters are to run 500km to raise money for a children's charity.
•He ran the length of the corridor.
2 RACE
a) [I,T] to run in a race:
•I'd never run a marathon before.
[+in]
•Murray has said she will consider running in the 3000 metres.
b) [T usually passive] if a race is run at a particular time or in a particular place, it happens at that time or in that place:
•The Derby will be run at 3 o'clock.
3 ORGANIZE/BE IN CHARGE OF [T] to organize or be in charge of an activity, business, organization, or country:
•For a while, she ran a restaurant in Boston.
•Many people don't care who runs the country.
•Courses are currently being run in London and Edinburgh.
•Many people belong to a pension scheme run by their employers.
well/badly run
•The hotel is well-run and extremely popular.
•a state-run (=controlled by the government) television station
see box at CONTROL^2
4 DO STH/GO SOMEWHERE QUICKLY [I] to do something or go somewhere quickly:
•Run and ask your mother where she's put the keys.
[+to]
•I need to run to the store for some more milk.
5 BUSES/TRAINS ETC
a) [I] if a bus, train etc service runs, it takes people from one place to another at fixed times:
•The buses don't run on Sundays.
[+to]
•The number 61 bus runs to the city centre.
b) [T] if a company or other organization runs a bus, train etc service, they make it operate:
•They're running special trains to and from the exhibition.
6 COMPUTERS
a) [I] if a computer program runs, it operates
[+on]
•The software will run on any PC.
b) [T] if you run a program, you make it operate:
•The RS8 system runs both Unix and MPX-32.
7 MACHINE/ENGINE
a) [I] if a machine or engine runs, it operates:
•She got out of the car and left the engine running.
run on electricity/gas/petrol etc (=get its power from electricity etc)
•Most cars run on unleaded fuel.
run off sth (=use something for power)
•It runs off batteries.
b) [T] if you run a machine or engine, you make it operate:
•You shouldn't keep the engine running when the car is standing still.
•I often run the washing machine more than once a day.
8 TAPE
a) [I usually progressive] if a tape is running, it is recording:
•She didn't realize the tape was running as she spoke.
b) [T] if you run a tape, you make it move backwards or forwards:
•Run the tape back to the beginning.
9 NEWSPAPER/TELEVISION
a) [T] to print something in a newspaper or magazine, or broadcast something on television:
•The company is running a series of advertisements in national newspapers.
•A local TV station ran her story.
b) [I] if a program runs on television, it is shown. If a story runs in a newspaper or magazine, it is printed:
•The series ran for 20 episodes and was extremely popular.
•Conan Doyle's stories ran in 'The Strand' magazine.
10 FAST/OUT OF CONTROL [I always + adv/prep] to move too fast or in an uncontrolled way:
•Her car ran off the road and into a tree.
•The truck ran out of control and hit a house.
11 USE A VEHICLE [T] especially BrE to own and use a vehicle:
•I can't afford to run a car.
•A bicycle is relatively cheap to buy and run.
12 TAKE SB IN YOUR CAR [T always + adv/prep] informal to take someone somewhere in your car; = drive
•Shall I run you home?
run sb to sth
•Let me run you to the station.
13 IN AN ELECTION [I] especially AmE to try to be elected in an election; = stand BrE
[+for]
•Salinas is running for a second term as President.
•an attempt to encourage more women to run for office
[+against]
•Feinstein will win if she runs against Lungren.
14 STH LONG [I,T always + adv/prep] if something long such as a road or wire runs in a particular direction, that is its position, or that is where you put it:
•The road runs along a valley.
•Developers want to run a road right through his farm.
•Run the cables under the carpet.
•The Sierra mountain range runs the length of the north west coast of Majorca.
15 MOVE STH ON A SURFACE [T always + adv/prep] to move something lightly along a surface:
•Charles ran his fingers through her hair.
•Run the scanner over the barcodes.
16 FLOW [I always + adv/prep] to flow in a particular direction or place:
•Tears started to run down her cheeks.
•Water was running off the roof.
17 TAP [I,T] if a TAP is running, water is coming out of it, or if you run a tap, you make water come out of it:
•Did you leave the tap running?
•He ran the tap until the water was really hot.
18 run a bath to fill a bath with water:
•I could hear her running a bath upstairs.
run sb a bath
•Could you run me a nice hot bath while I finish my meal?
19 SB'S NOSE [I] if someone's nose is running, liquid is flowing out of it
20 OFFICIAL PAPERS [I] if something runs for a particular length of time, it can officially be used for that time:
•The contract runs for a year.
•My car insurance only has another month to run.
21 PLAY/FILM [I] to continue being performed regularly in one place:
•The play ran for two years.
22 HAPPEN [I] to happen in a particular way or at a particular time:
•Andy kept things running smoothly (=happening in the way they should) while I was away.
•He was given a further three month prison sentence to run concurrently.
•The course runs over a three year period.
23 AMOUNT/PRICE [I] to be at a particular level, amount, or price
[+at]
•Inflation was running at 5%.
[+to]
•The cost of repairing the damage could run to $5000.
24 STORY/ACCOUNT ETC [I,T] if a story, discussion etc runs in a particular way, it has those particular words or events:
•The story runs that someone offered Lynch a further $500.
•'President's marriage really over' ran the headline in a national newspaper.
25 run its course if something runs its course, it continues in the way you expect until it has finished:
•Recession in the country has run its course and left an aftermath of uncertainty.
26 sth will run and run BrE if a subject, discussion, event etc will run and run, people will continue to be interested in it for a long time:
•This a story that will run and run.
27 THOUGHTS/FEELINGS [I always + adv/prep] if a feeling runs through you, or a thought runs through your mind, you feel it or think it quickly
[+through/down]
•A feeling of excitement ran through her body as they touched.
•The same thought kept running through his mind.
•A cold shiver ran down my back.
•I felt a sharp pain run down my leg.
28 run high if feelings run high, people are very angry, upset, excited etc:
•Tension ran high and fights broke out among the crowd.
•Feelings have been running high in the town, following the murder of a young girl.
29 run sb's life informal to keep telling someone what they should do all the time, in a way that annoys them:
•Don't try to run my life!
30 run for cover
a) to run towards a place where you will be safe, especially to avoid bullets:
•He was shot in the leg as he ran for cover.
b) to try to protect yourself from a bad situation or from being criticized:
•His success at backing winning horses has had the bookmakers running for cover.
31 COLOUR IN CLOTHES [I] if colour runs, it spreads from one piece of clothing or one area of cloth to another when the clothes are wet:
•The T-shirt ran and made all my other clothes pink.
32 PAINT/INK [I] if paint runs, it moves onto an area where you did not intend it to go
33 run a check/test/experiment etc to arrange for someone or something to be checked or tested
[+on]
•Ask your doctor to run a test on your blood sugar levels.
34 HOLE IN CLOTHES [I] if a hole in TIGHTS or STOCKINGs runs, it gets bigger in a straight line
35 run drugs/guns to bring drugs or guns into a country illegally in order to sell them
DRUG RUNNER, GUN-RUNNING
36 run in the family if something such as a quality, disease, or skill runs in the family, many people in that family have it:
•Diabetes appears to run in families.
37 run a temperature/fever to have a body temperature that is higher than normal, because you are ill
38 run a mile informal to try very hard to avoid a particular situation or person because you do not want to deal with them:
•If someone asked me to marry them, I'd probably run a mile.
39 run late/early/on time to arrive, go somewhere, or do something late, early, or at the right time:
•I'm running late, so I'll talk to you later.
•If the train runs on time, we'll be there by ten.
40 be running scared to feel worried because someone who you are competing against is becoming very successful or powerful:
•The party are running scared.
41 come running
a) informal to react in a very eager way when someone asks or tells you to do something:
•He thinks he's only got to look at me and I'll come running.
b) especially spoken to ask someone for help, advice, or sympathy when you have a problem
[+to]
•Well I warned you, so don't come running to me when it all goes wrong!
42 run your eyes over/along etc sth to look quickly at something:
•He ran his eyes along the books on the shelf.
43 run before you can walk to try to do something difficult before you have learned the basic skills you need:
•A lot of language students want to run before they can walk.
44 run a (red) light informal to drive quickly through a red TRAFFIC LIGHT instead of stopping

PHRASAL VERBS
run across sb/sth phr v
to meet someone or find something by chance:
•I ran across him at a conference in Milan.
•I ran across some old love letters while I was clearing out a cupboard.

run after sb/sth phr v
1 to chase someone or something:
•He ran after her, calling her name.
2 informal to try to start a sexual relationship with someone:
•He's always running after younger women.
3 spoken to do a lot of things for someone else as though you were their servant:
•I can't keep running after you all day!

run along phr v spoken
used to tell a child to leave, or to tell someone that you must leave:
•Run along now! I've got work to finish.
•Oh, it's late. I'd better be running along.

run around phr v also run round BrE
1 to run in an area while you are playing:
•The children were running around in the garden.
2 informal to be very busy doing many small jobs:
•Maria was running around trying to get the house tidy.
•We were all running around like headless chickens (=trying to do a lot of things, in an anxious or disorganized way).
RUNAROUND

run around after sb phr v informal
to do a lot of things for someone else as though you were their servant:
•I've spent all day running around after the kids.

run around with sb phr v informal
to spend a lot of time with someone, especially someone that other people disapprove of:
•He started running around with a gang of teenagers.

run away phr v
1 to leave a place, especially secretly, in order to escape from someone or something
[+from]
•Toby ran away from home at the age of 14.
RUNAWAY^2
2 to try to avoid dealing with a problem or difficult situation
[+from]
•You can't just run away from your responsibilities.
3 to secretly go away with someone in order to marry them or live with them:
•They ran away together to get married.

run away with sb/sth phr v
1 to secretly go away with someone in order to marry them or live with them - usually used to show disapproval:
•His wife has run away with another man.
2 run away with you if your feelings, ideas etc run away with you, they start to control how you behave:
•Don't let your imagination run away with you!
3 your tongue runs away with you if your tongue runs away with you, you say something that you did not intend to say
4 run away with the idea/impression (that) spoken to think that something is true when it is not:
•Don't run away with the impression that he doesn't care.
5 informal to win a competition or sports game very easily:
•The Reds ran away with the championship.

run sth by/past sb phr v
1 to tell someone something so that they can give you their opinion:
•Let me run some figures by you.
•I just wanted to run it past you and see what you thought.
2 run that by me again spoken used to ask someone to repeat what they have just said because you did not completely understand it

run down phr v
1 run sb/sth <=> down to drive into a person or animal and kill or injure them:
•Their daughter was run down by a car.
2 run sb/sth <=> down informal to criticize someone or something in a way that is unfair:
•There's a lot of good things about homeopathic treatment. I'm certainly not running it down.
3 if a clock, machine, BATTERY etc runs down, it has no more power and stops working
4 to make a company, organization etc gradually reduce in size, especially in order to close it in the future, or to gradually reduce in size
run sth <=> down
•Many smaller local hospitals are being run down.
•The business had been running down for a long time.
5 if a supply of something runs down, or if you run it down, there gradually becomes less of it:
•Crude oil reserves are running down.
run sth <=> down
•Electricity generating companies are running down stocks and cutting purchases.
6 run down sth to read a list of people or things:
•Let me just run down the list of people who've been invited.
7 run sb/sth down to find someone or something after searching for a long time:
•I finally ran him down at his new office in Glendale.
RUNDOWN, RUN-DOWN

run sb/sth <=> in phr v BrE
1 to drive a new car slowly and carefully for a period of time so you do not damage its engine
2 old-fashioned if the police run a criminal in, they catch him or her

run into sb/sth phr v
1 to start to experience a difficult or unpleasant situation:
•He ran into criticism after remarks he made in a television interview.
run into trouble/problems/difficulties
•The business ran into financial difficulties almost immediately.
2 run into hundreds/thousands etc to reach an amount of several hundred, several thousand etc:
•The cost of repairing the damage could run into millions.
•The list ran into hundreds of pages.
3 to hit someone or something with a vehicle; = crash into
•He ran into the back of another car.
4 informal to meet someone by chance:
•Guess who I ran into in town today!
run yourself into the ground at GROUND^1 (13)

run off phr v
1 to leave a place or person in a way that people disapprove of:
•Amy's husband had run off and left her with two children to bring up.
2 run sth <=> off to quickly print several copies of something:
•I'll run off a few more copies before the meeting.
3 run sb off sth to force someone to leave a place:
•Someone tried to run me off the road.
•Smith had run them off his property with a rifle.
4 run sth <=> off to write a speech, poem, piece of music etc quickly and easily:
•He could run off a five-page essay in an hour.
5 run off at the mouth AmE informal to talk too much
6 run sth <=> off to get rid of weight by running:
•I'm trying to run off some of my excess fat!

run off with sb/sth phr v informal
1 to secretly go away with someone in order to marry them or live with them - used to show disapproval:
•Liz shocked us all by running off with a married man.
2 to steal something and go away:
•a con-man who makes a habit of running off with people's savings

run on phr v
to continue happening for longer than expected or planned:
•These things always run on longer than people imagine.

run out phr v
1
a) to use all of something and not have any more left:
•I've got some money you can borrow if you run out.
[+of]
•They ran out of money and had to abandon the project.
•He'd run out of ideas.
b) if something is running out, there will soon be none left:
•We must act quickly because time is running out.
•My patience was running out.
•His luck had run out (=there was none left).
2 if an agreement, official document etc runs out, the period for which it is legal or has an effect ends; = expire
•My contract runs out in September.
3 run out of steam informal also run out of gas AmE to have no more energy or no longer be interested in what you are doing:
•The team seemed to have run out of gas.
4 run sb out of town old-fashioned to force someone to leave a place, because they have done something wrong
5 run sb <=> out to end a player's INNINGS in the game of CRICKET by hitting the STUMPs with the ball while they are running

run out on sb phr v
to leave someone when they are in a difficult situation - used to show disapproval:
•He ran out on her when she became pregnant.

run over phr v
1 run sb/sth <=> over to hit someone or something with a vehicle, and drive over them:
•He was run over and killed by a bus.
•She got run over outside the school.
2 run over sth to think about something:
•Mark's mind raced, running over all the possibilities.
3 run over sth to explain or practise something quickly:
•I'll just run over the main points again.
4 run over (sth) to continue happening for longer than planned:
•The meeting ran over.
•The talks have run over the 15 November deadline.
5 if a container runs over, there is so much liquid inside that some flows out; = overflow

run sth past sb phr v
to RUN something BY someone

run round phr v BrE
to RUN AROUND

run through phr v
1 run through sth to repeat something in order to practise it or make sure it is correct:
•Let's run through the first scene again.
2 run through sth to read, look at, or explain something quickly:
•Briefly, she ran through details of the morning's events.
3 run through sth if a quality, feature etc runs through something, it is present in all of that thing:
•This theme runs through the whole book.
4 run sb through literary to push a sword completely through someone
RUN-THROUGH

run to sb/sth phr v
1 to reach a particular amount:
•The cost of repairing the damage could run to $1 million.
•The treaty ran to 248 pages.
2 [usually in negatives] BrE to be or have enough money to pay for something:
•Our budget won't run to replacing all the computers.
3 to ask someone to help or protect you:
•You can't keep running to your parents every time you have a problem.
4 sb's taste runs to sth if someone's taste runs to something, that is what they like:
•His taste ran to action movies and thrillers.

run up sth phr v
1 run up a debt/bill etc to use so much of something, or borrow so much money, that you owe a lot of money:
•She ran up an enormous phone bill.
2 to achieve a particular score or position in a game or competition:
•He quickly ran up a big lead in the polls.
3 run sth <=> up to make something, especially clothes, very quickly:
•She can run up a dress in an evening.
4 run sth <=> up to raise a flag on a pole

run up against sth/sb phr v
to have to deal with unexpected problems or a difficult opponent:
•The museum has run up against opposition to its proposals.

run with sth phr v
to be covered with a liquid that is flowing down:
•His face was running with blood.
RUNNING^1
cut and run at CUT^1 (38)
be/run/go counter to sth at COUNTER^3
run deep at DEEP^2 (4)
run dry at DRY^1 (4)
run low at LOW^1 (4)
run sb ragged at RAGGED (5)
run rings around sb at RING^1 (8)
run riot at RIOT^1 (2)
be running short at SHORT^2 (2)
run sb/sth to earth at EARTH^1 (14)
run to fat at FAT^2 (6)
run sb/sth to ground at GROUND^1 (19)
run to seed at SEED^1 (4)
run wild at WILD^2 (1)
be up and running at UP^1 (22)

WORD FOCUS: run
for exercise:
jog
very quickly because you are in a hurry:
dash
tear
sprint

1 ON FOOT [C] a period of time spent running, or a distance that you run; jog, sprint
•a five-mile run
•She usually goes for a run before breakfast.
•He was still following me, and in a panic I broke into a run.
at a run
•Sarah left the house at a run.
2 in the long run later in the future, not immediately; long-term
•Moving to Spain will be better for you in the long run.
3 in the short run in the near future; short-term
•Sufficient supply, in the short run, will be a problem.
4 the usual/normal/general run of sth the usual type of something:
•The place was very different from the normal run of street cafes.
5 SERIES [C usually singular] a series of successes or failures; string, streak
•an unbeaten run of 19 games
run of good/bad luck
•Losing my job was the start of a run of bad luck that year.
a run of defeats/victories etc
•His extraordinary run of successes has been stopped.
6 AMOUNT PRODUCED [C] an amount of a product produced at one time:
•a limited run of 200 copies
7 be on the run
a) to be trying to escape or hide, especially from the police
[+from]
•wanted criminals on the run from police
b) if an army or opponent is on the run, they will soon be defeated
c) to be very busy and continuously rushing about:
•Typical of stress is this feeling of being continuously on the run.
8 do sth on the run to do something while you are on your way somewhere or doing something else:
•I always seem to eat on the run these days.
9 make a run for it to suddenly start running, in order to escape
10 the run of sth if you have the run of a place, you are allowed to go anywhere and do anything in it:
•We had the run of the house for the afternoon.
11 a run on sth
a) a situation in which lots of people suddenly buy a particular product; rush
•There's always a run on roses before Valentine's Day.
b) a run on the dollar/pound etc a situation in which lots of people sell dollars etc and the value goes down
c) a run on the bank an occasion when a lot of people take their money out of a bank at the same time
12 give sb a (good) run for their money to make your opponent in a competition use all their skill and effort to defeat you:
•They've given some of the top teams a run for their money this season.
13 have a (good) run for your money informal to succeed in doing something successfully for a long time:
•Investors have also had a good run for their money.
14 ILLNESS the runs informal DIARRHOEA
15 PLAY/FILM [C] a continuous series of performances of a play, film etc in the same place:
•His first play had a three-month run in the West End.
16 JOURNEY [singular]
a) a journey by train, ship, truck etc made regularly between two places:
•It's only a 55-minute run from London to Brighton.
•the daily school run (=the journey that parents make each day taking their children to and from school) BrE
b) informal a short journey in a car, for pleasure:
•Let's take the car out for a run.
17 FOR ANIMALS [C] an enclosed area where animals such as chickens or rabbits are kept:
•a chicken run
18 SPORT [C] a point won in CRICKET or baseball:
•Jones made 32 runs this afternoon.
19 WINTER SPORTS [C] a special area or track on a mountain for people to SKI or SLEDGE down:
•a ski run
20 ELECTION [C usually singular] AmE an attempt to be elected to an important position
[+for]
•He is preparing a run for the presidency.
21 IN CLOTHES [C] AmE a line of torn stitches in TIGHTs or STOCKINGs ; = ladder BrE
22 MUSIC [C] a set of notes played or sung quickly up or down a SCALE in a piece of music
23 CARD GAMES [C] a set of cards with numbers in a series, held by one player
DRY RUN, DUMMY RUN, FUN RUN, MILK RUN, PRINT RUN, TRIAL RUN [C]
informal a small car used for short journeys
give sb the runaround informal to deliberately avoid giving someone a definite answer, especially when they are asking you to do something:
•Every time we ask the landlord about fixing the roof, he gives us the runaround.
run around at RUN^1 [only before noun]
1 a runaway vehicle or animal is out of control:
•a runaway horse
2 happening very easily or quickly, and not able to be controlled:
•The film was a runaway success.
• runaway inflation
•a runaway victory
3 a runaway person has left the place where they are supposed to be[C]
someone, especially a child, who has left home without telling anyone and does not intend to come back
run away at RUN^1
1 a building or area that is run-down is in very bad condition:
•a run-down inner-city area
2 [not before noun] someone who is run-down is tired and not healthy:
•You look a bit run-down. [singular]
1 the process of making a business or industry smaller and less important
[+of]
•the rundown of British Steel's activities in Scotland
2 a quick report or explanation of an idea, situation etc
[+on]
•Connors promised to give me a rundown on local police activity. [C] technical
1 one of the letters of the alphabet used in the past by people in Northern Europe
2 a magic song or written sign
- runic adjective
the past participle of RING^2[C]
1 one of the bars that form the steps of a ladder
2 informal a particular level or position in an organization or system
[+of/on]
•Humans are on the highest rung of the evolutionary ladder.[C]
an argument or disagreement, especially with someone in an official position
[+with]
•Michael got drunk and had a run-in with the police. [C]
a small stream or passage that water flows along $ [C]
1 someone who runs for sport or pleasure; jogger
•a long-distance runner
•a marathon runner
2 a horse that runs in a race:
•The runners and riders appear in Friday's Racing Post.
3 do a runner BrE informal to leave somewhere quickly in order to avoid paying for something or having to meet someone:
•By the time the police got there, the boys had done a runner.
4 one of the two thin pieces of metal under a SLEDGE, or the single piece of metal under a SKATE
5 the bar of wood or metal that a drawer or curtain slides along
6 technical a stem on a plant that grows along the ground and then puts down roots to form a new plant
7 a long narrow piece of cloth or CARPET
DRUG RUNNER; gun runner at GUN-RUNNING; FRONT-RUNNER[C]
BrE a vegetable that grows as a long green POD (=seed container) on a climbing plantplural runners-up
[C] the person or team that comes second in a race or competition [U]
1 the activity or sport of running; jogging
•Did you go running this morning?
•New facilities include a pool and a running track.
•running shoes
2 the running of sth the process of managing or organizing a business, home, organization etc:
•Brian took over the day-to-day running of the company while his father was away.
•He praised the smooth running of the election.
3 be in the running/out of the running to have some hope or no hope of winning a race or competition:
•Who's in the running for the world title this year?
4 make (all) the running BrE informal to be the person who makes most of the suggestions in a relationship, plan, activity etc[only before noun]
1 running water
a) if a house has running water, it has pipes which provide water to its kitchen, bath, toilet etc
b) water that is flowing or moving:
•the sound of running water
•Rinse the vegetables thoroughly under running water.
2 running commentary a spoken description of an event, especially a race or game, made while the event is happening:
•She gave us a running commentary on what was happening in the street.
3 running total a total that keeps being increased as new costs, amounts etc are added:
•Keep a running total of your expenses as you go along.
4 running battle/joke an argument or joke that continues or is repeated over a long period of time
5 running sore a sore area on your skin that has liquid coming out of it
6 in running order a machine that is in running order is working correctly
7 the running order the order in which the different parts of an event have been arranged to take place
8 take a running jump spoken used to tell someone to go away and stop annoying you
three years/five times etc running for three years etc without a change or interruption; = in a row
•She won the prize for the fourth year running.[plural]
the amount of money needed to operate an organization, system, machine etc[C usually singular]
the person chosen by someone who is trying to become president, leader etc to help win an election, and be the second most important political person if they are elected[plural]
small things that you do to something to keep it in good working order[U]
the length of time that a film or television programme takes to run from beginning to end informal
1 a runny nose, runny eyes etc have liquid coming out of them, usually because you have a cold
2 food that is runny is not as solid or thick as normal or as desired:
•The butter had gone runny in the heat.
1 [C] a second competition or election that is arranged when there is no clear winner of the first one
PLAY-OFF
run off at RUN^1
2 [U] technical rain or other liquid that flows off the land into rivers
not special or interesting in any way; = ordinary
•a run-of-the-mill performance[C]
especially AmE a sentence that has two main CLAUSEs without connecting words or correct PUNCTUATION [C]
1 the smallest and least developed baby animal of a group born at the same time
[+of]
•the runt of the litter
2 informal a small, unpleasant, or unimportant person[C]
a short practice before a performance, test etc; rehearsal
•a final run-through of the play
1 the run-up to sth the period of time just before an important event:
•in the run-up to the election
2 [C] the act of running, or the distance that you run, before you kick a ball, jump over a pole etc [C]
1 a long specially prepared hard surface like a road on which aircraft land and take off
2 AmE a long narrow part of a stage that stretches out into the area where the AUDIENCE sits; = catwalk BrE [C]
the standard unit of money in India, Pakistan, and some other countries [C]
the standard unit of money in Indonesia $
1 [C,U] an occasion when something suddenly breaks apart or bursts
[+of]
•the rupture of a blood vessel
2 [C] a situation in which two countries, groups of people etc suddenly disagree and often end their relationship with each other
[+between]
•The eleventh century saw the formal rupture between East and West.
[+with]
•The rupture with his father was absolute.
3 [C] a medical condition in which an organ of the body, especially one near the ABDOMEN, sticks out through the wall of muscle that normally surrounds it; = hernia
1 [I,T] to break or burst, or to make something break or burst:
•The pipe will rupture at its weakest point.
•His liver was ruptured when a brick wall collapsed on him.
2 [T] to damage good relations between people or a peaceful situation:
•The noise ruptured the tranquility of the afternoon.
3 rupture yourself to cause an organ of the body, especially one near the ABDOMEN, to stick out through the wall of muscle that normally surrounds it $
1 happening in or relating to the countryside, not the city; urban
•a rural setting
•rural bus routes
2 like the countryside or reminding you of the countryside:
•It's very rural round here, isn't it ?[U] AmE
R.D. $ [C]
a clever trick used to deceive someone:
•Agnes tried to think of a ruse to get Paul out of the house.
1 MOVE QUICKLY [I always + adv/prep] to move very quickly, especially because you need to be somewhere very soon; = hurry
•A small girl rushed past her.
•Mo rushed off down the corridor.
2 rush to do sth to do something very quickly and without delay:
•I rushed to pack my suitcase before she came back.
•He rushed to help his comrade.
3 DO STH TOO QUICKLY [I,T] to do or decide something too quickly, especially so that you do not have time to do it carefully or well:
•He does not intend to rush his decision.
[+into]
•I'm not rushing into marriage again.
[+through]
•She rushed through her script.
rush it/things
•When we first met, neither of us wanted to rush things.
4 TAKE/SEND URGENTLY [T always + adv/prep] to take or send someone or something somewhere very quickly, especially because of an unexpected problem
rush sb/sth to sth
•The Red Cross rushed medical supplies to the war zone.
•Dan was rushed to hospital with serious head injuries.
5 MAKE SB HURRY [T] to try to make someone do something more quickly than they want to:
•I'm sorry to rush you, but we need a decision by Friday.
rush sb into (doing) sth
•They felt they were being rushed into choosing a new leader.
6 LIQUID [I always + adv/prep] if water or another liquid rushes somewhere, it moves quickly:
•Water rushed through the gorge.
7 BLOOD blood rushes to sb's face/cheeks used to say that someone's face becomes red because they feel embarrassed:
•I felt the blood rush to my face as I heard my name.
8 ATTACK [T] to attack a person or place suddenly and in a group:
•They rushed the guard and stole his keys.
9 AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES AmE
a) [T] to give parties for students, have meetings etc, in order to decide whether to let them join your FRATERNITY or SORORITY (=type of club)
b) [I,T] to go through the process of trying to be accepted into one of these clubs
10 AMERICAN FOOTBALL [I,T] to carry the ball forward

PHRASAL VERBS
rush around phr v also rush about BrE
to try to do a lot of things in a short period of time:
•Get things ready early so that you don't have to rush around at the last minute.

rush sth <=> out phr v
to make a new product, book etc available for sale very quickly:
•The new edition was rushed out just before Christmas.

rush sth <=> through phr v
to deal with official or government business more quickly than usual
rush sth through sth
•The legislation was rushed through parliament.
1 FAST MOVEMENT [singular] a sudden fast movement of things or people
rush of air/wind/water
•She felt a cold rush of air as she wound down her window.
in a rush
•Her words came out in a rush.
•At five past twelve there was a mad rush to the dinner hall.
2 HURRY [singular,U] a situation in which you need to hurry:
•I knew there would be a last-minute rush to meet the deadline.
•Don't worry, there's no rush. We don't have to be at the station until 10.
do sth in a rush (=do something quickly because you need to hurry)
•I had to do my homework in a rush because I was late.
be in a rush
•I'm sorry, I can't talk now - I'm in a rush.
3 BUSY PERIOD the rush the time in the day, month, year etc when a place or group of people is particularly busy; peak
•The café is quiet until the lunchtime rush begins.
•the Christmas rush
RUSH HOUR
4 PEOPLE WANTING STH [singular] a situation in which a lot of people suddenly try to do or get something
[+on]
•There's always a rush on swimsuits in the hot weather.
rush to do sth
•the rush to put computers in all schools
GOLD RUSH
5 FEELING [singular]
a) informal a sudden strong, usually pleasant feeling that you get from taking a drug or from doing something exciting; high
•The feeling of power gave me such a rush.
•an adrenalin rush
b) rush of anger/excitement/gratitude etc a sudden very strong feeling of anger etc:
•I felt a rush of excitement when she arrived.
•A rush of jealousy swept through her.
6 PLANT [C usually plural] a type of tall grass that grows in water, often used for making baskets
7 FILM rushes [plural] the first prints of a film before it has been EDITed ; = dailies AmE
8 AMERICAN STUDENTS [U] AmE the time when students in American universities who want to join a FRATERNITY or SORORITY (=type of club) go to a lot of parties in order to try to be accepted:
•rush week
1 done very quickly or too quickly, because there was not enough time:
•We did have a meeting, but it was a bit rushed.
2 BrE if you are rushed, you are very busy because you have a lot of things to do quickly:
•I'll talk to you later - I'm a bit rushed at the moment.
•I've been rushed off my feet (=extremely busy) all day.[C,U]
the time of day when the roads, buses, trains etc are most full, because people are travelling to or from work:
•I got caught in the morning rush hour.
•heavy rush hour traffic [C]
BrE a hard sweet dry bread for babies to eat [U]
literary a reddish brown colour
- russet adjective
relating to Russia, its people, or its language
1 [C] someone from Russia
2 [U] the language used in Russia[U]
a game in which you risk killing yourself by shooting at your head with a gun that has six spaces for bullets but only one bullet in it [U]
1 the reddish-brown substance that forms on iron or steel when it gets wet; rusty
•There were large patches of rust on the car.
2 a plant disease that causes reddish-brown spots[I,T]
to become covered with rust, or to make something become covered in rust:
•The metal had begun to rust.
•The gate was old and badly rusted.

PHRASAL VERBS
rust away phr v
to be gradually destroyed by rust:
•The blades of the swords have rusted away.
1 simple, old-fashioned, and not spoiled by modern developments, in a way that is typical of the countryside:
•The village had a certain rustic charm.
2 [only before noun] roughly made from wood:
•a rustic chair
- rusticity noun [U][C]
literary someone from the country, especially a farm worker
1 [I,T] if leaves, papers, clothes etc rustle, or if you rustle them, they make a noise as they rub against each other:
•She moved nearer, her long silk skirt rustling around her.
•He rustled the papers on his desk.
2 [T] to steal farm animals such as cattle, horses, or sheep

PHRASAL VERBS
rustle sth <=> up phr v informal
to make a meal quickly:
•I'll rustle up a couple of steaks on the barbecue.[singular]
the noise made when something rustles
[+of]
•the rustle of leaves in the wind $ [C]
someone who steals farm animals such as cattle, horses, or sheep
metal that is rustproof will not RUST
1 metal that is rusty is covered in RUST:
•a rusty nail
•a new metal that will never go rusty
2 if you are rusty, you are not as good at something as you used to be, because you have not practised it for a long time:
•My French is a bit rusty.
1 [C] a deep narrow track left in soft ground by a wheel
2 in a rut living or working in a situation that never changes, so that you feel bored:
•I was stuck in a rut and decided to look for a new job.
3 [U] also the rut technical the period of the year when some male animals, especially DEER, are sexually active
in rut
•a stag in rut [C]
AmE a large round yellow vegetable that grows under the ground; = swede BrE
1 so determined to get what you want that you do not care if you have to hurt other people in order to do it:
•a ruthless dictator
•They have shown a ruthless disregard for basic human rights.
2 determined and firm when making unpleasant decisions:
•He ran the company with ruthless efficiency.
•Throw away clothes you don't wear - be ruthless.
- ruthlessly adverb
•The uprising was ruthlessly suppressed.
- ruthlessness noun [U]
a surface that is rutted has deep narrow tracks in it left by the wheels of vehicles; uneven $ [C]
AmE recreational vehicle a large vehicle, usually with cooking equipment and beds in it, that a family can use for travelling or camping; mobile home, caravanAmE
the written abbreviation of prescription [U]
1 a type of grain that is used for making bread and WHISKY:
•rye bread
2 also rye whiskey AmE a type of American WHISKY made from rye $ [U]
a type of grass that is grown as food for animals
1 the short form of 'is':
•John's here.
•What's that?
•She's writing a letter.
2 the short form of 'has':
•Polly's gone out.
•A spider's got eight legs.
3 a short form of 'us' used only in 'let's'
4 spoken a short form of 'does', used in questions after 'who',`what' etc that many people think is incorrect:
•How's he plan to do that?
1 forms the POSSESSIVE case of singular nouns, and of plural nouns that do not end in -s:
•my sister's husband
•Mary's generosity
•yesterday's lesson
•the children's bedroom
2 BrE the shop or home of someone:
•I bought it at the baker's (=at the baker's shop).
•I met him at Mary's (=at Mary's house).
1 forms the plural of nouns:
•a cat and two dogs
2 forms the third person singular of the present tense of most verbs:
•he plays
•she sits
forms the POSSESSIVE case of plural nouns:
•the girls' dresses
•the islands' inhabitants
1 the written abbreviation of south or, southern
2 the written abbreviation of small , used on clothes to show the sizes plural S's, s's [C,U]
the 19th letter of the English alphabet [C] AmE informal
the abbreviation of savings and loan association [U]
the abbreviation of sadomasochism
1 the Sabbath
a) Sunday, considered as a day of rest and prayer by most Christian churches
b) Saturday, considered as a day of rest and prayer in the Jewish religion and some Christian churches
2 keep/break the Sabbath to obey or not obey the religious rules of the Sabbath [C,U]
a period when someone, especially someone in a university job, stops doing their usual work in order to study or travel:
•She took a long sabbatical.
on sabbatical
•Dr Watson's away on sabbatical. $
the American spelling of SABRE [C,U]
an expensive fur used to make coats etc, or the small animal that this fur comes fromliterary
black or very dark in colour [T]
1 to secretly damage or destroy equipment, vehicles etc that belong to an enemy or opponent, so that they cannot be used:
•Every single plane had been sabotaged.
2 to deliberately spoil someone's plans because you do not want them to succeed:
•Demonstrators have sabotaged the conference.[U]
deliberate damage that is done to equipment, vehicles etc in order to prevent an enemy or opponent from using them:
•The terrorists were planning acts of sabotage to destabilize the country.
•industrial sabotage $ [C]
someone who deliberately damages, destroys, or spoils someone else's property or activities, in order to prevent them from doing something:
•The lorries were wrecked by saboteurs.
HUNT SABOTEURsaber AmE $ [C] BrE
1 a light pointed sword with one sharp edge used in FENCING
2 a heavy sword with a curved blade, used in past times[U]
when someone threatens to use force but you do not think they are very frightening or serious:
•What the situation calls for is calm discussion - not sabre-rattling. [C] technical
a part inside a plant or animal that is shaped like a bag and contains liquid or air [U]
a chemical substance that tastes sweet and is used instead of sugar in drinks formal
too romantic in a way that seems silly and insincere:
•I hated the movie's saccharine ending. $ [C]
1 BrE a small plastic or paper package containing a liquid or powder; = packet AmE
[+of]
•a sachet of shampoo
2 a small bag containing dried herbs or flowers that smell pleasant:
•a lavender sachet [C]
1
a) a large bag made of strong rough cloth or strong paper, used for storing or carrying flour, coal, vegetables etc
[+of]
•a sack of potatoes
b) also sackful the amount that a sack can contain
[+of]
•We need about a sack of rice.
2 the sack BrE informal when someone is dismissed from their job:
•They've never actually given anyone the sack.
•He got the sack for stealing.
•She claimed she'd been threatened with the sack.
3 hit the sack old-fashioned informal to go to bed:
•It's one o'clock - time to hit the sack.
4 in the sack informal in bed - used to talk about sexual activity:
•I bet she's great in the sack.
5 the sack of sth formal a situation in which an army goes through a place, destroying or stealing things and attacking people:
•the sack of Rome in 1527[T]
1 BrE informal to dismiss someone from their job; = fire
•They couldn't sack me - I'd done nothing wrong.
sack sb from sth
•He was sacked from every other job he had.
sack sb for (doing) sth
•He was sacked for being drunk.
2 to knock down the QUARTERBACK in American football
3 if soldiers sack a place, they go through it destroying or stealing things and attacking people:
•Alaric the Goth advanced toward Rome, which he sacked in AD 410.

PHRASAL VERBS
sack out phr v AmE
informal to go to sleep:
•He sacked out on the sofa.also sacking $ [U]
1 rough cloth used for making sacks
2 wear sackcloth and ashes BrE to behave in a way that shows everyone you are sorry about something wrong you have done[C]
a race in which the competitors, usually children, have to jump forwards with both legs inside a SACK [C]
1 the Sacrament the bread and wine that are eaten at COMMUNION (=an important Christian ceremony)
2 one of the important Christian ceremonies, such as marriage or COMMUNION
- sacramental adjective
1 relating to a god or religion:
•a sacred vow
•the miraculous powers of sacred relics
•Certain animals were considered sacred.
[+to]
•The land is sacred to these tribesmen.
2 very important or greatly respected:
•Human life is sacred.
•Frontiers which have held for over forty years are no longer sacred.
[+to]
•Few things were sacred to Henry, but local history was one of them.
•He had no respect for everything I held sacred.
3 is nothing sacred? spoken used to express shock when something you think is valuable or important is being changed or harmed
- sacredness noun [U]
•the sacredness of human life[C]
a belief, custom, system etc that is so important to some people that they will not let anyone criticize it:
•In New York's show business scene, money, fame and power are sacred cows.
1 [C,U] when you decide not to have something valuable, in order to get something that is more important:
•The minister stressed the need for economic sacrifice.
•The workforce were willing to make sacrifices in order to preserve jobs.
•She brought three children up single-handedly, often at great personal sacrifice.
2
a) [C,U] the act of offering something to a god, especially in the past, by killing an animal or person in a religious ceremony:
•They made sacrifices to ensure a good harvest.
b) [C] an animal, person, or object offered to a god in sacrifice
[+to]
•In those days, an animal was offered as a sacrifice to God.
•a human sacrifice (=a person killed as a sacrifice)
3 literary the final/supreme/ultimate sacrifice the act of dying while you are fighting for a principle or in order to help other people:
•Captain Oates made the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to save his colleagues.
1 [T] to willingly stop having something you want or doing something you like in order to get something more important
sacrifice sth for sth
•A Labour government chose to sacrifice defence for welfare.
sacrifice sth to do sth
•He sacrificed a promising career to look after his kids.
sacrifice yourself (for sth)
•mothers who sacrifice themselves for their children
2 [I,T] to kill an animal or person and offer them to a god in a religious ceremony [usually before noun]
relating to or offered as a sacrifice:
•a sacrificial ceremony
•a sacrificial lamb [C,U]
1 when someone treats something holy in a way that does not show respect
2 when someone treats something that another person thinks is very important or special without enough care or respect
it is sacrilege (for sb) to do sth
•It's sacrilege to even think of destroying that lovely building.
- sacrilegious adjective [C]
someone whose job is to take care of the holy objects in a church plural sacristies [C]
a small room in a church where holy cups and plates are kept, and where priests put on their ceremonial clothes; = vestry $
something that is sacrosanct is considered to be so important that no one is allowed to criticize or change it; = sacred
•Weekends are sacrosanct in our family. [U] medical
the abbreviation of seasonal affective disorder comparative sadder, superlative saddest
1 FEELING UNHAPPY unhappy, especially because something unpleasant has happened; happy
feel/look/sound sad
•Dad looked sad and worried as he read the letter.
be sad to hear/see/read etc sth
•I was very sad to hear that he had died.
sad that
•Lilly felt sad that Christmas was over.
[+about]
•I was sad about the friends I was leaving behind.
sad smile/face/expression etc
•There was such a sad look in her eyes.
2 MAKING YOU UNHAPPY a sad event, situation etc makes you feel unhappy:
•Sorry to hear the sad news.
•It was a sad case. The boy ended up in prison.
sad story/song/film etc
•a story with a sad ending
it is sad to see/hear etc sth
•It was sad to see them arguing all the time.
sad time/day/moment etc
•This is a sad day for us all.
3 NOT SATISFACTORY very bad or unacceptable:
•There aren't enough teachers, which is a sad state of affairs (=bad situation).
it's sad that/when/if ...
•It's sad if people are too afraid to go out alone at night.
the sad fact is (that) spoken
•The sad fact is that prejudice still exists.
• Sad to say (=unfortunately), the country is heading towards civil war.
4 LONELY a sad person has a dull, unhappy, or lonely life:
•She's a sad character - without any friends at all.
5 BORING informal boring or not deserving any respect:
•Stay in on Saturday night? What a sad idea!
6 sadder and/but wiser having learned something from an unpleasant experience:
•He came out of the relationship sadder but wiser.
SADNESS

WORD FOCUS: words meaning sad
unhappy sad because of the situation you are in
miserable very sad
depressed sad for a long time, and feeling that your life will never get better
gloomy /glum looking sad
down /down in the dumps sad and without much interest in life - usually not in a serious or permanent way
broken-hearted very sad because someone has ended a romantic relationship with you
homesick sad because you are a long way from your home and your friends
[T] formal
to make someone feel sad:
•Those who knew him are saddened by his death.
it saddens sb that
•It saddened him that they no longer trusted him.
- saddening adjective [C]
1 a leather seat that you sit on when you ride a horse
2 a seat on a bicycle or a MOTORCYCLE
3 in the saddle informal
a) riding a horse:
•We did six or eight hours in the saddle every day.
b) in a position in which you have power or authority:
•He always has to be in the saddle, controlling everything.
4 saddle of lamb/hare/venison a large joint of meat taken from the middle of the animal's back[T]
to put a saddle on a horse

PHRASAL VERBS
saddle up phr v
to put a saddle on a horse
saddle sth <=> up
•He was in the stable, saddling up his horse.

saddle sb with sth phr v
to make someone have a job or problem that is difficult or boring and that they do not want:
•I've been saddled with organizing the whole party!
•Many farms were saddled with debts.[C]
a bag for carrying things, fixed to the saddle on a horse or bicycle $ [C]
someone who makes saddles and other leather products, or a shop where these are sold [U]
saddles and leather goods made by a saddler[C] AmE
a shoe that has a toe and heel of one colour, with a different colour in the middle[not before noun]
feeling stiff and sore after riding a horse or bicycle $ plural saddos [C] informal
someone who you do not respect, especially because you think their interests are boring or strange:
•a bunch of saddos dressed up as science fiction characters [C]
a Hindu holy man who lives a very simple life [U]
1 behaviour in which someone gets pleasure from hurting other people or making then suffer; masochism
•There seemed to be an element of sadism in the training regime.
2 when someone gets sexual pleasure from hurting someone; masochism [C]
someone who enjoys hurting other people or making them suffer; masochist
cruel and enjoying making other people suffer; masochistic
•He took sadistic pleasure in humiliating her.
•sadistic fantasies
- sadistically adverb
1 in a way that shows that you are sad; = unhappily
•Peter shook his head sadly.
2 [sentence adverb] unfortunately:
•Sadly, the business failed.
3 very much - used when talking about bad situations or states:
•The garden's been sadly neglected.
•Good restaurants were sadly lacking.
•He was a popular man who will be sadly missed.
•I'm afraid you're going to be sadly disappointed.
•If you think you'll get any money from him, you're sadly mistaken. [U]
the state of feeling sad; = unhappiness
great/deep sadness
•She sensed Beth's deep sadness.
•It was with great sadness that we learned of his death.
•There was a touch of sadness in his voice (=he sounded a little sad).
•His relief was tinged with sadness (=he also felt rather sad). $ [U]
S & M when someone gets sexual pleasure from hurting someone or being hurt
- sadomasochist noun [C]
- sadomasochistic $ adjective [C] BrE
stamped addressed envelope or self-addressed envelope an envelope on which you have written your own name and address, and usually put a stamp, so that someone else can send you something; = SASE AmE
•For further details, send an SAE to the following address. [C]
1 a trip to see or hunt wild animals, especially in Africa
on safari
•They went on safari in Kenya.
2 safari suit/jacket a suit or jacket that is made of light material, usually with a belt and pockets on the chest[C]
an enclosed area of land where wild animals are kept, so that people can drive round to look at them comparative safer, superlative safest
1 NOT CAUSING HARM not likely to cause any physical injury or harm; dangerous
•Don't go near the edge - it isn't safe.
•Flying is one of the safest forms of travel.
•a safe working environment
it is safe (for sb) to do sth
•Is it safe to swim here?
safe to use/drink/eat etc
•The water is treated to make it safe to drink.
[+for]
•play-areas that are safe for children
(at/from) a safe distance
•We watched from a safe distance.
•Drivers should keep a safe distance from the car in front.
safe driver
•Women are safer drivers than men.
2 NOT IN DANGER [not before noun] not in danger of being lost, harmed, or stolen; unsafe ; safety
•She doesn't feel safe in the house on her own.
[+from]
•The birds' nests are high up, safe from predators.
•Make sure you keep these documents safe.
safe and sound/well (=unharmed, especially after being in danger)
•The missing children were found safe and sound.
3 safe place a place where something is not likely to be stolen or lost
keep/put sth in a safe place
•Keep your credit cards in a safe place.
4 safe journey/arrival/return etc a journey etc when someone or something is not harmed or lost:
•His family celebrated his safe return home.
safe journey BrE (=said to someone when they start a long journey)
•Dad rang to wish me a safe journey.
5 NO RISK not involving any risk and very likely to be successful:
•a safe investment
•a safe method of contraception
it's safe to say/assume (that)
•I think it's safe to say that the future is looking pretty good.
be (as) safe as houses BrE (=be completely safe)
6 SUBJECT a safe subject of conversation is not likely to upset anyone or make people argue:
•I kept to safe subjects, like the weather.
7 to be on the safe side spoken to do something in order to be certain to avoid an unpleasant situation:
•I'd take an umbrella, just to be on the safe side.
8 be in safe hands to be with someone who will look after you very well:
•Everyone wants to feel that their children are in safe hands.
9 better (to be) safe than sorry spoken used to say that it is better to be careful, even if this takes time, effort etc, than take a risk that may have a bad result:
•Set the alarm clock - better safe than sorry!
10 safe in the knowledge that... completely certain that something is true or will happen:
•She went out, safe in the knowledge that no one else was awake.
11 a safe pair of hands someone you can trust to do a difficult job without making mistakes
12 safe! BrE spoken informal used by young people to show approval of something:
•'Alex is having a party.' 'Oh, safe!'
13 NO PROBLEM BrE spoken informal used to say that something is good and that there is no problem:
•'How's your new boss?' 'She's safe.'
play it safe at PLAY^1 (9); it's a safe bet (that) at BET^2 (4); safe seat at SEAT^1 (2); sb's secret is safe (with sb) at SECRET^2 (1)[C]
a strong metal box or cupboard with special locks where you keep money and valuable things[C,U]
SAFE PASSAGE[C]
a SAFETY-DEPOSIT BOX $ [T]
to protect something from harm or damage
safeguard sb's interests/rights/welfare etc
•The industry has a duty to safeguard the interests of consumers.
•technology that will safeguard the environment
safeguard sth against sth
•a program for safeguarding the computer system against viruses[C]
a rule, agreement etc that is intended to protect someone or something from possible dangers or problems:
•International safeguards prevent the increase of nuclear weapons.
[+against]
•safeguards against the exploitation of children[C]
a place where someone can go in order to escape from possible danger or attack
provide/offer/create a safe haven (for sb)
•The Prime Minister wanted to create a safe haven for the refugees.[C]
a house where someone can hide and be protected. Safe houses are used especially by criminals hiding from the police, or by people who are being protected by the police. [U]
the state of being kept safe, or the action of keeping something safe
for safekeeping
•My passport was in the inner pocket of my bag, for safekeeping.
in a way that is safe:
•Drive safely!
•I think we can safely assume that she will pass the exam.also safe conduct [C,U]
official protection for someone when they are in danger or passing through a dangerous area
permit/promise/guarantee etc safe passage (to/for sb)
•The government offered safe passage to militants taking up their offer of peace talks.[U]
ways of having sex that reduce the risk of spreading AIDS and other sexual diseases, especially by using a CONDOM plural safeties
1 NOT IN DANGER [U] when someone or something is safe from danger or harm
[+of]
•measures to improve the health and safety of employees
in safety
•We were able to watch the lions in complete safety.
for safety
•For safety, always climb with a partner.
•You shouldn't travel alone, for safety's sake (=in order to be safe).
• For your own safety, please do not smoke inside the plane.
2 HARMFUL/NOT HARMFUL [U] how safe something is to use, do etc
[+of]
•Campaigners have challenged the safety of genetically-modified foods.
safety standards/regulations/precautions etc (=things that are done in order to make sure that something is safe)
•The device meets safety standards.
•Lower speed limits are part of a new road safety campaign.
3 sb's safety how safe someone is in a particular situation:
•The boy had been missing for five days and there were fears for his safety.
4 SAFE PLACE [U] a place where you are safe from danger
[+of]
•30,000 people fled to the safety of the capital.
get/lead/drag etc sb to safety
•Firefighters led the children to safety.
•They reached safety seconds before the bomb went off.
5 there is safety in numbers used to say that it is safer to be in a group than alone
6 SPORT [C] a way of getting two points in American football by making the other team put the ball down in its own GOAL
7 GUN [C] AmE a lock on a gun that stops anyone from shooting it by accident; = safety catch BrE
8 safety harness/helmet/glasses etc equipment etc that keeps you safe when you are doing something dangerous[C]
a SEAT BELT[C] BrE
a lock on a gun that stops anyone from shooting it by accident; = safety AmE[C]
a thick curtain at the front of a theatre stage that prevents fire from spreadingalso safe-deposit box [C]
a small box used for storing valuable objects, usually kept in a special room in a bank[U]
strong glass that breaks into very small pieces that are not sharp, used for example in car windows[C]
a special lamp used by MINERs , with a flame which will not make underground gases explode[C]
a match that you can light only by rubbing it along a special surface on the side of its box[C]
1 a large net that is placed below an ACROBAT who is performing high above the ground, in order to catch them if they fall
2 a system or arrangement that exists to help you if you have serious problems or get into a difficult situation
[+for]
•State support should provide a safety net for the very poor.[C]
someone in an organization who is responsible for the safety of the people who work there[C]
a metal pin for fastening things together. The point of the pin fits into a cover so that it cannot hurt you.[C]
a RAZOR that has a cover over part of the blade to protect your skin[C]
1 a part of a machine that allows gas, steam etc to escape when the pressure becomes too great
2 something that allows you to get rid of strong feelings without doing any harm:
•Being able to express emotion is a healthy safety valve for the relationship. [U]
1 a bright yellow spice that is used in cooking to give food a special taste and colour. It is sold as a powder or in thin pieces.
2 a bright orange-yellow colour past tense and past participle sagged, present participle sagging [I]
1 to hang down or bend in the middle, especially because of the weight of something; = droop
•The branch sagged under the weight of the apples.
•The skin around my eyes is starting to sag.
•a sagging roof
2 to become weaker or less valuable:
•attempts to revive the sagging economy
- sag noun [C,U]
•a sag in the mattress [C]
1 a long and complicated series of events, or a description of this:
•The whole saga began back in May.
[+of]
•She launched into the saga of her on-off engagement.
2 a long story about events that happen over many years
[+of]
•a saga of four generations of the Coleman family
3 one of the stories written about the Vikings of Norway and Iceland formal
able to understand and judge things very well; = wise
- sagaciously adverb [U] formal
good judgment and understanding; = wisdom
1 [U] a herb with grey-green leaves
2 [C] literary someone, especially an old man, who is very wiseliterary
very wise, especially as a result of a lot of experience:
•sage advice
- sagely adverb [U]
a small plant that is very common in dry areas in the western US informal
something that is saggy hangs down or bends more than it should:
•The bed was saggy in the middle. $
1 [U] the ninth sign of the ZODIAC, represented by an animal that is half horse and half human, which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between November 23 and December 21
2 also Sagittarian [C] someone who was born between November 23 and December 21
- Sagittarian adjective $ [U] BrE
small white grains obtained from some PALM trees, used to make sweet dishes with milk $
used in India, especially during the period of British rule, when talking to a man in authority:
•Good morning, sahib!
the past tense and past participle of SAY^1[only before noun] law
mentioned before:
•The said weapon was later found in the defendant's home.
1 [I always +adv/prep, T] to travel on or across an area of water in a boat or ship
[+across/into/out of etc]
•the first Europeans to sail across the Atlantic
•Three tall ships sailed past.
•She always wanted to sail around the world.
sail the Pacific/the Atlantic etc
•We're taking two months off to sail the Caribbean.
2 [I] to start a journey by boat or ship:
•We sail at dawn.
[+for]
•They're sailing for Antigua next week.
3 [I,T] to direct or control the movement of a boat or ship that has a sail:
•Blake sailed the ship safely through the narrow passage.
•My father taught me to sail.
4 [I always +adv/prep] to move quickly and smoothly through the air
[+through/over/into etc]
•A ball came sailing over the fence.
5 [I always +adv/prep] to move forwards gracefully and confidently:
•She sailed into the room.
6 sail close to the wind BrE to do or say something that is nearly wrong, illegal, or dishonest

PHRASAL VERBS
sail through sth phr v
to succeed very easily in a test, examination etc:
•Adam sailed through his final exams.[C]
1 a large piece of strong cloth fixed onto a boat, so that the wind will push the boat along:
•a yacht with white sails
hoist/lower the sails (=put the sails up or down)
2 set sail to begin a journey by boat or ship
[+for/from]
•The following week the 'Queen Elizabeth' set sail for Jamaica.
3 under sail literary moving along on a ship or boat that has sails $ [C]
a flat board with a sail, that you stand on in the sport of WIND-SURFING; = wind-surfer $ [C] AmE
a small boat with one or more sails
1 [U] the sport or activity of travelling in or directing a small boat with sails:
•Bud has invited us to go sailing this weekend.
2 [C] a time when a ship leaves a port:
•Luckily, there was another sailing at 2 o'clock.
be plain sailing at PLAIN^1 (9)[C] BrE
a small boat with one or more sails[C]
a large ship with sails $ [C]
1 someone who works on a ship:
•Six British sailors drowned.
•We were both experienced sailors.
2 bad/good sailor someone who does or does not feel sick when they are on a boat or ship[C]
a blue and white suit that looks like an old-fashioned sailor's uniform, worn by small boys [C]
1 written abbreviation St or St. someone who is given the title 'saint' by the Christian church after they have died, because they have been very good or holy:
•Saint Patrick
•the saints in heaven
2 informal someone who is extremely good, kind, or patient:
•His wife must have been a saint to put up with him for all those years.
3 the patience of a saint a very large amount of patience:
•You need the patience of a saint for this job. literary
1 having been made a saint by the Christian church
2 old-fashioned used when talking about a dead person:
•my sainted mother, God rest her soul
3 my sainted aunt! BrE old-fashioned used to express surprise or shock:
•My sainted aunt! Whatever next? [U]
the state of being a saint
completely good and honest, with no faults:
•She led a saintly and blameless life.
- saintliness noun [U][C]
the day of the year when the Christian church remembers a particular saint biblical
says [U]
1 for the sake of sb/sth also for sb's/sth's sake in order to help, improve, or please someone or something:
•He moved to the seaside for the sake of his health.
•I only went for Kay's sake.
•I hope he's told the truth for his own sake (=because it will be good for him).
2 for God's/Christ's/goodness'/Heaven's etc sake spoken
a) used when you are telling someone how important it is to do something or not to do something:
•For goodness sake, don't be late!
b) used to show that you are angry or annoyed:
•What is it now, for God's sake?
3 for the sake of it if you do something for the sake of it, you do it because you want to and not for any particular reason:
•She likes spending money just for the sake of it.
4 for its own sake also sth for sth's sake if something is done for its own sake, it is done for the value of the experience itself, not for any advantage it will bring:
•art for art's sake
5 for the sake of argument spoken if you say something for the sake of argument, what you say may not be true but it will help you to have a discussion:
•Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that you've got £200 to invest. [U]
a Japanese alcoholic drink made from rice
another spelling of SALEABLE formal
showing too much interest in sex:
•the media's love of salacious gossip
- salaciously adverb
- salaciousness noun [U] [C,U]
1 a mixture of raw vegetables, especially LETTUCE, CUCUMBER, and tomato:
•Would you like some salad with your pasta?
•a spinach salad
toss a salad (=mix it all together, usually with a dressing)
!! Salad is a type of cold food made from vegetables. The green leafy vegetable that you often use in salads is called lettuce.
2 raw or cooked food cut into small pieces and served cold
fruit/potato salad[C]
a place in a restaurant with different vegetables that you can choose to make your own salad[U] BrE
a thick light-coloured liquid, similar to MAYONNAISE, that you put on salad[plural] old-fashioned
the time of your life when you are young and not very experienced[C,U]
a liquid mixture made from oil and VINEGAR, for putting on salads $ [C]
a small animal similar to a LIZARD, which lives on land and in the water [C,U]
a large SAUSAGE with a strong taste that is eaten cold
receiving money every month for the work you do, rather than for every week or every hour:
•salaried workers plural salaries [C,U]
money that you receive as payment from the organization you work for, usually paid to you every month; wage, pay
•The average salary is $39,000 a year.
•people with high salaries
be on a salary of sth (=be earning a particular amount)
•She's on a salary of £16,000.
monthly/annual/yearly salary
•Parker's annual salary is just under $48,000.
basic/base salary
•a $56,000 a year base salary
see box at PAY^2 plural salarymen [C]
a man who works in an office, often for many hours each day, and receives a salary as payment, especially in Japan
1 [C,U] when you sell something
[+of]
•The use and sale of marijuana remains illegal.
•Harvey gets a $50 commission every time he makes a sale (=sells something as part of his job).
•Car salesmen will often bring down the price rather than lose a sale (=fail to sell something).
•arms sales to Iran
2 sales
a) [plural] the total number of products that are sold during a particular period of time:
•Britain's retail sales (=all the things sold to the public in shops) jumped 3.2 percent in April.
[+of]
•Sales of automobiles are up this year.
•We did not reach our summer sales targets.
•The company no longer releases its sales figures (=how much money it makes or loses from sales).
in sales
•We grossed more than $500,000 in sales last year.
b) [U] the part of a company that deals with selling products:
•She found a job in sales.
•a sales manager
•a worldwide sales force of 1,100
3 for sale available to be bought:
•Excuse me, are these for sale?
•There was a 'for sale' sign in the yard.
•Reluctantly, they put the family home up for sale (=made it available to be bought).
4 on sale
a) available to be bought in a shop:
•A wide range of postcards and other souvenirs are on sale in the visitors' centre.
•Stephen King's new novel will go on sale (=will begin to be sold) next week.
b) especially AmE available to be bought at a lower price than usual:
•These gloves were on sale for only $9.
5 [C] a period of time when shops sell their goods at lower prices than usual:
•Marsdon's department store is having a sale this week.
the sales BrE (=when all the shops have a sale)
•I picked up some real bargains in the January sales this year.
6 [C] an event at which things are sold to the person who offers the highest price; = auction
•a sale of 17th century paintings
7 sales drive/campaign when a company makes a special effort to try to increase the amount of its products that it sells:
•We launch a new sales campaign this fall.
8 sales pitch/talk the things that someone says when they are trying to persuade you to buy something
9 (on) sale or return BrE if a shop buys something on sale or return, it can return the goods that it is unable to sell
BILL OF SALE, JUMBLE SALE, POINT OF SALEsalable
something that is saleable can be sold, or is easy to sell:
•a saleable commodity
- saleability noun [U] [C] BrE
a room where things are sold by AUCTION[C]
someone who sells things in a shop; = shop assistant $ [C] AmE
someone who sells things in a shop; = shop assistant BrE $ [C] old-fashioned
a young woman who sells things in a shop plural salesmen [C]
a man whose job is to persuade people to buy his company's products
computer/car/insurance etc salesman [U]
the skill or ability to persuade people to buy things as part of your job $ plural salespeople [C]
someone whose job is selling thingsalso sales rep [C]
someone who travels around, usually within a particular area, selling their company's products[C] AmE
a small piece of paper that you are given in a shop when you buy something; = receipt[C,U]
a tax that you have to pay in addition to the cost of something you are buying
VAT plural saleswomen [C]
a woman whose job is selling things formal
the salient points or features of something are the most important or most noticeable parts of it:
•the salient points of the report
- salience noun [U] medical
containing or consisting of salt:
•saline solution
- salinity noun [U][U]
a special mixture of water and salt [U]
the liquid that is produced naturally in your mouth; = spit[C]
a part of your mouth that produces saliva [I]
1 to produce more saliva in your mouth than usual, especially because you see or smell food
2 to look at or show interest in something or someone in a way that shows you like or want them very much - used to show disapproval
[+at/over]
•The media are salivating over the story.
- salivation noun [U] $
sallow skin looks slightly yellow and unhealthy
sallow face/skin/complexion
•a woman with dark hair and a sallow complexion
- sallowness noun [U] plural sallies [C] formal
1 a sudden quick attack and return to a position of defence
2 an intelligent remark that is intended to amuse peoplepast tense and past participle sallied, present participle sallying, third person singular sallies

PHRASAL VERBS
sally forth phr v literary
to go out in order to do something, especially something that you expect to be difficult or dangerous - often used humorously:
•Each morning they sallied forth in search of jobs.
1 [C] plural salmon a large fish with silver skin and pink flesh that lives in the sea but swims up rivers to lay its eggs
2 [U] this fish eaten as food
fresh/smoked salmon
3 [U] a pink-orange colour [U]
a kind of BACTERIA in food that makes you ill:
•a case of salmonella poisoning $ [C]
1 a shop where you can get your hair washed, cut, curled etc; = hairdresser's
hair/beauty salon
•an exclusive hair salon in central London
2 a shop where fashionable and expensive clothes are sold
3 old fashioned a room in a very large house where people can meet and talk
4 a regular meeting of famous people at which they talk about art, literature, or music, popular in the past in France:
•a literary salon [C]
1 a public place where alcoholic drinks were sold and drunk in the western US in the 19th century; = bar
2 BrE also saloon bar a comfortable room in a PUB; = lounge bar
3 BrE also saloon car a car that has a separate enclosed space for your bags etc; = sedan AmE
•a four-door family saloon
ESTATE CAR
4 a large comfortable room where passengers on a ship can sit and relax $ [U]
1 a type of Latin American dance music
2 a sauce made from onions, tomatoes and CHILLIes that you put on Spanish or Mexican food $
1 [U] a natural white mineral that is added to food to make it taste better or to preserve it:
•This might need some salt and pepper.
•a pinch of salt (=a very small amount)
•Could you pass the salt?
2 the salt of the earth someone who is ordinary but good and honest
3 take sth with a pinch/grain of salt informal to not completely believe what someone tells you, because you know that they do not always tell the truth:
•Most of what he says should be taken with a pinch of salt.
4 [C] technical a type of chemical substance that is formed when an acid is combined with a BASE
EPSOM SALTS, SMELLING SALTS, OLD SALT; rub salt into sb's wounds at RUB^1 (7); worth his/her salt at WORTH^1 (10)[T usually passive]
1 to add salt to food to make it taste better:
•salted peanuts
2 also salt down to add salt to food to preserve it
salted pork/meat/fish
•The meat is salted to store it through the winter.
3 to put salt on the roads to prevent them from becoming icy

PHRASAL VERBS
salt sth <=> away phr v
to save money for the future, especially dishonestly by hiding it:
•She salted the money away in a secret account.[only before noun]
1 preserved with salt:
•salt pork
2 salt water water that contains salt, especially naturally in the sea
3 consisting of salt water:
•a salt lake[C] BrE
a small container for salt; = salt shaker AmEsaltpeter AmE $ [U] BrE
a substance used in making GUNPOWDER (=powder that causes explosions) and matches[C] AmE
a small container for salt; = salt cellar BrE[C] AmE
a large vehicle that puts salt or sand on the roads in winter to make them less icy; = gritter BrE $ [only before noun]
1 living in salty water or in the sea; freshwater
•saltwater fish
2 containing salt water; freshwater
•a saltwater lake $
1 tasting of or containing salt:
•a slightly salty taste
•salty foods
2 AmE old-fashioned language, a story, or a joke that is salty is amusing and often about sex formal
a salubrious area or place is pleasant and clean, especially compared to other places - often used humorously:
•the less salubrious area near the docks $ formal
a salutary experience is unpleasant but teaches you something
salutary experience/lesson/reminder etc
•Losing money in this way taught young Jones a salutary lesson. formal
1 [C] a word or phrase used at the beginning of a letter or speech, such as 'Dear Mr. Smith'
2 [C,U] something you say or do when greeting someone
1 [I,T] to move your right hand to your head, especially in order to show respect to an officer in the army, navy etc:
•The two soldiers saluted Lieutenant Cecil.
•The men jumped to their feet and saluted.
2 [T] formal to praise someone for the things they have achieved, especially publicly
salute sb as sth
•James Joyce was saluted as the greatest writer of the 20th century.
3 [T] old-fashioned to greet someone in a polite way, especially by moving your hand or body
1 [C] an act of raising your right hand to your head as a sign of respect, usually done by a soldier to an officer:
•As they left, the Corporal gave them a respectful salute.
in salute
•The officer raised his hand in salute.
2 [C,U] something that expresses praise to someone for something they have achieved, or that expresses honour or respect to someone or something
in salute
•Everyone at the table raised their glasses in salute.
[+to]
•His first words were a salute to the people of South Africa.
3 [C] an occasion when guns are fired into the air in order to show respect for someone important:
•a 21-gun salute [T]
1 to save something from an accident or bad situation in which other things have already been damaged, destroyed, or lost:
•Divers hope to salvage some of the ship's cargo.
salvage sth from sth
•They managed to salvage only a few of their belongings from the fire.
2 to make sure that you do not lose something completely, or to make sure that something does not fail completely:
•He fought to salvage the company's reputation.[U]
1 when you save things from a situation in which other things have already been damaged, destroyed, or lost:
•a massive salvage operation
2 things that have been saved from an accident, especially when a ship has sunk [U]
1 something that prevents or saves someone or something from danger, loss, or failure
be sb's/sth's salvation
•A drug treatment program was Ron's salvation.
[+of]
•The Internet turned out to be the salvation of the company.
2 in the Christian religion, the state of being saved from evil
the Salvation Army a Christian organization that tries to help poor people $ [C,U]
a substance that you put on sore skin to make it less painful:
•lip salve[T] formal
salve your conscience if you do something to salve your conscience, you do it to make yourself feel less guilty:
•Buying his wife flowers helped to salve his conscience. $ [C]
a large metal plate used for serving food or drink at a formal meal:
•a silver salver $ plural salvos or salvoes [C usually singular] formal
1 [+ of] when several guns are fired during a battle or as part of a ceremony
2 opening salvo the first in a series of questions, statements etc that you use to try to win an argument:
•Congressman Saunders fired the opening salvo during a heated debate on capital punishment.
3 sudden laughter, APPLAUSE etc from many people at the same time [C]
good Samaritan someone, especially a stranger, who helps you when you have problems or need something [C,U]
a fast dance from Brazil, or the type of music played for this dance [only before noun]
1 NOT DIFFERENT
a) the same person, place, thing etc is one particular person etc and not a different one:
•He sits in the same chair every night.
•They went to the same school.
[+as]
•She was born on the same day as me.
•It is those same people who voted for the Democrats who now complain about their policies.
the very same/the self-same (=the same person or thing and not a different one - used to emphasize that what you are saying seems surprising)
•We stood in front of the very same house in which Shakespeare wrote his plays.
b) used to say two or more people, things, events etc are exactly like each other:
•Both women were wearing the same dress.
•The same thing could happen again.
[+as]
•He gets the same pay as me but he gets his own office.
just/exactly the same
•That's funny, Simon said exactly the same thing.
•The furniture is made in much the same (=almost the same) way as it was 200 years ago.
2 NOT CHANGING used to say that a particular person or thing does not change:
•Her perfume has always had the same effect on me.
•He's the same old Peter - moody and irritable.
3 at the same time
a) if two things happen at the same time, they both happen together:
•Kate and I both went to live in Spain at the same time.
b) used when you want to say that something else is also true:
•We don't want to lose him. At the same time, he needs to realise that company regulations must be obeyed.
4 amount/come to the same thing to have the same result or effect:
•It doesn't matter whether she was happy to leave or not. It amounts to the same thing - she's gone.
5 the same old story/excuse etc informal something that you have heard many times before - used especially to show disapproval:
•It's the same old story - his wife didn't really love him.
6 same difference spoken used to say that different actions, behaviour etc have the same result or effect:
•'I could mail the letter or send a fax in the morning.' 'Same difference. It still won't get there on time.'
7 by the same token formal for the same reasons - used when you want to say that something else is also true, especially something very different or surprising:
•I realise that he hasn't come up with any new ideas, but by the same token we haven't needed any.
8 be in the same boat to be in the same difficult situation that someone else is in:
•Others in her profession are in the same boat.
1 the same
a) used to say that two or more people or things are exactly like each other:
•The coins may look the same but one's a forgery.
[+as]
•Your measurements are exactly the same as Dana's.
•Thanks for your help - I'll do the same for you one day.
b) used to say that a particular person or thing does not change:
•Things just won't be the same without Sam.
2 (and the) same to you! spoken
a) used as a reply to a greeting:
•'Merry Christmas!' 'And the same to you Ben.'
b) used as an angry reply to a rude remark:
•'Up yours!' 'Same to you!'
3 just/all the same in spite of a particular situation, opinion etc:
•I realise she can be very annoying, but I think you should apologise all the same.
4 all the same in spite of something that you have just mentioned:
•I'm not likely to run out of money, but all the same, I'm careful.
5 it's all the same to sb used to say that someone does not mind what decision is made, would be pleased with any choice, or does not really care:
•If it's all the same to you, I'll go this weekend.
6 same here spoken used to say that you feel the same way as someone else:
•'I'm exhausted.' 'Same here!'
7 (the) same again used to ask for another drink of the same kind
8 more of the same another person, thing etc like the one just mentioned:
•He has produced a string of thrillers, and this movie is just more of the same.
one and the same at ONE^2 (18)

GRAMMAR
Same usually has the before it: They both gave the same reasons for leaving. | All the shirts looked the same.
You can also use this orthat before same when it is used as an adjective, to emphasize it: At that same moment the telephone rang.

!! Same never has a before it: We went to the same school (NOT a same school).

!! You can say that one thing isthe same as another. Do not use like orwith: His answer was the same as mine (NOT the same like/with mine).

1 the same (as) in the same way:
•'Rain' and 'reign' are pronounced the same even though they are spelt differently.
•Everyone had to dress the same as a well-known historical figure.
2 same as sb spoken just like someone else:
•I have my pride, same as anyone else. [U]
a boring lack of variety, or the quality of being very similar to something else
same-sex marriage/relationship etc a marriage, relationship etc between two men or two women; = homosexual BrE informal
boring and having very little variety:
•His novels tend to be very samey. $ [C]
a type of Indian food made from meat or vegetables covered in thin PASTRY and cooked in hot oil $ [C]
a large metal container used in Russia to boil water for making tea [C]
a small boat used in China and Southeast Asia $ [C]
1 a small part or amount of something that is examined in order to find out something about the whole
[+of]
•I'd like to see some samples of your work.
•They took a blood sample to test for hepatitis.
2 a small amount of a product that people can try in order to find out what it is like
[+of]
•samples of a new shampoo
3 a small group of people who have been chosen from a larger group to give information or answers to questions:
•The sample consisted of 98 secondary school teachers.
•Out of a random sample of drivers, 21% had been in an accident in the previous year.
•a nationally representative sample of over 950 elderly persons
4 a small part of a song from a CD or record that is used in a new song:
•Her latest album makes extensive use of samples from a wide range of acid jazz tracks.[T]
1 to taste food or drink in order to see what it is like:
•a chance to sample the local food
2 to choose some people from a larger group in order to ask them questions or get information from them:
•18% of the adults sampled admitted having had problems with alcohol abuse.
3 to try an activity, go to a place etc in order to see what it is like:
•Here's your chance to sample the delights of country life.
4 to use a small part of a song from a CD or record in a new song:
•Many of his songs have been sampled by other artists. $ [C]
1 a machine that can record sounds or music so that you can change them and use them for a new piece of music
2 a piece of cloth with different stitches on it, made to show how good someone is at sewing plural samurai [C]
a member of a powerful military class in Japan in the past
- samurai adjective
•a samurai sword plural sanatoria [C] old-fashioned
a type of hospital for sick people who are getting better after a long illness but still need rest and a lot of care past tense and past participle sanctified, present participle sanctifying, third person singular sanctifies [T]
1 to make something seem morally right or acceptable or to give something official approval:
•The rule of the Czar was sanctified by the Russian Orthodox Church.
2 to make something holy
- sanctification noun [U] $ formal
behaving as if you are morally better than other people, in a way that is annoying - used to show disapproval:
•sanctimonious politicians preaching about family values
- sanctimoniously adverb
- sanctimoniousness noun [U]
1 sanctions [plural] official orders or laws stopping trade, communication etc with another country, as a way of forcing its leaders to make political changes
[+against]
•US sanctions against Cuba
•a resolution to impose sanctions (=start using sanctions) on North Korea
•the threat of trade sanctions
•The UN security council may impose economic sanctions.
•Any talk about lifting sanctions (=ending them) is premature.
2 [U] formal official permission, approval, or acceptance:
•Apparently, the aide had acted without White House sanction.
3 [C] formal a form of punishment that can be used if someone disobeys a rule or law:
•the harshest possible sanction which could be imposed[T] formal
1 to officially accept or allow something; = approve
•The church refused to sanction the king's second marriage.
2 be sanctioned by sth to be made acceptable by something:
•a barbaric custom, but one sanctioned by long usage [U]
1 the sanctity of life/marriage etc the quality that makes life, marriage etc so important that it must be respected and preserved:
•the sanctity of the Constitution
2 formal the holy or religious character of a person or place; sacred
•an aura of sanctity $ plural sanctuaries
1 [C] an area for birds or animals where they are protected and cannot be hunted; = refuge
bird/wildlife etc sanctuary
•The park is the largest wildlife sanctuary in the US.
[+for]
•a sanctuary for tigers
2 [C,U] a peaceful place that is safe and provides protection, especially for people who are in danger; = refuge
find/seek sanctuary
•Fleeing refugees found sanctuary in Geneva.
[+for]
•a sanctuary for battered women
3 [C] the part of a religious building that is considered to be the most holy
4 [C] AmE the room in a religious building where religious services take place
5 [U] the right that people had under Christian law, especially in the past, to be protected from police, soldiers etc by staying in a church [C]
1 inner sanctum a private place or room that only a few important people are allowed to enter - often used humorously:
•Occasionally she would be allowed into the inner sanctum of his office.
2 a holy place inside a temple
1 [U] a substance consisting of very small pieces of rocks and minerals, that forms beaches and deserts:
•a mixture of sand and cement
•I have sand in my shoe.
2 [C,U] an area of beach:
•miles of golden sands
•We were just sitting on the sand.
3 the sands of time literary moments of time that pass quickly
[I,T] also sand down to make a surface smooth by rubbing it with SANDPAPER or using a special piece of equipment [C]
a light shoe that is fastened onto your foot by bands of leather or cloth, and is worn in warm weather:
•a pair of sandals [U]
pleasant-smelling wood from a Southern Asian tree, or the oil from this wood [C]
a bag filled with sand, used for protection against floods, explosions etcpast tense and past participle sandbagged, present participle sandbagging
1 [I,T] to put sandbags around a building in order to protect it from a flood or explosion
2 [T] to treat someone unfairly in order to prevent them from doing something or being successful [C]
a raised area of sand in a river, ocean etc[C]
a long pile of sand in a river or the ocean, formed by the movement of the water $ [T]
to clean or polish metal, stone, glass etc with a machine that sends out a powerful stream of sand $ [C] especially AmE
a small box filled with sand for children to play in; = sandpit BrE $ [C]
a small model of a castle made out of sand by children playing on a beach[C]
a hill formed of sand in a desert or near the seaalso sanding machine $ [C]
an electric tool with a rough surface that moves very quickly, used for making surfaces smooth, especially the surface of wood[C]
a small fly that bites people and lives on beaches $ [C] AmE
an area of empty land in a town or city, where children often play sports or games:
•a sandlot ball game [singular]
an imaginary man who is supposed to make children go to sleep $ [U]
strong paper covered on one side with sand or a similar substance, used for rubbing wood in order to make the surface smooth[T]
to rub something with sandpaper $ [C]
a small bird with long legs and a long beak that lives near the shore [C] BrE
a box or special area filled with sand for children to play in; = sandbox AmE $ [U]
a type of soft yellow or red rock, often used in buildings $ [C]
a storm in the desert in which sand is blown around by strong winds [C] AmE
a hollow place on a golf course, filled with sand, from which it is difficult to hit the ball; = bunker BrE $
1 [C] two pieces of bread with cheese, meat, vegetables, cooked egg, etc between them:
•a ham sandwich
2 [C] BrE a cake consisting of two layers with JAM and cream between them:
•a raspberry sponge sandwich
CLUB SANDWICH, OPEN SANDWICH[T usually passive]
to be in a very small space between two other things
be sandwiched in/between sb/sth
•A layer of transparent material is sandwiched between the pieces of glass.[C]
two boards with advertisements on them that hang in front and behind someone who is paid to walk around in public[C] BrE
a course of study at a British college or university that includes periods spent working in industry or business
1 covered with sand or containing a lot of sand:
•The soil is quite sandy.
2 hair that is sandy is a yellowish-brown colour
- sandiness noun [U]
1 able to think in a normal and reasonable way; insane, mentally ill ; sanity
•He seems perfectly sane (=completely sane) to me.
•No sane person would want to kill a baby.
2 reasonable and based on sensible thinking:
•a sane and sensible approach to gun control
3 keep sb sane also stay/remain sane to stop someone from thinking about their problems and becoming upset:
•The only thing that kept me sane was music.
- sanely adverb
the past tense of SING $ [U] literary
courage and the ability to keep calm in dangerous or difficult situations [U]
a Spanish drink made from red wine, fruit, and fruit juice $ literary
involving violence and killing formal
happy and hopeful about the future; = optimistic
[+about]
•Other economists are more sanguine about the possibility of inflation.
•a sanguine view $ [C] AmE
a SANATORIUM $
1 [only before noun] relating to the ways that dirt, infection, and waste are removed, so that places are clean and healthy for people to live in; = hygienic
•Diseases were spread through poor sanitary conditions.
•a prison with no proper sanitary facilities (=toilets)
2 clean and not causing any danger to people's health; insanitary
•Often, the camps were not very sanitary.also sanitary towel BrE sanitary napkin AmE [C]
a special piece of soft material that a woman wears in her underwear for the blood when she has her PERIOD [U]
the protection of public health by removing and treating waste, dirty water etc:
•Overcrowding and poor sanitation are common problems in prisons.[C] AmE formal
someone who removes waste material that people put outside their houses; = garbage manalso sanitise BrE [T]
1 to remove particular details from a report, story etc in order to make it less offensive, unpleasant, or embarrassing - used especially to show disapproval:
•the sanitized version of events which was reported in the government-controlled media
2 to clean something thoroughly, removing dirt and BACTERIA [U]
1 the condition of being mentally healthy; insanity ; sane
•I began to doubt his sanity.
•She wondered if she was losing her sanity.
2 when someone or something is being reasonable and sensible; sane
•Sanity appears to be returning to the stock market.
regain/get back/recover your sanity
•I took a vacation to try to recover my sanity.
the past tense of SINK
without - usually used humorously:
•He came to the door sans shirt. [U]
an ancient language of India [U] technical
a style of printing in which letters have no SERIFs also Santa $ [singular]
an imaginary old man with red clothes and a long white BEARD who, children believe, brings them presents at Christmas; = Father Christmas BrE
1 [U] the watery substance that carries food through a plant
2 [C] informal a stupid person who is easy to deceive or treat badlypast tense and past participle sapped, present participle sapping [T]
to make something weaker or destroy it, especially someone's strength or their determination to do something; = weaken
sap sb's strength/courage/energy
•Her long illness was gradually sapping Charlotte's strength. literary
very wise [C]
a young tree $ [C] BrE
a soldier whose job involves digging and building literary
LESBIAN $ [C,U]
a transparent bright blue jewel
1 AmE expressing love and emotions in a way that seems silly; = soppy BrE
•a sappy song
2 full of SAP (=liquid in a plant) [U]
the younger outer wood in a tree, that is paler and softer than the wood in the middle [C] old use
a Muslim - used in the Middle Ages [U] AmE trademark
thin transparent plastic used for wrapping food; = clingfilm BrE $ [U]
a way of speaking or writing that involves saying the opposite of what you really mean in order to make an unkind joke or to show that you are annoyed:
•'Good of you to arrive on time,' George said, with heavy sarcasm (=very clear sarcasm).
hint/trace/edge/touch of sarcasm
•There was just a touch of sarcasm in her voice. $
saying things that are the opposite of what you mean, in order to make an unkind joke or to show that you are annoyed:
•Was she being sarcastic?
sarcastic remark/comment/question
•He can't help making sarcastic comments.
sarcastic manner/smile/laugh etc
•'I thought so,' she said with a sarcastic smile.
- sarcastically adverb
•'Oh good,' he said sarcastically. $ plural sarcophagi [C]
a decorated stone box for a dead body, used in ancient times $
1 [C] a small young fish that is often packed in flat metal boxes when it is sold as food
2 be packed like sardines to be crowded tightly together in a small space:
•commuters packed like sardines on the evening train $ written
showing that you do not have a good opinion of someone or something, and feel that you are better than them:
•He looked at her with sardonic amusement.
- sardonically adverb $ [singular] spoken
SERGEANT [C]
a long piece of cloth that you wrap around your body like a dress, worn especially by women from India $ BrE informal
SARCASTIC $ [C] BrE informal
a SANDWICH $ [C]
a loose skirt consisting of a long piece of cloth wrapped around your waist, worn especially by people in Malaysia and Indonesia $ [U]
a sweet drink without alcohol, made from the root of the SASSAFRAS plant $ formal
relating to clothes, especially the style of clothes that a man wears - used especially humorously:
•a man of great sartorial elegance
- sartorially adverb
the SAS the Special Air Service a British military force that is specially trained to do secret and dangerous work [C] AmE
self-addressed stamped envelope an envelope that you put your name, address, and a stamp on, so that someone else can send you something; = SAE BrE [C]
1 a long piece of cloth that you wear around your waist like a belt
2 a long piece of cloth that you wear over one shoulder and across your chest [I always + adv/prep]
to walk in a confident way, moving your body from side to side, especially so that people look at you
[+around/along/down etc]
•Models sashayed down the aisle. [U]
a type of Japanese food consisting of small pieces of fresh fish that have not been cooked[C] BrE
a window consisting of two frames that you open by sliding one up or down, behind or in front of the other [T] AmE informal
to talk in a rude way to someone you should respect:
•Don't you sass me, young lady! [C,U]
a small Asian or North American tree, or the pleasant-smelling roots of this tree that are used in food and drink [C]
an English person - used by Scottish people in a humorous way or to show disapproval AmE
1 a child who is sassy is rude to someone they should respect; = cheeky BrE
2 someone, especially a woman, who is sassy is confident and does not really care what other people think about her [C]
1 trademark Scholastic Aptitude Test an examination that American high school students take before they go to college:
• SAT scores have been steadily decreasing.
2 SATs Standard Assessment Test examinations that students in schools in England and Wales take at the ages of 7, 11, and 14, to see whether they have reached the standard set by the NATIONAL CURRICULUMalso Sat BrE
the written abbreviation of Saturday
the past tense and past participle of SIT [singular]
the Devil, considered to be the main evil power and God's opponent
1 relating to practices that treat the Devil like a god
satanic ritual/cult/rite
•The children were abused as part of a satanic ritual.
2 literary extremely cruel or evil:
•satanic laughter
- satanically adverb [U]
the practice of worshipping Satan
- satanist noun [C]
- satanist adjective [C]
a leather bag that you carry over your shoulder, used especially in the past by children for carrying books to school literary
feeling that you have had enough or too much of something, especially food or pleasure; = full
- sate verb [T]
•He had sated his lust. [C]
1 a machine that has been sent into space and goes around the Earth, moon etc, used for radio, television, and other electronic communication:
•the launch of a communications and weather satellite
via/by satellite (=using a satellite)
•This broadcast comes live via satellite from New York.
2 a natural object that moves around a PLANET:
•The moon is a satellite of the Earth.
3 a country, area, or organization that is controlled by or is dependent on another larger one:
•the former Soviet satellite country of Lithuania
4 a town that has developed next to a large city:
•We stayed in Aurora, a satellite suburb of Chicago.[C]
a large circular piece of metal that receives satellite television broadcastsalso satellite TV [U]
television programmes that are broadcast using satellites in space, and which you need a special piece of equipment to be able to watch [T usually passive] literary
to satisfy a desire or need for something such as food or sex, especially so that you feel you have had too much
- satiated adjective
- satiation noun [U] $ [U]
a type of cloth that is very smooth and shiny:
•a red satin ribbon
having a smooth shiny surface:
•The new paints are available in gloss and satin finishes. $
smooth, shiny, and soft:
•women in tight, satiny dresses $
1 [U] a way of criticizing something such as a group of people or a system, in which you deliberately make them seem funny so that people will see their faults:
•the characteristic use of satire in Jonson's work
political/social satire
•a comedy group that does political satire
2 [C] a piece of writing, film, play etc that uses this type of criticism
[+on]
•a satire on American politics
savage/stinging/vicious/biting satire
•a biting satire of the television industry
- satirical adjective
•a well-known satirical magazine
- satiric adjective
- satirically adverb [C]
someone who writes satirealso satirise BrE [T]
to use satire to make people see someone's or something's faults:
•a play satirizing the fashion industry
1 [C,U] a feeling of happiness or pleasure because you have achieved something or got what you wanted; dissatisfaction

great/deep/real satisfaction
personal satisfaction
sense/feeling of satisfaction
smile/sigh/look of satisfaction
with/in satisfaction
a source of satisfaction (=something that makes you satisfied)
get/gain/derive satisfaction from sth
have the satisfaction of doing sth
express satisfaction (with/at sth)
give sb the satisfaction of doing sth
job satisfaction (=enjoyment of your job)
grim satisfaction (=when you have achieved or got something but do not really feel happy about it)

•She got great satisfaction from helping people to learn.
•a task which offered him little personal satisfaction
•Do you feel a sense of satisfaction at the end of the working day?
•He allowed himself a little smile of satisfaction.
•'I've passed all my exams', he announced with satisfaction.
•Care-giving can be a source of enormous satisfaction.
•The survey found that men got greater satisfaction from caring for their families than they did from work.
•At least he had the satisfaction of knowing that he was right.
•Finance officials expressed satisfaction with the recovery of the dollar.
•I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing how upset I was.
• people who enjoy reasonably high job satisfaction

2 to sb's/sth's satisfaction if something is done to someone's satisfaction, it is done as well or as completely as they want, so they are pleased:
•The question could not be resolved, at least not to my satisfaction.
3 [U] when you get money or an APOLOGY from someone who has treated you badly or unfairly:
•I got no satisfaction from the customer complaints department.
4 [U] formal when someone gets something that they want, need, or have demanded
[+of]
•the satisfaction of basic human needs
•sexual satisfaction
something that is satisfactory seems good enough for you, or good enough for a particular situation or purpose; = acceptable; unsatisfactory
•His progress this term has been satisfactory.
[+to/for]
•an arrangement that is satisfactory to both sides
satisfactory explanation/answer
•There seems to be no satisfactory explanation.
perfectly/entirely/wholly satisfactory
•None of the solutions was entirely satisfactory.
satisfactory result/outcome/resolution
•Our aim is to achieve a satisfactory outcome for everyone.
- satisfactorily adverb
•The question has not been satisfactorily answered.
1 pleased because something has happened in the way that you want, or because you have got what you want; dissatisfied
•a satisfied smile
•They have plenty of satisfied customers.
•Will she ever be satisfied?
[+with]
•I'm not satisfied with the way he cut my hair.
completely/fully/totally/entirely satisfied
•If you're not completely satisfied, you can get your money back.
2 feeling sure that something is right or true
[+that]
•He was satisfied that he had done nothing wrong.
3 (are you) satisfied? spoken used to say in an annoyed way that you agree to do something that you do not really want to do:
•Okay, okay, I'll ask him this afternoon. Satisfied?
SELF-SATISFIED past tense and past participle satisfied, present participle satisfying, third person singular satisfies [T]
1 to make someone feel pleased by doing what they want:
•Nothing I did would ever satisfy my father.
2 if you satisfy someone's needs, demands etc, you provide what they need or want
satisfy sb's needs/demands/desires
•The program is designed to satisfy the needs of adult learners.
satisfy sb's hunger/appetite (=give someone enough food to stop them from feeling hungry)
•A salad won't be enough to satisfy my appetite.
•Just to satisfy my curiosity (=find out something), how much did it cost?
3 formal to make someone feel sure that something is right or true; = convince
satisfy sb of sth
•Jackson tried to satisfy me of his innocence.
satisfy yourself (that)
•Having satisfied herself that no one was there, she closed the door.
4 formal to be good enough for a particular purpose, standard etc:
•Have you satisfied all the requirements for the general degree?
1 making you feel pleased and happy, especially because you have got what you wanted; unsatisfying
•a deeply satisfying feeling
it is satisfying (to do sth)
•It can be very satisfying to work in the garden.
2 food that is satisfying makes you feel that you have eaten enough:
•a satisfying meal
- satisfyingly adverb [C]
a fruit like a small orange, that has no seeds and a loose skin you can pull off easily [T]
1 formal to make something very wet; = soak; dry
•Water poured through the hole, saturating the carpet.
2 to put a lot of something into a particular place, especially so that you could not add any more
saturate sth with sth
•Our culture is saturated with television and advertising.
3 saturate the market to offer so much of a product for sale that there is more than people want to buy
4 technical to mix as much of a solid into a chemical mixture as possible [C usually plural]
a type of fat from meat or milk products that is thought to be less healthy than other kinds of fat from vegetables or fish; = saturated fat
•Choose a type of spread that's lower in saturates than butter.
1 extremely wet; = soaked; dry
[+with]
•a T-shirt saturated with sweat
2 technical if a chemical mixture is saturated, it has had as much of a solid mixed into it as possible[C,U]
a type of fat from meat and milk products that is thought to be less healthy than other kinds of fat from vegetables or fish [U]
1 when an event or person is given so much attention by newspapers, television etc that everyone has heard about it:
•The trial was given saturation coverage by the press.
•saturation advertising
2 saturation bombing a military attack in which a whole area is bombed
3 technical the degree to which something has been mixed into something else:
•Keep saturation below 80%.
4 when something is made completely wet[C usually singular]
1 a situation in which no more people or things can be added because there are already too many:
•The number of summer tourists in the area has reached saturation point.
2 technical the state that a chemical mixture reaches when it has had as much of a solid substance mixed into it as possiblewritten abbreviation Sat. $ [C,U]
the day between Friday and Sunday
on Saturday
•We went for a picnic on Saturday.
•The festivities begin Saturday. AmE
Saturday morning/afternoon etc
•They arrived in Paris on Saturday evening.
last Saturday
•I saw Sally last Saturday at the mall.
this Saturday
•What are you doing this Saturday?
next Saturday (=Saturday of next week)
•Ask her yourself next Saturday.
a Saturday (=one of the Saturdays in the year)
•It was a crazy idea to go to the store on a Saturday. $
the PLANET that is sixth in order from the sun and is surrounded by large rings $ [C] literary
an occasion when people enjoy themselves in a very wild and uncontrolled way $ literary
looking sad and serious, especially in a threatening way:
•his lean saturnine face $ [C] literary
a god in ancient Greek stories, represented as half human and half goat $
1 [C,U] a thick cooked liquid that is served with food to give it a particular taste
tomato/cheese/wine etc sauce
•vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce
•spaghetti sauces
2 [U] BrE old-fashioned rude remarks made to someone that you should respect:
•Less of your sauce, my girl!
3 what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander used to say that if one person is treated in a particular way, other people should be treated in the same way[C] BrE
a container that has a handle and is shaped like a boat, used for serving sauce with a meal $ [C]
a deep round metal container with a handle that is used for cooking; = pan
•Heat the oil and garlic in a large saucepan. $ [C]
a small round plate that curves up at the edges that you put a cup on:
•a delicate china cup and saucer $ old-fashioned
saucy jokes, remarks etc are about sex in a way that is amusing but not shocking:
•saucy postcards
- saucily adverb
- sauciness noun [U] $ [U]
a German food made from CABBAGE (=a round green vegetable) that has been left in salt so that it tastes sour $ [C]
1 a room that is heated to a very high temperature by hot air, where people sit because it is considered healthy
2 a period of time when you sit or lie in a room like this
have/take a sauna
•I have a sauna and massage every week. $ [I always + adv/prep]
to walk in a slow relaxed way, especially so that you look confident or proud; stroll
[+along/around/in etc]
•He came sauntering down the road with his hands in his pockets.
- saunter noun [singular] $ [C,U]
1 a small tube of skin filled with a mixture of meat, spices etc, eaten hot or cold after it has been cooked:
•pork sausages
2 not a sausage! BrE old-fashioned informal nothing at all:
•'Have you heard from Tom yet?' 'No, not a sausage!'[C] BrE informal
a DACHSHUND[U]
the soft meat mixture that is used to make sausages[C] BrE
a piece of sausage meat surrounded by PASTRY $ [T]
to cook something in a little hot oil or fat; fry
•Sauté the onions for 5 minutes.
- sauté adjective BrE
•sauté potatoes
1 VIOLENT very violent or cruel:
•a savage dog
•a savage murder
2 CRITICIZING criticizing someone or something very severely:
•a savage attack on the government
3 SEVERE very severe:
•The government has announced savage cuts in spending.
•a savage storm
4 PEOPLE [only before noun] old-fashioned not polite an offensive word used to describe people who have a simple, traditional way of life:
•a savage tribe
- savagely adverb
•He was savagely attacked and beaten.
- savageness noun [U][C] old-fashioned not polite
a very offensive word for someone who has a simple, traditional way of life[T]
1 if an animal such as a dog savages someone, it attacks them and injures them badly
2 to criticize someone or something very severely:
•The Prime Minister was savaged by the press for failing to take action quickly enough. plural savageries [C,U]
extremely cruel and violent behaviour:
•Local people were shocked by the savagery of the attack.savannah [C,U]
a large flat area of grassy land, especially in Africa $ [C] formal
1 someone who knows a lot about a subject
2 someone who has mental problems and may have lower intelligence than average, but who can do one thing very well, such as adding numbers very quickly
1 FROM HARM/DANGER [T] to make someone or something safe from danger, harm, or destruction; rescue
•Emergency aid could save millions threatened with starvation.
•a new treatment that could save his life
•She was determined to save her marriage.
•the campaign to save the rainforests
save sb/sth from sth
•He saved the child from drowning.
2 MONEY also save up [I,T] to keep money in a bank so that you can use it later, especially when you gradually add more money over a period of time:
•He managed to save enough to buy a small house.
•So far, I've saved about £500.
[+for]
•I'm saving up for a new car.
SAVER
3 NOT WASTE [T] also save on sth to use less money, time, energy etc so that you do not waste any; waste
•We'll save a lot of time if we go by car.
•Everyone is being encouraged to save energy.
•an attempt to save on costs
•ways to save money on heating bills
energy-saving/time-saving etc
•money-saving ideas
4 TO USE LATER [T] to keep something so that you can use or enjoy it in the future:
•We'll save the rest of the food and have it later.
save sth for sth
•I had a bottle of champagne which I'd been saving for a special occasion.
5 COLLECT [T] also save sth <=> up to keep all the objects of a particular kind that you can find, so that you can use them:
•I'm saving up vouchers to get a cheap air ticket to the States.
6 HELP TO AVOID [T] to help someone by making it unnecessary for them to do something that they do not want to do:
•If you lent me £5, it would save me a trip to the bank.
save sb doing sth
•I'll take the shopping home in the car to save you carrying it.
save sb the trouble/bother (of doing sth)
•I'll get a taxi from the station to save you the trouble of coming to collect me.
7 KEEP FOR SB [T] to stop people from using something so that it is available for someone else:
•Will you save me a seat?
save sth for sb
•We'll save some dinner for you if you're late.
8 COMPUTER [I,T] to make a computer keep the work that you have done on it:
•Don't forget to save before you close the file.
•Did you save the changes that you made?
9 SPORT [I,T] to stop the other team from scoring in a game such as football:
•The goalkeeper just managed to save the shot.
10 you saved my life spoken used to thank someone who has helped you out of a difficult situation or solved a problem for you:
•Thanks again for the loan - you really saved my life.
11 save sb's skin/neck/bacon informal to help someone to escape from an extremely difficult or dangerous situation:
•He lied in court to save his own skin.
12 save the day to stop things from going badly and make a situation end successfully:
•A local businessman saved the day by donating £30,000 to the school.
13 save face to do something that will stop you from looking stupid or feeling embarrassed:
•A compromise must be found which will allow both sides in the dispute to save face.
FACE-SAVING
14 saving grace the one good thing that makes someone or something acceptable:
•His sense of humour was his only saving grace.
15 sb can't do sth to save his/her life informal to be completely unable to do something:
•He couldn't draw to save his life!
16 save your breath spoken used to tell someone that it is not worth saying anything, because nothing they say will make any difference to the situation:
•I tried to explain, but she told me to save my breath.
17 save sb from themselves to prevent someone from doing something that they want to do but that you think is harmful
18 RELIGION [I,T] in the Christian church, to free someone from the power of evil and bring them into the Christian religion:
•Jesus came to save sinners.[C]
an action in which a player in a game such as football prevents the other team from scoring:
•Martin made a brilliant save from Nichol's shot.also save for formal
except:
•She answered all the questions save one.
save that
•Little is known about his early life, save that he had a brother. $ [C]
someone who saves money in a bank:
•Mutual funds have been attractive to small savers (=people who save small amounts of money).
1 savings [plural] all the money that you have saved, especially in a bank:
•Buying a house had taken all their savings.
2 [C] an amount of money that you have not spent, or an amount of something that you have not used:
•The new engines will lead to savings in fuel.
[+of]
•This represents a saving of £60,000 for the company.
•All small companies will need to make savings if they are going to survive.
3 [U] when you save money rather than spend it
SAVE^1 (2)[C]
a bank account in which you keep money that you want to save for a period of time, and which pays you INTEREST on the money you have in it; checking account, current account[C] AmE
a business, similar to a bank, that lends money, and into which you pay money that you want to save; = building society BrE[C]
a bank where people can save small amounts of money and receive INTEREST on it[C] technical
a BOND that is sold by the US government and that cannot be sold from one person to anotherSavior AmE BrE
the/sb's Saviour Jesus Christ - used by Christianssavior AmE $ [C] BrE
someone who saves you from a difficult or dangerous situation
[+of]
•He was seen by many as the saviour of the organization. $ [U] formal
the ability to do and say the right things in social situations
the American spelling of SAVOURY
[U] a plant that is used in cooking to add taste to meat and other foodsavor AmE $ [T] BrE
1 to fully enjoy the taste or smell of something:
•She sipped her wine, savouring every drop.
2 to fully enjoy a time or experience:
•She savoured her few hours of freedom.
•He hesitated, savouring the moment.

PHRASAL VERBS
savour of sth phr v formal
to seem to involve something bad or to have some of a bad quality:
•We must avoid anything that savours of corruption.savor AmE [singular, U] BrE formal
1 a pleasant taste or smell:
•the sweet savour of wood smoke
2 interest and enjoyment:
•Life seemed to have lost its savour for him.savory AmE BrE
1 BrE savoury food tastes of salt; sweet
•savoury party snacks
•pancakes with sweet and savoury fillings
2 a savoury smell or taste is strong and pleasant but is not sweet
3 not very savoury/none too savoury unpleasant or morally unacceptable; unsavoury
•Some of the customers in the pub looked none too savoury.plural savouries [C] BrE
a small piece of food with a salty taste that is served at a party:
•plates of cakes and savouries [U] informal
practical knowledge and ability:
•He's obviously got a lot of political savvy.AmE informal
someone who is savvy is clever and knows how to deal with situations successfully:
•savvy consumers $
the past tense of SEE[C]
1 a tool that you use for cutting wood. It has a flat blade with an edge cut into many V shapes
2 a short, familiar phrase or sentence that is considered to contain some truth about life; = proverb, saying
•That reminds me of the old saw about being careful about what you wish for.past tense sawed, past participle sawn $ or, sawed AmE [I,T]
to cut something using a saw:
•She was in the back yard sawing logs.
[+through]
•He sawed through a power cable by mistake.

PHRASAL VERBS
saw at sth phr v
to cut something with a repeated backwards and forwards movement:
•He sawed at the loaf with a blunt knife.

saw sth <=> off phr v
to remove something by cutting it off with a saw:
•We sawed off the dead branches.

saw sth <=> up phr v
to cut something into many pieces, using a saw:
•The tree was cut down and sawn up for logs. $ [C] AmE old-fashioned informal
a piece of paper money worth $10 $ [U]
very small pieces of wood that are left when you have been cutting wood $ [C]
a factory where trees are cut into flat pieces that can be used as woodsawed-off shotgun AmE [C] BrE
a SHOTGUN whose BARREL (=long thin tube) has been cut short so that it is easier to hide [C]
a member of the race of people from northern Europe that came to live in England in the 5th century
- Saxon adjectivealso sax informal $ [C]
a curved musical instrument made of metal that you play by blowing into it and pressing buttons, used especially in popular music and JAZZ $ [C]
someone who plays the saxophone past tense and past participle said third person singular says
1 EXPRESS STH IN WORDS [I only in negatives, T] to express an idea, feeling, thought etc using words:
•'I'm so tired,' she said.
•'Don't cry,' he said softly.
•Don't believe anything he says.
say (that)
•A spokesman said that the company had improved its safety standards.
•I always said I would buy a motorbike when I had enough money.
say how/why/who etc
•Did she say what happened?
•I would like to say how much we appreciate your hard work.
•'Why did she leave?' 'I don't know - she didn't say.'
say sth to sb
•What did you say to her?
a terrible/silly/strange etc thing to say
•What a silly thing to say!
say hello/goodbye/thank you etc (=say something to greet someone, thank someone etc)
•She left without saying goodbye.
say you're sorry (=apologize)
•I've said I'm sorry - what more do you want?
say yes/no (to sth) (=agree or refuse)
•Can I go, Mum? Oh please say yes!
say nothing/anything/something (about sth)
•He looked as if he was going to say something.
•I wished I had said nothing about Jordi.
have anything/nothing/something to say
•Does anyone else have anything to say?
•Although he didn't say so, it was clear that he was in pain.
• What makes you say that (=why do you think that)?
say to do sth (=tell someone to do something)
•Nina said to meet her at 4.30.
•I'd like to say a few words (=make a short speech).
•'So what are your plans now?' ' I'd rather not say.'
2 GIVE INFORMATION [T not in passive] to give information in the form of written words, numbers, or pictures - used about signs, clocks, letters, messages etc:
•The sign said 'Back in 10 minutes'.
•The clock said twenty past three.
say (that)
•He received a letter saying that the appointment had been cancelled.
say to do sth (=gives information about what you should do)
•The label says to take one tablet before meals.
say who/what/how etc
•The card doesn't even say who sent the flowers.
• It says here they have live music.
3 MEAN [T usually in progressive] used to talk about what someone means:
•What do you think the writer is trying to say in this passage?
•So what you're saying is, there's none left.
be saying (that)
•Are you saying I'm fat?
•I'm not saying it's a bad idea.
• All I'm saying is that it might be better to wait a while.
4 THINK THAT STH IS TRUE [T]
a) used to talk about something that people think is true
they say/people say/ it is said (that)
•They say that she has been all over the world.
•It is said that he was a spy during the war.
sb is said to be sth/do sth
•He's said to be the richest man in the world.
•Well, you know what they say- blood's thicker than water.
•The rest, as they say, is history.
5 SHOW/BE A SIGN OF STH [T]
a) to show clearly that something is true about someone or something's character:
•The kind of car you drive says what kind of person you are.
•The fact that she never apologized says a lot about (=shows something very clearly) what kind of person she is.
• It said a lot for the manager that the team remained confident despite losing (=it showed that he is good).
•These results don't say much for the quality of teaching (=they show that it is not very good).
b) to show what someone really is feeling or thinking, especially without using words:
•The look on her face said 'I love you'.
sth says everything/says it all
•His expression said it all.
6 SPEAK THE WORDS OF STH [T] to speak the words that are written in a play, poem, or prayer:
•Can you say that line again, this time with more feeling?
•I'll say a prayer for you.
7 PRONOUNCE [T] to pronounce a word or sound:
• How do you say your last name?
8 SUGGEST/SUPPOSE STH [T usually in imperative] used when suggesting or supposing that something might happen or be true
... say ...
•If we put out, say, twenty chairs, would that be enough?
let's say (that)/just say (that)
•Let's say your plan fails, then what?
•Just say you won the lottery - what would you do?
9 say to yourself to try to persuade yourself that something is true or not true:
•I kept saying to myself that this wasn't really happening.
10 I must say also I have to say used to emphasize what you are saying:
•The cake does look good, I must say.
•I have to say I was impressed at the way they dealt with the situation.
11 I can't say (that) used to say that you do not think or feel something:
•I can't say I envy her being married to him!
12 I would say used for giving your opinion even though other people may not agree:
•I'd say he was jealous.
13 I couldn't say used when you do not know the answer to something:
•I couldn't say who will win.
14 if I may say so also if I might say so formal used to be polite when saying something that may embarrass or offend the person you are talking to:
•That's just the point, Mr Glover, if I may say so.
15 having said that used to say that something is true in spite of what you have just said:
•The diet can make you slim without exercise. Having said that, however, exercise is important too.
16 wouldn't you say? used to ask someone whether they agree with the statement you have just made:
•It seems very unlikely, wouldn't you say?
17 what do you say? used to ask someone if they agree with a suggestion:
•We could go into partnership - what do you say?
• What do you say we all go to a movie?
• What would you say to a meal out?
18 say no more used to say that you understand what someone means, although they have not said it directly:
•'I saw him leaving her house at 6.30 this morning.' 'Say no more!'
19 you can say that again! used to say that you completely agree with someone:
•'It's cold in here.' 'You can say that again!'
20 you said it!
a) used when someone says something that you agree with, although you would not have actually said it yourself because it is not polite:
•'I was always stubborn as a kid.' 'You said it!'
b) especially AmE used to say that you agree with someone:
•'Let's go home.' 'You said it! I'm tired.'
21 who says? used to say that you do not agree with a statement, opinion etc:
•Who says museum work doesn't pay?
22 who can say? also who's to say used to say that nobody can know something:
•Who can say what will happen between now and then?
•Many women believe that skin cream makes their skin look younger, and who's to say that they're wrong?
23 you don't say! used to show you are surprised by what someone has told you - also often used when you are not at all surprised by what someone has told you
24 say when used to ask someone to tell you when to stop pouring them a drink or serving them food because they have got enough
25 say cheese used to tell people to smile when you are taking their photograph
26 (just) say the word used to tell someone that they have only to ask and you will do what they want:
•Anywhere you want to go, just say the word.
27 I'll say this/that (much) for sb used when you want to mention something good about someone, especially when you have been criticizing them:
•I will say this for Tom - at least he's consistent.
•You've got determination - I'll say that for you.
28 say what you like especially BrE used when giving an opinion that you are sure is correct, even if the person you are talking to might disagree with you:
•Say what you like about him, he's a very good writer.
29 anything/whatever you say used to tell someone that you agree to do what they want, accept their opinion etc, especially because you do not want an argument
30 can't say fairer than that BrE used to say that you have made the best offer that you can:
•If I win, I'll buy you a drink. Can't say fairer than that.
31 I wouldn't say no (to sth) used to say that you would like something:
•I wouldn't say no to coffee.
32 I'll say! used to say yes to a question, in a strong way:
•'Was there a big argument?' 'I'll say!'
33 let's just say used when you do not want to give a lot of details about something:
•Let's just say she wasn't very pleased about it.
34 shall I/we say used when you are not quite sure how to describe someone or something:
•He is, shall we say, slightly unusual.
35 what have you got to say for yourself? used to ask someone for an explanation when they have done something wrong
36 say what? informal especially AmE used when you did not hear what someone said or when you cannot believe that something is true
37 I say BrE old-fashioned
a) used to get someone's attention:
•I say, don't I know you?
b) used before giving your reaction to something:
•'My husband's broken his leg.' 'I say! I'm sorry to hear that.'
38 say sth to sb's face informal to criticize someone or say something unpleasant directly to them instead of saying it to someone else:
•I knew they wanted me to leave even though they wouldn't say it to my face.
39 that's not saying much used to say that it is not surprising that someone or something is better than another person or thing because the other person or thing is so bad:
•This version is better than the original but that's not saying much.
40 sth says it all if something says it all, it clearly shows how someone feels or what a situation is really like:
•Her smile said it all.
41 to say the least used to say that you could have described something, criticized someone etc a lot more severely than you have:
•Jane could have been more considerate, to say the least.
42 that is to say used before giving more details or being more exact about something:
•They, that's to say Matt and John, were arguing about what to do.
43 that is not to say used to make sure the person you are talking to does not think something that is not true:
•I'm quite happy in my job but that's not to say I'm going to do it for the rest of my life.
44 not to say especially BrE used when adding a stronger description of something:
•The information is inadequate, not to say misleading.
45 nothing/something/not much etc to be said for (doing) sth used to say that there are a lot of or not many advantages to something:
•There's a lot to be said for taking a few days off now and then.
•It was a town with very little to be said for it.
46 to say nothing of sth used to mention another thing involved in what you have just been talking about:
•It wasn't much for three years' work, to say nothing of the money it had cost.
47 have something to say about sth to be angry about something:
•Her father would have something to say about it.
48 have a lot to say for yourself to talk a lot
49 not have much to say for yourself to not talk very much
50 what sb says goes used to emphasize who is in control in a situation:
•My wife wants to go to Italy this year, and what she says goes!
51 say your piece to give your opinion about something, especially something you do not like
wouldn't say boo to a goose at BOO^2 (3); easier said than done at EASY^2 (4); enough said at ENOUGH^2 (6); it goes without saying at GO WITHOUT (2); needless to say at NEEDLESS (1); no sooner said than done at SOON (9); not say/breathe a word at WORD^1 (9); well said at WELL^1 (13); when all's said and done at ALL^1 (17)

WORD CHOICE:say, tell, give, ask
You use say when you are mentioning someone's exact words: 'Hello,' she said. | Someone said, 'Let's go!'
Say can be followed by 'that': He said that he was tired. In speech people often leave out 'that' | They said there had been a mistake.
Say can be followed by 'something', 'anything', 'nothing', or 'so': Did you say something? | Nobody dared to say anything. | You have to come - Dad said so.
It can also be followed by 'goodbye' or 'hello' I'll just go and say hello to David.
Apart from these uses, say is not normally followed by an object. For example, it cannot be followed by 'a story', 'a lie', 'some information', or 'an answer'.
You tell a story, a joke, a lie, or the truth: They told a funny story about their trip.
You give information, an order, an instruction, or an answer: He gave no reply.

!! You do not say a question. You ask a question: Can I ask a question?
You can say something to someone: Has he said something to you?
When talking about giving information, it is more usual to say that you tell someone something: Clare told us something interesting (NOT said us something...). | Can anyone tell me what time it is? (NOT say to me what...)
You can tell someone about something: Did you tell Lucy about the party? (NOT say to Lucy about...)
You cansay to do something, but it is more usual totell someone to do something: The teacher told us to open our books (NOT said us/said to us to...).

[singular, U]
1 the right to take part in deciding something
have some/no/little say in sth
•The workers had no say in how the factory was run.
•The chairman has the final say (=has the right to make the final decision about something).
2 have your say to have the opportunity to give your opinion about something:
•You'll get a chance to have your say.
[+in/on]
•Parents can have their say in the decision-making process.AmE informal
used to express surprise, or to get someone's attention so that you can tell them something:
•Say, haven't I seen you before somewhere? [C]
a well-known short statement that expresses an idea most people believe is true and wise; = proverb
•You can't judge a book by its cover, as the old saying goes.informal
1 sb's say-so someone's permission to do something:
•You can't leave the hospital without the say-so of the doctor.
2 on sb's say-so based on someone's personal statement without any proof:
•She's hired a number of people on my say-so. [C] BrE
1 a bend in a road in the shape of an 'S' that can be dangerous to drivers; = S-curve AmE
2 a bend in a waste pipe in the shape of an 'S' [C]
1 a hard layer of dried blood that forms over a cut or wound while it is getting better
2 an insulting word for someone who works while the other people in the same factory, office etc are on STRIKE $ [C]
a metal or leather cover for the blade of a sword
scabby skin is covered with scabs [U]
a skin disease caused by MITEs (=small creatures like insects) $ literary
1 rude or shocking, especially in a sexual way:
•The film is a joy - hilariously funny and unremittingly scabrous.
2 scabrous skin is rough, not soft informal
scads of sth large numbers or quantities of something:
•They got scads of calls from reporters. $ [C]
1 a structure built next to a wall, for workers to stand on while they build, repair, or paint a building
2 a raised structure which was used in the past as a place to kill criminals by hanging them or cutting off their heads
3 AmE a structure that can be moved up and down to help people work on high buildings; = cradle BrE [U]
a set of poles and boards that are built into a structure for workers to stand on when they are working on the outside of a building [U] technical
the degree to which a computer system is able to grow and become more powerful as the number of people using it increases AmE
a SCALLYWAG $ [T]
to burn your skin with hot liquid or steam:
•Don't scald yourself with that kettle![C]
a burn on your skin caused by hot liquid or steam $
1 also scalding hot extremely hot:
•a bowl of scalding water
•a cup of scalding hot tea
2 literary scalding tears feel hot on your skin:
•Scalding tears poured down her face.
1 SIZE/LEVEL [singular, U] the size or level of something, or the amount that something is happening
[+of]
•We had underestimated the scale of the problem.
on a large/small/grand etc scale
•There has been housing development on a massive scale since 1980.
•Most alternative technologies work best on a small scale.
•A structural survey revealed the full scale of the damage.
•I was shocked by the sheer scale (=very big scale) of the destruction.
on a global/international/world scale
•Pollution could cause changes to weather patterns on a global scale.
•Large firms benefit from economies of scale (=ways of saving money because they are big).
2 RANGE [C usually singular] a whole range of different types of people or things, from the lowest level to the highest:
•Some rural schools have 50 pupils, while at the other end of the scale are city schools with nearly 5,000 pupils.
up/down the scale
•She gradually made her way up the social scale.
•animals which are lower down the evolutionary scale (=the range of animals that have developed gradually over a long time)
3 FOR WEIGHING scales [plural] BrE scale AmE a machine for weighing people or objects:
•a set of kitchen scales
•some new bathroom scales (=scales that you use to weigh yourself)
4 MEASURING SYSTEM [C] a system of numbers that is used for measuring the amount, speed, quality etc of something
on a scale
•The earthquakes measured 7 on the Richter scale.
•changes to the company's pay scale
•Your performance will be judged on a scale of 1 to 10.
•We use a sliding scale (=in which prices are not firmly fixed) for charges.
5 MEASURING MARKS [C] a set of marks with regular spaces between them on a tool that is used for measuring, or on the side of a mathematical drawing:
•a ruler with a metric scale
6 MAP/MODEL [C,U] the relationship between the size of a map, drawing, or model and the actual size of the place or thing that it represents:
•a map with a scale of 1:250,000
to scale
•All our models are made to scale.
scale model/drawing etc (=one done using a strict scale)
•a scale drawing of the Eiffel Tower
7 MUSIC [C] a series of musical notes that become higher or lower, with fixed distances between each note:
•the scale of G major
8 FISH [C usually plural] one of the small flat pieces of skin that cover the bodies of fish, snakes etc
9 TEETH [U] BrE a white substance that forms on your teeth
10 WATER PIPES [U] a white substance that forms around the inside of hot water pipes or containers in which water is boiled
11 the scales fell from sb's eyes literary used to say that someone suddenly realized something important
FULL-SCALE[T]
1 to climb to the top of something that is high and difficult to climb:
•Rescuers had to scale a 300m cliff to reach the injured climber.
2 technical to make writing or a picture the right size for a particular purpose
scale sth to sth
•The writing can be scaled to any size, depending on the paper.
3 scale the heights to be extremely successful:
•By the age of 21 he had already scaled the heights in the academic world.

PHRASAL VERBS
scale sth <=> down/back phr v
to reduce the amount or size of something:
•The emergency aid programme has now been scaled down.

scale sth <=> up phr v
to increase the amount or size of something; decrease
•Production at the factory is being scaled up. [C] AmE
a type of young onion with a small round end and a long green stem; = spring onion BrE $ [C]
1 a small sea creature that you can eat, with a flat round shell made of two parts that fit together
2 [usually plural] one of a row of small curves that are used to decorate the edge of clothes, curtains etc $
1 if the edge of something is scalloped, it is made into a row of small curves
2 scalloped potatoes, corn etc have been baked in a cream or cheese sauce plural scallies [C] BrE spoken
someone who causes trouble - often used humorously; = scallywag
•You rude little scally!
- scally adjective [only before noun]
•just some little scally kidalso scalawag AmE [C] especially BrE old-fashioned
a child who causes trouble but not in a serious way - used when you are not angry with them [C]
1 the skin on the top of your head:
•Massage the shampoo gently into your hair and scalp.
2 sb's scalp informal if you want someone's scalp, you want them to be completely defeated:
•The board members were after the chairman's scalp.[T]
1 AmE informal to buy tickets for an event and sell them again at a much higher price; = tout BrE
2 to cut the hair and skin off the head of a dead enemy as a sign of victory [C]
a small, very sharp knife that is used by doctors in operations $ [C] AmE
someone who makes money by buying tickets for an event and selling them again at a very high price; = tout BrE
1 a scaly animal or fish is covered with small flat pieces of hard skin
2 scaly skin is dry and rough [C] informal
a clever but dishonest way to get money:
•He got involved in a credit card scam. [C] old-fashioned
a child who has fun by tricking people $ [I always + adv/prep]
to run with quick short steps, like a child or small animal:
•The children scampered up the hill after me. BrE
[plural, U] large PRAWNs (=sea creatures) that are covered in bread CRUMBs and cooked in hot oil past tense and past participle scanned, present participle scanning
1 LOOK AT [T] to examine an area carefully but quickly, often because you are looking for a particular person or thing:
•He scanned the horizon, but there was no sign of the ship.
•She scanned his face, looking for signs of what he was thinking.
•Video cameras scanned the car park.
scan sth for sth
•I scanned the street for people I knew.
2 READ also scan through [T] to read something quickly; = skim
scan sth for sth
•I scanned the page for her name.
•She scanned through the paper.
3 SEE INSIDE [T] if a machine scans something, it passes an electrical beam over it to form a picture of what is inside it; scanner
•All luggage has to be scanned at the airport.
•They scanned his brain for signs of damage.
4 COMPUTER [T] if you scan a document or picture, you put it into a machine attached to a computer so that the information in the document can be taken into the computer and stored there; scanner
scan sth into sth
•You scan the text into the computer, then edit it.
5 POETRY [I] technical poetry that scans has a correct regular pattern of beats
1 [C] a medical test in which a special machine produces a picture of something inside your body:
•The scan showed that she was expecting twins.
•a brain scan
2 [singular] when you read something quickly
[+of]
•a quick scan of the newspapers
1 [C] an event in which someone, especially someone important, behaves in a bad way that shocks people

cause a scandal
be involved in a scandal
be (at) the centre of a scandal
big/major scandal
financial/political scandal
corruption/sex/drugs etc scandal
a scandal breaks (=a scandal becomes known)

•It caused quite a scandal when he left his wife.
•The college has recently been involved in a drugs scandal.
• He has been at the centre of a political scandal.
•a major scandal involving the government
•a series of financial scandals
•a sex scandal that ruined his reputation
•They had already left the country when the scandal broke.

2 [U] talk about dishonest or immoral things that famous or important people are believed to have done:
•The magazine is full of gossip and scandal.
3 be a scandal BrE spoken to be very shocking or unacceptable:
•The price of petrol these days is an absolute scandal!also scandalise BrE [T usually passive]
to make people feel very shocked:
•His outspoken views scandalized the nation. $ [C]
someone who tells people untrue and shocking things about someone else
1 completely unfair and wrong; = shocking
•a scandalous waste of public money
•scandalous behaviour
2 involving stories about dishonest or immoral things that someone has done:
•scandalous stories about the Prime Minister
- scandalously adverb [C]
someone from the area of Northern Europe that consists of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and usually Finland and Iceland
- Scandinavian adjective
•Scandinavian languages $ [C]
1 a machine that passes an electrical beam over something in order to produce a picture of what is inside it; scan
•a high-tech body scanner
2 a piece of computer equipment that allows written or printed information to be taken onto a computer and stored there; scan [only before noun]
1 not enough:
•The story has received scant attention in the press.
•They produce goods with scant regard for quality.
2 a scant cup/teaspoon etc a little less than a full amount of a particular measurement
1 not enough:
•There is only scanty evidence of his involvement.
2 scanty clothes are small and do not cover very much of your body - used to show disapproval
- scantily adverb
• scantily clad young women $ [C]
someone who is blamed for something bad that happens, even if it is not their fault
[+for]
•She believed she had been made a scapegoat for what happened.
- scapegoat verb [T] [C] technical
one of the two flat bones on each side of your upper back; = shoulder blade
SKELETON $ [C]
1 MARK ON SKIN a permanent mark that is left on your skin after you have had a cut or wound:
•He had a long, curved scar on his right cheek.
•a deep cut that could leave a permanent scar
2 FEELING a feeling of fear or sadness that remains with you for a long time after an unpleasant experience:
•Her mental scars will take time to heal.
•The war has left a deep scar on this community.
3 DAMAGED AREA a place where the land or a building was damaged in the past
[+of]
•The landscape still bears the scars of the war.
4 CLIFF BrE a cliff on the side of a mountainpast tense and past participle scarred, present participle scarring [T]
1 if a wound or cut scars you, it leaves a permanent mark on your body:
•His hands were badly scarred by the fire.
•She will probably be scarred for life.
2 if an unpleasant experience scars you, it leaves you with a feeling of sadness or fear that continues for a long time:
•She was profoundly scarred by her father's suicide.
3 to spoil the appearance of something:
•huge quarries that scar the landscapealso scarab beetle [C]
a type of large black BEETLE $ comparative scarcer, superlative scarcest
1 if something is scarce, there is not very much of it available:
•Food was often scarce in the winter.
•There was fierce competition for the scarce resources.
2 make yourself scarce informal to leave a place, especially in order to avoid an unpleasant situation:
•I decided it was time to make myself scarce.literary
scarcely:
•He could scarce believe it. $
1 almost not or almost none at all; = hardly
•The city had scarcely changed in 20 years.
•The country had scarcely any industry.
•He scarcely ever left the region.
can/could scarcely do sth
•It was getting dark and she could scarcely see in front of her.
scarcely a day/year/moment etc
•Scarcely a day goes by when I don't think of him.
see box at RARELY
2 only a moment ago; = hardly, barely
•He had scarcely sat down when there was a knock at the door.
3 definitely not or almost certainly not; = hardly
•Early March is scarcely the time of year for sailing. $ [singular]
a situation in which there is not enough of something
[+of]
•the scarcity of employment opportunities $
1 [T] to make someone feel frightened; = frighten; afraid
•Loud noises can scare animals or birds.
scare the life/living daylights/hell etc out of sb (=scare someone very much)
•The alarm scared the hell out of me.
scare the pants off sb (=scare someone very much)
2 scare easily to be frightened by things that are not very frightening:
•I don't scare easily, you know.

PHRASAL VERBS
scare sb into sth phr v
to make someone do something by frightening them or threatening them
scare sb into doing sth
•You can't scare me into telling you anything.

scare sb/sth <=> off/away phr v
1 to make an animal or person go away by frightening them:
•She moved quietly to avoid scaring the birds away.
2 to make someone uncertain or worried so that they do not do something they were going to do:
•Rising prices are scaring off many potential customers.

scare up sth phr v AmE informal
to make something although you have very few things to make it from:
•Let me see if I can scare up something for you to eat.
1 [singular] a sudden feeling of fear:
•You really gave us a scare!
2 [C] a situation in which a lot of people become frightened about something:
•a bomb scare
•a health scare $ [C]
an object in the shape of a person that a farmer puts in a field to frighten birds away $
frightened of something, or nervous about something; = afraid
•At first, he was really scared.
scared of (doing) sth
•I've always been scared of dogs.
•Don't be scared of asking for help.
scared (that)
•I wanted to ask her out but was scared that she might refuse.
scared to do sth
•The boys were scared to cross the street.
scared stiff/scared to death/scared out of your wits (=extremely frightened)
•I was scared stiff at the thought of making a speech. $ [U] BrE
the practice of deliberately making people worried or nervous, especially in order to get a political or other advantage:
•He was accused of political scaremongering.
- scaremonger noun [C][C]
a report, especially in a newspaper, that makes a situation seem more serious or worrying than it really is:
•Despite the scare stories in the media, no jobs will be lost at the factory.[plural]
methods of persuading people to do something by frightening them:
•Employers used scare tactics to force a return to work. $
another spelling of SCARY $ plural scarfs or scarves $ [C]
a piece of cloth that you wear around your neck, head, or shoulders, especially to keep warmalso scarf down/up [T] AmE informal
to eat something very quickly:
•She scarfed down a bagel on her way to work. $ past tense and past participle scarified, present participle scarifying, third person singular scarifies [T]
1 to break and make loose the surface of a road or field using a pointed tool
2 formal to criticize someone very severely $
1 bright red
2 BrE if you go scarlet, your face becomes red, usually because you are embarrassed or angry; = blush
go/turn/flush/blush scarlet
•Eileen blushed scarlet at the joke.
- scarlet noun [U]also scarlatina [U]
a serious infectious illness that mainly affects children, causing a sore throat and red spots on your skin[C] old-fashioned
a woman who has sexual relationships with many different people $ [C]
a line of natural cliffs $ [I] BrE informal
to run away:
•They scarpered without paying their bill. $ [C]
a piece of equipment used in some countries to connect electrical equipment so that video and sound signals can go from one piece of equipment to another, for example from a VIDEO RECORDER to a television:
•a SCART cable $
the plural of SCARF^1 $ comparative scarier, superlative scariest informal
frightening:
•a scary moment
•a scary movie
•The book is both scary and funny. [U]
a style of JAZZ singing, in which the singer sings sounds rather than words
a scathing remark criticizes someone or something very severely
scathing attack/remark/comment etc
•a scathing attack on the Government's planned tax increases
[+about]
•He's always been so scathing about psychiatrists.
- scathingly adverb $ formal
too interested in or related to human waste, in a way that people find offensive:
•scatological humour $ [I,T]
1 if someone scatters a lot of things, or if they scatter, they are thrown or dropped over a wide area in an irregular way
scatter (sth) over/around/across etc sth
•Scatter the onions over the fish.
•The flowers fell and scattered on the ground.
2 if a group of people or animals scatter, or if something scatters them, they move quickly in different directions:
•The sound of gunfire made the crowd scatter in all directions.
SCATTERED, SCATTERING $ informal
not thinking in a practical way, so that you cannot do things or you forget or lose things
- scatterbrain noun [C][C]
a small CUSHION that you put on SOFAs and chairs for decoration $
spread over a wide area or over a long period of time
[+over/throughout/across/around etc]
•Broken glass lay scattered over the floor.
[+with]
•The sky was scattered with stars.
•There will be some scattered showers (=short periods of rain) in the afternoon.
•a widely scattered set of islands
a scattering of sth written a small number of things or people spread out over a large area:
•a scattering of isolated farms BrE informal
someone who is scatty often forgets or loses things because they are not sensible or practical [I,T]
1 if an animal scavenges, it eats anything that it can find:
•Pigs scavenged among the rubbish.
[+for]
•rats scavenging for food
2 if someone scavenges, they search through things that other people do not want for food or useful objects:
•There are people who live in the dump and scavenge garbage for a living.
[+for]
•Women were scavenging for old furniture.
- scavenger noun [C]
•Foxes and other scavengers go through the dustbins. $ plural scenarios [C]
1 a situation that could possibly happen:
•Imagine a scenario where only 20% of people have a job.
possible/likely/plausible scenario
•Under a likely scenario, world population will double by 2050.
•a possible scenario
worst-case/nightmare scenario (=the worst possible situation)
•The worst-case scenario was that he would have to have an operation.
2 technical a written description of the characters, place, and things that will happen in a film, play etc
1 PLAY/FILM [C]
a) part of a play during which there is no change in time or place:
•Hamlet, Act 5 Scene 2
•the opening scene
b) a single piece of action that happens in one place in a film, book etc:
• battle scenes
•tender love scenes
•The film contains some violent scenes.
•colourful pictures depicting scenes from the Bible
2 ACTIVITIES [singular] a particular set of activities and the people who are involved in them:
•I'm not into the club scene (=going to night clubs).
•LA's music scene
•the drug scene
•a newcomer to the political scene
3 ACCIDENT/CRIME [singular] the place where an accident, crime etc happened:
•The police soon arrived at the scene of the crime.
at the scene
•Investigators are now at the scene, searching for clues.
on the scene
•Journalists were on the scene within minutes.
4 VIEW/PICTURE [C] a view of a place as you see it, or as it appears in a picture:
•He photographed a wide range of street scenes.
[+of]
•She returned home to find a scene of devastation.
5 EVENT/SITUATION [C] what is happening in a place, or what can be seen happening
[+of]
•There were scenes of rejoicing after the election.
bad scene AmE
•'It's a bad scene here,' she said. 'Jamie is very sick.'
6 ARGUMENT [C] a loud angry argument, especially in a public place:
•There were angry scenes in parliament today.
•I was mad, but I didn't want to make a scene.
7 not be your scene informal to not be the type of thing you like:
•Loud discos aren't really my scene.
8 behind the scenes secretly, while other things are happening publicly:
•Behind the scenes, both sides are working towards an agreement.
9 set the scene
a) to provide the conditions in which an event can happen
[+for]
•The prison riots have set the scene for major reform.
b) to describe the situation before you begin to tell a story:
•A few words on the rules of English law will help to set the scene.
10 be/come on the scene to be or become involved in a situation, activity etc:
•By then, there was a boyfriend on the scene.
a change of scene at CHANGE^2 (3); steal the scene at STEAL^1 (4) [U]
1 the natural features of a particular part of a country that you can see, such as mountains, forests, deserts etc:
•The best part of the trip was the fantastic scenery.
2 the painted background, furniture etc used on a theatre stage
1 surrounded by views of beautiful countryside:
•a region of scenic beauty
2 the scenic route a longer way than usual, especially one that goes through beautiful or interesting areas - often used humorously:
•Let's take the scenic route home.
- scenically adverb
1 [C] a pleasant smell that something has; = fragrance
•a yellow rose with a lovely scent
[+of]
•the sweet scent of ripe fruit
2 [C] the smell of a particular animal or person that some other animals, for example dogs, can follow
3 throw/put sb off the scent to give someone false information to prevent them from catching you or discovering something:
•Was he trying to put me off the scent because I had come too close to the truth?
4 [C,U] especially BrE a liquid that you put on your skin to make it smell pleasant; = perfume[T]
1 to give a particular smell to something; perfume
•Honeysuckle and roses scented the air.
2 written to suddenly think that something is going to happen or exists:
•We scented danger and decided to leave.
•The press had immediately scented a story.
•The trade unions have scented victory.
3 if an animal scents another animal or a person, it knows that they are near because it can smell them
with a particular smell, especially a pleasant one:
•scented soap
[+with]
•The dry cold air was scented with wood smoke.
rose-scented/vanilla-scented/pine-scented etc $
the American spelling of SCEPTREskeptic AmE [C] BrE
a person who disagrees with particular claims and statements, especially those that are generally thought to be true:
•Sceptics argued that the rise in prices was temporary.skeptical AmE BrE
tending to disagree with what other people tell you
[+about/of]
•I'm extremely sceptical about what I read in the press.
•Environmental groups are sceptical of the government's claims.
highly/deeply sceptical
•He is highly sceptical of the reforms.
•'You can trust me,' he said. Jane looked sceptical.
- sceptically adverbskepticism AmE [U] BrE
an attitude of doubting that particular claims or statements are true or that something will happenscepter AmE $ [C] BrE
a decorated stick carried by kings or queens at ceremonies [U] formal
a feeling of pleasure that you get when something bad happens to someone else $ [C]
1 a plan of what someone is going to do and when they are going to do it
on schedule (=at the planned time)
•The majority of holiday flights depart and arrive on schedule.
ahead of/behind schedule (=before or after the planned time)
•Meg's new book is still well ahead of schedule.
•How can he fit everything into his busy schedule?
•I'm going to be working to a very tight schedule (=including a lot of things that must be done in a short time).
2 AmE a list that shows the times that buses, trains etc leave or arrive at a particular place; = timetable BrE
3 a formal list of something, for example prices:
•a schedule of postal charges[T usually passive]
to plan that something will happen at a particular time
be scheduled for June/Monday etc
•The elections are scheduled for mid-June.
be scheduled for release/publication/completion etc
•Her first album is scheduled for release in September.
be scheduled to do sth
•Meetings are scheduled to take place all over the country.
scheduled flight/service (=a plane service that flies at the same time every day or every week)
•Prices include scheduled flights from Heathrow.
•We will not cancel your holiday less than 8 weeks before the scheduled departure date. plural schemas or schemata [C] technical
a drawing or description of the main parts of something
showing the main parts of something in a simple way:
•a schematic diagram of DNAalso schematise BrE [T] formal
to arrange something in a system [C]
1 BrE an official plan that is intended to help people in some way, for example by providing education or training; = program AmE
•The money will be used for teacher training schemes.
•a pension scheme
[+for]
•schemes for two new cross-city lines
scheme to do sth
•a new scheme to boost exports
pilot scheme (=something that is done on a small scale in order to see if it is successful enough to be done on a larger scale)
•The pilot scheme proved to be a great success.
2 a clever plan, especially to do something that is bad or illegal - used in order to show disapproval:
•a get-rich-quick scheme
scheme to do sth
•a scheme to pass false cheques
3 a system that you use to organize information, ideas etc:
•a classification scheme
4 in the scheme of things in the way things generally happen, or are organized:
•the unimportance of man in the whole scheme of things
COLOUR SCHEME[I]
to secretly make clever and dishonest plans to get or achieve something
scheme to do sth
•She schemed to kill him with poison.
[+against]
•He became aware that people were scheming against him and called an emergency meeting.
•She's nothing but a lying, scheming little monster!
- schemer noun [C] $ plural scherzos [C]
a happy piece of music that is meant to be played quickly [C]
the standard unit of money used in Austria before the EURO [C,U]
the separation of a group into two groups, caused by a disagreement about its aims and beliefs, especially in the Christian church; = split
- schismatic adjective [U]
a type of rock that naturally breaks apart into thin flat pieces
1 technical typical of schizophrenia:
•a schizoid personality disorder
2 quickly changing between opposite opinions or attitudes:
•Martin's latest play is as schizoid and erratic as its characters. $ [U]
a serious mental illness in which someone's thoughts and feelings are not based on what is really happening around them $
1 relating to schizophrenia
2 quickly changing from one opinion, attitude etc to another:
•The film was an example of schizophrenic movie-making at its worst.[C]
someone who has schizophrenia past tense and past participle schlepped, present participle schlepping [T] AmE informal
to carry or pull something heavy
schlep sth down/out/along etc
•I schlepped his bag all the way to the airport and he didn't even thank me.

PHRASAL VERBS
schlep around (sth) phr v
to spend your time lazily doing nothing useful:
•I spent the afternoon schlepping around the house. $ [U] AmE informal
things that are cheap and of poor quality:
•The gift store sells both tasteful gifts and cheap schlock. $ informal
a schmaltzy piece of music, book etc deals with emotions such as love and sadness in a way that seems silly and not serious enough:
•a schmaltzy love song
- schmaltz noun [U]also fancy-schmancy informal
expensive and fashionable in a way that is meant to be impressive - used in order to show disapproval:
•a schmancy all-girls college $ plural schmoes [C] AmE informal
a stupid or annoying person [I] informal
to talk in a friendly way about unimportant things at a social event, especially because you want to gain an advantage for yourself later
[+with]
•Politicians spent much of their time schmoozing with contributors. [C] AmE informal
a stupid person [U]
a strong alcoholic drink [C,U]
a small piece of VEAL (=meat from a young cow) covered with BREADCRUMBS and cooked in oil [C] AmE informal
a stupid person $ [C]
1 an intelligent and well-educated person:
•the great Dutch scholar Erasmus
2 someone who knows a lot about a particular subject, especially one that is not a science subject:
•a Shakespearean scholar
3 someone who has been given a scholarship to study at a school or college:
•He was a King's scholar at Eton College. $
1 relating to serious study of a particular subject:
•a scholarly journal
2 someone who is scholarly spends a lot of time studying, and knows a lot about a particular subject $
1 [C] an amount of money that is given to someone by an educational organization to help pay for their education
[+to]
•She won a scholarship to Iowa State University.
on a scholarship
•He attended college on a drama scholarship.
2 [U] the knowledge, work, or methods involved in serious studying:
•Her latest publication is a fine piece of scholarship. [only before noun] formal
1 relating to schools or teaching; academic
•scholastic skills
2 relating to scholasticism [U]
a way of studying thought, especially religious thought, based on things written in ancient times
1 WHERE CHILDREN LEARN [C,U] a place where children are taught

go to school
attend school formal (=go to school)
a new school (=a school that you are going to for the first time)
sb's old school (=the school someone used to go to)
school children/pupils/teacher
school uniform
school playground/library/bus etc
school meal/dinner BrE
school holiday(s) BrE

•His mother always used to pick him up from school.
•Which school do you go to (=attend)?
•Starting a new school can be quite frightening.
•I went back to my old school in West Ham recently to talk to the children there.
•a play put on by the local school children
•the first day of the school holidays

2 TIME AT SCHOOL [U]
a) a day's work at school:
•School begins at 8.30.
before/after school
•I'll see you after school.
b) the time during your life when you go to school:
•He's one of my old friends from school.
•Children start school between the ages of four and five.
•He left school at 16 and went to work as a bank clerk.
3 UNIVERSITY
a) [C,U] AmE a college or university, or the time when you study there:
•Their kids are away at school now.
•She was going to school in Boston.
b) [C] a department or group of departments that teaches a particular subject at a university
[+of]
•the Harvard School of Public Health
law/medical/business/graduate school
•After two years of medical school, I thought I knew everything.
4 ONE SUBJECT [C] a place where a particular subject or skill is taught:
•a language school in Brighton
•the Pastern Riding School
[+of]
•Amwell School of Motoring
5 at school
a) in the school building:
•I can get some work done while the kids are at school.
b) BrE attending a school, rather than being at college or university or having a job:
•We've got two children at school, and one at university.
6 in school
a) in the school building:
•Sandra's not in school today.
b) AmE attending a school or university rather than having a job:
•Are your boys still in school?
7 ART [C] a number of people who are considered as a group because of their similar style of work:
•the Impressionist school
8 school of thought an opinion or way of thinking about something that is shared by a group of people:
•There are two main schools of thought on the subject.
9 of/from the old school with old-fashioned values or qualities:
•a family doctor of the old school
10 FISH [C] a large group of fish, WHALEs , DOLPHINs etc that are swimming together
[+of]
•a school of whales[T]
1 old-fashioned to train or teach someone to have a certain skill, type of behaviour, or way of thinking
be schooled in (doing) sth
•She was schooled in hiding her emotions.
2 to educate a child[U]
the age at which a child is old enough to go to school:
•children below school age
- school-age adjective
•a school-age child[C]
a group of people, including some parents, who are elected to govern a school or group of schools in the US [C]
a book that is used in school classes; = textbook [C] especially BrE
1 a boy attending school
2 schoolboy humour jokes that are silly and rude but not offensive plural schoolchildren [C]
a child attending school
see box at STUDENT [C]
1 a day of the week when children are usually at school
2 sb's schooldays the time of your life when you go to school[C]
an area in one state of the US that includes a number of schools which are governed together[C] especially BrE
a friend who goes to the same school as you $ [C] especially BrE
a girl attending school[C]
a member of a group of people in Britain who are elected to make decisions about how a school should be managed [C]
a school building, especially for a small village school [U]
school education:
•children in their final year of compulsory schooling (=the time during which children have to attend school by law)
•Al's dad had only a few years of schooling. [C] informal
a child attending school[C] BrE
someone who has just left school, especially to do or look for a job rather than going to college, university etc:
•a shortage of jobs for school-leavers $ [C]
a woman who is considered to be old-fashioned, strict, and easily shocked $ [C] BrE
a male teacher, especially in a PRIVATE SCHOOL (=one that parents pay to send their children to) [C]
someone who goes or went to the same school as you [C] BrE
a female teacher, especially in a PRIVATE SCHOOL (=one that parents pay to send their children to) [C]
a room used for teaching in a small school[C usually singular] BrE
when parents drive their children to school in the morning or home from school in the afternoon:
•We hope to increase the safety of children who walk to school and cut the number of cars doing the school run. $ [C]
a TEACHER[C]
1 a special tie with a particular colour or pattern that children wear at some schools in Britain
2 the old school tie BrE informal the unofficial system by which people who went to the same school, especially an expensive one, help each other to gain important positions later in their lives $ [U]
work done for or during school classes; homework $ [C] especially AmE
the area next to a school building where the children can go or play when they are not having lessons; = playground BrE $ [C]
a fast sailing ship with two sails [singular]
a typical quality or feature that someone, especially an entertainer, is famous for:
•Eminem's whole schtick is being outrageous.schtoom, shtum [not before noun]
quiet or silent:
•The boss of the failed company is keeping schtum about his role in the disaster. [C] technical
1 a vowel typically heard in parts of a word that are spoken without STRESS^1 (4), such as the 'a' in 'about'
2 the sign, used to represent the vowel schwa technical
relating to the HIPs
pain in the lower back, HIPs and legs
1 [U] knowledge about the world, especially based on examining, testing, and proving facts:
•Many leading scientists do not consider that science can give absolutely reliable knowledge.
•the founder of modern science, Isaac Newton
•developments in science and technology
2 [U] the study of science:
•What did you do in science class today?
3 [C] a particular part of science, for example BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, or PHYSICS:
•the physical sciences
4 sth is not an exact science used to say that something involves a lot of guessing and there is not just one right way to do it:
•Advertising is not an exact science - you're always taking a risk.
DOMESTIC SCIENCE, INFORMATION SCIENCE, NATURAL SCIENCE, PHYSICAL SCIENCE, SOCIAL SCIENCE; blind sb with science at BLIND^2 (4); sth is not rocket science at ROCKET SCIENCE[U]
stories about events in the future which are affected by imaginary developments in science, for example about travelling in time or to other PLANETs with life on them[C]
an area where there are a lot of companies or organizations that do scientific work
1 [no comparative] about or related to science, or using its methods:
•We believe in investing in scientific research.
•the limits of scientific knowledge
•decisions based on scientific evidence
•the international scientific community (=scientists)
2 informal using an organized system:
•I keep accounts for the business, but I'm not scientific about it.
3 the scientific method the usual process of finding out information in science, which involves testing your ideas by performing EXPERIMENTs and making decisions based on the results
- scientifically adverb
•It hasn't been scientifically proven though. [C]
someone who works or is trained in science [U] informal
SCIENCE FICTION $ [C]
a sword with a curved blade that was used in the past [singular ]
a very small amount of something
[+of]
•There isn't a scintilla of evidence to prove it.
interesting, clever, and amusing:
•scintillating conversation
•a scintillating performance [C]
literary a young member of a famous or important family
[+of]
•a scion of an ancient Scottish family $ [plural]
a tool for cutting paper, cloth etc, made of two sharp blades fastened together in the middle, with holes for your finger and thumb:
•a pair of scissors $ [U] technical
a disease that causes an organ or soft part of your body to become hard
- sclerotic $ adjective
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS $
1 [I,T] to laugh at a person or idea, and talk about them in a way that shows you think they are stupid; = make fun of
[+at]
•David scoffed at her fears.
•Officials scoffed at the idea.
•'You, a scientist!' he scoffed.
2 [T] BrE informal to eat something very quickly:
•She scoffed the plate of biscuits. $ [T]
to angrily criticize someone, especially a child, about something they have done; = tell off
•Do not scold the puppy, but simply and firmly say 'no.'
scold sb for (doing) sth
•Her father scolded her for upsetting her mother.
- scolding noun [C,U]
•I got a scolding from my teacher. $
another spelling of SCALLOP $ [C]
an object that is attached to a wall and holds CANDLEs or electric lights $ [C]
a small round cake, sometimes containing dried fruit, which is usually eaten with butter:
•tea and scones [C]
1 an important or exciting news story that is printed in one newspaper or shown on one television station before any of the others know about it:
•a journalist looking for a scoop
2 a round deep spoon for serving food, for example ICE CREAM or MASHed potato
3 also scoopful an amount of food served with a scoop
[+of]
•two scoops of ice cream
4 AmE informal information about something:
•the inside scoop (=special information that other people do not have) on the markets
what's the scoop? (=used to ask for information or news)[T]
1 [always + adv/prep] to pick something up or remove it using a scoop or a spoon, or your curved hand:
•She bent down and scooped up the little dog.
•Cut the tomato in half and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon.
2 to be the first newspaper to print an important news report:
•Time and again we have scooped our rivals.
3 BrE to win a prize or AWARD:
•Britain scooped the top prize in the over 50s category.

PHRASAL VERBS
scoop sth <=> up phr v
if a lot of people scoop something up, they buy it quickly so that soon there is none left:
•Fans scooped up the trading cards in the first few hours of the sale.also scoop neckline [C]
a round, quite low neck on a woman's TOP informal
1 [I] to move quickly and suddenly:
•There's the bus - I'd better scoot!
[+off]
•She scooted off on her bike.
2 [T] especially AmE to make someone or something move a short distance by pulling or pushing:
•I scooted my chair over to their table.

PHRASAL VERBS
scoot over phr v AmE informal
to move to one side, especially in order to make room for someone or something else:
•He scooted over so I could sit down. $ [C]
1 also motor scooter a type of small, less powerful MOTORCYCLE with small wheels
2 a child's vehicle with two small wheels, an upright handle, and a narrow board that you stand on with one foot, while the other foot pushes against the ground $
1 [U] the range of things that a subject, activity, book etc deals with
[+of]
•the need to define the scope of the investigation
•measures to limit the scope of criminals' activities
beyond/outside/within the scope of sth
•A full discussion of that issue is beyond the scope of this book.
widen/broaden/extend etc the scope of sth
•Let us extend the scope of the study to examine more factors.
narrow/limit etc the scope of sth
•The court's ruling narrowed the scope of the affirmative action program.
limited/wider etc in scope
•His efforts were too limited in scope to have much effect.
2 [U] the opportunity to do or develop something
[+for]
•The scope for successful gardening increases dramatically with a greenhouse.
there is considerable/great/little etc scope for sth
•There is considerable scope for further growth in the economy.
3 [singular] informal a particular set of activities and the people who are involved in them; = scene
the music/cinema/club etc scope

PHRASAL VERBS
scope sb/sth <=> out phr v AmE informal
to look at something or someone to see what they are like:
•Let's go inside and scope out the menu. $
1 [I,T] if you scorch something, or if it scorches, its surface burns slightly and changes colour:
•The walls had been blackened and scorched by fire.
2 [T] if strong heat or wind scorches plants, it dries and damages them:
•Direct sunlight will scorch the plant's leaves.
3 [T] if strong heat scorches you, it burns you:
•The hot sand scorched our feet.
4 [I always + adv/prep] BrE informal to travel extremely fast
[+along/down/across etc ]
•He scorched out of the gate, almost crashing his new sports car.
- scorched adjective
1 [C] a mark made on something where its surface has been burnt:
•There were scorch marks on the kitchen worktop where a hot pan had been placed.
2 [U] brown colouring on plants caused by some plant diseases[C]
the destruction by an army of everything useful in an area, especially crops, so that the land cannot be used by an enemy $ [C usually singular] informal
an extremely hot day:
•It was a scorcher of a day. $
extremely hot:
•the scorching desert heat
•It was a scorching hot day. $ [C]
1 IN A GAME the number of points that each team or player has won in a game or competition:
•At half-time the score was one-all.
•What's the score?
•Is anybody keeping score (=making a record of the score)?
•The final score was Southampton two, Leeds United nil.
[+of]
•a score of 3-2
2 IN A TEST OR EXPERIMENT
a) the number of points a student has earned for correct answers in a test:
•The school's test scores have not improved.
[+of]
•a score of 90%
b) the number of points that a person or group of people gets in a scientific test or EXPERIMENT
[+of]
•He had an IQ score of 120.
3 MUSIC a written or printed copy of a piece of music, especially for a large group of performers, or the music itself:
•a musical score
•Who wrote the score for the movie?
4 on that score spoken concerning the particular thing you have just mentioned:
•As for the cost, you don't need to worry on that score.
5 know the score informal to know the real facts of a situation, including any unpleasant ones:
•We are trying to attract managers who know the score.
6 settle a score to do something to harm or hurt someone who has harmed or hurt you in the past:
•Jack came back after five years to settle some old scores.
7 MARK a mark that has been cut onto a surface with a sharp tool:
•deep scores in the wood
1 WIN POINTS [I,T] to win a point in a sport, game, competition, or test:
•Great cheers went up when he scored in the final minute of the game.
•She scored an average of 9.9 in the test.
score a goal/point/run etc
•He has scored 12 goals so far this season.
2 GIVE POINTS [T] to give a particular number of points in a game, competition, test, or EXPERIMENT; = mark
•Each event will be scored separately.
•Responses to the individual items are scored on a scale ranging from 0 to 12.
3 score points
a) also score off sb BrE to say or do something in an attempt to prove that you are better or cleverer than someone else:
•Too many MPs use debates as a chance to score political points.
[+over/off]
•Advertising may be used to score points off the competition.
b) informal to do or say something to please someone or to make them respect you
[+with]
•You'll score points with your girlfriend if you send her roses.
4 SUCCEED [I,T] informal to be very successful in something you do:
•Her new book has scored a spectacular success.
5 HAVE SEX [I] informal to have sex with someone, especially someone you have just met
6 LINE [T] to mark a line on a piece of paper, wood etc using a sharp instrument:
•Scoring the paper first makes it easier to fold.
7 MUSIC [T usually passive] to arrange a piece of music for a group of instruments or voices
8 GET DRUGS [I,T] informal to manage to buy or get illegal drugs

PHRASAL VERBS
score off sb phr v BrE
to say or do something in an attempt to prove that you are better or cleverer than someone else:
•He liked scoring off his pupils in his days as a teacher.

score sth <=> out/through phr v
to draw a line through something that has been written
1 plural score a group of 20, or about 20, people or things
a score of sth
•Our coach was escorted by a score of policemen.
three score years and ten old use (=70 years, a person's expected length of life)
2 scores of sth a lot of people or things:
•Scores of victims were killed.
3 by the score in large numbers:
•Friends came to help by the score. $ [C]
a board on which the points won in a game are recorded $ [C]
1 a printed card used by someone watching a sports match or race to record what happens
2 a system that is used for checking or testing something[C] BrE
a football match in which both teams score at least one GOAL and the final score is 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc $
if a sports match or part of a sports match is scoreless, nobody scores any points or GOALs :
•a scoreless first half $ [C] BrE
the score or the final result in a football, RUGBY, or tennis match $ [C]
1 also scorekeeper someone who keeps an official record of the points won in a sports game
2 a player who wins a point or GOAL
top/leading/highest scorer
•He was Palace's top scorer. $ [C]
1 a special piece of paper on which someone records the points won in a sports match
2 get (your name) on the scoresheet BrE to score one or more GOALs or points in football, RUGBY, and some other sports $ [U]
1 the feeling that someone or something is stupid or does not deserve respect; = contempt
[+for]
•He felt scorn for his working-class parents.
with scorn
•Rachel looked at me with scorn.
2 pour scorn on sb/sth also heap scorn on sb/sth AmE to strongly criticize someone or something because you think they do not deserve respect:
•Labour poured scorn on the Tory claim to be the party of law and order.[T]
1 to show that you think that something is stupid, unreasonable, or not worth accepting:
•Many women scorn the use of make-up.
2 to criticize someone or something because you think they do not deserve respect:
•He scorned the government's record in dealing with crime. $
feeling or showing scorn:
•a scornful look
[+of]
•He was scornful of the women's movement.
- scornfully adverb $ plural Scorpios
1 [U] the eighth sign of the ZODIAC, represented by a SCORPION, which some people believe affects the character and life of people born between October 24 and November 22
2 [C] someone who was born between October 24 and November 22 $ [C]
a tropical animal like an insect with a curving tail and a poisonous sting $ [C]
someone from Scotland[C,U]
a strong alcoholic drink made in Scotland, or a glass of this:
•Two scotches, please.old-fashioned
SCOTTISH $ [T]
to stop something happening by firmly doing something to prevent it:
•He issued an announcement to scotch rumours of his death.[U] BrE
thick soup made from vegetables, meat, and BARLEY (=type of grain)[C] BrE
a cooked egg that is covered with meat and BREADCRUMBS, then FRIED[U] trademark AmE
thin clear plastic tape that is sticky on one side, used for sticking light things such as paper together
- scotch tape verb [T] $
get away/off scot-free informal to avoid being punished although you deserve to be $
Scottish $ plural Scotsmen [C]
a man from Scotland $ plural Scotswomen [C]
a woman from Scotland $
relating to Scotland or its people [C] old-fashioned
a bad or dishonest man, especially someone who cheats or deceives other people $ [T]
1 to search very carefully and thoroughly through an area, a document etc
scour sth for sth
•Her family began to scour the countryside for a suitable house.
2 also scour out to clean something very thoroughly by rubbing it with a rough material; = scrub
•Ada was scouring out the pans.
3 also scour out to form a hole by continuous movement over a long period:
•Over the years, the stream had scoured out a round pool in the rock.also scouring pad $ [C]
a small ball of wire or rough plastic for cleaning cooking pots and pans $ [C]
1 something that causes a lot of harm or suffering
[+of]
•the scourge of unemployment
•the scourge of war
2 a WHIP used to punish people in the past[T]
1 to cause a lot of harm or suffering to a place or group of people
2 to hit someone with a whip as punishment in the past [U] BrE
the way of speaking that is typical of people from Liverpool
- Scouse adjective $ [C] BrE informal
someone from the city of Liverpool in England [C]
1
a) the Scouts an organization for boys that teaches them practical skills
b) also boy scout a boy who is a member of this organization
2 AmE also Girl Scout a girl who is a member of an organization for girls that teaches them practical things; = guide BrE
3 a soldier, plane etc that is sent to search the area in front of an army and get information about the enemy:
•He sent three scouts ahead to take a look at the bridge.
4 also talent scout someone whose job is to look for good sports players, musicians etc in order to employ them:
•He was spotted by a scout at the age of 13.
1 [I] also scout around/round to look for something in a particular area
[+for]
•I'm scouting round for a place to stay.
2 [T] also scout out to examine a place or area in order to get information about it:
•American companies are keen to scout out business opportunities in Vietnam.
3 [I,T] to find out about the abilities of sports players, musicians etc in order to employ them [U]
the activities that Scouts take part in $ [C]
a man who is the leader of a group of Scouts [I]
to look at someone in an angry way; frown
•Patrick scowled, but did as he was told.
[+at]
•Mum scowled at him and refused to say anything.[C]
an angry or disapproving expression on someone's face; frown
•She looked at me with a scowl on her face.[U] trademark
a game in which players try to make words from the separate letters they have [I always + adv/prep]
to try to find or do something very quickly, usually by moving your hands or feet in an uncontrolled way
[+for]
•He scrabbled for the light switch.
[+around/about ]
•She was scrabbling around, searching for the door. informal
growing in a way that looks uneven and in bad condition:
•his scraggly gray beard BrE
too thin:
•a scraggy neck past tense and past participle scrammed, present participle scramming [I usually in imperative] informal
to leave a place very quickly, especially so that you do not get caught:
•Scram, you two!
1 CLIMB [I always + adv/prep] to climb up, down, or over something quickly and with difficulty, especially using your hands to help you
[+up/down/over etc]
•They tried to scramble up the cliff.
•She scrambled down the tree as quickly as she could.
2 MOVE QUICKLY [ I always + adv/prep] to move somewhere in a hurried awkward way
[+to/out/from etc]
•Alan scrambled out of the way.
•Micky scrambled to his feet (=stood up very quickly and awkwardly) and hurried into the kitchen.
3 DO STH QUICKLY [T] to try to do something difficult very quickly
scramble to do sth
•They were scrambling to give the impression that the situation was in control.
4 COMPETE [I] to struggle or compete with other people to get or reach something
[+for]
•Thousands of people will be scrambling for tickets.
5 INFORMATION/MESSAGE [T] to use special equipment to mix messages, radio signals etc into a different form, so that they cannot be understood by other people without the correct equipment:
•Our conversation will be electronically scrambled.
6 MIX [T] to mix words, ideas, sentences etc so that they are not in the right order and do not make sense:
•In this exercise, the words in each sentence are scrambled.
7 scramble an egg to cook an egg by mixing the white and yellow parts together and heating it in a pan
8 scramble sb's brains informal to make someone unable to think clearly or reasonably:
•Maybe the alcohol has scrambled his brains.
9 AIRCRAFT [I] if a military plane scrambles, it goes up into the air very quickly in order to escape or to attack an enemy
1 [singular] a difficult climb in which you have to use your hands to help you:
•The village was a 20-minute scramble away.
2 [singular] a situation in which people compete with and push each other in order to get what they want
[+for]
•the usual scramble for the bathroom every morning
scramble to do sth
•a scramble to carry the baggage into the house
3 [singular] a situation in which something has to be done very quickly, with a lot of rushing around:
•It was a mad scramble trying to get things ready in time.
4 [C] BrE a MOTORCYCLE race over rough ground[C,U]
eggs cooked in a pan after the white and yellow parts have been mixed together $ [C]
a machine that mixes up a radio or telephone message so that it cannot be understood without special equipment [U]
1 the activity of climbing over rocks using your hands but no ropes
2 BrE the activity of racing on MOTORCYCLEs over rough ground
1 PAPER/CLOTH [C] a small piece of paper, cloth etc
[+of]
•He wrote his address on a scrap of paper.
•a rug made out of old scraps of material
2 OLD OBJECTS [U] materials or objects that are no longer used for the purpose they were made for, but can be used again in another way:
•The equipment was sold for scrap.
• Scrap metal (=metal from old cars, machines etc) fetched high prices after the war.
3 FOOD scraps [plural] pieces of food that are left after you have finished eating:
•My mother fed the dog on scraps to save money.
table/kitchen scraps AmE
4 INFORMATION [C] a small amount of information, truth etc
[+of]
•He obtained every scrap of information available.
•There isn't a single scrap of evidence.
5 FIGHT [C] informal a short fight or argument:
•He's always getting into scraps with other dogs.past tense and past participle scrapped, present participle scrapping
1 [T] to decide not to use a plan or system because it is not practical:
•We believe that car tax should be scrapped.
2 [T] to get rid of an old machine, vehicle etc, and use its parts in some other way:
•The navy's biggest aircraft carrier is being scrapped this year.
3 [I] informal to have a short fight [C]
a book with empty pages where you can stick pictures, newspaper articles, or other things you want to keep
1 [T] to remove something from a surface using the edge of a knife, a stick etc:
•Scrape the carrots and slice them thinly.
scrape sth away/off
•The earth was scraped away to uncover a trap door.
scrape sth off/into etc sth
•Teresa scraped the mud off her boots.
•The two of them scraped their dishes clean.
2 [I,T always + adv/prep] to rub against a rough surface in a way that causes slight damage or injury, or to make something do this; graze
•The coat was too long; the hem scraped the pavement.
[+against/on etc]
•I heard the side of the car scrape against the wall.
scrape sth against/on sth
•I scraped my knee painfully on the concrete.
3 [I,T] to make a noise by rubbing roughly against a surface:
•Chairs scraped loudly as they stood up.
scrape (sth) on/down/against sth
•He opened the gate quietly, trying not to let it scrape on the gravel.
4 scrape home especially BrE to win a race, election, or competition by a very small amount:
•The Tories may scrape home, but it's unlikely.
5 scrape (the bottom of) the barrel informal to have to use something even though it is not very good, because there is nothing better available:
•It was clear that the party was scraping the barrel for competent politicians.

PHRASAL VERBS
scrape sth <=> back phr v
if you scrape your hair back, you pull it away from your face and tie it at the back:
•Her blonde hair was scraped back into a ponytail.

scrape by phr v
1 to have just enough money to live:
•In the rural areas, people could scrape by, thanks to what they grew themselves.
2 to only just succeed in passing an examination or dealing with a difficult situation

scrape in phr v also scrape into sth
to only just succeed in getting a job, a place at university, a position in government etc:
•Labour scraped in by a small majority.
•He just scraped into college.

scrape through (sth) phr v
to only just succeed in passing an examination or dealing with a difficult situation:
•I managed to scrape through the exam.

scrape sth <=> together/up phr v
to get enough money for a particular purpose, when this is difficult:
•She scraped together the last of her savings.
•They could hardly scrape up enough money for the train fare.
bow and scrape at BOW^1 (5); scrape/scratch a living at LIVING^2 (1)
1 [C] a mark or slight injury caused by rubbing against a rough surface; = graze
•I came away from the accident with only cuts and scrapes.
2 [C] informal a situation in which you are in trouble or have difficulties:
•He got into all sorts of scrapes as a boy.
3 [singular] the noise made when one surface rubs roughly against another
[+of]
•He heard the scrape of chairs being dragged across the floor. $ [C]
a tool used to remove something from a surface by rubbing:
•a paint scraper
1 on the scrapheap informal not wanted or used any more - used especially when this seems unfair:
•Three years later he was on the political scrapheap.
2 [C] a pile of unwanted things, especially pieces of metal [U]
a serious disease that sheep get [plural]
small pieces that have been SCRAPEd from a surface[U]
paper, often paper that has already been used on one side, that you use for making notes, lists etc
1 BrE untidy or badly organized:
•scrappy notes from the meeting
2 AmE informal having a determined character and always willing to compete, argue, or fight:
•a scrappy team that plays hard
1 RUB YOUR SKIN [I,T] to rub your skin with your nails because it feels uncomfortable; itch
•John yawned and scratched his leg.
•Try not to scratch.
[+at]
•He was scratching at the bites on his arm.
2 CUT SB'S SKIN [I,T] to cut someone's skin slightly with your nails or with something sharp:
•She ran at him and scratched his face.
•Don't scratch yourself on the thorns.
3 MAKE A MARK [T] to make a small cut or mark on something by pulling something sharp across it:
•I'm afraid I've scratched your car.
•Some of the prisoners had scratched their names on the walls.
4 ANIMALS [I always + adv/prep] if an animal scratches, it rubs its feet against something, often making a noise:
•A few chickens scratched around in the yard.
[+at]
•a dog scratching at the door to be let in
5 REMOVE STH [T always + adv/prep] to remove something from a surface by rubbing it with something sharp
scratch sth off/away etc
•I scratched away a little of the paint with my fingernail.
6 REMOVE WRITING [T always + adv/prep] to remove a word from a piece of writing by drawing a line through it
scratch sth from/off sth
•I have scratched his name from the list.
7 MAKE A NOISE [I always + adv/prep] to make a rough sound by moving something sharp across a surface:
•His pen scratched away on the paper.
8 scratch the surface to deal with only a very small part of a subject or problem
[+of]
•I think we have only scratched the surface of this problem.
9 scratch your head informal to think carefully about a difficult question or problem:
•This crisis has politicians scratching their heads and wondering what to do.
10 STOP STH HAPPENING [T] informal if you scratch an idea or a plan, you decide that you will not do it
11 REMOVE FROM RACE [I,T] informal if someone scratches from a race, or if you scratch them from the race, they do not take part in it
12 you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours spoken used to say that you will help someone if they agree to help you

PHRASAL VERBS
scratch around phr v also scratch about BrE
to try to find or get something which is difficult to find or get
[+for]
•homeless people scratching around for a place to shelter

scratch sth <=> out phr v
to remove a word from a piece of writing by drawing a line through it:
•Emma's name had been scratched out.
scrape/scratch a living at LIVING^2 (1)
1 CUT [C] a small cut on someone's skin:
•There were deep scratches all over her face.
•Don't worry, it's only a scratch (=not a serious injury).
•She was unharmed apart from a few cuts and scratches.
2 MARK [C] a thin mark or cut on the surface of something:
•There was a big scratch on the car door.
3 from scratch if you start something from scratch, you begin it without using anything that existed or was prepared before:
•We had to start again from scratch.
•He had built the business up from scratch.
4 up to scratch BrE informal good enough for a particular standard:
•Some of this work isn't up to scratch.
bring/get sth up to scratch
•We spent thousands of pounds getting the house up to scratch.
5 RUB [singular] especially BrE when you rub part of your body with your nails because it feels uncomfortable:
•He stretched and had a scratch.
•He brushed his hair and gave his scalp a good scratch.
6 SOUND [C] a sound made by something sharp or rough being rubbed on a hard surface:
•I heard the scratch of a match lighting a cigarette.[no comparative]
1 a scratch team or group of people has been put together in a hurry, using anyone that is available
2 a scratch player in golf is very good and is not given any advantage in gamesalso scratch card [C] BrE
a small card you can buy which gives you a chance to win a prize. You rub off the surface of the card to find out whether you have won anything. [plural] BrE
small pieces of pig's skin that have been cooked in hot fat and are eaten cold; = pork rinds AmE [C]
1 AmE several sheets of cheap paper that are joined together into a small book you can write notes in
2 a small screen on a MOBILE PHONE that lets you write short notes and stores them for you[U] AmE
cheap paper, or paper that has already been used on one side, that you use for writing notes; = scrap paper
1 something that is scratchy feels rough against your skin:
•a scratchy woollen jumper
2 a scratchy voice or musical sound is rough and not smooth and pleasant:
•a scratchy old recording of some folk songs $ [T]
to write in a careless and untidy way, so that your words are not easy to read; scribble
•He scrawled his name at the bottom of the page.[C,U]
untidy, careless writing:
•The note was written in his usual illegible scrawl. $
a scrawny person or animal looks very thin and weak:
•a scrawny kid in jeans and a T-shirt
•a few scrawny hens
1 [I] to make a loud high noise with your voice because you are hurt, frightened, excited etc; = shriek
•After the first few shots, people started screaming.
•a screaming baby
[+with/in]
•She jumped to her feet, screaming in terror.
•The children were screaming with laughter.
•She was screaming her head off (=screaming a lot).
•She began to scream blue murder (=scream very loudly).
•He was dragged kicking and screaming to a nearby van.
2 [I,T] also scream out to shout something in a very loud high voice because you are angry or frightened; = yell
•'Get out!' she screamed.
•He screamed out her name.
[+for]
•I screamed for help.
[+at]
•He screamed at her to go away.
•The crowd continued to scream abuse at him.
3 [I] to make a very loud high noise:
•The police car approached, its siren screaming.[C]
1 a loud high sound that you make with your voice because you are hurt, frightened, excited etc; = shriek
•We heard screams coming from the flat.
•She saw the knife and let out a scream.
scream of laughter/terror etc
•He fell back with a scream of terror and pain.
2 a very loud high sound:
•the scream of a jet taking off
3 a scream informal someone or something that is very funny:
•The film was a scream!
extremely:
•a screamingly funny film [C]
an area of loose soil and broken rocks on the side of a mountain:
•a scree slope
1 [I,T] to shout loudly in an unpleasant high voice because you are angry, afraid, or excited; = shriek, scream
•'Look out!' she screeched.
•They screeched with laughter.
[+at]
•She screeched at me to take off my muddy shoes.
2 [I] if a vehicle screeches, its wheels make a high unpleasant noise as it moves along or stops:
•A van screeched onto the road in front of me.
•The car screeched to a halt.
- screech noun [C]
•a screech of laughter
•a screech of tyres [C]
a very long, boring piece of writing - used to show disapproval
1 TELEVISION/COMPUTER [C] the part of a television or computer where the picture or information appears; monitor
•a computer with an 18-inch colour screen
•He went on staring at the TV screen.
on (a) screen
•Her picture appeared on the screen.
•It's easy to change the text on screen before printing it.
2 FILM
a) [C] the large white surface that pictures are shown on in a cinema:
•He was horrified at some of the images he saw on the screen.
b) [singular, U] films in general:
•This is the first time the play has been adapted for the big screen (=films).
•a star of stage and screen (=the theatre and films)
on screen
•his first appearance on screen
•a well-known screen actor
3 MOVABLE WALL [C] a piece of furniture like a thin wall that can be moved around and is used to divide one part of a room from another:
•There was a screen around his bed.
4 STH THAT HIDES
a) [C] something tall and wide that hides a place or thing
[+of]
•The house was hidden behind a screen of bushes.
b) [singular] something that hides what someone is doing
[+for]
•The business was just a screen for his drug-dealing activities.
5 TEST FOR ILLNESS [C] BrE a medical test to see whether someone has an illness; = screening AmE
•The company is offering a free health screen to all employees.
6 DOOR/WINDOW [C] a wire net fastened inside a frame in front of a window or door to keep insects out
7 CHURCH [C] a decorative wall in some churches
8 SPORTS [C] a player in a game such as BASKETBALL who protects the player who has the ball
SMOKESCREEN, SUNSCREEN[T]
1 TEST FOR ILLNESS to do tests on a lot of people to find out whether they have a particular illness:
•All women over 50 will be regularly screened.
screen sb for sth
•It is now possible to screen babies for diabetes.
2 HIDE STH if something screens something else, it is in front of it and hides it
screen sth from sth
•A line of trees screened the house from the road.
3 FILM/TELEVISION to show a film or television programme:
•The film is now being screened at cinemas around the country.
•The match will be screened live on television.
4 TEST EMPLOYEES ETC to find out information about people in order to decide whether you can trust them:
•Police are very careful when screening politicians' bodyguards.
•Applicants are screened for security.
5 CHECK THINGS to check things to see whether they are acceptable or suitable:
•You can use an answerphone to screen your phone calls before you answer them.

PHRASAL VERBS
screen sth <=> off phr v
to separate one part of a room from the rest by putting a thin temporary wall or a curtain across it:
•The back part of the room had been screened off.

screen sth <=> out phr v
1 to prevent something harmful from passing through:
•Sun lotions screen out damaging ultraviolet light.
2 to remove people or things that are not acceptable or not suitable:
•An answering service can screen out nuisance calls.[C] AmE
a door with wire net fastened inside a frame, which is used outside the main door of a building to keep insects out[C]
a picture of everything that appears on a computer screen at a particular time, which can be saved and put into a computer document, for example to show how to use a computer program
1 [C,U] the showing of a film or television programme:
•a screening of Spielberg's new movie
2 [U] medical tests that are done on a lot of people to make sure that they do not have a particular disease
[+for]
•screening for breast cancer
3 [U] tests or checks that are done to make sure that people or things are acceptable or suitable for a particular purpose:
•security screening of airline passengers [C]
the words that are written down for actors to say in a film, and the instructions that tell them what they should do; = script[U]
a way of printing pictures by forcing paint or ink through a specially prepared cloth onto paper or cloth
- screen print verb [T][C]
a computer program that makes a moving image appear on the screen when the image on it has not changed for a period of time, especially so that the screen does not become damaged[C]
an occasion when someone is filmed while they are performing, in order to see if they are suitable to act in a film $ [C]
someone who writes plays for film or television; playwright [C]
1 a thin pointed piece of metal that you push and turn in order to fasten pieces of metal or wood together; nail
•Fix the frame in position and tighten the screws.
2
a) informal not polite an offensive word meaning an act of having sex
b) a good screw informal not polite a very offensive word for someone who is good at having sex
3 have a screw loose informal to be slightly crazy
4 put/tighten the screws on sb informal to force someone to do something by threatening them:
•The government has started to tighten the screws on illegal share dealers.
5 BrE informal a prison officer - used especially by prisoners
1 ATTACH [T always + adv/prep] to attach one thing to another using a screw; nail
screw sth into/onto/to sth
•The chairs were screwed to the floor.
•The wooden frame should be screwed onto the wall.
2 CLOSE BY TURNING [I,T always + adv/prep] to fasten or close something by turning it, or to be fastened in this way; unscrew
screw (sth) on/onto sth
•The lens screws onto the front of the camera.
•She carefully screwed the cap back onto the toothpaste.
3 PAPER/CLOTH [T always + adv/prep] also screw up to twist paper or cloth into a small round shape:
•She screwed the letter up and threw it in the bin.
screw sth (up) into sth
•I screwed my handkerchief into a ball.
4 SEX [I,T] taboo an offensive word meaning to have sex with someone
5 screw you/him etc spoken not polite an offensive expression used to show that you are very angry with someone
6 CHEAT [T] not polite to cheat someone in order to get money from them
screw sb for sth
•They screwed us for $60 in the end.

PHRASAL VERBS
screw around phr v
1 informal to do silly things that may cause trouble; = mess around
•The kids were screwing around down by the bus station.
2 not polite an offensive expression meaning to have sex with a lot of different people

screw up phr v
1 informal to make a bad mistake or do something very stupid; = mess up
•You'd better not screw up this time.
2 screw sth <=> up informal to spoil something by doing something stupid; = mess sth up
•She realized that she had screwed up her life.
3 screw up your eyes/face to move the muscles in your face in a way that makes your eyes seem narrow:
•He screwed up his eyes against the bright light.
•Her face was screwed up with pain.
4 screw sb <=> up informal to make someone feel very unhappy, confused, or upset so that they have emotional problems for a long time; = mess sb up
•It really screwed her up when her mother died.
SCREWED UP
5 screw up the/enough courage to do sth also screw up your courage to be brave enough to do something you are very nervous about:
•I finally screwed up enough courage to talk to her.
have your head screwed on (straight) at HEAD^1 (3c) $ [C] informal especially AmE
someone who seems very strange or crazy[C] AmE
a film or television programme that is funny because crazy things happen $ [C]
1 a tool with a narrow blade at one end that you use for turning screws
2 an alcoholic drink made from VODKA and orange juiceinformal
someone who is screwed up has a lot of emotional problems because of bad or unhappy experiences in the past[C]
a top for a bottle or other container that you fasten on by turning it
- screw-top adjective [only before noun] informal
an idea or plan that is screwy seems very strange or crazy
1 [T] also scribble down to write something quickly and untidily:
•I scribbled his phone number in my address book.
•He scribbled down our names.
2 [I] to draw marks that have no meaning:
•Someone had scribbled all over my picture.
1 [U] also scribbles meaningless marks or pictures, especially done by children
2 [singular, U] untidy writing that is difficult to read:
•I couldn't read his scribble. $ [C] informal
a writer, especially an unimportant one [C]
1 someone in the past whose job was to make written copies of official documents
2 a JOURNALIST - used humorously [C]
1 informal a fight
2 AmE a practice game of football, BASKETBALL etc [I]
to try to save as much money as you can, even though you have very little:
•They scrimped and saved for years to buy their own home.
1 [C] the written form of a speech, play, film etc; screenplay
•They write all their own scripts.
•a film script
2 [C,U] the set of letters that are used in writing a language:
•Arabic script
3 [C] BrE a piece of work that a student writes in an examination
4 [singular, U] formal writing done by hand:
•a diary entry written in neat black script
a speech or broadcast that is scripted has been written down before it is read
contained in the Bible or based on the Bible $
1 Scripture [U] also the (Holy) Scriptures the Bible:
•the way God is portrayed in Scripture
2 [C,U] the holy books of a particular religion:
•Hindu scriptures $ [C]
someone who writes the stories and words for films or television programmes; = screenwriter; playwright $ [C]
1 a long piece of paper that can be rolled up, and is used as an official document
2 a design shaped like a piece of rolled up paper[I always + adv/prep]
to move information on a computer screen up or down so that you can read it
[+through]
•He scrolled through the document.
[+up/down]
•Could you scroll down a few lines?[C]
a part on the side of a computer screen that you move using a MOUSE in order to move up or downscrooge [C] informal
someone who hates spending money:
•You're turning into a real scrooge! $ plural scrota or scrotums [C]
the bag of skin that contains a man's TESTICLEs [I,T] informal
to get money or something you want by asking other people for it rather than by paying for it yourself
[+for]
•a group of children scrounging for food
scrounge sth off/from sb
•I managed to scrounge some money off my dad.
scrounge around (for sth) AmE
•Leroy would scrounge around for old car parts.
- scrounger noun [C]
be on the scrounge BrE informal to be trying to get money or things you want by asking other people for them past tense and past participle scrubbed, present participle scrubbing
1 [I,T] to rub something hard, especially with a stiff brush, in order to clean it:
•She was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor.
•He scrubbed the dirt off his boots.
•The table needs to be scrubbed clean.
[+at]
•She scrubbed at her face with a tissue.
see pictusere at CLEAN
2 [T] informal to decide not to do something that you had planned; = cancel
•We scrubbed the idea in the end.

PHRASAL VERBS
scrub sth <=> out phr v
to clean the inside of a place thoroughly:
•The rooms are all scrubbed out once a week.

scrub up phr v
to wash your hands and arms before doing a medical operation
1 [U] low bushes and trees that grow in very dry soil
2 [singular] especially BrE if you give something a scrub, you clean it by rubbing it hard:
•I gave the floor a good scrub. $ [C]
BrE taboo old-fashioned informal an offensive word for a woman who has sex for money, or has sex with a lot of different men. Do not use this word.scrub brush AmE [C] especially BrE
a stiff brush that you use for cleaning things
1 scrubby land is covered by low bushes
2 scrubby trees and bushes are small and do not look very healthy [U]
an area of land that is covered with low bushes
1 by the scruff of the neck if you hold a person or animal by the scruff of their neck, you hold the skin, fur, or clothes at the back of their neck
2 [C] BrE informal someone who looks untidy or dirty
dirty and untidy:
•a scruffy old pair of jeans
•scruffy shops
- scruffily adverb
•a scruffily dressed man
- scruffiness noun [U]
1 [C] a part of a game of RUGBY when the players all push together in a circle, with their heads down, and try to get the ball
2 [singular] BrE informal a crowd of people who are all close together and pushing each other to try to get something:
•He struggled through the scrum of people to the kitchen. $ [C]
a player in RUGBY who has to put the ball into the SCRUM [C]
a SCRUM (1) [T] BrE old-fashioned
to steal fruit from trees in people's gardens informal
food that is scrumptious tastes very good:
•a scrumptious chocolate cake
•That was absolutely scrumptious! [U] BrE
a strong alcoholic drink made from apples [I] informal
if stones, leaves etc scrunch as you walk on them, they make a noisy sound:
•The dry leaves scrunched under our feet.

PHRASAL VERBS
scrunch sth <=> up phr v
1 to crush and twist something into a small round shape:
•I scrunched up the letter and threw it in the bin.
2 scrunch up your face/eyes to move the muscles in your face in a way that makes your eyes seem narrow:
•He scrunched up his eyes and grinned.
- scrunch noun [singular]
•the scrunch of gravelscrunchie plural scrunchies [C]
a small circular piece of rubber covered loosely with cloth, which is used for holding hair together in a PONYTAIL [C usually plural, U]
a belief about what is right and wrong that prevents you from doing bad things
scruples about doing sth
•He had no scruples about selling faulty goods to people.
•a man with no moral scruples
without scruple
•They made thousands of families homeless without scruple.
not scruple to do sth literary to be willing to do something even though it may be wrong or may upset people:
•They did not scruple to bomb innocent civilians.
1 very careful to be completely honest and fair; unscrupulous
•Not all lawyers are as scrupulous as she is.
•scrupulous honesty
scrupulous in (doing) sth
•The organization will be scrupulous in maintaining the highest moral standards.
2 doing something very carefully so that nothing is left out
scrupulous about (doing) sth
•He was not very scrupulous about keeping himself clean.
•scrupulous attention to detail
- scrupulously adverb
•scrupulously clean
•scrupulously fair $ [C] BrE
an official who checks that the votes in an election are counted fairlyalso scrutinise BrE [T]
to examine someone or something very carefully:
•He scrutinized the document closely.
•She scrutinized his face. [U]
careful and thorough examination of someone or something
careful/close scrutiny
•Careful scrutiny of the company's accounts revealed a whole series of errors.
•Their activities have come under police scrutiny. [U]
small computer systems interface something that helps a small computer work with another piece of electronic equipment, such as a PRINTER, especially when they are connected by wires:
•a SCSI port [U]
the sport of swimming under water while breathing through a tube that is connected to a container of air on your back
- scuba diver noun [C] past tense and past participle scudded, present participle scudding [I always + adv/prep] literary
if clouds scud across the sky, they move quickly [T]
1 to make a mark on a smooth surface by rubbing it against something rough:
•His shoes were old and badly scuffed.
2 scuff your feet/heels to walk in a slow lazy way, not lifting your feet up very high [C]
a short fight that is not very violent:
• Scuffles broke out between rival supporters during the match.
[+with/between]
•scuffles with police[I]
1 to have a short fight with someone, in a way that is not very serious or violent
[+with]
•Some of the demonstrators scuffled with the police.
2 [always + adv/prep] to walk quickly and make a noise as your feet rub on the ground $ [C]
a mark made on something when it has rubbed against something rough [C]
1 a small light boat for only one person, used in races
2 one of a pair of OARs that you use to move along in a small light boat[I,T]
to make a small boat move along using a pair of OARs ; = row plural sculleries [C]
a room next to the kitchen in a large house, where cleaning jobs were done in past times [T]
to make a particular shape from wood, stone, clay etc [only before noun]
having a clear, smooth shape that looks as though an artist had made it:
•high, sculpted cheekbones $ [C]
someone who makes sculptures [C] old-fashioned
a woman who makes sculptures $
1 [C,U] an object made out of stone, wood, clay etc by an artist
[+of]
•a sculpture of an elephant
•an exhibition of sculpture
2 [U] the art of making objects out of stone, wood, clay etc $ [only before noun]
1 cut or formed from wood, stone, clay etc:
•a row of sculptured animals
2 having a smooth, attractive shape:
•her sculptured face
1 [U] an unpleasant dirty substance that forms on the surface of water:
•a pond covered with green scum
2 [plural] informal nasty, unpleasant people:
•Scum like that should be locked away!
•People like that are the scum of the earth.
- scummy adjective [C] spoken informal not polite
a nasty, unpleasant person $ [T] BrE
1 to ruin someone's plans or chance of being successful - used especially in news reports; = scuttle AmE
•Plans to build a private hospital have been scuppered after a government inquiry.
2 to deliberately sink your own ship[C] technical
a hole in the side of a ship that allows water to flow back into the sea $ formal
scurrilous remarks, articles etc contain damaging and untrue statements about someone:
•a scurrilous attack on his integrity
- scurrilously adverb $ past tense and past participle scurried, present participle scurrying, third person singular scurries [I always + adv/prep]
to move quickly with short steps, especially because you are in a hurry
•People were scurrying off to work.
- scurry noun [singular] $ [C] AmE
a bend in the road in the shape of an 'S', that can be dangerous to drivers; = S-bend BrE $ [U]
a disease caused by not eating foods such as fruit and vegetables that contain VITAMIN C
1 [I always + adv/prep] to move quickly with short steps, especially because you are afraid and do not want to be noticed:
•A little lizard scuttled across the path.
2 [T] AmE to ruin or end someone's plans or chance of being successful - used especially in news reports; = scupper BrE
•The incident threatens to scuttle the peace process.
3 [T] to sink a ship by making holes in the bottom, especially in order to prevent it being used by an enemy[C]
a container for carrying coal [U] AmE informal
stories about other people's personal lives, especially stories that are unkind or untrue; = gossip informal
unpleasant and dirty; = disgusting[U] informal
SCSI:
•What's the biggest scuzzy hard drive you have? [C]
a farming tool that has a long curved blade attached to a long wooden handle, and is used to cut grain or long grass
1 [I,T] to move through or destroy something quickly and violently:
•Bullets scythed through the crowd.
2 [T] to cut with a scythe
the written abbreviation of southeast or, southeastern
1 [singular, U] the large area of salty water that covers much of the earth's surface; = ocean

calm sea (=without large waves)
rough sea(s)/heavy seas (=with large waves)
the open sea (=part of the sea far away from land)
by sea (=on a ship)
by the sea (=on the coast)
at sea (=working on ships)
out to sea (=away from the land)
be lost at sea (=be drowned)
go to sea (=go to work on a ship)
put to sea (=make a boat go out to sea)
seawater
seabed/floor (=the land at the bottom of the sea)
sea air (=the air at the coast)

•Jay stripped his clothes off and ran into the sea.
•All the rooms have sea views.
•The sea was perfectly calm.
•the rough seas and wild winds that buffeted the coast
•They headed west toward the open sea.
•Most exports went by sea.
•a little cottage by the sea
•He spent over 30 years at sea.
•They stood side by side looking out to sea.
•a sailor who was lost at sea
•He went to sea when he was eighteen.
•The refugees put to sea in five rickety rafts.
•Divers have disturbed the sea bed in some areas.
•She's out enjoying the sea air.

2 [C] a large area of salty water that is mostly enclosed by land:
•the Mediterranean Sea
3 sea of sth a very large number of people or things that all look similar:
•He looked out at the sea of faces.
4 (all) at sea confused or not sure what to do:
•Living in a foreign country can mean you're always at sea about what's going on.
5 the seas literary the sea - used especially when you are not talking about a particular ocean
across the seas (=far away)
•They came from lands across the seas.
6 [C] one of the broad areas that seem flat on the moon and Mars[U]
the air near the sea, which is considered to be clean, fresh, and good for your health:
•A week spent breathing in the clean sea air would do her good.[C]
a small brightly coloured sea animal that sticks onto rocks and looks like a floweralso sea bed BrE
the seabed the land at the bottom of the sea; = sea floor $ [C]
a bird that lives near the sea and finds food in it $ [C]
the part of a country that is near the sea
eastern/western/Pacific etc seaboard
•the eastern seaboard of the US $ [only before noun]
carried on or arriving in ships:
•the threat of a seaborne invasion[C]
a light wind that blows from the sea onto the land[C]
the CAPTAIN of a ship[C]
a very big change in something
[+in]
•a sea change in attitudes[C] literary
someone with a lot of experience of ships and sailing $ [C] old-fashioned formal
a SAILOR or someone who travels regularly by ship $ [only before noun]
working or travelling on ships and the sea:
•a seafaring man
- seafaring noun [U]seafloor AmE $ BrE
the sea floor the land at the bottom of the sea; = seabed [U]
animals from the sea that you can eat, for example fish and SHELLFISH:
•a seafood restaurant [C usually singular] especially BrE
the part of a town where the shops, houses etc are next to the beach
on the seafront
•a hotel right on the seafront
•a seafront cafe $ [only before noun]
built to travel on the sea:
•a seagoing ship
bluish-green:
•Jo's large sea-green eyes
- sea-green noun [U] [C]
a large common grey or white bird that lives near the sea $ [C]
a small sea fish with a head and neck that look like those of a horse [C]
1 a large sea animal that eats fish and lives around coasts
2
a) a mark that has a special design and shows the legal or official authority of a person or organization:
•The document carried the seal of the governor's office.
b) the object that is used to make this mark
3 a piece of rubber or plastic that keeps air, water, dirt etc out of something
airtight/watertight seal
•an airtight seal around the windows
4 a piece of WAX, paper, wire etc that you have to break in order to open a container, document etc
5 seal of approval if you give something your seal of approval, you say that you approve of it, especially officially:
•A number of employers have already given their seal of approval to the scheme.
6 set the seal on sth BrE to make something definite or complete:
•In 1972, Nixon himself went to China to set the seal on the new relationship.[T]
1 also seal up to close an entrance or a container with something that stops air, water etc from coming in or out of it:
•The window was sealed shut.
seal a joint/crack/opening/gap
•A quick way to seal awkward gaps is to use a foam filler.
•Dried milk is kept in hermetically sealed (=very tightly closed) containers.
2 if a building, area, or country is sealed, no one can enter or leave it:
•Authorities plan to seal the border.
3 to close an envelope, package etc by using something sticky to hold its edges in place:
•He wrote the address and sealed the envelope.
4 to cover the surface of something with something that will protect it:
•Wooden decks should be sealed to prevent cracking.
5 seal sb's fate to make something, especially something bad, sure to happen:
•The outbreak of war sealed the government's fate.
6 seal a deal/bargain/pact etc to make an agreement more formal or definite
7 seal a victory/win/match to make a victory certain:
•Smith's goal sealed the victory.

PHRASAL VERBS
seal sth <=> in phr v
to stop something that is inside something else from getting out:
•Fry the meat quickly to seal in the juices.

seal sth <=> off phr v
to stop people from entering an area or building, because it is dangerous:
•Following a bomb warning, police have sealed off the whole area.
sb's lips are sealed at LIP (5); all signed and sealed at SIGN^2 (6)[C]
a path across the sea that ships regularly use [C,U]
a substance that is put on the surface of something to protect it from air, water etc
1 shut or protected with something that prevents air, water etc from getting in or out:
•a sealed container
2 sealed documents are closed so that they can only be read by a certain person or at a certain time:
•Sealed bids (=offers to pay a particular price for something) should be sent to Richard Walker.[plural]
the ability to walk normally, not feel ill etc when you are travelling on a ship
find/get your sea legs
•I felt awful yesterday. But, thankfully, I've found my sea legs now. $
1 [C,U] a substance that is put on the surface of something to protect it from air, water etc
2 [C] a person or ship that hunts SEALs [U]
the average height of the sea, used as a standard for measuring other heights and depths, such as the height of a mountain
above/below sea level
•1000m above sea level
•changes in sea level [U]
the activity of hunting or catching SEALs [U]
a red substance that melts and becomes hard again quickly, used for closing letters, documents etc, especially in the past[C]
a large type of SEAL that lives near the coast in the Pacific Ocean [U]
the skin or fur of some types of SEAL, used for making leather or clothes [C]
1 a line where two pieces of cloth, leather etc have been stitched together:
•She was repairing Billy's trousers, where the seam had come undone.
•Join the shoulder seams together.
2 a layer of a mineral under the ground
seam of coal/iron etc
3 be coming/falling apart at the seams
a) if a plan, organization etc is coming apart at the seams, so many things are going wrong with it that it will probably fail:
•The health service seems to be falling apart at the seams.
b) if a piece of clothing is coming apart at the seams, the stitches on it are coming unfastened
4 be bursting/bulging at the seams if a room or building is bursting at the seams, it is so full of people that hardly anyone else can fit into it
5 a (rich) seam of sth a thing, place, or group from which a type of thing can be obtained:
•The 466-page book is a rich seam of statistical information.
6 a line where two pieces of metal, wood etc have been joined together plural seamen [C]
1 a SAILOR on a ship or in the navy who is not an officer
2 someone who has a lot of experience of ships and the sea [U]
the skills and knowledge that an experienced sailor has
1 having a seam:
•seamed stockings
2 written a seamed surface has many deep lines on it:
•A gentle smile spread over her seamed face.[C]
a unit for measuring distance at sea that is slightly longer than a land mile, and equals 1853 metres; = nautical mile[U]
a mist on land that comes in from the sea
1 done or made so smoothly that you cannot tell where one thing stops and another begins:
•the seamless integration of data, text, images and sound
2 without any SEAMs :
•seamless stockings
- seamlessly adverb
•The ideal is to have everything working seamlessly together. $ [C]
1 old-fashioned a woman whose job is sewing and making clothes
2 a woman who is good at sewing
involving unpleasant things such as crime, violence, or immorality:
• the seamy side of the World Wide Web $ [C]
a meeting where people try to talk to or receive messages from the spirits of dead people [C]
a plane that can take off from and land on a body of water $ [C]
a large town on or near a coast with a HARBOUR that big ships can use
1 [U] the size and strength of a country's navy
2 [C] a country with a powerful navy $
1 [I always + adv/prep, T] to burn something with a sudden powerful heat:
•The heat seared their skin.
2 [I always + adv/prep, T] to have a very strong sudden and unpleasant effect on you:
•Pain was searing through her.
•The image was seared into his brain.
3 [T] to cook the outside of a piece of meat quickly at a high temperature, in order to keep its juices in:
•seared tuna steaks $
1 [C usually singular] an attempt to find someone or something

carry out/conduct a search
begin/launch a search
call off/abandon a search
thorough/painstaking/systematic search (=a very detailed one)
fruitless search (=an unsuccessful one)
nationwide search
house-to-house search (=a search of every house or building in an area)
fingertip search BrE (=a search for clues by police officers at the scene of a crime)
strip search (=a search of someone by taking off their clothes)
the search is on (=used to say that something is now being looked for)

[+for]
•Bad weather is hampering the search for survivors.
[+of]
•a search of the area
•The police have already carried out a search.
•Perhaps they will wait until morning before launching a search.
•Rescuers were forced to abandon their search.
•a thorough search of the undergrowth
•I spent the next three hours in a fruitless search for a replacement.
• The search is now on for a new management team.

2 [C] a series of actions done by a computer to find information
[+of]
•a computerized search of 10,000 medical journals
•A search found 46 websites.
•an online search
perform/run/do a search
•Do a search on 'rabbit' and see what it brings up.
3 in search of sth looking for something:
•Mark went in search of water.
4 [singular] an attempt to find an explanation or solution
[+for]
•the search for a cure
1 LOOKING [I,T] to try to find someone or something by looking very carefully:
•It was too dark to search further.
•The area was thoroughly searched.
[+for]
•An RAF plane searched for the missing men.
•I've searched high and low (=everywhere) for my glasses.
search sth for sth
•Detectives are searching the yard for clues.
[+in/under/through etc]
•Alice bent to search through a heap of clothes.
2 COMPUTER [T] to use a computer to find information
search sth for sth
•Search the Web for cheap flights.
3 PERSON [T] if someone in authority searches you or the things you are carrying, they look for things you might be hiding
search sb for sth
•He was searched by the guards for weapons.
4 SOLUTION [I] to try to find an explanation or solution
[+for]
•Scientists are still searching for a cure.
•She paused, searching for inspiration.
5 search me! spoken used to tell someone that you do not know the answer to a question:
•'Where is she?' 'Search me!'
6 EXAMINE [T] to examine something carefully in order to find something out, decide something etc:
•Anya searched his face anxiously.

PHRASAL VERBS
search sth <=> out phr v
to find something by searching:
•We were too tired to search out extra blankets.
- searcher noun [C][C]
a computer program that helps you find information on the Internet $ [only before noun]
1 intended to find out all the facts about something
searching questions/investigation/examination etc
•Interviewees need to be ready for some searching questions.
2 searching look/glance/gaze a look from someone who is trying to find out as much as possible about someone else's thoughts and feelings:
•She avoided his long searching look.
- searchingly adverb $ [C]
a very bright electric light that turns in any direction, used for finding people, guarding places etc[C]
a group of people who are organized to look for someone who is missing or lost:
•Let's get going or they'll send out a search party.[C]
a legal document that gives the police official permission to search a building $
1 extremely hot:
•the searing heat of the desert
2 searing pain is severe and feels like a burn
3 searing words or attitudes criticize someone or something very strongly:
•Adorno's searing analysis of mass culture
•Emily felt a searing anger against her father.[U]
a type of salt made from sea water, used in cooking [C]
a picture of the sea [C]
the empty shell of a small sea creature:
•jewelry made out of seashells $
the seashore the land at the edge of the sea, consisting of sand and rocks; beach, seaside
feeling ill when you travel in a boat, because of the movement of the boat in the water
get/feel/be seasick
•Hal was seasick almost at once.
- seasickness noun [U]
the seaside BrE the areas or towns near the sea, where people go to enjoy themselves:
•a trip to the seaside
at the seaside
•a day at the seaside[only before noun]
relating to places that are near the sea
seaside town/resort
•the popular seaside resort of Brighton
•a seaside holiday
1 TIME OF YEAR [C] one of the main periods into which a year is divided, which each have a particular type of weather. In the west, the seasons are spring, summer, autumn, and winter:
•the effect on plants as the seasons change
2 USUAL TIME FOR STH [C usually singular] a period of time in a year during which a particular activity takes place, or during which something usually happens:
•the first game of the season
the football/cricket etc season
•the end of the football season
the racing/fishing/hunting etc season
•The racing season starts in June.
•Some footpaths are closed during the shooting season.
out of season (=when an activity is not allowed)
•He was caught fishing out of season.
[+for]
•The season for strawberries (=when they are available to buy) usually starts in early June.
the rainy/wet/dry season (=the time when it rains a lot or does not rain at all)
•African rivers turn to hard mud during the dry season.
the growing/planting etc season
•The planting season is in spring, with harvest in the fall.
3 HOLIDAY [singular, U] the time of the year when most people take their holidays
high/peak season (=the busiest part of this time)
•There are two boat trips a day, more in high season.
low/off season (=the least busy part of this time)
•An off-season break costs £114.
out of season
•It's quieter out of season.
holiday season BrE
/tourist season
•We arrived at the height of the tourist season (=the busiest time).
the holiday season AmE (=Thanksgiving to New Year, including Christmas, Hanukkah etc)
the festive season BrE (=Christmas and New Year)
4 FASHION [singular] the time in each year when new styles of clothes, hair etc are produced and become fashionable:
•This season's look is fresh and natural.
5 be in/out of season vegetables and fruit that are in season are cheap and easily available because it is the time of year when they are ready to eat. If they are out of season, they are expensive or not available:
•Vine tomatoes are in season from April to October.
6 FILMS, PLAYS ETC [C usually singular] a series of films, plays, television programmes etc that are shown during a particular period of time
[+of]
•a new season of comedy on BBC 1
summer/fall etc season
•The network has several new dramas lined up for the fall season.
•Glyndebourne's season opens with a performance of Tosca.
7 ANIMALS [singular] the time of the year when animals are ready to have sex
the mating/breeding season
•Their dog was coming into season.
8 season's greetings written used on cards to tell someone you hope they have a happy Christmas, Hanukkah etc
9 the season of goodwill old-fashioned the time around Christmas
CLOSE SEASON, OPEN SEASON, SILLY SEASON[T]
1 to add salt, pepper etc to food you are cooking
season sth with sth
•Season the chicken with pepper.
•Mix the ingredients and season to taste (=add the amount of salt etc that you think tastes right).
2 to prepare wood for use by gradually drying it formal
suitable or usual for a particular time of year; unseasonable
•seasonable temperatures [usually before noun]
happening, expected, or needed during a particular season:
•heavy seasonal rains
seasonal workers/employment etc
•seasonal jobs in the tourist industry[U]
an illness that makes people feel sad and tired in winter, because there is not enough light from the sun; = SAD [U]
the fact that something changes according to the time of the year
[+of]
•the seasonality of sales of the product
according to what is usual for a particular season:
•bird migrations that occur seasonally
seasonally adjusted figures/rates/data etc (=ones that are changed according to what usually happens at a particular time of year)
1 [only before noun] used to describe someone who has a lot of experience of a particular thing
seasoned traveller/observer etc
•Artie was by then a seasoned musician with six albums to his credit.
2 seasoned food has salt, pepper etc added to it:
•a highly seasoned piece of fish
3 seasoned wood has been prepared for use by drying [C,U]
salt, pepper, spices etc that give food a more interesting taste[C]
a ticket that allows you to make a lot of journeys during a particular period of time, or go to all the games, concerts etc being held during a particular time. Season tickets cost less than it would cost to buy a ticket for each journey, game etc:
•an annual season ticket
season ticket holder (=someone who owns a season ticket)
1 PLACE TO SIT [C] a place where you can sit, especially one in a vehicle or one from which you watch a performance, sports event etc

back/rear/front seat (=the back or front seat in a car)
driver's seat
passenger seat (=the seat next to the driver's seat in a car)
window/aisle seat (=a seat next to the window or AISLE, for example on a plane)
empty/vacant seat
front-row seat (=in a theatre, sports ground etc)
good seat (=one from which you can see well)
ringside seat (=a seat in the front row for a sports event, especially a BOXING match)
have/take a seat
show sb to their seat
book/reserve a seat
bums on seats BrE informal (=used for talking about the number of people who go to an event, especially if this is a lot of people)

•I was in the back seat and Jo was driving.
•People were shifting in their seats, looking uncomfortable.
•He requested a window seat for the flight.
•There were no empty seats.
•It was a great concert, and I had a front-row seat.
•We're a long way from the stage, but they were the best seats I could get.
•Please take a seat.
•You can book seats online.
•He is an actor who will put bums on seats.
•a 10,000-seat stadium

2 OFFICIAL POSITION [C] a position as an elected member of a government, or as a member of a group that makes official decisions
[+in/on]
•a seat in the National Assembly
•Promotion would mean a seat on the board of directors.
Parliamentary/Senate etc seat
•the Senate seat for Colorado
win/lose etc a seat (=in an election)
•He predicts that his party will gain at least 12 seats.
•Mr Adams is expected to keep his seat.
•Labour held the seat with a 7% majority.
safe seat BrE (=one that a party will not lose)
marginal seat BrE (=one that another party might easily win)
3 PART OF A CHAIR [C usually singular] the flat part of a chair etc that you sit on:
•Don't put your feet on the seat!
•a wooden toilet seat
•a broken bicycle seat
4 baby/child/car seat a special seat that you put in a car for a baby or small child
5 seat of government/power formal a city where a country's government is based
6 seat of learning formal a university, college etc
7 CLOTHES [singular] the part of your trousers that you sit on
[+of]
•a rip in the seat of his jeans
8 take a back seat (to sb/sth) to have less influence or importance:
•Foreign policy will take a back seat to domestic problems for a while.
9 on the edge of your seat waiting excitedly to see what happens next
•a gripping movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat
10 do sth by the seat of your pants to do something by using only your own skill and experience, without any help from anyone or anything else, especially when this is risky or dangerous
11 in the driving seat BrE in the driver's seat AmE controlling what happens in a situation, organization, or relationship:
•We're trying to put young people in the driving seat.
12 in the hot seat also on the hot seat AmE informal in a difficult position where you have to make important decisions, answer questions etc
13 HOUSE [C] a home of a rich important family in the countryside
family/country seat
back-seat driver at BACK SEAT (2); WINDOW SEAT[T]
1 [not in progressive] if a place seats a number of people, it has enough seats for that number:
•The arena seats 60,000.
2 formal seat yourself (in/on/beside etc sth) to sit down somewhere:
•She seated herself at her desk.
see box at SIT
3 to arrange for someone to sit somewhere
seat sb beside/near etc sb/sth
•the old custom of seating boys and girls on opposite sides of the classroom
SEATEDalso safety belt AmE [C]
a belt attached to the seat of a car or plane which you fasten around yourself for protection in an accident [not before noun] formal
1 if someone is seated, they are sitting down
[+at/near/beside etc]
•Paul was seated at his desk.
• Remain seated until the aircraft has come to a complete stop.
2 be seated spoken used to ask people politely to sit down:
•Please be seated.
SEAT^2 $ [in nouns]
four-seater/12-seater etc a vehicle, piece of furniture etc with space for four, 12 etc people to sit [U]
1 all the seats in a theatre, cinema etc
[+for]
•a restaurant with seating for 40 customers
•The hall has a seating capacity of 650.
2 the places where people will sit, according to an arrangement
seating plan/arrangements
•the seating plan for the wedding dinner [C] AmE
the person who sits next to you on a plane[C]
a small round sea animal with a hard shell covered in sharp points $ [C]
a wall built beside the sea to stop the water from flowing onto the land $ [only before noun]
facing towards the sea:
•Keep to the seaward side of the path.
- seaward also seawards adverb $ [U]
salty water from the sea [U]
a plant that grows in the sea $
a ship that is seaworthy is in a suitable condition to sail technical
relating to a part of the body that produces oil:
•sebaceous glands
1 a sec spoken informal a very short period of time
hang on a sec/hold on a sec/just a sec etc (=wait a short time)
•'Is Al there?' 'Hold on a sec, I'll check.'
in a sec
•I'll be with you in a sec.
2 the written abbreviation of second :
•Journey time: 25 mins 14 secs. $ [plural] BrE
strong scissors used for cutting plant stems:
•a pair of secateurs [I] formal
if a country or state secedes from another country, it officially stops being part of it and becomes independent
[+from]
•By 1861, 11 states had seceded from the Union. [C,U]
when a country or state officially stops being part of another country and becomes independent:
•a vote in favor of secession
[+from]
•Croatia's secession from Yugoslavia [C]
someone who wants their country or state to be independent of another country
very private and quiet
secluded garden/spot/beach etc
•We sunbathed on a small secluded beach.
•He's 80 years old now and lives a very secluded life.
[U] the state of being private and away from other people:
•They stayed at a friend's beach house and enjoyed ten days of peace and seclusion.
in seclusion
•He found it difficult to walk very far, and had to stay at home in seclusion.
[+of]
•the relative seclusion of the Norfolk countryside
1 the second person, thing, event etc is the one that comes after the first:
•the Second World War
•the second of August
•a second year student
•his second wife
•Clinton's second term in office
•the second half of the year
•the second time in three days
2 the position in a competition or scale that comes after the one that is the best, most successful etc:
•She won second prize.
•They climbed to second place in the League.
second largest/most successful etc
•Africa's second highest mountain
be second only to sth (=used to emphasize that something is nearly the largest, most important etc)
•The euro will have a circulation second only to that of the dollar.
3 another example of the same thing, or another in addition to the one you have:
•We advertised for a second guitarist.
•There was a second reason for his dismissal.
•I asked the doctor for a second opinion (=when you ask another person to repeat an examination, test etc for you).
4 every second year/person/thing etc
a) the second, then the fourth, then the sixth year etc:
•The nurse comes every second day.
b) used to emphasize that in a group of similar things, there is too much of one particular thing:
•Every second house seemed to be boarded up.
5 be second to none to be the best:
•The quality of Britain's overseas aid programme is second to none.
6 second chance help given to someone who has failed, in the hope that they will succeed this time:
•I just want to give these kids a second chance.
7 have second thoughts to start having doubts about a decision you have made:
•You're not having second thoughts, are you?
[+about]
•She'd had second thoughts about the whole project.
8 on second thoughts BrE on second thought AmE spoken used to say that you have changed your mind about something:
•I'll call her tomorrow - no, on second thought, I'll try now.
9 not give sth a second thought/without a second thought used to say that someone does not think or worry about something:
•She dismissed the rumour without a second thought.
10 not give sth a second glance/look also without a second glance/look to not look at something again, because you have not really noticed it or because it does not seem important:
•No-one gave the woman in the grey uniform a second glance.
11 be/become second nature (to sb) something that is second nature to you is something you have done so often that you do it almost without thinking:
•Driving becomes second nature after a while.
12 second wind a new feeling of energy after you have been working or exercising very hard, and had thought you were too tired to continue:
•He got his second wind and ran on.
1 [C] a unit for measuring time. There are 60 seconds in a minute:
•Hold your breath for six seconds.
•The operation takes only 30 seconds.
•Ultrasonic waves travel at around 300 metres per second.
within seconds (=after only a few seconds)
•Within seconds, Bev called back.
2 [C] a very short period of time:
•I'll be back in a second.
• Just a second (=wait a moment), I'll come and help.
•At least 30 shots were fired in a matter of seconds (=in a very short time).
SPLIT SECOND
3 (at) any second (now) used to say that something will or may happen extremely soon:
•He should be here any second.
4 seconds [plural]
a) informal another serving of food, after you have eaten your first serving
b) clothes or other goods that are cheaper than usual because they are not perfect
SECOND HAND^1
5 [C] technical one of the sixty parts into which a MINUTE of an angle is divided. It can be shown as a symbol after a number. For example, 78° 52' 11' means 78 degrees 52 minutes 11 seconds.
6 [C] someone who helps someone in a fight, especially in BOXING or, in the past, a DUEL
7 [U] AmE informal SECOND BASE
1 [sentence adverb] used before you add information to what you have already said; = secondly
2 next after the first one
come/finish etc second
•I came second in the UK Championships.
•Tea is the most popular drink, while coffee ranks (=comes) second.[T]
to formally support a suggestion made by another person in a meeting
second a motion/proposal/amendment etc $ [T usually passive] BrE
to send someone to do someone else's job for a short time
be seconded to sth
•Jill's been seconded to the marketing department while Dave's away.
SECONDMENT $
1 secondary education/schooling/teaching etc the education, teaching etc of children between the ages of 11 and 16 or 18
2 not as important as something else:
•the novel's secondary characters
[+to]
•Writing was always secondary to spending time with my family.
be of secondary importance/be a secondary consideration
•Cost is the important thing - any benefits for the user are a secondary consideration.
- secondarily adverb[C]
a type of school that existed in Britain until the 1960s, where children who had not passed a special examination were sent[C]
a school for children between the ages of 11 and 16 or 18; primary school[C]
a book, article etc that ANALYSEs something such as a piece of literature or a historical event and that can be used to support your ideas in an ESSAY[C,U] technical
the second strongest STRESS that is put on a part of a long word when you speak it. It is shown in this dictionary by the mark (%stress;); primary stress[U]
the second of the four places you have to run to in games such as baseball in order to get a point[U]
something that you have to accept which is not perfect or not the best:
•I'm not going to settle for second best.[only before noun]
not quite as good as the best one:
•Allie was the second best shooter on the rifle team.
come off second best (=lose a game or competition, or not be as successful as someone else)[U]
someone who is in their second childhood is old, and their mental abilities are greatly reduced[U]
1 a way of travelling on a ship or train that is cheaper and less comfortable than FIRST CLASS
2 a way of delivering letters etc in Britain that is cheaper and slower than FIRST CLASS
3 the system in the US for delivering newspapers, magazines, advertisements etc through the post[only before noun]
1 PEOPLE considered to be less important and less valuable than other people:
•Why should old people be treated like second-class citizens?
2 LOWER STANDARD of a lower standard or quality than the best:
•We will not accept a second-class education for our children.
3 TRAVEL second-class ticket/fare/compartment/cabin etc tickets etc that are for cheaper, less comfortable seats on a train or ship
4 MAIL second-class mail/post/stamp etc relating to the system of delivering mail in Britain that is cheaper and slower
5 UNIVERSITY DEGREE used to describe a university degree in Britain that is good, but not the highest level:
•a second-class honours degree
FIRST CLASS (3)
- second class adverb
•He was travelling second class.
•I'll send the letter second class.
the second coming the time in the future when Christians believe that Jesus Christ will come back to earth[C]
a child of a COUSIN of one of your parents
1 second-degree burns the second most serious form of burns; first-degree, third-degree
2 second-degree murder/assault/burglary etc AmE a crime that is less serious than the most serious type, especially because it was not planned; first-degree $ [C] formal
a person who supports a proposal etc in a formal meeting so that it can be discussed[T]
1 to try to say what will happen or what someone will do before they do it:
•I'm not going to try and second-guess the committee's decisions.
2 AmE to criticize something after it has already happened:
•The decision has been made - there's no point in second-guessing it now.[C]
the long thin piece of metal that points to the seconds on a clock or watch
1 if you get something second hand, it is not new and has been used by other people before
get/buy sth second hand
•We got most of our furniture second hand.
2 if you hear something second hand, the person who tells you is not the person who originally said it:
•It may not be true - I only heard it second hand.
3 if you experience something second hand, you experience it through other people, rather than directly
(at) first hand at FIRST^1 (8)secondhand
1 second-hand things are not new when you get them, because they were owned by someone else before you:
•second-hand clothes
•a second-hand car
secondhand store/shop etc (=a shop that sells second-hand things)
2 second-hand information or knowledge is told to you by someone who is not the person who originally said it - used to show disapproval; first-hand
second-hand reports/accounts
•second-hand accounts of mass killings
1 [C] a house or apartment that you own as well as your main home and which you use, for example, for holidays:
•town-dwellers who buy second homes in the countryside
2 [singular] a place where you spend a large amount of time but which is not where you live:
•I love Italy. It's my second home.
•From then on the hospital became my second home.[C]
the person who has the next highest rank to the leader of a group, especially in a military organization[C usually singular]
a language that you speak in addition to the language you learned as a child[C]
a middle rank in several of the US and British military forces, or someone who has this rank [sentence adverb]
used when you want to give a second point or fact, or give a second reason for something; firstly
•Firstly, they are not efficient, and secondly, they are expensive to make. $ [singular, U] BrE
a period of time that you spend away from your usual job, either doing another job or studying
on secondment (from sth)
•a government advisor, on secondment from the Metropolitan Police[C]
1 BrE a family name:
•'What's your second name?' 'Jones.'
2 a name that comes after your first name and before your family name:
•Stephen's second name, Anthony, is after my brother.[singular] technical
a form of a verb or PRONOUN that is used to show the person you are speaking to. For example, 'you' is a second person pronoun, and 'are' is the second person singular and plural of the verb 'to be'
FIRST PERSON, THIRD PERSON[usually before noun]
not of the very best standard or quality; first-rate
•a second-rate artist[U]
the ability to know what will happen in the future, or to know about things that are happening somewhere else, that some people claim to have[only before noun]
not regularly part of a team, group etc, but sometimes taking someone else's place in it:
•the Vikings' second-string quarterback [U]
1 the process of keeping something secret, or when something is kept a secret; secret
•I must stress the need for absolute secrecy about the project.
•His work was shrouded in secrecy.
•the veil of secrecy that covered the talks
2 swear sb to secrecy to make someone promise not to repeat what you have told them
1 known about by only a few people and kept hidden from others; secrecy
•They kept their relationship secret from their parents.
•agents on a secret mission
•a secret plan to end the war
•secret talks with the terrorists
secret compartment/passage etc
•The drugs were found in a secret compartment in Campbell's suitcase.
secret ingredient/recipe/formula
•The cookies are made to a secret recipe.
2 [only before noun] secret feelings, worries, or actions are ones that you do not want other people to know about:
•His secret fear was that Jenny would leave him.
•Did you know you had a secret admirer (=someone who is secretly in love with you)?
3 secret weapon something that will help you gain a big advantage over your competitors, that they do not know about
4 used to describe the behaviour of someone who is keeping their thoughts, intentions, or actions hidden from other people; = secretive
[+about]
•They're being very secret about it.
•There was a secret smile on her face.
- secretly adverb
•They were secretly married.[C]
1 something that is kept hidden or that is known about by only a few people; secrecy

it's a secret
tell sb a secret/let sb in on a secret also
reveal a secret formal
keep a secret (=not tell someone about something)
your secret is safe with me (=I will not tell anyone about it)
big secret (=an important secret, or something that is known by very few people)
little secret (=a secret that is not very important)
be a closely-guarded/well-kept secret (=a secret that very few people know about)
state/official secret
trade secret
dark secret (=a secret about something bad)
sb's innermost secrets (=someone's most personal secrets)
it's no secret (that) (=everyone knows about this)
it's an open secret (that) (=most people know about this, although you might expect it to be a secret)

•I can't tell you. It's a secret.
•She wanted to tell everybody her secret.
•Can you keep a secret?
•Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me.
•Why is all this such a big secret?
•The location for the wedding is a closely-guarded secret.
•He was accused of passing state secrets to a foreign power.
•I kept this dark secret for 15 years.
•She shared her innermost secrets with him.
• It was no secret that the two men hated each other.
• It's an open secret that he wants Derek's job.

2 in secret in a private way or place that other people do not know about:
•The negotiations were conducted in secret.
3 the secret a particular way of achieving a good result, that is the best or only way
the secret to (doing) sth
•The secret to making good pastry is to use very cold water.
•Your hair always looks so great - what's your secret?
•What do you think is the secret of her success?
4 make no secret of sth to make your opinions about something clear:
•Louise made no secret of her dislike for John.
5 the secrets of life/nature/the universe etc the things no one yet knows about nature etc[C]
someone whose job is to find out and report on the military and political secrets of other countries; = spy $ [usually before noun]
relating to the work of a secretary:
•a secretarial course
•secretarial college $ [C]
a government office or the office of a large international organization, especially one that has a SECRETARY GENERAL in charge of it:
•the United Nations Secretariat in New York $ plural secretaries [C]
1 OFFICE someone who works in an office TYPING letters, keeping records, answering telephone calls, arranging meetings etc:
•My secretary will fax you all the details.
medical/legal secretary
2 GOVERNMENT
a) also Secretary of State the head of an important department in the British Government:
•the Foreign Secretary
HOME SECRETARY
b) an official in charge of a large government department in the US:
•the Secretary of Defense
c) a British official, who works in a government department or EMBASSY, and is below the rank of MINISTER or AMBASSADOR:
•the First Secretary at the British Embassy
SECRETARY OF STATE, UNDERSECRETARY
3 CLUB a member of a club or organization who takes notes in meetings, writes official letters etc:
•the secretary of the tennis club[C]
the most important official in charge of a large organization, especially an international organization:
•the UN Secretary Generalplural Secretaries of State [C]
1 also Secretary the head of an important department in the British Government:
•the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
2 the head of the US government department that deals with the US's relations with other countries[C,U]
a way of voting in which people write their choices on a piece of paper in secret, or an act of voting in this way
by secret ballot
•The chairman was elected by secret ballot.
in a secret ballot
•votes cast in a secret ballot [T]
1 if a part of an animal or plant secretes a liquid substance, it produces it:
•The toad's skin secretes a deadly poison.
2 formal to hide something:
•The money had been secreted in a Swiss Bank account.

a) [C,U] a substance, usually liquid, produced by part of a plant or animal:
•These secretions are used by the caterpillar as a defence.
b) [U] the production of this substance:
•the secretion of hormones by the pituitary gland
a secretive person or organization likes to keep their thoughts, intentions, or actions hidden from others:
•The government has been accused of being secretive and undemocratic.
[+about]
•Carla was always very secretive about her work.
- secretively adverb
- secretiveness noun [U]
the secret police a police force controlled by a government, that secretly tries to defeat the political enemies of that government
the secret service
a) a British government organization that protects the country's military and political secrets, and obtains secrets about other countries
b) a US government department that deals with special kinds of police work, especially protecting the President [C]
a group of people with their own particular set of beliefs and practices, especially within or separated from a larger religious group $
1 sectarian violence/conflict/murder etc violence etc that is related to the strong feelings of people who belong to different religious groups:
•people on both sides of the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland
2 AmE supporting a particular religious group and its beliefs:
•a sectarian school
- sectarianism noun [U]
1 PLACE/OBJECT [C] one of the parts that something such as an object or place is divided into
[+of]
•a busy section of road
•the reference section of the library
•The plane's tail section was found in a cornfield.
•the smoking section (=where you can smoke)
2 PART OF A WHOLE [C] one of the separate parts of a structure, piece of furniture etc that you fit together to form the whole
in sections
•The boats were built in Scotland, and transported to Egypt in sections.
3 BOOK/NEWSPAPER/REPORT [C] a separate part of a book, newspaper, document, report etc:
•This issue will be discussed further in section 2.
sports/style/business/travel etc section (=particular part of a newspaper)
4 GROUP OF PEOPLE [C] a separate group within a larger group of people
[+of]
•a large section of the American public
•The story was grossly exaggerated by certain sections of the press.
5 brass/rhythm/woodwind/string etc section the people or person in a band or ORCHESTRA, who play the BRASS, RHYTHM etc instruments
6 LAW [C] one of the parts of a law or a legal document:
•Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution
7 SIDE/TOP VIEW [C,U] technical a picture that shows what a building, part of the body etc would look like if it were cut from top to bottom or side to side; cross-section
in section
•Here's the outside view, and here are the floors in section.
8 MEDICAL/SCIENTIFIC technical
a) [C,U] a medical operation that involves cutting
caesarean section at CAESAREAN
b) [C] a very thin flat piece that is cut from skin, a plant etc to be looked at under a MICROSCOPE
9 AREA OF LAND [C] AmE a square area of land in the US that is one mile long on each side
10 MATHEMATICS [C] technical the shape that is made when a solid figure is cut by a flat surface in mathematics[T]
1 BrE to officially force someone with a mental illness to go to a PSYCHIATRIC hospital, because they are dangerous to themselves or other people
2 to separate something into parts:
•Peel and section the oranges.
3 technical or medical to cut a very thin flat piece from skin, a plant etc so that you can look at it under a MICROSCOPE
4 medical to cut a part of the body in a medical operation

PHRASAL VERBS
section sth <=> off phr v
to divide an area into parts, especially by putting something between the parts:
•The vegetable plots were sectioned off by a low wall.
1 concerned only with your own small group in society or in an organization, as opposed to being concerned about society or the institution as a whole:
•community groups seeking to protect sectional interests
2 a sectional drawing or view of something shows what it would look like if it were cut from top to bottom, or from side to side:
•a sectional view of the building
3 made up of sections that can be put together or taken apart:
•a sectional sofa $ [C]
1 a part of an area of activity, especially of business, trade etc
[+of]
•the agricultural sector of the economy
public/private sector (=business controlled by the government or by private companies)
2 one of the parts into which an area is divided, especially for military purposes [usually before noun] technical
relating to the various economic sectors of a society or to a particular economic sector $
1 not connected with or controlled by a church or other religious authority:
•secular education
•our modern secular society
2 a secular priest lives among ordinary people, rather than with other priests in a MONASTERY [U]
1 a system of social organization that does not allow religion to influence the government, or the belief that religion should not influence a government
2 the quality of behaving in a way that shows religion does not influence you:
•the secularism of popular culture
- secularist noun [C]also secularise BrE [T]
to remove the control or influence of religious groups from a society or an institution
- secularization $ noun [U] $
1 PERMANENT/CERTAIN a situation that is secure is one that you can depend on because it is not likely to change:
•There are no secure jobs these days.
•We want a secure future for our children.
•United's position at the top of the league seems relatively secure.
2 PLACE/BUILDING locked or guarded so that people cannot get in or out, or steal anything:
•The house isn't very secure - we need some new locks.
•Keep your passport in a secure place.
secure accommodation BrE (=a type of prison)
•In the last year only three children under the age of 14 have had to be placed in secure accommodation.
3 SAFE FROM HARM safe from and protected against damage or attack:
•Companies can offer secure credit card transactions over the internet.
[+from]
•These elephants are relatively secure from poachers.
4 CONFIDENT feeling confident about yourself and your abilities; insecure
•We want our children to be secure and feel good about themselves.
5 NOT WORRIED feeling confident and certain about a situation and not worried that it might change:
•Workers no longer feel secure about the future.
•It was enough money to make us feel financially secure.
•We huddled together, secure in the knowledge that the rescue helicopter was on its way.
6 FIRMLY FASTENED firmly fastened or tied, and not likely to fall down:
•Are you sure that shelf is secure?[T]
1 GET/ACHIEVE to get or achieve something that will be permanent, especially after a lot of effort:
•Boyd's goal secured his team's place in the Cup Final.
secure a deal/contract
•The company recently secured a $20 million contract with Ford.
•Negotiators are still working to secure the hostages' release.
•Redgrave won his third Olympic gold medal, and secured his place in history.
2 SAFE FROM HARM to make something safe from being attacked, harmed, or lost:
•Troops were sent to secure the border.
secure sth against sb/sth
•They built a 10ft high fence to secure the house against intruders.
•an agreement to secure the future of the rainforest
3 TIE FIRMLY to fasten or tie something firmly in a particular position
secure sth to sth
•John secured the boat firmly to the jetty.
4 BORROWING MONEY if you secure a debt or a LOAN, you legally promise that if you cannot pay back the money you have borrowed, you will give the lender goods or property of the same value instead:
•He used his house to secure the loan. $
1 tied, fastened etc tightly, especially in order to make something safe
securely locked/fastened/attached/held etc
•All firearms should be kept securely locked in a cabinet.
2 in a way that protects something from being stolen or lost:
•Customers can now buy products securely over the internet.
3 in a way that is likely to continue successfully and not change:
•By that time, democracy had become securely established in Spain. $
1 PROTECTION FROM DANGER [U] things that are done to keep a person, building, or country safe from danger or crime

strict/tight security (=careful security)
lax security (=security that is not careful enough)
national/state security (=the security of a country against its enemies)
tighten security (=make security better)
breach of security (=when something dangerous happens, in spite of security measures)
for security reasons
the security services/forces (=the police, army etc)
security camera
security check
security measures/arrangements
maximum security prison/jail

•The trial was held under tight security.
• lax security at airline check-in desks
•terrorist activity that is a threat to national security
•The prison was ordered to tighten security after a prisoner escaped yesterday.
•The Security Commission investigates breaches of security.
•We have been asked not to say anything for security reasons.
•The security forces opened fire, killing two people.
•The thief was caught on a security camera.
•There are strict security checks on everyone entering the Opera House.
•A large number of homes lack adequate security measures.

2 PROTECTION FROM BAD SITUATIONS [U] protection from bad things that could happen to you:
•Parenting is about giving your child security and love.
•Workers want greater job security (=not being in danger of losing your job).
•This insurance plan offers your family financial security in the event of your death.
3 GUARDS [U] the department of a company or organization that deals with the protection of its buildings and equipment:
•One of the sales clerks called security.
SECURITY GUARD
4 BORROWING MONEY [U] something such as property that you promise to give someone if you cannot pay back money you have borrowed from them
[+for]
•Reiss used his Brooklyn home as security for the loan.
5 securities [plural] STOCKs or SHAREs in a company[C]
1 a piece of material that a child likes to hold, to comfort himself or herself
2 something that you have had for a long time, and that you use to make yourself feel less anxious[C,U]
official permission for someone to see secret documents etc, or to enter a building, after a strict checking process[C]
an amount of money that you give to a LANDLORD before you rent a house or apartment, and that is returned to you after you leave if you have not damaged the property[C]
someone whose job is to guard money or a building[C]
a light that turns on when someone tries to enter a building or area at night[C]
1 someone in a government or organization who you cannot trust with important secrets, because they might tell them to an enemy
2 a situation that could put people in danger:
•After the bomb threat, it was considered too much of a security risk to let the races go ahead.[C]
a government organization that protects a country's secrets against enemy countries, or protects the government against attempts to take away its power [C] AmE AusE
a car that has four doors, seats for at least four people, and a TRUNK; = saloon BrE[C]
a seat on two poles with a cover around it, used in the past to carry an important person
1 calm, serious, and formal:
•a sedate seaside town
•The wedding was rather a sedate occasion.
2 formal moving slowly and calmly:
•We continued our walk at a sedate pace.
- sedately adverb[T often passive]
to give someone drugs to make them calm or to make them sleep:
•He was still in shock, and heavily sedated. [U]
the use of drugs to make someone calm or go to sleep
under sedation
•The patient was still under heavy sedation. [C]
a drug used to make someone calm or go to sleep
- sedative adjective $
1 formal spending a lot of time sitting down, and not moving or exercising very much
sedentary life/job/lifestyle etc
•health problems caused by our sedentary lifestyles
2 technical a sedentary group of people tend always to live in the same place:
•a sedentary people living north of the Danube [U]
a plant similar to grass that grows in wet ground and on the edge of rivers and lakes [C,U]
solid substances that settle at the bottom of a liquid:
•a thick layer of sediment technical
made of the solid substances that settle at the bottom of the sea, rivers, lakes etc:
•sedimentary rock
•sedimentary deposits [U] technical
the natural process by which small pieces of rock, earth etc settle at the bottom of the sea etc and form a solid layer [U] formal
speech, writing, or actions intended to encourage people to disobey a government:
•Trade Union leaders were charged with sedition.
- seditious adjective
•a seditious speech $ [T]
1 to persuade someone to have sex with you, especially in a way that is attractive and not too direct:
•The head lecturer was sacked for seducing female students.
•Are you trying to seduce me?
2 [often passive] to make someone want to do something by making it seem very attractive or interesting to them:
•I was young and seduced by New York.
seduce sb into doing sth
•Leaders are people who can seduce other people into sharing their dream. $ [C]
a man who persuades someone to have sex with him; seductress
1 [C,U] an act of persuading someone to have sex with you for the first time; seduce
[+of]
•the seduction of a young girl
2 [C usually plural] something that strongly attracts people, but often has a bad effect on their lives
[+of]
•the seduction of money
1 someone, especially a woman, who is seductive is sexually attractive:
•She used all of her seductive charm to try and persuade him.
2 something that is seductive is very interesting or attractive to you, in a way that persuades you to do something you would not usually do:
•the seductive power of advertising
- seductively adverb
•She smiled seductively at him across the table. [C]
a woman who persuades someone to have sex with her; seducer past tense saw $ past participle seen
1 NOTICE/EXAMINE [T not in progressive] to notice or examine someone or something, using your eyes:
•The moment we saw the house, we knew we wanted to buy it.
•He crouched down so he couldn't be seen.
•Can I see your ticket, please?
•I saw the offer advertised in the newspaper.
can/can't see
•You can see the Houses of Parliament from here.
see where/what/who etc
•Can you see where the marks are on the wall?
see (that)
•He saw that she was crying.
see sb/sth do sth
•I saw him leave a few minutes ago.
see sb/sth doing sth
•The suspect was seen entering the building.
• As you can see, the house needs some work doing on it.
• Have you seen Chris (=do you know where he is)?
•The accommodation was so awful, it had to be seen to be believed (=you would not believe it if you did not see it yourself).
2 NOTICE STH IS TRUE [T not in progressive] to notice that something is happening or that something is true:
•More money must be invested if we are to see an improvement in services.
•After a month's practice, you should see a difference in your playing.
•Seeing his distress, Louise put her arm around him.
•I would like to see changes in the way the course is run.
•'You're not denying it, I see,' he said coldly.
see (that)
•I can see you're not very happy with the situation.
3 ABILITY TO SEE [I,T not in progressive] to be able to use your eyes to look at things and know what they are
can/can't see
•From the tower, you can see for miles.
•I can't see a thing without my glasses.
not see to do sth
•His eyes are so bad that he can't see to read any more.
4 FIND OUT INFORMATION [T] to find out information or a fact
see what/how/when etc
•I'll call him and see how the job interview went.
•She went outside to see what was happening.
see if/whether
•I've just come to see if you want to go out for a drink.
•These chocolates are gorgeous. Try some and see for yourself (=find out if it is true).
•By looking at this leaflet, you can see at a glance (=find out very easily) how much a loan will cost.
it can be seen that/we can see that
•From this graph, it can be seen that some people are more susceptible to the disease.
• As we have seen in chapter 4, women's pay is generally less than men's.
5 IN THE FUTURE [I,T] to find out about something in the future
see if/whether
•It will be interesting to see if he makes it into the team.
see how/what/when etc
•I might come - I'll see how I feel tomorrow.
•Let's try it and see what happens.
•'Can we go to the zoo, Dad?' ' We'll see.' (=used when you do not want to make a decision immediately)
•'How long can you stay?' ' I'll have to see. It depends (=used when you cannot make a decision immediately).'
•We'll just have to wait and see.
see how it goes/see how things go (=used when you are going to do something and will deal with problems if they happen)
•I don't know. We'll just have to see how it goes on Sunday.
•Things will work out, you'll see (=you will find out that I am right).
6 WHERE INFORMATION IS [T only in imperative] especially written used to tell you where you can find information:
•See p.58.
•See press for details.
see above/below
•The results are shown in Table 7a (see below).
7 UNDERSTAND [I,T] to understand or realize something
see why/what/how etc
•I can't see why he's so upset.
•I see what you mean (=I understand what you are saying).
•'He lives here but works in London during the week.' 'Oh, I see (=I understand).'
• You see, the thing is, I'm really busy right now (=used when you are explaining something).
•You mix the flour and eggs like this, see (=used to check that someone is listening and understands).
•I can't see the point of (=I do not understand the reason for) spending so much money on a car.
• Do you see the point I'm making (=do you understand what I'm trying to say)?
•The other officers laughed but Nichols couldn't see the joke.
see reason/sense (=realize that you are wrong or doing something stupid)
•I just can't get her to see reason!
8 WATCH [T] to watch a television programme, play, film etc:
•Did you see that programme on monkeys last night?
•We're going to see 'Romeo and Juliet' tonight.
9 CONSIDER STH [T] to think about or consider someone or something in a particular way, or as having particular qualities:
•Having a child makes you see things differently.
•Violence is seen in different ways by different people.
as sb sees it/the way sb sees it (=used to give someone's opinion)
•As I see it, you don't have any choice.
•The way I see it, we have two options.
see sb/sth as sth
•I see the job as a challenge.
see yourself as sth
•He saw himself as a failure.
be seen as (being) sth
•The peace talks are seen as a sign of hope.
•This type of work is often seen as boring.
be seen to be sth
•Sexual discrimination is seen to be an important factor in discouraging women from careers in engineering.
•Teachers need to be seen to be in control.
10 see what sb/sth can do spoken
a) to find out if someone can deal with a situation or problem
[+about]
•I'll call them again and see what they can do about it.
b) to find out how good someone or something is at what they are supposed to be able to do:
•Let's take the Porsche out to the racetrack and see what it can do!
11 I'll see what I can do spoken used to say that you will try to help someone:
•Leave the papers with me and I'll see what I can do.
12 see you spoken used to say goodbye when you know you will see someone again
see you tomorrow/at 3/Sunday etc
•See you Friday - your place at 8:30.
see you later (=see you soon, or later in the same day)
see you in a bit BrE (=see you soon)
see you in a while (=see you soon)
(I'll) be seeing you! (=see you soon)
13 VISIT [T] to visit or meet someone:
•I'll be seeing her tomorrow night.
•I haven't seen her since we left school.
•She's too sick to see anyone right now.
14 MEET BY CHANCE [T not in progressive] to meet someone by chance:
•I saw Jane while I was out.
15 HAVE A MEETING [T] to have an arranged meeting with someone:
•Mr Thomas is seeing a client at 2:30.
•She was seen by a doctor but didn't need hospital treatment.
see sb about sth (=see someone to discuss something)
•I have to see my teacher about my grades.
16 SPEND TIME WITH SB [T] to spend time with someone:
•They've been seeing a lot of each other.
see more/less of sb (=see someone more or less often)
•They've seen more of each other since Dan moved to London.
17 be seeing sb to be having a romantic relationship with someone:
•Is she seeing anyone at the moment?
18 IMAGINE [T not in progressive] to imagine that something may happen in the future:
•He could see a great future for her in music.
can't see sb/sth doing sth
•I can't see him winning, can you?
•She's got a new book coming out but I can't see it doing very well.
see sb as sth (=be able to imagine someone being something)
•I just can't see her as a ballet dancer.
19 seeing as (how) informal also seeing that used before giving a reason for what you are saying:
•'I might as well do something useful, seeing as I'm back,' she said.
20 be seen to be doing sth to make sure that other people notice you working hard or doing something good:
•The government must be seen to be doing something about the rise in violent crime.
21 see sth for what it is also see sb for what they are to realize that someone or something is not as good or nice as they seem:
•They are unimpressed with the scheme and rightly see it for what it is.
22 MAKE SURE [T not in progressive] to make sure or check that something is done
see (that)
•It's up to you to see that the job's done properly.
•Please see that the lights are switched off before you leave.
•Don't worry - I'll see to it.
•The hotel's owners see to it that their guests are given every luxury.
23 EXPERIENCE STH [T not in progressive] to experience something:
•She was so sick that doctors didn't think she'd live to see her first birthday.
•I never thought I'd live to see the day when women became priests.
•She's seen it all before (=have experienced so much that nothing surprises you) in her long career.
been there, seen that, done that at BEEN (3)
24 TIME/PLACE [T] if a time or place has seen a particular event or situation, it happened or existed in that time or place:
•This year has seen a big increase in road accidents.
•The city has seen plenty of violence over the years.
25 let me see also let's see spoken used when you are trying to remember something:
•Let me see ... where did I put that letter?
26 I don't see why not spoken used to say 'yes' in answer to a request:
•'Can we go to the park?' 'I don't see why not.'
27 GO WITH SB [T always + adv/prep] to go somewhere with someone to make sure they are safe:
•My mother used to see me across the road.
•I'll get Nick to see you home.
•Let me see you to the door (=go with you to the door, to say goodbye).
28 be seeing things to imagine that you see someone or something which is not really there:
•There's no one there - you must be seeing things.
29 see double if you see double, something is wrong with your eyes, so that you see two things when there is only one
30 have seen better days informal to be in a bad condition:
•Her hat had seen better days.
31 be glad/pleased etc to see the back of sb/sth BrE spoken to be pleased when someone leaves or when you get rid of something, because you do not like them:
•I'll be glad to see the back of him.
•I won't be sorry to see the back of this place.
32 see the last of sb/sth
a) to not see someone or something again, especially someone or something you do not like:
•I thought we'd seen the last of him.
•It was a relief to see the last of them.
b) to not have to deal with something any more:
•Police had hoped they'd seen the last of the joyriding.
•We may not have seen the last of this controversy.
33 see the light
a) to realize that something is true:
•She finally saw the light and ended the relationship.
b) to have a special experience that makes you believe in a religion
34 see the light of day
a) if something sees the light of day, it is brought out so that people can see it:
•This decision will ensure that the Pentagon Papers never see the light of day.
b) to start to exist:
•This type of PC first saw the light of day in 1981.
35 see red to become very angry:
•The thought of Pierre with Nicole had made her see red.
36 not see sb for dust BrE informal if you do not see someone for dust, they leave a place very quickly in order to avoid something
37 see eye to eye [usually in negatives] if two people see eye to eye, they agree with each other:
•We didn't exactly see eye to eye.
[+with]
•I don't always see eye to eye with my father.
[+on/about]
•We don't see eye to eye on business issues.
38 seen one ... seen them all informal used to say that something is boring because it is very similar to other things:
•When you've seen one of these programmes, you've seen them all.
39 see your way (clear) to doing sth formal to be able and willing to do something:
•Small companies cannot see their way to taking on many trainees.
40 (see and) be seen to look at or be noticed by important or fashionable people:
•Royal Ascot is the place to see and be seen.
41 not see the wood for the trees also not see the forest for the trees AmE to be unable to understand what is important in a situation because you are thinking too much about small details rather than the whole situation
42 see sth coming to realize that there is going to be a problem before it actually happens:
•John's going to have a lot of trouble with him. You can see it coming.
43 see sb coming (a mile off) BrE spoken to recognize that someone will be easy to trick or deceive:
•You paid £500 for that! They must have seen you coming!
44 see sb right BrE spoken to make sure that someone gets what they need or want, especially money:
•Just do this for me and I'll see you right.
•Tell the landlord I sent you and he'll see you right.
45 not see that it matters spoken to think that something is not important:
•I can't see that it matters what I think.
46 GAME OF CARDS [T] to risk the same amount of money as your opponent in a CARD game

PHRASAL VERBS
see about sth phr v
1 to make arrangements or deal with something:
•I'd better see about dinner.
see about doing sth
•Claire's gone to see about getting tickets for the concert.
2 we'll see about that spoken
a) also we'll have to see about that used to say that you do not know if something will be possible:
•'I want to go to Joshua's tonight.' 'Well, we'll have to see about that.'
b) also we'll soon see about that used to say that you intend to stop someone from doing what they were planning to do

see sth against sth phr v [usually passive]
to consider something together with something else:
•The unemployment data must be seen against the background of world recession.

see around phr v
1 see sb around to notice someone regularly in places you go to, but not talk to them:
•I don't know who he is but I've seen him around.
2 see you around spoken used to say goodbye to someone when you have not made a definite arrangement to meet again
3 see around/round sth BrE to visit a place and walk around looking at it:
•Would you like to see round the house?

see in phr v
1 not know what sb sees in sb also what does sb see in sb? used to say that you do not know why someone likes someone else:
•I don't know what she sees in him.
2 see sth in sb/sth to notice a particular quality in someone or something that makes you like them:
•He saw a gentleness in Susan.
3 see sb in to go with someone to make sure they arrive at a building or room:
•He took her home and after seeing her in, drove off without a word.
4 see in the New Year to celebrate the beginning of a new year

see sb/sth <=> off phr v
1 to defeat someone or stop them from competing against you:
•To see off the threat, the company will have to cut its prices still further.
•The team saw off their old rivals in last night's championship game.
2 to go to an airport, train station etc to say goodbye to someone:
•They've gone to the airport to see their son off.
3 also see sb off sth to force someone to leave a place:
•Security guards saw him off the premises.

see sb/sth out phr v
1 to go to the door with someone to say goodbye to them when they leave:
•I'll see you out.
•Don't worry, I can see myself out (=leave the building without anyone coming with me).
2 see sth <=> out to continue doing something or being somewhere until a particular period of time or an unpleasant event is finished:
•Connolly has promised to see out the remaining 18 months of his contract.
•She saw out her last years at Sudeley Castle.

see over sth phr v BrE
to look at something large such as a house, especially in order to decide if you want to buy it

see through phr v
1 see through sb/sth to realize that someone is trying to deceive you:
•I saw through his excuses.
•I could never lie to her because I know she'd see through me straight away.
•I can't bluff - she'd see right through me.
2 see sth through to continue doing something until it is finished, especially something difficult or unpleasant:
•It'll take a lot of effort to see the project through.
3 see sb through (sth) to give help and support to someone during a difficult time:
•Setting goals should help see you through.
•I've got enough money to see me through six months of unemployment.
4 see sth through sb's eyes to see something or think about it in the way that someone else does:
•The world is very different when seen through the eyes of a child.

see to sb/sth phr v
to deal with something or do something for someone:
•Go on, you go out. I'll see to the washing up.
have/get sth seen to
•You should get that tooth seen to by a dentist.

WORD CHOICE: see, watch, look at
See means to notice something with your eyes, either deliberately or accidentally: I saw a great film last week. | A few people saw him take the bag.
Watch means to deliberately pay attention to something for quite a long time: They were all watching the game on TV. | He watched her leave.
When you look at something, you deliberately turn your eyes towards it in order to see it: There was a loud noise and everyone looked at the screen.

!! You can see something on television or watch television, but do not say 'see television': After I finish my homework I usually watch television.

it remains to be seen at REMAIN (5); see fit (to do sth) at FIT^2 (3); wouldn't be seen dead at DEAD^1 (12)[C]
an area governed by a BISHOP plural seeds or seed
1 PLANTS
a) [C,U] a small, hard object produced by plants, from which a new plant of the same kind grows:
•sunflower seeds
plant/sow seeds (=put them into the ground)
•Sow the seeds one inch deep in the soil.
grow sth from seed (=grow a plant from a seed, rather than planting it when it is already partly grown)
b) [U] a quantity of seeds:
•grass seed
2 IN FRUIT [C] AmE one of the small hard objects in a fruit such as an apple or orange, from which new fruit trees grow; = pip BrE
3 seeds of sth written something that makes a new situation start to grow and develop
seeds of change/victory
•The seeds of change in Eastern Europe were beginning to emerge.
seeds of doubt/disaster/destruction etc (=something which makes a bad feeling or situation develop)
•Something Lucy said began to sow seeds of doubt in his mind.
4 go/run to seed
a) if a plant or vegetable goes or runs to seed, it starts producing flowers and seeds as well as leaves
b) if someone or something goes or runs to seed, they become less attractive or good, especially because they are getting old and have not been properly looked after:
•The old central bus station is going to seed.
5 number one/two/three etc seed [C] a player or team in a competition that is given a particular position, according to how likely they are to win:
•He's been top seed for the past two years.
6 SEX [U] biblical SEMEN or SPERM - often used humorously
7 FAMILY [U] biblical the group of people who have a particular person as their father, grandfather etc, especially when they form a particular race
1 [T] to remove seeds from fruit or vegetables:
•Add 1 lime, seeded and sliced.
2 [T usually passive] to give a player or team in a competition a particular position, according to how likely they are to win:
•Graf, seeded fifth at Wimbledon
3 [T usually passive] to plant seeds in the ground:
•a newly-seeded lawn
4 [I] to produce seeds
5 seed itself if a tree or plant seeds itself, it produces a new plant using its own seeds [C]
1 a place or condition that encourages something to develop
[+for/of]
•Strong personal beliefs can become a seedbed for conflicts.
2 an area of ground where young plants are grown from seeds before they are planted somewhere else[U]
SEED MONEY[U]
1 BrE people or things that will develop to become useful or successful in the future:
•These young people are the seed corn management of the future.
2 grain that is used for planting next year's crops
seedless fruit has no seeds in it:
•seedless grapes [C]
a young plant or tree grown from a seedalso seed capital [U]
the money you have available to start a new business[C]
a very small and often imperfect PEARL informal
a seedy person or place looks dirty or poor, and is often connected with illegal or immoral activities:
•a seedy nightclub
•a seedy-looking old man spoken
because a particular fact or situation is true
[+as]
•I won't stay long, seeing as you're busy.
•Oh, all right, seeing as it's you (=used to agree humorously to someone's request).[C] trademark AmE
a dog trained to guide blind people; = guide dog BrE past tense and past participle sought $ [T]
1 formal to try to achieve or get something:
•Do you think the President will seek re-election?
seek refuge/asylum/shelter etc
•Thousands of people crossed the border, seeking refuge from the war.
seek revenge/damages/compensation etc
•He sought revenge against Surkov for separating him from his wife and son.
seek to do sth
•Local schools are seeking to reduce the dropout rate.
attention-seeking/publicity-seeking
!! In spoken English it is more usual to use look for or try to find.
2 seek (sb's) advice/help/assistance etc formal to ask someone for advice or help:
•If the symptoms persist, seek medical advice.
!! In spoken English it is more usual to use try to get.
3 written to look for someone or something; = look for
•new graduates seeking employment
•Attractive woman, 27, seeks male, 25-35, for fun and friendship.
4 seek your fortune literary to go to another place hoping to gain success and wealth:
•Coles came to the Yukon in the 1970s to seek his fortune.
5 to move naturally towards something or into a particular position:
•Water seeks its own level.

PHRASAL VERBS
seek sb/sth <=> out phr v
to try to find someone or something, especially when this is difficult:
•Our mission is to seek out the enemy and destroy them.
HEAT-SEEKING, HIDE-AND-SEEK, SELF-SEEKING, SOUGHT-AFTER $ [C]
someone who is trying to find or get something
job/attention/publicity etc seeker
•a brilliant politician and a ruthless power-seeker
ASYLUM SEEKER [linking verb, not in progressive]
1 to appear to exist or be true, or to have a particular quality:
•Ann didn't seem very sure.
•It seems a foolish decision now.
seem to do sth
•The rainbow seemed to end on the hillside.
seem important/right/strange etc to sb
•Doesn't that seem weird to you?
it seems to sb (that)
•It seems to me you don't have much choice.
it seems (that)
•It seemed that Freeman had killed the man, and dumped the body in the lake.
it seems likely/unlikely/reasonable/clear (that)
•It seems likely that he will miss Ireland's next match.
[+like]
•Teri seemed like a nice girl.
•Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
•We waited for what seemed like hours.
seem as if/as though/like
• It seemed as if the end of the world had come.
• It seems like you're catching a cold, Taylor.
•'So Bill's leaving her?' ' So it seems (=it appears to be true).'
2 can't/couldn't seem to do sth used to say that you have tried to do something but cannot do it:
•I just can't seem to relax.
3 used to make what you are saying less strong or certain, and more polite
seem to do sth
•I seem to have lost my car keys.
it seems (that)/it would seem (that)
•It would seem that someone left the building unlocked.

WORD CHOICE: seem, appear, look, sound
Seem and appear have the same meaning but appear is more formal: They seem upset. | This appears to be a good solution.
You use look to say how someone or something seems to you when you look at them: Maureen looked tired. | That book looks good.
You use sound to say how someone or something seems to you when you hear or read about them, or hear them: She sounds a lovely person. | The party sounded great. | He sounded tired.
GRAMMAR
Seem can be followed by an adjective or an adjective and noun: She seemed happy. | He seems a nice man.
Seem can also be followed by a verb in the infinitive: His story seems to be true. | You seem to think it's my fault.

!! Seem can be followed by as if oras though but not just by as: It seems a small thing (NOT it seems as a small thing), but it's very important. | It seemed as if he wanted us to leave (NOT it seemed as he wanted ...).

[only before noun] formal
appearing to be something, especially when this is not actually true; = apparent
•a seeming piece of good luck, which later led to all kinds of trouble
1 appearing to have a particular quality, when this may or may not be true; = apparently
•seemingly unrelated bits of information
seemingly endless/impossible etc
•The new minister was faced with a seemingly impossible task.
seemingly unaware/oblivious
•Alice was standing in the street, seemingly oblivious to the rain.
2 [sentence adverb] formal according to the facts as you know them; = apparently
•There is seemingly nothing we can do to stop the plans going ahead. old-fashioned
suitable for a particular situation or social occasion, according to accepted standards of behaviour; unseemly
•It was not seemly for ladies to talk about money.
the past participle of SEE [I always + adv/prep]
1 to flow slowly through small holes or spaces
[+into/through/down etc]
•Blood seeped down his leg.
2 to move or spread gradually
[+away/into/through etc]
•His tension was seeping away. [C,U]
a gradual flow of liquid or gas through small spaces or holes $ [C] especially literary
someone who can see into the future and say what will happen $ [U]
a light cotton cloth with an uneven surface and a pattern of lines on it $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment that children play on, made of a board that is balanced in the middle, so that when one end goes up the other goes down; = teeter-totter AmE
2 a repeated movement from one state or condition to another and back again[I]
to keep changing from one state or condition to another and back again:
•Before the election, the president seesawed in the polls. [I]
1 to feel an emotion, especially anger, so strongly that you are almost shaking; = fume
[+with]
•He was seething with anger.
•I was absolutely seething.
2 be seething (with sth) if a place is seething with people, insects etc, there are a lot of them all moving quickly in different directions:
•The cellar was seething with spiders.
a see-through material or surface allows you to see through it:
•a see-through blouse [C]
1 a part of something that is different from or affected differently from the whole in some way
[+of]
•segments of the population
2 a part of a fruit, flower, or insect that it naturally divides into:
•Decorate with orange segments.
3 technical the part of a circle that is separated from the rest of the circle when you draw a straight line across it
4 technical the part of a line or of a length of something between two points
[+of]
•segments of DNA [T]
to divide something into parts that are different from each other [U]
when something divides or is divided into smaller parts
[+of]
•the segmentation of society
consisting of separate parts that are connected to each other:
•segmented worms [T] [usually passive]
1 to separate one group of people from others, especially because they are of a different race, sex, or religion; integrate
segregate sb from sb
•Blacks were segregated from whites in schools.
2 to separate one part of a place or thing from another
segregate sth from/into sth
•The coffee room had been segregated into smoking and non-smoking areas.
a segregated school or other institution can only be attended by members of one sex, race, religion etc; integrated
•a racially segregated education system [U]
when people of different races, sexes, or religions are kept apart so that they live, work, or study separately; integration
• racial segregation
[+of]
•the segregation of men and women
relating to the practice of keeping people of different races, sexes, or religions separate:
•segregationist policies
- segregationist noun [C] past tense and past participle segued, present participle segueing [I]
to move smoothly from one song, idea, activity, condition etc to another
[+into/from]
•The conversation segued into banter about the Cup Final.
- segue noun [C] [only before noun]
1 technical relating to or caused by EARTHQUAKEs :
•increased seismic activity
2 very great, serious, or important:
•seismic changes in international relations $ [C]
an instrument that measures and records the movement of the earth during an EARTHQUAKE $ [U]
the scientific study of EARTHQUAKEs
- seismologist noun [C] [T]
1 to take hold of something suddenly and violently; = grab
•Suddenly he seized my hand.
seize sth from sb
•Maggie seized the letter from her.
2 to take control of a place suddenly and quickly, using military force
seize power/control (of sth)
•The rebels have seized power.
•A group of soldiers seized the airport.
3 if the police or government officers seize something, for example illegal drugs, they take legal possession of it:
•160,000 CDs were seized from illegal factories.
•All of my assets were seized, including my home.
4 to suddenly catch someone and make sure they cannot get away:
•The gunmen were seized at 1 a.m.
5 seize a chance/an opportunity/the initiative to quickly and eagerly do something when you have the chance to
6 be seized with/by terror/desire etc to suddenly be affected by an extremely strong feeling:
•When she saw his face, she was seized by fear.

PHRASAL VERBS
seize on/upon sth phr v
to suddenly become very interested in an idea, excuse, what someone says etc:
•His every remark is seized upon by the press.

seize up phr v

a) if an engine or part of a machine seizes up, its moving parts stop working and can no longer move, for example because of lack of oil:
•The mechanism had seized up.
b) if a part of your body, such as your back, seizes up, you suddenly cannot move it and it is very painful $
1 [C,U] the act of suddenly taking control of something, especially by force
[+of]
•the Fascist seizure of power in 1922
2 [C,U] when the police or government officers take away illegal goods such as drugs or guns:
•drugs seizures
3 [C] a sudden condition in which someone cannot control the movements of their body, which continues for a short time; = fit
•He had an epileptic seizure.
very rarely or almost never:
•Karen had seldom seen him so angry.
•Ellie seldom wears slacks.
seldom has sb done sth
•Seldom have I read an article that was so full of lies.
see box at RARELY [T]
to choose something or someone by thinking carefully about which is the best, most suitable etc; = choose, pick
•a group of students selected at random
select sb for sth
•He had hopes of being selected for the national team.
select sb/sth as sth
•York was selected as the site for the research centre.
select sb/sth from sth
•They selected the winner from six finalists.
select sb to do sth
•Simon's been selected to go to the conference.formal
1 a select group of people or things is a small special group that has been chosen carefully:
•The party was small and select.
•Honorary degrees are handed out to a select few.
2 only lived in, visited, or used by a small number of rich people; = exclusive
•a select block of flats[C]
a small group of politicians and advisers from various parties that has been chosen to examine a particular subject
1 [U] the careful choice of a particular person or thing from a group of similar people or things
[+of]
•the selection of a new leader
•It was not easy to make our selection.
[+for]
•He had narrowly missed selection for the team.
[+as]
•Perlman's selection as the party's candidate
2 [C] something that has been chosen from among a group of things; = choice
•To order, just write your selections on the form.
[+from]
•These drawings represent a selection from a larger exhibition.
3 [C usually singular] a group of things of a particular type, often of things that are for sale; = range
[+of]
•a wide selection of shellfish
NATURAL SELECTION
1 careful about what you choose to do, buy, allow etc
[+about/in]
•We're very selective about what we let the children watch.
•selective schools (=that choose which students to accept)
•He has a very selective memory (=he chooses what he wants to remember and what to forget).
2 affecting or relating to the best or most suitable people or things from a larger group:
•selective breeding
- selectively adverb
- selectivity noun [U] $ [C]
1 BrE a member of a committee that chooses the best people for something such as a sports team
2 technical a piece of equipment that helps you find the right thing, for example the correct GEAR in a car [U]
a poisonous chemical substance, used in electrical instruments to make them sensitive to light. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Se plural selves
1 [C usually singular] the type of person you are, your character, your typical behaviour etc
sb's usual/normal self
•Sid was not his usual smiling self.
be/look/feel (like) your old self (=be the way you usually are again, especially after having been ill, unhappy etc)
•Jim was beginning to feel like his old self again.
sb's true/real self (=what someone is really like, rather than what they pretend to be like)
•Peter was the only one to whom she showed her true self.
2 sb's sense of self someone's idea that they are a separate person, different from other people:
•a child's developing sense of self
3 be a shadow/ghost of your former self to not be as healthy, strong etc as you used to be
4 [U] a word written in business letters, on cheques etc meaning yourself:
•a cheque written to self
5 [C] used to refer to a person:
•a picture of a journalist and your good self (=you)
1 by yourself or by itself:
•a self-propelled vehicle
2 of, to, with, or for yourself or itself:
•a self-portrait
interested only in yourself and the things that affect you:
•Teenagers always seem so self-absorbed.
- self-absorption noun [U][U]
MASTURBATION - used to show disapproval[U] BrE
a method of learning in which students choose their own books, materials etc and study on their own:
•a self-access centrealso self-actualisation BrE [U] technical
when someone achieves what they want through work or in their personal life
a self-addressed envelope has the sender's address on it, so that information can be put in it and sent back to them
SAE, SASE
a self-adhesive envelope, BANDAGE etc has a sticky surface and does not need liquid or glue to make it stay closed
giving yourself a responsibility, job, position etc without the agreement of other people, especially those you claim to represent - used to show disapproval
self-assembly furniture is sold as separate parts that you put together yourself at home
very confident about saying what you think or want
- self-assertiveness also self-assertion noun [U][U]
1 when you judge your own work or progress
2 BrE when someone who works for themselves calculates how much tax they should pay
calm and confident about what you are doing; hesitant
- self-assurance noun [U][U]
knowledge and understanding of yourself
- self-aware adjectiveself-build [U]
when you build your own house rather than paying a professional builder to do it for you:
•a selfbuild kit
- self-builder noun [C][usually before noun] BrE
relating to a holiday in which you stay in a place where you can cook your own food
self-catering accommodation/apartment/cottage etc
- self-catering noun [U]
•Prices start from £114 per person for seven nights' self-catering.self-centered AmE BrE
paying so much attention to yourself that you do not notice what is happening to other people; = selfish
- self-centredness noun [U][U] BrE
when you sign a form or note to say that you have been ill, to explain why you have not been at work or school for a short time[C]
the idea that someone has of what their own character is like[only before noun]
admitting that you have a particular quality, especially one that is bad:
•a self-confessed drug addict
sure that you can do things well, that people like you etc; shy
- self-confidently adverb
- self-confidence noun [U][U]
behaviour that shows in an annoying way that you think you have done very well at something
- #self-congratu=latory $ adjective
•a smug, self-congratulatory smile
1 worried and embarrassed about what you look like or what other people think of you
[+about]
•Jerry's pretty self-conscious about his weight.
2 self-conscious art, writing etc shows that the artist etc is paying too much attention to how the public will react to their work
- self-consciously adverb
•The boys posed rather self-consciously for the photo.
- self-consciousness noun [U]
1 complete and not needing other things or help from somewhere else to work:
•a self-contained database package
2 someone who is self-contained does not seem to need other people or show their feelings
3 BrE a self-contained apartment has its own kitchen and bathroom
containing two opposite statements or ideas that cannot both be true[U]
the ability to behave calmly and sensibly even when you feel very excited, angry etc
- self-controlled adjective[U]
when you judge your own behaviour or character, especially when you have done something bad
- self-critical adjective[U]
when you make yourself believe that something is true when it is not
causing even more problems, or causing exactly the same problems and difficulties that you are trying to prevent or deal with:
•Constant dieting can be self-defeating.self-defense AmE [U] BrE
1 something you do to protect yourself or your property
in self-defence
•He shot him in self-defence.
2 skills that you learn to protect yourself if you are attacked[U]
when you do not do or have the things you enjoy for moral or religious reasons
- self-denying adjective
trying to make your own abilities or achievements seem unimportant:
•self-deprecating humour
- #self-depre=cation noun [U] [I]
if something such as a bomb self-destructs, it destroys itself, usually by exploding
- self-destruct adjective
deliberately doing things that are likely to seriously harm or kill yourself:
•a self-destructive alcoholic
- self-destruction noun [U][U]
the right of the people of a particular country to govern themselves and to choose the type of government they will have
responsible for judging and organizing your own work rather than getting instructions from other people[U]
the ability to make yourself do the things you know you ought to do, without someone making you do them:
•A lot of the kids seemed to lack self-discipline.
- self-disciplined adjective[U]
the feeling that you and your abilities are not good enough:
•a moment of self-doubt[only before noun] BrE
1 a self-drive car is one that you have HIREd to drive yourself
2 a self-drive holiday is one in which you use your own car to visit the holiday area
having taught yourself by reading books, thinking about ideas etc, rather than learning things in school
not wanting to attract attention to yourself or your achievements; = modest
•a quiet, self-effacing man
- self-effacement noun [U]
working for yourself and not employed by a company:
•a self-employed plumber
•pension plans for the self-employed (=people who are self-employed)
- self-employment noun [U][U]
the feeling of being satisfied with your own abilities, and that you deserve to be liked or respected; self-respect
raise/build (up)/boost sb's self-esteem
•Playing a sport can boost a girl's self-esteem.
•students' sense of self-esteem
low/poor self-esteem (=not much self-esteem)formal
clearly true and needing no more proof; = obvious
•self-evident truths
it is self-evident (that)
•It is self-evident that childhood experiences influence our adult behaviour.[U]
1 careful thought about whether your actions and your reasons for them are right or wrong
2 the practice of checking parts of your body for early signs of some illnesses
clear and easy to understand without needing any more explanation:
•The video controls are pretty self-explanatory.[U]
the expression of your feelings or thoughts, especially through activities such as painting, writing, or acting:
•Corporate dress codes don't give workers much room for self-expression.
if a statement or belief about what will happen in the future is self-fulfilling, it becomes true because you expect it to be true and so behave in a way that will make it happen:
•It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: expect things to go wrong, and they probably will.
a country or organization that is self-governing is controlled by its own members rather than by someone from another country or organization:
•self-governing states
- self-government noun [U][U]
the use of your own efforts to deal with your problems, instead of depending on other people:
•a shelf of self-help books
•Our program emphasises self-help.
•a self-help group for single parents[C]
the idea that you have of yourself, especially of your abilities, character, and appearance
positive/good/poor/negative self-image
•Depression affects people with a poor self-image.
behaving in a way that shows you think you are more important than other people - used to show disapproval:
•a self-important, pompous little man
- self-importance noun [U]
- self-importantly adverb[usually before noun]
a self-imposed rule, duty etc is one that you have made for yourself, and which no one has asked you to accept:
•She spent five years in self-imposed exile in Bolivia.
allowing yourself to have or do things that you enjoy but do not need, especially if you do this too often - used to show disapproval:
•It feels self-indulgent spending so much on a pair of shoes.
self-indulgent novel/film etc (=said when you think the book or film only expresses the author or DIRECTOR 's own interests, which are not interesting to other people)
- self-indulgence noun [singular, U]
•My one self-indulgence is expensive coffee.
- self-indulgently adverb
self-inflicted pain, problems, illnesses etc are those you have caused yourself:
•self-inflicted gunshot wounds
•Stress is often self-inflicted.[U]
when you only care about what is best for you, and do not care about what is best for other people:
•His offer was motivated solely by self-interest.
- self-interested adjective
caring only about yourself and not about other people - used to show disapproval:
•How can you be so selfish?
•selfish behaviour
- selfishly adverb
•a small child behaving selfishly
- selfishness noun [U]
•a lack of greed and selfishness[U]
an understanding of your own character and behaviour
caring about other people more than about yourself - used to show approval:
•selfless devotion to their work
- selflessly adverb
- selflessness noun [U]
a self-made man or woman has become successful and rich by their own efforts, not by having money given to them
self-made man/millionaire/businessman
believing that your own opinions are always right and that everyone else should agree with you - used to show disapproval[U]
the feeling of being sad and DEPRESSED because you think that something unfair or unpleasant has happened to you - used to show disapproval:
•a note of self-pity in her voice
- self-pitying adjective
•a self-pitying mood[C]
a drawing, painting, or description that you do of yourself
calm, confident, and in control of your feelings, even in difficult or unexpected situations - used to show approval:
•She's a confident, self-possessed public speaker.
- self-possession noun [U][U]
protection of yourself and your own life in a threatening or dangerous situation:
•the instinct for self-preservation
having given yourself a position or title without the approval or agreement of other people - used to show disapproval:
•a self-proclaimed champion of the working class[U] BrE
a type of flour that contains BAKING POWDER; plain flouralso self-regulating $
a self-regulatory system, industry, or organization is one that controls itself, rather than having an independent organization or laws to make sure that rules are obeyed
- #self-regu=lation noun [U]
able to do or decide things by yourself, without depending on the help or advice of other people:
•Our aim is to teach our son to become an independent, self-reliant adult.
- self-reliance noun [U][U]
a feeling of being happy about your character, abilities, and beliefs; self-esteem
•It's difficult to keep your self-respect when you have been unemployed for a long time.[only before noun]
having respect for yourself and your abilities and beliefs
no/any self-respecting ... would do sth
•No self-respecting actor would appear in a porn movie.[U]
the ability to stop yourself doing or saying something, even though you want to, because it is more sensible not to do or say it
exercise/practise self-restraint
•The UN appealed for both sides to exercise self-restraint.
proudly sure that your beliefs, attitudes, and MORALs are good and right, in a way that annoys other people - used to show disapproval:
•She's a vegetarian, but she's not at all self-righteous about it.
- self-righteously adverb
- self-righteousness noun [U][U] AmE
a type of flour that contains BAKING POWDER; = self-raising flour BrE[U]
when a country or part of a country is governed by its own citizens[U]
when you decide not to do or have something you want or need, in order to help someone else:
•several years of hard work and self-sacrifice
- self-sacrificing adjective [only before noun] written
exactly the same:
•two great victories on the selfsame day
too pleased with yourself and what you have done - used to show disapproval:
•A self-satisfied smile settled on his face.
- #self-satis=faction noun [U]
•a feeling of self-satisfaction
doing things only because they will give you an advantage that other people do not have - used to show disapproval:
•a self-seeking politician
a self-service restaurant, shop etc is one in which you get things for yourself and then pay for them
- self-service noun [U]
showing that you will only do something if it will gain you an advantage - used to show disapproval:
•self-serving politicians[C]
someone who is able to work successfully on their own without needing other people's help or a lot of instructions - used to show approval[only before noun]
having given yourself a title or position without having a right to it - used to show disapproval:
•a self-styled poet
able to provide all the things you need without help from other people:
•a self-sufficient farm
[+in]
•Australia is 65% self-sufficient in oil.
- self-sufficiency noun [U]
1 able to earn enough money to support yourself:
•The business will soon become self-supporting.
2 able to stand or stay upright without support:
•self-supporting fencing
having learned a skill or subject by reading about it, practising it etc yourself, rather than in a school:
•She received some education at night school, but was largely self-taught.
•a self-taught pianist
very determined to do what you want, whatever other people think - used to show disapproval:
•a wild and self-willed child
- self-will noun [U]
a self-winding watch is one that you do not have to WIND to make it work[U]
the feeling that you deserve to be liked and respected; self-esteem
•Work gave me a sense of dignity and self-worth. past tense and past participle sold $
1 GIVE STH FOR MONEY [I,T] to give something to someone in exchange for money; buy
•If you offer him another hundred, I think he'll sell.
•He regrets selling all his old records.
sell sth for £100/$50/30p etc
•Toni's selling her car for £700.
sell sb sth
•I won't sell you my shares!
sell sth to sb
•The vase was sold to a Dutch buyer.
sell sth at a profit/loss (=make or lose money on a sale)
•Tony had to sell the business at a loss.
2 MAKE STH AVAILABLE [I,T] to offer something for people to buy:
•Do you sell cigarettes?
•a job selling advertising space
sell at/for £100/$50/30p etc (=be offered for sale at £100/$50/30p etc)
•Smoke alarms sell for as little as five pounds.
3 MAKE SB WANT STH [T] to make people want to buy something:
•Scandal sells newspapers.
sell sth to sb
•The car's new design will help sell it to consumers.
4 BE BOUGHT [I,T] to be bought by people:
•Tickets for the concert just aren't selling.
•Her last book sold millions of copies.
•All the new houses have been sold.
sell well/badly (=be bought by a lot of people, or very few people)
•Anti-age creams always sell well.
5 sell like hot cakes to sell quickly and in large amounts
6 IDEA/PLAN [I,T] to try to make someone accept a new idea or plan, or to become accepted:
•It's all right for Washington, but will it sell in small-town America?
sell sth to sb
•It's hard for any government to sell new taxes to the electorate.
sell sb sth
•managers selling employees the new working hours
be sold on (doing) sth (=think an idea or plan is very good)
•Joe's completely sold on the concept.
7 sell yourself
a) to make yourself seem impressive to other people:
•If you want a promotion, you've got to sell yourself better.
b) also sell your body to have sex with someone for money
8 sell sb/sth short to not give someone or something the praise, attention, or reward that they deserve:
•Don't sell yourself short - tell them about all your qualifications.
9 sell your soul (to the devil) to agree to do something bad in exchange for money, power etc
10 sell sb down the river to do something that harms a group of people who trusted you, in order to gain money or power for yourself
11 sell your vote AmE to take money from someone who wants you to vote for a particular person or plan

PHRASAL VERBS
sell sth <=> off phr v
1 to sell something, especially for a cheap price, because you need the money or because you want to get rid of it:
•After the war, we had to sell off part of the farm.
•We try to sell off any leftover cakes before we close.
2 to sell all or part of an industry or company:
•The Leicestershire company has sold off many of its smaller branches to cut debts.

sell out phr v
1 if a shop sells out of something, it has no more of that particular thing left to sell
be/have sold out
•Sorry, we're sold out.
[+of]
•We've completely sold out of those shirts in your size, sir.
2 if products, tickets for an event etc sell out, they are all sold and there are none left:
•Wow! Those cakes sold out fast.
be/have sold out
•Tonight's performance is completely sold out.
3 to change your beliefs or principles, especially in order to get more money or some other advantage - used to show disapproval:
•ex-hippies who've sold out and become respectable businessmen
4 to sell your business or your share in a business:
•Wyman says he'll sell out if business doesn't pick up.
[+to]
•The T-mail Co. has sold out to San Jose-based DMX Inc for an undisclosed sum.

sell up phr v BrE
to sell most of what you own, especially your house or your business:
•Liz decided to sell up and move abroad.[C] BrE
1 the date stamped on a food product, after which it should not be sold:
•a yoghurt two days past its sell-by date
2 informal a time beyond which something or someone is no longer interesting or useful:
•This type of games console is starting to look well past its sell-by date. $ [C]
1 someone who sells something; buyer
2 good/bad/poor etc seller a product that has been popular, not popular etc with customers; bestseller
•The album 'Thriller' remains one of the biggest sellers of all time.[singular]
a situation in which there is not much of a particular thing available, such as houses, so prices are high; buyer's market [U]
the job and skill of persuading people to buy things:
•a career in selling[C]
a particular quality that something has which will make people want to buy it:
•Small classes are a selling point for private schools.
USP[C]
the price at which something is actually sold; asking price[C]
1 BrE the sale of an industry that the government owns, to private companies or other people
2 AmE the sale of a lot of STOCKs or SHAREs , which makes the price decrease $ [U] trademark BrE
thin clear plastic tape that is sticky on one side, used for sticking things together:
•a roll of Sellotape
- sellotape verb [T]sellout [singular]
1 a performance, sports game etc, for which all the tickets have been sold:
•The concert was expected to be a sell-out.
•a sellout crowd of 32,000
2 informal a situation in which someone has not done what they promised to do or were expected to do by the people who trusted them:
•a sellout of the poor for political reasons
3 informal someone who has not done what they promised to do or who is not loyal to their friends or supporters, especially in order to become more popular, richer etc:
•Many black students regarded him as a sellout. $ [U] AmE
water that contains small bubblesselvage [C]
the edge of a piece of cloth, made strong so that the threads will not come apart
the plural of SELF formal
relating to the meanings of words
- semantically adverb [U]
1 the study of the meaning of words and phrases
2 formal the meaning of a word $ [U]
a system of sending messages using two flags, which you hold in different positions to represent letters and numbers
a/some semblance of sth a situation, condition etc that is close to or similar to a particular one, usually a good one:
•She was trying to get her thoughts back into some semblance of order.
•After the war, life returned to a semblance of normality. [U]
the liquid containing SPERM that is produced by the male sex organs in humans and animals $ [C]
one of the two periods of time that a year at high schools and universities is divided into, especially in the US:
•the fall semester
TERM^1 (5)
QUARTER^1 (8) plural semis [C]
1 BrE informal a SEMI-DETACHED house:
•a three-bedroomed semi
2 informal a SEMI-FINAL
3 AmE a very large heavy truck consisting of two connected parts, which carries goods over long distances; = articulated lorry BrE
1 exactly half:
•a semicircle
2 partly but not completely:
•in the semi-darkness
•semi-literate people
3 happening, appearing etc twice in a particular period:
•a semi-weekly visit
•a semi-annual publication
BI-also semiautomatic AmE $
a semi-automatic weapon moves each bullet into position ready for you to fire, so that you can fire the next shot very quickly
- semi-automatic noun [C] [C] BrE
a musical note which continues for four BEATs ; = whole note AmE $ [C]
half a circle
in a semicircle
•About 50 children sat in a semicircle around me.
- semicircular $ adjectivesemi-colon $ [C]
a PUNCTUATION MARK (;) used to separate different parts of a sentence or list $ [C]
a substance, such as SILICON, that allows some electric currents to pass through it, and is used in electronic equipment
- semiconducting adjective [only before noun]BrE
a semi-detached house is joined to another house on one side; detached, terracedsemifinal AmE [C] BrE
one of two sports games whose winners then compete against each other to decide who wins the whole competitionsemifinalist AmE [C] BrE
a person or team that competes in a semi-final
1 formal a seminal article, book etc is important, and influences the way things develop in the future:
•a seminal study of eighteenth-century France
2 [only before noun] technical producing or containing SEMEN $ [C]
1 a class at a university or college for a small group of students and a teacher to study or discuss a particular subject:
•a Shakespeare seminar
2 a class on a particular subject, usually given as a form of training:
•Publishers and writers from 13 countries attended the seminar. $ plural seminaries [C]
1 a college for training priests or ministers
2 old-fashioned a schoolalso semiology $ [U] technical
the way in which people communicate through signs and images, or the study of this
- semiotic adjective
- semiotician also semiologist noun [C]semiprecious AmE BrE
a semi-precious jewel or stone is valuable, but not as valuable as a DIAMOND, RUBY etcsemiprofessional also semi-pro AmE
a semi-professional sports player, musician etc is paid for doing that thing, but does not do it as their main job:
•a semiprofessional boxer
- semiprofessional also semipro AmE noun [C] $ [C] BrE
a musical note which continues for a sixteenth of the length of a SEMIBREVE; = sixteenth note AmEsemiretired AmE BrE
someone who is semi-retired continues to work, but not for as many hours as they used to, especially because they are getting older and want time to do other thingssemiskilled
needing or having some skills or training:
•a semi-skilled job
•semi-skilled workers[U] BrE
milk that has had some of the fat removed; = two-percent milk AmE AmE
semisweet chocolate is only slightly sweet and has a darker colour than MILK CHOCOLATE
1
a) belonging to the race of people that includes Jews, Arabs, and, in ancient times, Babylonians and Assyrians
b) relating to any of the languages of these people
2 another word for JEWISH
anti-Semitic at ANTI-SEMITE $ [C] BrE
the difference in PITCH between any two notes that are next to each other on a piano; = half step AmE $
SUBTROPICAL[C] technical
a sound made in speech that sounds like a vowel, but is in fact a CONSONANT, for example /w/ [U]
1 small grains of crushed wheat, used especially in making sweet dishes and PASTA
2 BrE a sweet dish made with these grains and milk [U] trademark
a powerful explosive often used illegally to make bombs
the written abbreviation of Senator :
•Sen. BidenSenate
1
a) the Senate the smaller and more important of the two parts of the government with the power to make laws, in countries such as the US, Australia, and France:
•The Senate approved the bill.
b) [C] a similar part of the government in many US states:
•the California state senate
2 the Senate the highest level of government in ancient Rome
3 [C] the governing council at some universitiesSenator $ [C]
a member of the Senate or a senate:
•Senator Kennedy
- senatorial adjective past tense and past participle sent
1 BY POST ETC [T] to arrange for something to go or be taken to another place, especially by post:
•Lyn sent some pictures from the wedding.
send sb sth
•We sent Mom flowers for Mother's Day.
•We sent her a letter of apology.
send sth to sb/sth
•I'll send a copy to you for your records.
send sth back/up/over etc
•He ordered coffee to be sent up.
send sth by post/sea/air etc
•Monday is the last day to send cards by post to arrive by Christmas.
2 RADIO/COMPUTER ETC [T] to make a message, electronic signal etc go somewhere, using radio equipment, computers etc
send sb sth
•I sent her an email yesterday.
•Radio signals were sent into deep space.
3 PERSON TO PLACE
a) [T] to ask or tell someone to go somewhere, especially so that they can do something for you there:
•The United Nations is sending troops.
send sb to sth
•A police officer was sent to Ryan's home.
send sb back/away/over/home etc
•Many of the refugees were sent back to Vietnam.
•When Frank came, I told him I was ill and sent him away.
•They sent me down to talk to Mr. Strachan.
•Mr Ellison is here. Shall I send him in (=tell him to enter the room)?
send sb to do sth
•The U.S. offered to send ships to help in the rescue operation.
b) [T always + adv/prep] to arrange for someone to go to a place such as a school, prison, or hospital and spend some time there
send sb to sth
•I can't afford to send my kid to private school.
•He was sent to prison for five years.
send sb away/off
•I was sent away to school at the age of six.
send sb on sth
•New employees are sent on an intensive training course.
4 send (sb) a message/signal if something that someone does or says sends a particular message, it has that meaning:
•Advertising sends the message that you have to be thin to be successful.
5 send your love/regards/best wishes etc spoken to ask someone to give your greetings, good wishes etc to someone else:
•Mother sends her love.
6 CAUSE TO MOVE [T always + adv/prep] to make something move from one place to another
send sth through/to/over etc sth
•The blaze sent smoke over much of the city.
7 send sb/sth flying/sprawling/reeling etc to make someone or something move quickly through the air or across something:
•The explosion sent glass flying everywhere.
8 AFFECT [T always + adv/prep] to make someone or something start to be in a particular state:
•His lectures always send me to sleep.
send sb/sth into sth
•The tail broke apart, sending the plane into a dive.
9 send word formal to tell someone something by sending them a letter or message
send word (to sb) that/of sth
•They sent word to the King of their arrival.
10 send shivers/chills up (and down) your spine to make you feel very frightened or excited:
•The eerie howl of the siren sent chills up her spine.
11 send sb packing informal to tell someone who is not wanted that they must leave at once:
•After his four years as governor, the voters sent him packing.

PHRASAL VERBS
send away for sth phr v
to send a letter to a company or organization asking them to send something to you:
•Send away for a free recipe booklet.

send down phr v
1 send sth <=> down to make something lose value:
•The company's bad figures sent its share price down.
2 send sb down BrE informal to send someone to prison
[+for]
•He was sent down for possession of cocaine.
3 be sent down BrE old-fashioned to be told to leave a university because of bad behaviour

send for sb/sth phr v
1 to ask or order that something be brought or sent to you, especially by writing a letter or by telephone:
•Send for your free sample today!
2 old-fashioned to ask or tell someone to come to you by sending them a message:
•Charlie said he'd find a place to live and then send for me.
•Get back into bed. I'll send for the doctor.
•I've sent for help.

send sth/sb <=> in phr v
1 to send something, usually by post, to a place where it can be dealt with:
•I sent in a few job applications last week.
2 to send soldiers, police etc somewhere to deal with a difficult or dangerous situation:
•British troops were sent in as part of the peace-keeping force.

send off phr v
1 send sth <=>off to send something somewhere by post:
•I sent off the letter this morning.
2 send off for sth to send a letter to a company or organization asking them to post something to you:
•I sent off for a copy of the photograph.
3 send sb<=> off BrE to order a sports player to leave the field because they have broken the rules:
•One of Dundee's players was sent off for punching another player.

send sth <=> on phr v
1 especially BrE to send someone's letters or possessions to their new address from their old address; = forward
•My flatmate said she'd send on all my post.
2 to send something that has been received to another place so that it can be dealt with
[+to]
•The data is then sent on to the Census Bureau.

send out phr v
1 send sth/sb <=> out to make a person or a group of people or things go from one place to various other places:
•Information was sent out to interested students.
•Search parties were sent out to look for survivors.
2 send sth<=> out to broadcast or produce a signal, light, sound etc:
•The ship is sending out an SOS signal.
3 send out for sth to ask a restaurant or food shop to deliver food to you at home or at work:
•We sent out for sandwiches.

send sth/sb <=> up phr v
1 to make something increase in value:
•The oil shortage is bound to send prices up.
2 BrE informal to make someone or something seem silly by copying them in a funny way:
•The film hilariously sends up Hollywood disaster movies. $ [C]
the person who sent a particular letter, package, message etc:
•a package marked ' return to sender'[C] informal
a party or other occasion when people meet to say goodbye to someone who is leaving:
•The department gave Tom a send-off he won't forget![C] informal
a film, article, show etc that copies someone or something in a way that makes them seem funny or silly
[+of]
•a hilarious send-up of a Hollywood disaster movie technical
becoming old and showing the effects of getting older:
•a senescent industry
- senescence noun [U]
mentally confused or behaving strangely, because of old age:
•a senile old man
•She worries about going senile.
- senility noun [U][U]
a serious medical condition that affects the minds of some old people, and makes them confused and behave in a strange waywritten abbreviation Sr. AmE Snr BrE $
used after the name of a man who has the same name as his son:
•John J. Wallace, Sr.
1 having a higher position, level, or rank; junior
•the senior Democrat on the House committee
•White men hold most of the jobs in senior management.
•the senior partner in a law firm
[+to]
•He is also a diplomat, but senior to me.
2 [only before noun] BrE a senior competition is for older people or for people at a more advanced level:
•I won the 60 metre race, my first senior success.[C]
1 AmE a student in their last year of HIGH SCHOOL or university; freshman, junior, sophomore
•Jen will be a senior this year.
2 especially AmE a SENIOR CITIZEN:
•Seniors can get a 10% discount.
3 be two/five/ten etc years sb's senior to be two, five, ten etc years older than someone:
•Her husband was nine years her senior.
4 BrE an adult or a person who has reached an advanced level in a particular sport; junior
•Juniors and seniors train together on Wednesdays.[C]
someone who is over 60 years old or who is RETIREDalso senior high [C] AmE
HIGH SCHOOL; junior high school $ [U]
1 if you have seniority in a company or organization, you have worked there a long time and have some official advantages:
•I had fifteen years seniority, and they couldn't fire me.
2 when you are older or higher in rank than someone else:
•a position of seniority[C] BrE
a SECONDARY SCHOOL [U]
a tropical plant with a fruit that is often used to make a medicine to help your BOWELs work
1 [C,U] a feeling that you get from one of your five senses, especially the sense of touch
burning/prickling/tingling etc sensation
•One sign of a heart attack is a tingling sensation in the left arm.
[+of]
•a sensation of heat
2 [C] a feeling that is difficult to describe, caused by a particular event, experience, or memory
sensation that
•Caroline had the sensation that she was being watched.
strange/curious/odd sensation
•It was a strange sensation - I felt I'd been there before.
3 [U] the ability to feel things, especially through your sense of touch:
•Jerry realized that he had no sensation in his legs.
4 [C usually singular] extreme excitement or interest, or someone or something that causes this
cause/create a sensation
•The sex scenes in the film caused a sensation.
pop/fashion/media etc sensation
•the latest pop sensation from England
1 very interesting, exciting, and surprising:
•a sensational discovery
•The show was a sensational success.
•a sensational 6-0 victory
2 intended to interest, excite, or shock people - used in order to show disapproval:
•sensational newspaper stories
•sensational headlines
3 informal very good:
•She looked sensational.
- sensationally adverb [U]
a way of reporting events or stories that makes them seem as strange, exciting, or shocking as possible - used in order to show disapproval
- sensationalist adjectivealso sensationalise BrE [T]
to deliberately make something seem as strange, exciting, or shocking as possible - used in order to show disapproval:
•The media often sensationalizes crime.
1 [C] a feeling about something
[+of]
•Afterwards I felt a great sense of relief.
•She has a strong sense of loyalty.
•A sense of panic has spread over the country.
•Employees need the sense of being appreciated.
with a sense of sth
•He looked around the room with a sense of achievement.
sense that
•I had the sense that he was lying.
a sense of occasion (=a feeling that an event is very special or important)
•Everyone wants to create a sense of occasion at Christmas.
2 [singular] the ability to understand or judge something
sense of humour BrE
sense of humor AmE (=the ability to understand and enjoy things that are funny)
•I like Pam - she has a really good sense of humour.
sense of direction (=the ability to judge which way you should be going, or what your aims should be)
•It was dark and he had completely lost his sense of direction.
sense of proportion (=the ability to judge what is important and what is not important)
•Let's keep a sense of proportion, and not rush to any hasty conclusions.
sense of justice/fairness
•Kids have a natural sense of justice.
dress/clothes sense (=the ability to judge which clothes look good)
3 [C] one of the five natural powers of sight, hearing, feeling, taste, and smell, that give us information about the things around us
sense of smell/taste/touch etc
•She has a good sense of smell.
•Cats have a very acute sense of hearing (=very good, so that they can hear even the smallest sound).
•Combinations of flavors, textures, and colour that can delight the senses.
• the five senses (=all of the senses)
SIXTH SENSE
4 [U] when someone makes sensible or practical decisions, or behaves in a sensible, practical way
have the sense to do sth (=behave in a sensible way and do what is best in that situation)
•You should have had the sense to turn off the electricity first.
there is no sense in (doing) sth spoken (=it is not sensible to do something)
•There's no sense in getting upset about it now.
see sense (=realize what is the sensible thing to do)
•I wish the politicians would see sense and stop the war.
talk/knock some sense into sb (=try to make someone behave in a more sensible way)
COMMON SENSE
5 make sense
a) to have a clear meaning and be easy to understand:
•Read this and tell me if it makes sense.
b) to be a sensible thing to do
it makes sense (for sb) to do sth
•It makes sense to save money while you can.
•Would it make sense for the city authorities to further restrict parking?
c) if something makes sense, there seems to be a good reason or explanation for it:
•Why did she do a thing like that? It doesn't seem to make sense.
6 make (some) sense of sth to understand something, especially something difficult or complicated:
•Can you make any sense of this article?
7 [C] the meaning of a word, sentence, phrase etc:
•The word 'record' has several different senses.
•Any alteration would spoil the sense of the entire poem.
8 [C] a way in which something can be true or real
in a sense/in one sense/in some senses etc (=in one way, in some ways etc)
•What he says is right in a sense.
•The hotel was in no sense (=not at all) comfortable.
•George was a big man in every sense of the word (=in every way).
•This is true in a general sense.
•Communication, in any real sense (=of any real kind), was extremely limited.
in a (very) real sense (=used to emphasize that a statement or description is true)
•A head of a school is a manager in a very real sense.
9 your/her etc senses someone's ability to think clearly and behave sensibly - used in some expressions when you think that someone has lost this ability
come to your senses
•One day he'll come to his senses and see what a fool he's been (=to start to think clearly and behave sensibly again).
•See if you can bring her to her senses. (=make someone think clearly and behave sensibly)
be out of your senses (=have lost the ability to think clearly and behave sensibly)
•Are you completely out of your senses?
take leave of your senses at LEAVE^2 (6)
10 talk sense spoken to say things that are reasonable or sensible - often used when you think someone has just said something silly:
•Talk sense! There's no way we can afford a new car!
11 regain your senses old-fashioned to stop feeling FAINT or slightly sick:
•Outside, she quickly regained her senses.[T]
1 if you sense something, you feel that it exists or is true, without being told or having proof:
•Perhaps he sensed your distrust.
sense (that)
•I could sense that something was wrong.
sense what/how/who etc
•Hugo had already sensed how unhappy she was.
sense danger/trouble
•If a prairie dog senses danger, he whistles a warning.
2 if a machine senses something, it discovers and records it:
•an electronic device used for sensing intruders
1 happening or done for no good reason or with no purpose:
•Her death seemed such a senseless waste of life.
•a senseless crime
2 unconscious:
•He had been beaten senseless.
- senselessly adverb
- senselessness noun [U][C]
a part of your body through which you see, smell, hear, taste, or feel something plural sensibilities
1 [C,U] the way that someone reacts to particular subjects or types of behaviour:
•her religious sensibilities
offend/wound sb's sensibilities
•Avoid using words that might offend someone's racial or moral sensibilities.
2 [U] the ability to understand feelings, especially those expressed in literature or art:
•the sensibility of the artist
1 reasonable, practical, and showing good judgment:
•She seems very sensible.
•sensible advice
• It's sensible to keep a note of your passport number.
•Moving house seemed like the sensible thing to do.
!! A sensible person is reasonable and shows good judgement. A sensitive person is easily upset, or understands other people's feelings when they are upset.
2 suitable for a particular purpose, and practical rather than fashionable:
•Eat a sensible diet and exercise daily.
•an old woman in sensible shoes and a neat skirt
3 formal noticeable:
•a sensible increase in temperature
4 be sensible of sth literary to know or realize that something exists or is true:
•He was very sensible of the difficult situation she was in.
- sensibly adverb
1 UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE able to understand other people's feelings and problems; insensitive
•a sensitive and intelligent young man
[+to]
•It's made me much more sensitive to the needs of the disabled.
2 EASILY OFFENDED easily upset or offended by events or things that people say:
•a very sensitive child
[+about]
•Laura's sensitive about her weight.
[+to]
•Throughout her career she remained very sensitive to criticism.
sensitive soul BrE (=someone who is easily upset by small or unimportant things)
HYPERSENSITIVE
3 EASILY AFFECTED easily affected or damaged by something such as a substance or temperature:
•Wetlands are environmentally sensitive areas.
•a baby's sensitive skin
[+to]
•Older people tend to be very sensitive to cold.
•Increasing numbers of people are sensitive to cow's milk.
4 SITUATION/SUBJECT a situation or subject that is sensitive needs to be dealt with very carefully, because it is secret or because it may offend people:
•Abortion is a very sensitive issue.
•sensitive matters such as national security
• highly sensitive information
5 REACTING TO CHANGES reacting to very small changes in light, temperature, position etc:
•a highly sensitive electronic camera
light-sensitive/heat-sensitive etc
•light-sensitive photographic paper
6 ART/MUSIC ETC able to understand or express yourself through art, music, literature etc:
•a very sensitive performance
- sensitively adverb
•It is an issue which needs to be handled sensitively. plural sensitivities
1 UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE [singular, U] the ability to understand other people's feelings and problems:
•His comments show a lack of sensitivity.
•Interviewing victims of crime must be done with sensitivity.
•a teacher with great sensitivity
[+to]
•She has always shown a sensitivity to audience needs and tastes.
2 SITUATION/SUBJECT [U] when a situation or subject needs to be dealt with carefully because it is secret or may offend people:
•It's a matter of great political sensitivity.
3 BODY'S REACTION [C,U] when someone reacts badly to a particular food, substance, animal etc and becomes ill:
•food sensitivity
[+to]
•Many children have a sensitivity to cow's milk.
4 EASILY OFFENDED [U] when someone is easily upset or offended by things that people say
5 sensitivities [plural] someone's feelings and the fact that they could be upset or offended:
•racial sensitivities
6 [C,U]ART/MUSIC ETC the quality of being able to express emotions through art, literature etc
7 REACTION TO CHANGES [U] the ability to react to very small changes in light, heat, movement etc:
•The sensitivity of the detector can be increased.
•a disease that affects the sensitivity of nerve-endings
8 REACTION TO NEW SITUATIONS [C,U] the fact of quickly reacting to new situations:
•the market's price sensitivityalso sensitise BrE [T]
1 to give someone some experience or knowledge of a particular problem or situation so that they can notice it and understand it easily
sensitize sb to sth
•Volunteers need to be sensitized to the cultural differences they will meet in African countries.
2 [usually passive] if someone is sensitized to a particular substance, their body has begun to have a bad reaction whenever they touch it, breathe it etc
be sensitized to sth
•Many hospital workers have become sensitized to the latex in gloves.
3 technical to treat a material or a piece of equipment so that it will react to physical or chemical changes:
•sensitized photographic paper
- sensitization $ noun [U] $ [C]
a piece of equipment used for discovering the presence of light, heat, movement etc
relating to or using your senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch:
•sensory stimuli such as music
•sensory deprivation
ESP (1)
1 relating to the feelings of your body rather than your mind:
•the sensual pleasure of good food
2 interested in or making you think of physical pleasure, especially sexual pleasure:
•the faint smile on his sensual mouth
•a sensual woman
- sensually adverb
- sensuality noun [U] [C]
someone who is only interested in physical pleasure
1 pleasing to your senses:
•the sensuous feeling of silk on her skin
•sensuous music
2 literary attractive in a sexual way:
•full, sensuous lips
•a beautiful and sensuous young woman
- sensuously adverb
- sensuousness noun [U]
the past tense and past participle of SEND [C]
1 a group of words that usually contains a subject and a verb, and expresses a complete idea. Sentences written in English begin with a capital letter and usually end with a FULL STOP or a QUESTION MARK:
•His voice dropped at the end of the sentence.
in a sentence
•It's difficult to sum it up in one sentence.
short/simple/full/complex etc sentence
•In a few short sentences, Quinn explained what he had done.
2 a punishment that a judge gives to someone who is guilty of a crime

jail/prison sentence
receive/be given a sentence
impose a sentence on sb formal
pass sentence (=officially say what a punishment will be)
stiff/heavy/long sentence (=a long time in prison)
light/short sentence (=a short time in prison)
life sentence (=the punishment of being in prison for the rest of your life)
death sentence
suspended sentence (=a sentence that someone serves only if they commit another crime)
custodial sentence BrE (=the punishment of spending time in prison)
serve a sentence (=spend time in prison)
carry a sentence (of sth) (=used to say what the usual punishment is for a crime)

•She received an eight-year prison sentence.
•The judge will pass sentence tomorrow after looking at all the reports.
•Drug traffickers will face stiffer sentences.
•He got off with a relatively light sentence.
•He has just begun a life sentence for murder.
•Eventually the death sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court.
•The judge gave him a suspended sentence and demanded that he pay $30,000 to a children's charity.
•This offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.
•a prisoner serving a sentence for robbery
•The offence carries a maximum sentence of five years.

[T]
if a judge sentences someone who is guilty of a crime, they give them a punishment
sentence sb to sth
•Sanchez was sentenced to three years in prison.[C]
an adverb that relates to the whole sentence that contains it formal
telling people how they should behave - used in order to show disapproval:
•sententious remarks
- sententiously adverb formal technical
able to experience things through your senses:
•Man is a sentient being.
1 [C,U] formal an opinion or feeling you have about something:
•Similar sentiments were expressed by many politicians.
popular/public sentiment (=what most people think)
•He was more in touch with public sentiment than many of his critics.
anti-American/nationalistic/religious etc sentiments
•the anti-immigrant sentiments expressed by some Americans
•'After all, it's her decision.' ' My sentiments exactly (=I agree).'
2 [U] feelings of pity, love, sadness etc that are often considered to be too strong or not suitable for a particular situation:
•There's no place for sentiment in business!
1 someone who is sentimental is easily affected by emotions such as love, sympathy, sadness etc, often in a way that seems silly to other people:
•She said a sentimental goodbye.
[+about]
•People can be very sentimental about animals.
2 based on or relating to your feelings rather than on practical reasons:
•He wasn't the sort of person who kept things for sentimental reasons.
•a sentimental journey to the place of his birth
•The rings that were stolen were of great sentimental value (=important because of your feelings or memories relating to them).
3 a story, film, book etc that is sentimental deals with emotions such as love and sadness, sometimes in a way that seems silly and insincere:
•a sentimental story set in Russia
- sentimentally adverb [C]
someone who behaves or writes in a sentimental way
- sentimentalism noun [U] [U]
the quality of being sentimentalalso sentimentalise BrE [I,T]
to speak, write, or think about only the good or happy things about something, not the bad things:
•novels that sentimentalize the past [C] old-fashioned
a sentry plural sentries [C]
a soldier standing outside a building as a guard[C]
a tall narrow shelter with an open front where a soldier stands while guarding a buildingalso Sep BrE
a written abbreviation of September $ [C] technical
one of the small leaves directly under a flower
two things that are separable can be separated or considered separately; inseparable
[+from]
•Physical health is not always easily separable from mental health. [no comparative]
1 different:
•Use separate knives for raw and cooked meat.
•My wife and I have separate bank accounts.
2 not related to or not affected by something else:
•That's a separate issue.
•He was attacked on two separate occasions.
[+from]
•He tries to keep his professional life completely separate from his private life.
3 not joined to or touching something else:
•The gym and the sauna are in separate buildings.
[+from]
• Keep the fish separate from the other food.
4 go your separate ways
a) if people go their separate ways, they stop being friends or lovers
b) if people who have been travelling together go their separate ways, they start travelling in different directions
- separately adverb
•They did arrive together, but I think they left separately.
1 BE BETWEEN [T] if something separates two places or two things, it is between them so that they are not touching each other
separate sth from sth
•The lighthouse is separated from the land by a wide channel.
2 DIVIDE [I,T] to divide or split into different parts, or to make something do this:
•This will keep your dressing from separating.
[+from]
•At this point the satellite separates from its launcher.
separate sth into sth
•Separate the students into four groups.
•First, separate the eggs (=divide the white part from the yellow part).
3 STOP LIVING TOGETHER [I] if two people who are married or have been living together separate, they start to live apart:
•Jill and John separated a year ago.
4 RECOGNIZE DIFFERENCE [T] to recognize that one thing or idea is different from another
separate sth from sth
•She finds it difficult to separate fact from fantasy.
5 MOVE APART [I,T] if people separate, or if someone or something separates them, they move apart:
•Ed stepped in to separate the two dogs.
separate sb from sb/sth
•In the fog, they got separated from the group.
6 MAKE SB/STH DIFFERENT [T] to be the quality or fact that makes someone or something different from other people or things
separate sth from sth
•The capacity to think separates humans from animals.
7 BETTER/OLDER [T] if an amount separates two things, one thing is better or older than the other by that amount:
•Three points now separate the two teams.
•Forty years separate these two pictures of the hotel.
8 separate the men from the boys informal to show clearly which people are brave, strong, or skilled, and which are not
9 separate the sheep from the goats BrE also separate the wheat from the chaff to separate the good things from the bad things

PHRASAL VERBS
separate sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to divide a group of people or things into smaller groups:
•We must separate out these different factors and examine each one.
2 to remove one type of thing or person from a group
[+from]
•Many older people may prefer not to be separated out from the rest of the adult population.
not living with your husband, wife, or sexual partner any more; divorced
•We've been separated for six months. [plural]
women's clothing, such as skirts, shirts, and trousers, that can be worn in different combinations
1 [U] when something separates or is separate:
•the separation of church and state
[+between]
•the zone of separation between the warring factions
2 [C,U] a period of time that two or more people spend apart from each other:
•the separation of families during wartime
3 [C] a situation in which a husband and wife agree to live apart even though they are still married:
•their separation and later divorce
DIVORCE^1 (1) [C]
someone who belongs to a group that wants to start a new country with its own government, by separating from the country that they belong to now
- separatism noun [U] $ [C]
a machine for separating liquids from solids, or cream from milk [U]
1 a dark reddish brown colour
2 sepia photograph/print a photograph, picture etc, especially an old one, that is dark reddish brown
3 a dark reddish brown ink used for drawing [U] medical
an infection in part of the body, in which PUS is producedwritten abbreviation Sept. $ [C,U]
the ninth month of the year, between August and October
next/last September
•I haven't heard from him since last September.
in September
•My birthday's in September.
on September 6th
•The meeting will be on September 6th.
on 6th September BrE
•'When's the concert?' 'On 6th September.'
September 6 AmE
•They arrive September 6. [C]
1 a group of seven singers or musicians who perform together
2 a piece of music written for seven performers especially BrE
a wound or part of your body that is septic is infected with BACTERIA:
•a cut that went septicsepticemia AmE [U] BrE medical
a serious condition in which infection spreads from a part of your body through your blood; = blood poisoning[C]
a large container under the ground, for holding human waste from toilets $ [C]
someone who is between 70 and 79 years old literary
1 sad, serious, and slightly frightening:
•a sepulchral voice
2 dark, empty, and slightly frightening:
•in the sepulchral gloom of the churchsepulcher AmE $ [C] BrE old use
a small room or building in which the bodies of dead people were put
1 [C] a book, film, play etc that continues the story of an earlier one, usually written or made by the same person; prequel
•'Star Wars' and its sequels
[+to]
•She's writing a sequel to her first novel.
2 [C usually singular] an event that happens as a result of something that happened before
1 [C,U] the order that something happens or exists in, or the order it is supposed to happen or exist in
in a ... sequence
•The questions should be asked in a logical sequence.
•Be careful to perform the actions in the correct sequence.
in sequence
•Number them in sequence, 1,2,3 etc.
out of sequence
•The chapters may be studied out of sequence.
2 [C] a series of related events, actions etc that happen or are done in a particular order
[+of]
•He's had a sequence of business failures.
•the sequence of events leading up to the war
3 [C] one part of a story, film etc that deals with a single subject or action:
•the dream sequence in the film [U] formal
when things are arranged in an order, especially events or actions
- sequence verb [T] formal
relating to or happening in a sequence
- sequentially adverb $ [T usually passive] formal
1 to keep a person or a group of people away from other people:
•The jury were sequestered during the trial.
2 BrE to sequestrate $ [usually before noun] literary
a sequestered place is quiet and far away from peoplealso sequester [T usually passive] BrE formal
to take property away from the person it belongs to because they have not paid their debts
- sequestration noun [C,U] [C]
a small shiny flat piece of metal, sewn onto clothes for decoration
- sequined sequinned adjective [C]
a tree from the western US that can grow to be very tall; = redwood $
a plural form of SERUM plural seraphs also seraphim [C]
one of the ANGELs that protect the seat of God, according to the Bible; cherub literary
extremely beautiful or pure, like an ANGEL [C]
1 a song sung to someone, especially one that a man performs for the woman he loves while standing below her window at night
2 a piece of gentle music[T]
if you serenade someone, you sing or play music to them, especially to show them that you love them [U] literary
when interesting or valuable discoveries are made by accident; luck
very calm or peaceful:
•The child's face was serene and beautiful.
•a serene mountain lake
- serenely adverb
- serenity noun [U] $ [C]
someone in the past who lived and worked on land that they did not own and who had to obey the owner of the land
SLAVE^1 (1); peasant $ [U]
the system of using serfs, or the state of being a serf $ [U]
strong woollen cloth used for making suits, trousers etc $ [C]
a low rank in the army, air force, police etc, or someone who has this rank[C]
a military rank $ [C]
a story that is broadcast or printed in several separate parts on television, in a magazine etc:
•a television serial
•a six-part serial[only before noun]
1 serial killer/murderer etc someone who commits the same crime several times:
•a serial rapist
2 serial killings/murders etc crimes that are done in the same way several times
3 arranged or happening one after the other in the correct order:
•Keep the questions in the same serial order.
4 printed or broadcast in several separate parts:
•cheap serial publications
- serially adverbalso serialise BrE $ [T often passive]
to print or broadcast a story in several separate parts:
•His book was serialized in The New Yorker.
- serialization $ noun [C,U][U]
when someone has a series of sexual relationships, rather than one long relationship or several relationships at one time - often used humorously[C]
a number put on things that are produced in large quantities, so that each one has its own different number:
•Each computer has a serial number on it. $ plural series [C usually singular]
1 series of sth several events or actions of a similar type that happen one after the other:
•the series of events that led to the outbreak of war
•The police are investigating a series of attacks in the area.
•There's been a whole series of accidents on this road.
2 PLANNED EVENTS a group of events or actions that are planned to happen one after the other
[+of]
•This autumn the BBC will be showing a series of French films.
•Staff will hold a series of meetings over the next few weeks.
•a summer lecture series
3 TV/RADIO a set of television or radio programmes that have the same characters or deal with the same type of subject, and are usually broadcast every week or several times a week:
•a new comedy series
•a weekly TV series
4 BOOKS/ARTICLES ETC several books, articles etc that deal with the same subject or tell stories about the same characters
[+of]
•a series of articles on community care
•a science fiction series
5 SIMILAR THINGS several things of the same kind
[+of]
•a series of laws against discrimination
•The area is linked by a series of canals.
6 SPORT a set of sports games played between the same two teams
the World Series (=in baseball)
Test series (=in CRICKET)
7 in series technical being connected so that electricity passes though the parts of something electrical in the correct order [C]
a short flat line at the top or bottom of some printed letters
SANS SERIF $
1 SITUATION/PROBLEM a serious situation, problem, accident etc is extremely bad or dangerous:
•the serious problem of unemployment
•Luckily, the damage was not serious.
serious injury/illness/accident etc
•a serious accident on the freeway
•Oil spills pose a serious threat to marine life.
• Serious crimes have increased dramatically.
2 be serious
a) if someone is serious about something they say, they really mean it and are not joking or pretending
[+about]
•Is she serious about giving up her job?
I'm serious (=used to emphasize that you mean what you say)
deadly/dead serious (=definitely not joking)
•She sounded dead serious.
b) spoken used to tell someone that what they have just said is silly or that you do not believe it:
•'It's enough to make anyone commit murder!' 'Be serious, Jo.'
•Marry Frank? You can't be serious!
3 IMPORTANT important and needing a lot of thought or attention:
•This is a very serious matter.
•the serious business of earning a living
•Be quiet, Jim. This is serious.
•a serious article
serious attention/consideration/thought (=careful and thorough attention etc)
•I'll give your suggestion serious consideration.
4 LARGE AMOUNT [only before noun] informal used to emphasize that you are talking about a large amount of something:
•The President was in serious trouble.
•In industry, you can earn serious money.
5 ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP a serious romantic relationship is likely to continue for a long time:
•It's serious - they've been seeing each other for six months.
[+about]
•Are you really serious about her?
serious boyfriend/girlfriend
6 PERSON someone who is serious is very quiet and sensible
7 SPORT/ACTIVITY [only before noun] very interested in an activity or subject, and spending a lot of time doing it:
•He's become a serious golfer since he retired.
•Chris is a serious photographer.
8 VERY GOOD [only before noun] informal very good and often expensive:
•He's got a serious car!
9 WORRIED/UNHAPPY slightly worried or unhappy:
•You look serious. What's wrong? $
1 very much or to a great degree
seriously ill/injured/damaged etc
•Was she seriously hurt?
•I'm seriously worried about Ben.
•Something was seriously wrong.
2
a) in a way that is not joking, especially because something is important:
•It's time we talked seriously about our relationship.
b) [sentence adverb] spoken used to show that what you say next is not a joke:
• Seriously though, I think Toby likes you.
3 take sb/sth seriously to believe that someone or something is worth your attention or respect:
•As a teacher, it's important that the kids take you seriously.
•It's only a joke - don't take it seriously!
4 seriously? spoken used to ask someone if they really mean what they have just said:
•'The job's yours.' 'Seriously?' $ [U]
1 the quality of being serious
2 in all seriousness
a) spoken used to show that what you say next is not a joke, especially because it is important; = seriously
•In all seriousness, if Tom does resign, a lot of other people will start leaving too.
b) in a way that is not joking:
•'Playing with Richie was the highlight of my musical career,' said Sonny in all seriousness. $ [C]
1 a talk given as part of a Christian church service, usually on a religious or moral subject
give/preach/deliver a sermon (on sth)
•The vicar gave a sermon on charity.
2 informal a long talk in which someone tries to give you moral advice that you do not want - used to show disapproval; = lecturealso sermonise BrE $ [I]
to give a lot of moral advice to someone when they do not want it - used to show disapproval $ [U] technical
a chemical in the body that helps carry messages from the brain and is believed to make you feel happy $ [C] literary
a snake, especially a large one $ [only before noun] literary
1 winding like a snake:
•the serpentine course of the river
2 complicated and difficult to understand:
•a serpentine plot [usually before noun]
having a sharp edge made of a row of connected points like teeth:
•Use a knife with a serrated edge. [no comparative] [usually before noun] literary
standing or arranged closely together in rows
•the serried ranks of reporters waiting outside $ plural serums or sera [C,U]
1 medical a liquid containing substances that fight infection or poison, that is put into a sick person's blood
VACCINE
2 technical the thin part of blood or the liquid from a plant $ [C]
1 someone, especially in the past, who was paid to clean someone's house, cook for them, answer the door etc, and who often lived in the house:
•Many young girls became domestic servants.
2 servant of sth/sb someone who is controlled by someone or something - often used to show disapproval:
•Are we the servants of computers?
CIVIL SERVANT $
1 FOOD/DRINK [I,T] to give someone food or drink, especially as part of a meal or in a restaurant, bar etc:
•The waiter was serving another table.
•Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately.
serve sth with sth
•Serve the soup with crusty bread.
serve breakfast/lunch/dinner
•Breakfast is served until 9 a.m.
serve sth to sb
•Meals can be served to you in your room.
serve sth hot/cold etc
•Teacakes should be served hot with butter.
2 serve two/three/four etc (people) if food serves two, three etc, there is enough for that number of people:
•The recipe serves four.
3 SHOP [I,T] to help the customers in a shop, especially by bringing them the things that they want:
•There was only one girl serving customers.
4 BE USEFUL/HELPFUL [I,T] to be useful or helpful for a particular purpose or reason
[+as]
•The sofa had to serve as a bed.
•The reforms served as a model for the rest of the Communist world.
•A large cardboard box will serve the purpose.
•Her talent for organization should serve her well.
serve the needs/interests of sb/sth
•research projects that serve the needs of industry
5 DO USEFUL WORK [I,T] to spend a period of time doing useful work or official duties for an organization, country, important person etc
[+as]
•Lord Herbert served as ambassador to France.
serve in the army/air force/navy etc
•He returned to Greece to serve in the army.
[+on]
•Ann serves on various local committees.
•the women who served their country in the war
6 HAVE AN EFFECT [I] formal to have a particular effect or result
[+as]
•Her death should serve as a warning to other young people.
serve to do sth
•A single example serves to illustrate what I mean.
7 PROVIDE STH [T usually passive] to provide an area or a group of people with something that is necessary or useful:
•Paris is served by two airports.
8 PRISON [T] to spend a particular period of time in prison:
•He served an eighteen-month sentence for theft.
•Did you know that Les is serving time (=is in prison)?
9 SPORT [I,T] to start playing in a game such as tennis or VOLLEYBALL by throwing the ball up in the air and hitting it over the net
10 it serves sb right spoken used to say that you think someone deserves something unpleasant that happens to them, because they have been stupid or unkind:
•'She kicked me!' 'Serves you right, teasing her like that.'
11 serve an apprenticeship to learn a job or skill by working for a particular period of time for someone who has a lot of experience
12 serve a summons/writ etc to officially send or give someone a written order to appear in a court of law

PHRASAL VERBS
serve sth <=> out phr v
1 to complete a particular period of time in prison or doing a job:
•Dillon's almost served out his sentence (=in prison).
•The Senator's illness means he may not serve out his term.
2 BrE to put food onto plates:
•Serve out the rice, will you?

serve sth <=> up phr v
to give food to someone as part of a meal:
•What are you serving up tonight?
if my memory serves me (right/well/correctly) at MEMORY (1)[C]
the action in a game such as tennis or VOLLEYBALL when you throw the ball in the air and hit it over the net $ [C]
1
a) the main computer on a network, which controls all the others:
•The server's down (=not working) again.
b) one of the computers on a network that provides a special service
file/print server
•All data is stored on a central file server.
2 the player who hits the ball to begin a game in tennis, VOLLEYBALL etc
3 a special spoon for putting a particular type of food onto a plate:
•salad servers
4 AmE someone whose job is to bring you your food in a restaurant; = waiter, waitress[C]
an office which has a large amount of computer equipment holding all the software and information for websites $ plural serveries [C] BrE
the part of a restaurant where you get food to take back to your table; = buffet AmE $
1 OFFICIAL SYSTEM/ORGANIZATION [C] the official system for providing something, especially something that everyone in a country needs to have, or the official organization that provides it:
•the health service
•the postal service
•the police service
•the prison service
•Workers in the emergency services (=police, hospital, and the fire service) are forbidden from striking.
•There has been a decline in public services in recent years.
• the essential services (=the police, hospitals, fire service, and organizations that provide basic things such as water, gas, or electricity)
CIVIL SERVICE, FIRE SERVICE, INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DIPLOMATIC SERVICE, NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, SECRET SERVICE, SECURITY SERVICE
2 STH PROVIDED BY A COMPANY [C] a particular type of help or work that is provided by a business to customers, but not one that involves producing goods:
•A wide range of financial services are available.
provide/offer a service
•Datapost offers a delivery service to over 160 countries.
•Our aim is to provide the best service at the lowest price.
•the supply of goods and services
SERVICE INDUSTRY
3 IN A SHOP/RESTAURANT/HOTEL [U] the help that people who work in a shop, restaurant, bar etc give you
good/bad/slow etc service
•The service was terrible and so was the food.
customer service
•At our bank we insist on high standards of customer service.
• Service is included in your bill (=the charge for paying the people who serve you is included).
ROOM SERVICE, SELF-SERVICE, SERVICE CHARGE
4 WORK [U] also services the work that someone does for a person or organization, especially over a long period
20/30 years etc of service
•Brian retired after 25 years of service to the company.
•a long service award
•a career in public service (=work done for the public or the government)
services to sb/sth (=all the good work you have done for someone or something)
•He received an award for services to sport.
5 WORK DONE FOR SB services [plural] skilled work or advice from a particular type of worker who you use to help you do something
sb's services/the services of sb
•Lydia obtained the services of a qualified nurse.
sb's services as sth
•Why don't you offer your services as a tennis coach?
6 DUTY jury/military/community etc service something that ordinary people can be asked to do as a public duty or as a punishment:
•Her attacker was sentenced to 120 hours community service.
7 BEING USED [U] used to talk about whether a piece of equipment, a vehicle etc is available to be used, or how long it can be used
in service (=being used or available to be used)
•These trains have been in service for many years.
out of service (=not being used or not available to be used)
•The escalator is still out of service.
give good/excellent etc service (=work well and last a long time)
•Steel tools can give good service for years.
8 RELIGIOUS CEREMONY [C] a formal religious ceremony, especially in church
hold/conduct a service
•The service was held in the chapel.
marriage/funeral/christening etc service
•a memorial service for the disaster victims
9 ARMY the services BrE the service AmE a country's military forces, especially considered as a job
join/go into the services
•Maybe you should join the services.
•Her son is in the services.
10 HELP [singular, U] formal help that you give to someone
be at sb's service (=be available to help someone, or for someone to use)
•My secretary is at your service.
be of service (to sb) (=help someone)
•Can I be of any service?
do sb a service (=do something that will help someone)
•He did her a service by telling her the truth.
11 CHECK A CAR/MACHINE [C] an examination and repair of a machine or car to keep it working properly:
•I'm getting the bus home - my car's in for a service.
12 TENNIS/BALL GAME [C] an act of hitting a ball through the air in order to start a game, especially in tennis:
•It's your service.
13 ON A MOTORWAY services [C] BrE a place near a MOTORWAY where you can stop and have a meal or drink, or buy food, petrol etc; service station
•How far is it to the next services?
14 PLATES/CUPS ETC [C] a set of plates, bowls, cups etc that match each other
15 BUS/TRAIN/PLANE ETC [C usually singular] BrE a regular journey made by a bus, train, boat etc to a particular place at a particular time:
•the 8:15 service to Cambridge
16 be in service/go into service BrE to be working or start working as a servant in someone's house, especially in the past
DOMESTIC SERVICE
17 LEGAL DOCUMENT [U] formal when someone is given a legal document telling them that they must do something or that something is going to happen:
•the service of a summons
18 for services rendered formal for work you have done or help you have given:
•payment for services rendered
ACTIVE SERVICE, LIP SERVICE; press sb/sth into service at PRESS^2 (13)[T]
1 [usually passive] if someone services a machine or vehicle, they examine it and do what is needed to keep it working well:
•I'm having the car serviced next week.
SERVICING
2 to provide people with something they need or want:
•schools that service local communities
3 service a debt/loan technical to pay the INTEREST on a debt $
ready or able to be used:
•Some of these old tools are still serviceable.[C] BrE
a place on a MOTORWAY where you can stop for petrol, food, toilets etc[C]
1 BrE an amount of money that is added to a bill in a restaurant as an extra charge for the service of the waiters
2 BrE an amount of money paid to the owner of a block of FLATs for services such as cleaning the stairs
3 AmE an amount of money that is added to the price of something in order to pay for the services that you use when buying it; = booking fee BrE
•There's a service charge for advance tickets.[C] AmE
a national organization made of smaller local groups in which members do things to help their COMMUNITY[C,U]
an industry that provides a service rather than a product, for example insurance or advertising $ plural servicemen [C]
a man who is a member of the military[C]
a place at the side of the road where you can stop to buy petrol, food, and other goods; = gas station AmE $ plural servicewomen [C]
a woman who is a member of the military $ [U]
when a machine or vehicle is examined and things are done to keep it working well:
•The new model is quieter, needs less servicing and is more fuel efficient. $ [C] BrE
a NAPKIN $
1 very eager to obey someone because you want to please them - used to show disapproval:
•a servile attitude
2 relating to SLAVEs or to being a slave
- servility $ noun [U] $ [C]
an amount of food that is enough for one person; = helping
•This should make enough for four servings.[only before noun]
serving spoon/dish etc a spoon, dish etc that is used to serve food $ [U] formal
the condition of being a SLAVE or being forced to obey someone else; = slavery [U]
a tropical plant grown for its seeds and oil and used in cooking
OPEN SESAME [C]
1 a period of time used for a particular activity, especially by a group of people:
•a training session for teachers about computers
•question-and-answer sessions
[+of]
•a session of group therapy
JAM SESSION
2 a formal meeting or group of meetings, especially of a law court or parliament
[+of]
•the first televised session of parliament
in session (=meeting)
•The court is now in session.
•Board members met in closed session (=with nobody else present).
3 AmE a part of the year when classes are given at a college or university past tense and past participle set, present participle setting
1 PUT [T always + adv/prep] written to carefully put something down somewhere
set sth (down) on sth
•She set the tray down on a table next to his bed.
•Mark filled the pan and set it on the stove.
set sth down/aside
•The workmen set the box down carefully on the floor.
•Remove the mushrooms and set them aside.
2 PUT INTO SURFACE [T always + adv/prep usually passive] to put something into a surface
be set into sth
•Gates should be hung on sturdy posts set well into the ground.
be set into the wall/floor/ceiling etc (=be built into the surface of something so that it does not stick out)
•an alarm button set into the wall beside the door
3 STORY [T always + adv/prep usually passive] if a film, play, story etc is set in a particular place or period, the action takes place there or then
be set in sth
•The novel is set in France in the early 19th century.
be set against sth
•All this romance is set against a backdrop of rural Irish life.
4 CONSIDER [T always + adv/prep] to consider something in relation to other things
set sth against/beside sth
•These casualty totals have to be set against the continuing growth in traffic.
•This debate should be set in an international context.
5 ESTABLISH STH [T] to establish a way of doing something that is then copied or regarded as good
set the pattern/tone/trend etc (for sth)
•Art and literature flourished and this set the pattern for the whole of Europe.
•The Prime Minister's fierce speech set the tone for the rest of the conference.
•It is important that parents set an example (=behave well).
•The outcome of the case will set a legal precedent.
•His photographs set the standard for landscapes.
•Freud's views on sexuality set the agenda for much of the century (=people paid attention to the subjects he dealt with).
6 START STH HAPPENING [T] to make something start happening or to make someone start doing something
set sth in motion/progress/train
•A study by military experts was immediately set in motion.
•The chief executive will set in train the process of finding a successor.
set sth on fire/alight/ablaze also
set fire to sth (=make something start burning)
•Protestors set fire to two buses.
set sb/sth doing sth
•Her last remark has set me thinking.
•The wind set the trees rustling.
7 DECIDE STH [T] to decide and state when something will happen, how much something should cost, what should be done etc
set a date/time (for sth)
•The government has still not set a date for the election.
•International companies set the price of oil.
set standards/limits/guidelines etc
•high standards of hygiene set by the Department of Health
8 START WORKING [I,T] to start doing something in a determined way, or to tell someone to start doing something
set to work to do sth
•They set to work to paint the outside of the building.
set (sb) to work on sth
•He's about to set to work on a second book.
set (sb) to work doing sth
•The boys were set to work collecting firewood.
set sb to do sth
•Rocard set himself to reform public sector industry.
9 MACHINE/CLOCK ETC [T] to move a switch on a machine, clock etc so that it will start or stop working at the time you want, or in the way you want:
•Did you set the alarm?
•Remember to set the video to record the film.
set sth to/at/on sth
•Usually the heating is set on 'low'.
10 LIQUID/GLUE/CEMENT ETC [I] to become hard and solid:
•How long does it take for the glue to set?
11 SUN [I] when the sun sets, it moves down in the sky and disappears; rise
12 set (sb) a goal also set sb a task/challenge BrE to say what you or someone else will or must try to achieve:
•It's best to set realistic goals that you can achieve.
•He set himself the task of learning Japanese.
13 set your heart/mind/sights on (doing) sth to want very much to have or achieve something, or to be determined to do something:
•Ellen has completely set her heart on that house.
•He set his sights on crossing the Pacific by balloon.
14 set a record to achieve the best result in a sport, competition etc that has ever been achieved, by running fastest, jumping highest etc:
•The Kenyan runner set a new Olympic Record in the 3000 metres.
15 set the table to arrange plates, knives, cups etc on a table so that it is ready for a meal; = lay the table BrE
16 set a trap
a) to make a trap ready to catch an animal
b) to invent a plan to try and catch someone who is doing something wrong:
•They decided to set a trap for him by leaving him in charge.
17 set sb free/loose to allow a person or an animal to be free:
•All the other hostages were finally set free.
18 set sb straight/right to tell someone the right way to do something or the true facts about something
[+on]
•I set him right on a few points of procedure.
set sth right at RIGHT^1 (4); set the record straight at RECORD^1 (10)
19 FACE [I] written if your face or mouth sets into a particular expression, you start to have an angry, sad, unfriendly etc expression
[+into]
•His mouth set into a rather grim line.
20 set your jaw to move your lower jaw forward in a way that shows your determination
21 BONE
a) [T] if a doctor sets a broken bone, he or she moves it into position so that the bone can grow together again
b) [I] if a broken bone sets, it joins together again
22 CLASS WORK [T] BrE to give a student in your class a piece of work to do
set sb sth
•Mr Biggs has set us a 2000-word essay.
23 EXAMINATION [T] BrE to write the questions for an examination:
•The head teacher sets the questions for the English exam.
24 PRINTING [T] to arrange the words and letters of a book, newspaper etc so it is ready to be printed:
•In those days books had to be set by hand.
25 HAIR [T] to arrange someone's hair while it is wet so that it has a particular style when it dries
set sb at (their) ease at EASE^1 (2)
set your face against sth at FACE^1 (21)
set sth to music at MUSIC (1)
set the pace at PACE^1 (7)
set pen to paper at PEN^1 (3)
set sail at SAIL^2 (2)
set the scene at SCENE (9)
set the stage for sth at STAGE^1 (7)
set great store by/on sth at STORE^1 (6)
set the world on fire/alight at WORLD^1 (22)
set the world to rights at WORLD^1 (23)

PHRASAL VERBS
set about sth/sb phr v
1 to start doing or dealing with something, especially something that needs a lot of time and effort:
•A team of volunteers set about the task with determination.
set about doing sth
•How do senior managers set about making these decisions?
2 literary to attack someone by hitting and kicking them:
•They set about him with their fists.

set sb/sth against sb/sth phr v
1 to make someone start to fight or quarrel with another person, especially a person who they had friendly relations with before:
•The bitter civil war set brother against brother.
2 set yourself against (doing) sth to decide that you are opposed to doing or having something:
•She's set herself against going to university.
3 set sth against tax to officially record the money you have spent on something connected with your job, in order to reduce the amount of tax you have to pay

set sb/sth apart phr v
1 if a quality sets someone or something apart, it makes them different from or better than other people or things
[+from]
•Man's ability to reason sets him apart from other animals.
2 [usually passive] to keep something, especially a particular time, for a special purpose
[+for]
•Traditionally these days were set apart for prayer and fasting.

set sth <=> aside phr v
1 to keep something, especially money, time, or a particular area, for a special purpose
[+for]
•Try to set aside some time each day for exercise.
•a room that had been set aside for visitors
2 to decide not to consider a particular feeling or thing because something else is more important:
•Both sides agreed to set aside the question of independence.
3 to officially state that a previous legal decision or agreement no longer has any effect:
•The judge set aside the verdict of the lower court.
4 if a farmer sets aside land, he or she agrees not to grow any crops on it, and accepts a payment from the government for this

set sb/sth back phr v
1 set sb/sth <=> back to delay the progress or development of something, or delay someone from finishing something:
•Environmental experts said the move would set back further research.
•Illness had set me back a couple of weeks.
2 informal to cost someone a lot of money
set sb back $50/£100 etc
•This jacket set me back over £1000.

set sth/sb <=> down phr v
1 to write about something so that you have a record of it:
•I wanted to set my feelings down on paper.
2 to state how something should be done in an official document or set of rules:
•Clear guidelines have been set down for teachers.
3 BrE to stop a car, bus etc and allow someone to get out:
•The driver set her down at the station.

set forth phr v
1 set sth <=> forth formal to explain ideas, facts, or opinions in a clearly organized way in writing or in a speech; = set out
•He set forth an idealistic view of society.
2 literary to begin a journey:
•They were about to set forth on a voyage into the unknown.

set in phr v
if something sets in, especially something unpleasant, it begins and seems likely to continue for a long time:
•Winter seems to be setting in early this year.
•Further economic decline set in during the 1930s.

set off phr v
1 to start to go somewhere:
•I'll set off early to avoid the traffic.
[+for]
•Jerry and I set off on foot for the beach.
2 set sth <=> off to make something start happening, especially when you do not intend to do so:
•News that the claims might be true set off widespread panic.
•Hong Kong's stock market fell, setting off a global financial crisis.
3 set sth <=> off to make an ALARM start ringing:
•Smoke from a cigarette will not normally set off a smoke alarm.
4 set sth <=> off to make a bomb explode, or cause an explosion:
•Any movement could have set off the bomb.
5 set sth <=> off if a piece of clothing, colour, decoration etc sets something off, it makes it look attractive:
•The blue sundress set off her long blonde hair.
6 set sb off to make someone start laughing, crying, or talking about something:
•Don't mention what happened - you'll only set her off again.
7 set sth off against tax to officially record the money you have spent on something connected with your job, in order to reduce the amount of tax you have to pay:
•Some expenses can be set off against tax.

set on sb phr v BrE
1 set sb on sb to make people or animals attack someone:
•The farmer threatened to set his dogs on us.
2 [usually passive] if you are set on by people or animals, you are suddenly attacked by them:
•A thirty-five-year-old man was set on by four youths last night.
3 set sb on/onto sb to give someone information about a person who you think has done something wrong, because you want that person to be found and caught:
•If I refuse, he'll set the police onto me.

set out phr v
1 to start a journey, especially a long journey
[+for]
•Kate set out for the house on the other side of the bay.
set out on a journey/drive/voyage etc
•The band are setting out on a European tour in March.
2 to start doing something or making plans to do something in order to achieve a particular result
set out to do sth
•salesmen who deliberately set out to defraud customers
set out with the idea/purpose/intention etc of doing sth
•They set out with the aim of becoming the number one team in the league.
3 set sth <=> out to explain ideas, facts, or opinions in a clearly organized way, in writing or in a speech:
•He set out the reasons for his decision in his report.
4 set sth <=> out to put a group of things down and arrange them:
•The market traders began setting out their displays.
5 set out on sth to start doing something, especially something new, difficult, or important:
•My nephew is just setting out on a career in journalism.
•The government set out on a programme of economic reform.

set to phr v BrE
to start doing something eagerly and with determination:
•If we all set to, we'll finish the job in half an hour.

set up phr v
1 COMPANY/ORGANIZATION ETC to start a company, organization, committee etc; = establish
set sth <=> up
•They want to set up their own import-export business.
•new regulations for setting up political parties
set (yourself) up (as sth) (=start your own business)
•John decided to set up as a graphic designer.
set up shop/set up in business (=begin operating a business)
•Now Betterware plans to set up shop elsewhere in Europe.
2 ARRANGE/ORGANIZE set sth <=> up to make the arrangements that are necessary for something to happen:
•I'll set up an appointment for you.
•There was a lot of work involved in setting up the festival.
3 EQUIPMENT to prepare the equipment that will be needed for an activity so that it is ready to be used:
•The next band was already setting up on the other stage.
set sth <=> up
•Can someone set the overhead projector up?
4 BUILD/PUT UP set sth <=> up to place or build something somewhere, especially something that is not permanent:
•They've set up road blocks around the city.
5 TRICK SB set sb <=> up informal to trick someone in order to achieve what you want, especially to make it appear that they have done something wrong or illegal:
•Cox claimed that the police had tried to set him up.
6 PROVIDE MONEY set sb <=> up BrE informal to provide someone with money that they need, especially in order to start a business:
•After he qualified as a doctor, his mother set him up in a practice of his own.
•Selling her share of the company has set her up for life.
7 HEALTHY/FULL OF ENERGY set sb up BrE to make you feel healthy and full of energy:
•A good breakfast will set you up for the day.
8 set yourself up as sth to deliberately make people believe that you have the authority and skill to do something, especially when this is not true:
•politicians who set themselves up as moral authorities
9 PUT SB IN POSITION set sb up to put someone in a position in which they are able to do something, or in which something is likely to happen to them
[+for]
•If he won the fight, it would set him up for a title shot.
•Anyone with public duties sets themselves up for attack.
10 RELATIONSHIP set sb <=> up informal to arrange for two people to meet, because you think they might start a romantic relationship:
•'How did you meet Nick?' 'A friend set us up.'
11 set up home/house also set up housekeeping AmE to get your own home, furniture etc, especially when you leave your parents' home to live with a wife, husband, or partner:
•Many parents try to help their children set up home.
12 set up a commotion/din/racket etc to start making a loud, unpleasant noise:
•The party guests were setting up a steady din.
set up camp at CAMP^1 (1)
1 GROUP OF THINGS [C] a group of similar things that belong together or are related in some way
[+of]
•a set of tools
•We face a new set of problems.
•The older generation have a different set of values.
•a chess set
2 TELEVISION/RADIO [C] a television, or a piece of equipment for receiving radio signals:
•a colour television set
3 FILM [C] a place where a film or television programme is filmed
on set/on the set
•Cruise met Kidman on the set of 'Days of Thunder'.
4 THEATRE/FILM STAGE [C] the scenery, furniture etc used on a stage in a play or in the place where a film or television show is being made
5 SPORT [C] one part of a game such as tennis or VOLLEYBALL:
•Sampras won the second set 6 - 4.
6 PEOPLE [singular] a group of people who are similar in some way and spend time together socially:
•a favourite meeting place of the smart set (=rich and fashionable people)
•Val got in with a wild set at college.
JET SET
7 the set of sb's face/jaw/shoulders etc the expression on your face or the way you hold your body, which tells people how you are feeling
[+of]
•From the set of her shoulders it was clear that Sue was exhausted.
•the hard set of his face
8 MUSIC [C] a performance by a singer, band, or DISC JOCKEY:
•Sasha performed a 3-hour set.
9 MATHS [C] technical a group of numbers, shapes etc in MATHEMATICS:
•The set (x, y) has two members.
10 STUDENTS [C] BrE a group of children who are taught a particular school subject together because they have the same level of ability in that subject; = stream
top/bottom etc set
•Adam's in the top set for maths.
11 ONION [C] a small onion that you plant in order to grow bigger ones:
•onion sets
1 PLACED [not before noun] being in the position that is mentioned
[+in/on/back etc]
•a medieval village set high on a hill
•a big house set back from the road
2 BACKGROUND used to say that something is in front of a particular background, especially in a way that is attractive
[+against]
•a small town of white buildings, set against a background of hills
•pink petals set against dark green foliage
3 FIXED [only before noun] a set amount, time etc is fixed and is never changed:
•We were paid a set amount each week.
•The evening meal is served at a set time.
•Small children like a set routine.
4 READY [not before noun] informal someone who is set for something is ready for it
[+for]
•Are you all set for the trip?
set to do sth
•I was just set to go when the phone rang.
• Get set (=get ready) for a night of excitement.
• On your marks - get set - go (=said to start a race).
5 set on/upon/against (doing) sth determined about something:
•Nina's set on going to the party.
•The government's dead set (=completely determined) against the plan.
6 OPINIONS/HABITS ETC not likely to change:
•People had very set ideas about how to bring up children.
•Mark was 65 and rather set in his ways (=habits).
7 have your heart/sights set on sth to want to do something very much, or to be aiming to do something:
•She's got her heart set on going to France this summer.
•Don has his sights set on a career in law.
8 set to do sth likely to do something:
•The weather is set to change.
•This issue is set to cause some embarrassment.
9 deep-set/wide-set/close-set eyes eyes whose position is deep in the face, far apart on the face, or close together on the face
10 be set with gems/jewels etc to be decorated with jewels:
•a gold bracelet set with rubies
11 MEAL [only before noun] BrE a set meal in a restaurant has a fixed price and a more limited choice than usual
set lunch/dinner/menu
•The hotel does a very good set menu.
12 set book/text etc BrE a book that must be studied for an examination
13 FIXED EXPRESSION literary if your face is set, it has a fixed expression on it, especially one that is angry, worried etc:
•He stared at her, his face set, his eyes hard and glittering.
•Kate's face was set in a grim expression.
set smile/teeth/jaw
•'Damn you,' he said through set teeth.[C,U]
1 BrE an arrangement in the European Union in which a government pays farmers to leave some of their fields empty, in order to avoid producing too much of a crop and to keep the price higher
2 an arrangement in the US in which a local government helps small businesses to develop by making financial help available to them:
•In 1976, Connecticut established one of the nation's first set-aside programs.
3 an amount of money that is kept so that it can be used for a special purpose; = reserve [C]
a problem that delays or prevents progress, or makes things worse than they were
[+for]
•The December elections were a major setback for the party.
•The team's hopes of playing in Europe suffered a setback last night.
set back at SET^1[C]
1 part of a play, piece of music, painting etc that follows a well-known formal pattern or style, and is often very impressive:
•The trial scene is a classic set piece.
2 BrE a move such as a FREE KICK or a CORNER in a game of football, HOCKEY etc $ [C] BrE
a flat piece of plastic or metal with three sides and one angle of 90°, used for drawing or testing angles; = triangle AmE [C]
a passage in the ground made by a BADGER as a place to live [C] especially BrE
a long comfortable seat with a back and usually with arms, for more than one person to sit on; = sofa $ [C]
1 a long-haired dog often trained to help hunters find where animals or birds are
2 style-setter/trend-setter/standard-setter etc
a) someone who does things that other people admire and try to copy:
•Liz has always been a fashion-setter.
3 exam-setter/policy-setter etc BrE someone who decides or organizes something as part of a job:
•Who's the question-setter for the quiz night?
set the pattern/tone/trend at SET^1 (5); PACESETTER, TRENDSETTER [C]
1 the place where something is or where something happens, and the general environment
beautiful/perfect/magnificent/idyllic setting
•an old farmhouse in a beautiful setting
[+for]
•Cyprus is the perfect setting for a beach holiday.
•I've worked with children in various settings, mainly in secondary school.
2 the place or time where the events in a book, film etc happen
[+for]
•Verona is best known as the setting for two of Shakespeare's plays.
•The island was used by Dickens as the setting for Oliver Twist.
3 the position in which you put the controls on a machine or instrument:
•The heating system was already on its highest setting.
4 the metal that holds a stone in a piece of jewellery, or the way the stone is fixed
in a ... setting
•a diamond ring in a gold setting
5 music that is written to go with a poem, prayer etc
6 the setting of the sun literary the time when the sun goes down
PLACE SETTING
1 END ARGUMENT [I,T] to end an argument or solve a disagreement
settle a dispute/lawsuit/conflict/argument etc
•Rodman met with Kreeger to try and settle the dispute over his contract.
•We hope the factions will be able to settle their differences (=agree to stop arguing) by peaceful means.
•Forensic tests should settle the question of whether Bates was actually present at the scene of the crime.
[+with]
•She finally settled with her former employers for an undisclosed sum.
•They might be willing to settle out of court (=come to an agreement without going to a court of law).
2 DECIDE [T usually passive] to decide what you are going to do, especially so that you can make definite arrangements:
•Nothing's settled yet.
• It's settled then. I'll go back to the States in June.
•'She's only 15.' ' That settles it! (=that is enough information for a definite decision to be made) We're not taking her with us!'
3 START LIVING IN A PLACE
a) [I,T usually passive] to go to a place where no people have lived permanently before and start to live there:
•This territory was settled in the mid-1850s by German immigrants.
b) [I always + adv/prep] to go to live in a new place, and stay there for a long time
[+in]
•Many Jewish people settled in the Lower East Side.
4 COMFORTABLE [I,T always + adv/prep] to put yourself or someone else in a comfortable position
settle yourself in/on etc sth
•Donna did not dare settle herself too comfortably into her seat, in case she fell asleep.
•The dog settled on the grass to enjoy its bone.
•A nurse settled the old man into a chair.
SETTLE BACK
5 QUIET/CALM also settle down [I,T] to become quiet and calm, or to make someone quiet and calm:
•When the children had settled, Miss Brown gave out the new reading books.
•She breathed deeply to settle her nerves (=stop herself from feeling worried or frightened).
6 MOVE DOWN [I]
a) if dust, snow etc settles, it comes down and stays in one place
[+on]
•Snow settled on the roofs.
b) if a bird, insect etc settles, it flies down and rests on something
[+on]
•A fly kept trying to settle on his face.
c) if something such as a building or the ground settles, it sinks slowly to a lower level:
•The crack in the wall is caused by the ground settling.
7 PAY MONEY [T] to pay money that is owed
settle a bill/account/claim
•I always settle my account in full each month.
•These insurance companies take forever to settle a claim.
[+with]
•He was able to settle with his creditors, and avoid going to jail.
8 ORGANIZE BUSINESS/MONEY [T] to deal with all the details of a business or of someone's money or property, so that nothing further needs to be done:
•When it is finally settled, the Marshall estate may be worth no more than $100,000.
•After her husband's death, Jackie went to the city to settle his affairs.
9 settle a score/account to do something to hurt or cause trouble for someone because they have harmed or offended you:
•Did he have any enemies - someone with an old score to settle?
10 sb's eyes/gaze settles on sb/sth written if your eyes settle on something or someone, you notice them and look at them for a period of time:
•Her gaze settled on a door, and she wondered what was on the other side of it.
11 FEELING/QUALITY [I always + adv/prep] written if a quality or feeling settles over a place or person, it begins and has a strong effect
[+over/on]
•An uneasy silence settled over the room.
•Depression settled over her like a heavy black cloud.
12 EXPRESSION [I always + adv/prep] written if a particular expression settles on your face, it stays there:
•A disapproving frown settled on her face.
13 STOMACH [I,T] if your stomach settles, or if something settles it, it stops feeling uncomfortable or making you sick:
•Georgia had taken pills to settle her stomach, but she was still throwing up every hour.

PHRASAL VERBS
settle back phr v
to lean back in a bed or chair, and relax and enjoy yourself:
•Vera settled back to enjoy the film.

settle down phr v
1 settle (sb) down to become quiet and calm, or to make someone quiet and calm:
•Shh! Settle down please! Now turn to page 57.
•When Kyle was a baby we used to take him for rides in the car to settle him down.
2 to start living a quiet and calm life in one place, especially when you get married:
•They'd like to see their daughter settle down, get married, and have kids.
3 to start giving all of your attention to a job or activity
[+to]
•I sorted out my mail, then settled down to some serious work.
4 if a situation settles down, it becomes calmer and you are less busy or less worried:
•It's been really hectic here. When things settle down, I'll give you a call.

settle for sth phr v [not in passive]
to accept something even though it is not the best, or not what you really want:
•They want $2500 for it, but they might settle for $2000.
•She couldn't find any cola, so had to settle for orange juice.

settle in phr v also settle into sth
to begin to feel happy and relaxed in a new situation, home, job, or school:
•How's your new home? Are you settling in OK?
•It takes a few months to settle into life at college.

settle on/upon sb/sth phr v
1 to decide or agree on something:
•They haven't settled on a name for the baby yet.
2 settle sth on sb BrE formal to make a formal arrangement to give money or property to someone:
•She settled a small yearly sum on each of her children.

settle up phr v
to pay what you owe on an account or bill:
•We settled up and checked out of the hotel.
[+with]
•I'll settle up with the bartender, then let's go.
let the dust settle/wait for the dust to settle at DUST^1 (5)
1 remaining the same, and not likely to change:
•She was tired of moving around and longed for a more settled existence.
2 if you feel settled, you feel comfortable about your life, your job etc, because you have been living or working somewhere a long time and you like the place, people, company etc
[+in]
•I still don't feel settled in my job.
3 BrE if the weather is settled, it is dry and not likely to change
1 OFFICIAL AGREEMENT [C] an official agreement or decision that ends an argument, a court case, or a fight, or the action of making an agreement

reach/achieve a settlement
negotiate a settlement
peace settlement (=one to end a war)
peaceful settlement (=one that is reached by discussion, without fighting)
divorce settlement (=an agreement about how money and property is divided at the end of a marriage)
out-of-court settlement (=when people make an agreement between themselves to avoid a court case)

•Union leaders and company bosses will meet tomorrow in an attempt to reach a settlement.
•His lawyers are understood to be negotiating a settlement.
•Hopes grew that a workable peace settlement might emerge.
[+of]
•the search for a peaceful settlement of the Northern Ireland conflict
•She was fortunate enough to get her home as part of the divorce settlement.
•The company paid out over $10 million in an out-of-court settlement.

2 PAYMENT [U] formal when you pay all the money that you owe
[+of]
•the settlement of all his debts
in settlement (of sth)
•Wyatt had received the property in settlement of a bet.
3 GROUP OF HOUSES [C] a group of houses and buildings where people live, especially in a place where few people have lived before:
•The railway stations created new settlements.
•an early Iron Age settlement
4 NEW AREA/PLACES [U] when a lot of people move to a place in order to live there, especially in a place where not many people have lived before
[+of]
•the settlement of the American West
5 SINKING [U] technical the process in which a building or the ground slowly sinks downwards; = subsidence $ [C]
someone who goes to live in a country or area where not many people like them have lived before, and that is a long way from any towns or cities:
•early settlers in Australia[C usually singular] informal
a short fight or quarrel; = argument
•Tom and I had a bit of a set-to last night.
set to at SET^1[C] BrE
a piece of electronic equipment that is connected to your television to make it able to receive a different form of broadcasting, especially DIGITAL signalsalso setup
1 [C usually singular] the way that something is organized or arranged:
•the traditional classroom set-up
2 [C usually singular] informal a dishonest plan that is intended to trick someone:
•How do I know this isn't a set-up?
3 [U] the act of organizing something, such as a business or a computer system:
•The IT department will assist you with installation and setup.
4 [C] several pieces of equipment that work together in a system:
•'Do you use the school darkroom?' 'No, I've got my own setup at home.'
set up at SET^1
1 the number 7:
•The women visited cities in seven states.
•We close the store at seven (=seven o'clock).
•'How old's Sam?' 'He's seven (=seven years old).'
2 the seven year itch the idea that after seven years of being married, many people start to want a relationship with someone new - used humorously
at sixes and sevens at SIX (3)
the number 17:
•a group of seventeen American military officers
•I left home when I was seventeen (=17 years old).
- seventeenth adjective, pron
•in the seventeenth century
•her seventeenth birthday
•I'm planning to leave on the seventeenth (=the 17th day of the month).
1 coming after six other things in a series:
•in the seventh century
•her seventh birthday
2 be in seventh heaven informal to be extremely happy
- seventh pron
•I'm planning to leave on the seventh (=the seventh day of the month).[C]
one of seven equal parts of something
1 the number 70
2 the seventies [plural] also the '70s, the 1970s the years from 1970 to 1979:
•We lost touch during the seventies.
the early/mid/late seventies
•In the early seventies, Sag Harbor was still a peaceful village.
3 be in your seventies to be aged between 70 and 79
early/mid/late seventies
•Bill must be in his mid seventies now.
4 in the seventies if the temperature is in the seventies, it is between 70 degrees and 79 degrees
in the low/mid/high seventies
•sunny, with temperatures in the mid seventies
- seventieth adjective
•her seventieth birthday[C]
an old-fashioned record that plays while turning around 78 times a minute $ formal
1 [I,T] to cut through something completely, separating it into two parts, or to become cut in this way:
•Martin's hand was severed in the accident.
•a severed rope
2 [T] to end a relationship with someone, or a connection with something, especially because of a disagreement
sever ties/relations/connections/links etc (with/between sb)
•The two countries severed diplomatic relations.
•She had severed all contact with her ex-husband.
a number of people or things that is more than a few, but not a lot:
•I visited him in Kansas several times.
•Several people have volunteered to go.
several hundred/thousand etc
•The bill came to several hundred pounds.
•'Have you read any of his books?' 'Yes, several.'
[+of]
•Several of her colleagues agreed with her decision.
•We had to wait several more weeks before the results arrived.[only before noun, no comparative] formal
different and separate; = respective
•They shook hands and went their several ways (=went in different directions).
- severally adverb
•These issues can be considered severally, or as a whole. [U] formal
1 when you end your relationship or connection with another person, organization, country etc, especially because of a disagreement
[+of]
•the severance of diplomatic ties between the two countries
2 severance pay/package money or other things that you get when you have to leave a company because your employer no longer has a job for you:
•Employees will get two weeks of severance pay for every year of service. $
1 VERY SERIOUS severe problems, injuries, illnesses etc are very bad or very serious:
•His injuries were quite severe.
•She's suffering from severe depression.
•The US faces severe economic problems.
•The storm caused severe damage.
2 WEATHER severe weather is very bad and very extreme, and very hot, dry, cold etc
3 PUNISHMENT a severe punishment is very strict or extreme:
•Drug smugglers can expect severe penalties.
4 CRITICISM severe criticism is very extreme and shows that you think someone has done something very badly:
•The president came under severe criticism for his handling of the crisis.
5 DIFFICULT very difficult and needing a lot of effort and skill:
•The negotiations will be a severe test of his abilities.
6 PERSON someone who is severe behaves in a way that does not seem friendly or sympathetic, and is very strict or disapproving; = stern
•His slightly severe expression softened.
7 PLAIN very plain with little or no decoration:
•a rather severe red-brick building
- severity noun [C,U]
•We didn't realize the severity of her illness. $
1 very badly or to a great degree:
•The town was severely damaged in the war.
•She's now severely disabled.
2 in a strict way:
•Parents don't punish their children so severely these days.
3 in a very unfriendly or disapproving way:
•'Stop behaving like a fool!' she said severely.
4 in a plain simple style with little or no decoration:
•a severely dressed woman $ past tense sewed past participle sewn $ or, sewed [I,T]
to use a needle and thread to make or repair clothes or to fasten something such as a button to them:
•I learned to sew at school.
sew sth on sth
•Can you sew a patch on my jeans?
sew sth together
•She sewed the two sides together.

PHRASAL VERBS
sew sth <=> up phr v
1 to close or repair something by sewing it:
•Could you sew up this hole in my trousers?
2 [usually passive] informal to finish a business agreement or plan and get the result you want:
•The deal should be sewn up in a week.
3 have sth sewn up to have gained control over a situation so that you are sure to win or get what you want:
•It looks like the Democrats have the election sewn up. $ [U]
the mixture of waste from the human body and used water that is carried away from houses by pipes under the ground:
•Chlorine is used in sewage treatment.
•The factory secretly dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage (=that had not been treated) into the Ohio river.sewage plant AmE sewage farm BrE [C] BrE
a place where sewage is treated to stop it being harmful $ [C]
a pipe or passage under the ground that carries away waste material and used water from houses, factories etc $ [U]
the system by which waste material and water is carried away in sewers and then treated to stop it being harmful $ [U]
1 the activity or skill of making or repairing clothes or decorating cloth with a needle and thread
2 something you are sewing:
•Imogen sighed and picked up her sewing.[C]
a machine for stitching cloth or clothes together $
a past participle of SEW
1 [U] the physical activity that two people do together in order to produce babies, or for pleasure:
•All you see on TV is sex and violence these days.
•They had sex in the back seat of his car.
•She no longer wanted to have sex with him.
premarital sex/sex before marriage (=sex happening before marriage)
•the dangers of casual sex (=having sex with someone without intending to have a serious relationship)
safe sex (=ways of having sex that reduce the spread of sexual diseases)
unprotected sex (=sex without a CONDOM)
2 [U] whether a person, plant, or animal is male or female:
•Put your name, and sex at the top of the form.
3 [C] all men, considered as a group, or all women, considered as a group:
•He found it difficult to talk to members of the opposite sex (=people that were not his own sex).
•People of both sexes (=both men and women) buy her records.
4 single-sex school/college etc BrE a school etc for either males or females, but not for both together[T] technical
to find out whether an animal is male or female $ [C]
someone who is between 60 and 69 years old[U]
the quality of being sexually attractive:
•She's young and pretty and full of sex appeal.[C usually singular]
a medical operation or treatment which changes someone's body so that they look like someone of the other sex[U]
treating people unfairly because they are women, or because they are men:
•She is suing the company for sex discrimination.[C usually singular]
someone's ability or need to have sex regularly[U]
when young people are taught about sex, especially at school[singular]
the businesses and activities related to PROSTITUTION and PORNOGRAPHY [U]
the belief that one sex is weaker, less intelligent, or less important than the other, especially when this results in someone being treated unfairly:
•sexism in the workplace [C]
someone who believes that one sex is weaker, less intelligent, or less important than the other, and treats them unfairly because of this - used to show disapproval:
•My father was a complete sexist. He thought a woman's place was in the kitchen.
- sexist adjective
•sexist attitudes
1 not involving sexual activity, in a way that does not seem normal or usual:
•a sexless marriage
2 neither male nor female[C]
someone's sexual activities:
•an active and fulfilling sex life[C]
someone who always thinks about or wants to have sex - often used humorously[C]
someone who is thought about only as a way of satisfying another person's sexual desire, rather than as a whole person[C]
someone who is guilty of a crime related to sex
- sex offence BrE sex offense AmE noun [U][C]
a part of a person's or animal's body that is involved in producing babies[C] BrE
a shop selling goods, magazines etc related to sex and sexual activities[C]
a famous person who is considered by many people to be very sexually attractive:
•Hollywood's newest sex symbol [C]
a tool for measuring angles between stars in order to calculate the position of a ship or aircraft [C]
1 a group of six singers or musicians performing together
2 a piece of music for six performers:
•Mozart's sextet in B flat [C]
someone whose job is to take care of a church building and the area around it and do other related things, such as ring bells[U]
the activity of travelling to other countries in order to have sex, especially of a type that is illegal in your own country
- sex tourist noun [C] $ [C]
one of six people who are born at the same time and have the same mother
1 relating to the physical activity of sex:
•a disease passed on by sexual contact
•allegations of sexual abuse
•her first sexual experience
•Many elderly people continue to have satisfying sexual relationships.
2 relating to the social relationships between men and women, especially the differences between men and women:
•sexual stereotypes
- sexually adverb
•young people who are sexually active (=who regularly have sex)
•I no longer found her sexually attractive.
•She had been sexually assaulted.[U]
sexual remarks, looks, or touching done to someone who does not want it, especially from someone they work with[U] formal
the physical activity of two people having sex with each other [U]
the things people do, think, and feel that are related to their sexual desires
male/female sexuality
•a study of male sexuality[C,U]
STD a disease that one person passes to another through having sex, such as AIDS or HERPES[C,U] formal
the fact that someone is HETEROSEXUAL or HOMOSEXUAL:
•people of different sexual orientations[U]
ideas and activities that are concerned with how power is shared between men and women, and how this affects their relationships[C] formal
a PROSTITUTE - used to be polite or when you do not want to say this directly comparative sexier, superlative sexiest
1 sexually exciting or sexually attractive:
•sexy underwear
•Don't you think he's sexy?
2 informal sexy ideas, products etc are exciting, attractive, and interesting:
•is one of the sexiest companies in Seattle
•a sexy investment
- sexily adverb
- sexiness noun [U] [U]
an abbreviation of science fiction [U] technical
standard generalized markup language a way of writing a document on a computer so that its structure is clear, and so that it can easily be read on a different computer systemalso Sgt BrE
the written abbreviation of sergeant shh
used to tell someone to be quiet:
•Sh! I'm trying to sleep.
1 shabby clothes, places, or objects are untidy and in bad condition because they have been used for a long time:
•Hugh's jacket was old and shabby.
•a shabby little restaurant
2 wearing clothes that are old and worn:
•a shabby tramp
3 old-fashioned unfair and unkind:
•a shabby trick
- shabbily adverb
- shabbiness noun [U] [C]
a small building that has not been built very well:
•a tin shack

PHRASAL VERBS
shack up phr v informal
to start living with someone who you have sex with but are not married to - used to show disapproval
[+with]
•She had shacked up with some guy from Florida.
be shacked up
•Is she shacked up with anyone? [C]
1 the shackles of sth literary the limits put on your freedom and happiness by something, especially a particular form of government - used to show disapproval:
•They finally managed to throw off the shackles of communism.
2 one of a pair of metal rings joined by a chain that are used for fastening together a prisoner's hands or feet, so that they cannot move easily or escape
HANDCUFFS[T]
1 to put many limits on what someone can do - used to show disapproval:
•Industrial progress is being shackled by a mass of regulations.
2 to put shackles on someone:
•He was blindfolded and shackled to a radiator.
1 OUT OF SUNLIGHT [U] slight darkness or shelter from the direct light of the sun made by something blocking it:
•a plant that needs a lot of shade
in the shade (of sth)
•Let's find a table in the shade.
•She was sitting in the shade of a large oak tree.
•The temperature was over 90 degrees in the shade.
see box at SHADOW^1
2 FOR BLOCKING LIGHT [C]
a) something you use to reduce or block light:
•The shade on the lamp was slightly crooked.
3 shades [plural] informal SUNGLASSES
4 IN A PICTURE [U] the dark places in a picture:
•strong contrasts of light and shade
5 COLOUR [C] a particular type of red, green, blue etc
[+of]
•a bright shade of pink
6 shade of meaning/opinion/feeling etc a meaning etc that is slightly different from other ones; = nuance
•There is room in the Democratic party for many shades of opinion.
7 a shade formal very slightly
a shade too big/hot/fast etc
•Matt's clothes were just a shade too big for me.
a shade better/quicker/faster etc
•The results were a shade better than we expected.
[+over/under/above etc]
•She was a shade under five feet tall.
8 shades of sb/sth used to say that someone or something reminds you of another person or thing:
•The food was horrible, (shades of school dinners).
9 put sb/sth in the shade to be so good or impressive that other similar things or people seem much less important or interesting:
•They're planning a festival that will put all the others in the shade.
10 have it made in the shade AmE informal to be extremely rich - used humorously[T]
1 to protect something from direct light:
•Shading her eyes, Anita scanned the horizon.
2 also shade in sth to make part of a picture or drawing darker:
•She shaded in the circles in the last two letters.

PHRASAL VERBS
shade into sth phr v literary
if one thing shades into another, it is difficult to know where one stops and another starts:
•His impatience shaded into anger.
1 [U] the areas of a drawing or painting that have been made to look darker
2 shadings [plural] slight differences:
•He didn't understand the subtle shadings of legal language. $
1 DARK SHAPE [C] the dark shape that someone or something makes on a surface when they are between that surface and the light:
•the long dark shadow of an old oak tree
•His shadow fell across the room.
•The building cast its shadow (=made a shadow) across the street.
in the shadow of sth
•It was hot, and we decided to walk in the shadow of the wall (=along the wall, where its shadow would fall).
2 DARKNESS [U] also shadows [plural] darkness caused by something preventing light from reaching a place
in shadow
•The room was half in shadow.
in the shadows
•In the shadows something moved.
3 BAD EFFECT/INFLUENCE [singular] the bad effect or influence that something has, which makes other things seem less enjoyable, attractive, or impressive
in/under the shadow of sth
•For years, people had been living under the shadow of communism.
cast a shadow over/on sth (=make something seem less enjoyable, attractive, or impressive)
•The events of September 11th cast a shadow over the celebrations.
4 without/beyond a shadow of a doubt used to say that something is definitely true:
•Without a shadow of a doubt, he's the most talented player we have.
5 in sb's shadow if you are in someone's shadow, they are much more famous and successful than you are:
•Kate grew up in the shadow of her film star sister.
6 be a shadow of your former self to be weaker, less powerful, or worse than you were before:
•Lennox seemed like a shadow of his former self.
7 shadows under your eyes small dark areas under your eyes that you have when you are very tired:
•She looked pale, with deep shadows under her eyes.
8 sb's shadow someone who follows someone else everywhere they go
9 afraid/frightened/scared etc of your own shadow easily frightened or very nervous
FIVE O'CLOCK SHADOW

WORD CHOICE:shadow, shade
A shadow is a dark shape made by something that blocks the sun or a light: She saw his shadow on the wall.
Shadow is an area of darkness made like this: The side of the valley was in shadow.
Shade is a cool dark area where the sun does not reach, made by the shadow of something such as a tree or wall: Let's eat our lunch in the shade. | He sat under the shade of a tree.

[T]
1 to follow someone closely in order to watch what they are doing:
•Detectives shadowed him for weeks.
2 [usually passive] literary to cover something with a shadow, or make it dark:
•a narrow street which was shadowed by a huge Catholic church[only before noun]
1 Shadow Chancellor/Foreign Secretary etc the politician in the main opposition party in the British parliament who would become CHANCELLOR etc if their party was in government, and who is responsible for speaking on the same subjects
2 Shadow Cabinet the group of politicians in the British parliament who would become ministers if their party was in government[U]
fighting with an imaginary opponent, especially as training for BOXING[C] technical
business activities that are difficult for the authorities to find out about, for example because they are illegal $
1 mysterious and difficult to know anything about:
•the shadowy figures who control international terrorist organizations
2 full of shadows, or difficult to see because of shadows:
•a shadowy room comparative shadier, superlative shadiest
1 protected from the sun or producing shade:
•a shady street
•It was nice and shady under the trees.
2 probably dishonest or illegal:
•a shady character
•She's been involved in some shady deals. $ [C]
1 PASSAGE a passage which goes down through a building or down into the ground, so that someone or something can get in or out
mine/elevator/ventilation etc shaft
•a 300-foot elevator shaft
2 HANDLE a long handle on a tool, SPEAR etc
3 OF LIGHT a narrow beam of light
shaft of light/sunlight
4 ENGINE PART a thin long piece of metal in an engine or machine that turns and passes on power or movement to another part of the machine:
•a drive shaft
5 FOR A HORSE [usually plural] one of a pair of poles between which a horse is tied to pull a vehicle
6 ARROW literary an ARROW
7 get the shaft informal to be treated very unfairly[T] informal
to treat someone very unfairly, especially by dishonestly getting money from them:
•I can't believe you paid that much. You got shafted.also shagpile
shag carpet/rug a CARPET or RUG with a rough surface made from long threads of wool
1 [C] BrE informal not polite an act of having sex with someone
2 [C] a large black sea bird
3 [U] strong-tasting TOBACCO with thick leaves cut into small thin piecespast tense and past participle shagged, present participle shagging [I,T] BrE informal not polite
to have sex with someonealso shagged out BrE spoken not polite
very tired:
•I'm not going - I'm too shagged!
1 shaggy hair or fur is long and untidy:
•a shaggy black beard
2 having shaggy hair:
•a shaggy sheepskin coat
- shagginess noun [U][C] old-fashioned
a long joke that usually ends in a silly or disappointing way [C]
the title of the kings of Iran, used in the past past tense shook past participle shaken
1 MOVE [I,T] to move suddenly from side to side or up and down, usually with a lot of force, or to make something or someone do this:
•She shook him to wake him up.
•Shake the bottle before you open it.
•The whole house started to shake.
•The car shook as it went over a bump.
shake sth out of/off/from sth
•She shook the sand out of her shoes (=removed it by shaking).
2 BODY [I] if someone shakes, or part of their body shakes, they make small sudden movements from side to side or up and down, especially because they are very frightened, cold, ill etc; = tremble
•The little boy's hand was shaking.
shake with fear/laughter/anger etc
•I could see my neighbor shaking with laughter.
•What's wrong with you? You're shaking like a leaf (=shaking a lot because you are very nervous or frightened).
be shaking in your shoes/boots (=be very nervous)
•I was shaking in my shoes - I thought he was going to fire me.
3 shake your head to move your head from side to side as a way of saying no, or to show disapproval, surprise, or sadness:
•When asked if he wanted anything else, he just shook his head.
•Mark shook his head in disbelief.
4 shake sb's hand/shake hands with sb to move someone's hand up and down with your own hand as a greeting or as a sign you have agreed something:
•He shook my hand warmly.
•Wilkins stood up and shook hands with both of them.
•Well, if we have a deal, let's shake on it (=show that we have made an agreement by shaking hands).
5 SHOCK [T] to make someone feel very upset or shocked:
•Kerrie was so shaken by the attack that she won't go out alone.
•The murder shook the whole town.
6 shake sb's confidence/beliefs etc to make someone feel less confident, less sure about their beliefs etc:
•His confidence was badly shaken.
7 sb's voice shakes if someone's voice is shaking, it is not steady and they sound very worried, angry, or frightened:
•Her voice was shaking as she announced the news.
shake with rage/emotion etc
•Reg's voice shook with rage.
8 shake your fist (at sb) to show that you are angry by holding up and shaking your tightly closed hand:
•He shook his fist at the driver of the other car.
9 shake a leg spoken used to tell someone to hurry, or quickly start doing something:
•C'mon, shake a leg!

PHRASAL VERBS
shake down phr v
1 shake sb <=> down AmE informal to get money from someone by using threats:
•Corrupt officials were shaking down local business owners.
2 shake sb/sth <=> down AmE informal to search a person or place thoroughly
3 if a new situation or arrangement shakes down, people start to get used to it and it becomes more effective:
•The restructure has shaken down, and staff are showing a new sense of purpose.

shake sb/sth <=> off phr v
1 to get rid of an illness, problem etc:
•I can't seem to shake off this cold.
shake off your image/reputation as sth
•Outside investment has helped Sheridan to shake off its image as a depressed industrial town.
2 to escape from someone who is chasing you:
•I think we've shaken them off.

shake out phr v
1 shake sth <=> out to shake a cloth, a bag, a sheet etc so that any small pieces of dirt, dust etc come off:
•He shook out the handkerchief and put it back in his pocket.
2 if an organization or industry shakes out, it becomes calmer after a difficult period of time:
•He'll look for bargains after the real estate market shakes out.
3 shake sth <=> out to change a situation by removing things from it that are not useful or that do not make a profit:
•As the airline industry shakes out all but the very fittest, catering companies could face serious troubles.

shake sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to give someone a very unpleasant shock, so that they feel very upset and frightened:
•She was badly shaken up by the accident.
SHAKEN
2 to make changes to an organization in order to make it more effective:
•the government's plans to shake up the educational system
SHAKEUP

WORD CHOICE: shake, wobble, rattle, vibrate, tremble, shiver
Shake is a fairly general word. It can be used to talk about objects moving: There was a loud bang and the building shook.
It can also be used to talk about people's bodies moving because of cold, strong emotion, or illness Mary shook with rage.
If something wobbles, it moves from side to side because it is not steady or balanced: The desk wobbles when you put anything on it.
If something hard rattles, it shakes and makes a quick series of short sounds: The wind blew and the windows rattled.
If something vibrates, it makes small quick regular movements that you can hear or feel: The engine began to vibrate.
If someone trembles, their body shakes with very small movements, especially because they are angry, afraid, or excited: Trembling, she approached him.
If someone shivers, their body shakes with small movements, especially because they are cold or frightened: We sat shivering under a blanket.

1 [C] if you give something a shake, you move it up and down or from side to side:
• Give the bottle a good shake before use.
•He refused with a shake of the head (=a movement of the head from side to side to mean no).
2 [C] a cold drink made from milk, ICE CREAM, and fruit or chocolate; = milkshake
•a strawberry shake
3 the shakes nervous shaking of your body caused by illness, fear, too much alcohol, not getting a drug you are dependent on etc:
•If I don't smoke, I get the shakes.
4 in a couple of shakes/two shakes informal very soon:
•I'll be back in two shakes.
5 no great shakes spoken not very skilful, or not very good:
•He's no great shakes as a singer.
6 get/give sb a fair shake informal to get or give someone fair treatment [C]
1 AmE informal when someone gets money from another person by using threats:
•a Mafia shakedown
2 AmE informal a thorough search of a place or a person:
•No weapons were found during the shakedown.
3 a period of time when people start to get used to a new arrangement and it becomes more effective
4 a period of time when prices are falling on a financial market
5 a final test of a boat, plane etc before it is put into general use:
•The new system is in its shakedown phase.
6 the final shakedown the final situation, after a lot of other things have happenedalso shaken up [not usually before noun]
upset, shocked, or frightened by something that has happened to you:
•'How's Jacob?' 'Pretty shaken up, but he'll be all right.'
•He was badly shaken after the attack.
1 [C usually singular] a situation in which several companies fail because they cannot compete with stronger companies in difficult economic conditions
2 [C] a SHAKEUP $ [C]
1 a container with holes in the lid, used to shake salt, sugar etc onto food:
•a salt shaker
2 also cocktail shaker a container in which drinks are mixed
3 Shaker a member of a US religious group who lived together and had a simple way of life. Shaker furniture is made in the plain, simple, and attractive style that Shakers used to make things:
•a Shaker chair
4 a small container for shaking DICE
movers and shakers at MOVER (1) $ [only before noun]
1 in the style of Shakespeare:
•Shakespearean language
2 relating to the work of Shakespeare:
•a famous Shakespearean actor [C]
a process by which an organization makes a lot of big changes in a short time to improve its effectiveness
[+of]
•a big shakeup of the education system
1 weak and unsteady because of old age, illness, or shock:
•a shaky voice
•Grandad was a little shaky on his feet (=not able to walk very well).
2 not sure about the exact details of something, or not likely to be completely right:
•My knowledge of history is a little shaky.
•shaky evidence
3 not firm or steady:
•shaky foundations
- shakily adverb
- shakiness noun [U] [U]
a smooth soft rock which breaks easily into thin flat pieces strong negative short formshan't
1 shall I/we...? spoken used to make a suggestion, or ask a question that you want the other person to decide about:
•Shall I open the window?
•Shall we say 6 o'clock, then?
•What shall I get for dinner?
2 I/we shall especially BrE formal used to say what you will do in the future:
•We shall be away next week.
•I shall have to be careful.
•I've never liked her and I never shall.
•We shall have finished by Friday.
3 formal or old-fashioned used to emphasize that something will definitely happen, or that you are determined that something should happen:
•The truth shall make you free.
•I said you could go, and so you shall.
4 formal used in official documents to state an order, law, promise etc:
•All payments shall be made in cash. $ [C]
a vegetable like a small onion $ comparative shallower, superlative shallowest
1 measuring only a short distance from the top to the bottom; deep
•a shallow river
•The lake is quite shallow.
• the shallow end of the pool
•Place the meat in a shallow dish.
2 not interested in or not showing any understanding of important or serious matters - used to show disapproval:
•a shallow argument
•If he's only interested in your looks, that shows how shallow he is.
3 shallow breathing breathing that takes in only small amounts of air; deep
- shallowly adverb
•He lay there unconscious, breathing shallowly.
- shallowness noun [U] $ [plural]
the shallows an area of shallow water:
•We could see fish darting about in the shallows. $
a Hebrew word used to say hello or goodbye strong
thou shalt old use a phrase meaning 'you shall', used when talking to one person
1 [singular] someone or something that is not what they are claimed to be - used to show disapproval:
•The elections were a complete sham.
•Hutton was exposed as the sham that he was.
2 [U] literary when someone tries to make something or someone seem better than they really are:
•It all turned out to be sham and hypocrisy.
3 [C] a cover for a PILLOW, especially one used for decoration[only before noun]
made to appear real in order to deceive people; = false
•a sham marriagepast tense and past participle shammed, present participle shamming [I,T] especially BrE old-fashioned
to pretend to be upset, ill etc to gain sympathy or an advantage; = feign
•She's not ill, she's only shamming. [C]
someone in some tribes, who is a religious leader and is believed to be able to talk to SPIRITs and cure illnesses
- shamanism noun [U] [I always + adv/prep]
to walk slowly and awkwardly, not lifting your feet much, for example because you are tired, weak, or lazy; = shuffle
[+over/past/along etc]
•The old man shambled out of the room muttering to himself.
shambling gait (=a shambling way of walking)
be (in) a shambles informal
a) if something is a shambles, it is very disorganized and there is a lot of confusion:
•The meeting was a shambles from start to finish.
•The economy is in a complete shambles.
b) if a place is a shambles, it is very untidy; = mess
•My house is in an absolute shambles. $ BrE
very disorganized:
•the Government's shambolic efforts to deal with the crisis
1 it's a shame/what a shame etc spoken used when you wish a situation was different, and you feel sad or disappointed:
•'She's failed her test again.' 'What a shame!'
• It's a shame that you have to leave so soon.
• What a shame we missed the wedding.
it is a shame to do sth
•It's a shame to cover this beautiful table with a tablecloth.
•I can't imagine why they canceled your show, Tracy. That's such a shame.
a crying/great/terrible shame
•It was a crying shame that they lost the game.
2 [U] the feeling you have when you feel guilty and embarrassed because you, or someone who is close to you, have done something wrong:
•He felt a deep sense of shame.
•Maria blushed with shame.
• To her shame (=it made her feel ashamed), she gained back all the weight she'd lost.
•He's brought shame on the whole family.
hang/bow your head in shame (=look down, or feel like you should look down, because you feel so ashamed)
•I bow my head in shame when I think of how I treated her.
• There's no shame in (=it should not make you feel ashamed) saying 'I don't know'.
3 [U] the ability to feel shame:
•How could you do such a thing? Have you no shame?
4 shame on you/him/them etc spoken used to say that someone should feel guilty or embarrassed because of something they have done:
•Shame on you, Fred. I thought you were my friend!
5 put sb/sth to shame to be so much better than someone or something else that it makes the other thing seem very bad or ordinary:
•His cooking puts mine to shame.[T]
1 to make someone feel ashamed:
•It shames me to say it, but I lied.
•He felt shamed and humiliated by the treatment he had received.
2 shame sb into doing sth to force someone to do something by making them feel ashamed:
•His wife shamed him into handing the money back.
3 to be so much better than someone else that you make them seem bad or feel embarrassed:
•Their training record shamed other companies.
4 to make someone feel they have lost all honour and respect:
•She had shamed her family name (=done something that made her family lose honour).
if someone is shamefaced, they look and feel ashamed because they have done something wrong or they have behaved badly:
•Conner looked a little shamefaced.
shamefaced smile/grin
- shamefacedly adverb
shameful behaviour or actions are so bad that someone should feel ashamed:
•It's shameful the way some people treat their pets.
•a shameful family secret
- shamefully adverb
- shamefulness noun [U]
not seeming to be ashamed of your bad behaviour although other people think you should be ashamed:
•the shameless way he lied to us
- shamelessly adverb
•She shamelessly took advantage of him.
- shamelessness noun [U]also shammy leather [C,U]
a piece of CHAMOIS leather, used for cleaning or polishing
1 [C,U] a liquid soap for washing your hair:
•What kind of shampoo do you use?
•a bottle of shampoo
2 [C usually singular] when someone washes your hair using shampoo:
•$21 for a shampoo, cut, and blow-dry
shampoo and set (=when someone washes your hair and then dries it so that it has a particular style, especially using CURLERs )
3 [C,U] a liquid used for cleaning CARPETs [T]
to wash something with shampoo:
•She showered and shampooed her short dark hair. $ [C]
a small plant with three green leaves on each stem, that is the national symbol of Ireland plural shandies [C,U] BrE
a drink made of beer mixed with LEMONADE (2), or a glass of this drink past tense and past participle shanghaied, present participle shanghaiing [T] old fashioned
to trick or force someone into doing something unwillingly
shanghai sb into doing sth
•I got shanghaied into organizing the kids' party.
1 [C] a straight narrow part of a tool or object that connects the two ends:
•a hammer shank
2 [C,U] a piece of meat cut from the leg of an animal:
•lamb shanks
3 [C usually plural] the part of an animal's or a person's leg between the knee and ANKLE
4 (on) Shanks's pony BrE old-fashioned walking, rather than using a vehicle $ especially BrE
the short form of 'shall not':
•I shan't see you again. plural shanties [C]
1 a small, roughly built hut made from thin sheets of wood, TIN, plastic etc that very poor people live in:
•Workers were living in tents and shanties.
2 also sea shanty a song sung by sailors in the past, as they did their work [C]
a very poor area in or near a town where people live in small houses made from thin sheets of wood, TIN etc
1 ROUND/SQUARE ETC [C,U] the form that something has, for example round, square, TRIANGULAR etc:
•What shape is the table?
•You can recognize a tree by the shape of its leaves.
round/square etc in shape
•The dining room was square in shape.
•His battered old hat had completely lost its shape.
in the shape of sth
•a silver pin in the shape of a large bird
•The plants grow in every shape and size.
•The children cut out shapes (=squares, triangles etc) from the piece of cardboard.
out of shape
•The wheel had been bent out of shape.
2 HEALTH/CONDITION
a) in good/bad/poor etc shape in good, bad etc condition, or in good, bad etc health:
•For an old car, it's in pretty good shape.
•The economy is in worse shape now than it was last year.
•Kaplan seemed to be in better shape than either of us.
b) in shape/out of shape in a good or bad state of health or physical FITNESS; fit, unfit
•I was feeling totally out of shape.
•I've got to get into shape before summer.
keep/stay in shape
•She's bought an exercise bike to keep in shape.
c) in no shape to do sth to be sick, tired, drunk etc, and not able to do something well:
•Mel was in no shape to drive home after the party.
3 knock/lick/get sb/sth into shape to make someone or something better so that they reach the necessary standard:
•Some of them lack experience, but we'll soon knock them into shape.
4 CHARACTER OF STH [singular] the way something looks, works, or is organized
[+of]
•Computers have completely changed the shape of our industry.
•This new technique is the shape of things to come (=an example of the way things will develop in the future).
5 take shape to develop into a clear and definite form:
•An idea was beginning to take shape in his mind.
6 in the shape of sth used to explain what something consists of:
•Help came in the shape of a $10,000 loan from his parents.
7 not in any shape or form also not in any way, shape, or form used to say that you will not accept something for any reason:
•We will not tolerate racism in any shape or form.
8 THING NOT SEEN CLEARLY [C] a thing or person that you cannot see clearly enough to recognize:
•A dark shape moved behind them.[T]
1 to influence something such as a belief, opinion etc and make it develop in a particular way:
•People's political beliefs are shaped by what they see in the papers.
2 to make something have a particular shape, especially by pressing it
shape sth into sth
•Shape the dough into small balls.
egg-shaped/V-shaped etc
•an L-shaped living room

PHRASAL VERBS
shape up phr v informal
1 to improve your behaviour or work:
•You kids had better shape up, because I'm in no mood to fool around.
2 to make progress in a particular way:
•Ken's plans for the business are shaping up nicely.
[+as]
•Immigration is shaping up as a major issue in the campaign.
shape up to be sth
•It's shaping up to be a pretty big party.
3 shape up or ship out AmE spoken used to tell someone that if they do not improve they will be made to leave a place or their job
1 not having a clear or definite shape:
•a shapeless dress
2 something such as a book or a plan that is shapeless does not seem to have a clear structure
- shapelessly adverb
having a body that has an attractive shape:
•She had long shapely legs.also sherd $ [C]
a sharp piece of broken glass, metal etc
[+of]
•a shard of pottery $
1 USE TOGETHER [I,T] to have or use something with other people:
•We don't have enough books so you'll have to share.
•The three of us shared a taxi.
share sth with sb
•I have an office that I share with some other teachers.
2 LET SB USE STH [T] to let someone have or use something that belongs to you:
•As a kid he'd never share his toys.
share sth with sb
•Will you share your fries with me?
3 DIVIDE [T] also share out to divide something between two or more people
share sth between/among sb
•They shared the cake between them.
•At his death, his property was shared out between his children.
4 RESPONSIBILITY/BLAME [T] to have equal responsibility for doing something, paying for something etc:
•We share the responsibility for the children.
•I own the house, but we share the bills.
•We all share some of the blame for the accident.
5 SAME [T] to have the same opinion, quality, or experience as someone else
share sb's view/concern/belief etc
•Other parents share her belief in the importance of reading.
•I believe my view is widely shared.
•Dan and Claire share an interest in ancient history.
share sth with sb
•Stubbornness was a characteristic he shared with his mother.
6 TELL SB STH [I,T] to tell other people about an idea, secret, problem etc:
•Students were able to share their experiences.
share sth with sb
•Would you like to share your feelings with the group?
7 share your life with sb if you share your life with someone, you spend your life together with them as their husband, wife etc:
•I'm not ready to share my life with anyone.
8 share and share alike spoken used to say that you should share things fairly and equally between everyone

PHRASAL VERBS
share in sth phr v
if you share in someone's success, happiness etc, you have it or enjoy it with them:
•His daughters did not share in his happiness.
1 IN A COMPANY [C] one of the equal parts into which the OWNERSHIP of a company is divided
buy/sell shares
•They were able to sell their shares at a higher price.
[+in]
•shares in Allied Chemicals
• Share prices are down in London.
shares go up/rise (=the value increases)
shares fall/go down/drop (=the values decreases)
STOCK^1 (2)
2 PART OF STH [singular] the part of something that you own or are responsible for
[+of/in]
•I gave them my share of the bill and left.
•a share in the profits
•I do my share (=do my part) of the housework.
3 your (fair) share
a) if you have had your share of something, for example problems, success, or adventure, a lot of it has happened to you:
•You've sure had your share of problems, haven't you?
•He'd had more than his fair share of adventure.
b) your share of something is the amount that you deserve to have:
•Don't worry - you'll get your fair share.
4 share in sth your part in an activity, event etc:
•Employees are always given a share in decision-making.
5 house/flat share BrE when people live together in the same house or flat and pay the rent together
- sharing noun [U]
the lion's share at LION (2); TIMESHARE[C] especially AmE
a poor farmer who uses someone else's land, and gives the owner part of the crop in return $ [C]
someone who owns shares in a company or business:
•Shareholders have been told to expect an even lower result next year. $ [C]
if you have a shareholding in a business, you own shares in it
[+in]
•In 1992, United Distillers acquired a 75% shareholding in the company.[C] technical
an official and public list of SHARE prices[C usually singular] BrE
when something, especially money or property, is divided between two or more people, or the amount each person receives when it is divided $ [U]
free or cheap computer SOFTWARE, usually produced by small companies, that you can use for a short time before you decide whether to buy it [U]
a system of religious laws followed by Muslims $ [C]
1 plural shark or sharks a large sea fish with several rows of very sharp teeth that is considered to be dangerous to humans:
•Sharks were circling around our boat.
shark-infested waters (=waters where there are a lot of sharks)
2 informal someone who cheats other people out of money
pool/card shark (=someone who uses their skill at POOL or cards to cheat other players out of money)
LOAN SHARK $ comparative sharper, superlative sharpest
1 ABLE TO CUT EASILY having a very thin edge or point that can cut things easily; blunt
•Make sure you use a good sharp knife.
•Its teeth are razor sharp (=very sharp).
2 TURN a sharp turn or bend changes direction suddenly:
•We came to a sharp bend in the road.
sharp left/right
•Take a sharp left after the church.
3 INCREASE/CHANGE a sharp increase, rise, fall etc happens suddenly and is great in amount; = steep
•a sharp increase in prices
•a sharp fall in unemployment
4 DIFFERENCE sharp differences are very big and very noticeable:
•sharp differences of opinion
•There is a sharp distinction between domestic and international politics.
•His honesty is in sharp contrast (=very different) to some other politicians.
5 PAIN/FEELINGS a sharp pain or feeling is sudden and severe; dull
•I felt a sharp pain in my back.
•I was left with a sharp sense of disappointment.
6 DISAPPROVING speaking in a way that shows you disapprove of something or are annoyed; mild
•a sharp rebuke
•John's tone was sharp.
•The boss can be very sharp with people when she's busy.
sb has a sharp tongue (=they speak in a very disapproving way which often upsets people)
7 INTELLIGENT able to think and understand things very quickly, and not easily deceived; dull, stupid
•a journalist with an extremely sharp mind
8 keep a sharp eye on sb to watch someone very carefully, especially because you do not trust them:
•Keep a sharp eye on the kids at all times!
9 PENCIL having a very thin point that can draw an exact line; blunt
•Make sure your pencils are sharp before we begin the test.
10 SOUND a sharp sound or cry is loud, short, and sudden:
•a sharp cry of pain
•a sharp intake of breath
•The branch broke with a sharp crack.
11 TASTE having a slightly bitter taste; mild
•sharp cheddar cheese
•Add mustard to give the dressing a sharper taste.
12 CLOTHES attractive and fashionable; = smart BrE
•Tod looked really sharp in his tux.
•a sharp suit
13 SHAPE not rounded or curved:
•sharp features
•Her mother had a sharp little nose.
14 IMAGE/PICTURE if an image or picture is sharp, you can see all the details very clearly; fuzzy
•The outlines of the trees were sharp and clear.
15 GOOD AT NOTICING THINGS able to see and notice details very well
sharp eye for detail (=the ability to notice and deal with details)
16 MUSIC
a) F sharp/D sharp/C sharp etc a musical note that is sharp has been raised by one SEMITONE from the note F, D, C etc
b) if music or singing is sharp, it is played or sung at a slightly higher PITCH than it should be
FLAT^1 (9)
NATURAL^1 (10)
17 WEATHER sharp wind/frost a very cold wind or a severe FROST:
•A sharp wind blew across the lake.
18 sharp practice BrE behaviour, especially in business, that is dishonest but not illegal:
•He's been guilty of sharp practice in the past.
19 be on the sharp end (of sth) BrE informal to experience the worst effects of something:
•We were always on the sharp end of clients' complaints.
- sharpness noun [U]
SHARPLY
1 at ten-thirty/2 o'clock etc sharp at exactly 10.30, 2.00 etc:
•We're meeting at one-thirty sharp.
2 sharp left/right BrE if you turn sharp left or right, you make a sudden change of direction to the left or right:
•You turn sharp right at the crossroads.
3 look sharp BrE old-fashioned used to tell someone to do something quickly:
•If you look sharp you might catch him before he leaves for London.
4 played or sung at a slightly higher PITCH than is correct; flat[C]
1 a musical note that has been raised one SEMITONE above the note written
2 the sign (#) in a line of written music used to show that a musical note should be raised
FLAT^2 (3)
able to hear very well $
1 [I,T] to make something have a sharper edge or point:
•Anne sharpened her pencil and got out her homework.
2 [T] to make a feeling stronger and more urgent:
•A series of attacks have sharpened fears of more violence.
3 [T] also sharpen sth <=> up to improve something so that it is up to the necessary standard, quality etc:
•The course will help students sharpen their writing skills. $ [C]
a tool or machine for sharpening pencils, knives etc
able to see very well and notice small details:
•My sharp-eyed mother had already spotted him. $ BrE spoken
quickly:
•We'd better leave pretty sharpish if we want to catch that bus. $
1 suddenly and by a large amount:
•Prices have risen sharply over the last few months.
•His politics have moved sharply to the right.
2 in a disapproving or unfriendly way:
•'What do you mean by that?' Paul asked sharply.
•a sharply critical report
3 quickly and suddenly:
•Graham looked up sharply, startled by a noise behind him.
•Emily drew in her breath sharply.
4 used when saying that two things are clearly and noticeably very different:
•Opinion is sharply divided.
•His beliefs and values contrast sharply with (=are very different from) his father's.[C]
someone who is very skilful at hitting what they aim at when shooting a gun[usually before noun]
saying things in a disapproving or unfriendly way which often upsets people:
•his sharp-tongued wife $
able to think and react very quickly
the past tense and past participle of SHIT^2 $
1 [I,T] to break suddenly into very small pieces, or to make something break in this way
[+into]
•The plate hit the floor, and shattered into tiny bits.
•The explosion shattered the building.
2 [T] to completely destroy someone's hopes, beliefs, or confidence:
•Their hopes and dreams were shattered by war.
•A few weeks in a tiny damp room soon shattered his illusions about university life. $ [not before noun]
1 very shocked and upset:
•I wasn't just disappointed, I was absolutely shattered.
2 BrE informal very tired; = exhausted
•By the time we got home we were both shattered.
1 very shocking and upsetting:
•His mother's death was a shattering blow.
2 BrE informal making you very tired; = exhausting
•I've had a shattering day. $
shatterproof glass is specially designed so that it will not form sharp dangerous pieces if it is broken
1 [I,T] to cut off hair very close to the skin, especially from the face, using a RAZOR:
•He hadn't shaved for days.
•Brian had cut himself shaving.
shave your head/legs/armpits etc
•She shaved her legs and underarms.
2 [T] to remove very thin pieces from the surface of something:
•Shave thin strips of cheese over the pasta.

PHRASAL VERBS
shave sth <=> off phr v
1 to remove hair by shaving:
•I've decided to shave off my beard.
2 also shave sth off sth to remove very thin pieces from the surface of something, using a knife or other cutting tool:
•I had to shave a few millimetres off the bottom of the door to make it shut.
3 also shave sth off sth if you shave a small amount off something such as a price or a record, you make the price slightly smaller or the record time slightly shorter:
•She shaved half a second off the world record.[C usually singular]
1 if a man has a shave, he cuts off the hair on his face close to his skin using a RAZOR:
•He looked as if he needed a shave.
have a shave BrE
•I'll just have a shave before we go.
2 a close shave a situation in which you only just avoid an accident or something:
•Phew, that was a close shave.
with all the hair shaved off:
•his shaven head
CLEAN-SHAVEN, UNSHAVEN $ [C]
a small piece of electrical equipment used for shaving:
•He uses an electric shaver.[C]
a brush used for spreading soap or shaving cream over your face when you shavealso shaving foam BrE [U]
a special cream that you put on your face when you shave [plural]
very thin pieces, especially of wood, cut from a surface with a sharp blade:
•a pile of wood shavings on the floor $ [C]
a piece of cloth, in a square or TRIANGULAR shape, that is worn around the shoulders or head, especially by women $ written
used in writing when the subject of the sentence can be either male or female:
•If any student witnesses a crime, s/he should contact campus police immediately. strong [used as the subject of a verb]
1 used to refer to a woman, girl, or female animal that has already been mentioned or is already known about:
•Why don't you ask Beth - she's got plenty of money.
•I saw you talking to that girl. Who is she?
•What did she say when you told her?
2 old-fashioned used to refer to a country, ship, or vehicle that has already been mentioned:
•She was carrying over 1500 passengers. [singular] informal
a female:
•What a cute puppy! Is it a he or a she?
female:
•a she-goat
•a she-devil (=evil woman) $ [U]
a type of oil from an African nut that is used in MOISTURIZERs to make your skin less dry plural sheaves [C]
1 several pieces of paper held or tied together
[+of]
•He laid a sheaf of documents on the desk.
2 a bunch of wheat, corn etc tied together after it has been cut $ past tense sheared past participle sheared or, shorn $ [T]
1 to cut the wool off a sheep
2 literary to cut off someone's hair:
•Her long fair hair had been shorn.

PHRASAL VERBS
be shorn of sth phr v
to have something valuable or important taken away from you:
•Though shorn of some of its powers, the party remains in control.

shear off phr v
if part of something shears off, or is sheared off, it suddenly becomes separated, especially after being pulled or hit with a lot of force
shear sth <=> off
•The left wing had been almost completely sheared off.also sheep shearer $ [C]
someone who cuts the wool off sheep $ [plural]
a heavy tool for cutting, like a big pair of scissors:
•Sam was trimming the hedge with a pair of garden shears. plural sheaths [C]
1 a cover for the blade of a knife or sword:
•His sword was back in its sheath.
2 BrE old-fashioned a CONDOM
3 a protective covering that fits closely around something:
•The wire is covered by an outer plastic sheath.
4 a simple, close-fitting dress:
•She was wearing a plain black sheath. [T] literary
1 to put a knife or sword into a sheath:
•He sheathed his sword.
2 be sheathed in/with sth to be covered by something:
•The grassy hills were sheathed in mist. [C usually singular]
a protective outer cover, for example for a building or a ship[C]
a knife with a fixed blade that is carried in a sheath
the plural of SHEAF
the whole shebang informal the whole thing:
•It's a big project, and she's in charge of the whole shebang. [C] informal
a place where alcoholic drinks are sold illegally - used especially in Ireland strong
1 the short form of 'she had':
•She'd already gone when we got there.
2 the short form of 'she would':
•She'd like to come with us. [C]
1 a small building, often made of wood, used especially for storing things:
•a tool shed
•a cattle shed
•a garden shed
2 a large industrial building where work is done, large vehicles are kept, machinery is storedpast tense and past participle shed present participle shedding [T]
1 GET RID OF to get rid of something that you no longer need or want:
•The company is planning to shed about a quarter of its workforce.
•The magazine is desperately trying to shed its old-fashioned image.
•a diet to help you shed pounds
2 shed light
a) to make something easier to understand, by providing new or better information
[+on]
•Recent research has shed light on the causes of the disease.
•Investigators hope to shed light on what started the fire.
b) if something sheds light, it lights the area around it:
•The lamp shed a harsh yellow light.
3 PLANTS/ANIMALS if a plant sheds its leaves or if an animal sheds skin or hair, they fall off as part of a natural process:
•The trees were starting to shed their leaves.
•As it grows, a snake will regularly shed its skin.
4 DROP/FALL to drop something or allow it to fall:
•He strode across the bathroom, shedding wet clothes as he went.
shed a load BrE
•A lorry shed its load of steel bars on the M25.
5 shed blood to kill or injure people, especially during a war or a fight:
•Too much blood has already been shed in this conflict.
BLOODSHED
6 shed tears especially literary to cry:
•She had not shed a single tear during the funeral.
7 WATER if something sheds water, the water flows off its surface, instead of sinking into it $
shedloads of sth BrE informal a lot of something:
•They've got shedloads of stuff for sale. [singular, U]
a soft smooth shiny appearance:
•Her hair had a lovely coppery sheen. plural sheep [C]
1 a farm animal that is kept for its wool and its meat:
•Sheep were grazing on the hillside.
•a sheep farmer
flock of sheep (=a group of sheep)
LAMB^1
2 like sheep if people behave like sheep, they do not think independently, but follow what everyone else does or thinks:
•Tourists were led around like sheep, from shrine to souvenir shop.
3 separate the sheep from the goats BrE to find out which people are intelligent, skilful, successful etc, and which are not:
•This test should really separate the sheep from the goats.
4 make sheep's eyes at sb old-fashioned to look at someone in a way that shows you love them
BLACK SHEEP; count sheep at COUNT^1 (12); a wolf in sheep's clothing at WOLF^1 (2)[C,U]
a chemical used to kill insects that live in sheep's wool, or a special bath in which this chemical is used $ [C]
1 a dog that is trained to control sheep
2 a dog of a type that is often used for controlling sheep
OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG
slightly uncomfortable or embarrassed because you know that you have done something silly or wrong:
•Sam looked a bit sheepish.
•a sheepish grin
- sheepishly adverb
•She smiled sheepishly.[C]
a small area of ground with a fence around it, used for keeping sheep together for a short time [C,U]
the skin of a sheep with the wool still on it:
•a sheepskin coat $
1 the sheer weight/size etc used to emphasize that something is very heavy, large etc
[+of]
•The sheer size of the country makes communications difficult.
2 sheer luck/happiness/stupidity etc luck, happiness etc with no other feeling or quality mixed with it; = pure
•I'll never forget the look of sheer joy on her face.
•sheer hypocrisy
3 a sheer drop, cliff, slope etc is very steep and almost vertical
4 sheer NYLON, silk etc is very thin and fine, so that it is almost transparent:
•sheer stockings
straight up or down in an almost vertical line; = steeply
•cliffs which rose sheer from the sea[I always +adv/prep]
to change direction suddenly, especially in order to avoid something
[+off/away]
•The boat sheered away and headed out to sea. [C]
1 FOR A BED a large piece of thin cloth that you put on a bed to lie on or lie under; blanket, duvet
•I'll go and find you some clean sheets and blankets.
•white cotton sheets
change the sheets (=put clean sheets on a bed)
2 PAPER a piece of paper for writing on, or containing information
[+of]
•a sheet of paper with names and numbers on it
clean/blank sheet of paper (=one with no writing on it)
3 THIN FLAT PIECE a thin flat piece of something such as metal or glass, that usually has four sides
[+of]
•a sheet of glass
SHEET METAL
4 LARGE FLAT AREA a large flat area of something such as ice or water spread over a surface
[+of]
•A sheet of ice covered the lake.
5 OF RAIN/FIRE a sheet of rain or fire is a very large moving mass of it
[+of]
•Sheets of flame shot into the air.
in sheets
•The rain was coming down in sheets.
6 ON A SHIP technical a rope or chain attached to a sail on a ship that controls the angle between a sail and the wind
BAKING SHEET, BALANCE SHEET, COOKIE SHEET, RAP SHEET, TIME SHEET; as white as a sheet at WHITE^1 (3); clean sheet at CLEAN^1 (9) [U]
1 material such as plastic or metal used to cover something and protect it
plastic/rubber/metal etc sheeting
•The roof was covered in plastic sheeting.
2 cloth used to make sheets for a bed[U]
a type of LIGHTNING that appears as a sudden flash of brightness covering a large area of sky
FORKED LIGHTNING[U]
metal in the form of thin sheets[U]
music that is printed on single sheets and not fastened together inside a coversheik $ [C]
1 an Arab ruler or prince
2 a Muslim religious leader or teachersheikdom $ [C]
a place that is governed by an Arab prince or ruler [C] informal
a young woman - used in Australia and New Zealand [C]
the standard unit of money in Israel plural shelves
1 [C] a long flat narrow board attached to a wall or in a frame or cupboard, used for putting things on
top/bottom/next etc shelf
•Put it back on the top shelf.
•shelves of books
•supermarket shelves
•the amount of shelf space available
2 [C] a narrow surface of rock shaped like a shelf, especially under water
CONTINENTAL SHELF
3 off-the-shelf available to be bought immediately, without having to be specially designed or ordered:
•off-the-shelf software packages
OFF-THE-PEG
4 be (left) on the shelf
a) if something is left on the shelf, it is not used or considered:
•The album stayed on the shelf for several years, until it was finally released.
b) BrE old-fashioned to be considered too old to get married, used especially of women
SHELVE (3)[singular]
the length of time that a product, especially food, can be kept in a shop before it becomes too old to sell:
•The pies have a shelf life of approximately one week. strong
the short form of 'she will' [C]
1
a) the hard outer part that covers and protects an egg, nut, or seed:
•Never buy eggs with cracked shells.
•peanuts roasted in their shells
b) the hard protective covering of an animal such as a SNAIL, MUSSEL, or CRAB:
•a snail shell
•The children were collecting shells on the beach.
SEASHELL
2 a metal container, like a large bullet, which is full of an explosive substance and is fired from a large gun:
•We ran for cover as shells dropped all around us.
•an exploding mortar shell
3 especially AmE a metal tube containing a bullet and an explosive substance; = cartridge
4 the outside structure of something, especially the part of a building that remains when the rest of it has been destroyed
[+of]
•the burnt-out shell of a nightclub
5 out of your shell becoming less shy and more confident and willing to talk to people:
•I had hoped that university would bring him out of his shell.
•She's started to come out of her shell a little.[T]
1 to fire shells from large guns at something:
•The army has been shelling the town since yesterday.
2 to remove something such as beans or nuts from a shell or POD:
•Josie was shelling peas in the kitchen.

PHRASAL VERBS
shell out (sth) phr v informal
to pay a lot of money for something, especially unwillingly:
•If you want the repairs done right, you'll have to shell out at least $800.
[+for]
•She ended up shelling out for two rooms. [U]
a type of transparent paint for protecting or hardening surfaces $ [U]
an explosion caused by shells being fired from large guns:
•a hospital badly damaged by shellfire plural shellfish [C,U]
an animal that lives in water, has a shell, and can be eaten as food, for example CRABs , LOBSTERs , and OYSTERs [C] AmE
a dishonest method of doing something, in which you pretend to be doing one thing when you are really doing another:
•Critics called the proposal a shell game. [U]
the firing of shells from large guns
[+of]
•the shelling of villages
•weeks of heavy shelling[U] old-fashioned
a type of mental illness caused by the terrible experiences of fighting in a war or battle
1 informal feeling tired, confused, or anxious because of a recent difficult experience
2 old-fashioned mentally ill because of the terrible experiences of war[C] BrE
a light brightly-coloured piece of clothing consisting of trousers and a jacket that fit tightly at the wrists and at the bottom of the legs $
1 [U] a place to live, considered as one of the basic needs of life:
•They are in desperate need of food and shelter.
2 [U] protection from danger or from wind, rain, hot sun etc
[+of]
•We eventually reached the shelter of the caves.
in/into/under etc the shelter of sth
•They were standing under the shelter of a huge tree.
•The men took shelter in a bombed-out farmhouse.
•All around me, people were running for shelter.
[+from]
•An old hut gave shelter from the storm.
3 [C] a building where people or animals that have nowhere to live or that are in danger can stay and receive help
[+for]
•a shelter for battered women
•a homeless shelter (=for people who have no homes)
•an animal shelter
4 [C] a building or an area with a roof over it that protects you from the weather or from danger
air-raid/bomb/fall-out shelter (=a place to keep people safe from bombs dropped by planes)
bus shelter BrE (=a small structure with a roof where you wait for a bus)
BOMB SHELTER, TAX SHELTER
1 [T] to provide a place where someone or something is protected, especially from the weather or from danger:
•Collins was arrested for sheltering enemy soldiers.
shelter sb/sth from sb/sth
•Plant herbs next to a wall to shelter them from the wind.
2 [I] to stay in or under a place where you are protected from the weather or from danger
[+from]
•We sat in the shade, sheltering from the sun. $
1 a sheltered life/childhood/upbringing etc a life etc in which someone has been too protected by their parents from difficult or unpleasant experiences:
•I had led a sheltered life and had never met prejudice before.
2 a place that is sheltered is protected from extreme weather conditions:
•a sheltered valley
3 sheltered accommodation/housing BrE a place for people to live who cannot look after themselves properly and where help is provided if they need it:
•sheltered accommodation for the elderly
1 [T] to decide not to continue with a plan, idea etc, although you might continue with it at a later time:
• Plans to reopen the school have been shelved.
2 [I always + adv/prep] land that shelves is at a slight angle:
•The garden shelves gently towards the sea.
3 [T] to put something on a shelf, especially books
the plural of SHELF [U]
1 a set of shelves fixed to a wall
2 wood, metal etc used for shelves [plural] informal
bad behaviour that is not very serious, or slightly dishonest activities:
•She wouldn't put up with his shenanigans.
•financial shenanigans $ [C]
someone whose job is to take care of sheep[T always + adv/prep]
to lead or guide a group of people somewhere, making sure that they go where you want them to go
shepherd sb into/out/towards etc sth
•The tour guides shepherded the rest of the group onto the bus. $ [C] old-fashioned
a woman whose job is to take care of sheep[C,U]
a dish made of small pieces of cooked meat, usually lamb, covered with cooked potato $
1 [C,U] AmE a sweet frozen food made with water, fruit, sugar, and milk
2 [U] BrE a powder that is eaten as a sweet $
another form of SHARD [C]
1 an elected law officer of a COUNTY in the US
2 also High Sheriff the representative of the King or Queen in a COUNTY of England and Wales, who has mostly ceremonial duties
3 the most important judge in a DISTRICT or COUNTY in Scotlandalso sheriff's court [C]
the lower court of law in Scotland, dealing with CIVIL and criminal cases $ [C]
a Himalayan person who is often employed to guide people through mountains and carry their equipment plural sherries [C,U]
a pale or dark brown strong wine, originally from Spain strong
1 the short form of 'she is':
•She's not feeling well.
2 the short form of 'she has':
•She's got a new bike. $ [C]
a small strong horse with long rough hair $
an old spelling of SHOW
used to tell people to be quiet:
•Shh! I can't hear what he's saying.Shiah
1 the Shia the Shiite branch of the Muslim religion
2 [C] a Shiite $ [U]
a Japanese form of MASSAGE (=pressing and rubbing someone's body) $ [C] formal
an old idea, custom, or principle that you think is no longer important or suitable for modern times [C]
1
a) a large piece of metal or leather that soldiers used in the past to protect themselves when fighting
b) a piece of equipment made of strong plastic, used by the police to protect themselves against angry crowds; = riot shield
HUMAN SHIELD
2
a) something in the shape of a shield, wide at the top and curving to a point at the bottom, that is given as a prize for winning a competition, especially a sports competition
b) a drawing or model of a shield, wide at the top and curving to a point at the bottom, that is used as a COAT OF ARMS
3 something that protects a person or thing from harm or damage
[+against]
•The immune system is our body's shield against infection.
4 AmE the small piece of metal that a police officer wears to show that they are a police officer; = badge[T]
to protect someone or something from being harmed or damaged:
•Women will often lie to shield even the most abusive partner.
shield sb/sth from sb/sth
•He held up his hands, shielding his eyes from the sun.
•import tariffs that shield firms from foreign competition
1 MOVE
a) [I,T] to move from one place or position to another, or make something do this:
•Joe listened, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to another.
•She shifted her gaze from me to Bobby.
b) [T] BrE informal to move something, especially by picking it up and carrying it:
•Give me a hand to shift these chairs.
2 CHANGE ATTENTION [T] to change a situation, discussion etc by giving special attention to one idea or subject instead of to a previous one
shift sth away/onto/from etc
•The White House hopes to shift the media's attention away from foreign policy issues.
shifts attention/emphasis/focus
•In this stage of a rape case, the focus often shifts onto the victim and her conduct.
shift gear AmE (=change what you are doing)
•It's hard to shift gear when you come home after a busy day at work.
3 CHANGE OPINION [I,T] if someone's opinions, beliefs etc shift, they change:
•Public opinion was beginning to shift to the right (=become more right-wing).
•shifting attitudes towards marriage
•He refused to shift his ground (=change his opinion).
4 shift the blame/responsibility (onto sb) to make someone else responsible for something, especially for something bad that has happened:
•It was a clear attempt to shift the responsibility for the crime onto the victim.
5 COSTS/SPENDING [T always + adv/prep] to change the way that money is paid or spent:
•the need to shift more resources towards reducing poverty
6 DIRT/MARKS [T] BrE to remove dirt or marks from a surface or piece of clothing:
•a new washing powder that will shift any stain
7 IN A CAR [I,T] especially AmE to change the GEARs when you are driving; = change BrE
•I shifted into second gear.
8 SELL [T] BrE informal to sell a product, especially a lot of it:
•The store shifted over 1,000 copies of the book last week.[C]
1 a change in the way people think about something, in the way something is done etc
[+from/to]
•the shift from one type of economic system to another
[+in]
•an important shift in policy
•a marked shift (=noticeable change) in attitudes towards women
2
a) if workers in a factory, hospital etc work shifts, they work for a particular period of time during the day or night, and are then replaced by others, so that there are always people working
do/work a (10/12/24 etc hour) shift
•Dave had to work a 12-hour shift yesterday.
•I work shifts.
night/day etc shift
•The thought of working night shifts put her off becoming a nurse.
early/late shift
•I'm on the early shift tomorrow.
shift work/worker/working
•people who do shift work
•A shift system has been introduced.
b) the workers who work during one of these periods
night/day/early/late shift
•before the early shift goes off duty
3 a SHIFT KEY:
•To run the spellchecker, press SHIFT and F7.
4 a simple straight loose-fitting woman's dress[C]
the KEY^1 (3) on a KEYBOARD^2 (3) that you press to make a capital letter
lazy and having no interest in working hard or trying to succeed
- shiftlessness noun [U] informal
looking dishonest:
•He looks a bit shifty to me.
•shifty eyes
- shiftily adverb
a member of one of the two main groups in the Muslim religion
- Shiite adjective [usually before noun]
SUNNI [C]
1 an old British coin or unit of money. There were 20 shillings in one pound.
2 the standard unit of money in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Somalia past tense and past participle shilly-shallied, present participle shilly-shallying, third person singular shillyshallies [I] informal
to waste time or take too long to make a decision $ [I]
to shine with a soft light that looks as if it shakes slightly:
•The lake shimmered in the moonlight.
- shimmer noun [singular, U]
•the shimmer of petrol on the road past tense and past participle shimmied, present participle shimmying, third person singular shimmies [I]
to move forwards or backwards while also quickly moving slightly from side to side [C]
the front part of your leg between your knee and your footpast tense and past participle shinned, present participle shinning [I] BrE
shin up/down to climb quickly up or down a tree, pole etc by using your hands and legs; = shinny AmE
•He shinned up a tree. $ [C]
the front bone in your leg below your knee; = tibia [C]
a noisy party - used especially in news reports past tense and past participle shone $
1 [I] to produce bright light:
•The sun was shining.
•The moon shone brightly in the sky.
[+in/on]
•That lamp's shining in my eyes.
2 [T] if you shine a light somewhere, you point it in that direction
shine sth on/at/around etc sth
•Shine that torch over here, will you?
3 [I] to look bright and smooth:
•Marion polished the table until it shone.
•She had shining black hair.
4 [T] past tense and past participle shined to make something bright by rubbing it; = polish
•His shoes were shined to perfection.
5 [I] if your eyes shine, or your face shines, you have an expression of happiness
[+with]
•'It was wonderful!' Kate replied, her eyes shining with excitement.
6 [I not in progressive] to be very good at something:
•The concert will give young jazz musicians a chance to shine.
[+at/in]
•Peter didn't really shine at school.
7 shining example something or someone that is an excellent example of a particular quality and should be admired
[+of]
•The house is a shining example of Art Deco architecture.

PHRASAL VERBS
shine through phr v
if a quality that someone has shines through, you can easily see that they have it:
•What shines through in all her work is her enthusiasm for life.
1 [singular, U] the brightness that something has when light shines on it:
•Lucy's dark hair seemed to have lost its shine.
2 take a shine to sb informal to like someone very much when you have only just met them
(come) rain or shine at RAIN^1 (4)
1 [C,U] one of many small thin pieces of wood or another building material, fastened in rows to cover a roof or wall
2 [U] small round pieces of stone on a beach:
•the crash of waves on the shingle
•a shingle beach
3 hang out your shingle AmE to start your own business, especially as a doctor or lawyer
a roof or wall that is shingled is covered with shingles [U]
a disease caused by an infection of the nerve endings, which produces painful red spots past tense and past participle shinnied, present participle shinnying, third person singular shinnies [I] AmE
shinny up/down to climb quickly up or down a tree, pole etc by using your hands and legs; = shin BrEalso Shintoism $ [U]
the ancient traditional religion of Japan
smooth and bright:
•shiny black shoes
•a shiny polished table
•Her hair was thick and shiny.
- shininess noun [U] [in nouns]
1
a) a particular position or job, or the time during which you have it:
•He was offered a professorship (=the job of professor).
•in Mr Major's premiership (=when he was prime minister)
•her application for British citizenship
2 the state of having something:
•Private car ownership has almost doubled in the past 10 years.
•Their friendship developed soon afterwards.
3 a particular art or skill:
•his superb musicianship
•a work of great scholarship
-MANSHIP
4 all the people in a particular group:
•a magazine with a readership of 9000 (=with 9000 readers) [C]
1 a large boat used for carrying people or goods across the sea:
•the ship's captain
•a luxury cruise ship
by ship
•supplies that came by ship
2 a large spacecraft
jump ship at JUMP^1 (16); run a tight ship at TIGHT^1 (5)

WORD FOCUS: ship
a ship that carries people:
passenger ship
cruise ship
liner
ferry
ro-ro
a ship that carries goods:
cargo ship
merchant ship
freighter
oil tanker
super tanker
barge
a small ship:
boat
motorboat
powerboat
a ship with sails:
yacht
dinghy
sailing ship
sailing boat BrE /sailboat AmE
catamaran
a fighting ship:
warship
aircraft carrier
battleship
cruiser
frigate
destroyer
minesweeper
gunboat
man-of-war old-fashioned
a ship that people live on:
houseboat
narrow boat BrE
a ship that goes under water:
submarine
people on a ship:
sailor
captain
passenger
seaman
the crew
parts of a ship:
deck
cabin
porthole
engine room
mast
rudder
hull
past tense and past participle shipped, present participle shipping
1 [T] to send goods somewhere by ship, plane, truck etc
ship sth out/to/over etc
•A new engine was shipped over from the US.
2 [I,T] technical to make a piece of computer equipment or software available for people to buy:
•They're now shipping their long-awaited MS-DOS version of the X-Window System.
•Both products are due to ship at the beginning of June.
3 [T] to order someone to go somewhere
ship sb off/out etc
•He was shipped off to a juvenile detention center.
SHIPPING
shape up or ship out at SHAPE UP (3) $ [only before noun]
happening on a ship:
•a shipboard romance $ [C]
a company that makes ships [U ]
the industry of making ships:
•a shipbuilding yard $ [C]
the amount of goods or people a ship can carry
[+of]
•Several shiploads of grain arrived in the harbor that day. [C]
a SAILOR 's shipmate is another sailor who is working on the same ship [C,U]
a load of goods sent by sea, road, or air, or the act of sending them
[+of]
•a shipment of grain
arms/oil/drug etc shipment
•an illegal arms shipment
•The goods are ready for shipment. $ [C]
someone who owns one or more ships $ [C]
a company that sends goods to places by ship [U]
1 ships considered as a group:
•The port is closed to all shipping.
2 the delivery of goods, especially by ship
shipping company/industry/agent etc
•a Danish shipping company
•a shipping route
3 AmE the amount of money you pay a company to deliver goods to you:
•The jewelry can be yours for $15 plus shipping and handling.[C] BrE
a radio broadcast that says what the weather will be like at sea[C]
an officially approved path of travel that ships must follow[C]
someone who sells equipment for ships [not before noun]
neat and clean:
•Let's get this house shipshape.
shipshape and Bristol fashion BrE (=shipshape)[only before noun]
providing communication between a ship and people on land:
•ship-to-shore radio
1 [C,U] the destruction of a ship in an accident:
•survivors of the shipwreck
•narrowly escaping shipwreck
2 [C] a ship that has been destroyed in an accident; = wreck
be shipwrecked if someone is shipwrecked, they are in a boat or ship when it is destroyed in an accident:
•Beatty was shipwrecked off the coast of Africa. [C]
someone who builds or repairs ships $ [C]
a place where ships are built or repaired $ [C]
1 the shires also the shire counties COUNTIES in England that mostly consist of country areas
2 BrE old use a COUNTY[C]
a type of large powerful horse used for pulling large loads $ [I,T]
to deliberately avoid doing something you should do, because you are lazy:
•a salesman who was fired for shirking
shirk your responsibilities/duties/obligations
•parents who shirk their responsibilities towards their children
- shirker noun [C] $ [C]
1 a piece of clothing that covers the upper part of your body and your arms, usually has a collar, and is fastened at the front by buttons; blouse
•I have to wear a shirt and tie to work.
•a check shirt
2 keep your shirt on spoken used to tell someone who is becoming angry that they should stay calm
3 put/bet/stake your shirt on sth BrE informal to risk all your money on something
STUFFED SHIRT $ [C]
the part of a shirt that covers your chest[C] informal
a very offensive word for a man who is HOMOSEXUAL $ [C]
1 in (your) shirtsleeves wearing a shirt but no JACKET
2 the part of a shirt that covers your arm[C]
the part of a shirt that is below your waist and is usually inside your trousers $ BrE informal
bad-tempered, angry, and rude:
•No need to get shirty! $ [C]
small pieces of meat that are put on a long thin stick and cooked not polite
used to express anger, annoyance, fear, or disappointment; = damn
•Shit! I've left my purse at home.spoken not polite
1 BODY WASTE
a) [U] solid waste that comes out of your body from your BOWELs :
•a car covered in bird shit
b) [singular] an act of getting rid of solid waste from your BOWELs
take a shit also
have a shit BrE
2 STH BAD [U] something that you think is bad or of very bad quality, or a bad situation:
•I'm not eating that shit!
piece/pile/load etc of shit
3 STUPID/UNTRUE TALK [U] something that someone says that you think is stupid or untrue; = nonsense
•You expect me to believe that shit?
•You're full of shit (=the things you say are stupid or untrue).
4 not give a shit (what/whether/about etc) to not care at all about something or someone; = not give a damn
•I don't give a shit what you think!
5 have/get the shits to have or get DIARRHOEA (=an illness in which solid waste comes out of your body in a much more liquid form than usual)
6 take/put up with shit (from sb) to allow someone to behave badly or treat you badly
7 PERSON [C] someone who is very unpleasant and treats other people badly
8 feel/look like shit to feel or look very ill, or to not look as neat and clean as you should
9 treat sb like shit to treat someone very badly
10 SB'S POSSESSIONS AmE [U] someone's possessions, especially the things they have with them:
•Get your shit together then come on over.
11 shit happens used to say that sometimes bad things happen, and people cannot always prevent them from happening
12 ... and shit used to say that there are more details that you could mention, but it should be clear to someone else what you mean:
•You said you had maps and shit.
13 no shit AmE
a) used to express surprise or to check whether what someone has just said is true:
•'I can get you one for $50.' 'No shit?'
b) used to emphasize that what you are saying is true, or to agree that what someone else says is true:
•They had like, no shit, 40 different kinds of beer.
14 in deep shit also in the shit BrE in a lot of trouble; = in big trouble
15 beat/kick etc the shit out of sb to beat, kick etc someone so violently that they are badly injured
16 give sb shit to insult someone or criticize them
17 the shit hits the fan used to say that there will be a lot of trouble when someone finds out about something
be hot shit at HOT^1 (4); tough shit! at TOUGH^1 (8)past tense and past participle shit or, shat , present participle shitting spoken not polite
1 shit yourself BrE shit (in) your pants AmE to feel very worried or frightened
2 [I] to pass solid waste out of your body from your BOWELs
3 [T] AmE to tell someone something that is untrue:
•Are you shitting me?
4 [I] to treat someone very badly
[+on]
•This will teach you not to shit on me.BrE spoken not polite
very bad:
•a really shit job
[+at]
•I'm shit at tennis.
up shit creek at CREEK (3) BrE spoken not polite
another word for SHIT [C] spoken not polite
a very offensive word for someone who you think is very stupid or who you are very angry with $ [C] spoken not polite
a place that is very dirty and unpleasantspoken not polite
extremely good spoken not polite
scare sb shitless to make someone feel very frightened[not before noun] BrE spoken not polite
very frightened spoken not polite
very bad, unpleasant, or nasty:
•a shitty job $ [I]
to shake slightly because you are cold or frightened; = tremble
•Jake stood shivering in the cold air.
shiver with cold/fear/delight etc
•She shivered with fear and anger.
see box at SHAKE^1[C]
1 a slight shaking movement of your body caused by cold or fear; = tremble
•A shiver ran through (=went through) me.
[+of]
•She felt a shiver of apprehension.
see box at SHAKE^1
2 give you the shivers informal to make you feel afraid
send shivers (up and) down your spine at SEND (10) [not before noun]
trembling or shaking because of cold, fear, or illness:
•He felt shivery and nauseous. $ [C]
1 a large group of fish swimming together; = school
[+of]
•a shoal of fish
2 a small hill of sand just below the surface of water that makes it dangerous for boats $
1 UNEXPECTED EVENT/SITUATION [C usually singular] if something that happens is a shock, you did not expect it, and it makes you feel very surprised, and usually upset
be a shock to discover/find/realize etc that
•It was a real shock to hear that the factory would have to close.
•Chuck's death came as a complete shock to all of us.
•Moving to France was a bit of a shock to the system (=a big shock).
2 UNEXPECTED UNPLEASANT FEELING [singular, U] the feeling of surprise and disbelief you have when something very unexpected happens, especially something bad or frightening:
•She was shaking with shock and humiliation.
•The whole town was still in a state of shock (=extremely shocked by something and unable to think or react normally).
get/have the shock of your life BrE (=get a very big shock)
•He got the shock of his life when he found out who I was.
shock of (doing) sth
•Mom's never really gotten over the shock of Dad's death.
•They'll get a shock when they get this bill.
•Anyone who thinks that bringing up children is easy is in for a big shock (=will have a big shock).
3 MEDICAL [U] a medical condition in which someone looks pale and their heart and lungs are not working correctly, usually after a sudden very unpleasant experience:
•He was bleeding from the head and suffering from shock.
•He is clearly in a state of shock.
•The tanker driver was treated for shock and released.
4 ELECTRICITY [C] an ELECTRIC SHOCK
5 VEHICLE [C usually plural] a SHOCK ABSORBER
6 shock of hair a very thick mass of hair:
•an energetic young man with a shock of red hair
7 SUDDEN CHANGE [C] a sudden unexpected change which threatens the economic situation, way of life, or traditions of a group of people - used especially in news reports:
•the oil shocks of the 1970s
8 SHAKING [C,U] violent shaking caused for example by an explosion or EARTHQUAKE:
•The shock was felt miles away.
SHOCK WAVE, CULTURE SHOCK, SHOCKED, SHELL SHOCK, TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME
1 [T] to make someone feel very surprised and upset, and unable to believe what has happened:
•The hatred in her voice shocked him.
shock sb to hear/learn/discover etc that
•They had been shocked to hear that the hospital was closing down.
•It shocked me to think how close we had come to being killed.
shock sb into (doing) sth
•She was shocked into action by the desperate situation in the orphanages.
2 [I,T] to make someone feel very offended, by talking or behaving in an immoral or socially unacceptable way:
•He seems to enjoy shocking people.
•Just ignore the bad language - they only do it to shock.
SHOCKED, SHOCKING[only before noun]
1 very surprising - used especially in news reports:
•England's shock defeat by Luxembourg
2 shock tactics methods of achieving what you want by deliberately shocking people:
•Shock tactics are being used to stop drink drivers.[C]
a piece of equipment connected to each wheel of a vehicle to make travelling on uneven ground more comfortable $
1 feeling surprised and upset by something very unexpected and unpleasant
[+by]
•I was deeply shocked by Jo's death.
[+at]
•He is shocked at what happened to his son.
shocked look/expression/voice etc
•She gave him a shocked look.
•For a few minutes she stood in shocked silence.
•We were too shocked to talk.
2 very offended because something seems immoral or socially unacceptable
[+by]
•Many people were shocked by the film when it first came out.
[+at]
•They were deeply shocked at her behaviour.

WORD FOCUS: shocked
similar words:
horrified
stunned
shaken
traumatized
outraged
aghast written
$ [C] informal
a film, news story, action etc that shocks you - used especially in news reports:
•TV star in drugs shocker! $
1 very surprising, upsetting, and difficult to believe:
•the shocking news that Mark had hanged himself
•a shocking discovery
•The anger in his face was shocking.
2 morally wrong:
• It's shocking that hospitals can deny help to older people.
•a shocking waste of money
3 BrE informal very bad; = terrible
•The path was in a shocking state.
•I've got a shocking cold.
- shockingly adverb
SHOCK^2[U]
a very bright pink colour
- shocking pink adjective[C] especially AmE
someone on a radio show who plays music and talks about subjects that offend many people $
a watch, machine etc that is shockproof is designed so that it is not easily damaged if it is dropped or hitalso shock therapy [U]
1 treatment of mental illness using powerful electric shocks
2 the use of extreme methods to change a system or solve a problem as quickly as possible - used especially in news reports:
•the government's shock therapy economic programme[plural]
soldiers who are specially trained to make sudden quick attacks
1 [C,U] a very strong wave of air pressure or heat from an explosion, EARTHQUAKE etc:
•The shock wave from the blast blew out 22 windows in the courthouse.
2 shock waves strong feelings of shock that people feel when something bad happens unexpectedly - used especially in news reports:
•The child's murder sent shock waves through the neighborhood.
•the shock waves caused by his resignation $ especially literary
wearing shoes of the type mentioned
well/elegantly/badly etc shod
•The children were well shod and happy.
[+in]
•His large feet were shod in trainers.
SHOE^2 $
1 made or done cheaply or carelessly
shoddy goods/service/workmanship etc
•We're not paying good money for shoddy goods.
2 unfair and dishonest:
•shoddy journalism
- shoddily adverb
- shoddiness noun [U] [C]
1 something that you wear to cover your feet, made of leather or some other strong material:
•I sat down and took off my shoes and socks.
•a pair of shoes
•He was wearing pointed black shoes.
•What size shoes do you take?
• high-heeled shoes
• running shoes
•a shoe shop
•shoe polish
2 in sb's shoes in someone else's situation, especially a bad one:
•I wouldn't like to be in his shoes when his wife finds out what happened.
•Anyone in her shoes would have done the same thing.
•Don't be cross with them. Try to put yourself in their shoes (=imagine what it would feel like to be in their situation).
3 step into/fill sb's shoes to do a job that someone else used to do, and do it as well as they did:
•It'll be hard to find someone to fill Pete's shoes.
4 a curved piece of iron that is nailed onto a horse's foot; = horseshoe
if the shoe fits, (wear it) at FIT^1 (8)past tense and past participle shod $ , present participle shoeing [T]
to put a HORSESHOE on a horse:
•We took the horses to be shod.
SHOD $ [C]
1 a CARDBOARD box that shoes are sold in
2 BrE informal a very small room, house etc:
•I was living in a shoebox in Clapham.shoe-horn $ [C]
a curved piece of metal or plastic that you put inside the back of a shoe when you put it on, to help your heel go in easily [C]
a thin piece of material, like string, that goes through holes in the front of your shoes and is used to fasten them; = lace
tie/untie a shoelace
•Roger bent to tie his shoelace.
•Your shoelaces are undone. $ [C]
someone who makes shoes and boots [C usually singular]
an occasion when someone polishes your shoes for money:
•a shoeshine stand [C]
1 on a shoestring informal if you do something on a shoestring, you do it without spending much money
run/operate/do sth on a shoestring
•The program was run on a shoestring.
2 shoestring organization/operation/budget etc a business, organization etc that does not have much money available to spend
3 AmE a SHOELACE $ [C]
a military leader in Japan until the middle of the 19th century $
the past tense and past participle of SHINE
used to tell an animal or a child to go away[T always + adv/prep] informal
to make an animal or a child go away, especially because they are annoying you
shoo sb away/out etc
•He shooed the kids out of the kitchen.[C] especially AmE informal
someone who is expected to easily win a race, election etc
[+for]
•He was far from a shoo-in for president.
shoo-in to do sth
•He looked like a shoo-in to win the Democratic nomination.
the past tense of SHAKE past tense and past participle shot $
1 KILL/INJURE [T] to deliberately kill or injure someone using a gun:
•Police shot one suspect when he pulled a gun on them.
•Smith killed his wife, and then shot himself.
•A woman was shot dead in an attempted robbery.
shoot sb in the leg/head etc
•He had been shot in the back while trying to escape.
•The guards have orders to shoot intruders on sight (=shoot them as soon as they see them).
2 FIRE A GUN ETC [I,T] to make a bullet or ARROW come from a weapon:
•Don't shoot! I'm coming out with my hands up.
[+at]
•Two guys walked in and started shooting at people.
•The soldiers had orders to shoot to kill (=shoot at someone with the intention of killing them).
shoot bullets/arrows
•They shot arrows from behind the thick bushes.
shoot a gun/rifle etc
•Tod's grandfather taught him to shoot a rifle.
3 BIRDS/ANIMALS [I,T] to shoot and kill animals or birds as a sport:
•They spent the weekend in Scotland shooting grouse.
4 MOVE QUICKLY [I,T always + adv/prep] to move quickly in a particular direction, or to make something move in this way:
•She shot past me and ran into the house.
•The cat shot across the garden, and up a tree.
•'Where does cotton come from?' Ron's hand shot up. 'America, Miss!'
•The fountain shoots water 20 feet into the air.
5 TRY TO SCORE [I,T] to kick or throw a ball in a sport such as football or BASKETBALL towards the place where you can get a point:
•Giggs shot from the halfway line.
6 LOOK AT SB shoot sb a look/glance also shoot a glance at sb to look at someone quickly, especially so that other people do not see, to show them how you feel
shoot sb a quick/sharp/warning etc look/glance
•'You're welcome to stay as long as you like.' Michelle shot him a furious glance.
•Jack shot an anxious look at his mother.
7 PHOTOGRAPH/FILM [I,T] to take photographs or make a film of something:
•The movie was shot in New Zealand.
8 PAIN [I always + adv/prep] if pain shoots through your body, you feel it going quickly through it
[+through/along]
•A sharp pain suddenly shot along his arm.
shooting pains (=continuous short pains passing through your body)
9 shoot it out (with sb) if people shoot it out, they fight using guns, especially until one person or group is killed or defeated by the other:
•a scene in which the cops shoot it out with the drug dealers
10 shoot yourself in the foot to say or do something stupid that will cause you a lot of trouble:
•If he keeps talking, pretty soon he'll shoot himself in the foot.
11 shoot questions at sb to ask someone a lot of questions very quickly:
•The prosecutor shot a series of rapid questions at Hendrickson.
12 shoot your mouth off informal to talk about something that you should not talk about or that you know nothing about:
•Don't go shooting your mouth off.
13 shoot the bull/breeze AmE informal to have an informal conversation about unimportant things:
•Cal and I were sitting on the porch, shooting the breeze.
14 shoot AmE spoken used to tell someone to start speaking:
•'I have a few questions.' 'OK, shoot.'
15 shoot from the hip to say what you think in a direct way, or make a decision very quickly, without thinking about it first
16 shoot to fame/stardom/prominence to suddenly become very famous:
•Brian, an air steward, shot to fame on the television show 'Big Brother'.
17 shoot to number 1/to the top of the charts etc to suddenly become very successful in the popular music CHARTS (=the list of records that have sold the most copies that week):
•Westlife's new album shot straight to the top of the charts.
18 shoot hoops/baskets informal to practise throwing BASKETBALLs into the basket
19 shoot the rapids to sail a small boat along a river that is moving very fast over rocks, as a sport:
•He was shooting the rapids when his canoe capsized.
20 shoot pool informal to play the game of POOL
21 shoot craps AmE informal to play the game of CRAPS
22 PLANTS [I] if a plant shoots, a new part of it starts to grow, especially a new stem and leaves
23 LOCK ON A DOOR [T] to move the BOLT on a door so that it is in the locked or unlocked position
24 have shot your bolt BrE informal also have shot your wad informal AmE to have used all of your money, power, energy etc
25 shoot your load informal to EJACULATE

PHRASAL VERBS
shoot sb/sth <=> down phr v
1 to make an enemy plane crash to the ground, by firing weapons at it:
•His plane was shot down over France in 1944.
2 to kill or seriously injure someone by shooting them, especially someone who cannot defend themselves:
•The army were accused of shooting down unarmed demonstrators.
3 informal to say or show that someone's ideas or opinions are wrong or stupid:
•I tried to help, but all my suggestions were shot down in flames, as usual.

shoot for/at sth phr v informal especially AmE
to try to achieve a particular aim, especially one that is very difficult; = aim for
•We are shooting for a 50% increase in sales in the next financial year.

shoot off phr v BrE informal
to leave somewhere quickly or suddenly:
•Sorry, but I'll have to shoot off before the end of the meeting.

shoot through phr v
AusE informal to leave a place quickly, especially in order to avoid someone or something
be shot through with sth at SHOT^2 (3)

shoot up phr v
1 to increase very quickly and suddenly:
•Demand for water has shot up by 70% over the last 30 years.
2 if a child shoots up, he or she grows taller very quickly and suddenly:
•I can't believe this is Joshua - he's shot up since we last saw him!
3 shoot sb/sth <=> up to cause serious injury or damage to someone or something by shooting them with bullets:
•Then two men came in and shot up the entire lobby.
4 shoot up (sth) informal to put illegal drugs into your blood, using a needle:
•Kids as young as ten are shooting up heroin.
blame/shoot the messenger at MESSENGER^1 (2)[C]
1 the part of a plant that comes up above the ground when it is just beginning to grow, or a new part that grows on an existing plant:
•Tender green shoots will appear in February.
2 an occasion when someone takes photographs or makes a film:
•a photo shoot sponsored by Kodak
on a shoot
•She's out on a video shoot.
3 an occasion when people shoot birds or animals for sport, or the area of land where they do this
on a shoot
•The royal party was on a shoot when the incident occurred.
4 green shoots (of recovery) BrE the first sign that a situation is improving, especially an economic situationAmE informal
used to show that you are annoyed or disappointed about something:
•Oh, shoot! I forgot to buy milk. $ [C]
1 someone who shoots a gun
2 informal a gun
3 AmE a BASKETBALL player who is good at throwing the ball through the basket
PEASHOOTER, SIX-SHOOTER, TROUBLESHOOTER
1 [C] a situation in which someone is injured or killed by a gun:
•His brother was killed in a shooting incident last year.
•the accidental shooting of a child
2 [U] the sport of shooting animals and birds with guns:
•the grouse shooting season
•The shooting party set off shortly before dawn.
3 [U] the process of taking photographs or making a film:
•We had two weeks of rehearsals before shooting began.[C]
1 a place where people shoot guns at objects to win prizes
2 AmE informal an empty building in a city, where people buy illegal drugs and INJECT them
the whole shooting match BrE spoken everything, or an event that is the most complete of its kind:
•We're having a big church wedding with bridesmaids, a pageboy - the whole shooting match.[C]
a piece of rock or metal from space, that burns brightly as it falls towards the Earth; = meteor[C] BrE
a pointed stick with a top that opens out to form a seat[C]
a fight using guns:
•Two people were killed tonight in a shoot-out with police.
PENALTY SHOOT-OUT $
1 PLACE WHERE YOU BUY THINGS [C] especially BrE a building or part of a building where you can buy things, food, or services; = store AmE
toy/pet/shoe/gift etc shop
•Her brother runs a record shop in Chester.
•a barber's shop
•a fish-and-chip shop
•the local shops
•Shirley saw her reflection in the shop window.
in the shops
•New potatoes are in the shops now.
•I'm just going down to the shops.
wander/browse around the shops
•I spent a happy afternoon wandering around the shops.
BUCKET SHOP, CORNER SHOP, COFFEE SHOP
2 PLACE WHICH MAKES/REPAIRS THINGS [C] a place where something is made or repaired:
•The generators are put together in the machine shop.
•a bicycle repair shop
SHOP FLOOR, SHOP STEWARD
3 SCHOOL SUBJECT also shop class [U] AmE a subject taught in schools that shows students how to use tools and machinery to make or repair things
in shop
•Doug made this table in shop.
wood/metal/print etc shop
•One auto shop class is run just for girls.
4 set up shop informal to start a business
5 shut up shop BrE close up shop AmE informal to close a shop or business, either temporarily or permanently
6 talk shop informal to talk about things that are related to your work, especially in a way that other people find boring:
•I'm fed up with you two talking shop.
SHOP TALK
7 all over the shop BrE spoken
a) scattered around untidily:
•There were bits of paper all over the shop.
b) confused and disorganized:
•I'm all over the shop this morning.
8 GO SHOPPING [singular] BrE spoken an occasion when you go shopping, especially for food and other things you need regularly:
•She always does the weekly shop on a Friday.

WORD CHOICE: shop, store
In British English, shop is the usual word and store is sometimes used to mean a very large shop where many different kinds of things are sold, for example a large supermarket or department store: They live opposite a row of shops. | This item is available in our London store.
In American English, store is the usual word and shop is sometimes used to mean a small store that sells one type of goods: Will you go to the store for me? | a card shop
In British English, you can talk about the shops: I'm going to the shops - do you want anything?But speakers of American English never say 'the stores'.

past tense and past participle shopped, present participle shopping
1 [I] to go to one or more shops to buy things
[+for]
•I usually shop for vegetables in the market.
[+at]
•She always shops at Tesco's.
WINDOW-SHOPPING
2 go shopping also be out shopping to go to one or more shops to buy things, often for enjoyment:
•The next day, Saturday, we went shopping.
•Mum's out shopping with Granny.
3 [T] BrE informal to tell the police about someone who has done something illegal:
•He was shopped by his ex-wife.

PHRASAL VERBS
shop around phr v
to compare the price and quality of different things before you decide which to buy:
•Prices vary widely so shop around before you buy.
[+for]
•Take time to shop around for the best deal. $ [C] informal
someone who loves to go shopping and buys lots of things they may not need[C] BrE
someone whose job is to help customers in a shop; = sales clerk AmEBrE
bought in a shop, rather than made at home; = store-bought AmE; homemade
•Why buy shop-bought yoghurt when you can easily make your own?
•Home-made marzipan has a better flavour than most shop-bought varieties. $ [U] BrE
the job of putting equipment in shops, changing the way it looks etc
- shopfitter noun [C][singular]
1 the area in a factory where the ordinary workers do their work
on the shop floor
•The chairwoman started her working life on the shop floor.
2 the ordinary workers in a factory, not the managers:
•negotiations between the shop floor and management[C] BrE
the outside part of a shop that faces the street; = storefront AmE $ [C] especially BrE
someone who owns or is in charge of a small shop; = storekeeper AmE $ [I]
to take something from a shop without paying for it
- shoplifter noun [C]
•Shoplifters will be prosecuted. $ [U]
the crime of stealing things from shops, for example by hiding them in a bag or under your clothes:
•She had been falsely accused of shoplifting in a clothing store. $ [C]
someone who buys things in shops:
•The streets were crowded with shoppers.
see box at CUSTOMER $ [U]
1 the activity of going to shops and buying things:
•Late-night shopping is becoming very popular.
shopping expedition/trip
•She's gone on a shopping trip to New York.
•I went on a shopping spree (=went shopping and bought a lot of things) at the weekend and spent far too much money.
•I've got to do some last-minute shopping.
•the busy Christmas shopping season
WINDOW-SHOPPING
2 do the shopping to go shopping to buy food and other things you need regularly:
•I hate doing the shopping at weekends.
3 BrE the things that you have just bought from a shop:
•Can you help me carry the shopping, please?[C]
a large bag that you use to carry things which you have bought[C]
a basket that you use to put things in as you walk around a shop[C] AmE
a large metal basket on wheels that you push around when you are shopping in a SUPERMARKET; = cartshopping center AmE [C] BrE
a group of shops together in one area, often in one large building[C]
a list of things you need to buy when you go shoppingalso mall [C] especially AmE
a group of shops together in one large covered building[C] BrE
an area in a town where there are a lot of shops and where cars are not allowed[C] BrE
a large metal basket on wheels that you push around when you are shopping in a SUPERMARKET; = trolleyBrE
1 a product that is shop-soiled is slightly damaged or dirty because it has been in a shop for a long time; = shopworn AmE
•shop-soiled goods
2 an idea that is shop-soiled is no longer interesting because it has been discussed many times before; = shopworn AmE
•the same old shop-soiled arguments[C]
a worker who is elected by members of a TRADE UNION in a factory or other business to represent them in dealing with managers[U] AmE informal
conversation about your work, which other people may think is boring $ AmE
1 a product that is shopworn is slightly damaged or dirty because it has been in a shop for a long time; = shop-soiled BrE
2 an idea that is shopworn is no longer interesting because it has been discussed many times before; = shop-soiled BrE
•shopworn management techniques $
1 [C,U] the land along the edge of a large area of water such as an ocean or lake:
•We could see a boat about a mile from shore.
•Only a few survivors reached the shore.
•She began to swim to shore.
on the shores of sth
•a holiday resort on the shores of the Adriatic
on shore
•We had a couple of hours on shore (=not on a ship).
off shore
•The island is about 3 miles off shore (=away from the coast).
rocky/sandy shore
2 these/British/our etc shores written a country that has a border on the sea:
•Millions of immigrants flocked to these shores in the 19th century.
•growing fears that English football players will be lured away to foreign shores
ASHORE, OFFSHORE, ONSHORE

PHRASAL VERBS
shore sth <=> up phr v
1 to support a wall or roof with large pieces of wood, metal etc to stop it from falling down:
•The roof had been shored up with old timbers.
2 to help or support something that is likely to fail or is not working well:
•attempts to shore up the struggling economy $ [C,U]
the land along the edge of a large area of water such as an ocean or lake:
•A group of men stood silently on the shoreline.
•the bay's 13000 km of shoreline $
the past participle of SHEAR $ comparative shorter, superlative shortest
1 TIME happening or continuing for only a little time or for less time than usual; long
•a short meeting
•Morris gave a short laugh.
•a short course on business English
•Winter is coming and the days are getting shorter.
•I've only been in Brisbane a short time.
•For a short while (=a short time), the city functioned as the region's capital.
•I learned a lot during my short period as a junior reporter.
•Germany achieved spectacular economic success in a relatively short period of time.
•They met and married within a short space of time.
•I promise to keep the meeting short and sweet (=short in a way that is good, especially not talking for a long time).
•For a few short weeks (=they seemed to pass very quickly) the sun shone and the fields turned gold.
2 LENGTH/DISTANCE measuring a small amount in length or distance; long
•a short skirt
•Anita had her hair cut short.
•They went by the shortest route, across the fields.
•Carol's office was only a short distance away, and she decided that she would walk there.
a short walk/flight/drive
•It's a short drive to the airport.
•The hotel is only a short walk from the beach.
3 NOT TALL someone who is short is not as tall as most people; tall
•a short plump woman
•Chris was short and stocky, with broad shoulders.
•He's a bit shorter than me.
4 BOOK/LETTER a book, letter etc that is short does not have many words or pages; long
•a short novel
•I wrote a short note to explain.
SHORT STORY
5 NOT ENOUGH
a) if you are short of something, you do not have enough of it
be short (of sth)
•Can you lend me a couple of dollars? I'm a little short.
be short of money/cash/funds
•Our libraries are short of funds.
be 5p/$10 etc short
•Have you all paid me? I'm about £9 short.
I'm a bit short BrE spoken (=I haven't got much money at the moment)
sb is not short of sth BrE (=they have a lot of it)
•Your little girl's not short of confidence, is she?
•They're not short of a few bob (=they are rich).
b) if something is short, there is not enough of it:
•Money was short in those days.
•It's going to be difficult - time is short.
•Gasoline was in short supply (=not enough of it was available) after the war.
6 be short on sth to have less of something than you should have:
•He's a nice guy, but a little short on brains.
•The President's speech was long on colorful phrases but short on solutions.
7 LESS THAN a little less than a number
[+of]
•Her time was only 2 seconds short of the world record.
just/a little short of sth
•She was just short of six feet tall.
8 short notice if something is short notice, you are told about it only a short time before it happens:
•I can't make it Friday. It's very short notice.
at short notice BrE
on short notice AmE
•The party was arranged at short notice.
9 in the short term/run during the period of time that is not very far into the future; short-term
•These measures may save money in the short term, but we'll end up spending more later.
10 have a short memory if someone has a short memory, they soon forget something that has happened:
•Voters have very short memories.
11 be short for sth to be a shorter way of saying a name:
•Her name is Alex, short for Alexandra.
12 be short of breath to be unable to breathe easily, especially because you are unhealthy:
•He couldn't walk far without getting short of breath.
13 be short with sb to speak to someone using very few words, in a way that seems rude or unfriendly:
•Sorry I was short with you on the phone this morning.
14 have a short temper/fuse to get angry very easily:
•Mr Yanto, who had a very short fuse, told her to get out.
15 get/be given short shrift if you or your idea, suggestion etc is given short shrift, you are told immediately that you are wrong and are not given any attention or sympathy:
•McLaren got short shrift from all the record companies when he first presented his new band to them in 1976.
16 be nothing/little short of sth used to emphasize that something is very good, very surprising etc:
•Her recovery seemed nothing short of a miracle.
•The results are little short of astonishing.
17 draw/get the short straw to be given something difficult or unpleasant to do, especially when other people have been given something better:
•Giles drew the short straw, and has to give us a talk this morning.
18 make short work of (doing) sth to finish something quickly and easily, especially food or a job:
•The kids made short work of the sandwiches.
•Computers can make short work of complex calculations.
19 have/get sb by the short and curlies also have/get sb by the short hairs BrE informal not polite to put someone in a situation in which they are forced to do or accept what you want:
•I signed the contract - they've got me by the short and curlies.
20 be one ... short of a ... spoken used humorously to say that someone is a little crazy or stupid:
•Lady, are you a few aces short of a deck?
•He's one sandwich short of a picnic.
21 short time BrE when workers work for fewer hours than usual, because the company cannot afford to pay them their full wage:
•Most of the workers were put on short time.
22 in short order formal in a short time and without delay
23 give sb short measure BrE old-fashioned to give someone less than the correct amount of something, especially in a shop
24 SOUND technical a short vowel is pronounced quickly without being emphasized, for example the sound of a in 'cat', e in 'bet', and i in 'bit'; long
- shortness noun [U]
•He was suffering from shortness of breath.
•Shirley was very conscious of her shortness and always wore high heels.
life's too short at LIFE (27)

WORD FOCUS: short
speech/piece of writing:
brief
concise
condensed
abridged
person:
not very tall
little
tiny
petite
time/event:
brief
quick
momentary
fleeting
ephemeral
transient
passing
short-lived
legs/fingers:
stumpy
stubby
clothes:
skimpy

1 fall short of sth to be less than what you need, expected, or hoped for, or to fail to reach a satisfactory standard:
•The Republicans increased their share of the vote, but still fell short of a majority.
•Shares in the company dropped 26p yesterday, as profits fell short of City expectations.
fall short of a goal/target/ideal
•The economy fell short of the Treasury's target of 2% growth.
fall far/a long way/well short of sth
•Facilities in these schools fall far short of the standards required.
•One or two songs on the album are interesting, but most fall short of the mark (=are not good enough).
2 be running short (of/on sth) if you are running short of something, or if something is running short, it is being used up and there will soon not be enough left:
•We're running short of coffee again.
•Our supplies of petrol were running short.
•Come on, time's running short!
3 stop short of doing sth to almost do something but then decide not to do it:
•They accused the President of incompetence, but stopped short of calling for his resignation.
4 stop short to suddenly stop speaking or stop what you are doing, because something has surprised you or you have just thought of something:
•Seeing her tears, he stopped short.
5 be cut short if something is cut short, it is stopped before you expect or before it is finished:
•His career was tragically cut short when, at the age of 42, he died of a heart attack.
6 cut sb short to interrupt and stop someone when they are speaking:
•I was halfway through my explanation when Walter cut me short.
7 pull/bring sb up short to surprise or shock someone so that they stop what they are doing or saying to think for a moment:
•The question brought her up short, but after a moment's hesitation, she answered it.
8 3 metres/5 miles etc short of sth without reaching a place you are trying to get to, because you are still a particular distance from it:
•The plane touched down 200 metres short of the runway.
9 two weeks/a month etc short of sth two weeks, a month etc before something:
•He died two days short of his fifty-sixth birthday.
10 short of (doing) sth without actually doing something:
•Short of locking her in her room, he couldn't really stop her from seeing Jack.
11 come up short to fail to win or achieve something:
•We've been to the state tournament four times, but we've come up short every time.
12 go short (of sth) BrE to have less of something than you need:
•She made sure that her children never went short.
13 be taken short/be caught short BrE informal to have a sudden strong need to go to the toilet when you are not near one
1 shorts [plural]
a) short trousers ending at or above the knees:
•a pair of shorts
•tourists in shorts and T-shirts
BERMUDA SHORTS, CYCLING SHORTS
b) especially AmE men's underwear with short legs:
•Craig was standing in the kitchen in his shorts.
BOXER SHORTS, JOCKEY SHORTS
2 in short used when you want to give the main point of something:
•Carter hoped for greater trust between the two nations, more trade, more cultural exchanges - in short, a genuine peace.
3 for short used as a shorter way of saying a name:
•His name's Maximilian, but we just call him Max for short.
4 [C] informal a short film shown in the cinema
5 [C] BrE informal a strong alcoholic drink that is not beer or wine, drunk in a small glass; = shot AmE
•Do you fancy a short? A whisky or a vodka?
6 [C] informal a SHORT CIRCUIT:
•a short in the system
the long and the short of it at LONG^1 (10)also short out [I,T]
to SHORT-CIRCUIT, or make something do this:
•The toaster shorted and caused a fire. $ [C,U]
a situation in which there is not enough of something that people need
[+of]
•a shortage of skilled labour
• There is no shortage of funds.
water/food/housing etc shortage
•efforts to solve the housing shortage
acute/chronic/severe shortage
•an acute shortage of manpower[singular] BrE
a way of cutting a man's hair so that it is very short at the back and sides of his head and slightly longer on top $ [U]
a hard, sweet BISCUIT made with a lot of butter $ [U]
1 BrE shortbread
2 AmE cake over which a sweet fruit mixture is poured, especially STRAWBERRIES[T]
1 to treat someone unfairly by not giving them what they deserve or hoped for:
•When the band only played for 15 minutes the fans felt they had been short-changed.
2 to give back too little money to a customer who has bought something and paid more than the exact amount for it[C]
a failure of an electrical system, caused by bad wires or a fault in a connection in the wires
1 [I,T] to have a short circuit or cause a short circuit in something
2 [T] to get something done without going through the usual long methods:
•I short-circuited the whole process by a simple telephone call. $ [C usually plural]
a fault or weakness that makes someone or something less successful or effective than they should be:
•Peter was painfully aware of his own shortcomings.
[+of]
•the shortcomings of our local government system
[+in]
•The report suggested that there were severe shortcomings in police tactics. $ [U] BrE
a type of PASTRY which breaks up easily and is used for making PIEs also short-cut $ [C]
1 a quicker and more direct way of getting somewhere than the usual one:
•Carlos decided to take a short-cut home.
•We were late for the game, but found a short cut through the fields.
2 a quicker way of doing something
[+to]
•There aren't really any shortcuts to learning English. $ [I,T]
to become shorter or make something shorter; lengthen
•The days are shortening now.
[+to]
•His name is often shortened to Pat. $ [U]
fat made from vegetable oil that you mix with flour when making PASTRY (1) $ [C]
the difference between the amount you have and the amount you need or expect
[+in]
•Parents have been asked to pay £30 each to cover the shortfall in the budget.
[+of]
•an estimated shortfall of about £1 million $ [U]
1 a fast method of writing using special signs or shorter forms to represent letters, words, and phrases
in shorthand
•The reporter took notes in shorthand.
•a secretary who takes shorthand (=writes in shorthand)
LONGHAND
2 a shorter but less clear way of saying something
[+for]
•He's been 'relocated', which is shorthand for 'given a worse job a long way away'. $
having fewer helpers or workers than you need; = short-staffed[C] BrE
someone whose job is to use shorthand to write down what someone else says and then TYPE a copy of it; = stenographer AmE
a short-haul aircraft or flight travels a fairly short distance; long-haul
•short-haul routes within the UKalso shortlist $ [C] BrE
a list of the most suitable people for a job or a prize, chosen from all the people who were first considered
on the short list (for sth)
•Davies was on the shortlist for the Booker Prize.
draw up/compile a shortlist
•The panel will draw up a shortlist of candidates.also shortlist [T usually passive] BrE
to put someone on a short list for a job or a prize
short-list sb for sth
•She's been short-listed for the director's job. $
existing or happening for only a short time:
•Our happiness was short-lived. $
1 soon:
•Ms Jones will be back shortly.
shortly before/after sth
•The accident happened shortly before midday.
2 written speaking in an impatient and unfriendly way:
•'I've explained that already,' Rod said shortly.[C]
someone in a restaurant kitchen who cooks food that can be prepared easily or quickly
1 only before noun short-range weapons or MISSILEs are designed to travel or be used over a short distance; long-range
•short-range nuclear weapons
2 short-range plan/goal/forecast etc concerned only with the period that is not very far into the future; long-range [T] AmE
to fold the top sheet on a bed so that no one can get into it, as a trick
1 especially BrE unable to see objects clearly unless they are very close; = nearsighted AmE; long-sighted
2 not considering the possible effects in the future of something that seems good now - used to show disapproval; far-sighted
•a short-sighted policy of reducing investment in training
- short-sightedly adverb
- short-sightedness noun [U]
•Thanks to the government's short-sightedness, our hospitals are very short of cash.
having fewer than the usual or necessary number of workers; = short-handed
•We're very short-staffed at the moment.[only before noun] BrE
short-stay hotels, car parks etc are places that you can stay for only a short time $ [C]
a player on a baseball team who tries to stop any balls that are hit between second and third BASE^2 (7)[C]
a short written story about imaginary situations and characters
tending to become angry very quickly; bad-tempered
•She gets short-tempered when she's tired.
- short temper noun [C][usually before noun]
continuing for only a short time, or relating only to the period that is not very far into the future; long-term
•The treatment may bring short-term benefits to AIDS sufferers.
•Most of the staff are on short-term contracts.
•She's suffering from short-term memory loss.
short term at TERM^1 (4)
- short-term adverb[U]
a way of planning or thinking that is concerned only with what gives you advantages now, rather than what might happen in the future:
•plans to combat short-termism among investors in British industry[U]
a range of short radio waves used for broadcasting around the world
LONG WAVE, MEDIUM WAVE $ plural shorties
1 used as an insulting name for someone who is not very tall
2 [C] informal a woman - used especially by people who play or listen to HIP-HOP music
3 [C] informal a baby - used especially by people who play or listen to HIP-HOP music:
•Shawna says she's gonna be having my shorty. $
1 GUN [C]
a) an act of firing a gun:
•He pulled out his rifle and fired three shots.
•The first shot missed my head by just a few inches.
•The shot hit the raider in the upper chest and killed him instantly.
•A crazy man took a shot at her (=tried to shoot her) from a rooftop.
•He fired off a volley of shots from his semi-automatic rifle.
•The policeman was killed by a single shot.
b) the sound of a gun being fired:
•Where were you when you heard the shot?
•Two shots rang out (=could be heard), and security guards rushed over, guns drawn.
c) a good/bad etc shot someone who is good, bad etc at shooting:
•Sergeant Cooper is an excellent shot.
2 BULLETS [U]
a) small metal balls that are shot, many at a time, from a SHOTGUN
b) old use large metal balls that are shot from a CANNON
3 ATTEMPT TO SCORE [C] an attempt in sport to throw, kick, or hit the ball towards the place where you can get a point:
•Shaw took a shot at the goal from the halfway line, but missed.
• Good shot!
4 PHOTOGRAPH [C] a photograph; = picture
[+of]
•a close-up shot of a demonstrator being beaten by a policeman
•I managed to get some good shots of the carnival.
•We hired a photographer to take some publicity shots.
• action shots of football players (=ones taken of people while they are moving)
MUGSHOT
5 FILM/TV [C] the view of something in a film or television programme that is produced by having the camera in a particular position:
•In the opening shot we see Travolta's feet walking down the sidewalk.
6 ATTEMPT [C] informal an attempt to do something or achieve something, especially something difficult
shot at (doing) sth
•This is her first shot at directing a play.
•If Lewis won his next fight, he would be guaranteed a shot at the title (=chance to win the title).
•I decided to have a shot at decorating the house myself.
•I didn't think I had much chance of winning the race, but I thought I'd give it a shot (=try to do it).
•The network finally gave Keaton a shot at presenting his own show.
7 give sth your best shot to make as much effort as you can to achieve something difficult:
•This case is going to be tough, but I promise I'll give it my best shot.
•Lydia didn't get the job, but at least she gave it her best shot.
8 be a long shot
a) used to say that a plan is worth trying, even though you think it is unlikely to succeed:
•It's a long shot, but someone might recognise her from the photo and be able to tell us where she lives.
b) AmE if someone is a long shot, they are not likely to be chosen for a job or to win an election, competition etc:
•Turner is a long shot to win next month's mayoral election.
9 a 10 to 1 shot/50 to 1 shot etc a horse, dog etc in a race, whose chances of winning are expressed as numbers
10 a shot in the dark an attempt to guess something without having any facts or definite ideas:
•My answer to the last question was a complete shot in the dark.
11 CRITICAL REMARK [C] a remark that is intended to criticize or hurt someone:
•I'm not going to sit here listening to you two take shots at each other all night.
•She couldn't resist a parting shot (=one that you make just before you leave)- 'And you were a lousy lover!'
•That was a cheap shot! (=one that is unfair and unreasonable)
12 like a shot if you do something like a shot, you do it very quickly and eagerly:
•If he asked me to go to Africa with him, I'd go like a shot!
13 a shot across the bows/a warning shot (across the bows) something you say or do to warn someone that you oppose what they are doing and will try to make them stop it - used especially in news reports:
•The President's own supporters are firing a warning shot across his bows.
14 big shot an important or powerful person, especially in business:
•a big shot in the record business
15 DRINK [C] a small amount of a strong alcoholic drink
[+of]
•a shot of tequila
•a shot glass (=a small glass for strong alcoholic drinks)
16 DRUG [C] especially AmE an INJECTION of a drug (=when it is put into the body with a needle); = jab BrE
•Have you had your typhoid and cholera shots?
17 a shot in the arm something that makes you more confident or more successful:
•The new factory will give the local economy a much needed shot in the arm.
18 HEAVY BALL [C] a heavy metal ball that competitors try to throw as far as possible in the sport of SHOT PUT
call the shots at CALL^1 (9); by a long chalk/shot at LONG^1 (21); long shot at LONG^1 (18); BUCKSHOT, GUNSHOT, SNAPSHOT, POT SHOT[not before noun]
1 spoken in bad condition because of being used too much or treated badly:
•My back tires are shot.
•My nerves were shot to pieces after my driving test.
2 be/get/want shot of sb/sth BrE spoken to get rid of someone or something:
•I know the director wants shot of me.
3 be shot through with sth
a) if a piece of cloth is shot through with a colour, it has very small threads of that colour woven into it:
•a fine silk shot through with gold threads
b) to have a lot of a particular quality or feeling:
•a charming collection of stories, shot through with a gentle humour
the past tense and participle of SHOOT $ [C]
a long gun fired from the shoulder, that shoots many small round balls at one time, used especially for killing birds or animals:
•The robbers were armed with sawn-off shotguns (=ones that have been made shorter, so the balls go in different directions).[C]
a wedding that has to take place immediately because the woman is going to have a baby[singular]
a sport in which you throw a heavy metal ball as far as you can
- shot putter noun [C]
•an Olympic shot putter strong negative short formshouldn't
1 RIGHT THING
a) used to say what is the right or sensible thing to do:
•He shouldn't be so selfish.
•Children shouldn't be allowed to play in the street.
•'I don't care what people think.' 'Well, you should.'
•Why shouldn't I smoke if I want to?
b) used to say what would have been right or sensible, but was not done:
•They should have called the police.
2 ADVICE used to give or ask for advice:
•What should I do? Should I trust him?
•You should read his new book.
• I should stay in bed if I were you.
3 EXPECTED THING
a) used to say that you expect something to happen or be true:
•It should be a nice day tomorrow.
•Try phoning Robert - he should be home by now.
•Australia should win this match.
•'Artistic people can be very difficult sometimes.' 'Well, you should know - you married one.'
b) used to say what was expected, but did not happen:
•It was an easy test and he should have passed, but he didn't.
4 CORRECT THING used to say what is the correct amount, the correct way of doing something etc:
•Every sentence should start with a capital letter.
•What do you mean, there are only ten tickets? There should be twelve.
•White wine, not red, should be served with fish.
5 ORDERS formal used in official orders and instructions:
•Passengers for Flight BA213 should proceed to Gate 12.
6 AFTER 'THAT' BrE used in a CLAUSE beginning with 'that' after particular adjectives and verbs:
•It's strange that you should say that.
•It is essential that he should have a fair trial.
•The residents demanded that there should be an official inquiry.
7 POSSIBILITY used to talk about something that may possibly happen or be true:
•Naturally, he was nervous in case anything should go wrong.
•What if I should fall sick and not be able to work?
should sb/sth do sth
•Should you need any help (=if you need any help), you can always phone me at the office.
8 IMAGINED SITUATIONS formal especially BrE used after 'I' or 'we' to say what you would do if something happened or was true:
•If anyone treated me like that, I should complain to the manager.
•I should be surprised if many people voted for him.
9 REQUESTING/OFFERING formal especially BrE used to politely ask for something, offer to do something, or say that you want to do something:
•I should be grateful if you could provide me with some information.
•'What can I get you?' 'I should like a long cool drink.'
•We should be delighted to help in any way we can.
•I should like to thank you all for coming here tonight.
10 PAST INTENTIONS/EXPECTATIONS used as the past tense of 'shall' after 'I' or 'we' to say what you intended or expected to do:
•We knew that we should be leaving the next day.
11 what should I see but sth/who should appear but sb etc used to show that you were surprised when you saw a particular thing, when a particular person appeared etc:
•Just at that moment, who should walk in but old Jim himself.
12 you should have seen/heard sth spoken used to emphasize how funny, strange, beautiful etc something was that you saw or heard:
•You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I'd won first prize.
13 how/why should...? used to express surprise that something has happened or that someone has asked you a particular question:
•Why should anyone want to marry Tony?
•Don't ask me. How should I know?
14 I should think/imagine/hope spoken
a) used to say that you think or hope something is true, when you are not certain:
•I shouldn't think they've gone far.
•'I suppose there'll be a lot of complaints?' 'I should imagine so.'
b) used to emphasize that you are not surprised by what someone has told you because you have moral reasons to expect it:
•'She doesn't like to hear me swearing.' 'I should think not.'
•'He did apologize.' 'I should hope so, after the way he behaved.' $
1 BODY PART [C] one of the two parts of the body at each side of the neck where the arm is connected:
•She tapped the driver on the shoulder.
•a muscular man with broad shoulders
•He put his arm around her shoulders.
•When we asked Keith who she was, he just shrugged his shoulders (=raised his shoulders to show that he did not know or care).
look/glance over your shoulder (=look behind you)
•Lucy glanced nervously over her shoulder to see who was behind her.
2 CLOTHES [C] the part of a piece of clothing that covers your shoulders:
•a jacket with padded shoulders
3 MEAT [C,U] the upper part of the front leg of an animal that is used for meat
[+of]
•a shoulder of pork
4 be looking over your shoulder to feel worried that something unpleasant is going to happen to you
5
a) a shoulder to cry on someone who gives you sympathy:
•Ben is always there when I need a shoulder to cry on.
b) cry on sb's shoulder to get sympathy from someone when you tell them your problems
6 shoulder to shoulder
a) having the same aims and wanting to achieve the same thing; = side by side
[+with]
•We are working shoulder to shoulder with local residents.
b) physically close together; = side by side
•Blacks and whites stood shoulder to shoulder in the stands to applaud.
7 on sb's shoulders if blame or a difficult job falls on someone's shoulders, they have to take responsibility for it:
•The blame rests squarely on Jim's shoulders.
8 put your shoulder to the wheel to start to work with great effort and determination
9 ROAD-SIDE [C] AmE an area of ground beside a road where drivers can stop their cars if they are having trouble
HARD SHOULDER, SOFT SHOULDER
10 CURVED SHAPE [C] a rounded part just below the top of something
give sb the cold shoulder at COLD^1 (7); have a chip on your shoulder at CHIP^1 (5); be/stand head and shoulders above the rest at HEAD^1 (29); rub shoulders with at RUB^1 (5); straight from the shoulder at STRAIGHT^1 (10)
1 shoulder the responsibility/blame/cost/burden etc to accept a difficult or unpleasant responsibility, duty etc:
•The residents are being asked to shoulder the costs of the repairs.
2 [T] to lift something onto your shoulder to carry it:
•They shouldered the boat and took it down to the river.
3 shoulder your way through/into etc to move through a large crowd of people by pushing with your shoulder:
•He ran after her, shouldering his way through the crowd.
4 shoulder arms an order given to soldiers telling them to hold their weapon against their shoulder[C]
a bag that hangs from your shoulder[C]
one of the two flat bones on each side of your back
as high as your shoulder:
•The grass was shoulder-high.
shoulder-length hair hangs down to your shoulders[C]
a small thick piece of material that is fixed inside the shoulders of dress or jacket to make your shoulders look bigger[C]
1 a long narrow piece of material on a dress or other piece of women's clothing that goes over the shoulder
2 a long narrow piece of material fixed to a bag etc so that you can carry it over your shoulder
the short form of 'should not' strong old use
the second person singular form of the verb SHOULD
1 [I,T] to say something very loudly; scream, yell
•There's no need to shout! I can hear you!
[+at]
•I wish you'd stop shouting at the children.
[+for]
•We could hear them shouting for help.
•'Watch out!' she shouted, as the car started to move.
shout sth at sb
•He was shouting insults at the lorry driver.
shout sth to sb
•'He's down here!' she shouted to Alison.
2 shout in pain/anger/frustration etc BrE to call out loudly; = scream AmE
•My brother shouted in pain as the ball hit him.
3 shout sth from the rooftops to tell everyone about something because you want everyone to know about it

PHRASAL VERBS
shout sb <=> down phr v
to shout so that someone who is speaking cannot be heard:
•An older man tried to shout him down.

shout sth <=> out phr v
to say something suddenly in a loud voice:
•Don't shout out the answer in class, put up your hand.
1 [C] a loud call expressing anger, pain, excitement etc; scream, yell
•a warning shout
[+of]
•Tom gave a shout of laughter when he saw them.
•shouts of delight
2 give sb a shout BrE spoken to go and find someone and tell them something:
•Give me a shout when you're ready to go.
3 sb's shout BrE AusE informal someone's turn to buy drinks:
•It's my shout. Same again?
4 be in with a shout (of doing sth) BrE informal to have a chance of winning:
•The team's still in with a shout. [U]
1 when people say things very loudly:
•We heard a lot of shouting and went to investigate.
2 be all over bar the shouting BrE spoken used to say that something is almost finished and there is no doubt what the result will be[C]
an angry argument in which people shout at each other
1 [I,T] to push someone or something in a rough or careless way, using your hands or shoulders:
•He shoved her towards the car.
•Everyone was pushing and shoving to see the prince.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to put something somewhere carelessly or without thinking much:
•Tidying the room seems to mean shoving everything under the bed!
•He shoved his hands into his pockets.
3 [T] spoken used to tell someone in a very impolite way that you do not want something:
•They can take their three cents an hour raise and shove it.

PHRASAL VERBS
shove off phr v
1 BrE spoken used to tell someone rudely or angrily to go away:
•Shove off! I'm busy.
2 to push a boat away from the land, usually with a pole

shove up/over phr v BrE spoken
BrE to move along on a seat to make space for someone else:
•Shove up mate, there's no room to sit down here.
when/if push comes to shove at PUSH^2 (6)[C]
a strong push:
• Give the door a good shove. [C]
1 a tool with a rounded blade and a long handle used for moving earth, stones etc; = spade
2 a part of a large vehicle or machine used for moving or digging earthpast tense and past participle shovelled, present participle shovelling BrE past tense and past participle shoveled, present participle shoveling AmE [T]
1 to lift and move earth, stones etc with a shovel:
•The workmen shovelled gravel onto the road.
•They were out in freezing conditions shovelling snow off the pitch.
shovel the driveway/sidewalk etc AmE (=shovel snow from a road or path)
•Everyone was out shovelling their sidewalks.
2 shovel sth into/onto sth to put something, usually food, somewhere quickly:
•We shovelled food into our mouths as fast as we could. [C]
the amount of coal, snow, earth etc that you can carry on a shovel $ [U]
information that first appears in printed form, for example in a book or newspaper, and then is put onto the Internet or CD-ROM without any new or interesting ways to look at or use the information:
•Many of the educational software titles are nothing but shovelware. $ past tense showed past participle shown $
1 LET SB SEE [T] to let someone see something
show sb sth
•The children proudly showed me their presents.
show sth to sb
•Show your ticket to the woman at the entrance.
•The man grinned, showing bad teeth.
2 PROVE STH [T] to provide facts or information that make it clear that something is true, that something exists, or that something has happened:
•Figures showed a 9% rise in inflation.
•Gary has shown his faith in the club's future by agreeing to stay on.
show (that)
•Mike needed a copy of the will to show that the books had been left to him.
show sb (that)
•We have shown our critics that we can succeed.
show how
•This document shows how to oppose bad decisions about new housing.
show what
•She just wants a chance to show what she can do.
show sb/sth to be sth
•Charles showed himself to be a fine leader.
be shown to be/do sth
•The campaign has been shown to be a waste of money.
•The new treatment has been shown to reduce the number of deaths.
studies/evidence/research etc shows
•Several studies have shown that aggressive toys lead to bad behaviour.
•The Polish economy began to show signs of recovery.
•It just goes to show (=proves) how much people judge each other on how they look.
3 FEELINGS/ATTITUDES/QUALITIES [T] to let your feelings, attitudes, or personal qualities be clearly seen:
•Think positively and show some determination.
•She had learned not to show her emotions.
•It was the sound a man might make when in pain but trying not to show it.
•Mary showed great interest in the children.
4 EXPLAIN WITH ACTIONS [T] to explain to someone how to do something, by doing it yourself or using actions to help them learn
show sb how
•Show me how the gun works.
show sb how to do sth
•Maureen showed Peter how to feed the young animals.
show sb sth
•Can you show Lucy the way to slice onions?
5 PICTURE/MAP ETC [T] if a picture, map etc shows something, you can see it on the picture, map etc:
•I want a photograph that shows his face.
•The map shows the main rivers of the region.
6 GUIDE SB [T] to go with someone and guide them to a place
show sb to/into sth
•Can you show Mrs Davies to the bathroom?
show sb out/in
•I can show myself out (=out of the office or house).
show sb sth
•Come on, I'll show you the way.
7 POINT AT STH [T] to let someone see where a place or thing is, especially by pointing to it
show sb where
•Can you show me exactly where he fell?
8 FILM/TELEVISION [I,T] to make a film or television programme available on a screen for people to see, or to be on a screen:
•The film was shown on television last night.
•The match was shown live (=could be seen on television while it was being played).
•It's now showing at cinemas across London.
SHOWING (1)
9 BE EASY TO SEE [I] if something shows, it is easy to see:
•His happiness showed in his face.
•Her scar doesn't show, because her hair covers it.
•Stephen was worried and it showed.
10 DIRT/MARK [T] if material shows the dirt or a mark, it is easy to see the dirt or mark on it:
•Light-coloured clothes tend to show the dirt.
11 INCREASE/DECREASE [T] to have an increase or decrease in something, or a profit or loss:
•The price of players is the reason why many football clubs show big losses on their balance sheets.
•Recent elections have shown significant gains by right-wing groups.
12 ART/PICTURES [T] to put a group of paintings or other works of art in one place so that people can come and see them:
•Her recent sculptures are being shown at the Hayward Gallery.
•The Whitney Museum was the first to show Mapplethorpe's photographs.
13 I'll show him/them etc spoken used to say that you will prove to someone that you are better, more effective etc than they think you are
14 have sth to show for sth to have something as a result of what you have been doing:
•If he fails his exams, he'll have nothing to show for his time at school.
•She had plenty of money to show for all her work.
15 show your face if you will not show your face somewhere, you will not go there because you have a good reason to feel ashamed or embarrassed about being there:
•She never shows her face around here.
16 show your hand to make your true power or intentions clear, especially after you have been keeping them secret:
•There were so many rumours that the company was forced to show its hand.
17 ANIMAL [T] to put an animal into a competition with other animals:
•Do you plan to show your dogs?
18 ARRIVE also show up [I] informal especially AmE to arrive at the place where someone is waiting for you:
•I went to meet Hank, but he never showed.
19 show sb in a good/bad etc light if an action shows you in a good or bad light, it makes people have a good or bad opinion of you:
•During an interview you need to show yourself in the best possible light.
20 show sb the door to make it clear that someone is not welcome and should leave
21 show (sb) who's boss informal to prove to someone who is threatening your authority that you are more powerful than they are:
•You've got to show your dog who's boss. When you say sit, he should sit.
22 show the way if you show the way for other people, you do something new that others then try to copy
23 show a leg! BrE spoken used to tell someone to get out of bed
24 show (sb) a clean pair of heels BrE old-fashioned informal to run away very fast

PHRASAL VERBS
show sb around (sth) phr v also show sb round (sth) BrE
to go around a place with someone when they first arrive there, to show them what is interesting, useful etc:
•Harrison showed her around the house.

show off phr v
1 to try to make people admire your abilities, achievements, or possessions - used to show disapproval:
•He couldn't resist showing off on the tennis court.
2 show sth <=> off to show something to a lot of people because you are very proud of it:
•a picture of the restaurant's owners showing off their award
3 show sth <=> off if one thing shows off something else, it makes the other thing look especially attractive:
•The white dress showed off her dark skin beautifully.

show sb over sth phr v especially BrE
to guide someone through an interesting building or a house that is for sale:
•Ingrid has a job showing visitors over the castle.

show up phr v
1 informal to arrive, especially at the place where someone is waiting for you; = turn up
•Seth showed up, apologising for being late.
•We had 200 people show up for our seminar.
2 show sth <=> up to make it possible to see or notice something that was not clear before:
•The sunlight showed up the marks on the window.
3 to be easy to see or notice:
•Use a light colour which will show up on a dark background.
4 show sb <=> up to make someone feel embarrassed by behaving in a stupid or unacceptable way when you are with them:
•She says I showed her up in front of her friends when they came to the house.
1 PERFORMANCE [C] a performance for the public, especially one that includes singing, dancing, or jokes:
•I enjoyed the show immensely.
•The show starts at 7:30 pm.
•They've come to town to see a Broadway show.
•Perry was the star of the show.
FLOOR SHOW, ROADSHOW
2 TV/RADIO [C] a programme on television or on the radio:
•a TV show
•a television quiz show (=a show in which people compete to answer questions)
•The senator appeared on the CBS show'Face the Nation'.
•Presenter Fiona Harper will be hosting the show (=introducing guests).
CHAT SHOW, GAME SHOW, TALK SHOW
3 COLLECTION OF THINGS TO SEE [C] an occasion when a lot of similar things are brought together in one place so that people can come and look at them:
•the Paris Boat Show
•a fashion show for charity
•Kelly has a show of her latest work opening shortly.
4 on show being shown to the public:
•Paintings by Matisse are on show at the New York Gallery.
•The designer clothes will go on show in Chicago next month.
•Local antiques will be put on show in a new building especially built for the collection.
5 a show of sth an occasion when someone deliberately shows a particular feeling, attitude, or quality:
•I felt I should make a show of dignity.
•The award will be seen as a show of support.
show of strength/force
•a strong and determined show of force by the police
6 PRETENDED ACT [singular, U] when you pretend to do or feel something; = pretence
[+of]
•a show of gratitude
•Susan put on a show of regret all day.
•The waiter made a show of wiping the table.
7 for show with the purpose of looking attractive or impressive rather than being useful:
•He does actually play his guitar - it's not just for show.
8 COLOURFUL SCENE [singular] an impressive scene, especially one that is very colourful
[+of]
•a glorious show of colour in the rose garden
•Maple trees put on their best show in the autumn.
9 COMPETITION [C] a competition between similar things or animals to choose the best:
•The dog show was being held in the Agricultural Hall.
10 EVENT/SITUATION [singular] informal something which is being done or organized:
•We need to find someone to run the show (=be in charge).
11 put up a good/poor etc show informal to perform, play etc well or badly:
•Our team put up a pretty good show, but we lost in the end.
12 let's get this show on the road spoken used to tell people it is time to start working or start a journey
13 (jolly) good show BrE old-fashioned spoken used to express your approval of something
steal the show at STEAL^1 (4)[U]
an activity for school children in which they bring an object to school and tell the other children about it:
•Ramona brought in a fossil for show and tell. $ [U] informal
SHOW BUSINESSalso showbiz [U] informal
the entertainment industry, for example television, films, popular theatre etc
in show business
•Phyllis always wanted to be in show business.
•He loves the world of show business.
•The restaurant is always full of show business personalities. $ [C]
1 an event or situation that is designed to show the good qualities of a person, organization, product etc
[+for]
•The new musical is a good showcase for her talents.
2 a glass box containing objects for people to look at in a shop, at an art show etc
- showcase verb [T]
•She wants to showcase African-American literature. $ [C usually singular]
a meeting, argument, fight etc that will settle a disagreement or competition that has continued for a long time
[+with]
•a showdown with the striking workers
•Britain has a World Cup showdown with Australia next month. $ [C]
1 FOR WASHING IN a piece of equipment that you stand under to wash your whole body:
•Why does the phone always ring when I'm in the shower?
•I'd like to use the shower if that's all right.
•The bathroom has a separate shower cubicle (=a shower in a separate part of the room).
2 ACT OF WASHING an act of washing your body while standing under a shower:
•I need a shower.
take a shower
•Nick rolled out of bed and took a shower.
have a shower especially BrE
•Mary loves having a hot shower after she's been swimming.
3 RAIN a short period of rain or snow:
•More heavy showers are forecast for tonight.
•a shower of rain
•a snow shower
•A few wintry showers are likely on the east coast.
4 LOTS OF THINGS a lot of small, light things falling or going through the air together
[+of]
•Peter kicked the fire and sent up a shower of sparks.
•A shower of leaves fell towards the ground.
5 PARTY AmE a party at which presents are given to a woman who is going to get married or have a baby:
•We gave a shower for Beth.
•a baby shower
6 PEOPLE [usually singular] BrE informal a group of stupid or lazy people
1 [I] to wash your whole body while standing under a shower:
•Mike shaved and showered.
2 [T] to give someone a lot of things
shower sb with sth
•She showered him with kisses.
•Tom showered Amy with presents.
shower sth on/upon sb
•She had no children and showered her love on her three nieces.
3 [I always + adv/prep, T] to scatter a lot of things onto a person or place, or to be scattered in this way
[+down/over/upon]
•The top shelf broke and books showered down.
shower sth with sth
•The ship was showered with hot ash from the volcano.
shower sth on/over sth
•Hundreds of leaflets were showered over the town.[C]
a plastic hat that keeps your hair dry in a shower[U] BrE
a type of liquid soap that you use to wash yourself in a shower $
showerproof clothes keep you dry in light rain but not in heavy rain $
raining frequently for short periods:
•a showery day $ [C]
one of a group of women who sing or dance in a musical show $ [C] BrE
a large area of land where an event such as a farming show or a FETE can be heldalso show home [C] BrE
a house that has been built and filled with furniture to show buyers what similar new houses look like $
1 [C] an occasion when a film, art show etc can be seen or looked at, especially a special occasion that people are invited to:
•I saw a private showing of the film.
•It was the comedy's first showing on TV.
2 [singular] used to talk about a person's or thing's level of success:
•Choose the candidate who makes the best showing in the interview.
strong/poor showing
•Women made a strong showing in the election.
on ... showing BrE
•On present showing (=judging by the way it is now), there's a lot to do to get the newspaper's sales up.
•On this showing (=judging by this example), she is becoming a very good writer indeed.[U]
a sport in which horses with riders have to jump a series of fences as quickly and skilfully as possible
- show jumper noun [C] $ plural showmen [C]
someone who is good at entertaining people and getting a lot of public attention:
•He is the band's best showman. $ [U]
skill at entertaining people and getting public attention $
the past participle of SHOW[C] informal
someone who always tries to show how clever or skilled they are so that other people will admire them - often used to show disapproval:
•She's a bit of a show-off.[singular]
a vote taken by counting the raised hands of the people at a meeting:
•The dispute was settled with a show of hands. $ [C usually singular]
something that an organization, government etc wants people to see, because it is a very good or successful example:
•The building is a showpiece of elegant design.
•The new stadium is a showpiece for the Greeks. $ [C]
a place which is open to the public because of its beauty, historical interest etc $ [C]
a large room where you can look at things that are for sale, such as cars or electrical goods:
•a car showroom
a show-stopping performance is extremely good or impressive:
•a show-stopping dance routine
- show-stopper noun [C] $ [U]
1 the time that a play or film will begin in a theatre or cinema
2 AmE informal the time when an activity should begin[C]
an unfair TRIAL that is organized by a government for political reasons, not in order to find out whether someone is guilty:
•Stalin staged a series of show trials. $
something that is showy is very colourful, big, expensive etc, especially in a way that attracts people's attention:
•an attractive shrub with showy flowers
- showily adverb
- showiness noun [U]
the past tense of SHRINK [U]
small pieces of metal from a bomb, bullet etc that are scattered when it explodes:
•a soldier with shrapnel wounds in his chest
1 [C] a small thin piece that is torn or cut roughly from something
[+of]
•a shred of paper
tear/rip sth to shreds
•The clothes were ripped to shreds and covered in blood.
2 tear/rip sth to shreds to criticize someone very severely:
•Within a year, other researchers had torn the theory to shreds.
3 in shreds
a) torn in many places:
•Uncle Earl was exhausted and his shirt hung in shreds.
b) completely ruined:
•His ambitious plan was in shreds.
•If Myra gossips about this, my reputation will be in shreds.
4 shred of sth a very small amount of something:
•There's not a shred of doubt (=no doubt at all) in my mind that we will win.
•He does not have a shred of evidence (=none at all) to prove his claim.
•the last shred of hope
!! Usually used with negative words such as not, without, and hardly.past tense and past participle shredded, present participle shredding [T]
1 to cut or tear something into small thin pieces:
•Coleslaw is made with shredded cabbage.
2 to put a document into a shredder:
•Carlson was collecting messages, reading them, then shredding them. $ [C]
a machine that cuts documents into small pieces so that no one can read them [C]
1 a very small animal like a mouse with a long pointed nose
2 old-fashioned an unpleasant woman who always argues and disagrees with people
1 good at judging what people or situations are really like:
•Malcolm is a shrewd and realistic businessman.
•She was shrewd enough to guess who was responsible.
•Capra looked at her with shrewd eyes.
2 well judged and likely to be right:
•a shrewd decision
•Bridget has a shrewd idea of what will sell.
- shrewdly adverb
•'Something tells me you've already decided,' he said shrewdly.
- shrewdness noun [U] old use
a shrewish woman is one who always argues and disagrees with people
1 [I] to make a very high loud sound, especially because you are afraid, angry, excited, or in pain; = scream
•They were dragged from their homes, shrieking and weeping.
•He shrieked in agony.
[+with]
•A group of students were shrieking with laughter.
2 [T] to say something in a high loud voice because you are excited, afraid, or angry; = scream
•'I'm pregnant,' she shrieked.
[+at]
•'I'll kill you,' Anne shrieked at him.[C]
a loud high sound made because you are frightened, excited, angry etc; = scream
[+of]
•a shriek of laughter
with a shriek
•With a shriek of delight, Jean hugged Maggie.
give/let out a shriek
•Ella let out a piercing shriek.
get/be given short shrift at SHORT^1 (15)
1 a shrill sound is very high and unpleasant:
•'That's not true,' she protested in a shrill voice.
•a shrill whistle
•Fran uttered a shrill scream.
2 shrill complaints, criticism, demands etc are too loud or strong and seem unreasonable:
•He hated the shrill demands of the children.
- shrillness noun [U]
- shrilly adverb
1 [I] written to produce a very high and unpleasant sound:
•The telephone shrilled twice.
2 [T] to say something in a very high voice:
•'I hate you!' she shrilled. plural shrimp or shrimps [C]
1 a small sea creature that you can eat, which has ten legs and a soft shell; = prawn BrE
2 someone who is very small - used humorously[C,U] AmE
shrimps without their shells that are cooked and put in a pink sauce, and eaten cold before the main part of a meal; = prawn cocktail BrE [U]
the activity of fishing for shrimps [C]
1 a place that is connected with a holy event or holy person, and that people visit to pray
[+of/to]
•his pilgrimage to the shrine of St John
2 a place that people visit and respect because it is connected with a famous person or event:
•Elvis's home has become a shrine for his fans.
[+to]
•The museum is a shrine to the great Spanish artist. past tense shrank past participle shrunk
1 [I,T] to become smaller, or to make something smaller, through the effects of heat or water:
•I'm worried about washing that shirt in case it shrinks.
PRE-SHRUNK, SHRUNKEN
2 [I,T] to become or to make something smaller in amount, size, or value; grow
•The city continued to shrink.
[+to]
•The firm's staff had shrunk to only four people.
•Treatment can shrink a tumour.
•We want to expand the business, not shrink it.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to move back and away from something, especially because you are frightened:
•She listened, shrinking under the blankets, to their shouts.
•Meredith was scared of him and shrank back.
•His anger was enough to make the others shrink away from him.

PHRASAL VERBS
shrink from sth phr v
to avoid doing something difficult or unpleasant:
•The leadership too often shrinks from hard decisions.
shrink from doing sth
•We will not shrink from making the necessary changes in policy.[C] informal
a PSYCHOANALYST or PSYCHIATRIST - used humorously [singular, U]
the act of shrinking, or the amount that something shrinks:
•Pollution led to a shrinkage of grasslands.[C]
someone who is very shy - used humorously
goods that are shrink-wrapped are wrapped tightly in plastic
- =shrink-wrap noun [U]also shrivel up past tense and past participle shrivelled, present participle shrivelling BrE past tense and past participle shriveled, present participle shriveling AmE [I,T]
if something shrivels, or if it is shrivelled, it becomes smaller and its surface becomes covered in lines because it is very dry or old:
•The leaves change colour, then shrivel.
- shrivelled BrE shriveled AmE adjective
•a shrivelled apple [C]
1 a cloth that is wrapped around a dead person's body before it is buried
2 literary something that hides or covers something:
•The fog rolled in, and a grey shroud covered the city.
[+of]
•A shroud of silence surrounded the general's death.[T usually in passive] literary
1 to cover or hide something:
•Joseph was shrouded under a dark blanket.
be shrouded in sth
•The cliff was shrouded in mist.
2 to keep information secret so that people do not know what really happened
be shrouded in sth
•The incident has always been shrouded in mystery.
•The work is shrouded in secrecy.[U] BrE
when people, especially doctors or politicians, publicly criticize the quality of medical care in the British National Health Service, in order to make the government provide more money for it $ [C,U]
the day before the first day of the Christian period of Lent, when people in Britain traditionally eat PANCAKE s [C]
a small bush with several woody stems plural shrubberies
1 [U] shrubs planted close together:
•a tangled mass of overgrown shrubbery
2 [C] a part of a garden where shrubs are planted close together past tense and past participle shrugged, present participle shrugging [I,T]
to raise and then lower your shoulders in order to show that you do not know something or do not care about something:
•I just shrugged my shoulders and ignored him.
•Melanie shrugged and walked away.

PHRASAL VERBS
shrug sth <=> off phr v
to treat something as unimportant and not worry about it:
•We can't just shrug these objections off.[C usually singular]
a movement of your shoulders upwards and then downwards again that you make to show that you do not know something or do not care about something
with a shrug
•'Suit yourself,' he said with a shrug.
the past tense and past participle of SHRINK [usually before noun]
having become smaller or been made smaller:
•a shrunken old womanschtick [U] AmE
the style of humour that a particular actor or COMEDIAN typically uses [T] AmE
to remove the outer cover of a vegetable such as corn, or the shell of OYSTER s

PHRASAL VERBS
shuck sth <=> off phr v AmE informal
to take off a piece of clothing:
•She shucked off her jacket and ran upstairs. AmE old-fashioned
used to show you are a little disappointed about something $ [I]
1 to shake for a short time because you are afraid or cold, or because you think something is very unpleasant:
•Maria shuddered as she stepped outside.
[+with]
•I shudder with embarrassment whenever I think I think about it.
[+at]
•She shuddered at the thought that she could have been killed.
2 if a vehicle or machine shudders, it shakes violently:
•The car shuddered briefly as its engine died.
•The train shuddered to a halt.
3 I shudder to think spoken used to say that you do not want to think about something because it is too unpleasant:
•I shudder to think what they'll say when they see the mess the house is in.

PHRASAL VERBS
shudder at sth phr v
to think that something is very bad or unpleasant:
•If you love skiing but shudder at the cost, take advantage of our superb family offer.
•He shuddered at the thought of the conflict ahead.[C usually singular]
a shaking movement:
•The building gave a sudden shudder.
a shudder ran/passed/went through sb
•A shudder ran through him at the touch of her fingers.
1 [I always + adv/prep] to walk very slowly and noisily, without lifting your feet off the ground
[+forward/over/back etc]
•The official signaled to one of the waiters, who shuffled forward.
•With sore legs and aching chest he shuffled over to the bathroom.
2 shuffle your feet to move your feet slightly, especially because you are bored or embarrassed:
•Monica shuffled her feet nervously and stared at the floor.
3 [T] to move something such as papers into a different order or into different positions:
•Jack sat nervously shuffling the papers around on his desk.
[+through]
•Frances shuffled through a pile of magazines.
4 [I,T] to mix PLAYING CARDs into a different order before playing a game with them:
•Is it my turn to shuffle?
•Just shuffle the cards.
RESHUFFLE
1 [singular] a slow walk in which you do not lift your feet off the ground
2 [C] the act of mixing cards into a different order before playing a game
3 be/get lost in the shuffle to not be noticed or considered because there are so many other things to deal with:
•The information contained in the memo got lost in the shuffle once it reached headquarters. past tense and past participle shunned, present participle shunning [T]
to deliberately avoid someone or something:
•a shy woman who shunned publicity
•Victims of the disease found themselves shunned by society. [T]
1 to move someone or something to another place, especially in a way that seems unfair
shunt sb off/around/aside etc
•Smith was shunted off to one of the company's smaller offices.
2 to move a train or railway carriage onto a different track[C]
an act of moving a train or railway carriage to a different track
1 shush! spoken used to tell someone, especially a child, to be quiet; = shh
•'Shush!' said Jerry. 'Not so loud.'
2 [T] to tell someone to be very quiet, especially by putting your fingers against your lips or by saying 'shush':
•He started to cry and Francesca shushed him. past tense and past participle shut present participle shutting
1 [I,T] to close something, or to become closed:
•Shut the window, Ellen!
•I heard his bedroom door shut.
•She lay down on her bed and shut her eyes.
shut (sth) behind sb
•She walked quickly in and shut the door behind her.
•The gates shut behind him with a dull thud.
•He shut the drawer and turned the key.
see box at CLOSE^1
2 shut your mouth/face/trap! also shut your gob!/shut it! BrE spoken not polite used to tell someone to stop talking
3 [I,T] BrE to stop being open to the public for a short time or permanently; = close
•The post office shuts at 5 o'clock.
•At midday we shut the shop for lunch.
•He lost his job when they shut the factory.
4 shut your eyes/ears to sth to deliberately refuse to notice or pay attention to something:
•We ought not to shut our eyes to these facts.
•She heard the boys shouting to her to stop, but she shut her ears to them.
5 shut sth in the door/drawer etc BrE shut the door/drawer etc on sth AmE to shut a door etc against something so that it gets trapped there:
•I shut my finger in the back door yesterday and it still hurts.

PHRASAL VERBS
shut sb/sth away phr v
1 to put someone or something in a place away from other people where they cannot be seen:
•A lot of people are classed as mad and shut away unnecessarily.
2 shut yourself away to deliberately avoid seeing people by staying at home or going to a quiet place, especially because you are very unhappy or want to study, write etc:
•When news came of Robin's death, she shut herself away and saw no one.
[+in]
•She shut herself away in her room to work on her novel.

shut down phr v
1 if a company, factory, large machine etc shuts down or is shut down, it stops operating, either permanently or for a short time:
•Our local hardware shop has shut down.
shut sth <=> down
•an accident which resulted in two of the plant's nuclear reactors being shut down
•The way to shut the machine down is to type EXIT.
2 shut sb <=> down informal to prevent an opposing team or player from playing well or getting points
•We all knew that to win we'd have to shut down Bobby Mitchell.

shut sb in (sth) phr v

a) if you shut someone in a room, you close the door and stop them from getting out:
•Her parents shut her in an upstairs room.
•He pushed the dogs into the breakfast room and shut them in.
b) shut yourself in (sth) if you shut yourself in a room, you close the door and stay in there, and often stop other people from coming in:
•Ellie darted back to her room and shut herself in.
•He shut himself in his room and wrote letters.

shut off phr v
1 if a machine, tool etc shuts off or if you shut it off, it stops operating; = turn off
•The iron shuts off automatically if it gets too hot.
shut sth <=> off
•I let the engine run for a minute and then shut it off.
•Don't forget to shut off the water supply.
2 shut sth <=> off to prevent goods or supplies from being available or being delivered:
•a strike that closed the mines and shut off coal supplies
3 shut yourself off to avoid meeting and talking to other people
[+from]
•He was cold and remote, shutting himself off from her completely.
4 be shut off from sth to be separated from other people or things, especially so that you are not influenced by them:
•The valley is completely shut off from the modern world.

shut out phr v
1 shut sb out to deliberately not let someone join you in an activity or share your thoughts and feelings:
•How can I help you if you just keep shutting me out all the time?
[+from]
•I felt I was being shut out from all the family's affairs.
2 shut sb/sth <=> out to prevent someone or something from entering a place:
•heavy curtains that shut out the sunlight
[+from]
•The door closed firmly, shutting me out from the warmth inside.
3 shut sth <=>out to stop yourself from thinking about or noticing something, so that you are not affected by it:
•People close their windows at night in a vain attempt to shut out the sound of gunfire.
•She shut out memories of James.
•Jenny closed her eyes and tried to shut everything out.
4 shut out sb AmE to defeat an opposing sports team and prevent them from getting any points:
•Colorado shut out Kansas City 3-0.

shut up phr v
1 shut up! spoken not polite used to tell someone to stop talking; = be quiet!
•Oh, shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses.
•Just shut up and listen.
[+about]
•Shut up about your stupid dog, okay!
2 shut (sb) up informal to stop talking or be quiet, or to make someone do this:
•I can't stand that woman. She never shuts up.
[+about]
•I wish you'd shut up about Chris.
•I only said that to shut her up.
3 shut sb up to keep someone in a place away from other people, and prevent them from leaving
[+in]
•I've had a terrible cold and been shut up in my room for a week.
•Was there any need to keep us shut up here?
4 shut sth <=> up to close a shop, room etc so that people cannot get into it:
•Bernadette cleaned the attic and then shut it up for another year.
5 shut up shop BrE informal to close a business or stop working, at the end of the day or permanently[not before noun]
1 not open; = closed
•Is the door shut properly?
•She kept the windows shut, for fear of burglars.
•He sat with his eyes shut.
•The windows were tightly shut.
slam/bang/swing etc shut
•The door slammed shut behind him.
pull/kick/slam etc sth shut
•Jenny pulled the window shut.
keep your mouth shut at KEEP^1 (2)
2 BrE if a shop, bar etc is shut, it is not open for business; = closed
•in the evening when the shops are shut
•Sorry, but we're shut.
[+for]
•The first four hotels we tried were shut for the winter. [C]
the closing of a factory, business, or piece of machinery, either permanently or for a short time
[+of]
•Environmental groups had called for the permanent shutdown of the plant.
•safety systems and automatic shutdown procedures[U] informal
sleep:
•We'd better get some shut-eye.[C] AmE
someone who is ill or DISABLED and cannot leave their house very easily[C] AmE
a game in which one team is prevented by the other from getting any points $ [C]
1 [usually plural] one of a pair of wooden or metal covers on the outside of a window that can be closed to keep light out or prevent thieves from coming in
2 a part of a camera that opens for a very short time to let light onto the film[T usually passive]
AmE to close a business, office etc for a short time or permanently:
•The company shuttered its Hong Kong investment banking business a year ago. $ [C] AmE informal
someone who likes to take a lot of photographs $
with closed shutters, or having shutters:
•A gust of wind shook the shuttered windows. [C]
1 a SPACE SHUTTLE
2 a plane, bus, or train that makes regular short journeys between two places:
•He took the Washington - New York shuttle.
•A shuttle bus operates to and from the beach of San Benedetto.
•There's a shuttle service from the city center to the airport.
3 a pointed tool used in weaving, to pass a thread over and under the threads that form the cloth
1 [I always + adv/prep] to travel frequently between two places
[+between/back and forth]
•Susan shuttles between Rotterdam and London for her job.
2 [T] to move people from one place to another place that is fairly near:
•The passengers were shuttled to the hotel by bus. $ [C]
a small light object that you hit over the net in the game of BADMINTON; = birdie AmE[U]
international talks in which someone travels between countries and talks to members of the governments, for example to make a peace agreement comparative shyer, superlative shyest
1 nervous and embarrassed about meeting and speaking to other people, especially people you do not know:
•He was a quiet, shy man.
[+with]
•She was very shy with strangers.
•a shy smile
•As a teenager I was painfully shy (=extremely shy).
shy to do sth
•He was too shy to come sit by me in class.
go all shy BrE (=to suddenly become very shy)
•Oh, have you gone all shy, Jenny?
2 sb is not shy about (doing) sth used to emphasize that someone is very willing to do something or get involved with something:
•John has strong opinions and he's not shy about sharing them.
3 unwilling to do something or get involved in something
be shy about/of (doing) sth
•Employees are urged not to be shy about reporting incidents of sexual harassment.
4 be shy (of sth) especially AmE to have less than a particular amount of something:
•The Democrats are three votes shy of a majority.
•Jessica died Monday. She was one week shy of her 13th birthday.
5 used to say that someone does not like something and therefore tries to avoid it:
•Although publicity-shy, he recently agreed to be interviewed.
CAMERA-SHY, WORK-SHY
6 shy animals get frightened easily and are unwilling to come near people:
•Deer are shy creatures.
- shyly adverb
•He grinned shyly.
- shyness noun [U]
•Gradually I overcame my shyness.
fight shy of (doing) sth at FIGHT^1 (22); once bitten, twice shy at BITE^1 (14)

WORD FOCUS: shy
similar words:
timid
self-conscious
reserved
withdrawn
introverted
past tense and past participle shied, present participle shying, third person singular shies [I]
if a horse shies, it makes a sudden movement away from something because it is frightened:
•The horse shied, throwing Darrel from his saddle.

PHRASAL VERBS
shy away from sth phr v
to avoid doing or dealing with something because you are not confident enough or you are worried or nervous about it:
•They criticized the leadership, but shied away from a direct challenge.

COCONUT SHY $ [C] informal especially AmE
a dishonest person, especially a lawyer or BUSINESSMAN [C]
a type of cat that has blue eyes, short grey or brown fur, and a dark face[C usually plural]
one of two people who are born joined to each other - sometimes considered offensive; = conjoined twin formal
making or being an 's' or 'sh' sound:
•a sibilant whisper[C] technical
a sibilant sound such as 's' or 'sh' in English [C]
1 formal a brother or sister:
•Most young smokers are influenced by their friends' and older siblings' smoking habits.
2 sibling rivalry competition between brothers and sisters for their parents' attention or love written formal
used after a word that you have copied in order to show that you know it was not spelled or used correctly:
•We had seen several signs that said 'ORANGE'S (sic) FOR SALE'.past tense and past participle sicced, present participle siccing [T] AmE informal
1 to tell a dog to attack someone
sic sth on sb
•He sicced his dog on me.
2 sic 'em! spoken used to tell a dog to attack someone
3 to tell someone in authority that someone has done something wrong, so that they are punished
[+on]
•He sicced his lawyers on them.
1 ILL especially AmE suffering from a disease or illness:
•His mother's very sick.
•Maria can't come in today because she's sick.
•a sick child
•a sick animal
[+with]
•I have been sick with flu.
get sick (=become ill) AmE
•At the last minute I got sick and couldn't go.
be off sick BrE
; be out sick AmE (=be away from work or school because you are ill)
•Two of his employees were out sick.
•I was off sick for four days with the flu.
phone/ring/call in sick (=phone to say you are not coming to work because you are ill)
•He was upset because it was the first day of the sale and Astrid had called in sick.
•What will happen to the business if you fall sick (=become ill) or die?
•He took sick (=became ill) and died a week later.
•Pete's at home in bed, sick as a dog (=very sick).
2 be sick if you are sick, the food in your stomach comes up through your mouth; = vomit, throw up
•I think I'm going to be sick.
•He dashed to the bathroom and was sick again.
•The cat's been sick on the carpet.
•You'll be sick if you eat any more of that chocolate!
•I was violently sick (=suddenly and severely sick) the last time I ate prawns.
3 feel sick also be/feel sick to your stomach AmE to feel as if you are going to VOMIT:
•As soon as the ship started moving I began to feel sick.
[+with]
•Mary felt sick with fear.
•She began to shiver, feeling sick to her stomach.
•Virginia had a sick feeling in her stomach.
CARSICK, SEASICK; travel-sick at TRAVEL SICKNESS
4 make me/you sick spoken
a) to make you feel very angry:
•People like you make me sick!
b) spoken to make someone feel jealous - used humorously:
•You make me sick with your 'expenses paid' holidays!
5 make sb/yourself sick BrE
a) if something makes you sick, it makes you bring food up from your stomach through your mouth:
•The smell of blood made him sick.
b) if you make yourself sick, you do something to bring food up from your stomach through your mouth:
•I've never been able to make myself sick.
•You'll make yourself sick if you eat any more!
6 be sick (and tired) of (doing) sth also be sick to death of sth spoken to be angry or bored with something that has been happening for a long time:
•I'm sick and tired of your excuses.
•I am sick of working for other people.
7 be worried sick/be sick with worry to be extremely worried:
•Why didn't you tell me you were coming home late? I've been worried sick!
8 STRANGE/CRUEL
a) someone who is sick does things that are strange and cruel, and seems mentally ill:
•I keep getting obscene phone calls from some sick pervert.
•You're sick!
•a sick mind
b) sick stories, jokes etc deal with death and suffering in a cruel or unpleasant way:
•I don't want to hear any of your sick jokes, thank you.
• That's really sick!
9 sick at heart literary very unhappy, upset, or disappointed about something:
•I was sick at heart to think that I would never see the place again.
10 sick as a parrot BrE spoken extremely disappointed - used humorously

WORD CHOICE: sick, throw up, vomit, ill, not well, unwell
In British English, sick is usually used in the expressions be sick (=have the food in your stomach come up through your mouth) and feel sick (=feel as if this is going to happen): Someone had been sick on the floor. | Stop it, I feel sick!
In American English, you say that someone throws up. Throw up is also used in British English but is fairly informal.
Vomit is a fairly formal way to say 'throw up'.
If someone has an illness or disease, you usually say that they are ill in British English, and sick in American English: He missed a lot of school when he was ill (BrE)/sick (AmE).
In American English, ill suggests you have a more serious disease, from which you may not recover.
If someone is slightly ill, you often say in British English that they are not well: I won't come out - I'm not very well.
Unwell is a more formal word for 'ill' or 'sick'.

1 the sick people who are ill:
•The sick and wounded were allowed to go free.
•They devoted their lives to the care of the sick.
2 [U] BrE informal VOMIT:
•The phone box smelt of sick.

PHRASAL VERBS
sick sth <=> up phr v BrE informal
to bring up food from your stomach - used especially of children; = vomit up AmE
•Ruth had frequently sicked up her bottle milk. [C]
a special paper bag for people to use if they need to VOMIT, for example when they are travelling on a plane [C]
a room on a ship, in a school etc where there are beds for people who are sick [C usually singular]
the bed where a sick person is lying
from your sickbed
•The president carried on working from his sickbed.[U]
when chemicals and GERMs stay in an office building and make the people who work there feel ill:
•A common household fungus can contribute to sick building syndrome.
1 [T] to make you feel shocked and angry, especially because you strongly disapprove of something; = disgust
•The thought of such cruelty sickened her.
•All decent people should be sickened by such a pointless waste of life.
2 [I] old-fashioned to gradually become very ill:
•The older people just sickened and died as food supplies ran low.

PHRASAL VERBS
be sickening for sth phr v BrE
to be starting to have an illness:
•Perhaps you're sickening for something.

sicken of sth phr v
to lose your desire for something or your interest in it:
•He finally sickened of the endless round of parties and idle conversation.
1 very shocking, annoying, or upsetting; = disgusting
•Police described it as a sickening racial attack.
•their sickening hypocrisy
it is sickening that
•It is sickening that human beings have done this to two innocent young women.
2 sickening thud/crash/sound etc an unpleasant sound that makes you think someone has been injured or something has been broken:
•His head hit the floor with a sickening thud.
•There was a sickening sound of tearing metal.
3 very unpleasant and making you feel as if you want to VOMIT:
•The sickening stench of rotting rubbish rose into the air.
4 BrE spoken making you feel jealous:
•'Helen's just bought herself a huge house in the south of France.' 'God, how sickening!'
- sickeningly adverb [C]
1 BrE informal a day when you say that you are sick and do not go to work, even though you are not really sick:
•Looks like he's thrown another sickie (=pretended to be sick and not gone to work).
2 AmE informal a SICKO - used humorously [C]
a tool with a blade in the shape of a hook, used for cutting wheat or long grass[U]
time that you are allowed to spend away from work because you are sick
on sick leave
•He has been on sick leave for more than three months.sickle-cell anemia AmE [U] BrE
a serious illness that mainly affects black people, in which the blood cells change shape, causing weakness and fever
1 a sickly person or animal is weak, unhealthy, and often ill:
•a sickly child
•She looked pale and sickly.
2 especially BrE a sickly smell, taste etc is unpleasant and makes you feel sick:
•A sickly smell clung to his clothes and hair.
3 a sickly colour or light is unpleasantly pale or weak:
•The walls were painted a sickly green.
•a pale, sickly moon
- sickly adverb
•a sickly sweet perfume
1 [U] the state of being ill; = illness
•an insurance policy against long-term sickness and injury
•working days lost due to sickness
2 [U] the feeling that you are about to bring up food from your stomach, or the act of bringing food up; = nausea
travel/motion/car/sea etc sickness (=sickness that some people get while travelling)
•Liam had suffered violent sickness and diarrhoea.
MORNING SICKNESS, SLEEPING SICKNESS
3 [C] a particular illness:
•war-related sicknesses
4 [C,U] the serious problems and weaknesses of a social, political, or economic system:
•He said the idea of 'success' was part of the sickness of Western cultures.[U] BrE
money paid by the government to someone who is too ill to work[C] BrE
a note written by your doctor or your parents saying that you were too ill to go to work or school; = excuse AmE $ plural sickos [C] informal
someone who gets pleasure from things that most people find unpleasant or upsetting:
•What kind of sicko would write something like that?[C] AmE
a STRIKE (=protest about pay or working conditions) in which all the workers at a company say they are sick and stay home on the same day[U]
money paid by an employer to a worker who is too ill to work [C]
a room where someone who is ill can go to lie down [C]
1 PART OF AN AREA one of the two areas that are on the left or the right of an imaginary line, or on the left or the right of a border, wall, river etc
[+of]
•The south side of town is pretty run down.
on the ... side
•a scar on the right side of his face
•Fuel is cheaper on the French side of the border.
to one/the side
•She tilted her head to one side, pretending to consider the question.
•A man stood watching me from the other side of the road.
•His friends and family were all on the other side of the world.
•The restaurant was empty apart from another couple on the far side of the room (=the area that is furthest away from you).
the right-hand/left-hand side (=the right side or the left side)
•In Sri Lanka they drive on the left-hand side of the road.
2 NEXT TO [usually singular] a position directly next to someone or something, on the right or the left
on this/one side (of sb/sth)
•Stand on this side of me so Dad can get a photo.
at sb's side/at the side of sth
•A little girl was skipping along at her side.
•There was a card tacked to the wall at the side of the photograph.
on either side (of sth)
•Two large screens stood on either side of the stage (=one on the left and one on the right side of it).
to sb's side
•Maggie hurried to his side.
3 OF A BUILDING/OBJECT/VEHICLE ETC a surface of something that is not its front, back, top, or bottom
[+of]
•He led the way round to the side of the building.
•Toni ran her finger down the side of her glass.
•Someone ran into the side of my car.
high-sided/straight-sided etc
•high-sided vehicles
•a straight-sided dish
4 EDGE the part of an object or area that is furthest from the middle, at or near the edge
[+of]
•Jack sat down heavily on the side of the bed.
•She pulled into the side of the road and stopped the car.
FIRESIDE, LAKESIDE, RIVERSIDE, ROADSIDE, SEASIDE^1
5 OF A THIN OBJECT one of the two surfaces of a thin flat object
[+of]
•Write on only one side of the paper.
•I'll paint the other side of the fence tomorrow.
•There's a scratch on one side of the record.
6 PART OF YOUR BODY the part of your body from the top of your arm to the top of your leg:
•He had a scar running right the way down his side.
•Betty was lying on her side on the bed.
7 SHAPE one of the flat surfaces or edges of a shape:
•A cube has six sides.
three-sided/four-sided etc
•a seven-sided coin
8 MOUNTAIN/VALLEY one of the sloping areas of a hill, mountain etc
[+of]
•Their house was on the side of the valley.
hillside/mountainside
•sheep grazing on the steep hillside
steep-sided/sheer-sided etc
•a steep-sided valley
9 PAGE BrE a page of writing on one side of a piece of paper:
•How many sides have we got to write?
10 side by side
a) next to each other:
•We walked along the beach, side by side.
b) if people work side by side, they work together to achieve something
[+with]
•Local citizens worked side by side with emergency crews to pull their neighbors out of the rubble.
c) if different things or groups exist side by side, they exist in the same place or at the same time, even though this may seem difficult or surprising:
•a visit to see how modern agriculture and wildlife can exist side by side
11 from side to side first to one side, then to the other, several times or continuously:
•'Did you catch him?' Matthew shook his head from side to side.
swing/rock/sway from side to side
•The boat rocked violently from side to side.
12 SUBJECT/SITUATION one part or feature of something, especially when compared with another part
technical/financial/social etc side
•She takes care of the financial side of the business.
serious/funny/negative/positive etc side
•Can't you see the funny side of all this?
•Environmental pollution gives great cause for concern, but, on the positive side, people are beginning to try and find solutions.
• Look on the bright side (=see the good side of a situation)- at least you learned something from the experience.
•It's a children's book about fairies and magic, but it does have a dark side.
13 ARGUMENT/WAR one of the people, groups, or countries opposing each other in a quarrel, war etc:
•He fought on the republican side in the Spanish Civil War.
•a peace deal that is acceptable to both sides
•During the war, he changed sides several times.
be on sb's side (=support them)
•Well at least someone's on my side.
whose side are you on? spoken (=used when someone is arguing against you when they should be supporting you)
•He always likes to be on the winning side.
14 OPINION one person's opinion or attitude in an argument or disagreement; = point of view
•Try and see my side of things for a change!
•Well, I can see both sides. They both have a point.
sb's side of the story (=one person's opinion of what happened in a situation, especially someone who has been accused of doing something wrong)
•We haven't heard Mike's side of the story yet.
15 take sides to choose to support one person or group in an argument, and oppose the other one
16 SPORT BrE a sports team:
•They're a good side, but I think we're a better one.
17 PART OF SB'S CHARACTER [usually singular] one part of someone's character, especially when compared with another part
[+of]
•It was a side of Shari that I hadn't seen before.
• There was a side to him that worried her, that seemed cold and cruel.
sb's softer/feminine/emotional etc side
•These days men are not all afraid to show their softer side.
18 OF A FAMILY a part of a family:
•My father's side of the family are short, but my mother's side are tall.
19 sb's side of a deal/bargain what someone agrees to do as part of an agreement:
•The Russians kept their side of the bargain, and pulled out of East Germany.
20 on the side
a) used to say that someone does work in addition to their regular job:
•Most consultants do private work on the side.
SIDELINE^1 (1)
b) secretly, and dishonestly or illegally:
•His wife discovered that he had a woman on the side.
a bit on the side at BIT^3
c) food that is served on the side is ordered with the main dish in a restaurant, but is not usually part of that dish:
•I'd like eggs with toast on the side.
21 FOOD AmE a small amount of food that you order in a restaurant in addition to your main meal
[+of]
•a hamburger with a side of fries
22 on/from all sides also on/from every side
a) in or from every direction:
•Planes were attacking us from all sides.
•The town is surrounded on all sides by vineyards.
b) by or from a lot of people with different opinions:
•Clinton was praised on all sides for his warm manner and diplomatic approach.
23 put/leave/set sth to one side to save something to be dealt with or used later:
•Let's leave that question to one side for now.
•Put a little money to one side each week.
24 be at sb's side/stay by sb's side/not leave sb's side to be with someone, and take care of them or support them:
•He faced the reporters with his wife at his side.
•She nursed him through his illness, never leaving his side.
25 take/draw sb to one side to take someone away from other people for a short time for a private talk:
•Before they left, Colette took me to one side and warned me about Bernard.
26 have sth on your side/sth is on your side used to say that you have an advantage that increases your chances of success
have time/luck/God/right etc on your side
•Barnes didn't have much experience, but he had youth and enthusiasm on his side.
27 get on the wrong side of sb to annoy someone or make them angry, especially someone who can cause serious problems for you:
•Be careful not to get on the wrong side of her.
28 keep on the right side of sb to be careful not to annoy someone, because you want them to help you and not cause problems for you:
•We tried to keep on the right side of the housekeeper, so that she would let us bring beer in.
29 on the right/wrong side of 30/40 etc informal younger or older than 30, 40 etc
30 on the small/high/heavy etc side etc spoken a little too small, too high, too heavy etc:
•The trousers are a bit on the small side.
31 this side of Christmas/midnight etc before a particular time - used to say that something will not happen before then:
•I doubt we'll see him this side of Christmas.
32 the best/biggest etc ... this side of sth used humorously to say that something is very good, big etc:
•the best Chinese food this side of Peking
33 on the wrong/right side of the law informal breaking or not breaking the law
34 be on the side of the angels to be doing what is morally right
35 let the side down BrE to behave badly or do something that embarrasses or disappoints your family, friends etc
36 criticize/nag/hassle sb up one side and down the other AmE spoken to criticize someone, complain to them in an annoying way etc without worrying about how they feel
37 MEAT a side of beef/bacon etc one half of an animal's body, used as food
38 TV STATION [usually singular] BrE spoken a television station; = channel
•Do you know what's on the other side?
DOUBLE-SIDED, ONE-SIDED; to be on the safe side at SAFE^1 (7); err on the side of caution at ERR (1); FLIP SIDE; split your sides at SPLIT^1 (10); the other side of the coin at COIN^1 (3); two sides of the same coin at COIN^1 (4)[only before noun]
1 in or on the side of something:
•Hannah slipped out through a side exit.
2 from the side of something:
•Can you get a side view?[I]
to support or argue against a person or group in a quarrel, fight etc
[+with/against]
•Frank sided with David against their mother. $ [C]
a weapon carried or worn at someone's side, for example a gun or sword $ [C]
1 a separate part of something such as a newspaper article where extra information is given
2 AmE law an occasion when the lawyers and the judge in a TRIAL discuss something without letting the JURY hear what they are saying[C]
an additional advantage or good result that comes from something, besides its main purpose:
•A side benefit to filming close-up shots is that your microphone will pick up clearer sound. $
1 [C] a long low piece of furniture usually in a DINING ROOM, used for storing plates, glasses etc
2 sideboards BrE sideburns $ [plural]
hair grown down the sides of a man's face in front of his ears $ [C]
a small vehicle attached to the side of a MOTORCYCLE, in which a passenger can ride[C]
a small amount of food such as a vegetable that you eat with a main meal[C]
1 an effect that a drug has on your body in addition to curing pain or illness
harmful/serious/adverse etc side effect
•a natural remedy with no harmful side effects
[+of]
•the side effects of the medication
2 an unexpected or unplanned result of a situation or event:
•These policy changes could have beneficial side effects for the whole economy.[C]
a subject or problem that is not as important as the main one, and may take people's attention away from the main subject:
•The tax proposal is really a side issue with us. [C] informal
someone who spends time with or helps another person, especially when that other person is more important than they are [C] BrE
one of the two small lights next to the main front lights on a car; = parking light AmE
1 [C] an activity that you do as well as your main job or business, in order to earn more money
as a sideline
•Zoe does a bit of freelance photography as a sideline.
2 on the sidelines not taking part in an activity even though you want to or should do
stand/stay/remain etc on the sidelines
•You can't stay on the sidelines for ever; it's time you got involved.
3 sidelines [plural] the area just outside the lines that form the edge of a sports field
on the sidelines
•Wenger stood on the sidelines shouting instructions to his team.
4 [C] a line at the side of a sports field, which shows where the players are allowed to play[usually passive]
if you are sidelined, you are unable to play in a sports game because you are injured, or unable to take part in an activity because you are not as good as someone else:
•Baggio was once again sidelined through injury. $
sidelong look/glance a way of looking at someone by moving your eyes to the side, especially so that it seems secret, dishonest, or disapproving:
•He gave Oliver a sidelong glance.
- sidelong adverb
•'You looked very well this morning,' she added, glancing sidelong at him.
coming from one side rather than from in front or behind:
•a side-on collision
- side-on adverb[C]
a small amount of food ordered in a restaurant to be eaten with a main meal but served on a separate dish:
•a side order of onion rings[C]
a road that is smaller than a main road, but is often connected to it
ride/sit sidesaddle to ride or sit on a horse with both legs on the same side of the horse $ [C]
1 a separate small part of a FAIR or CIRCUS, where you pay to play games or watch a performance
2 an event that is much less important or serious than another one:
•The initial conflict was a mere sideshow compared with the World War that followed.
extremely funny:
•He told some sidesplitting jokes. past tense and past participle sidestepped, present participle sidestepping
1 sidestep a problem/issue/question to avoid dealing with something difficult:
•The report sidesteps the environmental issues.
2 [I,T] to step quickly sideways to avoid being hit or walking into someone
- sidestep noun [C][C]
a street that is smaller than a main street, but is often connected to it [C usually singular]
if you take a sideswipe at someone or something, you criticize them while you are talking about something different:
•Sir Kenneth concluded with a sideswipe at his critics.[T] AmE
to hit the side of a car with another car so that the two sides touch quickly:
•She was going too fast and sideswiped a parked car. [T usually passive]
1 to make someone stop doing what they should be doing, or stop talking about what they started talking about, by making them interested in something else:
•Don't get sidetracked by the audience's questions.
2 AmE to delay or stop the progress of something:
•An effort to improve security was sidetracked by budget problems.[C] AmE
a mirror attached to the side of a car; = wing mirror BrE $ [C] AmE
a hard surface or path at the side of a street for people to walk on; = pavement BrE
1 to or towards one side:
•A strong gust of wind blew the car sideways into the ditch.
2 with the side, rather than the front or back, facing forwards:
•They brought the piano sideways through the front door.
3 if you are moved sideways at work, you are given a job that is different but is at the same level as your old job:
•He would be moved sideways, rather than demoted.
- sideways adjective
•a sideways glance
knock sb sideways at KNOCK^1 (13) $ [C] AmE
an old-fashioned type of ship which is pushed forward by a pair of large wheels at the sides; = paddle steamer BrE
1 [C] a short railway track connected to a main track, where trains are kept when they are not being used
2 [U] AmE long, narrow pieces of wood, metal, or plastic, used for covering the outside walls of houses [I always + adv/prep]
to walk towards something or someone slowly and quietly, as if you do not want to be noticed
[+up/towards/along]
•A woman sidled up to us and asked if we wanted to buy a watch. [U] medical
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome when a baby stops breathing and dies while it is sleeping, for no known reason; = cot death BrE; = crib death AmE [C,U]
1 a situation in which an army or the police surround a place and try to gain control of it or force someone to come out of it:
•The siege lasted almost four months.
•a three-day police siege at a remote country cottage
[+of]
•the siege of Leningrad
end/lift/raise a siege (=end a siege)
2 lay siege to sb/sth
a) if the army or police lay siege to a place, they start a siege against it:
•In June 1176 King Richard laid siege to Limoges.
b) if you lay siege to someone, you do everything you can to try and get them to talk to you:
•Then he set to work laying siege to her with letters.
3 be under siege
a) to be surrounded by an army in a siege
b) to be being criticized, attacked, or threatened all the time:
•The TV station has been under siege from irate viewers phoning in to complain.
4 siege mentality the feeling among a group of people that they are surrounded by enemies and must do everything they can to protect themselves [U]
a yellowish brown colour [C]
a row or area of sharply pointed mountains [C]
a short sleep in the afternoon, especially in warm countries
take/have a siesta
•The stores all close after lunch when everyone takes a siesta. [C]
1
a) a round wire kitchen tool with a lot of small holes, used for separating solid food from liquid or small pieces of food from large pieces
b) a round wire tool for separating small objects from large objects
2 have a memory like a sieve informal to forget things easily[T]
to put flour or other food through a sieve:
•Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl. [T]
1 to put flour, sugar etc through a sieve or similar container in order to remove large pieces
2 also sift through to examine information, documents etc carefully in order to find something out or decide what is important and what is not:
•Police are sifting through the evidence in the hope of finding more clues.

PHRASAL VERBS
sift sth <=> out phr v
to separate something from other things
[+from]
•It's hard to sift out the truth from the lies in this case. $ [C]
1 BrE a container with a lot of small holes in the top used for shaking flour, sugar etc onto things; = shaker AmE
2 AmE a container with a handle and a lot of small holes on the bottom, used for removing large pieces from flour or for mixing flour and other dry things together in cooking [I]
1 to breathe in and out making a long sound, especially because you are bored, disappointed, tired etc:
•'Well, there's nothing we can do about it now,' she sighed.
sigh heavily/deeply
•Frankie stared out of the window and sighed deeply.
[+with]
•He sighed with despair at the thought of all the opportunities he had missed.
2 literary if the wind sighs, it makes a long sound like someone sighing:
•The wind sighed in the trees.
3 sigh for sth to be sad because you are thinking about a pleasant time in the past:
•Emilia sighed for her lost youth.[C]
an act or sound of sighing
[+of]
•She let out a sigh of impatience.
give/let out/heave a sigh
•Laura shrugged, and gave a heavy sigh.
•We all breathed a sigh of relief when we heard they were safe.
1 ABILITY TO SEE [U] the physical ability to see; = vision
•Anne's sight is very good for someone of her age.
•He began to lose his sight six years ago.
•an emergency operation to save his sight
•You will get a free sight test if you are under 16.
2 ACT OF SEEING [singular, U] the act of seeing something
[+of]
•Just the sight of him made her go all weak.
at the sight of sth
•Marcie will faint at the sight of blood.
•The house is hidden from sight behind trees.
3 THING YOU SEE [C]
a) something you can see
familiar/common/rare etc sight
•Street dentists are a common sight in Pakistan.
•As he reached the front door he saw a strange sight.
•the sights and sounds of the forest
not a pretty sight at PRETTY^2 (3)
sorry sight at SORRY (8)
b) the sights [plural] famous or interesting places that tourists visit:
•In the afternoon, you'll have a chance to relax or see the sights.
[+of]
•So, Maria's showing you the sights of Copenhagen, is she?
SIGHTSEEING
4 in/within sight
a) inside the area that you can see:
•I glanced around me quickly. There was no one in sight.
•They burned every house in sight.
•The boys get home and eat everything in sight.
•Since my hotel was within sight, I told him he could go.
b) likely to happen soon:
•Six months from the start of the strike, there is still no end in sight.
•Peace is now in sight.
5 within/in sight of sth
a) in the area where you can see something:
•We camped within sight of the lake.
•At last they came in sight of the city.
b) in a position where you will soon be able to get something or achieve something:
•Dan was now within sight of the championship.
6 in your sights if you have someone or something in your sights, you intend to achieve it or get it for yourself or to attack them
have sb/sth in your sights
•Rogers had victory firmly in his sights.
7 out of sight outside the area that you can see:
•Karen waved until the car was out of sight.
8 out of sight, out of mind used to say that people soon stop thinking about other people if they do not see them for a while
9 disappear/vanish from sight to disappear:
•'Will she be all right?' asked Jen as the car disappeared from sight.
10 come into sight to appear:
•when the ship at last came into sight
11 on sight as soon as you see someone:
•The army has been ordered to shoot rebel soldiers on sight.
•Jo disliked him on sight.
12 not let sb out of your sight to make sure that someone stays near you:
•Since the accident, Donna hasn't let the children out of her sight.
13 be sick of/can't stand/hate the sight of sb/sth to dislike someone or something very much:
•Alan and Sam can't stand the sight of each other.
•Everybody hates the sight of you.
14 a sight for sore eyes spoken
a) someone or something that you feel very happy to see
b) BrE someone or something that is very unattractive or very funny to look at
15 a (damn/darned/darn) sight more/better etc informal a lot more, a lot better etc:
•I know the place a damn sight better than you do.
•You're all going to have to work a darned sight harder.
•The old lady is a sight cleverer than Sarah.
16 be a sight also look a sight to look very funny or stupid, or very untidy or unpleasant:
•We'd had an all-night party, and the place looked a bit of a sight.
17 sight unseen if you buy or choose something sight unseen, you do it without looking at the thing first:
•I can't believe you would rent a place sight unseen.
18 be a (beautiful, strange, frightening etc) sight to behold formal used to emphasize that something or someone looks very unusual, for example because they are very beautiful, strange, or frightening:
•His garden was a sight to behold.
•His face was not a pleasant sight to behold.
19 GUN [C usually plural] the part of a gun or other weapon that guides your eye when you are aiming at something
at first sight at FIRST^1 (6); know sb by sight at KNOW^1 (3); lose sight of sth at LOSE (1); set your mind/sights/heart on (doing) sth at SET^1 (13)[T]
to see something from a long distance away, or see something you have been looking for:
•The sailors gave a shout of joy when they sighted land.
•Several rare birds have been sighted in the area.
someone who is sighted can see, and is not blind:
•Blind and sighted children are taught in the same classroom.
•her partially sighted (=having limited ability to see) father
CLEAR-SIGHTED, FAR-SIGHTED, LONG-SIGHTED, SHORT-SIGHTED [C]
an occasion on which something is seen, especially something rare or something that people are hoping to see
[+of]
•There were two unconfirmed sightings of UFOs in the area.
•Where was the latest sighting? literary
blind past tense and past participle sight-read [I,T]
to play or sing written music when you look at it for the first time, without practising it first
- sight-reader noun [C]
- sight-reading noun [U] [U]
when you visit famous or interesting places, especially as tourists:
•She swam and sunbathed, went sightseeing and relaxed. $ [C]
someone, especially a tourist, who is visiting a famous or interesting place
1 GIVES INFORMATION [C] a piece of paper, metal, or wood with words or a picture that gives people information, warnings, or instructions:
•a sign on the door
• road signs
•a no smoking sign
•Don't ignore the fog warning signs.
2 SHOWS STH IS TRUE [C] an event, fact etc that shows that something is happening or that something is true or exists; = indication

sign (that)
clear/obvious sign
warning sign
good/positive/encouraging sign
bad sign
outward/visible sign
sure sign (=clear proof)
tell-tale signs (=signs that clearly show something bad)
there are signs/there are no signs
show signs of (doing) sth
show/give every sign of doing sth (=used to say that something is very likely)
take/see sth as a sign (that) (=understand something to mean something)
at the first sign of sth (=immediately)

[+of]
•A red morning sky is a sign of an impending storm.
•Crying is seen as a sign of weakness.
•A paw print in the dust was a sign that a tiger was close.
•There were no obvious signs of engine wear.
•Raised blood pressure is a warning sign.
•If she can move her leg, that's a very good sign.
•His door was closed. That was a bad sign.
•She gave no outward signs of her problems.
•He kept walking up and down, which was a sure sign he was worried.
•The tell-tale signs of drug abuse are mainly to do with behaviour.
• There are signs that the situation is improving.
• There were no signs of forced entry into the house.
•The economy is beginning to show signs of recovery.
•The play shows every sign of being a big success.
• At the first sign of trouble they had disappeared to England.

3 MOVEMENT OR SOUND [C] a movement, sound etc that you make in order to tell someone something:
•the thumbs-up sign (=a sign that you make with your hand to show that something is successful)
give/make a sign
•Wait until I give the sign.
sign that
•Bruce made a sign that he was ready to leave.
sign for sb to do sth
•Three short blasts on the whistle was the sign to begin.
4 SYMBOL [C] a mark or shape that has a particular meaning; = symbol
•the dollar sign
•a minus sign
5 STAR SIGN [C] also star sign a group of stars, representing one of 12 parts of the year, that some people believe influences your behaviour and your life:
•What sign are you?
6 LANGUAGE [U] a language that uses hand movements instead of spoken words, used by people who cannot hear; = sign language
7 there is no sign of sb/sth used to say that someone or something is not in a place or cannot be found:
•I waited for two hours but there was still no sign of her.
8 sign of life
a) a movement that shows that someone is alive, or something that shows that there are people in a particular place:
•She listened intently for signs of life.
b) something that shows that a situation is becoming more active:
•Commercial property markets are now showing definite signs of life.
9 sign of the times something that shows how people live now:
•It's just a sign of the times that many children have mobile phones.
10 the sign of the Cross the hand movement that some Christians make in the shape of a cross, to show respect for God or to protect themselves from evil
1 NAME [I,T] to write your SIGNATURE on something to show that you wrote it, agree with it, or were present:
•Sign here, please.
•The artist had signed his name in the corner of the painting.
•You forgot to sign the cheque.
•Over a hundred people have signed the petition.
•Steffi signs her autograph every time she's asked.
•a signed photo of Paul McCartney
2 sign an agreement/contract/treaty etc to make a document, agreement etc official and legal by writing your SIGNATURE on it:
•France has just signed a new trade deal with Japan.
3 MUSIC/SPORT [I,T] if a football team or music company signs someone, or if someone signs for them, that person signs a contract in which they agree to work for them:
•CBS Records had signed her back in 1988 on a three-album contract.
[+for/to/with]
•Miller worked in the shipyards before signing for Rangers.
•Before long they had signed with Virgin.
4 sign on the dotted line informal to officially agree to something by signing a contract:
•Make sure the repairs are done before you sign on the dotted line.
5 sign a bill/legislation/agreement into law if someone in authority signs something into law, they make it part of the law by signing an official document
6 (all) signed and sealed also (all) signed, sealed, and delivered with all the necessary legal documents signed:
•It'll all be signed and sealed by Friday, and you can move in then.
7 USE MOVEMENTS [I] to try to tell someone something or ask them to do something by using signs and movements; = signal
sign to sb to do sth
•He signed to the maid to leave the room.
sign for sb to do sth
•She signed for us to go inside.
8 LANGUAGE [I,T] to use or translate something into SIGN LANGUAGE

PHRASAL VERBS
sign sth <=> away phr v
to sign a document that gives your property or legal rights to someone else:
•She had signed away all claims to the house.
•I felt as if I was signing away my life.

sign for sth phr v
to sign a document to prove that you have received something:
•This is a registered letter - someone will have to sign for it.

sign in phr v
1 to write your name on a form, in a book etc when you enter a place such as a hotel, office, or club:
•Remember to sign in at reception.
2 sign sb <=> in to write someone else's name in a book so that they are allowed to enter a club, an office etc

sign off phr v
1 informal to end a radio or television programme by saying goodbye
2 to write your final message at the end of an informal letter:
•It's getting late so I'll sign off now. Love, John.
3 sign sb off BrE if a doctor signs someone off, he or she gives them a note saying that they are ill and not able to work:
•For the last month she has been signed off sick from work.
4 sign sth <=> off BrE sign off on sth AmE to show that you approve of a plan or that something is finished by signing an official document:
•Major repainting work now needs to be signed off by a qualified engineer.

sign on phr v
1 BrE to state officially that you are unemployed by signing a form, so that you can get money from the government
2 to sign a document to show that you agree to work for someone
[+as]
•He signed on as a soldier in the US army.
[+with]
•I'll probably have to sign on with a nursing agency.

sign out phr v
1 to write your name in a book when you leave a place such as a hotel, office, or club
2 sign sth <=> out to write your name on a form or in a book to show that you have taken or borrowed something:
•Bernstein signed out a company car.
3 sign sb <=> out to write in a book that someone is allowed to leave somewhere such as a school, office etc:
•Parents must sign pupils out when collecting them for doctor's or dentist's appointments.

sign sth <=> over phr v
to sign an official document that gives your property or legal rights to someone else
[+to]
•When he became ill, he signed his property in France over to his son.

sign up phr v
1 to put your name on a list for something because you want to take part in it
[+for]
•I'm thinking of signing up for a yoga course.
sign up to do sth
•Over half the people who signed up to do engineering were women.
2 sign sb <=>up if someone is signed up by an organization, they sign a contract in which they agree to work for that organization:
•Several well-known researchers have been signed up for the project.
- signer noun [C] [C]
1 a sound or action that you make in order to give information to someone or tell them to do something
signal (for sb) to do sth
•When she got up from the table, it was obviously the signal for us to leave.
•The headmaster gave the signal to begin.
•At a pre-arranged signal the lights went out.
SMOKE SIGNAL
2 an event or action that shows what someone feels, what exists, or what is likely to happen
signal (that)
•These results are a signal that the child may need special help.
[+of]
•The opinion poll is a clear signal of people's dissatisfaction with the government.
•The display flashed a red warning signal.
•A red flag is often used as a danger signal.
send/give a signal
•This will send the wrong signal to potential investors.
3 a series of light waves, sound waves etc that carry an image, sound, or message, for example in radio or television
send (out)/transmit/emit a signal (to sb)
•This new pay-TV channel sends signals via satellite to cable companies.
•In the 1970s it was illegal to transmit fax signals via the public telephone system.
receive/pick up/detect a signal
•a small antenna which receives radio signals
•The Coast Guard picked up a distress signal from a freighter 50 miles out at sea.
4 a piece of equipment with coloured lights, used on a railway to tell train drivers whether they can continue or must stop:
•a stop signal
•a signal failure (=when these lights do not work)
busy signal at BUSY^1 (4)past tense and past participle signalled, present participle signalling BrE past tense and past participle signaled, present participle signaling AmE
1 [I,T] to make a sound or action in order to give information or tell someone to do something:
•She signalled, and the waiter brought the bill.
•The whistle signalled the end of the match.
[+at]
•Mary signalled wildly at them, but they didn't notice.
[+to]
•The judge signaled to a police officer and the man was led away.
[+for]
•He pushed his plate away and signalled for coffee.
signal (to) sb to do sth
•She signalled to the children to come inside.
signal that
•The bell signaled that school was over.
2 [T] to make something clear by what you say or do - used in news reports:
•Both sides have signaled their willingness to start negotiations.
•British sources last night signalled their readiness to talk.
signal (that)
•The Prime Minister's speech today signals that there will be a shake-up in the cabinet.
3 [T] to be a sign that something is going to happen
signal the start/beginning/end of sth
•the lengthening days that signal the end of winter
4 [I] to show the direction you intend to turn in a vehicle, using the lights; = indicate AmE
•Signal before you pull out.[only before noun] formal
important
signal achievement/success/failure etc
•The university has done me the signal honour of making me an Honorary Fellow.[C] BrE
a small building near a railway from which the signals and tracks are controlled $ [C] BrE
a SIGNALMAN (2) formal
very noticeably:
•The government has signally failed to deal with the problem. plural signalmen [C]
1 especially BrE someone whose job is to control railway signals
2 also signaller BrE a member of the army or navy who is trained to send and receive signals $ plural signatories [C]
one of the people, organizations, or countries that signs an official agreement
[+to/of]
•The UK is a signatory to the Berne convention.
•the signatories of the Helsinki Declaration $
1 [C] your name written in the way you usually write it, for example at the end of a letter, or on a cheque etc to show that you have written it:
•Her signature is totally illegible (=cannot be read).
•The school collected 4000 signatures for the petition.
•The Ukranians put their signatures to the Lisbon Protocol.
•Someone's forged my signature (=made an illegal copy of my name to deceive people) on this letter.
•Each child must obtain the signature of his or her parents.
!! Your signature is what you write when you sign your name. The act of putting a signature on something is called signing: the signing of the treaty
2 [U] formal the act of signing something
for signature
•We will send you a copy of the agreement for signature.
3 [C usually singular] something that is closely related to an event, person, or style:
•The shapes in the paintings are easily recognised as his signature.
•Smith's signature singing style
KEY SIGNATURE, TIME SIGNATURE[C] BrE
a short piece of music used at the beginning and end of a television or radio programme $ [C]
a flat piece of wood, CARDBOARD etc in a public place, with writing on it that gives people information [C]
a metal object used for printing a small pattern in WAX as an official SEAL^1 (1)[C]
a ring that has a signet on it [singular, U]
1 the importance of an event, action etc, especially because of the effects or influence it will have in the future; insignificance
•Stella didn't attach any significance to Doug's query.
[+of]
•the significance of climate change
•The book assesses the significance of Stalin's policies between 1927 and 1939.
[+for]
•The results of the study have a wider significance for all the profession.
great/little significance (in sth)
•The crime problem has great significance to the general public.
grasp/appreciate the significance (of sth) (=fully understand something)
•The press were slow to grasp the significance of what happened.
2 the meaning of a word, sign, action etc, especially when this is not immediately clear
[+of]
•the significance of the words that refer to the bread Christ shares with his disciples
full/real/true significance
•Only later did we realize the true significance of his remark.
1 having an important effect or influence, especially on what will happen in the future; insignificant
•His most significant political achievement was the abolition of the death penalty.
•Please inform us if there are any significant changes in your plans.
[+for]
•The result is highly significant for the future of the province.
it is significant that
•It is significant that the writers of the report were all men.
2 large enough to be noticeable or have noticeable effects; insignificant
•A significant number of drivers fail to keep to speed limits.
•A significant part of Japan's wealth is invested in the West.
•There is a significant difference between the number of home births now and ten years ago.
•The rise in temperature is not statistically significant.
3 a significant look, smile etc has a special meaning that is not known to everyone:
•He gave me a significant look.
1 in an important way or to an important degree:
•Health problems can be significantly reduced by careful diet.
•Methods used by younger teachers differ significantly from those used by older ones.
significantly better/greater/worse etc
•Delia's work has been significantly better this year.
2 [sentence adverb] used to say that something is very important:
•The Democrats, significantly, finished well behind the Green Party.
3 in a way that seems to have a special meaning:
•George paused, and glanced significantly in my direction.[C]
your husband, wife, girlfriend, or boyfriend [C,U] formal
the intended meaning of a word past tense and past participle signified, present participle signifying, third person singular signifies [not in progressive]
1 [T] to represent, mean, or be a sign of something:
•Some tribes use special facial markings to signify status.
•The image of the lion signified power and strength.
signify (that)
•The symbol used signifies that the frequency is measured in kHz.
2 [T] formal if you signify a feeling, opinion etc, you do something that acts as a sign so that other people know your feeling or opinion
signify that
•Hamilton waved his hand to signify that he didn't mind what they decided.
signify sth (to sb)
•He turned away from her slightly to signify his indifference.
3 [I] to be important enough to have an effect on something:
•These figures don't really signify in the overall results.
1 [U] the act of writing your name at the end of document to show that you agree with it:
•The formal signing will take place on April 9th.
[+of]
•the signing of the ceasefire agreement
2
a) [C] BrE someone who has just signed a contract to join a sports team or work with a record company:
•New signing, Mark Brown, scored three goals in his first match.
b) [U] when a sports team or record company prepares a contract which someone then signs to say that they will join the team or work with the company
[+of]
•Birmingham City have completed the signing of Doug Bell from Shrewsbury Town.
3 [U] the use of sign language to communicate to or between people who cannot hear well[C,U]
a language that uses hand movements instead of spoken words, used by people who cannot hear well $ [C]
1 especially BrE a sign at the side of a road showing directions and distances; = sign AmE
•I'm sure that signpost is pointing the wrong way.
•Just follow the signposts to the city centre.
2 something that helps you understand how something is organized, where to go, or what will follow - used especially in news reports:
•As yet, there are few signposts pointing to success.[T] BrE
1 be well/clearly/badly signposted to be clearly or unclearly shown by signposts:
•The village isn't very well signposted.
2 to show something clearly so that everyone will notice and understand it - used especially in news reports:
•They have signposted their conclusions in the report. [C]
a member of an Indian religious group that developed from Hinduism in the 16th century
- Sikh adjective [U]
the religion of the Sikhs [U]
grass or other plants cut and stored so that they can be used as winter food for cattle
1 NO NOISE [U] complete absence of sound or noise; = quiet
[+of]
•Nothing disturbed the silence of the night.
silence falls/descends (on/upon sth)
•After the explosion, an eerie silence fell upon the scene.
break/shatter the silence
•A loud scream shattered the silence.
2 NO TALKING [C,U] complete quiet because nobody is talking:
•There was a brief silence before anyone answered.
in silence
•The four men sat in silence.
complete/total/dead silence
•'How long have you been here?' I asked. There was complete silence.
•'Silence in court!' roared the judge.
embarrassed/awkward/stunned etc silence
•There was an awkward silence between them.
•The accused exercised his right to silence (=the legal right to choose to say nothing).
3 NO DISCUSSION/ANSWER [U] failure or refusal to discuss something or answer questions about something
[+on]
•The government's silence on such an important issue seems very strange.
•Once again the answer was a deafening silence (=a very noticeable refusal to discuss something).
4 NO COMMUNICATION [U] failure to write a letter to someone, telephone them etc:
•After two years of silence he suddenly got in touch with us again.
5 one-minute/two-minute etc silence a period of time in which everyone stops talking as a sign of honour and respect towards someone who has died[T]
1 to make someone stop talking, or stop something making a noise:
•She held up her hand to silence the children.
2 to make someone stop expressing opposition or criticisms - used especially in news reports:
•attempts to silence the rumours
•Barnes has failed to silence his critics. $ [C]
1 BrE a piece of equipment that is connected to the EXHAUST of a vehicle to make its engine quieter; = muffler AmE
2 a thing that is put on the end of a gun so that it makes less noise when it is fired
1 NOT SPEAKING
a) not saying anything:
•Alan was silent.
remain/stay/keep silent
•She kept silent, forcing Buchanan to continue.
•The crowd fell silent (=became silent) when the President appeared.
b) [only before noun] not talking much to other people
the strong silent type (=a man who looks strong and does not talk very much)
2 NOT COMMUNICATING failing or refusing to talk about something or express an opinion
[+on/about]
•The report was silent on the subject.
3 QUIET without any sound, or not making any sound:
•The large house was silent and lonely.
•At last the guns fell silent.
•Julie offered up a silent prayer that she would pass her exam.
as silent as the grave (=completely silent in a mysterious or uncomfortable way)
4 FILMS [only before noun] a silent film has pictures but no sound
5 LETTER a silent letter in a word is not pronounced:
•The 'w' in 'wreck' is silent.
- silently adverb
•He sat silently by the bed.
the silent majority the ordinary people in a country, who are not active politically and who do not make their opinions known[C] AmE
someone who owns part of a business but is not actively involved in the way it operates; = sleeping partner BrE
1 [C,U] a dark image, shadow, or shape that you see against a light background
[+of]
•a dark silhouette of domes and minarets
[+against]
•Soon the bombers would return, black silhouettes against a pale sky.
in silhouette
•The old windmill stood out in silhouette.
2 [C,U] a drawing of something or someone, often from the side, showing a black shape against a light background:
•silhouette pictures of snowmen and reindeer
in silhouette
•a picture of Mozart in silhouette
3 [C] the particular shape certain clothes give you:
•Fitted clothes often give the neatest silhouettes.
- silhouetted adjective
•tall chimney stacks silhouetted against the orange flames [U]
a chemical COMPOUND that exists naturally as sand, QUARTZ, and FLINT, used in making glass [C,U] technical
one of a group of common solid mineral substances that exist naturally in the Earth [U]
a chemical substance that exists as a solid or as a powder and is used to make glass, bricks, and parts for computers. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Si[C]
a computer CHIP $ [U]
a chemical that is not changed by heat or cold, does not let water through, and is used in making artificial body parts, paint, and rubber[C]
a piece of silicone that is put into the body, especially into a woman's breasts to make them larger
1 [U] a thin smooth soft cloth made from very thin thread which is produced by a silkworm:
• pure silk stockings
•a beautiful dress in raw silk
2 [C] BrE law a very important lawyer; = Queen's Counsel (QC)
•His practice quickly grew and he took silk (=became a QC) in 1988.
3 silks technical the coloured shirts worn by JOCKEYs (=people who ride horses in races)
4 make a silk purse out of a sow's ear to make something good out of something that is bad quality [usually before noun] literary
1 soft, smooth, and shiny like silk:
•her silken hair
2 made of silk:
•a silken handkerchief[only before noun]
silk screen prints are made by forcing paint or ink onto a surface through a stretched piece of cloth
- silk screen noun [C] $ [C]
a type of CATERPILLAR which produces silk thread
1 soft, smooth, and shiny like silk:
•silky fur
2 [only before noun] made of silk:
•the silky fabric of her dress
3 a silky voice is gentle, and is used especially when trying to persuade someone to do something
- silkily adverb
- silkiness noun [U] [C]
1 the narrow shelf at the base of a window frame
2 the part of a car frame at the bottom of the doors
SYLLABUB comparative sillier, superlative silliest
1 not sensible, or showing bad judgment:
•Stop asking silly questions.
•You made a lot of silly mistakes.
•I left my keys at home, which was a pretty silly thing to do.
•'Shall we go for a walk?' ' Don't be silly, it's dark.'
2 stupid in a CHILDISH or embarrassing way:
•I feel so silly in this outfit.
•a silly hat
•I hate their parties - we always end up playing silly games.
3 spoken not serious or practical:
•They served us coffee in these silly little cups.
4 bore sb silly informal to make someone extremely bored
5 drink/scare/laugh etc yourself silly informal to drink or laugh etc so much that you stop behaving sensibly
- silliness noun [U]spoken
used to tell someone that you think they are not behaving sensibly:
•No, silly, I didn't mean that.plural silly billies [C] especially BrE spoken
used to tell someone, especially a child, that they are behaving in a silly way
the silly season BrE informal a period in the summer when newspapers print stories that are not very serious because there is not much political news $ plural silos [C]
1 a tall structure like a tower that is used for storing grain, winter food for farm animals etc
2 a large structure under the ground from which a large MISSILE can be fired [U]
sand, mud, soil etc that is carried in water and then settles at a bend in a river, an entrance to a port etc

PHRASAL VERBS
silt up phr v
if something silts up or is silted up, it becomes filled with silt:
•The old harbour silted up years ago.
SYLVAN $
1 [U] a valuable shiny, light grey metal that is used to make jewellery, knives, coins etc. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Ag:
•a silver necklace
•cups made of solid silver
2 [U] spoons, forks, dishes etc that are made of silver; = silverware
•It was my job to polish the silver.
3 [C,U] the colour of silver:
•The lake sparkled with shades of blue and silver.
•This season's colours are rich golds and elegant silvers.
4 [C,U] informal a SILVER MEDAL:
•He won a silver at the last Olympics.
5 [U] BrE coins that contain silver or are the colour of silver:
•He put his hand into his pocket and brought out a handful of silver.
1 made of silver:
•a silver teapot
•a silver coin
•a solid silver brooch
2 having the colour of silver:
•an old man with silver hair
3 on a silver platter if something is given to you on a silver platter, you do not have to make any effort to get it:
•He had a scholarship handed to him on a silver platter.
4 silver bullet AmE something that solves a difficult problem very quickly and easily:
•There is no silver bullet for this problem.
be born with a silver spoon in your mouth at BORN^2 (8); every cloud has a silver lining at CLOUD^1 (6)[T]
1 technical to cover a surface with a thin shiny layer of silver or another metal in order to make a mirror
2 literary to make something shine and look the colour of silver:
•The farmhouse appeared, silvered by the moon.[C]
SILVER WEDDING ANNIVERSARY[C,U]
a type of tree that has a smooth silvery-white TRUNK and branches[C]
a one dollar coin that was used in the US in the past $ plural silverfish or silverfishes [C]
a small silver-coloured insect that cannot fly and is found in houses[U] BrE
FOIL[C] especially BrE
the date that is exactly 25 years after the date when something important happened, especially when someone became king or queen:
•the Queen's Silver Jubilee[C]
a MEDAL made of silver that is given to the person who finishes second in a race or competition
- silver medallist noun [C][U] BrE
paper that is shiny like metal on one side, and is used for wrapping food; foil[U]
metal that is covered with a thin layer of silver
- silver-plated adjective
•a silver-plated candlestick
the silver screen old-fashioned the film industry, especially in Hollywood:
•stars of the silver screen $ [C]
someone who makes jewellery and other things out of silver; blacksmithliterary
good at talking to people and making them like you, or persuading them to do what you want $ [U]
1 BrE objects that are made of silver, for example dishes, plates, knives, forks etc
2 AmE knives, forks, and spoons that are made of silver or a similar metal
3 BrE a silver cup that a person or team wins in a sports competition:
•The club has not yet given up hope of ending the season with some silverware.[C]
the date that is exactly 25 years after the date of a wedding:
•a party to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary
1 shiny and silver in colour:
•her silvery hair
•the silvery light of the moon
2 literary a silvery voice or sound is light, pleasant, and musical:
•Clara gave a small, silvery laugh. $ [C]
a plastic card in a MOBILE PHONE that stores your personal information and allows you to use the phone
1 literary similar to a monkey:
•his dark hair and simian features
2 technical relating to monkeys:
•simian diseases $
almost the same; alike; different
•We have similar tastes in music.
•Both approaches seem to achieve similar results.
•A number of his friends had been affected in a similar way.
•The two products look quite similar.
[+to]
•Her ideas are quite similar to mine.
[+in]
•The two cars are very similar in size and design.
broadly/roughly similar
•The two groups have broadly similar aims.
remarkably/strikingly similar
•The speech was strikingly similar to one given by the American President earlier this year.
SIMILARLY plural similarities
[C,U] if there is a similarity between two things or people, they are similar in some way; difference ; likeness

striking similarity
close/great/strong similarity
bear a/some similarity to sth (=be like something)
there the similarity ends (=used to say that two people or things are not alike in other ways)

[+between]
•There are some striking similarities between the two plays.
[+to]
•the song's close similarity to traditional Jewish music
•The present crisis bears some similarity to the oil crisis of the 1970s.
[+of]
•the similarity of their names
[+in]
•I was struck by the similarities in their early lives.
[+with]
•The police are checking for similarities with other recent attacks in the area.
• There are similarities with German, though Yiddish is a distinct language.
•They are both blonde, but there the similarity ends.

$
in a similar way; differently
•The first letter she wrote me was less than a page long, and her second letter was similarly brief. [sentence adverb]
•The cost of food and clothing has come down in recent years. Similarly, fuel prices have fallen quite considerably.
[C,U] an expression that describes something by comparing it with something else, using the words 'as' or 'like', for example 'as white as snow'; metaphor $
1 [I,T] to boil gently, or to cook something slowly by boiling it gently:
•Bring the soup to the boil and allow it to simmer gently for about half an hour.
2 [I] if you are simmering with anger, or if anger is simmering in you, you feel very angry but do not show your feelings
[+with]
•He was left simmering with rage.
3 [I] if an argument is simmering, people feel angry with each other but only show it slightly:
•The row has been simmering for some time.
•Violent revolt was simmering in the country.

PHRASAL VERBS
simmer down phr v
to become calm again after you have been very angry:
•We decided she needed some time to simmer down.[singular]
when something is boiling gently:
•Bring the vegetables to a simmer. [C] BrE
a cake made with dried fruit that is traditionally eaten at Easter $ AmE informal
1 someone who is simpatico is pleasant and easy to like
2 in agreement:
•We're simpatico about most things. $ [I]
to smile in a silly annoying way:
•Betsy simpered at him as she spoke.
•a silly, simpering girl
- simper noun [C] comparative simpler, superlative simplest
1 EASY not difficult or complicated to do or understand:
•a simple but effective solution to the problem
•There is no simple answer to this question.
•I'm sure there's a perfectly simple explanation.
simple to use/make/operate etc
•Modern cameras are very simple to use.
relatively/fairly/quite etc simple
•There are relatively simple exercises to build strength.
•We want to keep the costumes as simple as possible.
•We can't pay people any more money until the company is more profitable. I'm afraid it's as simple as that.
2 PLAIN made in a plain style, without a lot of decoration or unnecessary things added:
•She dressed with simple elegance.
•simple but delicious food
•a building constructed in a simple, classic style
3 ONLY [usually before noun] used to emphasize that only one thing is involved:
•Completing the race is not just a simple matter of physical fitness.
• The simple fact is, he's not very good at his job.
•Their motive was greed, pure and simple.
4 NOT HAVING MANY PARTS made or built of only a few parts, and not having a complicated structure:
•It's a very simple machine.
•They evolved from simple life forms that existed millions of years ago.
5 ORDINARY honest and ordinary and not special in any way:
•Joe was just a simple farmer.
6 GRAMMAR technical simple tenses are not formed with an AUXILIARY such as 'have' or 'be'
7 the simple life life without too many possessions or modern machines, usually in the countryside
8 STUPID [not before noun] someone who is simple is not very intelligent:
•I'm afraid Luke's a bit simple.[C] medical
an injury in which a bone in your body is broken but does not cut through the flesh that surrounds it
COMPOUND FRACTURE[U]
INTEREST that is calculated on the sum of money that you first INVESTed , and does not include the interest it has already earned
COMPOUND INTEREST
not very intelligent, and unable to understand complicated things [C] old-fashioned
someone who has a very low level of intelligence [U]
the quality of being simple and not complicated, especially when this is attractive or useful:
•Mona wrote with a beautiful simplicity of style.
•For the sake of simplicity, the tax form is divided into three sections.
•James's solution to this problem was simplicity itself (=very simple). past tense and past participle simplified, present participle simplifying, third person singular simplifies [T]
to make something easier or less complicated:
•an attempt to simplify the tax system
•The law needs to be simplified.
•a simplified version of the game
- simplification noun [C,U]
•These figures are a simplification. The real situation is much more complicated than this.
OVERSIMPLIFY
treating difficult subjects in a way that is too simple:
•This is a very simplistic approach to the problem.
- simplistically adverb
1 used to emphasize what you are saying:
•This work is simply not good enough.
•He simply won't accept the committee's decision.
•That would be simply wonderful!
•It is quite simply the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard.
2 only; = just
•Some students lose marks simply because they don't read the question properly.
•It's not simply a question of money.
•What we need is not simply a smaller organization, but a more efficient one.
3 used to emphasize how easy it is to do something:
•Simply fill in the coupon and take it to your local store.
4 if you say or explain something simply, you say it in a way that is easy for people to understand:
•Try to express yourself more simply.
• To put it simply, the tax cuts mean the average person will be about 3% better off.
5 if you live simply, you live in a plain and ordinary way, without spending much money:
•We had to live very simply on my father's small salary. plural simulacra [C + of] formal
something that is made to look like another thing [T]
1 to make or produce something that is not real but has the appearance or feeling of being real:
•a machine that simulates conditions in space
•Interviews can be simulated in the classroom.
2 formal to pretend to have a feeling:
•He found it impossible to simulate grief.
not real, but made to look, sound, or feel real:
•a simulated nuclear explosion
•She looked at the report with simulated interest.
[C,U] the activity of producing conditions which are similar to real ones, especially in order to test something, or the conditions that are produced:
•a computer simulation used to train airline pilots
[+of]
•a simulation of a rainforest environment $ [C]
a machine that is used for training people by letting them feel what real conditions are like, for example in a plane:
•a flight simulator $ past tense and past participle simulcast [T usually passive] AmE
to broadcast a programme on television and radio at the same time
- simulcast noun [C] $
things that are simultaneous happen at exactly the same time:
•They grabbed each other's hands in simultaneous panic.
•Up to twenty users can have simultaneous access to the system.
[+with]
•The withdrawal of British troops should be simultaneous with that of US forces.
•The speeches will be broadcast live, with simultaneous translation (=immediate translation, as the person is speaking) into English.
- simultaneously adverb
•The opera will be broadcast simultaneously on television and radio.
1 [C,U] an action that is against religious rules and is considered to be an offence against God
[+of]
•the sin of pride
•She needed to confess her sins and ask for forgiveness.
•He knew that he had committed a terrible sin.
the seven deadly sins (=seven bad feelings or desires, in the Christian religion)
2 informal a sin something that you think is very wrong
it is a sin (to do sth)
•There's so much lovely food here, it would be a sin to waste it.
3 live in sin old-fashioned if two people live in sin, they live together in a sexual relationship without being married
4 as miserable/ugly/guilty as sin especially BrE spoken very unhappy, ugly, or guilty:
•I saw Margaret this morning looking as miserable as sin.
5 for my sins especially BrE spoken an expression used to suggest jokingly that you have to do something as a punishment:
•I work at head office now, for my sins.; sinful
cover/hide a multitude of sins at MULTITUDE (4); CARDINAL SIN, MORTAL SIN, ORIGINAL SINpast tense and past participle sinned, present participle sinning [I]
1 to do something that is against religious rules and is considered to be an offence against God
[+against]
•You have sinned against God.
2 be more sinned against than sinning old-fashioned used to say that someone should not be blamed for what they have done wrong, because they have been badly treated by other peopletechnical
the written abbreviation of sine [singular] BrE informal
a place away from the playing area where players in some sports, for example ICE HOCKEY, are sent if they break the rules
1 [generally used with a perfect tense in the main clause] from a particular time or event in the past until the present, or in that period of time:
•We've been waiting here since two o'clock.
•I haven't played rugby since I left university.
•She left London ten years ago, and I haven't seen her since.
•The factory has been here since the 1970s.
•It was exactly five years since her father had died.
•Since the end of the war over five thousand prisoners have been released.
•He lost his job five years ago, but has since found other work.
•I left school in 1995, and since then I've lived in London.
ever since (=all the time since)
•We've been friends ever since we were at school together.
•She's been terrified of the sound of aircraft ever since the crash.
•We came to the UK in 1974 and have lived here ever since.
2 used to give the reason for something:
•Since you are unable to answer, perhaps we should ask someone else.
3 since when? spoken used in questions to show that you are very surprised or angry:
•Since when have you been interested in my feelings?
4 long since if something has long since happened, it happened a long time ago:
•I've long since forgiven her for what she did.

WORD CHOICE: since, for, during, over
Use since to say that something started at a point in time in the past, and is still continuing: He has been living in Leeds since 1998. | We've known about it since May.
Since is usually followed by a time expression ('last year', 'this morning', '4 o'clock' etc) or by the simple past tense. Use the present perfect or the past perfect in the other clause: I have loved movies since I first went to the cinema. | He had been seriously ill since Christmas.

!! Speakers of British English usually say it is a long time/two weeks etc since..., and speakers of American English it has been a long time/two weeks etc since..., but both uses are correct: It's weeks (BrE)/It's been weeks (AmE) since I saw Grandma.
Use for when you state the length of time that something has been happening: We have known each other for ten years (NOT since ten years). | I had been waiting for hours (NOT since hours). | I haven't seen him for ages (NOT since ages).
During and over are used when you state the period of time in which something happens or changes: During her first year at college, she had several boyfriends. | Over the last six months, crime has doubled.

$
1 a feeling, belief, or statement that is sincere is honest and true, and based on what you really feel and believe; = genuine
sincere thanks/thank you/gratitude
•I would like to say a sincere thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me.
•Please accept my sincere apologies.
•his sincere desire to find out the truth
2 someone who is sincere is honest and says what they really feel or believe; insincere
•a warm-hearted, sincere man
[+in]
•They were obviously sincere in their beliefs.
•I wasn't sure that he was sincere in what he was saying. $
1 if you feel or believe something sincerely, you really feel or believe it and are not just pretending; = truly
•I sincerely hope I'll see her again.
•We are sincerely grateful for your help.
2 (yours) sincerely an expression used to end a formal letter, especially one that you have begun by using someone's name [U]
when someone is sincere and really means what they are saying:
•I don't doubt her sincerity, but I think she's got her facts wrong.
•May I say in all sincerity that we could not have achieved this much without your help and support. [C] technical
the FRACTION (2) calculated for an angle by dividing the length of the side opposite it in a TRIANGLE that has a RIGHT ANGLE, by the length of the the side opposite the right angle
COSINE, TANGENT $ [C] formal
a job which you get paid for even though you do not have to do very much work $ [singular] formal
something that you must have, or which must exist, before something else can happen
[+for/of]
•The control of inflation is a sine qua non for economic stability. [C,U]
1 a part of your body that connects a muscle to a bone:
•The sinews on his neck stood out like knotted string.
2 the sinews of sth literary something that gives strength or support to a government, country, or system:
•They have begun building the sinews of an independent nation.
a sinewy person has a thin body and strong muscles:
•a big man with long, sinewy arms
1 against religious rules, or doing something that is against religious rules; wicked
•Dancing was believed to be sinful.
•a wicked, sinful man
2 very wrong or bad:
•a sinful waste of taxpayers' money
- sinfully adverb past tense sang past participle sung
1 WITH YOUR VOICE [I,T] to produce a musical sound with your voice:
•She can sing beautifully.
•Most children enjoy singing.
•We had a great time singing some of the old songs.
[+to]
•My mother used to sing to me when I was young.
•He was singing to himself quietly.
sing sb sth
•Come on, sing us a song!
•I've never been able to sing in tune (=sing the correct notes).
•She patiently sang the baby to sleep.
SINGING
2 BIRDS [I] if birds sing, they produce high musical sounds:
•I could hear the birds singing outside my window.
3 HIGH NOISE [I always + adv/prep] to make a high whistling sound:
•A kettle was singing on the stove.
[+past]
•A bullet sang past my ear.
4 sing sb's praises to praise someone very much:
•Mrs Edwards was singing your praises today.
5 sing a different tune to say something different from what you said before:
•You're singing a different tune now!
6 be singing from the same hymn sheet/book used to say that a group of people all have the same aims or all express the same opinion on a particular subject:
•Union representatives are all singing from the same hymn sheet on the issue of pay.
7 GIVE INFORMATION [I] informal to tell people everything you know about a crime when they ask you questions about it - used especially by criminals and the police:
•I think he'll sing.

PHRASAL VERBS
sing along phr v
to sing with someone else who is already singing:
•Sing along if you know the words.
[+to]
•Jess was singing along to the radio.

sing out phr v
1 sing out (sth) to shout or sing some words clearly and loudly:
•'Freeze!' a shrill voice sang out.
2 AmE to sing loudly so that people can hear you easily

sing up phr v BrE
to sing more loudly:
•Sing up, boys, I can't hear you! $ [C]
an informal occasion when people sing songs together; = singsong BrE past tense and past participle singed, present participle singeing [I,T]
to burn the surface of something slightly, or to be burned slightly:
•The flames had singed her hair.[C]
a mark on the surface of something where it has been burnt slightly $ [C]
someone who sings
pop/opera/folk etc singer
•her favourite pop singer
•a famous Italian opera singer
•the lead singer (=main singer) of Slade
•Tina Turner's backing singers (=people who sing with her)[C]
someone who writes songs and sings them [U]
the activity of producing musical sounds with your voice:
•He entered the Royal College of Music to study singing.
1 ONE [only before noun] only one:
•A single tree gave shade from the sun.
•They won the game by a single point.
•the highest price ever paid for a single work of art
•a single-sex school (=one for only boys or girls)
2 every single used to emphasize that you are talking about every person or thing:
•Don't write down every single word I say.
•He works every single day.
3 not a single no people or things at all:
•The plane was brought down safely and not a single passenger was killed.
•We didn't get a single reply to the advertisement.
4 the single biggest/greatest etc used to emphasize that you are talking about the one thing that is the biggest, greatest etc:
•Cigarette smoking is the single most important cause of lung cancer.
•Tourism is the country's single biggest earner.
5 NOT MARRIED not married, or not involved in a romantic relationship with anyone:
•The changes in tax rates will benefit single people the most.
•Is he single?
6 single bed/room etc a bed, room etc that is meant to be used by one person only:
•You have to pay extra for a single room.
7 TICKET BrE a single ticket etc is for a trip from one place to another but not back again; = one-way; return, round-trip[C]
1 MUSIC a CD that has only one song on it, not a number of songs, or a song which is sold in this way:
•Have you heard their latest single?
2 SPORT
a) one RUN^2 in a game of CRICKET
b) a hit that allows the person who is hitting the ball to reach first BASE in a game of baseball
3 TENNIS singles [U] a game, especially in tennis, in which one person plays on their own against another person:
•I prefer playing singles.
•Who won the women's singles?
doubles at DOUBLE^2 (3)
4 NOT MARRIED singles [plural] people who are not married and are not involved in a romantic relationship with anyone:
•The show is especially popular among young singles.
•a singles night at the club
5 TICKET BrE a ticket for a trip from one place to another but not back again; return
•A single to Oxford, please.
6 MONEY AmE a piece of paper money worth one dollar:
•Anybody have five singles?
7 ROOM a room in a hotel for just one person:
•I'm afraid we haven't got any singles available.

PHRASAL VERBS
single sb/sth <=> out phr v
to choose one person or thing from among a group because they are better, worse, more important etc than the others
[+for]
•I don't see why he should be singled out for special treatment.
[+as]
•One programme was singled out as being particularly good.
a single-breasted jacket or suit has only one set of buttons down the front
DOUBLE-BREASTED[U]
when one person, usually a soldier, fights against one other person:
•He had already defeated an enemy champion in single combat.[U] BrE
thin cream that you can pour easily
DOUBLE CREAM, HEAVY CREAM[singular]
a unit of money that is shared by several different countries:
•Europe is moving steadily towards a single currency.also single decker [C] BrE
a bus with only one level
DOUBLE-DECKER (1)
- single-decker adjective [only before noun]
•a single-decker bus[plural]
a number below 10
in single figures
•Interest rates have stayed in single figures for over a year now.
•The number of cases of the disease is now down to single figures.
in single file moving in a line, with one person behind another:
•We walked in single file across the bridge.
- single file adverbalso single-handed
if one person does something single-handedly, they do it without help from anyone else:
•She brought up three children single-handedly.
- single-handed adjective [only before noun]
•a single-handed voyage across the Atlantic[U]
a university degree course in Britain in which you study only one main subject
JOINT HONOURS
the single market a group of countries in Europe that allow goods to be moved, bought, and sold between them with very few controls
someone who is single-minded has one clear aim and works very hard to achieve it:
•a tough, single-minded lady
•He worked with single-minded determination.
- single-mindedly adverb
- single-mindedness noun [U] formal
singleness of purpose great determination when you are working to achieve something[C]
a mother or father who looks after their children on their own, without a partner; = lone parent [C] BrE
a piece of clothing that you wear for sport which covers the top part of your body but not your arms[C] BrE
a road that is only wide enough for one car to go along it
alone, or one at a time:
•Plant the trees singly or in small groups. $
1 [singular] a way of speaking in which your voice keeps rising and falling:
•I recognized her soft singsong immediately.
2 [C] BrE an informal occasion when people sing songs together; = singalong AmE
•We had a bit of a singsong later.
- singsong adjective
•a singsong voice $
1 a singular noun, verb, form etc is used when writing or speaking about one person or thing; plural
•the singular form of the noun
•If the subject is singular, use a singular verb.
2 [usually before noun] formal very great or very noticeable:
•He showed a singular lack of tact in the way he handled the situation.
•a singular achievement
3 literary very unusual or strange:
•I wondered why she was behaving in so singular a fashion.
the singular the form of a word used when writing or speaking about one person or thing; plural
•'Datum' is the singular of 'data'.
in the singular
•Should the verb be in the singular or the plural? plural singularities
1 [C] technical an extremely small point in space that contains an extremely large amount of material and which does not obey the usual laws of nature, for example a BLACK HOLE or the point at the beginning of the universe
2 [U] old-fashioned the quality of something that makes it unusual or strange:
•He had an attractive singularity of viewpoint. $ formal
in a way that is very noticeable or unusual:
•a singularly foolish plan
•He has singularly failed to live up to his promises. plural Sinhalese
1 [C] someone who belongs to the race of people that forms the largest part of the population in Sri Lanka
2 [U] the language used by the Sinhalese
- Sinhalese adjective $
making you feel that something evil, dangerous, or illegal is happening or will happen
there is something/nothing sinister about sb/sth
•There was something sinister about Mr Scott's death.
•There is a sinister side to these events.
•He was a handsome man in a sinister sort of way.
•a sinister atmosphere past tense sank , past participle sunk
1 IN WATER [I] to go down below the surface of water, mud etc; float
•Their motorboat struck a rock and began to sink.
•The kids watched as the coin sank to the bottom of the pool.
•The heavy guns sank up to their barrels in the mud.
2 BOAT [T] to damage a ship so badly that it sinks:
•A luxury yacht was sunk in a bomb attack yesterday.
3 MOVE LOWER [I] to move downwards to a lower level:
•The sun was sinking behind the coconut palms.
•Her chin sank onto her chest, and she looked despairing.
4 FALL/SIT DOWN [I] to fall down or sit down heavily, especially because you are very tired and weak
[+into/to/down/back etc]
•She let out a groan and sank into a chair.
•He let go of her shoulders and she sank at once to the floor.
•Marion sank down on a rock, and wept.
•The minister sank to his knees (=he went down into a kneeling position) and prayed.
5 GET WORSE [I always + adv/prep] to gradually get into a worse condition
[+into]
•They lost all their money and sank into desperate poverty.
•The good mood left me and I sank into depression.
•The doctor said that the boy was sinking fast (=getting weaker and about to die).
6 your heart sinks also your spirits sink used to say that you lose hope or confidence:
•His heart sank the way it always did when she left him.
•She felt desperately tired, and her spirits sank.
7 LOWER AMOUNT/VALUE [I] to go down in amount or value; = drop; rise
•Shares in the company have sunk as low as 620p.
[+to]
•The population of the village sank to just a few families.
8 VOICE [I] written if your voice sinks, it becomes very quiet
[+to/into]
•Her voice sank to a whisper.
9 sinking feeling informal the unpleasant feeling that you get when you suddenly realize that something bad is going to happen:
•I had a sinking feeling inside as I realized I was going to fail yet again.
10 be sunk spoken to be in a situation where you are certain to fail or have a lot of problems:
•If I don't get paid by next week, I'll really be sunk.
11 sink without trace especially BrE also sink like a stone especially AmE if something sinks without trace, it fails quickly or no one pays attention to it:
•He made a few records which all sank without trace.
12 sink so low also sink to doing sth to be dishonest enough or SELFISH enough to do something very bad or unfair; = stoop
•How could he have sunk so low?
13 USE SOMETHING SHARP [T] to put your teeth or something sharp into someone's flesh, into food etc
sink sth into sth
•The dog sank its teeth into my arm.
•She sank her fork into the pie.
14 DIG INTO GROUND [T] if you sink something such as a well or part of a building, you dig a hole to put it into the ground:
•A well was sunk in the back garden, and water could be pumped up into the kitchen.
15 sink or swim to succeed or fail without help from anyone else:
•They don't give you a lot of guidance - you're just left to sink or swim, really.
16 MONEY [T] to spend a lot of money on something
sink sth in/into sth
•They sank their entire savings into their house.
17 BALL [T] to put a ball into a hole or BASKET in games such as GOLF or BASKETBALL
18 sink your differences BrE to agree to stop arguing and forget about your disagreements, especially in order to unite and oppose someone else:
•Nations must sink their differences to achieve greater security.
19 DRINK [T] BrE informal to drink alcohol, especially in large quantities:
•We sank a few pints at the pub first.

PHRASAL VERBS
sink in phr v
if information, facts etc sink in, you gradually understand them or realize their full meaning:
•He paused a moment for his words to sink in.
•The implications of Labour's defeat were beginning to sink in.[C]
a large open container that you fill with water and use for washing yourself, washing dishes etc; basin
•Dirty plates were piled high in the sink.
sink estate/school BrE an area where people live or a school that is in a very bad condition and seems unlikely to improve:
•Go to almost any city and you find sink estates where you get the feeling that the council hates the place and the people too. $
hook, line and sinker at HOOK^1 (9)[C] technical
money saved regularly by a business to pay for something in the future $ [C] especially biblical
someone who has SINned by not obeying God's laws $ [in nouns and adjectives]
1 Chinese and something else:
•Sino-Japanese trade
2 relating to China:
•a sinologist (=someone who studies Chinese culture, language, history etc)
1 moving with smooth twists and turns, like a snake:
•the sinuous grace of a cat
2 with many smooth twists and turns:
•They followed the sinuous trail deep into the mountains.
- sinuously adverb [C]
your sinuses are the spaces in the bones of your head that are connected to the inside of your nose:
•blocked sinuses
•a sinus infection [U]
a condition in which your sinuses swell up and become painful past tense and past participle sipped, present participle sipping [I,T]
to drink something slowly, taking very small mouthfuls:
•She was sitting at the table sipping her coffee.
[+at]
•He sipped at his wine with pleasure.[C]
a very small amount of a drink
[+of]
•a sip of water
•She poured more wine and took a sip.also syphon BrE [C]
1 a bent tube used for getting liquid out of a container, used by holding one end of the tube at a lower level than the end in the container
2 also soda siphon a type of bottle for holding SODA WATER, which is forced out of the bottle using gas pressurealso syphon BrE [T always + adv/prep]
1 also siphon sth <=> off/out to remove liquid from a container by using a siphon:
•It took him only a few minutes to siphon off the petrol and drive away.
siphon sth out of/from sth
•Crews began siphoning oil from the leaking boat.
2 also siphon sth <=> off to dishonestly take money from a business, account etc to use it for a purpose for which it was not intended:
•Emergency aid was siphoned off by foreign ministry officials for their own use.
siphon sth from sth
•I found she had siphoned thousands of dollars from our bank account.[C]
a plastic cover with a small hole in it that you put on a cup of coffee, tea etc, so that you can drink from the cup while walking, travelling etc strong $ strong
1 spoken used when speaking to a man in order to be polite or show respect:
•'Report back to me in an hour, sergeant.' 'Yes, sir.'
•Can I help you, sir?
•Sir! You dropped your wallet.
MADAM (1) BrE MA'AM AmE
2 Dear Sir/Sirs used at the beginning of a formal letter to a man or to people you do not know
3 Sir a title used before the first name of a KNIGHT or BARONET:
•Sir Paul McCartney
•Sir Jasper
4 BrE spoken used by children at school when speaking to or talking about a male teacher:
•Sir, I've forgotten my homework.
•Look out - sir's coming back!
MISS^2 (4)
5 no/yes sir! also no/yes siree! especially AmE old-fashioned spoken used to emphasize a statement or an answer to a question:
•I will not have that man in my home, no sir! $
1 old use used when speaking to a king:
•The people await you, sire.
2 [C usually singular] the father of a four-legged animal, especially a horse[T]
1 to be the father of an animal, especially a horse or dog:
•a stallion that has sired several race winners
2 old-fashioned to be the father of a child:
•Sam sired eight children. $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment that makes very loud warning sounds, used on police cars, fire engines etc:
•the wail of the ambulance sirens
•I heard police sirens in the distance.
2 siren voices/song/call literary encouragement to do something that seems very good, especially when this could have bad results:
•siren voices calling for the sale of weapons to the region
3 a woman who is very attractive but also dangerous to men - used especially in newspapers:
•a Hollywood siren
4 the Sirens a group of women in ancient Greek stories, whose beautiful singing made sailors sail towards them into dangerous wateralso sirloin steak $ [C,U]
a good quality piece of BEEF which is cut from the lower part of a cow's back $ plural siroccos [C]
a hot wind that blows from the desert of North Africa across to southern Europe spoken, informal
a name used when speaking to your sister [U]
a Central American plant whose leaves produce strong FIBREs , also called sisal, which are used in making ropecissy [C] informal not polite
a boy that other boys dislike because he prefers doing things that girls enjoy:
•He wanted to go to dance classes, but he was afraid the other boys would call him a sissy.
- sissy adjective $ [C]
1 a girl or woman who has the same parents as you; brother, half-sister, step-sister
•Janet and Abby are sisters.
•He has two sisters and a brother.
older/big sister
•My older sister is a nurse.
younger/little sister
•Where's your little sister?
•She's my twin sister.
2 sister paper/publication/company etc a newspaper etc that belongs to the same group or organization:
•the Daily Post's sister paper, the Liverpool Echo
3 also Sister a NUN:
•Good morning, Sister Mary.
4 BrE also Sister a nurse in charge of a hospital WARD:
•the ward sister
•I'm feeling a bit better today, Sister.
5 a word used by women to talk about other women and to show that they have feelings of friendship and support towards them:
•We appeal to our sisters all over the world to stand by us.
6 AmE spoken a way of talking to or about an African-American woman, used especially by African Americans $
1 [U] a special loyal relationship among women who share the same ideas and aims, especially among FEMINISTs :
•the special bond of sisterhood that joins women together
2 [C] a group of women who live a religious life together:
•the Christian sisterhoodplural sisters-in-law [C]
1 the sister of your husband or wife
2 your brother's wife
3 the wife of the brother of your husband or wife $
typical of a loving sister:
•She gave Lee a sisterly kiss.
•Their friendship can best be described as sisterly. past tense and past participle sat present participle sitting
1 IN A CHAIR ETC
a) also be sitting down [I] to be on a chair or seat, or on the ground, with the top half of your body upright and your weight resting on your BUTTOCKs
[+on/in/by etc]
•I sat on the shore and looked at the sea.
•She was sitting in a chair by the fire.
•She's the girl who sits next to me at school.
•In the driving seat sat a man of average height.
sit at a desk/table etc (=sit facing it)
•Jean sat at the table writing a letter.
sit doing sth
•They sat sipping their drinks.
•We used to sit and listen to her for hours.
•She wandered round all morning, unable to sit still.
•She was sitting upright in her chair.
•He was sitting cross-legged on the floor.
b) also sit down [I always + adv/prep] to get into a sitting position somewhere after you have been standing up:
•He came over and sat beside her.
•Sam sat opposite her and accepted a cigarette.
c) also sit sb down [T always + adv/prep] to make someone sit or help them to sit
sit sb on/in etc sth
•I gently led her to the chair and sat her on it.
2 OBJECTS/BUILDINGS ETC [I always + adv/prep] to be in a particular position or condition
[+on/in etc]
•a little church sitting on a hillside
•The parliament building sits in a large square.
•He's got a computer sitting on his desk, but he doesn't use it.
•My climbing boots were sitting unused in a cupboard.
•The house has sat empty for two years.
3 DO NOTHING [I always + adv/prep] to stay in one place for a long time, especially sitting down, doing nothing useful or helpful:
•I spent half the morning sitting in a traffic jam.
•Well, I can't sit here chatting all day.
•Are you just going to sit there complaining?
4 COMMITTEE/PARLIAMENT ETC [I] to be a member of a committee, parliament, or other official group
[+in/on]
•They both sat on the management committee.
•He was the first journalist to sit in parliament.
5 MEETING [I] to have a meeting in order to carry out official business:
•The council only sits once a month.
•The court will sit until all the evidence has been heard.
6 ANIMAL/BIRD [I always + adv/prep]
a) to be in, or get into, a resting position, with the tail end of the body resting on a surface:
•The cat likes to sit on the wall outside the kitchen.
b) Sit! used to tell a dog to sit with the tail end of its body resting on the ground or floor
c) if a bird sits on its eggs, it covers them with its body to make the eggs HATCH
7 LOOK AFTER [I + for] to look after a baby or child while its parents are out; = babysit
8 sit tight spoken
a) to stay where you are and not move:
•Just sit tight - I'll be there in five minutes.
b) to stay in the same situation, and not change your mind and do anything new:
•We're advising all our investors to sit tight till the market improves.
9 be sitting pretty to be in a very good or favourable position:
•We've paid off the mortgage, so we're sitting pretty now.
10 sit in judgment (on/over sb) to give your opinion about whether someone has done something wrong, especially when you have no right to do this:
•How can you sit in judgement on somebody you hardly know?
11 not sit well/easily/comfortably (with sb) if a situation, plan etc does not sit well with someone, they do not like it:
•He had never before been accused of stealing, and it did not sit well with him.
12 sit on the fence to avoid saying which side of an argument you support or what your opinion is about a particular subject:
•The weakness of the book is that it sits on the fence on important issues.
13 sit on your hands to delay taking action when you should do something:
•Workers are losing their jobs while the government sits on its hands and does nothing.
14 EXAMS [I,T] BrE to take an examination:
•Tracy's sitting her GCSEs this year.
[+for]
•They were preparing children to sit for the entry examination.
15 PICTURE/PHOTO [I] to sit somewhere so that you can be painted or photographed
[+for]
•She sat for (=was painted by) Holman Hunt and Millais.

PHRASAL VERBS
sit around phr v also sit about BrE
to spend a lot of time sitting and doing nothing very useful:
•We sat around for a bit, chatting.

sit back phr v
1 to get into a comfortable position, for example in a chair, and relax:
• Sit back and relax- I'll open a bottle of wine.
2 to relax and make no effort to get involved in something or influence what happens:
•Don't just sit back and wait for new business to come to you.

sit by phr v
to allow something wrong or illegal to happen without doing anything about it:
•I'm not going to sit by and watch a man go to prison for something I've done.

sit down phr v
1 to be in a sitting position or get into a sitting position:
•It was good to be sitting down eating dinner with my family.
•Sit down, Amy - you look tired.
sit yourself down
•Sit yourself down and have a drink.
2 sit sb down to make someone sit down or help them to sit down
[+in/on ]
•I helped her into the room and sat her down in an armchair.
3 sit down and do sth to try to solve a problem or deal with something that needs to be done, by giving it all your attention:
•The three of us need to sit down and have a talk.
•Sit down and work out just what you spend.

sit in phr v
to be present at a meeting but not take an active part in it
[+on]
•Would you like to sit in on some of my interviews?

sit in for sb phr v
to do a job, go to a meeting etc instead of the person who usually does it:
•This is Alan James sitting in for Suzy Williams on the mid-morning show.

sit on sth phr v informal
to delay dealing with something:
•I sent my application about six weeks ago and they've just been sitting on it.

sit sth <=> out phr v
1 to stay where you are and do nothing until something finishes, especially something boring or unpleasant:
•She had two weeks to sit it out while she waited to hear if she had got the job.
•She was prepared to sit out the years of Jack's jail sentence.
2 to not take part in something, especially a game or dance, when you usually take part:
•Johnson sat out the game with a shoulder injury.

sit through sth phr v
to attend a meeting, performance etc, and stay until the end, even if it is very long and boring:
•I wasn't the least bit interested in all the speeches I had to sit through.

sit up phr v
1 to be in a sitting position or get into a sitting position after you have been lying down:
•He was sitting up in bed, reading his book.
•She sat up and reached for her glass.
2 sit sb up to help someone to sit after they have been lying down
[+in/on etc]
•I'll sit you up on the pillows and you'll be nice and comfortable.
3 to sit in a chair with your back straight:
•Just sit up straight and stop slouching.
4 to stay up very late:
•Sometimes we just sit up and watch videos all night.
5 sit up (and take notice) to suddenly start paying attention to someone, because they have done something surprising or impressive:
•If Maria succeeded, then everyone would sit up and take notice.

WORD CHOICE: sit, sit down, sit in/on, seat
You usually use sit down rather than sit to say that someone moves into a sitting position: Everyone sat down to listen.
You use sit when you mention where someone sits down: She sat next to me. | Where shall I sit?

!! You sit on or sit in a chair, depending on whether it is flat and simple or soft and comfortable: We sat on barstools. | He sat in his favourite armchair. You sit on flat things such as a bench, the floor, or the grass. You sit in a room, a corner, long grass, a tree, or a seat in a car: I get travel sick when I sit in the back.

!! To tell someone to sit down, say'Sit down', 'Have a seat', or in very formal situations,'Be seated'. You usually only say'Sit!' to a dog.

$ [C]
a very long musical instrument from India similar to a GUITAR, with two sets of strings and a round body $ [C,U]
situation comedy a funny television programme in which the same characters appear in different situations each week
1 a sit-down meal or restaurant is one in which you sit at a table and eat a formal meal:
•a sit-down meal for 20 people
2 sit-down strike/protest a protest in which people sit down, especially to block a road or other public place, until their demands are listened to; sit-in[singular] BrE
if you have a sit-down, you sit and rest for a short while:
•You look as if you need a sit-down. [C]
1 a place where something important or interesting happened:
•an archaeological site
[+of]
•The house is built on the site of a medieval prison.
•the site of the air crash
2 an area of ground where something is being built or will be built
[+of/for]
•the site of a proposed missile base
•a site for a new airport
building/construction site
•He managed to get himself a job on a building site.
3 a place that is used for a particular purpose:
•a camping site
[+of/for]
•a nesting site for birds
4 a WEBSITE
5 on site at the place where people work, study, or stay:
•There's a bar, restaurant, and gym on site.[T usually passive]
to place or build something in a particular place
be sited in/on/at/near etc sth
•Some of this new housing has been sited in inner city areas.
designed and made to to be used in a particular place, or relating to a particular place:
•a site-specific policy[C]
a type of protest in which people refuse to leave the place where they work or study until their demands are agreed to
hold/stage a sit-in
•Several thousand students staged sit-ins and protest marches. $ [C]
1 especially AmE a BABYSITTER
2 someone who sits or stands while someone else paints them or takes photographs of them [C]
1 one of the times when a meal is served in a place where there is not enough space for everyone to eat at the same time:
•School dinners are served in three sittings.
2 at/in one sitting during one continuous period when you are sitting in a chair:
•I sat down and read the whole book in one sitting.
3 an occasion when you have yourself painted or photographed
4 a meeting of a law court or parliamentalso sitting target [C]
someone who is easy to attack or easy to cheat:
•Out in the open, the soldiers were sitting ducks for enemy fire.[C] BrE
someone who is a member of a parliament at the present time:
•the sitting member for Newbury[C] especially BrE
the room in a house where you sit, relax, watch television etc; = living room[C] BrE
someone who lives in a rented house or FLAT, especially when this gives them legal rights to stay there $
IN SITU [T] formal
to describe or consider something as being part of something else or related to something else
situate sth in sth
•The women have the opportunity to situate their own struggles in a wider historical context.
be situated to be in a particular place or position; = located
[+in/near/at etc]
•The house is situated near the college.
•a farm situated in the valley
conveniently/ideally/beautifully etc situated
•The hotel is ideally situated near the sea-front. [C]
1 a combination of all the things that are happening and all the conditions that exist at a particular time in a particular place

in a ... situation
difficult/dangerous/tricky etc situation
impossible situation (=one that is very difficult to deal with)
economic/political/financial etc situation
present/current situation
improve/remedy a situation
assess/monitor/review a situation
defuse a situation (=stop a situation from being difficult or tense)
a situation arises (=it happens)
a situation worsens/deteriorates/improves
a no-win situation (=a situation in which no one can get what they want)
a win-win situation (=a situation in which everyone gets what they want)

•I explained the situation.
in a ... situation
•She coped well in a difficult situation.
•Schoolchildren must be taught to deal with dangerous situations.
•We were in an impossible situation- whatever we did, someone would be upset.
•a long analysis of the political situation
•I cannot put up with the current situation one day longer.
•Some companies are taking measures to improve this situation.
•The district judge had assessed the situation.
•This situation has arisen as a result of our serious staffing shortages.
•From that day onwards the situation worsened.

2 the type of area where a building is situated - used especially by people who sell or advertise buildings; = location
•The house is in a charming situation, on a wooded hillside.
3 old-fashioned a job:
•She managed to get a situation as a parlour maid.[C,U] formal
a SITCOMsitup AmE [C] BrE
an exercise to make your stomach muscles strong in which you sit up from a lying position, while keeping your feet on the floor; crunch
•Jerry says he does two hundred sit-ups a day.
1 the number 6:
•six months ago
•She arrived just after six (=six o'clock).
•He learnt to play the violin when he was six (=six years old).
2 six figures/digits used to talk about a number that is between 100,000 and 1,000,000:
•The final cost of the project will easily run into six figures (=be over one hundred thousand pounds or dollars).
3 at sixes and sevens informal disorganised and confused:
•When the visitors arrived we were still at sixes and sevens.
4 it's six of one and half a dozen of the other spoken used to say that both people or groups who are involved in a situation are equally responsible for something bad that happens:
•In any family quarrel, it's usually six of one and half a dozen of the other.
5 knock/hit sb for six BrE spoken to affect someone strongly in a bad way:
•Losing his job really knocked him for six.
6 [C] a hit in CRICKET that scores six RUNs because the ball crosses the edge of the playing area before touching the ground[only before noun]
used to describe a number that is 100,000 or more, especially an amount of money:
•a six-figure sum
•a six-figure salary $ formal
by six times as much or as many:
•Burglaries have increased sixfold.
- sixfold adjective
•a sixfold increase in teenage pregnancies[C]
1 six cans or bottles of a drink, especially beer, sold together as a set:
•There's a six-pack in the fridge.
[+of]
•a six-pack of beer
2 well-developed muscles that you can see on a man's stomach - used humorously [C,U]
a small silver-coloured coin worth six old PENNIES, used in Britain in the past[C] old-fashioned especially AmE
a small gun that holds six bullets
the number 16:
•sixteen years later
•He moved to London when he was sixteen (=sixteen years old).
- sixteenth adjective, pron
•her sixteenth birthday
•the sixteenth century
•Let's have dinner on the sixteenth (=the sixteenth day of the month). [C]
one of sixteen equal parts of something[C] AmE
a musical note which continues for a sixteenth of the length of a WHOLE NOTE; = semiquaver BrE
coming after five other things in a series:
•her sixth birthday
•the sixth century
- sixth pron
•Let's have dinner on the sixth (=the sixth day of the month).[C]
one of six equal parts of something:
•About one sixth of the children admitted to taking drugs.[C]
the highest level in the British school system. Children aged between 16 and 18 stay in the sixth form for two years while they prepare to take A LEVELs (=the highest level of school exams).
- sixth former noun [C][C]
a type of school in Britain for students who are preparing to take A LEVELs (=the highest level of school exams)[singular]
a special ability to know things without using any of your five ordinary senses such as your hearing or sight:
•He seemed to have a sixth sense for knowing when his brother was in trouble.
1 the number 60:
•sixty years ago
2 the sixties [plural] also the '60s, the 1960s the years from 1960 to 1969:
•The book was written in the sixties.
the early/late sixties
•the student riots in Paris in the late sixties
3 be in your sixties to be aged between 60 and 69
early/mid/late sixties
•I'd say she was in her late sixties.
4 in the sixties if the temperature is in the sixties, it is between 60 degrees and 69 degrees
in the low/mid/high sixties
•a fine spring day, with the temperatures in the low sixties
- sixtieth adjective, pron
•her sixtieth birthday
another spelling of SIZEABLE
1 HOW BIG [C,U] how big or small something is:
•He's a small boy, about John's size.
•Jensens' house is about the same size as ours.
[+of]
•The firm underestimated the size of the market for their new product.
•I saw a spider the size of (=the same size as) my hand in the backyard.
•He's quite a big dog, but he's still not full size yet.
in size
•The apartment is roughly 360 square feet in size.
(of) that/this size (=as big as that or this)
•In a class this size, there are bound to be a few trouble-makers.
•We can't give loans of that size to just anyone.
in all/different/various (shapes and) sizes
•These phones come in all shapes and sizes.
good/fair/nice size (=fairly big)
•The breakfast room is a good size.
2 VERY BIG [U] used to say that something is very big
[+of]
•I can't believe the size of her car!
•The sheer size of the classes makes learning difficult for students.
3 CLOTHES/GOODS [C] one of a set of standard measures according to which clothes and other goods are produced and sold:
•These shoes are one size too big.
•The shirts come in three sizes: small, medium, and large.
•Do you have these pants in a size 12?
4 large-sized/medium-sized/pocket-size etc of a particular size, or about the same size and shape as something:
•a medium-sized car
•a pocket-size mirror
good-sized/fair-sized/decent-sized (=big enough for a particular purpose)
5 do sth to size if you cut, make, or prepare something to size, you make it the right size for a particular use:
•The materials will be provided, and everything is already cut to size.
6 that's about the size of it spoken used to agree that someone's description of a situation is correct
7 PASTE [U] also sizing a thick sticky liquid used for giving stiffness and a shiny surface to cloth, paper etc, or used to prepare walls for WALLPAPER
cut sb down to size at CUT DOWN (6); try sth on for size at TRY^1 (2)[T]
1 to sort things according to their size:
•Shrimp are sized and selected for canning.
2 [usually passive] to make something into a particular size or sizes:
•Most costume patterns are sized for children.
3 to put SIZE^1 (7) on a wall before decorating

PHRASAL VERBS
size sth/sb <=> up phr v
to look at or consider a person or situation and make a judgment about them:
•It only took a few seconds for her to size up the situation.sizable
fairly large
sizeable amount/number
•a sizeable amount of money
sizeable proportion/portion/minority (of sth)
•Part-time students make up a sizeable proportion of the college population. [I]
to make a sound like water falling on hot metal:
•The bacon began to sizzle in the pan. especially AmE
1 very hot; = boiling
•a sizzling afternoon
2 very exciting, especially in a sexual way:
•a sizzling scandalous affair [U]
a kind of popular music from the West Indies with a fast regular beat, similar to REGGAEscag [U] informal
HEROIN [U] informal
HEROIN
1 [C] one of a pair of boots with metal blades on the bottom, for moving quickly on ice; = ice skate
2 [C] one of a pair of boots or frames with small wheels on the bottom, for moving quickly on flat smooth surfaces; = roller skate
3 [C,U] plural skate or skates a large flat sea fish that can be eaten
4 get/put your skates on BrE spoken used to tell someone to hurry:
•Put your skates on, or you'll be late for school.[I]
1 to move on skates:
•The children skated on the frozen pond.
2 be skating on thin ice informal to be doing something that may get you into trouble

PHRASAL VERBS
skate over/around sth phr v
to avoid mentioning a problem or subject, or not give it enough attention:
•The President was accused of skating over the issue of the homeless.
- skater noun [C] $ [C]
a short board with two small wheels at each end, which you can stand on and ride for fun or as a sport
- skateboarding noun [U]
- skateboarder noun [C] [U]
the activity or sport of moving around on skates for fun or as a sport:
•We went skating in Central Park.[C]
a place or building where you can skate [I] spoken
to leave a place quickly, especially because you do not want to be caught - used humorously [U] AmE
the sport of shooting at clay objects that have been thrown into the air; = clay pigeon shooting BrE AmE informal

PHRASAL VERBS
skeeve sb out phr v
to make someone feel sick or upset because they think something is unpleasant:
•I hate touching raw meat. I just get skeeved out. [C]
1 a long loosely wound piece of thread, wool, or YARN
2 literary a complicated series of things that are related to each other; = web
•a skein of lies
1 like a skeleton or relating to a skeleton:
•Police discovered the skeletal remains of a corpse buried near the river.
2 someone who is skeletal is so thin that you can see their bones through their skin:
•prisoners whose clothes hung loosely on their skeletal bodies
1 BONES [C]
a) the structure consisting of all the bones in a human or animal body:
•the human skeleton
b) a set of these bones or a model of them, fastened in their usual positions, used for example by medical students
2 BASIC PARTS [singular] the most important parts of something, to which more detail can be added later:
•We agreed on a skeleton outline of the proposal.
3 THIN PERSON [C] an extremely thin person or animal:
•The disease had reduced Harry to a skeleton.
4 STRUCTURE [C] the main structure that supports a building, bridge etc:
•Minutes after the explosion, all that remained was the skeleton of the bridge.
5 a skeleton in the closet also a skeleton in the cupboard BrE an embarrassing or unpleasant secret about something that happened to you in the past
6 skeleton staff/crew/service etc only enough workers or services to keep an operation or organization running:
•The bus company is operating a skeleton service on Christmas Day.
7 SPORT [C, singular] a sport in which you slide down a special ice track while lying on your front on a type of SLEDGE, or the vehicle you slide on
BOBSLEIGH, LUGE[C]
a key made to open a number of different locks [C]
the American spelling of SCEPTIC
the American spelling of SCEPTICAL [C,U]
the American spelling of SCEPTICISM [C]
1 a simple, quickly-made drawing that does not show much detail
[+of]
•Cantor drew a rough sketch of his apartment on a napkin.
2 a short humorous scene on a television programme, in a theatre etc, that is part of a larger show:
•Her TV programme is made up of a series of comic sketches.
3 a short written or spoken description
[+of]
•a brief sketch of the main weaknesses of the British economy
•a thumbnail sketch (=very brief description) of topics treated in depth elsewhere
1 [I,T] to draw a sketch of something
2 also sketch out [T] to describe something in a general way, giving the basic ideas:
•Holford sketched a 10-year programme for rebuilding the city.

PHRASAL VERBS
sketch in sth phr v
to add more information about something:
•I'd like to sketch in a few details for you.also sketchbook [C]
a number of sheets of paper fastened together and used for drawing
not thorough or complete, and not having enough details to be useful:
• Details of the accident are still sketchy. [T]
1 if something skews the results of a test etc, it affects the results, making them incorrect:
•All the people we questioned lived in the same area, which had the effect of skewing the figures.
2 to affect or influence someone's ideas, actions, or judgment, especially in a way that makes the ideas etc not correct or fair:
•These assumptions about Communism skewed American foreign policy for decades.
1 an opinion, piece of information, result etc that is skewed is incorrect, especially because it has been affected by a particular thing or because you do not know all the facts:
•The media's coverage of the election has been skewed from the very beginning.
2 something that is skewed is not straight and is higher on one side than the other; = crooked
•The picture on the wall was slightly skewed. $ [C]
a long metal or wooden stick that is put through pieces of meat to hold them together while they are cooked[T]
1 to make a hole through a piece of food, an object etc with a skewer or with some other pointed object
2 to criticize someone very strongly, often in a way that other people find humorous:
•Du Bois skewered Washington's policies in his book, 'The Souls of Black Folks.'[not before noun] BrE spoken informal
not straight; = crooked
•The top of the bookcase is skew-whiff. plural skis [C]
1 one of a pair of long thin narrow pieces of wood or plastic that you fasten to your boots and use for moving on snow or on water:
•ski slopes
•a ski resort (=where people can go skiing)
2 a long thin narrow piece of strong material, fastened under a small vehicle so that it can travel on snowpast tense and past participle skied, present participle skiing, third person singular skis [I]
to move on skis for sport or in order to travel on snow or water; skiing
•I'm learning to ski.
•We skied down to the village of Argentiere.[C]
a specially made boot that fastens onto a ski past tense and past participle skidded, present participle skidding [I]
if a vehicle or a wheel on a vehicle skids, it suddenly slides sideways and you cannot control it:
•The car skidded as she turned onto the highway.
[+on/into/across etc]
•The bus skidded off the road and into a ditch.
see box at SLIDE^1[C]
1 SLIDING MOVEMENT a sudden sliding movement of a vehicle that you cannot control:
•Turn the car towards the skid if you lose control of it.
•He slammed on the brakes and we went into a long skid (=started to skid).
2 on the skids informal in a situation that is bad and getting worse:
•He's been on the skids since losing his job.
3 put the skids under sth BrE informal to make it likely or certain that something will fail:
•The recession put the skids under his plans for starting a new business.
4 SPORT [usually singular] AmE a period of time during which a person or team is not successful - used in news reports:
•The Red Sox victory ended a six-game skid.
5 AIRCRAFT a flat narrow part that is under some aircraft such as HELICOPTERs , and is used in addition to wheels for landing
6 USED TO LIFT/MOVE [usually plural] a piece of wood that is put under a heavy object to lift or move it[C usually plural]
1 a long mark that is left on the ground when a vehicle skids:
•There were skid marks on the road where the crash occurred.
2 informal a dirty mark inside someone's underwearSkid Row $
1 be on skid row informal if someone is on skid row, they drink too much alcohol and have no job, nowhere to live etc
2 [U] used to talk about a part of a city with a lot of old buildings in bad condition, where poor people who drink too much alcohol spend their time $ [C]
someone who SKIs
the plural form of SKY [C]
a small light boat for one person [U] especially BrE
a type of popular music played in the 1950s and often using instruments made by the musicians themselves [U]
the sport of moving down hills, across land in the snow, or on water wearing SKIs :
•We're going to go skiing in Colorado this winter.
cross-country/downhill skiing [U]
a sport in which a SKIER is pulled over snow or ice by one or more dogs
- skijor verb [I][C]
a long steep sloping PLATFORM which people go down on SKIs and jump off to see how far they can go through the air in sports competitions
- ski jumping noun [U]skillful AmE BrE
1 good at doing something, especially something that needs special ability or training:
•a skilful footballer
skilful at (doing) sth
•After a few years, he became very skilful at drawing.
2 made or done very well, showing a lot of ability:
•the skilful use of sound effects
•sensitive and skillful leadership
- skilfully adverb
•She had used make-up skilfully to mask the bruise.[C]
a piece of equipment that carries SKIERs up to the top of a slope [C,U]
an ability to do something well, especially because you have learned and practised it; talent
•Reading and writing are two different skills.
•Many jobs today require computer skills.
[+in/at]
•He was valued for his skill in raising money for the company.
develop/acquire/learn a skill
•opportunities to acquire new skills
with skill
•The whole team played with great skill and determination.
technical/management/practical etc skill
•the kinds of communication skills required of teachers
•Students need to possess certain basic skills by the time they finish school.
1 someone who is skilled has the training and experience that is needed to do something well; unskilled
• Skilled craftsmen, such as carpenters, are in great demand.
•The company is fortunate to have such highly skilled workers.
[+at/in]
•She's very skilled at dealing with the public.
•The school offers a program for students who are skilled in metalwork.
2 [usually before noun] skilled work needs people with special abilities or training to do it; unskilled
•Bricklaying is very skilled work. [C]
a flat heavy cooking pan with a long handle; = frying pan
the American spelling of SKILFUL past tense and past participle skimmed, present participle skimming
1 [T] to remove something from the surface of a liquid, especially floating fat, solids, or oil
skim sth off/from sth
•After simmering the meat, skim the fat from the surface.
2 [I,T] to read something quickly to find the main facts or ideas in it; = scan
•Julie skimmed the sports page.
[+through/over]
•Just skim through the second section to save time.
3 [T] to move along quickly over a surface, never touching it or not touching it often:
•seagulls skimming the waves
[+over/along/across]
•The ball skimmed across the grass and stopped against the wall.
4 skim stones/pebbles etc BrE to throw smooth, flat stones into a lake, river etc in a way that makes them jump across the surface; = skip AmE

PHRASAL VERBS
skim sb/sth <=> off phr v
1 to take the best people or the best part of something for yourself:
•Professional sport skims off all the best players.
2 to take money illegally or dishonestly:
•For years his business partner had been skimming off the profits.skim milk AmE [U] BrE
milk that has had all the fat and cream removed from it [I,T]
to not spend enough money or time on something, or not use enough of something, so that what you do is unsuccessful or of bad quality
[+on]
•It's vital not to skimp on staff training.
1 a skimpy dress or skirt etc is very short and does not cover very much of a woman's body
2 not enough of something:
•a skimpy meal
1 BODY [C,U] the natural outer layer of a person's or animal's body

fair/pale skin
dark/olive skin
dark-skinned/fair-skinned
dry/oily/sensitive skin
smooth/soft skin
leathery skin (=thick and hard skin)
scaly skin (=rough dry skin on animals such as LIZARDs )
good/bad skin (=healthy or unhealthy skin on your face)
skin colour/tone
rub/irritate your skin
flap/fold/layer of skin

•She had thick black hair and smooth dark skin.
•If you are fair-skinned, you should try to stay out of the sun.
•My skin is quite sensitive.
•an ugly man with bad skin and brown teeth
•chemicals that irritate the skin
•The eggs are hatched under a fold of skin on the penguin's belly.
•a skin disease
SKINCARE

2 FROM AN ANIMAL [C,U] the skin of an animal, sometimes including its fur, used to make leather, clothes etc:
•a leopard skin
3 FOOD [C,U]
a) the natural outer cover of some fruits and vegetables; = peel
•banana skins
b) the outer cover of a SAUSAGE
4 ON A LIQUID [C,U] a thin solid layer that forms on the top of a liquid, especially when it gets cold:
•Cover the soup to stop a skin from forming.
5 PART OF AN OBJECT [C] a layer that is part of a vehicle, building, object etc, especially on the outside:
•The outer skin of the aircraft was not punctured.
•The lampshade has a double skin so that it remains cool.
6 COMPUTER [C,U] the way particular information appears on a computer screen, especially when this can be changed quickly and easily
7 have (a) thin/thick skin to be easily upset or not easily upset by criticism:
•This is not a job for someone with thin skin.
8 get under sb's skin informal if someone gets under your skin, they annoy you, especially by the way they behave:
•What really gets under my skin is people who push straight to the front of the line.
9 by the skin of your teeth informal if you do something by the skin of your teeth, you only just succeed in doing it, and very nearly failed to do it:
•Two others made it by the skin of their teeth.
10 make sb's skin crawl informal to make someone feel very uncomfortable combined with a strong feeling of dislike:
•Her singing makes my skin crawl.
11 be skin and bone BrE be skin and bones AmE informal to be extremely thin in a way that is unattractive and unhealthy
12 it's no skin off sb's nose spoken used to say that someone does not care what another person thinks or does, because it does not affect them:
•If she doesn't want me to help, it's no skin off my nose!
13 sth is only skin deep used to say that something may seem to be important or effective, but it really is not because it only affects the way things appear:
•Beauty is only skin deep.
14 skins [plural] BrE informal papers for rolling a cigarette, especially one with MARIJUANA in it
save sb's skin at SAVE^1 (11); jump out of your skin at JUMP^1 (4)past tense and past participle skinned, present participle skinning [T]
1 to remove the skin from an animal, fruit, or vegetable; peel
•Add the tomatoes, skinned and sliced.
2 to hurt yourself by rubbing off some skin; = graze
•She fell and skinned her knee.
3 skin sb alive to punish someone very severely - used humorously:
•Dad will skin you alive when he sees this place!
4 informal to completely defeat someone; = hammer
•The football team really skinned Watertown last year.

PHRASAL VERBS
skin up phr v BrE informal
to make a cigarette with MARIJUANA in it $ [U]
things that you do in order to improve the condition of your skin, especially the skin on your face:
•expensive skincare productsskin diving [U]
the sport of swimming under water with light breathing equipment but without a protective suit
- skin diver noun [C] [C] informal
someone who hates spending money or giving it away - used to show disapproval; = miser
have a skinful BrE spoken to drink a lot of alcohol and become drunk[C]
a medical operation in which healthy skin is removed from one part of your body and used on another part to replace burned or damaged skin [C]
a young white person who has hair that is cut very short, especially one who behaves violently towards people of other races comparative skinnier, superlative skinniest
very thin, especially in a way that is unattractive:
•Some supermodels are far too skinny.
see box at THIN^1[U] informal
swimming with no clothes on:
•As soon as it got dark, we all went skinny-dipping. [not before noun] BrE informal
having no money, especially for a short time; = broke
•I'm skint at the moment.
skin-tight clothes fit tightly against your body; baggy
•skin-tight jeans past tense and past participle skipped, present participle skipping
1 NOT DO STH [T] informal to not do something that you usually do or that you should do; = miss
•She skipped lunch in order to go shopping.
•Williams skipped the game to be with his wife in the hospital.
skip school/class especially AmE
•He skipped chemistry class three times last month.
2 NOT DEAL WITH STH [I,T] to not read, mention, or deal with something that would normally come or happen next:
•I decided to skip the first chapter.
[+to]
•Let's skip to the last item on the agenda.
[+over]
•I suggest we skip over the details and get to the point.
3 CHANGE SUBJECTS [I always + adv/prep] to go from one subject to another in no fixed order
[+about/around/from]
•It's difficult to have a conversation with her because she skips from one topic to another.
4 MOVEMENT [I] to move forward with quick steps and jumps
[+across/along etc]
•He turned and skipped away, singing happily to himself.
5 JUMP OVER A ROPE [I] to jump over a rope as you swing it over your head and under your feet, as a game or for exercise; = jump rope AmE
6 skip town/skip the country informal to leave a place suddenly and secretly, especially to avoid being punished or paying debts:
•Then they found that Zaffuto had already skipped town.
7 skip it! spoken informal especially AmE used to say angrily and rudely that you do not want to talk about something:
•'Sorry, what were you saying?' 'Oh, skip it!'
8 skip rocks/stones AmE to throw smooth, flat stones into a lake, river etc in a way that makes them jump across the surface; = skim BrE
9 BALL [I always + adv/prep] if a ball or something similar skips off a surface, it quickly moves away from that surface after hitting it - used especially in news reports
[+off/along/across etc]
•The ball skipped off Bonds' glove and bounced toward the fence.
10 skip a year/grade to start a new school year in a class that is one year ahead of the class you would normally enter

PHRASAL VERBS
skip off phr v skip out AmE BrE
to leave suddenly and secretly, especially in order to avoid being punished or paying money:
•He skipped off without paying.
[+on] AmE
•Tenants who skip out on utility bills are the focus of a new law.
•Joel skipped out on his wife when she was 8 months pregnant.
sb's heart skips a beat at HEART[C]
1 a skipping movement
2 BrE a large container for bricks, wood, and similar heavy waste; = dumpster AmE[plural]
1 thick trousers with long thin pieces of cloth that fasten over your shoulders, worn while SKIing :
•a pair of ski pants
2 tight trousers with a band of cloth that goes under your foot, worn by women[C]
an aircraft that has long thin narrow parts on the bottom instead of wheels, for landing on snow[C]
one of two pointed short poles that you hold to help you balance and push off the snow when SKIing $ [C] informal
1 the person in charge of a ship; = captain
2 the leader of a sports team; = captain[T]
to be in charge of a ship, sports team etc - used especially in news reports; = captain[C] BrE
a long piece of rope with handles that children use for jumping over; = jump rope AmE $ [C]
1 a fight between small groups of soldiers, ships etc, especially one that happens away from the main part of a battle - used in news reports
[+with/between/over]
•The young soldier was killed in a skirmish with government troops.
2 a short argument, especially between political or sports opponents
[+with/between/over]
•Bates was sent off after a skirmish with the referee.
•a budget skirmish between the President and Congress
- skirmish verb [I]
•They skirmished briefly with soldiers from Fort Benton. $ [C]
1 a piece of outer clothing worn by women and girls, which hangs down from the waist like the bottom part of a dress:
•She wore a white blouse and a plain black skirt.
leather/pleated/cotton etc skirt
•a green velvet skirt
short/long skirt
•a short skirt and high heels
2 also skirts [plural] old-fashioned the part of a dress or coat that hangs down from the waist
3 the skirts of a forest/hill/village etc BrE the outside edge of a forest etc; = outskirts
4 a bit of skirt BrE informal not polite an offensive expression meaning an attractive womanalso skirt around/round [T]
1 to go around the outside edge of a place or area:
•The old footpath skirts around the village.
2 to avoid talking about an important subject, especially because it is difficult or embarrassing - used to show disapproval:
•a disappointing speech that skirted around all the main issuesalso skirting $ [C,U] BrE
a long narrow piece of wood that is fastened along the bottom of the walls in a room; = baseboard AmE[C]
a track that has been marked on a slope so that people can SKI on it[C]
a snow-covered part of a mountain which has been prepared for people to SKI down [C]
a short humorous performance or piece of writing $ [I always + adv/prep]
to move very quickly and lightly, like a small animal; = scurry
[+across/down/along etc]
•Something skittered across the alley.
1 an animal, especially a horse, that is skittish gets excited or frightened very easily
2 a person who is skittish is not very serious, and their feelings, behaviour, and opinions keep changing
3 if people who buy SHAREs are skittish, they are nervous and worried about them dropping in value, and might sell the shares that they own because of this; = jittery
•Some skittish Wall Street investors are staying away from the market.
- skittishly adverb
1 skittles [U] a British game in which a player tries to knock down objects shaped like bottles by rolling a ball at them
2 [C] one of the objects you roll the ball at in the game of skittlesalso skive off [I] BrE informal
to avoid work or school by staying away or leaving without permission
- skiver noun [C] plural skivvies [C] BrE
a servant who does only the dirty unpleasant jobs in a house:
•You iron your shirt - I'm not your skivvy.past tense and past participle skivvied, present participle skivvying, third person singular skivvies [I] BrE
to do all the dirty unpleasant jobs in a house, as if you were a servantskullduggery [U] old-fashioned
secretly dishonest or illegal activity - also used humorously [I always + adv/prep]
to hide or move about secretly, trying not to be noticed, especially when you are intending to do something bad; = lurk
[+about/around/in etc]
•He was still skulking around outside when they left the building. [C]
1 the bones of a person's or animal's head
2 sb can't get it into their (thick) skull spoken someone is unable to understand something very simple:
•He can't seem to get it into his skull that I'm just not interested in him.[singular]
1 a picture of a human skull with two bones crossed below it, used in past times on the flags of PIRATE ships
2 a picture of a human skull with two bones crossed below it, used on containers to show that what is inside is poison or very dangerous[C]
a small round close-fitting hat for the top of the head, worn sometimes by Christian priests or Jewish men
1 [C] a small black and white North American animal that produces a strong unpleasant smell if it is attacked or afraid
2 [U] a very strong type of MARIJUANA plural skies
1 [singular, U] the space above the earth where clouds and the sun and stars appear:
•The sky grew dark, and a cold rain began to fall.
•A shooting star sped across the sky.
in the sky
•There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
blue/black/grey etc sky
•The sun rose higher in a clear blue sky.
clear/cloudy/dark etc sky
•Robyn lay on her back looking up at the cloudless sky.
•under a slightly overcast sky (=with clouds)
night/morning/summer etc sky
•The evening sky was darkening as I made my way home.
•She looked out over the rooftops and the open sky.
2 skies [plural] a word meaning 'sky', used especially when describing the weather or what the sky looks like in a place:
•a land of blue skies and warm sunshine
•The skies were overcast, and it was chilly and damp.
3 the sky's the limit spoken used to say that there is no limit to what someone can achieve, spend, win etc:
•Francis believes the sky's the limit for the young goalkeeper.
pie in the sky at PIE (4); praise sb/sth to the skies at PRAISE^1 (1)
bright blue, like the colour of the sky when there are no clouds
- sky blue noun [U] [C] AmE
someone whose job is to carry passengers' bags at an airport [U]
the sport of jumping from a plane and falling through the sky before opening a PARACHUTE
- skydive verb [I]
- skydiver noun [C]
1 extremely high:
•sky-high prices
•Her confidence is sky-high.
2 blow sth sky-high to destroy something completely with an explosion $ [C]
a small bird that sings while flying high in the sky; = lark [C]
a window in the roof of a building [C]
the shape made by hills or buildings against the sky:
•the famous New York skyline $ [I] informal
if a price or an amount skyrockets, it greatly increases very quickly:
•The trade deficit has skyrocketed.
•skyrocketing inflation $ [C]
a very tall modern city buildingalso skyward $ literary
up into the sky or towards the sky:
•The bird soared skywards.
- skyward adjective [C]
1 a thick flat piece of a hard material such as stone:
•a concrete slab
•paving slabs
[+of]
•They used a slab of concrete as a lid.
2 slab of cake/chocolate/meat etc a large flat piece of cake etc
3 on the slab informal lying dead in a hospital or MORTUARY
1 hanging loosely, or not pulled tight; taut
•Keep the rope slack until I tell you to pull it.
2 with less business activity than usual:
•Business remained slack throughout the day.
3 not taking enough care or making enough effort to do things correctly - used to show disapproval:
•Slack defending by Real Madrid allowed Manchester United to score.
- slackly adverb
- slackness noun [U]
1 take up/pick up the slack
a) to make a system or organization as EFFICIENT as possible by making sure that money, space, or people are fully used:
•Without another contract to help pick up the slack, employees may face job losses.
b) to do something that needs to be done because someone else is no longer doing it
c) to make a rope tighter
2 [U] part of a rope that is not stretched tight
3 [U] money, space, people, or time that an organization or person has available, but is not using fully:
•There is still some slack in the budget.
4 cut/give sb some slack spoken to allow someone to do something without criticizing them or making it more difficult:
•Hey, cut me some slack, man, I'm only a few bucks short.
5 slacks [plural] trousers:
•a pair of slacks
•dress slacks (=for more formal occasions)
6 [U] BrE very small pieces of coalalso slack off [I]
to make less effort than usual, or to be lazy in your work:
•He was accused of slacking and taking too many holidays. [I,T] written
1 also slacken off to gradually become slower, weaker, less active etc, or to make something do this:
•The heavy rain showed no signs of slackening off.
slacken your pace/speed (=go or walk more slowly)
•Guy slackened his pace as he approached the gate.
2 to make something looser, or to become looser; tighten
•He did not let her go, but his grip on her slackened. $ [C] informal
someone who is lazy and does not do all the work they should - used to show disapproval
having your mouth slightly open, especially because you are surprised or stupid; = open-mouthed
•They looked at him, slack-jawed with disbelief.
1 [C] BrE taboo informal a very offensive word for a woman who has sex with a lot of different people. Do not use this word.
2 [U] a waste material similar to glass, which remains after metal has been obtained from rockpast tense and past participle slagged, present participle slagging

PHRASAL VERBS
slag sb <=> off phr v BrE informal
to criticize someone in an unpleasant way, especially when this is unfair:
•He's always slagging her off behind her back.[C] especially BrE
a pile of waste materials at a mine or factory
the past participle of SLAY [T] literary
1 slake your thirst to drink so that you are not thirsty any more
2 slake a desire/craving etc to satisfy a desire etc [C,U]
a race for people on SKIs or in CANOEs down a curving course marked by flags past tense and past participle slammed, present participle slamming
1 DOOR ETC [I,T] if a door, gate etc slams, or if someone slams it, it shuts with a loud noise; = bang
•We heard a car door slam.
•He slammed the door shut.
2 PUT STH SOMEWHERE [T always + adv/prep] to put something on or against a surface with a fast violent movement
slam sth down/against/onto
•Henry slammed the phone down angrily.
3 HIT WITH FORCE [I always + adv/prep] to hit or attack someone or something with a lot of force
[+into/against etc]
•All 155 passengers died instantly when the plane slammed into the mountain.
4 CRITICIZE [T] to criticize someone or something strongly - used especially in newspapers; = slate
•Local media slammed plans to build a prison in the area.
slam sb for sth
•The council was slammed for its unfair selection procedure.
5 slam on the brakes to make a car stop very suddenly by pressing the BRAKEs very hard
6 slam the door in sb's face
a) to close a door hard when someone is trying to come in
b) to rudely refuse to meet someone or talk to them[C usually singular]
the noise or action of a door, window etc slamming[C]
1 when a BASKETBALL player jumps high above the net and throws the ball down through it
2 AmE informal a very impressive act:
•The biggest legal slam dunk came when a judge sentenced four men to 505 years in prison.[I,T]
to put a ball through the net in BASKETBALL, by jumping very high and throwing the ball down through the net $
the slammer informal prison
in the slammer
•He had to spend his twentieth birthday in the slammer. $
1 [C,U] a false spoken statement about someone, intended to damage the good opinion that people have of that person; libel
2 [U] the crime of making false spoken statements about someone; libel
•He is being sued for slander.[T]
to say false things about someone in order to damage other people's good opinion of them; libel $
a slanderous statement about someone is not true, and is intended to damage other people's good opinion of them; libellous
•slanderous remarks [U]
very informal, sometimes offensive, language that is used especially by people who belong to a particular group, such as young people or criminals:
•schoolboy slang
slang word/expression/term
- slangy adjective[C] BrE informal
an angry argument in which people insult each other $
1 [I,T] to slope or make something slope in a particular direction:
•The sun's rays slanted through the trees.
•slanting eyes
2 [T] to provide information in a way that unfairly supports one opinion, gives an advantage to one group etc:
•The researchers were accused of slanting their findings in favour of their own beliefs.[singular]
1 a way of writing about or thinking about a subject that is based on a particular opinion or set of ideas:
•The article had an anti-union slant.
new/different/fresh etc slant
•Each article has a slightly different slant on the situation.
•Recent events have put a new slant on the President's earlier comments.
2 a sloping position or angle; = slope
at/on a slant
•The house seems to be built on a steep slant. $
1 providing facts or information in a way that unfairly supports only one side of an argument or one opinion - used to show disapproval; = biased
[+towards]
•The report was heavily slanted towards the city council's version of events.
2 sloping:
•her slightly slanted eyes past tense and past participle slapped present participle slapping
1 [T] to hit someone with the flat part of your hand; punch
•Sarah slapped Aaron across the face.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to put something down on a surface with force, especially when you are angry:
•Giles slapped his cards down on the table.
3 slap sb on the back to hit someone on the back in a friendly way, often as a way of praising them
4 [I always + adv/prep] to hit a surface with a lot of force, making a loud sharp sound
[+against]
•Small waves slapped against the side of the boat.

PHRASAL VERBS
slap sb down phr v BrE
to rudely tell someone that their suggestions, questions, ideas etc are stupid

slap sth <=> on phr v informal
1 to put or spread something quickly or carelessly onto a surface:
•She ran upstairs and slapped on some make-up.
slap sth on sth
•We could slap some paint on it.
2 to suddenly announce a new charge, tax etc or say that something is not allowed - used especially when you think this is unfair:
•Many tour operators slap on supplements for single people.
slap sth on sth
•In 1977, the president slapped a ban on the commercial reprocessing of nuclear fuel.[C]
1 a quick hit with the flat part of your hand; punch
•Julia gave Roy a slap on the cheek.
2 a slap in the face an action that seems to be deliberately intended to offend or upset someone, especially someone who has tried very hard to do something
3 a slap on the wrist a punishment that you think is not severe enough
4 a slap on the back an action of hitting someone on the back in a friendly way, especially as a way of praising them
5 informal MAKE-UPalso slap informal
1 if you run, drive etc slap bang into something, you hit it with a lot of force
[+into]
•I ran slap bang into a lamp-post.
2 exactly in a particular place or at a particular time
[+next to]
•Anne's house is slap bang next to the station.
careless and done too quickly; painstaking
•a very slapdash piece of work
careless, silly, and likely to make mistakes [C] BrE informal
an impolite word for someone who is BALD (=has little or no hair on their head) $ [C] BrE informal
an offensive word for a woman who has sex with lots of people [U]
humorous acting in which the performers fall over, throw things at each other etc:
•a slapstick comedy
slap-up meal/dinner etc BrE informal a very large enjoyable meal
1 [I,T always + adv/prep] to cut or try to cut something violently with a knife, sword etc:
•Someone had slashed the tires.
[+at/through]
•The leopard's claws slashed through soft flesh.
2 [T] to greatly reduce an amount, price etc - used especially in newspapers and advertising; = cut
•The workforce has been slashed by 50%.
3 slash your wrists to cut the VEINs in your wrists with the intention of killing yourself[C]
1 a quick movement that you make with a knife, sword etc in order to cut someone or something
2 also slash mark a line (/) used in writing to separate words, numbers, or letters
3 a long narrow cut in something; gash
•Cut several slashes across the top of the loaf before baking.
4 have/take a slash BrE spoken not polite to URINATE $
slasher film/movie etc informal a very violent film [C]
a thin flat piece of wood, plastic etc, used especially in furniture
- slatted adjective
1 ROCK [U] a dark grey rock that can easily be split into flat thin pieces
2 ON A ROOF [C] especially BrE a small piece of slate or similar material that is used for covering roofs; = tile
•There were several slates missing from the roof.
3 slate blue/grey a dark blue or grey colour
4 POLITICS [C] a list of people that voters can choose in an election, or who are being considered for an important job
5 FOR WRITING ON [C] a small black board or a flat piece of slate in a wooden frame used for writing on in the past
6 put sth on the slate BrE old-fashioned to arrange to pay for something later, especially food or drink
a clean slate at CLEAN^1 (9)[T usually passive]
1 BrE informal to criticize a book, film etc severely, especially in a newspaper; = slam
•Doherty's most recent novel has been slated by the critics.
2 be slated to do sth/be slated for sth especially AmE
a) if something is slated to happen, it is planned to happen in the future, especially at a particular time:
•He is slated to appear at the Cambridge Jazz Festival next year.
•Every house on this block is slated for demolition. $ [T always + adv/prep] AmE
to cover something with a thick layer of a soft substance
slather sth in/with/on sth
•a slice of homemade bread, slathered with jam $ [C] old-fashioned
a dirty, untidy woman - used to show disapproval
- slatternly adjective $ [T]
1 to kill an animal, especially for its meat
2 to kill a lot of people in a cruel or violent way; = butcher
•Hundreds of innocent civilians had been slaughtered by government troops.
see box at KILL^1
3 informal to defeat an opponent in a sport or game by a large number of points; = hammer
•We got slaughtered, 110 - 54.[U]
1 when people kill animals, especially for their meat:
•the export of live animals for slaughter
2 when large numbers of people are killed in a cruel or violent way:
•the slaughter of defenceless women and children $ [not before noun] BrE informal
very drunk; = plastered
•We all got completely slaughtered last night. $ [C]
a building where animals such as cows or pigs are killed for their meat; = abattoir $ [C]
someone who belongs to any of the races of Eastern and Central Europe who speak Slavic languages such as Russian, Bulgarian, Polish etc [C]
1 someone who is owned by another person and works for them for no money
the slave trade (=the buying and selling of slaves, especially Africans who were taken to America)
2 be a slave to/of sth to be so strongly influenced by something that you cannot make your own decisions - used to show disapproval:
•a slave to fashion[I always + adv/prep]
to work very hard with little time to rest
slave away (at sth)
•I've been slaving away at this report.
[+over]
•He's been slaving over his history essay.
slave (away) over a hot stove (=cook - used humorously)[C]
someone who makes people work very hard - used in a disapproving or humorous wayslave labor AmE [U] BrE
1 work done by slaves, or the people who do this work
2 informal work for which you are paid an unfairly small amount of money $ [I]
literary to let SALIVA (=liquid produced inside your mouth) come out of your mouth, especially because you are hungry; = drool $ [C] old use
1 someone who sells slaves
2 a ship for moving slaves from one place to another [U]
1 the system of having slaves:
•attempts to abolish slavery (=officially end it)
2 the state of being a slave
sell sb into slavery (=sell someone as a slave)also Slavonic $
relating to the Slavs or their languages
obeying, supporting, or copying someone completely - used to show disapproval:
•a slavish adherence to the rules
- slavishly adverb
•not a rule to be slavishly followed in every instance
- slavishness noun [U] $
SLAVIC $ [U] AmE
COLESLAW past tense slew past participle slain [T]
1 to kill someone - used especially in newspapers
2 AmE spoken informal to amuse someone a lot
- slayer noun [C] [C]
an act of killing someone - used especially in newspapers:
•gang-related slayings
1 [U] immoral behaviour, especially involving sex or lies:
•Many people are tired of all the sleaze on TV.
•sleaze and corruption in politics
2 also sleazebag sleazebucket [C] AmE informal someone who behaves in an immoral or dishonest way comparative sleazier superlative sleaziest
1 a sleazy place is dirty, cheap, or in bad condition:
•a sleazy bar
2 relating to sex or dishonest behaviour - used to show disapproval:
•a sleazy lawyer
- sleaziness noun [U]also sled [C] BrE
a small vehicle used for sliding over snow, often used by children or in some sports; sleighsled AmE [I] BrE
to travel on a sledge $ [C]
a large heavy hammer
1 a vehicle or other object that is sleek has a smooth attractive shape:
•the sleek lines of the new Mercedes
2 sleek hair or fur is straight, shiny, and healthy-looking
3 someone who is sleek looks rich and is well dressed
- sleekly adverb
- sleekness noun [U][T always + adv/prep] literary
to make hair or fur smooth and shiny by putting water or oil on it
sleek sth back/down etc
•His hair was sleeked back with oil. past tense and past participle slept [I]
1 to rest your mind and body, usually at night when you are lying in bed with your eyes closed; asleep, oversleep

sleep well/soundly
sleep badly
sleep peacefully
sleep fitfully literary (=keep moving or waking during a sleep)
can't sleep
sleep late (=not get up until late in the morning)
sleep like a log informal (=sleep very well)
not sleep a wink (=not sleep at all)
somewhere/nowhere to sleep

•I usually sleep on my back.
•Did you sleep well?
•Dee was tired out but couldn't sleep.
•We both slept badly that night.
•The baby slept peacefully in its cradle.
•She slept fitfully, disturbed by nightmares.
•I couldn't sleep because I was so worried.
•We usually sleep late on Sundays.
•I slept like a log until morning.
•He had hardly slept a wink all night.
•He's lucky because at least he has somewhere to sleep.

2 sleep rough BrE to sleep outdoors in uncomfortable conditions, especially because you have no money
3 sleep on it spoken to not make a decision about something important until the next day
4 sleep tight spoken said especially to children before they go to bed to say that you hope they sleep well:
•Good night, Jenny. Sleep tight!
5 sleep two/four/six etc to have enough beds for a particular number of people:
•The villa sleeps four.
6 let sleeping dogs lie to deliberately avoid mentioning a subject, so that you do not cause any trouble or argument
7 literary if a village, house etc sleeps, it is very quiet during the night

PHRASAL VERBS
sleep around phr v informal
to have sex with a lot of different people without having a serious relationship with any of them - used to show disapproval

sleep in phr v informal
to let yourself sleep later than usual in the morning:
•We usually sleep in on Sunday mornings.

sleep sth <=> off phr v informal
to sleep until you do not feel ill any more, especially after drinking too much alcohol:
•He went to his room to sleep it off.

sleep over phr v
to sleep at someone's house for a night - used especially by children

sleep through phr v
1 sleep through sth to sleep while something is happening and not be woken by it:
•How did you manage to sleep through that thunderstorm?
2 sleep through (sth) to sleep continuously for a long time:
•I slept right through till lunchtime.
•The baby slept peacefully through the night.

sleep together phr v
if people sleep together, they have sex with each other

sleep with sb phr v
to have sex with someone, especially someone you are not married to:
•Everybody in the office knows he's been sleeping with Kathy.

WORD CHOICE: sleep, asleep
You usually use be asleep rather than 'be sleeping': Her parents were already asleep (NOT already slept/were sleeping).
The verb sleep is used when you are giving more information, for example about how long someone sleeps or where they sleep: The baby sleeps for 12 hours. | He slept in the car.
You usually say fall asleep, not 'start sleeping': Some students fall asleep (NOT start sleeping/start to sleep) at their desks.

!! Do not say 'feel asleep'.
You can also say someone goes to sleep, especially when they are in bed and want to sleep: I turned the light out and went to sleep.
You use get to sleep when someone has difficulty falling asleep: It took me hours to get to sleep.

1 BEING ASLEEP [U] the natural state of resting your mind and body, usually at night; beauty sleep
•I didn't get much sleep last night.
•Sometimes Mike has a hard time getting to sleep (=succeeding in starting to sleep).
•I couldn't get back to sleep (=sleep again after waking up) after he'd rung.
drift/nod/go off to sleep (=start sleeping)
•I'm sorry, I must have dropped off to sleep for a moment.
in your sleep (=while he is sleeping)
•Ed often talks in his sleep.
•She died in her sleep later that night.
•Her eyes were red through lack of sleep.
a few/a couple of/eight etc hours' sleep
•She managed on a few hours' sleep a night.
2 PERIOD OF SLEEPING [singular] a period when you are sleeping
a light/deep sleep
•She was woken from a deep sleep by a ring at the door.
•You just need a good night's sleep (=a night when you sleep well).
•a dreamless sleep
have a sleep BrE
•Why don't you go and have a sleep?
3 go to sleep
a) to start sleeping:
•I went to sleep at 9 o'clock and woke up at 6.
•It's nothing, go back to sleep (=sleep again after waking up).
b) informal if a part of your body goes to sleep, you cannot feel it for a short time because it has not been getting enough blood
4 lose sleep over sth spoken to worry about something:
•It's a practice game - I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
5 put sb/sth to sleep
a) to give drugs to a sick animal so that it dies without too much pain - used to avoid saying the word 'kill'
b) informal to make someone unconscious before a medical operation by giving them drugs
6 sb can do sth in their sleep informal used to say that someone is able to do something very easily, especially because they have done it many times before:
•She knew the music so well she could play it in her sleep.
7 sing/rock/lull etc sb to sleep to sing to someone, move them gently etc until they start sleeping:
•The movement of the waves soon lulled us to sleep.
8 send sb to sleep
a) to make someone go to sleep:
•The combination of warmth and music sent him to sleep.
b) if something sends someone to sleep, it is extremely boring
9 IN YOUR EYES [U] informal a substance that forms in the corners of your eyes while you are sleeping:
•She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. $ [C]
1 someone who sleeps in a particular way
light sleeper (=someone who wakes easily)
heavy sleeper (=someone who does not wake easily)
2 someone who is asleep
3 BrE a heavy piece of wood or CONCRETE that supports a railway track; = tie AmE
4
a) a night train with carriages that have beds for passengers to sleep in
b) a SLEEPING CAR
c) AmE a bed on a train for a passenger to sleep in
5 especially AmE a film, book etc which is successful, even though people did not expect it to be
6 AmE a piece of clothing for a baby that covers its whole body including its feet
7 a SPY who is sent to a particular place and who lives an ordinary life there until a later time, when they begin their spying activities[C]
a large warm bag that you sleep in, especially when camping[C]
a railway carriage with beds for passengers to sleep in; = sleeper[C] BrE
someone who owns part of a business but is not actively involved in running it; = silent partner AmE[C]
a PILL which helps you to sleep[C] BrE
a narrow raised part in a road which makes traffic go slowly; = speed bump[U]
a serious TROPICAL disease that is carried by the TSETSE FLY (=a type of insect). It causes extreme tiredness and fever, and makes you lose weight.
1 a sleepless night a night when you are unable to sleep:
•Adrian spent a sleepless night wondering what to do.
2 unable to sleep:
•She lay sleepless for hours, worrying.
- sleeplessly adverb
- sleeplessness noun [U] $ [C]
a party for children in which they stay the night at someone's house $ [C]
someone who walks while they are sleeping
- sleepwalk verb [I]
- sleepwalking noun [U] comparative sleepier, superlative sleepiest
1 tired and ready to sleep:
•The warmth from the fire made her feel sleepy.
2 a sleepy town or area is very quiet, and not much happens there; lively
- sleepily adverb
- sleepiness noun [U] [C] spoken
someone, especially a child, who looks as if they want to go to sleep:
•It's time for bed, sleepyhead. [U]
half-frozen rain that falls when it is very cold:
•scattered sleet and snow showers
- sleet verb [I]
• It was sleeting so hard we could barely see for 30 yards.
- sleety adjective [C]
1 the part of a piece of clothing that covers all or part of your arm:
•a dress with long sleeves
long-sleeved/short-sleeved etc
•a short-sleeved shirt
2 have something up your sleeve informal to have a secret plan or idea that you are going to use later:
•Don't worry. He still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
3 a stiff paper cover that a record is stored in; = jacket
a sleeveless jacket, dress etc has no sleeves [C]
a large open vehicle with no wheels that is used for travelling over snow and is pulled along by animals; sledge [U]
1 the use of quick and skilful movements with your hands when doing a magic trick, so that people cannot understand how you did the trick
2 the use of skilful tricks and lies in order to deceive someone $
1 thin in an attractive or graceful way; = slim
•She is slender and stylish.
•Laura's tall, slender figure
slender legs/arms/fingers etc
see box at THIN^1
2 small or very limited in amount or size; = slim
•The company only has a slender hope of survival.
•The Republicans won the election by a slender majority.
•We had to make the most of our rather slender resources.
- slenderness noun [U]
the past tense and past participle of SLEEP [C] old-fashioned
someone who tries to find out information about a crime; = detective
- sleuthing noun [U] [I,T always + adv/prep]
to turn or slide in a different direction suddenly and violently, or to make a vehicle do this
[+around/sideways]
•I lost control of the car and it slewed sideways into the ditch.
the past tense of SLAY
a slew of sth informal a large number of things:
•a whole slew of cheap motels [C]
1 a thin flat piece of food cut from a larger piece
[+of]
•a slice of bread
•pizza slices
thin/thick slice
•a thin slice of ham
• Cut the tomatoes into slices.
2 a part or share of something
[+of]
•Everybody wants a slice of the profits.
3 fish slice BrE a kitchen tool used for lifting and serving pieces of food; = spatula AmE
4 a way of hitting the ball in sports such as tennis or golf, that makes the ball go to one side with a spinning movement, rather than straight ahead
5 a slice of life a film, play, or book which shows life as it really is
1 [T] also slice up to cut meat, bread, vegetables etc into thin flat pieces; chop
• Thinly slice the cucumbers.
•Slice up the onions and add them to the meat.
•sliced ham
2 [I always + adv/prep] to cut something easily with one movement of a sharp knife or edge
[+into/through]
•The blade's so sharp it could slice through your finger.
slice sth in two/half
•Slice the eggs in two and arrange them on a serving dish.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to move quickly and easily through something such as water or air
[+through/into]
•The boat was slicing through the sparkling waves.
4 [T] to hit a ball, for example in tennis or golf, so that it spins sideways instead of moving straight forward:
•With an open goal in front of him, Wiltord sliced his shot wide of the left post.
5 any way you slice it AmE spoken whatever way you choose to consider the situation:
•It's the truth, any way you slice it.

PHRASAL VERBS
slice sth <=> off phr v
1 to remove part of something by cutting it with one movement of a sharp knife or edge; = cut off
•His knife had slipped and sliced off the top of his finger.
2 to reduce a cost or total by a particular amount quickly and easily
slice sth off sth
•By using volunteers we were able to slice £10,000 off the cost of the project.[U]
1 bread that is sold already cut into slices
2 the best/greatest thing since sliced bread informal used humorously to say that something new is very helpful, useful etc:
•He reckons his new mobile phone is the best thing since sliced bread.
1 if something is slick, it is done in a skilful and attractive way and seems expensive, but it often contains no important or interesting ideas:
•a slick Hollywood production
•slick advertising
•The presentation was very slick.
2 if someone is slick, they are good at persuading people, often in a way that does not seem honest:
•a slick used-car salesman
3 done smoothly and quickly:
•He got round the defender using some slick footwork.
4 smooth and slippery
[+with]
•Cars were sliding off roads that were slick with rain.
5 AmE old-fashioned very good or attractive
- slickly adverb
- slickness noun [U][C]
1 also oil slick an area of oil on the surface of water or on a road
2 AmE a magazine printed on good quality paper with a shiny surface, usually with a lot of colour pictures; = glossy magazine
3 technical a smooth car tyre used for racing

PHRASAL VERBS
slick sth <=> down/back phr v
to make hair smooth and shiny by putting oil, water etc on it:
•His hair had been combed back and slicked down with something to make it neat. $ [C] AmE
a coat made of smooth shiny material that keeps out the rain past tense and past participle slid
1 [I,T] to move smoothly over a surface while continuing to touch it, or to make something move in this way
[+along/across/down etc]
•Francesca slid across the ice.
slide sth across/along etc
•He opened the oven door and slid the pan of cookies in.
•He slid open the door of the glass cabinet.
2 [I,T always + adv/prep] to move somewhere quietly and smoothly, or to move something in this way
[+into/out of etc]
•Daniel slid out of the room when no one was looking.
•She slid into the driver's seat.
slide sth into/out of etc sth
•He slid the gun into his pocket.
3 [I] if prices, amounts, rates etc slide, they become lower; = drop; rise
•Stocks slid a further 3% on the major markets today.
4 [I] to gradually become worse, or to begin to have a problem:
•Students' test scores started to slide in the mid-1990s.
[+into]
•Murphy gradually slid into a pattern of drug abuse.
5 let sth slide
a) to let a situation get gradually worse:
•Management has let safety standards slide at the factory.
b) spoken to ignore a mistake, problem, remark etc, without trying to improve or stop it:
•Well, I guess we can let it slide this time.

WORD CHOICE: slide, slip, skid
Slide means to move smoothly across a surface. You can talk about people, objects, or liquids sliding: This floor's great for sliding on. | The door slid open (NOT slided open). | A tear slid down her cheek.
Slip means to accidentally slide a small distance, and usually then fall down: She slipped and hurt her wrist. | It's icy - mind you don't slip.
Skid means to move across a smooth surface in an uncontrolled way. You usually use it to talk about vehicles: Cars skidded on the snow. | Jason skidded around the corner on his bike.

[C]
1 FOR CHILDREN a large structure with steps leading to the top of a long sloping surface which children can slide down
2 DECREASE [usually singular] a decrease in prices, amounts etc; rise
[+in]
•the current slide in house prices
on the slide
•The company's shares were on the slide again yesterday, down 7p at 339p.
3 PICTURE a small piece of film in a frame that you shine a light through to show a picture on a SCREEN or wall:
•a slide show
4 GETTING WORSE [usually singular] a situation in which something gradually gets worse, or someone develops a problem
[+in]
•School administrators were unable to explain the slide in student performance.
[+into]
•a slide into economic chaos
5 SCIENCE a small piece of thin glass used for holding something that you want to look at under a MICROSCOPE
6 MUSIC/MACHINE a sliding part of a machine or musical instrument, such as the U-shaped tube of a TROMBONE
7 MOVEMENT [usually singular] a sliding movement across a surface:
•The car went into a slide.
8 EARTH/SNOW a sudden fall of earth, stones, snow etc down a slope:
•a rock slide
9 FOR HAIR BrE a small metal or plastic object that holds your hair in place[C]
a piece of equipment that shines a light through SLIDEs so that pictures appear on a screen or wall[C]
an old-fashioned instrument used for calculating numbers, that looks like a ruler and has a middle part that slides across[C]
a door that opens by sliding to one side[C usually singular]
a system for calculating how much you pay for taxes, medical treatment etc, in which the amount that you pay changes according to different conditions
on a sliding scale
•Fees are calculated on a sliding scale. comparative slighter, superlative slightest
1 [usually before noun] small in degree; big
•a slight improvement
•a slight increase
•a slight change of plan
•a slight pause
•a slight problem
2 not the slightest chance/doubt/difference etc no doubt, chance etc at all:
•I didn't have the slightest idea who that man was.
3 someone who is slight is thin and delicate; stocky
see box at THIN^1
4 not in the slightest BrE spoken not at all:
•'Did he mind lending you the car?' 'Not in the slightest.'[T]
to offend someone by treating them rudely or without respect:
•Derek felt slighted when no one phoned him back.
- slight noun [C]
•She may take it as a slight on her ability as a mother.
•a slight to his authority
1 a little:
•a slightly different color
•a slightly more powerful engine
slightly higher/lower/better/larger etc
•January's sales were slightly better than average.
•He was someone I already knew slightly.
•a slightly tart flavor
•He leaned forward ever so slightly.
2 slightly-built having a thin and delicate body comparative slimmer superlative slimmest
1 someone who is slim is attractively thin; = slender
•a slim young woman
•a slim waist
see box at THIN^1
2 very small in amount or number; = slender
•There's only a slim chance that anyone survived the crash.
•The Republicans held a slim majority in the Senate.
3 not wide or thick:
•a slim volume of poetrypast tense and past participle slimmed, present participle slimming
[I] BrE to make yourself thinner by eating less, taking a lot of exercise etc; diet

PHRASAL VERBS
slim down phr v
1 to reduce the size or number of something, or to become reduced in size or number
slim sth <=> down
•The company is trying to slim down its workforce.
[+to]
•The Cabinet has been slimmed down to 16 members.
2 to make your body thinner, or to become thinner, especially in order to be healthier or more attractive
slim sth <=> down
•How can I slim down my hips?
[+to]
•She slimmed down to a healthy 61 kilos.
- slimmed-down adjective
- slimmer noun [C] [U]
an unpleasant thick slippery substance:
•a pond full of green slime
•the trails of slime left by snails $ [C] informal
someone who is immoral, extremely unpleasant, and cannot be trusted - used to show disapproval BrE
1 a slimline drink has fewer CALORIEs than the normal type; diet
2 a slimline piece of equipment is smaller or thinner than others of the same type:
•a slimline dishwasher [U] BrE
the activity of trying to make yourself thinner by eating less, taking exercise etc
making you look thinner:
•Solid colors are more slimming than patterns.
1 covered with SLIME, or wet and slippery like slime:
•slimy mud
2 informal friendly in an unpleasant way that does not seem sincere - used to show disapproval:
•a slimy politician
- sliminess noun [U] past tense and past participle slung [T always + adv/prep]
1 to throw or put something somewhere with a careless movement and some force; = chuck
•Lou slung his suitcase onto the bed.
sling sb sth
•Sling me the keys.
•Pete slung his bag over his shoulder.
2 informal to make someone leave or go to a place
sling sb into/out of sth
•Sam was slung into jail for punching a cop.
3 [usually passive] to hang something loosely:
•Dave wore a tool belt slung around his waist.
4 sling your hook BrE informal used to tell someone to go away[C]
1 a piece of cloth tied around your neck to support an injured arm or hand
in a sling
•She had her arm in a sling.
2 a set of ropes or strong pieces of cloth that are used to lift and carry heavy objects
3 a special type of bag that fastens over your shoulders, in which you can carry a baby close to your body
4 a piece of rope with a piece of leather in the middle, used in past times as a weapon for throwing stones
5 slings and arrows written problems or criticisms:
•We've all suffered the slings and arrows of day-to-day living. [C]
a woman's shoe that is open at the back and has a narrow band going around the heel $ [C] AmE
a small Y-shaped stick with a thin band of rubber across the top, used to throw stones; = catapult BrE past tense and past participle slunk [I always + adv/prep]
to move somewhere quietly and secretly, especially because you are afraid or ashamed; = creep
•Edward was hoping to slink past unnoticed.
1 a slinky dress, skirt etc is smooth and tight and shows the shape of a woman's body in a way that looks sexually attractive:
•a slinky black dress
2 slinky movements, music, or voices are slow in a way that is sexually attractive:
•a song with slinky bass lines past tense and past participle slipped, present participle slipping
1 FALL OR SLIDE [I] to slide a short distance accidentally, and fall or lose your balance slightly:
•Wright slipped but managed to keep hold of the ball.
[+on]
•He slipped on the ice.
see box at SLIDE^1
2 GO SOMEWHERE [I always + adv/prep] to go somewhere, without attracting other people's attention; = slide
•Ben slipped quietly out of the room.
•One man managed to slip from the club as police arrived.
3 PUT STH SOMEWHERE [T always + adv/prep] to put something somewhere quietly or smoothly; = slide
•Ann slipped the book into her bag.
•A letter had been slipped under his door.
•Carrie slipped her arm through her brother's.
4 GIVE STH TO SB [T] to give someone something secretly or without attracting much attention
slip sb sth
•I slipped him a ten-dollar bill to keep quiet.
slip sth to sb
•Carr slips the ball to King who scores easily.
5 MOVE [I] to move smoothly, especially off or from something:
•As he bent over, the towel round his waist slipped.
[+off/down/from etc]
•He watched the sun slip down behind the mountains.
•The ring had slipped off Julia's finger.
•Cally slipped from his grasp and fled.
6 KNIFE [I] if a knife or other tool slips, it moves so that it accidentally cuts the wrong thing:
•The knife slipped and cut his finger.
7 GET WORSE [I] to become worse or lower than before:
•Standards have slipped in many parts of the industry.
•His popularity slipped further after a series of scandals.
•You're slipping, Doyle! You need a holiday.
8 CHANGE CONDITION [I always + adv/prep] to gradually start being in a particular condition; = fall
[+into]
•He had begun to slip into debt.
•She slipped into unconsciousness and died the next day.
•The project has slipped behind schedule.
9 CLOTHES [I,T always + adv/prep] to put a piece of clothing on your body or take it off your body quickly and smoothly
slip sth off/on
•Peter was already at the door slipping on his shoes.
[+into/out of]
•She slipped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower.
10 TIME [I, always + adv/prep] if time slips away, past etc it passes quickly
[+away/past/by]
•The search for the missing child continued, but time was slipping away.
•The hours slipped past almost unnoticed.
11 slip your mind/memory if something slips your mind, you forget it:
•I meant to buy some milk, but it completely slipped my mind.
12 let sth slip to say something without meaning to, when you had wanted it to be a secret:
•He let it slip that they were planning to get married.
13 GET FREE [T] to get free from something that was holding you:
•The dog slipped his collar and ran away.
14 slip through the net BrE slip through the cracks AmE if someone or something slips through the net, they are not caught or dealt with by the system that is supposed to catch them or deal with them:
•In a class of 30 children, it is easy for one to slip through the net and learn nothing.
15 let sth slip (through your fingers) to not take an opportunity, offer etc:
•Don't let a chance like that slip through your fingers!
16 slip one over on sb informal especially AmE to deceive or play a trick on someone
17 slip a disc/disk to suffer an injury when one of the connecting parts between the bones in your back moves out of place

PHRASAL VERBS
slip away phr v
1 to leave a place secretly or without anyone noticing
2 if something such as an opportunity slips away, it is no longer available:
•This time, Radford did not let her chance slip away.

slip sth <=> in phr v
to use a word or say something without attracting too much attention:
•He had slipped in a few jokes to liven the speech up.

slip out phr v
if something slips out, you say it without really intending to:
•I didn't mean to say it. The words slipped out.

slip up phr v
to make a mistake:
•The company apologized for slipping up so badly.
[+on]
•Someone had slipped up on the order.
SLIP-UP
1 PAPER [C] a small or narrow piece of paper:
•a slip of paper
•an order slip
•a betting slip
PAYSLIP
2 MISTAKE [C] a small mistake:
•Molly knew she could not afford to make a single slip.
3 slip of the tongue/pen a small mistake you make when you are speaking or writing, especially by using the wrong word:
•It was just a slip of the tongue.
FREUDIAN SLIP
4 give sb the slip informal to escape from someone who is chasing you:
•Somehow she'd given them the slip.
5 CLOTHING [C] a piece of underwear, similar to a thin dress or skirt, that a woman wears under a dress or skirt:
•a white silk slip
6 GETTING WORSE [C usually singular] an occasion when something becomes worse or lower
[+in]
•a slip in house prices
7 SLIDE [C] an act of sliding a short distance or of falling by sliding
8 a slip of a girl/boy etc old-fashioned a small thin young person - often used humorously
9 CRICKET [C usually plural] a part of the field where players stand, trying to catch the ball in CRICKET
10 CLAY [U] technical a mixture of clay and water that is used for decorating pots [C]
a hard cover, like a box, for putting a book in $ [C]
a loose cloth cover for furniture $ [C]
a knot that you can make tighter by pulling one of its ends[plural]
shoes that do not have a fastening
- slip-on adjective
•slip-on shoes [C,U] formal
1 failure to do something at the planned time, at the planned cost etc:
•Slippage on any job will entail slippage on the overall project.
2 when something becomes worse or lower
[+in/of]
•slippage in sales
3 when something slips:
•snow slippageslipped disk AmE [C usually singular]
a painful injury caused when one of the connecting parts between the bones in your back moves out of place $ [C]
a light soft shoe that you wear at home
1 something that is slippery is difficult to hold, walk on etc because it is wet or GREASY:
•In places, the path can be wet and slippery.
•Harry's palms were slippery with sweat.
2 informal someone who is slippery cannot be trusted:
•Martin is a slippery customer (=someone you should not trust) so be careful what you say to him.
3 not having one clear meaning and able to be understood in different ways:
•the slippery notion of 'standards'
4 (be on) a/the slippery slope BrE informal used to talk about a process or habit that is difficult to stop and which will develop into something extremely bad
[+to/towards]
•He is on the slippery slope to a life in crime.
- slipperiness noun [U] BrE informal
a slippy surface or object is slippery[C] BrE
a road for driving onto or off a MOTORWAY; = ramp AmE $
done too quickly and carelessly - used to show disapproval; = slapdash
•a slipshod piece of work [singular]
the area of low air pressure just behind a vehicle that is moving quickly[C]
a careless mistake:
•We cannot afford another slip-up. [C]
a sloping track that is used for moving boats into or out of the water past tense and past participle slit, present participle slitting [T]
to make a straight narrow cut in cloth, paper, skin etc:
•Guy slit open the envelope.
slit sb's throat (=kill someone by cutting their throat)
slit your wrists (=try to kill yourself by cutting your wrists)[C]
a long straight narrow cut or hole:
•light shining through a slit in the door
•a skirt with a slit up the side $ [I always + adv/prep]
to slide somewhere over a surface, twisting or moving from side to side:
•A snake slithered across the grass.
•He slithered down the muddy bank.
unpleasantly slippery $ [C]
a small pointed or thin piece that has been cut or broken off something
[+of]
•a sliver of glass
•a sliver of cake $ [C] informal
someone who is lazy and untidy:
•a lazy slobpast tense and past participle slobbed, present participle slobbing

PHRASAL VERBS
slob around/out phr v BrE informal
to spend time doing nothing and being lazy $ [I]
to let SALIVA (=the liquid produced by your mouth) come out of your mouth and run down; = drool
•I hate dogs that slobber everywhere.

PHRASAL VERBS
slobber over sth/sb phr v
to show how much you want, like, or love someone or something, without controlling yourself:
•I caught Rick slobbering over the models in a magazine. $
a slobbery kiss or mouth is unpleasantly wet $ [C]
a small bitter fruit like a PLUM[U]
an alcoholic drink made with sloes, GIN, and sugar $ past tense and past participle slogged, present participle slogging [I] informal
1 to work hard at something without stopping, especially when the work is difficult, tiring, or boring:
•Mother slogged all her life for us.
[+away]
•After a day slogging away at work, I need to relax.
[+through]
•You just have to sit down and slog through long lists of new vocabulary.
2 [always + adv/prep] to make a long hard journey somewhere, especially on foot:
•He's been slogging round the streets delivering catalogues.
slog your way through/round etc sth
•He started to slog his way up the hill.
3 slog it out BrE to fight, compete, or argue about something until one side wins:
•The teams will be slogging it out on Saturday.
1 [singular, U] BrE informal a piece of work that takes a lot of time and effort and is usually boring:
•It'll be a slog, but I know we can do it.
•months of hard slog
2 [singular] a long period of tiring walking:
•a long hard slog uphill $ [C]
a short phrase that is easy to remember and is used in advertisements, or by politicians, organizations etc; catchphrase
•an advertising slogan
•demonstrators shouting political slogans
•the Democrats' campaign slogan $ [U]
the use of slogans in advertisements or by politicians, organizations etc - used to show disapproval:
•political sloganeering $ [only before noun] informal
used to describe action that appears to happen more slowly than it really happens, in computer games, on video etc; slow-motion
•slo-mo mode
- slo-mo noun [U] [C]
a small ship with one central MAST (=pole for sails) $ past tense and past participle slopped, present participle slopping
1 [I always + adv/prep] if liquid slops somewhere, it moves around or over the edge of a container in an uncontrolled way; = splash
•Coffee slopped over the rim of her cup.
•With each wave, more water slopped into the cabin.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to put a liquid somewhere in a careless way:
•She put the glass down, slopping beer onto the table.
3 [T] AmE to feed slop to pigs

PHRASAL VERBS
slop around/about phr v BrE informal
to relax, wearing clothes that are untidy or old:
•Jan would never slop around in old jeans.

slop out phr v BrE
if prisoners slop out, they empty their toilet buckets
- slopping-out noun [U]also slops plural [U]
1 waste food that can be used to feed animals
2 BrE dirty water or URINE:
•Prisoners had to use slop buckets at night.
3 informal food that is too soft and tastes bad:
•Do you actually expect us to eat this slop? $
1 [C] a piece of ground or a surface that slopes:
•a steep slope
•a gentle (=not steep) slope
•She looked back up the grassy slope.
2 an area of steep ground covered with snow that people SKI down:
•We got to Tahoe on Friday, and hit the slopes (=skied on them) the next day.
3 [singular] the angle at which something slopes in relation to a flat surface:
•a slope of 30 degrees[I]
if the ground or a surface slopes, it is higher at one end than the other
[+up/down/away etc]
•a pleasant garden that slopes down to the river

PHRASAL VERBS
slope off phr v BrE informal
to leave somewhere quietly and secretly, especially when you are avoiding work:
•Mike sloped off early today. $
1 not done carefully or thoroughly; = careless
•sloppy work
•His written reports are incredibly sloppy.
2 sloppy clothes are loose-fitting, untidy, or dirty:
•Ann was dressed in a sloppy brown sweater.
3 expressing feelings of love too strongly and in a silly way; = slushy
•The film is a sloppy romance.
4 not solid enough:
•sloppy jelly
- sloppily adverb
- sloppiness noun [U] $ [C]
AmE a type of sandwich, made from BEEF with spices added and served on a BUN $
1 [I,T always + adv/prep] if a liquid sloshes somewhere, or if you slosh it, it moves or is moved about in an uncontrolled way
[+around/about]
•Water was sloshing about in the bottom of the boat.
•He put the glass down hard and beer sloshed over the edge.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to put a liquid in a container or on a surface in a careless way:
•Jo sloshed more wine into her glass.
•Slosh a bit of paint on.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to walk through water or mud in a noisy way:
•People were sloshing around in the mud. $ [not before noun] informal
drunk:
•Most of them were too sloshed to notice. $ [C]
1 a long narrow hole in a surface, that you can put something into:
•Alan dropped another quarter into the slot on the pay phone.
2 a short period of time allowed for one particular event on a programme or TIMETABLE:
•a ten-minute slot on the breakfast show
•landing slots at Heathrow Airport
•A new comedy is scheduled for the 9 p.m. time slot.past tense and past participle slotted, present participle slotting [I,T always + adv/prep]
to go into a slot, or to put something in a slot
slot sth into sth
•Mary slotted a cassette into the VCR.
[+into]
•Each length of board slots easily into the next.
•All the wood parts come pre-cut so that they can be slotted together (=put together using slots).

PHRASAL VERBS
slot in phr v BrE informal
to fit something or someone into a plan, organization etc, or to fit in:
•Stewart has slotted in well.
slot sb/sth <=> in
•We should be able to slot the meeting in before lunch. $
1 [C] an animal in Central and South America that moves very slowly, has grey fur, and lives in trees
2 [U] formal laziness $ formal
lazy or not active
- slothfulness noun [U][C]
1 a machine used for playing a game, that starts when you put money into it
2 BrE a machine that you buy cigarettes, food, or drink from; = vending machine[C]
a large spoon with holes in it [I]
to stand, sit, or walk with a slouch
[+back/against/in etc]
•Jimmy slouched back in his chair.
•She slouched across the living room.
1 be no slouch (at sth) informal to be very good at something:
•Horowitz was no slouch at languages.
2 [singular] a way of standing, sitting, or walking with your shoulders bent forward that makes you look tired or lazy

PHRASAL VERBS
slough sth <=> off phr v
1 technical to get rid of a dead layer of skin
2 literary to get rid of something, especially something that is damaging you:
•The president wanted to slough off the country's bad image. $
1 [singular] literary a bad situation or a state of sadness that you cannot get out of easily
[+of]
•Harry was in a slough of despondency for weeks.
2 [C] an area of land covered in deep dirty water or mud
lazy, untidy, and careless:
•slovenly habits
•a large slovenly woman
•a slovenly way of speaking
- slovenliness noun [U] $ comparative slower, superlative slowest
1 NOT QUICK not moving, being done, or happening quickly; quick, fast ; slowly
•The car was travelling at a very slow speed.
•a slow walker
•The economy faces a year of slower growth.
•Take a few deep, slow breaths.
•We got on the slow train (=one that stops at a lot of places) by mistake.
2 TAKING TOO LONG taking too long; fast
•Taylor was concerned at the slow progress of the investigations.
•The legal system can be painfully slow (=much too slow).
slow to do sth
•The wound was slow to heal.
3 WITH DELAY [not before noun] if you are slow to do something, you do not do it as soon as you can or should
slow to do sth
•Farmers have been slow to exploit this market.
•Their attitude was slow to change.
slow in doing sth
•He has been slow in announcing the name of his successor.
•New ideas have been slow in coming.
4 LONGER TIME taking a longer time than something similar; fast
•the slow train (=one that stops at more stations)
5 BUSINESS if business or trade is slow, there are not many customers or not much is sold:
•Business is often slow in the afternoon.
•The company is experiencing slow sales.
6 CLOCK [not before noun] if a clock or watch is slow, it is showing a time earlier than the correct time; fast
ten minutes/five minutes etc slow
•The clock is about five minutes slow.
7 NOT CLEVER not good or quick at understanding things:
•Teaching assistants have time to help the slower pupils.
8 slow on the uptake not quick to understand something new:
•Sometime Tim's a little slow on the uptake.
9 slow off the mark not quick enough at reacting to something
10 do a slow burn AmE informal to slowly get angry:
•Tony fumbled the ball and I could see the coach doing a slow burn.
11 slow handclap BrE if a group of people give someone a slow handclap, they CLAP their hands slowly to show their disapproval
12 a slow oven an OVEN that is at a low temperature
13 PHOTOGRAPHY a slow film does not react to light very easily
- slowness noun [U]
also slow down/up [I,T] to become slower or to make something slower:
•Her breathing slowed and she fell asleep.
•Ian slowed up as he approached the traffic lights.

PHRASAL VERBS
slow down phr v
1 to become slower or to make something slower:
•Growth in sales has slowed down.
slow sth/sb <=> down
•The ice on the road slowed us down.
2 to become less active or busy than you usually are:
•It is important to slow down, rest, and eat sensibly.comparative slower, superlative slowest informal
slowly:
•If you go slower, you'll see much more.
GO-SLOW $ [C] BrE informal
someone who moves or does things too slowly $
1 [C usually singular] a reduction in activity or speed
[+in]
•a slowdown in the US economy
2 [C] AmE a period when people deliberately work slowly in order to protest about something[C]
1 the part of a large road where vehicles drive more slowly than the other vehicles on the road; fast lane
2 in the slow lane if a company, organization etc is in the slow lane, it is less successful than others:
•The country is expected to remain in the slow lane of economic recovery. $
1 at a slow speed; quickly
•He shook his head slowly.
•'That's true,' said Joe slowly.
2 slowly but surely used to emphasize that a change is happening, although it is happening slowly:
•We are slowly but surely gaining the support of the public.[U]
movement on film or television shown at a slower speed than it really happened
in slow motion
•Let's see that goal again in slow motion.[U] AmE
a game like SOFTBALL, usually played by mixed teams of men and women $ [C] AmE informal
someone who moves or does things too slowly
not good at understanding things; = stupid [U]
1 soft thick mud, especially at the bottom of a liquid
2 the solid substance that is left when industrial waste or SEWAGE (=the liquid waste from toilets) has been cleaned
3 thick dirty oil in an engine
- sludgy adjective [C]
1 a small creature with a soft body, that moves very slowly and eats garden plants
2 AmE informal a bullet:
•Perez still has a slug lodged in his left shoulder.
3 informal a small amount of a strong alcoholic drink
[+of]
•a slug of brandy
4 AmE informal a piece of metal shaped like a coin, used to illegally get a drink, ticket etc from a machinepast tense and past participle slugged, present participle slugging [T]
1 slug it out if two people slug it out, they fight or compete until one of them has won
2 informal to hit someone hard with your closed hand; = punch
3 to hit a ball hard [C] informal especially AmE
a situation in which people are arguing or fighting in a rude or angry way $ [C] AmE informal
a baseball player who hits the ball a very long way
moving or reacting more slowly than normal:
•Alex woke late feeling tired and sluggish.
•Economic recovery has so far been sluggish.
- sluggishly adverb
- sluggishness noun [U] [C]
a passage for water to flow through, with a special gate which can be opened or closed to control it
1 [T] to wash something with a lot of water
sluice sth out/down
•He was sluicing down the table and the floor.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if water sluices somewhere, a large amount of it suddenly flows there
1 [C] a house or an area of a city that is in very bad condition, where very poor people live:
•a slum area
•slum housing
•the slums of London
2 [singular] BrE informal a very untidy place
slum it/be slumming informal to spend time in conditions that are much worse than you are used to - often used humorously:
•Jeremy doesn't slum it when he goes away. $ [I] literary
to sleepalso slumbers [singular, U] literary
sleep:
•He passed into a deep slumber.[C] AmE
a children's party when a group of children sleep at one child's house $ [C] AmE
someone who owns houses in a very poor area and charges high rents for buildings that are in bad condition [I]
1 to fall or lean against something because you are not strong enough to stand
[+against/over/back etc]
•She slumped against the wall.
•Carol slumped back in her chair, defeated.
•Ben staggered and slumped onto the floor.
2 to suddenly go down in price, value, or number; soar
•Sales slumped by 20% last year.
[+to]
•The currency slumped to a record low.
3 also be slumped if your shoulders or head slump or are slumped, they bend forward because you are unhappy, tired, or unconscious:
•Her shoulders slumped and her eyes filled with tears.[C, usually singular]
1 a sudden decrease in prices, sales, profits etc
[+in]
•a slump in car sales
2 a period when there is a reduction in business and many people lose their jobs; boom
•The war was followed by an economic slump.
•a worldwide slump
3 especially AmE a period when a player or team does not play well
in a slump
•The Dodgers have been in a slump for the last three weeks.
the past tense and past participle of SLING
the past tense and past participle of SLINK $ past tense and past participle slurred, present participle slurring
1 [I,T] to speak unclearly without separating your words or sounds correctly
slur your words/speech
•She was slurring her words as if she was drunk.
•His voice sounded slurred.
2 [T] to criticize someone or something unfairly
3 [T] to play a group of musical notes smoothly together[C]
1 an unfair criticism that is intended to make people dislike someone or something
[+on/against]
•Milton regarded her comment as a slur on his country.
•How dare she cast a slur on (=criticize) my character?
•a racist slur
2 technical a curved line written over musical notes to show they must be played together smoothly $ [I,T]
to drink a liquid while making a noisy sucking sound
- slurp noun [C usually singular] $ [U]
a mixture of water and mud, coal, or animal waste
1 [U] partly melted snow:
•Children were sliding around in the snow and slush.
2 [U] informal feelings or stories that seem silly because they are too romantic:
•sentimental slush
3 [C,U] especially AmE a drink made with crushed ice and a sweet liquid:
•cherry slush
- slushy adjective[C]
an amount of money kept for dishonest purposes, especially in politics [C] taboo informal
a very offensive word for a woman who has sex with a lot of different people. Do not use this word.
- slutty adjective
- sluttish adjective
1 someone who is sly cleverly deceives people in order to get what they want; = cunning
2 sly smile/glance/wink etc a smile, look etc that shows you know something secret:
•He leaned forward with a sly smile.
3 on the sly informal secretly, especially when you are doing something that you should not do:
•They'd been seeing each other on the sly for months.
- slyly adverb
- slyness noun [U] [T]
1 to hit someone, especially a child, with your open hand in order to punish them; slap
•the debate about whether parents should smack their children
2 [always + adv/prep] to hit something hard against something else so that it makes a short loud noise:
•He smacked the money down on the table and walked out.
3 smack your lips to make a short loud noise with your lips before or after you eat or drink something to show that it is good:
•He drained his glass and smacked his lips appreciatively.
4 BrE informal to hit someone hard with your closed hand; = punch

PHRASAL VERBS
smack of sth phr v [not in progressive]
if a situation smacks of something unpleasant, it seems to involve that thing:
•To me, the whole thing smacks of a cover-up.

smack sb up phr v informal
to hit someone hard many times with your hand:
•Don't make me come over there and smack you up.
1 [C]
a) a hit with your open hand, especially to punish a child; slap
•You're going to get a smack in a minute!
b) BrE informal a hard hit with your closed hand; = punch
smack in the mouth/face/gob
•Talk like that and I'll give you a smack in the mouth.
2 [C usually singular] a short loud noise caused when something hits something else:
•The book landed with a smack.
3 [U] informal HEROIN
4 give sb a smack on the lips/cheek informal to kiss someone loudly
5 [C] a small fishing boatinformal
1 exactly or directly in the middle of something, in front of something etc
smack in the middle/in front of sth etc
•There was a hole smack in the middle of the floor.
smack bang BrE
/smack dab AmE
•It's smack dab in the middle of an earthquake zone.
2 if something goes smack into something, it hits it with a lot of force:
•The car ran smack into the side of the bus. $ [C] informal
1 a pound or a dollar
2 also smackeroo a loud kiss $ comparative smaller, superlative smallest
1 SIZE not large in size or amount:
•a small piece of paper
•a small car
•a small town
•a small dark woman
•The T-shirt was too small for him.
•The sweater comes in three sizes - small, medium and large.
•Only a relatively small number of people were affected.
•a small amount of money
•A much smaller proportion of women are employed in senior positions.
2 NOT IMPORTANT a small problem, job, mistake etc is not important or does not have a large effect; = minor
•We may have to make a few small changes.
•There's been a small problem.
•There's only a small difference between them.
•It was good to feel we had helped in some small way.
3 no small degree/achievement/task etc a large degree, achievement etc:
•The success of the project is due in no small measure to the work of Dr Peterson.
•That is no small achievement in the circumstances.
4 YOUNG a small child is young:
•She has three small children.
•I've known him since he was a small boy.
5 small business/firm/farmer etc a business that does not involve large amounts of money or does not employ a large number of people:
•grants for small businesses
6 LETTER small letters are letters in the form a, b, c etc rather than A, B, C etc; = lower case; capital
7 conservative with a small 'c'/democrat with a small 'd' etc informal someone who believes in the principles you have mentioned, but does not belong to an organized group or political party
8 VOICE a small voice is quiet and soft:
•'What about me?' she asked in a small voice.
9 look/feel small to seem or feel stupid, unimportant, or ashamed:
•She jumped at any opportunity to make me look small.
10 (it's a) small world especially spoken used to express surprise when you unexpectedly meet someone you know or find out that someone has an unexpected connection to you:
•Did you know David went to school with my brother? It's a small world, isn't it?
11 a small fortune a large amount of money
cost/spend/pay a small fortune
•It must have cost him a small fortune.
12 small change coins of low value:
•I didn't have any small change for the parking meter.
13 be thankful/grateful for small mercies/favours to be pleased that a bad situation is not even worse:
•She wasn't too badly hurt, so we should be thankful for small mercies.
14 the small hours also the wee small hours BrE the early morning hours, between about one and four o'clock
in/into the small hours
•He finally fell exhausted into bed in the small hours.
•The party continued into the wee small hours.
15 small arms guns that you hold with one or both hands when firing them
16 sth is small potatoes also sth is small beer BrE informal used to say that someone or something is not important, especially when compared to other people or things:
•Even with £10,000 to invest, you are still small beer for most investment managers.
- small adverb
•He writes so small I can't read it.
- smallness noun [U]

WORD CHOICE: small, little
Small is a very general word for talking about the size of something: a small village | a small man | He had small brown eyes. | The envelope was too small. | Do you have this shirt in a smaller size?
Little is used, especially in spoken English, to show how you feel about someone or something small, for example to show that you like them, dislike them, or feel sorry for them: What lovely little cakes! | her horrid little dog

!! You can say 'smaller' or 'smallest', but do not say 'littler' or 'littlest' Her feet are even smaller (NOT littler/more little) than mine.

!! You can use words like 'quite', 'very' and 'too' in front of small, but do not use them with little: a very small car (NOT very little car)

1 the small of your back the lower part of your back where it curves
2 smalls [plural] BrE old-fashioned informal underwear[C] BrE
an advertisement put in a newspaper by someone who wants to buy or sell something; = want ad AmE[C]
a court where people can make legal claims involving small amounts of money[U]
people or things that are not important when compared to other people or things:
•There's no point in arresting the small fry. $ [C] BrE
someone who has a smallholding $ [C]
BrE a piece of land used for farming, that is smaller than an ordinary farm[C]
the long tube that food goes through after it has gone through your stomach; large intestine $ especially BrE
fairly small:
•She's smallish with red hair.
thinking too much about your own life and problems and not about important things - use this to show disapproval; narrow-minded
•People around here are so small-minded.
- small-mindedness noun [U][C]
SOHO a room in someone's home with electronic equipment such as a computer and a FAX machine that is used as a place in which to work $ [U]
a serious disease that causes spots which leave marks on your skin[U] especially BrE
all the rules and details relating to a contract or agreement; = fine print AmE
read/check the small print
•Always read the small print before you sign anything.
involving only a small number of things or a small area; large-scale
•a small-scale study
the small screen television - used especially when comparing television to the cinema; big screen
•a film made for the small screen[U]
polite friendly conversation about unimportant subjects:
•We stood around making small talk.
small-time crook/gangster etc a criminal who is not involved in large or serious crimes
- small-timer noun [C][only before noun]
1 from, or relating to, a small town:
•a small-town newspaper
2 AmE also smallville relating to ideas, qualities etc that people in small towns are supposed to have, which sometimes includes a lack of interest in anything new or different:
•small-town attitudes $
polite in an insincere way - used to show disapproval:
•smarmy comments
•a smarmy car salesman $ comparative smarter, superlative smartest
1 INTELLIGENT especially AmE intelligent or sensible; = clever; stupid
•The smart kids get good grades and go off to college.
•I was smart enough to wait for a week.
•His decision to become a director was a smart move (=sensible thing to do).
2 DISRESPECTFUL trying to seem clever in a disrespectful way:
•Don't get smart with me, young man.
•He made some smart remark.
3 NEAT BrE
a) a smart person is wearing neat attractive clothes and has a generally tidy appearance; = sharp AmE; scruffy
•You're looking very smart.
b) smart clothes, buildings etc are clean, tidy, and attractive; = sharp AmE
•a smart black suit
•smart new offices
4 FASHIONABLE BrE fashionable or used by fashionable people:
•one of Bonn's smartest restaurants
5 TECHNOLOGY smart machines, weapons, materials etc are controlled by computers and are designed to react in a suitable way depending on the situation; smart bomb
•smart weapons
6 the smart money is on sb/sth used to say that a particular person or thing is likely to do something or be successful
7 QUICK BrE a smart movement is done quickly, especially with force:
•a smart blow on the head
•She set off at a smart pace (=fairly fast).
- smartly adverb
•a smartly dressed young man
•He turned smartly and walked away.
- smartness noun [U][I]
1 to be upset because someone has hurt your feelings or offended you
[+from]
•She was still smarting from the insult.
2 if a part of your body smarts, it hurts with a stinging pain:
•My eyes were smarting with the smoke.

PHRASAL VERBS
smart off phr v AmE informal
to make funny rude remarkssmart aleck [C]
informal someone who always says clever things or always has the right answer, in a way that is annoyingalso smart ass AmE [C] BrE informal not polite
a smart alec
- smart-arse also smart-ass adjective
•smart-arse remarks[C]
a bomb that is fired from an aircraft and uses a computer to hit a particular place[C]
a small plastic card with an electronic part that records and remembers information $

PHRASAL VERBS
smarten sth <=> up phr v especially BrE
1 smarten yourself up to make yourself look neat and tidy:
•You'd better smarten yourself up.
2 to make something look neater:
•We need to smarten the place up a bit.
3 smarten up your act/ideas to improve the way you behave or do something:
•The company needs to smarten up their act if they are to keep customers. $ [U] AmE informal
intelligence:
•If she had any smarts, she'd get rid of the guy. $ [C] informal
someone who always says clever things or always has the right answer, in a slightly annoying way; = clever clogs BrE
1 [I,T] to break into pieces violently or noisily, or to make something do this by dropping, throwing, or hitting it:
•Vandals had smashed all the windows.
•Firemen had to smash the lock to get in.
•Several cups fell to the floor and smashed to pieces.
2 [I,T always + adv/prep] to hit an object or surface violently, or to make something do this:
•A stolen car smashed into the bus.
•He smashed his fist down on the table.
3 smash a record to do something much faster, better etc than anyone has done before:
•The film smashed all box office records.
4 [T] to destroy something such as a political system or criminal organization:
•Police say they have smashed a major crime ring.
5 [T] to hit a high ball with a strong downward action, in tennis or similar games

PHRASAL VERBS
smash sth <=> down phr v
to hit a door, wall etc violently so that it falls to the ground

smash sth <=> in phr v
to hit something so violently that you break it and make a hole in it:
•The door had been smashed in.
smash sb's face/head in (=hit someone hard in the face or head)
•I'll smash his head in if he comes here again!

smash sth <=> up phr v
to deliberately destroy something by hitting it:
•Hooligans started smashing the place up.
1 [C] BrE a serious road or railway accident - used especially in newspapers; = crash
•Young boy hurt in car smash.
2 [C] also smash hit a new film, song etc which is very successful:
•a box-office smash (=a film which many people go to see at the cinema)
3 [C] a hard downward shot in tennis or similar games
4 [singular] the loud sound of something breaking
[+of]
•He heard the smash of glass.BrE
smash-and-grab raid/attack etc a crime in which someone robs a shop by breaking the window and stealing things quickly
- smash and grab noun [C] [not before noun]
informal very drunk or affected by a drug; stoned
•It's just an excuse to go out and get smashed. $ [C]
BrE old-fashioned someone who you think is very attractive, or something that is very good[C]
a very successful new play, book, film etc:
•They had a smash hit with their first single. BrE old-fashioned
very good; = brilliant
•We had a smashing holiday. [singular]
1 a small number or amount of something
[+of]
•a smattering of applause
2 have a smattering of sth to have a small amount of knowledge about a subject, especially a foreign language $ [C]
1 a dirty mark made by a small amount of something spread across a surface
[+of]
•a smear of paint
•It left a black smear on his arm.
2 BrE a SMEAR TEST
3 an untrue story about a politician or other important person that is told in order to make people lose respect for them - used especially in newspapers
- smeary adjective
•a smeary glass
1 SPREAD [T always + adv/prep] to spread a liquid or soft substance over a surface, especially in a careless or untidy way
smear sth with sth
•His face was smeared with mud.
smear sth on/over etc sth
•Elaine smeared sun tan lotion on her shoulders.
2 TELL LIES [T] to tell an untrue story about someone important in order to make people lose respect for them - used especially in newspapers:
•an attempt to smear the party leadership
3 DIRTY [T] to put dirty or oily marks on something:
•smeared windows
4 INK/PAINT [I,T] if writing, a picture, or paint smears or is smeared, the ink or paint is accidentally touched and spread across the surface; = smudge
•Several words were smeared.[C]
a deliberate plan to tell untrue stories about an important person in order to make people lose respect for them - used especially in newspapers[C] BrE
a medical test in which some cells are removed from the entrance to a woman's WOMB (=the place where a baby grows) and examined under a microscope
1 [C] the quality that people and animals recognize by using their nose
[+of]
•The air was filled with the smell of flowers.
sweet/delicious smell
•There's a delicious smell coming from the kitchen.
unpleasant/bad/acrid smell
•the acrid smell of smoke
strong/pungent smell
•a pungent smell of garlic
2 [C] an unpleasant smell:
•I think the smell's getting worse.
3 [U] the ability to notice or recognize smells:
•loss of taste and smell
•Dogs have a very good sense of smell.
4 [C usually singular] an act of smelling something:
• Have a smell of this cheese; does it seem all right?

WORD FOCUS: smell
good smell:
aroma
perfume
fragrance
scent
bad smell:
stink
stench
odour BrE /odor AmE
whiff
pong BrE
past tense and past participle smelled especially AmE or, smelt BrE
1 NOTICE A SMELL [T not in progressive] to notice or recognize a particular smell:
•I can smell burning.
•Can you smell something?
2 HAVE A SMELL [linking verb] to have a particular smell
[+adj]
•The stew smelled delicious.
•Mm! Something smells good!
[+like]
•It smells like rotten eggs.
[+of] BrE
•My clothes smelt of smoke.
sweet-smelling/foul-smelling etc
•sweet-smelling flowers
3 HAVE A BAD SMELL [I not in progressive] to have an unpleasant smell:
•Your feet smell!
•The room smelled to high heaven (=had a very bad smell).
4 PUT YOUR NOSE NEAR STH [T] to put your nose near something in order to discover what kind of smell it has; = sniff
•She bent down and smelt the flowers.
5 HAVE ABILITY [I] to have the ability to notice and recognize smells:
•I've got a cold and I can't smell.
6 smell trouble/danger etc to feel that something is going to happen, especially something bad:
•Miller had smelled trouble the moment she said who she was.
7 smell a rat informal to guess that something wrong or dishonest is happening
8 smell wrong/fishy/odd etc informal to seem dishonest or untrue:
•The whole thing is beginning to smell fishy to me.

PHRASAL VERBS
smell sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to find something by smelling; = sniff out
•They use dogs trained to smell out explosives.
2 informal to find or recognize something because you have a natural ability to do this; = sniff out
•They'll be able to smell out any corruption.

GRAMMAR
You can say that something smells good, bad, strange etc.

!! Use an adjective, never an adverb You smell wonderful (NOT wonderfully) - what perfume is that?
In British English, you can use smell with of to say what something smells like: Her jacket smelled of smoke (NOT smelled smoke).
If you say that something or someone smells, you mean they have a bad smell: Your socks smell.
If you can smell something or you smell something, you notice its smell: I can smell coffee. | We smelled smoke.

!! You do not say 'feel a smell'.

come up/out smelling of roses at ROSE^1 (6)[plural]
a strong-smelling chemical that you hold under someone's nose to make them conscious again when they have FAINTed comparative smellier, superlative smelliest
having a strong unpleasant smell; = stinky
•smelly feet
- smelliness noun [U] BrE
a past tense and past participle of SMELL[T]
to melt a rock that contains metal in order to remove the metalsmidgen also smidge [singular]
informal a very small amount of something; = touch
[+of]
•I added just a smidgin of chilli sauce.
1 [I] to make your mouth curve upwards, in order to be friendly or because you are happy or amused
[+at]
•Susan smiled at him and waved.
•She had to smile at his enthusiasm (=she was amused by it).
•He was smiling broadly now.
•her smiling face
[+about]
•I haven't had much to smile about lately.
smile to yourself
•Mark read the message and smiled to himself (=smiled or felt pleased).
!! You smile at someone. Do not say 'smile to someone'.
2 [T] to say or express something with a smile:
•'It's good to have you back,' she smiled.
3 fortune/the gods etc smile on sb especially literary if FORTUNE, the gods etc smile on you, you have good luck[C]
an expression in which your mouth curves upwards, when you are being friendly or are happy or amused
with a smile
•'Oh, I'm fine,' Anna replied with a smile.
a broad/big smile
•A broad smile spread over Lucy's face.
a little/faint smile
•He managed a faint smile.
•He looked across at Jos with a wry smile (=one which shows both amusement and sadness).
•'Oh, I understand,' he said with a knowing smile (=one which shows you know something that is secret).
a smile on your face/lips
•Now he had a great big smile on his face.
•She gave them a little smile.
•After that, my mother was all smiles (=was very happy or friendly).
wipe the smile/grin off sb's face at WIPE^1 (7) [C]
a sign that looks like a face when you look at it sideways, for example :-), used in email messages to show that you are happy or pleased about something
done or said with a smile:
•'Of course,' she replied smilingly. $ [I]
to smile in an unpleasant way that shows that you are pleased by someone else's bad luck or think you are better than other people:
•The boys tried not to smirk.
[+at]
•What are you smirking at?
- smirk noun [C]
•He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. past tense smote $ , past participle smitten [T]
1 old use to hit something with a lot of force
2 biblical to destroy, attack, or punish someone [in nouns]
a maker of something:
•a gunsmith (=someone who makes guns)
•a wordsmith (=someone who works with words, for example a journalist) [C]
someone who makes and repairs things made of iron; = blacksmith
smash/blow etc sth to smithereens informal to destroy something by breaking it into very small pieces, or with an explosion:
•The shop was blown to smithereens by the explosion. $ plural smithies [C]
a place where iron objects such as HORSESHOEs were made and repaired in the past [not before noun]
1 suddenly feeling that you love someone very much:
•As soon as he saw her, he was smitten.
[+by/with]
•She was totally smitten with Steve.
2 smitten with/by sth suddenly affected by an illness or a feeling:
•Dan was smitten with remorse.
•The whole family were smitten with flu.
the past participle of SMITE $ [C]
1 a long, loose shirt or a loose dress
2 a loose piece of clothing worn by artists or other workers to protect their other clothing $ [U]
a type of decoration made on cloth by pulling the cloth into small regular folds held tightly with stitches $ [C,U]
dirty air that looks like a mixture of smoke and FOG, caused by smoke from cars and factories in cities
- smoggy adjective $
1 [U] white, grey or black gas that is produced by something burning:
• clouds of black smoke
•cigarette smoke
•Smoke from burning fields drifted across nearby roads.
•the pall of smoke (=thick cloud of smoke) that hung over the city
wisp/puff of smoke (=a small amount of smoke)
•Rangers watched from their fire towers for any wisps of smoke.
2 [C usually singular] an act of smoking a cigarette etc:
•He went outside for a quiet smoke.
3 (go) up in smoke
a) if something goes up in smoke, it burns so that it is completely destroyed:
•The whole factory went up in smoke.
b) informal if a plan or some work goes up in smoke, it fails or you cannot continue with it:
•We haven't worked this long just to see everything go up in smoke.
4 [C] spoken a cigarette or drugs that are smoked:
•Where are the smokes, Jeff?
5 there's no smoke without fire also where there's smoke there's fire spoken used to say that if something bad is being said about someone, it is probably partly true
6 the Smoke BrE old-fashioned informal London or any large town or city
1 [I,T] to suck or breathe in smoke from a cigarette, pipe etc or to do this regularly as a habit:
•I don't smoke and I don't drink much.
•Do you mind if I smoke?
•He sat on the grass smoking a cigarette.
•He admitted that he had smoked marijuana when he was a student.
2 [I] if something smokes, it has smoke coming from it:
•a smoking chimney
3 [T] to give fish or meat a special taste by hanging it in smoke

PHRASAL VERBS
smoke sb/sth <=> out phr v
1 to fill a place with smoke in order to force someone or something to come out:
•He smoked the bees out of their nest.
2 to discover who is causing a particular problem and force them to make themselves known:
•an operation to smoke out double agentsalso smoke detector [C]
a piece of electronic equipment which warns you when there is smoke or fire in a building:
•The smoke alarm went off.[C]
something that lets out clouds of smoke when it is thrown, used especially by police to control crowds $
smoked salmon/bacon/sausage etc fish, meat etc that has been left in smoke to give it a special taste[C]
a SMOKE ALARM[U]
glass that is a dark grey colour[C]
used to talk about a place where plans or decisions are made secretly by a small group of powerful people rather than in an open way - used especially in newspapers
smoke-free environment/zone etc a place where people are not allowed to smoke; = non-smoking
•new laws to create a smoke-free environment at work $
1 smokeless coal/fuel FUEL that burns without producing smoke
2 smokeless tobacco tobacco that you chew rather than smoking $ [C]
someone who smokes cigarettes, CIGARs etc; non-smoker
•My Grandad was a heavy smoker (=someone who smokes a lot).
•He had a smoker's cough (=a cough caused by smoking cigarettes regularly). $ [C]
1 something that you do or say to hide your real plans or actions:
•a government that rules behind a smokescreen of democracy
2 a cloud of smoke produced so that it hides soldiers, ships etc during a battle[C]
a message sent out to people who are far away, using the smoke from a fire, used especially by Native Americans in past times $ [C]
a tall CHIMNEY at a factory or on a ship[C usually plural]
a big traditional industry such as car making $ [U]
the activity of breathing in tobacco smoke from a cigarette, pipe etc
stop/quit/give up smoking
•I gave up smoking nearly ten years ago.
•The sign says 'No Smoking'.
•a no smoking area
•the risks of passive smoking (=breathing in smoke from other people's cigarettes)[C]
something that shows who is responsible for something bad or how something really happened[C]
a formal jacket that men wore after dinner in the pastalso smoking lounge AmE [C]
a room where smoking is allowed in a public building $
1 filled with smoke:
•a smoky room
2 producing too much smoke:
•a smoky engine
3 having the taste, smell, or appearance of smoke:
•smoky green eyes
•a smoky flavour
- smokiness noun [U] $
the American spelling of SMOULDER [I + with]
informal if two people smooch, they kiss and hold each other in a romantic way, especially while dancing BrE informal
a smoochy song is slow and romantic comparative smoother, superlative smoothest
1 SURFACE a smooth surface has no rough parts, lumps, or holes, especially in a way that is pleasant and attractive to touch; rough
•Her skin felt smooth and cool.
•a smooth pebble
•The stone steps had been worn smooth.
2 HAPPENING WITHOUT PROBLEMS happening or operating successfully, without any problems
smooth running/operation
•Sarah is responsible for the smooth running of the sales department.
•The new government has promised a smooth transition of power.
go smoothly at SMOOTHLY (2)
3 MOVEMENT [only before noun] with no sudden movements or changes of direction, especially in a way that is graceful or comfortable:
•Swing the tennis racquet in one smooth motion.
•The jet made a smooth landing.
smooth flight/ride (=a comfortable trip in an airplane or car)
•It wasn't a very smooth ride.
4 PERSON someone who is smooth is polite, confident, and relaxed, but is often not sincere:
•a smooth salesmen
•He was a smooth talker.
•George is a smooth operator (=someone who does things in a smooth way).
5 LIQUID MIXTURE a liquid mixture that is smooth has no big pieces in it; lumpy
•Beat the eggs and flour until they are smooth.
6 SOUND a voice or music that is smooth is soft and pleasant to listen to:
•smooth jazz
•He has one of those silky smooth (=very smooth) voices.
7 TASTE a drink such as wine, coffee, WHISKY, or beer that is smooth is not bitter but tastes pleasant:
•a smooth full-bodied wine
- smoothness noun [U]
•the smoothness of his skin
SMOOTH-TALKING[T]
1 to make something such as cloth or hair flat by moving your hands across it:
•Liz smoothed her skirt and sat down.
smooth sth back/down
•She smoothed back her hair.
2 also smooth down to make a rough surface flat and even:
•The wood was smoothed and trimmed to size.
•Smooth down all the surfaces before you start painting.
3 [always + adv/prep] to rub a liquid, cream etc gently over a surface or into a surface
smooth sth into/over sth
•She smoothed suntan lotion over her legs.
4 smooth the way/path for sth to make it easier for something to happen, by dealing with any problems first:
•Staff helped smooth the way for the new administration.

PHRASAL VERBS
smooth sth <=> away phr v
to get rid of problems or difficulties:
•A few objections have to be smoothed away before we can start the project.

smooth sth <=> out phr v
1 to make something such as paper or cloth flat by moving your hands across it:
•They smoothed out the map on the table.
•Smooth out all the wrinkles.
2 to make something happen in an even, regular way:
•Sometimes central banks intervene to smooth out price fluctuations.
3 to get rid of problems or difficulties

smooth sth <=> over phr v
if you smooth over problems, difficulties etc, you make them seem less serious and easier to control, especially by talking to the people who are involved in the problem:
•Sally managed to smooth over the bad feelings between them. [C]
1 informal someone who is confident and attractive, but is often not sincere:
•Kyle's a real smoothie.
2 a thick drink made of fruit and fruit juices mixed together, sometimes with ice, milk, or YOGHURT:
•a strawberry-banana smoothie
1 in a steady way, without stopping and starting again:
•Traffic flowed smoothly.
2 if a planned event, piece of work etc goes smoothly, there are no problems to spoil it:
•It'll take about three hours if everything goes smoothly.
•Donna keeps the office running smoothly.
3 if you say something smoothly, you say it in a calm and confident way:
•'All taken care of,' he said smoothly.
4 in a way that produces a smooth surface:
•The jacket fit smoothly over her hips.
a smooth-talking person is good at persuading people and saying nice things, but you do not trust them:
•a smooth-talking salesman $ [C,U]
1 a smorgasbord of sth a large variety of different things:
•a smorgasbord of art from around the world
2 a meal in which people serve themselves from a large number of different dishes; = buffet $
the past tense of SMITE $ [T]
1 to completely cover the whole surface of something with something else, often in a way that seems unnecessary or unpleasant
smother sth with/in sth
•noodles smothered in garlic sauce
2 to kill someone by putting something over their face to stop them breathing; suffocate
•A teenage mother was accused of smothering her 3-month-old daughter.
3 to stop yourself from showing your feelings or from doing an action; = stifle
•The girls tried to smother their giggles.
4 to give someone so much love and attention that they feel as if they are not free and become unhappy:
•I don't want him to feel smothered.
5 smother sb with kisses to kiss someone a lot
6 to make a fire stop burning by preventing air from reaching it:
•We used a wet towel to smother the fire.
7 to get rid of anyone who opposes you - used to show disapproval:
•They ruthlessly smother all opposition.smolder AmE $ [I] BrE
1 if something such as wood smoulders, it burns slowly without a flame
2 literary if someone smoulders or if their feelings smoulder, they have strong feelings that they do not fully express:
•He sensed a smouldering hostility towards him.
[+with]
•She had spent the evening smouldering with resentment. [U]
short messaging system or short message service a feature on a MOBILE PHONE that allows a user to send or receive written messages [C]
a dirty mark; = smear
[+of]
•a smudge of lipstick on the cup
- smudgy adjective
1 [I,T] if ink, writing etc smudges, or if you smudge it, it becomes dirty and unclear because it has been touched or rubbed:
•Don't touch it! You'll smudge the ink.
2 [T] to make a dirty mark on a surface:
•Someone had smudged the paper with their greasy hands.
showing too much satisfaction with your own cleverness or success - used to show disapproval
[+about]
•What are you looking so smug about?
smug expression/look/face/smile etc
•'I knew I'd win,' she said with a smug smile.
- smugly adverb
- smugness noun [U] [T]
1 to take something or someone illegally from one country to another
smuggle sth across sth
•The guns were smuggled across the border.
smuggle sth into/out of/from sth
•Illegal immigrants are smuggled into the country by boat.
2 informal to take something or someone secretly to a place where they are not allowed to be
smuggle sth into sth
•He smuggled his notes into the exam. $ [C]
someone who takes something illegally from one country to another:
•a drug smuggler [U]
the crime of taking something illegally from one country to another:
•He was arrested in connection with drug smuggling.
1 [U] books, stories, talk etc that offend some people because they are about sex:
•I won't have smut like that in my house!
2 [C,U] dirt or SOOT (=black powder produced by burning), or a piece of dirt or soot
1 books, stories etc that are smutty offend some people because they are about sex; = dirty
•smutty jokes
2 marked with small pieces of dirt or SOOT [C]
a small amount of food that is eaten between main meals or instead of a meal:
•I grabbed a quick snack.
•Drinks and light snacks are served at the bar.
• snack foods like crisps and peanuts [I]
to eat small amounts of food between main meals or instead of a meal:
•I'm trying not to snack between meals.[C]
a place where you can buy snacks or small meals [T]
BrE informal to take something quickly, especially before anyone else has had the time or the chance to do this; = grab
•I managed to snaffle a couple of biscuits. [C]
AmE informal a situation in which a plan does not happen in the way it should:
•There were no major snafus. [C]
1 a problem or disadvantage, especially one that is not very serious, which you had not expected:
•It's an interesting job. The only snag is that it's not very well paid.
hit/run into a snag
•The grand opening hit a snag when no one could find the key.
2 a part of a dead tree that sticks out, especially one that is under water and can be dangerous
3 a sharp part of something that sticks out and holds or cuts things that touch itpast tense and past participle snagged, present participle snagging [T]
1 to damage something by getting it stuck on something sharp:
•Oh no! I've snagged my stockings.
2 AmE informal to succeed in getting something, especially something difficult to get:
•I snagged a parking space in the last row. [C]
1 a small soft creature that moves very slowly and has a hard shell on its back
2 at a snail's pace extremely slowly:
•Traffic was moving at a snail's pace.[U]
the system of sending letters by post, as opposed to using email - used humorously [C]
1 an animal with a long thin body and no legs, that often has a poisonous bite:
•A snake slithered across our path.
a poisonous/venomous snake
2 also snake in the grass informal someone who cannot be trusted[I always + adv/prep]
if a river, road, train, or line snakes somewhere, it moves in long, twisting curves
[+along/past/down etc]
•The road snaked along the valley far below.
•The train was snaking its way through the mountains.
[C,U] the bite of a poisonous snake[C]
someone who controls snakes by playing music to them, in order to entertain people[plural] informal
a situation in a game in which a pair of DICE both show one spot[U] especially AmE informal
1 something that is claimed to be a solution to a problem, but is not effective
2 snake oil salesman/peddler someone who deceives people by persuading them to accept false information, solutions that are not effective etc[U]
BrE a children's game played on a board in which you can move forwards and upwards along pictures of LADDERs or go downwards and backwards along pictures of snakes; = chutes and ladders AmE [U]
the skin of a snake used to make shoes, bags etc:
•snakeskin shoes past tense and past participle snapped, present participle snapping
1 BREAK [I,T] to break with a sudden sharp noise, or to make something break with a sudden sharp noise:
•A twig snapped under my feet.
•The wind snapped branches and power lines.
snap (sth) off (sth)
•I snapped the ends off the beans and dropped them into a bowl.
snap (sth) in two/in half (=break into two pieces)
•The teacher snapped the chalk in two and gave me a piece.
2 MOVE INTO POSITION [I,T always + adv/prep] to move into a particular position suddenly, making a short sharp noise, or to make something move like this
[+together/back etc]
•The pieces just snap together like this.
•The policeman snapped the handcuffs around her wrist.
snap (sth) open/shut
•She snapped her briefcase shut.
3 SAY STH ANGRILY [I,T] to say something quickly in an angry way:
•'What do you want?' Mike snapped.
[+at]
•He snapped at Walter for no reason.
4 BECOME ANGRY/ANXIOUS ETC [I] to suddenly stop being able to control your anger, anxiety, or other feelings in a difficult situation:
•The stress began to get to her, and one morning she just snapped.
• Something inside him snapped and he hit her.
5 ANIMAL [I] if an animal such as a dog snaps, it tries to bite you
[+at]
•The dog started snapping at my heels.
6 PHOTOGRAPH [I,T] informal to take a photograph:
•Dave snapped a picture of me and Sonia.
7 snap your fingers to make a short, sharp noise by moving one of your fingers quickly against your thumb, for example in order to get someone's attention or to mark the beat of music
8 snap to it spoken used to tell someone to hurry and do something immediately:
•Come on, snap to it, get that room cleaned up!
9 STOP [T] AmE to end a series of events - used especially in newspapers:
•The Rockets snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating Portland.
10 snap to attention if soldiers snap to attention, they suddenly stand very straight

PHRASAL VERBS
snap on/off phr v
to switch something on or off, or to switch on or off
snap sth <=> on/off
•Kathy snapped off the light.
•A light snapped on in one of the huts.

snap out of sth phr v
to stop being sad or upset and make yourself feel better:
•Chantal's been depressed for days. I wish she'd snap out of it.

snap sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to buy something immediately, especially because it is very cheap:
•People were snapping up bargains.
2 to eagerly take an opportunity to have someone as part of your company, team etc:
•Owen was snapped up by Liverpool before he'd even left school.
SNAP-ON
1 SOUND [singular] a sudden loud sound, especially made by something breaking or closing:
•He shut the book with a snap.
2 PHOTOGRAPH [C] informal especially BrE a photograph taken quickly and often not very skilfully; = snapshot
•holiday snaps
3 be a snap AmE informal to be very easy to do:
•The test was a snap.
4 CLOTHING [C] AmE a small metal fastener on clothes that works when you press its two parts together:
•baby clothing with snaps
5 a snap of sb's fingers a sudden sound made by quickly moving one of your fingers against your thumb:
•At a snap of his owner's fingers, the dog came running.
6 GAME [U] a card game in which players put down one card after another and try to be the first to shout 'snap' when there are two cards that are the same
COLD SNAP
1 snap judgment/decision a judgment or decision made quickly, without careful thought or discussion
2 snap election BrE an election that is announced suddenly and unexpectedly
1 BrE used when you see two things that are exactly the same:
•Hey, snap! My hat's the same as yours.
2 said in the game of snap when two cards that are the same are put down [C]
a garden plant with white, red, or yellow flowers[only before noun]
a snap-on part of something can be fastened on and removed easily $ [C]
a type of fish that lives in warm seas, often used as food
1 a snappy title or phrase is short, clear, and often funny:
•We need a snappy title for the book.
•Keep your answer short and snappy.
2 especially BrE quick to react in an angry way; = irritable
•She seemed snappy and impatient.
[+with]
•There's no need to be so snappy with the children.
3 make it snappy also look snappy BrE informal used to tell someone to hurry:
•Get me a drink and make it snappy.
4 BrE informal snappy clothes, objects etc are attractive and fashionable:
•a snappy suit
snappy dresser (=someone who wears fashionable clothes)
- snappily adverb $ [C]
1 a photograph taken quickly and often not very skilfully; = snap
[+of]
•a snapshot of his girlfriend
2 a piece of information that quickly gives you an idea of what the situation is like at a particular time
[+of]
•The book gives us a snapshot of life in the Middle Ages. $ [C]
1 a trap for catching an animal, especially one that uses a wire or rope to catch the animal by its foot:
•A rabbit was caught in the snare.
2 literary something that is intended to trick someone and get them into a difficult situation; = trap
•I didn't want to fall into the same snare again.[T]
1 to catch an animal by using a snare
2 to get something or someone you want in a clever way, often by deceiving other people:
•She's hoping to snare a wealthy husband.[C]
a small flat drum that makes a hard continuous sound when you hit italso snarf down $ [T] AmE informal
to eat something quickly, especially in an untidy or noisy way:
•workers snarfing lunch at their desks $
1 [I] if an animal snarls, it makes a low angry sound and shows its teeth; growl
[+at]
•The dog growled and snarled at me.
2 [I,T] to speak or say something in a nasty, angry way:
•'Shut up,' he snarled.
3 [T usually passive] also snarl up BrE to prevent traffic from moving:
•Traffic snarled up on both sides of the road.
- snarl noun [C]
•an angry snarl[C] BrE
1 a confused situation that prevents work from continuing
2 a situation in which traffic is prevented from moving:
•There was a big snarl-up on the M1. [T]
1 to take something away from someone with a quick, often violent, movement; = grab
•The thief snatched her purse and ran.
snatch sth away/back from sb
•Keith snatches toys away from the other children.
2 to take someone away from a person or place, especially by force:
•Vargas was snatched from his home by two armed men.
3 to quickly get something, especially sleep or rest, because you do not have very much time; = grab
•I managed to snatch an hour's sleep on the train.

PHRASAL VERBS
snatch at sth phr v
to quickly put out your hand to try to take or hold something:
•Jessie snatched at the bag but I pulled it away.[C]
1 a snatch of conversation/music/song etc a short part of a conversation, song etc that you hear:
•I could hear snatches of the conversation from across the room.
2 in snatches for short periods:
•I only slept in snatches during the night.
3 when someone quickly takes or steals something:
•reports of a bag snatch
4 taboo informal a very offensive word for a woman's sex organ. Do not use this word.[C]
a group of police officers or soldiers who go quickly into a crowd, in order to catch people who are causing trouble informal
bright, fashionable, and attractive:
•a snazzy red jacket
- snazzily adverb
- snazziness noun [U] past tense and past participle sneaked or, snuck AmE
1 GO SECRETLY [I always + adv/prep] to go somewhere secretly and quietly in order to avoid being seen or heard; = creep
[+in/out/away etc]
•They sneaked off without paying!
•She snuck out of the house once her parents were asleep.
2 TAKE/GIVE SECRETLY [T] to hide something and take it somewhere or give it to someone secretly:
•I snuck her a note.
sneak sth through/past etc sb/sth
•Douglas had sneaked his camera into the show.
3 sneak a look/glance/peek to look at something quickly and secretly, especially something that you are not supposed to see:
•He sneaked a look at her.
4 STEAL [T] informal to quickly and secretly steal something unimportant or of little value
sneak sth from sb
•We used to sneak cigarettes from Dad.

PHRASAL VERBS
sneak on sb phr v BrE informal old-fashioned
to tell someone such as a parent or teacher about something that another person has done wrong, because you want to cause trouble for that person:
•A little brat named Oliver sneaked on me.

sneak up phr v
to come near someone very quietly, so that they do not see you until you reach them
[+on/behind etc]
•I wish you wouldn't sneak up on me like that![C]
1 BrE informal a child who other children dislike, because they tell adults about bad things that the other children have done wrong:
•You little sneak!
2 AmE informal someone who is not liked because they do things secretly and cannot be trusted[only before noun]
doing things very secretly and quickly, so that people do not notice you or cannot stop you:
•a sneak attack
•a sneak thief $ [C]
especially AmE a type of light soft shoe with a rubber SOLE (=bottom), used for sports:
•a pair of white sneakers
have a sneaking feeling/suspicion/admiration to have a feeling about something or someone, but to not say anything about it because you are not sure or you might be embarrassed:
•I always had a sneaking admiration for him.
•She had a sneaking suspicion that he was lying.[C]
an occasion when you can see a film, play, product etc before it is shown to people in general:
•In this week's show we'll be giving you a sneak preview of Steven Spielberg's latest film.
doing things in a secret and often dishonest or unfair way:
•a sneaky little trick
- sneakily adverb
- sneakiness noun [U] $ [I,T]
to smile or speak in a very unkind way that shows you have no respect for someone or something:
•'Is that your best outfit?' he sneered.
[+at]
•She sneered at Tom's musical tastes.
- sneering adjective
•a sneering tone
- sneeringly adverb[C]
an unkind smile or remark that shows you have no respect for something or someone:
•'You probably wouldn't understand,' he said with a sneer. [I]
1 if you sneeze, air suddenly comes from your nose, making a noise, for example when you have a cold:
•She started coughing and sneezing.
•The dust was making him sneeze.
2 not to be sneezed at BrE nothing to sneeze at AmE spoken used about an offer, especially of money, that is very good, and which you should consider carefully:
•In those days £5 an hour was not to be sneezed at.[C]
the act or sound of sneezing:
•There was a loud sneeze from someone in the back of the audience. $ [I]
AmE to laugh quietly and in a way that is not nice at something which is not supposed to be funny; = snigger BrE
[+at]
•The other students snickered at Steve.
- snicker noun [C]
•a barely hidden snicker informal
if you say something snide, you say something unkind, often in a clever, indirect way
snide remarks/comments
•a snide remark about her clothes
- snidely adverb
1 [I] to breathe air into your nose noisily, for example when you are crying or have a cold:
•Margaret sniffed miserably and nodded.
•Stop sniffing and blow your nose.
2 [I,T] to breathe air in through your nose in order to smell something:
•He opened the milk and sniffed it.
[+at]
•The dog was sniffing at the carpet.
3 [T] to say something in a way that shows you think something is not good enough:
•'Is that all?' she sniffed.
4 [T] to take a harmful drug by breathing it up your nose; snort
•kids who sniff glue

PHRASAL VERBS
sniff at sth phr v
1 sth is not to be sniffed at spoken especially BrE used to say that something is good enough to be accepted or considered seriously:
•An 8% salary increase is not to be sniffed at.
2 to refuse something in a proud way, or behave as if something is not good enough for you:
•He sniffed at my choice of restaurants and suggested his own favorite.

sniff sth <=> out phr v
1 to discover or find something by its smell:
•A customs officer came round with a dog to sniff out drugs.
2 informal to find out or discover something:
•Vic's been trying to sniff out where you went last night.[C]
1 when you breathe in air noisily through your nose, for example in order to smell something, because you have a cold, or in order to show your disapproval:
•a sniff of disapproval
•She gave a loud sniff.
2 BrE informal a small amount or sign of something; = hint
[+of]
•He got us into this mess, and then left at the first sniff of trouble!
3 have a sniff around/round BrE informal to examine a place carefully
4 not get a sniff of sth BrE informal to not have any chance of getting something or being successful:
•He never even got a sniff of the target.[C] BrE
a dog that has been trained to find drugs or explosives by using its sense of smell [I] spoken
to keep sniffing in order to stop liquid from running out of your nose, especially when you are crying or you have a cold:
•For goodness' sake, stop sniffling!
have the sniffles spoken if you have the sniffles, you keep sniffing, especially because you have a cold BrE informal
having a disapproving attitude towards something or someone, especially because you think they are not good enough for you
[+about]
•Well, don't get sniffy about it! $ [C]
1 AmE a special large glass for drinking BRANDY
2 BrE old-fashioned a small amount of an alcoholic drink $ [I]
BrE to laugh quietly in a way that is not nice at something which is not supposed to be funny; = snicker AmE
[+at]
•What are you sniggering at? This is a serious poem.
- snigger noun [C] past tense and past participle snipped, present participle snipping [I,T]
to cut something by making quick cuts with scissors:
•I snipped the string and untied the parcel.
snip sth off (=remove it by snipping)
•Snip the ends of the beans off before you cook them.[C]
1 a quick small cut with scissors
2 be a snip BrE informal to be surprisingly cheap:
•At £20 for a dozen, they're a snip. [I]
1 to shoot from a hidden position at people who are not protected
[+at]
•soldiers sniping at civilians
2 to criticize someone in a nasty way
[+at]
•His former associates have been sniping at him in the press.
- sniping noun [U][C]
a bird with a very long thin beak that lives in wet areas $ [C]
someone who shoots at people from a hidden position [C]
a small piece of news, information, or conversation
[+of]
•snippets of information AmE informal
quick to show that you are angry or offended, or that you will not obey someone
be in a snit AmE informal to be very annoyed about something, especially in a way that other people think is unreasonable:
•She's been in a snit ever since the party. informal
1 [I] to tell someone in authority about something that another person has done wrong, because you want to cause trouble for that person
[+on]
•Somebody snitched on me.
2 [T] to quickly steal something unimportant or of little value; = nick[C]
informal someone who is not liked because they tell people in authority when other people do things that are wrong or against the rules; = sneak
•He didn't want to be a snitch, and besides, Kevin was his friend. past tense and past participle snivelled, present participle snivelling BrE past tense and past participle sniveled, present participle sniveling AmE
[I usually progressive] to behave or speak in a weak complaining way, especially when you are crying:
•A small boy was sniveling on a chair.
•a snivelling coward $ [C]
1 someone who thinks they are better than people from a lower social class - used to show disapproval:
•Stop being such a snob.
•I don't want to sound like a snob, but I thought she was vulgar.
2 someone who thinks they are better than other people because they know more about something than other people - used to show disapproval:
•a bunch of intellectual snobs
music/wine snob
3 snob value/appeal BrE something that has snob value is liked by people who think they are better than other people:
•That kind of car has real snob appeal. $ [U]
behaviour or attitudes which show that you think you are better than other people, because you belong to a higher social class or know much more than they do - used to show disapproval:
• intellectual snobbery
INVERTED SNOBBERYalso snobby $
behaving in a way that shows you think you are better than other people because you are from a higher social class or know more than they do:
•Her family seems snobbish.
- snobbishly adverb
- snobbishness noun [U] $ past tense and past participle snogged, present participle snogging [I,T]
BrE informal if two people snog, they kiss each other, especially for a long time:
•I saw them snogging in the corner.
- snog noun [C usually singular] $
cock a snook at COCK^2 (5) $ [U]
a game played especially in Britain on a special table covered in green cloth, in which two people use long sticks to hit coloured balls into holes at the sides and corners of the table; billiards
snooker table/room/hall
•They meet up every Friday to play snooker.[T often passive]
BrE informal to make it impossible for someone to do what they want to do:
•If the council refuses our planning application, we're snookered. [I]
to try to find out about someone's private affairs by secretly looking in their house, examining their possessions etc
[+around/about]
•I caught him snooping around in my office.
[+on]
•reporters snooping on celebrities
- snoop noun [singular]
- snooper noun [C] informal
rude and unfriendly, because you think you are better than other people; = snotty
•snooty neighbours
- snootily adverb
- snootiness noun [U] [I]
informal to sleep lightly for a short time; = doze
•Dad was snoozing in his armchair.
- snooze noun [C] $ [I]
to breathe in a noisy way through your mouth and nose while you are asleep:
•He could hear the old man snoring.
- snore noun [C]
•I heard a snore and knew he'd fallen asleep. $ [C]
a tube that allows someone who is swimming to breathe air under water:
•This is the best snorkel at that price.snorkeling AmE $ [U] BrE
when you swim under water using a snorkel:
•We went snorkeling in Hawaii.
- snorkel verb [I] $
1 [I,T] to breathe air in a noisy way out through your nose, especially to show that you are annoyed or amused:
•'Certainly not,' he snorted.
[+with]
•She snorted with laughter.
•The horse snorted and stamped its hoof impatiently.
2 [T] to take drugs by breathing them in through your nose; sniff
•snorting cocaine[C]
1 a loud sound made by breathing out through your nose, especially to show that you are annoyed or amused:
•He gave a loud snort.
•There were snorts of laughter from the audience.
2 a small amount of a drug that is breathed in through the nose:
•a snort of cocaine $ informal
1 [U] an impolite word for the thick MUCUS (=liquid) produced in your nose
2 [singular] someone who is SNOTTY:
•the little snot $ informal
1 someone who is snotty is rude and annoying, especially because they think that they are more important than other people - used to show disapproval; = snooty
•some snotty little clerk
2 wet and dirty with MUCUSsnot-nosed AmE BrE informal
used about an annoying child:
•a snotty-nosed little kid
1 [C] the long nose of some kinds of animals, such as pigs
2 [C] BrE informal a criminal who gives information about other criminals to the police $
1 [U] soft white pieces of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather and cover the ground; sleet
• Snow was falling heavily as we entered the village.
•I could see footprints in the snow.
•The town was buried under three feet of snow.
•roads blocked by deep snow
• snow-covered fields
•Outside the snow was already melting.
•The day was cold with flurries of snow (=when a small amount of snow falls).
•The first few flakes of snow (=small pieces of snow) started to fall.
2 [C] a period of time in which snow falls:
•one of the heaviest snows this winter
3 snows [plural] a large amount of snow that has fallen at different times during the winter:
•the melting of the winter snows
4 [U] small white spots on a television picture, caused by bad weather conditions, weak television signals etc
5 [U] informal COCAINE
1 it snows if it snows, snow falls from the sky:
•It snowed all night.
•It started snowing around five.
2 be snowed in to be unable to travel from a place because so much snow has fallen there:
•We were snowed in for three days last winter.
3 be snowed under
a) informal to have more work than you can deal with
[+with]
•I found myself snowed under with work.
b) if an area is snowed under, a lot of snow has fallen there so that people are not able to travel
4 [T] AmE informal to persuade someone to believe or support something, especially by lying to them
snow sb into doing sth
•Millions of readers were snowed into believing it was a true story. $ [C]
1 a ball of snow that children make and throw at each other:
•We had a massive snowball fight.
2 snowball effect if something has a snowball effect, it starts a series of events or changes that all happen because of each other
3 not have a snowball's chance in hell informal to have no chance at all[I]
if a plan, problem, business etc snowballs, it grows bigger at a faster and faster rate:
•Interest in the sport is snowballing. $ [C] AmE informal
someone, especially an old person, who every year leaves their home in a cold part of the US to go and live in a warm part of the US for the winter[U]
eye pain and difficulty in seeing things, caused by looking at snow in bright light from the sun
- snow blind adjective $ [C]
a machine that clears snow from roads, paths etc by sucking it up and blowing it away $ [C]
a long wide board made of plastic, which people stand on to go down snow-covered hills as a sport $ [U]
the sport of going down snow-covered hills on a snowboard
- snowboarder noun [C]
•a group of skiers and snowboarders $
blocked or prevented from leaving a place by large amounts of snow:
•travelers who are snowbound at the airportliterary
snow-capped mountains are covered in snow at the top[plural]
a set of chains that are fastened around the wheels of a car so that it can drive over snow without slipping[C] AmE
crushed ice with a coloured sweet liquid poured over it, served in a CONE -shaped paper cup[C] AmE
a day when schools and businesses are closed because there is too much snow for people to travel $ [C]
a deep mass of snow formed by the wind $ [C]
a European plant with a small white flower which appears in early spring $ [C,U]
an occasion when snow falls from the sky, or the amount that falls in a particular period of time:
• Heavy snowfalls are forecast.
•an average snowfall of eight inches a year $ [C]
an area of land that is covered in snow $ [C]
a small soft flat piece of frozen water that falls as snow[singular] AmE informal
an act of making someone believe something that is not true
the snow line the level above which snow on a mountain never melts $ plural snowmen [C]
a simple figure of a person made of snow, made especially by children $ [C]
a small vehicle with a motor that moves over snow or ice easily[C] AmE
a type of PEA whose outer part is eaten as well as its seeds; = mangetout BrEsnow plow AmE [C] BrE
1 a vehicle or piece of equipment on the front of a vehicle that is used to push snow off roads, railways etc
2 BrE a position in SKIING in which you have the fronts of your SKIs together and the backs of your skis apart. It is used to slow down and to turn:
•a snow plough turn[C] AmE
an important road in a city that cars must be removed from when it snows, so that the snow can be cleared away from it $ [C]
a special wide flat frame that you attach to your shoe so that you can walk on deep snow without sinking $ [C]
a storm with strong winds and a lot of snow[C] AmE
a special car tyre with a pattern of deep lines, used when driving on snow or ice
pure white $
1 with a lot of snow:
•the snowy fields
•one snowy January day
2 literary pure white, like snow:
•snowy hairBrE
the written abbreviation of senior , used after someone's name:
•James Taylor, Snr past tense and past participle snubbed, present participle snubbing [T]
to treat someone rudely, especially by ignoring them when you meet:
•the boys who had snubbed her in high school[C]
an act of snubbing someone:
•Eisenhower saw the action as a deliberate snub.[C]
a snub nose is short and flat and points slightly upwards
1 having a snub nose
2 snub-nosed pistol/revolver etc a small gun with a very short BARREL (=tube where the bullets come out)
a past tense and past participle of SNEAK
1 also snuff out [T] to stop a CANDLE burning by pressing the burning part with your fingers or by covering it
2 snuff it BrE informal to die
3 [I,T] if an animal snuffs, it breathes air into its nose in a noisy way, especially in order to smell something; = sniff

PHRASAL VERBS
snuff sth/sb<=> out phr v
1 to stop a CANDLE burning by pressing the burning part with your fingers or by covering it
2 to stop or end something in a sudden way:
•a rebellion that will snuff out democracy
3 informal to kill someone:
•a young woman snuffed out by an unknown killer[U]
1 a type of tobacco in powder form, which people breathe in through their noses:
•He took a pinch of snuff.
•a snuff box (=a small box used to keep snuff in)
2 up to snuff AmE informal good enough for a particular purpose:
•A lot of money was spent to bring the building up to snuff. [I]
to breathe noisily through your nose, sometimes because you are crying:
•The little boys snuffled in their sleep.
1 a room, building, or space that is snug is small, warm, and comfortable, and makes you feel protected; = cosy
•She wished she were back in her snug little house.
2 someone who is snug feels comfortable, happy, and warm:
•The kids were warm and snug in their beds.
3 clothes that are snug fit closely:
•snug jeans
- snugly adverb
- snugness noun [U][C]
BrE a small comfortable room in a PUB [I always + adv/prep] informal
to settle into a warm comfortable position
[+up/down/against etc]
•She snuggled up in Clarissa's lap to listen to the story. $
1
a) [+adj/adv] used to emphasize how great a feeling or quality is, or how large an amount is:
•It was so embarrassing!
•Why didn't you call? We were so worried.
•I've never seen so many people here before!
ever so BrE
•They're being ever so quiet.
b) [+adj/adv] used when emphasizing the degree or amount of something by saying what the result is
so ... (that)
•He was so weak that he could hardly stand up.
•There was so much smoke that they couldn't see across the hallway.
•Everything happened so quickly I hadn't time to think.
so ... as to be
•The particles are so small as to be almost invisible.
c) spoken old-fashioned used before or after a verb to emphasize that someone does something a lot or to a great degree:
•I wish you wouldn't fuss so (=as much as you do). It makes me nervous.
•He does so enjoy reading your letters.
d) spoken informal used before a noun phrase to emphasize what you are saying - used especially by young people:
•He is just so not the right person for her.
2 not so big/good/bad etc not very big, good etc:
•I'm afraid the news is not so good.
•Of course I'd like to help, but things aren't so simple.
3 [not used with negative verbs] used to add that what has just been said is also true about someone or something else
so do I/so is he/so would Peter etc
•Joe was a little upset, and so was I.
•He's been ill, and so has his wife.
•As the demand rises, so do prices.
4 used to refer back to an idea, action, quality, situation etc that has just been mentioned
hope so/think so/say so etc
•'Will I need my umbrella?' 'I don't think so.'
•If you want to go home, just say so.
be more so/less so/too much so
•The band is popular and likely to become more so.
•Jerry is very honest, perhaps too much so.
•The troops will not advance until ordered to do so.
•Did Luke sell them? And, if so, what happened to the money?
•'Has he lost a fortune?' ' So they say.'
•'Look - I've even cleaned the windows.' ' So I see.'
•Parents can withdraw their child from school if they so wish.
5 be so to be true or correct:
•'It belongs to my father.' ' Is that so?'
•Morton says his parents kicked him out, but his brothers say this isn't so.
6 ... or so used when you cannot be exact about a number, amount, or period of time and you think it may be a little more than the figure you are mentioning:
•We have to leave in five minutes or so.
•I stopped reading after thirty or so pages.
7 spoken used to get someone's attention, especially in order to ask them a question:
•So, how was school today?
8 spoken used to check that you have understood something:
•So this is just a copy?
9 spoken used when asking a question about what has just been said:
•'He's going to Paris on business.' 'So when is he coming back?'
10 be not so much ... as ... used to say that one description of someone or something is less suitable or correct than another:
•The details are not so much wrong as they are incomplete.
11 not/without so much as sth used when you are surprised or annoyed that someone did not do something:
•He left without so much as a goodbye.
12 so long! AmE spoken used to say goodbye
13 not so ... as ... formal used in comparisons to say that something or someone has less of a particular quality than another person or thing:
•The bed was not so comfortable as his own.
14 so much for sb/sth spoken used to say that a particular action, idea, statement etc was not useful or did not produce the result that was hoped for:
•He's late again. So much for good intentions!
15 only so many/much used to say that there is only a limited quantity of something:
•There's only so much that anybody's brain can handle at any one time.
•There are only so many hours in the working day.
16 spoken used with a movement of your hand to show how big, high etc something or someone is:
•Oh, he's about so tall, with brown hair and eyes.
17 spoken used to show that you have found something out about someone:
•So! You've got a new girlfriend?
18 so great a man/so small a part etc formal used to emphasize an adjective, especially when what is being mentioned is surprising or unusual:
•He had never spoken to so large a crowd before.
•It was amazing how much they accomplished in so short a time.
19 like so spoken used when you are showing someone how to do something:
•Then turn the paper over and fold it, like so.
20 and so on/forth used at the end of a list to show that you could continue it in a similar way:
•You can do things for your health in the way of diet, exercise, good lifestyle, not smoking and so on.
21 literary or formal in the way that is described:
•Dorothy and Sarah continued to write to each other, and so began a life-long friendship.
so ... that
•The furniture is so arranged that the interviewee and the interviewer are not physically separated by a desk.
22 and so and therefore:
•Madeira has an ideal climate, and so it is not surprising that it has become a tourist paradise.
•This was considered to be a religious issue and so to be a matter for the church courts.
23 so she is/so there are etc spoken especially BrE used to show that you agree with something that has just been mentioned, especially something that you had not noticed or had forgotten:
•'Look, she's wearing a hat just like yours.' 'So she is.'
24 be just/exactly so to be arranged tidily, with everything in the right place:
•Everything had to be just so, or Edna would make us do it again.
25 so be it spoken used to show you do not like or agree with something, but you will accept it:
•If that means delaying the trip, so be it.
26 spoken
a) used to say that a person's behaviour or action is typical of that person:
•'He was about half an hour late.' 'That is just so Chris.'
b) used to say that something suits someone or is the type of thing they like:
•You must buy that jacket - it's so you!
27 I do so/it is so etc AmE spoken used especially by children to say that something is true, can be done etc when someone else says that it is not, cannot etc:
•'You can't swim.' 'I can so.'
SO-SO; even so at EVEN^1 (4); so far at FAR^1 (7); so far as I'm concerned at FAR^1 (14); so far as sth is concerned at FAR^1 (15); so far as I know/I can remember/I can tell etc at FAR^1 (16); as/so long as at LONG^2 (5); so much the better at BETTER^3 (4); so to speak at SPEAK (6)
1 used to say that someone does something because of the reason just stated:
•I was feeling hungry, so I made myself a sandwich.
2 so (that)
a) in order to make something happen, make something possible etc:
•He lowered his voice so Doris couldn't hear.
•Why don't you start out early so that you don't have to hurry?
b) used to say that something happens or is true as a result of the situation you have just stated:
•There are no buses, so you'll have to walk.
•The gravestones were covered with moss so that it was impossible to read the names on them.
3 spoken used to introduce the next part of a story you are telling someone:
•So anyway, he goes in and his boots get stuck in the mud.
4 so? also so what? spoken not polite used to tell someone that something does not matter:
•So what if we're a little late?
•'She might tell someone.' 'So? No one will believe her.'
5 so as to do sth formal in order to do something:
•I drove at a steady 50 mph so as to save fuel.
•We went along silently on tiptoe so as not to disturb anyone.
6 (just) as ... so ... formal used to compare two people or things, when they are similar:
•Just as the French love their wine, so the English love their beer.[singular]
the fifth note in a musical SCALE according to the SOL-FA system $
1 [I,T] if you soak something, or if you let it soak, you keep it covered with a liquid for a period of time, especially in order to make it softer or easier to clean:
•Soak the clothes in cold water.
•Let the pans soak; I'll wash them later.
soak sth off/out (=remove it by soaking)
•Put the bottle in soapy water to soak the label off.
2 [I always + adv/prep, T] to make something completely wet:
•Police aimed water hoses at the marchers, soaking them.
[+through/into etc]
•The blood soaked through the bandage.
soak sth in/with sth
•a rag soaked with oil
3 [I] to spend a long time taking a bath:
•Soak in a warm bath to relax.
4 [T] informal to make someone pay too much money in prices or taxes:
•taxes that soak the middle classes

PHRASAL VERBS
soak sth <=> up phr v
1 if something soaks up a liquid, it takes the liquid into itself:
•He used a towel to soak up the blood.
2 soak up the sun/rays/sunshine etc to sit outside for a long time enjoying the sun
3 to enjoy a place by watching it or becoming involved in it:
•Go to a sidewalk cafe, order coffee, and soak up the atmosphere.
4 to learn something quickly and easily:
•Children soak up language incredibly quickly.[singular]
1 a long and enjoyable time spent sitting in the bath:
•I had a good long soak in the bath.
2 BrE when you soak something:
• Give the towels a good soak, they're very dirty.
3 an old soak someone who is often drunk - used humorously $
1 very wet or wearing very wet clothes; = drenched
•I was soaked and very cold.
•It was raining so hard we were quickly soaked through (=completely wet).
•He came in from the barn, soaked to the skin.
•Her shoes got soaked as she walked through the wet grass.
blood-soaked/oil-soaked etc
•his blood-soaked clothes
2 be soaked in/with sth to be full of a particular quality:
•a city soaked in historyalso soaking wet $
very wet:
•a soaking wet towel[C]
if someone or something gets a soaking, they get very wetplural so-and-so's
1 [U] used to refer to a particular person or thing when you do not give a specific name; such and such
•I'd find myself thinking, 'I wonder what so-and-so is doing?'
2 [C] a very unpleasant or unreasonable person - used when you want to avoid using a swear word:
•Peter can be a real so-and-so at times. $
1 [C,U] the substance that you use to wash your body; detergent
•Wash thoroughly with soap and water.
•a bar of soap
2 [C] informal a SOAP OPERA[T]
to rub soap on or over someone or something $ [C usually singular] informal
if someone is on their soapbox, they are telling people their opinions about something in a loud and forceful way
on your soapbox
•Environmental activists have climbed on their soapboxes to protest the president's action. $ [plural] BrE
small thin pieces of soap used for washing delicate clothes[C]
a television or radio story about the daily lives and relationships of the same group of people, which is broadcast regularly[C,U] BrE
a powder that is made from soap and other chemicals, used for washing clothes $ [U]
a soft stone that feels like soapsoap suds $ [plural]
the mass of small bubbles that form on top of water with soap in it $
1 containing soap:
•hot soapy water
2 like soap:
•a rock with a soapy feel $ [I]
1 AMOUNTS/PRICES ETC to increase quickly to a high level; plummet
•Her temperature soared.
•The price of petrol has soared in recent weeks.
•soaring unemployment
2 IN THE SKY
a) to fly, especially very high up in the sky, floating on air currents:
•She watched the dove soar above the chestnut trees.
b) to go quickly upwards to a great height:
•The ball soared to left field.
3 SPIRITS/HOPES if your SPIRITs (=the way you are feeling, for example happy, sad etc) or hopes soar, you begin to feel very happy or hopeful:
•Adam's smile sent her spirits soaring.
4 LOOK TALL [not in progressive] if buildings, trees, towers etc soar, they look very tall and impressive:
•Here the cliffs soar a hundred feet above the sea.
•a soaring skyscraperS.O.B. $ [C] AmE not polite
the abbreviation of son of a bitch $ past tense and past participle sobbed, present participle sobbing
1 [I] to cry noisily while breathing in short sudden bursts:
•He began sobbing uncontrollably.
2 [T] also sob out to say something while you are sobbing:
•'It's too late,' she sobbed.
- sob noun [C]
•loud sobs $
1 not drunk:
•He's a nice guy when he's sober.
2 serious, and thinking or making you think carefully about things:
•a sober, hard-working young man
•a sober reminder of the difficulties we face
3 plain and not at all brightly coloured:
•a sober grey suit
- soberly adverbalso sober down [I,T]
to become more serious in behaviour or attitude, or to make someone become more serious:
•His expression sobered instantly.

PHRASAL VERBS
sober up phr v
to gradually become less drunk, or to make someone become less drunk:
•I had sobered up by now and felt terrible.
sober sb<=> up
•Some coffee should sober you up. $
making you feel very serious:
•It was a sobering thought.
•The news had a sobering effect. [U] formal
1 when someone is not drunk:
•John had periods of sobriety, but always went back to drinking.
2 behaviour that shows a serious attitude to life[C] AmE
a place in the road where the police stop vehicles so they can test drivers to see if they have drunk too much alcohol or used illegal drugsalso soubriquet $ [C] formal
an unofficial title or name; = nickname[C] informal
a story, especially one that is not true, that someone tells you in order to make you feel sorry for them:
•a sob story about how she lost all her money
the written abbreviation of society [only before noun]
1 used to describe someone or something that has been given a name that you think is wrong:
•The so-called experts couldn't tell us what was wrong.
2 used to show that something or someone is usually called a particular name:
•the health threats posed by so-called 'mad cow disease' $ [U]
a sport played by two teams of 11 players, who try to kick a round ball into their opponents' GOAL; = football BrE[C] AmE
a mother who spends a lot of time driving her children to sports practice, music lessons etc, considered as a typical example of women from the middle to upper classes in US society $
someone who is sociable is friendly and enjoys being with other people; unsociable
•a pleasant, sociable couple
- sociably adverb
- sociability $ noun [U] $
1 SOCIETY relating to human society and its organization, or the quality of people's lives:
•social issues, such as unemployment and education
•the country's serious social problems
•a challenge to the social order (=how a particular society is organized)
2 RANK relating to your position in society, according to your job, family, wealth etc:
•The students come from a variety of social classes (=groups of people that have the same social position).
•the social status of her family
3 MEETING PEOPLE relating to meeting people, forming relationships with them, and spending time with them:
•social interaction
•a club with lots of social events
•Exercise classes are a good way to keep fit and improve your social life.
•Group play helps children develop social skills (=ability to deal with people easily).
•He lacked social graces (=good and polite behaviour towards other people).
4 someone who is social enjoys meeting and talking to other people; = sociable
5 ANIMALS forming groups or living together in their natural state; solitary
•Elephants are social animals.
- socially adverb
•socially acceptable behaviour
•socially disadvantaged families
ANTISOCIAL, SOCIABLE, UNSOCIAL[C]
1 a party for the members of a group, club, or church
2 the social BrE SOCIAL SECURITYalso ethical audit [C]
an official examination of how well a company behaves, for example how it treats its workers, the environment etc:
•a social audit of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream[C]
someone who tries to get accepted into a higher social class by becoming friendly with people who belong to that class - used in order to show disapproval[C]
a club where its members can go to spend time, talk, drink etc with other members[singular, U]
if someone has a social conscience, they know about and want to help people who have problems in society, for example people who are poor or have family problems
1 [U] a political and economic system based on some ideas of SOCIALISM combined with DEMOCRATIC principles, such as personal freedom and government by elected representatives
2 [C] a country with a government based on social democracy
- #social =democrat noun [C][U]
the practice of making changes to laws in order to change society according to a political idea[U] BrE
the situation that results when people suffer the effects of a combination of problems such as unemployment, crime, and bad HOUSING, and have very little chance of being able to improve their lives:
•efforts to combat poverty and social exclusion[C usually singular] BrE
money that is used to help people with social problems, such as family problems or money problems[U] BrE
houses or apartments that the local government provides, which can be rented for a small amount of money $ [U]
an economic and political system in which large industries are owned by the government, and taxes are used to take some wealth away from richer citizens and give it to poorer citizens; capitalism, communism $
1 based on socialism or relating to a political party that supports socialism:
•socialist principles
2 a socialist country or government has a political system based on socialism[C]
someone who believes in socialism, or who is a member of a political party that supports socialism $
based on socialism - usually used in order to show disapproval:
•socialistic ideas $ [C]
someone who is well known for going to many fashionable parties, and who is often rich:
•a Washington socialite $ [U]
1 the process by which people, especially children, are made to behave in a way that is acceptable in their society:
•Schools play an important part in the socialization of our children.
2 the process of making something work according to SOCIALIST ideas:
•the socialization of medicinealso socialise BrE $
1 [I] to spend time with other people in a friendly way
[+with]
•People don't socialize with their neighbours as much as they used to.
2 [T usually passive] to train someone to behave in a way that is acceptable in the society they are living in
socialize sb into sth
•Girls are socialized into appropriate 'feminine' behavior.[U]
especially AmE medical care provided by a government and paid for through taxes
1 [U] the study of people in society
2 [C] a particular subject relating to the study of people in society, such as history, politics, SOCIOLOGY, or ANTHROPOLOGY
- social scientist noun [C]; natural science[U]
1 BrE government money that is paid to people who are unemployed, old, ill etc; = welfare AmE
•social security benefits
be/live on social security (=be receiving money from the government)
2 Social Security a US government programme into which workers must make regular payments, and which pays money regularly to old people and people who are unable to work; National Insurance[C]
a number that is given to each person in the US by the government, and that is used on official forms, in computer records etc[C]
1 social services [plural] BrE the government department that helps people with problems, for example family or money problems, or the services it provides:
•Contact social services for help.
•social service workers
•the provision of social services
2 a service that helps society work properly:
•The country railways provided a vital social service.[plural]
the study of people in society; = social science[U]
work done by government or private organizations to improve bad social conditions and help people who are poor, have family problems, are unable to find a job etc[C]
someone who is trained to help people who are poor, have family problems etc
relating to a particular society:
•societal attitudes plural societies
1 PEOPLE IN GENERAL [U] people in general, considered in relation to the laws, organizations etc that make it possible for them to live together:
•technology and its effects on modern society
•Children are the most vulnerable members of society.
2 A PARTICULAR GROUP [C,U] a particular large group of people who share laws, organizations, customs etc:
•Britain is now a multi-racial society.
•the capitalist societies of the West
•the conservative segment of American society
3 CLUB [C] an organization or club with members who share similar interests, aims etc:
•the university film society
•the American Cancer Society
[+of]
•the Society of Black Lawyers
4 UPPER CLASS [U] the fashionable group of people who are rich and powerful:
•a society wedding
high society (=the richest, most fashionable etc people)
5 BEING WITH PEOPLE [U] formal when you are together with other people
[+of]
•Holidays are a time to enjoy the society of your family.
6 polite society middle or upper class people who behave correctly in social situations
in polite society (=among middle or upper class people)
•The subject was rarely mentioned in polite society.
BUILDING SOCIETY, FRIENDLY SOCIETY $ technical
1 relating to society:
•sociology (=the study of society)
2 social and something else:
•sociopolitical
•sociolinguistics $
based on a combination of social and economic conditions
- socioeconomically adverb $ [U]
the scientific study of societies and the behaviour of people in groups
- sociologist noun [C]
- sociological $ adjective
•a sociological study
- sociologically adverb; anthropology, ethnology, social science $ [C]
someone whose behaviour towards other people is considered unacceptable, strange, and possibly dangerous
- sociopathic $ adjective; psychopath $ [C]
1 a piece of clothing made of soft material that you wear on your foot inside your shoe:
•a pair of socks
•white ankle socks
2 knock/blow sb's socks off informal to surprise and excite someone very much:
•a new band that will knock your socks off
3 pull your socks up informal especially BrE to make an effort to improve your behaviour or your work:
•If they want promotion, United have got to pull their socks up.
4 put a sock in it informal used to tell someone in a joking way to stop talking or making a noise
5 informal a hard hit, especially with your hand closed:
•Larry gave him a sock on the arm.[T]
1 informal to hit someone very hard, especially with your hand closed; = thump
•He socked her in the face.
2 [usually passive] informal if someone is socked with something bad, they are suddenly affected by it
sock sb with sth
•I got socked with a big car repair bill.
3 be socked in AmE if an airport, road, or area is socked in, it is very difficult to see far and no one can travel because of bad FOG, snow, or rain
4 sock it to sb old-fashioned to tell someone to do something in a direct and forceful way

PHRASAL VERBS
sock sth <=> away phr v
AmE to save money by putting it in a safe place:
•Roger socked away more than $1 million a year. $ [C]
1 a place in a wall where you can connect electrical equipment to the supply of electricity; = power point BrE; = outlet AmE
2 the place on a piece of electrical equipment that you put a PLUG or a LIGHT BULB into:
•a headphone socket
3 a hollow part of a structure into which something fits:
•the eye sockets $
1 [C] BrE informal not polite a very offensive word for someone, especially a man, who you think is stupid or annoying:
•Get up, you lazy sod!
2 be a sod BrE informal not polite to be very difficult to do or deal with:
•That door's a sod to open.
3 [C usually singular] BrE informal not polite used to refer to a person:
•The poor sod's wife left him.
•You lucky sod!
4 not give/care a sod BrE spoken not polite to not care at all about something:
•I don't give a sod who it is!
5 [C,U] a piece of earth or the layer of earth with grass and roots growing in it[T only in imperative or infinitive] BrE spoken not polite
1 sod it/that used to rudely express anger or annoyance at something or someone:
•Sod it, I've missed the train.
2 used to say rudely that something is not important:
•Sod the job, I'm going home.
3 sod off an offensive way of telling someone to go away $
1 [C,U] also soda water water that contains bubbles and is often added to alcoholic drinks:
•a Scotch and soda
2 [C,U] also soda pop AmE a sweet drink containing bubbles, or a can or bottle of this drink; = pop
•a can of orange soda
•a cooler full of sodas
3 [C] AmE an ICE-CREAM SODA:
•a strawberry soda
4 [U] a substance in the form of a powder containing SODIUM, that is used for cooking or cleaning:
•baking soda[C]
AmE a place in a shop at which drinks, ice cream etc were served in the past[U]
BrE informal not polite nothing at all:
•I got sod all from the deal.[C,U] AmE
a sweet drink containing bubbles[C]
BrE a special type of bottle from which SODA WATER is forced out in a fast stream[U]
water that contains bubbles and is often added to alcoholic drinks $
very wet and heavy:
•sodden clothes
•The earth was sodden.
rain-sodden/water-sodden
•rain-sodden hair $ BrE spoken not polite
said when someone is angry or annoyed, or to emphasize what they are saying:
•The sodding computer's crashed! $ [U]
a common silver-white metal that usually exists in combination with other substances, for example in salt. It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Naalso bicarbonate of soda [U]
a white powder used in baking to make cakes, BISCUITs etc lighter, or for cleaning things; = baking soda[U]
technical the type of salt that is used in cooking $ [C]
old use someone who practises sodomy $ [U]
formal or law a sexual act in which a man puts his sex organ into someone's ANUS, especially that of another man; = buggery
- sodomize verb [T][U]
BrE the natural tendency for things to go wrong whenever possible - used humorously; = Murphy's Law AmE
•It's Sod's law that the car breaks down when you need it most. $ [C]
a comfortable seat with raised arms and a back, that is wide enough for two or three people to sit on; = couch; = settee BrE[C]
a sofa that has a bed inside that can be folded out $ comparative softer, superlative softest
1 NOT HARD
a) not hard, firm, or stiff, but easy to press; hard
•My feet sank into the soft ground.
•the softest sofa and pillows
•Cook the onions until they go soft.
b) less hard than average; hard
•a soft lead pencil
•soft cheese
2 NOT ROUGH having a surface that is smooth and pleasant to touch; rough
•a baby's soft skin
•The fur was soft to the touch.
3 NOT LOUD a soft sound, voice, or music is quiet and pleasant to listen to; loud, harsh
•soft music
•His voice was softer now.
4 COLOUR/LIGHT [only before noun] soft colours or lights are pleasant and relaxing because they are not too bright; bright
•All the stores will be re-fitted with softer lighting.
•a soft shade of peach
5 NO HARD EDGES not having any hard edges or sharp angles:
•soft curves
6 RAIN/WIND gentle and without much force:
•a soft breeze
•soft rain
7 NOT STRICT someone who is soft seems weak because they are not strict enough with other people; strict, tough
•If you appear to be soft, people take advantage of you.
[+on]
•No politician wants to seem soft on crime.
•Courts have been taking a soft line (=not being strict enough) with young offenders.
8 SENSITIVE kind, gentle, and sympathetic to other people; hard
•He has a soft heart beneath that cold exterior.
•a soft kiss
9 WEAK CHARACTER not very brave and not having a strong character; hard
•Don't be soft - just jump!
10 SALES/MARKETS decreasing in price, value, or the amount sold:
•soft oil prices
11 soft loan/credit money that is lent at a lower interest rate than usual, because it will be used to help people in some way
12 soft money money that people, companies, or organizations give to political parties, rather than to a particular CANDIDATE
13 TOO EASY informal a soft job, life etc is too easy and does not involve much work or hard physical work:
•Mike's found himself a soft job in the stores.
soft option BrE (=a choice that allows you to avoid difficulties or hard work)
• Taking the soft option won't help your career to develop.
14 WEAK BODY informal having a body that is not in a strong physical condition, because you do not do enough exercise:
•He'd got soft after all those years in a desk job.
15 WATER soft water does not contain many minerals, so that it forms bubbles from soap easily
16 have a soft spot for sb to continue to like someone even when they do not behave well:
•She's always had a soft spot for Grant.
17 a soft touch informal someone from whom you can easily get what you want, because they are kind or easy to deceive
18 soft in the head old-fashioned very stupid or crazy
19 STUPID BrE stupid or silly:
•You must be soft if you think I'll give you fifty quid!
20 be soft on sb old-fashioned to be sexually attracted to someone
21 CONSONANTS technical not sounding hard:
•a soft g
- softly adverb
•She stroked his head softly.
•Music played softly in the background.
- softness noun [U]

WORD FOCUS: soft
soft and pleasant to touch:
velvety
fluffy
silky
soft and easily crushed:
squashy
squishy
soft and wet:
mushy
squelchy BrE informal
soft and good to eat:
tender
$
1 [U] a game similar to baseball but played on a smaller field with a slightly larger and softer ball
2 [C] the special ball used to play this game
an egg that is soft-boiled is boiled long enough for the white part to become solid, but the yellow part in the centre is still liquid; hard-boiled[U]
technical information stored in a computer's memory or shown on a screen rather than printed on paper; hard copy[C,U]
money of a particular country that may fall in value and is difficult to exchange for the money of a country that is economically stronger; hard currency[C]
a cold drink that does not contain alcohol[C]
an illegal drug such MARIJUANA that is not considered to be very harmful; hard drug $ [I,T]
1 also soften up to become less hard or rough, or make something less hard or rough; harden
•Use moisturizer to soften your skin.
•Cook until the onion softens.
2 if your attitude softens, or if something softens it, it becomes less strict and more sympathetic; harden
•The government has softened its stance on public spending.
[+towards]
•I felt that he was beginning to soften towards me.
3 to make the effect of something seem less unpleasant or severe, or to become less unpleasant or severe
soften the blow/impact
•The impact of the tax was softened by large tax-free allowances.
4 if your expression or voice softens, or if something softens it, you look or sound kinder and more gentle; harden
•His voice softened as he spoke to her.
5 to make the shape or colour of something look less severe:
•Climbing plants soften the outline of a fence.

PHRASAL VERBS
soften sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 informal to be nice to someone before you ask them to do something, so that they will agree to help you:
•She was just softening me up.
2 to make an enemy weaker so that they are easier to attack:
•Use artillery to soften up the enemy forces.
3 to make something less hard or rough $ [C,U]
a substance that you add to water to make clothes feel soft after washing:
•fabric softener
WATER SOFTENER[U]
a way of photographing or filming things so that the edges of the objects in the photograph are not sharp or clear[C,U]
especially BrE small fruits, such as STRAWBERRIES, that you can eat that do not have a hard skin or large seed[plural]
BrE things such as curtains, chair covers etc that are made of cloth and are used in decorating a room $
easily affected by feelings of pity or sympathy for other people; hard-hearted
•a soft-hearted womansofty $ [C]
someone who is easily affected by feelings of pity or sympathy, or who is easily persuaded:
•He's a real softie.[C]
1 a situation in which a SPACECRAFT comes down onto the ground gently and without any damage; crash landing
2 if the ECONOMY of a country has a soft landing, it does not experience bad effects after an attempt to control increases in the COST OF LIVING:
•Hopes for a soft landing have faded.BrE
softly-softly approach a way of dealing with something or someone which involves being very patient and careful:
•We need to adopt a softly-softly approach with Mike.
another form of the word SOFT-SPOKEN[C]
the soft part at the back of the top of your mouthpast tense and past participle soft-pedalled, present participle soft-pedalling BrE past tense and past participle soft-pedaled, present participle soft-pedaling AmE [T]
informal to make something seem less important or less urgent than it really is[U]
magazines, pictures etc that show people wearing no clothes or sexual activity, but that do not show sexual activity completely clearly or in a violent way; hard porn[singular]
a way of advertising or selling things that involves gently persuading people to buy something; hard sell[C]
the edge of a road, when this edge is made of dirt rather than a hard material; hard shoulder[T]
BrE informal to say nice things to someone in order to persuade them to do something:
•Don't think you can soft-soap me!
- soft soap noun [U]
having a pleasant quiet voice:
•a soft-spoken man[C]
a person or thing that is easy to attack or criticize[C]
a car with a cloth roof that you can fold back or remove; = convertible; hardtop[C]
BrE a toy for young children that is made of cloth and filled with soft material $ [U]
the sets of programs that tell a computer how to do a particular job; hardware
•She loaded the new software.
design/anti-virus/database etc software
•word-processing software
•a software company $ [C,U]
wood from trees such as PINE and FIR that is cheap and easy to cut, or a tree with this type of wood; hardwood $ plural softies [C]
another spelling of SOFTIE $
unpleasantly wet and soft:
•The ground was soggy from the rain.
•The sandwiches have gone all soggy. $ [singular, U]
another spelling of SO^3 $ [C]
small office/home office a room in someone's house with electronic equipment such as a computer and a FAX machine, that is used as a place in which to worksoignée formal
dressed or arranged fashionably and with care:
•a soignée woman politician
1 [C,U] the top layer of the earth in which plants grow; = earth
•The soil here is very poor.
•The bush grows well in a sandy soil.
see box at GROUND^1
2 on British/French/foreign etc soil formal in Britain, France etc:
•The crime was committed on American soil.
3 [U] a place or situation where something can develop:
•Eastern Europe provided fertile soil for political activists.
4 sb's native soil literary your own country
5 the soil literary farming as a job or way of life:
•They make their living from the soil.[T]
1 formal to make something dirty, especially with waste from your body
2 not soil your hands to not do something because you consider it too unpleasant or dishonest:
•Keep your money - I wouldn't soil my hands with it.
- soiled adjective
•soiled diaperssoirée $ [C]
a formal or fashionable evening party $ [C]
formal a short period of time that you stay in a place that is not your home:
•a brief sojourn in Europe
- sojourn verb [I] $ [singular, U]
SO^3 (=a musical note) $ formal
1 [U] a feeling of emotional comfort at a time of great sadness or disappointment
seek/find solace in sth
•After the death of her son, Val found solace in the church.
2 be a solace to sb to bring a feeling of comfort and calmness to someone, when they are sad or disappointed:
•Mary was a great solace to me after Arthur died.
- solace verb [T] literary $ [only before noun]
1 relating to the sun; lunar
•a solar eclipse
2 using the power of the sun's light and heat:
•solar energy[C]
a piece of equipment for producing electric power from sunlight $ [C]
1 a place with SUNBEDs (=beds with special lamps) where you can get an artificial SUNTAN
2 a room, usually enclosed by glass, where you can sit in bright sunlight[C]
a piece of equipment, usually kept on a roof, that collects and uses the sun's energy to heat water or make electricity $ [singular]
the front part of your body just below your RIBs :
•a blow to the solar plexus
1 the solar system the Sun and the PLANETs that go around it
2 [C] this kind of system around another star[C]
the period of time in which the Earth travels once around the Sun, equal to just over 365 days $
the past tense and past participle of SELL $ [U]
a soft metal, usually a mixture of LEAD and TIN, which can be melted and used to join two metal surfaces, wires etc[T + onto/together]
to join or repair metal surfaces with solder[C]
a tool which is heated, usually by electricity, and used for melting solder and putting it on surfaces $ [C]
a member of the army of a country, especially someone who is not an officer; troop
•A British soldier was wounded in the fighting.
•an enemy soldier

PHRASAL VERBS
soldier on phr v
especially BrE to continue working in spite of difficulties:
•We'll just have to soldier on without him. $ [U]
the life or job of a soldier $ formal
typical of a good soldierplural soldiers of fortune [C]
someone who works as a soldier for anyone who will pay them; = mercenary $ [singular, U] old-fashioned
soldierssold-out
1 if a concert, performance etc is sold out, all the tickets for that show have been sold:
•The group will play three sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium.
2 if a shop or store is sold out of a particular product, it has sold all of that product
[+of]
•The store was completely sold out of tuna fish. $ [only before noun]
1 the sole person, thing etc is the only one; = only
•the sole American in the room
•Griffiths is the sole survivor of the crash.
•The story was published with the sole purpose of selling newspapers.
2 not shared with anyone else:
•Derek has sole responsibility for sales in Dublin.
•The company has the sole rights to market Elton John's records.
1 [C] the bottom surface of your foot, especially the part you walk or stand on:
•The soles of his feet were caked in mud.
2 [C] flat bottom part of a shoe, not including the heel:
•the soles of her shoes
thick-soled/leather-soled etc (=having soles that are thick, made of leather etc)
3 [C,U] plural sole or soles a flat fish that is often used for food; lemon sole
•Dover sole[T usually passive]
to put a new SOLE on a shoe $ [C] formal
1 a mistake in the use of written or spoken language
2 something that is not considered polite behaviour:
•a social solecism $
not involving anything or anyone else; = only
•Scholarships are given solely on the basis of financial need.
•I shall hold you solely responsible for anything that goes wrong. $
1 very serious and not happy, for example because something bad has happened or because you are at an important occasion:
•a solemn expression
•Their faces suddenly grew solemn.
•a solemn procession of mourners
2 a solemn promise is one that is made very seriously and with no intention of breaking it:
•a solemn vow
•I'll never be unfaithful again. I give you my solemn word.
3 performed in a very serious way
solemn ritual/ceremony
- solemnly adverb
1 [U] the quality of being serious in behaviour or manner:
•the solemnity of a great religious occasion
2 solemnities [plural] the ceremonies of an important and serious occasionalso solemnise BrE $
solemnize a marriage formal to perform a wedding ceremony in a churchalso solfege $ [U]
the system in which the notes of the musical SCALE are represented by seven short words, DO, RE, MI, FA, SO, LA, TI, which are used especially in singing
1 [I usually progressive] to offer to have sex with someone in exchange for money:
•She was arrested for soliciting.
2 [I,T] formal to ask someone for money, help, or information:
•Morgan is accused of illegally soliciting campaign contributions.
solicit sth from sb
•The governor sent two officials to Mexico City to solicit aid from the President.
3 [I,T] AmE to try to sell a product or service by taking it to homes or businesses and showing it to the people there:
•No soliciting on company premises is allowed. [C,U]
the act of asking someone for money, help, or information $ [C]
1 a type of lawyer in Britain who gives legal advice, prepares the necessary documents when property is bought or sold, and defends people, especially in the lower courts of law; lawyer, advocate, barrister
•You need to see a solicitor.
•a small firm of solicitors
see box at LAWYER
2 AmE someone who goes from place to place trying to sell goods or services:
•A sign on the door read, 'No Solicitors.'[C]
the government law officer next in rank below the ATTORNEY GENERAL formal
very concerned about someone's safety, health, or comfort
- solicitously adverb
- solicitousness noun [U] $ [U]
formal care and concern for someone's health, safety etc:
•She was grateful to him for his solicitude. $
1 FIRM/HARD hard or firm, with a fixed shape, and not a liquid or gas:
•The lake was frozen solid.
•It was good to be back on solid ground again.
•Is the baby eating solid food (=bread, meat etc) yet?
•The ship's sonar can detect the presence of solid objects in the water.
2 ONLY ONE MATERIAL consisting completely of one type of material
solid gold/silver etc
•a solid gold cup
solid wood/pine/oak etc
•a chest made of solid oak
3 NOT HOLLOW having no holes or spaces inside; hollow
•a solid rubber ball
•a shrine carved out of solid rock
4 WITHOUT SPACES continuous, without any spaces or breaks:
•It's not safe to pass when the lines in the middle of the road are solid.
5 STRONGLY MADE strong and well made; flimsy
•a solid piece of furniture
•The frame is as solid as a rock (=extremely solid).
6 GOOD AND LONG-LASTING a solid achievement or solid work is of real, practical, and continuing value:
•five years of solid achievement
•The first two years provide a solid foundation in the basics of computing.
7 DEPENDABLE someone or something that is solid can be depended on or trusted:
•a solid reputation
•The prosecution in this case has no solid evidence.
•You can rely on Wylie for good solid advice.
•a solid Labour stronghold (=where people always vote for this party)
8 CONTINUING WITHOUT INTERRUPTION informal used to emphasize that something continues for a long time without any pauses:
•The lecture lasted two solid hours.
five hours/two weeks etc solid
•On Saturday I went to bed and slept fourteen hours solid.
9 packed solid informal if shops, trains, buses etc are packed solid, they are full of people
10 on solid ground confident because you are dealing with a subject you are sure about, or because you are in a safe situation:
•To make sure that he was on solid ground, he confirmed his findings with others.
11 GOOD BrE informal good
12 DIFFICULT BrE informal very difficult:
•I couldn't do any of the maths last night - it was solid.
13 SHAPE technical having length, width, and height; = three-dimensional
•A sphere is a solid figure.
14 IN AGREEMENT be solid BrE to be in complete agreement:
•The workers are 100% solid on this issue.
- solidly adverb
•solidly built
- solidness noun [U]
1 [C] a firm object or substance that has a fixed shape, not a gas or liquid:
•the properties of liquids and solids
2 solids [plural] foods that are not liquid:
•He's still too ill to eat solids.
3 [C] technical the part of a liquid which has the qualities of a solid when it is separated from the SOLVENT (=watery part)
4 [C] technical a shape which has length, width, and height, such as a SPHERE or CYLINDER $ [U]
loyalty and general agreement between all the people in a group, or between different groups because they all have a shared aim:
•a gesture of solidarity
•an appeal for worker solidarity
show/express/demonstrate your solidarity (with sb)
•I come before you today to express my solidarity with the people of New York.[C]
a solid substance such as coal that is burnt to produce heat or power past tense and past participle solidified, present participle solidifying, third person singular solidifies
1 [I,T] to become solid or make something solid:
•The volcanic lava solidifies as it cools.
•solidified cream
2 [T] to make an agreement, plan, attitude etc more definite and less likely to change:
•The two countries signed a treaty to solidify their alliance.
- solidification noun [U] [U]
1 the strength or hardness of something:
•the solidity of the stone walls
2 the quality of something that is permanent and can be depended on:
•the solidity of middle-class institutions
1 solid-state electrical equipment contains electronic parts, such as SILICON CHIPs , rather than moving MECHANICAL parts
2 solid-state PHYSICS is concerned with the qualities of solid substances, especially the way in which they CONDUCT electricity $ plural solidi [C]
an OBLIQUE^2 plural soliloquies [C,U]
a speech in a play in which a character, usually alone on the stage, talks to himself or herself so that the AUDIENCE knows their thoughts; monologue
- soliloquize verb [I] $ [U] technical
the idea in PHILOSOPHY that only the SELF exists or can be known $
1 interested only in yourself and the things that affect you
2 technical relating to the view in PHILOSOPHY that only the SELF exists or can be known $
1 [U] a game played by one person with small wooden or plastic pieces on a board
2 [C] a single jewel, or a piece of jewellery with a single jewel in it, especially a large diamond:
•a diamond solitaire
3 [U] AmE a game of cards for one person; = patience BrE $
1 [only before noun] used to emphasize that there is only one of something; = single
•the solitary goal of the match
•The benches were empty except for a single solitary figure.
2 doing something without anyone else with you:
•a long, solitary walk
3 spending a lot of time alone, usually because you like being alone; sociable
•a solitary man
•Pandas are solitary creatures.
•He led a rather solitary existence.
4 not a solitary word/thing etc used to emphasize that there is not even one:
•He followed her round without a solitary word.
- solitarily adverb
- solitariness noun [U]plural solitaries
1 [U] informal solitary confinement:
•He spent two weeks in solitary.
2 [C] BrE literary someone who lives completely alone; = hermit[U]
a punishment in which a prisoner is kept alone and is not allowed to see anyone else
in solitary confinement
•He spent more than half his time in prison in solitary confinement. $ [U]
when you are alone, especially when this is what you enjoy; loneliness
in solitude
•Carl spent the morning in solitude.
•the solitude of her house on the lake $ [only before noun]
1 done alone without anyone else helping you
solo flight/voyage/ascent
•Ridgeway's solo voyage across the Atlantic
•the first solo ascent of Everest
•a solo effort
2 relating to a record or piece of music that is performed by a single musician, not a group:
•a solo album
•a solo passage for viola
- solo adverb
•When did you first fly solo?
•Amos quit the company, determined to go solo (=work for himself).plural solos [C]
1 a piece of music for one performer; duet, trio
•a gorgeous piano solo
2 when someone flies or does an activity alone:
•his first solo[I]
1 to perform a solo in a piece of music:
•Brokaw solos brilliantly on this album.
2 to fly an aircraft alone $ [C]
a musician who performs alone or plays an instrument alone:
•cello soloist Yo Yo Ma $ [C]
the time when the sun is furthest north or south of the EQUATOR
the summer/winter solstice (=the longest or shortest day of the year); equinox $
1 a soluble substance can be DISSOLVEd in a liquid:
•soluble aspirin
water-soluble (=that can be dissolved in water)
2 formal a problem that is soluble can be solved; insoluble
- solubility $ noun [U]
1 [C] a way of solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation; solve
•The best solution would be for them to separate.
•Both sides are trying to find a peaceful solution.
[+to/for]
•There are no simple solutions to the problem of overpopulation.
•the perfect solution to all of our problems
•a political solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland
2 [C] the correct answer to a problem in an exercise or competition; = answer; solve
[+to]
•The solution to last week's puzzle is on page 12.
3 [C,U] a liquid in which a solid or gas has been mixed:
•a weak sugar solution
•saline solution $ [T]
1 to find or provide a way of dealing with a problem; solution
•Charlie thinks money will solve all his problems.
•the best way of solving our dilemma
2 to find the correct answer to a problem or the explanation for something that is difficult to understand; solution
solve a crime/mystery/case etc
•More than 70% of murder cases were solved last year.
•attempts to solve a mathematical equation
solve a puzzle/riddle
- solvable adjective $ [not usually before noun]
having enough money to pay your debts; insolvent
stay/remain/keep solvent
•I don't know how we managed to remain solvent.
- solvency noun [U][C,U]
a chemical that is used to DISSOLVE another substance[U] BrE formal
when someone breathes in gases from glues or similar substances in order to get a pleasant feeling, especially when they become dependent on doing this; = glue-sniffingsomber AmE $ BrE
1 sad and serious; = grave
•They sat in sombre silence.
•We were all in a somber mood that night.
•a sombre expression
•on the sombre occasion of his mother's funeral
2 dark and without any bright colours:
•a sombre grey suit
- sombrely adverb
- sombreness noun [U] $ plural sombreros [C]
a Mexican hat for men that is tall with a wide, round BRIM^1 turned up at the edges
1 [in adjectives] tending to behave in a particular way, or having a particular quality:
•a troublesome boy (=who causes trouble)
•a bothersome back injury (=that bothers you)
2 [in nouns] a group of a particular number, for example in a game:
•a golf foursome (=four people playing golf together) strong
1 a number of people or things, or an amount of something, when the exact number or amount is not stated:
•I need some apples for this recipe.
•My mother has inherited some land.
•They're looking for someone with some experience.
•The doctor gave her some medicine for her cough.
2 a number of people or things or an amount of something, but not all:
•Some people believe in life after death.
•She's been so depressed that some days she can't get out of bed.
3 formal a fairly large number of people or things or a fairly large amount of something:
•It was some time before they managed to turn the alarm off.
•The donation went some way toward paying for the damage.
1 a number of people or things or an amount of something, when the exact number or amount is not stated:
•I've just made a pot of coffee. Would you like some?
•'Do you know where the screws are?' 'There are some in the garage.'
2 a number of people or things or an amount of something, but not all:
•Many local businesses are having difficulties, and some have even gone bankrupt.
•Some say it was an accident, but I don't believe it.
•Many of the exhibits were damaged in the fire, and some were totally destroyed.
[+of]
•Some of his jokes were very rude.
•Can I have some of your cake?
3 and then some spoken informal used to say that the actual amount is probably a lot more than what someone has just said:
•'They say he earns $2.5 million a season.' 'And then some.'
1 used to mean a person or thing, when you do not know or say exactly which:
•There must be some reason for her behaviour.
•Can you give me some idea of the cost?
some kind/type/form/sort of sth
•We can hopefully reach some kind of agreement.
2 informal used when you are talking about a person or thing that you do not know, remember, or understand, or when you think it does not matter:
•Some guy called for you while you were gone.
some sth or other/another
•Just give him some excuse or other.
3 used to say that something was very good or very impressive:
•That was some party last night!
4 some friend you are/some help she was etc spoken used, especially when you are annoyed, to mean someone or something has disappointed you by not behaving in the way you think they should:
•You won't lend me the money? Some friend you are! strong
1 some more an additional number or amount of something:
•Would you like some more cake?
2 AmE spoken a little:
•'Are you feeling better today?' 'Some, I guess.'
3 some 500 people/50%/£100 etc an expression meaning about 500 people, 50%, £100 etc - used especially when this seems a large number or amount:
•She gained some 25 pounds in weight during pregnancy.
4 some little/few sth literary a fairly large number or amount of something:
•We travelled some little way before noticing that Bradley wasn't with us. $
used to mean a person, when you do not know, or do not say who the person is; = someone; anybody, everybody, nobody
•There's somebody waiting to see you.
•Somebody's car alarm kept me awake all night.
somebody new/different/good etc
•We need somebody neutral to sort this out.
•If you can't make it Friday, we can invite somebody else (=a different person).
•'Who can we get to babysit?' 'I'll call Suzie or somebody.'
be somebody to be or feel important:
•She was the first teacher who'd made Paul feel like he was somebody.also some day
at an unknown time in the future, especially a long time in the future:
•I'd like to visit Japan someday.
•He hopes, someday, to have his own business.
1 in some way, or by some means, although you do not know how:
•Don't worry, we'll get the money back somehow.
•Somehow, I managed to lose my keys.
•Maybe we could glue it together somehow or other.
2 for some reason that is not clear to you or that you do not understand:
•Somehow, I just don't think it'll work.
used to mean a person, when you do not know, or do not say, who the person is; = somebody; anyone, everyone, no one
•What would you do if someone tried to rob you in the street?
•Will someone please explain what's going on?
someone new/different etc
•'When are you planning to hire someone?' 'As soon as we find someone suitable.'
•Can you ask someone else (=a different person) to help you? I'm really busy.
•Have Brooks or someone fax this to New York right away.
be someone to be or feel important:
•Gerber was determined to be someone. [not usually in questions or negatives] spoken especially AmE
somewhere:
•I must have left my jacket someplace. $ [C]
1 BrE a movement in which someone rolls or jumps forwards or backwards so that their feet go over their head before they stand up again
do/turn a somersault
•Lana turned a somersault in midair.
2 AmE a FORWARD ROLL
- somersault verb [I]
•He crashed into the table, somersaulted over it and landed on the carpet.
1 used to mean a particular thing when you do not know its name or do not know exactly what it is; anything, everything, nothing
•There's something in my eye.
•Sarah said something about coming over later.
something new/old/good etc
•It's a good car but I'm looking for something newer.
•The house was too small so they decided to look for something else (=a different one).
•I think there's something wrong (=a problem) with the phone.
•I don't know what he does exactly, but I know it has something to do with computers (=is related to them in some way).
2 something to eat/drink/read/do etc some food, a drink, a book, an activity etc:
•Would you like something to drink?
•I should take something to read on the plane.
3 do something to do something in order to deal with a problem or difficult situation:
•Don't just stand there - do something!
[+about]
•Can you do something about that noise?
4 something about sb/sth used to say that a person, situation etc has a quality or feature that you recognize but you cannot say exactly what it is
(there is) something different/odd/unusual about sb/sth
•There was something rather odd about him.
• There's something about her voice that I find really sexy.
5 ... or something spoken used when you cannot remember, or do not think it is necessary to give, another example of something you are mentioning:
•Her name was Judith, or Julie, or something.
•Here's some money. Get yourself a sandwich or something.
6 something like 100/2000 etc close to but not exactly a large amount such as 100, 2000 etc:
•Something like 50,000 homes are without power.
7 be thirty-something/forty-something etc used to say that someone is aged between 30 and 39, between 40 and 49 etc when you do not know exactly
8 be (really/quite) something spoken used to say that something is very good and impressive:
•Running your own company at 21 is really something.
•That was really something, wasn't it?
9 be something else spoken to be unusual or funny to other people:
•You really are something else!
10 there's something in/to sth used to admit that someone's words are true or their ideas are successful etc:
•They had to concede that there was something in his teaching methods.
•Do you think there's something to the rumours about Larry and Sue?
11 have something of sth to have a few of the same features or qualities that someone else has:
•It was clear that Jenkins had something of his father's brilliance.
12 be something of a gardener/an expert etc to know a lot about something or to be very good at something:
•Charlie's always been something of an expert on architecture.
13 something of a shock/surprise etc formal used to say that something is a shock, surprise etc, but not completely or not in a strong or severe way:
•The news came as something of a surprise
14 a little something used when you are telling someone that you have bought them a present:
•I got you a little something for your birthday.
15 sixty something/John something etc spoken used when you cannot remember the rest of a number or name:
•'How much did you spend on groceries?' 'A hundred and twenty something.'
16 make something of yourself to become successful
17 that's something used to say that there is one thing that you should be glad about:
•At least we have some money left. That's something, isn't it?also some time
at a time in the future or in the past, although you do not know exactly when
[+around/in/during etc]
•We'll take a vacation sometime in September.
•Our house was built sometime around 1900.[only before noun]
1 formal former:
•Sir Richard Marsh, the sometime chairman of British Rail
2 AmE used to say that someone does or has a particular job part of the time:
•Grimm, a sometime delivery driver, lives with his elderly mother.
on some occasions but not always; occasionally
•I sometimes have to work late.
•Sometimes, Grandma would tell us stories about her childhood in Italy.
•'Do you ever wish you were back in Japan?' 'Sometimes. Not very often.'
•The journey takes an hour, sometimes even longer. AmE informal
SOMEHOW (1) $
more than a little but not very
somewhat larger/higher/newer etc
•The price is somewhat higher than I expected.
•Things have changed somewhat since then.
[+of]
•To say that I was surprised is somewhat of an understatement. $
1 in or to a place, but you do not say or know exactly where:
•My wallet must be around here somewhere.
somewhere to do sth
•There must be somewhere to eat cheaply in this town.
somewhere safe/different etc
•Is there somewhere safe where I can leave my bike?
•Go and play somewhere else (=in a different place)- I'm trying to work.
•We could meet for dinner at Giorgio's or somewhere (=or a similar place).
2 somewhere around/between etc a little more or a little less than a particular number or amount, especially a large one; = approximately
•We have somewhere in the region of 500 firefighters in this area.
3 be getting somewhere to be making progress:
•At last I feel we're getting somewhere. $ [C] formal
someone who walks while they are asleep; = sleepwalker
- somnambulism noun [U] $ literary
1 almost starting to sleep:
•He lay quiet, somnolent after the day's exertions.
2 making you want to sleep:
•a somnolent summer's afternoon
- somnolence noun [U]
1 [C] someone's male child; daughter
•Her son Sean was born in 1983.
•They have three sons and a daughter.
•In those days, the property went to the oldest son.
•their youngest son, George
[+of]
•the son of a poor farmer
like father like son at FATHER^1 (7)
2 [singular] spoken used by an older person as a way to address a boy or young man:
•What's your name, son?
3 the Son Jesus Christ, the second member of the group from the Christian religion that also includes the Father and the Holy Spirit
4 [C usually plural] literary a man, especially a famous man, from a particular place or country:
•Frank Sinatra, New Jersey's most famous son
5 my son used by a priest to address a man or boy
favourite son at FAVOURITE^1 (2) $ [U]
equipment on a ship or SUBMARINE that uses SOUND WAVEs to find out the position of objects under the water [C]
a piece of music with three or four parts that is written for a piano, or for a piano and another instrument:
•a piano sonata $ [singular, U]
BrE a performance that tells the story of a historical place or event using lights and recorded sound $
1 MUSIC WITH WORDS
a) [C] a short piece of music with words that you sing
pop/folk/love etc song
•pop songs on the radio
•They sat round with guitars, singing folk songs.
b) [U] songs in general:
•The bravery of past warriors was celebrated in song.
burst/break into song (=suddenly start singing)
•Some of his more drunken friends burst into song.
2 BIRDS [C,U] the musical sounds made by birds and some other animals such as WHALEs :
•the song of the lark
3 for a song very cheaply:
•He bought the house for a song five years ago.
4 a song and dance (about sth) informal
a) BrE if you make a song and dance about something, you behave as if it was worse, more important, more difficult etc than it really is:
•Suzy was there, making a song and dance about her aching feet.
b) AmE an explanation or excuse that is too long and complicated:
•She gave us a long song and dance about why she was late.
SWANSONG $ [C]
a bird that can make musical sounds $ [C]
a book with the words and music of many songs $ [C]
1 a singer - used in newspapers
2 literary a songbird $ [C]
a female singer - used in newspapers $ [C]
someone who writes the words and usually the music of songs $ [U]
the process of writing songs:
•There's some excellent songwriting on this album. $ [only before noun] technical
relating to sound, SOUND WAVEs , or the speed of sound[C]
the loud sound like an explosion that an aircraft makes when it starts to travel faster than the speed of soundplural sons-in-law [C]
the husband of your daughter; daughter-in-law $ [C]
a poem with 14 lines which RHYME with each other in a fixed pattern:
•Shakespeare's sonnets old-fashioned spoken
used when speaking to a boy or young man who is much younger than you:
•Now you listen to me, sonny. BrE old-fashioned spoken
used when speaking to a man or boy, especially when you are telling him that he has done something wrongplural sons of bitches spoken not polite especially AmE
1 [C] an offensive expression for a man that you are very angry with:
•He's a filthy lying son of a bitch.
2 son of a bitch! used when you are annoyed or surprised:
•Son of a bitch! You did it!
3 be a son of a bitch to be very difficult:
•Getting the new tire on was a real son of a bitch.[singular] AmE spoken
1 a man you like or admire - used humorously:
•Duke, you old son of a gun, how are you?
2 a man that you are annoyed with:
•Somebody go tell that son of a gun we're all waiting here.
3 an object that is difficult to deal with - used humorously
4 son of a gun! used to express surprise
the Son of God used by Christians to mean Jesus Christ $ [C] AmE technical
an image, for example of an unborn baby inside its mother's body, that is produced by a special machine; = ultrasound BrE $ literary
having a pleasantly deep loud sound:
•a sonorous voice
- sonorously adverb comparative sooner, superlative soonest
1 in a short time from now, or a short time after something else happens:
•It will be dark soon.
•David arrived sooner than I expected.
soon after
•Paula became pregnant soon after they were married.
•'Who?' 'You'll find out soon enough (=fairly soon).'
2 quickly:
• How soon can you finish the report?
•Try and get the car fixed as soon as possible.
3 as soon as immediately after something happens, without delay:
•As soon as she entered the room, she knew there was something wrong.
•I'll come over to your place as soon as I can.
4 the sooner (...) the better used to say that it is important that something should happen very soon:
•The sooner we get this job finished the better.
•Let's get out of here! The sooner the better!
5 the sooner ... the sooner used to say that you want something to happen soon, so that something else can then happen:
•The sooner I get this work done, the sooner I can go home.
6 no sooner had/did ... than used to say that something happened almost immediately after something else:
•No sooner had he sat down than the phone rang.
7 sooner or later used to say that something is certain to happen at some time in the future, though you cannot be sure exactly when:
•His wife's bound to find out sooner or later.
8 too soon too early
too soon to do sth
•It's still too soon to say whether the operation was a success.
•The holidays were over all too soon (=much earlier than you would like).
9 no sooner said than done used to say that you will do something immediately
10 not a moment too soon/none too soon almost too late:
•'The doctor's here!' 'And not a moment too soon!'
11 sb would sooner do sth (than) if you would sooner do something, you would much prefer to do it, especially instead of something that seems unpleasant:
•I'd sooner die than marry you!
12 sb would (just) as soon formal used to say that someone would prefer to do something or would prefer something to happen:
•I'd just as soon you didn't drive the car while I'm gone. [U]
black powder that is produced when something is burnt
- sooty adjective [T]
1 to make someone feel calmer and less anxious, upset, or angry:
•Lucy soothed the baby by rocking it in her arms.
•She made a cup of tea to soothe her nerves.
2 also soothe sth <=> away to make a pain become less severe, or slowly disappear:
•I bought some lozenges to soothe my sore throat.
•Massage can gently soothe away your aches and pains.
- soothing adjective
•gentle, soothing music
- soothingly adverb $ [C]
old use someone who is believed to be able to say what will happen in the future $ [C usually singular]
something not very important or valuable that a government or someone in authority offers to people to stop them from complaining or protesting - used to show disapproval
[+to]
•The company agreed to inspect the river regularly, as a sop to the environmental lobby.past tense and past participle sopped, present participle sopping

PHRASAL VERBS
sop sth <=> up phr v
to remove liquid from a surface by using a piece of cloth that takes the liquid into itself [C] formal
someone who is sophisticated
1 having a lot of experience of life, and good judgment about socially important things such as art, fashion etc:
•a sophisticated, witty American
•Clarissa's hair was swept up into a sophisticated style.
2 a sophisticated machine, system, method etc is very well designed and very advanced, and often works in a complicated way:
•sophisticated software
•a highly sophisticated weapons system
3 having a lot of knowledge and experience of difficult or complicated subjects and therefore able to understand them well:
•British voters have become much more sophisticated.
- sophistication noun [U]
•a New York nightclub that was the height of sophistication (=very fashionable and expensive) $ plural sophistries [C,U] formal
the clever use of reasons or explanations that seem correct but are really false, in order to deceive people $ [C]
AmE a student who is in their second year of study at a college or HIGH SCHOOL; freshman, junior, senior $ AmE formal
silly, and behaving in a way that is typical of someone much younger:
•sophomoric humor $ formal
making you feel ready to sleep:
•His voice had an almost soporific effect.also sopping wet $
very wet; = soaking
•My clothes were absolutely sopping! $ comparative soppier, superlative soppiest BrE informal
1 expressing love or emotions in a way that seems silly; = sappy AmE
•a soppy film
2 be soppy about sb/sth to be very fond of someone or something, in a way that seems silly to other people:
•She's soppy about dogs. $ plural sopranos
1 [C] a very high singing voice belonging to a woman or a boy, or a singer with a voice like this
MEZZO-SOPRANO
2 [singular] the part of a musical work that is written for a soprano voice or instrument:
•She sings soprano.; alto, baritone, bass, tenor[only before noun]
a soprano voice or instrument has the highest range of notes $ [C,U]
a frozen sweet food made of fruit juice, sugar, and water; ice cream $ [C]
a man in stories who uses magic and receives help from evil forces; wizard $ [C]
a woman in stories who uses magic and receives help from evil forces; witch $ [U]
magic that uses the power of evil forces $
1 involving immoral or dishonest behaviour
sordid business/affair/story etc
•The whole sordid affair came out in the press.
•She discovered the truth about his sordid past.
•I want to hear all the sordid details!
2 very dirty and unpleasant; = squalid
•a sordid little room $
1 a part of your body that is sore is painful, because of infection or because you have used a muscle too much:
•I had a sore throat and aching limbs.
[+from]
•My arms are sore from all the lifting.
2 sore point/spot/subject (with sb) something that is likely to make someone upset or angry when you talk about it:
•Just don't mention it - it's always been a sore point with him.
3 [not before noun] informal especially AmE upset, angry, and annoyed, especially because you have not been treated fairly:
•Mac's still sore because I didn't invite him.
[+at]
•Don't be sore at me - I just forgot to tell you.
4 [only before noun] BrE used to emphasize how serious, difficult etc something is:
•Inner city schools are in sore need of extra funds.
5 sore loser someone who gets angry or upset when they lose a game or competition:
•Nobody likes a sore loser.
6 stick/stand out like a sore thumb informal if someone or something sticks out like a sore thumb, they are very noticeable because they are different from everyone or everything else:
•You stick out like a sore thumb in that uniform.
be like a bear with a sore head at BEAR^2 (3)
a sight for sore eyes at SIGHT^1 (14)[C]
a painful, often red, place on your body caused by a wound or infection:
•They were starving and covered with sores.
COLD SORE, BEDSORE; running sore at RUNNING^2 (5) $ [C]
AmE informal someone who is unpleasant or angry in an unreasonable way $
very much or very seriously:
•Jim will be sorely missed.
•Sabine was sorely tempted to throw her drink in his face.
•Your help is sorely needed.
•Courage is a quality that is sorely lacking in world leaders today. $ [U]
a type of grain that is grown in tropical areas $ plural sororities [C]
a club for women students at some American colleges and universities; fraternity $ [U]
a plant with leaves that taste bitter, sometimes used in cooking $
1 [U] a feeling of great sadness, usually because someone has died or because something terrible has happened to you; grief
great/deep sorrow
•a time of great sorrow
[+at]
•He expressed his sorrow at my father's death.
[+for]
•Claudia felt a deep pang of sorrow for the woman.
2 [C] an event or situation that makes you feel great sadness:
•the family's joys and sorrows
3 more in sorrow than in anger in a way that shows you are sad or disappointed rather than angry about a particular situation:
•He said that his decision to resign was made more in sorrow than in anger.
drown your sorrows at DROWN (5)[I]
literary to feel or express sorrow
[+over]
•Her friend was sorrowing over the loss of a child.
•sorrowing parents $ literary
very sad:
•a sorrowful expression
- sorrowfully adverb
•'A lot of damage has already been done,' he said sorrowfully. $ comparative sorrier, superlative sorriest
1 sorry/I'm sorry spoken
a) used to tell someone that you wish you had not done something that has affected them badly, hurt them etc:
•I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.
•'Matt, stop doing that!' 'Sorry!'
•I'm sorry, did I step on your foot?
sorry (that)
•I'm sorry I'm late - the traffic was terrible.
[+about]
•Sorry about the mess - I'll clean it up.
sorry for (doing) sth
•I'm sorry for making such a fuss.
• Sorry to bother you, but what was the address again?
see box at EXCUSE^1
b) used as a polite way of introducing disappointing information or a piece of bad news:
•I'm sorry, but all the flights to Athens are fully booked.
c) used when you have said something that is not correct, and want to say something that is correct:
•Turn right - sorry left - at the traffic lights.
d) used when you refuse an offer or request:
•'Are you coming to lunch?' 'Sorry, no. I've got to finish this work.'
•'I'll give you $50 for it.' 'Sorry, no deal.'
e) used when you disagree with someone, or tell someone that they have done something wrong:
•I'm sorry, but I find that very hard to believe, Miss Brannigan.
2 ASHAMED [not before noun] feeling ashamed or unhappy about something bad you have done
[+for]
•She was genuinely sorry for what she had done.
sorry (that)
•Casey was sorry he'd gotten so angry.
say (you are) sorry (=tell someone that you feel bad about hurting them, causing problems etc)
•It was probably too late to say sorry, but she would try anyway.
see box at REGRET^1
3 sorry? spoken especially BrE used to ask someone to repeat something that you have not heard properly; = pardon
•Sorry? What was that again?
•'Want a drink?' 'Sorry?' 'I said, would you like a drink?'
4 FEELING PITY be/feel sorry for sb to feel pity or sympathy for someone because something bad has happened to them or because they are in a bad situation:
•I've got no sympathy for him, but I feel sorry for his wife.
•Tina was sorry for her. She seemed so lonely.
feel sorry for yourself (=feel unhappy and pity yourself)
•It's no good feeling sorry for yourself. It's all your own fault.
5 SAD/DISAPPOINTED [not before noun] feeling sad about a situation, and wishing it were different
sorry (that)
•Brigid was always sorry she hadn't kept up her piano lessons.
sorry to do sth
•We were sorry to miss your concert.
•I won't be sorry to leave this place.
sorry to hear/see/learn
•I was sorry to hear about your accident.
[+about]
•I'm so sorry about your father (=I am sorry something bad has happened to him).
6 you'll be sorry spoken used to tell someone that they will soon wish they had not done something, especially because someone will be angry or punish them:
•You'll be sorry when your dad hears about this.
7 I'm sorry to say (that) spoken used to say that you are disappointed that something has happened:
•I wrote several times but they never replied, I'm sorry to say.
8 VERY BAD [only before noun] very bad, especially in a way that makes you feel pity or disapproval:
•the sorry state of the environment
•It's a sorry state of affairs when an old lady has to wait 12 hours to see a doctor.
•the sorry sight of so many dead animals
•This whole sorry episode (=bad thing that happened) shows just how incompetent the government has become.
better (to be) safe than sorry at SAFE^1 (9) $
1 TYPE/KIND [C] a group or class of people, things etc that have similar qualities or features; = type, kind
[+of]
•What sort of shampoo do you use?
all sorts (of sth) (=a lot of different types of things)
•They play pop, rock, jazz, soul, all sorts in there.
•I like all sorts of food - I'm not fussy.
of this/that sort
•On expeditions of this sort you have to be prepared for trouble.
of some sort/some sort of sth (=used when you do not know exactly what type)
•He wondered if Rosa was in some sort of trouble.
•There was a game of some sort going on inside.
•Most of the victims developed psychological problems of one sort or another (=of various different types).
•They do burgers, pizzas, that sort of thing.
see box at TYPE^1
2 sort of spoken
a) used to say that something is partly true but does not describe the exact situation:
•I sort of like him, but I don't know why.
•'Do you know what I mean?' 'Sort of.'
b) used when you are trying to describe something but it is difficult to find the right word or to be exact:
•Then they started sort of chanting.
•The walls are a sort of greeny-blue colour.
sort of like (=used very informally when searching for the right words)
•It was sort of like really strange and mysterious, walking round this empty building.
c) used to make what you are saying sound less strong or direct:
•Well, I sort of thought we could go out together sometime.
•It was sort of a shock when I found out.
d) sort of price/time/speed etc especially BrE a price etc that is not very exact, but could be slightly more or less:
•That's the sort of price I was hoping to pay.
•What sort of time were you thinking of starting?
3 of sorts/of a sort used when something is not a good or typical example of its kind of thing:
•I had a conversation of sorts with a very drunk man at the bus stop.
4 sort of thing spoken especially BrE used when you are mentioning or describing something in a way that is not definite or exact:
•We could just stay here and pass the time, sort of thing.
•She uses a wheelchair sort of thing.
5 what sort of ...? spoken especially BrE used when you are angry about what someone has said or done:
•What sort of time do you call this to come in?
6 nothing of the sort spoken especially BrE used to say angrily that something is not true or that someone should not do something:
•'I'm going to watch TV.' 'You'll do nothing of the sort!'
7 PERSON [singular] BrE someone who has a particular type of character, and is therefore likely to behave in a particular way; = type
•Iain's never even looked at another woman. He's not the sort.
8 it takes all sorts (to make a world) BrE used to say that you think someone is behaving in a strange or crazy way:
•He goes climbing up cliffs without ropes or anything? Oh well, it takes all sorts.
9 COMPUTER [singular] if a computer does a sort, it puts things in a particular order
10 ILL/UPSET out of sorts feeling a little ill or upset:
•Louise went back to work feeling rather out of sorts.[T]
1 to put things in a particular order or arrange them in groups according to size, type etc:
•The eggs are sorted according to size.
sort sth into sth
•Let's sort all the clothes into piles.
•All the names on the list have been sorted into alphabetical order.
2 BrE spoken to deal with a situation so that all the problems are solved and everything is organized; sorted
•Right, I'll leave this for Roger and Terry to sort, then.

PHRASAL VERBS
sort sth/sb <=> out phr v
1 to arrange or organize something that is mixed up or untidy, so that it is ready to be used:
•We need to sort out our camping gear before we go away.
2 to separate one type of thing from another:
•I've sorted out the papers that can be thrown away.
[+from]
•First sort the white things out from the other clothes.
3 especially BrE to successfully deal with a problem or difficult situation:
•She went to a psychiatrist to try to sort out her problems.
•I'll be glad to get this misunderstanding sorted out.
sort yourself out/get yourself sorted out (=deal with all your problems)
•I'm staying with a friend until I manage to sort myself out.
4 especially BrE to succeed in making arrangements for something:
•Have you sorted out where you're going to live yet?
•She is trying to sort out childcare.
5 sort itself out BrE if something sorts itself out, it stops being a problem without you having to do anything:
•Our financial problems should sort themselves out in a week or two.
6 BrE informal to stop someone from causing problems or annoying you, especially by attacking or punishing them:
•If he bothers you again, I'll sort him out.

sort through sth phr v
to look for something among a lot of similar things, especially when you are arranging these things into an order:
•Vicky sat down and sorted through the files. $ [not before noun] BrE spoken informal
1 properly arranged or planned:
•Good, that's the accommodation sorted.
•Calm down. It's all sorted.
•I just want to get everything sorted before I go away.
2 provided with the things that you want:
•'Can I get you anything?' 'We're sorted, thanks.'
[+for]
•Are we sorted for alcohol for tonight? $ [C]
1 a short flight made by a plane over enemy land, in order to bomb a city, military defences etc:
•The US and its allies carried out 44,000 sorties during this period.
2 a short trip, especially to an unfamiliar place:
•We made a sortie from our hotel to the open-air market.
3 BrE an attempt to do or take part in something new
[+into]
•Australia's first sortie into the wine trade
4 BrE an attack in which an army leaves its position for a short time to attack the enemy[I]
to make a short attack on an enemy position or a flight over enemy land:
•It was five months since the battleship had last sortied from home waters.[C] BrE
a place where letters and packages are put into groups according to where they have to be delivered[singular]
BrE informal an occasion when you tidy a room, desk etc and get rid of the things you do not need:
•These cupboards need a good sort-out. $ [singular]
1 a signal or message that a ship or plane sends when it is in danger and needs help; mayday
2 an urgent message that someone is in trouble and needs help:
•This is an SOS for a Mr. Tucker, whose mother is seriously ill.spoken
neither very good nor very bad; = average
•'How was the party?' 'Oh, so-so.' $ [C]
old-fashioned someone who is drunk all the time; = drunkard $ formal
in a very quiet voice, so that other people cannot easily hear:
•'No, it was Daniel,' she continued, sotto voce. [singular]
BrE old-fashioned a very small amount of money:
•He didn't have a sou.
another form of SOBRIQUET $ [C,U]
a baked food made with eggs, flour, milk and often cheese or fruit all mixed together until it is light and full of air $
the past tense and past participle of SEEK
wanted by a lot of people but rare or difficult to get
much/highly sought-after
•a much sought-after defense lawyer
•By the mid-1920s, she had become one of Broadway's most sought-after actresses. [C]
a market in an Arab country $
1 SB'S SPIRIT [C] the part of a person that is not physical, and that contains their character, thoughts, and feelings. Many people believe that a person's soul continues to exist after they have died; spirit
•the immortality of the soul
•It was as if those grey eyes could see into the very depths of her soul.
in sb's soul
•the restlessness deep in his soul
•the souls of the dead
2 PERSON [C] used in particular phrases to mean 'a person'
happy/sensitive/brave/simple etc soul
•He is really quite a sensitive soul.
not a (living) soul (=no one)
•I promise I won't tell a soul.
not a soul in sight/not a soul to be seen
•The night was dark and still, and there was not a soul in sight.
poor (old) soul (=used to show pity for someone)
•The poor old soul had fallen and broken her hip.
3 MUSIC also soul music [U] a type of popular music that often expresses deep emotions, usually performed by black singers and musicians:
•He listens to a lot of soul.
•a soul band
4 SENSE OF BEAUTY [U]
a) the ability to be emotionally affected by art, music, literature etc:
•My brother thinks that anyone who doesn't like poetry has no soul.
b) the quality that affects people emotionally, that a painting, piece of music etc can have:
•Her performance was technically perfect, but it lacked soul.
5 SPECIAL QUALITY [U] the special quality or part that gives something its true character
[+of]
•Basho's poems capture the true soul of old Japan.
6 be the soul of discretion to always be extremely careful to keep secrets:
•Leon is the very soul of discretion.
7 be good for the soul if something is good for the soul, it is good for you and you should do it, even though it may seem unpleasant - often used humorously:
•They say that hardship is good for the soul.
8 God rest his/her soul used when you mention the name of someone who is dead:
•My father, God rest his soul, died here at Vernison Hall.
9 PEOPLE IN A PLACE [plural] literary the number of souls in a place is the number of people who live there:
•a village of two or three hundred souls
10 bless my soul/upon my soul old-fashioned spoken used to express surprise
bare your soul at BARE^2 (2)
be the life and soul of the party at LIFE (16)
keep body and soul together at BODY (13)
heart and soul at HEART (2)
sell your soul (to the devil) at SELL^1 (9)
something that is soul-destroying is extremely boring or makes you feel very unhappy:
•a soul-destroying experience[U]
traditional foods that are cooked and eaten by African-Americans in the southern US $
expressing deep, usually sad, emotions:
•He looked up with those great soulful eyes.
soulful voice/vocals/melody etc
•his powerful, soulful voice
- soulfully adverb
- soulfulness noun [U] $
lacking the attractive qualities that make people happy:
•a soulless city of grey concrete
- soullessly adverb
- soullessness noun [U][C]
someone you have a very close relationship with because you share or understand the same emotions and interests[U]
SOUL (3)[U]
careful examination of your thoughts and feelings because you are very worried about whether or not it is right to do something:
•After much soul-searching, I decided to resign.
1 [C,U] something that you hear, or what can be heard; = noise
•There were strange sounds coming from the next room.
[+of]
•She could hear the sound of voices.
•the distant sound of rushing water
banging/barking/tearing etc sound
•Did you just hear a rattling sound outside?
•Light travels faster than sound.
•a vowel sound
not make a sound (=be completely quiet)
2 [U]
a) the sound produced by a television or radio programme, a film etc:
•We apologize for the loss of sound during that report.
•a sound engineer
b) the loudness of a television, radio, film etc; = volume
turn the sound down/up
•Turn the sound down a little, will you?
3 [C usually singular, U] the particular quality that a singer's or group's music has:
•We're trying to develop a harder, funkier sound.
4 by/from the sound of it/things judging from what you have heard or read about something:
•By the sound of it, things are worse than we thought.
5 not like the sound of sth to feel worried by something that you have heard or read:
•'There's been a slight change in our plans.' 'I don't like the sound of that.'
6 sounds [plural] BrE informal songs or music that are on a record, CD, or tape:
•I need to buy some new sounds.
7 [C usually singular] a narrow area of water that connects two larger areas of water
1 SEEM [linking verb] if something or someone sounds good, bad, strange etc, that is how they seem to you when you hear about them or read about them
[+adj]
•Istanbul sounds really exciting.
•The whole story sounded very odd.
•$80 sounds about right for a decent hotel room.
[+noun] BrE
•That sounds a good idea.
[+like]
•Nick sounds like a nice guy.
it sounds as if/as though
•It sounds to me as if he needs professional help.
it sounds like informal
•It sounds like you had a good time on your trip.
•I'll come over to Richmond and take you out for dinner. How does that sound? (=used to ask someone what they think of your suggestion)
•faraway places with strange-sounding names
2 NOISE [linking verb] if a noise sounds like a particular thing, that is how it seems to you when you hear it
[+like]
•To Thomas, her laugh sounded horribly like a growl.
•I heard what sounded like fireworks.
[+adj]
•Her breathing sounded very loud.
(it) sounds as if/as though
•The banging sounded as if it was coming from next door.
(it) sounds like informal
•It sounds like the dog wants to be let out.
3 VOICE [linking verb] if someone sounds tired, happy, sad etc, that is how they seem to you when you hear their voice
[+adj]
•Are you okay? You sound tired.
•Josie didn't sound very keen when I spoke to her.
•Her voice sounded very young.
sound as if/as though
•You sound as if you've got a cold.
sound like informal
•She sounded like she'd been crying.
[+like]
•You sound just like my mother (=the things you say, opinions you express etc are just like the things my mother says).
see box at SEEM
4 WARNING [T] to publicly give a warning or tell people to be careful:
•Several earlier studies had sounded similar warnings.
sound a note of caution/warning
•I would, however, sound a note of caution.
•Now it is an American economist who is sounding the alarm.
5 MAKE A NOISE [I,T] if something such as a horn or bell sounds, or if you sound it, it makes a noise:
•The bell sounded for dinner.
•Sound your horn to warn other drivers.
•She was unable to sound the alarm.
6 PRONOUNCE [T usually passive] technical to make the sound of a letter in a word:
•The 's' in 'island' is not sounded.
7 MEASURE DEPTH [T] technical to measure the depth of the sea, a lake etc; soundings

PHRASAL VERBS
sound off phr v
1 informal to express strong opinions about something, especially when you complain angrily in a way that other people find rude or boring
[+about]
•She's always sounding off about too much sex in the media.
•He should check his facts before sounding off.
2 AmE if soldiers sound off, they shout out numbers or their names to show that they are there

sound sb/sth <=> out phr v
to talk to someone in order to find out what they think about a plan or idea:
•He sounded people out and found the responses favourable.
•They want to sound out his opinion before they approach him formally.
[+about]
•I wanted to sound her out about a job.
1 WELL-JUDGED sensible and likely to produce the right results; poor
•The book is full of sound advice.
•a man of great integrity and sound judgement
ecologically/ideologically/theoretically etc sound
•environmentally sound farming practices
•a sound investment
2 PERSON BrE
a) someone who is sound can be depended on to make good decisions and give good advice
[+on]
•He's very sound on matters of law.
b) informal someone who is sound is a good person and can be trusted - used especially by young people:
•My mum's sound. She'd never throw me out.
3 THOROUGH [only before noun] complete and thorough:
•a sound understanding of money and banking systems
•a sound knowledge of English
•He has sound grasp of European history.
4 IN GOOD CONDITION in good condition and not damaged in any way; unsound
•The floor was completely sound.
•Is the building structurally sound?
sound as a bell BrE spoken (=in perfect condition)
5 HEALTHY physically or mentally healthy; unsound
of sound mind law (=not mentally ill)
sound as a bell BrE spoken (=in perfect health)
6 SLEEP sound sleep is deep and peaceful
sound sleeper (=someone who always sleeps well)
- soundness noun [U]
sound asleep deeply asleep:
•The baby was sound asleep.
the sound barrier the sudden increase in air pressure against a vehicle, especially an aircraft, when it is travelling near the speed of sound
break the sound barrier (=travel faster than the speed of sound)[C]
a very short part of a speech or statement, especially one made by a politician, that is broadcast on a radio or television news programmesound card $ [C]
a CIRCUIT BOARD that can be added to a computer so that it is able to produce sound[C]
the process of checking that all the equipment needed for broadcasting or recording is working properly[plural]
sounds produced artificially for a radio or television programme, a film etc
[C usually singular] someone you discuss your ideas with in order to see if they think your ideas are good
[+for]
•John always used her as a sounding board for new ideas. [plural]
1 careful or secret questions that you ask someone to find out what they think about something:
•We're taking soundings to find out how people feel about the changes.
2 measurements you make to find out how deep water is literary
without any sound; = silent
- soundlessly adverb
•Theo crept soundlessly into the room.
- soundlessness noun [U]
1 if you sleep soundly, you sleep deeply and peacefully:
•The baby slept soundly all night.
2 soundly defeated/beaten/thrashed completely defeated or severely punished:
•The Republicans were soundly defeated.
a soundproof wall, room etc is one that sound cannot pass through or into[T]
to make something soundproof [C] AmE informal
someone who makes new music by electronically mixing the sounds from different musical instruments, songs etc:
•the ever-innovating soundsmiths known as Matmos[C]
equipment for playing music, especially to people in a large space, for example at a rock concert or a club [C]
the recorded music from a film
[+to]
•the soundtrack to 'Top Gun'[C usually plural]
the form that sound takes when it travels [C,U]
1 cooked liquid food, often containing small pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables:
•home-made tomato soup
2 be in the soup informal to be in trouble

PHRASAL VERBS
soup sth <=> up phr v informal
to improve something, especially a car, by making it more powerful $ [singular +of] formal
a very small amount of something - often used humorously
a souped-up car has been made more powerful[C]
a place where people with no money and no homes can get free food[C]
a round spoon that is used for eating soup
having a thick liquid quality like soup $
1 having a sharp acid taste, like the taste of a LEMON or a fruit that is not ready to be eaten; sweet ; bitter
•Rachel sampled the wine. It was sour.
•sour cherries
SWEET-AND-SOUR
2 milk or other food that is sour is not fresh and has a bad taste
turn/go sour (=become sour)
3 unfriendly or looking bad-tempered
sour look/face/smile etc
•Eliza was tall and thin, with a rather sour face.
•a sour-faced old man
4 informal if a relationship or plan turns or goes sour, it becomes less enjoyable, pleasant, or satisfactory:
•As time went by, their marriage turned sour.
•The meeting ended on a sour note with neither side able to reach agreement.
5 sour grapes used to say that someone is pretending that they dislike something because they want it but cannot have it - used to show disapproval
- sourly adverb
- sourness noun [U][I,T]
1 if a relationship or someone's attitude sours, or if something sours it, it becomes unfriendly or unfavourable:
•An unhappy childhood has soured her view of life.
2 if milk sours, or if something sours it, it begins to have an unpleasant sharp taste $ [C]
1 a thing, place, activity etc that you get something from:
•They get their money from various sources.
[+of]
•a useful source of information
•Beans are a very good source of protein.
•For me, music is a great source of enjoyment.
major/primary/main source of sth
•the country's main source of income
energy/food/light source
•relatively clean energy sources
at source BrE
•Is your pension taxed at source (=before it is paid to you)?
2 the cause of something, especially a problem, or the place where it starts
[+of]
•We've found the source of the trouble.
•The recent name change has been the source of some confusion.
3 a person, book, or document that supplies you with information:
•List all your sources at the end of your essay.
•I've heard from reliable sources that the company is in trouble.
4 the place where a stream or river starts
5 technical source code[T] technical
1 if goods are sourced from a particular place, they are obtained from that place
[+from]
•Fish for the restaurant is sourced daily from British ports.
•locally sourced milk
2 to find out where something can be obtained:
•We might be able to source the parts.[U] technical
the original form in which a computer program is written before it is changed into a form that a particular type of computer can read; machine codealso soured cream BrE [U]
cream which has been made thicker by adding a type of BACTERIA $ [U]
uncooked DOUGH (=bread mixture) that is left to FERMENT before being used to make bread $ [C] old-fashioned
someone who complains a lot and is never happy or satisfiedSouth written abbreviation S [singular, U]
1 the direction that is at the bottom of a map of the world, below the Equator. It is on the right if you are facing the rising sun:
•Which way is south?
from/towards the south
•By now the army was approaching from the south.
to the south (of sth)
•Gatwick airport is a few miles to the south of London.
2 the south the southern part of a country or area
in the south
•They lived in a small town in the South.
[+of]
•the South of IndiaSouth written abbreviation S [only before noun]
1 in the south or facing the south:
•a village on the south coast
•I am currently teaching in south Texas.
2 a south wind comes from the southwritten abbreviation S
1 towards the south:
•Most of the birds had already flown south.
[+of]
•a seaside town 99 km south of London
•a south-facing garden
2 down south
a) BrE informal in or to the southern part of England:
•We moved down south about five years ago.
b) AmE also down South in or to the southern US states:
•His sister lives down south.
3 go south AmE informal if a situation, organization, or set of standards goes south, it becomes very bad although it was once very good:
•It seems like all our moral standards have just gone south.
travelling or leading towards the south:
•southbound traffic
•The southbound lanes are closed.
•The car was last seen traveling southbound on I-35.Southeast written abbreviation SE [U]
1 the direction that is exactly between south and east
2 the southeast the southeastern part of a country
- southeast adverb
•We continued southeast to Kells.Southeast written abbreviation SE
1 a southeast wind comes from the southeast
2 in the southeast of a place:
•the southeast quarter of the city $ [C]
a strong wind or storm coming from the southeast $
1 towards or in the southeast:
•Snow will spread to southeasterly regions tonight.
2 a southeasterly wind comes from the southeastwritten abbreviation SE $
in or from the southeast part of a country or area:
•southeastern Europealso southeastward $
towards the southeast
- southeastward adjective $
1 towards or in the south:
•Tara walked in a southerly direction.
2 a southerly wind comes from the southSouthern written abbreviation S $
in or from the south of a country or area:
•a southern accent
•Southern ItalySoutherner $ [C]
someone from the southern part of a countrySouthern Hemisphere
the southern hemisphere the half of the world that is south of the Equator
the Southern Lights bands of coloured light that are seen in the night sky in the most southern parts of the world; = aurora australis $
furthest south:
•the southernmost tip of India $ [C] informal
someone who uses their left hand more than their right hand, especially a PITCHER in baseball or a BOXER
the South Pole the most southern point on the surface of the Earth; magnetic pole, north polealso southward $
towards the south:
•We followed the coast southwards.
- southward adjective
•the southward route to CharlestownSouthwest written abbreviation SW [U]
1 the direction that is exactly between south and west
2 the southwest the southwestern part of a country
- southwest adverb
•The plane flew southwest toward Egypt.Southwest written abbreviation SW
1 a southwest wind comes from the southwest
2 in the southwest of a place:
•the southwest corner of France $
1 towards or in the southwest:
•The plane was flying in a southwesterly direction.
2 a southwesterly wind comes from the southwestwritten abbreviation SW $
in or from the southwest part of a country or area:
•southwestern Coloradoalso southwestward $
towards the southwest
- southwestward adjective $ [C]
an object that you buy or keep to remind yourself of a special occasion or a place you have visited; = memento
[+of]
•I bought a model of the Eiffel Tower as a souvenir of Paris.
•a souvenir shop
[+from]
•a souvenir programme from the Gala Concert $ [C]
a hat made of shiny material that keeps the rain off, with a wide piece at the back that covers your neck $ [C]
1 formal a king or queen
2 a British gold coin used in the past that was worth £1
1 having the highest power in a country
sovereign power/control
2 a sovereign country or state is independent and governs itself $ [U]
1 complete freedom and power to govern:
•the sovereignty of Parliament
[+over]
•Spain's claim of sovereignty over the territory
2 the power that an independent country has to govern itself:
•the defence of our national sovereignty
relating to the former USSR (Soviet Union) or its people $ [C]
an elected council in a Communist country $ past tense sowed, past participle sown $ or, sowed
1 [I,T] to plant or scatter seeds on a piece of ground:
•Sow the seeds in late March.
sow sth with sth
•These fields used to be sown with oats.
2 [T] to do something that will cause a bad situation in the future:
•repressive laws that are sowing the seeds of future conflicts
sow doubt/confusion/dissatisfaction etc
•an attempt to sow doubt among the jury members
3 sow your wild oats if a man sows his wild oats, he has sex with many different women, especially when he is young
- sower noun [C] [C]
a fully grown female pig; boar $
the past participle of sow $ [plural]
an American spelling of 'socks', used especially in advertisingsoy AmE [U] BrE
soya beanssoybean AmE [C] BrE
the bean of an Asian plant from which oil and food containing a lot of PROTEIN is producedalso soya sauce BrE $ [U]
a dark brown liquid made from soya beans that is used especially in Japanese and Chinese cooking $ BrE informal
drunk [C]
1
a) a place where the water has special minerals in it, and where people go to improve their health by drinking the water or swimming in it:
•a historic spa town
b) also health spa a place where people go to improve their health and beauty, especially through swimming, exercise, beauty treatments etc
2 also spa bath AmE a bath or pool that sends currents of hot water around you; = Jacuzzi
1 EMPTY AREA [U] the amount of an area, room, container etc that is empty or available to be used
[+for]
•There's space for a table and two chairs.
• How much space is there on each disk?
more/less/enough space
•Now that we've got three kids, it'd be nice to have a bit more space.
space to do sth
•He had plenty of space to study.
•The hedge takes up too much space.
sense/feeling of space (=the feeling that a place is large and empty, so you can move around easily)
•In small homes a single colour scheme can create a sense of space.
2 AREA FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE [C,U] an area, especially one used for a particular purpose:
•a supermarket with 700 free parking spaces
storage/cupboard/shelf space
•We really do need more storage space.
•the factory's floor space (=the size of the available floor area)
3 BETWEEN THINGS [C] an empty place between two things, or between two parts of something; = gap
[+between ]
•the space between the house and the garage
•Lucy cleared a space on her desk.
•There was an empty space where the flowers had been.
4 OUTSIDE THE EARTH [U] the area beyond the Earth where the stars and PLANETs are
in/into space
•Who was the first American in space?
•creatures from outer space (=far away in space)
space travel/research/programme/exploration
•the history of space travel
5 WHERE THINGS EXIST [U] all of the area in which everything exists, and in which everything has a position or direction:
•the exact point in space where two lines meet
•how people of other cultures think about time and space
6 TIME
a) in/within the space of sth within a particular period of time:
•Mandy had four children in the space of four years.
b) a short space of time a short period of time:
•They achieved a lot in a short space of time.
7 EMPTY LAND [C,U] land, or an area of land that has not been built on:
•a pleasant town centre with plenty of open space
•the wide open spaces of the prairies
•the loss of green space in cities
8 FREEDOM [U] the freedom to do what you want or do things on your own, especially in a relationship with someone else:
•We give each other space in our marriage.
•She needed time and space to sort out her life.
9 IN WRITING [C]
a) an empty area between written or printed words, lines etc:
•Leave a space after each number.
b) the width of a TYPEd letter of the alphabet:
•The word 'the' takes up three spaces.
c) a place provided for you to write your name or other information on a document, piece of paper etc:
•Please write any comments in the space provided.
10 IN A REPORT/BOOK [U] the amount of space in a newspaper, magazine, or book that is used for a particular subject:
•The story got very little space in the national newspapers.
11 look/stare/gaze into space to look straight in front of you without looking at anything in particular, usually because you are thinking
BREATHING SPACE, PERSONAL SPACE; waste of space at WASTE^1 (5); watch this space at WATCH^1 (11)

WORD FOCUS: space
vehicles used in space:
spaceship
spacecraft
rocket
(space) shuttle
probe
satellite
space station
someone who travels in space:
astronaut
cosmonaut Russian
parts of a rocket's journey:
countdown
launch
blast-off /take-off/lift-off
leaving the earth's atmosphere
going into orbit
re-entering the earth's atmosphere
splashdown /touchdown
places and things in space:
planet
moon
star
sun
satellite
solar system
constellation
galaxy
universe
the cosmos
black hole
quasar
comet
meteor
asteroid
the study of space:
astronomy
also space out
1 [T always + adv/prep] to arrange objects or events so that they have equal spaces or periods of time between them:
•They used three microphones spaced several yards apart.
•Try to space out your classes and study in between.
be evenly spaced (=with equal spaces)
•For security, use three evenly spaced bolts per post.
2 [I] informal to stop paying attention and just look in front of you without thinking, especially because you are bored or have taken drugs:
•I completely spaced out during the lecture.
SPACED OUT
very modern:
•space-age technology[C]
the wide key at the bottom of a computer KEYBOARD or TYPEWRITER that you press to make a space[C]
informal someone who forgets things, does not pay attention, and often behaves strangely[C]
the part of a spacecraft that carries people into space to obtain information and then comes back to Earth $ [C]
a vehicle that is able to travel in spaceinformal
not fully conscious of what is happening around you, especially because you are extremely tired or have taken drugs plural spacemen [C]
1 informal a man who travels into space; = astronaut
2 someone in stories who visits the Earth from another world[C]
a spacecraft without people in it, that is sent into space to collect information about the conditions there and send the information back to Earth [C]
a vehicle for carrying people through space[C]
a vehicle that is designed to go into space and return to Earth several times[C]
a large spacecraft that stays above the Earth and is a base for people travelling in space or for scientific tests $ [C]
a special protective suit that people wear in space, that covers the whole body and provides a supply of air $ [C]
the act of moving around outside a spacecraft while in space, or the time spent outside it informal
behaving as though you are not fully conscious of what is happening around you:
•I felt tired and kind of spacey. [U]
the amount of space between the printed letters, words, or lines on a page
single spacing (=lines with no empty lines between them)
double spacing (=lines with one empty line after each one)
a spacious house, room etc is large and has plenty of space to move around in; cramped
•a spacious living area
- spaciously adverb
- spaciousness noun [U]
1 [C] a tool for digging that has a long handle and a broad metal blade that you push into the ground; shovel
2 also spades [U] a PLAYING CARD belonging to the set of cards that have one or more black shapes that look like pointed leaves printed on them:
•the queen of spades
3 call a spade a spade to speak about things in a direct and honest way, even though it may be impolite to do this
4 in spades to a great degree, or in large amounts:
•Beauty, intelligence, wealth - my mother had all of them in spades.
5 [C] taboo old-fashioned a very offensive word for a black person. Do not use this word. $ [U]
hard work that has to be done in preparation before something can happen; = legwork
•Most of the spadework had been done by 1981. [U]
a type of PASTA in very long thin pieces, that is cooked in boiling water
spaghetti bolognaise BrE (=cooked spaghetti served with a meat and tomato sauce); macaroni, tagliatelle[C]
a film about American COWBOYs in the Wild West, especially one made in Europe by an Italian director biblical or literary
a past tense of SPEAK[U]
trademark a type of cheap CANNED meat made mainly from PORK past tense and past participle spammed, present participle spamming [I,T]
to send the same message to many different people using email or the Internet, usually as a way of advertising something - used to show disapproval
- spamming noun [U][U]
email messages that a computer user has not asked for and does not want to read, for example from someone who is advertising something:
•You can filter out spam with special software.
a past tense of SPIN[C]
1 a period of time between two dates or events
over/within/in a span of sth
•Over a span of ten years, the company has made great progress.
•It'll be difficult to hire that many new staff in such a short time span.
2 the length of time over which someone's life, ability to pay attention to something etc continues
attention/concentration span
•Most 2-year-olds have a very short attention span.
•Captivity vastly reduces the life span of whales.
3 the part of a bridge, ARCH etc that goes across from one support to another
4 the distance from one side of something to the other:
•a bird with a large wing spanpast tense and past participle spanned, present participle spanning [T]
1 to include all of a period of time:
•a career which spanned nearly 60 years
2 to include all of a particular space or area:
•The Mongol Empire spanned much of Central Asia.
3 if a bridge spans an area of water, especially a river, it goes from one side to the other [U] trademark
a material that stretches, used especially for making tight-fitting sports clothes [T]
to cover something with shiny points of light
be spangled with sth
•The city skyline was spangled with lights.
- spangled also spangly adjective
•acrobats in spangled tights[C]
a small piece of shiny metal or plastic sewn on to clothes to give them a shining effect [U]
a mixture of Spanish and English, spoken especially in the US $ [C]
old-fashioned someone from Spain [C]
a type of dog with long ears that hang down
relating to Spain, its people, or its language
1 [U] the language used in Spain and parts of Latin America
2 the Spanish [plural] people from Spain [T]
to hit a child on their bottom with your open hand, as a punishment; = smack
- spank noun [C]
•a spank on the bottom [C,U]
the act of hitting a child on their bottom with your open hand, as a punishment:
•If you don't stop that noise, you'll get a spanking!informal
1 spanking new very new and impressive:
•a spanking new shopping centre
2 spanking clean very cleanBrE
at a spanking pace/rate old-fashioned very fast:
•They started walking at a spanking rate. $ [C] BrE
1 a metal tool that fits over a NUT, used for turning the nut to make it tight or to undo it; = wrench AmE
2 put/throw a spanner in the works informal to unexpectedly do something that prevents a plan or process from succeeding $ past tense and past participle sparred, present participle sparring [I]
1 to practise BOXING with someone
[+with]
•He broke his nose while sparring with Vega.
2 to argue with someone but not in an unpleasant way
[+over]
•Senators are sparring over the health bill.
[+with]
•He's been sparring with the security guards.
SPARRING PARTNER[C]
a thick pole, especially one used on a ship to support sails or ropes; mast $
1 EXTRA spare key/battery/clothes etc a key etc that you keep in addition to the one you usually use, so that it is available if the one you usually use breaks, gets lost etc:
•a spare key
•Bring a towel and some spare clothes.
•a supply of spare batteries
•a spare tyre
2 NOT USED/NEEDED [usually before noun] not being used or not needed at the present time:
•Have you got any spare boxes?
•You could sleep in the spare bedroom.
•Do you have any spare cash.
•I'll go and see if there are any spare seats.
•A decline in beer sales had left the industry with spare capacity (=the ability to produce more than can be sold).
3 TIME spare time/moment/hour etc time when you are not working:
•What do you do in your spare time?
•Eric spent every spare moment he had in the library.
4 MONEY spare change coins of little value that you do not need and can give to other people:
•There are beggars on every corner asking for spare change.
5 be going spare BrE spoken if something is going spare, it is available for you to have or use:
•I'll have some of that cake if it's going spare.
6 go spare BrE informal to become very angry or worried:
•Dad would go spare if he found out.
7 PLAIN a spare style of writing, painting etc is plain or basic and uses nothing unnecessary
8 THIN literary someone who is spare is tall and thin[T]
1 GIVE to make something such as time, money, or workers available for someone, especially when this is difficult for you to do:
•Sorry, I can't spare the time.
•I'd like you to come over when you can spare a couple of hours.
•Can you spare £5?
spare sb/sth to do sth
•We're too busy to spare anyone to help you right now.
spare sb ten minutes/an hour etc
•Could you possibly spare me a few moments in private (=used to ask someone if they have time to quickly talk to you)?
•It's very kind of you to spare me so much of your time.
2 money/time etc to spare if you have time, money etc to spare, you have some left in addition to what you have used or need:
•Anyone who has time to spare and would like to help can contact Moira.
with sth to spare
•They got to the airport with seconds to spare.
•They still have some money to spare.
3 spare sb the trouble/difficulty/pain etc (of doing sth) to prevent someone from having to experience something difficult or unpleasant:
•I wanted to spare them the trouble of buying me a present.
•Thankfully she had been spared the ordeal of surgery.
4 NOT DAMAGE OR HARM to not damage or harm someone or something, even though other people or things are being damaged, killed, or destroyed:
•I could not understand why I had been spared and they had not.
•the soldier who had spared his life
spare sb/sth from sth
•Today we will hear whether the school is to be spared from closure.
5 spare a thought for sb to think about another person who is in a worse situation than you are:
•Spare a thought for Nick, who's doing his exams right now.
6 spare no expense/effort to spend as much money or do everything necessary to make something really good or successful
spare no expense/effort to do sth
•No expense was spared in developing the necessary technology.
•No effort will be spared to bring the people responsible to justice.
7 spare sb (the details) to not tell someone all the details about something, because it is unpleasant or boring:
•He spared us the details, saying only that he had been injured in the war.
•'They own three houses. One in the country, one in...' ' Spare me.'
8 spare sb's feelings to avoid doing something that would upset someone:
•Just tell me the truth. Don't worry about sparing my feelings.
9 spare a glance BrE written to look quickly at someone or something
[+at]
•Before leaving the old town, spare another glance at the tower.
spare sb/sth a glance
•a bored waitress who scarcely spared them a glance
10 spare sb's blushes BrE to avoid doing something that would embarrass someone
1 [C] an additional thing, for example a key, that you keep so that it is available:
•If you forget the key, Mrs Jones over the road has a spare.
•The batteries are dead. Have you got any spares?
2 [C] a SPARE TYRE
3 spares [plural] BrE SPARE PARTs
motor/car/aircraft etc spares
•a shortage of aircraft spares[C usually plural]
a new part for a vehicle or machine, that is used to replace a part that is damaged or broken $ [plural]
the RIBs of a pig and the meat on them, eaten as food[C]
a bedroom in your house for guestsspare tire AmE [C] BrE
1 an additional wheel with a tyre on it, that you keep in a car to use if another tyre gets damaged
2 the fat around someone's waist - used humorously $
using or doing only a little of something:
• Use the spices sparingly.
- sparing adjective
•We must be sparing with our resources. $
1 FIRE [C] a very small piece of burning material produced by a fire or by hitting or rubbing two hard objects together:
•sparks from the fire
•The scrape of metal on metal sent up a shower of sparks.
2 ELECTRICITY [C] a flash of light caused by electricity passing across a space:
•electric sparks from a broken wire
3 spark of interest/excitement/anger etc a small amount of a feeling or quality:
•Rachel looked at her and felt a spark of hope.
4 CAUSE [C] a small action or event that causes something to happen, especially trouble or violence:
•The judge's verdict provided the spark for the riots.
•Interest rate cuts were the spark the market needed.
5 INTELLIGENCE/ENERGY [U] a quality of intelligence or energy that makes someone successful or fun to be with:
•She was tired, and lacked her usual spark.
•McKellan's performance gives the play its spark of life (=quality of energy).
6 sparks [plural] anger or angry arguments:
•The sparks were really flying (=people were arguing angrily) at the meeting!
bright spark at BRIGHT (10)
1 [T] also spark sth <=> off to be the cause of something, especially trouble or violence; = provoke
•The police response sparked outrage in the community.
•A discarded cigarette sparked a small brush fire.
2 spark sb's interest/hope/curiosity etc to make someone feel interested, hopeful etc:
•topics that spark children's imaginations
3 [I] to produce sparks of fire or electricity[C] BrE
a SPARK PLUG $ [I]
1 to shine in small bright flashes; sparkling
•The sea sparkled in the sun.
•The crystal chandelier sparkled.
2 if someone's eyes sparkle, they seem to shine brightly, especially because the person is happy or excited sparkling
[+with]
•Ron's eyes sparkled with excitement.[C,U]
1 a bright shiny appearance, with small points of flashing light:
•the sparkle of the diamonds
2 a quality that makes something or someone seem interesting and full of life:
•the sparkle and zest of a live performance
3 if someone has a sparkle in their eyes, their eyes seem to shine, and you can see a feeling in them, especially happiness or excitement:
•There was a sparkle of fun in her brown eyes. $ [C]
a type of FIREWORK that you can hold in your hand, consisting of a thin stick that gives off sparks of fire $
1 shining brightly with points of flashing light:
•a sparkling blue lake
2 very clean, and seeming to shine brightly:
•a sparkling white beach
•a sparkling clean kitchen
3 a sparkling drink has bubbles of gas in it; = fizzy
•a glass of sparkling wine
4 full of life and intelligence:
•Claire's sparkling personalityalso sparking plug BrE [C]
a part in a car engine that produces an electric SPARK to make the petrol mixture start burning $ BrE
full of life and energy:
•Why would a sparky girl like Nicola want to marry him?[C]
1 someone you practise BOXING with
2 someone you regularly have friendly arguments with $ [C]
a small brown bird, very common in many parts of the world $
existing only in small amounts:
•his sparse brown hair
•rural areas with sparse population
- sparsely adverb
•a sparsely populated area
- sparseness noun [U] $
spartan conditions or ways of living are simple and without any comfort:
•spartan accommodation
•a spartan existence
1 [C,U] an occasion when your muscles suddenly become tight, causing you pain:
•Maggie felt a muscle spasm in her back.
•Tom's jaw muscles had gone into spasm.
back/shoulder/throat etc spasm
2 spasm of grief/laughter/coughing etc a sudden strong feeling or reaction that you have for a short period of time:
•I felt a spasm of fear. $
1 happening for short irregular periods, not continuously:
•spasmodic machine gun fire
2 formal or medical of or relating to a muscle spasm:
•a spasmodic cough
- spasmodically adverb
1 old-fashioned having CEREBRAL PALSY, a disease that prevents control of the muscles
2 informal not polite an insulting way of describing someone who drops things, falls easily, and is stupid - used especially by children
- spastic noun [C]
the past tense and past participle of SPIT[C]
1 informal a short unimportant quarrel:
•a marital spat
2 spats [plural] special pieces of cloth that fasten with buttons on top of a man's shoes, worn in the past
1 spate of sth a large number of similar things that happen in a short period of time, especially bad things:
•a spate of burglaries
2 in spate BrE a river, stream etc that is in spate is very full and flowing very fast
relating to the position, size, shape etc of things
- spatially adverb $ [I,T]
if a liquid spatters, or if something spatters it, drops of it fall or are thrown all over a surface; = splatter
spatter sb/sth with sth
•The walls were spattered with blood.
spatter sth on/over etc sth
•a sweatshirt with paint spattered over it
[+on/across/over etc]
•The first drops of rain spattered on the stones.
- spatter noun [C] $ [C]
1 a kitchen tool with a wide flat blade, used for spreading, mixing, or lifting soft substances
2 BrE a small instrument with a flat surface, used by doctors to hold your tongue down so that they can examine your throat $
1 [T] to make a series of things happen or start to exist:
•New technology has spawned new business opportunities.
2 [I,T] if a fish or FROG spawns, it produces eggs in large quantities at the same time[U]
the eggs of a fish or FROG laid together in a soft mass [T]
to remove part of the sex organs of a female animal so that it is not able to have babies; neuter [in nouns]
the special language or difficult words that are used in a particular business or activity:
•computerspeak past tense spoke $ , past participle spoken $
1 IN CONVERSATION [I always + adv/prep] to talk to someone about something
[+to]
•I spoke to her last Wednesday.
•'Hello, may I speak to Jim Smith?' 'Yes, speaking' (=used on the telephone).
•I know her by sight, but not to speak to (=not well enough to talk to her).
speak to sb about sth
•I haven't spoken to Steve about all this.
[+with] especially AmE
•They did not want to speak with reporters.
[+of]
•It was the first time she had ever spoken of marriage.
2 SAY WORDS [I] to use your voice to produce words:
•I was so shocked I couldn't speak.
•He spoke very softly (=quietly).
3 LANGUAGE [T not in progressive] to be able to talk in a particular language:
•Do you speak English?
•I don't speak a word of French (=do not speak any French at all).
can/can't speak sth
•Several children in the class cannot speak English.
French-speaking/Italian-speaking etc
•a German-speaking secretary
4 FORMAL SPEECH [I] to make a formal speech
[+at]
•Jones spoke at the teachers' annual convention.
[+to]
•She asked me to speak to her students about my work in marketing.
[+in favour of/against]
•Only one MP spoke against the bill.
SPEAKER (1)
5 EXPRESS IDEAS/OPINIONS [I always + adv/prep] to say something that expresses your ideas or opinions
speak as a parent/teacher/democrat etc
•He emphasized that he was speaking as a private citizen, not in any official capacity.
speak well/highly/ill of sb (=say good or bad things about someone)
•Her co-workers spoke highly of her.
•It's wrong to speak ill of the dead.
strictly/generally/roughly speaking (=used when expressing an idea that you think is exactly true, generally true etc)
•Strictly speaking, it's my money, not yours. I earned it.
6 so to speak used when you are saying something in words that do not have their usual meaning:
•We have to pull down the barriers, so to speak, of poverty.
7 speak your mind to tell people exactly what you think, even if it offends them:
•He was a tough politician who wasn't afraid to speak his mind.
8 be not speaking/not be on speaking terms if two people are not speaking, they do not talk to each other, usually because they have argued:
•He was not on speaking terms with his brother or sisters.
9 speak volumes (about/for sth) if something speaks volumes, it clearly shows the nature of something or the feelings of a person:
•What you wear speaks volumes about you.
10 speak with one voice if a group of people speak with one voice, they all express the same opinion:
•On this issue, the 12 organizations spoke with one voice.
11 speak the same language if two people or groups speak the same language, they have similar attitudes and opinions
12 speak out of turn to say something when you do not have the right or authority to say it

PHRASAL VERBS
speak for sb/sth phr v
1 to express the feelings, thoughts, or beliefs of a person or group of people:
•Dan, speaking for the students, started the meeting.
2 speak for yourself spoken used to tell someone that you do not have the same opinion as they do, or that something that is true for them is not true for you:
•'We don't want to go.' 'Speak for yourself!'
3 be spoken for if something or someone is spoken for, they have already been promised to someone else:
•They're all either married or spoken for.
4 speak for itself/themselves to show something very clearly:
•The results speak for themselves.

speak of sth phr v
1 literary to show clearly that something happened or exists:
•Her skin spoke of warm summer days spent in the sun.
2 no ... to speak of also none/nothing to speak of very little of something or a very small thing:
•There's been no rain to speak of for several months.
•The house had no garden to speak of.

speak out phr v
to publicly speak in protest about something, especially when protesting could be dangerous
[+about/against]
•Five students who had spoken out against the regime were arrested.

speak to sb/sth phr v
1 to talk to someone who has done something wrong and tell them not to do it again:
•Joe was late again today. You'll have to speak to him.
2 if something such as a poem, painting, or piece of music speaks to you, you like it because it expresses a particular meaning, quality, or feeling to you:
•Modern art just doesn't speak to me.

speak up phr v
1 used to ask someone to speak louder:
•Could you speak up, please?
2 to say something, especially to express your opinion:
•There was a brief silence, then Gerald spoke up.
3 speak up for sb to speak in support of someone:
•He is willing to speak up for the rights of women.

WORD CHOICE: speak, talk
When one person is saying things, you can use talk or speak, but talk is more usual and speak slightly literary: She talked about her job. | He spoke longingly of his home country. | Don't interrupt me when I'm talking/speaking.
If people are having a conversation, always use talk: We talked about our relationship. | They talked for hours.
If you say that two people are not speaking, you mean they are not willing to talk to each other: They've had a row and they're not speaking.
Someone who can talk has learned to use language: She could talk before she was two.
If you can speak, you are able to say something on a particular occasion: I was too scared to speak.

!! When you mention what language someone uses, always use speak: She speaks (=knows how to use) French and Spanish. | We spoke in German at first, then English.

!! When you ask for someone on the telephone, use speak: Can I speak to Clare?

!! You can speak words. Do not use talk: I spoke the words as clearly as I could.

!! You can talk sense ortalk nonsense. Do not use speak: I think she talks a lot of sense.

actions speak louder than words at ACTION^1 (13)
the facts speak for themselves at FACT (8)
in a manner of speaking at MANNER (5) plural speakeasies [C]
a place in the US in the 1920's and 1930's where you could buy alcohol illegally $ [C]
1 someone who makes a formal speech to a group of people
[+at]
•the guest speaker at the conference
•The keynote speaker (=main or most important speaker) was Robert Venturi, the architect.
after-dinner speaker (=someone who makes a speech after a formal meal)
2 someone who speaks a particular language
French-speaker/Spanish-speaker etc
[+of]
•Some English words are difficult for speakers of other languages.
•a native speaker of Chinese
3 the part of a radio, SOUND SYSTEM etc where the sound comes out
4 formal someone who says something:
•Pay attention to the body language of the speaker.
5 the Speaker an official who controls discussions in a parliament
6 the Speaker of the House the politician who controls discussions in the House of Representatives in the US Congress $ [C] especially AmE
a telephone that contains a MICROPHONE and a LOUDSPEAKER, so that you can use it without holding it. Speakerphones are especially used in business meetings when groups of people in different places want to talk to each other. $ [C]
1 a pole with a sharp pointed blade at one end, used as a weapon in the past
2 a thin pointed stem of a plant:
•asparagus spears[T]
1 to push or throw a spear into something, especially in order to kill it
2 to push a pointed object, usually a fork, into something, so that you can pick it up; stab $ [T]
to lead an attack or organized action:
•the troops who spearheaded the rescue mission[C usually singular]
a person or group of people who lead an attack or organized action
[+of]
•The group became the spearhead of the labor union movement. $ [U]
1 a fresh MINT taste, often used in sweets
2 a type of MINT plant informal
1 [C usually plural] a detailed instruction about how a building, car, piece of equipment etc should be made; = specification
•the specs for the company's new video games console
2 on spec if you do something on spec, you do it without being sure that you will get what you are hoping for:
•I sent in an application on spec.
3 specs [plural] glasses that help you see
1 not ordinary or usual, but different in some way and often better or more important:
•a special place in the classroom for reading
•No one receives special treatment.
•Maria's special recipe for apple pie
•The good china was used only on special occasions.
•Each village has its own special charm.
anything/something/nothing special
•Are you doing anything special for Christmas?
2 particularly important to someone and deserving attention, love etc:
•a party with a few special friends
•a teacher who made every child feel special
•Her second son had a special place in her heart.
3 [only before noun] a special position or job has a particular purpose or aim, and continues only until that purpose or aim is achieved:
•Mitchell acted as a special envoy in the Northern Ireland peace talks.
4 [only before noun] more than usual:
•Pay special attention to how you clean the wound.[C usually singular]
1 something that is not usual or ordinary, and is made or done for a special purpose:
•a TV special on the election
2 a lower price than usual for a particular product for a short period of time:
•a lunch special for $4.99
be on special
•Breyer's ice cream is on special this week.[C] AmE
someone who works for the FBI
a department of the British police force that deals with political crimes or crimes affecting the safety of the government, for example TERRORISM[C]
someone in Britain who sometimes works as a police officer without being paid, and who also has another main job[C,U]
a service that delivers a letter or package very quickly[U]
the education of children who have physical problems or learning problems[C usually plural]
an unusual image or sound that has been produced artificially to be used in a film or television programme[plural]
soldiers who have been specially trained to fight against GUERRILLA or TERRORIST groups[C]
a group of people who share the same political or business aims, and who try to influence the government to help them with those aims[plural]
special interest groups in general:
•Special interests donate millions of dollars to political campaigns. BrE
1 [C] a particular activity or subject that you know a lot about; = specialization AmE
[+in]
•graduates with a specialism in Tourism and Leisure
2 [U] the practice of limiting your interests or activities to particular subjects; = specialization AmE [C]
1 someone who knows a lot about a particular subject, or is very skilled at it; = expert
[+in]
•an attorney who is a specialist in banking law
2 a doctor who knows more about one particular type of illness or treatment than other doctors:
•a heart specialist plural specialities [C] BrE
1 a type of food that a person, restaurant, or area is well known for; = specialty AmE
•The restaurant offers a wide variety of local specialities.
•the region's speciality cheese
2 a subject or job that you know a lot about or have a lot of experience of; = specialty AmE
•Preston's speciality was night photography. $ [C,U]
1 an activity or subject that you know a lot about
2 the practice of limiting your interests or activities to one particular subject:
•industrial specializationalso specialise BrE [I]
to limit all or most of your study, business etc to a particular subject or activity
[+in]
•Simmons specialized in contract law.also specialised BrE
trained, designed, or developed for a particular purpose, type of work, place etc:
•specialized training for specific jobs
•the highly specialized plants that live in desert areas[C,U] BrE
special permission given by the Church of England for a marriage to take place at a time or place not usually allowed
1 for one particular purpose, and only for that purpose:
•specially trained police dogs
specially designed/built/made etc
•The boats are specially built for the disabled.
2 spoken much more than usual, or much more than other people or things; = especially
•He specially liked the pie.
see box at ESPECIALLY[plural]
needs that someone has because they have mental or physical problems:
•children with special needs[C]
a low price charged for a product for a short time:
•The hotel has a special offer of five nights for the price of three.
[+on]
•special offers on dishwashers
be on special offer
•The wine is currently on special offer at £2.69.
- special offer adjective [only before noun]
•Our special offer price is £25.95.[U]
when someone tries to persuade you to do something by giving you only those facts that support their argument[C] especially BrE
a school for children with physical problems or learning problems plural specialities [C] AmE
1 a type of food that a person, restaurant, or area is well known for; = speciality BrE
•Our specialty is clam chowder.
2 a subject or job that you know a lot about or have a lot of experience of; = speciality BrE
•Johnson's specialty is medieval European history.
3 a particular product or business that has one purpose or sells one type of thing:
•an area with clothes retailers and specialty shops plural species [C]
a group of animals or plants whose members are similar and can breed together to produce young animals or plants:
•Seven species of birds of prey have been observed.
•pandas and other endangered species (=ones that may soon no longer exist); genus
1 [only before noun] a specific thing, person, or group is one particular thing, person, or group:
•games suitable for specific age-groups
•a specific example of alcohol's effect on the body
2 detailed and exact:
•Mr Howarth gave us very specific instructions.
[+about]
•Could you be more specific about what you're looking for?
3 specific to sth formal limited to, or affecting only one particular thing:
•a disease specific to horses
1 specifics [plural] particular details
[+of]
•the specifics of the lawsuit
give/go into/provide etc specifics
•Thurman was reluctant to go into specifics about the deal.
2 [C] medical a drug that has an effect only on one particular disease
1 relating to or intended for one particular type of person or thing only:
•advertising that specifically targets children
2 in a detailed or exact way:
•I specifically asked you not to do that!
3 [sentence adverb] used when you are adding more exact information:
•Specifically, the department wanted answers to the following questions. [C]
1 [usually plural] a detailed instruction about how a car, building, piece of equipment etc should be made
build/manufacture/produce sth to ... specifications
•The airport building had been constructed to FAA specifications.
•The bolts met all the engineering specifications.
2 especially BrE a clear statement of what is needed or wanted:
•a specification of what role each member will play
job specification (=a detailed description of what a job involves)[C,U] technical
the weight of a substance divided by the weight of the amount of water that would fill the same space past tense and past participle specified, present participle specifying, third person singular specifies [T]
to state something in an exact and detailed way:
•Payments will be made for a specified number of months.
specify who/what/how etc
•Regulations specify how long maintenance crews can work.
specify that
•The rules clearly specify that competitors must not accept payment. [C]
1 a small amount or piece that is taken from something, so that it can be tested or examined:
•a blood specimen
[+of]
•a specimen of rock
2 a single example of something, often an animal or plant
[+of]
•a very fine specimen of 12th century glass
3 a person you are describing in a particular way - used humorously:
•Her boyfriend is an impressive physical specimen. formal
seeming to be true or correct, but actually false:
•a specious argument [C]
a very small mark, spot, or piece of something
[+of]
•a speck of dust
covered with many small marks or spots:
•speckled eggs [plural]
small marks or spots covering a background of a different colour [C]
1 a very impressive show or scene:
•a multimedia dance and opera spectacle
2 [usually singular] an unusual or interesting thing or situation that you see or notice - used especially in order to show disapproval:
•The trial was turned into a public spectacle.
[+of]
•the spectacle of drunken young men on the streets
3 spectacles [plural] formal or old-fashioned glasses that help you see
4 make a spectacle of yourself to behave in an embarrassing way that is likely to make other people notice you and laugh at you $
1 very impressive:
•a mountainous area with spectacular scenery
•a spectacular success
2 very sudden, unexpected, or extreme:
•The news caused a spectacular fall in the stock market.
- spectacularly adverb[C]
an event or performance that is very large and impressive:
•a television spectacular $ [I]
to watch a sports event $ [C]
someone who is watching an event or game; audience
•The match attracted over 40,000 spectators. $ [C]
1 a sport that people go and watch
2 something that you watch rather than take part in - usually used humorously:
•Life is not a spectator sport. $
the American spelling of SPECTRE
the plural of SPECTRUM
1 literary relating to or like a spectre
2 technical relating to or made by a spectrumspecter AmE $ BrE
1 the spectre of sth something that people are afraid of because it may affect them badly:
•The recession is again raising the spectre of unemployment.
2 [C] literary a GHOST $ [C]
an instrument used for forming and looking at spectra
- spectroscopy $ noun [U]
- spectroscopic $ adjective plural spectra [C]
1 a complete range of opinions, people, situations etc, going from one extreme to its opposite
[+of]
•the ethnic spectrum of America
across the spectrum
•The bill drew support from across the political spectrum.
broad/wide/full etc spectrum
•a broad spectrum of environmental groups
•The two articles here represent opposite ends of the spectrum.
2 the set of bands of coloured light into which a beam of light separates when it is passed through a PRISM
3 a complete range of radio, sound etc waves:
•the electromagnetic spectrum
1 [I,T] to guess about the possible causes or effects of something, without knowing all the facts or details:
•She refused to speculate.
speculate on/about (why/what etc)
•Jones refused to speculate about what might happen.
speculate that
•Some analysts speculated that jobs will be lost.
2 [I] to buy goods, property, SHAREs in a company etc, hoping that you will make a large profit when you sell them
[+in/on]
•He speculated in stocks. [C,U]
1 when you guess about the possible causes or effects of something without knowing all the facts, or the guesses that you make
speculation that
•There is speculation that the president is ill.
[+about/on]
•speculation about the future
•the witness's statement was pure speculation (=not based on any facts)
wild/idle speculation (=speculation that is unlikely to be true)
2 when you try to make a large profit by buying goods, property, SHAREs etc and then selling them:
•property speculation $
1 based on guessing, not on information or facts
highly/purely/largely speculative
•a purely speculative theory about life on other planets
2 bought or done in the hope of making a profit later:
•speculative investments
3 if you give someone a speculative look, you look at them while trying to guess something about them
- speculatively adverb
•Delaney eyed her speculatively. $ [C]
someone who buys goods, property, SHAREs in a company etc, hoping that they will make a large profit when they sell them:
•a New York property speculator
a past tense and past participle of SPEED
1 [C] a talk, especially a formal one about a particular subject, given to a group of people:
•a campaign speech
give/make/deliver a speech
•Each child had to give a short speech to the rest of the class.
[+on/about]
•a major speech on relations with China
•a conference including meals and after-dinner speeches
•Collins gave the keynote speech (=most important speech).
2 [U] the ability to speak:
•Only humans are capable of speech.
3 [U] spoken language rather than written language:
•In speech we use a smaller vocabulary than in writing.
4 [U] the particular way in which someone speaks:
•Bob's speech was slurred, and he sounded drunk.
5 [C] a set of lines that an actor must say in a play:
•Hamlet's longest speech
DIRECT SPEECH, FIGURE OF SPEECH, INDIRECT SPEECH, PART OF SPEECH, REPORTED SPEECH
speech bubble at BUBBLE^1 (4)
freedom of speech at FREEDOM (1)[C]
an occasion held once a year in some British schools, when prizes are given to children and people give speeches past tense and past participle speechified, present participle speechifying, third person singular speechifies [I] informal
to make speeches in a way that makes you seem important - used in order to show disapproval[C]
a physical or nervous problem that affects your speech
unable to speak because you feel very angry, upset etc
[+with]
•His comments left me speechless with rage.
- speechlessly adverb
- speechlessness noun [U][plural] BrE
the marks (' ') or (" "), that show when someone starts speaking and when they stop; = quotation marks[C]
a computer system that produces sounds like human speech[U]
treatment that helps people who have difficulty in speaking properly
- speech therapist noun [C] $ [C]
someone whose job is to write speeches for other people
1 OF MOVEMENT [C,U] the rate at which something moves or travels

(at) a speed of 60 mph/80 kmph etc
at high/low speed(s)
at great speed
at top/full speed (=as fast as possible)
at lightning speed (=very fast)
at breakneck speed (=dangerously fast)
at the speed of light
speed limit/restriction
wind speed

•The truck was travelling at a speed of 50 mph.
•Extreme care is always needed when flying at high speeds.
•Beat the mixture for two minutes at low speed.
•They drove to the hospital at top speed.
•They chased each other through the streets at breakneck speed.
•particles that travel at the speed of light
•The speed limit in urban areas is usually 30 or 40 mph.
•The average wind speed at Stornoway is 14.4 knots.

2 OF ACTION [C,U] the rate at which something happens or is done
[+of]
•the speed of change within the industry
•a high-speed computer
•At that time, cities were growing at breakneck speed (=very fast).
3 FAST [U] the quality of being fast:
•The women's basketball team has talent, speed, and power.
with speed
•She acted with speed and efficiency.
at speed BrE
•a van travelling at speed
pick up/gather speed (=gradually start to travel faster)
•The train began to pick up speed.
4 PHOTOGRAPHY [C]
a) the degree to which photographic film is sensitive to light
b) the time it takes for a camera SHUTTER to open and close:
•a shutter speed of 1/250 second
5 DRUG [U] informal an illegal drug that makes you very active; = amphetamine
6 five-speed/ten-speed etc having five, ten etc GEARs :
•a ten-speed bike
7 up to speed having the latest information or knowledge about something:
•Some school officials are only now getting up to speed regarding computers.
•John will bring you up to speed (=tell you the latest information).
full speed/steam ahead at FULL^1 (18)past tense and past participle sped also, speeded
1 [I always + adv/prep] to go quickly:
•The car sped along the dusty highway.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to take someone or something somewhere very quickly:
•An ambulance sped her to the hospital.
3 be speeding to be driving faster than the legal limit:
•I got caught speeding on the A40 yesterday.
4 also speed sth <=> up [T] to make something happen faster; slow down
•This news should speed his recovery.

PHRASAL VERBS
speed by phr v
if time speeds by, it seems to pass very quickly:
•The weeks sped by and soon it was time to go back to school.

speed up phr v
to move or happen faster, or to make something move or happen faster; slow down
•The truck speeded up going down the hill.
speed sth<=> up
•The new system will speed up the registration process. $ [C]
a small boat with a powerful engine, designed to go fastalso speed hump BrE [C]
a narrow raised area put across a road to force traffic to go slowly; = sleeping policemanspeed dialing [U]
a special feature on a telephone that lets you DIAL someone's telephone number very quickly by pressing one button
- speed-dial verb [I,T] [U]
the offence of driving faster than the legal limit:
•a speeding ticket
•She got stopped for speeding.[C]
the fastest speed allowed by law on a particular piece of road:
•a 30 mph speed limit
exceed/break the speed limitalso speedo $ [C]
an instrument in a vehicle that shows how fast it is going[U]
the skill of reading very quickly[U]
the sport of racing on ice wearing ICE SKATEs [C]
a place on a road where police wait to catch drivers who are going too fastspeed-up [C usually singular]
an increase in the speed of something or in the rate at which a process happens
[+in]
•a speedup in population growth
1 [U] the sport of racing MOTORCYCLEs or cars on a special track
2 [C] a special track for the sport of speedway comparative speedier, superlative speediest
1 happening or done quickly or without delay; = quick
•a speedy recovery from injury
2 a speedy car, boat etc goes fast; = fast
- speedily adverb
•The matter was speedily resolved. $ [U] technical
1 BrE the sport of walking and climbing in CAVEs ; = spelunking AmE
2 the scientific study of CAVE s
- speleologist noun [C] past tense and past participle spelt BrE also, spelled especially AmE
1 [I,T] to form a word by writing or naming the letters in order:
• How do you spell'juice'?
•Pupils should know how to spell commonly used words.
spell sth wrong/wrongly
•You've spelled my name wrong.
2 [T not in passive] if letters spell a word, they form it:
•B-O-O-K spells 'book'.
3 spell trouble/disaster/danger etc if a situation or action spells trouble etc, it makes you expect trouble etc:
•The lack of rain could spell disaster for farmers.
4 [T] AmE to do someone else's work for them for a short period so that they can rest:
•I can spell you if you get tired.

PHRASAL VERBS
spell sth <=> out phr v
1 to explain something clearly and in detail
spell out how/what etc
•The report spelled out in detail what the implications were for teacher training.
2 to show how a word is spelled by writing or saying the letters separately in order:
•'W-E-I-R,' she said, spelling it out.
3 to write a word in its complete form instead of using an ABBREVIATION[C]
1 a piece of magic that someone does, or the special words or ceremonies used in doing it:
•a magic spell
put a spell on sb/cast a spell over sb (=do a piece of magic to change someone)
•The kiss of the prince broke the spell (=stopped the magic from working).
be under a spell
•The whole town seemed to be under a spell.
2 a period of a particular kind of activity, weather, illness etc, usually a short period
brief/short spell
•After a brief spell in the army, I returned to teaching.
[+of]
•a spell of bad luck
cold/wet/dry spell
•Water the young plants carefully during dry spells.
•a day of sunny spells and scattered showers
•He began to suffer from dizzy spells.
3 a power that attracts, interests, and influences you very strongly
fall/come/be under a spell
•I fell under the spell of her charm.
•an ancient city that still casts its spell over travellers
4 break the spell to make someone stop paying all their attention to something, or to make a time stop feeling special:
•He lay still, not wanting to break the spell.
extremely interesting and holding your attention completely; = riveting
•a spellbinding tale
extremely interested in something you are listening to:
•'King Lear' still holds audiences spellbound.[C]
a computer program that tells you when you have spelled a word wrongly
- spell-check verb [I,T] $
good/bad/poor etc speller someone who is good or bad at spelling words correctly:
•words that confuse even good spellers
1 [U] the act of spelling words correctly, or the ability to do this:
•Her spelling has improved.
•an essay full of spelling mistakes
2 [C] the way in which a word is spelled:
•She quickly gave the correct spelling.[C]
AmE a competition in which the winner is the person who spells the most words correctly especially BrE
the past tense and past participle of SPELL AmE
the sport of walking and climbing in CAVEs
- spelunker noun [C] past tense and past participle spent
1 MONEY [I,T] to use your money to pay for goods or services:
•I can't afford to spend any more money this week.
spend £5/$10 etc
•I only want to spend about $20.
spend sth on sth
•More money should be spent on education.
spend sth on sb
•Mum never spends any money on herself.
•The repairs cost a lot, but it's money well spent (=a sensible way of spending money).
2 TIME [T] to use time doing a particular thing or pass time in a particular place
spend time etc with sb
•I want to spend more time with my family.
spend time etc in/at sth
•We'll have to spend the night in a hotel.
•His childhood was spent in Brazil.
spend time etc doing sth
•Stacey spends all her free time painting.
3
a) spend the night with sb to stay for the night and have sex with someone
b) spend the night (at sth) if someone spends the night at someone's house, they sleep at that person's house for a night:
•She spent the night at a friend's house.
4 FORCE/EFFORT [T] to use effort or energy to do something:
•I love to cook, but I don't feel like spending the energy every evening.
5 spend a penny BrE spoken old-fashioned to URINATE - used when you want to avoid saying this directly $ [C]
someone who spends money:
•The new casino hopes to attract big spenders (=people who spend a lot of money). [U]
the amount of money spent, especially by a government or organization
government/public/defence etc spending
•a plan to increase military spending[U]
money that you have available to spend on the things you want rather than need [C]
someone who spends money carelessly, even when they do not have a lot of it
the past tense and past participle of SPEND
1 already used, and now empty or useless:
•He tried to eject the spent cartridge and reload.
•spent matches
2 a spent force if a political idea or organization is a spent force, it no longer has any power or influence:
•Socialism had become a spent political force.
3 literary extremely tired $ plural sperm or sperms
1 [C] also sperm cell a cell produced by the sex organs of a male person or animal, which is able to join with the female egg to produce a new life
2 [U] the liquid from the male sex organs that these cells swim in; = semen
3 sperm count a medical measurement of the number of sperm a man has, which shows if he is able to make a woman PREGNANT $ plural spermatozoa $ [C] technical
a sperm[C]
a place where SEMEN is kept to be used in medical operations that help women become PREGNANT $ [C,U]
a cream or liquid that kills SPERM, used while having sex to prevent the woman from becoming PREGNANT
- spermicidal $ adjective [only before noun]
•spermicidal cream[C]
a large WHALE sometimes hunted for its oil and fat
1 [I always + adv/ prep,T] also spew out/forth to flow out of something quickly in large quantities, or to make something flow out in this way:
•Factory chimneys spewed fumes out into the sky.
[+from/into/over etc]
•Brown water spewed from the tap.
2 [I always + adv/ prep,T] also spew out/forth to say a lot of bad or negative things very quickly:
•Groups like these use the Internet to spew racial hatred.
3 [I,T] also spew up informal to VOMIT [singular, U]
Sun Protection Factor a number that shows you how much protection a special cream gives you from the sun:
•an SPF 25 creamalso sphagnum moss [U]
a type of MOSS (=simple plant) that grows in wet places $ [in nouns] technical
relating to the air or gases surrounding the Earth:
•the atmosphere $ [C]
1 a ball shape
2 a particular area of activity, work, knowledge etc
in ... sphere
•television's increasing role in the political sphere
public/private sphere
•Women have often been excluded from positions of power in the public sphere.
3 sb's/sth's sphere of influence a person, country's, organization's etc sphere of influence is the area where they have power to change things
having the shape of a sphere; = round $ [C] technical
a shape that is similar to a ball, but not perfectly round $ [C] medical
a muscle that surrounds an opening in your body, and can become tight in order to close the openingspik [C] AmE taboo
a very offensive word for a Spanish-speaking person. Do not use this word.
1 [C,U] a type of powder or seed, taken from plants, that you put into food you are cooking to give it a special taste; spicy
•herbs and spices
2 [singular, U] interest or excitement that is added to something:
•Travel adds spice to your life.
variety is the spice of life at VARIETY (5)also spice up [T]
1 to add interest or excitement to something:
•Millions have bought the book to spice up their sex lives.
2 to add spice to food
[+with]
•baked apples spiced with cinnamonspic and span [not before noun] informal
a room, house etc that is spick and span is completely clean and tidy
1 food that is spicy has a pleasantly strong taste, and gives you a pleasant burning feeling in your mouth; = hot; spice
•a spicy tomato sauce
2 a story or picture that is spicy is slightly shocking or rude because it tells about or shows something relating to sex $ [C]
1 a small creature with eight legs, which catches insects using a fine network of sticky threads
2 technical a computer program that searches the Internet for the best websites with the information you want, so that you can find it quickly; = crawler, bot; crawl the net/webalso web $ [C] AmE
a very fine network of sticky threads made by a spider to catch insects; cobweb
covered with or made of lots of long thin uneven lines:
•spidery handwriting [C,U] informal
a quick speech that the speaker has used many times before, especially one that is intended to persuade people to buy something:
•A salesman started giving us a spiel about life insurance. old-fashioned informal especially AmE
very neat, attractive, and fashionable:
•a spiffy blue suit [C]
1 a TAP in a large container that controls the flow of liquid from it
2 especially AmE an outdoor TAP [C]
1 something long and thin with a sharp point, especially a pointed piece of metal
2 [usually singular] a sudden large increase in the number or rate of something
[+in]
•a spike in interest rates
3 spikes [plural] shoes with metal points on the bottom, worn by people who run races, play golf etc
4 spike heels [plural] a pair of women's shoes with very high thin heels
1 [T] to secretly add strong alcohol or a drug to someone's drink or food
spike sth with sth
•The orange juice had been spiked with gin.
2 [I] if the number or rate of something spikes, it increases quickly and by a large amount:
•New telephone orders have spiked in the last two years.
3 [T] to push a sharp tool or object into something
4 [T] to prevent someone from saying something or printing something in a newspaper:
•a clumsy attempt to spike rumours of a cabinet split
5
a) spike the ball AmE to powerfully throw an American football down on the ground to celebrate a TOUCHDOWN
b) [I,T] to powerfully hit a VOLLEYBALL down over the net
6 spike sb's guns BrE to spoil an opponent's plans
1 hair that is spiky is stiff and stands up on top of your head:
•short black spiky hair
2 having long sharp points:
•a spiky cactus
3 BrE informal easily offended or annoyed past tense and past participle spilt especially BrE or, spilled especially AmE
1 [I,T] if you spill a liquid, or if it spills, it accidentally flows over the edge of a container; pour
•Katie almost spilled her milk.
spill sth down/on/over sth
•Oh no! I've spilt coffee all down my shirt!
[+on/over etc]
•He slipped and the wine spilled all over the carpet.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if people or things spill out of somewhere, they move or fall out in large numbers; = pour
[+out/into/onto etc]
•Crowds from the theatre were spilling onto the street.
3 spill the beans informal to tell something that someone else wanted you to keep a secret
4 spill your guts AmE informal to tell someone all about your private life, or about a personal secret
5 spill blood literary to kill or wound people

PHRASAL VERBS
spill into/onto sth phr v literary
if light spills onto or into something, it shines through a window, door, hole etc onto something else:
•The morning light spilled into the room.

spill over phr v
if a problem or bad situation spills over, it spreads and begins to affect other places, people etc
[+into]
•The conflict might spill over into neighbouring towns.
cry over spilt milk at CRY^1 (3)
1 [C,U] when you spill something, or an amount of something that is spilled:
•the enormous oil spill off the southern tip of the Shetland Islands
2 [C] a fall from a horse, bicycle etc:
•Tyson broke a rib when he took a spill on his motorcycle. [C,U]
a SPILL^2 (1) $ [C,U]
the effect that one situation or problem has on another situation:
•Not all of the violence in Miami was spillover from the trial.
spillover effect/benefit/cost
•The weak European economy will have a spillover effect on the US dollar. especially BrE
a past tense and past participle of SPILL past tense and past participle spun , present participle spinning
1 TURN AROUND [I,T] to turn around and around very quickly, or to make something do this:
•The plane's propellers were spinning.
spin (sth/sb) around
•She grabbed Norm's arm and spun him around to face her.
2 sb's head is spinning also the room is spinning if your head or the room is spinning, you feel as if you might FAINT (=become unconscious) because you are shocked, excited, or drunk:
•I was pouring with sweat, and my head was spinning.
•The room started to spin.
3 SITUATION/INFORMATION [T] to describe a situation or information in a way that is intended to influence the way people think about it - used especially about what politicians or business people do:
•Supporters attempted to spin the bill's defeat to their advantage.
4 spin a tale/story/yarn to tell a story, especially using a lot of imagination:
•She spun a story about a trip to Athens to meet one of the authors.
5 WOOL/COTTON [I,T] to make cotton, wool etc into thread by twisting it
6 DRIVE [I always + adv/prep] written to drive or travel quickly; = speed
[+past/along etc]
•Barbara spun past in her new sportscar.
7 spin your wheels AmE to continue trying to do something without having any success:
•I felt like I was just spinning my wheels trying to make him understand.
8 WET CLOTHES [T] BrE to get water out of clothes using a machine after you have washed them
9 INSECT [T] if a SPIDER or insect spins a WEB or COCOON, it produces thread to make it

PHRASAL VERBS
spin off phr v
to make part of a company into a separate and partly independent company, or to become a separate company
spin sth <=> off
•At the time of the merger, Loral spun off its space divisions into a separate firm.
[+from]
•Lucent spun off from AT&T in 1995.
SPIN-OFF (2)

spin out phr v
1 spin sth <=> out BrE to make something continue for longer than is necessary; = drag out
•I'm paid by the hour, so I spin the work out as long as I can.
2 spin sth <=> out BrE to use money, food etc as carefully and slowly as possible, because you do not have very much of it
[+over]
•I've only got £10 left, so we'll have to spin it out over the whole week.
3 AmE if a car spins out, the driver loses control of it and the car spins around
1 TURNING [C] an act of turning around quickly:
•the Earth's spin
•The Russian skater finished her routine with a series of spins.
2 CAR [singular] informal a short trip in a car for pleasure; = drive
•Let's go for a spin in the country.
•Do you want to take my car for a spin?
3 BALL [U] if you put spin on a ball in a game such as tennis or CRICKET, you deliberately make the ball turn very quickly so that it is difficult for your opponent to hit
4 INFORMATION [singular, U] the way someone, especially a politician or business person, talks about information or a situation, especially in order to influence the way people think about it:
•They tried to put a positive spin on the sales figures.
SPIN DOCTOR
5 AIRCRAFT [singular] if an aircraft goes into a spin, it falls suddenly, turning around and around
6 in/into a (flat) spin if you are in a spin, you are very confused and anxious:
•The sudden fall on the stock-market sent brokers into a spin.
7 WET CLOTHES give sth a spin BrE to turn clothes around very fast in a machine to remove water from them [U]
a serious condition in which a person's SPINE does not develop correctly before they are born, so that their SPINAL CORD is not protected [U]
a vegetable with large dark green leaves
belonging to or affecting your SPINE:
•spinal injuries[C]
technical your SPINE[C]
the thick string of nerves enclosed in your SPINE, by which messages are sent to and from your brain [C]
1 a part of a machine shaped like a stick, around which something turns
2 a round pointed stick used for twisting the thread when you are spinning wool
long and thin in a way that looks weak:
•spindly legs[C] informal
someone whose job is to give information to the public in a way that gives the best possible advantage to a politician or organization:
•White House spin doctors[C] BrE
a machine that removes most of the water from washed clothes by spinning them around and around very fast
- spin-dry verb [T]
1 [C] the row of bones down the centre of your back that supports your body and protects your SPINAL CORD; = backbone; spinal
2 [C] a stiff sharp point on an animal or plant; spiny
•cactus spines
3 [C] the part of a book that the pages are fastened onto
4 [U] courage or determination
a spine-chilling story or film is very frightening in a way that people enjoy
- spine-chiller noun [C]
1 lacking courage and determination - used to show disapproval:
•a bunch of spineless politicians
2 without a spine $ [C]
1 a musical instrument of the 16th and 17th centuries, which is played like a piano
2 AmE a small UPRIGHT PIANO
making you feel very excited or frightened, in an enjoyable way:
•The festival opened with Nic Roeg's latest spine-tingling film. $ [C]
a sail with three points at the front of a boat, used when the wind is directly behind $ [C]
1 someone whose job is to make thread by twisting cotton, wool etc
2 a BOWLER in a game of CRICKET who throws the ball with a spinning action
3 a thing used for catching fish that spins when pulled through the water
MONEY-SPINNER [C] BrE
a small area of trees and bushes[C]
a simple machine consisting of a wheel on a frame that people used in their homes in the past for making cotton, wool etc into threadspinoff $ [C]
1 a television programme involving characters that were previously in another programme or film
2 a separate and partly independent company that is formed from parts of an existing company, or the action of forming a company in this way
3 an unexpected but useful result of something, that happens in addition to the intended result:
•Laser research has had important spin-offs for eye surgery. $ [C] old-fashioned
an unmarried woman, usually one who is no longer young and seems unlikely to marry
a spiny animal or plant has lots of stiff sharp points; spine
•spiny sea urchins
•spiny bushes $ [C]
1 a line in the form of a curve that winds around a central point, moving further away from the centre all the time
2 a process, usually a harmful one, in which something gradually but continuously gets worse or better
in/into a spiral
•Unemployment rose and the city went into a spiral of decline.
downward/upward spiral
•The company is in a downward spiral.
3 inflationary spiral a situation in which wages and prices rise continuously because the level of INFLATION is high
- spiral adjectivepast tense and past participle spiralled, present participle spiralling BrE past tense and past participle spiraled, present participle spiraling AmE [I]
1 [always + adv/prep] to move in a continuous curve that gets nearer to or further from its central point as it goes round
[+to/around etc]
•The damaged plane spiralled to the ground.
2 if a situation spirals, it gets worse, more violent etc in a way that cannot be controlled:
•Crime has spiraled out of control.
3 if debt or the cost of something spirals, it increases quickly in a way that cannot be controlled
- spiralling BrE spiraling AmE adjective
•the spiralling cost of legal services
a spiral-bound book or NOTEBOOK has pages that are attached together by a long wire that is twisted around and put through small holes in the sides of the pages[C]
a book in which you write notes, made of pieces of paper that are attached to a wire spiral[C]
a set of stairs arranged in a circular pattern so that they go around a central point as they get higher $ [C]
a roof that rises steeply to a point on top of a tower, especially on a church; steeple
1 CHARACTER [singular, U] the qualities that make someone live the way they do, and make them different from other people
in spirit
•I'm 85, but I still feel young in spirit.
independent/proud/free etc spirit (=a person with a particular type of character)
•She is a strong and independent spirit.
kindred spirit at KINDRED^2 (1)
2 HAPPY/SAD spirits [plural] the way someone feels at a particular time, for example if they are happy or sad; mood
be in good/high spirits (=be excited and happy)
•Seb was still in high spirits after winning the race.
•His spirits were so low (=he was so sad) that he refused to answer his phone.
raise/lift sb's spirits (=make someone happier)
•The warm morning sun lifted our spirits.
•She wrote poetry while she was in the hospital to keep her spirits up (=keep happy).
sb's spirits rise/lift/sink (=they become more or less happy)
•My spirits sank when I saw the mess they'd left.
3 SOUL [C] the part of someone that you cannot see, that consists of the qualities that make up their character, which many people believe continues to live after the person has died; soul
•Although Laurie is dead, I can feel his spirit with me.
4 NO BODY [C] a creature without a physical body that some people believe exists, such as an ANGEL or a dead person, who has returned to this world and has strange or magical powers; ghost
•an evil spirit
5 DETERMINATION [U] courage, energy, and determination - use this to show approval:
•Sandra is small, but she makes up for it with great spirit.
•a young team with strong fighting spirit
•When they took away his freedom, they broke his spirit (=made him lose his courage).
6 ATTITUDE [singular, U] the attitude that you have towards something or while you are doing something:
•You've got to approach this meeting in the right spirit.
[+of]
•the spirit of cooperation between the two sides
7 team/community/public etc spirit a strong feeling of belonging to a particular group and wanting to help them
8 TYPICAL QUALITIES [C usually singular] the set of ideas, beliefs, feelings etc that are typical of a particular period in history, a place, or a group of people
[+of]
•Tourism has not destroyed the spirit of Bali.
the spirit of the age/times
•His beliefs conflicted with the spirit of the age.
9 in spirit if you say you will be somewhere in spirit or with someone in spirit, you will not be with them but will be thinking about them:
•I can't come to your wedding, but I'll be there in spirit.
10 get/enter into the spirit (of sth) to start to feel as happy, excited etc as the people around you:
•Judith couldn't really enter into the spirit of the occasion.
11 INTENTION [U] the meaning or qualities that someone intended something to have, especially the meaning that a law or rule was intended to have:
•Thoreau believed that his actions were in the spirit of American institutions.
•Miller's actions may not be actually illegal, but they have violated the spirit of the law.
the letter of the law at LETTER^1 (4)
12 the Spirit the HOLY SPIRIT
13 DRINK [C usually plural]
a) especially BrE a strong alcoholic drink such as WHISKY or BRANDY
b) BrE liquid such as alcohol, used for cleaning
14 that's the spirit spoken used to express approval of someone's behaviour or attitude
15 when/as the spirit moves you when you feel that you want to do something
16 the spirit is willing (but the flesh is weak) used when saying that you want to do something, but you are too tired or do not feel strong enough - often used humorouslywritten

PHRASAL VERBS
spirit sb/sth away/off phr v
to take someone or something away quickly and secretly:
•After his speech, Jackson was spirited away through a back door.
1 having energy and determination - used to show approval:
•a spirited and energetic girl
spirited defence/debate/discussion etc
2 sweet-spirited/tough-spirited/rebellious-spirited etc having a particular type of character
HIGH-SPIRITED, LOW-SPIRITED, MEAN-SPIRITED, PUBLIC-SPIRITED
1 having no energy or determination
2 not cheerful[C] especially BrE
a tool used for testing whether a surface is level
1 relating to your spirit rather than to your body or mind:
•Painting helps fill a spiritual need for beauty.
•spiritual values
2 relating to religion; = religious
•Islam was inspired by the teachings of the spiritual leader Mohammed.
3 sb's spiritual home a place where you feel you belong because you share the ideas and attitudes of that society
- spiritually adjective[C]
a religious song of the type sung originally by African-Americans [U]
the belief that dead people are able to send messages to living people
- spiritualist noun [C] [U]
the quality of being interested in religion or religious matters past tense and past participle spat or, spit AmE , present participle spitting
1 LIQUID FROM YOUR MOUTH [I] to force a small amount of SALIVA (=the liquid in your mouth) out of your mouth:
•Nick rolled down his window and spat.
[+at/on/into]
•A group of fans spat on the players as they left the field.
2 FOOD/DRINK ETC [T] to force something out of your mouth:
•Billy stood up slowly, rubbed his jaw, and spat blood.
spit sth out
•Diana tasted her martini and quickly spat it out.
3 RAIN be spitting BrE to be raining very lightly; = drizzle
•You don't need an umbrella - it's only spitting.
4 SAY STH also spit out [T] to say something quickly in a very angry way:
•'Shut up,' spat Maria furiously.
5 spit it out spoken used to ask someone to tell you something that they seem too frightened or embarrassed to say:
•Come on Jean, spit it out!
6 SMALL PIECES [I,T] to send out small bits of something, for example fire or hot oil, into the air:
•A log fire was crackling and spitting in the hearth.
7 CAT [I] if a cat spits, it makes short angry sounds
8 be within spitting distance (of sth) spoken to be very close to someone or something

PHRASAL VERBS
spit up phr v AmE
if someone, especially a baby, spits up, they bring a small amount of food or drink up from their stomach out through their mouth
spit sth <=> up
•I was a difficult child, always crying and spitting up my food.
•On one occasion, our daughter spat up all over him.
1 [U] informal the watery liquid that is produced in your mouth; = saliva
2 [C] a long thin stick that you put through meat so that you can turn it when cooking it over a fire
3 [C] a long narrow piece of land that sticks out into the sea, into a river etc
4 be the (dead) spit of sb BrE spoken to look exactly like someone else:
•Sam is the dead spit of his dad.
5 spit and polish informal when something is thoroughly cleaned and polished:
•It was Christmas, so Ellen gave the dining room a little extra spit and polish. $ [C] AmE
a small piece of paper that children roll into a ball and then spit or throw at each other [U]
1 in spite of sth without being affected or prevented by something; = despite
•We went out in spite of the rain.
•Kelly loved her husband in spite of the fact that he drank too much.
2 a feeling of wanting to hurt or upset people, for example because you are JEALOUS or think you have been unfairly treated
out of spite (=because of spite)
•She broke it just out of spite.
pure/sheer spite (=spite and nothing else)
3 in spite of yourself if you do something in spite of yourself, you do it although you did not expect or intend to do it:
•The picture made her laugh in spite of herself.[T only in infinitive]
to deliberately annoy or upset someone:
•The neighbours throw things over the garden wall just to spite us.
cut off your nose to spite your face at CUT OFF (10)
deliberately nasty to someone in order to hurt or upset them; = vicious
•She was spiteful and unkind, both to Isabel and to her son.
•a spiteful remark
- spitefully adverb
be the spitting image of sb to look exactly like someone else [U]
the liquid in your mouth; = spit [C]
a container that people SPIT into [C] BrE old-fashioned
a man who gets money from small dishonest business deals
1 [I] if a liquid splashes, it hits or falls on something and makes a noise
[+against/on/over]
•The ocean splashed against the pier.
2 [T always + adv/prep] to make someone or something wet with a lot of small drops of water or other liquid
splash sth on/over/with etc sth
•He splashed cold water on his face.
3 [I] also splash about/around to make water fly up in the air with a loud noise by hitting it or by moving around in it:
•The children were splashing about in the pool.
[+through]
•She ran up the drive, splashing through the puddles.
4 [T] informal if a newspaper or television programme splashes a story or picture on the page or screen, it makes it large and easy to notice
[+across/over]
•The gunman's picture was splashed across the front page.

PHRASAL VERBS
splash out (sth) phr v BrE informal
to spend a lot of money on something
[+on]
•We splashed out on a new kitchen.
•Last year Roberts splashed out more than £1 million to buy a new home.
1 [C] the sound of a liquid hitting something or being moved around quickly:
•Rachel fell into the river with a loud splash.
2 [C] a mark made by a liquid splashing onto something else
[+of]
•There were splashes of paint all over my clothes.
3 splash of colour a small area of bright colour
4 make a splash informal to do something that gets a lot of public attention:
•Russell's new show made a big splash in New York.
5 [singular] a small amount of liquid added to a drink
[+of]
•a cup of coffee with a splash of brandy [C] BrE
the area of a bathroom or kitchen wall that is behind the TAPs and covered in TILEs [C,U]
a landing by a spacecraft in the sea[C]
AmE a flat piece of rubber hanging behind the wheel of a vehicle to prevent mud being thrown up
big, bright, or very easy to notice; = flashy
•a splashy orange shirt [singular] informal
a noise like something wet hitting a surface hardpast tense and past participle splatted, present participle splatting [I,T]
to make a noise like something wet hitting a surface, or to make something make this noise:
•Big raindrops splatted against the windscreen. $ [I always + adv/prep, T]
if liquid splatters somewhere, or if someone splatters it, it falls or is thrown onto a surface; = spatter
splatter sth with sth
•The room was splattered with blood.
[+over/across]
•Paint splattered all over the carpet.also splay out [I,T]
to spread apart widely, or to make things do this, especially parts of the body:
•He sat with his legs splayed out in front of him.
1 [C] an organ near your stomach that controls the quality of your blood
2 [U] formal anger, especially unreasonable or unfair anger:
•Obviously you're annoyed, but that doesn't give you the right to vent your spleen on me (=get angry with me). especially BrE
1 old-fashioned very good; = excellent
•a splendid idea
•a splendid opportunity
•The staff are doing a splendid job.
2 beautiful and impressive; = magnificent
•All the rooms have splendid views.
•a splendid cathedral
3 BrE spoken old-fashioned used to show that you approve of or are pleased by something; = great
•'I'll see you tomorrow then.' 'Splendid!'
4 in splendid isolation used to emphasize that something is not with other things:
•The house sits in splendid isolation on top of a steep hill.
- splendidly adverb
•a splendidly equipped new sports centre
•The team played splendidly.splendor AmE $ BrE
1 [U] impressive beauty, especially of a large building or large place
[+of]
•We marvelled at the splendour of the scenery.
•The palace has now been restored to its original splendour.
2 splendours [plural] impressive beautiful features, especially of a large building or place
[+of]
•the splendours of the imperial court formal
bad-tempered and often angry [T]
1 to join the ends of two pieces of rope, film etc so that they form one continuous piece
2 get spliced BrE informal to get married[C]
the act of joining the ends of two things together, or the place where this join has been made $ [C]
a machine for joining pieces of film or recording tape neatly together [C] BrE informal
a cigarette containing CANNABIS; = joint [C]
a flat piece of wood, metal etc used for keeping a broken bone in position while it mends $ [C]
a small sharp piece of wood, glass, or metal, that has broken off a larger piece:
•I've got a splinter in my finger.
[+of]
•splinters of glass
- splintery adjective[I,T]
1 if something such as wood splinters, or if you splinter it, it breaks into thin sharp pieces
2 to separate into smaller groups or parts, or to make a group or organization do this, especially because of a disagreement
[+into]
•The once-powerful communist party has splintered into hundreds of pieces.[C]
a group of people that have separated from a political or religious organization because they have different ideas past tense and past participle split, present participle splitting
1 DISAGREE [I,T] if a group of people splits, or if it is split, people in the group disagree strongly with each other and the group sometimes divides into separate smaller groups:
•It was feared that the issue would split the church.
be split on/over sth
•The party is split over the issue of immigration.
•The government appears deeply split on this issue.
[+from]
•The Pan-Africanist Congress split from the ANC in 1959.
split sth in two/down the middle
•The war has split the nation in two.
2 SEPARATE INTO PARTS also split up [I,T] to divide or separate something into different parts or groups, or to be divided into different parts or groups
[+into]
•Can you split into groups of three now?
split sth into sth
•The book is split into six sections.
3 BREAK OR TEAR [I,T] if something splits, or if you split it, it tears or breaks along a straight line:
•The branch split under their weight.
•One of the boxes had split open.
split (sth) in two/half
•The board had split in two.
• Split the pineapple down the middle.
4 SHARE [T] to divide something into separate parts and share it between two or more people
split sth between sb/sth
•Profits will be split between three major charities.
split sth with sb
•He agreed to sell the car and split the proceeds with his brother.
split sth three/four etc ways (=share something between three, four etc people or groups)
•The money will have to be split three ways.
•We agreed to split the cost.
5 INJURE [T] to make someone's head or lip have a cut in it, as a result of a fall or hit:
•She fell against a table and split her lip.
•The force of the blow nearly split his head open.
6 END RELATIONSHIP also split up [I] informal if people split, they end a marriage or relationship with each other
[+with/from]
•He split from his wife last year.
•The band split two years ago.
7 LEAVE [I] old-fashioned informal to leave a place quickly:
•Come on - let's split.
8 split hairs to argue that there is a difference between two things, when the difference is really too small to be important:
•This is just splitting hairs.
9 split the difference to agree on an amount that is exactly between two amounts that have been mentioned:
•OK, let's split the difference, and I'll give you £20.
10 split your sides informal to laugh a great deal

PHRASAL VERBS
split off phr v
1 also split away if one part of something splits off from the rest, it becomes completely separate from it
[+from]
•A huge lump of rock had split off from the cliff face.
2 also split away if a small group of people split off from a larger group, they become separate from it
[+from]
•The group split away from the Green Party and formed the Environmental Alliance.
3 split sth <=> off to separate one part of something and make it completely separate from the rest
[+from]
•This part of the business has now been split off from the main company.

split on sb phr v BrE informal
to tell someone in authority about something wrong that someone else has done:
•Don't you dare split on us!

split up phr v
1 if people split up, or if someone splits them up, they end a marriage or relationship with each other:
•Steve's parents split up when he was four.
[+with]
•I thought she'd split up with her boyfriend.
split sb <=> up
•Why would she try to split us up?
2 to divide people into different groups, or to be divided into groups:
•Please don't split up when we get to the museum.
split sth/sb <=> up
•The teacher split up the class into three groups.
3 split sth <=> up to divide something into different parts
[+into]
•The house has now been split up into individual flats.[C]
1 TEAR a tear or crack in something made of cloth, wood etc
[+in]
•a long split in the sleeve of his coat
2 DISAGREEMENT a serious disagreement that divides an organization or group of people into smaller groups; = rift
[+in/within]
•The argument could lead to a damaging split in the party.
•a deep split within the government
[+between]
•a split between the radicals and the moderates within the group
[+over]
•The union is desperate to avoid a split over this issue.
3 DIVIDING STH the way in which something, especially money, is shared between several people:
•In a publishing deal, the average split used to be 50:50 between writer and publisher.
three-way/four-way etc split (=when something is shared equally between three, four etc people)
•a three-way split in the profits
4 SEPARATION informal a clear separation or difference between two things
[+between]
•the traditional split between the state and church
5 do the splits to spread your legs wide apart so that your legs touch the floor along their whole length[plural]
a condition of someone's hair in which the ends have split into several parts[C]
a phrase in which you put an adverb or other word between 'to' and a verb, as in 'to easily win'. Some people think this is incorrect English.
a split-level house, room, or building has floors at different heights in different parts[C]
a condition in which someone has two very different ways of behaving[C]
a method of showing different scenes or pieces of information at the same time on a film, television, or computer screen:
•a split-screen movie
an extremely short period of time
for a split second
•For a split second the two men hesitated.
in a split second
•In that split second Graham knew he had won.
- split-second adjective
•It was a technique which required split-second timing.[C]
a period of work that is divided into two or more parts on the same day[C]
a vote in US elections in which the voter has voted for some CANDIDATEs of one party and some of the other party
- split-ticket adjective
•split-ticket voting
splitting headache a very bad HEADACHE $ [C] BrE informal
a large mark of mud, paint etc with an irregular shape; = blotch
[+of]
•splodges of colour
- splodgy adjective $ [I always + adv/prep]
BrE informal to make a noise by falling into or moving through water; = splash
•a sploshing sound
- splosh noun [C] $ [C]
a SPLODGE $ [I,T] informal
to spend more money than you can usually afford; = splash out
splurge (sth) on sth
•Within a couple of months I'd splurged about £2,500 on clothes.
- splurge noun [C] $
1 [I,T] to talk quickly in short confused phrases, especially because you are angry or surprised; =
•'But ... but ... I can't believe... how could you?' she spluttered.
[+with]
•Katie was spluttering with rage.
2 [I] to make a series of short sharp noises:
•Bill started coughing and spluttering.
•The engine spluttered into life.
- splutter noun [C] past tense and past participle spoiled also, spoilt BrE
1 DAMAGE [T] to have a bad effect on something so that it is no longer attractive, enjoyable, useful etc; = ruin
•The whole park is spoiled by litter.
•We didn't let the incident spoil our day.
•I don't want to spoil your fun.
•Why do you always have to spoil everything?
spoil/ruin your appetite at APPETITE (1)
see box at DESTROY
2 TREAT TOO KINDLY [T] to give a child everything they want, or let them do whatever they want, often with the result that they behave badly:
•She's an only child, but they didn't really spoil her.
•His mother and sisters spoil him rotten (=spoil him very much).
3 TREAT KINDLY [T] to look after someone in a way that is very kind or too kind:
•You'll have to let me spoil you on your birthday.
spoil yourself
•Go on, spoil yourself. Have another piece of cake.
4 DECAY [I] to start to decay:
•Food will spoil if the temperature in your freezer rises above 8°C.
5 VOTING [T] BrE to mark a BALLOT PAPER wrongly so that your vote is not included
6 be spoiling for a fight/argument to be very eager to fight or argue with someone
1 spoils [plural] formal
a) the things that someone gets by being successful:
•They tried to take more than a fair share of the spoils.
b) things taken by an army from a defeated enemy, or things taken by thieves
the spoils of war/victory etc
2 [U] waste material such as earth and stones from a mine or hole in the ground:
•spoil heaps [U] technical
waste resulting from something being spoiledalso spoilt BrE
1 a spoiled person, especially a child, is rude and behaves badly because they have always been given what they want and allowed to do what they want:
•Ben was a spoilt brat (=a spoiled and unpleasant child).
•Their children were spoiled rotten (=very spoiled).
2 be spoilt/spoiled for choice BrE to have so many good things to choose from that you cannot decide which one to choose $ [C]
1 CAR a raised part on a racing car that prevents the car from lifting off the road at high speeds
2 PLANE part of an aircraft wing that can be lifted up to slow the plane down
3 PREVENT SUCCESS someone or something that prevents another person or thing from being successful
4 TEAM AmE a person or team that spoils another's winning record
5 SURPRISE a message or report that is intended to ruin the surprising part of a popular film, book etc by telling people about the surprise before they see or read it $ [C] informal
someone who spoils other people's fun:
•Don't be such a spoilsport.
a British form of the word SPOILED $
the past tense of SPEAK[C]
1 one of the thin metal bars which connect the outer ring of a wheel to the centre, especially on a bicycle
2 put a spoke in sb's wheel BrE to prevent someone from doing something they have planned $
the past participle of SPEAK
1 spoken English/language etc the form of language that you speak rather than write; written
2 the spoken word spoken language rather than written language or music:
•pupils' understanding of the spoken word
•a spoken-word CD
3 quietly/softly-spoken BrE speaking in a quiet way:
•a softly spoken young man
4 be spoken for
a) if someone is spoken for, they are married or already have a serious relationship with someone
b) if something is spoken for, you cannot buy it because it is being kept for someone else
WELL-SPOKEN $ plural spokesmen [C]
a man who has been chosen to speak officially for a group, organization, or government; spokesperson
•a White House spokesman
[+for]
•a spokesman for the victims' families $ plural spokespeople [C]
a spokesman or spokeswoman $ plural spokeswomen [C]
a woman who has been chosen to speak officially for a group, organization, or government
1 [C,U] a piece of a soft natural or artificial substance full of small holes, which can suck up liquid and is used for washing
2 [C] a simple sea creature from which natural sponge is produced
3 [singular] BrE an act of washing something with a sponge
4 [C,U] BrE a light cake made from flour, sugar, butter and eggs:
•a Victoria sponge
5 [C] a SPONGER
1 also sponge down [T] to wash something with a wet cloth or sponge:
•Clean the rug by sponging it gently.
•She stood on the bathmat and sponged herself down.
2 [I] informal to get money, free meals etc from other people, without doing anything for them - used to show disapproval
[+off/on]
•These people are just sponging off the taxpayers.
3 [T always + adv/prep] to remove liquid or a mark with a wet cloth or sponge
sponge sth off (sth)
•I'll go and sponge this juice off my dress.
4 [T] to put paint on a surface using a sponge
sponge sth on (sth)
•Just sponge the paint on, like this.[C] BrE
a small bag for carrying the things that you need to wash with[C,U]
a light cake made from flour, sugar, butter and eggs[C] BrE
a British food made flour, sugar, eggs, and butter which is eaten hot $ [C]
someone who gets money, free meals etc from other people and does nothing for them - used to show disapproval
soft and full of holes that contain air or liquid like a SPONGE^1 (1):
•The earth was soft and spongy underfoot.
- sponginess noun [U] $ [C]
1
a) a person or company that pays for a show, broadcast, sports event etc especially in exchange for the right to advertise at that event
[+of]
•Eastman Kodak is a major sponsor of the Olympics.
•corporate sponsors
b) a person or company that supports someone by paying for their training, education, living costs etc
2 someone who agrees to give someone else money for a CHARITY if they walk, run etc a particular distance
3 someone who officially introduces or supports a proposal for a new law
4 someone who officially agrees to help someone else, or to be responsible for what they do:
•You cannot get a work visa without an American sponsor.
5 a GODPARENT[T]
1
a) to give money to a sports event, theatre, institution etc, especially in exchange for the right to advertise:
•The competition was sponsored by British Airways.
•government-sponsored projects
b) to support someone by paying for their training, education, living costs etc:
•The bank had offered to sponsor him at university.
2 to officially support a proposal for a new law
3 to agree to help someone or be responsible for what they do
4 to agree to give someone money for CHARITY if they walk, run etc a particular distance
5 sponsored walk/swim etc BrE an event in which many people walk, swim etc a particular distance so that people will give them money for a CHARITY
6 UN-sponsored/US-sponsored/government-sponsored etc supported and encouraged by the UN, the US etc:
•US-sponsored peace talks $
1 [plural, U] financial support for an activity or event
[+from]
•The expedition is looking for sponsorship from one of the major banks.
•a $5 million sponsorship deal
•commercial sponsorships
2 [U] the act of sponsoring someone or something, or of being sponsored
[+of]
•private sector sponsorship of sport $
1 something that is spontaneous has not been planned or organized, but happens by itself, or because you suddenly feel you want to do it:
•The crowd gave a spontaneous cheer.
•My spontaneous reaction was to run away.
2 someone who is spontaneous does things without planning them first - used to show approval
- spontaneously adverb
•She laughed spontaneously.
- spontaneity $ noun [U][U]
burning caused by chemical changes inside something rather than by heat from outside [C]
a funny book, play, or film that copies something serious or important and makes it seem silly; take-off
[+of/on]
•The play is a spoof on Shakespeare's tragedy 'Julius Caesar'.
•a spoof documentary
- spoof verb [T] [C] informal
1 a GHOST
2 especially AmE a SPY[T] informal
to frighten someone:
•I'm not easily spooked. informal
strange or frightening in a way that makes you think of GHOSTs :
•a spooky old house
•spooky stories
•The candlelight created a rather spooky atmosphere. [C]
an object shaped like a wheel that you wind thread, wire etc around [C]
1 an object that you use for eating, cooking, or serving food. It has a small bowl-shaped part and a long handle
2 a SPOONFUL
[+of]
•two spoons of sugar
be born with a silver spoon in your mouth at BORN^2 (8); DESSERTSPOON, GREASY SPOON, SOUP SPOON, WOODEN SPOON[T always + adv/prep]
to move food with a spoon
spoon sth into/over/onto sth
•Spoon the mixture carefully into the bowls. [C]
a phrase in which the speaker accidentally exchanges the first sounds of two words, with a funny result, for example 'sew you to a sheet' instead of 'show you to a seat'past tense and past participle spoon-fed [T]
1 to give too much information and help to someone - used to show disapproval:
•I don't believe in spoon-feeding students.
2 to feed someone, especially a baby, with a spoon [C]
the amount that a spoon will hold
[+of]
•Two spoonfuls of sugar, please. $ [singular, U] technical
the track of footmarks or solid waste that a wild animal leaves as it moves along
happening fairly often, but not regularly; = intermittent
•There has been sporadic violence downtown.
- sporadically adverb
•The fighting continued sporadically for several days. $ [C]
a cell like a seed that is produced by some plants such as MUSHROOMs and can develop into a new plant $ [C]
a special bag made of leather or fur, that a Scotsman wears in front of a KILT $
1 GAMES
a) [C] a physical activity in which people compete against each other:
•My favourite sports are tennis and swimming.
•a sports team
•a sports club
•I've been playing sports all my life.
•All students are encouraged to take part in a sport.
•a sports field
•He picked up the newspaper and turned to the sports pages.
•They have excellent sports facilities.
•A lot of schools don't really encourage team sports.
•Football is one of the most popular spectator sports (=sports watched by a lot of people).
b) [U] BrE sports in general:
•Why is there so much sport on TV?
•I always hated sport at school.
!! The uncountable use of sport is British English only: There's too much sport on TV. In American English, the plural sports is used: He likes watching sports on TV.
2 HUNTING [C] an activity that people do in the countryside, especially hunting or fishing:
•the sport of falconry
•a demonstration by people opposed to blood sports (=sports that involve killing animals)
3 HELPFUL PERSON [C usually singular] also good sport old-fashioned a helpful cheerful person who lets you enjoy yourself
be a sport (=used when asking someone to help you)
•Be a sport and lend me your bike.
4 a good sport someone who does not get angry when they lose at a game or sport
5 a bad/poor sport someone who gets angry very easily when they lose at a game or sport
6 MAN/BOY spoken
a) AusE used when speaking to someone, especially a man, in a friendly way:
•See you later, sport.
b) AmE old-fashioned used when speaking to a boy in a friendly way
7 FUN [U] old-fashioned fun or amusement:
•Did she torment him merely for sport?
8 make sport of sb old-fashioned to joke about someone in a way that makes them seem stupid
FIELD SPORTS, WATER SPORTS, WINTER SPORTS
1 be sporting sth to be wearing something or have something on your body and show it to people in a proud way:
•Eric was sporting a new camel-hair coat.
2 [I] literary to play together happily:
•the sight of dolphins sporting amidst the waves[C] AmE
a SPORTS JACKET $
1 [only before noun] relating to sports:
•The college offers a wide range of sporting activities.
•one of the major sporting events of the year
•a great sporting achievement
•Britain's sporting heroes
sporting goods AmE
•a sporting goods store
2 BrE someone who is sporting behaves in a fair and generous way during a game or competition and does not try to win in an unfair way; unsporting
•It was very sporting of them to wait until the rest of our team had arrived.
3 sporting chance (of doing sth) a fairly good chance of succeeding or winning:
•I think we've got a sporting chance of winning.
- sportingly adverb BrE
•They sportingly agreed to postpone the race until our boat was repaired.[C] AmE
a SPORTS JACKET[C]
a special type of BRA (=a piece of underwear that supports a woman's breasts) that is designed for women to wear while playing sports[C]
a low fast car, often with a roof that can be folded back or removed $ [C] AmE
a television broadcast of a sports game $ [C] AmE
someone who describes a sports game as it is being broadcast on televisionsports center AmE [C] BrE
a building where people can go to play many different types of indoor sports[C]
a SPORTS JACKET[C] BrE
a day on which the children at a school have sports competitions; = field day AmE[C] AmE
a SPORTS SHIRT[C]
a man's jacket that is not part of a suit $ plural sportsmen [C]
1 a man who plays several different sports; sportswoman
•He's a very keen sportsman.
•a talented all-round sportsman
2 AmE a man who enjoys outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing $
behaving in a fair, honest, and polite way when competing in sports; unsportsmanlike
•As a club, we try to encourage sportsmanlike behaviour. $ [U]
behaviour that is fair, honest, and polite in a game or sports competition:
•His sportsmanship and style of play is refreshing.
good/bad/poor sportsmanship (=good or bad behaviour in a sport)
•We try to teach the kids good sportsmanship. $ plural sportspeople [C] BrE
someone who takes part in sports or a sport[C]
a shirt for men that is worn on informal occasions $ [U]
1 clothes that you wear to play sports or when you are relaxing
2 AmE clothes that are suitable for informal occasions $ plural sportswomen [C]
a woman who plays many different sports; sportsman
•great all-round sportswoman $ [C]
someone whose job is to write about sports for a newspaper or magazine[C] AmE
an SUV $ informal
1 especially BrE someone who is sporty likes sport and is good at it; = athletic
2 sporty clothes are designed to look attractive in a bright informal way:
•a sporty jacket and skirt
3 a sporty car is designed to look attractive and go fast:
•The new model is slightly more sporty. $ [C]
1 PLACE a particular place or area, especially a pleasant place where you spend time:
•a nice quiet spot on the beach
•I chose a spot well away from the road.
in a spot
•a small cottage in an idyllic spot
on a spot
•Why do they want to build a house on this particular spot?
the exact/same/very spot
•the exact spot where the king was executed
[+for]
•an ideal spot for a picnic
2 AREA a usually round area on a surface that is a different colour or is rougher, smoother etc than the rest; = patch
•a white cat with brown spots
[+of]
•Two spots of colour appeared in Jill's cheeks.
3 MARK a small mark on something, especially one that is made by a liquid:
•There was a big damp spot on the wall.
[+of]
•a few spots of blood
4 ON SKIN
a) a small round red area on someone's skin that shows that they are ill:
•He had a high fever and was covered in spots.
b) BrE a small raised red mark on someone's skin, especially on their face; = pimple
•Becka was very self-conscious about her spots.
5 on the spot
a) if you do something on the spot, you do it immediately, often without thinking about it very carefully; on-the-spot
•He had to make a decision on the spot.
b) if you are on the spot, you are in the place where something is happening:
•We ought to find out the views of the people on the spot.
c) BrE if you walk, run, or jump on the spot, you do it staying in the same place, without moving around; = in place AmE
•If running outside doesn't appeal, try jogging on the spot indoors.
6 put sb on the spot to deliberately ask someone a question that is difficult or embarrassing to answer
7 TV/RADIO a short period of time when someone can speak or perform on radio or television:
•He was given a 30-second spot just after the news.
•a guest spot on the Tonight Show
8 POSITION a position in a list of things or in a competition:
•The budget has a regular spot on the agenda.
in a spot
•Manchester United are still in the top spot after today's win.
9 weak spot
a) a point at which someone or something is not very good:
•I carried on with my questions, sensing a weak spot in his story.
b) AmE if someone has a weak spot for something, they like it very much:
•I've always had a weak spot for chocolate.
10 tight spot informal a difficult situation:
•This puts the chairman in a very tight spot.
•I hope you can help get me out of a tight spot.
11 bright spot something that is good in a bad situation:
•The computer industry is the one bright spot in the economy at the moment.
•The only bright spot of the evening was when the food arrived.
12 a spot of sth BrE informal a small amount of something:
•Do you fancy a spot of lunch?
•I've been having a spot of bother (=some problems) with my car.
13 spots of rain BrE a few drops of rain:
•A few spots of rain began to fall.
14 five-spot/ten-spot etc AmE spoken a piece of paper money worth five dollars, ten dollars etc
BEAUTY SPOT, BLACKSPOT, BLIND SPOT; change your spots at CHANGE^1 (16); G-SPOT; high point/spot at HIGH^1 (12); hit the spot at HIT^1 (28); HOT SPOT; knock spots off at KNOCK^1 (19); be rooted to the spot at ROOT^2 (5); have a soft spot for sb at SOFT (16); TROUBLE SPOTpast tense and past participle spotted, present participle spotting [T]
1 to notice someone or something, especially when they are difficult to see or recognize:
•I spotted a police car behind us.
•It can be hard for even a trained doctor to spot the symptoms of lung cancer.
spot sb doing sth
•Meg spotted someone coming out of the building.
difficult/easy to spot
•Drug addicts are fairly easy to spot.
spot that
•One of the station staff spotted that I was in difficulty, and came to help.
2 be spotted with sth to have small round marks or small pieces of something on the surface:
•The windscreen was spotted with rain.
3 AmE to give the other player in a game an advantage
spot sb sth
•He spotted me six points and he still won.[only before noun]
for buying or paying immediately, not at some future time:
•They won't take credit; they want spot cash.
•He quoted us a spot price for the goods.[C]
an examination of a few things or people from a group, to check whether everything is correct or satisfactory
[+on]
•spot checks on quality
make/do/carry out etc spot checks
•We carry out spot checks on the vehicles before they leave the depot.
- =spot check verb [T]
•We spot check everyone's work. $
1 completely clean; pristine
•a spotless white handkerchief
•The house was bright and absolutely spotless.
2 if someone has a spotless REPUTATION or record, people know or think they have never done anything bad:
•a company whose reputation was spotless until this scandal broke
- spotlessly adverb
•The whole house was spotlessly clean. $
1 [C] a light with a very bright beam which can be directed at someone or something. Spotlights are often used to light a stage when actors or singers are performing:
•The yard was lit by three huge spotlights.
under the spotlights
•I was sweating under the spotlights.
in/into the spotlight
•She stepped into the spotlight and began to sing.
2 the spotlight a lot of attention in newspapers, on television etc
in/under the spotlight
•Education is once again under the spotlight.
put/turn the spotlight on sth
•A new report has turned the spotlight on the problem of poverty in the inner cities.past tense and past participle spotlighted or, spotlit [T]
1 to direct attention to someone or something; = highlight
•The article spotlights the problems of the homeless.
2 to shine a strong beam of light on something:
•She walked out onto the spotlit stage.BrE informal
exactly right:
•Judith is always spot-on with her advice. $ [usually before noun]
having small round marks of a different colour on the surface:
•a red and white spotted blouse[U]
a sweet food eaten in Britain, that is like a cake containing dried fruit, and is eaten hot at the end of a meal $ [C]
1 bird/train etc spotter BrE someone who spends time watching birds, trains etc for pleasure and writes down the things that they see
2 someone whose job is to look for or notice a particular type of thing:
•Football clubs send spotters to look for young talent.
weather spotter AmE $ [U]
bird-spotting/train-spotting etc BrE the activity of watching birds, trains etc for pleasure $
1 BrE informal someone who is spotty has small raised red marks on their skin, especially on their face:
•a tall, thin, spotty youth
•a spotty face
2 AmE good only in some parts, but not in other parts; = patchy BrE [C] formal
a husband or wife:
•Spouses were invited to the company picnic.
- spousal adjective
•spousal abuse [C]
1 a small pipe on the side of a container that you pour liquid out through
2 spout of water/blood etc a sudden strong stream of liquid which comes out of somewhere very fast
WATERSPOUT (1)
3 up the spout BrE informal if something is up the spout, it is completely wrong or has failed completely:
•The computer's up the spout!
•My plans for the weekend seem to have gone up the spout.
1
a) [I always + adv/prep] if liquid or fire spouts from somewhere, it comes out very quickly in a powerful stream; = spurt
[+from]
•Blood was spouting from the wound in her arm.
b) [T] to send out liquid or flames very quickly in a powerful stream:
•a volcano spouting lava
2 also spout off [I,T] informal to talk a lot about something in a boring or annoying way:
•My father was spouting his usual nonsense!
•I hate it when he spouts off like that!
[+about]
•I'm tired of listening to Jim spouting about politics.
3 [I] if a WHALE spouts, it sends out a stream of water from a hole in its head [T]
to damage a joint in your body by suddenly twisting it; = twist
•I fell down the steps and sprained my ankle.
- sprain noun [C]
•I thought my wrist might be broken, but it was just a bad sprain.
the past tense of SPRING [C]
a small fish that is cooked and eaten wholealso sprawl out $ [I always + adv/prep]
1 to lie or sit with your arms or legs stretched out in a lazy or careless way:
•He sprawled out on the sofa.
•I tripped on a stone and went sprawling on the pavement.
•a blow which sent him sprawling
2 if buildings sprawl, they spread out over a wide area in an untidy and unattractive way:
•The town seemed to sprawl for miles.[singular, U]
a large area of buildings that are spread out in an untidy and unattractive way:
•We drove through miles of urban sprawl before we finally got out into the countryside. $ [not before noun]
be/lie/sit sprawled (out) to be lying or sitting with your arms or legs stretched out in a lazy or careless way:
•He was sprawled in an armchair in front of the TV.
•A girl lay sprawled across the bed. $
spreading over a wide area in an untidy or unattractive way:
•a vast, sprawling city
1 [T] to force liquid out of a container so that it comes out in a stream of very small drops and covers an area; squirt
spray sb/sth with sth
•She sprayed herself with perfume.
spray sth on/onto/over sth
•Someone had sprayed blue paint over his car.
•Vandals had sprayed graffiti on the walls.
spray crops/plants etc (=cover them with liquid to protect them from insects or disease)
•The fruit is sprayed every four weeks.
2 [I always + adv/prep] if liquids or small bits spray somewhere, they are quickly scattered through the air
[+from]
•Champagne sprayed from the bottle.
3 spray sb/sth with bullets to shoot a lot of bullets towards a person or place very quickly:
•Gunmen sprayed the crowd with bullets.
1 LIQUID FROM A CONTAINER [C,U] liquid which is forced out of a special container in a stream of very small drops:
•a new hair styling spray
•Most farmers use pesticide sprays.
2 CONTAINER [C] a container which forces liquid out in a stream of small drops:
•Mary took a perfume spray from her handbag.
3 MOVING LIQUID
a) [U] water in very small drops that is blown from the sea etc or sent up by vehicles on a wet road:
•spray from the waves
•My face was stinging from the salt spray.
b) [C] liquid that comes quickly from somewhere in very small drops
[+of]
•A spray of blood came from his mouth.
4 BRANCH [C] a small branch or stem with leaves or flowers on it, used for decoration; = sprig
[+of]
•a spray of holly
5 FLOWERS [C] an attractive arrangement of flowers or leaves
[+of]
•a spray of violets and primroses
6 a spray of bullets/gravel etc a lot of bullets or very small objects moving quickly through the air[C]
a can from which you can spray paint onto things $ [C]
a piece of equipment that is used for spraying large amounts of liquid, especially over crops[C]
a piece of equipment that you hold in your hand and use to spray liquid in very small drops[only before noun]
a spray-on substance can be sprayed from a container onto a surface:
•a spray-on water repellent for clothing[U]
paint that you spray from a can
- spray-paint verb [I,T] past tense and past participle spread
1 AFFECT MORE PEOPLE/PLACES [I,T] if something spreads or is spread, it becomes larger or moves so that it affects more people or a larger area
[+through]
•Fire quickly spread through the building.
[+over]
•He watched the dark stain spread over the gray carpet.
•The disease spread rapidly amongst the poor.
spread (from sth) to sth
•The cancer had spread to her liver.
•Revolution quickly spread from France to Italy.
•the risk of AIDS being spread through contaminated blood
2 INFORMATION/IDEAS
a) [I] to become known about or used by more and more people:
•News of the explosion spread swiftly.
[+to/through/over etc]
•Buddhism spread to China from India.
•The news spread like wildfire (=became known very quickly).
• Word spread quickly and soon a crowd had gathered.
b) [T] to tell a lot of people about something
spread lies/rumours/gossip
•Andy loves spreading rumours about his colleagues.
•They are spreading the word about the benefits of immunization.
3 OPEN/ARRANGE also spread out [T] to open something out or arrange a group of things so that they cover a flat surface
spread sth over/across/on sth
•Papers and photos were spread across the floor.
•He spread the map out on the desk.
•a table spread with a white cloth
4 THROUGHOUT AN AREA [I] also be spread and spread out to cover or exist across a large area
[+over]
•the forest that spread over the whole of that region
[+throughout]
•The company has more than 2500 shops spread throughout the UK.
5 SOFT SUBSTANCE [I,T] to put a soft substance over a surface or to be soft enough to be put over a surface
spread sth on/over sth
•He spread plaster on the walls.
spread sth with sth
•Spread the toast thinly with jam.
•If you warm up the butter it'll spread more easily.
• Spread the nut mixture evenly over the bottom.
6 ARMS/FINGERS ETC [T] if you spread your arms, fingers or legs, you move them far apart:
•He shrugged and spread his hands.
7 OVER TIME [T] also spread out to do something over a period of time, rather than at one time
spread sth over sth
•Could I spread the repayments over a longer period?
•There will be 12 concerts spread throughout the summer.
8 SHARE [T] to share or divide something among several people or things
spread the load/burden
•The bills are sent out on different dates to spread the workload on council staff.
•They want the country's wealth to be more evenly spread.
9 SMILE/LOOK [I always + adv/prep] if an expression spreads over someone's face, it slowly appears on their face
[+over/across]
•A slow smile spread over her face.
10 spread your wings
a) to start to have an independent life and experience new things:
•A year spent studying abroad should allow him to spread his wings a bit.
b) if a bird or insect spreads its wings, it stretches them wide
11
a) be spread (too) thin/thinly if money, effort etc is spread thin, it is being used for many things so there is not enough for each thing:
•They complained that resources were spread too thinly.
b) spread yourself too thin to try to do too many things at the same time so that you do not do any of them effectively
12 spread seeds/manure/fertilizer to scatter seeds, MANURE etc on the ground

PHRASAL VERBS
spread out phr v
1 if a group of people spread out, they move apart from each other so that they cover a wider area:
•The search party spread out to search the surrounding fields.
2 spread sth <=> out to open something out or arrange a group of things on a flat surface:
•Sue spread out her notes on the kitchen table and began to write.
3 also be spread out to cover a large area:
•The city spread out below her looked so calm.
4 spread sth <=> out to do something over a period of time, rather than at one time
[+over]
•The course is spread out over four days.
spread your net wide at NET^1 (8)
1 INCREASE [singular] when something affects or is known about by more people or involves a larger area; increase
[+of]
•an attempt to stop the spread of nuclear weapons
•the rapid spread of cholera in Latin America
2 SOFT FOOD [C,U]
a) a soft substance made from vegetable oil that is used like butter:
•one slice of toast with a low-fat spread
b) a soft food which you spread on bread
cheese/chocolate etc spread
3 RANGE [singular] a range of people or things
wide/broad/good spread of sth
•We have a good spread of ages in the department.
•a broad spread of investments
4 AREA [singular] the total area in which something exists:
•the geographical spread of the company's hotels
5 double-page spread/centre spread a special article or advertisement in a newspaper or magazine, which covers two pages or covers the centre pages:
•There's a double-page spread in Sunday's paper.
6 LARGE MEAL [singular] informal a large meal for several guests on a special occasion:
•Chris's mum laid on a huge spread.
7 HAND/WINGS [U] the area covered when the fingers of a hand, or a bird's wings, are fully stretched
8 BED COVER [C] a BEDSPREAD
9 MONEY [C] technical the difference between the prices at which something is bought and sold, or the INTEREST rates for lending and borrowing money
[+between]
•the spread between the city banks' loan rates and deposit rates
10 SPORT [singular] AmE the number of points between the scores of two opposing teams:
•a four-point spread
11 spread of land/water an area of land or water
12 FARM [C] AmE a large farm or RANCH
middle-aged spread at MIDDLE-AGED (3)[U]
1 a type of BETTING on sports events in which someone says what they think the final score will be
2 a way of buying and selling SHAREs in which someone BETs money on whether shares in a particular company will go up or down in value
- spread bet noun [C] $
lying with arms and legs stretched out; = sprawled
•He lay spreadeagled on the bed. [C]
1 a computer program that can show and calculate financial information
2 a document that contains rows and COLUMNs of numbers that can be used to calculate something [C]
a short period of time when you do a lot of one activity, especially spending money or drinking alcohol
on a spree
•They went on a drinking spree.
•a shopping spree [C]
a small stem or part of a branch with leaves or flowers on it
[+of]
•a sprig of parsley
sprigged cloth, or a sprigged pattern is decorated with leaves or flowers on stems
an old person who is sprightly is still active and full of energy - used to show approval
- sprightliness noun [U]
1 SEASON [C,U] the season between winter and summer when leaves and flowers appear
[+of]
•the spring of 1933
in/during the spring
•It's due to open in the spring.
late/early spring
•It was a cold, sunny day in early spring.
•spring flowers
2 CURVED METAL
a) [C usually plural] something, usually a twisted piece of metal, that will return to its previous shape after it has been pressed down:
•an old armchair with broken springs
b) [U] the ability of a chair, bed etc to return to its normal shape after being pressed down
3 WATER [C] a place where water comes up naturally from the ground:
•spring water
•There are several hot springs in the area.
4 spring in your step if you walk with a spring in your step, you move quickly and happily:
•As he walked into the office that morning, there was a spring in his step.
5 full of the joys of spring happy and full of energy - used humorously
6 SUDDEN JUMP [singular] a sudden quick movement or jump in a particular direction; = leappast tense sprang also, sprung AmE , past participle sprung
1 MOVE SUDDENLY [I always + adv/prep] to move suddenly and quickly in a particular direction, especially by jumping; = leap
[+out of/from]
•Tom sprung out of bed and ran downstairs.
spring out at sb
•Two men sprang out at me as I was walking through the park.
•He sprang to his feet (=stood up suddenly) and rushed after her.
spring to sb's aid/assistance (=move quickly to help someone)
•One of the young policemen sprang to her assistance.
2 MOVE BACK [I always + adv/prep] if something springs back, open etc, it moves quickly, suddenly and with force, especially after being pushed down or sideways
[+back/up]
•The branch sprang back and hit him in the face.
spring open/shut
•The gate sprang shut behind them.
3 spring to (sb's) mind if someone or something springs to mind, you immediately think of them:
•Two questions spring to mind.
4 spring into action also spring to/into life to suddenly become active, start moving or start working:
•They were prepared and ready to spring into action.
•Finally the engine sprang to life.
5 spring a surprise to do something surprising:
•Roy is unlikely to spring any surprises.
6 tears spring to/into sb's eyes written used to say that someone starts to cry
7 spring into existence/being to suddenly begin to exist:
•A lot of small businesses sprang into existence during the 1980s.
8 spring a trap
a) if an animal springs a trap, it is caught by the trap
b) to make someone say or do something by tricking them
9 spring a leak if a boat or a container springs a leak, it begins to let liquid in or out through a crack or hole
10 spring to sb's defence to quickly defend someone who is being criticized:
•Charlene sprang immediately to her son's defence.
11 spring to attention if soldiers spring to attention, they stand suddenly upright
12 HELP SB ESCAPE [T + from] informal to help someone escape from prison

PHRASAL VERBS
spring for sth phr v AmE informal
to pay for something:
•I'll spring for the beer tonight.

spring from sth phr v spoken
to be caused by something or start from something:
•behaviour which springs from prejudices

spring sth on sb phr v
to tell someone something or ask them to do something when they do not expect it and are not ready for it:
•It's not fair to spring this on her without any warning.

spring up phr v
to suddenly appear or start to exist:
•Fast-food restaurants are springing up all over town. $ [C]
1 something that helps you to start doing something
[+for]
•The TV soap has been a springboard for a lot of careers.
2 a strong board for jumping on or off, used when diving ( DIVE^1 (1)) or doing GYMNASTICS $ [C]
a small DEER that can run fast and lives in South Africa[C]
AmE a holiday from college or university in the spring, usually two weeks long[C]
sb is no spring chicken used to say that someone is no longer young - used humorously[U]
when you clean a house thoroughly, usually once a year:
•Judith's busy doing the spring-cleaning.
- spring-clean noun [singular] BrE
- spring-clean verb [I,T][U]
a sudden feeling of energy that you have in the spring
containing a metal SPRING that presses one part against another[C] BrE
a strong tasting onion with a small white round part and a long green stem, usually eaten raw; = scallion AmE; = green onion AmE $ [C]
a type of Chinese food consisting of a piece of thin rolled PASTRY filled with vegetables and sometimes meat and cooked in oil; = egg roll AmE[C]
a large rise and fall in the level of the sea at the time of the NEW MOON and the FULL MOON; neap tide [U]
the time of the year when it is spring
in (the) springtime
•when the snow melts in the springtime[U]
AmE the period when a BASEBALL team gets ready for competition
1 something that is springy is soft and comes back to its normal shape after being pressed or walked on:
•The grass was soft and springy.
2 springy step/walk a way of walking which is quick and full of energy
- springily adverb
- springiness noun [U]
1 [T] to scatter small drops of liquid or small pieces of something
sprinkle sth with sth
•Sprinkle the top with cheese.
sprinkle sth on/over sth
•I sprinkled cocoa over my latte.
2 be sprinkled with jokes/quotations etc to be full of jokes etc:
•The book is liberally sprinkled with clichés.
3 it is sprinkling AmE if it is sprinkling, it is raining lightly[singular]
1 a small amount of something, especially scattered on top of something
[+of]
•Add a sprinkle of salt.
2 AmE a light rain $ [C]
1 a piece of equipment used for scattering water on grass or soil
2 a piece of equipment on a ceiling that scatters water if there is a fire [singular]
a small amount of something, especially scattered over an area
[+of]
•The hilltops were covered with a sprinkling of snow. [I]
1 to run very fast for a short distance; jog
[+along/across/up etc]
•Bill sprinted up the steps.
2 to ride, swim etc very fast for a short distance
1 [C] a short race in which the runners, riders, swimmers etc move very fast over a short distance:
•the 100 metre sprint
2 [singular] a short period of running or moving very fast:
•He made a desperate sprint for the train. $ [C]
someone who runs in fast races over short distances [C]
a FAIRY (1) [T]
AmE to SPRAY small amounts of a liquid on something
- spritz noun [C] $ [C]
a drink made with SODA WATER and white wine $ [C]
1 also sprocket wheel a wheel with TEETH (=parts along the edge) that fit into and turn a bicycle chain, a photographic film with holes etc
2 one of the teeth on a sprocket wheel $ [C]
BrE informal a child or baby - used humorously
1 [I,T] if vegetables, seeds, or plants sprout, they start to grow, producing SHOOTs , BUDs , or leaves:
•Move the pots outside when the seeds begin to sprout.
•Trees were starting to sprout new leaves.
2 [I] also sprout up to appear suddenly in large numbers:
•Office blocks are sprouting up everywhere.
3 [I,T] if something such as hair sprouts or if you sprout it, it starts to grow:
•Jim seemed to have sprouted a beard.[C]
1 especially BrE a small green vegetable like a very small CABBAGE; = brussels sprout
2 a new growth on a plant; = shoot
3 [usually plural] AmE an ALFALFA seed which has grown a stem and is eaten
4 [usually plural] AmE a BEANSPROUT [C,U]
a tree that grows in northern countries and has short leaves shaped like needles

PHRASAL VERBS
spruce up phr v
informal to make yourself or something look neater and tidier:
•Paul went upstairs to spruce up before dinner.
spruce sb/sth <=> up
•The cottage had been spruced up a bit since her last visit.BrE
neat and clean:
•Mr Bailey was looking very spruce in a white linen suit.
- sprucely adverb
a past tense and the past participle of SPRING
supported or kept in shape by SPRINGs :
•a sprung mattress
a spry old person has energy and is active; = sprightly
•He's still remarkably spry.
- spryly adverb [C]
informal a POTATO [U]
literary the mass of bubbles that forms on the top of waves when the sea is rough; = foam
the past tense and past participle of SPIN [U] informal
1 especially AmE courage:
•She had a lot of spunk.
2 BrE not polite SEMEN informal
having a lot of courage, energy, or determination:
•a spunky performance
•a spunky heroine $ [C]
1 on the spur of the moment suddenly, without any previous planning or thought:
•We would often decide what to play on the spur of the moment.
SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT
2 a fact or event that makes you try harder to do something
[+to]
•It provided the spur to further research.
•The crowd's reaction only acted as a spur.
3 a sharp pointed object on the heel of a rider's boot which is used to encourage a horse to go faster
4 earn/win your spurs to show that you deserve to succeed because you have the right skills
5 a piece of high ground which sticks out from the side of a hill or mountain
6 a railway track or road that goes away from a main line or roadpast tense and past participle spurred, present participle spurring
1 [T] also spur sb on to encourage someone or make them want to do something:
•The band were spurred on by the success of their last two singles.
spur sb (on) to do sth
•His misfortunes spurred him to write.
spur sb (on) to sth
•the coach who spurred him on to Olympic success
•It was an article in the local newspaper which finally spurred him into action.
2 [T] to make an improvement or change happen faster; = encourage
•Lower taxes would spur investment and help economic growth.
3 [I,T] to encourage a horse to go faster, especially by pushing it with special points on the heels of your boots $
1 a spurious statement, argument etc is not based on facts or good thinking and is likely to be incorrect:
•He demolished the Opposition's spurious arguments.
2 insincere:
•spurious sympathy
- spuriously adverb
- spuriousness noun [U] $ [T]
literary to refuse to accept something or someone, especially because you are too proud:
•She spurned all offers of help.
•a spurned lover[only before noun]
a spur-of-the-moment decision or action is made or done suddenly without planning $
1
a) [I] if liquid or flames spurt from something, they come out of it quickly and suddenly
[+from/out of]
•Blood spurted from his nose.
•Flames spurted through the roof.
b) [T] to send out liquid or flames quickly or suddenly:
•It boiled over, spurting hot water everywhere.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to suddenly start moving more quickly, especially for a short time:
•He suddenly spurted ahead of the others.[C]
1 when an amount of liquid or flame suddenly comes quickly out of something
[+of]
•a sudden spurt of flame
in spurts
•The water came out of the tap in short spurts (=a small amount at a time).
2 a short sudden increase of activity, effort, speed, or emotion
[+of]
•In a sudden spurt of anger, Ellen slammed the door shut.
growth spurt (=when a child suddenly grows quickly)
in spurts
•We weren't consistent - we played in spurts. $
1 [I] if something such as an engine or a fire sputters, it makes short soft uneven noises like very small explosions; = splutter
•Suddenly the engine sputtered and stopped.
2 [I,T] to talk quickly in short confused phrases, especially because you are angry or shocked; = splutter
•'What do you mean?' sputtered Annabelle.
- sputter noun [C,U] [U]
medical liquid in your mouth which you have coughed up from your lungs; phlegm plural spies [C]
someone whose job it is to find out secret information about another country, organization, or group; = secret agent
British/Russian/foreign etc spy
•a Soviet spy
spy ring/network (=an organized group of spies)
spy plane/satellitepast tense and past participle spied, present participle spying, third person singular spies
1 [I] to secretly collect information about an enemy country or an organization you are competing against
[+on]
•He was charged with spying on British military bases.
[+for]
•He confessed to spying for North Korea.
2 [T] literary to suddenly see someone or something, especially after searching for them; = spot
•Ellen suddenly spied her friend in the crowd.

PHRASAL VERBS
spy on sb phr v
to watch someone secretly in order to find out what they are doing:
•She sent you to spy on me, didn't she?

spy sth <=> out phr v
1 to secretly find out information about something
2 spy out the land BrE to secretly find out more information about a situation before deciding what to do $ [C]
a small TELESCOPE used by sailors in the past $ [C]
BrE a hole in a door, wall etc through which you can look at someone secretly $ [U]
computer software that secretly records information about which websites you visit. This information is then used by advertising companies, who try to sell you products.also sq BrE
the written abbreviation of Square :
•30 cm sq floor tiles
•40 Merrion Sq., Dublin $ [I]
to argue about something unimportant; = quarrel
[+over/about]
•They're always squabbling over money.
[+with]
•He's squabbling with the referee.
- squabble noun [C]
•a petty squabble
•bitter squabbles between employers and unions $ [C]
1 a group of players from which a team will be chosen for a particular sports event:
•the Italian World Cup squad
2 the police department responsible for dealing with a particular kind of crime
drugs/fraud/vice etc squad
•A controlled explosion was carried out by bomb squad officers.
3 a small group of soldiers working together as a unit:
•a drill squad
4 AmE a group of CHEERLEADER s
DEATH SQUAD, FIRING SQUAD, FLYING SQUAD[C]
a car used by police on duty; = patrol carsquaddie $ plural squaddies [C]
BrE informal a soldier who is not an officer $ [C]
a military force consisting of a group of aircraft or ships[C]
an officer in the British AIR FORCE below a WING COMMANDER $
1 very dirty and unpleasant because of a lack of care or money; squalor
•How can anyone live in such squalid conditions?
•a tiny squalid apartment
2 especially BrE immoral or dishonest:
•squalid behaviour
•a squalid affair $ [C]
a sudden strong wind, especially one that brings rain or snow:
•snow squalls[I]
if a baby or child squalls, it cries noisily; = bawl $ BrE
squally rain or snow comes with sudden strong winds:
•squally showers $ [U]
the condition of being dirty and unpleasant because of a lack of care or money; squalid
•We lived in squalor for a year and a half. $ [T]
to carelessly waste money, time, opportunities etc:
•The home team squandered a number of chances in the first half.
squander sth on sth
•They squandered the profits on expensive cars. $
1 SHAPE having four straight equal sides and 90° angles at the corners:
•a large square room
2 ANGLE forming a 90° angle, or being close to or similar to a 90° angle:
•square corners
3 square metre/mile etc an area of measurement equal to a square with sides a metre long, a mile long etc:
•about four square metres of ground
4 5 feet/2 metres etc square having the shape of a square with sides that are 5 feet, 2 metres etc long:
•The room is six metres square.
5 LEVEL [not before noun] parallel with a straight line
[+with]
•I don't think the shelf is square with the floor.
6 square meal a good satisfying meal:
•Children should have three square meals a day.
7 BODY if someone's body or a part of their body is square, it looks broad and strong:
•a square jaw
8 all square BrE to have the same number of points as your opponent in a competition:
•The teams were all square at the end of the first half.
9 (all) square informal if two people are square, they do not owe each other any money:
•Here's your £10 back, so that makes us square.
10 square deal honest and fair treatment from someone, especially in business:
•I'm not getting a square deal here.
11 BORING informal someone who is square is boring and old-fashioned
12 a square peg in a round hole informal someone who is in a job or situation that is not suitable for them
- squareness noun [U]
win (sth)/beat sb fair and square at FAIR^3 (1)[C]
1 SHAPE a shape with four straight equal sides with 90° angles at the corners; rectangle
•First of all, draw a square.
[+of]
•a small square of cloth
2 IN A TOWN a large open area in the centre of a town or city, usually in the shape of a square, or the buildings surrounding it
main/market/town square
•The hotel is just off the main square of Sorrento.
•She lives in Hanover Square.
3 square one the situation from which you started to do something
be back to/at square one
•The police are now back at square one in their investigation.
go back to square one (=used when you start something again because you were not successful the first time)
•Okay, let's go back to square one and try again.
from square one
•I've had to relearn the game from square one.
4 NUMBER the result of multiplying a number by itself; square root
[+of]
•The square of 4 is 16.
5 IN A GAME a space on a board used for playing a game such as CHESS
6 PERSON informal someone who is considered boring and unfashionable; = nerd
7 TOOL also set square a flat object with a straight edge, often shaped like an L, used for drawing or measuring 90° angles[T]
1 MULTIPLY to multiply a number by itself
2 IN A COMPETITION BrE to win a point or game so that you have now won the same number of points or games as the other team or player:
•India won the second match to square the series at one each.
3 square your shoulders to stand straight and push your shoulders back, usually to show your determination
4 MAKE STH STRAIGHT to make something straight or parallel
5 square the circle to attempt something impossible

PHRASAL VERBS
square sth <=> away phr v [usually passive] AmE
to finish something, especially by putting the last details in order:
• Get your work squared away before you leave.

square off phr v
1 square sth <=> off to make something have neat corners
2 AmE to get ready to fight someone

square up phr v
1 to pay money that you owe:
•I'll pay for the drinks and you can square up later.
2 BrE to get ready to fight someone
[+to]
•The two lads squared up to each other.
3 square up to sb/sth to deal with a difficult situation or person in a determined way

square with sth phr v
1 square (sth) with sth if you square two ideas, statements etc with each other or if they square with each other, they are considered to be in agreement:
•His story simply does not square with the facts.
•How do you square that with your religious beliefs?
square sth with your conscience (=make yourself believe that what you are doing is morally right)
2 square sth with sb BrE to persuade someone to agree to something:
•I'll take the day off if I can square it with my boss.
1 directly and firmly; = squarely
• Look him square in the eye and say no.
2 at 90 ° to a line; = squarely
[+to]
•Wright passed the ball square to Brown.[C] BrE
one of the pair of signs [ ] that are used for enclosing information; = bracket AmE
in square brackets
•The words in square brackets should be deleted. $
1 BrE divided into squares or marked with squares:
•squared paper
2 3/9/10 etc squared the number three, nine etc multiplied by itself:
•3 squared equals 9.[C]
a type of traditional country dance in which four pairs of dancers face each other in a square, and someone calls out the movements they should do[C]
AmE a type of knot that will not come undone easily $
1 directly and firmly:
•He turned and faced her squarely.
•She hit him squarely on the nose.
2 completely and with no doubt:
•The blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the police.
3 straight on something and centrally; = square
•Dr Soames jammed his hat squarely on his head.
4 at 90° to a line; = square[C]
the square root of a number is the number which, when multiplied by itself, equals that number
[+of]
•The square root of nine is three. $
shaped almost like a square $
1 PRESS [T] to press something into a flatter shape, often breaking or damaging it; = flatten
•The cake got a bit squashed on the way here.
squash sth down
•Her hair had been squashed down by her hat.
•Move over - you're squashing me.
2 SMALL SPACE [I,T always + adv/prep] to push yourself or something else into a space that is too small; = squeeze
[+into]
•Seven of us squashed into the car.
squash sth in
•We can probably squash another couple of things in.
3 STOP STH [T] informal to use your power or authority to stop something; = quash
•Her suggestions were always squashed.
squash rumours/hopes/reports etc (=say that a rumour etc is not true)
•The government was quick to squash any hopes of reform.
4 CONTROL EMOTION [T] to control or ignore an emotion; = suppress
•She felt anger rising but quickly squashed it.

PHRASAL VERBS
squash up phr v BrE
to move closer together or closer to something, especially in order to make room for someone or something else
[+against]
•The others squashed up against Jo.
1 SPORT [U] a game played by two people who use RACKETs to hit a small rubber ball against the walls of a square court:
•a squash court
2 it's a squash BrE spoken used to say that there is not enough space for everyone to fit in comfortably
3 VEGETABLE [C,U] one of a group of large vegetables with solid flesh and hard skins, such as PUMPKINs
4 DRINK [U] BrE a drink made from fruit juice, sugar, and water:
•a glass of orange squash $
1 broken or made flat by being pressed hard:
•squashed tomatoes
2 [not before noun] in a space that is too small:
•I was squashed between Jan and Dave in the back seat. $ BrE informal
soft and easy to press $ past tense and past participle squatted, present participle squatting [I]
1 to sit with your knees bent under you and your bottom just off the ground, balancing on your feet
[+down]
•He squatted down beside the little girl.
2 to live in a building or on a piece of land without permission and without paying rent
short and thick or low and wide, especially in a way which is not attractive:
•squat stone cottages
•a squat little old man
1 [C] a squatting position
2 [C] BrE a house that people are living in without permission and without paying rent:
•She lives in a squat in Camden.
3 [U] AmE informal nothing, or nearly nothing. Squat is often used in negative sentences for emphasis:
•He had a job that paid him squat.
•You don't know squat about it. $ [C]
someone who lives in an empty building or on a piece of land without permission and without paying rent $ [C]
old use a word for a Native American woman, now usually considered offensive $ [I,T]
1 if a bird squawks, it makes a loud sharp angry sound
2 informal to complain loudly and angrily
- squawk noun [C]
1 [I] to make a short high noise or cry that is not loud:
•A rat squeaked and ran into the bushes.
•The door squeaked open.
2 [I,T] to say something in a very high voice, especially because you are nervous or excited:
•'Too late!' she squeaked.
3 [I always + adv/prep] informal to succeed, win, or pass a test by a very small amount so that you only just avoid failure; = scrape
[+through/by/past/in]
•She just squeaked through her math test.[C]
1 a very short high noise or cry; = squeal
[+of]
•a squeak of alarm
•the high-pitched squeak of a bat
2 not a squeak if there is not a squeak from someone, they do not say anything or communicate at all:
•We didn't hear a squeak from him in months.
1 making very high noises that are not loud:
•a squeaky voice
•squeaky floorboards
2 squeaky clean informal
a) never having done anything morally wrong:
•politicians who are less than squeaky clean
b) completely clean:
•squeaky clean hair
- squeakily adverb
- squeakiness noun [U]
1 [I,T] to make a long loud high sound or cry; scream
[+with/in]
•The children squealed with delight.
•They drove off, tyres squealing.
•'Let me go!' she squealed.
2 [I + on] informal to tell the police or someone in authority about someone you know who has done something wrong[C]
a long loud high sound or cry; scream
[+of]
•She gave a squeal of laughter.
•There was a squeal of brakes.
1 easily shocked or upset, or easily made to feel sick by seeing unpleasant things
2 the squeamish [plural] people who are squeamish:
•His new novel is not for the squeamish.
- squeamishness noun [U] [C]
a tool with a thin rubber blade and a short handle, used for removing or spreading a liquid on a surface
1 PRESS [T] to press something firmly together with your fingers or hand:
•She smiled as he squeezed her hand.
•He squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened.
2 PRESS OUT LIQUID [T] to get liquid from something by pressing it:
•Squeeze the oranges.
squeeze sth out
•Try to squeeze a bit more out.
squeeze sth on/onto sth
•Squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto the fish.
3 SMALL SPACE [I,T always + adv/prep] to try to make something fit into a space that is too small, or to try to get into such a space; = squash
[+into]
•Five of us squeezed into the back seat.
[+through/past]
•He had squeezed through a gap in the fence.
squeeze sb/sth in
•We could probably squeeze in a few more people.
4 squeeze your eyes shut to close your eyes very tightly
5 JUST SUCCEED [I always + adv/prep] to succeed, win, or pass a test by a very small amount so that you only just avoid failure:
•Greece just squeezed through into the next round.
6 LIMIT MONEY [T] to strictly limit the amount of money that is available to a company or organization:
•The government is squeezing the railways' investment budget.

PHRASAL VERBS
squeeze sb/sth <=> in phr v also squeeze sth into sth
to manage to do something although you are very busy:
•How do you manage to squeeze so much into one day?
•I can squeeze you in at four o'clock.

squeeze sth <=> out phr v
1 to do something so that someone or something is no longer included or able to continue:
•If budgets are cut, vital research may be squeezed out.
2 to squeeze something wet in order to remove the liquid from it:
•Squeeze the cloth out first.
3 squeeze sth out of sb to force someone to tell you something:
•See if you can squeeze more information out of them.

squeeze up phr v BrE
to move close to the person next to you to make space for someone else[C]
1 a (tight) squeeze a situation in which there is only just enough room for things or people to fit somewhere:
•It'll be a squeeze with six people in the car.
2 an act of pressing something firmly with your fingers or hand:
•Marty gave her hand a little squeeze.
3 squeeze of lemon/lime etc a small amount of juice obtained by squeezing a piece of fruit
4 a situation in which wages, prices, borrowing money etc are strictly controlled or reduced
[+on]
•cuts due to the squeeze on public sector spending
•a credit squeeze
•All manufacturers are feeling the squeeze (=noticing the effects of a difficult financial situation).
5 put the squeeze on sb informal to try to persuade someone to do something
6 sb's (main) squeeze especially AmE informal someone's BOYFRIEND or GIRLFRIEND $ [C]
informal an ACCORDION $ [C]
an object used for squeezing juice from fruit such as LEMON s
1 [I] to make a sucking sound by walking or moving in something soft and wet:
•My hair was dripping and my shoes squelched as I walked.
[+through/along/up]
•We squelched across the field.
2 [T] AmE to stop something from continuing to develop or spread; = squash
•Her creativity had been squelched.
- squelch noun [C] BrE
squelchy mud or ground is soft and wet and makes a sucking noise when you walk on it [C]
1 a small exploding FIREWORK
2 literary a short amusing piece of writing that attacks someone
damp squib at DAMP^1 (2) plural squid or squids [C]
a sea creature with a long soft body and ten arms around its mouth BrE
soft and easy to press:
•We don't want soft squidgy sandwiches. BrE old-fashioned
slightly drunk; = tipsy [C]
a line with irregular curves:
•Shorthand just looks like a series of funny squiggles to me.
- squiggly adjective
•squiggly lines [I]
1 to look at something with your eyes partly closed in order to see better:
•Anna squinted in the sudden bright sunlight.
[+at]
•Stop squinting at the screen - put your glasses on.
2 [not in progressive] BrE to have each eye looking in a slightly different direction[singular]
1 especially BrE a condition of your eye muscles that makes each eye look in a slightly different direction
2 have/take a squint at sth BrE informal to look at something $
1 [C] the man who in the past owned most of the land around a country village in England
2 [C] a young man in the Middle Ages who learned how to be a KNIGHT by serving one
3 BrE old-fashioned spoken used by some men to address a man when they do not know his name $ [I]
1 to twist your body from side to side because you are uncomfortable or nervous, or to get free from something which is holding you; = wriggle
•Christine squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.
•The boy tried to squirm free.
2 to feel very embarrassed or ashamed
[+with]
•He made me squirm with embarrassment.
- squirm noun [singular] $ [C]
a small animal with a long furry tail that climbs trees and eats nutspast tense and past participle squirrelled, present participle squirrelling BrE past tense and past participle squirreled, present participle squirreling AmE

PHRASAL VERBS
squirrel sth <=> away phr v
to keep something in a safe place to use later; = stash away
•By December I had $300 squirreled away.squirrelly $ AmE informal
not able to stay still; = restless
•squirrely kids $
1 [I,T] if you squirt liquid or if it squirts somewhere, it is forced out in a thin fast stream; spray
[+out/from/into]
•Water suddenly squirted out from a hole in the pipe.
squirt sth into/through sth
•Squirt some oil in the lock.
2 [T] to hit or cover someone or something with a thin fast stream of liquid; spray
squirt sb/sth with sth
•Mom! Chad's squirting me with the hose!
•Some kids squirted a water pistol in her face.[C]
1 a fast thin stream of liquid
[+of]
•a squirt of water
2 spoken an insulting word for a short person, especially someone who is annoying you[C]
AmE a WATER PISTOL
1 [I always + adv/prep] to make a soft sucking sound by moving in or through something soft and wet
2 [I,T] informal to SQUASH something, especially something soft and wet, or to become squashed
soft and easy to press:
•squishy mudSr. AmE BrE
1 the written abbreviation of senior :
•Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
2 the written abbreviation of señor :
•Sr Lopez
3 the written abbreviation of Sister , used in front of the name of a NUN:
•Sr Bernadettealso S.S. AmE BrE
1 the abbreviation of steamship :
•aboard the SS Great Britain
2 BrE the written abbreviation of saints :
•statues of SS Augustine and Thomas
used to ask people to be quiet; = shush
•Ssh! You'll wake everybody up.
1 forms written ORDINAL numbers with 1:
•the 1st (=first) prize
•my 21st birthday
2 old use or biblical another form of the suffix -EST (2):
•thou dost (=you do)St. AmE BrE
1 the written abbreviation of Street , used in addresses:
•Wall St.
2 the written abbreviation of saint :
•St Luke's Gospelst. AmE BrE
the written abbreviation of stone or stones:
•She weighs 9 st 8 lb. past tense and past participle stabbed, present participle stabbing
1 [T] to push a knife into someone or something; stabbing
•He was stabbed to death in a fight.
stab sb in the heart/arm etc
•She had been stabbed in the chest repeatedly.
2 [I,T] to make quick pushing movements with your finger or something pointed; = jab
•He raised his voice and stabbed the air with his pen.
3 stab sb in the back to do something that harms someone who likes and trusts you; = betray[C]
1 an act of stabbing or trying to stab someone with a knife:
•severe stab wounds
•a stab victim
•He killed him with a stab to the heart.
2 stab of fear/disappointment/pain etc a sudden sharp feeling of pain or a strong emotion:
•He felt a stab of guilt.
3 stab at (doing) sth informal an attempt to do something, often not successfully
have/make/take a stab at (doing) sth
•I'll have one more stab at it.
4 stab in the back when someone you thought was a friend tries to harm you
a stabbing pain is sharp and sudden[C]
a crime in which someone is stabbed:
•a fatal stabbing [U]
1 the condition of being steady and not changing; instability ; stable
•a period of relative stability
[+of]
•It could threaten the peace and stability of the region.
2 technical the ability of a substance to stay in the same statealso stabilise BrE [I,T]
to become firm, steady, or unchanging, or to make something firm or steady; stable
•The patient's condition has now stabilized.
•an attempt to stabilize the economy
- stabilization $ noun [U]also stabiliser BrE $ [C]
1 a chemical that helps something such as a food to stay in the same state, for example to prevent it from separating into different liquids
2 a piece of equipment that helps make something such as a plane or ship steady
3 [usually plural] BrE one of a pair of small wheels that are fastened to the back wheel of a child's bicycle to prevent it from falling over
1 steady and not likely to move or change; unstable ; stability
•A wide base will make the structure much more stable.
in a stable condition BrE
/in stable condition AmE
•He is said to be in a stable condition in hospital.
•Children like a stable environment.
2 calm, reasonable, and not easy to upset; unstable
•He was clearly not a very stable person.
3 technical a stable substance tends to stay in the same chemical or ATOMIC state; unstable
- stably adverb[C]
1 a building where horses are kept
2 stables [plural] a place where horses are kept and that often gives riding lessons
3 a group of racing horses that has one owner or trainer
4 a group of people working for the same company or with the same trainer:
•actors from the same Hollywood stable
5 shut/close the stable door after the horse has bolted BrE to try to prevent something when it is too late and harm has already been done[T]
to put or keep a horse in a stablestableman AmE [C]
a man or boy who works in a stable[C]
a girl or woman who works in a stable [C]
sb's/sth's stablemate something produced by the same company, or someone who works for the same company:
•the Daily Mirror's Scottish stablemate, the Daily Record [U]
space in a building where horses can be kept $
if music is played staccato, the notes are cut short
- staccato adjective
1 [C] a neat pile of things; heap
[+of]
•a stack of papers
•stacks of dirty dishes
2 a stack of sth/stacks of sth informal especially BrE a large amount of something:
•He's got stacks of money.
3 [C] a chimney
4 the stacks [plural] the rows of shelves in a library where the books are kept
blow your top/stack at BLOW^1 (16)
1 also stack up [I,T] to make things into a neat pile, or to form a neat pile:
•The assistants price the items and stack them on the shelves.
•a stacking hi-fi system
2 [T usually passive] to put neat piles of things on something:
•He went back to stacking the shelves.
be stacked with sth
•The floor was stacked with boxes.
3 the odds/cards are stacked against sb used to say that someone is unlikely to be successful
4 stack the cards BrE stack the deck AmE informal to arrange cards dishonestly in a game

PHRASAL VERBS
stack up phr v
1 stack sth <=> up to make things into a neat pile
2 informal used to talk about how good something is compared with something else
[+against]
•Parents want to know how their kids' schools stack up against others.
3 if a number of things stack up, they gradually collect or get stuck in one place:
•Traffic stacked up behind the bus. not polite
used to describe a woman with large breasts plural stadiums or stadia [C]
a building for public events, especially sports and large rock music concerts, consisting of a playing field surrounded by rows of seats:
•the new Olympic Stadium $
1 WORKERS [C also + plural verb BrE ] the people who work for an organization:
•The entire staff has done an outstanding job this year.
•They employ a total of 150 staff.
•The staff were very helpful.
staff of 10/50 etc
•Our department has a staff of seven.
medical/academic/library etc staff
•a strike by ambulance staff
•one of our longest-serving staff members
member of staff BrE
•I'd like to welcome a new member of staff.
on the staff (of sth)
•We were both on the staff of the British Film Institute at the time.
on staff AmE
•Joan is the only lawyer we have on staff.
staff room/meeting (=a room or meeting for teachers in a school)
2 STICK [C] plural staves
a) old use a long thick stick to help you walk
b) a long thick stick that an official holds in some ceremonies
3 MUSIC [C] especially AmE the set of five lines that music is written on; = stave
4 the staff of life literary bread
GENERAL STAFF, GROUND STAFF

GRAMMAR
In British English, staff can be singular or plural.
In American English, staff is not used as frequently as in British English, and is never followed by a plural verb.

!! You never refer to a person as 'a staff'. Say a member of staff (BrE) or an employee.

[T usually passive]
to be or provide the workers for an organization; overstaffed, understaffed
•The centre is staffed mainly by volunteers.
- staffing noun [U]
•staffing levels $ [C] AmE
someone who is paid to work for an organization[C] BrE
a British hospital nurse whose rank is just below a SISTER (2) or CHARGE NURSE[C]
a military officer whose job is to help an officer of a higher rank[C,U]
a lower rank in the army or the US Air Force or MARINEs , or someone who has this rank [C]
1 a fully grown male DEER; = buck AmE
2 go stag AmE informal if a man goes stag, he goes to a party without a woman
STAG NIGHT, STAG PARTY
1 TIME/STATE [C] a particular time or state that something reaches as it grows or develops; phase, step

the early/initial stages (of sth)
the later/final stages (of sth)
the halfway stage (of sth)
critical/crucial/important stage (of/in sth)
new stage (of/in sth)
reach/get to a stage
go through a stage (of sth)
mark a stage (in sth)
go/take sth/carry sth a stage further
at one stage (=at a time in the past)
at some stage/at a later stage (=at a time in the future)
at this stage (=now)
at this late stage

[+of/in]
• the early stages of a child's development
•during the later stages of the war
•They've just reached the halfway stage of the project.
•It's a good move at this stage in his career.
•at a crucial stage in the race
•We're getting to the stage where we hardly ever go out together.
•All children go through an awkward stage at some time.
•This treaty marks an important stage in our two countries' relationship.
•Let us take the discussion a stage further.
• At one stage, it seemed like she was ready to agree.
•We can't change the design at this late stage.

2 PART OF PROCESS [C] one of the parts which something such as a competition or process is divided into
[+of]
•The team reached the semi-final stage of the competition.
stage 2/6 etc
•We're now reaching the end of stage 3 of the construction.
•The next stage is to complete an application form.
in stages
•The rest of the money will be paid in stages (=a small amount at a time).
3 THEATRE [C] the raised area in a theatre which actors or singers stand on when they perform; backstage
on stage
•She is on stage for most of the play.
•She appeared on stage with George Michael.
4 ACTING the stage acting as a profession, especially in theatres:
•I wanted to go on the stage (=become an actor).
•stars of stage and screen (=theatre and cinema)
5 centre stage if someone or something is centre stage, it has everyone's attention, or is very important:
•Anne's sculpture took centre stage at the show.
•The UN has moved to the centre stage of world politics.
6 PLACE [singular] a place or area of activity where something important happens
on the world/international/political etc stage
•He's an experienced campaigner on the world stage.
•important figures on the European political stage
[+for]
•Geneva has been the stage for many such conferences.
7 set the stage for sth to prepare for something or make something possible:
•Will this agreement merely set the stage for another war?
LANDING STAGE[T]
1 to organize a public event
stage a strike/demonstration/sit-in etc
•Activists staged a protest outside the parliament.
•exhibitions staged in Paris
•The candidates' public appearances were carefully staged (=not natural).
2 stage a comeback/recovery etc to start doing something again or being successful, after you had stopped or not been successful for some time:
•He staged an amazing comeback. $ [C]
a vehicle pulled by horses that was used in past times for carrying passengers and letters $ [U]
skill and experience in writing or organizing the performance of a play[C]
a written instruction to an actor to do something in a play[C usually singular]
the entrance to a theatre used by actors and theatre workers[U]
nervousness felt by someone who is going to perform in front of a lot of people:
•Den suffered terribly from stage fright.
•an attack of stage fright [C]
someone who works on a theatre stage, getting it ready for a play or for the next part of a play
on the left side of a theatre stage from the view of an actor facing the people in the AUDIENCE:
•He entered stage left.[T]
to organize a public event, such as a meeting, in a way that will give you the result that you want - often used to show disapproval:
•The press conference was cleverly stage-managed.[C]
someone who is in charge of the technical parts of organizing a performance of a play, such as the LIGHTING, SCENERY etc[C]
a name used by an actor instead of his or her real name
on the right side of a theatre stage from the view of an actor facing the people in the AUDIENCE:
•She had to exit stage right.
loving to see plays, or wanting very much to become an actor[C]
1 a loud WHISPER used by an actor in a play which the other actors on the stage seem not to hear
2 a loud WHISPER that is intended to be heard by everyone
another spelling of STAGY [U]
an economic situation in which there is INFLATION (=a continuing rise in prices) but many people do not have jobs and businesses are not doing well $
1 [I always + adv/prep] to walk or move unsteadily, almost falling over; = stumble
•He managed to stagger home.
•She staggered back a step.
•The old man staggered drunkenly to his feet.
2 [T] to make someone feel very surprised or shocked; = amaze
•What staggered us was the sheer size of her salary.
3 [I] also stagger on to continue doing something when you seem to be going to fail and you do not know what will happen:
•He staggered on for another two years.
stagger from sth to sth
•The company staggered from one crisis to the next.
4 [T] to arrange people's working hours, holidays etc so that they do not all begin and end at the same time:
•Jim and his wife stagger their work hours so one of them can be at home with the kids.
5 [T] to start a race with each runner at a different place on a curved track[C usually singular]
an unsteady movement of someone who is having difficulty in walking $ [not before noun]
extremely surprised; = amazed
•I was absolutely staggered when I saw the bill.
[+at/by]
•She was staggered by the directness of his question.
extremely great or surprising; = amazing
•The cost was a staggering $10 million.
•The financial impact on the town was staggering.
- staggeringly adverb
•a staggeringly beautiful landscape
1 [C,U] when a play is performed on stage:
•a modern-dress staging of 'Hamlet'
2 [U] a flat raised surface that is put up for a short time for people to stand and work on[C]
a place where soldiers meet and where military equipment is gathered before it is moved to another place[C]
a place where people, planes, ships etc stop on a long journey, for example to rest or get supplies:
•a staging post on the flight from Australia
1 stagnant water or air does not move or flow and often smells bad:
•a stagnant pond
2 not changing or making progress, and continuing to be in a bad condition:
•a government plan to revive the stagnant economy $ [I]
to stop developing or making progress:
•Growth is expected to stagnate next year.
•His career had stagnated.
- stagnation noun [U]
•economic stagnation[C]
BrE a night before a man's wedding, which he spends with his male friends, drinking or having a party[C]
a party for men only, especially on the night before a man's wedding; hen partystagey
behaviour that is stagy is not natural and is like the way an actor behaves on a stage:
•a very stagy manner
- stagily adverb
serious, old-fashioned, and boring:
•a staid old bachelor
1 [I,T] to accidentally make a mark on something, especially one that cannot be removed, or to be marked in this way:
•Be careful you don't stain the carpet.
•This tablecloth stains very easily.
•Her fingers were stained yellow from years of smoking.
[+with]
•a cowboy hat stained with dust and sweat
2 [T] to change the colour of something, especially something made of wood, by using a special liquid; dye
•We've decided to stain the shelves blue.
3 stain sb's name/honour/reputation etc literary to damage the good opinion that people have about someone
1 [C] a mark that is difficult to remove, especially one made by a liquid such as blood, coffee, or ink
[+on]
•There was a dark red stain on the carpet.
remove/get rid of a stain
•White vinegar is great for removing stains.
wine/coffee/blood etc stain
•How do you get wine stains out of a tablecloth?
stubborn stains (=ones that are very difficult to remove)
2 [C,U] a special liquid that you use to change the colour of something, especially wood; dye
3 stain on sb's character/name/reputation etc something that damages the good opinion that people have about someone[U]
glass of different colours used for making pictures and patterns in windows, especially in a church:
•stained glass windows[U]
a type of steel that does not RUST:
•stainless steel cutlery $
1 stairs [plural] a set of steps built for going from one level of a building to another; upstairs, downstairs
up/down the stairs
•Jerry ran up the stairs.
the top/head of the stairs
•I left my briefcase at the top of the stairs.
the bottom/foot of the stairs
•'Lisa,' he cried from the foot of the stairs.
•We walked up four flights of stairs (=sets of stairs).
2 [C] one of the steps in a set of stairs:
•Lucy sat down on the bottom stair.
3 [singular] literary a STAIRCASE
4 below stairs BrE old-fashioned in the servants' part of a large house, in the past $ [C]
a set of stairs inside a building with its supports and the side parts that you hold on to $ [C]
a staircase, especially a large or impressive one $ [C]
the space going up through all the floors of a building, where the stairs go up
1 at stake if something that you value very much is at stake, you will lose it if a plan or action is not successful:
•They have to win the contract - thousands of jobs are at stake.
•National pride is at stake in next week's game against England.
2 COMPANY/BUSINESS [C] if you have a stake in a business, you have INVESTed money in it
hold/have a stake in sth
•He holds a 51% stake in the firm.
3 have a stake in sth if you have a stake in something, you will get advantages if it is successful, and you feel that you have an important connection with it:
•Young people don't feel they have a stake in the country's future.
4 MONEY RISKED [C] money that you risk as the result of a horse race, card game etc:
•For a dollar stake, you can win up to $1,000,000.
5 high stakes
a) if the stakes are high when you are trying to do something, you risk losing a lot or it will be dangerous if you fail:
•Climbing is a dangerous sport and the stakes are high.
b) if the stakes are high when you are doing something such as playing a card game, you risk losing a lot of money
•We're playing for high stakes here.
6 POINTED STICK [C] a pointed piece of wood, metal etc, especially one that is pushed into the ground to support something or mark a particular place:
•tent stakes
• Drive two stakes into the ground about three feet apart.
7 the stake a post to which a person was tied in former times before being killed by burning:
•Suspected witches were burnt at the stake.
8 in the popularity/fashion etc stakes used when saying how popular, fashionable etc someone or something is:
•Ben wouldn't score very highly in the popularity stakes.
9 (be prepared to) go to the stake for/over sth BrE to be willing to do anything to protect or defend an idea, or belief:
•That's my opinion, but I wouldn't go to the stake for it.
10 pull up stakes also up stakes BrE informal to leave your job or home:
•We're going to pull up stakes and move to Montana.[T]
1 to risk losing something that is valuable or important to you on the result of something
stake sth on sb/sth
•Kevin is staking his reputation on the success of the project.
•Jim staked his whole fortune on one card game.
2 I'd stake my life on it spoken used when saying that you are completely sure that something is true, or that something will happen:
•I'm sure that's Jesse - I'd stake my life on it.
3 also stake up to support something with stakes:
•Young trees have to be staked.
4 also stake off to mark or enclose an area of ground with stakes:
•A corner of the field has been staked off.
5 stake (out) a claim to say publicly that you think you have a right to have or own something
[+to]
•Both countries staked a claim to the islands.

PHRASAL VERBS
stake sth <=> out phr v informal
1 to watch a place secretly and continuously; stakeout
•Police officers have been staking out the warehouse for weeks.
2 to mark or control a particular area so that you can have it or use it:
•We went to the show early to stake out a good spot.
3 to state your opinions about something in a way that shows how your ideas are clearly separate from other people's ideas:
•Johnson staked out the differences between himself and the other candidates. $ [C]
1 someone who has INVESTed money into something, or who has some important connection with it, and therefore is affected by its success or failure
[+in]
•Citizens should be stakeholders in the society they live in.
2 law someone, usually a lawyer, who takes charge of a property during a quarrel or a sale
3 someone chosen to hold the money that is risked by people on a race, competition etc and to give all of it to the winner[C] BrE
an economic system in a society that citizens feel they receive advantages from and have responsibilities to [C]
when the police watch a place secretly and continuously in order to catch someone who is doing something illegal $ [C]
a sharp pointed object hanging down from the roof of a CAVE, which is formed gradually by water that contains minerals as it drops slowly from the roof; stalagmite $ [C]
a sharp pointed object coming up from the floor of a CAVE, formed by drops from a stalactite
1 bread or cake that is stale is no longer fresh or good to eat; fresh
•French bread goes stale (=becomes stale) very quickly.
•stale cake
2 air that is stale is not fresh or pleasant; fresh
•the smell of stale smoke
3 not interesting or exciting any more:
•stale jokes
•Other marriages might go stale, but not theirs.
4 if you get stale, you have no new ideas, interest, or energy, because you have been doing the same thing for too long:
•If you stay in the job for more than 10 years, you get stale.
•He was becoming stale and running out of ideas.
- staleness noun [U] [C,U]
1 a situation in which it seems impossible to settle an argument or disagreement, and neither side can get an advantage; = deadlock
•an attempt to break the stalemate
•The discussions with the miners' union ended in stalemate.
2 a position in CHESS in which neither player can win
- stalemate verb [T] $ [C]
1 a long narrow part of a plant that supports leaves, fruits, or flowers:
•celery stalks
2 a thin upright object
3 sb's eyes are out on stalks BrE informal if your eyes are out on stalks, you are very surprised or shocked
1 [T] to follow a person or animal quietly in order to catch and attack or kill them; shadow
•a tiger stalking its prey
•We know the rapist stalks his victims at night.
2 [T] to follow and watch someone over a long period of time in a way that is very annoying or threatening, and that is considered a crime in some places:
•She was stalked by an obsessed fan.
3 [I always + adv/prep] to walk in a proud or angry way, with long steps
[+out/off/away]
•Yvonne turned and stalked out of the room in disgust.
4 [T] literary if something bad stalks a place, you see or feel it everywhere in that place:
•Fear stalks every dark stairwell and walkway. $ [C]
someone who follows and watches another person over a period of time in a way that is very annoying or threatening $ [U]
the crime of following and watching someone over a period of time in a way that is very annoying or threatening[C]
someone or something that hides someone's true purpose, especially a politician who says they want their leader's job when the real plan is that another, more important politician should get it $
1 [C] a table or a small shop with an open front, especially outdoors, where goods are sold:
•a market stall
2 [C] an enclosed area in a building for an animal such as a horse or cow
3 [C usually singular] if a plane goes into a stall, its engine stops working
4 [C usually plural] a seat in a row of fixed seats for priests and singers in some larger churches:
•choir stalls
5 bathroom/toilet/shower stall a small enclosed private area for washing or using the toilet
6 the stalls BrE the seats on the main level of a theatre or cinema:
•a good seat in the front row of the stalls
1 [I,T] if an engine or vehicle stalls, or if you stall it, it stops because there is not enough power or speed to keep it going:
•The car kept stalling.
•An inexperienced pilot may easily stall a plane.
2 [I] informal to deliberately delay because you are not ready to do something, answer questions etc:
• Quit stalling and answer my question!
•He was just stalling for time.
3 [T] informal to make someone wait or stop something from happening until you are ready:
•Maybe we can stall the sale until the prices go up.
•We've got to stall him somehow.
4 [I] to stop making progress or developing:
•The peace process remained stalled.
•While his career has stalled, hers has taken off. $ [C]
BrE someone who rents and keeps a market stall [C]
a male horse that is fully grown, especially one that is used for breeding; mare $ [C]
someone who is very loyal to a particular organization or set of ideas, and works hard for them:
•old party stalwarts
[+of]
•Rob's a stalwart of the school's chess club.
1 stalwart supporter/ally etc a very loyal and strong supporter etc
2 formal strong in appearance
- stalwartly adverb [C]
technical the male part of a flower that produces POLLEN [U]
physical or mental strength that lets you continue doing something for a long time without getting tired:
•You need stamina to be a long-distance runner.
•Elaine has the stamina and the determination to succeed. $ [I,T]
to speak with a lot of pauses and repeated sounds, either because you have a speech problem, or because you are nervous, excited etc; = stutter
•Whenever he was angry he would begin to stammer slightly.
•Ben stammered out an apology.
- stammerer noun [C][C usually singular]
a speech problem which makes someone speak with a lot of pauses and repeated sounds; = stutter
•Jeff spoke with a slight stammer. [C]
1 MAIL also postage stamp formal a small piece of paper that you buy and stick onto an envelope or package before posting it:
•a 29-cent stamp
•Richard collects stamps.
•a second-class stamp
2 PRINTED MARK a tool for pressing or printing a mark or pattern onto a surface, or the mark made by this tool:
•a date stamp
•a passport stamp
3 the stamp of sth if something has the stamp of a particular quality, it clearly has that quality
•The speech bore (=had) the stamp of authority.
4 PAYMENT BrE a small piece of paper that is worth a particular amount of money and is bought and collected for something over a period of time:
•television licence stamps
5 TAX BrE a piece of paper for sticking to some official papers to show that British tax has been paid
6 of ... stamp formal someone with a particular kind of character:
•He's clearly of a very different stamp.
7 WITH FOOT an act of stamping, especially with your foot:
•an angry stamp
FOOD STAMP
1 PUT FOOT DOWN [I,T] to put your foot down onto the ground loudly and with a lot of force:
•The audience stamped and shouted.
•'I will not!' Bert yelled and stamped his foot (=because he was angry).
•She stood at the bus stop stamping her feet (=because she was cold).
stamp on sb/sth (=try to hurt or kill someone or something, by putting your foot down onto them)
•Marta shrieked and started stamping on the cockroach.
2 WALK NOISILY [I always + adv/prep] to walk somewhere in a noisy way by putting your feet down hard onto the ground because you are angry; = stomp
[+around/out of/off etc]
•My mother stamped off down the stairs.
3 MAKE A MARK [T] to put a pattern, sign, or letters on something using a special tool:
•The woman at the desk stamped my passport.
•Among the papers was a brown folder stamped 'SECRET'.
stamp sth on sth
•Stamp the date on all the letters.
4 AFFECT SB/STH [T] to have an important or permanent effect on someone or something:
•The experience remained stamped on her memory for many years.
stamp sb with sth
•His army years had stamped him with an air of brisk authority.
5 MAIL [T] to stick a stamp onto a letter, PARCEL etc

PHRASAL VERBS
stamp sb as sth phr v
to show that someone has a particular type of character:
•It was his manners that stamped him as a real gentleman.

stamp on sb/sth phr v
to use force or your authority to stop someone from doing something, or stop something from happening, especially in an unfair way:
•Officers were given orders to stamp on any hint of trouble.

stamp sth <=> out phr v
1 to prevent something bad from continuing:
•We aim to stamp out poverty in our lifetimes.
2 to stop a fire from burning by stepping hard on the flames
3 to make a shape or object by pressing hard on something using a machine or tool[U]
the practice of collecting stamps from interest or because of their financial value
- stamp collector noun [C][U]
a tax that must be paid in Britain on particular legal documents that have to be officially checked, especially when buying a house[C] BrE
SAE an envelope with your name, address and a stamp on it, which you send to a person or organization so that they can send you information [C]
1 when a group of people all want to do the same thing at the same time:
•a stampede to buy shares in high-tech companies
2 when a group of large animals or people suddenly start running in the same direction because they are frightened or excited:
•a cattle stampede[I,T]
1 if a group of large animals or people stampede, they suddenly start running together in the same direction because they are frightened or excited:
•a herd of stampeding buffalo
•Children came stampeding out of the school doors.
2 be/get stampeded to be made frightened or worried so that you do something too quickly, without thinking enough about it
[+into]
•Don't get stampeded into any rash decisions.[C] especially BrE
sb's stamping ground a favourite place where someone often goes $ [C usually singular]
1 an opinion that is stated publicly; = stand
[+on]
•What is your stance on environmental issues?
[+against]
•a strong stance against abortion
take/adopt a stance
•The President has adopted a tough stance on terrorism.
2 a position in which you stand, especially when playing a sport:
•a fighting stance $
an American spelling of STAUNCH^2 $ [C]
a strong upright bar used to support something past tense and past participle stood
1 BE ON FEET also be standing up [I] to support yourself on your feet or be in an upright position:
•It looks like we'll have to stand - there are no seats left.
•She stood in the doorway.
• Stand still (=do not move) and listen to me.
•Don't just stand there (=stand and not do anything)- help me!
stand on tiptoe/stand on your toes (=support yourself on your toes)
•If he stood on tiptoe, he could reach the shelf.
stand (somewhere) doing sth
•They just stood there laughing.
•We stood watching the rain fall.
2 RISE also stand up [I] to rise to an upright position:
•Smiling, she stood and closed the blinds.
3 STEP [I always + adv/prep]
a) to step a short distance
[+back/aside]
•She stood back to let him in.
stand clear of sth BrE (=step away from something in order to be safe)
•Stand clear of the doors, please.
b) BrE to accidentally step on or in something
[+on/in]
•Don't stand in that puddle!
4 IN A PARTICULAR POSITION [I,T usually + adv/prep] to be upright in a particular position, or to put something or someone somewhere in an upright position:
•A lamp stood on the table.
•Near the railway station stood a hotel.
•Some remains of the original house still stand.
stand sth on/in etc sth
•Can you stand that pole in the corner for now?
•I closed the lid and stood the case against the wall.
stand sb (up) on sth
•Stand Molly up on a chair so she can see.
5 IN A STATE/CONDITION [linking verb] to be or stay in a particular state or condition:
•The kitchen door stood open so she went in.
stand empty/idle (=not being used)
•scores of derelict houses standing empty
•I'm not too thrilled with the way things stand (=the state that the situation is in) at the moment.
•The evidence as it stands (=as it is now) cannot be conclusive.
where/how do things stand? (=used to ask what is happening in a situation)
•Where do things stand in terms of the budget?
•I will know within the next month or two how I stand (=what my situation is).
stand united/divided (=agree or disagree completely)
•He urged the whole community to stand united and to reject terrorism.
stand prepared/ready to do sth (=be prepared to do something whenever it is necessary)
•We should stand ready to do what is necessary to guarantee the peace.
•countries that have stood together (=stayed united) in times of crisis
stand in awe of sb (=admire them, be afraid of them, or both)
6 NOT LIKE can't stand spoken used to say that you do not like someone or something at all, or that you think that something is extremely unpleasant; = can't bear
•I can't stand bad manners.
•I know he can't stand the sight of me.
can't stand (sb/sth) doing sth
•Lily can't stand working in an office.
•I can't stand people smoking around me when I'm eating.
can't stand to do sth
•She can't stand to hear them arguing.
7 ACCEPT A SITUATION [T usually in questions and negatives] to be able to accept or deal well with a difficult situation; = tolerate
can/could stand sth
•I couldn't stand the thought of leaving Danielle.
•I've had about as much as I can stand of your arguing!
•I don't know if I can stand the waiting any longer.
can stand sb doing sth
•How can you stand Marty coming home late all the time?
•She's a strong woman who stands no nonsense from anyone.
8 BE GOOD ENOUGH [T] to be good or strong enough to last a long time or to experience a particular situation without being harmed, damaged, etc:
•Linen can stand very high temperatures.
•His poetry will stand the test of time (=stay popular).
9 stand to do sth to be likely to do or have something
stand to gain/lose/win/make
•What do firms think they stand to gain by merging?
•After the oil spill, thousands of fishermen stand to lose their livelihoods.
10 NOT MOVE [I] to stay in a particular place without moving; standstill
•The car's been standing in the garage for weeks.
•The mixture was left to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
•The train was already standing at the platform.
11 HEIGHT [linking verb] formal to be a particular height:
•The trophy stands 5 feet high.
•John stood 6 feet tall.
12 LEVEL/AMOUNT [linking verb] to be at a particular level or amount
[+at]
•His former workforce of 1,300 now stands at 220.
•Illiteracy rates are still thought to stand above 50 percent.
13 RANK/POSITION [I always + adv/prep] to have a particular rank or position when compared with similar things or people; = rank
•The president stands high in the public opinion polls.
•How do their sales stand in relation to those of similar firms?
•His book could stand alongside the best.
14 ELECTION [I] BrE to try to become elected to a council, parliament etc; = run AmE
[+for]
•She announced her intention to stand for Parliament.
15 DECISION/OFFER [I not in progressive] if a decision, offer etc stands, it continues to exist, be correct, or be VALID:
•Despite protests, the official decision stood.
•My offer of help still stands.
16 if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen used to tell someone that they should leave a job or situation if they cannot deal with its difficulties
17 sb/sth could stand sth used to say very directly that it would be a good idea for someone to do something or for something to happen:
•His smile exposed teeth that could stand a good scrubbing.
sb could stand to do sth
•My doctor told me I could stand to lose a few pounds.
18 I stand corrected spoken formal used to admit that your opinion or something that you just said was wrong
19 where sb stands someone's opinion about something
[+on]
•We still do not know where he stands on the matter.
•You must decide where you stand.
20 from where I stand spoken according to what I know or feel:
•I knew from where I stood that the stocks were practically worthless.
21 know where you stand (with sb) to know how someone feels about you, or what you are allowed to do in a particular situation:
•At least we know where we stand with Steven now.
•I'd like to know where I stand.
•It helps to know where you stand legally.
22 stand to attention BrE stand at attention AmE if soldiers stand to attention, they stand very straight and stiff to show respect
23 stand on your head/hands to support yourself on your head or hands, with your feet in the air
24 stand in line AmE to wait in a line of people until it is your turn to do something; = queue BrE
•Customers stood in line for 20 minutes at the cash register.
25 stand firm/stand fast
a) to refuse to be forced to move backwards:
•She stood firm, blocking the entrance.
b) to refuse to change your opinions, intentions, or behaviour:
•The government continued to stand firm and no concessions were made.
[+on/against]
•He stands firm on his convictions.
26 stand pat AmE to refuse to change a decision, plan etc
[+on]
•Harry's standing pat on his decision to fire Janice.
27 stand alone
a) to continue to do something alone, without help from anyone else:
•Some of the Pacific islands are too small to stand alone as independent states.
b) to be much better than anything or anyone else:
•For sheer entertainment value, Kelly stood alone.
28 stand still to not change or progress at all, even though time has passed:
•No industry can stand still.
• Time seems to have stood still in this lovely hotel.
29 stand a chance/hope (of doing sth) to be likely to be able to do something or to succeed:
•You'll stand a better chance of getting a job with a degree.
•Maybe their relationship had never really stood a chance.
30 stand in sb's way also stand in the way to prevent someone from doing something:
•I always encouraged Brian. I didn't want to stand in his way.
•You can't stand in the way of progress!
31 stand on your own (two) feet to be able to do what you need to do, earn your own money, etc without help from others:
•She's never learned to stand on her own feet.
32 it stands to reason (that) used to say that something should be completely clear to anyone who is sensible:
•It stands to reason that you cannot find the right person to do a job unless you know exactly what that job is.
33 stand or fall by/on sth to depend on something for success:
•The case against him will stand or fall on its own merits.
34 LIQUID [I] a liquid that stands does not flow or is not made to move:
•standing pools of marsh water
35 stand guard (over sb/sth) to watch someone or something so that they do not do anything wrong or so that nothing bad happens to them:
•Soldiers stand guard on street corners.
•You must stand guard over him at all times.
36 stand bail BrE to promise to pay money if someone does not return to a court of law to be judged
37 stand trial to be brought to a court of law to have your case examined and judged
[+for/on]
•Gresham will stand trial for murder.
•The accused was ordered to stand trial on a number of charges.
38 stand accused (of sth)
a) to be the person in a court of law who is being judged for a crime:
•The former president stands accused of lying to the nation's parliament.
b) if you stand accused of doing something bad or wrong, other people say that you have done it:
•The radio station stands accused of racism.
39 stand tall
a) to stand with your back straight and your head raised:
•Stand tall with your feet comfortably apart.
b) AmE to be proud and feel ready to deal with anything:
•We will stand tall and fight for issues of concern to our community.
40 sb can do sth standing on their head informal used to say that someone is able to do something easily:
•This is basic stuff. I can do it standing on my head.
41 be stood on its head if something is stood on its head, it becomes the opposite of what it was before:
•One area of the business which has been stood on its head is internal communications.
42 not stand on ceremony BrE to not worry about the formal rules of polite behaviour:
•Come on, Mal, don't stand on ceremony here at home.
43 stand sb a drink/meal etc BrE to pay for something as a gift to someone:
•Come on, Jack, I'll stand you a drink if you like.

PHRASAL VERBS
stand against sb/sth phr v
to oppose a person, organization, plan, decision etc:
•She hadn't the strength to stand against her aunt's demands.
•There are only a hundred of them standing against an army of 42,000 troops.

stand around phr v
to stand somewhere and not do anything:
•We stood around saying goodbye for a while.

stand by phr v
1 to not do anything to help someone or prevent something from happening; bystander
•I'm not going to stand by and see her hurt.
2 stand by sth to keep a promise, agreement etc, or to say that something is still true:
•I stand by what I said earlier.
•He stood by his convictions.
3 stand by sb to stay loyal to someone and support them, especially in a difficult situation:
•His wife stood by him during his years in prison.
4 to be ready to do something if necessary; standby
•Rescue crews were standing by in case of a breakdown.
[+for]
•Stand by for our Christmas competition.
stand by to do sth
•Police stood by to arrest any violent fans.

stand down phr v BrE
1 to agree to leave your position or to stop trying to be elected, so that someone else can have a chance; = step down AmE
[+as]
•He was obliged to stand down as a Parliamentary candidate.
2 to leave the WITNESS BOX in a court of law
3 stand (sb) down if a soldier stands down or is stood down, he stops working for the day

stand for sth phr v
1 if a letter or symbol stands for something, it represents a word or idea, especially as a short form:
•What does ATM stand for?
2 to support a particular set of ideas, values, or principles:
•It's hard to tell what the party stands for these days.
3 not stand for sth BrE to not allow something to continue to happen or someone to do something:
•She's been lying about me, and I won't stand for it.

stand in phr v
to temporarily do someone else's job or take their place; stand-in
[+for]
•Would you mind standing in for me for a while?

stand out phr v
1 to be very easy to see or notice:
•The outlines of rooftops and chimneys stood out against the pale sky.
•She always stood out in a crowd.
•I am sure illnesses stand out in all childhood memories.
2 to be much better than other similar people or things; standout
[+as]
•That day still stands out as the greatest day in my life.
[+from/among/above]
•Three of the cars we tested stood out among the rest.
3 to rise up from a surface:
•The veins stood out on his throat and temples.

stand out against sth phr v BrE
to be strongly opposed to an idea, plan etc:
•We must stand out against bigotry.

stand over sb phr v
to stand very close behind someone and watch as they work to make sure they do nothing wrong:
•I can't concentrate with him standing over me like that.

stand to phr v BrE
to order a soldier to move into a position so that they are ready for action, or to move into this position
stand sb <=> to
•The men have been stood to.

stand up phr v
1 to be on your feet or to rise to your feet; stand-up
•I've been standing up all day.
• Stand up straight and don't slouch!
•Jim stood up stiffly.
2 [always + adv/prep] to stay healthy or in good condition in a difficult environment or after a lot of hard use
[+to]
•Most of the plants stood up well to the heat.
3 to be proved to be true, correct, useful etc when tested
[+to/under]
•The memoirs stand up well to cross-checking with other records.
•Without a witness, the charges will never stand up in court (=be successfully proved in a court of law).
4 stand sb up informal to not meet someone who you have arranged to meet:
•I was supposed to go to a concert with Kyle on Friday, but he stood me up.
5 stand up and be counted to make it very clear what you think about something when this is dangerous or might cause trouble for you

stand up for sb/sth phr v
to support or defend a person or idea when they are being attacked:
•It's time we stood up for our rights.
•Silvia is capable of standing up for herself.

stand up to sb/sth phr v
to refuse to accept unfair treatment from a person or organization:
•He'll respect you more if you stand up to him.
•Cliff couldn't stand up to bullying.
make sb's hair stand on end at HAIR (8)
leave sb/sth standing at LEAVE^1 (15)
not have a leg to stand on at LEG^1 (7)
stand/serve/hold sb in good stead at STEAD (2)
stand your ground at GROUND^1 (7)[C]
1 FOR SUPPORT a piece of furniture or equipment used to hold or support something:
•a music stand
•a cake stand
•He adjusted the microphone stand.
coat stand/hat stand (=for hanging coats or hats on)
2 FOR SELLING a table or small structure used for selling or showing things; = stall BrE
•a hotdog stand
•an exhibition stand
•The shop was crowded with display stands and boxes.
•One week three magazines hit the stands (=became available to buy) with Peace Corps stories.
3 OPINION/ATTITUDE [usually singular] a position or opinion that you state firmly and publicly
[+on]
•the Republicans' conservative stand on social and environmental issues
•She was accused of not taking a stand on feminism or civil rights.
4 OPPOSE/DEFEND a strong effort to defend yourself or to oppose something
take/make/mount a stand (against sth)
•We have to take a stand against racism.
5 the stands [plural] also stand BrE a building where people stand or sit to watch the game at a sports ground; grandstand
•In the stands, fifty of Jess's friends and family have come to watch her last game.
6 the stand a WITNESS BOX:
•Will the next witness please take the stand (=go into the witness box)?
7 CRICKET the period of time in which two BATSMEN are playing together in a game of CRICKET, or the points that they get during this time
8 TAXIS/BUSES a place where taxis or buses stop and wait for passengers:
•There's a taxi stand on Glen Road.
9 TREES a group of trees of one type growing close together
[+of]
•a stand of eucalyptus trees $ [only before noun]
1 a standalone computer works on its own without being part of a network
2 a standalone company is one that is not part of a larger company
- standalone noun [C] $
1 LEVEL OF QUALITY/ACHIEVEMENT [C,U] the level that is considered to be acceptable, or the level that someone or something has achieved

high/good standard
low/poor standard
meet/reach/attain a standard
set a standard
raise/improve standards
lower standards
maintain standards (=keep them at a good level)
standards fall/slip/go down/decline
up to standard (=good enough)
below standard (=not good enough)
stringent/rigorous/tough standards (=strict standards)
safety/environmental standards
academic/educational standards
living standards
by modern/today's/our etc standards

[+of]
•The committee is assessing the standard of care in local hospitals.
•parents who have very high standards
•The rooms are of a good standard.
•the low standard of housing
•Students have to reach a certain standard or they won't pass.
•The EU should set minimum standards of employee rights.
•imaginative ideas for raising standards in schools
• Standards are falling as the quality of applicants declines.
•Safety measures failed to come up to standard.
•The airline has rigorous safety standards.
•These figures clearly show the difference in world living standards.
•Many early child-rearing practices were cruel by modern standards.

2 MORAL PRINCIPLES standards [plural] moral principles about what kind of behaviour or attitudes are acceptable:
•the recent decline in moral standards
standards fall/slip/go down
•Standards have slipped since I was a boy.
3 MEASUREMENT [C] a fixed official rule for measuring weight, PURITY, value etc:
•an official government standard for the purity of silver
4 SONG [C] a popular song that has been sung by many different singers:
•popular jazz standards
5 FLAG [C] old-fashioned a flag used in ceremonies:
•the royal standard
DOUBLE STANDARD, LIVING STANDARD
1 accepted as normal or usual:
•We paid them the standard rate.
standard practice/procedure (=the usual way of doing things)
•Searching luggage at airports is now standard practice.
•The format is fairly standard.
2 regular and usual in shape, size, quality etc; non-standard
•We make shoes in standard and wide sizes.
•All these vans are made to a standard design.
3 a standard book, work etc is read by everyone studying a particular subject
4 the standard form of a language is the one considered to be correct and is used by most people; non-standard
•the standard spelling
•standard English pronunciation[C] formal
1 an important leader in a moral argument or political group
2 a soldier in past times who carried the STANDARD (=flag) at the front of an army[C]
technical a number in STATISTICs that shows by how much members of a mathematical set can be different from the average set[C]
a school examination in one of a range of subjects that is taken by students in Scotland usually at the age of 16
1 a standard-issue thing is the common or usual type of that thing
2 included as an ordinary part of military equipmentalso standardise BrE $ [T]
to make all the things of one particular type the same as each other:
•Attempts to standardize English spelling have never been successful.
•standardized tests
- standardization $ noun [U][C]
BrE a tall lamp that stands on the floor; = floor lamp AmE[C usually singular]
the amount of wealth, comfort, and other things that a particular person, group, country etc has; = living standard
high/low standard of living
•a nation with a high standard of living[U]
the time to which all clocks in a particular area of the world are setstand-by plural standbys
1 on standby
a) ready to help immediately if you are needed:
•A special team of police were kept on standby.
b) if you are on standby to do something, for example to travel by plane, you are on a list of people who may be allowed to do it if places become available, for example if other people cannot use their tickets:
•We can put you on standby.
STAND BY (4)
2 [C] something that is kept ready so that it can be used when needed:
•Powdered milk is a good standby in an emergency.[only before noun]
a standby ticket is one that you can get only if places become available, for example if other people cannot use their tickets[U]
1 the time during which a person or a machine is available to work but is not able to work because they are waiting to be given a specific job to do
2 the period of time that passes while you wait for a computer to do what you have asked it to do[C]
1 someone who does the job or takes the place of someone else for a short time:
•Gilbert failed to find a stand-in and so could not go to the party.
2 someone who takes the place of an actor for some scenes in a film
[+for]
•a stand-in for Tom Cruise
stand in at STAND^1 [only before noun]
1 permanently agreed or arranged:
•You have to pay standing charges whether or not you use the service.
standing invitation (=permission to visit someone whenever you like)
a standing army (=a professional permanent army)
•A standing committee was established to coordinate the army and navy.
2 done from a standing position:
•The runners set off from a standing start.
standing ovation (=when people stand up to clap after a performance)
3 standing joke something that happens often and that people make jokes about:
•The whole incident became a standing joke between us.[U]
1 someone's rank or position in a system, organization, society etc, based on what other people think of them:
•Barb's work helped to improve her standing with her colleagues.
[+in]
•The scandal damaged the Governor's standing in the polls.
of high/low standing
•a lawyer of high standing
2 sth of five/many etc years' standing used to show the time during which something such as an agreement has existed:
•an arrangement of several years' standing[C,U] BrE
an arrangement by which a bank pays a fixed amount of money from your account every month, year etc; direct debit[U]
space for standing in a theatre, sports ground etc:
•There was standing room only (=no seats were left) in the courthouse. $ [C]
a situation in which neither side in a fight or battle can gain an advantagestandoffish $ informal
rather unfriendly and formal:
•She was cold and stand-offish.
- stand-offishly adverb
- stand-offishness noun [U] [only before noun] AmE
used about a person or thing in a group that is much better than all the rest:
•the standout track on the album
- standout noun [singular]
•He was the standout in last Saturday's game. [C]
a pipe that provides water in a public place in the street [C usually singular]
a way of thinking about people, situations, ideas etc; = point of view
from a theoretical/political/economic etc standpoint
•Let's look at the questions from an economic standpoint.
•a discussion of marriage from the standpoint of women [singular]
a situation in which there is no movement or activity at all
come to a standstill/bring sth to a standstill
•Strikers brought production to a standstill.
at a standstill
•Traffic was at a standstill.standup [only before noun]
1 stand-up COMEDY involves one person telling jokes alone as a performance:
•a stand-up comedian
2 a stand-up meeting, meal etc is one in which people stand up:
•We had a stand-up buffet.
3 a stand-up fight, argument etc is one in which people shout loudly at each other or are violent:
•If it came to a stand-up fight, I wouldn't have a chance.
4 able to stay upright:
•a photo in a stand-up frame
•a stand-up collar
stand up at STAND^1also standup [U]
1 stand-up COMEDY:
•Mark used to do stand-up at Roxy's Bar.
2 a COMEDIAN who does stand-up COMEDY
the past tense of STINK [C] BrE trademark
a very sharp knife with a small TRIANGULAR blade that you use in activities such as decorating and WOODWORK; = exacto knife AmE [C]
a group of lines in a repeated pattern forming part of a poem; = verse [C]
1 a small piece of thin wire that is pushed into sheets of paper and bent over to hold them together
2 a small U-shaped piece of metal with pointed ends, used to hold something in place
3 a food that is needed and used all the time:
•staples like flour and rice
4 the main product that is produced in a country:
•Bananas and sugar are the staples of Jamaica.[T]
to fasten two or more things together with a staple
staple sth together
•The handouts are all stapled together.
staple sth to sth
•I stapled the order form to the invoice.[only before noun]
1 forming the greatest or most important part of something:
•Oil is Nigeria's staple export.
•a staple ingredient of comedy
2 staple diet
a) the food that you normally eat
[+of]
•They live on a staple diet of rice and vegetables.
b) something that is always being produced, seen, bought etc
[+of]
•television's staple diet of soap operas and quiz shows
3 used all the time:
•Marty's staple excuses[C]
a tool used for putting strong staples into walls $ [C]
a tool used for putting staples into paper $ [C]
1 IN THE SKY a large ball of burning gas in space that can be seen at night as a point of light in the sky:
•I lay on my back and looked up at the stars.
•The sky was filled with stars.
under the stars
•That night, we camped out under the stars (=outdoors).
•The stars were all out (=they were shining).
• stars twinkling overhead (=shining in the sky and quickly changing from bright to faint)
FALLING STAR, SHOOTING STAR
2 FAMOUS PERFORMER/PLAYER a famous and successful actor, musician, or sports player
movie/film/Hollywood etc star
•His dream was to become a Hollywood star.
pop/rock star
•British pop star Elton John
•By the age of twenty she was already a big star (=very famous performer).
•the highest paid child star of all time
•a rising star (=someone who is becoming famous and successful) in the music world
•She's a good actress, but she lacks star quality (=something that makes a person seem special and likely to be a star).
•She is a star of stage and screen.
3 MAIN PERSON IN A FILM/PLAY ETC the person who has the main part, or one of them, in a film, play, show etc
[+of]
•Ray Grimes, the star of the television series 'Brother John'
4 BEST/MOST SUCCESSFUL PERSON
a) the person who gives the best performance in a film, play, show etc:
•Laporte, as Ebenezer Scrooge, is undoubtedly the star of the show.
•Shamu, the killer whale, is the show's star attraction (=best and most popular person or thing).
b) the best or most successful person in a group of players, workers, students etc
star player/performer/salesman etc
•the team's star player
•the school's star pupil
•the star columnist of the Sunday Times
5 SHAPE
a) a shape with four or more points, which represents the way a star looks in the sky
b) a mark in the shape of a star, used to draw attention to something written; = asterisk
•I put a star next to the items that we still need to buy.
c) a piece of cloth or metal in the shape of a star, worn to show someone's rank or position - used especially on military uniforms
6 HOTELS/RESTAURANTS a mark used in a system for judging the quality of hotels and restaurants
three-star/four-star/five-star etc
•a two-star hotel
7 the stars BrE informal a description, usually printed in newspapers and magazines, of what will happen to you in the future, based on the position of the stars and PLANETs at the time of your birth; = horoscope
sb's stars
•I never read my stars.
STAR SIGN
8 sth is written in the stars used to say that what happens to a person is controlled by FATE (=a power that is believed to influence what happens in people's lives):
•Their marriage was surely written in the stars.
9 see stars to see flashes of light, especially because you have been hit on the head:
•I felt a little dizzy and could see stars.
10 have stars in your eyes to imagine that something you want to do is much more exciting or attractive than it really is
STARRY-EYED
11 you're a star!/what a star! BrE spoken said when you are very grateful or pleased because of what someone has done:
•Thanks, Mel. You're a real star!
FOUR-STAR GENERAL, FIVE-STAR, MORNING STAR, SHOOTING STAR; guiding star at GUIDING (2); born under a lucky/unlucky star at BORN^2 (7); reach for the stars at REACH^1 (11); thank your lucky stars at THANK (3)past tense and past participle starred, present participle starring
1 [I] if someone stars in a film, television show etc, they are one of the main characters in it
[+in]
•Eastwood starred in 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'.
[+with/opposite]
•DeVito stars opposite Dreyfuss in the movie.
[+as]
•Hugh Grant stars as the romantic hero.
•'The Freshman' was Brando's first starring role (=the most important part in a film) in ten years.
2 [T] if a film, television show, or play stars someone, that person is one of the main characters in it; = feature
•a film starring Meryl Streep
star sb as ...
•The movie starred Orson Welles as Harry Lime.
3 [T usually passive] to put an ASTERISK (=a star-shaped mark) next to something written:
•The starred items are available. $ [U]
the side of a ship or aircraft that is on your right when you are facing forwards; port
- starboard adjective $
1 [C,U] a substance which provides your body with energy and is found in foods such as grain, rice, and potatoes, or a food that contains this substance; = carbohydrate
•He eats a lot of starch.
•Avoid fatty foods and starches.
2 [U] a substance that is mixed with water and is used to make cloth stiff[T usually passive]
to make cloth stiff, using starch:
•a starched tablecloth[C] BrE
a group of people that meets secretly and makes important decisions $
1 containing a lot of STARCH^1 (1):
• starchy foods
2 BrE very formal and correct in your behaviour - used in order to show disapproval:
•She spoke in a rather starchy manner.
- starchily adverb
- starchiness noun [U]literary
being in a situation that prevents something happy or good happening:
• star-crossed lovers (=people who love each other but cannot be together) $ [U]
the state of being a famous performer; fame
•his rapid rise to stardom
shoot/rise/zoom to stardom (=become famous very quickly)
•Ellen shot to stardom as a model last year. $ [U]
literary an imaginary magic substance $ [I]
1 to look at something or someone for a long time without moving your eyes, for example because you are surprised, angry, or bored
[+at]
•What are you staring at?
stare (at sb) in disbelief/amazement/horror etc
•She stared at me in disbelief.
•She sat there staring into space (=looking for a long time at nothing).
2 be staring sb in the face
a) informal if something is staring you in the face, it is very clear or easy to notice but you have not noticed it:
•The solution was staring me right in the face all along.
b) to seem impossible to avoid:
•Defeat was staring us in the face.

PHRASAL VERBS
stare sb out phr v stare sb down AmE BrE
to look at someone for so long that they start to feel uncomfortable and look away
stark staring mad at STARK^2 (2)[C]
when you look at something for a long time in a steady way:
•She gave him a long hard stare.
•She laughed, ignoring the stares of everyone around her.
•His pleas were met by a blank stare (=a stare with no expression, understanding, or interest). $ plural starfish [C]
a flat sea animal that has five arms forming the shape of a star $ plural starfruit [C]
a pale green tropical fruit that you can cut into pieces that have the shape of stars $ [C]
informal someone who studies ASTRONOMY or ASTROLOGY
- stargazing noun [U][C usually plural]
BrE one of a series of exercise jumps that you do from a standing position with your arms and legs pointing out at each side; = jumping jack $
1 very plain in appearance, with little or no colour or decoration:
•In the cold dawn light, the castle looked stark and forbidding.
•the stark beauty of New Mexico
2 unpleasantly clear and impossible to avoid; = harsh
•The movie shows the stark realities of life in the ghetto.
•The extreme poverty of the local people is in stark contrast to the wealth of the tourists.
•We are faced with a stark choice.
•a stark reminder of life under communist rule
- starkly adverb
- starkness noun [U]
1 stark naked not wearing any clothes at all:
•Ben was standing there stark naked.
2 stark raving mad/bonkers also stark staring mad BrE completely crazy:
•He's gone stark raving mad. $ [not before noun] BrE informal
not wearing any clothes; = naked $ literary
with no stars showing in the sky:
•a starless night $ [C]
a young actress who plays small parts in films and hopes to become famous $ [U]
the light that comes from the stars in the night sky $ [C]
a common bird with shiny black feathers that lives especially in cities $ literary
made brighter by light from the stars:
•a starlit night [C usually singular]
a star with six points that represents the Jewish religion or Israel
1 having many stars:
•a starry winter sky
2 starry eyes shine brightly
3 bright like a star or shaped like a star:
•white starry flowersinformal
happy and hopeful about things in a way that is silly or UNREALISTIC
the Stars and Stripes the national flag of the USalso sign [C]
one of the 12 signs of the ZODIAC (=the system that uses people's birth dates to say what will happen to them in the future)
1 the Star-Spangled Banner the NATIONAL ANTHEM (=national song) of the US
2 the Star-Spangled Banner the national flag of the US[only before noun]
including many famous performers:
•a star-studded cast $
1 BEGIN DOING STH [I,T] to do something that you were not doing before, and continue doing it; = begin
•There's so much to do, I don't know where to start.
•Have you started your homework?
start doing sth
•Then the baby started crying.
start to do sth
•It's starting to rain.
•He got up and started running again.
•I'd better get started (=start doing something) soon.
start sb doing sth
•What Kerry said started me thinking (=made me start thinking).
2 BEGIN HAPPENING [I,T] also start off to begin happening, or to make something begin happening:
•What time does the film start?
•Lightning started a fire that burned 500 acres.
•The party was just getting started when Sara arrived.
starting (from) now/tomorrow/next week etc
•You have two hours to complete the test, starting now.
3 BEGIN IN A PARTICULAR WAY [I always + adv/prep, T] also start off to begin something in a particular way, or to begin in a particular way:
•A healthy breakfast is a good way to start the day.
[+with]
•The festivities started with a huge fireworks display.
[+as]
•The restaurant started as a small takeout place.
start badly/well/slowly etc
•Any new exercise program should start slowly.
start (sth) by doing sth
•Chao starts by explaining some basic legal concepts.
4 BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION [T] also start up to make something begin to exist
start a business/company/firm etc
•She wanted to start her own catering business.
5 JOB/SCHOOL [I,T] to begin a new job, or to begin going to school, college etc:
•When can you start?
start school/college/work
•I started college last week.
6 CAR/ENGINE ETC [I,T] also start up if you start a car or engine, or if it starts, it begins to work:
•The car wouldn't start this morning.
get the car/engine etc started
•He couldn't get his motorbike started.
7 BEGIN GOING SOMEWHERE [I] also start off/out to begin travelling or moving in a particular direction; = set out
•We'll have to start early to get there by lunchtime.
8 LIFE/PROFESSION [I always + adv/prep, T] also start off/out to begin your life or profession in a particular way or place
[+as/in]
•She started as a dancer in the 1950s.
•It's difficult for new lawyers to get started in private practice.
9 ROAD/RIVER/PATH ETC [I always + adv/prep] if a river, road, path etc starts somewhere, it begins in that place:
•The trail starts immediately behind the hotel.
[+in/at]
•The race will start at the town hall.
10 PRICES/AMOUNTS [I always + adv/prep] if prices, amounts, or rates start at or from a particular number, that is the lowest number at which you can get or buy something
[+at/from]
•Room prices start from £25 a night.
11 start from scratch/zero to begin doing a job or activity completely from the beginning:
•There were no textbooks, so the teachers had to start from scratch.
12 DELIBERATELY BEGIN STH [T] to deliberately make something start happening, especially something bad:
•I started a fire to warm the place up.
start a fight/argument
•Oh, don't go trying to start an argument.
•Other girls were starting rumours about me.
13 to start with spoken
a) said when talking about the beginning of a situation, especially when it changes later:
•I was pretty nervous to start with, but after a while I was fine.
b) said to emphasize the first of a list of facts or opinions you are stating:
•There are problems. To start with, neither of us likes housework.
14 be back where you started to try to do something and fail, so that you finish in the same situation that you were in before:
•A lot of people who lose weight gain it back over time, and end up back where they started.
15 SPORTS [I,T] if a player starts in a game, or if someone starts them, they begin playing when the game begins, especially because they are one of the best players on the team
[+for]
•Astacio started for the Dodgers on Tuesday night.
16 start a family to have your first baby:
•We're not ready to start a family yet.
17 start afresh/anew to stop doing what you are doing and begin doing it again in a better or different way:
•She saw her new job as a chance to start afresh.
18 sb started it! spoken used to say that someone else has caused an argument or problem:
•'Don't hit her!' 'But she started it!'
19 start something/anything to begin causing trouble:
•It looks like Jess is trying to start something.
20 MOVE SUDDENLY [I] to move your body suddenly, especially because you are surprised or afraid; = jump
•A loud knock at the door made her start.
[+from]
•Emma started from her chair and rushed to the window.
21 start young to begin doing something when you are young, especially when it is unusual to do it:
•Woods started young, and was coached by his father.
22 Don't (you) start! BrE spoken used to tell someone to stop complaining, arguing, or annoying you:
•'Mum, I don't like this ice-cream.' 'Oh, don't you start!'

PHRASAL VERBS
start back phr v
to begin returning to the place you came from
[+to/down/up etc]
•I started back down the mountain to camp.

start in phr v AmE
1 to begin doing something, especially with a lot of effort:
•I decided to just start in and see what I could do.
[+on]
•Lilly started in on her burger.
2 to begin criticizing someone or complaining to them about something
[+on]
•Mom turned away from Rose and started in on me.

start off phr v
1 to begin something in a particular way, or to begin in a particular way
start sth <=> off with sth/by doing sth
•The theater company started off their new season with a Shakespeare play.
start off with sth/by doing sth
•I started off by drawing the flowers I had collected the day before.
2 to be a particular thing or have a particular quality at the beginning of something, especially when this changes later:
•The puppies start off white, and get their black spots later.
[+as]
•The games start off as a social event, but players soon become competitive.
•I started off as a drummer.
3 start sth <=> off to make something begin happening:
•We're not sure what starts the process off.
4 start sb <=> off to help someone begin an activity
[+with]
•He started me off with some stretching exercises.
5 to begin going somewhere:
•I sat in the car for a few minutes before starting off.
[+to/towards/back etc]
•She started off to school in her new uniform.
6 start sb off BrE informal to make someone get angry or start laughing, by saying something:
•Don't say that; that'll just start him off.
start sb off doing sth
•He made her jump, and that started her off giggling.

start on sb/sth phr v
1 to begin doing something or using something:
•You'd better start on your homework.
2 start sb on sth to make someone start doing something regularly, especially because it will be good for them:
•Try starting your baby on solid foods at four months old.
3 BrE informal to begin criticizing someone or complaining to them about something
[+at]
•Ray's wife started on at him about spending too much time in the pub.

start out phr v
1 to begin happening or existing in a particular way, especially when this changes later
[+as]
•'The Star' started out as a small weekly newspaper.
•The leaves start out a pale green, and later get darker.
2 to begin your life or profession, or an important period of time:
•When the band first started out, they played at small clubs.
[+as]
•She started out as a model.
[+on]
•young couples starting out on their life together
3 to begin going somewhere:
•Oliver started out at five, when it was still dark.

start over phr v AmE
to start doing something again from the beginning, especially because you want to do it better:
•If you make a mistake, just erase it and start over.

start up phr v
1 if you start up a business, company etc, or it starts up, it begins to exist:
•Tax breaks help new companies start up.
start sth<=> up
•Jordan started up a band of his own.
2 if an engine, car etc starts up, or you start it up, it begins working:
•The driver got back into the car and started up.
start sth<=> up
•Rory started up the engine and got the vehicle moving.
3 if a sound, activity, or event starts up, it begins to exist or happen:
•The crickets had started up now that it was evening.
1 OF AN ACTIVITY/EVENT [C usually singular] the first part of an activity or event, or the point at which it begins to develop
[+of]
•We arrived late and missed the start of the film.
(right) from the start
•We've had problems with this project right from the start.
•She read the letter from start to finish without looking up.
get off to a good/bad etc start
•a free bottle of wine to get your holiday off to a great start (=begin well or badly)
a rocky/shaky/slow etc start (=a bad beginning)
•After a rocky start, the show is now very popular.
•He wanted an early start on his election campaign.
2 OF A PERIOD OF TIME [C usually singular] the first part of a particular period of time; = beginning
[+of]
•Since the start of 1992, the company has doubled in size.
the start of the year/day/season
•the start of an election year
get off to a good/bad etc start (=begin well or badly)
•The day got off to a bad start when I missed the train.
3 make a start (on sth) to begin doing something:
•I'll make a start on the washing-up.
4 SUDDEN MOVEMENT [singular] a sudden movement of your body, usually caused by fear or surprise
with a start
•Ted woke up with a start and felt for the light switch.
•She said his name and Tom gave a start (=made a sudden movement).
5 good/better/healthy etc start (in life) if you have a good etc start, you have all the advantages or opportunities that your situation, your parents etc could provide to help you succeed:
•Good health care for the mother before birth gives babies a healthy start.
•Naturally we want to give our kids the best possible start in life.
6 WHERE RACE BEGINS the start the place where a race begins:
•The horses were all lined up at the start.
7 BEING AHEAD [C usually singular] the amount of time or distance by which one person is ahead of another, especially in a race or competition
[+on]
•The prisoners had a three-hour start on their pursuers.
HEAD START (2)
8 for a start BrE informal used to emphasize the first of a list of facts or opinions you are stating:
•Well, for a start, the weather was horrible.
9 be a start spoken used to say that something you have achieved may not be impressive, but it will help with a bigger achievement:
•One exercise class a week isn't enough, but it's a start.
10 JOB
a) [C usually singular] the beginning of someone's job, which they will develop in the future, especially a job that involves acting, writing, painting etc:
•Pacino got his start on the stage, before his success in films.
•I gave you your start, so remember me when you win the Pulitzer Prize.
b) [C usually plural] a job that has just started, a business that has just been started, or someone who has just started a new job:
•The number of business starts plummeted 10.5% during the second half of the year.
•a training course for new starts
11 starts also housing starts [plural] technical when people begin to build a number of new houses
12 SPORT [C usually plural]
a) a race or competition that someone has taken part in:
•The horse Exotic Wood was unbeaten in five starts.
b) an occasion when a player plays when a sports match begins:
•Jackson played in 353 games, with 314 starts.
FALSE START
fresh start at FRESH (4)
in/by fits and starts at FIT^3 (7) $ [C]
1 BrE a small amount of food eaten at the start of a meal before the main part; = appetizer AmE
•We had soup as a starter, followed by steak.
2 a person, horse, car etc that is in a race when it starts:
•Of the seven starters, only three finished the race.
3 someone who gives the signal for a race to begin:
•The starter fired his gun.
under starter's orders (=about to begin the race)
4 late starter BrE someone who begins doing something, especially a job, later in life than people generally do
5 for starters spoken used to emphasize the first of a series of facts, opinions, questions etc:
•Well, for starters, you'll need to fill out an application form.
6 a STARTER MOTOR
NONSTARTER, SELF-STARTER[C]
a small house or apartment bought by people who are buying their first home[C]
an electric motor for starting an enginealso starter kit [C]
the basic equipment and instructions that you need to start doing somethingalso the blocks [plural]
the pair of blocks fastened to the ground that a runner pushes their feet against at the start of a race[C]
a gate or pair of gates that open to allow a horse or dog to start running in a race[C]
the line where a race begins[C usually singular]
1 an idea or situation from which a discussion, process etc can develop
[+for]
•The article provides a starting point for discussion.
2 a place from where a journey starts[C usually singular]
1 the lowest possible price for a particular type of thing such as a car or house without any special features, or the lowest price you are willing to accept for something you are selling
2 BrE the final ODDS that are offered just before a horse or dog race begins $ [T]
to make someone suddenly surprised or slightly shocked:
•Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.
be startled to do sth
•I was startled to see Amanda.
- startled adjective
•a startled expression $
very unusual or surprising:
•Paddy's words had a startling effect on the children.
•a startling discovery
it is startling to do sth
•It is startling to read that his father never visited him in hospital.
- startlingly adverb[only before noun]
connected with starting a new business:
•start-up costs[C]
a new small company or business, especially one whose work involves computers or the Internet:
•an Internet start-up[C] BrE
the most successful person in a group of people of the same type, especially the most successful actor, musician, or sports player $
1 [U] suffering or death caused by lack of food; hunger
•people dying of starvation
2 starvation diet informal when you eat very little food, especially to become thinner
3 starvation wages extremely low wages $
1 [I] to suffer or die because you do not have enough to eat:
•Thousands of people will starve if food doesn't reach the city.
•pictures of starving children
•They'll either die from the cold or starve to death (=die from lack of food).
2 [T] to prevent someone from having enough food to live:
•The poor dog looked like it had been starved.
3 be starving also be starved AmE to be very hungry:
•You must be starving!

PHRASAL VERBS
starve sb/sth of sth phr v also starve sb/sth for sth AmE [usually passive]
to not give something that is needed:
•The schools are starved of funding.
•The poor kid's just starved for attention.

starve sb <=> out phr v
to force someone to leave a place by preventing them from getting food:
•If we can't blast them out, we'll starve them out! [T always + adv/prep]
informal to store something secretly or safely somewhere
stash sth away
•He has money stashed away in the Bahamas.
[+in/under]
•You can stash your gear in here.[C]
an amount of something that is kept in a secret place, especially money, weapons, or drugs; = horde
•Mike went into the bedroom to check on his stash.
[+of]
•a stash of drugs $ [U] technical formal
a state or period in which there is no change or development
1 CONDITION [C] the physical or mental condition that someone or something is in
[+of]
•There are fears for the state of the country's economy.
in a bad/terrible etc state
•When we bought the house, it was in a terrible state.
sb's mental/physical/emotional state
•Frankly, I wouldn't trust his emotional state right now.
•She was in an extremely confused state of mind.
in no fit state to do sth (=should not do something because you are not in a suitable condition)
•David's in no fit state to drive.
•She can't go home now. Look at the state of her!
be in a good/bad state of repair (=be in good condition and not need repairing, or be in bad condition)
•The boat was in a good state of repair.
•The country was in a state of war (=officially fighting a war).
•Water exists in three states: liquid, gaseous, and solid.
STATE OF EMERGENCY
2 GOVERNMENT [singular, U] also the State especially BrE the government or political organization of a country:
•The state has allocated special funds for the emergency.
state employees/property/regulations etc especially BrE
•limits on salary increases for state workers
state-owned/state-funded/state-subsidized etc (=owned, paid for etc by the government)
•a state-funded community housing project
matters/affairs of state (=the business of the government)
democratic/one-party/totalitarian etc state (=with that type of government)
POLICE STATE, WELFARE STATE
3 COUNTRY [C] a country considered as a political organization:
•a NATO member state (=a country belonging to NATO)
4 PART OF A COUNTRY [C] also State BrE one of the areas with limited law-making powers that together make up a country controlled by a central government such as the US and Australia; province, county, region
•Queensland is one of the states of Australia.
•the state of Iowa
state employees/property/regulations etc
•the state government
•state and federal taxes
5 the States spoken a word meaning the US, used especially by someone when they are outside the US:
•Which part of the States would you suggest I visit?
6 be in a state/get into a state BrE spoken to be or become very nervous, anxious, or excited:
•Mum and Dad were in a right state when I got in.
7 OFFICIAL CEREMONY [U] the official ceremonies and events connected with government or rulers:
•the Queen's first state visit here in seventeen years
•music for state occasions (=special public events)
8 state of affairs formal a situation
unsatisfactory/sad/sorry state etc of affairs
•I must say this is a very unsatisfactory state of affairs.
9 the state of play especially BrE
a) the position reached in an activity or process that has not finished yet:
•What is the state of play in the current negotiations?
b) the score in a sports game
10 lie in state if the body of an important person who has just died lies in state, it is put in a public place so that people can go and show their respect[T]
1 to formally say or write a piece of information or your opinion:
•Please state your name and address.
•Rembert again stated his intention to resign from Parliament.
•The government needs to clearly state its policy on UN intervention.
state (that)
•The witness stated that he had not seen the woman before.
•Fine, but aren't you just stating the obvious here?
2 if a document, newspaper, ticket etc states information, it contains the information written clearly:
•The price of the tickets is stated on the back.[C]
AmE a lawyer who represents a US state in court cases[C,U] BrE
money given by the government in Britain to people who are poor, without a job, ill etc[C]
a court in the US which deals with legal cases that are concerned with state laws or a state's CONSTITUTION
the State Department the US government department that deals with anything connected with foreign countries [U]
1 the condition of being an independent nation
2 the condition of being one of the states that make up a nation such as the US
achieve/obtain/gain statehood
•Utah obtained statehood in 1896. [C usually singular]
the building where people who make laws in a US state do their work formal
not officially being a citizen of any country:
•Millions of refugees remain stateless.
- statelessness noun [U][C]
the border between two states in the US:
•We crossed the state line into Missouri.
1 done slowly and with a lot of ceremony:
•the stately progress of the procession
2 impressive in style and size:
•stately buildings
- stateliness noun [U][C] BrE
a large house in the countryside in Britain which has historical interest, especially one open to the public
1 [C] something you say or write, especially publicly or officially, to let people know your intentions or opinions, or to record facts
[+on/about]
•the Prime Minister's recent statements on Europe
make/issue/give a statement
•He refused to give a statement to the police.
official/public/formal/statement
•In an official statement, she formally announced her resignation.
true/false statement
•False statements on your tax form could land you in jail.
get/take a statement (=officially write down what someone says)
•Detective Brady took a statement from both witnesses.
sworn statement (=that you officially declare to be true)
2 [C] a record showing amounts of money paid, received, owed etc:
•the company's annual financial statements
•I haven't received my bank statement for last month yet.
3 [C] something you do, make, wear etc that causes people to have a certain opinion about you:
•The type of car you drive makes a statement about you.
•a fashion statement
4 [U] formal the act of expressing something in words:
•presentation and clarity of statement[T]
BrE if an education authority statements a child who has special educational needs, they give a school additional money to help teach that childplural states of emergency [C]
when a government gives itself special powers in order to try to control an unusually difficult or dangerous situation, especially when this involves limiting people's freedom:
•After declaring a state of emergency, the government arrested all opposition leaders.
using the most modern and recently developed methods, materials, or knowledge:
•state-of-the-art technology
•His new laptop is state-of-the-art.[C]
a large park owned and managed by a US state, often in an area of natural beauty [C]
1 a private room or place for sleeping on a ship
2 one of the large rooms in a palace[C]
1 BrE a British school which receives money from the government and provides free education; public school
2 AmE informal a college or university that receives money from the US state it is in, to help pay its costsAmE
turn State's evidence if a criminal turns State's evidence, they give information in a court of law about other criminals informal
in the US or relating to the US. This word is used by people when they are not in the US:
•Members of the Colombian team were competing stateside at the time. plural statesmen [C]
a political or government leader, especially one who is respected as being wise, and fair :
•a respected elder statesman
- statesmanship noun [U]
showing the qualities of a statesman - used to show approval:
•his statesmanlike handling of the crisis[C]
a member of a police force that is controlled by one of the US state governments, who works anywhere in that stateplural state universities [C]
a university in the US which receives money from a state to help pay its costs
affecting or involving the whole of a US state:
•a statewide poll
•a model that could be used in towns statewide
not moving, changing, or developing; dynamic
•Economists predict that house prices will remain static for a long period.[U]
1 noise caused by electricity in the air that blocks or spoils the sound from radio or TV
2 static electricity
3 especially AmE informal complaints or opposition to a plan, situation, or action:
•His promotion has caused a lot of static.
- statically adverb[U]
electricity that is not flowing in a current, but collects on the surface of an object and gives you a small ELECTRIC SHOCK [U]
the science dealing with the forces that produce balance in objects that are not moving; dynamics
1 TRAIN/BUS [C] a place where trains or buses regularly stop so that passengers can get on and off, goods can be loaded etc, or the buildings at such a place; terminus
•I want to get off at the next station.
•Grand Central Station
•Is there a waiting room in the station?
train station
/railway station BrE
•the city bus station
2 CENTRE FOR A SERVICE OR ACTIVITY [C] a building or place that is a centre for a particular kind of service or activity:
•a police station
•a fire station
petrol station BrE
/gas station AmE (=where petrol is sold)
polling station (=where you vote in an election)
•an Antarctic research station
ACTION STATIONS
3 RADIO/TV [C] an organization which makes television or radio broadcasts, or the building where this is done:
•New York jazz station WBGO
•a local TV station
4 SOCIAL RANK [C] old-fashioned your position in society:
•Karen was definitely getting ideas above her station (=higher than her social rank).
5 POSITION [C] formal a place where someone stands or sits in order to be ready to do something quickly if needed:
•You're not to leave your station unless told.
6 FARM [C] a large sheep or cattle farm in Australia or New Zealand
7 ARMY/NAVY [C] a small military establishment:
•an isolated naval station[T usually passive]
1 to send someone in the military to a particular place for a period of time as part of their military duty; = post
•I was stationed overseas at the time.
2 formal to move to a particular place and stand or sit there, especially in order to be able to do something quickly, or to cause someone to do this:
•A security guard was stationed near the door. $
standing still instead of moving:
•How did you manage to drive into a stationary vehicle?
!! Do not confuse with stationery (=writing materials such as paper).[C]
a pause during a radio or television broadcast in the US, so that local stations can give their names or broadcast advertisements $ [C] BrE
1 stationer's a shop that sells stationery
2 someone in charge of a shop that sells stationery $ [U]
1 paper for writing letters, usually with matching envelopes:
•a letter on hotel stationery
2 materials that you use for writing, such as paper, pens, pencils etc[C] AmE old-fashioned
the local office of the police in a town, part of a city etc; = police station[C]
someone who is in charge of a railway station[C]
AmE a large car with extra space at the back, with a door there for loading and unloading; = estate car BrE
1 statistics
a) [plural] a set of numbers which represent facts or measurements:
•the official crime statistics
[+for]
•statistics for injuries at work
• Statistics show that 50% of new businesses fail in their first year.
b) [U] the science of collecting and examining such numbers:
•Statistics is a branch of mathematics.
2 [singular] a single number which represents a fact or measurement:
•The statistic comes from a study recently conducted by the British government.
3 a statistic informal if someone is just a statistic, they are just another example of someone who has died because of a particular type of accident or disease:
•We can't let these boys become just another statistic.
- statistical adjective
•statistical evidence
- statistically adverb
•The variation is not statistically significant.
VITAL STATISTICS [C]
someone who works with statistics technical
a stative verb describes a state rather than an action or event, and is not usually used in PROGRESSIVE^1 (3) forms, for example 'belong' in the sentence 'this book belongs to me' [plural]
informal STATISTICs $ [U]
formal statues:
•a fine collection of Greek statuary [C]
an image of a person or animal that is made in solid material such as stone or metal and is usually large; sculpture
•Churchill's statue stands outside the parliament building.
•A bronze statue was erected in his honour.
[+of]
•Statues of Lenin were torn down all across Eastern Europe.
large and beautiful in an impressive way, like a statue:
•a statuesque woman [C]
a very small statue that can be put on a table or shelf $ [U] written
1 the degree to which someone is admired or regarded as important
of world/international/national stature
•Armstrong was a musician of world stature.
•He grew in stature (=became more admired or popular) during the campaign.
[+as]
•his growing stature as an artist
2 someone's height or size:
•Bernard was short in stature, with a large head. $
1 [C,U] the official legal position or condition of a person, group, country etc; standing
•These documents have no legal status in Britain.
•What is your marital status (=are you married or not)?
2 [U] your social or professional rank or position, considered in relation to other people
high/low status
•low-status jobs
•Doctors have traditionally enjoyed high social status.
3 [U] respect and importance that someone or something is given; = prestige
•the status given to education
•Mandela's status as a world leader
4 the status of sth a situation at a particular time, especially in an argument, discussion etc:
•What's the status of the trade talks? $
the status quo the state of a situation as it is
maintain/preserve/defend the status quo (=not make any changes)
•Will the West use its influence to maintain the status quo and not disrupt the flow of oil?[C]
something that you have or own that you think shows high social rank or position:
•A Rolls Royce is seen as a status symbol. [C]
1 a law passed by a parliament, council etc and formally written down:
•Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute (=established by law).
2 a formal rule of an institution or organization:
•College statutes forbid drinking on campus.
on the statute book officially part of the law:
•The government would like to see this new law on the statute book as soon as possible.[U]
the whole group of written laws established by a parliament, council etc; common lawplural statutes of limitations [C]
law a law which gives the period of time within which action may be taken on a legal question or crime $
fixed or controlled by law:
•statutory employment rights
•She's below the statutory age for school attendance.
- statutorily adverb[C]
law a crime that is described by a law and can be punished by a court[C]
law the crime of having sex with someone who is younger than a particular age $ [only before noun]
giving strong loyal support to another person, organization, belief etc; = steadfast
•a staunch conservative
staunch supporter/ally/advocate
•one of Bush's staunchest supporters
- staunchly adverb
- staunchness noun [U]also stanch AmE [T]
to stop the flow of liquid, especially of blood from a wound:
•He used a rag to staunch the flow of blood. [C]
1 the set of five lines on which music is written
2 one of the thin curved pieces of wood fitted close together to form the sides of a BARRELpast tense and past participle staved or, stove $

PHRASAL VERBS
stave sth <=> in phr v
to break something inwards:
•The ship's side was stove in when it went onto the rocks.

stave sth <=> off phr v past tense and past participle staved
to keep someone or something from reaching you or affecting you for a period of time:
•She brought some fruit on the journey to stave off hunger.
the plural of STAFF^1 (2)
1 IN A PLACE [I] to remain in a place rather than leave:
•They stayed all afternoon, chatting.
stay (at) home
•I decided to stay home.
stay for a year/ten minutes/a week etc
•Isabel stayed for a year in Paris to study.
[+in]
•Stay in bed and drink plenty of liquids.
•She stayed late to finish the report.
stay here/there
•Stay right there! I'll be back in a minute.
stay to dinner/stay for lunch etc
•Why don't you stay for supper?
[+behind/after]
•Some of the students stayed after class to talk (=remained after others had gone).
stay and do sth
•I should stay and help.
2 IN A CONDITION [I always + adv/prep, linking verb] to continue to be in a particular position, place, or state, without changing; = remain
•Rollings will stay as chairman this year.
[+adj]
•Eat right to stay healthy.
•It was hard to stay awake.
•Nine women gained weight, and four stayed the same.
[+away/in/on etc]
•Stay away from my daughter!
•You stay on this road for a mile before turning off.
[+around]
•Most of her boyfriends don't stay around (=stay with her) very long.
3 LIVE SOMEWHERE [I] to live in a place for a short time as a visitor or guest:
•How long are they going to stay?
[+at/with]
•My mother is staying with us this week.
[+in]
•They're staying in the same hotel.
stay the night/stay overnight/stay over (=stay from one evening to the next day)
•Did you stay the night at Carolyn's?
4 stay put spoken to remain in one place and not move:
•Stay put until I get back.
5 be here to stay to become accepted and used by most people:
•Professional women's basketball is here to stay.
6 stay after (school) to remain at school after the day's classes are finished, often as a punishment
7 stay the course informal to finish something in spite of difficulties:
•Dieters should try hard to stay the course.
8 stay tuned
a) to continue watching or listening to the same television CHANNEL or radio station
b) used to say that you should look or listen for more information about a particular subject at a later time:
•The project is still under discussion, so stay tuned.
9 stay! used to tell a dog not to move
10 stay sb's hand literary to stop someone from doing something
11 stay an order/ruling/execution etc law if a judge stays an order, ruling etc, they stop a particular decision from being used or a particular action from happening

PHRASAL VERBS
stay in phr v
to spend the evening at home rather than go out:
•I was tired, so I decided to stay in.

stay on phr v
to continue to do a job or to study after the usual or expected time for leaving:
•He resigned as chairman, but stayed on as an instructor.

stay out phr v
1 to remain away from home during the evening or night:
•He started staying out late, drinking.
2 stay out of sth spoken to not get involved in an argument or fight:
•You stay out of it. It's none of your business.

stay up phr v
to not go to bed at the time you would normally go to bed:
•We stayed up all night, talking.
•I let the kids stay up late on Fridays.
stay in touch at TOUCH^2 (4)
1 [C usually singular] a limited time of living in a place
[+in/at]
•I met her towards the end of my stay in Los Angeles.
long/short/overnight etc stay
•a short stay in the hospital
2 [C,U] law the stopping or delay of an action because a judge has ordered it
stay of execution (=a delay in punishing someone by killing them)
3 [C] a strong wire or rope used for supporting a ship's MAST
4 [C] a short piece of plastic or wire used to keep a shirt COLLAR stiff[only before noun]
staying at home, rather than working somewhere else, usually in order to take care of children:
•a stay-at-home mom $ [C]
BrE a horse or person that is able to continue to the end of a long race, job etc[U]
the ability or energy to continue doing something difficult until it is finished:
•a team with staying power $ [C]
a large strong dog that in the past was trained to help find people who were lost in the snow [C,U] medical
sexually transmitted disease a disease that one person passes to another through having sex, such as AIDS or HERPES
1 do sth in sb's stead formal to do something that someone else usually does or was going to do:
•Pearson was appointed to go in Harrison's stead.
2 stand/serve/hold sb in good stead to be very useful to someone when needed:
•His years of training were standing him in good stead. $ literary
1 faithful and very loyal:
•her father's steadfast love for her
2 being certain that you are right about something and refusing to change your opinion in any way
[+in]
•Dr. Faraday remained steadfast in his plea of innocence.
- steadfastly adverb
- steadfastness noun [U]
1 CONTINUOUS continuing or developing gradually or without stopping, and not likely to change:
•Paul is making steady progress.
•a steady rain
hold/remain steady
•Employment is holding steady at 96%.
steady stream/flow/trickle etc
•a steady stream of traffic
2 NOT MOVING firmly held in a particular position and not moving or shaking; stable
hold/keep sth steady
•Keep the camera steady while you take a picture.
•It takes a steady hand to perform surgery.
3 steady job/work/income a job or work that will definitely continue over a long period of time:
•It's hard to find a steady, well-paying job.
4 VOICE/LOOK if someone's voice is steady, or they look at you in a steady way, they seem calm and do not stop speaking or looking at you:
•There were tears in her eyes, but her voice was steady.
•He could not meet Connor's steady gaze.
5 PERSON someone who is steady is sensible and you can depend on them:
•a steady worker
6 steady boyfriend/girlfriend someone that you have been having a romantic relationship with for a long time
7 steady relationship a serious and strong relationship that continues for a long time
- steadily adverb
•The company's exports have grown steadily.
•debt was increasingly steadily
- steadiness noun [U]past tense and past participle steadied, present participle steadying, third person singular steadies
1 [I,T] to hold someone or something so they become more balanced or controlled, or to become more balanced or controlled
steady yourself
•He reached the chair and steadied himself.
•The plane steadied, and the passengers relaxed.
2 [I] to stop increasing or decreasing and remain about the same; = stabilize
•The dollar has steadied after early losses on the money markets.
3 [I,T] to become calmer, or to make someone do this:
•Tamar took a deep breath to steady her nerves.
•Jess is a steadying influence on the rest of the team.
go steady (with sb) to have a long regular romantic relationship with someoneplural steadies [C]
AmE old-fashioned informal a BOYFRIEND or GIRLFRIEND that someone has been having a romantic relationship with
1 used when you want to tell someone to be careful or not to cause an accident:
•Steady! You nearly knocked me over.
2 Steady on! BrE informal used when you think that what someone is saying or doing is too extreme:
•Steady on! That bottle's got to last all night.[singular] technical
the idea that things in space have always existed and have always been moving away from each other as new atoms begin to exist; big bang theory
1 [C,U] good quality BEEF, or a large thick piece of any good quality red meat
2 cod/salmon/tuna etc steak a large thick piece of fish
3 [U] BrE BEEF that is not of very good quality and is used in making CASSEROLEs etc [C]
a restaurant that serves steak[U]
steak that is cut into very small pieces and eaten raw, usually with a raw egg past tense stole $ , past participle stolen $
1 TAKE STH [I,T] to take something that belongs to someone else:
•Boys broke into a shop and stole £45 in cash.
[+from]
•He stole money from his parents.
steal sth from sb
•He'd stolen the flowers from our garden.
2 USE IDEAS [I,T] to use someone else's ideas without getting permission or without admitting that they are not your own ideas; = pinch
•Inventors know that someone is always going to try to steal their designs.
steal sth from sb
•A well-known scientist was accused of stealing his former student's ideas.
3 MOVE SOMEWHERE [I always + adv/prep] to move quietly without anyone noticing you; = creep
[+into/across etc]
•He dressed quietly and stole out of the house.
4 steal the show/limelight/scene to do something, especially when you are acting in a play, that makes people pay more attention to you than to other people:
•Elwood stole the show with a marvellous performance.
5 steal a look/glance etc to look at someone or something quickly and secretly
6 SPORT
a) [I,T] to run to the next BASE before someone hits the ball in the sport of baseball
b) [T] to suddenly take control of the ball, PUCK etc, when the other team had previously had control of it, for example in BASKETBALL or ICE HOCKEY:
•Roy steals the ball four times in the first half.
7 steal a kiss to kiss someone quickly when they are not expecting it
8 steal a march on sb to gain an advantage over someone by doing something that they had planned to do before them:
•He was afraid another scholar was going to steal a march on him and publish first.
9 steal sb's thunder to get the success and praise someone else should have got, by doing what they had intended to do
10 steal sb's heart literary to make someone fall in love with you
beg, borrow, or steal at BEG (8)[C]
1 be a steal informal to be very cheap:
•an excellent seafood dish that is a steal at $8.25
2 the act of suddenly taking control of the ball when the other team had previously had control of it, especially in BASKETBALL:
•Johnson had ten points and a steal in the first half.
3 the act of running to the next BASE before someone hits the ball in the sport of baseball [U]
1 when you do something very quietly, slowly, or secretly, so that no one notices you:
•Cats rely on stealth to catch their prey.
2 also Stealth a system of making military aircraft that cannot be discovered by RADAR instruments
stealth bomber/aircraft/fighter etc (=a plane made using this system)[C] BrE
an extra tax or charge that a government introduces in such a way that people do not realize that they are paying more money - used to show disapproval
moving or doing something quietly and secretly:
•the stealthy approach of the soldiers
- stealthily adverb [U]
1 GAS the hot mist that water produces when it is boiled:
• Steam rose from the hot tub.
2 MIST ON SURFACE the mist that forms on windows, mirrors etc when warm wet air suddenly becomes cold
3 POWER power that is produced by boiling water to make steam, in order to make things work or move:
•The engines are driven by steam.
steam engine/train/hammer etc (=an engine etc that works by steam power)
4 let/blow off steam to get rid of your anger, excitement, or energy in a way that does not harm anyone by doing something active
5 get/pick/build up steam also gather/gain steam
a) if an engine picks up steam, it gradually starts to go faster
b) if plans, beliefs etc pick up steam, they gradually become more important and more people become interested in them:
•The election campaign is picking up steam.
6 run out of steam also lose steam to no longer have the energy or the desire to continue doing something, especially because you are tired:
•I usually just let her yell until she runs out of steam.
7 under your own steam if you go somewhere under your own steam, you get there without help from anyone else:
•I'll get to the restaurant under my own steam.
8 RAILWAY a railway system in which the trains use steam for power:
•the age of steam
full steam ahead at FULL^1 (18)
1 [I] if something steams, steam rises from it, especially because it is hot:
• steaming hot soup
2 [T] to cook something in steam; boil
•Steam the vegetables lightly.
•steamed broccoli
3 [I always + adv/prep] to travel somewhere in a boat or train that uses steam to produce power
[+into/from etc]
•We steamed from port to port.
4 [I] especially BrE to go somewhere very quickly
[+in/down]
•Geoff steamed in ten minutes late.
5 be steaming (mad) also be steamed (up) AmE spoken to be very angry

PHRASAL VERBS
steam ahead phr v
to start doing something very quickly:
•The company is steaming ahead with its investment programme.

steam sth <=> open/off phr v
to use steam to open an envelope or to remove a stamp from an envelope

steam up phr v
to cover something with steam, or to become covered with steam:
•My glasses are all steamed up.
steam sth <=> up
•A pan was boiling on the stove, steaming up the windows.
STEAMED-UP $ [C]
a boat that uses steam for power and is sailed along rivers and coasts[T]
to clean something by using a machine that produces steam[not before noun]
informal excited and angry or worried:
•Don't get so steamed-up about it - it's not really important. $ [C]
1 a STEAMSHIP
2 a container used to cook food in steam
1 steaming hot very hot:
•It was a steaming hot day.
2 very drunk - used in Scotland and Northern England[C]
an electric IRON that produces steam in order to make clothes easier to press smooth $ [T] AmE
to steamroller $ [C]
1 a heavy vehicle with very wide wheels that is driven over road surfaces to make them flat
2 someone who uses their power and influence to make sure that something happens the way they want it to[T]
informal to make sure something happens by using all your power and influence, or to defeat your opponents badly:
•He steamrollered the bill through Parliament against fierce opposition. [C]
a large ship that uses steam to produce power[C]
AmE a large machine that digs and moves earth
1 full of steam or covered in steam:
•steamy windows
2 sexually exciting and slightly shocking:
•a steamy love scene
3 a steamy day or steamy weather feels hot and HUMID [C] literary
a strong fast horse
1 [U] strong metal that can be shaped easily, consisting of iron and CARBON:
•a steel bridge
• stainless steel knives (=steel that does not change colour)
2 [U] the industry that makes steel:
•Sheffield is a major steel town.
•steel workers
3 nerves of steel the ability to be brave and calm in a dangerous or difficult situation
4 [C] a thin bar of steel used for making knives sharp[T]
steel yourself to prepare yourself to do something that you know will be unpleasant or upsetting
steel yourself to do sth
•He steeled himself not to look away.[C]
a group of people who play music on steel drums[C]
a type of drum from the West Indies, made from oil BARRELs , which you hit in different areas to produce different musical soundsalso pedal steel guitar [C]
a musical instrument with ten strings that is played using a steel bar and a PEDAL (=a bar you press with your foot) $ [C]
a company that makes steel
- steelmaking noun [U][C]
a factory where steel is made[U]
a rough material made of fine steel threads, that is used to make surfaces smooth, remove paint etc; wire wool $ [C]
someone who works in a factory where steel is made $ plural steelworks [C]
a factory where steel is made
1 extremely determined and very strong:
•a look of steely determination
2 if someone has steely eyes or is steely-eyed, they look very determined
3 having a grey colour like steel:
•a steely sky comparative steeper, superlative steepest
1 a road, hill etc that is steep slopes at a high angle:
•The road became rocky and steep.
•a steep climb to the top
2 steep prices, charges etc are unusually expensive; low
•steep rents
3 involving a big increase or decrease:
•steep cuts in benefits
steep increase/rise
•a steep increase in house prices
steep decrease/drop
•a steep drop in orders
- steeply adverb
- steepness noun [U][I,T]
1 be steeped in history/tradition/politics etc to have a lot of a particular quality:
•a town steeped in history
2 to put food in a liquid and leave it there, so that it becomes soft or has the same taste as the liquid, or so that it gives the liquid its taste:
•Leave the tea bag to steep. [I,T]
if a slope, road etc steepens, or if something steepens it, it becomes steeper [C]
a tall pointed tower on the roof of a church [C]
1 a long race in which horses jump over gates, water etc
2 a long race in which people run and jump over fences, water etc [C]
someone whose work is repairing towers, tall CHIMNEYs etc $
1 CAR/BOAT ETC [I,T] to control the direction a vehicle is going, for example by turning a wheel:
•He was steering with only one hand.
[+for/towards etc]
•Steer toward the left.
2 CHANGE SB/STH [T] to guide someone's behaviour or the way a situation develops
steer sb towards/away from/through etc sth
•Teachers try to steer pupils away from drugs.
•Helen tried to steer the conversation away from herself.
3 BE IN CHARGE OF [T always + adv/prep] to be in charge of an organization, team etc and make decisions that help it to be successful, especially during a difficult time
steer sth through/to etc sth
•McKinney steered the company through the recession.
4 GUIDE SB TO A PLACE [T] to guide someone to a place, especially while touching them
steer sb towards/to etc sth
•Joel steered Don and Louise towards the backyard.
5 steer clear (of sb/sth) informal to avoid someone or something unpleasant or difficult:
•Jo tried to steer clear of political issues.
6 steer a course to choose a particular way of doing something:
•Managers were allowed to steer their own course.
•The government chose to steer a middle course between the two strategies (=chose a strategy that was not extreme).[C]
a young male cow whose sex organs have been removed; bullock, heifer $ [U]
the part of a passenger ship where people who had the cheapest tickets used to travel in the past $ [U]
the parts of a car, boat etc that allow you to control its direction:
•power steering[C]
a committee that guides or directs a particular activity[C]
a wheel that you turn to control the direction of a car $ plural steersmen [C]
someone who steers a ship [C]
a tall cup for drinking beer, often decorated and with a lid $ [only before noun]
1 relating to the stars
INTERSTELLAR
2 especially AmE extremely good:
•the company's stellar growth
•McKellen gave a stellar performance.
3 go stellar BrE informal if a POP band, actor etc goes stellar, they become very popular and famous:
•There's a stand-up comedian, and my sources tell me he is about to go stellar. [C]
1 the long thin part of a plant, from which leaves, flowers, or fruit grow; = stalk
2 the long thin part of a wine glass, VASE etc, between the base and the wide top
3 the narrow tube of a pipe used to smoke tobacco
4 long-stemmed/short-stemmed etc having a long stem, a short stem etc:
•long-stemmed wine glasses
5 the part of a word that stays the same when different endings are added to it, for example 'driv-' in 'driving'past tense and past participle stemmed, present participle stemming [T]
1 to stop something from happening, spreading, or developing
stem the tide/flow/flood of sth
•The measures are meant to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
stem the growth/rise/decline etc
•an attempt to stem the decline in profits
2 formal to stop the flow of a liquid:
•A tight bandage should stem the bleeding.

PHRASAL VERBS
stem from sth phr v [not in progressive]
to develop as a result of something else:
•His headaches stemmed from vision problems.[C] technical
a special type of cell in the body that can divide in order to form other types of cells that have particular qualities or purposes [C usually singular]
1 a very strong bad smell; = stink
•the stench of urine
2 something unpleasant that makes you believe that something very bad and dishonest is happening
[+of]
•a government filled with the stench of corruption [C]
1 a piece of plastic, metal, or paper in which designs or letters have been cut out, that you put over a surface and paint over, so that the design is left on the surface
2 a design made on something using a stencilpast tense and past participle stencilled, present participle stencilling BrE , stenciled, stenciling AmE [T]
to make a design, letters etc using a stencil [C]
a small British SUBMACHINE GUN $ plural stenos informal
1 [C] a short form of STENOGRAPHER
2 [U] a short form of STENOGRAPHY $ [C] AmE or BrE old-fashioned
someone whose job is to write down what someone else is saying, using stenography, and then type a copy of it $ [U]
AmE or BrE old-fashioned a fast way of writing in which you use special signs or short forms of words, used especially to record what someone is saying; = shorthand literary
a stentorian voice is very loud and powerful
1 MOVEMENT [C] the movement you make when you put one foot in front of or behind the other when walking:
•a video of baby's first steps
•He took one step and fell.
[+back/forwards/towards etc]
•Tom took a step back and held the door open.
•I had to retrace my steps (=go back the way I came) several times before I found the shop.
2 ACTION [C] one of a series of things that you do in order to deal with a problem or to succeed
step in (doing) sth
•This is the first step in reforming the welfare system.
[+towards]
•an important step towards peace
•The president took immediate steps to stop the fighting.
(major/big/great) step forward (=an action that makes things better)
•The discovery of penicillin was a major step forward in the treatment of infections.
•Many teachers see an emphasis on written tests as a step backwards (=an action that makes things worse).
•Environmentalists call the change a step in the right direction (=a good thing to do).
3 IN A PROCESS [C] a stage in a process, or a position on a scale:
•Each book goes up one step in difficulty.
•Record your result, and go on to step 3.
[+in]
•the next step in the process
•Drug companies influence the scientific process every step of the way (=during every stage).
•Describe step by step (=describing each stage) how you went about achieving your goal.
•Moving to Cottage Grove represented a definite step up (=something that is better than you had before) for my parents.
•He saw the job as a step down (=something that is worse than you had before).
4 STAIR [C] a flat narrow piece of wood or stone, especially one in a series, that you put your foot on when you are going up or down, especially outside a building:
•Jenny sat on the step in front of the house, waiting.
•He climbed the wooden steps and rang the bell.
•a flight of (=set of) broad stone steps
5 DISTANCE [C] the short distance you move when you take a step while walking; = pace
•Roy was standing only a few steps away.
6 SOUND [C] the sound you make when you put your foot down while walking; = footstep
•I heard a step in the corridor.
7 DANCING [C] a movement of your feet in dancing:
•the steps for the Charleston
8 in step
a) having ideas or actions that are like those of other people
[+with]
•He isn't in step with ordinary voters.
b) moving your feet so that your right foot goes forward at the same time as people you are walking with
9 out of step
a) having ideas or actions that are different from those of other people
[+with]
•This type of training is out of step with changes in the industry.
b) moving your feet in a different way from people you are walking with
10 watch your step also mind your step BrE
a) to be careful about what you say or how you behave:
•You'd better watch your step - he's the boss here.
b) to be careful when you are walking:
•Mind your step - the railing's loose.
11 fall into step (with sb)
a) to start walking beside someone at the same speed as them:
•Maggie fell into step beside her.
b) to start thinking or doing the same as other people:
•The administration has fallen into step with its European allies on this issue.
12 be/keep/stay one step ahead (of sb)
a) to be better prepared for something or know more about something than someone else:
•A good teacher is always at least one step ahead of his students.
b) to manage not to be caught by someone who is trying to find or catch you
13 WAY SB WALKS [C usually singular] the way someone walks, which often tells you how they are feeling:
•Gianni's usual bouncy step
14 steps [plural] BrE a STEPLADDER
15 EXERCISE [U] a type of exercise you do by walking onto and off a flat piece of equipment around 15-30 CENTIMETREs high:
•a step class
16 MUSIC [C] AmE the difference in PITCH between two musical notes that are separated by one KEY on the piano; = tone BrEpast tense and past participle stepped, present participle stepping [I always + adv/prep]
1 to raise one foot and put it down in front of or behind the other one in order to walk or move
[+forward/back/down/into etc]
•He stepped back to let me through.
•I stepped outside and closed the door.
•Mr. Ives? Please step this way (=walk in the direction I am showing you).
2 to bring your foot down on something; = tread BrE
[+in/on etc]
•I accidentally stepped in a puddle.
•You're stepping on my foot.
3 step on sb's toes to offend or upset someone, especially by trying to do their work:
•I'm not worried about stepping on anybody's toes.
4 step out of line to behave badly by breaking rules or disobeying orders
5 step on it also step on the gas AmE spoken to drive faster

PHRASAL VERBS
step down phr v also step aside
to leave your job or official position, because you want to or because you think you should:
•Morris should step aside until the investigation is completed.
[+as]
•Eve Johnson has stepped down as chairperson.
[+from]
•He was forced to step down from his post.

step forward phr v
to come and offer help, information etc:
•Police are appealing for witnesses to step forward.

step in phr v
to become involved in an activity, discussion, or disagreement, sometimes in order to stop trouble; = intervene
•The military may step in if the crisis continues.
•Parents have stepped in to provide homework help in the afternoon program.

step into sth phr v
to start doing something, or become involved in a situation:
•Sally stepped into the role of team leader.

step out phr v
to leave your home or office for a short time; = pop out BrE
•She's just stepped out for a few minutes.

step sth <=> up phr v
to increase the amount of an activity or the speed of a process in order to improve a situation:
•The health department is stepping up efforts to reduce teenage smoking.
•stepped-up security at airports
step into the breach at BREACH^1 (7)
used to show that someone is related to you not by birth but because a parent has married again:
•her stepdad
•the problems of stepfamilies[U]
a type of physical exercise in which you step on and off a small raised PLATFORM while doing movements with the upper part of your body $ [C]
the son of your stepmother or stepfather[only before noun]
a step-by-step plan, method etc explains or does something carefully and in a particular order
step-by-step guide/approach/instructions etc
•a step-by-step guide to making it in the music business
- step by step adverb
• Take each lesson step by step.[singular] BrE
a big and important change in an organization or in society
[+in]
•The new law marks a step change in our programme for reforming public services. plural stepchildren [C]
a stepdaughter or stepson $ [C]
a daughter that your husband or wife has from a relationship before your marriage $ [C]
a man who is married to your mother but who is not your father $ [C]
a LADDER which has two sloping parts that are joined at the top so that it can stand without support, and which can be folded flat $ [C]
a woman who is married to your father but who is not your mother $ [C]
a stepfather or stepmotheralso the steppes [C,U]
a large area of land without trees, especially in Russia, Asia, and eastern Europe[C]
1 something that helps you to progress towards achieving something
[+to/toward(s)]
•The course will be a stepping stone to another career.
2 stepping stones [plural] a row of large flat stones that you walk on to get across a stream $ [C]
the daughter of your stepmother or stepfather [C]
a son that your husband or wife has from a relationship before your marriage $ plural stereos
1 also stereo system [C] a machine for playing records, CDs etc that produces sound from two SPEAKERs :
•a stereo with good speakers
on a stereo
•He was listening to the Beatles on the car stereo.
2 in stereo if sound is played or broadcast in stereo, it is directed through two speakers
PERSONAL STEREOalso stereophonic $
using a recording or broadcasting system in which the sound is directed through two SPEAKERs ; mono, quadraphonic
•stereo equipment $
1 a stereoscopic picture, photograph etc appears solid when you look at it through a special machine
2 technical able to see the length, width, and depth of objects:
• stereoscopic vision $ [C]
a belief or idea of what a particular type of person or thing is like. Stereotypes are often unfair or untrue
racial/sexual/cultural etc stereotype
• racist stereotypes in the media
[+of]
•women who don't fit the stereotype of the good mother
[+about]
•stereotypes about the elderly
- stereotypical $ adjective
•the stereotypical Californian - tall, fit, and tanned
- stereotypically adverb[T usually passive]
to decide unfairly that a type of person has particular qualities or abilities because they belong to a particular race, sex, or social class
stereotype sb as sth
•Homeless people are stereotyped as alcoholics or addicts.
- stereotyping noun [U]
- stereotyped adjective $
1 a person or animal that is sterile cannot produce babies; = infertile; fertile
make/render/leave sb sterile
•Radiotherapy has left her permanently sterile.
2 completely clean and not containing any BACTERIA that might cause infection
sterile equipment/water/bandages etc
•Rinse the eye with sterile water.
3 lacking new ideas, interest, or imagination
sterile argument/debate etc
•the increasingly sterile debate on political reform
4 a sterile building, room etc is not interesting or attractive and is often very plain:
•The classrooms are sterile, with no artwork on the walls.
5 sterile land cannot be used to grow crops
- sterility noun [U]also sterilise BrE [T]
1 to make something completely clean by killing any BACTERIA in it:
•Sterilize the bottles with boiling water.
•sterilized milk
•sterilizing solution
2 if a person or animal is sterilized, they have an operation to stop them producing babies
- sterilizer noun [C]
•an electric sterilizer
- sterilization $ noun [C,U] $ [U]
1 also Sterling the standard unit of money in the United Kingdom, based on the pound
2 also sterling silver silver that is at least 92% pure[only before noun]
very good:
•Ella has done some sterling work.
•He has sterling qualities. $
1 serious and strict, and showing strong disapproval of someone's behaviour:
•sterner penalties for drug offences
stern look/voice/expression etc
•'Wait!' I shouted in my sternest voice.
stern warning/rebuke
•His actions have earned him stern rebukes from human-rights organizations.
2 be made of sterner stuff to have a strong character and be more determined than other people to succeed in a difficult situation:
•Ann, made of sterner stuff than I, refused all offers of help.
- sternly adverb
- sternness noun [U][C usually singular]
the back of a ship; bow $ plural sternums or sterna [C] technical
a BREASTBONE $ [C]
1 a chemical that the body produces naturally or that can be made as a drug to treat illness and injuries. Steroids are sometimes used illegally by people doing sports to improve their performance
on steroids
•a bodybuilder on steroids
2 sth on steroids AmE informal used to say that something is much bigger, stronger, more impressive etc than something else that is similar to it - used humorously:
•They sell cinnamon rolls on steroids. $ [C]
an instrument that a doctor uses to listen to your heart or breathing [C] trademark
a tall hat with a wide BRIM (=edge), worn especially in the American West $ [C]
someone whose job is loading and unloading ships $
1 [C,U] a hot meal made by cooking meat and vegetables slowly in liquid for a long time; = casserole
•a pot of stew
•beef stew
2 in a stew informal confused or worried about a difficult situation you are in
1 [T] to cook something slowly in liquid:
•stewed apples
2 [I] informal also stew in your own juice BrE to worry or become angry because of something bad that has happened or a mistake you have made:
•She just sat there stewing in her own juice. $ [C]
1 a man whose job is to serve food and drinks to passengers on a plane or ship; flight attendant
2 someone who is in charge of a horse race, meeting, or other public event:
•race stewards
3 someone who protects something or is responsible for it, especially something such as nature, public property, or money
[+of]
•Kissinger was now chief steward of US foreign policy.
4 a man whose job is to manage a large property, such as a farm
SHOP STEWARD $ [C]
a woman whose job is to serve food and drinks to passengers on a plane or ship; flight attendant $ [U]
someone's stewardship of something is the way that they control or protect it
[+of]
•Some critics have doubts about his stewardship of the nation.
under sb's stewardship
•The farm was quite a different place under Mom's stewardship. $
1 [not before noun] informal old-fashioned drunk
2 BrE tea that is stewed tastes unpleasantly strong because it has been left in the pot too long past tense and past participle stuck
1 ATTACH [I,T] to attach something to something else using a substance, or to become attached to a surface
stick sth on/to/in etc sth
•Someone had stuck posters all over the walls.
[+to/together]
•I could feel my shirt sticking to my back.
•The oil keeps the pasta from sticking together.
•This stamp won't stick properly.
2 PUSH IN [I,T always + adv/prep] if a pointed object sticks into something, or if you stick it there, it is pushed into it
stick (sth) in/into/through sth
•pins stuck in a notice board
•The boy stuck his finger up his nose.
3 PUT [T always + adv/prep] informal to put something somewhere quickly and without much care; = bung
•Just stick it in the microwave for a few minutes.
•The cards had been stuck through the letterbox.
4 MOVE PART OF BODY [T always + adv/prep] if you stick a part of your body somewhere, you put it in a position where other people can see it; = put
•Clara stuck her head around the door to see who was there.
•The baby stuck his legs in the air.
•Don't stick your tongue out, it's rude!
5 DIFFICULT TO MOVE [I] if something sticks, it becomes fixed in one position and is difficult to move:
•This door keeps sticking.
•The wheels stuck fast (=stuck completely) in the mud.
6 stick in sb's mind if something sticks in your mind, you remember it well because it is unusual or interesting:
•It's the kind of name that sticks in your mind.
7 make sth stick informal
a) to prove that something is true:
•Is there enough evidence to make the charges stick?
b) to make a change become permanent:
•The government has succeeded in making this policy stick.
8 NAME [I] if a name that someone has invented sticks, people continue using it:
•One newspaper dubbed him 'Eddie the Eagle', and the name stuck.
9 sb can stick sth spoken used to say angrily that you do not want what someone is offering you:
•I told them they could stick their job.
10 STAY IN BAD SITUATION [T] BrE spoken to continue to accept a situation or person, even though you do not like them; = stand
•I can't stick mum's new boyfriend.
can't stick doing sth
•Gerry can't stick working for Featherstone's any longer.
•I don't know how you stick it.
11 stick in sb's throat/gullet BrE stick in sb's craw AmE if a situation or someone's behaviour sticks in your throat, it is so annoying that you cannot accept it:
•Her criticism really stuck in my craw.
12 stick in sb's throat if words stick in your throat, you are unable to say them because you are afraid or upset
13 stick to sb's ribs informal food that sticks to your ribs is very satisfying, so you are not hungry after you have eaten

PHRASAL VERBS
stick around phr v informal
to stay in a place a little longer, waiting for something to happen:
•Perhaps you'd like to stick around and watch?
•Tom will be sticking around for a while.

stick at sth phr v BrE
1 to continue doing something in a determined way in order to achieve something:
•Revising with your friends may help you stick at it.
2 stick at nothing informal to be willing to do anything, even if it is illegal, in order to achieve something
stick at nothing to do sth
•He will stick at nothing to make money.

stick by sb/sth phr v
1 to remain loyal to a friend when they have done something wrong or have problems:
•I love him and whatever happens I'll stick by him.
•Jean has stuck by her husband through thick and thin.
2 to do what you promised or decided to do
stick by a decision/promise etc
•He has stuck by his radical plans for economic reform.

stick out phr v
1 if something sticks out, you notice it because part of it comes out further than the rest of a surface:
•The children were so thin their ribs stuck out.
[+of/from/through etc]
•Paul's legs were sticking out from under the car.
2 stick it out to continue doing something that is difficult, painful, or boring:
•It wasn't a happy period of his life, but he stuck it out.
3 stick your neck out informal to risk giving your opinion about something, even though you may be wrong or other people may disagree with you:
•I'm going to stick my neck out with some predictions for the next two years.
4 stick out to sb/stick out in sb's mind to seem more important to someone than other people or things:
•The thing that sticks out to me is that they need more help than they're getting.
stick/stand out a mile at MILE (5)
stick out like a sore thumb at SORE^1 (6)

stick out for sth phr v BrE informal
to refuse to accept less than what you asked for; = hold out for
•They offered him £250 but Vic stuck out for £500.

stick to sth phr v
1 to do or keep doing what you said you would do or what you believe in, even when it is difficult; = keep to
•Have you been sticking to your diet?
stick to your decision/principles etc
•Miguel was determined to stick to his decision.
•It looks as if Nick will stick to his word this time.
2 to keep using or doing one particular thing and not change to anything else:
•If you're driving, stick to soft drinks.
stick to doing sth
•Reporters should stick to investigating the facts.
3 stick to your guns informal to refuse to change your mind about something, even though other people are trying to persuade you that you are wrong:
•Having made up his mind, he stuck to his guns.
4 stick to the point/subject/facts to talk only about what you are supposed to be talking about or what is certain:
•Never mind whose fault it was. Just stick to the facts.
5 stick to the rules informal to do something exactly according to the rules
6 stick to the path/road etc to stay on a marked path or road so that you do not get lost
7 stick to the/your story spoken to continue to say that what you have told someone is true, even though they do not believe you:
•You intend to stick to this story that she knew nothing of your financial prospects?
8 stick to the/your knitting AmE informal to continue paying attention to your own work and not to get involved with what other people are doing:
•I wish Mrs Reese would stick to her knitting.
9 stick it to sb AmE informal to make someone suffer, pay a high price etc:
•The politicians stick it to the tourists because the tourists don't vote.

stick together phr v informal
if people stick together, they continue to support each other when they have problems:
•We're a family, and we stick together no matter what.

stick up phr v
1 if a part of something sticks up, it is raised up or points upwards above a surface
[+from/out of/through etc]
•Part of the boat was sticking up out of the water.
2 stick 'em up spoken informal used to tell someone to raise their hands when threatening them with a gun - used in films, stories etc

stick up for sb phr v informal
to defend someone who is being criticized, especially when no one else will defend them:
•You're supposed to be sticking up for me!
stick up for yourself
•She's always known how to stick up for herself.

stick with sth/sb phr v informal
1 to continue doing something the way you did or planned to do before:
•Let's stick with the original plans.
2 to stay close to someone:
•You just stick with me. I'll explain everything as we go along.
3 to continue doing something, especially something difficult:
•If you stick with it, your playing will gradually get better.
4 be stuck with sth/sb to be made to accept something, do something, spend time with someone etc, when they do not want to:
•Bill left and I was stuck with the bill.
5 to remain in someone's memory:
•Those words will stick with me for the rest of my life.
STUCK; stick/poke your nose into sth at NOSE^1 (3)[C]
1 PART OF TREE a long thin piece of wood from a tree, which is no longer attached to the tree; branch, twig
•They collected sticks to start the fire.
2 TOOL a long thin piece of wood, plastic etc that you use for a particular purpose:
•a pair of drum sticks
•a measuring stick
•Aunt Lou walks with a stick (=uses a stick to help her walk).
3 PIECE a long thin or round piece of something:
•carrot sticks with dip
•a glue stick
[+of]
•a stick of chewing gum
4 SPORTS a long specially shaped piece of wood, plastic etc that you use in some sports to hit a ball:
•a hockey stick
5 (out) in the sticks a long way from a town or city:
•They live out in the sticks.
6 get (hold of) the wrong end of the stick BrE informal to understand a situation in completely the wrong way:
•People who think the song is about drugs have got the wrong end of the stick.
7 PLANE the handle you use to control a plane
JOYSTICK
8 CAR AmE informal a STICK SHIFT
9 get on the stick AmE spoken to start doing something you should be doing:
•You'd better get your sales team on the stick.
10 give sb/get (some) stick BrE spoken if you give someone stick, you criticize them for something they have done:
•He's going to get some stick for this!
11 up sticks BrE informal if you up sticks, you move to a different area
carrot and stick at CARROT (3) $ [C]
a small piece of paper or plastic with a picture or writing on it that you can stick on to something; label
•Children get stickers for good work.
bumper sticker (=a sticker on the back of a car)[C usually singular] AmE
the price of something, especially a car, that is written on it or given in advertisements, but that may be reduced by the person selling it[C]
a very simple drawing of a person[singular]
something that a group of people cannot agree on and that stops them from making progress:
•North Korea's refusal had long been a sticking point.[C] BrE
a long thin insect that looks like a small stick:
•young models who look like stick insects (=are very thin)[C]
someone who refuses to try anything new - used to show disapproval $
be a stickler for detail/rules/accuracy etc to think that rules etc are very important and that other people should think so too[C]
a STICK FIGURE[only before noun]
stick-on things have a sticky back so that you can attach them to something:
•stick-on sequins [C]
AmE a decorated pin worn as jewellery[C] AmE
1 a metal bar in a car that you move to control the GEARs ; = gear stick BrE
2 a car that uses a stick shift system to control the GEARs ; automatic [U]
AmE informal the ability to continue doing something that is difficult or tiring[C]
informal a HOLD-UP comparative stickier, superlative stickiest
1 made of or covered with a substance that sticks to surfaces:
•There's some sticky stuff in your hair.
•a sticky floor
sticky tape/label etc BrE (=tape etc that is made so it will stick to surfaces)
2 weather that is sticky makes you feel uncomfortably hot, wet, and dirty; = humid
•It was hot and sticky and there was nowhere to sit.
3 a sticky situation, question, or problem is difficult or dangerous:
•a sticky political issue
sticky patch BrE
•The business hit a sticky patch and lost £4.8 million.
4 a website that is sticky is interesting to the people looking at it and makes them want to look at it for a long period of time
5 have sticky fingers informal to be likely to steal something
6 come to/meet a sticky end BrE informal to die in a violent way
7 be on a sticky wicket BrE informal to be in a situation that will cause problems for you
- stickiness noun [U]also yellow sticky [C]
a small piece of paper, often yellow in colour, that you can stick to things. Stickies are often used for leaving messages; = Post-it Note comparative stiffer, superlative stiffest
1 BODY if someone or a part of their body is stiff, their muscles hurt and it is difficult for them to move
stiff from doing sth
•Her legs were stiff from kneeling.
[+with]
•Her fingers were stiff with cold.
stiff neck/back/joint etc
•Alastair woke with a stiff neck.
•I never felt stiff after training until I was in my thirties.
•The next morning I was as stiff as a board (=very stiff).
2 MATERIAL/SUBSTANCE firm, hard, or difficult to bend:
•a shirt with a stiff collar
3 MIXTURE a stiff mixture is thick and almost solid, so that it is not easy to mix:
•Beat the egg whites until stiff.
•a stiff dough
4 DIFFICULT difficult, strict, or severe
stiff sentence/penalty/fine
•calls for stiffer penalties for rapists
stiff competition/opposition
•Graduates face stiff competition in getting jobs.
•The development plans have met with stiff opposition.
5 DOOR/DRAWER ETC BrE difficult to move, turn, or open:
•Pull hard - that drawer's very stiff.
6 UNFRIENDLY if someone's behaviour is stiff, they behave in a very formal or unfriendly way:
•Their goodbyes were stiff and formal.
•Parsons gave a stiff performance in the main role.
7 PRICE a stiff price etc is high, especially higher than the price etc of similar things:
•a stiff tax on cigarettes
8 stiff wind/breeze a fairly strong wind etc
9 stiff drink/whisky etc a very strong alcoholic drink
10 stiff upper lip the ability to stay calm and not show your feelings in a difficult or upsetting situation:
•Men were taught to keep a stiff upper lip.
- stiffly adverb
- stiffness noun [U]
1 bored/scared/worried stiff informal extremely bored, frightened, or worried:
•As a child I was scared stiff of going down to the cellar.
2 frozen stiff
a) extremely cold:
•Goodness, your hands are frozen stiff!
b) cloth that is is frozen stiff is hard because the water in it has frozen[C] informal
1 the body of a dead person
2 working stiff AmE an ordinary person who works to earn enough money to live
3 someone who you think is old-fashioned and too formal:
•His business tactics outraged the stiffs of the UK establishment.informal
1 [T] AmE to cheat someone by not paying them, especially by not leaving a TIP in a restaurant:
•I can't believe that couple stiffed me!
2 [I] if a new product, film, show etc stiffs, it does not sell well or fails completely; = bomb
•They had a hit in the 1990s, but their subsequent releases stiffed.
1 [I] if you stiffen, your body suddenly becomes firm, straight, or still because you feel angry or anxious; relax
•He touched her, and she stiffened.
2 [I,T] to become stronger, more severe, or more determined, or to make something do this:
•a campaign to stiffen rules against drunk driving
•Their opposition only stiffened my resolve.
3 [I] also stiffen up to become painful and difficult to move:
•His joints had stiffened.
•My back had stiffened up.
4 [T] to make material stiff so that it will not bend easily
too proud, and refusing to change or obey; = stubborn plural stiffies [C] informal not polite
an ERECTION
1 [T] to stop something from happening or developing; encourage
•rules and regulations that stifle innovation
•How can this party stifle debate on such a crucial issue?
2 [T] to stop a feeling from being expressed:
•He stifled an urge to hit her.
stifle a yawn/smile/grin etc
•I tried to stifle my laughter.
3 [I,T usually passive] if you are stifled by something, it stops you breathing comfortably:
•He was almost stifled by the fumes.
1 a room or weather that is stifling is very hot and uncomfortable, so that it seems difficult to breathe:
•a stifling, crowded train
•the stifling heat of the tropics
2 a situation that is stifling stops you from developing your own ideas and character:
•an emotionally stifling relationship
1 [C usually singular, U] a strong feeling in society that being in a particular situation or having a particular illness is something to be ashamed of
the stigma of alcoholism/mental illness etc
•The stigma of alcoholism makes it difficult to treat.
•There is a social stigma attached to single parenthood.
•In the US, smoking carries a stigma.
2 [C] technical the top of the centre part of a flower that receives the POLLEN which allows it to form new seeds [plural]
marks that appear on the hands and feet of some holy people, and which look like the wounds made by nails on the body of Christalso stigmatise BrE
be stigmatized to be treated by society as if you should feel ashamed of your situation or behaviour:
•Single mothers often feel that they are stigmatized by society.
- stigmatization $ noun [U] [C]
a set of steps that helps people climb over a fence in the countryside $ plural stilettos or stilettoes [C]
1 also stiletto heel a woman's shoe that has a very high thin heel
2 the heel of a stiletto shoe
3 a small knife with a thin blade
1 up to a particular point in time and continuing at that moment:
•I still haven't finished painting the spare room.
•Do you still have Julie's phone number?
see box at YET^1
2 in spite of what has just been said or done:
•Clare didn't do much work, but she still passed the exam. [sentence adverb]
•The hotel was terrible. Still, we were lucky with the weather.
3 still more/further/another/other used to emphasize that something increases more, there is more of something etc:
•Kevin grew still more depressed.
4 better/harder/worse etc still also still better/harder/worse etc even better, harder etc than something else:
•Dan found biology difficult, and physics harder still.

WORD CHOICE: still, always
Use still to say that a previous situation has not changed, and is continuing at the time of speaking: He still lives (NOT always lives) with his parents. | They still haven't sold their house. | I still get upset when I think about it.
Always means 'all the time' or 'every time': I always see him on Tuesdays.
GRAMMAR
Still usually comes before the verb, or before the main verb if there is an auxiliary: She still calls me regularly. | Is he still crying? | I can still remember them.

!! Still comes after the verb 'be': It was still dark outside. | You are still my best friend.

!! Still usually comes before any negative word: She still isn't ready. | I'm still not tired. | They still can't decide.

!! Do not say 'still now' I still think (NOT still now think) he's the best player ever.

1 not moving
•We stood still and watched as the deer came closer.
• Keep still while I tie your shoe.
•the still waters of the lake
2 quiet and calm:
•The house was completely still.
3 not windy:
•a hot still day
4 BrE a still drink does not contain gas:
•still or sparkling mineral water
5 still waters run deep used to say that someone who is quiet may have very strong feelings or a lot of knowledge
- stillness noun [U]
•Somewhere in the stillness of the night an owl hooted.[C]
1 a photograph of a scene from a film
2 a piece of equipment for making alcoholic drinks from grain or potatoes
3 the still of the night/evening etc literary the calm and quiet of the night etcliterary
1 [I,T] to stop moving or make something stop moving:
•The ground beneath them trembled, then stilled.
2 [I,T] if a noise stills or is stilled, it stops:
•The murmurs stilled.
•He stilled their protests with a wave of his hands.
3 [I] if a doubt or fear is stilled, it becomes weaker or goes away $ [C,U]
a birth in which the baby is born dead $
1 born dead:
•a stillborn baby
2 written completely unsuccessful from the beginning and not developing at all:
•a stillborn romanceplural still lifes [C,U]
a picture of an arrangement of objects, for example flowers or fruit [C usually plural]
1 one of a set of poles that support a building above the ground or above water
on stilts
•a house built on stilts
2 one of two poles which you can stand on and walk high above the ground
a stilted style of writing or speaking is formal and unnatural:
•a stilted conversation
- stiltedly adverb [U]
a type of English cheese that is white with grey-blue marks and has a strong taste [C]
1 a drug or substance that makes you feel more active and full of energy:
•artificial stimulants
2 something that encourages more of a particular activity; = stimulus
•economic stimulants
[+to]
•Increases in new construction would be a stimulant to the economy.
- stimulant adjective
•a drug with stimulant properties [T]
1 to encourage or help an activity to begin or develop further
stimulate growth/demand/the economy etc
•the President's plan to stimulate economic growth
2 to encourage someone by making them excited about and interested in something:
•Her interest in art was stimulated by her father.
stimulate sb to do sth
•An inspiring teacher can stimulate students to succeed.
3 to make a plant or part of the body become active or stronger:
•Light stimulates plant growth.
- stimulative $ adjective
- stimulation noun [U]
•Children need variety and stimulation.
1 exciting or full of new ideas; boring
•a stimulating discussion of world politics
2 making you feel more active:
•the stimulating effects of coffee and tea plural stimuli
1 [C usually singular, U] something that helps a process to develop more quickly or more strongly:
•Tax cuts provided the stimulus which the slow economy needed.
[+to]
•The discovery of oil acted as a stimulus to industrial development.
2 [C] something that makes someone or something move or react:
•At this age, the infant begins to react more to visual stimuli. past tense and past participle stung
1 [I,T] if an insect or a plant stings you, it makes a very small hole in your skin and you feel a sharp pain because of a poisonous substance:
•He was stung by a bee.
!! A bee, wasp, scorpion, or plant can sting you. For a mosquito, ant, or snake, use bite.
2 [I,T] to make something hurt with a sudden sharp pain, or to hurt like this:
•Antiseptic stings a little.
•Chopping onions makes my eyes sting.
3 [I,T usually passive] if you are stung by a remark, it makes you feel upset:
•She had been stung by criticism.
sting sb into (doing) sth
•Her harsh words stung him into action.

sting sb for sth BrE informal
1 to charge someone too much for something:
•The garage stung him for £300.
2 to borrow money from someone:
•Can I sting you for a fiver?
1 WOUND [C] a wound or mark made when an insect or plant stings you:
•a bee sting
2 INSECT [C] BrE the sharp needle-shaped part of an insect's or animal's body, with which it stings you; = stinger AmE
3 PAIN [singular] a sharp pain in your eyes or skin, caused by being hit, by smoke etc:
•She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.
4 a sting in the tail if a story, event, or announcement has a sting in its tail, there is an unpleasant part at the end of it
5 [singular] the upsetting or bad effect of a situation:
•the sting of rejection
take the sting out of sth (=make something less unpleasant or painful)
•She smiled to take the sting out of her words.
6 CRIME [C] a clever way of catching criminals in which the police secretly pretend to be criminals themselves $ [C] AmE
the sharp needle-shaped part of an insect's or animal's body, with which it stings you; = sting BrE
stinging attack/report/letter etc a report, letter etc that very strongly criticizes someone or something:
•Dr Forwell made a stinging attack on government policy.[C]
a wild plant with leaves that sting and leave red marks on your skin [C]
a large flat fish that has a long tail with sharp poisonous points on it
1 informal not generous, especially with money; = mean
•She's too stingy to give money to charity.
2 a stingy amount of something, especially food, is too small:
•a stingy portion of vegetables
- stingily adverb
- stinginess noun [U] past tense stank , past participle stunk [I]
1 to have a strong and very unpleasant smell:
•It stinks in here!
[+of]
•His breath stank of alcohol.
•The toilets stank to high heaven (=stank very much).
2 spoken used to say that something is bad, unfair, dishonest etc:
•Don't eat there - the food stinks!
•The whole justice system stinks.

PHRASAL VERBS
stink sth <=> out phr v stink sth <=> up AmE BrE
to fill a place with a very unpleasant smell:
•Those onions are stinking the whole house out.[C usually singular]
1 a very bad smell; = stench
[+of]
•the stink of burning rubber
2 cause/kick up/make etc a stink to complain very strongly:
•Activists have raised a stink about the shipments of nuclear waste.
3 work/run/go like stink BrE old-fashioned to work etc as fast and as well as you can:
•We had to work like stink to meet the deadline.[C]
a small container that produces an extremely bad smell when it is broken $ [C] informal
1 someone or something that is very unpleasant or difficult:
•This cold I've got is a real stinker.
•You really are a stinker.
2 a film, book, performance etc that is very bad
have a stinker BrE (=play badly)
•In the last game he had a stinker.
1 having a very strong unpleasant smell; = smelly
•stinking garbage cans
2 [only before noun] spoken used to emphasize what you are saying when you are angry:
•I hate this stinking boring job!
3 [only before noun] especially BrE informal very unpleasant:
•I've got a stinking cold.
4 stinking letter BrE informal an angry letter in which you complain very strongly about something
1 stinking rich informal extremely rich - used especially when you think this is unfair
2 stinking drunk informal extremely drunk comparative stinkier, superlative stinkiest informal
smelling unpleasant; = smelly
•stinky socks [C usually singular]
a period of time spent doing a particular job or activity
[+in/at]
•Mark did a two-year stint in the army.
[+as]
•his stint as chairman[I,T usually in negatives]
to provide or use too little of something
[+on]
•They didn't stint on food and drink at their wedding.
stint yourself
•In order to avoid stinting yourself, make sure you have enough money to cover all your expenses. [C] formal
an amount of money paid regularly to someone, especially a priest, as a salary or as money to live onalso stipendiary $ [C]
a MAGISTRATE in Britain who is paid by the state [T]
to draw or paint a picture or pattern using short STROKEs or spots instead of lines
- stippled adjective
- stippling noun [U] [T] formal
if an agreement, law, or rule stipulates something, it must be done; = state
•Laws stipulate the maximum interest rate that banks can charge.
stipulate that
•The regulations stipulate that everything has to comply to the relevant safety standards. [C,U] formal
something that must be done, and which is stated as part of an agreement, law, or rule
stipulation that
•The agreement included a stipulation that half of the money had to be spent on housing for lower-income families. $ past tense and past participle stirred, present participle stirring
1 MIX [T] to move a liquid or substance around with a spoon or stick in order to mix it together:
•Stir the paint to make sure it is smooth.
stir sth with sth
•She stirred her coffee with a plastic spoon.
stir sth in/into sth
•Stir a cup of cooked brown rice into the mixture.
2 MOVE SLIGHTLY [I,T] to move slightly or to make something move slightly:
•The crowd began to stir as they waited for the band to start.
•A gentle breeze stirred the curtains.
3 LEAVE A PLACE [I] to leave or move from a place:
•He hadn't stirred from his chair all morning.
4 FEELINGS
a) [T] to make someone have a strong feeling or reaction
stir memories/emotions etc
•Looking at the photographs stirred childhood memories of the long hot summers.
•The poem succeeds in stirring the imagination.
b) [I] if a feeling stirs in you, you begin to feel it:
•Excitement stirred inside her.
5 DO STH [T] to make someone start doing something
stir sb to do sth
•The incident stirred students to protest.
6 CAUSE TROUBLE be stirring (it) BrE informal to cause trouble between people by spreading false or secret information:
•Ben's always stirring!

PHRASAL VERBS
stir sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to deliberately try to cause arguments or bad feelings between people:
•John was always stirring up trouble in class.
•Dave's just trying to stir things up because he's jealous.
2 to make small pieces of something move around in the air or in water:
•The wind had stirred up a powdery red dust.
1 [C usually singular] a feeling of excitement or annoyance
create/cause a stir
•Plans for the motorway caused quite a stir among locals.
2 [C usually singular] an act of stirring something:
• Give that pan a stir, will you?
3 [C,U] AmE old-fashioned informal a prisoninformal
extremely nervous and upset, especially because you feel trapped in a place:
•I'm going to go stir-crazy if I don't get out of this house.past tense and past participle stir-fried, present participle stir-frying, third person singular stir-fries [T]
to cook small pieces of food quickly by moving them around continuously in very hot oil:
•stir-fried vegetablesplural stir-fries [C]
a dish made by stir-frying small pieces of food $ [C]
1 BrE informal someone who likes to cause trouble between people by spreading false or secret information - used to show disapproval
2 an object shaped like a stick which is used to mix liquids
producing strong feelings or excitement in someone; = rousing
•a stirring speech
•stirring music
- stirringly adverb[C]
an early sign that something is starting to happen
[+of]
•the first stirrings of spring $ [C]
one of the rings of metal in which someone riding a horse rests their feet[plural] AmE
stretchy women's trousers that have bands at the bottom of the legs which fit under your feet
1 SEWING [C] a short piece of thread that has been sewn into a piece of cloth, or the action of the thread going into and out of the cloth
2 FOR WOUND [C] a piece of special thread which has been used to sew the edges of a wound together:
•He had to have 10 stitches in his head.
3 PAIN [C usually singular] a sharp pain in the side of your body, which you can get by running or laughing a lot
4 WITH WOOL [C] a small circle of wool that is formed around a needle when you are KNITTING
drop a stitch (=lose a stitch because the wool has come off the needle)
5 STYLE [C,U] a particular way of sewing or KNITTING that makes a particular pattern:
•Purl and plain are the two main stitches in knitting.
6 not have a stitch on informal to be wearing no clothes
7 in stitches laughing a lot in a uncontrollable way
have/keep sb in stitches (=make someone laugh)
•Her jokes had us all in stitches.
8 a stitch in time (saves nine) spoken used to say that it is better to deal with problems early than to wait until they get worse[T]
to sew two pieces of cloth together, or to sew a decoration onto a piece of cloth:
•Mary is stitching a bedspread.
stitch sth onto/across sth
•The jersey has his name stitched across the back.

PHRASAL VERBS
stitch sth <=> together phr v AmE
1 to put different things or parts of something together to make one larger thing:
•In ten years, they have been able to stitch together a national network of banks.
2 to get a deal or agreement arranged

stitch sb/sth <=> up phr v
1 to put stitches in cloth or a wound in order to fasten parts of it together:
•She stitched up the cut and left it to heal.
2 to get a deal or agreement completed satisfactorily so that it cannot be changed:
•The deal was stitched up in minutes.
3 BrE informal to deceive someone, especially in order to gain money from them
4 BrE informal to make someone seem guilty of a crime by providing false information; = frame [U]
a line of stitches in a piece of materialstitch up [C] BrE
a situation in which someone is deliberately deceived $ [C]
a small wild animal, similar to a WEASEL, that has a long thin body and brown fur $
1 IN A SHOP [C,U] a supply of a particular type of thing that a shop has available to sell:
•We have a huge stock of quality carpets on sale.
•Buy now while stocks last!
out of stock/in stock (=unavailable or available in a particular shop)
•I'm sorry, that swimsuit is completely out of stock in your size.
2 FINANCE
a) [C] especially AmE a SHARE in a company:
•the trading of stocks and shares
b) [U] the total value of all of a company's SHAREs
3 AMOUNT AVAILABLE [C] the total amount of something that is available to be used in a particular area:
•Cod stocks in the North Atlantic have dropped radically.
•the stock of housing in rural areas
4 SUPPLIES [C] a supply of something that you keep and can use when you need to
[+of]
•He keeps a stock of medicines in the cupboard.
•The country has been building up its stock of weapons.
5 take stock (of sth) to think carefully about the things that have happened in a situation in order to decide what to do next:
•While in hospital, Jeremy took stock of his life.
6 COOKING [C,U] a liquid made by boiling meat or bones and vegetables, which is used to make soups or to add FLAVOUR to other dishes:
•chicken stock
•vegetable stock
7 GUN [C] the part of a gun that you hold or put against your shoulder, usually made of wood
8 ANIMALS [U] farm animals, especially cattle; = livestock
9 the stocks
a) a wooden structure in a public place to which criminals were fastened by their feet or hands in the past
b) a wooden structure in which a ship is held while it is being built
10 sb's stock is high/low if someone's stock is high or low, they are very popular or very unpopular:
•Simon's stock is high in the network news business.
11 stock of jokes/knowledge/courage etc the jokes, knowledge etc that someone knows or has:
•John seems to have an inexhaustible stock of funny stories.
12 be of Scottish/Protestant/good etc stock to belong to a family that in the past lived in Scotland, were Protestants, were respected etc
13 FLOWER [C] a plant with pink, white, or light purple flowers and a sweet smell
14 PLANT [C] a thick part of a stem onto which another plant can be added so that the two plants grow together
15 ACTORS [C] AmE a STOCK COMPANY (2)[T]
1 if a shop stocks a particular product, it keeps a supply of it to sell:
•We stock a wide range of kitchen equipment.
2 to fill something with a supply of something
stock sth with sth
•Our refrigerator at college was always stocked with beer.

PHRASAL VERBS
stock up phr v
to buy a lot of something in order to keep it for when you need to use it later
[+on]
•I have to stock up on snacks for the party.
1 stock excuse/question/remark etc an excuse etc that people often say or use, especially when they cannot think of anything more interesting or original - used to show disapproval
2 [only before noun] stock item/size something that is available in a shop and does not have to be ordered $ [C usually singular]
a fence built from long thick pieces of wood pushed into the ground, used to defend a place $ [C]
a farmer who breeds cattle $ [C]
a person or organization whose job is to buy and sell SHAREs , BONDs etc for people
- stockbroking noun [U][C]
1 a car that has been made stronger so that it can compete in a race where cars often crash into each other:
•stock-car racing
2 AmE a railway carriage for cattle[C]
AmE an official document that shows that you own SHAREs in a companyalso stock [C] AmE
1 a company whose money is divided into SHAREs so that many people own a small part of it; = joint-stock company
2 a group of actors who work together doing several different plays[C]
a small solid CUBE made from the dried juices of meat or vegetables that is mixed with boiling water to make STOCK[C usually singular]
1 the business of buying and selling STOCKs and SHAREs
2 a place where STOCKs and SHAREs are bought and sold; =  stock market $ [C]
especially AmE someone who owns STOCKs in a business; = shareholder BrE[C]
an official and public list of STOCK prices $ [U]
especially BrE a soft cotton material that stretches, used especially for BANDAGEs $ [C usually plural]
1 a thin close-fitting piece of clothing that covers a woman's leg and foot; tights
2 old-fashioned a man's sock
3 in your stockinged/stocking feet not wearing any shoesstocking stuffer AmE [C] BrE
a small present which you put in a CHRISTMAS STOCKING[C]
a stocking that someone wears over their face when they are doing something illegal such as robbing a bank[U]
1 something that is typical of a particular person or thing, especially what they say or do:
•Stewart's stock-in-trade was the face-to-face interview.
2 literary the things you need to do your job:
•Vanessa's looks have been her stock-in-trade as an actress. $ [C]
BrE a person, shop, or company that keeps a particular product to sell:
•Call us to order or to get details of local stockists. $ plural stockmen [C]
a man whose job is to take care of farm animals[C usually singular]
1 the business of buying and selling STOCKs and SHAREs
2 a place where STOCKs and SHAREs are bought and sold; = stock exchange[C usually plural] AmE
STOCK that a company offers to sell to an EMPLOYEE at a price that is lower than the usual price $ [C]
a large supply of things that is kept ready for use in the future; = store
[+of]
•a stockpile of nuclear weapons[T]
to keep adding to a supply of goods, weapons etc that you are keeping ready to use if you need them in the future:
•An enormous volume of explosives was stockpiled inside one of the buildings. $ [C]
a pot in which you make STOCK $ [C]
a room for storing things in a shop or office
not moving at all:
•Oscar stood stock-still and listened. $ [U]
BrE when a company or shop checks the quantities of materials and goods that it has a supply of; = inventory AmE $ comparative stockier, superlative stockiest
a stocky person is short and heavy and looks strong:
•a stocky build
- stockily adverb
- stockiness noun [U] $ [C]
a place where cattle, sheep etc are kept before being taken to a market and sold $ [U] BrE informal
heavy food that makes you feel full very quickly $
1 if someone or something is stodgy, they are boring and formal or old-fashioned - used to show disapproval:
•a stodgy play
2 BrE stodgy food is heavy and makes you feel full very quickly - used to show disapproval; light
- stodginess noun [U] $ [C]
AmE informal a CIGAR, especially a thick cheap one $ [C]
someone who does not show their emotions and does not complain when bad things happen to themalso stoic $
not showing emotion or not complaining when bad things happen to you
- stoically adverb
•She bore the pain stoically. $ [U]
patience and calmness when bad things happen to youalso stoke up $ [T]
1 to add more coal or wood to a fire:
•I stoked the furnace for the night.
2 to cause something to increase:
•Rising oil prices stoked inflation.
stoke fear/anger/envy etc
•The scandal has stoked public outrage.

PHRASAL VERBS
stoke up phr v
1 stoke sth <=> up to add more coal or wood to a fire:
•We kept the fire stoked up high on cold nights.
2 stoke up sth if something stokes up fear, anger etc, it makes a lot of people feel frightened etc:
•The leaflets stoked up fears of an invasion.
3 stoke up on/with sth to eat a lot of food, for example because you will not eat again for a long time:
•We stoked up on hot soup before going out in the snow. $ [not before noun] AmE spoken
very pleased and excited $ [C]
someone whose job is to put coal or other FUEL on a fire or into a FURNACE, for example on a STEAMSHIP or a steam train $
the past tense of STEAL[C]
a long straight piece of cloth or fur that a woman wears across her shoulders $
the past participle of STEAL
having been taken illegally:
•stolen cars $
someone who is stolid does not react to situations or seem excited by them when most people would react - used to show disapproval; = impassive
- stolidly adverb [C]
1 the organ inside your body where food begins to be DIGESTed
2 the front part of your body, below your chest:
•He turned round and punched Carlos in the stomach.
3 do sth on an empty stomach to do something when you have not eaten:
•You shouldn't take the pills on an empty stomach.
4 turn your stomach to make you feel sick or upset:
•The sight of the slaughtered cow turned my stomach.
5 have no stomach for a fight/task etc to have no desire to do something difficult, upsetting, or frightening
6 have a strong stomach to be able to see or do things that are unpleasant without feeling sick or upset:
•Don't go and see this film unless you have a strong stomach.[T usually in questions and negatives]
1 to be able to accept something, especially something unpleasant; = endure
•A 26% water rate increase is more than most residents can stomach.
hard/difficult to stomach
•Rob found Cathy's attitude hard to stomach.
2 to eat something without becoming ill:
•I've never been able to stomach seafood. [C,U]
pain in your stomach or near your stomach
if something is stomach-churning, it is extremely unpleasant and makes you feel sick:
•the stomach-churning extremes of physical torture[C]
a machine with a tube that doctors use to suck out food or liquid from someone's stomach, especially after they have swallowed something harmful $ [I always + adv/prep]
to walk with heavy steps or to put your foot down very hard, especially because you are angry; = stamp
•Alex stomped angrily out of the meeting.
[+on]
•Rogers was injured after being stomped on by another player.AmE
sb's stomping ground a favourite place where someone often goes; = stamping ground BrE $
1 ROCK [U] a hard solid mineral substance:
•a stone wall
•stone steps
•The floors are made of stone.
2 PIECE OF ROCK [C] a small piece of rock of any shape, found on the ground:
•A handful of protesters began throwing stones at the police.
!! In British English, a stone is a piece of stone small enough to pick up. In American English, this can be called either a rock or a stone.
3 JEWELLERY [C] a jewel; = precious stone
4 FRUIT [C] BrE the large hard part at the centre of some fruits, such as a PEACH or CHERRY, which contains the seed; = pit AmE
5 MEDICAL [C] a ball of hard material that can form in organs such as your BLADDER or KIDNEYs
6 WEIGHT plural stone [C] written abbreviation st a British unit for measuring weight, equal to 14 pounds or 6.35 kilograms
7 a stone's throw from sth/away (from sth) very close to something:
•The hotel is only a stone's throw from the beach.
8 be made of stone also have a heart of stone to not show any emotions or pity for someone
9 not be carved/etched in stone used to say an idea or plan could change:
•John has several new ideas for the show, but nothing is etched in stone yet.
10 leave no stone unturned to do everything you can in order to find something or to solve a problem:
•Jarvis left no stone unturned in his search to find the ring.[T]
1 to throw stones at someone or something:
•Rioters blocked roads and stoned vehicles.
2 stone sb to death to kill someone by throwing stones at them, used as a punishment
3 BrE to take the stone out of fruit; = pit AmE
•stoned dates
4 stone the crows! also stone me! BrE old-fashioned used to express surprise or shock
the Stone Age a very early time in human history, when only stone was used for making tools, weapons etc:
•Stone Age weapons
•a Stone Age settlement[C]
a circle of big tall stones, built thousands of years ago
1 if something is stone-cold, it is completely cold even though it should be warm or hot:
•Dinner was stone-cold by the time I got home.
2 stone-cold sober having drunk no alcohol at all
3 AmE if a player or sports team is stone-cold, they are not able to get any points $
1 informal feeling very excited or relaxed because you have taken an illegal drug such as MARIJUANA
2 old-fashioned very drunk
1 used to emphasize that a person or animal is dead
2 kill sth stone dead to completely destroy something or prevent it from being successful:
•The wrong music can kill a commercial stone dead.
completely unable to hearalso stony-faced
showing no emotion or friendliness
stone-ground flour is made by crushing grain between two MILLSTONEs $ [C]
someone whose job is cutting stone into pieces to be used in buildings $ [I]
to delay a discussion, decision etc by talking a lot and refusing to answer questions $ [U]
pots, bowls etc that are made from a special hard clay
stone-washed JEANS etc have been washed with small stones so that they look older and paler $ [U]
the parts of a building that are made of stone $ [C] BrE informal
something that is very good; = corker
•Stephen Carr scored a stonker of a goal. $ BrE informal
extremely good:
•a stonking performanceBrE informal
extremely:
•a stonking good time $
1 covered by stones or containing stones:
•stony soil
2 not showing any friendliness or pity:
•stony faces
•a stony silence
3 fall on stony ground if a request, suggestion, joke etc falls on stony ground, it is ignored or people do not like it
- stonily adverb
•Camilla stared stonily ahead.also stone-faced
showing no emotion or friendliness:
•Tony stared at me in stony-faced silence.
the past tense and past participle of STAND^1 [C]
1 informal someone who is used by someone else to do something unpleasant, dishonest, or illegal - used to show disapproval
2 one of two performers in a COMEDY show, who the other performer makes jokes about and makes look stupid [C]
1 a seat that has three or four legs, but no back or arms:
•a bar stool
2 medical a piece of solid waste from your BOWELs [C] AmE informal
someone, especially a criminal, who helps the police to catch another criminal, usually by giving them information; = informer [I]
1 also stoop down to bend your body forward and down:
•We had to stoop to pass through the low entrance.
•Dave stooped down to tie his shoes.
2 to stand with your back and shoulders bent forwards

PHRASAL VERBS
stoop to sth phr v
to do something bad or morally wrong, which you do not normally do
stoop to doing sth
•I didn't expect you to stoop to lying.
stoop to sb's/that level
•Don't stoop to her level.
1 [singular] if you have a stoop, your shoulders are bent forward:
•Mr Hamilton was an odd, quiet man who walked with a stoop.
2 [C] AmE a raised area at the door of a house, usually big enough to sit onalso stooping
bent forwards and down:
•a thin man with stooped shoulders $ past tense and past participle stopped, present participle stopping
1 NOT MOVE
a) [I,T] to not walk, move, or travel any more, or to make someone or something do this
•He stopped suddenly when he saw Ruth.
•Stop, come back!
•He stopped the car and got out.
•I was worried that the security guards would stop us at the gate.
[+at/outside/in etc]
•She stopped outside the post office.
•A car stopped behind us.
stop to do sth
•Sam stopped to give me a lift.
stop and do sth
•He stopped and looked into her face.
[+for]
•I need to stop for a rest.
stop dead/short/in your tracks (=stop walking suddenly)
•Sally saw the ambulance and stopped short.
stop on a dime AmE (=stop very quickly - used about cars)
•This truck can stop on a dime!
2 NOT CONTINUE
a) [I,T] to not continue, or to make someone or something not continue:
•By midday the rain had stopped.
•This is where the path stops.
•The referee stopped the fight.
•The doctor advised me to stop the medication.
•People are fighting to stop the destruction of the rainforests.
stop sb doing sth
•I couldn't stop her crying.
b) [I,T] if you stop doing something, you do not continue to do it
stop doing sth
•I stopped digging and looked at him.
•What time do you stop work?
•I've been smoking for over ten years, and I can't stop.
stop it/that (=stop doing something annoying)
•Come on, you two, stop it!
•Right, stop what you're doing and come over here.
3 PAUSE [I] to pause in an activity, journey etc in order to do something before you continue
[+for]
•We stopped for a drink on the way home.
stop to do sth
•I stopped to tie my shoe.
stop to think/consider etc
•It's time we stopped to think about our next move.
4 PREVENT [T] to prevent someone from doing something or something from happening:
•The government tried to stop publication of the book.
•I'm leaving now, and you can't stop me.
stop sb/sth (from) doing sth
•Lay the carpet on paper to stop it sticking to the floor.
•The rain didn't stop us from enjoying the trip.
stop yourself (from) doing sth
•I couldn't stop myself laughing.
•She grabbed the rail to stop herself from falling.
there's nothing to stop sb (from) doing sth
•There's nothing to stop you applying for the job yourself.
5 STAY [I] BrE informal to stay somewhere for a short time, especially at someone's house:
•I won't sit down - I'm not stopping.
[+for]
•Will you stop for a cup of tea?
6 will/would stop at nothing (to do sth) to be ready to do anything to achieve something that you want to achieve:
•We will stop at nothing to save our child.
7 stop short of (doing) sth to decide that you are not willing to do something wrong or dangerous, though you will do something similar that is less dangerous:
•The US government supported sanctions but stopped short of military action.
8 MONEY [T] if you stop an amount of money, you prevent it from being paid to someone:
•Dad threatened to stop my pocket money.
stop sth from sth
•£200 will be stopped from your wages next month to pay for the damage.
•I phoned the bank and asked them to stop the cheque (=not pay a cheque that I had written).
•My mother called the bank to stop payment on the check.
9 BLOCK also stop up [T] to block a hole or pipe so that water, smoke etc cannot go through it

PHRASAL VERBS
stop back phr v AmE
to go back to a place you have been to earlier:
•Can you stop back later? I'm busy right now.

stop by (sth) phr v
to make a short visit to a place or person, especially while you are going somewhere else:
•I'll stop by this evening.
•Daniel stopped by the store on his way home.

stop in phr v informal
1 to make a short visit to a place or person, especially while you are going somewhere else:
•I'll stop in and see you on my way home.
[+at]
•I need to stop in at the library.
2 BrE to stay at home:
•I'm stopping in to wash my hair tonight.

stop off phr v
to make a short visit to a place during a journey, especially to rest or to see someone:
•We can stop off and see you on our way back.
[+in/at etc]
•We stopped off in Santa Rosa for a day.

stop out phr v BrE
informal to stay out later than usual:
•It was a real treat being allowed to stop out late.

stop over phr v
to stop somewhere and stay a short time before continuing a long journey, especially when travelling by plane:
•The plane stops over in Dubai on the way to India.
STOPOVER

stop up phr v
1 stop sth<=> up to block a hole or pipe so that water, smoke etc cannot go through it
2 BrE informal to stay up late:
•Joe stopped up till 3 o'clock to watch the boxing.

GRAMMAR
Tostop doing something means to not continue an activity: It has stopped raining (NOT stopped from raining). | He couldn't stop talking about it (NOT stop from talking/stop to talk).
Tostop to do something means to stand still, or stop what you are doing, in order to do something: He stopped to pick up a piece of paper.
Tostop someone from doing something means to prevent someone from doing something: You can't stop me from going (NOT stop me to go).
In British English you can leave out 'from' This will help stop people dying of AIDS.

[C]
1 come/roll/jerk/skid etc to a stop if a vehicle comes to a stop, it stops moving:
•The bus came to a stop outside the school.
•The car skidded to a stop.
2 come to a stop if an activity comes to a stop, it stops happening:
•Work on the project has come to a stop because of lack of funding.
3 bring sth to a stop to stop something moving or happening:
•David brought the truck to a shuddering stop.
•The UN is trying to bring the war to a stop.
4 DURING JOURNEY a time or place when you stop during a journey for a short time:
•Our first stop was Paris.
•We'll make a stop at the foot of the hill.
•The trip includes an overnight stop in London.
5 BUS/TRAIN a place where a bus or train regularly stops for people to get on and off:
•Our next stop will be York.
•This is your stop, isn't it?
6 put a stop to sth to prevent something from continuing or happening:
•The government is determined to put a stop to the demonstrations.
7 pull out all the stops to do everything you possibly can to make something happen and succeed:
•The hospital staff pulled out all the stops to make sure the children had a wonderful day.
8 MONEY the action or fact of telling your bank not to pay an amount of money to someone:
•I put a stop on that check to the store.
9 MUSIC a handle that you push in or out in an ORGAN to control the amount of sound it produces
10 CONSONANT a consonant sound, like /p/ or /k/, that you make by stopping the flow of air completely and then suddenly letting it out of your mouth
FULL STOP^1 $ [C]
a TAP that controls the flow of a liquid or gas through a pipe $ [C]
something or someone that you use for a short time until you can replace it with something better:
•It's only a stopgap measure, not a long-term solution.
stop-go approach/policies etc BrE a way of controlling the ECONOMY by restricting government spending for a period of time and then not restricting it so severely for a time $ [C]
also stoplights [plural] AmE a set of coloured lights used to control and direct traffic; = traffic lights[C]
technical an arrangement in which the person who buys and sells STOCKs for you agrees to buy or sell them when they reach a particular price $ [C]
a short stay somewhere between parts of a journey, especially on a long plane journey:
•a two-day stopover in Hong Kong $
1 [C] a situation in which workers stop working for a short time as a protest:
•time lost in disputes and stoppages
•a work stoppage by government employees
2 [C,U] especially BrE when something stops moving or happening:
•We had five minutes of stoppage time (=extra time played in a sports match because of pauses) at the end of the first half.
3 [C] something that blocks a tube or container:
•an intestinal stoppage $ [C]
the thing that you put in the top part of a bottle to close it; cork
- stopper verb [T]
•a small, stoppered jar[C,U]
the distance that a driver is supposed to leave between their car and the one in front in order to be able to stop safely[C]
BrE a train that stops at all stations, not just the main ones[singular]
late news added to a newspaper after the main part has been printed $ [C]
a watch used for measuring the exact time it takes to do something, especially to finish a race [U]
1 when you keep or put something in a special place while it is not being used:
•the storage of radioactive material
storage space/capacity (=space etc for keeping things in)
•They moved to a house with lots of storage space.
2 when you pay to keep furniture or other goods in a special place until you need to use them
in storage
•I put some of my things in storage.
•storage costs
3 the way that information is kept on a computer:
•data storage[C]
BrE a HEATER that stores heat at times when electricity is cheaper, for example at night $ [C]
1 SHOP a place where goods are sold to the public. In British English, a store is large and sells many different things, but in American English, a store can be large or small, and sell many things or only one type of thing; shop
•At Christmas the stores stay open late.
shoe/clothing/grocery etc store AmE (=one that sells one type of goods)
•She worked in a bookstore during college.
go to the store AmE (=go to a store that sells food)
•I need to go to the store for some milk.
CHAIN STORE, DEPARTMENT STORE, GENERAL STORE
see box at SHOP^1
2 SUPPLY a supply of something that you keep to use later
[+of]
•a store of wood
•fat stores in the body (=that your body keeps)
3 PLACE TO KEEP THINGS a large building in which goods are kept so they can be used or sold later:
•a grain store
4 in store (for sb) if something unexpected such as a surprise or problem is in store for someone, it is about to happen to them:
•There's a real treat in store for you this Christmas!
•As we left, I wondered what the future held in store.
5 MILITARY stores [plural]
a) supplies of food and equipment that are used by an army, navy etc:
•medical stores
b) the building or room in an army camp, ship etc where these are kept
6 set great/considerable etc store by sth to consider something to be important:
•Patrick has never set much store by material things.[T]
1 to put things away and keep them until you need them
store sth away/up
•Squirrels are storing up nuts for the winter.
•Store the beans in an airtight jar.
2 to keep facts or information in your brain or a computer:
•Standard letters can be stored on floppy discs.
3 store up trouble/problems etc to behave in a way that will cause trouble for you later:
•Smokers may be storing up disease for their unborn children.[C]
especially AmE a type of goods that is produced for a particular shop and has the shop's name on it:
•Store brands are cheaper than name brands.[C] BrE
a card provided by a particular shop that you can use to buy goods at that shop, that you will pay for at a later date; = charge card[C]
someone who is employed in a large shop to watch the customers and to stop them stealing $ [C] AmE
1 the part of a store that faces the street
2 storefront church/law office/school etc a small church etc in a shopping area $ [C]
1 storehouse of information/memories etc something that contains a lot of information etc:
•The local archives service offers a storehouse of material.
2 old-fashioned a building where things are stored; = warehouse $ [C]
AmE someone who owns or manages a shop; = shopkeeper BrE [C]
a room where goods are storedstory AmE [C] BrE
a floor or level of a building:
•a staircase leads to the upper storey
two-storey/five-storey etc (=having two etc storeys)

WORD CHOICE: storey, story, floor
Storey (BrE) or story (AmE) is usually used to talk about the structure of a building : a building dozens of storeys high | a three-storey house
The plural of story is stories: The office block was 20 stories high.
To talk about where someone or something is in a building, use floor: We went up to the top floor. | He works on the fifteenth floor. | Is there a bathroom on this floor?

1 two-storied/five storied etc AmE having two etc storeys
2 [only before noun] literary being the subject of many stories; = famous
•Sun Tzu, the storied Chinese leader and philosopher $ [C]
a tall white bird with long legs and a long beak $
1 [C] a period of very bad weather when there is a lot of rain or snow, strong winds, and often LIGHTNING:
•The storm broke (=suddenly started) at five o'clock.
•a night-time thunderstorm
•Twenty people were killed when storms struck the Mid-West.
•There's a storm brewing (=starting) in the Pacific.
•a dust storm
•a summer storm
2 [C usually singular] a situation in which people suddenly express very strong feelings about something that someone has said or done:
•The governor found himself at the center of a political storm.
storm of protest/abuse/criticism etc
•Government plans for hospital closures provoked a storm of protest.
whip/blow/kick etc up a storm
•a man would could whip up a storm in her heart
3 take somewhere by storm
a) to be very successful in a particular place:
•The new show took London by storm.
b) to attack a place using large numbers of soldiers, and succeed in getting possession of it
4 weather the storm to experience a difficult period and reach the end of it without being harmed or damaged too much:
•I'll stay and weather the storm.
5 a storm in a teacup BrE an unnecessary expression of strong feelings about something that is very unimportant
6 dance/sing/cook etc up a storm to do something with all your energy:
•They were dancing up a storm.
1 [T] to suddenly attack and enter a place using a lot of force:
•An angry crowd stormed the embassy.
2 [I always + adv/prep] to go somewhere in a noisy fast way that shows you are extremely angry
[+out of/into/off etc]
•Alan stormed out of the room.
3 [I,T] literary to shout something in an angry way:
•'What difference does it make?' she stormed.[C]
AmE a place under a house where you can go to be safe during violent storms[C]
1 a dark cloud which you see before a storm
2 [usually plural] a sign that something very bad is going to happen:
• Storm clouds are gathering over the trade negotiations.[C]
a second door that is fitted to the outside of a door in winter in the US to give protection against rain, snow etc[C]
an opening at the side of a street that carries away rain water during a storm[C]
a lamp which has a cover to protect the flame against the wind, used in the past $ [C]
a member of a special group of German soldiers in the Second World War[C]
a second window fitted to the outside of a window in winter in the US to give more protection against rain, snow etc $
1 with strong winds, heavy rain, and dark clouds:
•The sky was starting to look stormy.
•a dark and stormy night
2 a stormy relationship, meeting etc is full of strong and often angry feelings:
•a stormy affair
3 stormy seas are very rough with big waves that are caused by strong winds:
•hostile, stormy seas plural stories [C]
1 FOR ENTERTAINMENT a description of how something happened, that is intended to entertain people, and may be true or imaginary; tale
[+about/of]
•a story about a princess
fairy/ghost/love etc story
•a detective story
tell/read sb a story
•Mommy, will you read me a story?
•a book of short stories
•We cuddled together over a bedtime story.
•The film was based on a true story.
•Don't be frightened - it's only a story (=it is imaginary).
2 NEWS a report in a newspaper or news broadcast about a recent event:
•a front-page story
•'The Observer' ran a story about the scandal (=reported it).
cover story (=the main story in a magazine, that is about the picture on the cover)
3 EVENTS an account of something that has happened, usually one that people tell each other, and which may not be true:
•The full story of what happened has never been reported.
•Her parents did not believe her story.
•First he wanted to hear Matthew's side of the story (=his description of what happened).
•He was having an affair with Julie, or so the story goes (=people are saying this).
4 EXCUSE an excuse or explanation, especially one that you have invented:
•Where were you? And don't give me some story about working late!
•Well that's my story (=that is what I say happened), and I'm sticking to it.
5 HISTORY a description of the most important events in someone's life or in the development of something:
•the Charlie Parker Story
•He wanted to have his life story told on film.
6 BUILDING AmE a floor or level of a building; = storey BrE
•a fifty-story building
7 OF A FILM/PLAY ETC what happens in a film, play, or book; = plot
•The story is similar in all her books.
8 it's the same story here/there/in ... used to say the same thing is happening in another place:
•Unemployment is falling in the US and it's the same story in Europe.
9 it's the same old story used to say that the present bad situation has often happened before:
•It's the same old story - too much work and not enough time.
10 it's a long story used to tell someone that you do not want to give them all the details that a full answer to their question would need
11 to cut a long story short also to make a long story short AmE used when you only give the main point of something you are talking about, and not all the other details
12 but that's another story used when you have mentioned something that you are not going to talk about on this occasion
13 that's not the whole story used to say that there are more details which people need to know in order to understand the situation
14 that's the story of my life used after a disappointing experience to mean that similar disappointing things always seem to happen to you
15 end of story used to say that there is nothing more to say about a particular subject:
•As far as I'm concerned Terry is still a friend, end of story.
16 a different story used to say that something is not what you expect it to be:
•It looks like a big house, but inside it's a different story.
17 LIE a lie - used by children or when speaking to children:
•You shouldn't tell stories.
SHORT STORY
cock and bull story at COCK^1 (4)
HARD-LUCK STORY, SOB STORY
success story at SUCCESS (5)
see box at STOREY [C]
a book of stories for children:
•colourful storybooks
storybook ending/romance etc an ending etc that is so happy or perfect that it is like one in a children's story:
•It would have been storybook stuff if he had won the competition.also storyline [C]
the main set of related events in a story; = plot
•The play had a strong story line. $ [C]
someone who tells stories, especially to children [C]
a container for holy water near the entrance to a church
1 fairly fat and heavy, or having a thick body:
•a short, stout man
2 literary strong and thick; = sturdy
•a stout pair of shoes
3 formal brave and determined
stout defence/support/resistance
•He put up a stout defence in court.
- stoutly adverb
•She stoutly denied the rumours.
- stoutness noun [U][U]
strong dark beer $ literary
brave and determined $ [C]
1 a piece of kitchen equipment on which you cook food in pots and pans, and that contains an OVEN; = cooker BrE
on the stove
•a pot of soup simmering on the stove
2 a thing used for heating a room or for cooking, which works by burning wood, coal, oil, or gas:
•a wood-burning stove
the past tense and past participle of STAVE^2also stow away $ [T always + adv/prep]
to put or pack something tidily away in a space until you need it again; = stash
•I stowed my bag under the seat.
•equipment stowed away in a closet

PHRASAL VERBS
stow away phr v
to hide on a vehicle in order to travel secretly or without paying:
•A boy was caught trying to stow away on a plane.
STOWAWAY $ [C]
space available in a vehicle, especially a boat, for storing things $ [C]
someone who hides on a vehicle in order to travel secretly or to avoid paying [T]
1 to sit or stand with your legs on either side of someone or something:
•The photo shows him dressed in leather, straddling a motorbike.
2 if something straddles a line, road, or river, part of it is on one side and part on the other side
straddle sth between sth
•Mount Elgon straddles the border between Kenya and Uganda.
3 to include different areas of activity, groups, time etc:
•Her research straddles mathematics and social sciences.
•immigrants straddling two cultures $ [T]
to attack a place from an aircraft by flying low and firing a lot of bullets [I]
1 if the people in a group straggle somewhere, they go there fairly slowly and with large spaces between them
[+in/into/through etc]
•The children were beginning to straggle in from the playground.
[+behind]
•Ali straggled behind, carrying the shopping.
2 to move, grow, or spread out untidily in different directions:
•thin, black, straggling hair
[+along/across/down etc]
•Unpainted wooden buildings straggle along the main road out of town. $ [C]
a person or animal that is behind the others in a group, because they are moving more slowly:
•Wait for the stragglers to catch up.
growing untidily and spreading out in different directions:
•straggly hair
1 IN A STRAIGHT LINE in a line or direction that is not curved or bent
[+ahead/at/down/in front of etc]
•The book is on the table straight in front of you.
•She was looking straight at me.
•Terry was so tired he couldn't walk straight.
•He was sitting with his legs stretched straight out in front of him.
2 POSITION in a level or correct position:
•He stopped in front of the mirror to put his tie straight.
•Sit up straight, don't slouch.
3 IMMEDIATELY immediately, without delay, or without doing anything else first
[+to/up/down/back etc]
•I went straight up to bed.
•Go straight home and tell your mother.
[+after]
•I've got a meeting straight after lunch.
•I think I should get straight to the point.
4 ONE AFTER THE OTHER happening one after the other in a series:
•He's been without sleep now for three days straight.
5 HONEST also straight out if you say or ask something straight, you say it in an honest, direct way, without trying to hide your meaning:
•I just told him straight that I wouldn't do it.
•She came straight out with it and said she was leaving.
•I hope for your sake you're playing it straight (=being honest).
•I told him straight to his face (=speaking directly to him) what I thought of him.
6 think/see straight if you cannot think or see straight, you cannot think or see clearly:
•Turn the radio down, I can't think straight.
7 straight away also straight off BrE spoken immediately or without delay:
•I phoned my mum straight away.
8 go straight informal to stop being a criminal and live an honest life:
•Tony's been trying to go straight for about six months.
9 straight up spoken
a) used to ask someone if they are telling the truth:
•Straight up? Did you really pay that much for it?
b) used to emphasize that what you are saying is true:
•No, straight up, I've never seen him before.
10 straight from the shoulder BrE informal if someone speaks straight from the shoulder, they say things in a very direct way, without trying to be politecomparative straighter, superlative straightest
1 NOT BENDING OR CURVING something that is straight does not bend or curve:
•a long, straight road
•Try to keep your legs straight.
•Always lift with a straight back.
•her long, straight black hair
•They sat down in a straight line.
•The road was dead straight (=completely straight).
2 LEVEL/UPRIGHT level or upright, and not leaning to one side:
•Is my tie straight?
•straight white teeth
3 TRUTHFUL honest and truthful:
•I'd like a straight answer please.
•Just give me a straight yes or no.
•I think it's time for some straight talk now.
be straight with sb
•I wish you'd just be straight with me.
4 ONE AFTER ANOTHER [only before noun] happening immediately one after another in a series:
•The team now has an amazing record of 43 straight wins.
5 TIDY [not before noun] a room that is straight is clean and tidy and everything is in its proper place:
•It took me two hours to get the house straight.
6 get sth straight spoken to understand the facts of a situation and be able to tell them correctly:
•I wanted to get the facts straight.
•Let me get this straight - Tom sold the car and gave you the money?
7 set/put sb straight to make someone understand the true facts about a situation:
•Tell him to ask Ruth - she'll put him straight.
8 straight face if you have a straight face, you are not laughing or smiling even though you would like to:
•I found it very difficult to keep a straight face.
9 SEXUAL CHOICE informal someone who is straight is attracted to people of the opposite sex; = heterosexual
10 ALCOHOLIC DRINK a straight alcoholic drink has no water or any other drink added to it:
•a straight whisky
11 NOT OWING MONEY [not before noun] spoken if two people are straight, they no longer owe money to each other:
•If you give me £10 then we're straight.
12 CHOICE/EXCHANGE [only before noun] a straight choice or exchange is between only two possible choices or things:
•It was a straight choice between my career or my family.
•We did a straight swap - one of my cards for one of his.
13 FIGHT/COMPETITION [only before noun] a straight fight or competition is between only two people:
•The election is now a straight fight between Labour and the Conservatives.
14 NORMAL informal someone who is straight behaves in a way that is accepted as normal by many people but which you think is boring
15 NOT FUNNY a straight actor or character does not try to make people laugh
16 ONLY ONE TYPE completely one particular type of something:
•It's not a straight historical novel.
17 DRUGS informal someone who is straight does not take illegal drugs
set/put the record straight at RECORD
1 [singular] especially BrE the straight part of a RACETRACK
2 the straight and narrow old-fashioned an honest and morally good way of life
3 [C] informal someone who is attracted to people of the opposite sex; gay [C]
AmE informal someone who is very honest and moral and who never does anything exciting or unusual
at once; = immediately
•We need to start work straightaway. [singular]
AmE the straight part of a RACETRACK
1 [I,T] also straighten out to become straight, or to make something straight:
•Can you straighten your leg?
2 [I] also straighten up to make your back straight, or to stand up straight after bending down
3 [T] also straighten up to make something tidy:
•Mum told me to straighten my room.

PHRASAL VERBS
straighten out phr v
1 straighten sth <=> out to deal with problems or a confused situation and make it better, especially by organizing things; = sort out
•There are several financial problems that need to be straightened out quickly.
2 to become straight, or to make something straight:
•The path soon bends to the right then straightens out.
straighten sth <=> out
•She straightened out her legs.
3 to improve your bad behaviour or deal with personal problems, or to help someone do this:
•He straightened out when he joined the army.
straighten sb <=> out
•Her parents changed her school, hoping it would straighten her out.

straighten up phr v
1 to make your back straight, or to stand up straight after bending down:
•He remained bent over for several seconds before slowly straightening up.
2 straighten sth <=> up to make something tidy
3 AmE to begin to behave well after behaving badly:
•You'd better straighten up, young lady!
without smiling or laughing, even though you are joking or saying something untrue:
•'No, I really do love you,' said Kim, straightfaced.
- straightfacedly adverb $
1 simple and easy to understand; complicated
relatively/quite/fairly straightforward
•Installing the program is relatively straightforward.
•This area of law is far from straightforward (=complicated).
straightforward matter/task/process etc
•For someone who can't read, shopping is by no means a straightforward matter.
2 honest about your feelings or opinions and not hiding anything:
•Jack is tough, but always straightforward and fair.
- straightforwardly adverb
- straightforwardness noun [U]
another spelling of STRAITJACKET[C]
an entertainer who works with a COMEDIAN, providing him or her with opportunities to make jokes[C]
AmE informal an honest person who you can trust[C]
a vote in which someone chooses all the CANDIDATEs from a particular political party in the US; split ticket[C]
a film that is never shown in a cinema but is only available on video old use
STRAIGHTAWAY
1 WORRY [C,U] worry that is caused by having to deal with a problem or work too hard over a long period of time; stress
•I couldn't look after him any more; the strain was too much for me.
•Did you find the job a strain?
•the stresses and strains of police life
[+for]
•The trial has been a terrible strain for both of us.
[+on]
•It's quite a strain on me when he's drinking heavily.
put/place a strain on sb
•The long working hours put a severe strain on employees.
under (a) strain
•I know you've been under a lot of strain lately.
crack/collapse/buckle etc under the strain (=become unable to deal with a problem or work)
•I could see that she was beginning to crack under the strain.
2 DIFFICULTY [C,U] a difficulty or problem that is caused when a person, relationship, organization, or system has too much to do or too many problems to deal with
[+on]
•The dry summer has further increased the strain on water resources.
put/place (a) strain on sth
•The flu epidemic has put a huge strain on the health service.
[+in]
•The attack has led to strains in the relationship between the two countries.
under (a) strain
•His marriage was under strain.
break/crack/collapse etc under the strain
•The party split under the strain.
3 FORCE [U] a situation in which something is being pulled or pushed, or is holding weight, and so might break or become damaged
[+on]
•The strain on the cables supporting the bridge is enormous.
put/place (a) strain on sth
•Some of these exercises put too much strain on the back muscles.
•These four posts take the strain of the whole structure.
break/snap/collapse etc under the strain
•The rope snapped under the strain.
4 INJURY [C,U] an injury to a muscle or part of your body that is caused by using it too much:
•Long hours working at a computer can cause eye strain.
•The goalkeeper is still out of action with a knee strain.
5 PLANT/ANIMAL [C] a type of animal, plant, or disease
[+of]
•different strains of wheat
•a new strain of the flu virus
6 QUALITY [singular] a particular quality which people have, especially one that is passed from parents to children
[+of]
•There's a strain of madness in his family.
7 WAY OF SAYING STH [singular] formal an amount of a feeling that you can see in the way someone speaks, writes, paints etc:
•a strain of bitterness in Young's later work
8 strains of sth literary the sound of music being played:
•We sipped wine to the strains of Beethoven.
1 INJURE [T] to injure a muscle or part of your body by using it too much or making it work too hard:
•I've strained a muscle in my leg
•You'll strain your eyes trying to read in this light.
2 EFFORT [I,T] to try very hard to do something using all your strength or ability
strain (sth) to do sth
•She was straining to keep her head above the water.
[+for]
•Bill choked and gasped, straining for air.
strain your ears/eyes (=try very hard to hear or see)
•I strained my ears, listening for any sound in the silence of the cave.
3 LIQUID [T] to separate solid things from a liquid by pouring the mixture through something with very small holes in it; sieve
•She strained the pasta.
4 DIFFICULTY [T] to cause difficulties for something by making too much work or too many problems which it cannot deal with easily:
•The increased costs will certainly strain our finances.
•The incident has strained relations between the two countries.
•I felt that my patience was being strained to the limit.
5 PULL/PUSH [I] to pull hard at something or push hard against something
[+against]
•Buddy's huge gut strained against the buttons on his shirt.
[+at]
•a dog straining at its lead
6 strain every nerve to try as hard as possible to do something:
•He was straining every nerve to impress the judges.
7 be straining at the leash to be eager to be allowed to do something:
•There are 30,000 troops in the area, all straining at the leash.
8 not strain yourself to not work too hard or do too much physical activity:
•Don't strain yourself.
1 a strained situation or behaviour is not relaxed, natural, or friendly; = tense
•I couldn't stand the strained atmosphere at dinner any more.
•the increasingly strained relations between the French and German governments
2 showing the effects of worry or too much work:
•Nina's voice sounded strained.
•Alex's pale, strained face $ [C]
a kitchen tool with lots of small holes in it, that is used for separating solids from liquids; sieve
•a tea strainer [C]
1 also straits [plural] a narrow passage of water between two areas of land, usually connecting two seas:
•the Bering Strait
2 be in dire straits to be in a very difficult situation, especially a financial one:
•After the war the county's economy was in dire straits.
•The firm is now in dire financial straits. formal
not having enough money, especially not as much as you had before:
•the straitened circumstances of post-war Japanstraightjacket [C]
1 a special piece of clothing that prevents someone from moving their arms, used to control someone who is being violent or, in the past, someone who was mentally ill
2 something such as a law or set of ideas that puts very strict or unfair limits on someone:
•the straitjacket of censorship
having strict, old-fashioned ideas about moral behaviour:
•straitlaced Victorian society [C]
1 a single thin piece of thread, wire, hair etc
[+of]
•He reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
2 one of the parts of a story, idea, plan etc
strand of thought/opinion/argument
•Plato draws all the strands of the argument together.
a person or vehicle that is stranded is unable to move from the place where they are; = stuck
•Air travellers were left stranded because of icy conditions.
[+in/on/at]
•There I was, stranded in Rome with no money. comparative stranger, superlative strangest
1 unusual or surprising, especially in a way that is difficult to explain or understand; = odd
•strange noises
•Does Geoff's behaviour seem strange to you?
•She felt there was something strange about Dexter's voice.
• Isn't it strange how animals seem to sense danger?
• It's strange that we've never met before.
• For some strange reason I slept like a baby despite the noise.
• Strange as it may seem, I actually prefer cold weather.
• That's strange. I was sure Jude was right here a second ago.
• The strange thing is all four victims had red hair.
strange to say BrE (=strangely)
•Strange to say, I was just thinking that myself.
see box at UNUSUAL
2 someone or something that is strange is not familiar because you have not seen or met them before:
•As a child she'd been taught never to speak to strange men.
•I was just 20, a young girl in a strange city.
[+to]
•It was all strange to him, but he'd soon learn his way around.
3 feel strange to feel as if something is slightly wrong or unusual, either physically or emotionally:
•Can you get me a glass of water? I feel a bit strange.
•It felt strange to be back in Dublin.
- strangely adverb
- strangeness noun [U][only after verb] AmE
in a way that is unusual or surprising:
•The cat's been acting really strange - I wonder if it's sick.
in an unusual or surprising way; = oddly
•Mick's been acting very strangely lately.
•strangely shaped hills
•The crowd fell strangely silent.
• Strangely enough, I wasn't that disappointed. $ [C]
1 someone that you do not know:
•Children must not talk to strangers.
perfect/complete/total stranger (=used to emphasize that you do not know them)
•Julie finds it easy to speak to complete strangers.
!! Do not use stranger to mean 'a person from another country'. Use foreigner or, more politely, 'a person from abroad/overseas '.
2 be no stranger to sth to have had a lot of a particular kind of experience:
•a politician who is no stranger to controversy
3 someone in a new and unfamiliar place:
•'Where's the station?' 'Sorry, I'm a stranger here myself.'
4 Hello, stranger! spoken used to greet someone who you have not seen for a long time
5 don't be a stranger! spoken used when someone is leaving to invite them back to see you soon [T]
1 to kill someone by pressing their throat with your hands, a rope etc; choke
[+with]
•The victim had been strangled with a belt.
2 to limit or prevent the growth or development of something:
•Mills argues that high taxation strangles the economy.
- strangler noun [C]
strangled cry/gasp/voice etc a cry or other sound that is suddenly stopped before it is finished:
•Ed gave a strangled cry. $ [C]
1 [usually singular] complete control over a situation, organization etc
[+on]
•Just a few firms have a stranglehold on the market for this software.
break/loosen the stranglehold of sb (=stop someone having complete control)
2 a strong hold around someone's neck that stops them from breathing
1 technical if a part of your BOWEL is strangulated, it becomes tightly pressed or twisted so that the flow of blood stops:
•a strangulated hernia
2 written if someone's voice sounds strangulated, they sound as though their throat is being pressed:
•Clearly terrified, he let out a strangulated whimper. [U]
the act of killing someone by pressing on their throat, or the fact of being killed in this way [C]
a narrow band of strong material that is used to fasten, hang, or hold onto something:
•a bra strap
•The strap of my bag is broken.
CHINSTRAP, SHOULDER STRAPpast tense and past participle strapped, present participle strapping [T]
1 [always + adv/prep] to fasten something or someone in place with one or more straps
strap sth on/down etc
•He was only ten when he strapped on a guitar for the first time.
•soldiers with grenades strapped to their belts
be strapped in (=have a belt fastened around you in a car)
•Are the kids strapped in?
2 [often passive] BrE also strap up to tie BANDAGEs firmly round a part of your body that has been hurt
strapless dress/gown/bra one that does not have straps over the shoulders
strapped (for cash) informal having little or no money at the moment:
•Can you lend me ten dollars? I'm a little strapped for cash. [only before noun]
a strapping young man or woman is strong, tall, and looks healthy and active:
•a strapping young lad $
1 the plural of STRATUM
2 a plural form sometimes used instead of STRATUM [C]
formal a trick or plan to deceive an enemy or gain an advantage; = ployalso strategical
1 done as part of a plan, especially in a military, business, or political situation:
•UN forces made a strategic withdrawal.
• strategic planning meetings
•a strategic decision to move production to Hungary
2 useful or right for a particular purpose:
•Marksmen were placed at strategic points along the president's route.
3 relating to fighting wars; tactical
•Marseilles was of great strategic importance.
strategic arms/weapons (=weapons designed to reach an enemy country from your own)
•strategic nuclear missiles
- strategically adverb
• Strategically placed video cameras can alert police to any trouble. [C]
someone who is good at planning things, especially military or political actions plural strategies
1 [C] a planned series of actions for achieving something:
•the government's long-term economic strategy
•a company's business strategy
strategy for doing sth
•a strategy for dealing with crime
strategy to do sth
•a strategy to attract younger audiences to jazz
2 [C,U] the skill of planning the movements of armies in a war, or an example of this:
•military strategies
•It is the general's role to develop overall strategy.
3 [U] skilful planning in general:
•The company must first resolve questions of strategy. [C,U]
1 when society is divided into separate social classes:
•The Indian caste system is an example of social stratification.
2 the way in which earth, rocks etc form layers over time
- stratify verb [I,T]
1 having different social classes:
•a stratified society
2 having several layers of earth, rock etc:
•stratified rock $
1 the stratosphere the outer part of the air surrounding the Earth, from ten to fifty kilometres above the Earth; atmosphere
2 [singular] a very high position, level, or amount:
•oil prices soared into the stratosphere
•He's now at the top of the political stratosphere. $ plural strata [C]
1 a layer of rock or earth
2 a social class in a society:
•people of different social strata $
1
a) [U] the dried stems of wheat or similar plants that animals sleep on, and that are used for making things such as baskets, hats etc; hay
•a straw hat
b) [C] a single dried stem of straw
2 [C] a thin tube of paper or plastic for sucking up liquid from a bottle or a cup:
•She sipped her lemonade through a straw.
3 the last straw also the straw that breaks the camel's back the last problem in a series of problems that finally makes you give up, get angry etc:
•Making me work late on Friday was the last straw.
4 be clutching/grasping at straws to be trying everything you can to succeed, even though the things you are doing are not likely to help or work
5 straw in the wind BrE a sign of what might happen in the future:
•There have been a few straws in the wind suggesting things might be getting a little better.
6 straw man AmE a weak opponent or imaginary argument that can easily be defeated
draw the short straw at DRAW^1 (29) $ plural strawberries [C]
a soft red juicy fruit with small seeds on its surface, or the plant that grows this fruit[C]
someone, especially a girl or woman, with light reddish yellow hair
- strawberry blonde adjective
light yellow[C]
an informal test of several people's opinions to see what the general feeling about something is $ [C]
a BOXER who weighs less than 47.63 kilograms, and who belongs to the lightest weight class of boxers [I]
1 to move away from the place you should be
[+into/onto/from]
•Three of the soldiers strayed into enemy territory.
2 to begin to deal with or think about a different subject from the main one, without intending to
[+into/onto/from]
•We're straying into ethnic issues here.
•This meeting is beginning to stray from the point.
3 if your eyes stray, you begin to look at something else, usually without intending to
[+to/back/over etc]
•Her eyes strayed to the clock.
4 to start doing something that is wrong or immoral, when usually you do not do this[only before noun]
1 a stray animal, such as a dog or cat, is lost or has no home
2 accidentally separated from other things of the same kind:
•One man was hit by a stray bullet and taken to hospital.[C]
1 an animal that is lost or has no home
2 informal someone or something that has become separated from others of the same kind
waifs and strays at WAIF (2) [C]
1 a coloured line, especially one that is not straight or has been made accidentally:
•Sue has blonde streaks in her hair.
2 a part of someone's character that is different from the rest of their character:
•a mean streak
[+of]
•His serious nature was lightened by a streak of mischief.
3 a period of time during which you continue to be successful or to fail
be on a winning/losing streak
•Celtic are on a six-game winning streak.
4 streak of lightning/fire/light etc a long straight flash of LIGHTNING, fire etc
1 [I always + adv/prep] to run or fly somewhere so fast you can hardly be seen
[+across/along/down etc]
•Two jets streaked across the sky.
2 [T usually passive] to cover something with lines of colour, liquid etc:
•The sky was streaked yellow and purple.
[+with]
•His hands and arms were streaked with paint.
3 [I] to run across a public place with no clothes on as a joke or in order to shock people $ [C]
someone who runs across a public place with no clothes on as a joke or in order to shock people
marked with streaks:
•streaky grayish marks[U] BrE
smoked or salted meat from a pig that has lines of fat going through it [C]
1 SMALL RIVER a natural flow of water that moves across the land and is narrower than a river
2 CONTINUOUS SERIES a long and almost continuous series of events, people, objects, etc
[+of]
•a stream of traffic
•a stream of abuse
steady/constant/endless etc stream
•A steady stream of visitors came to the house.
3 AIR/WATER a flow of water, air, smoke etc, or the direction in which it is flowing:
•A stream of cold air rushed through the open door.
GULF STREAM, JET STREAM
4 come on stream especially BrE to start working or producing something:
•The new factory will come on stream at the end of the year.
5 SCHOOL BrE a level of ability within a group of students of the same age:
•Kim's in the top stream.
BLOODSTREAM, MAINSTREAM^1, STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
1 POUR [I always + adv/prep] to flow quickly and in great amounts; = pour
[+out/from/onto etc]
•Water came streaming out of the burst pipe.
•Tears streamed down her cheeks.
2 FLOW [I always + adv/prep] to move in a continuous flow in the same direction
[+out/across/past etc]
•People streamed past us on all sides.
3 GIVE OUT LIQUID [I,T] to produce a continuous flow of liquid
[+with]
•When I got up, my face was streaming with blood.
streaming cold BrE (=an illness in which a lot of liquid comes out of your nose)
4 LIGHT [I always + adv/prep] if light streams somewhere, it shines through an opening into a place or onto a surface; = flood
[+in/through/from etc]
•The first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the open doorway.
5 MOVE FREELY [I always + adv/prep, usually in progressive] to move freely in a current of wind or water
[+in/out/behind etc]
•Elise ran, her hair streaming out behind her.
6 COMPUTER [T] if you stream sound or video, you play it on your computer while it is being DOWNLOADed from the Internet, rather than saving it as a FILE and then playing it
7 SCHOOL [T] BrE to put school children in groups according to their ability; = track AmE
- streaming noun [U] $ [C]
1 a long narrow piece of coloured paper, used for decoration on special occasions
2 a long narrow flag [U]
when you play sound or video on your computer while it is being broadcast over the Internet, instead of DOWNLOADing it and saving it into a FILE so that you can listen to it or watch it later [T]
1 to make something such as a business, organization etc work more simply and effectively:
•efforts to streamline the production process
2 to form something into a smooth shape, so that it moves easily through the air or water:
•All these new cars have been streamlined.
- streamlined adjective[U]
the expression of thoughts and feelings in writing exactly as they pass through your mind, without the usual structure they have in formal writing [C]
1 a public road in a city or town that has houses, shops etc on one or both sides

along/up/down the street
across the street
on the other/opposite side of the street
cross the street
main street
high street BrE (=the main street with shops in a village, town, or city)
shopping street BrE (=a street with a lot of shops)
side/back street (=a street that is smaller than a main street)
busy/quiet street (=a street with a lot of activity or little activity)
crowded/deserted/empty street
one-way street (=a street where you can only drive in one direction)
narrow street
winding streets (=streets that turn in many directions)
street corner (=a place where streets meet)

•We moved to Center Street when I was young.
•I walked on further down the street.
•Someone just moved in across the street.
•a car parked on the other side of the street
•Look both ways before you cross the street.
•There were soldiers marching down the main street.
•There's a branch of the store in almost every high street in Britain.
•We found a quiet bar in one of the side streets.
•a quiet residential street
•He was fined for driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
•a small historic town with narrow winding streets
•Two people were chatting on a street corner.

2 the streets [plural] also the street the busy public parts of a city where there is a lot of activity, excitement, and crime, or where people without homes live
on the streets
•young people living on the streets
•She felt quite safe walking the streets after dark.
• street musicians (=ones who play on the street)
3 the man/woman in the street also the man/woman on the street the average person, who represents the general opinion about things:
•The man on the street assumes that all politicians are corrupt.
4 (right) up your street BrE exactly right for you
5 streets ahead (of sb/sth) BrE informal much better than someone or something else:
•James is streets ahead of the rest of the class at reading.
BACKSTREET
be (living) on easy street at EASY^1 (13)
one-way street at ONE-WAY (1)
HIGH STREET
TWO-WAY STREET
walk the streets at WALK^1 (8) $ [C] AmE
a type of bus that runs on electricity along metal tracks in the road; = tram BrEalso street credibility [U]
the qualities in a young person that other young people admire, especially because of their knowledge and experience of real life:
•It'll wreck your street cred if you're seen helping the police.
- street-credible adjectivealso streetlamp [C]
a light at the top of a tall post in the street[plural]
people who have no home and live on the streetsespecially AmE informal
STREETWISE
- street smarts noun [U][C,U]
the price for which something, especially drugs, can be sold illegally:
•Detectives seized drugs with a street value of almost £300,000. $ [C] old-fashioned
a PROSTITUTE
able to deal with the dangerous situations and people that are common in some cities and towns
1 PHYSICAL [U] the physical power and energy that makes someone strong; weakness
have/find the strength to do sth
•She didn't even have the strength to stand up.
•I'm trying to build up my strength.
•Jo hit him with all her strength.
•He never ceased to be amazed by her physical strength.
2 DETERMINATION [U] the quality of being brave or determined in dealing with difficult or unpleasant situations
have/find the strength to do sth
•Jenny didn't have the strength to end the relationship.
•She had enormous strength of character (=strong ability to deal with difficult situations).
strength of mind/purpose
•The sea was very cold and it required great strength of mind to get in.
•I think you have to find an inner strength in order to feel good about yourself.
tower of strength at TOWER^1 (3)
3 FEELING/BELIEF [U] how strong a feeling, belief, or relationship is; = depth
[+of]
•Governments cannot ignore the strength of public opinion.
•We understand the strength of feeling against the proposal.
4 ORGANIZATION/COUNTRY ETC [U] the political, military, or economic power of an organization, country, or system
[+of]
•the strength of the US economy
•The socialists organized a show of strength (=when a country or organization shows how strong it is).
5 USEFUL QUALITY OR ABILITY [C] a particular quality or ability that gives someone or something an advantage; weakness
•Her main strength is her critical thinking ability.
[+of]
•The great strength of our plan lies in its simplicity.
•Be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses.
6 OBJECT [U] how strong an object or structure is, especially its ability to last for a long time without breaking; weakness
[+of]
•a device for testing the strength of concrete structures
7 SUBSTANCE/MIXTURE [C,U] how strong a substance or mixture is:
•Add water to dilute the solution to the required strength.
full-strength/half-strength/double-strength etc
•Young plants can be fed with half-strength liquid fertilizer.
8 NUMBER OF PEOPLE [U] the number of people in a team, army etc:
•The Edinburgh team are now at full strength.
below strength
•The police force is below strength at the moment (=there are fewer police than there should be).
in strength
•Security forces were out in strength (=in large numbers) but did not intervene.
9 MONEY [U] the value of a country's money when compared to other countries' money
[+of]
•the strength of the dollar on the international money markets
10 on the strength of sth because of something:
•I bought the book on the strength of your recommendation.
11 position of strength a position where you have an advantage over someone, especially in a discussion:
•We must negotiate from a position of strength.
12 go from strength to strength to become more and more successful:
•For several years the business went from strength to strength.
13 NATURAL FORCE [U] how strong a natural force is:
•the strength of the sunlight
14 COLOUR/LIGHT/FLAVOUR/SMELL ETC [U] how strong a colour, taste etc is
15 give me strength spoken used when you are annoyed or angry about something
16 not know your own strength to not realize how strong you are
1 FEELING/BELIEF/RELATIONSHIP [I,T] to become stronger or make something stronger; weaken
•Our friendship has steadily strengthened over the years.
•Steve's opposition only strengthened her resolve to go ahead.
strengthen sth's ties/bonds/links etc
•The university hopes to strengthen its ties with the local community.
•The company plans to strengthen its hand (=make itself more powerful) in Europe by opening an office in Spain.
2 TEAM/ARMY ETC [T] to make an organization, army etc more powerful, especially by increasing the number or quality of the people in it; weaken
•The team has been strengthened by the arrival of two new players.
3 FINANCIAL SITUATION [T] if the financial situation of a country or company strengthens or is strengthened, it improves or is made to improve; weaken
•measures to strengthen the economy
4 MONEY [I,T] to increase in value, or to increase the value of money; weaken
•The pound has strengthened against other currencies.
5 BODY/STRUCTURE [T] to make something such as your body or a building stronger; weaken
•Metal supports were added to strengthen the outer walls.
6 PROOF/REASON [T] to help prove something:
•Fresh evidence has greatly strengthened the case against him.
7 WIND/CURRENT [I] to increase in force:
•The wind had strengthened during the night.
1 needing a lot of effort or strength:
•a strenuous climb
•The doctor advised Ken to avoid strenuous exercise.
2 active and determined:
•Sherry's been making a strenuous effort to lose weight.
- strenuously adverb
•Barrett strenuously denied rumors that he would resign. $ [U] AmE
an illness in which your throat is very painful $ plural streptococci [C]
a BACTERIA that causes infections, especially in the throat
1 WORRY [C,U] continuous feelings of worry about your work or personal life, that prevent you from relaxing; strain
•Your headaches are due to stress.
under stress
•Janet's been under a lot of stress since her mother's illness.
•the stresses and strains (=problems and worries) of public life
• stress-related (=caused by stress) medical problems
reduce/relieve stress
•Yoga is excellent for relieving stress.
2 FORCE [C,U] the physical force or pressure on an object:
•Shoes with high heels put a great deal of stress on knees and ankles.
3 IMPORTANCE [U] the special attention or importance given to a particular idea, fact, or activity; = emphasis
put/lay stress on sth
•Pugh laid particular stress on the need for discipline.
4 WORD/MUSIC [C,U] the degree of force or loudness with which a part of a word is pronounced or a note in music is played, which makes it sound stronger than other parts or notes[T]
1 to emphasize a statement, fact, or idea
stress that
•The report stressed that student math skills need to improve.
•Crawford stressed the need for more housing downtown.
•She stressed the importance of a balanced diet.
2 to pronounce a word or part of a word so that it sounds louder or more forceful:
•The word 'machine' is stressed on the second syllable.

PHRASAL VERBS
stress sb out phr v informal
to make someone so worried or nervous that they cannot relax:
•Studying for exams always stresses me out.
1 [not before noun] also stressed out informal so worried and tired that you cannot relax:
•I always eat when I'm feeling stressed.
2 technical an object, especially a metal object, that is stressed has had a lot of pressure or force put on it
a job, experience, or situation that is stressful makes you worry a lot:
•Moving to a new house is a very stressful experience.[C]
a mark (Ëˆ) that shows which part of a word you emphasize when you pronounce it
1 MAKE STH BIGGER/LOOSER
a) [I,T] to make something bigger or looser by pulling it, or to become bigger or looser as a result of being pulled:
•A spider's web can stretch considerably without weakening.
•Where can I buy those things that stretch your shoes?
b) [I not in progressive] if a material stretches, it can become bigger or longer when you pull it and then return to its original shape when you stop
2 BODY [I,T] to straighten your arms, legs, or body to full length:
•Carl sat up in bed, yawned, and stretched.
•Always stretch before exercising.
3 REACH [I always +adv/prep] to reach a long way for something
[+across/over]
•Ann stretched across the couch and grabbed the phone.
4 MAKE STH TIGHT [T] to pull something so that it is tight:
•The canvas is stretched over a wooden frame.
5 TIME/SERIES [I,T always + adv/prep] to continue over a period of time or in a series, or make something do this
[+into/on/over etc]
•Berg's career as a government official stretched over twenty years.
•With a goal in the second half, Spurs stretched their lead to 3-0.
6 IN SPACE [I always + adv/prep] to spread out or cover a large area of land
[+to/into/away etc]
•Row after row of orange trees stretched to the horizon.
•a line stretching around the block
7 stretch your legs informal to go for a walk, especially after sitting for a long time
8 stretch (sb's) patience/credulity to be almost beyond the limits of what someone can accept or believe:
•The kids stretch my patience to the limit.
9 RULE/LIMIT [T] BrE to allow something that would not normally be allowed by a rule or limit:
•This once I'll stretch the rules and let you leave work early.
•We'll stretch a point (=allow a rule to be broken) and let the baby travel free this time.
stretch the rules at RULE^1 (1)
10 stretch the truth/facts to say or write something that is not completely true:
•Reporters sometimes stretch the facts to make a point.
11 be stretching it informal to make something seem more important, bigger etc than it really is:
•He's a good player, but 'world class' is stretching it.
12 FOOD/MONEY [I,T] if you make an amount of money, food etc stretch or it stretches, you use less of it than you usually would so that you have it for a longer time:
•I'm going to have to stretch this $20 until payday.
13 be stretched (to the limit) to have hardly enough money, supplies, time etc for your needs:
•We're stretched at the moment, otherwise we'd go.
14 not stretch to sth BrE if someone's money will not stretch to something, they cannot afford it:
•The budget won't stretch to a new car this year.
15 ABILITIES [T] to make someone use all of their skill, abilities, or intelligence:
•The work's too easy. The students aren't being stretched enough.

PHRASAL VERBS
stretch out phr v
1 informal to lie down, usually in order to sleep or rest:
•I'm just going to stretch out on the couch for ten minutes.
2 stretch sth <=> out to put out your hand, foot etc in order to reach something:
•Jimmy stretched out his hand to take the candy.
1 LENGTH OF LAND/WATER [C] an area of land or water, especially one that is long and narrow
[+of]
•a beautiful stretch of countryside
2 TIME [C] a continuous period of time
[+of]
•a stretch of three weeks without sunshine
•She doesn't leave the house for long stretches of time.
•She rarely sleeps for eight hours at a stretch (=without stopping).
3 BODY [C] the action of stretching a part of your body out to its full length, or a particular way of doing this:
•The ski instructor showed us some special stretches.
4 by any stretch (of the imagination) spoken used to emphasize that a negative statement is true:
•My family wasn't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.
5 the home/final stretch
a) the last part of a track before the end of a race
b) the last part of an activity, trip, or process:
•As they enter the home stretch of the campaign, the President's lead has grown.
6 MATERIAL [U] the ability a material has to increase in length or width without tearing; stretchy
7 at full stretch BrE
a) using everything that is available:
•With staff shortages and appalling weather conditions, the emergency services were at full stretch.
b) with your body or part of your body stretched as far as possible:
•He dived and caught the ball at full stretch.
8 JAIL [C usually singular] informal a period of time spent in prison[only before noun]
stretch clothes or material stretch if you pull them and then return to their original shape:
•stretch levis $ [C]
a type of bed used for carrying someone who is too injured or ill to walk[T always + adv/prep] BrE
to carry someone on a stretcher
be stretchered off/into etc
•Ward was stretchered off early in the game.[C]
someone, usually a soldier, who carries one end of a stretcher[C]
a very large comfortable car that has been made longer than usual[C usually plural]
a mark left on your skin as a result of it stretching too much, especially during PREGNANCY informal
material that is stretchy can stretch when you pull it and then return to its original shape:
•stretchy cotton leggings past tense strewed, past participle strewn or, strewed [T usually passive]
1 to scatter things around a large area
be strewn with sth
•The street was strewn with broken glass.
strew sth around/about/over etc sth
•clothes strewn across the floor
2 strewn with sth written containing a lot of something:
•conversation liberally strewn with swear words
3 literary to lie scattered over something:
•Flowers strewed the path. BrE AusE old-fashioned
used to express surprise, annoyance etc $ technical
having narrow lines or bands of colour; = striped
- striation noun [C usually plural] formal
very badly affected by trouble, illness, unhappiness etc:
•Fire broke out on the stricken ship.
[+by/with]
•a country stricken by severe economic problems
drought-stricken/cancer-stricken/tragedy-stricken etc
•drought-stricken farmers
GRIEF-STRICKEN
PANIC-STRICKEN
POVERTY-STRICKEN comparative stricter, superlative strictest
1 expecting people to obey rules or to do what you say; lenient
•a strict teacher
[+about]
•This company is very strict about punctuality.
[+with]
•The Stuarts are very strict with their children.
2 a strict order or rule is one that must be obeyed:
•You had strict instructions not to tell anybody.
•There are strict limits on presidential campaign contributions.
•He's under strict orders from his doctor to quit smoking.
•I'm telling you this in the strictest confidence (=it must be kept completely secret).
3 [usually before noun] exact and correct, often in a way that seems unreasonable:
•Amy was attractive, although not beautiful in the strictest sense of the word.
4 obeying all the rules of a religion or set of principles:
•He was raised a strict Catholic.
•a strict vegetarian
- strictness noun [U]
1 in a way that must be obeyed:
•Alcohol is strictly forbidden on school premises.
•The ban on hunting is not strictly enforced.
2 exactly and completely:
•That isn't strictly true.
3 strictly speaking used to say that something is true if you are going to be very exact and correct about it:
•Strictly speaking, spiders are not insects.
4 only for a particular person, thing, or purpose and no one else:
•This is strictly between us. Nobody else must know. $ [C often plural] formal
1 a rule that strictly limits what you can do
[+on/against]
•religious strictures on marriage
2 a severe criticism
1 STEP [C] a long step you make while you are walking; pace
•Paco reached the door in only three strides.
2 IMPROVEMENT [C] an improvement in a situation or in the development of something
make great/major/giant etc strides
•The government has made great strides in reducing poverty.
3 take sth in your stride BrE take sth in stride AmE to not allow something to annoy, embarrass, or upset you:
•When the boss asked Judy to stay late, she took it in stride.
4 get into your stride BrE hit your stride AmE to start doing something confidently and well:
•Once I get into my stride I can finish an essay in a few hours.
5 WAY OF WALKING [singular] the way you walk or run:
•the runner's long, loping stride
6 break (your) stride especially AmE
a) to begin moving more slowly or to stop when you are running or walking
b) if you break your stride, or if someone or something breaks it, you are prevented from continuing in what you are doing:
•Collins dealt with the reporters' questions without breaking stride.
7 put sb off their stride especially BrE knock/throw/keep sb off stride AmE to make someone unable to do something effectively, by not allowing them to give all their attention to it:
•Shea's testimony threw the defense off stride.
8 (match sb) stride for stride to manage to be just as fast, strong, skilled etc as someone else, even if they keep making it harder for youpast tense strode $ , past participle stridden [I always + adv/prep] written
to walk quickly with long steps; march
[+across/into/down etc]
•He strode toward her.
1 forceful and determined, especially in a way that is offensive or annoying:
•strident criticism
2 a strident sound or voice is loud and unpleasant:
•the strident calls of seagulls
- stridently adverb
- stridency noun [U] [U] formal
trouble between two or more people or groups; = conflict
ethnic/religious/civil etc strife
•a time of political strife past tense and past participle struck
1 HIT [T] written to hit or fall against the surface of something:
•She fell heavily, striking her head against the side of the boat.
•A snowball struck him on the back of the head.
•Several cars were struck by falling trees.
•The last rays of the setting sun struck the garden windows.
!! In spoken and ordinary written English it is much more usual to use hit.
2 HIT WITH HAND/WEAPON ETC [T] formal to deliberately hit someone or something with your hand or a weapon:
•She struck him hard across the face.
strike sth with sth
•The victim had been struck with some kind of wooden implement.
•Paul struck him a blow to the head.
•The assassin's bullet struck home (=hit exactly where it should).
3 THOUGHT/IDEA [T not in progressive] if something strikes you, you think of it, notice it, or realize that it is important, interesting, true etc:
•A rather worrying thought struck me.
•The first thing that struck me was the fact that there were no other women present.
it strikes sb that
•It struck her that losing the company might be the least of her worries.
be struck by sth
•You can't help being struck by her kindness.
4 strike sb as (being) sth to seem to have a particular quality or feature:
•His jokes didn't strike Jack as being very funny.
it strikes sb as strange/odd etc that
•It struck me as odd that the man didn't introduce himself before he spoke.
5 STOP WORK [I] if a group of workers strike, they stop working as a protest against something relating to their work, for example how much they are paid, bad working conditions etc:
•In many countries, the police are forbidden to strike.
[+for]
•They're striking for the right to have their trade union recognized in law.
6 ATTACK [I] to attack someone, especially suddenly:
•The killer might strike again.
•Guerrillas struck a U.N. camp, killing 75.
•Opponents of the war say that civilian villages have been struck several times.
7 HARM [T] to damage or harm someone or something
[+at]
•The law would strike at the most basic of civil rights.
•Such prejudices strike right at the heart of any notions of a civilized society.
strike a blow at/against/to sth
•The scandal seemed to have struck a mortal blow to the government's chances of re-election.
8 STH BAD HAPPENS [I,T] if something bad strikes, it suddenly happens or suddenly begins to affect someone:
•The plague struck again for the third time that century.
•Everything seemed to be going fine when suddenly disaster struck.
STRICKEN
9 strike a balance (between sth) to give the correct amount of importance or attention to two separate things:
•He was finding it difficult to strike a balance between his family and his work.
•It isn't always easy to strike the right balance.
10 strike a bargain/deal to agree to do something for someone if they do something for you:
•There are rumors that the president struck a private deal with the corporation's chairman.
11 strike a happy/cheerful/cautious etc note to express a particular feeling or attitude:
•The article struck a conciliatory note.
•Moderate Republicanism appeared to strike exactly the right note with the voters (=be what the people wanted).
12 strike a chord to say or do something that other people agree with or have sympathy with
[+with]
•Their story is bound to strike a chord with all parents.
13 strike a match to produce a flame from a match by rubbing it hard across a rough surface
14 strike gold/oil etc
a) to find a supply of gold, oil etc in the ground or under the sea:
•If they strike oil, drilling will begin early next year.
b) strike gold to do something that makes you a lot of money:
•Jackie eventually struck gold with her third novel.
15 LIGHTNING [I,T] if LIGHTNING strikes something, it hits and damages it:
•The temple burned down after it was struck by lightning last year.
lightning never strikes twice at LIGHTNING^1
16 strike a blow for sb/sth to do something to help achieve a principle or aim:
•It's time we struck a blow for women's rights.
17 be within striking distance
a) to be close enough to reach a place easily:
•By now they were within striking distance of the shore.
b) to be very close to achieving something:
•The French team are within striking distance of the world record.
18 strike it rich to suddenly make a lot of money
19 strike it lucky BrE to be very lucky, especially when you were not expecting to:
•We struck it lucky in Bangkok, where we were told there were some extra seats on the plane that night.
20 CLOCK [I,T] if a clock strikes one, two, six etc, its bell makes a sound once, twice, six times etc according to what time it is:
•The church clock began to strike twelve.
strike the hour (=strike when it is exactly one o'clock, two o'clock etc)
21 GAIN ADVANTAGE [I] to do something that gives you an advantage over your opponent in a fight, competition etc:
•Brazil struck first with a goal in the third minute.
22 strike home if something that you say strikes home, it has exactly the effect on someone that you intended:
•She saw the emotion in her father's face and knew her words had struck home.
23 strike terror/fear into sb's heart to make someone feel very frightened:
•The word 'cancer' still strikes terror into many hearts.
24 strike a pose/attitude to stand or sit with your body in a particular position:
•Malcolm struck his usual pose: hands in pockets, shoulders hunched.
25 be struck dumb to suddenly be unable to talk, usually because you are very surprised or shocked
DUMBSTRUCK
26 be struck with horror/terror/awe etc to suddenly feel very afraid, shocked etc:
•As she began to speak to him, she was struck with shyness.
27 strike while the iron is hot to do something immediately rather than waiting until a later time when you are less likely to succeed
28 strike sb dead to kill someone:
•May God strike me dead if I'm telling a lie!

PHRASAL VERBS
strike back phr v
to attack or criticize someone who attacked or criticized you first:
•We instruct our staff never to strike back however angry they feel.
[+at]
•The prime minister immediately struck back at his critics.

strike sb <=> down phr v
1 [usually passive] to kill someone or make them extremely ill:
•Over 50 nurses at the clinic have been struck down with a mystery virus.
•They would rob the bodies of those struck down in battle.
2 formal to hit someone so hard that they fall down
3 law to say that a law, decision etc is illegal and officially end it

strike sb/sth <=> off phr v
1 be struck off BrE if a doctor, lawyer etc is struck off, their name is removed from the official list of people who are allowed to work as doctors, lawyers etc
2 to remove someone or something from a list:
•Terri was told to strike off the names of every person older than 30.

strike on/upon sth phr v
formal to discover something or have a good idea about something
be struck on sb/sth at STRUCK^2

strike out phr v
1 to attack or criticize someone suddenly or violently
[+at]
•Unhappy young people will often strike out at the people closest to them.
2 strike sth <=> out to draw a line through something written on a piece of paper
3 [always + adv/prep] to start walking or swimming in a particular direction, especially in a determined way:
•She struck out for the side of the pool.
4 strike out on your own to start doing something or living independently
5 to not hit the ball in baseball three times, so that you are not allowed to continue trying, or to make someone do this
strike sb <=> out
•He struck out the first batter he faced.
STRIKEOUT
6 AmE informal to not be successful at something:
•'Did she say she'd go out with you?' 'No, I struck out.'
7 strike sth <=> out law to say officially that something cannot be considered as proof in a court of law

strike up phr v
1 strike up a friendship/relationship/conversation etc to start to become friendly with someone, to start talking to them, etc:
•I struck up a conversation with the girl sitting next to me.
2 strike up (sth) to begin playing a piece of music:
•The band struck up a tango.
1 NOT WORKING [C,U] a period of time when a group of workers deliberately stop working because of a disagreement about pay, working conditions etc

be (out) on strike
come out/go (out) on strike (=start a strike)
call a strike
call off a strike (=decide not to continue with it)
break a strike (=end a strike)
general strike (=when workers from most industries strike)
all-out strike BrE (=when all the workers in a factory, industry etc strike)
strike action BrE

•The farm workers' strike is in its third week.
[+by]
•a six-week strike by railway workers
[+over]
•a strike over pay cuts
[+against]
•a national strike against mine closures
•Workers had been out on strike for 8 months.
•Teachers went on strike last week to demand job security.
•The trade union federations called a general strike to protest at working conditions.
•They refused to obey the court's order to call off the strike.
•The Prime Minister was determined to break the strike.
•an all-out strike by civil servants
•Hospital workers voted in favour of strike action.
!! Do not say 'go on a strike'.

2 ATTACK [C] a military attack, especially by planes dropping bombs
[+against/on]
•a surprise air strike on military targets
•American aircraft carriers have launched several strikes.
FIRST STRIKE
3 DISCOVERY [C usually singular] the discovery of something valuable under the ground:
•an oil strike
4 two/three strikes against sb/sth AmE a condition or situation that makes it extremely difficult for someone or something to be successful:
•Children from poor backgrounds have two strikes against them by the time they begin school.
5 BASEBALL [C] an attempt to hit the ball in baseball that fails, or a ball that is thrown to the BATTER in the correct area, but is not hit
6 BOWLING [C] a situation in BOWLING in which you knock down all the PINs (=bottle shaped objects) with a ball on your first attempt
HUNGER STRIKE, LIGHTNING STRIKE $ [C]
someone who continues working during a strike - used in order to show disapproval
BLACKLEG, SCAB (2) [C]
in baseball, an occasion when the BATTER is not allowed to try to hit the ball any more, because he has three strikes[U]
money paid by a union to workers who are on STRIKE $ [C]
1 someone who is not working because they are on STRIKE
2 a player in football whose main job is to score GOALs
1 unusual or interesting enough to be easily noticed
striking contrast/similarity/parallel etc
•a striking contrast between wealth and poverty
2 attractive in an unusual way that is easy to notice:
•a dark man with striking features
3 [only before noun] not working because of being on STRIKE:
•striking auto workers
be within striking distance at STRIKE^1 (17)
1 in a way that is very easy to notice
strikingly similar/different
•The two experiments produced strikingly different results.
2 used to emphasize that someone or something is beautiful in a way that is easy to notice:
•one of the most strikingly attractive regions in Britain
1 THREAD [C,U] a strong thread made of several threads twisted together, used for tying or fastening things; rope
•Her key hung on a string around her neck.
•a ball of string
•I need a piece of string to tie this package.
2 GROUP/SERIES [C]
a) a number of similar things or events coming one after another; = series
[+of]
•a string of hit albums
b) a group of similar things
[+of]
•She owns a string of health clubs.
c) technical a group of letters, words, or numbers, especially in a computer program
3 no strings (attached) having no special conditions or limits on an agreement, relationship etc:
•The policy offers 15% interest with no strings attached.
4 string of pearls/lights/beads etc several objects of the same type connected with a thread, chain etc
5 MUSIC
a) [C] one of the long thin pieces of wire, NYLON etc that is stretched across a musical instrument and produces sound
b) the strings/the string section the people in an ORCHESTRA or band who play musical instruments that have strings, such as VIOLINs
6 first-string/second-string etc relating to or being a member of a team or group with the highest, second highest etc level of skill:
•a first-string quarterback
7 have sb on a string informal to be able to make someone do whatever you want:
•Susie has her mother on a string.
8 have more than one string to your bow BrE to have more than one skill, idea, plan etc that you can use if you need to
G-STRING; how long is a piece of string? at LONG^1 (9); pull strings at PULL^1 (8); pull the/sb's strings at PULL^1 (9); the purse strings at PURSE^1 (5)past tense and past participle strung [T]
1 to put things together onto a thread, chain etc:
•beads strung on a silver chain
2 [always + adv/prep] to hang things in a line, usually high in the air, especially for decoration
string sth along/across etc sth
•Christmas lights were strung from one end of Main Street to the other.
3 be strung (out) along/across etc sth written to be spread out in a line:
•the houses and shops strung out along the bay
4 to put a string or a set of strings onto a musical instrument

PHRASAL VERBS
string along phr v informal
1 string sb along to deceive someone for a long time by making them believe that you will help them, that you love them etc:
•He's just stringing you along.
2 BrE to go somewhere with someone for a short time, especially because you do not have anything else to do
[+with]
•If you're going into town, I'll string along with you.

string sth <=> out phr v
informal to make something continue longer than it should:
•Rebel leaders attempted to string out negotiations to avoid reaching a settlement.

string sth <=> together phr v
1 string words/a sentence together to manage to say or write something that other people can understand:
•He was so drunk he could hardly string two words together.
2 to combine things in order to make something that is complete, good, useful etc:
•They string together image after image until the documentary is completed.

string sb <=> up phr v informal
to kill someone by hanging them
STRUNG-UP
highly-strung at HIGHLY[C]
a type of long thin green bean[C]
a musical instrument such as a VIOLIN, that produces sound from a set of STRINGs ; brass, percussion, the strings/the string section, wind instrument, woodwind
1 a stringent law, rule, standard etc is very strict and must be obeyed:
•stringent anti-noise regulations
2 stringent economic conditions exist when there is a severe lack of money and strict controls on the supply of money
- stringently adverb
- stringency noun [U] $ [C]
someone who regularly sends in news stories to a newspaper, but who is not employed by that newspaper[C]
a thick string worn around your neck and held in place by a decorative object, worn especially by men in the western US
1 stringy meat, fruit, or vegetables are full of long thin pieces that are difficult to eat; tough
•Scoop out the pumpkin's stringy fibres.
2 stringy hair is very thin and looks like string, especially because it is dirty
3 tall and thin past tense and past participle stripped, present participle stripping
1 TAKE OFF CLOTHES
a) [I,T] also strip off to take off your clothes or take off someone else's clothes; undress
•Jack stripped and jumped into the shower.
•The prisoner was stripped and beaten.
strip off sth
•He stripped off his sweater and threw it onto the couch.
•Eric stood in the hot sun, stripped to the waist (=not wearing any clothes on the top half of his body).
•Terry stripped down to her bra and pants (=removed all her clothes except her bra and pants) and tried on the dress.
•The boys stripped naked and jumped in the pond.
b) [I] to take off your clothes in a sexually exciting way as entertainment for someone else
2 REMOVE [T] to remove something that is covering the surface of something else:
•Strip the beds and wash the sheets.
strip sth off/from sth
•We need to strip the wallpaper off the walls first.
strip sth of sth
•tall windows stripped of curtains
3 ENGINES/EQUIPMENT also strip down [T] to separate an engine or piece of equipment into pieces in order to clean or repair it; = dismantle
4 BUILDING/SHIP ETC [T] to remove everything that is inside a building, all the equipment from a car etc so that it is completely empty:
•The apartment had been stripped bare.
5 DAMAGE [T] to damage or break the GEARs of something or the THREAD (=raised line) on a screw so that it does not work correctly any more

PHRASAL VERBS
strip sth <=> away phr v
to remove something, especially something that hides or protects someone or something:
•His book aims to strip away the lies and show the world as it really is.

strip sb of sth phr v
to take away something important from someone as a punishment, for example their title, property, or power:
•Captain Evans was found guilty and stripped of his rank.
ASSET STRIPPING[C]
1 a long narrow piece of paper, cloth etc:
•a strip of paper
2 a long narrow area of land:
•A strip of sand between the cliffs and the sea.
3 do a strip to take your clothes off, especially in a sexually exciting way as a form of entertainment
4 AmE a road with a lot of shops, restaurants etc along it:
•the Las Vegas strip
5 [usually singular] BrE the clothes worn by a sports team:
•Liverpool's famous red strip
6 a STRIP CARTOON
COMIC STRIP, LANDING STRIP
tear sb off a strip at TEAR^2 (8)[C]
BrE a series of drawings inside a row of small boxes that tells a short story; = comic strip; cartoon[C] informal
a place where people go to see performers who take off their clothes in a sexually exciting way [C]
1 a line of colour, especially one of several lines of colour all close together:
•a shirt with black and white stripes
vertical/horizontal stripes
2 of all stripes/of every stripe of all different types:
•Politicians of all stripes complained about the plan.
3 a narrow piece of material worn on the arm of a uniform as a sign of rank
earn your stripes at EARN
having lines or bands of colour; = stripy
•a blue and white striped shirt[C]
informal a STRIP CLUB[C]
BrE an electric light that consists of a long, white FLUORESCENT tube[U]
BrE lighting provided by long, white FLUORESCENT tubes [C]
old-fashioned a boy who is almost a young man - sometimes used humorously about a man who is quite old; = youth[C]
AmE a row of shops built together, with a large area for parking cars in front of it[C]
AmE a very large hole that is made in the ground to remove metal, coal etc from the earth; = opencast BrE
- strip-mine verb [I,T]
- strip mining noun [U] $
1 [C] someone whose job is to take off their clothes in a sexually exciting way in order to entertain people
2 [C,U] a tool or liquid chemical used to remove something from a surface:
•paint stripper[C]
a game of POKER (=card game) in which players that lose must take off pieces of their clothing[C]
a process in which you have to remove your clothes so that your body can be checked, usually for hidden drugs
- strip search verb [T][C]
a form of entertainment where people take off their clothes in a sexually exciting way [C,U]
a performance in which someone takes off their clothes in a sexually exciting waystripey BrE
STRIPED:
•He was wearing jeans and a stripy T-shirt. past tense strove $ , past participle striven [I] formal
to make a great effort to achieve something
strive to do sth
•I was still striving to be successful.
[+for/after]
•We must continue to strive for greater efficiency.
- striving noun [C,U]also strobe $ [C]
a light that flashes on and off very quickly, often used in places where you can dance $
the past tense of STRIDE $ [C]
1 ILLNESS if someone has a stroke, an ARTERY (=tube carrying blood) in their brain suddenly bursts or becomes blocked, so that they may die or be unable to use some muscles:
•She died following a massive stroke.
have/suffer a stroke
•I looked after my father after he had a stroke.
•a stroke patient
2 SWIMMING/ROWING
a) one of a set of movements in swimming or rowing in which you move your arms or the OAR forward and then back:
•She swam with strong steady strokes.
b) a style of swimming or rowing:
•the breast stroke
3 SPORT the action of hitting the ball in games such as tennis, GOLF, and CRICKET:
•a backhand stroke
4 PEN/BRUSH
a) a single movement of a pen or brush when you are writing or painting:
•A few strokes of her pen brought out his features clearly.
b) a line made by a pen or brush:
•the thick downward strokes of the characters
5 at a/one stroke with a single sudden action:
•At one stroke the country lost two outstanding leaders.
6 on the stroke of seven/nine etc at exactly seven o'clock etc:
•She arrived home on the stroke of midnight.
•The only goal of the match came on the stroke of half-time.
7 stroke of luck/fortune something lucky that happens to you unexpectedly:
•In a stroke of luck, a suitable organ donor became available.
8 stroke of genius/inspiration etc a very good idea about what to do to solve a problem:
•It was a stroke of genius to film the movie in Toronto.
9 HIT an action of hitting someone with something such as a whip or thin stick:
•He cried out at each stroke of the whip.
10 A MOVEMENT OF YOUR HAND a gentle movement of your hand over something:
•I gave her hair a gentle stroke.
11 with/at a stroke of the pen if someone in authority does something with a stroke of the pen, they sign an official document to make a decision with important and serious results:
•He had the power to order troops home with a stroke of his pen.
12 not do a stroke (of work) BrE informal to not do any work at all
13 stroke of lightning a bright flash of lightning, especially one that hits something
14 CLOCK/BELL a single sound made by a clock giving the hours, or by a bell, GONG etc
15 put sb off their stroke BrE informal to make someone stop giving all their attention to what they are doing:
•Seeing Frank watching me put me off my stroke.
16 IN NUMBERS BrE used when you are saying a number written with the mark (/) in it; = slash
•The serial number is seventeen stroke one. (=17/1)[T]
1 to move your hand gently over something:
•He reached out and stroked her cheek tenderly.
2 [always + adv/prep] to move something somewhere with gentle movements of your hand:
•He lifted her face and stroked her hair from her eyes.
3 [always + adv/prep] to hit or kick a ball with a smooth movement in games such as tennis, golf, and CRICKET:
•He stroked the ball into an empty net with a minute to go.
4 stroke sb's ego to say nice things to someone to make them feel good, especially because you want something from them $ [I]
to walk somewhere in a slow relaxed way
[+down/over/along]
•We were strolling along, laughing and joking.
- stroll noun [C]
•They went for a stroll in the park. $ [C]
1 AmE a small chair on wheels in which a small child sits and is pushed along; = buggy BrE; = pushchair BrE
2 someone who is strolling:
•evening strollers on the promenade $ [only before noun]
1 a strolling entertainer travels around the country giving performances in different places; = travelling
2 a strolling musician plays music while walking among people who are listening to them $ comparative stronger, superlative strongest
1 ABLE TO LIFT HEAVY THINGS/DO HARD WORK having a lot of physical power so that you can lift heavy things, do hard physical work etc:
•He was a big strong man.
•Jack was tall and strong.
strong hands/arms/muscles etc
•He picked her up in his big strong arms.
•I'm not strong enough to fight him.
2 NOT EASILY DAMAGED not easily broken or destroyed:
•good strong shoes
•The locks on the doors were solid and strong.
3 ABLE TO DEAL WITH DIFFICULTY determined and able to deal with a difficult or upsetting situation:
•I am not strong enough to take insults and hatred.
•Laura had a strong character.
4 POWERFUL having a lot of power or influence:
•The Fifth French Republic was established with a strong president in 1958.
•a strong national army
•Our party is the strongest as we come up to the election.
5 FEELINGS/OPINIONS strong emotions, opinions, beliefs etc are ones that you feel or believe a lot and are very serious about:
•He had a strong sense of responsibility to his vocation of preaching.
•There has been strong support for the strike.
•The proposal has met with strong opposition from local people.
strong feelings/views/opinions
•Many people have strong feelings about the issue.
6 AFFECT/INFLUENCE a strong desire, influence etc affects you very much:
•He had a strong desire for power.
•Such feelings may have a strong influence over your decisions.
•The temptation is very strong.
7 RELATIONSHIP a strong relationship, friendship etc is very loyal and likely to last a long time:
•He maintained strong links with the world of the deaf.
•She still has a strong relationship with her mother.
•I have a strong commitment to the quality of teaching.
8 ARGUMENT/REASON ETC likely to persuade other people that something is true or the correct thing to do:
•There is a strong case for an energy conservation programme.
•They need strong evidence to secure a conviction.
•a strong argument
9 LIKELY likely to succeed or happen:
•She's a strong candidate for the party leadership.
strong possibility/chance/probability
•A year ago, there was a strong possibility that he wouldn't live.
10 HEALTHY healthy, especially after you have been ill:
•I don't think her heart is very strong.
•You've been blessed with a strong constitution (=you are healthy and do not easily become ill).
11 be in a strong position also gain a strong position to be in a situation where you have power over other people or are likely to get what you want:
•The company have gained a strong position in the cheese market.
12 strong wind/current/tide wind, water etc that moves with great force:
•A strong wind was blowing across the lake.
13 GOOD AT STH very good at something:
•His writing was strong on description.
•We beat a team that was much stronger than ourselves.
be sb's strong point/suit (=the thing that someone is especially good at)
•Tact never was my strong point.
14 TASTE/SMELL having a taste or smell that you notice easily:
•strong coffee
•This cheese has a very strong flavour.
•a strong smell of petrol
15 ALCOHOL/DRUGS ETC having a lot of a substance such as alcohol that gives something its effect:
• extra strong beer
•strong pain killers
•I haven't touched strong drink (=alcoholic drinks) for years.
16 LIGHT/COLOUR bright and easy to see:
•The light was not very strong.
17 strong language speech or writing that contains a lot of swearing:
•This film is not suitable for children under 12 as it contains strong language.
18 strong accent the way that someone pronounces words that shows clearly that they come from a particular area or country:
•a strong German accent
19 strong nose/chin/features a nose etc that is large and noticeable, especially in an attractive way:
•She has the same strong features as her mother.
20 MONEY a strong CURRENCY (=the type of money used in a country) does not easily lose its value compared with other currencies
21 600/10,000 etc strong [only after number] used to give the number of people in a crowd or organization:
•the company's 2,200 strong workforce
•The crowd was 10,000 strong.
22 be going strong to continue to be active or successful, even after a long time:
•He celebrated his ninetieth birthday this month and is still going strong.
come on strong at COME ON (10)

WORD FOCUS: strong
person:
tough
muscular
wiry
powerful
thing:
tough
sturdy
durable
rugged
heavy-duty
indestructible
well-made
robust
country/organization:
powerful
mighty
influential
dominant
[only before noun]
strong-arm tactics/methods etc the use of force or violence, especially when this is not necessary
- strong-arm verb [T] $ [C]
a box, usually made of metal, that can be locked and that valuable things are kept in; = safe $ [C]
1 an area where there is a lot of support for a particular way of life, political party etc:
•The area is a Republican stronghold.
2 an area that is strongly defended by a military group:
•The fighters moved south to their mountain stronghold.
3 an area where there are large numbers of a rare animal:
•one of the last strongholds of the European wolf $
1 if you feel or believe in something strongly, you are very sure and serious about it:
•I'm strongly opposed to capital punishment.
•We strongly believe that she is innocent.
•I'm strongly in favour of marriage.
2 in a way that is meant to persuade someone to do something
strongly suggest/advise/recommend sth
•Before taking action you are strongly recommended to consult an accountant.
3 in a way that is easy to notice:
•The house smelt strongly of food.
!! Do not say 'hold/grip strongly'. Use firmly or tightly: He gripped my arm tightly. $ plural strongmen [C]
1 a politician or leader who uses violence or threats to get what they want
2 a very strong man who performs in a CIRCUS
not easily influenced by other people to change what you believe or want; = determined
•They were both strong-minded women. $ [C]
a special room in a bank, shop etc where valuable objects can be kept safely
knowing exactly what you want to do and being determined to achieve it, even if other people advise you against it $ [U]
a soft silver-white metal that is used to make FIREWORKs . It is a chemical ELEMENT: symbol Sr $ [C]
1 a narrow piece of leather used for making a RAZOR sharp
2 in a strop BrE informal annoyed about something:
•She's a nice person but she just gets in a strop so easily. $ BrE informal
bad-tempered and easily offended or annoyed:
•I try not to get stroppy, but sometimes I just can't help it.
- stroppiness noun [U] $
the past tense of STRIVE
the past tense of STRIKE
be struck on sb/sth BrE informal to think that someone or something is very good:
•She seemed rather struck on Vincent.
connected with the structure of something:
•structural changes in the computer industry
•The earthquake caused minor structural damage.
- structurally adverb
•Is the building structurally sound (=in good condition)?[C]
an engineer skilled in planning the building of large structures such as bridges
- structural engineering noun [U] [U]
a method of studying language, literature, society etc in which you examine the relationships of the different parts or ideas in order to determine their meaning
- structuralist adjective, noun $
1 [C,U] the way in which the parts of something are connected with each other and form a whole, or the thing that these parts make up
social/political/economic etc structure
•the social structure of organizations
•challenges to the existing power structure
•A new management structure has been introduced.
[+of]
•the structure of the brain
•molecular structures
2 [C] something that has been built, especially something large such as a building or a bridge:
•a high wooden structure with a curved roof
3 [C,U] a situation where activities are carefully organized and planned:
•These kids require a lot of structure and stability.
career structure at CAREER^1 (1)[T]
to arrange the different parts of something into a pattern or system in which each part is connected to the others; = organize
•The exhibition is structured around three topics.
•software that helps users structure their work and their data $
carefully organized, planned, or arranged:
•The interviews were highly structured.
•a structured approach to teaching [C,U]
a type of Austrian or German cake, made of PASTRY with fruit inside [I]
1 to try extremely hard to achieve something, even though it is very difficult
struggle to do sth
•She's struggling to bring up a family alone.
[+with]
•The airline is struggling with high costs.
[+for]
•Millions of people are struggling for survival.
[+against]
•Firms are struggling against a prolonged recession.
2
a) to fight someone who is attacking you or holding you, especially so that you can escape
[+with]
•James was hit in the mouth as he struggled with the burglars.
struggle to do sth
•She struggled to free herself.
b) if two people struggle, they fight each other for something, especially something one of them is holding
[+for]
•They struggled for possession of the gun.
3 to move somewhere with great difficulty
[+up/out of/into etc]
•Walkers were struggling up the dusty track.
4 to be likely to fail, even though you are trying very hard:
•The team has been struggling all season.
a struggling artist/writer/business

PHRASAL VERBS
struggle on phr v
to continue doing something that you find very difficult or tiring:
•He struggled on despite his condition.[C]
1 a long hard fight to get freedom, political rights etc
[+for]
•a struggle for survival
•a power struggle between forces favoring and opposing change
2 a long period of time in which you try to deal with a difficult problem
[+with/against]
•She spoke of her struggles with shyness.
3 a fight between two people for something, or an attempt by one person to escape from the other:
•Police said there were no signs of a struggle.
4 be a struggle (for sb) if something is a struggle, you find it very difficult to do past tense and past participle strummed, present participle strumming [I,T]
to play an instrument such as a GUITAR by moving your fingers up and down across its strings [C] old-fashioned
an insulting word meaning a woman who has sex for money; = prostitute
the past tense and past participle of STRING^2[not before noun] informal
1 strongly affected by a drug, so that you cannot react normally; = high
[+on]
•strung-out on drugs
2 extremely tired and worriedBrE informal
very nervous, worried, or excited past tense and past participle strutted, present participle strutting [I]
1 to walk proudly with your head high and your chest pushed forwards, showing that you think you are important
[+around/about/across etc]
•I strutted around Chicago as if I were really somebody.
2 strut your stuff informal to show your skill at doing something, especially dancing or performing:
•The band strutted their stuff in a free concert.
1 [C] a long thin piece of metal or wood used to support a part of a building, the wing of an aircraft etc
2 [singular] a proud way of walking, with your head high and your chest pushed forwards $ [U]
a very poisonous substance sometimes used in small amounts as a medicine [C]
1 the short part of something long and thin, such as a cigarette or pencil, that is left when the rest has been used:
•a pencil stub
2 the part of a ticket that is given back to you after it has been torn, as proof that you have paid:
•a ticket stub
3 a piece of a cheque left in a cheque book as a record after the main part has been torn out:
•a check stubpast tense and past participle stubbed, present participle stubbing
stub your toe to hurt your toe by hitting it against something

PHRASAL VERBS
stub sth <=> out phr v
to stop a cigarette from burning by pressing the end of it against something [U]
1 short stiff hairs that grow on a man's face if he does not SHAVE
2 short stiff pieces left in the fields after wheat, corn etc has been cut
- stubbly adjective $
1 determined not to change your mind, even when people think you are being unreasonable:
•Why are you so stubborn?
•I've got a very stubborn streak (=a tendency to be stubborn).
•Paul can be as stubborn as a mule (=very stubborn).
2 stubborn resistance/refusal/determination etc a very strong and determined refusal etc:
•a stubborn refusal to face reality
3 difficult to remove, deal with, or use; = tough
•stubborn stains
- stubbornly adverb
•'I don't care,' she said stubbornly.
- stubbornness noun [U]
short and thick or fat:
•stubby fingers $ [U]
a type of PLASTER that is used especially to cover the outside walls of buildings
the past tense and past participle of STICK^1[not before noun]
1 impossible or unable to move from a particular position:
•Sara tried to open the window but it was stuck.
•They got stuck in a traffic jam.
[+in]
•The boat was stuck in the mud.
•I've got something stuck in my throat.
2 informal unable to escape from a bad or boring situation
[+in/at]
•Mum resented being stuck at home with two young kids.
•We could be stuck in this place for days.
3 informal unable to do any more of something that you are working on because it is too difficult:
•Can you help me with my homework, Dad? I'm stuck.
[+on]
•If you get stuck on a difficult word, just ask for help.
4 be stuck with sth informal to have something you do not want because you cannot get rid of it:
•We are, unfortunately, stuck with this huge, ugly building.
5 be stuck with sb to have to spend time with someone or have a relationship with them even though you do not want to:
•They are stuck with each other with no end in sight.
6 be stuck for sth to be unable to think what to say or do:
•For once Anthony was stuck for words (=did not know what to say).
7 get stuck in/get stuck into sth BrE spoken to start doing something eagerly and with a lot of energy:
•Take your jacket off and get stuck in!
8 be stuck on sb informal to be attracted to someone:
•He says he's stuck on me.informal
proud and unfriendly because you think you are better and more important than other people - used to show disapproval; = snooty
•His wife was a bit stuck-up.
1 ANIMAL [C,U] the use of animals, especially horses, for breeding, an animal that is used in this way, or a place where this is done:
•a stud dog
2 MAN [C] informal a man who has a lot of sexual partners and who is very proud of his sexual ability
3 ON SHOES [C] one of a set of small pointed pieces of metal or plastic that are attached to the bottom of a running shoe, football boot etc to stop you from slipping
4 IN YOUR EAR [C] a small, round EARRING
5 FOR DECORATION [C] a round piece of metal that is stuck into a surface for decoration
6 FOR A SHIRT [C] a small thing for fastening a shirt or collar that consists of two round, flat pieces of metal joined together by a bar
7 BOARD [C] AmE a board that is used to make the frame of a house
1 decorated with a lot of studs or small jewels etc:
•studded leather jackets
•a diamond-studded watch
[+with]
•a belt studded with jewels
2 covered or filled with a lot of something
[+with]
•The sky was clear and studded with stars.
STAR-STUDDED $ [C]
1 someone who is studying at a university, school etc; pupil
[+at]
•a first year student at the University of Oslo
law/medical/engineering etc student
•A lot of art students live in this dorm.
student teacher/nurse (=someone who is learning to be a teacher or nurse)
A/B/C etc student AmE (=someone who always earns A's etc for their work)
MATURE STUDENT
2 be a student of sth to be very interested in a particular subject:
•He's obviously an excellent student of human nature.

WORD CHOICE: student, schoolchild, pupil
In British English, a student usually means someone who has finished school and is studying at university: We met when we were students. | student accommodation
Children who go to school can be called schoolchildren, schoolboys or schoolgirls: A group of schoolchildren got on the bus.
The children at a particular school can be called its pupils: Pupils at the school were sent home early.
In American English, student is the usual word for anyone who is studying at school or college.
GRAMMAR
To say that someone is studying at a particular university, use at: She's a student at York University.
A student of literature, law etc studies that subject, but it is more usual to say 'a literature/law student'.

[C]
AmE all of the students in a HIGH SCHOOL, college, or university, considered as a groupalso student council [C]
AmE an elected group of students in a HIGH SCHOOL, college, or university who represent the students in meetings and who organize school activities[C]
an amount of money that you borrow from the government or a bank to pay for your education at a college or university[U]
AmE the period of time during which students who are learning to be teachers practise teaching in a school; = teaching practice BrEalso students' union BrE [C]
1 a building where students go to meet socially
2 BrE an association of students in a particular college or university
a studied way of behaving is deliberate and often not sincere, because it has been planned carefully:
•She spoke with studied politeness. $ plural studios [C]
1 a room where television and radio programmes are made and broadcast or where music is recorded:
•a TV studio
•a recording studio in Nashville
2 also studios a film company or the buildings it owns and uses to make its films:
•Depardieu is making a film with one of the big Hollywood studios.
3 a room where a painter or photographer regularly works:
•a photographer's studio
4 a room where dancing lessons are given or that dancers use to practise in
5 also studio apartment AmE studio flat BrE a small apartment with one main room:
•a tiny studio[C]
a group of people who watch and are sometimes involved in a radio or television programme while it is being made $
spending a lot of time studying and reading:
•a quiet, studious young man
- studiously adverb
- studiousness noun [U] plural studies
1 RESEARCH [C] a piece of work that is done to find out more about a particular subject or problem, and usually includes a written report:
•More studies are needed before anything can be proven.
•Recent studies show that women still get paid a lot less than men.
[+of/into/on]
•a study of Australian wild birds
make/carry out/conduct a study
•The study was carried out between January and May 1998.
CASE STUDY
2 LEARNING [U] when you spend time learning, especially at home or by yourself rather than during school:
•Set aside a period of time specifically for study.
•ways to improve study skills (=skills that help you study efficiently and be successful in school)
3 SUBJECT [U] also studies
a) a subject that people study at a college or university
[+of]
•Linguistics is the study of language.
•Environmental Studies
literary/historical/scientific etc study
•the scientific study of earthquakes
4 sb's studies the work that someone does in order to learn about a particular subject, especially the courses they take at a college or university:
•How are your studies coming along?
begin/continue/stop etc your studies
•I gave up my studies when I had the baby.
5 CAREFUL CONSIDERATION [U] when you examine or consider something very carefully and in detail:
•a report that deserves careful study
6 ROOM [C] a room in a house that is used for work or study; office
7 ART [C] a small detailed drawing, especially one that is done to prepare for a large painting:
•Renoir's studies of small plants and flowers
8 MUSIC [C] a piece of music, usually for piano, that is often intended for practice
9 be a study in sth literary to be a perfect example of something:
•His face was a study in fear.
10 a quick study AmE someone who learns things quicklypast tense and past participle studied, present participle studying, third person singular studies
1 [I,T] to spend time reading, going to classes etc in order to learn about a subject:
•I've been studying English for 6 years.
•I can't study with that music playing all the time.
[+at]
•Stephen is currently studying at Exeter University.
study to be a doctor/lawyer etc
•My brother's studying to be an accountant.
study for an exam/diploma etc
•I've only got three weeks left to study for my exams.
study law/business/history etc (=study a subject at a school or university)
•Anna is studying French literature.
study under sb (=be trained by a famous teacher)
•a psychologist who studied under Jung in Zurich
2 [T] to watch and examine something carefully over a period of time, in order to find out more about it:
•Goodall was studying the behavior of chimpanzees in the wild.
study how/why/when etc
•They're studying how stress affects body chemistry.
3 [T] to spend a lot of time carefully examining or considering a plan, document, problem etc; = look at
•I haven't had time to study the proposals yet.
study how/why/when etc
•Managers are studying what needs to be done to improve efficiency.[U]
AmE a period of time during the school day when students must go to a room to study, instead of going to a lesson [U]
1 THINGS informal used when you are talking about things such as substances, materials, or groups of objects when you do not know what they are called, or it is not important to say exactly what they are:
•I've got some sticky stuff on my shoe.
•How do you think you're going to fit all that stuff into the car?
•I felt sorry for the ones who had to eat the awful stuff.
•Where's all the camping stuff?
2 sb's stuff informal the things that belong to someone:
•Did you get the rest of your stuff?
3 ACTIVITIES/IDEAS informal used when talking about different activities, subjects, or ideas, when you do not say exactly what these are:
•What kind of stuff do you like to read?
•I've got so much stuff to do this weekend.
•There's a lot of interesting stuff in this book.
•He's talked to me about all that stuff too.
•He does mountain biking and skiing and stuff like that.
4 WORK/ART informal used when you are talking about what someone has done or made, for example writing, music, or art:
•I don't like his stuff.
•John Lee was getting ready to play his stuff.
•He did some great stuff in his early films.
good stuff BrE (=used to tell someone that their work is good)
•This is good stuff.
5 ... and stuff spoken informal used to say that there are other things similar to what you have just mentioned, but you are not going to say what they are:
•There's some very good music there, CD systems and stuff, and laser discs.
6 the (very) stuff of dreams/life/politics exactly the kind of thing that dreams etc consist of:
•an enchanting place - the very stuff of dreams
7 CHARACTER the qualities of someone's character:
•Does he have the right stuff (=qualities that make you able to deal with difficulties)?
•Surely you're not going to give up? I thought you were made of sterner stuff (=were more determined).
8 do/show your stuff informal to do what you are good at when everyone wants you to do it:
•Come on Gina, get on the dance floor and do your stuff!
bit of stuff at BIT^1 (14)
kid's stuff at KID^1 (4)
know your stuff at KNOW^1 (5)
strut your stuff at STRUT^1 (2)[T]
1 PUSH [always + adv/prep] to push or put something into a small space, especially in a quick careless way; = shove
stuff sth into/in/up sth
•She stuffed two more sweaters into her bag.
2 FILL to fill something until it is full:
•Volunteers were busy stuffing envelopes.
be stuffed with sth
•a pillow stuffed with feathers
•boxes stuffed full of papers
3 FOOD to fill a chicken, pepper etc with a mixture of bread or rice, onion etc before cooking it
4 DEAD ANIMAL to fill the skin of a dead animal in order to make the animal look still alive:
•a stuffed owl
5 stuff yourself also stuff your face informal to eat so much food that you cannot eat anything else
[+with]
•The kids have been stuffing themselves with candy.
6 get stuffed BrE spoken used to tell someone very rudely and angrily that you do not want to talk to them or accept their offer:
•He only offered me £10 for it, so I told him to get stuffed.
7 sb can stuff sth spoken used to say very angrily or rudely that you do not want what someone is offering:
•'All right. You can stuff your money!' Reynolds exploded.
8 stuff it spoken used to say angrily or rudely that you do not care about something or do not want something:
•I thought, stuff it, I'll do what I want. [not before noun]
completely full, so that you cannot eat any more:
•No, no dessert, I'm stuffed.stuffed toy [C]
AmE a toy animal covered and filled with soft material; = soft toy BrE[C] informal
someone who behaves in a very formal way and thinks that they are important
unable to breathe properly through your nose because you have a cold; = bunged up [U]
1 a mixture of bread or rice, onion etc that you put inside a chicken, pepper etc before cooking it:
•sage and onion stuffing
2 soft material that is used to fill something such as a CUSHION
knock the stuffing out of sb at KNOCK^1 (12)
1 a room or building that is stuffy does not have enough fresh air in it:
•It's getting stuffy in here - do you mind if I open the window?
2 people, occasions, or places that are stuffy are too formal and old-fashioned - used to show disapproval:
•Their wedding was stuffy and formal.
•a stuffy old family
- stuffiness noun [U]
•the stuffiness of the room formal
so boring that you feel as though you are losing your ability to think:
•a stultifying office environment
- stultify verb [T] [I]
1 to hit your foot against something or put your foot down awkwardly while you are walking or running, so that you almost fall; = trip
•In her hurry she stumbled and spilled the milk all over the floor.
[+over/on]
•Vic stumbled over the step as he came in.
2 to walk in an unsteady way and often almost fall; = stagger
[+in/out/across etc]
•He stumbled upstairs and into bed.
3 to stop or make a mistake when you are reading to people or speaking
[+over/at/through]
•I hope I don't stumble over any of the long words.

PHRASAL VERBS
stumble on/across/upon sth phr v
to find or discover something by chance and unexpectedly; = come across
•Researchers have stumbled across a drug that may help patients with Parkinson's disease.
- stumble noun [C][C]
a problem or difficulty that stops you from achieving something
[+to]
•The main stumbling block to starting new research is that we lack qualified people. [C]
1 the bottom part of a tree that is left in the ground after the rest of it has been cut down:
•an old tree stump
2 the short part of someone's leg, arm etc that remains after the rest of it has been cut off
3 the small useless part of something that remains after most of it has broken off or worn away:
•There was only a stump of the candle left.
4 one of the three upright sticks in CRICKET that you throw the ball at
5 stump speech/speaker AmE a speech made by a politician who is travelling around in order to gain political support, or the politician who gives this speech
6 be on the stump BrE to be travelling around an area, making speeches in order to gain political support
1 [T usually passive] if you are stumped by a question or problem, you are unable to find an answer to it:
•a case that has stumped the police
•The doctors were stumped and had to call in a specialist.
2 [I] to walk with heavy steps; = stomp
[+up/along/across etc]
•He stumped down the hall.
3 [T] to put a BATSMAN out of the game in CRICKET by touching the stumps with the ball when he is out of the hitting area
4 [I,T] AmE to travel around an area, meeting people and making speeches in order to gain political support:
•Alexander has been stumping in New Hampshire.

PHRASAL VERBS
stump up (sth) phr v BrE informal
to pay money, even if it is difficult or when you do not want to:
•We stumped up eight quid each.
unable to find an answer or think of a reply:
•The question had me completely stumped.
stumped for words/an answer/a reply
•Travis seemed absolutely stumped for words.
stumpy legs, fingers etc are short and thick in an unattractive way; = stubby past tense and past participle stunned, present participle stunning [T not in progressive]
1 to surprise or upset someone so much that they do not react immediately; stagger
•Redfern stunned the crowd with a last-minute goal.
2 to make someone unconscious for a short time:
•The impact of the ball had stunned her.
STUNNED, STUNNING
the past tense and past participle of STING^1[C]
a weapon that produces a very strong electric current and can be used to make animals or people unconscious
a past tense and the past participle of STINK^1
too surprised or shocked to speak:
•He looked completely stunned.
•The audience sat in stunned silence. $ [C] informal
1 someone or something that is very attractive, especially a woman:
•Lucy was a real stunner.
2 a situation or event that surprises you
1 extremely attractive or beautiful:
•You look absolutely stunning in that dress.
•a stunning view
see box at BEAUTIFUL
2 very surprising or shocking; = staggering
•stunning news
- stunningly adverb
•a stunningly beautiful woman [C]
1 a dangerous action that is done to entertain people, especially in a film:
•Not many actors do their own stunts.
•a stunt flying show
2 something that is done to attract people's attention, especially in advertising or politics:
•Todd flew over the city in a hot air balloon as a publicity stunt.
3 pull a stunt to do something that is silly or that is slightly dangerous:
•Next time you pull a stunt like that don't expect me to get you out of trouble.[T]
to stop something or someone from growing to their full size or developing properly:
•Lack of sunlight will stunt the plant's growth.
not developing properly or to full size:
•He's emotionally stunted.[C]
a man who is employed to take the place of an actor when something dangerous has to be done in a film[C]
a woman who is employed to take the place of an actress when something dangerous has to be done in a film $
so surprised, tired, or bored that you cannot think clearly:
•I stared up at Keith in stupefied amazement.
•We sat there stupefied.
- stupefaction $ noun [U] $
making you feel extremely surprised, tired, or bored:
•a stupefying amount of money
- stupefy verb [T] $
surprisingly large or impressive; = magnificent
•a stupendous achievement
- stupendously adverb $
1 showing a lack of good sense or good judgment; = silly
•stupid mistakes
•That was a stupid thing to say.
•I can't believe Kate was stupid enough to get involved in this.
stupid idea/question
•Whose stupid idea was this?
• It was stupid of me to lose my temper.
2 having a low level of intelligence, so that you have difficulty learning or understanding things:
•He understands - he's not stupid.
•I couldn't do it, and it made me feel stupid.
3 spoken used when you are talking about something or someone that makes you annoyed or impatient:
•I can't get this stupid radio to work.
•What is that stupid idiot doing?
4 stupid with cold/sleep/shock etc unable to think clearly because you are extremely tired, cold etc
- stupidly adverb
•I stupidly agreed to organize the party.[singular] spoken not polite
an insulting way of talking to someone who you think is being stupid:
•No, stupid, don't do it like that! $ plural stupidities
1 [C,U] behaviour or actions that show a lack of good sense or good judgment:
•all the horrors and stupidities of war
2 [U] the quality of being stupid $ [C,U]
a state in which you cannot think, speak, see, or hear clearly, usually because you have drunk too much alcohol or taken drugs:
•We found him lying at the bottom of the stairs in a drunken stupor. $ comparative sturdier, superlative sturdiest
1 an object that is sturdy is strong, well-made, and not easily broken; solid
•That chair doesn't look very sturdy.
•sturdy comfortable shoes
2 someone who is sturdy is strong, short, and healthy looking; stocky
•a sturdy young man
•sturdy legs
3 determined and not easily persuaded to change your opinions:
•They kept up a sturdy opposition to the plan.
- sturdily adverb
- sturdiness noun [U] $ [C,U]
a large fish, from which CAVIAR is obtained, or the meat of this fish $
1 [I,T] to speak with difficulty because you cannot stop yourself from repeating the first CONSONANT of some words; stammer
•'I'm D-d-david,' he stuttered.
2 [I] if a machine stutters, it keeps making little noises and does not work smoothly:
•a refrigerator which stuttered and hummed[singular]
an inability to speak normally because you stutter; = stammer
•a nervous stutter plural sties [C]
1 a place where pigs are kept; = pigsty
2 also stye an infected place on the edge of your EYELID, which becomes red and swollen [usually before noun] literary
unpleasantly dark, and making you feel nervous or afraid:
•the Stygian gloom
1 WAY OF DOING STH [C,U] a particular way of doing, designing, or producing something, especially one that is typical of a particular place, period of time, or group of people:
•an attempt to use Japanese management style in a European business
[+of]
•different styles of handwriting
Baroque/Swedish/country etc style
•Cuban-style black beans and rice
•a Colonial style house
•The dinner will be served buffet style.
2 SB'S WAY OF BEHAVING [C] the particular way that someone behaves, works, or deals with other people:
•Children have different styles of learning: some learn by seeing, some by hearing, some by doing.
be more sb's style (=used to say that you prefer something)
•I don't think the parachuting weekend is for me - the art class is more my style.
•I like your style (=approve of the way you do things), Simpson.
•I can't ask a man out - it's not my style (=it is not the way I usually behave).
3 ART/LITERATURE/MUSIC [C,U] a typical way of writing, painting etc that is used by a particular person or during a particular period of time:
•The paintings are in an expressionistic style.
•Hemingway's direct style
in the style of sb/sth
•a play in the style of classical Greek tragedy
4 FASHION/DESIGN
a) [C] a particular design or fashion for something such as clothes, hair, furniture etc:
•Car styles have changed radically in the past 20 years.
traditional/modern style
•The rooms are furnished in a modern style.
b) [U] the quality of being fashionable:
•young women interested in style rather than comfort
in/out of style
•Long skirts are back in style.
5 ATTRACTIVE QUALITY [U] a confident and attractive quality that makes people admire you, and that is shown in your appearance, or the way you do things:
•You may not like her, but she certainly has style.
•The team played with style.
STYLISH
6 CORRECT WRITING [U] a way of using words or spelling that is considered correct:
•It's not good style to use abbreviations in an essay.
7 in style done in a way that people admire, especially because it is unusual, shows great determination, or involves spending a lot of money
in great/grand/fine etc style
•Sampras won the title in fine style, not losing a single game.
cramp sb's style at CRAMP^2
LIFESTYLE[T]
1 to design clothing, furniture, or the shape of someone's hair in a particular way:
•These shoes have been styled for maximum comfort.
•She has her hair styled by Giorgio.
2 style yourself sth formal to give yourself a particular title or name:
•They style themselves 'the terrible twins'.
SELF-STYLED[C]
a set of instructions that states what the TYPEFACE and colours of an electronic document should be [U]
1 the design and appearance of an object, especially a car:
•I like the new Audi in terms of styling.
2 styling products/mousse/spray etc substances you use to make your hair look attractive
attractive in a fashionable way:
•a stylish woman in her forties
•Jack is quite stylish.
•a stylish restaurant in the West End
- stylishly adverb
- stylishness noun [U] [C]
1 someone who cuts or arranges people's hair as their job:
•Renee was the top stylist at the salon.
2 someone who has carefully developed a good style of writing
3 someone who has their own typical way of singing or playing music:
•Billie Holiday, one of jazz's most distinctive stylists
relating to the particular way an artist, writer, musician etc makes or performs something, especially the technical features or methods they use:
•the sculptor's stylistic development
stylistic feature/device
•stylistic features of the story
- stylistically adverb [U]
the study of style in written or spoken languagealso stylised BrE
drawn, written, or performed in an artificial style that does not look natural or real, but that is still pleasant to look at:
•a stylised picture of the sun
- stylization $ noun [U] [C]
1 the small pointed part of a RECORD PLAYER, that touches the record
2 a thing shaped like a pen, used for writing on WAX, making marks on metal, writing on a special computer screen etc [T]
informal to prevent someone from doing what they have planned or want to do; = thwart
•Investigators have been stymied by uncooperative witnesses. $ [U]
trademark a soft light plastic material that prevents heat or cold from passing through it, used especially to make containers; = polystyrene BrE
•a Styrofoam cup
someone who is suave is polite, confident, and relaxed, sometimes in an insincere way:
•a suave and sophisticated gentleman
- suavely adverb
- suavity suaveness noun [U] [C] informal
1 a SUBMARINE
2 a SUBSTITUTE in sports such as football
3 a SUBSCRIPTION
4 BrE part of your wages that you receive earlier than usual because you need money; = advance
5 AmE a long bread roll split open and filled with meat, cheese etc
6 AmE a SUBSTITUTE TEACHER
7 BrE a SUB-EDITORpast tense and past participle subbed, present participle subbing informal
1 [I] to act as a SUBSTITUTE for someone
[+for]
•Roy's subbing for Chris in tonight's game.
2 [T] BrE to give someone part of their wages earlier than usual or lend them money:
•I subbed Fenella a tenner to get a decent bunch of flowers.
3 [T] BrE to SUBEDIT something
1 under or below a particular level or thing:
•subzero temperatures
•subsoil (=beneath the surface)
2 less important or powerful than someone or something, or of lower rank than someone:
•a sublieutenant
3 part of a bigger whole:
•a subsection
•a subcommittee
4 not as good as other people or things:
•substandard housing
•subnormal intelligence
5 technical almost:
•subtropical heat $ [C]
a middle rank in the British army, or someone who has this rank [only before noun]
BrE relating to sports that take place under water:
•sub-aqua diving $
smaller than an atom or existing within an atom [C]
a small group formed from a committee to deal with a particular subject in more detail $ [C] AmE
a type of very small and inexpensive car $
subconscious feelings, desires etc are hidden in your mind and affect your behaviour, but you do not know that you have them:
•a subconscious fear of failure
- subconsciously adverb
•Subconsciously, he blames himself for the accident.[singular]
the part of your mind that has thoughts and feelings you do not know about; = unconscious
•anger buried deep in the subconscious $ [C]
1 a very large area of land that is part of a CONTINENT
2 the subcontinent the area of land that includes India, Pakistan, and Bangladeshalso subcontract out $ [T]
if a company subcontracts work, they pay other people to do part of their work for them:
•We will be subcontracting most of the electrical work.
subcontract sth to sb
•Some of the work will be subcontracted to another company.
- subcontract $ noun [C] $ [C]
someone who does part of the work of another person or company $ [C]
a particular group of people within a society and their behaviour, beliefs, and activities - often used to show disapproval:
•the drug subculture of the inner city technical
beneath your skin:
•subcutaneous fat
- subcutaneously adverb plural subdirectories [C]
an area in a computer where FILEs are stored inside another directory, in order to keep the files organized [T]
to divide into smaller parts something that is already divided:
•Over time, developers subdivided the land.
subdivide sth into sth
•The house was subdivided into apartments.
1 [C,U] when something is subdivided, or the parts that result from doing this
2 [C] AmE an area of land that has been subdivided for building houses on $ [T]
1 to defeat or control a person or group, especially using force:
•Police managed to subdue the angry crowd.
•Napoleon subdued much of Europe.
2 formal to prevent your emotions from showing or being too strong; = control
•an excitement she could not subdue $
1 subdued lighting, colours etc are less bright than usual; = gentle
2 a person that is subdued is unusually quiet and possibly unhappy:
•Richard seems very subdued tonight.
•a subdued manner
•'Oh,' she said in a subdued voice.
3 an activity that is subdued does not have as much excitement as you would expect; lively
•The housing market is fairly subdued.
4 a sound that is subdued is quieter than usual [T]
BrE to examine other people's writing for mistakes and correct them; = copyedit[C]
BrE someone whose job is to examine other people's writing, such as a newspaper article, and to correct mistakes [C]
a separate, smaller, and sometimes less important part of a group [C]
a short phrase used as a title for a small part within a longer piece of writing $
1 not having all the qualities a normal human being has:
•The enemy was regarded as subhuman.
2 subhuman conditions are very bad or cruel; inhuman
•The refugees were living a subhuman existence. [C]
1 THING TALKED ABOUT the thing you are talking about or considering in a conversation, discussion, book, film etc

change the subject (=start talking about something different)
get onto a subject (=start talking about something)
get off a subject (=stop talking about something)
keep/stay off a subject (=not talk about something)
drop the subject (=stop talking about something)
raise a subject (=mention a subject and start talking about it)
broach a subject (=start talking about something that people may be sensitive about)
on the subject of sth (=talking about something)
subject of discussion/debate also
subject for discussion/debate
touchy subject (=something people are sensitive about)
subject area

•Paul has strong opinions on most subjects.
•The subjects covered in this chapter are exercise and nutrition.
[+of]
•Truffaut's childhood memories were the subject of his first film.
•embarrassment about the subject of sex
•Stop trying to change the subject!
•How did we get onto the subject of drugs?
•Can we just drop the subject now, please.
•I wondered how I should broach the subject.
•While we're on the subject of money, do you have the $10 you owe me?
•Genetic engineering is very much a subject for debate.
•You know money is a a touchy subject with me.
•The discussion was broken up into subject areas.
!! Do not say 'the subject is about ...': The subject of the book is war. | The film was about Egypt.
SUBJECT MATTER

2 AT SCHOOL an area of knowledge that you study at a school or university:
•My favourite subject is math.
3 IN ART the thing or person that you show when you paint a picture, take a photograph etc:
•Monet loved to use gardens as his subjects.
4 IN A TEST a person or animal that is used in a test or EXPERIMENT:
•The subjects of this experiment were all men aged 18-35.
5 GRAMMAR a noun, noun phrase, or PRONOUN that usually comes before a main verb and represents the person or thing that performs the action of the verb, or about which something is stated. For example,'She' in 'She hit John' or 'elephants' in 'Elephants are big'.
OBJECT^1 (6)
6 CITIZEN formal someone who was born in a country that has a king or queen, or someone who has a right to live there:
•a British subject
CITIZEN (2), NATIONAL^2
1 be subject to sth
a) if someone or something is subject to something, especially something bad, it is possible or likely that they will be affected by it:
•All flights are subject to delay.
•Prices are subject to change.
b) if something is subject to something such as approval#, it depends on that thing happening before it can happen:
•The funding is subject to approval by the Board of Education.
2 be subject to a rule/law/penalty/tax etc if you are subject to a rule, law, penalty etc, you must obey the rule or pay an amount of money:
•Violators are subject to a $100 fine.
3 [only before noun] formal a subject country, state, people etc are strictly governed by another country:
•subject peoples [T]
formal to force a country or group of people to be ruled by you, and control them very strictly

PHRASAL VERBS
subject sb/sth to sth phr v
to force someone or something to experience something very unpleasant, especially over a long time:
•Police subjected him to hours of questioning.
subject sb to an ordeal/abuse/harassment
•Barker subjected his victim to awful abuse. [U] formal
when a person or a group of people are controlled by a government or by another person
in subjection
•The government used brute force to keep people in subjection.
[+to]
•a period of subjection to Assyrian rulers
•the subjection of women
1 a statement, report, attitude etc that is subjective is influenced by personal opinion and can therefore be unfair; objective
•As a critic, he is far too subjective.
•a highly subjective point of view
subjective judgment/opinion etc
•The ratings were based on the subjective judgement of one person.
2 [no comparative] existing only in your mind or imagination; objective
•our subjective perception of colours
3 technical relating to the subject in grammar
- subjectively adverb
•His work was judged objectively as well as subjectively.
- subjectivity noun [U][U]
what is being talked about in speech or writing, or represented in art:
•The movie has been rated 'R' due to adult subject matter. $ [only after verb]
law a legal case being considered sub judice is now being dealt with by a court, and therefore is not allowed to be publicly discussed, for example in a newspaper [T usually passive] formal
to defeat a person or group and make them obey you:
•The native population was subjugated and exploited.
subjugated people/nation/country
subjugate sb to sb/sth
•Her own needs had been subjugated to (=not considered as important as) the needs of her family.
- subjugation noun [U] [C]
a verb form or a set of verb forms in grammar, used in some languages to express doubt, wishes etc. For example, in 'if I were you', the verb 'to be' is in the subjunctive; imperative, indicative
- subjunctive adjective past tense and past participle sublet, present participle subletting [I,T]
to rent to someone else a property that you rent from its owner
sublet sth to sb
•I sublet my apartment to my sister, packed my van, and headed west.
- sublet noun [C] $ [C]
a middle rank in the Royal Navy or someone who has this rank [I,T]
technical to use the energy that comes from sexual feelings to do something, such as work or art, that is more acceptable to your society
- sublimation noun [U]
1 something that is sublime is so good or beautiful that it affects you deeply:
•The view was sublime.
•Her songs are a sublime fusion of pop and Brazilian music.
2 used to describe feelings or behaviour that are very great or extreme, especially when someone seems not to notice what is happening around them:
•an air of sublime contentment
- sublimely adverb
- sublimeness noun [U]
- sublimity noun [U]
1 the sublime something that is so good or beautiful that you are deeply affected by it:
•The works on display range from the mainstream to the sublime.
2 from the sublime to the ridiculous used to say that a serious and important thing or event is being followed by something very silly, unimportant, or bad
affecting your mind in a way that you are not conscious of:
•a subliminal message
• subliminal advertising (=with hidden messages and pictures in it) [C]
a type of MACHINE GUN that is light and easily movedalso sub [C]
a ship, especially a military one, that can stay under water:
•a nuclear submarine[only before noun]
growing or used under the sea:
•submarine plant life $ [C]
a sailor living and working in a submarine[C]
AmE a long bread roll which is split open and filled with meat, cheese etc; = sub $
1
a) [T] to cover something completely with water or another liquid:
•The tunnel entrance was submerged by rising sea water.
b) [I] to go under the surface of the water and be completely covered by it:
•The submarine submerged.
2 [T] to hide feelings, ideas, or opinions and make yourself stop thinking about them; = suppress
•Feelings she thought she'd submerged were surfacing again.
3 submerge yourself in sth to make yourself very busy doing something, especially in order to forget about something else:
•Alice submerged herself in work to try and forget about Tom.
- submerged adjective
•submerged rocks
- submergence noun [U] $ [C]
a small vehicle that can travel under water, especially one that travels to very great depths in the ocean for scientific purposes
- submersible adjective $ [U]
the action of going under water, or the state of being completely covered in liquid
1 [U] the state of being completely controlled by a person or group, and accepting that you have to obey them
force/frighten/beat etc sb into submission
•Napoleon threatened to starve the country into submission.
in submission
•His head was bowed in submission.
2 [C,U] when you give or show something to someone in authority, for them to consider or approve:
•The deadline for the submission of proposals is May 1st.
•Plans were drawn up for submission to the housing council.
•Submissions will not be accepted after May 1.
3 [U] formal an opinion or thought that you state:
•It is important, in my submission, that a wider view of the matter be taken.
4 [C] law a request or suggestion that is given to a judge for them to consider
always willing to obey someone and never disagreeing with them, even if they are unkind to you; assertive
•In those days women were expected to be quiet and submissive.
- submissively adverb
- submissiveness noun [U] past tense and past participle submitted, present participle submitting
1 [T] to give a plan, piece of writing etc to someone in authority for them to consider or approve
submit an application/claim/proposal etc
•All applications must be submitted by Monday.
2 [I,T] formal to agree to obey a person, group, set of rules, especially when you have no choice; = give in
[+to]
•Derek has agreed to submit to questioning.
3 [T] formal law to suggest or say something
submit (that)
•I submit that the jury has been influenced by the publicity in this case. $ technical
less or lower than normal:
•subnormal temperatures $
1 in a less important position than someone else:
•a subordinate officer
[+to]
•Women were subordinate to men.
2 less important than something else
[+to]
•These aims were subordinate to the main aims of the mission.[C]
someone who has a lower position and less authority than someone else in an organization $ [T]
to put someone or something in a less important position
subordinate sb/sth to sb/sth
•Why subordinate your wishes to those of your family?
- subordination $ noun [U][C]
a DEPENDENT CLAUSE $ [T]
law to persuade someone to tell lies in a court of law or to do something else that is illegal, especially for money:
•an attempt to suborn a witness
- subornation $ noun [U] $ [C]
a PLOT (=set of events) that is connected with but less important than the main plot in a story, play etc:
•the novel's romantic subplot [C]
law a written order to come to a court of law and be a WITNESSpast tense and past participle subpoenaed [T]
law to order someone to come to a court of law and be a WITNESS:
•James was subpoenaed as a witness.[C]
a small British post office that has fewer services than a main post office
1 [I] to pay money, usually once a year, to have copies of a newspaper or magazine sent to you, or to have some other service
[+to]
•You can subscribe to the magazine for as little as $32 a year.
2 [I] BrE to pay money regularly to be a member of an organization or to help its work
[+to]
•She subscribes to an environmental action group.
3 [I] to agree to buy or pay for SHAREs
[+for]
•Each employee may subscribe for up to £2,000 worth of shares.

PHRASAL VERBS
subscribe to sth phr v formal
if you subscribe to an idea, you agree with it or support it
subscribe to the view/belief/theory etc
•I have never subscribed to the view that schooldays are the happiest days of your life. $ [C]
1 someone who pays money, usually once a year, to receive copies of a newspaper or magazine, or to have a service:
•cable television subscribers
2 BrE someone who pays money to be part of an organization or to help its work
1 [C,U] an amount of money you pay, usually once a year, to receive copies of a newspaper or magazine, or receive a service, or the act of paying money for this
[+to]
•Are you interested in taking out a subscription to Newsweek (=arranging to buy it on a regular basis)?
•You may cancel your subscription at any time.
•I've decided not to renew my subscription.
2 [C,U] BrE an amount of money you pay regularly to be a member of an organization or to help its work, or the act of paying money for this
[+to]
•a subscription to Amnesty International
3 [U] when people in a country or place give money in order to pay for something to be done:
•The church's 120 foot gothic spire was paid for by public subscription in 1939. [C]
a part of a SECTION, especially in a legal document formal
happening or coming after something else; consequent
•These skills were passed on to subsequent generations.
•subsequent pages of the book
subsequent to sth
•events that happened subsequent to the accident formal
after an event in the past:
•The book was subsequently translated into 15 languages.
•Subsequently, the company filed for bankruptcy. $
1 always obeying another person and doing everything they want you to do - used when someone seems too weak and powerless
[+to]
•Don remained entirely subservient to his father.
subservient role/position
•His wife refused to accept a traditional subservient role.
2 formal less important than something else; = subordinate
[+to]
•the rights of the individual are made subservient to the interests of the state
- subserviently adverb
- subservience noun [U] [C]
a group of people or things that is part of a larger group of people or things
[+of]
•a small subset of the city's immigrant population [I]
1 if a feeling, pain, sound, etc subsides, it gradually becomes less and then stops; = die down
•Simon waited until the laughter subsided.
•The pains in his head had subsided, but he still felt dizzy and sick.
2 formal if a building or an area of land subsides, it gradually sinks to a lower level:
•After the heavy rains, part of the road subsided.
3 if bad weather conditions subside, they gradually return to a normal state:
•The wind gradually subsided, and all was quiet.
4 if water, especially flood water, subsides, it gradually goes under ground or back to a normal level:
•When the floods subsided, the streets were littered with bodies. [C,U]
the process by which an area of land sinks to a lower level than the land surrounding it, or a building begins to sink into the ground:
•Is your house insured against subsidence? [U]
a word meaning a political POLICY (1) in which power to make decisions, is given to a smaller group, used especially about the European Community giving power to its member countries $ plural subsidiaries [C]
a company that is owned or controlled by another larger company:
•a subsidiary of a US company
•one of our Japanese subsidiariesformal
connected with, but less important than something else; = secondary
•a subsidiary hypothesis
[+to]
•All other issues are subsidiary to this one.also subsidise BrE [T usually passive]
if a government or organization subsidizes a company, activity etc, it pays part of its costs:
•Farming is heavily subsidized (=subsidized a lot) by the government.
- subsidized adjective [only before noun]
•heavily subsidized agricultural exports
- subsidization $ noun [U] plural subsidies [C]
money that is paid by a government or organization to make prices lower, reduce the cost of producing goods etc
trade/agricultural subsidies etc
•international disagreement over trade subsidies [I]
1 to stay alive when you only have small amounts of food or money; = survive
[+on]
•We had to subsist on bread and water.
•Old people often have to subsist on very low incomes.
2 especially law to continue to exist; = survive [U]
1 the condition of only just having enough money or food to stay alive:
•Many of the families are forced to live at the subsistence level.
•The land provided subsistence and little more.
2 subsistence farming/agriculture etc farming that produces just enough food for the farmer to live on, but does not produce enough food to sell to other people
3 subsistence allowance/payment etc money that is paid to someone so that they can buy meals, pay for a place to stay etc [U]
the layer of soil between the ground's surface and the lower layer of hard rock $
slower than the speed of sound; supersonic plural subspecies [C]
a group of similar plants or animals that is smaller than a SPECIES
1 MATERIAL [C] a particular type of solid, liquid, or gas:
•The leaves were covered with a strange sticky substance.
dangerous/toxic/hazardous/poisonous etc substance
•harmful substances in the atmosphere
•Plutonium 238 is one of the most toxic substances known to man.
illegal/banned/prohibited/controlled substance (=used especially about illegal drugs)
•Police found an illegal substance in his car.
2 TRUTH [U usually in questions and negatives] formal if something has substance, it is true:
• There is no substance to the rumours (=they are untrue).
without substance (=untrue)
•O'Connell's remarks are completely without substance.
3 IDEAS [singular, U] the most important ideas contained in an argument or piece of writing; = essence
• The substance of his argument was that people on welfare should work.
in substance
•What she said, in substance, was that the mayor should resign.
4 IMPORTANCE [U] formal importance; = significance
•It was an entertaining speech, but it lacked substance (=there was no important information in it).
matters/issues of substance
•We should be discussing matters of substance.
5 man/woman of substance BrE literary a rich man or woman[U]
the habit of taking too many illegal drugs, in a way that harms your health; = drug abuse $
not as good as the average, and not acceptable; non-standard, standard
•substandard housing
1 large in amount or number; = considerable
•We have the support of a substantial number of parents.
•a substantial salary
•a substantial breakfast
•The document requires substantial changes.
2 [only before noun] large and strongly made:
•a substantial piece of furniture
1 very much or a lot; = considerably
•substantially higher prices
•The deer population has increased substantially in recent years.
2 used to say that in many ways something is true, the same, different etc; = essentially
•There are one or two minor differences, but they're substantially the same text. [T]
formal to prove the truth of something that someone has said, claimed etc:
•Katzen offered little evidence to substantiate his claims.
- substantiation noun [U]
formal dealing with things that are important or real
substantive matters/issues
•The State Department reported that substantive discussions had taken place with Beijing.
- substantively adverb [C]
technical a noun [C]
a place where electricity is passed on from the place that produces it into the main system $ [C]
1 also sub someone who does someone else's job for a limited period of time, especially in a sports team or school:
•Germany brought on a substitute at half time.
•substitute goalkeeper
[+for]
•The coach has to find a substitute for Tim.
2 a person or thing that you use instead of the one that you usually have, because the usual one is not available:
•a sugar substitute
•a father substitute
3 be no substitute for sth used to emphasize that something is not as good as another thing:
•Vitamin pills are no substitute for a healthy diet.
1 [T] to use something new or different instead of something else
substitute sth for sth
•The recipe says you can substitute yoghurt for the sour cream.
2 [I] to do someone's job until the person who usually does it is able to do it again
[+for]
•Bill substituted for Larry, who was off sick.
3 [T] to replace someone with another person especially another player:
•Michael Owen had to be substituted after 20 minutes on the field.also substitute sub [C]
AmE a teacher who teaches a class when the usual teacher is ill; = supply teacher BrE $ [C,U]
when someone or something is replaced by someone or something else:
•Coach Ross made two substitutions in the second half.
substitution of sth for sth
•the substitution of English for French as the world's common language $ plural substrata [C]
technical a layer that lies beneath another layer, especially in the earth:
•a substratum of rock
•a social substratum $ [C]
1 one of the structures ( STRUCTURE^1 (3)) within a society or organization that combines with others to form a whole
2 a solid base under the ground that supports a building above the ground; superstructure $ [T]
formal to include someone or something as a member of a group or type, rather than considering it separately
subsume sb/sth under sth
•A wide range of offences are usually subsumed under the category of robbery. [C]
someone who pays rent for an apartment, office etc to the person who is renting it from the owner
- subtenancy noun [C,U] $ [C,U]
formal a secret trick or slightly dishonest way of doing something, or the use of this
by subterfuge
•Sereni was lured to Moscow by subterfuge.